iStock/Thinkstock(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) -- An African-American man went to a Hobby Lobby store in Alabama to return some merchandise this week when employees called the police because he vaguely resembled a suspect in a check-cashing scheme, he told ABC Birmingham affiliate WBMA-TV. Brian Spurlock, telling the station he was racially profiled, said he was needlessly embarrassed Tuesday when police confronted him and asked for his identification in front of other customers at the Hobby Lobby store in nearby Trussville. The Birmingham man was with his girlfriend and her children when the incident occurred at the national arts-and-crafts retailer, he told WBMA-TV. "These folks look at me like, 'Oh, he stole something. Oh, he did something wrong.' Y'all embarrassed me and [that] hurt,'" Spurlock said of the incident in the interview with WBMA-TV. "That made me feel like I don't need to go in no stores no more because I look like somebody and [police] might arrest me." ABC News has been unable to reach Spurlock. Hobby Lobby's corporate headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, did not respond to ABC News multiple telephone calls and emails seeking comment. The Trussville Police Department confirmed in a statement to ABC News that officers were called to the store Tuesday when an employee reported that Spurlock looked like a suspect who "had written bad checks and made fraudulent returns to their store." "Hobby Lobby did have a picture of the person that was writing bad checks and making fraudulent returns and it looked somewhat like the person in the store but it did not appear to be him," police Lt. Phil Dillon said in the statement. He said an officer asked to see Spurlock's identification before letting him go. Spurlock said he had receipts for the items he was returning to the store and showed them to an employee before police arrived. "She was looking at the receipt that I had and scratching the item off on the receipt. And she said, 'Hey, let me get my manager to see if we [can] return this," Spurlock told WBMA-TV. When he spoke to a manager, Spurlock said, she told him he couldn't return one of the items because the box was open and that he needed to contact the manufacturer. "I said, 'Is there somebody else I can talk to that can assist me with this?' She said, 'Yeah, wait,'" Spurlock told WBMA-TV. The manager asked for his ID and told him they were calling their corporate headquarters, he told the station. As he waited for an answer, a police officer showed up and confronted him. Spurlock's girlfriend, Ashley Maddox, who witnessed the incident, posted a cellphone video on Facebook of Spurlocks speaking with the store employee apparently after he was questioned by police. "I'll be glad to talk to you ... we apologize for the situation," a store employee tells Spurlock in the video. "We were just following directions from our upper management." In an interview with WBMA-TV, Maddox referred to the outspoken Christian beliefs of the owners of Hobby Lobby, who successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014 that it shouldn't be required to supply birth control to employees under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. "This is supposed to be a Christian store, so why not support the Christian," Maddox said. "But, unfortunately, they're the wrong kind of Christians." Spurlock's ordeal is the latest in a string of recent incidents in which businesses have come under fire after employees called police on black patrons in incidents that appeared not to warrant police intervention. In April, top officials of Starbucks apologized to two black men who were arrested after a manager at a Philadelphia Starbucks called police because they occupied a table without making a purchase and refused requests to leave. Trespassing charges against the men were later dropped and the city's police chief also issued an apology for the arrests. Earlier this month, the president of Nordstrom Rack flew to St. Louis to personally apologize to three African-American teenagers whom employees called the police on and wrongfully accused of shoplifting. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 SANTA ROSA (BCN) The president of Hometown America Management Corporation, whose company owns The Orchard Mobile Home Community in Santa Rosa, responded today to a suit by displaced residents who claim the corporation deliberately delayed their ability to move back to their home sites that were destroyed in the October Tubbs Fire. Several of the residents, who lived in the Santa Rosa manufactured home community for people 55 and older, announced the class action complaint in Sonoma County Superior Court Tuesday. The plaintiffs claim Hometown America "basically abandoned" the displaced residents by declining FEMA assistance, delaying cleanup and rebuilding and threatening to charge space rent even though they have not been able to return to their home sites. The complaint also alleges Hometown America Management Corporation did not obtain post-fire clearance from Santa Rosa officials to rebuild the residents' prefabricated manufactured homes for six months, delaying the rebuilding process. The former residents said they were informed in April they would have to pay $750 a month for their home's rental space starting Sept. 1 even though they are not living on the site. They also said they have been prohibited from placing a temporary trailer on their sites while rebuilding. In an email today, Chicago-based Hometown America Management Corporation president Steven Braun said temporary trailers are not allowed at The Orchard located off Pinecrest Road. Braun also said residents have an obligation to their lease and Hometown America abated rent during the remediation and approval process. "We anticipate commencing rent again on Sept. 1, 2018, but will continue to review this decision as construction timelines become more clear," Braun said. The suit also says some of the residents have decide not to return, and Hometown America Management stands to profit from selling mobile homes and leasing space to new residents at higher prices. Braun said Hometown America is providing a "discounted resource to residents by rebuilding homes at cost, plus 10 percent to account for overhead expenses. "This is approximately a $100,000 to $150,000 discount off the current market," Braun said. Residents also claimed they were prohibited from choosing an outside manufactured home seller. Braun said the residents own the homes but lease the land from Hometown America. "They do not need permission from Hometown America to purchase a home from another dealer. They are free to work with whomever they want," Braun said. "Homeowners must meet guidelines," Braun said, "including local zoning and set back requirements and architectural standards outlined in the rules." The suit states 78 homes burned and Hometown America Management told the residents it could only build 20 to 25 homes a year. Production of the manufactured homes would stop in November 2018 and resume in Spring 2019, according to the complaint. Braun said 68 of the 233 homes burned, and four contracts have been signed with residents. The suit alleges violations of mobile home residency law and the California Business and Professions Code, elder abuse, and breach of written contract. The plaintiffs seek damages, restitution, attorney fees and other costs of the suit and a jury trial. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Firefighters are responding to a one-alarm fire at a home in San Francisco's Visitacion Valley neighborhood this afternoon, according to fire officials. The blaze is occurring at a two-story residential building in the 400 block of Harkness Avenue and was first reported at 3:56 p.m. So far, no injuries have been reported, fire officials said. People are being asked to avoid the area. A Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputy shot a female suspect near Santa Cruz early this morning, according to the sheriff's office. The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. at the end of the Ocean Street Extension near Paradise Park after two deputies encountered two suspects, sheriff's officials said. A deputy shot a female suspect, who was taken to a hospital for treatment. Sheriff's officials have not released what events led up to the shooting. The other deputy suffered some sort of injury and was also briefly hospitalized, but has since been released. Sheriff's officials have not said how the deputy was injured. The second suspect was detained and taken to the sheriff's office for questioning. Sheriff Jim Hart is holding a news conference at 1 p.m. today to discuss the case, which is also under investigation by the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office. A whale carcass is partially submerged near Jack London Square in Oakland, the Marine Mammal Center said today. Marine Mammal Center officials said they are working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a plan to tow the carcass to Angel Island State Park so scientists can perform a necropsy, or animal autopsy, to determine the cause of death. According to the Marine Mammal Center, NOAA received reports on Wednesday that a deceased whale was draped across the bow of a large ship entering the San Francisco Bay. However, the center said it is unable to confirm whether the whale found in Oakland today is the same animal. Marine Mammal Center officials said the species, length, age and sex of the whale currently are unknown. They said it's not uncommon for whale carcasses to be found in the San Francisco Bay. The Marine Mammal Center said it has responded to three other whales so far this year. It said leading causes of death of whales, dolphins and porpoises examined by its research team include blunt force trauma from ship strikes, malnutrition, trauma and entanglement. The center said it will provide further updates on the whale carcass as more information becomes available. Firefighters battled a fire at a commercial building in San Mateo early this morning, extinguishing the main fire in 10 minutes, fire officials said. Flames were shooting out of the delivery doors of O'Reilly Auto Parts as firefighters arrived at the business at 400 South Norfolk St. in the Shoreview Shopping Center around 2 a.m., according to fire officials. Fire crews put out the main fire in 10 minutes, then completely extinguished all the smoldering contents in about an hour, fire officials said. The main damage was in the parts storage area, according to fire officials. Thirty-six firefighters, eight engines and two ladder trucks fought the two-alarm fire. The business was closed when the fire broke out and no injuries were reported, fire officials said. The cause of the blaze is under investigation, according to fire officials. Firefighters extinguished a fire in an Oakley home Thursday morning with no injuries, confining the blaze to the kitchen, fire officials said. The fire broke out around 8 a.m. Thursday at a single-story house at 40 Butler Lane, according to fire officials. Crews arrived to see smoke issuing from the residence, fire officials said. The firefighters made an interior fire attack and were able to keep the fire from spreading beyond the kitchen, according to fire officials. There was major damage to the kitchen and smoke damage to the rest of the structure, fire officials said. Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire. No details were available regarding the people living in the house. A big-rig that stalled in the third lane of westbound Interstate Highway 580 at the Grant Line Road onramp in Dublin has been towed away and the scene is now clear, the CHP said as of 5:46 a.m. The incident was reported by the CHP at 4 a.m. and was upgraded to Sig-alert status at 4:33 a.m. The heavy big-rig completely ran out of gas and was stuck in the middle of the highway. CHP previously stated over the phone that the third lane was the right-hand lane, but the detail has since been corrected. Two collisions involving motorcycles were reported nearby at 4:53 a.m. and 5:19 a.m., the highway patrol officials said. CHP officers are on their way to those crashes and injuries are unknown at this time. The events have created a slow in traffic on the Altamont Pass, an area in which the CHP already issued a wind advisory for early Friday morning. No more information was given. A vegetation fire that burned 71 acres Thursday afternoon near Capitol Expressway in San Jose was caused by illegal fireworks, the fire department tweeted later in the evening. Fire officials said that the blaze, reported at 4:18 p.m. at Capitol Expressway and Tuers Road, was under control by 7:09 p.m. Fire Capt. Mitch Matlow originally stated the fire was reported at 4:38 a.m. It took the work of nine engines, two brush patrols, a water tender and two battalion chiefs, the fire department's tweet said. The fire was not far from Coyote Creek and Andrew Hill High School, located at 3200 Senter Road, Matlow said shortly after the fire broke out. No structures or horses were threatened at that time. Fire crews learned from witness reports that fireworks were at the root of the flames, which originally affected just two acres but continued to spread. "Fireworks are dangerous and illegal!" fire spokespeople warned in the social media post. Matlow said Thursday afternoon that a homeless encampment was involved, but did not elaborate. No further information was available. The U.S. Coast Guard is hosting a Water Safety Fair on Saturday in Sausalito to allow the public to meet first responders and learn about boating safety. The free event starts at 10 a.m. at Coast Guard Station Golden Gate and will include a rescue helicopter demonstration at noon, rescue boat tours, a K-9 bomb detection demonstration and information on best practices while boating or paddling. "We're excited to meet with the community to promote safe and responsible boating heading into the summer," Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Whitlow said in a statement. "The Bay Area is a beautiful place to enjoy getting out on the water and we want people to get out there and have fun, we just also want them to make it back to shore safely." "If Found" stickers will also be handed out for people to attach to their paddle boards or kayaks with contact information if first responders come across it and have to determine if there is an emergency or if the watercraft is just adrift. OAKLAND (BCN) A man who faced a murder charge for the stabbing death of a neighbor during a fight after a night of drinking in East Oakland last June was convicted today of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Alameda County prosecutor Butch Ford told jurors in his closing argument in the trial of Antwan Robinson, 44, and co-defendant Ebony Lewis, 32, that Robinson should be convicted of first-degree murder for the stabbing of Alexander Christopher Hayes, 38, in the 7700 block of MacArthur Boulevard at about 12:15 a.m. on June 16. Hayes died at a hospital a short time later. Ford alleged that Robinson was the aggressor in the fight and taunted Hayes by saying in front of a large group of their mutual acquaintances, "You just want this booty," implying that Hayes wanted to have sex with him. Ford said, "If you accuse a heterosexual man of being gay in that neighborhood (in East Oakland) it usually leads to violence." Ford also said Lewis should be convicted of second-degree murder for being an aider and abettor by giving Robinson the knife he used to stab Hayes. He alleged that Robinson and Lewis "worked together" to murder Hayes. But jurors, who deliberated for two days, found Robinson not guilty of both first- and second-degree murder and only convicted him of the lesser included charge of voluntary manslaughter. Jurors acquitted Lewis of the murder charge she faced. After jurors left, Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay, who presided over the case, said, "Miss Lewis, you are discharged. Good luck." Lewis then cried and hugged her attorney Alex Harper. Robinson's lawyer Richard Foxall admitted to jurors during the trial that Robinson fatally stabbed Hayes but said Robinson did so in self-defense after Hayes attacked him several times and came at him with a three-foot-long wooden object that was similar to an axe handle. Ford said Robinson and Hayes engaged in "mutual combat" but alleged that Robinson was never in fear for his life and continued to stab Hayes even after Hayes had backed up 50 feet and was lying helplessly on the ground. Ford said, "Pursuing a fleeing victim is murder" and "it's not self-defense when you kill someone who's helpless." The prosecutor said Robinson stabbed Hayes a total of eight times, including once when he was on the ground. Lewis testified last week that she didn't give Robinson a knife the night of the stabbing and didn't want anyone to be hurt. But Ford told jurors that they shouldn't believe Lewis because she initially told police that she wasn't present at the stabbing scene and "wanted to mislead everybody every step of the way." After she was acquitted today, Lewis said, "I'm just so happy that they finally got the truth," referring to jurors. She said she's glad she can now go home to be with her three children. Harper said, "Absolutely the right thing was done" in the jury's decision to find her not guilty. Harper said Lewis "had no reason whatsoever" to want to have Hayes killed because he was a friend of hers. Robinson was arrested but never charged for the fatal stabbing of Reibu Washington, his 24-year-old half brother, at the home where they lived in the 1300 block of 81st Avenue in Oakland in September 1998. Oakland police Sgt. Jeff Loman at the time said that Robinson told authorities that he stabbed Washington because Washington was violent and drunk and was harming their 4-year-old niece. Loman said Robinson was cooperative with police and waited for officers to arrive after he killed Washington. Loman said Robinson told police he was trying to get Washington to leave the house when the fatal fight occurred. Robinson faces a maximum of 12 years in state prison when Clay sentences him on July 20. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Two San Francisco Police Commission members nominated for reappointment by Mayor Mark Farrell will again be up for reappointment even though the Board of Supervisors declined to reappoint them at its Tuesday meeting. In a statement today, Farrell said he was resubmitting the nominations of commissioners Sonia Melara and Joseph Marshall, urging the Board to "quickly approve these two highly qualified reappointments immediately after the June 5 election." The supervisors' 6-5 vote against the reappointments was a blow to the commission because it's now left with only four current members, meaning it doesn't have a quorum for the time being. The move comes at an imperative time for the city, just weeks away from a mayoral election, and as use-of-force policy reforms are taking shape in the Police Department, and amid rumors that Police Chief Bill Scott is a candidate to be police chief for the Los Angeles Police Department. Farrell added, "Joe and Sonia are longtime advocates for public safety, civil rights and responsible police oversight practices. The residents of this city deserve and are entitled to a fully-seated police commission to continue the vital work of overseeing reform measures, hearing police disciplinary cases and monitoring training for Tasers. At this crucial juncture in our reform efforts, the lack of a full police commission is a disservice to the people of San Francisco." During Tuesday's board meeting, before casting her vote against the nominees, Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer said, "With all due respect, I strongly feel approval of mayoral appointments, only three weeks before voters cast their vote for the next mayor of San Francisco, is premature. "I believe it's imperative we pause and allow the new mayor who will be sworn in in July to weigh in on these critical decisions. The police commission is one of the most powerful commissions in the city of San Francisco and we need to make sure decisions for appointment are made with careful thought and intention," Fewer said. Tuesday, Farrell responded by saying he was "extremely disappointed" that the board chose such a crucial time to politicize the appointment process for the police commission. Following the death of Mayor Ed Lee in December, Farrell was chosen by the board to serve as mayor until the June 5 election, in which he is not running. Board president London Breed, Supervisor Jane Kim, former state Sen. Mark Leno and former supervisor Angela Alioto are among the candidates seeking the seat. The commission was already down two members after earlier this year former Commissioner Bill Ong Hing chose not to seek reappointment, as did former Commission President Julius Turman, who passed away Sunday. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Investigators have identified a 20-year-old man suspected of burglarizing six different San Francisco commercial businesses within an eight-week period, police announced today. In the most recent incident, San Francisco resident Javon Neal is accused of entering a business in the 200 block of Market Street on March 26 and taking a laptop computer. Neal, who was already in custody when he was identified as the suspect in the March 26 burglary, was arrested in late March in connection with five other alleged burglaries throughout the city that occurred between Jan. 29 and March 26. In those burglaries, Neal is accused of taking nearly $14,000 worth of electronics. Neal, who was already on probation when the alleged burglaries occurred, has been charged with several counts of theft and second-degree burglary. He's being held on $105,000 bail, according to jail records. Police are continuing to investigate the burglaries and anyone with information is asked to contact police at (415) 575-4444 or to text a tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the beginning of the message. Tipsters have the option of remaining anonymous. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Current and former San Francisco city officials are joining with community advocates on Friday for a rally to raise awareness of hepatitis and to encourage testing for it. The noon rally outside City Hall is calling attention to the number of hepatitis B and C liver infection cases in the community. According to organizers of the rally, more than 22,000 chronic hepatitis B cases have been reported to the San Francisco Department of Public Health since 2000, including more than 80 percent of the city's cases being from people in the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Thousands more have been reported with hepatitis C, which has increased numbers of chronic infections among those who inject drugs and share needles. According to the Centers for Disease Control, hepatitis B and C symptoms can include dark urine, jaundice, abdominal pain, fever and fatigue, but many people may not know they are infected because they are not clinically ill. San Francisco Supervisor Katy Tang, former supervisor and state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and SFDPH director Barbara Garcia are among the expected attendees at Friday's rally. Free hepatitis B and C testing will then be available from 1-2 p.m. in a mobile testing van at City Hall. The event is being organized by the city's Public Health Department, San Francisco Hep B Free-Bay Area, the San Francisco Hepatitis C Task Force and End Hep C SF. A Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputy shot a female suspect near Santa Cruz early this morning, according to the sheriff's office. The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. at the end of the Ocean Street Extension near Paradise Park after two deputies encountered two suspects, sheriff's officials said. A deputy shot a female suspect, who was taken to a hospital for treatment. Sheriff's officials have not released what events led up to the shooting. The other deputy suffered some sort of injury and was also briefly hospitalized, but has since been released. Sheriff's officials have not said how the deputy was injured. The second suspect was detained and taken to the sheriff's office for questioning. Sheriff Jim Hart is holding a news conference at 1 p.m. today to discuss the case, which is also under investigation by the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A one-alarm blaze at a two-story residential building in San Francisco's Visitacion Valley neighborhood has been contained this afternoon, fire officials said. The fire was initially reported at 3:56 p.m. in the 400 block of Harkness Avenue. No injuries have been reported and fire officials don't know yet whether any residents will be displaced. A cause for the fire remains under investigation, fire officials said. SAN JOSE (BCN) A ruling in the preliminary hearing for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster has been delayed until next week following dramatic testimony this morning by his ex-girlfriend who alleged domestic violence by Foster before recanting her story. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Nona Klippen ordered Foster, 24, to return next Wednesday, when she is expected to rule on whether he will stand trial after being charged with domestic violence, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime, and possession of an assault weapon. Foster's ex-girlfriend Elissa Ennis, 28, initially told Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police and Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies on the morning of Feb. 11 that Foster had beat her, dragged her out of the house by her hair and thrown her down the steps of their home on Shannon Road. Ennis discussed her claims with Detective James Wiens of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department two days later when she had flown home to her mother's residence in Louisiana, both parties confirmed in court today. It was in that discussion, Ennis said, that she told Wiens she had made the entire story up and in fact suffered injuries from a fight she had gotten into in San Francisco the night before. Ennis said she lied to police after flagging down local construction worker Eugenio Pirir that morning because Foster had broken up with her and she was mad about it. "I told him I was going to f--- up his career," she said. Ennis apologized to everyone involved and admitted to recently texting Foster that she wanted him to call her back or she was going to kill herself. She said it was because she was depressed, not because she was still in love with him. "I'm going to admit myself to a clinic as soon as I leave today," she said. Foster's attorney Josh Bentley asked why Ennis appeared and spoke in court against the wishes of her own attorney, Stephanie Rickard, when she could be subjected to charges of perjury, theft and more. "I had to do the right thing," Ennis said. Foster was drafted by the 49ers in the first round of the 2017 draft and was second on the team in tackles last season. A Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputy shot a female suspect near Santa Cruz early this morning, according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Brian Cleveland. Around 3:30 a.m. two deputies encountered two suspects at the end of the Ocean Street Extension in unincorporated Santa Cruz County. The subsequent interaction led to a shooting, with a female suspect of unknown age suffering at least one gunshot wound when one of the deputies opened fire. The other deputy was also injured, although not as a result of gunfire, Cleveland said. The second suspect was detained and transported to the sheriff's office for questioning. Additional details were not immediately available, but Cleveland said the sheriff's office is planning to release more information early this afternoon. These articles and photo collections on SFGate.com and the premium SFChronicle.com got the most visits in the week ended Thursday at 10 a.m. SFChronicle.com 1. Willie Brown: Trump is more popular than Dems want to admit 2. Sexually transmitted diseases dramatically increase in California 3. SF subway stalled after contractor lays down wrong track, city says 4. Voter guide: What you need to know for the June 5 election 5. Data offer new glimpse into work permit program for H-1B spouses SFGate.com 1. Video shows woman calling police over barbecue at Lake Merritt 2. Magnitude 3.5 quake shakes Bay Area, impacts BART and Giants game 3. Couple sick of San Francisco rent moves to live aboard a sailboat 4. What a New York native noticed in two years in San Francisco 5. 10 children allegedly tortured in Fairfield home; mother denies abuse Most popular searches 1. Hawaii volcano (Kilauea eruptions prompt Big Island evacuations) 2. Hamptons 5 (Warriors lineup draws playoff attention) 3. Grimes (musician steps out with Elon Musk at Met Gala) 4. Madison Bumgarner (Giants get good news on stars return) 5. Margot Kidder (Superman actress dies) By Peter Hockaday, SFGate Deputy Managing Editor Politicians took to Twitter after a gunman killed at least nine people at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, and the responses were largely predictable. A number of high-profile Democrats renewed calls for congressional action on gun violence, including California Sen. Kamala Harris. "This is the 15th school shooting this year and we still haven't taken action in Congress to address this epidemic," Harris tweeted. "We cannot accept this as normal. We must address gun violence." FULL COVERAGE: At least 9 dead in Santa Fe High School; shooter had multiple guns, bombs Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal took things a step further by stating that Congress is "complicit" in gun violence. "More tragic bloodshed and heartbreak caused by cruel gun violence," Blumenthall tweeted. "Congress is complicit." ALSO: Houston lawmaker tired of 'thoughts and prayers' response Meanwhile, Republicans were far less vocal than their Democratic counterparts, and those who did offer remarks focused on offering emotional support to those affected by the shooting. "To the students, families, teachers of Santa Fe High School, all of those affected and the entire community: We are with you, you are in our prayers, and you're in the prayers of the American people," Vice President Mike Pence tweeted. Click through the slideshow above to see reactions to the Santa Fe shooting. NEW YORK Glenn Branca, a composer who began his musical life playing with influential downtown rock bands in the 1970s, but whose omnivorous musical curiosity soon led him to create a hybrid style blending classical, rock and avant-garde elements that laid the foundation for much of todays genre-crossing new music, died Sunday in Manhattan. He was 69. His wife, guitarist and composer Reg Bloor, said the cause was throat cancer. She said he died in his sleep in a hotel where they were staying while arranging for him to be brought up the stairs to their apartment. Brancas compositions often used massed amplified guitars of various kinds soprano, alto, tenor and bass to give his sound the same breadth as that of an orchestra. Many of his works are meant to be performed at high volumes, partly so the overtones of his amplified guitars would linger and pile up, creating a phantom layer of harmony beyond what the musicians were playing, and partly as a purely tactile element, meant to both envelop and physically shake his listeners. In the right hall, with a tightly packed audience, the roar of his guitar symphonies could have an oddly unifying effect, as if the musicians, the room and the audience were vibrating to the same pulse. John Rockwell, writing about Brancas Symphony No. 1 (Tonal Plexus, 1981) in the New York Times, described it as the loudest piece of music this writer has ever heard, anywhere; it made the Who sound like a convocation of lutes. In performance, either playing guitar or conducting, Branca could seem ecstatic and almost manic, his thrashing gestures involving his full body, his arms flailing, his head gestures so kinetic that his hair seemed to fly in several directions at once. But though sheer noise was a distinctive element of his music, it was by no means its only salient feature. He used unusual tuning systems, minimalist repetition techniques, complex rhythmic and contrapuntal figures, and structural elements borrowed from the romantic symphonists. And though his works cast in rock hues were his best-known scores, he also composed chamber works and symphonies for conventional instruments, beginning with his Symphony No. 7 (1989) and his String Quartet No. 1 (1991). As his career progressed, he expanded his instrumentation, sometimes modifying conventional instruments to suit his needs. In his Symphony No. 3 (Gloria, 1983), he affixed electric guitar pickups to harpsichords so he could both amplify and modify the instruments delicate, plucked sound. In his Fourth Symphony (Physics, 1984), he modified a piano, adding a movable bar that could glide over the strings to change their pitches. His Fifth Symphony (Describing Planes of an Extended Hypersphere, 1984) called for mallet guitars, played percussively. What I most respect about Glenn Branca is that hes an absolute original, composer Steve Reich told the Times in 1995. There are very few people who put a clearly defined stamp on their music but right when you walk in, you know thats Branca. Glenn Branca was born in Harrisburg, Pa., on Oct. 6, 1948, and began playing guitar when he was 15. His main musical interest at that point was rock, and he formed his first band, the Crystal Ship, while a student at York College in Pennsylvania in 1967. More than music, though, Branca was interested in theater, which he later studied at Emerson College in Boston. While in Boston, he helped start the Bastard Theater, an experimental troupe for which he wrote plays usually, he later said, without characters or plot as well as directing and creating tape collages to be used as incidental music. He also worked in a record store, where, he said, he listened to virtually every album in stock. Along the way he fell in love with the Mahler symphonies, the Beethoven piano sonatas and works by Varese, Messiaen and John Cage, as well jazz musicians like Miles Davis and New York punk-rockers like Patti Smith, the Ramones and Television. Soon after moving to New York, in 1976, Branca joined forces with Jeff Lohn, a classically trained guitarist who was more interested in experimental music than pop; they formed the Static and, shortly thereafter, Theoretical Girls. Both groups became leaders of the No Wave movement, adopting punks noise but discarding conventional song forms. Branca and his confederates built a devoted audience with works that were loud and unpredictable and that formed the basis of Brancas later concert pieces. He also began collaborating with other guitarist-composers, among them Rhys Chatham, Phil Kline, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, performing their music as well as his own first experiments in concert music for rock instruments. And in the late 1970s he started a record label, Neutral, which released early recordings by Swans and Sonic Youth. I was just kind of messing around, trying different ideas, Branca said of his early ensembles. One of the ideas I had was to do a piece with a lot of guitars using unusual guitar tunings. The sound was just so awe-inspiring. It was ridiculous to be fooling around with this little rock band when I could get this tremendous orchestral sound. His works for expanded rock configurations occupied him exclusively for a decade. But as they grew increasingly complex, he became drawn to writing for orchestral instruments. But what did not change was the spirit of his music; it retained the drive and power of his earlier works. And, as it turned out, the orchestral experience led him to expand his rock ensemble to symphonic dimensions. With his Symphony No.13 (Hallucination City, 2001), he began writing for ensembles of 100 guitars and percussion, a layout he also used in his Symphony No. 16 (Orgasm, 2016). While working on the first of his 100-guitar symphonies, Branca met Bloor, who had moved to New York in 1999 after completing her studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Though she went on to build her own career, her first jobs in New York were duo concerts with him, and she continued to perform in his larger ensembles, often helping to assemble the musicians. She is his only immediate survivor. In his later years, Branca often said that he rarely listened to other peoples music, and that he found both classical music and rock fairly static. But he continued to be inspired by the musicians he loved in his younger years, including David Bowie, whose death in 2016 led him to write a tribute piece, The Light, which had its premiere at Roulette in Brooklyn the same year. Oddly, but not atypically for Branca, who could be contrarian on principal, he refused to acknowledge that his music had grown more complex and varied over the years. I dont change, he told the Times in 2016. This is something critics always talk about, but has no relation to the way I work. I dont move on. I do new things, but I dont leave the old ones behind. Im simply adding to my repertoire of ideas. At any time, I may decide that I want to continue the development of one of the earlier threads, he continued. Ive written visceral and complex music from the very beginning. Allan Kozinn is a New York Times writer. CAIRO Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi announced on Twitter, in what would be the longest uninterrupted opening since 2013. The move is meant as a humanitarian gesture during the annual holiday, one of the few occasions in which Egypt allows some Gazans stranded by a 2007 Egypt-Israel blockade to leave and return to the territory ruled by the militant Islamic group Hamas. The announcement late Thursday came just days after Israeli forces shot and killed 59 Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border. El-Sissi wrote on his official Twitter account that the opening would alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Friday the opening of Rafah was the result of talks with Egyptian officials in a visit to Cairo on Sunday. On Thursday, 541 people crossed from Egypt into Gaza along with dozens of trucks carrying cement, steel, power engines and medical and food aid from the Red Crescent, the officials said. Last month, Hamas Interior Ministry said more than 20,000 people were on exit waiting lists. Through this week, an average of 500 travelers a day moved through the border, mostly leaving. On Friday, travelers were slowly moving toward the crossing, a bus arriving about every hour with people whose names appeared on lists provided by Hamas officials, who oversee who goes through the border. In 2007, Hamas wrested control of Gaza by force, provoking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade that severely restricted the movement of most of Gazas 2 million inhabitants. Ashraf Sweilam and Fares Akram are Associated Press writers. WINDSOR, England The future king of England will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle when she marries his son Prince Harry a gesture of welcome to the American actress as she joins the royal family. The news came as thousands of well-wishers began descending upon Windsor amid final preparations for Saturdays royal wedding. Union Jacks have been unfurled, security barriers and police patrols are in place, and fans were already moving in Friday to capture the prime viewing positions in Windsor, a castle town 25 miles west of London. Tens of thousands of spectators, including many Americans who have come in support of Markle, will be traveling to Windsor to soak up the atmosphere. They will be subject to airport-style security scanners and bag searches. The barricades aim to deter attackers using vehicles, such as the one on Westminster Bridge in London last year. Sniffer dogs and mounted patrols are also out and about. Kensington Palace said Friday that Markle asked the heir to the British throne to offer a supporting elbow at the wedding in St. Georges Chapel after Markles father was unable to attend due to illness. Prince Charles is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to the Royal Family in this way, the palace said. Buckingham Palace also announced that the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, will attend the royal wedding, just a few weeks after undergoing a hip replacement operation. The 96-year-old has largely retired from public duties and it had not been clear whether he would be well enough to attend. The last-minute announcements came after days of speculation about how the royals would handle the possible absence of Markles father. Markles mother, Doria Ragland, was the bookies favorite to escort the bride, but Charles has a lifetime of experience in appearing at large-scale public events amid intense scrutiny. I think some people will be disappointed people who were looking forward to the historic moment of a woman walking her daughter down the aisle, and a woman of mixed-race heritage from America. It would have made an historic shot, said royal historian Robert Lacey. But of course, Meghan has already arranged for her mother to drive up here to take her up to the castle. And for Prince Charles, the future king, to walk a bride down the aisle, what more could Meghan dream of? Lacey added. Gregory Katz is an Associated Press writer. HAVANA A 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after taking off from the Havana airport Friday, leaving three survivors in Cubas worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials said. The Boeing 737 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport while on a short-hop flight to the eastern city of Holguin. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the field of debris left where Cubana Flight 972 hit the ground. There is a high number of people who appear to have died, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said from the scene. Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified. Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. My daughter is 24, my God, shes only 24! cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter, Leticia, was on the plane. State TV said the jet veered sharply to the right after takeoff, and Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to investigate the cause of the crash. Authorities said there were 104 passengers and six crew members on the flight operated by the Cuban state airline. Mexican authorities said the Boeing 737-201 was built in 1979 and rented by Cubana from Aerolineas Damojh, a small charter company that also goes by the name Global Air. In November 2010, a Global Air flight originating in Mexico City made an emergency landing in Puerto Vallarta because its front landing gear did not deploy. The fire was quickly extinguished, and none of the 104 people aboard were injured. That plane was a 737 first put into service in 1975. Cubana has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Four crash survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, and three remained alive as of mid-afternoon, hospital director Martinez Blanco told Cuban state TV. State media reports stopped short of openly declaring the rest on board were dead, but there was no word of other survivors by Friday evening. Andrea Rodriguez and Michael Weissenstein are Associated Press writers. 1 Yemen war: Raging battles between forces loyal to Yemens internationally recognized government and Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, along the countrys west coast have displaced tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians, especially from the coastal province of Hodeida, an international rights group said in a report released Thursday. The Yemeni government offensive supported by ground troops and air cover from a Saudi-led coalition is part of attempts to regain control over rebel-held areas along the countrys west coast, Amnesty International said. Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war pitting the coalition against the Iran-backed Houthis since 2015. The coalition aims to restore the government of self-exiled President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi to power. The three-year stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced more than 3 million. 2 Jerusalem embassy: Paraguays government says President Horacio Cartes will open the countrys new embassy to Israel in Jerusalem next week, following similar steps by the United States and Guatemala. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as their future capital and were infuriated by the embassy moves. Most countries maintain embassies in Tel Aviv and have balked at moving them until the international legal status of the city has been resolved. 1 Ebola outbreak: Congos latest Ebola outbreak does not yet warrant being declared a global health emergency, the World Health Organization announced Friday, as health officials rushed to contain the often deadly virus that has spread to a city of more than 1 million. The vast, impoverished country now has 14 confirmed Ebola cases, with dozens of others probable or suspected. WHO officials, speaking after an experts meeting on the outbreak, said vaccinations are to begin on Sunday in a key test of an experimental vaccine. 2 Gaza inquiry: The U.N. Human Rights Council voted Friday to set up a commission of inquiry to look into a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. Meeting in a special session in Geneva, the council voted 29-2 with 14 abstentions to back a resolution that also condemned the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians. Nearly 60 people were killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli fire Monday in the deadliest day of cross-border violence since a 2014 war. Israel condemned the resolution, and the U.S. decried it as an example of a biased focus on Israel by the council. Both lamented that it didnt mention Gazas Hamas rulers, whom Israel blames for the violence. Unnati Global Forum 2018, scheduled to be conducted on May 25, 2018, at The Orchid Hotel Pune, is a platform that shines a light on the many achievements of rural women and the change they have inspired in their communities. With Dr. R.A. Mashelkar as the Guest of Honor, this years Unnati Forum will highlight the need for cross-collaboration to strengthen the existing ecosystem of women networks. It will be an experience of the power of grassroots women leaders from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The Forum will also have the Unnati Fellowship Awards for Women Changemakers where 20 women leaders will be given financial aid and mentoring to implement their solutions to the challenges they have identified in their communities. These Fellows have been identified through an extensive selection process. From 200 applicants, 50 were selected through desk review and field visits. Out of this 50, 30 applicants were shortlisted through a jury. The final 20 were selected through an expert panel. The objective of Unnati Fellowship Awards for Women Changemakers is to support grassroots women leaders to transform their dreams into reality, while creating an opportunity to eradicate the existing challenges in a community. With delegates from across the globe participating in the Forum, it encourages cross collaborations between corporates and women networks. My initiative intends to increase life expectancy through spreading awareness about cancer and other illnesses, says Sheetal Jagdale from Solapur, who has been selected for the Unnati Fellowship award. Healthcare is not readily available in Barshi, where Sheetal is from, and she plans to cover 400 women and children in her initiative. Womens health is still an area that needs enormous improvement in rural India and is a global issue. Priyanka Pasle from Osmanabad, who has also been selected for the Fellowship Award, wishes to change the life of widows. Being a community leader, she plans to train women in sewing ready-made garments. I wish to provide skilled and talented widows the opportunities they lack to become self-reliant, says Priyanka. The selected rural women will go through a specially designed Unnati Leadership Program, which will focus on self-empowerment, understanding and planning their journey as Changemakers. By tapping the power of rural women as farmers and entrepreneurs in water-scarce and climate-threatened regions, SSP has opened up non-traditional livelihood incomes, tripled household earnings, and built new leadership and governance in remote and excluded areas. By enhancing the womens social, economic, and political competencies, and by mainstreaming them into development processes, SSP has grown these women into a formidable army of changemakers. Read more news: Twitter saw over 30 lakh tweets related to Karnataka polls Manali-Leh highway reopened after five months With the aim of becoming one of the foremost schools of learning of the visual, material and built environments, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has launched the Jindal School of Arts and Architecture (JSAA). A global panel of Art Historians, Sociologists, Social Anthropologists, Architectural Historians & Architects engaged in an intense and lively debate on the question, When is Architecture at the launch of the school in the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. JSAA essentially offers two courses to the students- BA (Hons.) in Built Environment Studies, a three-year design program which is unique to India and the professional five-year program, Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch). Delivering the welcome address, Professor (Dr) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, JGU said, I am proud to announce the launch of Jindal School of Arts and Architecture, JGUs seventh school. With this, we have stepped into the realm of study of architecture, design and the built environment. As this school evolves, we will draw upon the aspects of other disciplines offered by the university and will focus on international engagement from both faculty and student perspective. The JSAA is not just another school and its global faculty will reflect the vision and passion to build a school which is different in its approach. I am sure that this collective will help the school to grow from strength to strength and achieve desired results. he added. Defining fine-grain texture of the fabric of everyday life as a locus of understanding design, Professor Thomas Mical, Dean-Designate, JSAA underlined the importance of studio culture for design schools in his inaugural address. We have a brilliant opportunity to make a new design school and rethink conventional ways to transform architectural education in ways which are truly inclusive and interdisciplinary in nature. There is a global mandate for sustainability which is spread across design spectrum. JSAA is bestowed with global faculty and pedagogy and promises to design not just solutions but a value system which future generations could feel proud of. he added. Prof. (Dr.) Jaideep Chatterjee, Vice Dean presented the vision and the programs of the JSAA in which he noted, today we need to foster an environment where design, architecture are not seen as finite and autonomous domains of knowledge but rather in dialogue with other disciplines. Being a part of the JGU which has six established school in allied disciplines would allow JSAA to produce graduates who are already equipped in multiple disciplines to engage and address the most pressing issues facing our cities, towns, villages, and the public domain today. The vision also outlined how such Interdisciplinarity and holistic education would be made possible through innovative coursework and curricular structure in which students from both programmes of JSAA can opt from 16 prefigured minors (History, Global Studies, Law, Public Policy etc.) or design their own minor in consultation with the faculty members, work in studios that are thematic and allow for vertical alignments across years or coursework. Reminiscing his days as the architect of the JGU campus, Stephane Paumier, said, I have witnessed JGUs journey from being a barren land in Haryana to a glorious institution which hosts around 3600 students today. It has been a pleasure to design JSAA which being the hub of ideas and design will have different studios for robotics, industrial design, model making and exhibitions. I am sure that the structures will fuel students imagination and inspire them to be creative. While delving deeper into designing the course curriculum and further nuances, the panellists underscored how JSAA follows internationally accepted best practices of the academia and is supported by an acclaimed faculty. The school will be based on research and innovative excellence that fosters interdisciplinary research cutting across academic programs allowing students and faculty to actively engage in addressing the most pressing issues facing our world today. Prof. Raj Kumar also took the opportunity to thank Prof. (Dr.) Thomas Mical, Dean-Designate, Stephane Paumier, Principal Architect, JGU and. Prof (Dr.) Jaideep Chatterjee, Vice Dean, JSAA and other panellists for gracing the launch symposium. Read more news: Up to 3000/- off on Domestic Hotels booking Via Zoutons Yeddyurappa sworn-in as Karnataka CM A 17-year-old carrying a shotgun and a revolver opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. It was the nation's deadliest such attack since the massacre in Florida that gave rise to a campaign by teens for gun control. The suspected shooter, who was in custody on murder charges, also had explosive devices, including a Molotov cocktail, that were found in the school and nearby, said Gov. Greg Abbott. Authorities offered no immediate motive for the shooting. The governor said the assailant intended to kill himself but gave up and told police that he did not have the courage to take his own life. Jennifer Reynolds School staff members sit in a school bus to be transported to another school after a shooting at the Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday morning, May 18, 2018. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Stuart Villanueva Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. Shrader said her friend was shot in the incident. (Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Michael Ciaglo A man hugs a woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Steve Gonzales Law enforcement officers respond to Santa Fe High School after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. ( Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Jennifer Reynolds Two women pray outside the family reunification site following a shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas (Jennifer Reynolds /The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Don't Edit Jennifer Reynolds Santa Fe High School staff react as they gather in the parking lot of a gas station following a shooting at the school in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit KTRK-TV ABC13 In this image taken from video a police officer walks near school buses as law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) Don't Edit Jennifer Reynolds A Santa Fe Police officer consoles others after a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Jennifer Reynolds /The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Michael Ciaglo A woman prays in the grass outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their kids following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Marie D. De Jesus Parents of Santa Fe High School students join in prayer at the parking lot of the Arcadia First Baptist Christian School accompanied by residents after a shooter open fired at the high school, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Don't Edit Michael Ciaglo People embrace outside the Alamo Gym where students and parents wait to reunite following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. ( Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Michael Ciaglo Santa Fe High School junior Guadalupe Sanchez, 16, cries in the arms of her mother, Elida Sanchez, after reuniting with her at a meeting point at a nearby Alamo Gym fitness center following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Michael Ciaglo Santa Fe High School freshman Caitlyn Girouard, center, hugs her friend outside the Alamo Gym where students and parents wait to reunite following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Jennifer Reynolds School staff members sit in a school bus to be transported to another school after a shooting at the Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday morning, May 18, 2018. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Michael Ciaglo A woman reacts while making a phone call outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Don't Edit Kevin M. Cox A Pearland Police armored vehicle stands ready in front of Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, in response to a shooting on Friday morning, May 18, 2018. (Kevin M. Cox/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Jennifer Reynolds Santa Fe High School staff react as they gather in the parking lot of a gas station following a shooting at the school in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Kevin M. Cox Police officers in tactical gear move through the scene at Santa Fe High School after a shooting on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Kevin M. Cox /The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Steve Gonzales Law enforcement officers respond to an active shooter in front of Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Steve Gonzale/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Steve Gonzales A women talks on her phone following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Don't Edit Steve Gonzales Law enforcement officers respond to an active shooter in front of Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Steve Gonzale/Houston Chronicle via AP) Don't Edit Kevin M. Cox A Pearland Police armored vehicle stands ready in front of Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, in response to a shooting on Friday morning, May 18, 2018. (Kevin M. Cox/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Don't Edit Wochit There was a large law enforcement response to the same school in February when it was placed on lockdown after students and teachers said they heard "popping sounds." Santa Fe police swept the campus but found no threat. Internet giant Google is said to be casting a close eye over three office towers at Central Station, Sydney, as its new Australian head office. The combined space of the properties, owned by Rail Corporation, is about 90,000 square metres. The property market speculation comes a month after the NSW Government rejected a proposal that would have seen Google anchor a new technology hub in Sydney. The office towers on Lee Street at the centre of the latest speculation about Google's new Australian HQ. Credit:Google Developer Mirvac wanted to build a new site at the Carriageworks at Eveleigh, with Google as the anchor tenant. The company envisioned a mixed-use development to boost the area and its adjoining Australian Technology Park. Harbour Energy's $13.7 billion bid for Santos may still be around $500 million to $1 billion below the price the Australian oil and gas producer would be willing to accept, analysts say. On Thursday, the US private equity firm made its $US4.98 ($6.63)-a-share bid for Santos official but failed to sweeten the offer to take account of the rising oil price. Santos believes the current bid undervalues the company. Credit:David Mariuz Harbour's offer will be the largest takeover of an Australian oil and gas company if it succeeds, however, Santos believes the bid undervalues the company. Chairman Keith Spence told the company's AGM earlier this month that the $US4.98 figure got Harbour in the door but wouldn't buy the farm. This disparity in perceived value is driven by Santoss tight management of its debt levels, the recent divestment of non-core Asian assets, Santos's likely issuing of a dividend in 2019 after years without a payout to shareholders, and a strong rise in the oil price after the US announced oil sanctions on Iran. Myer's largest shareholder, billionaire retailer Solomon Lew, has renewed his attack on the department store's board, warning investors to brace themselves for another profit downgrade and a "massive" full-year loss. Same-store sales fell 3.1 per cent in the most recent quarter, Myer revealed on Wednesday, which analysts say has brought the company closer to breaching debt covenants. Solomon Lew has been running a year-long campaign against Myer's board after it rebuffed his request for representation. Credit:Jesse Marlow Mr Lew said in a letter to Myer shareholders on Friday that the latest fall in sales was in spite of a program of extreme discounting in which it was "selling dollar notes for fifty cents each". "The heavy discounts will blow an even bigger hole in Myers losses," said Mr Lew, who has been running a year-long campaign against Myer's board after it rebuffed his request for representation. A forecast surge of thousands of hotel rooms over the next three years in Melbourne is expected to challenge the citys strong occupancy and room rates. Developers across the city have been busy rejigging prospective apartment plans to accommodate hotels or are adding hotel rooms to existing developments in a bid to counter slowing residential unit sales, a trend that has dramatically accelerated hotel supply. At least 381 rooms have opened so far this year: STR. French hotel giant Accor is understood to be in discussions to open a Sebel hotel in an existing South Melbourne apartment project, the latest in a growing list of last-minute apartment-to-hotel conversions. Earlier this year, Thai-owned Minor Hotels took over the 55-storey tower under construction at 60 ABeckett Street and will operate it as Melbournes first AVANI Hotel. Remember when Chairman David Turner and Chief Executive Officer Ian Narev crashed the Commonwealth Bank by allowing a "complacent culture" and a "lack of accountability" to flourish within the company? Or when Wesfarmers Chairman Michael Chaney and Managing Director Richard Goyder bought a British hardware chain for $705 million and wrote it down to the tune of $1 billion two years later? How about when Myer's share price fell by more than half under the leadership of Chairman Paul McClintock and Chief Executive Richard Umbers? And, more to the point: Do you remember all the sage commentary about the perils of appointing male executives to senior positions? For all the focus on AMP chairman Catherine Brenner, don't forget its CEO during the scandal, Craig Meller, is in full possession of a Y chromosome. Credit:Fairfax Media No? That's because the question was never asked. But switch the genders around, and that's how Australia is framing the crisis within AMP after the fund manager was caught by a government inquiry misleading the regulator about charging fees without providing a service in return. The International Labour Organisation has called on the government to review these laws but they have not." Australian Manufacturing Union national president Andrew Dettmer said secondary boycott laws even prevented unions negotiating across multiple sites. Loading "It really militates against us bargaining across industy which is how other advanced capitalist nations such as Germany bargain," he said. Mr Dettmer declined to comment on Mr Setka's statement about breaking the law to achieve better pay and conditions for members. AMWU state secretary Steve Murphy agrees there "needs to be a rethink about secondary boycott laws". "Employers are allowed to organise and build power across an industry or a supply chain, but workers are contrained from responding by secondary boycott laws," he said. "What we are seeing is the emergence of a new generation of union leaders across the country, who are more explicit about having laws reflect the natural right of workers to organise and to build power. In a way we are going back to basics: and the right to strike is part of that." Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon said secondary boycott laws needed to be changed to deal with companies that unilaterally outsource work. "It's clear when employers can economically damage their own employees by outsourcing their jobs without notice, then employees should have a right to take action and that means secondary boycott laws need to change to allow that happen," he said. Mr Sheldon said wages were declining and workers needed to have a right to stand up against unfair outcomes. He said the Fair Work Act which came into effect in 2009 before the emergency of the on-demand economy which is "gaming the system". Other unions voiced support for Mr Setka's view that laws sometimes needed to be broken to achieve industrial goals. People are not going to give 24 hours notice before entering a work site because that's what the law says if someone's safety at risk ETU's Allen Hicks Electrical Trades Union national secretary Allen Hicks said industrial and consumer laws needed to change because . He said his members, and those of the CFMEU, who worked in dangerous industries "have to do everything we possibly can to best represent our membership in that space". "People are not going to give 24 hours notice before entering a work site because that's what the law says if someone's safety at risk," he said. "Employers are breaking the law every day of the week by underpaying workers and not paying superannuation." NSW Nurses Association general secretary Brett Holmes said his union took strike action in 2010 to introduce nurse to patient rations in defiance of a NSW Industrial Commission order. The nurses union argues industrial action successfully altered ratios. "What delivered out of that was 1400 more nurses saving lives in our public health system," he said. NSW Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron said teachers have defied orders against strike action under NSW industrial laws on a number of occasions. "People felt the issue warranted strike action, but the laws are so punitive and restrictive we need to change them and give professions like the teachers access to industrial relations commission to have salaries aribrated. Even though there has been significant change in the work of teachers and increased hours and workload, there is no opportunity to legally run a work value case in the [Industrial Relations Commission]." Labor's Workplace Relations spokesman Brendan O'Connor said Labor wants fairer and safer workplaces and would engage with parties to that end. "We also expect employers, workers and unions to comply with the laws of the land as no one is above the law," he said. I'd love to sue them if I could, John Setka Mr Setka said his union would now do all it could to hold Coalition politicans, lawyers and companies involved in the alleged blackmail case to account. Victorian state prosecutors dropped blackmail charges against Mr Setka and his deputy Shaun Reardon over the union's boycott of concrete company Boral. Pending legal advice, Mr Setka said he would like to sue over the impact the legal case had on him and his family. Loading "I'd love to sue them if I could," he said. "My main aim is to go after them and to make sure they never do this to anyone again." Mr Reardon echoed Mr Setkas determination to pursue any politicians involved in the collapsed criminal case against the two men. The personal damage caused to members of my family from these charges borders on being criminal in itself, Mr Reardon said. The CFMEU will leave no stone unturned in its endeavours to expose the political corruption that has seen a government so blatantly manipulate so many so called Independent agencies for its own political gain." The CFMEU Victoria's lawyer Peter Gordon said there were "a number of potential causes of action" he wanted to explore. Mr Setka said his union did not set out to break the law. "I believe in the law.... but over the history of mankind, people have always defied unjust laws," he said. "If I have to go out and break a law so my member can go home safe to their families at night then that was what I have to do." Mr Setka said the Rail Tram and Bus Union in NSW complied with the law when it followed a Fair Work Commission order to call off a 24-hour strike in March. "They followed the law and they got screwed," Mr Setka said. "If they did what we do they probably would have won. Mr Setka said the Rudd Labor government was the worst in history and had used "anti-union law firm Freehills that were trying to set us up" to help draft the Fair Work Act 2009. He said the union movement helped Labor get into power and it "screwed workers" in return. "I know they are there to govern for all Australians, but why pander to big business so much? You don't see the Liberals pandering to the trade union movement," he said. Workplace Minister Craig Laundy said Mr Setka wanted greater ability to shut down workplaces and for union officials to have free rein to enter any workplaces at any time. Mr Setka has made it clear the union movement isnt happy with the Fair Work regime they designed with the Rudd/Gillard Government, so they want to ditch it in return for strikes and warfare not seen since the days of the Whitlam Government," Mr Laundy said. One senior Labor Party figure privately conceded on Friday day that the partys association with the CFMEU and its "macho" and "bully-boy aggression" was not a positive with voters. The abstract painting of a lighthouse caught the eye of Dallas Museum of Art curator Sue Canterbury as she visited a private collector about five years ago. Struggling to identify the artist, she walked up to the work and looked at the signature. "I was like everyone else is to whom I speak about her now 'Ida O'Keeffe?"' Canterbury has spent the ensuing years tracking down the works of renowned artist Georgia O'Keeffe's sister Ida Ten Eyck O'Keeffe. When the exhibit Ida O'Keeffe: Escaping Georgia's Shadow opens later this year at the Dallas museum it will feature about 30 of her works, and Canterbury still hopes to find more, including the one painting from a series of seven depicting a Cape Cod lighthouse that she hasn't located. Sue Canterbury, a curator at the Dallas Museum of Art, in front of an Ida O'Keeffe painting titled Spring Lethargy, Texas, from 1938. Credit:TONY GUTIERREZ "It's been really difficult and there are works that I have really great pictures of them, but they've disappeared into collections somewhere and not even dealers can help me find where they are," Canterbury said. Serendipity has played a role in her search. Jewellery designer Neil Lane got in touch with Canterbury after seeing information about her quest online. He had one of the lighthouse paintings, which he had bought 25 years ago at a Los Angeles-area flea market. "It was beautiful and well done," Lane said. "It has substance. It wasn't just an amateur." Director Leticia Caceres: ''Women can often be the worst culprits for misogyny.'' Credit:Sebastian Bourges "When Bessie joined the project she raised the point you can't talk about Indigenous people and these wealthy figures without commenting on the fact they got rich off the dispossession of that land." Holland says: "I'm Indigenous, my Dad's Aboriginal and I think it means a lot to everyone in the room that we're creating a work that reflects the truth. Patricia isn't didactic but it's threaded through." Caceres says that despite the Australian setting, the play remains true to Lorca's story. "It is still in three acts, all the bones are in there: the fallout of the death of a male figure; the need to secure a marriage; the implications of wealth that's tied into an old inheritance that they've been living off, that doesn't belong to them, and it's suddenly in the hands of [oldest daughter] Angela. "Yet other things don't apply any more, such as the excess of morality that's very much about the Catholicism of that period. So we've had to interrogate the feminist undertones of the work from a very different place where we've replaced religion with money and asked who is that figure of wealth in this country? Who are these women and how do they exercise power and control over us?" Mining magnate Gina Rinehart sprang to mind, Caceres says. "It's not really about Gina but there are certain resonances for us in the story of this very wealthy woman. Gina Rinehart is also claiming land that made her wealthy, on Aboriginal land. So these themes are woven through in our version." Bernarda's tyranny also stems from avoiding the gossips' prying eyes; from keeping the lusty farmhands away from her house of women. Her methods are brutal. After her husband's death, she imposes an eight-year period of mourning, effectively imprisoning her daughters. Adela, the youngest at 20, despairs. Caceres notes that while the other plays in Lorca's so-called "rural trilogy" Yerma and Blood Wedding are more frequently performed, Bernarda Alba is more timely than ever. "I think The House of Bernarda Alba still speaks to the way women can be entrapped within the patriarchal system. They can often be the worst culprits for misogyny and we haven't overcome that. If you're not prepared to interrogate the whole system then it doesn't matter if you put in just one female CEO." A clear implication flows from Lorca right through to Cornelius' political theatre: defining a woman's worth by her sexual appeal has not changed over generations. Yet if the #MeToo movement finally promises to unite women through common experience, sisterly loyalty is notably absent in Lorca's play. Jealousy and spite corrupts their relationships. The play's universality lies in how one finds, in any controlling relationship, the power to alter one's destiny. "It comes back down to money and the way women in relationships can become financial prisoners," Holland says. "Their inability to break free comes at a great cost." In Cornelius' adaptation, the names have been Anglicised and we meet four daughters instead of five. Even that roll-call is unusual; all-female casts are rare. In Bernarda Alba men are spoken of but never seen. Cast as predators, they are free to work outdoors and exploit their sexual liberty while the women remain locked in their domestic roles in what Cornelius calls a "bunker". Just as Bernarda's daughters strain to be free of their mother's control, Lorca a contemporary of Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel, and an outspoken, homosexual anti-fascist yearned to live his life free of intolerance. Caceres says the play makes her reflect on "how aligned the queer voice is to the feminist movement". "There has always been a stigma attached to hearing loss," designer Leah Heiss recalls a hearing aid user saying. "If you don't understand what someone else is saying, you could be deaf or stupid and, likely, dread of dreads, old." People often wait 10 years before using a hearing aid. The Facett hearing aid has won top prize in the 2018 Good Design awards. Credit:Matt Harvey "For some it's about the hospital beige colour, others it's the fiddliness of batteries, others it's the stigma of looking old," Heiss says. Too much vanity and too little dexterity can have serious consequences. BPM won the Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Film Festival, effectively the second prize after the Palme d'Or. Later it won six Cesar awards the French Oscars including best film. Nahuel Perez Biscayart and Felix Maritaud star in BPM. Why then is it playing on one screen only in both Sydney and Melbourne? Because it's gay, gay, gay, that's why and not in a soft-edged, feel-good sort of way. We may have come a long way in Australia in recent times in recognition of same-sex rights, but embracing the radical end of queer culture is, for some, another matter. And yet BPM (meaning beats per minute) is a beautiful film, full of drama and humour, love and politics, argument and action. It's radical in both form and content, with some unapologetic and realistic male-on-male action, but the radicalism is organic and dramatic. How else to make a film about the trauma of AIDS and the politics of the group ACT UP in Paris in the early 1990s? Priscilla: Queen of the Desert Capitol Theatre, May 18 Someone left the cake out in the rain, and now, 12 years after first opening in Sydney, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert The Musical, has been rebaked. Having played Bernadette more than 1800 times across five countries (including on Broadway and in the West End), Tony Sheldon is once again donning the character's elegant frocks; once again effortlessly stealing the show. Frock and awe: Tony Sheldon steals the show after more than 1800 performances in Priscilla. Credit:Christopher Pearce Or at least co-pinching a large slice alongside the miraculous creations of costume designers Tim Chappel and Lizzie Gardiner. And alongside Priscilla the bus. Then as now this jukebox musical version of Stephan Elliott's film is directed by Simon Phillips and, 12 years on, perhaps it is not too much to suggest that some combination of film and musical can claim a crumb of credit for inching Australia towards marriage equality. Aside from the more eccentric accommodation options, there's a handful of hotels ranging from modernist posh to cabin rustique. You can pitch a tent in the State Forest or at the highly instagrammable Treebones Resort, where you'll find yurts, a hot-tub and a "human nest". There are no trains to Big Sur and only local buses. Drive there in the daytime because it is dazzling and dizzying. The sea stretches forever, wildflowers crowd the mountainsides. After the gritty post-city grunge the air tastes supernaturally sweet. Seabirds wheel in balletic arcs. You might start to feel unshackled, you might start to feel like leaving your real life for good, running into that wilderness, growing a ladybeard and drinking from creeks. With travel there is always a gap between the dream and the reality. For some the trip never gets better than the moment before they board the plane. Months and air-miles later I think about how my Big Sur experience was just a taste. And how maybe with a place like that, you don't go for a taste you stay for the whole meal. You must go to Nepenthe. The restaurant (and gift shop and cultural hub) was built around a 1920s cabin that was once Orson Welles' and Rita Hayworth's love-nest. Nepenthe means "to forget sorrow", which is easy to do when sitting on the terrace looking out to the edge of the world. The day I was there I had an Irish Coffee, stared into the mist, saw a condor, admired the fireplace, and fondly remembered Elizabeth Taylor's pom pom earrings. The Henry Miller Memorial library ("where nothing happens", according to the website) used to be the residence of Emil White. White was Henry Miller's "Man Friday" and an artist in his own right. He founded the library after Miller's death, because he missed his friend. Lawrence Ferlinghetti (no Big Sur slouch) wrote "that cult of sex and anarchy" (as Harper's describes it) really only consisted of Henry Miller and Emil" but I didn't see any debauchery at the library, just books (for sale), and cats and coffee. It should be noted that the library's idea of "nothing" includes film festivals, live music, swing-dancing and stargazing. While the rain prevented more adventurous hiking, I did get to see Pfeiffer Beach with its famous keyhole arch and purple sands. I went just before sunset, the beach was empty. I filled my pockets with shells even though I knew I'd never get them through customs. In The Oranges of the Millennium, Miller wrote: "One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things." I thought about how I didn't want to just pass through places; I wanted to get stranded. I wanted to get lost. How could I have gotten myself all the way here just to have to leave the next day? At the end of The Sandpiper, Laura and the Reverend say their goodbyes; he's leaving, she's staying, her son's going back to school. For the longest time, I thought when I came to Big Sur I would find her shack, but it turns out it was built on site. The shack and its glorious Vincente Minnelli aesthetic (driftwood assemblage, California Ikebana) was dismantled after the shoot and now sits abandoned in a forest near Inverness. If teenage me is bereft to learn it wasn't really real, at least Big Sur is, and it's really something. This week, millions of students from years 3, 5, 7 and 9 across the country sat the NAPLAN test. The national assessment program assesses the literacy and numeracy skills of students. This year, for the first time, the test was online. So, how would adults go sitting the test? We put our journalists in the hot seat to see if they could solve a few questions from a year 9 NAPLAN practice paper. Can journalists do maths? You'll have to watch and see! Law and consultancy firm Minter Ellison will be one of the first tenants to move into Capital Property Groups $300 million precinct development when it's completed. An artist's render of Capital Property Group's $300 million Constitution Place development in central Canberra. Constitution Place, a precinct adjacent to the ACT Legislative Assembly, will house 1600 public servants in a building closest to the parliament. Construction began at the end of last year and it is expected to be completed in mid-2020. The 9000-square metre former car park on the corner of London Circuit and Constitution Avenue will be redeveloped into two buildings. The Snow family's company and owner of the Canberra Airport, Capital Property Group, won the tender to build the two buildings - a five-storey government office building and another with 12 levels, including commercial offices and four levels devoted to Adina Apartment Hotel Grand, a five-star hotel with 132 rooms. It will also include basement public parking. The annual kangaroo cull in Canberra is saving endangered reptiles and restoring native grasslands - signs that the controversial program is the right thing to do, say Canberra ecologists. The rare striped legless lizard and earless dragon, native to Canberra and in serious decline in recent years due to drought and over-grazing, are now at stable numbers, and grasses are returning to their normal, varied levels, says ecologist Melissa Snape. The striped legless lizard is a threatened species in Canberra's native grasslands. Credit:Penny Stephens Dr Snape, a senior researcher in the ACT governments Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, says in the lead-up to each yearly cull, she and her team spend many hours counting local kangaroo populations, and deciding how to keep them to sustainable levels. We've got a really good understanding of what grass structure is best for biodiversity, and we've also looked at what levels of kangaroo grazing create that sort of grass structure, she said. Think you could give the competitors on The Block or House Rules a run for their money? Canberra charity Raize the Roof is looking for people with a knack for styling interiors to go head-to-head styling a house in Bonner. Former big brother contestant Jason Roses, store manager of Ikea Canberra Sean Howell, and raize the roof co-founder Danielle Dal Cortivo. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos The whole thing is part of Decorate for a Difference, one of the final stages of Raize The Roof's charity house at Bonner, which is nearing completion. The house has been constructed thanks to the support of more than 300 businesses, who have donated materials, time and labour, with the final profits being donated to charities. Some international students surveyed described making the harrowing decision to leave their children behind to study in Canberra on a scholarship, without funding for reunion visits. One student said he spent thousands on a return ticket home to see his son after the little boy "asked my partner to give birth to another father because he wants to see me". "Some of the stories we've heard are really shocking," Ms Shaw said. "Parents are really struggling, it's heart-breaking." Haribondhu Sarma struggled to find accomodation for his young family when he moved to Canberra as a research student at the ANU. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong The ANU recently expanded the number of parenting rooms on campus to eight, but an audit by the association found three such spaces were multi-purpose first-aid or prayer rooms and did not have all the appropriate facilities. Most students surveyed hadn't used ANU parenting facilities at all and only 16 per cent made use of on-campus childcare. Pro vice-chancellor of university experience Professor Richard Baker said the ANU would consider the survey's recommendations in determining "what other improvements can be implemented". "We know it can be tough for students who are also parents, and the university strives to be as family friendly as possible," Professor Baker said. "The university will also develop a full breastfeeding policy across campus and ensure that building facilities consider including parenting facilities." In December, the ANU applied for a breastfeeding-friendly accreditation from the Australian Breastfeeding Association, after its previous accreditation lapsed in 2010. A spokeswoman confirmed on Friday the university was still in talks with the association, which did not respond to requests for comment. Professor Baker said the ANU was also looking at more accommodation options for postgraduate students, including those with children. For Lauren Reed, that news can't come soon enough. The mother of three has just been told she only has a few months to find a new place to live. "There's nothing on campus for us, it look me months to find a place to begin with when I moved up from Melbourne," Ms Reed said. "I already put off going back to uni [for about five years] until my children were school-age because I knew otherwise it would just be impossible." When he moved to the capital from Bangladesh with his young family, research student Haribondhu Sarma also struggled to find a place to live, applying for more than fifty different apartments in just a few weeks. It would be three months before he finally found a place, leaving his children to "sit idle" in temporary accommodation missing out on school. While Mr Sarma said his supervisor was flexible about family commitments, he still wanted more support from the university itself. "I'm international, the Australian government is not my authority, the university, they are my authority, they should do something," he said. In March, the ANU expanded its parental leave program for staff, offering up to 26 weeks for new parents. Research students are only entitled to five working days of paternity leave. Professor Baker said the university had recently opened a fourth childcare centre on campus, but acknowledged the "cost of childcare an also be expensive for many students". While the survey found international students struggled with parenting the most, they also felt more looked after, with only 20 per cent rating support as poor or very poor compared to almost half of domestic students. Ms Shaw said postgraduate students made up more than half of the university's cohort but continued to miss out on necessary support services. "People think the typical student is this fresh-faced undergrad. That's not what we look like." There's a touch of the James Bond character Q in Professor Stephen Lord, who is trying to reduce the incidence of falls among ageing Australians. Like Q's trick shoe with a hidden dagger inside, Professor Lord has devised "booby-trapped" walkways with hidden trip and slip hazards that pop up as unexpectedly as a banana peel on a footpath. A time lapse image of Linda Roylance demonstrating the falls walk at NeuRa, which surprises participants with trips and falls. She wears a harness to protect her, and monitors so her movements can be seen and measured by the computer. Credit:Jessica Hromas The surface hides technology that causes some squares to move without warning, which sent Linda Roylance's legs sliding out in front of her on Thursday. Without the harness Ms Roylance was wearing to prevent injury, she could've been badly hurt. Dr Julia Beatty's cat Jasper tested positive to the new virus. When Julia Beatty's beloved cat Jasper died, he was carrying a virus previously unknown in cats. Now, samples of his tissue have helped Australian scientists identify the new feline disease which is similar to hepatitis B in humans. The discovery, published in the journal Viruses on Friday, could have an impact on human medical research as well as the health of our feline friends. Researchers from the University of Sydney, including Dr Beatty herself, made the breakthrough during their search for cancer-causing viruses in the tissue of an immunocompromised cat. The tentatively named domestic cat hepadnavirus is in the same family as hepatitis B, and was initially identified in a sample of lymphoma. Fresh allegations of bullying, harassment and indecent assault have been levelled against actor Craig McLachlan and will be used by the ABC and Fairfax to defend his defamation claim against them, the media outlets' barrister has told the Supreme Court. McLachlan, 52, is suing the national broadcaster and Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, over a joint investigation airing allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct made against him by female performers relating to the 2014 production of The Rocky Horror Show. Craig McLachlan is suing the ABC and Fairfax Media. Credit:Jessica Dale He is also suing one of the women, Christie Whelan Browne, who performed the lead role of Janet during the 2014 Rocky Horror tour. The media outlets foreshadowed on Friday they will raise "in excess of 20" fresh allegations of bullying, harassment and indecent assault against him by unnamed witnesses when they file their defence to his claim next week. Drug smugglers tried to disguise kilos of heroin as "copy paper" in a shipment of children's clothing from Asia. But police uncovered the scam after X-raying the consignment and noticing that arrived in Sydney from Thailand on May 1. The man arrested over the heroin haul. Credit:NSW Police. Tests on the paper were positive for heroin totalling 16 kilograms, with a potential street value of $8 million. The joint operation by NSW Police and Australian Border Force later led to the arrest of a man, 45, in Cabramatta, in Sydney's west. Work on 30 kilometres of tunnels for the $8.3 billion metro line to Sydney's north-west was halted for more than 24 hours after federal safety inspectors found a lack of emergency measures. In the latest problem to beset a major transport project in Sydney, the safety regulator Comcare slapped a prohibition notice on the contractors on Thursday afternoon, forcing all work to stop on the twin rail tunnels. Work on the fit out of the tunnels for the metro line has been halted due to safety concerns. Credit:Geoff Jones A spokesman for Comcare said inspectors had identified issues relating to emergency access and egress when they visited the site on Thursday and later issued a prohibition notice. They found a lack of emergency evacuation diagrams, and fire extinguishers in the tunnels. The prohibition notice forced the shut down of all work in the tunnels but was due to be lifted on Friday evening after John Holland provided Comcare with evidence that they had addressed the deficiencies raised by the inspectors. That decision captures something of the vicious dilemmas inherent in NSW planning policy. Enable too many apartments, and youve let developers run the city. Allow too few, and youll cost jobs and push prices up. And if you find the right balance in one area, what about all the others? Labors planning spokesman Michael Daley characterises the Ryde decision as a cynical ploy by Roberts to save his ministerial colleague and Ryde MP Victor Dominello. Meanwhile, the property industry warned the governments decision will put jobs at risk and may drive up house prices. Loading And Anoulack Chanthivong, the Labor member for Macquarie Fields, points out that Sydneys growing pains are not confined to the north shore or Ryde. Development 'out of control' If the government can slam the brakes on development in Ryde, then it can slam the brakes on development in the Macquarie Fields electorate too, Chanthivong says. This Liberal government is full of inconsistencies and hypocrisy all to save its own skin. Chanthivong says development in his electorate in south-western Sydney was out of control, and was shouldering the burden of accommodating the citys population growth. He listed concerns such as overcrowded schools, inadequate transport and worsening congestion. An analysis of the latest NSW Planning data by the Herald suggests Sydneys west and south-west are at the epicentre of the development boom. The analysis found Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool together added 16,922 new homes between February 2013 and February 2018. The north shores seven council areas allowed 13,471 new homes to be built in that period. In Mosman, a paltry nine new homes were built between February 2017 and February 2018, with approval granted for 14 others. Chanthivong says areas represented by Liberal politicians in Sydneys north shore and south were not expected to house the same increases in population or high-rise apartments. Where are the uncapped height limits for Wollstonecraft, Oatley, Revesby and Roseville? he said. All these Liberal-held seats are less than 30 minutes from the CBD but they have modest height limits. South-west Sydney is bearing the brunt of the governments development agenda despite having some of the longest commutes in the city. Chanthivong says a worsening commuter car-parking crisis at Edmondson Park station was one symptom of the strain put on the areas infrastructure by the growing population. The car park is full to capacity around 7am, he says. Commuters have taken to parking on the footpath or parking in restricted areas and risking fines. A conga-line of cars is parked as far as the eye can see. A spokesman for Roberts says western Sydney would be lavished with great housing communities, hundreds of thousands of new jobs and opportunities, great local place and open spaces and new education opportunities for locals. The spokesman says 29 per cent of housing over the next 20 years was destined for the Western Parkland City under the Greater Sydney Region Plan compared to 27 per cent for the "Central River City" and 44 per cent for the "Eastern Harbour City". But Chanthivongs concerns are echoed by the Committee for Sydney, which questioned why the north shore had not been compelled to absorb a greater proportion of residential development. Is the north shore pulling its weight? A comparison of housing numbers and densities planned for the upper north shore compared to the Canterbury-Bankstown corridor was described as somewhat surprising in the Committee for Sydneys A Tale of Three Cities report. It is difficult to understand why the housing numbers and densities in and around both corridors are not more closely aligned, the report said. And, why the North Shore communities with the best rail connectivity in the city, and better access to jobs are not being targeted for more homes and higher density linked to transit-oriented development. [The map below shows density (people per square kilometre) by suburb, based on the 2016 Census.] The report by the independent think tank said housing targets should be increased in areas with better public transport and more job opportunities. The Committee suggests there is scope to increase the housing targets for those areas that currently have the best connectivity and employment, and to modify the housing targets for some other areas further west, or at least to defer the period for building out those targeted homes towards the latter periods of the plan. Forecasts for new dwellings between 2017-18 and 2021-22 across the upper and lower north shore show the area contributing about 15,500 new homes. In the same period, Blacktown will add 17,600, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool together will add 19,350 with Parramatta forecast to get 22,500. The committees call for more development on the north shore may not be welcomed by some residents such as Gornall. We used to have the sun shining through particularly in winter time, now its completely blocked out by the buildings from sunrise to midday, he says. Gornall says his street was often choked with parked cars and traffic. This is partly due to Lane Coves 2593 new homes built in the past five years. Theres the constant sound of babies when people are at home and dogs barking on cold, lonely balconies when people arent there, he says. Planning minister Anthony Roberts said he wants to leave Sydney in a better state for his children. Credit:Dean Osland Is Sydney full? Roberts, the Liberal member for Lane Cove, told ABC radio on Wednesday that he wanted to leave Sydney in a better shape for his children. Ive got three boys under eight, he said. I want to leave a legacy that they actually have a city that has more trees and more open space in it than when their father was planning minister. Yet Roberts and his government face an uphill battle to convince communities across Sydney of the viability of this legacy, from seniors housing in Bayview and Oatley to apartment towers in St Leonards and Sydenham. Common complaints include choked roads and a lack of parking, crowded buses and trains and public services such as schools and hospitals struggling to cope with Sydneys burgeoning population, which could rise to 8 million by 2056 according to the Greater Sydney Commission. Sydney's roads are struggling to cope with traffic. Credit:Roger Stonehouse The development has triggered a revival of old debates about the citys population. Bob Carr, the former NSW premier and Australian foreign affairs minister, famously declared Sydney was full and warned Australia had "third world-style" population growth rate. He suggested in February that the country should consider halving its immigration rate. Former prime minister Tony Abbott also suggested cutting immigration to improve stagnant wages, unaffordable housing and clogged infrastructure in a speech to The Sydney Institute in February. Eamon Waterford, the director of policy at the Committee for Sydney, says slowing the citys population growth through reducing immigration appeared to be a sensible solution. But he also says: Heres the problem: it wont work. Reducing immigration will have an impact on the population of Australia, but its highly unlikely to take pressure off Sydney or Melbourne. Peter Phibbs, a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Sydney, says a national strategy to examine how population was distributed is important. I also think we need to think how we manage immigration flows so we dont pressure our housing markets when cities are under pressure, he says. The national immigration target could move up and down depending on the time of the housing cycle to take the pressure off housing markets. Professor Roberta Ryan, the director of the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at the University of Technology Sydney, says the discussion about immigration rates is a diversion. Communities expect governments to plan better, she says. The planning that does exist is fragmented across state jurisdictions and subject to the short-term capriciousness of the three- to four-year political cycle. There is no national long-term plan for the future of Australias settlement patterns and investment in the right kind of infrastructure is urgent. The forecast for development In the short term, the government plans for 196,750 new homes to be built between 2017-18 and 2021-22. But the distribution has been unevenly applied both in forecasts and recent construction. The least number of dwellings built in the past five years were in Woollahra (131), Hunters Hill (233) and Mosman (287). In the next five years, Woollahra is forecast to add just 200 dwellings. Mosman (250) and Hunters Hill (300) follow as the slowest growing areas in Sydney. Associate Professor Piracha says the affluent residents of NIMBY land on the north shore and eastern suburbs had higher incomes, more influence and better lobbying capacity against development than the inhabitants of places he says are treated as Bogan land. Thousands of people and no public transport: People queue for buses at Wentworth Point. Credit:Louise Kennerley They understand how systems work and have capacity to influence them, Professor Piracha says of the north shore and eastern suburbs. They tend to know people in positions of power and influence as neighbours, class fellows, work colleagues, politicians, senior bureaucrats, journalists, and media personalities. In contrast, the people of western Sydney were less connected, had fewer resources to lobby against development and had less time to devote to local campaigns. [They] have very little ability to oppose higher density and poorly designed developments, he says. It is simply a matter of residential development going to places of least resistance. Piracha cites recent campaigns on the north shore mounted against council mergers, which led the NSW government to back down from amalgamations in the east and on the north shore including Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby and Mosman, North Sydney, Willoughby. Loading Phibbs says the capacity of local communities to resist development has been reduced by independent planning panels reducing the role of councils. The government, however, views the independent panels as a block against council corruption. Closer settlement also raises the issue of transport. What is the best way to get around a denser, more congested city? Transport decisions ought to be made before all others, because they shape a citys future. If the aim is, as it should be, to limit costly sprawl and fit more people into a smaller area, then rail, tram and public transport links ought to be given the highest priority. Cars and motorways, as theory teaches and as Sydney residents know from bitter experience, offer no solution. A leading complaint of the councils about the looser development rules is the insoluble problems of parking and road congestion. The state government has not been listening. It is still enamoured by inner-city motorways. And as each new motorway opens it moves a bottleneck further along, which needs yet another new motorway to solve it. Thus is Sydney locked into yet more sprawl. In its analysis of the issues raised by the sale of WestConnex, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week pointed to the overwhelming dominance of Transurban, which controls or has an interest in 92 per cent of Sydneys tollways. Its near monopoly may give it a stranglehold over the future development of motorways in Sydney. That is a serious indictment of past policies, and it should motivate governments to seek a way out. Rail developments offer just such a way. The third issue is money. To provide transport for a denser, closer-settled population of Sydney as well as schools, hospitals, roads, police stations and all the other services they need will cost a lot. We have just been through a federal budget week in which both government and opposition have been competing to promise tax cuts. The anger welling up in Sydney suburbs suggests that those politicians are kidding themselves. On the streets of our city, as in opinion polls, people are saying they want tax revenue spent on solving real problems not trifling attempts to buy their vote. Two men accused of raping a drunk medical student in a Brisbane laneway bragged to friends about having sex when they met them at a pub soon after the alleged attack, a court has heard. Jack Scott Turner Winship said he and Ryan David George had been laughing and joking together as they walked drunk from Paddington to West End and soon ran into a woman who was heading the opposite way. The pair, who are on trial in Brisbane District Court, soon began kissing and touching the woman and after taking a few steps into a dark lane, engaged in sexual acts with her, the jury has heard. Prosecutors say the men manoeuvred her into the alley to rape and sexually assault the woman, whom they targeted because she was staggering drunk. But the defence case is that all interactions were consensual. Some air passengers out of Brisbane can expect the right royal treatment after a Queensland-based charter company acquired the Dutch royal family's former VIP jet. With only about 8000 hours under its belt, the 24-seat Fokker 70 was bought new by the Dutch government in 1995 and was given a unique facelift fit for a queen. Literally. Ready for take-off: Alliance Airline's new royal jet. Credit:Amy Mitchell-Whittington The aircraft was used to fly the Dutch royal family and government officials across the Netherlands and Europe for more than two decades. In 2017, the royal family upgraded to a larger aircraft, giving Brisbane-based charter airline company Alliance Airlines the opportunity to snag the unique vessel for the Australian market. On the banks of the Brisbane River nearly 200 years ago, a small colony of convicts carved out the beginnings of white Australian history in south-east Queensland. Their stories are being told through spoken word, historical artifacts and images at an exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane. Life in Irons exhibition curators Madeleine King (left) and director Renai Grace at the Museum of Brisbane. Credit:Museum of Brisbane/Jono Searle Life in Irons: Brisbanes Convict Stories has unearthed some of the oldest written documents in Queenslands history, detailing the trials and tribulations of British convicts and their guardians from 1824 to 1839. The centrepiece of the exhibition is the Book of Trials, a remarkably detailed record of the punishments meted out to convicts who tried to escape or rebelled against their lot. Alan Jones denies he has a bitter hatred for the Wagner family and a desire to see them fail but has maintained his accusation they could have bribed Qantas. The talkback radio host engaged in a series of fiery cross-examination exchanges in his second day in the witness box in the Brisbane Supreme Court. Alan Jones is seen entering the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Friday, May 18. Credit:AAP Image/Glenn Hunt The Wagner brothers are suing Jones, Harbour Radio, 4BC and writer Nick Cater for $4.8 million over 32 broadcasts relating to the 2011 Queensland floods between 2014 and 2015. John, Denis, Neill and Joe Wagner claim they were accused of the deaths of 12 people in the town of Grantham during the floods when one of the walls of a quarry they owned collapsed. Two teenage girls were taken to hospital on Friday morning affected by unknown substances. Queensland Ambulance officers were called to Mitchelton State High School on Samford Road at 11.36am. Two teenage girls have been taken to hospital from a Brisbane School after taking an unknown substance. Credit:Stock photo One teenage girl was transported to Prince Charles Hospital, and the other to Lady Cilento Childrens hospital, both in stable conditions. An Education Department spokesperson confirmed two students reported being unwell at Mitchelton State High School, but could not provide details due to privacy. Scammers targeting the Chinese community in Australia are misappropriating official phone numbers by making threatening calls that appear to come from the Chinese embassy in Canberra. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued warnings through Scamwatch in particular to the Chinese community in Australia. The scams are trying to trick people by using fear to get them to pay money. While there are different iterations of the scam, there is a common theme. The phone rings and, when answered, a recorded message is played, usually in Mandarin. It is at this point that most people who do not speak the language hang up, unable to understand the message. Working out how to harness light has brought extraordinary advances. Microscopes can now see the innards of a cell. Space-based telescopes can see millions of years back in time. The pictures they beam back to Earth are beautiful. To those with limited vision, this beauty is ungraspable. They are often isolated from the wonders of science and from the rest of the community. Sabrina Constantin stares one of the models from the exhibition. Right, Dr Erica Tandori. Credit:Jason South Its enormously frustrating, oh my god, says artist Dr Erica Tandori, who is legally blind. Science, it has this sense of wonder. Why should we be excluded, be denied that wonder? A former quarry and rubbish dump in Melbournes south-east could soon be transformed into a massive residential development that will house 2500 people in coming years. The owner of the 19-hectare site in Oakleigh South has already begun rehabilitating the land in preparation for construction, which could occur within about three years. The large site is a rare and potentially lucrative opportunity for developer Sterling Global to build a large number of dwellings in the middle suburbs to capitalise on Melbournes population boom. Curt Thompson stands at the boundary of a former quarry and rubbish dump in Oakleigh south. Credit:Joe Armao A state planning panel will soon decide whether zoning rules should be amended to allow the residential development on the former Talbot Quarry. Four teenagers who allegedly smashed a number of police cars after officers broke up an out-of-control party at a rental property in North Melbourne last month are expected to be charged with criminal damage. Four teenagers were arrested and interviewed on Friday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into the party, and were released pending further inquiries. Police executed six search warrants and arrested a 16-year-old in Collingwood, two 17-year-olds in Werribee and Point Cook, and an 18-year-old in Tarneit. One of the four police cars damaged by partygoers. Acting Commander David Clayton said police expect to lay charges against the four teens later on Friday. But the school had no mechanical workshop. Tim smuggled an old motorcycle to school, hid it in a shed and sneaked out whenever he could to work on its greasy parts. He was caught and given another serve of the cuts. It wasnt too long before Tims parents recognised he was doing no good at school and that he was losing his spark. Back in his home district a new technical school was getting established. There is just one technical school left in Victorias secondary education system, at Cobden. And dont confuse the old system with Daniel Andrews 10 new Tech Schools, which are sort of halfway houses for secondary students to spend part of their time smoothing their way to the tertiary system. The Labor government of the late 1980s and early '90s turned against technical schools, and the new Kennett government that arrived in 1992 set about enthusiastically closing them everywhere. They were amalgamated with high schools, which were re-branded as secondary colleges. It was supposed to be a splendid educational evolution. It was, of course, nothing but sly penny-pinching. Back in the 1970s and '80s, secondary technical schools saved and made a lot of kids like Tim. And their students helped build todays Australia. They were equipped with workshops of all sorts, with teachers who had expertise in the trades, they were closely linked with businesses that were thirsty for future employees and their purpose was to train young men and women for trade apprenticeships. Tims parents took him out of boarding school and enrolled him in the local tech. This took something of an intake of breath. Plenty of middle-class Australians looked askance at tech schools. No one in those days had heard of cashed-up tradies, and there was an unspoken feeling that somehow the trades were a bit second-best. The flash new aspiration was a university degree. Tim, however, suddenly understood the principles of mathematics. They helped explain how everything worked. He got top marks in his first year. He arrived early, left late and lived in the schools mechanical workshops. And those words that used to dance away from him? He discovered he could fill notebooks about things that excited his imagination. He never got the cuts again. The boy who would never make anything of himself secured an apprenticeship as an auto electrician before his former boarding school mates were in their last couple of years at school. All these years later, Australias education policymakers are looking on in alarm as Australias universities pump out, year after year, battalions of graduates who will likely never get jobs off the back of degrees in things like communications, management, commerce and society and culture, while apprenticeships and traineeships are falling away at a rate that scares the hell out of government, unions and business. Simon Birmingham visits Alfred Deakin High School in Canberra earlier this month. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Meanwhile, the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system has been progressively starved of funds even though, in the absence of a secondary school technical system, it is supposed to be the principal training ground for the trades and services. And now the nations Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham - University of Adelaide, Masters of Business Administration - has let us in on how the government feels about technical education. After Labor leader Bill Shorten announced he would get rid of TAFE fees for 100,000 students, Birmingham snorted that Labor would subsidise everything from energy healing to basket weaving and saw billions of taxpayer dollars rorted and tipped down the sink. Birminghams frustration with the billions lost under the last scheme is understandable. Privatisation of the training sector, with poorly regulated student loans that invited mass rorting - introduced by the Gillard government and kept for too long by the Abbott and Turnbull governments - blew billions of dollars and let down thousands of young people. But his crack linking TAFE and basket-weaving suggests snooty middle-class attitudes towards technical education havent gone all that far away. Tim, if he were still around, might have reminded him that once, before they were eliminated, plain old technical schools gave people like him such a purpose that they were saved and made into an asset to this nation. Hundreds of people, possibly more, could lay claim to a slice of the mystery land next to Melbourne Airport that could be worth a small fortune. But tracing those people would likely cost more than the land is worth, meaning it will probably be forfeited to the Commonwealth and no one will get a cent, an expert says. As part of plans to build a third runway, Melbourne Airport has been acquiring huge amounts of nearby land at Tullamarine. The airport's plans were halted when it went to purchase two thin strips of undeveloped farmland and could not work out who to buy them from. When Sam Lau fell ill during Melbournes shock thunderstorm asthma cluster, his wife called triple-zero for an ambulance. But nobody came. As his breathing deteriorated, she called again. But nobody answered. Elsa Voong and her daughter hold a picture of her husband Sam. Credit:Justin McManus The father-of-four would become one of 10 adults to die in the aftermath of the mass medical emergency, which occurred on November 21, 2016, when a stormy cool change brought in a wave of pollen, triggering an outbreak of asthma. At a directions hearing at the Coroners Court on Friday, his wife Elsa Voong questioned why the triple-zero operator had not told her to drive her husband to hospital, as the dispatchers were flooded with calls. A woman was driving while suspended when she allegedly hit an elderly man and left him for dead. Anastasia Stacey Panourakis, 32, appeared before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday charged with multiple offences over a crash in Oakleigh East in December that killed Vincenzo Fata. The Clayton resident has been charged with dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop and render assistance after an accident, driving while suspended and careless driving. It's alleged Panourakis drove off after she struck Mr Fata on Ferntree Gully Road on December 14. He later died in hospital. More than 1.5 million workers in NSW and Victoria will have multiple superannuation accounts combined into one as part of a major revamp of the sector that will force Labor to decide if it will support powerful union-backed industry funds. The new Treasury figures, based on Australian Tax Office data, will heap pressure on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to offer bipartisan support for the federal budget measures. The industry is resisting the proposal because the $2 trillion sector stands to lose at least $3 billion in lucrative insurance revenue under the changes, according to the analysis obtained by Fairfax Media. Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer wants Parliament to ban super funds automatically charging insurance fees for customers aged under 25, cap administration costs at 3 per cent on accounts worth under $6000, ban exit fees and empower the Tax Office to combine multiple lost super accounts into one. Industry Super Australia, a $500 billion behemoth backed by union-run super funds, has already signalled it will campaign against the changes. In addition to lost insurance revenue, Treasury analysis suggests the proposals would cost the sector $570 million in lost fees and charges. China is building a $2 billion fish farm in French Polynesia - its second-largest investment in the Pacific - as a string of US officials have raised concerns about Chinese activity and warned that Washington and Canberra need to do more in the region. The massive fish farm project on Hao atoll has raised eyebrows in Canberra because it will sit next to the airport the French military previously used to carry out nuclear tests in the Pacific - though the French Polynesian government says the Chinese investor will not control the four-kilometre airstrip. Hao atoll, French Polynesia. The airstrip can be seen at the North eastern point of the island. Credit:Google Earth Two senior US defence figures have recently expressed concern about Chinese soft loans creating potential debt traps among the Pacific nations and giving Beijing leverage over island governments. Joe Felter, the Pentagons deputy assistant secretary for South-East Asia, likened Chinas expansion into the Pacific to its recent history in the Indian Ocean, where it has taken control of assets including a strategic port in Sri Lanka after the country defaulted on loan repayments. Why do we need it? Mitchell asked. Dangerous times, Neil, said the Prime Minister. That was it. Turnbull didnt explain how these powers further ensure the security of Australians. He didnt detail what police would be able to achieve with the new power that they couldnt have achieved before. Malcolm Turnbull in Melbourne this week. Credit:AAP He did not specify why new powers were necessary even though the countrys national terrorism threat Level has remained unchanged for four years. He did not attempt to explain why a proud Liberal government would usher in such an impingement on personal liberty. The ID check measure was buried in the budget, as part of a suite of new security measures, including more money for body scanning of passengers and the deployment of more Australian Federal Police at airports. Currently, an AFP officer can only request ID at an airport if s/he has a suspicion of an offence punishable by 12 months or more imprisonment. Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton Credit:Alex Ellinghausen A spokesperson for Dutton said: This high threshold limits the ability of police to intervene and disrupt criminal and security threats." What the police want is to be able to stop and question people without having to meet any legal threshold at all. AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin told 7.30 that airports were a unique environment and this was "not an unreasonable step". He said the power would help a police officer establish in his or her mind there was "nothing to be concerned about", and he rejected the suggestion that the power was the hallmark of a police state. As Dutton's spokesperson said: Legislative amendments are needed to allow police officers to check an individuals identity without a reasonable suspicion of a criminal offence and to direct a person to leave the airport premises where they pose a criminal or security threat. Loading It is hard to see circumstances where someone would pose such a threat and be moved on, not arrested. Perhaps there will be more detail in the legislation. When Mitchell asked the Prime Minister if the police would need to harbour suspicion to approach someone, or if the checks would be random, the Prime Minister said, random checks, yeah. But Duttons spokeswoman told me: Police will not be conducting random identity checks. They cant both be right. At the Tuesday press conference, the Prime Minister said that the justification for changing the laws is the safety of the Australian people, and left it at that, although he explicitly linked the measures to terrorism, mentioning this weeks hideous terrorist attacks in Surabaya, Indonesia. It didnt seem to occur to him that being asked to produce ID, for no apparent reason, will make certain kinds of Australians feel the opposite of safe. Dutton provided a bit more detail. He made the point that airports have special appeal for terrorists. Australia has endured five terrorist attacks since the terrorism level was lifted to probable in 2014. None have been at airports, but Dutton reminded us that in July last year police foiled a terror plot to take an explosive device onto an Etihad A380 aircraft at Sydney airport. In making the case for ID checks, Dutton said: There's certain conditions that need to be met at the moment before police can ask for that identification, which is an absurdity. That is quite an assertion to make. Why is it absurd to have conditions on when you can interrupt people going about their business? Arent those conditions what separate free states from police states? Sure, but Australia is far from a police state, right? So why does it matter if the cops can ask for your drivers license when youre milling about the airport? Security at Sydney Airport was been ramped up after the discovery of a terrorist plot last year. Credit:Michele Mossop After all, we give up our privacy and small pieces of self-sovereignty all the time, without complaint. I submitted to a bag check before a Peppa Pig show at the Opera House a few weeks ago. I am not even sure what the usher was looking for - an IED or unauthorised snacks - but all attendees complied without complaint, reassured that everyone was being treated the same, and that the checks were for the greater good. But it is one thing to hold open your bag when entering an area of public gathering. It is another to have to account for yourself, and produce papers, when youre going about your business in a public place. If we agree to trade away some of our civil liberties so society can better function, we should be sure we are getting a fair swap. And there is no evidence this new power to check ID will reap any terrorism-busting intelligence that is not already available to police under existing powers. Shanghai: Malcolm Turnbull has announced that he will visit China later this year the first confirmation that the annual leaders' dialogue will proceed after a six-month freeze in diplomatic relations as his trade minister sought to keep the trade relationship separate from security concerns. Canberra is attempting to soften its rhetoric on China after a number of Australian companies complained that they were being targeted for extra scrutiny by Chinese customs authorities. Trade minister Steven Ciobo at the Shanghai SIAL Food Industry Expo with Australian Ambassador to China Jan Adams and Australian chef Tim Hollands. One business executive in Shanghai with several decades experience in China told Fairfax Media, "When there is tension in the relationship, there is tension at the port". But Mr Turnbull insisted that the two nations "have a shared destiny". Two Queensland mountains have been renamed to wipe their connection to a racist past. Mount Jim Crow has returned to its Indigenous name, Baga, and Mount Wheeler is now Gai-i, pronounced "guy-ee". Several racist place names will be removed after a review by the Natural Resources and Mines Department. Credit:Greg Newington Some believe Mount Wheeler was named after a police officer responsible for the massacre of Indigenous people, while Jim Crow possibly refers to US racial segregation laws. The name changes for the mountains, near Rockhampton, were officially gazetted on Friday. The detention program is a hallmark of China's emboldened state security apparatus under the deeply nationalistic, hard-line rule of President Xi Jinping. It is partly rooted in the ancient Chinese belief in transformation through education taken once before to terrifying extremes during the mass thought reform campaigns of Mao Zedong, the Chinese leader sometimes channeled by Xi. "Cultural cleansing is Beijing's attempt to find a final solution to the Xinjiang problem," said James Millward, a China historian at Georgetown University. Omir Bekali said he endured psychological stress. Credit:AP Rian Thum, a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, said China's re-education system echoes some of the worst human rights violations in history. "The closest analogue is maybe the Cultural Revolution in that this will leave long-term, psychological effects," Thum said. "This will create a multigenerational trauma from which many people will never recover." Asked to comment on the camps, China's Foreign Ministry said it "had not heard" of the situation. When asked why non-Chinese had been detained, it said the Chinese government protects the rights of foreigners in China and they should also be law-abiding. Chinese officials in Xinjiang did not respond to requests for comment. However, pieces from state media and journals show the confidence Xinjiang officials hold in methods that they say work well to curb religious extremism. China's top prosecutor, Zhang Jun, urged Xinjiang's authorities this month to extensively expand what the government calls the "transformation through education" drive in an "all-out effort" to fight separatism and extremism. In a June 2017 paper published by a state-run journal, a researcher from Xinjiang's Communist Party School reported that most of the 588 surveyed participants did not know what they had done wrong when they were sent to re-education. But by the time they were released, nearly all 98.8 per cent had learned their mistakes, the paper said. Transformation through education, the researcher concluded, "is a permanent cure". People's war on terror On the chilly morning of March 23, 2017, Bekali drove up to the Chinese border from his home in Almaty, Kazakhstan, got a stamp in his Kazakh passport and crossed over for a work trip, not quite grasping the extraordinary circumstances he was stepping into. Bekali was born in China in 1976 to Kazakh and Uighur parents, moved to Kazakhstan in 2006 and received citizenship three years later. He was out of China in 2016, when authorities sharply escalated a "People's War on Terror" to root out what the government called religious extremism and separatism in Xinjiang, a large Chinese territory bordering Pakistan and several Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan. The Xinjiang he returned to was unrecognisable. All-encompassing, data-driven surveillance tracked residents in a region with around 12 million Muslims, including ethnic Uighurs and Kazakhs. Viewing a foreign website, taking phone calls from relatives abroad, praying regularly or growing a beard could land one in a political indoctrination camp, or prison, or both. Men pray at a mosque in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Credit:AP The new internment system was shrouded in secrecy, with no publicly available data on the numbers of camps or detainees. The US State Department estimates those being held are "at the very least in the tens of thousands". A Turkey-based TV station run by Xinjiang exiles said almost 900,000 were detained, citing leaked government documents. Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the European School of Culture and Theology, puts the number between several hundreds of thousands and just over 1 million. Government bids and recruitment ads studied by Zenz suggest that the camps have cost more than $100 million since 2016, and construction is ongoing. Bekali knew none of this when he visited his parents on March 25. He passed police checkpoints and handed over his decade-old Chinese identity card. Omir Bekali holds up a mobile phone showing a photo of his parents. He believes they have been detained in China. Credit:AP The next day, five armed policemen showed up at Bekali's parents' doorstep and took him away. They said there was a warrant for his arrest in Karamay, a frontier oil town where he lived a decade earlier. He couldn't call his parents or a lawyer, the police said, because his case was "special''. Bekali was held in a cell, incommunicado, for a week, and then was driven 800 kilometres to Karamay's Baijiantan District public security office. There, they strapped him into a "tiger chair", a device that clamped down his wrists and ankles. They also hung him by his wrists against a barred wall, just high enough so he would feel excruciating pressure in his shoulder unless he stood on the balls of his bare feet. They interrogated him about his work with a tourist agency inviting Chinese to apply for Kazakh tourist visas, which they claimed was a way to help Chinese Muslims escape. "I haven't committed any crimes!" Bekali yelled. They asked for days what he knew about two dozen prominent ethnic Uighur activists and businessmen in Kazakhstan. Exhausted and aching, Bekali coughed up what he knew about a few names he recognised. The police then sent Bekali to a 10-by-10-metre cell in the prison with 17 others, their feet chained to the posts of two large beds. Some wore dark blue uniforms, while others wore orange for political crimes. Bekali was given orange. In mid-July, three months after his arrest, Bekali received a visit from Kazakh diplomats. China's mass detention of ethnic Kazakhs and even Kazakh citizens has begun to make waves in the Central Asian country of 18 million. Kazakh officials say China detained 10 Kazakh citizens and hundreds of ethnic Kazakh Chinese in Xinjiang over the past year, though they were released in late April following a visit by a Kazakh deputy foreign minister. Four months after the visit, Bekali was taken out of his cell and handed a release paper. But he was not yet free. "We now know better" Bekali was driven from jail to a fenced compound in the northern suburbs of Karamay, where three buildings held more than 1000 internees receiving political indoctrination, he said. He walked in, past a central station that could see over the entire facility, and received a tracksuit. Heavily armed guards watched over the compound from a second level. He joined a cell with 40 internees, he said, including teachers, doctors and students. Men and women were separated. Internees would wake up together before dawn, sing the Chinese national anthem, and raise the Chinese flag at 7.30am. They gathered back inside large classrooms to learn "red songs" like Without the Communist Party, There is No New China, and study Chinese language and history. They were told that the indigenous sheep-herding Central Asian people of Xinjiang were backward and yoked by slavery before they were "liberated" by the Communist Party in the 1950s. Before meals of vegetable soup and buns, the inmates would be ordered to chant: "Thank the Party! Thank the Motherland! Thank President Xi!" Discipline was strictly enforced and punishment could be harsh. Bekali was kept in a locked room almost around the clock with eight others, who shared beds and a wretched toilet. Cameras were installed in toilets and even outhouses. Baths were rare, as was washing of hands and feet, which internees were told was equated with Islamic ablution. Bekali and other former internees say the worst parts of the indoctrination program were forced repetition and self-criticism. Although students didn't understand much of what was taught and the material bordered on the nonsensical to them, they were made to internalise it by repetition in sessions lasting two hours or longer. "We will oppose extremism, we will oppose separatism, we will oppose terrorism," they chanted again and again. Almost every day, the students received guest lecturers from the local police, judiciary and other branches of government warning about the dangers of separatism and extremism. In four-hour sessions, instructors lectured about the dangers of Islam and drilled internees with quizzes that they had to answer correctly or be sent to stand near a wall for hours. "Do you obey Chinese law or Sharia?" instructors asked. "Do you understand why religion is dangerous?" One by one, internees would stand up before 60 of their classmates to present criticisms of their religious history, Bekali said. The detainees would also have to criticise and be criticised by their peers. Those who parroted official lines particularly well or lashed into their fellow internees viciously were awarded points and could be transferred to more comfortable surroundings in other buildings, he said. "I was taught the Holy Koran by my father and I learned it because I didn't know better," Bekali heard one say. "I traveled outside China without knowing that I could be exposed to extremist thoughts abroad," Bekali recalled another saying. "Now I know." A Uighur woman said she was held in a centre in the city of Hotan in 2016. She said she and fellow prisoners repeatedly were forced to apologise for wearing long clothes in Muslim style, praying, teaching the Koran to their children and asking imams to name their children. Praying at a mosque on any day other than Friday was a sign of extremism; so was attending Friday prayers outside their village or having Koranic verses or graphics on their phones. While instructors watched, those who confessed to such behavior were told to repeat over and over: "We have done illegal things, but we now know better." Owing the country Other detainees and a re-education camp instructor tell similar stories. In mid-2017, a Uighur former on-air reporter for Xinjiang TV known as Eldost was recruited to teach Chinese history and culture in an indoctrination camp because he spoke excellent Mandarin. He had no choice. The re-education system, Eldost said, classified internees into three levels of security and duration of sentences. The first group typically consisted of illiterate minority farmers who didn't commit any ostensible crimes other than not speaking Chinese. The second class was made up of people who were caught at home or on their smartphones with religious content or so-called separatist materials, such as lectures by the Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti. The final group was made up of those who had studied religion abroad and came back, or were seen to be affiliated with foreign elements. In the latter cases, internees were often sentenced to prison terms of 10 to 15 years, Eldost said. While he was teaching, Eldost once saw through the window 20 students driven into the courtyard. Two rows of guards waited for them and beat them as soon as they got out of the police van. He later heard that the internees were recent arrivals who had studied religion in the Middle East. Violence was not regularly dispensed, but every internee spoken to saw at least one incident of rough treatment or beatings. Eldost said the instruction was aimed at showing how backward traditional Uighur culture is and how repressive fundamentalist Islam is compared to a progressive Communist Party. The internees' confessions of their backwardness helped drive the point home. "Internees are told to repeat those confessions to the point where, when they are finally freed, they believe that they owe the country a lot, that they could never repay the party," said Eldost, who escaped from China in August after paying a bribe. Kayrat Samarkan, a Chinese Kazakh from Astana who was detained while running errands in a northern Xinjiang police station in December, was sent to an internment camp in Karamagay in northern Xinjiang with 5700 students. Those who didn't obey, were late to class or got into fights were put for 12 hours in a loose body-suit that was made of iron and limited their movement, he said. Those who still disobeyed would be locked in a tiger chair for 24 hours. As one form of punishment, he said, instructors would press an internee's head in a tub of ice and water. After three months, Samarkan couldn't take the lessons anymore, so he bashed his head against a wall to try to kill himself. He merely fell unconscious. "When I woke up, the staff threatened me, saying if I did that again they would extend my sentence to seven years there," he said. After 20 days, Bekali also contemplated suicide. Several days later, because of his intransigence and refusal to speak Mandarin, Bekali was no longer permitted to go into the courtyard. Instead, he was sent to a higher level of management, where he spent 24 hours a day in a room with eight others. A week later, he went to his first stint in solitary confinement. He saw a local judicial official walking into the building on an inspection tour and yelled at the top of his lungs. He thought even his former detention centre, with the abuse he suffered, would be better. "Take me in the back and kill me, or send me back to prison," he shouted. "I can't be here anymore." He was again hauled off to solitary confinement. It lasted 24 hours, ending late afternoon on November 24. That's when Bekali was released, as suddenly as he was detained eight months earlier. A Baijiantan policemen who had always gone easy on Bekali during interrogation appeared and checked him out of the facility. "You were too headstrong, but what the department did was unjust," he told Bekali as he drove him to his sister's home in Karamay. Bekali was free. Freedom, but not for his family The next morning, a Saturday, the police opened their immigration office for Bekali to pick up a unique, 14-day Chinese visa. His original had long expired. Bekali left China on December 4. Seeking compensation from the Chinese government is out of the question. But Bekali keeps a plastic folder at home of evidence that might prove useful someday: his passport with stamps and visas, travel records and a handwritten Chinese police document dated and imprinted with red-ink seals. The document is the closest thing he has to an official acknowledgement that he suffered for eight months. It says he was held on suspicion of endangering national security; the last sentence declares him released without charge. Washington: US President Donald Trump has threatened North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with "decimation", unless Kim agrees to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. With the June 12 US-North Korea summit at stake and plenty of statements flying from both sides, Trump gave Kim two options: reach an agreement to denuclearise and remain in power or suffer the fate of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown and murdered by rebels who were supported by a NATO bombing campaign in 2011. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are scheduled to meet in Singapore on June 12. Credit:AP "If you look at that model with Gaddafi, that was a total decimation. We went in there to beat him. Now that model would take place if we don't make a deal, most likely," Trump told reporters prior to his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Thursday, US time. "But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy," the President added. Paris: Police investigating a deadly knife attack last week near the Paris Opera have arrested two young women, the country's chief anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said. A bullet hole seen on the window of a cafe located near the area where the assailant of a knife attack was shot dead by police officers, in central Paris on Sunday. Credit:AP The two were close to Khamzat Azimov, the 20-year-old perpetrator of the attack who was shot dead by police at the scene, as well as close to a friend of Azimov's who was arrested in Strasbourg on Sunday, Molins said. Azimov's friend, named as Abdoul Hakim A and also aged 20, was charged with "terrorist conspiracy to commit attacks on people" and remanded in detention late Thursday, Agenge France-Presse reported. Gaza: Skunk water, sticky foam, sponge grenades and tear gas-spraying drones are among the non-lethal methods Israel has pioneered to quell Palestinian protests. Given this extensive toolkit, Israel is struggling to explain why its snipers fired enough bullets into Gaza Monday to kill 60 Palestinians and wound about 1200. As with previous conflicts there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government may face investigations and censure from international legal bodies. An elderly Palestinian man falls on the ground after being shot by Israeli troops. Credit:AP "It's simply unacceptable and outrageous to use live fire, not as the last resort but as the basic modus operandi for dealing with these demonstrations," said Amir Gilutz, spokesman for Israeli human rights group Btselem. Some 40,000 of Gaza's 2 million residents converged on Israel's border on May 14 to protest against the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move they say sets back peace efforts and undermines their bid for statehood. The protest was part of a campaign of weekly demonstrations staged by Gaza's Hamas. Juxtaposed with the festive mood at the embassy opening, footage from Gaza, showing scores of Palestinians shot by Israeli soldiers, alarmed viewers around the world. The temptation to draw a straight line linking all these events and tracing them back to a single root cause is understandable, but misplaced. As ever in the Middle East, the situation is more complicated than it seems. Less than a week later, Israel finally achieved the international recognition it has long sought for its capital, with the opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem. On the same day, clashes between violent protesters and Israeli security forces on Israels border with Gaza resulted in the tragic and needless deaths of large numbers of Palestinians. The contrast in images was jarring. It has been a tumultuous past week in Israel. On May 8, US President Trump announced he would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions. Within hours, Iran attacked Israel with a barrage of rockets fired from Syria. The Israeli response was swift and comprehensive, striking a large number of Iranian military targets inside Syria. The violent protests and clashes on the Israeli-Gaza border were driven primarily by local factors. Though the split-screen viewing suggested otherwise, they were not directly aimed at the US embassy move. Gazan civil society originally conceived of these protests, which have been running now for several weeks, as a peaceful demonstration against their dire humanitarian situation (for which Hamas bears most responsibility). Hamas, seeing the danger in this for its own rule, appropriated and redirected these protests against Israel. The "March of Return" was a re-assertion of Palestinian claims to the land of Israel, intended to culminate on the 70th anniversary of the date of Israels creation, an episode Palestinians refer to as the Nakba (or tragedy). Hamas compelled civilians to attend these protests and then went about injecting them with violence and provoking conflict with Israeli security forces (by Hamass own accounts, over 50 of those killed were Hamas operatives). Why? Because such clashes, with the widespread international media coverage and inevitable condemnation of Israel they generate, strengthen Hamas political hand. Cynical in its disregard for human life, it is an asymmetric propaganda tool which Hamas uses to great effect. While it was accompanied with turmoil (and should be have been better timed to avoid this sensitive period in the Palestinian calendar), the opening of the new US embassy need not undermine the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. In fact, it may do the reverse. Georgetown was voted "Best Coastal Small Town" in the country in a USA Today contest. Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Mostly cloudy. Low 63F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. Low 63F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. On Monday, a cargo delivery to the International Space Station will carry old-fashioned sextants, E. colibacteria and lasers that will create a temperature 10 billion times colder than the vacuum of space. These unusual science experiments are scheduled to launch Monday morning (May 21) at 4:39 a.m. EDT (0839 GMT) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. They will launch on the commercial spaceflight company Orbital ATK's Antares rocket, packed in the company's Cygnus spacecraft as part of 7,385 lbs. (3,350 kilograms) of scientific equipment, food, clothing and other supplies for the Expedition 55 space station crew. This mission, known as OA-9, will be the Orbital ATK's ninth Cygnus cargo-resupply mission to the space station. Orbital ATK initially aimed to launch the flight on Sunday (May 20). However, the company postponed the flight to Monday to allow time for extra pre-launch checks and await better launch weather. The spacecraft is named the S.S. J.R. Thompson after J.R. Thompson, a late aerospace executive and NASA director who worked with the Cygnus spacecraft and helped to advance human spaceflight. [Orbital ATK's Antares Rocket & Cygnus Explained (Infographic)] The early morning launch will be visible along the U.S. East Coast, and you can watch it live online here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. The Cold Atom Lab (CAL) will create a spot aboard the International Space Station 10 billion times colder than the vacuum of space. (Image credit: NASA/iGoal Animation) Aboard the craft will be an experiment from the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), a physics research facility in which scientists will explore the lowest temperatures that we can reach in a lab and how those temperatures affect atomic interactions. These temperatures are "like one-tenth of a billion of a degree above absolute zero," Robert Shotwell, CAL project manager and an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said in a press conference May 10. CAL is sending the space station an experimental physics package that holds an "ice chest"-like compartment filled with lasers and electronics; the interior will be able to reach a temperature10 billion times colder than the vacuum of space, according to a NASA statement. Within this instrument, the researchers will use laser cooling techniques and magnets to slow down atoms until they are almost entirely motionless. By studying these ultra-cold atom clouds in the microgravity environment aboard the space station and observing how these atoms interact, CAL could help scientists answer some of their most puzzling quantum questions, NASA officials said. An "Ice Cube" is seen slotted into a rack on the ESA's space laboratory Columbus. (Image credit: ESA) This cargo mission will also carry "ICE Cubes," but not the chilly variety you may be picturing. These cubes, sent as part of the International Commercial Experiment, or ICE Cubes Service, are small, modular containers about the size of microwave ovens. Neatly slotted into a laboratory rack as part of a "plug-and-play" model, these cubes are connected to electricity and monitoring systems and will each contain a different experiment. This service is a partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Space Application Services (SpaceAps). ICE Cubes vary in size and are easy to build, install and remove. "The idea is to provide fast, direct and affordable access to space for research, technology and education for any organization or customer," Hilde Stenuit of SpaceAps, said in the statement. ICE Cubes sent in this mission will include an experiment that will study how different seeds germinate and grow under a variety of unique space conditions, an experiment that looks at how bacteria can be used to create methane in microgravity, and more. NASA astronaut Alexander Gerst learns how to use a sextant, a traditional navigation tool that could be of vital importance to future astronauts. (Image credit: NASA) An unusually low-tech item will also be aboard the spacecraft: a handheld sextant. This instrument, which measures the angular distance between two visible objects, is a time-honored staple of navigation. The traditional, metal tool has historically been used for nautical navigation by sailors out at sea or to measure distances in the night sky. The Sextant Navigation investigation will test the use of handheld sextants for emergency navigation on future deep-space missions, according to the NASA statement. As crewed missions travel farther and farther from Earth, the risks will increase. If a crew found itself without communications or sufficient computing capabilities, it could theoretically use a sextant to find its way using the angles among the moon, planets and stars. Because the instrument requires no power or external support to operate, it could be a simple but life-saving tool, NASA officials said. BEST is looking to advance sequencing in space and understand how microbes react to the unique environments aboard the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA) Also coming aboard the spacecraft will be Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST), which will use DNA and RNA sequencing to study microbes aboard the space station and better understand how spaceflight could contribute to mutations in these species. With a swab-to-sequencer process, astronauts can sequence the genome of microbes found on board without having to culture the organisms first. This is a huge step forward, as previously, "NASA's microbiology has relied on culturing the organisms," Sarah Wallace, a NASA microbiologist and principal investigator for BEST, said during the press conference. With human spaceflight advancing every day, this work will allow scientists to better understand how microscopic organisms, like bacteria, react to the microgravity aboard the space station, Wallace said. BEST will also advance sequencing in space by performing direct RNA sequencing. Scientists at the University of Alaska Anchorage are exploring how genetically modified E. Coli would produce isobutane. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons) Escherichia coli (E. coli), the bacterium best-known for its ability to cause food poisoning in humans, is also heading up to the space station. Aside from causing gastrointestinal distress, a genetically engineered strain of E. coli can also produce isobutane. This E. Coli strain, while harmless to humans, can produce this molecule, which we use to make everything from latex to medical devices and fuel additives. In fact, isobutane is a significant part of manufacturing today, researchers said in the news conference. Unfortunately, the material is primarily produced, for manufacturing purposes, from fossil fuels and nonrenewable sources. The process of producing isobutane is energy-intensive and polluting, as Brandon Briggs, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, discussed in the conference. By genetically engineering E. coli to produce isobutane and sending some of these into space, researchers can investigate what environments are ideal for isobutane production in these microbes. Zaiput Flow Technologies will study how to separate liquids without gravity in the unique environment aboard the International Space Station. (Image credit: Zaiput Flow Technologies) Additionally, the spacecraft will carry NASA's Continuous Liquid-Liquid Separation in Microgravity investigation which will use theliquid-liquid separation system from company Zaiput Flow Technologies. While liquid separation here on Earth typically relies on gravity, this separator uses surface forces independent of gravity, such as surface tension. The system will be put to the test in the space station's microgravity environment, where the variable of gravity can be removed and they can see whether or not surface tension alone can be used as a liquid separator. This will allow researchers to improve the performance of the system, according to Andrea Adamo, founder and CEO of Zaiput Flow Technologies, in the press conference. Adamo also noted in the news conference that this system might one day be used to enable chemical synthesis in space. Editor's note: This story, originally posted at 7 a.m. EDT, was updated to include details of Orbital ATK's launch delay. The launch is now set for Monday, May 21. Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her @chelsea_gohd. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. An artist's illustration of China's Queqiao relay satellite, which will relay data between controllers on Earth and China's Chang'e 4 lander-rover pair on the moon's far side. Queqiao is scheduled to launch on May 20, 2018; the Chang'e 4 duo will lift off in November or December. China will launch the next piece of its ambitious robotic lunar-exploration program on Sunday (May 20), if all goes according to plan. The nation's Queqiao relay satellite is scheduled to lift off atop a Long March 4C rocket on Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at about 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT; 5 a.m. on May 21 local Xichang time). Queqiao will then make its way to the Earth-moon Lagrange point 2, a gravitationally stable spot located 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) beyond the lunar far side. From that perch, Queqiao will relay signals and data between Earth and China's pioneering Chang'e 4 lander-rover duo. That pair will launch late this year and attempt to become the first spacecraft ever to land on the far side of the moon. [China's Moon Missions Explained (Infographic)] The moon is tidally locked to Earth, meaning it always shows the same face (the near side) to our planet. So, a relay link is necessary to communicate with spacecraft on the far side, which would otherwise have to send their signals through the moon's rocky bulk. Queqiao will also carry an astronomy experiment called the Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer, which will search for radio signals from the universe's very early days and characterize the solar wind near the moon, among other work. And Queqiao won't launch alone; the Long March 4C will also loft two small satellites called Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2, which will perform radio-astronomy research of their own. The Chang'e program has already achieved a string of successes. The Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 probes reached lunar orbit in 2007 and 2010, respectively, and the Chang'e 3 mission put a lander and rover on the moon's near side in late 2013. The next year, China launched Chang'e 5 T1, a mission that sent a sample-return capsule around the moon and back to Earth to demonstrate the technology needed to survive a fiery atmospheric entry. China plans to launch a bona-fide lunar sample-return mission, called Chang'e 5, in 2019. The nation also aims to put people on the lunar surface before the end of the 2030s, Chinese officials have said. The Chang'e program was named after the Chinese goddess of the moon, and "Queqiao" means "bridge of magpies." This latter moniker comes from a Chinese folktale. In the story, as China's state-run Xinhua news service explained last month, "magpies form a bridge with their wings on the seventh night of the seventh month of the lunar calendar to enable Zhi Nu, the seventh daughter of the Goddess of Heaven, to cross and meet her beloved husband, separated from her by the Milky Way." "Longjiang," by the way, means "dragon river." This is apparently a nod to the small satellites' home base; they were developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology, which is located in Heilongjiang Province. "Heilongjiang" means "black dragon river"; it's the Chinese name for the big, powerful river that Russians call the Amur, which forms part of the border between Russia and China. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. This map shows the locations and times (the number of seconds after the 5:04 EDT launch) that an Orbital ATK Antares rocket launch will be visible along the East Coast on May 20, 2018. An Orbital ATK Antares rocket will launch a commercial Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station from Virginia's Eastern Shore before dawn on Monday, and the launch could be visible to potentially millions of spectators along the U.S. East Coast. The Antares rocket is scheduled to launch at 4:39 a.m. EDT (0839 GMT) on Monday (May 21) and should be highly visible across the East Coast of the United States, weather permitting. The mission, called OA-9, will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to deliver more than 3 tons of supplies to the space station. If you aren't in the visibility region, you can still watch the launch webcast on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at about 4 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT). The mission was originally scheduled to launch Sunday (May 20), but Orbital ATK postponed it 24 hours due to weather concerns and the need for additional preflight checks. [How to See a Rocket Launch in Person This Summer] Spectators from Massachusetts all the way down to South Carolina, and almost as far west as Pittsburgh, will have the opportunity glimpse the launch. For those local to Virginia, note that Assateague Island National Seashore/Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, a popular launch-viewing site, will not be open. However, for those close enough to visit the launch site, NASA has provided guidance here on how to watch the launch from the Wallops Visitor Center. An Orbital ATK Antares rocket, seen here in a file photo on its launchpad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, will launch before dawn on May 20, 2018. It may be visible to spectators along the U.S. East Coast. (Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA) NASA issued a "three-days-out launch-range forecast" Thursday for the launch with thick clouds at launch time posing the biggest concern. If Orbital ATK is unable to launch Antares Monday, there are back up dates as late as May 25, NASA spokesperson Keith Kohler of Wallops told Space.com in an email. The Cygnus spacecraft is packed with 7,385 lbs. (3350 kilograms) of scientific equipment and experiments, clothing, food, and additional supplies to the Expedition 55 crew aboard the space station. Those experiments range from cold-atom investigations that will push our knowledge of quantum physics to experiments with old-fashioned sextants. That project will evaluate if the traditional, metal tool could be useful for navigation aboard future crewed missions in space. This will be the Orbital ATK's ninth contracted cargo-resupply mission to the space station for NASA. Editor's note: If you spot Orbital ATK's Antares launch in the predawn sky and would like to share a photo or video with Space.com, send images and comments in to spacephotos@space.com. This story was updated to include Orbital ATK's announcement of a launch delay. Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her @chelsea_gohd. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. American Gods' Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield will star in Netflix dramedy, Sex Education. Netflix reveals that he show is set to debut in 2019. Hollywood, CA - November 28, 2017 -- Sex, relationships and insecurity are intertwined in Sex Education, a new charming coming-of-awkward-age dramedy, debuting globally on Netflix in 2019.Meet Otis Thompson a socially awkward high school virgin who lives with his mother, a sex therapist. Surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis is a reluctant expert on the subject. When his home life is revealed at school, Otis realizes that he can use his specialist knowledge to gain status. He teams up with Maeve, a whip-smart bad-girl, and together they set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their fellow students weird and wonderful problems. Through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realises he may need some therapy of his own."We are delighted to bring Laurie Nunns brilliant creation to life with such a gifted team. Netflix is an exceptional partner and we are thrilled to go on this journey together," said Jamie Campbell, Eleven.We couldnt be more excited to partner with the Eleven team, creator Laurie Nunn, and executive producer and director Ben Taylor to bring Sex Education -- a distinctive, fresh and witty examination of the universally awkward teenage experience -- to our members around the world, said Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content, at Netflix.A Netflix original series, Sex Education is set to begin production in the U.K. in spring 2018. Sex Education is produced by Eleven, with executive producers Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson. Laurie Nunn is creator and writer. Ben Taylor (Catastrophe) will direct and executive produce. Paris (France), May 08, 2018 (SPS) - The lawyer of Claude Mongan, Professor Ingrid Mitton, has called for the need to put an end to the disturbing and unacceptable situation in which her client is going after 20 days of an open hunger strike in order to obtain her essential right, right to private and family life, and must remain away from political bidding, and vengeance on its position on the issue of Western Sahara and its support for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination During her press conference hosted by the municipality of Evry-sur-Seine, Ms. Ingrid highlighted that her client, Claude Mongan, is a victim of reprisals by the Moroccan state against the defenseless Saharawi people and the ban, primarily aimed at denying them the right to private and family life, which constitutes a blatant violation of human rights in the Western Sahara. "Our government is called upon to take urgent action in this regard," she said. "It is regrettable that the French government remains on the sidelines of the situation of its citizen Claude Mongan and in violation of the rights of its citizens and subjected to harsh treatment by a state that dubbed it as friendly and close country.SPS 125/090/TRA A federal judge in Connecticut has dismissed a customer lawsuit against Nestle Waters North America that alleges the Stamford-based company is misrepresenting the source of its Poland Spring line of bottled water. But the plaintiffs plan to press on with their litigation. The court action responds to a complaint filed last August that said that not one drop of Poland Springs advertised 100 percent natural spring water came from such springs in mountains and forests, but instead originated from wells drilled a few feet from the surface in saturated plains and valleys. Although I reject many of Nestles arguments, I agree with Nestle that plaintiffs claims are all pre-empted by federal law, Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer wrote in his ruling Thursday. Nestle Waters officials said they were pleased with the dismissal of the meritless lawsuit. Poland Spring is what we have always said it is 100 percent natural spring water, meeting all (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) regulations for spring water, Charles Broll, Nestle Waters executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement Friday. Consumers can be confident in the honesty and accuracy of the labels on every bottle of Poland Spring. Meyer also dismissed three related class-action lawsuits against Nestle Waters filed after the original complaint. He did not throw out another suit that was consolidated under his purview, because it was not covered by Nestle Waters dismissal motion filed last October. Nestle Waters based its argument for dismissal on a letter last August from the Maine Drinking Water Program that said all eight springs in the state that supply Poland Spring constitute spring water sources. A message left Friday for the Maine Drinking Water Program was not immediately returned. Colts Neck, N.J.-based attorney Alexander Schmidt, lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in August, said Friday they would amend their complaint, consistent with the ruling. The lead plaintiffs in that case live in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont. Poland Spring is primarily distributed in those states, as well as Rhode Island. Plaintiffs appreciate that the court rejected all of Nestles arguments except one, holding that plaintiffs should assert claims based on state law rules governing spring water, Schmidt said in an email. The decision did not address the accuracy of our detailed factual allegations, which we look forward to proving. The litigation also asserts at least one of the wells at each of Poland Springs six largest groundwater sites is located near polluted sites. But it said the proximity did not frequently lead to contaminated water because Nestle Waters disinfects and sometimes purifies the water. Also Friday, Nestle Waters announced that an investigation team at global law firm DLA Piper had found that Poland Spring is properly labeled as spring water. Nestle Waters had commissioned the study. DLA Piper has concluded that Poland Spring brand spring water sources satisfy the requirements of the federal spring water identity standard, George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator who is chairman emeritus of DLA Piper, said in a statement. As a result, the use of the term spring water on Poland Spring labels is both accurate and appropriate. Water that is derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth may be spring water, according to FDA regulations. Spring water shall be collected only at the spring or through a bore hole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring. The FDA has not issued any warning letters to Nestle Waters, agency officials have told Hearst Connecticut Media. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott In "Avengers: Infinity War," the latest superhero smash-em-up, Captain America, Iron Man and company face off against villain Thanos. Thanos is the baddest of the bad guys to swagger on-screen in 10 years of Marvel blockbusters. Joe Russo, who co-directed the movie with his brother Anthony, told The Washington Post earlier in May that Thanos is "the Genghis Khan of this universe" with a philosophical bent. Because superhero blockbusters demand that philosophers must also pulverize, Thanos matches his big brain with bigger purple muscles. He doesn't just look the brutish part. Based on a recent "whimsical by design" analysis, Northeastern University engineering professor Steven Cranford calculated that Thanos is powerful enough to dead lift the RMS Titanic. To get to that calculation, Cranford made real molecular models of a fictional cube called the Tesseract. The peer-reviewed journal Extreme Mechanics Letters published his models earlier this month. The Tesseract, as seen in this "Avengers" movie trailer, is a glowing blue box that Thanos crushes to dust. It's an undignified end for an object included in no fewer than nine Marvel films. ("Iron Man's" dad sketched it in his notebook.) For our purposes, picture the Tesseract as a very strong, and four-dimensional, crystalline cube. Cranford, a Marvel movie buff and a materials scientist, has two reactions to science fiction inventions like the Tesseract. Frequently he rolls his eyes. Other times, though, he has a thought: Well, that's interesting. When Thanos demolished the cube, Cranford had one of those thoughts. In his Boston office, the day after the trailer hit the internet, Cranford fired up a molecular dynamics program to figure out what a four-dimensional box could look like. If he cracked the cube's geometry, he could calculate its material strength. And if he knew the cube's strength, he could calculate how powerful Thanos needed to be to crush it. Luckily for Cranford, tesseracts are not just gobbledygook churned out of the Marvel Studios machine. They also exist in the pages of geometry textbooks. "It was probably just called that in the movie because it sounded technical or something," Cranford said. As a square becomes a cube by adding the third dimension, a cube becomes a hypercube - a tesseract - by adding a fourth. Picture a smaller cube suspended perfectly within the center of a larger cube, and you have approximated a tesseract. Using the modeling software, Cranford began to construct molecular tesseracts, linking carbon atom to carbon atom. Carbon appeals to theoretical tinkerers like Cranford because the element's atoms bind to each other in multiple ways. With multiple forms come vastly different properties. Consider diamond and graphite. Both substances contain only carbon atoms. Compactly bound atoms lend diamonds their incredible strength. In soft graphite, the carbon atoms are strung looser and farther apart, like sheets of chicken wire. When a form of carbon gets really weird, materials scientists describe the arrangement of its atoms as an "exotic geometry." One such form, fullerene, is a spherical cage of carbon atoms. Fullerene cages have been synthesized in laboratories and detected in space. Cranford's computer program, a tool used by many materials scientists, is stocked with similarly exotic geometries. These include graphene, a flat sheet of carbon arranged like honeycomb's hexagonal chambers, and carbyne, a one-dimensional daisy chain of carbon atoms. Liberated by sci-fi but constrained within the realistic bounds of the software, Cranford cooked up carbon formations that no laboratory on Earth can synthesize. Leaning on the program's "reactive force fields" allowed him to create "crazy molecules," said materials scientist Julia Greer, who studies carbon nanostructures at the California Institute of Technology and was not a part of this research. "In these kind of simulations you can construct anything you want." Still, plenty of the would-be tesseracts fell apart. Too-tight angles broke the carbon bonds. In some cases, the carbon atoms just wouldn't stick, rejected like mismatched puzzle pieces. But Cranford was successful twice. He designed two new types of stable carbon arrangements, and published their theoretical structures earlier this month. Greer, who applauded Cranford's comic-book inspiration, said his playful approach generated "toy molecules." One carbon form, connected loops of carbon atoms, Cranford named pentatope. The other form, carbon cubes-within-cubes, he called hypercubyne. This was his carbon tesseract. He tested the strength of his simulated creations, digitally compressing the molecules to see what force buckled their bonds. Ten billionths of a newton bent the hypercubyne bonds, which, alone, is not very impressive. (By way of comparison, professional boxers punch with forces of up to 5,000 newtons.) Yet, if hypercubyne molecules were linked together like billions and billions of Lego bricks, its strength rocketed into science fictional digits. A hypercubyne with 6-inch-long edges, resembling the Tesseract in Marvel films, would weigh less than a cube of pencil graphite. But Cranford concluded that squeezing the cube to dust required a force equal to 42,000 tons, or the combined grip strength of 750,000 average U.S. men. (That's about the number of men living in Philadelphia.) Assuming a proportional relationship between grip strength and what the average male American can lift, back-of-the-envelope math suggests Thanos could heft 120 million pounds, 10 million pounds more than the weight of the Titanic. "Thanos was extremely strong, not just, you know, marginally stronger than a human," he said. Greer was not enthusiastic about the way Cranford scaled the strength of the 6-inch cube. "The link from the buckling of an individual bond to the strength of the material is a little dubious," Greer said. If you plucked a few molecules from a chimney brick and compressed those, vs. compressing a brick itself, you'd get disproportionate forces, she said. "There's nothing wrong with the toy molecules," she said, but building the cube makes "a gross leap into the material properties." The study author admitted that assembling individual hypercubyne molecules into a large cube was far-fetched. "To carry the strength from nano to macro you're basically saying you can put these things together in an idealized way. And the technology is not there," Cranford said. But he disagrees that it is theoretically impossible. "You would just have to place billions of atoms in the right spot." Both Greer and Cranford agreed that science fiction is a useful tool in materials science classrooms. Greer said she could envision using a similar example while teaching her undergraduate students. Many materials scientists have looked to nature for a creative spark. The sticky pads of gecko feet, after all, inspired the creation of new adhesives. Cranford argues that wall-crawling Spider-Man could be just as inspirational as a lizard. He's eager to poach more ideas from screenwriters and comic book authors, he said. "You don't have to be an engineer to come up with an idea about a material or materials science." Stamford has a bad, and well deserved, reputation for razing its history. Now it has a chance to correct or at least improve upon not one but three of those past mistakes. The citys zoning board earlier this week approved an application to let a developer level one of the three St. Johns Towers, the silo-like downtown apartment buildings that are the arterial plaque of the heart that is our rapidly upscaling downtown. (Note: In this metaphor, the Stamford Town Center is a growth than needs serious lancing.) The developer will also fork over some $4 million to help the owner of the remaining two towers with a proposed renovation of those structures. St. Johns opened in 1971 to house lower-income residents displaced by the citys urban renewal movement of the era. While the towers, ringed with sewage-colored rectangles and prison-bar porch rails, have been referred to in print here as iconic, they are more likely referred by you in disgusted tones as hideously dingy eyesores. At one time I thought they might have been tributes to Chicagos famous Marina City, better known as the waterfront corn cob towers. However, as the calendar pages fell and the layers of exhaust-fume pollutants thickened upon these crumbling concrete and glass cylinders, Ive come to look on them more as a trio of monuments to Oscar the Grouchs trashcan. While they offer great views of Long Island Sound to a select few, the towers simply replaced the socio-economic row house blight of one era with its own soot-caked architectural blight of another. The towers were designed by the late Victor Hanna Bisharat. Poor Victor. As I wrote in a recent column about a proposal to raze one of Bisharats UFO-ish High Ridge Office Park buildings, some consider his Stamford creations such as Landmark Square and One Stamford Forum (the old GTE building to those of old enough) noteworthy but many others here consider much of his work dated, misguided or just blah. The fortress that is the Stamford Marriott covers all three. St. Johns, with its raised pedestrian bridges to keep people off the bad ol streets of Stamford (or was it the bad people of the ol streets of Stamford?), was part of the many mistakes made in that period. But you cant completely blame Bisharat, the original architect of choice for Stamfords urban renewal era bulldozer/butcher F.D. Rich Co. The Rich Co. had a three-decade rule as the downtown redeveloper and it failed at remaking Stamford into a city with visual energy, vitality or as drivers and pedestrians will claim functionality. As a 1985 New York Times article about the citys renewal states, And that makes the new Stamford all the more disappointing. Not only has the potential of a real urbanism not been realized, the buildings themselves are generally failures as works of architecture. In place of the St. John tower at Bell Street and Washington Boulevard, which has been abandoned for three years now, Miami-based homebuilder Lennar wants to build and youll never see this coming 400 luxury apartments and street-level retail. Stamford needs more luxury apartments like it needs more potholes. But at least we are finally ridding ourselves of one ugly reminder of our city forefathers lack of vision and bad taste. And, seriously, can what they replace it with possibly look any worse? More intriguing is the renovation of the remaining two towers, a reported $70 million project to update and improve those 240 affordable housing units inside and out. St. John Urban Development Corp., the towers owner, has already chosen an architectural firm, QA+M Architecture of Farmington. One of its preliminary exterior concepts, according to an April 20 article in the New England Real Estate Journal, offers a lively sculptural impact with a curtain wall system with glass and perforated metal panels, which will create visual interest and add a playful sense of depth to the tower facades. An accompanying photo backs that statement up somewhat, though it shows the ugly original concrete deck and pillar of the old towers still clearly visible under the glossy new sheen. But sometimes, we can hope, out of ash heaps, beauty still might rise. Stamford native and resident Kevin McKeever, whose nationally award-winning column appears here every other Friday, is a freelance writer. Email him at kevin@writeonkevin.com. As a manager, you might think you are doing a great job leading your employees. In reality, you might be making common mistakes causing damage within the company that may require several years of recovery. The good news is if caught early, the factors that may lead to such great damage can be addressed, allowing you to correct the course. Related: 8 Books Every Manager Should Read to Become a Better Leader Below, we look at four signs youre the source of the current troubles in your organization and ways to get you back on track. 1. You dictate the company culture. According to a survey conducted by Gallup, company culture is more important than compensation when it comes to employee satisfaction. If thats the case, shouldnt the management be actively involved in creating company culture? Of course. However, because the culture develops as the company grows and includes every person working within the company, the decisions around it need to rely on input from the majority -- the employees -- rather than the minority -- management. While certain elements of your behaviour might influence the culture to a significant degree, its a mistake to think you are the culture. Fix: Instead of trying to shape the company culture according to your ideas, hand over that responsibility to the employees, and listen to their feedback. Here are some other things you can do to foster the right approach to company culture: Take note of the current culture first Be a participant in the discussions around the local culture Communicate not just with words but with behavior Separate the elements that are dampening the culture from those that are contributing to its growth, addressing the former and supporting the latter 2. You engage in slow decision-making. Whether its the volatile emerging markets, unpredictably big shifts in capital markets or the possibility of a recession, the current economic environment has given rise to fear of taking action. This fear can profoundly affect decision-making at the management level. Managers might take longer to make relatively easy decisions. When that happens, it stalls the flow, frustrating your whole team. Fix: To address your slow decision-making, you need to determine the cause of it. According to a CEB research, too much information, which calls for unnecessary consensus and collaboration, is one of the biggest reasons why processes get slowed down in organizations. Related: The 5 Worst Leadership Qualities: How Many Does Your Boss Have? Some common practices at the workplace that might seem sensible but are actually not, if youre trying to move faster, are: Consensus buying -- major purchasing decisions have become highly collaborative. The CEB research says that if five people are consulted on a buying decision, the probability that the purchase will happen drops to only 31 percent. Committee hiring -- the greater the number of people to be consulted, the slower the recruiting decision will be. Consequently, the position that needs to be filled remains open for longer. According to the data, recruiters currently take up to five weeks longer to fill positions than they did five years ago -- a 62 percent increase. Figure out whats slowing you down, and see whether its justified. If not, come up with a more effective decision-making process. 3. You implement secretive executive meetings. Apart from improving communication and collaboration, regular staff meetings help employees feel as if they own part of the company. Employees generally trust management when they are transparent about company affairs. As Hemingway said, The best way to find out if you can trust someone is to trust them. If you dont think you can trust your employees with information regarding the current state of the company, chances are they will be suspicious of your secret meetings, which will contribute to the erosion of trust within the company. Fix: Earn employee trust. To regain lost trust, you need to be as transparent with your team as possible. Youll find it difficult to achieve that if you scrap regular staff meetings, where youre supposed to receive and provide feedback and offer guidance, replacing them with secretive executive sessions. 4. You cut employee perks. When you need to downsize, getting rid of employee perks might seem like low-hanging fruit. But what do you achieve by that, especially if you do it surreptitiously? Related: 4 Leadership Methods for Empowering Employees and Building Strong Teams It sounds silly, but managers tend to start with getting rid of simple treats, like soda and snacks. I suspect such cuts dont put too much back into the budget, but the negative effects could be far-reaching -- from low employee morale to staff quitting. Fix: Be transparent. If you must cut any employee perks, let your team know first, and give them a reason. Youd be surprised to see what theyd be willing to forgo. If you dont make them part of the process, that missing soda could be the reason for your fallout with your people. For advice on downsizing, read this article. Its easier to see when someone else is making a mistake than to notice when you make it yourself. Youll shine as a manager if you demonstrate your ability to step back and reflect on your motivations and actions before making decisions. The above signs of poor management and ways to remedy them are just a few of many managerial pitfalls and solutions you may have to grapple with and resort to while in the leadership position. But if you take them to heart, they will help you become a better manager. Related: Why Wearing All the Hats Prepares You to be a Better CEO 3 Signs the Best Move for Your Business Is to Hire Somebody Else to Run It If You Struggle With Authority, Science Says Blame Your Brain Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved A senior whistleblower at GlaxoSmithKline is suing the drugs giant over claims his warnings about allegedly dangerous botched IT projects were hushed up by his superiors who eventually ended his 16-year career at the company. Thomas Reilly worked around the world designing, installing and troubleshooting major IT projects at GSK production plants and at its UK and US data centres. He claims he warned for years of serious issues in IT systems in many countries that caused numerous factory shutdowns. Yet, in a lawsuit filed against the firm in the US, he says his concerns were not properly acted upon by his superiors in Britain. In one case, he says his warnings about a Latin American plant were covered up by his manager for fear of alerting auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers. GSK has faced criticism and litigation over the way it treated whistleblowers warning of corruption in China and contamination at its Cidra plant in Puerto Rico, which was subsequently shut down. Reillys lawsuit draws a direct comparison between his case and the way the Cidra whistleblower Cheryl Eckard was mistreated. She was fired but went on to win a 61 million share of a financial settlement GSK agreed to pay under US whistleblower laws. His legal claim says that, like Eckard: GSK acknowledged Reillys allegations but then marginalised those allegations and then eliminated himto cover up serious technological and security problems he had repeatedly complained about. One IT issue he warned about in 2011 in GSKs North America Pharmaceutical arm caused a major server to become unstable, two years later causing three crippling performance events at factories. It was only when Reilly was despatched to fix the problem in 2013 that he discovered his original warnings had never been passed on. Other major IT failures he had warned about but been ignored over covered factories in Australia, Latin America and Africa, his case alleges. Even when investigations were carried out, they were not acted upon by his manager, he claims. When he escalated his concerns to GSKs global compliance officer, he was told then-chief executive Sir Andrew Witty had been informed of his concerns. An investigation apparently came to nothing. In 2015, he contacted Witty directly with his concerns that GSKs IT systems were so fragile that they risked causing another Cidra-style crisis. Witty, he claims, sent Jason Lord, global head of corporate investigations, to the US to question him. A subsequent investigation Lord set up concluded his concerns were minor, and his employment was terminated. The case comes as GSK awaits the outcome of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into its handling of whistleblower claims in China. British fraud investigator Peter Humphreys alleges he and his wife were jailed in China after unwittingly being hired by GSK to discredit a suspected whistleblower. He is suing GSK in the same Philadelphia court as Reilly. Reillys lawyer Scott Pollins said: We are working to vindicate Toms actions. We want a jury to say what he did was honourable and that he should not have been punished for it. A spokesman for GSK said the company would fully defend itself against the case: We fully investigated Mr. Reilly's allegations regarding our IT system each time they were made. Our investigations found no evidence to substantiate these allegations. We are confident in the integrity of our financial reporting. Mr Reilly left the Company following a reorganisation that resulted in his department being outsourced. His leaving had nothing to do with the allegations he made. The case is currently in the disclosure process, which ends in August, with a trial potentially following late this year. If successful, Reilly is likely to claim for damages to cover loss of past and future earnings, compensation for his emotional distress, punitive damages and legal costs. L loyds Banking Group brought an end to a disastrous foray into the Republic of Ireland on Friday, offloading a 4 billion mortgage book for a loss of 110 million. Britains biggest High Street bank ditched most of its Irish assets years ago, with todays deal a near-final exit. Barclays have stumped up the cash for the mortgage book, which has 300 million of impaired loans. Lloyds said the sale is in line with its strategy of becoming a low-risk, UK-focused bank and its completion will leave the group with minimal exposure to Ireland. Ian Gordon at Investec said the Lloyds-HBOS move into Ireland was an unmitigated disaster that had led to losses of 12 billion and been a big part of the reason the bank needed a Government bailout in 2008. The mortgage book generated a loss of 40 million in the last year. Lloyds shares were today flat at 66p. Shore Capital said that todays deal should boost the balance sheet and argued the shares are worth 80p. The City thinks the Irish exit should enable it to boost its dividend next year. Lloyds said the proceeds from the mortgage book sale would be used for general corporate purposes. Lloyds last month reported a profit of 2 billion for the first quarter of the year. H ere the Evening Standard business team highlights all the major tech news today. Top story sees Uber Technologies chief product officer Jeff Holden is leaving the ride-hailing company, an Uber spokesman said, the latest of more than a dozen senior executives to depart since last year. Holden oversaw Uber Elevate, the companys flying car operation, which is now headed by Eric Allison but declined to elaborate on the reason for his departure. New chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi has been shaking up the company since taking over Last August aiming to improve Ubers reputation after a string of scandals. Uber, along with Lyft, scrapped mandatory arbitration to settle sexual harassment or assault claims earlier this week, giving victims several options to pursue their claims including public lawsuits. Uber also launched a new app for its drivers last month, in an effort to improve an often contentious relationship. Ubers chief legal officer, Salle Yoo, and head of external affairs Dave Clark left the company in September. Uber is also searching for a chief financial officer who can help take the company public in 2019. The CFO position has been vacant since 2015. Elsewhere PayPal has agreed to buy Swedish financial technology startup iZettle for $2.2 billion. The deal will allow the Californian company to expand into the retail payment terminals business in international markets, where it will compete with Silicon Valley firm Square founded by Twitter chief Jack Dorsey. Stockholm-based iZettle, which had advanced plans to go public, offers small businesses a miniature credit card reader that turns smartphones or tablets into payment registers. It is present in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America and offers other services for managing small businesses. By joining forces with PayPal, which operates in 200 countries, iZettle will be able to accelerate its expansion, including into the United States, the companies said. iZettle chief executive and co-founder Jacob de Greer and the companys management team will continue to lead the business. This year the company expects to process $6 billion in payments, resulting in gross revenue of $165 million. Finally London has cemented its position as a global tech hub. H ow should the Labour Party respond to Brexit? As one of its MPs Im clear: I want our party to stand up to the Government and stop it doing terrible harm to jobs, opportunities and our economy. In my view, as a minimum, that means voting to back European Economic Area membership, which would allow us to trade freely with the rest of the European Union. That position has just been backed by the House of Lords with strong support from Labour peers. But Labours front bench in the Commons holds a nonsensical position on this. Labour Brexiteers claim that EEA access would be impossible after Brexit. They claim the UK would be a rule-taker but lack influence if we take an approach which would leave Britain in the single market but outside the EU. There is an obvious alternative: stay in the EU, retaining our full voice, veto and representatives, as I and most Labour members would welcome. This is portrayed as somehow a snub to the will of the people despite even the most prominent Tory Brexiteer, Daniel Hannan MEP, now suggesting not everyone voted uniformly to leave absolutely everything altogether. But in echoing the rule-taker fallacy, Labours front bench risks marching to Theresa Mays maximum-damage tune. The insistence that the UK must not end up as a rule-taker ignores reality. If our manufacturing, agriculture, food and drink sectors are to be able to continue trading with the EU, they will need to work with rules set across Europe. Whats the alternative? The UK can hardly expect to set different rules and then expect the entire EU and its existing trade partners to follow our diktats. The idea that the EU 27 will accept new UK jurisdiction over trade and standards is risible. It offers no logical future position for any Government. No country is in a trade and customs relationship with the EU on the basis of rule setting. Turkey accepts EU rules on standards but has no say at the table where it sets the rules. Norway accepts free movement of people without a vote. Countries agree with the need to work within EU rules in order to gain access to the wealthiest trade bloc on the planet. Their economies benefit as a result and ours should too. If we dont back the EEA proposal and instead drift off into some isolated position, with our future trade held back by barriers, we will lose access to markets that we depend on, see unemployment rise and austerity go on. That would be devastating. And its not what the Labour Party should be about. Theres still time for us to change our policy, oppose this Government and back an approach which leaves us free to trade and protects jobs and the poorest in society. D iane Abbotts proposal to close Yarls Wood and Brook House and end outsourcing in immigration detention provision is a welcome step forward in Labour Party policy . The announcement comes after a mass protest in Yarls Wood and a Panorama documentary that included undercover footage of appalling conditions in detention and abuse inflicted on detainees. Although Yarls Wood and Brook House have become lightning rods for immigration detention controversy, they differ little from other detention centres. Forty-three people have died in immigration detention since it started, including four people in Morton Hall, Lincolnshire, in 2017 alone. Colnbrook near Heathrow has one of the harshest regimes people are locked in cells from 9pm to 8am. Harmondsworth, also near Heathrow, is the biggest detention centre in Europe and was the site of mass protests in 2014 and 2015, and there have been similar protests in Campsfield and Dungavel. The problem cannot be associated with individual institutions. It lies with a policy that gives the Home Office licence to lock people up based on their nationality, and a society that turns a blind eye to the inevitable violence dealt out on working-class people of colour in any system designed for mass deportation. Closing down Yarls Wood and Brook House would be an important step but it must be done within a wider policy that takes detention out of the immigration system altogether. Tom Kemp and Mia Sullivan SOAS Detainee Support EDITOR'S REPLY Dear Tom and Mia, It is true that there have been serious problems at Yarls Wood and Brook House, including the abuse of detainees at the latter, which a recent board report rightly described as unacceptable. You are right, too, that concerns have been raised about detention centres elsewhere. I dont agree, however, that the answer is to end immigration detention altogether. Some of those awaiting deportation have serious criminal convictions. Others, who lack entitlement to live here and fail to leave willingly, would likely evade enforcement efforts if given their liberty. A better answer is to be more careful about who is detained. Too many are held too long pending what is meant to be imminent removal. The high number of successful appeals also suggests that Home Office decision-making must improve. Finally, standards inside must be decent. Detention must be humane. Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor Israels recent firing on Palestinian protesters does the country no service I enjoyed Matthew DAnconas balanced piece on Trump and Gaza [Trump has abandoned any prospect of being a peacemaker in Israel, May 16]. I think it is important to consider what would have happened if the Israel Defense Forces had withheld their fire until Hamas and the mob had breached the fence as many governments had suggested they should have done. There were up to 100,000 people there. Hundreds would have pushed through the gap enlarging it. Then, of course, the IDF would have swung into action to rightly protect the sovereignty of Israel. How many people do you think would have been killed and injured in this circumstance? Jacqueline Gross I read Matthew DAnconas article about the killings of the Palestinian protesters and his argument that Israeli forces were reacting to a direct threat to their country. Petrol bombs and stones against snipers using the most modern weapons money can buy, protected by a substantial fence? Im sorry, but water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets would be more than enough in any other country and would have undoubtedly dispersed these crowds. Israel should never be threatened this is a given but killing protesters only adds to the hatred that is aimed at them. There cannot be many people in the world who do not know the horrific story of the Jews and how deserving they are of their land but this way of behaving must change. Steve Hanscomb The EU wants a hard Irish border THOUGH I disagree with Chris Grey, he has identified the problem [Our charade with the EU must end]. It is not the UK that has any desire or need for a hard border, it is the EU. Northern Ireland does not need a border. The Republic of Ireland also does not need or want one. It is the EU and its closed protectionist market that will be putting it up. The border will not be manned by British soldiers but by the Garda. It will not be the United Kingdom saying who can go into Northern Ireland but the EU saying who can go into the republic. Steve Barker Policy on foreign doctors is a mess Picture the jewellery collection of a royal-to-be and its unlikely you picture a 45 gold-plated thumb ring. But then, as we all know, Meghan Markle is no ordinary future princess. In addition to her relatable, modern dress sense, the ex-Suits star is fond of affordable jewellery and, in particular, delicate gold stacking rings, frosted liberally from ring finger to thumb. Some of her most loved pieces come from British brand Missoma, which has exploded in recent years thanks to its excellent social media presence, approachable price points and cool-girl designs. Meghan Markle: The Duchess of Sussex - style file 1 /110 Meghan Markle: The Duchess of Sussex - style file October 25, 2018 Meghan Markle in Nadi, Fiji on October 25, 2018 Getty Images May 8, 2019 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son PA June 8, 2019 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Trooping of the Colour PA November 11, 2019 The Duchess of Sussex wore a 1,500 Stella McCartney coat at the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial Getty Images March 2021 Harpo Productions January 07, 2020 The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Canada House, where the Duchess wore a Massimo Dutti slip skirt in an all-brown outfit Getty Images November 9, 2019 Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, arrived in bespoke Erdem Getty Images November 7, 2019 Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex at The Fields of Remembrance in Westminster Abbey Jeremy Selwyn October 25, 2019 Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a roundtable discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World at Windsor Castle Jeremy Selwyn October 22, 2019 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends the One Young World Summit Opening Ceremony at Royal Albert Hall Getty Images October 2, 2019 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits a township with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex to learn about Youth Employment Services Getty Images October 1, 2019 The Duchess of Sussex visiting Action Aid, a gender based violence education club in Johannesbur PA October 1, 2019 Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, arrives to meet academics and students during a roundtable discussion on female access to higher education with the Association of Commonwealth Universities, at the University of Johannesburg Reuters September 25, 2019 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits Woodstock Exchange, a women founders/social entrepreneurs event during her royal tour of South Africa with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Getty Images September 25, 2019 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex along with their son Archie meet with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mrs Tutu at their legacy foundation in Cape Town PA September 24, 2019 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits Waves for Change, an NGO supporting local surf mentors to provide mental health services to vulnerable young people living in under resourced communities, with Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (not pictured) at Monwabisi Beach, in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters September 24, 2019 Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, attends a reception for young people, community and civil society leaders at the Residence of the British High Commissioner in Cape Town, South Afric Reuters September 23, 2019 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, visit Nyanga township, on the first day of their African tour in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters September 12, 2019 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrives to launch the Smart Works capsule collection Getty Images September 07, 2019 Meghan (R), Duchess of Sussex attends the Women's Singles final match between Serena Williams of the United States and Bianca Andreescu of Canada on day thirteen of the 2019 US Open Getty Images July 7, 2019 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the christening of their son Archie Chris Allerton July 4, 2019 The Duchess of Sussex at Wimbledon Championships PA June 29, 2019 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox baseball game PA March 11, 2019 At a Commonwealth Day Youth Event Getty Images March 11, 2019 At the Commonwealth Service Getty Images March 8, 2019 Attending the Queen's Commonwealth Trust Getty Images March 5, 2019 At the fiftieth anniversary of the investiture of the Prince of Wales Getty Images February 25, 2019 At a reception with King Mohammed VI of Morocco Getty Images February 24, 2019 At a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Morocco Getty Images February 23, 2019 At Casablanca Airport in Morocco Getty Images January 30, 2019 At the National Theatre Getty Images January 16, 2019 At Cirque du Soleil Getty Images January 16, 2019 During a visit to the Mayhew Getty Images January 14, 2019 During a visit to Birkenhead Town Hall Getty Images December 25, 2018 At the Christmas Day Church service Getty Images December 10, 2018 At the British Fashion Awards Getty Images October 26, 2018 At the Australian Geographic Society Awards Getty Images October 25, 2018 Meghan and Prince Harry attend a state dinner in Tonga Getty Images October 23, 2018 Meghan and Harry in Fiji Getty Images October 28, 2018 Meghan and Harry attending an evening reception at Government House in Wellington Getty Images October 27, 2018 At the Invictus Games Sydney Getty Images October 23, 2018 Attending a state dinner in Fiji Getty Images October 24, 2018 Meghan visits the University of the South Pacific Getty Images October 19, 2018 Meghan and Harry visit Bondi Beach Getty Images October 16, 2018 On the couple's royal tour of Sydney Getty Images October 12, 2018 At the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York to Jack Brooksbank Getty Images July 11, 2018 Visiting Croke Park, Ireland Getty Images July 10, 2018 During a royal tour of Ireland PA July 10, 2018 At the RAF centenary service PA July 9, 2018 At the christening of Prince Louis PA July 5, 2018 At Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception Getty Images June 26, 2018 At the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony Getty Images June 19, 2018 At day one of Royal Ascot Getty Images June 14, 2018 During her first engagement to Cheshire with Her Majesty The Queen Getty Images May 22, 2018 At The Prince of Wales' 70th Birthday Patronage Celebration wearing the Goat Flavia Dress Getty Images May 19, 2018 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend an evening reception at their wedding Getty Images April 23, 2018 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at a memorial service at St Martin-in-the-Fields PA April 21, 2018 The couple attend a reception for Invictus Games at Australia House AFP/Getty Images April 21, 2018 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Royal Albert Hall to attend a star-studded concert to celebrate the Queen's 92nd birthday Getty Images April 19, 2018 At a Women's Empowerment reception at the Royal Aeronautical Society Getty Images April 18, 2018 At a reception with delegates from the Commonwealth Youth Forum during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Getty Images April 6, 2018 At the team trials for the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 at the University of Bath Sports Training Village in Bath Reuters March 23, 2018 Visiting the Titanic Belfast Getty March 23, 2018 Attending an event to mark the second year of youth-led peace-building initiative Amazing the Space PA March 12, 2018 At a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey AFP/Getty Images March 8, 2018 At an International Women's Day event at Millennium Point in Birmingham PA March 8, 2018 At an International Women's Day event at Millennium Point in Birmingham PA February 13, 2018 At Edinburgh Castle, during a visit to Scotland AFP/Getty Images February 13, 2018 With Prince Harry during their visit to Scotland AFP/Getty Images February 1, 2018 Attending the Endeavour Fund Awards ceremony Getty Images January 18, 2018 At Cardiff Castle during a visit to Wales Getty Images January 9, 2018 Arriving to visit Reprezent Radio AFP/Getty Images December 25, 2017 At the royals Christmas Day Church service Getty Images December 1, 2017 On an official visit to Nottingham with Prince Harry Getty Images November 27, 2017 With Prince Harry at the official photocall to announce the engagement Getty Images September 25, 2017 With Prince Harry at a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games Getty Images September 23, 2017 At the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Invictus Games PA July 14, 2016 At the 'Today' show in New York MediaPunch/Rex Features May 20, 2016 At the pARTy! - celebrating 25 years of P.S. ARTS Getty Images April 27, 2016 At Glamour's Women Of The Year awards in New York Getty Images March 17, 2016 At AOL Build Speaker Series Startraks Photo/Rex Features November 2, 2015 At the 12th annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards Getty Images June 24, 2015 At NBC Universal Summer Press day MediaPunch/Rex Features May 14, 2015 At the 2015 NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Upfront Getty Images March 10, 2015 At the Step It Up For Gender Equality event Getty Images February 13, 2015 On her way to MADE Fashion Week Rex Features February 13, 2015 At the Wes Gordon runway show during MADE Fashion Week Getty Images October 28, 2014 At the Elton John AIDS Foundation gala Getty Images October 1, 2014 At RELAIS & CHATEAUX 60th Anniversary Guest Chef Dinner Launch Getty Images September 5, 2014 At an exclusive preview of the Marchesa Voyage for ShopStyle collection Getty Images February 8, 2014 At the Herve Leger By Max Azria fashion show during New York Fashion Week Getty Images January 22, 2014 At ELLE's Annual Women in Television Celebration Getty Images November 19, 2013 At the London Global Gift Gala at ME Hotel Getty Images November 11, 2013 At the world premier of 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' in Leicester Square AFP/Getty Images October 2, 2013 At the Gala Tribute for Cate Blanchett during the 51st New York Film Festival Getty Images September 11, 2013 At the Annual Charity Day Hosted By Cantor Fitzgerald And BGC Getty Images September 10, 2013 At the Novak Djokovic Foundation New York dinner Getty Images September 10, 2013 At the Tory Burch fashion show during New York Fashion Week Getty Images September 8, 2013 At the Tracy Reese show during New York Fashion Week MediaPunch/Rex Features September 7, 2013 At the Herve Leger By Max Azria fashion show during New York Fashion Week Getty Images June 16, 2013 At the 2013 MuchMusic Video Awards Getty Images May 16, 2013 At the USA Network 2013 Upfront Event Getty Images January 26, 2013 At the Entertainment Weekly Pre-SAG party Getty Images January 24, 2013 At the ELLE's Women in Television Celebration Getty Images January 13, 2013 At NBC Universal's 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards after party Getty Images September 11, 2012 At the FINCA Canada Fundraiser At TIFF 2012 during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Images September 5, 2012 At the Rising Stars: 2012 Producers Ball during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival Getty Images February 15, 2012 At the USA Network's and The Moth's Storytelling Tour Getty Images August 26, 2010 At the Some Kind-a Gorgeous Style and Beauty Lounge at the Chateau Marmont Getty Images September 18, 2009 At the DPA pre-Emmy Gift Lounge at the Peninsula Hotel Getty Images People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Founded by Marisa Hordern in 2008, Missoma has gained traction in recent years thanks to a three-year, super cool collaboration with British fashion influencer Lucy Williams, with whom they have produced two incredibly popular collections. Their delicate, silver and gold boho pieces have also garnered a wide celebrity following that numbers Margot Robbie, Alexa Chung, Karlie Kloss, Adwoa Aboah and Kylie Minogue as fans. Celebrities wearing Missoma jewellery 1 /13 Celebrities wearing Missoma jewellery Meghan Markle Getty Images Margot Robbie David Buchan/REX/Shutterstock Freida Pinto AFP/Getty Images Cressida Bonas Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Natalia Vodianova Getty Images Lily Rose-Depp Getty Images Kylie Minogue Clara Paget Getty Images Tanya Burr Getty Images Mary Charteris Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock Tigerlily Taylor David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock Clara Paget Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock Amber Anderson Can Nguyen/REX/Shutterstock But its thanks to the escalating 'Meghan mania' that Missoma has really shot to notoriety within the last year. Its been an intense few months, says Hordern. As they say it takes 10 years to become an overnight success! Hordern, who has no formal training but has been making jewellery since she was five, explains that Meghan was wearing Missoma long before she met her prince. The beady-eyed will spy us in early Suits campaign photos and episodes," she says. Missoma gold bar necklace, 115. Shop it here. / Missoma Back then she used to wear the Missoma Gold Bar Necklaces (155) engraved with her name. Last year she picked up the brand once again, and was seen out and about wearing a number of their rings; the Gold Molten Ring and Double Arrow Ring (both 59). The latter in fact caused an Internet furore last year when it was mistakenly thought to be an H ring. (Missoma ) / Missoma On her trip to Scotland with Harry in February, the royal-to-be was spotted wearing the brands 18ct gold vermeil Interstellar Ring (45), whose modern design represents a shooting star. Missoma Interstellar ring, 45. Shop it here. / Missoma We have certainly seen a big uplift in sales and conversation around the ring since Meghan wore it on her trip to Scotland, just as we did when she wore the infamous H ring last year. We have seen a lot more traffic and sales from the US which is great for our international brand awareness and international growth." Missoma Double Arrow ring, 59. Shop it here. / Missoma Meghans penchant for delicate, stackable, affordable gold jewellery certainly marks a style change for a young royal. It shows that you dont need diamonds or fine jewellery to look elegant, and it gives a slightly younger, on-trend vibe which I love, says Hordern. It also highlights her down to earth personality and loyalty to the brands she has loved and worn for years. These are Missoma's Marisa Hordern's five jewellery tips for brides: 1. Keep it simple When it comes to weddings, most brides want to keep it simple and let the dress do the talking. Delicate drop earrings, and a simple pendant necklace are a good place to start for any bride. 2. Measure your necklace A note on necklaces make sure you measure up the chain length with your bridal gown at Missoma we have no less than 20 different chains available across four different styles and five different lengths in yellow gold, silver and rose gold... so, the possibilities are endless. 3. Allow yourself a little sentimentality Making your jewellery sentimental is also important, a touch of rose quartz to bring love and positivity to your day, or perhaps an engraving the date of the wedding, or even the coordinates of where you first met your husband to be! 4. Dont forget your girls The great thing about gifting your girl gang jewellery is that it will be something they wear every day even after the wedding. Our initial necklaces are a great place to start for bridal parties, or something engraved and personal. 5. In the end though, do whatever you like M uch of the country is currently basking in the glow of Royal Wedding fever but it seems the rose-tinted bubble has well and truly burst for JD Wetherspoon fans across the country. The popular pub chain has left many of its regular customers in disarray after changing its food menu, apparently without warning. Customers arrived at their nearest 'Spoons this week to find a considerable selection of their favourite dishes had been removed from the roster. The missing dishes include all hot dogs, the 8oz rump steak, the New York deli burger, both the half roast chicken and the tandoori chicken, both the smoked salmon and avocado bagels, the cheesecake and the ice cream sundae. Wetherspoons, who removed themselves from all social media platforms last year, has taken some slack for its decision on Twitter. One account called the move the worst thing to ever happen to me and another called for a national day of mourning. Food. Bars. Going out. Delivered weekly Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} "Wetherspoon serves a wide range of meals to suit all tastes and we are always keen to evolve our offer, a spokesman from the company told the Mirror Online. We will be taking some meals off our menu and replacing them with new dishes when our new menu launches." But dont worry guys, Curry Club and Fish Fridays are still intact. Phew. Review at a glance I n a time long before computers, let alone CGI effects, a character laid a claim to the title Most Hilarious Killing Machine Narrator in Film History that seemed unlikely ever to be challenged. I refer to Louis DAscoyne Mazzini, Dennis Prices antihero in Kind Hearts and Coronets, who terminates the relatives standing between him and the dukedom of Chalfont with exquisite, insouciant wit. I shot an arrow in the air, goes his epitaph for suffragette balloonist Lady Agatha. She fell to earth in Berkeley Square. Such was our love for Mazzini that when my wife fell pregnant, we never glanced at the male half of the baby- name books. It was agreed that any boy child who emerged would be named after him. It pains me to acknowledge it, but almost 70 years on, Mazzini has a lethal challenger. If any doubt survived Deadpool, Marvels wickedly genre-pastiching low-budget global smash from 2016, Deadpool 2 quickly removes it. It wastes even less time in allaying concern that this sequel would find Ryan Reynoldss mercenary assassin on less subversive form than in the original, when memorably aggressive treatment for lung cancer left him with a hugely disfigured face and the superpower of indestructability. The opening shot features a far more subversive activity than the first films facetious mass murder. Deadpool is smoking a cigarette while lying on the barrels of petrol he ignites with the fag end. The cause of his despair, a flashback reveals, is a bereavement he suffered while discussing baby names more intently than some with broody fiancee Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). AP While the downside to immortality is that it will bugger up otherwise impeccable suicide attempts, this is not the movie to dwell on psychic agonies such as the inability to die. That brand of phoney existential angst is the domain of Marvels rival, as Deadpool oberves. Youre soooo dark, he tells Cable (Josh Brolin), a cyborg returning from the past to rescue the future. Are you sure youre not from the DC Universe? With this and countless other semi-affectionate fanboy jokes some dissing stablemates Wolverine and Hawkeye; others recognising the repetitiveness of genre storylines Deadpool confirms that one superpower is unique to him. His incessant breaking of the fourth wall (OK, heres the big CGI fight scene) allows him to coexist in two places at once. He is at the heart of the story and hovering above it as sardonic chronicler. If you expected such a mega-meta dramatic device to have staled, it hasnt. That story concerns his faltering efforts to become both an X-Man and surrogate father to obese, troubled and incendiary pubescent mutant Firefist (seriously talented New Zealander Julian Dennison), whom he addresses as John Connor lest anyone missed the Terminator homage. The allies returning to help him are Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), out and proud with pink-haired lover Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna); moralistic metallic Russian X-Man Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic); Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), the blind landlady beneath whose floorboards Deadpool stores his huge stash of cocaine; and T J Millers Weasel, languid owner of a bar monopolised by mercenary assassins. Given all the taunts at movie turkeys (Deadpool even sticks it to Reynolds for starring in Green Lantern in a glorious post-credit flourish), God knows how Miller escaped one for voicing the lead in The Emoji Movie. Perhaps Reynolds, who is credited as one of three writers, took pity on an actor awaiting trial for falsely reporting a bomb on a train. If Miller gets time for that, the chances are he wont spend it in as brutal a penitentiary as the mountain-top prison for rogue X-Men where Firefist and Deadpool end up. Deadpool Exclusive Interview With Ryan Reynolds, Ed Skrein & T.J. Miller After the latter escapes, a highlight involves the hilarious interview process for X-Force, the crew he puts together to rescue Firefist. Brad Pitt has a cameo as one recruit, and the franchise-keeper is Domino (Zazie Beetz), whose superpower is being incredibly lucky. But a stroke of comic genius is the hiring of Peter (Catastrophes Rob Delaney), a guy with no special powers who liked the look of the advert. Yet the story and its supporting characters are as marginal here as some oddly touching lurches into emotional intensity, and deliciously gory fight scenes directed by David Leitch with the style and energy he showered on Atomic Blonde: one pairs Deadpools gleeful slicing of limbs to Dolly Partons Nine to Five. What a way to make a living indeed, even for a riotously profane, amoral hit man. Brolin gives Cable or Hey, Thanos! as Deadpool greets him the nuance he brings to his other Marvel baddie du jour in what is both the most self-irreverential film you will ever see, and among the more dangerous to ribcage integrity. Either side of a plot-heavy lag in the middle, the inspired verbal and sight gags never stop cascading. If familiarity denies it the shock power of the first film, in every other respect it belongs to that rarest of filmic species, the superior sequel. H ollywood has been fascinated with the British royal family for decades, capturing the monarchy on screen many times over. Not all royal biopics are good Lifetimes cringeworthy films William & Kate: The Movie and Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance are certainly ones to avoid. However, there have been a succession of films down the years that bring members of the monarchy to life in spectacular fashion. From British classics to contemporary favourites, these are the best depictions of the royal family in films. Elizabeth Elizabeth Trailer It was way back in 1998 when Cate Blanchett first starred as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth, bringing the determined leader to life on-screen in inimitable fashion. The film sees the young queen pressured by advisers to marry into French or Spanish nobility, reducing the risk of invasion, meaning she must tackle personal passions and diplomatic responsibility. Blanchett won international acclaim with the film and no-one seemed more suited to the role than her. She returned to the role in the sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which focused on the later period of Elizabeths reign. The Kings Speech The King's Speech trailer The Kings Speech won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2010, with Colin Firth claiming the Best Actor prize for his depiction of George VI. He shows great resilience in the face of adversity throughout the film, delivering the declaration of war against Nazi Germany with help from speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Firth brought vulnerability, pride and quiet strength to the role and painted a fine picture of the monarch. The Other Boleyn Girl The Other Boleyn Girl trailer Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson star as Anne and Mary Boleyn in the glossy period drama The Other Boleyn Girl from director Justin Chadwick. Eric Bana also stars as a hot-blooded Henry VIII in the film, If youre looking for historical accuracy here youll most likely be disappointed the film plays fast and loose with the truth but the star-studded period-drama is certainly an enjoyable retelling of British history. The Queen The Queen trailer 2006 film The Queen follows the events taking place in the aftermath of Princess Dianas death, with the public calling for Queen Elizabeth II to address her subjects. Helen Mirren presents a conflicted view of her majesty, wanting to do right by her family and her people and even questioning her own place at the head of the monarchy. Its the standout performance in a film full of fantastic turns from the likes of Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and James Cromwell as Prince Phillip. Mrs Brown Mrs Brown Original Trailer When it comes to playing royalty, no-one comes close to Dame Judi Dench. The first of her films to make the list is Mrs Brown, which sees her play Queen Victoria. The movie concentrates on the relationship Victoria develops with a charismatic Scottish servant (played by Billy Connolly) following the death of Prince Albert. Dench captures Victoria in a defiant light in the role, while still finding sensitivity and warmth. Mrs Brown is also notable for being Gerard Butlers film debut although hed go on to specialise in action thrillers rather than quaint period dramas later in his career. Victoria and Abdul Victoria And Abdul - Trailer Judi Dench returned to the role of Queen Victoria 20 years later in 2017 drama Victoria and Abdul. With Victoria grown cantankerous and lonely in later life she finds great solace in an unlikely friendship with Indian waiter Abdul Karim. Its a heartwarming true story which shines a light on a lesser-known side of Victorias reign and showcases Denchs unsurpassable acting talents. The Young Victoria The Young Victoria trailer Three years after making her big break in The Devil Wears Prada, Emily Blunt played the title role in The Young Victoria. The film focuses on the teenage monarch in the early days of her reign. As other seek to influence her for their own political gains, Victoria is forced to balance her duty to the crown and her own. Blunt shows her star-quality with a memorable performance, alongside other strong turns from the likes of Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany and Jim Broadbent. A Royal Night Out A Royal Night Out - Trailer The royals like to have fun too you know. This 2015 comedy drama follows a young Princess Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) and Prince Margaret (Bel Powley) who plead with the King and Queen to take in the VE Day celebrations of 1945 with their subjects. Seeing the young royals galavanting across London and enjoying freedom is great fun and this charming film is well worth seeking out. Shakespeare In Love Shakespeare in Love trailer Judi Dench won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare despite only appearing for 8 minutes of screen time. While the central love story played out by leads Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow is unconvincing at times, Dench gives the very definition of a movie-stealing performance in the 1998 romantic drama. Her depiction of Queen Elizabeth couldnt be further removed from Cate Blanchetts in Elizabeth, but both present thoroughly convincing depictions of the monarch. The Madness of King George The Madness of King George trailer E ver since the we got giddy over their engagement, many of us have been craving crumbs of information on Prince Harry and Meghan Markles impending nuptials. Back in March we learnt that the cake for the upcoming royal wedding will be a lemon and elderflower flavoured concoction courtesy of Hackney-based Violet Bakery. With the ceremony just a day away, Kensington Palace announced this morning that the baking of the cake was under way, and gave details of the ingredients involved. The recipe includes a staggering 200 Amalfi lemons and an indulgent 20kg of butter. So who are the people charged with bringing "the bright flavours of spring" to Harry and Meghans wedding? Heres what you need to know. Whos behind Violet Bakery? The Violet Bakery Cookbook (Kristin Perers) / Kristin Perers Food. Bars. Going out. Delivered weekly Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Violet Bakery is the brainchild of Claire Ptak, a pastry chef, food writer and stylist, who champions flavourful baking with organic ingredients. She has written for The Guardian and released four cookbooks to date, with the latest, The Violet Bakery Cookbook, released in 2015. Ptak grew up in Inverness but not the Scottish one the now-London-based baker was raised in an area north of San Francisco. In California, she worked with renowned US chef Alice Water, before spending time at St John and Moro in London. Where can you find them? Not where you might expect. Ptak started her independent bakery work as a stall in East Londons Broadway Market, before opening up Violet Bakery not in Chelsea, not in Kensington, but in Hackney. Incidentally, its on the same road as a pub called Prince George. What can you eat there? The Violet Bakery Cookbook (Kristin Perers) / Kristin Perers An awful lot if you try hard enough. Violet Bakery uses only organic flour, sugar, milk and eggs, and strives to use high quality ingredients to create traditional flavours with a twist. Cakes made to order come with light and bright flavourings including seasonal fruit, Amalfi lemon and coconut cream. At the richer end of the menu, you can find a chocolate devils food cake made with Valrhona cocoa and yoghurt. The menu also features a vegan chocolate spelt and agave layer cake, as well as gluten free options made from polenta and buckwheat and almond. London's best bakeries and cake shops 1 /16 London's best bakeries and cake shops Ottolenghi Scandinavian Kitchen Violet Cakes Kristin Perers Kova St John Bakery Nordic Bakery Steven Joyce Maitre Choux Amy O'Boyle Crosstown Doughnuts Gail's Bakery Cutter & Squidge Jacob The Angel Bread Ahead Old Post Office Bakery Fleet River Bakery Konditor and Cook G loria Estefan today paid tribute to the role London has played in her illustrious career as she announced the hit Broadway musical based on her life will premiere in London next year. On Your Feet! also has a book by Alexander Dinelaris Jr, who won an Oscar for Birdman, and tells the story of Gloria and husband Emilio and how they escaped communist Cuba to make a new life in Miami. The setting starts the night before a bus crash in 1990 that nearly left Estefan, 60, crippled after she broke her back. It then cuts to a series of flashbacks including of her soldier father heading to the Vietnam War. Recalling the crash, she said: Unfortunately I do have a lot of memories of that night, just not of the point of impact. Ive spoken to other victims and I think we have some protective thing that prevents us from remembering particularly traumatic moments. I was having a nap in the front seat. I thought we had arrived at our concert when I woke up we had stopped as a truck in front of us had jackknifed. Another truck then ploughed into the stationary bus. She added: I had a numb kind of feeling and I noticed it was snowing inside the bus. A lady in a car behind us was a nurse and acted as a human brace for me until the paramedics arrived. It was pretty traumatic. I really discovered the power of prayer. Estefan, left, and her band Miami Sound Machine sold more than 100 million albums and had their breakthrough in Europe in 1984 with Dr Beat. She said: London played a big part in our career. We had our first hit in the dance charts with Dr Beat and we were playing a show in Holland. On the way over to Britain we were on a train and I started writing the music for Conga, singing the trumpet parts into a cassette recorder. We knew then it would be a big hit for us. It was instrumental in our success. But her relationship with the UK press got off to a rocky start: When I first came over with the Miami Sound Machine it was the first international press we had ever done. I remember all the articles said we were too nice! I think people were used to bad boy rock stars in the Eighties. The musical had a successful run on Broadway and will play a limited season at the London Coliseum from June 14 to August 31 next year. Comments and links to reports on science, and its applications. Its important to ensure we dont lose our love for artistry in its purest form. In an ever-advancing world of technology, its easy to reject more traditional methods of craft and instead focus on more technically efficient processes. However, there is nothing more beautiful than seeing a piece being created with precision and talent. The industry has only reached where it has today because of designers and artisans who followed their passions and committed to their craft to make sure the beauty of it is never lost. London Craft Week has always encompassed a vast array of talent, heritage, makers and brands who truly embody the art of craftsmanship. However, in its fourth year we witnessed a much larger showcase than had been seen previously. 2018 brought together over 200 makers, brands and galleries from all over the world, all of which contributed to a week of celebrating the many forms of craft. With a large number of events, exhibitions and workshops taking place throughout the last week, it was difficult to view everything. However, here are some of the highlights from the week: Liberty Open Call 2018 London Craft Week kicked off this year with the Liberty Open Call Awards, held inside Liberty itself. Back in January, Liberty invited designers and makers to upload a photo of their product to Instagram by using the hashtag #LibertyOpenCall. They were then entered into the competition to receive the prestigious prize of being stocked in-store. With an overwhelming response of entries, it was brought down to 13 finalists and the three winners were announced on the eve of London Craft Week by designer Ashley Hicks. People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} The winners were Alex Chinneck, with his hand carved broom, Katch Skinner, with her egg cups and Ruta Bartkeviciute for her showstopping ceramic designs. Liberty has always been a huge supporter of craft, and this was a superb way to commence the week, which allowed individual makers to reach a wider audience. Alex Chinneck Broom / Alex Chinneck Broom Katch Skinner Eggcups / Katch Skinner Eggcups Ruta Bartkeviciute - Birdpot / Ruta Bartkeviciute - Birdpot Home of Craftsmanship' at Bourdon House - Hole & Corner X Dunhill Hole and Corner collaborated with Dunhill this year, taking over their Mayfair flagship store at Bourdon House. Curating the Home of Craftsmanship, the store was filled with live demonstrations from various artisans: glassblowing with Michael Ruh, pottery with Florian Gabsby, weaving with Maria Sigma, spoon carving with Mark Reddy, knife making with Pole and Hunt and leather tailoring with the Dunhill team themselves. It was an innovative way to showcase an array of crafts and connect personally with the makers. Florian Gadsby / Florian Gadsby Other attractions in-store included panel talks from industry experts, a basement cinema and a series of specially commissioned pieces from leading designers and makers. Hole and Corner celebrated the true meaning of craft, and collaborating with the heritage of Dunhill created the perfect setting for makers to applaud their talent. Mark Reddy / Mark Reddy Christobel Balfour X Barbican As part of the Barbican Make! Series, the Barbican hosted live weaving demonstrations with Christabel Balfour in the gallery shop throughout London Craft Week. Christy, a tapestry weaver, held workshops to cover the techniques, materials and challenges of her craft. With a lot of her designs gaining inspiration from the Barbican itself, she was in the perfect setting to connect personally with viewers. Christabel Balfour X Barbican / Christabel Balfour X Barbican The Barbican Make! Series continues until June 3, allowing visitors to explore traditional crafts with a contemporary edge. Carl Hansen X Hiut Denim Danish furniture manufacturer Carl Hansen & Son collaborated with the British brand Hiut Denim to provide a new take on the classic designs of Kaare Klint. Using Klints iconic furniture pieces, Hiut used their own fabric to create a stunning design perfect for the modern home. The partnership displays a new side to both companies; the merging of two different traditions results in a unique and charming outcome. Carl Hansen X Hiut Denim / Carl Hansen X Hiut Denim Carl Hansen & Son X Hiut Denim: A Story of Design and Denim is on view until June 15 in the Clerkenwell showroom of Carl Hansen & Son. Balance: Sebastian Cox X Bamford Collaborations always a highlight of London Craft Week, and a beautiful example, last week, was the pairing of British designer Sebastian Cox and wellbeing brand Bamford. Creating a beautiful installation in the Mayfair Bamford Store titled Balance, it embodied the essence of biophilic design, building on the sense of calm and comfort which exudes from both brands. Handcrafted from English ash and dried barley, wheat, oats and grasses, Cox suspended his sculpture work from the ceiling throughout the store creating a naturally restful ambience. Kint Sugi Workshops at Wagumi London Not only did London Craft Week highlight craft from all over the UK, but it also brought international presence, too, by celebrating traditional cultures and methods from across the globe. Wagumi is a design shop based on the Southbank which presents different craft and design traditions from Japan. They held workshops teaching the ancient Japanese restoration technique called Kintsugi, where gold or brass is used to disguise a crack or break in ceramic pieces. This restoration method has gained a lot of popularity in recent months and Wagumi are bringing it to our attention by hosting workshops where students can learn the craft themselves. Kintsugi allows us to take our personal ceramics and restore them in a way that adds character and a beautiful charm. In a time where mass production is rife, it is refreshing to find ways of restoring items we already have and not look to replace it as the first option. Wagumi, whilst offering an array of traditional pieces from all over Japan, provides the chance to learn this beautiful skill which we can carry into our homes. Kintsugi Workshops at Wagumi London / Kintsugi Workshops at Wagumi London The Factory by The Factory by Tom Dixon Brit designer Tom Dixon opened the newly restored doors of the Coal Office in Kings Cross. Once the hub of the coal trade, the building has been restored by incorporating offices and showrooms for Tom Dixon, with many of the original features remaining prominent throughout the building. Emphasising the restoration with this development, Tom spoke of how they wanted to re-focus on craft itself, and launching the Tom Dixon Factory invites customers to get involved in the movement. The factory is situated alongside the new Tom Dixon store, under the arches next to the Coal Office. Workshops can be booked to learn various crafts over the coming months. Alongside the workshops, Tom Dixon will use the small batch manufacturing workshop to create prototypes and test new ideas whilst also collaborating with Central St Martins across the square to inspire younger generations to get involved in craft too. The newly restored Coal Office for Tom Dixon / Coal Office Workshop tickets can be booked here. The New Craftsmen - Colourful Minds: Illustration & Pattern For The Home The latest exhibition of works at The New Craftsmen, which launched over London Craft Week, showcases a variety of pieces from emerging artists, including a new wallpaper range using the archive of Peggy Angus. Originally from Chile, Peggy moved to London as a child and became known for her patterned tile murals in the 1950s, which were used in many new developments, including Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. She then began experimenting with wallpaper by creating unique and exquisite handmade designs. Her granddaughter Emma is now reviving her work with this exclusive commission, from Peggys original blocks, for The New Craftsmen. Peggy Angus Wallpaper for The New Craftsmen / Peggy Angus Wallpaper for The New Craftsmen The exhibition runs until July 21 and is open Monday-Saturday 11am-6pm. Aerende X Rosie Birkett Over London Craft Week, interiors brand Aerende teamed up with author and cook Rosie Birkett to launch a collection of limited-edition textiles and soft furnishings, made from recycled and natural materials. The range includes upcycled velvet curtains sewn by refugees in Hertfordshire, as well as stunning wool blankets handwoven by master weaver Ashleigh Slater in Scotland on a customised loom to accommodate his wheelchair. Aerendes ethos is to challenge stigma and provide opportunity for marginalised craftspeople, whilst also raising revenue for the charities and organisations supporting them. Rosie Birkett X Aerende / Rosie Birkett X Aerende With London Craft Week concluded for another year, it was fantastic to see how much the show has developed over recent years. For many craftspeople, it has proven to be vital to their growth by ensuring that they have a platform from where their work can reach a wider audience, as well as gaining recognition from organisations and brands alike. Craft must be kept alive and its important that we all keep in touch with skill sets and techniques which have been around for centuries, in order to enlighten and inspire future generations. D ear Meghan, Welcome to London! How are you finding the weather? The fish and chips? The palace? As the world counts down the final days until your wedding to Prince Henry of Wales, sixth in line to the throne of England, and scrutinises your every move (ripped jeans! bare legs!) for import and insinuation, I can imagine you must be adjusting to a lot. An understatement, I know. Im writing you the letter I wish someone had written to me when I moved to London from New York 10 years ago. That was as the Obamas were moving into the White House. The couple brought with them a global wave of optimism. The Obamas arrival was an exhilarating first one many never believed would happen. A historic milestone fraught with the weight of hope. Sound familiar? A move across the Atlantic can be a mind-trip on its own, without the added pressure of it being documented in the history books. Theres the change in language: biscuits not cookies. Crisps not chips (I know). Then there are the subtle, yet massive differences in smalltalk. When someone asks, You all right? theyre not implying you look like youve just narrowly survived a bender, but are rather simply inquiring Hi, how are you? On this side of the Atlantic, talk about the weather borders on competitive sport; back home its considered a non-starter. Speaking of chat, youll probably never be able to tell when someone is kidding or sincere. British sarcasm is an art, perfected over centuries of verbal sparring and during my early years here it led to many a misunderstanding. In America it would be easy to mistake this kind of wry banter for shade or a challenge. But here its just called everyday conversation. Britain is the land of understatement and restraint. Keep calm and carry on and all that. The country may be just across the pond but its a world away from the hyperbole of America. Its Im pleased instead of This is amazing! and Im cross instead of Im fecking furious! Why dont you take another stab at it? usually means That was awful,. And Are you sure? translates as That looks terrible on you. London landmarks from afar 1 /5 London landmarks from afar St Paul's as viewed on Google's new mapping service which takes pictures from satellites or low-flying planes St Paul's as viewed on Google's new mapping service which takes pictures from satellites or low-flying planes Brockwell Park Lido, also known as Evian Lido, gives a dizzying sense of blue from above Brockwell Park Lido, also known as Evian Lido, gives a dizzying sense of blue from above Buckingham Palace as seen from above with its vast gardens Buckingham Palace as seen from above with its vast gardens Traffic is almost visible on Albert Bridge Traffic is almost visible on Albert Bridge The derelict interior of Battersea Power Station The derelict interior of Battersea Power Station The bright side in all of this is that things feel notably more pleasant and civilised. The downside: what is this person really telling me? When Im truly in doubt, I just ask. No matter the answer, you will need to read between the lines, where you will often find essays-worth of meaning. And if you are emailing, be sure to end with a full stop. Never an exclamation mark. Too excited, too shouty. While Im on the subject of volume, you may encounter people who advise you to dial it down and be less candid, less direct. Ignore them! Your history of speaking up about topics that matter, from womens equality to human rights to race and identity, is what makes you special and your presence in the royal family so newsworthy. This countrys monarchy has been headed by a woman for 65 years. How thrilling would it be to see a duchess use her platform to advance #MeToo or equal pay? Were living at a time when one cant help but be socially and politically engaged the stakes are too high. And the world is ready for a woke royal of colour. Bring the change. People in Britain may tell you race is not the polarising issue here that it is in America. That the problems arent the same, that the issue is class more than ethnicity or religion. But to spend time digging into the tragic stories of Stephen Lawrence and Windrush is to know different. The Brexit vote opened the floodgates to heightened intolerance. Meanwhile, your marriage to Prince Harry hints at a more inclusive future for one of the worlds oldest institutions. The United Kingdom is a great nation, where Ive happily lived for a decade. As youve already gathered in the brief time since youve made England your home, adjusting to life in the UK goes far beyond whether to call it an elevator or a lift. But you have years to figure all this out. The future is what you make of it. Youve got this. I m standing on Carcavelos beach, a few miles north of Lisbon, with my toes in the water. Theres a sinking feeling. I know the water will seep into my wetsuit and that the pounding swell will break right on top of me. I dont care. I feel a thrill as I lie down on my surfboard and begin to paddle. Concentrating, getting the timing right, I sail over an unbroken wave. The sea is calm and a thin strip of cotton-wool clouds drifts in an expanse of blue sky. Its exactly where I want to be. Lisbons surfing coastline runs west from the edge of the city to Estoril and on to the resort town of Cascais. Its where the first Portuguese riders cut their teeth more than 40 years ago, mingling with travelling surfers from the US and Australia on their way to Morocco. Caparica, on the other side of the estuary, is another good spot. Today, the surf industry here is booming there are at least six schools in Carcavelos alone. You can surf every day of the year, and in the winter the sea temperature is 14 degrees positively balmy if youve ever surfed in Britain. Ive booked three days of lessons with Surf Lisbon, run by local Nuno Sequiera, who has been surfing here for 26 years. The school offers tuition for all ages and levels, including complete beginners. People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} My base is its 100-year-old villa in the well-heeled suburb of Caxias. From the house I can see the Ponte 25 de Abril the capitals iconic suspension bridge. Its a 15-minute drive or six stops on the train to Lisbon, meaning I can surf and see the city on the same day. Glowing after my first morning lesson, Im on my way to the city by 12.30pm. We speed past empty buildings, defiantly reclaimed by graffiti artists, before I embark on a tour with Lisbon Secrets (lisbonsecrets.com, 120 for two people) beginning in Rossio Square. It kicks off with a lesson in calcada Portuguesa, the countrys unique hand-laid pavements. Around the corner a grocer is selling bacalhau, salt cod brought by fishermen across the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland. We ride the Santa Justa Lift and gaze out over the rooftops. Alfama, the oldest neighbourhood in the city, brims with Portuguese tradition. Everywhere you look, new and old are blended: there are sun-bleached streamers and garlands left over from last years Feast of St Anthony, while in a tiny studio an artist creates modern-day azulejos (tiles). Carcavelos beach The residents or alfacinhas, as they are known have lived here in rent-protected apartments since the 1970s. There is a fear that, once they die, Alfama will become overrun with Airbnbs just like the rest of the city. We follow the river to Praca do Comercio, the former location of the royal palace and the citys grandest spot. The square opens onto the river, where yachts are tacking along in the breeze. Finally, we head north again to Chiado, which is bustling with locals and tourists. Its my favourite neighbourhood so far, crammed with lively cafes and bookstores. I dine here after the tour in the fabulous Bairro do Avillez (bairrodoavillez.pt), where I order Acorda a Alentejana a soup of bread, garlic and cilantro and octopus in kimchi sauce. Heading back to the Surf House, Im already planning my second Lisbon adventure. The next day fog has enveloped the beach. Instructors Bruno and Tiago are undeterred, so into the sea we go. Theyre energetic teachers, pushing us into waves and correcting our mistakes. The swell is powerful and breaking steeply. Im a little scared but Bruno grabs onto my board so I cant run away. After a while, the sea is a churning mess of waves. Let go of your board! he yells as a 6ft wave looms overhead. I shoot him a baffled look. Wouldnt it be wise to hold onto the only solid object in this situation? I let the board go. The swell comes crashing down, taking me tumbling head-over-heels in the direction of the beach. When I finally surface, Bruno is 30m away, grinning. Back on dry land Im exhilarated. In the afternoon I throw open the shutters and doze in the sunlit rooms of the Surf House. Another advantage of this location is that its equally easy not to go to Lisbon. I stumble on two local restaurants, the first with a menu packed with meaty stews from Alentejo, the second serving fresh fish, garlicky shrimp and the local sparkling wine on tap. Over the next two days I visit them both (surfing makes you hungry). The food is heavenly and costs half what it would in the city. Lisbon is one of Europes hippest destinations, and if you come during July and August youll find queues everywhere so the locals tell me. Out of season, though, it is full of appeal. Ive loved exploring without any crowds and running wild on empty beaches. Its ideal if youre a first-time surfer but if you find you dont fancy the sea, the capital is right on your doorstep. And, as I discovered, even the quietest of neighbourhoods can surprise you. Thanks to this surf-cum-city break Ive become a more confident surfer and perhaps a more adventurous traveller, too. Details: Lisbon A 65-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a pensioner who was found dead in her east London home. Rosina Coleman, 85, who was discovered at her house in Romford on Tuesday, police said. The retired seamstress lived alone after her retired print worker husband died 11 years ago. Her body was discoveed by a visiting handyman. Detectives are investigating the possibility that she was attacked by a doorstep burglar who tricked his way into the property but they have not ruled out that she knew her assailant. Scotland Yard today appealed for anyone with information to come forward. Rosina Coleman, 85, was found dead at her home in Romford, east London on Tuesday Detective Inspector Paul Considine, of the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "Whilst we have made an arrest today, the investigation into Rosina's murder remains ongoing and I continue to appeal for witnesses. "Were you in Ashmour Gardens on Tuesday 15 May? "Every fragment of information is beneficial to our investigation and it is imperative that we gather as much evidence as we can against the person responsible for this horrendous offence." Neighbours paid tribute to an incredible person, who was a regular at local British Legion events. L ondoners who splash the cash on cocaine are helping to fuel gang violence and murders on the streets, Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick said today. The Met Commissioner warned that recreational drug-users are linked to the surge in violence which has seen 27 men aged 25 and under murdered in the capital so far this year. She spoke as detectives launched a murder inquiry in east London after a 24-year-old man was stabbed to death. Paramedics called to Crows Road in Barking battled to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene. He is Londons 63rd murder victim this year. Ms Dick told LBC radio: I do think that what you might call recreational drug-users, people who do not think they have a serious habit, have lots of money, splash the cash on cocaine, they need to think about this because there is misery at every stage of the chain including young people being dragged into gang crime and putting themselves at risk of being arrested or being killed. She also criticised the terrible effect of drill music, saying lyrics glamorise serious violence as gangs taunt each other online. Cressida Dick:The Met is looking to recruit at LEAST 500 more officers She said the Met was talking to social media companies in an effort to persuade them to take down videos which incite violence. The Commissioner also played down comparisons between Londons murder rate and New Yorks, pointing out that the US city had seen 28 murders in 29 days and was now well ahead of us again. Ms Dick also said the Met was hoping to recruit at least 500 extra officers over the next year and ploughing extra cash into fighting violent crime. Dozens of police descended on the Harts Lane Estate in Barking after last nights stabbing and swathes of it were still cordoned off this morning. A mother-of-two who lives in a nearby block of flats said: Police tried to help the boy on the floor until medics came. But they werent successful. I t COULD be lights out at West End theatres if EU regulations on lighting are imposed. Michael Grandage, above, whose production of Red won rave reviews this week, is worried that if the legislation goes through, we wont be able to put plays like this on. EU regulations would ban the tungsten bulbs that light the stage in Red and leave theatre-goers in the dark. Grandage is a heavyweight on the scene: he runs his own company and directed Nicole Kidman in a production of Photograph 51 in 2015, for which the Australian actress won an Evening Standard Theatre Award. Red is about painter Mark Rothko, played by Alfred Molina, and uses the gamut of lighting tricks to bring the play to life. But under EU regulations, set to come into force two years from now, the tungsten bulbs that create the effects would be banned. London arts types are a typical Remainer breed, but might this make Leavers out of the luvvies? Weve got to remember that whats behind the legislation is admirable, Grandage tells The Stage, adding: Its about making the world greener and better but what weve also got to do is put a very vociferous case about why the theatre world needs to be exempted first and foremost, so that we can have time to develop our own solution. The EU banned energy-inefficient tungsten bulbs a few years ago, but as many as 30 per cent of Leavers want to see them return, including Elizabeth Hurley, who said in May 2016: If it means we can go back to using decent lightbulbs, Im joining Brexit for sure. Theatres won an exemption from the blocs ruling, but the EU wants to phase the bulbs out from 2020. Opponents argue that the lighting rigs used in theatres are switched on only for brief periods and that using LED lights would not provide a significant reduction in power usage. Hackitt infuriates Grenfell victims Dame Judith Hackitt, the woman who led the report on building regulations after the Grenfell fire, once made a mid-interview complaint to a Financial Times journalist: You havent asked about my car. She is proud of her gleaming red F-type Jaguar. Hackitts Grenfell report was published yesterday and did not recommend an outright ban on flammable cladding, leaving campaigners and victims furious. Dame Judith is an engineer but has been criticised for not understanding the expectations of Grenfell families. Wedding or Football? Who cares, says Bailey Set the pace: Julian Schnabel with David Bailey at Pace Gallery (Getty Images) Bad grandad David Bailey was in cantankerous form at the Julian Schnabel private view this week. Royal wedding or the FA Cup Final, we ask. Im not going to watch either, he snaps. Im pleased for them, but not that interested. Has he yet photographed young Meghan Markle? No, he says. But Ill shoot anyone. - Will Prince Harrys rebellious years be over after tomorrow? Were told he recently threw a raucous party at the cottage he shares with Meghan in Kensington Palace. Guests danced on the tables until the early hours. But when they noisily raided the freezer for ice-cream, Harry told them to Shhh. Markle was asleep upstairs. Designer Joshua Kane keeps royal wedding client under his hat Chris Eubank Jr and Carl Froch appeared to square up last night, but they werent getting ready to rumble: they were guests at a charity poker party. The Ned hosted the Quintessentially Foundations charity poker night in association with partypoker in its grand Tapestry Room. The evening raised 135,000 for the Rugby Portobello Trust and brought together grime artist Stormzy and actor Tom Holland. Rakish designer Joshua Kane welcomed a night out after working hard on an outfit for one of his clients to wear to tomorrows royal wedding. I have a male guest who is attending and will be wearing one of my designs, Kane told us. I cant reveal the guest he has asked me not to but I think he should be wearing a sticker on his shirt and a name badge saying hes wearing Joshua Kane. The outfit is subtle, sartorially correct with a little flamboyance. We are assured, unfortunately, that the man in question is not Prince Harry. Recognition for the Kirby family Winning: Vanessa Kirby (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) / WireImage Actress Vanessa Kirby won a deserved BAFTA on Sunday for playing Princess Margaret in The Crown. While her many fans rushed to send their best wishes, Stephen Fry congratulated her proud dad, Professor Roger Kirby. But it was more than just good manners: Fry consulted Professor Kirby when he discovered he had prostate cancer. He has also given his backing to a charity expedition to Ethiopia that Prof Kirby is embarking on to raise money for gynaecological and prostate cancer research. Quite the impressive family. SW1A CABINET minister Chloe Smith and her opposite number Cat Smith often trade blows at the Despatch Box. But behind the scenes theyve shared giggles, having received each others post for a couple of years. The latest mix-up was a bundle of maternity clothes handed to the minister, which were destined for Cat, whose first baby is due in the summer. - A SECOND mix-up: if you Google Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West, the first picture to pop up is of Harvey Weinstein. Last October Amess released a statement criticising allegations against Weinstein but retracted it, claiming it was unauthorised. The Weinstein picture comes from an article about that. Does Google not forgive or forget? - DANIEL Hannan criticised David Milibands stance on banana tariffs yesterday, posting the infamous picture of David brandishing the fruit. Bananas used to be my specialist subject, Miliband replied. Quote of the Day Foxy: Liam Fox A very helpful adjunct to that relationship F ormer Russian double agent Sergei Skripal has been discharged from hospital after being exposed to a nerve agent. The ex-spy, 66, was discharged from Salisbury District Hospital more than two months after being poisoned with Novichok. Mr Skripal's release follows that of his daughter Yulia, 33, and DS Nick Bailey who were all exposed to the nerve agent in March. In a statement, the hospital said: "While these patients have now been discharged, their right to patient confidentiality remains and limits us from giving detailed accounts of the treatment these individuals received. "However, treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned. 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 Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital, added: "We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal. This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital. "Treating him and the other two people poisoned by this nerve agent, while still providing outstanding care to the other patients who rely on our hospital, has been a huge and unprecedented challenge that I'm proud our staff at Salisbury Hospital have risen to." The poisoning sparked a huge international row after the UK government said Russia was responsible for it. In response, Prime Minister Theresa May ordered the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from Britain. MI5 chief says Salisbury poisoning was 'deliberate, targeted' act by Russian state Mr Skripal's daughter Yulia, who was found alongside him in Salisbury town centre after the incident, said she missed hospital staff "immediately" after being discharged last month. She added: "I find myself in a totally different life than the ordinary one I left just over a month ago, and I am seeking to come to terms with my prospects, whilst also recovering from this attack on me." Mr Skripal was a Russian military intelligence officer but acted as a double agent for UK intelligence services in the 1990s and early 2000s. M eghan Markle beamed with delight as she left Kensington Palace today on her way to Windsor on the eve of the royal wedding. Seated alongside husband-to-be Prince Harry, she waved to crowds of admirers as the couple left Kensington Palace. The pair were later seen arriving in Windsor, where they are due to spend the night separately before Saturday's ceremony. TheMegaAgency.com Their arrival comes as Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, enjoyed tea with the Queen on Friday afternoon. Ms Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, arrived in the UK earlier this week to support her daughter after a week of family drama which saw the bride-to-be's father pull out of the wedding. Arrival: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at Windsor Castle / Reuters She met William and Kate and their children on Thursday before a rehearsal was held at the wedding venue St Georges Chapel in Windsor ahead of Ms Markle and Prince Harrys big day on Saturday. Harry and Meghan's arrival in Windsor came after Kensington Palace announced that Prince Charles would walk the bride down the aisle on her wedding day. Royal wedding day - the key times Ms Markle ended days of speculation on Thursday as she confirmed her father Thomas Markle Sr, 73, would not be present at the service following a heart operation. Announcing the move, Kensington Palace said: "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the Royal Family in this way." Happy couple: Harry and Meghan smile as they make their way to Windsor Castle / Reuters The Duke of Edinburgh will also attend the royal wedding and is due to arrive on crutches. Ms Markle will arrive at the St George's Chapel's West Steps by car, from her overnight accommodation of Cliveden House, with some of her bridesmaids and pageboys. It is there she will meet Prince Charles for him to walk her down the aisle. She will travel to Windsor by car on Saturday morning with her mother Ms Ragland and the car will make a brief stop at the castle when her mother will then exchange places with the bridesmaids and pageboys. Royal Wedding: Armed Police on patrol in Windsor - In pictures 1 /11 Royal Wedding: Armed Police on patrol in Windsor - In pictures Armed police patrols the streets in Windsor AP Special police forces arrive in Windsor AP Police officers look on from a rooftop the day before the wedding Getty Images A police dog handler passes the area where fans are camped out in Windsor Reuters Armed police outside Windsor Castle PA Armed British police officers patrol near The Prince Harry pub in Windsor AFP/Getty Images Mounted police on patrol PA Police patrol on motorcycles Getty Images Police officers on the Long Walk AFP/Getty Images Armed police walk on the high street Getty Images Police with dogs in Windsor PA Ms Ragland, 61, will enter the chapel by the Galilee Porch. London-based couture house Ralph & Russo was hotly-tipped as her dressmaker after the label designed the black and gold gown she wore for her engagement photographs. Botswana tops the list of potential honeymoon destinations after the couple celebrated Meghans 36th birthday there last August and the stone in her engagement ring came from the African country. Loading.... The last-minute preparations came as Mike Tindall, the former England rugby captain who married into the royal family, said he was welcomed with open arms by them, and that Meghan should just try to enjoy her wedding day. Speaking on ITVs Good Morning Britain, the former England centre, who married the Queens granddaughter Zara Phillips in 2011, said of Meghan: I think shell be nervous, but coming from her background in TV shes used to the public spotlight. Not quite as much probably as has gone on this week, but shell be fine and I think shes experienced enough to know that all she can do is enjoy the day. And its a special day for them both, and as long as they get a quiet moment during the day and actually have enjoyed the day, thats what I wish for them, and hopefully theyll live happily ever after. Setting: Windsor Castle / Jeremy Selwyn It is understood that the arrival of Meghans mother has been a great help in the lead-up to the wedding. Ms Ragland and Meghan will travel by car to the castle from their hotel, Cliveden House, for the service. P rince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle for her wedding to Prince Harry after her father pulled out of the ceremony. Her mother Doria Ragland had been widely tipped to stand in for her ex-husband and walk Harry's bride down the aisle at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on Saturday. But on Friday morning, Kensington Palace confirmed Ms Markle had asked Harry's father Prince Charles to stand in for her sick father. Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle tomorrow Kensington Palace said in a statement: "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the Royal Family in this way." The announcement from Kensington Palace that Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle For more Royal Wedding insights, subscribe to Robert Jobsons Royal Podcast. It's an intimate look at life inside the royal household, told through conversations with those who have lived and worked with the royals. Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts Betfair had earlier reported a surge in bets on Prince Charles, who gets on with Ms Markle very well, to give her away at the wedding. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry arriving in Windsor for a rehearsal on Thursday Prince Charles previously escorted the daughter of his friend Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, when she married Thomas Hooper in 2016. He also personally walked his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall, down the aisle in 2005 during their religious ceremony. Their civil ceremony was kept private. The Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding, Buckingham Palace also confirmed today. Meghan Markle's father Thomas Markle pulled out of the ceremony because of ill health earlier this week Ms Markle will arrive at the St George's Chapel's West Steps by car, from her overnight accommodation of Cliveden House, with some of her bridesmaids and pageboys. It is there she will meet Prince Charles for him to walk her down the aisle. She will travel to Windsor by car with her mother Ms Ragland and the car will make a brief stop at the castle when her mother will then exchange places with the bridesmaids and pageboys. Ms Ragland, 61, will enter the chapel by the Galilee Porch. Doria Ragland mother of Meghan Markle with her daughter at the Invictus Games Closing Ceremony Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada / PA She was due to meet the Queen on Friday as she continued to support her daughter after a week of family drama which saw the bride-to-be's father pull out of the wedding. Ms Ragland met William and Kate and their children on Thursday before a rehearsal was held at the wedding venue St Georges Chapel in Windsor ahead of Ms Markle and Prince Harrys big day on Saturday. She also sat down for tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall alongside her future son-in-law Harry and the US actress on Wednesday. A look at other times Prince Charles has walked brides down the aisle Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Preparations 1 /54 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Preparations Claire Ptak, owner of Violet Bakery in Hackney, east London, puts finishing touches to the cake for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the kitchens at Buckingham Palace PA A Jaguar convertible with a Union Flag paint scheme and life size cardboard cut outs of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is parked in Windsor Reuters Royal fans wave flags from the window of a Marks and Spencer store above a banner referring to the wedding Reuters Indian painter Jagjot Singh Rubal touches up his painting of Prince Harry (L) and Meghan Markle ahead of their royal wedding AFP/Getty Images A cardboard cut out of Britain's Queen Elizabeth stands behind Union flags on the crowd control barriers near Windsor Castle Reuters Royal fans camp out on the streets of Windsor Jeremy Selwyn Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images Kensington Palace update with the news that the Prince of Wales will accompany Meghan Markle down the aisle at her wedding to Prince Harry. PA 4 year old George high fives an armed police officer in Windsor a Jeremy Selwyn Philip Barnard-Brown, Senior Coachman at the Buckingham Palace Mews, leads a Windsor Grey, one of the four horses that will pull the carriage at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, past the Ascot Landau carriage, at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace PA School children in uniform wave Union Flags outside Windsor Castle Reuters James Vivian, Director of Music at St George's Chapel in Windsor directs the St. George's Chapel Choir during a rehearsal before evensong and ahead of the wedding PA Police officers prepare road closures outside Windsor Castle AP The royal kitchen at Windsor Castle where preparations are underway for the reception banquet after the wedding PA Alice Laughton, Project Manager at Mission Invertebrate, inspects plants at the Royal Parks Nursery in Hyde Park, where flowers are being grown for the wedding AFP/Getty Images Members of the Household Calvary ready for inspection in the Regimental Square during a facility to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks PA A general view of Windsor Castle Getty Images The reverse of the new coin design that will commemorate the next occasion for the British royal family, the wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Harry and Meghan Markle taking place at St. Georgeas Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor EPA State trumpeters play in the Regimental Square during a facility to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barrack PA Two Windsor Greys, which will pull the carriage at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, are groomed at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace PA A royal fan sleeps outside Windsor Castle AP A media stand is erected half way along The Long Walk at Windsor Castle as it prepares for the royal wedding Getty Images Armed police officers in Windsor speak with members of the public ahead of the wedding Getty Images Street art of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle by Pegasus on the wall of hair & beauty salon The N7 Collective Getty Images Britain's Prince Harry's name is painted on the exterior of a building in Windsor AFP/Getty Images Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images Union Jack bunting hangs in front of Windsor Castle Getty Images The Ascot Landau open carriage, which will be used in the case of dry weather, for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, stands ready in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace in London AP Life size photographs of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a gift shop in Windsor Getty Images A member of the Household Calvary works in the Tailors Shop during a facility to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks PA A member of the Household Calvary re-shoes a horse in the forge during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images Union Flags hang above Regent Street, as part of the preparations for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images A photograph of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is displayed in the window of the Two Brewers Pub in Windsor Getty Images Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images A media stand is erected half way along The Long Walk at Windsor Castle as it prepares for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images Souvenirs featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are displayed in a Windsor gift shop Getty Images The Ascot Landau (left) which will be used in the case of dry weather at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and the Scottish State Carriage, to be used in the case of rain, at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, London PA Detail of State trumpeters uniforms in the Regimental Square during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images Work continues along The Long Walk in front of Windsor Castle ahead of the wedding Getty Images Cardboard cut-outs of Prince Harry and his fiance US actress Meghan Markle sit among Royal memorabilia in a gift shop widow ahead of the couple's wedding in Windsor Getty Images Uniforms in the Full Dress store during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images A window display commemorates the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and his fiance US actress Meghan Markle in Windsor Getty Images Members of the Household Calvary works in the Tailors Shop during a preview to see The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment preparations for the forthcoming Royal Wedding at Hyde Park Barracks Getty Images Craftsman Deakin of the Royal Electrical Engineer stands near an Apache attack helicopter during a photocall to display the involvement of 3 Regiment Army Air Corp in ceremonial duties during the Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Megham Markle, at Wattisham airfield Getty Images 3 Regiment Army Air Corps practice marching at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk as they prepare for the forthcoming royal wedding o Getty Images Work continues along The Long Walk in front of Windsor Castle Getty Images 3 Regiment Army Air Corps led by Lieutenant Colonel N English at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk as they prepare for the forthcoming royal wedding Getty Images People gather outside a pub decorated to mark the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images The changing of the guard ceremony takes place through the streets of Windsor ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Getty Images Royal fans awake at first light having spent the night outside of Windsor Castle Reuters Royal fans in Windsor Jeremy Selwyn Royal fans in Windsor Jeremy Selwyn Windsor Castle through the morning mist Jeremy Selwyn Royal fans in Windsor Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace confirmed the two women will meet on Friday at Windsor Castle, with the prince and his fiancee. The head of state is likely to host afternoon tea for Ms Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, who flew to the UK this week to be by her daughter's side. It follows a week of family drama for Ms Markle, whose father pulled out of the wedding following a heart attack and after he was exposed for setting up staged paparazzi photos. M eghan Markle said she is feeling "wonderful" on the eve of her wedding to Prince Harry. As she arrived with her mother Doria Ragland at the luxury Cliveden House Hotel after meeting the Queen for afternoon tea, the actress was beaming as she posed for photos with her mother before being greeted by the hotel general manager. Prince Harry and the Duke of Cambridge earlier met their adoring fans outside Windsor Castle, with just hours to go until Meghan and Harry tie the knot. Prince Harry greets crowds in Windsor with his brother William Harry, looking relaxed wearing an open-necked white shirt and light jacket, waved to the crowds and chatted to his brother before making a beeline to talk to a young girl waiting among the crowds outside. Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland waves as she arrives at her hotel on the National Trust's Cliveden Estate / PA He shook hands with dozens of well-wishers. Flanked by his best man, William, the pair chatted and joked with those gathered outside the castle. At one point Harry was handed a small teddy bear wearing a red sweater, which he gave a quick hug before moving on to speak to a young boy sporting a red, white and blue crown-style hat. When asked how he was feeling, Harry replied: "Great." Bride-to-be: Meghan Markle beams as she waves to the cameras as she returns to her hotel / PA Earlier today it was confirmed that Prince Charles will walk Meghan down the aisle on Saturday, not her mother, who had been the bookies' favourite. Not long now: Prince Harry greets wellwishers outside Windsor Castle / REUTERS Kensington Palace said Meghan had asked the Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle at Windsor. The statement added: The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to The Royal Family in this way. The decision came after days of speculation over who would perform the task. Traditionally it is the brides father who gives her away. Harry and William on walkabout in Windsor today / AP Meghans 73-year-old father was unable to travel from his home in Mexico following a heart operation this week. Thumbs up: Harry greets fans / PA Former Suits actor Meghan confirmed in a statement yesterday that he was too frail and appealed for him to be given space to recover. Prince Harry (L) and his best man Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, greet well-wishers on the street / AFP/Getty Images It is understood that orders of service have been printed saying that the bride will be accompanied by her father as was originally agreed when she marries Harry. An elated Prince Harry waves at fans during a walkabout in Windsor / PA Ms Ragland, who flew in to Heathrow on Wednesday, is expected to spend half an hour with the Queen today. She has also met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children. Meghan appeared to be taking a difficult week in her stride as the royal family, her mother and friends rallied round. William and Harry emerge from the gates of Windsor Castle to greet well-wishers / PA The bride-to-be was pictured with Prince Harry being driven down Windsor Castles Long Walk yesterday for final rehearsals. London-based couture house Ralph & Russo was hotly-tipped as her dressmaker after the label designed the black and gold gown she wore for her engagement photographs. The last-minute preparations came as Mike Tindall, the former England rugby captain who married into the royal family, said he was welcomed with open arms by them, and that Meghan should just try to enjoy her wedding day. Speaking on ITVs Good Morning Britain, the former England centre, who married the Queens granddaughter Zara Phillips in 2011, said of Meghan: I think shell be nervous, but coming from her background in TV shes used to the public spotlight. Not quite as much probably as has gone on this week, but shell be fine and I think shes experienced enough to know that all she can do is enjoy the day. And its a special day for them both, and as long as they get a quiet moment during the day and actually have enjoyed the day, thats what I wish for them, and hopefully theyll live happily ever after. It is understood that the arrival of Meghans mother has been a great help in the lead-up to the wedding. Ms Ragland and Meghan will travel by car to the castle from their hotel, Cliveden House, for the service. The Duke of Edinburgh, who walked Princess Margaret down the aisle at her wedding to Lord Snowdon in 1960, will attend after recovering well from a hip replacement. Excitement was building today in Windsor as the hours ticked down to the wedding. Botswana tops the list of potential honeymoon destinations after the couple celebrated Meghans 36th birthday there last August and the stone in her engagement ring came from the African country. 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Large numbers of royal fans spent last night camped out on the streets of the Berkshire town to secure the best spots to catch a glimpse of the couple tomorrow. Thames Valley Police are enforcing a no-tent rule for security reasons, forcing people to sleep in the open air or on fold-up chairs. Canadian Janice Cox, 69, and her daughter Angie Hart, 47, slept in camping chairs covered in blankets at their prime position next to the statue of Queen Victoria. The Royal Wedding procession in detail Mrs Hart, a housewife from Ontario, said: It was freezing last night and were Canadian. We arrived yesterday and came straight here from the flight. We wanted to come to see the amazing event only the British can put on something like this. We are really happy for Harry, and Meghan has spent a lot of time in Canada so we feel like she is part-Canadian too. Loading.... Her mother said: We went to Williams wedding too and that was fantastic. We were in prime spot to see that famous kiss. Best friends Nancy Allman and Ginger Currie, both from California, arrived on a flight from America yesterday to support their home girl Meghan. They were wearing blue and red fascinators and holding Meghan and Harry 18 flags. We are here to support her, she is such a sweetheart, Ms Currie said. Shes real, shes authentic. A royal enthusiast in Windsor on Friday / Jeremy Selwyn Sisters Jean Hammond and Moira Moss were passing the time by dressing up in Meghan and Harry masks, after arriving yesterday from Staffordshire. Mrs Hammond, 62, a prison case officer, said: I am still warming up. It was particularly cold last night. Her sister, 64, added: We are just big fans of the royals. And I went to Dianas funeral and watching Harry then was heartbreaking. It is so nice to see him so happy now.The town of Windsor has embraced the wedding, with almost all the shops featuring special displays. Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb NBC today show presenters / Jeremy Selwyn Along the procession route, 4,000 metres of bunting has been unveiled, with local performers organised to entertain people in The Long Walk and in Windsor High Street tomorrow. This morning, the brass band from Windsor Boys School played The Wedding March, while Windsor Town Crier Chris Brown was out and about, announcing a very warm welcome to all visitors. Royal Wedding fans sleeping on the streets of Windsor - In pictures 1 /9 Royal Wedding fans sleeping on the streets of Windsor - In pictures Royal fans sleep on the pavement outside Windsor Castle Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Reuters Reuters AP Reuters Reuters Reuters AP Hosts of the American NBC Today show Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb were also in the town, taking selfies with fans. Kotb told the Standard: We love it here. It is literally heaven. While those camping out tonight are in for another chilly night, Harry and Meghan are set to be blessed with sunshine and warm temperatures tomorrow. The weather is forecast to be ideal for when they emerge from St Georges Chapel, before a ride around the town in an open-top landau carriage at about 1pm. Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle, it was confirmed on Friday morning / Getty Images Met Office meteorologist Martin Bowles said: We are expecting wall-to-wall sunshine all day. The beginning of the day will start off cold, around 6C (43F) or 7C (45F), but will rapidly warm up. Temperatures will peak around 3pm at 21C (70F) and there will be light winds all ideal for a wedding. It is expected to be about 19C (66F) by the time the couple set off in the carriage procession, he said. After lunch hosted by the Queen at St Georges Hall at the castle, the wedding party will then move on to the evening reception at nearby Frogmore House hosted by the Prince of Wales. M eghan Markles mother will today meet the Queen as she continues to support her daughter after a week of family drama which saw the bride-to-be's father pull out of the wedding. Doria Ragland, 61, met William and Kate and their children on Thursday before a rehearsal was held at the wedding venue St Georges Chapel in Windsor ahead of Ms Markle and Prince Harrys big day on Saturday. She also sat down for tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall alongside her future son-in-law Harry and the US actress on Wednesday. The Queen has yet to be introduced to the Suits actress' mother, but Buckingham Palace confirmed the two women will meet on Friday at Windsor Castle, with the prince and his fiancee. Doria Ragland mother of Meghan Markle with her daughter at the Invictus Games Closing Ceremony Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada / PA The head of state is likely to host afternoon tea for Ms Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, who flew to the UK this week to be by her daughter's side. On Thursday, Harry and Ms Markle were photographed being driven into Windsor Castle along the famous Long Walk which will be part of their wedding carriage procession route. Royal wedding cake: Layered lemon and elderflower served up for Harry and Meghan Two black four-by-fours and police outriders drove up The Long Walk to Windsor Castle before 2pm on Thursday. The couple appeared relaxed and at ease, in contrast to Ms Markle's heartfelt statement, released earlier in the day, when she confirmed her father would not be walking her down the aisle. "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding," she said in a statement issued by Kensington Palace. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images She added: "I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle engagement announcement 1 /27 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle engagement announcement Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Eddie Mulholland-WPA Pool/Getty Images Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle photo call today on the announcement of their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Getty Images Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace AP Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace PA Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace AP Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Getty Images Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Reuters Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Sky News Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace PA Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Getty Images Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace AP Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, after the announcement of their engagement PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave following a photocall after announcing their engagement in the Sunken Garden in Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walk away after posing for the media in the grounds of Kensington Palace AP "I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday." Ms Ragland flew into London to support her daughter on Tuesday. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are getting married on Saturday (Alexi Lubomirski via Getty Image) / Alexi Lubomirski Mr Markle, who lives in Mexico, told website TMZ that he was recovering in hospital after surgery on Thursday following a heart attack. The retired lighting director, who divorced Ms Markle's mother in 1988, said he would take a long time to heal after undergoing the operation. Mr Markle had been due to walk his daughter down the aisle to marry Prince Harry. It is now thought Ms Ragland will step in to walk her daughter down the aisle. A s the royal familys role has evolved over the years to be more symbolic, so have royal weddings. In the past such unions were essentially arranged marriages to cement alliances between countries. They were often low-key and rarely involved the public. But during Queen Victorias reign all that changed. Ceremonies for her children and grandchildren became much more extravagant and attracted big crowds. Victorian journalist and essayist Walter Bagehot wrote: A princely marriage is the brilliant edition of a universal fact, and, as such, it rivets mankind. But the magnetic pulling power of a royal wedding only really emerged in the television age. Watched by millions: Prince Charles with his new wife Diana in 1981 (PA ) / PA The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Pauls Cathedral was watched by a global audience of 750 million people on July 29, 1981. Their marriage was billed as a fairy-tale wedding and the wedding of the century. Britain partied, with a national holiday to mark the day. The spectacular ceremony included state carriages and roles for the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry. Sadly, however, the marriage faltered and the couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. Princess Annes marriage to Captain Mark Phillips in November 1973 and the marriage of the Duke of York to Sarah Ferguson in July 1986 both took place at Westminster Abbey. Both ended in divorce. The Queens youngest child, Prince Edward, has been luckier in love. He married Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999. The Earl and Countess of Wessex have enjoyed a happy marriage and have two children. Their wedding, at St Georges Chapel in Windsor, is almost a template for Harry and Meghans. Just as with this ceremony, it was not a state occasion, which meant the then-prime minister Tony Blair was not on the guest list. The pair also rode through the streets of Windsor in an open carriage, just as Harry and Meghan will tomorrow. The next major ceremony to take place in Windsor was the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla. Their civil ceremony took place at Windsor Guildhall, on April 9, 2005. It was followed by a Church of England service of prayer and dedication at St Georges Chapel, which incorporated an act of penitence. The wedding was described by the media as a a fairy-tale for grown-ups. The next grand royal wedding was that of Harrys brother Prince William, when he married Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in 2011. Kate stunned in a lace Alexander McQueen dress and one of the Queens tiaras as they exchanged vows in front of 1,900 guests, including Sir Elton John and David and Victoria Beckham. Harry served as Williams best man, while Kates sister, Pippa Middleton, was her maid of honour. After a carriage ride to Buckingham Palace, the newlyweds were cheered on by the crowds as they shared two kisses on the palace balcony. The ceremony was viewed by tens of millions around the world, with 23 million US viewers. Harry and Meghans wedding has been tipped to pull in an even higher global audience. American networks have spent small fortunes building studios to cover the wedding of this Hollywood princess. Bagehots assessment, it seems, is as relevant today as it was in the mid-19th century. This spectacle will be embraced by millions, who will be compelled to watch on TV or throw a party at home to celebrate. We should not forget, however, that at its heart, despite the media circus swirling around it, this is a profoundly private and family celebration of two peoples love for one another. D ozens of undercover police officers will mingle with the crowds in a 30 million security operation to protect the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. More than 3,000 officers are set to be deployed in Windsor tomorrow in the biggest operation ever conducted by the Thames Valley force. Snipers will be posted on rooftops, uniform beat officers will patrol the route of the procession while undercover officers some armed will watch for threats from the crowd. Police expect more than 100,000 people to descend on Windsor, with the town turned into a virtual fortress. It is the biggest operation in the history of the Thames Valley force / AFP/Getty Images Visitors will be asked to pass through airport-style security scanners and show the contents of their bags while technology will check number plates on all vehicles driving into the centre. Rooftop police spotters on duty today in Windsor / Getty Images Barriers to halt car or lorry terror attacks are up on roads while helicopters will patrol the skies and marine police will be on the Thames. Hundreds of officers have been searching the route of the couples open-top procession in advance while drones will be banned from flying over Windsor Castle all weekend. Royal Wedding fans sleeping on the streets of Windsor - In pictures 1 /9 Royal Wedding fans sleeping on the streets of Windsor - In pictures Royal fans sleep on the pavement outside Windsor Castle Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Reuters Reuters AP Reuters Reuters Reuters AP A police spokesman said all scenarios had been anticipated: We are confident of our security operation. Harry and Meghan arrive in Windsor ahead of wedding Dai Davies, a former Scotland Yard royalty protection police chief, said one of the biggest concerns on the day would be crowd control. He said: There are issues over how you manage these crowds in the event of anything happening, are there evacuation plans in place and are there safety zones for people to get to? There will be a lot of families with young children so you have to have evacuation routes prepared. Plans are in place to prevent trains reaching Windsor if crowds become too big and the number of people is thought a public safety risk. The force has been working closely with Scotland Yard, responsible for the royals security inside Windsor Castle. B ill Gates has claimed that Donald Trump asked him twice what the difference was between HIV and HPV. The Microsoft co-founder made the remarks at a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation meeting, according to MSNBC. Mr Gates also added that he found the amount the president knew about his daughter's appearance "scary." Mr Trump and his team have not commented on the allegations. Philanthropist Mr Gates told members of his staff in Florida that he has met Mr Trump twice since he became president. He told the crowd:"Both times he wanted to know if there was a difference between HIV and HPV. So I was able to explain that those are rarely confused with each other." HPV affects the skin and moist membranes and can cause problems such as abnormal cell changes in the cervix while HIV attacks the immune system. The infection can lead to AIDS however with treatment, most people don't go on to develop it, according to the NHS. Mr Gates said: "In both of those two meetings, he asked me if vaccines weren't a bad thing because he was considering to commission to look into ill-effects of vaccines and somebody ,Robert Kennedy Junior, was advising him that vaccines were causing bad things." Mr Gates also said the president knew a lot about his daughter's appearance / White House "And I said no that would be a bad thing, don't do that." Footage thought to be from a recent meeting with staff from the Microsoft co-founder's foundation was leaked online by MSNBC's All in with Chris Hayes. In one video Mr Gates explained that Mr Trump had previously known his daughter, now 22, after they met at one of his horse shows. Mr Gates said: "He knew my daughter Jennifer, because Trump has this horse show thing down in Florida and in fact he went up and talked to Jen and was being super nice." "And then like 20 minutes later, he flew into a helicopter in the same place so clearly, he had been driven away,but he wanted to make a grand entrance in a helicopter." A seven-month-old baby has died after 'her father forgot to take her to day care before going to work.' The girl was rescued from a vehicle at the car park of Eagle Pass High School in Texas on May 16 but died in hospital. According to local news, the temperature in Eagle Pass on that day topped 37C. Police say her father is a teacher at the school and forgot to drop his seven-month-old off at day care. Officer Humberto Garza says investigators believe the babys death was accidental. In a statement Eagle Pass Police department said: "Officers and medics arrived, and a small female child was transported to the emergency room after it had been determined the child had been left in a vehicle within the school parking lot for an undetermined amount of time. "The child was later pronounced deceased and by a local justice of the peace. "The Eagle Pass Police Department is currently assisting the Eagle Pass Independent School District Police Department with this ongoing investigation." Students run for their lives One student told Houston television station KTRK that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. She said she saw a girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. Another student, Dakota Shrader, said: "As soon as the alarms went off, everybody just started running outside. T en people, mostly students, have been killed after a gunman opened fire inside a school in Texas. The gunman, a student who was detained after the shooting, also planted explosive devices around the school and off-campus. Police were called to Santa Fe High School just before 8am (2pm BST) after receiving reports of an "active shooter". Suspect: Dimitrios Pagourtzis / Facebook Houston police said 10 people were killed, many of them children, with a further ten people injured. Students told how they ran screaming for their lives when the "boom boom" of gunfire broke out in an art class. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said there "could be 8 to 10 fatalities" from the shooting at the school about 30 miles southeast of Houston. Trump addresses the high school shooting in Texas The majority of the dead are students, he added. He said one person, a 17-year-old student, is in custody following a stand-off with police. A second person of interest has been detained. A police officer is among the injured but the extent of the officer's injuries is unknown, he said. Police at the scene where at least eight people were shot dead when a gunman stormed a school reportedly armed with a shotgun / AP Sophomore student Dakota Shrader said: "As soon as the alarms went off, everybody just started running outside. "Next thing you know everybody looks, and you hear boom, boom, boom, and I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest floor so I could hide, and I called my mom." He added: "Every school shooting, kids getting killed, innocent kids getting killed. No family should have to suffer that just because somebody wants to be selfish and go out and hurt other people. It's just not right at all," he said. A distraught onlooker hugs a police officer in the wake of the shooting / AP A senior law enforcement official told the Houston Chronicle that the gunman was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol, a shotgun and pipe bombs. It is the worst mass shooting in America since February, when 17 people were gunned down at a high school in Parkland, Florida Paige Curry, a junior at the school, said: "I was sitting in my classroom and I heard very loud booms and I didn't know what they were. I was confused but after I heard screaming, I figured out what they were, got up immediately and started to run." After the gunman was detained, the Santa Fe school district tweeted: "Possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. "School has been evacuated. Call 911 if you see any suspicious item." Police officers later surrounded a mobile home which is believed to be the home of the shooter, KHOU11 reported. The sheriff's office for nearby Harris County said its deputies were assisting with a "multiple-casualty incident." "This is no longer an active shooting situation and the injured are being treated," the sheriff's department said on Twitter Students and teachers take refuge in a school bus / AP As distraught students gathered outside the school, one told ABC: "Im scared to even go back. "Its just not something that you should feel throughout the day, being scared. Especially somewhere where we say the Pledge of Allegiance." Distraught school staff in a nearby garage after the shooting at the school / AP Dr. David Marshall, chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said one man was undergoing surgery at the hospital following the shooting. He said a juvenile was admitted and a second adult was being treated in the hospital's emergency room. US President Donald Trump wrote of the shooting on Twitter: "Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, said in a statement: "My heart is heavy from watching the horrific events that unfolded at Santa Fe High School today. My prayers are with each student, parent, educator and first responder impacted. "Our schools must be safe and nurturing environments for learning. No student should have to experience the trauma suffered by so many today and in similar events prior. We simply cannot allow this trend to continue." Police were called to the high school just before 8am / AP One student told Houston television station KTRK that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. She said she saw a girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. Another student, Leila Butler, told ABC that fire alarms went off at about 7.45am and students left their classrooms. She said some students believe they heard shots fired, and that she was sheltering with other students and teachers near campus. Police officers respond to a reports of a shooting at a high school near Houston / AP As the news broke, Santa Fe school district said on Facebook: This morning an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter." The district has initiated a lockdown at the high school. We will send out additional information as soon as it is available. Police vehicles swarmed the school on Friday morning / AP Neighbouring Dickinson district said it had also placed its schools on protect mode following the reports. Doors are locked & personnel are stationed at outer doors to let people in and out. No students allowed outside of building. Loading.... T his is the heartbreaking moment a young survivor of the Texas school shooting said she always felt it would happen because "it's been happening everywhere". Up to ten people, most of them students, were killed on Friday when a gunman opened fire inside Santa Fe High School. A teen who was caught up in the shooting was asked by a reporter after the horrific incident: "Was there a part of you that was like, 'This could not happen at my school?" The student, 17-year-old Paige Curry, struggled to hold back tears as she responded: "No, there wasn't. Its been happening everywhere. Ive always felt it would eventually happen here, too." The clip has gone viral amid huge anti-gun protests that followed the school shooting at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, where 17 students and teachers died. Earlier in the interview the youngster spoke of her how she tried to keep calm after the gunman opened fire. She said: "I managed to keep calm through it all, there was another girl who was just freaking out, they were struggling to keep her calm. It was really scary." The gunman is believed to have opened fire in an art class just before 8am. The local sheriff said as many as 10 people may have been killed, many of them children, with a further six people injured. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said one person, a 17-year-old student, was in custody following a stand-off with police. T he US Air Force has apologised for posting a tweet making a joke about internet phenomenon Yanny or Laurel in the context of the war in Afghanistan. On its main account, the force juxtaposed the viral sensation with military action against Taliban forces. The US military has been involved amid intense fighting in the city of Farah in Afghanistan, providing air support with A-10 attack aircraft and drones. The offending tweet said: "The Taliban forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10." The #BRRRT was meant to suggest the sound of gun fire. Offending tweet: the post from the US Air Force The tweet linked the 16-year war to an audio clip circulating on the internet which saw millions of people divided over whether they heard the word Yanny or Laurel. What do you hear: Yanny or Laurel? After questions at a Pentagon briefing about whether the tweet was appropriate, the Air Force deleted it and expressed regrets for the poor attempt at humour. Loading.... Guwahati : While the updation process of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is going on in Assam to detect illegal foreigners, a BJP leader of Assam unit said that, there are few MLAs in the Assam Legislative Assembly who are Bangladesh origin. BJP Minority Morcha Assam State President Mominul Awal said that, there are few Bangladesh origin MLAs in Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). When the NRC updation process is going on in the state under the Supreme Court monitoring, the Assam leaders remarks on Congress and AIUDF has created a new controversy. At present 15 minority Congress MLAs in the Assam assembly and out of these 14 are from Bangladesh origin, Awal said. The Assam BJP leader also said that, Congress should be renamed as AIUDF (U). He also alleged that, AIUDF is a Bangladeshi party and maximum MLAs of the party are Bangladesh origin. G reek composer Yanni's popularity has surged following the "Yanny or Laurel " debate internet phenomenon. Yanni, real name Yiannis Chryssomallis, is a Greek composer, keyboardist, pianist and music producer. Google trends noted that the musician received a spike in searches as the debate over whether people heard Yanny or Laurel in the audio clip raged over the internet. While the whole Internet debates #Yanny vs #Laurel, the real winner is Greek composer @Yanni, who got a major search bump. Sounds like smooooth music to us, Google tweeted. What do you hear: Yanny or Laurel? The musician also posted a video of himself listening to the clip before confirming that he heard Yanny. In a further post he wrote: The reaction you make when people think its Laurel and not Yanny... #YanniToBeExact. Posting a photo of Yannis album cover, Nick Valdez wrote: My head says #laurel, but my heart will always say @Yanni. Caitlin Green wrote: #laureloryanny conspiracy theory: this is all an elaborate prank by @Yanni to promote his new album titled #Laurel. Scott Cowley said: If @Yanni were able to drop a new song right now and call it "Laurel," it would be the biggest social media/music coup of the year. If Yanni's business manager/PR person can't capitalise on this, they should be replaced. The internet was thrown into a collective meltdown earlier this week over an audio clip which has divided the opinions of listeners. The clip - which has gone viral online - leaves some people convinced they have heard the word Yanny, while others are adamant that it says Laurel. Believed to have originated on Reddit and posted by YouTuber Cloe Feldman on Twitter, the computer-generated voice has become the most divisive topic since #TheDress debate in 2015. According to Dr Elliot Freeman, a senior lecturer in psychology at City, University of London, the difference in opinion is down to individuals hearing. He explained: Probably quite accidentally, this lo-fi synthesised voice contains sounds consistent with several different phonemes, like for example, ya and lo, each occupying slightly different frequency bands. J ustin Timberlake has apologised after he cancelled multiple dates on his UK Man of the Woods Tour. The 37-year-old has axed three shows while others have been slightly delayed due to changes. A Live Nation statement announced dates in Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow were unable to be rescheduled. The statement read: The Man Of The Woods European tour start has been slightly delayed resulting in the following changes to the UK performances." Timberlake has rescheduled his July 5 Glasgow show to July 7, his June 27 show at Birmingham to August 27 and his Manchester show from July 1 to August 29. The statement continued: Unfortunately, we are unable to reschedule the concerts previously scheduled for June 28 in Birmingham, July 2 in Manchester and July 6 in Glasgow, fans holding tickets will receive a refund at point of purchase. Justin Timberlake and Live Nation apologise for any inconvenience to fans." Fans took to social media to discuss the news after many declared that they are unable to make the rescheduled dates. One wrote: Ahh JT!! I wait 12 yrs for dates that work. I book all these crazy flight routes (with no changes/refunds), hotel, I rearrange work trips just so I can FINALLY get to see you on tour, I sit on 3 PCs to get best seats & you CANCEL???? @jtimberlake #MOTWtour #JustinTimberlake. Another said: Nothing more annoying than when artist reschedule tour dates with no explanations or reasons given now lost on out money cos we cant refund the hotel!!! Thanks @jtimberlake #whatajoke. M eghan Markle may have turned her back on acting after getting engaged to a prince but shes made sure to invite her former co-stars to her wedding. Meghan will tie the knot with Prince Harry in front of 600 guests at Windsor Castles St Georges Chapel tomorrow. Among the guests will be the stars of Suits, the hit US legal drama in which Meghan played lawyer Rachel Zane. Heres a list of the stars who have flown in to celebrate the special day: Gabriel Macht and Jacinda Barrett Husband and wife duo Gabriel Macht and Jacinda Barrett, who play Harvey Spectre and Zoey Lawford respectively, touched down in the UK earlier this week. The couple have been enjoying a spot of sightseeing in London with Barrett sharing a loved up selfie in Hyde Park. She also shared another picture of herself receiving a kiss from her four-year-old son outside Buckingham Palace. Patrick J. Adams There are clearly no hard feelings between Meghan and Adams who tied the knot in the last series of the show. Adams, who played Meghans husband Mike Ross, arrived in the UK and hit a country pub. The actor posted a picture outside The Royal Standard of England in Beaconsfield and captioned the shot: I have historically aled. Rick Hoffman Hoffan, who plays Louis Litt, teased fans with the news that he is heading east for a special event earlier this week. The actor shared a video clip of himself telling fans: I am checking in with you. [Im] heading east for some special event and Im very excited about that and of this season of Suits. Those wanting a behind-the-scenes look may want to follow Hoffmans account over the weekend as he promised: Pictures to come of this week and videos potentially. Sarah Rafferty Sight seeing: Sarah Rafferty with her daughter outside Buckingham Palace (Media-Mode / Splash ) / Media-Mode / Splash Rafferty, who plays executive assistant Donna Paulsen, was described by Meghan as her Suits wife. The actress took a mini detour to Paris before touching down in London earlier this week. She was later pictured with her two daughters and husband outside Buckingham Palace. Anyone else? Celeb royalty: David and Victoira Beckham / Getty Images Suits stars Abigail Spencer, Gina Torres and Amanda Schull are also rumoured to have bagged themselves an invite. Other stars confirmed to attend include David and Victoria Beckham and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra. Amal and George Clooney, Ellie Goulding, Emma Bunton and Geri Horner are also rumoured to be attending. Sir Elton John is said to be performing at the reception. C razy Ex-Girlfriend and Jane The Virgin are coming to an end, American network The CW has confirmed. The channel announced the end of the two popular shows after their respective series in a statement on Thursday. Horror comedy iZombie has also been axed pending the fifth and final run of episodes next year. Fans of musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which has been praised for its depiction of mental health, were less surprised than fans of the other shows when the fall schedule was released as creator and lead star Rachel Bloom hinted that the fourth series would be the last in a recent tweet. Earlier this month she shared a cast picture, writing: Just turned on my wifi on our flight to Chicago and found out that #CrazyExGirlfriend has been renewed for a final season. But that didnt stop fans tweeting their sadness when the shows official Twitter revealed that the final series is set to hit screens on Fridays later this year. One wrote: I can't even imagine my life without u now. (PS : we want Greg back). While another said: No. I do not like that. What am I going to do when it's over? How will I ever find anyone who understands me the way Rebecca @Racheldoesstuff does? Where do I go from there? This show is special. Why in the world is it being cancelled? What it needs is better advertising and marketing, posted somebody else. But others will feel like the fourth series is the correct time to end the show, a feeling similar among Jane The Virgin fans. Jane The Virgin: Gina Rodriquez as Jane Villanueva alongside Andrea Navedo as Xiomara / The CW / YouTube Following a huge twist at the end of the last series, with a key character returning from the dead, show executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman admitted to the New York Times that they actually began planning for the end long before the curtain fell. Urman told the publication: We started to have those discussions in Season 3. The studio and the network were always really supportive. Mark Pedowitz [The CW president] told me early on, Tell me when it ends. Just give me enough notice. Gina [Rodriguez] and I are creative partners, and we talk about everything, and we were on the same page. Its the ending I pitched when I pitched the show. T he first smartphone app to provide a UK-wide directory of specialist domestic abuse support services has launched. Vodafone and Hestia, a London-based domestic abuse charity, have come up with the app after finding 1 in 3 people in the UK would not know how to help a friend or family member who was a victim of domestic abuse. Named Bright Sky, the app enables users to locate their nearest support centre by searching their area, postcode or current location. Designed to log incidents of domestic abuse without any content being saved on the device itself, the app also enable users to record incidents in a secure journal tool, using a text, audio, video or photo function. The app provide comprehensive support and information not just to people affected by abuse, but also for those supporting them. Users will be able to take a short questionnaire that will help them determine the safety of a relationship and also educate them on the different types of abuse, the support out there and how they can leave an unhealthy relationship. Vodafone has a history of working with TecSOS, a technology system that allows users to contact the police quickly and discreetly when they feel under threat. Since it launched in the UK in 2011, TecSOS has been adopted by 40 out of 43 UK Police forces and has given over 14,000 UK users a sense of protection and security, with over 1,900 activations in the UK alone. TecSOS was credited with saving at least seven lives over an eight-month period in an independent evaluation of one Police Force. The Bright Sky app is currently available in English, Urdu, Punjabi or Polish and is free to download on both iOS and Android devices on the App Store and Google Play Store. B uying a wedding dress is easily one of the most stressful parts of planning a wedding. Brides-to-be spend hours trying on different dresses, visiting one store after another, in the desperate search to find the perfect outfit. However, tech is here to save you from this nightmare. Start-ups are using technology to refine the way you make that dress decision, making the process simpler and much more enjoyable. From designing your own wedding dress, to being able to try it on digitally, here are the companies you need to know. For designing your own wedding dress - Prim & Clover Stacia Bedford and Luciana Riquet are the brains behind Prim & Clover, a start-up that is democratising the wedding dress design process. Using the Prim & Clover digital builder, you can create your own wedding dress. You choose the top and bottom of the dress, it's created by the companys artisan tailors, and then delivered to your door in only 10 weeks. Whilst the rest of the fashion world has quickly adopted digital tactics, the bridal sector has been incredibly slow to make changes, Bedford and Riquet told the Standard. When we came up with Prim & Clover, no one was offering this type of customisation and service. And, to this day, no other company is offering quite the same experience as us. We are revolutionising the way wedding dresses are discovered, designed and delivered. Prim & Clover offers the ultimate at-home experience for brides-to-be. After choosing how you want your dress to look, the company ships outs samples for you try on with your friends before settling on a final design. Prim & Clover use technology to democratise the wedding dress buying experience (Prim & Clover) / Prim & Clover A Prim & Clover classic collection dress costs on average around 2,500, plus all the dresses in the collection are designed and produced in London, using locally sourced fabrics. The start-up recently joined the Plexiglass tech accelerator at the Plexal innovation centre in Here East, which aims to mentor and grow female-led start-ups. The duo hope it will push Prim & Clovers technology to the next level. We realise that our customers are technology natives who have come to expect a lot from the websites they go to. If we want to continue to disrupt the bridal market, and remain pioneers in the space, we have to make our end-to-end service seamless, they said. Ahead of the upcoming Royal Wedding nuptials, Beford and Riquet did think about reaching out to Meghan Markles people about designing her wedding dress, particularly as she regularly chooses lesser-known designers to work with. We now think she chose to work with Ralph & Russo, which is a great pick their designs are superb, and we cant wait to see her final silhouette, they added. For trying your wedding dress on online - Metail One of the major problems with online shopping is that it is impossible to tell if the clothes will fit your body. As a result, it makes sense that you wouldnt want to buy your wedding dress online because how do you know if it will look right? Thats where Metail comes in. The East London-based company has revolutionised online shopping with its computer vision software that allows customers to create a bespoke 3D model of themselves named MeModel. Using this technology, customers can try on different clothes to see how they will fit their MeModel, allowing them to make choices that are more accurate when they are buying clothes online. Ahead of the Royal Wedding, the company created its own Royal Wedding Try-On Boutique so Meghan fans could try on dresses the future princess was reportedly considering. Metail has created a 3D model of Meghan Markle so decide which wedding dress she should wear / Metail Sarah Walter, chief creative officer at Metail, said the boutique was a way to give consumers a fun and immersive experience ahead of the event, using Metails 3D technology. We want to enable people to get to know and be inspired by the fashion style of our royal bride-to-be, who will no doubt become another powerful ambassador for the British retail industry, she said. Using an artist-rendered 3D model of Meghan, you can try a 57 ruffle maxi dress on the Suits actor, all the way up to a 1531 floor-length lace dress. Though Meghan obviously never tried on any of these dresses, the 3D MeModel of the future royal looks incredibly accurate. And, while it's reported that Meghan will be wearing Ralph & Russo on the big day, Metails tech is a fun way to try out the different types of dresses she could be wearing. And, then you can try them out on your own MeModel. This is part of Metails mission to change how companies approach online retail. Instead of the one-size fits all approach the fashion industry has been using for years, the MeModel technology allows people to put in their individual measurements, to find the best dress for them. If you know the shape and size of your customers, it can lead to a better product, said Walter. For custom bridesmaid dresses Union Station Once youve chosen your dress for the big day, you need to think about some other outfits: for your bridesmaids. Union Station has been making waves in the US since it launched in 2012 for its range of affordable, custom-made bridesmaid dresses. Founder Corie Hardee came up with the idea in order to take the frustrations out of bridesmaid dress shopping. Youve got one decision-maker (the bride) who isnt necessarily paying for the product. And then the bridesmaids, some of whom may not like the dress. "So how do we provide a great experience to both the bride and the bridesmaid? Hardee told Digital Commerce 360. The dresses are priced between $120 and $150 (90 - 112) and come in a variety of styles, from strapless, to scoop, to one-shoulder. Union Station claim that the dresses will fit a variety of shapes and sizes, too. For instance, many of Union Stations dresses feature a subtle elastic at the back of the waistline, which looks stylish and offers some extra room to the wearer. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe SRINAGAR: Eight civilians, including a husband and wife and four members of another family, were killed when Indian and Pakistani soldiers fired at border posts and villages along the highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir, officials said Friday. An Indian soldier was also killed in the fighting. The cross-border firing and shelling began overnight and spread to dozens of posts in the Jammu region of the Himalayan territory, said Indian police officer S.D. Singh. Indian paramilitary officials said their soldiers responded to Pakistani gunfire and shelling, describing it as unprovoked and indiscriminate. The officials said the paramilitary soldier was killed by a Pakistani sniper Thursday night, leading to cross-border firing and shelling at several forward posts. The husband and wife and two other civilians were killed on the Indian side. At least 12 civilians were also wounded and were being treated in hospitals. In Pakistan, the military accused Indian troops of initiating an unprovoked violation of the 2003 cease-fire accord between the two countries along the frontier near Kashmir and targeting the civilian population, including four villagers who died Friday morning. In a statement, the military said Indian fire also wounded 10 people, including three children, in the border village near the city of Sialkot, bordering Kashmir. It said Pakistani troops effectively responded and targeted the Indian posts from where the fire came. The military said the artillery exchange was continuing. Pakistans foreign ministry said the killed civilians were members of a family. As in the past, each country accused the other of initiating the border skirmishes and violating the cease-fire agreement. This year, soldiers from the two nations have engaged in fierce border skirmishes along the rugged and mountainous Line of Control, as well as a lower-altitude 200-kilometer (125-mile) boundary separating Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab, where Fridays fighting occurred. Singh, the Indian officer, said authorities were evacuating civilians living near the frontier in armored vehicles. The fighting earlier this year also sent thousands of border residents to temporary shelters for days. Pakistans foreign ministry summoned an Indian diplomat on Friday and lodged a strong protest over the killing of civilians along the frontier. The ministry said Indian forces have carried out more than 1,050 cease-fire violations, resulting in the deaths of 28 civilians and injuries to 117 others. The cease-fire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, it said in a statement. Indian officials say Fridays killings took the death toll in such incidents to 20 civilians and 18 government troops this year. They say dozens have been injured and scores of cattle have perished. India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, which both claim. They have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over their competing claims to the region. The fighting has become a predictable cycle of violence as the region convulses with decades-old animosities between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, where rebel groups demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training anti-India rebels and also helping them by providing gunfire as cover for incursions into the Indian side. Pakistan denies this, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the militants and to Kashmiris who oppose Indian rule. Guwahati, May 18 : At least 9 people were killed and two others injured in four separate road mishaps in Assam in past 24 hours. According to the reports, three people were killed while a speedy truck mowed down them at National Highway 31 (C) at Gossaigaon area in Kokrajhar district last night. Local people said that, the mishap took place at the area when the persons, employee of a petrol pump returned to their home. The deceased persons were identified as Robinson Das Hebrom, Robinson Hebrom and Supriya Murmu. On the other hand, four people were died in another road mishap at Kamalpur area near Baihata Chariali in Kamrup (Rural) district last night. The incident happened at the area, when a Wagon-R vehicle hit a roadside parked truck. Two people were died on spot and four others had received serious injuries. The injured persons had rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital, where two had succumbed to their injuries. The deceased persons were identified as Andhi Boro, Merina Boro, Manmohan Boro and Liza Boro. In separate incident, an older woman was died while a speedy vehicle hit her at North Guwahati area and another person died at Khetri area in Kamrup (Metro) district. President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) Hans van Baalen voiced hope that all the upcoming changes to the justice package will strengthen the rule of law, stressing that they must comply with European legislation and the rulings of the Constitutional Court of Romania. I spoke to both ruling and opposition parties, NGOs and media, to assess the state of play in the country, because as EU members we are of course looking at what happens in several member states. It was a good visit. We discussed rule of law, judicial reform, the secret protocols between intelligence services, the National Anticorruption Directorate and other services that don't exist in my country. I come from the Netherlands. There are no secret protocols in my country. (...) We discussed the referendum to redefine the family. I hope politicians in the opposition and at rule work together. In my country, if we have an important subject, we seek a broad majority. This is always the best way to proceed, Hans van Baalen said on Friday at the Parliament House after a meeting with MPs of the ALDE - PSD ruling coalition. Asked about the timeliness of changing justice laws and if the changes envisaged by the power could adversely impact the rule of law, the President of the ALDE Party said: I am a lawyer. After 20 years reform is necessary and it should be best for it to comply with the European legislation and the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania (...) We will look at the parliamentary procedure because we want a strong Romania and a strong EU. (...) I hope all the changes reinforce the rule of law. Let us first see what happens in Parliament and I'll probably be back to talk to all the parties involved.He also voiced concern at the secret protocols.I am concerned about the secret protocols, and let us also look at the comments Mr. Timmermans and the European Council have made on these protocols. This is bad and I hope it changes. It's important that we strengthen the magistrates' [independence].(...) Regrettably this was just a short visit, but we'll be back, Hans van Baalen said. Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic on Friday stated, after his meeting with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, that the signing of the Statement of Intent between the two governments regarding their bilateral cooperation in the defence and security field will contribute to the enhanced defence of Croatia and Romania. "I want to say a warm hello and to thank Mrs. Prime Minister, my dear colleague, who is now in this office, after we were MEPs in the EP together for a while. The fact that we are here proves also our intention to have the best bilateral cooperation between Romania and Croatia and an open dialogue at ministers and ministries level. We also must confess that we haven't had such a constructive dialogue in the past while," the Croatian Prime Minister told a joint press statement with Viorica Dancila. Andrej Plenkovic referred to the statement of intent signed between the two governments, as well as the increase recorded in the trade exchanges to 310 billion euros."We are especially glad of the increase in the trade exchanges which reached 310 billion euros, and also about the statement of intent concluded between the Romanian and Croatian governments on the consolidation of our bilateral relation in the defence and security field that we signed together, (...) and which, certainly, will contribute to an enhanced defence of our states," said the Croatian official.He mentioned that an important role in the bilateral relations between Romania and Croatia is played by the Croatian minority in Romania and the Romanian minority in Croatia, respectively."We are also glad that in the bilateral relations between Romania and Croatia an important role is played by the Croatian minority in Romania and the Romanian minority in Croatia, respectively. The Croatian minority in Romania is one of the oldest minorities that Croatia has abroad, and this minority kept its national identity for more than 600 years. Therefore, I want to thank Mrs. Prime Minister for the existence of the political representative of the Croatian minority in the Romanian Parliament, and at the same time for the access to education that the Croatian children had, by which they kept their identity and culture. At the same time, we are making all the efforts so that Romanians living in Istria to represent a cultural added value that significantly contribute to our culture, alongside the other 22 minorities in Croatia," said Andrej Plenkovic.The Croatian Prime Minister mentioned hat at the meeting with PM Viorica Dancila they also approached political topics regarding the rotating presidency of Romania of the Council of the EU.Croatia and Romania support the neighbouring states in their process of accession to EU and NATO, Andrej Plenkovic also said."We are converging both Croatia and Romania to give the necessary support to the neighbouring states with respect to the EU and NATO accession. Another common topic was related to the Danube, for we want to significantly improve this corridor, to allow us an advanced economic and commercial cooperation. I also brought to mind the Initiative of The Three Seas, which will help Romania and the Black Sea, Finland and the Baltic Sea and Croatia and the Adriatic Sea to improve their collaboration on this segment," said the Croatian PM.He also refereed to the accession to the Schengen Zone."Another criterion is both Romania and Croatia's interest in the Schengen Zone, and I believe that we have reached an advanced stage, or maybe even met all the technical criteria that make us both eligible for accession. I informed Mrs. Prime Minister with respect to the initiative that Croatia adopted last week, it is about the adoption of the euro currency, a second key matter in meeting the objectives in the EU," said the Croatian official.In the end, the Croatian PM mentioned that he invited PM Viorica Dancila to pay a visit to Croatia as soon as possible.The Minister of National Defence, Mihai Fifor, and Deputy PM and Croatian Minister of Defence, Damir Krsticevic, on Friday signed at the Victoria Palace, in the presence of the PMs from the two states, "The Statement of Intent between the Romanian Government and the Government of the Republic of Croatia regarding the consolidation of bilateral cooperation in the defence and security fields." Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic started his official visit to Romania on Thursday evening, by attending a working dinner organised by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. According to a release of the Government, also invited to the working dinner offered by the Romanian Prime Minister in honor of the high official from Zagreb were all the members of the Executive in Bucharest. "The Croatian official's visit takes place in the context of intensifying the bilateral relations over the past years, as well as taking into account the membership of both states to the same Trio of the Presidency of the Council of the EU. The main goal of the meeting is strengthening the co-operation on a political and economic level, as well as identifying new areas of cooperation at sectorial level," the quoted source mentions.The Croatian PM's visit shows the desire to strengthen and diversify the cooperation as partner states in the EU and as allies inside NATO on the main topics of shared interest of the regional and European agenda, according to the release.On Friday, the Croatian PM will carry out official talks with the head of the Executive in Bucharest at the Victoria Palace, but also with President Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace and with Speaker of the Deputies' Chamber Liviu Dragnea at the Parliament Palace. Croatia's Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic on Friday was welcomed by Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila with military honours at Victoria Palace, house of the Romanian government. During the ceremony, the anthems of Romania and Croatia were played and the Military Guard of Honour was reviewed. After the official photo, the two prime ministers held official talks attended also by official delegates.The talks will be followed by the signing, in the presence of the prime ministers, of the "Declaration of Intent between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on Strengthening Bilateral Co-operation in Defence and Security Areas."The Croatian Prime Minister will then hold a joint news conference alongside the Romanian prime minister.During his visit to Romania, Plenkovic is scheduled to meet Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea, at Parliament and hold official talks with President Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace. For the Russian tourist market we have to propose that the vacation in Romania be an experience, taking into account that Bulgaria has a higher promotion advantage, President of the Federation of Romania's Tourism Promotion Associations (FAPT) Corina Martin stated. The FAPT organised an infotrip for Russian tour-operators (mostly from St. Petersburg) on the Romanian seaside and the Danube Delta, after 27 years of absence, thus promoting Romania this way on the Russian market, according to a release of the FAPT sent to AGERPRES on Friday. "We are addressing tour-operators of St. Petersburg, a city with five million inhabitants which annually attracts over eight million tourists, a city twinned with Constanta for 10 years. We are approaching a market with a huge potential, a segment of tourists with higher education studies, with large holiday budgets, tourists who necessarily choose seaside resorts between their minimum two holidays per year. I have only presented top locations of the Romanian seaside and we continued doing the same in the two days spent in the [Danube] Delta," said Corina Martin.She appreciated that Romania currently has a disadvantage due to the lack of promotion on the Russian market, especially in relation to the promotion that Bulgaria is doing, but our country has top services in exceptional locations. These must be presented and promoted as special, authentic Romanian products on the Russian market, a market considered by the FAPT as desired and approached by any international tourist destination."Certainly Bulgaria has a higher promotion advantage. This is why I have insisted over the past two years on a void which means 27 years, because I knew that here there is an extremely large market, tourists who are very good consumers. In this event, I have also promoted the mountain and spa holiday destinations of Romania, with promotion materials from the Tourism Ministry and promotion associations that are members of the FAPT. In lack of a direct flight between the seaside and St. Petersburg, we are already talking with the Turkish Airlines company about special flight rates on the St. Petersburg - Istanbul - Constanta route," Corina Martin stated.FAPT representatives intend to offer seaside stays (leisure and wellness & spa), mixed stays seaside - the Danube Delta, eco-holidays in the Danube Delta and Bucharest-Transylvania-Danube Delta - seaside tourist circuits, as well as routes in other tourist regions of Romania.On the other hand, the Russian tour-operators showed their surprise to see that the Romanian seaside has "beautiful hotels, but Romania has not been promoted at all in Russia as a holiday destination."However, Russian tourists insist on benefiting from some essential elements that must be found in hotels, such as Russian speaking staff, baby sitting services, beach facilities included in tourist packages, information and promotional materials in Russian, a rich offer of tours and local excursions, early booking discounts and competitive rates, especially taking into account the comparison with Bulgaria, a much more known market to them. Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said Friday at the Romanian Government House that talks with visiting Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic highlighted the "good level of bilateral relations and the dynamic of the Romanian-Croat dialogue at all levels," and the fact that there is excellent co-operation potential between Romania and Croatia in areas such as education, home affairs, minorities, defence and agriculture. "We have reviewed the bilateral relations and agreed that the impressive number of visits in 2017 and the first half of 2018 are a natural consequence of the harmonious way in which the bilateral dialogue unfolds. In our conversations, I have emphasised together with Mr. Plenkovic the importance we attach to co-operation between our countries at the politico-diplomatic level, as well as the desire to intensify economic and sectoral cooperation. We agreed that there is excellent cooperation potential in areas such as education, domestic affairs, minorities, defence, and agriculture," Dancila told a joint news conference with her Croatian counterpart. She added that the importance of co-operation in the field of tourism was also emphasised during the discussions.She mentioned that during the official talks a good level of trade was underscored."We have been pleased to note that trade in the year 2017 advanced 25 percent, which is not accidental given the efforts made last year to intensify the trade relations," Dancila said.The discussion also highlighted the importance of the bilateral relationship between Croatian minorities in Romania and the Romanian community in Croatia, Dancila said."Also, a Declaration of intent was signed between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on bilateral defence co-operation aimed at strengthening co-operation in this area between the two countries," added Dancila.According to her, another part of the discussions focused on co-operation in a European context and from the perspective of the two countries' membership in the Trio of the Presidencies of the Council of the European Union, with Romania and Croatia holding this office for the first time since joining the EU.Regarding the multiannual financial framework, Dancila reiterated Romania's full availability for constructive reporting at the next EU Council level negotiations, as well as channeling efforts towards "substantial advancement of negotiations under the Council presidency term to allow for a timely political agreement in this file.""Together with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, I agreed that the cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy remain the main investment priorities in the future budget," Dancila said.She mentioned that during the talks she emphasised that Romania is attaching "priority attention" to the relationship with Moldova and is acting consistently in support of the country's committed reforms, offering consistent support at diplomatic level."With regard to the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), we emphasised that Romania will continue to promote the Danube as an important transport corridor between Western and Eastern Europe. It is very important to create a favorable framework for increasing the volume of goods transported along the Danube established within EUSDR, ensuring all the necessary conditions for this purpose," Dancila said.Another topic of discussion, she said, was the Western Balkans.The Declaration of Intent between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence and security was signed by Romanian Minister of Defense Mihai Fifor and Croatian Defence Minister Damir Krsticevic, in the presence of the two prime ministers. National Liberal Party (PNL, opposition) leader Ludovic Orban on Friday stated in southeastern Constanta that he has referred to the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Supreme Court (ICCJ) in connection with the alleged criminal offenses of Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and Deputies' Chamber Speaker and Social Democratic Party (PSD, main at rule) leader Liviu Dragnea, because he considers that by their action, the two have hurt the cardinal interests of Romania. 'I cannot accept that Romania's cardinal interests be negotiated as if at the flea market and be abandoned for the private interests of Dragnea or Vasilica Viorica Dancila in terms of foreign relations. A country's foreign policy is the fruit of an entire team's effort. It cannot be that some people who understand nothing of what sensitivity is in terms of standings on foreign policy matters to mock in such a manner the relations so painstakingly built over decades of Romanian diplomacy,' Orban asserted. In Orban's opinion, the whole action of the governmental memorandum preparation and elaboration, related to the initiative of relocating the Romanian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem might have criminal aspects, deeming as a civic duty to bring it up to the prosecutors.'I submitted this referral as a citizen and I deemed it a moral obligation to bring it up. The referral is aiming at all the circumstances linked to the preparation, adoption and transmittal to the public on the relocation of the embassy. I was, am and will be an advocate of the strategic partnership with the USA. I have always acted and pleaded for friendship relations with the State of Israel. I was, am and will be an advocate of Romania's status as an EU member, but of the status of a loyal, responsible, trustworthy partner at EU level, who acts in accordance with the treaties and the decisions of the EU bodies. My referral is not aimed at the substantive issue, it refers to the deeds committed throughout the entire period of this memorandum's adoption,' the liberal leader stressed.Ludovic Orban commented the fact that the PSD leader Liviu Dragnea is behaving panic-stricken, a reason why he is sending menaces both to Orban and to some public servants who might be investigated by the Prosecutor's Office following Orban's referral.'The fact that he is threatening me will have absolutely no effect. I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Dragnea. You are used to ruling abusively, through menace, through intimidation, and yet you have not found your target, I'm not afraid of you. The most serious thing is that he is voicing menaces: 'I want everybody to get it that any person, any public servant who will further get involved in this approach will in fact be accessory to these two possible offenses.' I really don't understand why they panicked after all, they probably feel guilty. If they had no emotion whatsoever in connection to their deeds, they wouldn't have paid attention to this approach. It is not up to me to decide the guilt of any political leader or high public servant, this is the job of the prosecutor who will receive this file,' Ludovic Orban said.When asked to comment on the PSD leader's statement according to which the referral lodged by Orban to the PICCJ was written at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, Ludovic Orban replied: 'A big lie! He is victimizing himself, he is trying to falsely make the president responsible for a step the latter has nothing to do with. This is my move: it's true, I did talk to some close people with legal knowledge, but they are colleagues and friends of mine, and the whole document has been drafted together with these experts who are close to me. It is them who have actually opened my eyes and encouraged me to make this move.' President Klaus Iohannis "sat at the table" with a state not yet recognized by Romania - Kosovo, Chamber of Deputies' Speaker Liviu Dragnea said on Friday, adding that it is "almost impossible to hope" that there can be an institutional relationship with President Klaus Iohannis anymore. "One remarks that no kind of relationship with Klaus Iohannis can exist. (...) We have also seen that he sat at the table with a state not yet recognized by Romania - Kosovo. It is bad, is it good? We read in the press all sorts of reviews made by all sorts of analysts. We don't even know, did he consult with anybody, did he make any decision there, did he promise anything on behalf of Romania? From there (from the informal meeting of the European Council and the European Union - Western Balkans Summit), he once again demanded the Prime Minister's resignation and once again attacked the Government and PSD [Social Democratic Party, major at rule, ed.n.]. It is hard, almost impossible to hope that there can be an institutional relationship anymore, any kind of relationship with this man, because, unfortunately, to all signals, to all the invitations to dialogue, to all our desire for collaboration - which brought the criticism of some people of good faith against me - there was no answer," Dragnea said at the Palace of Parliament. "Absolutely nothing came from Cotroceni, at least in this year and a half. With all the requests made by me, by Mr. Tariceanu, made by the Prime Minister for a collaboration to exist, a consultation to take place on the big domestic and foreign issues, there was absolutely no reaction, no demarche to call us, to invite us to a discussion about Romania's major priorities. Everything he does, he does on his own," Dragnea added.Asked whether the President should be suspended, Dragnea said: "This is not our stake now. More important than Klaus Iohannis, even if he does not believe it, it is Romania's stability, but that does not mean that we will sit back and do nothing, that's not going to happen." Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) has informed that a Romanian national on Friday was evacuated to safety from Yemen, to Romania via Jordan. According to a MAE press statement, the Romanian citizen was permanently connected to the Embassy of Romania in Jordan throughout his journey. MAE says that it has fully borne the transport costs for the repatriated Romanian citizen."The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues the efforts to evacuate to safety Romanian citizens living in the Republic of Yemen and remains in permanent contact with them as well as with all the relevant authorities in the region."A travel warning for Yemen, which contains a maximum alert level, "Major danger - leave immediately the area or country" is still posted on the MAE website. - http://www.mae.ro/travel-alerts/2932#796.At the same time, MAE is calling on the Romanian nationals in conflict zones to contact Romania's local missions to register their presence so that they can be provided consular assistance and protection and, at the same time, check the information provided through the application "Safe Travel" - which can be downloaded from the MAE website (www.mae.ro/app_cs) on any smartphone running on Android or IOS. Romanian citizens travelling abroad can also use the SMS alert service under the information campaign "A SMS can save your life!" Secretary of State for Bilateral and Strategic Euro-Atlantic Affairs with Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) George Ciamba is attending a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, held in Elsinore on Thursday and Friday, under the presidency of Denmark. According to a MAE press statement, the meeting will also mark the transfer of the presidency of the Committee of Ministers from Denmark to Croatia (May - November 2018). MAE says that in the run-up to this meeting, discussions started to launch a reform process on the future of the organisation to meet the new challenges faced by the Council of Europe.At the same time, the main subject of the ministerial agenda will be to strengthen democratic security in Europe."Discussions will focus on building trust in European democracies - responding to the challenges of racism, xenophobia, social exclusion, extremism and populism, combating terrorism - strengthening the pan-European response, protecting victims of terrorism, migration, conflicts and crises in Europe," says MAE.According to MAE, special attention will be paid to the constant guarantee of the effectiveness of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Council of Europe policy towards neighbouring regions and co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union.Romania was invited to join the Council of Europe (CoE) under Resolution 37/1993 of the Committee of Ministers adopted on October 4, 1993.The Committee of Ministers consists of one representative of each of the 47 CoE member states. The MC Presidency is held for a period of six months by each member state of the Council of Europe in alphabetical order. Since 2004, ministerial sessions take place only once a year. Guwahati : An ex-servicemen rally was organised for veterans from Kohima, Phek, Kiphire, Wokha, Zunheboto districts and adjoining areas of Zakhama in Nagaland by 44 Mountain Brigade in coordination with Rajya Sainik Board of Nagaland on May 15-16 at Zakhama Military Station. The event was attended by a large gathering of ex-servicemen, Veer Naris and their dependents. The aim of the event was to reach out to the ex-servicemen and Veer Naris for addressing their grievances, update them on entitlement, benefits and redressal of pension anomalies. Kohima based Defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that, Deputy General Officer Commanding, Red Shield Division assured the veterans attending the rally of all possible support from the Army in mitigating their grievances. Deputy Director from Rajya Sainik Board, Nagaland welcomed the veterans, Veer Naris and their dependents, and highlighted the efforts of the state government to ameliorate the conditions of ex-servicemen. Thereafter in a central interaction, the grievances of all attending veterans/Veer Naris were addressed in presence of Army, Pension Cell and Civil Government officials. During the rally facilities like updation of Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Canteen Smart card, medical and dental checkup, information dissemination on skill development programme of State Government and recruitment of wards in Indian Army/Territorial Army was extended. The Suvigya Cell of the Zakhama Military Station attended to several pension related anomalies of the veterans. The rally was a step by the Army to mitigate the hardship of veterans who are residing in the remotest corners of the Nagaland and who have served the nation with Guts and Glory in true traditions of this great organization. This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a new 19-kilometer bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with mainland southern Russia. Thousands of kilometers away, in occupied Palestine, a massacre was being carried out by Israeli soldiers with full support of the United States as it opened a new embassy. The two events are not as disparate as one might think at first glance. They both involve annexation one fictitious, the other very real. But Western hypocrisy inverts the reality. While US dignitaries were opening the new American embassy in Jerusalem amid pomp and ceremony, some 60 unarmed Palestinian protesters were shot dead in cold blood by Israeli snipers. Among the dead were eight children. Thousands of others were maimed by live fire. The bloodshed could increase in coming days. The relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the Israeli-occupied city of Jerusalem, ordered by President Trump, has been rebuked by the majority of nations. The American move pre-empts any negotiated peace settlement which was supposed to bequeath East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Trumps decision to relocate the American embassy effectively endorses Israeli claims to the whole of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the Jewish state. Israel has occupied all of Jerusalem in contravention of international law since the 1967 Six Day War. In other words, Washington has shifted from tacit acceptance to an openly complicit policy in Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory, an annexation which has been going on for seven decades since the inception of the Israeli state in 1948. The now de facto American approval of the annexation of all Jerusalem marked by the opening of the US embassy is the culmination of 70 years of Israeli expansion and occupation. Meanwhile, Putins unveiling this week of the bridge linking southern Russian mainland to the Crimea Peninsula is a timely reminder of the brazen hypocrisy of American and European states. Since Crimea voted in a referendum in March 2014 to rejoin its historic homeland of Russia, Washington and its allies have continually complained about Moscows alleged annexation of the Black Sea peninsula. Never mind that the Crimean people were prompted to hold their accession referendum following a bloody coup in Ukraine against an elected government by CIA-backed Neo-Nazis in February 2014. The people of Crimea voted in a peacefully constituted referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia, which it was historically a part of until 1954 when the Soviet Union arbitrarily assigned Crimea to the jurisdiction of the Soviet Republic of Ukraine. For the past four years, Western governments, their corporate news media and think-tanks, as well as the US-led NATO military alliance, have mounted an intense anti-Russian campaign of economic sanctions, denigration and offensive posturing all on the back of dubious claims that Russia annexed Crimea. Relations between the US and the European Union towards Russia have descended into the freezer of a new and potentially catastrophic Cold War, supposedly motivated by the principle that Moscow had violated international law and changed borders by force. Russias alleged annexation of Crimea is cited as a sign of Moscow threatening Europe with expansionist aggression. Putin has been vilified as a new Hitler or new Stalin depending on your historical illiteracy. This Western distortion about the events that occurred in Ukraine during 2014, and subsequently, can be easily disputed with hard facts as a blatant falsification to conceal what was actually illegal interference by Washington and its European allies in the sovereign affairs of the Ukraine. In short, Western interference was about regime change; with the objective of destabilizing Moscow and projecting NATO force on Russias borders. That is one way of challenging the Western narrative about Ukraine and Crimea. Through weighing up factual events, such as the CIA-backed false-flag sniper shootings of dozens of protesters in Kiev in February 2014. Or the ongoing Western-backed military offensive by Kievs Neo-Nazi forces against the breakaway republics of Donbas in Eastern Ukraine. Another way is to ascertain the integrity of supposed Western legal principle about the general practice of annexation of territory. From listening to the incessant public consternation expressed by Western governments and media about Russias alleged annexation of Crimea, one might think that the putative expropriation of territory is a most grievous violation of international law. Oh how chivalrous, one might think, are Washington and the Europeans in their defense of territorial sovereignty, judging by their seeming righteous repudiation of annexation. However, this weeks grotesque opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem accompanied by the massacre of protesting unarmed Palestinians shows that Western professed concerns about annexation are nothing but a diabolical sham. In seven decades of expanding illegal occupation of Palestinian territory by the Israelis, Washington and the Europeans have enacted no opposition. But when it comes to Crimea, even though their case is not valid, the Western powers never stop hand-wringing about Russias annexation as if it was the biggest crime in modern history. Worse than hypocrisy, the US and European Union have been silently complicit in allowing Israel to continue annexing more and more Palestinian territory despite the stark violation of international law. Periodic massacres and whole populations held under brutal military siege in the Gaza Strip and West Bank have never registered any effective opposition from Western powers. This week, Washington has gone one step further to, in effect, exult in the Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory in the most provocative way by opening its embassy in occupied Jerusalem. Then on top of that violation of international law, we have the obscenity of the Trump White House defending the massacre of unarmed civilians as an act of self-defense by the illegally occupying and US-armed Israeli military. A White House license to kill. The pathetic, muted response from the European Union and the United Nations towards this state terrorism and criminality exposes their cowardly complicity. US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has for months been hysterically accusing Russia of violations in Ukraine and Syria. Yet, on the mass murder of Palestinians this week, Haley was silent. Her only remarks were to congratulate Israel over the new US embassy in occupied Jerusalem. So, the next time we hear Washington and its European allies pontificate to Russia about annexation, the only fitting response should be one of contempt for their vile hypocrisy towards Palestinian rights and the ongoing genocide of its people under Western-backed occupation. Freewestmedia.com, fwmstaff The main ruse of all Soros-funded NGOs is constant litigation. Today, most illegal immigrants enter countries in the EU legally but overstay or violate whatever visa they may have obtained. When the illegals get detained waiting for a deportation trial, lawyers employed by NGOs funded by billionaire George Soros, have unlimited funds to plead for their release. The litigation overcrowds detention centers, because the longer the deportation legal process takes, the fewer deportations can be carried out. If the detention center overflows, the authorities have no other option but to let the low-risk migrants back into the population where they disappear. This is called catch-and-release, done to prevent the system from becoming overburdened. The genius solution of the Viktor Orban government to this particular problem, is that the border fence is not actually on the border. It is situated a few meters from it. So there is a strip of land which is legally Hungary, before the migrants hit the fence. In some zones, the border fence cuts deep into Hungarian territory, creating large areas of Hungary outside of the fence. These are called transit zones. When a migrant is caught inside Hungary, he is instantly transferred to the transit zone, through one of the gates. This act is not deportation, but detention as the migrant is still in Hungary. Lawyers from these NGOs can do nothing to intervene since there are no legal remedies available to migrants inside Hungary, technically speaking. The migrant is able is approach one of the barracks set up inside these zones where he could present an asylum request, wait for its processing and the subsequent court appeal if he is rejected. The point is that while the migrant is waiting, he is outside of the fence, so he is not actually in Hungary, although legally he is. The zone has no fence on the border side, so migrants are free to leave that way back to where they came from. This measure obviously prevents overcrowding. Most migrants do not wait around for their trials, but go back to try to cross the border somewhere where it is easier to get into the EU. But by not being present for a trial, the case is then dismissed. So is does not matter how long it takes before a migrant is legally deported from Hungary, because he never entered Hungary and never burdened the state, since most of them leave the zone. freewestmedia.com However much Donald Trumps loyal base in the United States continues to love him (while the other half of the American population loathes him), its safe to say that the overwhelming consensus among foreign leaders is one of contempt mixed with fear. While not identifying Trump by name, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini left no doubt about what she thinks of the current hand on the tiller of the American ship of state in the aftermath of US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal: It seems that screaming, shouting, insulting and bullying, systematically destroying and dismantling everything that is already in place, is the mood of our times This impulse to destroy is not leading us anywhere good It is not solving any of our problems. Lets take a look at some of the primary breakage in the wake of what some see as Trumps bull-in-a-china-shop path of destruction: Pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership: This, This, we are told , amounts to Americas withdrawing from our role as unelected (but de facto) global leader. The new international rules on the environment and trade will not be made in Washington. Moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem: The US is no longer (and really, never was) the The US is no longer (and really, never was) the honest broker or impartial mediator for a dead-end Middle East peace process Taken together, critics say these and similarly irresponsible actions by Trump and his team have thrown into doubt the reliability of the US as an international partner and have degraded the value of US global leadership. According to a recent Gallup poll (gleefully cited by MSNBCs dreadful Rachel Maddow): One year into Donald Trumps presidency, the image of US leadership is weaker worldwide than it was under his two predecessors. With its stable approval rating of 41%, Germany has replaced the US as the top-rated global power in the world. The US is now on nearly even footing with China (31%) and barely more popular than Russia (27%) two countries that Trump sees as rivals seeking to challenge American influence, values and wealth. Nicholas Burns, a former senior American diplomat under Republican and Democratic administrations, harrumphed, Trump is weak on NATO, Russia, trade, climate, diplomacy. The US is declining as a global leader. Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice sneeringly calls Trump our wrecking ball in chief. But hold on. That sounds familiar. As Dilbert creator Scott Adams wrote in March 2016: If you think the government is broken, and you want to send a wrecking ball to Washington D.C., Trump offers that possibility. Well, thats what we Deplorables voted for. Maybe thats what we got. Anything that makes Maddow, Burns, and Rice unhappy cant be all bad! To be sure, Trump has not delivered on one of his signature campaign promises, to improve ties with Russia. With some help from across The Pond, the essence of the entire Russiagate witch hunt has been to block any hope of US-Russia rapprochement, a necessary element for significant progress on almost any important international issue. By all external indications the campaign to turn Trumps foreign policy into a repeat of that of George W. Bush but with a harsher edge has been a smashing success. Or has it? As one commentator suggests: Appearances can be deceiving. The Russo-Sino-Persian axis is secretly aligned with Trump, who they know is an enemy of the Deep State/Bilderberger empire. I expect Iran to make a few concessions and Trump will come out looking stronger, just as he did in Korea. Trump believes in the Great Man theory of history and he and Putin and Xi are secretly working together. Russia will let Trump bomb Syria (no great consequence), Xi will compromise on trade a bit (no great consequence), and Iran will probably make a few inconsequential concessions. Trump's concessions will occur later (pulling some troops out of South Korea, letting Putin handle Syria, no serious military action against Iran). As Pepe [Escobar] has pointed out in the past, Xi will get Pakistan to lean on the Taliban and Trump will be even able to pull US troops out of Afghanistan. In the end, the Deep State will lose control of Eurasia while Trump with his false bluster will paradoxically seem strong. Hold onto your hats! This is all speculation of course. Evidence for such a secret alignment is scant to none, except perhaps the suspiciously meager strikes on Syria and the clearly deliberate care not to hit Russias forces. One also wonders why, if this were really Trumps intention, would he not proceed in a more direct way? For that matter, why would he not appoint to a top policymaking position even a single person who conceivably could share this agenda? One answer is that Trump is aware of the fate of the last president who tried to buck the Deep State and rein back our global meddling. On this theory he literally cannot tell a soul of his intentions, which he must keep strictly in pectore while outwardly pursuing a blustering policy of strength that perversely results in cutting the legs from under the very American leadership he pretends to champion. If such jiu-jitsu lies at the heart of Trumps policy, he really is some kind of genius! Another, and perhaps more likely, answer is that he is achieving the same goal not through a thought-out program but more as the product of (to him) unconnected, instinctual actions, the consequences of which he only dimly foresees. That is, Trump doesnt necessarily have the path or the desired outcomes clearly plotted in his mind, just a gut-level sense of what he wants to do at each decision point. The result still might have some underlying internal logic which he only partly appreciates on a cognitive level. Or maybe all the foregoing is just grasping at straws. Perhaps Trump really has no idea what hes doing. Its possible that through the quirks of his impulsive personality hes just taking the decades-old thrust of Americas hegemonic bullying to its logical absurdity with counterproductive results. The chickens of the Pox Americana are finally coming home to roost. Its then tempting for Americas customary foreign enablers notably those in Europe, who invariably submit supinely to every diktat from Washington, especially with respect to hostility to Russia to recoil from the uncouth Trump and his arrogant America First! attitudes in effusive horror (Mogherini: screaming, shouting, insulting and bullying, systematically destroying and dismantling.). In any case, if we ignore the bleating and whining from those lamenting the decline in US leadership we can perhaps be thankful for anything that undercuts the global hegemonic project and, perhaps in spite of the worst intentions of Trumps appointees, moves us incrementally towards a national interest-based policy. Putting the individual issues in context, the only real question before us whether the US persists in the insane quest for unipolar world domination that shifted into high gear in 1991 and must inevitably lead to a cataclysm of unimaginable proportions; or whether there can be a soft landing into a multipolar order, where the US accepts the status of primus inter pares in concert with Russia and China, with side-understandings with Europe, India, Japan, and so forth. Let us hope it is the latter. If so, whether that is the result of deliberate policy calculations or of policy failures is less important than the outcome itself. The horrendous bloodshed this week in Gaza is directly related to US President Trumps controversial decision to relocate the American embassy to the contested city of Jerusalem. The US bears responsibility in large part for the atrocity in which more than 60 unarmed Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli military. This was a cold-blooded massacre. Thousands of others were maimed from live fire. An eight-month-old baby girl, Layla Ghandour, was among the victims after she died from asphyxiation from tear gas fired at the protesters. Washingtons shameless defense of Israels brutal use of lethal force as restrained and its subsequent blocking of an independent UN inquiry into the mass shootings only compound Washingtons culpability in the massacre. A massacre which threatens to add further tensions to an already combustible region. The question is how much of US complicity was a deliberate calculation by Washington to provoke widespread violence, not just in the occupied Palestinian territories, but in the wider Middle East? Trumps decision to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was implemented despite international warning that the move violated global consensus that Jerusalem should be a shared capital between Israel and a future Palestinian state. Trumps decision recklessly snubbed Palestinian rights by symbolically siding with Israels claim to Jerusalem as its undivided capital. Not only that but the US embassy move was pointedly scheduled to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israels foundation as a state on May 14, 1948. The date is also marked by Palestinians as the Nakba or Catastrophe, when millions of Palestinians were forced from their homes and ancient land by Israeli settlers. Such a move by the Trump administration was bound to exacerbate already heightened Palestinian grievances after decades of injustice against their right to statehood and their right to return to ancestral homelands. Some 70 per cent of Gazas two million residents claim to be refugees who demand the right to return to their homelands in what is now Israeli-occupied Jerusalem and elsewhere in the modern state of Israel. Trumps blatant partisan intervention on the side of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory flies in the face of UN resolutions and international consensus which views Palestinians as having an inalienable claim to statehood. Israels occupation of Palestinian territory has expanded without relent despite countless UN resolutions condemning such expansion as illegal. At least one thing is incontestably clear now. Washingtons role in the decades-old conflict no longer has the pretense of being an honest broker or neutral mediator. For decades, the US has tacitly sponsored Israels illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. It is 25 years since President Bill Clinton oversaw the Oslo Peace Accords. Today, the so-called peace process is dead and Palestinians are further than ever from realizing their right to a state in coexistence with Israel. Trump has made it clear that as far as the US is concerned there is no peace process, that there is no Two State Solution. It is telling that Palestinian leaders no longer recognize the US as a mediator. The US is part of the ongoing problem of an illegal colonialism against Palestinian people. Israeli governments are not interested in finding an honorable peace settlement. Their tacit position seems to be one of relentless conquest and driving the remaining Palestinian population out of the entire land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. What is the solution? It seems now that the only decent arrangement is for a One State Solution to be striven for, in which all the people of the Holy Land are entitled to share equal rights. However, that is something that is anathema to the Israeli leaders who want only to create a solely Jewish state. The international community must face up to the illusion of a Two-State Solution. The world must somehow muster the political will to advocate for the rights of Palestinians to live in the land which was formerly known as Palestine. For seven decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been the source of ongoing conflict in the entire Middle East. Without a proper, just peace settlement that recognizes and delivers on the rights of Palestinians the region will continue to be wracked by violence. Washingtons brazen and reckless intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be recognized now as an incendiary role. The US has forfeited any claim to be a mediator. It is a malevolent actor. Israels project of conquest is part and parcel with the wider US ambition to control the Middle East for its imperialist designs. America is not some benign player as its mythical image-making would pretend. The mass murder this week in Gaza in conjunction with the US giving its stamp of approval to Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory is a fitting proof of Washingtons real role in the Middle East. Washington cares not a jot for democracy or peace in the region. It is motivated entirely by hegemonic control for American imperial power. Chaos and conflict is the fuel for American presence and control. Dispossession of Palestinians goes hand-in-hand with Washingtons strategic planning to balkanize and destroy states. We have seen this nefarious policy with regard to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. Washington needs Israeli conquest in the same way it needs a cluster of other client despotic regimes like Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab dictatorships. To crush indigenous democratic rights in order to project its power interests, chiefly for the huge oil wealth of the region, as well as for denying perceived global rivals from gaining influence, especially if that influence might be more progressive. The US is hellbent on keeping the Middle East in turmoil and conflict. Forget about lofty claims of democracy building. Washingtons power relies on creating war and bloodshed. The Project for a New American Century, and other neocon strategy documents, have long prescribed this very policy of creative-destruction, in hoc with Israel, as a formula to consolidate US power, no matter the cost in millions of innocent lives. Washingtons callous and criminal disregard for Palestinians is a piece of its strategy for mayhem. The renewed confrontation with Iran is also testimony to this pernicious policy. The cynicism of the US is staggering. This week at the UN, the American ambassador Nikki Haley walked out when the Palestinian envoy, Riad Mansour, began his address to the Security Council about the atrocity in Gaza. For months, Haley has been denouncing Syria, Russia and Iran over alleged violations. Yet she had not the conscience to listen to how Israeli troops butchered unarmed Palestinians in cold blood. Haleys rank hypocrisy is closely matched by Western mainstream news media. Their saturated coverage and hysterical distortions over Syria blaming the Assad government and Russia for alleged atrocities was in stark contrast to their muted response to the US-backed cold-blooded murder in Gaza this week. The criminal arrogance of the US and its complicity in mass murder was exposed this week. It was an object lesson on how the US is not a force for good, as it so often proclaims. Rather, it is evidently a force for destruction in the interests of its own selfish imperialist designs. The meeting was followed by delegation level talks. During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, regional security and enhanced bilateral defence cooperation came under discussion. COAS said that Pak China relations are all weather and based on mutual trust and confidence. General Zhang Youxia said, China and Pakistan are iron brothers, all-weather friends and strategic partners. We share the tradition of mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support. China deeply appreciates the achievements of Pakistan Army in counter-terrorismChina values the efforts of Pakistan Army in fighting against all terrorist groups including East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). He said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is equally beneficial to both China and Pakistan and added Efforts of Pakistan Army in safeguarding CPEC security are highly appreciated. We look forward to close cooperation with Pakistan to ensure the security of CPEC. Both sides also signed different MoUs for bilateral Defence cooperation. To pay homage to the martyrs of Pakistan Army, the visiting dignitary laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada. A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Army presented guard of honour to Vice Chairman of Chinese CMC. The ceremony was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Yao Jing and senior officials. After the ceremony, General Zhang Youxia also called on the acting president. Sadiq Sanjrani congratulated General Zhang Youxia on the conferment of Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) and said Pakistan and China were close friends, neighbors and trusted partners because their relations were based on mutual respect and trust. He emphasized that Pak-China friendship was the cornerstone of Pakistans foreign policy and our defence relations were the guarantee of peace and stability in the region. He said Pakistan deeply valued Chinas support on the issues of national and regional security including Kashmir. On this occasion, Vice Chairman of Chinese Central Military Commission General Zhang Youxia thanked the acting president, government and people of Pakistan and said Pakistan and China enjoyed a time-tested friendship which would further grow in the coming generations. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Friday said that the prime minister's statement was way more irresponsible than what Nawaz Sharif said, which is regrettable. Bilawal's statement was an apparent response to a recent controversial statement by Nawaz and a subsequent response over it by PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Nawaz, in a recent interview to Dawn newspaper, had said, Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why cant we complete the trial? His remarks were played up by the Indian media as an admission of Pakistan's involvement in the terrorist attacks, even though similar questions and statements have been raised from civilian and security officials in Pakistan earlier. Speaking at a ceremony here, the PPP chairman said, "Mian sahib does not see beyond his own self. He was ousted for lying and deceiving, and he is doing the same even today." He said the prime minister should have at least thought of the country. Earlier this week, the National Security Committee (NSC) categorically dismissed former premier's statement and unanimously termed it "incorrect and misleading." "The participants observed that it was very unfortunate that the opinion arising out of either misconceptions or grievances was being presented in disregard of concrete facts and realities," said a statement issued by the PM Office. The NSC meeting also unanimously "rejected the allegations and condemned the fallacious assertions." Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman, Bilawal said Imran Khan does not care about the problems of poor people. "Imran is only looking forward to come into power," he added. Leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Hamza Shahbaz Sharif appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in clean water corruption case today. During the session headed by Assistant Director Saqib Haider, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharifs son was interrogated over 13 questions regarding the scam for about two and a half hour. Talking to media after appearance, Hamza Shahbaz said that no one is above the law and that he is not a member of Saaf Pani Company. I only participated in five meetings, he added. The leader further told that he had faced six-month imprisonment during former Prime Minister (PM) Benazir Bhuttos tenure. My hands are clean, he asserted. Hamza has been accused of possessing information or evidence related to the scam as he had attended its various meetings. On May 10, Hamza Shahbaz was asked to appear before the NAB on May 18(today) with regard to a corruption inquiry against the management of Punjab Saaf Pani Company. The competent authority has taken the cognizance of offence(s) committed by the subject accused persons under the provisions of NAO, 1999, read the notice issued by NAB Lahore to the lawmaker. The inquiry against management/officers/officials of Punjab Saaf Pani Company (South) and others has revealed that you are in possession of information/evidence whatsoever, which relates to the commission of the said offence(s), it said. Moreover, you attended various meetings related to issues pertaining to the affairs of Punjab Saaf Pani Company. The anti-graft body, through the notice, asked Hamza to appear before it on May 18(Today). US President Donald Trump has said he would not pursue a so-called "Libya model" to denuclearize the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a model that Pyongyang has singled out in the past as a source of its distrust for Washington. On Tuesday, North Korea threatened to cancel the summit set for June 12 in Singapore between its leader Kim Jung-un and Trump, blaming US demands for "unilateral nuclear abandonment." Washington will "have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-US summit in light of this provocative military" said the North's official news agency KCNA. That was a reference to comments made by US National Security Advisor John Bolton, who said he was thinking of employing a similar plan to what the US and its allies did by dismantling Libyas weapons of mass destruction starting in 2003. The White House has very much in mind the Libya model from 2003, 2004, he said, a process that saw former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafis make a full disclosure about the weapons programs his country was running, information that were later on verified by American officials. Like they did in Libya, the Americans would seek to destroy any nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons program that North Korea might be running, he added. Trump on Thursday tried to put his summit with Kim n back on track, saying he would not seek to implement a so-called "Libya model. "The Libyan model isn't a model that we have at all when we are thinking of North Korea," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "In Libya we decimated that country. That country was decimated. There was no deal to keep Gaddafi. The Libyan model that was mentioned was a much different deal. Trump offers 'protections' if Kim surrenders nukes Trump also said he is willing to do a lot to offer the North Korean leader protections if Kim agrees to surrender his nuclear weapons. He will get protections that are very strong, Trump said. The best thing he could do is make a deal. He said preparations for the summit are moving ahead "as if nothing happened. "Our people are literally dealing with them right now in terms of making arrangements, so that's a lot different than what you read, but oftentimes what you read, if it's not fake news, is true," he said. No plans to cut back US-South Korea drills: Pentagon Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense said on Thursday it was not considering cutting back the joint US-South Korean military exercises which have been condemned by Pyongyang. "There's been no talk of reducing anything. There's been no talk of changing our scope," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said. The exercises "are defensive in nature and the scope hasn't changed ... This is about safeguarding the alliance," she added. North Korea has threatened cancel the talks with South Korea unless issues leading to the suspension of a high-level meeting this week are resolved. "Unless the serious situation, which led to the suspension of the north-south high-level talks, is settled, it will never be easy to sit face to face again with the present regime of South Korea," the statement said without further elaboration. North Korea has called the "Max Thunder" joint military exercises between the US and the South an "undisguised challenge" and a "deliberate military provocation" against the apparent strides toward peace. The US-South Korea drills started on May 11 and involve some 100 aircraft from the two countries, including F-22 stealth fighter jets. Guwahati : The sleuths of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Officer in connection with a graft case in Assams Sivasagar district on Wednesday. The CBI sleuths caught the ONGC officer red-handed while he taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a contractor to award a contract. The ONGC officer had allegedly taken Rs 2 lakh as a bribe from the same contractor earlier. According to the reports, the arrested officer identified as Arabinda Kumar Singh, Deputy General Manager (DGM) of ONGC had demanded a bribe of Rs 12 lakh from the contractor named Rsfikul Hazarika to award a Rs 3 crore contract under ONGC. The contractor had informed the CBI office in Guwahati and lodged a complaint against the ONGC officer. On Wednesday, a CBI team caught the ONGC officer red-handed from Sivasagar while he taking Rs 10 lakh from the contractor as a bribe. Meanwhile, CBI had registered a case against the ONGC officer. The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has made a rare decision to open the Rafah crossing with Gaza for a month, allowing Palestinians to cross during the holy period of Ramadan. The decision was taken to alleviate the suffering of residents in the Palestinian enclave, Sisi said on Facebook on Thursday. The Rafah crossing is Gazas only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel but Egypt has largely kept it closed in recent years, citing security threats. It is usually only open for a few dozen days a year. About 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on the Gaza border this week, with the victims described by Egypts foreign ministry as martyrs. A total of 114 Gazans have been killed since 30 March, in the run-up to the opening on Monday of the US embassy in Jerusalem. Egypt has relations with both Israel and Hamas, the rulers of Gaza, and Cairo plays a key role in easing tensions between the two sides and alleviating the pressure on the enclaves 2 million residents. The Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, paid a brief visit to Egypt on Sunday, where he met the director of the countrys intelligence services, Abbas Kamel. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Google is making another change to the way Chrome indicates HTTPS and HTTP sites. Starting with Septembers release of Chrome 69, the worlds most popular browser will stop marking HTTPS sites with the green secure label in the address barit believes that users should expect this to be the default state. Then in October, Chrome will start showing a red not secure warning when users enter data on HTTP pages. More than half the internet now uses the HTTPS protocol, which encrypts data in transit. The secure connection helps prevent against man-in-the-middle attacks and protects data from the prying eyes of third parties. Chrome Security Product Manager, Emily Schechter, writes, Since well soon start marking all HTTP pages as not secure, well step towards removing Chromes positive security indicators so that the default unmarked state is secure. Chrome will roll this out over time, starting by removing the Secure wording and HTTPS scheme in September 2018 (Chrome 69), When Chrome 68 rolls out in July, users will spot an HTTP site by a grey Not secure label in the address bar. In Octobers Chrome 70, Google is making this more noticeable; the grey Not secure warning remains, but it will turn red when users start entering data on the page. Back in February, Google said 81 out of the top 100 websites used HTTPS as default. It added that 78 percent of Chrome traffic on both Chrome OS and Mac was encrypted, while 70 percent of Chrome traffic on Windows was protected. The figure for Chrome traffic on Android stood at 68 percent. The electoral drill takes place ahead of Nov. 21 subnational elections in which 3,082 regional and local posts will be elected. | Read More Imphal : Manipur police had seized huge quantity of drugs and associated kits and arrested a lady drug paddler at Manipurs Moreh town along Indo-Myanmar border on Wednesday. According to the reports, the Moreh police had raided at a house in the bordering town and seized varieties of drugs and associated kits. Police also arrested a lady drug paddler identified as Ngashepam Premila Devi. An official of Manipur police said that, police had arrested the lady for paddling drugs at her house. Police seized 44 WY tablets, six gram brown sugar, six numbers of unidentified drug tablets, 92 disposable syringes and other items. A model at the Romance Was Born presentation at Restaurant Hubert on Wednesday as part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. The background music is replaced with a thumping beat. The models come out: one, two, 10. Ten pieces. That's the brand. Less than 10 minutes later, it's over. Applause. The creme of Australian fashion, including the editors of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, musicians including the Veronicas, stylists and the odd hanger-on are crammed into the iconic location. This, or a similar, scenario has played out more than 35 times at various locations around Sydney over the four-and-a-half days of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. The government and organisers won't disclose the cost of staging the event, but with each show costing upwards of $50,000, plus the expense of bringing in the international press and buyers, the investment is huge. So how do we measure its success? "We don't do fashion week for the PR": We Are Kindred's show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia at Carriageworks on Tuesday. Credit:AAP For designers, it's an opportunity to present their brand vision in a way only they not their retailers or magazines desire, and to make crucial sales and connections. "We don't do fashion week for the PR; we do it because there is a direct return on investment," says Lizzie Renkert, one half of sister duo We Are Kindred, which specialises in boho-inspired dresses that are a hit especially with the spring racing and wedding party set. "I almost felt like I wasn't standing in the room anymore, it was like being hit by a bus," Loren recalls. "I'd never even heard of Sotos Syndrome." The Faingaa family on Georgia's Christening day. Despite being told by doctors not to Google the syndrome, the fierce researcher in Loren - she's a qualified lawyer - spent hours scrolling through medical studies and limited interviews with other parents of Sotos children. Sotos syndrome is diagnosed in roughly one in 14,000 babies but because its a spectrum disorder, it affects sufferers differently. Some individuals are severely affected and require lifelong care, while for others the syndrome is quite mild. For these individuals, the gaps in early delays begin to close as years pass. "Georgia will be significantly taller than her peers and have a much larger head than other kids her age," Loren says. "The accelerated growth will continue into her teenage years and, ironically, her rapid physical growth is likely be accompanied by delayed motor, cognitive and social development. Loren describes the first few months of Georgias life as the hardest time of my life. Loren herself was diagnosed with postnatal depression and post traumatic stress disorder while Colby did everything he could to support the two girls in his life. When I was pregnant with Georgia, I did everything right. I abstained from alcohol. I ate leafy greens, oily salmon, a handful of nuts daily, and took my prenatal vitamins religiously, Loren says. I believed I was doing everything I could to ensure my baby would be as healthy as possible. And then this happened. It felt cruel and unfair. But then Georgia started smiling. And staring intently into Loren and Colbys faces. And developing her own precious personality. Loren realised that Sotos Syndrome was something her baby daughter had, but it didnt and wouldnt define her. I just started to feel like I had this connection with her and felt like I am the right person to be this little girl's mum, Loren says. I knew this because I knew that I was willing to do the work and get the absolute very best out of her. The work includes regular sessions with physical, occupational and speech therapists. So far 13-month-old Georgia has hit every single milestone - from rolling over and sitting on her own to now standing. Loren has not only accepted her familys unplanned and unusual journey, she wants to share Georgias experiences with the world. Her personal blog, My Girl George, and her Instagram profile feature her baby girls milestones and her thoughts on being the mother of a baby so rare. She writes for Mamamia and was a keynote speaker at the inaugural Invincible She event in Canberra last November. There is no-one more prepared for or determined to take this journey with our precious girl, she says. Everyone in our family has just said, She's changed our lives. Shes just given us a whole new perspective on life and whats important. Loren and Colby, who met in 2006 when she was a student at St Clares and he was a student at St Eddies, are expecting their second baby in just a few weeks time but arent concerned about the possibility of another baby with a genetic syndrome. Sotos Syndrome is linked to a genetic mutation, so Colby and I had to be tested, Loren explains. We dont carry the gene mutation so with future pregnancies we basically have the same chance as the rest of the population, so a very slight chance. A man who admitted to supplying the gun that killed NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng in an Islamic State-inspired murder plot has been sentenced to at least 13 years behind bars. Mr Cheng was shot dead outside Parramatta police headquarters on October 2, 2015, by schoolboy Farhad Jabar, who died shortly afterwards under police gunfire. Talal Alameddine, now 25, gave the .38 Smith and Wesson special calibre revolver used to kill Mr Cheng to Raban Alou, who gave it to Jabar, 15, in the Parramatta Mosque about 15 minutes before it was used to kill Mr Cheng. Alameddine was sentenced to a maximum of 17 years and eight months. Outside court Mr Chengs son, Alpha, said the Alameddines sentence justly reflected the severity of his actions. Some Brisbane service stations are selling unleaded fuel for 161.9 cents per litre and the state's peak motoring body fear that if others follow suit, a four-year price record could be broken. The RACQ said the July 2014 record will be broken if the average price of fuel in Brisbane cracks the 160 cents per litre mark and US President Donald Trump is partly to blame. Prices could skyrocket overnight, so the RACQ has urged motorists to fill up on Friday. Credit:Bloomberg RACQ spokeswoman Renee Smith said on Friday afternoon that the average unleaded price at Brisbane bowsers was 139.7 cents per litre, but it was expected to rise. Fuel companies including the likes of Caltex, Caltex/Woolworths and BP are starting to hike their prices, and although a sharp increase is a part of the south-east Queensland petrol price cycle, theres no reason for them to be charging this much, she said. The "biased observers" Tony Abbott refers to are compassionate individuals such as the Pakistani trainee navigator on the Awassi Express. He was so upset by what he saw that he decided to do something about it. He no longer has a job, so this was our last chance to see raw footage of what really happens on routine voyages. If the government is fair dinkum about its mooted animal welfare improvements, it will take up the offer of the RSPCA to provide observers on ships, rather than the so-called "independent" observers from the Department of Agriculture, which has a conflict of interest between promoting live exports and, at the same time, regulating the industry. Charles Davis, Hawthorn Ensure that the export of live animals is humane I take offence to both the current live exports and the advertisements proposing to end them. The medium ground is to make the export of all live animals humane and acceptable namely, sufficient area for them to move around in, quality food and water, decks that are cleaned of urine and excrement (i.e. flushed with water regularly), sufficient veterinary and support staff, and moving stock that suffer any issues to a ship's treatment area. Dale Wise, Ashwood It is time to call the exporter to account The Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) was established in 2011 to make Australian exporters responsible for the welfare of livestock from the local farm gate to shipping to overseas abattoirs. Sanctions for non-compliance of welfare legislation could result in revocation of the export licence. When will ESCAS apply sanctions to the exporter responsible for the cruel and irresponsible treatment of thousands of sheep on the Awassi Express, as witnessed on 60 Minutes? Keith Lawson, Melbourne Sheep will still 'perish in horrendous conditions' Now live sheep exporters are allowed a death toll of 1per cent on each voyage before they need to tell anyone. That is at least 500 sheep that can perish in horrendous conditions with impunity. The government, exporters and farmers' bodies appear to be delighted. Dennis Richards, Cockatoo Ending the trade: an admission of reality Many of us have opposed live sheep exports from the start. Stark evidence of its cruelty has been around for decades. Shutting it down would not be "a rush", as David Crowe (Comment, 18/5) suggests. More like a belated, dragged out admission of reality. As for "telling people in Kuwait, Qatar and Israel they should be denied food because they want to slaughter sheep on their land in accordance with their religious beliefs" that is scraping the barrel. Mark Freeman, Macleod THE FORUM Loopholes in the rules Under the government's "tough" new rules, sheep will be given "up to" 39per cent more space and "increased ventilation". But ventilation is not refrigeration; it just sucks in super-heated Middle Eastern air from outside. The reportable mortality rate will drop from 2 to 1per cent (typically up to 700 deaths). But companies are not good at counting sheep; more than 1000 "went missing" on a horror voyage last year. Also, ships will carry "independent" observers. But the regulator sacked a previous live export vet who reported the carnage aboard because the industry refused to work with her. Company directors can be punished for "profiting" from poor animal welfare. However, they cannot profit from dead sheep, so this rule seems to protect the worst offenders. Equipment failure and unpredictable weather will provide other loopholes. Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills Losing joy of learning Bryan Long writes about the stress of NAPLAN (Letters, 17/5). At Easter, my nine-year-old granddaughter asked me, as a teacher, to explain NAPLAN. I reassured her, but it was evident that the thought of it was taking the joy of learning and school from a previously confident child. And to what effect? Elizabeth Osborne, North Hobart Towards rehabilitation According to your article, "a loophole exists in the mandatory six-month minimum sentence for offenders who commit offences against emergency workers on duty, if special circumstances exist" (The Age, 17/5). This implies a "one size fits all" approach to mandatory sentencing is necessary in order to punish offenders and deter future crime. This may be a convenient pawn for both sides of politics in pushing a "tough on crime" agenda at the impending election, but it is short-sighted to believe a more retributive approach to sentencing as opposed to rehabilitative is the answer. Crime targeting ambulance officers is particularly repugnant. However, we must ask ourselves whether increasing prison sentences will actually result in reducing these vile crimes. Charlie Hurley, Hawthorn East Contradictory stances Last year Daniel Andrews made history in Australia by permanently banning coal seam gas and fracking, and locking in a plan to grow renewables in Victoria. Now he is opening up our coast to gas drilling (The Age, 17/5). Is this government serious about climate action or not? Megan Williams, North Melbourne A shameful decision I thought Daniel Andrews understood climate change, but clearly not. Our carbon budget is already used up, and we need to transition away from polluting fossil fuels to renewables as quickly as possible. With the price of gas soaring, this is the perfect time to wean ourselves off, not to be planning to use more. This is such a bad decision. Bob Hale, Malvern Lose-lose for students It is curious that Education Minister Simon Birmingham talks about funding universities on the basis of student satisfaction ratings. The prime reason that these ratings have declined in recent years is because of the cuts and freezes in government funding. This has resulted in increased class sizes, less face-to-face teaching, decreased administrative support for students and staff, and greater pressure on staff to do more with less. Students are the losers. Emeritus professor Stephen Dinham, University of Melbourne Winning at all costs More than two decades ago I conducted a consultancy assignment for a major financial institution. Its shareholders were concerned that very few well-qualified women were offering themselves for promotion to executive level. My remit was to find out why and recommend remedial actions. The company expected these recommendations to be largely focused on improving work-life balance and family support facilities. But after talking to many men and women at the company's middle level, I reached a different conclusion. Most of the women, and many younger men, were repelled by the competitive culture at the top: one in which self-promotion was more important than collaboration and consideration of community benefits came a long way behind the drive for profit at all costs. Most of the middle-level professionals gauged career success in terms of work engagement and satisfaction. Alas, my findings were not congenial to the HR executives and the report was dumped. I cannot help but see the connection between this company's refusal to confront cultural issues and the findings of the royal commission. Judy Frazer-Jans, North Carlton Oh bliss, a 'nude clutch' Slightly caught up in royal wedding fever, I read online yesterday that Camilla attended a function in a delightful pink ensemble, with a striking pearl necklace and "topped off with a nude clutch". I am working on a project in the automotive industry and none of my colleagues have heard of a "nude clutch". I stopped my mind from boggling and resumed productive output. Mark Biss, Camberwell Help, get me out of here Thank you, Age readers (Letters, 18/5). I was beginning to think that I was the only one who did not give a toss about that royal wedding. Yes, Rex Condon, so much has been written and spoken about so little. This is even true of the ABC. I certainly did not feel too friendly towards it on Thursday night as I had to stop myself pitching my remote control at the television screen. How can I escape from all of this rubbish about what is, apparently, such a big day? Kay Arthur, Diamond Creek All the best, young royals As an Aussie, I am as affected by, and interested in, the wedding of Meghan and Harry in England as I am by, say, two people in Kazakhstan. However, I wish them the best and I hope that they (unlike their parents) love each other enough to avoid divorce. Lance Fishman, Upwey Hostile to criticism June Factor (Letters, 16/5) asks why politicians are "slow learners" with respect to the ABC and the regard with which it is held by the public. Governments hate criticism and are even more hostile to intelligent analysis of policies. Nor does this government want an informed electorate. Add to this the prospects of votes in the Senate from One Nation, which campaigns against the ABC, and a communications minister who fails to defend it and you can see that our national broadcaster faces a perfect storm of attacks. Gael Barrett, North Balwyn No to nuclear arsenal Last year most of the world's governments voted to prohibit nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was the outcome of more than a decade of effort by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Once ratified, the treaty will make nukes illegal. We should be very alarmed by reported plans for the United States to begin the manufacture of components for "next-generation" nuclear weapons (World, 18/5). Despite ICAN being a Melbourne initiative, and successive Australian governments consistently refusing to go down the nuclear armaments path, Australia does not support the treaty. If US policy becomes so out of step with world opinion, we need to ask ourselves if we are backing the wrong geopolitical horse. Duncan Reid, Flemington Truly a capital spot People who sneer at Canberra (Letters, 17/5) are displaying their ignorance and, presumably, have never lived there. It is a wonderful place to live and raise a family, and it has a surfeit of people of natural intelligence. The fact that it happens to be the seat of the federal government is irrelevant. Many politicians who work there have never seen more than Parliament House and the drive to the airport. Sue Currie, Northcote AND ANOTHER THING Trade How low do some have to sink to earn a living? The live export trade shames Australia and all associated with it. Neil McDonald, Berwick The live sheep trade should be stopped. Justifying it on economic grounds is incompatible with responsible animal welfare. Phillip Robertson, Delacombe China-Australia trade: a case of too many eggs in one basket, perhaps? Helena Kilingerova, Vermont Bishop, with her mouse-like roars, has trashed our trade with China. Reg Murray, Glen Iris Politics Setka almost got it right. Rudd and Gillard were our "worst" prime ministers. Aided and abetted by Shorten who decapitated both.. Mal Alexander, Vermont My vote, next election, will go to the party that cancels the memorial to Captain Cook. Jeanne James, Seaford Should Abbott and his cohorts pay for the cost of the royal commission into unions? Bruce Dudon, Woodend If MPs held dual allegiance, imagine the "influencing" that could occur. Elaine O'Shannessy, Wandin North Muxina Konarova's article on how we can turn used plastics into power (17/5) was brilliant. We should push governments to act on the idea. John Kiely, Richmond Furthermore I was 12 when I saw Ricky Nelson at Festival Hall. We were in "the gods", but the memory stays with me. Marie Nash, Balwyn As another old bloke, I'm with Meghan's father. Who would want to associate with those supercilious Battenburgs? Vin Browne, Lara Harry said the royals were "the family that Meghan never had". Ain't that the truth. April Jarrett, Glen Iris I'm desperately seeking a church that can cure me of my heterosexuality. Aurielle Lee, Coburg North The AFL Appeals Board should have ruled: Ed Curnow out for half a game, Charlie the other half. Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday directed the Water Resources Department and other line departments to remain fully prepared to tackle the onslaught of seasonal floods as Assam has the reputation of experiencing flood due to torrential rain in the state as well as in upper reaches of its neighbours. Reviewing the flood preparedness of the Water Resources Department in presence of its minister Keshab Mahanta at the conference room of his office in Janata Bhawan, Dispur, chief minister Sonowal took stock of the strength of the embankments that were essentially created to serve as a deterrent against flood. The thrust of the meeting was flood management as the chief minister took note of the breaches on embankments caused by multiple waves of floods last year. It may be noted that under the present dispensation a total of 12.02 km embankments were constructed as against only 0.60 km during the last two years of the previous government in the state. Moreover, State government during the last two years raised and strengthened 103 km of embankments. Moreover, during the same period 44 anti-erosion and town protection works were completed as against only 28 during the last two years of the previous government. To enable the State governments preparedness to negotiate with flood and minimise the loss caused by it, a total of 168 schemes involving Rs 345 crore were taken up including plugging of the breaches, and 158 schemes were completed so far. Chief Minister Sonowal asked Water Resources Department to complete the remaining the schemes on a war footing. Besides, the embankments that fall under the purview of Panchayat and Rural Development, Sonowal asked the official concerned to forge synergy between P&RD, Water Resources Department and Deputy Commissioners and complete plugging of breaches with the help of the technical support of the Water Resources Department. Chief Minister Sonowal directed the Water Resources Department to maintain the highest order of vigilance during the flood season to ensure safety in the river embankments and to store adequate flood fighting materials near vulnerable points. He also emphasised that during flood season Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department along with other line departments and district administration should keep the essential items ready to meet any exigency. He also took stock of the status of other embankments that do not fall under the ambit of Water Resources Department and advocated for inter-departmental coordination for effective flood control measures and monitoring. Justifying the deadline that the State government has given from time to time, chief minister Sonowal said that deadlines ensured speedy completion of the construction and repairing work which lends capacity building to flood protection measures which was never practised by the previous governments in the state. Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sanjay Lohiya, Principal Secretary to Water Resources Department Hemanta Narzary and senior officers of the State government were present at the meeting. A mother of four was on the telephone at the time she was murdered, a trial has heard, and the woman on the end of the line says she spoke with the killer afterwards. Michelle Enright said she heard "some thumps" in the moments after she last spoke with cousin Samantha Kelly and then heard a man say "Oh f---, she's on the phone." Ms Kelly, 39, was struck about seven times to the head with a hammer while in the bungalow behind a house in the Bendigo suburb of Kangaroo Flat one night in January 2016, the Supreme Court has heard. Her body was later found in a dry creek bed. (L-R) Ronald Lyons, Christine Lyons and Peter Arthur shortly after the disappearance of their housemate Samantha Kelly. Credit:Simon O'Dwyer Prosecutors allege Christine and Ronald Lyons, who aren't related, and Peter Arthur plotted to kill Ms Kelly so Ms Lyons could become the mother of her three daughters and a son. Arthur, Ms Lyons' partner, has admitted killing Ms Kelly. A couple ejected from a nudist colony for renovating a bush cabin have laid bare their wrangle with the club as part of legal action over $80,000 in damages. Fiji-based Robert and Alwyn Nink, both 57, joined the Helios Society in the Dandenong Ranges in 2016, thinking it was an ideal place to escape from the world with like-minded nude enthusiasts. However, the experience has left the Ninks feeling anything but liberated, as a battle to upgrade their cabin turned into a nasty feud with the nudist club's secretary that led to allegations of cups of urine being left on a table. The Helios Society nudist club in the Dandenongs has extensive grounds to explore sans clothes. "We thought it would be a chilled out place up in the hills where you can get your gear off and no one is going to judge you or think you're too skinny or too fat," Ms Nink said. In the most recent attack, Ambulance Victoria say two paramedics were assaulted on Thursday by a man in his 60s who had collapsed, smelling of alcohol, at Caroline Springs train station at 9.40pm. "The man was intoxicated and became abusive and threatened paramedics," a spokeswoman said. "As he was taken to hospital he punched the male paramedic. At hospital he again threatened paramedics, spat at them and kicked the female paramedic. "Both paramedics continued their shift after the incident." Paramedics alongside their car with a message of protest written on the side. Credit:Jason South It comes as the state opposition prepares to introduce a private members bill next week which would mean people under the influence of drugs or alcohol who attack paramedics will not be able to use it is an excuse to dodge jail time. The law giving a mandatory six months' jail for assaulting an emergency service worker was originally brought in by the Napthine Coalition government in 2014. But the law stipulated an offender could provide "special reasons" to the court why they shouldn't be received the jail term. Those "special reasons" are what Judge Barbara Cotterell relied on for her County Court decision on Tuesday to quash the jail time for two women who badly injured veteran paramedic Paul Judd in March 2016. Amanda Warren, a mother of four, and Caris Underwood had been facing jail time but Judge Cotterell upheld the women's appeal and ruled the pair had made "enormous" efforts to turn their lives around. A legal source said the legislation had "holes the size a semi-trailer could drive through". He said law-makers should have used the term "exceptional circumstances" because no one knows what "special reasons" mean, whereas exceptional circumstances is a test widely used and understood in the justice system. "Why muck around and introduce a different test of 'special reasons'?" Meanwhile, a change.org petition has been created calling for Underwood and Warren to "face the consequences of the crime they have committed". About 15,000 people have signed it. The paramedic who was allegedly punched in the face and spat at by an intoxicated man in the early hours of Thursday has added to the growing number of paramedics calling for change. The senior officer who was assaulted in Epping, in Melbourne's north, about 12.40am on Thursday suffered back and facial injuries after being called to a house. A 22-year-old man reportedly fell unconscious after drinking excessively and shouted abuse and spat at paramedics after he was woken. "I'm probably a little numb in some respects," the 44-year-old, who wanted to remain anonymous, told 3AW Radio on Friday. "I hear this young fellow wanted to apologise and was hoping to give me that apology in person. I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet. "It's great he does feel remorseful, but I think someone who has had a series of operations and is still not back to work, if one of us loses an eye or is pushed down the stairs and acquires a brain injury, the apology is beside the point." He said he had felt threatened while on the job in the past but had never been injured before, telling the program he felt anxious and nervous going back to work. "We cannot even get to a point where this is normalised in any way," he said. "Paramedics are exposed to occupational violence almost every shift and that has been worsening year upon year since I became an ambo. It's on a continuum... we are having to de-escalate more jobs than not. That's sad." He said he wouldn't weigh into the debate about whether there should be absolute mandatory sentences for offenders who assault paramedics but expressed concern about the message Judge Cotterell's decision sent to the public. "I think paramedics believe there were mandatory sentences and when we were injured they'd be applied," he said. "But what I can say is recently we are seeing a trend towards paramedics feeling terribly let down." "The sentence Paul Judd will have to live with is far greater and much, much longer than anything these two woman have had to endure." Police have charged a man who allegedly burst into a woman's home late at night last month and threatened her with a brick. Kensington detectives have charged the man over the alleged burglary and armed robbery incident at a home in Riverton on April 16. The man is due in court today (file image). Police will allege just after 1:30am, the man forced his way into the Tricourt Grove home by smashing a window. During the burglary he entered the woman's bedroom and demanded cash while threatening her with a brick. Up to 100 people protesting the treatment of a juvenile detainee at Banskia Hill Detention Centre took to Perth streets on Friday in a bid to raise awareness of the teenager's plight. The group - which included family members of the detainee - said the boy had been held in isolation for more than a year, and they demanded his freedom. In January, Amnesty International called for the immediate closure of the Intensive Support Unit (ISU) at WA's only juvenile detention facility following claims made by inmates that could "amount to torture". Protesters rallied in Perth's CBD on Friday. Credit:Alira Ryder. At the time, the subject of Friday's protest said he felt "like a dog", and admitted to self harming as a "coping mechanism". With a Federal election due next year, or possibly even earlier, parties are scrambling to get their candidates in place, and there is good reason for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to be wary of the pre-selection season now under way. Liberal leaders in particular are vulnerable with their authority on the line. Labor, by contrast, has internal mechanisms that take the heat off the leader. Former prime minister Robert Menzies had a way of ensuring local party matters played out the way he wanted. Credit:R. L. Stewart The stock reply to a question about Liberal Party pre-selection matters is that it is a party matter, not one for the leader. But the fact remains that a leaders powers of moral suasion can be sorely tested by local pre-selection battles. The Liberal Party patriarch, Sir Robert Menzies, prime minister from 1949 to 1966, was not normally one to intervene in local party matters, but should he find matters not to his liking, a quick phone call, or even just a raising of those prominent eyebrows, would generally result in an outcome to his liking, such was his authority within the party he helped found. LNP president Gary Spence has launched a parting shot at one of his party's stalwarts, after he quit the Queensland branch over the way he had been treated by the party. Former Howard government minister Peter Lindsay revealed his decision to quit the LNP in a Facebook post on Friday. Former federal member for Herbert, Peter Lindsay, pictured sitting in the House of Representatives. Credit:Paul Harris "I have better things to do with my life and other more fruitful ways to contribute to society than by involvement in a party that treats members in the way I have been treated," he wrote. "The actions of a few have not affected my commitment to my values and to the platform of the party. A senior Mormon recently elected to a powerful position in the Victorian Liberal Party has been accused of not being a legitimate member, fuelling tensions over the rising influence of ultra-conservatives in the state branch. Three weeks after winning a coveted spot on the partys administrative committee, infectious diseases specialist Dr Ivan Stratov has had his membership thrown into doubt, amid allegations that he did not get the necessary approval to join the Liberals after initialling running as a Family First candidate at the state election in 2010. Dr Ivan Stratov Dr Stratov who recently made headlines after blaming ungodly love for HIV - is part of a group of hardline and religious conservatives who seized control of the Liberals organisational wing at its state council meeting in April. Centred around 27-year-old powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan, the groups ascension gives the Right greater control over crucial matters such as preselections and party governance. Itas mother, Puji Kuswati, had not been acting alone. Ita's father, Dita Oeprianto, and two older brothers targeted two other churches in a coordinated attack that day. Within 24 hours there were two further bombings, in an apartment complex and outside a police station. These were detonated by two families who had met regularly with Itas family to study the Koran and watch jihadist movies on Sunday evenings. The Surabaya attacks - 27 people including the bombers were killed and another 50 wounded - are the deadliest in Indonesia since the 2002 Bali bombing. The bomb squad detonates bombs found after the Surabaya attacks. Credit:Amilia Rosa Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message carried on its Amaq propaganda arm. It emerged Dita was the leader of the Surabaya cell of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (Congregation of Supporters of the [Islamic] State), an extreme Islamist network that has pledged allegiance to IS. But what shocked Indonesia most was the unprecedented use of child suicide bombers in the country. Just days before Ita died, neighbours heard her pleading for a new dress for the Islamic holiday of Lebaran next month. If she knew she was going to die that Sunday, why would she cry for a new dress for Lebaran? asks a horrified Indonesian police officer, who witnessed one of the bombings. They [the parents] are not human. Especially the father." Child suicide bombers have been used in other modern conflicts, including by Palestinian militant groups and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. A ghastly video to emerge from the Syrian conflict in December 2016 purported to show nine-year-old Fatima about to carry out a martyrdom operation in Damascus. The film suggested "this duty fell to children" because the fighting men had fled in the green buses, a reference to the evacuation of Aleppo at that time. It is unknown whether the attack was carried out. The latest attacks are a terrible warning to Indonesian authorities, says Noor Huda Ismail. Credit:Kate Geraghty And a 2017 UNICEF report said an "alarming" number of children in Africa - most of them girls - had been used as suicide bombers by Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram. However counter-terrorism analyst Noor Huda Ismail says it is an extremely disturbing new development in Indonesia. The Indonesian government must take this seriously because now you see the level of brutality, the level of pragmatism. They do not mind even sacrificing a member of their family. The chilling family bombings have implications that could ripple across the world. Armed police at a site where a suspected terrorist was shot dead and four members of his family apprehended after the Surabaya attacks. Credit:Amilia Rosa What it means is that the types of potential attackers has been further broadened, says Greg Fealy, an associate professor at the Australian National University. Its a bit like the decision that terrorists made some time ago, in the Middle East certainly, to use women as suicide bombers precisely because they held better prospects of getting through security than men did. Normally children would not have attracted close attention from security services. From now on that will have to change. Even at the height of the influence of Jemaah Islamiyah, the terrorist group responsible for the Bali bombings, only an adult male would ever be considered a warrior, according to terrorism analyst Sidney Jones. But IS had managed to turn the concept of jihad into a family affair, with a role for everyone. Women were lionesses, children were cubs, Jones writes on The Lowy Institutes website. Everyone was given a sense of mission The problem was that many of the women were not satisfied with the very traditional role [IS] assigned them. Some, as we know from observing social media, wanted more action and admired women suicide bombers in Palestine, Iraq and Chechnya. Jones and other analysts believe the involvement of whole families in terrorist attacks means deradicalisation programs need a rethink. It means deradicalisation has to happen as a family - it cant only be aimed at the men, she says. This is something long argued by Noor Huda Ismail, best known in Indonesia for trying to re-integrate former terrorists into mainstream society by employing them at his deradicalisation cafe in Solo, Java. Two years ago Huda made the documentary Jihad Selfie, which explores how Indonesian teenagers are recruited to IS. The films protagonist - would-be jihadist Teuku Akbar Maulana - cites his closeness to his parents and the pain of giving birth as the reason he ultimately decided not to join IS. I have been warning the Indonesian government to go beyond the traditional tool of deradicalisation focusing on the father, Huda says. The boarded-up home of Dita Oeprianto's family in the Wonorejo Asri neighbourhood of Surabaya. Credit:Amilia Rosa As I said in my films [families] are a very important agent in countering violent extremism. In Wonorejo Asri, a middle-class neighbourhood in Surabaya, an empty swing dangles opposite Itas home, now boarded up with plywood and draped with police line tape. Wery Tri Kusuma used to watch Ita and her sister Lala (Fadhila Sari) play on this swing. Ita played with his 11-year-old son too, right up until the day before the attack. If Ita saw my wife she would sit on her lap. We have only one child, my son, so she was like our own daughter. Werys wife was close to Itas mother Puji; they would talk about cooking and Werys wife would ask for advice on how to get children to be obedient. Hafidatur Romlah, who taught some of Dita Oeprianto's children, shows a picture of one of them on a school field trip. Credit:Amilia Rosa Our son, if we want him to do anything, we have to repeat ourselves before he listens. Her four kids, she never once raised her voice to them. They would follow instantly. At midday on Sunday police showed Wery photographs of the church bombings. When I saw the photos, especially the one of Ita, my mind went blank. Her upper body was intact, but just that, the other half gone ... His eyes well with tears. The bombs must have been strapped to their bodies too. What went through their [the parents] minds when doing that? Ita, she likes to cuddle, she knew nothing. She was just a child. The Surabaya bombings came just days after a deadly riot - also by members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah (JAD) - was staged at a maximum-security detention centre outside Jakarta. Loading Prisoners seized weapons held at the centre as evidence in court cases and killed five police officers, some of whom were tortured and had their throats slit. Indonesia has been plunged into a jittery mourning. On Wednesday the carnage continued, with police shooting dead four sword-wielding men who attacked a police station in Sumatra. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who condemned the Surabaya attacks as barbaric and beyond humanity, urged the House of Representatives to amend laws that would give police greater powers to arrest and detain terror suspects. Police initially claimed the church bombers had received training from IS in Syria, although this was later retracted. It is now believed Itas father, Dita, was influenced by a family who had tried to join IS but was deported from Turkey. Former Australian Border Force commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg warns of the risk of those frustrated in attempts to join IS in Syria or Iraq staging attacks on Indonesian soil. I raised the spectre of this when we saw large numbers of people attempting to leave Australia for Syria, he says. What we are seeing for the first time is the manifestation of violence IS is franchising to foreign fighters and now to the world. More than 500 Indonesian IS supporters are still believed to be in Syria. Hundreds more have been killed, deported back to Indonesia or returned voluntarily. Loading They are going to be gravitating towards JAD ideology and that is going to be a recipe for more violence, Quaedvlieg says. He says Australia is more secure because it has a stronger border control system and a fair idea of who has gone to the Middle East. We are much better off than Indonesia in terms of knowing where our threats have come from, but we cant be complacent. Indonesia would brief Australia on the outcome of its investigation into the Surabaya attacks, Quaedvlieg says. However he doubts there will be radical changes to security in Australia as a result: Australia doesnt want every child, every pram searched at a sporting event, thats not who we are. The day after Ita was killed, two motorcyclists detonated suicide bombs at the Surabaya police headquarters. Police had just managed to drag officers to safety and secure the perimeter when they heard someone moan with pain. We shouted: Stand up, Stand Up!. Everyone of us wanted to help, but the car was on fire and there might still be a bomb, says narcotics unit chief Roni Faisal. Then he realised the victim was a young girl. Roni didnt hesitate. He scooped her up and raced to safety. London: Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who was poisoned by a nerve agent in Britain more than two months ago, has been discharged from hospital, England's health service said on Friday. Sergei Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. A police officer without protective gear crouches down next to the bench at the shopping centre where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found. Credit:AP Britain has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack and Western governments including the United States have expelled over 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and has retaliated in kind. The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But their health began to improve rapidly, and Yulia was discharged last month. At her wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle will be walked down the aisle by the groom's father, Prince Charles. However, in an unusual move for a royal bride in Britain, Markle will walk unescorted down the aisle of the chapel nave, after being met at the West Door by a member of the clergy, CNN reported. In this first part of the wedding procession, she will be accompanied by her bridesmaids and page boys, with the senior church figure walking ahead. When Markle reaches the Quire, where the main royal guests will be seated, she will be joined by Prince Charles, who will walk her down the Quire aisle to the foot of the altar. Kensington Palace confirmed Prince Charles' role in the ceremony on Friday, following speculation Ms Markle's mother would take responsibility, after her own father pulled out of attending the wedding. Rapprochement with Russia is now a core policy objective in Berlin, according to a senior German official with knowledge of the chancellery's strategy. The shift in sentiment is a consequence of the actions of a US president who is straining the long-standing alliance with Europe, and in the process throwing together two seasoned survivors of geopolitical turmoil who share a contentious but well-honed relationship. When President Vladimir Putin hosts Merkel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday, he's likely to notice a change in tone from a tense meeting a year ago when the two leaders clashed over Ukraine and Russian election meddling. Now they're in the same corner trying to shield businesses from US sanctions, defend the Iran nuclear accord ditched by Trump and rebuffing American objections to a new gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany. Sochi: As Donald Trump shakes up the global order, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is being pushed toward a more predictable partner in Moscow. Merkel and Putin are both in their fourth terms, though not about to become best of friends. Germany, for example, doesn't intend to ease European Union economic sanctions on Russia over its incursions into Ukraine. The Kremlin is still relishing the entente, regarding it as an opening to strengthen its influence with Germany and Europe more broadly. "Putin likes the irritation that Trump has created with Europe," said Josef Janning, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. "In his eyes, I think, the development is quite positive." The Russian leader tried to intimidate Merkel in the past, said Janning, "but she's still around like he is." Vladimir Putin has recently been sworn in for his fourth term as Russia's President. . Credit:AP For Putin, it's an opportunity to chip away at his diplomatic isolation from Europe since Russia was dropped from the Group of Eight in 2014. For Merkel, the stakes are as much about projecting European values in a globalised age as about protecting German economic interests in Iran and Russia. That includes the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, which Putin and Merkel have a joint interest in completing over US objections. The Trump administration has threatened sanctions on companies working on the project because more Russian gas would bypass Ukraine on its way to Germany. Gregg Mozgala is the kind of actor you see once and never forget. I first saw him in the New York debut of Martyna Majok's Cost of Living at Manhattan Theatre Club (which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). He played John, a wheelchair-bound Princeton PhD candidate with cerebral palsy. Mozgala also has CP (though he doesn't use a wheelchair) and was able to bring a level of authenticity and physical commitment to the role that a nondisabled actor never could. It left enough of an impression that Mozgala was nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and Lortel Awards a rare trifecta for a performance that ended last July. He won the Lortel, lost the Outer Critics (to Andrew Garfield), and the jury's still out on the Drama Desk. Mozgala is enjoying the recognition, but he's already moved on to his next two projects: He's currently starring in the revival of Caryl Churchill's Light Shining in Buckinghamshire at New York Theatre Workshop while attending rehearsals for a new play by Mike Lew called Teenage Dick. In it, Mozgala plays a 16-year-old Richard III scheming his way to victory in the class election. The play was developed by Mozgala's theater company, the Apothetae, and is being presented by Ma-Yi Theater Company. Performances begin June 12 at the Public Theater. Mozgala took a rare break in his schedule to talk about his incredible year, his upcoming work, and his determination to create theater that breaks through tropes about the disabled experience. Were you surprised that so many awards nominators remembered a performance that you gave last summer? It's an incredible honor and very flattering. Martyna's play has been a real gift to me as an actor. I've been with it since the beginning and had been working on it for four years. It's a wonderful narrative about the disabled experience, and I'm happy to see that elevated more than anything else. You were in the middle of a performance of Light Shining in Buckinghamshire when you won the Lortel Award. What was that like? The assistant stage manager, Kristi Hess, pulled me aside and told me that I won at intermission. I was sorry to have missed the ceremony, but I can't think of a better reason to have missed it than to be working off-Broadway. Work is always the main goal for me. Was the role of Richard in Teenage Dick written for you? I commissioned the piece, actually. I started my company, the Apothetae, in 2012. Mike Lew was the fifth writer I approached to write a new play for the company. He's sharp and snappy, so I thought he would be a good fit for this adaptation. I'm fascinated with Richard III as an archetype, but teenagers are still figuring out who they are. Mike has done a beautiful job translating that story into a modern parlance. Could you explain for the Hellenically challenged where the name "Apothetae" comes from? There was a disabled playwright named John Belluso who passed away in 2006. I was in the New York premiere of his play, The Rules of Charity, in 2007. There's a character in the play who mentions the Apothetae, which was a chasm in Sparta where they would leave infants that didn't fit the Spartan physical ideal, including disabled infants, to be exposed to the elements. It roughly translates to "the place of exposure." I love the double entendre of exposure and shedding light on history that people may not know about. It's an homage to the history of disabled people and to John, who was a mentor for me. Bastard Jones star and Apothetae collaborator Evan Ruggiero shows off his nomination certificate with Gregg Mozgala at the 63rd Annual Drama Desk Awards nominees reception. ( Monica Simoes) It seems like most disabled stories are meant to be inspirational or about overcoming adversity. Or death with dignity! Those three narratives are pervasive. They're so entrenched in our popular cultural consciousness that I'm trying to present something else. It would be hard to argue that Richard III is a feel-good, inspirational story. What drew you to the story of a villain? Richard III is a villain. When we meet him in Shakespeare, he's an adult politician and killer. But the Richard of Teenage Dick is a 16-year-old kid. He doesn't start the villain, but we see him become the villain through circumstance and his refusal to accept himself in the world. There's a scene that takes place in a dance studio where Richard laments "the wall-length mirrors where there's no place to hide the gracelessness with which I shamble about." You were in a dance piece, Diagnosis of a Faun, in 2009. Was dance a source of anxiety before that? Oh, of course. Just seeing my reflection is a source of anxiety to this day. That doesn't go away. I forget that I'm disabled and then I catch my gait in the mirror, or someone looks at me and I know what they're clocking and it immediately puts me back in that adolescent place. The way CP manifests with me is neurological. I know I should move with flowing grace and ease, but there's a system in my brain that makes me walk the way I walk. Dancing is nonhabitual for me, so it's actually easier for me to dance than to walk. Working with Tamar Rogoff on Diagnosis of a Faun completely changed my life. Tamar broke down the mechanical act of ambulation for me. The way I navigate the world has completely changed since then and that all happened because of dance. It sounds crazy, but art literally changed my life. You've spoken about the adolescent anxiety of people noticing your walk, but you've chosen a career where your walk will be visible to thousands of strangers in the theater. Is that discomfort important for you as an actor? Anne Bogart talks a lot about actors finding creativity in being off-balance. I'm off-balance as a person all the time! So it's not just about trusting that, but bringing my whole humanity and experience to the stage. With disability, there's a lot of disassociation in the interest of survival. The disability becomes an external aspect of your life. But really, it is an essential part of my humanity. This is the body with which I process all emotions and move through the world. I should be bringing that to the stage, warts and all. I've been really fortunate to have work opportunities to practice that. And it's going to be a practice for the rest of my life. Inside the Paris Supreme auction. Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images Hang on to your Supreme, kiddos. In Paris yesterday, the auction house Artcurial held a sale two-thirds dedicated to the streetwear brands most coveted items, and it raked in about $1 million. If you arent already feeling a bit nauseous, get this: the event was titled C.R.E.A.M., Cash Rules Everything Around Me, after the Wu-Tang Clans 1993 single of the same name. According to the Times, it attracted a crowd of predominantly French, Chinese, and American buyers plus some teenagers with braces and rhinestone earrings. The hottest ticket was a Supreme x Louis Vuitton trunk. It caused a frenzied bidding war, eventually selling for $104,312. There was also a Supreme punching bag for sale (20,150), and the Times found one teenager named Julien, who bid 1,000 for a T-shirt without his parents permission. It was actually easier than attending some of the drops, he said. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images On May 19, 2018, a real life fairy tale will occur: an American actress named Rachel Meghan Markle will marry Prince Harry, a.k.a. the hot ginger one, in a ceremony in St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle. They have invited 1,200 personal guests for the ceremony, 2,640 members of the public to be present on the day, and five Spice Girls (and a disappointing tally of zero corgis). However, this is a real life fairy tale with a lot of unwritten rules. Its a minefield when Prince William and Kate Middleton got married, the Queen released a 22-page etiquette guide. Ignore the handbook. These are our top ten favorite rules, including words you cant say, people you cant touch, and where to vomit. 1. Women must wear the right hat or face ridicule. Sounds simple enough, but size matters. Wear a hat too ostentatious and youll be ridiculed for the rest of your life. Case in point: Princess Beatrice at Prince William and Kate Middletons wedding. Her hat was compared to a toilet seat, a birth control device, and a uterus and fallopian tubes on a 140,000-strong Facebook page dedicated to insulting it. But if you wear headgear too small, youll cause a small scandal when then-Prime Minister David Camerons wife, Samantha, only wore a mere small glittery clip to Prince William and Kate Middletons wedding, her act was considered treason. The clip was the size of a croissant, but still, show some respect, Sam. 2. Family jewels only, please. Occasionally women wear tiaras to formal weddings, but according to The Ladyships Guide to the British Season, only married women are allowed to wear them. Single women are prohibited because tiaras represent betrothal and unavailability. Think of them like giant wedding or engagement rings for your hair. The Ladyship also says that you should never buy a tiara. Heirloom only, because purchasing a tiara is distasteful. Which raises a question: if you cant buy one, where did all those royal tiaras come from? Maybe its like how every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings, except every time someone called Sixtus Dominic marries someone with the last name Money-Coutts in an English castle, God gives a tiara to your great-grandmother. If you do wear a tiara, beware of the air kiss. The best tiara mishap involves two high-ranking women who loathed each other but were obliged to do the standard upper-crust air kisses. During the embrace, they locked tiaras and had to be removed from the ballroom of Buckingham Palace locked in conflict, like a pair of rutting stags. A final word of warning: the queen will likely lend (or give) a tiara for Meghan to wear on the big day. Its considered a massive faux pas to wear one when the bride is planning on wearing one, so please leave yours at home for this particular wedding. 3. Leave the tuxedo at home, too. Jerramy Fine, the author of Regal Rules for Girls, says, The Brits think that Americans are crazy for wearing tuxedos to churches. Stupid American heathens bringing their fancy tuxedos into houses of worship. Meghan and Harrys invitation stipulates a mens dress code of uniforms, morning dress or lounge suits. Disappointingly, lounge suits are neither sweat suits nor track suits. Theyre just normal suits. Business suits. You know. Suits. Suits. Get it? Like the suits they wore on Suits, the show Meghan was on. Morning dress, the daytime formal dress code, is what most British men will be wearing. It consists of a coat with a tail, a waistcoat, striped trousers and a tie. The top hat is optional, but very handy for discreetly vomiting into. Fun fact: Prince Philip once did this at a state funeral (source: A Royal Book of Lists by Matt Richardson). According to Tatler, when posh men get drunk at weddings, they will then wear their ties around their heads. This is still more acceptable than wearing a tuxedo before 6 p.m. 4. Royals love a conga line. King George VI had the vulgar habit of ending palace balls with a conga line, including one throughout Buckingham Palace the night before Elizabeths wedding. His daughters carried on the tradition; in 1945, the 19-year-old future queen and Princess Margaret did the conga on VE Day and charged through the Ritz among hotel guests having their tea. As one congad through, eyebrows were raised, recalls one participant. And in case you need to talk about dancing in a conga line after the event, according to this entry in the queens teenage diary, the past tense is congered. As in congered into house sang till 2 a.m. Bed at 3 a.m.! 5. Dont you dare touch the queen. In 2009, Michelle Obama put her arm around the queen, causing uproar in the palace. The Daily Mail reported, In 57 years, the queen has never been seen to make that kind of gesture and it is certainly against all protocol to touch her. Myka Meier, the Plaza Hotels etiquette expert, says, One should never touch the queen unless she extends her hand to you. Is this because the queen is extremely ticklish and prone to hysterical giggling fits? Probably. But also because it stems from the belief that the monarch has been appointed by God and as we all know, God hates being touched by commoners. Also, at the sight of any royalties, be ready to curtsy or bow. Americans dont have to because the queen is not our head of state, but its still seen as polite. And you should address Prince Harry as Your Royal Highness, which is a lot for someone who is rumored to have named his basement Club H, has been seen crawling out of barns covered in straw, and was once photographed cupping his crown jewels after playing strip billiards. 6. Avoid the T-Word. And the P-Word. If you need the bathroom, dont under any circumstances utter the word toilet. Ever. According to Jerramy, This is as jarring to an upper-class English ear as the F-word. In fact, I get the impression that they would actually prefer the F-word. Never say toilet. Ever. This rule is not optional. It is imperative. Same goes for pardon, although Americans rarely say this anyway. Jilly Cooper once described overhearing one of her children speaking to a friend, Mummy says pardon is much worse than f. 7. Dont say Nice to meet you. The logic behind this is that if youve just met someone, how can you declare the encounter as nice or pleasing so early in the relationship? Instead, greet people with, How do you do? And if someone gets there first, the correct answer to this question is not Fine, thank you, but a baffling echo back of How do you do? Kates mother, Carole Middleton, broke this rule when meeting the queen for the first time, making national headlines and earning her family the nickname the Nice-to-meet-you Middletons. Also this was when Prince Williams friends still whispered doors to manual at Kate Middleton in reference to Caroles career as a flight attendant. But hey! Its all in good fun. British bathrooms can echo, so try to weep soundlessly if something similar happens to you. 8. Youre done when the queens done. If you dine with the queen, then you must finish eating as soon as she takes her last mouthful. As in, youre banned from eating after she has finished. This is an official mealtime rule. Not sure what happens if you are currently chewing perhaps you must open your mouth and let the food drop out? The Palace steward would stand behind the queen, Darren McGrady, the queens former personal chef of 11 years, told HuffPost. As soon as she put down her knife and fork from the first course, he would hit the button for the lights to signal the footmen to come in. The course was over and theyd start clearing even if you hadnt finished, theyd be clearing the table. Be grateful we dont live in Queen Victorias times. She was known for her swift eating and could gobble through seven courses in 30 minutes. According to an entry on Etiquipedia, If you were the last person served often you wouldnt get a chance to eat anything before your plate was taken. 9. The speeches are brutal. The purpose of British wedding speeches is to mortify the groom (and bride) for at least ten minutes. At Prince Williams wedding, Prince Charles, his own father, teased him about his bald spot (oh, for it only to be a mere spot today!). This is nothing compared with Pippa Middletons wedding to James Matthews. Best man Justin Johannsen said: Now to the love of James life: beautiful, energetic, loyal, soft-mouthed, comes on command, great behind. But that is enough about Jamess spaniel, Rafa, Im here to talk about Jamess love, Pippa. 10. Humiliate those who dont know about random rules. The best part of all this? You get to feel superior for knowing the rules yourself, no matter how arbitrary. For example, if theres a cheese course, there may be the passing of the port (sweet red wine mixed with brandy). Etiquette calls for port to be passed to the left. If someone is hogging the port and forgets to pass it, its considered bad form to ask for it. Instead, you must shout, DO YOU KNOW THE BISHOP OF NORWICH. This alerts the port-hogger immediately to their faux pas. If they arent familiar with etiquette (the pleb!) and look at you like youre insane, you are to reply, Hes a terribly good chap, but he always forgets to pass the port. And then you all have a roaring good laugh. Also, it is handy to pass the port to your left because it allows right-handed people to keep your sword hand free. Follow these rules and youll be golden. But also, take them with a grain of salt because with an American divorcee bride, anything goes. Meghan is a rebel shes already rejected the traditional fruitcake for lemon and elderflower, and its believed that she will buck the tradition of only men speaking at the wedding and give her own speech. But whatever happens, dont you dare wear a tiara on Meghans big day. Left: Fernando wears his own clothing; Center: Fernando wears Gucci jacket; Right: Fernando wears his own clothing. Photo: Lucas Michael Life imitates performance art for Fernando Casablancas. Hes a student at NYUs Tisch school studying what he describes as experimental theater. Which makes sense, as Casablancas has the air of somebody who would fit in seamlessly at Andy Warhols Factory. He recently published an online zine of his drag persona, complete with blue wigs and corsets. (And, in time-honored New Yorkcool-kid tradition, he has a familiar last name; hes related to both The Strokes Julian Casablancas and modeling agent John Casablancas.) We spoke to him about distressed sneakers, the deep ocean, and Ezra Miller. Fernando wears his own clothing. Photo: Lucas Michael If you could be a magazine, what magazine would you be? V magazine. If you could speak to animals, which animals would you want to talk to? Whales. Ive always been so scared of the deep ocean so I think theyd tell me, Its fine. Heres whats going on down here. Sneakers or slippers? Sneakers, for sure. Whats something your social-media followers dont know about you? I feel like they dont know a lot. Its very curated but in a way it doesnt look like it. I dont post all the time. I dont take myself as seriously as much as it looks like I do. What was the last website you looked at? Golden Goose sneakers, and I was wondering if it was worth paying so much for sneakers that are so beat up. I decided Id do it, but not right now. If you could be outfitted by one designer for the rest of your life, who would it be? Alessandro Michele. What he did for his first season at Gucci is what I like to wear every day. What time is your alarm set for in the morning? I have thousands of alarms. Its like, 8:00, 8:27, 8:34, 8:42 I suck at waking up. What do you eat for breakfast? I dont. I never have time, Im always late. If you could only eat three things for the rest of your life, what would they be? Chicken teriyaki with sticky rice, pizza, and sushi, but from Brazil. What piece of clothing or accessory makes you feel most like yourself? Anything thats borrowed, honestly. Most of my cool pieces are things I know I only have a little bit of time with. I like to have little presents throughout my dressing-up career. If you were a color, what would it be? Blood red. If you could be trapped in an elevator with one person, who would it be? You know the actor Ezra Miller? Him. If you could tell Donald Trump one thing and make sure he would listen, what would it be? Just stop, please. Im more scared of Mike Pence, honestly. Fernando wears a Gucci jacket. Photo: Lucas Michael Fernando wears Gucci embroidered sequin jacket, $8,700 at Gucci. 14 Overdose on Spice in Downtown Indianapolis At least 14 people overdosed on the drug spice in downtown Indianapolis, according to reports this week. Spice, which is known as K2, is a type of synthetic cannabinoid that tries to imitate the effects of marijuana. Cannabicyclohexanol, JWH-018, JWH-073, or HU-210 are the synthetic drugs used, and theyre usually sprayed on dried plant matter and smoked. They can cause hallucinations, delusions, or violent behavior within individuals who consume the substance. Officials in Indianapolis said they responded to a number of emergency medical runs in a few hours on Saturday amid the drug overdose epidemic, Fox59 reported. Five to six of them were sent to local hospitals for more treatment. The report said that 10 of those patients came from the Wheeler Mission at 520 E. Market St. Paramedics treated patients who lost consciousness due to smoking or ingesting the drug. Some other people showed visible signs of ingesting these narcotics, but did not require treatment, Fox59 reported. At 3:10 p.m. Saturday, police were called back to the area, this time in the 200 block of East Market Street. There they found a 25-year-old man, a 22-year-old man, and a 31-year-old woman all down and suffering symptoms from the same drug, reported the Indianapolis Star newspaper in describing the overdoses. At 4:05 p.m. Saturday, a 47-year-old man who had been smoking spice was found overdosing in the 400 block of East New York Street. Then, police discovered four men between the ages of 46 and 53 who had been smoking spice at around 5:13 p.m. local time at around the 200 block of North Alabama Street, the paper reported. Officers said that because spice isnt an opiate, they were not able to use Narcan, a reversal agent, according to the Fox report. In March, officials in Illinois issued a warning about consuming synthetic marijuana, saying that it can cause severe bleeding. At the time, according to the Illinois Department of Health, in a three-week span, 22 cases of bleeding were linked to the drug. We want to alert people to the dangers of using synthetic cannabinoids, Dr. Jennifer Layden, who is the chief medical officer at the Illinois Department of Public Health, told CBS Chicago. She said that during that time frame, what we are seeing is people are coming in with various types of bleeding. Whether its nose bleeds, bleeding from their gums, bleeding in their urine. Very severe bleeding thats prompting them to go to the emergency room. Watch Next: I Was a Communist Slave Scientists Find Mysterious Artifact They Couldnt Believe What Was Written on It The content is not available due to expiration. A field of sorghum (milo) grain is seen at a farm outside of Texhoma, Oklahoma, U.S., in this undated photo released to Reuters on April 3, 2018. (Courtesy Jerod McDaniel/Handout via Reuters) China Retreats From US Sorghum Probe, Drops Import Duties BEIJINGChina dropped its anti-dumping probe into imports of U.S. sorghum and cancelled anti-dumping duties on May 18, beating a hasty retreat from a dispute that wreaked chaos across the global grain market and raised concerns about rising costs and financial damage at home. The move was seen as a goodwill concession as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He was in Washington for talks aimed at resolving trade tensions between the worlds two largest economies. Chinas Commerce Ministry said in a statement that the investigation into a critical ingredient for animal feed and liquor had revealed that anti-dumping and anti-subsidies penalties would inflate costs for Chinese consumers. The investigation was launched in early February. Then, last month, Beijing also imposed hefty anti-dumping deposits on imports of the grain. They [China] are showing goodwill by halting its anti-dumping investigation into sorghum imports, but it is a cheap way of showing goodwill as the U.S. does not have much sorghum left to export. The next U.S. sorghum crop will be harvested in August, said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney, Australia. Agricultural products are considered one of the most powerful weapons in Beijings arsenal because a strike against farm exports to China would hurt mostly states that are voter bases for U.S. President Donald Trump. The United States accounts for more than 90 percent of total sorghum shipments to China, with imports from the U.S. worth $1.1 billion last year, according to Chinese customs data. Frantic Chinese importers, who faced crippling extra costs to doing business, had lobbied the Chinese regime to rethink the plan. The Chinese regimes probe had sparked worries that tariff-inflated costs for the grain would be passed onto feedmakers and eventually push retail meat prices higher. Corn, soybean, and soymeal futures fell after news of the probe being dropped, as worries over feedmakers having to find alternative ingredients eased. The ministry said it would return the deposits it had collected. The news brought some unexpected relief to Chinese buyers who still had cargoes stuck at ports. This is great news! We are now saved, said a private sorghum trader who had over 600 tons of U.S. sorghum stranded at a Chinese port. We will clear our goods immediately today. Trade tensions between the two countries remain high. Beijing still threatens to slap retaliatory 25 percent tariffs on a swathe of U.S. farm goods, including sorghum and soybeans, after the United States proposed $50 billion worth of tariffs on imported Chinese tech goods. By Hallie Gu and Josephine Mason Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reported to be meeting with Syrian army soldiers in eastern Ghouta, Syria, March 18, 2018. (SANA/Handout via Reuters) Chlorine Likely Used in February Gas Attack in Syria, Say Investigators AMSTERDAMBanned chlorine munitions were likely dropped on a Syrian neighborhood in February, an international body on chemical weapons said on Wednesday, after laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the toxic chemical. In its latest report on the systematic use of banned munitions in Syrias civil war, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) did not say which party was behind the attack on Saraqib, which lies in rebel-held territory in the province of Idlib. But witnesses told OPCW investigators that the munitions were dropped in barrel bombs from a helicopter, a report released by the OPCW showed. Only Syrian government forces are known to have helicopters. The report by the OPCWs fact finding mission for Syria determined that chlorine was released from cylinders by mechanical impact in the Al Talil neighborhood of Saraqib. About 11 people were treated after the attack on Feb. 4. for mild and moderate symptoms of toxic chemical exposure, including breathing difficulties, vomiting and unconsciousness, the report said. Samples taken from the soil, canisters and impact sites tested positive for other chemicals, bearing the markers of the Syrian regime, said Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a biological and chemical weapons expert working in Syria. The samples tested positive for precursors needed to make the nerve agent sarin, he said. These chemicals were detected in previous sarin attacks, Khan Sheikhoun, East Ghouta and no doubt Douma, Bretton-Gordon said. The OPCW is also investigating a suspected chemical attack on April 7 in the Douma enclave near Damascus, which prompted missile strikes by the United States, France and Britain. Those findings are expected by the end of the month. The conclusions on the Saraqib attack are based on the presence of two cylinders, which were determined as previously containing chlorine, witness testimony and environmental samples confirming the unusual presence of chlorine, it said. A joint OPCW-U.N. mechanism for Syria has previously concluded the Assad government has used both sarin nerve agent and chlorine, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians. Rebels were found to have used sulfur mustard once on a small scale. Reuters reported in January that tests found markers in samples taken at three attack sites between 2013 and 2017 from chemicals from the Syrian government stockpile. The lab tests linked Ghouta and two other nerve agent attack sites, in the towns of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib governorate on April 4, 2017 and Khan al-Assal, Aleppo, in March 2013, to the stockpile handed over to the agency for destruction in 2014. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied using chemical weapons and instead has blamed rebels for staging attacks to falsely implicate his forces in the atrocities. The mechanism was disbanded in November following a Russian veto at the U.N. Security Council, a move which ratcheted up tension between Moscow and Western powers over chemical weapons use in Syria. Watch Next: I Was a Communist Slave Retired Captain James E. Fanell testifies at a Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Chinas Worldwide Military Expansion at the Rayburn House Office Building at U.S. Congress in Washington on May 17, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Congressional Hearing Outlines How to Curb Beijing: Tactical Nuclear Weapons, Taiwan, and Human Rights WASHINGTONMembers of Congress are pushing for a tougher response to the Chinese regimes growing aggression. Witnesses in a Congressional hearing recommended deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Asia, showing strong support for Taiwan, and exposing human rights abuses in China as immediate steps that could curb Beijings drive toward global hegemony. Chinas economic rise has enabled it to expand rapidly across all domains of world power, and a growing consensus has emerged in recent years that the United States could soon be completely driven out of the Asia-Pacific region if Beijing is allowed to continue on its current course unopposed. Such a consensus was apparent at the hearing held on May 17 by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence titled Open Hearing on Chinas Worldwide Military Expansion. In his opening statement, Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) described the hearing as part of an effort that will extend over the coming months highlighting the Chinese threat to American economic and security interests. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is engaged in a total, protracted struggle for regional and global supremacy, said Jim Fanell, a retired U.S. Navy Captain who had nearly 30 years of experience as a naval intelligence officer studying Asia and the Chinese military. Fanell said that Beijing is attempting to use non-Kinetic means to get back a wide range of territories that it perceives as belonging to China. For example, in 2012 the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) essentially invaded and occupied Scarborough Shoal without firing a shot. Before that, the disputed shoal in the South China Sea was held by the Philippines. Dan Blumenthal, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, testified that the CCP regimes aggression does not just stem from its desire to stay in power, but is an inevitable development. The CCP is a Leninist party overseeing a continental empire thats going to sea. They constantly come at us with political warfare, information campaigns, and propaganda. We let them off the hook, Blumenthal said. The conciliatory U.S. policy toward China in the past decades has only enabled the Chinese regime to be more aggressive, more authoritarian, and more hostile toward the United States and its allies, Blumenthal said. Richard D Fisher Jr., International Assessment and Strategy Center, gives a book titled Chinas Military Modernization to Rep. Devin Nunes after a Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Chinas Worldwide Military Expansion at the Rayburn House Office Building at U.S. Congress in Washington on May 17, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said, The United States and its Allies may have only about a decade to prepare to deter a China well on its way to global power projection. The Chinese regimes military threat, aggression, and bullying campaign against neighboring Taiwan were prominently discussed in the hearing. When asked by Nunes why Beijing has shown such infatuation with Taiwan, Fanell said that Taiwan is an inevitable target because of Beijings expansionist impulses. It is a visceral nationalistic design and they believe that [Taiwan] is theirs, Fanell said. He pointed out the democratic island nation, with which China has extensive economic exchanges and shares the same Chinese cultural heritage, poses no threatneither economically nor militarily toward China. But [if] Taiwan survives as a democracy [it] undermines the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, said Fanell. Fisher sees supporting Taiwan as key to a strategy to contain China. The battle to hold off China starts at the Taiwan Strait, Fisher said. Keys to Pushing Back Despite attributing Beijings aggressive rise to years of U.S. policy failure, the Congressional panel said that it is not too late to confront the ever-growing threats by the Chinese regime. But the United States needs to act fast and act now. The study of a competitive strategy [toward China] has to also study Chinese weaknesses because to compete effectively we have to put our strengths against their vulnerabilities, Blumenthal said. There are a lot of Chinese inside China who do not like what the CCP is doing, whom the United States should actively support through providing them with more information about the regimes misdeeds, he said. The most decisive and efficient action the United States could take today would be to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to our forces in Asia, said Fisher. Such a drastic demonstration of commitment would send a strong signal to North Korea and China that if the military balance become untenable in the future, Fisher said, the United States is ready to do whatever it takes to ensure allies in the region against aggression. Daniel Blumenthal, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute testifies at a Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Chinas Worldwide Military Expansion at the Rayburn House Office Building at U.S. Congress in Washington on May 17, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Blumenthal also said that the United States should make it resoundingly clear to the Chinese regime that the use of force against Taiwan is a red line and would definitively invite a U.S. response to defend the island nation. Such a commitment to intervene, according to Blumenthal, has not yet been made clear to the rulers in Beijing, since even American policy makers have remained ambiguous toward Taiwan, at least until recently. Fisher said the United States needs a comprehensive long-term strategy aimed at countering the Chinese threat. Such a strategy must include a military, economic, and ally focus, and a diplomatic, political, and informational focus, according to Fisher. The informational focus includes a U.S. willingness to call out Beijing when its actions suppress human rights at home and threaten countries abroad. The Chinese people must understand that in opposing such actions of the CCP dictatorship, we are not opposing the Chinese people, Fishers written statement said. Controversy Follows Long Island Developer as She Builds House Next to Proposed College FALLSBURG, NYOn State Route 17 in Bloomingburg, New York, a billboard tucked away near the treeline of the highway has drawn the ire of local residents. The billboard shows four people in graduation hats and gowns holding what look like diplomas and the words Thompson Education Center and Exit 112 in Chinese and English. At a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting in the Town of Fallsburg about 16 miles away, Basha Kill Area Association member Bob Muller slapped a picture of the billboard onto the table of the boards March 15 meeting. This is a billboard thats been up for two years of the Thompson Education Center (TEC) that supposedly is right off of exit 112, and it has some happy students here graduating, and they seem to be learning a lot, he said, but this place doesnt exist. Muller attended the meeting, not to raise alarm about the illusory college thats being advertised off exit 112, but about a house that the developer of the same project wants to build in Fallsburg adjacent to the proposed campus in the Town of Thompson. House or College? The billboard for a nonexistent school is just one instance of a project whose details dont match its promotion, leaving observers unsure about what the developer really has in mind, and attracting opposition from close to a dozen groups. At issue is whether this house is a single-family residence, or the first step in building the college that TEC President, CEO, and board chair Sherry Li has proposed. The nearly five-acre site where she wants to build her house was originally going to be for a caretaker or security guard for the college, the projects engineers said. But at the same time, they tried to build it separately from the college when it came to the environmental review, a move that the BKAA warned in a letter to the Town of Thompson would be illegal segmentation under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. If the house is part of the college, it needs to go through the lengthy environmental review process the college is subject to. By transforming it into a single-family residence, Li effectively skirted that review. But according to an Oct. 11 site plan, the most recent one the Town of Thompson has made available, the independent single family residence is still phase 1A of the college. Similarly, the most recent environmental assessment form (EAF) Thompson has released, dated June 14, 2017, also lists the house as part of the college complex. Several groups have called for the town to revoke an initial permit for the house, saying that while it is labeled as a house on the site plans, its not designed like a single-family home, and they suspect it wont be used as one. Aside from being wary of developers in the area (the town enacted a moratorium on residential developments two years ago because of the frenetic pace of building in the town), locals complain that Li hasnt been forthcoming about her plans for the site. One of the groups opposing TEC is the Basha Kill Area Association (BKAA), which is concerned about the effluent that could travel from the college to the Basha Kill wetlands and bird conservation area about 7 miles away. The BKAAs attorney, John Lyons, of Rhinebeck-based Grant & Lyons, LLP, urged the ZBA to rescind the houses permit, saying that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck. He zeroed in on several details of the site plan that seemed particularly out of place for a single -family residence: a 24-foot-wide driveway, plans to put a double-sided sign out in front of the house facing the road, an emergency lighting fixture inside that he interpreted as an exit sign, and the strange layout of the building. The 9,000 square-foot structure has two wings and two floors. There are three bedrooms and six guest bedrooms, three warming kitchens, a breakfast nook, and a full-sized kitchen. Its other rooms include a dining room, a family room, a playroom, a sitting room, a screening room, a home office, a data center room, and a powder room. Andy Willingham, a civil engineer who reviewed the plans on behalf of the BKAA, said everything about the house looked commercial, noting the sprinklers on the interior and the ramp up to the front door as particularly excessive for a single family home. Nothing about this building resembles a single-family house, with perhaps some superficial references on the title block, said Willingham of New Paltz-based Willingham Engineering at the March 15 ZBA meeting. Lis lawyer, John Privitera, acknowledged that the building used expensive materials usually reserved for commercial buildings, but argued that wasnt grounds for denying a permit. Yeah, its rare, expensive construction. Thats true. You cant say that nobody can build a house thats rare, expensive construction, he said at the same meeting. Greg Korn, a New York City-based architect who was not familiar with the project but reviewed the floor and the site plan for The Epoch Times, said that while some of the features and materials looked commercial, it was not unheard of for houses to be built like that. In full disclosure, he said he has worked on a number of projects with engineering firm TWIG (The Wall Street Consulting Group, Inc, which has been contracted by TEC). Its modern looking, quite massive, but per the floor plan, still pretty much a house. Theres not anything I see that sort of lends to commercial nature, he said in a phone interview. As for ramps and sprinklers, he said the sprinklers may be required for houses over a certain size under new state code, and that this wouldnt be the first time hes seen a ramp built on a residential house. EB-5 Funding Li, a Long Island resident, first made a name for herself when she proposed building a Chinese Disneyland on 2,200 acres in Thompson, Fallsburg, and the Town of Mamakating about six years ago. After public outcry, however, she scaled the project back to just a private college on about 575 acres in Thompson and Fallsburg. Or at least thats what she said on paper. After supposedly dialing back her plans for China City of America, she was quoted in an Associated Press article saying that she still planned to build the amusement park. We havent cut back our sizes, she said, according to The AP. Were going to be doing it step by step. In January 2014, Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber canceled the projects scoping session, saying that unless they tell us the truth, there was nothing to review, reported the Times Herald-Record. Originally, Li was going to use the controversial EB-5 investor visas to partially fund the project. EB-5 is an employment-based visa that grants foreigners a green card if they invest at least half a million dollars in certain areas of the United States and create at least 10 full-time jobs over two years. Back when she was planning to build the Chinese theme park, Li said 40 percent of the funding would come through EB-5 investment. But its unclear if thats still her plan. Larry Behar, the EB-5 lawyer who started the projects application to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) told The Epoch Times he hasnt spoken to Li in years. He said he left the project because there was no longer a need for his services. According to documents FOILed by the Yankee Lake Association, one of the groups opposing the TEC development, the application for the China City project was rejected in 2014 and the denial was never appealed. Neither was a new application submitted for TEC. But as recently as last July, Li was featured in Chinese media promoting TEC in Guangzhou, China, as an easy way to get an American green card. An article on Science.China.com.cn states that the Thompson Education Center fully meets U.S. immigration requirements and can help Chinese investors to get a visa. As long as you invest in this project and meet the United States governments immigration eligibility requirements, we can guarantee 99 percent that you can get a green card, the article says. Neither Li nor her lawyer returned phone calls and emails seeking comment for this article, but the attorney for the Town of Thompson, who declined to comment for this story, was quoted the same month that Li was promoting her project in China, as saying she didnt think EB-5 funding would be used for the project. I believe that they stated at the last two meetings that they were not using EB-5, but the only one who can tell for sure about the funding source is the applicant, said attorney Paula Kay, according to the Times Herald-Record. Execution Stage Adding to the confusion around Lis efforts have been the assertions, almost from the beginning, that the project, whether it be China City or TEC, is in the execution phase. We have made great progress in advancing our original concept to the actual planning and execution stage, Li was quoted as saying in a December 2013 press release about China City. Thompson Education Center has received a large number of reports from major media at home and abroad, including the New York Times and Yahoo Finance, since its planning and construction, a 2015 press release in Chinese states. In the six years since China City was first proposed, it has only gotten approvals for several test wells and an access road on the property. No construction has been permitted. The test wells drilled did not meet the needs of the project, documents show, and because of ecologically sensitive habitat on the property, the applicants needed a permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to extend the access road to drill more. No such application was on file with the DEC. The project itself is still in the very early stages of the environmental review process. Last September, the Thompson Planning Board voted to classify the project as having a significant environmental impact, and Li has not appeared before any boards since. But despite the lack of approvals, It is expected that the project will be completed in three years, and investors will be able to get real estate, the same July report in Chinese media states. Li and Politics Li made headlines last year for her generous campaign contributions to President Donald Trump, which at $270,500, shot her to the top of the list of donors for the Trump Victory campaign. Most recently she donated $17,100 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, $5,000 to Vp MIke Pences Great America Committee PAC, $25,000 to the Protect the House fund to keep the House in Republican hands, $1,000 to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R) and $5,000 to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). While she seems to favor Republican lawmakers, she didnt always. In 2014, she gave a combined $55,000 to Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and $2,500 in 2013 to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, also a Democrat. Originally from China, Li has publicly embraced the American dream, saying she supports President Trumps campaign to make America great again, and boost the U.S. economy. As a real estate developer, I share the same American dream and the same American value with you, she said in a January 2017 press release. But at the same time, her home address is given as the New York headquarters for an organization that supports the most brutal Chinese leader in recent history, Mao Zedong. The United Nations Mao Zedong Foundation lists 2 Centre View Dr., Oyster Bay, New York, as its world liaison headquarters, the same address listed on at least six Delaware LLCs registered to Sherry Li, and the New York-based LLC China City of America, Inc. The central task of the United Nations Mao Zedong Foundation is to publicize and implement Mao Zedong thought, the foundations website says in Chinese. Mao Zedong was the father of Chinas Cultural Revolution, a campaign to eliminate Chinas traditional culture that took millions of lives. It made intellectuals, property owners, and people of faith into state enemies, and pitted family and friends against one another in an effort to foment constant revolution. Its website says the foundation plans to establish investment companies in Boston, Beijing, China, and Hong Kong in order to make the funds of the foundation produce economic benefits and expand social benefits. The investment areas of the foundation include society and peoples livelihood, economy and commerce, science and technology, culture and arts, publicity and education, medicine and health, environmental protection, and so on. Air Business College One small measure of progress that Li has been marketing to her investors is the Air Business College that she appears to have broken ground on last June. Chairman Lin Gaobao and Sherry Li, Chairman of Thompson Education Group of America, signed the contract for the Air Business College USA Base at Thompson Education Center and attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the U.S. Air Business school, says a report in Chinese media. The article is accompanied by a photo of three men with shovels in their hands standing around a stone sign with writing on it in Chinese, presumably a marker for the college. A November TEC press release describes the school as an international aviation college that will award bachelors and associates degrees for different students needs on aviation license and training business; introduce aviation manufacturing to China and realize the development in China. But theres one problemthe sign shown in the groundbreaking ceremony is outside Lis proposed house in Fallsburg. At the March 15 ZBA meeting, one ZBA member questioned the relationship between the house and the Air Business College. Honestly, when I first looked at this layout, it kind of reminded me of my college dorm, said ZBA member Mike Bensimon. The east wing kind of resembles more of a guest house within a house rather than a wing or part of the house itself. He said at that meeting he would vote to rescind the houses building permit unless modifications were made to the floor plan and the Air Business College sign were removed. I find that a little odd, especially for a private residence, he said about the sign. I understand that Thompson Education owns the property, but until I pay off my mortgage, the bank owns my house, but they dont put a sign out front reminding me of it. A resolution the board voted on on April 19 didnt have any stipulations about the sign or modifications to the interior, and so Bensimon voted against it. He was one of four board members present, and the other three voted to keep the permit. There were no mistakes made as of yet, said ZBA chair Steve Burke. You cant make a decision based on whats possibly going to happen. ZBA member Paul Lucyk agreed. Her [Lis] track record is not good, but can you go by something that can happen? he said. The permit was only for the foundations of the house, and Li will need to get additional permits before building the rest of it. They could build [the foundation] and come to find out Im not going to approve the final plans because they cant fix something, said Fallsburg deputy code enforcement officer George Sarvis. Its at their own risk. The Basha Kill Area Association has decided not to appeal the ZBAs decision in court, but theyre keeping a watchful eye on developments with the college and are prepared to fight it through the environmental review process. As for the billboard off of Route 17, its still up. The robed students are still smiling and holding up diploma-like scrolls as if theyve just passed a major milestone. Faded into the sky behind them, as if to suggest what is in store for the area, is the site plan for the Thompson Education Center. The sign on Google Maps. Giuliani Says Mueller Wont Indict Trump and Cant Subpoena HimHeres the Explanation Rudy Giuliani, lawyer to President Donald Trump, said Special Counsel Robert Mueller wont indict Trump. He also said Mueller doesnt have the power to subpoena the president. Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017, to investigate the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump. Mueller has indicted 19 people and three companies, but none of the charges involve Trump-Russia collusion. Meanwhile, a separate year-long House Intelligence Committee investigation has found no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Muellers team expressed a desire to interview Trump, but Giuliani has called that a perjury trap, meaning the investigators hope to grill Trump until he says something that can pass as inconsistent with other evidence and then accuse him of lying to investigators. Muellers team reportedly floated the idea that if Trump refuses an interview, Mueller can subpoena him, but Giuliani said hed contest such a subpoena in court. The same reason they cant indict him, they cant issue a subpoena to him, Giuliani told Fox News Laura Ingraham on Wednesday, May 16. Remember, [former President Bill] Clinton opposed a subpoena and then he voluntarily complied. He didnt give up presidential prerogative, and then his administration wrote a memo saying they cant do that. The rule that a president cant be indicted was summarized in 1973, during the Watergate scandal, when the Justice Department concluded that the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions. That doctrine was reaffirmed by the department in 2000, after the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. According to Giuliani, Mueller acknowledged hell follow the rule. Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor, says Muellers case is over. The administration has handed over a million documents to Mueller and the Trump legal team has sent Mueller five letters, asking what else he hopes to learn from an interview with Trump. Were demanding from him, Tell us what you have to get from an interview that you dont already have, Giuliani said. Because he has all the facts to make a decision. The lawyers havent received any response from Mueller, Giuliani said. All that is left for Mueller is to write a report on what hes found, according to Giuliani. I think they have the facts from which they can write their report, he said. If youre going to write a fair report, fine, write it. If youre going to write an unfair report, write it and we will combat it. Were ready to rip it apart. And were ready to rip them apart, if thats what they want. We would rather peacefully settle this and get it over with. Mueller has run into a series of problems recently. First, federal Judge T.S. Ellis, III, questioned why charges in Muellers case against Paul Manafort have nothing to do with Russia. Manafort was Trumps campaign chairman for several months. But Muellers charges against him all stem from his work for Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych between 2005 and 2014 and are unrelated to the Trump campaign. Then, one of three Russia-controlled companies Mueller indicted for meddling with the election showed up to defend itself in court and demanded discovery, meaning the Mueller team has to give them access to whatever evidence relevant to the case it has, including materials that undermine its case. Extensive document requests may bring to light how far Mueller has cast his intelligence gathering net to mount the charges against the company, but if he refuses to produce the evidence and drops the charges, it may look like he was playing politics rather than pursuing justice. One thing you never want to do is to indict in a case that youre not prepared to try, former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy told The Daily Caller. In addition, on May 14, an investigative report by The Hills John Solomon revealed Mueller may have had a conflict of interest in the investigation because the FBI, under Muellers leadership, received financial help from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Deripaska, who used to do business with Manafort, is at least a witness in the current investigation, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz told Solomon. Watch Next: How a Traditional Spiritual Practice Changed the Lives of These People Suspects Name in Deadly Santa Fe High School Shooting Is Revealed: Report The identity of the gunman who opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas on Friday morning, May 18, was identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, officials told KHOU-TV. Pagourtzis shot and killed at least eight people and injured others, police told the station. Law enforcement agencies were searching a mobile home on Highway 6, where records showed where he lived, according to KHOU. Officials are concerned that explosives might be inside the home, and officials said they found explosives near Santa Fe High School. On social media, as the station reported, Pagourtzis posted a photo of himself wearing a shirt that read, Born to Kill. The caption said, We all die sometime. Other reports, including one from the Dallas News, indicated that 10 people died in the shooting. We hope the worst is over, and I really cant say any more about that because it would be pure speculation, Assistant Principal Cris Richardson told reporters at the scene of the incident, ABC13 reported. A witness, 10th-grade student Dakota Shrader, described the chaotic scene. Next thing you know, everybody looks and you hear boom, boom, boom, and I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest forest so I can hide and I called my mom, Shrader told USA Today. Everybody just starts running, everybody yelling run, go, as fast as you can, she said. One of her friends got shot in the leg while in the schools art hallway. Right after the shooting, the school district issued a statement: This morning an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter. The situation is active, but has been contained. There have been confirmed injuries. It added, Details will be released as we receive updated information. Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location. All other campuses are operating under their regular schedules. President Donald Trump issued a statement on the matter on Friday morning, May 18. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! he tweeted. Angelica Martinez, 14, who goes to the school, said that she and her classmates thought they were being evacuated for a fire drill. We were all standing (outside), but not even five minutes later, we started hearing gunshots, she said. And then everybody starts running, but like the teachers are telling us to stay put, but were all just running away. I didnt see anybody shooting, but like (the gunshots) were kind of spaced, Angelica said. Watch Next: I Was a Communist Slave People walk by a Wall Street sign close to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on April 2, 2018. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton) Lack of Wall St Back-Office Deters Mainstream Crypto Investments NEW YORKMundane back-office concerns are giving pause to potential investors in digital currency hedge funds who have otherwise warmed up to the volatile asset class. Traditional custodian banks such as Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp. do not yet handle crypto assets like bitcoin. That means hedge funds have been forced far from Wall Street to places like Springfield, Pennsylvania, or Murray, Kentucky, to find auditors, custodians, and record-keepers, according to fund disclosures and executives. Dealing with this collection of small and relatively unknown firms has sparked concern among potential investors and their advisers, who worry about a lack of scale, history and brand name. That, in turn, is keeping a lid on some new investment in digital currencies. The usual safeguards are either non-existent or shaky as of yet, said Nick Mitsiou of $55 billion asset manager LGT Capital Partners. Chris Solarz, who helps institutional investors pick hedge funds for consultant Cliffwater LLC, called infrastructure for crypto hedge funds pretty green. Both LGT and Cliffwater have so far steered institutional clients clear of cryptocurrency funds, partly because of concerns about underdeveloped infrastructure. Small Custodians Pension funds, endowment, and other large investors generally expect the hedge funds they entrust their money with to use major banks and accounting firms as custodians, administrators, and auditors to ensure their fund investments are safe. Hedge funds are required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to use a qualified custodian, which includes federally insured banks and registered broker-dealers, once their assets exceed $150 million. The example of Bernard Madoff, whose massive Ponzi scheme was enabled in part by an obscure accountant, has only increased investors wariness. After bitcoin hit almost $20,000 in December, more than 10 times what it was worth five months before, the SEC highlighted significant investor protection issues that need to be examined, including valuation, liquidity, and custody for cryptocurrency funds. A few large service providers are considering getting into the digital currency market, industry sources say, including State Street, a spokesman told Reuters. That means crypto investors have little choice but to go with smaller, little-known firms for now. Las Vegas-based Cryptocurrency Capital LLC uses two small custodians: Murray, Kentucky-based Kingdom Trust Co., for U.S. dollars, and Xapo Inc., a company that provides bitcoin storage with offices in Palo Alto, Zurich, and Gibraltar. Xapo is run by former financial services professionals who understand the responsibility that comes with handling other peoples money, president Ted Rogers said. Kingdom Trust, which was bought by San Francisco-based tech firm BitGo in January, when it had $12 billion in assets under custody, did not respond to requests for comment. Kingdom Trusts website says it is an independent qualified custodian regulated by the state of South Dakota. We consider (Kingdom Trust) one of the most progressive custodians in the industry, Cryptocurrency Capital co-founder Paul Savchuk said in an email. For administration services, Florida-based General Crypto LP found Triple Leo Consulting, a record-keeper in Springfield, Pennsylvania. General Crypto co-founder Logan Kugler declined to comment while Triple Leo did not respond to email. Cryptocurrency hedge fund firm Tetras Capital, which set up shop in New York last summer, initially used its own process to safeguard bitcoin and other assets, according to founding partner Tom Garrambone, but later hired small, third-party custodians, which he declined to name for security reasons. Trouble Ahead Even the largest crypto funds rely on small service providers. Polychain Capital and BlockTower Capital Advisors, whose clients include elite venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, have worked with Denver-based administrator MG Stover & Co and Cleveland-based auditor Cohen & Co, both popular among crypto funds. MG Stover has 49 employees and $2.1 billion in assets under administration from crypto funds of $8.3 billion overall, CEO Matthew Stover said. State Street, by comparison, has $33 trillion in assets under custody and administration. BlockTower did not respond to requests for comment. Cohen & Co declined to comment. Small, privately held custodians are overseen by state regulators and subject to the SECs definition of which firms are qualified. Large custodians are also often publicly traded banks, leading to increased disclosure requirements and federal regulatory scrutiny. That does not mean they are infallible. In 2015, a computer glitch at BNY Mellon delayed how billions of dollars of assets in funds were valued, causing turmoil. Disputes over such matters are not unknown. Nevertheless, there is potential for clashes between crypto investors and managers as the asset class develops. On March 26, Los Angeles-area investor Harry Greenhouse sued Polychain in Delaware court, requesting information about the valuation procedures it had used to determine how much money he was owed when cashing out from the fund in January. Greenhouse claimed that certain assets may have been improperly valued, reducing the amount he received. A spokesman for Polychain called the lawsuit, which mentioned valuation services by MG Stover, spurious. MG Stover declined to comment on the lawsuit. John Ward of investor advisory company Duff & Phelps LLC said any fund without a detailed valuation policy is a red flag. It is critical, Ward said, to conduct a thorough operational due diligence before you invest. New York Times Admits There Is No Evidence of Trump-Russia Collusion News Analysis The New York Times admitted in an otherwise highly misleading article that after more than a year of investigation there still exists no public evidence that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. The article, headlined Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation, comes ahead of the release of a report by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General on the FBIs handling of the investigations on Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign, and appears intended as damage control and to set the narrative ahead of its release. The article relies heavily on spin in an attempt to paint the picture of a responsible FBI which kept the investigation secret so as not to undermine the election process. Earlier reporting by The New York Times on the subject of collusion, including an article published on Feb. 15, 2017, was discredited by former FBI Director James Comey himself before Congress under oath as being almost entirely wrong. The Feb. 15 edition of The New York Times. (Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times) But despite the Times spin, it inadvertently reveals some key information. One of those is the admission that no public evidence exists of collusion. For over 1 1/2 years, the New York Times, alongside numerous other publications, have pushed the narrative that Trump colluded with the Kremlin to win the elections. As The Epoch Times has consistently pointed out, there exists no evidence of collusion. On the contrary, officials involved in the investigation, such as former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper, have both publicly, as well as under oath before Congress, stated their investigation showed no evidence of collusion. A year and a half later, no public evidence has surfaced connecting Mr. Trumps advisers to the hacking or linking Mr. Trump himself to the Russian governments disruptive efforts, The Times reported in the May 16 article. Another major revelation in the article is that the FBI agents involved in the investigation used national security letters to spy on the Trump campaign. Trump first suggested that he was spied on by the Obama administration in a tweet in March 2017, after which he was ridiculed by many politicians and media organizationsincluding the New York Times. An investigation by the House Intelligence Committee revealed in February this year, however, that the FBI had obtained a FISA warrant on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page. Under the so-called two-hop rule, the warrant could have been extended to members of the Trump campaign, including then-candidate Trump himself. (Click on image to enlarge map) The FISA warrant was not obtained until October 2016. The revelation that the FBI used national security letters to spy on the Trump campaign, potentially as early as July 2016, raises serious concerns. The information obtained by spying on the Trump campaign could have been shared with other officials in the Obama administration and used for political purposes. Simultaneous to the FISA warrant and the FBIs own spying efforts, key Obama officials including National Security Adviser Susan Rice and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Powers made hundreds of so-called unmasking requests for the identities of members of the Trump campaign in intelligence reports. The official who signed off on the initial FISA warrant was Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who was simultaneously kept in the loop on the secret FBI investigation. Yates also attended a secret meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in January 2017 with then-President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, FBI Director James Comey, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice. An email Rice wrote to herself detailing the meeting reveals they discussed limiting incoming President Trumps access to certain classified information. In a letter sent to Rice on Feb. 12, 2018, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Chairman of the Senate Judiciarys Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism Lindsey Graham (R-S.C), asked Rice to answer a number of questions about that email. It strikes us as odd that, among your activities in the final moments on the final day of the Obama administration, you would feel the need to send yourself such an unusual email purporting to document a conversation involving President Obama and his interactions with the FBI regarding the Trump/Russia investigation, the letter reads. In addition, despite your claim that President Obama repeatedly told Mr. Comey to proceed by the book, substantial questions have arisen about whether officials at the FBI, as well as at the Justice Department and the State Department, actually did proceed by the book.' Texts between the lead FBI agent on the Trump case, Peter Strzok, and council to then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, have also revealed the White Houses involvement in the FBI investigation. In a Sept. 2, 2016, text message, Page wrote to Strzok that potus wants to know everything were doing. POTUS is an acronym for President of the United States, which at the time was Barack Obama. A month earlier, on Aug. 5, 2016, Strzok had texted Page, telling her that an official, whose name was redacted in the text messages released by the DOJ, had said that the White House is running this, referring to the Trump investigation. At the time of the meeting in the Oval Office, the FBIs investigation was the only open investigation into alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 elections. Earlier that month, on Jan. 6, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper had released the joint intelligence agency report that did not include any evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia. Soon after the meeting, after Trump was sworn into office, the FBI investigation became the focal point of the resistance movement against Trump. Selective leaks as well as false reportingan overwhelming amount of press reporting alleging Trump had colluded with Russiawas used to confuse the public as well as stir up resentment and anger. Along with this, key Democratic politicians and spokespeople began suggesting the impeachment of Trump on those grounds. Media organizations had started laying the seeds of the Russia collusion narrative in 2016. Fusion GPSthe company behind the so-called Trump dossier, which played a crucial role in the FBIs investigation as well as the FISA applicationhas provided journalists, including those from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN, with secret briefings on the unsubstantiated allegations. Court documents filed by the House Intelligence Committee in November last year also revealed that Fusion GPS made payments to a select number of journalists who were covering Russia-related matters. Recommended video: Media Tries to Implicate Trump in Syria Chemical Attack Iraqis Shiite protesters carry up pictures of late Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (L), Hezbollah secretary general Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (C) and Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr during a demonstration in support of Sadr on 6 April, 2004, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (JOSEPH BARRAK/AFP/Getty Images) New US Sanctions Hit at Hezbollah-Linked Financier, Companies WASHINGTONThe United States sought on Thursday to further choke off funding sources for Iranian-backed Hezbollah, imposing sanctions on its representative to Iran, as well as a major financier and his five companies in Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East. The U.S. Treasury said Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi was a Hezbollah financier operating through Belgium, Lebanon and Iraq, and was a close associate of Gambias former president Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of acquiring vast wealth during his decades-long rule. It also imposed sanctions on Hezbollahs representative to Iran, Abdallah Safi Al-Din, who it said served as an interlocutor between Hezbollah and Iran on financial issues. The department said it had blacklisted Belgian energy services conglomerate Global Trading Group; Gambia-based petroleum company Euro African Group; and Lebanon-based Africa Middle East Investment Holding, Premier Investment Group SAL Offshore and import-export group Car Escort Services. All were designated because they are owned or controlled by Bazzi, the Treasury said. The savage and depraved acts of one of Hezbollahs most prominent financiers cannot be tolerated, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. This administration will expose and disrupt Hezbollah and Iranian terror networks at every turn, including those with ties to the Central Bank of Iran, he said. The sanctions are among a slew of fresh measures aimed at Iran and Hezbollah since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last week. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to outline in a speech in Washington on Monday plans by the United States to build a coalition to look closer at what it sees as Irans destabilising activities, spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters at the State Department. Read More Why the US Pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal In one of the biggest moves this week aimed at clamping down on Irans overseas operations, the Treasury sanctioned Irans central bank governor, Valiollah Seif. On Wednesday, the United States, backed by Gulf States, imposed additional sanctions on Hezbollahs top two leaders, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem. By Lesley Wroughton Watch Next: Kushner Talks Peace in Middle East at US Embassy Jerusalem Dedication Ceremony North Korea: The Next Steps Kim Jong Un knows diplomacy is his best bet for staying in power Kim Jong Un, the North Korean ruler of the communist Kim dynasty, has followed in the footsteps of his father, but he is an unorthodox leader. Since he kept testing nuclear weapons material and threatened South Korea, Japan, and the United States with missile attacks, many consider him a nutcase. However, Kim is not crazy. He follows his own logicterrible and cruel, but logic, nonetheless. The main objective is to maintain power. So Kim needs an effective deterrentfor example, nuclear capabilitiesto keep foreign powers from intervening in his countrys affairs. Furthermore, he can only maintain his repressive regime internally by showing himself as strong and successful to his people. But North Korea is not isolated in the world. There are other stakeholders in this dangerous game. The first is South Korea, which is, in theory, still at war with North Korea. The North threatens the South with millions of soldiers, artillery positioned along the border within range of Seoul, and, more recently, its nuclear capacity. China is the second-most interested party. It sees itself as the hegemon of the region and considers North Korea to be within its sphere of influence. A Korean reunification would pose geopolitical problems for Beijing, as it would strengthen the U.S.-led alliance system in the region and bring American influence right up to the Chinese border. Russia has a similar problem, as its border with North Korea is less than 100 kilometers from Vladivostok, its main Pacific port. The Kim dynasty is the linchpin of the system that prevents the Koreas reunification. That is why China wants to keep the Kim dynasty in place, even though it is not fond of the present leader, Kim Jong Un. North Koreas development of nuclear capacities has reached the point of posing a direct threat to Japan, and the United States may come next. Washington is obligated to protect its allies Japan and South Korea, and it will in no case tolerate the North Korean threat to its mainland. U.S. President Donald Trump responded to Kims nuclear test in an assertive way, placing the state-of-the-art THAAD anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea and ordering a concentration of U.S. naval and air assets near the Korean Peninsula. Washington also encouraged Japan and South Korea to show strength. This military threat was credible enough to discourage Kim. Diplomatic Chain Reaction After trading insults for most of 2017 and early 2018, the North Korean ruler and Trump agreed to meet, surprising the world. For Kim, such a summit had been a long-sought goal, as it would showcase his own importance. Trumps precondition for playing along is Kims full commitment to the denuclearization of North Korea. This move started a diplomatic chain reaction. The North Korean leader went to Beijing and presumably learned how far the Chinese are willing to let him go in negotiations with the United States. Another result was a summit of the leaders of the two Koreas, followed by a visit to the North by Mike Pompeo as U.S. secretary of state. The meeting between Trump and Kim will be held in Singapore on June 12. These diplomatic events may necessitate a paradigm shift for Seoul, and recognizing the sovereignty of North Korea could be one of the results. In South Koreas view, there is just one Korea in existence. But the diplomatic progress makes a military attack by the North less likely. As a rising power in Asia, China is looking for a solution under which North Koreas sovereignty could be guaranteed in a theoretical fashion, while in fact the country would be a vassal state of China. With Kim remaining as a figurehead, China would push for a new variety of the old one country, two systems scheme in the ChinaNorth Korea relationship. For the United States and Japan, all this would bring about a welcome de-escalation in a very dangerous area. It is also a diplomatic triumph for Trump. We may have a win-win situation for everybodywith the possible exception of Moscow, which has been unhappy to watch the Korean crisis bolster pro-U.S. forces in the Far East. What is still not clear is Kims agenda. He has made a big international splash and is now in a position to barter his nuclear weapons for recognition and, probably, meaningful economic concessions. But he also must be aware that any transition from North Koreas current, extremely repressive system to more lenient forms of governance could be risky to his regime. An abrupt demise of the former ruling elite and members of the Kim clan could easily take place. For this reason alone, one should still expect surprises. Only Kim knows his own full agenda. Prince Michael of Liechtenstein is the executive chairman of trust company Industrie- und Finanzkontor, and 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. Ohio Professor Attempts to Boost the Grades of Female Students A professor from The University of Akron, in Ohio, who planned on bumping up the grades of his female students was stopped this week after the universitys officials intervened. Liping Liu, an information systems analysis and design teacher sent an email to his students stating the three groups of people that may have their grades boosted. The three groups stated were female students, students who demonstrated higher performances in exams than their calculated performances, and students who attended class but missed reporting attendance. In the email, Liu claimed it was part of a national movement to encourage female students to go to information sciences. However, university officials stepped in. However, it appears that was not Lius only motivation. In an email, he told The College Fix that he was attempting to boost the grades of female students because in his classes of 20 to 30 students, only one or two of them were female and they arent doing well, saying they may have to repeat the courses or leave the program. He said the grade boosts were part of his own experiments to understand the attitudinal and motivational factors of female students that explain their success and failures, Liu said. The universitys Executive Vice President, Rex Ramsier, praised Liu for his enthusiasm in getting more women into the informational sciences field, but criticized his approach, deeming it clearly unacceptable. Ramsier added that The University of Akron is committed to laws and its policies that do not discriminate on the basis of sex. The professor is adhering to the universitys standards after he had been advised to stay within its policies. Students who were interviewed expressed mixed opinions. One student described the professors intention as noble because he wanted to get more women into his field but that his approach was unacceptable. Another student made similar remarks, namely that more women should be in the STEM fields, but that his approach was not the right way to go about it. Michalla Gordon, a nursing student from The University of Akron, said, Everything should be based on hard work, and I dont think that women need a crutch to get into science. The forensic tent, covering the bench where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found in the centre of Salisbury, Britain, March 8, 2018. (Reuters/Peter Nicholls/File Photo) Russian Ex-spy Sergei Skripal Discharged From UK Hospital LONDONSergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who was left in critical condition by a nerve agent attack in Britain more than two months ago, has been discharged from hospital, Englands health service said on Friday. Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russias military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack and Western governments including the United States have expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and retaliated in kind. The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But their health began to improve rapidly, and Yulia was discharged last month. It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital, the hospitals Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Police said they would not discuss the security arrangements in place for the Skripals. Investigators hope their improved health will allow the Skripals to help better establish what happened in Salisbury. Britain and international chemicals weapons inspectors say the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who called the attack a reckless and despicable act, welcomed Skripals discharge. Russia has denied involvement in the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. The Russian embassy declined to comment on Skripals release from hospital but Russias ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, was due to give a news conference later on Friday. He has previously requested consular access to offer assistance to Yulia Skripal since her recovery, which had not been granted. Britain said she has chosen not to take up Russias offer of help. NJ School Bus Crash That Killed Student, Teacher Under Investigation The cause of the deadly crash involving a school bus and a dump truck is under investigation, officials said. The crash killed a student and a teacher, and it injured dozens of other adults and children. The bus was carrying students from East Brook Middle School to a field trip at Waterloo Village, officials told reporters. The crash took place at around 10:20 a.m. on westbound Interstate 80 in Mount Olive township in northern New Jersey, the Washington Post reported. This is a shaken community, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said. On Friday, May 18, New Jersey State Police stated that the cause of the crash is under investigation, adding that no fault has been found, reported the Post. It was a rough scene to see, Jeff Paul, who is the head of the Morris County Office of Emergency Management, told 6ABC. When I arrived there were children lying all over the place. According to CBS News, the bus driver had made an illegal U-turn before the deadly crash. A sign where the driver turned read, No Turns, 6ABC reported. Theo Ancevski, 11, was on the bus when the crash took place. A lot of people were screaming. And they were hanging from their seatbelts A few people got out of the windows and they got out of the emergency exit on the top of the roof, Ancevski told CBS. Kevin Kennedy said in a statement that he was in shock, devastated and totally crushed by the death of his wife, who was a teacher at the school, later identified as Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, 6ABC reported. He added that my beautiful bride and I have been in total love every day of our lives since the day our eyes met on May 5th, 1994. Gov. Murphy said the truck driver was hospitalized, according to 6ABC, but he didnt reveal his condition. The National Transportation Safety Board said that it wont be involved in the investigation of the crash, NJ.com reported. Any loss of life is tragic, said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway, adding that the agencys role is to investigate a cause if there are issues involved that officials have not seen before. They will then make safety recommendations to prevent future accidents. Preliminary information on the accident came to the board and based on that information, a decision was made not to send a team to investigate, Holloway said. Watch Next: Why is Falun Gong persecuted? Shooting at Texas High School: 8 Dead, More Casualties Law enforcement sources confirmed to a local ABC13 affiliate, that at least eight people were shot and killed. A suspect is in custody. Its not clear how many people were injured. The school district issued a statement: This morning an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter. The situation is active, but has been contained. There have been confirmed injuries. It added, Details will be released as we receive updated information. Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location. All other campuses are operating under their regular schedules. Students at the school are being transported to the Alamo Gym located at 13306 Highway 6, according to the ABC affiliate report. An armed suspect, who authorities think is a student, walked into the art class at Santa Fe High School and began firing what looked like a shotgun, a witness told ABC. Santa Fe Police, the Galveston County Sheriffs Office, the ATF, as well as FBI agents responded to the situation. Video footage showed students lined up outside the school. The Harris County Sheriffs Office wrote in a tweet that they are assisting with what they described as a multiple-casualty incident at the high school. President Donald Trump issued a statement on the matter on Friday morning, May 18. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! he tweeted. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 We are assisting @SantaFeISD with a multiple-casualty incident at Santa Fe High School. This is no longer an active shooting situation and the injured are being treated. #hounews pic.twitter.com/m7Wuauk9jk HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) May 18, 2018 Angelica Martinez, 14, who goes to the school, said that she and her classmates thought they were being evacuated for a fire drill. We were all standing (outside), but not even five minutes later, we started hearing gunshots, she said. And then everybody starts running, but like the teachers are telling us to stay put, but were all just running away. I didnt see anybody shooting, but like (the gunshots) were kind of spaced, Angelica said, adding she heard around four shots in all. I didnt look. I just ran, she said, saying that she didnt see the suspect. Watch Next: Why is Falun Gong persecuted? (This was written in Los Angeles, at the end of my book tour. On the small chance that any journalists read it, I kindly ask you please not to quote this i... 3 years ago In this file photo from 2011, Head of Energias de Portugal (EDP) Antonio Mexia speaks during the signing of the contract for the minority share purchase of EDP by China Three Gorges Corp. (Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images) Takeover of Portuguese Utility Firm Latest Power Grab by China A bid to take over Portugals biggest utility firm Energias de Portugal (EDP) by a Chinese state-owned company could have reverberations across Europe and North America. The Beijing-based China Three Gorges Corp. announced on May 11 that it launched a 9 billion euro ($10.9 billion) all-cash bid to buy out EDP. Three Gorges had already owned a 23 percent stake in the firm prior to the takeover attempt. The offer represents a small 5 percent premium over EDPs May 10 closing stock price, and it values the whole firm at a net 11.8 billion euros of debt. A buyout bid of EDP isnt surprising, as the company has been rumored to be a target for acquisition for years, including from European rivals such as Frances Energie and Spains Gas Natural. Over the last two years, Three Gorges had steadily increased its shareholder ownership in the company in anticipation of a takeover. Another Chinese state-owned investment company, CNIC, owns 5 percent of EDP, giving China a 28 percent total ownership prior to the latest bid. EDP is an integral part of Portugals energy and business infrastructure. Its not only Portugals biggest company by assets, its also the countrys biggest power generator, distributor, and grid operator. EDP also has assets in Brazil, United States, and Spain. The deal will require approval in Portugal as well as the United States, where EDP owns a large portfolio of solar and wind generation assets. Reuters reported that Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa told reporters on May 11 that [the Portuguese] government has nothing against it, no reservations regarding the deal. China Takes Advantage of Southern Europe If the EDP deal consummates, it will represent the latest in a series of asset purchases by Chinese companies in Portugal. Years of budgetary and financial mismanagement at these companies have played right into the hands of the Chinese. Chinese firms have been gobbling up assets since Portugals 20102013 debt crisis, buying up companies on the cheap across insurance, banking, and infrastructure industries. In recent years, China has taken advantage of privatization efforts in the utilities and transportation infrastructure sectors. Several companies important to Portugals economy and infrastructure are at least partially owned by Chinese firms, including EDP, energy provider REN (Redes Energeticas Nacionais), the countrys largest insurance group Caixa Seguros, and Millennium BCP, one of Portugals biggest banks. Besides companies, Portugal offers so-called golden visas (Residence Authorization for Investment) to foreign individuals. Anyone investing around 350,000 euros or purchasing property for 500,000 euros would receive permanent residence in the southern European country. For capital-starved Portugal, the deals are almost Faustian. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to extend its influence abroadespecially in Europe and North Americaand much of its foreign direct investments more serve political purposes than economic. To wit, a small and little-discussed passage within the conclusions of the June 2017 European Council summit underscores the increasing political influence Beijing wields within certain European nations. At the summit, French, German, and Italian leaders wanted EU authorities to protect certain strategic sectors from foreign takeover. The protectionist language appeared in early drafts but did not make it into the summits final conclusions, Politico reported. Instead, it was replaced with watered-down wording welcoming an existing Commission initiative to analyze investments from third countries in strategic sectors. This small change effectively lowered the hurdle for Chinese and other foreign companies to acquire European companies within strategic and sensitive sectors. Representatives from a coalition of smaller EU nations, including Portugal, Czech Republic, and Greece, apparently rejected the initial proposals. Sweden also opposed it, which could be linked to the fact that Swedens two big carmakers are owned by Chinese investors, Swedish MP Said Abdu told the magazine. Recent US Challenges Three Gorges bid for EDP requires approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which will serve as a litmus test for Washingtons appetite for future Chinese acquisitions. DEP owns substantial wind and solar power generation assets in the United States, which represented 65 percent of all new investments made in 2017 by EDPs renewable energy arm, according to a Reuters report. Renewable energy is at the intersection of energy and technology, two sectors attracting the most outbound investment by Chinese companies. Beijings Made in China 2025 program is a blueprint for Chinas plan to dominate high-technology manufacturing and research in advanced industries such as artificial intelligence, robotics, new energy, and aviation and aerospace. Part of that plan is to acquire foreign companies already developing such technologies. In 2017, Chinese companies invested a total of $29.4 billion in U.S. assets, according to Rhodium Group data. Those figures are a 35 percent decline from 2016 largely due to Chinese capital controls and increased U.S. screening of acquisitions by CFIUS, especially during the Trump presidency. Probably the biggest acquisition scuttled by CFIUS was the proposed buyout of Lattice Semiconductor by Chinese investment firm Canyon Bridge Capital. Reasons cited by Washington included the transfer of intellectual property and the use of Lattice products by the U.S. government. In February, CFIUS even rejected an investment by a Chinese investment fund into Xcerra Corp., a U.S.-based semiconductor testing company that doesnt manufacture or design semiconductors. Workers install a billboard supporting Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega along a street in Managua, Nicaragua, on Dec. 21, 2015. The opposition claims the presidential election in 2016 was a fraud as Ortega demonstrates many facets of a classic Latin American dictator. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) The Life and Crimes of Daniel Ortega Leftist Nicaraguan Dictators Bloodlust Spans Decades Nicaragua has again appeared in international news after the nations authoritarian government killed at least 47 protesters in April. Protests continue, but news coverage forgets that violence and illegality are standard procedure for the regime leader Daniel Ortega and his socialist clique. The rise of Ortega, from Marxist guerrilla to Nicaraguan president, is a warning for nations grappling with their own terrorists, such as Chile and Colombia. It shows how the vulnerabilities of democracy and why we should limit state power. The Rise of Ortega Ortegas political ambitions began with the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), where he became a terrorist leader determined to overthrow then-President Anastasio Somoza. The young guerrillas first FSLN crime was bank robbery, but that was nothing compared to what was to come. The FSLN guerrillas were united less by ideology than by their hunger for power, hunger that continues in the rebranded political party. The purported hero of the Sandinistas, Augusto Sandino, was a conflicted, dishonest man, a wannabe liberator who followed the Marxist-Leninist dictum that the ends justify the means. Ortega and his comrades continued with that mentality, and they didnt let the will of Nicaraguans impede their pursuit of power. In fact, Ortega got his prison release as part of a ransom deal and then received guerrilla training in Cuba. The FSLN also took the entire Nicaraguan Congress hostage for a second ransom shakedown. Although Somozas tenure was to end at the scheduled 1980 electionwhich never occurredthe FSLN recruited combatants and overthrew the Nicaraguan government in July 1979. They wanted a Fidel Castro-style dictatorship, with Ortega at the helm, and they received funding and tactical support from the Cuban and Soviet communists. U.S. President Jimmy Carter also blocked trade and weapons shipments to the legitimate government, leaving Somoza strapped for cash and defenseless. The unnecessary war from the FSLN brought the deaths of tens of thousands of people, not to mention crippling poverty from the conflict and communist policies of land confiscation and central planning. More than a million Nicaraguans fled the Central American nation, whose population is now around 6 million. Ortega in Power Unfortunately, the murders didnt come to an end when Ortega took power. Not only did he trample on civil liberties, but he also funded guerrilla activity in El Salvador and crushed dissent from the Miskito people of the Caribbean Coast. The Miskitos rejected forced relocation and centralized control in Managua, but a brutal military campaign in the early 1980sincluding the bombing of villagessaw thousands become refugees in Honduras. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that Ortega managed to return to power in 2007, after being ousted in 1990. Older and shrewder, he rigged the 2006 election with money funneled from his socialist ally, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The two ran a money laundering alliance, explains Wilber Lopez, national treasurer for the new Citizens for Liberty political party. Running on the platform of 21st-century socialism, the Ortega spent more than double his nearest competitor on the campaign, and that is just what he reported. He received 38 percent of the vote, which previously would not have qualified for victory but he managed to snatch the office nonetheless He then leveraged his position to remove term limits on the presidency and boot out 16 opponents in the National Assembly. With overwhelming control of the courts, electoral system, and economy, few can compete with Ortega to unseat him, regardless of whether he is popular or not. Even self-proclaimed Sandinistas oppose himhence the breakaway Sandinista Renovation Movementbut those who stand in his way face swift and deadly retribution, as protesters have recently learned. Ortega has built a 21st-century dictatorship and police state with absolute control and conditional democracy, explains Lopez. Calling out the farce, many of the opposition candidates that still had legal standing boycotted the 2016 election. Classical Cronyism The Sandinista regime of Ortega is looking more and more like a family dynasty, much worse than the Somoza family he overthrew. His wife, the first lady, has been the Nicaraguan vice president since 2017, after being a national spokesman, congresswoman, and culture minister. Adonis Sequeira, a Managua-based board member of the EsLibertad classical-liberal activist network, explains that the Ortega family have built a mercantilist club to garner political patronagealso known as clientelism. They dish out precious government contracts to cronies, with financial aid from Bolivarian Alliance members such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. This model, Sequeira says, is not new; Nicaragua already had centralized business operations vulnerable to corruption. Regular businesses simply keep their distance from politics and have decided not to confront Ortega directly, to maintain open dialogue and approval for the laws that apply to their sectors. One family member, however, gets excluded from the spoils. Zoilamerica Narvaez Murillo is Ortegas stepdaughter who revealed his sexual abuse against her, which began when she was 11 years old. Although still calling herself a Sandinista, Narvaez has been ostracized by her vice-president mother and has joined the defectors who denounce impunity and concentrated power. At this moment, to quell widespread protests, Ortega has accepted a dialogue process. The prognosis is poor, if we go by the Venezuela outcome, and recent events confirm that Ortega will do whatever it takes to remain in power, including bringing in Russian support. Sequeira believes, for example, that the true number of protest deaths is around 70 since many people have disappeared. Regardless, he and fellow young activists want a peaceful solution. They hope the dialogue can garner an end to the politically motivated murders and some space for reclaiming institutional powers and the rule of law. That could open the door for Ortegas departure, constitutional limits on the presidency, and decentralization of the judicial branch. Sequeiras uphill quest underlines the importance of avoiding these quagmires, to begin with. A leopard doesnt change his spots, and Ortega remains a brutal Marxist terrorist down to the bone. He gets what he wants by force, and he leans on other tyrants for support. Fergus Hodgson is the founder and executive editor of Latin American intelligence publication Antigua Report. He is also the roving editor of Gold Newsletter, and the managing editor of the American Institute for Economic Research. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Construction at the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project which is developing Manhattan's far West Side along the Hudson River, in New York on August 16, 2013. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The New Housing Bubble Banks look fine on the surface, but the system is as fragile as ever Financial bubbles are not accidents. Our asset-backed banking system creates bubbles by designtheyre an inevitability. Imagine a homeowner who owns a $1 million house free and clear. The owner goes to a bank and borrows $800,000 against the house. This credit money springs into existence as an accounting entry of a private bank. The borrower goes out into the market and starts purchasing other assets: stocks or a weekend house. The new money drives prices higher, including the assets that form the collateral of the banking system. Since collateral values now have increased, the banking system is happy to increase its loans to borrowers, which pushes prices yet higher, and so on, in a positive feedback loop. A Hidden Bubble In 2018, housing may not feel like a bubble. We dont read the same amusing anecdotes of adult entertainers ipping houses by the dozen. One reason is that the panic of 2008 resulted in a further concentration of wealththe banks were saved and the people ruined, and since then, non-banks have taken over the lending from banks. The Chicago Tribune reported in June last year: Several major lenders are offering 1 percent down payment loans, and now a large national mortgage company has gone all the way, requiring absolutely nothing down. Movement Mortgage, a top 10 retail home lender, has just introduced a financing option that provides eligible first-time buyers with a nonrepayable grant of up to 3 percent. The mortgages are then sold off to government agency Fannie Mae, which then sells the repackaged loans to the banking system or the Fed and guarantees the payments. However, despite the initial popularity of the Movement Assistance Program, partner Fannie Mae halted the program at the end of 2017. Too much risk after all? Maybe. But it looks like the lessons from the 2008 housing crash have been erased completely: a quasi-government agency, which operates under federal conservatorship, is guaranteeing loans made by reckless institutions to shaky borrowers. The difference is that the reckless institutions are not banks but non-bank lenders. U.S. banks supposedly are a lot healthier post-2008 because new rules prevent them from engaging in the rampant subprime lending that nearly collapsed the financial system. Indeed, non-bank lenders now account for 64 percent of mortgage originations (up from 30 percent in 2013) and service borrowers with lower median credit scores than banks. Too Big to Fail Transfer The good news: While a 20-to-1 levered bank that loses only 5 percent on its investments puts its depositors funds, and therefore the financial system, at risk, no one does or should care if a bunch of hedge funds loses their equity investment in a non-bank lender. And yet, if we follow all of the credit tributaries back to their source, we see that this system is more malignant than ever. The banks are, in fact, still funding mortgages, just surreptitiously. In the new normal mortgage transaction, the non-bank lender funds its loan to the borrower by in turn borrowing warehouse loans from a bank. These banks loans are secured by the new mortgages and are extremely short-term, generally for only 15 days, which is the time needed for the non-bank lender to ip the mortgage to one of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSE, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) or Ginnie Mae. These GSE then securitize the incoming mortgages into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and guarantee the payments to increase affordable, sustainable lending, Fannie Mae claims. The market treats the securities as near-sovereign debt because Fannie and Freddie truly are too big to fail. Not only would mortgage originations grind to a sudden stop, destroying the housing market (and the local tax base), but the final owners of the securitized instruments would take severe losses. And who owns most of the $7 trillion of outstanding MBS? The Federal Reserve owns 25 percent and banks another 27 percent. The Risk Remains So, its true: Banks are much less exposed to default risk than they were in 2007. Since mortgage payments are due every month, it is impossible for borrowers to default on the 15-day warehouse loans (unless the GSE suddenly stop buying them), and the MBS, which do remain on banks balance sheets, are insured implicitly by the government. Nevertheless, this vicious circle creates a bubble in housing. The banks remain the ultimate creators of credit for housing loans; the more credit they create, the higher housing prices can go; and the higher housing prices go, the more collateral gets fed to the banks through the MBS system. The more collateral the banks have, the more credit they can create. The problem is not just on the MBS market: real estate loans in total make up 49 percent of the banking systems assets. Banks may have shifted mortgage default risk to the government, but this only means the next housing crisis will be absorbed by the government and the U.S. dollar directly through the government-sponsored agencies. Dont think the outcome of this bubble bursting will be any less painful. Dan Oliver is the principal at gold mining fund Myrmikan Capital. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. A combination photo shows U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) in Washington, DC, U.S. May 17, 2018 and in Panmunjom, South Korea, April 27, 2018 respectively. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque and Korea Summit Press Pool/File Photos) Trump Says Outcome Of Upcoming Summit In North Koreas Hands WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump sought on Thursday to placate North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un after Pyongyang threatened to scrap an unprecedented summit. Trump said that he would guarantee Kims security if the United States and North Korea were to successfully make a deal for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Trump also said that if a deal was reached, North Korea would not suffer the fate of Muammar Gaddafis Libya. Making his remarks to the media in the White Houses Oval Office, Trump said that the abrupt change in North Koreas tune was possibly being influenced by Beijing, referring to recent meetings between North Korean and Chinese Communist Party officials, and also to the two recent meetings between Kim and Xi Jinping. But Trump said that as far as he knew, the meeting with Kim was still on track. Trump also took the opportunity to sharply criticize China and the past U.S. administration over the huge U.S.-China trade imbalance. When asked about national security adviser John Boltons remarks about the Libya model, Trump said that is was a much different model. Bolton on Sunday referred to the model of unilateral disarmament that was used in Libya to ship components of Libyas nuclear programme to the United States. Trump said that reference to the Libya model would only come into play if a denuclearization deal could not be reached with North Korea. Trump said the deal he was looking at would give Kim protections that will be very strong. North Korea has long feared that the United States would force a regime change in the country. He would be there, he would be running his country, his country would be very rich, Trump said. Trump stressed that North Korea would have to abandon its nuclear weapons. We cannot let that country have nukes. We just cant do it, he said of North Korea, which has been working on missiles capable of hitting the United States. The United States has demanded the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of North Koreas nuclear weapons programme. Pyongyang has now, again, rejected unilateral disarmament and has given no indication that it is willing to go beyond statements of broad support for the concept of universal denuclearization. U.S. Proceeding With Plans For Successful Summit On Wednesday, Bolton said odds were still in favour of the U.S.-North Korea summit, planned for June 12 in Singapore, going ahead. We are going to do everything we can to come to a successful meeting, but we are not going to back away from the objective of that meeting which is complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, he said. The North Korean statements on Wednesday marked a dramatic reversal in tone from recent months and took U.S. officials off guard after months of easing tensions. North Korea also called off a round of talks with South Korea, whose president, Moon Jae-in, is due to meet Trump on Washington next Tuesday, citing joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which both allies have said will go ahead as planned. North Koreas chief negotiator with the South called the South Korean government ignorant and incompetent on Thursday and threatened to halt all talks with Seoul unless its demands are met. The drastic change in tone came after months of easing tension and just days after North Korea had announced it would publicly shut its nuclear test site next week and improved the mood for a U.S. summit by releasing the three detained Americans last week. Some analysts and U.S. officials believe it may have been testing Trumps willingness to soften the U.S. demand for complete denuclearization. Others say it is possible that hardliners within the North Korean regime may be acting to disrupt the diplomatic negotiations that they see as a threat to the Kim dynasty. By Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom. Additional reporting by Epoch Times staff. Watch Next: Now Free, Americans Detained By North Korea Greeted by Trump President Donald Trump addresses a meeting on prison reform at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 18, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Trump Vows to Protect Students in Wake of Texas School Shooting President Donald Trump sent a message of love and support to the people affected by the school shooting in Texas on Friday and vowed to do everything within his power to protect students. We grieve for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack, Trump said at the White House on Friday. To the students, families, teachers, and personnel at Santa Fe High Schoolwe are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever. This has been going on too long in our country, too many years, too many decades now, Trump continued. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others. Trump also spoke by phone to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. At least eight people died in the shooting at a Santa Fe, Texas, high school. Police searching the building said they had taken into custody a student suspected of the attack and found explosives in the school building. The sound of gunshots tore through the air at Santa Fe High School shortly before 8 a.m., witnesses told local media. Live TV images showed lines of students evacuating the building while heavily armed police responded to the scene. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that eight to 10 students and adults died in the incident at the school about 30 miles southeast of Houston. There is one person, a suspect, in custody and a second possible person of interest that is detained and being questioned, Gonzalez said at a news conference. Explosive devices had also been found at the school and off campus, Gonzalez tweeted. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. School has been evacuated. The suspect is a 17-year-old male, a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation, told Reuters. At least nine people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, hospital officials said. The conditions of those people were not immediately clear. Gonzalez said a police officer was also being treated for injuries. Trump has already taken several steps to protect schools and students in the wake of a shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school in February. The White House proposed legislation to strengthen background checks and arm properly trained school personnel. Reuters contributed to this report. Recommended Video: President Trump Discusses Background Checks For Gun Purchases Workers stand inside the burnt out remains of the Grenfell tower in London, Britain, October 16, 2017. (REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo) UK Could Ban Combustible Materials in Tall Buildings After Grenfell Fire LONDONBritain could ban the use of combustible materials on high-rise buildings in response to the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 71 people last June, the housing minister said on Thursday. Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey London social housing block, was engulfed in flames after fire broke out in the middle of the night. An aluminium cladding with a combustible plastic core is thought to have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. The government will consult on banning the use of combustible materials and cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings, minister James Brokenshire told parliament. He was speaking after a government-ordered review of building regulations, published earlier, drew widespread criticism because it did not recommend an outright ban on combustible materials in tall housing blocks. The reviews author, engineer Judith Hackitt, said a ban would not be sufficient because existing regulations already meant that unsafe cladding should not have been used. She said the problem was that people were cutting corners and ignoring the regulations. Theres something seriously wrong with the regulatory system, she said on BBC Radio 4, calling for it to be completely overhauled and for tougher sanctions to be introduced for transgressions. But her decision not to advise a ban on combustible cladding or insulation for high-rise buildings drew immediate condemnation from a wide range of critics including the opposition Labour Party. It beggars belief that the governments building safety review gives the green light to combustible materials on high-rise blocks, said John Healey, Labours housing policy chief. He urged Brokenshire to press ahead with a ban without any consultation, but Brokenshire responded that it was right to consult to make sure the eventual policy decisions were right. The issue has far-reaching implications not only for the construction industry but also for social housing landlords and private landlords, as dozens of other high-rise buildings have been found to have cladding that could pose a fire safety risk. The government promised on Wednesday to spend 400 million pounds on replacing unsafe cladding on public high-rise blocks, lessening the burden on cash-strapped local authorities. The cladding problem has bedevilled local councils, not least because of a lack of clarity on what should replace it. The causes of the Grenfell Tower fire are the subject of an inquiry which is due to start public hearings next week. By Estelle Shirbon Watch Now: Trump Describes Border Wall With Mexico as a Military Asset NORWALK People dressed in red and blue gathered at the Heritage Wall Haitian Flag Day on Friday morning. May 18 marks the day when Haiti became the first country in the Caribbean to declare independence from its colonizers and become governed by its former slaves. We take pride in our flag, said Danelie Millien, who wore a Haitian flag necklace and carried a Bible inside which she had placed a handwritten prayer for the country. Millien related how Catherine Flon, the goddaughter of the revolutionary leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines, sewed the first flag to symbolize Haitis independence from France in 1803 by taking apart a French tricolor and reassembling it without its central white stripe. Throughout the Haitian diaspora, Flag Day is a time to celebrate their heritage as a free people. It means several things, because our ancestors fought so hard to attain our freedom, Millien said. Roughly 3,000 people in Norwalk reported having Haitian ancestry to the Census, and the Haitian population at Brien McMahon High School is so large the school offers bilingual support to Haitian Creole speakers. However, Friday marked Norwalks first Haitian flag raising in recent memory. Rahoul Dupervil, a member of Norwalks Human Relations Commission, walked up to the wall with a Haitian flag wrapped around his shoulders and said the Haitian community had organized simultaneous flag days in Norwalk, Hartford, Bridgeport and Stamford because of the recent political events, including disparaging remarks by the president. The temporary protected status that allowed many Haitians to live in the U.S. will soon expire. Because of whats going on with the Haitian people and Trumps remarks, we thought it was time to show were a community in the U.S., Dupervil said. We need to let them know about it. Francise Jean-Louis brought out an amplifier, and the people gathered sang the Haitian anthem as Dupervil raised the flag with Mayor Harry Rilling. Also there were Rillings wife, Lucia Rilling, Human Relations Director Adam Bovilsky and Colin Hosten, a Village Creek resident running against Bruce Morris for a seat in the state House of Representatives. The wall behind us represents Norwalks diversity, Rilling said. The Haitian community is part of that diversity. For many present, Haitian Flag Day is one rich with memories. Gerry Azo remembered growing up in the capital of Haiti. Back then, he said, every day when the flag was raised at 8 a.m., all traffic would stop to pay respect. And Jean-Louis remembered the days when Norwalk had its own Haitian parade. According to Azo, who had helped organized the parades, the parade marched from the wall down to Veterans Park, where it culminated in a day of food, dancing and guest speakers. It stopped in 2008, when the recession made it difficult to find community sponsors. Im trying to bring it back, Jean-Louis said. She and other organizers are hoping to find the support to return the parade to Norwalk by 2019. This celebration will only grow, she said. Im looking forward to next year. rschuetz@hearstmediact.com; @raschuetz TRUMBULL The nameplate on the door knocker is badly faded with age, but a close look reveals that it reads Edwards, 1838. The year is when the house at 1745 Huntington Turnpike was built by wealthy farmer Samuel Edwards, who received the land from his father. To Elizabeth Erickson, its unfathomable to think that the home shes owned since 1994 has been around for about 180 years. Im just a little bleep in the life of this house, said Erickson, who is selling the 3,271-square-foot Greek revival, situated across from the Nichols green. Though Erickson and other owners have updated and made changes to the home which is listed at $549,900 it has retained its rustic character and many of its original features, including most of the wide-board chestnut floors. The door knocker also is believed to be original, as is the wallpaper in the front hallway that Erickson discovered during some renovations. Indeed, nearly any old stuff Erickson has found on the property bottles, cooking equipment, etc. shes kept. According to Lois Levine, president emeritus of the Trumbull Historical Society, the house was remodeled in 1890 with a second-story, shingle-sided porch and a turret. Levine said the house also has ties to local history, as it overlooks the towns famed Bunny Fountain. The fountain, originally erected on the green in 1895, was moved to the intersection of Unity Road and Huntington Turnpike, right by Ericksons home, in 1931. Not only that, but Erickson said a former owner of her house used to supply the water and electricity to run the fountain. The house has four bedrooms, two full bathrooms and two fireplaces. Though Levine said one of the fireplaces, in the basement, is bricked over, there is a restored, working fireplace on the main level that includes an old-fashioned beehive oven. In addition to the Nichols green, the house at 1745 Huntington Turnpike also overlooks 42 acres of private park land. One thing thats fairly unique about the house is its garage, Erickson said. Now its a fairly sizable space that stores two cars. It used to have a much different and more colorful purpose. It was a dung barn, Erickson said, rightfully assuming that phrase needed no further explanation. Even though shes leaving, and even though she made improvements to the home over time, Erickson has always loved it and considered it something special. I tried to keep true to the history of this house, she said. To me, its an honor to live here. Do you know of a house or apartment building with an interesting story? Contact acuda@ctpost.com, and the home could be featured in an upcoming installment of Habitat. BETHALTO In a changing of the guard ceremony before a packed house at the Bethalto Village Board meeting Monday night, outgoing Chief of Police Gregg Smock pinned the regalia of the rank on his successor, Craig Welch. Welch, who began his stint with the police department 27 years ago as a dispatcher, and was sworn in as an officer in 1995, said he is both thrilled and humbled to be handed the job of leading the agency. "It's an awesome task," Welch said. "I started this with an eye on becoming the chief of police in Bethalto, but that was 23 years ago. I started my career here as a part-time dispatcher in December of 1990, so I've been with this organization for quite a while now. It's been a privilege to see it grow and become more and more professional over the years." In his new role, Welch will oversee the department's staff, which consists of 12 sworn officers, four dispatchers, an animal control officer and a secretary. "We've got a really good team here that I'm proud to work with, and we're producing some high quality service," he said. Since his first days as a dispatcher, Welch has served in nearly every position in the department. After several years as a patrolman, he moved into investigations, where he spent 10 years, much of it working with the FBI on child exploitation cases. Later, he was promoted to lieutenant, then deputy chief, where the had the opportunity to train with the FBI in law enforcement administration at a special academy. "It was a fantastic experience to mingle with peers and see how other agencies across the country and even across the world administer their police departments and criminal justice," he said. Welch attributes his inspiration to be a police officer to Bill Hays, who was a Bethalto officer in Welch's youth, and served as a mentor. "I wanted to be a police officer like Bill," he said. Hays retired from the department in 1988, but Welch had the opportunity to serve under him when he came back for a stint as police chief in the early 2000s. Welch, whose family has a long lineage in Bethalto, said he enjoys small-town life, the opportunity to serve his neighbors. "I grew up in Bethalto, as a third-generation Bethaltonian," he said. "Back in 1995 when I became a police officer, all the government agencies had money and everybody was hiring. I had tested at multiple locations, and I had gotten job offers at multiple places, but when my hometown offered me a position that was an opportunity I couldn't pass up." As the newly appointed chief, Welch said he has several goals for his tenure. He wants to maintain the high levels of professionalism that have been established within the department, which, he said, has set a very high bar for such a small department. He also wants to maintain the department's relationship with the FBI, and increase the department's numbers, which have been reduced over the years by budget cuts, by six additional officers if finances grow sufficiently to allow it. But most of all, he wants to continue helping his neighbors. "Police work is not like being a carpenter, or other jobs, where people work with physical objects where, at the end of the day, you can see the fruits of your labor and get satisfaction from that. It's not that tangible," Welch said. "But over time you can see that something that you have done in your service has improved someone's life. "Even better, when that person recognizes it as well, and expresses appreciation to you. That's really something special. It's kind of like when a teacher has a student come back to them and tell them what success they've had, and remind them of the things that teacher had shared with them during their formative years." EDWARDSVILLE - Keller Williams Realty closed its doors May 10 so that its agents could spend the day giving back to the Edwardsville community. Their efforts last week were part of Keller Williams RED (Renew, Energize and Donate) Day, an annual event that allows its employees to spend a day making a positive impact on their community. Benna Denue, a member of the Edwardsville Beautification & Tree Committee, explained that Brandi Morrison, Keller Williams Marquee Realtor, contacted her to inquire about what the Keller Williams staff could do to help out the community. The EBTC committee had just finished planting 51 flower pots that they placed in downtown, but they still had plans to add plants around the clock tower on Main Street. This clock, which was originally attached to the Edwardsville National Bank at the corner of St. Louis Street and North Main Street, now stands as a clock tower between the old Laurie's Place and the Wildey Theatre. In addition, remnants of the cast iron fence that once fronted the 1860 Madison County Jail and Sheriff residence are located below the clock. Denue explained that the EBTC had been wanting to focus more on the fencing around the clock tower and the clock tower itself. "So we set out to have some simple landscaping there. Something that was easily maintained," she noted. "The first thing we did was plant the service berry tree. Then we were going to plant something with interest year round but yet not to clutter it so that it took away from what the clock tower is." That's when Morrison entered the picture seeking projects for their annual RED Day event. Denue immediately offered the idea of adding plantings to the clock tower, painting the fencing around it as well as suggested another option. "We always do additional plantings here at the Gov. Coles Monument," Denue said. The Edward Coles State Monument is located on Route 157 at the corner of the Valley View Cemetery, which also happens to be located directly across the street from the new Keller Williams Marquee office that opened last October. The Edward Coles State Memorial stands in honor of Illinois' second governor, Edward Coles, who shifted the history of slavery in the state of Illinois. Coles is best known for being an abolitionist who freed his slaves, bought them all land of their own and fought to keep slavery out of the Illinois Constitution. Denue arranged for the Keller Williams volunteers to clean up and beautify both the clock tower and the Gov. Coles Monument. "They have provided for the plants," Denue noted. "We got two evergreen bushes and then three weigela bushes to plant up there," Morrison said, pointing to the Gov. Coles Monument. "We're planting coleus, marigolds and cannas. We've got a bunch of different flowers that should be blooming." "And we are scraping and painting the wrought iron fence at the clock tower," Morrison added. "We're doing that down by Big Daddy's and Whisker Bones. We are also working with Meals on Wheels for the Edwardsville Senior Center today." Denue explained that Morrison had been working closely with the City of Edwardsville. "Brandi had a connect with Bob Pfeiffer (City of Edwardsville's Director of Parks and Recreation) to make sure that it was OK to do what we were doing. And Bob was like, 'Yes,'" Denue said. "The only thing that we couldn't do is power wash the monument because it's a historical marker. It's made of limestone. They thought it might tear it up," Morrison said. "The city's been super helpful." "The city has been great cooperating with them and providing what they need the paint the wire brushes," Denue pointed out. "It's so encouraging when volunteers from the community will come and say, 'What can we do to help?" Morrison explained that for the Keller Williams' RED Day they could have done a variety of things. "We could do a food drive or whatever we wanted, but we decided to try to help out with the city of Edwardsville, and help. We're seeing what we can do." EDWARDSVILLE The second year of an effort to solarize the Metro-East is now underway, thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers who are passionate about bringing energy sustainability to the community, and saving homeowners on electricity costs in the process. "We've broadened the scope of this effort to promote affordable solar installations for homes and businesses in this area, and it's one of two or three projects that are going on in the state at the same time," said Chris Krusa, who is helping organize the effort, which successfully outfitted 38 homes with solar panels last year, most of them in Godfrey. The project functions by giving homeowners a chance to pool their buying power, allowing them to earn steep discounts from the project's authorized installer. Backers are hoping to get a total of 80 homes converted to solar power with this leg, which is focusing on Edwardsville, and other Metro-East communities. If they achieve that goal, the installer St. Louis based Straight Up Solar will offer homeowners even deeper discounts. "There's a time limit on it," Krusa said. "People will have to make a decision by the end of September, because the whole idea of a solar event is to get as many people as possible in a period of time, knowing that they are going to get a deal which is going to save them 15 to 20 percent..." A new solar array will cost homeowners about $25,000, Krusa said, but electricity savings will pay off the cost over six to seven years. A number of institutions, including TheBANK of Edwardsville, and the Clean Energy Credit Union, offer financing options for project participants if they choose not the pay the whole amount upfront. According to Krusa, there are several advantages to installing solar panels on your home. The most substantial, he said, is the immediate savings on energy costs. The solar arrays, he said, can generate enough electricity to power an entire house. If a home generates more power than it is using, the excess can be sold back to the grid. For Krusa, however, his hope that the installations will cut down on pollution and bring environmental benefits is the major factor behind his decision to volunteer with the project. "I've gotten really involved in solar because I really firmly believe that we need to do something about global warming, and the most effective way that we can go after it is to help make it affordable for people to reduce carbon emissions is to go solar," he said. The Metro-East is one of three Illinois regions being targeted for mass solar panel installation. Similar projects, which, like the Metro-East effort, are being carried out under the auspices of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, are underway in Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal. To reach out to homeowners, the effort's organizers have created a number of Power Hours, which will be held throughout the Metro-East. Upcoming events near Edwardsville, which are all scheduled for 6 p.m., include June 5 at the Watershed Nature Center's welcome center, June 21 at the Old Bakery Brewery in Alton, June 28 at the Granite City City Hall, July 19 at Newsong Fellowship Church in Edwardsville, and the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities at Edwardsvile. A complete list of events can be found at www.solarizemetroeast.com. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected] | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. De Smet, Watertown lead football top performers list for the week ending Oct. 9 Lets get one thing straight. This is about two teams who combined to score 102 points this week and not about playing favorites. NEW YORKWarren Buffett once called them financial weapons of mass destruction. Now Pope Francis, of all people, is taking aim at derivatives. In a sweeping critique of global finance released by the Vatican on Thursday, the Holy See singled out derivatives including credit-default swaps (CDS) for particular scorn. A ticking time bomb, the Vatican called them. The unusual rebuke derivatives rarely reach the level of religious doctrine is in keeping with Franciss skeptical view of unbridled global capitalism. The market of CDS, in the wake of the economic crisis of 2007, was imposing enough to represent almost the equivalent of the GDP of the entire world. The spread of such a kind of contract without proper limits has encouraged the growth of a finance of chance, and of gambling on the failure of others, which is unacceptable from the ethical point of view, the Vatican said in the document. Read more: Opinion | Olive: Warren Buffetts business sense is just plain common sense Pope Francis: A Man of His Word offers a close-up look at a personable spiritual leader Pope Francis emphasizes saints next door over insistence on perfect adherence to religious doctrine The critique echoes comments made by Buffett in 2003, when he criticized the unchecked expansion of the derivatives market. Francis has been a critic of Wall Street in the past. He has called for regulating speculative financial practices and reining in the absolute power of the financial system, which he said would bring more crises. The Vatican said that in certain areas of the derivatives markets theres an ethical void which becomes more serious as these products are negotiated on the so-called markets with less regulation (over the counter) and are exposed more to the markets regulated by chance, if not by fraud, and thus take away vital lifelines and investments to the real economy. A similar assessment can be applied for those uses of credit default swap (CDS: they are particular insurance contracts for the risk of bankruptcy) that permit gambling at the risk of the bankruptcy of a third party, even to those who havent taken any such risk of credit earlier, and really to repeat such operations on the same event, which is absolutely not consented to by the normal pact or insurance, according to the document. Income inequality is a priority concern for Francis, who has made humility a distinguishing feature of his papacy. He refused to live in the opulent Apostolic Palace, choosing a guest house for Church officials near St. Peters Basilica instead. He uses an old Ford Focus to get around the Vatican and Rome. Read more about: QUEBECThe Quebec government will ask Ottawa for the power to collect federal taxes in a move that could reduce paperwork for companies and individuals who would only have to file a single tax return instead of two. Members of the legislature adopted a unanimous motion this week calling on Ottawa to allow Quebec to administer a single-tax system, but its still unclear how much money would be saved. Also uncertain is whether bureaucratic redundancies would be more easily reduced if Ottawa took over the provinces tax administration, as it does for the other nine provinces and territories. While federal authorities have said publicly they are willing to discuss giving Quebec full tax-collecting powers, Montreal La Presse reported Thursday a government source said the federal Liberal government opposes the idea. That news prompted Parti Quebecois deputy leader Veronique Hivon to declare in question period that Ottawa is acting in a cavalier and disrespectful manner toward Quebecers. Finance Minister Carlos Leitao responded by saying the government will very soon send an official letter to Ottawa on the subject. It takes times, these are complex issues . . . and yes, we will take up the fight, Leitao said. Quebec is the only province to have a tax department that is completely independent and distinct from the federal governments. The province has also collected the GST in Quebec for the federal government since the early 1990s. Hivon said Quebec would save $600 million if it received full, federal tax-collecting powers, but a spokesperson for the party did not return a request for details on how that figure was calculated. Ewan Sauves, a spokesperson for the Coalition Avenir Quebec, said in an email his party doesnt have a precise number, but estimates the province would save several hundred millions of dollars. Audrey Cloutier, a spokesperson for Leitao, said the government doesnt have a specific number either, but added that if Quebec received full federal tax-collecting power, one element must be maintained. It all has to be done without compromising Quebecs fiscal autonomy, she said. If there is a single tax return, it must be administered by Quebec. The position of the provinces main parties contrast with the conclusion of a Quebec government report in 2015 that looked at finding efficiencies in the states public programs. Lucienne Robillard, who held office at the provincial and federal level for the Liberals, presided over the report, which stated Quebec would receive almost $400 million in direct savings if it handed over its tax-collecting power to Ottawa. The province would, however, be deprived of about $700 million in tax-evasion collection that was conducted by the provincial Revenue Department, it added. Robillards report recommended Quebec seriously consider the option of transferring its tax administration operations to the federal government. That recommendation was quickly shelved, however. Robillard also noted in her report that her recommendation would hit a nerve in Quebec society. The commission emphasized the sensitive nature of the issue, the report stated. The setting up by Quebec of an independent tax administration was a striking illustration of Quebecs determination to achieve autonomy, during the period immediately preceding the Quiet Revolution. Alexandre Laurin, director of research at the C.D. Howe Institute, said he agrees with the report. I dont deny there are some cost savings for eliminating duplication, he said. I think what makes more sense is for the Canada Revenue Agency to take on administrating taxes for Quebec. They already do it for free for the nine other provinces. He said hes skeptical Ottawa would give anything up to Quebec without getting something in return. Id be extremely surprised if this happens, he said. The debate has surfaced a few days after the federal Conservatives in Quebec passed a resolution aimed at eventually combining federal and provincial tax returns into a single form collected and administered by the province. Read more about: LONDONSize is a sensitive subject in the clothing business. So when one of Britains most popular and affordable clothing giants was found to charge more for plus-size clothing, it was accused of imposing a fat tax on women. The pricing by the store, New Look, revived a debate over whether the use of more fabric for the same outfit should logically cost more. The controversy erupted when a New Look customer, Maria Wassell, said she discovered that a pair of green-striped trousers cost 15 per cent more in all sizes above 16 (the equivalent of a size 12 in the United States), which are considered plus sizes in Britain. (Even the phrase plus size is problematic to some, who argue that the industrys labels are unrealistic.) Wassell, 43, a retail supervisor from Kent, in southeast England, also discovered that a T-shirt and dress in standard sizes were cheaper than identical versions in the plus-size section, according to the local news media. Its like being discriminated against for being plus size when Im only slightly bigger than average, she told The Sun newspaper. The average size for a British woman is now a size 16. She declared that the retailer was enforcing a fat tax. Outraged social media users tossed in all sorts of comparisons: Should people with bigger feet be charged more for shoes? And, perhaps more to the point: Should petite people be charged less? Amanda Bowes, a British fashion designer for plus-size online retail outlets, called New Looks pricing criteria harsh, and said that the more-fabric argument did not hold water. Obviously it costs more to make plus-size clothing because of the amount of fabric used, but if the pricing metric is going to be based on size, then every size should be priced differently, she said in a phone interview on Wednesday. If smaller-sized people arent getting discounts, then plus-sized people shouldnt have to pay a surplus, she added. We rarely see tall and maternity editions of clothing being priced differently. Its cruel and unfair to single out one body type. But Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, a charity that raises awareness about obesity, said it was reasonable to charge more money for larger clothing. People should pay for the material/time required to manufacture sizes, he said in an email. He added that many smaller people felt they should have discounts and asked why they should subsidize people who wear bigger sizes. A size 10 should pay for a size 10. Wassell said that when she contacted New Look which is owned by the investment company Brait SE and has 393 stores in the United Kingdom to ask about the different prices, she was told that while some products appear similar, they may be slightly different. However, the company said in a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday that it was reviewing the pricing structure of its plus-size collection in a way which works best for our customers and our business. In one New Look store in South London, most shoppers said they wouldnt have noticed the price differences if they hadnt been highlighted in the news media. Its not a huge price difference, but I guess its about the principle, said Madeline Moll, who said she used to shop from the plus-size section when she was larger. Dressing in bigger sizes can be a sensitive issue for women. Its almost like the shops are trying to make a point by putting up the price. Its like they are saying, Lose some weight, love. And thats just mean. New Look is not the only retailer to come under fire for pricing clothes according to size. In 2014, Old Navy was criticized for charging higher prices for plus-size clothing for women, but not for men. An online petition against the practice, which drew more than 95,000 signatures, pointed out that Old Navys Rockstar Super Skinny Jeans cost $27 in a size 6. The same jeans in a size 26 cost $40. Old Navy refused to lower its prices, arguing that womens clothing had contoured waist bands that cost more to produce. Its parent company, Gap, relaxed the rules for the return of plus-size clothing and said it would create a customer panel to gather more insight. PARISFrench cheese connoisseurs want everyone who loves the countrys culinary heritage to hear their anguished, almost unimaginable cry: Boycott French Camembert. Because soon enough, they warn, that creamy, pungent icon of France will give way to a tasteless paste masquerading as the real thing. Beginning in 2021, Camembert made from pasteurized milk, in factories, will be labelled in a way that has only been allowed for artisanal cheese made in the time-honoured, more expensive way by hand, using raw milk. More than 40 leading French chefs, winemakers and cheese ripeners signed an open letter, published Tuesday in the daily Liberation, denouncing this apostasy and calling on French President Emmanuel Macron to put a stop to it. Without separate designations to signal to consumers, they predicted, raw milk Camembert will become increasingly rare a niche, luxury product available only to a select few. Read more: French try to ease Canadian fears over free trade deal Paris, cheese: Outside Paris, worshipping the true Brie In the French city of Lyon, the cuisine is so good its offal We demand raw milk Camembert for all! the letter said, ending with the declaration, Liberte, egalite, Camembert! It denounced the new rules as shame, scandal, imposture, even treason, while dismissing pasteurized milk Camembert as lifeless matter, pasteurized plaster and an ocean of mediocrity. Pasteurization kills dangerous germs, but raw milk Camembert lovers insist it also kills flavour, robbing the cheese of richness and terroir, the character imparted by a specific place. Some of the signatories, such as the letters author, Veronique Richez-Lerouge, president of a group devoted to traditional cheeses, and Francois Bourgon, a noted cheesemonger, even called for a boycott of Camembert if the change takes effect. Camembert is the emblem of French cheeses, Bourgon said. If it dies, others will follow. In fact, the old way has been waning for a long time, and it is not clear how many French consumers understand the difference, or care deeply about it. Most of the 65,000 tons of Camembert sold each year in France is mass produced from pasteurized milk, and only 8.5 per cent earns the coveted designation Camembert de Normandie, meaning that it is made in that region, to exacting standards, from raw milk. From the baguette to champagne, France has long seen its gastronomy as a sacred treasure, and none of the 1,200 varieties of cheese produced in the country are as much a national symbol as Camembert. Dating back almost to the French Revolution, it became popular during the First World War, when its producers gave free Camembert to soldiers and adorned its iconic round, wooden boxes with patriotic messages. Camembert is a monument of the French culture and should remain so, said Patrick Mercier, one of the few remaining producers of raw milk Camembert. For decades, big and small producers in the northern region of Normandy have fought over how their cheese could be labelled. The small makers now fewer than a dozen have to stick to strict rules to keep a protected designation of origin status, or PDO, bestowed by the European Union. They must use unfiltered, raw milk, more than half of it from the Normande breed of cattle, and make the cheese nearby, ladling the milk by hand into moulds. The runny, rich cheese that results from this defiantly pre-modern process, whose strong smell lingers on the fingers for hours, is labelled with the PDO Camembert de Normandie. Meanwhile, industrial makers have been allowed to label their product as Fabrique en Normandie, or Made in Normandy, as long as the cheese factory was there. They can use pasteurized milk from any breed of cow. Raw milk can contain dangerous bacteria such as listeria, salmonella, E. coli and even the tuberculosis bacterium. Pasteurization named, it should be noted, for a Frenchman means heating briefly to kill off harmful germs. Modern precautions make the risks from raw milk far lower, but they are not foolproof; just last week, there was a recall of contaminated raw milk reblochon cheese made at a factory in the Alps. But devotees of traditional cheeses say the care that goes into making them by hand, in relatively small batches, near the source of the milk, makes contamination much less likely. Hard cheeses made from raw milk are safe because they age longer, becoming steadily more acidic, which kills bacteria. But soft cheeses are eaten young, and Camembert can be aged for as little as three weeks. The United States has long forbidden the sale of raw milk cheese that is less than 60 days old. As a result, many an American cheese aficionado has, alas, never tasted what purists would call true Camembert. Normandys small producers long complained that the slim difference in wording between Camembert of Normandy and Camembert Made in Normandy was misleading. The flora we find in the grass goes through the cows body, its udder, right down to the milk, the cheese and, finally, our own taste buds, Mercier said. Unlike the pasteurized one, raw milk Camembert is the perfect way to savour Normandys terroir. This year, the two sides agreed that by 2021, the big producers will be able to call their cheese Camembert of Normandy, and those who adhere to the old-fashioned methods can label theirs True Camembert from Normandy. To some connoisseurs, it is less a truce than a surrender, further blurring the difference, but Mercier, who represented small producers in the negotiations over the new designation, said not to worry. The real cheese lovers will still be able to buy real Camembert, he said. And at least the war is over, for now. Read more about: The Ontario Securities Commission is warning the public that several groups are promoting investments in cryptocurrencies without having the necessary provincial registrations. The OSC says Bitserial, Hypercube, CabinCoin and BaapPay have not provided a prospectus, as required, or received an exemption. It says none of the four, or a fifth entity called BTCReal, is registered to solicit investments or provide advice on investing in, buying or selling securities. The provincial regulator is asking people who have had dealings with the businesses to contact the OSC at 1-877-785-1555. The OSC said on April 6 that it was gathering information on several cryptocurrency trading platforms after it received a number of complaints. It also issued an April 17 warning about BitConnect, which the OSC said wasnt registered in the province to solicit investments or provide advice about buying or selling securities. Andy Trench made $2,000 a day in 2015 taking sky-high photographs along the East Coast with a drone he made himself. Now, that same work fetches about $175. Its apparent that a lot of this industry is a race to the bottom, said Trench, a Rhode Island entrepreneur whos been operating remote-controlled aircraft for more than a decade. Three years after federal regulators began allowing commercial drone flights, the fever to cash in has turned into a pitched battle for business. Prices for collecting airborne data have plummeted amid a flood of competition equipped with cheap, hi-tech aircraft that practically fly themselves. Thats pressuring operators, while handing customers new opportunities for affordable drone inspections, pictures and other services. The challenge for providers is to figure out how to profit. Companies are rushing to carve out turf in an industry thats convulsed by fast-paced breakthroughs in sensor capabilities and machine learning, while at the same time being throttled by slowly evolving regulation focused on keeping the skies safe. General Electric Co., Intel Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and well-funded startups including PrecisionHawk and Airware are among drone companies vying with scrappy, low-overhead entrepreneurs that helped give birth to the industry. Theyre fighting over a pool of customers still limited by laws restricting unmanned aircraft to short daytime flights below 400 feet. If smaller drone pioneers want to survive the shakeout, theyll have to figure out how to compete in a field increasingly tilted toward larger companies with deep pockets that can buy expertise to build their business more quickly. PrecisionHawk bought Droners and AirVid last year to build out its network of pilots. Airware, a drone software services company, purchased a French data analytics firm called Redbird. Measure, a drone specialist backed by business intelligence consultant Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., purchased Pilatus Unmanned and Helivideo Productions to expand its offerings in film and engineering. More companies may fall out if their business model depends on the Federal Aviation Administration allowing long-distance flights. In the U.S., drones are restricted to flying within sight of their human pilots, and companies that are more limited under current rules are likely to run out of cash before the agency makes any significant change, said Brad Declet, chief executive officer of Measure. Drones are enabling industrial companies to slash 25 per cent off the cost of infrastructure inspections, which in the past required humans flying planes and helicopters, or dangling in harnesses beneath bridges. The price charged for a drone inspection of an industrial site has dropped to about $5,000 a third of what it was two years ago, said Alex Trepper, who founded GES new venture, Avitas Systems. Trepper estimates that the intelligent inspection market for the power, rail, aviation and oil-and-gas industries currently tops $27 billion (U.S.) globally, with the new business of analyzing the collected data adding another $20 billion. Even with prices dropping, the sheer size of the market is attracting lots of people into the business to offer basic services such as roof inspections or aerial photography, said Phil Finnegan, an industry consultant with the Teal Group. There are very low barriers to entry. Technology itself is proving to be one of the biggest competitive threats. As drones become more automated and easier to operate, some would-be customers are deciding to buy their own aerial robots to fly themselves. Thats driving companies such as Avitas to think beyond the aircraft. Were much more interested in the data and data analytics, Trepper said. Avitas plans to offer automated data analysis to detect corrosion and cracks in surveys of infrastructure like storage tanks and even predict where a railroad track might fail, Trepper said. The startup also can leverage its parents market clout by offering its services to GEs customers. Measure is rolling out a franchise of trained pilots to win work that includes inspections, law enforcement support and filming sport events. Data analysis is done at the companys Washington, D.C., headquarters. The company aims to create a recognized brand capable of fending off lowball pricing from one-person outfits that can jump into the business for less than $1,000 the cost of a small drone and a remote pilots license, said Declet, Measures CEO. Having a highly skilled pilot at the controls is important when youre inspecting a $15-million wind turbine or youre flying over a newly commissioned solar farm, Declet said. No one wants to take any risks when it comes to aircraft falling or crashing into critical infrastructure. Small outfits like that of Trenchs operation in Rhode Island are adjusting, too. His answer is to relaunch his drone business as Vertspec, a provider of low-cost inspections for infrastructure such as mobile-phone towers, wind farms and power transmission lines. Trench, 37, who started building his own drones as a hobby 16 years ago, is taking advantage of increased automation to reduce the cost of hiring operators. To compete with the big companies, hes subcontracting for data analysis to third-party software companies. I have lower overhead than they do and Im more agile on development, Trench said. The large companies up in the castles might be surprised when they get undercut by small ones. DUBLINIf Mark Zuckerberg doesnt know who Helen Dixon is, he will soon. From an unassuming town house in the Irish capital, Dixon, the countrys data protection commissioner, leads an agency that was once a bureaucratic backwater. Employees share offices and have few of the perks available in Facebooks building nearby: The main free amenities here are water, coffee and tea. Yet Dixon will soon gain vast new authority to investigate and fine Facebook, as well as an array of other technology giants with regional headquarters in Ireland. Amid increased concerns over online privacy, a sweeping new European privacy law could make her one of the worlds most consequential regulators. She is eager to test her newfound power. But the question remains whether her tiny agency is able or willing to stand up to tech behemoths of Silicon Valley. Theres a wave coming toward us that we need to push back against, Dixon, who spent the first 10 years of her career working for tech companies, said in an interview. Europes new General Data Protection Regulation is seen by experts as the worlds most aggressive set of internet privacy rules. It is expected to come into force on May 25, and it will give more than 500 million people living in the European Union the right to keep companies from collecting personal data, or to have it deleted. Regulators like Dixon will be able to fine companies up to 4 per cent of global revenue equivalent to about $1.6 billion for Facebook. The privacy law highlights broader skepticism of Silicon Valley in Europe, where regulators have punished companies for violating tax and antitrust laws, not doing enough to stop the spread of hate speech and misinformation online, and intrusively gobbling up data on consumers. Ireland in particular is taking centre stage in the wide-ranging battle. The country is the European headquarters for data-hungry companies including Airbnb, Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft, which owns LinkedIn. If companies do not comply with the law, Dixon said, they will suffer consequences. But for all the tough talk, the reality is that her agency subsists on an annual budget of 7.5 million euros, equivalent to $9 million (U.S.). Thats roughly as much revenue as the companies she oversees generate overall in 10 minutes. Facebook, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, has hundreds of people globally working on data protection regulation alone, including lawyers and privacy experts hired in Dublin. The data protection office was once an afterthought. During an effort by the Irish government to move less-critical agencies out of Dublin, it was relocated in 2006 50-miles west to a town called Portarlington, population 8,368. Its power was so limited that it could not publicize investigations. Dixon, whose father was an army officer and mother a schoolteacher, grew up in a small town in central Ireland before moving to Dublin for university. She worked for companies including the business software firm Citrix Systems before moving into government. She later received a postgraduate diploma in computer science. Fittingly for her current position, Dixon guards her privacy. She will not share her age, other than saying she is in her 40s, and she has become more careful with data since taking the job. She does not use Facebook or Instagram (though she does have a LinkedIn profile). Since taking over in 2014, Dixon has successfully lobbied for more funding and got the headquarters put back in Dublin. A move to a bigger office is in the works. She has hired lawyers, investigators and engineers. The staff will total 140 this year, up from 30 when she joined, with plans to reach 200 in the next few years, if budget increases are approved. But if data privacy is truly a priority globally, Dixon said, more resources are needed. Her office is actually among the better funded privacy agencies globally, but is still a minnow compared with, say, Irelands financial services regulator, which has a budget about 40 times greater. The question for governments is, how much enforcement do we want to do, how seriously do we want to take the risk to our fundamental rights and freedoms in this area? said Dixon, carrying a bound copy of the new law. We need the funding and resources commensurate with the level of importance. This office would suggest it should be far more highly resourced. Budgetary constraints are not new to regulators overseeing powerful industries. But privacy groups worry that without strong oversight, the European rules, years in the making, will do little to crimp the power of Silicon Valley. There is evidence those concerns are well founded. In a Reuters survey of privacy regulators in 24 European Union countries, 17 said they did not have the needed funding or legal powers to enforce data protection regulation. Ireland did not participate in the survey. Dixon must also contend with skepticism among privacy advocates, stemming largely from Irelands history of lax oversight of the technology industry. Her predecessors are faulted for not taking earlier action against Facebook, even when complaints were filed years ago about data-mining practices similar to those eventually used by the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The European Commission in 2016 also ordered Ireland to recoup about $15.6 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple. (The decision is being appealed.) The culture has to be changed, said Max Schrems, a Austria-based lawyer and online privacy advocate who filed the earlier complaints against Facebook. You can have the best law, but if nobody enforces it, then youre not going to go anywhere. Advocates of the new law say it is already having a positive impact and that oversight is spread out. A new European Data Protection Board will help co-ordinate investigations and pool resources across European Union countries, giving regulators outside Ireland the ability to bring action. The data protection regulation also allows private groups to recruit consumers into class-action-style complaints not as common in Europe as the United States that could result in sizable damages against businesses. A looming question, however, is how much people really care. Dixon cited Facebooks most recent financial report, which showed growing user numbers, revenue and profit, despite the Cambridge Analytica scandal. We should be acting as data protection authorities in the name of data subjects, but you often as a regulator in this space have the feeling that youre not mandated by the general public, she said. Either they dont care or they actively oppose what were doing. Representatives from the technology industry have made regular visits to the converted 18th-century Georgian home used by Dixons team. Aware that a public backlash is putting pressure on regulators to rein in Silicon Valley, Facebook and others have been courting Dixon, putting forward their case that their data protection policies comply with the new European law. Weve really leapt into explaining what weve done and the thinking thats gone into that, said Stephen Deadman, Facebooks global deputy chief privacy officer. Ive got faith and confidence that the way Helen Dixons office will perform its function will be true to the spirit and requirements of GDPR, rather than being blown around by whatever is happening in the media. Google and Twitter declined to comment. Even with limited resources, Dixon is studying her adversaries. When Zuckerberg testified before Congress last month, she stayed up late at home despite the time difference to watch as the Facebook chief executive answered questions. Asked if she had a message for him and other tech executives, she said they should expect her to use her new powers to the fullest. Read more about: If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). EDMONTONMore Canadian couples are opting to shack up versus tying the knot, which might make for cleaner breakups but could make for messier families, a researcher says. Statistics Canadas census data shows that while most couples are married, the number of common-law relationships have continued to rise in all provinces and territories. In 2016, more than a fifth of Canadian couples said they were living in common-law relationships compared to just over six per cent in 1981. Here in Alberta, common-law relationships, or cohabiting couples, doubled over the same period, from 7.7 to 16.8 per cent. University of Alberta sociologist Lisa Strohschein attributes the trend to a younger population that values flexibility and individuality over tradition and formality. I feel like Im talking about the dark ages, Strohschein said, but it was really not so far back where the idea of getting married was something that was considered among all family members. The traditional function of marriage, she added, was to create kinship connections that benefited the families of the betrothed. Weddings were arranged without consideration for individuals involved. But thats changed. We live in a world now where people want more informality, Strohschein said. The idea is that people should be free to enter into and exit relationships depending on whether the relationship meets their needs or not. At the end of the day, its now a decision made by the individual. And the family, the parents, often have far less of a say than they would have in the past. Thats where cohabitation comes in, more couples are choosing to live together as a kind of testing process to see if theyre a match. While that may make it easier for incompatible couples to walk away, the trend could make for complicated families down the road. Struck by the upward trend of common-law relationships, Strohschein studies family and how marital status relates to stability. Her latest research seems to suggest that cohabiting couples are more likely to split up than their married counterparts in the first two years after having children. The effects of a breakup are virtually the same for children in both cases, but increased odds for common-law families means kids from those homes are more likely to end up in a single-parent household, get less face-time with a mother or father, or relocate. They have peers in the neighbourhood, they have friends at school, they have teachers who are role models, Strohschein said. If they lose that, its just another loss event thats happening in that childs life. Separations can also confuse children when parents begin looking for new partners, she added. That leads children to ask which ones are authority figures, adding yet another layer of complexity to their experience. Separation can be a trigger event that can lead to all these negative outcomes, she added. All of these things compound over time to essentially overwhelm childrens ability to cope. However, Strohschein said, how parents negotiate a separation can help them to mitigate some of these problems. Read more about: HALIFAXNova Scotias justice minister says the terms of reference will be released soon for the public inquiry into the deaths of Afghan war veteran Lionel Desmond and his family. The province promised a judicial fatality inquiry last December, almost a year after Desmond fatally shot himself and his mother, wife and 10-year-old daughter in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. The terms of reference were expected by the end of January, and Justice Minister Mark Furey says the province is now waiting on the chief judge of the provincial court to appoint a presiding judge and Crown attorney. He says that could happen as early as next week, but certainly within the next couple of weeks. Furey wont give details, but says hes confident the terms of reference will address many of the items Dr. Matthew Bowes, the provinces chief medical examiner, identified in the case. Bowes, who recommended the fatality inquiry, has said the apparent lack of co-operation between government agencies who dealt with Desmond will likely be a key aspect of the terms of reference. Desmond was diagnosed with PTSD after two harrowing tours in Afghanistan in 2007. Read more: Nova Scotia government announces inquiry into veterans murder-suicide Family of Lionel Desmond wants answers from feds over veterans murder-suicide How can we hope for change?: Nova Scotia avoiding inquests on high-profile deaths Read more about: HALIFAXA business instructor in Halifax doesnt hold back on his assessment of Tommy Guns Original Barbershop and its now scrubbed demand that a Nova Scotia man change the name of his local haircut shop. I think they completely overreacted here. They completely blew it, said Ed McHugh, who teaches at several-post secondary schools in the Halifax area. I dont even know what kind legal ground they would have to stand on anyway. This guy had his registered name. He was in business for a number of years with that name. I was surprised they even attempted to do this because if they looked ahead at all, and they started to predict where this was going to go, it just wasnt going to land in a good place. Tommy Guns Original Barbershop announced late Thursday that it was backing down against Thong Luong, the owner of Tommys Barber Shop in Dartmouth, going so far as to say in a statement that he is now well within his legal rights to continue using the name. Read more: After outpouring of support for Nova Scotia barber, national chain rescinds legal threat The letter by Michael Hansen, corporate counsel for TG Corporate Holdings Ltd., went on to say they look forward to speaking with Luong, and the company apologizes for any undue stress this may have caused him and our local business owners in the Halifax/Dartmouth area. Now that we have all of the relevant information, we do not intend to pursue this matter any further, the statement issued at 9:30 p.m. ADT Thursday said. Luong said he was shocked by the ultimatum that was delivered to him in a letter from Tommy Guns on May 15. Tommy Guns told Luong that he had to change his name by May 22, or it would sue. Theyre a big company, if you see their shop you could not believe how nice they make everything, you know? Why they go here and pick on a little guy like me? Luong told StarMetro on Thursday morning. Tommy Guns is a national chain and its website states it has 70+ locations across Canada and around the world. In part, the letter from Tommy Guns to Luong read: Please confirm, in writing, to the undersigned, no later than May 22 that you have discontinued use of the name Tommys Barber Shop. Should you fail to comply with this demand we reserve the right to avail ourselves of all remedies available at law. Tommy Guns filed for a Canadian trademark in 2009, six years after Luong registered his business. Luong said he chose the name Tommys because its easier for his clients to say and remember than his first name, Thong. He immigrated to Canada from Vietnam in 1984. He said his family was wealthy back home and he was spoiled he had never even held a broom, let alone used one. But when he arrived in Canada, he had to learn English and work 90-hour weeks as a cleaner and security guard to support himself. Around 2001, he went to barber school and in 2003 opened his little shop on Albro Lake Road in Dartmouth. The same year, Luong registered his company with the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies and has renewed every year since, according to the registrys database. Tommy Guns had justified its request by saying the shared name of Tommy would confuse clients and that Tommy Guns has developed significant goodwill associated with the (name), not just in Halifax but across Canada. They were at a loss to explain what they did what they did, McHugh said of the now 180-degree turn by the company. The two brands are very different I think that was their rationale afterwards and I dont think they had any rationale in the beginning. After going public with his story, Luong had received an outpouring of support from the public, which included his customers and other barbershops in the Halifax region. That support continued on Friday. Tommys Barber Shop has been there for over 15 years and the other guys wanted to scoot the local guy. That is not fair, said Phat Luong, who runs Phats Barber Shop on Quinpool Road. Its a business, he noted. If they like the barber shop, theyll come in. If they dont like the barber shop, they will go to another place. Its a free enterprise. McHugh gives huge praise to the owner of Tommys Barber Shop for taking the stand that he did. Tommy Luong first told his situation to the CBC Wednesday, and since then his story has been followed by other media and been a hot topic of conversation on both Twitter and Facebook. Social media loves David versus Goliath stories. That thing then has legs. They (the public) think, This is ridiculous, he said. As for Tommy Guns Original Barbershop, McHugh said theyll recover but consider it a lesson learned. This is not good for their brand, but theyll withstand this. Its a mini firestorm. Theyve done the right thing now by saying they arent going to do this anymore. It will go away. Read more about: OTTAWABorder security officers are being diverted from across Canada to help with an anticipated spike in the number of asylum-seekers crossing irregularly into Quebec. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has sent memos across the country advising that agents from other regions will be in Quebec May 28-Sept. 16 to help deal with the influx of refugee claimants crossing the Canada-U.S. border at unofficial entry points. The measure could mean staff shortages causing delays at major airports such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, as well as land ports such as Windsor and Niagara Falls, said Jean-Pierre Fortin, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union. Read more: Quebec preparing for up to 400 asylum seekers a day at the U.S. border this summer Number of asylum seekers jumped 30 per cent in April Asylum-seekers will be fast-tracked to Ontario starting next week Security issues could also be an issue, Fortin warned. The impact will be that there may be enough resources at Lacolle (Quebec), but they will create other points of pressure across Canada, he said. The end result will be that wait times will increase and security will go down. The influx of refugee claimants has been an ongoing pressure point in Quebec for the last few months, with more people coming across nonofficial entry points along the border: the RCMP intercepted 7,612 refugee claimants between January and April of this year. Officials are preparing for a spike over the warm summer months. The government is setting up temporary housing units at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, the municipality where the majority of RCMP interceptions of irregular migrants in Quebec take place. The short-term accommodations are meant to ease pressure on Quebecs resources while plans are still being developed to triage incoming asylum-seekers in the hopes of diverting those who may be willing to settle in areas outside Montreal. But, while the pressure remains significant in Quebec, diverting border security officers from other areas of the country will create new pressure points at official ports of entry, especially during the summer, Fortin predicted. You have to keep in mind that the summer period is our busiest time for our officers. People are going to the United States, Americans are coming to Canada. Its the vacation period so obviously thats a time we are extremely busy. Fortin wants the government to hire more staff to deal with the problems, not redeploy existing officers. The union argues it has been losing officers to attrition over the last year, and that only half of those who have left have been replaced. The memo to employees was a routine one sent every year to see if some employees would be willing to be assigned to another location or work overtime during the busy summer months, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Thursday. CBSA makes sure the principal responsibility of managing those ports of entry is properly managed with the adequate staff numbers in place to cope with the volumes, Goodale said in Saskatoon. The number that would be relocated in this particular configuration would be very small. Torontos Pearson airport will not be impacted by any reallocation of staff, and will, in fact, have more staff than last summer, including 26 per cent more summer student staff, who free up regular officers to focus on priority duties, an official in Goodales office said in a statement. We are going to work very, very hard to keep our service standards high, as we did last summer very successfully, but its a challenge because volumes are so large, the minister said, referring to the number of travellers who traverse Canada every summer. Its a volume challenge that CBSA is trying to forecast as carefully as they can in advance, make sure they have their resources in the right places at the right time to handle that extraordinary summer volume. Read more about: MONTREAL The creation story of Mediafugees, a new Montreal-based online magazine written about and by refugees, stretches quite appropriately across several borders. Camille Teste, a journalist, and Nassim Sari, a social worker, are longtime friends from the French city of Marseille. In 2014, they travelled to Beirut where they saw first hand and were touched by the plight of the millions of Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians and other migrants who have sought refuge in Lebanon. Teste moved to Montreal a year ago. She left behind a country torn apart by the political debate over immigration and entered one that was being hit by its own migratory influx, when thousands of Haitian nationals began crossing into Quebec from the United States in order to avoid deportation. Read more: We are here to help everyone: Paramount Fine Foods president teams with UNHCR to help Rohingya refugees Number of asylum seekers jumped 30 per cent in April Teenage Syrian refugee teams up with Edmonton teacher to tell his story in new book That is when they began putting together what they describe as an experimental media platform that aims to have migrants, refugees and asylum seekers tell their stories, discuss their issues and interpret their strange, new and sometimes frightening worlds all by themselves. I think the profession of journalism is one of the greatest in the world and absolutely necessary, especially today, Teste said in an interview. But letting people who are experiencing something speak about it with as little interference as possible seems to me to be a necessity. The project is still in its infancy. The Mediafugees website only went live last month. But the limited content provides a flavour of their vision. A first-person story by a John Nyembo, a Congolese man who fled to Zambia and then Botswana after denouncing the army on international television, speaks of the isolation and loneliness after obtaining asylum in Canada in 2015. Another is written under a pseudonym by an Iraqi man now living in Belgium who recounts why and how he fled to Turkey and risked his life to reach Europe by boat. But its not only first-person journalism that the site is interested in publishing. Well have them, of course, but we also want these people to tell us about what they know. We want them to write articles that are more journalistic, more informative, or where they react to a given situation, Teste said. She gave the example of the decision to open Montreals Olympic Stadium last summer to temporarily house the thousands of asylum seekers that arrived in the country last summer, fleeing the more restrictive immigration policies in the United States. That could have been treated as a news article written by a refugee writer, she said. While newspapers have occasionally turned editions over to celebrities and activists like Bono and Bill Gates, the French newspaper Liberation turned its entire March 7, 2017 edition over to refugee writers, billing it as France seen by those who dont usually have a voice. The editorial input came from writers, journalists and artists from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and other countries that count desperate and endangered people among their national exports. Sari said in an interview published last month in France that they realized there was source of untapped talent due to the large numbers of journalists forced to flee their countries due to war or persecution. Paris is home to the non-profit group Maison des journalistes, which is an actual 14-room shelter for reporters who have fled persecution. Teste said she has been unable to find any such resources in Canada, and other refugees are sometimes reluctant to come forward, either because they dont want to re-live their trauma or have a distrust of the media. Theyre so used to journalists coming and listening to their experience and transforming it into a sob story and then never again having contact, she said. The initiative is largely a volunteer effort at the moment. Any money that has been scrounged or donated is being reserved to pay contributors, which Teste a freelancer herself said is a point of principle. A proper funding envelope that might be used to pay writers, artists and, ideally, a staff member with their own personal experience as a refugee to help lead the project, is still on the horizon. Teste said Mediafugees will be a success if it gives a voice and puts a face to the crisis and if the word refugee provokes empathy instead of feelings of anger and fear. They are exactly like you or I. They want their families to live in security, to know that they wont be blown up by a bomb tomorrow, that their children arent at risk of sexual abuse, she said. They just want to build a family and be happy, like everyone else. NEW YORKPrime Minister Justin Trudeau says putting federal cash down as an insurance policy of sorts to get the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion built is the result of an exceptional political situation. Speaking in New York City a day after his government announced it would compensate Kinder Morgan for any delays in construction caused by political problems, Trudeau said he has every confidence the pipeline will proceed. What we have proposed in our finance ministers proposal yesterday is to remove some of the risk by providing a sort of insurance policy for this particular context of political risk, Trudeau said. Its very much an exceptional situation. Kinder Morgan halted non-essential spending on the project in April because of pending legal questions by the government of British Columbia, and the federal government now has just two more weeks to come to an agreement with the company before its May 31 deadline. The big political obstacle at play is the British Columbia governments opposition to the project, and B.C.s court challenge asking whether it has jurisdiction to regulate what flows through the pipeline even though Canada has jurisdiction to build it. That court challenge, filed in late April, could take months, if not years to sort out, and it has given jitters to pipeline investors who fear starting construction on the project is risky if there is a possibility no oil can ever flow through it. Those jitters are extending beyond the pipeline and threatening Canadas competitiveness in the energy industry overall. Coupled with the unease created by the North American Free Trade Agreements meandering path to renegotiation a politically imposed deadline to get a new deal in place passed by on Thursday investor confidence in Canada is showing signs of trouble. Read more: As pipeline feud intensifies, B.C. business leaders meet with Alberta premier B.C. threatens to sue Alberta if unconstitutional bill to block oil becomes law Alberta UCP Leader Jason Kenney stands by calling Trudeau empty, clueless The Bank of Canada said earlier this week that trade uncertainty due to issues like NAFTA will chill business investment in the country by 2 per cent this year. Combating those concerns was the main focus of much of Trudeaus three-day trip to the United States this week, where he met with more than a dozen different business executives, pension fund managers and CEOs in New York and has more meetings planned in Boston Friday. None of those meetings involved the Trans Mountain pipeline however, Trudeau said. While Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Wednesday that if Kinder Morgan wont build the pipeline there are others that will step in, Trudeau said he was not meeting with any such parties on this trip and is leaving the pipeline talks to Morneau. I have tremendous confidence in our finance minister and the work hes done with both the company in question and with leading voices and investors in the Canadian and global energy sector, said Trudeau. There are many people interested in seeing this project proceed. Trudeau says Morneau has made many different contacts with people in the Canadian and global energy industries, and continues to have robust conversations with Kinder Morgan as well. Morneau would not say Thursday who else he is talking to about the pipeline project. Were at the table, weve got our sleeves rolled up, and certainly we look forward to continuing those discussions with Kinder Morgan, he said. Trudeau said his conversations with investors this week have included reminding them that while he hopes for a speedy conclusion to NAFTA talks, Canada and the U.S. had a solid trading relationship before NAFTA existed and it is important but not the only element of the relationship now. Trade between Canada and the United States in particular was robust, positive and extremely beneficial to both of our countries, he said. Regardless of how long it might take to renegotiate NAFTA and I certainly hope it doesnt take too much longer the trade ties, the relationships, people to people, business to business, neighbour to neighbour will continue. Trudeau would not directly address criticisms lobbed at him by United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney this week. Kenney said he did not believe Trudeau was smart enough to grasp complex and nuanced political issues like Trans Mountain. I welcome robust disagreements over policy, over issues, but it is not my practice and it is not I think helpful to make personal attacks to denigrate an individual, he said. My father raised me better than that and Im not going to engage. Read more about: VANCOUVERFish farming company Marine Harvest says the B.C. Supreme Court has ordered two Indigenous protesters, who have occupied the companys houses and dock at Swanson Island for months, to leave by Saturday evening pending an upcoming hearing. Marine Harvest says the court also ordered them not to board or interfere with any of Marine Harvests salmon farms operating in the area. It says the order is pending a June 25 hearing of an application by Marine Harvest for a broader injunction order. Court documents filed by Ernest Alfred and Karissa Glendale, who are named as defendants, say they and many others from the Namgis First Nation and surrounding First Nations are opposed to open-net fish farms in ocean waters in their traditional territories. They say they are legitimately concerned about the impacts the farms have on local fish and sea life. They say that as local Indigenous people in an area subject to ongoing Aboriginal title litigation, they have the right and responsibility to peacefully witness and observe fish farms and that an injunction sought by the company limiting them from within 20 metres of its fish farms is overbroad. Read more: B.C. Supreme Court grants injunction to fish farm, ending protests Dead fish swimming: Lice from fish farms infecting wild baby salmon in B.C. Disease found in salmon on B.C. fish farm: study Marine Harvest was previously granted an injunction against protesters who were occupying its Midsummer Island salmon farm in December 2017. Court records say the conditions of adjournment in the current case would be similar to those ordered in December 2017. It says if persons reoccupy any of the sites in the undertaking, the company may reset an application in relation to that activity on 48 hours notice. In a statement, Marine Harvest spokesperson Jeremy Dunn says the occupiers are interfering with the companys legitimate activities. Meaningful dialogue with First Nations in the Broughton Archipelago, where we have been operating salmon farms for 30 years, remains a priority for Marine Harvest. Unfortunately, our efforts to date have not been successful, but we remain hopeful, Dunn said in a statement. The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. NAPANEE, ONT.Paul Bernardo, one of Canadas most infamous killers, was ordered Friday to stand trial for allegedly possessing a homemade shank in the maximum-security prison where hes serving a life sentence. Bernardo appeared briefly via video link in a Napanee, Ont., courthouse for a hearing on a weapon possession charge, with a judge ruling that a trial on the matter would start Oct. 5. Court documents show the weapon allegedly possessed by Bernardo was a shank comprised of a screw and a pen. The alleged offence took place at a prison in Bath, Ont., on Feb. 9, the documents show. Bernardos hearing was delayed Friday morning as court staff dealt with technical issues. When a video link was established, Bernardo appeared from prison dressed in a blue T-shirt and smiled at the judge during a brief exchange about the hour-long delay. Justice Geoffrey Griffin ordered Bernardo to appear in the Napanee courthouse in person for the start of the trial. He noted that Bernardos lawyer had requested a trial date after mid-September. There was a real possibility we could have given you a date before October, we could have likely given you a date this summer, but it was your lawyer that asked for a date after Sept. 15th, Griffin said. As the date was being discussed, Bernardo asked that the trial take place before an upcoming parole hearing. Your honour, I have a parole date in October and Id like to have the matter handled before that, if thats possible, he said. Griffin, who initially considered scheduling the trial for Oct. 26, moved it to Oct. 5. Bernardo was arrested in the 1990s on allegations that he raped and murdered multiple teenage girls at his southern Ontario home. His 1995 trial for the deaths of 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy and 15-year-old Kristen French horrified Canadians as lawyers presented videotaped evidence of his repeated brutal attacks on the teenagers. Bernardo was eventually convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, forcible confinement and aggravated sexual assault in both cases and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for 25 years. He was later convicted of manslaughter in the death of Tammy Homolka, the younger sister of his wife Karla Homolka, who was convicted of having roles in all three killings and served a 12-year prison sentence after striking a deal with prosecutors. After admitting to raping 14 other women in and around Toronto, Bernardo was labelled a dangerous offender. Read more: Convicted killer Paul Bernardo facing weapons possession charge Karla Homolka should be hounded for the rest of her life: DiManno Wedding bells for Paul Bernardo? CHARLOTTETOWNPrince Edward Island is offering help to people affected by record-breaking flooding in New Brunswick. Premier Wade MacLauchlan says the provincial government will donate $25,000 to the Canadian Red Cross relief efforts. MacLauchlan says Red Cross volunteers from the province have arranged emergency shelter for nearly 300 people displaced by flooding. He says more Island volunteers are prepared to go if needed. Also, PEI Liquor retail stores across the province are accepting donations to support the relief efforts, and people can donate online at the Red Cross website. The gesture comes a day after Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil announced the province is donating $100,000 to the Canadian Red Cross, as well as providing about six provincial staff to assist with cleanup efforts. Read more: Nova Scotia disaster manager sent to New Brunswick to aid flood efforts Just a pile of rubbish there now: Damage becoming clear amid historic flood in New Brunswick Community rallies to battle rising floodwaters in Saint John Read more about: OTTAWAJustin Trudeaus Liberal government faces a critical few weeks when major initiatives free trade, the Trans Mountain pipeline and the legalization of marijuana hang in the balance. At the same time, key legislative initiatives including reforms to elections laws, government accountability reforms, and an overhaul of Canadas national security apparatus remain stuck in Parliament. MPs and senators return to Ottawa Tuesday after a week in their constituencies. It will be the start of a four- to six-week sprint towards Parliaments summer break. Theres a lot to get done, and not a lot of time to do it. And it comes at a time when the Liberals have seen their fortunes sag in the polls, said Frank Graves, president of EKOS Research Associates. Gone is the commanding lead of 18 months ago and the firms more recent polls have had the Conservatives ahead at times, he said in an interview. Something is not firing well. It could be the mid-term fatigue that comes to any government, especially one that was freighted with such enormously high expectations, Graves said. Feeding that drop might be a sense that major initiatives are delayed or not happening at all, he said. Each of them individually probably doesnt mean that much but collectively they might be producing a sense of disappointment, Graves said. External pressures have taken up much of the Liberal governments attention of late, chief among them the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The roller-coaster negotiations around NAFTA took another turn last week, with Trudeau optimistically declaring a deal was very close only to have the United States trade representative say they were nowhere near close. Graves said that voters would likely be forgiving on this issue, given what Trudeau and his cabinet have been up against with the Trump administration. theyve been very diligent on this file. Im not sure there was a better outcome available, he said. The fate of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion which Trudeau has declared is in Canadas vital, strategic interest also faces a looming deadline set by its U.S.-based owner, Kinder Morgan. Trudeau and his ministers have been emphatic that this project to move Alberta bitumen to port near Vancouver will get built, despite opposition from the NDP government in British Columbia and some First Nations. Kinder Morgan stopped work last month and is threatening to pull out of the project unless clarity around its future is secured. Morneau announced last week that Ottawa is prepared to indemnify Kinder Morgan against politically-motivated delays to the pipeline project but the company reacted coolly to the proposal and said discussions were continuing. Its a tough one. They seemed committed to doing it, which I think might help them in the sense that theres been a lot of other commitments where they havent really delivered, Graves said. It might help redress this sense that they cant close the deal on some of the key promises, he said. In Parliament, the Liberals legislative agenda has been slow. Of the 81 government bills introduced since the Liberals formed government, only 42 have made their way through the House of Commons and Senate to receive Royal Assent, according to parliamentary records. A further 27 bills are in various stages of study in the House of Commons, and 11 in the Senate. One bill the Transportation Modernization Act, which includes an airline traveler bill of rights is stuck in a tug-of-war between the House and Senate over changes to rail transport regulations. More important than the raw numbers, however, is the content of the bills still on the docket. The Liberals election vow to legalize cannabis hinges on legislation now being studied in the Senate, which has committed to a vote by June 7. A March Senate vote on Bill C-45 sparked some drama when it appeared the bill might be defeated. The legislation passed easily but it was a reminder that in a Senate now dominated by independents, no vote can be taken for granted. Two other major Liberal election promises an overhaul of Canadas national security regime, as well as government transparency and accountability reforms were introduced last June and have still yet to make it to a Senate study. And with the recent unpredictability of a more independent Red Chamber, its anyones guess how quickly those bills will proceed. Another major Liberal commitment reforming Canadas elections laws and ensuring the integrity of the 2019 federal election only just found its way into legislation last month. With opposition parties digging in their heels, there is little chance Bill C-76 will clear the House of Commons by the end of June. That puts the whole reform package at risk, at least in terms of the 2019 election Elections Canada has already warned they need more than a year to make significant changes to the system. Cameron Ahmad, spokesperson for Trudeau, said the coming few weeks is an opportunity to continue making progress on those legislative priorities. That includes the budget implementation act to enact measures laid out in the Liberals February budget. We were elected with a mandate, an ambitious one and we are working hard to implement that mandate, he said in an interview. I would see our entire mandate, all the time we spent in government, as time devoted to making progress on the promises we made to Canadians and achieving those outcomes, Ahmad said. Read more about: Prez Trump pledges to sign prison reform that will be "best in the world" | Main | "Federalism and Constitutional Criminal Law" May 18, 2018 Head of federal Bureau of Prisons abruptly resigns As reported in this USA Today article, headlined "Federal prisons chief Mark Inch abruptly resigns from job he took over in September," while Prez Trump and others today at the White House were discussing federal prison reform, the head of the federal prison agency surprisingly resigned. Here is the story and possible backstory: Mark Inch, the director of the embattled federal Bureau of Prisons, abruptly announced his resignation Friday, the Justice Department announced Friday. There was no immediate reason provided for the departure of Inch, who had just assumed leadership of the country's largest detention system in September. In a brief statement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions thanked Inch for his service wished him "luck in his future endeavors." The attorney general did not elaborate. As director, Inch oversaw 122 detention facilities, 39,000 staffers and 186,000 inmates. Inchs resignation also comes as the White House was staging a summit Friday on prison reform. There, White House senior adviser and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner commended Inch for his work on the Federal Inter-agency Reentry Council, though it was not clear whether he was aware of Inch's resignation. "We're working on the reentry commission, where the new director of the Bureau of Prisons, General Inch, has been working with Attorney General Sessions to look at all the different changes they can make in the prisons, he said. Hugh J. Hurwitz, assistant director of the BOPs Reentry Services Division, will serve as acting director, Sessions said. For the last year, the Bureau of Prisons has been the focus of a review by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been examining allegations of sexual harassment, management retaliation against staffers and staffing shortages. Those shortages have routinely thrust nurses, teachers, food service workers and others to take up guard duty in under-staffed prison yards and solitary confinement wings. Hundreds of non-custodial staffers were tapped last year to fill guard posts across the Bureau of Prisons because of acute officer shortages and overtime limits, according to prison records reviewed by USA TODAY and staff interviews. The moves were made despite repeated warnings that the assignments placed unprepared employees at risk. And the practice has continued for years even though the agency has been rebuked by Congress and federal labor arbitrators.... According to his Justice biography, Hurwitz began his career with the BOP as a law clerk in the Office of General Counsel in 1988. He went on to serve in three other agencies before returning to the BOP in 2015 as the senior deputy assistant director of the Information, Policy and Public Affairs Division. May 18, 2018 at 06:27 PM | Permalink Comments Posted by: Docile the Wimpy Terrorist In OR | May 18, 2018 6:33:39 PM another mindless Trumpophile gets tarred with Trumpgrease. Posted by: anon1 | May 18, 2018 8:03:17 PM "Those shortages have routinely thrust nurses, teachers, food service workers and others to take up guard duty in under-staffed prison yards and solitary confinement wings." Welcome to big government services, with 99% of policy made by lawyers, no matter the party of the elected figurehead. Posted by: David Behar | May 19, 2018 2:03:51 AM "Mark Inch" is an interesting name. Wide open for parody, jokes or puns. Posted by: Joe | May 19, 2018 3:39:21 PM Joe. Go ahead and mock the name of this guy. https://www.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/367336.pdf Posted by: David Behar | May 19, 2018 8:07:53 PM Mark I had the same thoughts as you, was going to make a few punny comments, but David took the steam away. Posted by: MidWestGuy | May 19, 2018 10:02:09 PM Post a comment More than five years after Wayne Millards death, prosecutors have outlined the evidence, and witnesses, they plan to call to prove he wasnt suicidal and that his murderous son, Dellen Millard, pulled the trigger. The central issue for you to decide is what was his (Wayne Millards) state of mind at the time of his death, prosecutor Jill Cameron told Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell on Thursday. Forestell is hearing the first-degree murder case without a jury. The trial is scheduled to begin May 31 and last about a month. Dellen Millard is already serving life sentences for the murders of Laura Babcock, killed in July 2012, and Tim Bosma, who died on May 6, 2013. Wayne Millard, 71, died Nov. 29, 2012, in bed in his ranch-style home at 5 Maple Gate Court in Etobicoke after suffering a gunshot wound to his left eye. A .32 calibre Smith & Wesson was found on the floor nearby. The coroner concluded he died by his own hand and the Toronto Police Service closed its case. But police reopened the file after his son, who inherited his fathers aviation business, was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Bosma. On April 10, 2014, Dellen Millard was charged with the murders of his father and Babcock. Pretrial legal arguments on the admissibility of the Crowns proposed evidence in the upcoming murder trial had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday. But before the proceedings got underway, Cameron and co-counsel Ken Lockhart told the judge the planned litigation wasnt necessary. The Crown was seeking to introduce ante mortem statements alleged to have been made by Wayne Millard to his girlfriend, Janet Campbell, and to various friends, business associates, and housekeeper in the days and hours before dying. Defence lawyer Ravin Pillay, in court documents filed with the court, argued the majority of the statements shouldnt be admitted because theyre hearsay and the deceased cant be cross-examined. But an agreement was reached with the defence to leave out a portion of one highly contentious statement alleged to have been made by Wayne Millard to Campbell, Cameron told the judge. Campbell will be the Crowns first witness, Lockhart said in court. Campbells adoptive father and Millards mother were siblings. They had also gone out with one another when they were young and had, in early 2012, reconnected. By November, they were speaking almost every night on the phone, according to the Crowns application to introduce his ante mortem statements at trial. Wayne Millard and Campbell spoke for hours late Nov. 28 and into early Nov. 29 and the Crown originally wanted to include Campbells statement to police saying Dellen arrived home during that call. Pillay argued in his factum that the first time Campbell told that to police was on Dec. 14, 2015. The late disclosure, three years after the fact ... raises the concern that in her later recollection of the last phone call, she introduced that (Dellen) was present, at what would have been a time proximate to Wayne Millards death, because she was influenced by the multiple murder charges and ongoing persistent publicity, Pillay wrote in his factum. On Thursday, Cameron told Forestell the Crown had decided to abandon that. We have agreed ... it is inadmissible for a variety of reasons, Cameron told the judge. The remainder of the statements, however, will be admitted because they are utterances made by the deceased that go to his state of mind and future intentions, Cameron said. They include statements attributed to Wayne Millard, by Campbell, that Wayne was a recluse, did not take care of himself, drank alone during their late night phone calls, and was depressed, the defence factum states. The factum also says Campbell told a police detective that Wayne Millard said in their last conversation that his business was sucking the life out of him. According to the court documents, this is some of the other evidence expected to be heard during the trial: Millards DNA was found on the grip of the revolver. The Crown also has text and cell tower records showing he bought the gun on July 2, 2012. (The man who admitted making the sale was sent to prison.) The defence argues there is no way of knowing how long the DNA was on the firearm. Cell tower records show one of Millards phones moving from Oakville to nearby 5 Maple Court either the night of Nov. 28 or early Nov. 29. The defence raises several issues over the validity of this evidence. Millard told police he spent the Nov. 28-29 night at his friend Mark Smichs home in Oakville. (Smich is also serving life for the Bosma and Babcock murders.) Smichs girlfriend, Marlena Meneses, has told police she recalls Millard leaving under peculiar circumstances. The defence disputes that her evidence puts Millard at 5 Maple Gate Court. Pillay is also seeking to exclude Dellen Millards 50-minute video statement made to police at 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2012. That issue will be argued at the conclusion of the Crowns case, with the judge asked to rule before Pillay decides whether to call evidence, court heard Thursday. Pillay argues the videotaped statement should be excluded because his client was unlawfully detained for hours at the residence and at a police station where officers failed to inform of his right to counsel. The statements were obtained as a result of the violations of his right to counsel such that their introduction against him at trial will bring the administration of justice into disrepute, says Pillays notice of application to exclude statements. The breach of his charter rights was serious as he was detained following the discovery of his fathers death, Pillay argues. He was in significant emotional distress during the detention, the defence lawyer states. The failure to inform him of his right to counsel was a flagrant disregard for his constitutional rights. It is submitted that there can be no question that the breach in these circumstances is exceptionally serious. The Crowns witness list includes Toronto police officers who dealt with Dellen Millard the evening of his fathers death. A terracotta-tiled home nestled on Jerome St. in the west end has stood 113 years. But the decades are catching up to it. In what city staff are calling a rare situation, the heritage-registered property is slated be demolished. The building is not structurally sound. If you sneeze too hard, its going to fall down, said Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14 Parkkdale-High Park). Neighbours at Dundas St. W. and Dupont St. have been vocal about their desire to see the home preserved, after the new owners began construction at the site last month. The neighbours will have until next week to raise any concerns about the owners plans to level the home such as requesting proper dust suppression on site, but their input will not affect the demolition order itself. It has to come down because it is not safe, said Perks. However, the tiles are the historical feature that the city is keen to figure out how to preserve, he added. Read more: Neighbours want beautiful terracotta-tiled home preserved in west-end Toronto Heritage staff have finished photographing the site for documentation purposes, and are now in consultation with the owners to determine how to save the tiles. Perks said its too soon to say what this effort will look like, but that neighbours should rule out expectations of an identical-looking home. The guy who built it evidently was a bit of an eccentric Ive always just loved it, Perks said. Theres a lot going on there. And part of you wants to acknowledge that these very creative spirits have moved through our neighbourhood in the past. The home was erected in 1905 by west-end builder John Shelley Turner and is listed as a heritage site. He was born in Hartfield, England, and is recognized for another house at 24 Jerome St. and a church at 200 Annette St., which has since been partly converted into housing, his great-granddaughter Susan Marie Turner told the Star. We would hope for some kind of preservation (of the terracotta tiles) because we feel that its art, said Turner, an associate scholar at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Turner said she just recently learned about the family connection to this property, and would love to see the tiles saved, but doesnt believe they need to be installed back onto the future rebuild. I dont the think the owner has to be burdened with that. I think it would be wonderful, but I cant picture it, what it would look like, she said. Helen Stringer, 84, is another family member (not known to Turner) who has fond childhood memories of her grandfather. I was very close to him. He was a great person. He always told me that if you want something, go after it no matter how old you are, Stringer said. Though her grandfather and his work meant a lot to her, Stringer said she has no preference for what should happen to the tiles. As I said, time goes. You have to change. A 25-year-old woman was flown to Canada from Barbados and allegedly forced to work in the sex trade, police say. In a press release issued Thursday, police said, in late 2017, a man provided a woman with travel documents and a plane ticket from Barbados to Toronto. The woman was then allegedly forced to work as an escort, providing sexual services for money. Police say the man took her passport and kept it from her. He then allegedly took photos of her undressed and posted them on backpage.com, a website for advertising sexual services that was shut down in April. The man would communicate with clients, then tell the woman what sexual services she would provide, for how long and how much money she should receive as payment, police say. They also said, she was forced to turn over all money to him. On Wednesday, the man was arrested by the Human Trafficking Enforcement Team. Adrian Bates, 55, of Barbados, is facing nines charges of human trafficking, He appeared in court on Thursday in Toronto. The Toronto District School Board is introducing measures to ensure student safety on school trips after Jeremiah Perry drowned during an Algonquin Park canoe trip. The 15-year-old Grade 9 student slipped under the water while swimming in a lake with his classmates in the back country of Algonquin Park on July 4. His disappearance prompted a day of rescue efforts and the evacuation of his classmates. Perrys body was found the next day. In a report released by the TDSB on Wednesday, safety measures for future excursions are explained in detail. These mean that any student who has failed his or her swim test will not be allowed to participate in any activities involving water. If students pass the first swim test, they will also need to pass a second on location of the trip in open water. It will be supervised by lifeguards and teachers. If students fail the second test, they are also banned from participating in any water-related activities during the excursion. If both tests are succesfully completed, then the students are allowed to swim and take part in activites on the water, but must wear a lifejacket at all times. Swim results of these tests will be given to the student, their parents or guardians and the principal. TDSB policy requires that all students going on such trips pass a canoe swim test at a third-party facility on a lake. If they dont pass that test, they have a second opportunity to pass with one-on-one swimming lessons at the C.W. Jeffreys pool. TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said, These procedures and guidelines have been in place since September. But Wednesday night, he said the report was provided to the TDSB Committee, updating them on the safety initiatives put in place since Perrys death. School officials said, in August, that Perry was among the 15 students in the trip who failed a required swim test. Two of the students didnt take the test at all. Perry went to C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute in North York. He started at the school in October after immigrating to Canada from Guyana. The drowning is still under investigation by Ontario Provincial Police, said provincial police spokesperson Staff Sgt. Carolle Dionne. Police in Toronto say a suspect has been arrested in the case of the Keele Street Bandit. Police said a man made seven robberies at gas stations and fast food restaurants in Torontos west end between April 4 and May 12. Investigators say the man concealed his identity with dark glasses, a hoodie and face mask, pointed a gun at the victims and demanded they give him money and lottery tickets. On Thursday police said they made an arrest and seized a firearm and ammunition. Jason Ebanks, 31 of Toronto is charged with six counts of robbery with a firearm, robbery, six counts of disguise with intent, and two counts of possession of property obtained by crime. He was scheduled to appear in court on Friday. A second man has been charged in a Richmond Hill homicide that police have linked to a downtown Toronto home invasion in which two men were tied up and a dog killed. On Thursday, at 2:30 a.m., Toronto Police were called to investigate unknown trouble at a residence near the Air Canada Centre. York Regional Police were informed at 6:50 a.m. that two adult males had been found tied up, robbed, and a dog had been killed at 100 Harbour St. The men were not injured during the incident. Police suspected the home invasion was connected to an incident in which a man was found dead in the drivers seat of an abandoned black Jeep Wrangler in York Region at Bayswater Ave. and Emily Court., east of Yonge St. The victim was later identified as Matthew Arcara, 22, a Toronto man connected to the address where the Jeep was found parked. The dog belonged to him. York Regional Police spokesperson Laura Nicolle said this appears to be a targeted attack. What we determined, or pieced together, is that the victim was killed prior to all of these things occurring, Nicolle said. She said the victim was killed, then the assailants went to Toronto and committed the home invasion. A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death. On Friday afternoon, police charged 31-year-old Arjuna Paramsothy with first-degree murder, two counts of robbery while using a firearm, two counts of forcible confinement, disguise with intent and killing an animal. On Tuesday, police released a press release saying they charged 22-year-old Brandon Hudson from Richmond Hill with the same charges. Paramsothy and Hudson will both appear in court on June 1. This investigation is ongoing and detectives are calling on witnesses and asking anyone with information to call the homicide unit at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7865 or to leave an anonymous tip online at 1800222tips.com With files from Ilya Banares and Claire Floody Read more about: With only 20 rooms vacant, Toronto is within seven days of evoking an emergency plan to house the growing number of refugees settling in the city after crossing the U.S.-Canada border, Mayor John Tory says. We could not, cannot and should not be doing this alone. If these daily arrivals continue, as we expect them to, to some degree or another, we will be in a position within the next seven days, where we will need to open an emergency reception centre, Tory told a news conference Friday. As of Thursday, there were 2,683 refugee claimants in the Toronto shelter system, accounting for 41 per cent of the shelter population. At the current rate of arrivals, the city expects refugees will make up 54 per cent of the spaces by November. We are seeing on average 10 new refugee claimants added to our shelter system each and every day. Already, we have added 1,080 motel beds to our refugee program within the shelter system, Tory said. We have an overall responsibility to shelter people who are in need of shelter, but were trying to get help from other governments to establish a separate way of dealing with refugees and avoid the capacity issues of the shelter system. As of late April, 7,612 asylum seekers have crossed into Canada between official ports of entry this year up from 2,749 by this time in 2017. The wave of refugees via U.S. land crossings started in late 2016 with the election victory by President Donald Trump, who threatened the removal of undocumented migrants. A bilateral pact restricts refugees to filing asylum claims in the country of their arrival, but it does not apply to those who cross at unguarded border entry points, which has led to the irregular border-crossings. Tory said an emergency plan is in place but he would not review which neighbourhoods or city facilities would be opened to house the new arrivals. Although the city has successfully found permanent housing for 1,720 refugees, staff project a $20-million budget shortfall. Temporary motel housing for the refugees is expected to cost $64 million this year if the refugee occupancy levels remain at 40 per cent of the shelter system. I am reiterating today my urgent request to the provincial and federal governments to take immediate action to relieve the City of Toronto of this pressure and take leadership to co-ordinate and facilitate placement of new arrivals to regional locations outside of the city, said Tory, urging Ottawa and Queens Park to reimburse Toronto. We need places to make sure we can provide this temp housing. We need staff and resources to help us care for these families. Mathieu Genest, press secretary for Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, said the government has worked closely with provinces and municipalities affected by the influx of irregular migrants. We are currently working with the Government of Ontario to establish a triage system, which will ensure that we are using resources efficiently, he said. We continue to monitor the situation closely and engage with the Province of Ontario. Matt Gloyd, a spokesperson for the Ontario immigration department, said the province has been working hard to find possible sites to accommodate asylum seekers arriving in Toronto. Officials have identified several hundred spaces in college and university residences that the city could utilize for shelter space. These sites were shared with muncipal officials, and government officials will continue working closely with them to expedite this process, Gloyd said. Correction, May 19, 2018: This article was updated from a previous version that mistankenly said Toronto had just 20 beds vacant to house refugess. Two men have been charged with attempted murder following an incident that occurred in the parking lot of Dixie Outlet Mall on Wednesday, May 16. That afternoon, a 20-year-old man was struck by a vehicle and sustained life-threatening injuries. The vehicle, a black BMW 3 Series, fled the scene. The incident occurred at 1:15 p.m., 35 minutes after an altercation between the victim and two men in the area of Ogden and Strathy Aves. Police say the individuals were separated and left the area. John Stobbs-Hogarth of Orillia remains in life-threatening condition in a Toronto trauma centre. On Thursday, May 17, at 2 p.m., two men turned themselves in to police at 12 Division. Nineteen-year-old Benjamin Steinberg-Harrison and Rohit Rehal, a 20-year-old of no fixed address, were arrested and charged with attempted murder. They are being held for a bail hearing at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton on Friday, May 18. Police are asking witnesses or anyone with information or dashboard video footage of the incident to contact the 12 Division criminal investigation bureau at 905-453-2121, ext. 1233. Tips can also be left anonymously with Peel Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting peelcrimestoppers.ca. Police are now investigating the alleged theft of personal data from the company that owns Highway 407 in a case that is linked to the resignation of a Brampton-area PC candidate. We did receive a request from the 407 and the York Regional Polices major fraud unit is in the early stages of the investigation, Const. Marina Orlovski said Friday. Earlier in the day during a campaign stop in London, Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford faced questions about the alleged breach and the possibility that other candidates may have had access to the names, addresses and phone numbers of 60,000 407 ETR customers that the toll highway believes to have been stolen. Fords opponents have urged Elections Ontario to investigate the matter as well. As soon as we found out about it, we acted immediately the candidate is no longer with us, we replaced the candidate and you are going to have to talk to the 407, Ford said of Brampton East candidate Simmer Sandhu. But lets make no mistake about it: We take Elections Ontario seriously. It was very serious and we wont tolerate anything like that in our campaign. On Wednesday, Sandhu posted on Twitter that he would not run, saying anonymous accusations had been made pertaining to both my work life and my nomination campaign allegations he planned to defend vigorously. While there have been media reports that a number of candidates may also have been involved, Ford said as far as we know that was the only riding; we acted immediately. Rival parties wrote to Elections Ontario Thursday, with the NDP urging an immediate investigation into any possible data breaches, and the Liberals asking for a probe of an April 29 PC fundraiser, which Ford said he mistakenly attended. Ford said Friday that the PC party is conducting an internal investigation after he went to the fundraiser, which is in clear violation of new campaign rules. He said hed been misled about the event and only realized the mistake after being contacted by the Star. Ford said he stayed at the fundraiser for an hour, maybe an hour and a bit. We dismissed (the organizer) after learning attendees paid to be there, he also said. I was misinformed I was misinformed and Im going to repeat that, he said. I go to hundreds of events. Im very clear when I go there that they are meet-and-greets were doing an internal investigation and were putting proper protocol in place to make sure that never happens again. In a letter to Elections Ontario, PC lawyer Arthur Hamilton said the party has found no evidence of any fundraising contribution or donation ever being received in respect or because of the April 29 event in Scarborough. While ticket prices ranged from $250-a-plate to $2,000 for a seat at the head table, the Tories insist no money ever flowed to the party. As such, it appears that this April 29 event cannot properly be described as a fundraising event as defined by the Elections Finance Act, and further, that leader Fords attendance at it did not offend the prohibition (in the law), he wrote. In Toronto, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne did not wish to weigh in on Fords candidate woes. Im going to leave those questions to Mr. Ford, she said. While in London, Ford spoke of his partys health-care platform, which includes 15,000 new long-term care beds over the next five years, and a 10-year commitment to spent $1.9 billion on mental health and addictions. His party has also pledged a $98-million-a-year dental care plan for low-income seniors. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath applauded the police investigation into the allegedly stolen Highway 407 customer information. It's necessary to get to the bottom of the missing data, she said while making a health care announcement in Kenora. The key questions are where is that missing data now and what was it used for? she added. With files from Rob Ferguson Read more about: Poking holes in the NDP child-care plan is like taking candy from a baby, charges Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne. As the Liberals scramble to try to be the alternative to Doug Fords poll-leading Progressive Conservatives, Wynne took aim at Andrea Horwaths surging New Democrats. The NDP is not ready to take on Doug Ford thats the bottom line to keep our economy strong and deliver on the priorities that we hold in common, she said Friday at the Studio 123 daycare at Torontos 401 Richmond. On child care the NDP have some ideas that, at first blush, look pretty generous and look like a good idea. The problem is when you scratch below the surface, you realize that the details are not there, the Liberal leader said. There are two main problems that I can see with their proposal: first, it doesnt have any detail on how much it will cost middle-class families, and the NDP have not been able to answer that question, she said. That is a big gap in the detail thats available. Share your thoughts Horwath has said, if the NDP wins the June 7 election, there would be free child care for families with a household income of less than 40,000 in a licensed daycare centre starting next year. Fees will be based on income and the New Democrats maintain that about 70 per cent of families would see an average cost of $12 per day. The wealthiest Ontarians pay the full cost of child care, which can be as much as $100 a day. The NDP has also promised to build 202,000 new licensed spots. Read more: NDPs Andrea Horwath takes your questions on Tuesday Are the Ontario Tories muzzling some candidates? NDP promises more money for victims of Grassy Narrows mercury poisoning In contrast, Wynnes Liberals are building 100,000 new spaces, and, beginning in 2020, child care would be free for all children between the ages of two-and-a-half years and the age of four, at which they enter full-day junior kindergarten. Wynne said that pledge, a $2.2-billion cornerstone of the March budget, means a saving of $17,000 per child for families. Ford, meanwhile, is touting tax rebates of up to $6,750 per child on daycare fees, depending on income. Gordon Cleveland, associate professor of economics emeritus at the University of Torontos Scarborough campus and the author of a recent government report entitled Affordable For All: Making Licensed Child Care Affordable in Ontario, said Wynnes plan is the most realistic. Im not a member of the Ontario Liberal Party. Never have been. Im not here as a politician, but as an economist whos researched child-care policy for over 30 years and advised governments in various jurisdictions and internationally, said Cleveland. Making preschool child care free of charge is the best next step forward in dramatically improving the affordability of child care for families in Ontario. Campaigning in Grassy Narrows in Northern Ontario, Horwath said the NDP has not been able to calculate how much middle-class families would pay under her daycare plan. The reason we cant nail down the exact figure is because we dont have access to the detailed income tables that we need, she told reporters. She was referring to information held by the federal government. With files from Rob Ferguson Read more about: Death penalty restoration may get a vote in Illinois House | Main | Head of federal Bureau of Prisons abruptly resigns May 18, 2018 Prez Trump pledges to sign prison reform that will be "best in the world" As reported in this CBS News piece, both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a prison reform summit the White House this morning. Here are some of the details: Pence, taking to the podium, called prison reform a top priority for the Trump administration. Pence said the current prison system "too often" misses an opportunity to help improve people's lives, and instead just makes American communities more dangerous. Pence said the Trump administration will continue to hold accountable those who break the law, but also recognize that too many ex-offenders feel they have nowhere else to turn once they leave prison, and return to crime. "Prison reform is about changing lives, and about changing communities," Pence said. The White House has hosted such discussions before, although not in such a large summit. But the reforms Mr. Trump's administration has floated before mostly entailed better preparing inmates for reentry and reducing recidivism rates, not the sentencing reform that liberals and some conservatives have hoped for in recent years. Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who has made prison reform a top issue in his portfolio, said Mr. Trump is "all in" on prison reform, but explained why the White House's focus is narrow for now. "Sentencing reform is something that people still have different opinions on," Kushner said, noting how Washington has been unable to come to a consensus on the matter for years. Kushner said he thinks the country's system of governance works well, and requires intense deliberation on pivotal issues like prison reform. I was able to hear live a few of the comments by Prez Trump, and he pledged to sign the prison reform bill Congress delivered to him and he closed by asserting, in Trumpian fashion, that the prison reforms would be the "best in the world." People who know about prisons around the world, particularly in Scandinavia and other part of Europe, surely realize that Prez Trump is setting quite a high bar for US prison reform. But I was please to hear him make this commitment and continue to be hopeful that the energized support of the Trump Administration helps ensure that at least some form of federal criminal justice reform becomes a reality this year. May 18, 2018 at 12:18 PM | Permalink Comments Can one have faith in any "commitment" from this supreme charlatan and snake-oil salesman? Posted by: anon1 | May 18, 2018 12:22:02 PM I would like to see the Republican Congress actually pass something he would veto. Unless it has some special sting to him or his power personally, why would he? Presidents veto few things, especially passed by their own party. anon1 is right and at some point "pleased to hear him" in that context is ridiculous. Posted by: Joe | May 18, 2018 1:56:55 PM Anon1 and Joe. You sound a little upset. Posted by: David Behar | May 18, 2018 5:08:23 PM The comments can be taken as passion-less statements of reality. A person can be an "asshole" or whatever and it's proper to say so. The term comes off as a bit angry, but it also sometimes is simply truthful. Posted by: Joe | May 18, 2018 5:48:22 PM Does reform include ALL criminal convictions or just drug-related cases Posted by: Anonymous | May 18, 2018 6:02:46 PM Is this a sign Mueller has something good - that Kushner and Trump are hedging their bets to reform a prison they may be in? Posted by: Paul | May 18, 2018 10:49:39 PM https://www.c-span.org/video/?445801-2/vice-president-pence-jared-kushner-deliver-remarks-prison-reform White House Conference on prison reform was all pro-criminal. It included speeches by Texas former governor and expert on prison reform. The latter repeated the claim that crime has dropped in Texas, in the face of a population increase. The conference was moderated by a Yale Law School alumnus and Marxist radical, Van Jones. This British whistleblower was driven out of the police, for reporting the downgrading of crime reports. One should consider police reports to be worthless indicators, for the purpose of political propaganda. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2600217/Police-fiddle-crime-figures-hit-targets-Even-rapes-not-recorded-say-MPs.html Besides the artificial rejection and downgrading of reported crime, there are other factors in the reported decrease. The drop in the population of young adults, from the feminism caused drop in fecundity and in family formation has decreased the criminal cohort. The modernization of crime to the internet, makes current measures obsolete. The opiate overdose epidemic is killing criminals at a rate beyond the imagination of any death penalty advocate. Posted by: David Behar | May 19, 2018 7:25:28 AM Post a comment The modern Middle East has been plagued by ruinous wars: country versus country, civil wars with internecine and sectarian bloodletting, and numerous eruptions centred on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But never in the past 70 years have they seemed as interconnected as now, with Iran and Saudi Arabia vying for regional control, while Israel also seeks to maintain a military supremacy of its own. Russia, the United States and Turkey make up the other power brokers in a region where not only wars, but proxy battlefields within those wars, are on a feverish and hostile footing. The ongoing wars in Syria, Yemen, this weeks mass killing of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza, Turkish-Kurdish hostilities and the potential for an all-encompassing war sparked by an Iranian-Israeli conflagration in Syria or Lebanon, all have tentacles that reach across borders and back again. Suggestion in recent years of a Sunni-Shiite schism across the Middle East and Persian Gulf appears much less a factor than the jockeying of the key actors with the most military, financial and diplomatic muscle who are trying to shape the region in their image, or at least to the satisfaction of their national security and various leaders hubris. Heres a look at each of the main power players, whom they are aligned with, and what their ultimate goals are. Israel Whats at stake: Direct conflict with Iran has been simmering and briefly looked like it might burst into full-blown conflagration after Israel launched a blistering bombardment of Iranian positions in Syria, killing Iranian fighters after an alleged Iranian rocket barrage toward its positions on the annexed Golan Heights. The exchange followed several earlier suspected Israeli strikes on Iranian positions in Syria. Israel sees Iran as its mortal enemy and existential threat. Conflict with Iran would likely drag in Tehrans ally, Hezbollah. An Israeli-Hezbollah conflict could play out in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, with each side warning it will strike across the opponents country. Israel is bolstered by unprecedented support from U.S. President Donald Trump. Israel is determined to suffocate the Iran nuclear deal; Trump withdrew from the accord and days later sent his daughter and son-in-law to preside over the U.S. Embassy move to disputed Jerusalem, a move that angered the Arab and Muslim worlds. Bloodshed at the Gaza border may have revived global opprobrium against Israel for use of disproportionate live fire against unarmed protesters, killing dozens; but Trumps backing gives it reason to feel emboldened. Behind the scenes, Israel is building relations with Gulf nations also opposed to Iran. What it wants: A much weakened Iran, the continuation of the Gaza blockade which is also imposed by Egypt with a ferociously controlled border and no concessions to the Palestinians with regards to land for peace. Iran Whats at stake: The rapprochement with America under President Barack Obama is now ashes. Sanctions relief, running to hundreds of billions of dollars, is at risk, as Washington targets Tehran again, though a nuclear deal may be salvaged with EU nations, Russia and China. Iran has built up alliances to counter Israel and Saudi Arabia. In Syria, the presence of its troops and allied Shiite militias has been critical to President Bashar Assads survival. In Yemen, it is allied to Shiite Houthi rebels battling Saudi-backed forces. Tehran strongly supports the Palestinian cause, though its ties with Hamas have weakened. What it wants: Iran has pretty much accomplished a goal its officials have often trumpeted, building a corridor of power from Iran across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean. In all those countries, it funds and arms powerful Shiite militias and has enormous political influence. It seeks a continuation of the nuclear deal with the other global signatories, hoping to bolster its financial coffers. There has already been discontent in Iran that sanctions relief was not flowing to the people. Russia Whats at stake: President Vladimir Putin has ruthlessly filled the U.S. vacuum in Syria, waging an air campaign that has left a trail of dead in Aleppo and Ghouta among other locations. Moscows support of Assad turned the tide of war in his favour when defeat seemed imminent several years ago. Russia is also allied to Iran. But it also hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for its Victory Day celebrations hours before Israels attack on Iranian positions in Syria, raising speculation the two were quietly co-ordinating so that Israel kept well away from Moscows forces and planes in Syria. What it wants: Russias regional goal in is to sustain and build on the major foothold it now has in the Middle East, beyond Syria, notably where the U.S. might have once before. United States Whats at stake: Traditionally weve tried to play a role of fireman in the Middle East. Now were playing the role of arsonist, says Ilan Goldenberg, a former State Department and Pentagon official who runs the Mideast program at the Center for a New American Security. That seems to have plenty of currency in the region now, though some would also argue the U.S. has long played an incendiary role in the region, from reinstating the shah in Iran in the 1950s up to and including its wars in Iraq to the present day. The Palestinians have essentially cut off contacts and say the U.S. cannot be an honest broker. So Trumps promised deal of the century doesnt seem to be in the cards for now. Trump withdrew from the Iran deal. He has by his side hawks such as National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has advocated for attacking Iran and regime change. Trump cant decide on Syria to keep the U.S. presence or not? He doesnt seem intent on ruffling Putin over Syria unless chemical weapons rear their head again, which prompted U.S.-led airstrikes last month. The administration is very closely allied to Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and seems set to continue following Riyadhs lead on Yemen. Washington may get an unpleasant surprise if a heavily pro-Iran government emerges in Iraq after last weeks elections. What it wants: The administration is in complete sync with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saber-rattling with Iran could escalate, and it shows no urgency in pushing for Israel-Palestinian negotiations. Saudi Arabia Whats at stake: Also emboldened by Trump, the Saudi crown prince is determined to make his mark. Riyadh is spending billions of dollars in the Yemen war, leading a Gulf Arab coalition against Iranian-allied Shiite Houthi rebels. Thousands of civilians have been killed by Saudi airstrikes and starvation in the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Prince Mohammed has made vague threats that the kingdom will build a nuclear bomb if Iran starts its program again. Saudi Arabia sees Iran as the single greatest threat to the region and its competition for the dominant role it wants for itself. The kingdom is closely tied to Trump, who chose it as the destination for his first overseas trip as president, and it has been back-channeling with Israel. At the same time, it has lost influence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon after placing bets on losing partners or failed gambits. What it wants: Emasculation regionally of Iran and to be the dominant power in the region. Turkey Whats at stake: For President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, its almost exclusively about the Kurds, who in an alliance with the U.S. helped defeat Daesh, also known as ISIS, in Syria and in the process captured a quarter of the country. This has infuriated Turkey to the point it launched a military campaign seizing a pocket of northern Syria, and it threatens to attack Kurds all the way to the Iraqi border. The presence of U.S. forces among the Kurds is perhaps the only thing thats held Turkey back this long. Ankara views Kurdish fighters in Syria as an extension of the Turkish Kurdish PKK, which it considers a terrorist group. Turkey also gives vocal support to the Palestinians, while relations are at a nadir with Israel. Turkey has also offered to take in wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment. What it wants: To break Kurdish strength and, above all, prevent a Kurdish autonomous ministate in Syria along its border. It also wants some say in postwar Syria where it has supported opposition fighters and Islamist groups opposed to Assad. Read more about: WASHINGTONPrime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement is very close. U.S. President Donald Trumps trade chief said Thursday that a deal is nowhere near close. Trudeau had expressed optimism again on Thursday, saying a good deal was on the table and that negotiators were down to their last conversations. But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer struck a markedly different tone in an unusual statement later in the day. As I said last week, there are gaping differences on intellectual property, agricultural market access, de minimis levels, energy, labor, rules of origin, geographical indications, and much more, Lighthizer said, promising to continue to engage in negotiations. Lighthizer issued the statement after U.S. officials held meetings with top Trudeau officials, including his chief of staff Katie Telford and his point man for U.S. affairs, Brian Clow. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland also returned to Washington on Thursday. The day prior, a Canadian government source told the Star that there were indeed several major issues that had not been resolved nor even discussed in depth in recent weeks as top officials focused almost exclusively on auto manufacturing. Trudeau, the source said, meant that a quick deal could be had if the U.S. was willing to make significant compromises. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan had said that various mandatory review periods under U.S. trade law meant that Thursday was the last day to reach a deal that could be voted on by the Republican-controlled Congress this year. On Thursday, though, Ryan told reporters that there might be a window of two more weeks, since its possible that the U.S. International Trade Commission could take less than its allotted 105 days to issue an analysis of the impact of the agreement. Trade analysts said it is far from certain that the commission would indeed speed up its work to suit a political calendar. Speaking to the Economic Club of New York on Thursday, Trudeau said that Canada, the U.S. and Mexico had agreed on a broadly acceptable proposal on the auto issue. Trudeau made clear, though, that there were other hurdles to overcome. He said a deal that includes the sunset clause the U.S. is demanding, which would automatically terminate NAFTA in five years if the three countries did not re-endorse it, is not much of a deal at all. He said they must still settle on a system for resolving trade disputes. And he cautioned later that theres a lot of fine-tuning to do. Underscoring the lingering tension, Mexicos economy secretary, Ildefonso Guajardo, pushed back against Trudeaus claim in New York that Mexico has made a proposal that would satisfy Trump by bringing back some auto jobs from Mexico to the United States. Any renegotiated NAFTA that implies losses of existing Mexican jobs is unacceptable, Guajardo said on Twitter after congratulating Trudeau for a great interview. Trade experts said Canada and the U.S. might be offering divergent assessments because their goals are different. Ohio-based trade lawyer Dan Ujczo said Canada is likely trying to leverage this moment to try to get a limited skinny deal that includes changes to auto rules, but largely keeps the existing NAFTA intact, but Lighthizer is interested in addressing perennial Canada-U.S. disputes. Ottawa-based trade strategist Peter Clark offered a similar analysis, saying Trudeau might be seeking a limited deal in the belief Canada can obtain concessions by offering a quick deal Trump might see as a political victory but that the policy-minded Lighthizer sees as unsatisfactory. The U.S. political calendar matters because of the possibility that trade-skeptical Democrats will retake at least one chamber of Congress from trade-friendly Republicans in January. In that case, it is possible that the Trump administration would have to alter some bargaining positions to satisfy Democratic concerns about labour rights, the environment and other issues. It is also possible that Democrats would simply refuse to hold a vote. They took five years to vote on trade deals signed by the last Republican president, George W. Bush. With files from Bruce Campion-Smith and Tonda MacCharles Correction Sept. 4, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Peter Clark is a trade lawyer. In fact, Clark is a trade strategist. Read more about: WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump is defending his use of the word animals to describe some immigrants who enter the country illegally, saying he would continue to use the term to refer to violent gang members despite a sharp rebuke from Democratic leaders. Answering a reporters question during a meeting Thursday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump said his comment a day earlier had clearly been directed at members of the MS-13 gang. MS-13, these are animals coming onto our country, Trump said, repeating his language from Wednesday. When the MS-13 comes in, when the other gang members come into our country, I refer to them as animals. And guess what? I always will. Trump has been under fire for comments he made Wednesday while railing against California for its so-called sanctuary immigration policies. Trump was speaking at a roundtable with local California officials when he responded to a comment that had referenced MS-13. We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in and were stopping a lot of them, Trump said after Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims complained about state restrictions that limit co-operation with federal immigration authorities. You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people. These are animals. Trump has repeatedly referred to members of the violent street gang as animals in speeches, rallies and at White House events. He has also used the term to describe terrorists and school shooters. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., responded on Twitter to the President, saying, When all of our great-great-grandparents came to America they werent animals, and these people arent either. And House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, Every day that you think youve seen it all, along comes another manifestation of why their policies are so inhumane. Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on Friday that lawmakers who criticized Trump for using the word owe the President an apology. Here you have elected members of Congress pretending that hes talking about something entirely different. Its dangerous, its inappropriate and frankly, its just unprofessional, Nielsen said on Fox and Friends. But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the Presidents comments, arguing the word animals didnt go far enough. This is one of the most vicious and deadly gangs that operates by the motto of, Rape, control and kill, she said. If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, theyre more than welcome to. Frankly, I dont think the term that the President used was strong enough. Trump was joined at Wednesdays White House meeting by mayors, sheriffs and other local leaders from California who oppose the states immigration policies and who applauded his administrations hard-line efforts. This is your Republican resistance right here against what theyre doing in California, said Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, co-opting a term used by Democrats opposed to Trumps presidency. She, like others, said the President and his policies were far more popular in the state than people realize. They were criticizing legislation signed into law last year by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown that bars police from asking people about their immigration status or helping federal agents with immigration enforcement. Jail officials can transfer inmates to federal immigration authorities if they have been convicted of one of about 800 crimes, mostly felonies, but not for minor offences. Brown insists the legislation, which took effect Jan. 1, doesnt prevent federal immigration officials from doing their jobs. But the Trump administration has sued to reverse it, calling the policies unconstitutional and dangerous. Some counties, including San Diego and Orange, have voted to support the lawsuit or have passed their own anti-sanctuary resolutions. Republicans see backlash to the law as a potentially galvanizing issue during the midterm elections, especially with Trumps anti-immigrant base. And Trump has held numerous events in recent months during which hes drawn attention to Californias policies. During the session, Trump thanked the officials, saying they had bravely resisted Californias deadly and unconstitutional sanctuary state laws. He claimed those laws are forcing the release of illegal immigrant criminals, drug dealers, gang members and violent predators into your communities and providing safe harbour to some of the most vicious and violent offenders on earth. Brown responded on Twitter, writing that Trump is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA. The governor added: Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing. We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed. Read more about: PARISFrench authorities have thwarted a possible attack using ricin or explosives and handed preliminary terrorism charges to a young Egyptian man arrested in Paris, officials said Friday. The announcement came as French police and President Emmanuel Macrons government are under criticism for not preventing attacks like a deadly Islamic extremist stabbing in central Paris on Saturday. The Egyptian man was arrested a week ago in the French capitals 18th arrondissement, or district, according to a security official. Authorities found explosive powder as well as tutorials on how to make explosives and poison from materials such as ricin, the official said. The man, identified asc., was handed preliminary charges of association with a terrorist enterprise, according to a judicial official. Another man was also arrested but later released. A police official said both men were born in 1998 and at least one was a college student. The officials werent authorized to be publicly named discussing the investigation. Earlier, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the two men arrested were brothers. But the other officials said later they werent brothers. The reason for the discrepancy wasnt immediately clear. Authorities were tracking extremist activity on social networks when they identified the two young men, Collomb said earlier on BFM television. Collomb said the men had been communicating on encrypted messaging app Telegram. We were able to detect them, detect this attack plan and were able to arrest them, he said. He also defended the governments handling of the 26,000 people on police watch lists for suspected radicalism. The assailant in Saturdays stabbing, a 20-year-old Frenchman of Chechen origin, had been on the watch list, like several others who have attacked France in recent years. Assailant Khamzat Azimov, a nursing student, killed one person and wounded others in the attack near the Garnier opera house. Azimov was killed when he advanced on police. A close friend of his was arrested and given preliminary terrorism charges Thursday night. Two female friends of the men were arrested Thursday in the Paris region, the anti-terrorism prosecutor said. Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) claimed responsibility for inspiring Azimovs attack. Daesh sympathizers have killed more than 200 people in France in recent years. Read more about: PARKLAND, FLA. Survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, took to social media to express outrage and heartbreak in the aftermath of the Friday school shooting in Texas, where authorities say a gunman opened fire, killing 10 people. The shooting at Santa Fe High School marks the deadliest school shooting since a former student allegedly killed 17 at Floridas Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a Valentines Day massacre that mobilized thousands for gun reform rallies across the country. My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School. Its an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town Parkland will stand with you now and forever, Parkland student Jaclyn Corin said in a tweet. Read more: At least 10 people killed in Texas high school shooting, suspect in custody Texas teen held in Sante Fe school shooting described as quiet, unassuming She also directed her frustration at U.S. President Donald Trump, writing Our children are being MURDERED and youre treating this like a game. This is the 22nd school shooting just this year. DO SOMETHING. Classmate David Hogg, who was also part of a grassroots movement with Corin who started #NeverAgain, warned that politicians would soon descend on the Texas school acting like they care but are only looking to boost approval ratings. Cameron Kasky echoed those warnings on Twitter: Prepare to watch the NRA boast about getting higher donations. Prepare to see students rise up and be called civil terrorists and crisis actors. Prepare for the right-wing media to attack the survivors. Most of those killed Friday when at least one gunman opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday were students, authorities said. Monday marked the three-month anniversary since authorities say a former student opened fire at the Parkland, Florida, school. The shooting fuelled a massive student movement that led to gun reform legislation being passed in Florida and a national debate on stricter gun laws. Santa Fe High, you didnt deserve this. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices, tweeted Emma Gonzalez, who has been one of the leading voices calling for stricter gun laws since the Parkland shooting. March For Our Lives released a statement urging Americans not to sweep the latest shooting under the rug. The group said some of the Parkland students had already reached out to the Texas survivors. This is not the price of our freedom. This is the most fatal shooting since the one at our school and tragedies like this will continue to happen unless action is taken. Douglas student Kayla Renert travelled to Washington for the massive gun reform rally in March. On the bus in D.C., I said we continue to say never again but it keeps happening again, this was again. We worked hard to make Douglas the last mass school shooting and unfortunately three months later there was another, said the 15-year-old sophomore. Delaney Tarr tweeted she should be celebrating my last day of high school, but instead my heart is broken to hear of the tragedy at Santa Fe. We cannot let this continue to be the norm. We cannot. LONDON Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from a British hospital, more than two months after he was poisoned with a nerve agent and left fighting for his life, health officials said Friday. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury on March 4, and spent weeks in critical condition. Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month. Salisbury District Hospital said Friday that all three people hospitalized in the attack the Skripals and a police officer who came to their assistance had now been released. The Skripals have been taken to an undisclosed location for their safety. We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal, said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital. This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital. Sergei Skripal is a former Russian intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain before coming to the U.K. as part of a 2010 prisoner swap. He had been living quietly in the cathedral city of Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kilometres) southwest of London, when he was struck down. Read more: Poisoned spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter may never recover, U.K.s May says Chemical watchdog rejects Russias claim of 2nd nerve agent found in U.K. city where ex-spy was poisoned Britain says the Skripals were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent and that Russia was behind the attack. Moscow denies it. The poisoning has sparked a Cold War-style diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West, including the expulsion of hundreds of diplomats from both sides. The international chemical weapons watchdog has backed up Britains finding that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a class of nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union. Russia says Britain cant prove that the substance used to poison the Skripals was made in Russia. British police say they believe the toxin was smeared on the door handle of Skripals suburban house. Hundreds of counterterrorism officers and support staff have been assigned to the case but police have not yet named any suspects. Read more about: MOSCOWThe Russian military will soon receive new nuclear weapons that are far ahead of any foreign designs, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday. Speaking at a meeting in Sochi, Putin said delivery of the new Avangard hypersonic vehicle will begin next year, while the new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will enter duty in 2020. The Avangard and the Sarmat were among an array of new nuclear weapons Putin presented in March. Read more: Putin claims new nuclear weapons render NATOs U.S.-led missile defences useless The Russian leader said then that the Avangard has an intercontinental range and can fly in the atmosphere at a speed 20 times the speed of sound. The Russian leader added that the weapon can change both its course and its altitude en route to a target, making it absolutely invulnerable to any air or missile defence means. Putin noted that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 C resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball, he said in March. The Sarmat is intended to replace the Soviet-designed Voyevoda, the worlds heaviest ICBM that is known as Satan in the West and which carries 10 nuclear warheads. Putin said in March that Sarmat weighs 200 metric tons and has a higher range than Satan, allowing it to fly over the North or the South Poles and strike targets anywhere in the world. He added that Sarmat also carries a bigger number of nuclear warheads, which are more powerful than the ones on Satan. Putin said the new ICBM accelerates faster than its predecessor, making it harder for the enemy to intercept in its most vulnerable phase after the launch. He also said Sarmat could carry an array of warheads capable of dodging missile defences. Speaking Friday at a meeting with the top brass in Sochi that wrapped up a series of such conferences with military leaders this week, Putin said that these unique weapons systems are years and, perhaps, even decades ahead of any foreign analogues ... They have rendered many expensive, I would say highly expensive foreign systems, useless and outdated. Putin emphasized that two other new systems unveiled in March the Kinzhal hypersonic missile and the laser weapon called Peresvet have already been put on duty with the units of Russias Southern Military District, which are developing tactics of their use. Mig-31 fighter jets carrying the massive Kinzhal missiles flew over Red Square during the Victory Day parade earlier this month. During his March presentation, Putin also mentioned a nuclear-powered global range cruise missile and an underwater drone designed to strike coastal facilities with a heavy nuclear weapon. Officials have been coy about their deployment prospects. The Kremlin has conducted a sweeping arms modernization program amid tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine, Syria and other disputes. Read more about: FORT WAYNE, IND.An Indiana woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for trying to poison her infant niece by adding crushed painkillers to a bottle of breast milk. Nineteen-year-old Sarai Rodriguez-Miranda was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to attempted murder in March. Authorities say the Fort Wayne woman tried to poison her niece in January 2017 because she was angry that her mother was allowing her brother, his fiance and the then 11-week-old baby to live with them for longer than expected. Rodriguez-Miranda was arrested in Michigan in September. Court documents state that a bottle of milk stored in a refrigerator contained enough crushed painkillers to kill an adult. Doctors found the baby wasnt poisoned. The childs mother told WANE-TV after Fridays hearing that shes just glad this is over. So far, Doug Fords campaign to become premier of Ontario is a festival of fakeness. He communicates primarily through fake news reports on Ford Nation Live. He was cheered on by fake supporters (actually paid actors) at the first leaders debate. And then theres Fords phony populism: this is a man who markets himself as the saviour of the little guy while pushing policies that would deliver a Trump-style bonanza for billionaires. But there is one thing about Doug Ford that is excruciatingly real: the devastating social and economic consequences that would bear down on this province should he succeed in bringing Trumpism to Canada. Which is why we are convinced that now is the time for everyone who is committed to social justice to throw down to help elect the NDP and that includes people like us who have never been NDP members and usually stay away from parliamentary politics. We write this not only out of fear of what Ford would do if elected, but also out of genuine hope for what we could accomplish with a different kind of government in power in Ontario, one that was pushed from day one by engaged and organized social movements. But first, lets get real about the fear. Whether its scrapping cap-and-trade or slashing taxes, Fords various giveaways would blow a huge hole in Ontarios budget, with some economists putting its size as high as $25 billion over three years. He wont say how he plans to make up for it, but its no great mystery. Think even bigger class sizes, even more stressed teachers, even longer wait times for medical care, even more crowded and unreliable urban transit, even more diminished housing and income supports for Ontarios neediest residents. And as always, Black and Indigenous people, as well as new immigrants, would take the hardest hits. To make up for cutbacks, user fees will go up, and as Ford has made very clear, the minimum wage will stay down. This means less money in most peoples pockets, never mind Fords droningly repetitive claims to the contrary. But that is just the start of the threat Ford represents. Because as life becomes harder for Fords little guy, the Conservatives will need scapegoats easy targets to distract attention from their failures. And Ford has provided plenty of clues about who will be in the crosshairs, from his early decision to boycott the Black Community Provincial Leaders Debate, to his slip about wanting to take care of our own first when asked about immigrant workers, to his decision to take up the cause of free speech on campus (code for allowing openly racist speakers), to repeatedly complimenting Kathleen Wynne on her smile (and smiling himself when supporters chanted lock her up) and much more. The message is also evident in his support for ballooning police budgets, since brutal economic policies have long required a parallel criminalization of the poor and unwell. Read more: Wynne and Horwath blast Ford for stoking Trump-style lock her up rhetoric Opinion | Doug Ford is brash, but hes no Donald Trump Opinion | Thomas Walkom: How Doug Ford is different from Donald Trump Ford may look like Trump Lite so far, but we believe that would change fast under a Tory government. These regressive signals are being sent at a time when resentments are surging and when a growing number of Canadians are already acting upon overtly hateful views. From proud white supremacists marching outside Ryerson University, to the horrific Yonge Street van attack seemingly spurred on by incel propaganda, parts of our society feel increasingly like a powder keg. We fear that Doug Ford as premier of this countrys most populous province could well be the match. Ford is ahead in the polls not because a majority of Ontarians favour the bleak and divided future he has in store. Too many of us remember the wrenching impacts of Tory Premier Mike Harriss cuts, an evisceration from which the province never recovered under the Liberals. Thats why Ford is so determinedly vague about his economic plans. Its also why he favours the dog whistle over the Trump-style bullhorn when activating racial and gender resentments too many Ontarians are horrified by whats happening to politics south of the border. Ford is ahead in the polls mainly because, as he is so fond of repeating, people want change. And there are very good reasons for that: despite important victories for workers like the minimum wage hike, and despite election-year promises of new spending, Ontario under the Liberals has become a more unequal society, with the benefits of a long period of prosperity still stuck at the top. At a time when corporate profits are soaring, our basic services are stretched to the breaking point. So even if his populist posturing is as fake as his news videos, when Ford rails against an elite taking advantage of regular people, he is tapping into something real. The electoral mood is pissed off and as Hillary Clinton fatefully demonstrated, status quo candidates are no match for a right-wing pseudo-populist promising to up-end politics as usual. Now lets talk about hope because that is real too. As much as the Ford vs. Wynne dynamic echoes Trump vs. Clinton in 2016, there is one significant difference: here in Ontario, we have a viable third party on the ballot. The NDP has been out of power for longer than either the Tories or the Liberals and can therefore make a more credible claim to represent change than either party. It also has a platform that proposes increasing taxes on the wealthy in order to pay for services that will tangibly improve the lives of the vast majority of Ontarians, like extending public health insurance to cover dental and pharmacare. Combined with police and housing reforms, as well as the $15 minimum wage, $12-a-day daycare and returning Hydro to public hands, they are offering more than Fords pretend populism. They have an actual plan to begin interrupting the inequalities that have taken deep root over more than two and a half decades of Tory-Liberal rule. The good news is that after overlooking the NDP for months, a great many Ontarians suddenly recognize that they have a way to express their desire for change without voting for Trump-style politics. Right now, Andrea Horwaths NDP is polling just a few points behind Doug Ford. If she can maintain her current momentum, Horwath could actually pull off an historic upset. Lets help her do that, however we can, in the brief time before the vote. Not because the NDPs platform is perfect it isnt. For instance, its pledge to eliminate carding by police lacks specifics, and its climate plans are inadequate. We are also old enough to remember Bob Raes tenure as premier, when his capitulation to the provinces business community resulted in a stinging betrayal of the NDPs labour roots. Ever since, the party has attempted to appear more electable by tacking to the right. But this elections platform represents a genuine shift for the Ontario NDP. It is advancing bold policies and, in many cases, wisely following the lead of grassroots movements like Fight for $15 and Fairness. So even if we might want more, we understand that what we will be voting for on June 7 is not a mirror of our precise political worldview or a map of the exact world we want. We are voting for the best possible context in which we, and the social justice movements we are part of, can continue the long and difficult work of moving this province to a better future. In that regard, the choices before us are stark. The Liberals would continue the steady slide into deep inequality. The Conservatives would send us hurtling backwards to somewhere far more frightening. And the NDP, whether on its own or leading a coalition government, would open up the possibility of actually moving forward. We choose the third option. And then the real work begins. Naomi Klein is the author of No Is Not Enough: Resisting the New Shock Politics and co-author of Canadas Leap Manifesto .Rinaldo Walcott is a professor at the University of Toronto and the Director of the Women and Gender Studies Institute. Read more about: The opioid poisoning emergency remains a serious public-health issue, with too many people in our community dying from taking drugs contaminated with fentanyl and other potent substances. The resulting trauma is devastating for the families, friends and colleagues affected by preventable deaths. Community-service providers and first responders are working tirelessly to save lives, and governments are doing more, but it is still not enough. We need to start addressing the factors causing this crisis, including our drug policy. The human toll of our drug laws is immeasurable. Canadas drug laws are not based on evidence about individual or societal harms. People have used alcohol and other drugs throughout history, and most of this use does not create any significant harm. However, the current criminalization of people who take drugs is contributing to this crisis because it forces people into unsafe drug-use practices and creates barriers to seeking help. Dealing with a substance use issue can be challenging and it can be hard to find the right services. People also face significant stigma and discrimination, from family and friends, service providers they look to for help, and society at large. The impact of this stigma is profound, and is contributing to the overdose crisis. We need to consider new ways to address this serious health issue. Governments around the world are considering different approaches to drugs, with some decriminalizing drug use and possession, while others are legalizing and regulating drugs. What if we stopped criminalizing people for using drugs? What if we focused our efforts on prevention, harm reduction, treatment, affordable housing, adequate incomes and the other social determinants of health? I believe this approach will save lives and help to create healthier communities. Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier "(It will) serve a need ... for kids in general and kids in trouble," said Commissioner Richard Clark. The most formidable foe for Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne in the current election isnt a person or a party. Its time specifically the time for a change sentiment surging through the public-opinion polls. Three out of every four Ontarians believe its time for a change and more than half of them say they strongly feel that way, according to the latest findings from the Innovative Research Group. Even people who think the Liberals are the best option at the ballot box on June 7 are feeling the need for change, says the poll, which puts their numbers around 21 per cent. Change has more support right now than either the Liberals, the Conservatives or the New Democrats. Greg Lyle, who heads up Innovative Research, describes the desire for change as intense in Ontario and Lyle has some familiarity with that opinion when it hits long-serving governments. Lyle was working with Conservatives in Alberta when they were dumped by voters looking for a change from that four-decade-old dynasty in 2015. The hunger for change is a tough force to reverse or even resist once it takes hold, he says. So can Wynne do anything to hold Ontarios change-seeking mood at bay? Shes got to make change scary, Lyle suggests. Voters in Ontario might want to brace themselves, then, for the fear factor in coming waves of Liberal advertising. In the world of politics, where things often get distilled down to binary choices, change is either optimistic (the hopey-changey thing, as Sarah Palin would say) or frightening. If you cant sell change as hopeful and thats hard for an incumbent government you have little choice but to get voters rattled about potential, radical change to their everyday lives. Political parties fighting voters desire for change like to talk about risk (bad) and stability (good). Canadians might recall how many times former prime minister Stephen Harper talked about strong, stable government in the election campaign of 2011, after hed been in power for five years so often that he made a joke about when the voting was all over on May 2. And friends, I have to say it: a strong, stable, national, majority Conservative government, a victorious Harper proclaimed from the stage in Calgary that night. The strong, stable pitch had worked hed scared voters away from a change at the top of Canadian government. Four years ago, Wynne was able to cast herself as a new Liberal face, taking over from former premier Dalton McGuinty, simultaneously representing change and stability a new leader, yes, but the same party in charge. Now, though, in 2018, Wynne is simply seen as the leader of a 15-year-old government. Thats a long run, even for a dynasty, says Lawrence LeDuc, the veteran Canadian political scientist who co-authored a sweeping history of how power has been won, lost and retained in this country, titled Dynasties and Interludes. Though that book deals with federal power, LeDuc says that the Ontario Liberals qualify as a dynasty in Canadian politics. Dynasties happen, the book says, when a political party proves capable of winning multiple elections, positioning itself well on major economic issues, managing demographic divisions and sustaining basic elements of the welfare state. LeDuc, incidentally, does not believe well be seeing future dynasties lasting 40 or so years, as we once had in Alberta and Ontario. The electorate is just too volatile now, he says, with voters changing their minds multiple times over the course of days, let alone years. When dynasties go down, says Lyle, its often accompanied by the perception that the government has lost touch with people. The change they want in an incumbent government is they want more responsiveness, says Lyle. Thats almost all of what their complaint is that theyre arrogant, and aloof, and they dont care about me. Sometimes incumbent governments can persuade voters that they will change former Conservative leader Alison Redford was able to hold off defeat of her dynasty in Alberta that way in 2011. But its not clear that option is available to Wynne; voters can become equally unresponsive, hearing the same voice over and over again, even if its saying different things. Trying to reposition an incumbent party is much tougher than trying to reposition an opposition party, LeDuc said. But the way in which it might conceivably work, at least a little bit, is that if the election sort of becomes a kind of referendum on (Progressive Conservative Leader) Doug Ford. LeDucs co-author, Jon Pammett, the retired Carleton University political scientist, suggests that the Ontario New Democrats are already trying to frame this election in those terms as a referendum on Ford and the scary change he might bring to the province. In fact, Pammett says, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath could well be donning the mantle of stability in her current pitch to Ontario voters. An experienced leader, ready to give Ontarians more of what they like in Liberal government minus the Liberals. The NDP is kind of making an argument which kind of looks to me like a kind of stability argument, says Pammett. They say well be change for the better, in other words well pursue most of the same things (as Wynne) and well just do it better. Theres no magical or mathematic formula for determining when governments become vulnerable to the desire for change. It can happen quickly when voters experience buyers regret right after an election victory, for instance. (Donald Trumps popularity declined in many polls after he won the presidency in 2016.) Or the appetite for change can creep up on incumbents. In a way, says Lyle, governments are always vulnerable to a desire for change it only becomes a threat when a real alternative presents itself. The theory that an incumbent government works on is this: between elections were compared to the perfect, but in an election were compared to the alternatives, Lyle says. In his polling over the past year, Lyle believes he saw the moment that Ontarians started to think about change and the alternatives and it happened several months before this election. It was back in January, when the former Conservative leader Patrick Brown was ousted from his job and suddenly everyone in Ontario was thinking about politics. Oddly enough though, said Lyle, all this attention was hurting the incumbent Liberal government. Even though it was a Tory scandal that got their attention, they didnt judge the Tories harshly as a result of that scandal, Lyle said. Instead, what they did is it was a moment in which they crystallized their feelings about the government. Desire for change in Ontario has been building steadily ever since, he said. LeDuc and Pammett, in their study of dynasties and interludes in Canadian politics, havent identified any one single way that they are defeated. Well, maybe one large way. Time, says LeDuc. Dynasties often fall apart just from time. Read more about: Meghan Markle could have dropped out at the last minute but she did not. It was generous of her she appears to be a person of great kindness and that sort of thing can be fatal in the royal familybut still many TV viewers must have been thinking, You know, she can always cancel. Backing out of things is one of lifes great pleasures. Just back down the aisle if you wish, the way you do in supermarkets when you regret your choice of jam. When Prince Charles joins her briefly, much like his first marriage, that might be the moment. If only Lady Diana Spencer had done it, she might have been here today instead of being used by a dishonest husband and dying at age 36 as the paparazzi watched. She had joked about doing a cut-and-run before the ceremony but thats the thing about over-the-top weddings like Meghans. Massive money has been spent, the guests are waiting in their wedding gear, and most of all, Harrys so sweet. Prince Harry has not invited his mistress to his wedding, as his father did. Prince Harry must hate being stared at by millions as happened on the worst day of his life and now will happen on the best. Prince Harry is a generous, good-hearted, game royal, and he can be counted on to show up for things because that is what royals do. Royal weddings have a powerful undertow. Memory, judgment, most apprehension and endless questions run through the guests as St. Georges Chapel like a stadium wave. Why are the guests dressed for 1952? How do William and Harry tolerate Camilla? How do William and Harry tolerate their father? How does the Queen tolerate Prince Philip? Is the brides father going to survive? What is Princess Eugenie wearing? Why? Why is Princess Beatrice? Who has the more dysfunctional family, Meghan or Harry? Is Meghan richer than Harry as measured in earned dollars? How can women be given away? Will there be cake? Is there air conditioning? Why did we wear new shoes? Every wedding is fraught, every wedding the apex of stress, and yet people get married more often than not, dreadful backstories in lockstep. Meghans dress will be studied for women are scrutinized unto death but no one will speculate on whatever gold passementerie Harry is wearing on his torso, whether its army, navy or whatsit. Its the kind of thing TV hosts murmur about during a downtime in the ceremony, but no one is interested. Viewers will care more about the flower arrangements than about the groom who is a mere stick figure, an accessory, the suited man on the cake, Dianas happiest sprite. Harry will be grinning like mad, as is his way, but the bride will be a moving target on this day and for the rest of her life. Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, knows the feeling, which is why her daywear is grimly designed to be not of interest to photographers, not that it helps. She dresses Princess Charlotte the same way. Charlotte, 3, looks like the Queen in wartime, short and burly in her double-breasted wool overcoat. Prince George wears almost Weinstein-ish towelling dressing gowns. Do not notice us, the look says. William and Harry, fashions playthings as toddlers under Dianas care, take this to extremes now. They always wear ... pants. Shirts. Maybe a jacket, generally blue-ish. Kate was once mocked by the Daily Mail for a close-up photograph that suggested she hadnt had her roots done in time and gray hair was showing on her young head. It never happened again but imagine that level of scrutiny. Kate was once photographed sunbathing naked at a private home distant from cameras. Thats the least of her worries now. She looks up anxiously for drones. Does Meghan want this life? Remember, she can always cancel. Kate and Meghan have dark hair and travelling stylists. Which reminds me, once a month I walk down the south side of Scollard St., a strange Toronto backstreet packed with hair salons for the rich and populated by people whose faces have been lifted, stretched and inflated to an extraordinary degree. Theyre too wealthy to care about looking human. Its quite unnerving. I was in for a cut-and-colour argument with my hair, and ran into Ben Mulroney with his 7-year-old twins. I have never met politer boys. (I have never met polite boys.) They did not shout, bite each other or break anything. When they left, they said good-bye so gracefullyNo, look her in the eye as you shake her hand, Mulroney said that it left me thinking I had raised my kids all wrong. We taught please and thank you but not with the form and style that will serve Brian and John well throughout their lives. It will also get them through the wedding ceremony where they are pageboys. The other boys will be louts in comparison. Theyll be behind Meghan, who has her mother with her, and she neednt worry. But ahead of Meghan is the hard part: the messy misbehaving royal pack and their inhuman palace courtiers and we, the ghouls, who will want her under surveillance day and night. You can always cancel, Meghan, its not too late. Oh wait, it is. Read more about: MONTREALDear Ontario voters, proportional representation could soon be coming to a province near you. While electoral reform is not on the radar of the ongoing provincial campaign, the reverse will be true when Quebec goes to the polls in the fall. Earlier this month, three of the four parties in the National Assembly including the currently leading Coalition Avenir Quebec signed an electoral-reform pact. Should one of them win the Oct. 1 vote, its government would be honour-bound to introduce legislation within its first year in office to move Quebec to a mixed-proportional voting system. The pact is not legally binding but it does bear the signature of the party leaders. Under the scenario of an opposition victory, Quebec could presumably vault over British Columbia where a plebiscite on electoral reform will be held next fall and become the first province to cross the finish line to a proportional voting system. But did we not just see this movie at the federal level and did it not end on an unhappy note for electoral reform proponents? There are two major differences between the Quebec bid to make the fall election the last to be held under the first-past-the-poll system and Justin Trudeaus similar undertaking in the last federal campaign. 1. Trudeau never sought a mandate to implement a specific voting formula. He was also never particularly clear on whether he would submit his proposal to a plebiscite before implementing it. In Quebec next fall, a vote for the CAQ, the Parti Quebecois, Quebec Solidaire or the Green party will be a vote for a mixed proportional system, to be put in place in time for the following election. The implementation of the Quebec pact is not conditional on a referendum. That matters because so far provincial attempts to change the voting system have failed the test of a plebiscite. When B.C. votes on electoral reform next fall it will be that provinces third kick at the can in 13 years. In between the first vote and the upcoming one, the threshold for victory has been lowered from 60 per cent in 2005 and 2009 to a simple majority in 2018. 2. Prior to becoming prime minister, Trudeau had voiced support for a preferential ballot. But none of the other parties would support that formula. Once it became clear the Liberals could not get the reform they wanted, the prime minister ditched his promise. (One could argue the Liberals really lost interest in a different voting system when their 2015 victory put to rest the fear that vote-splitting on the left of the Conservative party would give the latter a quasi-permanent lease on power.) In any event, in Quebecs case, a CAQ or PQ government would not have a handy excuse to wiggle out of the pact as its signatories have agreed on a mixed-proportional system. That is not to say that the CAQs Francois Legault or PQs Jean-Francois Lisee should one of the two become premier later this year would not have cause to pause on the way to changing the system. The ruling Liberals are offside on the multi-party consensus but as opposed to the federal Conservatives who had cause to fear that a more proportional voting system would see them consigned to the opposition benches, Philippe Couillards party could well benefit from a reform. It is not the first-past-the-poll system that has kept the Liberals in power in Quebec for most of the past 15 years but rather the determination of a growing number of voters to deprive the PQ of a chance to plunge the province into another debate on its political future. That chance could become slimmer under a different voting system. Quebecs last majority PQ government elected under Lucien Bouchard 20 years ago had less popular support than the runner-up Liberals. In the election before that in 1994, Jacques Parizeau secured the governing majority he needed to go ahead with a referendum by beating the Liberals 45 per cent to 44 per cent. More so than any other Quebec party, the Liberals pay a price for the high concentration of part of their vote. They enjoy massive support among non-francophone voters but that only translates into a small fraction of the provinces seats. Take the current Quebec polls: province wide, the numbers suggest the Liberals are highly competitive. But in reality Couillard is in trouble because his party is trailing badly in the francophone ridings that will determine the outcome of the fall election. It would be hard to craft a proportional voting system that would not be a gift that keeps on giving for the Quebec Liberals. Correction - May 18, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the 2009 electoral reform referendum threshold for victory as a simple majority. In fact, the threshold for victory in 2009 was 60 per cent. Chantal Hebert is a columnist based in Ottawa covering politics. Follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert Read more about: A quick workshop on Wednesday dovetailed nicely with two emails that appeared in my inbox recently. One was from a reader who spoke of his journey from resisting the idea of white privilege to accepting it. Another, acknowledging her privilege said, now what? Was she to apologize? In my opinion: no. Guilt ties people up in knots and centres the discussion on their emotions. Not everybody can be an activist or a front line worker. But all of us can use our privilege to disrupt the unfair power structure, I wrote to her. Wednesdays workshop was on allyship not to be confused with alliance and took place at the annual RightsCon global summit held in Toronto this year from May 16 to May 18. The conference explores various facets of human rights in the digital age. Allyship is not just a statement of support. Its a sort of equity philanthropy those who have, give, without expectation of anything in return. Allyship was what the actor Benedict Cumberbatch demonstrated when he announced this week he would refuse roles in projects that didnt pay his female co-star equally. Read more: Opinion | Shree Paradkar: New Canadian anti-hate network looks to co-ordinate efforts against far-right extremism Opinion | Shree Paradkar: Among Doug Fords PCs, yet another candidate with bigoted views emerges How U.K. companies are tackling their gender pay gaps Leigh Honeywell, who led the RightsCon session, defined an ally as a member of a social group who had some form of privilege who is actively working to end oppression and to understand their own privilege. Being an ally is not a sweater that you wear or a hat that you wear, Honeywell said. Its a set of actions, its the way that you live, its a thing that you do. Those actions can range from men destigmatizing parental leave by taking it (and actually using it for parenting), to actively interrupting racist attacks on social media like people do under the hashtag #settlercollector. At the session that Honeywell had to rush through it was an hour long, her workshops usually run more than three hours participants were divided into groups that were tasked with finding quick solutions to situations of discrimination. For example: A woman you manage has gone on maternity leave. Youre discussing which projects to assign to people after she has returned, including one that is in her area of expertise. A peer manager says, She has a small baby, she wont want to travel. Since this was a self-selected group of attendees and the situations were presented as problematic, there were thoughtful if predictable solutions. I would say, lets ask her. This statement indicates the entire work culture needs changing. Id say, what can we do to enable her to go. In my experience, discrimination can unfold in subtle ways that require alertness. A womans exclusion wouldnt be that explicit. If the thinking was baby makes for a nonserious worker the expression of it would be silence and omission; she simply wouldnt be considered or even named in the meeting. What is an ally to do? Other than to ask themselves what is my privilege, and what can I do to interrupt the power structure, Id add a critical aspect of knowing the unknown. What am I missing? Who is absent in this discussion? Whose voice doesnt get heard? Why should allies speak up at all when marginalized people could fight their own battles? A study in 2016 said that people from dominant groups who take action are not penalized on their objective performance reviews. But women and people of colour who take action are. In another example, a Black man points out that a meeting had only white speakers and is told he was being aggressive or rude. What would you do? A digital activist brought up tone-policing. It was instructive how even genuine do-gooders a social worker at my table had just returned from Gaza are not familiar with what equality advocates would consider a basic term. Tone policing is a set of tools used to silence those expressing perspectives that make the privileged person uncomfortable. It attacks the tone of delivery rather than the content of the message and is an attempt by the privileged to define the terms of the conversation: Lets have a civil debate. You catch more flies with honey A human rights lawyer at our table said his takeaway was to move outside his work and social bubble to seek situations that require intervention. One of the tips given to attendees was to Follow and support leaders from target groups. How should allies intervene? Be short, simple and firm. Dont try to be funny. Practice simple responses, said Honeywell. Even just smilingly saying Awwwkwward or Reeally, dude?, can work, she said. Expect to make mistakes. Says Honeywell: When you make a mistake, apologize, correct yourself, and move on. Shree Paradkar writes about discrimination and identity issues. You can follow her @shreeparadkar Read more about: VANCOUVERB.C. health-care workers are preparing themselves as Netflix is set to release its second season of 13 Reasons Why on Friday. The first season of the show was released in March 2017, health-care workers and mental-health advocates were quick to criticize the shows dramatic depictions of suicide. The shows first season centred around a high-school girls decision to kill herself. The trailer for the second season hints at heavy topics such as sexual assault will be prevalent once again. Dr. Ashley Miller is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at BC Childrens Hospital. We saw more youth referencing the show as something that had triggered or increased suicidal ideation, and some who had traumatic reactions to some of the elements of the show, she said. The second season, with its ongoing themes of violence and bullying as suggested in the trailer could also harm people who suffer from post-traumatic-stress disorder, she said. B.C.s Crisis Centre keeps track of the nature of all incoming chats and calls, and says the number of calls from people younger than 13 talking about suicide doubled in 2017. On average, more than 40 per cent of the calls from people under 18 are about suicide, according to Sandy Biggerstaff, executive director of the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of BC. The centre fields an average of 40,000 calls and chats every year. Both Miller and Biggerstaff acknowledged the show has opened up the discussion about mental health for many people. But they say it also sensationalizes and glamourizes suicide. This person in the show, she gets lots of positive attention and power from what she does, and that can make it more appealing, said Miller. Biggerstaff encourages parents to suggest watching the show together with their children if they show interest in it. Parents or guardians who are concerned about their childrens mental health can find resources at keltymentalhealth.ca and foundry.bc.ca. Youth in distress can access support at youthinbc.ca and youthspace.ca Kids Help Phone is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-668-6868. Read more about: VANCOUVERA new report written by doctors in Canada and the U.S. is calling for major reforms to lower the price of drugs. Published in the British Medical Journal, the report is the result of a two year-study by the U.S./Canadian Pharmaceutical Policy Reform Working Group. The group consisted of physicians in both countries concerned about the high prices of drugs and the impact of pharmaceutical companies interests on how medications are priced. Joel Lexchin, one of the co-authors of the report and an emergency medicine doctor at the University Health Network in Toronto, said that one of the major issues they were trying to address was drugs that were priced well over affordable rates. There are a number of drugs on the Canadian market priced at over $50,000 per person per year, he said. What they tend to do these days as much as theyre allowed, is to price drugs on the basis of desperation. He referred to certain medications for Hepatitis C, macular degeneration, and certain forms of cancer which were priced at several thousand per month for patients. He said that the reason they were priced so high was not due to the cost of developing the drugs. Making money isnt necessarily compatible with the development and marketing of drugs that are most needed in terms of public health issues, he said. The report had several recommendations for reducing the costs of drugs, primarily to establish universal coverage and compulsory licensing on essential medications, which would allow generic manufacturers to produce drugs at a reasonable cost, if a lower price could not be negotiated with the original manufacturer. The report also called for public funding for the development and production of essential drugs, which would allow Canada to set more affordable prices for those drugs. Vancouver Kingsway MP Don Davies, NDP critic for health and the vice-Chair for federal Standing Committee on Health, said that the Committees recent April report did not look specifically into generic patents or publicly funded drug development, but they did examine how a single-payer system could lower drug costs. You cant just plug holes in the system., said Davies. We need a systemic overhaul in the form of a single-payer care where the main source of savings is bulk buying. Davies said that bulk buying, which is when large entity uses a high number of orders to get a better deal on prescriptions from a manufacturer, could save nearly 40 per cent on drug costs, based on the savings of other countries that moved to bulk buying systems. Davies recently visited several towns in B.C. on the Pharmacare for All tour, hearing people speak out about their need for prescription coverage. Just about everyone who came to the forums had a heartbreaking story. In Nanaimo was a man who was type one diabetic ... he was spending 500-600 dollars a month, out of pocket, said Davies. While the recommendations in the report apply to both the U.S. and Canada, Lexchin says that they are more readily applied to Canada, which already has a single-payer system in place it would just have to be extended to pharmacare. Former Ontario health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins has been appointed to the National Advisory Council on the Implementation of Pharmacare, which will be reviewing how pharmacare can be applied nationwide. Cherise Seucharan is a Vancouver-based reporter covering health and safety/youth. Follow her on Twitter: cseucharan Read more about: VANCOUVERRestoring forests ravaged by wildfires and insects is a top priority for British Columbians, according to a new assessment of public attitudes toward climate change. Thats because rehabilitation can speed up the rate of removing carbon from the atmosphere. And researchers found the public has far greater trust in scientists and Indigenous groups rather than government and industry. Recent natural disasters such as wildfires and mountain pine beetle epidemics influence how citizens think they believe [restoration] is a priority that needs to be addressed, said Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent, the studys lead author and University of British Columbia PhD candidate. The forestry sector can potentially contribute to B.C. meeting its climate targets, but the success of mitigation strategies will depend on public buy-in. But its not just about climate, he added. More than 60 per cent of B.C.s territory is forested and an integrated strategy needs to consider economic development, job growth and biodiversity as well. The study is one of several coming out of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions Forest Carbon Management Project, which is a multi-year initiative bringing together experts from the federal and provincial government as well as university scientists. Werner Kurz, who is the senior research scientist at Natural Resources Canada and lead investigator for the larger project, told StarMetro that one cubic metre of wood contains the equivalent of one tonne of carbon dioxide. Every year forests remove greenhouse gases by storing carbon dioxide in wood and the large exchange of what we take out and regrow approximately 65 million tonnes is the same magnitude as emissions from all other sectors, he explained, such as transportation. These fluxes are influenced by human decisions and natural disturbances, he said, highlighting that well-managed forests are essential to mitigate carbon. Researchers surveyed roughly 1,500 people in February 2017, analyzing both public opinion and factors influencing individuals choices. Of eight strategies, rehabilitation was the top choice with participants opting for techniques such as planting trees in areas of poor growth. But all other strategies received support as well, which Peterson St-Laurent found striking. In fact, researchers discovered that all stakeholders non-profit, First Nations and forest industry members agreed, despite some having economic preferences over conservation. They want anything to be implemented he said. They just want climate to be considered. Findings pointed to the lack of trust in government and industry and researchers said the government can address this distrust by enhancing partnerships. In a related paper, researchers found similar levels of support that emphasized engagement with trusted actors and Indigenous peoples, while concluding B.C. has few forest carbon mitigation policies in practice despite it being a climate goal. If they want to improve distrust, they should really involve stakeholders from the start, Peterson St-Laurent explained. Theres another message that people are not OK with the status quo and want the government to be proactive about it. Variables such as trust in decision-makers, level of human intervention and environmental values determined respondents choices. No single strategy can solve the carbon crisis alone, Peterson St-Laurent said, noting conserving old-growth forests was also a particular concern. In 2016, the provincial government announced its Climate Leadership Plan, which aims to bring down greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by rehabilitating under-productive forests, recover more wood and avoid unnecessary emissions. But Peterson St-Laurent said more needs to be done, while emphasizing the public engagement process. Theres a sense of urgency that we should really act soon, he said. The forests are in danger. Read more about: VANCOUVERSitting at a table in his small Sunset restaurant on Thursday, Siraj Ahmed received a text message from that mornings catering client. It read: Thanks, everyone loved the food. Ahmed, beaming with satisfaction at the thought of people enjoying his cuisine, hadnt eaten a thing all day. It was lunch time on Thursday, the first day of Ramadan. For the next month, Muslims around the world will refrain from eating or drinking from sunset to sundown to commemorate the revelation of the Quran to the prophet Mohammed. Ahmed hadnt eaten since around 3:00 in the morning, before he went to sleep. Then he got up skipping breakfast and his usual glass of water went to his restaurant Dewan-E-Khass, prepared a catering order for 50 people and delivered it himself. Hungry though he was, Ahmed insisted its not hard for him to run a restaurant and deliver food to others while observing Ramadan. You may think that you cant live without water, but you may be amazed how strong you are, Ahmed said. In fact, feeding others is at the heart of Ahmeds experience of the most important month in the Muslim calendar. The beauty of Ramadan is yes, it may be that business is a little slow in the daytime. But we dont really care about that. This month is very important for us because we give fruit, we give food to the mosque for donations, he said. This week hes preparing an order for 150 people to give to a local mosque. Hell prepare the food one night karahis, curries and biryanis are all on the menu and someone else will provide the food the next night. In Islam we believe when you eat together with somebody, this month, you forgive each other, and the love becomes stronger, as a friendship, as a brotherhood, as a family, he said. In Vancouver, where the Muslim population is relatively small at around 3 per cent (in Toronto the number is almost 8 per cent), the sense of community among Muslims is not always as noticeable, Ahmed said. But at Ramadan, each mosque fills up every night with people coming to break their fast. A number of businesses in the ethnically diverse Sunset neighbourhood said the same thing and are preparing for the month by stocking popular food items. Limon Rahman, owner of food shop Dhaka Bazar Plus, ordered in a special type of lentils and a sweet, syrupy drink called Summer Drink of the East that customers like to have for Ramadan. Business tends to pick up at the beginning of Ramadan and again toward the end as people prepare for Eid celebrations, Rahman said. There are some occupational hazards of working in a restaurant while fasting. By force of habit Thursday, Ahmed tasted some rice he was making to check the level of salt. But when that happens, he said, you just wash your mouth and move on, because the intention of the fast matters most. Normal days when I get hungry, I am cranky, he said. But not this month. Read more about: VANCOUVER A pregnant woman lost her unborn baby in what police are describing as a targeted double-shooting Friday in Vancouver. Const. Jason Doucette says the 31-year-old woman from Vancouver was in the third trimester of her pregnancy and she was taken to hospital in critical condition. He says a 23-year-old man from Langley, B.C., was also taken to hospital and he is expected to survive his injuries. Police say an unidentified man went to the woman's apartment just before 6 a.m. The woman called 911 to report the shooting and shortly after officers arrived, they also found a man in the apartment who had been shot. Doucette says the shooting was targeted but it is not related to any type of gang conflict. Police are asking anyone who might have witnessed anything suspicious in the area to contact them. Asked at a news conference if the shooting could be related to domestic violence, Doucette replied: "We look at all the different factors. We are going to follow the evidence on this. ... But as far as the specific motive, that will form part of the investigation, but we won't rule anything out at this point." The shootings happened in an industrial area of the city on a street not far from the Pacific Central train station at the east end of False Creek. Doucette says the apartment is above a commercial premise. Read more about: WASHINGTON, D.C. Local legislators expressed frustration and disappointment Friday after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass the newest farm subsidies bill. Hard-right conservatives upset over the partys stalled immigration agenda opposed the measure, which failed by a 213-198 vote. Some 30 Republicans joined with every chamber Democrat in opposition. The bill combines stricter work and job training requirements for food stamp recipients with a renewal of farm subsidies popular in GOP-leaning farm country. Theres no other way of putting it Washington politicians failed our farmers today, Rep. Mike Bost, IL-12, said in a statement after the vote. I came here to get work done for the people of Southern Illinois and Im outraged that some folks chose to play politics rather than provide our farmers, ranchers, and producers the certainty they deserve. Protecting our agricultural economy is essential to the sustainability of our rural areas, and it is absolutely shameful that anyone would vote to derail this bill simply to score cheap political points. Rep. Rodney Davis, IL-13, quoted the Rolling Stones, saying, you cant always get what you want in regards to opposition to the bill. Tanking a bill critical to our farmers not because you disagree with the bill, but because you want a vote on something unrelated is wrong, Davis said in a statement. Refusing to be part of the process because you think your party is going to win in November is wrong. Its not what the American people sent us here to do. We were sent here to govern. The vote was a blow to GOP leaders, who had hoped to tout its new work requirements for recipients of food stamps. The work initiative polls well with voters, especially those in the GOP political base. More broadly, it exposed fissures within the party in the months before the midterm elections, and the Freedom Caucus tactics rubbed many rank-and-file Republicans the wrong way. A handful of GOP moderates opposed the bill, too, but not enough to sink it on their own. You judge each piece of legislation on its own, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. You dont hold one thing hostage for something thats totally different and has nothing to do with it. I would say thats a mistake in my view. Key conservatives in the rebellious House Freedom Caucus opposed the measure, seeking leverage to win procedural advantages to in a debate on immigration next month. Negotiations with GOP leaders Friday morning failed to bear fruit, however, and the unrelated food and farm measure was defeated. Conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said some members had concerns over the farm bill, but said, That wasnt my main focus. My main focus was making sure we do immigration policy right and actually build a border security wall. Beyond the drama and infighting among Republicans, the debacle appears to make it even more likely that Congress will simply extend the current farm bill when it expires in September. The farm bill, a twice-per-decade rite on Capitol Hill, promises greater job training opportunities for recipients of food stamps, a top priority for House leaders. Democrats are strongly opposed, saying the stricter work and job training rules are poorly designed and would drive 2 million people off of food stamps. They took a victory lap after the vote. On a bipartisan basis, the House rejected a bad bill that failed farmers and working families, said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Republicans wrote a cruel, destructive Farm Bill that abandoned farmers and producers amid plummeting farm prices and the self-inflicted damage of President Trumps trade brinkmanship. Currently, adults 18-59 are required to work part-time to receive food stamps, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or agree to accept a job if theyre offered one. Stricter rules apply to able-bodied adults 18-49, who are subject to a three-month limit of benefits unless they meet a work or job training requirement of 80 hours per month. Under the new bill, the tougher requirement would be expanded to apply to all adults on SNAP, with exceptions for of seniors, pregnant women, caretakers of children under the age of 6, or people with disabilities. It sets up a system for SNAP recipients where if you are able to work, you should work to get the benefits, said Ryan, R-Wis. And if you cant work, well help you get the training you need. We will help you get the skills you need to get an opportunity. The measure would have greatly expanded funding for state-administered job training programs, but Democrats and outside critics say the funding for the proposed additional job training would require huge new bureaucracies, extensive record-keeping requirements, and that the funding levels would fall far short of whats enough to provide job training to everybody covered by the new job training requirements. While I agree that there are changes that need to be made to the SNAP program, this is so clearly not the way to do it, said Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, top Democrat of the Agriculture Committee. The bill cuts more than $23 billion in SNAP benefits and will result in an estimated 2 million Americans unable to get the help they need. He said it turns around and wastes billions cut from SNAP benefits to create a massive, untested workforce training bureaucracy. In addition to food stamps, the measure would renew farm safety-net programs such as subsidies for crop insurance, farm credit and land conservation. Those subsidies for farm country traditionally form the backbone of support for the measure among Republicans, while urban Democrats support food aid for the poor. On Thursday, supporters of the agriculture safety net easily defeated an attempt to weaken the governments sugar program, which critics say gouges consumers by propping up sugar prices. The measure mostly tinkered with farm programs, adding provisions aimed at boosting high-speed internet access in rural areas, assist beginning farmers, and ease regulations on producers. But since the measure makes mostly modest adjustments to farm policy, some lawmakers believe that the most likely course of action this year is a temporary extension of the current measure, which expires at the end of September. In the Senate, the chambers filibuster rules require a bipartisan process for a bill to pass. There, Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., promises a competing bill later this month and hes signaling that its changes to food stamps would be far more modest than the House measure. Despite distribution chains statistic shows that Vietnamese goods rate accounts for 90 percent in supermarkets; however, the figure doesnt match with reality. Since 1992, Thailand has been one of foreign investors pouring investment capital into Vietnam. The first company was Thailand-invested CP Vietnam Livestock Corporation entering in Vietnams market in 1993. At present, more than 7 percent of pork market share, 16 percent chicken egg market shares, 22 percent industrial chicken market shares and 18 percent animal feed market share are being held by Thailands Corporation. Being a giant industrial estate developer in Asia, Amata Corporation built a 700-hectare Amata Industry Park in the southern province of Dong Nas Bien Hoa Town in 1994 with investment capital of up to $1.9 billion. In 2012, Amata continued to expand its investment in the Southeast Asian country with the 1,285 hectare Amata Express City project in Long Thanh District including 410-hectare hi-tech section and the remaining for urban service, residential quarters and financial hub totally worth $530 million; of which Amata takes over 80.5 percent while Sonadezi Company holds 19.5 percent. Moreover, Thai industrial estate developer Amata Corporation has also planned a 3,000-hectare urban project, Future City, in the northern province of Quang Ninh. In 2016, Thai enterprises pledged to pour investment in 468 projects worth $8 billion, standing tenth in countries and territories about the registered capital in Vietnam. In 2017, Thailand rose the project number in Vietnam to 489 with total investment of $9 billion. Noticeably, though a total $8-9 billion investment capital is not as much as their peers from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong (China) or Malaysia but not many investors in the world deeply pour capital into Vietnam like Thailand. Head of Thai Enterprise association Saranya Skontanarak affirmed that Vietnam is considered as major place for Thailand investors. Taking Metro as an example. Right after Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam had been renamed as MM Mega Market Vietnam, the supermarket has reserved the most eye-catching position for displaying Thai commodities. Even the retailer has been opening a mini fair to sell Thailand-made goods. According to reports of relevant agencies in Ho Chi Minh City, more and more Thai products are on supermarket and outlet shelves in the city. Currently, stores to sell Thai goods are mushrooming, proving that consumption of such commodities is huge. Moreover, many fashion shops that used to sell Hong Kong or Korean clothes now sell Thai clothes. Many companies have been set up to import and distribute Thai consumer products. They signed contracts with Thai brand names and distributed to agents in Vietnam. High discount, plenty of promotion, reasonable price and better policies to support transport are attractive conditions for Vietnamese importers. Furthermore, to support Thai companies to root in Vietnam, Thai relevant agencies have held fairs to display Thai goods for years. Averagely, there are eight fairs annually yet in 2017, three or five-day one or two exhibition fairs were organized monthly. Schedules of these fairs are publicized before they are held. Vietnamese consumers prefer Thai goods because it is fairly cheap compared to other foreign brand names; accordingly many Vietnamese people wait Thai exhibition fair to buy commodities, instead of making trips to other fairs. Lately, Thai enterprises have bought all or part of enterprises in different fields; for instance, TCC Holdings Corporation is possessing investments in the fields of retailer shops, beverage and realty in Vietnam worth billions of dollars. Or, Vietnam Beverage, the local unit which ThaiBev holds a stake in, announced it spent nearly $4.8 billion to buy almost 54 percent holding in Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp. This is the largest M&A deal not only in Vietnam but also in Asian region. Economists said that in order to cope with the new situation, Vietnamese government should adopt more policies and prepare spending to lead local enterprises by holding more promotion programs to introduce Vietnamese products in and outside the country. In the field of retail, the government needs to tighten control over issuance of business license and of scale of residential blocks in a districts between districts, and the distance between retailers. Moreover, the government must review issuance of newly licensed retailers of foreign direct investment (FDI). In term of handing over land or releasing land to foreign retailers , the government must have detailed regulations to them; for instance , foreign investors must sign contract to operate at least a certain time. Enterprises must pay tax within three years and then it can transfer to other investors; Vietnamese retailers will be on top priority in transactions. By THUY HAI Translated by UYEN PHUONG EDWARDSVILLE A local Southwestern School District teacher was recently recognized by the Illinois Education Association as an Outstanding Teacher. Medora sixth-grade teacher Mrs. Christina Stamps received this prestigious award based upon her school, community and union activities. The recognition took place May 8 at the IEA Region 5 Annual Awards Banquet at the Lewis and Clark N. O. Nelson Campus in Edwardsville. More than 100 education officials and employees attended the formal banquet. Retired IEA Media Relations Director Robert Ray served as the keynote speaker. He spoke about current challenges facing school employees including school safety, education funding, teacher shortages, and the Janus case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to honoring outstanding school staff, IEA Graphic designer Mark Ritterbusch of the IEA Media Department received an award for his for outstanding documentary videos highlighting area local associations. Supporting Stamps nomination for the award, Southwestern Education Association President Betty Schiller said, Chris Stamps is a first-class professional educator. For years she has been a trusted and valued member of our local union negotiating team. Stamps also serves as the Medora school local union building representative. She received both her Bachelor and Master degrees from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Before coming to work in Southwestern she taught for seven years in North Greene School District. She has taught for the Southwestern School District for the past twenty four years. Her teaching colleagues describe her as an extremely dedicated teacher and positive person. She is the first person in the building in the morning and the last to leave, said teaching colleague Corey Pace. She tutors students before school and is always willing to share new ideas and lessons with other staff. In addition, Mrs. Stamps heads up the scholastic book fair and participates in multiple school committees each year. She is a graduate of Southwestern High School and a lifelong member of the Brighton community. She is retiring from her teaching position at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. Mt. Olive teacher Karen Gall is the elected Chair of the two thousand member IEA Region 5. She served as the Awards Banquet Mistress of Ceremonies. SAUGET CASA Superhero Night is an event at GCS Credit Union Ballpark where kids and adults can dress up like superheroes, complete with superhero-themed games, giveaways, and fun surprises to support abused and neglected children in the Riverbend community. Watch the Grizzlies face off against the Normal CornBelters on June 23 and support Riverbend Family Ministries, and CASA of Southwestern Illinois mission to be a voice for those children in our community. Uganda BroadcastingCorporation (UBC) is the public broadcaster of Uganda. It was founded as aresult of the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act, 2004, whichmerged the operations of Uganda Television (UTV) and Radio Uganda. It startedbroadcasting on November 16, 2005. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are due to marry on May 19 (Victoria Jones/PA) Prince Charless bid to take up the role held by his mother will be discussed by heads of state today. Photo: PA Meghan Markle has asked her future father-in-law Britain's Prince Charles to walk her down the aisle, Kensington Palace has confirmed. In a statement released by the palace, the Prince of Wales said he was 'pleased' to be able to 'welcome Ms. Markle to the family' in such a way. Expand Close Prince Charles; Prince of Wales Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend Christmas Day Church service at Church of St Mary Magdalene on December 25, 2017 in King's Lynn, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prince Charles; Prince of Wales Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend Christmas Day Church service at Church of St Mary Magdalene on December 25, 2017 in King's Lynn, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) The statement from the palace reads: "Ms. Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St. George's Chapel on her Wedding Day. The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to The Royal Family in this way." Yesterday the bride-to-be released a statement confirming that her father will not be attending the day, leading to speculation that it would be her mother Doria Ragland who would walk her down the aisle. Expand Close Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall greet wellwishers following their marriage blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor, 09 April 2005. Prince Charles and his longtime sweetheart Camilla Parker Bowles married today after two months of muddled preparations and a lifetime of waiting. (Photo credit should read ALASTAIR GRANT/AFP/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Britain's Prince Charles and his bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall greet wellwishers following their marriage blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor, 09 April 2005. Prince Charles and his longtime sweetheart Camilla Parker Bowles married today after two months of muddled preparations and a lifetime of waiting. (Photo credit should read ALASTAIR GRANT/AFP/Getty Images) "Sadly my father will not be attending our wedding," she said in a statement. "I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday." The wedding of Britain's Prince Harry to Meghan Markle will take place on Saturday May 19th at St George's Chapel. Video of the Day Thousands are expected to line the streets of Windsor to catch a glimpse of the happy couple on the day. The wedding ceremony will be streamed live and carried by various TV channels around the world, including TV3 and RTE in Ireland. Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle (right) is pictured with her mother Doria Ragland during the Invictus Games Closing Ceremony Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada Meghan Markles mother has met the Windsors during a whirlwind round of introductions to the royal family in the run-up to the wedding. Doria Ragland chatted to the Britain's Prince William, his wife Kate, and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Windsor Castle yesterday, before yet more meetings filled her schedule ahead of her daughter's big day. Earlier in the week she sat down to tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall with future son-in-law Prince Harry and the US actress also around the table. Kensington Palace confirmed Ms Ragland met William and Kate and their family, with Harry and Meghan, before a rehearsal was held at the wedding venue St Georges Chapel. Expand Close The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ride in a car along The Mall in London after the formal opening in Buckingham Palace of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall ride in a car along The Mall in London after the formal opening in Buckingham Palace of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The head of state is likely to host afternoon tea for Ms Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, who flew to the UK this week to be by her daughters side. Harry and Meghan were photographed being driven into Windsor Castle along the famous Long Walk which will be part of their wedding carriage procession route. Expand Close Royal fans wait to watch members of the armed forces in a parade rehearsal in Windsor, Berkshire ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle this weekend. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday May 17, 2018. See PA story ROYAL Wedding. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal fans wait to watch members of the armed forces in a parade rehearsal in Windsor, Berkshire ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle this weekend. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday May 17, 2018. See PA story ROYAL Wedding. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire They appeared relaxed and at ease, in contrast to Ms Markles heartfelt statement, released earlier in the day, when she confirmed her father Thomas Markle would not be walking her down the aisle. Expand Close Meghan Markle leaves her Pilates class / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan Markle leaves her Pilates class Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding, she said in a statement issued by Kensington Palace. She added: I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. Expand Close Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are due to marry on May 19 (Victoria Jones/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are due to marry on May 19 (Victoria Jones/PA) Video of the Day I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday. With a Supreme Court bench ordering the one-day-old government of B.S. Yeddyurappa to submit to a floor test at 4pm on Saturday, the political crisis in Karnataka appears poised for a crucial turn. B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as Karnataka chief minister on Thursday by Governor Vajubhai Vala even as the Congress and JD(S) claimed they had more numbers. Vala also granted time of 15 days to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority. The swearing-in of Yeddyurappa led a midnight hearing in the Supreme Court on the intervening night of Wednesday-Thursday. While the Supreme Court did not stall the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa, the court posed questions to the governor and BJP on how Yeddyurappa was invited to form the government. Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the JD(S)-Congress, welcomed the order of the bench comprising Justices A.K. Sikri, S.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan. The bench refused the request of Mukul Rohtagi, appearing on behalf of BJP MLAs, to grant more time for a floor test. The Supreme Court bench gave specific instructions on the nature of the floor test: A pro-tem speaker would administer the oath to MLAs and decide the mode of test. No secret ballot would be allowed. The governor has been barred from nominating an MLA from the Anglo-Indian community till the numbers are proven. The Yeddyurappa government has been barred from taking major policy decisions. The state DGP has been tasked with ensuring security of all MLAs. As both sides claim confidence ahead of a floor test, here's a look at where things stand: The floor test, in simple terms, involves all the MLAs present standing up in the legislature to prove their support to a particular party or formation. As the state Assembly has not yet been convened and the newly elected MLAs not sworn in, the Karnataka floor test will need to be conducted by a pro-tem speaker. The pro-tem speaker, by convention, is usually the senior-most member of the legislature. The governor appointed K.G. Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker on Friday afternoon; Bopaiah is a three-term legislator. Media reports had initially indicated Congress' R.V. Deshpande, who first entered the legislature in 1983, was being considered for the post. The pro-tem speaker administers the oath to speakers and indicates the mode of the test, such as voice vote or show of hands. In case of a tie, the pro-tem speaker is allowed to vote. Making sense of the numbers: The Assembly on Saturday would have a strength of 221 seats even as voting was held for 222 seats on May 12. The number has dropped by one seat as H.D. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), who won both Channapatna and Ramanagara, will only have one vote. The simple majority mark in this instance would be 111 votes. As far as numbers go, the BJP is known to have 105 members supporting it, including one independent MLA. Soon after the Supreme Court order on Friday, the Congress declared it had the support of a total of 117 MLAs78 Congress, 38 JD(S) and one independent MLA. The Congress and JD(S) shifted their MLAs to hotels in Hyderabad late on Thursday night to avoid the threat of poaching. According to sources, 113 JD(S)-Congress camp MLAs are in Hyderabad as of Friday. The MLAs are expected to return via road on Friday evening for the floor test. Risk of 'crossovers': At least two newly elected Congress membersAnand Singh and Pratap Gowda Patilwho were previously with the BJP were reported to be missing on Thursday. Confusion persists on the status of these two legislators even though the Congress claimed Singh will support the grand old party. JD(S) leader and chief minister aspirant H.D. Kumaraswamy warned the Narendra Modi government was using the Enforcement Directorate to 'threaten' MLAs of the JD(S)-Congress to switch sides. Another source of worry for the JD(S)-Congress is the fact that the BJP may use the 'Lingayat' card to pressure legislators from the community to vote in favour of Yeddyurappa or abstain. Possible outcomes: While the total elected strength of the Assembly is 224 members, the floor test takes into account only those members who are present at the time. So, abstention by members of the JD(S)-Congress combine will bring down the effective strength and make it easier for the BJP to get through or vice-versa. However, in the event of no party or formation being able to prove the requisite majority, the governor is required to convene a special Assembly session to ascertain the majority group. In the event of a stalemate persisting, experts opine the governor may resort to recommending President's Rule. Apart from the US and Japan, PP18 includes the UK, Canada, France, Australia, Sri Lanka, Chile, Peru and several local, regional and international organisations. In the afternoon the same day, the US Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City and Commander of the ship held a press conference to introduce PP18 activities. It is the 13th year that the PP18, the annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, is underway. It aims to strengthen national capacities and medical preparedness for disaster response. With the participation of the USNS Brunswick, over 500 officers, crewmembers and Vietnamese partners will work with Nha Trang hospitals to offer health check-ups and treatment to people, first-aid to victims on beaches, repair and upgrade of medical facilities in localities. Commissioned in 1986, the USNS Mercy is called super hospital of the US Navy. It is 27m long, 32m wide and equipped with modern medical equipment to conduct complicated surgeries on board. It is also the second time the programme has come to Nha Trang, following the first in 2008 with USNS Mercy taking part. Vietnamnews The uncertainty over government formation in Karnataka is turning out to be a political thriller. After the Congress' midnight knock at the Supreme Court against state Governor Vajubhai Vala inviting the BJP to form the government, and the subsequent court order on Friday, a war of words has broken out between the Congress and BJP. As the Congress claimed victory after the Supreme Court order, asking B.S. Yeddyurappa to prove his majority by 4pm on Saturday, the BJP hit back at the Congress, saying it was 'murdering' the mandate given by the people of Karnataka. The way Congress is trying to create an atmosphere in Karnataka and across the country, it has been exposed. It is rejoicing after rejection (in elections). Its tally has come down from 122 seats to 78. This shows its real face, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said on Friday. They are murdering the mandate. Nothing is greater in a democracy than a mandate. The conspiracy the Congress is hatching is before everyone to see, he added. Referring to newspaper reports, Patra alleged that Congress lawyer and leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had drafted a petition to be filed before the Supreme Court where it wanted the single-largest party to be invited. This was done on the premise that Congress would emerge as the largest political party in the elections, and there were chances of BJP and JD(S) coming together. So, when the reverse happened, the petition was changed and the Congress went to court challenging the governor's order inviting the BJP, the single-largest party, to form the government. The Supreme Court order fixing a time for the floor test has made things tough for the BJP. It had originally asked for seven days before Governor Vala, but the latter gave it 15 days. Interestingly, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy blamed lawyer Mukul Rohtagi for the strict order by the court. He questioned as to why Rohtagi was in court when the attorney general should have been presenting the facts. Swamy claimed that BJP has got the support of a few more MLAs and it was now short of three MLAs. Both the Congress and the JD(S) are keeping their MLAs under strict surveillance due to fear of poaching. The Congress claimed that one of its MLAs, Anand Singh, has been kidnapped by the BJP. Patra, however, denied the charges as baseless. Now, after the appointment of a pro-tem speaker, BJP MLA K.G. Bopaiah, the Assembly session would be called. After both the sides would have presented their side during the session, the floor test would be ordered. The floor test is likely to be a hotly contested one. Drama is expected inside the Assembly on Saturday. The BJP had earlier demanded that secret balloting be used for the voting, but the Supreme Court rejected that demand. The BJP even accused the Congress of producing a fabricated letter carrying signatures of its MLAs before the governor, as it could not produce any receipt of it in the court. The Congress has forged the signatures of many of its legislators in the list submitted to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, alleged Union Minister Prakash Javadekar in Bengaluru on Friday. "One would wonder how Congress could collect the signatures of all MLAs even before they arrived in Bengaluru to attend the Congress legislature party meeting, Javadekar charged. Forging signature and other documents is not new to the grand old party, alleged Javadekar, saying, "When Manipur had a hung Assembly, the Congress had submitted a forged letter of support of Manipur People's Party. Again, in Karnataka they have forged signatures." "Leaders of Congress and the JD(S) parties have no morality left to take a high moral standing. They don't have trust in their own MLAs, held them captive in isolated resorts, severed their contacts with their families by confiscating the cellphones and they are not allowed to watch news channels. This is ridiculous," added Javadekar. Defending the governor's decision to invite the BJP to form the government, Javadekar said, "There was no pre-poll alliance in Karnataka between Congress and JD(S), who fought the elections like bitter enemies. It is not just Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy who called each other names, but Congress president Rahul Gandhi branded JD(S) as the 'B' team of the BJP and Janata Dal Sangh Parivar. Now, they are trying to cobble an alliance, in an opportunistic move. Governor has done the right thing by inviting the single-largest party." When asked about Congress citing the case of Goa where the BJP formed a government with a post-poll alliance despite it not being the single-largest party, Javadekar said the Goa example was more than a year and a half ago, and the Congress should instead bring in a no-confidence motion. The Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's order of holding a floor test in Karnataka Assembly on Saturday, saying the Constitution has won and democracy was restored. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had given BJP Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa 15 days' time to prove its majority. Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Constitution has rejected the "unconstitutional" decision of the Karnataka Governor. "Constitution wins, Democracy restored! B.S. Yeddyurappa does remain a 1-day CM - Constitution rejects an illegitimate CM as also the unconstitutional decision of Governor of Karnataka (sic)," he said on Twitter. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress-JD (S) combine in the apex court, termed the Supreme Court's decision "historic", and said, "Interim Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has been restrained from taking policy decisions till tomorrow." The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vala to form the government despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark is 112 seats. In a historic pre-dawn hearing, the top court had yesterday cleared the last-minute hurdle created by the Congress-JD(S) combine for the BJP's ambitious surge in southern India by paving the way for Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka. During the high-voltage hearing, which lasted from 2.11 am to 5.28 am, the top court had made it clear that the swearing-in and government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case. Today, a three-judge bench headed by Justice A.K. Sikri said, "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test." The apex court also directed the Karnataka government and the Governor not to nominate any MLA from the Anglo-Indian community to participate in the floor test on Saturday. The adage that failures can teach many lessons seems quite... At 1:45 in the morning on Thursday, the Supreme Court of India turned down a petition challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Valas decision to invite the BJP to form the government. The petition was aimed at stopping BJP leader B.S. Yeddyuarappas swearing-in ceremony on Thursday morning but was declined by the apex court in a historic hearing post mid-night. However, this was not the first time that a court has been convened for a hearing at such odd hours. Previously, the apex court has come into session in the middle of the night in four different cases. Yakub Memon In the midnight of July 2015, only three hours before 1993 Mumbai Blasts accused Yakub Memon was to be executed, his lawyers Anand Grover and Yug Mohit Chaudhary met Chief Justice of India, H.L. Dutta. In a dramatic turn of events, for the first time in history, the Supreme Court was convened inside the court premises post midnight to hear a final plea. The session lasted for 90 minutesfrom 3:20am to 4:50amin court number 4 where the judges reviewed the final petition after President Pranab Mukerjee had rejected a 14-page mercy petition filed by Memon on July 29th. The plea was rejected and Yakub Memon was executed on 30th of July, 2015. Even though the verdict was opposed by numerous human rights activists, the fact that the Supreme Court was available at such an odd hour was greatly appreciated by the public and media. Yakub Memons case was the first time that the SC was convened within the court premises during midnight. But hearings have been held at three other occasions at the residence of senior justices even after court hours. Lalit Mohan Thapar and Shyam Sunder Lal On the September 5, 1986, a bench of the Supreme Court sat late into the night to provide bail for Lalit Mohan Thapar and Shyam Sunder Lal. The two industrialists were convicted in their companys violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) but where granted bail in an emergency session at Justice E.S. Vekataramiahs residence. This, however, attracted a lot of criticism from the public on grounds of double standards for court proceedings and petition regarding bails for socially privileged and what was described as small men. The bail had freed L.M. Thapar from criminal charges, but two years later, the Directorate of Enforcement slammed a fine of Rs 26.5 lakhs on his company. Maganlal Barela On 7th August 2013, the Supreme Court suspended the execution of Maganlal Barela, who was convicted for beheading his five daughters. Colin Gonsalves, a senior counsel had approached the chief justice, late in the night, at his residence. The then chief justice, P. Sathasivam, issued an interim order of stay of execution at 11:30pm. The fax from the Supreme Court reached the jail authorities five hours before the execution and Barela escaped the gallows thanks to the late night apex court hearing. Surinder Koli In 2014, a similar hearing was held two hours before the execution of Surinder Koli, the prime accused in the Nithari case. Right before midnight on September 7, 2014, Kolis lawyers, led by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising appealed for a re-hearing of his review petition before the bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and Anil R. A previous five-judge constitution bench judgement on September 2, 2014 had stated that review petitions had to be held in open court by a three-judge bench as it was a matter of life and death. At 1:40am on September 8, the court issued a stay order and the execution was postponed to the September 12. This was further postponed to 29th and later commuted to life sentence. The legal proceedings for Koli is currently underway. These midnight hearings have not only reassured the publics faith in the judiciary but also proved that the Supreme Court of India has never let time or fixed court hours hinder it from delivering justice. The countdown for the crucial floor test in the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha at 4pm on Saturday has begun. A little over 24 hours after B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as chief minister of Karnataka, a Supreme court bench comprising Justices A.K. Sikri, S.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan on Friday snipped to 36 hours the period of 15 days granted by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to the BJP CM to prove his majority in the Assembly. A pro-tem speaker will conduct the proceedings, the court ordered. The early floor test apart, the bench had suo motu restrained the state government from nominating an Anglo-Indian member to the legislature and taking major policy decisions. The chief secretary and the DGP of Karnataka have also been directed to ensure the security of the elected candidates. Congress leader and counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who argued his party's case in the Supreme Court, described the interim order of the bench as being historic. While the immediate political case will end with the floor test, the Supreme Court will continue hearing the constitutional issue of the governor's discretion in inviting an elected leader to form the government and the extent of judicial review of this decision over the next 15 weeks or so. Singhvi and his team had raised the issue of a pro-tem speaker to conduct the proceedings leading up to the floor test. Now, the Congress has written to the state government and Karnataka Governor Vala, against the appointment of K. G. Bopaiah of the BJP to this role, as it went against the convention of having the senior-most MLA discharge the role. The senior-most legislator in the current Assembly is R.V. Deshpande of the Congress. The Congress and JD(S), it appears, will press their charge on this issue by knocking on the Supreme Court's doors if necessary. The crowded court room No 6 of the Supreme Court saw some high drama as well as lighter moments in the 90-minute hearing on Friday. Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal urged the bench to consider a secret ballot. The plea was turned down, on the urging of the petitioners. Confidence votes are never held by secret ballot, pointed out Singhvi. Mukul Rohatgi, the counsel for Yeddyurappa first pleaded for 15 days, and gradually argued for 10 days, one week and finally pressed, in vain though, for not before Monday. The bench at this point said, tomorrow. The chief minister's counsel also argued against the restriction on Yeddyurappa making policy decisions, but again in vain. Is this the madness for chair that he wrote a letter to the governor staking claim to form government even before the election results were notified?, asked Singhvi, commenting that while the auspicious hour told to Yeddyurappa was 12.30pm, he had heard of Congress' moves in the court and decided to be sworn in at 9.30am. In response to being asked, on Thursday, to produce the letter written by Yeddyurappa to the governor, staking his claim, Rohatgi read out the letters, which did not have numbers or names of the elected candidates supporting him. It is the most curious letter, defying laws of arithmetic. 'I with the help of others will form the government'. The mythical ghosts are the others. To what will the governor apply his mind? That 222 minus 117 is 104, and that the others will surface on the floor of the house after 15 days? asked Singhvi. The Congress, on the other hand, had appended signatures and sent supporting letters to JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, who had added his own list and sent to the Raj Bhavan. Conceding that it was a numbers game, Justice Sikri said they had been receiving a WhatsApp joke that a hotel owner should be sworn in as chief minister as he has 116 MLAs! On Friday, while the counsel for Congress and JD(S) carried the 116 signed affidavits to the Supreme Court, they were not required to submit them. Hardly had the Supreme Court pronounced its order, Union Minister for Human Resources Prakash Javadekar tweeted that the BJP had the majority and would win the floor test. Yeddyurappa's expression belied his statement that they had the numbers and would sail through. Yet he appealed to all elected leaders to vote according to their conscience. Other leaders of the saffron party also hoped many in the Congress and JD(S) would listen to their conscience and be guided by who has the mandate. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, in a press conference, said the Congress was out to murder the mandate, for which they knocked at the doors of the Supreme Court at midnight. The BJP is interpreting the mandate as a drop in the number of seats of the Congress and a rise in the seats won by the BJP. India's judicial system came in for much praise yet again. Singhvi said the way the courts respond to urgencies like this demonstrated that justice never sleeps. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Supreme Court had once again saved democracy and established that there is rule of law in India. Even as the Congress and JD(S) face the challenge of keeping their flock together and away from the temptations and threats the BJP may throw at them, the Congress' question remainshow will 104 become 112. The BJP leadership feels there are many in the Congress and JD(S) who understand the mandate. The ruling Trinamool Congress is headed for a massive victory in West Bengal's rural polls, bagging 20,848 seats in the three-tier polls, while the BJP emerged as its main rival, according to the results declared till 1 am. State Election Commission (SEC) sources said the TMC was ahead in another 148 gram panchayat seats for which counting was in progress. The BJP has won 5,636 seats and is leading in 21 seats, they said. According to a senior state BJP leader, it was the first time in last 10 years that the party had been elected to the gram panchayat level in every district of the state. The CPI(M) slipped to the third position from the second place it had occupied in the last panchayat polls in 2013. It won 1,461 gram panchayat seats and was ahead in another 10, the sources said. The Congress is at the fourth position by winning 1,033 seats and leading in 10 - a score lower than that of even Independents, who won 1,794 gram panchayat seats and were leading in 18 seats. A jubilant TMC said the result would boost the party ahead of next year's Lok Sabha election as the rural poll was the last major electoral event in the state before it. The BJP said the result in the panchayat polls, which saw its emergence as the main challenger to the ruling TMC in Bengal, would act as a morale booster for the party's rank and file. The TMC outraced others in panchayat samiti seats too by winning 4,358 of them so far and leading in another 142. The BJP won 631 seats and was leading in 22. The CPI(M) won 92 seats and was leading in three, while the Congress won 106 seats and was leading in five, the SEC sources said. The Independents have won 94 panchayat samiti seats, they said. The TMC continued to maintain its dominance in Zilla parishads, where it won 318 seats, with a complete sweep in Burdwan West district, and was leading in 130 seats across the state. The BJP and the CPI(M) were leading in 10 and two seats each. In Purulia, the TMC and BJP had a close fight in the gram panchayats, winning 836 and 644 seats, respectively. The Congress and the CPI(M) bagged 154 and 150 seats, respectively, the sources said. In Jhargram too, the TMC and the BJP were engaged in a close battle for the gram panchayat seats, winning 372 and 329 seats respectively. The CPI(M) trailed far behind with 13 seats and the Congress was yet to open its account. In the traditional Congress stronghold of Malda, the TMC won 973 gram panchayat seats, the BJP 502, the Congress 359 and CPI(M) 101 seats. The TMC bagged 918 seats, followed by the Congress with 359 seats in Murshidabad. The CPI(M) and the BJP bagged 111 and 54 seats, respectively in the district, the SEC said. In Nadia, another border district like Murshidabad and Malda, the TMC won 1,612 gram panchayat seats, the BJP 637, the CPI(M) 177 and the Congress 60 seats. In East Midnapore, the TMC won 2,033 gram panchayat seats, the BJP 188, the CPI(M) 135 and the Congress 15 seats. In Jalpaiguri, the TMC won 806 gram panchayat seats, the BJP 308, the CPI(M) 51 and the Congress 20 seats. In South 24 Parganas, the TMC bagged 2,105 gram panchayat seats, followed by BJP with 404, CPI(M) with 161 and the Congress with 34. TMC leader Arabul Islam, who was arrested on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's directive last week after the murder of an Independent candidate at Bhangar of South 24-Parganas and is presently in jail, has won the panchayat samiti seat from the area. Some incidents of violence were reported from some of the counting centers of the state where miscreants allegedly ran away with ballot boxes. "We have taken appropriate action in all the cases," said a SEC official. The panchayat poll was held in 621 zilla parishad, 6,123 panchayat samiti and 31,802 gram panchayat seats in 20 West Bengal districts on May 14. Of the total 48,650 seats in gram panchayats, 16,814 went uncontested. There was also no contest for 3,059 of the 9,217 panchayat samiti seats and in 203 of the 825 zilla parishad seats. "Despite so much violence, we have won more than 5,000 seats in GP (gram panchayat). Had the elections been free and fair, we would have won 50 per cent seats at all the three levels of the panchayat," state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said. Widespread violence during the polls claimed at least 12 lives and left 43 injured. The CPI(M) and the Congress dubbed the election a "farce". The TMC, on the other hand, said the people of Bengal had voted in favour of development ushered in by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "People have voted in favour of development and have defeated the forces who were spreading canards against our state," TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said. The counting of votes which began at 8 am on May 17 was still on till reports last came in. Causing worldwide furore, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last week. He believes that the agreement is defective and wont prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. "The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. In just a short period of time, the world's leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world's most dangerous weapons...." As the US pulls out from the deal, new sanctions against Iran will be rolled out in about six months. European leaders have expressed concern over Trumps decision and so has the world media. The Washington Post reports that most experts from both sides of the ideological spectrum disapprove of the decision as well. Let us examine if Trumps fears are justified. The deal In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, which came to be known as the Iran nuclear deal. In return, the other signatories agreed to lift crippling economic sanctions, allowing Irans economy to function normally again. Understandably, the world couldnt just take Irans word for it, so the treaty included a system of periodic checks on Irans nuclear programme. Anything that had the remotest capacity for churning out weapons-grade nuclear fuel would be monitored, altered or dismantled. Iran gave up 98 per cent of its low-enriched uranium and was forbidden from increasing its stockpile for over a decade. The stockpile it does retain must remain below 3.67 per cent enrichment-level which is nowhere near the level required to build a bomb. Apart from that, the number of centrifuges that Iran owned was also cut down severely. The ones remaining were allowed to produce isotopes for use only in medicine and agriculture. What adds immense weight to this agreement is that Iran agreed to let the UNs nuclear watchdog, IAEA, maintain a constant presence in the country and have unfettered access to its declared nuclear sitesfrom uranium mines to research facilities. If the Agency suspects anything, it can demand access to any place in Iran and the government is obliged to grant access within 24 days. The IAEA use tamper-proof seals, surveillance camera footage, data analysis and physical presence to maintain control over Irans nuclear supply chain. The deal was quite thorough in its approach, keeping in mind that it was more a negotiation than an imposition. It certainly makes it impossible for Iran to overtly manufacture nuclear warheads. Even secret operations that have any connection with Irans declared nuclear infrastructure can easily be uncovered. So far, Iran appears to be squeaky clean. Every IAEA quarterly report for the past two years repeats the same sentence over and over, The Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material at the nuclear facilities and locations outside facilities where nuclear material is customarily used (LOFs) declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. However, the deal isnt airtight by any means. The sentence above is followed by the words, Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities for Iran remained ongoing. It is not completely impossible that Iran is having a clandestine nuclear affair, right under the worlds nose. The first time around Even though Irans nuclear programme began with assistance of the US in the cold war era, no threatening developments took place until the 1990s. After the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, who viewed nuclear technology as a suspicious western innovation, Iran engaged in nuclear research and development, the nature of which remains unconfirmed. Some, like Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allege that this was the time when the AMAD project came to life. The project was allegedly a highly secretive affair aimed at developing technologies for manufacturing and delivering nuclear payloads. This was made possible with help from Russia and China, who provided support in areas like uranium mining, enrichment and heavy water reactors. Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khans stolen centrifuge technology percolated through underground channels and helped things along. The full scale of these activities came to light in 2002, and the international community started putting economic pressure on Iran. The IAEA reported that all nuclear weapons programme was shut down in 2003. By this time it was estimated that Iran already had substantial amounts of enriched uranium and, of course, the blueprints to rebuild their infrastructure. How close had Iran really come to building a functional nuclear warhead remains unknown. Iran continues to deny that AMAD ever existed. Things were obscure till 2011. Estimates of various degrees were made; some said that Iran had the capacity to produce a warhead within a few years while others were more sceptical. Then in November 2011, the IAEA released a report in which it said that Iran was engaging in nuclear development which could have military implications. After two decades of tension over Irans nuclear programme, negotiations began in 2013. In 2015, what came to be known as the Iran nuclear deal, was signed. Iran could do it again It is not known if a programme as ambitious as AMAD was ever carried out and that leaves a lot of unknown variables in the equation. Irans murky nuclear past may still have some rather significant relics stored away somewhere; experiment results and perhaps even blueprints of certain unfinished projects. What Iran managed to achieve, and how close they had come to building a weapon between 1990 and 2003 remains uncertain. History also makes it clear that the nuclear black market, at least to some extent, is real, as evidenced by Pakistans A.Q. Khan and his dealings. So Iran may still have secret dealings with unknown entities in possession of crucial information. It is also possible that the countries who have helped Iran with its nuclear programme in the past, like China and Pakistan, may still be lending it covert support. A difficult plan Even if all this is theoretically possible, it seems very unlikely. The Iran nuclear deal does a pretty good job when it comes to monitoring provisions; Iran is under constant scrutiny, and the IAEA can act upon the slightest suspicion. For Irans clandestine nuclear programme to be reality, it would have to be physically undetectable and have no paper trail. Infrastructure for the development of nuclear weaponry is usually large and conspicuous, and US satellites undoubtedly monitor the Iranian landscape on a regular basis. Under these conditions, transportation of resources would also be extremely difficult. Another major problem that a secret nuclear programme would face is the procurement of raw material. Uranium mines are not exactly easy to hide and the declared mines in Iran are already under IAEA supervision. The only way that Iran can get its hands on nuclear fuel is through black market dealings, but technical blueprints are one thing, and hundreds of kilograms of enriched Uranium another. So while this possibility cannot be completely ruled out, it may be folly to work on the assumption it is true, which brings us to the current state of affairs. Trump's folly US President Donald Trump has not produced any evidence to back his claim that Iran is building nuclear weapons. He, initially, was pushing for a revision of the deal and the imposition of stricter regulations. But his decision to fully withdraw from the agreement may backfire, for several reasons. The Trump administration has provided no alternative to the JCPOA. If the deal dissolves completely and the sanctions are re-imposed, nothing prevents Iran from fully exploiting its Uranium mines and building more centrifuges. Any secret programme already underway will get a substantial boost. There may also be a fallout regarding the ongoing negotiations with North Korea on the very same issue. Trump has set a precedent with the Iran deal fiasco, and there is little reason that other nations should believe that the US will stick to its commitments in the future. There is hope however. All other signatories of the deal stand by it. Even Iran intends to remain a part of the JCPOA. The US sanctions are no laughing matter, but due to their unilateral nature, their effects will be undermined by other signatories who will not back them with their own sanctions. In essence, Trump is merely relinquishing any real surveillance he had over Irans nuclear supply chain. Some deal is better than no deal, it appears. Replying to questions about Viet Nams reaction to the USs opening of its embassy in Jerusalem and rising tension in the region, the spokesperson said Viet Nam protests the use of violence and calls for restraint and an end to escalating tensions. Viet Nam once again calls for the settlement of conflicts by peaceful measures and efforts to seek a comprehensive, fair and sustainable solution, while ensuring safety for civilians and the legitimate interests of concerned parties as well as peace and stability in the region, Hang said. She stressed Viet Nams stance that all solutions related to Jerusalem should adhere to international law, especially resolutions of the United Nations, with consensus of related parties. Viet Nam maintains the consistent position of supporting the just struggle of the Palestinian people and the two-State solution with the establishment of a State of Palestine that co-exists in peace with the State of Israel along the pre-1967 border and with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestine, the spokesperson said. Regarding the USs withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the spokesperson made clear that Viet Nam supports dialogue to seek peaceful solutions to all disputes. We hope that all parties of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA) will persevere in negotiating to find a solution that can bring long-term peace and stability for the region and the world as a whole, she said. Asked to comment on the meeting between US President Donald Trump and leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore, spokesperson Hang said Viet Nam supports all constructive efforts to settle disputes through peaceful dialogue, contributing to peace, security and stability on the Korean peninsula in particular and the world in general. VNS Hue made the statement at a reception for President of AES Vietnam David Stone in Hanoi on May 17. At the reception, Stone said his company is carrying out researches for its investment in the Son My 2 gas-fired thermal power project in the form of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and expected its participation will contribute to boosting Vietnam US trade and investment. The project consists of three power plants using liquefied natural gas, with designed capacity of 750 MW each. Built at the Son My industry-services-gas complex in the central coastal province of Binh Thuan, the facilities are set to become operational in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Stone also talked about AESs coordination with the PetroVietnam Gas JSC (PV Gas) to implement the Son My liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project in the south-central province of Binh Thuan. The Deputy PM said he supports the LNG terminal projects, urging both sides to speed up their signing of a partnership contract to implement the project as soon as possible. Regarding the Son My 2 project, he requested AES work with PV Gas to identify the most suitable investment model, adding that the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade will directly address difficulties arisen in the sides cooperation. AES is a US-based power company, which is listed in the US Fortune-200. It joined shareholders from subsidiaries of Posco Energy Corporation from the Republic of Korea and China Investment Corporation to form the AES-VCM Mong Duong Power Company Limited in Vietnam. The company is known for its 1,242 MW Mong Duong 2 power plant in the northern procvince of Quang Ninh. The coal-fired power project plant was built under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement and would be transferred to the government after 25 years. Vietnamnews London British lawmakers investigating the use of Facebook users' data in political campaigns said Thursday that the suspended head of the now-defunct consultancy Cambridge Analytica has accepted a summons to appear before a committee. Parliament's media committee said Alexander Nix had accepted a summons to appear June 6. He had refused to appear before the committee last month, citing the ongoing investigation into the firm. Separately, it was announced that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will meet with leaders of the European Parliament in a closed-door meeting next Tuesday about the data protection scandal that has engulfed his company. Even though his visit had been announced, it was left unclear exactly when Zuckerberg would visit the European Union's legislature. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. The EU and British parliaments have been calling for Zuckerberg to appear before them for weeks ever since it emerged that Cambridge Analytica had been allowed to misuse the data of millions of Facebook users. The EU meeting however is set to be private with the leaders of the political groups and a justice and civil rights expert. Many in the European Parliament had been calling for a public hearing. When Stephanie Lee went into the Whole Foods on Market Street near the east corner of Duboce Triangle one evening in late April, she assumed it would be fine to tie her 12-year-old dog Phyllo to a post outside. It was a busy night. There were other dogs there, and people, too, sitting at the picnic table nearby. But when she came out a short time later, all the dogs were gone including Phyllo. So began a 12-day search that brought her to homeless encampments, soup kitchens and SROs across San Francisco and Oakland to find her missing friend, sleeping only a couple hours a night, missing work, barely eating, and getting help along the way from hundreds of strangers. She did not stop until she found him. "Every minute, I felt like I needed to be doing something, because every minute that goes by, he could be further away from me," said Lee. "I didn't want to risk that he would be further from where I could reach." People she'd never met before Phyllo went missing would come to join her in her search for the dog who would make his way across the Bay, changing hands multiple times, possibly traded for drugs. But that came later. *** She started that first night with the people who worked at Whole Foods security guards, janitors, checkout clerks. The combination of security footage from inside Whole Foods and from a residential building next door helped her piece together what happened. A woman, whom Lee later learned was homeless, was kicked out of Whole Foods on suspicion of shoplifting earlier in the night and left the store, appearing angry and agitated. On the way out, she stopped for a minute and saw Phyllo. She bent down, untied his leash, and picked him up, carrying him off down Market Street, Lee said. After talking with people who lived in the neighborhood and those who worked at a nearby Safeway, a picture of the woman who'd taken her dog began to emerge, parts of it discomfiting. "I figured out from these sources she's homeless, she's mentally unstable and oftentimes goes into the store to steal alcohol," said Lee. After driving around to look for Phyllo without success, Lee headed to places she thought someone might recognize the woman: shelters, the Tenderloin, the encampments near the part of Highway 101 known as "the Hairball." There was extra reason to be worried: Phyllo is an older dog, with various health issues that have emerged since Stephanie got him from a Dallas, Texas, animal rescue at age 3 while she was living in Kansas City, Kan. He's deaf, nearly blind in one eye and requires daily medication to help manage issues related to his history of cancer. Some of the people Lee spoke with knew the women, and told her she was unpredictable and tended to travel alone, often walking the city late at night along the Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf. So Lee and her friends started driving around the city at 2 and 3 a.m., hoping to find her. Meanwhile, posts about Phyllo had been made on NextDoor and Facebook, and those started to bring in tips, too. Lee and her friends chased leads all over the city. Then, one morning, their search brought them to the Embarcadero. Lee was passing out breakfast burritos she'd bought, hoping for leads where she happened to run into a homeless man named Darryl whom she'd spoken to before. It turned out that he'd seen the woman who took Lee's dog (appropriately, he also got the last burrito) and took Lee to the park where he'd seen her. She was still there. "It was a very surreal moment to be able to talk to someone who has basically taken your family member away from you," said Lee. "I had been searching for her for a week." The woman didn't make much sense, Lee said, but she said something about taking Phyllo to Oakland, sleeping there for a few nights, and then giving him away, although Lee believes from others she spoke to that Phyllo was traded for something, possibly illicitly. Learning that Phyllo was in another, larger city was Lee's nightmare. Luckily for her, Darryl was determined to keep helping her with her search, helping her navigate homeless encampments in Oakland and meet more people who might have information. Other people she met along her search also headed east with them to spread the word. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Finally, after a few false leads, some dead ends and many more conversations and flyers, Lee got a call from a man in Oakland who said he had her dog. She was almost afraid to believe it, but it was true: He met her at a police station in Oakland and with him was Phyllo. When she saw him, he looked sick and disoriented, and her heart ached, she said. It was only when she took him to the veterinarian and his blood work came back normal that she could finally feel relief. Lee, for one, is matter-of-fact about the lengths to which she went to find her dog. "Giving up was never an option for me. He is my family," she said. "You do whatever it takes to keep family together." To celebrate his return, they had a party in Duboce Park, only a few blocks from where he was snatched. It was a sunny Saturday. Whole Foods provided the snacks for free, and neighbors, pugs and other pups came from around the area to meet Phyllo in person and welcome him home. The bonds forged during the search crisscrossed the party like the weft of a piece of cloth, Stephanie darting from friend to new friend, checking on people, touching them on the shoulder, offering cupcakes and rides home. "The biggest gift is, of course, having him back in my life, but also meeting other people from SF from all walks of life and having them in my life, all these new friends from the community," Lee said, a smile in her voice. Now Phyllo is something of a neighborhood celebrity. It's surreal to be recognized by people who followed the saga on NextDoor or Facebook, or saw the flyers around town, Stephanie said. Phyllo is mostly back to normal, although he's developed a new taste for sleeping on the hard floor, something he never did before he was stolen. And she's still trying to process it all, feeling protective and grateful and, most of all, exhausted. "I don't think," she said, "I can handle another search anytime soon." Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter Former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos can proceed with her defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, at least for now, a New York court said on Thursday. The ruling by the state Supreme Court's appellate division means Zervos' lawyers can press ahead with a demand for Trump campaign documents and other records while they await another appeals court decision that is likely months away. Trump's lawyers had asked to put the case on ice until the appeals court decides whether to dismiss it or postpone it past his presidency, a decision likely to take at least until fall. Zervos, a California restaurateur, appeared on "The Apprentice," Trump's former show, in 2006. She says he subjected her to unwanted groping and kisses when she sought career advice in 2007. Trump has denied her allegations, which she first made publicly during his campaign in 2016. He retweeted a message that included her photo and described her claims as a "hoax." Zervos's lawsuit doesn't claim sexual harassment; the legal time clock for such a case ran out years ago. Instead, she's suing Trump for calling her a liar, saying it hurt her reputation. She's seeking a retraction, an apology and compensatory and punitive damages. Associated Press Markle: Dad to miss wedding due to health Ending days of speculation, Meghan Markle said Thursday that her father will not be able to attend her wedding to Prince Harry due to health problems. The news came as British military personnel rehearsed for a gala procession through Windsor that will follow Saturday's ceremony, which will be televised live around the world. "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding," Markle said in a statement released by Kensington Palace. "I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health." The palace has not revealed any details about Thomas Markle's health issues, but the celebrity website TMZ says the 73-year-old retired Hollywood cinematographer is hospitalized in California after undergoing a procedure to clear blocked coronary arteries. He reportedly told the website he was OK after three stents had been inserted, but needed to rest. Thomas Markle had been scheduled to walk his daughter down the aisle when she weds the prince Saturday in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. It's possible that Doria Ragland, the bride's mother, could fill that role instead. No replacement has been officially named. Meghan Markle may also choose to walk down the aisle by herself. Associated Press Guard felt 'threatened' before T.I.'s arrest A security guard said he felt threatened during an argument with the rapper T.I. that led to the Grammy-winning hip-hop artist's arrest outside his gated community near Atlanta. In a 10-minute phone call, the guard at Eagles Landing Country Club told a 911 dispatcher early Wednesday that a resident kept asking for his name and knocking on the guard shack door. The security guard acknowledged during the call he didn't recognize the resident, who was identified as Clifford Harris, better known as T.I. T.I. had lost his key and the guard initially wouldn't let him into the neighborhood, said Henry County Deputy Police Chief Mike Ireland. The rapper was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and simple assault and then released on bail. The rapper's attorney, Steve Sadow, issued a statement that his client had been "wrongfully arrested." Sadow said the guard was asleep when T.I. arrived and it took "some time to wake up the sleeping guard." Associated Press Miss America picks women for key roles The Miss America Organization is putting women in its three top leadership positions following an email scandal involving former male leaders of the scholarship group. The organization tells The Associated Press it is appointing Regina Hopper as president and CEO of the Miss America Organization, and Marjorie Vincent-Tripp as chairwoman of the board of the Miss America Foundation. Coupled with Gretchen Carlson leading the Miss America Organization's board of trustees, the group is moving on from the email scandal with women firmly in charge. Hopper, a former Miss Arkansas and TV journalist, replaces Sam Haskell, whose emails about the intellect, appearance and sex lives of former Miss Americas led to his departure and a revamping of the group's top leadership in December. Associated Press Bilingual loan officer at Sunmark Sunmark Federal Credit Union added a Spanish-speaking mortgage loan originator to its team of loan officers. Jose Camilo was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States when he was young. He has helped many members of his family and community as a translator. He is available to act as a translator to help real estate agents communicate between buyers and sellers. Camilo is based in Sunmark's Latham headquarters at 1187 Troy-Schenectady Road. Agent joins RE/MAX Platinum Licensed real estate salesperson Tanya Hull has joined RE/MAX Platinum's Troy office at 52 North Greenbush Road. Hull, a resident of Schenectady for over 30 years, entered the real estate business three years ago and was previously affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Niskayuna. She will continue serving residential property buyers and sellers in the Greater Capital Region. Hull is vice-president of the Schenectady Women's Democratic Committee. She serves on the board of directors of the United Nations' Working Group on Girls and is a member of the Schenectady Business and Professional Women's Organization, the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce and Soroptomist International. Hull is a former member of the Schenectady Board of Education and the Hamilton Hill Arts Center Board. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Saratoga builders award two scholarships The Saratoga Builders Association doubled its scholarships this year due to the number of applicants and the quality of their applications. The winners were Brandon Fitzpatrick and Jakob Wiegand of Saratoga Springs, who were each awarded $1,000 to use toward tuition or books. Fitzpatrick attends SUNY Delhi and plans to pursue a career in refrigeration/HVAC. He has a 3.89 cumulative GPA. Wiegand is a senior at Saratoga Springs High School and has a cumulative grade average of 99.93. He is sixth in his class of 532 students. He will attend Valparaiso University in Indiana this fall to study civil engineering. lhornbeck@timesunion.com 518-454-5352 @leighhornbeck ALBANY When Darlene Ferreira first heard about Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico, and the extent of the damage the natural disaster left behind there last September, all she wanted to do was help. So when the University at Albany senior heard she would have that opportunity through the university's College of Emergency Preparedness Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, she jumped at it. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I knew I had to apply even if I didn't get accepted," she said. "When I got accepted I actually cried because I was so excited." Ferreira, who is majoring in criminal justice and CEHC, is one of 30 UAlbany students who will be traveling to Puerto Rico Sunday to volunteer with the island's post-hurricane recovery efforts. They will be preceding another roughly 500 State University of New York and City University of New York students who will be traveling to the island in June as part of a recovery initiative announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in May. "We believe in the importance of hands-on experiences for our students during their careers," said Emily Barrett, director of experiential learning and external partnerships for CEHC. "We have to blend the real world, boots-on-the-ground experience with our academic curriculum." The students will stay in San Juan until Thursday, working on three major projects, focused on agriculture, tourism and construction alongside SUNY Maritime cadets: replanting fields destroyed in the hurricane, removing debris and cleaning up beaches, and prepare construction sites. "It's a delicate balance because at the end of the day what starts local ends local, we're just making it easier for the response and recovery to happen," said Sue Jean Kim, a senior majoring in globalization studies and CEHC. "We'll get to see our textbooks come alive and watch leadership unfold." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Students will be traveling down with SUNY Maritime College and staying on their Training Ship Empire State VI with 500 Maritime cadets. While the cost of the trip is $584 per student, each student had to pay $50 the other $534 is covered by donations from alumni and sponsors. Ferreira and Kim are going to be missing their graduation ceremony, which also takes place on Sunday, to go on the trip. "It's definitely something to skip graduation for," Ferreira said. "You're helping the community. It's an amazing opportunity and I cannot wait for it." Edin Palacios sat down in a bar in north Houston in May 2016 and started to drink. Eleven beers later, he got in his car and drove off. A short distance away, while fleeing a police officer, he slammed into a Dodge Charger, killing 18-year-old Jocelynn Valero as she and her date drove home from prom. Two years and two days later, police returned to El Muelle Seafood Bar on Wednesday afternoon and arrested the woman bartender who prosecutors say served him until he could barely walk. Were not going after servers or bars that are conducting business legally, were going after people whose actions are criminal and negligent, said Sean Teare, the prosecutor in charge of the Harris County District Attorneys Vehicular Crimes Division. When those actions result in the tragedies every day that we deal with on these roads, were going to come after them. Police went into the north Houston oyster bar on Airline Drive shortly after 5 p.m. and arrested Natalia Ortiz, a 25-year-old bartender. Court records show Ortiz is charged with serving a drunk a misdemeanor and forging a government document, a felony. The charges are part of a new effort from the Harris County District Attorneys Office to to crack down on bars that flout liquor laws. Valeros death was one of 3,776 drunk-driving related fatalities in Texas in 2016, the most recent year for which federal data is available. That same year, Houston led the state with 89 fatal DUI crashes including Valeros according to Texas Department of Public Safety traffic data. The charges are the latest effort by Teares taskforce, which charged three people in April with providing alcohol to a woman accused of driving drunk and killing a 36-year-old woman and her infant son. Prosecutors charged the trio with knowingly purchasing and providing alcohol to a minor, aggravated perjury, criminal negligence. ACCUSED AFTER TRAGEDY: Four charged in suspected drunken driving crash that killed Clear Lake mom, baby Advocates for those victimized by drunk driving declined to discuss the specifics of the arrest but said they supported the DAs new effort. I have met bar owners that are responsible, said John McNamee, regional executive director for the southeast Texas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. If this type of action helps make other bar owners be more responsible, then its well worth it. Ortizs charging documents show that investigators reviewed the bars surveillance video which showed Palacios appearing to be obviously intoxicated, and who was observed having difficulty in balance and coordination, dropping items from his hand nearly stumbles while walking. This behavior was exhibited in front of the Defendant as she knowingly and intentionally continued to serve and deliver beer to the intoxicated subject. Soon after, as Palacios was driving away, a Houston police officer tried to pull him over. At that point, Palacios fled, ran a red light, and crashed into the car Jocelynn Valero and her date were traveling in as the two YES Prep seniors drove home from prom. Valero died at the scene. Her male friend, who was driving the Dodge, survived but suffered a broken pelvis, a lacerated liver and other injuries. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. STORY FROM MAY 2016: Prom night turns to tragedy due to alleged drunk driver Prosecutors ultimately learned that Palacios had a blood alcohol content of .18 more than twice the legal limit and had consumed 11 beers, Teare said. In April, a Harris County jury convicted Palacios of felony murder and sentenced him to 32 years in prison. Palacios lawyer said he that after he serves his sentence, he will be deported. Ortiz does not yet have an attorney listed in court records. After her arrest, other restaurant employees were not available for comment. st.john.smith@chron.com twitter.com/stjbs Nature lovers will get the chance to to get up close and personal with nature at this year's Biodiversity Week which kicks off in Cloughjordan this weekend. The week of mostly free events, is being organised by Cloughjordan Naturalists Field Club, with the Cloughjordan Community Development Committee, and will give people the opportunity to explore and enjoy local natural heritage, from woodlands and bogs, to hedgerows and local history. The festival will have a varied and comprehensive programme of offerings, with approximately 20 events taking place. The theme for this years festival is Finding Nature in the Everyday. Starting this Saturday, May 19, there will be an Eco-therapy walk in Knockanacree Woodlands with Jennifer Banaghan at 2.30pm. Jennifer will lead participants in a 90-minute reflective nature walk along the trails in the woodlands. The is a cost of 5. On Sunday, National Famine Commemoration Day, there will be gathering at Cloughjordan Fever Hospital site in the eco-neighbourhood at 3pm. Nature, food and famine are inextricably linked in our own history and for many in the world today. The evening will see a very special eco-service on the Village Green, Main Street, at 7pm. This ecumenical gathering will involve the Catholic, Church of Ireland and Methodist communities of Cloughjordan and will involve a simple ceremony of reflection and reading. There will also be a reflection from Laudato Si. On Monday, local naturalist Eileen MacGrath will lead a guided walk at Woodfield Bog to the south of Cloughjordan at 2pm. A keen observer of nature, Eileen has been monitoring and recording butterflies for many years and recently had an exhibition of her photographs on display in the Thomas MacDonagh Museum. Later in the afternoon, afternoon, there will be a special Nature in Music concert with Ger Wolfe in Middle Country Cafe, Main Street, at 4pm (Adm. 5). Ger has released seven albums of original material over the last 20 years. His latest, I Have Been Loved, is, according to Hotpress magazine, exquisitely performed, arranged and recorded... sublime. That evening, there will be a guided Dusk Walk in Knockanacree Community Woodlands at 7.30pm with Dr Alex Copland, senior conservation officer for BirdWatch Ireland. There are two events on Tuesday, Exploring the Hidden Meadow, a guided wildflower walk with Rachel Vaughan and Brendan Sheehan. Meet, Sopwell Woodlands Lahille entrance at 10.30am. In the afternoon, author Nigel Quinlan will read in Sheelagh Na Gig, Main Street, at 4pm. Nigel's first novel, The Maloneys Magical Weatherbox, is a young adult fantasy, and his second novel, The Cloak of Feathers, published recently, is described as a magical adventure filled with myth, mischief and misunderstandings. Wednesday sees Walking Meditation practice in Knockanacree Woods with Jean Finn. Meet at Knockanacree Woodlands main entrance at 9.30am. That evening at 7.30pm, Dr Aine Lynch from the National Parks and Wildlife Service will lead a guided walk, Exploring Scohaboy's Cutaway Edge. Meet, Sopwell Woodlands Lahille entrance. Thursday sees a Qi Kung and Tai Chi practice, followed by a short mindful walk, with Ena Holland at the Labyrinth in the eco-neighbourhood at 12.30am. That evening, there will be a special nature in traditional music and song in the Thomas MacDonagh Museum at 7.30pm. There is a dawn chorus concert on Saturday at 9am in Dromineer with Cloughjordan's Mellow Tones Female-Voice Choir and Roscreas The Rosie Greys. At 2pm Killian Walz from UCD's AUGUR Project will explore the question, What does Scohaboy Bog and the Amazon Rainforest have in common? and at 8pm, there will be a performance of Mary Ward's Amazing World of Wonder by Tina Claffey and Caroline Conway, featuring members of Cloughjordan Drama Group in Madden`s old garage building in The Crecent at 8pm. There will be a closing concert on Sunday with The Mellow Tones Female-Voice Choir in the Methodist Chapel, Main Street, at 7pm. Renewed attention is being given to the concept of leadership in schools with particular attention given to Middle Leadership and the role it can play in supporting learning in our schools and classrooms. Recent Department of Education and Skills (DES) Circulars (0063/2017 & 0003/2018) pay particular attention to the joint concepts of management and leadership in both primary and post primary, as set against Looking At Our Schools (LAOS, 2016). Of note is the explicit and repeated reference to the concept of Distributed Leadership. The one day Middle Leadership in our Primary and Post-Primary Schools Symposium, set to take place on June 19th at MIC, St Patricks Campus, Thurles, will explore what Distributed Leadership means and how it relates to our understanding of Middle Leadership and the enhancement of the learning and life chances of pupils. The Symposium will be of particular interest to current and aspiring school leaders, teachers, policy makers and those interested in teacher education as it relates to planned and intentional capacity building within schools. According to Dr Finn O Murchu, Head of School of Education (Post-Primary) at MIC, St Patricks Campus, Thurles; The Symposium seeks to answer questions on how best we can shift to a closer understanding and implementation of not just leading the schoolhouse, but leading the work of the school house (Spillane, 2006). By implication we will engage in conversations associated with what we understand by workplace collaboration and engagement. Such action resonates with the Teaching Council framework on teachers professional learning and Cosan. Carmel Kearns from the Teaching Council will outline the concept and potential that is Cosan as set against the title of our symposium. Guest speakers also include practitioners, from both primary and post-primary settings, who will describe their leadership actions as well as their leadership roles and how they activate the concept of middle leadership for the benefit of their colleagues and the learners in their school. Professor James Spillane, North-western University, will present, via video-link, his research on the concept of leadership and how it is distributed, or not, among and between teachers. His Irish background, combined with a North American and increasingly global perspective and influence, will provide a useful theoretical framework from which to view leadership and the impact of leadership. Dr. Verity Donnelly, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (EASNIE) and Dr Finn O Murchu, MIC, St Patricks Campus, Thurles will present on their co-authored work on the impact effective leadership can have on achieving inclusive practices in schools. Dr Donnelly will outline how a focus on inclusion equates with a focus on quality provision for all. Her work with the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (EASNIE) will offer a European perspective on efforts to maximise learning by maximising leadership actions amongst teachers. Dr O Murchu will explore how initial and ongoing professional learning by teachers helps supports all in the teaching profession. To register your attendance please email: Kathryn.fitzgibbon@mic.ul.ie or T: 0504 20533 [May 18, 2018] Eutelsat Communications: Satellite industry to Enter Operational Phase of Crisis Connectivity Charter for Support of Global Disaster Relief Regulatory News: Members of the satellite community, including Eutelsat (News - Alert) (Paris:ETL), signed yesterday contribution agreements with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), on behalf of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), stepping up their commitment to support global disaster relief. These contribution agreements are the final steps in operationalizing the Crisis Connectivity Charter signed in late 2015 between the EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA), the Global VSAT Forum ( GVF (News - Alert) ), the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) and the ETC. The Crisis Connectivity Charter signed by Eutelsat, Arabsat, Global Eagle, Hispasat (News - Alert) , Inmarsat, Intelsat, SES, Thuraya and Yahsat, will help the humanitarian community by greatly enhancing their access to vital satellite-based communications when local networks are affected, destroyed or overloaded following disasters. Under the contribution agreements, the Charter Signatories are now committing satellite equipment and capacity that will be dedicated for humanitarian purposes during emergency responses. The ETC, under the global leadership of WFP, will be able to activate the Charter when disaster strikes and identify which pre-planned solutions are immediately available for any given region and need in order to meet a 24-hour deployment timelin after a crisis. Eutelsat's contribution agreement consists principally of pre-allocated bandwidth on four of its satellites across the globe, complemented on the ground by ready-to-deploy satellite kits. Simon Gray, Eutelsat's Vice President of Humanitarian Affairs and Coordinator for the Crisis Connectivity Charter, commented on this milestone: "The satellite industry is the first sector where such a unified effort has been undertaken to standardise disaster response on a global scale. Today, the UN has the unprecedented ability to immediately access the right equipment and capacity in order to re-establish communication where it is needed." Eutelsat has been actively involved with the humanitarian community for 25 years, sharing industry's belief that satellite services play an important role in disaster relief. With the increasing number of protracted, complex emergencies and high demand for bandwidth, the commitments from the global satellite industry are timely and will be critical assets for the humanitarian community. The satellite industry's contributions will enable Internet access during emergencies to support humanitarian operations including logistics, urgent medical care, food delivery and the coordination of relief efforts. The Charter Signatories have also provided training and capacity building for WFP and ETC partners' field-staff on the installation and use of the satellite equipment to be deployed. Since signing the Charter, satellite operators have been active on all continents supporting WFP, governments and NGOs during Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and in Haiti, Nepal and Vanuatu to name just a few. Via satellite they have enabled VOIP, WiFi (News - Alert) and Internet Access to support supply logistics, urgent medical care and coordination of relief efforts. About Eutelsat Communications Founded in 1977, Eutelsat Communications is one of the world's leading satellite operators. With a global fleet of satellites and associated ground infrastructure, Eutelsat enables clients across Video, Data, Government, Fixed and Mobile Broadband markets to communicate effectively to their customers, irrespective of their location. Over 6,800 television channels operated by leading media groups are broadcast by Eutelsat to one billion viewers equipped for DTH reception or connected to terrestrial networks. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat assembles 1,000 men and women from 44 countries who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service. Eutelsat Communications is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL). For more about Eutelsat go to www.eutelsat.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180518005190/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] Scania: Sustainable Transport Forum 2018 Gathers World Leaders to Discuss the Shift to a Fossil-Free Transport System SODERTALJE, Sweden, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --On 22 May, Scania will host the Sustainable Transport Forum 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden. The event brings together some of the world's most influential thought leaders and decision makers. Former US Vice President Al Gore and former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, are among the keynote speakers. Professor Johan Rockstrom, one of the world's leading researchers on sustainability issues, will lead the forum. He will, together with speakers and panellists representing governments, cities, international organisations, industry, academia and civil society, stimulate discussions on defining a clear direction for sustainable transport. The transport sector accounts for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions. With urbanisation and social and economic development, the need to transport people and goods increases. It is obvious that progress in the transport industry will contribute to reaching many of the sustainable development goals. "At Scania we have made our choice. We have taken the decision to be an active leader in the shift towards sustainability in our sector. However, it is only through continued collaboration that we can achieve real change. This is why we gather leaders and decision makers at the Sustainable Transport Forum; to come together to discuss how we can unite, simplify and, most importantly, speed up the pace of change," says Henrik Henriksson, Scania's President and CEO. The forum will discuss what is required to globally reach fossil-free commercial transport by 2050 at the latest, which is the speed of change required. The opportunities for change that are available already here and now will also be a topic of discussion. "We are committed and we are convinced that we can achieve a fossil-free transport system globally by 2050 in order to meet the Paris agreement target. To make the shift happen, we need to keep challenging ourselves, our partners, our customers, their customers, policy-makers and academia. Scania wishes to be part of the solution and can substantially contribute to reaching the target," Henriksson says. In 2016, Scania hosted the first Sustainable Transport Forum to underline its commitment to lead the shift towards a fossil-free transport system. For further information, please contact: Karin Hallstan, Public Relations Manager, phone: +46-76-842-81-04, e-mail: karin.hallstan@scania.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/scania/r/sustainable-transport-forum-2018-gathers-world-leaders-to-discuss-the-shift-to-a-fossil-free-transpo,c2524251 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/209/2524251/843875.pdf N18015SE-Sustainable Transport Forum 2018 http://news.cision.com/scania/i/n18015,c2412755 N18015 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scania-sustainable-transport-forum-2018-gathers-world-leaders-to-discuss-the-shift-to-a-fossil-free-transport-system-300650906.html SOURCE Scania [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] Transworld Group Embarks on its Digital Transformation Project - 'Innovation in Motion' MUMBAI, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Selects Oracle India and KPIT to help drive its digital agenda Global Shipping and Logistics conglomerate Transworld Group announced its Digital transformation project, 'Innovation in Motion'. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693537/Transworld_Innovation_in_Motion.jpg ) With Customer Centrality as its core value and in line with the philosophy of customer first approach, Transworld Group of companies comprising of Avana Logistek Ltd, Shreyas Shipping & Logistics Ltd, Transworld Feeders FZCO, BSL Freight Solutions Pvt Ltd, Transworld Logistics FZE and other Group companies, through this project will leverage technology enabled solutions and customer connect e-platforms to provide real-time information, swift business process and a digital customer interface. Additionally, the company will also be incorporating new emerging technologies like blockchain, adaptive intelligence and IoT, as they move forward on their digital journey and climb higher on customer's value chain. As Transworld Group celebrates its 40th successful year, the company today signed an agreement with Oracle India and KPIT to help them develop an integrated technology platform. As part of this agreement, Oracle will provide the cloud-based technology platform that will improve operational efficiency across its shipping and logistics businesses and empower their 1000+ employees to deliver heightened customer satisfaction to their customers and vendors. KPIT will be the implementation partner, hving expertise in implementing Oracle solutions for decades for customers around the world, from diverse industries, including shipping and logistics. The technology platform will enable standardisation of all key business functions across all the group companies. These include finance, operations, procurement, supply chain and even HR, to eliminate manual intervention and introduce far advanced operational efficiencies. Transworld Chairman Ramesh S Ramakrishnan; Oracle India Managing Director, Shailender Kumar and KPIT Co-Founder, MD and CEO, Kishor Patil, signed the agreement in the presence of senior management team members from all firms. Transworld Chairman Mr. Ramesh S Ramakrishnan said, "The decision to partner with Oracle and KPIT has come after much deliberation. We want to digitally transform this industry with intelligent use of technology that helps us not only to be more efficient, but also create more value to our shareholders, customers and employees. We believe this can catalyze this transformation and is the way forward for our business." Oracle India MD Mr.Shailender Kumar said, "I'd like to congratulate Transworld on embarking on this major digital transformation project. Oracle's modern, connected cloud applications will deliver the necessary functionalities that will help Transworld achieve its goals for growth." KPIT Co-Founder, MD and CEO, Mr. Kishor Patil said, "We are delighted to be chosen as the Oracle Cloud consulting and implementation partner for Transworld Group to help them in their digital transformation journey. Our deep competence in Oracle technologies, extensive experience in the transportation and logistics industry and strong focus on cutting-edge digital technologies will enable Transworld to accelerate their business outcomes of achieving greater transparency, speed and agility across its value chain." About Transworld Group The Transworld Group of Companies was established in 1977 by Mr. R. Sivaswamy. Commencing operations as a shipping agency in Bombay, the group has now diversified into a multi-faceted shipping and logistics conglomerate. The activities of the group include: Ship Owning (Container & Bulk Carriers), Feedering, NVOCC, Logistics, Freight Forwarding and Supply Chain Management, Ship Management and Shipping Agencies. Headquartered in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Dubai, UAE), with offices in USA, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and offices in 28 Indian cities combined with strong network partners world over, Transworld offers a one-stop shop to all our customers. We encourage you to engage with Transworld and look forward to being of service. For more information please visit: http://www.transworld.com/ Media Contact: Jigar Chatwali jigar@wearevicara.com +91-9819026976 Partner, Vicara Consulting Pvt. Ltd [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] Varentec deploys Grid Edge Control to meet aggressive energy savings goals in Denver across 472 circuits for Xcel Energy SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of Colorado's industry-leading Integrated Volt VAR Optimization initiative, Xcel Energy has selected Varentec Inc., with its Edge of Network Grid Optimization (ENGO) devices and its Grid Edge Management System (GEMS) platform, as the primary supplier for innovative Dynamic Secondary Voltage Controllers (DVCs). The DVCs will enhance the system Conservation Voltage Reduction performance on top of what is achieved with traditional medium-voltage Volt VAR Optimization. This announcement follows Colorado Public Utilities Commission approval of the Advanced Grid Intelligence and Security filing in May 2017. "We appreciate the vision and commitment that Xcel Energy has demonstrated through years of testing of Varentec's technologies to deliver next-generation, supply-side energy efficiency," said Guillaume Dufosse, Varentec CEO. "Xcel Energy is setting a new standard by tapping unprecedented levels of grid edge voltage control at large scale as part of its Integrated Volt VAR Optimizationproject." Public Service of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company, has committed to deploy 2,000 ENGO devices and the GEMS software platform within the next 2 years across 472 circuits in the Denver Metropolitan area to meet Colorado's ambitious efficiency targets, and is planning to increase those towards the Commission-approved 4,350 devices as the AGIS project progresses over time. Over a period of three years, pilot testing of Varentec's technology at an Xcel Energy substation has demonstrated potential voltage reduction of as much as 5%, delivering validated year-round energy savings of 3.3%. DVCs are providing enhanced Conservation Voltage Reduction performance by boosting feeder voltage outliers at the edge of the grid. For more information on Varentec, visit www.varentec.com or email sales@varentec.com About Varentec Varentec provides innovative solutions for the nascent era of distributed grid control. The Varentec ENGO devices are deployed on the secondary side of the distribution grid to control voltage and reactive power in real time and reduce grid edge voltage fluctuations, even when high numbers of distributed solar or wind systems are deployed on a circuit. Varentec, ENGO and GEMS are trademarks of Varentec Corporation. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/varentec-deploys-grid-edge-control-to-meet-aggressive-energy-savings-goals-in-denver-across-472-circuits-for-xcel-energy-300650793.html SOURCE Varentec [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] Veea and iFREE Offer International Travelers Convenient and Flexible Packages for Voice, Messaging and Data, Along With a Platform to Connect With Retailers and Restaurants Anywhere in the World on Their Smartphones or Tablets NEW YORK and HONG KONG, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Veea Inc., a global leader in smart applications, including smart retail and hospitality solutions, and iFREE Group, a global leader in e-commerce and connectivity for travelers, today announced that tourists traveling with iFREE's Mogo S, a global data SIM card with coverage in more than 200 countries, will also have access to the Veea mobile application, a global resource for finding local merchants and sharing experiences amongst a trusted user community. In addition, retailers, restaurants and other venues catering to the visitors from abroad can leverage the VeeaConnect platform to provide targeted promotions and accept Alipay and WeChat Pay, the preferred payment method for millions of Asian tourists. Today, travelers from Asia receive a complementary iFREE SIM card with the first day of data usage for free when traveling internationally. A large number of major Asian airlines are now providing these SIM cards upon check-in at the airline ticket counter as a complementary service to their travelers. Veea and iFREE will be partnering with US-based airlines in the coming months to offer the same services to their passengers traveling abroad. In today's digital world, consumers expect access to the Internet and other forms of mobile communications to be reliable and ubiquitous at affordable prices anywhere in the world. iFREE offers convenient and flexible data pricing packages with its SIM card that allow travelers to benefit from the most competitive roaming rates literally anywhere in the world. The Veea consumer application, available for iOS and Android devices, serves as a personal concierge for travelers, including those traveling with iFREE SIM card. The Veea app now enables millions of travelers from Asia, with iFREE SIM in their devices, to locate merchants that offer promotions and deals sponsored by iFREE, Veea and their partners, while accepting their preferred method of payment. Other benefits include the ability to: Connect with friends and family more often View crowdsourced updates on venues and businesses in real-time Gather information about the most followed venues through user-generated collections Generate their own collection of favorite places based on their experiences Book reservations or get on virtual waitlists at restaurants "We are always looking for opportunities to bolster our services with new offerings that will significantly enhance the travel experience for our SIM card users traveling throughout the world," said Steven Loke, Group Chairman of iFREE. "By extending our partnership with Veea, we now offer the most affordable set of solutions for international travelers and have provided them with a resource for finding merchants that ultimately offer the best value to travelers." "With the pace of international travel from Asia growing exponentially, our goal is to enable merchants and service providers around the globe, who are most inclined to cater to the needs of these travelers, to connect with them through VeeConnect merchant app and offer them great value," said Allen Salmasi, CEO of Veea. "This partnership with iFREE provides travelers with a one-stop solution for all their needs, from connectivity to discovering places and exclusive promotions to simplified payments." Veea will be offering the iFREE MOGO S SIM cards at Veea booth # 8329 in the Lakeside Center at the 2018 National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show at McCormick Place in Chicago from May 19-22 to international travelers as a complementary gift when visiting their booth. "My work takes me all over the world and as a restaurateur and advocate of community engagement, I understand the importance of creating a network with prospective and existing clientele," said Master Chef Martin Yan, iconic American-Chinese Master Chef, host of PBS's award-winning show, Yan Can Cook, a partner and community leader for Veea and iFREE users. "With the Veea app, not only can travelers find and engage with my restaurants during their travels, but they can now follow my recommendations, which are my favorite places from around the world, in Chef Yan's Collections on Veea app. More importantly, I'll now be able to share my experiences every which way with my family, friends and followers, while discovering new places, no matter where I am." Master Chef Martin Yan will be demonstrating his special cutting knives and autographing his recipe book in the Veea booth at the NRA show, the event showcasing the latest innovations in restaurant technologies and food and beverage industry services, drawing in over 66,000 foodservice professionals from around the world. To register for the 2018 NRA Show, please click here. For additional information about Veea Inc., iFREE Group or Yan Can Cook, Inc. visit www.veea.com, www.ifreegroup.com or yancancook.com, respectively. The Veea mobile application is available in the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store. About iFREE Group iFREE Group is a global Travelution company pioneering new ways for international travelers to stay connected in the world of e-commerce and mobile communications. It works with leading airlines, hotels, clubs as well as credit card, insurance and payment companies in offering its products and services. It also provides an OTT app for managing insurance, global payments, travel booking, "roaming-free" telecommunications, social media, loyalty, coupons and travel merchandise. It allows travelers to search and discover among hundreds of millions of merchants and sightseeing places with real-time updates through Chip-INs by social community. It's smart digital travel assistant provides speech recognition and natural language understanding for translation, voice to text blog, as well as search, discovery and podcasts for points of interest to travelers. Travelers can also search for their desired products online or at any of iFREE's iRetail locations at major international airports around the world. iFREE GROUP is headquartered in Hong Kong and has offices in USA (Atlanta, San Diego and New York), Europe (Geneva, Paris and London), Australia (Sydney and Melbourne), UAE (Dubai) and 8 Asian countries (Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu), Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and China (Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen) with offices opening soon in several African and Middle East countries and a majority shareholding in a company listed on the ASX. http//www.iFREEgroup.com About Veea Inc. Veea is a platform company with a suite of innovative products and services for Smart applications. Veea's platform include an intelligent edge server similar to a WiFi access point, but with the ability to run software applications at customer premises, 4G data failover services with CloudSIM along with highly differentiated iOS and Android-based mobile applications for businesses and their customers. Veea offers Point of Sale (POS) applications and its unique payment services to merchants, service providers and hospitality venues along with highly customized applications, including streaming applications, for restaurants, bars and clubs. VeeaHub platform supports wireless and IoT applications with a unified wired and wireless computing mesh with all commonly used wireless protocols. VeeaHub enables retailers to run their applications dynamically, cost-effectively and most efficiently at the network edge (e.g., at business locations, inside trains, on city infrastructure, etc.), in the Cloud or both, based on a number of business rules with a set of objectives such as reducing latency, minimizing communications with cloud resources to reduce costs associated with the Cloud services, providing for backhaul resilience with failover 4G data services, application data loss prevention or privacy, and ensuring business continuity through running mission critical applications at the edge with optional Cloud back-up services. This platform is further complemented by solutions that augment the real world, providing seamless in- and out-of-store experiences that further helps businesses engage and retain customers through the application of data analytics supported by machine learning and AI. Veea is headquartered in New York City with several offices in the US, Europe and Asia, and is run by an experienced and tenured management team including former senior executives of leading technology, payments and telecom companies. http//www.veea.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/veea-and-ifree-offer-international-travelers-convenient-and-flexible-packages-for-voice-messaging-and-data-along-with-a-platform-to-connect-with-retailers-and-restaurants-anywhere-in-the-world-on-their-smartphones-or-tablets-300650859.html SOURCE Veea Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] Learn How to Control Kids' Addiction to Video Game Apps Like "Fortnite" MIAMI, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Controlling teens' technology addiction is not an easy task for parents, especially with the latest "Fortnite" frenzy. But it's possible. STAPP, the new parental control app, invites parents to connect and learn more at the Tech Smart Parenting Center, an online resource with tools and tips for today's connected world. Technology Addiction is Real Parents living in a digital era face many challenges for which they feel unprepared. Their teens' digital addiction is one. Parents are wondering the best way to stop it, or even better, prevent it. Dr. Greenfield, Founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, explains how digital interactions can lead to elevations of dopamine, which can result in compulsive behaviors. i Online video games, such as the popular "Fortnite" features instant reward systems that keep players coming back for more, ii showing what some parents think are addiction symptoms. iii Teens' digital lives are negatively affecting their real-life interactions, family relationships and eating, sleeping and studying schedules. Common Sense Media's CEO, James Steyer, explains that "mobile devices are fundamentally changing how families go about day-to-day lives." The Data that Proves It The average smartphone using American teenager receives her/his first phone at age 10 iv and spends over 4.5 hours a day on it (excluding texting and talking).v 78% of teens check their phones at least hourly and 50% report feeling "addicted" to their phones. vi Smartphone addiction is now linked to damaging teens' ability to be attentive, and to increasing anxiety, depression, insomnia and impulsivity. vii, viii Parents concerned about this are not alone. 77% of parents feel their teens get distracted by their devices, and 36% engage in daily arguments with them about device use. ix Parents of teens are less confident than those of younger children in monitoring their kids' technology usage (73% vs. 58%). x As a result, many feel they are losing control of their teenaers. They want to address the situation but feel they have limited time to research a solution; they lack access to resources, and the online generation gap makes it difficult to keep up. Finding a Solution Parents know it's not realistic to think they can eliminate their kids' digital interactions nor should they want to, since technology has become a crucial component in modern life. Studying, working, and many leisure activities revolve around technology. As with other things, the solution relies on helping teenagers find a healthy balance. To do so, parents need to get involved in their teens' lives and stay up-to-date with the latest technologies. This is easier said than done. Some parents debate the thought of violating their teens' privacy, others are overwhelmed by technology, and many want to be involved, but lack access to relevant and credible sources of information on parenting and technology. Tech Smart Parenting Center Faced with his teenage boys' increasing addiction to technology, Daniel Marrero embarked on researching the currently available sources of reliable information on parenting and technology. He found that plenty of information is being frequently published from credible organizations and media outlets. However, it takes a long time and dedication to find relevant resources. Therefore, he decided to launch the new Tech Smart Parenting Center powered by STAPP, for parents who want to learn about the latest on "Tech Parenting." They can find constantly updated news, tools, tips, webinars, and workshops on parenting and technology from many reliable sources. They can also watch relevant interviews and listen to the new weekly Tech Smart Parenting Podcasts and connect with other parents via the new Tech Smart Parenting Facebook Group to share their experiences and challenges. About STAPP STAPP allows parents to just tap and the social and game apps on their teens' screens are temporarily invisible. Tap to un-Stapp, and all the apps reappear. Find out more at stappnow.com or download from the App Store (available as STAPP Parental Control) and get a 14-day free trial. Contact: Eirasmin Lokpez-Cobo 195394@email4pr.com 305-854-9149 Sources: I. Dr. Greenfield (2017). Psychology Today. Digital Distraction: Internet and Smartphone Addiction. ii. Damour, Lisa (2018). The New York Times. Parenting the Fornite Addict. iii. Pace, Thomas (2018) Chicago Tribune. I Almost Lost my Son to Fortnite. iv. Influence Central. (2016) Kids & Tech: The Evolution of Today's Digital Natives. v. Common Sense Media. (2015). The Common-Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens. vi. Common Sense Media (2016). Technology Addiction: Concern, Controversy, and Finding Balance. vii. "Growing Up Digital Alberta" (2016) A Collaborative Research Project. viii. LaMotte, Sande (2017) Smartphone Addiction Could be Changing Your Brain. ix. Common Sense Media (2016). New Report Finds Teens Feel Addicted to Their Phones, Causing Tension at Home. x. Family Online Safety Institute (2014). Parenting in the Digital Age: How Parents Weigh the Potential Benefits and Harms of Their Children's Technology Use. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/learn-how-to-control-kids-addiction-to-video-game-apps-like-fortnite-300650875.html SOURCE Tech Smart Parenting Center - powered by STAPP [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] PPG Completes COLORFUL COMMUNITIES Project at Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium PPG (NYSE:PPG) today announced the completion of a COLORFUL COMMUNITIES project in Pittsburgh that helped revitalize different areas of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The Colorful Communities program provides PPG volunteers and products along with financial contributions to bring color and vitality to communities where the company operates around the world, such as in Pittsburgh, PPG's global headquarters city. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180518005044/en/ PPG (NYSE:PPG) completed a COLORFUL COMMUNITIES project in Pittsburgh that helped revitalize different areas of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. (Photo: Business Wire) The project brought together nearly 175 PPG volunteers, who spent the day revitalizing the Zoo's Swahili Restaurant, an African-themed mural near the carousel, The Islands and Jungle Odyssey exhibits, a sea turtle drum painting for an outdoor playground and more. PPG provided approximately $45,000 to assist with the project, including 27 gallons of PPG PAINTS MANOR HALL paint products. The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium strives to foster positive, lifelong connections between animals and people and sees more than 1 million visitors per year. Through exhibits, educational programs and conservation projects, th organization works to ensure the Earth remains a suitable home for all life by discovery of the interconnectedness of the natural world. The Colorful Communities project used a colorful palette that included PPG Paints Honey Pot, Wild Lilac, Misty Aqua and Cornucopia to create an enjoyable and bright space for children and visitors. "The zoo has provided residents of the Pittsburgh community and beyond with enjoyable family experiences for nearly 120 years," said Vince Morales, PPG senior vice president and chief financial officer. "PPG is thrilled to add to our partnership with the Zoo by contributing to the beautification and revitalization of this historic wildlife treasure in our headquarters community." The Colorful Communities program, PPG's signature initiative for supporting communities, aims to protect and beautify the neighborhoods where PPG operates around the world. Through the Colorful Communities program, PPG's committed volunteers contribute their time and PPG paint products to help transform community assets - from painting classrooms, to bringing color to a maternity ward and redesigning a playground. Since 2015, PPG has completed more than 125 Colorful Communities projects, impacting more than 4 million people in 23 countries. PPG and the PPG Foundation aim to bring color and brightness to PPG communities around the world. We invested more than $10.5 million in 2017, supporting hundreds of community organizations across 29 countries. By investing in educational opportunities, we help grow today's skilled workforce and develop tomorrow's innovators in fields related to coatings and manufacturing. Plus, we empower PPG employees to multiply their impact for causes that are important to them by supporting their volunteer efforts and charitable giving. Learn more at www.ppgcommunities.com. PPG: WE PROTECT AND BEAUTIFY THE WORLD At PPG (NYSE:PPG), we work every day to develop and deliver the paints, coatings and materials that our customers have trusted for more than 130 years. Through dedication and creativity, we solve our customers' biggest challenges, collaborating closely to find the right path forward. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, we operate and innovate in more than 70 countries and reported net sales of $14.8 billion in 2017. We serve customers in construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets and aftermarkets. To learn more, visit www.ppg.com. We protect and beautify the world, Colorful Communities and PPG Paints are trademarks and the PPG Logo is a registered trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. Manor Hall is a registered trademark of PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180518005044/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] Globant to Hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on June 20, 2018 LUXEMBOURG, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Globant S.A. (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native technology services company (the "Company"), announces that its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ( the "General Meeting") is to be held on June 20, 2018. The General Meeting will be held at the registered office of the Company at 37A Avenue J.F. Kennedy, L-1 855, Luxembourg. The Convening Notice including the agenda for the General Meeting, the form of proxy card and the relevant materials for the General Meeting are available at the Company's website at http://investors.globant.com. bout Globant We are a digitally native company where innovation, design and engineering meet scale. We use the latest technologies in the digital and cognitive field to empower your organization in every aspect. Globant has more than 6,900 professionals in 12 countries working for companies like LinkedIn, BBVA, EA, and Coca Cola, among others. We were named a Worldwide Leader of Digital Strategy Consulting Services by IDC MarketScape report (2016 and 2017) We were also featured as a business case study at Harvard , MIT , and Stanford . For more information, visit www.globant.com. Investor Relations Contact: Paula Conde, Globant investors@globant.com (877) 215-5230 Media Contact: Wanda Weigert, Globant pr@globant.com (877) 215-5230 SOURCE Globant Related Links http://www.globant.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/globant-to-hold-its-annual-general-meeting-of-shareholders-on-june-20-2018-300651051.html SOURCE Globant [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (THS) Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. ("TreeHouse" or the "Company") (NYSE: THS) concerning whether the board has breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders. The investigation concerns whether the TreeHouse board of directors has breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders, gossly mismanaged the Company, and/or committed abuses of control in connection with the foregoing. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert) : twitter.com/GPM_LLP. If you own TreeHouse securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Benjamin I. Sachs-Michaels, Esquire, of GPM, 712 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY at 212-935-7400, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and 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/20180518005654/en/ [May 18, 2018] Classcraft Studios: Its educational game will be available to teachers and students around the world Government of Canada awards $400,000 in financial assistance to the Sherbrooke business SHERBROOKE, QC, May 18, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) The Government of Canada has awarded a repayable contribution of $400,000 through CED's Quebec Economic Development Program to Classcraft Studios so that it can continue to grow by developing international markets, mainly the U.S. market. This initiative by the young company in the information technology sector consists in implementing an international marketing strategy. CED's contribution will help Classcraft Studios execute an international commercialization plan that includes marketing and media relations consulting services, online marketing and the hiring of a sales director. The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Member of Parliament for ComptonStanstead, made the announcement today on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for CED. Quotes "By supporting Classcraft Studios, the Government of Canada is fostering the growth of a young family business that is developing and commercializing an educational role-playing game tostimulate student interest in the classroom." The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Member of Parliament for ComptonStanstead and Minister of International Development and La Francophonie "The Government of Canada is determined to promote innovation in the Canadian economy in order to encourage new investments, exports and growth. By supporting Classcraft Studios, our goal is to fulfil our commitments and get meaningful results for Canadians." The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister responsible for CED "By using the Classcraft game, teachers immerse their classrooms in a fantastic world that unites technology, storytelling and games. Classroom interactions are renewed and the students learn to develop a whole range of non-curricular skills like collaboration, leadership, empathy and communication. The support from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions is helping us offer a new pedagogical tool to teachers and students in the United States and in other countries around the world. We are proud to be able to revitalize our own school environments and, soon, those in other countries and to contribute to the development of our community." Shawn Young, Co-founder and CEO, Classcraft Studios Quick facts Classcraft Studios has developed and commercialized a computerized role-playing game, Classcraft, to motivate students and manage their behaviour in school. In the game, students are teamed up, choose a character with certain powers (warrior, sorcerer, healer) and have to help each other to get points. This fosters interaction, participation and collaboration in the classroom. CED is one of the six regional development agencies under the responsibility of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. For more information on CED and its priorities, consult the 201819 Departmental Plan or visit www.dec-ced.gc.ca. Stay connected Follow CED on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube Follow Classcraft Studios on Twitter SOURCE Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 18, 2018] Omron Proudly Recognizes Digi-Key as 2017 Distributor of the Year THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digi-Key Electronics, a global electronic components distributor, was honored with Omron's 2017 Global Distributor of the Year award at the 2018 EDS Banquet in Las Vegas, NV. The award was presented by Jeff Rogers, President & COO; Michael Kedzie, Communications Coordinator; Jim Neville, Sr. Management, Product Marketing Group; Terry Zhang, Division Manager; Bill Chandler, Director of Marketing/Americas; Kris Whitehouse, Sr. Director of Sales/Americas; Caroline Wells, Distribution Sales Manager; and Adrian Orat, Distribution Account Manager at Omron and given to Hermann Reiter, Director, Global Strategic Business Development; Bruce Olson, Technology Business Manager; David Stein, VP Global Supplier Management; Chris Beeson, EVP Sales & Supplier Management; Paul Dosser, VP, Business Development; and Eric Wendt, New Business & Supplier Development Manager at Digi-Key. Omron is one of the world's leading suppliers of advanced, reliable electronic controls and systems. They provide customers with the latest technology and provide superior quality and performance in every product area. From relays to advanced machine visions system, nobody offers a better perfrmance value than Omron. Omron's broad selection of products including relays, switches, connectors, sensors and more is available for immediate shipment globally from Digi-Key. For more information, or to order from Digi-Key's full line of Omron products, please visit any of Digi-Key's global websites. About Digi-Key Electronics Digi-Key Electronics, headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minn., USA, is an authorized global, full-service distributor of electronic components, offering more than 6.8 million products, with over 1.4 million in stock and available for immediate shipment, from over 750 quality name-brand manufacturers. Digi-Key also offers a wide variety of online resources such as EDA and design tools, datasheets, reference designs, instructional articles and videos, multimedia libraries, and much more. Technical support is available 24/7 via email, phone and webchat. Additional information and access to Digi-Key's broad product offering can be found by visiting www.digikey.com. Editorial Contact for Digi-Key Electronics Kayla Krosschell PR & Marketing Communications Specialist 1.800.338.4105 x1098 kayla.krosschell@digikey.com publicrelations@digikey.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/omron-proudly-recognizes-digi-key-as-2017-distributor-of-the-year-300651131.html SOURCE Digi-Key Electronics Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (FLT) Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of FleetCor Technologies, Inc. ("FleetCor" or the "Company") (NYSE: FLT) concerning whether the board has breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders. The investigation concerns whether the FleetCor board of directors has breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders, rossly mismanaged the Company, and/or committed abuses of control in connection with the foregoing. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert) : twitter.com/GPM_LLP. If you own FleetCor securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Benjamin I. Sachs-Michaels, Esquire, of GPM, 712 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY at 212-935-7400, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and 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/20180518005672/en/ [May 18, 2018] Squelch Receives "Best in Show" Award from TSIA; Only Company Ever To Win as a First-Time Exhibitor REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Squelch, Inc., provider of a customer experience optimization solution for support and success teams, announced it is a recipient of the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) "Best in Show" Award at Technology Services World (TSW) San Diego 2018. Squelch is the first-ever newcomer at any TSW event to win this honor. The TSW "Best in Show" Award represents the "people's choice" at the event. The award is decided by votes from conference attendees based on their visits to sponsor exhibit spaces in the TSW | EXPO and is open to all exhibiting companies. Competing with 54 other exhibiting companies, Squelch won this distinction alongside TSW veterans Kimble and FinancialForce. Squelch optimizes the customer experience through the teams that serve customers after the sale. These agents are on the front lines solving customer issues on a daily basis, and these can be stressful environments where customers expect quick resolution and are charged with emotion. Squelch is designed from the ground up for customer support and success teams and lives within the workflow that agents already use. Squelch, which officially launched earlier in May, continually monitors and gathers data from all the sources agents use to serve customers (e.g., email, customer management and support solutions, team communication and collaboration tools, document storage services, etc.), creating a combined index that understands how information across various systems is connected. When a customer reaches out to an agent, Squelch switly populates the right intelligence automatically within the agent's existing dashboard. A digest of the information is viewable within the app, and a link to the original document is provided if further information is required. "As a newcomer, we're thrilled that Squelch was recognized by the TSIA community as 'Best in Show' at this year's TSW conference," said Jayaram Bhat, CEO of Squelch. "At Squelch, we truly believe in supporting the customer experience through the support and success agents who are on the front lines of customer interaction. We know that happy customers are profitable, repeat customers, and we believe happy agents get you there." For more information about Squelch, and to learn more about its eponymous customer support and success solution, please visit www.squelch.io. Additional Resources Visit squelch.io Follow on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn About Squelch At Squelch, we focus on optimizing the customer experience through the teams that serve customers after the sale. We believe these agents are the heroes of a company, engaging in key customer interactions where speed, knowledge, and empathy go a long way to defining the customer relationship. By empowering your heroes with the right information at the right time, we help create a foundation of confidence that can be measured in both employee and customer satisfaction. About TSIA The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) is the world's leading organization dedicated to advancing the business of technology services. Technology services organizations large and small look to TSIA for world-class business frameworks, best practices based on real-world results, detailed performance benchmarking, exceptional peer networking opportunities, and high-profile certification and awards programs. TSIA corporate members represent the world's top technology companies as well as scores of innovative small and mid-size businesses in four major markets: enterprise IT and telecom, consumer technology, healthcare and healthcare IT, and industrial equipment and technology. TSIA's editorial blog, Inside Technology Services, is widely recognized by technology service professionals for providing thought leadership and insights into industry trends and best practices. Visit us at www.tsia.com, follow us on Twitter @TSIACommunity, or connect with us on LinkedIn and Google +. Media Contact: Greg Wise Bhava Communications, for Squelch gwise@bhavacom.com (512) 213-9899 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/squelch-receives-best-in-show-award-from-tsia-only-company-ever-to-win-as-a-first-time-exhibitor-300651228.html SOURCE Squelch [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] According to Rolls-Royce, all of its customers have Chauffeurs, and when you cater to the one-percent, theres no room for semi-autonomous technology. Its not for Rolls-Royce customers. At least not until its truly effortless and then itll be ripe enough for the typical Rolls-Royce client. While the statement above makes Rolls sound about as stuck up as the people it builds cars for, its reasoning does have some merit. The fact is that for customers that do have Chauffeurs (Im definitely not saying all do, but a good portion surely do) it wouldnt make sense to pay your very own Alfred to sit around and do nothing, waiting for an instance where hell have to take over. Will Rolls-Royce Ever Have a Self-Driving Car? Rolls-Royce does see level 5 autonomy being a part of its future someday. Rolls CEO, Torsten Muller-Otvos, told Car & Driver, As you know, we are part of BMW Group, and BMW is investing big money into autonomy. For that reason, we are able to take that technology whenever it is ripe for our customers. Its important to understand that not just many but all of our customers do have chauffeurs, if not permanently employed then somebody they can call and say, Bring me to the opera tonight, or Drive me and my friends to the restaurant. That is not a problem. And we will only bring autonomy into our cars if it is truly effortless. With that in mind, Rolls-Royce does see level 5 autonomy being a part of its future someday. Itll be when it truly is effortless, and theres no need to hire anyone to take over every now and then. At that point, it almost seems kind of obsolete anyway. If every single one of its customers always rides in the back seat, then they already experience about 90-percent of what self-driving cars are all about sitting back and enjoying the ride, doing business, drinking wine, or whatever else they might do, without having to worry about driving themselves. Final Thoughts Its probably safer to say that Rolls-Royce will embrace autonomy when it has to Its probably safer to say that Rolls-Royce will embrace autonomy when it has to. It will probably come after one of two events either its overly wealthy and stuck up customers will express the notion that they dont want to pay a driver anymore or governments will ban cars that arent level 5 capable 100-percent of the time from all roads. Either way, Rolls will just tap into BMWs technology, obviously, and suck up all it can to make its customers happy. And, for what its worth, I wouldnt expect a self-driven Rolls to look anything like the 2016 Vision Next 100 (also known as the 103EX.) Of course, all those trust fund babies and overly spoiled customers are sure to get what they want so maybe that is what a self-driven Rolls will look like. I guess well just have to see what happens. References Read our full speculative review on the 2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Read our full review on the 2016 Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100. Read more Rolls Royce news. Source: Car & Driver The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has resolved to encourage African countries to allow free trade to happen within African countries. PAP adopted a report on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The report was presented by Hon. Alex Chersia Grant from Liberia who serves as vice chairperson of the Permanent Committee on Trade, Customs, and Immigration matters. The AfCFTA is the result of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among all 55 members of the African Union. If ratified, the agreement would result in the largest free-trade area in terms of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization. African heads of state and government gathered in Kigali, Rwanda in March 2018 to sign the proposed agreement. Forty-four of the 55 members of the African Union signed it on 21 March 2018. The African Continental Free Trade Area is a continent-wide free-trade agreement brokered by the African Union (AU) and initially signed on by 44 of its 55 member states in Kigali, Rwanda on March 21, 2018. The agreement initially required members to remove tariffs from 90 percent of goods, allowing free access to commodities, goods, and services across the continent. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the agreement will boost intra-African trade by 52 percent by 2022. The proposal will come into force after ratification by 22 of the signatory states. The PAP legislators are now required by the continental legislature to ensure that their respective national governments ratify the AfCFTA. The MPs agreed to ensure timely ratification of AfCFTA legal instruments once the executive branches had availed them to national parliaments. As elected representatives in their constituencies, the legislators agreed to encourage African private sector in their countries to invest and trade in the AFCFTA in order to generate jobs and decent standards of living. As members of the oversight institutions over the executive branch of their respective governments, the MPs agreed to demand (from their national governments) regular updates on their respective countries actions and progress concerning the AfCFTA. The AfCFTA was seen by the legislators as an initiative that offered policy credibility and enhanced market access to investors from both Africa and the rest of the world. AfCFTAis seen as a good exercise for Africans because it is going to improve living standards of African people. I do my duty without fear or favour. This was how Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley responded yesterday to a question from the Opposition on whether he met President Paula-Mae Weekes at Presidents House in August to influence the Police Service Commissions process of selecting a Police Commissioner. Hi, We are travelling to Perth in December for a wedding. Wedding is on 22nd December 2018. We are planning to fly out around Tues 18th December and leave on approx 4th January. We live in Belfast so probably best flying from either Dublin or London. I am wondering when is the best time to book these flights? Is it now or best to leave until closer to the time? The cheapest flights I can find with only one stop and avoiding long layovers is over 1400 return. That's using Skyscanner, Kayak, Google Flights, etc. These seem excessively high but then again it is around Christmas. Are there set times of the year that the likes of Etihad, Emirates, etc have online sales? Any assistance greatly appreciated. So you don't want to get legally married, just have some sort of a commitment ceremony? If you don't need a registered officiant for a legal wedding you can do pretty much whatever you want This is the NY State forum. If you go to the New York City forum there is a wedding FAQ at the right side of the (full) web page that might give you some idea on places, offciants, etc. You should post any further questions on the NYC forum.. Well, it depends on your preferences.# 2: If you are interested in the peace park and its museums, then you might need a full day, else, you could do Hiroshima and Miyajima, unless you want to go up Mount Misen Kyoto: From your planning I assume that you don't want to spend so much time on temples. Otherwise, you could add some nights here, as there is a lot to see. If not, thenconsider staying in Osaka, as this might be the cheaper stay and is as good a base for the day trips you want to do. What is your intention with Takayama? You can visit Kanazawa as a day trip from Tokyo thanks to the new shinkansen connection. You can also visit Matsumoto from Takayama. IMHO I think that spending just two nights is too short if you also want to include a day trip as well. I am not convinced that Jigokudani Monkey park is a day trip from Tokyo (or worth a visit at all) Unless you have already seen Tokyo, you might want to consider staying longer. As for other tips, we would need to know more about your preferences. It's an easy drive from San Jose to Jaco and driving in Costa Rica isn't difficult either (unless the road condition is really bad). With a car you can go wherever you want, such as stopping at the Tarcoles Crocodile Bridge, or visit a nearby beach to Jaco such as Playa Hermosa which you might like more. I always use Google maps on my phone. Just download the map of the area you'll be in in advance and you won't need a data plan to use it. Your location will still appear (as the blue dot) and you can see if you go off course. As for car rental details in Costa Rica, that's a topic all by itself and there is plenty of information posted in TripAdvisor. Rent directly with the offices in Costa Rica (I use Dollar Costa Rica), and pay attention to the required insurance. What do you mean by the in and out issue? You rent a car, you return it when you are done. If the place is closed you return it the next morning. And I don't know what time graduation ends that day, but if you are not used to New York, you may be far underestimating the time it takes to drive back from West Point to maybe Downtown Brooklyn (is that where you are headed?). To repeat: If the rental place is closed, return it the next morning, or to some other location and take the subway back to your place, You could always return it to JFK 24 hours/day or just early on Monday morning; the cost is the same. - Governor Sonko says his decision to pick Miguna as his deputy is irreversible - Sonko says he chose Miguna because he knows the outspoken lawyer will deal with cartels - He pleaded with President Uhuru to make sure Miguna comes back to take up the post - He says his decision was also motivated by the Uhuru-Raila handshake Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has maintained he will not change his mind and drop Miguna Migina as his choice for a deputy. Sonko said he made the decision based on his judgement on who was the right person to dismantle corrupt cartels wreaking havoc at City Hall and thus hampering service delivery. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens In an audio clip posted on Facebook by Bonny Arap Kim, Sonko was heard saying he would not drop Migunas name despite sustained pressure from his allies in the ruling Jubilee party. READ ALSO: Mwanamke apigwa na butwaa baada ya kushikwa mkono na Rais Uhuru bila kutarajia (video) Governor Mike Sonko who has nominated opposition politician Miguna Miguna as his deputy. Photo: Mike Sonko/Facebook READ ALSO: Jubilee MP warns Rutos presidency would be like Sonkos chaotic reign at City Hall Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja led other Jubilee politicians including Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi in declaring Miguna would not be cleared to be Sonkos deputy. The County Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo has since said Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) would not approve Migunas name when it comes on the floor of the House. Elachi was of the opinion that the NASA politician was not a Kenyan and could hold a leadership position in the country until he regularised his citizenship which she said could take about three months. READ ALSO: Miguna's response on nomination as Sonko's deputy leaves everyone confused However, Sonko insisted Miguna was the right person to deal with cartels in the city, explaining that he followed the footsteps of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga in putting aside political differences and working together. To him, there was no reason why he should not work with Miguna who had been calling him all sorts of names. Nairobi County deputy governor nominee Miguna Miguna gestures during a past event. Photo: Dr Miguna Miguna/Facebook If president Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga shook hands, forgave each other and are working together, who is Miguna not to be forgiven? Sonko posed. I know Miguna is anti-cartel number one, he added. READ ALSO: Prophet Owuor responds to claims his driver died after seeing him praying to a snake Sonko pleaded with Uhuru to forgive Miguna and allow him to come back and start working as the Nairobi deputy governor in the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. He said he respected Uhuru, Deputy President William Ruto and all Jubilee leaders and asked them to allow Miguna to take up the position. Sonko insisted he would not relent and even if Miguna was rejected, he would still pick another name. I dont fearMiguna Miguna is my deputy governor. Even if they dont approve him, I will pick another one. Im not backtracking, Im not backtracking, he said. 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. Peter Pepe Interview: From a Conductor to 13.5 Million Business Owner | Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke - Alfred Mutua is on a two day trip of Kisii county where he will be visiting various projects - Together with Kisii deputy governor, they escaped unhurt after River Gucha bridge caved in Machakos County Governor, Alfred Mutua and Kisii Deputy Governor, Joash Maangi escaped death by a whisker in Ogembo constituency. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens According to a statement by the governor and seen by TUKO.co.ke, they were at the edge of River Gucha bridge when the bridge caved in on Friday, May 18. READ ALSO: Alfred Mutua to face Ruto in 2022 for presidency, TUKO.co.ke has the details They were at the edge of River Gucha bridge posing for a selfie when the bridge caved in on Friday, May 18. Photo: Mosoku Geoffrey/ Facebook. READ ALSO: Machakos government to donate 10 million beehives to locals "We also visited the banks of the torrential Gucha River that is full due to the ongoing heavy rains in the country. While standing at the edge of a CDF bridge that Kisii County Government is planning to reconstruct to better standards, we had an adventure as the bridges middle section gave way," read the statement. Mutua, who was on a two-day trip of the county, noted there were no fatal injuries although two journalists covering them were rushed to hospital after sustaining minor injuries. READ ALSO: Barua ya mapenzi ya mwanafunzi wa shule ya upili kwa mwalimu wake yasisimua wengi "No one fell in the river or was hurt but we were splashed with water," added the governor. The Mandeleo Chap Chap party leader termed the collapsing of the bridge as a blessing to him in different ways. "I feel blessed and baptised by the waters of this very important river. The people of Gucha are telling me now I have become their child and should even come and build a home in the region," said Mutua. READ ALSO: Machakos governor breathes fire after his party agent was slapped by Mathira MPs security Mutua who his on a two day trip of the county noted nobody was injured during the unfortunate incident. Photo: Mosoku Geoffrey/ Facebook. According to him, it was Gods hand at work because it was clear the bridge would have collapsed anytime soon and lives lost. READ ALSO: Moral police Ezekiel Mutua says he would have been a Luo, some Kenyans agree with him "By giving way while Government officials were there, it means that lives that could have been lost later today or tomorrow were spared," Mutua added. "I thank God for using my visit to save many lives that could have been lost when unsuspecting mothers and children walked on the bridge. As the saying goes, God works in a mysterious way," READ ALSO: Alfred Mutua gets the going extremely tough days after being endorsed as Kamba kingpin 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. Peter Pepe Interview: From a Conductor to 13.5 Million Business Owner | Tuko TV Source: Kenyan Breaking News - Doctors at AIC Kijabe hospital say it hurt for them to ignore very sick babies during the 2017 strike - Aftershocks of the devastating 100-days work boycott continue to be felt in the country to date - Uhurus decision to import Cuban doctors will shield Wanjiku from deadly effects of such strikes Just over one year after Kenyan doctors ended a devastating 100-day strike, the aftershocks of the industrial action continue to be felt across the country. Families, friends and relatives continue to cling onto memories of their dear ones who needlessly succumbed to ailments which would have been easily treated if the doctors would have been at work. Mothers and children breathed their last in agony just because there was no doctor to attend to them. READ ALSO: Uhuru moves to prevent second massive doctors' strike President Uhuru Kenyatta traveled to Cuba in March where he met Raul Castro and agreed on a deal to import Cuban doctors. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Facebook. Images of military doctors responding to the crisis through attending to emergency cases at Kenyatta National Hospital are still fresh in the minds of many Kenyans. READ ALSO: Barua ya mapenzi ya mwanafunzi wa shule ya upili kwa mwalimu wake yasisimua wengi The untold horror of the strike has been made bare in a report by medics at Africa Inland Church (AIC) Kijabe Hospital which was overwhelmed as the doctors withheld their services in public hospitals. The doctors at the mission health facility painfully recalled how they had to let children with little chance of survival to die and prioritised those those likely to survive after treatment. The system involved decisions not to escalate care for children whose diagnosis was most grim in an attempt to offer the extremely limited care to others with possibility of better prognoses reads the report published in the journal BMJ Global Health seen by TUKO.co.ke. READ ALSO: Kenya to source 100 doctors from Cuba as Uhuru strives to resuscitate the health sector The report indicated there was a fourfold increase in deaths among sick newborns and those seeking paediatric medical services. President Uhuru of Kenya and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro held discussions to formalize the deal in which Cuban doctors will offer specialist services in Kenya. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Cuba. The doctors said total withdrawal of health care including emergency services as was the case in Kenya from Monday, December 5, 2016 to Tuesday, March 14, 2017, had never been reported anywhere else in the world except in times of armed conflict or epidemics. The agonising memories explained why the decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta to import 100 Cuban medical specialists to Kenya was set to allay the suffering of Kenyans and strengthen the healthcare system in the country. The specialist doctors and physicians are expected in the country at the end of May 2018, and will be distributed across all the 47 counties. READ ALSO: State House explains why Kenya must import doctors from Cuba amid cries from local doctors Unlike the over 250 local specialist doctors who are primarily based in cities and key towns where they juggle between public and private practice, the Cubans will be based even in the remotest corners of the country where they will offer full time services. Despite the healthcare function falling under county governments, Uhuru had since 2013 made moves aimed at turning around operations in all major county hospitals in Kenya. President Uhuru Kenyatta was accompanied by a delegation from Kenya in his meeting with Cuba President Raul Castro. In his first term, he equipped the health centres with modern equipment, making it possible for Kenyans to access decent health services near their homes. Before this development, most people used to travel to Nairobi or even abroad to receive specialised medical care. READ ALSO: First batch of Cuban doctors to arrive in July after Uhuru's historic trip Despite deliberate efforts by the Head of State, county governments which have been struggling with running the docket effectively since the function was devolved, persistently decried lack of qualified personnel to operate the modern machines worth billions of shillings which had been lying idle at the hospitals. This made the deal Uhuru made with the government of Cuba in March 2018 more appealing. According to State House, the main reason the president made the long trip to the Communist nation was to have the Cubans offer services using the hi-tech equipment while imparting their valuable experience on their local counterparts. Cuban doctors are among the best in the world and are famed for medical internationalism. Universal healthcare is part of the Big Four agenda Uhuru had said he would focus on during his current second term in office. The strike by Kenyan doctors which lasted 100 days ignited the move by President Uhuru Kenyatta to go for Cuban doctors. Photo: Nation. READ ALSO: Govt offers fully furnished homes, holiday air fares and utilities for Cuban doctors Coincidentally, the Cuban doctors are set to arrive in the country just in time for Uhuru's scheduled unveiling of the universal health coverage pilot project on Sunday, July 1. The fact that they will work in public health facilities in remote areas will help increase access to quality and affordable healthcare, aspects which will be crucial in ensuring the president achieves one of his valued goals. Analysts say the foreign experts will fill the gap in Kenyan hospitals in case local doctors decide to go on strike, averting needless deaths. READ ALSO: Police warn Nairobi parents of deadly cult recruiting youngsters to sacrifice loved ones The Cuban specialists include kidney experts, radiologists, brain surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, heart specialists, hormone doctors, eye experts, critical care specialists, face surgeons, dermatologists and general surgeons, among others. The Council of Governors welcomed the hiring of Cuban doctors, saying they would boost service delivery at the grassroots. 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. Universities' crisis - Lecturer's strike continues! - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke - Mudavadi said the State had been conducting shallow investigations on corrupt leaders - He said corruption has been gratified through rewarding of perpetrators with new jobs - The ANC leader called on Uhuru to sack Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich - Mudavadi opposed the Income Tax Bill of 2018 saying it will kill investments in the Lands and Housing sector Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi has accused the State of enhancing corruption through tolerating corrupt individuals. In a press briefing, the NASA co-principal said the government had tolerated and even made corruption a lucrative career, sinking the country deep in poverty. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens Speaking in reference to the fresh scandal in which KSh 10 billion allocated to the National Youth Service (NYS) is reported to have been swindled, Mudavadi said the government needed to walk its tough walk against corruption. READ ALSO: Barua ya mapenzi ya mwanafunzi wa shule ya upili kwa mwalimu wake yasisimua wengi ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi and his FORD Kenya counterpart Moses Wetangula. Mudavadi raised concern over increasing corruption in the country. Photo: Musalia Mudavadi/Facebook. Source: Facebook "In Kenya, corruption and stealing of public resources has been gratified and made a professional career. Those found perpetrating massive theft of public resources are rewarded with better jobs as the public continue to suffer," said Mudavadi. The visibly agitated Mudavadi challenged the government to address the fresh heist at NYS with vigilance in contrast with how KSh 791 million scandal in NYS was handled. "The leadership needs to save its face and go tough on corrupt officials and not to treat the public to another farce. We don't want a scenario where shoddy investigations are conducted on officials suspected to have stolen a lot of public resources hence end up being exonerated or acquitted," said the ANC leader. READ ALSO: KSh 9 billion NYS fresh scandal is Uhurus blessing in disguise TUKO.co.ke earlier reported how the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and other agencies lifted the lead on the KSh 10.5 billion theft and and were deep in investigations. ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi and his Secretary General Barrack Muluka in a past event. Mudavadi wants government tighten investigations on corrupt officials. Photo: Musalia Mudavadi/Facebook. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji said investigations into the scandal had netted several suspects including senior public officials. Mudavadi further hit out at the government over the Income Tax Bill 2018 currently in Parliament saying it was misinformed and would badly hurt the economy besides opening up room for Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers to steal from the public. "My specific concern is on the propsed increment of the capital gain tax from 5% to 20% which the treasury has not carefully thought about its implications. If the bill is passed the prices of assets being sold especially land and houses will increase hence discouraging many investors," explained Mudavadi. READ ALSO: Raila, Mudavadi want cabinet secretaries sacked over alleged KSh 10 billion NYS theft He challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to counter the bill because it would badly limit his plan of achieving affordable housing because of the high taxes charged on investors trading in land and houses. President Uhuru Kenyatta opening a hospital in Kerugoya. ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi told Uhuru a new law on taxation will impede hinder his legacy. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Facebook. "This is what happens when accountants at the helm of the National Treasury are not economists and only focus on collecting more money from the public rather than growing the economy. Uhuru will be shooting himself on the foot with such a bill," he added. Mudavadi said the law would make property dealers evade tax, adding the tax man would not be sure on how to determine gains on property transfer hence manipulate figures thus opening up a thriving lane for corrupt officials. 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. Peter Pepe Interview: From a Conductor to 13.5 Million Business Owner | Tuko TV Source: Tuko Kenya - The terror facilitator had been processing vital documents to help al-Shabaab enter Kenya - Police have arrested Karishu's two accomplices and charged them with terror related crimes - The suspect went missing following the arrest of his two accomplices Police have offered a KSh 1 million cash reward for anyone who will provide information which will lead to the arrest of terror group al-Shabaab facilitator. In a statement from the Office of the Inspector General (IG) of Police seen by TUKO.co.ke on Friday, May 18, the police identified Francis Macharia Karishu as an al-Shabaab sympathiser. He has been aiding the militants to enter the country illegally, the police noted.. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Dini ya kuabudu shetani yadaiwa kutua Nairobi, wazazi waonywa According to the statement posted on the official Twitter account the IG, Karishu had been actively been involved in helping terrorists to fraudulently acquire Kenyan identity cards. "Karishu whose image is attached operates a business by the name Paste Printers in Nairobi, within Ridges building along Luthuli Avenue where he engages in the printing of fake identity cards, bank cheques, title deed forms, birth certificates among other documents," read the statement. READ ALSO: Police foil deadly Nairobi Al-Shabaab attack after intercepting vehicle with explosives in Isiolo He processed four fake Kenyan identity cards used by two terror suspects, Abdimajit Hassan Adan and Mohammed Nane who were planning to carry out attacks in Nairobi in February 2018. The two were arrested in Meriti, Isiolo with a car full of bombs destined for Nairobi. The suspects who had among other weapons, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) used the fake IDs to enter Kenya before but were arrested. READ ALSO: Detectives Arrest 2 Isiolo 'Al-Shabaab' Recruiters "Our initial investigations indicate Karishu has been engaging in the illegal business for a long time," the police said. Joseph Boinett and Head of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti. The IG's office has offered KSh 1 million cash reward for anyone who will help arrest Karishu. Photo: DCI/Facebook. Source: Facebook The police also said Karishu's accomplices known as Lydiah Nyawira Mburu and John Maina Kiarii have been arrested and charged with forgery of official documents and facilitating terrorist activities. The suspect is reported to have closed his business following the arrest of his accomplices and is still in hiding. READ ALSO: Police warn Nairobi parents of deadly cult recruiting youngsters to sacrifice loved ones "A cash reward of KSh 1 million will be given to anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Karishu," the police stated. This comes a few days after the police on Wednesday, May 16, revealed they would deploy 2000 police officers in Nairobi to beef up security against terrorists planning to strike during the month of Ramadan. 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. What is Your Worst Experience in a Matatu? - on TUKO TV Source: Tuko A prerequisite for the end of the conflict in eastern Ukraine is the withdrawal of the Russian armed forces from occupied areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Acting Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Michele Siders has said. She said this at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, May 17, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "This conflict will only be resolved if Russia makes the decision to remove its forces from the territory of Ukraine, and allows a genuine international security presence to enter," the U.S. diplomat said. She noted that an internationally mandated peacekeeping force under a UN mandate would establish the conditions for the peaceful resolution of the conflict. "It would also alleviate the suffering of the millions of people affected by the conflict," the U.S. representative said. According to her, this peacekeeping force would be responsible for security within the conflict area, and would oversee the cantonment of heavy weapons. In addition, it would have to establish control - not closure - of the international border between Ukraine and Russia in areas outside of Ukrainian government control. "Only then would the conditions be ripe to hold local elections and ensure other political steps under the Minsk agreements are fully implemented," Siders said. At the same time, the U.S. diplomat drew attention to Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea and attempts to connect the peninsula to the Russian coast. "Along with the EU, the United States condemns the opening of a bridge connecting Russia to Crimea without the agreement of the Ukrainian government. The bridge represents not just an attempt by Russia to solidify its unlawful seizure and occupation of Crimea; it also impedes navigation and the delivery of goods to people in Ukraine," she said. op Ukraine and Canada have signed an agreement on military training, the press service of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry has reported on Facebook. "Ukraine and Canada have signed an agreement on military training. The document is intended to improve military cooperation, in particular personnel training, explosive training, medical training, logistics modernization, professional development and education of officers, as well as language courses and strategic communications," the report says. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov thanked the Canadian side for supporting reforms in the Interior Ministry. "I take this opportunity to thank the Canadian side for supporting reforms in our ministry. It is also about assistance in training police officers and joint training. And it's not a matter of money - I counted that the Canadian side provided us with $25 million in assistance. It's a matter of close cooperation between our countries and agencies. We gain your experience, but I think that you will learn a lot from our servicemen as well. We have experience in conducting a hybrid war," Avakov said, addressing the Canadian delegation. op The IMF stresses the need to adjust the price of natural gas for the Ukrainian population in accordance with market conditions, with the mandatory condition of full protection for low-income households. Director of the IMF Communications Department Gerry Rice said this at a briefing in Washington, on Thursday, May 17, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "Gas prices for households in Ukraine have not been adjusted for two years. Despite international prices having gone up considerably, so this results in implicit subsidies, which are regressive [for the national economy], particularly in the sense that they benefit disproportionally the largest users," Rice said. He said it was important that the gas prices be determined by the market in line with the reforms that were implemented in 2016. "We also feel that it's very important that the low-income and vulnerable households are fully protected from an increase in gas prices by the current household support system," Rice said. op Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy and representatives of a delegation of the Board of Directors of the World Bank Group discussed the progress of reforms in Ukraine during a meeting in the Ukrainian Parliament. The speaker informed this on his Twitter page. "Ive spoken about the progress of reforms in Ukraine with the delegation of the Board of Directors of the World Bank. The unique situation in Ukraine is that we manage to carry out successful and fundamental reforms in conditions when Russian tanks are on our lands and the armed hostilities continue," Parubiy said. As Ukrinform reported, the delegation of the Board of Directors of the World Bank Group is currently on a visit to Ukraine. ish Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic have discussed the situation of illegally detained and imprisoned citizens of Ukraine in Russia and the occupied Crimea. The meeting between Klimkin and Mijatovic took place on May 17 as part of the visit of the Ukrainian foreign minister to Denmark, where the 128th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe was held, the press service of the Foreign Ministry reports. "The parties discussed the situation of illegally detained and imprisoned citizens of Ukraine on the territory of the Russian Federation and in the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol," the report reads. First Vice Prime Minister Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv states that Poland remains a strategic trading partner of Ukraine. He said this in Kyiv during events on the occasion of the 227th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Ukrinform learnt from his press service. "Stepan Kubiv has stressed that Poland is a strategic trading partner of Ukraine. He thanked for consistent and unchanged support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and its Euro-integration and Euro-Atlantic aspirations," the report reads. Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug will make an unplanned trip to Donbas on Thursday, May 17, the OSCE's press office has reported. According to the report, he is travelling to Donbas this evening "following a serious deterioration in the security situation in the last 24 hours." The report notes that Hug will assess the security situation along the contact line and its impact on civilians, and discuss with interlocutors measures to reduce tension. op The deportation of the Crimean Tatars began at 03:00 on May 18, 1944 and lasted until the beginning of June. Despite the fact that representatives of the Crimean Tatar people fought in the ranks of the Red Army and even participated in the guerilla movement, the Soviet State Defense Committee accused them of allegedly mass treason and collaboration with the Third Reich, which became the reason for deportation. Undoubtedly, this was an act of genocide and ethnocide, as evidenced by the accusation of the whole people of treason and the application of the principle of collective responsibility. Some 183,144 Crimean Tatars were deported according to official figures and 228,500 according to the Tatar sources. Over 110,000 people died during the first year and a half. Some 32,000 NKVD officers participated in the punitive operation. Men, women, children, and the elderly were driven to the railroad cars used to transport cattle and sent on 70 trains several thousand kilometers away from their home. People were given from a few minutes to half an hour to take their personal belongings, food, the dishes and household equipment. It is clear that most of the property remained and was confiscated by the state. The major part of the deportees was sent to a special settlement in Uzbekistan, some to the Gulag, and another part to replenish the special contingent for the Moscow Coal Basin. Deportation was one of the means of "de-Tatarization" of Crimea. Cultural and historical monuments were destroyed, and the historical names of the places were replaced by new ones such as "Sovetsky," "Pervomaysk," "Krasnogvardeysk" etc. Crimea was inhabited by immigrants from Russia and other republics. During the post-war period, the population in Crimea increased by almost ten times. After the transfer of Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954, a decree was issued (but not published) in 1956 on the rehabilitation of the Crimean Tatars, but practically without the right to return home in Crimea. The mass return of the Crimean Tatars to their homeland began only in the late 1980s. It seemed that peace finally came and it was possible to live calmly and freely on the native land, but Crimean land again became the object of Russia's encroachment, and the Crimean Tatars were (and are) subject to repression. The Crimean Tatar people consistently called for the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and opposed the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, as well as did not recognize Russian occupation of Crimea. Russia, in turn, banned the entry of Crimean Tatar leaders Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov. As of February 2015, out of 300,000 Crimean Tatar people, about 10,000 people were forced to leave Crimea. Taking into account these circumstances, the Ukrainian presidential issued a decree on May 16, 2014 establishing the Day of Struggle for the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People. On November 12, 2015, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized the deportation as genocide and proclaimed May 18 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Genocide against the Crimean Tatar People. op The Kherson City Court has detained the chief of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news agency, Kyrylo Vyshynsky, who is suspected of high treason, for two months, until July 13 inclusive, without the right to post bail, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "The court considers that it is necessary to choose the measure of restraint in the form of detention in relation to the suspect. When choosing the measure of restraint, the investigating judge considers it necessary not to assign the amount of the bail... On the basis of the abovementioned... the investigating judge decided to satisfy the petition to apply to suspect Kyrylo Valeriyovych Vyshynsky the measure of restraint in the form of detention. The term of validity of the ruling on the selection of the measure of restraint has been set until July 13, 2018 inclusive," reads a court ruling, which was read out on May 17 by Judge Yaroslav Musulevsky, who considered this case. As reported, on May 15, the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), as part of criminal proceedings on Russia's unleashing an aggressive war in the information sphere concerning Ukraine and high treason, conducted searches in the editorial office and press center of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news agency, as well as in the homes of persons who organized and ensured its activity. Evidence was obtained as a result of investigatory actions that the information posted on RIA Novosti Ukraine's website contained calls aimed at undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and integrity of Ukraine, state and information security. RIA Novosti Ukraine head Kyrylo Vyshynsky was declared a suspect in high treason and detained. On May 16, Vyshynsky was taken from Kyiv to Kherson, where the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is located. op Resolutions on the deployment of UN peacekeepers to Donbas faced likely vetoes, and have been shelved. Polands President Andrzej Duda is calling for U.N. peacekeepers to be sent to the Russia-Ukraine border and all territory controlled by separatists in eastern Ukraine. Duda stressed "in the strongest terms" to reporters Thursday the importance of deploying a peacekeeping mission, The Washington Post said. Read alsoPoroshenko states "certain progress" on Donbas peacekeepers Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces are engaged in a long-running conflict in the east which has killed more than 10,000 people. It was sparked by Russia's annexation of Crimea. Last September, Russia proposed a draft Security Council resolution on sending UN peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine to provide security for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Days later, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for a UN peacekeeping mission with a mandate over the entire Ukraine-Russia border. Both resolutions faced likely vetoes, and have been shelved. The Kherson City Court in Ukraine's south ruled on May 17 that Vyshinsky charged with treason should be arrested until July 13 pending an investigation into his case. Members of Ukraine's Opposition Bloc party say they are ready to provide guarantees for the release of Chief of RIA Novosti's Kyiv office Kirill Vyshinsky, who was detained on May 15 and was indicted on charges of high treason in Ukraine. "The Opposition Bloc is ready to provide guarantees for the release of detained journalist Kirill Vyshinsky," the party wrote on its website. Read alsoChief of RIA Novosti's Kyiv office admits dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship As UNIAN reported earlier, the press secretary of the Ukrainian SBU Security Service's chief, Olena Gitlianska, said on May 15 the SBU officers had conducted raids in the office of RIA Novosti Ukraine in Kyiv. Later, it became known that Vyshinsky was detained and indicted on charges of high treason. The SBU and prosecutors had uncovered the illegal activity of a Russian-controlled media chain in Ukraine. It was established that in spring 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea, Vyshinsky produced anti-Ukrainian materials and received a medal "For the Return of Crimea" from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the SBU said. Read alsoRIA Novosti's Kyiv bureau chief monthly paid EUR 53,000 for discrediting Ukraine army Vyshinsky jointly with several other journalists started actively supporting the terrorist organizations in Donbas, the "DPR" and the "LPR," after his return from Crimea in 2014. Deputy head of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine Viktor Kononenko said Vyshinsky had been paid EUR 53,000 every month for discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "EUR 53,000 for subversive activities is only a proven amount. According to our data, the financing exceeds EUR 100,000 per month," Kononenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on May 15. Vyshinsky's lawyer said on May 16 his client had been transferred by Ukrainian law enforcers from Kyiv to Kherson for hearings on a preventive measure. The Kherson City Court in Ukraine's south ruled on May 17 that Vyshinsky should be arrested until July 13 pending investigation of the charges against him. Ukraine recognized the Crimean Tatar people's deportation as genocide. Ukraine and the rest of the world are on May 18 honoring the victims of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people and are marking the Day of Struggle for the Rights of the Crimean Tatars. The large-scale deportation of the Crimean Tatars began on this very day way back in 1944. Some 180,000 people were evicted on May 18-20 alone. In addition, 6,000 Crimean Tatar men mobilized by Soviet army enlistment offices in April-May that year were sent to form the reserves in Guryev (Atyrau) in Kazakhstan, Kuibyshev and Rybinsk in Russia. Another 5,000 Crimean Tatars were forced to work at labor camps of the Soviet Moskovugol trust. Read alsoUkrainian anthem played over Russian-occupied Simferopol According to the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, 191,440 people were relocated from Crimea in the first two days. Separately, 5,989 people accused of alleged cooperation with the army of Nazi Germany and other "anti-Soviet elements" were arrested during the deportation. They were sent to the Gulag [the Soviet forced-labor camps during Joseph Stalin's rule from the 1930s up until the 1950s] and were not taken into account in total reports about the exiles. The deportation of the Crimean Tatars began at 03:00 on May 18, 1944, and ended mostly on May 20. The operation involved 32,000 NKVD [Soviet People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs] officers. The deportees were given from several minutes to half an hour to collect personal belongings, namely clothes, utensils, household equipment and food all in all up to 500 kg per family were allowed. In fact, they were able to take only 20-30 kg on the average, and most of their property was abandoned and then seized by the state. Numerous cases of looting were reported. Within two days, the Crimean Tatars were transported by road to the railway stations of Bakhchisaray, Dzhankoy and Simferopol, from where they were dispatched in special trains to Uzbekistan and neighboring areas in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and some regions of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Some 46% of the Crimean Tatar population died amid the deportation, half of them were children under 18. Ukraine recognized the Crimean Tatar people's deportation as genocide. The enemy used mortars in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 60 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with seven Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA). Read alsoUkraine's Interior Ministry launches campaign on Donbas de-occupation "Thanks to the 'active defense,' the Ukrainian troops managed to eliminate six militants, while another one was wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on May 18, 2018. The enemy used mortars near the village of Troyitske (Luhansk region), as well as the towns of Svitlodarsk and Avdiyivka, and the villages of Novoluhanske, Zaitseve, Opytne, and Vodiane (Donetsk region), the report says. Chairman of the Donetsk Military and Civil Administration Pavlo Zhebrivskiy said the woman is in a critical condition in hospital. A family, including a teenager, was killed in the village of Troyitske, Luhansk region, amid militant shelling with the use of artillery systems at night. "A seventh grader of the Myronivskiy school and his father were killed in an attack on Troyitske near the town of Myronivskiy this night," Deputy Head of Donetsk region Ihor Stokoz wrote on Facebook on May 18. Read alsoRussian-led troops shell school in Ukraine's Svitlodarsk, one wounded reported Zhebrivskiy Spokeswoman for Luhansk region's police Tetiana Pohukai said the private sector of the village of Troyitske in the Popasna district had been shelled. "A 13-year-old boy and his 39-year-old father were killed amid the shelling. A 36-year-old mother and an 18-year-old son were hospitalized with mine blast injuries and heavy shrapnel wounds," she said. Chairman of the Donetsk Military and Civil Administration Pavlo Zhebrivskiy said the woman is in a critical condition in hospital. Earlier reports said she had died in hospital. The family reportedly came to Troyitske to spend time in their country house. "Terrible grief was caused by the Russian-backed militants in the village of Troyitske: they shelled the houses of local residents and killed a 13-year-old boy and his dad, seriously injured his mother, and the elder brother was injured in the leg. The family lives in Myronivskiy, but came to the country house in Troyitske. The shelling began at night, all went down to the basement and stayed there for a long time. When they thought the danger had passed, they left the basement and the last shell flew in at that moment. Its fragments have done so much trouble," he said. The terrorist says he does not know when the Ukrainian forces may strike, but he is sure "the Ukrainian side has already completed all preparations." Former "Defense Minister" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") Igor Girkin, nom de guerre Strelkov, claims everything is ready in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to liberate most of the occupied part of Donetsk region. Read alsoKyiv-2 battalion commander on Girkin's statement: "Just talks and wishful thinking" "The AFU are ready to mount an attack on militants and liberate several settlements at once, such as Zholobok, Horlivka, Yasynuvata, Debaltseve, Dokuchaievsk, the Petrivskiy district of Donetsk," the Donbas news portal DonPress quoted Girkin as saying. The terrorist says he does not know when the AFU may strike, but he is sure "the Ukrainian side has already completed all preparations." As UNIAN reported, Girkin earlier outlined three possible scenarios of developments for the self-proclaimed republics in Russian-occupied Donbas. According to him, if the Russian Federation seals the border with Ukraine, then the so-called Donbas republics will cease to exist within a few days. "We are coordinating our actions," Merkel said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that one must further think about the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission to Donbas to continue the implementation of the political part of the Minsk Agreements. Read alsoPutin says gas transit via Ukraine to continue after Nord Stream 2 launch "Unfortunately, serious violations of the ceasefire took place overnight. Therefore, the thought of a UN mission We should keep on thinking about it. We are coordinating our actions," Merkel said at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following talks in Sochi on May 18, according to an UNIAN correspondent in Russia. She emphasized that foreign ministers should work further in this regard and it would be a good achievement in stabilizing the situation in Donbas "in order to carry out political steps for the implementation of Minsk 2 [Minsk peace agreements]." As UNIAN reported earlier, the Russian-backed militants shelled the village of Troyitske in Donbas, using 122mm mortars, overnight May 18, according to the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO). The occupiers shelled the houses of local residents and killed a 13-year-old boy and his dad, seriously injured his mother, and the elder brother was injured in the leg. Haspel was approved despite stiff opposition over her links to the CIA's use of harsh interrogation methods. The U.S. Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be director of the CIA, ending a bruising confirmation fight centered on her ties to the spy agency's past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques. Haspel, who will be the first woman to lead the CIA, is a 33-year veteran at the agency currently serving as its acting director. The tally was 54-45 in favor of her nomination in the 100-member chamber, where a simple majority was required for confirmation, as reported by Reuters. Six Democrats joined President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans in voting for Haspel, and two Republicans voted no. Haspel was approved despite stiff opposition over her links to the CIA's use of harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning widely considered torture, in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks. An undercover officer for most of her CIA career, Haspel in 2002 served as CIA station chief in Thailand, where the agency conducted interrogations at a secret prison using methods including waterboarding. Three years later, she drafted a cable ordering the destruction of videotapes of those interrogations. Read alsoSenate confirms Mike Pompeo as Trump's second secretary of state Republican Senator John McCain, who has been away from Washington all year as he battles brain cancer, urged the Senate not to vote for Haspel. He did not vote on Thursday. Tortured himself while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain said approving Haspel would send the wrong message, and the country should only use methods to keep itself safe "as right and just as the values we aspire to live up to and promote in the world." Haspel also had strong support from Trump's administration, many current and former intelligence officials and a wide range of lawmakers, including Democrats. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, which oversaw the nomination, supported Haspel. "I believe she is someone who can and will stand up to the president, who will speak truth to power if this president orders her to do something illegal or immoral, like a return to torture," he said in a Senate speech before the vote. Rights groups quickly condemned the vote. Laura Pitter of Human Rights Watch called it "the predictable and perverse byproduct of the U.S. failure to grapple with past abuses." Trump nominated Haspel, then deputy director, in March to succeed Mike Pompeo as CIA director. Haspel became acting director after Pompeo was confirmed as secretary of state. The group was allegedly attempting to exacerbate tensions with Ukraine and promote the Kremlin's interests. Polish intelligence agency ABW said on Thursday that it had uncovered a plan to sow discord between Poland and Ukraine and lead an "informational waragainst Poland and in the interests of Russia." To that end, Warsaw intends to expel one Russian and ban four others from entering the country. The group is suspected of "hybrid activities," meaning non-military subversive tactics, Deutsche Welle said. "Their aim is to destabilize the socio-political situation in our country," said ABW spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn. Read alsoPoland detains energy official suspected of spying for Russia Reuters Among the strategies employed by the group, Zaryn said, was to promote interpretations of historical events that would incite hatred between Ukrainians and Poles and cast a sympathetic light on Moscow. While Poland has in recent years been a key supporter of pro-Western attitudes in Ukraine, the two neighbors share a difficult past. Many Poles were massacred by Ukrainian nationalists during Germany's occupation in World War II, which came after a longer period of Polish colonialism and brutality in parts of Ukraine. The last two years have seen an uneasy alliance shaken by differing opinions over that shared history and a rise in nationalistic policies in both Warsaw and Kyiv. Poland is the latest NATO nation to accuse the Kremlin of engaging in "hybrid warfare" to undermine member states without triggering military retaliation. A statement published by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, said North Korea would never accept economic assistance from the U.S. in exchange for unilaterally abandoning its nuclear program. Donald Trump has warned Kim Jong-un that North Korea will be "decimated" if it does not agree a nuclear deal, and that Mr. Kim himself will be treated in the same manner as slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. In comments to reporters that initially appeared designed to reassure Mr. Kim, amid reports of potential brinksmanship from North Korea, the U.S. president said his safety would be reassured and that he would remain in control of his country, following any deal with Washington. Yet he then suggested if a deal was not forthcoming, the North Korean leader might be treated much more harshly, The Independent wrote. "The Libyan model was a much different model. We decimated that country. We never said to Gaddafi, 'Oh, we're going to give you protection'," he said. "We went in and decimated him, and we did the same thing with Iraq." He added: "That model would take place if we don't make a deal." Mr. Trump's comments came after North Korea abruptly pulled out of a meeting planned for Wednesday with South Korea, and suggested it may also not participate in the summit with Mr. Trump, scheduled to take place in Singapore on June 12. Read alsoPompeo and Bolton outline North Korea plans as talks approach CNN North Korea claimed it was angered over a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise, but some observers suggested Pyongyang was returning to the kind of diplomacy it had displayed before at the time of other proposed talks. Others said it was possible that secret preparation discussions, understood to be taking place in Singapore, may have hit a bump. A statement published by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, said North Korea would never accept economic assistance from the U.S. in exchange for unilaterally abandoning its nuclear program. The statement, issued in the name of Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's first vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: "We have never had any expectation of U.S. support in carrying out our economic construction and will not Make such a deal in future." Mr. Trump was asked about comments made over the weekend by his national security adviser, John Bolton, who had raised the prospect of pursuing a "Libya model" in relation to getting North Korea to abandon its weapons program. Mr. Bolton was referring to an announcement made by Mr. Gaddafi in December 2003, when, after the U.S. and UK invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, he announced he was giving up his WMD program and seeking better relations with the West. Mr. Trump appeared to have confused that process, with what happened to the Libyan leader in 2011, when he was overthrown and killed after Libyans joined the Arab Spring protests, and were supported militarily by NATO. He was hunted down and killed by opponents in the city of Sirte, after his convoy was struck by NATO planes. Hillary Clinton, the then U.S. secretary of state, said of his death: "We came, we saw, he died." "North Korea is actually talking to us about times and everything else as though nothing happened," Mr. Trump said, at the start of an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He said the deal he was looking at would give Mr. Kim "protections that will be very strong". He added: "He would be there, he would be running his country, his country would be very rich. The Libya model was a much different model. We decimated that country." Read alsoReuters: North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site Reuters said Mr. Trump then said Mr. Kim would face such a fate, if he failed to agree to a deal. The president did not provide specifics, but added: "We cannot let that country have nukes. We just can't do it." The United States has demanded the "complete, verifiable, and irreversible" dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, which Pyongyang has rejected. Rather, North Korea has given no indication that it is willing to go beyond statements of broad support for the concept of denuclearization. It has said in previous, failed talks, 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. South Korea is also involved in efforts to both salvage peace talks with North Korea and play mediator for the summit between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim. "We decided to closely coordinate with both sides so that the upcoming [summit] will be held successfully with mutual respect," a South Korean official told the news agency. Ms. Skripal was released on April 9 and was moved to a secure location. Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from hospital after being poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury. The 66-year-old was found slumped on a park bench in the city on March 4, with his daughter Yulia, the BBC reported. They were taken to Salisbury District Hospital's intensive care unit, where they were stabilized after being exposed to Novichok. Read alsoPolice identify key suspects in nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal The Telegraph Ms. Skripal was released on April 9 and was moved to a secure location. Director of nursing Lorna Wilkinson said treating the Skripals had been "a huge and unprecedented challenge". She added: "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital." DS Nick Bailey the police officer who first attended the Skripals on the day of the poisoning was also treated for exposure to the nerve agent, but has since been discharged. The UK government blamed Russia for the attack, with Prime Minister Theresa May describing the incident as "brazen" and "despicable". But the Russian government denied any involvement and has accused the UK of inventing a "fake story". Sweden's Ikea, which revolutionised affordable furnishing for households, is to expand its flat pack offers to South America for the first time. Stockholm, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :Sweden's Ikea, which revolutionised affordable furnishing for households, is to expand its flat pack offers to South America for the first time. The group announced on Thursday that it aims to open at least nine stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru in the next decade along with online sales channels for the three nations. Inter Ikea Group's chief executive Torbjorn Loof said in a statement that partnering with the Chilean department store and retail company Falabella "will give us the speed we need to be more accessible to the many". The two companies on Thursday signed an agreement which secured Ikea franchise rights in all three countries. The Swedish giant is also exploring expansion opportunities in Mexico where it opened an office in April 2017. Founded in 1943, the brand currently operates 418 stores in 49 markets. Listed on the Santiago Stock Exchange, Falabella operates 494 stores, 42 shopping centres and employs more than 100,000 people in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Mexico. (@rukhshanmir) The syndicate of Khyber Medical University (KMU) Peshawar on the recommendation of University Selection Board (USB) has approved to fill various vacant positions of Professors, Associate and Assistant Professors, Lecturers by appointment and some administration cadre positions through promotion PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2018 ) :The syndicate of Khyber Medical University (KMU) Peshawar on the recommendation of University Selection board (USB) has approved to fill various vacant positions of Professors, Associate and Assistant Professors, Lecturers by appointment and some administration cadre positions through promotion. These decisions were taken in the 28th meeting of KMU Syndicate met under the chairmanship of Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Arshad Javaid, besides the other members representative of the secretary of HED, Health, Finance and Establishment also attended the meeting. The Syndicate on the recommendation of USB approved appointment of Professor in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Associate Professor Prosthodontics, Associate Professor Oral Medicine, Assistant Professor Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Assistant Professor Prosthodontics at KMU Institute of Dental Sciences (KIDS), Kohat, Associate Professor Medicine, Associate Professor in Paeds, Assistant Professor Medicine and Assistant Professor Radiology at KMU Institute of Medical Sciences, Kohat, Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Lecturers at Institute of Public Health & Social Sciences. Whereas the Syndicate also gave approval of the promotion of Mr. Nasir Salim Arab from Deputy Controller of Examination BPS-18 to Director P&D BPS-19, Kamran Irshad and Muhammad Farooq from Office Manager BPS-17 to Deputy Registrar BPS-18 and Deputy Controller BPS-18, Usman Iqbal Assistant Treasurer BPS-17 to Deputy Treasurer BPS-18 and Six Office Assistants BPS-16 to Office Manager BPS-17. The syndicate on the recommendation of Anomaly Committee various amendments in the University Statutes and Service Rules were also recommended to the Senate for final approval. The Syndicate on the recommendation of Affiliation Committee approved enhancement of slots of BS Nursing Post RN from 30 to 40 at Post Graduate College of Nursing Hayatabad, Peshawar. After detailed discussion beside revised budget of 2017-18 the Syndicate also recommended the budget estimates for the fiscal year 2018-19 with receipt of Rs. 1,115.449 million, expenditure of Rs.1,030.891 million with a surplus of Rs. 84.558 million for onward approval of the Senate. Earlier, while talking to the meeting VC Prof Dr Arshad Javaid said with appointment on various vacant positions the long awaited issue of registration of kids and KIMS Kohat with PMDC has been resolved. He said KMU has became first university of the country where family medicine diploma programme has been launched which will help to cater the need of more than 60,000 family physicians across the country. He said the surplus budget reveals the fact that we at KMU believe not only on smart governance but on financial discipline and this spirit will keep continue in admissions as well as in all appointments to ensure merit and transparency. Meanwhile, the administration staff of KMU paid rich tribute to the VC for resolving the long delayed issue of staff's promotions and they hoped that under the dynamic leadership of Prof Dr Arshad Javaid the remaining cases of promotions of officers/officials will also be materialized in due course of time. (@rukhshanmir) Pakistan needs to increase its current yearly growth rate of net enrollment from 0.92 percent to 3.8 percent to achieve the zero out-of-school children target by 2030 ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :Pakistan needs to increase its current yearly growth rate of net enrollment from 0.92 percent to 3.8 percent to achieve the zero out-of-school children target by 2030. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) National Human Development Report-2017 (NHDR) has projected the prevailing enrollment growth rate ratio contributing to achieve the set the target, which is a decade away, in six long decades. The report has anticipated that the government should expedite the current growth rate to bring the out-of-school children number down to zero to reap maximum fruits of its efforts, adding quality not quantity of education should be enhanced to uplift the stagnant literacy rate. The report has revealed that Pakistan's progress in literacy and enrollments in the formal schooling system has been spoiled by persistent overlapping disparity in access to, and access in education. It added that access to education refers to availability of educational institutions, admission procedures and infrastructure while access in explains the quality of the teaching and learning and the level of participation in school life. "Poor access to education in Pakistan leads to the country having one of the world's lowest completion rates for Primary education. The abysmal levels of public spending on education under subsequent governments reflect on the poor quality of teaching and learning outcomes and inadequate infrastructure", says the report. Incredibly 9.45 million children at primary level were estimated to be out of school in 2015. Pakistan is a signatory to various international commitments regarding the goal of universal education, like Education for All, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These commitments have been incorporated in the national agenda. Pakistan's Constitution recognizes free education as a right and accepts the provision of free and compulsory education as the State's responsibility. Constitutional Amendment 18 (2010) states: 'The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as determined by the law' (Article 25-A, Chapter 1, Fundamental Rights', Constitution of Pakistan 1973). The report has emphasized the need that the government should revisits its definition of literacy as it counts Pakistan adopts a loose definition of literacy, bypassing the two critical components numeracy and life skills. The 1998 national census counts anyone 10 years or older as literate if they can "read a newspaper and write a simple letter in any language ". Pakistan has committed to the Education for All (EFA) goal that entails achieving a 50 percent improvement in adult literacy levels by 2015, along with equitable access of education for all. However, the country still lags in its education targets. (@ChaudhryMAli88) LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :An accountability court Friday extended physical remand of former Director General of Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Ahad Cheema and Bismillah Engineering's proprietor Shahid Shafiq Faridi for 3 days in Ashiana-i-Iqbal housing scheme case. At the outset of the proceedings, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials produced the suspects before Accountability Court Judge Munir Ahmad amid tight security on expiry of the remand term. The Bureau's investigating officer submitted that investigation of the case was still under way. He submitted that Ahad Cheema had also acquired many assets which need to be probed. He requested the court to extend physical remand of the suspects for completion of investigation. However, the defence counsel opposed the request and asked the court to send the accused to jail on judicial remand. The court, however, accepted NAB's request and extended physical remand of Ahad Cheema and Shahid Shafiq till May 21 and directed NAB officials to produce them on expiry of remand term. NAB alleged that Ahad Cheema misused his authority as LDA Director General and awarded a contract of Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme to Lahore Casa Developers, a joint venture of three companies M/s Bismillah Engineering Services Co, M/s SPARCO Construction Company and M/s China First Metallurgical Group Co Ltd, which was ineligible for the purpose. It was claimed that the Ahad also received illegal gratification in the form of 32-kanal land from one of the shareholder companies of the said joint venture. APP/syh/bl After Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad in Killi Almas and terrorist attack at FC Madadgar Center the chief minister has directed Inspector General of Balochistan Police to keep a high alert throughout the province and develop comprehensive strategic security plan for protection of citizens QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :After Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad in Killi Almas and terrorist attack at FC Madadgar Center the chief minister has directed Inspector General of Balochistan Police to keep a high alert throughout the province and develop comprehensive strategic security plan for protection of citizens. This was stated by Chief Minister Balochistan's Special Assistant for Information Bilal Khan Kakar on Friday. He said that provincial government is collaborating with the law enforcement agencies for restoration of peace and security in the province. Bilal Khan Kakar said that measures were being taken to safeguard citizens' lives at public places and shopping malls in the holy month of Ramadan. He said that scrutiny at all transport routes and check posts had been made more efficient. Security had been stiffened in the hours of prayers around mosques, he added. He stressed citizens and business community to cooperate with the government and security forces for maintenance of peace in the province. PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :District administration Peshawar has established Ramazan Facilitation Points at 12 different places in different bazaars of the district while helpline 1052 has also been activated for the registration of complaints regarding profiteering. This was stated by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Peshawar, Dr. Imran Hamid Sheikh while inaugurating a Ramazan Facilitation Point at Speen Jamaat. Assistant Commissioner (AC) Mohammad Mughees Sanaullah, Additional Assistant Commissioner (AAC), Inayatullah Khan and others officers were also present on the occasion. The Ramazan Facilitation Points have been established at Ghanta Ghar, Ramdas Bazaar, Shaheed Abad, Bacha Khan Chowk, Faqir Kalley, Bakhshu Bridge, Nauthia, Speen Jamat, Badhber, Phandu, Super Market and Basharat Committee. The facilitation points will remain active from 4pm to 8pm beside the officials of the district administration, the representatives of the Revenue, food and Police will also be deployed at these points. Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner urged the people to register complaints regarding profiteering with these points so action would be taken against the profiteers. The Deputy Commissioner said that strict monitoring of markets is must for the eradication of corruption. However, he also urged the people to extended cooperation with the district administration and register their complaints through helpline and other available sources. Pakistan's Ambassador Ali Javed felicitated Dr. Mohamed Al Araimi, Director General & Editor-in-Chief of Oman News Agency (ONA), on his recent election as Chairman of the Oman Journalists Association (OJA). ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :Pakistan's Ambassador Ali Javed felicitated Dr. Mohamed Al Araimi, Director General & Editor-in-Chief of Oman news Agency (ONA), on his recent election as Chairman of the Oman Journalists Association (OJA). On the occasion, both sides praised the interactions between Oman's political leadership and civil society during the recent visits from Islamabad of Gauhar Zahid Malik, Executive Editor of "Pakistan Observer", one of the largest English dailies, and Javed Chaudhry, a leading tv anchor and columnist, said a statement received here. Ambassador briefed Araimi on the excellent state of bilateral relations, highlighting the performance of the "Pakistan-Oman Joint Investment Company" and the sustained trajectory of exchanges between the political, parliamentary and military leaderships of the two States. Araimi expressed his keen desire to promote bilateral ties. He said he was looking forward to interacting with Masood Malik, MD of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the journalists' fraternity and intellectuals at the "Conference on International News Agencies" that was hosted by APP from May 13 to 14 in Islamabad. Outlining the dynamic outreach to synergise "people's exchanges", the Ambassador presented a copy of the special edition newsletter showcasing the six-week celebrations of "Pakistan Day" in the Sultanate to Araimi, who represented Oman at the conference in Islamabad. (@mahnoorsheikh03) Strict action to be taken against the students violating the orders Karachi (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News 18th May, 2018) A private university in Karachi has issued directions that a boy and a girl need to keep a distance of 6 inches if they sit together. A strict action will be taken against the students violating the directives of the university administration. According to a private tv channel, this university in Karachi has issued these orders on account of the month of Ramzan. According to the order from university, a girl and a boy will not be allowed to sit together and if they do, they have to keep a distance of 6 inches between them. The directives have been issued by the university today. Following the orders, students have also expressed their views. Some students have appreciated the step, saying that these orders should be implemented to rest of the year too while others have condemned these directives. The news has also gone viral on social media after it was broadcast on media. The social media users have also given a mixed reaction to the universitys orders. However, the university has imposed this restriction on its students and has warned of an action if it is violated. Security forces on Thursday failed a terrorist attempt to attack Frontier Constabulary (FC) Help Center in Quetta RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2018 ) :Security forces on Thursday failed a terrorist attempt to attack Frontier Constabulary (FC) Help Center in Quetta. According to Inter Services Public Relations, an explosive and ammunition laden vehicle with five suicide bombers tried to enter the Help Center. But vigilant FC soldiers fired at the terrorists and stopped their entry. All the terrorists were killed, who apparently were Afghani. The failed terrorists attempt was in response to the killing of their key terrorists last night in Killi Almas, Balochistan, the ISPR said. Security forces were clearing the area and situation was under control. Four FC soldiers were injured in exchange of fire. At a time when Muslims seek spirituality and try to engage in acts of piety and prayer, special arrangements are being made in all the mosques to accommodate the extra streams of female worshippers to offer 'Taraweeh' prayers during holy month of Ramadan. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :At a time when Muslims seek spirituality and try to engage in acts of piety and prayer, special arrangements are being made in all the mosques to accommodate the extra streams of female worshippers to offer 'Taraweeh' prayers during holy month of Ramadan. A report aired by a private news channel said , taraweeh, the night prayer, is a special feature of the month, scores of Muslim women all across the country are now keen on offering the 'taraweeh' prayers the additional nightly prayers offered during the holy month of Ramzan in congregation. While some Masjids, bigger in size, have separate sections for women to pray, certain Masjids create space for women during the month of Ramadan, using curtains. Besides, there are also devout women who make special arrangements for Taraweeh prayers in their neighborhood, using a house where they assemble for the prayer. Fatima Saeed, a housewife at mosque, said in previous years the number of worshippers varied from day to day, but this Ramadan the mosque was always full. "Probably this is due to the holidays. There are no schools so everybody has more time for worship," she said. A 45-year-old schoolteacher said: "It is a growing phenomenon between housewives, neighbours and young ladies to go to the mosque for taraweeh, because there are more people praying together at the mosque, and when you stay at home you might feel lazy. " She said some women liked to hear the imam recite the Quran, because some imams recited the whole Quran throughout Ramadan. No matter what the circumstances, she and her friends would continue to come to the mosque, she said. Ushna Imran, a citizen said it is believed that those who offer the prayers in a congregation will get more rewards . "Several working women and homemakers go to places where congregational prayers are held. Compared to previous years, the prayers are held at multiple places in Muslim-dominated localities," she said. Many women, who are illiterate and do not know much of the Quran by heart also like to offer Taraweeh in Masjids, mostly to listen to the Quranic recitation and to seek forgiveness for their sins in supplications, said another female. "I wish I could attend a Quran Taraweeh but for my obligations at home. Insha Allah! Next year I would try my best to attend one," Says Arifa a housewife. (@ChaudhryMAli88) SEJONG, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :Economy-related ministers from 35 African nations will gather in Busan next week to discuss ways to bolster the continent's industrialization and economic cooperation with South Korea, the Finance Ministry here said Friday. The 53rd annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) will be held in the country's port city of Busan from Monday to Friday under the theme of "Accelerating Africa's Industrialization," said the ministry, the event's organizer. Moroccan Prime Minister Eddine El Othmani will also join a high-level session as a panelist, and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim will deliver a special address. On the sidelines of the AfDB meeting, the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) meeting will be held, with African trade and industry ministers taking part in the event. The biennial meeting was launched in 2006. A large group of African business leaders will also visit the country to contribute to the discussions at this year's meeting. On Tuesday, eight African ministries and state-run companies will introduce their major infrastructure development projects to seek investments from South Korean financiers and businesses. One-on-one meetings between 45 African agencies and South Korean companies are also scheduled. The Busan AfDB meeting is the fifth of its kind to be held outside the African continent, according to the ministry. (@rukhshanmir) A high-speed railway linking Makkah and Madinah will finally start operating in September, the Spanish consortium building the project said. ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :A high-speed railway linking Makkah and Madinah will finally start operating in September, the Spanish consortium building the project said. The railway linking islam's holiest cities, which was initially scheduled to open at the end of 2016, had a cost overrun of 210 million euros, which Saudi Arabia has agreed to pay, the Al-Shoula consortium added in a statement. It will begin operating in September with four trains per week, before offering daily service by September 2019, Arab news reported. Saudi Arabia in 2011 awarded the contract worth 6.7 billion Euros ($7.1 billion) to the consortium of 12 Spanish companies and two Saudi firms for the project, which aims to improve transport between the two cities during the annual Haj pilgrimage. The contract one of the biggest Spanish firms have ever undertaken abroad is for the laying of the 444 kilometers (275 miles) of track between Makkah and Madinah, providing 35 trains and maintaining the line for 12 years. When it is finished, the rail link will be able to move 166,000 passengers per day. But the project has run into challenges that have added to its costs, leading to disagreements among members of the consortium over who is responsible for resolving them and paying for the cost overruns. Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman visit to Spain last month played a "key" role in resolving the disagreements over the delays in completing he project . The leading firms in the consortium Spain's rail company Renfe, train maker Talgo, and state track operator Adif have extensive experience with Spain's own high-speed network, the world's second largest after China's. A peacekeeper was killed and eight others were injured Thursday during an attack on a convoy in the Central African Republic, the UN's MINUSCA force and the Mauritanian army said. Bangui, Central African Republic, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2018 ) :A peacekeeper was killed and eight others were injured Thursday during an attack on a convoy in the Central African Republic, the UN's MINUSCA force and the Mauritanian army said. The ambush took place as a contingent of Mauritanian peacekeepers were escorting a logistical convoy between the towns of Kongbo and Alindao in the southern central part of the country, the UN said. Five in the convoy sustained serious injuries, and the death raises to three the number of peacekeepers killed in the strife-torn country since the start of the year, it said. The Mauritanian army blamed the ambush on Christian anti-Balaka militias who have been locked in an ongoing deadly confrontation with mainly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels. In New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and sent his condolences to the family of the dead peacekeeper. "Attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime," Guterres stressed, calling on Central African Republic authorities "to investigate... and swiftly bring those responsible to justice," in comments relayed by a UN spokesman. The UN has around 12,500 personnel deployed in Central Africa as part of its MINUSCA mission, one of the world body's largest peacekeeping forces. "Such blind violence is unacceptable. Why attack peacekeepers whose only reason for being on Central African soil is to help the country to escape the spiral of violence and help it return to lasting peace and security?" asked car's UN special representative Parfait Onanga-Anyanga. The violence has raised fears that the country, one of the most unstable in the world, could again plunge into a bloody sectarian conflict. A senior Palestinian leader has rebuffed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley for her repeated threats to take down the names of countries that rejected Washington's demands, saying that she is not "the schoolmarm of the world UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2018 ) :A senior Palestinian leader has rebuffed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley for her repeated threats to take down the Names of countries that rejected Washington's demands, saying that she is not "the schoolmarm of the world." "She (Haley) threatened and she pressured and she used coercion and so on at the U.N., particularly by taking down names. I don't think people appointed her the schoolmarm of the world," Hanan Ashrawi, a top official in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said while talking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. Ashrawi also voiced her outrage over Ambassador Haley's walk out from a Security Council on Tuesday meeting when the Palestinian envoy began speaking. Haley has repeatedly warned other U.N. members that the U.S. would take note of countries that opposed Washington at the U.N. In December, for example, as the U.N. General Assembly weighed a resolution urging the Trump administration to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Haley said the U.S. would "be taking names." "On Thursday there'll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names," she tweeted on Dec 19. Ashrawi's comments came a day after Haley defended Israeli forces who opened fire on Palestinian protesters on the Israel-Gaza border on Monday during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Sixty Palestinians were killed and 2,700 wounded in what is being described as massacre. Ashrawi rejected Haley's claim that the opening of the U.S. embassy was not linked to the Gaza border demonstrations. "It's extremely difficult to find any relationship between reality and the words we hear coming out from the American representative here," Ashrawi said. Following the United States decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this week and act which she described as "becoming complicit in the occupation," Ashrawi said Palestinians "want a new multilateral mechanism; we want a new international engagement. " She said that peace negotiations with Israel since the early 1990s, brokered by the US, had not worked: "The US certainly has joined Israel as a partner in crime. It has joined Israel in violating international law and the resolutions of the Security Council on Jerusalem and so on. So, what we need to do is to bypass these obstacles and to find a sort of global forum for the solution," she said. Asked if a two-state solution with both countries living side-by-side in peace, was still possible, Ashrawi said: "This is very much in doubt, it's very questionable. Unless there is the will to engage, to intervene effectively " not just to end settlement activities but to begin to dismantle settlements " Israel will have succeeded in super-imposing Greater Israel on all of historical Palestine." Asked for her view on calls from senior UN officials for Hamas in Gaza to stop inciting any violence at the border, she said the militant group was being used as a "convenient scapegoat" to deflect blame and accountability away from Israel. "It is not Hamas who is responsible for the killing fields that Israel has carried out in Gaza. The people who are on this march to return; these unarmed civilian protests against the moving of the American embassy these are expressions of will by the Palestinian people, who are protesting, demonstrating on their own lands", she said, adding that "they are sending a message not just to Israel but to the rest of the world that we are a people who are alive and we want to live, and we want our freedom and we want our rights. This is not a sort of incitement or instigation by Hamas." San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com) Pheochromocytoma is an adrenal pathology (benign or malignant) that may be referred to urologist for management. Surgical resection is often warranted, particularly if a patient is symptomatic or the mass is enlarged. However, adrenalectomy is not a commonly performed operation (as prior abstracts in this session have noted). Hence, the authors attempt to generate a pre-operative severity scale to help predict surgical outcomes of adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma based on clinical manifestations of the pheochromocytoma. Patients were treated over a 10-year period (2000-2017).The classification scheme of the pheochromocytomas was as follows: (presumably on pre-operative manifestations)Class I- incidentalomaClass II: asymptomatic + controlled hypertensionClass III: symptomatic + controlled hypertensionClass IV: uncontrolled hypertension or hemodynamic crisis156 patients were included in the study. Basic demographic data: mean age 48 18 yrs, 54% were female, mean BMI was 26 3, 57% of masses were right sided and 6% were bilateral, and 34% of patients had a familial disorder (VHL 29%, NF1 19%). Based on the above classification, the proportion of patients in each group was: Class 1 (25%), Class 2 (20.5%), Class 3 (37%), and Class 4 (16%).In terms of surgical approach, 18% were open, 56% laparoscopic and 26% robotic.The primary outcomes were post-operative complications according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. A total of 5% sustained a Clavien 3a complication (30% had any degree of complication). While not in their original abstract, the authors provided a copy of their manuscript in this, the risk of complications clearly increased with increasing PCSS score. Class 4 patients had a 21% rate of Clavien 3a complications while patients with Class 1 pheo had only a 5% risk (p = 0.05).On univariate analysis, PCSS, BMI, history of hypertension, and number of hypertensives prescribed were associated with risk of complications; however, on MV analysis, only BMI was significant (OR 1.1, p < 0.01) though not a strong predictor based on its OR.The authors do note that adding PCSS to BMI was able to increase the predictive ability of the model final AUC was 0.752.Unfortunately, the title of this study is quite misleading. Rather than looking at whether this scale predicted surgical outcomes, despite accounting for other variables, it seems the authors focused on the predictors of pre-operative clinical manifestations. The analysis appears to be a little backward!Presented By: Joel Hillelsohn, MD New York Medical CollegeCo-Authors: Joel Hillelsohn, Valhalla, NY, Soroush Rais-Bahrami, Vidhush Yarlagadda, Luciana Schwartz, Jennifer Gordetsky, Birmingham, AL, Victor Srougi, Sao Paulo, Brazil, John Phillips, Valhalla, NYWritten by: Thenappan Chandrasekar, MD, Clinical Fellow, University of Toronto, | twitter: @tchandra_uromd at the 2018 AUA Annual Meeting - May 18 - 21, 2018 San Francisco, CA USA One hundred thirteen people died in March 2017 in Addis Ababa after a landfill slid on homes crushing the residents underneath the debris. Officials in the Ethiopian capital called UTAs Sahadat Hossain because he is a landfill management expert, who has researched and perfected the efficient and safe operation of landfills. Sahadat Hossain, UTA professor of civil engineering Hossain is the director of the University of Texas at Arlingtons Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability, or SWIS. I was the only international expert allowed to the landfill after its collapse, said Hossain, who also is a UTA civil and environmental engineer. I had been working with the city of Addis Ababa since 2015 but after the national tragedy in 2017, something had to be done. They were out of time. It wasnt a question of when. It was a question of how. Now, the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has signed a five-year, $4 million agreement with Hossain to solve the one major issue for their country growing demand for sustainable urban development. As part of sustainable urban development, solving waste management issues due to the exponential rise of citys population is a critical component for future growth of Addis Ababa. The agreement is a collaboration between The University of Texas at Arlington and Kotebe Metropolitan University and the city of Addis Ababa. Through the collaboration, UTAs SWIS will help and promote Addis Ababas waste management facility to become a Center of Excellence. As part of the agreement SWIS will hire and educate two post-doctorate researchers and five doctoral students each of those five years. Hossain will work with the Addis Ababa city officials and KMU to enroll the post-docs and doctoral students, and identify the citys need to start research projects that will have a lasting impact on their home country of Ethiopia. We can concentrate on landfill management projects that can immediately benefit and help Ethiopia, said Hossain, who added that Addis Ababa currently has 3.5 million residents but should have close to 10 million in the next decade. They need action now. Ethiopian delegates recently visited UTA to meet with Univeristy officials. Pictured from left are: Sahadat Hossain, UTA professor of civil engineering; Duane Dimos, UTA vice president of research; UTA President Vistasp Karbhari; Assegid Getachew, city of Addis Ababa Mayors Office and cabinet affairs head; and Berhanemeskel Tana, president of Kotebe Metropolitan University. SWIS will play a key role in educating and directing landfill research for that country. The institute combines science, engineering and social science expertise in developing new methodologies and solutions in order to explore international paths to sustainable waste management. SWIS goal is to work for a better future by developing sustainable solid waste management that incorporates the economy, people and environment, which will be beneficial to all cities in Texas, the country and internationally. SWIS conducts a winter training/education conference which has drawn participants from more than 60 countries. This is the global outreach of SWIS and UTA, Hossain said. And the project with Ethiopia doesnt only include solid waste management. It also includes street engineering, traffic management, urban planning, city management and other major topics. Thats why Hossain is envisioning collaboration within the Civil Engineering Department and other departments within UTA. Dr. Araya Asfaw, former director of Horn of Africa Regional Environmental Center and founder/managing partner of the sustainability advisory group, said he is excited about the collaboration with UTA. Our people will be learning cutting-edge technology in maintaining and managing landfills, and sustainable waste management system, Araya said. We will benefit immediately from what they learn here at UTA. Araya is the city of Addis Ababas consultant for the project. Ali Abolmaali, chair of the Civil Engineering Department, said Dr. Hossains work will have a lasting impact on Ethiopian residents. What he is doing with the country today could influence what happens in that country for decades to come, It has global impact, Abolmaali said. Youll see changes in those residents lives well beyond the physical infrastructure well train for in the classroom with the doctoral students and post-doc researchers. Duane Dimos, UTAs vice president for research, said the work done now will save lives in the long run. We cannot let what happened in 2017, happen anymore, Dimos said. This university caters to the needs of a major metropolitan area in North Texas. That expertise and learned experiences need to be shared with the world and Dr. Hossain has done that and is continuing to do that in his Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability. SWIS is a classroom for solid waste management and landfill mining. Hossain has received grants from various cities and state agencies that installs sensors in landfills to tell the operator how much water to apply so that decomposition can create gas used to power nearby homes. Hossain also has a project with the Texas Department of Transportation that uses pins made of recycled plastic to spike into failed highway slopes, which in turn makes those slopes stronger. UTAs SWIS is an Organized Research Center of Excellence. Hossain has organized the winter school for the last three years in collaboration with the International Solid Waste Association. The objective of the ISWA-SWIS winter school is to provide advanced knowledge in the field of waste management to an international audience of existing and emerging solid waste experts. Participants from more than 60 counties joined the winter school last three years. Pope Francis on Friday received in the Vatican, President of the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon. Later in an interview, at the Vatican News studios, President Talon recalled the contributions of Benins illustrious son, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin who died in 2008. Paul Samasumo Vatican city. The Holy See and Benin happy with good existing relations. Pope Francis, on Friday, received in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the President of the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon. Afterwards, President Talon met with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin who was accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States. Church in Benin praised for its positive contribution In a communique released after the visit, the Holy See said it had held cordial discussions with President Talon. The Holy See also praised the positive contribution of the Catholic Church in Benin particularly in the fields of education, healthcare and human development. Later in the day, President Talon was interviewed at the Vatican News studios, by staff of the French Africa section. In the interview, President Talon addressed political, social and economic issues facing Benin and Africa, in general. In discussing Benins controversial sect, the Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Baname, headed by the female leader, Vicentia Chanvoukini, President Talon said as republican president he was duty-bound to embrace everyone in the country regardless of their religious views. Remembering Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin Prominent in the interview was the tenth anniversary of the death of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin. Up until his retirement, Cardinal Gantin served in various senior positions of the Holy See including as Dean of the College of Cardinals. Born in 1922, Cardinal Gantin died on 13 May 2008. The tenth anniversary of his death was marked with a thanksgiving service held at St. Michael's Church in Cotonou, Benin. Commemorative events were also planned for Italy. Pope emeritus Benedict XVI spoke highly of Cardinal Gantin at the time of his death. Many personal memories bind me to this Brother of ours, starting precisely from the moment when we received the Cardinal's hat from the hands of the Venerable Servant of God (now Blessed) Paul VI, 31 years ago now. We worked together here in the Roman Curia and frequently came into contact, which enabled me to appreciate increasingly his prudent wisdom, as well as his solid faith and sincere attachment to Christ and to the Pope, his Vicar on earth. Fifty-seven years as a priest, 51 as a Bishop and 31 as a Cardinal: this sums up a life spent for the Church, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI said in 2008. Later in 2011, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI on his Apostolic Voyage to Benin, paid homage and prayed at the tomb of Cardinal Gantin. The people of Burundi voted Thursday in a referendum that could essentially allow President Nkurunziza to possibly remain in power until 2034. The nations Catholic Bishops recently expressed displeasure with the poll. Festus Tarawalie and Paul Samasumo Vatican city. Referendum proposes changes to presidential term limits The East African country of Burundi voted Thursday in a referendum that proposes changes to the countrys presidential term limits. If the ruling party gets its way, Burundi, one of the smallest countries in Africa, could see its President, Pierre Nkurunziza, get an additional 14 years when his current term of office ends in 2020. This would allow Nkurunziza to possibly remain in power until 2034. The proposed amendments would change presidential terms from five years to seven and would allow the ruling party the power to remove an elected member of parliament guilty of breaking the countrys laws and constitution. For a bill to pass the legislature, it would need the approval of a simple majority from the countys lawmakers, under the proposed changes. Catholic Bishops expressed displeasure with the referendum In an radio interview with Vatican News French Africa Service, Bishop Joachim Ntahondereye of the Diocese of Muyinga and President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi reiterated the message of the Bishops contained in a pastoral statement of 2 May 2018. In the statement, the Bishops expressed displeasure with the referendum proposal, saying this is not the right time for such a vote. Given that the vote has taken place Thursday, the Bishops plea has gone unheeded. "Many citizens are living in fear, even if they don't say this openly, and don't dare say what they think for fear of reprisals," the Bishops' conference said in the statement. The proposed reform of the Constitution, according to the Bishops, goes against the Constitutional Charter itself. They said Article 299 of the current Constitution states that no revision can be applied if it undermines national unity; the cohesion of the Burundian people or the reconciliation process. Bishops call for unity and peace regardless of referendum outcome The Bishops said that instead of uniting Burundians, the process leading towards the draft constitution has exacerbated differences, and left citizens polarised. They insist that this is not the appropriate moment for changes to the Constitution. The prelates of Burundi further reiterated that the Catholic Church had a mission to foster "unity, concord and peace". Nonetheless, they have also said whatever the outcome of Thursdays referendum, what matters is that Burundians remain united and should be concerned with safeguarding peace and trying to advance democracy. Shaken by socio-political crises including the Anglophone crisis; incursions from Nigeria by Boko Haram militants, Cameroonian Bishops have urged the faithful to a national novena to pray for peace in the country. The novena to the Holy Spirit started on 11 May and will end on the 19 May. English Africa Staff Vatican News Novena to the Holy Spirit for peace The novena will end on Saturday, 19 May, the evening of the solemnity of Pentecost. "Christians of Cameroon, let us enter the Upper Room following the Apostles with Mary. Let us become a living cenacle," the Bishops invited the faithful in their message issued by the Archbishop of Doula, Samuel Kleda. He is also the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon. "Christ makes all the arrangements so that we can live today as Christians and that through us others can recognise who He is because being a Christian is a commitment, Archbishop Kleda said. The oldest novena in the Church The novena in honour of the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the direction of Jesus Himself when He sent His apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. Cameroons Anglophone crisis Cameroons English-speaking minority, which represents about 20% of 25 million Cameroonians, has been protesting the use of French in their law courts and schools. The massive demonstrations, in these areas, have since led to an ongoing crackdown by government forces. UN agencies have spoken of an under-reported humanitarian crisis. Cameroons English-speaking Catholic bishops described the situation as a growing genocide. Notwithstanding natural reserves and economic growth in the last ten years, Cameroon continues to face endemic poverty, a high illiteracy rate, corruption, poor sanitation and health delivery challenges. As the novena to the Holy Spirit comes to an end, at the weekend, Cameroon's Bishops have invited the faithful to go beyond words and accompany their prayers with penance and works of mercy. Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, the Holy Sees Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva made the call on Friday at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. By Robin Gomes Amidst worsening violence in the Holy Land and the Middle East, the Holy See on Friday urged the use of dialogue and encounter to bring peace, and called for the recognition of Jerusalem as the city sacred to Christians and Muslims. Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, the Holy Sees Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva made the call on Friday at a special session of the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating rights situation in the region. Popes concern He echoed the concern and sadness of Pope Francis at Wednesdays general audience in the Vatican, where he deplored the escalation of tensions and the spiral of violence in the region that is increasingly moving away from the path of peace, dialogue and negotiations. The Pope and the world reacted after Israeli forces killed some 60 Palestinians and wounded many more near the Gaza-Israel border on Monday during demonstrations against the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. Peace, justice through dialogue The Holy See encouraged parties concerned to find paths to a true and sustainable peace through justice, by engaging in dialogue in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation. The Holy See, therefore called for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities; yes to respect for agreements and no to acts of provocation; yes to sincerity and no to duplicity. All of this takes courage, it takes strength and tenacity. Jerusalem Archbishop Jurkovic also recalled the unique identity of Jerusalem, which is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in which the Holy Places are venerated by the respective religions, and which has a special vocation for peace. On Wednesday, May 16, at 2:42 p.m., the Las Vegas Monorail notified a delighted Sibel Altun, visiting Las Vegas from Sydney, Australia, with her fiance Matt Fry, that she was the mass transit systems 80 millionth passenger. Camera bulbs flashed and confetti cannons erupted when the milestone moment took place, just inside the fare gates of the Monorails station at The LINQ Hotel & Casino/ Harrahs. Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Ingrid Reisman, accompanied by Elvis impersonator Steve Connolly, presented Altun with a basket filled with more than $3,000 of exciting Las Vegas experiences. Sibel Altun from Sydney, Australia Is Las Vegas Monorails 80 Millionth Passenger httpvh://youtu.be/JJYC0KYnInY LAS VEGAS MONORAIL FAST FACTS: Route: Seven-stop, 3.9-mile (6.4-kilometer) elevated system along the world-famous Las Vegas Strip with stations at: MGM Grand, Ballys/Paris Las Vegas; Flamingo/Caesars Palace; Harrahs/The LINQ; Las Vegas Convention Center; Westgate; SLS Las Vegas. Mobile Ticketing: This year, the Monorail introduced mobile ticketing for Android users via Google Pay, becoming the worlds first system to fully integrate its ticketing system with the popular Google app. Meanwhile, Apple phone users can also purchase and use tickets electronically using the Monorails Scan-and-Go technology. Fare Integration Technology for Conventions: The Monorail partners with conventions and tradeshow organizers to load Monorail fare directly into attendees registration badges. Attendees can just scan their badge and ride the Monorail. Private Shuttle Trains for Groups: Meeting planners can arrange to privatize Monorail trains to offer their guests dedicated transfers from hotel to convention center, or anywhere else along the systems 3.9-mile route. Trains: Nine trains, each with four cars that arrive at each station every 4 to 9 minutes and travel at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. Ridership: Carries 5 million passengers annually; 81 percent of riders are leisure travelers and 19 percent are business/convention visitors. Zero Emissions Trains: In 2017, the Las Vegas Monorail aided in the annual removal of an estimated 2.2 million vehicle miles from Southern Nevadas major roadways, reducing emissions by more than 28 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the course of the year. This spring, Suncoast Hotel and Casino unveiled 90 Ninety Bar + Grill an all-new contemporary yet casual American restaurant delivering modern cuisine, an expansive brew and cocktail selection and live music, all in a stylish and lively atmosphere. The neighborhood restaurant, named after its address located at 9090 Alta Drive, proves to be an ideal setting for social hour gatherings, delicious dinners, and lounging both inside, and on the comfortable outdoor patio with scenic city views. THE SPACE Spanning nearly 5,000 square feet, 90 Ninety Bar + Grill will be welcoming, upbeat and comfortable. The space will include a stunningly detailed deluxe bar, cozy lounge space, main dining room accented by a stage for live musical performances, 14-seat private dining room and an outdoor patio with seating for both dining and relaxing. The venue is conveniently located off of the casino floor with easy access from the propertys north entrance. The design showcases an eclectic blend of both vintage and modern elements. Exposed filament lights and shimmering brass chain structures highlight the bar overhead. The walls are adorned with a mix of whitewashed brick and rough-sawn planking, and an authentic collection of neon signage from the legendary Stardust Resort and Casino adds a nostalgic twist. An impressive array of 14 large-screen televisions are stationed throughout the bar and restaurant, creating a vibrant space to catch the action. Live music will be offered Thursday through Saturday starting at 8 p.m., featuring rotating local entertainers. When there isnt live entertainment, high-energy and familiar classic rock and adult contemporary recordings will play in the restaurant and on the patio. THE CUISINE Fusing seasonal ingredients and modern flavors, 90 Ninety Bar + Grill will feature an approachable menu of mainstream and internationally recognizable favorites, as well as unique dishes. The menu will offer a wide range of tasty appetizers like the Giant Pretzel with ale house cheese fondue; Baja Rock Shrimp with Dos Equis beer batter; and Chicken Lettuce Wraps with tofu, crisp water chestnuts and fresh green onions. The dinner menu will include fresh dough pizzas, entree salads, classic grilled sandwiches, popular plates ranging from seafood to steak and ribs, and legendary 10-oz. burgers crafted with a blend of chuck and brisket, all served on butter-griddled potato buns. The menu also showcases regional specialties such as the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich with spicy sweet slaw and pimento cheese; and Shrimp Jambalaya Pasta with Andouille sausage and sweet peppers. Numerous gluten free and vegan options will also be featured. THE DRINKS A creative drink menu will highlight classic and unique handcrafted cocktails and martinis ranging from the Old Fashioned; Classic Manhattan; and 1893, made with Titos Vodka, 1893 Ginger Cola, fresh lime juice and rhubarb bitters; to the Chai Peanut Butter Martini; and Strawberry Lemonade. Classic Tiki Cocktails and a Fun at the Sun drink list will feature signatures like Stardust, made with Viniq Purple Orgeat topped with soda water; and Fishy Fishy, made with Titos Vodka, Malibu Rum, peach puree, Blue Curacao, topped with Mist Twist and Swedish Fish. A quality selection of craft, domestic and imported brews will always be included among the 24 brews on tap. Thirty bottle selections will offer national, local and regional favorites, exclusive special selections, and house brew from sister restaurant and award-winning downtown brewery, Triple 7 Restaurant and Mircrobrewery at Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel. SOCIAL HOURS: Early and late social hours will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close, offering an active patio and bar scene. Menus will offer affordably priced food and drink selections from $3 to $8. Kicking off the late social hour each night will be a fun and interactive spinning wheel that will offer guests a randomly selected additional drink special to enjoy. Get ready for something sweet this summer as Live to Give hosts the first Desserts in the Desert inside the Clark County Government Amphitheater in Downtown Las Vegas (Photo credit: Heather Schwartz). In conjunction with the 19th Annual Jazz in the Park Music Series, the multi-day dessert tasting event will allow guests to taste an array of desserts, have fun with dessert pairings, learn something new with a whiskey pairing masterclass, and jam out to live jazz music all while giving back and raising funds for a great cause. A portion of the proceeds of this event will go back to The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada and Nevada PEP. Anyone can satisfy their sweet tooth at this event with luxurious chocolates, delicious cupcakes, and various pastries. Along with desserts, an assortment of cocktails will be offered and for the serious dessert-oholics, take a liquor pairing masterclass and explore new combinations of flavors and tastes. The lineup for the Jazz in the Park Music Series includes Bill Frisell (May 19), Diane Schuur (May 26), Groove Project (June 2), and Mindi Abair & The Boneshakers (June 16). U.S. lawmakers on Thursday advanced a proposed bill that would place further sanctions on senior Cambodian officials following the months-long crackdown on the opposition and civil society ahead of Julys national elections. The Cambodia Democracy Act includes amendments that could see senior Cambodian officials linked to the crackdown face asset freezes and visa restrictions. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, oversaw the advancement of the measures. He said in a statement that Prime Minister Hun Sen was a thug and that the bill would help hold his government accountable to Cambodian citizens. Hun Sen is a thug who aspires to become a tyrant,'' Royce's statement said. ''Im proud to support this Act, which will hold Hun Sen and his regime accountable for systemic human rights abuses. The bipartisan draft legislation is ready to be put before the House of Representatives for a decision on whether the bill will be voted on. If passed by the House, the Senate would consider it. The Cambodian Supreme Court dissolved the countrys main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in November. The Phnom Penh government also has been accused of a widespread crackdown on political dissent and civil society groups. Kem Sokha, the former leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, faces treason charges and remains in prison since being detained in September. The Cambodian Democracy Act could see sanctions placed on military officials, members of the security forces, and senior members of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party. Speaking after committee passage of the bill on Thursday, Ted Yoho, a Republican from Florida who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on East Asia, said: The people of Cambodia yearn for freedom just like everybody else in the world, and you know democracy was set up. Thats what people want. It was gaining momentum and when you have a dictator and an authoritarian ruler like Hun Sen who is squashing the liberty in people, its not a healthy outcome. Sok Eysan, a ruling party spokesman, told the Phnom Penh Post earlier this week the bill would do little to pressure the Cambodian government. Some things that he [Yoho] has said are not true, such as his claim that the government uses the court to oppress the opposition or its former officials its just not the truth, Sok Eysan told the Phnom Penh Post. Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, said the U.S. deeply regrets the banning of the CNRP. This decision prevents millions of Cambodian voters from exercising their democratic right to vote for candidates of their choice and calls into question the integrity of the electoral process,'' Nauert said in a statement released Thursday. ''We urge the Cambodian government to reinstate CNRP candidates immediately. Congressman Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat from California, told VOA Khmer that the measures proposed in the bill were rare, but necessary given the steps that Hun Sens government has taken to stifle democratic opposition. This is a major step by the United States government,'' Lowenthal said in the Capitol. ''We do not sanction other countries, only the worst countries that perpetuate, take away democracy and freedom, and this is reserved for those countries." Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH) is co-chair of the Congressional Cambodia Caucus in the House. In an email to VOA Khmer on Friday, Chabot expressed concern that dissenting voices in Cambodia were being silenced. Despite widespread criticism over the last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen has done his best to double down on his outrageous attempts to cripple Cambodias democracy and ensure that he wins this summers elections,'' Chabot said. The Cambodian people deserve to elect their own leaders, but his actions mean that the election will be neither free nor fair. That is why, as a Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Cambodia, I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of the Cambodia Democracy Act, which will hold those who have worked to sabotage Cambodias democracy accountable. Separately, the European Union is also considering further sanctions against Cambodia, including the removal of preferential trading arrangements for Cambodian goods. Several minor opposition parties who have registered to stand in the upcoming national election have expressed concern over calls from the countrys former main opposition party for a boycott of the vote. The parties called on the countrys election body, the National Election Committee (NEC), to take legal action against those making such appeals. Heang Kimsroeun, vice president of the Beehive Social Democratic Party (BSDP), said: I want to ask the NEC why ... [they were] warned many times, but still there is no measure to be taken against politicians making appeals towards the people, asking the people not to vote, he said, adding that such calls were propaganda to really divide the nation. Sam Rainsy, the former president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was outlawed in a Supreme Court ruling last year, has made numerous calls for voters to boycott the election in recent weeks. Nhem En, deputy secretary general of the Khmer Republic Party (KRP), also expressed his partys disappointment with the calls for a boycott. This is a way of causing a gloomy climate. It's the rights of the people, so they can't prohibit the people... I would like to appeal to all the people to go to vote for transparency, he said. Neither the BSDP nor the KRP has yet been officially registered by the NEC as participants in the election. Sam In, secretary general of the Grassroots Democratic Party (GDP), said that any election boycott would only play into the hands of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party. Our decision is to look for a way to solve problems, restore democracy via ... political engagement rather than political confrontation, he said. Hang Puthea, NEC spokesman, said on Thursday that external pressure on Cambodias electoral process would not have negative effects on the proceedings. There must be no scenario where we will conduct another election, and this election belongs to Cambodians. So, what's heard from foreign countries was merely a voice or opinion. But the important thing is that Cambodians must decide their fate on their own, he said. South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet next week (Tues. May 22) with U.S. President Donald Trump in preparation for the upcoming U.S. North Korea nuclear summit to be held in Singapore in June. VOAs Brian Padden in Seoul reports that what was to be routine consultation may now become an emergency mediation session after North Korea recently threatened to cancel the summit. Iranian opposition and human rights activists said Thursday that security forces had shot and killed several people the night before in a southern city where marchers were protesting a plan to divide their municipality. The opposition activists said the killings in Kazerun happened after hundreds of people had staged a peaceful protest in the city's central square earlier in the day. Iran's state-run ISNA news agency quoted the governor of Fars province, where Kazerun is located, as saying one person had been killed in a violent confrontation between the security forces and protesters. Iranian state media said some of the protesters had set fire to a police station, prompting officers to shoot. WATCH: Audience member's video, sent to VOA Persian, shows a man wounded in a confrontation with security forces late Wednesday in Kazerun. In the ISNA report, provincial Governor Esmail Tabadar said the clashes continued sporadically in Kazerun on Thursday, but the situation was "under control." WATCH: Audience member's video, sent to VOA Persian, shows confrontations with security forces continuing in Kazerun on Thursday. Video clips shared on social media in the aftermath of the unrest showed burned vehicles and other debris on the streets. WATCH: Audience member's video, sent to VOA Persian, shows Thursday's aftermath of violence in Kazerun. Residents of Kazerun joined Wednesday's march to protest renewed talk of a government plan to turn two of its outlying areas into a new city that they fear would rob them of government funds. The Iranian lawmaker representing Kazerun, who lives in one of the outlying areas, has pushed Iran's Interior Ministry to create the new city. But there has been no word on when the Iranian Cabinet will decide on the matter. U.S.-based Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi said Tehran has "spilled Iranian blood again" through its actions in Kazerun. In a Thursday tweet, Pahlavi said his heart "beats for the brave, noble people of this city," whom he credited with "steadfast resolve" and "remarkable courage" in pursuit of freedom and democracy in Iran. Protests began in December Iranian security forces have killed a number of Iranians in violent crackdowns on some of the anti-government protests that have swept the country since last December. Iranian authorities said at least 20 people had been killed in its crackdown during the initial week of nationwide protests, which stretched into early January. Iran blamed that violence on rioters incited by its foreign enemies, without providing evidence. Retired Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Michael Segall, an Iran analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told VOA Persian that his sources said some of Wednesday's protesters were armed and some of the Iranian security forces who confronted them wore civilian clothes. "The appearance of plainclothes security personnel is significant," Segall said. "Usually, Iranian leaders use them when a situation is out of control or when they want to suppress an event quickly, as they did with the December-January protests." Kazerun residents told VOA Persian that the city's government-appointed Friday prayer leader, Mohammad Khorsand, had sparked the protest by speaking in favor of the city division plan at last Friday's prayers. Residents demonstrated against the plan last month but called off the protests after authorities promised not to proceed with it. Lawmaker's proposal Kazerun lawmaker Hossein Rezazadeh has proposed turning parts of the city's northern outlying districts of Nowdan and Qaemiyeh into a new city named Kuh-e-Chinar. Many residents oppose the plan, fearing the city would draw government funds away from Kazerun and create a new layer of corrupt bureaucracy in the area. In Thursday's edition of VOA Persian's Straight Talk call-in show, most people who called from inside Iran said they believed the Iranian government was underreporting the death toll from the violent crackdown in Kazerun. Some callers also reported cuts to internet and phone connections in the city. A caller who gave his name as Mohammed from the neighboring city of Shiraz said Iranian authorities could have peacefully resolved the grievances of Kazerun residents before the protest escalated. "The government wants to use force to fix things instead of discussing matters with the people. There was no reason for blood to be shed," he said. Another caller who identified himself as Ardeshir said the protesters were not just upset about the proposed city division. "Some of their dissatisfaction is related to other things, like the poor state of the economy," the caller said. Behrooz Samadbeygi and Afshar Sigarchi of VOA's Persian Service contributed to this report. Deteriorating security is forcing Afghanistan to spend more money on trauma care, rather than investing in women and childrens health, its health minister said Thursday. The government has come under increasing pressure over rising violence, with a string of attacks this year causing hundreds of casualties in the capital, Kabul, alone. The concern is that nowadays, suicide bombings and armed conflict is the third (highest) cause of deaths and disability in Afghanistan, Ferozuddin Feroz told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview in London. Instead of focusing on maternal health, on nutritional status, we will spend it on trauma. Health care gains Afghanistans health system is rudimentary, battered by decades of war and conflict. About 60 percent of the population has access to health services, defined as being within one hours walking distance, Feroz said. Feroz, who is a trained doctor and has advised other countries on health system reform, aims to increase this to 75 percent by the end of 2018. Afghanistan has made gains in maternal health, with 400 deaths per 100,000 live births, up from 1,600 per 100,000 in 2002, according to the United Nations Population Fund, but it is still one of the worst rates in the world. Maintaining these achievements during an increasing security situation is really a challenge, Feroz said. If we maintain the current rate of funding, that also would help us to maintain what we have achieved. Feroz was in London to meet with researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which is providing his ministry with technical support to develop a basic health care package with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Fewer than 1 in 5 Wikipedia biographies are of women, and a tiny minority are human rights defenders, a situation Amnesty International hopes to remedy this weekend with a push to shine a light on those whom history has overlooked. Amnesty is teaming up with Wikimedia, the nonprofit branch of the online encyclopedia, which every year brings together hundreds of volunteer editors and activists to create new articles on a specified topic. Over the next two days, the volunteers will aim to add or improve the biographies of thousands of women rights defenders all over the world, which Amnesty hopes will help protect them as well as providing the recognition they deserve. The more women human rights defenders are fairly represented the better the protection, the head of Amnesty Internationals global human rights defenders program Guadalupe Marengo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Human rights defenders have been attacked and intimidated. The space in which they work in is in some places shrinking, she said. If you then talk about women human rights defenders or those who defend LGBTI rights, the most marginalized ones, then the attacks are even worse ... thats why we thought it was crucial to do this, she added. Among those whose lives will be documented are Czech activist Elena Gorolova, who launched her campaign to end discrimination against Roma women after she was forcibly sterilized following the birth of her second son. Another is Bridget Tolley, who co-founded a campaign group led by relatives of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada. I have faced the impacts of colonialism, racism, economic exploitation, systemic abuse and hatred of women all my life, Tolley said. To have my work highlighted in a positive way means that our struggles and our resilience as indigenous women can no longer be ignored. We will not be silenced. The Army Corps of Engineers is pulling out of Puerto Rico Friday, ending its work restoring electricity to the U.S. territorys residents and handing back responsibility for the islands fragile electric grid to the bankrupt Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA. More than 16,000 people are reported to remain without power eight months after the devastation delivered to the island by Hurricane Maria. Its not in our culture to walk away from a mission when it hasnt been fully accomplished, but we follow orders, Charles Alexander, the Corps director for contingency operations, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at a May 8 hearing. The Corps has been operating under the orders of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The U.S. federal government is leaving behind more than 700 generators at strategic locations around the island and at least two mega-generators to help stabilize the grid. The Associated Press reports most of the people without power live in the town of Yabucoa, the first place in Puerto Rico hit by Maria on Sept. 20, 2017. Puerto Ricos hurricane season begins in two weeks. Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island 1,600 kilometers southeast of the U.S. mainland and its residents are American citizens. U.S. President Donald Trump visited the island last year to assess the recovery efforts, at one point tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd of islanders. Brazilian police arrested 132 men Thursday in the country's largest offensive against child pornography on the internet, seizing more than 1 million picture files in 284 cities across the country, the government said. The operation involved 2,600 police officers, who seized computers, flash drives and cellphones for inspection. Public Security Minister Raul Jungmann said the men arrested in the operation faced charges of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. Under Brazilian law, anyone found in possession of child pornography can face a prison sentence of up to four years, increasing to six years for selling pictures and eight years for producing pornographic material with children. "This was the biggest ever coordinated police operation in Brazil and the largest in the world in one single day against the crimes of child abuse and sexual exploitation of children," Jungmann said at a news conference. An earlier operation in October against online child pornography led to 112 arrests. China has dropped an anti-dumping investigation and given long awaited approval for the sale of Toshiba's memory chip business, in gestures that could suggest a thaw between Beijing and the U.S. as trade talks resumed in Washington. The Commerce Ministry said Friday ended the probe into imported U.S. sorghum because it's not in the public interest. A day earlier, Beijing cleared the way for a group led by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital to buy Toshiba Corp.'s computer memory chip business. The moves signaled Beijing's willingness to make a deal with Washington amid talks between senior U.S. and Chinese officials aimed at averting a trade war between the world's two biggest economies, analysts say. "I think China is willing to make concessions," said Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS. "The Chinese stance has been very clear, that China wants to mute any trade dispute. But of course it doesn't mean China would heed to all the demands the U.S. would place." A White House official said China had offered to work to cut the trade deficit with the U.S. by $200 billion, while stressing that the details remained unclear. But China's Foreign Ministry denied it. "It's untrue," said spokesman Lu Kang. "The relevant discussion is still underway, and it is constructive." The Commerce Ministry said it was ending the anti-dumping probe and a parallel anti-subsidy investigation because they would have raised costs for consumers. The U.S. is China's biggest supplier of sorghum, accounting for more than 90 percent of total imports. China's investigation, launched in February, had come as a warning shot to American farmers, many of whom support the Trump administration yet depend heavily on trade. They feared they would lose their largest export market for the crop, which is used primarily for animal feed and liquor. The Commerce Ministry said that, "Anti-dumping and countervailing measures against imported sorghum originating in the United States would affect the cost of living of a majority of consumers and would not be in the public interest," according to a notice posted on its website. It said it had received many reports that the investigation would result in higher costs for the livestock industry, adding that many domestic pig farmers were facing hardship because of declining pork prices. China's U.S. sorghum imports surged from 317,000 metric tons in 2013 to 4.76 million tons last year while prices fell by about a third in the same period. The ministry said any deposits for the preliminary anti-dumping tariffs of 178.6 percent, which took effect on April 18, would be returned in full. The announcement came after President Donald Trump met at the White House with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the leader of China's delegation for talks with a U.S. team headed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trump had told reporters earlier that he had doubts about the potential for an agreement. He also raised fresh uncertainty about resolving a case involving Chinese tech company ZTE, which was hit with a crippling seven-year ban on buying from U.S. suppliers, forcing it to halt major operations. Trump said the company "did very bad things" to the U.S. economy and would be a "small component of the overall deal." Song Lifang, an economics professor and trade expert at Renmin University, said haggling is currently underway. "It's time for both to present their demands, but it's also a time to exhibit their bargaining chips," said Song, adding that approval for the Toshiba deal, worth $18 billion, was "an apparent sign of thaw" amid a U.S. investigation into Chinese trade practices requiring U.S. companies to turn over their technology in exchange for access to China's market. The Trump administration has proposed tariffs on up to $150 billion in Chinese products to punish Beijing while China has responded by targeting $50 billion in U.S. imports. Neither country has yet imposed tariffs. In an embarrassment for House Republican leaders, conservatives on Friday scuttled a bill that combines stricter work and job training requirements for food stamp recipients with a renewal of farm subsidies popular in GOP-leaning farm country. Hard-right conservatives upset over the party's stalled immigration agenda opposed the measure, which failed by a 213-198 vote. Some 30 Republicans joined with every chamber Democrat in opposition. The vote was a blow to GOP leaders, who had hoped to tout its new work requirements for recipients of food stamps. The work initiative polls well with voters, especially those in the GOP political base. More broadly, it exposed fissures within the party in the months before the midterm elections, and the Freedom Caucus tactics rubbed many rank-and-file Republicans the wrong way. "You judge each piece of legislation on its own," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. "You don't hold one thing hostage for something that's totally different and has nothing to do with it. I would say that's a mistake in my view." Key conservatives in the rebellious House Freedom Caucus opposed the measure, seeking leverage to win conservative policies an advantage in a debate on immigration next month. Negotiations with GOP leaders Friday morning failed to bear fruit, however, and the unrelated food and farm measure was defeated. Conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said some members had concerns over the farm bill, but said, "That wasn't my main focus. My main focus was making sure we do immigration policy right" and "actually build a border security wall." House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., took steps to call for a re-vote in the future but it's not clear when the measure might be revived. A handful of GOP moderates opposed the bill, too, but not enough to sink it on their own. Reaction from Democrats The farm bill, a twice-per-decade rite on Capitol Hill, promises greater job training opportunities for recipients of food stamps, a top priority for House leaders. Democrats are strongly opposed, saying the stricter work and job training rules are poorly designed and would drive 2 million people off of food stamps. They took a victory lap after the vote. "On a bipartisan basis, the House rejected a bad bill that failed farmers and working families," said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Republicans wrote a cruel, destructive farm bill that abandoned farmers and producers amid plummeting farm prices and the self-inflicted damage of President Trump's trade brinkmanship." Currently, adults 18-59 are required to work part-time to receive food stamps, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or agree to accept a job if they're offered one. Stricter rules apply to able-bodied adults 18-49, who are subject to a three-month limit of benefits unless they meet a work or job training requirement of 80 hours per month. Under the new bill, the tougher requirement would be expanded to apply to all adults on SNAP, with exceptions for seniors, pregnant women, caretakers of children under the age of 6, or people with disabilities. "It sets up a system for SNAP recipients where if you are able to work, you should work to get the benefits," said Ryan. "And if you can't work, we'll help you get the training you need. We will help you get the skills you need to get an opportunity." The measure would have greatly expanded funding for state-administered job training programs, but Democrats and outside critics say the funding for the proposed additional job training would require huge new bureaucracies, extensive record-keeping requirements, and that the funding levels would fall far short of what's enough to provide job training to everybody covered by the new job training requirements. "While I agree that there are changes that need to be made to the SNAP program, this is so clearly not the way to do it," said Rep. Colin Peterson of Minnesota, top Democrat of the Agriculture Committee. "The bill cuts more than $23 billion in SNAP benefits and will result in an estimated 2 million Americans unable to get the help they need." He said it "turns around and wastes billions ... cut from SNAP benefits to create a massive, untested workforce training bureaucracy." Farm safety-net programs In addition to food stamps, the measure would renew farm safety-net programs such as subsidies for crop insurance, farm credit and land conservation. Those subsidies for farm country traditionally form the backbone of support for the measure among Republicans, while urban Democrats support food aid for the poor. On Thursday, supporters of the agriculture safety net easily defeated an attempt to weaken the government's sugar program, which critics say gouges consumers by propping up sugar prices. The measure mostly tinkered with farm programs, adding provisions aimed at boosting high-speed internet access in rural areas, assisting beginning farmers, and easing regulations on producers. But since the measure makes mostly modest adjustments to farm policy, some lawmakers believe that the most likely course of action this year is a temporary extension of the current measure, which expires at the end of September. In the Senate, the chamber's filibuster rules require a bipartisan process for a bill to pass. There, Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., promises a competing bill later this month and he's signaling that its changes to food stamps would be far more modest than the House measure. Moldova, a small, landlocked country in eastern Europe, imports three-quarters of its energy and has seen its energy costs rise by more than half in the past five years. But that could soon change, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which this year will launch an innovative effort to power a Moldovan university with cryptocurrency-funded solar energy. The initiative with Sun Exchange, a South African solar power marketplace, will allow people to buy solar cells using SolarCoin, a cryptocurrency launched by blockchain start-up ElectriCChain, and then lease them to the Technical University of Moldova, one of the countrys largest universities. Crowd-fund project The idea is to find new sources of finance to help buildings go green overnight, in this instance with rooftop solar panels, said Dumitru Vasilescu, a program manager with UNDP in Moldova, one of Europes poorest countries. One of the biggest obstacles to countries investing in renewable energy is a lack of finance, as you often have to wait 10 to 15 years before you get a return on your investment, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. But the university will get a full 1 megawatt of energy installed in the summer, he said, as a result of the crowd-funding effort. Owners of the solar cells, in turn, will receive SolarCoins as soon as the university produces energy, earning interest of about 4 percent on their investment, Vasilescu added. Moldova currently has more than 10,000 square meters of unused rooftop space on public buildings that could be potentially used for such efforts, he said. Key technology Blockchain, which first emerged as the system underpinning the virtual currency bitcoin, is a digital shared record of transactions maintained by a network of computers on the internet, without the need of a centralized authority. It has become a key technology in both the public and private sectors, given its ability to record and keep track of assets or transactions without the need for middlemen. Research firm IDC estimates global investment in blockchain will more than double in 2018 to $2.1 billion from $945 million last year, most of it for banking. IDC expects strong, double-digit growth in the energy space between 2016 and 2021. Kevin Treco, an associate director at the Carbon Trust, an environmental consultancy, said blockchain-based technologies could significantly change energy use in countries striving to decentralize power and boost renewable sources. Renewable energy fast In Moldova, for example, cryptocurrency-funded renewable energy could reduce the countrys dependence on energy imports such as oil and gas from Russia, Vasilescu said. Darius Nassiry, a senior research associate at the Overseas Development Institute, a British think tank, predicted that most of the growth in cryptocurrency-funded energy would occur in the developing world. They have faster-growing energy needs and a more accommodating legal and regulatory environment towards such innovations, he said by email. But a lack of understanding on how blockchain applications such as cryptocurrencies work could slow their growth in the energy sector, he added. For Abraham Cambridge, the founder and CEO of Sun Exchange, the solar currency exchange system has all the right incentives in place. It reduces the costs of going solar dramatically for the end user and makes it easy for anyone in the world to own a solar cell anywhere in the world and, from it, make a steady source of sunlight-powered income, he said in a statement. Blockchain is also being used in the energy sector to facilitate carbon trading, with U.S. computing giant IBM announcing this week that it will partner with Veridium Labs, an environmental tech startup, to turn carbon credits into digital tokens. If the Moldovan solar currency pilot is successful, UNDP plans to replicate it in neighboring countries, said Vasilescu, adding that it could revolutionize the renewable energy market for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. A 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after taking off from the Havana airport Friday, leaving three survivors in Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials said. The Boeing 737 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport while on a short-hop flight to the eastern city of Holguin. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the field of debris left where Cubana Flight 972 hit the ground. Watch video of crash aftermath from TV Marti: "There is a high number of people who appear to have died," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said from the scene. "Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified." Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. Four crash survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, and three remained alive as of midafternoon, hospital director Martinez Blanco told Cuban state TV. State media reports stopped short of openly declaring the rest on board were dead, but there was no word of other survivors by Friday evening. State TV said the jet veered sharply to the right after takeoff, and Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to investigate the cause of the crash. "The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed," Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena told The Associated Press at the airport. Skies were overcast and rainy at the airport at the time of the incident, with winds reportedly around 4 mph (6 kph). Authorities said there were 104 passengers and six crew members on the flight operated by the Cuban state airline. Mexican authorities said the Boeing 737-201 was built in 1979 and rented by Cubana from Aerolineas Damojh, a small charter company that also goes by the name Global Air. A statement from the country's Transportation Department identified the pilot and co-pilot as Captain Jorge Luis Nunez Santos and First Officer Miguel Angel Arreola Ramirez. It said the flight attendants were Maria Daniela Rios, Abigail Hernandez Garcia and Beatriz Limon. Global Air said maintenance worker Marco Antonio Lopez Perez was also aboard. In November 2010 a Global Air flight originating in Mexico City made an emergency landing in Puerto Vallarta because its front landing gear did not deploy. The fire was quickly extinguished, and none of the 104 people aboard were injured. That plane was a 737 first put into service in 1975. In Mexico City, two women who said they were relatives of Global Air crew members appeared at the company's offices. They declined to identify themselves or their relatives and said they were still awaiting information from Global Air. Cubana has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa had met with Cubana officials on Thursday to discuss improvements to its service. The airline blames its spotty record on a lack of parts and airplanes because of the U.S. trade embargo against the communist-run country. It was Cuba's third major aviation accident since 2010. Last year a Cuban military plane crashed into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers. In 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather, killing all 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners, in what was the country's worst air disaster in more than two decades. The last deadly accident involving a Cubana-operated plane was in 1989, when a charter flight from Havana to Milan, Italy, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board and at least two dozen on the ground. Cubana's director general, Captain Hermes Hernandez Dumas, told state media last month that the airline's domestic flights had carried 11,700 more passengers than planned between January and April. He said 64 percent of flights took off on time, up from 59 percent the previous year. Afghanistans western Farah province has been the scene of fierce fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan government in recent days. Afghan officials blame Iran for the unrest. Gen. Fazl Ahmad Shirzad, provincial police chief of western Farah province, told reporters on Wednesday that Iran is supporting the Taliban in the province. Iran is directly funding and equipping the Taliban in Farah, and the country is involved in the recent unrest in the province, Shirzad said. Farah is very important for Iran, and the country sees its interests in continued unrest in the province, he added. Gen. Gul Nabi Ahmadzai, the former Afghan border police chief, told VOA that Irans support for the Taliban is not a secret. Iran is directly involved, and its Revolutionary Guard commanders are leading the firefight in Farah, Ahmadzai said. An unholy coalition of our neighbors Russia, Pakistan and Iran has been formed in the region, which sees its interest in our weakness. They want to manage our security and government, and they cannot bear U.S. support for Afghanistan, and they dont want Americas presence in Afghanistan, Ahmadzai added. All three countries deny charges that they want to destabilize Afghanistan. Drought Some experts charge that Iran is ratcheting up its support for the Taliban to disrupt developmental projects in Afghanistan, including water dams, which if completed would slow down the flow of water to Iran. "Iran is very concerned about water dams that are being built in Afghanistan. Iran benefits from Afghanistans insecurity, Khalil Parsa, a Washington-based Afghanistan expert, told VOA. Eastern parts of Iran, neighboring Afghanistans western parts, have been reportedly faced with severe drought in recent years, and dozens of villages have turned to ghost towns, with residents moving to other parts of the country. Iran has expressed concerns over water dams in western Herat, Farah and southwestern Nimruz provinces in Afghanistan, which share a border with the country. We cannot remain indifferent to something that undermines our environment. The construction of numerous dams in Afghanistan including the Kajaki dam [Helmand province], Kamal Khan dam [Nimruz province], Salma dam [Herat province] and others in the north and south of Afghanistan has affected our Khurasan and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a regional conference last year. Earlier this month, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Irans foreign minister, warned of reciprocity against Afghanistan over the issue of water rights should Afghanistan continue to disregard Irans demands. He did not elaborate on what reciprocity entails. At this point in time, we are left with one option, and thats reciprocity, which means we would have to take harder measures in parts of Afghanistan, news agency ISNA quoted Zarif as saying. We expect that before the Islamic Republic resorts to reciprocity, that the Afghan government regard our legal and legitimate demands, he said. Fatemeh Aman, a U.S- based Afghanistan-Iran affairs analyst, downplayed the role of water in shaping Taliban and Iran relations and said Iran will not directly help the insurgents in order to block the construction of water dams. I do not think that Iranians are up to do such an insane and senseless act at this time when they need allies more than ever, he said. The bonds between Iran and Afghanistan are deep, and despite many ups and downs in their relationship, both countries have managed to maintain close ties. The Afghan government expressed concern over ties between the Taliban and Iran but has yet to comment on Irans possible role in recent Taliban attacks on Farah. U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Dana White said Thursday that Irans involvement in the recent developments in Farah could not be ruled out. I dont think you can ever rule out how much Iran interferes throughout this region, White said in response to a question on whether Iran had anything to do with the Farah province situation. Iran remains the most destabilizing factor in the Middle East. Last year, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of the U.S.-led NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, said there are relations between Iran and the Taliban. We see some evidence of that in the western part of the country. We have reports of that that come from locals in the western part of the country. In Farah province, in particular, we have received many reports of Iranian-backed Taliban fighting in Farah with some advanced equipment. So, were watching this very closely, Nicholson said at a Pentagon briefing. Contingency plan Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, views the relationship between the Taliban and Iran more of a contingency plan. They are creating relationships that they hope will make the Taliban safe if it takes over from the Afghan government. It is a contingency plan, Cordesman said. Another source of speculation is that Iran is supporting the Taliban as a counter-balance to the growing role of ISIS inside Afghanistan. VOA's Rikar Hussein and Mehdi Jedinia contributed to this report. The U.S.-based aid group World Vision says eight local staffers and a Ugandan who were abducted earlier this week in civil war-torn South Sudan have been released. They were seized Monday while driving in a convoy outside the Equatorian town of Yambio. The statement Friday says the United Nations and local authorities led negotiations for their release. Neither South Sudan's government nor opposition has taken responsibility for the abduction. Each often blames the other in such circumstances. This is the third abduction of humanitarian workers in two months in South Sudan. Seventeen aid workers were kidnapped by armed groups in two separate incidents last month. The release comes as a new round of peace talks on the conflict is under way in neighboring Ethiopia. The European Commission is proposing that EU governments make direct money transfers to Iran's central bank to avoid U.S. penalties, an EU official said, in what would be the most forthright challenge to Washington's newly reimposed sanctions. The step, which would seek to bypass the U.S. financial system, would allow European companies to repay Iran for oil exports and repatriate Iranian funds in Europe, a senior EU official said, although the details were still to be worked out. The European Union, once Iran's biggest oil importer, is determined to save the nuclear accord, that U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned on May 8, by keeping money flowing to Tehran as long as the Islamic Republic complies with the 2015 deal to prevent it from developing an atomic weapon. "Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has proposed this to member states. We now need to work out how we can facilitate oil payments and repatriate Iranian funds in the European Union to Iran's central bank," said the EU official, who is directly involved in the discussions. The U.S. Treasury announced on Tuesday more sanctions on officials of the Iranian central bank, including Governor Valiollah Seif,. But the EU official said the bloc believes that does not sanction the central bank itself. European Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will discuss the idea with Iranian officials in Tehran during his trip this weekend, the EU official said. Then it will be up to EU governments to take a final decision. EU leaders in Sofia this week committed to uphold Europe's side of the 2015 nuclear deal, which offers sanctions relief in return for Tehran shutting down its capacity, under strict surveillance by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to stockpile enriched uranium for a possible atomic bomb. Sanctions-blocking law Other measures included renewing a sanctions-blocking measure to protect European businesses in Iran. The Commission said in a statement it had "launched the formal process to activate the Blocking Statute by updating the list of U.S. sanctions on Iran falling within its scope," referring to an EU regulation from 1996. The EU's blocking statute bans any EU company from complying with U.S. sanctions and does not recognize any court rulings that enforce American penalties. It was developed when the United States tried to penalize foreign companies trading with Cuba in the 1990s, but has never been formally implemented. EU officials say they are revamping the blocking statute to protect EU companies against U.S. Iran-related sanctions, after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods that allow companies to quit the country and avoid fines. A second EU official said the EU sanctions-blocking regulation would come into force on August 5, a day before U.S. sanctions take effect, unless the European Parliament and EU governments formally rejected it. "This has a strong signaling value, it can be very useful to companies but it is ultimately a business decision for each company to make [on whether to continue to invest in Iran]," the official said. Once Iran's top trading partner, the EU has sought to pour billions of euros into the Islamic Republic since the bloc, along with the United Nations and United States, lifted blanket economic sanctions in 2016 that had hurt the Iranian economy. Iran's exports of mainly fuel and other energy products to the EU in 2016 jumped 344 percent to 5.5 billion euros ($6.58 billion) compared with the previous year. EU investment in Iran, mainly from Germany, France and Italy, has jumped to more than 20 billion euros since 2016, in projects ranging from aerospace to energy. Other measures proposed by the Commission, the EU executive, include urging EU governments to start the legal process of allowing the European Investment Bank to lend to EU projects in Iran. Under that plan, the bank could guarantee such projects through the EU's common budget, picking up part of the bill should they fail or collapse. The measure aims to encourage companies to invest. Renegade Republicans who are trying to force a vote on immigration reform in the House of Representatives survived an attempt by leaders of their party to block their efforts. The renegades, a group of moderate Republicans, are five signatures short of the 25 needed to bypass leadership and force floor votes on several immigration proposals through a rare procedural tactic known as a discharge petition. Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, has described the discharge petition as "futile" because it lacks any guarantee that a bill would become law in the face of a threatened presidential veto. But it was House conservatives who defeated the $867 million farm bill Friday when their own move to get an immigration bill to the House floor failed. The House Freedom Caucus a conservative voting bloc in the U.S. House had offered to vote for the farm bill in exchange for a promise that one immigration bill would be brought up for a vote. The hope was that the offer would be enough to keep some Republican House members from signing the discharge petition. The immigration bill, known as the Goodlatte Bill, is a conservative approach to immigration that would provide legal status to undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but only in addition to changes in the U.S. legal immigration system. The Goodlatte Bill is opposed by many moderate Republicans. For them, the deal offered an opportunity to negotiate on legislation that might win the support of President Donald Trump and resolve the status of DACA recipients. The deal fell through, and the farm bill failed to pass by a 193-213 vote Friday. "It's not a fatal blow it's just a reorganize," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows told reporters shortly after the vote, "At this point, we really need to deal with immigration in an effective way." Meadows said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy negotiated in good faith on the immigration issue, but would not elaborate on why a deal was elusive. Just before the vote, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise told reporters, "We want to solve the DACA problem and secure the border and I think there's still a path to get there with the president." Hope in the Senate The House effort to force an immigration vote is rekindling hopes for broader congressional action to address the status of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants across America, senators of both political parties told VOA Thursday. "I'm glad the House is moving," North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis said. "I'm optimistic. I have been, even when people said, 'You're crazy.'" "I'm hopeful, I'm hopeful something happens on the House side that might shake [an immigration bill] free," Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine said. Tillis and Kaine are among a bipartisan group of senators advocating permanent legal status for undocumented immigrants brought to America as children. Trump last year ordered an end to an Obama-era program that shielded so-called "Dreamers" from deportation, but federal courts have intervened to extend core elements of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Despite bipartisan support for congressional action to safeguard DACA recipients, the Senate rejected three bills that would have done so earlier this year. The Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, called the House petition "a hopeful sign" but added he was "disappointed by the reaction of Speaker Ryan, who has discouraged any effort to bring this issue to the floor." Tillis said a DACA solution paired with some U.S. border security enhancements demanded by Trump remains the best formula for getting an immigration bill through Congress. But Kaine noted that Trump first endorsed, then rejected a bipartisan bill on DACA and border security earlier this year. "We have a deal that we think is a good deal, and the president trashed it," the Virginia Democrat said. "If he [Trump] would return to his original position, we could make something happen." The White House has said legal status for DACA recipients must be paired with a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and an overhaul of America's legal immigration system, which Democrats do not support. The Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, told VOA he has yet to see an immigration bill that can pass both houses of Congress and get Trump's signature, making Senate action unlikely for the foreseeable future. "I'm not aware of any consensus being achieved. If there was, it might be worth expending the effort [to debate it on the Senate floor]. But just to go through the same exercise without any results strikes me as futile," Cornyn said. The big day is nearly here for Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as the couple are to wed Saturday in the town of Windsor, just outside London. The former American actress confirmed this week that her father will not attend the ceremony because of ill health. Huge crowds are expected as well-wishers try to catch a glimpse of the royal couple and, as Henry Ridgwell reports, from the security operation, to the catering, to the flowers, the day marks the culmination of months of preparation. Sen. John McCain ends a documentary about his life by sending the message that Washington is not giving the American people the government they deserve. The Arizona Republican also makes clear he is doing everything he can to fight the brain cancer that has stricken him. He says he loves life and wants to stick around forever but also believes "there is a great honor that you can die with." McCain's comments come in the HBO documentary "John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls." The title stems from McCain's favorite book and his current condition. The 81-year-old was diagnosed in July with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. He left Washington in December and has yet to return, though he continues to weigh in on an array of issues. Earlier this month, he urged his fellow senators to reject President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the CIA. A White House aide subsequently dismissed his opposition, saying it "doesn't matter" because "he's dying anyway," setting off a firestorm of criticism and calls for a public apology. There was no mention of that episode as dozens of McCain's Senate colleagues took nearly two hours out of their day to watch the documentary Thursday afternoon. Some of them spoke about McCain before the movie aired. "The movie is excellent. It tells the story, warts and all," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of McCain's closest friends. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she will always remember McCain interrupting a supporter in her home state to stick up for Barack Obama, his Democratic opponent in the 2008 presidential race. The supporter had said she couldn't trust Obama and called him an "Arab." McCain replied: "No, ma'am, no, ma'am. He's a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about." That scene made it into the movie, which was followed by praise from Obama, who said he admired McCain's civility in an uphill battle. "For John, in the middle of that to say, 'Hold on a second. We don't demonize each other. We're all Americans. We're all on the same team,' I thought was an indication of who John fundamentally was," Obama said. Indeed, praise from Democrats was featured prominently in the film, including from former Vice President Joe Biden, previously a colleague of McCain's in the Senate, and former Sen. Joe Lieberman. In the film, McCain expresses regret for not picking Lieberman as his running mate in place of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. He said advisers talked him out of it. "That was another mistake that I made," McCain said. Fewer appearances were made by Republican lawmakers. Trump, with whom he has feuded, is not interviewed, though Trump's 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, was. The film's closing moments include McCain's deciding vote against the GOP's health care bill and his Senate speech before departing for Arizona. As bells begin to toll, McCain gives a quick take on Washington: "We need to make sure we give the American people what they deserve, and right now they're not getting it." And on his current circumstances: "I'm confident, I'm happy and I'm very grateful for the life I've been able to lead and I greet the future with great joy." The final scene includes McCain's October address after receiving the National Constitution Center's Liberty Medal. In the speech, he blasted a "half-baked, spurious nationalism" in the United States "cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems." Indonesian prosecutors sought the death penalty on Friday for a radical Islamic cleric who is accused of masterminding a series of attacks from jail. Aman Abdurrahman, the leader of Islamic State-linked Jemaah Anshorut Daulah (JAD) is on trial for "planning and/or mobilizing others to carry out terrorist acts ... to create an atmosphere of terror among the public." Prosecutor Anita Dewayani told a panel of five judges in Jakarta that Abdurrahman's acts had resulted in deaths and injuries and under Indonesia's anti-terrorism laws the defendant, if found guilty, should face the death sentence. Police and prosecutors have linked Abdurrahman to an alleged plot for a "Paris-style attack" targeting foreigners, and the January 2016 suicide attacks in downtown Jakarta in which eight people were killed, including four attackers. They also have said that Abdurrahman was behind a suicide attack last year that left three police officers dead at a Jakarta bus station, the bombing of a church in Samarinda on Borneo Island that wounded four children and the bombings in Thamrin Kampung Melayu. Abdurrahman's lawyer said in court that there was no evidence to link the defendant to the attacks. The next hearing was set for May 25, where he and his lawyer, appointed by the court will respond to the prosecution. Abdurrahman, a key ideologue for Islamic State militants in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, had refused to be represented, telling the court: I'll do my own defense. He was sentenced to prison in 2004 after a bomb prematurely exploded at a house in West Java, and again in 2011 for his role in helping set up a jihadi training camp in a mountainous area of Aceh province. Venezuela's diplomatically-isolated president received a show of support from Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday ahead of a weekend election boycotted by the opposition coalition and decried by Washington. The United States, the European Union and major Latin American countries have criticized Sunday's vote in which leftist President Nicolas Maduro is likely to win re-election to a six-year term. Critics say Maduro, a 55-year-old former bus driver who has presided over an economic meltdown, is virtually assured victory as two of his most popular opponents are banned from running and the electoral council is pro-government. The Trump administration has threatened further sanctions and urged Latin America to cut off Venezuelan officials from financial systems and restrict their travel visas. So foreign shows of support are particularly welcome as Maduro seeks to legitimize his likely re-election despite a brutal economic crisis that has Venezuelans skipping meals, succumbing to once controlled diseases, and emigrating en masse. In a split screen chat broadcast live on Venezuelan state television on Thursday, Maduro and Erdogan held a stilted, translated conversation that had several technical problems. "I wish you much success in the coming election, and a month later I think we're going to have success in Turkey. One of my first tasks will be a state visit to Venezuela," said Erdogan, in reference to Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24. "I have faith you will be triumphant," Erdogan told Maduro, whose main rival is former state governor Henri Falcon who broken with an opposition boycott to run for the presidency. Critics scoff that both Maduro and Erdogan are in fact authoritarian leaders who have snuffed out dissent and mishandled their economies. "For the Venezuelan government, this election is not designed to look legitimate in front of the Western world, but rather in front of the illiberal world like Russia, China, Turkey and Qatar," said opposition lawmaker and economist Angel Alvarado. "Maduro will try to present himself, not as a democrat, but as a government that has popular support ... to have a bit of legitimacy and receive financial help." China and Russia have lent Caracas billions of dollars and both have significant oil fields in Venezuela, home to the world's biggest crude reserves. Turkey has a much smaller presence, but Turkish Airlines started flying to Caracas in 2016 - one of a few major international carriers to still service the violent country - and Venezuela's government has said Turkey would invest in its new "petro" cryptocurrency. Maduro and Erdogan on Thursday also vowed more cooperation in oil, mining, gas, agriculture, technology, and industry. WATCH: US Promises More Sanctions After Venezuela's Presidential Election Venezuelan opposition leaders say Maduro is selling assets on the cheap in an attempt to keep his cash-strapped government afloat despite a fifth straight year of recession and collapsing oil production. Maduro says a right-wing, U.S.-led campaign is seeking to destabilize his administration financially in order to foment a coup and usher in a capitalist leadership. "Venezuelans are going to give a lesson on democracy and liberty to the world on Sunday," Maduro told Erdogan. Although the U.S. stated Thursday that summit preparations are moving forward, North Korea's threat to cancel the planned talks with the U.S. signals its frustration over Washington's position on how to denuclearize Pyongyang, said former U.S. officials who dealt with North Korea extensively. The experts said North Korea's threat could increase the chance for delaying or even canceling the summit. Christopher Hill, a chief U.S. delegate who negotiated with North Korea during the George W. Bush administration, said, "I would read the chances of a summit right now as well under the 50 percent." North Korea expressed its discontent over what it considers to be a "unilateral" nuclear demand by the U.S. through its state news agency KCNA on Wednesday, stating that it must rethink the summit, which is scheduled to take place in Singapore on June 12 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. "If the U.S. is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue and cannot but reconsider our proceeding to the [North Korean]-U.S. summit," said North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan. Kim also expressed Pyongyang's dissatisfaction over National Security Adviser John Bolton's mention of using the so-called Libyan model on North Korea, calling it an "awfully sinister move" to compare Libya's nascent nuclear weapons program from 2003 to North Korea's program that has already produced a significant nuclear arsenal. Libya's nuclear weapons program was completely dismantled and destroyed in 2003. North Korean officials have said that after Libya gave up its nuclear program, a foreign military intervention toppled that nation's leader, Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed by rebels. The U.S. responded to Pyongyang's threat to cancel the summit by stating Thursday that preparations for the summit will move forward. "At this point if North Korea wants to meet, we'll be there," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders at a regular news briefing. Following the news briefing, Trump said North Korea will get strong security protections and that the U.S. will not use a Libyan-style denuclearization process toward North Korea. Former U.S. officials warned on Thursday that the key differences on denuclearization between Washington and Pyongyang might have put the rare opportunity for the summit in peril. "I think there was a disappointment after Pompeo's visit," said Hill, referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent trip to Pyongyang to prepare for the upcoming summit. "I think they realized that after Pompeo visited Pyongyang, there was no willingness to work out sanctions step-by-step" along with a denuclearization process, Hill said, adding that North Korea is trying to say Trump is "essentially giving nothing for the summit. There is no sanctions relief, no security issues." The U.S. has said that North Korea must take concrete steps toward denuclearization before any sanctions can be relaxed. Alexander Vershbow, who served as an ambassador to South Korea during the George W. Bush administration and now is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, thinks Pyongyang's threat to cancel is "a very serious setback" that raises a question "whether the summit in Singapore can take place." Dennis Wilder, senior director for East Asian Affairs at the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration, does not think the summit will be canceled, but said that "it is possible that the U.S. will decide it's not the time yet for the summit." Wilder said North Korea, in essence, is pushing for an incremental approach toward denuclearization. "Their position is that this has to be action-for-action, step-by-step," Wilder said. "So, I think they are trying to warn Mr. Trump that that is not a way to negotiate, that that would not be successful." Vershbow said North Korea is attempting "to define the agenda in their own terms" by disagreeing with the U.S. demand on complete denuclearization. "It sounds like North Korea is trying to go back to the kind of old way of doing business in terms of incremental approach to denuclearization rather than the CVID approach that the administration is looking for," Vershbow said, referring to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) that the Trump administration has been demanding from Pyongyang. Gary Samore, a former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction under the Barack Obama administration, thinks Pyongyang is raising an issue on certain language in the terms of denuclearization that Washington is putting on the table. "The Trump administration is probably asking for language in the summit declaration that the North Koreans find unacceptable. For example, the deadline for completing disarmament or specific language about steps North Korea has to take to achieve disarmament," he said. Wilder believes North Korea's threat to cancel the summit signifies that it gained a position of leverage over the U.S. after renewing rapprochement with Beijing. He said putting pressure on China will be significant going forward, as he speculates Pyongyang could have received an economic reward from Beijing for closing Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which is close to the Chinese border. "There are a lot of things going on between the Chinese and the North Koreans that suggests to me that the Chinese are rewarding the North Koreans for closing the nuclear test site," Wilder said. Earlier in the week, hours before Kim threatened to cancel the summit, North Korea canceled a high-level inter-Korean meeting scheduled for Wednesday over Max Thunder, joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S. North Korea called the military exercise a rehearsal for invasion through KCNA. The two-week Max Thunder drill began last week, involving about 100 warplanes and 1,500 U.S. and South Korean military personnel. On Thursday, North Korea vowed to boycott the talks with South Korea unless Seoul stops joint military exercises with the U.S. It has been 18 years since Akere Muna founded the Cameroon chapter of Transparency International, the anti-corruption watchdog agency. And although the organization has scored some successes, the overall picture is not improving. In 2017, Cameroon slipped to 153rd out of 180 countries in TIs annual corruption perception index, a slight drop from their ranking the previous year. So Muna has decided to set his sights higher. In the October election, he will run against President Paul Biya, who has held power in the West African country for more than three decades. And although the 65-year-old lawyer knows challenging the powerful incumbent carries risks, he is ready for them. I know that Im considered as being a threat to the current system, Muna told VOA. But I think that, you know, one has a choice of being a silent accomplice or an active actor for change, so Ive chosen my side. Biya last won re-election in 2011 with 78 percent of the vote and is considered the overwhelming favorite in the upcoming election. In 2009, Cameroons parliament voted to lift term limits. Biya has held power since 1982, making him Africas second-longest serving president behind Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. Anti-corruption platform But Muna believes he has found an issue people will rally behind: fighting corruption. Corruption is so endemic in Cameroon, Muna said, that a patient suffering a serious injury, such as a snake bite, can expect to be asked for a bribe just to receive treatment at a hospital. Nationwide, corruption affects three main sectors: education, health and justice. These are the sectors that hit the poorest of the poor, and that is sad, Muna said. But, of course, if you go upstream in other areas you find out that the delivery of government service is very, very much destroyed by the rising tide of corruption. Cameroon is not alone in facing the scourge of corruption. Muna, who participated in the U.N.s High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows, said $50 billion leaves the African continent illegally each year. The embezzlement, the thievery of government funds is really at a scale that is now a systemic problem, he said. Hans De Marie Heungoup, a Cameroon analyst for the International Crisis Group, said most voters believe the election is a foregone conclusion and will register in the last week, if they vote at all. The question is not who wins, but which challenger, the Social Democratic Front or another opposition group, emerges as the most viable challenger to the ruling party. Even the issue of corruption will not be enough to galvanize voters, according to Heungoup. There is kind of a resignation of Cameroonians, he said. Very few among the ordinary Cameroonians will really think there is a candidate who will be able to curb or to eradicate corruption as it has been so entrenched in the society totally from the political leadership. And even in the normal interactions corruption has become a way of life. Calls for secession Cameroon faces other challenges. Protests by the English-speaking minority have led to violent clashes with government forces. The group is now pushing for secession and calling for the creation of a new state, Ambazonia. Muna believes much of this anger stems from people not feeling represented by their government and believing their voices will only be heard through violence. He hopes these people will get behind his candidacy to bring about change peacefully. Im saying that the problem is with the government of our country, so we should change the government and not the country, he said. Im pushing for that for the ballot and not for the bullet. Heungoup said some in the Anglophone region of Cameroon resent the fact that Muna, who is a native of that region, is participating in the election at all. They believe his candidacy legitimizes the elections in the eyes of the international community. They have vowed by all means to stop and prevent elections in the Anglophone side. Now let us see if they will be able to put their words in practice, Heungoup said. The United States sought on Thursday to further choke off funding sources for Iranian-backed Hezbollah, imposing sanctions on its representative to Iran, as well as a major financier and his five companies in Europe, West Africa and the Middle East. The U.S. Treasury said Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi was a Hezbollah financier operating through Belgium, Lebanon and Iraq, and was a close associate of Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of acquiring vast wealth during his decades-long rule. It also imposed sanctions on Hezbollah's representative to Iran, Abdallah Safi Al-Din, who it said served as an interlocutor between Hezbollah and Iran on financial issues. The department said it had blacklisted Belgian energy services conglomerate Global Trading Group; Gambia-based petroleum company Euro African Group; and Lebanon-based Africa Middle East Investment Holding, Premier Investment Group SAL Offshore and import-export group Car Escort Services. All were designated because they are owned or controlled by Bazzi, the Treasury said. "The savage and depraved acts of one of Hezbollah's most prominent financiers cannot be tolerated," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "This administration will expose and disrupt Hezbollah and Iranian terror networks at every turn, including those with ties to the Central Bank of Iran," he said. The sanctions are among a slew of fresh measures aimed at Iran and Hezbollah since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last week. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to outline in a speech in Washington on Monday plans by the United States to build a coalition to look closer at what it sees as Iran's "destabilizing activities," spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters at the State Department. In one of the biggest moves this week aimed at clamping down on Iran's overseas operations, the Treasury sanctioned Iran's central bank governor, Valiollah Seif. On Wednesday, the United States, backed by Gulf States, imposed additional sanctions on Hezbollah's top two leaders, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem. Ohio's capital city unveiled an operating system Thursday that will gather data for its pioneering smart city transportation project. Columbus beat out six other mid-sized cities in 2016 to win the U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart City Challenge, a contest aimed at encouraging innovative ideas for moving people and goods more quickly, cheaply and efficiently. The effort is supported by a $40 million federal grant and $10 million from billionaire investor Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. It has the potential to reduce collisions, speed first responder response times, curb freeway delays and get products to consumers faster. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said launching the Smart Columbus Operating System is a major milestone on Columbus' smart city journey, allowing officials to better analyze, interpret and share data that will help solve critical challenges and inspire innovation. But the Democrat said the ultimate goal is to make life better. "Fundamental to 'becoming smart' as a city is discovering how to use data to improve city services and quality of life for residents," he said. "When we apply data to the challenges we experience as a city, we can transform outcomes in education, employment, health care and even access to healthy food." The city's Smart Columbus team will manage and distribute 1,100 data feeds through the new operating platform to government offices and private companies. The information that's collected will help Columbus integrate self-driving cars, connected vehicles, smart sensors and other developing transportation technologies into the life of the city. The city won its spot as the testing ground over San Francisco; Pittsburgh; Denver; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Kansas City, Missouri. Thursday's operating system launch comes amid efforts by Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich to advance smart transportation technology statewide. Kasich signed an executive order last week authorizing autonomous vehicle research to take place on all public roads across the state. The order laid out safety parameters for such projects and creates a voluntary pilot program linking local governments to participating companies. The order extended Kasich's efforts to make Ohio a hub of smart vehicle research and development. 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. Pakistan and India accused each others militaries on Friday of launching unprovoked shelling across their disputed Kashmir frontier skirmishes that officials said caused mostly civilian casualties on both sides. The Pakistani foreign ministry summoned Indias top diplomat in Islamabad to protest what it condemned as unprovoked cease-fire violations by Indian forces that resulted in the deaths of four civilians and injuries to 10 others. Indian military officials accused Pakistan of firing first and confirmed the killings of six civilians and a soldier in what they said was unprovoked and indiscriminate" shelling by Pakistani forces. In recent years, almost weekly military skirmishes along the so-called Line of Control (LoC) in the Himalayan region have nearly torn down a 2003 mutual cease-fire truce between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, raising fears of a wider conflict. Both India and Pakistan blame each other for starting the deadly clashes. The Pakistani military said Indian forces early Friday began violating the cease-fire and targeted the civilian population in the Sialkot sector. Pakistani troops, it said, retaliated and targeted those Indian posts that initiated the fire. Officials on both sides reported that intermittent skirmishes were ongoing in the area and several other sectors on LoC. The Pakistani foreign ministry in its statement accused the Indian forces of carrying out more than 1,000-cease-fire violations along the Kashmir frontier since the beginning of 2018, killing 28 innocent civilians and injuring 117 others. The statement did not mention details of any military casualties. New Delhi contends that its troops typically open fire when Pakistan-backed militants attempt to slip into the Indian portion of Kashmir with a mission to carry out subversive activities and fuel a simmering separatist Muslim insurgency there. Islamabad rejects the charges and demands that New Delhi holds talks on deciding the fate of Kashmir and defusing persistent tensions between the two countries. Pakistans Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, who also is the acting foreign minister of the country, has cautioned India to step back from its massive military escalation in Kashmir before it expands into another larger conflict. We are both nuclear powers and any kind of effort to escalate while remaining under the nuclear umbrella, which we believe India is doing, can have very disastrous consequences, Khan told VOA in an interview earlier this month. If their thought is that they can somehow limit the scope of the war, or a conflict, that begins its playing with fire, warned the Pakistani minister. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over the mostly Muslim region since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Malaysias historic general election last week was the first upset of the National Front coalition, which has ruled since independence in 1961. In large part this was the result of the grass-roots efforts of citizens to vote against formidable odds: Their electoral boundaries were redrawn to favor the National Front, election day was a Wednesday, and citizens found out they had to have registered by December 2017 five months before an election that was announced in April to be allowed to vote. Beyond that, there were many smaller roadblocks, such as voters could be prevented from voting if they were deemed to be wearing the wrong clothes, or poorly trained polling booth officials might forget to stamp (and thus invalidate) a ballot. Many Malaysians spontaneously defended polling stations Wednesday night from widespread rumored threats, such as phantom ballot boxes, said Liyana Yusof, a civic activist in Kuala Lumpur with the nonprofit youth voting campaign called Watan. It wasnt really planned in advance, she said, speaking two days after the election. I just went to the polling station nearest to me on election night it happened to be Lembah Pantai [district in southwestern Kuala Lumpur], and stayed there for four hours to see if police tried anything funny, like smuggling in ballot boxes. Residents of another neighborhood called Setia Alam, in Selangor state, locked in their polling station officials with a bicycle lock until they agreed to stamp and release the results, which registered an opposition win. Thats just part of the deal with voting here, Yusof said, matter-of-factly. In the last election, I was part of a human chain of people who defended our polling station. From civil society to parliament Another civil society movement that laid some groundwork for the mass turnout and anti-corruption sentiment in this election is called Bersih, the Malay word for clean. Bersih has been advocating for electoral reform in Malaysia since 2006. Bersih rallies have blanketed the capital several times in a sea of yellow shirts to protest corruption, electoral fraud, and roadblocks to free elections. The big win for us was to bring awareness that the system is rotten, said Maria Chin Abdullah, an activist who ran Bersih for 10 years. Holding mass rallies in Malaysia was really a big leap forward. Our people dont usually do that. It was a sign that people have simply had enough of this corruption. She spoke to VOA from her campaign headquarters one day before the election. In what now seems like a portent of change, Abdullah, 62, left Bersih to run for parliament herself this year, under the Alliance banner. The woman who oversaw Bersihs transition from a government initiative to a fully independent civil society movement will now take a seat of her own in the legislature. The big problem this year was that the Election Commission has been setting up new laws almost every day, she said. Bersih members were supposed to have access to ballot boxes in police offices, which have been denied. And then there is the insane scale of vote buying: [the National Front] is distributing flat-screen TVs and motorbikes. Its just an unlevel playing field. Whats next? Abdullahs top policy agenda items within the new administration are electoral reform, mainstreaming gender equality, and resolving local constituency issues like affordable housing, she told VOA. We should provide training to increase womens participation at all levels of the decision-making process and have affirmative action to increase the minimum portion of female members of parliament to 30 percent, she said. More broadly, Bersihs work certainly paved the way for this historic election, Abdullah said. It laid the foundation for the rakyat [people] to claim their rights of expression, assembly, and association, she said. Abdullah is personally against the first-past-the-post parliamentary system that is in place in Malaysia, by which the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins and becomes the MP for that seat. She says that system makes it too easy for parties or coalitions to rule without the popular vote, which happened for the National Front in 2013. Still, even within that possibly flawed system, the obstacles to voting this year were easily conquered roadblocks in retrospect, said James Chin of the University of Tasmania. The last prime minister, Najib Razak, was embroiled in a scandal in which he was accused of stealing almost $700 million from a state-owned development fund, and his National Front coalition had, in six decades of unchallenged rule, grown out of touch with its voter base. Even the Wednesday [election day] had no impact, Chin said. Malaysians were so angry with Najib that they were willing to sacrifice their leave and everything in order to, as the Americans say, whack him. They wanted to whack him. The Philippines, usually a receiver of international aid, got a unique chance this week to give some as the government agreed to help struggling Papua New Guinea with rice cultivation. Philippine and Papua New Guinean officials signed an agreement Wednesday on cooperation in agriculture, particularly rice production, inland fish farming and industrial crops, the presidential office in Manila said. Rice will probably lead their agreement as the Philippines has shared growing techniques abroad before, said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist with Banco de Oro UniBank in Metro Manila. Planting rice is a bit sensitive, especially when youre in a tropical country, Ravelas said. Before a harvest it rains. We have a facility that gives you different strains of rice that could be water resistant or whatever. Receiver of foreign aid The Philippines as a developing country has accepted billions of dollars in aid and investment pledged by other countries. Much of it comes from China, Japan and the United States. For example, China is helping build railways now as part of a $169 billion plan to build Philippine infrastructure through 2022. Two years ago Beijing pledged an eventual total of $24 billion in aid and investment to the Philippines. Now Papua New Guinea needs help diversifying its economy because drops in world oil prices have hurt oil and gas, said Christian de Guzman, vice president and senior credit officer with Moodys in Singapore. With the downturn in oil prices, the problem here is that a few years ago there was this expectation that oil prices were going to be like $100 per barrel, and so they jacked up spending, de Guzman said. Theyre a bit struggling right now. This is part of the diversification story, said de Guzman, referring to any boost in farming from the Philippines. They dont want their economy to be so tied so closely to the oil cycle. In 2014 Papua New Guinea began commercial operations of liquefied natural gas. Gas, crude oil and other fuels could potentially comprise about 60 percent of the countrys export revenues, professional services firm PwC said. The impoverished countrys GDP growth slowed from 10.5 percent to 2 percent in 2016, and the Asian Development Bank forecasts a 1.3 percent fall this year. Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter ONeill told a business forum in Australia the economy must be diversified to avoid booms and busts. Reputation for rice ONeill was quoted by the Philippine presidential website saying agriculture cooperation will help ensure food security for both countries. He met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila this week. The Philippines can offer expertise in hundreds of rice strains, including some that hold up in severe weather such as typhoons, said Jaime Manolo in the development and communications section of the Philippine Rice Research Institute. The government-funded, 33-year-old institute also called PhilRice has previously helped Brunei and countries in Africa with rice technology, he said. Weve got a lot of location-specific technologies that are being promoted in different ecosystems, which I think is also true in any country that attempts to grow rice, Manolo said. So I guess PhilRice has the expertise and technologies that can help for instance PNG improve its rice production. Quid quo pro The Philippines may get something in return for its aid to Papua New Guinea, some analysts say. Filipinos already work in PNG, part of a labor diaspora that totals about 2.3 million people worldwide. Just 15,500 of those were working in Papua New Guinea as of 2012, Philippine media say, but the number has been growing. Philippine technical workers may eventually be able to help Papua New Guinea advance in farming, de Guzman said. Their earnings would contribute to billions of dollars in remittances sent back to the Philippines. Manila may also want Papua New Guinea to scrap a rule against tuna fishing by foreign boats, said Carl Baker, director of programs with the think tank Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu. Boats used to reach its waters from the southern Philippine island Mindanao and take tuna catches back for processing. Duterte asked ONeill last year to reconsider the ban. The Philippine Rice Research Institute is well known in Southeast Asia and has done a lot of research on optimizing small farm production, so that makes sense for PNG, Baker said. The Philippines does not really provide a lot of assistance to other countries in the region, he added. I suspect this really is being driven by an interest in trying to protect the interests of the tuna processors. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from a British hospital more than two months after he was poisoned with a nerve agent and left fighting for his life, health officials said Friday. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury on March 4, and spent weeks in critical condition. Britain has accused Russia of poisoning the pair with a military-grade nerve agent, a claim Moscow denies.The poisoning has sparked a Cold War-style diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West, including the expulsion of hundreds of diplomats from both sides. Salisbury District Hospital said Friday that all three people hospitalized in the attack the Skripals and a police officer who came to their assistance had now been released. "We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal," said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital. "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital." Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month. The Skripals have been taken to an undisclosed location for their safety. Sergei Skripal is a former Russian intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain before coming to the U.K. as part of a 2010 prisoner swap. He had been living quietly in the cathedral city of Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of London, when he was struck down. Britain says Russia poisoned the Skripals with a Soviet-designed nerve agent dubbed Novichok. Moscow denies the claim, and accused Britain of failing to provide any evidence and stonewalling Russian requests for information. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the news of Skripal's recovery gave him joy, but denounced the British explanation for his illness. "If a military-grade agent had been used as our British colleagues claimed, the man would have died on the spot," Putin said Friday after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the southern Russian city of Sochi. "Thank God he has recovered, has walked out of the hospital and I hope will stay safe and healthy." Russia's ambassador to Britain, Alexander Yakovenko, said Britain had in effect kidnapped the Skripals. He accused Britain of breaking international law by not granting Russia consular access to them. Yulia Skripal is a Russian citizen, while her father was granted British citizenship after settling in the U.K. "You can call it detained, you can call it isolated, you can call it kidnap," Yakovenko told reporters in London. "We are still demanding access to these people," he added. "We want to understand how they feel. We want them to tell [us] personally what they want. If they don't want our assistance, that's fine, but we want to see them physically." The international chemical weapons watchdog has backed up Britain's conclusion that the Skripals were poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, but has not determined where it was produced. British police say they believe the toxin was smeared on the door handle of Sergei Skripal's suburban house. Hundreds of counterterrorism officers and support staff have been assigned to the case but police have not yet named any suspects. Pope Francis on Thursday ended his emergency summit with Chile's bishops by thanking them for their "full willingness'' to do whatever it takes to recover from a sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has discredited the church. Francis said farewell to each of the 34 bishops from Chile after four days of meetings and prayer, amid indications that some departures could be coming. Vatican television showed the Chilean bishops thanking Francis as they took their leave. The only one Francis is shown kissing on each cheek and patting on the arm was Bishop Juan Barros, who is at the center of the scandal. In a farewell letter given to each bishop, Francis said he had already apologized to the sex abuse victims he discredited. He reminded the churchmen that they had joined in that apology "with the firm aim of repairing the wounds.'' "I thank you for the full willingness each one of you has shown to cooperate in all the short-, medium- and long-term changes and resolutions that we must implement to re-establish justice and the ecclesial communion,'' Francis wrote. Francis summoned the entire Chilean bishops' conference to Rome after admitting that he had made "grave errors in judgment'' in the case of Barros, who is accused by victims of Father Fernando Karadima, Chile's most notorious predator priest and a mentor to Barros, of witnessing and ignoring their abuse. Barros has denied their claim. Francis had strongly defended him during his January trip to Chile, drawing scorn from Chileans and even his own top sex abuse adviser. Vatican inquiry After returning home, Francis sent two Vatican investigators to look into the matter, and they came back with a much broader view of the scale of priestly abuse and cover-up in the Chilean church, presenting Francis with a 2,300-page dossier. One of the investigators, the Reverend Jordi Bertomeu, said Thursday that Francis was "making history'' with the summit. "What is sure is that we are facing a very, very particular moment for the universal church, not only for Chile,'' he told reporters. "It's not normal to call here an entire bishops' conference. Therefore, if I were you, I would expect measures and conclusions that will be important.'' For years, sex abuse victims have blasted the Chilean hierarchy for discrediting their claims, protecting abusers, moving them around rather than reporting them to police, and then handing out light sentences when church sanctions were imposed. Francis, too, though, was harshly criticized for discrediting victims by saying their accusations against Barros were "calumny'' and demanding proof. He appointed Barros bishop of Osorno, Chile, in 2015 over the objections of other Chilean bishops who knew his past was problematic. Turnabout by Francis After receiving Bertomeu's report, though, Francis did an about-face, blaming a "lack of truthful and balanced information'' about the case for his missteps. He invited the three main whistle-blowers for a four-day retreat at the Vatican hotel he calls home. Many Chileans are expecting that at least Barros and two-other Karadima-trained bishops will resign, if not more. At the start of the summit, representatives of the Chilean bishops' conference had said they were prepared to accept whatever measures Francis proposed, including bishop resignations, reforms of Chile's seminaries and economic reparation for victims. Such measures were also on the table when American cardinals in 2002 and the 24-member Irish bishops' conference in 2010 were hauled before the pope for a dressing down for their dismal handling of abuse cases. The American leadership, discredited after the abuse scandal exploded in Boston, went on to craft tough "one strike and you're out'' guidelines that are seen as a model worldwide. Irish church leaders were summoned after a decade of Irish government fact-finding commissions documented widespread abuse and cover-up by clerics. The Irish church was subsequently subjected to a wide-ranging, yearlong Vatican investigation into their dioceses, seminaries and religious orders. Bearing a bouquet of pink and white roses, Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his private Sochi residence Friday, where he vowed to push back on any attempts by U.S. President Donald Trump to block a Russian-German gas pipeline project. As news wires reported, Berlin and Moscow are forging common ground on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will allow Russia to export more natural gas to northern Europe despite sharp differences over Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea. U.S. officials recently expressed concerns about the project, warning that companies involved in the deal risk being slapped with sanctions. EU's Tusk tweets The Putin-Merkel meeting also comes just days after European Council President Donald Tusk took to Twitter in a bitter excoriation of Trumps decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iranian nuclear deal. Tusk sarcastically said the European Union, which shares Moscows position on the Iran deal, should be grateful to Trump for subverting the agreement, leaving Brussels in the highly unusual position of uniting with Beijing, Moscow and Tehran on a major diplomatic issue. Thanks to him we got rid of all illusions, Tusk tweeted, referring to a broader European political disenchantment with Trump in Berlin, Paris and London. NATO not fazed But after White House meetings Thursday with NATOs leadership, it appears the United States may yet have one European relationship securely in place. Speaking with VOA Serbian Service, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Alliance wont be fazed by any burgeoning rapprochement between major European capitals and Russia. The top agenda item of NATOs upcoming summit, he said, will likely be what he called deterrence, defense and Russia. We see a more assertive Russia, and NATO is responding by implementing the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the Cold War, Stoltenberg said. A critical component of reinforced defense is already in place, with more troops to the east of the Alliance and to the Baltic countries, to Poland, but with plans in increase troop readiness. We need to do more of this, increase the readiness of our forces at the meeting in July in Brussels, he said. They are using military force against a neighbor, Ukraine, illegally annexing Crimea, but then we see what we call hybrid tactics. This combination of civil-military actions: meddling into election processes, cyberattacks, and we also saw the use of a nerve agent in Salisbury. All of this requires a response from NATO, and we our responding, he said. White House meetings Fresh from White House meetings with Trump, Stoltenberg said they discussed the need to have forces move quickly across the Atlantic. Earlier this month, the Pentagon officially offered to host a proposed NATO Joint Force Command for the Atlantic at its naval facilities in Norfolk, Virginia. One other NATO ally, Stoltenberg said, offered to host a new command center for mobility and reinforcement across Europe. The Germans offered to host that one, he said. The next NATO Summit is slated July 11-12 in Brussels. On Thursday, the State Department pushed back on reports that Americas ties with European allies are frayed over the Trump administrations withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. We agree on more than we disagree, said State Department Policy Planning Director Brian Hook during a telephone briefing Friday with reporters. People are overstating the disagreement between the U.S. and Europe. This story originated in VOAs Serbian Service. Reuters contributed to this report. A West African court is to examine a ban on pregnant girls going to school in Sierra Leone in a landmark case that campaigners say could strengthen girls rights across the region. Sierra Leone introduced the ban in 2015 after a rise in rape, abuse and poverty during the deadly Ebola outbreak fueled a spike in teenage pregnancies. The law increased the stigma surrounding pregnant girls and set thousands back in their studies, said womens rights group Equality Now, which filed the case with partner organizations. A spokesman for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court in Nigerias capital Abuja confirmed the case had been filed and said it would give Sierra Leone 30 days to respond. Important opportunity for girls This is a really big deal, said Sabrina Mahtani, a researcher at rights group Amnesty International. I think this is an important opportunity for the ECOWAS court to set down in case law what the rights and obligations are of states regarding the rights of pregnant girls, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The Sierra Leone government said at the time of the ban that allowing pregnant girls to go to school would undermine their ability to do well in class, expose them to ridicule and encourage others to get pregnant. Mahtani said the issue had surfaced in other African countries such as Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea, although not all had explicit bans. Sierra Leone to defend ban An official in Sierra Leones education ministry said she was not yet aware that a case had been filed, but that the government would defend their policy. I am sure they will defend the ban, said Olive Musa, Sierra Leones director of non-formal education, by phone. There was an alternative program for (pregnant girls), and some of them went back to school after a period of time, so I dont know why they have taken this to the ECOWAS court. Sierra Leones government spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. Equality Now said they filed the case because years of advocacy and discussions with the government had not been fruitful. If there is no intervention, this will result in a lifetime of illiteracy, ignorance, poverty and extreme violations for these girls, Equality Now and partners said in a statement. When she was 18, Noura Husseins husband raped her. Now she faces the death penalty for attempting to protect herself, activists say. Hussein fatally stabbed her husband, Abdulrahman Mohamed Hammad, last year in what her lawyers say was an act of self-defense. Last week, a court in Sudan sentenced her to death by hanging after she was found guilty in April of premeditated murder. The case has put international attention on the plight of young women and girls who are forced into marriage, abused by their husbands and abandoned by their families. Hussein has spent the past year in prison, but her ordeal began in 2014, when her parents forced her to marry Hammad. She ran away to live with an aunt for three years, but activists say her father lured her back home in 2017 and compelled her to get married. When her husband attempted to consummate the union, Hussein resisted, and Hammad raped her with the help of his brother and two male cousins, who pinned her chest and legs, Husseins lawyer Adil Mohamed Al-Imam told CNN. The next morning, when Hussein was alone with Hammad, he again forced himself on her, but she fought back, fatally stabbing him. She went to her family immediately after, and they turned her in to authorities. The most cruel of punishments Rights groups, activists and international bodies have condemned the decision to sentence Hussein to death and have called on the Sudanese government to pardon her. Seif Magango is Amnesty Internationals deputy director for East Africa. He told VOA Thursday that Amnestys biggest concern is Husseins sentence. The death penalty is really the most cruel of punishments in this case. Its not befitting of the crime, Magango said. Husseins side of the story needs to be heard, Magango said, and she should be granted a retrial in which additional evidence is admitted. The argument that she had been raped by her husband was not entertained because, according to the courts interpretation of the law, they said that marital rape does not exist and it is not recognized in the constitution of Sudan, he said. Her life could also be saved, Magango said, if Hammads family accepts a financial settlement, called diya, which they previously rejected. If the family were to accept (diya) and understand that she acted in self-defense and she did not plan to kill her husband and accepted the financial settlement, that would resolve the matter. And she wouldnt have to be executed, he said. Child marriage Family and economic pressures lead many women in Sudan to get married at a young age. About one-third of Sudanese girls are married by age 18, and 12 percent of girls marry by 15, according to a 2017 report by UNICEF. Worldwide, 1 in 9 girls marries by 15, according to the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, a group focused on eliminating child marriage and other humanitarian work. But Sudans legal system provides few protections for girls and young women whose families push them into early marriage. Children as young as 10 can be legally married, and for years a 1991 law had defined rape strictly as nonconsensual sex in adulterous relationships. A 2015 amendment separated the two crimes, creating legal channels to prosecute marital rape, according to a 2016 report by the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies. But societal norms have led to interpretations that disadvantage women, rights groups say, and marital rape remains prevalent. More calls to save Noura Calls for the Sudanese government to prevent Husseins execution are growing. More than 700,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling on the Sudanese government to spare her. On Sunday, U.N. Women, the U.N. Population Fund and the U.N. Office of the Special Adviser on Africa issued a joint statement pleading with the government of Sudan to save the life of Hussein and to protect the lives of all women and girls. The Delegation of the European Union to Sudan has also issued a statement expressing their firm opposition to the death penalty, whatever the place and circumstances. Husseins lawyers have until May 25 to appeal the courts decision. CNN reported Wednesday that Al-Imam had been barred from holding a press conference and intimidated at his office by security forces. The big day is finally here for Britains Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The couple will marry Saturday in the town of Windsor, outside London. Prince Charles, Prince Harrys father, will walk Markle down the aisle, Kensington Palace announced Friday. The American former actress confirmed this week that her father will not attend the ceremony because of ill health, after days of speculation over whether he would make the journey across the Atlantic. Throngs of people are descending on the historic town as well-wishers try to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. Thousands of police officers are mounting one of the biggest security operations in recent years, paid for by the public, a bill some opposed to the monarchy resent. Supporters argue the wedding is likely to attract big spending by visitors and those watching in bars and big screens across the country. The ceremony is to begin at midday in the stunning 14th century Saint Georges Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry was baptized in 1984. As she did before the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, Queen Elizabeth II has conferred a dukedom on Prince Harry, making him the Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel. The new title will mean that when Harry marries American actress Meghan Markle, she will become the Duchess of Sussex. The secondary titles are for use in Scotland and Northern Ireland. About 600 guests have been invited, mainly those who have a direct relationship with the couple. WATCH: Huge Security Operation Under Way as Britain Prepares For Royal Wedding Public on the castle grounds In addition, more than 2,500 members of the public have been invited onto the castle grounds the prime spot to watch the guests come and go. To me, that was surprising, and it was very touching. Because for as much as they dont like the media intrusion, the royals, theyve invited media in, theyve invited the public in, and theyre wanting to share their special day, said Thomas Mace-Archer-Mills of the British Monarchist Society and Foundation. Four members of the Mumbai city-based charity the Myna Mahila Foundation have been invited. The NGO provides sanitary products in the slums of the Indian capital and was visited by Meghan Markle last year. Its one of seven charities the couple has asked guests to make donations to in lieu of wedding gifts. The charitys founder, Suhani Jalota, says the invitation came as a huge shock. We are representing not just Myna, but also the women across the urban slums in the city and India as well. I think there is a lot on the plate and a lot of pressure. Well-wishers line the streets More than 100,000 people are expected to line the streets of Windsor. Many have arrived early to bag the best spots. Donna Werner is a self-confessed royal superfan who flew from her home in the U.S. state of Connecticut and has camped for four nights on a Windsor sidewalk. Every little girl has read fairytales from her childhood on by her mother and she always dreams of becoming a princess and living in a castle. And I mean, this is it. This is a real life fairytale. In a break with U.S. tradition, Markle will not have a maid of honor. All of the six bridesmaids and four page boys will be children of friends of the couple. Harrys nephew, Prince George, will be a pageboy, and niece Princess Charlotte a bridesmaid. Reception banquet for 600 In the kitchens of Windsor Castle, 30 chefs will prepare a banquet for the reception guests. The couple ... tasted everything, theyve been involved in every detail, royal head chef Mark Flanagan said. That could mean some stateside surprises among the British fare. Are we going to see hot dogs and these sorts of American things? Im sure there will be a nod to the American culture where food is concerned, Mace-Archer-Mills said. As well as the home crowds, millions are expected to tune in around the globe, with the promise of British pomp mixed with plenty of Hollywood glamour. In Photos: Crowds Gather for Royal Wedding Over the past month, many people in Senegal have been following the trial of 31 people accused of trying to set up a local jihadist network loyal to the Islamic State militant group. The verdicts in the case are expected as soon as early June. A Facebook post on July 7, 2015 caught the eye of the Senegalese authorities.The post paid tribute to Senegalese jihadists who died in battle after joining ranks with Islamic State in Libya. It was traced to Matar Diokhane, a man already known to authorities, who say he attacked a mosque in the town of Diourbel in 2012. An investigation was opened. Over the next two years, Senegal's intelligence services uncovered a ring of nationals who they believe were trying to set up a local Islamic State network. Thirty one suspects are now on trial, on charges that include criminal conspiracy, terrorist acts and money laundering, as well as advocating terrorist activity. Abdou Cisse, a reporter for the popular local news outlet Dakaractu, says Senegal has already tried people over terrorism, but this is the first time so many people all at once are suspected of links to a single terrorist operation. News from the trial often lands on the front page of local papers. Much of the coverage is focused on the controversial imam Alioune Ndao. Ndao and Diokhane are accused of recruiting young boys and sending them to train with jihadist groups in Nigeria, Mali and Libya. Investigators say the 11 of the 31 suspects spent months with Boko Haram in Nigeria before returning to Senegal to set up local terrorist cells in the south and east of the country. Maitre Mounir Ballal, one of Ndao's attorneys., maintains his client's innocence. He says Ndao never set foot in Nigeria and was only "implicated in this case because Matar Diokhane approached him to gather his views on the interpretation of Qur'anic verses." The state prosecutor has requested forced labor in perpetuity for Diokhane and 30 years for Ndao. He has also asked for eight of the 31 suspects to be acquitted. Those remaining would face possible penalties ranging from five years in prison to hard labor for life, if convicted. Security experts like Pierre Lapaque have watched the proceedings closely. He is the regional representative for the United Nations' Office on Drugs and Organized Crime. He says the trial shows that the investigation has been thorough and that the risk of terrorism in Senegal is being taken seriously. Concerns over criminal code But rights groups have expressed concern. In 2016, the authorities amended Senegal's criminal code and widened the scope of offenses considered terrorism-related. "We have concerns about the conditions of their arrest and the conditions of their detention," said Francois Patuel, the West Africa Researcher for Amnesty International. "So for instance, Imam Ndao was arrested in 2015. He's been held in pre-trial detention for about two years and a half. That's a very long period of time." Last year, a court in northeast Nigeria began a mass trial of 1,600 Boko Haram suspects. The trial was initially held behind closed doors. As a result of those proceedings, there have been at least 205 convictions and another 526 suspects released so far, mostly for lack of evidence. When asked about the ongoing case in Dakar, local human rights lawyer Senghane Senghor points to the Nigeria example. He says at least in Senegal, the trial is taking place in public. Everything is being debated publicly, and there are people allowed into the courtroom every day. Senegal has so far been free of terror attacks. But experts say the country is at risk. It bears strong ties to France and shares a border with Mali, which continues to grapple with an ever-evolving myriad of violent extremist groups. Florida International University offers participation in several organizations, programs and workshops for LGBT students, staff and allies, including the MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives, Stonewall Pride Alliance, H. W. College of Medicine Gay-Straight Alliance and LGBTQA Mentors Program, among others. The MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives, now in its sixth year, is part of the Department of Multicultural Programs and Services and the Division of Student Affairs at FIU. The campus department works closely with many organizations in the South Florida area. FIU has one full-time staff member and two graduate students that are paid staff for the program. We oversee all programs and initiatives at both the Biscayne Bay (north) and Modesto Maidique (south) campuses, said Dr. Gisela Vega, associate director of the MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives, who was hired as the first full-time staff member in 2012. We are the first university or college in South Florida to hire a full-time staff person to work with our LGBTQA population. Vega said the Stonewall Pride Alliance is FIUs oldest student-run LGBTQA group on campus. It was started in 1991. While the group has been around for 27 years, Vega has advised this group on and off for about 20 years. All of these programs and organizations have come about based on the need to advocate for the LGBTQ community, said Richard Moreno, graduate assistant of the MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives at FIU. Moreno said it is important for the university to have a large visibility in the LGBT community. Visibility is crucial in bringing about awareness and education for the LGBTQ community, Moreno said. We strive to create programming that represents FIU as a safer and more inclusive environment for LGBTQ students and a place where they can safely navigate their identities without fear of violence. FIU takes part in several LGBT-related activities throughout the year, including Pride Month, National Coming Out Day and Miami Beach Gay Pride, of which the university has been a part of since the parades inception 10 years ago. Pride Month was created by the MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives. We have a series of events that happen throughout the month to celebrate, educate and create awareness about the LGBTQA community, Vega said. Our office has a simple but clear motto: we S.A.V.E. our students. This acronym stands for student Support, Awareness, Visibility and Education. Pride encompasses all of these important aspects of everything we do. The Lavender Graduation and Leadership Recognition dinner for graduating LGBT seniors took place Monday, April 23. FIU has had a Lavender graduation for almost 20 years. Vega said three years ago the university opened it up to all high school and other college Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) graduating seniors to rebrand it as the FIU Annual City-Wide Lavender Graduation and Recognition dinner. The Lavender Graduation has been essential in providing students with the opportunity to celebrate with their community and be recognized for their achievements as LGBTQ students, Moreno said. For many trans students, they might have the opportunity to celebrate their graduation with their name and identity recognized, which is why we create that space every year to ensure they do have that opportunity. Both Vega and Moreno say they don't know how large their LGBT student population is compared to other colleges and universities. I know we are getting more LGBTQA students attending FIU based on the services we are providing LGBTQA students, Vega said. The size of the LGBTQ population at FIU isn't something I can comment on. However, I can safely assume the more students on campus the increased likelihood there will be more LGBTQ students on campus, Moreno said. Many students may still be questioning their identity or still withhold that information from others for safety reasons. Moreno said FIU doesnt often directly collaborate with other Florida universities on LGBT-related issues or events aside from attending conferences held on those campuses. Our collaboration is more focused on the LGBTQ organizations around the area, like Pridelines, Aqua Foundation, TransSocial, etc., Moreno said. On whether FIU is more LGBT inclusive than other universities, Moreno said he can't compare FIU to other Florida universities, but he said there is always more to be done to make a campus more inclusive for LGBTQ students. Programs like Safe Zone and the LGBTQA Mentoring Program help facilitate that inclusive environment, Moreno said. The Safe Zone program is geared towards developing awareness and training faculty and staff on campus to assist and serve as resources and support networks for the universitys LGBT community. The mentors program provides support, safety and guidance to LGBT students and aims to match those students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning with members of the LGBT faculty and staff. The student will receive support and encouragement from the faculty and staff member inside and outside of the classroom. Around 2015, FIU started to build more gender-neutral bathrooms, but Moreno said it is a heavy misconception that gender inclusive restrooms are only available for and used by transgender students. Gender inclusive restrooms on campus are needed everywhere regardless who is using them. More recently, to further their commitment to LGBT students, FIU piloted a program in Spring 2017 called the LGBTQA Ambassadors Program, which recently won the Outstanding Diversity Program award at the Student Life Awards, hosted by FIU's Division of Student Affairs. We felt there was a need to bring in LGBTQA students and focus on developing their leadership and professional development through working with our office, Moreno said. Since [LGBTQA Ambassadors] is a new program, it is currently evolving and we have exciting changes coming to continue its success with our students. [This program is] just one more example of how we continue to fill the needs of our LGBTQ student population as we continue to grow as a department. After a career that included helping Alphabet's Google build out data centers and speeding packages for Amazon.com to customers, Jim Miller is doing what many Silicon Valley executives do after stints at big companies: finding more time to ride his bike. But this bike is a little different. Arevo, a startup with backing from the venture capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency and where Miller recently took the helm, has produced what it says is the world's first carbon fiber bicycle with 3-D-printed frame. Arevo is using the bike to demonstrate its design software and printing technology, which it hopes to use to produce parts for bicycles, aircraft, space vehicles and other applications where designers prize the strength and lightness of so-called "composite" carbon fiber parts but are put off by the high-cost and labor-intensive process of making them. Arevo on Thursday raised $12.5 million in venture funding from a unit of Japan's Asahi Glass, Sumitomo's Sumitomo Corp. of the Americas and Leslie Ventures. Previously, the company raised $7 million from Khosla Ventures, which also took part in Thursday's funding, and an undisclosed sum from In-Q-Tel, the venture capital fund backed by the CIA. Traditional carbon fiber bikes are expensive because workers lay individual layers of carbon fiber impregnated with resin around a mold of the frame by hand. The frame then gets baked in an oven to melt the resin and bind the carbon fiber sheets together. Arevo's technology uses a "deposition head" mounted on a robotic arm to print out the three-dimensional shape of the bicycle frame. The head lays down strands of carbon fiber and melts a thermoplastic material to bind the strands, all in one step. The process involves almost no human labor, allowing Arevo to build bicycle frames for $300 in costs, even in pricey Silicon Valley. "We're right in line with what it costs to build a bicycle frame in Asia," Miller said. "Because the labor costs are so much lower, we can re-shore the manufacturing of composites." While Miller said Arevo is in talks with several bike manufacturers, the company eventually hopes to supply aerospace parts. Arevo's printing head could run along rails to print larger parts and would avoid the need to build huge ovens to bake them in. "We can print as big as you want - the fuselage of an aircraft, the wing of an aircraft," Miller said. North Koreas recent threat to pull out of the upcoming nuclear summit with the U.S. has added new urgency to South Korean President Moon Jae-ins visit to Washington next Tuesday. President Moon has played a key role in facilitating the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled to be held in Singapore June 12. Diplomatic jeopardy At the recent inter-Korean summit Moon got Kim to affirm a broad commitment to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons and that opened the door for Trump and Kim to negotiate a more detailed agreement to end North Koreas nuclear program. However, uncompromising positions recently voiced by U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton demanding the Norths unilateral disarmament, and by North Korea in response canceling further talks with the South and threatening to pull out of the U.S.-North Korea summit, have put the prospects for continued diplomatic progress in jeopardy. President Trump has tried to reassure the North Korean leadership that a nuclear deal would not weaken the Kim government, but would bolster it. He'd be in his country, he'd be running his country. His country would be very rich. Trump said Thursday while meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House. Moon mediation President Moon, who will meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday, has said he will try to moderate differences between the U.S. and North Korea over how to achieve denuclearization, while also giving the Kim government the security guarantees and sanctions relief it wants. But the convergence of interests that have brought Moon, Trump and Kim to all agree to give diplomacy a chance seems to be diverging over how to bridge the gap between the U.S. demand for complete denuclearization prior to offering any concessions, and the Norths insistence on a step by step process that would ease sanctions early on for incremental measures, such as giving up some nuclear material and allowing in outside inspectors. We have three leaders, each thinks he is in the drivers seat and it is like three cars hurling toward an intersection. Each one convinced he has the right of way and the other two drivers will yield, said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow with The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center while speaking at the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul this week. Trump and Kims unconventional approach to diplomacy, by rushing to meet before a deal is worked out, also runs the risk of being undermined by hardline elements in their governments. I think there are questions in both Pyongyang and Washington about how the leaders are connected to their own bureaucracies.Maybe we are seeing evidence of that question even today, said Scott Snyder, the director of the U.S.-Korea policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations, who was also in Seoul for the security-related leadership conference. There are also concerns that China may have encouraged North Korea to take a more gradual approach to denuclearization by promising to ease sanctions no matter the outcome of the summit. Inter-Korean friction Pyongyang has also taken on a harsher tone with Seoul this week, with a high level negotiator calling the South Korean government "ignorant and incompetent," denouncing U.S.-South Korean military drills underway, and threatening to halt all inter-Korean talks. Some South Korean conservatives staged a rally on Friday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to protest President Moons efforts to pursue a peace deal with a North Korea government they say cannot be trusted. They only talked very vaguely about the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. What concerns me the most is the lack of transparency between Kim Jong Un and President Moon, said Byun Hee-jae, a rally organizer with a conservative organization in Seoul called Media Watch. However, the vast majority of South Koreans support Moons persistent diplomatic efforts to facilitate denuclearization talks and improve relations with the North. Switzerlands government has requested a report into the risks and opportunities of launching its own cryptocurrency, a so-called e-franc that would use technology similar to privately launched coins like bitcoin but have backing of the state. The lower house of the Swiss parliament must now decide whether to back the Federal Councils request for a study into the subject, which has been discussed in Sweden. Cryptocurrencies have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and international governing bodies coming to grips with the technologys rapid ascent. The coins use encryption and a blockchain transaction database designed to enable anonymous transactions that do not require centralized processing. Other countries interested Several countries have begun evaluating the viability of introducing their own state-backed digital currency, with Swedens Riksbank saying an e-crown might help counteract issues arising from declining cash use and help make payment systems more robust. But existing digital currencies such as bitcoin have been hampered by extreme volatility, high-profile hacks and doubts about long-term viability. Venezuela has issued a state-backed coin, but major developed economies have so far steered clear. The Bank of International Settlement in March warned central banks to think hard about potential risks and spillovers before issuing their own cryptocurrencies. Swiss bank cautious In Switzerland, if the proposal is approved, a study will be produced by the Swiss finance ministry. No timing has been given on when it would be published should the go-ahead be given. Swiss lawmaker Cedric Wermuth, vice president of the Social Democratic Party, called for the study. In its response Thursday, the Swiss government, or Federal Council, backed the proposal to look into it, although it said there were hurdles. The Federal Council is aware of the major challenges, both legal and monetary, which would be accompanied by the use of an e-franc, it said. It asks that the proposal be adopted to examine the risks and opportunities of an e-franc and to clarify the legal, economic and financial aspects of the e-franc. The Swiss National Bank has so far been cautious on the issue. Private-sector digital currencies were better and less risky than any version that might be offered by a central bank, SNB governor Andrea Maechler said last month. President Donald Trump stepped into a round of tough trade talks with China on Thursday after the White House confirmed a meeting between the U.S. president and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. The two world powers are taking part in a second series of trade negotiations that started Thursday. The initial talks were held in Beijing two weeks ago. Speaking to reporters before his meeting with Liu, Trump repeated his strong dislike for previous deals between Washington and Beijing. "The United States has been ripped off for many, many years by its bad trade deals. I don't blame China; I blame the leadership of this country from the past," Trump told reporters before a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "China has taken out hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the United States, and I explained to President Xi [Jinping] we can't do that anymore," Trump added. The talks are aimed at "rebalancing the United States-China bilateral economic relationship," according to the White House. They are also aimed at avoiding a full-blown trade war after the two countries exchanged tariff threats in March. Despite the tough talks, Trump tweeted over the weekend that he was working with Xi to give Chinese phone company ZTE a way to get back into business. The U.S. slapped sanctions against the Chinese telecommunications company last month for breaking U.S. trade control laws by selling components to Iran and North Korea. The move prompted ZTE to shut down its U.S. operations. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities have long had national security and espionage concerns about ZTE. "ZTE was a company I spoke to with President Xi. He asked me if I could take a look at that, because it was very harmful to them in terms of their jobs and probably other things, and I certainly said I would he asked me to do it, and I would do that. I like him, he likes me, we have a great relationship," Trump said in explaining his tweet to reporters. Trump noted it was his administration that had first put strong clamps on ZTE. "Anything we do with ZTE is just a small component of the overall deal. I can only tell you this: We are going to come out fine with China," Trump said. "When you're losing $500 billion a year on trade, you can't lose the trade war, you've already lost it." Liu, who is Xi's top economic adviser, is taking part in two days of talks with a U.S. trade delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told reporters Wednesday that the administration was conducting "very serious" talks with China, and that Trump was "very hands-on" and "involved in every decision." "We have requested that China change their trading practices, which are unfair and in many ways illegal," Kudlow said. "This is with respect to the issue of theft of technology, forced transfers of technology, high tariffs and non-tariff barriers" that are preventing the United States from making a competitive effort to export goods and services to China, he said. The economic adviser said the administration had given China a "lengthy, detailed list" of what the U.S. wanted, including narrowing the U.S.-China trade deficit, lowering non-tariff barriers and permitting American ownership of its own companies in China. "Right now, the limit is 49 percent and that's one of the causes of the theft and transfer of viable technology," Kudlow said. "When we do these joint ventures, we should have to own 51 percent on to 100 percent. That's a key part of these talks." U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States and North Korea are still making arrangements for a summit next month, despite tough rhetoric by officials on both sides. Trump denied his national security adviser's claim that the U.S. would model a nuclear deal with North Korea after one reached in 2003 with Libya. John Bolton angered North Korean leaders with his tough talk regarding a possible denuclearization deal, and they threatened to cancel the summit. VOA's Zlatica Hoke has more. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to rally opposition to Israel and the United States, calling for a mass rally in Istanbul in support of Palestinians as leaders of the Islamic world gathered for a summit. Addressing a crowd of tens of thousands, Erdogan attacked Israel, the United States and Muslim leaders for the situation facing Palestinians. The Turkish president drew parallels with the battle to liberate Jerusalem with Turkeys World War I victory at Gallipoli against western powers. Victims of the Holocaust are unbelievably causing another holocaust, against another people, Erdogan said attacking Israel, describing it as a tyrannical power. Following Monday's killing of over 50 Palestinians by Israeli security forces, Turkish and Israeli leaders have engaged through social media in a series of increasingly bitter exchanges. Brutal dictator, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted Tuesday. Turkey is the country targeted most by Israel and as a leader, I am the one targeted most by Israel, I am not in the wrong place, Erdogan said in response. This week Ankara asked the Israeli ambassador to leave the country, after recalling the Turkish ambassador in protest at Mondays killings. Full diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel had only been restored in 2016 after years of negotiations following the killing of 10 Turkish activists by Israel security forces Erdogan also attacked the United States over its decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem. The United States does nothing more than create problems, Erdogan said, rejecting Washingtons role as mediator between Israel and Palestine. WATCH: US Embassy Move to Jerusalem Aggravates US-Turkish Tensions Ankara has declared a diplomatic priority to stop other countries relocating their embassies to Jerusalem. The latest attacks come as relations between the NATO allies are already severely strained. Erdogan also targeted Muslim leaders. The Islamic world failed Jerusalem, he said, Muslim leaders are very good at fighting one another but are shy when fighting enemies of Islam. Erdogans attack on Muslim leaders came as representatives from 40 Islamic countries gathered in Istanbul. The emergency summit, called by the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, which Turkey currently leads, discussed steps needed in response to Israel following Mondays killings of Palestinians. Also discussed was the relocation of the United States embassy to Jerusalem. But Ankaras diplomatic efforts are hampered by ongoing divisions with key players in the region. There are deep divisions between Turkey, and Saudi Arabia and Egypt, there is deep distrust towards Ankara because of its support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, political columnist Semih Idiz of Al Monitor website. Addressing an opening meeting of the OIC summit, Turkish foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu chided unnamed Muslim countries for not taking a tougher stance against Israel, a comment widely seen as aimed at Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Friday gathering is widely seen as being more symbolic than offering any coherent strategy against Israel and Washington. But President Erdogans aggressive stance towards Israel and Washington could also have a domestic agenda. Erdogan is seeking re-election in June in what is becoming an increasingly tight race. A key constituent of Erdogans voting base is conservative Muslims, which for the first time, have competitive alternatives in presidential and general elections due to be held on June 24th. The United Nations is forecasting that the global economy will expand by more than 3 percent this year and next year but it warns that increasing risks could trigger "a shock to investment and trade" and a sharp drop to 1.8 percent growth in 2019. The U.N.'s mid-year report on the World Economic Situation and Prospects launched Thursday says growth in the world economy is surpassing expectations, reflecting further economic expansion in developed countries and broadly favorable investment conditions. However, the report said, "downside risks" have increased including "a rise in the probability of trade conflicts between major economies." Dawn Holland, chief of the U.N.'s Global Economic Monitoring Branch, cited the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs in January and proposed new tariffs against China as well as the renegotiation of the U.S. trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, which has left "a void of uncertainty." There are also negotiations between the European Union and the United States partly linked to tariffs on steel, she said, and an increasing number of disputes have been raised with the World Trade Organization over the last six months. The report said other factors also pose risks including uncertainty over monetary policy, increasing debt levels, and greater geopolitical tensions including in the Korean peninsula, Middle East, South China Sea and Ukraine. But the U.N.'s assessment was generally upbeat citing continued economic improvements over the last several months including accelerating wage growth, improved investment prospects, and the short-term impact of the U.S. fiscal stimulus package. "Many commodity-exporting countries will also benefit from the higher level of energy and metal prices," the report said. According to the U.N., world growth is now forecast to reach 3.2 percent in both 2018 and 2019, up from its forecast in December of 3 percent growth this year and 3.1 percent next year. While many countries will experience growth, the report said output is expected to decline in central Africa and southern Africa, the report said. And the forecast for economies in transition including Russia and the world's poorest countries have been revised ``marginally downward'' for 2018. Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development Elliott Harris cautioned, however, that "there is a strong need not to become complacent in response to upward trending headline figures." The report not only highlights the risks to economic growth but "the need to urgently address a number of policy challenges, including threats to the multilateral trading system, high inequality and the renewed rise in carbon emissions," he told a press conference launching the report. And it warned that if trade tensions and barriers were to "spiral over the course of 2018, through widespread retaliations and extensive disruption to global value chains, this could trigger a sharp drop in global investment and trade." The United Nations human rights chief has slammed Israel for the systemic deprivation of Palestinian human rights. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Friday at a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council to discuss "the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories" that 1.9 million people in Gaza are "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death." The special session could establish a commission of inquiry into the violence along the Gaza border that escalated this week, leaving more than 60 people dead and 2,700 injured.Among the dead were women and children - including an 8-month-old girl. The Israeli ambassador to the U.N. human rights council said a commission investigating Gaza violence "won't change the situation on the ground one iota." The protest escalated Monday as the U.S. opened its embassy in Jerusalem.The demonstrators charged fences separating Gaza from Israel, tearing down sections of the wire barrier and throwing rocks. Israeli forces fired into the crowd. Tear gas was lobbed over the border and rained down from drones overhead.Nearly 60 demonstrators were killed on Monday alone. U.N rights chief Zeid said the protesters' "actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force."He said Israel's response to Gaza was "wholly disproportionate." The International Criminal Court, the world's permanent war crimes court expressed "grave concern" earlier this week about the escalating violence in Gaza and said alleged crimes could be investigated. "Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," Zeid said at the human rights council."End the occupation and the violence, and insecurity will largely disappear." In another development, Egypt has announced the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi announced on Twitter that the opening would "alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip." The Rafah crossing is Gaza's main outlet to the outside world, but only has sporadic openings. The U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is sending 150 peacekeepers to Unity state to protect civilians who are being targeted in clashes between the government and rebel troops, the mission said on Thursday. Nearly 1.76 million people have been displaced internally since fighting broke out in 2013 between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and the former vice president he sacked, Riek Machar, the U.N. said. Another 2 million have been displaced in neighboring states. A series of peace deals signed by the parties at the behest of regional groups like the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have been violated, with the latest violence taking place in Unity state, which hosts abandoned oil fields. "What we are witnessing on the ground is the deliberate killing of civilians as well as the sexual violation and abduction of women and children," David Shearer, the head of the U.N. mission, said in a statement. "Our fresh deployment will enable peacekeeping troops to patrol deeper to reach remote villages where the worst atrocities are taking place to create a protective presence and deter further fighting." Dozens have been killed in the area in recent weeks, UNMISS said. Speaking at a meeting of senior police officers Thursday in Juba, Kiir blamed the police force for allowing crime to rise in the capital and other places, and accused police officers of engaging in criminal activity at night. "Shame on you," the president said. "You are the custodians of the law, and if you are seen by the civil population ... [to] turn against them, to kill them and rob whatever they have, then other people can decide to run away." At least 30 villages in the area had been attacked by the warring parties, Shearer said, adding that thousands of civilians were fleeing to Leer from Koch. Those who are displaced were seeking refuge near the U.N. base, with the majority being children, the head of the mission said, demanding that those who are violating laws by attacking civilians should be held to account. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday barred immigration judges from a once-common practice of shelving deportation cases involving some immigrants with deep ties to the United States. The practice known as administrative closure allowed judges to clear low-priority cases off their dockets, effectively letting some immigrants remain indefinitely in the United States despite their lack of legal status. Under President Barack Obama there had been an effort to administratively close certain cases as a way of allowing judges to focus on higher-priority matters and reduce the immigration court backlog. More than 200,000 cases were closed during the last six years of his presidency. The closures were routinely used for people without criminal backgrounds who had lived for many years in the United States, often with U.S. citizen children or spouses. In many cases, the immigrants became eligible for work permits. The administration of President Donald Trump has taken a sharply different tack on immigration, declaring that all those in the country illegally, whether or not they pose a threat to public safety, are subject to deportation. Since immigration courts fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, the attorney general can issue opinions in immigration cases to establish legal precedent for judges across the country and the Board of Immigration Appeals. On Thursday, Sessions issued such an order in a case in which a judge had granted administrative closure for an unaccompanied minor from Guatemala. Before Sessions' ruling, the government or an immigrant could ask a judge to close a case. The attorney general ruled that judges "do not have the general authority to suspend indefinitely immigration proceedings by administrative closure." He said exceptions could be made in some cases, including when an immigrant has certain forms of legal status pending. Sessions had already quietly been instituting the policy even before this announcement. Reuters reported last June that government prosecutors were moving to put cases that had been previously closed back on the court calendar. Sessions acknowledged in the order, however, that recalendaring all cases that had been closed "would likely overwhelm the immigration courts." Immigration attorneys and advocates quickly criticized Sessions' decision. The ruling was intended "to reduce immigration judges to deportation machines," said Chuck Roth of the National Immigrant Justice Center. College doesnt have to be the financial wall it seems to be, especially for LGBT students. With plenty of scholarships, there are many that appeal directly to LGBT students or allies within the community. Here are some of the best, both in state and nationally. National Stonewall Foundation Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship The Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship is a $1,500 to $3,000 scholarship available to LGBT women pursuing any degree from an accredited university. According to the Stonewall Foundations website, scholarships are given out based on academic success and community service, especially related to the LGBT community. Applications are accepted beginning in March 2018. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Point Foundation Scholarship The Point Foundation offers scholarships to LGBT students nationally who are attending an accredited school for their graduate, master's, or undergraduate degrees. According to the foundations website, students must have a proven financial need, a history of leadership experience and be working in some way to better the LGBT community. Applications begin on Nov. 1 and funding is dependent on an applicant's other financial aid. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. League Foundation Scholarships The LEAGUE foundation awards scholarships from $2,500 to $4,000 for LGBT Students. According to the LEAGUE website, applicants must have a GPA of 3.0, be involved with their community and write two personal essays along with having two non-family references. The Foundation has three $4,000 awards and nine $2,500 awards, of which all applicants are considered for. Applications open in January and close in April. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Gamma Mu Foundation Scholarship The Gamma Mu Foundation offers scholarships to gay men in primarily rural or underserved areas. According to the Foundations website, the foundation looks for Students who have overcome issues of discrimination and/or marginalization within their community along with leadership experience and good grades. Applications are accepted from March 1 to 31 and students receive anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500, according to the Foundations website. All applications are for a scholarship of one year, with no repeat funding without another application. For more information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. State Aqua Foundation For Women Scholarship The Aqua Foundation for Womens scholarships are available to all LBTQ people who are attending college in Florida. According to the foundations website, applicants are required to have a 3.0 GPA, attend for the whole academic year and must be pursuing an associate's, bachelors or graduate degree at an accredited college. Students who are selected are required to meet with their mentor monthly and attend LBT leadership seminars in Miami, according to the foundation. Students are also required to complete a minimum of 10 service hours and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Applications to the program are accepted starting in April through their website. For more information, contact Robin Schwartz at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. USF Alumni Association LGBT Scholarship The University of South Florida Alumni Association offers a $1,000 scholarship to students who have a demonstrated financial need and have created a welcoming climate for all students, including those with different sexual orientation, according to the Alumni Associations website. According to the Alumni Association, applications are accepted starting in the fall semester of each academic year through the USF Alumni Association website. All students who apply must be a student at USF. For more information or to apply, contact Latoya Wider at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The 49 Fund The 49 Fund offers 10 scholarships of up to $4,900 to LGBT students in Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Lake, Sumter or Brevard Counties in central Florida. According to the 49 Fund website, Orlando business owner Barry Miller started the fund in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting on June 12, 2016. The $4,900 matches the 49 victims who were killed during the shooting. Students must also show financial need, write an essay on their impact in the local LGBT community, must have at least a 2.5 GPA and must be at least a part-time student (nine credits or more) seeking a degree at an accredited school, according to the funds website. Extra consideration is given to those who are a direct victim or the family of a direct victim in the shooting. Applications are accepted until deadlines set in March of each year. For more information, contact Daisy Franklin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. A. Gordon Rose - Another View Scholarship Nova Southeastern University provides the A Gordon Rose - Another View scholarship to psychology majors at their school whose research involves the self and community acceptance of gay and lesbian individuals. According to the Nova website, all applicants must be in good standing with the school and have research that deals with gay and lesbian acceptance. Two letters of recommendation (including one from an NSU course instructor) and a 500-word essay are also required. Applications are accepted until March 1. Interest in other gay and lesbian research topics will also be considered. For more information, contact Kirk Berner at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The US military's relationship with Iraq's security forces will not be impacted by the election win of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose followers fought US troops in past years, a top general said Friday. General Joe Votel, who heads the US military's Central Command, which oversees forces in the Middle East, told AFP he had confidence in the positive dynamic built up while the Iraqis fought the Islamic State jihadist group for three years. "They are very focused on continuing to provide protection for their people and increasing the capabilities and professionalism of their force, so I think we have a very good relationship. And their military much like our military is very apolitical," Votel said in a phone interview. Sadr's gains have called into question the presence of US forces in Iraq, where more than 5,000 troops are indefinitely deployed to work with Iraqi counterparts and help prevent a resurgence of IS. Votel said he did not want to wade into Iraq's politics, but noted that he supported the electoral process. "As the Iraqi parliament and various parties begin to form their government, we will do everything we can to continue to be the good supporting partner that we are," Votel said. "But this of course is a decision by the people of Iraq, not by me." Sadr and his militia played central roles in the wave of sectarian bloodshed that peaked in 2006-2007, but he eventually froze the militia's activities in a move the US credited with sharply reducing violence. While his family of religious scholars historically has close ties with the Islamic revolutionaries in Iran and he spent years living there, Sadr opposes the heavy influence that Tehran exercises over Iraq. President Donald Trump last week pulled America out of the Iran nuclear deal, prompting uncertainty about how Iran's military might react in the region. Votel said that so far, he had seen no changes, including with Tehran-backed militias in Iraq. "We are certainly playing very close attention to the possible reaction from Iran or any of its proxy elements that might be operating in the area, but we have not yet seen any kind of response," he said. The U.S. has long had the unenviable distinction of holding the world's largest prison population, in part because of tough-on-crime policies enacted in the 1990s. But sentencing reforms passed in recent years appear to have made a dent, leading to declines in the population over the past eight years. A criminal justice reform organization reported Friday that in 2017, the U.S. prison population dropped below 1.5 million for the first time in more than a decade. The decline, according to the Washington-based Vera Institute for Justice, was driven by a sharp decrease in the number of inmates in federal prisons and decreases in several states with large prison populations. Total U.S. prison population dropped to 1,486,000 last year, a decline of nearly 16,000. The number of federal prisoners fell to 183,000, and the number of inmates in state prisons declined to 1.3 million, according to the report. (The overall figure does not include the more than 600,000 defendants held in local, state and federal jails.) The decline extended an eight-year downward trend in U.S. prison population that has been driven by federal and state sentencing reforms enacted over the past decade. But the Vera institute cautioned that it was unclear whether the trend would continue. "Whether criminal justice reform can continue to fuel this sustained decline in the prison population remains to be seen," said Jacob Kang-Brown, senior research associate at Vera. "We must continue to do the hard work, as advocates and agents of change, to ensure that all our communities feel the relief of decarceration." The report came as President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass legislation to help former inmates reintegrate into society and avoid going back to prison, as many do. "We want former inmates to find a path to success so they can support their families and support their communities," Trump said at a White House summit on prison reform attended by two state governors and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, who is spearheading the effort. "Crucial to this effort is helping former prisoners find jobs." "Nobody wins when former prisoners fail to adjust to life outside, or worse, end up back behind bars," Trump said. Saying that 3 in 4 inmates released from prison have difficulty finding jobs, Trump said his prison reform program aims to expand work opportunities and other programs that would allow inmates to "re-enter society with the skills to get a job." White House officials said Trump supports legislation that promotes "evidence-based risk and needs assessments" of prisoners and expands prison work programs, among other initiatives. They did not specify the legislation. The House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on legislation that hews closely to the White House's prison reform agenda. The First Step Act, recently passed by the House Judiciary Committee, calls for "risk and needs assessment" of prisoners and expands recidivism-reduction programs for prisoners. But the legislation is facing growing pressure. A group of influential Democrats in Congress expressed opposition to the bill on Thursday, saying it has "fundamental flaws" and that "meaningful criminal justice reform must include sentencing reform." U.S. officials are pushing back at reports that America's ties with European allies are frayed over the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. "We agree on more than we disagree," said State Department Policy Planning Director Brian Hook during a telephone briefing Friday with reporters. "People are overstating the disagreement between the U.S. and Europe." "We believe that our shared values and commitment to confront the common security challenges will transcend any disagreements over the JCPOA," said Hook, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear accord with major powers. His remarks come after President of the European Council Donald Tusk lashed out at Washington over a trade dispute and the United States pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. When asked about Tusk's tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump hit back, saying the European Union has been "terrible" with the U.S. on trade. "We lost $151 billion last year dealing with the European Union," Trump told reporters Thursday, referring to the U.S. trade deficit with the 28-nation bloc. "So they can call me all sorts of names. And if I were them, I'd call me names also, because it's not going to happen any longer." Iran deal fallout Intense diplomacy followed Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran deal, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo making phone calls to his counterparts in Britain, France and Germany. U.S. officials said those conversations were focused on agreeing to a new "security architecture" for Iran. At the same time, the European Commission is working to prohibit European companies from adhering to U.S. sanctions against Iran, a move to help keep the Iran nuclear agreement intact and to defend European corporate interests. "We have the duty to protect European companies," Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said following a meeting of European Union leaders Thursday in Sofia, Bulgaria. "We now need to act and this is why we are launching the process." Juncker said the commission will begin the process of activating a so-called blocking statute, which bans EU companies from observing the sanctions and any court rulings that enforce U.S. penalties. The way forward On Monday, Pompeo will deliver his first major foreign policy remarks on Iran and the path forward after the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. U.S. officials say Washington seeks a diplomatic outcome with Iran that addresses "the totality of Iran's threats," including its nuclear programs and "destabilizing" activities. "This involves a range of things around its [Iran's] nuclear program missiles, proliferating missiles, and missile technology, its support for terrorists, and its aggressive and violent activities that fuel civil wars in Syria and Yemen," Hook said Friday. "We see this, the coming months, as an opportunity to expand our efforts and to work with a lot of countries who share the same concerns about nonproliferation, about terrorism, about stoking civil wars around the region, and so we're very, very hopeful about the diplomacy ahead," he added. The United States is worried about the safety of U.S. citizens held in Venezuela after a riot at a prison there on Wednesday and has appealed again for the release of Mormon missionary Joshua Holt, the State Department said on Thursday. We continue to have serious concerns about the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens who are being held there, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. The Venezuelan government is responsible for the safety of all detainees in its prison system, including U.S. citizens in detention. She said a senior State Department official had spoken to a top Venezuelan diplomat to seek the release of Holt on humanitarian grounds. Holt had posted information on Facebook about the riots. U.S. officials and politicians say they are increasingly frustrated and looking for ways to fight back against what they see as China's use of its market power to impose "politically correct" behavior on American companies. Airlines, retailers and hoteliers all have been pressured to alter products and promotions that offended Beijing. "These actions are outrageous and disturbing," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs Alex Wong told American lawmakers Tuesday. "China is very much well aware that it's wading through treacherous waters here. And they understand that if they continue along this path, continue to employ these tactics, that will negatively affect the U.S.-China relationship and that there will be consequences," said Wong during a hearing at Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy. "The consequences are under review," Wong added. His remarks come after American clothing retailer Gap apologized and recalled the sale in the Chinese market of its T-shirts showing a map that's seen by Beijing as politically incorrect. The T-shirts were also destroyed. A Chinese student earlier this week posted pictures of the T-shirt, which did not include Taiwan, parts of Tibet and islands in the South China Sea that Beijing claims are Chinese territories. Gap quickly apologized, citing "unintentional error." Photos circulated on Chinese social media network Weibo were said to be have been taken at an outlet store in Canada. A Chinese government spokesperson took note of Gap's apology and the American company's pledge to respect "China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and is conducting an internal inspection." "We have taken note of this statement. We will continue to listen to its [Gap's] words, and watch the actions," said Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Lu Kang on Tuesday. But U.S. officials and lawmakers are hitting back. "American companies are being bullied," said Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio during Tuesday's Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing. Rubio said U.S. airlines "are being threatened by China, that if their website doesn't say Taiwan [is part of] China, they're going to lose their routes and have fines and penalties." On April 25, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration sent a letter to 36 foreign air carriers, including a number of American carriers, demanding the carriers remove references on their websites or in other material that suggests Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are independent territories from China. And in January, Beijing requested U.S. hotel giant Marriott International change the way it referred to Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau to be in line with Beijing's views. The request came after a Marriott employee "liked" a tweet by Friends of Tibet that praised Marriott for "listing #Tibet as a country along with #HongKong and #Taiwan" in an online customer questionnaire. The employee was fired and Marriott apologized to Beijing. Observers said market access to the growing population of affluent Chinese consumers leads to American companies' compliance. "It's totally based on market strategy or, more precisely, fear of being shut out of the China market," Brooking Institution's Senior Fellow Richard Bush told VOA on Thursday. U.S. officials said they have raised this issue privately with their Chinese counterparts, while also condemning Beijing's actions in public. U.S. officials have also talked with companies who have been involved in the incidents. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its territory, and it has never renounced the use of military force to bring the island under Beijing's control. The U.S. broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979 and has "acknowledged" Beijing's position, while insisting on a "peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences." Vendors leader Stan Zvorwadza says indications are that this year's general elections in Zimbabwe will be more credible than previous elections. Zvorwadza, who leads the National Vendors Union, told an election symposium in Harare that this years election is expected to be more transparent than previous elections when the country was ruled by former president Robert Mugabe. The vendors leader blamed opposition parties for the lack of electoral reforms, saying they are always buys misleading locals on state programs. Zvorwadza, who has in the past been beaten up severely by the government for demanding electoral reforms and good governance, claimed that opposition parties are unfairly calling for electoral reforms when the country is about to conduct crucial general elections. They should have started campaigning soon after the 2013 general elections. Its now impossible to have electoral reforms with just two months before the forthcoming general elections. Zvorwadza said some opposition leaders pressed their followers to turn down state land under the countrys agrarian reforms while they were getting pieces of land from the government. They are hypocrites. Opposition party leaders tell people to avoid certain state programs yet they dine with ruling party leaders at night. This is not right. His remarks attracted a stern rebuke from National Constitutional Party leader, Lovemore Madhuku, who is also a university professor. Madhuku said Zvorwadza was not telling the truth as nothing has changed since the 2013 general elections. Some opposition parties like the Movement for Democratic Change now led by Nelson Chamisa has been boycotting national elections for some time, demanding the leveling of the electoral field as a precondition for participating in any polls. The MDC-T lost to Zanu PF in the 2013 general elections, described by the opposition as a shame following claims of rigging by the Electoral Commission in favor of the ruling party. The Zanu PF government has dismissed such claims as wishful thinking. In a related development, Fortune Chasi told reporters that the opposition in Zimbabwe is no longer in a position to block the Zimbabwe Electoral Amendment Bill, which is expected to be passed into law by President Mnangagwa. Chasi said local people can now only express their discontentment over the piece of legislation through their Members of Parliament or writing letters of protest to parliament and relevant ministries. The law does not contain some provisions suggested by the opposition, which wanted the Zimbabwe Electoral Amendment Bill to incorporate a provision compelling the government and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to allow all political parties to monitor the printing of ballot papers. The Bill was passed by Senate on Wednesday. One on One with Joe Korkowski, as heard Saturdays on KXRA-1490AM (@7:40am) and KXRA-92.3FM (@8:00am), as well as each Sunday morning on KXRZ Z99.3fm (@10:15am). The interview is also re-broadcast on Monday mornings on KX92 at 10:00am and on Z99 at 9:10am. Stratovolcano 3,763 m / 12,346 ftGuatemala, 14.47N / -90.88W(4 out of 5)1581, 1585, 1586, 1587, 1614, 1617, 1620, 1623, 1629, 1679(?), 1685, 1686, 1689(?), 1699, 1702, 1705, 1706, 1709(?), 1710,1717,1730, 1732, 1737, 1751(?), 1765(?), 1773(?), 1799, 1826, 1829, 1850(?), 1852(?), 1855, 1856, 1857, 1860, 1861(?), 1867(?), 1880, 1896, 1932, 1944, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1999, 2002 - ongoingDominantly explosive, construction of lava domes and extrusion of viscous lava flows. In near constant activity, at least during the past centuries.(15-day study trip and expedition to Guatemala's volcanoes)(8-day volcano tour to Pacaya and Fuego, Guatemala) If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: Browse quickly through the latest satellite imagery from volcanoes all over the world in order to spot ash clouds and hot spots. Ambrym (Vanuatu) is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Its vast caldera has an amazing moonscape and several active vents that contain boiling lava lakes, most famous Marum and Benbow. Ethiopia is a very diverse and beautiful country. Thanks to our numerous expeditions to Erta Ale and Dallol and beyond, we have an extensive collection of images showing the volcano's lava lake, the desert, the colorful hot springs of Dallol, the vast salt lakes, camel caravans and more. A tour entirely dedicated to Etna, the most active volcano in Europe. Spend 6 full days on Etna and get good chances to see eruptive activity. Check which volcanoes are currently active (erupting). Our daily updated maps give a quick overview. Support us - Help us upgrade our services! Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. Improved multilanguage support Tsunami alerts Faster responsiveness Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards Detailed quake stats Additional seismic data sources Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: Android | IOS to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world.We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team.If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please PayPal or Online credit card payment )., these features have been added recently: Stratovolcano 3562 m (11,686 ft)Ecuador, -0.08S / -77.66W(4 out of 5)1541, 1590, 1691, 1748, 1797, 1802, 1843, 1843, 1844, 1856, 1871, 1894, 1898-1906, 1912, 1926, 1929, 1936, 1944, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1972, 1973-74, 1976, 2002 (large eruption), 2004 (Nov) - 2005 (Jan), 2005 (June) - 2006 (March), 2008 (July) - ongoingExplosive and effusive.(5 days expedition to Ecuador to observe volcanic activity from close) If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: Hundreds of photos from active Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait, Indonesia. Most of them taken during our various expeditions to this fascinating volcano. A total solar eclipse will occur on 14 Dec 2020 and pass over southern Chile and Argentina. Chile's most active volcano Villarrica is located exactly on the center line where the eclipse will be best to observe.We offer you the unique chance to combine the eclipse with a tour to one the world's most beautiful volcanic areas - the Lake District in Chile. Tropical rainforest, coconut palm beaches, primitive culture and moon-like landscapes, and some of the. Join us on our Kamchatka in Russia's far east is one of world's remotest regions and has an almost unparalleled density of active volcanoes. Look at photos taken during our expeditions from this wonderful corner of the world! Support us - Help us upgrade our services! Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. Improved multilanguage support Tsunami alerts Faster responsiveness Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards Detailed quake stats Additional seismic data sources Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: Android | IOS to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world.We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team.If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please PayPal or Online credit card payment )., these features have been added recently: stratovolcano 1117 m / 3,665 ftKyushu, Japan, 31.59N / 130.66E(3 out of 5)1955-ongoing, 1954(?), 1950, 1948, 1946, 1942, 1941, 1940, 1939, 1938, 1935, 1914-15, 1899(?), 1860, 1799, 1797, 1794, 1792, 1791, 1790, 1785, 1783, 1782, 1779-81, 1756, 1749, 1742, 1706, 1678, 1670(?), 1642, 1478, 1471-76, 1468, 778, 766, 764, 716-18, 712(?), 708Explosive(5-day volcano expedition to observe Sakurajima volcano's activity from close) If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: A growing list of photo galleries taking during our expeditions in this fantastic part of the world, full of volcanoes, unspoiled nature and colors. Read what our clients have said about us and our tours! Two ocean plates move apart from each other. Hot upwelling mantle material forms magmas that continuously produce new oceanic crust. An ocean widens. One of the most exciting volcano travel destinations in the world! On our adventurous expeditions, you will get close to active lava lakes on Ambrym Island and the spectacular fireworks of Yasur volcano on Tanna Island. In mid Feb 2021, a strong seismic crisis started on the Reykjanes peninsula, caused by a magmatic intrusion that could lead up to a new volcanic eruption. Follow the latest developments! Support us - Help us upgrade our services! Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. Improved multilanguage support Tsunami alerts Faster responsiveness Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards Detailed quake stats Additional seismic data sources Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: Android | IOS to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world.We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team.If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please PayPal or Online credit card payment )., these features have been added recently: Last week, Gilbert Montalvo from the Broward Log Cabin Republicans went to the media to report on a highly inappropriate Facebook comment made by Captain Ira Goldberg. Goldberg heads up the community outreach team for the Broward Sheriffs Office where he and his staff must work hard if they genuinely want to engage residents from all communities of people and walks of life to gain trust in one of the largest fully accredited Sheriff's offices in the United States at a time when we continually hear of stories around the nation when law enforcement has violated the rights and trust of minority communities. Goldberg wrote: Gilbert, its truly sad that you have to hire people to come help you protest. I hope you offered them money instead of sexual favors. Those men deserve better. Montalvo publicly self identifies as a Christian, conservative, Republican, and gay man. While the Facebook comment does contain an element of homophobia, I find the comment more inappropriate than homophobic, especially given Goldbergs position. And to make matters worse, Goldberg doubled down on his remark and never attempted to apologize to acknowledge his failing. In cases such as these, I do believe that counseling and education can help someone, but given Goldbergs job at BSO, he should be immediately reassigned and whatever other corrective action the agency takes against him is up to the Broward Sheriffs Office. But thats where I part ways with Montalvo. For more than a decade, Ive been an incredibly vocal activist to call out bigotry, homophobia, and transphobia when I see it oppress others. Ive gone against the popular grain and held the feet to the fire for Democrats, Republicans, party leaders, candidates, elected, and public officials. As for the current BSO administration, as a Democratic, Ive had my share of moments to push for policy change that werent always pleasant. While I agree Goldberg crossed the line, I can't not ignore Montalvo's shameless exploitation and hypocrisy at a time when we have a White House Administration enabling extremists who pose as Christians and are working to inflict tremendous harm on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. We have a Republican Governor in Florida who still ignores the need for non-discrimination protections against LGBT people in Florida, and he cant even begin to articulate the impact of the massacre at Pulse nightclub had on Floridas LGBT community. Many of the advancements to help the lives of LGBT people are at risk and in the hands of a political party which you identify and support, and I ask Montalvo, where is your outrage? I know what it was like to be a gay Republican, I was one many years back in New Jersey when I served as a legislative aide to a state senator. I know first-hand of the alienation prompted by homophobia when I was diagnosed as HIV-positive and my name quickly disappeared from the invite lists to social events organized by the senators wife. Gilbert, how can you ignore the homophobia that rages among Republican leadership yet only selectively speak out when you are working on GOP efforts to remove and unseat a sheriff who is a Democrat. Captain Goldberg was wrong in his actions, but you lack integrity in how you are exploiting the matter only for political gain while you support the election of anti-LGBT politicians looking to harm LGBT people far worse. If Montalvo is truly outraged, I suggest he go to Puerto Rico to get a roll of paper towels his President Trump tossed to the people of Puerto Rico following the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Montalvos outrage is void of integrity he doth protest too much, methinks. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Coffee Design is proudly sponsored by Savor Brands , your boost in coffeedence through maximizing designs in packaging, sustainability and tech. About 7,000 people call Cazenovia, New York home including Sam Bender and Kelsey Ball, founders of Peaks Coffee Company. Peaks Coffee Co. opened in the Summer of 2015 and last October debuted a fresh new look for their coffee offerings. They worked with designer Lottie Caiella to give the branding an Upstate New York camp vibe. We talked to Sam Bender to learn more. Tell us a bit about Peaks Coffee Co. Our company was founded in July 2015 between myself (Sam Bender) and Kelsey Ball (my now wife as of this past fall). Both Kelsey and I suffer from anxiety and depression. It was so challenging for Kelsey in her senior year of high school, that she had to be placed on homebound learning. One day when her mental health was at an all-time low, her dad told her a phrase wed both come to lean on; that life is about enjoying the peaks and enduring the valleys. Having been shaped by both our peaks and valleys, our goal of this company began as a desire to create a place where people of any and all backgrounds can enjoy a great cup of coffee with a friend. We wanted to fill a hole in the market with roasting as well. Over the past few years we have started working with a roasting consultant, and establishing partner producers in Colombia through Campesino Specialty Coffee. Our goal is to source seasonally and roast fresh. When did the coffee package design debut? We spent roughly a year (from concept to execution) working towards our rebranding. We launched our rebrand on our second birthday, October 3rd, 2017. Who designed the package? Our rebrand was done by our good friend and self-taught graphic designer, Lottie Caiella (@thecaiellas). She is based out of Upstate herself and in spending time in both Washington state as well as LA, she is as equally passionate about delicious coffee as we are. Shes been known to infuse most of her designs with a classic Upstate NY feel; pine trees and the like, and as our passions have always been in alignment she was a logical choice to help us translate our vision for the rebrand into something truly us. What coffee information do you share on the package? You can find the basics (our logo and information specific to each coffee) as well as our standard brew recipe and our mantra across each box (with no shortage of pine trees too, of course). We do our best to customize our labels to match each coffees vibe (color-wise), and they display the tasting notes, origin, producer, process, varietal, and altitude of each coffee. To keep things fun, we continued our branding on the inside of the box which is a sweet little surprise when folks crack the box open after theyve taken it home. What's the motivation behind that? By nature (excuse the pun) we are a product of Upstate, NY therefore we inherently have a somewhat camp-y vibe. However, we are still working every day to advocate for our product and industry in this part of the country as a legitimate product. When we rebranded, we wanted our product to evoke our modern camp vibes while representing quality and care. What are some of the improvements made in the packaging? When we started out, we were a tiny roasting company. This meant we were hand stamping all of our bags and could afford to do so. We used brown Biotre bags, stamped, and printed our labels in house. We were small enough to do a few packages and distribute them around town. Our old packaging was relatively fragile and did a poor job communicating who we are as a company or perhaps more importantly, what sort of flavors and experiences lied inside. Not only did we overhaul the visual components, but we wanted our new package to withstand being tossed into your backpack for a drive up to Maine. As we transitioned into becoming primarily a wholesale business, we needed to streamline our production. We now use custom professionally printed boxes and labels. We wanted to create a product for consumer and business alike that when they looked at a package from Peaks, they knew what our aesthetic and mission was right away without having to be in our shop. Why are aesthetics in coffee packaging so important? Since prioritizing communicating our brand via our packaging, weve seen across the board an overwhelmingly positive response from customers both in our shop as well as at stockists businesses. We always felt like aesthetics were important to us, but have truly learned a great deal in what that actually looks like in this year since rebranding. If we neglect putting as much care into the visual representation of our product as we do in actually sourcing and roasting amazing coffee, weve failed to do a complete job. Where is the box manufactured? The box is currently printed by The Mid-York Press in Sherburne, NY. All of the board comes from GP Mills in Baton Rouge. For package nerds, what type of package is it? The boxes are on .018 SBS (Solid Bleached Sulphate). They are PEFC, SFI, FSC certified. These cartons were coated with a Matte Coating which provided the flat finish and the textured surface. The carton was printed on our Xerox Igen 150 using Matte Dry Ink which is FDA approved for consumable goods. Is the package recyclable/compostable? The packaging is 100% recyclable. Where is it currently available? Our packaging is currently available at our retail location in Cazenovia and around the Syracuse region with our partners. Soleil Cafe (@soleil_cafe) and Flour and Salt Bakery (@flourandsalt) are two well known retailers in the local area. We also work with multi-roasters out of state and they will pick up some cases to sell. You can also buy online at www.peakscoffeeco.com. Location: Cazenovia, NY Country: United States Design Release: October, 2017 Designer: Company: Peaks Coffee Co.Location: Cazenovia, NYCountry: United StatesDesign Release: October, 2017Designer: Lottie Caiella Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. Tim Bojarski, the immediate past president of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) and now the chairman of the board, the organizations webmaster, and a publicist for Batavia Downs (NY) and Plainridge Park (MA), has been named to a six-year term on USHWAs Hall Of Fame Screening Committee, it has been announced by Shawn Wiles, current president of USHWA, the largest organization devoted to standardbred communicators. Bojarski, of Akron NY, has a background in harness horse ownership and training, and has driven in qualifying races. He has been a member of USHWA for 17 years, 11 of them as a Director of the Association. Voted in as national second vice-president in 2012, he progressed up the chairs to become the organizations president from February 2016 to February 2018, and per the USHWA bylaws will serve as the Chairman of the Board until the 2020 national meetings. Tim is familiar with the procedures of the Screening Committee, as the president of USHWA is an ex officio voting member of all committees, so he has attended the groups last two sets of screening sessions. Bojarski works with his hometown track, Batavia Downs, as the publicist during their racing season, and since has linked with Plainridge Park near Boston and the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts. He is a regular columnist for Hoof Beats magazine, the acclaimed publication of the United States Trotting Association (USTA). Tim is also kept busy updating the USHWA website, bringing the latest of information about the organization, its activities, and major racing news to all visitors to www.ushwa.net. And in case that doesnt fill all his time, Bojarski also serves as the president and secretary of the Upstate New York chapter of USHWA. Tim brings with him a wide range of knowledge of harness racing and its vast and glorious history, said USHWA president Wiles upon making the appointment. As past President of USHWA he is familiar with the inner workings of this committee. He will be a welcome addition to an already-strong slate of members on this prestigious committee. Bojarski will begin his new term, which expires after the 2023 meeting, with the gathering of the Screening Committee during Hall of Fame weekend at the Hall / Harness Racing Museum in Goshen NY, that weekend culminating with the induction of the newest Hall of Famers at a dinner on Sunday, July 1. (USHWA) Running Aces Casino and Racetrack is set to kick off its 11th season of live harness racing this weekend, with opening night on Saturday (May 19). First race post time is 6:00 p.m., with live music after the races. The 2018 season at Running Aces will follow its traditional three-night schedule of Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday evenings with the Tuesday Dollar Night programs getting underway at 7:00 p.m. and the weekend cards starting at 6:00 p.m. A familiar face among the driving colony at Running Aces is Minnesota native Lemoyne "Mooney" Svendsen, who has participated at tracks all across North America. Svendsen has returned home each of the last 10 summers to compete at Running Aces and is thrilled to be able to do so. "As soon as I heard they were getting a track in Minnesota, I couldn't wait to get there," Svendsen told Minnesota's Star Tribune. "My whole life, I knew what I wanted to do. But when I was young, I had to leave (Minnesota), because there was no racing. "I was so glad to get to come back home and race. Horses have kept my family so tight over the years, and they still do." Running Aces offers fun for the whole family, with trout pond fishing, family nights, live music, great food and beverage options and plenty of promotions and giveaways. The full schedule of events is available on the Running Aces website. The 2018 racing season will be highlighted by the $50,000 Dan Patch Free-For-All Pace on July 22, and the $360,000 (est.) Night of Champions on September 15. Other notable races will include the $15,000 Finnegan's Feature Trot and $15,000 Finnegan's Feature Pace both held on Father's Day weekend. The July 15 card will feature the $15,000 Dan Patch Preview Pace. New for 2018 at Running Aces is a state-of-the-art infield video board, which will enhance the fan experience and provide easier viewing of the racing action, replays, prices and will-pay information. Also new for 2018, Running Aces introduces the 50-cent late Daily Double on the last two races of the night. All of the very popular multi-race pools are back as well, featuring the 20-cent Jackpot Pick-5, plus multiple pick-3 wagers each night, and early and late 50-cent Pick-4 wagering. The 50-cent late Pick-4 wager on Sunday and Tuesday will feature a $5,000 Guaranteed Pool which is sponsored by Running Aces, the USTA's Strategic Wagering program, and MHRI. The very popular 50-cent Hi-5 wager is back as well, and will be offered on each of the last two races every night. Also new for 2018, each week Running Aces will offer Free Tuesday past-performance program available for download from the Running Aces website as well as the track's Facebook page. (with files from Running Aces) Second Annual Mother of the Fleet, U.S. Navy, Commemoration Dinner Honoring Verna Hall Linzey SAN DIEGO, May 18, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- The 2nd Annual Mother of the Fleet, United States Navy, Commemoration Dinner was hosted at the Airman-Marine Memorial Chapel Fellowship Hall, MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California. Verna Hall Linzey (May 17, 1919 -- Veterans' Day 2016), of Coffeyville, Kansas, was the only woman given the title years ago. Her activities included building the largest Sunday School program in the U.S. Navy at Naval Air Station Moffett Field from 1968 to 1970. Photo: Admiral Fox Johnson, USN (Ret.), giving the keynote address for the 2nd Annual Commemoration Dinner for Verna Linzey, Mother of the Fleet, United States Navy, credit George Strother. She was a crusade evangelist, reaching up to 80,000 in attendance, which describes her crusade in Haiti in 2013. She was the keynote speaker for the 2014 Pastors' Leadership Conference in Singapore, and has spoken for Regent University, various mega churches and conferences around the world, including the Heritage Foundation and television venues. She has hosted her own television and radio programs. She served on the translation committee for the Modern English Version Bible, which is in bookstores across North America and the United Kingdom. She was a movie actress, starring in 'Iniquity.' Also, she wrote the famous hymn "Oh Blessed Jesus." The commemoration dinner was kicked off by the Command Chaplain, Commander Don Biadog, CHC, USN, who made the commemoration an official community military event at MCAS Miramar. Chaplain Biadog delivered the welcoming remarks, invocation, prayer for the dinner, and the benediction. Roger Ferm, an accomplished soloist and musician, and who often serves as the liturgist for Sunday morning Protestant Divine Worship services at the chapel, led the audience in singing one of Verna's favorite hymns, 'Amazing Grace.' And he himself sang a beautiful solo. Verna Linzey's biography was read by the State President of the California Military Officers Association, Lt. Col. David C. Yorck, USMC-Ret., who also introduced the keynote speaker, Admiral Fox Johnson, USN (Ret.). Admiral Johnson gave an emotional speech in which he recounted the story of Verna Linzey and her ministry, her work in building the largest Sunday School program in the U.S. Navy, and how Verna met Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., CHC, USN (Ret.), when he was a sailor on the USS Yorktown before the epic Battle of Midway. Stan Linzey was a survivor on the Yorktown in this most decisive naval battle in all of world history. Stan later became a chaplain. Stan was one of the Protestant chaplains at NAS Moffett Field when Verna worked with the Sunday School program from 1968 to 1970. In 1973, Stan and Verna returned to NAS Moffett Field for his last tour of duty before retiring as a Captain. He was the senior chaplain during his second tour there. Admiral Johnson received a standing ovation for his moving tribute to Verna Linzey, while recounting Captain Linzey's accomplishments and status as a World War 2 hero. Following the keynote address, Chaplain (MAJOR) Jim Linzey, U.S. Army (Ret.), son of Navy Captain Stan Linzey and Verna Linzey, and manager of Verna's ministry, showed the documentary of Verna's worldwide crusades. Verna's well known 'Seven Principles of Spiritual Leadership' are as follows: 1. Seek Knowledge and Self Improvement 2. Develop Moral Biblical Character 3. Relate Like a Leader 4. Care About the Well Being of Others 5. Communicate Like a Leader 6. Employee People's Abilities and Gifts 7. Build Up Your Team--Work in Unity The meal of Italian Herbed Chicken was catered by Brothers' Signature Catering & Events, followed by a massive carrot cake with the Navy logo on it, accompanied with the words, "Verna Linzey, Mother of the Fleet, U.S. Navy." The commemoration dinner took place on what would have been Verna's 99th birthday. She has left a very remarkable legacy for us to appreciate and guard, and which inspires us to succeed in life. The commemoration is an annual event. An indigenous group has launched a carbon fund that will support social and cultural causes, calling it a "boutique restaurant" alternative to the governments cheaper "McDonalds" offsets. The Reducing Carbon Building Communities fund (RCBC), backed by the Aboriginal Carbon Fund, has been established to build connections between groups looking to become carbon neutral or offset their carbon output while also providing broader social benefits. Companies buy carbon credits to act as offsets to reduce their comparative carbon emissions levels. Aboriginal Carbon Fund general manager Rowan Foley said the creation of the private carbon credit trading fund gave the market an option other than standard offsets. It would allow companies buying Australian carbon credit units to make an impact beyond simply cutting their carbon emission levels. "Its as though the government is McDonald's, theyve got a lot of burgers for cheap, whereas were like a boutique restaurant where it may cost more but youre getting better quality," Mr Foley said. Measurements from a dozen monitors around the world suggest the emissions are coming from somewhere around China, Mongolia and the Koreas, according to the study. The chemical can be a byproduct in other chemical manufacturing, but it is supposed to be captured and recycled. Zaelke said he was surprised by the findings, not just because the chemical has long been banned, but also because alternatives already exist, making it hard to imagine what the market for CFC-11 today would be. The research was led by researchers with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with help from scientists in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Their results were published in the journal Nature. There is a small chance that there is a more innocent explanation for the rise in CFC-11 emissions, the scientist say. They considered a range of alternative explanations for the growth, such as a change in atmospheric patterns that gradually remove CFC gases in the stratosphere, an increase in the rate of demolition of buildings containing old residues of CFC-11, or accidental production. But they concluded these sources could not explain the increase, which they calculated at about 13 billion grams per year in recent years. Rather, the evidence "strongly suggests" a new source of emissions, the scientists wrote. "These considerations suggest that the increased CFC-11 emissions arise from new production not reported to UNEP's Ozone Secretariat, which is inconsistent with the agreed phase-out of CFC production in the Montreal Protocol by 2010," the researchers wrote. CFC-11, used primarily for foams and in refrigerators, can lasts up to 50 years in the atmosphere once it's released. It is only destroyed in the stratosphere, some 14 to 29 kilometres above the planet's surface, where the resulting chlorine molecules engage in a string of ozone-destroying chemical reactions. That loss of ozone, in turn, weakens our protection from UV radiation at the Earth's surface. The chemical is also a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. The paper's findings are "environmentally and politically quite serious," said Robert Watson, the former NASA scientist who organised bracing flights high into the Antarctic stratosphere to study ozone depletion in the 1980s, in an emailed statement. "It is not clear why any country would want to start to produce, and inadvertently release, CFC-11, when cost effective substitutes have been available for a long while," Watson continued. Loading "It is therefore imperative that this finding be discussed at the next ministerial meeting of governments given recovery of the ozone layer is dependent on all countries complying with the Montreal Protocol (and its adjustments and amendments) with emissions globally dropping to zero." Watson suggested that aircraft flights might be necessary to better identify the source of the emissions. Keith Weller, a spokesman for the United Nations Environment Program, which administers the Montreal Protocol, said the findings will have to be verified by the scientific panel to the protocol, and then would be put before the treaty's member countries. "If these emissions continue unabated, they have the potential to slow down the recovery of the ozone layer," Weller said in a statement. "It is therefore, critical that we take stock of this science, identify the causes of these emissions and take necessary action." Unreported production of CFC-11 outside of certain specific carve-out purposes in the treaty would be a "violation of international law," Weller confirmed, though he said that the protocol is "non-punitive" and the remedy would probably involve a negotiation with the offending party, or country. But Zaelke thought the finding could promote tougher action. "This treaty cannot afford not to follow its tradition and keep its compliance record," he said. "They're going to find the culprits. This insults everybody who's worked on this for the last 30 years. That's a tough group of people." A woman who drove a knife through the skull of a pet cat was sentenced on Thursday for the "particularly gruesome" crime. Ashley Dwyer-Talereck came to the attention of police when they were called to help evict her from a Conder home on August 23 last year. When officers arrived they found knives and replica guns in 22-year-old Dwyer-Talereck's room. While at the property, residents alleged to police the woman had killed a cat. The woman was arrested and subsequently spent more than 40 days in custody. A deal between Qantas and the state government will see flights from Perth to Broome cost less than $200, a saving of more than $200 for a return trip. The special weekend fares will be available at $199 one-way during high season and $179 during low season in a one-year trial the government hopes will increase visitors to the holiday town. New deal to boost visitors to Broome. Credit:James Davies. Qantas will offer the discounted weekend fares on its A320 aircraft on the Perth-Broome route operating once a day, from Friday through to Sunday. The cheaper tickets will be made possible by using a larger aircraft on the route, taking advantage of spare flying time on weekends and support from the WA government. Rio Tinto has overcome another hurdle in the push to automate its 1700 kilometre Pilbara train network after being granted a world-first approval by the national regulator. The resources giants trains have completed more than three million kilometres in autonomous mode since 2017, but there has been a driver on board the majority of journeys monitoring operations. Rio Tinto's Pilbara trains will soon be automated. Credit:Rio Tinto The company completed the worlds first ever fully autonomous heavy haul rail journey in October 2017 from Wombat Junction to Paraburdoo. The journey was closely watched by the office of the national rail safety regulator who has now granted approval to Rio Tinto to operate its heavy haul long distance iron ore trains completely autonomously another world first. The Prime Minister's department has refused to release emails relating to the public service commissioner John Lloyd and a right-wing think tank, saying they could prejudice an investigation into a possible breach of the law. Mr Lloyd has previously rejected suggestions he gave special access and research to the Institute of Public Affairs after Labor senators last year raised an email he sent to a member of the group with an attachment showing what he described as "generous" provisions in public service enterprise agreements. A freedom of information request sought emails held by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson mentioning Mr Lloyd and the IPA, and dated from October 23, after senators referred to the email in a Senate estimates hearing. Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd has faced questions over his links to a right-wing think tank. Credit:AAP The department responded to the request last month by refusing to release two emails in Dr Parkinson's inbox, dated December 20 and December 22. On arrival in Middle Eastern ports, sheep that survived the gruelling trip will be sent to feedlots, where they may remain in scorching heat for weeks. Then, the toughest survivors are slaughtered, their throats cut while they are fully conscious. There is no pre-slaughter stunning in Middle Eastern abattoirs, except for Jordan. Meanwhile, modern airplanes carrying chilled lamb and mutton in their holds fly overhead, reaching Middle Eastern ports less than half a day after taking off from Perth. Loading The meat they carry has also come from sheep raised on WA farms. Some came from the same farm as their unfortunate flock mates on the ships. They were sold to local meat processors and slaughtered to Australian standards, meaning they were stunned and died while unconscious. Their meat is chilled or frozen and trucked to distribution centres, loaded into the holds of passenger planes bound for Middle Eastern destinations. Ten hours later, the chilled and frozen top-quality WA product is unloaded and on the way to butchers and supermarkets. More than 20 tonnes of chilled lamb and mutton is flown out of Perth daily in the holds of airlines. More is sent via sea. Meat exporters say the demand is huge. While those who have vested interests, or are unwilling to change, put forward spurious reasons for continuing with it, a more humane, efficient and sustainable industry is growing rapidly, largely behind the scenes. Yet, the federal governments review recommendations are little more than measures to protect the industry, but they wont fool the Australian public into thinking something is actually being done to improve animal welfare. On April 10, the federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud announced the review of the conditions around live sheep exports in the northern summer after saying he was shocked and gutted by vision of sheep dying on the Awassi Express last year. But now, as the northern summer cranks up, all the report can come up with is for sheep to be given 11-39 per cent more space - and thats only during the hottest and highest-risk times of the year. This completely ignores the most up-to-date animal welfare science and is not enough to reduce the risk of the catastrophic conditions we have all seen on the Awassi Express. While the federal governments review goes weak at the knees in the face of powerful (but minority-vested) interests, the state government says it is still investigating if it can use its powers under local animal welfare laws to regulate the summer live export trade. The political arguments continue and animals continue to suffer. This has to stop. The RSPCA has called for a three-step phase out of live sheep exports. First, we want to see an immediate halt to exports between May and October, when our sheep are being sent into dangerous climatic conditions. Growing support: A protester outside the offices of Emanuel Exports in Perth. Credit:AAP Secondly, we want to see stocking densities halved on ships between November and April. This will enable sheep to lie down and to reach food and water. The final step is a phase-out of all live sheep exports, including adjustment packages and support for farmers to move into the lucrative and sustainable chilled and frozen trade. It is achievable. Capacity at WA abattoirs can be increased to take the sheep now destined for the live trade. Meat processors have told the state government they can process and sell up to 300,000 extra sheep if live exports were stopped in July and August. Trade deals between Middle Eastern countries and the state or federal governments could include increased air freight capacity via specially consigned aircraft or freight ships. The live sheep market is already in terminal decline, with the number of sheep exported falling from nearly 7 million annually in 2000 to just under 2 million a year now. Meanwhile, the trade in chilled and frozen lamb and mutton has climbed to nearly three times the value of live exports. And it will climb even more once the abattoir capacity and logistics are addressed. The argument put forward by industry is that we have to continue with the live trade to stop other countries taking it away. But the Australian public is wiser now. Is animal cruelty okay because if we arent cruel to our animals, others will step into that space? We also dont buy the argument that farmers will go broke. The price premium they receive per head from the live export companies results from food subsidies paid by some Middle Eastern countries and the fact that the export companies make the premium price by cramming sheep into a space of three per square metre for weeks at a time. Shanghai: Trade Minister Steven Ciobo delivered a conciliatory speech overnight on the relationship between Australia and China, but businesses working China are complaining that the strains were evident. Ciobo's address to 500 business people came as tension in the bilateral relationship was blamed for causing a slow-down in customs clearances for Australian products. Steve Ciobo address was hailed as symbolic given China's unofficial freeze on visits by Australian government representatives. Credit:Bloomberg "When there is tension in the relationship, there is tension at the port," said an Australian business executive in Shanghai with several decades experience in China. Ciobo told the room of business people that the two countries had been friends for decades and the Free Trade Agreement would make both Australians and Chinese richer. In August 2017, the Ontario Securities Commission said that companies offering ICOs/ITOs should use a 4-prong test to determine whether an investment contract exists. This would be the case where (1) there is an investment of money (2) in a common enterprise (3) with the expectation of profit (4) coming significantly from the effort of others. In its warning the BSCS says that all investors should exercise extreme caution when considering whether to invest in a cryptocurrency offering. While some companies follow through on their business plan or idea, others do not. Some companies issue coins or tokens solely for speculative trading in the secondary market, which is an inherently risky activity for investors, the regulator says. Been offered an unsolicited ICO/ITO offering? The BCSC says that any investor who receives an unsolicited offer rto participate in an ICO or ITO should contact its inquiries line: 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393. Anzeige The best ideas come when you least expect them. So it was with Jen Rubio: The social media and start-up expert had just broken her suitcase when she suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. In her search for luggage replacements, she quickly realized that there were not many alternatives. And above all, not those with which customers also identify emotionally. But can luggage be loved at all? Rubio wouldn't let go of this question - and she activated her former colleague Steph Korey, with whom she had already helped the New York eyewear brand Warby Parker to a modern and cool image. In 2016, the two companies founded Away, a brand for modern luggage that addresses consumers directly. In this interview, the two founders explain why travelling has changed, where it is best to store liquids during air travel and how you can live on hand luggage for over a week. ICONIST: How have travel and travel needs changed? Jen Rubio: People are travelling now more than ever, and they value experiences over things. Theyre looking for products that wont cost more than the trip theyre taking and for brands that theyre excited to associate with. Luggage is something you take on every trip, but before Away, there wasnt anything on the market that responded to how people actually travelled, so we set out to create the brand and products we wished existed. We launched Away to create products and experiences that make travel more seamless, so that people can focus on the trip, not how theyre getting there. Anzeige ICONIST: What are the most common travel problems and what has been reported to you mostly? Steph Korey: One of Aways biggest competitive advantages is that were a direct-to-consumer business - we own the entire customer relationship, and because of that, we have a consistent line of communication with our community. That relationship means that were able to understand and act on what theyre telling us. Before we launched, we wanted to figure out what those pain points were, so we spoke with hundreds of travellers to understand their needs. We heard that people wanted luggage that was lightweight and durable, had high-quality features, and that would maximize how much you could fit, so we built our products with features that reflect those needs, and continue to iterate using their feedback today. ICONIST: When at the airport what problems do you see? People struggling with their laptop-bags etc? How do you solve those problems? Anzeige Korey: One thing people told us - but didnt necessarily expect us to solve - was that their phones were constantly dying while they were travelling, so we designed our Carry-Ons to come with a built-in removable battery that can charge your phone up to five times. After we launched, we also heard that some of our customers would love to have a pocket on the outside, so they could quickly remove their laptop or other things they wanted to be easily available in a hurry (like when youre going through security at the airport), so we created The Carry-On with Pocket and The Bigger Carry-On with Pocket to give people another option. From the beginning, weve made it a priority to only add features that would solve real travel problems. Other brands have features like built-in scales or GPS trackers, but that wasnt something we felt like we could add without unnecessarily driving weight or cost or that would actually create value for our customers. If an airline loses your suitcase, having a GPS tracker wont solve the actual issue that your suitcase is missing. By the way Global Diary What do you do in the first five minutes in a hotel room? ICONIST: And what is the feedback of your clients? Any problems left to solve? Rubio: Our customers have really come to trust our ability to create products that they love, so theyre asking us to consider new items (and experiences) all the time. The feedback loop weve developed with our community is one of our biggest assets. Theyre helping us to define the future of Away, identifying problems they see in the travel space with the belief that well be able to solve them. Were not just analysing the data to predict trends - were reading and responding to every single email and comment on social media and sharing those insights with the broader team at Away to ensure that everything we do is done with our customers in mind. Our goal is to become the #1 travel brand in the world by fixing everything thats wrong with the travel experience. We started with luggage, but we arent setting the limits for what might come next. Anzeige ICONIST: What do we do with the liquids? Its so annoying. Korey: Policies around carrying liquids can definitely be a challenge, but there are so many great products that come in travel-sized options now. I always recommend storing liquids in a water-resistant bag to keep everything organized and to keep any potential spills contained. We actually recently launched our own available in several colours and fabric combinations. ICONIST: What makes the perfect suitcase? Rubio: The perfect suitcase is one that you dont have to think about. Our goal was to create products that would make everything about the packing and travelling experience more seamless, so that people could spend less time thinking about the annoying details, and more time thinking about the trip itself. Your suitcase should be versatile enough for any type of travel, so youre comfortable going on a vacation or to a board meeting. Ours includes thoughtful features - like a compression pad to maximize space, a built-in laundry bag, a built-in but removable phone charger, and more - to help people get the most out of their travelling experience. ICONIST: Functional suitcase. How can I adjust by packing functional, too? Any tips for that? Rubio: We thought a lot about what features we should include that would allow people to pack in a way thats functional - things like a removable laundry bag to keep your clean clothes separate from what youve already worn, and a compression pad to maximize how much you can fit inside. Theyre also split into two compartments so that you can pack shoes and other bulkier items on one side, and your soft goods on the other. I also love using my things to play double-duty, whether storing things like sunglasses and socks inside your shoes, or packing smaller clutches into larger bags. ICONIST: How do I pack for one day vs. one week? Anzeige Rubio: I always stick to a travel uniform of items that work with one another to make sure I pack everything I need while still keeping it light. I like to have different options, but theyre always silhouettes and colours I know work on me, and theyre versatile enough to keep me comfortable in different settings or climates. For one week, youll want options that work for different occasions, and can take you from day to night. For me, that means things like a vintage leather jacket, a black dress, a tailored blazer, great denim, and a few simple tops - again, things that work well together and allow me to mix and match. Stick to two pairs of shoes that are comfortable, chic, and versatile, and wear a third on the plane. Ill also bring a smaller bag for my favourite toiletries. If youre travelling for just one day, youll probably just need a spare change of clothes, an extra pair of shoes, and your most essential toiletries. Read more about Recommendation Where to relax? The best hotels for every type of traveller ICONIST: How many days of vacation can I make it with carry-on-luggage only? Rubio: If you plan ahead and pack thoughtfully, you can definitely get more than a weeks worth of items into our Carry-Ons. Think about what activities youll be doing, and pack clothing thats versatile and matches the trip youre taking. Packing cubes are also a great space-saving trick - I swear by them so much that Away launched a line of our own. Not only can you pack more in, but theyll also keep you organized so youll spend less time digging around your bag and more time actually enjoying the trip that youre on. ICONIST: Low-Cost-Airlines, mass-tourism is it still possible to travel in style? How? Rubio: I think its a great thing that more people are able to travel today. Just because more people are doing it, doesnt mean you cant do it in style. We designed Away to be minimal and versatile enough to complement your personal style and introduced the concept of the Travel Uniform, so you always look polished wherever youre headed. Besides, travelling in style is a state of mind: if youre not stressed, frantic, and at ease in your surroundings, youll look and feel better wherever you are. Do follow us under the name ICONISTbyicon on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport may be the most powerful show the Westport Historical Society ever mounted. The Sheffer Gallery is filled with artifacts and text documenting the long and long-overlooked legacy of blacks in Westport. Bills of sale prove that some of our most famous citizens owned fellow human beings, some with no names at all. A school photo shows a young African American girl, standing far apart from her white classmates. Artwork by Roe Halper commemorates Rev. Martin Luther Kings 1964 visit to Temple Israel. There is mention too of 22 Main St.. Thats one more now-forgotten piece of Westports past. A quarter century ago, I wrote about that place. Back then it was the location of Onion Alley the restaurant at the end of an actual alley. Later, it became Bobby Qs. Today, its undergoing renovation. Once, 22 Main St. was a large wooden apartment building. Renters were men and women who worked in Westport home and businesses. Longtime white Westporters, I wrote, remember the residents as keeping very much to themselves, causing no controversy. William Billy Dew, a black house cleaner and maintenance man, owned the property, and lived there with his invalid wife. His hard-working tenants included women who worked at the Open Door Inn, where police headquarters is now on Jesup Road. Because the Open Door had accommodations for guests maids and chauffeurs, it was a popular after-work spot for the residents of 22 Main Street. James Burch, who for decades owned and lied over the Commuter Shoe Repair Shop near the train station, also began his Westport life on Main Street. Herman Smith came to Westport from Orangeburg (S.C.) State College in the early 1920s. He too lived at 22 Main St. for a while, working two jobs as a waiter and sanitation man. He married a college woman. Eventually they bought a home on Crescent Road, and became established Westporters. The town was good to them. The only trouble we had was making the down payment, she told the Westport Oral History project. But the Smiths long stay in Westport, and their involvement in civic affairs, seems unusual. Most residents of 22 Main St. kept deliberately low profiles. They left early for work, returned late, and remained apart from town life as much as possible. I interviewed long-time Westporters for my story. Most had few recollections of the downtown blacks. Eleanor Street who worked as a librarian for many years across Main Street from the apartments barely recalled the tenants. She did note that the boys and girls came up to her second floor childrens library while their parents worked. Others had similar vague recollections of their one or two black classmates. All say they were treated well, with no apparent rancor. But one veteran Westporter had a much clearer vision of 22 Main St.. Dan Bradley was a retired attorney who had just completed his 50th year with the Fire Department. He remembered fighting a fierce blaze there sometime around 1950. There was a church in the basement of the apartment building, with a piano and chairs. One cold winter night, the place burned. The scuttlebutt was that someone dropped a firebomb through a basement window, Bradley said. Though the insinuation on was arson, nothing was ever proved. The fire got off to a heavy start. The place was all in flames by the time we got there, Bradley continued. It burned everyone right out. Firefighters rescued the invalid Mrs. Dew, and there were no casualties. When the fire was controlled, Bradley entered the building. He searched every room. Ive been under a number of beds in Westport, he said. Those rooms were the cleanest Ive ever seen. They were immaculate. The apartments were never rebuilt. Bradley did not know what became of the 20 or so tenants. I guess they relocated to Norwalk or somewhere, he said. They were a good bunch of people. There was very little trouble there. No photographic evidence seems to exist of 22 and a half Main Street, or of the black men, women and children who lived there for at least three decades. I called the Westport Historical Society back then; they had nothing. A search of the Westport Librarys newspaper, photo and memorabilia files proved similarly fruitless. I did not even find anything in Westport: A Special Place, Eve Potts and Howard Munces lovingly compiled, exhaustively researched photographic history of town. In fact, the books 200 illustrations showed just one black face: that school picture of the girl, separated from all her peers. But photographs dont always tell the full story. Now thanks to the Westport Historical Society we are invited to see and think about all those stories weve missed. Dan Woog is a Westport writer, and his Woog's World appears each Friday. He can be reached at dwoog@optonline.net. His personal blog is danwoog06880.com. The role of women in our society has been transformed from predominantly wife and/or mother to include breadwinner. As a result, economic security is critical to a womans ability to thrive and insecurity can have a profound, negative impact on womens health. Supports that enable vulnerable women and their families to sustain themselves and move up the economic ladder are imperative. As we acknowledge National Mental Health Awareness Month, we must recognize some sobering data. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 56 percent of U.S. adults nationwide with a mental disorder do not receive treatment. Moreover, the cost of mental health conditions exceeds that of all other conditions, including heart conditions, trauma and cancer, making mental health an issue we cannot ignore. Fairfield Countys Community Foundations Fund for Women & Girls invests in programs that strengthen economic security for low-income women. But if we treat improved health outcomes as solely a byproduct of economic security, we run the risk of putting the cart before the horse because good health, and in particular good mental health, are necessary to achieve economic security. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, we know there are indisputable links between trauma and mental health. Women are twice as likely as men to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following a traumatic event. On average, women with depression are 2.7 times as likely to be victims of domestic violence than women without a mental illness and women with an anxiety disorder are 4.1 times as likely to be domestic violence victims. These challenges are not unique to adult women; girls also experience significant trauma that impact their mental health and well-being. For example, girls between 12 and 17 are three times more likely to have had a major depressive episode than males of the same age. Womens mental health illnesses often go undiagnosed for a myriad of reasons, including reluctance to disclose a history of intimate partner violence. Additionally, women typically turn to their primary care providers for their health-related concerns; however, these providers are not always equipped to uncover, identify and/or treat mental health disorders. When FWG commissioned research in 2013 on the status of women and girls in Fairfield County, we unearthed fragmented mental health services, diminished resources, and long waiting times for community mental health service appointments. That waiting period was up to six weeks for an appointment in Bridgeport. This type of lag often forces individuals to seek emergency room care. In 2016, we visited Bridgeport Hospital and learned women were overusing the hospitals emergency room for crisis psychiatric care. Some pregnant patients, who believed their medication regimen was harmful to their fetus, ceased taking their medications, which exacerbated their mental instability. The Fund responded to this need with a two-year investment of $100,000 to support the hiring of an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) for the hospitals PreNatal Care: Not Just for Babies Program. The APRN screens OB/GYN patients for depression and other emotional disorders as well as provides counseling and medication management. At the one-year mark, the APRN had served 300 prenatal patients, many of whom had untreated, psychiatric disorders and had never previously any follow-up regarding care for a variety of reasons including inconvenience, lack of personal contact with their practitioner and/or disjointed services. We can proudly report that with the Community Foundations support to hire a prenatal psychiatric APRN, patients have seen a marked improvement in their overall well-being. Additionally, this program connects the once fragmented care system that had seen many patients fall through the cracks. The APRN is mobile and meets patients where they are, in places with which they are familiar and comfortable such as the OB/GYN clinic. Often, women are societys caregivers. They are the cornerstone of strong families and communities. Therefore, improving womens mental health and well-being is vital to society. Womens health care needs should be delivered holistically and using a gender responsive lens. As a start, more hospitals could adopt Bridgeport Hospitals model that has successfully eliminated barriers to care and increased patients self-efficacy and mental stability. As we continue to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Fund for Women & Girls in our community, we are encouraged with the results of this program and hope to continue to invest in sustainable solutions that support the safety, health and economic security of women and girls across Fairfield County. Fairfield Countys Community Foundations commitment to advocacy for our region and beyond continues this month, as our Center for Nonprofit Excellence will host Fairfield Countys Advocacy Day May 31 at Grace Farms. This half-day seminar promises to be an exciting, interactive and collaborative day open to all nonprofits throughout Connecticut. More information can be found at https://fccfoundation.org/event/fairfield-countys-advocacy-day/. Tricia Hyacinth is director of Fairfield Countys Community Foundations Fund for Women & Girls. Kind and caring Breda was always thinking of others Another year, another ramshackle night of meticulous fun with Sasha's boys. This revival of her 2010 Iolanthe or Sasha Regan's All Male Iolanthe to bill it in full is an unalloyed delight. I tell a lie, it is a bit alloyed. That's because the company's totemic soprano, Alan Richardson, is otherwise engaged in the West End (as Mary Sunshine in Chicago, naturally) and so unavailable to sing Phyllis. His replacement as Gilbert and Sullivan's ingenue heroine is plucky ingenu hero Joe Henry, and he has big slingbacks to fill. Gilbert and Sullivan would have been bemused to learn that their Savoy operas are now being performed by all-male casts, yet this troupe is keeping the flame alive on minimal resources: 16 players and an upright piano. That instrument is in the dizzy-fingered hands of pitch-perfect musical director Richard Baker. Iolanthe is one of the silliest Gilbert and Sullivan operas, but it shoots barbs that strike home even today. WS Gilbert's chief target, as it also was in The Pirates of Penzance, is the principle of hereditary peerage and patronage. The House of Lords gets a good kicking as Strephon, a half-fairy, discovers from yummy mummy Iolanthe that his father is the Lord Chancellor. The slapstick heart of Cal McCrystal's outre production for ENO divided opinion I liked it, others not in a way this feast of wit is unlikely to do. Yes, it's camp (how could it not be with a bunch of grown men playing fairies?) but it is always respectful of the material, diction is immaculate and every word cuts through. Moments of tenderness are allowed their space and comedy arises from situations rather than strap-on gags. Falsetto singing is variable this time round, with the best of it coming from Lee Greenaway's show-stealing Leila and Christopher Finn's Iolanthe, the latter a character who's too often absent from her own opera. Instead, the singing honours go to Duncan Sandilands, a buff buffo bass whose press-ups send the Fairy Queen (Richard Russell Edwards) into paroxysms, and tenor Adam Pettit as a thrillingly secure Lord Tolloller in his double act with the charismatic Michael Burgen as Lord Mountararat. Alastair Hill is another star: he negotiates the Lord Chancellor's treacherous patter with aplomb, even tongue-ripping horrors like "From the greengrocer tree you get grapes and green pea". This being a Sasha Regan show, visual wit does for the eye what comic timing does for the ear. The director locates every imaginable sweet spot in Gilbert's dated dialogue and has the audience hooting even at the creakiest lines. Her production concept in which a group of boys explores an old dark house is so tenuous it's forgotten within five minutes, but it gives designer Stewart Charlesworth a ripely grungy style to latch on to. The show's real magic lies in its dance routines. Mark Smith has returned eight years on to recreate his dazzling ensembles, and they are a feast. As well as rumbustious fun for the Lords a-leaping, the deaf choreographer ingeniously uses signage as a dance device for the fairies. It's mysterious, beautiful and an elegant alternative to the male fouette. Ford will resume building its biggest moneymaker, the F-150 pickup, two weeks after a fire at a suppliers factory halted production of trucks at three plants. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2018 (1241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ford will resume building its biggest moneymaker, the F-150 pickup, two weeks after a fire at a suppliers factory halted production of trucks at three plants. Production of F-Series pickups will restart first at Fords Dearborn, Mich., factory on Friday, then at plants in Kentucky and Missouri on Monday. The automaker said all three factories will be at full production by Monday and rebuilt its supply chain for key magnesium parts used in the trucks and sport utility vehicles including the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Explorer. "The situation is still changing hour by hour and we could still encounter some obstacles, but Im confident the team will continue to charge ahead and find ways to deliver," Joe Hinrichs, Fords president of global operations, said on a conference call with reporters. "Returning our plants to production ahead of our initial estimated timing means less of an adverse effect on the companys near-term results." Ford expects the loss of F-Series production will lower second-quarter earnings by as much as 14 cents a share, but didnt reduce its full-year adjusted profit forecast of US$1.45 to US$1.70 a share. Bloomberg News Immigrant doctors wont work or stay in northern and rural Manitoba because its too cold, there are too many bugs and they cant find the food they are accustomed to, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Eileen Clarke says. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2018 (1241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Immigrant doctors wont work or stay in northern and rural Manitoba because its too cold, there are too many bugs and they cant find the food they are accustomed to, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Eileen Clarke says. As well, such doctors dont want to have to fly to Vancouver or Toronto for direct flights to visit their families overseas, and theres no one from their communities or religions in our smaller centres, Clarke told her estimates hearing. Flin Flon New Democrat MLA Tom Lindsey had tried to enlist Clarkes support to push Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen to get more doctors in the north, appealing to prospective GPs by providing better facilities and specialized equipment such as MRIs. Shortages of doctors have nothing to do with equipment, Clarke declared. When she was a municipal politician, Clarke said she served on a task force under the former NDP government to explore why immigrant doctors werent staying in rural and remote northern Manitoba. "Not once did any one of those physicians ever bring up equipment. Never, ever was equipment brought up as the reason that we cant retain physicians," Clarke was quoted in the official Hansard transcript. "The No. 1 issue was climate and cold weather, because many of our foreign doctors and other staff, other medical staff, come from warm countries, extremely warm countries, and they just could not take the cold. "The second one being the availability of international airports, and Winnipeg they dont consider an international airport," the minister told her estimates hearing. "They travel back to their homelands as often as possible, because very often they do leave family home or behind in another country. "So location to, and availability of, an international airport was very significant, and thats why they often ended up in Toronto or Vancouver ...they didnt consider Winnipeg accessible, and it was costly for them to fly to their homeland," Clarke said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Interestingly enough, mosquitoes and bugs was a very significant reason why they are not staying in Manitoba. Having people of their own culture and their own religion was also a significant difference. They could not access, even in rural Manitoba, let alone northern and remote, the food that they generally would consume big issue," Clarke said. Lindsey told Clarke that, "Flin Flon, for example, is down to two doctors, soon to be one. I understand theres shortages in Thompson. Theres shortages in The Pas. Snow Lake lost its only doctor, and the minister may wonder, well, what does this have to do with her department?" Lindsey said. "Most of the First Nations communities that dont have any doctors rely on the ability to access medical doctors in the rest of the communities that traditionally have had doctors. "Perhaps, if there was more current, up-to-date medical facilities in those northern communities, more current, up-to-date equipment, like MRIs and diagnostic equipment, then perhaps there would be a better chance of recruiting doctors so that they dont feel that they have to use yesterdays technology to try and deal with illnesses and injuries," Lindsey said. But Clarke said the task force didnt hear such complaints. "Never, ever, did one physician bring up that they just lacked equipment. I think it goes without saying that we cant have an MRI in every medical location and, you know, those types of equipment. But, the issues brought forward by not being able to retain physicians were nothing to do with equipment, ever," Clarke said. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca A federal regulator has ordered a Winnipeg rail conductor, who was fired for breaching safety protocol, be reinstated. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2018 (1241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A federal regulator has ordered a Winnipeg rail conductor, who was fired for breaching safety protocol, be reinstated. Canadian Pacific Railway fired Dan Lang after two incidents in September 2016 in which a train derailed and another stationary train was left on the tracks without its brakes on. Both incidents took place at the yard near the Old Exhibition Grounds. The first incident took place on Sept. 3, during an overnight shift. Lang was operating a train too fast for its emergency brakes to stop it from side-swiping another train, which derailed. The second took place Sept. 14. CP claimed Lang failed to apply handbrakes to any of the railcars that he left standing unattended. CP fired Lang on Sept. 27, 2016. In a May 9, 2018, decision by the Canadian Railway Office of Arbitration, Langs punishment was reduced to a seven-day suspension. CP was ordered to pay Langs salary for the almost 20 months he was out of a job. Arbitrator Graham Clarke ruled that CP was "excessive" in firing Lang for the derailment, because it was his first major issue since joining CP in February 2007. He ruled Lang would learn from the incident. He also ruled that CP failed to properly investigate the handbrake incident, therefore Lang couldnt be punished for it. Another employee who was on shift at the time was also investigated. Neither was offered a chance to sit in while the other was interviewed, despite a long-standing union agreement saying they have a right to be present when "evidence may have a bearing on the employees responsibility." The other employee received a seven-day suspension. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. CP claimed it conducted a "fair and impartial investigation," but Clarke ruled the company "did not specify the factors on which it relied to support this statement." He tossed out the derailment ruling "because of significant procedural flaws which CP, despite being put repeatedly on notice, decided not to remedy." The railway declined to be interviewed. "CP does not comment on individual personnel decisions," spokesman Jeremy Berry wrote. Teamsters Canada Rail Conference did not respond to an interview request. Lang could not be reached for comment. The regulator is an arms-length body that major railway companies formed 50 years ago. Companies and unions sometimes cut a deal that is different from the arbitrators ruling. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Ontario is in the midst of an election campaign and the silly season has overtaken the province. Last week, a journalist mischievously asked the Progressive Conservative partys pugnacious leader, Doug Ford, to describe the process by which a bill proceeds through the provincial parliament to eventually become a law. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2018 (1241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Ontario is in the midst of an election campaign and the silly season has overtaken the province. Last week, a journalist mischievously asked the Progressive Conservative partys pugnacious leader, Doug Ford, to describe the process by which a bill proceeds through the provincial parliament to eventually become a law. The answer, as any reader who has taken the course Introduction to Canadian Government with me at the University of Manitoba will know, is a long one, as bills pass through multiple readings. Its easy to get the details wrong. As it turned out, Ford didnt even try to answer. Instead, he accused the journalist of asking a "gotcha" question, promised to "pass endless bills," and then barked, "Next question!" Ontarios political tweeters erupted in laughter in response to this revelation that Ford did not understand this foundational concept in parliamentary government. As a political science professor, I was conflicted over both Fords answer and the response to it. On one hand, it was clearly a "gotcha" question. Ford is running to become premier, not a deputy minister. Its probably not a good idea to judge his candidacy on the basis of his ability to recall details about the legislative process. I wonder how many of the people laughing at Ford could answer that question without an assist from Google. Every year, I lecture on precisely this topic, and every year, I have to go back and double-check the process to ensure I dont make any mistakes. If you walked up to me on the street and asked point-blank how a bill becomes law, Im not at all confident Id give you the correct answer. We should probably cut Ford some slack. But, on the other hand, I would like everyone in Canada to have basic civic knowledge about issues such as this one. If we want people to be actively engaged in democratic life in Canada, then they need the tools to do so. Basic knowledge about Canadas political institutions and processes is the most important tool in the citizenship toolkit. Fords fumble is a depressing reminder that Canadians do not perform particularly well when it comes to civic literacy. A 2008 survey by Ipsos Reid, for example, tested Canadians knowledge on basic civic knowledge questions. The results were not encouraging. Only 24 per cent of respondents, for example, correctly identified the Queen as Canadas head of state. Only 49 per cent correctly stated that Canadians do not directly elect the prime minister. And 59 per cent correctly identified Canada as a constitutional monarchy. Who is to blame for this sorry state of affairs? The executive director of the Dominion Institute, which commissioned the poll, bluntly opined that, "Our school system needs to be doing a better job of training young people to be citizens." In Manitoba, the social studies curriculum grapples with questions of civics and citizenship in a variety of ways, including in Grade 12 classes on Canadian law and global citizenship. The core civics curriculum, however, is in Grade 9 social studies. "Democracy and Governance in Canada" is one of four clusters of study covered in Grade 9. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. This topic area tackles institutions of parliamentary democracy; the different branches of government and what they do; federal, provincial and local responsibilities; and elections and political parties. The learning materials are, in my view, quite good. And Ive certainly heard from students in my class who described passionate social studies teachers who have run with this curriculum, sparking an ongoing interest in Canadian politics in their students. My only grumble with Manitobas focused civics curriculum is that theres so little of it. Contrast this with Ontario, which has a full mandatory course focused explicitly on civic literacy. When Ontarios ministry of education floated the idea of eliminating the course to make room for other priorities, an uproar amongst both the public and social studies teachers forced the minister, Mitzie Hunter, to back off. In explaining her decision, Hunter wrote, "Students have contacted my office and told me about how civics inspired them to get involved in public service, to consider roles that enhance our freedoms and rights as Canadians, and... how this course has piqued their interest in one day having my job as a minister of the Crown." Hunter also took the opportunity to rightfully brag about the course, noting that, "across all classrooms in this country, Ontario is unique to offer a dedicated Civics and Citizenship course to our Grade 10 students..." Ironically, Ford himself likely took the mandatory civics class in Ontario, which doesnt seem to have helped him when he was quizzed on how bills become laws. Nevertheless, Id like to see a beefed-up civics curriculum in Manitobas schools to better prepare the next generation to engage fully with politics. The alternative is to force every student who comes to the U of M to take my course on Canadian government. And no one wants that. Royce Koop is an associate professor and head of the department of political studies at the University of Manitoba. The temporary dining decks, installed last year to help restaurants keep business during the coronavirus pandemic, will by next month be removed or reconstructed to stretch only along the length of respective eateries' storefronts. The controversy swirling around the question of sonic attacks and brain injury in Cuba amongst diplomatic staff (and their dependents) of both the United States and Canada remains a mystery. Its been over one year now since the charges first surfaced and no one in Washington, Ottawa or Havana seems any closer to shedding light on these cases of unexplained symptoms. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2018 (1241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The controversy swirling around the question of sonic attacks and brain injury in Cuba amongst diplomatic staff (and their dependents) of both the United States and Canada remains a mystery. Its been over one year now since the charges first surfaced and no one in Washington, Ottawa or Havana seems any closer to shedding light on these cases of unexplained symptoms. On my recent trip to Cuba, it was hard to imagine as I strolled around the outside of the Canadian embassy in Havana that it is now considered as dangerous as our embassies in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was a quiet Tuesday morning, and as I calmly took a slew of pictures, no one said a word to me or seemed to care. Im not surprised, then, that Canadian officials have no idea (and cast doubt on any sonic-attack theory) what caused concussion-like symptoms (but no permanent damage) in a number of diplomats and their family members in Cuba. I admit to being no expert on "acoustic attacks" or the source of the loud, shrieking noises that have triggered headaches, nosebleeds and memory loss in several U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Havana but it was hard to digest such a claim as I snapped photos in front of the Capri Hotel and walked through the Hotel Nacional (two locations where U.S. officials say the attacks actually took place), both locations just a short walk from the U.S. embassy. And if foot traffic and tourists are any indication, neither venue is outwardly feeling any ill effects. I saw few, if any, visible signs of anti-Trump posters, billboards or souvenirs, but there is certainly no affection between Cubans and The Donald. They have a pretty good sense that U.S. President Trump is not going to be any friend of Cubas. In fact, if there is one thing many Cubans can agree on, it is that the sitting U.S. president is, to put it mildly, mentally unstable. As one Cuban confided to me, "A lot of Americans are crazy (when it comes to Cuba). But Trump is the craziest of all the Americans." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Trump White House has rescinded some of former U.S. president Barack Obamas initiatives on normalizing U.S.-Cuban relations, expelled 17 Cuban diplomats from Washington (and withdrew two-thirds of U.S. embassy personnel in Havana) and warned Americans that they should reconsider travelling to Cuba. Now, Im sure that Cubans are being fed a story from their own government about the alleged sonic attacks, but it was still interesting to hear what some had to say on that topic. When you first ask Cubans about the attacks in Havana, they give you this puzzled look, roll their eyes, and say they have no real idea. As one Cuban put it, "That is the normal buzzing sound found in many typical Cuban neighbourhoods." It is true that the Cuban government has invited both the FBI and the RCMP to investigate these claims on Cuban soil a clear sign of just how serious the Cubans are taking this highly sensitive matter. It has also tested dozens of local Cubans around the homes of both Canadian and U.S. diplomats to see whether they have developed any unusual symptoms. But nothing tangible has been found so far. No one claimed to have any inside information on the diplomatic spat, though all cast aspersions on any theory that associated official Cuban authorities with the acoustic-attacks theory. One Cuban was adamant: "Its not true. Its an excuse or justification for the U.S. to tighten the screws on Cuba. They use it to deny visas to Cubans and to restrict U.S. travel to Cuba." According to another Cuban, the sonic-attacks theory is suspect because "the Cubans who work at the U.S. (and Canadian) embassy have not complained about any strange noises or concussion-like symptoms." Similarly, one Cuban who works in the tourism sector explained, "The Spanish embassy is nearby and there have been no issues there. It is a lie perpetrated by the Americans." When pressed about why the Canadians were making essentially the same accusations, he said curtly, "The Americans have pressured the Canadians to go along." I have serious doubts about Ottawa caving to U.S. pressure, but it is curious as to why Canada which has had an enormously constructive relationship with Cuba since 1959 would not come out more strongly against the acoustic-attacks theory. Could it have something to do with the ongoing NAFTA renegotiations? Lets hope not. Peter McKenna is professor and chair of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown. The German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) appeared on Wednesday with a lead and full-page report on Julian Assange aimed at justifying the handing over of the WikiLeaks founder to British and American authorities. The articles are an amalgam of insinuations, distortions, half-truths, outright lies and scandal-mongering. They seek to distract from the fundamental significance of the case and to stir up prejudices against Assange, who has spent six years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as a virtual prisoner after exposing US war crimes in the Middle East and international intrigues of the US intelligence services. If Assange were to walk out of the embassy he would be immediately arrested by the British police and eventually extradited to the US, where he faces imprisonment, torture, and a long trial with a possible sentence of life imprisonment or death by execution. On taking office US Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared Assanges trial for espionage a priority, while CIA chief Mike Pompeo, who is now US secretary of state, described WikiLeaks as a non-state hostile intelligence agency. The arrest of Assange would be a huge blow to international freedom of the press, signalling to any critical journalist that they risk ruining their life, or even face death, for exposing government crimes. The fact that the SZ has joined the campaign against Assange makes clear where the paper stands when it comes to deciding between freedom of expression and the interests of the state. The same issue of the SZ that agitates against Assange also contains a report on the Suddeutsche Zeitung Night, which took place in the Berlin Kulturforum the previous day. More than a thousand old acquaintances from the government, political parties, the media and the world of culture chatted through the night eating risotto, crab sandwiches and pineapple ice. The report quotes actress Maren Kroyman, who noted, One greets one another with kisses but is always looking a bit furtherbecause there are people present who were even more important. A photo shows SZ editor-in-chief Wolfgang Krach rubbing shoulders with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU). Another photo features Free Democratic Party leader Christian Lindner with Family Minister Jens Spahn (CDU). This incestuous hive of powerbrokers, media personalities and celebrities also included Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the leaders of the Green and Left parties. It is therefore not surprising that the SZ dislikes a critical mind like Julian Assange. The SZ report is based on internal documents of a European security firm that has allegedly protected Assange with a million-dollar surveillance program paid for by the government of Ecuador. The time-consuming intelligence operation has been going on for more than five years, costing an average of $66,000 a month, with the first year alone costing a million dollars, the SZ writes. In fact, the job of the security firm had more to do with spying on than protecting Assange. It monitored Assange around the clock and meticulously filed reports on his visitors and habits, the SZ reports. According to the British Guardian, which together with the right-wing Focus Ecuador website, had access to the secret records, the security firm installed CCTV cameras throughout the embassy to follow every move made by Assange in the tiny embassy, around the clock for six years. It listed his mood, habits, and sleeping patterns, and recorded each visitors purpose of visit, their passport information and arrival and departure times. Every month, the security company sent a confidential list of Assanges visitors to the Ecuadorian president, the newspaper stated. Sometimes, the company included stills from secret video footage of interesting guests, plus profiles and analysis. Based on this intimate observation of a prisoner who has been cut off from the worldand even the sunlightfor six years and subjected to corresponding mental stress, the SZ defames Assange for acting strangely and engaging in confrontations with the embassy staff, even to the point of being involved in a brawl. On the pure assumptions of his observers, the paper accuses Assange of penetrating the embassys networks and trying to intercept personal communication of embassy workers and possibly the ambassador himself. WikiLeaks has emphatically denied this allegation in a tweet: Thats an anonymous libel aligned with the current UK-US government onslaught against Mr. Assanges asylumwhile he cant respond. The SZ also claims that Assange has secretly recorded two of his visitors and publishes several pictures from the secret surveillance cameras of the security company. According to the report, one of those secretly recorded is filmmaker Laura Poitras, who, contrary to her original pledge, edited her documentary film on Assange in such a manner as to endanger him. The SZ article is riddled with allegations by Assanges political opponents. It accuses former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who had the audacity to uphold Assanges democratic rights by offering him protection his countrys embassy, of doing so as a deliberate provocation and in order to present himself as a rebel against US imperialism. Commenting on the release of emails from the campaign of the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the SZ glibly writes: Is Julian Assange the man the world has to thank for Trump? In fact, WikiLeaks revealed how the Democratic National Committee sought to sabotage the candidacy of Clintons rival Bernie Sanders, who won the support of millions by describing himself as socialist and denouncing the billionaire class. Assanges website also made public the details of Clintons intimate and lucrative relationship with Wall Street. One can only conclude from the observations made by the SZ that it would hide from the public similar compromising revelations about the politicians it publicly embraced during the "Night of the Suddeutsche Zeitung. The publication of the latest reports and accusations by the SZ and the Guardian against Assange increase the risk that he will be delivered into the hands of his persecutors. Early Monday morning, Cody Reynolds, a 20-year-old white youth, was shot and killed by a Royal Oak, Michigan police officer responding to a domestic dispute call in the Detroit suburb. Around 3 a.m. Codys mother called the police to report that her son stabbed her and attacked his father with a guitar. An officer who has been with the department for at least four years arrived on the scene and encountered the youth walking down the street. Cody was dead just 30 seconds later. The officer asked Cody if he attacked his mother. Cody replied, Yeah, I stabbed my mom. Ordered to the ground by the officer, Cody at first complied, putting his hands over his head and getting down. However, he then suddenly jumped up and the lone officer fired his gun multiple times. The Royal Oak Police Department claims they found four casings on the scene of the crime while viewers of the dashcam footage can hear five shots. The doctors and nurses worked on him for hours and tried everything they could but there was just too much damage. And thats my problem with the amount of shots that were firedone shot shouldnt have even been firedbut maybe if you didnt shoot off five within a matter of seconds, they would have been able to try to save him, Stephanie, a friend of Codys and a server at the local restaurant where Cody worked as a busboy, told the World Socialist Web Site. Maybe if they felt the need to shoot him that badly, if they only shot once to slow him down or actually see whats going on, they would have been able to save him. There wouldnt have been so much damage. He would still be alive right now and he would be here to tell his side of the story of what actually happened that night. Maybe he was having a mental breakdown, and he just needed help and he didnt know how to handle it or deal with it. Stephanie explained how Codys life had been dramatically impacted by a drunk driving accident just last year in which he struck and paralyzed a young woman with whom he had apparently attended high school. He was sentenced to jail, released on good behavior after several months and was still on probation at the time of the assault on his parents. He was still going to probation and doing everything he was supposed to do. Ill never forget when I saw him the day after he got out of jail for that. He was devastated and completely heartbroken. He couldnt believe that he did that. Not so much that he got in trouble, but that he injured and hurt this girl, and his priority was that she was going to be okay, not that he was in trouble, Stephanie said. He definitely needed help, not what he got. The DUI and the jailI know how bad he felt every single day for hurting that girl. You definitely could tell it took a mental toll on him. He wasnt the happy, cheery Cody that we knew for a long time because of how awful he felt about it, Stephanie noted. I really think he just didnt know how to handle it or deal with it and I doubt that he was getting help to deal with all those emotions and everything he had going on inside. He just never really seemed 100 percent back to being happy and himself after all that happened. I think that the DUIwhen he did that, it really, really, really messed him up. I could tell. As soon as he got back from jail he was not the same person, Kyle, another friend and coworker of Codys, explained. He was a lot quieter and you could tell he wasnt as happy. He was living with the weight of paralyzing somebody It was a lot for him to deal with. He told me multiple times thathe wished he could go back and not do it. He was just an incredible person, Kyle noted. He never failed to bring a smile on my face, even when I come to work on the most pissed off or saddest days that I have. Its hard to believe that something this horrible could happen to somebody that nice. He doesnt deserve to be remembered as a crazy kid who messed up because that wasnt him. He had no idea what was going on that night, Kyle said. He was lost. Hes smart enough to know not to run at a cop. Unarmed or armed, especially with how high the stakes are with police... There was something wrong. He needed help and he didnt get it He needed help and instead he got five shots. And for somebody whos standing there in a bulletproof vest with nonlethal weapons including a night club and a Taser, it seems pretty unacceptable to me. In the video you cant see much but when he gets up he runs at them with his hands in the air. Hes not reaching for anything. Hes not trying to pull anything out to attack with. Kyle noted that the routine excuses used in every police killing in the United States, of which there are more than 1,000 every year, were also being used to justify Codys murder. They [the cops] go immediately to slander because they dont want to be perceived as guilty. Its a defense mechanism thats been around I would venture to guess since the 1960s or since Rodney King. Its always, He was threatening us, or, We felt like our lives were in danger. Theyre really not public servants anymore, theyre like hired guns. Its becoming more of a gang than a public protection force Theres no reason to slander Codys name and to drag his name through the mud just to make you guys look better because you killed him. Its clear that theyre trying to make it like they werent in the wrong and that he was a bad person. Theres no background story, they emphasize his DUI and criminal record. Stephanie also condemned the effort by the police to excuse Codys killing by citing his prior criminal conviction. I watched the first news release right after it happened, and they just kept calling him a felon and its like, theyre making him sound like hes this horrible criminal with this horrible past, like a drug dealer or has been in and out of jail the way they keep describing it, said Stephanie. And its like, he has a DUI. Of course its awful that someone got injured in it, but how many people do we know who have DUIs? The way they keep describing itits just awful. According to a tally kept by the Washington Post, Cody was the 395th person to be shot and killed by the police this year. The ongoing epidemic of police murder, which has seen an average of three people killed every day, is on track to set a new record with 27 more fatal shootings this year than at the same time last year. As in previous years, only a handful of these killer cops will be charged with a crime and even fewer will be convicted. A recent study found that more than 100,000 years of life were lost in 2015 and 2016 alone due to police killings. While African Americans are disproportionately killed by police, the victims of police violence are of every skin color and ethnicity and the largest share, as in Codys case, are white. What unites all the victims is that they are working class and poor. On Tuesday, the day after Codys death, Donald Trump addressed the 37th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service in Washington, D.C. The US president made a notably fascistic appeal to the police, declaring the country must show appreciation, gratitude and respect for police officers in order to bring down violent crime and end attacks on our police. Trump called for the death penalty for anyone who kills a cop. We believe criminals who kill our police should get the death penaltybring it forth. While their reign of terror continues without end, on the job police officer deaths in the US have been on a significant decline for decades, according to the BBC. The number of officers killed per capita annually has dropped from 24 per 100,000 in the 10 years prior to 1980 to 7.3 per 100,000 in the 10 years prior to 2013. Earlier this month, the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF) hosted a public lecture entitled Towards a New NAPLAN: Testing to the Teaching. It was delivered by former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) director of Writing Across the Curriculum, Dr Les Perelman, reportedly one of the worlds leading experts in school education and assessment. The NSWTF commissioned Perelman to develop the academic paper to contribute to the debate about dismantling the existing NAPLAN assessment regime. NAPLAN, the National Assessment ProgramLiteracy and Numeracy, currently assesses Australian students annually in years three, five, seven and nine. It was introduced by the Rudd Labor government a decade ago, part of a conscious agenda aimed at restructuring public education to lower costs, narrow the curriculum, fill the coffers of edu-businesses, such as Pearson and McGraw Hill, and produce work-ready youth. A decade later the test has come under fire. Claims by then Labor federal education minister, Julia Gillard, that NAPLAN would boost achievement have been widely discredited. Test results across the board have failed to improve while the performance of the most disadvantaged students is in free-fall. Perelman is best known for his criticisms of a new additionan essayto the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), a standardised test widely used by college administrators for college admissions in the United States. He was not opposed to an essay portion of the test per se; he considered it a good idea if done well. His chief criticism was that length, more than any other factor, correlated with a high score in the marking of the SAT. After meeting Perelman in 2012, David Coleman, president of the College Boardthe organisation that administers the SAT and is partly funded by foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationredesigned the test. According to critics, the motivation of the College Board was not educational, but the fact that SAT was increasingly losing market share to a rival college entry test, the American College Testing (ACT). Growing numbers of colleges and universities were choosing ACT instead of SAT because they considered it more closely aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a federal initiative promoted by former US President Barack Obama and funded by various corporate interests, including the Gates Foundation. Commencing in 2013, CCSS established national rather than state-by-state curriculum standards, and began testing all children, starting as young as five years old, to see if they were college or career ready. In other words, Perelmans criticism of the SAT test was not focused on dismantling high-stakes testing regimes, but to help develop tests that would capture a larger market share of the new billion-dollar growth industry: selling curriculum and testing materials to school districts across the United States. Perelmans criticisms of NAPLAN and his review of the test were widely reported in the Australian media. The federal education minister, Simon Birmingham, commented that he certainly expected his governments assessment authority, the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), would closely examine Perelmans criticism. At the public lecture, held in the unions auditorium and attended by representatives from parent groups, government, religious and independent schools, along with teachers and students, Perelman ripped the NAPLAN writing test to shreds, exposing it as perhaps the worlds worst practice. Among his criticisms were: * The exam is constructed without any public documentation regarding its design. * It rewards writing mechanicsspelling, punctuation, grammarover the communication of ideas. * It rewards the use of uncommon words spelled correctly. A student could get a top mark simply by using an uncommon word multiple times. * It uses a 10-point scale for marking essays. This means markers have 90 seconds to read the students essay and 270 seconds to make 10 decisions on the scales. * Students write an essay after being given a prompt or stimulus (picture or words). Until 2014, the same prompt was given to years three, five, seven and nine. Beginning in 2015, one prompt was given to years three and five and a different prompt to students in years seven and nine. The essays are scored without the marker knowing the students year. Exposing NAPLANs writing test as an utter sham was not, however, the main goal of the NAPLAN lecture. Its aim was two-fold: First, as a means of lifting the NSWTFs badly damaged credibility in the eyes of Australian teachers. During Perelmans lecture, teachers responded with loud laughter and applause to virtually every criticism of NAPLAN, making unmistakeably clear their hostility to the test. And introducing him to the audience, NSWTF president, Maurie Mulheron, hailed the lecture as a momentous day, holding aloft the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald headlining a call by NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes for the ditching of NAPLAN. In 2010, the Australian Education Union (AEU) and its state affiliates had shut down a proposed boycott of NAPLAN testing, which would likely have involved a major strike. Unlike the teacher union bureaucrats, Australian teachers have been almost universally hostile to NAPLAN from the start, due to its debilitating consequences for both teachers and students. Second, the union is anxiously pitching for a seat at the table during discussions around the federal governments new testing regime. Gonski 2.0 Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools was announced earlier this month and has already been approved by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Far from scrapping them, the new Gonski Review insists on intensifying testing and data collection throughout Australia, already one of the most data-driven education systems in the world. One of its key recommendations is an online assessment tool to enable teachers to focus on measuring and tracking student growth and performance, across a year and between years. Teachers will be directed to access a Large store of validated assessment items and tasks in multiple learning areas, mapped across learning progression. Principals will be held accountable for ensuring students, who will be identified by a unique student identifier, achieve a years improvement every year. Scrutiny of test results and subjecting students to an assembly line of assessment items will ever-more strangle creativity and stifle critical thinking and any other element of enlightened education. This is completely in line with Perelmans view that NAPLAN should not be discarded but rather, reformulated and reimagined to promote and reinforce the curriculum and classroom teaching. According to critics, Perelman among them, NAPLAN is not aligned with the curriculum. But the curriculum will remain one that demands conformity, standardisation, testing and a rigid series of learning steps. One senior educator pointed to these issues in her question to Perelman at the conclusion of the lecture: I hate NAPLAN, she began, but am concerned that we will be replacing it with another tyranny, testing children every two weeks and creating even more spurious league tables. The unions promotion of Perelman and his report is a conscious effort to pull the wool over teachers eyes. It is posturing as a critic of a regressive regime that will shortly be replaced, with union support, by one that is even more aligned with the profit requirements of the primary stake-holders in educationedu-businesses, in the major corporate and financial sectors of the Australian and global economy. At least 18 people were crushed to death and 11 more injured on Tuesday when a portion of an under-construction flyover bridge collapsed on the busiest road of Varanasi, in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis parliamentary constituency, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). The tragedy is a further indication that government authorities and profit-seeking construction companies are endangering the safety of workers and the public as a whole. During evening peak-hour traffic, two pillars of the flyover in Varanasis Cantt area collapsed, bringing down a huge slab that crushed at least 20 vehicles, including a mini-bus, six cars and numbers of two-wheelers. According to the states highest police officer, O.P. Singh, most of the people trapped were thought to be construction workers. While the authorities claim that police and rescue teams reached the site 30 minutes after the crash, the Telegraph reported that earth movers and other heavy equipment were brought to the site at 7 p.m., roughly two hours after the tragedy. The newspaper noted that angry people denounced the governments delay in rescue operations. A First Post video showed Kailash Ram from Bhajipur, who lost three family members in the disaster, saying the government should take the responsibility because it failed to ensure that no people were around the construction site. The Hindustan Times quoted UP Engineers Association General Secretary Surjit Singh Niranjan, who blamed the district administration and the construction agency for not following safety norms. Traffic should not be allowed to move under an under-construction bridge and a proper safety net should be put in place at the construction site, he said. Official buck-passing began immediately. State government sources told NDTV that initial investigations pointed to negligence. Quoting state police sources, the Indian Express on Thursday reported that the police had sent at least five letters to the state-run Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation (UPSBC), which was in charge of the construction, since last November and registered an FIR (First Information Report) in February for traffic safety regulation breaches. UPSBC Managing Director Rajan Mittal, however, told the Express that the corporation had asked district officials and the police for traffic management during construction. There was pressure to meet the deadline but no compromise was made on quality and it would be clear during the inquiry, Mittal said. District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra rejected this claim. He told the Express: It is wrong to say that they had written to us. He repeated the police story of sending five letters to the UPSBC. But they did not [act accordingly] and that is why the FIR has been registered against them. A Hindustan Times editorial on Thursday said the section of the flyover that collapsed had been constructed in February. This suggests shoddy execution and possibly poor quality material, something that plagues many construction projects in India, it said. Projects are undertaken in haste, often before elections, are executed with little planning and with scant regard to engineering norms. Most infrastructure projects suffer from huge delays that push costs up and encourage contractors to cut corners. This causes lethal structural failures as seen in the Varanasi case and other projects. On Wednesday, to defuse the public anger, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad suspended four UPSBC officials, including Chief Project Manager KR Sudan. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, from the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP), promised more punitive action after a government-appointed investigation panel submitted its report within 48 hours. He announced meagre compensation of 500,000 rupees ($US7,369) for the kin of those killed in the incident, and 200,000 rupees for those injured. As is his usual practice in such catastrophes, BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi rushed to his Twitter account to shed crocodile tears, saying he was extremely saddened by the loss of lives. He continued: I pray that the injured recover soon. Spoke to officials and asked them to ensure all possible support to those affected. Modi has no any genuine concerns over the loss of lives. In the past, he has repeatedly posted similar condolence tweets, with some minor adjustments, but such disasters only continue. In March 2016, a half-constructed flyover collapse in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, killed more than 25 people. Referring to that tragedy, a Times of India editorial on Thursday noted: [A]n expert committee found that multiple factors such as faulty design, poor quality of raw material and lack of proper oversight contributed to the collapse. Afterwards it was recommended that the flyover be razed but two years on local shopkeepers and residents are still living with the structure that has become unstable. This story of malpractices, apathy and delay in addressing urgent safety concerns is likely being repeated too frequently for comfort. The UPSBC website claims that it has won a number of national and international awards for its Quality, Economy and Time Management with continual improvement of products and processes and its paid-up capital has grown to 150 million rupees. It has constructed bridges and flyovers in many Indian cities, as well as in Iraq, Yemen and Nepal. However, according to a Hindustan Times article on Wednesday, the UPSBC had come under investigation twice before. It quoted an unnamed public works department engineer who said the 1086-metre Chillgahat Bridge, built at a cost of 6.5 billion rupees, cracked within 13 days of its inauguration in 2010. The engineer said the UP state government had ordered an inquiry but took no action against top engineers and officers. Similarly, in 2016, a cavity developed on the Lohia Bridge in Lucknow. The UP state government constituted a four-member probe committee that indicted engineers for poor quality work, but the report was put in cold storage, a senior UPSBC engineer told the Times. Given that record, the current government investigation will most likely make no difference. The capitalist system and its political representatives do not care about human lives, just profits. For this, dozens of workers and poor people die every day in workplaces all over the country. The UPSBC website boasted: No wonder, many clients have reposed confidence in UPSBC Ltd. by repeatedly awarding work to it in the face of global competition in India and abroad. Driven by this global competition, the evidence already indicates that the corporation has resorted to cost-cutting operations, brushing aside basic safety norms, and costing the lives of workers and poor people. Thousands of people around the world are gathering today to mark the anniversary of one of the most infamous massacres of the 21st century. After 26 years of a bloody civil war, the Sri Lankan army cornered over 40,000 Tamils, including the surviving leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on Sri Lankas north-eastern Indian Ocean coast at Mullivaikal. Without giving any warning, it launched a furious artillery barrage to murder everyone trapped there. No one at Mullivaikal escaped the carnage. The military indiscriminately shelled homes, hospitals and civilians as well as bunkers where children, pregnant women and the elderly had tried to take refuge. Nearly a decade later, the Sri Lankan army is still sealing off the area, barring families of the victims from returning to grieve for their loved ones. In a gruesome ceremony broadcast live on television to terrorize the population, the Sri Lankan government brought in two LTTE turncoats to identify LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakharans remains. After they confirmed before the television cameras that the body lying in the mud was indeed Prabakharan, the army burned the corpse. Today, this massacre is remembered with horror by millions of workers in Sri LankaSinhalese, Tamil and Muslim alikeand around the world. It tragically confirmed the warnings of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka). In the former colonial countries, the capitalist ruling classes are historically incapable of creating a democratic regime or uniting the population across national and religious lines; these tasks fall to the working class, mobilized internationally in a revolutionary struggle for socialism. The Sri Lankan regime in Colombo that carried out the Mullivaikal massacre is not alone in bearing political responsibility for it: governments around the world are implicated. India, China, Pakistan and the imperialist powers all gave Colombo military and diplomatic support as it launched its final assault on the LTTE. The United States, Britain, France and Canada ignored mass protests by Tamils calling on them to intercede with the Sri Lankan government to save the innocent people trapped in Mullivaikal. With unsurpassed cynicism, then-US President Barack Obama spoke the day before the massacre to call on the LTTE to lay down their arms, protect civilians in Mullivaikal and put them first. As for the LTTE, its defeat originated first and foremost in its nationalist and separatist perspective of building a Tamil capitalist enclave in north-eastern Sri Lanka. On May 21, 2009, the World Socialist Web Site wrote: The LTTE fighters and their leadership have been massacred in cold blood by the Sri Lankan military. Sympathy for the plight of the Tamil people and for the cruel fate of fighters of the LTTE, however, must not prevent fundamental lessons from being drawn. From the outset of the civil war 26 years ago, the LTTEs armed struggle was wedded to a strategy of winning the support of one or another of the major powers for setting up a statelet in the North and East of the country. In 1987, the LTTEs support for the Indo-Lankan accord brought the Indian army into the North of Sri Lanka where it slaughtered thousands of Tamil civilians. The LTTE had agreed to subordinate itself to the Indian bourgeoisie in the vain hope that it would help it create an independent state. Over the following decades, the LTTE has appealed for imperialist backing, consistently making it clear that its aim in carving out a mini-state on the island was not the betterment of the social conditions of the masses of Tamils, but rather the creation of a capitalist economy that would provide cheap labour for international capital. The massacre of the LTTE has not, however, granted a new lease on life to the corrupt regime in Colombo. Its attempt to drown the Tamils in blood did not solve problems of poverty and ethnic strife that have bedevilled Sri Lankan capitalism ever since formal independence from Britain. Since 2009, it neither ended its anti-Tamil communal policies nor improved life in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Thousands displaced during the war still live in temporary shelters and thousands more still await compensation for the destruction of their homes. Mothers are still protesting in front of Hindu temples to demand the return of children kidnapped by the army. Instead of releasing political prisoners after the war, Colombo has arrested and tortured dozens more Tamils. None of the fundamental contradictions that led to the Sri Lankan civil war have been resolved. As IMF-dictated austerity attacks wages and social conditions and provokes growing anger, Colombo has declared a state of emergency, imposed curfews, and tacitly backed anti-Muslim riots. At the same time, workers and toiling people in Tamil-majority areas of Sri Lanka are joining a growing wave of protests and strikes across Sri Lanka and the entire Indian subcontinent against austerity and privatizations, amid a global resurgence of the class struggle. These demands will bring the working class into a revolutionary confrontation with the Colombo regime. In January 2015, a US-engineered regime-change operation ousted President Mahinda Rajapakse, installing Maithripala Sirisena as president, supposedly to bring democracy and good governance to Sri Lanka. In fact, Washington aimed to install a regime in Colombo aligned with the US pivot to Asia against China. From the beginning, the government was formed via a fraudulent political manoeuvre, with war criminals in top posts. Sirisena, who oversaw the 2009 massacre as acting defence secretary, took into his cabinet General Sarath Fonsekathe Sri Lankan Army commander who directly planned and executed the massacre. Rajapakse is today the leading bourgeois opposition politician. Since 2009, moreover, the Tamil nationalists have emerged as open tools of US imperialism. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), formed in 2001 as the LTTEs political arm, abandoned its demand for a separate state and said it would work within the Sri Lankan unitary state, again relying on intervention by the international community. On this basis, it endorsed the US-backed regime change operation and gave up its demands for the prosecution of Sri Lankan war crimes, and the release of political prisoners. This April, as he voted to support the government during a no-confidence vote in parliament, TNA chief R. Sampanthan bluntly laid out his perspective for profiting from austerity and the growing war tensions in the Indian Ocean region: We are a small country, but we are both militarily and economically very strategically located in the Indian Ocean region. We can become the economic hub of the Indian Ocean area. We can have access to wide and large markets if our economy can improve, and our economy can improve only if there is genuine peace in this country A class gulf separates Sri Lankas bourgeois factions from the opposition to imperialist war and social austerity that is rising among workers of all ethnicities, across the Indian subcontinent. The critical question is the turn to the international working class and the building of its revolutionary leadership. The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality have placed the struggle against war and communalism at the centre of their work. On the anniversary of this horrific massacre, we appeal to workers and youth in Sri Lanka and throughout the Indian subcontinent for their support. Paul Mason, who still advances himself as of the left, has confirmed his role as an advocate for British imperialism, penning a belligerent article, Futile airstrikes wont defeat Assad and Putin, in the New Statesman. Masons argument is that such missile attacks do not go far enough. Instead he advocates a programme for regime change, not only in Syria but above all in Russia, whose population he wishes to subject to cyber warfare, economic sanctions and political offensives, even if this ends up provoking war. Dismissing airstrikes against the Assad government as an inadequate and cynical gesture, Mason suggests the UK back or re-create a secular-led military opposition on the ground, starting with the Kurds of Rojava. He laments that this is not going to happen because there is no stomach for regime change wars in the West due to public opposition after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. This is a problem for Mason, who asserts, To defeat Assad you would have to engage in the kind of warfare America did in Iraq, going from house to house in the dark, killing suspected supporters of al-Qaeda, dragging their children and elderly into the dark by flashlight. You would have to bomb whats left of Syria until it looked like whats left of Gaza. And you would have to do it knowing that into the chaos you create, would move exactly the kind of jihadi groups we are trying to rid the world of. Mason, of course, frames his remarks as proof that this is not an option. But his words assume the character of a lament for what would be an effective strategyproviding only that the imperialists first create a secular-led military opposition to prevent Islamists from exploiting any power vacuum. The passage echoes the brutal tracts of Professor Jorg Baberowski of Humboldt University in Berlin. Speaking about the US-NATO wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria at the German Historical Museum in 2014, Baberowski said, If one is not willing to take hostages, burn villages, hang people and spread fear and terror, as the terrorists do, if one is not prepared to do such things, then one can never win such a conflict and it is better to keep out altogether. Baberowski is at the forefront of efforts to legitimize the remilitarizing of German imperialism, particularly through a rehabilitation of Hitler and the Third Reich. Both he and Mason have their political origins in anti-Trotskyist left tendencies: Baberowski in the Maoist KBW and Mason in the pseudo-left Workers Power. Both now spend their political lives advancing the most reactionary causes of their respective bourgeoisies. In Masons case, this centres on support for the British war drive against Russia, as one of the real powers, along with Iran, which he says control Assads war in Syria. Writing in his New Statesman article, he parrots the predatory agenda of British and American imperialism. Early this April, the World Socialist Web Site drew attention to the British governments security review, geared towards a campaign of aggression against Russia. It outlined plans, under a new Fusion Doctrine, to use all Britains means, from economic levers, through cutting-edge military resources to our wider diplomatic and cultural influence on the worlds stage to project our global influence. The BBC World Service was specially referenced as a key aspect of British soft power. As for Masons proposals, on the economic front, besides deporting and seizing the property of Putins associates in every Western country, he suggests: make it an offence for law, accountancy and financial management firms to work for Russian entities. And shut off the international SWIFT payments system to Russia. Yes, he admits, that means enforcing economic autarky on Russia and its allies and collapsing its banks. As part of waging a political fight against Putin and his United Russia Party, he argues that Britain support the Russian NGOs, political parties and cultural groups prepared to resist mafia rule; we extend BBC and other Western medias foreign language services not just to Russia and Ukraine but to Greece, Turkey, Hungary and the Balkans. We build capacity for democratic institutions across the whole of Eurasia. The reference to Eurasia is significant, following the line of former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski who described the region as the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played. Mason sees Syria as just one arena in a global strategy for British imperialism, centred on a confrontation with Russia. If enacted, these measures would throw tens of millions of Russians into social and economic turmoil. They would bring the already hostile relations between Russia and the West to breaking point. Mason cynically states that his proposals would not lead to immediate peace and harmony. They would, for a time, leave the world divided into sealed trading blocs, as in the 1930s. But if you want to throw around words like fascism and appeasement, you must also be prepared to contemplate doing what democracies in the 1930s did when they decided to stop appeasing fascism. What can possibly be referenced here besides the plunging of the world into the bloodiest war in history in pursuit of imperialist interests? This is the writing of a warmonger. Mason is articulating the prevailing foreign policy perspective within the Labour Party in particular. Mason is closely connected with Jeremy Corbyns leadership team. His suggestions regarding economic sanctions on Russians in the West and Russia itself inform speeches in the same vein given by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell to the media and Parliament this March and April. Moreover, in 2016, in the midst of a conflict within the Labour Party over the renewal of the Trident nuclear missile system, Mason weighed in to insist on the partys commitment to nuclear weapons and the NATO alliance and a more aggressive posture towards a newly aggressive and unpredictable Russia. His suggestions included establishing a clear set of conditions for using nuclear weapons and placing all the forces we can afford once weve paid for the nuclear deterrent in new, permanent non-aggressive [!] deployments to NATO forces in Europe (emphasis added). For all Corbyns personal sentiments, the true orientation of the Labour Party, and of many of those close to Corbyn, is revealed in statements like these, in which an alternative imperialist strategy is sketched out for a Labour-led Britain. To support his call to arms, Mason advances every one of the anti-Russian lines being peddled by the Conservative government and the media. He rails against the manipulation of public opinion by the Kremlin, using all the tools Google, Facebook and Twitter are prepared to hand it. Meanwhile, the European Union, we are told, is paralysed by fear of far-right political forces that Putin himself has stirred up. Putin is also said to be behind the widespread questioning of the Wests narrative on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, which served as the pretext for the US-British-French airstrikes a week later. Mason is particularly irate on this point. He even goes to the trouble of citing a source showing it is likely a regime Mi-8 helicopter dropped a gas container onto a specific building to make his point. He fails to mention that the source in question is the Bellingcat research collective, run by former Atlantic Council (a US geostrategic think tank) fellow Eliot Higgins. On this basis, scepticism towards the claims of the war-hungry establishment press, learned through many years bitter experience, is dismissed with reference to crank theories spread by the Kremlin. There is nothing but disdain shown for the working class throughout Masons article. His approach on this question, along with the attempt to paint Russia as the primary destabilising and aggressive force in world politics, flow from conceptions rooted in Masons early history in Workers Power. The group split with the state-capitalist Socialist Workers Party in the UK, but declared that the Fourth International was dead and dissolved into the Labour Party. They falsely labelled China and Russia imperialist powers following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The reactionary essence of these positions has seen Mason cross the political spectrum to an essentially neoconservative position. In doing so, he follows a well-trodden path. In the late 1930s, the intellectual progenitors of Workers Power, the Burnham and Shachtman tendency, broke with the Fourth International and refused to continue defending the Soviet Unionciting the Hitler-Stalin pact and the Soviet invasion of Finland. This reflected the outlook of a demoralised section of the petty-bourgeoisie in the process of making their peace with US imperialism on the eve of its entry into World War II. Burnham went on to become a Cold War Republican ideologue. In the contemporary pseudo-left, under conditions of a growing war threat, this rotten milieu continues to produce ideological fellow travellers of the neo-con right. In the wake of Wednesdays one-day teacher walkout in North Carolina, there is immense sentiment among rank-and-file teachers for expanding their struggle and opposition to the shutting down of the walkout by the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE). On Wednesday afternoon, teachers returning from the rally posted statements calling for a continuation of the walkout on the North Carolina Teachers United Facebook group, which more than 38,000 teachers joined in the lead-up to the walkout. A number of statements opposed the NCAEs channeling of the struggle behind the election of Democrats in the November 2018 elections. Katherine said, So are we really satisfied with waiting until November to hopefully vote in politicians that will listen? Are there planned and coordinated action steps already that havent been widely communicated? A lot of my peers feel like well now what? And certainly arent satisfied with just campaigning and waiting until November to make their votes heard. Whats the now what piece? Is there real talk of a grass roots organized labor union, and not just whispers? Another teacher, Trish, posted the comment: By November, a budget will be passed and we will have no leverage. Im disappointed that todays efforts wont continue. The North Carolina General Assembly will be laughing at us tomorrow. A section of the demonstration in Raleigh on Wednesday Penni told WSWS reporters at the state capitol in Raleigh Wednesday, I dont think one day will get anyones attention. We should go on strike until something is done. A number of teachers posted statements announcing they would be staying out of work again yesterday and calling on other teachers to do the same. While it appears that a number of teachers in Charlotte-Mecklenburg refused to return to work, the NCTU Facebook group administrators, who are closely connected to the union, worked to prevent any broader action. On Wednesday evening, the NCTU administrators published a statement demanding that teachers return to work the following day. In the past few hours, it stated, it has come to our attention, that some educators are planning to call out tomorrow as well. While we know you must do what you believe is right, the admin team of NCTU as well as CMAE [the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators teachers union] do not endorse this action. Plans must be deliberate, precise, and calculated when dealing with such a multi-faceted situation. May 16th was the start of a battle that will continue into November, and possibly beyond. The NCEA and NCTU called Wednesdays rally as a means of letting off steam among discontented educators and preventing a statewide strike, while channeling teachers opposition behind the dead end of electing Democrats. In North Carolina, the NCAE invited Democratic Governor Roy Cooper to address the Wednesday rally and declare his solidarity with the teachers, while NCAE President Mark Jewell called on teachers to make sure that Coopers friends were elected in November. It was Democratic Governor Bev Perdue, however, who slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in public education spending in 2009 and ordered a 0.5 percent wage cut for all teachers in 2011. These attacks were continued under Perdues Republican successor, Patrick McCrory. The unions have played the same role in isolating and betraying all the strikes by teachers that have erupted since February across the US, including in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona and Colorado. In each case, the unions have worked to prevent any linking up of the strikes across state borders and shut down the struggles without achieving any of teachers main demands. In every case, the unions insisted that the only way to defend teachers conditions is to remember in November and elect Democrats. The unions have depended upon pro-union front groups, organized via Facebook, including Arizona Educators United, Oklahoma Teachers United, and North Carolina Teachers United, to shut down the strikes. Tens of thousands of teachers joined these groups because they had no confidence that the unions would organize a struggle in defense of their interests, but the group administrators have worked to keep teachers tied to the unions and the Democratic Party. The unions were all the more determined to prevent the expansion of the walkout in North Carolina because teachers in South Carolina are set to rally this Saturday in the state capital of Columbia to demand increased school funding. While teachers returned to work yesterday, none of the conditions that gave rise to the walkout have been resolved. Wendy, who has taught in North Carolina for a decade, described the conditions in her classroom in comments to the WSWS. Ive seen letters to inform parents of asbestos in the ceiling, and mold issues, broken furniture, leaking ceilings, she said. We have had bad smells coming from the ventilation system. What concerns me is the increase in student population in my county and the size of the classroom ensure overcrowding. We were just informed that our upcoming fifth graders will be super big so plan on having over 30 kids in a class. Another concern is supplies and the constant need of paper, pencils, markers, crayons, glue, tissues, Clorox wipes, dry erase markers, post-it notes. We usually get some from our school but really not enough. Parents donate to our wish list. With our renovation we have asked for new student desks. The ones we have are the ones the school had back in the 90s. A lot are worn down, broken, wobbly, and unsafe. One of the concerns at my school is funding for more counselors, social workers and teacher assistants. The role of the national teachers unionsthe American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA)in shutting down the strikes is an expression of the basic political function of the unions, which act not to defend conditions of workers, but as labor-management businesses, to impose cuts on behalf of the government and corporations and suppress workers opposition. In the ongoing Janus vs. AFSCME Supreme Court case, which will decide on whether to eliminate compulsory union agency fees for public employees, the unions have openly stated that the trade-off for such fees is no strikes, i.e., that the role of the unions is to suppress the outbreak of struggles by workers. Speaking on May 16 in Los Angeles at a panel before the 2018 Education Writers Association, NEA president Lily Garcia, who has an annual salary of over $370,000, warned the court judges that any attacks on the unions would only undermine their ability to suppress strikes. The NEAs website, which reported on the event, declared: The question for the Court is whether it would rather see the power of those unions at the bargaining table in a controlled form or in the streets of state capitals. The shutting down of the strike in North Carolina underscores the necessity for teachers to take the struggle into their own hands by electing rank-and-file committees in every school and community, completely independent of the strikebreaking unions. In rambling answers to journalists in Washington yesterday, US President Donald Trump responded to North Koreas warning on Monday that its leader Kim Jong-un could pull out of the planned June 12 summit between them. Echoing his threats last year to totally destroy North Korea, Trump implied that the country would face total decimation if no agreement is reached to end its nuclear weapons program. Trump repeatedly blamed China and its president, Xi Jinping, for the renewed tensions with North Korea. He asserted: I have a feeling for various reasons, maybe including trade it could be very well that hes influencing Kim Jong-un. Well see what happens The president of China, President Xi, could be influencing Kim Jong-un. The North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) statement on Monday denounced the joint US-South Korean air force exercise Max Thunder as a provocation against its offer of talks on giving up its small arsenal of nuclear weapons. It declared that the military operations were part of the Trump administrations maximum pressure and sanctions policy and were unacceptable to Pyongyang. The KCNA said North Korea was suspending further talks with South Korea and warned that Washington would have to carefully contemplate its conduct if it wanted the Trump-Kim summit to go ahead. The statement was a clear declaration that North Korea wants less categorical terms than complete denuclearisation before the US and its allies end economic sanctions and their constant military threats. Throughout the week, the Trump administration downplayed North Koreas reaction and insisted that preparations for the summit are proceeding and the US was not altering its demands. Trump stated yesterday: Nothing has changed on North Korea that we know of. We have not been told anything But well see what happens. If the meeting happens, it happens. And if it doesnt, we go on to the next step. The only next step that the Trump administration has until now publicly contemplated is war. Trump repeated the ultimatum yesterday, declaring that, without unconditional denuclearisation by North Korea, were going to have a problem because we cannot let that country have nukes. While issuing his threats, Trump, in his own crude fashion, indicated that the US and South Korea are offering major incentives to the North Korean regime. Washingtons preferred perspective is not North Koreas destruction, but its transformation into an American client state that undermines Chinese strategic and military interests in East Asia. The US agenda emerged into the open when journalists asked Trump about his national security advisor John Boltons recent statement that US plans for North Korea are based on the Libyan model. In the December 2003 pact between the Bush administration and the Libyan regime, Muammar Gaddafi agreed to give up Libyas chemical and nuclear weapons programs in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions and a guarantee it would not be attacked. Libya faithfully abided by the agreement. Less than eight years after it was signed, however, the US and European imperialist powers instigated a civil war against Gaddafi and launched a devastating air war in March 2011 to overthrow his government. Gaddafi was hunted down and brutally murdered by pro-imperialist rebels on October 20, 2011. Trump stated yesterday: The Libyan model isnt a model we have at all, when were thinking of North Korea. In Libya, we decimated that country There was no deal to keep Gaddafi. A deal with North Korea, he claimed, would be different. It would be with Kim Jong-un. Something where hed be there, hed be in his country, hed be running his country. His country would be very rich this would be, really, a South Korean model in terms of their industry. Peace on US and South Korean terms could see the North Korean regime remain intact, but give up its nuclear weapons and open up the North to capitalist investment. The border would remain sealed, with most of the population blocked from entering the South. The Norths working class would be offered up as brutally exploited and repressed cheap labour in special economic zones for South Korean and other corporations. The ruling clique, headed by Kim Jong-un and his family, would enrich itself as the corrupt joint owners of capitalist operations, as its Stalinist counterparts did in China and Vietnam. China would face the continued basing of substantial US military forces in South Korea and Japan, including anti-missile systems that are part of the US strategy for launching a nuclear first strike in the event of war with Beijing. The highly-militarised North Korean state could become a pro-US threat on Chinas northern border, instead of serving as a buffer, as it has since the end of the 195053 Korean War. Trump concluded with a chilling threat of what would happen if the North Korean regime rejects the offer that his administration and the South Korean ruling class has put on the table. If you look at the model with Gaddafi, he blustered, that was total decimation. We went in there to beat him. Now that model would take place if we dont make a deal most likely [with North Korea]. But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy. [emphasis added] The Chinese regime is without any question seeking to cajole North Korea, with which it has a formal military alliance, not to flip into the US sphere of influence at its geostrategic expense. Two summits have been held between Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un over the past month, along with other high-level talks. China has ample capacity to offer Pyongyang economic benefits, while also making threats of intervention if its interests are compromised. China has substantial influence within the North Korean regime and military apparatus. A real possibility is that Pyongyangs suspension of talks with South Korea this week reflects sharp divisions within its ruling clique, and an implicit threat to Kim Jong-un and his inner circle of a Chinese-backed coup if they proceed towards a rapprochement with Washington. The North Korean rhetoric suggests that the June 12 summit will not take place unless the Trump administration waters down its own rhetoric over denuclearisation. On Tuesday, North Korean Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan declared that possession of nuclear weapons meant the world knows too well that our country is neither Libya nor Iraq, which have met a miserable fate. Talks with South Korea and Washington, Kim stated, would not continue if the US is trying to drive us into a corner and force our unilateral nuclear abandonment. Any retreat by Trump, however, would trigger furious condemnations and accusations of appeasement in the American political and media establishment. It would further fuel the efforts by his ruling-class opponents to bring down his administration. A volatile and dangerous diplomatic and military standoff has developed. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Avec ou sans sinstrap, Georgia se defend contre les allegations et est un cabinet de relations publiques EFE / EPA... EU takes Germany, UK and others to court over air pollution EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella addresses a press conference on protecting citizens from air pollution in Brussels AFP, Brussels : The European Commission said Thursday it is taking Germany, France, the United Kingdom and three other EU countries to court for failing to comply with the bloc's air quality standards. The Commission, the European Union's executive arm, gave the six, also including Italy, Hungary and Romania, a last chance in January to take the required steps to improve air quality after years of warnings. However, EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella told a press conference in Brussels the six, which include Europe's top four economies, had not acted quickly enough. "The commission had to conclude that ... that the additional measures proposed are not sufficient to comply with air quality standards as soon as possible, and therefore are being referred to court," Vella said. "We cannot wait any longer," Vella said, warning that Brussels may end up waiting several more years before the countries put measures in place. Vella had also given Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia a last chance in January to start complying with EU standards and decided to give them a reprieve. "The measures that are planned or being put in place appear to be able to tackle (exceeded limits) if they are fully and immediately implemented," Vella said. But he warned the commission was keeping the three under review. In January, the nine countries were found to regularly exceed emissions limits set to protect Europeans against particulate matter and azote dioxide, both pollutants. The EU estimates that air pollution costs the bloc 20 billion euros ($24.7 billion) a year in health costs, but says this could be reduced if member states comply with agreed emissions limits. Throughout the EU, fine particulates-small particles of pollution-were responsible for three out of four premature pollution deaths (399,000 out of 487,600) in 2014, according to EU figures. The commission has been urging the wayward member countries to establish incentives for the transport, energy and agricultural sector as well as improve urban planning and building design. The European Environmental Bureau, an umbrella grouping of environmental activists, has described the nine countries summoned in January as a "toxic bloc". Stacey says she and her husband, Kevin Esterly, met Amy Yu at church eight years ago when the young girl was 8 or 9 years old. Stacey says Yu became close friends with the Esterlys daughter, and Amy started spending so much time with their family, Stacey considered her a fifth daughter. Stacey says she and Kevin became parental figures in Amys life, and she even referred to them as Mom and Dad. TELL DR. PHIL YOUR STORY: Inappropriate Relationship? From the moment we met, her she was very clingy. I felt that she was crying out for attention, Stacey claims of Amy, who lives with her mother and brother and whose father lives in China. But Stacey says her relationship with Amy changed eight months ago. I expressed my concern that I didnt want Amy around, because [Kevin] had made a schedule and presented it to her mother, Stacey tells Dr. Phil in an exclusive interview airing Thursday. She explains that the schedule had Amy spending almost every night with the Esterly family, whether at church or the Esterly home. There was a turning point on why he wanted her around all the time, she continues. The girls even approached Kevin and said, Dad, when Amys around, you dont play with us. WATCH: Woman Admits She Was Jealous Of Husbands Relationship With Their Daughters 16-Year-Old Friend In March 2018, Kevin and Amy ran away together, leading to an international investigation. Police arrested Kevin at a resort in Mexico and claimed he and Amy carried on a secretive relationship for months before running away together. Kevin is currently being held in jail on $500,000 bail. He is charged with interfering with the custody of a child. On Thursdays episode, hear more from Stacey. What did she suspect? And, she speaks out about the lies and betrayal by her husband of almost 14 years. Check here to see where you can watch. TELL DR. PHIL YOUR STORY: Are you involved in a story that has made the headlines? Facebook Conversation Woman Claims Her 45-Year-Old Husband Had With 16-Year-Old Piers Morgan Thumps Trump Over Texas School Shooting Tweet: Your Prayers Dont Seem to Be Stopping Deranged Kids Donald Trump was off-mark with his reaction to Fridays school shooting in Texas, as far as Piers Morgan is concerned. British media personality and gun-control advocate Morgan tore into Trump Friday morning for his tweet regarding the deadly school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. In an acid-toned tweet, Morgan informed Trump that his prayers dont seem to be stopping the rash of school shootings plaguing America. Also Read:Piers Morgan Blasts Holes in the NRA's 'Enough Laws' Tweet School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Trump tweeted Friday morning. Your prayers dont seem to be stopping deranged kids shooting up your schools, Mr President @realDonaldTrump, Morgan replied. How about making it harder for them to get their hands on guns? In an earlier tweet, Morgan wrote, America going straight into thoughts & prayers Groundhog Day mode after yet another mass school shooting. There have been 200+ since Sandy Hook & NOTHING has been done to stop them. I dont know what to say anymore. The USA cares more about gun rights than kids being murdered. Also Read:Piers Morgan Rips Trump's 'Gutless Surrender to the NRA': 'Weak, Spineless Stooge' According to CNN, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Friday that at least eight people have died in the shooting at Santa Fe High School. A suspect in the shooting, who is thought to be a student, has been arrested, while a second person, also thought to be a suspect, has also been detained, Gonzalez added. While The Celebrity Apprentice alum Morgan has been criticized for appearing to go easy on Trump, Friday was far from the first time that Morgan has lashed out at Trump over the topic of gun violence. Also Read:Donald Trump Butt-Sniffing Pic Makes Piers Morgan Fume on Twitter Following Februarys school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, Morgan lashed out at Trump for what he perceived to be the presidents inaction. Story continues Three of the 10 worst mass shootings in American history have happened in your 1st year, Mr President @realDonaldTrump, Morgan tweeted at the time. What are you going to do about it? Your prayers dont seem to be stopping deranged kids shooting up your schools, Mr President @realDonaldTrump. How about making it harder for them to get their hands on guns? https://t.co/0Oo8jujwBS Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 18, 2018 America going straight into thoughts & prayers Groundhog Day mode after yet another mass school shooting. There have been 200+ since Sandy Hook & NOTHING has been done to stop them. I dont know what to say anymore. The USA cares more about gun rights than kids being murdered. pic.twitter.com/XLXGiA5IWj Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 18, 2018 Related Video: Who is the Suspected Texas School Shooter? Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View. Related stories from TheWrap: Piers Morgan on the Gender Wage Gap: 'I Don't Understand Why Men Are Taking Pay Cuts' Piers Morgan Slams 'Brazenly Disrespectful' Catholic-Themed Met Gala Piers Morgan Rips JK Rowling Over 'Elitist, Superior, Arrogant' Brexit Tweet With just days to go before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot and the American bride becomes the newest member of the British royal family, many are speculating how the couple will carry on the late Princess Diana's legacy as a couple. Harry's mother, a humanitarian known to the world as "the People's Princess," died in a car crash in 1997 at just 36 years old. She left behind a rich legacy of humanitarian and advocacy work and is widely admired for alleviating the stigma surrounding AIDS when photos of her shaking hands with AIDS patients were published by the media. PHOTO: Princess Diana visits patients suffering from AIDS at the Hospital Universidade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 25, 1991. (Tim Graham/Getty Images, FILE) "Diana blew out of the water all those prejudices with one small action," ABC News' royal contributor Victoria Murphy said. "There is no question that Meghan and Harry will champion causes that may be controversial ... in exactly the same way as Princess Diana did." India Hicks, who was one of Princess Diana's bridesmaids in 1981 when the late princess married Charles Spencer, said that she sees the same passion Diana had for humanitarian work in her soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Markle. "We see that in Meghan, that she has this passion as well," Hicks told ABC News. "Thank goodness, it's brilliant." "And I think if she can go on and follow somewhat in Diana's steps of being able to get the world to watch her, to follow her, and to learn from her, would be exceptional," Hicks added. Markle, a U.N. advocate for women, has already demonstrated her passion for humanitarian work, and a close friend of Markle said that this bond is how Markle and Harry initially fell in love. "One of the things that really attracted Harry to her was what she's like on the inside," Murphy said. "Meghan is someone who, like Diana, is so strong-willed in her beliefs, who leads with the heart, who isn't afraid to speak her mind." PHOTO: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend a reception at Australia House in London, April 21, 2018. (Alastair Grant, Pool via AP, FILE) The former private secretary to the late Princess Diana, Patrick Jephson said, that like Diana, Markle is already breaking down barriers within the British monarchy. Story continues "Meghan has this remarkable story of her own success ... and her diverse background," he said. "All of these things will help continue to make the monarchy relevant." PHOTO: Princess Diana arrives at the Serpentine Gallery, in a gown by Christina Stambolian, in London, June 1994. (Jayne Fincher/Getty Images, FILE) Even Harry said he think his late mother would've gotten along well with Markle. "Oh they'd be thick as thieves, without question. I think she would be over the moon," Harry said in an interview with the BBC shortly after the couple announced their engagement. He added that he thinks his mom "would have probably been best friends ... best friends with Meghan." Markle added she thinks, "she's with us." Kachin civilians flee Myanmar`s `forgotten war` Civilians in Kachin State, Burma, fleeing fighting in the Injangyang area. AFP, Danai : Seng Moon grabbed her day-old baby and fled into the thick jungle, joining thousands of villagers escaping fighting between ethnic Kachin rebels and Myanmar's army, now reinforced by a unit notorious for its brutal "clearance" operations. The insurgency in Myanmar's remote northeast has festered for six decades, but unlike the Rohingya crisis in the far west of the country, it has garnered few global headlines. Fighting has surged dramatically this year, displacing 20,000 people since January, adding to the legions already uprooted by one of the world's longest-running civil wars. Often called the "forgotten war", the Kachin conflict is a messy struggle over autonomy, ethnic identity, drugs, jade and other natural resources between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar state. On April 11, with the sound of gunfire and fighter jets closing in, the villagers of Danai township sought refuge in their paddy fields. Three days later shells started falling on their village and leaders took the decision for the 2,000 inhabitants to flee. Seng Moon, 22, had given birth to her daughter only the day before. "I was still bleeding (from the birth) and I felt like I was dying," she told AFP at a camp in Danai town. "It was so difficult and we had to cross a river." For the group that included many young children, as well as the sick and elderly, progress through the arduous jungle terrain was slow. But they were lucky to encounter local elephant handlers-known as mahouts-who helped ferry the most vulnerable across a chest-deep river to a displacement camp in the grounds of a small, wooden church. Ethnic Kachin are mainly Christians in a nation that is overwhelmingly Buddhist. International focus has been on the crisis in Rakhine state, from where some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have been driven into Bangladesh by a relentless military campaign the UN says amounted to "ethnic cleansing". An army unit accused of atrocities against the Rohingya-the 33rd Light Infantry Division-has now been redeployed to Kachin. While the scale of violence in Kachin does not match operations against the Rohingya, experts say the deployment of the unit is an ominous sign for civilians. "Yes, they are here," Kachin state minister for security and border affairs, Colonel Thura Myo Tin, told AFP without giving any further details about their mission. Human Rights Watch accuses the unit of "multiple massacres" in northern Rakhine while Amnesty International has recorded "violations" against civilians on previous missions to Kachin. "Kachin civilians... have little hope of divisions like these changing their behaviour," HRW Myanmar researcher Rich Weir said. The insurgency in the northeast is one of two dozen ethnic minority rebellions that have plagued Myanmar since independence from British colonial rule in 1948. In a sudden turn, North Korea early today bombarded both the United States and South Korea with criticism linked to comments by President Donald Trump and ongoing military drills. North Korea surprised Seoul with a message around midnight that it intends to postpone indefinitely high-level talks that were scheduled for today. South Korea's Defense Ministry responded by saying the Max Thunder training would continue as scheduled, while the Unification Ministry said in a statement the North's message was "regrettable." PHOTO: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, April 27, 2018. (Korea Summit Press via Rex/Shutterstock) With its latest announcement, North Korea "has again shot itself in the foot, this time on the cusp of a historic meeting with the U.S. president which could have ended the Korean War and eased its diplomatic isolation, senior research fellow Bruce Klinger of the Heritage Foundation said today at a forum at the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul. "North Korea returned to acting like the belligerent regime of six months ago by canceling an inter-Korean meeting planned for today and threatening to suspend its summit with President Trump," Klinger added. "Pyongyang knew of the long-planned U.S.-South Korean military exercises that it cites as justification for its abrupt actions. Indeed, Kim Jong Un had dismissed the exercises as a concern during his meeting with a senior South Korean delegation in February. "North Korea is back to its old game of trying to raise the stakes prior to a meeting. But Kim risks undermining the goodwill he had built up through his diplomatic outreach since January." North Korea earlier threatened to pull out of a planned summit with the United States if Trump or officials demanded a "unilateral" abandonment of its nuclear arsenal, driving Kim Jong Un's nation "into a corner." President Donald Trump, right, looks toward his national security adviser John Bolton, left, and economic adviser Larry Kudlow, center, during a working lunch with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Palm Beach, Fla., April 18, 2018. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters, FILE) "The U.S. is miscalculating the magnanimity and broad-minded initiatives of the DPRK as signs of weakness and trying to embellish and advertise as if these are the product of its sanctions and pressure," Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's first vice minister for foreign affairs and former nuclear-program negotiator, said. Story continues Kim Kye Gwan accused "high-ranking officials of the White House and the Department of State" of "provoking" them with "unbridled remarks." He also took aim at John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser. Bolton recently said the administration is considering a roadmap for North Korea similar to Libya. "The implementation of the decision means getting rid of all the nuclear weapons, dismantling them, taking them to Oak Ridge, Tennessee," Bolton said Sunday on ABC News' "This Week." "It means getting rid of the uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing capabilities." North Korea's statement was "very aggressive" -- too aggressive to be regarded as "just a symbolic gesture or just a hint to the U.S. saying you guys need to slow down," Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic International Studies, said. PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at the Peace House on Joint Security Area (JSA) on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, April 27, 2018 (Korea Summit Press/Rex via Shutterstock) If this is a calculation by Kim Jong Un to gain leverage in the upcoming talks with President Trump," Terry said today at the leadership conference in Seoul. "I think he might be miscalculating pouring cold water." Analysts who track North Korea said the nation was sensitive to the Libya comparison, especially after what happened to that country's deposed leadership. Bolton has previously said it would be "perfectly legitimate" to carry out a preemptive strike on North Korea. His appointment in March raised concerns among those in favor of reconciliation. North Korea threatens to withdraw from summit with Trump China urges North Korea to proceed Trump summit amid threats The North Koreans also appear sensitive to recent comments by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about economic opportunities available to the North if they denuclearize, according to Jung H. Pak, the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "They are annoyed and irritated about the supposed carrot that we're throwing out there they didnt even ask for," Pak said today at the leadership conference in Seoul. "It portrays them as a supplicant rather than equal negotiating partner that they want." Still, this sudden turn by Pyongyang, especially after Kim Jong Un just stepped foot in South Korea, shows the North's frustration at U.S. posturing and the ongoing military drills. PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House, April 27, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) The North had no choice but to put a stop to the inter-Korean high-level talks, blaming that South, which is "completely responsible" for "playing around in madness" when relations potentially had been heading toward peace, according to North Korean state news agency KCNA. The South's Unification Ministry said in a statement, "It is regrettable that North unilaterally put off the inter-Korean high-level talks on the grounds of annual air-combat drills," adding that it would send a notice to the North today, perhaps to reschedule talks. It was unclear exactly what message would be included. Max Thunder is a two-week long annual joint military exercise featuring dozens of U.S. and South Korean aircraft. It was postponed from earlier this year because of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. ABC News' Hakyung Kate Lee, Jaesang Lee and Jiweon Park contributed to this report. When a new alumnae of Kent State University attempted to challenge the schools gun rules through a graduation photo of herself touting a AR-10 on campus, it was hard for many not to see it as a sign of disrespect against the 4 student protesters that had been gunned down in the infamous Kent State shootings that occurred 48 years before. Kaitlin Bennett shared a staged photo of herself on Monday with a rifle slung over her back and a graduation cap decorated with the words, come and take it. The graduation photoshoot is a reference to the schools deadly weapons policy, which prohibits students, staff, and "third parties doing business with the university" from "possessing, storing, or using a deadly weapon" on campus. Visitors are also explicitly prohibited from possessing, storing, or using deadly weapons inside university buildings, vehicles, and facilities, but are not prohibited from doing so while outside on university grounds. Ohio is an open-carry state. The image that went viral on Twitter includes the caption, "Now that I graduated from @KentState, I can finally arm myself on campus. I should have been able to do so as a student- especially since 4 unarmed students were shot and killed by the government on this campus. #CampusCarryNow" Since her action, she says she has received death threats for championing her pro-gun beliefs, but, the 22-year-old told Teen Vogue she hopes people will consider having a respectful conversation with her for holding what many see as an unpopular point of view. I wasn't expecting the outrage, straight-out death threats, Kaitlin told Teen Vogue. They told me they would kill me. They told me they're going to find me; they've told me to commit suicide. I assumed people would say, oh, this girl needs to be punched, but not messaging me saying I want to kill you or I will kill you, and that's crazy. Story continues The Kent State shooting referenced in Kaitlins tweet occurred on May 4, 1970, when four students were killed by the Ohio National Guard during a protest over President Richard Nixon's announcement that the U.S. would invade Cambodia as part of the Vietnam War. The students were running away as the National Guard shot into the crowd, killing four and injuring others. On Twitter, some called the reference tasteless and very disrespectful. Kaitlin told Teen Vogue that she referenced the shooting because she believes the Second Amendment can be used defensively to prevent a tyrannical government. I'm anti-war, so I may have been on that side with them, Kaitlin told Teen Vogue. The fact that the government got called in because they were protesting and shot themit's actually absurd. If that [does] not scream tyrannical government, I don't know what does. I think the government knowing that citizens are armed makes them less likely to go in and infringe on our rights. While some students like Kaitlin feel safer with campus carry laws, placing the burden on students to stop a threat raises questions over the argument that a "good guy with a gun" could prevent violence. Research has shown that guns are more likely to create intentionally or unintentionally "bad guys" out of the good guys who have them, according to ABC News. In a statement provided to Teen Vogue, Kent State University said its gun policy was decided by the Board of Trustees and added that the school was recently ranked the safest big college campus in Ohio and 25th safest in the country, according to the National Council for Home Safety and Security. The university has a full-time, certified police force of more than 30 sworn officers who protect the campus. These officers are visible, well-trained and on duty 24/7 in support of students, staff and faculty. While at Kent University, Kaitlin founded a student organization branch of Liberty Hangout, a self-described libertarian media outlet that often posts provocative right-wing memes. She found herself in the national media spotlight after resigning as the campus president for Turning Point USA in 2017 after leading a controversial protest against safe spaces where members of the chapter dressed up wearing diapers, according to Talking Points Memo. Kaitlin said she has no apologies for her graduation photos, and she said her family was fully supportive of the decision. In the future, Kaitlin told Teen Vogue she plans to use her biology degree to do research at local zoos or aquariums. No matter where she goes, she said she plans to remain politically active. Nobody's going to remember an activist with a clipboard; they're going to remember activists who go out there, do something crazy and make a point from it, Kaitlin told Teen Vogue. That's kind of like what I did with my picture. No one's going to remember if I just had a cap on that said come and take it, but they're going to remember my rifle. Get the Teen Vogue Take. Sign up for the Teen Vogue weekly email. Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: A Womens College Commencement Speaker Is Facing Backlash for Her Comments on #MeToo Photo: Olivier Douliery/Pool/Getty Images. Once upon a time, before she was betrothed to Prince Harry, one Rachel Meghan Markle was very politically outspoken, posting Instagrams in support of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run. But as a new member of the Royal Family, the soon-to-be Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales must abide by royal protocol. This means no leg-crossing, no garishly bright nail polish, and absolutely positively no expressing of her clear disdain for Donald Trump. The U.K. Parliament website reads, Although not prohibited by law, it is considered unconstitutional for the Monarch to vote in an election. This goes for the rest of the family. Additionally, they are strongly discouraged from voicing their political opinions. Still, experts say that no amount of fascinators or nude pantyhose will (completely) hide Markle's real convictions. "Members of the Royal Family try to stay neutral about controversial and political topics, but Meghan has already brought up the Me Too movement during a talk since becoming engaged to Prince Harry," Anne Chertoff, a royal expert and WeddingWire trend analyst, told Refinery29. During a panel in February, Markle said, "Right now, with so many campaigns like Me Too and Times Up, theres no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them." Chertoff added that she doesn't think Markle will be as vocal as she has been in the past, especially now that she's deleted all of her social media and said goodbye to her lifestyle blog The Tig, but she still won't shy away from topics she feels passionate about similarly to how Princess Diana took on "controversial" topics in the '80s and '90s, including AIDS and minefields in Africa. Celebrity wedding planner Mindy Weiss told Refinery29 that she thinks Markle's fearless candor is what Harry loves about her. "Part of the attraction to Meghan for Harry is she's got Diana in her. She's not afraid and she's powerful in her beliefs. I don't think that's something she's going to hide because she's marrying him," she said. Story continues Part of the attraction to Meghan for Harry is she's got Diana in her. She's not afraid and she's powerful in her beliefs. While Markle may remain an outspoken feminist, she (probably) won't be making any more statements about Donald Trump, Brexit, or being #WithHer. So let's pour one out for all the times she made comments that would definitely ruffle a few royal feathers now. That time she encouraged her followers to vote. "Exercise your right to vote sadly, not everyone in this world has it, so if you do, please let your voice be heard," she wrote on Instagram in September 2016. That time she posted #ImWithHer. During the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, Markle posted a photo of Hillary Clinton along with the hashtag #ImWithHer. That time she posted an anti-Brexit Instagram. The Wayback Machine never lies! Soon after the Brexit vote in June 2016, Markle posted an image of a protest sign that reads, If EU leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me. That time she called Donald Trump "divisive" and "misogynistic." During an appearance on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore in May 2016, she said she would move to Canada if Trump were elected president (in reality, she ended up moving even further). "It's really the moment I go; we film Suits in Toronto and I might just stay in Canada," she said. "Yes, of course, Trump is divisive, think about female voters alone, right? I think it was in 2012 the Republican Party lost the female vote by 12 points; that is a huge number and with as misogynistic as Trump is, and so vocal about it, that is a huge chunk of it." She added, "You're not just voting for a woman if it's Hillary because she's a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don't really want that kind of world that he's painting." Markle also reportedly avoided Trump when she worked as a briefcase model on Deal Or No Deal and he was being "super-creepy" to the women according to one of her coworkers. That time she was pumped to sit close to Hillary Clinton. At the United Nations Women's Conference in Beijing in 2015, where Markle made a speech, she wrote that she was "excited" to sit so close to Clinton. That time she wrote a letter to Hillary Clinton when she was 11 years old. After seeing a sexist ad for dishwashing liquid, Markle wrote a letter to several prominent women including Clinton, who was first lady at the time. She even got a response from Clinton. At the 2015 UN Women's conference, Markle told the story: "The soap manufacturer Procter & Gamble changed the commercial for their ivory clear dishwashing liquid. They changed it from 'Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans' to 'People all over America.' It was at that moment that I realized the magnitude of my actions. At the age of 11, I had created my small level of impact by standing up for equality." While it's safe to say that Markle won't be making political waves on social media as princess, she has said she's excited that her royal status will give her a platform for her philanthropic pursuits. She has done meaningful work around menstrual health and other gender-equality issues around the world, and we look forward to seeing her use the Royal Crown for good. Still, we can't help but hope that one day she might slip up and tear into Trump or at least paint on some hot-pink nail polish. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? Why We Keep Coming Back To The Onion's Satirical Article On Mass Shootings After Santa Fe, These Texas Politicians' Hypocrisy Is Glaringly Obvious GOP Candidate Films Herself Harassing A Transgender Woman Weird New Details About The Death Of Blac Chyna's Former Assistant And Why Her Family Is Suing Blac Chynas assistant died Wednesday after being taken off of life support, and her family is suing the entrepreneur. Chynas longtime assistant, Lorena Patty Hernandez, suffered a brain hemorrhage in January 2016 while at Chynas Lashed Salon in Encino, The Blast reports. She was rushed to the hospital but the brain bleed caused her to slip into a coma. RELATED: New Details About The Snapchat Video That Has Fans Thinking Blac Chyna Bleached Her Skin Hernandez showed signs of recovery but her condition quickly worsened after two more brain hemorrhages. She was left brain dead May 14. Her family decided it was best to take her off of life support. Hernandezs husband made the decision to donate her organs after she died. The source explained that her organs were completely healthy and her husband wanted them donated so that she can give the gift of life to other families. Now, Hernandezs husband is getting ready to file suit against Chyna for abusing his wife and not providing the compensation she needed after her health declined. He didnt go into detail about the abuse his wife allegedly suffered. Remember when the news broke and she said she was helping [Hernandez] and she was helping the kids and everything? She never did, a source close to Hernandez told Page Six. Chyna had previously stated she would help her assistant out by taking care of her three children but the source claims she didnt follow through. RELATED: Who Is YBN Almighty Jay? New Details About Blac Chyna's Baby Daddy Who's Only 18 I mean all she pretty much did was spread the word and reach out to her baby daddies, so she felt like, Thats how I helped, the source continued. The rappers baby daddies did start a GoFundMe page for her medical expenses. Rob Kardashian donated $10,000 and Tyga gave $5,000 to help pay for all of Hernandezs medical bills, according to Page Six. The source also told the outlet that Chyna never even visited Hernandez in the hospital. Story continues .@BLACCHYNA may face a wrongful death lawsuit following longtime assistant's recent passing. https://t.co/5rUdalk9N1 pic.twitter.com/heEoTJAaxu Perez Hilton (@PerezHilton) May 18, 2018 [Chyna] has never ever been [to the hospital], the source claimed. She was only there the first day when they found her at Lashed, but the only reason she came to the hospital was to tell the doctors and everyone not to give out any information to anybody. When I got there they didnt even want to give me information because she gave them the order not to say anything. After that, she never came back." The source said that Chyna did reach out to try to work something out, but the lawyers said not to go along with it and just to let them handle everything. So I guess she just got really upset and called and she was just being horrible. Page Six reached out to Chynas attorney Walter Mosley, who had no comment. One of Chynas longtime friends told Hollywood Life that Chyna would never do such a thing and was heartbroken over recent events involving her assistant. Blac Chyna is heartbroken over Pattys death, she loved her, the friend said. She was so close to Patty and her kids and did everything she could to help so its just crazy to her that people would be trying to put blame on her. The rumors of the lawsuit and the anger being directed towards her right now are a total shock to Chyna. She genuinely doesnt understand how or why this could possibly be blamed on her. Shes praying for Pattys family and praying this nasty rumor about them suing her doesnt come to pass. RELATED: New Video Shows Blac Chyna Attempting To Attack Someone At Six Flags With A Stroller Because They Tried To Touch Baby Dream Keywords: abuse, Rob kardashian, tyga, blac chyna read more When 13 Reasons Why premiered on Netflix in March 2017, it immediately sparked debate for its depiction of teen suicide and related mental health issues. Produced by Selena Gomez and based on the popular book by Jay Asher, the 13-episode first season of the Netflix original included often disturbingly realistic portrayals of sexual assault, underage drinking, drug use and suicide. Soon after its release, it became 2017s most tweeted-about show, sparking more than 11 million mentions. Critics were particularly concerned about the possibility that some would receive its depiction of suicide as glamorized; of its potential to inspire copycat acts; and of its lack of discussion of the causes and symptoms of mental health challenges. Many also pointed to its failure to show mental health resources, including therapy, that the characters might have accessed for support. With Season 2 of 13 Reasons Why set to premiere on May 18, Netflix has been preparing to get ahead of the conversation and potential controversy by providing a number of resources related to the serious subjects the show explores. I truly believe that all conversation is good, creator Brian Yorkey told USA Today in an interview earlier this week. But in the bigger picture, positive or negative, there were really intense conversations happening, and many of them were not happening before the show. You cant have that kind of impact without some real polarity in the opinions, and Im grateful for all of it. The first change Netflix has made for Season 2 of 13 Reasons Why is having cast members, including Dylan Minnette and Katherine Langford, provide a public service announcement that introduces new episodes with a warning about the shows potentially triggering subject matter and directing viewers to appropriate resources to seek help. Those resources include a standalone website with links to the Crisis Text Line, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and other sites that offer support for bullying, anxiety, depression and substance abuse prevention. The associated messaging includes a disclaimer that 13 Reasons Why is not for everyone. If you are struggling with these issues yourself, this series may not be right for you, or you may want to watch it with a trusted adult, says actress Alisha Boe in one of the clips. Story continues Netflix has also prepared a discussion guide in PDF format. It includes tips on re-watching the first season with particular attention paid to moments some might consider problematic. (Discuss what might be amplified for dramatic emphasis, goes one prompt.) The guide also defines things like depression, sexual assault and bullying and explains why the characters behaviors dont always exemplify the best ways in which to handle these. Its important to know that suicide is known to be a tragic but often preventable health outcome, the guide says. It also includes a list of further resources and conversation starters meant to help viewers analyze their own responses to the show and consider productive responses to real-life parallels. Netflix is further bolstering the shows focus on mental health conversations with Beyond the Reasons, an after-show supplement featuring some of the cast members in discussion with mental health experts, breaking down the events of the show. And then theres the music. The soundtrack includes an original song by Gomez, Back to You, and contributions from popular artists like Khalid, Billie Eilish, OneRepublic and Logic. Selena Gomez shared on Twitter that a portion of the proceeds from the soundtracks sales will go towards the Trevor Project and the Crisis Text Line, organizations that support crisis and suicide prevention. Its likely that the second season of 13 Reasons Why will continue to inspire conversations about how to responsibly portray mental health issues and other challenges faced by teenagers. This time around, however, it appears there will be a more thoughtful, comprehensive approach to ensuring that the shows difficult themes are contextualized and presented alongside the resources that were lacking for its initial release. Libreville (AFP) - Some 14,000 people have fled violence in the Central African Republic and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo in less than a week, the United Nations said Friday. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was "alarmed" about the displacement of 7,000 people from the southeast of the strife-torn country, adding that they were arriving "into a situation of little help and desperate need". "The speed of arrivals and the very limited humanitarian presence in the area mean that people urgently need increased support," said UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler, adding that most of the refugees were women and children. He said the agencies capacity for an emergency response is "severely stretched". A further 7,000 refugees from the central CAR town of Bambari also poured into DRC, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Violence in Bambari on Monday and Tuesday night led to the deaths of a local NGO worker and midwife, and saw the town's police station and UN bases attacked by armed men, presumed to be linked to the Union for Peace in CAR (UPC) group. The UN said it had resumed control of the city on Wednesday. On Thursday a Mauritanian peacekeeper was killed and eight injured in an attack on a UN convoy near the southeastern town of Alindao. The number of people from CAR fleeing to northern DRC had jumped even before the latest influx, the UN said, having risen from 102,000 to 182,000 in less than a year. The UN has around 12,500 personnel deployed in Central Africa as part of its MINUSCA mission, one of the world body's largest peacekeeping forces. The state controls only a small part of CAR's national territory. Armed groups clash in the provinces for control of resources, including diamonds, gold and livestock. The violence has raised fears that the country, one of the most unstable in the world, could again plunge into a bloody sectarian conflict. Good evening! Catch up on your pop culture news with our roundup of todays top stories. 1. Donald and Melania Trump send royals a wedding gift President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will not attend the royal wedding. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) President and Melania Trump werent invited to Prince Harry and Meghan Markles big wedding, but they still sent a gift. They sent a cash donation to one of the charities the couple designated in lieu of gifts, a White House spokesman said Friday. Read more>> 2. Deadpool 2 end-credit scene has people talking Have you seen Deadpool 2 yet? If you havent and you very well might have make sure to stay until the end. The final scene has set the internet abuzz. Read more>> 3. Jennifer Aniston to play the president Aniston will star as POTUS the first female and the first gay person to serve in that capacity in an upcoming Netflix movie. Comedian Tig Notaro will play Anistons wife in the funny flick First Ladies. Read more>> Jennifer Aniston will play the President of the United States and Tig Notaro will play the First Lady in First Ladies, a new Netflix movie Notaro is writing with @StephAllynne pic.twitter.com/WcaiFQgQI6 See Whats Next (@seewhatsnext) May 18, 2018 4. Alyssa Milano details mental health struggle The Charmed actress said, as she co-hosted The View, that she has struggled with a mental illness. Her comments came one day after she wrote about her anxiety problems for Time. I had myself committed; I actually went to a mental institution, Milano said. Read more>> 5. Kate McKinnon breaks out another impression The Saturday Night Live star reprised her hilarious take on President Donald Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani last night when she visited Late Night With Seth Meyers, and people continued to laugh about it on Friday. The more serious news of the day was too sobering. Read more>> Thanks for reading! Come back Monday morning for your a.m. pop culture roundup. Ten people were killed and 10 others wounded Friday in a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas an incident Gov. Greg Abbott called one of the most heinous attacks that weve ever seen in the history of Texas schools. The suspect, who is now in custody, used a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver that he took from his father, Abbott said. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Heres what we know so far: Ten people were killed in the Santa Fe shooting Authorities said 10 people mostly students were killed in the shooting on Friday morning, and 10 more were wounded. Students at Santa Fe High Schoo, which is located about 35 miles southeast of Houston, told local TV stations that the gunman opened fire in an art class during first period. University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston said doctors were treating three patients from the shooting, two adults and one minor. One patient, retired Houston police officer John Barnes, is in critical condition after being shot in the arm while engaging the gunman. Another adult, a woman, was wounded in the leg and was being operated on. The minor had a gunshot wound to the leg, doctors said. Doctors at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center said eight patients, all students, were treated there. Six were released. Two remain in the hospital. One is in critical condition and the other is in fair condition. Retired HPD SPO John Barnes, 49, was sworn in in May 1995 & retired Jan 2018. He began his career at SW Patrol and began working in investigations in 2005. John is known for his tireless work in Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. https://t.co/OBDOJ0SLkM Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 18, 2018 A suspect has been taken into custody One suspect, believed to be a student, has been taken into custody. The Associated Press identified the suspected shooter as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, citing an anonymous law enforcement official. Two more people are currently being interviewed as persons of interest in the shooting. Story continues Abbott said the shooter, who had no criminal history, used a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver that were obtained from his father. There simply were not the same type of warning signs that weve seen in so many other shootings, Abbott said, noting that the suspect posted a picture on his Facebook page of a T-shirt that said, Born to Kill. Information obtained from the suspects journals, computer and cell phone indicate that he planned to carry out the mass shooting and then commit suicide, Abbott said. Officials at a press briefing on Friday afternoon praised law enforcement officers who engaged the shooter. We know that because they were willing to run into that building and engage him right now that other lives could be saved, said Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Thats absolutely important. Explosive devices were found at Santa Fe High School The Santa Fe school district said police bomb squads were working to dispose of explosive devices found in the high school, whose roughly 1,400 students have been evacuated. There have been explosive devices found in the high school and surrounding areas adjacent to the high school. Because of the threat of explosive items, community mfembers should be on the look-out for suspicious packages and anything that looks out of place, Santa Fe Independent School District said in an update hours after the shooting. Do not touch any items out of place and call 911 as we have agencies that can respond. #UPDATE There have been explosive devices found in the high school and surrounding areas adjacent to the high school. Because of the threat of explosive items, community members should be on the look-out for suspicious packages and anything that looks out of place. Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018 Do not touch any items out of place and call 911 as we have agencies that can respond. Our thoughts and prayers are with our students, staff and our community. Please pray for our Santa Fe ISD community. #SantaFeISD Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018 The shooting comes during a year of action against gun violence This is the 22nd school shooting of 2018, according to CNN. It follows another shooting on Wednesday at Dixon High School in central Illinois, where a school resource officer shot and wounded a former student who opened fire at the school. It comes three months after 17 people were killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. That shooting sparked mass protests and calls for tougher gun control restrictions in the U.S. Less than a month before the shooting at their own school, a group of Santa Fe High School students participated in the national walkout against gun violence on April 20. A clip from Houstons KTRK-TV featuring an interview with one student from Santa Fe High School has gone viral in the aftermath of the shooting. In it, the student responds to a reporter who asks if she couldnt believe a shooting was happening at her school. Its been happening everywhere. Ive always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too, she said. I dont know. I wasnt surprised. I was just scared. Heartbreaking moment as Santa Fe High School student is asked if she thought a shooting 'would not happen' at her school: "It's been happening everywhere. I've always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here too." https://t.co/kymFDSH6D5 pic.twitter.com/0akC5liZn4 ABC News (@ABC) May 18, 2018 Police officers respond to a high school in Santa Fe, after an active shooter was reported on campus on May 18, 2018 Leaders called the shooting an absolutely horrific attack President Donald Trump addressed the shooting in remarks on Friday morning. We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack, he said. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High, we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and others. Earlier, he tweeted: School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! We grieve for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this horrible attack in Texas. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High School we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever... pic.twitter.com/LtJ0D29Hsv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 Texas leaders have voiced support for the students and teachers at the school. This community is grieving mightily, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said at a press briefing on Friday. The entire country is grieving along with these parents, grieving along with these students. There have been too many of these. Texas has seen too many of these. Nothing can prepare a parent for the loss of a child. This will be a long and painful time for these parents as they work their way through what has to be the greatest challenge theyve ever dealt with, Abbott said at the briefing. I ask every parent out there, wherever you may be, to hold your children close tonight and let them know how much you love them. An 83-year-old royal superfan is camping out near Windsor Castle in anticipation of Saturday's royal wedding, and he's more than willing to step in to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle if needed. Terry Hutt has camped out for several recent royal occasions, including the birth of Prince Louis at St. Marys Hospital in London last month. "I'm over the moon to think Harry's getting married; we've all been waiting a long time for him," Hutt told APTN. "Again, with what's going on [with Markle's father], it won't stop them from being married, even if I have to take her up the aisle, I'll take her up for him." Hutt dons a suit covered in British flags and is decorating the area outside the castle with Union Flags as he awaits Saturday's big event. Another camper, 46-year-old Maria Scott, said shes not moving from her chair until the nuptials, well, apart from going to the bathroom. "Its brilliant position because the carriage has got to turn here so we will get a good view of the couple," Scott said. "It will be amazing." Scott said she admires the late Princess Diana, so its a pleasure to witness the milestones of her sons. This is one of the biggest moments in Harry's life and I wanted to have a prime position to see him coming past, happy with his bride," she said. "Oh, I just can't wait." RELATED STORIES Weirdest Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Wedding Souvenirs: See the Photos Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Reveal Who Will Be Their Page Boys and Bridesmaids See the Route Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Will Take in Horse-Drawn Carriage Related Articles: Lebanese actor Manal Issa used the international premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story at the Cannes Film Festival to protest Israeli snipers killing more than 100 Palestinian protesters and wounding 12,000 more over the course of six weeks of protests. Solo: A Star Wars Story screened Tuesday, with director Ron Howard and cast members Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson and Joonas Suotamo (who has replaced Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca) appearing on the red carpet. Trending: Trumps Stormy Daniels Payment Referred to Justice Department by Office of Government Ethics Issas red carpet protesta sign reading Stop the attack on Gazafollowed the massacre of 60 unarmed protesters on Monday, with the Israel Defense Forces citing rocks, arson kites, wire cutters and burning tires, lit to impede sniper fire. The IDF described children and disabled civilians as Hamass tools for infiltrating Israel, demonstrating Hamas can turn anything into a weapon of terror. Israeli army claims of protesters planting grenades and improvised explosives along the Gaza fence have not been verified. The wave of protests coincide with Palestinians annual Nakba Day, or Day of Catastrophe, commemorating the expulsion, both prior to and after the 1948 Israel Declaration of Independence, of approximately 80 percent of Arab inhabitants on the land that became Israel. Protesters demonstrated over both the right of returnthe longstanding position that Palestinian refugees have a right to the property they were forced to leaveand the ongoing blockade of Gaza. Since 2007, Israel has controlled land, air and sea access to the Gaza Strip, decimating the Gaza economy, denying Palestinians the right to travel abroad and banning a wide array of food products, household items and construction materials. A 2008 U.S. Embassy cable, provided to Wikileaks by Chelsea Manning, described Israeli officials as confirming the overall embargo plan as keeping the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge. Story continues Issa, who most recently appeared in the Arabic-language drama My Favorite Fabric, was joined in protest by a solidarity demonstration held at the Palestinian Pavilion in Cannes, attended by Star Wars actor Benicio del Toro (Star Wars: The Last Jedi). This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek 42.6 pc of steel Vietnam imports in 4 months from China: Vietnamese customs Xinhua, Hanoi : Vietnam imported over 1.8 million tons of iron and steel worth more than 1.3 billion U.S. dollars from China in the first four months of this year, accounting for 42.6 percent of its total iron and steel import volume and 43.7 percent of total value, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said on Thursday. The average import price of Chinese iron and steel between January and April was 725.2 U.S. dollars per ton, up 31 percent against the same period last year. However, the iron and steel imported from China declined 33.9 percent in volume and 13.5 percent in value. In the first four months of this year, Japan was Vietnam's second biggest iron and steel import market with 708,503 tons totaling nearly 486.4 million U.S. dollars, and South Korea was the third biggest market with 594,605 tons totaling roughly 473.7 million U.S. dollars. Vietnam spent over 9 billion U.S. dollars importing roughly 15 million tons of steel and iron last year, with China being the biggest import market with nearly 7 million tons of the products totaling 4.1 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Japan and South Korea, said the department. Havana (AFP) - A Cuban state airways plane with 104 passengers on board crashed shortly after taking off from Havana Friday, leaving a wreck of smoldering fuselage, as the country's president warned many people were feared dead. The Boeing 737 operated by Cubana de Aviacion crashed into a field close to a wooded area near Havana's Jose Marti airport, sending a thick column of acrid smoke into the air, an AFP journalist at the scene said. The plane was almost completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire. Firefighters, some still hosing down the burnt fuselage, and rescue workers combed through the wreckage, but there seemed little chance of finding survivors. What appeared to be one of the wings of the plane was wedged among scorched tree trunks, but the main fuselage appeared to have been entirely destroyed. Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who went to visit the scene, said there was a "high number" of casualties. "There has been an unfortunate aviation accident. The news is not very promising, it seems that there is a high number of victims," Diaz-Canel was quoted as saying after his visit. Diaz-Canel said nine crew members were believed to have been on board, in addition to the passengers. The 58-year-old president, who succeeded Raul Castro as the island's leader only last month, appeared aghast as he surveyed the recovery efforts, wearing a short sleeved green shirt and surrounded by officials. Airport sources said the jetliner was heading from the capital to the eastern city of Holguin. State television said the airliner was operated by a foreign crew, but gave no details. Reports said European airline Blue Panorama had been leasing a 737-400 plane to Cubana de Aviacion for several months. The last major airline crash in Cuba was in July 1997, when an Antonov-24 passenger plane fell into the sea off Santiago de Cuba. All 44 aboard were killed, including two Brazilians and two Spaniards. In March 2002, a small Antonov-2 plane travelling from Cienfuegos to Cayo Coco crashed in the central province of Santa Clara. All 16 people aboard, among them six Canadian tourists, four Britons and two Germans. Alyssa Milano co-hosted The View today and opened up about struggling with a mental illness. Just yesterday, the actress and activist wrote an article in Time about her struggles with anxiety after having her son, Milo. Now the mom is going even deeper and talking about being hospitalized. I had myself committed; I actually went to a mental institution. She went on to explain why she took that action. I felt like I couldnt do it on my own. I looked totally fine, Milano said, and thats the thing with mental illness, is you look totally fine, and I needed help. During her hospitalization, Milano revealed, she did a lot of intensive talking and treatment. She also tried to [figure out] if there was a pattern that went on, what [her] triggers were. At the end of the day, she knows how fortunate she is to have great health care but knows that not everyone is as lucky. She asks, What does the woman, what does the mother, do that doesnt have those people and good health care? Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Getty Images In Canada roughly seven per cent of women report postpartum anxiety, but its believed that number is actually much higher due to unreported cases. Now, actress Alyssa Milano is sharing her own story about her postpartum struggle. In a piece for Time magazine, the 45-year-old mom opened up about her experience with postpartum depression, saying she even asked to be admitted to the psych ward. My Generalized Anxiety Disorder was most likely triggered by my postpartum depression, and my journey with mental illnesses began with my journey into motherhood. In 2011, two years after suffering a miscarriage, I learned that I was pregnant with my first son, Milo and it was a dream. My miscarriage was heartbreaking, but this pregnancy was beautiful Following this idyllic image of motherhood, I wrote a strict birth plan: no induction of labor, no pain medication and no c-sections. I equated a natural birth to my value as a woman and as a mother and I was determined not to stray from that course. But life does not always go according to plan, she wrote. That first night, after we returned from the hospital, I suffered my first anxiety attack. I felt like I had already disappointed my child. I felt like I failed as a mother, since I was not able to give birth vaginally or nourish him with the breast milk that had not come in yet. My heart raced. My stomach seized up. I felt like I was dying. As the anxiety attacks grew more common, Milano said going to work every day began to feel daunting with the added guilt of leaving her son at home with caretakers. When she sought help, she wasnt taken seriously which is common among postpartum anxiety sufferers. ALSO SEE: Actress opens up about postpartum hyperthyroidism after rapid weight loss Finally, I hit a wall. One early morning, I went to the emergency room at 2:00 AM, asked for a psychiatrist and got help. I felt as though I had no choice: I asked to be committed; I stayed in a public psychiatric ward for three days, wrote Milano. At last, I began to feel as if my pain was recognized, but it wasnt easy. One of my doctors dismissed my symptoms, and many of my colleagues, even female colleagues, still had trouble understanding that I was hurting at all Heres the thing about mental illnesses: you dont always look sick, and the answers are not always clear or black-and-white. But we should not confront these challenges by placing more hurdles in front of Americans who desperately need the care. I was lucky enough to have the means and the insurance to get the help and support I needed. What happens to those mothers who dont have the kind of support I received? Story continues After sharing her story on Twitter, Milano received thousands of comments from other moms sharing their own stories and thanking the star for her transparency on a topic that carries such stigma. I have a secret. I hope my story helps those that suffer from a mental illness feel less alone. I hope my story helps erase the stigma surrounding mental illness. Please share your stories with me in the replies. #ThisIsMe https://t.co/etvs9DM0zV Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 17, 2018 Thanks for sharing and helping us feel less alone, Alyssa. I have PTSD. Like so many parents with medically complex kids and who have spent way too much time in hospitals & seen too much, I carry a lot of trauma with me. #ThisIsMe Elena Hung (@ElenaHung202) May 17, 2018 Thank you removing the stigma is so important! Im managing my anxiety and depression and helping my tween with his own mental health. If folks live near universities, I recommend psychology student services for a lower cost therapy option. Made it affordable for us both. Moira B (@moidem) May 17, 2018 ALSO SEE: How model Tess Holliday has postpartum depression despite her baby being a toddler You're not alone. I have generalized anxiety disorder. I've had it for years. It's a horrible feeling to live with. Some days are better than others. Exercise helps a lot. If I skip a day or two, the anxiety gets worse. Panic attacks are hell. I get those at times too. #ThisIsMe Laura (@itslaura4sure) May 17, 2018 Thanks for sharing your story. I have suffered from depression and anxiety since before I even had a name for them. Its still a struggle but people like you who share their own struggles help me feel less alone in mine. Big cyber hug #ThisIsMe Dazy Jane (@dazyjane410) May 17, 2018 Lets remind each other that no one should have to face these challenges by themselves, she wrote to end the piece. And if you see me on the street, please come tell me that I am not alone. Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out our brand new podcast, Make It Reign our hot takes on all things royals in a non-stuffy way on iTunes and Google Play. Amazons (AMZN) cashier-free grocery store is coming to San Francisco and Chicago, and one of the biggest differences shoppers there can expect is an emphasis on foods from local businesses, the Seattle tech giant tells Yahoo Finance. Here in Seattle, we have a lot of things from local bakeries and local food purveyors, and that will vary in every city, Amazon VP of Amazon Go Gianna Puerini explains to Yahoo Finance. Some things wont. Well have Coke in all the stores and things like that. But I think the biggest difference that we focus on as we get ready for that is what local selection will delight customers the most. While Puerini would not specify whether the upcoming Amazon Go stores will be similar in size to the Seattle location the Chicago store could be roughly one-third the size, according to The Seattle Times she added that Amazon was purposeful in keeping its pilot store on the smaller side. One thing that doesnt take up room in Amazon Go stores? Lines. When a small group of us sat down and brainstormed [Amazon Go], we knew there were all these great things about physical retail, but whats not great? Puerini explains. And we unanimously said, well, standing in line is an issue. Thats not the most value-add part of my experience. I dont love that. So we asked ourselves, What could happen if we could get rid of that? Keeping Amazon Go compact The Amazon Go storefront in Seattle, Washington. The location itself measures roughly 1,800 square feet. We wanted to keep it reasonably compact because thats more convenient, Puerini explains. You learn it very quickly, and you know where things are. If you find your favorites, you can beeline right to them and get out the door. While Amazon hasnt disclosed Amazon Gos sales figures since it opened in January, a steady stream of customers flowed in and out during our four-hour visit to the Seattle store this week, with a heavy crowd during lunchtime. Regardless, sales must be encouraging enough for the company to move forward with its expansion into Chicago and San Francisco. Much of that has do with the premise of Amazon Go: a cashier-free store that uses a combination of cameras, computer vision and machine learning so shoppers can grab what they want and go. Story continues The stores technology takes care of the rest: It keeps track of what shoppers pick up off shelves, what they put back, and what they leave the store with. As soon as shoppers leave the store, theyre automatically charged for their purchases, and a receipt is sent to their smartphones. Instead of cashiers at the front of Amazon Go, shoppers will find turnstiles that scan each shoppers unique QR code when they enter. Shopping at Amazon Go for the first time simultaneously feels familiar and alien. Getting around the store is just like strolling around your local grocery or convenience store. But leaving the store evokes a brief moment of confusion from many people who have spent years shopping at traditional brick-and-mortar stores. No doubt its the same feeling many Uber and Lyft passengers experienced in those early years as they adjusted to the idea of a friction-free exit. No fumbling with wadded cash, and no flimsy receipts to stash. The fare is automatically charged to your card. You simply hop out and go. A peek into physical retails future? Amazon VP of Amazon Go Gianna Puerini (on right). As tech-forward as Amazon Go may be, the cashier-free approach also raises several valid questions in areas like human labor. If Amazon Go is a cashier-free store, what does this mean for workers, as technology threatens to displace millions of jobs? The World Economic Forum, for instance, predicts that come 2021, over 5 million jobs in 15 countries will be lost because of AI, machine learning, and automation. And according to Forrester Research, 16% of U.S. jobs will be replaced by 2025, while the equivalent of 9% new jobs will be created during the same period a net loss of 7%. Amazon Gos approach supports technologists arguments that while some traditional jobs will unequivocally be lost in the transition, there are nonetheless job opportunities to be had. While Amazon did not disclose how many people its Seattle location employs, we counted at least a dozen employees working the 1,800-square-foot store. According to Puerini, those workers spend a large portion of their time restocking shelves on-the-fly. But employees are also stationed at the entrance to manage crowds and educate shoppers on how to navigate the store, as well as in the small alcohol section to check peoples IDs. In the back, several work in the kitchen to prepare the meals found on shelves. Although Amazon Go is cashier-free, employees still pepper the store to help employees at the entrance, restock items, and prep some meals for store shelves. They know the customers, they know the behavior, they know what moves quickly, and theyre constantly adapting and making sure they provide the best experience for customers, Puerini says. Theres also the question about data privacy a concern brought to the forefront in tech this March when reports surfaced that the now-defunct Cambridge Analytica had harvested the data of up to 87 million Facebook (FB) users. Its certainly a concern some shoppers will have initially as hundreds of cameras at Amazon Go track their movements and activities. Amazon does not delve into specific measures it takes around user privacy, but the company points out the cameras are primarily focused on the products on shelves not the actual customers. The Seattle tech giant also employs the same security measures it uses with customers on platforms like Amazon.com as it now does with Amazon Go. Is Amazon Go the store of the future? Its obviously too early to say whether this tech-forward retail concept catches on in areas like the Heartland as much as its pilot store has with some Seattle locals. But its difficult to imagine a future where something like the Amazon Go experience doesnt eventually find its way into shopping experiences at other physical stores, too. JP Mangalindan is the Chief Tech Correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook. More from JP Police custody shot of Dimitrios Pagourtzis - Galveston County Sheriff's Office At least 10 people have been killed at a school in Santa Fe in Texas after an armed student burst into an art class and opened fire. Nearly all of those killed were fellow pupils in what is believed to be the 22nd school shooting of the year in the US. The suspect, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, appeared by video link in court on Friday evening when he was denied bail. He was shackled and wore a green jumpsuit, speaking in a quiet voice as he answered questions. #UPDATE Possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. School has been evacuated. Call 911 if you see any suspicious item. #HouNews#SantaFeISD Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018 A second student has also been detained. According to a local news outlet, witnesses said the gunman wore a "Born to Kill" T-shirt, a trench coat - despite the sweltering weather - and army boots as he stormed into the classroom. Armed with a shotgun and a .38 pistol, the gunman shouted "Surprise" before opening fire on the terrified students. Elsewhere pupils, hearing the fire alarm, thought they were participating in a safety drill before being told to run for their lives. Police custody shot of Dimitrios Pagourtzis Credit: Galveston County Sheriff's Office One of the students, Angelica Martinez, 14, told CNN, We were all standing, but not even five minutes later, we started hearing gunshots. "And then everybody starts running. The teachers were telling us to stay put, but were all just running away. A substitute teacher and a Pakistani exchange student were among the 10 people killed. Ann Perkins was a 64-year-old teacher known to many as "Grandma Perkins while Sabika Sheikh was a student with the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study Abroad program. Story continues Teacher Cynthia Tisdale was also killed in the shooting as were seven teenage students who were attending the the Texas school. The weapons used in the shooting were registered to Pagourtziss father. Emergency Personnel rush to the scene Police later found an array of explosive devices including a Motolov cocktail, Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, told a press conference. He added that police had found information on Pagourtziss computer and mobile phone indicating that the attack had been planned. "The shooter has information contained in journals, on his computer and his cell phone that he said not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting," Mr Abbott added. "As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time that he didn't have the courage to commit the suicide." Pupils at the 1,400 pupil school 30 miles south of Houston described Pagourtzis as a quiet student who kept himself to himself. But his social media presence was somewhat different. His Facebook page, which has since been deleted, showed him wearing a Born to Kill t-shirt and an Instagram posting featured a handgun and knife. Court documents have claimed that Pagourtzis picked his victims, choosing not to shoot students he liked. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 Reacting to the shooting Donald Trump said: This has been going on for too long in our country, too many years, too many decades now." The Santa Fe shooting, coming just over three months after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, will intensify pressure on the administration to tighten gun laws. Here's my full statement in response to the tragic school shooting at Santa Fe High School --> https://t.co/J31681Kz1mpic.twitter.com/kXbL05ST2O Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 18, 2018 After Parkland Mr Trump signalled a willingness to introduce fresh curbs - including stricter background checks and a possible ban on assault weapons before rowing back following a meeting with the National Rifle Association. Sheikh, 17, was named among the dead. The Pakistan Embassy in Washington, DC, identified hims as a victim of the shooting on Twitter. A message posted by the embassy said that "our thoughts and prayers are with Sabika's family and friends. The Pakistan Association of Greater Houston said on Facebook that Sheikh was due to go back home to Pakistan for Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday that marks the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. "May Allah bless her soul and may she RIP," the statement said. Tisdale was also killed. Her niece, Leia Olinde, said: "She was wonderful. She was just so loving. I've never met a woman who loved her family so much." She said Tisdale was married to her husband for close to 40 years and that the two had three children and eight grandchildren. Tisdale loved cooking and her house was the center for family gatherings, according to Ms Olinde. Ariana Grande is happy, and its important to her that people know that. Still, it would be hard to miss her happiness on this sunny spring day at a ramshackle house in Beverly Hills. It beams out of her as she sprawls on the lawn, murmuring in baby talk to Toulouse, her rescue beagle-chihuahua, and it suffuses the way she vogues out of the house into the yard, spinning and twirling in a frilly gray tulle dress. She has a lot of reasons to be happy. At 24, Grande is one of the biggest pop stars in the world, and shes coming out with new music two years after her last album, the blockbuster Dangerous Woman. Her latest single is called No Tears Left to Cry. Going off the title, youd expect a big torch balladshes run out of tears! Instead, its a triumphant, 90s-house-inflected pop confection, part breathy vocals and part spunky, spoken-word playfulness. She chose it carefully: The intro is slow, and then it picks up, she says. And its about picking things up. Grande made a song about resilience because she has had to be resilient, in ways that are difficult to imagine, after a terrorist detonated a bomb outside her May 22, 2017, concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 people and leaving more than 500 injured. What happened is part of the song, but the song is not about what happened. Instead of being elegiac, its joyful and lush, and Grande is proud of it, and of herself. When I started to take care of myself more, then came balance, and freedom, and joy, she says. It poured out into the music. In the video for the song, shes upside-down, the way life used to feel. Weve messed with the idea of not being able to find the ground again, she says, because I feel like Im finally landing back on my feet now. Grande is petite, with Kewpie-doll eyes and a wide, easy smile. She often wears her hair in a big ponytail, but today it is pulled back into an elaborate topknot, with little wisps of hair coming down behind her ears like a halo. When she talks, she is earnest and enthusiasticyou can hear her theater-kid roots. Story continues Grande grew up in South Florida; her mom was the CEO of a communications company and her father a successful graphic designer. As a child, she always wanted to perform. I loved wearing Halloween masks in June and doing stand-up in my kitchen for my grandparents, she says. She was precocious and driven. My friend from preschool found a notebook that we must have written when we were 5 or 6 years old that was like, What do you want to be when you grow up? she says. Mine said, I want to be on Nickelodeon and then I want to sing. She performed in local theater, then on Broadway in the musical 13. When she was 16, she was cast on the Nickelodeon show Victorious, which made her a star, though mostly with younger viewers, and she dabbled in bubblegum pop. She signed with Republic Records after the labels chairman saw videos of her covering Whitney Houston and Adele on YouTube. Her first official single, The Way, was released in 2013. It didnt sound like the music she had recorded for Nickelodeon; it was breezy, catchy throwback soul, and it showed off her towering voice, which at times sounds almost instrumental. (Even die-hard fans have pointed out that, depending on how Grande sings, it can be hard to make out her lyricsa critique she clearly takes in stride. At one point during our interview, after finishing a winding thought, she turned to me and asked, Did I enunciate? and then flashed a mischievous smile.) Her first album, Yours Truly, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide, and her follow-ups, My Everything and Dangerous Woman, did even better. She released a string of chart-topping collaborations, including Problem (featuring Iggy Azalea), Love Me Harder (featuring the Weeknd) and Side to Side (featuring Nicki Minaj). She toured the world. Got labeled a diva, as happens to pretty much all women in music. Became the third most followed person on Instagram. It was a lot to handle, even though she had wanted success. There was an adjustment period, because my life changed drastically, she says. She has settled into it by now. If I want to go out, then Im going to go out as Ariana Grande and be O.K. with it, she says. If Im feeling less O.K., Ill probably stay in bed and watch Greys Anatomy. Everything was different, Grande says, when she was making her new album. First off, she took the lead on writing songs, which she had never really done before. I was just so excited about singing, she says of her previous efforts. So I co-wrote, but I was never as involved. She was also vocal with her producersnamely Max Martin, Savan Kotecha and Pharrell Williams, three of the most reliable hitmakers in musicabout experimenting with her sound. There was nothing I wouldnt try, she says. She told Williams she wanted to make the weirdest thing we can first. There are several moments on the recordboth on the lead single and on an anthemic, sultry banger called God Is a Womanin which Grandes voice is layered so that it sounds like a choir, but really, its only her, multiplied. On another song, Get Well Soon, her vocals are interwoven in dense layers of sound, creating an otherworldly effect. Its like Im talking to all of my thoughts in my head, she says, and theyre singing back to me. Grande credits this newfound creative freedom to the work she has done to heal herself. I felt more inclined to tap into my feelings because I was spending more time with them, she says. I was talking about them more. I was in therapy more. Although she had struggled with anxiety in the past, she says, I never opened up about it, because I thought that was how life was supposed to feel. What, specifically, was making her anxious? She shakes her head. Its hard to talk about. Heres what Scooter Braun, Grandes manager, tells me about what happened last summer, after the terrorist attack in Manchester. Grande had flown home to stay at her grand-mothers house in Boca Raton, Fla., and Braun met her there, where he asked her to do something that, he says, he knew at the time was unfair. I said, We need to get a concert and get back out there. She looked at me like I was insane. She said, I can never sing these songs again. I cant put on these outfits. Dont put me in this position. They decided to cancel the rest of the tour. Two days later, Braun was on a flight, and he landed to find 16 text messages from Grande saying, Call me. I need to speak to you. When they finally spoke, she said, If I dont do something, these people died in vain. They decided to put on a concert in Manchester to benefit the families that were affected. The minute they arrived, just days after the bombing, they set out to help. They went to the hospital and sat with survivors. They met with families of the deceased. As the concert loomed, they began to worry that people would be too afraid to show up. But more than 50,000 people turned out. A dozen other artistsincluding Justin Bieber, Coldplay and Katy Perryflew in to perform. Grande closed the night with a performance of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, with tears streaming down her face. The show, called One Love Manchester, was broadcast live on British TV and streamed all over the world, alongside information about how to donate; it helped raise over $12 million for victims of the bombing and their families. The city of Manchester named Grande an honorary citizen, citing her great many selfless acts and demonstrations of community spirit. We put a lot on her shoulders, Braun says. And she took over. You know, for the rest of her life, she can say that she is exactly who she claims to be. So thats what happened. After the Manchester show, Grande finished the tour. And then she went dark for a while. Grande had built a career on the fizzy, ebullient joy of music as escape: the spine-tingling voice, the thrilling live shows, the polished music videos. Now, even though she had nothing to do with the attack, she had become central to the narrative in a way that made it inexorable. And yet what had she really lost, compared with so many others? People had lost children, parents, partners, friends. To make art that was explicitly about it would look exploitative. But to ignore it would be disingenuous. She knows I am going to ask her about this before I have even said the words. She can see it in my eyes, and I can see it in hers, and she begins to crynot graceful tears, but deep, choking sobs. Im sorry, she says. Ill do my best. Slowly, she starts to elaborate: There are so many people who have suffered such loss and pain. Her own grief feels both enormous and insignificant. The processing part is going to take forever, she says, and sobs again. She doesnt want to talk about the attack. I dont want to give it that much power, she says. Something so negative. Its the absolute worst of humanity. Thats why I did my best to react the way I did. The last thing I would ever want is for my fans to see something like that happen and think it won. Music is supposed to be the safest thing in the world, she continues. I think thats why its still so heavy on my heart every single day. She takes a deep breath. I wish there was more that I could fix. You think with time itll become easier to talk about. Or youll make peace with it. But every day I wait for that peace to come and its still very painful. There is no tidy resolution. There is no why. It just happened. Grande looks up at the sky. Im sorry, she says again. What was the question? The bee has been a symbol of Manchester for years; its a nod to the citys hardworking citizens, the worker bees who built up the region during the Industrial Revolution. After the attack, thousands of people in Manchester got bee tattoos. So did Grande and members of her crew. Now she sees bees everywhere. Theres one at the very end of the video for No Tears Left to Cry, in the final frame, buzzing away. Its part of how she carries what happened in Manchester with her. She performed at the Charlottesville, Va., unity concert as well as the March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., and she met with some of the survivors of the Parkland, Fla., shooting. Theyre so young but so brilliant and so strong, she says. We had a lot to talk about with what weve both been through. Her new album, Grande says, is called Sweetener. She decided to call it that because thats the message she wanted to give to her fans: that you can take a bad situation and make it better. When youre handed a challenge, she says, instead of sitting there and complaining about it, why not try to make something beautiful? That sentiment hits home for Grande as well. Im happy, she says, and tears spill out of her eyes again. She wipes them away. Im crying, she says, but Im happy. Boeing 737 crashes after takeoff in Havana, Cuba Grieving relatives of passengers who perished in Cubas worst aviation disaster leave the morgue, in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, May 19, 2018. (Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP) The only three survivors of Cubas worst aviation disaster in three decades were clinging to life Saturday, a day after their passenger jet crashed in a fireball in Havanas rural outskirts with 113 people on board. In the first official death toll provided by authorities, Transportation Minister Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez said 110 had died including five children. He also announced that a flight recorder from the plane had been located. Carlos Alberto Martinez, director of Havanas Calixto Garcia Hospital where the survivors were being treated, said doctors are always hopeful that their patients will recover, but he acknowledged that the three Cuban women were in extremely grave condition. We must be conscious that they present severe injuries, Martinez told a small group of journalists. They are in a critical state. Cuban officials identified the women as Maylen Diaz, 19, of Holguin; Grettel Landrovell, 23, of Havana; and Emiley Sanchez, 39, of Holguin. (AP) _____ See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr. Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil on Wednesday lashed out at a demand by former European leaders for disgraced ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be allowed to take part in elections this year. A group of former EU leftist leaders, including French ex-president Francois Holland and Spanish former prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, on Monday called Lula's imprisonment for corruption "hurried" and said he should be "free to present himself before Brazilian voters." Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes responded that because Lula had lost an appeal against his graft conviction he had automatically lost the right to run for public office. Nunes branded the European former leaders' appeal "filled with prejudices, arrogant and anachronistic." "I noted with disbelief the declarations of these European personalities who, having lost an audience in their own countries, claim to have the right to give lessons on the functioning of the Brazilian judicial system," Nunes said in a statement. Lula, whose leftist government between 2003 and 2010 saw dramatic reductions in extreme poverty, was convicted of taking a seaside apartment as a bribe and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Despite the scandal he tops opinion polls and insists that he wants to take part in the October presidential election. The Cambridge University study compared 6 months' treatment to 12 - Phanie / Alamy Stock Photo Women with aggressive breast cancer can be effectively cured in half the time compared to current treatment, minimising harmful side effects, researchers have said. A new trial of patients suffering from HER2-positive breast cancer found survival rates were almost identical among those given six months of therapy compared with a year. Around one in five cases of breast cancer is characterised by an excess of the HER2 protein, which has traditionally made affected women harder to treat. But Trastuzumab, commonly known by its brand name Herceptin, has significantly improved survival for HER2-positive patients since 2005. However, the medication can prompt a range of side effects ranging from high temperatures to heart problems, which often become more severe the longer treatment goes on. In the new study, to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, researchers at Cambridge University examined the outcomes of 4,088 women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer who were being treated with Herceptin. About | Breast cancer The disease-free survival rate at four years was 89.4 per cent in those given six months treatment, compared to 89.8 per cent in those who underwent the standard 12 months. Additionally, only 4 per cent of the women in the six-month cohort were forced to stop using herceptin due to cardiac problems, half the proportion of those in the 12-month cohort. Professor Helena Earl, who led the Cambridge researchers, said: We are confident that this will mark the first steps towards a reduction in treatment duration for many women with HER2-positive breast cancer. Everyone involved in this study is very excited by these results. The new analysis, taken from data gathered as part of the Persephone trial, is the largest to date to examine the impact of shortening the duration of Herceptin treatment, according to the authors. Other scientists cautioned, however, that the studys follow-up period has been relatively short and that further research will need to analyse longer-term survival rates. The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research, a body overseen by the UK Government. Delay in disposal cannot be a ground for commuting sentence Appellate Division (Criminal) : Surendra Kynar Sinha CJ Syed Mahmud Hossain J Hasan Foez Siddique J Shahidul Islam @ Shahid . ..Petitioner vs State ............ Respondent Judgement March 5th, 2017 Code of Criminal Procedure (V of 1898) Section 374 Delay in the disposal of the case cannot by itself be a ground for commuting the sentence of death to one of imprisonment for life since the crime committed by the petitioner was premeditated senseless, dastardly and beyond all human reasonings. .. .... (8) Sections 374 and 376 From the nature of the offence it appears to us that the petitioner is not anyway entitled to get any sympathy. We do not find any mitigating or extenuating circumstances on record for commutation of the sentence of death(8) Laxman Naik vs State of Orissa, AIR 1995 SC 1387 and Molai vs State of Modhya Pradesh, AIR 2000 SC 177 ref. Nikhil Kumar Saha, Senior Advocate, instructed by Sufia Khatun, Advocate-on-Record-For the Petitioner: Khondaker Diliruzzaman, Deputy Attorney General instructed by Haridus Paul/, Advocate-on-Record-For the Respondent. Judgment Hasan Foez Siddique J : This criminal review petition is directed against the judgment and order dated 2-8-2016 passed by this Division in Jail Petition No.13 of 2006 dismissing the petition, 2. Mr, Nikhil Kumar Saha, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that the petitioner is in death cell for about 14 years which is a circumstance to commute the sentence so death sentence awarded to him may be commuted to one of imprisonment for life. 3. Mr. Diliruzzaman, learned Deputy Attorney-General appearing for the State, submits that in view of the evidence and nature of offence committed by the petitioner, this Division rightly upheld the sentence of death of the petitioner and that there is no error of law apparent on the face of the record in the judgment of this Division. 4. At about 10-00 pm on 23-4-1998 Shajneen, an unfortunate girl of 15 years, was killed most inhumanly and brutally after rape in her bedroom which was her most secured place. This Division, upholding the findings of the tribunal and High Court Division observed that it has been proved all reasonable doubt that victim Shajneen was raped before murder. Confessional statement of the petitioner recorded under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, post-mortem report, evidence and statement of the appellant made before the tribunal at the time of his examination under section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure there is no doubt that not only this vulture pounced upon the body of the victim but it had jeopardised the victim's parents her other family members and conscience of the society at large. It was a cold-blooded murder and where rape was committed on an innocent and helpless girl, which was a treacherous and cowardly act of the petitioner. 5. It is not possible to catalogue the reasons which may justify the pass of death sentence but when the murder has been committed in a brutal manner on a helpless child the same may be awarded. It is a crime against society and the brutality of the crime shocks the judicial conscience that the Court has the duty to impose the death sentence. The petitioner was servant of PW I whose duty was to defend and protect the family members instead he, out of his sexual lust, did not bother to kill a child of 15 years old assaulting mercilessly. It was gruesome murder so dilution of sentence would be a case of misplaced sympathy and gross miscarriage of justice. The crime committed by the petitioner was grotesque, diabolical and revolting, Since heinous crime was committed in cruel and diabolical manner, death sentence is justified punishment. It is true death for death may be, to some extent, inhuman but it is equally true that when a man becomes a beast and menace to the society, he can be deprived of his life. The nature of the crime reveals that the petitioner is a menace to the society and sentence of imprisonment would be altogether inadequate. 6. In the case of Laxmon Naik vs State of Orissa repoted in AIR 1995 SC 1387 the accused committed rape on his brother's daughter aged 7 years in a lonely place in forest and thereafter killed her. Supreme Court of India observed that the evidence on record indicated how diabolically the accused had conceived of his plan and brutally executed it and such a calculated, cold-blooded and brutal murder of a girl of a very tender age after committing rape on her would undoubtedly fall in the category of rarest of the rare case attracting no punishment other than the capital punishment. 7. In the case of Molai vs State of Modhya Pradesh reported in AIR 2000 SC I77 Supreme Court of India expressed similar view. In the said case victim, a 16 year old girl alone in house preparing for her examination. Both accused, taking advantage of she being alone, committed rape on her and then killed her. It was observed. "We have very carefully considered the contentions raised on behalf of the parties. We have also gone through various the decisions of this Court relied upon by the parties in the Courts below as well as before us and in our opinion the present case squarely falls in the category of one of the rarest of rare cases, and if this be so, the Courts below have committed no error in awarding capital punishment to each of the accused. It cannot be overlooked that Naveen, a 16 year old girl, was preparing for her 10th examination at her house and suddenly both the accused took advantage of the being alone in the house and committed a most shameful act of rape. The accused did not stop there but they strangulated her by using her under-garment and thereafter took her to the septic tank along with the cycle and caused injuries with a sharp edged weapon. The accused did not even stop there but they exhibited the criminality in their conduct by throwing the dead body into the septic tank totally, disregarding the respect for a human dead body. Learned counsel for the accused (appellants) could not point any mitigating circumstance from the record of the case to justify the reduction of sentence of either of the accused. In a case of this nature, in our considered view, the capital punishment to both the accused is the only proper punishment and we see no reason to take a different view than the one taken by the Courts below." 8. From the nature of the offence it appears to us that the petitioner is not anyway entitled to get any sympathy. We do not find any mitigating or extenuating circumstances on record for commutation of the sentence of death. Delay in the disposal of this case cannot by itself be a ground for commuting the sentence of death to one of imprisonment for life since the crime committed by the petitioner was premeditated senseless, dastard by and beyond all human reasonings. Accordingly, we do not find any substance in the petition. Thus, the review petition is dismissed. Tony Award winner Ruthie Ann Blumenstein, who goes by the stage name Ruthie Ann Miles, lost her unborn baby after sustaining injuries in a car crash two months ago. Miles 5-year-old daughter, Abigail, was killed when they were both hit by a car after a driver plowed through a red light at a busy intersection in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. A 46-year-old man and a woman, Lauren Lew, were also injured. Lews 20-month-old son was also killed in the crash. At the time of the accident in March, Miles, who was pregnant, was badly injured and spent some time in the intensive care unit. After her release, her family said in a statement that her unborn baby appeared unharmed. On Wednesday night, a lawyer for the family announced the couple had lost their unborn baby, a girl, due to injuries sustained in the crash. The Broadway star was 39 weeks pregnant, according to The Wall Street Journal. Statement from lawyer on behalf of Ruthie Ann Miles and her husband. pic.twitter.com/qlRuBumVOV Alice Gainer (@GainerTV) May 17, 2018 Dorothy Bruns, the driver who hit the pedestrians, said she had a seizure before the crash. She was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless driving earlier this month, according to USA Today. The Wall Street Journal reported that Bruns, 44, pleaded not guilty. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The 10 California children authorities believe were abused by their parents were allegedly shot with crossbows, waterboarded and scalded with hot water by their father as their mother looked on, prosecutors said in court Wednesday, according to multiple outlets. Ina Rogers, 31, has been charged with one count of child endangerment and nine counts of child abuse. Her husband, Jonathan Allen, 29, has been charged with multiple counts of torture and child abuse, according to a news release from the Solano County District Attorneys Office. The children range in age from 4 months to 12 years old. Rogers is the mother of all 10 children while Allen is the father of eight, according to the Washington Post. A criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE alleges Allen caused extreme pain and suffering for the purpose of revenge, extortion, persuasion and for a sadistic purpose. In a motion to increase Rogers bail, Solano County prosecutors allege Allen waterboarded the children and shot them with BB guns and crossbows as forms of punishment. He also allegedly scalded them with hot water, according to the Washington Post. Prosecutors say Rogers assisted in the alleged torture and persuaded her children not to talk to anyone about their injuries, according to ABC7. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. The children were allegedly rescued from the home after Rogers 12-year-old son went missing on March 31. Police located and returned the boy but then searched the familys residence out of concern for the childs safety, according to a previous news release from Fairfield police. During the search, officers found nine other children allegedly living in what police described as squalor and unsafe conditions. The children were allegedly found huddled together surrounded by garbage, a police report obtained by ABC7 states. Story continues Fairfield Police Lt. Greg Hurlbut said in a news conference Monday that feces, garbage and rotten food littered the floor of the familys home, according to local TV station KNTV. Rogers and Allens attorneys could not be reached for comment Thursday. Both have pleaded not guilty. Rogers is currently behind bars on a $495,000 bail, according to the news release while Allen is being held on a $5.2 million bail, the news release states. The couple is scheduled to next appear in court on May 24. The California Energy Commission adopted new building standards on Wednesday, May 9, that require solar photovoltaic systems in new homes starting in 2020. The state is hoping to cut energy use in new homes by more than 50 percent, according to a press release from the energy commission. The building energy efficiency standards will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 700,000 metric tons over three years. It would be equivalent to taking 115,000 fossil fuel cars off the road, according to the Energy Commission. The initiative is the first in the nation to mandate solar panels for new homes. CA solar panels A solar panel is installed on the roof of the Old Governor's Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento, CA in October 2015. The California Energy Commission will take up a proposal on May 9, 2018 , to require solar panels on new residential homes and low-rise apartment buildings up to three starting in 2020. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) is one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the country. The RPS program requires California's electric utilities to have 50 percent of their retail sales derived from eligible renewable energy resources by 2030, according to CA Public Utilities Commission. As a result of RPS, electricity produced for the grid is already much cleaner than it was 10 years ago, according to the energy commission. California leads the nation in solar energy, as 15.56 percent of the state's electricity comes from solar and nearly 5.5 million homes are powered by solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. "Under these new standards, buildings will perform better than ever, at the same time they contribute to a reliable grid," Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister said in the press release. The ventilation measures improve indoor air quality. They protect homeowners from air pollution originating from both outdoor and indoor sources. The standards also establish requirements for newly constructed healthcare facilities. Story continues The standards require both solar panels and upgraded insulation, air filters and other efficiency measures. The energy commission's new building standards are expected to raise the cost of a new home by up to $9,500. However, it will save $19,000 in energy and maintenance costs over 30 years, according to the report. Based on a 30-year mortgage, the energy commission estimates that the standards will add about $40 to an average monthly payment for the average home but will save consumers $80 per month on heating, cooling and lighting bills. "With this adoption, the California Energy Commission has struck a fair balance between reducing greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously limiting increased construction costs," California Building Industry Association CEO and President Dan Dunmoyer said in the release. However, concerns arise as California is in the midst of a housing crisis. It failed for years to build enough homes to keep up with population demand causing high housing costs. The new solar policy will exacerbate the affordable housing issues in the state, which are seen as a drag on the economy and also contribute to rising social tensions. "With home prices having risen as much as they have, I think home buyers would find it a little distasteful to be forced to pay more for solar systems that they may not want or feel like they can't afford," Brent Anderson, a spokesman for home-builder Meritage Homes Corp, said to Bloomberg. "Even though, in the long term, it's the right answer." CA Solar 2018 In this photo taken Monday, May 7, 2018, solar panels are seen on the rooftop on a home in a new housing project in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) The overall impacts of the initiative are widely debated by experts. However, many experts agree this solar mandate may boost the solar industry. Solar energy accounts for less than 2 percent of total U.S. electricity generation, according to Energy Information Administration data. California's move may prompt Hawaii, Arizona and other western states that have high levels of solar penetration to follow this mandate, according to Sunrun. California generates only about 1 percent of global emissions, reducing California's greenhouse gas emissions will not be enough to solve climate change, according to the Energy Commission "Tracking Progress" report. However, California Gov. Jerry Brown called for unified action to combat climate change in Beijing in 2013. "We're in one world. We've got one big problem and we all have to work on it. And what's beautiful and exciting about climate change is no one group can solve the problem-not the United States, not California, not Japan, not China-we all have to do it," Brown said at Tsinghua University. The initiative comes shortly after the American Lung Association's (ALA) 2018 "State of the Air" report that found that ozone pollution worsened significantly compared to the previous annual report. California is home to 19 of the top 25 most ozone-polluted counties in the United States. The state suffers from poor air pollution due to a number of factors, including population size, terrain that traps pollution and a warm, sunny climate that helps form ozone and other air pollutants, according to the California Air Resources Board. California protests Students listen to speakers at a rally for clean energy in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. California stands in "complete opposition" to a Trump administration plan to scrap a policy slashing climate-changing emissions from power plants, its top air official said Wednesday at a U.S. hearing in a state helping lead the fight against global warming. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) On the same day the solar mandate was released, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) also released a report highlighting the impacts of climate change on the state. The report shows that California is already feeling the significant and growing impacts of climate change from record temperatures to proliferating wildfires and rising seas. The report tracks 36 indicators of climate change and its impacts on the state. "This report demonstrates the value of California's extensive research and monitoring efforts, and is a valuable resource for state and local policymakers addressing critical climate adaptation and mitigation needs," CalEPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) Director Dr. Lauren Zeise said in the press release. The recent solar initiative will help to further reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Barcelona (AFP) - Quim Torra, Catalonia's new separatist leader, was sworn in Thursday during a brief ceremony without central government representatives in which he avoided promising to obey the constitution and pledged instead to follow "the will of the Catalan people". The ceremony marks the end of nearly seven months of political limbo in the northeastern Spanish region, which has been under direct rule from Madrid since the central government deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont following a failed declaration of independence on October 27. "I promise to loyally fulfil the duties of the post of regional president being faithful to the will of the Catalan people represented by the Catalan parliament," Torra said as he was sworn in, using the same formula as his predecessor and mentor Puigdemont. The 55-year-old did not promise to obey the Constitution nor the statute that regulates Catalonia's autonomy. He appeared flanked only by a Catalan flag, without the traditional Spanish flag and portrait of the king that protocol states must be present, in a small side-room of the regional government building in Barcelona. Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis criticised the ceremony, saying it done "on the sly", as if Torra "were a second-rate president". - Political pressure - The hardline separatist Torra was handpicked by Puigdemont, who is currently in Berlin awaiting potential extradition to Spain, where he faces jail on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds. He has stressed he is merely a "caretaker president" as he awaits the return of Puigdemont, whom he considers the "legitimate" leader, and has pledged to keep fighting for independence from Spain. Torra's swearing-in ceremony only lasted a few minutes and the central government decided not to send any representatives in a sign of tensions between the two. There were no representatives of political parties or civil society either. Story continues As a deferential gesture towards Puigdemont, Torra did not put on the medallion that regional presidents usually wear when they are sworn in. Now Torra needs to form a government, a prerequisite for Madrid to lift direct rule. But this isn't assured as Torra has said he wants to reintegrate deposed regional ministers into his government, many of whom are either in preventative custody for their role in the secession drive or in self-exile like Puigdemont. If the Spanish government decides this is illegal, it could maintain direct rule over the region as requested by centre-right party Ciudadanos, whose hardline stance towards the Catalan crisis has resounded in Spain. The party is now threatening to overtake Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party in regional and municipal elections next year. In the more immediate future, however, Rajoy needs the support of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) in parliament to approve the 2018 budget. The PNV wants Madrid to lift direct rule as it strongly supports regional autonomy and is sympathetic to the Catalan cause. Caught between the two, Rajoy has pledged to watch Torra closely and maintain control over regional finances to avoid public money going to any separatist initiatives, and has also said he is willing to meet the Catalan leader. - Judicial battle - Meanwhile, another battle is going on in the courts, with 25 separatist leaders being investigated for rebellion or other offences, nine of whom are in preventative custody and another seven abroad. On Wednesday, a Belgian judge rejected the extradition request of three former Catalan ministers due to irregularities in the arrest warrants, dealing a blow to Spain. A court in Germany has also rejected extraditing Puigdemont to Spain for rebellion, a very serious charge that implies violence took place and which many legal experts have discarded. The court is still considering whether to hand him over to Spain on the lesser charge of misuse of public funds. Faced with these setbacks, Spain's Supreme Court has said it is was considering replacing rebellion with sedition, which does not imply violence took place and is less severe. Vatican City (AFP) - Thirty-four Chilean bishops announced their resignation Friday over a child sex abuse scandal within the Church in Chile that has come to haunt the reign of Pope Francis. "We, all the bishops present in Rome, have tendered our resignation to the Holy Father so that he may decide freely for each of us," the bishops said in a statement after three days of intense meetings with Francis at the Vatican. "We want to ask forgiveness for the pain caused to the victims, to the Pope, to God's people and to our country for the serious errors and omissions we have committed," the statement continued. The striking announcement came after the pontiff summoned the bishops over the scandal. Several members of the Chilean church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s. On Thursday evening, Francis promised "changes" to the Chilean church to "restore justice" in a short declaration to the bishops, made public. But in a confidential 10-page document leaked Friday by Chilean TV channel T13, the Argentine pope goes much further in his indictment of the Chilean Church. The letter -- handed to the bishops at the start of their meetings with Francis -- evokes "crimes" and "painful and shameful sexual abuse of minors, abuses of power and conscience by ministers of the Church". It qualifies the removal of certain prelates from their roles as necessary but "insufficient," calling for "the roots" that allowed for such abuse within an "elitist and authoritarian" Chilean Church to be examined. - Evidence destroyed - The damning letter also outlines findings of an investigation, ordered by Pope Francis, into the abuse allegations. It says the probe found senior Church officials had destroyed proof in cases of sex abuse and that certain members of the clergy who had displayed immoral behaviour had been transferred to other dioceses after attempts to "minimise" the gravity of their actions. Story continues Grave accusations "were superficially qualified as improbable", the letter says, denouncing bishops for their "terrible negligence in protecting children". Pope Francis bids to repair some of the damage done during his visit to Chile in January, when his defence of controversial Chilean bishop Juan Barros -- accused of covering up Karadima's abuses -- caused a public outcry. The pontiff at the time said he was convinced that Barros was innocent and demanded "proof" before he would speak out against him. Francis later apologised to the victims, three of whom he recently received at the Vatican, and admitted he had made "grave mistakes" after reading the 2,300-page report on the abuse in Chile. The mass resignation of an entire delegation of bishops is almost unheard of, having last happened two centuries ago. Bishops have, however, previously been summoned to the Vatican over abuse scandals. In April 2002, Pope John Paul II summoned 13 American cardinals and bishops to Rome after a huge paedophilia scandal within the clergy. Following another abuse scandal in Ireland in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI also organised a meeting of Irish prelates at the Vatican in February 2010. - 'Their day has come' - Speaking at the Vatican Friday morning, the Chilean bishops said: "We thank the victims for their perseverance and courage, despite the enormous personal, spiritual, social and family difficulties they had to face, to which were often added the incomprehension and attacks of the Church community." Two of Karadima's victims tweeted their relief on Twitter in response to the resignations. "Those who caused so much pain, sometimes worse than the abuse, are now all quitting. The Pope heard what we asked of him in our conversations with survivors from all over the world. For those who did so much damage, their day has come today," wrote Juan Carlos Cruz. Similarly Jose Andres Murillo tweeted: "For dignity, justice and truth: all the bishops leave. Criminals. They failed to protect the weakest, exposed them to abuse and then prevented justice. So, they just deserve to leave." Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi is urging President Donald Trump to remain calm as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un casts uncertainty over whether he will meet with the U.S. to discuss Pyongyangs nuclear program. The two leaders are expected to meet in Singapore on June 12 for historic negotiations. But on Tuesday Kim threatened to pull out of the planned meeting with Washington. North Korean vice minister of foreign affairs Kim Kye Gwan released a statement taking a direct swing at Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton, who had suggested that North Korea should be treated like Libya. High-ranking officials in the White House and the Department of State including Bolton, White House national security adviser, are letting loose the assertions of so-called Libya mode of nuclear abandonmentThis is not an expression of intention to address the issue through dialogue. It is essentially a manifestation of awfully sinister move to impose on our dignified state the destiny of Libya or Iraq which had been collapsed due to yielding the whole of their countries to big powers, the statement from North Korea reads. Trending: What is Prince Harry's Last Name And Will Meghan Markle Take It? According to the statement, It is absolutely absurd to dare compare the DPRK [North Korea], a nuclear weapon state, to Libya which had been at the initial stage of nuclear development...We shed light on the quality of Bolton already in the past, and we do not hide our feelings of repugnance toward him. The statement came after Bolton suggested in several public interviews that North Korea should give up its weapons the way Libya did in 2003. Bolton never said publicly that the U.S. should promote regime change in North Korea, but U.S.-allied rebels killed former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Gaddafi's demise is widely viewed as a symbol of the vulnerability leaders could face if they give up their nuclear weapons, and North Korea appears determined to assure the world that its leader will not suffer a similar fate. Story continues Don't miss: Jason Reitman on 'Tully,' Motherhood and His Films Sharpest Critics: 'The Movie Is Not About Mental Health' Meanwhile, North Koreas leadership is also unhappy that the U.S. and South Korea are continuing to stage joint air force drills. It is unclear whether Pyongyang is serious about canceling the meeting with Trump or if the countrys leadership is just trying to strengthen its position in the upcoming negotiations. Nevertheless, other world leaders are worried that Trumps characteristic impulsivity could derail the entire endeavor. Most popular: Trump Loves Golfing But His Presidency Hasn't Helped His Golf Courses During a trip to Paris this week, Chinas Wang Yi stressed that North Koreas efforts to reduce tension on the Korean peninsula should be acknowledged. All parties, especially the United States, should cherish this opportunity for peace and should not work as a barrier, he said. So far, Trump has refrained from making any bold statements about North Korea's threat to cancel the meeting in Singapore. During a press conference Wednesday with the President of Uzbekistan, reporters lobbed questions about the upcoming North Korea summit, to which the President responded that "we haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything. We will see what happens." This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Beijing (AFP) - A Chinese bank has been offering its clients the chance to buy tickets to a dinner with US President Donald Trump for $150,000, Bloomberg News reported Friday. A Chinese-language invitation to the event seen by AFP, which did not include the hefty price tag, said the chair and finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) were "inviting you for dinner with President Trump" on May 31. China Construction Bank told AFP that "some employees" at a branch in the southern tech hub Shenzhen had "passed on information" to clients about tickets to a dinner with Trump. "Event information was pushed by individual employees (to clients)," China's second-largest state bank said in a statement. "Our branch wasn't involved." The invitations have raised eyebrows as US political campaigns are forbidden from accepting donations from foreign nationals or corporations. But it was unclear whether any tickets have been sold in China to the event, which only individuals with a US passport would be eligible to attend. Trump is expected to host a fundraising dinner with the RNC in Dallas on May 31, although it wasn't clear if the invitations being circulated in China referred to the same event. The Bloomberg News report said officials with Trump's campaign and the RNC had no knowledge of the Chinese bank's advertisement before being contacted by the press. China Construction Bank said Friday its employees had received information about the event from the Chinese Entrepreneurs' Association, a Beijing-based group of private businessmen, and a Shanghai-based travel agency, Vvisa Tourism Services Co. The bank did not say whether its employees sold tickets or advertised them using the bank's official marketing channels or their personal social media accounts. Vvisa Tourism Services and the Chinese Entrepreneurs Association were not available for comment. It comes despite the looming threat of a trade war between the world's two largest economies, who have threatened tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods. China's top economic envoy Liu He is currently in Washington to iron out trade issues with US officials. New York City Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen announces the Women.NYC campaign on Thursday. (Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office) It can become second nature for women to deal with pay gaps, sexual harassment, and various other forms of gender inequality in the workplace. But one city is taking aim at at those injustices: New York City, which has just launched a high-reaching new initiative that wants to arm women with a a host of tools for success whether that means starting their own business, asking for a raise at work, getting a degree, or choosing to be a stay-at-home mom. Spearheaded by New York Citys deputy mayor, Alicia Glen, and kicked off with a rally in Washington Square Park in Manhattans Greenwich Village on Thursday evening, the campaign centers around the online portal Women.NYC, which connects New York women with various resources that could help them move closer to their goals. (Oath, Yahoos parent media company, has partnered with NYC on the initiative.) Be aggressive and unapologetic with what you want in life. We are here to give you the tools, Glen told the crowd of roughly 150 women as she stood framed by the famous arch of Washington Square, the glowing phrase New York City has your back projected onto its sculpted marble. We are here for women, Glen told Yahoo Lifestyle ahead of the event. We are reaching out to be inclusive, to make women feel New York has their back. Glen, having worked at Goldman Sachs for years, says that she has experienced firsthand how intimidating the business world can be and that its just one reason this website was necessary. Theres a lot of sexism and discrimination in the businesses of the city; this website can be accessed to get help, find a lawyer, file a complaint. Literally, we are there for you. This isnt Glens first effort to help women succeed in the workforce. Two years ago she launched WE (Women Entrepreneurs) NYC to support female-led businesses, a first-of-its-kind project offering services, training, and funding to entrepreneurial women. Story continues But Women.NYC is not limited solely to entrepreneurs; its for all people who identify as women. Its a tool where women of all ages can come and find what they need to successfully get ahead, find out the benefits they have, Glen says. Although she does recognize that not everyone has access to a smartphone or a computer at home, she notes that public libraries and local government offices can be used to access the portal. The websites homepage has a search bar, with the prompt, Asking for a raise? Starting your own business? Trying to find affordable rent? Search every city program that can support you in achieving your goals. And if you dont find what youre looking for, you are invited to simply send an email to women@cityhall.nyc.gov. How great is that? says Glen. You can email the women of New York, and we will reply back to you. Some women at Thursdays launch rally were skeptical about the portals powers. City resident Zila Renfro, for example, said she thinks the municipality needs to focus on providing affordable housing and to do something about the skyrocketing rents. Websites like this cater to the idea that women are struggling economically in New York because they dont know how to ask for a raise or balance family and work life, Renfro told Yahoo Lifestyle. Women and families are struggling economically because New York is not providing affordable housing and at the same time is complicit in gentrifying neighborhoods with large development projects that push women and families onto the streets. While the portal doesnt claim to provide affordable housing for all women, it does offer details on how to qualify and apply for such residences as well as direct users, through its search bar and drop-down menus, to resources for pre-K and childcare, low-cost health care, food support, job training, entrepreneurial ventures, and more. You are lucky to be in New York City, Glen told Yahoo Lifestyle about women wanting to start businesses in NYC. We are committed to investing in women, and we want to see [women] succeeding. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Havana (AFP) - A Colombian government delegation began talks with ELN guerrillas in the Cuban capital on Friday hoping to build on a temporary ceasefire put in place for the May 27 presidential election. A technical committee set up to thrash out the details of a new ceasefire formally began work in Havana on Friday, a brief joint statement said. The committee is composed of members of the negotiating team as well as military officers, government representatives and ELN delegates, it said. Colombia's last active rebel force, the National Liberation Army (ELN), resumed preliminary peace talks with the government last week in Havana. The rebels said Monday they would observe a five-day ceasefire for the presidential election. Both sides have expressed a willingness to reach a deal for a longer ceasefire than the one which ended in January after 101 days. That fell through amid mutual accusations of breaches, and a spate of rebel attacks on the military. Cuba stepped in to host the talks after Ecuador -- which hosted several rounds of talks over a 15-month period since February 2017 -- pulled out last month in protest over an upsurge of violence on its border with Colombia. President Donald Trump has slammed the ongoing Russia probe as it enters its second year, tweeting Congratulations America as the investigation continues to rumble along. Trump has long been critical of special counsel Robert Muellers inquiry into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign team, referring to it as a witch hunt on a number of occasions. The president previously mentioned that people had suggested he fire Mueller. Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction. The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money! the president tweeted on Thursday morning as the investigation moved into its second year. Trending: Preakness 2018: Black-Eyed Susan Cocktail Recipe, Race's Official Drink Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction. The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2018 One year into the probe, four of Trumps former campaign aides have been indicted. Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos and former national security adviser Michael Flynn have all admitted that they lied to investigators and have made plea deals with Mueller, while the fourth, Paul Manafort, is contesting the allegations. The probe has also resulted in the indictment of three Russian entities and 12 Russian nationals. Don't miss: Rick and Morty Season 3: Highlights from the Pickle Rick Commentary However, the president has maintained that the probe is fake news and has been outspoken in his dismay that the investigation is continuing. Story continues 2018-05-16T205853Z_1210905733_RC19237E9100_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP Reuters The president also tweeted on Thursday about claims the FBI had an informant inside the Trump campaign, following his recently appointed lawyer Rudy Giulianis suggestion on Fox News that it was possible this was the case. Most popular: Syria's Assad Meets Putin in Russia, Says He Wants 'Political Process' As He Wins War Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN IMBEDDED INFORMANT, the president tweeted shortly after slamming the Russia probe. Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT. Andrew McCarthy says, Theres probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign. If so, this is bigger than Watergate! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2018 This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Rohingya repatriation: Myanmar just killing time NEWS media reported that the Joint Working Group (JWG) failed to fix any date to start repatriation of around 700,000 Rohingyas even three months after Bangladesh handed over a list of 8,032 refugees to Myanmar. The JWG, responsible for overseeing the repatriation, held its second meeting in Dhaka on Thursday after about four months, but it ended without any concrete decision. Both the sides, however, feel that the repatriation should be done quickly but perhaps due to the lack of a harmonious environment, no repatriation occurred. Myanmar should repatriate their nationals soon and give them citizenship and political rights, otherwise state-run atrocities could continue. Myanmar has so far verified only 1,000 Rohingyas but none of them have been repatriated yet. The verification method is a mockery as the most persecuted people of the world fled their homes that were torched, and it was illogical to expect that they would have documents to prove their residency. Rohingya community leaders said that the verification was meant to complicate the repatriation process. Myanmar officials have alleged that the verification forms sent to Myanmar were not properly filled out by the Rohingyas, however, Bangladesh has refuted the allegation. Bangladesh has stressed the need for creating an affable environment in Rakhine, which includes safety and security of the returnees, rebuilding villages, access to livelihood and freedom of movement. To build confidence among the Rohingyas to return to Rakhine, the Bangladesh side also emphasized verifiable concrete information from the Myanmar side for sharing it with the refugees. The Myanmar delegation said they are working to promote inter-faith harmony and taking confidence-building measures and promoting development to promote economic progress in Rakhine, one of Myanmar's poorest states. UN Security Council members after visiting Rakhine said the conditions were not conducive for the return of the refugees to Rakhine, where they have been denied citizenship, government jobs, higher education, right to free movement and healthcare since 1982. The Rohingyas want guarantee of citizenship, recognition of Rohingya ethnicity, security under the UN presence in Rakhine and a safe return to their homes, not to the camps that the Myanmar authorities have set up. Bangladesh should gather world leaders on the Rohingya issue to mountain pressure on the Myanmar authority so that they may award citizenship to the persecuted people. There are a lot of theories and counter-theories passed around by climate change deniers in government in an attempt to explain away the inconvenient truths around climate change. And this week, a Republican congressman presented quite a doozy of an explanation. GOP Representative Mo Brooks, who represents Alabama's 5th district, was questioning Philip Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts during a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing this week when he wondered if observed changes in sea levels was somehow caused by rocks and eroding soil and not human-caused climate change. SEE ALSO: Extreme Arctic heat wave in 2016 wouldn't have happened without climate change "What about erosion?" Brooks asked. "Every single year that we're on Earth, you have huge tons of silt deposited by the Mississippi River, by the Amazon River, by the Nile... and every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you've got less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up." Duffy was nonplussed, answering, "I'm pretty sure that on human timescales, those are minuscule effects." And the scientific consensus sides with Duffy. Sophie Nowicki, a Research Scientist and Deputy Chief for the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said via email that Brooks doesn't have it right when it comes to his theories on erosion and sea level rise. "There is an element of land movement and subsidence affecting local sea level," she said. "But the dominant drivers of sea level change come from different sources." One of those big sources of the increasing sea levels is the accelerated melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Brooks wasn't the only GOP lawmaker to express such skepticism over climate change. But at least he seems to acknowledge that sea levels are rising, even if his theory doesn't hold water on a global level. Story continues Over at the Washington Post, Philip Bump did a little math to see roughly how much soil would have to be deposited in our oceans to account for the annual 3.3 millimeter rise in sea levels. His conclusion: you'd need to drop a big ball of dirt roughly 8 miles in diameter into the oceans every year. And that ain't happening. As to Brooks' claims, though, Colin Polsky, professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Florida Atlantic University, said that, "the burden of proof is on the Congressman to persuade us that his idea is superior to the explanation already provided and scientifically vetted by NASA and NOAA." So far, Brooks hasn't publicly provided that proof, but we've reached out to the congressman's office just in case. One final note on Brooks: his district includes Huntsville, Alabama which is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. So, if he intends to disagree with NASA's findings, at least he doesn't have to go far. Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Three days before their marriage, Yaisah Val of Haiti revealed to her fiance that she was transgender and had completed reassignment surgery -- no small act for anyone, let alone in a country dominated by patriarchy and homophobia. Her husband-to-be did an internet search to better understand what it meant to be transgender -- people whose sense of gender and identity does not correspond to their genitalia. Now, encouraged by her husband Richecarde, the 45-year-old Val is one of the first in Haiti to make public her gender identification and transsexuality, standing defiant against the Caribbean nation's religious and political conservatism. "Gender is in your mind; sex is between your legs," is the mantra of Val, who at age 29 completed her several-years long transition that resulted in sexual reassignment. She began the process after several suicide attempts, feeling helpless in the face of critics who urged her "don't walk like that, don't talk like that, don't breathe like that," Val says. "It's hard to realize at five or six years old that I am a scourge; that my body -- even my existence -- provokes disappointment and shame in my parents." A successful transition offered her the chance to become herself -- even if it resulted in rejection from relatives who say "we cannot correct the good God." "God wants me to be miserable and kill myself?" Val asks. "If I'm hyper stressed and take medication, is it correcting God? No. If I have vision problems and get surgery to see better, am I correcting God? No." "It's ridiculous," she says to those who still treat her as an "abomination." - Violent threats - In the face of such hardship her husband Richecharde has never given up on being with the one who has shared his life for more than two years. He insisted his wife make public her identification as a positive example for the rest of their country. Story continues "It's not just Yaisah -- she was able to go to the United States and undergo treatment," he said. "But how many young Haitians from lower classes are like that and lost because they cannot identify who they are?" The Val couple works to educate their fellow Haitians with backing from the Kouraj organization, which has for years supported the country's LGBTIQ -- which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer or questioning -- community. "We warned them of the risks, but I told them not to be afraid," said Charlot Jeudy, president of Kouraj, recalling his first meeting with the pair. "It's a question of freedom, of rights." Haiti is officially secular but Christianity strongly regulates daily life -- and LGBTIQ people regularly find their rights threatened by homophobia. In the winter of 2016 an LGBTIQ film festival was forced to cancel over risks of violence and calls for murder. And in August 2017, in a vote on whether to allow same-sex marriage, a number of senators used religious arguments to denounce it as "deviance of the West." "When you have a country you must be attached to your values and traditions. Abroad, some see it differently, but in Haiti, that's how we see it,' said Senate president Youri Latortue. - Search for hope - The notion that the idea of homosexuality and trans-identity is a "Western" creation frustrates the couple: "Some people say that I have a mission, that I am paid by the United States," said Val. "It's hype! I'm Haitian, I grew up in Haiti," she said. "And I'm not the only one." Her husband laments that some Haitians believe "it's the foreigners who came with it." "But the foreigners cannot change genetics," he says. "They don't have something to make a trans person -- it exists everywhere in the world." Despite hate messages, the couple refuses to leave Haiti despite the prospect of an easier life abroad. They instead work relentlessly to help their fellow Haitians in the face of discrimination. "There were threats, but we also started receiving calls from mothers who explained that their child was like this," Yaisah Val recalls. "People who call in tears, relieved to finally find the words simply to explain who they are." That their mobile phones are overwhelmed with messages from young people searching for identity does not bother them, even if they spend hours answering. "It's people who want hope, that's all," smiles Yaisah Val, wrapped in her husband's arms. (Photo: Joshua Roberts / Reuters) WASHINGTON House intelligence committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is continuing to raise campaign funds off of his defense of President Donald Trump, using a fundraising letter to tout a tweet in which Trump described him as a Great American Hero because of Nunes work undermining the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In the letter, Nunes writes that hes standing strong with Trump and asks for a donation to take the fight to the liberals. He writes that he exposed the real collusion between the Department of Justice, the F.B.I. and the Clinton campaign through his work as House intelligence committee chairman. When Barack Obamas Department of Justice and the F.B.I. used Hillary Clintons patently false opposition research to justify a warrant to spy on associates of the Trump campaign, I exposed the scandal and brought it to the attention of the entire nation, Nunes wrote. The top of a fundraising letter sent to an individual in Virginia, which was obtained by HuffPost, promotes a tweet Trump sent about Nunes work: (Photo: Nunes letter) That tweet was sent after Nunes appeared on Fox & Friends in February, when Nunes falsely said the president had never met with George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is working with special counsel Robert Muellers team. Nunes says in his letter that he has earned the hatred of revenge-driven members of the Democratic leadership cabal and the Far Left media. He said he has faced an onslaught of lies, propaganda, attacks, slurs and smears, that Democrats had come unhinged in their attacks on him and that he was up against liars, propagandists and hypocrites from the Far Left fringe. (Photo: Nunes letter) Nunes campaign did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment. In Novembers midterm election, Nunes faces Democrat Andrew Janz, a deputy district attorney in Fresno County who raised more than $1 million in the first quarter, much of it from Democrats upset over the so-called Nunes memo and his attacks on the Justice Department and the FBI. The final report from Nunes committee released last month attempted to clear Trump of wrongdoing. Story continues Its clear my opponent is only interested in pleasing the President, Janz told HuffPost in a statement. He takes great satisfaction in voting against our interests and stands by devastating tariffs placed on our farmers to serve Trump and his billionaire buddies. Theres nothing heroic about that. Nunes seat in the House no longer considered a safe Republican seat, according to Sabatos Crystal Ball. Liz Mair, a Republican strategist with the Swamp Accountability Project, a group that is running ads against Nunes, called the letter mostly a political stunt undertaken to beef up direct mail appeals to rich Beltway donors to try to help him get through a tough cycle in which he faces a potentially viable opponent for the first time in a long time Nunes is positioning as an opponent of the Deep State as a matter of political convenience because a Democrat has made his district potentially competitive, and Nunes is not well-liked among California conservatives another reason why he has to ask for money in Virginia, she said. This article has been updated with comment from Mair. Ryan Reilly is HuffPosts senior justice reporter, covering the Justice Department, federal law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261. Related... The 'Law And Order' Party Has Unleashed An Extraordinary Attack On Law Enforcement GOP-Led House Panel Ends Its Russia Probe By Claiming To Clear Trump Devin Nunes Gets Meeting On Secret Russia Probe Source After Threatening DOJ Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The teenager suspected of fatally shooting 10 people at a Texas high school Friday reportedly yelled out "surprise!" before opening fire. Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, is being held on capital murder charges with no bond following the massacre at Santa Fe High School, where he is a student, according to reports. A witness said he yelled "surprise!" as he burst into a first-period art class and unleashed a hail of bullets, according to a Fox 26 reporter. Ten people, including nine students and one teacher, were killed, and 10 others were injured. On social media, Pagourtzis posted a photo of a T-shirt reading, "Born to Kill." He also posted a picture of a gun and a knife. Another image shows a raincoat adorned with a German iron cross. Gunshots rang out at the school just after 8 a.m. A female student at the school described the confusion she felt even after hearing the shots. "I was sitting in my classroom and I heard really loud booms," she said. "I didn't know what they were at first and then I realized what they were when I heard screaming." Other students reported seeing victims with gunshot wounds. Authorities say a substitute teacher pulled a fire alarm when he realized what was happening in a bid to alert others at the large campus. Aerial footage from the scene showed students lined up outside the school. Police say they found pipe bombs and pressure-cooker bombs at the school, which is located south of Houston. Law enforcement has also searched property related to the suspect, according to reports. President Trump was among those tweeting about the shooting, saying, "Early reports not looking good. God bless all." RELATED STORIES These Are the Deadliest Mass Shootings in America's History California Couple That Survived Las Vegas Shooting Rampage Headed Down the Aisle Waffle House Hero Raises $150,000 for Shooting Victims Related Articles: A U.S. soldier who rescued a dog from Iraq has reunited with her upon her return home. Erby the dog bounded over to U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Tracy McKithern at Tampa International Airport after seven months apart. "Do you remember me?" McKithern asks her in a video of the reunion. "I remember you!" In footage shared by the airport, the dog jumps on McKithern and covers her with kisses before lying down for belly rubs. McKithern first laid eyes on Erby in Iraq. She told WFTS the puppy looked abused and starving when it first sniffed around her base with its mom. Soldiers at the base started to feed the two dogs and they slowly gained weight. They named the puppy Erby, after the the largest city in northern Iraq, Erbil. Last year, ahead of the end of McKithern's deployment, she shared her desire to bring the puppy home, and friends jumped into action by sharing her message. Strangers and a non-profit organization, Puppy Rescue Mission, helped raise the money she needed to bring Erby home. Erby flew to Tampa in March, but before they could be reunited, McKithern was sent on a two-month mission to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. She finally landed back in Florida Wednesday. McKithern said she was shocked to see how big Erby had gotten in the months they've been apart. "I haven't seen her since Nov. 7," she said. "She was maybe a quarter of the size." She now hopes Erby's mom will be able to travel to the U.S. too. RELATED STORIES Missing Teen Found With Soccer Coach Has 'Emotional Reunion' With Family A Paw-Some Reunion! Family Dog Returned to Her Owners a Year After Running Away Sharp-Dressed Rescue Dog 'Plans' Reunion With Foster Brothers and Sisters Related Articles: Just when you thought the epic Laurel/Yanny debate had died down on the internet, the Trump administration has brought the argument back to life. The White Houses social media team released a short video with several staffers and members of the administration weighing in on what they heard in the viral audio clip Laurel or Yanny. Senior advisor Ivanka Trump opens the video and Vice President Mike Pence gave his response. And yes, President Donald Trump himself appeared as the latest cameo, naturally. Instead of hearing Laurel or Yanny, however, the president rehashed his now infamous Twitter blunder. I hear covfefe, Trump said. The video reached nearly ten million views over several social media platforms, and as you can imagine, the reactions were mixed. Some found the clip funny, and others used it as an excuse to rag on the Trump administration. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will have new titles bestowed upon them when they marry. - POOL DAILY TELEGRAPH When Meghan Markle marries her fiancee Prince Harry on Saturday 19 May at St George's Chapel, Windsor, like all brides she will be joining a new family. But this is not any family. Just like her sister-in-law-to-be Kate Middleton, the former American actress will be making the transition from "commoner" to "royal" complete with a new title. Here's everything you need to know about the British peerage and our best guess at what her new title will be. Could Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's titles be The Duke and Duchess of Sussex? Ms Markle is tipped to become the first Duchess of Sussex when she marries Prince Harry. By tradition, male members of the Royal family receive a title from the monarch on their wedding day, and the vacant title Duke of Sussex is regarded as the most likely choice for the Prince. The only previous Duke of Sussex was married twice, but neither of his marriages was approved by his father, George III, meaning they were considered unlawful. It means that Ms Markle would be the first woman entitled to use the title HRH The Duchess of Sussex. Ms Markles full name is Rachel Meghan Markle, but she was named as Meghan in Buckingham Palaces announcement of the engagement, meaning she is unlikely to revert to Rachel when she is married. Meghan and Wallis: Two American divorcees marrying into royalty - what a difference 80 years makes What's the procedure in choosing a title? A dukedom is the highest rank in the British peerage and comes from the Latin word dux, meaning leader. Traditionally, the monarch would bestow these titles on people loyal to the crown, in exchange for land or money, or they were inherited from a direct ancestor. They were known as "peers of the realm". The five titles, from highest to lowest are: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron for men; duchess, marchioness, countess, viscountess, and baroness for women. Story continues The Queen is expected to choose a Dukedom for her grandson from titles that are currently suspended, and other options include the dukedoms of Clarence, Connaught, Windsor, Albany, and Cumberland and Teviotdale. However, many of them have inauspicious histories that would almost certainly rule them out. Titles and how to use them Charles Kidd, editor of Debretts Peerage & Baronetage, said he believed the Queen would choose the Dukedom of Sussex for Prince Harry, which was previously held by George IIIs sixth son Augustus Frederick. He said: Theyre quite limited in the titles that are available. The Duke of Sussex is the front-runner without any doubt. Who was the previous Duke of Sussex? Like Prince Harry, the previous Duke of Sussex, Augustus Frederick, lived at Kensington Palace, and he also married for love, rather than choosing brides who fitted the traditional royal mould. Prince Augustus Frederick was not given consent by his father, King George III, to marry his first wife Lady Augusta Murray, as she was considered to be from too low a social rank. The Prince married her anyway, in secret in Rome in 1793, and then again in England when they returned, but without the kings permission the marriage contravened the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and was annulled in 1794. The couple continued to live as man and wife and had two children before they eventually separated. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pictured in February in Oslo, Norway Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images Prince William and Kate Middleton's titles explained When Prince Harry's brother William married Catherine Middleton in 2011, the Queen bestowed the title of the Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus on her grandson. Catherine, known as Kate, became the Duchess of Cambridge. Like the Duke of Sussex, the previous Duke of Cambridge, Prince George, known as the 2nd Duke of Cambridge, married a commoner for love just like Prince William. Born in 1819, he was a grandson of George III and the only son of Prince Adolphus Frederick, the 1st Duke of Cambridge. He refused to have an arranged marriage and declared such unions were "doomed to failure". He became captivated by the actress Sarah Louisa Fairbrother, who was said to be a classic beauty and a graceful dancer. They wed in 1847 when she was already the mother of two of his children and pregnant with his third. The Duchess of Cambridge and Sophie Countess of Wessex Credit: Eddie Mulholland Are there any other royal dukes? The Queens second son, Prince Andrew, was created Duke of York upon his marriage to Sarah Ferguson in 1986. The Queens youngest son, Prince Edward, however broke with royal tradition when he chose the title of Earl of Wessex upon his marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones (now Sophie, Countess of Wessex) in 1999. The other royal dukes are The Queens first cousins, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent. UPDATE: 4:24 p.m. EDTAt least two people were killed and more than 40 others were injured when a school bus collided with a dump truck in New Jersey Thursday, officials said. Governor Phil Murphy said the two killed were a child and an adult. UPDATE: 1:04 p.m. EDTThe bus involved in a devastating crash with a dump truck in New Jersey Thursday was carrying fifth graders from East Brook Middle School in Paramus to Waterloo Village for a field trip, CBS News reported. Alan Fulton, who witnessed the scene, described it to Newsweek as "horrific" and asked for prayers for all involved. Trending: What is Prince Harry's Last Name And Will Meghan Markle Take It? It remained unclear how many people were killed or injured in the crash, or what the extent of the injuries were. Images from the scene showed the bus completely detached from its chassis, lying on its side with the front mangled. Original story: Don't miss: Jason Reitman on 'Tully,' Motherhood and His Films Sharpest Critics: 'The Movie Is Not About Mental Health' A dump truck crashed into a school bus filled with students in New Jersey Thursday morning, injuring several and killing at least two, the North Passaic Daily Voice reported, citing first responders. The accident occurred on Route 80 in Morris County. The bus was from East Brook Middle School in Paramus, New Jersey, Police Chief Ken Ehrenberg said, according to WPVI-TV. Authorities had not yet confirmed the deaths. The crash prompted a mass casualty response that included first responders, fire departments and medical helicopters. It was unclear exactly how many people were on the bus, or who the victims were that were killed and injured. Most popular: Trump Loves Golfing But His Presidency Hasn't Helped His Golf Courses The exact extent of the injuries remained unknown. Photos posted by NBC News showed the full-sized school bus lying on its side in the grass median, heavily damaged from the crash. The front end of the bus appeared to be entirely destroyed. Story continues Theres an incredible emergency response throughout Morris County and by State Police, Olive Mayor Rob Greenbaum told the Daily Record. Its a horrific scene. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek CARACAS (Reuters) - Nine prisoners and two guards were killed during a riot in a prison in the western Venezuelan state of Lara, Prisons Minister Iris Varela said on Friday, the country's second in a week. The latest riot at the Fenix prison on Thursday was now under control and would be investigated by the prosecutor's office, Varela said. On Wednesday, inmates rioted at the Helicoide prison complex in Caracas, where several prominent opponents of President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government are detained. No one died in that incident. Varela said that Joshua Holt, a U.S. citizen and Mormon missionary who jailed in the Helicoide, was still incarcerated. The Helicoide revolt prompted the U.S. government to call for his release. A U.S. citizen was also being held at the Fenix prison, officials from the U.S. embassy in Caracas told a news conference, adding that they were concerned for his safety. Weapons and drugs are rife in Venezuela's infamous prisons. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Andreina Aponte and Girish Gupta; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Sandra Maler) Istanbul (AFP) - A summit in Istanbul of Muslim heads of state on Friday called for the creation of an international peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinians, as host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of "brutality" comparable to the Nazis. The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) -- seeking to bridge severe differences within the Muslim world -- said in a final communique that Israel had carried out the "wilful murder" of some 60 Palestinians on the Gaza border Monday. It called "for the international protection of the Palestinian population, including through dispatching of international protection force". Erdogan said the sending of such an "international peacekeeping force" was essential to help the Palestinians and stop the international community being a "spectator to massacres". He compared such a force to the UN forces sent to deal with the aftermath of the Balkan wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. The statement also angrily lashed out at the United States, saying that Washington was complicit in the "crimes" of Israel and "emboldened" its government by moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. - 'No difference with Nazis' - The summit had been called at a few days notice by Erdogan, who had earlier addressed thousands at an open air rally in Istanbul to express solidarity with the Palestinians. Speaking at the opening of the summit, Erdogan compared Israel's actions against the Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust during World War II. "There is no difference between the atrocity faced by the Jewish people in Europe 75 years ago and the brutality that our Gaza brothers are subjected to," he said, accusing Israel of using methods "similar to the Nazis". Around six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War II in the Holocaust. Addressing the earlier rally, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim used similar language, saying Israel was "imitating Hitler and Mussolini" by occupying Palestinian territory and disregarding international law. Story continues Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah -- stepping in for president Mahmud Abbas who this week had surgery on his ear -- told the rally that the US was "trying to provoke a religious conflict in the region" by moving its embassy to Jerusalem. - 'Test for Islamic world' - Erdogan complained that Muslims had too often given a "shy and cowardly" image to their foes and failed to sort out internal disagreements. Describing the issue of Jerusalem as a "test", he said: "If we need to speak clearly, the Islamic world failed in the Jerusalem test." This is the second emergency OIC meeting Erdogan has hosted in the space of half a year after the December 2017 summit, also in Istanbul, that denounced US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Disputes between the OIC's key players -- notably between Sunni kingpin Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran -- always complicate the adoption of any measures going beyond harsh rhetoric. Riyadh -- which appears to have softened its stance on Israel as the influence of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has grown -- and its allies fear alienating the United States with tough measures against Tel Aviv. Saudi Arabia's chief foreign policy preoccupation, shared with Israel, is ensuring US backing to contain Iran which both Riyadh and the Jewish state see as the main threat to regional peace. In his speech, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pointedly criticised "the silence of certain countries" without which "the Zionists would have never attempted such a brutality" Both Cairo and Riyadh are wary of Turkey's support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, as well as its close alliance with Qatar which is currently under a Saudi-led blockade. the Egyptian and Saudi foreign ministers came but not the heads of state. - 'Called to account' - Erdogan has long craved a role as a Muslim leader within the entire Islamic world, rarely holding back with tirades against Israel even though Ankara has diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. Tensions with Israel and hosting such a meeting also does Erdogan no harm with his core supporters as Turkey heads to presidential and parliamentary polls on June 24. And he has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of Israel after Monday's bloodshed, earlier this week even accusing the Jewish state of genocide. He called for an international investigation into the "crimes" Israel has committed. "It will be called to account sooner or later," he said. Don`t ignore the UNHRC`s report : Be respectful to human rights and be with the people THE UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has adopted a draft report on the human rights review of Bangladesh, with recommendations on taking steps to deter forced disappearances, extra judicial killings, and to ensure freedom of expression in media, politics and religion. During the 30th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group of the HRC at Geneva, the UN member states made 251 recommendations. Of the recommendations, 167 were accepted, 60 were noted and the rest would be answered later. Bangladesh will give its final official response no later than the 39th Session of the HRC, scheduled to be held in September. However, it's practically impossible to address so many recommendations at a given time so the government must give priority to the most important ones. More to it, it must commit to show concrete results on those recommendations at the 39th Session in September. However, since Bangladesh has agreed to examine the recommendations by the 39th Session of HRC so by now the government must have chalked down a work plan. Particularly, it agreed to investigate all allegations of human rights violations by the police and security forces and take legal steps so that those responsible for enforced disappearances, custodial tortures and extrajudicial killings are punished. The issue may be one of the most talked about topics in the country but we are eagerly waiting to see how the government would respond to Japan's recommendation. Japan recommended for ensuring a free, fair and inclusive general election, with full participation of all parties, and stepping up efforts to strengthen democracy in Bangladesh. Whatever the nature of the recommendations are, there is little room to remain optimistic that much would change since the Bangladesh delegation to the United Nation's Universal Periodic Review failed to respond to pressing human rights concerns in the country. It should not be any credit for the government that the United Nations will ask it to respect human right of our people guaranteed by our Constitution. We shall ask the government not be incompetent self-seekers. No development can be for the good of the people if the people are helpless about their human rights. No government survives indefinitely with the power of corruption or police power. Recent events in Malaysia should be an eye-opener. The same police is now stopping the dislodged Prime Minister Najib from leaving the country and holding him accountable for corruption. His house is being searched in his presence and removing items of value. He will have to appear before the Anti-Corruption Commission he used against his opponents. The government that cannot rely on people is miserably punished when things change. Brussels (AFP) - The European Union took steps Friday to avoid reimposed US sanctions on Iran and save the international nuclear deal, as a rift with Washington widened. The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, moved to help EU firms skirt US penalties and have member governments directly pay Iran's central bank for oil. The commission, which took two other steps, said it was acting on a "green light" EU leaders gave at a meeting in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on Thursday. The commission "launched the formal process to activate the blocking statute by updating the list of US sanctions on Iran falling within its scope," it said. The executive said it hopes the statute will be in force before August 6 when the first batch of reimposed US sanctions take effect. President Donald Trump last week pulled Washington out of the 2015 international deal with Iran to curb its nuclear programme in return for easing sanctions. The statute, which the 28 EU member states and the European Parliament must endorse, is aimed at reassuring European firms that invested in Iran after the deal. "The blocking statute forbids EU companies from complying with the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions," the commission said. It also "allows companies to recover damages arising from such sanctions from the person causing them, and nullifies the effect in the EU of any foreign court judgements based on them," the executive added. - Potential bargaining chip - The "blocking statute" is a 1996 regulation originally created to circumvent Washington's trade embargo on Cuba, which prohibits EU companies and courts from complying with specific foreign sanction laws. However, the Cuba row was settled politically, so the blocking regulation's effectiveness was never put to the test, and its value may lie more in becoming a bargaining chip with Washington. Since the US withdrawal, the remaining parties have all pledged to stick to the deal if Tehran respects its terms. Story continues Tehran has warned it is ready to resume no-holds-barred "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment unless Europe can provide solid guarantees to preserve Iran's economic benefits under the deal. During talks in Brussels on Tuesday, Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said efforts to save the deal were on the "right track". The commission said the political directors or deputy foreign ministers from the EU, Britain, France and Germany will meet on May 25 in Vienna with their counterparts from China and Russia. EU officials said it will be their first such meeting with envoys from Beijing and Moscow -- which are also trying to save the deal -- since Washington pulled out. - 'Confidence-building measures' - On a second front, the commission said it is encouraging EU member states to explore the idea of "one-off bank transfers" to the Central Bank of Iran. The approach, it said, could ensure Tehran receives its oil-related revenues if US sanctions target EU firms active in oil transactions with Iran. An EU official told reporters the bloc's energy and climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will discuss the issue during his weekend visit to Tehran. The official said the EU wants to explore how to "facilitate payment" of oil imports from Iran, but "equally importantly, the repatriation of Iranian funds" currently in the bloc. The commission also moved Friday to remove hurdles for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance activities outside the EU, such as in Iran. It said the move will "allow the EIB to support EU investment in Iran," particularly involving small and medium-sized companies. The commission also called for doing more to help Iran's energy sector and small and medium-sized companies, as part of "confidence-building measures". In pulling out, Trump complained the nuclear deal does nothing to stop Iran's ballistic missile programme or its interference in conflicts across the Middle East from Syria to Yemen. The president of the European Council has torn into Donald Trump, warning that the US president is a bad friend who acts with capricious assertiveness. Speaking on Wednesday Donald Tusk said he was grateful for Mr Trump because he had made us realise that if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm. The EU leader told reporters at a summit in the Bulgarian capital Sofia that Europe had to be prepared to go it alone in some circumstances because the new shift in American politics made the US an unreliable ally. European heads of state and government are gathering at the Western Balkans summit to discuss the regions future, but they will also hold talks about how to respond to renewed US aggression on trade and foreign affairs. The warning comes after the US pulled out of a key deal on Irans nuclear programme, unilaterally moved its Israel embassy to the disputed city of Jerusalem, and threatened new tariffs against European steel and aluminium producers. Mr Tusk said he wanted Europe to stick to our guns against Mr Trumps new policies, and called for a permanent exemption from the metals tariffs. He branded a US move to use national security grounds to justify the protectionism as absurd and not based in reality. Besides traditional political challenges, such as the rise of China or the aggressive stance of Russia, we are witnessing today a new phenomenon: the capricious assertiveness of the American administration, Mr Tusk said at the start of the summit. Frankly speaking, Europe should be grateful for President Trump because thanks to him we have got rid of all illusions Donald Tusk, European Council president Looking at the latest decisions of President Trump, someone could even think: with friends like that, who needs enemies? But frankly speaking, Europe should be grateful for President Trump because thanks to him we have got rid of all illusions. He has made us realise that if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm. Story continues He continued: Europe must do everything in its power to protect, in spite of todays mood, the transatlantic bond, but at the same time we must be prepared for those scenarios where we have to act on our own. We have enough potential to rise to the challenge, but what we need is more political unity and determination. Donald Trump has moved to impose protectionist measures against US allies (AFP) The EU has taken a tough rhetorical line against the US in response to Mr Trump; earlier this year Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods such as Levis jeans, Harley-Davidson motorbikes, and Bourbon whiskey if Europe was hit by protectionist measures. The US president has for his part said that trade wars are good, and easy to win, and has characterised EU trade policies as very unfair on the US. On Monday evening Boris Johnson met with his French and German foreign minister counterparts, as well as the EUs foreign policy chief, in Brussels to work out a way to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, which Mr Trump has said he is embarrassed about as a citizen. The EU says it will try to preserve the deal despite the US breaking the agreement. The bloc has won a temporary exemption from US steel tariffs but European leaders want to make the deal permanent. By Nathan Layne NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former son-in-law of Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign, has cut a plea deal with the Justice Department that requires him to cooperate with other criminal probes, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The guilty plea agreement, which is under seal and has not been previously reported, could add to the legal pressure on Manafort, who is facing two indictments brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort has been indicted in federal courts in Washington and Virginia with charges ranging from tax evasion to bank fraud and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Jeffrey Yohai, a former business partner of Manafort, was divorced from Manafort's daughter last August. Yohai has not been specifically told how he will be called on to cooperate as part of his plea agreement, but the two people familiar with the matter say they consider it a possibility that he will be asked to assist with Mueller's prosecution of Manafort. Legal experts have said that Mueller wants to keep applying pressure on Manafort to plead guilty and assist prosecutors with their probe. Manafort chaired the Trump campaign for three months before resigning in August 2016. Both Trump and Russia have denied allegations they colluded to help Republican Trump win the election. Hilary Potashner, a public defender who is representing Yohai, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Manafort's spokesman, Jason Maloni, declined to comment. Andrew Brown, a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, had been overseeing an investigation into Yohai's real estate and bank dealings in California and New York several months before Mueller was appointed to his post in May 2017. Yohais agreement, which was concluded early this year, included him pleading guilty to misusing construction loan funds and to a count related to a bank account overdraft. Story continues While the deal was cut with Brown's office, the federal government can ask for help at any time, said one of the people familiar with the matter. A spokesman for Brown did not respond to a request for comment and a spokesman for Mueller declined to comment. MANAFORT TRIAL PENDING Manafort is to go on trial later this year to fight the two indictments. The charges against him range from failing to disclose lobbying work for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party to bank fraud. As a close business partner, Yohai was privy to many of Manafort's financial dealings, according to the two people familiar with the matter and court filings in the bankruptcies of four Los Angeles properties in 2016. In addition to co-investing in California real estate, the two cooperated in getting loans for property deals in New York, Manaforts indictments show. Mueller sent a team of prosecutors to interview Yohai last June, asking him about Manaforts relationship with Trump, his ties to Russian oligarchs, and his borrowing of tens of millions of dollars against properties in New York, Reuters reported in February, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Related Video: Judge Denies Manafort Dismissal of Charges Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View. (Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Alistair Bell) Report lists cause of death as 'projectile wound of the head': Sean Gallup/Getty Images A 38-year-old man was killed when a vape he was smoking at his home exploded, an autopsy report has revealed. The explosion sent two pieces of the e-cigarette into Tallmadge D'Elia's skull. The report lists the cause of death as "projectile wound to the head." Mr D'Elia also suffered burns on about 80 per cent of his body. The report confirmed the vape was responsible for his death on 5 May in St Petersburg, Florida. The death was ruled an accident. Firefighters found Mr D'Elia inside his burning home, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The vape was manufactured by Smok-E Mountain. The Food and Drug Administration says it was not clear what caused some vapes to explode, but it could stem from battery-related issues. Xiyue Wang, a husband, father and Princeton University doctoral student, has been imprisoned in Iran since August 2016 on charges of espionage. He was invited to study at a foreign language institute in Tehran and was granted permission by Irans Foreign Ministry to further his dissertation research. But President Trumps decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear agreement has complicated his case, along with the cases of four other Americans detained in Iran. Meanwhile back home in Princeton, N.J., his wife, Hua Qu, has been juggling her career and taking care of their 5-year-old son, all while trying to focus on her husbands case, appealing to President Trump for his release. Qu sat down with Yahoo News' Stephanie Sy to talk about her imprisoned husband and what it's like raising a son on her own. The last memory Hua Qu (pronounced chu) has of her family together was during a trip to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. Under a canopy of pink petals, her husband, Xiyue (pronounced she-yeh), grabbed their toddler son, spinning him around in a dizzying twirl that lifted Shao Fans little feet right off the ground. The boy giggled as his mom captured a video of the happy moment on her iPhone. It was a short and sweet family excursion in the spring of 2016, before Xiyue Wang planned to leave his young family for Iran. A fourth-year doctoral student at Princeton University and a Chinese-born naturalized American citizen, Wang had been invited to study Farsi by a foreign language institute in Tehran. He had also been granted permission by Irans Foreign Ministry to conduct research for his dissertation on late 19th and 20th century Eurasian history. He was a history nerd, said a former student of his, Patricia Crawford, in a video compiled by the Free Xiyue Wang campaign. Ive never seen him without a book. Before Princeton, hed been a student at the University of Washington and Harvard University. So much did he value the academic opportunities hed been given in America, he gave up his Chinese citizenship in 2009 to become a U.S. citizen. According to Qu, her husband thought nothing of the risks of being an American academic studying in Iran. And even when, on the week he was due to return to the U.S., Iranian authorities suddenly seized his passport and laptop, he thought it was a routine security check that would quickly clear him to return to his family. Three weeks later, Qu says, Wang disappeared. Princeton University officials retained an Iranian lawyer who eventually found Wang in Tehrans Evin Prison. The family before Wangs imprisonment: Xiyue Wang, left, Shao Fan and Hua Qu. (Photo: courtesy Hua Qu) It was August 2016. That summer, presidential candidate Donald Trump was vociferously denouncing the nuclear agreement the U.S. and four other major powers had reached with Iran, calling the deal an embarrassment for not doing enough to rein in Irans nuclear ambitions or its other destabilizing activities in the region. Trump wasnt the only one who hated the pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). So did hard-liners in Iran, and it is those hard-liners who run Evin prison. Story continues Experts on Iranian politics believe those factions are behind the continued detentions of Americans held in Iran. Revolutionary Guard members loyal to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei not only control the security forces, but also the courts. Imprisoning Americans is their way of exercising their power to undermine the JCPOA, according to Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group. In other words, the Americans held in detention are not only bargaining chips, but part of an internal Iranian struggle for control over the countrys foreign policy. The hard-liners are competing for power with elected officials such as President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who negotiated the JCPOA, along with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Now that President Trump has followed through with his campaign promise to withdraw from the deal, the prospect that Wang and at least four other Americans held in Iran will be released soon seems even more remote. The situation has gotten worse because the tensions within Iran over how to interact with the outside world are dividing the country, said Ghaemi. People who end up caught up in detention are paying a much heavier price because the stakes are much higher now. Four dual Iranian-American citizens are also being held in Iran Siamak Namazi, a businessman; his 82-year old father, Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF official; Karan Vafadari, an art dealer; and Gholamreza Shahini, who was visiting relatives when he was detained. All five were arrested after the nuclear agreement was implemented. But the reasons may have been more than just political. President Trump holds up a proclamation on May 8 declaring his intention to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) While the Obama administration was agreeing to the terms of the Iran deal in 2015, it was also negotiating a controversial prisoner exchange and large cash payment to Iran. On the day the U.N. lifted sanctions, Iran released four Iranian-Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, in exchange for seven Iranians that had been detained in the U.S. The U.S. also gave Iran $400 million. While Trumps description of the payment as ransom was inaccurate (the funds were previously owed to Iran and were frozen after 1979), some critics of the arrangement say the cash payout had the same effect it made arresting Americans in Iran potentially profitable, and may have led to the spate of detentions in Iran since. A large amount of cash was shipped directly to the Revolutionary Guard for the release of those dual nationals, said Ghaemi. And that really made the Revolutionary Guard believe that these actions can bring them financial benefit of huge sums. Over the years, cases of detained Americans in Iran have followed a familiar pattern, and Wang was no different vague charges of espionage or state subversion, a period of solitary confinement and endless interrogations in Evins infamous Ward 209 followed by secret trials, convictions and arbitrary sentences issued with scant evidence. Wang went through all of that from August 2016 to July 2017 before the American public even knew of his case. Hua, Princeton University officials and the State Department quietly worked on his release. But after his conviction last July, reports started coming out of Iran about Wang. And last fall, a hard-line Iran state television station, IRIB2, broadcast a video report about Wangs imprisonment. In the video, Wang is interviewed talking innocuously about his research, but the narrator depicts the scholar as a spy and claims he infiltrated Irans national archives. Wang received a 10-year sentence on charges related to espionage, and his appeal was denied. Xiyue Wang in the summer of 2015. (Hua Qu via AP) In a May 10 interview with CBS This Morning, Vice President Mike Pence suggested the possibility of a new deal with Iran, which may create opportunities for not only addressing the issue of Americans that are detained in Iran, but also checking the extraordinary malign influence and support for terrorism that Iran continues to propagate across the region. But with European allies so far remaining in the Iran deal, its not clear how to reach a new deal. U.S. and Iranian relations have deteriorated since Trump took office, as has trust between the U.S. and some of its traditional allies. Regardless of Trumps actions on the nuclear deal or how he plans to implement his decision, it is urgent that the U.S. government develop a humanitarian channel for talking with the Iranians about the fate of these prisoners, said Ghaemi. In a statement to Yahoo News, a State Department official said: The safety and security of U.S. citizens remains a top priority. We call for the immediate release of all U.S. citizens unjustly detained and missing in Iran The U.S. government raises with Iran at every opportunity the cases of U.S. citizens missing and unjustly detained in Iran. We will continue to do so until their cases are resolved. Visiting Hua Qu in her small apartment near the Princeton University campus, it is clear that two years without her husband have taken their toll. She had given up a lot to relocate from Beijing to support Wangs academic career, and for two years shes had to raise their son by herself while searching for any news out of the region that might affect Wangs case, and anxiously awaiting updates from the State Department. Hua Qu poses for a photograph with a portrait of her family in Princeton, N.J., on May 9. (Photo: Matt Rourke/AP) At a recent Princeton rally calling for her husbands release, Qu pleaded with Trump to meet with her so she could explain that her husband is a good man and a proud American. She hoped that with the recent release of three Americans from North Korean custody, Trump might achieve a similar breakthrough with the Iranian authorities imprisoning Wang. I miss him terribly, she said, with the studied composure that comes from two years of fighting back tears. As time goes by, I fear more and more for his safety. Read more from Yahoo News: Put aside politics and support solid policies regardless of which party takes the lead, urges the one-time Democratic VP nominee. "Politics have become what they weren't when I became involved," Lieberman says of the polarization in Washington. Democrats and Republicans are like "warring tribes," he says. Democrats and Republicans need to support solid policies regardless of which party takes the lead such as President Donald Trump 's decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, Joe Lieberman told CNBC on Thursday. "I happen to agree with President Trump on these two decisions," the former Democratic and independent senator from Connecticut said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "Politics have become what they weren't when I became involved, which is the parties used to bring together people with different opinions and help to work with people from the other party to actually get things done," said Lieberman, who as Al Gore 's running mate in 2000 became the first Jewish candidate on a major-party presidential ticket. Lieberman, who said he's still a registered Democrat, is also friends with ailing GOP Sen. John McCain . McCain, a frequent Trump critic, wrote in his new book that he regrets not picking Lieberman as his running mate in 2008, when he ran for president against Democrat Barack Obama . Democrats and Republicans are like "warring tribes," Lieberman said. "A lot of media coverage contributes to this tribal division in our country. And now it's beginning to seep down beneath the politicians," fermenting deep ideological polarization, he added. He said the Trump administration "has done well" concerning the risks that Iran poses to the U.S. and the world. Exiting the nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration and threatening to reimpose sanctions are prudent steps, he said. "This was always a bad deal," Lieberman said of Iran's 2015 agreement with the United States, the United Kingdom , France , Germany , China and Russia to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. "A nuclearized, radical Iran is the greatest threat to us, to world stability." Story continues '"I worked a long time with a lot of other members of both parties in Congress to put those economic sanctions on Iran. They were intended to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program and to stop supporting terrorism and aggression in the Middle East," Lieberman recalled. "We gave up all that pressure on Iran for pretty much a pause in their nuclear program, and what turned out to be an acceleration of their other bad behavior." Trump is "not leading from behind," said Lieberman, a criticism levied against Obama when he was in the White House. Lieberman is currently chairman of the United Against Nuclear Iran advocacy group. "We're still the strongest economy in the world. And whatever the political elites in Europe, for instance, are trying to do now to save the Iran nuclear deal, their businesses are speaking," Lieberman said. He was referring to signals from European companies including, Total, Maersk and Allianz that they could exit Iran, fearing they could be hit by U.S. penalties for doing business there. Negotiating from economic strength has also been an effective strategy for the White House concerning trade with China, Lieberman said. "The president does have leverage for China to renegotiate some of our trade agreements." But the former senator cautioned Trump not to overplay his hand. "Please don't let it go to a trade war because that could really hurt our economy [and] could hurt the global economy." WATCH: Lieberman cautions Trump against engaging in a trade war with China More From CNBC A former pro wrestler was brutally beaten and kicked by a group of young men in California earlier this week, police said. The victim has been identified as Tom Magee, a retired strongman competitor and contender in the World Wrestling Federation. Magee, whos more than 6 feet tall, was a force to be reckoned with in his heyday, having once set a world record with a 1,180-pound deadlift. Despite his impressive past, police say Magee, who will turn 60 in July, didnt stand a chance against an onslaught of fists and feet delivered by six young men Tuesday morning. The beating, which occurred outside Magees Mar Vista home, was so severe, according to police, that it left him with a broken jaw, broken eye socket and concussion. Officer Christopher No with the Los Angeles Police Department told HuffPost a neighborhood dispute led to the incident. There was an altercation and Magee got assaulted and beaten, No said. Witnesses told local news outlets that the dispute began over the use of a parking space. It is still unclear who started the dispute. They were literally kicking him, punching him in the face and in the head, a neighbor, who did not wish to be identified, told CBS Los Angeles. The men reportedly ran off when neighbors rushed to Magees aid. As of Friday, two arrests have been made in the case. Officer No identified them as Justin Lee, 20, and Degrate Bryant, also 20. Both face charges of causing great bodily injury. Former pro wrestler Tom Magee was badly beaten, by as many as six young men, outside his Mar Vista home Tuesday evening. Neighbors said it all began over a parking dispute https://t.co/9seDDHVAcJ pic.twitter.com/971x45qpMk CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) May 18, 2018 Magees neighbor told CBS Los Angeles the suspects should face severe penalties. Story continues If we wouldnt have come out here I dont know if he would be alive, she said. To look at his face if you saw his face right now and saw what they were doing to him, hes really lucky to be alive. Police said Magee was left lying on the ground semi-conscious and was hospitalized for his injuries. By Thursday he was back home recovering, according to local news. The investigation is ongoing, and police say additional arrests are possible. Anyone with information on the alleged assault is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-275-5273. Send David Lohr an email or follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Quanta'e Powell Powell is accused of running naked around a Florida apartment complex in February, 2012. A police report on Powell's arrest notes that, ""Statements from the defendant were not possible as he would only state he loved cocaine and needed more cocaine." Darron Lynn Koenig Koenig was accused in February, 2013 of throwing hammers at Texas construction workers and then baracading himself inside his residence when police arrived to question him, according to the Houston Chronicle. Garrett Michael Hoover Hoover was arrested for disorderly conduct in South Carolina on November, 16, 2012. But, more importantly, he's "down to boink." Sean Carl Payne Payne is accused of being so drunk that a police officer had to hold his head up for his mugshot after he was arrested in October, 2012 by Humble, Tex. cops. Terry Smith Officers in Port Orange, Fla., say Terry Smith allegedly tried to rob a taxi and, in the process, left his wallet in the cab. William Kise After crashing his Mustang into an Indianapolis home, William Kise's first question to the victims was reportedly, "You want some pizza?" Michael Don Mitchell Michael Don Mitchell, 38, is accused of stealing $87 in cash and change from a home in Lakeport, Tex., as well as a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli. Investigators identified him by the spaghetti sauce around his lips and mouth. Arthur Brundage Police in Syracuse, N.Y., say Arthur Brundage robbed a bank and then came back to claim he was shortchanged on the loot. Daniel Selmon Police in Aurora, Ill., say they discovered Daniel Selmon was growing marijuana when they spotted a large bonfire he allegedly lit to keep the plants warm. Raymond Garcia Raymond Garcia, 45, was arrested after cops saw him fighting a street sign. Phillip Beach Phillip Beach is accused of trying to steal a boat by jumping in the water and pulling it as he swam. He was arrested for felony theft. John Caruso John Caruso is accused of squirting dish soap in his girlfriend's mouth in an attempt to stop her from cursing. Cristian Villarreal-Castillo Sheriff's deputies responding to a burglary call say they found Cristian Villarreal-Castillo, a 20-year-old man, asleep on the kitchen floor of a home in Oregon. Chad William Forber Chad William Forber, 41, has been charged with possession of methamphetamine, resisting or obstructing a peace officer and possession of drug paraphernalia, stemming from an incident where he was found naked in public covered in nothing but Crisco. Johnny Broestler Johnny Broestler, 46, is accused of smearing dirty underwear on another man's face after an argument about rent. Joyce Coffey Joyce Coffey was arrested four times in 26 hours for blasting the AC/DC song "Highway to Hell" and other loud music from her home and for throwing a frying pan. LaKeisha Nicole Brown LaKeisha Nicole Brown, 24, of Longview, Tex., is accused of running an SUV over five people playing dominoes in a car port. James David Gray James David Gray was charged with his fifth DUI when police in Ocala, Fla., pulled him over for driving drunk on a lawnmower. Terry Davis Terry Davis is accused of stealing a textbook called "Resolving Ethical Issues" from the University of Louisville's Health Sciences Center and then later trying to resell the book to a rival book store. April Hill April Hill, 22, of Greenville, Indiana, was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 or higher and a felony count of disturbing a train bed. Eric Butkiewicz Patriotically-adorned Butkiewicz, 31, was arrested in the wee hours of the morning after Independence Day for allegedly dealing drugs at Miami's posh Fontainebleau Hotel. Rhonda Washington Rhonda Washington, 33, of Bryan, Tex., is accused of stabbing her husband because she didn't like his Facebook update. She maintains that she stabbed him with keys because she was mad he was doing PCP in the house. Naked Chainsaw Lindsay Medd Stevens was arrested by police in Knoxville, Tenn., for indecent exposure after his neighbor saw him cutting a tree down -- while completely in the buff. Knox County sheriff's deputy Scott Ritch told WATE-TV that he saw Stevens standing completely nude in his yard cutting a tree, only to run inside his house when he saw the officer. Jason Dornhoff Jason Dornhoff was arrested after he wrote a bomb threat on the back of a job application, police said. Cops searched his truck, but found no explosives. Robert Gernot Germot was accused of threatening his neighbor by saying, "When I get done taking a s--t, I'm gonna kick your f---ing a--!" Ilyass Nabih and Thony Sengsoulya Ilyass Nabih and Thony Sengsoulya, both of Nashua, New Hampshire, were arrested on drug charges in June 2012 after authorities spotted them allegedly trying to shoot up heroin while parked outside the Lawrence Police Station in Massachusetts. Vladimir Mishkov Mishkov is accused of masturbating in front of a jail employee on his way to court to face a previous flashing charge. Kelsey Smith In June, 2012, Smith was accused of driving under the influence and of spitting blood on law enforcement officers in Volusia County, Fla. Raymond Carl Knudson Raymond Carl Knudson pleaded guilty June 25 to sticking up a Bank of America branch in April, a crime he confessed within minutes of committing. Kola J. McGrath Kola J. McGrath was arrested for sneaking into her boyfriend's apartment complex by hiding in a small pink suitcase in Portland, Ore. The police searched the apartment of Curtis T. Lowe after being informed that a man had kidnapped a woman, put her in a suitcase, and taken her into the building. They found McGrath hiding in a closet. Houaka Yang Houaka Yang, 20, of Wisconsin, accidentally videotaped his confession and identified himself on tape with a camcorder he stole. Once the video camera was recovered, the victim uploaded Yang's clip to YouTube. Pocahontas Luerissie Ashley Ross -- who is also a stripper called Pocahontas -- was arrested in February after she allegedly lured a man to his death and shot another in two robberies in Houston. Read more. Clyde Hobbs Clyde Hobbs was arrested in May, 2012 for allegedly calling 911 at least 17 times -- to talk dirty to operators. He'd been arrested several times in the past for the same crime. When cops arrived to collar him, Hobbs asked, "Are you here to arrest me again?" Read more. Patricia Krentcil Patricia Krentcil was charged with child endangerment for allegedly allowing her 5-year-old to use a tanning booth, but the New Jersey mom says the child got a sunburn from playing outside. Read more. Eugene Carl Kotelman Largo (Fla.) Police pulled over Kotelman allegedly for speeding and driving drunk on May 3. Cops checked the trunk and say they found a small monkey tucked inside. Read more. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Kiev (AFP) - At least four people, including a child, were killed in Ukraine's separatist east, pro-Russian rebel authorities said Friday as fighting intensified in the region. The news came the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were set to meet in Russia to discuss the long-running conflict. A 13 year-old boy and his father were killed when their house was hit by shelling in Troitsky, inside a Kiev-controlled zone in the region of Lugansk, local police said. The boy's mother is in intensive care after she was seriously injured and her other 18-year-old son suffered leg injuries that are not life threatening, the regional governor Yury Garbuz wrote on Facebook. Rebel authorities reported two of their fighters were killed and a third wounded in the clashes with the Ukrainian army. Three civilians in Gorlivka, a city in the separatist-controlled Donetsk region, were also wounded, they said. For its part the Ukrainian army reported seven wounded soldiers. The situation in eastern Ukraine deteriorated in recent days with two Ukrainian soldiers killed in fighting on Thursday. A school was also hit by shelling this week, despite the ceasefire. The chief monitor of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) special mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug left the conflict zone on Thursday due to a "serious deterioration of the security situation", the organisation said. More than 10,000 people have been killed since the Moscow-backed insurgency broke out in April 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. 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. Putin meets Assad, calls for 'pol process' on Syria Russian President Vladimir Putin A speaks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during their meeting in Sochi. AFP : Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Thursday and said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country. A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi. "After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists" the condition are in place for "the start of a political process on a major scale," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "there were detailed discussions" between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia. "With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory," Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces. Russia has been involved in Syria's civil war since September 2015. Paris (AFP) - France on Friday froze the assets for six months of companies based in Syria, Lebanon and China after they were linked to an alleged chemical weapons programme in Syria. The businesses include Sigmatec and the Al Mahrous Group, both based in Damascus, Technolab in Lebanon, and a trading company in Guangzhou in China, according to a list published in the government's official gazette. Two Syrian nationals will also face asset freezes, as well as a person born in Lebanon in 1977 whose nationality was not specified. The asset freezes were signed by French Finance minister Bruno Le Maire. In January, France sanctioned 25 people and companies based in Syria, but also French, Lebanese and Chinese, over suspicions of fuelling the development of chemical weapons in the war-ravaged country. The companies targeted included importers and distributors of metals, electronics, logistics and shipping. Some thirty countries meet in Paris on Friday to put in place mechanisms to better identify and punish those responsible for using nerve agents such as Sarin and chlorine in attacks. After hundreds of people were killed in chemical attacks near Damascus in August 2013, a landmark deal with Russia was struck to rid Syria of its chemical weapons stash, staving off US air strikes. Despite the deal, a suspected chlorine and sarin attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7 triggered a wave of punitive missile strikes against alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria by the United States, Britain and France. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is due to soon release a fact-finding report into the suspected Douma attack. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Kuwait has circulated to members of the UN Security Council a draft resolution calling for the dispatch of an "international protection mission" to shield Palestinian civilians, according to a copy obtained by AFP on Friday. The draft "calls for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population" and for "the dispatch of an international protection mission." No details were offered on what form such a mission might take, or whether they would be made up of UN peacekeepers or observers. The draft calls on the UN secretary-general to submit a report within 30 days of any adoption of the resolution on his recommendations "on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection and well-being" of Palestinian civilians. Kuwait, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, circulated the draft after Israel killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border Monday as the US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The text risks being vetoed by the United States. Earlier this week, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, vigorously defended Israel's "restraint" in responding to the protests. A first meeting to discuss the text has been set for Monday afternoon, said one diplomatic source on condition of anonymity, predicting there was "no chance" the text would be passed and that Washington would refuse even to discuss it. The draft condemns Israel's use of live ammunition against protesters, reaffirms the right to peaceful protest and calls for "independent, impartial and transparent investigations" into the deadly violence. The draft also calls for "the full lifting of the blockade and the restrictions imposed by Israel" on access in and out of Gaza and for unhindered flow of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, slammed the resolution as "shameful" and said it was designed to assist Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas, whom the Jewish state considers a terrorist organization. "This shameful draft resolution is a proposal to support Hamas' war crimes against Israel and the residents of Gaza who are being sent to die for the sake of preserving Hamas' rule," he said in a statement. Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Renowned for its relentless confrontation of its Nazi past, Germany's culture of remembrance faces new 21st-Century challenges as survivors of World War II and the Holocaust disappear and far-right politics reemerges. "This is my birth certificate, with the Nazi swastika on the bottom," white-haired Ralph Dannheisser tells a class of rapt teenagers, passing the document around the packed library at Frankfurt's Liebig secondary school. Born in 1938, less than two years before his parents fled Europe for the United States, Dannheisser grew up speaking German and praying for the survival of relatives left behind as World War II and the Holocaust savaged the Old Continent. The students press 80-year-old Dannheisser with questions for more than an hour, asking how the loss of his grandparents in the camps at Sobibor and Auschwitz-Birkenau affected his childhood, or how American children reacted to German-Jewish refugees. "My mother never got over the murder of her parents and her brother... I also felt a real loss because I grew up without an Oma or Opa (granddad or grandma) and grew up knowing no uncles, aunts or cousins," Dannheisser recounts. "It was really detailed, we didn't learn things this way in class," 15-year-old Ronan Chollet-Richard says afterwards. "You could see clearly in his eyes how it felt. It's unimaginable for me as a pupil, as a child." Dannheisser, smiling from behind his glasses and neat beard, declares himself "impressed" by the students' engagement. "They had intelligent questions and gave me a lot of hope," he says. "I think it's important to tell our stories and to keep the memory alive in newer generations while we're still around," he adds. The dwindling number of survivors makes the question of how to pass knowledge of Germany's totalitarian past on to future generations more acute now than it has been in decades. Story continues "As we draw further and further away from the Holocaust and World War II, it's all the more urgent to find new ways of communicating this," says Stephan Peters, who has taught history at the Liebig school since 1992. - '180-degree turn' - Germany broke free of the post-war decades of silence and repressed memories to probe the depths of its Nazi past in the late 20th Century, a process imitated in places like South Africa. But last year the far-right nationalist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged into parliament with 12.6 percent of the vote, turbocharged by the arrival of more than one million mostly Muslim refugees since 2015. Ahead of the election, regional AfD leader Bjoern Hoecke called for a "180-degree turn" in the country's "daft policy of coming to terms with the past". And party leader Alexander Gauland has said "we have the right to be proud of the achievements of German soldiers in two world wars". AfD's contempt for the culture of remembrance stems not from hatred of Jews so much as from its rejection of many lessons post-war Germany drew from its history. The 1949 Basic Law, later adopted as united Germany's constitution, is anchored around a deep concern for individual rights, with clear limits to state, police and military powers and a commitment to host refugees. Away from the far-right, Germany's 200,000-strong Jewish community fears growing numbers of anti-Semitic crimes by Muslim perpetrators, from the burning of Israeli flags at protests to street violence or bullying in schools. "I would advise individual people against openly wearing a kippah (traditional Jewish skullcap) in big German cities," Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in April after a spate of such incidents. - No 'inoculation' for extremism - As Holocaust survivors gradually vanish, the focus of remembrance culture is turning towards the physical evidence of Nazi crimes at former camps and other scenes of atrocities. Some politicians have even called for obligatory visits to Holocaust memorials. Teacher Peters cautions that the encounters can be "psychologically very, very difficult to bear for some pupils, to withstand the pressure they feel at this place". What's more, many sites are "at the limits of our capacity," says Stephanie Billib, a spokeswoman for the Holocaust memorial at Bergen-Belsen. "We have more school groups than we can manage, we are always having to turn down requests." While memorials hope for more state funding, the disappearance of those who lived through the Holocaust as adults means "important advocates for the memorials will soon no longer be there," Billib laments. In any case, she says visits are not so effective that "you can give people some kind of inoculation, that all the young people will be good democrats" afterwards. That hasn't stopped people trying -- most notoriously in the case of German rappers Farid Bang and Kollegah. After the duo's top-selling album, which features anti-Semitic -- or at least extremely tasteless -- lines about Auschwitz inmates, won Germany's biggest music award, the Echo, the resulting scandal lead to the prize being scrapped earlier this year. Now the apparently contrite pair are set to visit the former Nazi German camp in Poland. "They'll be paying homage to the victims and the survivors," said Christoph Heubner, vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee. "It will be a retraining course in humanity." Kate Middleton, left, and Gina Haspel. (Photo: Getty Images) At first glance, Kate Middleton, British duchess and style icon, and Gina Haspel, who will be the United States first female CIA director are total opposites. But the women share an obvious love for Michael Kors. Both Middleton, 36, and Haspel, 61, got style bloggers buzzing when they stepped out wearing the exact same dress: a $175 red-white-and-blue belted floral-print crepe midi dress by the designer. On Thursday, Middleton was photographed wearing the frock on her way to Windsor Castle to attend a rehearsal for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday. On social media, there was speculation that Middleton wore the American designer as a tribute to Markle, who is from Los Angeles. Kate Middleton wore a Michael Kors dress to the royal wedding rehearsal. (Photo: Splash News) And Haspel, a former undercover spy who on Thursday was confirmed as the first female director of the Central Intelligence Agency, wore the dress on May 7 to attend meetings in Washington, D.C. The CIAs Gina Haspel stepped out in Micheal Kors earlier this month. (Photo: Getty Images) Over on Twitter, the dress and the stylish instincts of both women were discussed. Of interest to some American readers Kate wore Michael Kors today, and @KAldredge has pointed out it is the same dress Gina Haspel (Acting DCI) has been pictured wearing: https://t.co/tgUiRpVhwa #GinaHaspel pic.twitter.com/4k2WLuEiCc HRH Kate Middleton (@princesskate_GB) May 17, 2018 Who wore it better: Kate Middleton Gina Haspel ME pic.twitter.com/oOy1jD7w99 Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) May 18, 2018 Have you seen what Gina Haspel is wearing here? Popular dress!https://t.co/weQVtTKACO Katy Aldredge (@KAldredge) May 17, 2018 Haspels style has been analyzed in reference to her resume shes worked for the CIA since 1985 in a variety of undercover and more visible positions, and her role in the torture of prisoners in Thailand has earned her a tough reputation. Story continues As Racked noted of Haspels dress, The look telegraphed femininity a fitting thing to underscore, given that Haspel was to become the first female director of the CIA and approachability, insofar as women are presumed to be nonthreatening. With her tidy shoulder-length brown hair and glasses, Haspel easily could have passed for a college professor on her way to teach a Chaucer seminar. However, one dress is likely the place where similarities between Haspel and Middleton end unless style bloggers feel inspired. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. By Liz Hampton SANTA FE, Texas (Reuters) - Students at Santa Fe High School in Texas were just beginning Friday classes when an alarm bell sounded, gun shots rang out, and they had to run from the latest mass shooting at a U.S. school. "I wanted to take care of my friends, but I knew I had to get out of there," said 15-year-old freshman Courtney Marshall, who saw the gunman walk into her art class and open fire. "I knew the guy behind me was dead." Authorities said a student wearing a trenchcoat and armed with a shotgun and revolver fatally shot at least 10 people before he was arrested. Explosive devices were also found on campus. Two police officers were assigned to the school and the local police chief was among those who raced to the scene, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at a news conference. The police chief even pulled one of his officers to safety and returned fire after the officer was wounded in an exchange of fire with the suspect, Patrick said. Sophomore Rome Shubert was in the art class where the shooting began and was shot in the head but survived. "I was just scared for my life and my adrenaline was so high I had no idea I was shot," Shubert told the Houston Chronicle. Student Zack Wofford said he was in a classroom two doors down from where the shooting took place. He said his substitute teacher ran into the corridor and pulled the fire alarm and that students barricaded the door. "On the side it happened ... was only three, four classes," Wofford told CBS affiliate KHOU. "We knew there was another 1,000 (students) on the whole other side of the school. We knew the fire alarm would get them out safe." Sophomore Dakota Shrader told reporters there was panic as teachers told the students to run. "As soon as the alarms went off, everybody just started running," she said, "and next thing you know everybody looks, and you hear boom, boom, boom, and I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest floor so I could hide, and I called my mom." Story continues One male student told KHOU how he sprinted for the safety of a nearby treeline: "I didn't want to be in sight. I heard four more shots, and then we jumped the fence to somebody's house." Another, Damon Rabon, recounted how he and a substitute teacher saw the shooter after they heard several loud bangs and poked their heads out of a classroom door. "Black trenchcoat, short kind of guy, had a sawed-off shotgun," Rabon told CBS News in an interview. One female student was interviewed by CBS News in a video that was widely shared online. In it, she said she was not surprised that the shooting took place at her school because they have been "happening everywhere." "I've always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here too," said the student, who was not named. "I wasn't surprised, I was just scared." (Reporting by Liz Hampton; Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Susan Thomas) Fox News host Sean Hannity took his defense of President Donald Trump to the next level on Thursday night, calling special counsel Robert Muellers probe a direct threat to the nation. Speaking on the one-year anniversary of Muellers appointment, Hannity described the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaigns alleged ties to Moscow a monumental abuse of power and insisted that a sitting president cant be indicted. He also said Mueller may not be able to subpoena Trump since the presidents attorneys have turned in more than 1 million documents. Mueller already has everything that they have requested and the only point of a presidential interview is to set a perjury trap, Hannity said in comments posted online by Media Matters. This witch hunt is now a direct threat to this American republic. Mueller is causing irreparable damage to the rule of law in this country. That statement contradicted what Hannity said when he welcomed the probe a year ago, calling it a good thing, as the Washington Posts JM Rieger pointed out on Twitter: HANNITY on the appointment of MUELLER one year ago today: "I think this is a good thing. I think, you know what, they've been clamoring for it, let them get it. ... Let's get to the bottom of it, game on." pic.twitter.com/SPhsH0IxZW JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) May 17, 2018 Related... Sean Hannity Once Had Very Different Feelings About FBI Investigations Sean Hannity Gets Called Out On His Own Show: You Don't Tell The Truth Trevor Noah Has A Mind Blowing Theory About Sean Hannity Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. A passenger plane with 104 people on board has crashed shortly after take off from Havana's main airport. State media reported that there were three survivors in a critical condition after the Boeing 737 jet, which was en route from Jose Marti International Airport to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin, came down. The announcement puts the presumed number of dead at 101. Flight CU972 was scheduled to depart at 11am local time (4pm BST) and land an hour and 20 minutes later. But the jet failed to make its destination and came down close to its departure airport, crashing into a field and railway line. Photos posted on social media showing a large plume of thick, black smoke rising from near the terminal buildings. The aircraft involved is believed to be a Boeing 737-200 on loan from a Mexican airline, Global Aerolineas Damojh of Guadalajara. The plane was 30 years old, and had flown for seven other airlines starting with Southwest of the US in 1988, and including a spell with Air Kazakhstan. Reports say it lost height shortly after take-off and crashed in woodland close to the airport. Havanas air hub is a short way southwest of the Cuban capital, and has pockets of population nearby as well as a major highway near one end of the runway. There is concern that people on the ground may be among the casualties. Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances. A military officer who declined to provide his name said there appeared to have been only three survivors in critical condition, but other officials declined to confirm that figure. State TV said nine foreign crew were on board as well as the passengers while Cuba's president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, said he feared that there would be many fatalities. Emergency personnel at the site of the accident near Havana's Jose Marti airport (AFP) Crash investigators are at the scene alongside police and firefighters. What appears to be a charred wing and other parts from the plane were scattered on the ground. A post on Cubana's website urged families of the passengers to contact the airline using two telephone numbers. Story continues Plane tracking app FlightRadar24 showed an American Airlines jet having departed from the airport shortly after the crash, suggesting the runway remained open, however it was closed a short time later. Cuban state media originally reported that the aircraft had been chartered from an Italian carrier, Blue Panorama. That airline is operating flights for Cubana, but the aircraft involved in the accident appears to have belonged to a Mexican carrier, Global Air. The 420-mile flight to Holguin was scheduled to take just over an hour. Given the destination a large city in the east of the island it is likely to have had a mix of families, tourists, business travellers and government officials on board. While Cuba has had an accident-free run of nearly 18 years, in the last three years of the 20th century it suffered four fatal accidents. The aircraft involved in the accident, pictured here, is believed to have belonged to Mexican carrier Global Air (Victor Ambriz) Cubana de Aviacion, the national airline, has had a troubled history. As a result of the US economic embargo, it has been largely reliant on Russian and European aircraft. Maintenance of its relatively elderly fleet has been a constant challenge. The practice of chartering in aircraft and crew, known as wet leasing, is widely used around the world. In 1999, a DC-10 jet belonging to the French airline, AOM, suffered a fatal accident while flying for Cubana. After a flight from Havana it overshot the runway at Guatemala City. John Dale Grover Security, Middle East Iranian President Hassan Rouhani makes a speech during a signing ceremony after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev (not seen) in Baku, Azerbaijan, August 8, 2016. REUTERS/Alexander Nemenov/Pool Dov Zakheim, Paul Pillar and Zalmay Khalilzad discussed the topic at an event at the Center for the National Interest. The Iran Deal Isnt DeadYet When President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that America would be withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear dealofficially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)he created an international furor. Tensions have flared in the Middle East after both Trumps announcement and Americas official opening of its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem. The withdrawal from the JCPOA saw crowds of Iranians protesting against America and the embassy move saw protests, rioting and the shooting of fifty-eight Palestinians who attempted to cross the border into Israel. To assess the implications of the American withdrawal from the Iran deal, the Center for the National Interest convened a panel moderated by Zalmay Khalilzad, the former ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Iraq. The panel discussed a variety of topics, including the possibility of salvaging the JCPOA, if Iran would leave it, whether war is likely, if United States would impose sanctions on European companies in Iran and how that might impact transatlantic relations. Paul Pillar, a professor at Georgetown University and former National Intelligence officer for the Middle East region, argued that there was a chance of saving the deal. He suggested that so far Tehran will explore as far as it can with the remaining five members keeping some version of the JCPOA in place. Pillar also said that if he was to lay odds right now on whether the deal would be standing minus the United States in one year that it would be somewhere around one chance in three and two chances in three that we wont. Dov S. Zakheim, the Vice Chairman for the Center for the National Interest and former Under Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, argued that the odds ought to be flipped: Theres a 66 percent chance that this thing can be saved. Story continues The question, of course, is how this could be done. After all, maintaining the JCPOA would require the reentrance of the United States or a lot of heavy-lifting by the parties still in the agreement to keep it going. The permanent members of the Security CouncilRussia, China, the United Kingdom and Franceare the remaining parties, including Germany. Some experts have argued that any number of these remaining signatories could seek to prompt Iran to adhere to the nuclear deal, especially if they offered major financial incentives or made side agreements that addressed some of Iran and Americas mutual security concerns. For instance, Pillar believes that Europe is determined to make the JCPOA work since the deal has been working as certified by the IAEA, and that is sufficient for the Europeans. Another approach might be for European allies to seek agreements that reduce Irans ballistic missile program or that extend the sunset clauses in the original JCPOA. Zakheim suggested that the only way to salvage the deal would be for Trump to delay the implementation of secondary sanctions. Otherwise, he suggested, NATO might be in serious trouble. According to Zakheim: He could do what hes doing on tariffs, which is to say, first he imposes them, then he moderates them, lifts them, cuts deals about them. The bark seems to be much greater than the bite every single time. And so if he did the same thing with secondary sanctions that gives everybody a little more breathing room. It allows the [Iranian] President to turn around to the crazies and say Wait a minute this thing might still work he [Trump] hasnt done what he said he would do. However, another dilemma is whether or not Iran would even be willing to remain in the deal or to trust America again anytime soon. Russias ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, was in attendance at the event and said that he didnt think the deal would survive. The ambassador stated: Of course we are deeply disappointed by U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to unilaterally give up commitment to the JCPOA... [I]t seems to me that sometimes the administration decides to take some bad experience from the Soviet Union. If you remember the slogan of the Soviet Union, first we destroy, the second we create. What we see now? First lets destroy Iranian deal, and then lets create something special. What does it mean something special? Its not clear at all. Who will start such negotiations?... As to me, as to Russian side, we are satisfied with what Iran is doing with IAEA. The question of whether Iran will stick to the deal now that the United States is gone also remains. The key, panelists said, is whether Iran will decide that it is safer to come to an agreement with the Europeans on keeping the JCPOA or if its leaders determine that building a bomb is now the only way to protect their country. After all, America has attacked other countries that have given up their nuclear weapons after promising not toLibya and Iraqwhy would Iran believe the United States will refrain from regime change now? Both panelists agreed that America has lost international credibility by withdrawing from the Iran deal. Pillar warned that, The risk of a military clash is greater today than a year ago. He believes there is a risk that America could conduct military action against Iran for allegedly restarting its program. Finally, Pillar also noted that war could break out due to miscommunication since the diplomatic channels cultivated under the Obama administration no longer exist. The JCPOA did decrease the amount of time it would take Iran to build its first rudimentary nuclear bomb if it wanted to. Before the deal, Pillar said, Iran was only a few months away from building a bomb; now it would take them a year. He added, Iran withdrawing doesnt mean immediately spinning up thousands of centrifuges. In Khalilzads view, I think the option of [Iran] cheating a little bit or getting out of the agreement a little bit, may be the most unlikely because if they dont abandon the agreement all together or violate or renounce some parts of it, that would increase the pressure on the Europeans to respond and to perhaps impose sanctions. The panel also maintained that a bombing strike on Iran would be antithetical Americas national interesteven though the administration might decide on one. Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest, asked, Why not bomb Iran and declare victory whether it is or not? Both Zakheim and Pillar responded to these apprehensions by arguing that regime change doesnt work, that it would consume too many lives and resources to really accomplish anything, and that theres no way to know whether or not a successor regime might be just as hostile as the current oneif not even worse. A more optimistic verdict closed the event. [Trump] starts very big, he may be very tough, he makes statements which may sound outrageous, and then he comes back with a pragmatic solution. And you judge him not by the beginning story, but by the conclusion, said Dimitri Simes, President and CEO of the Center for the National Interest. John Dale Grover is an assistant managing editor at the National Interest. Image: Reuters Read full article Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel has built a unique "missile net" to defend a new airport, as part of a newly-completed segment of its eastern border barrier, a military official said Friday. The 34-kilometre (21-mile) fence runs along Israel's border with Jordan, beginning near the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat and reaching the site of a new airport being constructed in the Timna Valley. The fence, 6 metres (20 feet) high, is part of a broader strategy by Israel to surround itself by barriers, including at its southwestern border with Egypt, to prevent militants and migrants crossing the border illegally. Part of the new segment is accompanied by a 26-metre "net" developed specifically to protect the new Ramon airport. The missile fence is designed to intercept projectiles and surface-to-surface missiles, the official told AFP. Neighbouring Jordan is one of only two Arab states to have a peace treaty with Israel, but is home to some extremist sympathisers and a number of radical clerics. The airport, some 19 kilometres north of Eilat, is expected to begin operation in late 2018 or early 2019 and boost tourism in the area. Killer driver, helper arrested Nazim Uddin UNB, Dhaka : An official of Dhaka Tribune was killed as a bus ran over him after hitting his motorcycle on Mayor Hanif Flyover in Jatrabari area on Thursday morning. The deceased was identified as Nazim Uddin, 32, senior executive of advertising department of Dhaka Tribune. Hafizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Jatrabari Police Station, said that the accident took place around 9:45 am as Nazim fell down from his motorcycle and got injured critically after being hit by the bus, which was overtaking another bus. The injured was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead. Later, police arrested the bus driver and helper. Cairo (AFP) - The Arab League called Thursday for an international probe into alleged crimes by Israeli forces against Palestinians following mass protests on the Gaza border that saw dozens of demonstrators killed. Tens of thousands have protested along Gaza's border with Israel since March 30 calling for Palestinian refugees to be able to return to their homes now inside Israel. The largest demonstrations coincided with the move of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, which saw Israeli forces kill some 60 Palestinians. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will on Friday host an emergency summit in Istanbul of the world's main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which he said would send a "strong message to the world". Foreign ministers at an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League in Cairo called on the United Nations to form an international committee to investigate the killings. They adopted a resolution calling for "a clear mechanism to hold Israeli officials accountable and bring them to trial over this crime". Erdogan, who also announced plans for a pro-Palestinian rally on Friday, has exchanged barbs with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling Israel an "apartheid state" and ordering the country's ambassador to Turkey to leave. Weeks of protests and clashes along the border may be reaching an end as Ramadan begins, but the death toll has led to international condemnations of Israel and calls for an independent investigation. "We are facing a state of blatant aggression against international law and legitimacy which was embodied by the US embassy's transfer in the occupying state to Jerusalem," said Abul Gheit. Israel has rejected those demands, saying its actions are necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas. - Hamas threatens 'all force' - Story continues On Wednesday, Israel seized upon remarks by a senior Hamas member who said 50 of the 62 Palestinians killed this week were members of the group, arguing it showed the protests were not peaceful. But the Hamas official, Salah Bardawil, did not give further details about whether they were members of the group's armed or political wing, or what they were doing when they were killed. Another Hamas official did not confirm the number, but said those taking part were demonstrating peacefully. The protests, which have seen unsuccessful attempts to break through the fence, have dwindled since Monday, and the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on Thursday may further dampen interest. Friday -- the day protests usually peak -- will be a key test of whether the current round of unrest will continue. The demonstrations were meant to end on May 15, but Hamas officials have said they want them to continue. Israeli forces have killed 116 Palestinians since the protests began, with one Israeli soldier reported wounded. Israel hit a Hamas base in an air raid Thursday, the military said, adding that gunfire from Gaza had targeted its soldiers and damaged a house. No one was reported hurt on either side. Hamas on Thursday signalled it could resort to its weapons in response to this week's violence, but many analysts see that as unlikely for now. - 'Bloodshed would stop' - The Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo came after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday said his government was communicating with both sides "so that this bloodshed would stop". Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday that the Egyptians "support the right of our people to struggle and the right of return, and stressed their keenness not to allow these marches to degenerate into an armed military confrontation." Israel has rejected criticism over Monday's violence, with the United States strongly backing its ally and blaming Hamas for the deaths. Calls for an independent probe into the deaths have come from many sides, including Britain, Germany, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the European Union. Israel accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking to use the demonstrations as cover for violence. It says those approaching the fence have used explosive devices and firebombs, while soldiers have been shot at. The military, referring to Monday's deaths, said "it appears that at least 24" of those killed were militants, mainly from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Palestinians and rights groups say protesters are being shot despite posing no threat to Israeli soldiers on the other side of the heavily guarded fence. Hamas denies Israeli accusations it orchestrated the demonstrations, saying it supports them but that they were organised independently. By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel railed against the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday as it voted to set up a probe into recent killings in Gaza and accused Israel of excessive use of force. The resolution to send a commission of inquiry to investigate was rejected by the United States and Australia, but backed by 29 members of the 47-state U.N. forum. Another 14 countries, including Britain, Germany and Japan, abstained. Israel's ambassador in Geneva, Aviva Raz Shechter, castigated the council for "spreading lies against Israel" during "five hours of ludicrous statements". "Simply put, with this resolution, this council has reached a new height of hypocrisy, and the lowest standards of credibility," she said. Israel's Foreign Ministry said it totally rejected the resolution, adding the entire purpose of the council was "not to investigate the truth but to compromise Israel's right to self-defence and to single out the Jewish state for demonisation". Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki welcomed the U.N. decision. The Human Rights Council's formation of an international committee of investigation is a step towards doing justice to the Palestinian people, he said in a statement. He urged speedy implementation "to stop Israeli war crimes". The special session of the Human Rights Council was convened after the bloodiest day for Palestinians in years on Monday, when 60 were killed by Israeli gunfire during demonstrations that Israel said included attempts to breach its frontier fence. "Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said as he opened the debate. Israeli forces had killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children, since March 30, he said. More than 12,000 were injured, at least 3,500 by live ammunition. Israel was an occupying power under international law, obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said. Story continues "TOXIC SLUM" "But they are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity; dehumanised by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest." Israel says the deaths took place in protests organised by Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, which intentionally provoked the violence, an accusation Hamas denies. Israel and the United States complain that the Human Rights Council, made up of 47 states chosen by the General Assembly, has a permanent anti-Israel bias. The United States has stood by Israel during the past week's violence, which coincided with the opening of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. U.S. charge d'affaires Theodore Allegra said the Council was ignoring the real culprit: Hamas. "The one-sided action proposed by the council today only further shows that the Human Rights Council is indeed a broken body," he said. Two million people live in Gaza, most of them stateless descendants of refugees from homes in what is now Israel at its founding in 1948. The territory has been run by Hamas since 2007, during which time Israel has fought three wars against the militant group, which denies Israel's right to exist. Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade of Gaza for security reasons, which the United Nations says has led to the collapse of Gaza's economy. (Reporting by Tom Miles, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Stephen Farrell and Dan Williams; Editing by Andrew Roche) Artwork created by some students at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem was banned from being displayed at an international science conference by an Israeli minister after the students showed support for Palestinian protesters killed on the Gaza border. At least 60 protesters have been killed by Israeli forces during demonstrations against the relocation of the U.S. Embassy. Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis said he supports freedom of expression but will not permit freedom of humiliation, Haaretz reported. GettyImages-958838506 Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images Trending: What Happened to The Harrisons? Triple Murder Featured on 'Dateline' It all began after a group of students mounted a display Wednesday in solidarity with the protesters who have been killed. According to the Walla News Hebrew-language site, students hung up posters at the art academy with the names of 60 Palestinians killed during clashes. Haaretz reported that students also posted a map of the Gaza Strip with the caption Im not your toy. The quote is a reference to lyrics from the song Toy by Israels 2018 Eurovision Song Contest winner, Netta Barzilai. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza announced that 62 protesters were killed Monday and Tuesday. Israeli officials claimed that many of the Palestinians killed were members of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad organization, The Times of Israel reported. Don't miss: Did Isis Reach Brazil? 11 People Charged With Trying to Set up Jihadi Cell On Wednesday, Hamas claimed 50 of the Palestinians killed were members, while Islamic Jihad officials confirmed Tuesday that three of the casualties were members of the groups military faction. Story continues Akunis, a member of the right-wing Likud Party, said he is always in favor of freedom of expression and creativity but will not permit freedom of humiliation, Haaretz reported. Even Hamas has already announced that the fatalities on the Gaza border are their people, meaning terrorists, he said. Akunis could not be immediately reached for comment. Most popular: Where is Windsor Castle? The Royal Residence Set to Host Harry and Meghan's Wedding The display by Bezalel was met with outrage from fellow students. Dudi Eltsufin, who leads the academys student group associated with the right-wing Im Tirtzu movement, called the display hateful posters. Again we are witnessing a shocking phenomenon in which hateful posters expressing pride for terrorists are distributed, Eltsufin told The Times of Israel. Students also hung posters with the names of Israelis who have been killed in militant attacks. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat criticized the display and called on the school to take it down. I was shocked to see the names of terrorists who assaulted the Gaza-Israel border with the goal of killing Jews displayed on the walls of the Bezalel Academy, he wrote on Twitter. In a statement to local press, Bezalel Academy stood by its students. The academy at Bezalel is a safe zone for freedom of speech in Israel, and it enables the students to engage in free, critical and creative discourse in the various subjects that interest them, it said. The school did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Geneva (AFP) - The UN human rights chief on Friday slammed Israel's deadly reaction to protests along the Gaza border as "wholly disproportionate", backing calls for an international investigation. Addressing a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the violence which has claimed more than 100 Gazan lives in six weeks, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein warned that "killing resulting from the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute wilful killings, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention". Violations of the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1949 following World War II are commonly called "war crimes" although Zeid did not explicitly use that word. He pointed out though that while 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in a single day of protests that coincided with Monday's move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, "on the Israeli side, one soldier was reportedly wounded, slightly, by a stone." "The stark contrast in casualties on both sides is ... suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response," he told the council. "Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," he said. - 'Establish the facts' - The special UN session comes after six weeks of mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border with Palestinian refugees demanding the right to return to their homes inside what is now Israel. Israel has justified its actions, arguing it was necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave which is run by the Islamist Hamas movement. The council is due to consider a draft resolution calling for the urgent dispatch of "an independent, international commission of inquiry" -- the UN rights council's highest-level of investigation. The draft resolution, which was presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and backed by 47 UN member states, said investigators should probe "all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law ... in the context of the military assaults on large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018". Story continues It said the aim should be to "establish the facts and circumstances" around "alleged violations and abuses including those that may amount to war crimes and to identify those responsible". - Israel, US slam UN - Zeid said he supported the call for an investigation "that is international, independent and impartial, in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice." Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aviva Raz Shechter, meanwhile slammed the special session Friday, saying it was "politically motivated and wont improve the situation on the ground by even one iota." "The unfortunate outcome of Monday's riots can only be attributed to Hamas's cynical exploitation of its own population, in a violent campaign against Israel," she said. The council session would only serve to "empower Hamas and reward its terror strategy and its use of civilians as human shields to advance its terror activities against the citizens of Israel." US representative Theodore Allegra also charged that the UN session was "blatantly taking sides and ignoring the real culprit for the recent outbreak of violence, the terrorist organisation Hamas." But Zeid insisted that many of those injured and killed on Monday "were completely unarmed, (and) were shot in the back, in the chest, in the head and limbs with live ammunition," he said, saying there was "little evidence of any (Israeli) attempt to minimise casualties." He said, "some of the demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used slingshots to throw stones, flew burning kites into Israel and attempted to use wire-cutters against the two fences between Gaza and Israel." But he added: "these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force." Kushner Companies, the family business partially owned by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, is closing in on a deal with a Qatari governmentbacked company to save its failed investment in a Manhattan skyscraper, The New York Times reported Thursday. Brookfield Properties, a publicly traded company that counts the Qatar Investment Authority as a major investor, is in talks to take ownership of 666 Fifth Avenue, a Manhattan skyscraper that represents one of the largest blunders in the recent history of New York real estate, the Times reported. Kushner Companies, then led by Jared and Charles Kushner, his father and the companys current head, purchased the property for a then-record $1.8 billion in 2007. But the market crash the next year wiped out much of the value of their investment, and in recent years Kushner Companies has tried to line up a deal to get out from under $1.4 billion worth of debt on the skyscraper that is due next year. The Times reported revenue from the building produces just half its annual mortgage payment. Trending: What is Prince Harry's Last Name And Will Meghan Markle Take It? The younger Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, sold his stake in the building to a trust controlled by his mother when he joined the Trump administration. (He still retains a stake in Kushner Companies.) One of Kushners many roles in the administration is bringing peace to the Middle East, though he lacks diplomatic experience, and, as of February, no longer has access to highly classified information. Kushners dual role as both a Middle East adviser to the president and a major stakeholder in a company seeking foreign investment has raised eyebrows. For example, in April 2017, Charles Kushner met with Qataris Finance Minister, The Intercept reported in March. Just a month after that meeting, the younger Kushner pushed for U.S. support of a blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, despite the objections of Rex Tillerson, then secretary of state, who tried to broker a resolution to the standoff. Story continues This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek (WASHINGTON) A West Wing aides morbid remark about gravely ill Sen. John McCain has not yielded widespread White House soul searching. Instead it has produced a push to fire those responsible for leaking that story and others that have bedeviled President Donald Trumps administration. Nearly a week after Kelly Sadler dismissed McCains opinion on Trumps CIA nominee during a closed-door meeting by saying hes dying anyway, a torrent of criticism has rained down upon the White House. The administration has repeatedly declined to publicly apologize, but the fallout has shaken the West Wing, where the focus remains on who leaked to the media. Trump is demanding that whoever let the story go public be fired, according to a White House official and an outside Trump adviser. Neither was authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Leaks have long been a problem for Trumps White House, but this one has drawn particular scrutiny within the building due to the staying power of the damaging story. Several senior officials, including chief of staff John Kelly and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, have called closed-door meetings to warn junior staffers that a shake-up could be in the offing. The mood has grown increasingly tense. Its an honor and a privilege to work for the president and to be part of his administration. And anybody who betrays that I think is a total and complete coward and they should be fired, said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders this week. Weve fired people over leaking before. Rumors have been circulating over who is responsible for the leak, and chatter about aides looking for the exits has picked up, though previous declarations of crackdowns did not yield shake-ups or end the leaks. Trump has claimed the reports of leaking are exaggerated, but he also suggested in a provocative tweet this week that those who do so are traitors. National Security Adviser John Bolton said that some leakers were national security risks and said Kelly was organizing an effort to cut them down. Story continues The president has to have advisers around him who can have open candid discussions and then not read about him the next day in the newspapers or watch them on television, Bolton told Fox News Radio. Conway said Thursday she knew the identity of some of the leakers but did not say what repercussions might be forthcoming. She told Fox News that there is 99.8 percent of the information some of us know in this place that never gets leaked. Leaks are nothing new to any White House, but they have been far more pervasive in the Trump administration. In the presidents eyes, the number of unflattering leaks has been evidence that a Deep State of career officials scattered throughout the government is conspiring against him. But Trump who has been known to leak himself has had a love-hate relationship with the practice long before he came to Washington. When I worked for Mr. Trump, I worked under the maxim that he liked leaks. I never cleared them ahead of time, but I would tell him later so hed have deniability, said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign official. Sometimes he loved them, sometimes he screamed about them. But he never told me to stop. He loves the media, loves being talked about, he loves how a leak gets his name in the news. Campaign infighting and West Wing rivalries have led to nasty leaks about fellow staffers, while other revelations to the press appeared to be motivated by attempts to influence or undermine the president. Sanders called a heated communications staff meeting last week to discuss the Sadler incident, during which Sadler received the support of several staffers, including Mercedes Schlapp, the White Houses director of strategic communication. Schlapp has been a candidate to become communications director, a post that has been open since the resignation of Hope Hicks, a departure that some White House staffers believe has further eroded morale. Schlapps husband, Matt, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, says that a senior staff must have honest conversations without worrying that the information is going to be made public. Leaks, he said, can be used as a weapon to take out people you dont like, rivals on the staff. And at the end, it really destroys the ability of the president to push hard on his agenda because everything is distracted. Ari Fleischer, press secretary for President George W. Bush, said the current tone has been set by Trump, both on leaks and the lack of apologies. If the president created an inclusive environment where everyone was sure theyd be heard, there would be few leaks. But if the president creates an environment where the staff will infight and wrestle, the staff will leak, said Fleischer. And if the White House apologized now, theyd immediately be asked about every other time they havent apologized. A number of White House aides believe it was a mistake not to publicly apologize to McCain and believe doing so would have cut into the shelf-life of a story that, despite Stormy Daniels and the Russia investigation, has managed to carve out a consistent share of cable news coverage. But they privately acknowledge that it would have unleashed the presidents wrath. Trump has long prided himself on never apologizing, believing it shows weakness, and has often displayed enmity for McCain. During the election campaign, he declared that McCain, who was a prisoner of war for more than five years, was not a war hero, and he has publicly and privately blamed the Arizona senator, who is battling cancer, for submarining the Republican health care bill last year. Trumps White House has followed that lead, avoiding apologies while defending some of Trumps most incendiary remarks like his comments about Mexican immigrants. One time a White House staffer did acknowledge a mistake was in February, when deputy press secretary Raj Shah admitted that we all could have done better when discussing the White Houses handling of Rob Porter, the staff secretary who was accused of abusing two ex-wives. Trump, who watched the briefing that day from his private dining room just off the Oval Office, was incensed by the remark and later chewed out Shah for making it, according to two White House officials. Most brides spend the final days before their wedding doing last-minute preparations for the big day. But, Meghan Markle isn't most brides. This isn't most weddings. And, last minute prep wasn't what Markle found herself doing in the run-up to her nuptials with Prince Harry. Instead, she found herself embroiled in something of a PR disaster, not to mention a deeply upsetting personal matter. Two days before her wedding, Markle was forced to quell the unrelenting rumours and conjecture by issuing a statement about whether or not her father will be present at her wedding. SEE ALSO: How guests will be expected to behave at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding But, now that this drama of soap opera-level proportions has been brought to a close, the question remains: who is to blame? And, could this have all been avoided? Less than a week before the couple were set to say 'I do,' TMZ reported that Thomas Markle (Meghan's dad) had told the gossip site that he wouldn't be attending the royal wedding because of a "fallout over selling photos of himself." Mr Markle "made a deal to allow a photo agency" to take photos of him "getting ready for the wedding. His motives, he says, were not money-related, but rather to combat the "unflattering" images taken by paparazzi over the past year. Fuel was added to the fire when TMZ later reported that Mr Markle said he would like to attend the wedding. And, then he proceeded to inform TMZ that he was unable to attend, as he needed surgery after a heart attack he'd had six days before. Royal etiquette expert William Hanson feels the media is "largely to blame" in this situation, but "in many ways Kensington Palace" is also culpable. "If the interest wasn't there, and the need to fill days and days' worth of content to make advertising revenue, the media wouldnt have chased Thomas Markle or any other member of her family," says Hanson. Story continues MAIL ON SUNDAY EXCLUSIVE: Meghans dad staged photos with the paparazzi #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/xT0CxBnE6M Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 12, 2018 But, the fact that TMZ is an American outlet has added an additional dimension to the media handling of this saga. He doesn't feel that British journalists would have gone after a story like this. "In Britain, journalists by and large respect official lines that come from the palace," he says. "There is a cultural difference. Americans haven't grown up with this loyalty and deference to the monarchy." That said, Hanson caveats that TMZ journalists and those from other outlets are "just doing their job," and "that is what celebrity gossip sites do." As the BBC's Royal correspondent Jonny Dymond put it: "How has Kensington Palace, the office and residence of Prince Harry, which has rolled out the royal wedding plans and strategy over the past few months, dropped the ball so spectacularly in the last four days?" How indeed. As Dymond notes, the palace's protocol and "tactic" is to stay firmly tight-lipped on rumours that "run counter to the royal narrative," in the hope that they'll eventually disappear. But, as the rumour mill continued turning at seemingly-uncontrollable speed, it became increasing clear that something other than "no comment" needed to be said. A statement from Ms. Meghan Markle: pic.twitter.com/TjBNarmuBU Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 17, 2018 "Kensington Palace has been really tightly controlling what information comes out and when it is released," says Hanson. "It's a very well oiled machine, and they like to control the narrative." Hanson says that Prince Harry has a "very cautious attitude" towards the media. Indeed, Harry has spoken out about his anger at the way paparazzi photographers took photos of his mother in the final moments of her life. "Those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, were taking photographs of her dying on the back seat," said Harry. Photographs which subsequently made their way to news desks in the United Kingdom, and can still be accessed on Google Images. This may well explain the palace's reticence and reluctance to respond to a situation arising from interactions with the paparazzi. Nevertheless, as Hanson says, the palace in this instance might have been "too controlling" when it comes to the media. "By not feeding the beast, the beast is going to go elsewhere for food," he says. That beast was, in this instance, TMZ. Thomas Markle behaved, Hanson feels, as many others would have, had they found themselves thrust suddenly into the spotlight through association with the royal family. These are people who aren't used to celebrity or royal lifestyle," he says. "The perception of fame makes people behave in very odd ways." This is where Kensington Palace should have stepped in. Given the fact that the Markles don't spring from royal stock, it seems that more could have been done to help them contend with the onslaught of the paparazzi. "In many ways Kensington Palace is to blame for not realising the Markles needed assistance," says Hanson. It's hard not to feel sorry for Meghan in this situation. But, perhaps there's an important lesson to be learned here by Kensington Palace as they enter a new era in which royals marry 'normals'. The words "no comment" may no longer cut the mustard, and a little bit of media training for a spouse's family members could go a long way. Kyle Mizokami Security, Europe And perhaps the end of the world. Russia's War Plan to Crush NATO During the Cold War: Hundreds of Nuclear Bombs This is a plan for the end of the world, dated 1970. The arrows are armies and the red vertical symbols are nuclear bombs, all part of a part of Cold War contingency plan crafted by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies in case of war. War that would have destroyed civilization. The map and other documents, discovered in Poland, show how the Warsaw Pact aimed to put tanks on the shores of the Atlantic within 14 days of the first shot being fired. Among Warsaw Pact armies, Polands was second in size only to the Soviet Unions. It had a peacetime strength of 361,000 troops and could expand to 865,000 upon mobilization. It had 15 combat divisions, versus the U.S. Armys 10 divisions today. The Poles had 2,880 tanks, 2,750 armored personnel carriers and more than 2,000 artillery pieces. Recommended: How an Old F-15 Might Kill Russias New Stealth Fighter Recommended: How China Plans to Win a War Against the U.S. Navy Recommended: How the Air Force Would Destroy North Korea In the event of war, the Polish and Soviet armies would have marched west, invading West Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands and Belgium. The attack was meant to overrun NATOs northern ports on the Atlantic, preventing the arrival of reinforcements from the U.S. and Canada. Polish marines and airborne troops would invade Denmark on day five, knocking the tiny NATO country out of the war. All of this was to be accompanied by the use of hundreds of nuclear weapons. The Atomic Battlefield: All the Warsaw Pact war plans released, or leaked, to the public after the Cold War feature the liberal use of nuclear weapons. According to documents unearthed in the Czech Republic, Soviet generals fully expected Western imperialists to make the first nuclear strike. The Soviets and their allies determined they should stage preemptive atomic attacks if war were imminent. Story continues The Polish maps make it clear just how many nukes the Soviets would have dropped. Large-yield nuclear weapons would have wipe out economic and political targets. The West German cities of Hamburg and Hanover and the ports of Wilhemshaven and Bremerhaven all would have been nuked. In The Netherlands, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Amsterdam were on the nuke list. Belgium would have lost the port city of Antwerp and Brussels, the site of the main NATO headquarters. Even tiny Denmark, with a population of just under five million at the time, would have been hit with no fewer than five nuclear weapons, including two dropped on the capital city of Copenhagen. The Warsaw Pact would have used many more smaller tactical nukes against NATO command posts, army bases, airfields, equipment depots and missile and communications sites. Radiation would have contaminated farmland and water supplies. Refugees fleeing the fighting would have been particularly hard hit. Radioactive fallout would have affected a far larger area than the bomb blasts themselves. In all, Warsaw Pact plans called for 189 nuclear weapons: 177 missiles and 12 bombs ranging in yield from five kilotonsroughly a quarter the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshimato 500 kilotons. And that was just for the Northern Front. There were two other fronts, Central and Southern, covering the rest of Germany down to the Adriatic. Atomic bombs factored into Soviet plans for those areas, too. According to the Hungarian Cold War archive, Vienna was to be destroyed with two 500-kiloton nuclear bombs, Munich one. Escalation to all-out, global nuclear warfare would have been practically inevitable. Apocalypse Now? But would any of this actually have happened? Just because the Warsaw Pact planned for atomic war didnt mean the war was any more likely than if it hadnt planned at all, right? Surely this was a case of thinking about the unthinkable. Some historians insist that the Soviet Union had a fairy-tale mindsetwhen it came to a hypothetical war in Europe and the use of nuclear weapons. Its also worth noting that the United States has done all the same insane planning. Americas Single Integrated Operational Plan had thousands of nukes annihilating the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China. But its possible to believe that the Soviet leadership did think realistically about atomic weapons and had no illusions about their dangers. Consider that the Soviets never exported nuclear weapons, except to China, and kept nukes out of the hands of Fidel Castro when they decided he was unstable. Its possible that in formulating these plans, the Soviets caught a brief glance at the realities of atomic combatand that may have made them even more determined to avoid all-out war. This first appeared in WarIsBoring here. Read full article SANTA FE, Texas (AP) -- The Latest on a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas (all times local): 11:05 p.m. Investigators say a 17-year-old admitted to authorities that he went on a shooting rampage at a Southeast Texas high school that left 10 dead, most of them students. According to a probable cause affidavit, however, Dimitrios Pagourtzis told investigators that when he opened fire at Santa Fe High School on Friday morning, "he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told." Pagourtzis is being held without bond at the Galveston County Jail. He is charged with capital murder of multiple persons and aggravated assault against a public servant. ___ 10:05 p.m. A sophomore at Santa Fe High School says he was in his art class when he suddenly heard three louds booms. Zachary Muehe tells The New York Times he then "saw the kid who's in my football class ... and I saw him with a shotgun." Muehe says that classmate, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was wearing a trench coat and a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan "Born to Kill." The sophomore says Pagourtzis started shooting as soon as he entered the classroom. Muehe says "it was crazy watching him shoot and then pump." He was able to flee to another classroom through a shared ceramics closet. Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder. ___ 9:20 p.m. A student at a Houston-area high school where 10 people were killed says it was a "perfectly normal day" before shots rang out in her art classroom. Breanna Quintanilla, a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe High School, says that when Dimitrios Pagourtzis walked into the room, he pointed at one person and said, "I'm going to kill you." She did not identify the student who was shot. Quintanilla also says the suspect fired in her direction as she tried to run out of the room. She says the bullet ricocheted and hit her right leg. She was still wearing a hospital bracelet on her wrist as she spoke after a Friday night vigil. Story continues Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder in the school shooting. He was denied bond at a hearing earlier Friday. ___ 8:20 p.m. A leader at a program for foreign exchange students and the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., say a Pakistani girl is among those killed in the Texas high school shooting. Megan Lysaght, manager of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study Abroad program, sent a letter to other students in the program confirming that Sabika Sheikh was killed in the shooting at Santa Fe High School. The letter says the program is devastated by Sabika's loss and would be holding a moment of silence for her. Lysaght declined further comment when contacted by The Associated Press and referred calls to a State Department spokesman. The Pakistan Embassy in Washington identified Sabika as a victim of the shooting on Twitter and wrote that "our thoughts and prayers are with Sabika's family and friends." ___ 8:10 p.m. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says he expects the Justice Department to pursue additional charges against the suspected gunman at a Texas high school. Texas Rep. Michael McCaul told The Associated Press on Friday that federal prosecutors are looking into possible weapons of mass destruction charges against 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis. The Santa Fe High School student was in custody on murder charges and made his initial court appearance Friday evening by video link from the Galveston County Jail. He's accused of killing 10 people, most of them fellow students. Authorities say he also had explosive devices that were found in the school and nearby. McCaul is a former federal prosecutor. He thinks the Justice Department "wants to ramp this up as much as they can to send a message of deterrence." ___ 7:20 p.m. Family members say a substitute teacher whose passion was her children and grandchildren is among the victims of the shooting at a Texas high school. Leia Olinde says authorities confirmed to her family that her aunt, Cynthia Tisdale, was killed in Friday morning's shooting at Santa Fe High School. She says Tisdale, who was in her 60s, was like a mother to her and helped her shop for wedding dresses last year. Olinde says Tisdale was married to her husband for close to 40 years and had three children and eight grandchildren. She says she "never met a woman who loved her family so much." Olinde's fiance, Eric Sanders, says "words don't explain her lust for life and the joy she got from helping people." ___ 6:55 p.m. Officials have canceled classes at schools in the Santa Fe Independent School District through at least Tuesday in the wake of a shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead, most of them students. In a statement posted on the district website, officials indicated that no plan has been made for resuming classes. Seventeen-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis is charged with capital murder in the shooting rampage. A judge denied him bond at a court hearing Friday evening. ___ 6:30 p.m. A judge has denied bond for the 17-year-old accused of killing 10 people and wounding 10 others at a Texas high school. Dimitrios Pagourtzis made his initial court appearance Friday evening via closed circuit video from the Galveston County Jail. The judge also took Pagourtzis' application for a court-appointed attorney. Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder in the Friday morning shooting at Santa Fe High School. He did not enter a plea at the hearing. ___ 6:25 p.m. Students at a Houston-area high school where a shooting left 10 people dead and 10 wounded are divided on the issue on gun control. Seventeen-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been identified as the suspect in Friday's shooting at Santa Fe High School. Branden Auzston, also 17, is a junior at the school. He says he doesn't like the idea of arming teachers or allowing open carry on school campuses. Auzston says "that might help, but at the same time it would just leave room for more deaths." He thinks security at his school could be improved if more police officers are stationed there "but in a smart manner." However, 17-year-old senior Daisy Sullivan, Auzston's girlfriend, says she doesn't think more gun control measures are needed. She says "it's not, like, the gun's fault" whenever a school shooting happens. Sullivan adds, "No, it's the kid who had the idea. Something is wrong with his head. He had the weird idea to shoot up a school." ___ 5:15 p.m. President Donald Trump has "activated" his gun safety commission and is expected to meet with members next week in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Texas. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the commission the president convened after the Parkland, Florida, shooting in February "has been activated today to start that conversation up again." She says she believes it will be meeting again in "first part of next week." She declined to say whether Trump will revisit some gun control measures after another school shooting, but adds, "Certainly conversation's ongoing about the best ways to protect kids across the country." Authorities say Friday's shooting at Santa Fe High School left 10 dead and 10 wounded. ___ 4:45 p.m. Netflix has canceled the premiere of its second season of the teen drama "13 Reasons Why" because of a school shooting near Houston. The streaming service announced the cancellation hours before the scheduled premiere and red carpet event, citing the Friday morning shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 people dead. Despite the cancelled premiere, the entire Season 2 is available on Netflix. The first season of "13 Reasons Why" drew criticism for its graphic depiction of a teenager's suicide. The second season focuses on the aftermath of the girl's death, and includes a storyline about a thwarted school shooting. The show's launch party was expected to feature appearances by show stars Katherine Langford, Dylan Minnette, Kate Walsh and others, and producer Selena Gomez. ___ 4:40 p.m. U.S. Senator John Cornyn says the 17-year-old student accused in a fatal shooting at a Texas high school used a semi-automatic pistol and a sawed-off shotgun to kill 10 people. The Republican from Texas says investigators are still determining whether the shotgun's shortened barrel is legal. Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder in the Friday shooting that also wounded 10 people at Santa Fe High School near Houston. Cornyn says the suspect had a variety of homemade explosives in his car and at the school, including pipe bombs and "pressure-cooker-like bombs" similar to those used in the Boston Marathon attack. Cornyn says the suspect "planned on doing this for some time, he advertised his intentions but somehow slipped through the cracks." ___ 4:15 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence says President Donald Trump "has been taking action to make our schools and our communities safe," hours after a mass shooting at a high school in Texas. Pence on Friday called it a "heartbreaking day" after at least 10 people were killed at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. Speaking at political event in his home state of Indiana, Pence is highlighting the administration's efforts on school safety, including signing legislation authorizing $2 billion for state and local governments to use to protect schools and a bill to strengthen the nation's firearm background check system. Pence says the administration is still calling on states "to follow the example of Indiana and allow qualified school personnel to carry concealed weapons." A school police officer was among the 10 people who were shot and injured Friday in Santa Fe. ___ 4:05 p.m. Texas' governor says the 17-year-old student believed to be behind a high school shooting that killed 10 people wrote in his journal of wanting to carry out such an attack. Republican Greg Abbott said Friday that the suspect "has information contained in journals on his computer, in his cellphone that ... said ... not only did he want to commit the shooting but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting." Abbott added that the suspect gave himself up to authorities, saying he "didn't have the courage" to take his own life. Dimitrios Pagourtzis (Puh-GORE-cheese) has been charged with capital murder in the Friday morning shooting that killed 10 people and wounded 10 others in Santa Fe, near Houston and Galveston. ___ 3:45 p.m. A hospital spokesman says a school resource officer who was shot in the arm when he engaged a gunman during a shooting at a Houston-area school is undergoing surgery. David Marshall, the University of Texas Medical Branch's chief nursing officer, says Santa Fe school resource officer John Barnes is in stable condition Friday afternoon. Marshall says a bullet hit Barnes' arm, damaging the bone and a major blood vessel around his elbow. He says the blood vessel has been repaired, and that Barnes is expected to emerge from surgery within a few hours. Marshall says Barnes was the first person to engage a student armed with two guns who opened fire at Santa Fe High School Friday morning. The shooter killed at least 10 people and injured 10 more. ___ 3:30 p.m. President Donald Trump has ordered that U.S. flags fly at half-staff as a mark of "solemn respect" for those affected by the school shooting in Texas. Flags are to be flown at half-staff until sunset on May 22. The order applies to the White House and all public buildings and grounds, military posts and naval stations and vessels, as well as at U.S. embassies, consular offices and other facilities abroad. The flag atop the White House was immediately lowered on Friday. Texas authorities say 10 people, mostly students, were killed Friday when a 17-year-old student carrying a shotgun and a revolver opened fire at a Houston-area high school. Ten other people were wounded at the school in Santa Fe. ___ 3:15 p.m. A sophomore baseball player was one of at least 10 people injured in a shooting at a Houston-area high school. Rome Shubert tells the Houston Chronicle that he was hit in the back of his head with what he says was a bullet, but that it "missed everything vital." Shubert posted on Twitter that he was "completely okay (sic) and stable." Authorities say 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis fatally shot 10 people and wounded 10 others at Santa Fe High School on Friday. He is being held on a capital murder charge. Shubert says the gunman walked into the classroom and tossed something. He said there were "three loud pops" before the attacker fled into the hall. Shubert says he realized he'd been struck and injured as he was running out the back door. ___ 2:55 p.m. Gov. Greg Abbott says there were few prior warnings about the suspected gunman who opened fire inside a Texas high school, unlike in other recent mass shootings. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset says 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder in the Friday morning shooting that killed 10 people and wounded 10 others in the community of Santa Fe. Abbott said that "unlike Parkland, unlike Sutherland Springs, there were not those types of warning signs." He was referring to the Feb. 14 school shooting in Florida and one in November inside a church in a town near San Antonio. Abbott says "the red-flag warnings were either non-existent, or very imperceptible" in the case of the suspected Santa Fe shooter. ___ 2:40 p.m. A sheriff says the 17-year-old suspect in the fatal shooting of at least 10 people at his Houston-area high school is being held on a capital murder charge. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset says in a statement that the student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, is being held without bond in the Galveston County jail. At least 10 other people were wounded in the shooting Friday morning at the Santa Fe High School. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says investigators also found explosive devices, including a Molotov cocktail, in the school and nearby. Abbott says the suspect told authorities after his arrest that he had intended to kill himself too, but that he lacked the courage. ___ 2:30 p.m. At least one student isn't at all surprised that a deadly shooting happened at her high school in Texas. Paige Curry, who is 17, says "it's been happening everywhere" and that she "always ... felt like that eventually it was going to happen here too." Gov. Greg Abbott says 10 people were killed and 10 more were injured Friday morning when a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School. Curry says she was sitting in a classroom when she "heard the loud booms." It took a second for her to realize what was going on. She and her classmates ran onto the stage and hid together backstage, trying to keep each other calm until SWAT officers found them. ___ 2:20 p.m. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the school shooting suspect used a shotgun and .38-revolver he obtained from his father. At a news conference on Friday, Abbott said both weapons were owned legally by the suspect's father. But it's not clear whether the father knew his son had taken them. Abbott says 10 people were killed and 10 more wounded in the shooting Friday morning at Santa Fe High School. Abbott said "we look to God to give the first responders, as well as the victims and the families, the guidance they need in the coming days and weeks." Abbott says he will organize roundtables around the state to discuss preventing further shootings. ___ 2:10 p.m. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says 10 people are dead and 10 more wounded after a shooting at a high school in the town of Santa Fe. Abbott called Friday's shooting "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." He says explosive devices including a molotov cocktail that had been found in the suspected shooter's home and a vehicle as well as around the school and nearby. The governor says the suspect said he originally intended to commit suicide but gave himself up and told authorities that he didn't have the courage to take his own life. Abbott said there are "one or two" other people of interest being interviewed about the shooting. ___ 1:45 p.m. A 16-year-old boy who says he considers Dimitrios Pagourtzis a friend says the Texas high school shooting suspect is interested in guns and war simulation video games, but that he has never about talked about killing people. Tristen Patterson is a junior at Sante Fe high School, where at least eight people were killed in the shooting Friday morning. Patterson says Pagourtzis didn't show signs of being bullied, but that he rarely talked about himself. He says Pagourtzis would sometimes enter the classroom "acting a little bit down or sad. A little bit sluggish. ... But he never talked about why." ___ 1:25 p.m. A sophomore says it was "chaos" when the fire alarm sounded at Santa Fe High School and people realized it was an active shooter situation. Sixteen-year-old John Robinson says he was in first period English class when the fire alarm went off. Robinson says: "Everybody was just trying to get away from the school. They kept saying there was a shooter, people were shot." He says he felt scared and simply wanted to get as far away from the school as possible. He and other students ran to a nearby Shell station. Robinson says he thinks two of his friends might have been injured in the shooting but that he hasn't been able to speak with them. ___ 1:05 p.m. A law enforcement official has identified a person in custody in the Houston-area school shooting as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis. The official was not authorized to discuss the shooting by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. Authorities say eight to 10 people, mostly students, were killed in the nation's deadliest such attack since the massacre in Florida that gave rise to a campaign by teens for gun control. A woman who answered the phone at a number associated with the Pagourtzis family declined to speak with the AP. She said: "Give us our time right now, thank you." Pagourtzis plays on the Santa Fe High School junior varsity football team, and is a member of a dance squad with a local Greek Orthodox church. ___ Eric Tucker in Washington D.C. contributed to this report. ___ 1 p.m. The emergency room medical director at a Texas hospital says the facility has treated eight patients injured in a shooting at a Houston-area school. Dr. Safi Madain at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center says six of the eight patients have been treated and released. Madain says one patient remains in critical condition and the other is in fair condition. Madain says all appeared to be high school students with gunshot wounds. Other victims have been treated at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr. David Marshall, chief nursing officer, says one adult male is in critical condition at the hospital. He says that man was shot in the upper arm and is undergoing surgery. Officials have said eight to 10 people were killed in the Friday morning shooting at Santa Fe High School. ___ 12:50 p.m. A student inside the Houston-area high school where several people were fatally shot says he was near the art classroom where the shooting took place. Eighteen-year-old Logan Roberds says he heard a fire alarm at Santa Fe High School and went outside. He says he then heard two loud bangs, which he didn't initially think were gunshots. He says he thought someone loudly hit a trash can. But he later heard three loud bangs. He says, "that's when the teachers told us to run." He says he ran with other students to a nearby gas station. His mother says she quickly drove to meet her son. The local sheriff says eight to 10 people were killed after a gunman opened fire inside the school Friday morning. Two people are in custody. ___ 12:30 p.m. The police chief at a Houston-area school district says a police officer was shot and wounded during a shooting that killed multiple people at a local high school. Walter Braun is the police chief of Santa Fe Independent School District. He says the fatal shooting Friday morning at Santa Fe High School also left at least six people wounded, including a police officer. Dr. David Marshall is the chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch in nearby Galveston. He says one man is in critical condition and undergoing surgery at the hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the upper arm. It wasn't immediately clear if the man is the wounded officer. Two other victims are being treated for gunshot wounds to their legs. Hospital spokesman Raul Reyes says one of those is believed to be a student. The other is a middle-aged woman. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says eight to 10 people were killed after a gunman opened fire inside the school. Two people are in custody. ___ 12 p.m. Survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, took to social media to express outrage and heartbreak after the latest school shooting in Texas where authorities say a gunman opened fire killing eight to 10 people. Marjory Stoneman Douglas students Jaclyn Corin said in a tweet Friday that her "heart is so heavy" for the students at Santa Fe High School, telling them Parkland will stand with them. She also directed her frustration at President Donald Trump, urging him to "DO SOMETHING" because children are being killed. Classmate David Hogg warned the city that politicians would soon descend on the school acting like they care but are only looking to boost approval ratings. Corin and Hogg were part of a grassroots movement that rallied hundreds of thousands for gun reform. ___ 11:50 a.m. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is headed to the scene of a school shooting outside Houston where officials say as many as 10 people were killed. Abbott tweeted Friday that he was on his way to Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. The Republican said an afternoon press conference was planned. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says most of the victims were students. He says authorities have also detained two people believed to be students. Gonzalez says authorities didn't yet have information on the weapon or weapons used. The White House says President Donald Trump spoke with Abbott to offer his condolences and pledged to work with the governor to provide all appropriate federal assistance ___ 11:35 a.m. Authorities say possible explosive devices have been found at and adjacent to the Texas high school where a shooting left as many as 10 people dead. The Santa Fe Independent School District said in a statement Friday that authorities are in the process of rendering the devices safe. There's no indication how many devices have been found. Police asked the public to "remain vigilant" and to call 911 if they see any suspicious items in the area. The school outside Houston went on lockdown around 8 a.m. after an active shooting was reported. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says there "could be 8 to 10 fatalities" from the shooting. Gonzalez says the majority of the dead are students. The sheriff says one person is in custody and a second person has been detained. Santa Fe is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. ___ 11:15 a.m. President Donald Trump is sending condolences for the "absolutely horrific attack" at a Texas high school. Trump is telling those affected that "we're with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever." He says his administration is working to protect students, secure schools and keep weapons out of the hands of those who want to do harm. He called this a "very very sad day." Trump says "everyone must work together" to keep children safe. The local sheriff says the shooting Friday morning at Santa Fe High school left as many as 10 people dead, most of them students. The school is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. ___ 10:50 a.m. The local sheriff says as many as 10 people may have been killed during a shooting at a high school near Houston, most of them students. Harris County Sherriff Ed Gonzalez Harris County said there "could be 8 to 10 fatalities" from the shooting Friday morning at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. Gonzalez says the majority of the dead are students. The sheriff says one person is in custody and a second person has been detained. Gonzalez says a police officer is among the injured but the extent of the officer's injuries is unknown. ___ 10:45 a.m. Vice President Mike Pence says he and President Donald Trump have been briefed on the school shooting at Santa Fe High School near Houston. Pence said the students, families, teachers and all those affected should know: "'We're with you. You're in our prayers and I know you are in the prayers of the American people." Trump adds in a tweet that, "Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" First lady Melania Trump is also weighing on Twitter. She says, "My heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today." Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following the Friday morning shooting. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. ___ 10:30 a.m. Officials say at least three people are being treated for gunshot wounds and two people have been detained following a shooting at a high school near Houston. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted Friday that one person is in custody and a second person has been detained following the Friday morning shooting at Santa Fe High School. Gonzalez says a police officer was injured but the extent of the officer's injuries is unknown. Gonzalez says there are "multiple casualties" but didn't elaborate. Houston-area media have cited unnamed law enforcement officials saying there were fatalities. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. Dr. David Marshall is chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He says one man was undergoing surgery at the hospital Friday morning following the shooting. He says a juvenile has been admitted and a second adult is being treated in the emergency room. ___ 9:45 a.m. Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following a shooting at a high school. Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting early Friday at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but is not immediately releasing further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson says a suspect "has been arrested and secured." ___ 9:30 a.m. School officials say people have been injured in a shooting at a Houston-area high school and the suspected shooter is in custody. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson says the suspect in the shooting Friday at Santa Fe High School "has been arrested and secured." The school district also confirmed an unspecified number of people are injured but provided no other details. School officials say law enforcement officers are working to secure the building "and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location." Students are being transported to another location to reunite with their parents. One student told Houston television station KTRK that a gunman came into her first-period class and started shooting. The student says she saw one girl with a bloody leg as the class evacuated. ___ 8:37 a.m. Law enforcement officers are responding to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. Galveston County sheriff's Maj. Douglas Hudson says units are responding to reports of shots fired. He had no immediate details on whether anyone has been hurt. Santa Fe is a city of about 13,000 residents, located 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. The student says she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. Authorities have not yet confirmed that report. Prince Charles to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at Royal wedding today Reuters, Windsor, England : Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at her glittering wedding to his son Prince Harry on Saturday after her own father had to pull out because of ill health. Her father, Thomas, told celebrity website TMZ he was not coming because he had had a heart operation days before the ceremony, in a family drama that has played out under the glare of global media attention. "Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," Harry's office Kensington Palace said in a statement. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to The Royal Family in this way." The statement implied that Markle would still enter the chapel alone with her bridesmaids and page boys, as the Quire is located about half-way down the church. The actress said on Thursday she was sad her father could not make it. Her mother was due to take tea with Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Harry's grandmother, on the eve of the sumptuous wedding that will be watched by millions across the world. Buckingham Palace confirmed that Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, 96, would be at the wedding having undergone hip replacement surgery last month. Outside the ancient stone walls of Windsor Castle, home to the English royal family for nearly 1,000 years, well-wishers mingled with tourists and swarms of television crews under swathes of British and American flags. Harry will marry Markle, a star of the TV drama "Suits", in the castle's 15th-century St George's Chapel at a ceremony that begins about 1100 GMT on Saturday. The newlyweds will then be driven around Windsor in a horse-drawn carriage. Markle's African-American mother, Doria Ragland, was due to meet the 92-year-old monarch on Friday after the yoga instructor charmed her daughter's future father-in-law when they met on Wednesday, a source close to the royal family said. After the schism of Brexit divided the United Kingdom and triggered a wave of doubt about its future place in the world, the glittering union of one of the most popular royals and an elegant U.S. divorcee may offer some distraction. The British remain broadly supportive of the monarchy albeit with a sense of mild irony about the pomp and pageantry that accompanies it, though many have deep respect for the current monarch, Elizabeth, after her decades of service. For some black Britons, the prospect of a mixed-race royal princess has increased interest in the monarchy, which has so far been all white. A black American bishop is to give the address at the wedding. But for some other Britons, the event has as much relevance as the union of two distant super stars. Many will not even bother to watch the wedding despite massive media interest. This wedding has drawn comparisons with some remarkable episodes of recent royal history: Lawyer Aaron Schlossberg is facing serious consequences after video footage captured his bigoted diatribe about workers and customers who were speaking Spanish to each other in a Manhattan restaurant on Tuesday. Since the video of his outburst went viral, the Trump supporter has been evicted from his law offices, named in a disciplinary complaint and chased by reporters. Hes been trashed on Yelp and singled out for a mariachi band serenade. Earlier this week, Schlossberg was filmed angrily complaining to a restaurant worker about the people speaking Spanish around him. He said he suspected they were in the country illegally and threatened to call the authorities. They have the balls to come here and live off of my money I pay for their welfare, he complained. The least they could do is speak English. Ironically, the website for Schlossbergs legal business which has now been trashed online boasts that he speaks Spanish. The New York Daily News reported that Corporate Suites, the landlord of the Madison Avenue space that Schlossberg used for his legal business, barred him from his office on Thursday. Weve decided to terminate his agreement with us, company president Hayim Grant told the News. His actions dont fall in line with our beliefs and our community. Were a diverse community of global businesses that have mutual respect for each other. Extra points to whoever changed the Google info for Aaron Schlossberg's company to "Spanish restaurant" pic.twitter.com/sX4xUyd8H6 Adam Feldman (@FeldmanAdam) May 17, 2018 Meanwhile, in a letter Thursday to the state court disciplinary system, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. (D) accused Schlossberg of misconduct for his viral racist rant. Diaz told The Washington Post that Schlossberg should be suspended or disbarred. Story continues Schlossberg ran from news reporters Thursday outside his Manhattan home. He called the police on his phone, saying he was being accosted by reporters. Please send help. Schlossberg is apparently no stranger to angry public confrontations captured on video. Manhattan resident Willie Morris posted a vlog about his bizarre encounter with Schlossberg on a street in 2016. The lawyer bumped into Morris, called him an ugly fucking foreigner, and threatened to call the police. Another person said that Schlossberg yelled at Jewish people in the street, accusing them of not being real Jews. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. The asshole lawyer caught on video mad about people speaking Spanish in NYC that @ShaunKing is calling out?@Ike_Saul caught him on video yelling "You are not a Jew" to Jewish people last year.pic.twitter.com/rSl2rpnmZw jordan (@JordanUhl) May 16, 2018 Schlossberg could not be reached for comment. His office was not accepting calls or messages. Also on HuffPost This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Washington (AFP) - On the morning of September 11, 2001, Gina Haspel had just reported to the Central Intelligence Agency's Virginia headquarters for a new job, after returning days earlier from an undercover posting abroad. The attack changed her career. "I knew in my gut when I saw the video of the first plane hitting the tower in Manhattan that it was Bin Laden," she recalled. "I got up from my desk and, like many others, walked over to the Counterterrorism Center and volunteered to help. I didn't leave for three years." It is that steely commitment over a 33 year career that has elevated Haspel to become the first woman to ever head the CIA, the premier US espionage agency. On Thursday the 61-year-old veteran of the agency's clandestine services was approved by the Senate, and was expected to be quickly sworn in at the White House. The approval came after a political battle that highlighted one of the darkest episodes of the CIA's history and her own career: the 2002-2005 interrogation program that subjected a number of Al-Qaeda suspects to torture, including beatings and waterboarding. Pressed in her confirmation hearings, Haspel refused to divulge any details of her post-9/11 role overseeing the CIA's secret prison in Thailand, where Al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were waterboarded. But she did say that she does not believe torture works, and pledged, as CIA director, that she would not allow it to happen again. "Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership, CIA will not restart such a detention and interrogation program," she told the Senate Intelligence Committee. - Life in the shadows - Until recently, almost nothing was known about Haspel, even after she rose to the top of the clandestine service in 2013 and then became deputy CIA director last year. She is the Kentucky-born daughter of a former member of the US Air Force, and was raised on military bases. The oldest of five children, she graduated from the University of Louisville, studying journalism and languages -- Spanish and French. Story continues She joined the CIA in 1985, and quickly found a love for the cloak-and-dagger life. "From my first days in training, I had a knack for the nuts and bolts of my profession," she told the Senate panel. "I excelled in finding and acquiring secret information that I obtained in brush passes, dead drops, or in meetings in dusty back allies of third world capitals." "I recall my first foreign agent meeting was on a dark, moonless night with an agent I'd never met before. When I picked him up, he passed me the intelligence and I passed him extra money for the men he led. It was the beginning of an adventure I had only dreamed of." Learning Russian and Turkish, in the 1990s, she became a Russia specialist, working in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. As she rose up the ranks, she said she experienced some resistance from the male-heavy ranks of the spy corps. She credited "a very tough, old school leader" for naming her station chief over male rivals in "a small but important frontier post." The posting, believed to be Azerbaijan, resulted in an agency award for leading an operation to capture two wanted terrorists tied to the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. - 'After 9/11, I stepped up' - The September 11 attacks put her into the middle of the now heavily criticized interrogation program, much of which, if launched today, would be illegal under US law. Referring to Nashiri, the National Security Archive at George Washington University said Haspel "personally supervised the torture of a CIA detainee in 2002, leading to at least three waterboard sessions." Haspel, who later helped in the destruction of tapes of waterboarding, proudly defended her role in the program -- even if she says she would not allow it again. "After 9/11, I didn't look to go sit on the Swiss desk. I stepped up. I was not on the sidelines. I was on the front lines in the Cold War, and I was on the front lines in the fight against Al-Qaeda," she told the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Like all of us who were in the counter terrorism center and working at CIA and those years after 9/11, we all believed in our work," she said. A little girl carried a bouquet of flowers to a New Jersey middle school after a student and teacher there were killed in a horrific crash Thursday. The bus was carrying fifth-graders from the East Brook Middle School in Paramus when a collision with a dump truck violently ripped it from its chassis, authorities say. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said there were 38 students and seven adults on the bus at the time of the crash, according to CBS New York. In addition to the student and a teacher who were killed, 43 people on the bus were transported to area hospitals. The driver of the dump truck was also injured and hospitalized. "Some patients are in critical condition and currently undergoing surgery, so please keep everybody in your prayers, Murphy said. At the spot where the little girl honored the victims with flowers, candles and notes of sympathy were already in place after families rushed to claim their children at East Brook Middle. "Make sure that when you leave here today, for those of you that have loved ones, you go home and you say how much you love them and give them a kiss, because there are people that, tonight, are struggling to be able to do that, and in some cases not able to," said Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco. RELATED STORIES Camera Catches Boy Kissing Hockey Stick in Tribute to Canada Bus Crash Victims Canada Bus Crash Victim's Donated Organs Will Save 6 Lives People Are Leaving Hockey Sticks on Porches in Tribute to 15 Canada Bus Crash Victims Related Articles: A Texas man stirred up controversy when he arrived at the scene of the Santa Fe High School shooting with an American flag and a pistol on his hip. Footage shared on Twitter by Scott McGrew shows two news reporters from local stations KHOU and KPRC interviewing an unidentified man at a gas station near the scene of Friday's mass shooting, which reportedly left multiple victims dead. "What was going through your head when you found out that this was going on?" one reporter asked the man. "Get to the school, make America great again," he responded. "By doing what? What was your plan of action?" she continued. "Offering support," he said. "Just, 'God bless y'all' will go a long way right now for a lot of people." "God bless y'all," he added before walking away from the cameras. Another man who overheard the interview then approached the reporter in a rage. "We need prayers, okay? We need prayers. This idiot is walking down the street with a damn pistol on his side when we just had kids get shot," he said. Guns and prayers: A man shows up to the Santa Fe High School (Texas) shooting with an American flag and a gun. Another man says "it's an embarrassment." pic.twitter.com/TAixNrJCPp Scott McGrew (@ScottMcGrew) May 18, 2018 "I'm a gun rights person, I have guns. But this idiot is walking down here and saying that he needs to make America great again," he continued. "That's not what America needs America needs prayers. We don't need this crap. I'm sorry, I believe in the Second Amendment, I believe in everything, but this guy right here is walking into a crime scene with a pistol on him. This is an embarrassment." One suspect was taken into custody and a second one was detained following the incident, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. Havana (AFP) - Cuba observed a weekend of national mourning for victims of its worst crash in nearly three decades that killed 110 passengers and crew. An investigation has been launched into Friday's crash of the nearly 40-year-old Boeing 737-200 leased to the national carrier Cubana de Aviacion by a Mexican company. Three women pulled alive from the mangled wreckage and in hospital in critical condition were the only survivors. One of them was conscious and asked for something to drink, the hospital treating them said. The Boeing crashed shortly after taking off from Havana, coming down in a field near the airport and sending a thick column of acrid smoke into the air. The circumstances echoed those of Cubana de Aviacion's worst air disaster nearly 30 years ago, in September 1989, when an Ilyushin 62 plane crashed on takeoff from Havana as it was headed to Italy. That disaster killed all 126 people on the plane, mainly Italian tourists, as well as around 45 people on the ground. In Friday's crash, the plane was on a domestic flight from Havana to the eastern city of Holguin. Most of the 104 passengers were Cuban, with five foreigners, including two Argentines, among them. The plane was almost completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire. What appeared to be one of the aircraft's wings was wedged among scorched tree trunks, but almost nothing remained of the main fuselage. Cuba's Transport Minister Adel Yzquierdo told reporters one of the plane's two black boxes had been recovered in "good condition," and the other was likely to be found within hours. Their data will be key to determining what happened. Among the dead were 99 Cubans, six Mexican crewmembers, and five foreign tourists: two from Western Sahara, a Mexican tourist and an Argentine couple. A previous toll counted three survivors out of 110 passengers. - Condolences - Built in 1979, the plane was leased from a small Mexican company, Global Air, also known as Aerolineas Damojh. Story continues Mexico said it was sending two civil aviation specialists to help in the investigation. Boeing said a "technical team stands ready to assist" and it offered condolences to friends and relatives of the victims. The mourning period was set to last until midnight on Sunday (0400 GMT Monday), the Communist Party leader and former president Raul Castro said. Flags were flown at half-mast throughout the country. Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Castro as the communist island's leader only last month, appeared aghast as he surveyed the recovery efforts, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and surrounded by officials. He visited the capital's morgue where the bodies were taken for identification, and met relatives who were being put up in a city hotel. He also visited the three survivors in hospital. Castro sent his condolences to families bereaved in the "catastrophic accident," a statement read, as Russian President Vladimir Putin and a string of Latin American leaders also expressed sympathy. Pope Francis asked the church in Cuba to convey condolences to families "who mourn the unexpected disappearance of loved ones." - Anguish in Mexico - The plane took off from Havana at 12:08 pm (1608 GMT) Friday heading for Holguin, 670 kilometers (415 miles) to the east. At the capital's morgue, Ignacio Ramirez, 46, told of how he lost his 22-year-old cousin, Carlos Santos, in the crash. "He had come to Havana to get a girlfriend who had arrived from Mexico, and was returning to Holguin," he said. Santos's mother, who lives in the US, was traveling to Cuba to give a DNA sample to confirm her son's identity. In Mexico City, anguished relatives and colleagues of the crew gathered outside the company's offices demanding information -- some of them hugging and crying. "I was friends with the captain, with the co-pilot, with the head flight attendant," said a former Global Air employee, 44-year-old Ana Marlene Covarrubias. "When I heard the news on the phone, I thought it was one of those jokes people play," she told AFP. Global Air had the necessary permits to lease it, and had passed inspections in November last year, according to the company. The crashed aircraft was one of its fleet of three Boeing 737s. A Mexican pilot who used to work for Global Air between 2005 and 2013, Marco Aurelio Hernandez, told the Mexican newspaper Milenio that he had previously flown the doomed plane. Hernandez said he had lodged a complaint at the time about what he regarded as sub-standard maintenance on Global Air's aircraft. A Global Air spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that Hernandez had worked at the company but declined to comment on his allegations. Prior to Friday's crash, Cuba's most recent air accident was in April 2017, in which eight military personnel died when a Russian-made AN-26 transport aircraft went down in western Cuba. Rapper Meek Mill withdrew from an event at the White House on Friday where he was supposed to meet with President Donald Trump to talk about prison reform. I was originally scheduled to be part of a panel on Prison Reform at the White House to help shed light on the issues within the system, Mill said in a statement to NBC News. Rapper Meek Mill has said he plans to use his platform to fight for prison reform issues. (Photo: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Unfortunately, the focus turned to the President and Myself which concerned me that it might take away from creating a positive result from todays discussions, Mill told NBC. As a result, I decided not to attend so that the focus would be solely on fixing our prison system. Most importantly I remain fully committed to improving our criminal justice system. The Friday White House summit brought together dozens of activists, experts and policymakers to discuss prison reform issues. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the summit, with Pence saying prison reform is a top priority for the administration. TMZ reports that Jay Z had a hand in changing Mills mind about attending the event, and called the rapper on Thursday night to say that meeting with the president could hurt Mills image and his cause. Mill was originally convicted in 2008 in a gun and drug case. In 2017, he was arrested again two more times. The 2017 charges, combined with a failed drug test, led to a judge finding Mill in violation of probation. The judge sentenced mill to two to four years in prison, but he was released last month. Jay-Z, aka Shawn Carter, has been an outspoken supporter of Mill, going so far as to argue on his behalf in a New York Times op-ed in November that whats happening to Meek Mill is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day. ... A person on probation can end up in jail over a technical violation like missing a curfew. Meek Mill and Jay-Z in 2012. (Photo: Johnny Nunez via Getty Images) Since his release, Mill has become an advocate for prison reform, calling out inequities within the criminal justice system. Story continues Although Im blessed to have the resources to fight this unjust situation, I understand that many people of color across the country dont have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues, he said in a statement in April. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. 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Cole Real Name: Jermaine Lamarr Cole MC Name: Jay Rock Real Name: Johnny Reed McKinzie, Jr. MC Name: Jay-Z Real Name: Shawn Carter This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Meghan Markle pictured as a child in Rwanda with her mother Doria - Pix supplied as a technical service by Tim Stewart News Limited 07932745508. No copyright inferred o Meghan Markle's family has taken the spotlight in the final days before her wedding: she has confirmed her father will not attend the ceremony, after days of u-turns from Thomas Markle Snr following heart surgery and a furore surrounding an allegedly-staged photoshoot. Meghan Markle's extended family has hit the headlines repeatedly over the past few months, with one newspaper describing it as a "motley collection of individuals who, between them, have a long record of boozing, bust-ups and bankruptcies". Yet Meghan Markle is close to her "free-spirited" mother Doria Ragland who is still expected to travel with Ms Markle to the church on Saturday and her "thoughtful, inspiring" father, with the actress having written lovingly of her relationship with both her parents. Here is a look at Prince Harry's future in-laws as Prince Harry and Ms Markle prepare to tie the knot in just three days at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Royal wedding | Read more Doria Ragland, Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland, 60, was born in Los Angeles to an antique dealer father and a mother who was a nurse. She attended the Fairfax High School, where she was remembered as bright and friendly - the teenager with the "Afro" hairstyle who loved listening to Marvin Gaye and dining out at a local Mexican taco joint with friends. After school she worked as a make-up artist, which is how she met her husband, Thomas Markle, a lighting director in Hollywood. The pair married in 1979 and Ms Markle was born two years later. Meghan Markle pictured as a child in Rwanda with her mother Doria Credit: TIM STEWART NEWS LIMITED The family moved into a house in The Valley, LA, to a neighbourhood that Ms Markle described as "leafy and affordable". Ms Ragland and Mr Markle divorced in 1987, but remained friends. Ms Ragland took a job as an air stewardess, meaning their daughter was frequently cared for by her father. Meghan Markle with her moother Doria, who has a masters in social work Credit: TIM STEWART NEWS LIMITED She later returned to university to obtain a masters in social work, following on from her BA in psychology. Story continues She now lives in the house she inherited from her father in 2011 in the Crenshaw area of LA. Ms Ragland and her daughter are extremely close - Ms Ragland once drove a car with the number plate MEGNME - and Ms Markle has spoken of her pride in her free-spirited mother, with her dreadlocks and nose ring. Ms Ragland is due to travel with her daughter to the ceremony on Saturday, travelling from their overnight accommodation at Cliveden House Hotel to St Georges Chapel by car. Thomas Markle, Meghan's father Born in Pennsylvania, of Dutch-Irish descent, Thomas Markle Snr, 72, made his way to Hollywood where he worked as a lighting director. He worked for many years on the set of the television show Married With Children, and his work on long-running series General Hospital earned him nine Daytime Emmy nominations, of which he was twice named the winner. He was also reportedly chosen to oversee the lighting for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as well as the 1986 Oscar ceremony. Baby Meghan Markle lies on the chest of her father Thomas Credit: TIM STEWART NEWS LIMITED Prior to meeting Doria Ragland, he had been married to Roslyn, with whom he had two children - Samantha, now 52, and Thomas Jr, now 50. Mr Markle and his daughter were very close, with the young Meghan accompanying him on film sets and being cared for by him while her mother was travelling as an air stewardess. Since retiring, Mr Markle moved to Mexico. He was declared bankrupt in June 2016. Miss Markle has described her father as the "most hardworking father you can imagine". He has not met Prince Harry, but has spoken to him on the phone and has given his blessing to the Prince asking for his daughter's hand in marriage. Mr Markle was to meet the Royal family for the first time this week, however on Thursday his daughter confirmed he would not be able to attend. In a statement issued through Kensington Palace, Ms Markle said: "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. "I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday." The wedding plans have since been called into question, as Mr Markle was to walk his daughter down the aisle on Saturday. Meghan Markle pictured as a toddler with her father Thomas Credit: TIM STEWART NEWS LIMITED Thomas Markle Snr had been intending to travel from his Mexico home to the UK to meet his future son-in-law for the first time, as well as the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. He was also intending to walk Ms Markle down the aisle on Saturday, meeting her at the chapel's west door after her drive to the ceremony with her mother. But after disclosures about his alleged dealings with the paparazzi and reports he suffered a heart attack earlier this month, the 73-year-old said on Monday he would avoid the ceremony for fear of embarrassing his daughter. The Mail On Sunday newspaper reported the story at the weekend claiming the images were staged and published CCTV footage stills of the US actress' father in the internet cafe with a photographer. The pictures were published earlier this month in a number of newspapers and news websites showing Mr Markle in a series of royal wedding related activities, apparently unaware he was being snapped. Mr Markle was pictured being measured for what was thought to be his wedding suit, looking at screen pictures of Ms Markle and Harry while in an internet cafe, and reading a picture book about Britain while having a coffee. On Wednesday he underwent heart surgery; later that day TMZ reported that Thomas Markle had been in touch to say his heart surgery had been completed. Meghan Markles uncles Michael Markle Of Thomas Markle Seniors two brothers, the eldest, Michael, had a profound impact on her early life. The 78-year-old is a retired US diplomat and Air Force veteran who lives in Florida. His wife, Toni, died of cancer in 2012. During his State Department career, he reportedly worked in Ottawa, Bucharest, Berlin and Guam, and when Meghan was 20 years old, she planned to follow in his footsteps with a potential career in diplomacy. It was through Michaels connections that Meghan was able to secure a prestigious at the American embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After enrolling at Northwestern University in Illinois, Spanish speaker Meghan travelled to Argentina for her senior year in 2003. She completed a double major in Theatre and International Relations. "So I'm 20 years old, in Buenos Aires, in a motorcade, doing that whole thing. I thought for sure I would still have a career in politics, she told Vogue a decade later. In an interview with the Mirror earlier this year, Michael spoke of his role in the process. I knew the ambassador, and I asked him if he could help, as her application was a little on the late side, he said. As a result, he was surprised not to be invited to his nieces wedding. I dont understand why she has been so indifferent towards me. Its uncalled for. I helped her out, and I didnt ask for anything in return. This whole invitation thing has not been played out very well. I never did anything to embarrass Meghan. It seems to me they handled the arrangements poorly. Michael has a 58-year-old daughter, Trish Gallup, who runs her own who runs her own chauffeur business. Frederick Markle Meghans other paternal uncle, Frederick, is a reclusive cleric who also lives in Florida. There, he leader and sole minister of the small Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, reportedly going by the name Bishop Dismas. According to the Daily Mail, Frederick lives in a secluded woodland property and lives like a hermit, shunning technology. He has refused to speak about his nieces marriage, as have his two sons, Nick and David, and ex-wife Theresa. Meghan Markle's siblings Half-brother Thomas Markle Jr The 50-year-old window fitter lives in Grants Pass, Oregon. He said his family was like The Dukes of Hazzard and The Simpsons, versus the Royal family but has spoken fondly of his half-sister, with whom he grew up in Los Angeles. He was married for 11 years to Tracy Dooley, with whom he has two sons Thomas and Tyler. Thomas Markle Jr has spoken fondly of Meghan Markle, his half-sister Credit: AKGS He was arrested in January for holding a gun to girlfriend Darlene Blounts head in a drunken argument. Mr Markle and Miss Blount are now engaged. Half-sister Samantha Grant Samantha Grant, 52, lives in Florida and is a wheelchair user and suffers from multiple sclerosis. She discussed the allegedly staged images of her father's on Loose Women on Monday, saying she was entirely the culprit, convincing her father that it would be to his advantage to show himself in a positive light. It was my suggestion that to benefit him and to benefit the Royal Family and that everyone looked good, and they depict you as you are, she said. Samantha Markle has lashed out at her half-sister, Meghan, in several interviews Credit: Splash News She also caused a stir in April when she announced she was writing a book entitled The Diary of Princess Pushys Sister. Despite not having spoken to her in nine years, Ms Grant lashed out at Ms Markle in numerous interviews. She since says she was misquoted. The Dooleys Ms Markle's sister-in-law Tracy Dooley, and her sons Tyler and TJ, are among the family members who have not been invited to the wedding. Ms Dooley, who was married to the former actress's half-brother, was pictured arriving at Heathrow Airport this week. She has previously told ITV's Good Morning Britain she had not received an invitation to the ceremony at Windsor Castle on Saturday, admitting she had not seen Ms Markle for 20 years. The Dooleys announced on Facebook they had arrived in the capital. Meghan Markle's nephews Tyler and Thomas Dooley along with their mother Tracy Dooley Credit: Constant Media Tyler, 25, who uploaded an image of the Imperial War Museum, as well as a photograph of the inside of a hotel room, is a cannabis farmer who considers himself a 'pioneer' in the legal production of the drug in California. He is reportedly keen to develop a new cannabis strain called 'Markle's Sparkle', in aid of his cousin's wedding. Meghan Markle's nephew Tyler Dooley is a Cannabis farmer who is planning a new drug called Markle's Sparkle Credit: Mega The family are keen on the burgeoning industry. TJ, 26, reportedly gives marijuana to his dog for pain relief, while Tracy frequently sells advertising space to marijuana dispensaries. On arriving in London, Ms Dooley posted on her Facebook page called "Royal Wedding with the Dooley Markles" that she hoped Ms Markle's father was "well, healthy and happy". She wrote: "Just glad to have landed safely and hoping for Tom senior to be well, healthy, & happy. I wish the same for Meghan Prince Harry, my children, friends, family and those who need our prayers and love. Peace, love and good works." In April, the page, which appears to be run by Ms Dooley, shared an article headlined "Meghan Markle snubs nephew and his mum with no invite to Royal wedding." It was accompanied with the caption: "Beyond blessed to be any part of this momentous occasion. We'll be front and center at Windsor cheering Meghan and Prince Harry on." Trevor Engelson, Meghan's ex-husband New York-born film and television producer Trevor Engelson, 41, was married to Ms Markle for two years, until 2013. The pair married on the beach in Jamaica in 2011, tying the knot at the Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios, in front of around 100 guests. They are believed to have been dating for seven years before they married. Meghan Markle and Trevor Engelson in 2006 Credit: Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan/Getty Their August 2013 divorce cited irreconcilable differences, and their work schedules - he is based in Los Angeles, while she began filming legal drama Suits in Toronto the year they married. He is working on a show about a man whose wife runs off with a prince. In a personal statement, Meghan Markle said: 'I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health' - Enterprise News and Pictures Meghan Markle has confirmed her father will not be attending her wedding to Prince Harry, saying she hopes he can be given the "space he needs to focus on his health". After days of speculation about whether or not Thomas Markle would walk her down the aisle, the American star spoke of her sadness as she revealed it had been decided he will miss her big day. Mr Markle is still in Mexico where he is recovering from heart surgery on Wednesday to implant three stents. The reclusive former TV lighting director was caught up in controversy after being caught staging photographs with the paparazzi. Ms Markle - who was pictured arriving in Windsor with the Prince on Thursday afternoon - is now expected to be escorted down the aisle by her mother Doria on Saturday, a member of the Royal family or walk alone. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in Windsor by car Credit: Karwai Tang In a personal statement issued through Kensington Palace on Thursday, the bride-to-be said: "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. "I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday." Markle family Ms Markle, who has been described by those close to her as "devastated" over the events of this week, has been in contact with her father, who has told her he cannot travel after taking medical advice. Mr Markle has previously told TMZ, the celebrity gossip website, that he has been undergoing heart surgery. On Sunday, it emerged he had colluded with the paparazzi to stage a series of photographs, saying that he was not motivated by money. His daughter Samantha Grant, Ms Markle's estranged half-sister, has claimed responsibility for the episode, saying she had hoped to boost her father's reputation with flattering images. Story continues Video: Meghan Markle's half-sister on their father's health Prince Harry and Ms Markle are understood to have been in regular contact with Mr Markle since the beginning of their relationship in 2016, providing practical advice and media support. Their efforts have this week appeared to unravel as Mr Markle, Ms Grant and her brother Thomas Markle Jr issued a stream of statements and interviews. Mr Markle was supposed to be walking his daughter down the aisle, and had planned to meet with the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this week. Meghan Markle's mother Doria on her way to Los Angeles airport to travel to London Credit: Snorlax/Rachpoot/ MEGA Ms Ragland, who is being looked after by staff at Kensington Palace, flew into London's Heathrow Airport on Wednesday. She was met at the airport by Prince Harrys assistant private secretary Amy Pickerill, with her luggage - including a dress-sized bag from Burberry - taken through Heathrow's VIP Windsor suite. Ms Markles friends including Jessica Mulroney, a Canadian stylist, have also landed in the UK, for what Royal watchers will now hope are trouble-free final preparations for the wedding on Saturday. Who will now walk Meghan down the aisle? Doria Ragland Meghan Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, is the most likely contender to walk her down the aisle after her father pulled out. According to American gossip website TMZ, Thomas Markle has given his ex-wife his blessing to perform the duty. Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, at the Invictus Games in Toronto Credit: REUTERS/Mark Blinch Ms Ragland is no stranger to being at her daughter's side and has accompanied her on the red carpet and stood with her at the Invictus Games in Toronto last year. Ladbrokes odds: 1/3 Prince Charles If Ms Ragland is not able to walk her daughter down the aisle, another option is the father of the groom, Prince Charles. Prince Charles may have to fulfill the role Credit: ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images The Prince of Wales has expressed his excitement about the wedding, telling reporters in Nice last week: "It's absolutely marvellous. It's going to be a very special day for everybody." Ladbrokes odds: 3/1 The Duke of Cambridge Prince William may be on hand to walk his brother's bride down the aisle. He would likely be a good source of support for Meghan Markle, as the two have conducted Royal engagements together and appear to get along well. The Duke of Cambridge next to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during Anzac Day commemorations in April Credit: EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP/Getty Images The Duke of Cambridge has also been through the pressure of a very public royal wedding, so would perhaps be able to calm any jangled nerves. Ladbrokes odds: 5/1 Guy Pelly An admittedly long shot, but if the couple do not pick a family member, a friend of Prince Harry might be a good bet. Guy Pelly has been a friend of the Prince and his brother since they were children and is connected to the matchmaker who set the Royal couple up on their first date. Prince Harry's friend Guy Pelly at a party with Violet Von Westenholz, the matchmaker behind the Royal couple Credit: Alan Davidson/The Picture Library He is friends with Violet Von Westenholz, who the Telegraph revealed as the Cupid who brought the pair together. Mr Pelly and Ms Westenholz have for years been photographed together at parties. Ladbrokes odds: 10/1 Thousands gather in Windsor to watch rehearsal Meanwhile, a dress rehearsal for the big day took place in Windsor on Thursday, with thousands of people turning out to get a flavour of how Saturday will unfold. The roads around the town were closed as wellwishers basked beneath blue skies and beaming sunshine - weather expected to stay around for the weekend. Video: Military take part in dress rehearsal in Windsor Some 250 members of the armed forces are expected to take part in Saturday's festivities, lining the streets as the newly-wed Harry and Meghan head on a 25-minute carriage ride through the town. Press from around the world, tourists, locals and royal super fans watched from behind barriers as members of the military parade around Windsor. Royal wedding countdown in pictures as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's preparations begin There was a heavy police presence with armed officers stationed around town and other officers on top of buildings looking over the crowds from a height. After months of planning, Thursday's dry-run gave organisers a chance to put some finishing touches to the global event. Royal wedding PREMIUM GRID Six hundred guests will gather in Windsor Castle's 15th century chapel on Saturday to watch the Prince marry Ms Markle, the former Suits star. The pair got engaged after a whirlwind 16-month romance after meeting on a blind date. London (AFP) - As Meghan Markle's wedding to Prince Harry has approached, her American relatives have dominated the headlines in Britain -- for better or for worse. Here's a guide to the bride-to-be's extended family. - The parents - Mother Doria Ragland and father Thomas Markle married after meeting through work on US television but split when Meghan Markle was aged two. Ragland, 61, a social worker and yoga instructor, has been called a "free spirit" by her daughter. She still lives in Los Angeles, where Meghan Markle grew up. Thomas Markle, 73, a former Emmy-award winning TV lighting director, has retired to a sleepy beach town in northern Mexico. He will not be walking his daughter down the aisle after becoming embroiled in a scandal over staging paparazzi photos of himself, and undergoing heart surgery this week. - The half-siblings - The bride-to-be has a half-brother, Thomas Markle, and half-sister, Samantha Grant, both on her father's side of the family. The duo have been vocal about Meghan Markle since she announced her royal engagement last year -- and not in the most flattering terms. Thomas Markle Junior, 51, who lives in the US state of Oregon, has accused her of shunning the family, saying she is "probably embarrassed" by them. He sent an open letter in April to Prince Harry asking him to cancel the marriage. Grant has repeatedly criticised Meghan Markle's fractured relations with her father's relatives in interviews and on social media. Neither are invited to Saturday's ceremony at Windsor Castle, although her half-brother is in Britain and has visited Windsor this week, posing for a tabloid newspaper in front of the castle. - Extended family - Meghan Markle has two half-nephews, Tyler and Thomas Dooley, who along with their mother Tracy Dooley have this week travelled to Britain -- despite not receiving invitations to the wedding. Tracy Dooley is the ex-wife of Thomas Markle Jr. Story continues Tyler Dooley, 25, is a cannabis farmer in Oregon -- where the drug is legal -- and is reportedly developing a "Markle Sparkle" hybrid strain of marijuana for distribution. Elder brother Thomas Dooley purportedly manages a fast-food restaurant. Britain's Daily Mail last month published photographs of a young Meghan Markle sitting with her half-nephews, reporting she was an occasional babysitter for the pair growing up. Tracy Dooley, who has said she has not seen the bride-to-be in decades, announced the trio's arrival in London Monday on Facebook, where she has set up a "royal wedding with the Dooley Markles" blog page. The British media has been avidly chronicling the family's visit while referring to them as part of a "circus" now surrounding the nuptials. - Ex-husband - In 2004, Meghan Markle fell for go-getting film producer Trevor Engelson, who helped her get on the acting ladder as she struggled for parts. They married in Jamaica in 2011. But during their engagement, Markle landed her signature role in "Suits" which was being filmed in Toronto, with the distance putting a strain on their relationship. A series of flops followed for Engelson while the once-struggling actress became a star. Their two-year marriage collapsed in 2013 and the pair have reportedly not remained close. Markle sent her rings back to Engelson in the post, according to a friend cited in a recent biography of the bride-to-be. Meanwhile film industry website Deadline Hollywood announced last year that he was developing a pilot with Fox studios for a TV series about a man whose wife leaves him for a British prince. Myanmar for repatriation of 1101 verified Rohingyas Staff Reporter : Myanmar has urged Bangladesh to start the repatriation of 1101 verified Rohingyas out of 8,032 persons received from Bangladesh amidst a slow verification process of Rohingyas, diplomatic sources said. Myanmar also wants to take earlier verified as many as 778 Muslims and 444 Hindus. Bangladesh, however, emphasized on 'verifiable concrete information'on security situation in the ground from Myanmar so that it could be shared with the Rohingyas in Bangladesh for building their confidence to go back to Northern Rakhine in Myanmar. Bangladesh wants Myanmar to create a 'conducive environment' in Rakhine state, including safety and security of the returnees, government steps for rebuilding of villages, access to livelihood, freedom of movement and so on, said an official. Bangladesh and Myanmar signed the repatriation agreement on November 23, 2017. On January 16, Bangladesh and Myanmar also signed a document on 'Physical Arrangement' which will facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland from Bangladesh. The 'Physical Arrangement' stipulates that the repatriation will be completed preferably within two years from the start of repatriation. After the second joint working group meeting in Dhaka on Thursday, the Myanmar side claimed that they were ready to receive the verified Rohingyas from Bangladesh, according to Myanmar media reports. The third joint working group meeting will be held in Nay Pyi Taw and the dates and venue will be communicated through the diplomatic channel. During the second working group meeting, both sides exchanged views on the repatriation process, including conducive environment, safety and security for the prospective returnees. They also talked on current situation of the Rohingyas Bangladesh, dissemination of information among the returnees and confidence building, and involvement of the United Nations agencies in the process of repatriation and resettlement. The Myanmar side urged the Bangladeshi side to provide information on its readiness to start the repatriation process, including completion of transit camps on the Bangladeshi side. It also laid emphasis on promotion of awareness among the prospective returnees on the bilateral agreements between the two countries and the agreed verification forms to be shared with them. The JWG discussed all the issues related to safe, dignified and sustainable return of the forcibly displaced Myanmar residents. Both sides exchanged information on the preparation for starting the repatriation and implementation of bilateral agreements signed between the two countries. The JWG discussed relevant details as to the involvement of UN agencies, particularly UNHCR and UNDP, by both countries in the repatriation process. Myanmar is in the process of reaching an agreement with the UNHCR. The meeting elaborately discussed the issue of National Verification Card. Bangladesh sought clarification on the NVC process. Myanmar assured that with the NVC card, which will be issued immediately upon return, the returnees will be able to pursue jobs in Rakhine, according to the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka. Both sides agreed to start the repatriation soon and expressed their resolve to work together for removing obstacles to implement the bilateral instruments on repatriation. But the action of the Myanmar government shows it is blocking the return of Rohingyas by restricting verification of the refugees in a way that deny a meaningful repatriation. London (AFP) - Meghan Markle confirmed on Thursday that her father will not be present to walk her down the aisle when she marries Prince Harry on Saturday. "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health," she said in a statement. Thomas Markle's appearance at the Windsor Castle ceremony on Saturday has been under a cloud of doubt for most of this week, as a series of U-turns were reported over his intention to attend. He was originally reported to have pulled out of the ceremony after a paparazzi scandal, where he allegedly posed for a set of staged photos sold for a reported 100,000 (114,000 euros, $135,000) -- in a breach of royal etiquette ahead of the meticulously planned big day. Sources told US celebrity site TMZ he felt too embarrassed to attend in the fallout from the revelations. He then signalled his intention to attend after being contacted by Markle via text, according TMZ, but questions remained as he was due to undergo heart surgery with just days to go before the wedding. Meghan Markle's statement made through Kensington Palace, the official London residence of Prince Harry, confirmed that her father, who lives in Mexico, will not attend the wedding for health reasons. "I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday," Meghan Markle added in the statement. It has been widely speculated in the UK media that Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland may stand in to walk her daughter down the aisle. By Guy Faulconbridge, Michael Holden and Cassandra Garrison WINDSOR, England (Reuters) - Crowds of well-wishers cheered Britain's Prince Harry as he made an impromptu walkabout on Friday outside the ancient walls of Windsor Castle on the eve of his wedding to U.S. actress Meghan Markle. Queen Elizabeth's grandson was joined by Prince William, his elder brother and best man, as he mingled with excited fans waving red, white and blue Union flags less than 24 hours before Saturday's lavish ceremony. One fan handed the prince a teddy bear during the 10-minute excursion before the brothers waved to the royal fans chanting "We want Harry!" and returned to the castle. They were due to spend the night in a luxury hotel nearby. "I'm gobsmacked. He was so lovely. I can't get over he shook our hands," said Thelma Speed, 89. Her daughter Deborah Goodes, 60, who named one of her sons after the prince, was equally smitten. "Ive seen him on the television, but in the flesh he looked really great," she said. "I can see why shes marrying him." The walkabout in open-necked shirts came as the last touches were put in place for the royal extravaganza at the castle, to the west of London and home to monarchs for almost 1,000 years. Harry, 33, will marry Markle, 36, a star of the TV drama "Suits", in the castle's 15th-century St George's Chapel at a ceremony that begins at 1100 GMT. CHARLES TO TAKE FATHER'S PLACE Harry's office announced that his father Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, would walk Markle down the aisle in place of her father. Thomas Markle, pulled out days before the event, telling the celebrity website TMZ he was recovering from heart surgery, in a family drama that played out in the glare of media attention. Buckingham Palace said Markle's African-American mother, Doria Ragland, had met the 92-year-old queen and her husband Prince Philip, 96 on Friday. It also confirmed that Philip, who had hip replacement surgery last month, would be at the wedding. Story continues Markle and her mother, a yoga instructor who a royal source said had charmed Prince Charles when they met during the week, arrived at a luxury hotel near Windsor where they were to spend the night before the wedding. Markle said she felt "wonderful". The well-wishers mingling with journalists and armed police were taking in the emotion as well as the pomp. "Every daughter should have their dad but obviously he's not very well. I do feel sorry for her. It must be heartbreaking for her," said Moira Moss, who was camping outside the castle. A former army officer and one-time royal wild child, Harry met Markle in July 2016 on a blind date set up through a mutual friend. Markle said she had known little about him while Harry said he had never heard of Markle or watched her TV series. After just two dates, he whisked her off to Botswana for a holiday, camping under the stars. MODERN BRITAIN? After the schism of Brexit divided the United Kingdom and triggered a wave of doubt about its future place in the world, the glittering union of one of the most popular royals and an elegant U.S. divorcee may offer some distraction. The British remain broadly supportive of the monarchy, albeit with a sense of mild irony about the pomp and pageantry that accompany it, though many have deep respect for the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth, after 66 years of dutiful service. For some black Britons, the prospect of a mixed-race princess has increased interest in the monarchy, so far all white. The wedding address will be given by a black American bishop. "Meghan will bring a new perspective to the royal family," royal biographer Claudia Joseph said. "Obviously she comes from a very different background and ... thats hugely important to take the royal family into the future." This wedding has drawn comparisons with some remarkable episodes of recent royal history: Edward VIIIs relationship with American divorcee Wallis Simpson, which led him to abdicate in 1936, and the queens late sister Margarets decision to call off her marriage to an equerry, Peter Townsend. But many Britons will not even watch the wedding, despite massive media interest. WEDDING FEVER Markle is expected to enter the chapel alone with her bridesmaids and page boys before joining Charles in the choir - the area where the clergy and choristers sit. After the hour-long ceremony, the couple will process through Windsor's ancient streets in an open 19th-century Ascot Landau carriage pulled by four Windsor Grey horses. Markle's wedding cake - a lemon and elderflower creation with buttercream icing - took six bakers five days to prepare, according to its designer Claire Ptak. Police were expecting more than 100,000 people to throng the streets outside the castle - the queen's home and the oldest and largest inhabited fortress in the world. Harry, younger son of the late Princess Diana, has always been a popular member of the royal family. At just 12 years old, he walked behind his mother's coffin as her funeral cortege made its way through London after her death in a car crash in 1997. He has spoken publicly about the pain of that loss, supported the cause of wounded veterans, and embraced campaigns for awareness about mental health. I remember Princess Diana dying," said Nick Lemin, 45 who grew up in Windsor but now lives in Brisbane, Australia. "I think shed be very, very proud of Prince Harry and the family and how they are living their lives." Windsor Castle was badly damaged by a fire in 1992, a year Elizabeth famously described as an annus horribilis after three of her four childrens marriages failed, including Charles' marriage to Diana. Fast-forward 26 years, and a reinvigorated royal brand has Windsor in party mood, ahead of an occasion forecast to be blessed with sunshine and blue skies. (Additional reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Kevin Liffey) One day before Meghan Markle gets married to Prince Harry, her Suits co-stars Sarah Rafferty, Gina Torres, and Rick Hoffman dropped by the Today Show in lovely Windsor, England. The three shared details about being invited to the royal wedding and how they found out exactly who Meghan was dating. Speaking to Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, Rafferty joked that when she got the wedding invite doves flew out. Torres quipped that she got a palace guard. And Hoffman one-upped that the British spy service MI6 delivered his midshower. But amid the funny business, Hoffman did reveal how he reacted when Meghan dropped the Prince Harry bombshell. I had gotten the news early, he said. And I was like, You gotta be kidding me. Both of us [were] in the trailer, [and I was] like, Youre going Youre dating a prince? Well, take it slow. Be careful. Dont let him hurt you. In a way, Suits prepared Meghan for this wedding. Her final appearance on the show had her character, Rachel Zane, marrying her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Mike Ross. Over seven seasons, Meghan and her co-stars naturally grew close, as they told Today. We were with each other for longer than we went to college or high school, said Rafferty. We became family in a way. Were still family. This is a wonderful family affair. And while Markle is moving onward and upward from cable TV, Hoffman shared a telling anecdote about her generosity after he went through a breakup. I had to go to a wedding in Paris five years ago this weekend, he said. I was dateless. And Meghan was like, Do you want me to come with you? I was like, Yeah, that would be awesome. Did you know that Russell Brand and Meghan Markle once shared a kiss? Guadalajara (Mexico) (AFP) - Mexican authorities said they arrested a fourth suspect Thursday in the killing of three film students who were abducted, tortured and dissolved in acid, an episode that triggered outrage in a crime-weary nation. The suspect, identified only as Miguel Angel "N," was found hiding out in the small municipality of Degollado in the western state of Jalisco, said state prosecutor Raul Sanchez Jimenez. "Statements by the three suspects in custody enabled investigators to locate" him, Sanchez told a press conference. He will be charged with aggravated kidnapping, the prosecutor said. The students -- Javier Salomon Aceves Gastelum, 25; Daniel Diaz, 20; and Marco Avalos, 20 -- went missing on March 19 as they returned from shooting a film project outside Guadalajara, Mexico's second city, where they attended the University of Audiovisual Media. Investigators say members of the powerful Jalisco New Generation drug cartel appear to have mistaken them for members of a rival group, the New Plaza Cartel, because they were staying in the house of a relative who had ties to the latter. All four suspects in custody are believed to belong to Jalisco New Generation. Witnesses said the students were intercepted by a group of men disguised as police who ushered them into two other cars and fled. They were then taken to a cartel safe house and tortured, investigators say. When Aceves died of his injuries, the kidnappers killed the other two students and dissolved the bodies in barrels of sulfuric acid. The case drew protests from tens of thousands of their fellow students, backed by Mexican film luminaries such as Oscar-winning directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron. Authorities initially said there were four suspects in the case, but Sanchez said they are now looking for two more. One of the suspects arrested last month, a rapper and YouTube star known as "QBA," has confessed to dissolving the bodies in acid, according to investigators. QBA, whose real name is Christian Omar Palma Gutierrez, allegedly received 3,000 pesos ($159) a week to work for Jalisco New Generation. He has a YouTube page with 135,000 subscribers and millions of views where he posted professionally shot rap videos about violence, weapons and drugs. Tournai (Belgium) (AFP) - A two-year-old girl of Kurdish origin who died after police gave chase to a van carrying illegal migrants in Belgium succumbed to a bullet wound to the face, prosecutors said Friday. The police had opened fire to stop the van after a highway chase between Namur and Maisieres, a suburb of the city of Mons. The child, who was on board the van with her parents, died in the ambulance on her way to hospital. "The autopsy determined that the cause of death was a bullet that entered the cheek," prosecutor Frederic Bariseau told reporters in Tournai near the French border. Police have opened an internal investigation to determine the circumstances of the girl's death, Bariseau said. "We cannot exclude that this bullet came from a police officer's gun," he said. "The investigation will have to determine whether there were other shots, and from which police officer if it was a police officer, or someone in the van who could have been armed," he said. Rules of engagement "are strict. Police are free (to open fire) if they deem themselves in danger," he said. The prosecutor's office initially said on Thursday that the girl had "not died as a result of the police shooting". In the van intercepted by the police were 30 people including 26 adults, all of Kurdish origin, who are now in custody. Authorities initially evoked a number of possible causes of death, including illness or reckless driving during the chase. The prosecutor said the incident began with a routine patrol by police at a parking lot in Namur, the capital of the Belgian region Wallonia. Police determined that the plates on the van were fake and approached the vehicle, which drove away. "A first arrest attempt was made in Sambreville when the vehicle pretended to stop and then accelerated," the prosecutor said. "That's when the police called for reinforcements and why we found ourselves with a fairly large number of police officers," he said. Story continues The shots were fired by police at the end of the chase near Mons, he added. The death caused a stir on Thursday in the migrant community of Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk in France, as the girl was a member of a family currently housed there, French authorities said. The Belgium border region near France has become a magnet for migrants, with many heading towards Grande Synthe or Calais to try to board lorries and reach Britain. Beirut (AFP) - More Syrian health facilities were attacked in the first four months of 2018 than all of last year combined, the United Nations said Friday, slamming the escalation as "shocking". They included four facilities hit after their locations were provided by the UN to the United States and Russia, which co-chair a humanitarian task force on Syria, in an effort to "de-conflict" the clinics. "Syria is the worst place in modern history in terms of attacks against health care," said Panos Moumtzis, the UN's regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria. "Syria today accounts for nearly 70 percent of all reported attacks on health facilities worldwide." Speaking to reporters in Beirut, Moumtzis said 79 health facilities were hit from the start of 2018 until May 4, killing 89 people including medical staff and patients. That was more than the entirety of 2017, when the UN said 73 medical facilities were targeted in attacks that left 73 people dead. Nearly half of this year's attacks took place in Ghouta, a sprawling suburb of Damascus that Syria's government seized from rebels in mid-April after a blistering two-month offensive. Another 37 attacks took place in the northwestern province of Idlib, where hospitals, blood banks, and ambulance stations have been hit this year. The increase came despite a mechanism introduced by the UN earlier this year to try to reduce attacks on health facilities by informing warring parties of their locations. - 'Not collateral damage' - The GPS coordinates of 661 health facilities had been shared since the start of this year with Russia and the United States, said Moumtzis, adding the system "came pretty late" in a conflict infamous for its impact on health infrastructure. "There were four specific incidents where despite the notification, an attack took place. Two were in Eastern Ghouta, and two were in northern Homs," he said. Story continues According to the UN, the two sites hit in Ghouta were a hospital in the town of Arbin in late March and a children's hospital in the town of Douma in early April. In Homs, two facilities in the town of Zafraniyeh were hit in late April. Troops also recaptured opposition-held villages in the northern part of Homs province this week. "The assumption is not that these attacks have been on accident. If a health facility gets targeted, some of them multiple times, it's not collateral damage," said Moumtzis. Reports of the incidents were submitted to the UN's humanitarian task force. The US has denied being militarily active in either area and Russia is conducting investigations into the incidents, according to taskforce head Jan Egeland. Syria's conflict broke out in March 2011 with protests against the government but has since evolved into a civil war that has killed more than 350,000 people and trigged a staggering humanitarian crisis. Friday, May 18, 2018 What to watch today (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) The final day of the week will bring investors an empty economic calendar and earnings from just two members of the S&P 500 Deere & Co. (DE) and Campbells Soup (CPB). Wall Street analysts expect Deere to earn $3.31 per share on revenue of $9.8 billion, according to estimates from Bloomberg. Investors will also be interested in any commentary from the agricultural giant on the effect trade tensions between the U.S. and China are having, or are expected to have, on the companys business. Meanwhile, Campbells Soup should report earnings per share of $0.60 on revenue of $2.1 billion. Investors will also be looking for an update on its integration with Snyders-Lance, a deal the company completed in March. Read More Top news China denies it offered package to slash U.S. trade gap by $200B: China denied on Friday that it had offered a package to slash the U.S. trade deficit by up to $200 billion, hours after it dropped an anti-dumping probe into U.S. sorghum imports in a conciliatory gesture as top officials meet in Washington. U.S. officials had said in Washington on Thursday that China was proposing trade concessions and increased purchases of American goods aimed at cutting the U.S. trade deficit with China by up to $200 billion a year. [Reuters] Uber chief product officer to leave in latest executive departure: Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden is leaving the ride-hailing company, the latest of more than a dozen senior executives to depart since last year. Holden oversaw Uber Elevate, the companys flying car operation, which is now headed by Eric Allison. [Reuters] Nafta countries nowhere near close to a deal: President Donald Trumps Nafta negotiator said that the U.S., Canada and Mexico are nowhere near close to a deal to update the 24-year-old free-trade agreement as U.S. lawmakers warn that time is almost up to reach an agreement that can pass the current Congress. There are gaping differences on intellectual property, agricultural market access, de minimis levels, energy, labor, rules of origin, geographical indications, and much more, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Thursday in a statement. [Bloomberg] Story continues PayPal to buy iZettle for $2.2B: PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) is buying Swedish small-business platform iZettle for $2.2 billion to expand in Europe and Latin America and increase its presence in brick and mortar stores. The deal is the biggest ever for PayPal and will help it compete with Square Inc. (SQ), which made a name for itself by helping small businesses and food-truck vendors conduct credit card and mobile transactions. [Bloomberg] For more of the latest news, go to Yahoo Finance People watch as ash erupt from the Halemaumau crater near the community of Volcano during ongoing eruptions of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, U.S., May 15, 2018. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester Yahoo Finance Originals Larry Fink: A flattening yield curve doesnt worry me The voice behind the laurel recording revealed: Jay Aubrey Jones How to earn more with less education Heres what the Whole Foods discount for Amazon Prime members looks like Homes in this market are selling just as fast as in the Bay Area Like what you just read? Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. And feel free to share it with a friend! The Morning Brief provides a quick rundown on what to watch in the markets, top news stories, and the best of Yahoo Finance Originals. MOUNT OLIVE, N.J. A school bus and dump truck collided on a New Jersey highway Thursday, ripping apart the bus, knocking it on its side and injuring multiple people, according to police. The school bus was on the median of Interstate 80 in Mount Olive and the front end of the bus appeared to be crushed or ripped off. It was also sheared off its undercarriage and a piece of the front end of the bus with the steering wheel visible was lying on top of the guardrail separating the highway from the median. A red dump truck with a mangled front end was parked along the highway nearby, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of New York. The school bus had markings for the Paramus School District. A fifth-grade class trip from the district was scheduled for Waterloo Village, a historic site about 5 miles away from the crash scene. A school district official said its superintendent was preparing a statement. Emergency personnel work at the scene of a school bus and dump truck collision, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J School Bus Dump Truck Crash - 17 May 2018 State police said that an unknown number of children were on the bus, but they didnt know how serious the injuries are. Hackettstown Police Sgt. Darren Tynan told The Record that multiple people were taken to a hospital. Theres an incredible emergency response from throughout Morris County and by state police. Its a horrific scene, Mount Olive Mayor Rob Greenbaum told The Record. Morristown Medical Center spokeswoman Elaine Andrecovich said they have received some people from the accident, but she did not have a number available and could not say how many were children. About 10 victims were taken to St. Clares Dover Hospital and St. Clares Denville Hospital, according to Communications Director Patty Montgomery. She said they were being evaluated and treated, but she did not have ages or conditions. The Iran Nuclear deal isnt the only major agreement that President Trump promised voters he would either rewrite or tear up. After nine months of talks, U.S., Mexican and Canadian negotiators remain deadlocked on how to rework, and save, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Theres now a renewed sense of urgency, because time is running out to reach a deal to spare NAFTA, the pact that has governed cross-border trade since 1994. If no agreement is reached in May, things will become much more complicated. Heres why: Even if the three sides come to an agreement this month, Trump cant just sign it into law. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress, and not the President, power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. Under trade promotion rules, Trump must notify Congress 90 days before he intends to sign it. Then the U.S. International Trade Commission must report to Congress on the likely impact of the deal before lawmakers can vote on it. That will take more time. Then Congress has 90 session days before voting yes or no on the deal. House Speaker Paul Ryan calculated that lawmakers would need to see a deal by May 17 in order to be able to vote on it this year. Why the hurry? Because the political headwinds arent in the deals favorand not just in the U.S. Canadas federal elections arent due to be held until 2019, and in any case, both the Liberal and Conservative parties support NAFTA. But the situation in Mexico is more complicated. Mexicans will choose a new President on July 1. The clear front runner in that election is the veteran leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He doesnt oppose a NAFTA renegotiation on principle, because he knows the loss would harm Mexicos economy far more than that of the U.S. or Canada. But if he wins and no deal has been agreed upon by the time he takes office in December, he will certainly replace virtually the entire Mexican negotiating team, throwing the entire process back to an earlier stage. Story continues Then there is the complex political calculus in the U.S., where many of the members of Congress who are facing re-election on Nov. 6 are less than enthusiastic about casting a vote on a controversial trade deal. Pro-trade Republican lawmakers may find themselves in a tough spot if Trump presents them with a union-friendly deal that prevents investors from being able to sue foreign governments in tribunals, or requires more automobile production in the U.S., or includes a sunset clause that could automatically kill the deal after five years. These are the sorts of changes that some Democrats will like and that Republicans and the business community wont want. Yet the midterm elections might come directly into play if Democrats take control of Congress and decide that, even if they like many of the agreements new terms, they dont want to hand Trump a political victory. They might push for yet more changes to the deal, which would also give Mexicos Lopez Obrador a chance to push for some amendments of his own. But the U.S. Presidents notoriously mercurial temperament is the X factor in all of this. The longer a deal is delayed and the more it becomes an agreement that Democrats and Lopez Obrador can get behind, the more likely that, as with the Iran nuclear deal, Trump will decide to simply walk away from NAFTA altogether. US President Donald Trump addresses the dedication of a new US embassy in Jerusalem: YouTube/The White House Donald Trump is set to meet with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at the White House, having regularly disparaged the military alliance in the past. The pair come together in the aftermath of the US President's decision to relocate its Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby recognising it as the country's capital. The move prompted anger among Palestinians. At least 60 protesters were killed and as many as 2,700 injured in clashes with Israel Defence Forces in Gaza. The Trump administration's decision to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal has also been met an angry response. The American flag was burned in the country's parliament, while chaos still reigns in Syria. The slow thawing of relations between North and South Korea is presently one of the few bright spots on the world stage. The future of the US's relationship with Nato - an alliance it entered under Harry Truman in 1949 - has been a cause for concern since President Trump succeeded Barack Obama. On the campaign trail, he suggested the alliance had been "obsolete" since the close of the Cold War and told The New York Times in March 2016 that other member states were failing to honour an agreed guideline of spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence. He told the same newspaper four months later, that the US's commitment to Article 5 - the promise all 28-member states make to come to the aid of a fellow ally under military attack - was conditional. America would support its allies "if they fulfil their obligations to us". That pledge was honoured after the 9/11 terror attacks on the US by al-Qaeda in 2001 as Nato member states deployed troops to Afghanistan. They now fear that a US failure to respond in kind under President Trump could embolden Russia to carry out further aggressions on its borders like the widely condemned annexation of Crimea in 2014. Mr Trump neglected to pledge the oath while addressing Nato at the opening of its new eco-friendly headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on 25 May last year, an occasion when a 9/11 memorial was also being unveiled. Story continues The key paragraph, known as Article 5, was included in a script prepared by the president's speech writers, but he simply skipped over it at the podium, apparently an impromptu decision. His then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer subsequently insisted that it was "silly" and "laughable" that the president should actually have to reaffirm his commitment when his very presence there implied it. National Security Adviser, HR McMaster, who has also since left office, likewise insisted that "of course" the president supports Article 5 and the American endorsement had been "implicit" in the speech. President Trump did finally explicitly back Article 5 in the Polish capital of Warsaw, last July. "To those who would criticise our tough stance, I would point out that the United States has demonstrated - not merely with its words but with its actions - that we stand firmly behind Article 5, the mutual defence commitment, " he said. "Words are easy, but actions are what matters. And for its own protection, Europe - and you know this, everybody knows this, everybody has to know this - Europe must do more." Mr Trump biggest gripe with Nato appears to be its supposed financial failings, which he regards as a "bad deal", an issue he took the member states to task over in that same Brussels speech last spring. I have been very very direct with Secretary Stoltenberg and members of the alliance in saying Nato members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations. But 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying for their defence. This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States and many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years. And not paying in those past years. Mr Trump repeated the charge in April when he told German chancellor Angela Merkel it was essential that her country pay more towards Nato's security chest, as she urged him to uphold the Iran nuclear accord. Despite this - and his winning the White House on an "America First" platform - US defence investment in Eastern Europe, for one, has actually tripled since Mr Trump took office, according to Tomas Valasek, Slovakia's former ambassador to Nato. "His heart is not into alliance. He has a zero-sum view of the world. He believes in no permanent friendships, no permanent allies," Mr Vasalek told NPR, adding: "That's not the sort of mindset that prepares him well for sort of standing by the side of an ally in case of a crisis." Nato, for its part, has been criticised for applauding American military strikes against the Bashar al-Assad regime in response to the use of chemical weapons against civilians last month and for its relative silence on the situation in Gaza as going too far to appease and appeal to the truculent president. Over 16,000 babies born in Rohingya camps in 9 months UNB, Dhaka : More than 16,000 Rohingya babies were born in Rohingya camps and informal settlements in Cox's Bazar in the nine months since Myanmar forced thousands of families to flee their homes across the border from its in Rakhine State. "Around 60 babies are born a day and are taking their first breath in appalling conditions, away from home, to mothers who have survived displacement, violence, trauma and, at times, rape," said Unicef Representative in Bangladesh Edouard Beigbeder. "This is far from the best start in life. It has been nine months since the wave of violence forced thousands to flee, conditions for pregnant women remain dire, especially for survivors of sexual violence, says Unicef. Bangladesh currently has a Rohingya population, which is far more than Bhutan's entire population. Bhutan has around 800,000 people whereas Bangladesh had to give shelter to some 1.2 million Rohingyas. As new waves of violence started in Rakhine in August last year, there were widespread reports of rape and sexual violence against women and girls. Women and children who are survivors of sexual violence are among the most vulnerable and marginalised of the more than 800,000 Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar, requiring specialised support and women and girls may not come forward due to the risk of stigmatisation and additional persecution. "It's impossible to know the true number of babies who have been or will be born as a result of sexual violence," added Beigbeder. "But it's vital that each and every new and expectant mother and every newborn receive all the help and support they need." Of all the babies born in the camps since September, only about 3,000 - or 1 in 5 - were delivered in health facilities. Estimates suggest that only 18 per cent of mothers currently give birth in health centers. Working with partners, Unicef is providing antenatal and postnatal care to mothers and their babies. Unicef case management workers regularly visit mothers in their shelters to assess their situation, provide support - more than 150 parent groups have been set up across the camps - and offer them referral services. Unicef has also mobilised almost 250 community volunteers to make sure that a growing number of women visit the healthcare facilities before and after giving birth, according to Unicef. Unicef is also advocating for proper, legal birth registration for newborns, concerned that without this, babies will have trouble accessing the vital basic services they are entitled to. The 'invisibility' of non-registered children increases their vulnerability and the risk that violations of their rights will go unnoticed, Unicef said. During the times of conflict and unrest, providing newborns with birth registration is a matter of urgent priority, it said. Children unregistered at birth or without identification documents are often excluded from accessing education, healthcare and social security. If children are separated from their families, reuniting them is made more difficult by the lack of official documentation. Bangladesh and Myanmar signed the repatriation agreement on November 23, 2017. On January 16, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a document on 'Physical Arrangement' which will facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland from Bangladesh. The 'Physical Arrangement' stipulates that the repatriation will be completed preferably within two years from the start of repatriation. Bangladesh and Myanmar will hold the second meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) here on Thursday. Bangladesh, according to officials, will "give a push" for expediting the verification and Rohingya repatriation process at the as little progress is seen in this regard since the handover of the first Rohingya list to Myanmar. President Trump speaks about the high school shooting in Texas from the East Room of the White House, May 18, 2018. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP) Another mass shooting, another tweet from President Trump. Shortly after news broke Friday that a shooting had occurred at a Texas high school, leaving at least eight students dead, the president followed a now familiar routine that he began before he took office, issuing a quick message to the nation via Twitter. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 Many found the brief tweet jarring, especially as Trump had just issued two tweets attacking the FBI and Democrats over the Russia probe. In responding to ongoing tragedies, presidents have typically gone out of their way to express empathy with the victims and the broader community. Vice President Mike Pence issued such a response to the Friday shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. To the students, families, teachers of Santa Fe High School, all of those affected and the entire community: We are with you, you are in our prayers, and you're in the prayers of the American people. pic.twitter.com/8bhPWyK7vR Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) May 18, 2018 Trump, by contrast, is known for his off-the-cuff responses to such events, although his staff may be involved in drafting some of his tweets. When a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, leaving 50 dead and another 53 wounded, Trump was criticized for taking credit for his views opposing Islamic terrorism. Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I dont want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 20116 The president tweeted about the Nov. 5, 2017, mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, while traveling abroad. Story continues May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2017 Nine days later, however, in an apparent response to a shooting at Rancho Tehama Elementary in Northern California, Trump fired off an odd tweet that read, May God be with the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI and Law Enforcement has arrived. That tweet was quickly deleted. The morning after a gunman rained down bullets on an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, Trump sent out a tweet aimed at the victims and their families. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 It took Trump more than 36 hours to respond to a shooting at Marshall County High School in Kentucky that left two dead and injured 18 others. Earlier today, I spoke with @GovMattBevin of Kentucky regarding yesterdays shooting at Marshall County High School. My thoughts and prayers are with Bailey Holt, Preston Cope, their families, and all of the wounded victims who are in recovery. We are with you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2018 On Feb. 14, following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Trump quickly tweeted out a message of support. My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2018 Four days later, however, another Trump tweet on what had transpired at Parkland drew the ire of survivors. Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018 When a woman opened fire with a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun at the Silicon Valley headquarters of YouTube, the president offered his thoughts and prayers. 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 Hours after his initial tweet about Fridays shooting at Santa Fe High School, the president posted another tweet that included video of him speaking in greater depth about the the latest lives lost to gun violence. We grieve for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this horrible attack in Texas. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High School we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever pic.twitter.com/LtJ0D29Hsv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 Read more from Yahoo News: Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images, AP WASHINGTON The former top White House cyber chief under President Barack Obama is warning that Iran may soon start to ramp up cyberattacks on the United States in the wake of President Trumps decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with that country. I think we should expect to see an increase in Iranian cyberactivity against us, said Michael Daniel, the former White House cyber coordinator, in an interview on the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery. Iranian hackers associated with that countrys Islamic Revolutionary Guard were indicted by U.S. officials in March 2016 for launching a wave of massive denial of service attacks on major U.S. banks and other financial institutions, shutting down computer networks and causing millions of dollars in lost business. While those attacks against the United States had tapered off in recent years, the Iranian cyberthreat has in no way diminished, Daniel said. He noted that the Iranians have continued to improve their cyberskills, targeting Mideast allies of the United States even while the nuclear deal was in place. Saudi Aramco has continued to be under attack even subsequent to the nuclear deal, Daniel said, referring to the Saudi national petroleum company. If you look at what happened in Qatar, there was a disinformation campaign that was carried out there that many people ascribe to and attribute to Iranian actors. He said it is now a very high possibility that Iranians would revive their attacks on U.S. financial institutions, seeing such actions as an appropriate response to a resumption of U.S. sanctions against them. When you look at their level of activity, they have continued to hone their skills and invest in these capabilities as a tool to use as part of their statecraft, he said. Download or subscribe on iTunes: Skullduggery by Yahoo News Daniel spoke during a week that the Trump White House announced it was abolishing Daniels former job at the White House, folding responsibilities for coordinating U.S. cyber-response to other senior officials on the National Security Council. The abolition of the post of White House cyber coordinator was disclosed as part of a reorganization of the National Security Council under new national security adviser John Bolton. The move was denounced as mind-boggling by Sen. Mark Warner, ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, in light of the cyberthreats still facing the country. Story continues The former Obama cyber chief echoed those concerns. From my perspective, its a strange signal to send, and the way it was communicated doesnt seem to indicate they are putting a high priority on the topic, Daniel said. If anything, the threats we face are going to continue to get more intense and worse in cyberspace before they get better. Among those threats, he said, was that the Russians or other hacktivist groups with their own agendas may seek to undertake disruption activities against the 2018 congressional elections in much the same way that Russian intelligence agencies did during the 2016 presidential election. More Skullduggery from Yahoo News: (WASHINGTON) Unlike the president, Robert Mueller hasnt uttered one word in public about his Russia investigation in the year since he was appointed special counsel. And that is rattling just about everyone involved. Whats he up to? When will he bring the probe to and end? He doesnt have to say, and hes not. A year into the investigation, the straight-laced prosecutor is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. In that time, the breadth and stealth of his investigation have unsettled the White House and its chief occupant, and have spread to Capitol Hill, K Street, foreign governments and, as late as last week, corporate boardrooms. With lawmakers eying midterm elections and President Donald Trump publicly mulling whether he will sit for an interview with Mueller, Republican calls are growing for the special counsel to end his investigation. Vice President Mike Pence and others have said it publicly. GOP lawmakers insist theyve seen no evidence of collusion between Russians and Trumps 2016 election campaign. The longer the investigation runs, those calls are likely to amplify. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has steadfastly supported the special counsel, seemed to change his tone a bit Thursday. I think he should be free to do his job, but I would like to see it get wrapped up, of course, Ryan said of Mueller. I mean we want to see this thing come to its conclusion, but again Ive always said he should be free to finish his job. Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the election, whether Trumps campaign was involved and possible obstruction of justice. And by the standards of previous special counsel investigations, his actually has so far gone fairly quickly. Since he was appointed on May 17, 2017, Muellers office has charged 19 people and three Russian companies. He has charged four Trump campaign advisers, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Story continues The probe has also ensnared countless Washington insiders who have been called to testify or found themselves under scrutiny, including lobbyists and foreign representatives who may have illegally sought to influence the administration. Large corporations like AT&T and Novartis have been contacted by Mueller and caught up in an offshoot investigation into Trumps longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen. The companies acknowledged last week that they paid Cohen for insight in the early days of the Trump administration. While Mueller himself still enjoys generally broad bipartisan support in Congress, particularly in the Senate, the secrecy of the investigation has created some anxiety about what is next. The American people are curious about what happened, says Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. And everything so far that has supposedly come out about it has been speculation and conjecture and rumor and the truth is nobody really knows what Mr. Mueller and his team are thinking. The presidents lawyers have rushed to fill that vacuum, recently suggesting theyve been told Mueller wont indict Trump and couldnt force the president to comply with an interview. Personal attorney Rudy Giuliani suggested that a recent conversation with Muellers team led him to believe the special counsel, citing a Justice Department opinion, had ruled out the possibility of trying to indict a sitting president. Trump has seemed confident of that on Twitter, where he frequently throws barbs at the investigation a strategy that is increasingly resonating with many Republicans. On Thursday, he marked the anniversary by calling the probe a disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt. But while he calls for an end to the investigation, Trumps own indecision over an interview remains the most visible impediment to a speedy conclusion of at least one key part. Mueller asked to interview the president months ago, but the Trump legal team has struggled to formally make a decision. The president has publicly said he wants to talk to Mueller, only to demur, citing his lawyers. Last week, Giuliani told The Associated Press the decision would be delayed at least another month until after a June 12 summit with North Korea. Giuliani said Mueller has indicated to the legal team that hes pretty much finished, with the exception of the presidents interview. As far as we know, were basically the last witness, Giuliani said. Beyond that, the endgame remains unclear. A final report from Mueller could go to Congress a move that would become more significant if Democrats win control in this years elections. Its unclear how much insight the Trump legal team has into Muellers timing. As in most major investigations, his office does not leak, and his spokesmen decline to comment on nearly every news story. Mueller is barely even photographed forcing news outlets to run the same photos and videos over and over again, of Mueller heading to work. Instead, the few public glimpses into the special counsels work come from witnesses who are interviewed, attorneys and court filings made in the publicly filed criminal cases. Its also unclear how important the issue is to voters back home. A December 2017 poll conducted by the AP and NORC at the University of Chicago found that the Russia investigation ranked at the bottom of issues important to most Americans, well behind topics like the economy, taxes and health care. Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of President Bill Clinton as deputy independent counsel during the Whitewater investigation, said public perceptions of Muellers probe wax and wane, filtered through the viewpoints of prosecution supporters and opponents. Muellers detractors would argue that the cases have largely involved false statement allegations divorced from the central Russian collusion question, Wisenberg said, while supporters will point to the indictments to prove the special counsel has uncovered criminal conduct deserving of his appointment. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday on the Senate floor: I would say to the president its not a witch hunt when 17 Russians have been indicted; its not a witch hunt when some of the most senior members of the Trump campaign have been indicted. Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged fire across the tense, heavily militarised Kashmir border Friday, leaving eight civilians and an Indian soldier dead, officials said. The heavy weapons fire along a rare stretch of frontier that India and Pakistan do not argue over also left 22 people wounded. It came a day ahead of a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kashmir. The two sides started shooting at each other on Wednesday in the RS Pura sector of Indian Kashmir, opposite Sialkot in Pakistan's Punjab province. Indian authorities rushed armoured vehicles to evacuate residents Friday morning as heavy artillery and small arms fire came across the border, officials said. "Four border residents and a Border Security Force soldier were killed in the Pakistani firing," the Indian-administered region's director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid told AFP. Twelve people were injured on the Indian side. Pakistan's military said four civilians, including three children, were killed in Sialkot sector by "unprovoked" firing by Indian troops. Another 10 were wounded. "The Indian high commissioner (ambassador) was summoned to the Pakistani foreign ministry Friday to condemn the unprovoked ceasefire violations," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement. An Indian solider was killed on Wednesday in an exchange of fire that its border guards blamed on Pakistani Rangers". Officially there has been a ceasefire on the Kashmir border since 2003. But there are regular frontier skirmishes that have left hundreds dead along the nearly 930-kilometre (580-mile) border, most of which is disputed. The flare-up came after India suspended military operations against Kashmir rebels for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that began Thursday. Militants have rejected the truce offer. Kashmir has been divided between the arch-rivals since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the former Himalayan kingdom in full. Story continues India has about 500,000 soldiers in the part of Kashmir it controls, where scores of armed groups are fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan. Nearly daily violence in the region has left 72 militants, 33 civilians and 30 Indian security forces dead this year. Security has been cranked up across the restive region ahead of Modi's two-day visit beginning Saturday. The prime minister is to inaugurate a hydropower station near the disputed border. He is also to open road projects including a tunnel to the Ladakh tourist region, more than 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, which is mainly cut off in winter. CAIRO (Reuters) - Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki suggested on Thursday that Arab countries should recall their ambassadors to the United States in response to Washington moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem. "There is no harm in Arab states collectively recalling their ambassadors in Washington to their capitals for consultations," Maliki said in live televised remarks at the Arab League in Cairo. The United States opened its new Israel embassy in Jerusalem on Monday in a controversial move to the holy city from Tel Aviv that has brought wide condemnation. Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians who protested in the Gaza Strip while the embassy opened. Maliki also said members of the Arab League, whose foreign ministers gathered in Cairo on Thursday for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the issue, should summon U.S. ambassadors "to remind them of the Arab rejection of the U.S. embassy's transfer to Jerusalem." He said Arab states had agreed at previous summit meetings that they would cut ties with any country that moves its embassy to Jerusalem. Lebanon's delegation said its foreign ministry had sent a letter to the International Criminal Court demanding it "undertake measures" to hold to account those responsible for the killings of Palestinians. It did not specify what those measures should be. It was unclear what the response would be to Maliki's suggestion. Several Arab countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong ties with the administration of President Donald Trump. Most countries say the status of Jerusalem - a sacred city to Jews, Muslims and Christians - should be determined in a final peace settlement and that moving their embassies now would prejudge any such deal. Palestinian want Arab East Jerusalem, which was captured in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of a future Palestinian state. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi and Ali Abdelaty; Editing by Richard Balmforth) The Daily Beast Pedro Pardo/AFP via GettyTranscripts of newly released text messages between a crime boss and a deputy police chief have finally lifted the lid on the mystery of 43 students who went missing one night in southwestern Mexico.The messages indicate that the cops and the cartel worked together to capture, torture, and murder at least 38 of the 43 student teachers who went missing in September of 2014.The students had made the deadly mistake of commandeering several buses in order to drive to Mexico A shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, killed at least eight people Friday morning and injured one police officer. As politicians reacted to the horror with tweets and statements offering variations of the now-standard thoughts and prayers, another perspective from Parkland school shooting survivors emerged, one with a far sharper tone. They responded both to the Santa Fe High School shooting and to the politicians who they accuse of enabling it with unabashed candor. For the record, heres what President Donald Trump had to say: School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 And here some reactions from Parkland shooting survivors: Get ready for two weeks of media coverage of politicians acting like they give a shit when in reality they just want to boost their approval ratings before midterms. David Hogg (@davidhogg111) May 18, 2018 Santa Fe High, you didnt deserve this. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices. Emma Gonzalez (@Emma4Change) May 18, 2018 At least 8 students have been shot and killed at Santa Fe High School. Prepare to watch the NRA boast about getting higher donations. Prepare to see students rise up and be called civil terrorists and crisis actors. Prepare for the right-wing media to attack the survivors. Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) May 18, 2018 My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School. Its an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town - Parkland will stand with you now and forever. pic.twitter.com/ckVPxYi6qz Jaclyn Corin (@JaclynCorin) May 18, 2018 My heart is with everyone at Santa Fe High School. No student should have to fear for their life. No student should have to run from a shooter. No student should have to bury their friends. We are here for you. Sofie Whitney (@sofiewhitney) May 18, 2018 If you were truly with them, you would do something about it. You wouldnt let this keep happening. @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/ouNWUkkYZn Lex Michael (@lexforchange) May 18, 2018 Hoping things get better. Hoping things can change. Dont tell me that there isnt a shooting problem in this country. The perpetuating gun violence we face is ridiculous. https://t.co/dHeXH5Fo9B Alex Wind (@al3xw1nd) May 18, 2018 To the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, we are with you. #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/3DYXOhmwsP March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) May 18, 2018 Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. MANILA (Reuters) - A minority bloc in the Philippine Senate on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to invalidate President Rodrigo Duterte's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, saying his action without the chamber's consent was unconstitutional. Duterte issued a notice of withdrawal in March, saying his right to due process had been violated after an ICC prosecutor announced a preliminary examination of a complaint that accused the president and top officials of crimes against humanity. But six minority members of the Senate, from among a total of 23, said Duterte would need the backing of two-thirds of upper house members to get his way. "The executive cannot unilaterally withdraw from a treaty or international agreement, because such withdrawal is equivalent to a repeal of a law," the senators told the Supreme Court. Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque, said he was confident the Supreme Court would throw out the petition. "Good luck to them," he said. "The courts will always defer to the executive on matters of foreign affairs." The complaint to the ICC, filed by a Philippine lawyer and endorsed by a congressman and a senator, concerns the deaths of thousands of Filipinos in Duterte's signature crackdown on illegal drugs. Duterte denies any wrongdoing. Police reject allegations by activists of systematic murder and cover-ups during a bloody campaign that has alarmed the West and gained the maverick Duterte international notoriety. Critics have dismissed as cowardly Duterte's decision to turn his back on the ICC, calling it contrary to his stated readiness to "rot in jail" if it meant saving his nation from the scourge of drugs. Lawyers and jurist groups say the withdrawal is pointless and does not protect Duterte against a possible indictment, as the ICC's jurisdiction retroactively covers the period during which a country was a member of the court. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez) Emergency personnel work at the site of a plane crash outside Havanas Jose Marti International Airport on Friday. (Photo: YAMIL LAGE via Getty Images) A Boeing 737 airliner crashed shortly after taking off from Havanas Jose Marti International Airport on Friday, killing more than 100 people, according to Cuban state media. Officials said 104 passengers were on board, Agence France Presse reported. Cuban media reported that the crew of the flight was foreign, but gave no information on the nationalities of the passengers. The cause of the crash was not immediately apparent. Photos from the scene show crowds of people gathered around pieces of the plane as smoke rises from the wreckage. Rescuers and emergency services rushed to the area, and video showed at least one person being taken away on a stretcher. The nations media reported that three people survived the crash. An official from Havanas Calixto Garcia hospital told Reuters that the three survivors, all women, were in serious condition. One person from the flight died in the hospital following the crash. Cuban President Manuel Diaz-Canel also traveled to the site, where he addressed national media. There has been an unfortunate aviation accident. The news is not very promising, it seems that there is a high number of victims, said Diaz-Canel, who became president in April. Local media reported that the plane was en route to the city of Holguin, which is on the eastern part of the island. It crashed in the area around the small town of Santiago de Las Vegas, just south of the airport. Cuba has a history of air disasters, including a crash in 2010 that killed all 68 people aboard. A military plane crashed into a hillside last month, killing eight people. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. First woman CIA director Washington Reuters : The U.S. Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be director of the CIA, ending a bruising confirmation fight centered on her ties to the spy agency's past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques. Haspel, who will be the first woman to lead the CIA, is a 33-year veteran at the agency currently serving as its acting director. The tally was 54-45 in favor of her nomination in the 100-member chamber, where a simple majority was required for confirmation. Six Democrats joined President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans in voting for Haspel, and two Republicans voted no. Haspel was approved despite stiff opposition over her links to the CIA's use of harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning widely considered torture, in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks. An undercover officer for most of her CIA career, Haspel in 2002 served as CIA station chief in Thailand, where the agency conducted interrogations at a secret prison using methods including waterboarding. Three years later, she drafted a cable ordering the destruction of videotapes of those interrogations. Republican Senator John McCain, who has been away from Washington all year as he battles brain cancer, urged the Senate not to vote for Haspel. He did not vote on Thursday. Tortured himself while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain said approving Haspel would send the wrong message, and the country should only use methods to keep itself safe "as right and just as the values we aspire to live up to and promote in the world." Haspel also had strong support from Trump's administration, many current and former intelligence officials and a wide range of lawmakers, including Democrats. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, which oversaw the nomination, supported Haspel. "I believe she is someone who can and will stand up to the president, who will speak truth to power if this president orders her to do something illegal or immoral, like a return to torture," he said in a Senate speech before the vote. Acting CIA Director Gina Haspel testifies at her Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2018. Rights groups quickly condemned the vote. Laura Pitter of Human Rights Watch called it "the predictable and perverse byproduct of the U.S. failure to grapple with past abuses." By Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba SANTA FE, Texas (Reuters) - A 17-year-old student armed with a shotgun and pistol opened fire at his Texas high school on Friday, killing nine fellow students and a teacher, authorities said, in an attack with eerie echoes of the massacre at a Florida high school in February. Students said the gunman, identified by law enforcement as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, opened fire in an art class at Santa Fe High School shortly before 8 a.m. Students and staff fled after seeing classmates wounded and a fire alarm triggered a full evacuation. Pagourtzis was denied bail at a brief court appearance later in the day, where he appeared shackled and wearing a green prison jumpsuit. He spoke in a soft voice and said "Yes sir" when asked if he wanted a court-appointed attorney, along with other questions. For graphic on timeline of major mass shootings in the United States since 2007 click https://tmsnrt.rs/2LfKug6 Ten people were also wounded in the attack, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who said the suspect left behind explosive devices. "Not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting," Abbott said, citing a police review of the suspect's journals. "He didn't have the courage to commit suicide." (Reporting by Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba; Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston, Gina Cherelus and Peter Szekely in New York and Mark Hosenball and Ian Simpson in Washington; Writing by Daniel Wallis, Scott Malone and Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler) President Donald Trump strove to preserve an upcoming summit with North Korea Thursday, assuring leader Kim Jong Un that he would retain power if he relinquished North Koreas nuclear weapons and would not face attempts at regime change. Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump undercut a more hawkish line taken by his national security advisor, pledging that Kim will get protections that will be very strong should the meeting go ahead, Reuters reports. Hed be in his country and running his country. His country would be very rich, Trump said. North Korea threatened to cancel the landmark summit, which is slated for June 12 in Singapore, criticizing it as a one-sided affair intended to pressure Pyongyang to hand over its nuclear weapons. In comments to state media, North Koreas first vice foreign minister also criticized Trumps new National Security Advisor, John Bolton, who had advocated for a Libyan model of nuclear disarmament in exchange for sanctions relief. North Korea has pointed to the NATO-backed revolution in Libya and the violent death of its former leader Muammar Gadhafi as reasons to retain its nuclear capabilities. Read more: Why Negotiating With North Korea Was Never Going to Be Easy The Libyan model isnt a model that we have (in mind) at all when were thinking of North Korea, Trump said Thursday, according to Agence-France Presse. But he warned that a Libya-like situation would most likely occur should the summit fall through. Sochi (Russia) (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel put on a rare show of unity Friday defending the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, criticised by Ukraine and threatened by US sanctions. The two leaders held their first face-to-face meeting in a year in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi where they also discussed the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine and the Iran nuclear deal. The pair showed a united front on the construction of the pipeline linking the two countries via the Baltic Sea, a project several EU countries oppose. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the US administration has increased pressure on Europe to abandon the deal in exchange for avoiding a trade war. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline would call further into question Ukraine's role as a key transit nation for Russian gas to Europe, but Putin sought to reassure shipments would continue in any case. "We will continue gas shipments (via Ukraine) as long as they are economically justified," Putin said during a press conference with Merkel. For her part, Merkel said that "Germany believes Ukraine's role as a transit country should continue after the construction of Nord Stream 2... it has a strategic importance". She added that Germany was ready to help ensure such an outcome. Germany has supported plans by Russia's Gazprom to build Nord Stream 2, for which preparatory works have begun and should be completed in 2019. - Iran nuclear deal - Putin and Merkel also discussed the Iranian nuclear deal following US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the historic 2015 agreement. "Germany, Britain, France and all our EU colleagues support this deal and will continue to support it," Merkel said. "The deal is not perfect, but it is better than a lack of a deal. It guarantees more control and more security," she added. As part of the deal, Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of some international sanctions. Story continues The Europeans now want to avoid at all costs Tehran abandoning the deal and relaunching its programme to acquire a nuclear weapon. They also want to protect their economic interests in Iran, threatened by Washington's reintroduction of sanctions. Merkel said the European Union is "currently discussing" a law that would block US sanctions on European companies wanting to invest in Iran. The Kremlin has in recent days increased its diplomatic efforts to try to maintain the agreement it described as "crucial for regional stability and for the stability of the entire world". - Syria and Ukraine - The fallout over the Iran deal is a rare topic for rapprochement between Europe and Moscow, whose relations are marred by disagreements over the Syria conflict, Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the subsequent war in eastern Ukraine. These tensions have only worsened in recent months following the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain that led to an unprecedented wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats from Western countries. On Friday Putin wished Skripal "good health" after he was discharged from a British hospital following his poisoning in March. The two leaders also pledged to relaunch the political peace process in Syria, where Russia has intervened militarily to support President Bashar al-Assad's regime. On the eve of Merkel's visit, Putin had hosted Assad in a rare meeting in his Sochi residence. The pair also discussed the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has seen an uptick in fighting this week. Berlin and Moscow, along with Paris, signed peace agreements in Minsk in 2015 that aimed to put an end to a conflict that has left more than 10,000 dead since it began in April 2014. Putin on Friday said no date has been set for the leaders of the four countries to meet. He added that there is "no alternative" to the Minsk agreement to regulate the conflict. The last summit between the four countries, known as the Normandy Quartet, was held in October 2016 and was inconclusive. Putin is due to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron next week. By Denis Pinchuk and Andreas Rinke SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday that he would stand up to any attempts by U.S. President Donald Trump to block a Russian-German gas pipeline project. Berlin and Moscow have been at loggerheads since Russia's annexation of Crimea four years ago, but they share a common interest in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which will allow Russia to export more natural gas to northern Europe. A U.S. government official this week said Washington had concerns about the project, and that companies involved in Russian pipeline projects faced a higher risk of being hit with U.S. sanctions. "Donald is not just the U.S. president, he's also a good, tough entrepreneur," Putin said at a news conference, alongside Merkel, after the two leaders had talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. "He's promoting the interests of his business, to ensure the sales of liquefied natural gas on the European market," Putin said, departing from his usual approach of being scrupulously respectful when speaking about Trump. "But it depends on us, how we build our relations with our partners, it will depend on our partners in Europe." "We believe it (the pipeline) is beneficial for us, we will fight for it." As well as the differences over Nord Stream 2, European capitals are at odds with Washington over Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal. Moscow shares Europe's position on the deal. Some commentators have said that a shared opposition to Trump's stances on Iran and other issues could lead to a rapprochement between Europe and Russia, repairing a relationship badly damaged by the Ukraine conflict. Merkel, who earlier in the day received a bouquet of pink and white roses from Putin as she arrived at his residence in Sochi, also hinted at tensions between Berlin and the Trump administration. Asked about differences with the United States over the Iran deal and other issues, Merkel told reporters: We have a strong transatlantic friendship, which during its history has had to withstand many questions of different opinions, and I think that might be the case now as well." While the Russian leader is frequently critical of U.S. policy, he has been meticulous about not attaching blame to Trump personally. Kremlin officials have said in the past the two men have a personal rapport that Putin wishes to preserve. PIPELINE POLITICS European states involved in Nord Stream 2 say it is a purely commercial project but the Trump administration say it is helping the Kremlin pursue its political agenda. The pipeline may result in less Russian gas being transported via Ukraine, depriving Kiev's struggling pro-Western government of transit fees that are a vital source of revenue. In a nod to the U.S. concerns, Merkel said Russian gas should still be pumped through Ukraine. "We see Nord Stream 2 as an economic project but it also has implications and that's why we are working on what guarantees Ukraine could be given," she said. Putin said he was willing to negotiate with Kiev about continued transit of Russian gas. Despite the common ground on Nordstream and the Iran deal, long-standing tensions in the Berlin-Moscow relationship surfaced at the news briefing. Merkel said she was worried about a new property law implemented by the government of Syria, which is backed by Moscow. Rights activists say the law allows the Syrian government to deprive people who have been displaced by the fighting of their homes. "That is bad news for people who want one day to return to Syria. We will discuss that intensively and ask Russia to use their influence to persuade Assad not to do that. We must prevent facts being created on the ground, Merkel said. Putin a day earlier had received Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at his residence in Sochi for talks. At the briefing with Merkel, the Russian president chided European leaders over Syria, saying if they want Syrian refugees living in their countries to return home, Europe had to commit to reconstruction in Syria. Diplomats say that is a bone of contention, because European governments believe Russia should pay the lion's share of the multi-billion-dollar reconstruction cost since it is the main military force and powerbroker in Syria. (Additional reporting by Moscow and Berlin bureaux; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured his Syrian counterpart and ally Bashar al-Assad that all foreign troops will leave Syria, though he failed to put a time frame on the commitment. Russian forces have been supporting Assads troops against a wide range of opposition forces since 2015. Putin now appears ready to scale back Russian presence in the war-torn nation, CNN has reported. Putins comments were made during Assads surprise visit to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the two allies said they were beginning the political process that would emerge from what they called the fight against terrorism. Trending: Who Is Meghan Markle's Maid-of-Honor? Why She Didn't Pick Jessica Mulroney RTS1RY8H Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS The seven-year civil war has morphed into a messy proxy conflict in which multiple nations have deployed troops to protect and advance their own interests. The U.S., Iran, Russia and Turkey all have significant numbers of soldiers in Syria. Since Russia threw its weight behind Assad in 2015, the regime has been able to re-establish control over much of the country. Earlier on in the war, Assad looked likely to be toppled, but now he appears the most likely victor. Don't miss: Cliveden House Hotel: Here's Where Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Will Stay on Eve of Royal Wedding After their Thursday meeting, Putin said that thanks to the significant victories and success of the Syrian army, a more political phase of operations would begin and foreign armed forces will be withdrawn from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. Assad acknowledged that establishing a new political landscape will not be easy, since there are countries which do not want stability to return to Syria. RTS1RE03 REUTERS/Aboud Hamam Story continues Most popular: 'Dragon Ball FighterZ Party Battle: How to Form Your Own Team and Fight Assads visit comes just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Russian capital and met with Putin. Russia has condemned suspected Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria, as Netanyahu seeks to curb Tehrans spreading regional influence. Dozens of Iranian and Syrian troops are thought to have been killed in these attacks. Last week marked a recent low point in Israeli-Iranian relations, with the rivals trading missiles and airstrikes as the world urged calm. Israel later claimed it had struck almost all Iranian infrastructure inside Syria in the most extensive strikes in the country in decades. Despite this, Netanyahu said Russia will not interfere in Israeli policy in the country. Given what is happening in Syria at this very moment, there is a need to ensure the continuation of military coordination between the Russian military and the Israel Defense Forces, he explained. The Israeli prime minister told reporters, In previous meetings, given statements that were putatively attributed toor were made bythe Russian side, it was meant to have limited our freedom of action or harm other interests and that didnt happen, and I have no basis to think that this time will be different. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Ten people were killed in a school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday morning. At least 13 people were wounded, including one police officer. The suspect is 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis. Police are investigating explosive devices found at the high school and surrounding area, including at a home and in a vehicle. As students at high school in Santa Fe, Texas, were beginning their first classes of the day on Friday, a familiar scene unfolded: A young man entered the campus, opened fire on his classmates and killed 10 people. Authorities believe Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old student, came to Santa Fe High School that morning armed with a shotgun and .38 revolver and began shooting. Eight students and two teachers were killed, while at least 13 others, including a police officer, were injured. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) previously said nine students and one teacher died. At least four of the victims were reportedly killed during an art class. Courtney Marshall, a 15-year-old student who was in the art class, told Reuters the gunman entered the room and opened fire. I wanted to take care of my friends, but I knew I had to get out of there, she told the news agency. I knew the guy behind me was dead. Pagourtzis was taken into custody after the shooting and charged with capital murder and aggravated assault of a police officer. A person of interest was also detained for questioning, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said during a Friday morning news conference. Pagourtzis reportedly told authorities he didnt shoot people he liked, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by ABC 13, CNN and the Los Angeles Times. Officials found several explosive devices on campus and in other locations, including a car and a home, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) Abbott said Friday. Santa Fe High School remains an active crime scene and officials warned people to wait until Saturday morning to retrieve their cars from the campus. Story continues #UPDATE Possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. School has been evacuated. Call 911 if you see any suspicious item. #HouNews #SantaFeISD Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018 Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother, Susan Davidson, following the shooting at the school. (Photo: Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) All 10 victims in the shooting have been identified by officials: Sabika Sheikh, an exchange student from Pakistan; Cynthia Tisdale, a substitute who was teaching an art class when she was shot; student Shana Fisher; student Kyle McLeod; student Angelique Ramirez; student Chris Stone; student Kim Vaughn; student Jared Black; substitute teacher Ann Perkins; and student Christian Riley Garcia. Pagourtzis obtained the shotgun and revolver from his father, who likely had them legally, according to Abbott. The alleged shooter had information on his computer and in journals saying that he wanted to commit the shooting and kill himself, Abbott said. The Pagourtzis family issued a statement to the media on Saturday, saying they were saddened and dismayed over the shooting. They also asked asking for privacy while they process these events ... and begin the healing process, continuing: We are as shocked and confused as anyone else by these events that occurred. We are gratified by the public comments made by other Santa Fe High School students that show Dimitri as we know him: a smart, quiet, sweet boy. While we remain mostly in the dark about the specifics of yesterdays tragedy, what we have learned from media reports seems incompatible with the boy we love. Mug shot of accused Santa Fe shooter pic.twitter.com/9YLZXSiZgd Josh Hubbard (@JhubbsKHOU11) May 18, 2018 During a hearing for Pagourtzis later on Friday, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry denied bond for the teen, who requested a court-appointed attorney. After the hearing, Henry told reporters that Pagourtzis was being held in solitary confinement. The judge also said police found several different explosives while investigating the shooting, including a Molotov cocktail, a pressure cooker device and a CO2 device. According to Abott, some of the explosives were found at a home and in a vehicle. All schools in the Santa Fe Independent School District will be closed next Monday and Tuesday. Santa Fe High School has less than two weeks left before the end of its academic year. Dozens gathered Friday evening for a prayer vigil at the Texas First Bank on Highway 6 to honor the victims of the shooting. Politicians and religious leaders offered prayers and words of solidarity for the small, tight-knit community. Community members honor the victims of Friday's mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas. (Photo: Trish Badger/Reuters) Abbott addressed the gathering, telling the people that he and other state leaders wouldnt be here today and gone tomorrow. No child, no parent, no student, no community should ever have to go through this again, the governor said. So we will work until we come up with answers to address the challenge that Santa Fe encountered today. Earlier Friday, school district officials confirmed on their Facebook page that the school was on lockdown, following reports of an active shooter. Santa Fe police told HuffPost that officers were on the scene. Officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced shortly thereafter that they were also responding to the situation. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Students were evacuated from Santa Fe High School Friday morning. The high school serves about 1,500 students, according to statistics reported to the U.S. Department of Education. (Photo: ABC13) Students were sent to a gym near the elementary and junior high schools, about a mile and a half from the high school, according to the school district. Three patients with gunshot wounds were taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, hospital spokesman Raul Reyes told HuffPost. As of 8:00 p.m. local time, one middle-aged male patient had undergone seven hours of surgery and was transferred to the intensive care unit in critical condition. A middle-aged female patient was also in critical condition and in the ICU. The third patient, under the age of 18, suffered gunshot wounds in the leg and was in good condition, Reyes said. The Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, a Level II trauma center, treated eight patients from the Santa Fe shooting and released six. Two additional patients were treated and released from the Mainland Medical Center, located on Clear Lake Regionals campus. Santa Fe is located about 25 miles northwest of Galveston and 40 miles southeast of Houston. The high school serves about 1,500 students, according to statistics reported to the U.S. Department of Education. In February, the same school went on lockdown after reports of shots fired. However, after investigating, the police did not find any evidence of shots, and no one was injured, according to local news reports. A man hugs a woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children. (Photo: Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) Fridays shooting was the 16th school shooting so far this year, according to a count by The Washington Post. It was also the 10th since the February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 dead and reignited a nationwide conversation about gun violence in America. Other sources, such as CNN, have even higher tallies for shootings this year, though they use a broader definition that includes any incident in which a gun was discharged on a school campus. One of the Santa Fe student survivors, Paige Curry, said she was not surprised by Fridays shooting. Its been happening everywhere, she told the local ABC affiliate. Ive always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here too. Abbott has pledged to work with state legislators to look into solutions to gun violence. At the White House, President Donald Trump called the shooting a horrific attack. This has been going on too long. Too many years and decades now, he said. We will be with you forever. Earlier Friday morning, Trump and first lady Melania Trump both tweeted their condolences about the shooting. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 My heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today. Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) May 18, 2018 Antonia Blumberg, Andy Campbell, Sebastian Murdock and Nick Wing contributed reporting. This story has been updated throughout. Related Coverage Trump Briefly Responds To Santa Fe School Shooting Before Pivoting Parkland Survivors React To Santa Fe High School Shooting In Texas Texas School Shooting Survivor Isn't Surprised This Keeps Happening This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Mo Brooks rejects notion that global warming is causing sea levels to increase, and says: What about the White Cliffs of Dover? Brooks said: What about White Cliffs of Dover [and] California, where you have the waves crashing against the shorelines, and you have the cliffs crashing into the sea? Photograph: Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images A member of Congress has suggested that the White Cliffs of Dover tumbling into the English Channel was causing rising sea levels. Republican Mo Brooks of Alabama pushed back at the notion that rising sea levels were the result of global warming in a hearing of the House Science, Space and Technology on Wednesday. Instead, Brooks pointed to silt deposition as well as erosion as a cause of rising sea levels. Questioning scientist Phil Duffy of the Woods Hole Research Center, Brooks postulated that silt and mud washed by rivers into the ocean caused water levels to rise as it settled on the sea floor. Now you have got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up, he said. He went on: What about the White Cliffs of Dover [and] California, where you have the waves crashing against the shorelines, and time and time again you have the cliffs crashing into the sea? All of that displaces water which forces it to rise, does it not? Duffy answered: Im pretty sure on human timescales, those are minuscule effects. The questioning went on as Brooks argued the Antarctic ice sheet was actually growing. A recent study reported that the ice sheet had shrunk by 1,463km from 2010 to 2016. Duffy disagreed, noting that we have satellite records clearly documenting a shrinkage of the Antarctic ice sheet and an acceleration of that shrinkage, citing the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for his data. However, Brooks insisted: Well, Ive got a Nasa base in my district, and apparently, theyre telling you one thing and me a different thing. Brooks said: There are plenty of studies that have come that show with respect to Antarctica that the total ice sheet, particularly that above land, is increasing, not decreasing. Now, you could make a different argument if you want to talk about Greenland or the Arctic. Story continues Brooks, a graduate of Duke University and University of Alabama School of Law, was first elected to Congress in 2010 from his North Alabama district. In 2017, he mounted an unsuccessful bid for the US Senate vacated by attorney general Jeff Sessions. Brooks finished third in the Republican primary behind the eventual nominee Roy Moore as well as appointed incumbent Luther Strange. Related video: Mission Investiages Glaciers Melting Problem Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters) WASHINGTON The most conservative Republicans in Congress say they wont vote for food stamp cuts they support unless party leadership gives them what they want on immigration, potentially holding up the farm bill this week. We dont have an agreement, House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told reporters Thursday after coming out of a meeting with his conservative group. Since Democrats seem almost unanimously against the farm bill, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) needs most Republicans to support it. And with roughly a dozen moderates already stating their opposition to the farm bill, the opposition of another dozen to two-dozen conservatives in the Freedom Caucus would almost certainly sink the farm bill. With such significant opposition, House GOP leaders may decide to postpone a vote and send members home for the week, but House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday the House would move forward with a Friday vote. Meadows wants Ryans assurance of a vote on an immigration bill by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) that would strictly limit legal immigration and ramp up deportations. The Freedom Caucus is also now working with moderates on a sort of compromise bill that would stick to President Donald Trumps four pillars on an immigration bill: a wall, scaling back family migration, ending the visa lottery program and a fix for immigrants covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. We think its important we have a vote on Goodlatte and at this point, we were not able to convince any of our members to go from no to yes on the farm bill, Meadows said. Moderate Republicans and Democrats are trying to force a vote on a separate immigration bill through a parliamentary maneuver known as a discharge petition, which can bring legislation to the floor of the House against the wishes of party leaders. Moderates want protected legal status for Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Story continues Meadows said he believed Republicans could quickly reach a consensus on immigration that may even attract Democrats, but he and other conservatives in the Freedom Caucus want to use their leverage on the farm bill to make sure leaders work toward an immigration agreement before a discharge petition addressing DACA ripens by the end of June. With farm subsidy programs expiring at the end of September, the Freedom Caucus believes the farm bill is the only must-pass piece of legislation they can use to extract concessions on immigration, which they believe is a related issue to the farm bill anyway. (Most of the spending in the farm bill goes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, which serves 40 million Americans. Those benefits would not stop being issued even if authorization expires, though some farm programs would be affected.) Meadows declined to name a specific number of Freedom Caucus members who remain opposed to the bill, but another Freedom Caucus member told HuffPost they had at least 18 members willing to hold up the farm bill. Republicans had planned to vote on the farm bill Friday, but if it clearly lacks support that vote could be in doubt. Meadows said hes not in a hurry. We dont have an impending deadline for the farm bill, he said. It doesnt expire until September. Whatever the House passes would have to be merged with a separate farm bill from the Senate, which has not yet been released. Former Agriculture Committee chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), who saw his own farm bill hijacked on the House floor in 2013, said he thought linking the bill to immigration wouldnt be a good way to pass the legislation. I believe that is just a load too heavy for the farm bill to carry, Lucas said. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Speculation is rife about what Prince Harry will wear on his wedding day - Getty Images Contributor Prince Harry will wear the ceremonial uniform of the Royal Marines when he marries Meghan Markle on Saturday, the regiment believes. The Prince will wear the uniform as a mark of respect to the regiment he took over as Captain General from his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. Men from the regiment will line the route from St Georges Chapel, at Windsor Castle, to provide a ceremonial guard of honour. Palace officials will not confirm what the Prince is to wear for his wedding to Ms Markle, but the marines who have volunteered to take part understand he will be wearing the same ceremonial regalia, or Blues, as them on the day. Other options include the uniform of the Household Cavalry, where Prince Harry served with the Blues and Royals, or morning dress. The Duke of Edinburgh attended the Royal Marines Captain General's Parade as his final individual public engagement, at Buckingham Palace in August last year. His grandson Prince Harry will wear a dress uniform of the Royal Marines when he marries Meghan Markle on Saturday Credit: PA Corporal Adam Caunter, who will form part of a Half Company from 30 Commando IX Group Royal Marines performing the royal salute as the couple pass by in their carriage, on their way to greet the crowds lining the streets, said: I think hell be in his Blues, which is what well be wearing, and that gives us a special connection. Its something were very proud of. Prince Philip had been Captain General of the Royal Marines for 64 years until last year, when he relinquished the title in favour of Prince Harry, who is also Commodore in Chief of the Royal Navys Small Ships and Diving divisions, in 2017. A Half Company of sailors will also line the route. For Crpl Caunter and his comrades it will be just like sending off one of their own. His history reflects ours. Hes one of us. Hes served in the front line, just as we have, said Crpl Caunter, 28, who served in the Philippines, providing humanitarian relief following devastating hurricane in 2013. The men have spent days at HMS Collingwood, in Hampshire, repeatedly practicing the drills required to provide the ceremonial guard outside the chapel on Saturday. The Royal Navy Small Ships have been practising for days Credit: Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph The Royal Marines - who trace their history back to 1664, when the Duke of York and Albanys Maritime Regiment of Foot was founded to fight on land as well as on sea - will be wearing their Ceremonial Dress 1A Full Blues with their traditional Wolsley Pattern sun helmets and carrying SA80 assault rifles with chrome plated bayonets. The sailors will be in No1 A dress uniform.. Story continues Each one of the men volunteered for the duty, determined to give Prince Harry a special send off. There is a personal link between Prince Harry and the men, said Royal Navy Warrant Officer 1 Eddie Wearing, who has drilled the troops and will be issuing their orders on the day of the wedding. It adds something to the occasion because he has experienced what they have. It makes their relationship closer. They respect what he is because as an officer who has seen active service he has done what they have. Its not just the active service he has seen, but also the work hes done of wounded vets, such as the Invictus Games. They respect that. President Donald Trump intends to nominate Robert Wilkie to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Wilkie has been serving as the acting secretary since the president fired David Shulkin, the previous head of the VA. Trump made the announcement at a summit on prison reform at the White House on Friday morning. He admitted that his decision was a surprise and that he had not yet told Wilkie, who was sitting in the audience. Ill be informing him in a little while. He doesnt know this yet that were going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary of the Veterans Administration, Trump said. Wilkie then stood up and shook the presidents hand. President Trump on Robert Wilkie: "We're going to be putting his name up for nomination to be Secretary of the Veterans Administration." pic.twitter.com/uXs4loUbpP CSPAN (@cspan) May 18, 2018 Trump also didnt give advanced notice to outside veterans groups. We didnt know in advance, but we wish him well through the confirmation process, and look forward to working with him for the betterment of our nations wounded, ill and injured veterans and their families, Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said of Wilkie. The American Legion also said it didnt know about the nomination although it wasnt surprised. Denise Rohan, the head of the group, said in a statement that she welcomed the news that Trump had settled upon a nominee, but she didnt weigh in directly on Wilkie. In his previous job at the Pentagon as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, Wilkie played a key role in the administrations ban on transgender service members. He recommended to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that transgender people be allowed to serve only if they do so in their biological sex. Mattis later made similar recommendations to Trump. Story continues Matt Thorn, the spokesman for OutServe-SLDN, said the network of LGBTQ military personnel will be pressing senators to ask Wilkie about his views on LGBTQ issues. Unfortunately, the VA still bars surgery for transgender veterans, which is unacceptable and must be corrected, Thorn said. I hope that we can ascertain more information from Mr. Wilkie during his confirmation hearing. We must have a secretary that is inclusive of all veterans and values the commitment this country has made to ensuring they receive proper and speedy care. Trump had previously nominated White House doctor Ronny Jackson for the role, but Jackson withdrew from consideration last month after questions arose about his conduct in the medical office. Former colleagues accused him of overprescribing medications and being abusive toward employees. Trump personally liked Jackson, and he had picked him to be secretary without fully vetting him. Even before allegations about the doctors personal behavior popped up, senators and veterans groups questioned Jacksons nomination because he has no experience managing a bureaucracy as big and complicated as the VA. There is currently a lawsuit challenging Wilkies role as acting secretary. VoteVets, a progressive veterans advocacy group, and Democracy Forward Foundation, a nonprofit legal organization, argue that Trump illegally bypassed the order of succession when he chose Wilkie, who came over from the Defense Department. They contend that Thomas Bowman, who was Shulkins deputy, should have been named the acting secretary. Robert Wilkie never had hearings to examine his views of veterans care or how he envisions the VA working, said Will Fischer, director of government relations for VoteVets. This flies in the face of the entire system of checks and balances that federal statutes and our Constitution call for. VoteVets also argues that, legally, Wilkie can no longer serve as acting secretary once he is nominated to fill the role permanently. The heads of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and ranking member Jon Tester (D-Mont.), both said they had a strong working relationship with Wilkie and looked forward to hearing more from him on his plans. Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, praised the pick and said he believed Wilkie would be an effective secretary. The story has been updated with additional reactions to the news. CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated Rep. Phil Roe represented a district in Texas instead of in Tennessee. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Suicide rates in BD on the rise UNB, Dhaka : Suicide rates are on the rise in the country for the absence of proper attention to mental health issues and necessary support, and complications in the socialisation process. According to Bangladesh Police, which publishes a report annually on suicide incidents, over 11,000 people committed suicide in the country in 2017 which means at least 30 people are killing themselves every day. In 2016, the total number of suicide incidents in Bangladesh was 10,600 while 10,500 in 2015 and 10,200 in 2014, the police data revealed. The report demonstrate that the suicide rate is going up every year. Tanvir Rahman, a Dhaka University student, committed suicide on March 31last jumping off the rooftop of its MBA Building. On February 15 last, Torun Hossain, a third-year student of Finance Department of the same university, also took his own life by jumping off a building at Hazaribagh. After their suicide, the social media was flooded with posts as many of their fellows claimed that they had been going through difficult times with depression over their career and academic results. It is not only the Dhaka University, but also the entire country is witnessing a rising trend of suicide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report-2015, at least one person is committing suicide in every 40 seconds across the world, raising the yearly global figure to 8 lakh. The report also says, Bangladesh ranks 10th in the list of high suicide-prone countries as eight people in every 1 lakh are taking their own lives. The WHO report also said people of 15-29-year age group are committing suicide most where the rate of suicide is higher among women. More worrying is that now even children tend to commit suicide. According to reports compiled by Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum, at least 76 children committed suicide till May in 2017 and the figure was 534 between 2013 and 2016. Talking about the reasons behind the increasing suicide incidents in Bangladesh, Mehjabin Haq, Associate Professor of Educational and Counseling Psychology Department of Dhaka University, said depression, lack of capability to cope up with a situation, absence of proper support and care, complications in socialisation process and negligence to mental health issues are responsible for the suicidal tendency. She also said, the social structure and norms make people psychologically weak. Elaborating the issue, Mehjabin said when a woman is sexually harassed by a man, the victim feels ashamed and sometimes makes a suicide attempt because she thinks her dignity has completely been ruined. She said there is weaknesses in the socialisation process of children in Bangladesh as parents usually pressurise their children over their education. In Bangladesh, children do not get much opportunities to generate their capacity of thinking and make their own decisions, which, in the long run, results in high dependency on parents. Also, when they become adults, they cannot cope with the complex society and get depressed. Mehjabin stressed the need for taking the mental health issues seriously and suggested inclusion of subject on mental health in school curricula as well as employing adequate psychologists across the country. She put importance to creating awareness among mass people about mental health and urged the government to take comprehensive plan to eliminate the reasons behind suicide in Bangladesh. Windsor (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Meghan Markle will begin her walk down the aisle on her own when she marries Prince Harry before being joined by his father Prince Charles, officials said Friday after a last-minute upset when her own dad pulled out. Despite sadness at her father Thomas Markle's absence, the US former actress said she felt "wonderful" as she and her mother Doria Ragland arrived at the plush Cliveden House Hotel to spend the night before the wedding. Meanwhile Harry and his best man, brother Prince William, went to greet the crowds outside Windsor Castle, where many will spend the night to secure a good spot for Saturday's events. Thomas Markle will not be escorting his daughter at St. George's Chapel as planned, after he underwent a heart operation and became mired in a row over staged press photos. Despite speculation that Ragland could step in, the palace said the bride had asked her future father-in-law to do so. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the royal family in this way," a spokesman for Kensington Palace added. It later emerged that Markle will start walking down the aisle on her own, followed by six bridesmaids and four pageboys, before being joined by Charles, the heir to the throne. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who will marry the couple, said Friday they were "very sensible" and "self-possessed". "There's profound affection between them which is wonderful and a deep understanding and mutual support," he said. "You see (it) in the way they respond to each other, caring for each other." - Father 'honoured and grateful' - In the wedding build-up, Kensington Palace appears to have been caught off guard by the chaos surrounding the Markle family. Thomas Markle complained about paparazzi hounding at his home in Mexico before staging his own photos. The apparent bid to control his own image backfired badly. Story continues Two of his children -- Meghan's half-siblings, who have not been invited -- have also caused a stir by repeatedly speaking out about her in the media, and not always in the most flattering terms. "Kensington Palace has missed a trick with the whole family," royal biographer Penny Junor told AFP, saying it might have been prudent to invite them. "They are very ordinary people, the Markles, leading very ordinary lives -- and totally ill-prepared for what has hit them." A recovering Thomas Markle told US celebrity news website TMZ that he was "honoured and grateful" that Charles would give his daughter away. He said he would "proudly" watch the wedding on television "in a secluded place with friends". The 73-year-old said he had spoken with his daughter and Harry and hoped to visit them soon. - Impromptu walkabout - The bride and groom went to Windsor Castle on Friday to join Queen Elizabeth II for tea with Ragland. Harry and William later delighted crowds of well-wishers outside the castle. The brothers walked along a line of flag-waving spectators, shaking hands and chatting. When asked how he was feeling, Harry, sixth in line to the throne, replied: "Great." The 33-year-old told a woman who had travelled from Toronto: "Thank you so much for coming all this way." Harry sported a neatly-trimmed beard, triggering suggestions that he would not be wearing army uniform for his wedding. Meanwhile Markle, wearing a black dress, said she was feeling "wonderful", as she arrived at her overnight hotel. Harry and William are staying at the Coworth Park hotel. Harry's close friend Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, with whom he established a charity helping the country's AIDS orphans, said the African kingdom wanted the newlyweds to visit. "Harry's Harry. He doesnat fit any mould," he told ITV television. "That inner child in him is visible. "For us, Harry is one of us. His taking a person who has African roots again cements our love for Harry and his respect for the African continent." - 'Ethereal' cake - In east London, the Violet Bakery was on Friday applying finishing touches to the wedding cake, an "ethereal" lemon and elderflower creation. Security measures in Windsor, meanwhile, have transformed the picturesque town into a fortress, with snipers posted on building roofs. Around 100,000 spectators are expected to turn out. Diehard royalists have been camping out along the carriage route to secure the best viewing spots. "I came here on Wednesday with all my friends," Sam Perez, 50, from New York, told AFP outside the castle gates where he had set up camp. "We're going to party tonight," he added. "The people from the town, they're really, really good, they bring coffee, cookies, hot tea." Rudy Giuliani said Friday that a president can hypothetically obstruct justice, contradicting a former member of President Donald Trumps legal team and wading into a thorny legal debate. In an interview with CNNs Chris Cuomo Friday morning, the former New York City mayor was asked if the president can be found to have obstructed justice under the law. He can, he answered. That contradicts an position taken in December by Trump attorney John Dowd, who has since left the legal team, that a president cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer. Its an important legal question as special counsel Robert Muellers team starts its second year of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Some Trump critics argue that the presidents firing of FBI Director James Comey, among other actions, could be seen as obstructing an agency investigation. For legal experts, the issue boils down to two separate questions: can the president actually engage in obstruction and, if so, can the president be prosecuted for the crime while in office? The federal obstruction of justice statute provides that whoever corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be (guilty of an offense). There are two schools of thought on the first question. Many legal experts say that yes, presidents can obstruct justice just as any other citizen can. The president is not above the law, Fordham University School of Law Professor Jed Shugerman told TIME in December. The president has all kinds of constitutional powers, [but] he still has to obey the law in the use of those powers. Those powers still have to be legal in intent. There is no express grant of immunity under the Constitution to protect the President who commits a felony, former Obama Administration White House counsel Bob Bauer told CNN. Those who have argued for it have to cobble together their case primarily out of a concern about the debilitating effects of a President in legal trouble on the conduct of government. But they have a high burden to carry in claiming that the President charged with faithful execution of the law is above it. It simply contravenes basic understandings about the rule of law in the constitutional order. Story continues Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz cautioned against the view that Trump has obstructed justice, however, telling Fox News last year, For obstruction of justice by the president, you need clearly illegal acts. He argued that Trump firing former FBI Director James Comey and weighing in on Justice Department cases, both issues often cited in talk of an obstruction case, are both well within his constitutional powers as president. (Trump has appeared to suggest he knew at the time he fired former national security advisor Michael Flynn that Flynn had lied to the FBI, which some argued would bolster an obstruction case.) Theres never been a case in history when a president has been charged with obstruction of justice for merely exercising his constitutional authority, Dershowitz said. That would cause a constitutional crisis in the United States. Dowds point may have been just that, that in this case, Trump remains within the bounds of his constitutional authority. But he seemed to be going further, arguing as the chief law enforcement officer in the nation, Trump is structurally protected from being able to obstruct justice. This line of reasoning echoes President Nixons famous line, When the president does it, that means it is not illegal. Nixon stands as an example of a president who did commit clearly illegal acts that led Congress to say he had obstructed justice. The first line in the Articles of Impeachment brought against Nixon in 1974 says he has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice. That gets to the second question on this issue. Even if there is evidence that a president has obstructed justice, can he be prosecuted for a crime while in office? Thats a constitutional question, and there isnt a clear answer. It has never happened before, and no court has definitively ruled on the issue. (The Supreme Court heard arguments about it in 1974 about Nixon, but never resolved the question.) Giuliani told CNN earlier this week that special counsel Robert Muellers team has determined that they cannot indict a sitting president. All they get to do is write a report, Giuliani said. Heres what the Constitution says in Article 1 Section 3: Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law. The text of the Constitution doesnt explicitly state whether a president can be prosecuted while in office, so arguments are based on structure and inference. The official view of the executive branch is that it cant be done. The Office of Legal Counsel wrote in a 2000 memo arguing a president cant be indicted, The indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions, though it acknowledges, Neither the text nor the history of the Constitution ultimately provided dispositive guidance in determining whether a president is amenable to indictment or criminal prosecution while in office. It therefore based its analysis on more general considerations of constitutional structure. Under this interpretation, Trump would have to resign or be impeached first, and then could be criminally charged afterwards. In that case, if Mueller or the Senate finds that Trump has obstructed justice, they would bring their findings to the House. Then the real question would become not whether the president obstructed justice, but whether his actions warrant high crimes and misdemeanors worthy of impeachment. In that case, the president may not need to be guilty of an actual obstruction of justice crime to lose his place in the White House. Impeachment does not have to be on regular statutory crimes, Shugerman points out. The founders intended high crimes and misdemeanors to apply to general abuses to power Even if one concluded that there is no felony for obstruction of justice, that still would not prevent the House from finding it was a high crime. London (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin wished "good health" to former agent Sergei Skripal as he was released from a British hospital Friday, after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning alleged to have been orchestrated by the Kremlin. "God grant him good health," Putin said in a Sochi press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "If a military-grade poison had been used, the man would have died on the spot. Thank God he recovered and that he left (hospital)." Russia has rejected British accusations of involvement in the poisoning, which sparked a diplomatic crisis that saw Russia and the West expelling dozens of diplomats in tit-for-tat moves. Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was visiting from Moscow, collapsed on March 4 on a bench in Salisbury, the city in southwestern England where the former double agent lives. Police officer Nick Bailey who came to help was also taken to hospital. He was discharged several weeks after the attack, while Yulia Skripal was treated in hospital for just over a month. Salisbury District Hospital nursing director Lorna Wilkinson said looking after Skripal and the two others poisoned by the same nerve agent had been "a huge and unprecedented challenge". "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital," she said. - Souring relations - Britain has said the poisoning was carried out with a type of nerve agent known as Novichok which was developed in the Soviet Union. UN experts have confirmed that a high-purity nerve agent was used without specifying whether it was Novichok or saying who might be behind the poisoning. Following Skripal's release, the Metropolitan Police said it was making "good progress" in the case. "This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack," it said in a statement. Story continues Russia has challenged Britain to provide evidence in the case. "We have several times offered our British partners any necessary assistance in the investigation (of the poisoning)," Putin said Friday. "So far we have received no response. Our offer remains open." - Protective custody? - The Russian embassy in London accused Britain of blocking access to the pair in defiance of diplomatic convention, airing the claims in a set of sensational social media posts. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said their offer of consular assistance had been passed to Yulia Skripal but that she had turned it down. Both she and her father are now likely to be in protective custody. "In the interests of Sergei and Yulia's safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place," the Metropolitan Police said. Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence officer who passed information on Russia's agents in Europe to British security services, resulting in imprisonment in his homeland. He moved to Britain as part of a spy swap in 2010 and has lived there ever since. On The Late Late Show, Deadpool 2 stars Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin joined James Corden in a spoof of the 1966 western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and poor Corden was having a hard time accepting his role as "the ugly" one. Corden tried to argue that he was the good one, because he is British. "I'm the one who's good. I'm a loving father and husband, I'm active in my community, I give to charity," listed Corden. But, that reasoning just backfired on him, when Reynolds pointed out, "I do all that too, James. Plus, I'm Canadian." And when Reynolds told Corden that "everybody thinks British people are villains," he and Brolin proceeded to hilariously list famous films with British villains. Corden then suggested that Reynolds could potentially be the ugly one, which just made Reynolds and Brolin laugh. Brolin stated, "He lights up the room. He's god's perfect little snickerdoodle." In the end, Corden told the guys that if he had to be the ugly one, then he was out. So, they decided to change the movie completely to Three Men and a Baby, in which Corden was cast as the baby, which was just a little less humiliating. At least eight people died Friday morning when a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, creating a horrifying scene that has become all-too-familiar in the United States. Indeed, according to CNN, the incident was the 22nd school shooting in 2018 a year marked by demands for stricter gun control legislation from teenaged school shooting survivors who want these reoccurring tragedies to come to an end. The school shootings in 2018 so far have ranged from mass casualties seen in Santa Fe or Parkland, Florida, to shots fired in college residence halls. Days before the May 18 shooting at Santa Fe High School, a 14-year-old boy brought a semiautomatic rifle to his Palmdale, California, school, shooting one student in the shoulder. In March, a gunman shot two students, one of whom later died, at Great Mills High School in southern Maryland before an armed school resource officer responded. And three months ago on Valentines Day, 17 students and faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School died when an expelled student opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle. The shooting incited a number of Parkland students who survived to demand action leading the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., and in hundreds of cities around the world and becoming national figures in the movement to end gun violence in America. CNN measured the number of school shootings in 2018 by listing those that occurred on a school campus from elementary schools to universities and involved at least one person getting shot. Some nonprofit groups dedicated to ending gun violence have provided higher estimates. For example, Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings across the country, counts the Santa Fe incident as the 34th school shooting this year. The Washington Post, which tracks the number of students impacted by school shootings since 1999, said there have now been 16 school shootings this year all of which occurred on K-12 campuses, and not on college grounds. Story continues On the 19th anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School, thousands of students around the country participated in the National School Walkout an initiative launched after Parkland by a teenager who lived 20 miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School. One of this years school shootings occurred on the same day, when a 17-year-old student at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida, was shot and injured on campus by a gunman. The school was then evacuated and the district went into lockdown. We urge those reading this not to sweep it under the rug and forget, the students behind the March for Our Lives organization tweeted following the Santa Fe shooting Friday. This is not the price of our freedom. To the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, we are with you. #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/3DYXOhmwsP March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) May 18, 2018 Since Parkland, there has been some movement on the issue of gun control. Federal and some state governments have initiated new policies to address the issue, including an omnibus spending bill that improves the existing background check system. Still, student activists have been met with backlash and some have received threats from conservative commentators and opponents, as well as the subject of conspiracy theories. At a listening session days after the Parkland shooting, President Donald Trump suggested arming teachers could help lessen the impact of school shootings. On Friday, Trump said he and his administration are determined to protect our students, secure our schools, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others. Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe, he added. America is once again grappling with the the plague of school gun violence, after 10 people were shot dead and at least 10 others injured when a gunman entered his Texas school and opened fire. Shots rang out at Santa Fe High School on Friday morning, in what would become the 22nd school shooting in the US this year. Students recalled hearing a fire alarm and thinking it was a drill, until they heard the sound of gunshots. Police suspect that 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who witnesses said was wearing a trench coat in a manner that immediately called to mind the 1999 school shooting in Columbine, Colorado, entered an art class and opened fire with with what officials believe was his fathers shotgun and .38 revolver. The teenager is currently being held by police on capital murder charges namely charges that carry the death penalty. Texas governor Greg Abbott said two other people were being questioned as persons of interest. Follow latest updates after shooting attack at Santa Fe high school It is with great sadness that I stand here to share with you that we experienced an unthinkable tragedy at our high school this morning, Santa Fe Independent School District superintendent Leigh Wal said in a statement. She added: We are grieving the loss of members of our SFISD family. The suspected shooter was said to have been a former American football player and danced in a religious group at the school, located 40 miles from Houston. The school district said possible explosive devices had been located at the school and off the campus. Law enforcement officials were attempting to make them safe. At least 10 people including one police officer were taken to hospital in the wake of the shooting. The police officer was injured attempting to engage the shooter, according to Harris County sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The extent of his injuries was unknown. Representatives from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston said they had received three patients two adults and one minor. The minor was admitted to the hospital while the adults were being treated in the emergency room. Story continues Clear Lake Regional Medical Centre in Webster received seven injured students, according to a spokeswoman for the facility. Two other injured students were taken to Mainland Medical Centre in Texas City, the spokeswoman said. Witnesses said the shooting took place in an art class on campus between 7.30am and 7.45am local time. One sophomore at the school said students were participating in what seemed to be a fire drill when they heard the shots. The next thing you know everyone looks and you just hear, Boom! Boom! Boom! student Dakota Shrader told CBS News. I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest forest to hide and call my mom. She also said her friend was shot during the incident. Students were evacuated from the school and transported to a local gym to be reunited with their parents, according to the school district. Other schools in the district remained on regular schedules. One student, a 17-year-old junior who asked to remain anonymous, told The Independent that she thought the fire alarm going off was a drill, and that she and her friends were joking and walking out of the building when a normally level-headed teacher began screaming at us to run and duck for cover. She said that another teacher was crying hysterically as she tried to get children out of the building. That student, who said it was the worst day of her life, said that about 250 students ran across the street from the school and hid behind an auto store. She then began to frantically search for her 15-year-old brother, who was safe. The chaos felt very similar to a false alarm in February, she said, when popping sounds triggered a lock down after a girl posted pictures of a semi-automatic rifle online. I wasnt surprised, either, after our fake-out in February, the student said. It felt like it was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode since then. No one is ever really prepared for something like this. Surrounding school districts were placed on protect mode as a precaution. Doors were locked and personnel were stationed at outer doors, and no students were allowed outside of building. The Santa Fe Police, Galveston County Sheriffs Office, Harris County Sheriffs Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all responded to the scene. Galveston County sheriff Henry Trochesset identified Mr Pagourtzis as the suspected shooter. Authorities also found explosive devices, including a molotov cocktail, in his home and around the school. Official said they found writings in Mr Pagourtziss journals that indicated he wanted to commit suicide, Mr Abbott said. Photos on the suspects Facebook page showed a T-shirt reading born to kill. As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time he didnt have the courage to commit the suicide, that he wanted to take his own life earlier, Mr Abbott said. The incident is just the latest in a series of deadly shootings to rock the US, and the 22nd this year alone to have involved at least one injury or death. President Donald Trump called the shooting an absolutely horrific incident. This has been going on too long in our country, he said in remarks at a prison reform summit. Mr Trump has suggested arming school teachers and abolishing gun free zones in order to protect students. Ted Cruz, a US senator from Texas, tweeted that he was keeping the students and faculty at Santa Fe High School in his prayers. The incident occurred just over three months after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and staff members were killed. The shooting sparked renewed calls for gun control reform, and a debate over how best to protect students. Survivors were clear that more action needed to be taken in the wake of the latest shooting. They were joined in such calls by a number of legislators, including Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi. To everyone at Santa Fe High School, I hope youre safe, Im so sorry this is happening, and Im so sorry that it continues to happen, tweeted Sarah Chadwick, a survivor of the Parkland shooting. She added: No one should be in the situation that youre all currently in. Im not going to say thoughts and prayers but instead policy and action. DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has arrested at least five people, mostly women who previously agitated for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom's male guardianship system, rights activists said on Friday. Last year's decision to end a decades-old ban on women driving cars, set to come into effect next month, has been hailed as proof of a new progressive trend in the deeply conservative Muslim country under reform-minded Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But it has also been accompanied by an apparent crackdown on dissent against critics, ranging from Islamist clerics to some of the very women who campaigned for years to end the ban. One of the rights activists, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the latest arrests were tied to advocacy for women driving: "They detained them because they do not want them to publicly claim success." Government spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Women will be allowed to drive starting on June 24. The authorities have opened driving schools in preparation, instituted new regulations and hired women traffic police. Activists and analysts say, however, that the government is keen to avoid rewarding activism, which is forbidden in the absolute monarchy, and seems determined not to antagonize sensitivities of religious conservatives opposed to modernization. Women who previously participated in protests against the ban told Reuters last year that two dozen activists had received phone calls instructing them not to comment on the decree. Some of those arrested this week spoke out about the ban after the decision, though it was not clear what specifically led to their arrest nor what charges, if any, had been made against them. Dozens of clerics seen by the government as dabbling in politics were detained in September, a move that appears to have paved the way for lifting the driving ban. Ending the ban is part of the kingdoms Vision 2030 reform program aimed at diversifying the economy away from oil and opening up Saudis cloistered lifestyles. Prince Mohammed, 32, is the face of that change. Many young Saudis regard his recent ascent to power as proof their generation is taking a central place in running a country whose patriarchal traditions have for decades made power the province of the old and blocked womens progress. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Dubai (AFP) - Saudi authorities have arrested seven prominent women's rights advocates, just weeks before the kingdom's longstanding driving ban on women is set to be lifted, Human Rights Watch said Saturday. Without identifying those detained, Saudi Arabia's state security apparatus said seven people had been arrested for "attempting to undermine the security and stability of the kingdom... and to erode national unity". "Work is still underway to identify everyone involved" and take legal measures against them, a security spokesman said in a statement published Saturday by state news agency SPA. Those arrested are facing accusations including making "suspicious contact with foreign parties", providing financial support to "hostile elements abroad" and recruiting government workers. The crackdown comes even as the kingdom breaks with long-held restrictions on women, with the driving ban slated to end June 24. But there were warnings that Riyadh would not tolerate those pushing for change outside its authority. Activists told HRW that in September 2017, "the royal court had called the country's prominent activists... and warned them not to speak to the media." "The calls were made the same day the authorities announced that they would lift the driving ban on women," the watchdog said. - Reform 'frenzy of fear' - The detainees rounded up since May 15 include Loujain al-Hathloul, Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Nafjan, women who have long opposed the driving ban and who continue to oppose the kingdom's enduring guardianship laws. Saudi Arabia's guardianship system requires women to obtain permission from their fathers, brothers, husbands or even sons for a host of life decisions. "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's 'reform campaign' has been a frenzy of fear for genuine Saudi reformers who dare to advocate publicly for human rights or women's empowerment," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW. Story continues "It appears the only 'crime' these activists committed was wanting women to drive before Mohammed bin Salman did," she said. Activists Hathloul and Nafjan in 2016 signed a petition to abolish Saudi Arabia's male guardianship system, according to HRW. They also participated in a campaign against the driving ban, before a royal decree announced it would be lifted. Hathloul was previously arrested at age 25 when she drove from the neighbouring United Arab Emirates to the Saudi land border in November 2014, HRW said. She was held in juvenile detention for 73 days. The detainees also include a semi-retired lawyer who has stepped in to represent Saudi human rights advocates in recent years, according to activists. Saudi Arabia's 32-year-old crown prince is seen as the force behind a series of reforms including those aimed at getting women into work. Women now no longer need male permission to start a business and scrapping the driving ban next month will give them the much-needed mobility to join the workforce. But Saudi activists say social change will only be cosmetic without dismantling the kingdom's guardianship system. Two people were killed as a school bus carrying fifth graders on a field trip was ripped apart when it collided with a dump truck on a New Jersey interstate highway Thursday morning, according to The Associated Press. Those killed were a teacher and a student, AP reported, citing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. People involved in the accident on Route 80 were taken to at least three area hospitals. Images from the chaotic scene in Mount Olive Township show the body of the bus shorn from its frame and pushed into a median guardrail, resting at an angle. The front end of the bus appears to have been crushed in the wreck. Serious accident involving Paramus school bus shuts down Route 80 in Mount Olive @northjersey @AsburyParkPress @dailyrecord pic.twitter.com/v8ob4MB2MV Robert Karp (@BobKarpDR) May 17, 2018 About 40 students and adults were on board, local news station WABC-TV reported. The bus came from East Brook Middle School and was heading to a field trip at Waterloo Village, a historical site, according to a Facebook post from Paramus Public Schools. The wreck occurred at exit 25, between East Brook and Waterloo. East Brook fifth grader Zainab Qureshi, 11, who was on one of two buses not involved in the crash, told The Morristown Daily Record the other buses made it to Waterloo. About 30 minutes after their arrival, however, they were told they had to return to school due to bad weather. They found out about the crash at school, the student said. Theo Ancevski, 11, was on board the bus that crashed, he told the Record. He said he heard other students screaming as the bus fell over, leaving some hanging from their seatbelts. Story continues He said some students evacuated through the emergency exit on the vehicles roof while others scrambled out of windows. Pavle Ancevski, Theos father, told the outlet he was stressed. I work in the city, so it was like [a] nightmare to get to here, he said. Saying were thankful to God that everything was OK with his child, he added, I hope the other kids are OK. The school is located about 22 miles from New York City. The scene at Thursday's crash. (Photo: Reuters) Injured passengers were taken to Morristown Medical Center, St. Josephs Hospital and Hackettstown Medical Center, according to the school district. St. Josephs received two patients, a spokeswoman said, but she would not comment on their conditions. A spokeswoman for Atlantic Health confirmed that patients were taken to the companys Morristown and Hackettstown centers, but would not elaborate. K-9 units were seen searching wooded areas near the crash scene, NBC 4 New York reported. The school bus was almost completely severed from its wheelbase. (Photo: Reuters) The company whose dump truck was reportedly involved in the crash, Mendez Trucking, has violated a number of safety regulations in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Prior to Thursday, Mendez trucks have been involved in eight crashes over the past two years, none causing fatalities. Its vehicles racked up more than 200 safety violations in that time, including many infractions for exceeding the weight limit. The New Jerseybased company has a higher than average out-of-service rate 37.9 percent compared to the national average of 20.7 percent. Olive Township Mayor Rob Greenbaum called the accident scene horrific in an interview with the USA Today Network. Jeanne Weber, a Paramus City Council member, told the network she felt absolutely sick about the crash. Murphy arrived at East Brook Middle School Thursday afternoon to offer his support. Our hearts are broken by todays tragedy, he said over Twitter. East Brook Middle School students were dismissed early. Phone lines at the middle school appeared to be tied up after the crash, and HuffPost was not able to get through. A representative for the Morris County Sheriffs Office declined to comment. This story has been updated with details on the truck company whose vehicle was reportedly involved in the crash. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Emily G Roe WINDSOR, England (Reuters) - Across the road from Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle home, Lewis Davis huddles under bus shelter, one of the many town's homeless people who sleep rough in doorways in the genteel town. Opposite, a new array of sleeping bags has appeared, the temporary home for royal superfans, some of whom have travelled thousands of miles to spend their days and nights on Windsor's streets for a glimpse of the queen's grandson Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle's on their glittering wedding day. "Theyve got their own home, theyre camping. We actually live out here. Thats the difference," Davis, originally from the nearby town of Slough, told Reuters. The issue of rough sleepers in Windsor made headlines in January, when the local council leader said they would be cleared from the streets before Saturday's wedding because their detritus was presenting the quaint town, dominated by the castle to the west of London, in a poor light. Simon Dudley, the leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council, wrote on Twitter there had been an epidemic of rough sleeping and vagrancy in the town and said he wanted police to focus on dealing with this before the #RoyalWedding. His remarks drew criticism from local homeless organisations and even Prime Minister Theresa May. "They shouldnt really hide the fact that theres homeless people here," Davis said. "They should help us." Homelessness has become a high-profile political issue in recent months, with official figures showing that there were 4,134 rough sleepers counted on a single night in England in autumn 2016, an increase of 134 percent since 2010 when there were fewer than 1,800. The government has set a target of halving rough sleeping by 2022 and abolishing it by 2027, with May promising to spend 500 million pounds on tackling homelessness. SUPERFANS Other rough sleepers in Windsor said they feared that the authorities would clear them from the town's streets before the wedding on Saturday - in stark contrast to the welcome that the royal fans, nestled down beneath swathes of fluttering red, white and blue bunting, had received. Story continues Thames Valley Police, the local force in charge of the wedding security, they were working closely with the council and local services to offer support to the homeless in Windsor. "A scheme has been set up for those who choose, to store their belongings at the Windsor Homeless Project during the Royal Wedding, and our officers have been assisting with transport of belongings, however this is entirely voluntary to ensure the safety of the homeless community," police said. The council said all those sleeping rough had been offered somewhere to stay or a place to house their belongings while the more than 100,000 visitors throng the streets of Windsor this weekend. "We hope individuals will take up the offer to so that we can help prevent them from losing possessions on a day when the town will be extremely busy," the council said in a statement. The superfans by the castle have been banned from erecting tents as part of tight security measures and they were sympathetic to the homeless living just a stones throw away from where they were camping. Everybody needs a place to sleep, said American Donna Werner, who had travelled 3,000 miles from New Fairfield, Connecticut, to camp by the castle for several days. "Everybodys not as lucky as some of us ... I feel bad for them," she said. (Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Alison Williams) Clashing with Trump, EU tries to blunt US sanctions on Iran The New York Times, Sofia : Venting anger at President Trump, European leaders said Thursday they would take steps aimed at blunting the effects of the American sanctions he restored on Iran, which could penalize European companies doing business there. At a European Union summit meeting in Sofia, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, said it would begin a legal process to prohibit companies based in the 28-member union from complying with the American sanctions. "We should know that the effects of the announced American sanctions will not remain without consequences," Mr. Juncker said. "We have a duty to protect our European companies." The meeting, with leaders of western Balkan countries, came barely a week after Mr. Trump quit the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and leading world powers, which has eased sanctions in exchange for verifiable curbs on Iran's nuclear activities. Leaders of Britain, France and Germany had implored Mr. Trump in vain to honor the accord, which he has long described as a disastrous giveaway. The other parties to the agreement, including Iran, China and Russia, have said they want the agreement to survive. At the same time, Iran has hinted that it may no longer honor the agreement if the promised economic benefits do not begin flowing to the nation of 80 million. The withdrawal of the United States is a potentially fatal blow to the agreement because it restores all of the American sanctions, which not only restrict commerce with Iranian energy, banking and other sectors, but could penalize foreign businesses that trade with or invest in Iran. By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's chief negotiator called the South Korean government "ignorant and incompetent" on Thursday, denounced U.S.-South Korean air combat drills and threatened to halt all talks with the South unless its demands are met. The comments by Ri Son Gwon, chairman of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the country, were the latest in a string of inflammatory statements marking a drastic change in tone after months of easing tension with plans for denuclearisation and a summit scheduled with the United States. Ri criticized the South for participating in the drills, as well as for allowing "human scum" to speak at its National Assembly, the North's KCNA news agency said in a statement. "Unless the serious situation which led to the suspension of the north-south high-level talks is settled, it will never be easy to sit face to face again with the present regime of south Korea," the statement said. It did not elaborate. KCNA, in its English-language service, deliberately uses lower-case "north" and "south" to show that it only recognises one undivided Korea. North Korea on Wednesday said it might not attend the June 12 summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore if the United States continued to demand it unilaterally abandon its nuclear arsenal, which it has developed in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions to counter perceived U.S. hostility. A South Korean presidential Blue House official said the South intends to more actively perform "the role of a mediator" between the United States and North Korea, but that goal has been cast into doubt by Ri's comments. "On this opportunity, the present south Korean authorities have been clearly proven to be an ignorant and incompetent group devoid of the elementary sense of the present situation," Ri's statement said. The statement did not identify the "human scum" by name, but Thae Yong Ho, a former North Korean diplomat to Britain who defected to the South in 2016, held a press conference on Monday at the South Korean National Assembly for his publication of his memoir. In his memoir, "Password from the Third Floor", Thae describes North Korean leader Kim as "impatient, impulsive and violent". SUMMIT IN DOUBT South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told parliament that North Korea and the United States had differences of views over how to achieve denuclearisation. Trump acknowledged on Wednesday it was unclear if the summit would go ahead. "It is true that there are differences of opinion between the North and the United States on methods to accomplish denuclearisation," Kang told lawmakers, according to Yonhap News Agency. Trump will host South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House on May 22. The Blue House intends to "sufficiently convey (to the United States) what we've discerned about North Korea's position and attitude... and sufficiently convey the United States' position to North Korea", thereby helping to bridge the gap, the official said. Asked if she trusted Kim Jong Un, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang said: "Yes." Japan's Asahi newspaper reported that the United States had demanded North Korea ship some nuclear warheads, an intercontinental ballistic missile and other nuclear material overseas within six months. The newspaper, citing several sources familiar with North Korea, said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to have told the North Korean leader when they met this month that Pyongyang might be removed from a list of state sponsors of terrorism if it complied. The Asahi also reported that if North Korea agreed to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation at the Singapore summit, Washington was considering giving guarantees for Kim's regime. China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, said the measures North Korea has taken to ease tension should be acknowledged, and all other parties, especially the United States, should cherish the opportunity for peace. Cancellation of the summit, the first between U.S. and North Korean leaders, would deal a major blow to what could be the biggest diplomatic achievement of Trump's presidency. This comes at a time his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal has drawn criticism internationally and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem has fueled deadly violence on the Israel-Gaza border. North Korea defends its nuclear and missile programs as a deterrent against perceived aggression by the United States, which keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North has long said it is open to eventually giving up its nuclear arsenal if the United States withdraws its troops from South Korea and ends its nuclear umbrella alliance with Seoul. North Korea said it was pulling out of the talks with South Korea after denouncing U.S.-South Korean "Max Thunder" air combat drills, which it said involved U.S. stealth fighters, B-52 bombers and "nuclear assets". Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: I hope that in the end common sense will prevail, and the summit will take place and it will be successful." (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in TOKYO and Michael Martina in BEIJING, and Cynthia Kim, Ju-min Park and Josh Smith in SEOUL; Editing by Nick Macfie) Heres a look at some of the companies the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you. Starbucks (SBUX) is in hot water, again. The company is apologizing for a racial slur written on a customers cup near Los Angeles. This comes weeks after the company had to apologize for a manager calling the police on two black customers in Philadelphia. Starbucks will shut down its stores nationwide later this month for racial bias training. PayPal (PYPL) just made its biggest purchase yet. Its buying Europes iZettle for $2.2B. iZettle sells mobile credit card readers and other payment systems. Paypals CEO says the buy will expand PayPals in-store presence while also helping small businesses grow worldwide. Fords (F) F-150 is in high gear once again. Starting today, the company will restart production on its popular pickup truck. Production of the truck stopped on May 9 after a fire at a supply factory couldnt ship parts. Fujifilm is not backing off Xerox (XRX) without a fight. Fujifilms president says that the contract to merge is binding and is preparing a lawsuit. This comes after shareholders Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason scuttled the deal, and forced out Xeroxs chief executive. Another C-Suite shake-up at Uber. Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden, who led the companys flying car unit, Elevate, is leaving the ride-hailing giant. He is the latest of more than a dozen senior execs to leave Uber since last year. Eric Allison, the former CEO of flying car company Zee Aero, will now lead Elevate. Steve Bannon, Donald Trumps former chief strategist, sought to promote a culture war and persuade black people not to vote using Cambridge Analyticas data collection, it has been claimed. The Breitbart co-founder saw cultural warfare as a means to create enduring change in American politics, a former whistleblower told US senators in an evidence session on Wednesday. Mr Bannon was Cambridge Analyticas vice president for two years between 2014 and 2016, when he left to join Mr Trumps campaign. He left the White House in August last year. Christopher Wylie, who worked for Cambridge Analyticas British-based parent company SCL, said he left after seeing documents that referred to plans for a disengagement campaign targeting black voters. Allegations of the improper use of 87 million Facebook users data by Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by Mr Trumps 2016 election campaign, have led to investigations in the US and Europe. Its bosses have told British MPs no Facebook data was used in the campaign work and denied wrongdoing. The companys UK offices were raided by the Information Commissioner in March but not before the regulator had to order Facebooks own auditors out of the building. At a hearing before the Senate judiciary committee, Mr Wylie described discussions at the company about suppressing the vote, exploiting racial tensions, and testing campaign slogans in 2014 for use in the 2016 election. One of the things that did provoke me to leave was the beginnings of discussions of voter disengagement, I have seen documents reference and I recall conversations that it was intended to focus on African-American voters. The company learned that there were segments of the population that responded to messages like drain the swamp or images of border walls or indeed paranoia about the deep state that werent necessarily reflected in mainstream polling or mainstream political discourse that Steve Bannon was interested in to help build his movement. Story continues Mr Wylie added, according to The Guardian: Steve Bannon believes that politics is downstream from culture. They were seeking out companies to build an arsenal of weapons to fight a culture war. Cambridge Analytica hit the headlines earlier this year when it was found that tens of millions of users had had their data collected by a quiz app on Facebook linked to the company. The UKs Information Commissioner is now investigating the use of personal data for political purposes. The US Justice Department is reported also to have launched a probe into the now-defunct firm. Additional reporting by Reuters Managua (AFP) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's time is up and he should step aside to allow a transitional government to take over, a representative of university students spearheading protests against the veteran leader told AFP. Victor Cuadras, a 25-year-old student in chemical engineering, is one of the students taking part in talks that started this week with Ortega following a month of anti-government protests countered with deadly force by the police. At least 58 people have been killed, most of them youths, in the unrest which is the worst faced by Ortega since his return to power 11 years ago in the country which is one of Latin America's poorest. The 72-year-old president is a former Sandinista rebel who previously ruled between 1979 and 1990 after his forces ousted the Somoza dictatorship backed by the US. He is seen as increasingly autocratic and reliant on his wife Rosario Murillo, who serves as his vice president and government spokesperson. Ortega and Murillo have gone into the talks that started Wednesday with the aim of restoring their authority and calming the protests. But the students say it's too late. "We are calling for Ortega to step down, the setting up of a transitional government, and the start of a democratization process," Cuadras said in an interview. "This is an ethical revolution," said the representative, who is one of the heads of the University Student and Civil Society Coalition. - Support lost - He and others in the student movement say Ortega has lost the support of his Sandinista base in bastions such as Managua, Masaya and Leon. Cuadras himself was raised in a pro-Sandinista family. His grandfather was gunned down by Somoza forces before the revolution swept them from power in 1979, and his father was a former Sandinista rebel. Ortega's government, he said, has become "intransigent and dictatorial." It also was showing no signs of stopping the police repression against protesters, he said. Story continues The students, though, were intent on seeing through the dialogue to belie Ortega's accusations that they were not willing to talk. "We want to show that we truly do want peace," Cuadras said. Their demands include "the halt of the repression and justice" for those killed, he said. "We are demanding that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and UN human rights rapporteurs be allowed to come in," he said. They also want a democratization of Nicaragua that would entail "a profound reform of the constitution, and independence for all branches of government," which are currently seen as under Ortega's command. To get there, "the essential point" is the peaceful ouster of Ortega and Murillo, possibly followed by early presidential elections, Cuadras said. "There are no weapons in the hands of the people, and we don't want this to turn into a civil war," he said. "Ortega can ensure that he and his family are able to flee the country with all the fortune they've pillaged." - They are 'finished' - For now though, there was no sign in the talks of the president and vice president taking that route. "Ortega wants to appear strong, and his wife does too," the student leader said. But "they were finished the moment they started murdering the people. The people despise them," he said. "The bases of Sandinista support are destroyed. Ortega attacked and killed in Leon, in Masaya, in Esteli, in Managua. He has killed in strategic places were his political base was located," Cuadras said. On top of that, the private sector which had long found an accommodation with the veteran head of state "are splintered," with some hoping Ortega can hang on, while others were supporting the demonstrators in their call for the president to go. Puebla (Mexico) (AFP) - Mexican military and police forces detained a suspected leader of a fuel-stealing gang -- along with a tiger "guarding" his house, weapons and drugs, authorities said. "We carried out two searches, seized firearms, drugs, radio communication equipment and a tiger guarding the house," said Jesus Morales, security secretary of the state of Puebla, east-central Mexico. Authorities accuse the unidentified suspect of being "one of the important leaders of a gang dedicated to fuel theft, taking fuel from the town of San Martin Texmelucan, which generates violence." In the detainee's house, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Mexico City, there were also blankets with threatening messages apparently signed by the Jalisco NE Generation Cartel. Such blankets are often left by drug traffickers with the bodies of their victims, police commissioner Victor Torres Moreno told the same press conference on Thursday. Fuel theft has led to millions in losses for Mexican state-owned petroleum company Pemex, and Puebla state is a hotspot for the crime -- with gangs sometimes colluding with employees and the police. As of May 2, a total of 119 police officers in San Martin Texmelucan -- including the force's director -- had been dismissed on suspicion of such collusion. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea city of Sochi, expressing gratitude for Moscow's help in a prolonged civil war that has increasingly gone in his government's favor. The trip marks Assad's second known exit from Syria since the nation was rocked by a 2011 uprising sponsored by the West, Turkey and Gulf Arab states. Support allies Russia and Iran played a crucial role in the Syrian military, reversing gains by rebels and jihadis, and Putin congratulated his Syrian counterpart on "the significant success of the Syrian government army in the fight against terrorist groups," which he said should be followed by "a full-fledged political process." Assad, in turn, congratulated Putin on his re-election in March and reported "many positive changes" in Syria, including the reduction of territory controlled by insurgents and the return of "hundreds of thousands of Syrians" displaced by the conflict. Trending: Trump's White House Doesn't Trust Its Own Staff, Will Exclude Aides From Meetings, Take Their Phones: Report "Stability is improving, and all this opens the door to the political process that we started some time ago. I have always said, and now I repeat once again, that we always enthusiastically support the political process, which should go hand in hand with the fight against terrorism," Assad said. RTS1RYAN Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kremlin/Reuters Assad was believed to have remained in Syria throughout the entire length of the first four years of the uprising. His first trip was reportedly to Moscow in October 2015, a month after Russia staged a military intervention in Syria at his request. Russia's entrance came at a time when nearly half the country had been absorbed by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), which targeted both the Syrian government and rival rebel forces. Story continues Don't miss: Will Meghan Markle Wear a Tiara or Veil at Her Royal Wedding With Prince Harry? Russia's entrance reversed Assad's losses, giving his armed forces and their allies, which include a number of Iran-backed militias, the opportunity to besiege and reclaim nearly every major population center in the country. A separate anti-ISIS campaign has been conducted by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish militia established by the Pentagon as Washington grew concerned about the increasingly Islamist tendencies of CIA-backed rebels. Related: Russia says missile ships will stay near Syria, challenging U.S. in Middle East and Europe As the Syrian military regained control of major cities and large stretches of territory, however, it has been increasingly targeted by hostile forces. The U.S. ordered airstrikes against a Syrian air base in April 2017 and again this April against a number of suspected chemical weapons sites, both in response to allegations that the Syrian military used toxic gas. The U.S.-led coalition has also bombed pro-Syrian government forces, including Russian fighters, in response to reported attacks on the Syrian Democratic Forces in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Most popular: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout 5 Big Facts - Player Count, Weapons & More Neighboring Israel has attacked pro-Syrian government forces as well. The long-time Syrian foe has long conducted airstrikes against suspected Iranian and pro-Iran targets in the country, routinely neither confirming nor denying its involvement. Earlier this month, however, Israel escalated its campaign after Iranian or Syrian forces shot rockets at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights in response to an Israeli airstrike south of Damascus. RTS1QTD6 (1) INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR/MAPS4NEWS/ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES/REUTERS Russia has not retaliated against any international attacks against its allies in Syria. Though the Russian military has established a long-term military presence along and off Syria's coast, it has only condemned U.S. attacks on pro-Syrian government forces and sites and appealed for calm after the recent flare-up between Israel and suspected Iranian or Iran-backed forces. Moscow has pushed for the Syrian government, beleaguered opposition and Kurdish groups to meet together at the so-called Syrian National Congress in Sochi. The U.S. has not officially endorsed these talks or the Astana-based process championed by Russia, Iran and Turkey, instead calling for nations to respect a parallel attempt at national reconciliation in Geneva. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Santa Fe (United States) (AFP) - The latest mass shooting at a US school unfolded Friday in the Texas town of Santa Fe, where 10 people were killed by a heavily armed student. The tragedy occurred three months after the massacre in Parkland, Florida, where a former student entered a high school and killed 17 students and staff. - What happened - Police said a 17-year-old student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, burst into a classroom and opened fire at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Houston, as the school day was beginning around 8:00 am. Authorities said 10 people were killed and another 10 injured, as students fled in panic, seeking shelter in nearby homes or shops for safety, or lining up on school fields as the injured were taken away in ambulances. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the "majority" of the 10 dead were students. Area residents said two of the 10 wounded were in critical condition. The Houston Chronicle said Pagourtzis was armed with pipe bombs in addition to firearms. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said searches of two residences had turned up "various explosive devices" including a "CO2 device" and a Molotov cocktail. - The shooter - Pagourtzis, a Grade 11 student at the school, was taken into custody on murder charges. Police said he was carrying a shotgun and revolver legally owned by his father under a long coat when he opened fire on fellow students. Abbott said journal entries by the suspect suggested he wanted to commit suicide but that "he gave himself up." Abbott also said there were no "warning signs" about the suspect ahead of time although he did post a picture on his Facebook page of a T-shirt with the words "Born to Kill" on it. Law enforcement authorities were questioning two "people of interest," the governor said. - Political reaction - US President Donald Trump expressed "sadness and heartbreak" over what he called an "absolutely horrific" incident -- the second mass shooting in Texas in six months -- and ordered flags to fly at half staff on all public buildings. Story continues Trump, who has favored arming teachers, acknowledged that "this has been going on too long in our country." "My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves, and to others," he said. Survivors of February's high school shooting in Parkland, Florida voiced solidarity and vowed to press on with their campaign for tighter gun laws. - The victims - Among the dead were two teachers: Ann Perkins, known to many as "Grandma Perkins," the Houston CBS TV affiliate reported; and Cynthia Tisdale, a mother of four who taught "because she loved to help children," her son Recie Tisdale told The Washington Post. Also among the dead was Sabika Sheikh, an exchange student from Pakistan in Texas as part of the State Department-run Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, Pakistan's embassy in Washington said in a statement. Her father, Aziz Sheikh of Karachi, told the Los Angeles Times that his daughter was a "brilliant student" and "the lifeline of our family." She was only weeks away from returning home, and her death unleashed an outpouring of sympathy in Pakistan. Family members told the Houston Chronicle that the dead also included Angelique Ramirez, 15; Chris Stone, 17; Jared Conard Black, 17; and Shana Fisher, who turned 16 on May 9. An ABC affiliate listed Aaron Kyle McLeod as a victim, and CBS said Christian Garcia had also been killed. Kimberly Vaughan died as well, her mother Rhonda Hart wrote on Facebook, adding, "We need GUN CONTROL. WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR KIDS." Among the 10 people wounded was school security officer John Barnes, 49, who was hit in both arms while confronting the shooter. A former Houston police officer, he had joined the school district in January. He was listed in stable condition. Rome Shubert, 16, a student at the school, said he was in art class when he heard a loud bang. "I was shot in the back of the head but I am completely okay and stable," he tweeted. "This shouldn't happen to anybody," Shubert told ABC affiliate KTRK. "Nobody deserves that." Ten people have been killed in a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, in the latest gun violence in a country still shaken by the massacre at a Florida high school in February. A majority of those who died were students, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that 10 people were killed and 10 others injured at . The suspect in Santa Fe High School shooting is being held on a capital murder charge. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said that 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis is being held without bond in the Galveston County jail. Please allow a few seconds for te live blog to load, if you cannot see it click here Sheriff Gonzalez said that the campus - about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Houston - is still considered an active crime scene. Explosive devices had also been found at the school and off campus, Gonzalez tweeted. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. School has been evacuated. Authorities found writings in the Texas shooting suspect's journals that indicated he wanted to take his own life, Texas Govenor Greg Abbott said. "We also know information already that the shooter has information contained in journals on his computer and his cell phone that he said that not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting," he said. "As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time he didn't have the courage to commit the suicide, that he wanted to take his own life earlier," Abbott added. Mr Abbott called the shooting "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." He added that the weapons used were a shotgun and a .38 revolver. He said explosive devices including a Molotov cocktail that had been found in the suspected shooter's home and a vehicle as well as around the school and nearby. Story continues Mr Abbott said there are "one or two" other people of interest being interviewed about the shooting. President Donald Trump called the shooting heartbreaking and said that federal and local authorities were coordinating in the wake of the gun attack. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others, Mr Trump said at the White House. Student Leila Butler told the local ABC affiliate that fire alarms went off at about 7.45am local time and students left their classrooms. She said some students believe they heard shots fired, and that she was sheltering with other students and teachers near campus. Another student, Dakota Shrader, told Fox 26 TV her 17-year-old girlfriend told her by phone that she was wounded but was recovering in a hospital. "My friend got injured," said an emotional Shrader. "Her leg, she got shot in the leg." Dr David Marshall, chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said that the hospital was treating at least three patients - two adults and one person under 18. He said it was not immediately clear if that child was a student. "I know that they have gunshot wounds but that's the extent of the knowledge I have at this point," Marshall told reporters at a news conference. "One adult is in our operating room." Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement on the shooting: "The thoughts and prayers of all Texans are with the people of Santa Fe and those affected by today's tragic shooting. As horrific reports come out of Santa Fe High School, my office stands ready to assist local law enforcement as needed." Related Video: Who is the Suspected Texas Shooter? Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View. By Cate Cadell BEIJING (Reuters) - Lu Qi, who oversaw Baidu Inc's shift to artificial intelligence (AI) after a damaging ad scandal in 2016, is stepping down as chief operating officer, China's biggest search engine said on Friday. Lu, a former Microsoft executive and AI expert who joined Baidu in late 2016, is currently responsible for day-to-day operations in its AI unit, which has become the company's core focus in the past year. He will remain vice chairman of Baidu and Vice President Wang Haifeng will now oversee the company's AI projects, Baidu said in a social media posting, adding Lu was stepping back for "personal and family reasons." Lu is viewed as a top figure in the global AI industry, and joined Baidu at a time when the company was rebuilding investor confidence after a medical scandal linked to its search business led to strict new regulations that gutted the firm's ad revenue. Baidu, which saw revenue growth stall for several quarters following the new rules, has since regained momentum after closing or selling loss-making units and funnelling resources into its AI and autonomous driving units. AI projects overseen by Lu, including enhancements to the firm's news feed product, have begun to reap dividends for the firm, whose stock is up more than 19 percent since the beginning of the year. "In the future, while being with and taking care of my family, I will continue to firmly support Baidu and (chief executive) Robin Li. I will also pay attention to China-U.S. research and investment," said Lu in a statement. Lu is the latest in a series of high-profile AI experts to leave the company in the past year, amid fierce global competition for talent in the field. In early 2017, Baidu's then chief scientist, Andrew Ng, left the company to pursue other projects. Not long after, the head of Baidu's autonomous driving unit, Wang Jing, stepped aside to launch a separate firm in the same field. Last month, Baidu beat analysts' revenue expectation when it reported its quarterly results, helped in part by lower-than-expected research and development costs, which had sky-rocketed in previous quarters, largely attributable to personnel costs associated with building up its AI unit. (Reporting by Cate Cadell; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Mark Potter) Paris (AFP) - French authorities launched an investigation Friday into accusations that a top Parisian restaurant, favoured by celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, systematically sought to decline reservations from Arab, African or veil-wearing customers. The Buzzfeed website reported on Thursday that L'Avenue, an ultra-chic brasserie near the famed Champs-Elysees boulevard, had "put in place a veritable system of discrimination", notably turning down reservations from diners with Arabic-sounding names. Middle-Eastern tourists from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain were also told that the restaurant was fully booked, Buzzfeed said in its investigation, based on testimony from four former waitresses. "If a veiled woman showed up to the restaurant, they had to be told that the restaurant was full, even if it was not," the report said, adding that the former waitresses charged that the system was still in place. Buzzfeed printed screenshots of text messages between staff that appeared to support the allegations, as well as a list of telephone country codes kept at the front desk, allegedly to help staff decline reservation requests from citizens of the four Gulf countries. French rights chief Jacques Toubon, announcing an investigation, said in a statement that the restaurant was also accused of "discrimination in terms of physical appearance". The former serving staff told Buzzfeed they were ordered to sit the "good-looking and presentable" customers on the ground floor and terrace where they would be the most visible. The restaurant was unreachable for comment on Friday afternoon. But its manager Alexandre Denis denied the allegations in comments to Buzzfeed, telling the website: "All cultures, all nationalities come here... What is certain is that I never gave instructions to refuse customers." L'Avenue announced in 2015 that it was set to open a New York branch in mid-2018 in partnership with department store Saks Fifth Avenue. Erdogan discusses with world leaders The mother of Layla Ghandour, a Palestinian baby of eight months who died during Monday\'s violence in Gaza, holds her at the morgue of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. DAILY SABAH : President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday spoke with the leaders of a number of countries, including Germany, Iran, Indonesia, Qatar and Sudan and urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries to develop a "common stance" on the Gaza killings. In his call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Erdogan exchanged views regarding the tensions in Gaza, while both leaders agreed that the current situation makes it difficult to find a solution to the problem, reports said. He reportedly told Russia's Putin that Israel's attacks on Palestinian demonstrators are shameful before the eyes of the world and he also informed the Russian president about the upcoming OIC meeting that will take place in Istanbul on May 18. Erdogan's phone call with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir came after at least 62 Palestinian demonstrators were martyred and hundreds injured by cross-border Israeli gunfire on Monday. The president spoke with Jordanian King Abdullah, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammed, Kuwaiti Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Saudi King Salman, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Erdogan said the international community should speak out for Palestinians' suffering and called for a firm and common stance by the OIC. The Turkish president also held a phone call with Pope Francis later in the day to discuss the latest developments in Jerusalem and rising tensions in Gaza. Erdogan and the pope underlined that the U.S.' decision to move its embassy violated the status of the holy city of Jerusalem and was "unacceptable". Monday's demonstration had coincided with Israel's 70th anniversary -- an event Palestinians refer to as "The Catastrophe" -- and the relocation of Washington's Israel embassy to Jerusalem, which also took place Monday. Since the Gaza rallies began on March 30, more than 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by cross-border Israeli army gunfire. Last week, the Israeli government said the ongoing border protests constituted a "state of war" in which international humanitarian law did not apply. Meghan Markle and her ex-husband Trevor Engelson at an event in East Hampton in 2006 - Getty Images Contributor This Saturday Prince Harry and his American actress fiancee will marry at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry was christened. While it marks the first day of her marriage to the 33-year-old prince, it will not be the first time Meghan Markle has walked down the aisle, having married previously in 2011. The former Suits actress was, for two years, married to Trevor Engelson, a 41 year-old movie producer from Great Neck, New York. Their marriage reportedly ended abruptly and he is currently working on a pilot episode about an ex marrying a royal but what else do we know about him? Who is Trevor Engelson? Mr Engelson was born on the north shore of Long Island, New York on October 23, 1976. He is currently a film producer and talent manager in Los Angeles after getting his start in the movie industry as a production assistant. Engelson produced License to Wed, starring Robin Williams, and 2009's All About Steve; but he is perhaps most well known for producing Remember Me, a 2010 tearjerker starring Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin. Meghan Markle had a cameo role in the film, playing a character called Megan. As boss of Underground Management, Engelson also manages screenwriters, actors, novelists, and film directors. Engelson's marriage to Ms Markle Meghan was 23 years-old when she met her ex-husband. They reportedly started dating back in 2004, marrying after seven years together. Engelson married the Suits actress on September 10 2011 at the Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The wedding was a four-day affair and took place in front of 102 guests. Meghan landed her role in Suits just a few months before they married. However sustaining a long-distance marriage was apparently too difficult for the couple; Ms Markle and Engelson separated after two years. Their divorce was finalised in August 2013, with the couple citing 'irreconcilable differences'. Story continues Engelson has not spoken about his ex-wife's new relationship but Ms Markle's half-brother Thomas Markle Jnr. blamed their divorce on 'the pressure of Hollywood'. Days until the Royal wedding One source told Woman's Day magazine that it was her job filming the Suits and the resulting the long-distance situation that ultimately ruined their relationship. The insider said: "They really battled with long distances. Trevor was based in LA while Meghan was in Toronto, a five-hour flight away. It was a very difficult way to start married life." In his controversial new book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, Royal biographer Andrew Morton revealed that Ms. Markle returned her wedding and engagement rings to Engelson by registered post after ending their marriage out of the blue. [Engelson] went from cherishing Meghan to, as one friend observed, Feeling like he was a piece of something stuck to the bottom of her shoe, Morton wrote. Whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not, Meghan, who once said she couldnt imagine life without Trevor by her side, was now building a new world for herself. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry wedding features grid Engelson's latest project? A divorce-themed Royal rom-com Engelson's most recent project has been an upcoming television remake of Heathers based on the 1988 film of the same name. Yet the movie trade website Deadline Hollywood announced in September 2017 that Fox was developing a pilot with Engelson for a story that centres around the story of man whose wife leaves him for a British prince. This was the pitch: "Divorce is hard. Sharing custody is harder. Sharing custody with the British Royal family when your wife marries a prince, in the unforgiving spotlight of Londons tabloid media, is next level." The pair did not have children together and the lead characters of the proposed new series are not based on their lives. However Deadline did say the comedy's idea originated after Trevor had a conversation with fellow producer Dan about what might have happened had he shared custody of children with the Royal Family. Prince Harry And Meghan Markle attend the UK team trials for the Invictus Games in April Credit: Samir Hussein Executives at Fox have signed Modern Family executive producer Danny Zuker to write and a British director, Christine Gernon, to direct. Deadline also reported that the pilot show had sold for what is believed to be the biggest commitment for a comedy pitch at the network so far this season." While it is not clear when filming would begin, one thing is for sure: it is guaranteed to attract audiences and headlines when it does appear on screens. President Donald Trump has called for Congress to pass laws that would make it easier to detain and deport more immigrants. (Photo: Olivier Douliery / Bloomberg / Getty Images) Immigration and Customs Enforcement is arresting more immigrants, and increasingly they have not been convicted of crimes, according to data released on Thursday by the agency. About two-thirds of those arrested by ICE from October 2017 to the end of March had no criminal convictions up from 21 percent during the same period the year before and only 13 percent the year before that. ICE officials noted that some of the arrested immigrants had been charged with a crime but not convicted. The new figures, which reflect the first two quarters of the 2018 fiscal year, demonstrate that ICE is carrying out the crackdown on unauthorized immigrants that President Donald Trump promised. That means ICE officers are picking up more people with clean records, even if they were previously allowed to remain in the country. If somebody has violated our immigration laws, they are priorities now, Corey Price, the assistant director for enforcement at ICE, told reporters on a conference call, adding that in the final years of Barack Obamas administration, the agencys scope was significantly narrowed. Immigrants in the U.S. without authorization or those who violate the terms of their visa are subject to deportation, regardless of whether they have a criminal record. (It is a civil violation, not a criminal one, to be in the U.S. without authorization.) ICE arrested nearly 80,000 people from October to the end of March, compared with about 63,000 in the same period the year before. By comparison, the agency arrested about 54,000 people in the first half of the 2016 fiscal year, when Obamas priority enforcement policies and instructed agents to focus on undocumented immigrants with criminal histories. While ICEs arrests were up, deportations were slightly down from about 126,000 in the first half of the 2017 fiscal year to about 117,000 in the same period in fiscal year 2018. For both periods, about 54 percent of those removed were convicted criminals. Story continues While most deportations originated with arrests by Customs and Border Patrol, ICEs share rose for the most recent period; ICE arrested 39 percent of the people deported, up 10 percentage points from the previous year. Trump vowed as a candidate to take constraints off ICE and allow agents to have more discretion on whom to arrest. The president and his administration have taken steps to remove protections that allow more than 1 million people to stay in the U.S. which could expose more immigrants to risk of deportation. He typically frames his immigration comments around crime. During a meeting at the White House with leaders from California on Wednesday, after a question about MS-13, a gang started in the U.S. by Salvadoran immigrants, he praised his administration for taking people out of the country. You wouldnt believe how bad these people are, Trump said. These arent people. These are animals. And were taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate thats never happened before. April 2015 At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: Everythings coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. Its like a big mess. Blah. Its like vomit. June 2015 At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre not sending you. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." August 2015 On NBC's "Meet the Press": Were going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." September 2015 On CBS's "60 Minutes": Were rounding em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And theyre going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesnt sound nice. But not everything is nice. November 2015 On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." February 2016 At a GOP primary debate: We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back some will come back, the best, through a process. March 2016 At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we dont. We either have a country or we dont. We have borders or we dont have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not. April 2016 At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": Theyre going to go, and were going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... Theyre going to go, and then come back and come back legally. July 2016 At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied and every politician who has denied them to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced." September 2016 At a rally: Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we dont have a country. September 2016 On "The Dr. Oz Show": Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldnt be in the country. They only come in the country legally. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is worried about America's image when it comes to establishing credibility in its upcoming talks with North Korea. "Can I trust the U.S. president? This may be the first question by North Korea's leader," Ban told CNBC. With the stated aim of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, the Trump administration has scheduled talks with Kim Jong Un that would be the first ever between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean head of state. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is worried about America's image when it comes to establishing credibility in its upcoming talks with North Korea Donald Trump recent decision to withdraw from the Iranian Nuclear Deal does not set a good precedent for reliability and that will matter to North Korea President Kim Jong Un during upcoming nuclear talks , the South Korean diplomat told CNBC's Nancy Hungerford on Wednesday. "I personally believe that it has given a very problematic message in terms of credibility, and trust and confidence in (the) U.S. What kind of message North Korea will get from this?" Ban asked. "Can I trust the U.S. president? This may be the first question by North Korea's leader." Trump on May 8 announced America's withdrawal from the Iran deal , formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015 with China, France, Russia, the U.K. and Germany. The landmark agreement lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program, and the International Atomic Energy Agency regularly reported that Iran was in compliance with its rules. Trump, however, vocally derided it, calling it the "worst deal ever" and pledging to do away with it as he has done with a number of policy actions by the Barack Obama administration. With the stated aim of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula , the Trump administration has scheduled talks with North Korea's Kim. Planned to take place in Singapore on June 12, the meeting would be the first ever between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean head of state. Story continues Following the historic signing of a peace agreement in April between North and South Korea's presidents in the border truce village of Panmunjom, hopes are high for progress on peace and nuclear talks between the two longtime adversaries and with the U.S. But Trump's Iran move casts an unfavorable light on his negotiating position, Ban said. "Now they're on the verge of agreeing a very grand and big agreement between U.S. and North Korean leader, and there was very historic agreement between South Korean president and North Korean leader in Panmunjom. Then all this agreement, having seen what happened to JCPOA in Iran, what kind of message North Korea's leader will have?" Ban added that he had long been warning the Trump administration against leaving the JCPOA, but to no avail. "Now it has been done, I sincerely hope that President Trump will have a successful meeting and convince North Korea that this time, the U.S. will be strongly committed, together with South Korea." Ban also discussed his skepticism over North Korea's sincerity in its pledges, recounting four previous instances going back to the 1990s in which the North backtracked on its agreements to work toward denuclearization. Asked if Trump was deserving of a Nobel Prize, as was suggested by the South Korean President Moon Jae-In, Ban was reserved. "I do not want to prejudge, or impinge upon the judgment and integrity of the Nobel Committee," he said. "This is up to them to decide." Talks under threat In an unexpected move, North Korea on Tuesday abruptly cancelled talks with the South planned for Wednesday and threatened to walk away from the U.S. negotiations. Pyongyang blamed joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, longtime security partners, for triggering "provocation" and accused them of preparing for an invasion. The head of the North's delegation for the talks said his country was "indefinitely canceling the planned high-level inter-Korean talks" due to the military exercises. The Pentagon defended the drills, describing them as "defensive exercises" that are "part of the ROK-U.S. Alliance's routine, annual training program to maintain a foundation of military readiness." The spring exercises have been taking place for decades. The U.S. State Department said it had not received information concerning a cancellation of the June summit between Trump and Kim, and would continue planning for it. More From CNBC Total SA said it will not risk investing in Iran following the return of U.S. sanctions, unless it can secure a waiver. Continuing to do business in Iran would be too great a risk as the company has large operations in the U.S. and depends on the countrys banks for financing its operations, Total tot said in a statement Wednesday. So the French energy giant wont commit any more funds to Irans South Pars 11 project, in which it took a controlling stake last year. The comments from Total the first Western oil company to sign binding agreements to develop Irans oil and gas fields following the end of a previous round of sanctions in 2015 illustrate the challenge posed by renewed U.S. restrictions. While the French company was speaking about a natural gas project, its reluctance to continue operating there could equally apply to others that rushed back into sectors from automobiles to aviation and engineering to the oil trade. The risks of being on the wrong side of the U.S. government are not worth the benefits of trading with Iran once the sanctions are in place, said Jason Gammel, a London-based analyst at Jefferies LLC. Oil companies are not going to be able to invest in the upstream sector, traders and purchasers of Iranian crude are going to have to find other sources, or seek an exemption from the U.S. government to be able to continue buying. 180 days U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he intends to pull out of an international accord curbing Irans nuclear program. The U.S. Treasury has given companies up to 180 days to end dealings with Iran. The European Union, also a signatory to the atomic deal, has pledged to take steps to salvage the accord. Total said it is engaging with the French and U.S. authorities to examine the possibility of a project waiver. U.S. banks are involved in more than 90% of Totals financing operations, American shareholders represent upward of 30% of its investors and the company has more than $10 billion of capital employed in the country, it said. Story continues The issue is that Iranian transactions cant be processed though any part of the banking system that needs access to the U.S. dollar, Gammel said. There will be niche players who will far more benefit from trading with Iran than risk from the U.S. system, but its going to be a very small set of players that are not going to be particularly well capitalized. Losing Stake Pulling out of the South Pars project could result in Total losing its stake to China National Petroleum Corp., National Iranian Oil Co. Managing Director Ali Kardor said this month. The French company said it has spent less than 40 million euros ($47 million) on the project so far. Withdrawing from the South Pars 11 project will also not affect Totals target to raise the companys production by 5% a year between 2016 and 2022, according to the statement. It had planned to spend the equivalent of $1 billion on the first part of the development, and had projected an output of 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from the Iran fields, making it the largest on its list of a dozen projects to be given the green light in the two years to 2018. Total also bought about 56 million barrels of Iranian crude for nearly 2.6 billion euros last year, primarily for its own refineries, according to its annual report. In addition, about 14 million barrels of oil products were purchased from, or sold to, entities with ties to the Iranian government, generating 1.1 billion euros of revenue, and a net loss of 5.7 million euros, according to Total. The company didnt say if these trades will be affected. President Donald Trump alleged that Chinese President Xi Jinping could be influencing Kim Jong Un, after the North Korean leader threatened to call of the highly anticipated June 12 summit in Singapore. During a meeting with NATO Security General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday, Trump referred to Kim and Xis meeting last Monday and Tuesday in Dalian: If you remember two weeks ago, all of a sudden out of nowhere Kim Jong Un went to China to say hello againsecond timeto President Xi. He added: It could very well be that hes influencing Kim Jong Un. Well see what happens. Meaning the President of China, President Xi, could be influencing. Trending: 'Dragon Ball FighterZ Party Battle: How to Form Your Own Team and Fight RTS1J6F4 (1) Reuters A day earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi advised Trump to remain calm and acknowledge North Koreas efforts to de-escalate tension. All parties, especially the United States, should cherish this opportunity for peace and should not work as a barrier, he said, during an official trip to Paris. To solve this problem, its necessary for the two parties to work toward the same direction, not the opposite. What I would like to emphasize is that the current eased situation on the peninsula issue has been hard-won." Trump announced last month that he and Xi will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade in a tweet, amid tense tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs between China and the U.S. Don't miss: Debunking Stress MythsHow Much Do We Actually Know? President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade. China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2018 Trump and Kim are expected to meet at a summit in Singapore on June 12 for historic negotiations. However, on Wednesday the North Korean leader threatened to cancel the meeting that would see the two leaders in the same room for the first time. Story continues Most popular: California Senate Candidate Endorses Call to Rid America of Traitorous Jews Like Dianne Feinstein In a statement, Kim Kye Kwan, the DPRKs vice minister of foreign affairs, hit back at national security adviser John Boltons suggestion that North Korea should be treated like Libya. I appreciated the position positively with an expectation that upcoming DPRK-U.S. summit would be a big step forward for catalyzing detente on the Korean peninsula and building a great future, the statement read. But now prior to the DPRK-U.S. summit, unbridled remarks provoking the other side of dialogue are recklessly made in the U.S. and I am totally disappointed as these constitute extremely unjust behavior. If the Trump administration fails to recall the lessons learned from the past when the DPRK-U.S. talks had to undergo twists and setbacks owing to the likes of Bolton and turns its ear to the advice of quasi- patriots who insist on Libya mode and the like, prospects of upcoming DPRK-U.S. summit and overall DPRK-U.S. relations will be crystal clear. The White House shrugged off the threat, saying Trump was hopeful the meeting will happen as planned but that he would be fine if Kim changes his mind. The president is ready if the meeting takes place, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. And if it doesnt, we will continue the maximum pressure campaign that has been ongoing. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek President Donald Trump expressed sadness and heartbreak over the deadly shooting at a high school in Texas on Friday morning. He spoke for around 90 seconds ahead of planned remarks on prison reform during a summit at the White House. This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years, too many decades now, the president said of school shootings. He called the Texas incident absolutely horrific. The attack at Santa Fe High School left at least eight dead, according to local news outlets citing law enforcement. Santa Fe, Texas, is around 35 miles southeast of Houston. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High, were with you in this tragic hour and well be with you forever, Trump said. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others. Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe, the president continued. May God heal the injured and may God comfort the wounded, and may God be with the victims and with the victims families. Very sad day, the president added. Very, very sad. On another note, a very positive note, Im honored to be here today with so many leaders across the nation who are committed to the crucial issue of prison reform, Trump said in an awkward pivot to his planned remarks. A shooter has been arrested and another person of interest has been detained, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced. A fire alarm prompted students to flee the school, and the situation had been contained by late Friday morning, officials said. The total number of injured is not yet known. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is accepting patients from the school. Trump reportedly spoke with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and pledged to provide all appropriate federal assistance. The incident in Santa Fe marks the 22nd U.S. school shooting of 2018, by CNNs count. Story continues Trump who spoke at the National Rifle Associations annual convention earlier this month alongside Vice President Mike Pence has been sharply criticized for seemingly siding with the gun lobby against those pushing for gun policy reform in the wake of the February massacre in Parkland, Florida. No major gun reform legislation has been passed during Trumps administration. In the weeks after the Valentines Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which left 17 dead, the president proposed a plan that would arm some school personnel in an effort to make educational facilities safer. Many in education and law enforcement argued that the presidents plan would have the opposite effect. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By James Oliphant and Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that NATO members that do not contribute fully to the group would be "dealt with," and singled out Germany as a country he said was not doing enough. At a Cabinet meeting attended by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, Trump listed countries he said had paid the amount "they're supposed to be paying." "We have some that don't and, well, they'll be dealt with," Trump said. He added Germany "has not contributed what it should be contributing and it's a very big beneficiary." "In particular Germany must demonstrate leadership in the alliance by addressing its longstanding shortfall in defense contributions," Trump said. Despite often disagreeing with Trump in other areas, German Chancellor Angela Merkel agrees that Germany should contribute more and wants her country to boost military spending to meet the NATO target of 2 percent. She told senior military officers on Monday more spending is needed in light of changing security requirements in the world. Stoltenberg praised Trump's work on shoring up NATO, whose continued purpose Trump questioned while campaigning in the 2016 election. Sitting on Trump's right, Stoltenberg said: "Your leadership on defense spending has really helped to make a difference." "It is impacting allies because now all allies are increasing defense spending," he said. "No allies are cutting their budgets." (Reporting by James Oliphant; Writing by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Peter Cooney and Grant McCool) Washington (AFP) - US and Chinese officials face a new round of tough trade talks on Friday as President Donald Trump discounted chances of a deal, but Beijing extended a potential olive branch. Trump met with a Chinese delegation headed by Vice Premier Liu He on Thursday as talks aimed at easing frictions between the economic powers got underway. "The two sides agreed to continue the discussions on Friday," the White House said. But speaking earlier in the day about the prospects for the talks to be successful, Trump was not optimistic, saying: "I tend to doubt it." "China has become very spoiled... Because they always got 100 percent of whatever they wanted from the United States," he said. Trump unleashed a barrage of criticism against former US administrations for allowing Beijing to take advantage of the United States. "We have been ripped off by China. And an evacuation of wealth like no country has ever seen before given to another country that's rebuilt itself based on a lot of the money that they've taken out of the United States," he said. "Trade has been a total one-way street," Trump said. "And I explained to (China's) President Xi (Jinping) that we can't do that anymore." But hours later, China's commerce ministry announced that it was terminating its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe into US sorghum imports, saying punitive measures would increase costs for the Chinese livestock industry and consumers. Provisional duties had been imposed last month. Tariffs on sorghum would hurt farmers in states such as Kansas, Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma, which are also major Republican-leaning states that make up Trump's electoral base. Separately, the Chinese delegation has offered a $200 billion reduction in its annual trade surplus with the US by increasing American imports and other measures, according to Bloomberg News, which cited a Trump administration official. Such a reduction is among a list of US demands. Story continues But foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the "rumours are false" and the "consultations are indeed still in progress and the talks are constructive." Lu also said the decision to drop the sorghum probe should not be "over-interpreted." - 'Meet each other halfway' - Trump also had harsh words for the European Union, which is likewise at loggerheads with Washington over US export tariffs on steel and aluminum. "The European Union has been terrible to the United States on trade," he said. "They've been terrible to our workers." China's Liu held talks with Trump and other top US officials, saying the two countries should "meet each other halfway, respect each other, and work together to push forward bilateral ties in a healthy and stable manner," according to China's official Xinhua news service. The US has threatened to impose 25 percent punitive duties on up to $150 billion in Chinese goods while China has targeted $50 billion in American exports. China said it hoped the two sides could resolve the trade frictions through talks. "But of course we've prepared a response for various possibilities," commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a press briefing on Thursday. The meetings, part of a busy week of US trade negotiations and tight deadlines in Washington, have become enmeshed in political intrigue after a Trump advisor considered a hardliner on China was left out. Trump economic aide Peter Navarro, who was seen as having a more dominant role following the departure of White House economic advisor Gary Cohn over trade issues, was left off the list of participants, unlike for the talks in Beijing two weeks ago. According to press reports, Navarro sparred with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over his handling of the China talks and was barred from attending the meetings this week. Trump has also faced accusations of quid-pro-quo after vowing to soften punitive US sanctions on the Chinese telecoms equipment firm ZTE -- an announcement which came after AFP reported a Chinese state firm was joining a Trump-tied real estate development in Indonesia that could get hundreds of millions of dollars in Chinese government loans. Trump, however, has denied weakening the US stance toward ZTE, and repeated Thursday that he told Xi he would "take a look at that." "But anything we do with ZTE is a small component of the overall deal." Robert E Kelly Security, Asia A traffic sign is seen on the Grand Unification Bridge which leads to the truce village Panmunjom, just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju There is no obvious answer for what the United States should surrender in exchange for what the North wants. How Trump Can Deal with North Korea's Pre-Summit Outburst This weeks North Korean outburstthreatening to derail the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-unprompts some tough questions about what precisely we might be able to get out of the North at the Singapore summit. We likely need to dial down our expectationsa lot, in fact. To date, things seemed to be going well. The North has sent consistently good signals this spring. While its concessions were low-hanging fruit, or arguably not concessions at all, they did keep the momentum alive. Judged against last years rhetoric, this year has been progress. And the inter-Korean summit, while regrettably too thin on detail, raised expectations through its dramatic symbolism. South Korean President Moons approval rating is in the 80 percent range, and approval of the summit close to 90 percent. The hawkish pushback in South Korea so far has been tepid. In the United States, this enthusiasm arguably morphed into a triumphalism, particularly from Trumps surrogates and devotees. Trumps fans and sympathetic pundits began claiming, without much evidence, that North Korea had been bludgeoned into negotiating by Trumps rhetoric and sanctions. Indeed, the curious notion that Trump should win a Nobel Peace Prize began to take hold, and the president clearly enjoyed the chants of Nobel! at his campaign-style rallies. Just yesterday, Piers Morgan asked me if I thought Trump deserved two or just one Nobel. This emerging narrative of North Koreas capitulation clearly got through to Kim Jong-un and Northern elites who told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that they were watching American television coverage. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) statement indicated obvious annoyance with the framing of Kims attendance at the Singapore summit as some kind of supplication. The North Koreans insisted that they will not be treated as Iraq and Libya were by the United States. Story continues North Korean negotiators have long insisted that Saddam Hussein would never have been tipped if he had had nuclear weapons. Similarly, the North has noted that Muammar Qaddafii agreed to a deal with President George W. Bushs administration to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for a security guarantee. Yet a few years later, during the Arab Spring revolution in Libya, the United States and NATO helped the revolutionaries tip Qaddafii, who then met a grisly end. North Korean negotiators have for years said its nuclear weapons prevent that type of scenario from occurring to them. This is likely the reason for the sharp KCNA focus on National Security Advisor John Bolton and his promotion of a Libya model. Libya, to Pyongyang, represents everything about a American nuclear deal they feargoing completely to zero only to see the United States cheat on the deal with ensuing regime change and the violent death of the elite. Indeed, it is rather surprising that Bolton did not see this obvious connection and stumbled into this. The question now then is what will the newly recalcitrant North Korea give us at Singapore? Few analysts actually believed that the North would offer complete verifiable irreversible disarmament (CVID). After forty years of effort to develop nuclear weapons, it would have been astonishing if the North were to suddenly offer that. Curiously, U.S. officials kept talking this up though, eventually sparking this pushback and threat to the summit. CVID is clearly not in the cards, and we need to start thinking about what kinds of sub-CVID offers we will entertain. One idea floating around is that North Korea might give up a few weapons to get the ball rolling and convince the United States that it is serious and not playing for time or for the imagery of Kim meeting Trump as equals. This is ideal actually, as it undercuts the pressure for grand bargain to wrap things up all at once in Singapore. A final deal will be really hard to strike in just the few weeks we have left, and Trump is not preparing for the summit, suggesting it may fall through because he simply does not understand the issues. On the other hand, a small give of weapons from the North could be reciprocate by a small U.S.-South Korean concession, and then, as trust is built up over a series of concessions and counter-concessions, we could push for a large deal, rather than reach for it all at once. Another emergent optionto avoidis the decoupling one, which explicitly prioritizes American security over that of U.S. allies in the region. Here, the United States would accept North Korean elimination of its intercontinental ballistic missileswhich could strike the United Statesfor some kind of U.S. pullback in the region and North Koreas retention of a local nuclear deterrent. That would effectively split the United States from South Korea and Japan, and undercut the United States long-term position in Asia. South Korea and Japan would then have obvious incentives to cut side-dealswhich amounts to finlandization in effectwith North Korea and China, as the United States extended deterrence would be less credible. This is tantamount to the slow end of the U.S. position in Asia. Perhaps Trump himself, with his disdain for U.S. allies, does not mind thatbut much of official Washington supports a deep American involvement in Asia which decoupling would sacrifice. There is no obvious answer for what the United States should surrender in exchange for what from the North. But this weeks KCNA outburst should end the notion that a final deal, which good for the United States and its allies, is within reach at Singapore. Certainly, a deal could be struck quickly if we simply give up a lot. But of course we should not do that. To get a balance-positive deal for the democracies we should probably kick the meat of discussion back to the working level so that we can hammer out a better one without the glare and rush of the Singapore deadline. Robert Kelly is an associate professor of international relations in the Department of Political Science at Pusan National University. More of his writing can be found at his website. He tweets at @Robert_E_Kelly. Image: Reuters Read full article During a meeting in the Oval Office Thursday, President Donald Trump publicly walked back the policy recommendation of his national security adviser John Bolton, who had said the U.S. should push for North Korea to adopt a Libya model for its nuclear weapons program. Libya was working toward the development of a nuclear weapon in the early 2000s but eventually agreed to get rid of its program in 2003. In several recent television interviews, newly appointed adviser Bolton, a well-known foreign-policy hawk, suggested that the Libya model might work for North Korea as well. But the idea appeared to spook North Koreas leadership, which had planned to meet with Trump in Singapore in June to discuss the future of its nuclear weapons program. Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured and brutally killed by pro-U.S. rebels around eight years after he agreed to dismantle Libyas nuclear weapons program. Trending: How Much Does the Royal Wedding Cost and Who's Paying for It? With this in mind, North Korea has been insistent that it will not make the same mistakes as Libya, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un immediately began suggesting that he may cancel the meeting with Trump in response to Boltons comments. Some members of the international community urged Trump to remain calm and do what he could to ensure the meeting took place. On Thursday, Trump appeared to heed that advice by reassuring the North Korean regime that Kim Jong Un's leadership is not being questioned in the lead up to the historic meeting. "The Libyan model is not a model that we have at all when we are thinking of North Korea," Trump said. In Libya we decimated that country. That country was decimated. There was no deal to keep Gaddafi. The Libyan model that was mentioned was a much different deal. This would be with Kim Jong Un, something where he would be there, hed be in his country, hed be running his country, his country would be very rich, Trump continued. Story continues Don't miss: Young People Choosing Marijuana over Alcohol and Cigarettes as Their First Drug Trump then stressed that the U.S. relationship with North Korea would also be different from that with Libya because the U.S. had never promised Tripolis leadership, military or economic support. The comments clearly suggested that the U.S. would be willing to promise the hermit kingdom both of those conditions in exchange for denuclearization, and were an echo of Secretary of State Mike Pompeos previous comments that the U.S. would be willing to help North Korea redevelop economically. For example, Trump said that North Korea could go down the same economic path as the wealthier South Korea. Nevertheless, Trump warned that the U.S. had decimated Libya and that the same could be done to North Korea if no deal is made between Washington and Pyongyang. Thats what John Bolton was referring to when he said the Libya model could be pursued, Trump noted, shedding a different light on his advisers comments. But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong Un is going to very, very happy, Trump pledged. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek DA to journalists should be paid by generous government as a gift of generosity: Newspapers in financial crisis Editorial Desk : The government appointed the Ninth Newspaper Wage Board announced its decision to award 45% dearness allowance to journalists, employees and workers of newspapers and news agencies on March 27th this year. The new wage board award is expected to be effective from September of this year, as per a statement of the Information Minister on April 23 of this year. The newspaper owners have been complaining that the Wage Board has been constituted as such that the award can be given completely ignoring financial reality prevailing in the newspaper world as a way of pleasing the journalists most impractically. The Wage Board under the Ministry of Information is designed in Ayub Khan days to influence press freedom. No newspaper was ever able to implement the award in full. The newspaper owners being in a difficult situation has always been under duress for making practical adjustments. The award is working as process of dishonesty and corruption in the press In a letter, the wage board asked the Information Ministry to take necessary action to implement the decision to award the dearness allowance against their basic salary. Why the government should be asked to take action for implementation the dearness allowance? There are unions and there is law. It is most unfortunate that the judges become involved in controversial role of playing in the hands of the anti-press freedom elements. It is essential that wage increases represent minimum wages but not full scales of wages comparing highly paid government officials. The newspaper owners would be too happy to arrange the best possible wages for the journalist in consultation with the union leaders in the interest of keeping the newspapers independent of government interference. But the dictatorial regimes found the wage board process an easy way of exerting financial pressure on the press. In Bangladesh the situation is worse in the sense that most of the journalists are not journalists. They are openly biased political activists of the government party or the main opposition party anxious to get extra gains from the government. The present government has been very generous in distributing financial largess among government officials, army and police. It will be only just and fair if the government shows same kind of generosity to hard pressed journalists. Our advice is that the generous government with public money should also be generous about the journalists and the DA should be given by the government as its gift of generosity, because most of the newspapers are unable to pay monthly wages on time. The journalists are not helpless labours, they are quite capable of acting through unions to realise just wages for them. They should not be dependent on the government for fixing their wages if they still believe in press freedom. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office: AP Photo/Evan Vucci US President Donald Trump has downplayed North Koreas threats to pull out of an upcoming nuclear summit, claiming the North was communicating with his administration as though nothing happened. Mr Trump fielded questions about the summit during a press conference days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced he would suspend the talks over joint US-South Korean military drills. But Mr Trump claimed nothing had changed with regards to North Korea, adding that "our people" were "literally dealing with them right now". "North Korea's actually talking to us about times and everything else as though nothing happened," he said. "We have not been told anything. We're just reading stories like you are." The summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim would be the first between a sitting US president and North Korean leader. The two leaders had planned to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula a top foreign policy priority of the US for decades. The two countries have been discussing the summit for months, exchanging compliments and even negotiating the release of prisoners. But North Korea backed away from the talks this week, after the US and South Korea launched their annual military drills in the South. Mr Trump said on Thursday that there would be no change to the military exercises. But he also distanced himself from controversial remarks made by his national security adviser, John Bolton, which angered Mr Kim. The president said he was not looking to employ the Libya model in his dealings with North Korea something Mr Bolton had suggested in comments days before. "The Libya model was a much different model. We decimated that country," Mr Trump said. In North Korea, the president said, Mr Kim "would be there, he would be running his country, his country would be very rich. NATO forces helped push Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from power in 2011, eight years after the leader struck a deal with the US to surrender his nuclear weapons. Story continues Mr Trump said he was willing to offer Mr Kim protections if the leader agreed to give up his nuclear weapons. The Libya model, he added, would only be employed if the two countries could not reach an agreement. "We cannot let that country have nukes. We just can't do it," he said. Got a few bucks for the president? He needs it to settle a score. President Trump has been pressuring the postmaster general to double the shipping rates the U.S. Postal Service charges e-commerce giant Amazon, according to a nearly unbelievable account in the Washington Post. Can Trump really do that? Its a question weve asked many times during the last 16 months. The answer this time is probably not. Trump, of course, has been attacking Amazon for months, out of personal animosity toward its CEO, Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, which routinely publishes unflattering Trump material (like the postal scoop it just got from, well, who knows). So in the august tradition of historys best statesmen, Trump wants to use his power as president to punish a single company for petty personal reasons. It must gall Trump that he cant. Amazons rates with the USPS are set by contract, and even the president cant abrogate a contract. That contract isnt public, so we dont know the rates Amazon gets or how long theyre locked in. Most analysts, however, think Amazon gets the same rates as other big shippers, with the USPS turning a tidy profit on its business with Amazon. That contract will end, however, perhaps this year or next. Thats when Trump might have leverage. Lets say he got his way and forced the U.S. Postal Service to double delivery fees for Amazon. The company would do what companies always do. First, it would look for other, cheaper delivery sources, such as UPS and FedEx. But if the Postal Service raised delivery rates, competitors would be able do to the same thing. Rates could even go up for non-Amazon shippers, such as Walmart. One company and millions of households Amazon would also try to pass on as much of the added cost to its customers as it could. And Amazon can get away with thatit just raised its annual fee for Prime members by 20 bucks, to $119 per year. More than 100 million consumers have an Amazon Prime account, most of them in the United States. Trumps shipping surtax wouldnt be huge a dollar or two per package, say but it would be spread across a ton of people. All in all, it would be an extraordinary fee for a president to impose on one company and millions of households. Story continues [Check this out: Amazon is way more popular than Trump.] Trump has other plans that would raise costs for consumers. He has already imposed new tariffs on some steel and aluminum imports, driving up costs for businesses that purchase those commodities as components in other products. Some of those firms say the move will hurt business and jeopardize jobs. Trump has also threatened to impose a much larger set of tariffs on up to $150 billion worth of imports from China. That would undoubtedly push up the cost of some products, which is why economists consider tariffs a hidden tax. Trumps recent decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal could push up gasoline prices. Trump plans to reimpose sanctions on Iran meant to cut off its ability to sell oil. If it works, there will be a bit less oil flowing into global markets, pushing prices up. Anticipation of this eventuality is one reason oil prices have risen by about $12 a barrel this year, to around $72. The average price of gas will probably crest $3 per gallon soon, and could drift toward $3.50 by mid-summer. In negotiations over the North American Trade Agreement, Trump reportedly wants Mexico to raise its average wages for auto workers from around $2 per hour to $15. Thats obviously a giant, and implausible, increase. The idea is to make it more expensive to build cars in Mexico, creating an incentive for manufacturing more cars in the United States. But if it happened, it would push car prices up, as well. Trump, of course, signed a big set of tax cuts in December, which hes been bragging about ever since. That legislation slashed the tax rate most businesses pay, with modest tax savings for middle-class workers. But with the other hand, Trump is pushing polices that are lot less friendlier to businesses and consumers. There are checks on what Trump can get away with. Amazon seems sure to sue over any government policy that seems anticompetitive or targeted at it alone. Trump faces political risks, as well. Few voters will be happy paying a Trump surcharge on package delivery or gasoline or Chinese-made products. Trump is already facing blowback for his trade policies that could cost Republicans votes in the November midterm elections. Imagine, on top of that, a line on your Amazon fee statement that says Trump tax. Even a dollar or two would be a dollar or two too much. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com.Click here to get Ricks stories by email. Read more: Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that the F.B.I. under President Barack Obama had embedded an informant within the Trump campaign in 2016. The President attributed this claim to Andrew McCarthy, an editor at the conservative National Review. In a recent column, McCarthy said that Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of an intelligence firm, Fusion GPS, that compiled research on Trump during the campaign, had testified to the Senate that the F.B.I. had a human source within the campaign. (According to McCarthy, Simpson later backpedaled, saying that he had mischaracterized what his source, the former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele who aided Fusion GPS with its research, had told him.) Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT,' Trump tweeted. Andrew McCarthy says, Theres probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.' If so, this is bigger than Watergate! he concluded. Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT. Andrew McCarthy says, Theres probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign. If so, this is bigger than Watergate! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2018 According to Simpson, Steele had met with the F.B.I. in the fall of 2016 to discuss his concerns about Russian interference in the election. The agency told him they were already on it. Essentially what he told me was they had other intelligence about this matter from an internal Trump campaign source, Simpson said in his Senate testimony. My understanding was that they believed Chris at this point that they believed Chris might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization. Trump has long been convinced that the Obama White House attempted to somehow stymie his effort to become president in 2016. Shortly after his inauguration last year, he claimed that his predecessors administration had wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign a claim eventually refuted by the Department of Justice following an investigation. Jared Kushner, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump Jr. and Donald Trump. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP (4), Getty Images) Throughout Donald Trumps political rise to the presidency, he has remained adamant that his success has had nothing to do with help from Russia, punctuating almost every tweet about the investigation into the 2016 campaign with the catch phrase No Collusion! But the explanations and defenses offered by Trump and his advisers have changed, as new facts have emerged in the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller and in Congress. Here is a summary of some of the more notable twists: _____ None of that was set up In March 2017, months before the Trump campaigns meeting with a Russian operative was reported by the New York Times, Donald Trump Jr. assured the paper that his fathers team had not sought out or had official contact with any Russians. Did I meet with people that were Russian? Im sure, Im sure I did. But none of that was set up. None that I can think of at the moment, and certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way shape or form, Donald Trump Jr. told the New York Times. _____ Discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children A story that appeared in the New York Times on July 8, 2017, revealed that Trump Jr.s March statement was false. He had indeed arranged a meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin, at Trump Tower in Manhattan. The meeting took place on June 9, 2016, just two weeks after Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination, and included Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and adviser Jared Kushner. Confronted with the emails that showed he had planned the meeting, Trump Jr. claimed that the attendees primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children. A day later, the New York Times reported that the meeting had been arranged because Veselnitskaya had promised Trump Jr. damaging information about his fathers likely presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton. _____ Was not a government official The New York Times reporting continued apace, and on July 11, 2017, the paper filled in the details of the promised dirt, releasing a June 3, 2016, email to Trump Jr. from an intermediary, British publicist Rob Goldstone, making it clear that the Kremlin was on Trumps side. Story continues The Crown Prosecutor of Russia [] offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father. This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, Goldstone wrote. In a statement released on July 11, Trump Jr. clarified that he believed that the information on Clinton would be Political Opposition Research and that it was OK to meet with Veselnitskaya because she was not a government official. _____ No part of the meeting I attended included anything about the campaign On July 24, Trumps son-in-law Kushner testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the Trump Tower meeting with Veselnitskaya, claiming that he had not read Trump Jr.s emails describing the Russian offer of political dirt on Clinton. Kushner made a point of saying he wasnt responsible for arranging the meeting. In June 2016, my brother-in-law, Donald Trump Jr., asked if I was free to stop by a meeting, his prepared statement began. And he emphasized that the agenda, as far as he was concerned, had nothing to do with the campaign. No part of the meeting I attended included anything about the campaign, there was no follow up to the meeting that I am aware of, I do not recall how many people were there (or their names), and I have no knowledge of any documents being offered or accepted, Kushner testified in a prepared statement. _____ You know this Trump is killing us In an interview with NBC News on April 27, 2018, Veselnitskaya disclosed what many in the U.S. intelligence community had already concluded, that she is an informant for the Russian government. That public declaration did not sit well with Trump, who, at a Michigan campaign rally one night later, floated a theory about her disclosure. I guarantee you, Im tougher on Russia. Nobody ever thought. In fact, have you heard about the lawyer? For a year, a woman lawyer, she was like, Oh, I know nothing. Now all of a sudden she supposedly is involved with government. You know why? If she did that, because Putin and the groups said, You know this Trump is killing us,' the president told his audience. Why dont you say that youre involved with government so that we could go and make their life in the United States even more chaotic. Look at whats happened. Look at how these politicians have fallen for this junk. Russian collusion. Give me a break. _____ You have a made up, phony crime, Collusion After months of denying that any collusion took place between his campaign and the Russians, Trump tried a new tack to blunt the impact of an April 30, 2018, story on the questions special counsel Mueller intended to ask the president in an interview. Some of those questions, the New York Times reported, focused on the help the Russian government offered to the Trump campaign. So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were leaked to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I seeyou have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2018 _____ So I believe you have some information for us On Wednesday, May 16, the Senate Judiciary Committee released 2,500 pages of documents relating to its investigation of the Trump campaigns Russian ties. Among the revelations was that Trump Jr. kicked off the meeting with Veselnitskaya by asking her directly for the dirt on Clinton. So I believe you have some information for us, Trump Jr. told Veselnitskaya. The opposition research turned out to be fraud allegations made against Clinton by Democratic donors that Trump Jr. deemed underwhelming. _____ They never used it is the main thing. In a May 16, 2018, interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani further adjusted the goalposts of guilt by arguing that the collusion rises to the level of a crime only if the information in question is acted upon. And even if it comes from a Russian, or a German, or an American, it doesnt matter. And they never used it is the main thing. They never used it. They rejected it. If there was collusion with the Russians, they would have used it, Giuliani said. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Donald Trump has warned Kim Jong-un that North Korea will be decimated if it does not agree a nuclear deal, and that Mr Kim himself will be treated in the same manner as slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. In comments to reporters that initially appeared designed to reassure Mr Kim, amid reports of potential brinksmanship from North Korea, the US president said his safety would be reassured and that he would remain in control of his country, following any deal with Washington. Yet he then suggested if a deal was not forthcoming, the North Korean leader might be treated much more harshly. The Libyan model was a much different model. We decimated that country. We never said to Gaddafi, Oh, we're going to give you protection, he said. We went in and decimated him, and we did the same thing with Iraq. He added: That model would take place if we dont make a deal. Mr Trumps comments came after North Korea abruptly pulled out of a meeting planned for Wednesday with South Korea, and suggested it may also not participate in the summit with Mr Trump, scheduled to take place in Singapore on 12 June. North Korea claimed it was angered over a joint US-South Korea military exercise, but some observers suggested Pyongyang was returning to the kind of diplomacy it had displayed before at the time of other proposed talks. Others said it was possible that secret preparation discussions, understood to be taking place in Singapore, may have hit a bump. A statement published by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, said North Korea would never accept economic assistance from the US in exchange for unilaterally abandoning its nuclear programme. The statement, issued in the name of Kim Kye Gwan, North Koreas first vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: We have never had any expectation of US support in carrying out our economic construction and will not Make such a deal in future. Mr Trump was asked about comments made over the weekend by his national security adviser, John Bolton, who had raised the prospect of pursuing a Libya model in relation to getting North Korea to abandon its weapons programme. Story continues Mr Bolton was referring to a announcement made by Mr Gaddafi in December 2003, when, after the US and UK invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, he announced he was giving up his WMD programme and seeking better relations with the West. Mr Trump appeared to have confused that process, with what happened to the Libyan leader in 2011, when he was overthrown and killed after Libyans joined the Arab Spring protests, and were supported militarily by Nato. He was hunted down and killed by opponents in the city of Sirte, after his convoy was struck by Nato planes. Hillary Clinton, the then US secretary of state, said of his death: We came, we saw, he died. North Korea is actually talking to us about times and everything else as though nothing happened, Mr Trump said, at the start of an Oval Office meeting with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He said the deal he was looking at would give Mr Kim protections that will be very strong. He added: He would be there, he would be running his country, his country would be very rich. The Libya model was a much different model. We decimated that country. Reuters said Mr Trump then said Mr Kim would face such a fate, if he failed to agree to a deal. The president did not provide specifics, but added: We cannot let that country have nukes. We just cant do it. The United States has demanded the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of North Koreas nuclear weapons programme, which Pyongyang has rejected. Rather, North Korea has given no indication that it is willing to go beyond statements of broad support for the concept of denuclearisation. It has said in previous, failed talks, 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. South Korea is also involved in efforts to both salvage peace talks with North Korea and play mediator for the summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim. We decided to closely coordinate with both sides so that the upcoming [summit] will be held successfully with mutual respect, a South Korean official told the news agency. By Elly Park MORRISTOWN, N.J. (Reuters) - A student and a teacher were killed and 43 others injured when a school bus with preteens on a field trip collided with a dump truck on a New Jersey highway on Thursday, ripping the bus apart and leaving students dangling by seat belts, officials said. The crash occurred about 10:20 a.m. in Mount Olive Township in northern New Jersey's Morris County, Governor Phil Murphy told a news conference. The bus was carrying 38 students and seven adults, including the driver. "Some patients are in critical condition and currently undergoing surgery, so please keep everybody in your prayers," Murphy said. There is an awful lot we just dont know, the governor said, adding details of the crash were not being released pending an investigation. The front end of the bus was severed from the vehicle and the body of the bus was separated from its chassis, which remained on the highway. The dump truck seemed to be mostly intact. The bus was carrying students from East Brook Middle School in Paramus to Waterloo Village, a restored 19th century canal town, officials said. The bus flew off of the wheels, but it hit the metal thing on the side of the highway, fifth-grader Theo Ancevski said. He told reporters he escaped through an emergency door on the bus. "A lot of people (inside the bus) were screaming and they were like, hanging from their seat belts," he added. U.S. fifth-graders are generally aged 10 or 11. The crash temporarily shut all westbound lanes of I-80, State Police said. "The children were all over, outside," said Morris County Office Of Emergency Management Director Jeff Paul. "We had every injury type that you can imagine for a scenario like this. It's tragic," he told reporters. Two other buses in the field trip convoy also carrying fifth-graders on the same trip returned to Paramus, officials said. The operator of the dump truck, Mendez Trucking, had 33 units that drive 1.9 million miles (3.1 million km) in total in 2017 and had been involved in seven crashes over the past two years, U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records showed. Story continues Company officials were not immediately available for comment. The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents involving buses, was gathering information but was not investigating the collision, it said on Twitter. Paramus is about 10 miles west (15 km) of upper Manhattan. Mount Olive is about 40 miles (64 km) west of Paramus. (Reporting by Elly Park; Additional reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney) The U.S. Air Force has removed a tweet that compared the viral Yanny/Laurel debate to the sound of U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan following criticism that it was inappropriate. The Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10, the official U.S. Air Force Twitter account posted Thursday morning, with a link to an Air Force Times story about the airstrikes. By Thursday afternoon, the tweet was replaced with an apology. We recognize the tweet was made in poor taste and it has been removed, Ann Stefanek, spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force, told TIME. We apologize for the earlier tweet regarding the A-10. It was made in poor taste and we are addressing it internally. It has since been removed. U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) May 17, 2018 The original tweet referred to an attack on Tuesday by Afghan and American air forces against Taliban insurgents who were trying to take over the city of Farah. U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II jets flew overhead as a show of force to warn Taliban forces, while MQ-9 Reaper drones conducted strikes, Military Times reported. Army Lt. Col. Martin ODonnell, a spokesperson for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told Military Times that Afghan planes conducted the majority of strikes. The whole Farah city is cleared from the Taliban. Around 300 members of the Taliban were killed in the fighting. House-to-house searching for the Taliban and clearance operation is underway, said Najib Danish, the spokesman for Afghanistans Interior Ministry, according to the New York Times. The #BRRT in the deleted tweet likely refers to the sound made by the A-10 jets famous 30mm cannon. Many politicians and brands have been quick to weigh in on the debate over the viral audio clip that says either Yanny or Laurel, depending on listeners cognition. But the Air Force tweet received criticism from some on social media who said it made light of military violence. Story continues Don't do this. Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) May 17, 2018 Military humor is always THE BEST, isn't it? Nice to take a break from, you know, killing people. tenacious b (@MamanUbu) May 17, 2018 The Air Force apologized Thursday for a tweet that appeared to make light of bombing the Taliban in Afghanistan by comparing it to an audio file that went viral over the past week with the hashtag #YannyLaurel. The audio file had spread across the internet, but some couldnt agree on whether it was saying the word Yanny or Laurel, which led to vociferous debate. The U.S. military later used the hashtag to call attention to an operation targeting Taliban militants in the city of Farah, western Afghanistan. The Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10, the U.S. Air Force tweeted early Wednesday morning. Trending: League of Legends Rift Scuttler Changes Causes Community Uproar, Riot Responds But someone in the Air Force leadership realized they were going to get a backlash for what appeared to be a flippant comment about a military operation. A few hours later, the tweet disappeared, and the Air Force issued an apology. We apologize for the earlier tweet regarding the A-10. It was made in poor taste and we are addressing it internally. It has since been removed, the Air Force tweeted. Don't miss: Kingdom Hearts 3 Preview: This Hands-on Proved Hard to Put Down This week, the Taliban launched numerous attacks against Farah and issued statements claiming it had seized control of the territory. In response, U.S. bombers were called out to defend the city. Afghan officials announced Thursday that the Taliban had given up its efforts, but clashes left at least five civilians and 25 members of the Afghan security forces dead. Story continues On Thursday, the Taliban issued a stark warning to U.S. forces. The invaders and their slaves must understand the fact that dozens of Afghans will join the battlefield to take revenge for every single brother that is killed. They will not give up fighting, nor will return back to their homes until they take the revenge of their loved ones, the group posted on its website. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek London (AFP) - Britain could substantially boost its troop numbers in Afghanistan following demands from US President Donald Trump that NATO members "pay their fair share", The Times reported Friday. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is believed to have asked Prime Minister Theresa May for 400 more soldiers to be sent to help the fight against the Taliban, adding to the 600 already training Afghan forces. Trump announced last year that the US would send an additional 3,500 troops to secure areas that had fallen under Taliban control and has frequently warned that members need to fulfil their commitments to NATO spending. "Twenty-three of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they're supposed to be paying for their defence," Trump said at NATO's headquarters in Brussels last year. May is due to make an announcement at a NATO summit in July, where it is anticipated Trump may turn the screw even further. Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it remained "committed to NATO's ...mission, in which we play an important role, and keep our contribution under constant review." Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, said Britain needed to acknowledge that challenges still remained in Afghanistan. "When we left it was not the case that the Afghan national army and the air force were strong enough to tip the balance against the Taliban and that now has to be reset," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. Yaounde (AFP) - The US ambassador to Cameroon on Friday accused government forces of carrying out "targeted killings" and other abuses in the fight against militants demanding independence for two English-speaking regions. "On the side of the government, there have been targeted killings, detentions without access to legal support, family, or the Red Cross, and burning and looting of villages," Ambassador Peter Barlerin said in a statement. "On the side of the separatists," he also stressed, "there have been murders of gendarmes, kidnapping of government officials, and burning of schools." The statement, which adds to warnings by rights watchdogs over abuses in the conflict, was issued after Barlerin met on Thursday with President Paul Biya. The crisis began in 2016, when activists in the anglophone minority, about a fifth of the country's population of 22 million, stepped up a campaign for greater autonomy. Biya rejected their demands, prompting radicals to make a full-blown but symbolic declaration of independence last October 1 -- the starting point for armed clashes and a crackdown. Barlerin, in his statement, called on both sides "to stop the violence immediately." "I asked the President to use his leadership to encourage both sides to listen to each other," he said. "One cannot have a dialogue until both sides are willing to listen to the others point of view." Many anglophones in the Northwest and Southwest regions complain of marginalisation in education, the judiciary and the economy and having French imposed on them. The presence of a large English-speaking minority in the centre-west African state dates back to the colonial period. It was once a German colony that after World War I was divided between Britain and France. In 1960, the French colony gained independence, becoming Cameroon, and the following year, the British-ruled Southern Cameroons was amalgamated into it under a federal system. Story continues Federalism was then scrapped 11 years later for a "united republic" -- a centralised system that 85-year-old Biya, in power for more than 35 years, has said will not be changed. According to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, "at least 120" civilians and "at least 43" security forces have been killed since the end of 2016. On Tuesday, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said around 160,000 people become internally displaced by the crisis and 20,000 had sought refuge in neighbouring Nigeria. 10 killed in Texas high school shooting AP : At least one gunman opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday, killing eight to 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he could not be precise about the number of deaths at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. Two suspects believed to be students were in custody. It was the nation's deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and re-energized the gun-control movement after surviving teens launched a campaign for reform. The school district confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it would not immediately release further details. A school police officer was being treated at a hospital, the sheriff said, but there was no immediate word on the extent of his injuries. Help us deliver journalism that makes a difference in our community. Our journalism takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work to produce. If you read and enjoy our journalism, please consider subscribing today. "We hope the worst is over, and I really can't say any more about that because it would be pure speculation," Assistant Principal Cris Richardson Richardson told reporters at the scene. Aerial footage showed students standing in a grassy field and three medical helicopters landing at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 residents roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. School officials said law enforcement officers were working to secure the building and move students to another location. Students were being transported to another location to reunite with their parents. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. The student said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. "We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, 'Start running,'" the student told the television station. The student said she did not get a good look at the shooter because she was running away. She said students escaped through a door at the back of the classroom. Authorities did not immediately confirm that report. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was responding to the shooting. In the aftermath of the Feb. 14 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors pulled all-nighters, petitioned city councils and state lawmakers, and organized protests in a grass-roots movement. Within weeks, state lawmakers adopted changes, including new weapons restrictions. The move cemented the gun-friendly state's break with the National Rifle Association. The NRA fought back with a lawsuit. In late March, the teens spearheaded one of the largest student protest marches since Vietnam in Washington and inspired hundreds of other marches from California to Japan. The US Air Force drew flak Thursday after it published -- then deleted -- a tweet making light of a Taliban offensive that killed up to 25 Afghan forces and at least five civilians. The tweet from the official Air Force account built on an internet phenomenon in which an audio snippet with just two syllables is heard by listeners as either "Yanny" or "Laurel." The meme has prompted fierce online debate between rival camps. In an apparent attempt at humor, the Air Force linked the debate to this week's Taliban assault on Farah city in western Afghanistan, near the border with Iran. The tweet refers to the internet meme, and the sound a US A-10 ground-attack plane makes when it fires its Gatling gun. "The Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10," the Air Force tweet read, before linking to a story about the Farah offensive. Reaction online was swift, with many users failing to see the joke. "I have a suggestion. Next time get a perspective from the folks who carried out the missions. Publishing the thoughts of some sadistic jerk-off who is excited by military hardware is not a good look," Twitter user @radical6216 wrote. "Military humor is always THE BEST, isn't it? Nice to take a break from, you know, killing people," @MamanUbu wrote. Some users came to the tweet's defense and said critics were being too politically correct, but a few hours after the tweet was published, the Air Force took it down. "We apologize for the earlier tweet regarding the A-10. It was made in poor taste and we are addressing it internally. It has since been removed," the Air Force said. On Wednesday, the Pentagon had made light of the Yanny/Laurel debate, tweeting a photo of a US Marine Corps instructor berating a recruit: "I said it's #Yanny, recruit, not #Laurel!" Story continues US and Afghan aircraft this week bombed Taliban positions in Farah after the insurgents launched a major attempt to capture the provincial capital, with fearful residents seeking shelter from explosions and gunfire. Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said 300 Taliban had been killed. Farah provincial governor Abdul Basir Salangi said at least five civilians and 25 Afghan forces had been killed. The Air Force tweet brought brief attention in the US to the nearly 17-year-old war in Afghanistan which despite costing more than $1 trillion still has no end in sight. "Our Afghan partners' success in places like Farah are a testament to the tremendous improvement in the Afghan national army, Afghan special security forces and the Afghan air force," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said. Never mind. Thats the market mindset, for now, regarding the trade wars President Trump supposedly touched off in March, when he first imposed new sanctions on select imports. Since then, Trump has proposed tariffs on $150 billion worth of Chinese imports, while continuing to push for a new North American Free Trade Agreement thats more favorable to the United States. But Trumps trade crusade seems to be petering out. After high-level Chinese negotiators visited Washington this week, administration officials said China agreed to buy more American products. But China declined Trumps demand to reduce Americas $375 billion trade deficit with China by $200 billion. The impasse is probably okay, because this is how big international disputes get papered over: each side reports what it needs to in order to declare victory. Meanwhile, it seems possible, and maybe likely, that Trumps big NAFTA overhaul will get delayed until, well, later. A Congressional deadline for finalizing a NAFTA revamp has come and gone, with many details still unresolved. Trade tensions have been the darkest cloud over financial markets this year, but now the skies are clearing a bit. For that reason, our Trump-o-meter this week reads BIGLY, our equivalent of a B. Source: Yahoo Finance Trump, of course, is unpredictable, and this could all go awry if he loses patience and imposes his Chinese tariffs after all, or decides to torch NAFTA for good. But there are mounting pressures for him to stand down, instead. First, Trump needs to focus on his upcoming meeting with North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Un, scheduled for June 12. He needs Chinas help to make that a productive event. Its highly unlikely the North Koreans will give up their nuclear weapons, as Trump wants. So making the meeting with Kim appear successful will require careful staging and messaging. Trump probably wont jab China on trade while seeking its help on North Korea. [Check out our Trumponomics Report Card.] Story continues Second, political pressure at home is weakening Trumps hand on trade. The one set of tariffs Trump has actually imposed raises the cost of about $3 billion worth of Chinese steel and aluminum imports to the United States. In response to that, China has put new restrictions on the sale of US agricultural exports to China, hurting American soybean, sorghum and ginseng farmers. Theyve been squawking, causing Trump bad publicity and possibly costing Republican votes in the upcoming midterm elections. With control of Congress at stake, Trump cant afford to make many enemies. And this is over a puny $3 billion worth of trade, an insignificant amount, economically. Imagine the blowback if it affected 50 times that amount. A single Trump tweet reveals the presidents eagerness to escape the trap he has set for himself. On May 13, Trump said he was looking for a way to get Chinese telecom company ZTE back into business, after US sanctions imposed in April crippled the companys operations. Trump was basically issuing China a trade concession, publicly, before China did anything in exchange. We still dont know what the exact deal will be, if one even materializes. But its pretty clear Trump is grasping for a way to settle his dispute with China. NAFTA negotiations could lapse until the fall, since Mexico has a presidential election in July and has indicated it wont negotiate in the late stages of the campaign. But by fall, the United States will be in the same position with regard to the November midterms. The demagoguery and public posturing that attends most campaigning makes serious policymaking difficult during election seasons. So Trumps NAFTA reboot could slip all the way to 2019. This is generally good news for markets, which have swooned every time Trump has threatened significant disruptions to global trade. Trump and his aides have suggested some short-term pain might be necessary to get better long-term trade deals, but the run-up to elections is the wrong time to inflict any pain on voters. In fact, theres never really a good time to do that, as Trump seems to be learning. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com.Click here to get Ricks stories by email. Read more: Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn Stella Armstrong, pictured center and right, with her children. (Photo: Courtesy of Stella Armstrong) Stella Armstrong, a mother of two, was turning her life around and going to a drug treatment center when she found out she had hepatitis C. Back in 1999, the rehab center offered free testing for several diseases, including hepatitis C and HIV. Everything came back good, except for hepatitis C, she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The disease came as a surprise at first and then it hit her. When Armstrong was around 18 years old and living in San Diego, shed briefly tried injecting drugs (a common way hepatitis C is spread is by sharing needles). But she had buried that dark memory long ago. My counselor said to me, How would you have contracted hepatitis C? she recalls. My mind raced back to 1980 and that Id used the needle. Id shoved that memory so far down that I never thought about it again. Feeling healthy enough and fearing the side effects of the only hepatitis C drug regimen available at the time, Armstrong decided to forgo treatment for the disease. Instead, her primary care physician regularly monitored her blood work, including her liver enzymes, for 13 years. But in September 2013, her health took a turn for the worse. She had already been feeling achy and tired, as well as bloated symptoms she had learned to live with. But it got to the point where I was feeling like I had the flu every day, with mild fever and nausea, she says. Armstrong continued: I had my labs done and my liver enzymes had tripled. I was devastated, nervous, and stressed out. They did the FibroScan [a noninvasive test] and told me I was at fibrosis 3 or 4 right before cirrhosis. A few months later, and before her health got any worse, Armstrong decided to start taking what was then a new FDA-approved drug for hepatitis C. She took the medication for 12 weeks and was cured of the disease. Although it would have been easier for Armstrong, who is now a 55-year-old grandmother of six, to keep both her disease and her previous drug use a secret, she decided to share her story in the hope that she could help others coping with the disease. Story continues Its so stigmatized a lot of people dont talk about it, says Armstrong, who lives in Las Vegas and is a member of the American Liver Foundations Patient Advisory Committee. People dont want to be judged. For Armstrong, its her past that motivates her to help others. Ive made a point of helping others and talking to them about what I went through, she says. I want people to know theres a cure for [hepatitis C] and not to live with it for years and how much damage it does to your body. You dont have to live like that. With the disease behind her, Armstrong is focusing on whats important in her life: staying healthy and spending time with her grown children, Anthony and Lesley, and her grandkids. Its nice because I can look forward to that, she says. I dont have this awful thing on me, waiting for it to catch up to me. I can move on and live my life like a normal person. May is Hepatitis Awareness Month. Read more about the disease on Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Thousands have been left stumped as to whether the audio clip is saying Yanny or Laurel - EyeEm The question is seemingly a straightforward one: Do you hear Yanny or Laurel? Yet the answer for the millions of people who have listened to the short clip since it appeared on Twitter on Monday is proving as divisive as the infamous gold and white dress debate of 2015. The seconds-long soundbite has provoked intense discussion on social media as well as in offices and living rooms across continents, as people adamantly insist that their version is indeed what the synthetic voice is saying. Academics have also offered a number of explanations for the baffling phenomenon. Theories range from the way our hearing changes as we age, to peoples brains being primed by seeing the written word first, to accent variation between British and American listeners influencing what they pick up. The debate started after the clip was first posted on social media site Reddit by user RolandCamry after he looked up the word laurel in the online dictionary, Vocabulary.com. RolandCamry, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Telegraph that after hitting the website's audio pronunciation function to hear how the word should sound his sister told him she heard it as Yanny. To settle the debate he posted the audio clip on a Reddit forum, posing the simple question: What do you guys hear? The comments soon blew up with posters arguing about whether it was saying Yanny or Laurel. One commented: I hear Laurel and everyone is a liar. The clip then went viral when it was tweeted on Tuesday by YouTuber Cloe Feldman and has since been listened to more than five million times. What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018 The conundrum has even reached the White House, which released a video featuring various members of the staff weighing in. Story continues Senior adviser Ivanka Trump says, "So clearly Laurel." Strategic-communications director Mercedes Schlapp says, "Yanny's the winner, Laurel's the loser." White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway pokes fun at her endless willingness to spin and bend the truth for the president, saying, "It's Laurel. But I could deflect and divert to Yanny if you need me to." The video ends with President Donald Trump deadpanning, "I hear covfefe" - a reference to a botched tweet he wrote last year that was never explained. Other celebrities have joined the debate, including talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and American model Chrissy Teigen, who have both weighed in with their thoughts. Literally everything at my show just stopped to see if people hear Laurel or Yanny. I hear Laurel. https://t.co/efWRw1Gj0L Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 15, 2018 it's so clearly laurel. I can't even figure out how one would hear yanny. christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 15, 2018 Neuroscientist Dr Hannah Critchlow of Cambridge University, whose new book Consciousness discusses how the brain alters perception, said a number of factors could influence what people hear, including recent experiences. She said: "The brain is trying to make sense of the world all the time, and everyone has a unique perception on what is going on around them, and what they see and hear. "I have just been sent flowers for my birthday, and I hear 'laurel', so that could be because my mind is focused on those flowers. Younger people can also hear higher frequencies so there could be something in that too. There are probably several things going on here." An 'ambiguous figure' Scientists say it highlights the difference between hearing and listening, where hearing happens in the ear, but listening occurs in the brain, where meaning is attributed to sound. Scientifically, the clip is not actually an illusion at all, but rather an "ambiguous figure", or bistable precept, in which the mind is forced to choose between two different states. It is the auditory equivalent of Joseph Jastrows well known rabbit/duck illustration, or Rubin's vase, where the brain interprets either two vases or two faces. In the word "laurel", the noises made by the throat and mouth to produce the sound are at two different frequencies, creating the ambiguity. For example, a high frequency is needed for the "l" but a low frequency is required for "r". A spectrogram of the clip shows that both the sounds "laurel" and "yanny" are present, but at different ends of the sound spectrum. Thousands have been left stumped as to whether the audio clip is saying Yanny or Laurel Credit: EyeEm Likewise, because the original audio clip is slightly muffled it leaves room for individual interpretation. The way people make sense of sound is influenced by what they hear regularly, so people who have closer friends called "Danny" or "Annie" would be more likely to pick up the sound "yanny". Trevor Cox, professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford said: If you look at the spectrogram you can see both sounds are there, on top of each other. So the sound that an individual picks up could be based on sounds they hear often, or how words are pronounced in their language or dialect. Or maybe youve got a friend called Laurel, so you are more attuned to hearing that word. Also if you have noise-induced hearing loss you will struggle to hear sounds in the middle of that range so would only be able to hear 'laurel'. So if you struggle to hear yanny maybe you are getting into that region of hearing loss. Age gap One factor that could be affecting what people hear is age as our ears become less adept at picking up higher frequencies as we get older. Young people find higher frequencies easier to hear, while people suffering age-related hearing loss start to lose the ability to hear sounds around 4,000HZ, exactly the frequency of the "yanny" noise. So if you cant hear "yanny", it could be a sign of increasing years or even hearing damage. Lauren Laverne, the radio broadcaster , tweeted that she was hearing "laurel" whereas her seven-year-old daughter was hearing "Yanny". Laurel for me (no surprise after 20 years in DJ headphones) Yanny for the 7 year old https://t.co/DX23SscQhm Lauren Laverne (@laurenlaverne) May 16, 2018 Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford, said he could only hear "laurel" and that could be because of his age. He said: "If there was stuff going on at high frequency range maybe you would get young people hearing/and being influenced by that, but not oldies?" Accent variation Jane Setter, a professor of phonetics at the University of Reading, said people may also be hearing different names depending on where they live. There may well be differences between British and American listeners, she told the Telegraph. The phenomenon seems to have started off with American listeners perceptions of a recording of 'Laurel' generated by computer ie synthesized. Accent differences will predispose the brain to hearing certain patterns so it would be interesting to see if a Brit, Aussie, American pattern emerges but Im not sure whos collecting that data, and it will be difficult to do so now with any research rigour. Another factor that could influence what name listeners hear according to Prof Setter was seeing the written word first in the tweet. As English speakers read from left to right this could prime the brain to expect to hear yanny for some people. Sound quality Alex Holcombe, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Sydney, has also explained that the audio quality of the clip could be an influence as our brains effectively fill in the blanks when presented with low sound quality. you can hear both when you adjust the bass levels: pic.twitter.com/22boppUJS1 Earth Vessel Quotes (@earthvessquotes) May 15, 2018 He said: Because our brains are almost every day trying to understand what was said under less than ideal (noisy) conditions, it is in the habit of making strong guesses from ambiguous stimuli. If the auditory signal is somewhere between the prototypical way of saying laurel and yanny, then the brain may tend to force it towards one or the other, as it does with the phonemic restoration effect. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Dhaka rejects Israeli atrocities UNB, Dhaka : Bangladesh on Friday conveyed that its people and government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina strongly condemn and fully reject the Israeli atrocities. Bangladesh also deplored the US relocation of the Embassy, and expressed full support, sympathy and solidarity with the Palestinian brothers and sisters in their legitimate cause of an independent, viable and contiguous state of Palestine under a two-state solution. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, who is leading a seven-member Bangladesh delegation, conveyed Bangladesh's position at the 7th Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul. The Summit focused on the massacre of the peaceful Palestinian civilian protesters by the Israeli forces as well as on the official opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem on May 14. President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan convened the Summit in his capacity as Chair of the OIC Summit. Mahmood Ali participated in it as the Chair of the 45th Council of Foreign Minister, said the Foreign Ministry here. Bangladesh delegation includes Security Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Maj Gen (rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Bangladesh PR to OIC Ambassador Golam Moshi, Bangladesh Ambassador to Turkey M Allama Siddiki, and other senior officials of the Ministry and Bangladesh Missions. Bangladesh Foreign Minister began his busy day by attending the Council of Foreign Ministers preparatory to the Summit as chair of the current CFM in the podium, while the Adviser for Defence and Security to the Prime Minister led Bangladesh delegation in the Council meeting. The Council was preceded by the Senior Official Meeting (SOM) on Thursday that prepared the draft Final Communique and the Bangladesh delegation to the SOM was led by AFM Gousal Azam Sarker, DG of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Council has reached consensus on the Final Communique for adoption by the Summit on Friday. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Yakima could soon get a second sister city, this time in South Korea. City Councilwoman Holly Cousens is preparing to embark on a week-long trip to Hadong County a rural, mountainous farming region on the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula and home to 58,000 people to explore that possibility. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close Najib controlled courts and coffers for his corruption Abridged story from The New York Times : Just a few months ago, the political machine of Malaysia led by Najib Razak appeared so indestructible that a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal seemed unlikely to derail it. The end came so quickly, so completely, that even his opponents were shocked. For nearly a decade, Mr. Najib had unfettered control of his nation's courts and coffers. His party had thrived by unfailingly delivering huge cash handouts at election time. The media was at his disposal; journalists he didn't like, he shut down. Political foes were shoved into prison. Mr. Najib enjoyed the friendship of big guys like President Trump. But his authority suddenly evaporated in May 9 elections led by 92-year-old former Mahathir Mohamad. He became so quickly vulnerable to criminal charges at home, as well as by a reinvigorated effort of the US Justice Department as it pursues billions of dollars missing from 1Malaysia Development Fund. The details released from that investigation in the past three years painted a lurid picture of a Malaysian leader and his family members and friends living high on diverted public money. Prosecutors say that hundreds of millions of dollars missing fund appeared in Mr. Najib's personal account and was spent on luxury items, including a 22-carat pink diamond necklace, worth $27.3 million, for his wife. In all some $7.5 billion was stolen from the fund, prosecutors say and spent on paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Warhol and others worth over $200 million; on luxury real estate in the United States; and even on a megayacht for a family friend, Jho Low, who reveled in his Hollywood connections. Mr. Najib's stepdaughter, Azrene Ahmad, took to Instagram on Friday with an emotional condemnation of him and her mother, Rosmah Mansor, who had become widely known for piling up designer labels, garlands of jewelry and a multimillion-dollar handbag collection that more than rivaled the shoe fetish of Imelda Marcos of the Philippines. Ms. Azrene describing how she had "witnessed many trespasses, deals and handshakes these two made for the benefit of power and to fuel their appetite for greed." She wrote about numerous offshore accounts opened to launder money out of the country for their personal spending cataloging accusations against them. "The steel safes full of jewels, precious stones and cash amassed," she saw. Mr. Najib's brother, Nazir Razak joined hands to his brother's ouster saying, "Malaysia needs major recalibration." As he fall even the state-linked news media, which had spent years writing slavish articles describing Mr. Najib's wisdom and Ms. Rosmah's charitable ventures, dropped the multiple honorifics that once preceded his name. After his defeat, Mr. Najib in a Twitter message apologized for mistakes although he maintained, "the best interests of Malaysia and its people will always be my first priority." The saga of Najib Razak is one of astonishing insatiability and unaccountability. And it is an account of a political party - the United Malays National Organization, which Mr. Najib led - that teethed on graft and patronage and collapsed under the weight of its own immoderation. Donald Greenlees, an authority on Southeast Asia at Australian National University said, "For a long time, elites across the region have enjoyed a culture of impunity." He further said, "There is no doubt that the decades of mostly one-party rule, the capture of state institutions, particularly the judiciary, and the taming of the media led Najib to believe he was untouchable." Mr. Najib's downfall was a vanishingly rare event in a region where democracy has retreated in recent years. In Malaysia, as in other places across Southeast Asia, elections had been deployed only to legitimize those in power. Yet without a single shot fired or a threat of a coup uttered, Mr. Najib was toppled. "The day I left home I left you a warning," Ms. Azrene, his stepdaughter, wrote on Instagram. "There will come a of reckoning when the people will punish you for your trespasses on them. There will come a day when God will punish you for your trespasses, the very people you swore to protect." The Flawed Heir Coming from a family which gave the second and third Prime Minister of Malaysia Mr. Najib's pedigree was impeccable and from an early age he seemed destined in his thinking to lead the country as his birthright. French investigators are still examining whether Mr. Najib, during his time as defense minister, might have personally profited from around $130 million in kickbacks related to a French submarines deal. Before being killed, a Mongolian woman and wife of one of his advisers claimed she was owed half a million dollars for brokering that deal. The biggest scandal exploded in 2015 when reports of missing billions of dollars surfaced from 1Malaysia Development Fund. In 2016, the United States Justice Department made the disclosure that a person it referred to as a Malaysian official had siphoned $731 million from 1MDB and privately confirmed Mr. Najib was that Malaysian official. The Justice Department's accusations continued saying a total of $4.5 billion in 1MDB funds was laundered through American banks, enriching Mr. Najib, his family and friends, prosecutors said. It said $250 million went to buy a megayacht, complete with a helicopter pad and movie theater, built for Mr Low a financier friend of Mr. Najib's stepson, Riza Aziz. Federal prosecutors said he used 1MDB funds to buy the actor Leonardo DiCaprio a $3.2 million Picasso painting for his birthday. The Australian model Miranda Kerr received $8 million in jewelry. Both have returned the gifts. Mr. Najib explained that $681 million deposited in his personal bank account was a gift from a Saudi patron. In 2015, he fired Malaysia's attorney general when he got enough evidence to bring charge against him. Subsequent Malaysian government investigations cleared Mr. Najib of any wrongdoing. The Malaysian political establishment wondered how the son of a famously ascetic prime minister had grown so venal and careless. Blame the Wife As the public grew angrier his wife Ms. Rosmah became a frequent target of public ire. Her habit of taking chartered shopping expeditions to Europe and Australia, presumably at the expense of Malaysian taxpayers, became social-media fodder. Her Hermes Birkin handbag collection, one broker said, was worth at least $10 million. Rosmah was vilified as the major partner in the corruption and scandals associated with the prime minister. In 2015, when Mr. Najib's and Ms. Rosmah's daughter married the nephew of President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, guests were astonished by their lavish wedding celebrations. Mr. Mahathir, who attended one party, recalled seeing soldiers lugging at least 17 trunks loaded with luxury gifts for the guests. "I had never seen that, even at royal weddings," he said in an interview with The New York Times in 2016. Mr. Najib was called the "Man of Steal" by Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, one of Malaysia's top cartoonists, who caricatured Ms. Rosmah with a giant diamond ring on her plump finger. Mr. Zulkiflee, who is known by the pen name Zunar, was charged with nine counts of sedition and still could face up to 43 years in prison. The allegations of corruption include missing of huge farm subsidy to the tune of around $750 million. Mr. Najib oversaw that program. Failed Containment Mr. Najib seemed curiously removed from reality. With huge bill boards for election campaign he believed Malaysian voters were supposed to acquiesce to whatever deal he had on offer. Najib believed 'cash is king.' He had predicted his governing coalition would do even better in this month's elections than it had in 2013. His information minister boasted saying the United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, would win easily. He said his party had access to a trove of government data on Malaysian voters they have it all at their fingertips. In the final months of the campaign, Mr. Najib fell back on tried-and-true money politics. The day before the election, he promised Malaysians 26 years and younger would not have to pay income tax if his coalition prevailed. Earlier, he offered significant pay raises to civil servants, who are mostly ethnically Malay rather than from Malaysia's Chinese or Indian minorities. That has always been his style. Other tactics were more iron-fisted. Shortly before campaigning began, his party pushed through a so-called fake news law that was the first used by Mr. Trump to discredit media report. His government also designed a broad gerrymandering scheme that diminished the impact of minorities who were unlikely to vote for him. On Sunday, Mr. Najib and Ms. Rosmah were still secluded in their mansion in Kuala Lumpur. A bodyguard at their home, who asked not to be identified in the press, said the stream of confidants who once knocked at their door had stopped. Even their housekeeper, he said, had deserted them. The Iranian Quds Force wont retaliate against Israel in the coming days, defense establishment officials believe. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to Israeli estimates, Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani will use the coming weeks to analyze the events of the past few days and draw conclusions. Its quite possible that he will eventually choose a different way to achieve the desired revenge against Israel. He may prefer to carry out other activities on the border, fire missiles of a longer range from Syria or even try to carry out an attack against Jewish institutions abroad. At the same time, defense establishment officials believe, the Quds Force will continue its efforts to find out how Israel uncovered their plans to entrench themselves in Syria. Iranian Revolutionary Guards' military parade in Tehran in September. Quds Force may eventually choose a different way to achieve the desired revenge against Israel (Photo: EPA) Eleven Iranians were reportedly killed in the IDFs latest strike. In light of the high sensitivity to Iranian deaths and the pressure from Tehran, the Quds Force will have trouble explaining another failed attack on Israel. Iran is therefore expected to enter a waiting period and hold an internal debate on whether it should keep investing resourced in its entrenchment in Syria and risk a conflict with Israel, on the background of US President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and the difficult economic situation in Iran. The Israeli estimate still stands despite Iranian Parliament Member Ahmad Khatamis threat over the weeks to expand the range of missiles against Israel, flatten Haifa and destroy Tel Aviv if Israel tries to carry out a foolish operation against Iran. Israeli sources confirmed over the weekend that the IDF was responsible for the attack on the T-4 airbase in Syria, as well as for the strikes in the cities of Aleppo and Homs. We also learned that one of the weapons depots that was destroyed contained a new delivery of an air defense system from Iran, which Suleimani had planned to use to disrupt Israels freedom of action. Another delivery, which was destroyed three weeks ago, included long-range missiles from Iran which were the Quds Force was planning to use in its retaliatory attack. Meanwhile, the IDF and defense establishhment are maintaining a high state of alert and being careful not to fall into complacency or smugness. In the past month, we have seen a strong and prepared IDF, which was able to restrain the political echelon and curb proposals raised by cabinet ministers to expand the activity against Iran in Syria. The armys real test, however, will take place if and when Hezbollah decides to join the conflict. Hezbollah has accumulated more than 100,000 rockets over the yearsa lot more than the several hundred rockets the Iranians are believed to have in Syriaand has a high operational ability to use them. Hezbollah is capable of firing 1,200 rockets a day and can target almost every spot in Israel at a very accurate level, unlike the 20 rockets fired by the Quds Force16 of which landed on Syrian territory. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Lebanese organization is capable of firing 1,200 rockets a day at Israel Granted, the IDFs operational program is completely different from the program it had in the Second Lebanon War in 2006, with thousands of targets and an ability to inflict a lot of damage on Hezbollah, but if the Lebanese organization joins the conflict the Israeli home front will sustain heavy damage. So far, the Iranians have left Hezbollah out of the circle of conflict and have avoided pressuring the organization to join, understanding that it wont be able to comply with the demand in the current political reality in Lebanon. Israeli officials believe Hezbollah has developed independence vis-a-vis Iran and has its own considerations now. Its no longer a puppet, an Israeli source says. This is where we should stop and ask the ministers, who have been walking around all smug following the successful strike in Syria, what have they done to ready the home front for the next conflict and why havent they pushed for the transfer of funds to local authorities to build bomb shelters and safe rooms in northern Israel. We arent talking about a lot of money here: NIS 2 billion (about $560 million) are enough solve the fortification problem up to 40 kilometers from the border. In the meantime, the Defense and Finance ministries have allotted just NIS 150 million. Why? Because there has been no public pressure. The residents of the north should take advantage of this tense period to launch a justified campaign demanding protection, just like the protection that has been provided to the residents of the south. MOSCOW - Syrian President Bashar Assad flew to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's summer residence on the Black Sea for talks on Thursday about the Syrian conflict, the Kremlin said, a visit that underscored Moscow's status as Assad's chief backer. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Since fighting broke out in his country in 2011, Assad has travelled only rarely, but has made three publicly-acknowledged visits to Russia, each time for meetings with Putin. Russia's entry into the conflict in 2015 turned the tide of the conflict in Assad's favor, and established Russia as a powerbroker in the Middle East. At the meeting, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Assad congratulated Putin on his new term as president, after he was re-elected in March , and thanked the Russian military for its support in Syria. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting, which had not been announced in advance, took place on Thursday. "Stability is improving, and all that opens the doors to the political process, which we started a while ago," Assad told Putin, according to a transcript of the opening remarks from the meeting posted on the Kremlin website. "I have always said, and I repeat it again, that we have always wholeheartedly supported the political process, which should proceed in parallel with the war on terrorism." "We know that will not be easy, since there are countries which do not want stability to return to Syria. However, together with you and our other partners and friends, we will move firmly forward with the peace process," Assad was quoted as saying. Russia said it intervened militarily in Syria to defeat violent Islamist extremists who had taken control over parts of the country and were launching bomb and gun attacks in other parts of the world. Critics of Russia's action, among them the United States and European states, say it is propping up an Assad leadership that has lost its legitimacy, and that its air strikes have killed large numbers of civilians. Russia says it never targets civilian areas. In remarks cited by the Kremlin, Putin congratulated the Syrian leader on what he said were significant successes on the battlefield achieved by the Syrian military. "The terrorists have laid down their arms in key locations in Syria, which has allowed for the restoration of Syrian infrastructure," Putin was cited as saying. "And of course now, after these military successes, additional conditions have doubtless been created for the renewal of a fully-fledged political process." Assad was making his second visit to see Putin in Sochi. The previous occasion was in November last year. He also visited Putin in Moscow in October 2015, soon after Russia launched its military operation in Syria. WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump laid out a stark choice for North Korea's Kim Jong Un ahead of their planned summit next month: Abandon nuclear weapons and be rewarded with "protections," or risk being overthrown and possible death if the arsenal remains. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Trump maintained the scheduled June 12 meeting in Singapore is on track, despite the North's threat Wednesday to cancel over concerns about the US push to see the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The North has argued it needs its nuclear weapons to preserve its security, and has expressed concerns about giving up its nuclear program. The North cites the example of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who died at the hands of rebel forces amid a popular uprising in October 2011; he had given up his nuclear program in the 2000s. US President Donald Trump; North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Photo: AP) Trying to address the North Korean concerns, the president said if Kim were to agree to denuclearize, "he'll get protections that would be very strong." But Trump warned that failure to make a deal could have grave consequences for Kim. Mentioning what happened in Libya, Trump said, "That model would take place if we don't make a deal." North Korea's Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Photo: AFP) "The Libyan model isn't the model we have at all. In Libya we decimated that country." Trump added. "There was no deal to keep Gadhafi." Trump said he is "willing to do a lot" to provide security guarantees to Kim. "The best thing he could do is make a deal." Trump also suggested China was influencing North Korea's thinking regarding the summit, pointing to Kim's visit to China immediately before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang last week to finalize the summit date and location. North Korea ruler Kim Jong Un meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (Photo: AP) Trump said Thursday that nothing has changed with respect to North Korea after the warning from Pyongyang. He said North Korean officials are discussing logistical details about the meeting with the US "as if nothing happened." In addition to threatening to pull out of the meeting with Trump, the North abruptly canceled a planned meeting with South Korean officials over joint US-South Korean military exercises. Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said Thursday that the schedule of military exercises hasn't changed. She added the annual exercises are long-planned, defensive in nature and meant to ensure the readiness of US and South Korean forces. Exercise Max Thunder began Monday and concludes May 25. It includes aircraft from across the US military services. Last year's exercise included roughly 1,200 US personnel and about 640 South Koreans. This year's drill is similar. Speaking at an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump also said he will not discuss US troop levels in South Korea during his meeting with Kim. The North has said it won't return to talks with Seoul due to the exercises. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered on Thursday that the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip be opened for the whole of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he said on his official Twitter account. The border with the Palestinian territory is mostly shut but opens at regular intervals. This would be the longest single opening in years. Sisi's Twitter account said the opening of the crossing would "alleviate the burdens of brothers in Gaza." Islamist group Hamas controls Gaza, but not its most important crossings, Rafah with Egypt and Erez with Israel. It handed control of those crossings late last year to its rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, in a reconciliation deal signed in Cairo. Egypt closed the border for long periods after attacks on Egyptian security forces in the Sinai Peninsula that increased in 2013, with Egyptian officials blaming Palestinian militants from Gaza for some of them. The United States sought on Thursday to further choke off funding sources for Iranian-backed Hezbollah, imposing sanctions on its representative to Iran, as well as a major financier and his five companies in Europe, West Africa and the Middle East. The US Treasury said Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi was a Hezbollah financier operating through Belgium, Lebanon and Iraq, and was a close associate of Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of acquiring vast wealth during his decades-long rule. It also imposed sanctions on Hezbollah's representative to Iran, Abdallah Safi Al-Din, who it said served as an interlocutor between Hezbollah and Iran on financial issues. The department said it had blacklisted Belgian energy services conglomerate Global Trading Group; Gambia-based petroleum company Euro African Group; and Lebanon-based Africa Middle East Investment Holding, Premier Investment Group SAL Offshore and import-export group Car Escort Services. All were designated because they are owned or controlled by Bazzi, the Treasury said. The White House welcomed Thursday the Guatemala's Embassy move to Jerusalem. "We thank our Western Hemisphere partner for joining us in recognizing Israels capital and encourage additional moves. We look forward to welcoming many more of our friends and allies in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, the White House's statement said. Kuwait submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council Thursday, suggesting stationing a UN international force on the Gaza border fence to protect Gaza's residents. If the motion garners a majority, Israel assumes, the US will veto it. Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Friday Kuwait's proposed resolution to the UN Security Council to station an international force on the Gaza border fence had reached a new low. "This disgraceful draft resolution is a resolution of support for Hamas's war crimes against Israel and against Gaza's residents, who are being sent to their deaths for the sake of preserving Hamas's hold on power," Danon said. Security forces will remain on high alert on the Gaza Strip border Friday in anticipation of the renewal of the " March of Return " riots on the first Friday of Ramadan . Forces in the West Bank will also receive reinforcements. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In honor of Ramadan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered on Thursday that the Rafah border crossing with the strip be opened for the entirety of the Muslim holy month, he said on his official Twitter account. The border with the Palestinian territory is mostly shut but opens at regular intervals. This would be the longest single opening in years. Protests on the Gaza border will recommence Friday afternoon (Photo: EPA) Egypt closed the border for long periods after attacks on Egyptian security forces in the Sinai Peninsula that increased in 2013, with Egyptian officials blaming Palestinian militants from Gaza for some of them. The Gaza Division, meanwhile, is gearing up for a Palestinian return to rioting, albeit of a much lesser severity. Several thousand Palestinians are expected to approach the fence and try to break through in several areas. Soldiers from the Givati Brigade remained stationed in the communities around Gaza to provide reinforcements for the Golani Brigade and an Armored Corps brigade, with Southern Command assessing confrontations may begin at a later timearound 5pmdue to the breaking of the Ramadan fast in the early hours of the evening. The IDF further estimated that Hamas will keep the border protests simmering on a low heat, at least until Naksa Day at the beginning of next month, marking the Arab defeat in the 1967 Six Day War. While Monday was the bloodiest day in years, Hamas was not said to desire to keep protests at a low volume (Photo: EPA) Echoing this assessment, Dawoud Shehaba member of the protests' organizing committeesaid activities at the encampments would get under way only in the late afternoon when temperatures drop. Late-night prayers will also be held there, he added. "The marches are continuing and there are calls on people to gather in mass on Friday in a day we have dedicated to glorifying the martyrs," Shehab told Reuters. The message was echoed in appeals blared by loudspeakers on vehicles that drove into Gaza neighborhoods to urge people to turn out. Organizers said the protest would stretch into June. After the bloodiest day for Palestinians in years on Monday, when 61 were killed by Israeli gunfire during mass demonstrations that Israel said included attempts to breach its frontier fence, calm and a heat wave descended on the area. Attempted terrorist infiltration through the border fence. The IDF's intelligence collection has thus far succeeded in preventing many such attempts (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Organizers of the protests that began on March 30 set Friday as a day to honor the dead and urged Gazans to flock again to the tent cities. But Ramadan traditionsprayer, family visits and feastsseemed to keep crowds away during the hot hours. At one encampment, about 70 young men filled sandbags in anticipation of people returning to the protest sites. "We are making a sand barrier so people can feel a bit safer," one of the men said, declining to give his name. Forces remain on high alert despite relative calm However, even if the number of protesters remained low, the severity of violence and fence incidents may become more serious compared to Wednesday's clashes, with two incidents of shots being fired at IDF forces. Southern Command estimated that Hamas was now at a crossroads, and will decide on its next moves only after it completely exhausts the March of Returnplanned and conceived by the terror group's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. Hamas's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar was said to be the March of Return protests' mastermind (Photo: AP, AFP) Sinwar was also the one who gave word to decrease the severity of confrontations, after it became apparent the Gazans were unsuccessful in breaking through the fence and entering Israel. The Judea and Samaria Division will also remain on high alert throughout the weekend, as the first Friday of Ramadan has historically been combustible. Hundreds of reinforcement soldiers, including some from the Nahal Brigade, have deployed throughout the West Bank since the week's beginning. It will be possible for only Muslims to pray at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in honor of the holiday, with further relief measures being afforded to thousands of Palestinians. In so doing, the IDF is seeking to cool off the heated airs of the past week. Hamas attempting to continue its momentum The Gaza Division is pleased with its performance this week, but is also seeking to draw some conclusions on how to better meet the goals set before them. Data obtained by Ynet showed that in the past six weeks, Hamas operatives have placed more than 100 explosive charges along the border under the protests' cover, including large roadside charges. More than 100 charges have been placed by Palestinians in the last few weeks (Photo: Police) All told, 16 terrorist activities took place in the past six weeks in the Gaza Division's territory, including setting off charges, firing at Israeli forces, downing of a handful of army drones and sabotaging military and civilian infrastructures, such as the three times the Kerem Shalom goods border crossing had been torched The goal of the Gaza-ruling terror group was now said to be carrying on the riots' momentum, even if in decreased doses. Having said that, examining the complex intelligence campaign waged by the Gaza Division since Hamas began its push for the fence in late March showed how much the border riots were an unprecedented occurrence the likes of which the IDF had never dealt with. Due to the riots' semi-military and semi-civilian nature, the division's command headquarters inaugurated a special intelligence operations room, corralling all aspects of intelligence workfrom signals intelligence and drone photography to combat collection in the field by observations and poring over footage captured by the Palestinians themselves in live Facebook feeds or on Arab media. The division's intelligence showed how Hamas preparedand still intendsto infiltrate Israel. Beit Hanoun. Live Facebook feeds have assisted the IDF's intelligence gathering efforts In one such instance, an IDF officer found it difficult to piece together a full intelligence picture in the strip's Beit Hanoun, only for a Palestinian's live Facebook feed to unveil exactly what he could not himself see. Intelligence gatheredand melded with that collected by Israeli Intelligence Corps's elite Unit 8200 and the Shin Betwas used to create forewarnings for some of the shooting incidents. For example, in one Monday incident a force from the commando Maglan unit was deployed in the northern strip after receiving an intelligence warning. Three days after its firefight concluded, it became known the unit took out ten armed terrorists without suffering any casualties. Moreover, the attainment of the operation's goal came following three successive waves of terrorists firing at the Israeli elite unit, the last of which included shots being fired from a Hamas SUV that arrived to the scene as backup. Intelligence espionage was not limited to providing insight into specific enemy movements, however, but also extended to gleaning more "bigger picture" trends. A fire near Be'eri Forest lit by an incendiary kite Monitoring Facebook pages and analyzing them, for instance, allowed the Gaza Division to note an irregular trendeach time an IDF force was fired on and Israel retaliated by attacking Hamas posts with tank or aircraft fire, the Palestinian masses completely withdrew from the site of said confrontation. The IDF was also said to be pleased with the drones now being sent out to combat incendiary kites. Said drones have downed more than 150 kites flown from Gaza, and the defense establishment has begun working on a technology to triangulate the location of each flight, similar to the manner in which the army can recognize a missile or rocket being launched. An IDF drone dispersing tear gas (Photo: MCT) Turkish tourists to riot in Jerusalem? The Jerusalem District Police is also on high alert in anticipation of both the first Friday of Ramadan and the beginning of Shavuot Saturday evening. Status evaluations touched on the possible combustible ramifications of Israel's diplomatic crisis with Turkey and the Gazan deaths. On the first issue, police are taking into account the possibility that a large number Turkish tourists may attempt to disturb the peace in the capital's Old City. A year ago, three Turks were expelled from Israel after they rioted in the Temple Mount. A protest rally outside the Israeli ambassador's Ankara residence (Photo: AFP) While alertness is high, there is no concrete intelligence pointing to specific dangers, and police have said they are preparing for all eventualities. As a result, some 3,000 police officers will be deployed throughout the capital, with special emphasis put on the Old City alleyways leading to the Western Wall and the Al Aqsa Mosque, the border crossingsKalandia in the north and Rachel's Tomb in the southand the neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. Police are preparing for some 300,000 Muslims to make a pilgrimage to Al Aqsa Friday, and a similarly large turnout of Jewish worshipers to arrive for Western Wall prayers. Some 300,000 Muslims will make a pilgrimage to the Al Aqsa Mosque Friday (Photo: Gil Yohanan) Due to the expected congestion in the Old City, police are attempting to minimize friction points between Jews and Arabs. Towards that end, no Jews will be admitted to the Kotel through the Damascus Gate starting Saturday, which is Shavuot eve, and until the early hours of Sunday. Police have recommended that worshipers who wish to arrive to the holy site do so through the New Gate, Jaffa Gate, Zion Gate or the Dung Gate. Reuters contributed to this report. Kuwait submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council Thursday, suggesting stationing a United Nations international force on the Gaza border fence to protect Gaza's residents. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter If the motion garners a majority, Israel assumes the US will exercise its veto power, as it has done on numerous occasions since US President Donald Trump's election. The draft resolution circulated by Kuwait, which is the Arab representative on the council, also demanded that Israel "immediately cease its military reprisals, collective punishment and unlawful use of force against civilians, including in the Gaza Strip." Kuwait submits draft resolution to protect Gaza's residents amid deadly border riots (Photo: AP, AFP) Kuwait's effort comes after the Security Council couldn't agree even on a statement about a confrontation in Gaza Monday that left 61 Palestinians dead. Palestinian officials call it a massacre of protesters demonstrating against a decade-long blockade; Israel says it was defending its border against a militant-fueled mob. Kuwait tried Monday to get the council to issue a statement expressing outrage at the killings and seeking an independent investigation, among other things. The US blocked the statement, saying it was one-sided and faulting it for not mentioning incitement of violence by Hamas, the Islamic terror group that rules Gaza and led the demonstration. The Kuwaiti draft resolution called for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population, including through the deployment of "an international protection mission." It would reaffirm the council's willingness to respond to armed conflict where civilians are being targeted or aid to civilians is being deliberately obstructed and said this could include considering "appropriate measures"UN language for sanctions. The draft also called for "the full lifting of the blockade and the restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip." This includes "the immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing points" to allow humanitarian aid, commercial goods and people to enter and leave in accordance with international law, it said. The draft further expressed "grave concern at the escalation of violence and tensions and the deterioration of the situation" in Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, since March 30and at the loss of civilian lives and high casualties. It urged immediate and unimpeded aid to civilians in Gaza, "immediate and significant steps" to stabilize the situation on the ground. The draft called for intensified efforts by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Mideast envoy Nikolay Mladenov to help deter violence, protect civilians, and create "an environment conducive to dialogue." Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said Palestinians were looking at past UN operations in various countries to see what form a protection effort might take. The key is "the ability to affect behavior on the ground and to provide genuine protection," she said at a news conference Wednesday at UN headquarters. Senior PLO official Ashrawi said Palestinians were looking at past UN operations in various countries to see what form a protection effort might take (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg) Kuwait's Ambassador to the UN Mansour Al-Otaibi said Tuesday during an emergency meeting convened by the Security Council amid the Gaza border riots that the draft resolution is meant to "provide protection to Gaza's residents." Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said at the same meeting that the "Israeli occupation was the source of violence," and urged the Security Council to act immediately against the "massacre of the Palestinian people perpetrated by Israel." Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon slammed Kuwait's draft resolution, saying, "The cynicism and attempts to distort reality have reached a new low. Israel will continue protecting its sovereignty and its citizens' safety from Hamas's deadly terror and violence." "Kuwait's disgraceful draft resolution is a resolution of support for Hamas's war crimes against Israel and against Gaza's residents, who are being sent to their deaths for the sake of preserving Hamas's hold on power," Danon added. Gaza border riots (: ") X US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also spoke during the UN Security Council's meeting, saying, "Hamas was the one that set fire to the Kerem Shalom Crossing , a major crossing for humanitarian supplies and goods into the Gaza Strip. "I ask you: would you have accepted such a behavior on your border? No country would have let such a thing happen," Haley assured. Rafah border crossing (Photo: AFP) While international efforts were ongoing, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced Thursday that the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip would be opened for the passage of people and goods during the holy month of Ramadan, as a gesture of goodwill as well as an attempt at alleviating regional tension, This would be the longest single opening in years. Sisi's Twitter account said the opening of the crossing would "alleviate the burdens of brothers in Gaza." Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to enact the recently adopted decision to expand sanctions on Russian companies and entities, according to information published on the presidential website on Friday. Ukraine's council of security and defense approved in early May the sanctions that mirror those of the United States, which has blacklisted tycoons and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kiev has also extended existing sanctions it introduced against hundreds of Russian companies and entities in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Kremlin support for a pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine. The decree did not say which individuals or companies were on the latest list. The council has said the new sanctions would be in force for at least three years and included penalties on Russian lawmakers and top officials. A political crisis in Romania is intensifying surrounding the local government's decision to move forward on transferring its embassy to Jerusalem, with the head of the country's opposition filing a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Viorica Dancila over her visit to Israel and alleged concealment of information from President Klaus Iohannis. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Opposition head and chairman of the National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban filed the complaint against Dancila at a special tribunal, Romanian media reported, also charging the premier with treason. Romanian PM Dancila's visit to Israel being lead to her dismissal (Photo: AFP) The prime minister's office fears the complaint may lead to the opening of an investigation, which may cripple Prime Minister Dancila's status and power, as she is not a member of parliament and is therefore not afforded immunity. Orban's complaint maintained Dancila harmed the Romanian constitution by approving an order stating moves will be put in motion to transfer the country's embassy to Jerusalem, echoing a similar move by the United States and Guatemala earlier this week. 'Attempt to carry out a putsch against an elected government' According the Romanian constitution, if an investigation is opened against a prime minister, President Iohanniswho has been humiliated in a political standoff over the past few weeks with Dancila and pro-Israeli parliament speaker Liviu Dragneawill be able to dismiss her. Romanian President Iohannis (R), Dancila's bitter political rival, will decide whether to dismiss her if an investigation is opened (Photo: AP) Parliament Speaker Dragnea lashed out at the complaint against the premier, accusing Iohannis of an attempt to perpetrate a putsch against an elected government. Israel's Opposition Chairman MK Isaac Herzog, meanwhile, voiced his disbelief that a visit to Jerusalem or considering moving an embassy could be construed to be a criminal offense. "Our relations with Romania are of paramount importance, and all of the country's leaders have visited Israel in the past few years, from the president downwards," Herzog noted. "Thinking that's an offense is therefore clearly an insult." Opposition Chairman Herzog said it was 'insulting' for a criminal investigation to be opened into a visit to Israel (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, period. US President Donald Trump himself made clear the the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty will be decided in negotiations. Anyone considering a debate around moving the embassy to be treason also spits in the US's face," he maintained. Iohannis had initially charged that Dancila's visit, which lasted two days, was shrouded in "absurd secrecy." The Romanian president added that the premier did not inform him of her journey, and alleged that her decision lacked any "concrete grounds." Dancila (L) and President Rivlin. Iohannis said her visit to Israel was shrouded in 'absurd secrecy' (Photo: Reuters) According to the country's division of power, the president presides over foreign visitations, with each such visit by the prime minister necessitating his approval. Dancila was sworn in as leader of the Central European country this past January. In the short intervening period, she had already succeeded in raising a public outcry after deeming her political opponents "autistic." Dancila at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum (Photo: AFP) A Romanian state body, the National Council for Combating Discrimination, determined she had committed no offense by so doing, however. Before being appointed prime minister, Dancila was a member of the European Parliament, and in an interview she gave after acceding to the position she attacked certain members of the multinational body for criticizing her country. On a related matter, the Palestinian Authority's envoy to Bucharest was "recalled for consultations" in Ramallah, it was reported Thursday, over the government's intention to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem and Romania's general pro-Israeli stance. 15 firefighting teams are working Friday to extinguish fires breaking out in the vicinity of the town of Elad due to the current heat wave, resulting in disruptions on the way to Ben Gurion Airport. Highway 5connecting Tikvah and the Yarkon interchangeshas been closed to traffic. Another fire broke out near a train railway in the vicinity of the community of Lehavim, resulting in halting Israel Railways operations from Be'er Sheva to Kiryat Gat. During his meeting in Egypt with the country's intelligence chiefs this past Sunday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh agreed to decrease the number of people attending border protests and their severity as well as halt plans for a mass exodus towards Israel in return for humanitarian relief measures for the isolated enclave, a Lebanese newspaper reported Friday morning. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar paper reported that Hamas's concession was not immediate, but only followed Monday's deadly border clashes in which more than 60 Palestinians were killed in the highest single-day death toll since Operation Protective Edge. At the end of Monday's protests, Haniyeh was said to have instructed protesters to withdraw from the border. Egypt's President Sisi (L) afforded a series of Gaza humanitarian relief measures, in return for Hamas leader Haniyeh vowing to de-escalate border confrontations (Photo: AFP) In addition, Hamas was also reported to have agreed to allow the same number of people to participate in Friday's weekly protest as have in previous weeks, thus decreasing potential conflagration points. Egypt's General Intelligence Directorate also secured a promise from the Gaza-ruling terror group to cease all armed activities near the border, especially as it pertains to planting explosive devices and attempts to cross the fence to sabotage the construction of the subterranean barrier wall. When the IDF announced a thinning of its forces in the region, Hamas considered it a signal of Israel's own willingness to reach a detente. In return for Hamas's promises to ameliorate tensions, Egypt has agreed to open the Rafah border crossing for the passage of people for an indeterminate amount of time. Initially, the crossing will remain open all through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as announced Friday morning by President Abed Fatah al-Sisi. Haniyeh visiting the protests (Photo: EPA) Egypt will also allow the passage of goods and humanitarian aid into the strip through Rafah, with both Israel's neighbor to the southwest and the United Arab Emirates announcing they will be sending humanitarian aid. However, Egypt has refused to allow Turkish aid to enter the strip through its territory, due to the tensions permeating relations between Cairo and Ankara. Egypt also promised Hamas to expend efforts to secure a prisoner swap deal with Israel and that it will also examine the possibility of increasing the amount of power provided to the strip through Israel and Egypt itself, and to also increase Gaza's fishery territory and secure Israeli authorization for various international projects to improve conditions in the strip. Despite the apparent success of the agreement thus far, Hamas has announced that if the promised relief measures are halted, it will restart the protest and will not prevent the group's military wing from returning fire at IDF forces. Hamas also stated a specific date for a possible resumption of protestsNaksa Day at the beginning of Junestating that such a return will be stronger and larger than in the past few weeks. Iceland's RUV national public broadcasting organization is expected to convene in the near future to decide whether Iceland will cancel its participation in next year's Eurovision Song Contestset to take place in Israel following Netta Barzilai's win last week with "Toy"Icelandic media reported. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Some 22,000 of Iceland's citizens signed an online petition demanding to boycott the contest, in the wake of the Gaza border violence and Israel's policy towards Palestinians. Online petition against holding next year's Eurovision in Israel More than 10,000 people signed the petition just several hours after it went online on Tuesday, one day after violent incidents and dozens of fatalities in Gaza border riots. "Due to Israel's violation of the Palestinians' human rights, it would be immoral for us to take part in a glamorous contest such as the Eurovision, considering violence Israel is exerting on its neighbors." Netta Barzilai's Eurovision win (: 11) X "During the past few months, Israel has killed dozens of people whose only crime was to protest the situation in Gaza," according to the petition. An RUV committee convened Tuesday to discuss the matter, while a decision regarding the aforementioned matter is expected to be reached during a second meeting that will take place in June. RUV senior member Skarpheinn Gumundsson said in an official media statement that Iceland's participation in next year's Eurovision in Israel had been up for discussion within the broadcasting department and assured the issue would be reviewed. Gumundsson added RUV's people will discuss the matter with other Nordic television stations before reaching their decision. Netta Barzilai brings Eurovision to Jerusalem (Photo: AFP) Even before the online petition, however, Iceland criticized holding the Eurovision in Jerusalem, with one the country's organizations responsible for Iceland's relations with the Palestinian Authority saying it would be a move detrimental to Palestinians' human rights. "We regret that Europe is not supporting human rights by choosing to hold next year's Eurovision in Israel," the organization stated. Several human rights organizations joined the statement, attempting to harness other European countries to join the petition. The UN's top human rights official said Friday there's "little evidence" that Israel made an effort to minimalize casualties during protests by Palestinians earlier this week and backed calls for an international inquiry. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein spoke in Geneva to a special session of the UN Human Rights Council called following a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. Israeli troops firing into Hamas-ruled Gaza killed nearly 60 Palestinians at mass border protests on Monday. The session will consider a resolution put forward by Pakistan and other Muslim countries that includes a call for the council to dispatch an "independent, international commission of inquiry." "There is little evidence of any attempt to minimize casualties on Monday," said Zeid, a Jordanian prince. Some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used sling-shots, flew burning kites into Israel, and attempted to use wire-cutters on border fences, but "these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force," Zeid added. He said that "the stark contrast in casualties on both sides is also suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response." A Belgian company at the heart of fresh US sanctions targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon said on Friday that it did not finance political parties or movements and that the links suggested by the US Treasury were false. Energy services firm Global Trading Group, based in the port city of Antwerp, was blacklisted by the US Treasury on Thursday, as part of new measures aimed at Iran and Hezbollah since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last week. The US. Treasury said the company's director Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi was a Hezbollah financier operating through Belgium, Lebanon and Iraq. "It is not true. It is a lie. We are not dealing with political parties," a spokesman for the company told Reuters. North Korea has declined to accept a list of South Korean journalists hoping to observe the closure of its nuclear test site, South Korea said on Friday, raising new questions about the North's commitment to reducing tension. North Korea had invited a limited number of journalists from South Korea and other countries to witness what it said will be the closing of its only nuclear weapons test site at Punggye-ri next week. The North Korean offer to scrap the test site has been seen as major concession in months of easing tension between it, on the one hand, and South Korea and the United States on the other. But the remarkable progress appears to have been checked in recent days with North Korea raising doubts about an unprecedented June 12 summit in Singapore between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, and calling off talks with the South. The UN's top human rights official Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Friday there's "little evidence" that Israel made an effort to minimize casualties during protests by Palestinians earlier this week and iterated his support of calls for an international inquiry on the matter. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Al-Hussein spoke in Geneva before a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, called following a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. Nearly 60 Palestinians were killed at mass border protests on Monday. Top human rights official Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein (Photo: AFP) Israel has systematically deprived Palestinians of their human rights, with 1.9 million in Gaza "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death," the UN human rights chief stated. "Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," he said. "End the occupation, and the violence and insecurity will largely disappear," he went on to say. Deadly clashes on Gaza border (: '') X He said Israeli forces had killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children, since March 30. More than 12,000 were injured, at least 3,500 by live ammunition. Israel was an occupying power under international law, obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said. Al-Hussein also commented on Israel's statements saying Hamas wanted to achieve a PR victory by sending the masses to the border fence. "It's not a PR victory. Nobody won here. It's a tragedy for many families in Gaza," he lamented. The session will consider a resolution put forward by Pakistan and other Muslim countries that includes a call for the council to dispatch an "independent, international commission of inquiry." Some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used sling-shots, flew burning kites into Israel, and attempted to use wire-cutters on border fences, but "these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force," Zeid added. He said that "the stark contrast in casualties on both sides is also suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response." Israel and the United States have repeatedly accused the 47-member council of anti-Israel bias. Israeli Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter (Photo: AFP) Israeli Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter said Friday's session and the call for a commission of inquiry "are yet again politically motivated and won't improve the situation on the ground by even one iota." "The unfortunate outcome of Monday's riots can only be attributed to Hamas' cynical exploitation of its own population in a violent campaign against Israel," she said. "It is regrettable that so many member states allow themselves to be misled by the false narrative of so-called peaceful protests," the Israeli envoy added. The United States has stood by Israel during the past week's violence, which coincided with the opening of a new US embassy in Jerusalem. US charge d'affaires Theodore Allegra said the Council was ignoring the real culprit of the violence: Hamas. "The one sided action proposed by the Council today only further shows that the Human Rights Council is indeed a broken body," he said. Turkey again blasts Israel at OIC summit Turkey joined the attack against Israel, calling on Muslim countries to stop other nations from following the United States and opening embassies in Israel's capital, as it opened a meeting in Istanbul on Friday to address the issue. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo: EPA) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), made up of 57 member countries, after Israeli forces killed dozens of protesters in Gaza this week. "In the final declaration, we will emphasize the status of the Palestine issue for our community, and that we will not allow changing the status of the historic city," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at an opening address. "We must prevent other countries from following the US example," he stated. Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of the US move and the violence in Gaza, with the government declaring three days of mourning for those killed. Erdogan has described the actions of the Israeli forces as a "genocide" and Israel as a "terrorist state". The events in Gaza have also sparked a diplomatic row between Turkey and Israel, with both countries expelling each other's senior diplomats this week. A serious heat wave swept across Israel Friday, setting off multiple fires in its wake. One fire almost completely obliterated the Besor Stream nature reserve, spreading over 6,000 dunam (6 square kilometers) and killing many of the reserve's animals, while causing others to flee. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter A second fire in a field of thorns started between the Bareket Forest and the central region moshav of Givat Ko'ach. Residents on the moshav's eastern side were asked to evacuate, with additional firefighting aircrafts being called in to extinguish the flames. Footage from Friday's multiple conflagrations X Other blazes erupted in the Sorek Stream, in the Yarkonim region in the center and by a railway near Lehavim, in the south. Firefighting aircraft combating flames near Givat Ko'ach (Photo: Eli Batzri) The Nature and Parks Authority said the fire left immense damage in its wake, consuming both vegetation and animals. The reserve is home to reptiles, foxes, wolves, hyenas and various birds of prey. The Besor Stream fire (: ) X Head of the authority's southern district Gilad Gabai said that the blaze was still raging, and that fire teams were on the scene. "The fire came at a very bad time," Gabai added, "with high winds alongside high temperatures. Both nature and animal habitats were seriously damaged." The Besor reserve was almost completely consumed by the flames (Photo: Gilad Gabai, Nature and Park Authority) "The reserve has a channel used for cover by animals, and it was burned to a cinder," he added ruefully. Fire teams are also active nearby in the region between Sharuhen and the Besor body of water, in the direction of Tze'elim. Winds are pushing the fire towards Eshkol Park, while firefighters are attempting to shield the natural reserve. Ben Gurion Airport disruptions The fires also caused delays in outgoing flights at Ben Gurion Airport for a time, with a fire in the vicinity of Elad disrupting flight schedules. Fifteen fire crews, assisted by four aircrafts, worked to put out the fire between Bareket and Givat Ko'ach. The fire began to spread due to winds, endangering nearby structures. Meanwhile, Israel's largest airport diverted both incoming and outgoing flights due to the firefighting aircrafts' activities, with the control tower fitting in flights in the time frame between each firefighting sortie. (Photo: Eli Batzri) Five fire teams were called in from Petah Tikva and elsewhere in the central district to put out a fire in the Yarkonim region, which spread towards a junkyard and a storage facility near Highway 5. Roads nearby were closed to traffic by police, but later reopened. Police remained on the scene to direct traffic. A fire also broke out near train tracks in Lehavim, prompting the closure of train operations from Kiryat Gat to Be'er Sheva under orders of the firefighting service. The Besor Stream blaze (Photo: Gilad Gabai, Nature and Park Authority) Four fire crews from stations in Beit Shemesh worked to put out a forest fire that broke out in several locations near the Sorek Stream. Nearby communities and army bases were said to not be in danger. Multiple conflagration points were noted across the country (Photo: Shaul Golan) Due to the heat wave and powerful easterly winds, a representative of Israel's firefighting service called on the public to avoid lighting fires in any form, including welding work or burning foliage. Due to the winds, the official warned, any small fire can quickly spread out and cause damage. More than 50,000 people arrived at the Temple Mount to pray on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Large police and Border Police forces were deployed throughout the Old City and east Jerusalem. In addition, some 6,000 people arrived in Hebron for a prayer held under IDF security. Shin Bet and IDF forces detained Friday a terror group after its members lobbed Molotov cocktails last February at police officers in east Jerusalem's Isawiya neighborhoodadjacent to the Hadassah Medical Center. Three of the terror group's members are minors residing in Isawiya and another member has an Israeli citizenship. The four were indicted with arms carrying and production, causing disturbances, attempts to assault a police officer under aggravated circumstances, as well as attempted arson. Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who was left in critical condition by a nerve agent attack in Britain more than two months ago, has been discharged from hospital, England's health service said on Friday. Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack and Western governments including the United States have expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and retaliated in kind. Israeli police say the first Friday prayer services of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended peacefully at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says over 90,000 attended prayers at the holy site. Israeli security forces are on high alert as the Muslim fasting month begins this year amid heightened tensions along the Gaza border fence. Israeli fire killed nearly 60 Palestinians at a mass rally there on Monday. The high casualty count has drawn sharp international condemnations against Israel and accusations that it is using excessive force. Israel accuses Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, of exploiting civilians and using the protests as cover for attacks. Explosions were heard in and around Syria's Hama airport on Friday, Syrian state media said, without elaborating on the cause of the blasts, and a monitoring body said 11 pro-government troops were killed. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the series of explosions happened inside Hama's military airport and had been heard in Hama city. Eleven people had died and dozens were missing from among Syrian government and allied forces. Thick plumes of smoke seen above the airport "Five blasts at least were heard inside Hama military airport ... targeting ammunition and fuel depots," the Observatory added. The war monitor said it wasn't clear whether the blasts had been caused by technical failure inside the depots or an attack. Thick plumes of smoke could be seen above the airport, it said. Sky News Arabia, however, reported the explosion was likely an Israeli attack on a stockpile of missiles used by the Bavar-373, the Iranian version of the Russian S-300 missile defense system. Syrian citizens reported seeing an aerial attack, but Syrian official has yet to point the finger at Israel. The Assad regime announced Thursday that it had reoccupied the region and declared it "free of rebels." However, the president's forces are still fighting with several militias remaining in the region. The Hama air base is used by government warplanes that carry out airstrikes on central and northern Syria. Israeli aerial strikes on Iranian weapons stockpiles have increased recently, with the latest being one of the heaviest Israeli barrages in Syria since the conflict there began in 2011; 50 Iranian targets in the country were bombarded after 20 missiles were fired at Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights. The UN's top human rights body has voted to set up a commission of inquiry to look into a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. The UN Human Rights Council, meeting in a special session Friday in Geneva, voted 29-2 with 14 abstentions to back a resolution that also condemned "the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians." Israel condemned the resolution, which was put forward by a group of countries including Pakistan. The United States decried it as an example of a biased focus on Israel by the council. Both lamented that it didn't mention Gaza's Hamas rulers, whom Israel blames for the violence. The commission of inquiry will be asked to produce a final report next March. The UN Human Rights Council voted Friday to set up a commission of inquiry to look into a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Meeting in a special session in Geneva, the council voted 29-2 with 14 abstentions to back a resolution that also condemned "the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians." Israel condemned the resolution, which was put forward by a group of countries including Pakistan, and the United States decried it as an example of a biased focus on Israel by the council. Both lamented that it didnt mention Gazas Hamas rulers, whom Israel blames for the violence. UN opens inquiry on Gaza border deaths (Photo: AP, AFP) "Israel strongly rejects the decision made by an automatic anti-Israeli majority, whose results were known in advance," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response, lambasting the "hypocritical and biased" UNHRC which he said has proven itself to be "irrelevant." Israeli troops firing into Gaza killed 61 Palestinians, including five minors, at mass border protests on Monday. The "independent, international commission of inquiry" mandated by the council will be asked to produce a final report next March. During Fridays session, the UN's top human rights official backed calls for an international inquiry and questioned Israels assertion that its security forces tried to minimize casualties. "There is little evidence of any attempt to minimize casualties on Monday," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein (Photo: AFP) Some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used sling-shots, flew burning kites into Israel, and attempted to use wire-cutters on border fences, but "these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force," added Zeid, a Jordanian prince. He said that "the stark contrast in casualties on both sides is also suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response." Israel and the United States have repeatedly accused the 47-member council of anti-Israel bias. Israeli ambassador Aviva Raz Schechter said Fridays session and the call for a commission of inquiry "are yet again politically motivated and wont improve the situation on the ground by even one iota." Israeli ambassador Aviva Raz Schechter (Photo: AFP) "The unfortunate outcome of Mondays riots can only be attributed to Hamas cynical exploitation of its own population in a violent campaign against Israel," she said. "It is regrettable that so many member states allow themselves to be misled by the false narrative of so-called peaceful protests." Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said the Human Rights Council will only deserve its name after it investigates Hamas just as it does Israel, adding that "the fact that this shameful decision was made even after senior Hamas officials admitted that the vast majority of those killed (on Monday) were terrorists proves once again that nothing motivated the Council's decision apart from its hatred of Israel." Israeli lawmakers too blasted the resolution, saying it is playing into the hands of an oppressive terror organization. The UNCHR "could care less about human rights," said Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. "The Commission seldom criticizes the ongoing genocide in Syria, and ignores the Iranian threat against an entire country, and the cruel way in which Hamas uses women and children for its political goals," she accused. "That 'inquiry' encourages terror. That was Hamas' goal, and the Commission has been playing into its hands." UNHRC (: AFP) Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan backed Shaked's assertions, saying Israel will not be misled by this "absurd" measure, casting the blame for the border deaths solely on Hamas, which he called "a terrorist organization with Nazi characteristics that abuses its people and makes cynical use of the blood of Gaza residents." "The Human Rights Council has long since become a terrorist rights council," he slammed. "This decision continues the hypocritical anti-Israeli tradition of the Council, and it too will be tossed into the dustbin of history." Turkey has called on Muslim nations to stand with Palestinians and to work to stop countries joining the United States in relocating their Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The call came at the end of a week that has seen Turkey take a leading role internationally to condemn Israeli actions in Gaza after Israeli forces killed dozens of people in Gaza. A diplomatic spat ensued with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trading barbs on Twitter and both countries expelling senior diplomats. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo: Reuters) As part of its condemnation of events in Gaza earlier this week, the Turkish government organized a massive Curse Oppression, Support Jerusalem rally and an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, as a show of solidarity Friday. Speaking to tens of thousands waving Palestinian and Turkish flags, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah criticized the US, describing its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving its embassy there Monday a big mistake. Erdogan told the rally the responsibility to defend Jerusalem lay with them as crowds chanted Chief, take us to Jerusalem. He said the US can no longer play the role of a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it is siding with creating problems rather than solving them. Erdogan continued by asserting the United Nations had lost legitimacy for failing to stand up against Washington and Israel's "cruelty" against the residents of Gaza. The United Nations, which has failed to take effective steps against the United States, has taken another blow to its already worn-out legitimacy, he said, adding that the United States blocked every step toward justice in the United Nations Security Council. If the Muslim world stands against cruelty in Gaza together, Israels recklessness will not last. Israel must certainly be held accountable for the innocent people it has massacred in front of international law. We will follow this issue in the United Nations General Assembly as well. He also lambasted those elements of the Islamic world that failed in what he termed the Jerusalem exam, saying all we Muslims do is condemn and not unite. Erdogan argued Muslim countries were severe, intolerant and unconscientious to each other and toothless and cowardly to unspecified enemies. Erdogan is expected to address leaders of Muslim nations later Friday at the OIC and demand action. At the morning session of the OIC summit, Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, we must prevent other countries from following the US example and that precautions are taken within the grouping after some nations voted against, abstained or did not show up at a United Nations vote in December. Some 128 countries overwhelmingly supported the UN motion against Washingtons decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. Despite that, Cavusoglu said the US administration did not give up on ignoring the basic principles of international law or the will of the international community. High-level officials from more than 50 member states, including Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, are attending the summit. Approximately 1,000 Palestinians are rioting in five locations along the Gaza Strip border. The IDF Spokesperson stated that rioters throw stones at nearby IDF forces and burned tires. The IDF responds by means of riot dispersal. Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar came to bolster the demonstrators. Israel's military says wounded Palestinians in Gaza were transferred to Jordan for medical treatment and that Jordanian trucks packed with medical supplies have entered the territory. It said the moves were made upon the request of the King of Jordan. The wounded, Gaza residents with Jordanian citizenship along with relatives, were transferred in three Jordanian ambulances. Gaza's Health Ministry said that 23 protesters were wounded Monday by live bullets and tear gas, but did not provide a breakdown of the number. Israel's military said it will continue to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Earlier this week Israel delivered 53 tons of medical equipment along with other aid to Gaza. Neighbors Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994. Veteran spy Gina Haspel will become the first female director of the CIA after six Democrats joined Republicans in a Senate confirmation vote that overrode concerns about her role in the spy agencys harsh interrogation program after 9/11. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Thursdays 54-45 vote split both parties, and the margin was the closest for a CIA nominee in the nearly seven decades that a nod from the Senate has been required. Haspel, who has spent nearly all of her 33-year CIA career in undercover positions, is the first career operations officer to be confirmed since William Colby in 1973. Haspel, 61, is a native of Kentucky but grew up around the world as the daughter of an Air Force serviceman. She worked in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe and was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year. She worked under former CIA director Mike Pompeo until President Donald Trump moved him to secretary of state. Gina Haspel (Photo: EPA) Haspel was backed by many in the CIA rank-and-file and was robustly supported by senior intelligence officials, including six former CIA directors and three former national intelligence directors, who said she earned the chance to take the helm of the nations premier spy agency. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said Haspel has integrity and both frontline and executive intelligence expertise. We salute Director Haspel, a trailblazer who today becomes the first woman to lead the CIA, he said. Her opponents argued that it wasnt right to promote someone who supervised a covert detention site in Thailand where terror suspects were waterboarded, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning. They said the US needed to slam closed what was one of the CIAs darkest chapters that tainted Americas image with allies abroad. Several senators said Haspel was not forthcoming in answering questions about her role in the torture program or the CIAs decision to destroy video-taped evidence of the sessions. They also had questions about her rejection of the now-banned techniques. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a floor speech that Haspel offered up almost the classic Washington non-apology. He asked how the Senate could take seriously Haspels conversion on torture? Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the world was watching the confirmation vote, which he called a referendum on torture. He said the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques the CIA used at black sites, including slamming detainees against walls and confining them in coffin-shaped boxes, amounted to government-sanctioned torture. Haspel has vowed never to restart such a program and says her strong moral compass would prevent her from carrying out any presidential order she found objectionable. That was enough to coax some senators into the yes column. But Leahy said he still questioned her judgment and lamented that she has never publicly condemned torture as immoral. He wondered aloud what Haspel would do if shes asked to do something that goes against Americas core values. Should we trust that she will have the moral compass to stand up and say No? he asked. Based on what weve seen, I do not. US Secretary of State Pompeo (Photo: AP) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the nomination was not just about Haspel, but the US grappling with its past mistakes. The bottom line is this: No one has ever been held accountable for the torture program and I do not believe those who were intimately involved in it deserve to lead the agency, Feinstein said before casting her vote against Haspel. Since Trump nominated Haspel, her confirmation has been clouded by debate over the CIAs former interrogation program. A protester in the Senate visitor gallery briefly disrupted speeches ahead of the vote with shouts against the CIA. Three Republicans opposed her: Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is battling cancer and did not vote; Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky; and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona. Six Democrats, however, were heartened by her pledge to never restart harsh interrogation programs, even if Trump requested. They said they voted for Haspel because they thought her experience was essential in confronting todays threats from US adversaries like Russia, North Korea, China and Iran. Among Democrats supporting Haspel were several up for re-election this fall in states where Trump is popular, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida. Also voting yes were Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking member of the intelligence committee. This has not been an easy decision, Warner said, adding that hed met and talked with Haspel many times in the past several weeks. He said hes convinced that Haspel could and would stand up to Trump, who has voiced support for waterboarding and has said torture works. After the vote, human rights groups quickly issued statements denouncing the confirmation and the now-defunct program. The Senate has now rewarded that atrocious conduct by promoting someone that reportedly administered it to lead one of the governments most powerful agencies, said Daphne Eviatar at Amnesty International USA. - A man of God, Apostle Francis Atta, has claimed that poverty has driven many men to become pastors - He added that the challenge could be dealt with if there are employment opportunities The Head Pastor of the Freedom Chapel International, Apostle Francis Amoako Atta, has claimed that most men of God are fake. According to him, some people pretend to have received a calling from God because they have been starving for long. He went ahead to say that in a bid to make ends meet, they brand themselves as pastors, so they could earn a living. Apostle Francis Amoako Atta READ ALSO: Social media users 'attack' Shatta Wale as his name pops up in a Mock exam Speaking on Adom FMs Black Wednesday segment hosted by Ohemaa Woyeje, he added that there are inadequate job opportunities and as such people get creative in order to fend for themselves. If there are a lot of work opportunities in the country, lots of these pastors will shun the pastoral work. There are only three jobs in Ghana. Its either youre a pastor, politician or you sell herbal medicine he stated. His comments were as a result of a decision by the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, to close down over 700 churches in the country. According to the president, the churches failed to comply with building regulations. Others, he went on, found themselves in the predicament as a result of noise pollution. Apostle Atta therefore asked the relevant authorities to develop a criteria for the setting up of churches in Ghana. To him, the Ministry for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs needs to take a critical look at the situation before it gets out of hands. Apostle Amoako noted that some believers are to blame for the preponderance of fake pastors because there always clear signs to determine the true pastors from the fake ones. READ ALSO: 12 photos that explain why most pastors will go to hell Signs That You Are a True Ghanaian | Yen.com.gh: Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on Facebook or Instagram now! Source: Yen.com.gh - Stanbic Bank are looking to expand their market share in the near future - Head of Corporate and Investment Banking outlines the plans for buying another bank Stanbic Bank has expressed willingness and ability to grow by merging or buying another bank. Head of Corporate and Investment Banking of the bank, Mr Kwamina Asomaning disclosed this in Accra. He was speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting held in the capital. According to the report from JoyBusiness, the meeting brought together takeholders in the banking and financial industry. READ ALSO: Kweku Baako says he is sure Akufo Addo will sack some appointees very soon Mr Asomaning indicated that the move to buy or merge with another bank is due to Stanbics deisre to become a significant force in the banking industry. He spoke of his banks ambition and to achieve successes on a bigger scale. Stanbic Bank According to Mr Asomaning, there are things they will looking for in a bank they might acquire. He mentioned the need to understand whether they are buying customers and which type of customers they are buying. Another important thing to him was the type of assets as in loan assets or investment securities the new bank would have. He however added that should acquisition of another bank fail, they are open to organic growth. READ ALSO: Songo will be applauded after Anas' work on corrupt GFA is aired - Kwame Sefa Kayi As it stands, Mr Asomaning says no bank met their criteria. But he added that their determination means they will look out for but the growth opportunities. Stanbic is part of a bigger band, the Standard Bank Group. It is the largest bank in Africa when assets are taken into account. These records are as recent as December 2017. The Standard Bank Group is over 150 years old and they operate in 20 African countries while employing over 50,000 people. Watch our video on what UN experts say about politicians in Ghana: Do you have amazing and critical stories for us to publish? Reach out to us on Facebook and Instagram. Source: Yen Newspaper The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. left:Asot Michael even in the faceof telephonic evidence, has denied he asked for or took bribes. (Photo Credit: St. Lucia Star) Right:Peter Singh Virdee, property tycoon and known donor of the Conservative (Tory) Party of the U.K. and embroiled in 43million fraud allegations, is now accused of bribing high-ranking Caribbean politicians. (Photo Credit: Daily Mirror) Asot Michael, an elected Member of Parliament in Antigua and Barbuda, who has been fingered in an ongoing bribery case in the U.K., involving property tycoon Peter Singh Virdee, has resigned as Minister of Investment and Trade from the Gaston Browne-led Labour Party government In a letter dated May 15 addressed to Prime Minister Browne, Michael advised that he was resigning with effect from May 17, 2018. The Antigua Observer newspaper of Tuesday 16th May, said that The Prime Minister had confirmed that he had written to the Governor General, Sir Rodney Williams, telling him he has accepted Michaels resignation. Michaels journey to this eventuality began October 27, 2017 when he was taken into custody by U.K. law officials, just about when he was about to leave the U.K. by air, for Antigua. He was released after a day in custody without charge, but with the expressed knowledge that the investigation involving Virdee, in which he was implicated, would continue. On his return to Antigua, Michael was dismissed as Minister of Energy and Tourism, but despite this and the ongoing investigation involving Virdee hanging over his head, he was re-elected to Parliament in March this year and subsequently reappointed to the Cabinet. The matter implicating Michael surfaced last week in the U.K. Courts as Virdee made an appearance to answer to charges accusing him of bribing high-ranking Caribbean politicians. The state presented into evidence, transcripts of secretly taped telephone calls purportedly involving Virdee and Michael, while he was Minister of Energy in 2016, during which he demanded money, a car and campaign financing from Virdee. However, Michael has from the time the story broke in October 2017, denied the allegations made against him. His most recent denial came in his resignation letter to PM Browne, in which he wrote: "I emphasize that I am not a party to the Court proceedings in the United Kingdom which have been reported in the media, nor have I been charged with any wrong doing. The media reports refer to recordings of conversations between persons other than myself, and I cannot be held responsible for their utterances. He added, "I will continue to work assiduously in the interest of the people of my constituency, and to do all in my power to counter and disprove allegations made against me. I am determined that the calumnies against me shall not stand. In the meantime, attention is mounting for an even more damning allegation made in the transcripts of the tapes presented as evidence against Virdee. Those tapes purport to have recorded conversations of a similar nature (i.e. bribery) involving the then (2016) Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis. (Source: Mail Online (U.K.), Antigua Observer, Caribbean New Service) A former police officer who was extradited from the United States about two years ago to face charges in connection with the alleged rape and indecent assault of his daughter, walked free from the High Court on Tuesday, following a seven-day trial. The man was acquitted after a nine-member jury, comprised of five females and four males, found him not guilty of incest, unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13, and indecent assault. The jury retired at 12:30 p.m. and returned at 4:22 p.m. with an eight to one majority on all counts. The former cop was accused of committing the incest and rape between December, 31, 2007 and January 31, 2013, and the indecent assault in January 2013. He was said to be a constable attached to the Special Services Unit (SSU) when the offences were allegedly committed, and the child was said to be eight when the story surfaced in 2013. The trial, which started before Justice Brian Cottle at the Criminal Assizes, May 7, was heard in camera, and the media was not allowed to cover the proceedings. However, journalists were allowed in Court when the verdicts were delivered on Tuesday. When contacted, minutes after the former cop was acquitted, Crown Counsel Karim Nelson, who led the case for the Prosecution, told THE VINCENTIAN, "Such is the nature of the system that we have. The police have done their part and we (prosecution) have done our part. He made no further comment. Attorney Kay Bacchus-Baptiste, who represented the accused, told THE VINCENTIAN on Wednesday she was satisfied that the jury returned a true verdict on all counts, in keeping with the oath they took. She noted that the prosecution had dropped two additional charges of incest and unlawful sexual intercourse and had amended the others in relation to dates and addresses. "The prosecutions case defied logic, and was riddled with grave inconsistencies, the lawyer said. According to her, none of the evidence that the alleged victim gave in court was said at Preliminary Inquiry (PI), in witness statements, or by her mother, doctors or social workers; it was completely new evidence. Ten witnesses testified for the prosecution at the trial. The accused gave evidence from the dock but called no witnesses. Camillo Gonsalves, Minister of Finance, it appears, did not attach much credibility to the concerns raised by the SVG-THA, with respect to the new tax. The Climate Resilience Levy Bill that was passed into law during the May 4, 2018 sitting of Parliament, and which is set to become effective by June 01, is not sitting well with the SVG Tourism and Hotel Association (SVG -THA). The Bill obligates transient (overnight) visitors to pay a US$3.00/EC$8.00 tax per night, per room occupied for not more than 30 days. Government advanced the Climate Resilience Levy Bill as a tax measure, a stream of financing for the Contingency Fund. The Contingency Fund was established in 2015 by Government, as a source that would provide the means to respond more readily in times of disasters which inflict damages to the physical infrastructure, to the environment generally and to other climate change related occurrences. The Fund was originally captialised and continues to be funded from a 1% increase on the rate of the VAT, increasing that rate from 15% to 16%. Tourism Association registers concern The information is that the SVG-THA as early as February of this year, wrote to the Minister of Finance registering its members concerns about the proposed Bill, which had been introduced to the SVGTA during the Budget Consultations in preparation for the 2018 Budget. As it stands, the expressions of concerns by the SVG- THA fell on deaf ears, and government, having made one adjustment in the Bill (a 30-day maximum as against an originally proposed 45-day), proceeded to table the Bill, and ensure its passage through Parliament in the face of strong objection by the Opposition. The letter of February, among other things, raised concerns about a new tax on an industry that was struggling to achieve 50% occupancy on an industry that had recorded a lower occupancy rate in 2017 than it did in 2016. In fact, the SVG- THA went as far as to impress upon the government that this tax on visitors was likely to impact negatively on SVG as a preferred destination, and warned that SVG could make itself even more uncompetitive. During Parliaments debate on the Climate Resilience Levy Bill , Opposition Senator Kay Bacchus-Baptiste described it as an exercise of "climate change prostitution. Wendel Robinsons tenure as Commissioner of Police, according to reports, has not been without constant innuendo about his personal life. (Photo credit: antiguanewsroom) Embattled Commissioner of Police of Antigua and Barbuda, SVG-born Wendel Robinson, has filed a challenge against the actions of the Police Service Commission (PSC), which had suspended him to make way for a probe into his alleged inappropriate conduct towards three male junior officers. Robinson took the route of filing a "without notice application after he was granted leave, on May 10, to file for judicial review. A simultaneous application for the case to be treated as urgent was also granted, with May 18 being the date for formal filing of the application for judicial review, and June 6 set as the first day of hearing. There has been some goings and comings in the matter since the April 5 suspension of Robinson on 50 percent of his salary, to remain in effect until the outcome of the probe into alleged sexual harassment of several of his colleagues who complained to the Commission last month. The PSC acted when it received complaints in writing from three junior ranking male officers. Robinson, through his lawyer Sir Richard Cheltenham, argued from the day of receiving the suspension notice, that the actions of the Commission were unlawful, and on April 13, he wrote to the body, threatening legal action if the suspension was not lifted on or before April 20. April 20 passed without any formal/official indication of legal action by Robinson, until late last week when Robinsons new course of action (above) came to the fore. Robinson has been serving as Antigua and Barbudas Commissioner of Police since 2015. He is a lawyer and an experienced prosecutor. But it seems he has fallen fowl of his colleagues and the Antigua public, with many citizens making use of the media radio programmes, newspaper opinion columns, social media - to castigate Robinson, leaving many to conclude that even if he wins in the court, he has already lost in the court of public opinion. There has been no indication from the PSC about who will conduct the probe into the allegations against Robinson. (Source: Antigua Observer) Students writing the 2018 CPEA will do so over two days for the first time. Today Friday 18th May marks the second day of the final component of the 2018 Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA). Some 1,846 Grade Six students (940 females and 906 males) from across the state were registered to write the examination which began on Thursday 17. Education officials said that the students were spread across seventeen examination centres. The students are tested in four subject areas, using the multiple-choice papers format. Thursday was assigned to Mathematics and Social Studies, and Friday Language Arts and Science. This is the first time that students are being assessed in Social Studies as part of the final component, which accounts for 60 per cent of a students final score. Results, according to education officials, are expected to be published in June, following which the placement exercise into secondary schools will commence. Students, invited guests, Venezuelan Mission staff and members of the Resistance HeartBeat Drummers come together to celebrate the May Cross with a special song. The Velorio de Cruz de Mayo (The May Cross) is a cultural-religious manifestation of Venezuelan tradition. The celebration and festivities that have developed in its honour are meant to pay tribute to Nature to mark the start of the harvest season in May. The celebrations involve making a May Cross from wood which is then painted blue and decorated extravagantly with colourful paper and/or flowers. The festivities that surround the celebration are filled with music, featuring instruments typical to the various regions of Venezuela, and the distribution of food and drinks. This celebration of The Velorio de la Cruz de Mayo (The May Cross) was brought home to Vincentians in a concrete manner, when the Embassy of the Republic of Venezuela, through the Venezuela Institute for Culture and Cooperation, hosted a celebration on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The event, held at the Embassy of the Republic of Venezuela, Kingstown, involved the active participation of more than 50 Vincentian students. Francisco Perez Santana, Head of the Venezuelan Mission here, addressed the gathering. He highlighted the significance of the celebration and said that the objective of the May 9 event was to promote and encourage Vincentian students of the Venezuelan Institute to know the culture and identity of Venezuela. Leading up to the days event, Vincentian students, who had been involved in a Workshop which sensitised them about the Velorio de la Cruz de Mayo (the May Cross), prepared the May Cross in different ways, adorning them with artificial flowers and natural country flowers among other decorative material, for display at the event here. In addition, the students rendered decimas (ten line verses put to music), recited verses in the Spanish, played the cuatro, drum and maracas, and performed a song by Venezuelan Lilia Vera, in honour of the May Cross, accompanied by the Resistance HeartBeat Drummers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. At the end of the celebration, those who had gathered for the occasion shared the fruits and drinks, including Venezuelan arepas (corn patties) and SVG callaloo soup, which earlier, had been offered to the Cross. The May Cross was officially declared part of the Cultural Heritage of Venezuela in 2014. Global aerospace and defence (A&D) industry revenues are expected to experience significant growth in 2018 with analysts predicting a 4.1 per cent jump - more than doubling last years 2.1 per cent growth. This is according to Deloitte Globals 2018 Global aerospace and defence industry outlook, which analyses the commercial aircraft and defence sectors and identifies key trends ahead. With the global economic recovery underway and heightened passenger travel demand, the commercial aircraft subsector is expected to grow 4.8 per cent, primarily driven by elevated production levels to meet growing demand. In 2017, the Asia-Pacific region fueled passenger travel, and will likely continue to drive such growth in the long-term, due to an expanding middle class in the region. Global demand for new aircraft production is also projected to rise, with annual production likely to increase by 25 per cent over the next decade and 36,780 new aircrafts to be built over the next 20 years. After a year of subdued growth in 2017, the commercial aircraft sector is accelerating again, however, key challenges remain that the industry must consider and address, said Rashid Bashir, Partner and Public Sector Leader at Deloitte Middle East. Companies need to refocus on strengthening the supply chain, instilling effective program management, and implementing new and advanced technologies to spearhead efficiency. Amidst an uncertain future, dominated by fears of security threats and heightened global tensions, global powers are also revisiting their defence postures. In 2018, global defence sector revenues are expected to grow 3.6 per cent, with spending to cross $2 trillion by 2022. Global spending is estimated to rise at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 3.0 per cent between 2017-2022. While the US remained the top spending nation in 2016 (accounting for 36 per cent of the total global military spending), governments in India, Russia, and China have also devoted more resources to defence, with each countrys spending increasing in 2016 to address current global concerns (8.5 per cent, 5.9 per cent, and 5.4 per cent year-on-year, respectively). Across the globe, demand for defence military products is increasing, and with a growing risk of cyber-attacks worldwide, countries are reinforcing their defence mechanisms, adds Bashir. Higher defence spending across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, South Korea, Japan, and other nations is likely to encourage the same by Western countries and NATO, as leaders remain hyperfocused on countering potential threats and remaining competitive. Additional key trends in the industry include: Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) continues to gain momentum. M&A deal value in the global A&D industry reached $51.5 billion in 2017, despite the number of transactions declining slightly from 2016. Ultimately, pricing pressures from aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and expansion of high-margin aftermarket services are pushing suppliers to consolidate for scale and cost efficiencies. M&A activity is likely to remain strong. In the US in particular, increased defence budgets will provide certainty to military planners. Military expenditures vary by region. From 2010 to 2016, military expenditures for the Americas declined 18.9 per cent, while Europes spending grew 3.3 per cent during the same time. On the other hand, spending in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East grew substantially, leading global defence companies to reshift their focus on new markets, including India and the Middle East. US A&D exports on the decline. In 2017, US A&D exports experienced a slight decline after a multi-year history of growth. Exports stood at $144.7 billion, down 1.3 per cent over 2016. The decline is accounted for by the strengthening of the US dollar and increased competition from global powers such as Russia and China. While exports will continue to remain important globally, the US administrations regulatory policies will largely shape its future. - TradeArabia News Service Dubai-based DP Worlds group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem recently discussed economic opportunities available for Kazakhstan and the role of business, government and international organisations to enable growth. Bin Sulayem sat with President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, at a roundtable discussion in Baku, Azerbaijan, this week as part of the Astana Global Economic Forum 2018, said a statement. Discussions focused on exploring Kazakhstans future responses to global challenges and the role of business, government and international organisations to enable growth, it said. Bin Sulayem also addressed the conference, highlighting the investment of successful nations in their infrastructure, multi-modal transport systems, digital technologies and upskilling of their people to develop further. He highlighted Kazakhstans 2050 economic strategy, plans to become one of the top 30 most developed nations and its $9 billion Nurly Zhol initiative to enable infrastructure growth, commerce and entrepreneurship as examples of long term thinking. During his visit, Bin Sulayem also met other senior government officials, including Kazakhstan Prime Minister, Bakytzhan Sagintayev; First Deputy Prime Minister, Askar Mamin; and Samruk Kazyna chairman, Akhmetzhan Yesimov. Bin Sulayem, said: Kazakhstan can use transit revenues and develop new export markets, because when trade grows, we all benefit. Weve learnt that connecting multi-modal transport, industrial parks, economic zones, ports and terminals through a focus on infrastructure is the way to grow. Its a model weve pioneered at our Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone in Dubai and replicated around the world, including at London Gateway in the UK and Caucedo in the Dominican Republic. The success is measurable Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone contribute to over 20 per cent of Dubais GDP today, he said. Technology is changing the way we handle cargo because people want their goods now and faster than ever before and those who invest in technologies to enable that today will forge ahead tomorrow. The efficient use of all four modes of transport, supplemented with digital technology will be key in developing future economies, he added. Public private partnerships will also help in the development race and Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative is a prime example. We need to also anticipate the growth of smart cities and e-commerce, and how to participate given that many jobs needed for the future do not even exist today, he concluded. DP World has been advising the government of Kazakhstan on its ports, free zones and trade infrastructure since 2013, at the Port of Aktau and the Khorgos Logistics and Industrial Zone, introducing safety, commercial, engineering and operational procedures followed by DP World across its global operations. In 2017, the global trade enabler signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Kazakhstan for the development of a special economic zone (SEZ) in Aktau, further boosting trade and logistics in the country. The same year, two other agreements were signed with the Kazakhstan government and its customs department for the development of a port community system (PCS) to support the Eurasian transcontinental trade corridor. In March, DP World signed two new framework agreements relating to the acquisition, governance and management of SEZs in Aktau (Kazakhstan) and Khorgos (China). A 17 per cent increase in the transit of goods was seen through Kazakhstan in 2017 (equivalent to 17 million tonnes), while trans Kazakhstan container trade by rail grew by 46 per cent and Khorgos Gateway container volumes grew 113 per cent in the same year, it stated. TradeArabia News Service The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations. For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered. This is separate from my speaking fee. If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event. Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up. TCN News Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee (CLMC) express its deep distress on the occasion of 11 years of Mecca Masjid bomb blast and subsequent police firing in which many people died and more than hundreds were injured. It should be remembered that on May 18, 2007 a powerful bomb exploded by the Hindutva terrorists in Mecca Masjid during the Friday prayer, immediately after that police started firing on unarmed people with the intention to kill them and within minutes Telugu electronic media started scrolling news blaming that Muslim youths are responsible for blast and then started stories that a Muslim youth exploded the bomb by operating it from Bangladesh, said CLMCs press statement released today. It further said, Mecca Masjid bomb blast and subsequent police firing and propaganda against Muslims, implicating Muslim youths in terror charges and acquittal of Hindutva terrorists from the court by stating lack of evidence, and the immediate resignation of the presiding judge made this terror attack as a strange case of terrorism and an unholy nexus can be seen in-between state and non-state factor which resulted in the denial of justice to the Makkah Masjid blast victims. Support TwoCircles On May 18, 2018, it is the completion of 11 years of multiple terror acts in which Mecca Masjid and whole Muslim community were under attack. Committees press statement further said, Still, Muslims have not overcome from the shock, trauma, and suffering. Still, it is fresh in the minds of Muslims and particularly victims of blast, firing and police torture who have suffered and continue to suffer a lot. They strongly believe state and its agencies, prosecution and court are non-serious to provide justice and not interested to punish the criminals as per the law of the land, instead criminals of terror enjoyed the leniency of state with impunity and it is also a known and open fact nowadays that the policy of the Govt is to go soft on the Hindutva terrorists, alleged the committee. It further accused investigative agencies of being non-serious and insincere enough about the investigation of the incident. It said, It had long ago lost interest to bring criminals under justice, which reflected in the whole botched up prosecution conducted inside the court. The NIA consciously sidelined crucial material evidence during the trail to facilitate the acquittals of Hindutva terrorist, the way which these investigative agencies are working clearly reflects that they are working under the pressure of Hindutva government, wherein it has now become the official policy of the government to go soft on the Hindutva terrorists. After 11 years of Mecca Masjid case and acquittal of accused from the court, it has become a strange case of terrorism which is leading to many more uncomfortable questions arising in the mind of the general public, said the press statement. It is also a mystery till now as to why the police opened the fire on the innocent people at Mecca Masjid who were already victims of the blast? Why the media blamed the Muslims immediately after the blasts without any proof by giving the references of police sources? All these aspects remained under covered and it has to be still disclosed by the investigative agencies. Overall it is a greater conspiracy to target the Muslim identity, to defame and demoralize the Muslim community, the committee raised the issues through its statement. The committee demanded the government of Telangana to start the judicial procedure to conduct the retrial of Mecca Masjid bomb blast case in the free and fair manner and provide justice. It is the responsibility of the NIA to take this case seriously as it has taken up other blast cases and conducted the trial in fast-track court and brought criminals under justice. This blog post coauthored with Isabel Schnabel was published this week by PIIE, Bruegel and Vox. Several euro area leaders, including the German chancellor, her finance minister, and the French president, have recently referred to the need to complete the banking union. These public calls echo those made in more formal settings, in intergovernmental meetings and European Commission communications over the last half decade. They inevitably raise the question of what criteria should be used to assess the banking unions completeness. A narrow interpretation, based on euro area leaders past commitments, equates it with breaking the bank-sovereign vicious circle; a more ambitious long-term vision for complete banking union implies the removal of all cross-border distortions within the euro area banking market. Even the minimalist version, however, entails more reforms than those publicly under current consideration. Banking union has become a widely used expression to refer to the project of shifting banking-sector policy instruments from the national to the European level, but there is no official or legal definition of what it is or should be. Its first recorded use in public was made outside of officialdom (albeit on a suggestion from a European Commission official, Maarten Verwey), and it was gradually popularized in expert circles and the media. Euro area leaders endorsed banking union as their policy at a landmark summit in late June 2012, but waited almost a year until adopting the expression itself. The Bank-Sovereign Vicious Circle Forms through Direct and Indirect Financial Linkages The same leaders, however, associated banking union from the start with a clearly stated objective, namely that [i]t is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns. That sentence opened the June 2012 summit statement, and was identically repeated on several subsequent occasions. It refers to the mechanism, first observed by International Monetary Fund (IMF) scholars in 2009 and then increasingly acknowledged in European policy discussions, by which sovereign risk and bank risk are highly correlated with each other in Europes monetary union. Thus, a major banking-sector problem will cause fiscal distress (as happened in Ireland and Cyprus), and conversely, reckless fiscal management will result in a credit squeeze (as in Greece); the ensuing financial fragmentation across country borders impairs the operation of area-wide monetary policy and ultimately risks a break-up of the monetary union, giving rise to redenomination risk. This vicious circle, also referred to as the euro areas doom loop, is best understood as a combination of direct and indirect financial linkages, summarized in the following chart. (Olivier Blanchard, then the IMFs chief economist, appears to have been the first to produce this depiction of the bank-sovereign vicious circle in the summer of 2011, in internal IMF material that has unfortunately not been published.) Selected contagion channels between banks and sovereigns in the euro area A complete banking union, then, must include a policy framework in which the bank-sovereign vicious circle is broken. This is evidently not yet the case, as many of the above depicted linkages have remained essentially intact since the start of banking union almost six years ago. Deposit insurance is still national, as have been ad hoc schemes to support failing banks and their creditors. (In just one country, Italy, and in the past year only, these have included national liability guarantees, the precautionary recapitalization of one major bank, and the reimbursement of losses incurred by retail savers and investors in senior debt). Meanwhile, most euro area banks still exhibit significant home bias in their sovereign exposures, namely the fact that their direct credit exposures to euro-area sovereigns remains concentrated in their home country. Furthermore, most euro area banks retain a largely domestic footprint, implying powerful indirect linkages through the domestic economy. In addition, a surprisingly large number of them are controlled or otherwise influenced by national governments and/or politics, which reinforces the bank-sovereign nexus. For example, a very significant share of the German banking system is directly controlled by local or state governments. The Ideal Single-Market Banking Union: Worthwhile, But Remote Prospect A maximalist version of completing the banking union would remove all national determinants of banks activity and business models, thus fulfilling the promise of a perfect internal market in which all cross-border competitive distortions have been eliminated. (The privatization of publicly-owned banks could be viewed as an integral part of that agenda.) The United States comes close to a seamlessly integrated banking marketa surprisingly recent development, which followed the deregulation and reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. Relevant distortions in Europe include wide national variations in banking regulation, taxation, accounting, auditing, insolvency law (both for banks and their clients), and the policy frameworks for pensions and housing finance, to name only a few. This maximalist agenda, which may be labeled a single-market banking union, has many things in common with the European Commissions ongoing effort towards a capital markets union. Like the latter, it is a worthwhile long-term project that cannot realistically be completed any time soon. The Realistic Approach to Completing Banking Union: Breaking the Vicious Circle But a single-market banking union may be placing the bar too high for proclaiming the project completed. The bank-sovereign vicious circle can arguably be broken with a much more limited package of policies that would address the critical linkages pictured above. This comparatively more modest approach may be called a no-doom-loop banking union: falling far short of the fully-fledged single-market banking union, but good enough to declare mission accomplished with a straight face. A recent Franco-German euro report, to which we both contributed, outlines one possible way to do that. It suggests: a European deposit insurance scheme that guarantees all covered deposits in the euro area identically and unconditionally (banks contributing fees would remain differentiated on a national basis, to account for the differences that will persist as long as a single-market banking union is not achieved); that guarantees all covered deposits in the euro area identically and unconditionally (banks contributing fees would remain differentiated on a national basis, to account for the differences that will persist as long as a single-market banking union is not achieved); sovereign concentration charges , i.e. a regulatory incentive for euro area banks to diversify their sovereign exposures within the area but away from their home country; and i.e. a regulatory incentive for euro area banks to diversify their sovereign exposures within the area but away from their home country; and phasing out restrictions on cross-border pooling of capital and liquidity by multinational banks within the euro area, thus encouraging cross-border integration that will mitigate the indirect linkages. Implementing such an agenda would inevitably entail a long transition period, but the corresponding policy choices are sufficiently straightforward and commonly understood for policymakers to make binding decisions shortly. Banking policy steps currently under active discussion in the euro area including tackling non-performing loans that are a legacy of the past decade of crisis and those that will arise in the future; setting in motion a quasi-fiscal backstop to the Single Resolution Fund, a commitment all member states made in 2013; and finalizing the banking legislation proposed by the European Commission in November 2016 and whose subsequent discussion has stalled. All of these steps would be useful, even necessary, but none of them, even taken together, would plausibly amount to completing the banking union. For that, the very lowest threshold would be to effectively break the bank-sovereign vicious circle: politically more challenging for sure, but still doable this year if political leaders take their own banking-union-completion slogan seriously. The MSCI said Monday that as the first step of the partial inclusion, 234 companies would be added to the MSCI China Index as well as relevant global and regional composite indexes as of the close of May 31, 2018. As Xinxua writes in the article Economic Watch: China's financial market becomes more attractive for world, with steady progress in the MSCI's inclusion of Chinese A-shares, China's financial market is improving for global investors looking for opportunities from China's wider opening up. As recognition of China's financial openness, global index provider MSCI has taken gradual moves to include the A-shares in its index system. The shares will be added at 2.5 percent of their Foreign Inclusion Factor adjusted market capitalization, representing aggregate weights of 1.26 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively, in the MSCI China Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The second step of the inclusion will coincide with the August 2018 Quarterly Index Review, when the representation of the FIF-adjusted market capitalization of Chinese A-shares will increase to 5 percent. The institution's acceptance of A-shares is based on the past achievements of China's reform and opening up. As early as 2002, China unveiled measures to allow qualified foreign institutional investors to invest in China's securities market within approved quotas. The combined quota has been on constant rise ever since. A few years later, a similar system was developed to allow qualified domestic institutional investors to invest overseas. In 2014 and 2016, the Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect programs were made available to domestic and overseas investors as a more extensive way of financial opening up. The country has been taking gradual but resolute steps to open up the financial sector to boost the Chinese financial sector's international competitiveness and ability to serve the real economy. The opening up measures won the MSCI's recognition in June 2017, when the MSCI announced it would partially include large cap China A-shares in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI ACWI Index. "With the increased liberalization and internationalization of the China market, investors have expressed a clear need for more insight and tools to make better informed investment decisions," said Theodore Niggli, head of MSCI's Asia Pacific index products. Last month, Chinese central bank governor Yi Gang announced a series of new measures for the financial sector to expand opening up, as China marks the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up policy this year. The measures include expanding the daily quotas for mainland-Hong Kong stock connect programs and relaxing the shareholding ratio requirement for foreign capital investing in financial companies. Although the MSCI's A-share inclusion will not become effective before June 1, overseas investment into the A-share market through the stock connect programs has been rising since last month, Ping An Securities said in a research note. "The value of A-shares in global asset allocation is gradually increasing," the brokerage firm said. The weekly net inflow of funds from Hong Kong to the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges had been rising for six consecutive weeks since the end of March. Xie Zhengbin, research director of MSCI Asia Pacific, believes the MSCI inclusion is positive for the A-share market's internationalization, further opening up and improvement of investor structure. With continuous opening up, "entry of investment from all around the globe will be an irresistible trend," Ping An Securities said. As the Washington rain beat down during the conclusion of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyevs first official visit to the United States, both sides were readying to present the trip as a glowing success. As Eurasianet writes in an article "Uzbekistan aglow after presidents successful US visit", US President Donald Trump appeared still to be locked in solemn exchanges with Mirziyoyev at the door of the White House as the Uzbek leader departed. "We've been working very closely together on different things, including trade. They've actually made investments here. We make investments there," Trump said during a May 16 press briefing without getting into specifics. "We're working together from the standpoint of the military, including his purchase of equipment and military equipment from the United States," he added. Mirziyoyev, said Trump, in what probably wasnt intended as a backhanded compliment, is a man very respected in his country. Since the 9/11 attacks, Washingtons perceptions of Tashkent have been heavily colored by the war in Afghanistan. The nadir of relations came in 2005, when Uzbekistan was still highly useful to the United States as a hub for military operations. After Washington criticized a brutal crackdown on protests in the eastern town of Andijan Uzbekistans then-leader Islam Karimov ordered the closure of the US military base in the country. Mirziyoyev, who arrived in Washington amid a crescendo of praise as the man overhauling Karimov's system would be forgiven for reflecting on his predecessors luck. Ten years after Andijan, with relations between the countries improved despite Uzbekistans human rights record remaining abysmal, Tashkent benefited from the biggest ever donation of US military equipment as Washington withdrew troops in large numbers. Washington gave Uzbekistan over 300 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles and 20 Armored Recovery Vehicles as part of the much-criticized gift. Agreements struck at the Trump-Mirziyoyev meet this week included a first-ever Five-Year Plan of Military Cooperation, according to a White House press release, which hailed "a New Era of Strategic Partnership". Washington has also pledged technical assistance as Uzbekistan continues work towards joining the World Trade Organization as well as vaguer political support for Uzbekistans increasingly ambitious plans to develop transport road and rail infrastructure in the region. What Tashkent will want to know is what kind of freebies might be available as part of these agreements, particularly regarding WTO accession. Given the Trump administrations general aversion to foreign aid and Afghanistans declining importance to the US since withdrawals began in 2014, expectations may already be conservative. More curious are the 20 major business deals Uzbekistan signed with US companies worth $4.8 billion during Mirziyoyevs visit. If fully implemented the deals could sustain more than 10,000 US jobs and open opportunities for billions of dollars in future US contracts according to the White House release. With little information on these deals coming from either side for the moment, they are difficult to scrutinize. But the statement's reference to American jobs, as well as Mirziyoyevs comment post talks that Uzbekistan has been procuring from the US a lot of technology as well as equipment suggest few of the deals are the kind of direct foreign investments Tashkent craves. For a comparison in terms of figures, when Mirziyoyev visited Russian leader Vladimir Putin in April last year the pair signed trade and investment agreements worth $15.8 billion. Visiting Xi Jinping in China a month later, Mirziyoyev came away with deals worth $20 billion according to Uzbek state media. (Chinese state media was more restrained, putting the figure at over $10 billion). The supposed value of the US-Uzbekistan deals does, however, eclipse those signed by Mirziyoyev and Turkish President Recep Tayiip Erdogan last month which were placed at $3 billion. The new Uzbek leaders energetic regional diplomacy is perhaps Washingtons best hope for diluting Russian influence in a part of the world it has rarely understood. Ultimately, however, geography is all-determining. Beyond scaled-down US operations in Afghanistan, which Uzbekistan has said it will continue to support as a transit country, the two have few binding ties. The question, then, is not whether the US appreciates a more receptive and tactile Tashkent most countries will but the extents it is prepared to go to to show that appreciation. Brent crude oil on Thursday topped $80 a barrel for the first time since November 2014, as the market grew concerned that the Trump administration's effort to sanction Iran's crude exports could be more successful than originally thought. As CNBC writes in the article US crude ends flat, settling at $71.49, as oil fails to hold gains on Iran sanctions concern, Brent, the international benchmark for oil prices, hit a session high of $80.50 a barrel on Thursday, its strongest level since Nov. 24, 2014, when it topped out at $80.85. The contract eased back to $79.19 by 2:25 p.m. ET, down 9 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended the day unchanged from the previous session at $71.49 a barrel. WTI earlier hit a high going back to Nov. 28, 2014 at $72.30 a barrel. President Donald Trump announced last week he would withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal and restore wide-ranging sanctions on Iran. His administration is gave companies 90 to 180 days to wind down current business with Iran subject to sanctions. John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital, chocked up oil's failure to hold earlier gains to traders taking profits off the table and "crisis fatigue." "There was no new catalyst today, no new rhetoric from key players. This is what passes for relative calm these days," he said. Still, he said the market is becoming convinced that Trump will be able to disrupt crude exports after his administration slapped sanctions on the head of Iran's central bank earlier this week. "That showed that he's not kidding around. It's very much a forward-leaning, aggressive strategy against Iran," he said. A debate had raged in the market over the effectiveness of the sanctions, largely because China and key U.S. allies in Europe still support the nuclear deal. While some analysts said sanctions could wipe 1 million barrels per day of Iranian crude off the market, others said the impact would be limited to fewer than 500,000 barrels a day. The Trump administration ultimately took a tougher stance than many expected, restoring all sanctions that were in place prior to their suspension in 2016. The European Union is exploring ways to protect the continent's companies, but the market is losing faith that Washington will issue sanctions waivers to the shippers, insurers and financial institutions necessary to bring Iranian oil to buyers, according to Kilduff. French oil major Total said on Wednesday it will halt a multibillion-dollar investment natural gas development in Iran unless it receives a waiver from the U.S. government. OPEC members can replace any supplies lost from Iran, and the United States is pumping at record levels, noted Anthony Grisanti, president and founder at GRZ Energy. "I see a lot of this move being seasonal factors. Demand for products has been very strong," including gasoline and distillate, he told CNBC's "Futures Now." "I wouldn't be surprised if this market didn't sell off after the Memorial Day holiday." Meanwhile, concerns are mounting over falling output in Venezuela after ConocoPhillips moved to seize the assets of Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA. "The screws are really tightening on Venezuela," Dan Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit, told CNBC on Wednesday. Also boosting the market, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that oil in storage in the United States fell more than expected, dropping by about 1.4 million barrels. Stockpiles of refined products like gasoline and distillates also fell. The United States is approaching the summer driving season, when refineries typically draw down inventories to meet increased demand at the gas pump. However, the Paris-based International Energy Agency on Wednesday warned that recent strength in demand for oil could soon moderate. The adviser to developed nations knocked down its 2018 forecast for growth in demand from 1.5 million barrels a day to 1.4 million barrels a day in its monthly report. "While recent data confirms strong growth in 1Q18 and the start of 2Q18, we expect a slowdown in 2H18 largely attributable to higher oil prices," IEA said. The agency also sees higher oil prices providing an incentive for U.S. drillers to pump more crude. It raised its expectation for U.S. oil output growth for 2018 by 120 thousand barrels a day. The United States is now pumping more than 1.7 million barrels a day, according to the latest preliminary weekly reading from EIA. The nation's drillers are quickly closing in on top producer Russia, which pumps about 11 million barrels a day. Iran is negotiating with leading international oil companies that are actively engaged in deep-water drilling under joint projects with Azerbaijans SOCAR state-run company in Caspian Sea, Hossein Esmaeili Shahmirzadi, Director General for USA, Europe and Caspian States at Irans Oil Ministry, told Trend. As EurAsia Daily writes in the article Tehran negotiating with Baku for deep-water drilling in Caspian Sea, according to the Iranian official, final talks will be held by joint Iranian-Azerbaijani committee to be set up shortly. The sides show political will to cooperate in development of coordinated blocks in Caspian Sea, he said. After President Hassan Rouhanis latest visit to Baku, a new chapter of cooperation in oil and gas sector has opened, and Tehran and Baku continue working to establish a joint oil company, Shahmirzadi said. The Iranian official assured that nothing holds his country from deep-water drilling to explore hydrocarbon reserves in the Caspian Sea. Iranian drilling rig Amid Kabir that is a unique platform is located in Caspian Sea, and Azerbaijan has some equipment there as well, he told Trend. Amir Kabir semi-submersible drilling rig weighs 14,700 tons. The rigs operating water depth is 1000m and drilling depth from sea bed is 6,600 m. The joint company will be created under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan and Oil Ministry of Iran to develop relevant blocks in Caspian Sea. The document was signed on March 28, 2018 during Iranian presidents visit to Azerbaijan. The oil and gas agreement between Iran and Azerbaijan provides for development of two blocks in Caspian Sea, including Araz-Alov-Sharg exploration of which was frozen until the two countries agree on Caspian status, Trend reported. Three days ago in Jerusalem, the opening ceremony of a new American embassy in Israel took place, which caused the Palestinians to protest at the border of the Gaza Strip. As a result of the clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military, the death toll exceeded 60 people. As Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah writes in the article Washington insists on blowing up the Middle East, Trump's project of handing Jerusalem to Netanyahu on a golden plate will be recorded in history as a textbook example of irresponsible statesmanship He does not see that with the Jerusalem card off the negotiating table in the Middle East peace process the Palestinians are left with nothing to discuss with Israel or anyone else. This is the most irresponsible statesmanship that has been displayed by any world leader in modern times and it is putting world peace at risk. Trump has given the go ahead for the Israelis to display intransigence at the highest degree, shooting at unarmed flag waving Palestinian demonstrators, killing 61 of them and wounding at least 2,000 others. The Israelis had the audacity to say this was an act of self-defense and the Americans supported this. But the world did not. The Israelis even went as far as to claim some Palestinians in the crowd had fired upon the Israeli forces. A BBC commentator openly asked the Israeli government spokesman "if this is the case then why is it that only one soldier was slightly wounded while scores of Palestinians died and were wounded on the other side?" The Israeli was lost for words. Some Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and even Bahrain had started warming toward Israel and even going to the extremes of turning their backs on the Palestinians. Now those states are caught in an impossible situation. They cannot fall behind Israel when it comes to Jerusalem not because they are so loyal to Islamic values but because they fear their own public opinions will turn against them. Israel was trying to unite some Arabs to counter Iran's expansion in the Middle East but with the mess created by Trump in Jerusalem that too will have to be put aside. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just back from a visit to the United Kingdom, will make sure to spare valuable election campaigning time for the sake of Jerusalem, to rally the Islamic nations to stand up against Trump and his Jerusalem flop. Turkey has declared a three-day mourning period for the martyrs of the latest Israeli attack on Palestinians and has called its ambassadors in Washington and Tel Aviv back home for consultations. Turkey will now bring together the leaders of the Islamic world to declare a new action plan against the U.S.'s move and Israel's massacres. Then Turkey will seek action with the United Nations.What Trump has done is a favor to Erdogan. President Erdogan has united Turkish public opinion on Jerusalem and thus created a positive atmosphere that will help him in the presidential elections campaign. Even opposition candidate Muharrem Ince has gone as far as to demand that Turkey recall its Washington ambassador. It hasn't even been 10 days since Donald Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, reached by six international mediators in 2015, and resumption of all sanctions against Iran and sanctions against other countries that do business with Iran, but results of this decision can already be seen. France's Total announced that it will withdraw from the South Pars project in Iran, the European Union announced its intention to switch to payments in euro for oil supplies from the Islamic Republic, chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk hinted at possible scenarios when the EU will have to act independently. Commenting on new sanctions against Tehran, director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies and Initiatives Veronica Krasheninnikova noted: "Actions against Iran were extremely predictable, unfortunately. But their aggressiveness exceeds even some of our forecasts. The Trump administration not only returns previous economic sanctions, but also imposes new sanctions. When Donald Trump says that he's willing to make efforts to sign a "better and fair" deal with Iran, in reality it doesn't mean anything. One of Trump's requirements is to give the US access to military bases in Iran. He's basically demanding capitulation. Of course, nothing like this will ever happen and the Trump administration won't have any constructive proposals." According to her, decision of the most aggressive core of the Trump administration creates and deepens split in American establishment: "The US Secretary of Defense, General Mattis, nicknamed the Mad Dog, who was dismissed by President Obama in 2013 for aggressive initiatives against Iran, became a moderate member of the Trump administration. At one point we thought that the level of aggression in the Obama administration was extremely high, and before that the level of aggression of the Bush administration was considered to be high. Few people could imagine that aggression will reach this point, but it happened." She recalled that Europe, Russia and China voiced their support of the nuclear deal: "We will closely monitor whether Europe has strength and courage to stand its ground. Look at the current situation in the world: Europe, Russia, Iran and China on the one hand, the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia on the other. No one thought that the world would split like this: On Monday, the US Embassy in Israel was moved to Jerusalem. Predictably another round of Israeli aggression against Palestinian population began, 60 people were killed. All of this helps Europeans to make the right decision, despite tragedy of the situation. Actually, tragedy of this situation between Israel and Palestine makes it easier for Europe to make the right choice." The scientific conference titled 'National Unity, Historical Heritage and Challenges of the 21st Century', dedicated to the centenary of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, was held in Baku. On the sidelines of the event, Vestnik Kavkaza talked with the Russian historian, doctor of historical sciences, senior scientific employee of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Salavat Iskhakov, who addressed the conference with a report 'The history of relations between Russia's Bolshevik authorities and Azerbaijan (based on the materials of the Second Moscow Congress of the Peoples of the East 1918-1919)' - How do you assess the Bolsheviks' activities in Azerbaijan in 1918-1920? - On June 19, 1919, Lenin took part in the a meeting of the Politburo, at which it was decided to "recognize the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan," although it does not exist. There was a completely different republic. The plan to capture Baku was prepared by people from Stalin's entourage - [member of the Baku Revolutionary Defense Committee Nariman] Narimanov, [a member of the Baku committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party Movsum Nazhmeddin] Israfilbekov, a Bolshevik revolutionary [Bunyad Medat oglu] Sardarov and others ... Many were repressed because they knew too much, Narimanov was killed. These people have done their work and were no longer needed. Moreover, such a policy was carried out not only against Azerbaijan. There were politicians who performed Stalin's combinations, and then they were simply eliminated in order not to leave witnesses to his deeds. Six months before the of the Red Army's invasion in Baku, Narimanov said: "We will come and capture the city without a single shot." And that's what happened. There were those in Baku, who participated in the implementation of the Bolshevik plan, but we have not yet found the documents proving it. One way or another, the seizure of power took place, Narimanov received the post of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Azerbaijan SSR [until 1922], while [founder of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic] Mammad Emin Rasulzade emigrated. - By the way, in your opinion, was the proclamation of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 logical? - Some historians think it was an accident, others - a pattern. Many circumstances are still unknown. - Did the Bolsheviks attach any particular significance to Azerbaijan or viewed it like Armenia and Georgia? - Stalin was surrounded by Azerbaijani politicians, because Baku was the center of the revolutionary movement. Stalin carried out his plans using these people. The politicians I named - Sardarov, Israfilbekov and others - were interlocutors of these plans. Stalin needed them. A struggle for power erupted, and Stalin used it - he came up with different combinations, appointed one person, the other one, play both sides against the middle. Of course, great importance was attached to Azerbaijan, because it was possible to solve other issues through it, because Stalin had support neither in Georgia nor in Armenia. Stalin regarded Azerbaijan as a kind of "bridge", saying: "You are mediators, we will implement all our plans with your help." This is a blessed land: an economy, oil and a reliance on people who had their ambitious plans, who believed Stalin, but then disappeared one by one for various reasons. Political disagreements became one of the reasons why the Bolshevik plan was implemented. It would hardly have been possible if political leadership of Azerbaijan was united. The split of Azerbaijan's political elite began in 1919, when Stalin's people intervened in the matter, causing the de facto takeover of the country. - Even back then Baku was famous for its 'advanced' intelligentsia... - It was an intellectual, spiritual center. Before the revolution, there were many newspapers and educational and cultural institutions here. Until 1917, people from other Turkic regions came to Baku to receive education. It was not just a revolutionary city, but also a cultural center, and there was relative freedom here compared to the situation in Kazan, in Kazakhstan. People went to Baku to receive education, not to Tbilisi or Yerevan. It was extremely important to seize such a center for Stalin, and it was done with the assistance of the internal opposition, including the Muslim clergy, the Ittihad Party, which became one of the Bolsheviks' allies. Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Syrian Bashar al-Assad held talks in Sochi yesterday, the Kremlin's Acting Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said upon completion of the meeting. "The talks were quite detailed," Peskov said. "President [Putin] pointed out the Syrian Armed Forces' considerable achievements in struggle with terrorist units and congratulated Assad on this occasion." "The two presidents pointed out the importance of setting up more conditions that would facilitate the resumption of a full-fledged political process and they also noted success of the Astana process, as well as of the Congress of the Syrian People, which had been held in Sochi," Peskov said. "Today's talks focused on further joint steps." Assad assured Putin that Damascus enthusiastically supports a political process in the republic with a parallel fight against terrorism. "Stability is growing, and all this opens the door to a political process that we started some time ago. I have always said, and I want to reiterate that we have always enthusiastically supported a political process that should proceed hand-in-hand with fight against terrorism," the Syrian leader said. Azerbaijan and the European Union have great potential to develop agricultural trade, head of Operations Section at the EU Mission in Baku Jeroen Willems said at the First Baku International Conference on Food Security. He stressed that it is necessary to continue work on bringing the quality of Azerbaijani products in line with the EU standards. "Today, only 5% of Azerbaijan's food exports accounts for the EU markets. Only 10-20 countries can export certain food products to the EU," Willems said. According to him, compliance with the food safety standards alone is not enough for exporting to European countries now. "Many large retailers also require certificates that production is carried out in accordance with environmental and ethical standards," the head of Operations Section at the EU Mission in Baku concluded. The first Baku International Conference on Food Security has opened today in Azerbaijan. The event is organized jointly with the World Bank. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has attended the inauguration of a new administrative building of the New Azerbaijan Party. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the new administrative building and viewed conditions created here. President Aliyev put flowers at national leader, founder of the New Azerbaijan Party Heydar Aliyev's bust in the foyer of the building. Deputy Chairman-Executive Secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party Ali Ahmadov informed the president of the conditions created in the building. Twenty-six years have passed since the occupation of Azerbaijans Lachin district by Armenia. More than 300 servicemen and civilians were killed or missing during the occupation of the Lachin district.More than 77,000 citizens of Lachin became the internally displaced persons and live in other Azerbaijani regions, The occupation of Lachin, a region of great geostrategic significance, caused a serious damage to Azerbaijans economy. The invaders destroyed hundreds of cultural objects, historical monuments, settlements, and villages in Lachin. As many as 217 cultural, 101 educational and 142 health institutions, 462 trade objects and dozens of other facilities were plundered and demolished. More than 200 local historical monuments and 54 monuments of world importance became the object of Armenian vandalism. These included the Agoglan Albanian monastery of the 6th century, the Malik Ajdar tomb of the 14th century, a mosque in the Garagishlag village and an ancient cemetery in the Zabukh village. The Lachin Historical Museum and an old collection of gold, silver and bronze coins were also looted. The exhibit of the museum a bag of silver was later sold for $80,000 at Sotheby's auction in London. The European Court of Human Rights in the case Chiragov and others v. Armenia ruled in favour of Azerbaijani nationals who were forcibly displaced from the occupied Lachin district of Azerbaijan, recognizing continuing violations by Armenia of a number of their rights under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Of particular importance is the determination by the Court, in paragraphs 19-20, that the district of Lachin, in particular the town of Lachin, was under military attack; that in mid-May 1992, Lachin was subjected to aerial bombardment, in the course of which many houses were destroyed. By introducing sanctions against a number of countries, the US is promoting its own commercial interests, Russias Acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with magazine Russian Business Guide - Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce. "Today we are witnessing the politicization of economic cooperation. Elements of unfair competition such as disregarding universal rules of international trade and the norms of the WTO, as well as unilateral restrictions and the exterritorial use of domestic legislation are being incrementally used," Lavrov stressed. "The goal of these actions that are seriously damaging the global economy is to promote commercial self-interests at any cost. The 'Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act adopted by the US is specifically pursuing this." Lavrov reiterated that it is the Americans who are steamrolling their anti-Russian sanctions policy through the economic sphere. "European businesses have to pay for such actions: producers from other world regions are replacing EU producers on the Russian market," the acting foreign minister said. "The US is not suffering any damage, on the contrary. Washington makes no secret that behind the battle against the Russian threat it seeks to consolidate its companies positions, in particular energy and defense firms, in Europe," TASS cited him as saying. Lavrov noted that the situation is increasingly drawing discontent from European business circles. Iranian agrarians are very interested in close cooperation with Azerbaijan, in particular, in exporting their products to Azerbaijani markets, Iran's deputy agriculture minister Mehdi Ghaemian, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza on the sidelines of the International Conference on Food Security in Baku. "Food security is the main task for the whole world and part of the overall security of each country. Azerbaijan and Iran are neighbors, countries with very close cultures, and on the eve of my arrival in Baku, many representatives of the Iranian private sector expressed interest in good relations with Azerbaijan and vice versa - private Azerbaijani companies contact me expressing their interest in agricultural trade with Iran," he said in the first place. Mehdi Ghaemian stressed importance of ensuring bilateral food security for strengthening the positive relations of neighboring countries, such as Azerbaijan and Iran. "As a representative of the Iranian government, I support such ties," Iran's deputy agriculture minister said. "I must say that our countries have a very high level of contacts in the agrarian sphere. The most important thing in agricultural trade issues is a fast transfer, because food go bad quickly, and we have excellent cooperation at the governmental level. We have a memorandum of understanding. Of course, there can be delays in the movement of goods in both directions, but with a lower level of relations, the exchange of agricultural products would be slower," Mehdi Ghaemian noted. It is also important that the private sector plays a key role in the food cooperation between the two countries. "The export is determined by the private sector that responds to the needs of the countries. The parties communicate with each other and choose products for the market, while the government has no effect on the private sector, which is correct, because private companies should work for effective trade in products. And the government sector's aim is to create working conditions for them," he concluded, adding that the Iranian authorities welcome mutually beneficial cooperation with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, as a country located at the junction of civilizations, cultures and religions, has much to offer to the world community in terms of intercultural dialogue, tolerance and respect for others, First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva said, Trend reported. She was speaking May 18 in Paris at a conference marking the 80th birth anniversary of Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO director-general from 1999 to 2009. First of all, I want to express my gratitude for the invitation and I am very happy to be here among my friends and colleagues at UNESCO. Let me to congratulate you, dear Mr. Matsuura, on the occasion of the 80th jubilee and wish you good health and success. We highly appreciate the work you have done in the capacity of the Director General of UNESCO. The reforms that you carried out during your office enabled to strengthen UNESCO's reputation in the world. Your name is always mentioned when it comes to a number of successful humanitarian projects, for example, the international project "Education for All" and many others. Under your leadership, relations between UNESCO and our country have become even stronger. We recall with a deep gratitude your visit to Baku, your personal participation in joint forums and conferences, Mehriban Aliyeva said. Armenia's government intends to create an anti-corruption body, endowed with the necessary powers and tools, Armenia's newly appointed Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan said. "The body will carry out preventive, educational, and investigative functions. All possible measures will be taken to ensure its full independence," Zeynalyan said. According to him, the whole process will be based both on international experience and a theory adapted to local realities, News.am reported. Armenias government is interested in and attaches great importance to the cooperation with the Unites States and its possible support in democracy development, anti-corruption fight, human rights protection and other key reforms, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at todays meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard M. Mills, Panorama.am reported. PM Pashinyan and Ambassador Mills discussed a number of issues related to the Armenian-U.S. relations, the governments press service told Panorama.am. We are full of energy to achieve our goals and tangible results, taking into account also the positive atmosphere prevailing in our country today, Pashinyan said, stressing the Armenian government is firmly determined to catalyze the efforts in the mentioned areas. Ambassador Mills reiterated the U.S. governments commitment to support Armenia in its bid to implement the planned reforms. Dozens of protesters in Armenia blocked a road to the country's largest gold deposit near the Sotq town, GeoProMining Gold company, which is engaged in mining of precious metals in the republic, said. "From May 17 to 18, illegal gold miners blocked the road to the Sotq gold deposit and paralyzed the whole production process. They motivating their actions with political demands, claiming that they participate in civil rights movement and fight for their rights," the company said. According to the company, the protesters, who are engaged in private illegal mining of precious metals in this area, demand resignation of leadership of the Sotq gold deposit. The company worries that protests could lead to a complete stoppage of works at its enterprises. About 100 demonstrators have gathered near the building of Armenias General Prosecutors Office, demanding General Prosecutor Artur Davtyans resignation. "We demand that General Prosecutor Davtyan came up to us and answered why during all these years his office has been manufacturing cases against innocent people who fought against the former authorities. He has to resign," TASS cited one of the rally organizers, human rights activist Vardges Gaspsari, as saying. Supporters of the Sasna Tsrer paramilitary group, who attacked a police regiment in Yerevan and former General Samvel Babayan in July 2016, also gathered near the building. Babayan was arrested in 2017 on suspicion of hatching a plot to murder former President Serzh Sargsyan. Yesterday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that he will study the demand for Davtyans resignation and state his position on this issue. Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih called peers from Russia, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea to discuss volatility in the oil market. "To coordinate global action to ease oil market anxiety, I telephoned a number of my Ministerial counterparts today. Energy Ministers contacted recently include those from UAE, USA, Russia, India and Korea," he tweeted. "I also talked to the Executive Director of IEA to reassure him of our commitment to the stability of oil markets and the global economy. I will contact others over the next few days before attending SPIEF May 24-26 and continuing our discussions there," Sputnik cited al-Falih as saying The Saudi energy chief said he had also talked with the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and planned to bring up the issue at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia next week. So-called tourist police officers will start patrolling in Tbilisi, Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia said in his speech in the Parliament of Georgia, InterPressNews reported. According to him, the increase in the number of tourists is a challenge for the law enforcement system. "The number of tourists in Georgia is growing daily. On the one hand, it is a great benefit for the economy, but it is a big challenge for the law enforcement system, because the huge traffic of tourists is related to certain risks. As of today, we have specific locations and routes in Tbilisi. 20 crews of patrol police subdivision will start patrolling in tourist zones from Monday and 20 crews will be added every month. This is something like tourist police, which will keep order in the city and serve tourists, said the Minister. The United States helped Syria by withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), US President Donald Trump believes. He stressed that the Iran nuclear deal was a terrible deal for the United States and for the whole world, according to the statement posted on the White House website. "And I think Syria hopefully, Syria will start to stabilize. You see whats been happening. Its been a horror show," Trump said, without specifying how exactly the US decision helped Syria. The president also noted that he has great respect for Syria and the people of Syria. Turkmenistan is celebrating Constitution Day today. The ceremony of laying flowers to the monument of the Constitution is held, and the concert of masters of art and poetry are taking place in Ashgabat. "We treat the Constitution Day and the Day of State Flag with special respect as one of the significant dates that unite the people and increase their creative energy," Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said. The president noted that, large-scale programs and reforms aimed at bringing the country to the level of highly developed countries are being successfully implemented. The current version of the Constitution was adopted in September 2016. Article 12 of the Constitution states that Turkmenistan recognizes the right of private ownership of the means of production, land, and other material and intellectual property. US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert commented on Turkey recalling its ambassador from Washington after the US embassy to Israel was moved to Jerusalem. "Were aware that Turkey has recalled its ambassador. That is within Turkeys right to do so. And I dont see that as diminishing our relationship with the Government of Turkey. They continue to be an important NATO ally," Nauert said, adding that they look forward to their next conversations with the government. At least 61 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded in protests at the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel on the same day the U.S. fulfills its controversial promise to move its embassy to the contested city of Jerusalem. Turkey recalled its ambassadors to the US and Israel in an official protest. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "what Israel is doing is a genocide." German Chancellor Angela Merkel has started an official visit to Russia by meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of Sochi. Mani international issues are on the agenda of the bilateral talks. The two leaders discussed the situation around the Iranian nuclear deal, the Ukrainian and Syrian crises, Sputnik reported. Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel exchanged opinions on the situation which unfolded regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on resolving the Iranian nuclear program after the unilateral US exit. According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the deal on the Iranian nuclear program is not perfect, but it is better than no agreement at all. "We spoke about the difficult situation amid the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. Germany, the United Kingdom, France and all our colleagues in the European Union are supporting this agreement and we are going to continue to abide by it in the future," Merkel said. She pointed out that the European Union wanted Iran to remain a part of the deal. "The Russian side is ready to work with its German colleagues on a mutually beneficial basis taking in the account the interests of the people of our countries," president Putin said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The latest crisis in Ukraine, where a head of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal Kirill Vyshinsky was detained. Putin described the whole situation as "unprecedented", adding that the journalist was charged by Kiev with high treason for "performing his professional duties". "As for the journalist [Vyshinsky], I will certainly discuss my current trip with the Ukrainian president, I will mention this case. As I said, Russian journalists who are here are arrested and can't do their work, which also causes our concern," said Merkel. Russian president Vladimir Putin said Friday he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had agreed at talks in Sochi on the need for a political settlement of the Syrian conflict, including through Astana and Geneva talks. "We discussed the problem of the Syrian crisis as well, we stated that it was necessary to make joint contribution to the process of the political settlement via Geneva and Astana platforms as well as to the stabilization of the situation on the ground, delivery of the humanitarian aid to the Syrian people," Putin added. According to the Russian president, European countries should help Syria so its economy is restored as quickly as possible so that Syrian nationals could return home. "We note Germany's intention to seriously take part in restoring this country's social and economic infrastructure. It is important that any help is provided is coordinated with the legal authorities," Putin said at a press conference. HA NOI The human resources training quality for information, communications and technology (ICT) needs to be improved quickly amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution, said Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam. Tam was speaking at a seminar on Viet Nam-Australia co-operation in ICT training in Ha Noi on Wednesday. The event, co-organised by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications, is a platform for universities, research organisations and companies of the two countries to exchange training experience and seek collaboration opportunities. The Vietnamese Party and State defined ICT as an important part of infrastructure and an effective tool to create a new development model and a momentum for boosting the knowledge-based economy as well as improving the national competitiveness in the international economic integration. Viet Nam has 250 universities and colleges in addition to 164 vocational training schools providing ICT training, with some 86,000 students. Relevant agencies in Viet Nam are actively seeking measures to raise the training quality in the field of ICT to create a new generation of workers with good knowledge and skills that can adapt to changes in the digital economic era, Tam said. He hoped the experts would discuss about the challenges Viet Nam was facing in ICT human resources development amidst the impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Vu The Binh, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Internet Association, said Vietnamese firms were lacking some 80,000 people for software outsourcing as well as for the blockchain sector in 2018. Of this, HCM City and Ha Noi have the highest demand of human resources in ICT. Small and medium-sized ICT companies especially have been hard to retain their human resources as a majority of the excellent students choose large foreign enterprises. It is predicted Viet Nam will need some 400,000 people in the ICT sector by 2020. The Government has focused on increasing the number of highly skilled engineers, organising studies and supporting hi-tech start-ups as part of the science and technology development strategy in the 2011-20 period. The Australian government is willing to co-operate and share experience with Viet Nam in seeking measures to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), said Yvonne Chan, Australian deputy consul general to HCM City and senior trade commissioner of Austrade. Chan believed that with the presence of leading IT experts from both the countries, the seminar would see the proposal of numerous IT development initiatives and solutions as well as partnerships between Vietnamese and Australian organisations. At the seminar, participants discussed the impacts of Industry 4.0 on ICT human resources development in Viet Nam, ICT training demands, priorities and challenges of Viet Nam and innovative solutions to human resources quality improvement in the digital era in the country. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed a decision to appoint EVN general director ang Hoang An to the position of deputy minister of industry and trade. With the appointment, the position of the ministrys fifth deputy minister has been filled after it was left vacant for nearly a year due to the dismissal of former deputy minister Ho Thi Kim Thoa. The decision came into effect on May 15. An was born in 1965 in Hung Yen Province, but his native village is in the northern province of Bac Giangs Hiep Hoa District. He graduated from the University of Electrical Machines Plzen (Czech Republic) in 1988 with a degree in electrical system engineering. He then pursued his masters degree at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, in 1997, specialising in Electrical System Management, and gained his MBA in 2004. An has 20 years of experience working in the power sector, including 10 years at EVN in different positions, such as deputy director of the national power system dispatching centre (A0), head of EVN Technical Power Network Department, deputy director of Electricity Transmission Company 1, head of EVN Planning Department and EVN deputy general director in July 2015. Prior to his stint in the power sector, An worked at the Institute of Industrial Planning and Design (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) from 1990 to October 1991 and at the Institute of Scientific Management (under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment) from November 1991 to January 1993. VNS HCM CITY An expected rise in demand for organic fertilisers has sparked many companies to invest more in production. The Binh ien II Fertiliser Joint Stock Company opened a plant in March with a capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes a year in Long An Province, which in its first phase produces organic and microbial fertilisers and high-grade NPK fertilisers. The company plans to invest VN200 billion (US$8.77 million) to annually produce 40,000-50,000 tonnes of nano organic fertiliser, a new generation of fertilisers, from next year. Nguyen Kim Thoa, general director of Con Co Vang Group, said her company already supplies organic fertilisers to the market and plans to dedicate an 11ha plant to produce them. Many companies have shifted to organic products to meet demand for safe agricultural produce. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of the end of last year, 180 establishments had been licensed to produce 2.5 million tonnes of organic fertilisers a year, or 8.5 per cent of total output. Meanwhile, statistics show import of organic fertilisers rocketing in recent years. Last year, 220,000 tonnes were imported, double the 2016 volume. The ministry said Viet Nam has great potential in organic fertiliser production since annually around 60-70 million tonnes of agricultural by-products and 20 million of seafood by-products are produced. The by-products can be used as raw materials for making organic fertilisers, but they have not been fully exploited for a long time, it said. This would also help reduce pollution and improve soil fertility and farm produce quality, it said. Nguyen inh Hac Thuy of the Viet Nam Fertiliser Association said long-term use of chemical fertilisers worsens the quality of not only soil but also crops themselves. Many countries have shifted to organic agriculture to ensure sustainability, food safety and consumers health, and it is time to increase the production and use of organic fertilisers to foster organic farming in Viet Nam, he said. But according to experts, promoting their use remains difficult since farmers still prefer the quick impact of chemical products. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said last year the Government issued Decree No 108/2017/N-CP on fertiliser management with policies to boost organic fertiliser production. Using organic fertilisers is an inevitable trend and it is time to focus on solutions from the Government and enterprises to encourage farmers to use them, he said. A growing number of enterprises who collaborate with farmers have switched to the use of organic fertilisers since demand for such produce is increasing. VNS HCM CITY Wholesale supermarket MM Mega Market Vietnam has exported more than 100 tonnes of Vietnamese agricultural products to Thailand for selling through 700 Big C malls, where the two retailers share a parent. Its first batch of farm exports comprise yellow sweet potato, purple sweet potato, dragon fruit, dried fruits, and rice paper. It follows joint efforts by the supermarket and farmers in provinces of Lam ong and Binh Thuan and other places to meet the quality requirements of business partners. Phidsanu Pongwatana, managing director of MM Mega Market Vietnam, said: As soon as we got the export licence, we moved quickly to understand the needs of our business partners in Thailand and look for domestic goods with a competitive edge that we can supply. This does not only offer a richly diversified and competitive source of supply to the Big C system in Thailand, but can also help Vietnamese farmers bring their quality agricultural products to other countries in the region. While dragon fruit is the main item in the consignment, it also has more than 45 tonnes of sweet potatoes. The purchasing division in Thailand has said Vietnamese agricultural products have unique advantages, especially sweet potatoes, whose supply is reliable and offers high quality and safety standards. Vietnamese farm products are therefore likely to see large orders and for long terms. In addition to steady orders of over 100 tonnes a month, we are also working on exporting an average of 50 tonnes of frozen catfish filet a month, Pongwatana said. He said the potential for Vietnamese exports looked great because of the 700-plus malls and supermarket distribution channel of Big C. MM Mega Market Vietnams export strategy is built on a professional platform system and direct interaction with farmers to create a quality and diverse source of supply. The company has three hubs, which it calls "platforms": for fruits and vegetables in a Lat, for fish in Can Tho, and for pork in ong Nai. A fruit hub is taking shape in Ben Tre. These facilities, which also include warehouses, not only supply the companys 19-store domestic distribution system but also help provide quality products for exports. Besides exporting, MM also provides technical assistance and market research to local exporters trying to reach the Thai market. It helped export more than 1,200 tonnes of dragon fruit and several other agricultural products last year. VNS Telecom and internet providers in Viet Nam have recorded US$6.1 billion in revenue and created more than 851 jobs, experts said at a forum on enterprises in the digital age held in Ha Noi on May 17. Photo viettimes.vn HA NOI Telecom and internet providers in Viet Nam have recorded US$6.1 billion in revenue and created more than 851 jobs, experts said at a forum on enterprises in the digital age held in Ha Noi on May 17. The forum took place in conjunction with the announcement of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)s annual report on business in Viet Nam. The IT and telecom sectors production value contributed over 0.7 per cent to the nations GDP on average in 2017-18. In 2016, the number of IT/telecom businesses surpassed 11,000, accounting for 2.2 per cent of Viet Nams total figure. Apart from the application of advanced technologies in traditional sectors, the digital age has given birth to a number of non-traditional business models in Viet Nam, like online car hailing and financial technology (fintech) services. Expert said fast changes in these new models have sometimes outpaced legal regulations, thus causing difficulties for their providers and conflicts between them and their traditional peers. VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said last year, the Prime Minister issued Decree 16 on capacity building for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He said the decree put forth key measures on IT infrastructure development, and prioritised the building of digital industry, smart agriculture and smart cities. He noted companies ought to design their relevant action plans and join the public sectors efforts in building strategies for smart governance and innovation. Loc also acknowledged the achievements of the business sector last year, with the establishment of 126,859 new firms, the highest number recorded to date. Pham Thi Thu Hang, head of the Viet Nam Business Insight Survey, a VCCI initiative, said the year saw improvements in the private sector, but the trend of smaller-scale firms persisted and the rate of performance failure among small scale businesses remained high. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam recorded a trade surplus of US$1.5 billion with the United Kingdom in the first four months of 2018. The country exported $1.75 billion worth of goods to the market and imported $238 million. According to the General Statistics Office, Viet Nams export revenue to the European country in the first three months of 2018 reached $1.31 billion, up by 30.6 per cent over the same period last year. Meanwhile, Viet Nam imported $185 million worth of goods from the United Kingdom, up by 17.6 per cent year-on-year, resulting in a huge trade imbalance. From January until the end of April, Viet Nam mainly exported telephones and spare parts, footwear, garments and aquatic products, with the respective export values exceeding $705 million, $201 million, $215 million and $78 million. At the same time, Viet Nam imported $67 million worth of machineries, equipment and spare parts, $45 million worth of pharmaceuticals and more than $13 million worth of chemicals. During 2013-17, the United Kingdom was among the 15 largest trade partners of Viet Nam, with an average annual growth of nearly 5 per cent. Bilateral trade grew by a total of 44 percent in the reviewed period to $6.15 billion in 2017 from $4.27 billion in 2013. Last year, the United Kingdom was the eighth-largest export market of Viet Nam, moving up one place from 2016. Meanwhile, it was Viet Nams 26th largest import market, down by two places compared to the previous year. In the past five years, Viet Nams exports to the United Kingdom have surged by 46.4 per cent to $5.42 billion, accounting for 2.5 per cent of the countrys total export volume. In the same period, Southeast Asias import revenue in the UK market has increased by 30 per cent, reaching $733 million in 2017. Viet Nam has continuously enjoyed a huge trade surplus with the United Kingdom, with last years figure hitting $4.68 billion. The United Kingdom is also the third-largest trade partner of Viet Nam among the EU (European Union) countries. VNS HA NOI The Vietnam Airlines Corporation plans to build a logistics centre in the southern city of Can Tho this year, said Deputy General Director Trinh Hong Quang at a meeting with local leaders on Friday. The 30ha centre will be built next to Can Tho International Airport to meet the increasing demand of goods transportation by international and domestic airlines, with a capacity of transporting at least 600,000 tonnes of goods per year. Along with the construction of Can Tho logistics centre, Quang said the corporation will open new routes from the city to other destinations in Viet Nam and abroad. He said the corporation opened three logistics centres at Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat and a Nang international airports, however expanding these centres was difficult due to a lack of land. According to General Director of Tan Son Nhat Cargo Service Joint Stock Company Nguyen Cao Cuong, cargo throughput at Can Tho International Airport is currently 4,200 tonnes per year. Meanwhile, the output of agricultural and fishery products and other products of Can Tho through Tan Son Nhat International Airport is 150 tonnes per day. Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of municipal Peoples Committee ao Anh Dung said the city was ready to create good conditions for Vietnam Airlines to build a logistics hub. He expected the corporation to work with Can Tho City to complete the procedures soon to receive an investment licence in August, when the city will host an investment promotion conference. VNS QUANG NINH A chemical factory project, originally set to be opened not far from the World Heritage of Ha Long Bay, is sparking public concerns in the northeastern province. The factory, which specialises in cleaning agents is planned to produce an annual output of 20,000 tonnes of abrasive lye (sodium hydroxide) in addition to several other agents such as bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and industrial wastewater treatment agent Polyaluminum Chloride (PAC), is based at the Viet Hung Industrial Park. The position of the 300ha industrial park is already a controversial issue as it lies near the head of Cua Luc River, which runs directly into the waters of Ha Long Bay. Pham inh Huynh, deputy head of the bay management board, said caution must be exercised. Should the factory run into leakage issues, the Ha Long Bay area will be directly effected, which aside from environmental damage, will affect the tourism and service sectors in the province, he said. Huynh cited the case of Ninh Binh Provinces authorities relocating a cement manufacturer out of the Trang An heritage landscape complex as a good lesson for any local government to follow for better protection of the environment and sustainable development. In late 2006, Quang Ninh Provinces economic zone management board and the Tan Tien Production and Trade JSC, headquartered in Ha Noi, invested in a lye factory. Previously, Tan Tien received certification from the local authorities to produce alum as its main product (4,800 tonnes a year), with lye on the side (nearly 1,000 tonnes a year). The company has since met the requirements of environmental protection, land planning and workshop construction, and put the project into operation in 2013, authorities said. Two years later, the company requested to expand its production and wanted to build another factory dedicated to producing 20,000 tonnes of lye per year in another land slot within the Viet Hung IP. Based on opinions from the local authorities and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the expansion was accepted and the new cleaning agent factory was included by the Vietnamese Government into its national chemical development plan towards 2020. In May 2016, the Quang Ninh EZ management board granted a new certificate for Tan Tien JSC to begin the construction of the new factory. Then in March 2017, the environmental ministry approved the projects environmental impact assessment, which already included its recommendations in case of chlorine leakage incidents. Last month, Quang Ninh held a meeting with all stakeholders the investor, environment ministry, industry and trade ministry, as well as scientists to review whether the investors proposals conflicted with the socio-economic development of the local community. At present, Hoang Trung Kien, deputy head of the Quang Ninh EZ management board, said the new project has been suspended and the board is still considering the case and will deliver a final answer to the investor by the end of this month. Industrial projects can only be started when their environmental impact assessment documents, including requirements to ensure the quality of discharged water, are approved by authorities, Tran ong A, a retired senior expert on planning and environment residing in Ha Long City, said. That is on paper. Once the project is up and running, however, investors might actually cut out the whole waste treatment system or operate the system sporadically to save budget, putting the environment at severe risk, he added. In case of incidents, Ha Long Bay would be poisoned and its ecology devastated, the senior expert said, urging the provincial authorities to make an informed and prudent judgement. VNS CHICAGO The king of pop will be honoured in Motown with a street named Michael Jackson Avenue, officials announced on Thursday in Detroit. The city, which has a rich history of nurturing American musical talent, will rename a portion of its Randolph Street in the downtown theater district in honor of the late entertainer. The tribute comes 50 years after his family group known as the "Jackson 5" birthed their career with a successful recording contract audition in the Motor City. "The Jacksons were among the first groups of black American performers to attain crossover status, and went on to release hit after hit after hit," said city spokesman Stephen Grady. Michael Jackson, who started with the group, went on to become one of the most famous performers in pop music history. He died in 2009 at the age of 50 from a fatal dose of drugs, including the powerful anesthetic propofol. The street renaming will take place June 15, coinciding with the Detroit Music Weekend outdoor festival, which Tito, Marlon, Jackie and Jermaine Jackson are scheduled to headline. "This is where music comes from. This is where everybody copied the Motown sound," Jackie Jackson said at a Detroit news conference. The city honored another American music royalty during last years festival naming a street after queen of soul Aretha Franklin. AFP HA NOI BUBU Town can be recognised from afar by its colourful gate, with two rainbow flags waving from it. BUBU Town, the land of freedom, tolerance and equality, will take place on May 20 at the American Club, Ha Noi. It serves a rendezvous for the local and international LGBT community to mingle in a free, equal, and non-discriminative atmosphere. BUBU is a place where everyone can freely express themselves without being afraid of others judgment. People here can simply be themselves, said Luong Minh Ngoc, head of the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE). There will be singing, dancing, acoustic music, a fashion show and DJ performances throughout the day. Its also a top photo opportunity for anyone savvy with Instagram. There will be a wall of paper plates, each decorated with paint and colouring pens to pose in front of. There will also be a petition signing at the event, focusing on the rights of transgender people. Viet Nam is amending the Civil Code in which there are two articles relating to the rights of transgender people. The amendments will require transgender people to change their names and reassign their sexes. Signatures of the supporters would be submitted to the Ministry of Justice along with a letter of recommendations for the amendment. The BUBU Tolerance Area exhibits individuals and organisations ideas to protect the rights of LGBT people. BUBU Creativity Area has a costume space for people to hire clothes and make up, as well as to have their face painted or get a henna tattoo. In front of the costume space is a small yard for carnival games such as ring toss, water passing and bottle design. In the heart of the town is the rainbow square, where all the citizen gather for common activities. The lawn here is an ideal picnic space for couples and groups to enjoy comforts under the shade of a giant umbrella. Ambassadors and UN representatives, alongside their families will also join the event to express their support for BUBU Towns values, and to inspire the people to be themselves and not be suppressed by the judgement of others. Last year, the town welcomed close to 4,000 visitors. The American Club Hanoi is located at 19/21 Hai Ba Trung, Hang Bai, Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi. VNS o Thang Hai, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, talks to the Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) on his ministrys efforts to increase Vietnamese goods sold abroad What actions have the Ministry of Industry and Trade adopted to speed up the countrys export promotion activities? In 2015 the Prime Minister ratified the national export promotion strategy through the retail promotion systems abroad. Three years later, the Ministry of Trade coordinated with foreign distribution groups to develop an action plan to improve Vietnamese enterprises capacity to enter foreign markets through their distribution systems. However, this work required big support from concerned Government agencies, particularly from the Provincial Department of Industries and Trade, trade promotions agencies, foreign distribution firms and in particular Vietnamese enterprises and export associations. For many years direct export to foreign advanced distribution systems has been considered as the most effective way for many Vietnamese enterprises to increase their turnover. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has also worked closely with foreign distribution agents to launch many activities such as Vietnamese goods weeks in foreign countries to carve out a niche in foreign distribution networks. Viet Nam now has more than 170 FDI retail establishments. Is there any possibility for Vietnamese goods being sold in these shops? A report released by the Central Steering Committee of the campaign calling on Vietnamese people to give priority to using locally produced goods has indicated that more than 60 percent of Vietnamese consumers have shown their support to the campaign. Even in foreign retail shops, most of the goods are made in Viet Nam. This suggests that locally produced goods are more sought after in the country than foreign goods. In Big C markets in Thailand, quite a lot of Vietnamese goods are displayed. Is this an indication that there is room for Vietnamese goods to enter the FDI distribution systems there? I have to admit that we are still not familiar with international business practices and dont have much experience in commercial advertising. To export Vietnamese goods abroad, many enterprises have to use a middle-man. However, if a foreign enterprise agrees to import our products, it means that they will be sold in all branches affiliated to that enterprise in that country or even worldwide. This is one way to help Vietnamese enterprises to gradually secure their foot in the international market. Dont you think a bright future is waiting for Vietnamese good to be displayed in many shop counters abroad? Of course, to have their items displayed in foreign retailers, high quality will be essential, as well as a clear display of its origin, and food safety stamps where necessary. To help these enterprises be able to export their products abroad, well regularly organise workshops and seminars to update requirements from importers for them to consider. What are the Ministry of Industry and Trades expectations in supporting Vietnamese enterprises to enter the foreign distribution network? We have worked with leaders from many foreign companies, including Aeon and Central Group. During these meetings, we discussed on the increase of Vietnamese goods displayed in their distribution system. For Aeon, in 2017, Vietnamese goods were displayed in its counters worldwide, with a total value of some US$ 200 million. In a meeting with the Aeon management board, we raised a proposal to double the sales revenues in 2018. Through workshops and training that Vietnamese enterprises knowledge and skills on how to enter into foreign markets have improved considerably with better quality of their products. VNS by Thu Van It was the stuff of action movies. Five unarmed men stepped in to foil a group of armed thieves as they were trying to unlock and steal a motorbike. A violent scuffle broke out, but, unlike in most movies, the heroes did not emerge winners, scathed or unscathed. Two of the do-gooders were killed and three others were seriously injured in the tragedy that occurred in HCM City last Sunday. The cops quickly apprehended the thieves/murderers, but Nguyen Hoang Nam, 29 and Nguyen Van Thoi, 42, died on the spot. The other three, dubbed the Tan Binh District Knights, were rushed to hospital in critical condition. These were not policemen or soldiers who died in the line of duty. They were ordinary citizens willing to put their lives on the line in order to fight the national scourge of crime. Tributes, commiserations and praise have flowed in for the two men who lost their lives and their injured comrades. They are not the first people who have won the hearts of citizens for being good Samaritans. Over the last few decades, many motorbike taxis and others in HCM City have stood up against criminals and helped victims of robberies, and the term street knights has entered the local lexicon. Unarmed and unpaid, these knights in shining armors may have captured the public imagination with their bravery and sacrifice, but the last thing we should do is to romanticise such deeds and ignore the real malaise that needs real, far-reaching solutions. That does not seem to be happening now. As Nam and Thois families mourned their loved ones death, authorities and the community have proclaimed them martyrs and collected money from the public to offer some support. It is a situation where poignancy is writ large, but we have to ask a very harsh question: Was it worth it, really? The death of Nam and Thoi reminded me of a story I read in the New York Times last month. Floyd H. Hall, resident of Anchorage city in Alaska, the US, has been spending his spare time retrieving stolen cars, not waiting for the police or other authorities to deal with a sudden wave of robberies. His work has occasionally annoyed local police, but Hall has developed a fan following. Justin Doll, the Anchorage police chief, said he supports citizen activism like neighborhood watch, but warned of the dangers involved. What I would encourage Floyd or anybody to do is to continue to be active, be a voice for public safety. But when crime actually happens, let us deal with it, Doll was quoted by the New York Times as saying. The vigilantes are not impressed by this argument, apparently. Kien Hoang, a member of the Tan Binh District knights, said all members of the team were well aware of the dangers they face, but they couldnt just stand and watch heartlessly. Thois son, who is only 10 years old, said he wanted to become a knight like his father when he grew up. I have not been able to stop thinking about this wish of a child who does not fully understand the knighthood that has been conferred on his unfortunate father. While there can be no reservations in admiring and appreciating those demonstrating that they care in such cynical times, the only way to make sure that such care for the community is not tragically wasted is to study this issue dispassionately. Most street knights in HCM City and other southern provinces are those who face many difficulties in their daily lives and dont earn much. In this context, their willingness to contribute voluntarily to their community carries even greater value, and authorities are sure to appreciate such support. But this contribution and sacrifice is not something that we should take for granted, and we should draw a line at the lengths to which this is taken. Losing lives in order to maintain law and order crosses that line. The knights can help catch criminals, provide information, clues and evidence to the authorities. They can film, take photographs and engage in such actions to facilitate the task of the authorities, but rushing to wrestle with armed criminals is not a wise course of action. Such action can not only cause grievous harm to the vigilantes, others can also get caught in the crossfire. I do hope the death of Nam and Thoi serves as a wake-up call for all of us, including the police force. The choice they made and the bravery they displayed is nothing short of heroic, but no society should demand such sacrifices of its members. Their deaths reflect badly on all of us. Now, we have a choice to make. We can make the effort to find out why such vigilantism has become necessary or we can ignore this task and take the easy way out by paying handsome emotional and other forms of tribute. There are structural reasons behind rising crime. Both authorities and the general public should take the trouble to study this. Crime is a law and order problem, but it does not happen in a vacuum. What are the factors that lead to rising crime in a society? How have our policies and institutions failed in identifying and dealing with these factors? Common sense says rising poverty, insecurity, inequality, joblessness and vulnerability can be fundamental factors in instilling frustration among the people, and push them towards crime. To become a modern, prosperous, civilised society, all citizens need to be vigilant, but we need to do away with the need for vigilantism. VNS BRUSSELS Viet Nam will send more officers, especially women, to participate in the UN peacekeeping operations, said Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh. Speaking as an honorary guest at a recent meeting of EU chiefs of defence in Belgium , Vinh said Viet Nam is scheduled to run the level-2 field hospital in Bentiu, South Sudan in the second quarter of this year, replacing the UK s level-2 field hospital. In 2019 or 2020, Viet Nam will dispatch a peacekeeping military engineering unit to a suitable mission, the deputy minister added. Applauding the EUs contributions to peacekeeping, Vinh affirmed that Viet Nam will make more contributions to UN peacekeeping operations within its capacity and as part of its overall foreign policy. He noted that after nearly four years of joining UN peacekeeping operations, Viet Nam has sent 20 officers to work at the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Central African Republic and the UN Mission in South Sudan , including one female officer. Vinh suggested an official defence partnership between Viet Nam and the EU by pushing the signing of a Viet Nam-EU joint vision statement on national defence and a memorandum of understanding on bilateral defence ties, including UN peacekeeping activities. He also called on Viet Nam and the EU to increase the exchange of delegations and mutual consultations at multilateral forums and mechanisms to which both sides are members, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus. In peacekeeping, the two sides should intensify the sharing of professional knowledge and experience through training, workshop organisation and exchange of experts to help Viet Nam improve its capacity and boost affiliation between the Viet Nam Peacekeeping Department and peacekeeping training centres of the UN. During the two-day conference, which was held by the EU Military Committee, the delegates discussed security and defence issues relating to the EU and EU campaigns. It brought together chiefs of defence from 28 EU member countries and guests from the UN, NATO, the US Africa Command, the Republic of Korea , Jordan , Serbia , Cuba and Viet Nam . On the sidelines of the event, Vinh had bilateral meetings and working sessions with several EU chiefs of defence and representatives of the European External Action Service. VNS Viet Nam is concerned about escalating tension and violence in the Gaza Strip over recent days, which killed and injured many Palestinians, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said at a regular press briefing on May 17. VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Hoa HA NOI Viet Nam is concerned about escalating tension and violence in the Gaza Strip over recent days, which killed and injured many Palestinians, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said at a regular press briefing on May 17. Replying to questions about Viet Nams reaction to the USs opening of its embassy in Jerusalem and rising tension in the region, the spokesperson said Viet Nam protests the use of violence and calls for restraint and an end to escalating tensions. Viet Nam once again calls for the settlement of conflicts by peaceful measures and efforts to seek a comprehensive, fair and sustainable solution, while ensuring safety for civilians and the legitimate interests of concerned parties as well as peace and stability in the region, Hang said. She stressed Viet Nams stance that all solutions related to Jerusalem should adhere to international law, especially resolutions of the United Nations, with consensus of related parties. Viet Nam maintains the consistent position of supporting the just struggle of the Palestinian people and the two-State solution with the establishment of a State of Palestine that co-exists in peace with the State of Israel along the pre-1967 border and with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestine, the spokesperson said. Regarding the USs withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the spokesperson made clear that Viet Nam supports dialogue to seek peaceful solutions to all disputes. We hope that all parties of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA) will persevere in negotiating to find a solution that can bring long-term peace and stability for the region and the world as a whole, she said. Asked to comment on the meeting between US President Donald Trump and leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore, spokesperson Hang said Viet Nam supports all constructive efforts to settle disputes through peaceful dialogue, contributing to peace, security and stability on the Korean peninsula in particular and the world in general. VNS Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre) speaks at a national conference in Quang Tri Province on May 17. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat QUANG TRI Efforts to stabilise lives, production and businesses in the central provinces affected by the Formosa-related marine environmental incident have paid off, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a national conference in Quang Tri Province on May 17. Local residents have put more trust in the Party and authorities, and united with each other to address the incident, he continued. The national conference was held to review the performance of the steering committee for solutions to respond to the environmental disaster and prevent long-term damage to peoples lives and economic circumstances. Mass fish deaths were first reported on April 6, 2016 when a large number of fish washed ashore in Ha Tinh Province. The phenomenon also occurred in neighbouring Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces. About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in the four provinces. This environmental incident caused serious losses in the maritime ecosystem and seafood resources, affecting around 510,000 people of 130,000 households in 730 villages of 146 communes and towns of 22 coastal districts of the four provinces. Officials gained experience from addressing the incident, PM Phuc said. He lauded Ha Tinh Provinces determination to bring the case on wrongdoings in compensating and supporting the affected fishermen to court. The leader attributed such outcomes to the contributions of scientists, members of the steering committee, leaders and the political system at the commune-, district- and provincial levels, army and police forces and the public at large. He highlighted the publicity, transparency, democracy, accuracy and close supervision in the work. However, PM Phuc said, there remain shortcomings in the compensation work, sparking public complaints. Citing the fact that 0.9 per cent of the compensation fund has yet to be disbursed, the Government leader requested the early completion of support and compensation for local fishermen. He described the environment as a pillar of national development and asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to propose solutions to protect the countrys environment in general and maritime environment in particular over the long term. The ministry was also urged to establish more environment monitoring systems in major cities, industrial parks and environmentally polluted spots, firstly in the four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces, with the supervision of the public. It is also necessary to continue inspecting the operations of Formosa , especially after the test run of its second furnace, while ensuring security and social order in the central region, he said. In late June 2016, Taiwan-invested Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co Ltd (FHS) admitted responsibility for the environmental horrors and pledged to set up a fund of US$500 million to compensate affected people. On August 23, 2016, the Prime Minister established a steering committee for solutions to respond to the disaster. In addition, the Government leader also decided to provide emergency assistance for affected locals, including over 19,000 tonnes of rice and cash worth over VN101 billion ($4.45 million). According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, fisheries resources in the four localities have recovered with their seafood output hitting nearly 152,000 tonnes in 2017, up 23.5 per cent year-on-year. Consumers also feel secure in buying central Vietnamese seafood, resulting in increases in seafood prices. Last year, the four provinces tourism sector bounced back as well, with rises seen in both the number of tourists and revenue. To date, the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co Ltd has installed automatic monitoring devices and cameras and directly transmitted its data related to the environment to the Ha Tinh Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Viet Nam Environment Administration. Paying tribute to martyrs in Quang Tri The 16th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural and Scientific-Technological Cooperation was held in Ha Noi on May 17. VNA/VNS Photo Lam Khanh HA NOI The 16th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural and Scientific-Technological Cooperation was held in Ha Noi on May 17, co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn. Both Minh and Prak Sokhonn agreed that since the committees previous meeting in March last year, the Viet Nam-Cambodia relationship has grown continuously and notched many achievements. The two nations jointly held many activities to mark Friendship Year 2017 and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, including the exchange of many high-level delegations. Bilateral cooperation mechanisms as well as partnerships among ministries, sectors and localities of both countries have been strengthened, while the land border demarcation and border management have seen progresses. Currently, 84 per cent of land border demarcation and marker planting work has been accomplished, they noted, adding that the two sides are determined to finish the work soon in an effort to build a shared border of peace, friendship, cooperation and sustainable development. Senior leaders of Viet Nam and Cambodia also pledged to continue creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese and Cambodian people to settle in each others territories in line with the laws of each nation. The two sides highlighted that bilateral economic ties have also seen positive signals with two-way trade reaching US$3.8 billion in 2017, a rise of 25 per cent over 2016. Viet Nam has invested in 196 projects in Cambodia with total registered capital of $2.94 billion, mostly in the agro-forestry sector, making Viet Nam one of the five biggest foreign investors in Cambodia . At the same time, Cambodian firms have invested in 18 projects in Viet Nam with combined investment of $58.12 million. Vietnamese investors in Cambodia have been highly valued by Prime Minister Hun Sen and other Cambodian leaders for significant contributions to the countrys socio-economic development. Meanwhile, the two sides have worked together to strengthen connectivity in economics and transport. In July last year, they concluded negotiations on a memorandum of understanding on the Viet Nam-Cambodia transportation cooperation strategy in the 2018-25 period with a vision to 2030. The two countries inaugurated a bridge connecting Long Binh (An Giang) and Chrey Thom (Kandal) in April 2017, while opening to traffic the Le Thanh (Gia Lai) - Oyadav (Rattanakiri) border gate in July 2017. Every year, Viet Nam has granted hundreds of scholarships to Cambodian students, while Cambodia has also helped Viet Nam in personnel training. At the meeting, the two sides discussed major orientations and specific measures to further expand and deepen the bilateral partnership. They agreed to bolster cooperation in personnel training, while creating optimal conditions for economic, trade and investment relations. They will continue to reinforce and boost coordination in security-defence, transport infrastructure development, industry-mining-energy, agro-forestry-fisheries, information and communications, health care, labour, social affairs, religion, culture, sports, tourism and environment. Viet Nam and Cambodia will continue enhancing ties among localities and within the framework of the Cambodia-Laos-Viet Nam triangular development. They pledged to continue to manage the shared border in line with already-signed treaties and agreements, while working closely to fulfill the target of legalising the completed work in border demarcation in 2018. They will continue seeking suitable solutions to finish the remaining work. The Cambodian side agreed to continue applying measures to ensure the legitimate rights of overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia . The two sides also agreed to implement the mid-term review mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of agreements. After the meeting, the two ministers signed the minutes of the meeting. The 17th meeting of the committee will be held in Cambodia in 2019. On the same day, President Tran ai Quang hosted Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn in Ha Noi. Minister Prak Sokhonn briefed his host on the outcomes of the 16th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cambodia Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, with the minutes of the meeting signed to act as a guideline for ministries and sectors of both sides to implement their cooperation. VNS HA NOI President Tran ai Quang hosted Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn, who is in Viet Nam to co-chair the 16th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cambodia Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation. The State leader congratulated the Cambodian people on the achievements they have obtained, while showing his delight at the growth of the Vietnam-Cambodia partnership in all fields from politics, diplomacy and defence to economy, trade and investment. He praised the regular exchange of delegations at all levels, along with the effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms in trade, investment, education, tourism, security, and defence, as well as collaboration among ministries, sectors and localities. He lauded the outcomes of the 16th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cambodia Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, holding that the minutes of the meeting will lay a firm foundation for the further expansion of bilateral ties in the coming time. He asked Minister Prak Sokhonn to convey his regards to King Norodom Sihamoni and expressed his desire to welcome the King to visit Viet Nam later this year. Minister Prak Sokhonn noted that Viet Nam and Cambodia jointly held many specific activities to mark the Friendship Year 2017 and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. He briefed his host on the outcomes of the 16th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cambodia Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, with the minutes of the meeting signed to act as a guideline for ministries and sectors of both sides to implement their cooperation. He said that at the meeting, the two sides discussed a wide range of issues while showing their determination to thoroughly settle border-related issues as well as other matters in the bilateral relationship. The minister showed gratitude towards the Party, State and people of Viet Nam for saving Cambodia from the genocidal regime of the past, as well as providing assistance for Cambodia s national development. President Quang lauded efforts of authorised agencies to complete projects in land border demarcation and planting. He proposed that in the coming time, the two sides should exert more efforts in seeking effective measures to finish the rest of the work, while coordinating closely in managing a shared border for peace and stability. He said that he hoped the Cambodian side would continue applying policies to assist Vietnamese Cambodians, with the consideration of political, legal, historical and social factors to create optimal conditions for the community, helping them settle down in the host country and make contributions to local development. The Vietnamese leader also suggested that Minister Prak Sokhonn continue contributing to the reinforcement of the sound neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability between Cambodia and Viet Nam.-VNS HA NOI President Tran ai Quang hosted separate receptions for Ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mozambique and the Republic of Korea (RoK) after receiving their letter of credentials on Thursday. Welcoming UAE Ambassador Obaid Al Dhaheri, President Quang expressed his satisfaction with positive development in bilateral relations. The UAE is currently one of the leading trade, investment and labour partners of Vietnam in the Middle East. He affirmed Vietnam wanted to intensify its collaboration with the UAE, focusing on all-level delegation exchanges, mutual support at international forums and raising two-way trade to 10 billion USD in the following years. Viet Nam encourages UAE investors to do business in Vietnam in the fields of renewable energy, hotel-tourism, infrastructure, aviation-sea ports, real estate and Halal food production, while hoping to gain access to preferential loans of the Abu Dhabi Development Fund, the President said. He asked the new ambassador to support the two countries enterprises and encourage more UAE projects in Viet Nam. Ambassador Obaid Al Dhaheri affirmed that Viet Nam was the UAEs important partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), adding that his duty was to further develop the bilateral ties, particularly in economics and trade. He also said that the UAE appreciated the role of Viet Nam at international forums. Receiving Mozambican Ambassador Leonardo Pene, President Quang wished him a successful working tenure to contribute to enhancing friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Viet Nam and Mozambique. He spoke highly of Mozambiques support for and close coordination with Viet Nam at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, Non-aligned Movement and African Union. He asked Mozambique to early confirm its backing for Viet Nams candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for 2020-2021. Viet Nam wanted to intensify its cooperation with Mozambique in the time ahead, especially in agriculture, transport, mining and education, he stressed. For his part, Ambassador Pene said that agriculture was one of the fields that Mozambique wants to tighten cooperation with Vietnam. He proposed organising a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee in July, while sharing that Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi hopes to pay a visit to Viet Nam in 2019. Meanwhile, at his reception for RoK Ambassador Kim Do-hyun, President Quang said he was delighted at strong development in the bilateral relations. He noted that political trust and mutual understanding had been strengthened through regular visits and meetings between high-ranking leaders. The RoK remains the biggest investor and the second biggest ODA and trade partner of Viet Nam. The two sides also signed a framework credit agreement worth US$1.5 billion for the 2016-2020 period. He suggested both sides step up high-level delegation exchanges to consolidate political trust so as to facilitate cooperation in other fields. The President asked the RoK side to create favourable conditions for Viet Nams export of agricultural and aquatic products to reduce trade deficit, intensify experience sharing and technology transfer to Viet Nam to help Viet Nam join in the global production and supply chain. He also proposed intensifying people-to-people diplomacy and supporting each others citizens who are living and studying in the other country. Ambassador Kim Do-hyun told the host that RoK President Moon Jae-in had emphasised that the RoK-Viet Nam strategic cooperative partnership was a role model for the RoKs relations with other countries, and the RoK treasures its economic, trade and investment cooperation with Viet Nam. The ambassador committed to promoting the image of Viet Nam to attract more Korean investors to the country, particularly in computing and high technology. He would help to intensify technology transfer, increase the capacity of Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises, and simplify visa procedures for Vietnamese citizens to facilitate the two peoples exchange activities.VNS HA NOI Government and Party leaders gathered Friday morning in Ha Noi to pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh on the 128th anniversary of his birthday. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Tran ai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee President Tran Thanh Man led the delegation, which laid a wreath at the former Presidents mausoleum. Former Party General Secretaries Le Kha Phieu and Nong uc Manh, former NA Chairman Nguyen Van An, along with other former and incumbent Party and State officials and war veterans joined the function. The leaders also paid tribute to fallen soldiers by laying a wreath at the Monument to Heroes and Fallen Soldiers in the capital city. Delegations from the Central Military Commission and Ministry of National Defence, the Central Committee of the Polices Party and Ministry of Public Security, the Party Committee, and the Peoples Council and Peoples Committee of Ha Noi, among others, also participated in the wreath-laying ceremonies at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Monument to Heroes and Fallen Soldiers. President Ho Chi Minh was born on May 19, 1890, in Kim Lien Commune, Nam an District, in the central province of Nghe An. He devoted his life to the cause of national liberation while striving for global peace and progress. He led the nation in its struggle for national independence, establishing the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam following the August Revolution of 1945. The former president passed away in 1969. VNS A NANG Japan Material Engineering Services Company and a Nang-based ong A College have inked an agreement on training in electronics and engineering, as well as controls and automation for the Japanese labour market. The agreement, which was signed on May 16, paves the way for 70 trainees to begin the course in November. As planned, last years trainees will join a four-week internship in Japan, and qualified ones will be recruited in Japan on five year contracts. The agreement will help to fill labour deficiency in the Japanese market in engineering, information technology and electronics. In April, the a Nangs college also signed an agreement with the Japan Building Maintenance Association which promised to recruit 250 graduates from the college each year to work in electronic and engineering industries in Japan. Partners from Singapore, Germany and Japan had agreed to employ 3,000 graduates from the college to work in hospitality, nursing, and construction industries. In a meeting earlier this year, the newly-appointed Japanese envoy at the Japanese Embassy in Viet Nam, Shinichi Asazuma, said Japan will support Japanese-style kindergarten education systems at the college, and grant visas for graduates of the college wishing to work in Japan. More than 100 graduates from the college have been working in nursing centres and hospitality in Japan since 2016. ong A college is the only education centre in central Viet Nam providing human resources for the Japanese labour market. Last year, the college, in co-operation with the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturing Association (VAMA), began the first ever course on automobile technology and automation engineering in the central region. VNS HCM CITY The HCM City health department has asked for support from the city to speed up land clearance in several hotspots so that it can begin building a number of hospital projects. At a meeting with the citys Peoples Committees supervisory delegation on May 16, the department said that Binh Chanh District should be asked to quickly complete compensation to residents so that construction of the Tan Kien medical complex could begin. The complex includes Pham Ngoc Thach Universitys Medical campus 2, Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital, Binh Dan Hospital, and a forensic centre, among others. Zone 6A in the South Saigon new urban area, where the new Trauma and Orthosis Hospital will be built, also needs to speed up site clearance and compensation, the department said. The citys healthcare development plan calls for 91 new projects in the 2016-20 period. Of that number, the Childrens Hospital and Oncology Hospital, built solely from State funds, opened this year. The other 88 projects funded from the citys budget and other resources are under construction. Meanwhile, the project to build a new headquarters for the health department has been put on hold as it is located in a conservation area. The city has 115 hospitals with nearly 36,400 beds, and 319 medical stations, according to the health department. Demand for healthcare in the city has risen rapidly. Each year, the city handles more than 42 million patient visits, or 26.2 per cent of the countrys total. Many hospitals in the city are overloaded because of the rising number of migrants moving to HCM City and patients from other provinces and cities. To ensure the quality of healthcare services, the city wants to speed up the building of new medical centres at city gateways to other provinces to reduce pressure on hospitals in or near the city centre. However, construction of several new facilities has been very slow due to ground clearance issues. VNS CAN THO Residents living alongside a river in Can Tho City have put coconut trunks around an area wrecked by landslides during the past month to protect their houses. Seven landslides hit the citys O Mon District since the beginning of the year, two of them along the banks of the O Mon River, due to high tides. The latest one occurred on May 10 near the Rach Vam Wharf, on a stretch of river bank in Thoi An Ward, tearing 15 metres of road apart and damaging a local house, which was then dismantled for safety reasons. The same spot was hit by a prior landslide just three days before the incident, and pulled a house of a local resident down into the river, and damaged 16 other houses. Residents in two of these houses have been evacuated while the other 14 are on the verge of collapsing. Due to the emergency, local residents bought coconut trunks with their own money and placed them in the river to make a temporary embankment that shields the spot from high tides, said resident Tran Thanh Viet. We have to do it ourselves while we wait for solutions from the authorities," he said. "The damage would be unthinkable, should landslides occur again. They were able to buy enough coconut trunks after three days, at the total cost of VN20 million ($878), he added. The spot is protected, for now." Having been aware of the situation, Le Viet Si, chairman of the Peoples Committee of O Mon District, said that due to limited manpower, all efforts to prevent landslides in the district can only work on a temporary basis. We have also asked the citys Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue, as well as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, for further instructions and solutions regarding the landslides, he said. An embankment is being built alongside the O Mon River, costing VN416 billion ($18.3 million). The construction is expected to be completed by August next year. It was also hit by a landslide on April 6, which damaged three adjacent houses. According to Nguyen Quy Ninh, deputy chief of the Office of Can Tho Citys Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control, seasonal transitions are peak time for landslides to occur all over the city. We have asked the steering committees of all districts to form inspection teams to evaluate the damages caused by the landslides and propose preventive measures, he said. The citys authorities are planning different measures, especially ones that dont involve construction, in an effort to save money. VNS HA NOI HCM Citys Supreme Court on Thursday appealed against the 18-month probation of a 78-year-old man for molesting children in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. The Supreme Court asked the jury to repeal the probation verdict of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provinces Peoples Court last week and asked for the appeal trial to be started afresh. In July 2017, Vung Tau Provinces Peoples Court had sentenced Nguyen Khac Thuy to three years imprisonment on charges of sexually abusing children aged six and 11 in his residential area. Following the verdict, Thuy submitted a petition asking for an appeal against the charge. On May 11 this year, the appeal trial court agreed to give him a probation of 18 months as he was a former banking officer and is a member of the Communist Party. The decision sparked public outrage and opposition from the National Assembly Standing Committee at a meeting this week. Last week, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provinces Peoples Procuracy delivered an urgent report to the Supreme Peoples Procuracy on Thuys case. In its report, the provincial Peoples Procuracy affirmed that its indictment and verdict were accurate. Simultaneously, they considered aggravating and mitigating circumstances in deciding the sentence. Meanwhile, HCM City Association for Childrens Protection submitted a report to the Supreme Court in HCM City, demanding a probe on the paedophile. After the probation was cancelled on Thursday, the Peoples Court of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province was ordered to suspend Huynh Ngoc Thien, the magistrate who chaired Thuys appeal trial on May 11. Thien and other magistrates in the jury were asked to review their responsibilities in the appeal trial. VNS HOI AN A project to encourage more people to cycle and help the environment has won a global award. The Establishing Comprehensive Bicycle Plan and Free/low-cost Bicycle Sharing Programme in Hoi An city project scooped the Global Urban Mobility Challenge Award of the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative. Head of the citys Culture and Information Office, Nguyen Van Lanh said the project, which was proposed by HeathBridge Viet Nam and the city with funding from German development agency (GIZ), will pick up the prize at an official ceremony for the 10 winning proposals in Leipzig, Germany on May 22-25th. Lanh said the scheme aims to build up a master plan of green and sustainable traffic development with two focuses on road traffic safety and community heath. He said the project plans to launch the first free and low-cost bicycle for lease in the Public-Private Partnership co-operation and sharing with current similar services at hotels and resorts in Hoi An. The project also includes the development of a safe infrastructure for bicycle riders, offering opportunities for residents and tourists to cycle easier. The city also encourages local people and tourists to leave cars and buses while traveling in the city and nearby destinations. Hoi An, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site, is the first city in Viet Nam to organise a Car-free Day programme. Since 2002, the city set up several streets for pedestrian and non-engine vehicles to reduce noise and ensure peoples safety in the old quarter. Last year, public battery-powered car routes were launched as a pilot scheme to boost environment-friendly public transport in the tourism hub of central Viet Nam. A pedestrian area in the old quarter of Hoi An, an UNESCO-recognised world heritage site. Engine vehicle is banned several hours in day time and almost night time. VNS Photo Cong Thanh The city also plans to provide 100,000 bicycles for residents in order to become the first eco-city in Viet Nam. Bicycles are the favoured mode of transport for tourists, local women and children visiting destinations of the city, suburb and beaches. The UNESCO-recognised world heritage city has launched a solar-power system for public lighting, loud-speakers and lanterns in the old quarter of the city. In 2013, in co-operation with UNESCO and the Korean International Co-operation Agency (KOICA), it also debuted a solar power system at Hoai River Square and Cham Island. In 2016, Hoi An, and Naha City, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, agreed to develop Hoi An into the first eco-city in Viet Nam. It has also been praised for its efforts to ban plastic bags and for its 3R (reduce, re-use and recycle) programme. In 2015, it began the first trial of a public van route with funding from the Japan Fund for Global Environment. Hoi An was chosen for the 2013 Townscape Award by the UN-Habitat Regional Office in Asia, while the citys Hoai River and its channels featured in the list of the 10 most-famous canals in the world by the US-based travel website www.touropia.com in 2014. Covering an area of 60sq.km, the tourism hub has now has 22.5sq.km covered with farms and forests and 11sq.km filled with lakes and channels. Hoi An welcomed more than 2.5 million foreigners last year. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Transport has decided not to regulate the distance between toll booths in a draft version of a circular on the operations of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) toll stations, said minister Nguyen Van The. The first draft version stated that distances between BOT toll booths must at least 70km to ensure drivers arent subjected to an unfair deal. However, the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam (DRVN) under the Ministry of Transport later removed the clause in the second draft. The said that the transport ministry did not order the directorate to set the regulation. The minister said that the DRVNs compiling unit made a mistake, and failed to provide enough information to the public. While it has not caused serious consequences, public opinion is firmly against the measure, with local residents expressing the opinion that it is unfair for them to have to pay to traverse multiple toll stations when on their daily routes. The asked the DRVNs compiling committee to review their responsibilities and report directly to the ministry. New BOT stations will be built on roads currently under construction following a resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee. Fee collection will no longer be based on the number of times drivers run through toll stations, but instead based on the distance vehicles have driven. For this reason, the regulation on distance between toll stations is no longer important, he said. The ministry will create conditions for people to have a choice in the roads they use," he said. "The Government will not build new highways; instead they will build expressways along the current highways. "This means that people can either pay the fee to use the expressway, or use the adjacent highway for free." He added that an automatic toll collection system will be installed to save time and ensure financial transparency. Toll booth barriers will be dismantled. In the past, many drivers have protested against toll stations nationwide for their inappropriate locations, or due to unreasonable fees. VNS LOS ANGELES Hawaiis Kilauea volcano erupted from its summit early Thursday, shooting a huge plume of ash miles into the sky and prompting authorities to urge area residents to take cover. The Hawaii Volcano Observatory said the explosion within Kilaueas Halemaumau crater -- the biggest since the volcano became more active on May 3 -- had produced a volcanic cloud that reached as high as 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) and was drifting downwind to the northeast. "Not your average wake-up call at the Kilauea Volcano summit," the US Geological Survey said of the 4:17 am (local time) blast that lasted a few minutes. The Observatory said residents living along the path of the ash plume should take shelter, and maintained a code red aviation alert signaled on Tuesday, meaning no air traffic was permitted in the area. "At any time, activity may again become more explosive, increasing the intensity of ash production and producing ballistic projectiles near the vent," it said in a statement. Authorities by afternoon said weak winds and rain meant that ash fallout from the latest eruption was largely contained in areas around the Kilauea summit. "Weve had reports of light ash fall in Hawaiis Volcanoes National Park and we expect that folks may be experiencing trace ash fall around Volcano Village," Michelle Coombs, a volcanologist at the US Geological Survey, told reporters at a daily briefing. "We expect activity could wax and wane like this in the near future," she added. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and one of five on Hawaiis Big Island. It started erupting on May 3, prompting about 2,000 people to flee from their mountainside homes. The latest steam-driven burst on Thursday came two days after Halemaumau crater sent "ballistic blocks" of rock and another massive plume of volcanic ash shooting into the sky. Kevin Kushel, a resident of the island, told AFP that Thursdays plume of smoke could be seen miles away. "I just went to Pahoa and its a smoke-filled nightmare, the likes of which Ive only imagined from reading about Pompeii," he said. AFP PARIS A friend of the perpetrator of last weeks deadly knife attack in Paris was charged and remanded in custody by a French judge Thursday for "associating with criminal terrorists", a judicial source said. Abdul Hakim A, a Chechen-born French national who had been held by police for four days before he appeared in court, had been on watch lists prior to Saturdays stabbing attack which was carried out by his friend Khamzat Azimov. Azimov killed a 29-year-old man and injured five others, in the busy Opera district of the French capital on Saturday night before being shot dead by police. Azimov, a 20-year-old naturalised Frenchman of Chechen origin, had been on Frances two main watch lists for suspected radicals since 2016. Hakim A, also 20, was detained Sunday in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where the two men grew up, and later transferred to the headquarters of Frances domestic intelligence services in Paris. "He has denied any implication in either preparing or carrying out the acts as well as any recent links with Khamzat Azimov, claiming not to have seen or been in contact with him for several months," according to Frances top anti-terror prosecutor Francois Molins. But he added that examinations of telephone networks showed that shortly before the attack, Hakim A has sent his sister a text message of "a jihadist chant regularly used by the Islamic State". Two women were also detained for questioning Thursday in connection with the attack, according to Molins, who declined to give further details. A source close to the inquiry said one of the women was Ines Hamza, a radicalised 19-year-old who married Hakim A before trying to leave for Syria in January 2017. Witnesses said Azimov yelled "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) during the rampage, for which the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility, later releasing a video purporting to show Azimov pledging allegiance to the jihadists. Investigators want to determine if Hakim A "may have influenced Azimov in his jihadist quest or knew he was planning this attack," the source said. AFP WASHINGTON US and Chinese officials will hold further trade talks in Washington on Friday, the White House said, after President Donald Trump discounted the chances of reaching a deal to avert a trade war. Trump met with a Chinese delegation headed by Vice Premier Liu He on Thursday as talks aimed at easing frictions between the economic powers got underway. "The two sides agreed to continue the discussions on Friday," the White House said. But speaking earlier in the day about the prospects for the talks to be successful, Trump was not optimistic, saying: "I tend to doubt it." "China has become very spoiled because they always got 100 percent of whatever they wanted from the United States," he said. Trump unleashed a barrage of criticism against former US administrations for allowing Beijing to take advantage of the United States. "Trade has been a total one-way street," Trump said. "And I explained to Chinas President Xi Jinping that we cant do that anymore." Trump also had harsh words for the European Union, which is likewise at loggerheads with Washington over US export tariffs on steel and aluminum. Meet each other halfway, he said. AFP Golden Age Air Tours magnificently restored Douglas DC-3A will be flying in Auburn this Friday and in Santa Rosa over the weekend. The historic aircraft will be giving free rides to WWII and Korean War veteran pilots in celebration of Armed Forces Day. It will also be offering scenic air tours to the general public. This aircraft, one of very few original-build DC-3s still flying, rolled of the Douglas production line in Santa Monica during 1939. She was requisitioned by the Army Air Forces, and flew for a time as General Henry Hap Arnolds personal transport during WWII. In military service, she bore the the military serial 40-070 and the unique designation of C-41A, the only such aircraft of her variant. Highly decorated WWII fighter pilot, 96 year old Col. Bud Anderson will be taking a ride during the Auburn Airport Friday Flyday event from 4 7:30pm Friday, May 18th. A portion of the proceeds from the air tours will benefit the Bud Anderson Scholarship fund. As many will know, Col.Anderson flew P-51 Mustangs with the 357th FG in the European Theatre, during which time he became a triple ace! Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 19th, sees the aircraft at the Celebrating the Living Historians festival at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County airport in Santa Rosa. This free event at the Pacific Coast Air Museum runs 10:00am 2:00pm. Golden Age Air Tours is donating a minimum of 2 free rides for every 8 seats sold to some of the few remaining pilots who flew similar aircraft during WWII and the Korean War. Some 40 veterans are expected to attend, and the aim is to fly as many as possible over the course of the weekend. Those hoping to get a ride include pilots: Jim Norem a C-47 pilot who served in Italy Lee Wildman a US Navy R4D pilot Del Tiedeman an Army Air Corp C-47 pilot Robert (Bob) Wilson an Army Air Corp C-47 pilot not to mention 102 year old B-17 navigator Al Maggini, B-17 waist gunner and radio operator Elmo Fama and 101year old Army radio operator Fred Bollinger, Those who sign up for a tour will not only enjoy a truly memorable flight in this majestic aircraft, but they will be helping to make this an extra special day for some of our few remaining veterans from the Greatest Generation in celebration of Armed Forces Day. F rom the outset, it was clear that this week's summons of the Chilean bishops to Rome for emergency talks on the country's abuse crisis would be unlike any prior Vatican push to address the scandals... and a day after its close, the summit has indeed produced a sweeping, landmark outcome: at a midday press conference in Rome, the secretary-general of the country's bishops announced that the entire 33-man bench the heads of 27 dioceses and six auxiliary bishops had placed their resignations "in writing, in the hands of the Pope, that he might freely decide with respect to each one of us."The letters delivered at yesterday's end of the three-day retreat, the pontiff has not announced any immediate acceptances of the walking papers, which would be required for them to take force, and without which the prelates remain in full possession of their respective offices. It is unclear whether the move was demanded by Papa Bergoglio in the course of the meeting.Given the standard practice of lining up the successor to a departing prelate before he formally leaves office (except in cases of ill health or other grave reason), should a full clear-out come to pass, putting it into effect could take months at the very least. Alternatively, should the pontiff decide to relieve the bishops on a quicker timeframe, the result could incite chaos, as the consultors of each diocese would need to elect administrators to oversee them pending the appointment of new ordinaries and given a mass exodus amid an ecclesial cultural shock, the extensive vetting and consultation required to fill even a chunk of open seats, virtually certain to be intensified further here, would swamp the staff of the Nunciature in Santiago (to say nothing of the skeleton crew who man the Spanish desk of the Congregation for Bishops), creating a backlog that could extend for possibly two years or longer until new appointments are finalized. (For context, with an ample diplomatic staff equipped to handle a constant 15 to 20 selection processes at any given time, any US vacancy invariably takes at least six months, and usually much longer, to be resolved.)In this extraordinary scenario, it is to be expected that the broad indictment of Chilean Catholicism's leadership class which has extended to the current Nuncio, Archbishop Ivo Scapolo would see any current crop of files for potential appointees tossed out and compiled from scratch, an overhaul most likely to occur under a new Nuncio a figure with a fresh set of eyes, untainted by the years-long storm in which no less than Francis himself had become perilously entangled. Along those lines, it's notable that, according to one Chilean report on the eve of the talks, a petition submitted to Rome by some participants in the recent local investigation conducted by Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta has presented a very specific name for Scapolo's replacement: Fr Jordi Bertomeu, the CDF staffer who assisted with the probe and temporarily led it after Scicluna was rushed to a hospital with a gallbladder attack shortly after his arrival. A 49 year-old Catalonian, Bertomeu is said to have garnered high marks from those interviewed for his sensitivity, openness and candor in hearing out the suffering of victims and the wider church impacted by the turmoil.Alongside Scicluna, Bertomeu took part in yesterday's final session of the closed-door talks.All that said, in the country's most prominent posts, today's group act is purely symbolic: the heads of Chile's two largest dioceses Santiago and Valparaiso are already past the retirement age of 75 and had submitted their letters at that point, as has the head of another of the bench's four archdioceses.On another critical front, the move doesn't include the capital's already-retired Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, now 84. Long accused of playing a major role in the cover-up for Chile's most notorious predator, Fernando Karadima, Errazuriz's ongoing membership in Francis "Gang of Nine" lead advisers has drawn the most potent scorn from survivors and their advocates.While Francis could have unilaterally forced any and all the prelates from office without having their resignations in hand, the bishops' offer to departpaves the way to an epochal makeover of a national hierarchy of a kind unseen over the church's long trail of abuse scandals.Over the parallel incidences of nationwide crises in the US and Ireland, only in recent years have a handful of prelates in each stood down over findings of a cover-up in the States, with the conspicuous exception of the late Cardinal Bernard Law 's departure as archbishop of Boston, the concentrated wave of some half-dozen sudden ousters through 2002 were exclusively of bishops whose own histories of having abused came to light. (And in those cases, the men were simply retired, ceased all public ministry and lived restricted lives of prayer and penance, as opposed to being charged and tried in canonical tribunals.)Today's stunning announcement came in tandem with a leak of the 10-page reflection the Pope delivered to the prelates at the summit's opening. The text obtained (en espanol) by the Chilean TV outlet TeleTrece/T13, in a stringent upbraiding of their general conduct, Francis told the bishops that their style of governing had seen the church commit the "sin of becoming the center of attention" as opposed to "signaling and announcing" Jesus to the world around it a shift, he said, born from a "loss of prophetic strength.""The problems you live today within the ecclesial community," the Pope wrote, "will not be solved solely by taking the concrete cases and reducing them to the removal of persons; this and let me say it clearly will have to be done, but it is not sufficient, there is more of a ways to go."It would be irresponsible on our part to not deepen our search for the roots and structures which enabled these concrete events to happen and perpetuate themselves."Looking to the future, Francis sketched a vision of "a church capable to put what's important at its center: serving the Lord in the hungry, the prisoner, the thirsty, the homeless, the naked, the sick, in the abused" a citation of his beloved Matthew 25, the Last Judgment "with the[ir] awareness that they have the dignity to sit at our table, to feel themselves 'at home' among us, to be considered family."This is the sign of a church which has been wounded by its sin, given mercy by its Lord, and become converted in prophecy by its vocation."Again, however, who will lead that conversion and the full shape it will take is anything but a solution coming overnight. past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) 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05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1) Ukraine should blow up Putins Crimea bridge Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the Kerch Strait Bridge connecting Crimea, Ukraine, with mainland Russia on Tuesday. Putin did so by in a typical show of bravado by leading a column of transport vehicles across the bridge. Ukraine should now destroy elements of the bridge. While that course of action would be an escalation against Putin and one that would almost certainly spark Russian retaliation, this bridge is an outrageous affront to Ukraines very credibility as a nation. Of course, from Puti Source: Ukraine should blow up Putins Crimea bridge This is one of the most asinine thing I have ever seen written and Russia is correct to apply a lawsuit against said parties involved The Russian Investigative Committee (RIC) has opened a criminal case against Tom Rogan, a journalist from the United States, who recommended Ukraine blow up the Crimean Bridge, Svetlana Petrenko, the official representative of the Russian RIC, said. A criminal case has been opened against US citizen Tom Rogan who published an article titled Ukraine should blow up Putins Crimea bridge calling for the destruction of the Crimean Bridge by bombing it, she said. According to the investigation, in the ar Source: Russia Launches Case Against Journalist Who Suggested Blowing Up Crimean Bridge Sputnik International This is a very real act of terrorism and in heavens name, how would the US respond if RT and or Sputnik ran a story about blowing up the Golden Gate bridge in America? This is blatant warmongering against Russia America you stepped off of the loony bin territory and now have gone totally bug %$^& terrorist.dangerous is no longer applicable, a terrorist is now who you are known as, America Never should have been printed, freedom of press is not an excuse to promote bombing other countries WtR Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. The major gold miners' stocks are still largely grinding sideways, mired in a bearish sentiment wasteland. Traders tend to assume low stock prices must be righteous, reflecting weak fundamentals rather than poor psychology. But once a quarter earnings seasons' bright fundamental sunlight parts the obscuring fogs of popular sentiment. The gold miners' just-reported Q1'18 results prove they remain deeply undervalued. Four times a year publicly-traded companies release treasure troves of valuable information in the form of quarterly reports. Companies trading in the States are required to file 10-Qs with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by 45 calendar days after quarter-ends. Canadian companies have similar requirements. In other countries with half-year reporting, many companies still partially report quarterly. The definitive list of major gold-mining stocks to analyze comes from the world's most-popular gold-stock investment vehicle, the GDX VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF. Its composition and performance are similar to the benchmark HUI gold-stock index. GDX utterly dominates this sector, with no meaningful competition. This week GDX's net assets are 25.7x larger than the next-biggest 1x-long major-gold-miners ETF! GDX is effectively the gold-mining industry's blue-chip index, including the biggest and best publicly-traded gold miners from around the globe. GDX inclusion is not only prestigious, but grants gold miners better access to the vast pools of stock-market capital. As ETF investing continues to rise, capital inflows into leading sector ETFs require their managers to buy more shares in underlying component companies. GDX's component list this week ran 49 "Gold Miners" long. While the great majority of GDX stocks do fit that bill, it also contains gold-royalty companies and major silver miners. All the world's big primary gold miners publicly traded in major markets are included. Every quarter I look into the latest operating and financial results of the top 34 GDX companies, which is just an arbitrary number fitting neatly into these tables. That's a commanding sample, as GDX's 34 largest components now account for a whopping 92.1% of its total weighting! These elite miners dominate world gold mine production, which ran 770.0 metric tons in Q1'18 according to the World Gold Council's recently-released Q1 Gold Demand Trends report. The top 34 GDX gold miners reported collectively mining 286.5t of gold last quarter, nearly 3/8ths of the world's total! Most of these top 34 GDX gold miners trade in the US and Canada where comprehensive quarterly reporting is required by regulators. But some trade in Australia and the UK, where companies just need to report in half-year increments. Fortunately those gold miners do still tend to issue production reports without financial statements each quarter. There are still wide variations in reporting styles and data offered. Every quarter I wade through a ton of data from these elite gold miners' latest results and dump it into a big spreadsheet for analysis. The highlights make it into these tables. Blank fields mean a company had not reported that data for Q1'18 as of this Wednesday. Looking at the major gold miners' latest results in aggregate offers valuable insights on this industry's current fundamental health unrivaled anywhere else. The first couple columns of these tables show each GDX component's symbol and weighting within this ETF as of this week. While most of these stocks trade on US exchanges, some symbols are listings from companies' primary foreign stock exchanges. That's followed by each gold miner's Q1'18 production in ounces, which is mostly in pure-gold terms. That excludes byproduct metals often present in gold ore. These are mostly silver and base metals like copper, which are valuable. They are sold to offset some of the considerable costs of gold mining, lowering per-ounce costs and thus raising overall profitability. In cases where companies didn't separate out gold and lumped all production into gold-equivalent ounces, these GEOs are included instead. Then production's absolute year-over-year change from Q1'17 is shown. Next comes gold miners' most-important fundamental data for investors, cash costs and all-in sustaining costs per ounce mined. The latter directly drives profitability which ultimately determines stock prices. These key costs are also followed by YoY changes. Last but not least the annual changes are shown in operating cash flows generated, hard GAAP earnings, sales, and cash on hand with a couple exceptions. Percentage changes aren't relevant or meaningful if data shifted from positive to negative or vice versa, or if derived from two negative numbers. So in those cases I included raw underlying data rather than weird or misleading percentage changes. This whole dataset together offers a fantastic high-level read on how the major gold miners are faring fundamentally as an industry. And that was really well in Q1'18! As I waded through all these gold miners' new 10-Qs or their foreign equivalents this week, the biggest surprise was production. The whole business of gold mining is digging up and selling gold, so naturally production is the mothers' milk of this industry. Companies are always striving to grow their production, which boosts their cash generation and thus expansion opportunities available by finding or buying other mines. These elite gold miners certainly had every incentive to boost their production in Q1, since its average gold price surged 8.9% YoY to $1329. Investors are always looking for rising production too, seeing it as signs of good management and strong fundamental health. Since gold stocks suffering flagging production are often punished with selling, the major gold miners really hate reporting it. Yet Q1'18 was stuffed with declines! This wasn't readily apparent to casual observers, as the major gold miners carefully tailor their quarterly-results press releases to accentuate the positive and intentionally mask the negative. Yet if you look at the YoY changes in gold production above, fully 21 of the 33 top GDX companies reporting it suffered steep average declines of 9.6%! This lower production was so universal and widespread it looks to be systemic. Overall these top 34 GDX companies mined 9.2m ounces of gold in Q1'18, which was down a sharp 4.6% YoY. This was actually contrary to the industry trend too. The World Gold Council's new read on Q1's fundamentals showed global gold mine production actually rising 1.4% YoY! Yet the top 10 GDX stocks commanding 60.3% of this ETF's total weighting all saw gold declines averaging a major 7.4% YoY. Most of these top gold miners had explanations, which were often excluded from press releases. I found them deep in quarterly regulatory filings most investors will never bother looking into. Mine sequencing leading to lower ore grades, individual-mine technical challenges, and slowing production at older mines were mostly to blame. This wasn't a one-off dip though, as Q4'17's GDX-top-34 production also fell 2.0% YoY. Investors choosing to buy GDX instead of individual gold stocks with superior fundamentals must realize the lion's share of their investments are flowing into giant gold miners with slowing production. As long as this proves true, their stocks have far-less appreciation potential than their smaller peers still able to grow production. What the top major gold miners are experiencing is increasingly validating peak-gold theses. Gold deposits economically viable to mine are very rare in the natural world, and the low-hanging fruit has largely been harvested. It is growing ever more expensive to explore for gold, in far-less-hospitable places. Then even after new deposits are discovered, it takes up to a decade to jump through all the Draconian regulatory hoops necessary to secure permitting. And only then can mine construction finally start. That takes additional years and hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars per gold mine. But because gold-mining stocks have been deeply out of favor most of the time since 2013, capital has been heavily constrained. When banks are bearish on gold prices, they aren't willing to lend to gold miners except with onerous terms. And when investors aren't buying gold stocks, issuing new shares low is heavily dilutive. The large gold miners used to rely greatly on the smaller junior gold miners to explore and replenish the gold-production pipeline. But juniors have been devastatedsince 2013, starved of capital. Not only were investors completely uninterested with general stock markets levitating, but the rise of ETFs has funneled most investment inflows into a handful of larger-market-cap juniors while the rest see little meaningful buying. So even the world's biggest and best gold miners are struggling to grow production. While that isn't good for those individual miners, it's super-bullish for gold. The less gold mined, the more gold supply will fail to keep pace with demand. That will result in higher gold prices, making gold mining more profitable in the future. Some analysts even think peak goldhas been reached, that world mine production will decline indefinitely. There are strong fundamental arguments in favor of peak-gold theories. But regardless of where overall global gold production heads in coming years, the major gold miners able to grow their own production will fare the best. They'll attract in relatively-more investor capital, bidding their stocks to premium prices compared to peers that can't grow production. Stock picking is more important than ever in this ETF world! With major gold miners' production sharply lower, their costs of mining should be proportionally higher. Gold-mining costs are largely fixed during mine-planning stages, when engineers and geologists decide which ore to mine, how to dig to it, and how to process it. The actual mining generally requires the same levels of infrastructure, equipment, and employees quarter after quarter. Little changes in throughput terms. The mills processing the gold-bearing ore and inevitable accompanying waste rock have hard limits to tonnages they can chew through. When richer ore is processed, more ounces of gold are produced to spread the big fixed costs across. But when mine managers have to dig through lower-grade ore, either on the way to higher-grade stuff later or in depleting mines, fewer ounces of gold must bear the full cost burden. But interestingly this often-ironclad inverse relationship between gold production and per-ounce costs did not really play out in Q1'18. Costs rose, but nowhere near as much as the lower gold production implied they would. The major gold miners are getting more efficient. They could've also chosen to sequence lower-grade ore into their mills because higher prevailing gold prices would offset some of the production declines. There are two major ways to measure gold-mining costs, classic cash costs per ounce and the superior all-in sustaining costs per ounce. Both are useful metrics. Cash costs are the acid test of gold-miner survivability in lower-gold-price environments, revealing the worst-case gold levels necessary to keep the mines running. All-in sustaining costs show where gold needs to trade to maintain current mining tempos indefinitely. Cash costs naturally encompass all cash expenses necessary to produce each ounce of gold, including all direct production costs, mine-level administration, smelting, refining, transport, regulatory, royalty, and tax expenses. In Q1'18, these top 34 GDX-component gold miners that reported cash costs averaged $667 per ounce. They indeed surged a sharp 7.1% YoY, the result of fixed costs spread across lower production. These industry-wide cash costs are the gold-price pain point where miners' viability and survivability is in jeopardy. Seeing gold anywhere near those levels again is exceedingly unlikely. The last time gold hit $667 was 10.7 years agoin August 2007, before trillions of dollars of central-bank money printing after 2008's stock panic. Provocatively the HUI gold-stock index was near 320 then, 80% higher than today's levels! Way more important than cash costs are the far-superior all-in sustaining costs. They were introduced by the World Gold Council in June 2013 to give investors a much-better understanding of what it really costs to maintain gold mines as ongoing concerns. AISCs include all direct cash costs, but then add on everything else that is necessary to maintain and replenish operations at current gold-production levels. These additional expenses include exploration for new gold to mine to replace depleting deposits, mine-development and construction expenses, remediation, and mine reclamation. They also include the corporate-level administration expenses necessary to oversee gold mines. All-in sustaining costs are the most-important gold-mining cost metric by far for investors, revealing gold miners' true operating profitability. With the top 34 GDX gold miners' production down 4.6% YoY in Q1, I would've bet their AISCs would've risen a proportional 4% to 5%. Yet their cost control was outstanding, as these elite gold miners reported average AISCs up just 0.7% YoY to $884 per ounce! That's roughly in line with the quarterly trend from 2017 seeing $878, $867, $868, and $858 averages running from Q1 to Q4. Costs are really being contained. The major gold miners have to manage costs exceptionally well to maintain AISCs while production is also slowing. This argues against the popular complaint that gold miners' managements are doing poor jobs. Because gold-stock prices are so darned low, traders again assume the miners must be plagued with serious fundamental problems. But it's relentlessly-bearish herd sentiment suppressing gold-stock prices. Flat AISCs combined with sharply-higher gold prices led to exploding operating profitability among the major gold miners last quarter! That certainly isn't being reflected in their stock prices. In Q1'17, gold averaged just $1220 against $878 average AISCs. That yielded per-ounce profits of $342. But this past year saw gold surge 8.9% to that $1329 quarterly average in Q1'18 while AISCs only climbed 0.7% to $884. That drove fat operating margins of $445 per ounce, exploding 30.2% higher YoY! That works out to excellent 3.4x upside profits leverage to gold! In any other stock-market sector such massive earnings growth would be crowed about from the rooftops and capital would flood in. But that wasn't enough to blow away the darkening bearish pall over gold stocks. GDX's average share price still fell 3.0% YoY in Q1'18! Gold-stock profits as measured by the difference between average gold prices and average AISCs even surged 6.3% quarter-on-quarter from Q4'17. There is a vast fundamental disconnect between the left-for-dead gold-stock prices and gold miners' strong operational performances. This bearish-sentiment-driven anomaly is very extreme and won't last forever. Investors will rush back in when they discover the value. The major gold miners' fundamental health is reflected in their operating-cash-flow generation. These top 34 GDX gold miners reporting OCFs for last quarter collectively produced $3355m. That's up 3.9% YoY despite their 4.6% lower gold production, mostly due to that sizable 8.9% average-gold-price rally. Most of these elite gold miners saw big annual growth in cash generated from operations, a very-bullish sign. As long as OCFs remain massively positive, the gold mines are generating much more cash than they cost to run. That gives the gold miners the capital necessary to expand existing operations and buy new deposits and mines. Given how ridiculously low gold-stock prices are today, you'd think the gold miners are hemorrhaging cash like crazy. But the opposite is true, showing how silly this bearish herd sentiment is. These top GDX gold miners' actual GAAP profits didn't look as good, plunging 48.5% YoY to $855m in Q1. While that was a huge improvement over Q4'17's $266m loss, it still seems incongruent with those flat all-in sustaining costs and growing operating cash flows. Of the 25 of these top GDX components reporting earnings in Q1, just 3 had losses. The only big ones came from Royal Gold and Yamana Gold. Royal Gold's $154m loss was the result of a gigantic $239m impairment charge in its interests in gold royalties. That came from Barrick Gold's big Pascua-Lama project, which straddles the border between Chile and Argentina. In Q1 Barrick decided the current economic and geopolitical environment made the Chilean side of this project not worthy of further investment. Chile's government is harassing Barrick on it. Yamana Gold's $161m loss was largely from a $103m impairment of a majority investment it made in a smaller gold company. When a third company agreed to acquire all the shares of that smaller miner in Q1, Yamana had to write off its loss. These two impairments alone battered overall GDX GAAP profits $342m lower! Without them, the top 34 GDX gold miners' earnings would've slid a much-smaller 27.9% YoY. It doesn't take many of these non-cash charges to greatly alter the collective GAAP earnings of the elite gold miners. And there's a third huge one to consider. Back in Q1'17, Barrick Gold recorded a colossal $1125m non-cash gainreversing previous impairment charges on a gold project after Goldcorp agreed to buy a quarter of it. That really inflated overall GDX GAAP profits in the comparable quarter a year ago. Just excluding that huge Q1'17 impairment reversal and that pair of Q1'18 impairment charges radically changes the profits picture. Again those were non-cash and had nothing to do with operations. That yields Q1'18 GAAP profits of $1197m for these top 34 GDX gold miners, a staggering $123% higherthan Q1'17's if its Barrick impairment-reversal gain hadn't happened! The major gold miners are faring really well. These surging accounting earnings are evident in the classic trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings ratios of these top gold miners as well. They aren't included in these tables, but averaged 37.3x in Q1'18 for the 24 of these companies that had net earnings over the past year. While that's not an accurate reflection of true valuations due to non-cash things flushed through income statements, it was still 28% lower. On the sales front these top 34 GDX gold miners' revenues climbed 1.5% YoY to $10.6b in Q1'18. That reflects the combination of higher gold selling prices with lower gold production. Actual sales growth was probably better, as 26 top-34 GDX companies reported sales in Q1'18 compared to 28 in Q1'17. GDX saw three new companies climb into the ranks of its top 34 over this past year, highlighted in light blue above. Two of these are the great low-cost Australian gold miners Regis Resources and St Barbara Limited. They report in half-year increments, and gave no revenues data for Q1 which was an interim quarter for both. The companies they knocked out of the top 34 had reported sales a year earlier. So the sales growth in the elite major gold miners was really good considering their sharply-lower gold production. Finally these top 34 GDX gold miners' cash on their balance sheets fell 4.2% YoY to $12.7b. That's a big number for this small contrarian sector, meaning these companies have lots of capital firepower available to expand existing operations or buy gold mines from other companies. The more cash on hand the gold miners have, the more flexibility and resilience they have to grow their businesses and weather challenges. So overall the major gold miners' fundamentals looked really strong in Q1'18, a stark contrast to the miserable sentiment plaguing this sector. Gold stocks' vexing consolidation since early 2017 isn't the result of operational struggles, but purely bearish psychology. That will soon shift as stock markets inevitably roll over and gold surges, making the beaten-down gold stocks a coiled spring overdue to soar dramatically. While investors and speculators alike can certainly play gold stocks' coming powerful uplegs with the major ETFs like GDX, the best gains by far will be won in individual gold stocks with superior fundamentals. Their upside will far exceed the ETFs, which are burdened by over-diversification and underperforming stocks. A carefully-handpicked portfolio of elite gold and silver miners will generate much-greater wealth creation. At Zeal we've literally spent tens of thousands of hours researching individual gold stocks and markets, so we can better decide what to trade and when. As of the end of Q4, this has resulted in 983 stock trades recommended in real-time to our newsletter subscribers since 2001. Fighting the crowd to buy low and sell high is very profitable, as all these trades averaged stellar annualized realized gains of +20.2%! The key to this success is staying informed and being contrarian. That means buying low before others figure it out, before undervalued gold stocks soar much higher. An easy way to keep abreast is through our acclaimed weekly and monthly newsletters. They draw on my vast experience, knowledge, wisdom, and ongoing research to explain what's going on in the markets, why, and how to trade them with specific stocks. For only $12 per issue, you can learn to think, trade, and thrive like contrarians. Subscribe today, and get deployed in the great gold and silver stocks in our full trading books! The bottom line is the major gold miners' fundamentals are really strong based on their recently-reported Q1'18 results. While production declined fairly sharply, the miners still held the line on all-in sustaining costs. That fueled fat operating profits and strong cash flows. And many of the elite gold miners have forecast improving production throughout 2018 on higher-grade ores, which will push profits even higher. Yet gold stocks are priced today as if gold was half or less of current levels, which is truly fundamentally-absurd! They are the last super-undervalued sector in these euphoric, overvalued stock markets. When gold investment demand resumes on weakening stock markets and pushes gold higher, capital will flood back into the forgotten gold miners. That buying will catapult them back to far-higher fundamentally-righteous prices. ### May 18, 2018 | By Thomas Surgeons at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, are using 3D printing technology to improve the success rates of life-saving, complex organ transplantation in young children. This is exemplified in the case of two-year-old Dexter Clark, who was born with severe kidney problem recently received a larger-than-average kidney from his father, Brendan Clark. Due to the complications of his illness, Dexter was able to eat only through a feeding tube and unable to enjoy a simple meal time with his parents and three brothers. It was clear that he would require a kidney transplant, with his father as the likely donor. However Dexter was so small and weighed less than 10 kg, while his fathers kidney was much larger than that of the average adult male leaving surgeons worried about the potential feasibility and safety of implanting the donor kidney into Dexters abdomen. Ordinarily, to reach a decision whether such complex transplants in children are viable, patients such as Dexter would normally have been placed under anaesthesia and the surgeon in some cases required to conduct an invasive surgical exploration to determine feasibility. But in a pioneering procedure, doctors at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, scanned Mr Clarks kidney and his sons abdomen and created two intricate, patient-specific models using a 285K multi-material Stratasys 3D printer. The 3D printed model helped doctors appreciate aspects such as depth perception and space within the babys abdomen, which can often be difficult to ascertain when looking at conventional imaging. 3D printed model of Dexter's abdomen next to a 3D model of his father's kidney In Dexter's case, the 3D printed models were also taken into the operating theatre on the day of the transplant and reviewed by transplant surgeons. Mr. Pankaj Chandak, Transplant Registrar at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust said, The ability to print a 3D model of the patients anatomy in varying textures, with the intricacies of the blood vessels clearly visible within it, enables us to differentiate critical anatomical relations between structures. The flexible materials also allowed us to better mimic the flexibility of organs within the abdomen for simulation of the surgical environment. This technology has the potential to really enhance and aid our decision-making process both during pre-surgical planning and in the operating room, and therefore can help in the safety of what is a very complex operation and improve our patient care, says Mr. Chandak. Emily Clark, Dexters mother, said, Since the transplant, Dexter is a changed boy, eating solid food for the very first time. "We always knew the operation would be complicated but knowing that the surgeons had planned the surgery with 3D models that matched the exact anatomy of my husbands kidney and sons abdomen, was extremely reassuring. "We hope that Dexters case will offer other suffering families similar reassurance that cutting-edge technology, such as 3D printing, can help surgeons better treat their loved ones. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Share Purchase Plan to Fund Nickel Search Adelaide, May 18, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Mithril Resources Ltd ("Mithril" or "Company") ( ASX:MTH ) is pleased to announce a capital raising by way of a Partly Underwritten Share Purchase Plan ("SPP").- Share Purchase Plan to provide eligible shareholders with the opportunity to subscribe for up to $15,000 worth of new shares targeting approximately $600,000- New shares priced at a 20% discount to the 5-day VWAP up to and including the SPP Closing Date- SPP partly underwritten by Patersons Securities Ltd to $290,000- Funds raised will be used to drill priority nickel targets at Kurnalpi, support ongoing target generation activities and for working capital purposes- Directors intend to take up their maximum entitlement under the SPPThe Company is pleased to offer eligible shareholders the opportunity to subscribe for a maximum of $15,000 worth of new fully paid ordinary shares in the Company ("New Shares") without incurring brokerage or other transaction costs. The SPP is intended to raise approximately $600,000 and is partly underwritten to $290,000 by Patersons Securities Ltd ("Patersons").Patersons also have the right to facilitate a Top Up Placement following the SPP with New Shares issued under the Company's Placement Capacity at the same price as the SPP.Funds raised will be used to drill priority nickel targets at the Kurnalpi Nickel Project, support ongoing target generation activities and for working capital purposes.The Company expects to dispatch the SPP Offer Document and Application Form to eligible shareholders shortly.Share Purchase PlanPursuant to the SPP rules, existing shareholders who are recorded on the share register at 17 May 2018 (Record Date) with a registered address in Australia or New Zealand will be eligible to participate and will be entitled to apply for up to $15,000 of new fully paid ordinary shares of the Company at a 20% discount to the 5-day volume weighted average price ("VWAP") up to and including the SPP Closing Date.All shares issued under the SPP will rank equally with existing ordinary shares of the Company.The Company's Directors have indicated that they intend to take up their maximum $15,000 entitlement under the SPP (subject to scale-back if oversubscribed).Indicative SPP TimetableRecord Date: Thursday 17 May 2018Announcement of Share Purchase Plan: Friday 18 May 2018Dispatch Date: Monday 28 May 2018Closing Date: Monday 18 June 2018 or such other date agreed in writing by the Company and the UnderwriterShortfall Notice Deadline Date (notice of the Shortfall Shares and Certificate): Thursday 21 June 2018 or such other date as agreed in writing by the Company and the UnderwriterShortfall Settlement Date: Wednesday 25 June 2018 or such other date as agreed in writing by the Company and the UnderwriterAllotment of Shortfall Shares: Within 1 Business Day of the Shortfall Settlement DateDespatch of shareholding statements: Within 2 Business Days after the Allotment Date or such other date agreed in writing by the Company and the Underwriter.About the Kurnalpi Nickel ProjectMithril's recent drilling at the 100%-owned Kurnalpi Nickel Project (located 70 kms north east of Kalgoorlie, WA - see Figure 1 in link below) intersected a 4-metre zone of gossanous weathered ultramafic and several other narrow intervals of disseminated nickel sulphide mineralisation at the Kurnalpi Nickel-Cobalt Prospect which remains open in all directions. This is the first ever recognition of nickel sulphides within the project tenement boundaries.Subsequent downhole EM geophysical surveying identified a new off hole conductor lying adjacent to the sulphide mineralisation on the eastern edge of the host ultramafic unit.The south-plunging conductor (Conductivity Thickness of 3400S), which has not been previously drilled, is a priority for follow-up and three Reverse Circulation holes (750 metres) are planned as an initial test of the EM conductor and the gossan / sulphide intercepts.The nickel prospective ultramafic rocks also extend for over 3.5 kilometres to the south with little, or no previous testing.In addition to the planned drilling, the Company is planning to carry out ground EM geophysical surveying over the southern ultramafic, including a historic drill hole (KURA50) which intersected 20m @ 0.69% nickel, 0.07% cobalt from 32 metres including 8m @ 0.96% nickel, 0.09% cobalt from 36 metres and was never followed-up (see ASX Announcement dated 7 February 2018).The aim of the EM geophysics is to define additional targets for drill testing.To view figures, please visit:About Mithril Resources Limited Mithril Resources Limited (ASX:MTH) is an Australian resources company whose objective is the creation of shareholder wealth through the discovery of mineral deposits. The Company and its exploration partners are actively exploring throughout the Kalgoorlie, West Kimberley and Murchison Districts of Western Australia for economic nickel, copper, zinc, and vanadium deposits. In the Kalgoorlie District, Mithril is exploring for nickel on the Kurnalpi, Lignum Dam and North Scotia Projects which lie along strike from, or adjacent to previously mined high-grade nickel at the Silver Swan and Scotia Nickel Deposits. In the West Kimberley, Mithril is exploring for zinc on the Billy Hills Project which lies adjacent to the previously mined Pillara Zinc Deposit. In the Murchison, Mithril is exploring for copper, nickel and zinc mineralisation on the Nanadie Well Project and for copper, silver, zinc and lead on the Bangemall Base Metal Project. Mithril's exploration partner Monax Mining Ltd is also exploring for vanadium on the Limestone Well tenements. SHASTA COUNTY, Calif.There is a chance this weekend to get a cup of joe to support your local law enforcement. The third annual We Back the Blue event is kicking off Saturday. Dutch Bros is going to be donating one dollar from every drink sold on Saturday. Every drink sold at the Anderson Dutch Bros from midnight to midnight one dollar will be donated to the Anderson Police K9 Unit. Supervisor Led Baugh and Councilman Baron Browning will be there from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Many other organizations will be in support raising money for the We Back the Blue event. Stay with Action News Now for all of your local coverage. SIGN UP: Get our daily newsletter By James Burton, Director of Product Management, UK and Ireland, LexisNexis Risk Solutions The ease with which consumers can obtain quotes online has been good for consumer choice, good for the buying experience and good for lowering acquisition costs for insurance providers. But this faceless way of obtaining insurance cover has also created the problem of data manipulation and named driver fraud. 29% admit to fronting In our own survey of motor insurance policyholders , 29% of people admitted to fronting, i.e. naming someone else as the main driver on their insurance policy to reduce their premiums, potentially invalidating their cover. 43% stated they believe it is acceptable to misrepresent data in some form in their insurance application or claim and 55% of drivers believe an insurer should still pay out on a claim, even once it has been found to contain false information. Fronting is a particular problem amongst young drivers who tend to pay the highest premiums due to their perceived risk. Ghost brokers In other cases, the manipulation of the data is an act of organised fraud by ghost brokers. In a campaign launched by the City of London Polices Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department in February this year it was revealed that ghost brokers have defrauded the public of 631,000 over the past three years. One of the tactics used is falsifying details in an insurance application to bring the cost down. In some cases ghost brokers will add named drivers to a genuine policy without the policyholder being aware. Understandably, identifying when and how data has been manipulated at point of quote and identifying named driver risk has been a key focus for the insurance sector over the past few years. No insurance provider wants to be in the position of having to tell a parent that their son or daughters car insurance is invalid following an accident and all insurers have a duty to protect their honest policy holders from the costs associated with fraudulent activity. Database of insurance quotes The solution started with one centralised database which records insurance quotes generated by motor insurance providers and price comparison websites, the data provided for those quotes (name, DOB, address, vehicle information, named drivers, past claims and so on) with the ability to match, compare and identify manipulation of data. For the last couple of years, the quotation database has enabled insurance providers to see if the customer had obtained a price previously via a price comparison website and whether the details matched those provided for any previous quote or quotes in the past 90 days. What it did not do is directly identify the risk of named drivers on policies. New attributes to determine named driver risk The next step has been building named driver attributes based on patterns of behaviour. This is achieved by connecting different quotes by the same person or for the same address or the same vehicle, identifying where data may have been manipulated for named drivers and the time span in which this activity took place in the 90 day window. The process starts by looking at the surname of the proposer to see if it is different to the named driver. A potential fronting indicator could be where the individual has appeared as the person taking out the policy for one quote then appeared as a named driver on a separate quote for the same vehicle. The following factors would then be verified and combined to provide a risk assessment of the named driver or drivers as an addition to the risk assessment of the main driver. Is the surname of proposer equal to the surname of named drivers? The number of drivers and how this changes through the quoting journey Potential same family relationships between proposer and named drivers Maximum/minimum of named drivers who all have the same surname as the proposer Maximum/minimum of named drivers who all have different surnames as the proposer This knowledge enables insurance providers to ask the right questions at the right time, prior to policy inception to help determine if that risk is right for their business and to identify possible cases of fronting. By looking at how things change in the quoting journey, named driver attributes are going to bring more accurate pricing for insurance providers and peace of mind for consumers too. Ultimately we believe that most schemes can benefit from consolidation in some form. The industry is starting to wake up to the fact that there is a spectrum of options dealing with the varying needs of different DB schemes. While were beginning to see a shift, its still early days. The advisory community needs to look at the issue differently for more conversations to happen. Many of the benefits promised by scheme consolidation are already available today. Champions of consolidation talk about better governance, access to better advice, lower unit running costs and access to better investments. Solutions already exist which offer all of these benefits through a variety of forms: e.g. bundled advisory models, investment platforms, DB master trusts and sole trusteeship. In addition completing a series of buy-ins and ultimately a buy-out through the insurance regime is an existing consolidation option, which we expect will remain the right option for most schemes. The strong pricing we are seeing at the moment in this market means schemes could already be materially closer to achieving this goal than they think. However, there is room for the industry to collaborate more on other consolidation options. For example, investment platforms could offer a great deal of promise in terms of cost savings and operational improvements. But without scale, the cost savings are not forthcoming which can be a barrier. If the advisory community worked together to create that scale then that could be of significant benefit to all schemes. While not essential for consolidation, enabling or facilitating easier conversion of benefits to a standardised form prior to, or as part of consolidation, would likely drive more consolidation. This would bring down the upfront transition costs which can sometimes be a barrier to certain forms of consolidation, for example transferring to a master trust. Enabling the conversion to a standardised benefit structure with associated cost savings could also incentivise schemes to tackle legacy data and benefit issues sooner rather than later, which in itself could generate future cost savings a virtuous circle which would create value for the scheme In addition to existing approaches to consolidation, were seeing innovation in terms of commercial consolidation. These emerging concepts require regulatory support to test the concept in practice. If, as an industry, we can get the approach to commercial consolidation right, this could be a win-win for pension scheme members, for UK business and for investors. Opinion polls have clearly stated the indecisive state of Karnataka elections and it has delivered a hung assembly. In a tight battle like this, Siddaramaiah-led Congress is leaving no stone unturned to retain power in Karnataka. Amidst which a question arises is that are the political parties just hungry for the power meanwhile, trying to pull down each others party for the same? The split verdict in Karnataka brought a new set of drama unfolding as those who had bitterly fought against each other and exchanged invectives, decided to come together. At the outset, it clearly means that none of the three major players were able to secure a majority support across the state. No party was able to establish a pan-Karnataka presence. Congress leader Bhai Jagtap commented, Governor should intervene in this particular matter as according to the Supreme Court guideline if any particular group has a majority then the Governor should call them to form a government. And this has not happened due to BJPs money and muscle power. The horse-trading is due to BJP leaders should be stopped and we should save the democracy. He further added, But we can see Goa, Manipur and Meghalayas example as Congress had more number of seats and BJP despite having less number of seats, they formed the government and Governor did not invite Congress to form the government. According to me, it is in the hands of the Governor to stop horse-trading. The political atmosphere in Karnataka is getting intense with the Janata Dal (Secular) alleging BJP of trying to poach by offering money and lure of the cabinet post in the state government to its MLAs to abstain from voting during the floor test so that the BJP could prove a majority and form the next government. Hinting at it, JD(S) Congress Chief Ministerial candidate H.D. Kumaraswamy slammed the saffron party and accused it of horse-trading. Kumaraswamy said that BJP has offered Rs 100 crore to each MLA and a Cabinet berth. He also asked Income Tax officials to act. H.P.Tiwari, a Senior Sub-editor at Dainik Dabang Duniya said, This is not happening for the first time as there are many politicians who change their parties for their political benefits. There can be horse-trading furthermore. Talking about the statement given by Ghulab Nabi Azad it may be said to create an influential environment and pressure. As this is not the first time that BJP is held accountable for offering money ahead of elections. In a recent case, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had hit out at the BJP-led NDA government for offering money to churches in Christian-majority plus Congress-ruled Meghalaya ahead of Assembly polls in January 2018. The BJP was accused of using the money to steal the mandate in Manipur and Goa following the partys bid to form governments in both the states despite being the runner-up. Karnataka BJP Spokesperson Suresh Kumar stated, BJP had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka as people do not have any hopes from Congress. BJP does not need to offer money and buy any MLA as they voluntarily come in support of the party. Senior Congress Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had warned that Karnataka will witness violence if the Governor doesnt invite Congress and JD(S) to form the government as both the parties have adequate numbers to form the government and the coalition would provide a stable government. Now, when the worst of politics unfolds in Karnataka, voters are definitely not amused as they firmly believe that dirty politics is a blot on the face of democracy. The voters are hoping that the state gets a new government soon. Voters also want the new government to be honest and stable. However, looking at the beginning of the journey of a new government, it does not augur well for Karnataka. The BJP claims that many disgruntled Congress and JD(S) MLAs are in talks with the saffron party while the Congress also claims that several BJP leaders want to join the alliance. Amid all these developments, murmurs of horse-trading, resort politics and Operation Kamala (a term coined by the BJP back in 2008 to win over MLAs from the opposition parties) are growing louder and louder. The chief of the Indian Army Gen. Bipin Rawat has let it be known to the stone-pelting mob in no uncertain term that they should stop thinking or dreaming about azadi in Kashmir. It will never be a reality, it will never happen and it is impossible, Gen Rawat has emphasised. These strong words came from Gen. Rawat after a tourist died in the incident of stone-pelting in the Kashmir valley. The tourist who died in the incident was identified as 23-year-old Thirumani who had gone to Kashmir on a vacation. He was from Tamil Nadu. Thirumani was going to Gulmarg on a fateful day. The nation, no doubt will not allow the separatists to fulfill their dream of azadi. Those indulging in violence in the name of so-called azadi would be annihilated by the Army. There is no hope for separatists. Their defeat is certain; they will be killed. Even China has recognised the strength of the Indian Armed Forces. The entire nation stands behind the Army. Many questions are being raised after the death of tourist boy from Tamil Nadu. It was said earlier that tourists in Kashmir were not the target of assault by the agitators and violent mob of the separatist elements in the valley. Tourists were revered and warmly welcomed by the Kashmiris since it was and it is a good source of earning for livelihood for them. It is the Kashmiri culture to treat tourists as welcome guests. But the death of Tamil Nadu tourists has exposed this myth. This myth has been exposed earlier also when almost every year during Amarnath Yatra pilgrims are attacked by the terrorists supported by local separatists. There should not be any hesitation in saying that the stone pelting mobs are digging their own graves by attacking tourists; as it was abundantly clear when the bus carrying tourists was attacked by the stone-pelting mob in which Thirumani died. This happened when tourism gives the economic support to Jammu & Kashmir. Kashmiris seem to have forgotten this fact that their hearth runs on revenue from tourism. Stone pelting mobs are mentally deranged. Only mad people would attack and kill those who give bread and butter to them. Mob Have No Fear The stone pelting mob have no fear of authorities because the government attitude towards them have been rather soft in the past. Just look at the story of the leader of the stone-pelting mob Masrat Alam. By releasing Alam, the then chief minister Mufti Mohammad Syed had created controversy. There were solid evidence against Masrat that he had led the mob who pelted stones at armed forces during violent agitation between 2008 and 2010. He was arrested in 2010 from the outskirts of Srinagar. It is known to all that the stone pelting mob were responsible for killing many armed forces personnel and innocent public. There was public outrage when Masrat, a separatist of Hurriyat Conference was released after spending four years in jail; the outrage was fully justified. Surprisingly, the state police had not registered any case against him despite evidence of offence and crime against Masrat. He was in jail without any case under Public Safety Act. The point to be noted here is when there is no case against an individual how you can keep him in jail? Ever since the Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed at the hands of Armed forces, the valley has been witnessing widespread violence and protests resulting in casualties of armed forces and attack on posts of police and security forces in the valley. Human Rights A big question arises, is there no human rights for our security forces. Are they not Indians? Do they have no family? Dont they have people who love them? The security forces lost their lives while on duty in the troubled state of Jammu & Kashmir. There have been incidents of women throwing boiling oil on our jawans and sometimes even shooting them dead. These incidents take place on a regular interval. When Police hunt for the accused nobody from public gives any clue to the investigating officers. The officers and jawans are also human beings and they have right to live with dignity. Far away from home, the security forces on duty in the violent zone also have human rights. Terrorists are attacking camps of security forces, grenades are being hurled. Security forces are attacked when they return from duty with stones resulting in head injuries and damage to eyes. The situation is indeed grave. How to improve the situation? For any improvement in the situation, the people of Kashmir will have to stand by the government and authorities. People must cooperate with the security forces and not confront them because people in general in Kashmir valley are suffering because of militant strikes and violence. The tourism is seriously hit by the agitation. Small and cottage industry are getting closed as there are no buyers. Time has come when the people of the valley should stop living in the shadow of fear of terrorists and separatist forces; rather people should now fight these elements to end the violent and bloody phase in the valley. This is the only way to come out of the crisis. The violent phase has ruined the lives of three generations of the people of Kashmir. If the people have any grievances against the authorities it can be resolved through dialogue. After all, they are also citizens of India. R K Sinha (The writer is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha) Schools in Arizona have had the legal right to use restraint and seclusion since 2015 when behavior presents an imminent danger of bodily harm to [themselves] or others. Scottsdale Unified declined to comment on the case because it involves pending litigation, but in court documents, the district denied the familys allegations and maintained the restraints were legal. The district said the restraints were used to protect students or staff from Sean biting, hitting, kicking, flailing and punching. The familys federal lawsuit, which was filed this month, claims the restraints were unlawful and amounted to assaults. The lawsuit seeks punitive damages. Seans parents claim that what happened to their son was assault. This went on for two years: The lawsuits also claim district administrators failed to turn over key records and school employees took steps to cover up their actions. In newly filed state and federal lawsuits, the McCarthys allege untrained school staff repeatedly restrained their son - physically grabbed and held him - without informing the family as required by a 2015 law. Sean McCarthy is NON-VERBAL (like an estimated 25% of the autism community), and his family noticed a change in his behavior. They linked it to what was happening to him at school in Scottsdale, and it resulted in a lawsuit. Behavior that stems from anxiety and fear can have serious results in school, as this CBS5 story shows. For parents of children disabled with autism, there are lots of worries, especially when they go off to school. (I say this as the mom of a 31 year old son who spent a lot of 3 rd grade sitting UNDER his desk.) On May 17, CBS5 in Scottsdale, AZ aired the story, Family of autistic student alleges assault, cover-up during use of restraints at school Incidents soared The 2015-16 survey was released last month. It shows approximately 880 students experienced at least one restraint that year in the schools we analyzed. The number of cases of seclusion jumped 22 percent in the latest survey, from 899 instances in 2013-14 to 1,153 in 2015-16. Approximately 351 students were secluded in 2015-16. Student counts are an approximation because districts are allowed to round their figures in the survey for privacy reasons. In cases of both restraint and seclusion, 90 percent of the incidents involved students with disabilities. Soaring increase in autism, stunning increase in restraint and seclusion Coincidence? Non-verbal kids who cant alert parents to whats happening For families of non-verbal students like the McCarthys, the idea of underreporting restraint or seclusion data is particularly frustrating. In Sean's case, he can't talk, said Mary McCarthy. We have no other way of knowing what's happening to him but to trust the people he's with. This one story is very troubling. NOW add a couple more. FOR EXAMPLE: May 9, 2018, ABC9, Cedar Rapids, IA: I9 UPDATE: (VIDEO) Iowa schools' use of seclusion, restraint has nearly doubled since 2013 School districts are required to report how often they use seclusion rooms or restraints to the U.S. Department of Education. The agency has now posted 2015 data. I9 dug through the numbers in 23 school districts in eastern Iowa and found there were a combined 4,904 instances of seclusion and restraint. That is 27 instances per school day. The new numbers nearly double the 2,514 instances reported in 2013. There were in all 4,904 instances documented in 2015. April 20, 2018, (NPR) KASU Radio, Bentonville, AR: Learning To Behave: Bentonville School District Experiments With Behavior Intervention Classrooms Today, many public schools offer alternative learning environments for students with behavioral and emotional problems. Bentonville Public School District in Northwest Arkansas, however, has installed two intervention-rich elementary behavior classrooms to help children learn how to overcome chronic disruptive behavior. To help disruptive students learn to overcome anti-social tendencies, the district is sequestering children in two new behavior classrooms. Teacher Stefanie Siedsma says the rooms have been given a special name. Because behavior rooms may have a stigma attached," she says, "we decided to call it CLUB Academy, which stands for cultivating learning using best practices." Each classroom can accommodate up to six students and is staffed with a special education instructor and two paraprofessionals. Rows of desks have been removed, replaced by a half dozen workstations. Along with grade-level math, literacy and science courses, the children receive intensive behavior interventions each day. Mar 18, 2018, The CT Mirror: How Safe Are CT Students at School? This lack of progress in stemming aggressive behaviors is happening as student suspension and expulsion rates steadily decline and as some mental health experts and teachers in Connecticut point out that services aimed at helping children overcome their behavioral issues are not always sufficient. Since the shooting at Sandy Hook, the number of mental health staff that districts employ has grown more slowly than increases in school security staff. That dynamic has fueled a debate over whether the states push to reduce student suspensions and expulsions and instead provide students with supports so they can stay in school actually is working to make schools safer. Unchanged: The number of violent incidents Classrooms have to be repeatedly cleared when a student becomes violent, Ava Biffer, a library media specialist in East Haddam, testified before the Education Committee last week. The behavior is getting worse, testified Jennifer Babb, an art teacher at an elementary school in Bridgeport. There are so many risks to other students and educators in the classroom, and if other parents actually knew what was happening, they would be shocked, testified Laurie Degross, a special education teacher in East Hampton. These teachers were among many including some who had been assaulted by students testifying about the dangers they face at school and in support of a bill that would require school leaders to develop plans to specifically address daily classroom safety problems, such as assault and harassment. State law, already requires safety plans to address bullying, security and responses to emergencies. The overall number of violent incidents reported in Connecticut public schools has remained pretty stagnant, but this has happened as enrollment has steadily declined by 3.5 percent since Sandy Hook. At the same time, however, some kinds of incidents related to aggressive behavior have increased. For example, there has been a steady increase in incidents of fighting at school about 1,800 more since 2010-11. Thats a 12 percent increase. Physical and verbal confrontations also have increased. Mental health staff in schools growing incrementally Even with the rapid growth of school security in recent years, there are still far more mental health staff than security staff at schools. Last school year, there were 3,415 full-time social workers, counselors and psychologist compared to 900 security staff. Aggressive behavior tends to be a symptom of certain diagnostic categories but it may not be a feature of others. The label isnt really the important part. The important part is kids are resilient and can recover from trauma, they can recover from behavioral health conditions if they have the right supports. Michelle Glade, a fourth-grade teacher in Avon, testified last week that students arent getting that support. Students who are disruptive are not receiving the help they need, she said. The bottom line is there are many children who are hurting today, more than at any other time in my career. He continues to verbally abuse staff and disrupt class on a daily basis. The safety plan in place for this child is for the teacher to get students out of the room if he becomes violent, said Karen Giannamore, an art teacher. Students who are disruptive are not receiving the help they need. I can state emphatically that the explosion in neurologically damaged (most notably those with AUTISM) are behind this whole issue. Of course no one will talk about the connection. Theres more. May 16, 2018, (Canada, British Columbia) CBC: Students with special needs in B.C. still face seclusion, physical restraint in schools A new report from the advocacy group, Inclusion B.C., claims routine restraint and seclusion of children with special needs in schools hasn't improved much since its previous report in 2013 led to new guidelines prompting the provincial education minister to promise new guidelines for schools by the end of the calendar year. "Families and others across the province continue to report disturbing incidents and patterns of conduct, inadequate staff training and support and a systemic lack of oversight and accountability," reads the report, titled Stop Hurting Kids II. The report, released on Wednesday, is based on a survey of 170 people who self-identified as parents or guardians of a student who was subjected to restraint or seclusion in the 2016-2017 school year. According to the report, forms of restraint include students being pinned to a wall with a beanbag, tied to a chair, forced into a Rubbermaid tote, carried or dragged and pulled by a collar. The restraint allegedly took place in a range of settings from the playground and classroom to the principal's office. After the report's release, B.C. Teachers' Federation President Glen Hansman said he agrees with the report's recommendations to increase support in schools. "The challenge teachers face while working with students who may be prone to physical outbursts, like hitting, kicking, spitting, or biting, is that safety plans are not always properly communicated, or staff are not given adequate in-service training." Its even gotten the attention of members of the U.S. Senate. In fact 3 members of Congress have noticed that schools today are different. Locking kids in padded cells hardly seems compatible with the nurturing atmosphere that schools are supposed to provide. (These are the same legislators who yawn through each update in the autism rate.) May 15, 2018, Des Moines Register: Iowa senators call for federal investigation into school seclusion rooms U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are calling for a federal investigation into the use of seclusion rooms in public schools, and U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack wants to see them banned altogether. Many Iowa school districts, including Des Moines Public Schools, use seclusion rooms often padded, 6-foot by 6-foot wooden boxes to restrain children, typically following violent outbursts. The practice is legal in Iowa, but it has sparked controversy in recent years. The Iowa City school district said it would stop using seclusion rooms at the end of this school year following a state investigation. An Iowa Department of Education ruling found that the Iowa City school district violated state and federal law in the way it used seclusion rooms, including occasionally using them for "minor infractions." Iowa City used seclusion rooms 698 times in the 2015-16 school year, according to a district report. At the time, there were 30 seclusion rooms in schools throughout the district. Fourteen of those rooms have since been removed or repurposed. The remaining 16 seclusion rooms will be discontinued by the 2018-19 school year. Other reports have found the use of seclusion rooms has been under-reported by some Iowa schools. In Des Moines, four schools that serve high-needs students use seclusion rooms when students become a danger to themselves, staff or other students, spokesman Phil Roeder said. The rooms are monitored by an adult when being used. Ernst and Grassley's offices confirmed the senators have reached out to both the U.S. Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, Loebsack, a Democrat, said he wants to see all seclusion rooms discontinued. "At the federal level, I believe it is past time to take action and prohibit any state or local education entity from allowing students to be put in seclusion rooms," Loebsack, a former teacher, said. "All of Iowas students would benefit from positive behavioral interventions that support student learning and engagement. Braindamaged children are changing education forever in America, just as they will eventually our entire society. Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism. More than 16,000 lbs (seven tonnes) of fresh Copper River salmon arrived in Seattle today on a "fish-filled" Alaska Airlines aircraft. Today officially marks the beginning of the summer salmon grilling season that is anticipated by seafood lovers throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. In total, Alaska Air Cargo has three more flights scheduled throughout the day to bring in an additional 48,000 lbs (21 tonnes) of salmon to market. "Alaska Airlines plays a significant role in supporting the Alaska seafood industry, which is recognized worldwide for its sustainable fishing practices," said Jason Berry, managing director at Alaska Air Cargo. "Our Cargo employees are working around the clock to ensure we deliver the first catch of the coveted wild Copper River salmon to market, often within 24 hours of being pulled from the water." Every year Alaska Air Cargo partners with the state of Alaskas three largest seafood processors, Trident Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, and Copper River Seafoods to bring the coveted fish to Seattle and Anchorage, Alaska, where it will then be delivered to restaurants and grocery stores throughout the Pacific Northwest, and across the country. Share this story Panalpina has added Queretaro airport in Mexico to the Speedy loop of its dedicated B747 freighter network, which also links Mexico City and Guadalajara with forwarders airfreight hub in Huntsville, Alabama. Switzerland-based Panalpina has become the only maindeck cargo capacity provider to offer scheduled flights to three different Mexican airports. US-based lessor Atlas Air operates a B747-8 freighter on behalf of Panalpina on its Mexican connections. According to a Panalpina statement, the new Queretaro lane reflects the global supply chain specialists growth in the aerospace cargo segment and the continuous adaptation of the companys Charter Network to meet evolving market needs and customer demand in Mexico. It noted: The final decision to accelerate the integration of Queretaro into the Panalpina Charter Network was made at the 2017 Paris Airshow during meetings held with government and private stakeholders. Matthias Frey, global head of the Panalpina Charter Network, explained: Panalpina has been committed to Queretaro for over five years now. We have been working closely with Queretaro airport operatives and government authorities, strategic airline partner Atlas Air, and Huntsville International Airport to build on the continued success of the network. Panalpina has a long history of supporting airfreight services into Mexico: Panalpinas own scheduled flights connecting the US and Europe with Mexico are a well-known and appreciated product in the Mexican market thanks to a remarkable on-time performance and top-notch equipment, says Enrico Boehme, Panalpinas country head of air freight in Mexico. Queretaro is located in the Bajio region of Mexicos, and is home to industries such as automotive and manufacturing; it also boasts one of the largest aerospace industry clusters in the world, the Panalpina spokesperson pointed out. Panalpina is a pioneer in the Mexican airfreight market and the new scheduled flights to and from Queretaro are another testimony of that, Boehme remarked. They offer our customers access to our global network, greater flexibility for their supply chains and room to grow. We give local and multinational companies in Mexico the opportunity to export, import and resupply from their worldwide network in a seamless way. As well as the regular scheduled capacity Panalpina offers into Mexico, it also arranges additional space as necessary into what it regards as an important market. Of the 100 extra flights Panalpina pre-procured last year to operate regular charters during the peak season, 25 were B747 freighters secured to fly into Mexico. And, so far this year, Panalpina has already organised 11 ad-hoc charters to serve the Mexico market; another ten are also scheduled for the coming few weeks. As well as the three Mexican airports into which it now offers B747-8F capacity, services connect with an exclusive road feeder trucking service and ad-hoc charters to other locations across the country. This unique combination of scheduled and ad-hoc charter flights, as well as overland services, means that we can efficiently and reliably distribute imported products to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Queretaro, Puebla, Monterrey, San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes, and elsewhere, Frey pointed out. While Panalpinas flights through Mexico in the late 1990s were primarily used to support the nations expanding high-tech industry and rapidly increasing demand for IT in northern Mexico, its current Speedy lane brings all kinds of machinery and automotive cargo into the country, supporting its ongoing industrialisation. Plus, Panalpinas transatlantic fixed schedule supports the shipment of perishables out of Guadalajara, allowing fresh Mexican produce to be moved through the companys wider perishables network. Every week, a Panalpina B747-8F now flies on the following transatlantic Dixie and Mexico Speedy routes: Luxembourg Huntsville Queretaro Guadalajara Huntsville London Stansted Luxembourg once a week (with the Mexico loop on Fridays, and a new Queretaro stop replacing Mexico City) Luxembourg Huntsville Mexico City Guadalajara Huntsville Stansted Luxembourg once a week (with the Mexico loop on Mondays) Luxembourg Huntsville Luxembourg twice a week Read more freighter operator news Camilla Vest moved from Denmark to New York City with her husband in 1995 after starting her modeling career as the face in Guess, Revlon and J.Crew campaigns. Now though she is bridging the Atlantic Ocean to bring Scandinavian design to the US with Objects who represents several Danish brands here including Skagerak, Skovshoved Mbelfabrik who produces the famous OGK Safari daybeds and chairs, as well as Brdr. Petersen (check out their Penguin chairs). As a brand ambassador, Camilla ensures their products are placed with the right retailers and design professionals across North America. Today Camilla is generous enough to give us a peek at her Soho loft and showroom for Objects as well as her favorite daily stops and a personal look at her life in the city in picture form, courtesy of Sarah Elliott. Read Camillas words below for a close look! Every morning I make time for an early morning workout, drop my son off at school and then get to working in my office surrounded by a bit of candlelight to create that infamous hygge atmosphere. One of the best things about living in New York is that so many great places are right around the block. I love being able to take my son to school on my bike and enjoy having a slow morning. Being Danish its just natural for me to bike everywhere. Once I have him dropped off I make a quick stop by the cutest coffee shop called Laughing Man in Tribeca. Youre likely to run into a friend or fellow parent in the shop to chat with and catch up. My showroom Objects is run from our Soho loft so typically I stop nearby at one of the best bakeries in town called Arcade (also in the Tribeca area) to grab some delicious croissants for our morning meetings. Just down the street I will pick some great branches or flowers for the showroom from the wonderful Emily Thompson Flowers inside the RW Guild store. Thats what is so great about NYC, Im able to get so much done just on my way home from my sons school and still make it in time for meeting clients at our showroom. Bringing back fresh baked bread and stems for the showroom. Welcoming clients to our showroom and sharing our touch of Scandinavian living is something I really enjoy. Its a great way of experiencing our products in a totally more personal way. You also idea of how our pieces can be mixed in with a more personal style. Working hours and it can be a challenge to stay structure with work while being at home but I definitely try to balance work & play life otherwise its too easy to get sucked into the NY routine of always being available however having two children sort of helps to keep some structure to the day. I like working more with this sort of flexibility, taking the opportunity to pick my daughter up from her dance lessons or just hanging in the park with my son and his friends in the afternoon. I can always catch up with work tasks later in the day. To the left are Skageraks Vivlio shelving units which help keep the studio organized, standing upright is a yet-to-be-assembled daybed. On the right Camilla shows how simple it is to set up the natural OGK Safari daybed , designed by architect Ole G Knudsen in 1962, inside her loft. The daybed and chairs alike arrive packaged neatly in these canvas totes for easy storage and set up. The Objects Loft & Studio space. We keep it very minimalistic in our loft space and Im a big believer in less is more. Our clients are often inspired by the way we keep things so simple, it really helps them gain a better understanding of our brands and how we represent. Working in our loft space can be challenging because you also have to create an after hours space for the family which forces me to be very disciplined in keeping the studio approachable and welcoming for everyone. Its great to change things around in the loft with our unique accessories I have brought back from my endless travels to from Copenhagen and mix our Scandinavian style with items like this Skagerak teapot, with some great Italian light fixtures like our snoopy lamp (pictured above) with the orange glass shade, a new favorite of mine, plenty of candlelight and the iconic marble Saarinen Tulip dining table! Photos courtesy of Sarah Elliot. Be sure to check out more design interviews here! Posted on: May 18, 2018 1:13 PM The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed concern after 44 Ebola virus disease cases were reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The agency says that there have been three confirmed cases of the outbreak, with 20 listed as probable and a further 21 designated as suspected. Most of the cases have been in the Bikoro health zone of Equateur Province, but yesterday (Thursday), WHO confirmed a case in Wangata health zone, 150 km away. This is a concerning development, but we now have better tools than ever before to combat Ebola, WHOs director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said. WHO and our partners are taking decisive action to stop further spread of the virus. This week, Dr Tedros visited DRC and met President Joseph Kabila and Health Minister Dr Oly Ilunga Kalenga to agree a plan of action. I am impressed by the strong leadership the Government of DR Congo showed in the response to this outbreak from day one, Dr Tedros said. In Bikoro I saw first-hand the efforts the national health authorities and all our partners are investing in rapidly establishing the key elements of Ebola containment. Dr Tedros delegation included the WHO regional delegation for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, who also congratulated the government on it s response: I congratulate the Government of DR Congo for the speed with which it declared the outbreak. However, we are concerned about the proximity of cases to urban centres. The arrival of Ebola in an urban area is very concerning and WHO and partners are working together to rapidly scale up the search for all contacts of those infected, he said. WHO is deploying around 30 experts to conduct surveillance in the city and is working with the Ministry of Health and partners to engage with communities on prevention and treatment and the reporting of new cases. They are working with an international group of health and emergency agencies to prevent the spread of the disease. WHOs deputy director general for emergency preparedness and response, Dr Peter Salama, said: It is too early to judge the extent of this outbreak. However, early signs including the infection of three health workers, the geographical extent of the outbreak, the proximity to transport routes and population centres, and the number of suspected cases indicate that stopping this outbreak will be a serious challenge. This will be tough and it will be costly. We need to be prepared for all scenarios. WHO has alerted neighbouring countries and is working with them on border surveillance and preparedness for potential outbreaks. We are profoundly concerned to hear about the recent outbreak of Ebola in DRC, the Revd Rachel Carnegie, co-executive director of the Anglican Alliance, which helps to co-ordinate the activities of Anglican relief and development agencies, said. During the 2015 epidemic in West Africa, the Anglican churches in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea played a key role, along with other faith leaders, in educating communities and promoting safe practices to prevent the spread of Ebola. The Anglican Alliance stands ready to work with the churches in DRC to help share the lessons learned from West Africa. Posted on: May 18, 2018 1:55 PM The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (ANZP) is set to appoint a Climate Commissioner as it steps up its fight against climate change. The move comes after two environmental motions were combined into a composite motion at the provinces General Synod earlier this month. The Commissioner will galvanise Anglican climate action in the Pacific where rising sea levels are putting entire communities at risk and also intervene into political debates over a Zero Carbon Act, and a national Climate Change Commission, both of which have been promised by the Labour-NZ First governing coalition in New Zealand. The resolution urges each diocese to demonstrate its commitment to urgent climate action by creating a strategy for, and resourcing of, local and regional responses to climate change and approving these strategies at their 2018 and 2019 synods. The resolution also calls for the creation of a Climate Commissioner to help further this work, and to appoint a group to scope and define this role and budget to support it. The resolution notes that a significant proportion of the role and resource should be based in the Diocese of Polynesia, in recognition that its people are on the front line of climate change. It says that the Climate Commissioner should will work with dioceses to create a multi-faceted Climate Change Action Plan for the Province to be considered by the next General Synod in 2020. The operations and projects officer for the Anglican Missions Board, Michael Hartfield, welcomed the resolution. We know that investing in risk-reduction saves lives. It is also sensible and very effective, economically, he said. International estimates suggest that for every dollar spent on risk reduction, you can save $7 in response. So, it makes sense to respond but also to ensure that people are better prepared for next time. Synod member Rod Oram, a long-time climate action advocate, spoke in support of the motion and, in particular, the new Climate Commissioner post. You have heard a very correct and heartfelt plea that this (person should) be based in the Pacific, he said. The Pacific is the front line on this, and large resource needs to be there. But it is a really important to have resource here in Aotearoa New Zealand, because the next two years will be incredibly crucial here. We now have a government which wants to enact a Zero Carbon Act, and a Climate Change Commission, and all that flows from that to give us the framework that we have to have to address these issues. There are going to be huge fights, huge debates about this and our church needs to be at the centre of those debates. Im not suggesting we need a full-time person in each place, he said. But one plus one is definitely bigger than the sum of the parts. Posted on: May 18, 2018 6:47 AM Funerals have been held for some of the victims of those killed in last Sundays suicide bomb attacks on three Christian churches in Surabaya. In one, 12-year-old Vincentius Evan, who was killed instantly when a bomb detonated at the Roman Catholic Church of Immaculate Santa Maria, and his eight-year-old brother Nathanael, who died a short time later in hospital, were laid to rest. Their mother, Wenny Angelina, attended the service on a stretcher, connected to drips and attended to by medical staff. She was seriously injured in the attack and allowed to leave the hospital for the service before returning. The family had just arrived at the church and were getting out of their car when the bomb went off. One victims has yet to be formally identified, but is believed to be 38-year-old Aloysius Bayu Rendra Wardhana. The church youth worker, and father of a three-month-old child, tried to prevent the suicide bombers reaching St Marys Church. His family are awaiting the results of DNA tests before his remains can be released for burial. Were still waiting for the DNA identification process in Jakarta, his cousin, Lucia Cicilia Agan, told The Jakarta Post. On Tuesday morning, DNA samples from Bayus child and father were taken to Jakarta. His wife and mother are in a state of deep sadness. They don't have the energy to wait for the DNA identification process (to be completed). So Im the one who takes care of this at the police station. A teenager was amongst those killed in the attack at the Pentecostal Church. Daniel had been helping his father co-ordinate car parking near the church. He, and a security agent, Giricatur, tried to block the attackers minivan reaching the church compound. They were both killed when the bomb detonated. In total, 25 people were killed as a result of five separate bombs in Surabaya on Sunday and Monday. That figure includes 13 people who were suicide bombers and their children. The Revd Dr Timothy Chong, Dean of the Gereja Anglikan Indonesia (the Anglican Church of Indonesia), visited the three churches in Surabaya on Tuesday. We brought words of encouragement and prayed for them, he told the Anglican Communion News Service. The Dean of the Gereja Anglikan Indonesia (the Anglican Church of Indonesia), the Revd Dr Timothy Chong, prays with leaders of the Gereja Kristen Indonesia (Christian Church of Indonesian) in Jalan Diponegoro following last Sundays terror attack. Photo: GAI That evening we sent three sets of wreaths to the Churches expressing our solidarity with them in their grief and pain . . . on behalf of the worldwide Anglican churches. Do remember us in prayer as the situation is not over yet. (ANSA) - Rome, May 17 - The third edition of Italy's nationwide Museum Festival will be held this weekend, May 19-20, on the theme "Hyper-Connected Museums: New Approaches, New Publics". As part of the festival, there will be special initiatives across the entire country, guided tours, workshops and the 14th edition of the European Museum Night, during which many museums will be open in the evening with a one-euro entrance fee. In Rome, some 50 museums will be taking part in the evening opening, with shows, concerts, performances and initiatives for children, from the Capitoline Museums to the Ara Pacis, from Palazzo delle Esposizioni to the Casa del Cinema. To get an overview and ideas, Rome residents and visitors can look at the Mappa dei Musei from Giulia Sotto la Metro, which shows the closest museum open for every underground stop. The National Modern Art Gallery (GNAM) will have guided tours for the various temporary exhibitions throughout the entire weekend, including during the evening opening at 7 PM. The show "Turner: Tate Gallery Works", with over 90 masterpieces from the British painter at the Chiostro del Bramante, will be open until 10 PM. Close to Rome, the focus will be on archaeology: in the sites of the Palestrina, with the event " The Praeneste Forum: places of justice and legality", during which there will be an exhibition of archaeological finds from the area seized by the authorities, as well as in Santa Severa at the Antiquarium of Pyrgi, where there will be a route revolving around a myth that is derived from the archaeological finds. Archaeology will also be central in Capena, where in the archaeological area and the Lucus Feroniae Antiquarium there will be the event "The Labyrinth of Time: routes for the discovery of an ancient city". In Trieste the Museo di Miramare will organize guided tours at the castle and the temporary exhibition "Manet and Maximilian: a multimedia encounter", while in Milan the Pinacoteca di Brera will encourage the public to draw to compare with the works of artists during the event "DisegnaBrera. La Sfida" ("Draw Brera: the challenge"). In Florence on May 19 there will be a concert entitled "Dante's Musical Memory" with "De Vulgari Eloquentia" and "Commedia" at the Cenacolo di Ognissanti museum space as part of an attempt to explore the musical background of the poet's life. The large exhibition "The Renaissance of Gaudenzio Ferrari", underway in Varallo, Vercelli and Novara, will also be taking part in the Museum Festival and will stay open until 11 PM. In Forli the show "The Eternal and Time, between Michelangelo and Caravaggio", at the Musei San Domenico, will be open until 11 PM, while at Ferrara's Castello Estense, the mixer Festival will begin at 7:30 PM. First there will be concerts by the Conservatorio G. Frescobaldi, followed by guided tours of the Cavallini-Sgarbi collection, where Elisabetta Sgarbi will be meeting with the public, and boat trips to see the monument from an unusual point of view. At the Earth and Life History 'Biogeo' Museum in Ariano Irpino there will be guided tours and theme-based routes to explore the origin and evolution of life on earth, while in Piazza d'Armi of Castel Sant'Elmo - as part of "The Starry Night and Moral Laws: the Philosophy of Museum Night", the philosopher Giuseppe Ferraro will be reading Kant. In Scalea at the Antiquarium di Torre Cimalonga, there will instead be the event "Choose an (Archaeological) Find, an Expert Will Answer" from 7 PM. ISTANBUL - Tens of thousands of people came together in Istanbul's Yenikapi Square for a rally "against the oppression" of Israel and in "support of Jerusalem" called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the killing of more than 60 Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza. Various representatives of foreign governments, including Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Abdallah, were in attendance. They had come for a concurrent extraordinary summit meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. UN says Israel's use of force 'wholly disproportionate' Zeid Raad Al Hussein, the UN's human rights chief, said Israel's use of force in the recent Palestinian protests was "wholly disproportionate", according to the BBC online. Speaking from Geneva, Zaid said the Palestinians in Gaza were in fact "caged in a toxic slum" and that Israel's occupation of Gaza must end. Al Sisi orders longest opening of Rafah crossing since 2013 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing for the entire month of Ramadan, which marks the longest uninterrupted period of transit at the point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt since 2013. Previous openings, which have been permitted since then every two or three months, were only for a few days each. "I gave the directives to the relevant apparatuses to take the necessary measures to keep the Rafah terminal open for the entire month of Ramadan," al-Sisi wrote on his Facebook page, referring implicitly to the main connection between the Gaza Strip and the outside world (and the only one not controlled by Israeli soldiers). The crossing was opened Saturday and this is therefore an extension of the opening. Al Sisi added that he decided to open the crossing for the entire Islamic holy month this year, starting yesterday, "to lighten the weight that burdens our brothers in the Gaza Strip".(ANSAmed). Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk. Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen. If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned. I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country. It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously. Vote View Results Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Oman Air has reintroduced its special inflight offering for its valued guests observing Ramadan. In celebration of the holy month, Oman Airs newly redesigned Iftar Meal Boxes will now be available on selected Oman Air routes from mid-May until mid-June. The Iftar box has been influenced by the truly unique terrain found in Oman and designed to reflect the un-spoilt, natural beauty of the desert and the rugged landscape of the countrys mountains. It contains healthy options of fresh apple slices, an assortment of finger sandwiches, maamoul, packed mixed nuts, laban and dates. Specially designed gift bags are also available for Premium Cabin guests wishing to take the Iftar box away after disembarkation. Furthermore, those passengers flying long haul with Oman Air will be offered the normal inflight meals after the fast break. Saab unveiled its new GlobalEye swing role surveillance system (SRSS) aircraft during two days of ceremonies at Linkoping, Sweden. The first day was closed, but was attended by a UAE delegation. Jon Lake reports. In a recorded address played on the second day of the roll-out, Major General Staff Pilot Ibrahim Naser Al Alawi, chief of the UAE Air Force, described the GlobalEye as a strong force multiplier and added: Its such a powerful system and will save you platforms, manpower and cost. The GlobalEye SRSS was specifically developed for the UAE, which Sebastian Carlsson, Saab senior vice president and head of group communications, described as a well committed customer with a far-reaching vision. The UAE Air Force announced a $1.27 billion order for two GlobalEyes at the Dubai Air Show in 2015, becoming the launch customer for the type. A $236 million order for a third aircraft was announced at IDEX on January 4 2017. Saab had previously signed a November 2009 contract for two former Swedish Air Force Saab S 100B Argus aircraft. These were equipped with the original Erieye radar and provided the UAE with an interim air surveillance capability. Deliveries took place in August 2010 and April 2011. They are operated in a minimally manned configuration with a single radar technician in the cabin, and no on-board operators. The new GlobalEye is an evolution of the Erieye airborne surveillance system, with a similar phased array radar mounted in a plank-like skibox radome. This unconventional configuration allowed Saab to use an antenna that was about the same size as that carried by an E-3 Sentry, but on a much smaller, cheaper and more economic aircraft platform. The Global 6000-based GlobalEye has an endurance of more than 11 hours, and the aircrafts overall performance and crew comfort make it ideally suited for special mission specifications, with very low cabin noise levels and a 3,500ft cabin altitude. The spacious cabin can accommodate five multi-role operator workstations. Saab claims that the GlobalEye represents the worlds first multi-role and swing-role airborne surveillance system. It is based on the advanced Erieye extended range (ER) radar that is capable of operating in air-to-air, air-to-ground and maritime modes. Ground/tower-based testing with the AESA Erieye ER is already at an advanced stage in Gothenburg. We have made substantial enhancements to the system, reported Erik Winberg, a senior director in Saabs airborne surveillance division. He said that the new radar offered a 70% improvement in range performance when compared to its predecessor, thanks to the use of new technology including gallium nitride transmit/receive modules. The GlobalEye uses this longer-range performance to provide superior detection and tracking performance against the most challenging targets, and also to operate at greater stand-off range to enhance survivability. It is equipped with a new command and control (C2) suite and can incorporate additional sensors that enhance its overland and overwater capabilities. The aircraft also features the Leonardo Seaspray 7500E X-band maritime surveillance radar, which also has synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target indication modes. A FLIR Systems Star Safire 380 HD electro-optical turret is installed below the nose. There is currently no domestic Swedish Armed Forces requirement for the GlobalEye, and Saab is aiming the aircraft at the export market. Lars Tossman, head of airborne surveillance systems, said the company already has a customer base of eight countries the biggest in the world. Erieye systems are in service in Brazil, Greece, Mexico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia (coyly referred to by Saab as country X), Sweden, Thailand and the UAE. Tossman claimed interest from nations in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Saab is modifying green Global 6000 airframes in Linkoping under a supplemental type certificate. To turn a Global 6000 into a GlobalEye requires a great deal of engineering modification to allow the installation of mission systems, sensors, electronic warfare and self-protection systems. The wings and airframe are strengthened and an extended tailfin and finlets are fitted. Ventral strakes are also installed beneath the rear fuselage, and the aircraft has additional power and cooling equipment. All three UAE aircraft have started the conversion process at Linkoping, though Saab repeatedly declined to provide details of the planned first flight date, the expected duration of the flight test campaign or the planned delivery schedule. According to romania-Insider website, US defense group Raytheon will deliver its latest Configuration 3+ of the Patriot air defense missile system to Romania, the one currently used by the US Army, according to Mike Ellison, country manager of Raytheon Romania, local News.ro reported. M901 launcher unit of Patriot air defense missile system at Paris Air Show in June 2009 The systems have new hardware and software components, added in 2017. The most modern/current variant of Patriot is called Patriot Configuration 3+, not PAC-3. PAC-3 is one of the missiles used by Configuration 3+, but as Patriot is an entire system, not just a missile, the Config 3+ enhancements involve a whole suite of upgrades and capabilities. One of them is enabling the system to take advantage of the PAC-3 MSE capabilities, but there are many other things, such as a better user interface and increased reliability, that Config 3+ has. Mike Ellison, country manager of Raytheon Romania, said that Romanian specialists will contribute in the future to optimizing and modernizing this system. Some components of the Patriot systems, namely parts of the radar, may be produced in Romania, by local company Aerostar Bacau, Raytheon announced earlier this year. According to Ellison, the partnership between Romania and Raytheon has an important role in strengthening NATOs Eastern flank as Europe faces the biggest challenges since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Romania has already paid the first Patriot system, which has a cost of USD 910.1 million. The total cost of this program is USD 4.64 billion, VAT included. The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations. Patriot uses an advanced aerial interceptor missile and high performance radar systems. The Patriot system is modular and highly mobile. A battery-sized element can be emplaced in less than 1 hour. The latest version is the PAC-3. Due to miniaturization, a single canister can hold four PAC-3 missiles (as opposed to one PAC-2 missile per canister). The PAC-3 missile is also more maneuverable than previous variants, due to 180 tiny pulse solid propellant rocket motors mounted in the forebody of the missile (called Attitude Control Motors, or ACMs) which serve to fine align the missile trajectory with its target to achieve hit-to-kill capability. The PAC-3 can hit ballistic missile up to 20km. The latters tasteless joke on rape has the actress laughing heartily. In a video that has gone viral, at an after party in Cannes, actor Jim Sarbh is heard cracking a joke: Id rather be raped by 12 prostitutes than touch alcohol and the Punjabi says Me too, I didnt know that was an option. And Kangana Ranaut along with the others present at the party is seen cracking up. So much for her feminist act! She was the first to slam Salman Khan when he joked saying he felt like a raped woman after training for the film Sultan, is now being called a hypocrite. Both actors have been slammed by Twitterati for the distasteful behaviour. While Jim issued a statement soon after saying it was taken out of context though one wonders what context a joke on rape could have, Kangana is yet to respond. Jim Sarbh Both actors represented the alcohol brand, one wonders what action they will take Jim talks of preferring rape to alcohol! Trivialising rape is unpardonable Advaita Kala, author and screenwriter says, Rape and joke just dont go together. I would definitely blame Kangana to the extent that she enabled this kind of humour. Often women become enablers of sexism or bad behavior by not condemning it. Kangana could have gently but assertively pointed out that this kind of humor is inappropriate and out of place. I think its very disappointing that she did not object to the joke. One expects better from Kangana because she has been a strong female voice in an industry that does not appreciate women speaking out. Kamla Bhasin, Feminist and activist Its extremely difficult to be political 24 hours. Out of 100 jokes, 90 are misogynist, how many jokes will you fight against. Also, everybody has weak moments when youre not that alert of these kinds of things. Its sad that just because she made certain statements, she has become a feminist icon. Give her a break. Ive been working for 50 years, and Ive never been labeled a feminist. Also, shes basically an actor, not a feminist activist. Just because she laughed at one joke, she doesnt become an anti-feminist. Screenshot of the video Pooja Bhatt, Actor and producer Its a known fact in my circle that no one forwards me distasteful jokes about sex, forget about rape. Because, I find that when there are off-colour jokes repeated, what it does is it gives people a warped idea of sexuality, which I am quite against. India has a warped idea of sexuality anyway, so I dont support such jokes. Kangana put it up on Insta too Kangana usually comes out as a strong feminist and publicly takes a stand for instances that most people are afraid of. So, it hurt me a lot to see her respond in such a way to Jims joke. Justification for it was that it was taken out of context, but Kangana not only laughed at the joke, but also put it up as an Instagram story for thousands of people to see, thereby propagating it! Its very important to take a stand and not laugh at such jokes even in your private circle because it is trivialising the issue. People should take cognizance of the language that they use and stop others from doing the same. Madhurima Majumdar Films and Conversation of sexuality and gender Tweets Aman@cadence99 Jim Sarbh making a rape joke and Kangana laughing on it only proves how most Bollywood actors are feminists just on the social media. Same goes for Sonam posting pic as to how she supports Salman. Lesson: Dont take them too seriously. Dhruvesh Shah@dhruveshshahz16 Rape is a dark word. Lets not water it down to describe a brutal gym session or a bad day at work or with a joke.@jimSarbh #KanganaRanaut have some sense before cracking such jokes !! SamyGioia@SamyGioia After Bashing #SalmanKhan #KanganaRanaut laughs on a rape joke by Jim Sarbh These ppl...think its okay to joke n laugh about rape. We live in a society that teaches women to defend themselves from rape, instead of teaching men not to rape women n they laugh! Shame on u! Arnab@_a_r_n_a_b Feminist #KanganaRanaut laughs as Jim Sarbh cracks a joke about rape at #Cannes !! Bloody #Hypocrites !! Feminism | Women empowerment ki baate sirf aapni movies promote karte waqt media k samne yaad aate hai innko !! #Shame The Yellow Diary brings a mix of electronic and rock music portraying their versatility in composition of songs and imagination. A versatile band, The Yellow Dairy just released a new song Marz and it managed to cross more than 3.5 million views, on Youtube, in a day. The video is a soul stirring short story that blends perfectly with the lyrics of the single. Featuring this five member band, the video was shot over two days in Dehradun by director Maanavi Bedi, with the production house Sisyphus Rocks Films. We talk to the band about their success, upcoming performance and future endeavours. Talking about the name, Rajan Batra, the lead vocalist says, We write in a dear diary format, whatever you go through in the day, expressions, emotions, the ideas you have in your mind etc. So when we go back home, it comes out in terms of music. Thats what gave us the idea of calling it The Yellow Diary. Yellow as a word has varied meanings it can be portrayed as sunshine or as a sickness of some kind. So there is happiness and sadness involved in the colour yellow. In October 2017, the band was signed by Sony Music India and released their debut EP Marz with three songs Afzai, Kashmir and the re-released version of Marz. Talking about their preferred genre, he says, Its not purely a rock band, though there is a strong undertone of rock. There is a huge component of electronic music and honestly we dont try to do a song with a pre-conceived notion. Whatever the subject, we try to do justice to it and sometimes it translates better in the rock format or an electronic format. Wherever the song takes us we go there, so its a mix of genres I would say. Marz basically is the dilemma of the mind and the heart. Sometimes this dilemma becomes an obsession. Their music producer, Himanshu Parikh, who plays the keyboard as well says, Rajan and I met because he wanted to get a track produced. He showed me Marz and I produced a draft and he really loved it. We have different styles, mine is more on the western side, a bit of rock as well, while his is really raw and folkish. Then we called Vaibhav Pani and sent him Marz, he said he would love to play guitars for this. It was magical, and we decided to take it from a studio project to a live project. Then Sahil joined, who is the drummer of the band. He also knew the perfect guy to play bass and he introduced us to Stuart who floored us with his bass playing. We soon decided to do this forever the five of us. Vaibhav Pani, the guitarist says, The first time I heard Marz, I said that Im on board and lets figure out when to record the guitars. It was a very collaborative process in terms of giving the song the sound it deserved. That is our approach to every song. Adding to the conversation, Stuart DaCosta, the bands bass player says, We play for the whole world. There is no fixed target audience. My mum, who is a senior citizen, really loves it. Even my cousin from school, who is just finishing school, loves it. So we can say it is for all age groups. Different people relate to different parts of the music and the song. Our songs are enjoyed by all age groups. Sahil Shah, who is the drummer, says, Our future plans are to play for as many people possible. We want our music to be heard by everyone. More than just music, one should follow their passion. Art is not considered a lucrative profession. Some people drop their passion and it becomes a hobby. I feel its never too late to follow your passion, he signs off. The students were sitting on bank of canal when one slipped, other jumped to rescue him. The two were accompanied by another friend who alerted the police. (Representational Image) New Delhi: Two engineering students fell in the Bawana Canal on May 17, said an official from the Delhi Fire Service. Their bodies have still not been recovered, the official said. The students, Shekhar and Rajdeep, were sitting on the bank of the canal when the former slipped and the other jumped in to rescue him, he added. The two were accompanied by another friend who alerted the police. Their friend told the police that the duo knew how to swim, the official said. A call was received at 8 am about the incident and rescue operations were underway. The trio had gotten paranthas packed from Murthal and was eating them when the incident happened. As the statewide protest is gaining momentum every day, the discontent has spilled over to neighbouring Tripura as well. Guwahati: In what has come as a major embarrassment, the students of Dibrugarh University, where Sarbananda Sonowal studied, on Thursday said that they would not allow the chief minister to enter his alma mater till the government doesnt decide to drop the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. Mr Sonowal is a pass-out of the university. Since the visit of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the bill on May 7, Assam has seen unprecedented street protests against the proposed legislation that offers citizenship to refugees belonging to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on religious grounds. The protesters fear that granting of citizenship to migrants from Bangladesh would turn the indigenous people into a minority in their own state. Mr Sonowal has said there is no reason for him to continue as the chief minister if he cannot protect the interests of the people of the state. Now, we have decided that we will not allow him to enter the Dibrugarh University campus unless he gets the bill scrapped, general secretary of Dibrugarh University Post-Graduate Students Union David Hazarika said. We are against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill because it is against the people of Assam, he added. Meanwhile, anti-bill agitators are preparing for a massive protest in Guwahati coinciding with the visit of BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday. Mr Shah is schedule to chair a meeting of the Northeast Democratic Alliance, a BJP-led umbrella organisation of regional parties of the Northeast. The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) has called to observe a Black Day on May 20, the day Mr Shah is coming to Guwahati. We urge the state government to formally permit us to display black flags at the airport here upon his arrival and at the venues of the meetings he will address. The demonstration will be non-violent, with no confrontation or conflict, KMSS adviser and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi said. The All-India Congress Committee, after a detailed discussion with its MPs from the state, has asked every member of the party to oppose the amendment bill, irrespective of the community she or he represents. The party had faced severe criticism after its leaders in the Barak Valley spoke in favour of the bill when the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the bill held a public hearing in Silchar. As the statewide protest is gaining momentum every day, the discontent has spilled over to neighbouring Tripura as well. The JPC, which visited Assam and Meghalaya this time, is scheduled to visit Tripura soon. With SC's verdict, B S Yeddyurappa has little over 24 hours to prove BJP's majority in Karnataka Assembly tomorrow. The Supreme Court on Friday directed BJP's B S Yeddyurappa to take the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly tomorrow at 4 pm. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his partys majority in the Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow, thereby brutally slashing a 15-day window that Governor Vajubhai Vala had allowed the BJP. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister on Thursday, heads a minority government with 104 MLAs, 8 short of a simple majority of 112 in the 224-seat Assembly. After the Karnataka results returned a fractured verdict on May 15, the Congress-JD(S) teamed up in a post-poll alliance and staked claim on the government with 116 MLAs. Incensed that Governor Vala chose to invite Yeddyurappa instead to form government -- as leader of the single-largest party -- the Opposition moved the Supreme Court on the night of May 15, challenging that decision. In an unprecedented overnight hearing, the Supreme Court ruled it would closely scrutinise today the two letters that Yeddyurappa had submitted to the Governor on the basis of which he was invited. The bench comprising Justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan heard the case on Friday morning. During the hearing, the apex court noted: It is just a numbers game, one who enjoys the majority should be invited to form the government. It observed since B S Yeddyurappa has claimed support and BJP is the single largest party, there could be two probabilities -- whether the Governors decision should be tested or a floor test be held on Saturday. Justice Arjun Kumar Sikri then said: Floor test seems to be the best option. The Congress said it was ready but the BJPs lawyer Mukul Rohatgi demurred asking for more time, which was ignored. After the verdict, Yeddyurappa said: I will discuss with Chief secretary and call for an Assembly session tomorrow. We are 100 per cent confident that we will prove majority. The Centre was represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal and Mukul Rohatgi. Congress lawyer and party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi informed that the Supreme Court has forbidden Yeddyurappa to take any policy decision until tomorrow." SC has delivered a historic interim order, many important directions have been given, one of them being that floor test has to be conducted at 4 pm tomorrow under a protem speaker," Abhishek Manu Singhvi said. He added: We welcome the Supreme Court's order. Congress leader Ashwani Kumar said: The Supreme Court's verdict has upheld constitutional morality and democracy. It's a judgement that should be celebrated. Faith of people in the wisdom of the SC is vindicated once again. It's a setback for a party that wanted to usurp power." Union Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted: BJP is ready and confident of winning trust vote in Karnataka. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House." During the hearing, both sides submitted to the court the letters they had given Governor Vala while staking claim to form government in Karnataka. Abhishek Manu Singhvi also sought security for Congress-JD(S) MLAs in case floor test being conducted. Supreme Court observes it can pass an order to make proper security arrangements. Amid fears of poaching and defection, the Congress-JD(S) alliance shepherded its MLAs last night to a hotel in Hyderabad. Sources said that the senior IIS Association office bearers are soon likely to approach I&B minister with their demands. New Delhi: Days after Smriti Irani was shunted out of the Union information and broadcasting ministry, the Indian Information Service Asssociation has decided to to appeal to the new I&B minister Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore for a rollback of transfers and posting of over 140 of its officials carried out by his predecessesor. The association is also likely to demand strengthening and rationalising of the cadre. Sources said that the senior IIS Association office bearers are soon likely to approach I&B minister with their demands. It is understood that several senior IIS officials have already made individual petitions to the new ministers office, seeking to be reinstated to their earlier posting or requesting for a favourable placement near their family or home towns. Sources stated that the association is of the view that the mass transfers had affected the efficient and effective functioning of the media units and the morale of the cadre officers. The association is likely to request that in future, before such orders are issued, personal circumstances of an officer be duly taken into account. They have requested that single parents be given special consideration, mid-academic session transfers be avoided and availability of basic infrastructure be ensured, sources stated. As reported by this newspaper earlier, the President IIS Group A Officers Association Anindya Sengupta had in a letter to the PMO on February 21 in a tacit criticism of the then I&B minister Ms Irani he letter said that the morale of the cadre officers was being affected due to the current transfer policy of the ministry. It also requested that all transfers effected may be duly reconsidered and further transfers be stopped. Coming down heavily on dissidence, Ms Irani had within a week transferred Mr Sengupta from DD News to the Publications Division. In the letter to the PMO, the IIS Association had pointed out that in the I&B ministry had issued a number of transfer orders, affecting one-fourth (around 140 officers out of less than 500 Group A Officers) of the IIS Cadre. It may be mentioned that officers have been posted in Tier-II and III cities (Agra, Moradabad, Shimoga) without first creating proper infrastructure. Even officers of DG/ADG level have been posted to such cities where there is hardly any office space and associated infrastructure. In our view, this approach amounts to wastage of public funds wherein on one hand the media units in Delhi are crippled due to shortage of manpower and on the other hand senior officers at ADG level are unable to deliver professionally since the basic infrastructure are yet to be created or funds given, the letter had said. The ministrys interferance in allocating portfolios even up to Asst Director-level officers was termed as seriously undermined the existing chain of command in the organisation in PIB. However, a Civil Aviation Ministry official said DGCA permission was not required for charter operations within India. Bengaluru: Amid a power struggle in Karnataka, the JD(S) today alleged that chartered flights that were scheduled to carry its legislators along with those of the Congress from here to Kochi were denied permission by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the last minute. However, a Civil Aviation Ministry official said DGCA permission was not required for charter operations within India. "We are just working out, all flights have been denied permission...flights that were confirmed, last minute there is a problem" a JD(S) source told PTI when asked about JD(S) legislators travelling to Kochi, Kerala. Asked whether the plan was for both the Congress and JD(S) MLAs travelling together, the source said, "Plan was there....you know what all kinds of things, they are doing." The JD(S) MLAs were taken from a hotel in the city, and the Congress legislators from a resort, out of Bangalore in buses to an undisclosed destination, reported to be Puducherry or Kochi or Hyderabad. However, there was no confirmation about the destination. Fearing poaching of their legislators by the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) had earlier decided to fly them to a resort in Kochi. BJP legislature party leader B S Yeddyurappa was today sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka. Yeddyurappa has 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House. The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD(S) was victorious in 37 constituencies. Polling was held in 222 of the state's 224 seats, for which results were declared on May 15, delivering up a hung House. Congress, RJD will ask governors to invite them as single largest parties. JD-S and Congress leaders stage a dharna in front of the Gandhi statue near Vidhan Soudha to protest against Karnataka governor Vajubhai Valas invitation to the BJP to form the government. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The BJPs decision to change its earlier theory of largest formation to single largest party to be allowed to form a government in a hung Assembly has come back to bite the party. The saffron partys move to justify the formation of the government in Karnataka has triggered a domino effect, with the Congress and RJD now demanding that the governors of Goa, Manipur and Bihar should invite them to stake claim to forming the government in these states as they were the single-largest parties in the last Assembly polls there. In its rush to stall the Congress-JD(S) combine and form the government in Karnataka, the BJP had changed its stance from largest formation to single largest party. It may be recalled that as the Congress cried foul in Goa when the BJP struck a post-poll alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Maharashtrawadi Gom-antak Party (MGP) to form the government, finance minister Arun Jaitley had gone on record saying: In a hung Assembly, if a majority of the elected MLAs form a coalition, the governor would be constitutionally right in inviting the leader of the majority coalition to form the government and prove their majority within a short period. As the BJP shifted the goalpost, the Congress announced that it would be meeting Goa governor Mridula Sinha on Friday to ask her to invite the party to stake claim to forming the government. Similarly, in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also asked Bihar governor Satya Pal Malik to invite his party to form a government in the state. During Goas 2017 Assembly election, the Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 21 seats in the 40-seat Assembly, while the BJP came from behind and through a post-poll alliance ended up forming the government. In Bihar, the RJD was the single-largest party with 80 seats in the 243-seat Assembly in the 2015 election, but it ended up in the Opposition after it broke off with chief minister Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United). PTI reports said the Congress Goa in-charge Chella Kumar along with more leaders would be meeting the Goa governor to ask her to invite their party to form the government. The party is also planning to parade its 17 MLAs at Raj Bhavan. The Congress has also staked its claim to forming the government in Manipur on Thursday. We are seeking an appointment with the governor and will definitely go to Raj Bhavan on Friday and stake claim to forming the government, Mr Okram Ibobi Singh, former Manipur chief minister, told the media. In Patna, Mr Tejashwi Yadav told reporters: We would be holding a one-day dharna tomorrow against the murder of democracy in Karnataka. We also request the Bihar governor to dismiss the state government and, as in Karnataka, invite the single largest party, which in Bihar is the RJD, to form the government. The Trinamul supremo accused the BJP of pumping money from neighbouring states. If that is counted, the Trinamuls tally will be 20 out of 20. Till the reports last came in at around 6 pm when the counting of GP was still underway, the Trinamul had won in 16,166 seats. Kolkata: Continuing its victory-run, the Trinamul Congress on Thursday swept the panchayat elections by winning 19 out of 20 zilla parishads (ZP) and emerging victorious in majority of the seats at the panchayat samiti (PS) and gram panchayat (GP) levels in the state. Significantly, the BJPs vote bank grew in many areas where it dodged past the Congress and CPI(M) to rise to the second position. Since the ruling party had already won more than one-third of the seats uncontested before a single vote was cast, the results of those seats have been put on hold on the Supreme Courts order. One of those seats includes the ZP in Birbhum. If that is counted, the Trinamuls tally will be 20 out of 20. Till the reports last came in at around 6 pm when the counting of GP was still underway, the Trinamul had won in 16,166 seats. The BJP bagged the second position winning 4,020 seats, while the Left secured 1,042 seats and the Congress got 10 seats. Surprisingly, the Independent candidates won 1,248 seats. Emboldened by her partys victory, chief minister Mamata Banerjee went on a warpath with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently expressed his anguish over the violence during the polls and uncontested win by the Trinamul. The PM made his comments after hearing the version of the BJP. He should have maintained a limit while making such comments. Facts were hushed up at the Supreme Court. Those seats which witnessed uncontested win were not contested by the Opposition parties because they failed to field candidates there, she said. The Trinamul supremo accused the BJP of pumping money from neighbouring states. She alleged that the BJP brought manpower from Bangladesh. Many BJP and Independent candidates contacted us after their win. They will be consulted later, Ms Banerjee added. She informed that the criminal investigation department has been tasked to probe the mysterious death of presiding officer Rajkumar Roy at Raiganj in North Dinajpur. Training guns at the ruling party, BJP leader Shameek Bhattacharya alleged, The TMC, which unleashed terror for the past one month, carried on its atrocities during the counting of votes. It has now turned into a group of wild people compared to what the state saw it as from 1998 to 2011. State Congress president Adhir Choudhury alleged, The people of the entire country are now in panic after seeing the way the panchayat polls were held in West Bengal by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who failed to repose her faith in her own political acumen and works of development, and created an environment of unprecedented anarchy across the state. They are now asking: Which Bengal is this? The Trinamul supremo will continue this environment of intimidation till the Lok Sabha elections next year so that no Opposition party get a fair chance to do politics and contest the polls. She will make sure it becomes a nightmare for all other parties here. And to do it, she has created this environment, he claimed. CPI(M) MLA Sujan Chakraborty alleged, No repoll was held at those places where the Trinamul looted votes. Repoll was done at those places where the Trinamul knew it would not fare well. What does it mean? There is no win or defeat if elections are not held. It was not at an election, it was a farce and mockery. He complained, There was no difference between Nabanna, the state secretariat, the state election commission and the government officials. Votes were looted rampantly. Everyone knews it. The high scale of violence, uncontested win and repoll never happened in the state before. The allegation comes ahead of the crucial floor test in Karnataka scheduled for 4 pm tomorrow. Congress claims that BJP-linked Janardhana Reddy has tried to bribe one of its lawmaker to switch sides.(Photo: Twitter/ANI) Bengaluru: The high-voltage political drama in Karnataka continues to intensify with the Congress now claiming that BJP-linked Janardhana Reddy has tried to bribe one of its lawmaker. The allegation comes ahead of the crucial floor test in Karnataka scheduled for 4 pm tomorrow. Karnataka Congress has released an audio clip claiming that BJP leader Janaradhana Reddy is allegedly trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering money and posts. In the audio, a man suspected to be Reddy is heard allegedly offering Chitradurga Rural Congress legislator Basanagouda Daddal a ministerial berth with "100 times growth", news agency PTI said. "Janaradhana Reddy clearly says he has the backing of BJP President Amit Shah for doing horse trading," Congress alleged in a tweet after its leaders played out the clip at a press conference. Congress released an Audio clip where BJP leader Janaradhana Reddy is trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering money and posts. Janaradhana Reddy clearly says he has the backing of BJP President Amit Shah for doing horse trading! pic.twitter.com/oVEC88DgV2 Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 18, 2018 Responding to the allegation, Union Minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said, "This audio CD is one of the handiworks of Congress' dirty tricks department. This is a fake CD." The Supreme Court on Friday directed BJP's B S Yeddyurappa to take trust vote on Saturday. The verdict came on the plea filed by Congress-JD(S) challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite Yeddyurappa to form government. The two parties, which together have 116 MLAs, are trying to protect their flock amid fear that BJP may poach some of their lawmakers to reach the magic number of 112. The BJP which emerged as the single largest party won 104 seats but fell short of 8 seats to meet the majority mark. The Congress and JD(S) had initially kept their newly-elected legislators in Bengaluru hotels but moved them to Telangana capital Hyderabad about 600 km away on Thursday night. Thomas Markle, had been due to walk his daughter down the aisle on Saturday at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle in front of 600 guests. Thomas Markle, had been due to walk his daughter down the aisle on Saturday at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle in front of 600 guests. (Photo: AP) Meghan Markles father overshadowed his daughters wedding to Prince Harry by sowing confusion about whether he would walk her down the aisle or snub the British royal family by pulling out of the intricately planned celebration at the last minute. As royal fans convened on the genteel English town of Windsor where Harry is due to wed the American actress on Saturday, the role of her father, Thomas Markle, was still unclear after he issued a flurry of statements to an American news website. On Monday he was reported by the Los Angeles-based celebrity website TMZ.com to be unable to attend due to a heart attack and embarrassment over whether he had staged pictures with a paparazzi photographer. But the same website said on Tuesday he had changed his mind and would go to be part of history. TMZ later quoted him as saying the trip was off due to his need for immediate heart surgery. TMZ on Wednesday reported that Markle was out of surgery. The website said it had spoken to Markle and that he seemed alert and coherent, telling us doctors implanted stents in his blood vessels. It was not known when he would be out of the hospital. Markle, who lives in Mexico, had been due to walk his daughter down the aisle on Saturday at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle in front of 600 guests including all the senior British royals and a smattering of celebrities. Britains Sun newspaper, the countrys best selling, had to scramble to update its front page to reflect what it called the Royal Sensation of Thomas Markles absence under the headline: Ive got heart op today. It offered four pages of analysis. Kanepi first appeared on the map as a small village in the 16th century. TALLINN, ESTONIA: A rural Estonia town whose name literally means "cannabis" has voted to adopt a marijuana leaf as its official logo, a local official said Thursday. Located in southern Estonia, Kanepi's highly unusual name is rooted in a traditional cottage industry that sprang up around the processing of hemp into oil and fabric centuries ago. Hemp is a type of cannabis used for industrial purposes with little or no psychoactive effect. "Today the cannabis leaf is seen primarily as a recreational drug, but in fact, hemp-type cannabis has been used in practical ways for years and it has hundreds of uses," Kanepi council member Andrus Seeme told AFP, adding that he saw "nothing wrong" with the town's new logo. "We have a few local businesses producing organic hemp oil and flour," Seeme said, adding that a local bakery also sells bread with hemp seeds while another business produces concrete using hemp. Kanepi first appeared on the map as a small village in the 16th century. It expanded to a town of 5,000 residents last year after it joined forces with other nearby villages to establish rural municipality. The new municipality then launched an online poll to choose its logo, flag and coat-of-arms in a vote that was open to any Estonian interested in participating. When the results came in this week, a logo showing a cannabis leaf captioned "Mari Jane" proved to be the most popular; it was chosen by some 12,000 out of more than 15,000 people who voted in the poll. Despite marijuana still being illegal in Estonia, Kanepi town leaders decided to submit the winning logo to Estonia's heraldry commission where it won approval. Estonia's Green Party and the Ravikanep NGO are lobbying to legalise medical marijuana in the IT savvy EU Baltic state of 1.3 million people, but their campaign has so far met with little success. While she was being expected at Cannes, an abrupt calling resulted in her ouster from the I&B ministry. After Smriti Irani was given marching orders from the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry, shock and disbelief seem to be the trending sentiment in the BJP party ranks. A senior member says, This came as a complete bolt from the blue. Some of us left for Cannes. Smritiji was supposed to join us. But she opted out at the last minute since orders came from the PMs office that she was needed in Karnataka. Now, we return from Cannes and she is no more the I&B minister! What happened? Whom do we submit our lengthy reports to? The initiatives at Cannes to promote regional Indian cinema in a way were all Smritijis. Party members say Smriti was shunted from the I&B ministry because she was taking unpopular decisions. But the key reason seems to be the infamous National Awards function blunder. Too many bureaucrats were being transferred. Apparently, salaries were being blocked. But it was the National Film Awards fiasco that did her career in. The fact that a majority of awardees chose to boycott the National Awards function after the President refused to hand over the awards personally to every winner, really went against her. The incident gave the government a bad image insofar as cultural activities is concerned. If the President of India had communicated his inability to attend the entire function to Smriti, she, in turn, shouldve communicated the same to the awardees. However, a colleague and friend of Smriti stoutly defends her against charges of negligent communication. Till late on the night before the National Film Award ceremony, Smriti was in talks with the Presidents Office hoping to make the President change his mind. As for taking unpopular decisions, she was only trying to improve the running of the various government-owned cultural organisations. She had no hidden agenda. The friend also says that Smritis dismissal spells doom to women in politics. Her ouster is a blow to all of us and to the belief that women in politics are now poised to be given an equal position to men. The minute a woman tries to assert herself she is seen as a threat, says the friend. The sceneries and colourful festivals of North East is something every traveller should experience at least once in their life time. A person in love with sojourns, North-East, the most mystic, least explored and arguably the most beautiful region in India, has always enticed me. Known as the Seven Sisters, the states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura are situated amidst scenic valleys and several hilltops. The exotic land paints a picture you need to see to believe. However, a freak motorcycle accident put off my dream of a ride to the North East states three years ago. So, when I got a chance to visit the region last November and click the pictures of the Horn Bill Festival in Kohima, Nagaland, I had no second thoughts. But the planned two-month trip was extended by another two months after me and my two friends Sandeep and Nidheesh got carried away by the beauty of the Himalayas and the cultural disparity in that part of the country. We also got a chance to visit Bhutan and click a few beautiful photographs. Double decker living root bridge, Meghalaya. Equipped with two tents, cooking accessories and other riding gears, we started from Kozhikode on two motorcycles. Considering safety and other aspects, we had opted not to ride after sunset and had pit stops in Bengaluru, Kadappa, Vijayawada, Berhampur and Balasore in Odisha, Kolkata, and Guwahati. It took us 13 days to enter the North-East states where we intended to cover the Horn Bill festival in Kohima. As a photographer, I was awestruck by the colour combinations of the festival. I spent a week in Kohima and clicked photos, but was left yearning for more as there was much more to explore. Each photograph had a distinct tint and the traditional wear of each tribe varied. For a photographer, it is a paradise. From there, we went to Tawang. The roads were difficult to travel and the sub-zero temperature made our ride even more difficult. But the mesmerising view of the majestic Himalayas made us forget the wear and tear. We also travelled to the Indo-China border through the Bumla Pass. After spending a week in Arunachal Pradesh, we headed for Meghalaya. We visited the rainbow waterfalls, living root bridges and the border of Bangladesh and headed back to Guwahati to prepare for our Bhutan visit. The difference between India and Bhutan was evident just after crossing the border; their culture is entirely different from ours. There is a difference in everything beginning from traffic rules to the behaviour of people. We stayed for almost two weeks in Bhutan and on heading back, we were touched by the warmth and hospitality of the people there. If you are passionate about travelling and photography, North East India offers an excellent opportunity to explore your passion. A journey will help one change all their perceptions about the country. Kejriwal urges Baijal to take up matter with Modi, Gadkari. New Delhi: As the national capital stares at a possible water crisis, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to his Haryana counterpart, Manohar Lal Khattar, and lieutenant-governor (L-G) Anil Baijal, on Thursday, requesting them to maintain the current level of water supply to avoid an unprecedented situation. In another letter to Mr Baijal, Mr Kejriwal requested him to use good offices to persuade Haryana to continue the supply of same level of water. He also asked the L-G to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari. Mr Kejriwals move came a day after the Haryana government assured the Supreme Court that it would maintain status quo in supplying water from the River Yamuna to the national capital till May 21. It said that it would decide on the Delhi governments proposed request to continue the supply. Disruption in water supply from Haryana would affect Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant, which supplies water to the VIP areas of Delhi, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Parliament, embassies of various countries, and other major establishments, Mr Kejriwal said. Delhi has been receiving 1,133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996 but for the first time the state has contested Delhis claim, Mr Kejriwal stated. The chief minister claimed that the apex court has directed Haryana to maintain status quo till May 21 and asked Delhi to approach the Upper Yamuna River Board. In the letter to Mr Khattar, Mr Kejriwal said that Delhi has been facing shortage in the supply of drinking water since December 30 last year because of increased pollution levels at Wazirabad and since April 2 on account of reduced water release through Diversion Drain-8/river Yamuna. This has led to Wazirabad pond not being filled up to the desired level due to which drinking water production has been affected at Wazirabad and Chandrawal Water Treatment Plants. Supply of water through Delhi sub branch and carrier line channel is reduced by 100 cusecs, he said. On Wednesday, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) told the Supreme Court that they would withdraw their petition filed in the apex court in the matter and approach the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) immediately for continuation of release of drinking water to the national capital. The court asked Haryana to expeditiously decide on Delhis request, saying the issue involves water for drinking purposes and not for irrigation. Counsel for the state of Haryana says that a decision will be taken on the request. However, regardless of the decision taken by the state government, the status quo will be maintained till May 21, 2018. Needless to say, the state of Haryana will take an independent decision, the court said on Wednesday. The bus will initially operate twice a week to Bihar and over time, will turn into a daily service. New Delhi: In a unique initiative, Delhi BJP media in-charge Pratyush Kanth along with local residents flagged off a new bus service from Kirari to Bihar. The bus will operate twice a week. The bus service, launched by residents of Kirari, will touch remote parts of Bihar and conclude at Madhwapur on the Indo-Nepal border. Earlier, the Kirari residents had chased chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other leaders for three years, but to no avail. Mr Kanth flagged-off a packed bus on its maiden journey to Bihar from Kirari, amidst celebrations in which hundreds of local residents took part. The bus will initially operate twice a week to Bihar and over time, will turn into a daily service. Initially, it was difficult for the people to travel up to Bihar and now several Bihari residents have come together and started this bi-weekly bus service up to Madhwapur on the Indo-Nepal border via Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Benipatti among other cities, the BJP leader said. A large number of people living here come from these parts of Bihar, he added. The BJP leader also claimed that Kirari is an example of an area where eight lakh underprivileged people live in an eight kilometre radius with no support from the government. Earlier, the Congress too had neglected the area and now the Kejriwal government has also done the same. Nothing for the people of Kirari. It is unfortunate that the negligence by the government has given rise to a silent movement among the residents of the area, Mr Kanth added. The import of tur and pulses can increase trouble for the farmers. Mumbai: After the row over import of Pakistani sugar despite a glut, 15 lakh quintals of Mozambique pigeon pea (tur dal) and other pulses will soon enter the Indian market. This has resulted in rates of tur dal crashing in Maharashtra and other producer states. The Vasantrao Naik Missions Farmers Swavalamban Mission has written a letter to the Union government asking that the import order of tur and pulses be cancelled to protect farmers interests. The import of tur and pulses can increase trouble for the farmers. A bumper production of tur, chana and other pulses has been recorded in Maharashtra and a few other states over the last three years. The government is procuring tur, urad and other pulses at the minimum support price (MSP) to protect farmers interests. Notwithstanding, rates of pulses in the market are down to less than Rs 70 to Rs 80 per kg. Farmers are facing a crisis as they are not getting proper rates for agricultural produce as compared to the expenses incurred by them. Though the government has announced that farmers will get rates 1.5 times their expenses, it has not been implemented. Despite a glut in domestic sugar production, Pakistani sugar was imported, resulting in market prices crashing and the NCP, Congress, Shiv Sena and MNS opposing the move. Now, the government has placed orders for import of tur and other pulses from Mozambique, which will hit the market in the next few months and rates will further slide down, creating trouble for farmers. The Vasantrao Naik Mission has written a letter to the commerce ministry of the Union government for cancellation of the import order, Kishor Tiwari told the The Asian Age. The BJP won 104 seats in the Karnataka Assembly election, and is eight short of the majority mark of 112. MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Congress on Friday held a Save Democracy protest across the state, in the backdrop of the manner in which events unfolded in Karnataka after the Assembly election results were announced. Alleging that the Karnataka governor was biased towards the BJP in giving it a chance to form the government, Congress state president Ashok Chavan said that this was dangerous for democracy. Mr Chavan said that Karnataka governor Vajubhai Valas decision to invite BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa to form the government showed that he was acting under pressure from the Modi-led central government. Politics is taking place from the (Karnataka) Raj Bhavan, Mr Chavan said while addressing the Save Democracy protest. Mr Valas decision to invite Mr Yeddyurappa to form the government shows that he is acting under pressure from the Modi-led central government, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president said. The Congress on Friday observed the Save Democracy protest across the country. Mr Chavan joined Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president Sanjay Nirupam and party workers at the protest near the Amar Jawan Jyoti. Mr Chavan said, The role of a governor should be neutral and unbiased but unfortunately, that is not the case in Karnataka. We believe in democracy. Mr Chavan welcomed the Supreme Courts order for a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4pm on Saturday, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the governor to Mr Yeddyurappa to prove majority. The BJP won 104 seats in the Karnataka Assembly election, and is eight short of the majority mark of 112. However, governor Vala decided to invite the BJP to form the state government. The Aarey police even roped in two cyber-experts to help them with the investigation. MUMBAI: In a bid to find out what really happened to 20-year-old Atharva Shinde on the fateful night of May 7, the police is scanning the social networking profiles of over two dozen guests at the party from which he disappeared, and going through their Facebook and Instagram feeds and stories. Despite the police saying that the CCTV footage shows that Atharva was not involved in any fight at the bungalow, his father, Narendra Shinde, an Economic Offences Wing (EOW) official, has claimed that Atharva was part of a fight. Sources close to the investigation said that after the youngsters who attended the party failed to give a clear account of how things unfolded on the night of May 7, the police started going through their social networking accounts in the hope that they might have uploaded pictures or videos that might shed some light on the events that led to Atharvas murder. The Aarey police even roped in two cyber-experts to help them with the investigation. On Friday, The Asian Age reported that the police found, on the basis of recorded statements, that Atharva was not part of any brawl that broke out and left the bungalow in an inebriated state. However, Narendra Shinde said, I am very unhappy with the probe that the Aarey police is conducting and hence, I wrote to the commissioner of police, asking for the case to be transferred to a better team. Also, other youngsters at the party are narrating two different stories; one to me and the other to the police, which is why I want all of them to be placed under arrest. Soon after Atharvas father expressed his displeasure with the probe, the Mumbai police transferred the case to crime branch unit 11. A source from the crime branch said, We will be re-recording the statements of those who attended the party, and will be looking at the case with a fresh pair of eyes so that there are no misses. Atharva, a student of a Pune-based college where he was studying sound engineering, came to Mumbai to attend a friends birthday party. He left his Thakur Complex residence in the afternoon of May 7 to go to the party being held at Royal Palms in Aarey Colony. The same night, Atharva texted his father saying that since it was very late, he would be returning the next morning. However, he never returned the next day. According to NAFED data, 3.24 lakh tonne tur has been procured from farmers in the state till May 15. Nearly 2.57 lakh farmers have sold their tur to NAFED, which amounts to `1,770 crore. This means only 32.9 per cent of tur has been procured in the state. Mumbai: Farmers are continuing to protest the centres decision to import 15 lakh tonne of tur (pigeon pea) from Mozambique. Their leaders have pointed out that due to a glut, the NAFED stopped procuring tur from farmers on May 15, leaving them holding 60 per cent of the produce. NAFED is the main agency that procures tur from farmers. According to NAFED data, 3.24 lakh tonne tur has been procured from farmers in the state till May 15. Nearly 2.57 lakh farmers have sold their tur to NAFED, which amounts to `1,770 crore. This means only 32.9 per cent of tur has been procured in the state. The state has seen good tur production for the past two years. Tur production is expected to touch 9.83 lakh tonne this year. Despite the bumper crop of tur in states like Maharashtra, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government has taken the decision to import 15 lakh tonne of tur this year. Farmer leader Raghunathdada Patil questioned, Why is the government importing tur? Does the imported tur taste sweeter than the Indian one? The government should give the same money to farmers and procure tur from the villages. Who is more important; Indian farmers or Mozambiques traders? Agricultural expert Sunil Tambe said, It is bizarre that we are importing tur from outside when our farmers have had such huge production. The government should procure this tur, at the rate of 50 per cent more than the minimum support price. Sadabhau Khot, minister of state for marketing department said, We will procure all the tur of farmers in the state who have registered with us. The other states that received the advisory are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and the Lakshadweep archipelago Mumbai: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday issued an advisory to several states including Maharashtra, about the cyclonic storm Sagar. The cyclonic storm lay centred over the Gulf of Aden, about 390 km east-northeast of Yemens Aden city and 560 km west-northwest of Socotra Islands. While the Mumbai IMD issued, a thunderstorm warning, lightening and rainfall is likely to occur over Raigad, Pune, Sindhudurg, Satara and Ratnagiri district in the next 24 hours. The other states that received the advisory are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and the Lakshadweep archipelago. The storm is likely to intensify further slightly during the next 12 hours and continue to move westwards for some more time and then move west-south-westwards thereafter, the advisory said. K.S. Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, IMD said, With a low pressure system developing in the Arabian Sea, adjoining the west coast, we expect heightened moisture incursion over land. There may be rains at isolated places. Mainly over Konkan, Goa, south madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada during few days. When asked any effect of Sagar cyclone in Mumbai, Mr Hosalikar said, There wont be any effect on Mumbai and several parts of Maharashtra. He also said, North Maharashtra and some parts of it will observed partly cloudy weather, whereas madhya and western ghat will witness rains. Officials at the IMD said cloudy and humid conditions would prevail over south madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha and some parts of Marathwada during the next two to three days. The unsuspecting girl went with him but he locked the room and raped her. Mumbai: A special POCSO court on Friday sentenced a 70-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping a teenage girl in a masjid in Govandi in 2013. Sessions judge M.A. Baraliya held Niyaz Ahmed Raza guilty of rape, unnatural sex and outraging a womans modesty under relevant sections of the POCSO Act and IPC. The judge imposed a fine of Rs 88,000 on Raza and directed that the amount be paid to the victim as compensation. On January 9, 2013, the victims father was returning home from work when his friend and social activist, Mohammed Mangura Shah, showed him an obscene video clip on his mobile phone and asked him if he knew the girl in the video. Realising that the girl was his daughter (13), the father went home, spoke to his wife, and after taking his daughter into confidence, asked her about the video. The girl revealed that about a month ago when she was going to give her exams, Raza told her that he had prepared a poem for her exam and took her to a first-floor room of a nearby mosque where she used to learn Arabic. The unsuspecting girl went with him but he locked the room and raped her. He also recorded the act and circulated it among his friends and acquaintances, little imagining that it would ultimately reach the girls father. The joint efforts of public prosecutors Geeta Sharma and R.S. Kanojia and the investigating team of PSI Amol Shinde and constables Rajesh Phiske, Sudhir Jashar and Amol Chaugale led to Razas conviction. Pakistan is still essentially a colonial apparatus and its essential impulse to control has reinforced deep divisions in society. Imagine spending almost 30 years in the jails of one of the most murderous and inhumane political regimes in history, and then choosing not vengeance but reconciliation after finally tasting freedom. Nelson Mandela did it, and spent the rest of his life urging black South Africans to forgive the white supremacists that had killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of ordinary blacks under the guise of the barbaric system called apartheid. For Mandela, healing the wounds of white rule would only be possible if black (and other coloured) South Africans could pardon those functionaries of the apartheid regime that had brutalised the black majority. This meant first and foremost that that truth be uncovered, that the perpetrators acknowledge the crimes they had committed. Only truth could make reconciliation possible. Twenty-five years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is still burdened by its past. Black majority rule has been institutionalised but the white minority is still effectively the ruling class while cultural assimilation has been hard to come by. But truth and reconciliation, as painful as it was, allowed South Africans of all colours and creeds to collectively set into motion a process of change that was unthinkable when Mandela exited an apartheid jail for the last time in 1990. Truth and reconciliation would appear an urgent imperative in many parts of the world today. As Gaza burns yet again, it is tempting to bay for Israeli blood, but as Edward Said recognised many years ago, ultimately the Israelis and the Palestinians will have to learn how to live together. One day, whenever that may be, the truth of Israeli crimes against humanity will have to be acknowledged so that reconciliation becomes possible. Could Bosnians forgive the Serbs? Will there come a day when Kashmiris are able to move on from the violence that has been visited upon them by the Indian state? Will the Rohingyas living out their lives as refugees ever be able to reconcile with the Burmese that pushed them into the abyss of statelessness? Have indigenous people everywhere moved on from the horrors of colonialism? Reconciling with centuries-old oppressors is an extremely difficult thing to do. It requires political leadership that is courageous and far-sighted; it is often far easier to react to hate with hate. In recent times a popular movement of young Pakhtuns has started calling for a truth and reconciliation commission in Pakistan, particularly in the war-torn regions of the northwest. On the one hand, the rhetoric of these young upstarts sounds incendiary, but in demanding truth and reconciliation, they are actively displacing the politics of hate. Pakistan is still essentially a colonial apparatus and its essential impulse to control has reinforced deep divisions in society. Yet a politics of transformation requires the bare truths of our history to be acknowledged so that we can eventually move on. Excavating the truth in a country where, to borrow the words of K.K. Aziz, history has been murdered, is itself a profoundly political matter. Look at the reaction to Nawaz Sharifs rather blunt comments about the Mumbai attacks we can debate whether or not the former PMs comments were sagacious, but were they seditious? Nawaz Sharifs problem is that he hasnt spoken enough truth; he claims to have changed but he has yet to acknowledge openly his chequered past as the blue-eyed boy of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq. He has invoked the fate of Mujibur Rehman, but stopped short of uncovering the truth of what the Yahya regime did in erstwhile East Pakistan. Nawaz Sharifs person is, in any case, irrelevant. Uncovering the truth about Pakistan and the social forces that have visited untold violence upon innocents is something we must do collectively. It is not only for Pakhtuns from Fata to demand the truth about the war on terror, just as the rest of us must all call attention to what has happened to the Hazaras and Baloch in Balochistan. We must all return to the roots of Pakistan and establish which of them have been based on oppression and hate. There is no way around this process, if we are serious about building a viable state and a social peace. The real question is whether we actually want reconciliation. If those who are the biggest victims of an oppressive political order can be big enough to want to say they are ready to move forward together, so long as the truth is established, why are we still being kept in the dark? Why insist that Pakistan is always under siege from the other, when in fact the calls for reconciliation are coming from within? Who fears the truth? By arrangement with Dawn A new report has suggested that Google has found this type of ruling could cause a reputational loss to the company. The CCI in February fined Google $20 million for abusing its position in online web search and also slammed the company for preventing its partners from using competing search services. Alphabet Incs Google has said an Indian antitrust ruling that found it was guilty of search bias could cause irreparable harm and reputational loss to the company, according to a legal document reviewed by Reuters. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in February fined Google $20 million for abusing its position in online web search and also slammed the company for preventing its partners from using competing search services. After the ruling, Google had said the verdict raised only narrow concerns, but in its plea challenging the CCIs ruling the search giant signalled the impact could be far greater. The order, the company said, requires Google to change the way it conducts business in India on a lasting basis and the way it designs its search results page in India, according to a copy of its plea which was seen exclusively by Reuters. The CCI, among other things, had ordered Google to stop imposing restrictions on its direct search agreements with other publishers. Allowing the CCIs findings to be implemented without appellate scrutiny would cause Google irreparable reputational loss, the company said, while seeking a stay on the ruling. A Google spokesman in India declined to comment. Google last month obtained a partial stay on the ruling from Indias company law tribunal, which allowed it to deposit only a small part of the imposed penalty. The Indian antitrust tussle is the latest regulatory setback for Google. Last year, the European Commission slapped a record $2.8 billion fine on the company for demoting rival offerings. Google has appealed against the order. The antitrust battle in India is set to intensify as local matchmaking website Matrimony.com - which first brought the case in 2012 - has also appealed against the CCI ruling as it believes Google has gotten off too lightly. On the issue of search agreements, the CCI in its Feb. 8 order said: By restricting websites from partnering with competing for search services, Google was denying its competitors access to the search business and further marginalising competitors. The volume of business generated through these agreements is substantial for Google, the order said. In its plea challenging the ruling, Google said the CCI wrongly ruled that such agreements violate Indian competition law. If Google is restricted from entering into certain types of contracts while the appellate review is conducted, Google will be irreparably harmed, the company said in the plea, without elaborating. The appeal will next be heard on May 28. The latest Galaxy S9 commercial and the #WhySetttleJustForSpeed campaigns are Samsungs attempt at robbing attention towards its flagships. If theres one company that doesnt leave a single opportunity to troll Apple, then Samsung immediately comes to the forefront with its fun-poking commercials at the latest iPhone models. A few months ago, Samsung took to YouTube to troll the latest iPhones, showing that their Galaxy Note 8 is presently the latest in the world of smartphones with all the flagship and convenient features. Now, Samsung has done it again this time targeting not just an iPhone, but even the recently launched OnePlus 6. Samsungs latest commercial on YouTube involves teasing the iPhone for its slow speeds. No, theres no mistyped word here Samsung is referring to the performance throttling debacle that Apple was involved in a few months ago. The commercial refers 2014s iPhone 6 a model that was one of the worst hit models with the performance throttling issue, for setting the reference point. The user is shown getting affected by the throttled speeds on the iPhone 6 she has to wait for the iPhone for loading her boarding pass, prefers to keep down the iPhone when it takes lots of time to load the music app and lastly misses an UBER cab. Frustrated, she heads over to an Apple store for enquiring about a fix, to which she is asked to upgrade to a newer model. All throughout her misery, the lady keeps noticing a Galaxy S9 doing all the same things without breaking a sweat, which is why she finally chooses it over the latest iPhone. The ad ends with the man with a notched hairstyle (remember from the earlier ad) holding his kid (also with a notched hairstyle) in the rain, waiting outside the Apple Store (hey Samsung, that's funny). If you thought that Samsung was too childish in sticking out the tongue to Apple, then you will be surprised to know that Samsung India tried to go after the recently launched OnePlus 6 on a social media campaign. Going by the name of #WhySettleJustForSpeed, the campaign is a direct attack on OnePlus #TheSpeedYouNeed and #NeverSettle. Samsung is presently pitting the premium midrange Galaxy A8+ 2018 and the Galaxy S8 against the OnePlus 6. Both the Samsung phones are comparable to the OnePlus 6 when you consider the prices they sell at the A8+ retails for Rs 29,990 whereas the Galaxy S8 is priced at Rs 37,990 (the OnePlus 6 starts at Rs 34,999 and goes up to 38,990 for the 8GB/128GB variant). Samsung claims that both their phones offer more than just speed to their consumers. Both the Galaxy phones offer AI-powered Bixby assistant, are IP68 water resistant, boast of Samsungs MST-enabled Pay and Super AMOLED displays. We understand that Samsung wants to keep itself seen in the social media to garner interest, but the childish way they are adopting doesnt deem fit for an established brand. The Galaxy S8, S9 and A8+ are extremely capable phones and should be advertised for what they do best, not how they compare to cheaper rivals. Nonetheless, Samsungs attempt certainly induces smiles across its fan base and are trying their best to keep themselves in the spotlight. (source) Samsung could unveil an alternative to the budget iPad 2018 model. Apple has been trying to expand its reach into the budget segments of both tablets and smartphones by launching cheaper versions of its iPhones and iPads. The iPhone SE is the entry point to the iPhone club whereas the iPad 2018 serves the same for the exclusive iPad club. The formula has sort of worked for them, with Apple seeing great profits from these devices. Looking at this, Samsung is also rumoured to do the same with its Galaxy Tab series if tablets. SamMobile, the one publication who specialises in breaking latest rumours regarding Samsung, has claimed to unearth information related to a device that could be Samsungs answer to the budget iPad models. The device could be called the Galaxy Tab Advanced 2 and could launch alongside the rumoured flagship Galaxy Tab S4 tablet. The information comes from a support page from Samsungs official website that lists a device by the codename of SM-T583. No specification has been mentioned yet, but the chances of this being the successor to the Galaxy Tab A from 2016 are high. Rumours also suggest that Samsung could rollout dedicated hardware for the model such as detachable keyboard and mice. Doing a budget is a tricky move as it requires manufacturers to aim for the right amount of balance between affordability as well as practicality. Samsung relies on Googles Android OS for all of its Galaxy range of devices. Since Android is an open source OS, Samsungs tablets usually lack in the quality of service that Apples similarly priced iPads manage to achieve courtesy Apples highly optimised software for its hardware. We can only hope that Samsung goes for beefier internals to stand a fair chance against the iPad, which is presently the benchmark in the segment. (source) Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's security has been restored almost a month after it was withdrawn on order of the Supreme Court. Lahore: The government of Pakistan's Punjab province has restored the security of Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed citing threats to his life, almost a month after it was withdrawn on the order of the Supreme Court. "The policemen have been deployed again for the security of Hafiz Saeed on the order of (chief minister) Shahbaz Sharif's Punjab government," a senior official of the provincial government told news agency PTI on Friday. He said the decision was taken in the light of threats to the life of Saeed. As the government restored Saeed's security, he has withdrawn a petition he had filed in the Lahore High Court to challenge the Punjab government's earlier decision to withdraw his security. The Punjab government in April had withdrawn policemen deployed for the security of Saeed after the Supreme Court directed inspector-generals of Islamabad and all four provinces to take back security escorts from people who are not entitled to it. The chief justice, however, later directed the top provincial police officials to ensure the provision of security to all those who face genuine security threats. In the light of the Supreme Court order, the Punjab police have withdrawn as many as 4,610 personnel deployed for the security of influential persons not entitled to official security in the province. In a petition filed through his counsel Advocate A K Dogar, Saeed said the Punjab government on the pretext of the apex court order has withdrawn his security. He said the Supreme Court had ordered that the security of those facing life threats should not be withdrawn. "But the government made a wrong interpretation of the Supreme Court order in my case and has withdrawn my security despite threats to my life," Saeed said. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, who carries a USD 10 million American bounty for his role in terror activities, accused the government of discrimination in his case. The JuD usually makes elaborate arrangements for the security of Saeed wherever he goes. Even at home, the JuD special squad has been given the task of his security. Saeed is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed. JuD was declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June, 2014. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the ruling party. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Islamabad: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was on Thursday assured that deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will soften the stance he has taken on the 26/11 case. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the ruling party. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The lawmakers raised certain concerns and points pertaining to the recent interview in which Nawaz Sharif stated that non-state actors were involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Interior minister Ahsan Iqbal also attended the meeting, while questions were raised on the absence of former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Lawmakers argued for a formation of a clear party policy to ensure it does not clash with the ideology of the lawmakers. The lawmakers complained that they were facing hurdles when addressing residents of their constituencies due to Mr Sharifs stance. Shehbaz Sharif assured them that the interview was taken out of context. In an attempt to do damage control, PM Abbasi also intervened and said that media reports misquoted Nawaz Sharif. The lawmakers questioned the need for such an interview in the first place. Recently, while addressing a National Assembly session, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) raised questions on the nature and content of the deposed Premiers speech. All the lawmakers addressed their concerns regarding the new crisis the party was facing, they complained of the adversity that comes with it. Meanwhile on Thursday, the accountability court has handed over questionnaire regarding Avenfield reference to ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammed Safdar. The proceedings of London flats reference have entered final phase as the accused have been directed to appear in the court on Friday to record their statements under the Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The other two accused, Hussain and Hassan Nawaz have been declared absconders. Caught between the Taliban and the Islamic State, Afghanistan faces violence on an almost daily basis. Rebels and Afghan forces fight in the capital of Farah province. Few Afghans trust things will change. In the past years, people who cast their votes lost fingers, hands, lives. But the outcome of the vote was actually zero, says one observer. Kabul (AsiaNews) Amid almost daily episodes of violence in Afghanistan, "fear and anger are two sides of the same coin, says Cristina Majorano in describing how Afghans feel about next Octobers parliamentary elections. Ms Majorano is regional director for Yemen and Afghanistan of Intersos, an Italian NGO that supports local healthcare, food security, and education and helps vulnerable people, children and youth. Wednesday night, the Taliban launched an offensive in Farah, capital of Farah province, western Afghanistan, against Afghan Army forces in different parts of the city, terrorising civilians. Provincial officials said that on Tuesday, hundreds of Taliban fighters infiltrated several security checkpoints, occupying some parts of the city. The following day, the Afghan counter-offensive supported by NATO planes pushed back and killed 300 Taliban. Although the authorities claim that the city is now free from militants, some sources say clashes are still ongoing. "Since the Taliban announced the annual spring offensive, in late April, it created concern not only for the government, but also for the people. It's affecting social life in the big cities, even here in Kabul," said Ali Obaid, an analyst with the Afghanistan Analysts Network. The ongoing violence is also undermining the work of humanitarian organisations like Intersos, which has been present in Afghanistan since 2001. "Respecting [humanitarian commitments] is becoming more difficult day by day, and endangers the humanitarian workers themselves, said Majorano. "For this reason, the humanitarian community has asked all the parties to the conflict to respect the rules of international humanitarian law," she explained. In addition to the fears due to the fighting between the Afghan government and Taliban rebels, there are suicide attacks by the Islamic State (IS). However, despite the numerous attacks in Kabul and other parts of the country, " Isis [Islamic State] is not getting stronger, said Obaid. However, they target 'soft' targets. They want to carry out attacks here, to get into the front pages of media articles. The country is only in the early stage of the democratic process leading up to 20 October election. There are no lists of candidates but registration began on1 4 April for the ten million eligible voters. Expectations were very high, that a huge number of people would register, but right now it's only a small number of people, Obaid noted. The low registration rate has pushed the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to move the deadline from 13 May to 12 June. Yesterday, it said that 1.9 million people were currently registered less than 20 per cent of those eligible. On 10 May, the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, reported 23 attacks against electoral registration centres with 86 dead and 165 wounded civilians. There are different views in Afghanistan, said Obaid. Some people are afraid they'll be targeted if they register. Other will not trust candidates anymore. In the past years, people who cast their votes lost fingers, hands, lives. But the outcome of the vote was actually zero: promises not fulfilled and corruption still in the government. All this has produced negative consequences when it comes to elections and trust-building. The Intersos director agrees. The pre-election climate is not relaxed, and registration is already at risk with attacks on registration centres with dozens of deaths and injuries," noted Majorano. "Forty years of conflict have made Afghanistan one of the longest lasting humanitarian crises in history. About 40 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, with limited access to employment opportunities and basic services. "In 2017 the conflict killed more than 8,000 civilians, and almost half a million people fled their homes to seek refuge in safer areas. Given this context, expectations in these elections are not high." Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - In a surprise move, China has ended an anti-dumping probe on the US sorghum, which could have blocked its imports. Almost at the same time, last night, China offered to cut the surplus of its trade with the United States by 200 billion dollars. The United States suffers a trade deficit of 375 billion dollars (in 2017). Beijing had threatened duties on sorghum last February as a reprisal for duties that Washington wants to put on many Chinese products, also accused of dumping (state aid to lighten prices). Today the Beijing Ministry of Commerce declared that the sanctions on grains would be to the detriment of Chinese farmers. Sorghum is used primarily as animal feed. These signals of reduced tension between China and the US seem to cancel out the mutual threat of a tariff war. The US has long called for a reduction in trade surplus with China, accusing Beijing of supporting its exports and stealing or forcing technology transfers. This is why President Donald Trump has proposed a series of duties for 50 billion dollars on Chinese products. China had responded with duties on American products as a countermeasure. Beijings conciliatory moves come in the wake of a recent visit by Vice-President Liu He to Washington (see photo). Liu is the highest economic advisor to President Xi Jinping. The 200 billion surplus reduction meets Trumps request, who wanted a reduction of at least 250 billion dollars. The issue of copyright defence and the mandatory transfer of technologies to US industries that want to operate in China in joint-ventures remains open. by Melani Manel Perera Eyewitnesses place two senior army officers at the place where the missing disappeared. The military is hostile to the website set up to to make public the names of the missing people. Colombo (AsiaNews) The list of 280 people who went missing in 2009, during the last weeks of the civil war fought between the regular army and the Tamil Tigers rebels, include at least 29 Tamil children, this according International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), a South African-based NGO. "This is the largest single group of enforced disappearance in Sri Lanka's history hundreds of people disappearing at the same time and place with multiple eyewitnesses both inside and outside the country," said ITJP Executive Director Yasmin Sooka. "We have written to the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) saying this is the first case they should investigate if they are serious about criminal accountability for enforced disappearance, she added. They can start by questioning Major General Shavendra Silva and General Jagath Jayasuriya, whom eyewitnesses say personally observed the surrenders and those security forces in whose custody they were placed." She added. The NGO notes that the children went missing on 18 May when former president Mahinda Rajapaksa announced victory and the end of hostilities. According to UN investigators, the 58th Division was led at the time by General Silva, an alleged war criminal who was promoted by the current government to the post of Adjutant General of the Sri Lankan Army. ITJP believes that General Silva was present on the Wadduvakkal bridge on 18 May 2009 to welcome the surrender of Tamil rebels accompanied by Fr Francis Joseph, a Catholic priest who also died at the hands of security forces. The South African NGO has also complained that Sri Lankas military has been hostile to the website (in English and Tamil) set up to make public the names of the missing people. Some of the boxes on the website have been left empty to indicate that the list is not final. "We urge anyone with information or photos to contact us by email in English or Tamil," said Ms Sooka. This "is by no means a complete list or a perfect one but it is a start and what it reveals is that the extent of the crime is much larger than previously known." Photo credit: Melani Manel Perera Those who embrace the Lord are destined to "martyrdom", to "carry the cross", to be led where they do not want to go. But this is the compass that guides the pastor's journey. " Prepare for trials; prepare to leave everything behind, so that another may come and do different things ". The pastor "does not stick his nose in the lives of others, he does not waste time on gossip, in ecclesiastical gossip". Vatican City (AsiaNews) - To follow Jesus means to love, take care of others and prepare to "carry the cross", said Pope Francis at Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta, inspired by the passage from the Gospel of John (21.15-19), which describes the last dialogue between the Lord and Peter. An dialogue full of memories for "Simone, John's son": from when he changed his name, passing through moments of weakness, until the "crow of the cockerel". Pope Francis said Jesus leads Peter on a mental journey through their relationship. Jesus, the Pope said, wants to do the same for each of us, so that we recall our shared journey. The Holy Father transformed Jesus last words to Peter Follow me into concrete attitudes and behaviors, giving Peter three directives: love me, tend my sheep, and prepare yourself. The first step towards being true disciples of the Son of God, he said, is love. The Pope then said tending the Lords sheep and caring for them is an essential part of the pastors identity. The identity of a bishop and of a priest is to be a shepherd, he said. Love me, tend my sheep, and prepare yourself. Love me more than all others. Love me however you can, but love me. This is what the Lord asks of pastors and of all of us. Love me. The first step in dialogue with the Lord is love. Pope Francis reminded the faithful that those who embrace the Lord fully are destined for martyrdom and to carry the cross, that is, to be led where they do not want to go. But this, he said, is the compass directing the pastor. Prepare for trials; prepare to leave everything behind, so that another may come and do different things. Prepare yourself for this obliteration in life. And they will carry you along paths filled with humiliation, possibly even to martyrdom. Those who praised you and spoke well of you when you were a pastor will now speak poorly of you because another has come who they like more. Prepare yourself for the cross when they carry you where you do not want to go. Love, tend, and prepare yourself. This is a pastors directional map, his compass. In conclusion, Pope Francis focused on one final, pervasive temptation: the desire to meddle in the lives of others, without being content with minding ones own business. Put yourself in your own shoes, and dont stick your nose in other peoples business. The pastor loves, tends, and prepares himself for the cross Dont waste time being a busybody, even regarding ecclesiastical rumors. Love, tend my sheep, and prepare yourself not to fall into temptation. The Lan Do field "Red Orchid" is located in Block 06.1, 85 km inside an area claimed by China and Vietnam. Hanoi: "Operations are authorized and carried out in areas under Vietnamese sovereignty and jurisdiction". Experts fear for Sino-Russian relations. Hanoi (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft, is drilling in waters claimed by Beijing, which is likely to exacerbate tensions in the South China Sea. Three days ago, Rosneft announced that it had started drilling the LD-3P well, part of the Lan Do field "Red Orchid", in Block 06.1. It is located 370 km south-east of Vietnam. The block is located within the area outlined by the "nine-point line", with which Beijing delimits a portion of the sea that extends for about 1,800 km south of mainland China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that no country, organization, company or individual can, without the permission of the Chinese government, carry out exploration and exploitation of oil or gas in waters under the jurisdiction of Beijing. "We urge stakeholders to respect China's sovereign and jurisdictional rights and not do anything that could affect bilateral relations or the peace and stability of this region," the official said yesterday. The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said that oil and gas activities are conducted in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Ministry spokesman Le Thi Thu Hang reiterated that "operations are authorized and carried out in areas under Vietnamese sovereignty and jurisdiction". Taking advantage of the ambiguity of international law, Beijing claims most of the sea (almost 85 per cent). In addition to the Spratly, Chinas claim includes the Gulf of Tonkin (disputed by Vietnam and China), the Paracel Islands (disputed by Vietnam, China, and Taiwan), the Scarborough Shoal (disputed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan). To ensure the control of important maritime routes that cross these waters (more than a third of global trade), the Chinese government has started building a series of artificial islands, with military installations and lighthouses. Beijing has even imposed unilateral fishing bans. The Chinese government claims sovereignty over large sections of the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam. The maps of the area indicate that Block 06.1 is about 85 km inside the disputed area. In recent years, China has increasingly patrolled and strengthened the area, claiming historic rights to resources and islands within it. In March, following pressure from Beijing, Hanoi interrupted an oil drilling project in the nearby "Red Emperor" block. The latter is licensed to the Spanish energy company Repsol, which has asked Vietnam for compensation. The Russian companies Rosneft and Gazprom have important development projects in the Vietnamese waters that fall within the area claimed by China. Analysts say it would be a blow to the Sino-Russian agreement if Beijing were to ask Moscow to end its energy plans in Vietnam. Beijing has become Russia's main export destination, mainly because Moscow is its main supplier of oil and gas. Rosneft drilling is important for Vietnam. The country already receives about 30% of its gas needs from block 06.1, thanks to oil and gas operations that were established for the first time more than 15 years ago. The block is operated by Rosneft and is owned by a consortium consisting of ONGC, Rosneft and Petro Vietnam. The "blocking statute will serve to curb the effects of the White House measures against Tehran. EU companies will be able to ignore sanctions and cover costs. Russia and China ready to take advantage of signing billionaire contracts. Washington wants to launch an international "coalition" against "the Iranian regime". Brussels (AsiaNews / Agencies) - To circumvent the new sanctions against Iran issued by the White House, the European Union (EU) is ready to revive a 1996 law, drafted (but never applied) to counter US sanctions against Cuba .This morning, European experts began working on the so-called "blocking statute", which will apply to the recent measures taken by Washington against the Islamic Republic. It will allow Union companies to ignore sanctions or receive compensation for damages incurred. Europe continues to move its pawns to keep the JCPOA and business with Teheran alive, in response to US President Donald Trump's decision to cancel the nuclear deal and introduce new sanctions. In recent days, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif went to Brussels, the last stop on a tour that touched Russia and China. Outlining the provision, EU President Jean-Claude Juncker states that the objective is to "protect EU companies" and "their business". The law, he adds, intends to mitigate the effects of "extra-territorial" sanctions that have an "impact" on the EU. After all, last year alone European exports to Iran reached 10.8 billion euros. Imports from the Islamic Republic have slightly exceeded 10 billion (10.1), with a figure that almost doubled compared to 2016 data. The fear is that the new US sanctions will jeopardize billions of dollars and open the doors of trade to China and Russia, ready to take advantage of it. Yesterday in Astana, Kazakhstan, the Iranian representative signed an interim agreement aimed at free trade between Tehran and the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), led by Moscow. It allows Iran to buy goods and products from member countries at a reduced price. Beijing, for its part, moves from behind the scenes to replace the French oil giant Total - present in Iran with billion dollar contracts - with a Chinese state company (CNPC). China - always hungry for hydrocarbons and Iran's first commercial partner - is looking with increasing interest to Iran, clarifying in a note that it will continue "the normal and transparent" collaboration with Iran in spite of US sanctions. In this situation of increasing head-on collision on the Iranian dossier (on the one hand the United States, Israel and Arab nations against the EU, Russia, China and Turkey) the White House responded announcing the project of an "international coalition" against "the Tehran regime " . In the coming days, the head of the US Diplomacy Mike Pompeo will explain the details of the initiative, which wants to show the world "all destabilizing activities" of Iran. Trumps threat: otherwise, the Libyan model is "very likely". Xi Jinping accused of trying to influence Kim Jong-un. North Korea reiterates that it will not resume talks with Seoul until the issues are resolved. Today, the commission of the Revolutionary Army of North Korea has met to "strengthen" national defence. Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - In case of agreement, there will be no "Libyan model" for North Korea: Kim Jong-un will remain in power. This is the reassurance that US President Donald Trump addressed yesterday to Pyongyang, in response to the socialist country's threats to withdraw from the Kim-Trump summit scheduled for June 12. Last weekend, US security adviser John Bolton unleashed Pyongyang's ire by suggesting that the denuclearization of the North would follow the Libyan model of Muammar Gadhafi in 2003. The Libyan dictator had agreed to renounce nuclear weapons. The agreement was followed by a period of grace for the government, interrupted abruptly by the Arab Spring of 2011: Gaddafi was ousted and killed by some rebels supported by NATO. Trump contradicted his advisor, assuring Kim Jong-un of a model in which "he will be in his country and will govern his country. Your country will be very rich ". However, to the promise that in case of agreement Kim will be "very, very happy", Trump added a clear threat: without agreement, the Libyan model will be "very likely". The US president has also accused his Chinese colleague Xi Jinping of being behind the North Korean u-turn. "It is very likely that he is influencing Kim Jong-un." Some analysts point out that the halt in dialogue came shortly after the highly publicized meeting between Kim and Xi Jinping. For its part, North Korea reiterates that it will not resume dialogue with the South until the problems are resolved. In particular, Pyongyang blames ongoing military exercises involving the US and South Korean armies. Today, the influential military commission of the ruling party held a meeting to bring about a reshuffle of the personnel and "to further strengthen the party's revolutionary army in military and political aspects, and to improve the nation's overall defence efforts". We need your help! Please help us improve our content by removing questions that are essentially the same and merging them into this question. Please tell us which questions below are the same as this one: Joseph Luiz can be reached at 395-7368 or by email at jluiz@bakersfield.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @JLuiz_TBC. A Bakersfield attorney who was slain last year is believed to have met his alleged killer on a dating app, according to newly released court d Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. JERUSALEM (AP) The Latest on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (all times local): 8:40 p.m. Israel's military says wounded Palestinians in Gaza were transferred to Jordan for medical treatment and that Jordanian trucks packed with medical supplies have entered the territory. It said the moves were made upon the request of the King of Jordan. The wounded, Gaza residents with Jordanian citizenship along with relatives, were transferred in three Jordanian ambulances. Gaza's Health Ministry said that 23 protesters were wounded Monday by live bullets and tear gas, but did not provide a breakdown of the number. Israel's military said it will continue to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Earlier this week Israel delivered 53 tons of medical equipment along with other aid to Gaza. Neighbors Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994. __ 7:30 p.m. Hundreds of Palestinians are gathering along Gaza's border with Israel for an eighth weekly protest. Most gathered Friday in tent camps at a safe distance from the border. Dozens got close to the fence, burning tires. Israeli troops responded with tear gas and occasional gunfire. It is the first such rally since 59 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire Monday, the bloodiest day there since the 2014 war. Hamas leaders are visiting the camps and are set to break the Ramadan fast there. Hamas says rallies will continue until the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant group took over Gaza in 2007 is lifted. Israel says it is defending its border and accuses Hamas of trying to carry out attacks under the cover of the protests ___ 7:20 p.m. Israel "totally rejects" a decision by the U.N. Human Rights Council to set up a commission of inquiry into recent violence along the Gaza border. The Foreign Ministry said Friday that the U.N. body is "made up of a built-in anti-Israel majority, guided by hypocrisy and absurdity." It said "Israel will continue to defend itself and citizens against both terrorism and international bodies that attempt to hinder its right to defend itself." Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, has led mass protests at the border with Israel. Nearly 60 Palestinians were killed at the fence Monday. The death toll drew wide condemnation. Israel says Hamas is exploiting civilians and using the protests as cover for attacks or infiltration attempts. ___ 5:50 p.m. The U.N.'s top human rights body has voted to set up a commission of inquiry to look into a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. The U.N. Human Rights Council, meeting in a special session Friday in Geneva, voted 29-2 with 14 abstentions to back a resolution that also condemned "the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians." Israel condemned the resolution, which was put forward by a group of countries including Pakistan. The United States decried it as an example of a biased focus on Israel by the council. Both lamented that it didn't mention Gaza's Hamas rulers, whom Israel blames for the violence. The commission of inquiry will be asked to produce a final report next March. ___ 5:40 p.m. Israeli police say the first Friday prayer services of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended peacefully at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says over 90,000 attended prayers at the holy site. Israeli security forces are on high alert as the Muslim fasting month begins this year amid heightened tensions along the Gaza border fence. Israeli fire killed nearly 60 Palestinians at a mass rally there on Monday. The high casualty count has drawn sharp international condemnations against Israel and accusations that it is using excessive force. Israel accuses Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, of exploiting civilians and using the protests as cover for attacks. ___ 5:45 p.m. Arab foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting three days after the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and violence along the Gaza border, where Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinians. The Arab League has already condemned the relocation of the embassy, and it was not clear whether it would take any further action following Thursday's meeting at its headquarters in Cairo. The Trump administration's relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem upended decades of U.S. policy and went against an international consensus that the holy city's status should be settled through negotiations. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state. Mass protests in Gaza on Monday were directed at the embassy move and at an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza imposed after the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in 2007. Israeli forces killed nearly 60 Palestinians at mass protests along the border. A Hamas official says 50 were members of the group. Egypt, which hosts the Arab League, rarely opens its Rafah passenger crossing with Gaza, the only gateway from the impoverished territory not controlled by Israel. ___ 10 a.m. The Israeli military says it has carried out airstrikes on militant sites in Gaza overnight in response to machine gun fire that hit a building in the Israeli city of Sderot. The army said Thursday that planes bombarded a military compound and a weapons production facility in the northern Gaza Strip. The Palestinian health ministry says a man was moderately wounded by shrapnel, but didn't say whether he was inside a militant site or nearby. The airstrikes Thursday came hours after Israeli forces came under fire from the Palestinian territory. The military said no troops were wounded in Wednesday's exchange. Israeli fire killed nearly 60 Palestinians on Monday during a protest along the Gaza border. A senior Hamas official said 50 of those killed were members of the militant group. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) Judge Aaron Persky says he has no regrets. The Northern California judge says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost two years ago, though it's the reason he is the target of a June 5 recall election and has become the self-described "most hated man on the internet." In a lengthy interview with The Associated Press, the wiry 56-year-old former college lacrosse player argued the Santa Clara County recall effort is "fundamentally unfair" because it boils down a thick criminal case to Twitter hashtags. He gets a little teary-eyed when he talks about being turned into a one-dimensional caricature as the judge who condones rape. "I expected some negative reaction," Persky said. "But not this." The recall effort comes amid the growing influence of the #MeToo movement, and observers say it will serve as a bellwether of the movement's influence on national politics. Persky says he has resisted friends' call to quit and relieve the mounting pressure on his wife and two young sons because judicial independence is at stake. He is fighting the effort, he says, because recalling judges over unpopular rulings threatens the integrity of the judiciary. "To get justice from a judge, they need someone who follows the rules. The basic rule is the rule of law," he said. "The problem with this recall is it will pressure judges to follow the rule of public opinion as opposed to the rule of law." On June 2, 2016, Persky followed the county probation department's recommendation when he sentenced Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman who came to be known as Emily Doe. Turner is also required to register for life as a sex offender. Turner was arrested after two graduate students from Sweden yelled at him as he lay atop the motionless victim, whose dress was hiked above her waist, her underwear lying nearby. They tackled him when he tried to run and held him down until police arrived. In court, the victim read an emotional statement recounting the assault, her treatment by investigators and the ordeal of facing questions about her sexual activity and drinking habits. It quickly went viral. "Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney's questions that would be invasive, aggressive and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers," she wrote. "This was a game of strategy, as if I could be tricked out of my own worth." Persky declined to discuss the victim's letter or other details of the case because it's on appeal. Generally, he said California law requires him to take into account the victim's statement. Turner is appealing his jury conviction, arguing he didn't get a fair trial because character witnesses were barred from testifying about his honesty, scholastic success and his swimming career. Oral arguments are scheduled for June 28 in San Jose. Persky also declined to elaborate on his reasoning for Turner's sentence, which was widely criticized as too lenient. Stanford University law school professor Michele Dauber announced the creation of the recall campaign. Dauber is a friend of the victim's and was in the courtroom for Turner's sentencing. She's an outspoken on-campus activist who helped push through more stringent sexual harassment and abuse reporting and investigation policies. Dauber also is an adept Democratic fundraiser who has organized a well-financed recall campaign with glossy mailers juxtaposing photos of Persky with President Donald Trump and Turner's mug shot, garnering national support. "We feel it's important to respond strongly with a message of accountability for elected officials like Judge Persky who do not take sex crimes and violence against women seriously," Dauber said. "Many eyes around the country are going to be on Santa Clara County as a model for how to respond to bias against women in the legal system." Dauber said Persky's position takes a "dim view of judicial integrity" and that she has faith judges will continue to exercise their independence regardless of the outcome. The recall campaign has drawn outsize attention and money for a local race: Proponents have raised about $1.2 million, and the judge about half that much. "Recall Persky" signs dot the immaculate lawns of multimillion-dollar homes in Persky's Silicon Valley neighborhood, where the judge removed the numbers from the front of his house after a popular website published his address. Some former friends have told him they're voting for his recall. Persky grew up in an upper-middle-class home in San Francisco's leafy Lake Street neighborhood, the middle son of a psychiatrist father and a mother who taught French. He spent the first two years of high school at an exclusive East Coast boarding school before finishing closer to home at The Branson School in Marin County. He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in international relations at Stanford, then graduated from the University of California, Berkeley law school and took a job with the large law firm Morrison & Forrester, which sent him to Tokyo to work with Japanese clients. He took to the culture and took a year's leave to learn Japanese. In 1997, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office hired him as a prosecutor to handle cases ranging from drunken driving to sexually violent predators. Gov. Gray Davis appointed Persky to the bench a month before voters recalled Davis from office in October 2003 amid frustration over a poor economy and other problems in the state. A number of law school professors and retired judges have sided with Persky, including Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who called Turner's sentence too lenient but "lawful." Rosen agreed with Perksy that the recall threatens judges' willingness to make correct but unpopular rulings. "This value is more important than any outcome in any individual case," he said. ___ This story has been corrected to add a dropped "e'' in Michele Dauber's first name. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. UNITED NATIONS (AP) Kuwait is urging the Security Council to condemn Israel's use of force against Palestinian civilians "in the strongest terms," especially in the Gaza Strip, and to deploy an international force to protect civilians. A draft resolution by Kuwait, which is the Arab representative on the council, also demands that Israel "immediately cease its military reprisals, collective punishment and unlawful use of force against civilians, including in the Gaza Strip." The draft, obtained early Friday by The Associated Press, calls for "the full lifting of the blockade and the restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip," including immediately opening all crossing points for humanitarian aid, commercial goods and people to enter and leave. Kuwait's effort comes after the Security Council couldn't agree even on a statement about a confrontation in Gaza on Monday where Israeli troops killed nearly 60 Palestinians during mass border protests. It was the deadliest day of cross-border violence in Gaza since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian officials called it a massacre of protesters demonstrating against a decade-long blockade; Israel said it was defending its border against a militant-fueled mob. Kuwait had tried to get the council to issue a statement expressing outrage at the killings and seeking an independent investigation, among other things, but the U.S., Israel's closest ally, blocked it. At a Security Council meeting Tuesday, the U.N.'s top Mideast envoy Nikolay Mladenov said there was no justification for the killings a view echoed Friday by U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein. The Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council also voted 29-2 with 14 abstentions on Friday to condemn "the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians" and authorized a commission of inquiry to look into the deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza. Israel's Ambassador Danny Danon responded to the Kuwaiti draft resolution saying, "The cynicism and attempts to distort reality have reached a new low. Israel will continue to defend its sovereignty and the security of its citizens against the terror and murderous violence of Hamas." "This shameful draft resolution is a proposal to support Hamas' war crimes against Israel and the residents of Gaza who are being sent to die for the sake of preserving Hamas' rule," he said in a statement. The United States has defended Israel's actions in Gaza and will very likely veto the resolution if it's put to a vote. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Tuesday that Hamas had stirred the violence and Israel had shown "restraint." U.N. diplomats said Security Council experts are expected to meet Monday to discuss the draft. Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told The Associated Press on Friday that he hopes the United States doesn't veto the resolution and engages in negotiations. "What is happening is threatening international peace and security," he said. "So the Security Council has to shoulder its responsibility. If a party like the United States stops the Security Council from shouldering that responsibility, shame on them." "We will intensify the negotiations in the next few days," Mansour also said. "Hopefully we will act on it sometime next week." In the event of a U.S. veto, he said "we have other options" which he wouldn't specify. The resolution's supporters can always go to the General Assembly, whose resolutions reflect global opinion but are not legally binding. That route was taken in December when the 193-member world body voted overwhelmingly to denounce President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Kuwaiti draft resolution calls for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population, including through the deployment of "an international protection mission." That language is very similar to a Security Council resolution adopted in March 1994, soon after Israeli-American Baruch Goldstein walked into the Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron during Ramadan and killed 29 unarmed Palestinians and wounded at least 125 others. It called for "measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians throughout the occupied territory, including, inter alia, a temporary international or foreign presence." The draft resolution would also reaffirm the council's willingness to respond to armed conflict where civilians are being targeted or aid to civilians is being deliberately obstructed and says this could include considering "appropriate measures" U.N. language for sanctions. It expresses "grave concern at the escalation of violence and tensions and the deterioration of the situation" in Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, since March 30 and at the loss of civilian lives and high casualties. And it urges immediate and unimpeded aid to civilians in Gaza and "immediate and significant steps" to stabilize the situation on the ground. The draft calls for intensified efforts by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. envoy Mladenov to help deter violence, protect civilians, and create "an environment conducive to dialogue." ___ Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. NEW YORK (AP) A former Playboy centerfold involved in a custody battle apparently jumped with her 7-year-old son to their deaths from the 25th floor of a Manhattan hotel, law enforcement officials said Friday. Stephanie Adams and her son Vincent fell 23 floors and were found on a second-floor balcony at about 8:15 a.m. Friday in the rear courtyard of the Gotham Hotel. They had checked into the hotel's penthouse suite at about 6 p.m. Thursday, officials said, just hours after she told the New York Post that her husband and his lawyer were blocking her from taking her son away on vacation. "All I want to do is take my son and get away from this nightmare for a few days," the Post quoted Adams as saying. "But they won't let me." The law enforcement officials said the 46-year-old Adams, who first posed for Playboy in 1992, was involved in a custody dispute over Vincent with her estranged husband, a Manhattan chiropractor named Charles Nicolai. They said police had been called to their home several times in the past few months. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Nicolai's lawyer did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the case. A receptionist who answered the phone at Nicolai's office said he would not comment and was unreachable. Adams and Nicolai had been in "a very tough custody case," said Raoul Felder, a divorce lawyer who represented her for a time. The standoff was contentious enough that the former couple handed off their son to each other at a police precinct, an arrangement that's unusual but not unheard of, Felder said. Felder said he had been friends with Adams for 20 years but stopped representing her in the divorce case a couple of months ago. Recently, she had been hoping to go to Europe to be with a boyfriend there, and that had become an issue in the case, he said. Still, "she was never depressed while I knew her. She had certain problems, but depression wasn't one of them," Felder said. Felder recalled her as "sweet and ultra-polite" she always called him "Mr. Felder" despite their long friendship. She would sometimes stop by his office to say hello, bringing her son, who loved to play with a Superman statue in the office, Felder recalled. And she routinely sent him birthday cards, until his birthday passed this month without one. She also stayed in touch with Sanford Rubenstein, an attorney who represented her in a 2006 lawsuit against the police department, a taxi company and a cab driver. Her suit said that the driver falsely told police she had a gun and that police then assaulted her. Officers forced her to the ground, although they could see she didn't have a gun in her hand and there was nowhere she could have concealed one in her clothes, according to a judge's decision. A jury awarded her $1.2 million in city money, but the judge later reduced it to $373,000. Rubenstein said he knew she'd been dealing lately with a custody clash but would never have foreseen a suicide. "She was a vibrant woman, she had strong opinions, and she loved her kid," he said. "She loved that child. It's unexplainable." Adams was Playboy's "Miss November" centerfold in 1992. She appeared again in Playboy in 2003, and she had also worked with Elite Model Management. The New York Post profiled Adams in 2013, saying that she had by then written more than 25 self-help books, ran an online beauty products company called Goddessy Organics, and managed the finances in her husband's office. "The stereotypes are sexist and unfair," Adams told the Post in the 2013 profile. "Just because I look a certain way and have expensive tastes, it doesn't mean I'm shallow. Style and looks don't mean lack of brains, sweetheart!" Adams was also facing a lawsuit brought by a massage therapist who said she'd been fired from Nicolai's chiropractic office because Adams was jealous. Adams denied the claims. Court papers filed Friday show the massage therapist agreed this week to end the claims against Nicolai. Lawyers for Adams and Nicolai in that case declined to comment. The massage therapist's lawyer didn't immediately return a call. The Gotham Hotel is on 46th street, about four blocks from Grand Central Terminal. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is currently under federal investigation, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. All Children's Hospital under federal investigation Hospital cited for not disclosing serious medical errors The hospital was recently cited by a state agency for not disclosing two serious medical errors, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it will use a system called "quality assurance and performance improvement." Which is a comprehensive and data driven method to improve quality and safety. CMS plays an important part in this effort by working with the state survey agency (AHCA) to ensure providers are adhering to quality of service standards and outcomes to protect the health and safety of the facilitys patients, said a spokesperson. Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement is both anticipatory and retrospective in its efforts to identify how the organization is performing, including where and why the facility performance is at risk or has failed to meet standards. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Bay area law enforcement agencies are talking about their plans for the remainder of the school year after Friday's deadly shooting at a Texas high school. Increased law enforcement presence planned at many schools Polk County Schools ban backpacks for rest of year 10 killed in Santa Fe, Texas, school shooting Friday Ten people were killed and 10 more hurt in the Friday morning shooting at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area. A 17-year-old, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was taken into custody and charged with capital murder. In Polk County, the Sheriff's Office will station an armed officer at each public school beginning Monday. Also beginning Monday, no backpacks will be allowed for the remainder of the school year in Polk County Schools. Students may carry bags no larger than a small purse. Lunchboxes will still be permitted. "I am devastated and heartbroken by today's tragic news," Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd said of the Texas shooting. "Events such as these are reminders that we must always be vigilant in protecting our children. We can never let our guard down. The safety of our children is too precious." Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said there were no current threats at county schools but cited an "abundance of caution" for what will be an increased deputy presence. "We will have a heavy law enforcement presence near schools throughout Pasco County for the remainder of the school year," he said. Tampa Police have similar plans. Chief Brian Dugan said the department will increase security for the five days remaining in the school year. On Friday, Tampa Police, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and Hillsborough County Public Schools held discussions about what could be done to beef up security for the final days of the school year. "We're all on the same page," Dugan said. "While there are no threats to our schools, we've all agreed we're going to take a proactive approach." The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said there would be an increased law enforcement presence at schools starting Monday. "The shock and profound sadness of yet another school massacre only deepens and strengthens our resolve to do everything possible to protect our most precious resource," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. The county's school resource deputy program currently covers all middle schools and high schools, and half of the 80 elementary schools in our jurisdiction. Starting Monday, all elementary schools will be part of the security protocol. In Manatee County, a school spokesman said there is already an armed officer on each campus -- two at high schools. SANTA FE, Texas -- Ten people were killed and 10 hurt in a shooting at a Texas high school Friday morning, and explosive devices have been found, according to the governor. Texas Gov. Greg Abott said confirmed that students were among those killed and hurt at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area. "We grieve for the victims who lost their lives... and we pray for the families who are suffering," he said Friday afternoon. The suspect has been identified as 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis. He has been charged with capital murder. A judge denied bond for Pagourtzis in his first appearance in court Friday evening, via closed circuit video from Galveston County Jail. Pagourtzis did not enter a plea at the hearing, and the judge took his application for a court-appointed attorney. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that before 8 a.m. local time, there was an active shooter at the school. A source told CNN that nine students and a teacher were killed. Gonzalez said Pagourtzis was a student. Another person of interest had been detained. Abbott said the suspect was taken to the Santa Fe Police Department. He said the shooter had a shotgun and a .38 revolver, which he obtained from his father, who legally owned them. Abbott said investigators have found journals and material on computers and cell phones that indicated the shooter not only wanted to commit the shooting but wanted to commit suicide. Pagourtzis gave himself up instead, Abbott said. Not even a month ago, students at Santa Fe High School walked out of their classrooms to protest school shootings. A sign read, "Santa Fe High School SAYS #NeverAgain" Today, they were the victims of one. https://t.co/C2oFKvtFvl pic.twitter.com/6bTwqzyO6c CNN (@CNN) May 18, 2018 <_script charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> Two law enforcement officers were among the injured, a law enforcement official told CNN. Gonzalez said that a Santa Fe Independent School District officer had been injured, but their condition was unknown. Explosive devices were found at the high school and surrounding areas, according to Braun and the governor. Molotov coctails were among those devices, according to the governor. Braun urged people not to touch any suspicious items and to call 911. #UPDATE Possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. School has been evacuated. Call 911 if you see any suspicious item. #HouNews #SantaFeISD Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018 <_script charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> Gonzalez said the high school was being searched to make sure students are not still hiding. He didn't say what type of weapon the shooter used. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene. BREAKING: ATF is responding to a school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas. pic.twitter.com/LXC6d8jTYZ ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) May 18, 2018 <_script charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> A 16-year-old Santa Fe High sophomore told CNN that she was in geometry class when she heard a fire alarm. When students got outside, MaKenna Evans said a principal told them all to run. Evans said as she hid behind a building across the street, an aunt called to say there had been a shooting. Tenth-grader Dakato Shrader described the tense moments during and after the shooting. Shrader told AP she heard alarms at her school and then people yelling to run. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp; The Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet just after 10:30 a.m. CT that it was "no longer an active shooting situation and the injured are being treated." We are assisting @SantaFeISD with a multiple-casualty incident at Santa Fe High School. This is no longer an active shooting situation and the injured are being treated. #hounews pic.twitter.com/m7Wuauk9jk HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) May 18, 2018 <_script charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> A spokesman for the University of Texas Medical Branch told CNN that patients from Santa Fe High were en route to their medical facility in Galveston. Officials with the Santa Fe Independent School District said classes at its schools would be canceled through at least Tuesday, with no plan yet for resuming classes. Florida officials 'devastated' Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said his heart goes out to the victims' loved ones and thinks something needs to be done. "Of course, being a parent and a grandparent, it flashes through your mind, 'Here we go -- another set of parents and grandparents kiss their child goodbye, not knowing they would never seen them again,' " Chitwood said. "(They) should be the safest place on Earth, our schools and places of worship, and that's been taken away from us." Chitwood says he thinks every school must place an armed person on campus. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement: "My wife, Ann, and I are devastated to learn of the tragic school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas today. I just spoke to Texas Governor Greg Abbott and offered any assistance or support they may need in response to this horrific act of violence against innocent students, teachers and law enforcement. As we continue to mourn the loss we experienced in Florida on February 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, we unfortunately know the enormity of the grief they are experiencing and our hearts are broken over this senseless tragedy." &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp; Three hundred and seventy five students graduated Friday from Boca Ciega High School. Among them was one student who's lucky to even be alive to graduate. Pinellas student shot in 2013 beats odds, graduates high school Quade Everett shot in head, shoulder by St. Pete officer Everett was expected to be in a vegetative state Everett now able to walk, talk, and graduated HS It's taken Quade Everett, 22, five years to earn his diploma. In 2013, a rookie St. Petersburg police officer shot him in the head and shoulder, suspecting he had stolen a truck. Officer Brian Fernandez was later fired for what the then-interim Chief called a "bad decision." Doctors said if Everett survived the shooting, he'd be in a vegetative state--unable to walk or talk. Not only did he beat those odds, he was able to learn and study and finish school. "He still has a bullet in his head. He still has seizures, but I can tell that this kid is amazing," Everett's mother Laquanda said. On Friday, Everett was able to walk on his own across the stage to receive his diploma. "The only thing that went through my mind is that I got shot and I still beat the odds," Everett said. "He needed to prove everyone wrong," Laquanda said, "because as an African-American man they do not expect us to reach the heights that we reach. And today, I said, Quade, you're the message. You're the message for every African-American, for the Browns, for the Martins, for all the ones who fell to gun violence by the hand of people that we're supposed to trust. You have proven them wrong." Everett now wants to build a novelty t-shirt business with the hopes of going to college soon. "My message is don't give up. You've got hurdles, just leap them and keep working, and keep your mind on the prize," he said. What is Beneath N. Oregon Coast's Seaside? Trippy Geologic Answer Published 05/18/2018 at 5:25 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff (Seaside, Oregon) Have you ever looked around the north Oregon coast town of Seaside and wondered: what on Earth is beneath you? What is under all that sand? The answer is a little mind-boggling, especially when compared to other beaches along the Oregon coast. Theres a lot. All that sand goes really, really deep before theres anything solid. Tom Horning, the famed geologist every coastal tourism official loves to have around, provided the trippy answer. Theres about 150 feet of sand before you get to solid Earth. Contrast that with Cannon Beach, Horning said, where the sand is only about three feet above the hard rock surface. Other spots around the Oregon coast can show their bedrock fairly often albeit briefly when winter storms scour out sand levels. They pop up at Newport, Pacific City and even parts of Lincoln City at times. At Seaside, however, youll never get to see bedrock. Horning said there are dunes rising up just above sea level. After that things get really down and dirty. Literally. Then beach sands for 20 feet, then silty offshore sands down several dozen more feet, Horning said. Depending on where you are, these young sediments go down to nearly 100 feet below sea level. If you want to see what Seaside looks like underneath, head to Cannon Beach. He pointed to bedrock and cliffs with layers stretching across that tell all sorts of geologic tales, even providing this picture. The end of the Ice Age meant a huge rise in sea levels around here, where the beaches were probably a few miles west from where they are now. Then, somewhere after 10,000 years ago, the ice melted and the seas rose, swallowing up old formations and random stuff they left behind, like gravel from creeks. Probably, those sediments at 125 below sea level include creek gravels laid down in streams before rising sea level flooded the coastal plain in this area, roughly 7000 years ago, Horning said. Under all these young sediments, it is good old mudstone of the Astoria Formation, what makes up the hills around Cannon Beach. Horning provided a graphic spotlighting the Gearhart area, but its largely the same as Seaside. In it, you see layers of plants, fossils and crumbled bits of basalt. The Astoria Formation is like the ground floor of most Oregon coast beaches. Not like most of the headlands such as Tillamook Head or Neahkahnie, which are made of basalt (former lava flows), the Astoria Formation is softer. Sometime around 18 million years ago or so, a massive area along what would eventually become the northwest United States had already been carved out by various kinds of erosion. About then, it started filling back up with other rock debris, primarily sandstone and similar materials. It was all underwater or around the tideline, and it formed a layer of sandstone and mudstone that was eventually named the Astoria Formation, running from the central Oregon coast up to the north coast. It's part of a massive underlying structure. This is softer stuff and gray, not black like basalt. It was actually a kind of fill-in mish mash of a variety of materials, much of it coming from eroded basalt from around Oregon, including the Gorge and other sources. Thats what youre walking when you see bedrock during the winter at Hug Point or Arch Cape. Its the same stuff lying 150 feet below Seaside. Lots of fossils are embedded in these mudstones and sandstones, which can be seen at Hug Point and especially Newports Moolack Beach in winter. When sand levels drop like this, it makes you a kind of time traveler. Seaside Hotels in these areas - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. For Immediate Release, May 17, 2018 Contact: Lori Ann Burd, (971) 717-6405, laburd@biologicaldiversity.org Farm Bill Would Allow Widespread Killing of Endangered Species Via Pesticides Unprecedented Attack on Endangered Species Act Is Broadest in 45 Years WASHINGTON The newest version of the 2018 Farm Bill, set for a vote on Friday, includes an unprecedented provision allowing the widespread killing of endangered plants and animals with pesticides. The bill launches the broadest attack on the Endangered Species Act in 45 years, eliminating the requirement that federal agencies analyze pesticides harm to the nations 1,800 protected species before approving them, greatly increasing the risk of extinctions. House Republicans are putting salmon, killer whales and other wildlife on the fast track to extinction, said Lori Ann Burd, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys environmental health program. This is a stunning gift to the pesticide industry, with staggering implications for endangered species. Earlier this year the National Marine Fisheries Service released a biological opinion showing that three widely used insecticides chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon are putting killer whales and 37 different salmon and sturgeon species on a path to extinction. In response the pesticide industry has sought to exempt pesticides completely from the Endangered Species Act. During this session of Congress, the pesticide industry has spent more than $43 million on congressional lobbying to achieve that goal. In addition to the attacks on endangered species, H.R. 2 weakens Clean Water Act protections from pesticides, includes a sweeping provision that would gut protections for forests, and has 46 different provisions that would curtail public input and common-sense protections provided by the National Environmental Policy Act. Late additions to the legislation would also roll back virtually all protections for old-growth forests in Alaska. This farm bill should be called the Extinction Act of 2018, said Burd. If it becomes law, this bill will be remembered for generations to come as the one that drove the final nail in the coffin of some of Americas most vulnerable species. For Immediate Release, May 18, 2018 Contact: Jessica Herrera, (520) 260-1725, jherrera@biologicaldiversity.org Arizona Partnership Launched to Protect Reproductive Rights, Planet PHOENIX The Center for Biological Diversity and Planned Parenthood of Arizona joined forces this month to host joint community forums across the state. At the four events, expert panels, local elected officials and community members discussed how educating and empowering people protects the planet, including what Arizona communities can do to defend reproductive rights. Access to reproductive healthcare should be a universal human right, said Dr. Catherine Thomasson, senior population campaigner at the Center. Its also an essential tool in curbing human population growth to save room for the wildlife sharing the planet with us. We need to draw that connection and, more important, protect access to affordable contraception, starting right here in the United States. The events in Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott and Somerton mark the beginning of a new partnership between the organizations and featured state senator Lisa Otondo and state representative Isela Blanc. Together Planned Parenthood of Arizona and the Center will work to unite supporters of both causes for common goals such as defending comprehensive sex education, protecting federal funding for reproductive healthcare and maintaining the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act without co-pays. All three of these priorities of the new partnership have been shown to reduce unplanned pregnancies. Its no coincidence that the same politicians who have low regard for reproductive freedom are among the first to sell off the environment and the future of our planet, said Jamie Aragon, community partnerships manager at Planned Parenthood of Arizona. Oppression of people and nature often go hand-in-hand, which is why we must work together to protect our communities and the environment. Over the past 50 years, human population has doubled, while wildlife populations have been cut in half. Preventing unintended pregnancies can reduce the pressure human population puts on endangered species and fight the catastrophic effects of climate change. But nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned. At the same time, reproductive freedom faces unprecedented attacks at the federal and state level. If we want to solve the most pressing issues our communities face, from climate change to immigrant rights, we must work in partnership and solidarity, said Regina Romero, Tucson city councilwoman and the Centers director of Latino engagement. Empowering people will help us build a stronger, more united movement. 10 Years of Polar Bear Protection This week marks 10 years since the Center's historic Endangered Species Act petition to protect polar bears from climate change was heeded a groundbreaking move both for the bears and for legal strategy in the fight to stave off the most catastrophic effects of global warming. These iconic animals were also granted 120 million acres of protected "critical habitat," the largest designation in history. Yet a political move to exempt greenhouse gas emissions from regulation under the Act a rule enacted by President George W. Bush and perpetuated by President Barack Obama has kept the most important threat to the bears from being tackled. "Polar bears need our help," says our Climate Law Institute Director Kassie Siegel, who authored the petition. "To save them we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and move far more quickly to decarbonize. By the 20th anniversary it will be too late." Learn about our pioneering work to save polar bears. Africa is a hot bed of opportunities. If you look for that opportunity you will find it, says Robyn de Villiers, vice chair of the African Public Relations Association (APRA) and chair and CEO of Burson Cohn & Wolfe Africa. Robyn de Villiers, chair and CEO of Burson Cohn & Wolfe Africa. I do think Africa is the next wave, the place to move to if you are looking to open up a new consumer market. In any emerging markets there are always going to be some things that make doing business more difficult we dont make it easy to do business in Africa, in terms of visa regulations from other countries, so Africans are struggling to get in and out of each others countries. It doesnt make sense. Product distribution in a developing market is subject to infrastructure challenges. There are different languages and different religions, so there is the need to be culturally sensitive. Not everything translates well. Do not assume that the way you do things elsewhere will work in one part of Africa to another. De Villiers chaired a panel discussion on ethics and reputation management at the recent APRA conference in Botswana. A survey undertaken by APRA measured what companies and communicators were thinking about ethics from a personal, organisational and government point of view.There isnt a low level of ethics in Africa at all. There are always things we have to be looking at when working in Africa, we have global standards to adhere to with multi-national companies, but Ive been working in Africa for a long time and dodgy dealings are not the norm. Often misunderstandings arise due to miscommunication, so context is always important about how things are done.De Villiers has been working in Africa for 25 years, travelling to 38 countries, by her recent account. I love working in Africa, and in 25 years, I cant think of a single bad experience. Ive probably been to 38 different countries in Africa and every single place Ive been to, it has been fantastic.From a personal point of view, Ive never had any prejudice or a bad experience. I think it is about how you go in. There are many places in Africa that they dont like Americans and South Africans as we are considered arrogant.But she believes it is about going in to Africa and having some to give, to share, rather than just taking. We are delivering training to our partners on the ground. And our point of departure is that everything that can be done in the country, must be done in that country.De Villiers agrees that this is a very exciting time to work and live in Africa. We have a young exciting population, new innovations coming the fore, the population is enormous an obvious market. There are great discrepancies from an economic level, but the world is looking for good markets as markets in other parts of the world are stagnating. I do think Africa is the next wave, the place to move to if you are looking to open up a new consumer market, even to find young people with potential.There are challenges of course, as she outlines:Africa is a complex continent which makes it more challenging to achieve things, but the potential is there, says De Villiers.What we need to get right, is for the regions in Africa to work together. East Africa is probably the more successful in regional integration. SADC is there, but were not doing that well together. If we want to do better as a continent, we need to have regional integration.She also believes that part of the problem is that we dont tell Africas story properly.We allow other people to tell our story. In Africa we dont have a strong African media outlet. We need to come up with a communications concept that Africa will buy into across the board, so more CEOs will tell the African story. Wunderman SA has appointed digital marketing specialist, media personality and business strategist, Astrid Ascar, as the global digital agency's chief strategic officer. With close on 30 years' experience, Astrids career has been entirely devoted to the media industry spanning radio, television, print, mobile and digital channels. With a key focus on strategic thinking, product and business development, content creation and communications, her hands-on experience and extensive skill-set extends to all aspects of the media and digital marketing sphere, befitting of her new position.Astrid tells us: Joining the Wunderman SA family is an incredible opportunity. I truly believe that globally, agencies are under pressure to revisit their ways of thinking and servicing clients, and their business models. Clients have matured. They have a far better idea of what theyre looking for and have been exposed to different ways of thinking over the years, so the pressure is on to help them embrace digital transformation and build customer experiences that build loyalty and drive retention.Having spent the last nine years of her career working closely alongside clients as an independent media, marketing and content consultant offering strategic advice and training to corporates, SMEs and agencies across the continent, Astrid believes she is equipped to bring a business impact mindset to how clients are serviced: Theres a need to expand the perception of what were capable of doing. Thats what I hope to bring to Wunderman SA.Haydn Townsend, Wunderman SA Group CEO, is proud to welcome Astrid on board and believes her vast digital and media experience enables her to share great insight and expertise: Astrid has an incredible understanding of the ever-changing media and digital marketing landscape, and has a brilliant ability to devise strategies to assist with adapting to such changes.Boasting a remarkable business acumen and media skill-set Astrid began her career as a radio journalist before transitioning to television as a presenter and producer. It was here she made her mark, breaking away from traditional television business models to co-launch South Africas first ever business-dedicated television channel, Summit TV, in the late 90s (now known as BDTV), and a few years later The Home Channel.Other companies that have contributed to her significant career experience include Naspers, MultiChoice, M-Net, CNBC Africa, DStv, Highveld and the SABC.In addition to her love for strategy, she is particularly passionate about training and education, and is committed to contributing to the Wunderman Academy, Wunderman SAs training facility for employees and clients. A lot of my consultancy work included training and running workshops, not just about marketing, crisis communications or media, but also key messaging, media interviews and presentation skills, she explains.Sitting at a Group level in her new role, Astrid is dedicated to positioning Wunderman SA as a full-service digital partner for clients, one that understands their business challenges and ROI pressures, and appreciates what they need to do to ensure growth and sustainability in the business landscape of the future. A firm believer that everything the digital agency does must have a strategic underpinning rooted in research and data, she upholds the Wunderman mantra, "Creatively Driven, Data Inspired".Our work as marketers is no longer just about producing fantastic creative or ads; we have to work closely alongside clients to understand all kinds of marketing tactics and all types of data. Just reporting that data isnt good enough - we now need to know how to analyse it so that we can share true business insights with our clients."Theres a holy grail everyone is working towards and wants to achieve, but its impossible to do that without a strategic focus on data, what it reveals and how it relates back to our clients various business operations, she concludes.An honours graduate from Witwatersrand University, Astrid also holds an MBA from Henley Management College in the UK. This job expired on 24 May 2018. Ecstasy Roots Band is gearing to mesmerise jazz enthusiasts with their live session on June 2 at Thapong Visual Arts in Gaborones village suburb where theyll also be launching their album, Zambezi. Ecstasy Roots Band leader Siyabonga Ophias explains that they always aim at treating people to the level best of their smooth jazz ensemble. Since the group was formed in 2015 they try by all means to interact with other inspirational artistes in smooth jazz, to shape their art and learn from others as well as share ideas. We have had interactions and sessions with the likes of Bookie Dewitt (France), Toddle Wayne and the late Sam Mtukuzi to mention a few and that just embraces the defined texture that we boast of, said Ophius. The event is opportune since it happens just a few days away from the Jazz Fair Preview. The brand new album to be launched is called Zambezi. Ophius says it is a full package for the Jazz enthusiasts. He maintains that Jazz is a type of music that touches both the mind and the soul; therefore the album has just the right dose. Their experience sets them apart and they consider themselves an international jazz band as they part-own an exquisite studio in Namibia, where they produced Zambezi album. Ophius says they try by all means to stay true to the Jazz genre, elevate it and preserve it for future generations as well as groom young Jazz artistes. Tickets for the launch can be purchased at Number One Ladies Coffee Bar at Thapong Visual Arts Centre for P100.00 for the elderly and P50.00 for kids. Tha Bang has always been visually talented, and used his fingers to create magic on a canvas. His first brush with a canvas was when he worked as a visual artist. One day, he realised that his brushes were not allowing him to express himself and create the sort of magic that he wanted. He then veered off that path and embarked on his current love that sees him using the human face as his canvas. Born Botshelo Thabang Mochotlhi, Tha Bang is a make-up artist and is also into editorial photo shoots, and fashion shows. His journey he tells BG Style began two and half years ago. It has been an exhilarating journey he tells this publication. I was just a painter, and it was boring as I couldnt execute what I wanted to do on canvas. So the human canvas is ideal for what I want to do, he narrates his humble journey. He explains that in the years since he started this journey, he has reached a certain level, and is looking forward to other exciting opportunities that lie ahead. Amongst the clients that he has worked with, he counts Obonye Malope who is the Director-Marketing & Communications for First National Bank Botswana (FNBB), Nature Inger who walked off with the title for World Supermodel in 2014, as well as Thata Kenosi (Miss Botswana 2016), and many others. Besides these clients, he has also worked on the 2017 Masa Fashion show, Heart of the City carnival, and is not looking back. One of his highlights he says was working with Kenosi when she was preparing for the Miss World journey. He worked with photographer, Raaes Abdul, and Kenosi was wearing an outfit by IZaura. The shoot was a success and it went on to be featured on Vogue (online). His next plan right now is to see his works being featured on Vogue (the main one). When that day comes, he will know that he has achieved one of his many dreams. Currently, he is working with Petra Rolinec a photographer on a number of shoots, and they are eyeing the opportunity to sell the projects to international publications that include Vogue and Papercut. So far, they have worked with local personalities including Mpho Sebina, Inger on the yet to be released shoots, and are also looking for more projects. He is also dreaming about working with international producer, Jan Malan of Umzingeli Productions on one of his big projects. Malan has staged high profile productions in 20 countries over four continents. He is the go to person when it comes to the world of fashion, and its production. Besides his passion with make-up, he doubles as a model, and works with his friend, Cynthia Mothelesi of Happy Soul Adventures as the face of the company, as well as working with Gwen Lebo Isaacs. So in terms of make-up and the no rules, what are his observations regarding the locals? He says that people need to always remember that make-up needs time, and that this will eliminate instances where people just pile up everything. His big advice is to brush-up eyebrows, and apply foundation. Dont doubt yourself, we all started somewhere, and you will get better with time, he explains. He says that one of the must-haves when it comes to make-up is a concealer as it can hide a few spots. Hydrating the skin is also important, he says. Tha Bang also notes that it is vital for one to know their skin type. This he says will help them to choose the right products for their skin. It will prevent one from buying the wrong foundation for instance for their skin, he advices. He says that one can identify their skin type by looking at what he calls the T-Zone during the day, and see whether it is dry or oily. With winter already here, he says that it is crucial for one to keep their skin hydrated. His make up essentials for women, he says, is red lipstick (which shows that one is confident, and also draws focus on the lips) as well as Mascara, which can open your eyes and make your eyes. A bit of eyeliner is also a must have, he says. His next project right now is holding a master class for men on the art of make-up. He says that there is a niche for this market as men are interested in make-up but are afraid to try it out. There is a big market out there of men who are interested in make-up, but they are afraid, he explains. He also says that men can use make-up to hide spots to mention a few. There is a way that they can apply make-up discreetly, he points out. Tha Bangs fast total coverage 1. Lightly apply a Mac studio fix foundation (just a few strokes will do 2. Then apply a blot powder just to set the foundation 3. Spray setting mist fix, to give it that velvet finish Local travel agency, Happy Soul Adventures is changing the way tourists and locals get to experience Botswana. The company gives those wanting to see a different side of their city and surrounding areas a fresh concept that leaves them feeling rejuvenated and looking forward to their next adventure. The brain behind this extraordinary concept is none other than Cynthia Mothelesi. Mothelesi has a background in Public Relations and Marketing, and she was with Botswana Tourism Organisation for seven years. During her time at BTO, she realised the potential Batswana have. She also realised that for one to start something, one does not need to have a lot except passion. At BTO she noticed a gap in the market for adventure lovers who seek to experience Botswana through the eyes of a local, and so Happy Soul Adventures was born. The company is all about giving clients a people based experience. Happy Soul Adventures is targeting travellers interested not in safari tours, or fancy places, but those into getting a whole new experience. Happy Soul Adventures clients get to cycle, and explore the country on a bicycle, something that is still new locally. Other services that her company provides include photography as well as Art lessons. Mothelesi tells BG Style that she takes her clients to places such as the Main Mall, a local Chesa Nyama, local pubs and bars such as B6 in Mochudi and United Cafe lounge, and surrounding villages where they get to unwind, and breathe in fresh air while taking in the sounds and sights of the area. Already, she has set Instagram alight with some of the adventures in areas like Notwane, Manyana, Mogobane, and Livingstone Kolobeng. She also takes her clients to Thapong Visual Arts Centre to see local artists in action and then takes them for sundowners at the Yacht Club. What makes this even more exciting is that the clients experience this new lifestyle riding a bicycle. We dont just cycle, we cycle, and will stop somewhere to have snacks and relax, she explains. Most people lead busy lives nowadays hence Mothelesi offers an experience that affords them a chance to relax, and take in the sounds in a relaxed atmosphere. To date, she has hosted clients from as far afield as Canada, United Kingdom and a young couple from South Africa who were taking their maiden visit to Gaborone. She is also hosting clients from Belgium this week. The young couple from South Africa was blown away by everything. They had so much fun, and they bought hot dogs from a local seller, she explains adding that her business is also about benefiting the businessman on the ground. Wherever we go I make sure that the tourists buy something from them it can be traditional food, or crafts. This way I know that the money goes directly to them, she says. Through the company she wishes to dispel the myth that tourism is for certain groups of people or those who have money. She also specialises in special requests. For example, she recently hosted a couple from Mochudi who wanted to enjoy a day out in the sun to celebrate the lasss birthday. The couple didnt have a car, and travelled by bus from Mochudi. She picked them in Gaborone and took them to Notwane, where they got to take pictures. It was such a cool experience, she explains. The cost for an experience like this is just P200, and it includes snacks, and the use of a bicycle. Her services are also family orientated in consideation of the fact that parents also want to take their children along. Our bicycles are quacky and colourful. We want people to relax and enjoy themselves, she says. She is currently busy working on a city map that is focused on people based tourism. The map will have information about places such as Oodi Weavers, and will show people where they can go for unique experiences. The tours happen on Friday afternoons, Saturday and Sunday (morning & noon). One tour can host up to ten people, and she is growing it to take 13. She is in the process of helping out the Oodi Weavers as part of her Corporate Social Responsibility. She got her motivation after she was engaged by DeBeers to work with the Thamaga Pottery as Project Manager and she realised that there are many Batswana who are doing amazing things out there. I gained knowledge from the Thamaga project, she says. For enquiries email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call: 71891937. BEIJING (PTI): China on Thursday launched its first privately developed rocket which travels 5.7 times faster than the speed of sound, marking an important milestone in the country's aerospace sector. "Chongqing Liangjiang Star," which was launched on Thursday morning was developed by OneSpace, a Beijing-based private company with a manufacturing base in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. The nine-meter-long, 7,200-kg rocket has a maximum altitude of 38.742 km and a top speed of more than 5.7 times the speed of sound, said Shu Chang, founder and CEO of OneSpace. Powered by a solid fuel engine developed by OneSpace, the rocket can travel for around 5 minutes, or 273 kms and its control system can be customised to meet customer demands, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Shu as saying. The rocket is also equipped with wireless communication devices and low-cost energy sources which allow the design of rocket systems to be simplified, according to Shu. "This is the first commercial rocket developed by our company," he said. OneSpace, a Chinese start-up is one of several firms vying for a slice of the global space industry, estimated to be worth about USD 339 billion by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. US firms SpaceX and Blue Origin dominate the sector at present. The Chinese rocket was launched for OneSpace's customer Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute under Aviation Industry Corporation of China Ltd. In 2014, China issued a series of guidelines allowing private capital to enter into several key fields, including commercial aerospace exploration. Established in August 2015, OneSpace is China's first private company with a license to develop carrier rockets. The company has two rocket series, the OS-X and the OS-M. The former offers aerospace services for scientific research while the later will be used to launch small satellites. "Our focus is on the small satellite market," said Shu, adding that many countries have a demand for satellite launches, but few are capable of making rockets. "Commercial rockets are relatively more efficient and cheaper. We see great potential," he said. Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. Photo: Indian Navy KOLKATA (PTI): A refuelling barge specially designed for carrying fuel mid-sea to Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya was launched here on Thursday. The privately built fuel barge with a capacity of 1000 tonnes was launched about 10 days ahead of schedule, Vice Admiral M S Pawar, Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command, said at a ceremony at Titagarh Shipyard on the banks of Hooghly river. "This is the first time in the history of Indian Navy that one of its ships had a sideways launch," Pawar said as the barge slid sideways down the ramp into the river. The fuel barge will depart for Mumbai dockyard of Indian Navy for delivery following various trials of machinery and speed, J P Chowdhury, chairman of Titagarh Wagons Limited (TWL) that manufactured the specialised vessel, said. "Fuel Barge 14 has been specially designed for carrying fuel mid-sea to INS Vikramaditya, Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier," Chowdhury said. "It may be a small step in warship building activity in the country, but it is a giant leap for private ship building in India for the Indian Navy," Vice Admiral Pawar said. He said that the barge has collapsible masts to cope with the huge overhangs of an aircraft carrier. The availability of the fuel barge would mean that it can carry fuel for the huge aircraft carrier as well as for the warplanes on it at an anchorage away from the Mumbai port, a senior Navy official said. The construction of the barge had started on May 9, 2017, TWL sources said. "TWL is building another 1000 tonne fuel barge for the Navy, which is scheduled to be launched in July 2018," Chowdhury said. Two other vessels would also be built by TWL thereafter at the Titagarh Shipyard for Ministry of Earth Sciences for research and exploration purposes, he said. HOLLAND >> For the third time in as many months the Northampton Township Board of Supervisors on Wednesday cancelled a meeting on land development plans for a Super Wawa in Holland. The latest cancellation happened just hours before the meeting was scheduled to be held at the township building. A message posted on the townships website announced the cancellation: At the... The Medical Society of the State of New York has awarded Nancy Nielsen its highest honor Nielsen took a nontraditional career path, beginning medical school at UB when her youngest child was two months old The Medical Society cited her "long-standing interest in ethics and the experience of being uninsured" as leading her to be a forceful advocate for the uninsured. BUFFALO, N.Y. Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, has received the Henry I. Fineberg Award for Distinguished Service from the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY). The award is the organizations highest honor. It recognizes physicians in New York State who have been model citizens and notable representatives of the profession and who have proved long-term, illustrious service to medicine and the MSSNY. Nielsen received the award at the MSSNY annual meeting in Buffalo in March. In remarks delivered at the award ceremony, attended by all five of Nielsens children, it was noted that she has led a non-traditional career. A West Virginia native, Nielsen came to Buffalo when she was 25 to chair the Department of Biology at DYouville College. With a PhD in microbiology, which she earned at Catholic University, she was then recruited to UB to develop a masters program in microbiology while doing her own postdoctoral fellowship in clinical microbiology. Having always wanted to be a physician, she then enrolled in the Jacobs School at the age of 29, shortly after giving birth to her fifth child. While doing her residency in internal medicine at UB, she was named chief resident at Buffalo General Medical Center, the first woman to be selected for that position. After establishing a busy private practice in internal medicine, Nielsen continued to pursue her interest in medical ethics, participating in the New York State Department of Health Board of Professional Medical Conduct. She became the first physician to head its regional office in Buffalo. Her next position was dean for medical education in the Jacobs School. Nielsen was president of the American Medical Association (AMA) from 2008-09, the second woman ever elected to that position. She served as president of the Erie County Medical Society and Speaker of the House of Delegates for both the MSSNY and the AMA, becoming in many cases the first woman to hold these and other positions. In 2009, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of medicines highest honors. The MSSNY cited her long-standing interest in ethics and the experience of being uninsured as leading her to be a forceful advocate for the uninsured. She served as a spokesperson for the AMAs Voice for the Uninsured campaign. From 2011-13, she was senior advisor for stakeholder engagement at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. In 2013, Nielsen returned to Buffalo and the Jacobs School to serve as senior associate dean for health policy, the position she currently holds. She also co-chaired the Campaign Steering Committee for the new home of the Jacobs School, which opened in December 2017. The course is held at the Saint-Gobain Technical Academy in East Leake, Nottinghamshire, and is aimed at specifiers and housebuilders. During the one-day course, delegates will learn the theory, regulations and practice of building airtightness and moisture management. Isover will also explain how smart membranes can enhance the moisture safety of buildings, and provide an overview and installation demonstration of its new Vario XtraSafe system. Jol Berg, Head of Technical at Isover, said: As UK properties have become better insulated and more airtight to improve thermal efficiency, moisture management has risen as a key area of concern especially in the timber frame sector. With this in mind we decided to design a course to educate the industry about airtightness and moisture management, to guide specifiers and building designers on how to design airtight buildings with effective moisture management for long lasting buildings, with good indoor air quality. We have also launched our Vario XtraSafe system, which represents one of the most innovative airtightness and moisture management systems on the market. This smart membrane is able to adapt naturally to the relative humidity in a structure, allowing the system to act as a vapour control layer in winter and a breathable membrane in summer. This will allow the building structure to dry out to the inside of the building and helps prevent the accumulation of damaging moisture. The course has received positive feedback. Keith Lane, SAP Assessor at HIPCEA, said: The trainers on the air tightness and moisture management course were extremely knowledgeable, which meant that all of the content delivered around the issues and solutions was very informative. It certainly helped me to consolidate my understanding of the issues. Earlier this month New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman resigned from office after four women who had been romantically involved with him accused him of physical assault. The women said that Schneiderman used to slap them hard across the face, choke them and call them demeaning names. In the age of #MeToo this was yet another instance of a man with power and influence being held to account for his abuse and exploitation of women. However, Schneidermans unmasking stands out amidst that of other mighty men. The man who assaulted women with whom he had a relationship ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor IHH, which first entered India in 2002, is expanding its footprint through inorganic route and is now in the fray to acquire Fortis Healthcare. On Friday, the hospital chain said it is committed to participate in bid for Fortis and extended the validity of its offer by a fortnight till May 29. We have already done three deals in India and there are more in the pipeline. ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The on Friday allowed Karti Chidambaram, son of senior leader P. Chidambaram, to travel abroad subject to certain conditions. A bench of Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud allowed Karti Chidambram's plea to travel to the UK, and from May 19 to 27 but said that "Karti shall not open or close any overseas bank account and not enter into any property transaction abroad". Karti is facing probes by the and the in several cases, including alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to then INX Media for FDI in 2007 and the Aircel-Maxis case in 2006 and a money laundering case. Karti was also asked to furnish an undertaking before the court that he would follow the conditions and inform about his flight details and the date of return to The court said Karti would cooperate in the investigation and hand over his passport to the on his return. The bench made it clear that the apex court's permission to allow Karti to travel abroad should not be used in any court of law for grant of statutory and regular bail in any other case. On November 2016, Prime Minister launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Gramin with the aim to build 10.2 million houses in rural areas by March 2019. The target was split equally between 2017-18 and 2018-19. This was meant to be the crowning glory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments efforts to provide housing for Indias rural poor. However, data from the Ministry of Rural Development suggest that the schemes performance has been less than stellar. In 2017-18 it had a success rate of 57.5 per cent. As opposed to the target of 5.1 million houses, the government was able to complete 2.93 million houses under PMAY (G). The same year it also completed another half a million houses which had been pending under the erstwhile Indira Aawas Yojana (IAY). If both are clubbed together (3.4 million), then the governments success rate in rural housing schemes rises from 57.5 per cent to 68.6 per cent. There is no doubt that the speed of construction of houses has picked up in rural areas:About 1.6 million houses were constructed in 2014-15, 1.8 million in 2015-16 and 3.2 million in 2016-17. A total of 3.4 million houses were completed in 2017-18. Right now the challenge before the government is to double the speed of construction in order to complete the remaining 6.6 million houses before March 2019. To achieve this target, the Centre has to nudge states such as Assam and Bihar, which have been lagging behind in implementing the scheme. The government seems to be confident of achieving the target before the deadline.The target of completing one crore PMAY (G) houses by March, 2019, is easily achievable as it is expected that 60 lakh (six million) houses where the first instalment has already been released and work is in progress, will get completed by June 30, 2018. The effort of the department is to try and complete one crore houses by Dec 31, 2018, even though the target is March 3, 2019, the Ministry of Rural Development said. In 2015 the Prime Minister had also launched a scheme called Housing for All by 2022 for those living in urban areas. Also known as the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana Urban, this scheme is projected to build 12 million houses by 2022. However, the progress of PMAY (U) has been slow. According to available data, only about 10 per cent of the projected number of houses have been completed. Of the 4.65 million houses which were to be built, 350,000 were completed till March 22, 2018. The government claims that it has built an additional 170,000 houses that were pending under the erstwhile Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. Noting the PMAYs below par performance, a parliamentary oversight committee stated in a report: With regard to financial performance, it is observed that out of a total project cost of Rs 2.04 lakh crore (Rs 2.04 trillion) and total central share of Rs 57,699 crore (Rs 576.99 billion), as low as Rs 26,162 crore (Rs 261.2 billion) have been sanctioned for release. The Committee are, hence, constrained to note that all is not well with the implementation of the scheme and the progress of PMAY has been disappointing. However, officials in the government said the committees conclusions are unfair as it takes around 18 to 24 months to complete a house. The scheme picked up momentum post October 2016 following tendering activities, they pointed out, adding that the Centre has already set up a National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) to raise Rs 600 billion over four years to finance the scheme. The success of the housing schemes depends largely on how active the states and urban local bodies are. The Union government provides the funds and they are spent by the states and urban local bodies. Some states are active and some may not be very enthusiastic about it because of political reasons, said M. Ramachandran, former urban development secretary. The scheme was in preparatory stage in 2015-16 and the actual work started in 2017-18. Now that the states and cities are all geared up, implementation should gain momentum now, he added. The parliamentary committee has also expressed its displeasure over two other urban schemes and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). It said the government failed to spend and execute projects even though three years have passed since the schemes were launched on June 25, 2015. The has had a fund utilisation of less than two per cent. Of the Rs 99.43 billion sanctioned for this scheme, only Rs 1.82 billion has been spent so far. Under this programme, the government aims to either redevelop at least 50 acres or retrofit 500 acres or build a new project over 250 acres in a city. Rs 480 billion has been committed for 100 smart cities over a period of five years. Similarly, fund utilisation under AMRUT through which the government aims to provide water, sewerage and drainage facilities to a select 500 cities was 28.74 per cent. Among the two schemes, AMRUT has been allocated Rs 124.47 billion out of which only Rs 24.80 billion has been spent so far. However, the authorities feel that it is premature to say that these schemes have not made much headway. Jagan Shah, director of National Institute of Urban Affairs, and one who has been closely associated with the Smart Cities Mission, said, A large number of projects are in the pipeline. The final judgment should be passed on the mission only when it completes five years. No doubt, the final picture will only emerge later. For now, though, while the government has certainly made progress in rural and urban housing and development, in many cases execution has fallen short of the targets that were set. The Supreme Court on Friday overruled Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala and asked Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his majority in the assembly at 4 pm on Saturday. The Governor had given 15 days to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority. The court said the Yeddyurappa government should not take any major decision till its majority is proven. After being sworn in as CM on Thursday, Yeddyurappa had announced waiver of all farm loans of up to Rs 100,000. The SC order is seen as a triple blow to the BJP as it has been given 48 hours to prove its claim of majority, the ... If the Reserve Bank of India puts Punjab National Bank (PNB), along with Canara Bank and Union Bank of India, under the so-called Prompt Corrective Action (PCA), the financial sector equivalent of intensive care unit, close to 14 per cent of the total banking credit could be potentially impacted. Of these, PNB accounted for 5.49 per cent as at the end of financial year 2016-17. Of more salience is the additional credit these banks offered during the financial year to the tune of Rs 435.47 billion, or about a fifth of the total incremental credit from the sector. It could ... BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are in discussions for an asset swap deal that would see the UK energy major gain a greater foothold in a key project in the North Sea and the US explorer get Alaskan assets, according to people familiar with the talks. BP is considering taking Conocos stake in the Clair field, in which BP already holds a 28.6 percent stake and is the operator, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. In exchange, Conoco is likely to take some of BPs assets in Alaska. BP describes Clair as the largest undeveloped ... China denied on Friday that it had offered a package to slash the US trade deficit by up to $200 billion, hours after it dropped an anti-dumping probe into US sorghum imports in a conciliatory gesture as top negotiators meet in Washington. US officials had said on Thursday that China was proposing trade concessions and increased purchases of American goods aimed at cutting the US trade deficit with China by up to $200 billion a year. This rumour is not true. This I can confirm to you, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. As I understand, the relevant ... Politicians and the media expend inordinate amounts of energy debating migration, often using nativist, populist and xenophobic rhetoric. This is despite the fact that, as of 2017, only three out of every 100 people a mere 3.4 per cent of the worlds population have left their home nations to migrate to a new country. The message from people like US President Donald Trump and the UKs Brexiteers is that migrants should be kept out at all costs to save their economies. Yet many scholars have argued that attracting and ... Did the president of the United States just betray the nations security in return for a bribe from the Chinese government? Dont say that this suggestion is ridiculous: Given everything we know about Donald Trump, its well within the bounds of possibility, even plausibility. Dont say theres no proof: Were not talking about a court of law, where the accused are presumed innocent until proved guilty. Where the behaviour of high officials is concerned, the standard is very nearly the opposite: Theyre supposed to avoid situations in ... President today said the US will go on to the next step if his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un does not materialise, as he sought to blame for a change in Pyongyang's stance on the historic meeting between the two leaders. A cloud of uncertainty continues to hover over Trump's meeting with Kim in as on Tuesday abruptly threatened to pull out of the planned June 12 summit, blaming US demands for "unilateral nuclear abandonment". has also taken strong exceptions to military drills between the US and "We'll see what happens. If the meeting happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, we go on to the next step," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Seeking to placate Kim, Trump offered him guarantees of staying in power if he abandons nuclear weapons, but threatened that a diplomacy failure could lead to a situation where the North Korean leader could suffer the same fate as Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, who was overthrown and killed by rebels. Trump, responding to reporters' questions on the sudden change in the North Korean leaders' stance towards the summit said "things changed" when they met with "It could very well be that he's (Chinese President Xi Jinping) influencing Kim Jong Un. We'll see what happens. Meaning the president of China, President Xi could be influencing Kim Jong Un. But we'll see," he said, questioning the second meeting between Xi and Kim in less than two months. "I really don't know, no. I want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. I can only say are people are literally dealing with them right now in terms of making arrangements for the meeting. So that's a lot different from what you read, but oftentimes what you read if it's not fake news, it's true. So we'll see what happens," Trump said when asked if his meeting with Chairman Kim is happening. Over the last few days, has threatened to cancel the Trump-Kim meeting over the ongoing annual military exercise between and the US. "We are dealing with them now. We may have the meeting; we may not have the meeting. If we don't have it, that will be very interesting. We'll see what happens. The border is still quite strong," he said, as he tended to blame the Chinese for the sudden change in the North Korean stance. The US President said "things changed a little bit" after they (North Korean leaders) had the second meeting with President Xi, which, Trump said was a little bit of a "surprise meeting". "With that being said, my attitude is whatever happens happens. Either way, we're going to be in great shape," Trump said. Trump appeared to soften his stance towards the North Korean leaders as he sounded hopeful of the meeting and sought to dismiss negative reports regarding the fate of the summit. "But I will say this, we are continuing to negotiate in terms of location, the location where to meet, how to meet, rooms, everything else, and they've been negotiating like nothing happened. But if you read the newspapers, maybe it won't happen. "I can't tell you yet. I will tell you very shortly. We're going to know very soon," Trump said when asked about the media reports appearing in this regard. Trump refuted the North Korean allegations that the US wants to treat them as it did with "Well, the Libyan model isn't a model that we have (in mind) at all when we're thinking of In Libya, we decimated that country. That country was decimated. There was no deal to keep Gadhafi. The Libyan model that was mentioned was a much different deal," he said. "We went in there (Libya) to beat him (Gadhafi). Now that model would take place if we don't make a deal, most likely," Trump said. He said if they struck a deal, Kim would become "very happy. "I really believe he's going to be very happy," Trump said. "This would be with Kim Jong Un something where he'd be there. He'd be in his country. He'd be running his country. His country would be very rich... This would be really a South Korean model in terms of their industry, in terms of what they do," he asserted. Assuming that the two countries would have their summit, Trump said they would have a "good relationship" and that Kim's regime would get protections that will be "very strong". Following the announcement of a floor test on Saturday, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Friday said that they are 100 percent confident of proving majority. Yeddyurappa further said that he would inform the state's Governor Vajubhai R. Vala to hold an assembly session at 11 a.m. tomorrow. "As per the directions of the Supreme Court, we are expected to prove our majority tomorrow. We are sending our file to the Karnataka Governor to call an assembly session at 11 am tomorrow. We are 100 percent confident that we will prove full majority," he told reporters here. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ruled that a floor test be conducted on Saturday at 4 pm for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prove their majority in the state assembly. The decision was taken after the top court heard the arguments for and against the petition filed by the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) on Governor Vala's invitation to the BJP to form the government in the state. Meanwhile, BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje exuded confidence in proving majority on the floor of the House. "We welcome the Supreme Court's order. We will prove majority on the floor of the House tomorrow. We are ready for the floor test," she said. While the BJP has managed 105 MLAs (including one Independent seat), they are still short of the halfway mark of 112 by seven MLAs and have been given 15 days to prove their majority in the Karnataka assembly by the Supreme Court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two civilians have lost their lives in a ceasefire violation from across the border on Friday. One Border Security Force soldier Sitaram Upadhyay was also killed when Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the RS Pura. The firing began when Pakistan started small arms and mortar fire from Thursday midnight, to which the Border Security Forces retaliated accordingly. Following the ceasefire violation, the schools within a three-kilometer radius of International Border (IB) have been declared closed by the administration. In January earlier this year, residents of RS Pura Sector were forced to leave their homes in the wake of the cease-fire arrangement being repeatedly violated by Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two civilians were injured in an unprovoked ceasefire violation from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir's R S Pura Sector on Friday. The Pakistan Rangers resorted to firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the RS Pura in which a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was killed. Following the ceasefire violation, the schools within 3 kilometer radius of International Border (IB) have been declared closed by the administration. Further details are awaited. In January earlier this year, residents of RS Pura Sector were forced to leave their homes in the wake of the cease-fire arrangement being repeatedly violated by Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least eight people were shot dead in Santa Fe High School in an early morning shootout in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe on Friday. Assistant principal Cris Richardson told CNN that the gunman has been arrested. A second person has been detained as well. At least, one police officer was also injured in the shooting, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on Twitter. Witnesses described the ordeal where students were seen running from the school as they heard gunshots. They also described hearing an alarm at the school, though the sequence of events was still unclear, CNN reported. A witness told CNN affiliate KTRK that an armed person walked into an art class of the Santa Fe High School and started firing indiscriminately. The witness added that she saw a girl shot in the leg. The death toll is likely to rise as multiple deaths have been reported due to the shooting incident, two law enforcement sources told CNN. A Galveston hospital spokesperson, Raul Reyes did not give details about how many people were injured. The Friday's shooting incident was the third at a US school in the last eight days. On Wednesday, an Illinois school resource officer shot and wounded a former student who fired a weapon near a graduation rehearsal at Dixon High School. The suspected gunman was later arrested and faces three charges of "aggravated discharge of a firearm." Last Friday, a 14-year-old boy living in Palmdale in California, went to Highland High, his former school, and began shooting indiscriminately with a semiautomatic rifle shortly before classes began, injuring a person. The teenager was later arrested and was taken into custody. He is accused of attempted murder. On February 14, at least 17 people - children and adults - were killed in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Following this, on March 24, thousands of people, primarily students across the US held a "March for Our Lives" rally pressing for stricter gun control measures in the country after the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have retaken the control of Tala Barfak district in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province. Afghan's Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the district has been fully cleared of the militants, reported Khaama Press. The district fell into the hands of the Taliban insurgents nearly ten days ago after the group launched a coordinated attack. According to the report, the Afghan forces have also cleared the landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) planted by the militants. Additional security forces have been deployed in the district. No comments have been received from the Taliban militants in connection with this report by far. The ministry did not divulge the number of casualties of the Taliban militants in the operations conducted. "Baghlan is among the relatively volatile provinces in North of Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are active in some of its districts and often carry out insurgency activities," the report said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "The Manchester Arena attack showed the worst of humanity," said Ariana Grande as she spoke in detail for the first time about last year's bombing. In May 2017, Grande had finished her concert at the Manchester Arena in the United Kingdom when a terrorist detonated a bomb, killing 22 victims and injuring more than 500 others. Speaking in the Next Generation Leaders issue of Time magazine, the 24-year-old said, "There are so many people who have suffered such loss and pain. The processing part is going to take forever." The 'Dangerous Woman' artist further said that music is supposed to be the "safest thing in the world." "I wish there was more that I could fix. You think with time it'll become easier to talk about. Or you'll make peace with it. But every day I wait for that peace to come, and it's still very painful. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar will be recording their statements by Monday in the London-based Avenfield reference trial, as the defence demanded more time to think over the questions sent by the accountability court. The testimonies of the Sharifs could not be recorded on Friday, reported Geo TV. On Thursday, a questionnaire comprising of 127 questions related to the Avenfield properties was handed over to the deposed PM and his family. According to the report, Nawaz's counsel Khawaja Haris pleaded the court to delay the recording of statements until Monday so that they could buy time to go through 127 questions. Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir approved the plea, however, has made it clear that the recording of statements will not be delayed further than Monday. Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain, daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are facing multiple corruption references in the accountability court. 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. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Birla Corporation Limited, the flagship company of the M P Birla Group, announced on Friday its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2018 as well as the consolidated results, including those of Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL), wholly-owned material subsidiary of the company. The company's Board of Directors approved the audited financial results for 2017-18 today and proposed a dividend of Rs. 6.50 per share (previous year Rs 6.50). The total outgo on account of dividend, including taxes, works out to Rs. 60.34 crores. Key Financial & Performance Highlights [Consolidated] Cement Production - For Q4 FY2018 stood at 34.4 lakh tons, compared to 33.1 lakh tons in Q4 FY2017, reflecting an increase of 4%. - For 12M FY2018 stood at 125.3 lakh tons, compared to 101.3 lakh tons in 12M FY2017, reflecting an increase of 24%. Cement Sales - For Q4 FY2018 stood at 34.1 lakh tons, compared to 32.8 lakh tons in Q4 FY2017, reflecting an increase of 4%. -For 12M FY2018 stood at 123.9 lakh tons, compared to 100.8 lakh tons in 12M FY2017, reflecting an increase of 23%. Net Sales/Income from Operations - During the quarter were Rs. 1,650.6 crores, compared to Rs. 1,420.1 crores in Q4 FY2017, showing a growth of 16%. - For 12M FY2018 were Rs. 5,734.2 crores, compared to Rs. 4,347.7 crores in 12M FY2017, resulting in a growth of 32%. Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) - For the quarter were Rs. 284.1 crores, compared to Rs. 269.7 in Q4 FY2017 resulting in growth of 5%. - For 12M FY2018 were Rs. 869.6 crores, compared to Rs. 762.6 crores in 12M FY2017, resulting in a growth of 14%. There was marked improvement in realizations during the quarter under review, which was partly off-set by sharp increase in input costs, especially fuel. Demand in the markets, which are part of the marketing footprint of the Company, have been moderate to good, except in the North, in particular Rajasthan, which was affected due to availability of sand and aggregates. There has been a significant pick-up in rural housing with the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and infrastructural activities. The first nine months of the year had been challenging for the Company owing to restriction on sand mining in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, major markets of the Company, which had a telling impact on cement demand. With the availability of sand easing, the demand in these markets has returned to normal, helping recovery in volumes and realization. The company continues to evolve strategies and optimize operations for improvement in efficiencies across the functions with special emphasis on: a. Increasing blended cement ratio b. Enhancing proportion of sales in the Trade segment c. Increasing ratio of cement sales in premium category d. Optimizing use of additives in the cement e. Increasing output at captive coal mines of RCCPL f. Reducing purchase of power from the grid in RCCPL by installing WHRS g. Use of alternate fuels The quality of cement being produced by the manufacturing units continues to be the best in class. Operational parameters of the new plants are amongst the best in the industry. Integration of operations of RCCPL with the Company has been completed and operations and management of operations are now being run seamlessly. The plants of RCCPL have been ramped up considerably. The kiln output of the integrated cement plant of RCCPL at Maihar is now at optimal levels. Synergy benefits that were expected to flow in on acquisition are also being realized. Brand portfolios of both the Companies, which complement each other, have been combined and brought together under "M P Birla Cement". RCCPL has since received VAT incentive from the UP Government for earlier periods which will improve the liquidity position of RCCPL significantly. These measures are yielding results which are reflected in higher margins and improvement in EBIDTA in Q4 2018. M P Birla Cement has recently introduced two super premium brands, Perfect Plus and Ultimate Ultra. Since the acquisition of Reliance Cement, the contribution of premium brands to the consolidated sales of the Company has increased substantially. M P Birla Cement Perfect Plus has been introduced in all the major markets of the Company. The product has been formulated for application in vital parts of the construction-foundation, pillar and roof. It has been launched with a powerful new audio-visual film that brings out the special properties of the cement in a very charming manner. M P Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra is produced at the Durgapur unit specially formulated for the requirements of the eastern markets. Ultimate Ultra is a high-performance cement, providing the best of strength & finish for the discerning home-builder. It has a high refractive index as its fine grains yield high early strength and additional compressive strength. It has excellent workability due to the optimal mix of raw materials and particle size distribution. Ban on pet coke in Rajasthan affected profitability of the units of the Company at Chanderia. The ban, however, was lifted by the end of January 2018. The unit's functioning was also severely impacted by the ban on sand mining in the State. Coupled with these, the continuing suspension of normal mining operations (with blasting) necessitated sourcing part of the limestone requirement from third parties at significantly higher prices. Freight costs went up, owing to higher diesel prices and high demand for transport vehicles on account of stronger movement of agricultural products. Also, prices of pet coke increased significantly. Non-availability of railway rakes constrained the movement of both raw materials as well as finished products. Rakes had been diverted to meet the requirement of power plants for carrying coal. This disrupted not only supply of coal to the clinker plants of the Company but also transportation of clinker to the grinding units and cement to rail-fed destinations. Outlook The expected rise in rural income and higher rural credit, coupled with increased allocation for rural, agricultural and allied sectors, are likely to boost the demand for cement. The higher budget outlay for housing, infrastructure and rural development will be the key drivers for the cement industry in the coming months. While the industry is facing challenges of rising input costs, we are optimistic that our relentless drive for reducing costs and increasing efficiencies in all areas of operations will continue to yield results in terms of better profitability. Jute Division The Jute Division has reported EBIDTA of Rs. 2,842.7 lakh (Rs. 3,088.5 lakh). Production during the year was 37,208 MT (37,367 MT). Exports increased by about 12% to Rs. 4,881 lakh (Rs. 4,365 lakh). M P Birla Hospital & Research Centre, Chittorgarh The M P Birla Hospital & Research Centre at Chittorgarh has recently started operations and is the latest initiative of the M P Birla Group to serve society in Chittorgarh region. This is the first full-service hospital in Chittorgarh, where the Company has two cement plants. The Hospital has in-house modern medical & pathological laboratories and modular OT, among other facilities. It also offers advanced critical care facilities as well as neonatal/infant care. The Company has provided financial as well as administrative support to the initiative. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid the ongoing political slugfest over government formation in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Friday that Congress is changing its opinion on Supreme Court according to its own liking. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra pointed out that the same Congress which had compared the Indian judiciary with Pakistan is now praising the Supreme Court post its direction concerning the floor test in Karnataka Assembly. "Rahul Gandhi had shamelessly compared the Supreme Court to Pakistan the other day. The same Congress had moved an impeachment motion too. And now it has decided to restore its faith in the top court," said Patra, after Rahul tweeted that SC's order has vindicated their stand. Referring to Congress and JD(S)' plea challenging the legitimacy of the BJP government in Karnataka, the BJP leader said the grand-old party has murdered the mandate in the state and added the Constitution cannot be altered to the whims of the Gandhis. "Congress has murdered the mandate in Karnataka. There is nothing larger than a mandate in a democracy. The Congress's selective approach won't work. The Congress party has been exposed completely. This is the real face of Congress. They want to selectively read the Constitution of India. The Constitution cannot be altered to the whims of the Gandhis," Patra said. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court directed the BJP's Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yedduyarappa to prove the majority in the assembly at 4 pm tomorrow. Patra also accused Congress of readying an SC plea even before the results of the Karnataka polls were declared fearing that BJP and JD(S) would form a government. "Fearing another Goa, the Congress had drafted an SC plea for the largest party to be invited first. It seems they knew that Congress will be the single largest party and they had this doubt that BJP and JD(S) will come together to form the government, " he said. On a related note, ahead of the tomorrow's floor test in Karnataka Assembly, all recently elected BJP MLAs will meet at the party office in Bengaluru, in the evening today. The decision was taken after the top court heard the arguments for and against the petition filed by the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) following Governor Vala's invitation to the BJP to form the government in the state. Though the BJP emerged as a single largest party with 104 MLAs, they are short of the halfway mark of 111 by seven MLAs. The Congress and the JD(S) have entered into a post-poll alliance and together with 115 MLAs they are staking claim to form the government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of breaking the convention and naming a three-time MLA, K.G. Bopaiah, as the pro-tem speaker ahead of the Saturday's floor test. At a media briefing, Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "What the BJP has done is against the rulebook. Ideally, the senior most leader is supposed to hold that position. We are only asking for the convention to be followed." He added that the Congress was ready for the floor test called by the Supreme Court on Saturday. Slamming Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa for forming the government without a majority, Singhvi asserted, "B.S. Yeddyurappa cannot do magic or alter maths. On what basis did he give a letter without signatures and without a number. B.S. Yeddyurappa should not have claimed majority. They are aware that they cannot turn 104 to majority (112 seats). They cannot muster the required numbers in a day." Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R. Vala on Friday appointed Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker ahead of floor test tomorrow in the state assembly, breaking the convention of appointing the senior-most legislator. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ruled that a floor test should be conducted on Saturday at 4 pm for the BJP to prove their majority in the Karnataka assembly. The decision was taken after the top court heard the arguments for and against the petition filed by the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) following Governor Vala's invitation to the BJP to form the government in the state. The floor test needs to be conducted under the supervision of the pro-tem speaker. A pro-tem speaker's role is to administer the oath to the new MLAs and to conduct the election of the full-time speaker in the state assembly. Bopaiah is a senior BJP leader and had won from the Virajpet seat in Karnataka. He had secured 77,944 votes and defeated Congress candidate Arun Machaiah by 13,353 votes in the recently-concluded assembly election, winning for the fourth time. Meanwhile, Union Minister and Karnataka BJP in-charge Prakash Javadekar said that the appointment of Bopaiah was as per the rules and regulations and that the Congress was raising a "hoax objection." "KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah ji is as per rules and regulations," Javadekar wrote in a tweet. The BJP has 104 MLAs but they are still short of the simple majority mark of 113 by nine MLAs and have been given 24 hours to prove the same in the Karnataka assembly by the apex court tomorrow. However, if two 'missing' Congress MLAs do not get to vote tomorrow, the halfway mark will fall to 111. On the other hand, Congress (78 seats) and JD-S (37 seats), along with two independent candidates have formed a post-poll alliance and are staking a claim to form the government in Karnataka, with a total of 115 MLAs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Welcoming the Supreme Court's move on directing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to conduct a floor test tomorrow, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that it supports their stand against Governor Vajubhai R. Vala's unconstitutional decision. Taking to Twitter, Rahul said that the BJP's bluff to form the government without the majority numbers, has been called out by the apex court. "Today's Supreme Court order vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJP's bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money & muscle, to steal the mandate," tweeted Rahul. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad also welcomed the top court's historic move. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ruled that a floor test be conducted on Saturday at 4 pm for BJP to prove his majority in the state assembly. The decision was taken after the top court heard the arguments for and against the petition filed by the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) following Governor Vala's invitation to the BJP to form the government in the state. While the BJP managed 105 MLAs (including one Independent seat) in recently concluded Karnataka assembly election, they are still short of the halfway mark of 112 by seven MLAs and have been given 15 days to prove their majority in the Karnataka assembly by the apex court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) London-based embattled analytics company Cambridge Analytica has filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. The filings note an estimated number of creditors between 1-49, estimated assets of USD 100,001 - USD 500,000 and estimated liabilities of USD 1,000,001 - USD 10 million, CNN reported. Cambridge Analytica illegally accessed data from millions of Facebook accounts, whistleblower Christopher Wylie had disclosed earlier. Facebook confirmed the charge in April and informed that the data of a total of 87 million users was used without authorisation by the data firm. Known for its connection with US President Donald Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign, Cambridge Analytica was recently alleged to have influenced the 2014 general elections in India as well. According to several media reports, Cambridge Analytica, said in its May 2 statement that it has "been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations" and that it has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, "but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising." The company blamed a "siege of media coverage" for driving away customers and forcing its closure. This week, the New York Times reported that the US Justice Department and the FBI are investigating the British political consulting firm. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bringing into limelight the lack of diversity and inclusion in the French film industry, 16 black actresses took to the red carpet in Cannes and staged a protest against racism, just days after 82 women, led by Cannes jury president Cate Blanchett, launched their own call for gender equality. Led by actress Aissa Maiga, the group struck a defiant note while promoting a new book, "Noire N'est Pas Mon Metier" (My Profession is Not Black), reported Variety. "It's a historic moment. It was beyond my wildest dreams. For 20 years, I've been acting, and I've never felt like this," Maiga said. Besides Maiga, the group included Beausson-Diagne, Mata Gabin, Maimouna Gueye, Eye Haidara, Rachel Khan, Sara Martins, Marie-Philomene Nga, Sabine Pakora, Firmine Richard, Sonia Rolland, Magaajyia Silberfeld, Shirley Souagnon, Assa Sylla, Karidja Toure, and France Zobda. Maiga stressed the importance of using the Cannes platform to "change structures in society" and the French movie industry, calling for funding mechanisms that will promote diversity in film so "that we start to see the real France on the screen." "For me, the most important thing is that this collective of 16 women will become a movement," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday hailed Supreme Court's order regarding the floor test in Karnataka Assembly and disapproved of Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to appoint K.G. Bopaiah as pro-tem speak of the state legislative assembly. Naidu took to Twitter and wrote, "We respect and welcome the verdict of Hon'ble Supreme Court. Governor should have followed the Democratic conventions in appointing protem speaker. We expect that the spirit of Supreme Court judgement will be protected." Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Politburo member Yanamala Rama Krishnudu also hailed the apex court's decision. Krishnudu in a statement said, "We welcome today's Supreme Court orders on Karnataka floor test. The court has corrected the Karnataka Governor's mistake to some extent. Karnataka Governor's actions led to chances for horse-trading, but the SC's orders could prevent horse-trading chances. Karnataka Governor with RSS ideology had acted in the favour of BJP." "Governor's actions have not only hurt the parliamentary democracy, but also murdered the constitution. Karnataka Governor has misused his discretionary power and has invited BJP even though it doesn't have the required numbers. When hung assembly arises, uniform model should be adopted in all the states. It is not fair to follow different traditions in different states when hung assembly arises," he added. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ruled that a floor test should be conducted on Saturday at 4 pm for BJP to prove their majority in the Karnataka assembly. The decision was taken after the top court heard the arguments for and against the petition filed by the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) following Governor Vajubhai Vala's invitation to the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government in the state. The BJP has 104 MLAs but they are still short of the simple majority mark of 113 by nine MLAs and have been given 24 hours to prove the same in the assembly by the apex court. However, if two 'missing' Congress MLAs do not get to vote tomorrow, the halfway mark will fall to 111. On the other hand, Congress (78 seats) and JD-S (37 seats), along with two independent candidates, have formed a post-poll alliance and are staking claim to form the government in Karnataka, with a total of 117 MLAs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Friday heaped praises on Pakistan for "safeguarding" ongoing multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which forms a part of Beijing's ambitious transnational Belt Road Initiative (BRI). "Efforts of Pakistan Army in safeguarding CPEC security are highly appreciated. We look forward to close cooperation with Pakistan to ensure the security of CPEC," the Express Tribune quoted Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman General Zhang Youxia, as saying. China's General Zhang remarked during his meeting with Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military brass of both the sides discussed matters of mutual interest, regional security and enhanced bilateral defence cooperation, reported the Express Tribune. "China and Pakistan are iron brothers, all-weather friends and strategic partners. We share the tradition of mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support. China deeply appreciates the achievements of Pakistan Army in counter-terrorism," General Zhang said. The two sides have been said to have signed different Memorandums of Understanding (MoU)s to ratchet up the bilateral Defence cooperation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Soon after the Congress criticised the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator K.G. Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, lawyers representing Congress reached the registrar office of the Supreme Court on Friday. The lawyers sought an urgent hearing on the appointment of Bopaiah on the same issue. The petition claimed that the appointment of pro-tem speaker was completely unconstitutional and illegal. Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told ANI, "MLAs are with us. Whatever misuse they had to do they have done. Supreme Court has also given them a good scolding not verbally but in terms of action, it is a different matter that the people of BJP have a thick skin". Earlier in the day, Congress accused Governor Vajubhai Vala of "encountering the Constitution" by appointing KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker instead of a senior most MLA. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "The Governor has once again launched an encounter on the Constitution by appointing KG Bopaiah as pro tem Speaker instead of the senior most MLA. Appointment of KG Bopaiah as pro tem Speaker violates constitutional traditions and parliamentary practices." Vala on Friday appointed Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker ahead of floor test tomorrow in the state assembly, breaking the convention of appointing the senior-most legislator. Bopaiah is a senior BJP leader and had won from the Virajpet seat in Karnataka. He had secured 77,944 votes and defeated Congress candidate Arun Machaiah by 13,353 votes in the recently-concluded assembly election, winning for the fourth time. On being asked if Congress will challenge BJP MLA KG Bopaiah's appointment as pro tem Speaker, Surjewala said, "We will be able to inform you in a short while. Yes, the option of going back to Court is open." The BJP has 104 MLAs but they are still short of the simple majority mark of 113 by nine MLAs and have been given 24 hours to prove the same in the Karnataka assembly by the apex court tomorrow. However, if two 'missing' Congress MLAs do not get to vote tomorrow, the halfway mark will fall to 111. On the other hand, Congress (78 seats) and JD-S (37 seats), along with two independent candidates have formed a post-poll alliance and are staking a claim to form the government in Karnataka, with a total of 115 MLAs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned by a nerve gas agent in March, was on Friday discharged from the Salisbury District Hospital after "recovering fully" in two months. Lorna Wilkinson, the director of nursing at the hospital, confirmed Skripal's release and said, "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital. Treating him and the other two people poisoned by this nerve agent, while still providing outstanding care to the other patients who rely on our hospital, has been a huge and unprecedented challenge that I'm proud our staff at Salisbury Hospital have risen to," the UK Press Association quoted her as saying, citing CNN. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin wished the former spy "good health", while questioning the nature of the poisoning incident. "I heard from the media about Skripal today. I wish him good health, we are very happy, actually. But I have a few thoughts on this. First, I think that if a military-grade poisonous substance was used, as our British colleagues claim, this person would've died right there on the spot. A military-grade poisonous substance is so powerful that the person dies within seconds or minutes," Putin said. He added that Russia had initiated a request to help the UK authorities in the investigation, but no response has been made so far. "We repeatedly offered UK authorities our help, and we asked to be given access to the investigation, but there is no response. Our offer stands," Putin stressed. According to the British government, Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia were exposed to a military-grade nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4. Both were admitted to the Salisbury hospital in an "extremely critical" condition. In April, Yulia was able to recover from the attack and gave her first public statement to the media. She expressed her gratitude towards the people of Salisbury to offer emotional support to her and her family. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on April 12 backed Britain's findings that the "high purity" Novichok was used to poison Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. The Hague-based watchdog, without mentioning Novichok, in a statement says that its experts, "confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that was used in Salisbury and severely injured three people." The poisoning of the Skripals prompted nearly 30 countries to expel more than 150 Russian diplomats in solidarity with the UK after it blamed Russia for plotting the attack. Moscow then retaliated by expelling diplomats from other countries and closing down the US consulate in St. Petersburg. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) German Chancellor Angela Merkel will embark on a two-day official visit to China on May 24-25 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced on Friday, according to Xinhua news agency. At a press briefing, Lu said, "Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and other senior leaders will hold talks and meetings with Merkel and exchange views on China-Germany and China-Europe relations and cooperation, as well as other major international and regional issues." Merkel will also visit Shenzhen during her two-day trip. This would be her first visit to China after being re-elected as the German Chancellor on March 14. Stressing on the need for developing close ties with Germany, Lu added, "China attaches great importance to developing ties with Germany, and is ready to push forward bilateral relations and pragmatic cooperation in various fields to achieve new development at a high level based on mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutually beneficial cooperation. We hope this visit will boost political mutual trust, push forward bilateral cooperation in various fields, and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral ties in the new era." In a telephone conversation in March, Merkel and Xi stressed on the importance of multilateral cooperation on global trade, following the United States' decision of imposing trade tariffs on China, stalling the ties between two countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling the Supreme Court's verdict of ordering a floor text in Karnataka 'historic', Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the party is grateful to the top court for hearing their argument at midnight and passing an interim order in less than 24 hours. Singhvi, who was representing Congress in the apex court, said that court has asked the BS Yeddyurappa government to not take any major policy decision till floor test is over. "It is a historic interim order because the court has directed a confidence motion in less than 24 hrs. The order is subjected to safeguards stating members of the Anglo Indian Community cannot be nominated, and Yeddyurappa conceded through his counsel that he cannot have any major policy decisions. Also, security has been provided, and a regular speaker will swear in everyone before the vote of confidence at 4," Singhvi said. The apex court has agreed to hear the matter after 10 weeks, Singhvi said. Attacking the BJP, Singhvi said, "The BJP clearly does not have the grounds to stake claim to form the government, the letters disclosed by BJP today does not have any ground based on which they claim to form the government." Earlier, the BJP government was given 15 days to prove majority on the floor of the house by the Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid political turmoil in Karnataka, Supreme Court Judge Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri opined that a floor test would be 'the best option'. Furthermore, the apex court observed that since Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has claimed support and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the single largest party; there could be two probabilities- to test the decision of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R. Vala or to conduct a floor test on Saturday. "It is just a number game; one who enjoys the majority should be invited to form the government," it added. Meanwhile, the lawyer for the Congress- Janata Dal (Secular) alliance, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, submitted to the Supreme Court that they are ready for a floor test tomorrow. Singhvi also sought proper security for the Congress-JD(S) MLAs, in case the floor test is conducted. The top court on Friday began hearing the petition filed by the Congress and JD(S) challenging the decision of Governor Vala to invite the BJP to form the government in the state. Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who is appearing on behalf of the BJP, handed over two letters of the BJP to the Court, and argued that B.S Yeddyurappa, who was elected as the leader of the largest party, has the support of necessary number of MLAs and is ready to prove it in a floor test in the House. Furthermore, Rohatgi claimed that the BJP was in possession of certain information that many MLAs from other parties had not given any kind of written support to the Congress-JD(S) alliance. The elections in Karnataka witnessed a lot of to-and-fro allegations filled with jibes between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, but the real twist came in after the results threw a hung Assembly with the BJP emerging as the single largest party by winning 104 seats, followed by Congress (78) and the JD-(S), which won 37 seats. Despite Congress and JD-(S) forming a quick alliance and being in a strong position to form the government with enough seats together (115), Vala on Wednesday went on invite the BJP to form the new government, which led to the Congress filing a plea in the Supreme Court, which led to a rare midnight hearing by the three-judge bench of justice A.K. Sikri, justice S.A. Bobde and justice Ashok Bhushan. However, the court refused to stay the oath-taking ceremony, following which Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday morning. While the BJP has managed 105 MLAs (including one Independent seat), they are still short of the halfway mark of 112 by seven MLAs and have been given 15 days to prove their majority in the Karnataka assembly by the Supreme Court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has criticised Pakistan for the ceasefire violation that killed five people in the valley along the Line of Control (LoC) during the early hours of the day. "Continued firing on the border in Jammu is cause of pain & worry. Sad that while our country took lead in starting peace initiatives with cessation of operations during Ramzan, Pakistan has shown no respect whatsoever for this holy month. Pakistan will have to reciprocate & contribute to efforts for lasting peace. Everyone must realise that violence is a zerosum game. My deepest condolences to families of victims," tweeted Mufti. Mufti tweeted this reacting to the ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The ceasefire violation has killed a total of five people, one BSF jawan and four civilians. The government had recently decided to suspend operations against terrorists in the valley during the month of Ramzan. "If they are targeting us, they are getting an appropriate reply. We were expecting such an incident because the harvesting season is over and once harvesting season gets over, they always do such mischief," said BSF IF Ram Awtar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Members of Christian community based out of Karachi in Pakistan met District Inspector on Friday to inform about mysterious disappearances of Christians and "raids" conducted in Youhanabad. As reported by Dawn, residents of Youhanabad Christian colony, located in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Block 13-G, protested against disappearances of young Christian men. Superintendent of Police Murtaza Bhutto moderated the discussions while Father Saleh Diego, Parish Priest at St Paul Parish, represented the community. The members alleged that within a span of few weeks, 24 young Christian men were picked up by police on various pretexts or sometimes without any clarifications. They further informed that some men, who appeared to be security officials, showed up wearing masks in the dead of the night, riding in cars without license plates. The accused then broke down the doors across neighborhood and abducted the men. The family members further alleged that these incidents started taking place since March 30 when six young men were taken away as part of the first incident. On April 15, four youth were arrested and further 14 people disappeared. Those abducted on May 8 are still missing. As per a woman, whose husband is abducted, the alleged security officials had asked her husband's identity and demanded to see his identity card. They then assaulted the victim and dragged him away. The victim was scheduled to appear for an interview at a call center when he was abducted. Further, the family of another victim said on April 15 the alleged officers broke into their house using some sort of lock cutters. Some arrested young men were blindfolded and transported to unknown areas. One of them reported being tortured with electric shocks for three days in a row. "They kept asking me to do exactly as they say. They constantly kept asking me about different people, encounters and weapons" victim informed. He was taken away on April 15 on basis of a false case registered against him. He was rescued by his family as they shared pictures of their abducted sons on social media platform, WhatsApp and managed to obtain bail for one of them. Another victim who managed to return said he was being taken away by "officers". The Christian community representatives further informed that the men raiding their homes bring a criminal named Shiraz with them who "identifies" the youngsters and abduct them. Further, the victims are said to have no connection with any political organisation or community. Some of the victims have been granted bail. Christians filed an official complaint with IG Sindh and other notable figures. An FIR was also filed on behalf of the community. They further requested the authorities to be informed in case the accused is arrested. They had earlier reached out to relevant court as well regarding the matter but no action was said to be taken. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to review the preparedness and effectiveness of the security of India's offshore installations, the 130th meeting of the Offshore Security Co-ordination Committee (OSCC) was held at ONGC Corporate Office Urja Bhawan in New Delhi on Friday. It was held under the Chairmanship of DG Rajendra Singh, PTM, TM, Director General Indian Coast Guard. Addressing the meeting, DG Rajendra Singh, PTM, TM, DGICG, Chairman of OSCC acknowledged the bold reforms in the energy sector such as Data Repository (NDR), Open Acreage Licensing (OAL) under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) and the recently concluded Discovered Small Fields (DSF) Bid Round. He further added that in one of the largest offering of acreages, it was for the first time in India, 55 bidder selected blocks, each carved out by prospective bidders themselves in promising basins with an area of 59,282 Sq. KMs were announced for bidding. The Chairman also highlighted the implications of these reforms on maritime traffic and the need for a more robust offshore security. The Chairman discussed issues related to Offshore security and expressed satisfaction over the progress of Online submission of documents for security clearance, establishment of the VATMS (Vessel Air Traffic Management System), Community Interaction Programmes with fishermen and the increased cooperation between security and maritime agencies. He also highlighted the prompt and coordinated efforts of all agencies to Indian Coast Guard's call in responding to a massive fire onboard MT Genessa carrying 30092 Metric tonnes of diesel off Kandla anchorage which prevented oil spillage and damage to marine ecology of the Gulf of Kutchch. Underlining the need of coordination, he appreciated the response by the Indian Coast Guard and other agencies in responding to a major fire onboard Maersk Container vessel engulfed in fire around 370 Nautical Miles from Agatti Island in Lakshadweep. The Chairman emphasised that thinking of economic progress along with safety and security concerns will open the path to new synergies and contribute to a safe and sustainable development. While urging all agencies to brace up for monsoon, he reiterated the importance of pre-emptive surveillance as the mainstay to achieve offshore security of our vast maritime domain. Giving a mantra of Offshore Security through Coordination and Cooperation, he urged members to continue reviewing, evolving and improving security apparatus through critical evaluation of existing practices and ingraining security consciousness into the work culture. The OSCC was constituted by the erstwhile Ministry of Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertilizers in 1978, to ensure smooth and effective functioning of offshore security arrangements. The OSCC is the apex body for reviewing and evaluating Offshore Security in India. The Committee was revamped and expanded in 2006 under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Committee comprises of members drawn from the Indian Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, IB, State Police, DG Shipping and ONGC, which meets every six months to examine issues related to the safety and security of offshore assets. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 1.9 million people across Afghanistan have registered their names to vote ahead of the October elections, confirmed officials of the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC). The Afghan election authorities have confirmed October 20 as the date of the vote. "The Independent Election Commission officially announces to the people of Afghanistan that the election will be held on (Oct. 20)," IEC Chairman Gula Jan Abdul Badi Sayad told a news conference, according to several media reports. Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said the announcement of a firm election date would permit the officials to move from planning to implementation. "The participation of all Afghans in the electoral process, not merely the elections themselves, is critical," he said in a statement. Meanwhile, the IEC announced on Wednesday that it has scrapped the decision to stamp copies of voter identity cards, reported Afghan's TOLO News. The commission, said in a statement, that it has decided to stamp original identity cards of voters to allow them to cast their votes in the upcoming polls in the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of Congress leaders and workers were arrested on Thursday for holding an 'Akrosh rally' here to protest against the demolition of many party offices in Tripura allegedly by the BJP government. The eviction drive was launched on May 7. The rally was led by state Congress president Birjit Sinha, former legislator Gopal Ray and other top leaders of the party. Police arrested over hundreds of Congress members during the protest rally. Earlier, Congress activists from various sub-divisions of the state conglomerated at the party office at Post Office Chowmuhoni to attend a meeting. State Congress President Birjit Sinha said the BJP regime has bulldozed democracy and opposition supporters and members are now at the receiving end. "We are annoyed and this is the outburst of our grievances in the form of Akrosh rally. Throughout India, BJP has destroyed the fabric of democracy and in Tripura also the BJP after coming into power has illegally demolished the party offices of Congress and other political parties. This is inhuman and attack on democracy," Sinha said. The Congress has alleged that the BJP-IPFT coalition government in the state has been demolishing party offices with political vendetta and without prior 'legal' notice. It had dubbed the BJP-led government's functioning in Tripura 'worse than the British rule'. Former Congress MLA Gopal Ray said, "People are not satisfied in India, people are not satisfied in Tripura. For all the grievances of the youths, employees, farmers, labors and all types of people, they are annoyed, not satisfied with this and all activities headed by Biplab Deb." "That is why more than 300 people from CPIM and BJP joined today. Thousands of people are awaiting to join Congress. We will start the movement throughout the state," he added. He added: "It is unfortunate that the government has cancelled our prayer for the Akrosh rally. It has been cancelled by the instruction of Biplab Deb or the BJP government. This is unfortunate." Trade union offices affiliated to various political parties including ruling BJP, Congress and CPI-M were constructed illegally on the government lands in Tripura. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the much-awaited British royal wedding of Prince Harry and Hollywood actress Meghan Markle, animal rights organisation PETA India have decided to gift a bull, named Merry, a hybrid of the name Meghan and Harry, to the couple. Merry, currently residing at a sanctuary in Maharashtra, was found alone and suffering from a deep wound on his neck when he was rescued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Speaking to ANI, PETA India Associate Director of Celebrity and Public Relations Sachin Bangera said that through this gift, they want to spread awareness on animal cruelty. "We have named the bull after Prince Harry and Markle. It's practically not possible to gift the Bull, as it belongs to Maharashtra, India. So, we have made a portrait of Merry, which we have framed and has his story written on it. We will send this portrait to the royal couple," Bangera said. The royal wedding is set to take place on Saturday at England's Windsor Castle. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani over a phone call. As per President's South Asia strategy, Pompeo reinforced US' durable investment in Afghanistan, expressing support for the Afghan military's defense of the city of Farah. He praised Ghani for his commitment of building a secure future for his country and the government's efforts to make sure that the upcoming elections are transparent, credible, and carried out on time. There were also discussions on strengthening the partnership between the United States and Afghanistan to combat terrorism and support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has expressed his concern over rising oil prices and its negative impact on consumers and the Indian economy with Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih in a telephonic conversation. Pradhan expressed his concern about rising prices and its negative impact on consumers and the Indian economy. He emphasised his desire for stable and moderate prices, the statement, issued by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, read. "Al-Falih assured Pradhan that supporting global economic growth is one of the Kingdom's key goals. He reiterated his commitment towards stable supplies and that the Kingdom together with other producers will ensure availability of adequate supplies to offset any potential shortfalls and ensure that prices remain reasonable," the statement added. The call was made from the Saudi oil minister's end. The two ministers discussed continued joint cooperation between the two countries and in particular the current oil market situation. Al-Falih updated Pradhan on his ongoing consultations with colleagues from major producing countries both inside and outside of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including Russia's Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and Minister of Energy of the UAE who is also the President of the OPEC Conference Suhail Al Mazroui, the statement read. On a related note, Pradhan was on a three-day visit to the UAE, which commenced on May 12, to follow up on the February 2018 UAE visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prosecutors have demanded death sentence for pro-Islamic State (IS) cleric Aman Abdurrahman who allegedly inspired a series of terror attacks on Indonesian soil. "We demand that the panel of judges [.] find Oman Rochman, alias Aman Abdurrahman, alias Abu Sulaiman, guilty of committing an act of terrorism [.] and sentence him to death," Prosecutor Anita Dewayani was quoted as saying by Jakarta Post. The sentence demand at the South Jakarta District Court was made during the hearing on May 18. Aman is one of the influential jihadi ideologues among Islamist militants groups like the local Jamaah Ansharud Daulah (JAD) terror group. As per Jakarta Post, the JAD has been blamed for attacks including the deadly riot at the National Police's Mobile Brigade headquarters (Mako Brimob) in Depok, West Java, and a series of bombings that killed at least 13 people in Surabaya and Sidoarjo, East Java. He had earlier been accused of inspiring three major terror attacks in 2016 and 2017 that include Jan 14, 2016, Thamrin bombing that killed four people, the November 13, 2016, Samarinda church bombing that killed a toddler, and the May 25, 2017, Kampung Melayu twin bombings that killed three policemen. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at the royal wedding on Saturday. "Ms. Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her wedding day," a statement issued by Kensington Palace read. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to the royal family in this way," the statement added. This development came after the reports surfaced that former Hollywood lighting director and Meghan Markel's father Thomas Markle has refused to attend her daughter's wedding to Prince Harry. As reported by the Sky News, Thomas took this decision after some pictures were released which showed him colluding with photographers which left him "deeply embarrassed". Following this, the official Twitter handle of the Royal spokesperson Charlie Proctor said it is a personal moment for the family while requesting the people to understand Thomas. "This is a deeply personal moment for Ms Markle in the days before her wedding. She and Prince Harry ask again for understanding and respect to be extended to Mr Markle in this difficult situation", the statement read. Thomas Markel had reportedly suffered a heart attack but checked himself out earlier to prepare for the wedding. Later, a couple of pictures were leaked depicting Thomas was caught unawares being measured for his wedding suit, looking at pictures of his daughter and her husband-to-be at an internet cafe, and reading a book about Britain while out having a coffee. As per media reports, Thomas is known to be a private person, a fact that had worried Meghan about how would he handle the pressures of being in a constant limelight. Meghan's mother Ragland is reported to stay with Meghan at the Cliveden House Hotel upon her arrival. Meghan and Prince Harry are set to tie a knot on May 19 at England's Windsor Castle. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Supreme Court on Friday allowed the son of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram, accused in the INX media money laundering case, to travel to the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain on business grounds. He has only been allowed to visit the three countries from May 19 to 27, on the basis of extending cooperation with the agencies concerned whenever an investigation is launched. According to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Karti is accused of laundering Rs 305 crore in the INX media case in 2007, In March, Delhi High Court granted bail to Karti in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday claimed that his successor BS Yeddyurappa submitted names of only 104 MLAs to the Governor and had no other names in it to prove his majority. Siddaramaiah, while interacting with the media here, said that despite the fact stated above Governor Vajubhai R. Vala's invited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form their government, which was "unconstitutional". "Yeddyurappa who has 104 MLAs including himself, in the letter requested for seven days, he had no other name, yet Governor invited him. It was unconstitutional, Governor even gave him 15 days time," Siddaramaiah said. B.S. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday, has to prove his majority in the state assembly on Saturday at 4 pm, the Supreme Court said earlier today. The decision was taken after the top court heard the arguments for and against the petition filed by the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), wherein they asked to stay the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister of the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump on Friday condemned the "horrible attack" at the Santa Fe High School in Texas, which claimed eight lives. In a video message, Trump tweeted, "We grieve for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this horrible attack in Texas. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High School - we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever..." The US President vowed to protect students, secure schools and take strict action against the perpetrators. Earlier, he also wrote on Twitter saying a shootout was going on in a Texas school. "School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" he tweeted. At least eight people were shot dead in Santa Fe High School in an early morning shootout in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe, about 50 kilometres away from Houston. Assistant principal Cris Richardson told CNN that the gunman has been arrested. A second person has been detained as well. At least, one police officer was also injured in the shooting, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on Twitter. The sheriff further added that the shooter, who was arrested was a former student of the school. As per media reports, explosive devices were found at the site of the shooting and other surrounding areas. An investigation for the same is currently on, according to the police. Witnesses described the ordeal where students were seen running from the school as they heard gunshots. They also described hearing an alarm at the school, though the sequence of events was still unclear, CNN reported. A witness told CNN affiliate KTRK that an armed person walked into an art class of the Santa Fe High School and started firing indiscriminately. The witness added that she saw a girl shot in the leg. The death toll is likely to rise as multiple deaths have been reported due to the shooting incident, two law enforcement sources told CNN. A Galveston hospital spokesperson, Raul Reyes did not give details about how many people were injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump has donated a quarter of his salary to country's military veterans. As reported by the CNN, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Thursday that President Trump has donated a quarter's worth of his salary to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Trump had committed to donating his annual salary of $4, 00,000 to worthy causes. He has previously donated money to the Department of Transportation, the National Park Service, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services. As per certain media reports, Veteran Affairs secretary Robert Wilkie said at a press briefing that the donated amount would go toward caregiver support programs, including mental health, peer support, research, education, training and financial aid. Earlier in March, Trump had fired Veteran affairs Secretary David Shulkin after he was said to be embroiled in a controversy involving taking his wife on a business trip. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump has given an offer to North Korea to adopt denuclearisation and get rewarded with protection. As per media reports, Trump who had been a long supporter of denuclearisation of North Korea, said that in return of abandoning nuclear weapons, the United States would provide it with protection against any kind of attacks. He further said that the upcoming US-North Korea is bound to happen as scheduled refuting reports about North Korea to cancel the summit due to on-going military deals between the US and South Korea. Earlier North Korea had argued its need of nuclear weapons to secure itself. Trump also suggested that China might be influencing the decisions of North Korea citing that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had visited China immediately after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came back. The United States, Japan, South Korea, and China had together called for denuclearisation of North Korea. Following that, North Korea dismantled its nuclear site Pyyungg-ri. Now the United States and North Korea are scheduled to hold a bilateral summit on June 12 in Singapore. Talks regarding denuclearisation are expected to take place in the summit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations Human Rights Council in a session voted to begin a probe in the recent deadly Israel-Palestine clashes in Gaza. As per certain media reports, apart from Australia and the United States, all other members voted in favour of the investigation. Further, the UNHRC called for dispatching a commission of inquiry and conducting highest level of investigation. The members further called for an investigation in all alleged cases of violation and abuses conducted by military forces. Since March, Gaza had witnessed massive Israel-Palestine clashes that have claimed lives of more than 100 people including 60 Palestines and injuring several others. The protests escalated on Monday after the transfer of the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel' capital Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinians had gathered on the Gaza Strip's eastern border to take part in protests marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel which Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, Arabic for "Catastrophe" and protest the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Earlier on Thursday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the loss of lives in Israel- Palestine clashes in Gaza. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the loss of lives in the recent Israel- Palestine clashes in Gaza. As reported by the Anadolu Agency, Guterres deplored the loss of lives and expressed his condolences to the Palestine people. "My first words are to deplore the tragic loss of lives and suffering in Gaza and to express my deep sadness and condolences to the Palestinian people," Guterres said in a statement. He further called for restraint on the use of force particularly live fire. He also called on Hamas and its leaders to take responsibility for the demonstrations. On Monday, 62 Palestine demonstrators were killed and thousands were injured by Israeli forces along the Gaza border, as per Palestine Health ministry. "It is imperative that everyone show the utmost restraint to avoid further loss of life, including all civilians and particularly children are not in harm's way. The cycle of violence in Gaza must end, it serves no one," Palestine Health ministry noted. Though, Pentagon on Thursday justified Israeli violence against Palestinians. Thousands of Palestinians had gathered on the Gaza Strip's eastern border to take part in protests marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel which Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, Arabic for "Catastrophe" and protest the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States is in favour of holding "free, fair and participatory election" in Bangladesh that truly brings out the will of Bangladeshi people. USAID Administrator Mark Green said, "Bangladesh and the US are indeed friends. This friendship is based on shared values and willingness to talk to each other openly and honestly," as quoted bt Dhaka Tribune. Experience shows responsive democratic governance is an irreparable ingredient in long-term sustainability and successful economic development, Mark Green said. Green raised concerns over the ongoing arrest of opposition leaders and detention of journalists. The US will continue to work with Bangladesh to resolve Rohingya issue, he added. The administrator asked for Bangladesh's continued help in punishing those who are responsible for the brutal killing in 2016 of Xulhaz Mannan. There were discussions about the strong partnership between the United States and Bangladesh. Green praised and thanked the government of Bangladesh for generously hosting and assisting nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar since August 2017. Earlier this week, the announcement of 44 million dollars in additional US assistance for the Rohingya and other vulnerable populations in Bangladesh and Myanmar was made. The total US humanitarian assistance for displaced people in and from Myanmar adds upto a total of US$ 299 million since the beginning of fiscal year 2017. Green said he will ask the government of Myanmar to take measures to end the crisis. Green is set to visit Myanmar to meet officials there in order to discuss urgent steps needed to end the ongoing crisis in the Rakhine State. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stocks continued to trade with weakness in in morning trade. At 10:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 129.12 points or 0.37% at 35,020. The Nifty 50 index was down 34.30 points or 0.32% at 10,648.40. Telecom stocks rose. Domestic stocks drifted lower in early trade. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.14%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.31%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive in morning trade. On the BSE, 1,019 shares fell and 957 shares rose. A total of 106 shares were unchanged. ICICI Bank (down 1.72%), Wipro (down 1.6%) and Tata Motors (down 1.35%) edged lower from the Sensex pack. Telecom stocks rose. Idea Cellular (up 0.19%), MTNL (up 0.29%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.79%) and Reliance Communications (up 14.8%) gained. Bharti Airtel (down 2.61%) fell. Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.33%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel. Vijaya Bank rose 0.35% after the bank announced that a board meeting will be held on 20 May 2018 to discuss on the capital raising plan under BASEL-III for the financial year 2018-2019. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 May 2018. Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) lost 1.02%. GSFC said it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Centrex Metals, Australia, for the purchase of 3,00,000 tonnes per annum (dry basis) of rock phosphate for 10 years. The said proposal upon its implementation shall be immensely useful to GSFC for the purpose of its backward and forward integration strategies. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 May 2018. India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) rose 2.01% after the company announced that a share transfer agreement has been signed amongst ITDC, Arunachal Pradesh Industrial Development & Financial Corp (APIDFC), Donyi Polo Ashok Hotel Corporation (DPAHCL) and Government of Arunachal Pradesh (GoAP) for transfer of 51% equity stake of ITDC in DPAHCL, the joint venture subsidiary company, to APIDFC/GoAP on a consideration amount of Rs 1.98 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 May 2018. Overseas, Asian stocks were trading on a mixed note as investors appeared to be readjusting their expectations about trade negotiations between the US and China. As high-level meetings between the world's two largest economies were being conducted in Washington, President Donald Trump kept expectations low, reportedly saying that China had become spoiled and that he doubted negotiations would be successful. The three main US equity benchmarks finished lower yesterday, 17 May 2018 as selling in technology shares offset an advance in the energy sector. In US economic data, initial jobless claims rose by 11,000 to 222,000 in the latest week, the highest level in a month. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index came in at 34.4 in May. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The stock is quoting at Rs 938.85, down 0.69% on the day as on 13:29 IST on the NSE. Reliance Industries Ltd jumped 42.37% in last one year as compared to a 12.62% rally in NIFTY and a 15.2% spurt in the Nifty Energy index. Reliance Industries Ltd dropped for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at 938.85, down 0.69% on the day as on 13:29 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is down around 0.61% on the day, quoting at 10617.45. The Sensex is at 34928.92, down 0.63%.Reliance Industries Ltd has lost around 0.37% in last one month.Meanwhile, Nifty Energy index of which Reliance Industries Ltd is a constituent, has eased around 0.41% in last one month and is currently quoting at 13682.7, down 0.7% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 32.57 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 59.28 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark May futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 943.05, down 0.68% on the day. Reliance Industries Ltd jumped 42.37% in last one year as compared to a 12.62% rally in NIFTY and a 15.2% spurt in the Nifty Energy index. The PE of the stock is 17.82 based on TTM earnings ending March 18. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A prison riot in the northwestern Venezuelan state of Lara left 10 dead and 25 injured, a military spokesperson told the media on Friday. The violence, which erupted on Thursday, was sparked by the inmates' displeasure with a new prison regime inside the Fenix Community Penitentiary, the spokesperson said, Efe reported. Some of the prisoners "used firearms and subdued and killed two guards; they also took hostages and wounded them with sharp objects," the source said, adding that "they later clashed with security personnel." Eight other people who have not yet been identified but presumably were inmates also died in the riot, while 25 others - including the prison's deputy director, Rigoberto Avila - were injured, the spokesperson said. But the director of the NGO Una Ventana a la Libertad (A Window on Freedom), Carlos Nieto, told EFE Friday that 11 people had died and 28 were injured. He also criticized the lack of information provided by authorities. Relatives of one of the inmates at that prison, lawmaker Gilber Caro, expressed their concern about the riot and said they had received no information about him. "It's been more than 72 days without knowing anything about my brother Gilber. We fear for his life. We hold (Prison Services Minister) Iris Varela responsible for whatever may happen to Gilber. We demand to see him!" reads a message on the Twitter account of Caro, a lawmaker with the opposition Popular Will party. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Between eight and 10 people died in a school shooting on Friday in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe, a sheriff told the media. The shooting began shortly after 7.30 a.m., at Santa Fe High School in Galveston County, Ed Gonzalez, the sheriff of neighbouring Harris County, said, Efe reported. "There are multiple fatalities that have been confirmed," Gonzalez said, adding: "The number varies but it could be anywhere between eight and 10 fatalities at the school, including students and some adult staff as well." "There was also an injured Santa Fe ISD (Independent School District) police officer... that's being treated at a hospital. I don't know the extent of his injuries," the sheriff said. Gonzalez also told the reporters that one suspect was in custody and that a second "possible person of interest" also had been detained. He said police were combing the school to make sure no additional students were injured or hiding and that no explosive devices were on the premises. President Donald Trump commented on the shooting on Twitter. "School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" he wrote. Gun violence is a major political issue in the US. Trump said in a speech at the National Rifle Association's annual leadership meeting in Dallas, Texas, earlier this month that the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects citizens' right to bear arms, would never be "under siege" while he is president. Speaking about a February mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, Trump said the solution was to allow "highly trained teachers to carry concealed weapons" in the classroom. The President also said then that making schools gun-free zones was an invitation to mentally disturbed people to "come in and take us". --IANS ahm/him/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twenty Indian start-ups have been chosen to join London Mayor Sadiq Khan's India Emerging 20 (IE20) business programme which aims to help selected companies in setting up or expanding their business in Britain's capital. The India Emerging 20 programme which is in its third edition this year was launched by London and Partners, which is the Mayor of London's official promotional agency, in collaboration with BDO, a major accounting and taxation network, and Lalit Hotels. It was set up with the aim to identify some of India's most ambitious companies that are considering international expansion. The 20 winners of 2018 were chosen from over 300 applications from some of India's leading business hubs such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, London and Partners said in a statement on Friday. The winners will have the opportunity to benefit from discounted rates on a London office and tailored expert advice on marketing, access to finance and local market analysis, it added. "London is a truly global business centre and presents lots of opportunities for Indian companies looking to expand their business overseas," said Khan. "I am delighted that my India Emerging 20 programme is helping some of India's fastest growing companies with their international growth and London remains open to investment, talent and collaborations with India," he added. Among the winners selected for this year's programme are Hug Innovations of Hyderabad and Mumbai's Furtados School of Music. Hug Innovations is a wearable tech company developing IoT platforms that allows users to complete tasks including controlling apps, electronics, VR headsets, toys and home automation using just hand gestures. Furtados School of Music (FSM) is a music education firm with a vision to provide accessible quality music education to all. The company is currently testing a mobile application to bring together people interested in learning music and music teachers. The other winners are Appnomic Systems, BiOZEEN, BlackPepper Technologies, Chai Point (Mountain Trail Foods), Happay, Intello Labs, Ittisa Digital Media Services, Senseforth, Chakr Innovation, Dineout/inResto, Fork Media, Lucideus Tech, Morph.ai, Videonetics Technology, Wigzo Technologies, Gaia Smart Cities, Iksula Services and SaffronStays. In April, India and Britain announced a UK-India Tech Partnership to identify and pair businesses, venture capital, universities and others to provide access routes to markets for British and Indian entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises. "IE20 is an important element of the UK-India Technology-Partnership which was agreed by our two Prime Ministers in April and formally launched in India last week by Digital and Culture Secretary, Matt Hancock," said Dominic McAllister, British Deputy High Commissioner in Bengaluru. "The UK and India are global leaders in technology and two of the world's most innovative countries. The new UK-India Tech Partnership will be testimony to that. A pilot soon to be launched In Karnataka will focus on augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and artificial intelligence -- technologies which a number of our winners today are already deploying," McAllister added. --IANS gb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police in Malaysia have seized 72 bags stuffed with cash, jewellery and luxury goods from properties linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak as part of investigations into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund corruption scandal. Almost 300 boxes of designer handbags were also seized in raids at luxury condominiums in downtown Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Raja Chulan, state news agency Bernama reported on Friday. The value of the seized goods, which included Hermes and Louis Vuitton bags, was yet to be ascertained due to the scale of the confiscation, the agency reported. The raids were conducted on Wednesday night and continued till Thursday morning. Six properties had been searched in total in relation to reopened probe into the 1MDB scandal, the state investment fund from which Najib is accused of siphoning off billions of dollars. He has denied any wrongdoing. "The Commercial Crime Investigation Department inspected six premises related to the 1MDB investigations, namely the Prime Minister's Office, official residence and four other homes," Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Director Datuk Seri Amar Singh Ishar Singh told the media. Documents relating to the 1MDB scandal were also retrieved in the raids, according to Singh. Najib, whose government was plagued with the scandal, was defeated in last week's parliamentary election by a coalition led by veteran politician Mahathir Mohamad, who came out of retirement to challenge Najib. At a press conference on Thursday, Mahathir had said police had enough reason to raid Najib's residences. "We have instructed investigation into all crime cases, no matter who is involved. If there is a case against them, we will take action." On Thursday Najib's lawyer, Harpal Singh Grewal, told reporters that he understood that the items had been seized in order to advance an investigation under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Acts, Bernama said. Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor are on an Immigration Department watch list and barred from leaving the country. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nine pilgrims headed to 'punyagiri or the mountain of good deeds, were mowed down by a speeding mini-truck in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district on Friday, police said. The deceased were part of a group of 250, who were walking bare foot towards the Maa Purnagiri shrine, which is located close to the Nepal border, when the incident occurred. The mini-truck coming from Sitarganj and headed to Tanakpur ran over 30 pilgrims near the sales tax office, an official informed IANS. Many of the bodies were strewn in pieces all over the road. At least 21 others have been admitted to various nearby medical facilities, where condition of five is stated to be critical. The Army is also aiding in the rescue and relief operations along with the district authorities. The injured, who sustained minor injuries have been sent to their homes in state roadways buses. All nine deceased have been identified. The family members have been informed of the tragedy. The Maa Purnagiri temple is located on the top of a mountain above 3,000 metres from sea level in Uttarakhand's Tanakpur. --IANS md/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Russia's city of Sochi, saying it's an opportunity for future peace talks, the Syrian presidential media office said. Assad osaid the meeting at the opening of the Sochi Summit is an "opportunity to put forward a mutual vision for the next stage for the peace talks either in Astana or Sochi", Xinhua news agency reported,. According to the report, Putin has congratulated Assad on the "big achievements" made by the Syrian army in the war against terrorism, noting that the military successes have created suitable conditions for the resumption of the political process. Putin said the mutual goal is the rebuilding of the Syrian economy and providing humanitarian help, noting that his administration is in contact with all concerned sides for the political "complicated process," including the UN. For his side, Assad on Thursday said that many positive changes have taken place as the terrorists' arena in Syria has become much smaller and hundreds of thousands of Syrians have returned to their homes and millions of others are on their way back. "This stability is a wide door opened for the political process," Assad told Putin, according to the report. The visit of Assad to Sochi is his second, as last November the president met with Putin in Sochi and hailed the Russian support to Syria. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Continuing its fight against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, the All Assam Students' Union has now decided to create awareness against the Bill at the national level so that pressure can be mounted on the Central government to drop the measure. The powerful students' body is continuously protesting against the Constitutional amendment Bill and has also met leaders of regional political parties to have a consensus at national level over the Bill. "We have already met leaders of 11 political pasties across the state over the Bill. We are going to meet more leaders at national level to have a consensus over the issue," union adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said on Friday. A delegation, led by Bhattacharyya, met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently over the issue. Nitish Kumar assured the delegation that he would write to the Prime Minister against the Central government's move to give citizenship on the basis of religion. "We are going to meet (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee, (Odisha Chief Minister) Navin Patnaik and other strong regional party leaders across the country soon," he said. Student union President Dipank Kumar Nath said: "Assam is a small state and had already taken the burden of illegal Bangladeshis, who entered the state till midnight of March 24, 1971. The illegal infiltration from Bangladesh had already changed the demography of the state. "The historical Assam Accord is a national commitment which had categorically said that those who had entered the state after midnight of March 24, 1971 will have to be detected and deported." He said the student body will have its central executive meeting on Saturday followed by a delegates' meeting on Sunday. --IANS ah/him/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dearth of effective employment, aggressive political campaigns and a common tendency of the ruling parties to throttle the voice of the opposition are the major factors in the culture of political violence in West Bengal, say experts and politicians. Despite being largely free from caste conflicts and sectarian strife, the state has for decades topped the chart in political clashes which have left hundreds dead and maimed and caused loss of property worth crores of rupees. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's denunciation of the widespread violence and killings focussed around the state rural polls as "murder of democracy" has brought the malady more into national limelight, analysts feel the recent political disturbances -- in which at least 22 people have died since the start of the poll process -- are no flash-in-the-pan happenings. Political science teacher Udayan Bandopadhyay termed the violence in Bengal as a by-product of unemployment and over dependence of people on political parties for different governmental projects. "People depend a lot on the local power nexus, mainly from the ruling dispensation, to get some sort of disguised employment, like the Hundred day's work scheme (MGNREGA)," said Bandopadhyay, an associate professor in Bangabasi College. "We are boasting over MGNREGA (the rural jobs scheme). But it proves that the state is actually the last in creating effective employment. It clearly shows that in rural areas, the state has not been able to produce anything apart from seasonal agricultural employment," he added. The violence that often seems like a battle of political ideologies from outside is actually driven by economic reasons in a state like West Bengal that lacks proper ways to earn livelihood. "It has nothing to do with political ideology; these are absolutely localised clashes over the spoils. I think it will increase in terms of number of clashes and casualties in the coming days if the employment scenario in the state does not change," Bandopadhyay claimed. According to another political analyst, Anil Kumar Jana, violence during an election process is not just limited to Bengal but is prevalent across the country. The aggressive campaigning by the political leaders is largely responsible for this. "Some of their actions are provoking the people more as in India a section of people still look up to the leaders. The violence in West Bengal is nothing new. But this time around, it became murkier as the election campaign by the BJP was very aggressive," he said. "On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress lacks political or ideological persuasion and heavily banks upon the of anti-establishment. So, the party's aggression naturally flows down to the workers at the grassroot level," said Jana, head of Vidyasagar University's political science department. Referring to the massive inflow of money to the panchayats, he pointed out that the competition to win is fierce because those who would come to power would be able to lay their hands on money. The political parties blamed each other. "Election or no election, the Trinamool has always tried to destroy the opposition. Before the rural polls the Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) herself implied that 100 percent seats should be won by Trinamool Congress. So the police and state administration took it as a mandate from the Chief Minister to annihilate all opposition forces. As a result, there was a series of violence by organised goons, ably aided and abetted by the police and the state administration," said CPI-M politburo member and MP Mohammad Salim. BJP Secretary Rahul Sinha targeted both the communists and Banerjee. "This trend of state sponsored terrorism has been introduced in Bengal by the communists. I won't say that violence was non-existent during the time of the Congress but it is mostly an invention of the Left regime. To address this fear of losing their support base, the CPI-M introduced a trend to throttle the opposition voices," Sinha contended. "This has been further promoted by Mamata who gave the hooligans an open licence. She is also openly using the police force as a part of her cadre base. More than clashes, it is mostly attacks on the opposition by the ruling party," Sinha added. State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury regretted that Bengal held the number one tag in political violence. "Some places have communal tension or unrest over social, racial or religious issues but in Bengal it is a tradition to throttle the voice of the opposition through attacks and violence. Now it seems that doing for a party like Congress is a criminal offence," Chowdhury maintained. The Trinamool, however, refused to accept that political atrocities have increased during its rule. "The violence that's happening now is largely orchestrated by the opposition parties like BJP and CPI-M who are instigating unrest among people to show the current government in a bad light. "Some parties are even bringing in goons from states like Jharkhand that has a more severe history of political violence than Bengal. However, the state administration is doing its best to handle the adversities," Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said. (Milinda Ghosh Roy can be contacted at milinda.r@ians.in ) --IANS mgr/ssp/vm/hs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday appointed BJP legislator K.G. Bopaiah as Karnataka Assembly's Pro-Tem Speaker for administering oath to all newly elected legislators on Saturday ahead of the floor test directed by the Supreme Court, a party official said. "The Governor appointed and administered the oath to Bopaiah as the Pro-Tem Speaker at the Raj Bhavan," BJP Spokesman Vamanacharya told IANS here. Bopaiah, 62, is a three-time legislator from Virajpet seat in Kodagu region, 260 km from Bengaluru. He was Speaker during the Bharatiya Janata Party rule in the state from 2008-13. All newly-elected legislators will be administered oath in the Assembly premises. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ordered the floor test in Assembly at 4 p.m. on Saturday. In the May 12 elections held in 222 constituencies across the state, 104 seats were won by the BJP, Congress (78), JD-S (37), one by independent, one by Bahujan Samaj Party and one by regional Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party. Though the JD-S won 37 seats, its effective strength is 36 since its state President H.D. Kumaraswamy won from Channapatna and Ramanagara segments but has only one vote. --IANS fb-bha/tsb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In just one day, the Brazilian authorities went after 579 people on warrants for crimes of child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors. The massive raid, the largest ever in Brazil, led to the arrest of 251 people on Thursday in the second phase of a nationwide Federal Police operation, Xinhua news agency reported. The Operation Childhood Light which was first launched in October 2017, might see a furher rise in the number of arrests, as not even half of the 579 arrest warrants had been executed by the end of the day. According to the police, the operation took place in 24 states and the capital city Brasilia. A total of 2,600 officers joined the operation. Most arrests were made in Sao Paulo and Rio areas. The main target of the operation was arrested. He was in possession of 780,000 files containing child pornography. In 2017, 112 people were arrested. --IANS in/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The British government is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan, the media reported on Friday. The British military had written to Prime Minister Theresa May recommending the country boost its presence in Afghanistan, but no decision has been made yet, the BBC reported. According to the report, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson recommended sending up to 400 more Army personnel into Afghanistan, joining the 600 already there training Afghan soldiers. The move followed calls by US President Donald Trump to the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to join him in sending more troops to the country. In 2017, the US announced a plan to send in 3,500 more troops, which brings the US total to about 15,000. It is part of a strategy to help fight the Taliban and deal with the rising threat from the Islamic State terror group. The last UK combat troops left Afghanistan in 2014 after being involved in the conflict since 2001. General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of joint forces command who led campaigns in Afghanistan, said the UK "has to recognise that the decision to leave in 2014... hasn't worked". He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Army and Air Force in Afghanistan were "not strong enough" to defeat the Taliban alone. "The decision to increase troops would send an important message to our allies, and the Taliban", he said. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said the UK's military contribution was kept under constant review. Britain's support to Afghanistan on security, development and governance was "crucial to building a stable state and reducing the terrorist threat to the UK", it said. The reports came as the Defence Ministry figures, published on Thursday, showed the size of the UK Army was at its smallest for more than 200 years. The UK's regular Army has just over 77,000 troops, well short of its target strength of 82,000. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police on Friday questioned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with an alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by two AAP MLAs and sought to know from him about the sequence of events that took place on February 19, said a senior police officer. The police also sought to know from him whether the assault on Prakash was pre-planned, he said. Chief Minister may again be questioned and if needed it will also question Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as Kejriwal did not give "satisfactory answers", Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Harendra Singh told the media after about three-hour-long questioning. Reacting to his questioning, Kejriwal hit out at the Union government and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is behind the move. On February 20, the Chief Secretary alleged that he was assaulted by two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in the presence of Kejriwal at the Chief Minister's residence. The two, Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, were arrested and later released on bail. The Chief Minister alleged that the cases against the AAP were "fake and politically motivated". Singh said that Kejriwal did not give satisfactory answers to some of the questions, adding that Kejriwal was questioned in the room in which the Chief Secretary was allegedly assaulted. "He was evasive of some questions." The Additional DCP said that the whole process has been videograhped, but added that as per law, a copy of the recording could not be given to the Chief Minister. He also said that there were two advocates with Kejriwal during his questioning. Meanwhile, Kejriwal said in a written statement after the questioning that the BJP was letting loose Lt. Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Police after the AAP, to stop the good work being done by the AAP government in Delhi. "For the first time in the history of India, a Chief Minister was questioned for fake cases and a raid was conducted by police. There is only one reason behind it -- to disturb us and to defame us," the statement said. The Chief Minister's interrogation began around 5 p.m at his residence on Flagstaff Road of north Delhi and went on till 8.15 p.m. A police officer who was present at the time of the questioning told IANS said that over 100 questions were asked by the Delhi Police. Singh entered Kejriwal's residence with Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Civil Lines Police Station, and four Inspector-rank officers, a police official said. Over a dozen policemen were deployed outside the Chief Minister's residence. --IANS sp-nkh/bns/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Visiting Chinese Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia has said the Chinese and Pakistani militaries should implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two counties and enhance strategic communication and pragmatic cooperation. Zhang made the remarks during his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday, appreciating that the Pakistani side firmly supports China over issues related to China's core interests, Xinhua news agency. He said the two militaries should also promote their defence relations comprehensively in the new era, maintain the common interests of the two countries and peace and stability of the region as well as the world. For his part, Abbasi said Pakistan and China have been seeing close relationships and have carried out broad and deep defence cooperation, adding that Pakistan firmly sticks to the one-China policy. The Prime Minister said Pakistan is willing to enhance strategic cooperation and pragmatic exchanges in all sectors with China, and ensure the smooth development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and contribute to the regional development and prosperity. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China announced on Friday that it was removing the heavy 178.6 per cent tariff imposed a month ago on imports of sorghum, a cereal used as cattle feed, from the US in an apparent goodwill gesture as key talks are underway in Washington over the trade dispute between the two nations. China's Vice Premier Liu He met President Donald Trump and a US negotiating team led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday in the first of two days of talks, the Washington Post reported. The announcement on sorghum imports came from the Commerce Ministry in Beijing on Friday morning and was not explicitly linked to the trade talks. Indeed, the ministry said it had concluded that the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures it had imposed on the sorghum imports on April 18 would affect the cost of living for Chinese consumers and were not in the public interest. The pig industry in particular had been facing operational difficulties due to the rise in sorghum costs. The tariff had been imposed initially after President Trump threatened to impose similar measures on a number of Chinese products, stoking fears of a trade war between the world's two largest economies. In 2017, the US exported 4.76 million tonnes -- more than 95 per cent of Chinese imports of the cereal, worth $1.1 billion, to China, and the tariff had raised concerns among American agricultural producers. Meanwhile, sources close to the Liu-Trump trade negotiations said that China offered to take steps to reduce US trade deficit in bilateral trade by $200 billion by 2020. But China's Foreign Ministry said this was "not true". "According to my information, the consultation is still underway and it is constructive," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang at a press conference. --IANS mag-soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Friday hailed the Supreme Court's directive to hold an early floor test in Karnataka Assembly on Saturday instead of the 15 days granted to Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa by Governor Vajubhai R. Vala. "The Supreme Court has saved democracy by advancing the floor test to Saturday from the 15 days the Governor gave to Yeddyurappa to prove that the BJP has the majority for its government to continue," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters here. Slamming the Karnataka Governor for inviting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form government, Azad said it was surprising that the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), which together have the support of 117 legislators, were not invited instead. In the May 12 Assembly election in 222 constituencies, the BJP won 104 seats, the Congress 78 and the JD-S 37, with the latter two forming a post-poll alliance. As JD-S state President H.D. Kumaraswamy won from both Channapatna and Ramanagara assembly segments, the party effectively has 37 votes, including one vote from its Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ally. Two Independents were also supporting the Congress and the JD-S, Azad claimed. "Never in the history has any Governor given two weeks time to prove majority," Azad said. Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attacked the Governor for his "unconstitutional" decision of allowing Yeddyurappa to form the government. "The Governor asking the BJP which has won only 104 seats to form the government shows that he has colluded with the party and its leaders," Siddaramaiah said. The Congress leaders displayed confidence that the party's and JD-S legislators would support them during the floor test on Saturday at 4 p.m. The apex court's decision came a day after Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the southern state. --IANS bha-aks/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra and Mumbai Congress on Friday organised a 'Save Democracy Day' at the Azad Maidan here to protest against the political developments in neighbouring Karnataka. State party chief Ashok Chavan and city party President Sanjay Nirupam, besides several legislators and former ministers, took part in the campaign at the Amar Jawan Jyot and pledged to protect democracy. "The Bharatiya Janata Party has seized control over all democratic institutions. All democratic institutions are subverted and functioning under the pressures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah," Nirupam said on the occasion. Chavan said the Supreme Court had saved the situation in Karnataka and the "Congress will prove its majority on the floor of the Karanataka Legislature and form the next government there". --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Cabinet in a meeting on Friday gave in-principle approval to procure 1,000 buses under a cluster scheme, subject to a nod from the Supreme Court and the High Court. "The Cabinet gave in-principle approval for procurement of 1,000 buses from successful bidders. The approval is in-principle as there are certain cases related to the buses in the court. "We are expecting a green signal as there is a shortage of buses in the city," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told the media here. The last time the city got a new set of buses was seven years ago. "The main issues before us was the lack of a proper place to keep the buses. We, in last three years, have created eight depots to keep the new buses safely." Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot told the media: "The buses will be equipped with CCTV cameras, inbuilt GPS and anti-skid safety feature. To ensure security for women, there will be panic buttons after every three seats." The government, with an aim to strengthen the public transport system, is also building six new depots in the city, Gahlot said. The eight depots constructed in the past three years are in Kharkhari Nahar, Revela Kanpur, Bawana Sector-1, Dichaon Kalan-II, Dwarka Sector-22 and three depots in Rani Khera. The process for procuring another 1,000 buses for the DTC and 1,000 electric buses is at an advanced stage, Sisodia added. --IANS nks/him/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ecuador has announced an immediate withdrawal of additional security forces at its embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living, following claims that $5 million was spent to protect him. In a statement on Thursday, the National Secretariat of Communication (Secom) said President Lenin Moreno ordered additional security teams of the embassy to be "withdrawn immediately", the BBC reported. The money was used to monitor Assange's visitors, embassy staff and UK police, according to reports. Assange has been at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 after being granted asylum. He fled there to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime allegations, which he denies. The Swedish authorities have since dropped their investigation, but Britain is still seeking his arrest for breaching bail conditions. Assange, 46, believes he will be extradited to the US for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he leaves the building. He set up Wikileaks, which publishes confidential documents and images, in 2006 -- making headlines around the world in April 2010 when it released footage showing US soldiers shooting dead 18 civilians from a helicopter in Iraq. According to Secom, Ecuador's embassy in London will now carry out normal security procedures "similar to the rest of Ecuadorian embassies in the world". The measure was announced after The Guardian daily on Tuesday published an article saying that the Ecuadorian government had spent at least $5 million on a "spy operation" to "protect" Assange. In March, Ecuador cut Assange's Internet connection at the London embassy, preventing him from "interfering in other countries' affairs". It came after Assange had questioned accusations that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in the UK on March 4. In May, 2017, Moreno asked Assange to refrain from expressing his public support for the independence campaign in Spain's Catalonia region after he tweeted that Madrid was guilty of "repression". Assange's Twitter account is now being run by his legal campaign. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Brussels, May 19 (IANS/AKI) The European Union Commission has refused to speculate on a possible British-style 'Italexit' if a populist, eurosceptic government takes office in one of the bloc's "founders and key members". "We don't comment on programmes in advance. We will let a new government be formed and then see what its actual agenda is," deputy chief EU Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva told reporters in Brussels on Friday. "EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has highlighted Italy's importance as one of the founders and key members of the EU," Andreeva said. Members of Italy's anti-establishment Five-Star and far-right League parties are voting over the weekend on a common agenda for a coalition government hammered out by the two sides over the past eight days, which calls for a review of EU treaties and Italy's relations with the bloc. Five-Star and the centre-right coalition headed by League leader Matteo Salvini emerged as Italy's largest political forces after the inconclusive 4 March election in which populist parties made strong gains. Several rounds of talks with Italy's party leaders since the March vote collapsed amid the political stalemate and the country's president Sergio Mattarella has not set a new deadline for Five-Star and the League to agree on a government. --IANS/AKI pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury, was on Friday discharged from a hospital in the southern English city after two months of the attack. Skripal, 66, was found slumped on a bench on March 4 along with his daughter Yulia after being exposed to military-grade nerve agent Novichok. The alleged assassination plot sparked a fierce diplomatic row between the UK government and Russia, which has consistently denied allegations that it was behind the poisoning. Yulia Skripal, 33, was released from the hospital in April and was taken to a safe location. Nick Bailey, a police officer who attended the Skripals on the day of the poisoning and who was also treated for exposure to the nerve agent, has also been released from hospital care, the BBC reported. Lorna Wilkinson, Director of nursing at Salisbury District Hospital, said that treating the Skripals had been "a huge and unprecedented challenge". "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital." Skripal's condition was described by hospital officials in April as "improving rapidly" and no longer critical. After the poisoning, the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats who had been declared as unidentified intelligence officers. More than 20 other countries -- including the US, Canada, Australia and 18 EU states -- kicked out Russian diplomats in a show of support for Britain. In 2006, Skripal, a former Russian colonel, was jailed in Russia for 13 years for passing on the identities of Russian spies in Europe to the UK intelligence services. But in 2010 he was part of a prisoner swap between Moscow and the US. He eventually settled in Salisbury. Earlier, MI5 Director General Andrew Parker publicly blamed Russia for the "reckless" poisoning, accusing the Kremlin of "flagrant breaches of international rules". --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For about two years, when author Kota Neelima was researching on farmers' widows in Maharashtra, she also made art works inspired by the philosophy that they learned from their practical experiences with nature. "The fundamental question that I would eventually ask a lady is how she survived -- not just about the physical survival but also the emotional survival. They spoke in terms of nature -- trees, soil and the moon," Neelima told IANS in an interview. "Once, one of them delineated a very interesting interpretation about the moon, which is gone after a night but is not actually gone. That's how they see loss...it's there but I can't see it," she said, adding: "Look at the wonderful reconciliation." Neelima said this beautiful spirituality coming from these women inspired the collection of her beautiful paintings that found space at the just-concluded "Metaphors of the Moon" exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi here. "It is the natural, very very humble, beautiful spirituality of the ordinary people in extremely difficult situations. They will hold a bit of the soil in their hands and say I can feel the love of my husband in it because he has gone back to the soil. "The imagery in paintings is about nature," she said. In her works at the show, the mind was the metaphor for the moon. It represented the cyclic process of thought, its creation, immersion and regeneration, and also is a metaphor for absence and presence. The lessons of the Moon are about the fragility of reconciliation and the assurance of restoration. Also, tree roots found significant space. Why? "They look at the branches of the trees and say the roots are not visible. The branches are flourishing because sacrifice is being made by the invisible roots. I can't give examples like that." "Hope isn't just a word. They generate it every day...they live it in a very organic, a visceral manner." Neelima, in her books, focuses on agricultural distress and the state of rural India. In her earlier books, she said, she missed the women's perspective. "It is those women who tell the story of the farmers. She knows exactly why he killed himself but she is the last one who is asked." "People think she doesn't know the issues of bank loans and taxes being a woman. but she does. She is in the shadow of the farmer," she said. "Nobody writes about those women. Nobody talks about them," she added. Neelima specifically wanted to focus on women and in 2014, began researching in two districts of Vidarbha, which has had a maximum number of suicides by farmers. Her book, "Widows of Vidarbha: Making of Shadows", is the story of 18 widows of the area who have been invisible to the state, the community and even their families. Tracked over two years of research from 2014 to 2016, the widows speak about their lost dreams of education and identity, their diminished view of the world, and their helpless surrender to conveniences of patriarchy. "One farmer dies every 30 minutes...every 30 minutes, the life of one woman is irretrievably thrown into chaos -- in rural societies they are not allowed education. They are married off very early. Once they are married, they play the pre-decided roles. "They are home-bound. The boundaries are very clearly edged -- confining the woman to finding her own capabilities or her own identity," Neelima explained. "When the husband dies, the wife, who has not been visible before, becomes even more invisible," she added. (Mudita Girotra can be contacted at mudita.g@ians.in ) --IANS mg/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Senate has approved Gina Haspel as the first female Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) despite her role in the spy agency's brutal detention and interrogation programmes post-9/11 terror attacks. Haspel's confirmation on Thursday in a 54-45 vote followed a partisan fight among senators about Haspel's past ties to the CIA's former rendition, detention and interrogation activities, carried out in the years following the September 11 attacks, with the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding, now widely considered torture. Six Democrats crossed party lines to vote in her favour. According to the Washington Post, Haspel appeared to have been helped by some last-minute arm-twisting by former CIA Directors John Brennan and Leon Panetta, who contacted at least five of the six Democrats to endorse her bid to join President Donald Trump's Cabinet. One of the six senators, Mark Warner, said Haspel had told him the agency should never have resorted to so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. Warner said she had pledged never to use such methods even if Trump demanded it. "I believe she is someone who can and will stand up to the President, who will speak truth to power if this President orders her to do something illegal or immoral, like a return to torture," he said before the vote. Two Republicans -- Jeff Flake and Rand Paul -- voted against Haspel. Opponents of her nomination included more than 100 retired admirals and generals who said her role in the agency's use of torture would encourage foreign governments to torture American soldiers. Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Richard Burr said the confirmation of a woman as CIA head would send an important message. "Many others who have served, or are currently serving, have cracked the glass ceiling at the agency. Gina is poised to break it," he said. "It may be impossible to measure the importance of that breakthrough but I do know that it will send a signal to the current workforce and to the workforce of the future that a lifetime of commitment to the agency can and will be rewarded." A 33-year veteran of the agency, 61-year-old Haspel spent most of her career as an undercover operative, the US media reported. Haspel supervised a secret prison in Thailand in 2002 where harsh interrogations were conducted and she destroyed CIA interrogation tapes years later. Her specific role in the programme remains classified. One suspect that was brought there, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was brutalised using methods that were later banned by President Barack Obama. Al-Nashiri, who was interrogated after Haspel took over the post, was also subjected to sleep deprivation, nudity, extreme temperatures, being held in a small box, and "walling" (being slammed repeatedly into a wall). Three years later, Haspel ordered the destruction of 92 video tapes that documented the interrogation of him, and Abu Zubaydah, who was also held at the Thai location. At least 119 men were tortured by the US in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, according to a 2014 Senate report. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the parent company of Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Bing to file a response after they disclosed the identity of an eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir. The direction from acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar came after their Indian subsidiary apprised the bench that they were not the concerned entity to respond to the court's query. The court observed that several Internet platforms and social networking sites were extensively displaying the photographs and name of the victim. Google and other social media platforms have done a great disservice to the nation by uploading contents which revealed the identity of the minor victim, the bench said. The bench said that the entities cannot absolve themselves for such activities and maintained that the law was the same for everyone. Meanwhile, the court stayed the proceedings initiated by the Press Council of India (PCI) against some of the media houses for disclosing the identity of the victim. The court last month directed 12 media organisations to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for disclosing the identity of the eight-year-old girl who was killed in Kathua. The court had observed that there were long term repercussion to the victim's family, especially for the women members, due to such reporting. The court said they had violated law and were punishable under Section 228-A of the Indian Penal Code. The minor in Kathua was held captive and sedated before being repeatedly raped and murdered. --IANS akk/ahm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gunfight started on Friday between a group of militants and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district. Defence Ministry sources said the troops spotted three to five militants near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kawnar area. "The militants were challenged after which they fired at the troops, triggering an encounter which is going on," an official said. "The militants have been surrounded." The group had intruded into India from Pakistan when they were challenged, the sources said. This was the first instance of fighting between the militants and security forces since the Indian government announced a ceasefire two days back to mark the holy month of Ramadan. --IANS sq/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside the Election Commission's notification disqualifying BJP's Narottam Mishra for three years for filing wrong accounts of election expenditure during the 2008 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. A division bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Sunil Gaur said that it has not found anything conclusive against the Madhya Pradesh Minister to prove that the articles and advertorials in the media were paid. The bench was hearing an appeal by the Bharatiya Janata Party leader challenging the July 14, 2017, order of a single Judge bench of the High Court, which had upheld the EC's decision to disqualify Mishra. The EC's order in 2017 to disqualify Mishra came on a complaint by Congress legislator Rajender Bharti in 2009. Mishra had contested the EC decision on the grounds of inordinate delay in the matter and alleged lack of evidence that he authorised paid news articles. The matter had reached the High Court after the Supreme Court on July 12 last year transferred the case to it for an expeditious decision before the July 17, 2017 presidential polls. Mishra had sought an interim stay on the single Judge's order that upheld the EC's order as a last-ditch attempt to vote in the presidential election. He, however, could not cast his ballot. --IANS akk/ahm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Read how after the 13th day of the Kurukshetra War, the Pandavas and Kauravas look to avenge their losses; understand the need for balancing conflicting goals as well as the importance of promoting entrepreneurship from within; flick through the love story of two dancers on many facets of love and trust; and enjoy a collection of diverse stories set in Kolkata and Delhi. The IANS bookshelf offers a nice blend of genres this weekend. 1. Book: A Broken Sun; Author: Aditya Iyengar; Publisher: Rupa; Price: Rs 295; Pages: 199 In the bloody aftermath of the 13th day of the Kurukshetra War, the Pandavas and Kauravas look to avenge their losses. In the Pandava army, a grief-stricken Arjuna speaks to his dead son and tries to find solace on the battlefield, even as his brother Yudhishthira tries to keep his family from falling apart. On the other side, the Kauravas, led by Guru Drona and Radheya, try desperately to bring the war to an end. Their lives entwine tragically on the battlefield in a tale of loss and redemption. Narrated through the voices of Radheya, Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Ghatotkacha and Sushasana, "A Broken Sun" is the second part of Iyengar's trilogy on the Kurukshetra war. 2. Book: Entresutra; Author: Soumodip Sarkar; Publisher: Bloomsbury; Price: Rs 499; Pages: 208 As entrepreneurship and innovation become the new corporate and societal mantra, this book peers through known wisdom, glancing back and looking forward to what entrepreneurship and innovation mean, unravelling key ingredients for success. Covering a vast and complex terrain, the book uncovers six pillars that determine entrepreneurial success, providing insights strung together from different fields of knowledge, as well as the author's own experiences, to narrate a compelling and realistic account. While each of these pillars constitutes a story in its own right, taken together, a fabric is woven that permits the reader to appreciate the entrepreneurial journey, drawing lessons for one's own endeavours as Aha! moments are encountered along the way. The book is also intended for corporates to understand how innovation unravels, for understanding the need for balancing conflicting goals as well as the importance of promoting entrepreneurship from within. "EntreSutra" will whet the appetite of the curious and help demystify the essence of creation. 3. Book: Rasia; Author: Koral Dasgupta; Publisher: Rupa; Price: Rs 295; Pages: 238 Two women wait for him at two different ends of the crossroads. He knows which path is his, but he can't walk that path till he has attended to the other. One perfect couple. An obsessed seductress. A Bharatanatyam show in Manhattan. Raj Shekhar Subramanian and Manasi, both Bharatanatyam dancers, are made for each other. Till an obsessed fan, Vatsala Pandit enters their lives, testing the man's character and his wife's patience. But then Manasi invites Vatsala to her Bharatanatyam show, she will be performing at with her husband, the very man Vatsala wants to take from her. Why? Why did Shekhar agree to take in Vatsala as his student in the first place? This singular love story deftly explores the many facets of love-mutual trust, obsessiveness, the arrogance of passion, the need for self-fulfilment, the yearning for the beloved and the complexity of modern relationships. 4. Book: The Love Song of Maya K and other stories; Author: Shuma Raha; Publisher: Niyogi Books; Price: Rs 395; Pages: 214 It's about a rumour that ends in calamity, a girl who is demonised because of her evil horoscope, a man who preys upon young girls, a train journey that forces a woman to look at her marriage anew, the gorgeous inner life of a shop girl and a child overwhelmed by the wonder and terror of his world. Set in Kolkata and Delhi, the stories in this collection deal with love and betrayal, dogma and superstition, sexuality and thwarted desires. The characters belong to the world of urban, aspirational India where snobbery and the rat race go hand-in-hand with class and religious conflicts. Dark or funny, satirical or poignant, these stories are as much a snapshot of modern India as they are an intense crystallisation of the unpredictable chaos of life. --IANS mg/vm ky (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hungarian President Janos Ader appointed the ministers of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's fourth ministry here on Friday, officially forming the country's new government. Ader gave the 13 ministers their credentials at the appointment ceremony that took place at Sandor Palace, the official residence of Hungary's President. Later in the day, the new ministers took their oath in Parliament, Xinhua news agency reported. Peter Szijjarto and Laszlo Trocsanyi will continue in their respective posts as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Minister of Justice, while Mihaly Varga was nominated Minister of Finance. Sandor Pinter will continue his duties as the head of the Interior Ministry. Ader's appointment of the new government, which took place in the presence of Orban, was effective from Friday. According to the Hungarian Constitution, the President of the republic appoints the ministers based on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, and the government is automatically formed with the appointment. "The new government received a big opportunity and we must receive it with humility," Orban told the Parliament. "In 1990, Europe was the future for us, now we are Europe's future," he said. Orban also talked of the necessity of protecting Hungary's borders, which has been at the centre of his electoral campaign. "International migration will still menace Europe for long years. That is why the strict defence of the borders and the cold management of security threats are needed". Orban has been in power continuously since 2010 and served as Prime Minister between 1998 and 2002. With his junior coalition partner KDNP (Christian-democrat), Orban's political party -- the Fidesz -- obtained 133 seats of the 199 in the Hungarian Parliament in elections held on April 8. Because of the particularity of the Hungarian electoral system that favours the winner, Orban gained a so-called super majority in Parliament -- more than two-third of the seats -- although he received less than 50 per cent of the votes. --IANS mag/soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Model-actor Upen Patel says he is a Salman Khan fan and loved the trailer of the superstar's upcoming film "Race 3". "I loved the trailer of 'Race 3'. I am a Salman Khan Fan, so obviously I loved it. I am also a fan of 'Race 3' and the trailer is looking very stylish with lots of action and lots of one-liners. So, I really enjoyed it," Upen said on the sidelines of the Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Awards 2018 here on Thursday. An avid traveller, Upen says he loves India the most. On his favourite travel destination, he said: "I like to travel to London as my family is there and every time I get a chance, I try and visit London. But other than London, I love Dubai. It is beautiful and close to India. But honestly I love India the most. India is my favourite." The "Namastey London" actor is an eligible bachelor in Bollywood. But when asked if he would take an actress to his favourite travel destination and who would it be, Upen said: "Even If I could take an actress with me, I think I won't take any. I would take my mother, you know... I would take my family, why would I want to take an actress?" The Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Awards 2018 saw celebrities like Madhu Chopra, Aahana Kumra, Athiya Shetty, Kunal Kapoor, Saqib Saleem, Harshvardhan Rane and Vikrant Massey. --IANS iv/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan on Friday summoned India's High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria over "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) and international border which it said left four civilians dead. The Foreign Office said that the Acting Foreign Secretary summoned the Indian envoy and "condemned the unprovoked firing" by Indian forces in Pukhlian, Cahprar, Harpal, Charwah and Shakargarh sectors on Friday. The Indian envoy was told that the Indian forces along the LoC and international border were continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," the official said. "The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," he added. The official urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement and investigate the incidents of truce violations. The Indian diplomat was also told that New Delhi should permit the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role in Jammu and Kashmir. The Foreign Ministry said that this year the "Indian forces have carried out 1,050 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary" which had led to the deaths of 28 civilians and injuries to 117. --IANS ahm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indigenisation will help downtime of Indian military aircraft, which are often grounded until the required foreign-made components are shipped to India, Vice Admiral Girish Luthra said on Friday. Luthra was speaking at the 'Aviation Indigenisation Expo 2018' organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in association with the Indian Navy and the Aeronautical Society of India in Goa. "Indigenisation efforts to ensure that the 'right spare is available at the right time' must begin much earlier in the life-cycle of a platform after its induction. "Not only will this approach reduce aircraft downtime as many aircrafts remain grounded until components from abroad are shipped back to India, but it will result in downward cost of repair and maintenance," Luthra said. He added that participation by indigenous original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) would be a "win-win strategy" for both the user and the OEMs. Describing maintenance services as the lifeline of the Indian naval aviation fleet, Luthra said that "the serviceability and reliability of aircraft are of paramount importance". Maintenance of aircraft has become a mixed challenge, demanding seamless integration of new technology and also finding solution for obsolescence of legacy systems. Luthra said that while the naval aircraft yards and station level workshops have been meeting the challenges, there is a need to encourage OEMs to set up facilities and carryout repair up to module level. --IANS maya/qd/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indonesian public prosecutors on Friday demanded the death penalty for a radical Islamic cleric over his role in terror attacks in 2016 and 2017. In a televised hearing at a Jakarta court, prosecutor Anita Dewayani demanded the death sentence for Aman Abdurrahman, also known as Oman Rochman, who allegedly co-founded the Islamic State-affiliated Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group. The group has been accused of perpetrating a series of attacks earlier this week, in which 27 people were killed. The prosecutors accused Rochman of planning an attack on a shopping centre in Jakarta in January 2016, which killed eight, including the four attackers and injured over 20 people. The cleric is also accused of masterminding two other bombings -- a May 2017 attack on a bus station in the capital in which two suicide bombers blew themselves up and killed three police officers, and the bombing of a church in the Borneo island in November 2016 which killed a two-year old girl. Meanwhile, security was boosted on Friday morning outside the court with the deployment of more than 100 police officers to foil possible attacks by the group. There have been a series of JAD-linked bombings since Sunday that killed 27 people and injured more than 50 in the cities of Surabaya and Pekanbaru. The JAD emerged out of a number of radical groups mentored by Abdurrahman from jail and was classified as a "global terrorist" group by the State Department of the US in January 2017. The cleric, who has served a number of sentences for terrorist activities and has been put under preventive arrest over the current charges, was in jail at the time of the attacks he is implicated in. --IANS mag/soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China-based Transsion Holdings' brand itel Mobile on Friday extended its partnership with Bharti Airtel under the latter's "Mera Pehla Smartphone" initiative. As part of the partnership, itel's A44, A44 Pro and itel S42 devices will be available for customers at effective prices of Rs 3,999, Rs 5,399 and Rs 6,699, respectively, along with cashback coupons of Rs 1,800 from Airtel. "We primarily believe in value addition and wish to offer the same to our users and potential customers," Arijeet Talapatra, CEO, Transsion India, said in a statement. itel devices are available in retail stores across the country. The instant cashback coupons are available on "MyAirtel" app. --IANS rp/na/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As directed by the Supreme Court on Friday, a floor test will be conducted in the Karnataka Assembly here at 4 p.m. on Saturday to ascertain if BJP Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa enjoyed majority support in the House, an official said here. "Governor Vajubhai Vala has convened a day-long session of the new Assembly on Saturday to conduct the floor test. He has also appointed BJP legislator K.G. Bopaiah as the Pro-tem Speaker of the House," state Legislature Secretary S. Murthy told reporters here. Briefing the media on the arrangements being made and the legislative procedures that have to be followed in compliance with the court's direction, Murthy said the new Assembly will be convened at 11 a.m. to enable the elected legislators to take oath. "The Pro-tem Speaker will administer the oath to all the elected legislators one by one, beginning with the BJP lawmakers, followed by members of the Congress, the JD-S and others," said Murthy. The oath-taking will be completed before 4 p.m. "For conducting the floor test, Bopaiah will tell Yeddyurappa to move the confidence motion as directed by the Governor on May 16 and the Supreme Court today (Friday). The motion will be put to vote by the legislators," Murthy said. If the opposition legislators insist on division of votes, the Pro-tem Speaker will ask the members who are in favour of the motion to vote first and those against it soon after. "The votes in favour of the motion and against it will be counted by the legislature staff starting with members on the first row and ending with those on the last row on both sides - treasury and opposition benches," said Murthy. As the May 12 election in 222 constituencies of the 225-member Assembly, including one nominated, threw up a hung House, Yeddyurappa now requires the 112-halfway mark to win the motion or one more than the half of the members present in the House when the floor test is conducted. Election to the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar segment in southwest Bengaluru has been postponed to May 28 due to electoral malpractice and polling for the Jayanagar segment in south Bengaluru, which was countermanded due to the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4, will be held on June 11. Of the 222 seats, the BJP won 104, the Congress 78, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) 37 and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) and an Independent bagged one each. As the single largest party, the BJP is eight short of the 112-halfway mark. As JD-S state President H.D. Kumaraswamy won from Channapatna and Ramanagaram segments, the party's effective strength in the House is 36 as he can vote only once. Though the Governor directed Yeddyurappa to seek a vote of confidence on the floor of the House within 15 days from the date (May 17) of assumption of office as the Chief Minister, the top court ordered the floor test on Saturday, rejecting his plea for a week's time to prove he has the majority. Vala administered the oath of office to the 75-year-old Yeddyurappa on Thursday in the Raj Bhavan after the latter was elected on Wednesday as leader of the BJP's legislature party by its 103 newly-elected lawmakers and staked claim to form the government. Expressing confidence about wining the trust vote, Yeddyurappa told reporters here later that he welcomed the apex court order to face the floor test. "We are confident of proving our majority on the floor of the House," he said. --IANS bha-fb/him/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) keping their play-off chances alive, skipper Virat Kohli has credited the bowlers for a handing vital two points to his side in a must-win game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). After putting up a massive 218-run total, the Kohli-led side managed a nail-biting 14-run win over Hyderabad, thanks to Mohammed Siraj who held his nerve to bowl a fine last over, conceding just five runs besides packing off a well-settled Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson (81 off 42). While the defeat wouldn't have bothered Hyderabad much as they have already made to the play-offs, the win has definately rejuvenated Kohli's men with the road to the final still not closed for Bangalore. "I have seen many of these games before. Just had to stay calm at the end of it. After a point of time, you need to understand that the bowlers are in control of what they want to do," Kohli said after the match. "The wicket was very good and in the second innings, there was a lot of dew. Hats off to the bowlers for maintaining the composure and giving us two points," the 29-year-old added. Kohli also heaped praise on AB de Villers (69 off 39) and Moeen Ali (65 off 34), who together forged a 104-run partnership for the third wicket, putting Bangalore back on track after some early jolts. "Tonight ABD and Moeen were superb with the bat with Colin chipping in. We are pretty comfortable with the side. Moeen has come in and done very well for us," the Bangalore skipper said. "Tonight his (Ali) knock was superb and hats off to him for grabbing his opportunity. He is providing us the balance that we require," Kohli added. He also said that the win will boost his side's morale for their another do-or-die game against Rajasthan Royals. "We head to Rajasthan with momentum on our side. The team is feeling great. Someone stepping up every time and that is what you expect in a team game," he opined. On the other hand, Williamson, who alomost took Hyderabad to a nail-biting win alonwith Manish Pandey (62 not out off 38) but fell in the final over, said that his bowlers would have performed a little better. "I think if we are honest, we missed the trick a little bit with the ball. RCB were fantastic in batting, put us under pressure from ball one and got a good total," Williamson said. The Hyderabad skipper also said that his side failed to accumulate runs in the final moments which hurt his team's run chase. "When you're chasing, a lot needs to go your way and you need to make very good decisions. At key times towards the end, the runs didn't come," Williamson expressed. "The boys fought hard, and we'll move forward from this," the New Zealander added. While Bangalore will now face Rajasthan in Jaipur on Saturday, Hyderabad will host Kolkata Knight Riders on the same day. --IANS kk/ajb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Karnataka Chief Ministers H.D. Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah and other leaders of the Congress and the JD-S held a crucial meeting here on Friday evening to discuss the strategy to be adopted in the state Assembly on Saturday when the BJP government seeks a trust vote. Janta Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader Kumaraswamy, Congress' Siddaramaiah and top leaders of the two parties attended the meeting at the Taj Krishna hotel. The two former Chief Ministers flew in to Hyderabad hours after the MLAs were shifted here by their respective parties to prevent them from being poached by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the crucial floor test in the new Assembly. Siddaramaiah drove to the Taj Krishna and began consultations with the party leaders in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment directing Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to take the floor test at 4 p.m. on Saturday. According to Congress sources, the senior leader gave directions to the MLAs to ensure coordination to defeat the trust vote. The meeting was attended by all 76 MLAs of the party. Kumaraswamy, who has already staked claim to form the government with the support of the Congress, also reached Hyderabad and drove to Novotel, where his party MLAs were camping since their arrival in the city early on Friday. The JD-S leader held a meeting with the party leaders and discussed the strategy to be adopted on Saturday. He later drove to Taj Krishna for a meeting with Congress leaders and MLAs. Three bus loads of MLAs arrived here after their night-long road journey from Bengaluru. This happened after the plans of the two parties to move the legislators to Kochi failed. All 76 Congress MLAs checked in at Taj Krishna in Banjara Hills. The bus carrying 36 JD-S MLAs first stopped at Park Hyatt in the same area but was later taken to Novotel Hotel. Police have made tight security arrangements at the two hotels. Media persons have been barred from entering while security personnel were frisking visitors before allowing them in. Congress leader Madhu Goud Yashki, who accompanied the MLAs from Bengaluru, told reporters that the BJP was shamelessly trying to poach the MLAs. He said the BJP would fail as the Congress-JD-S enjoyed a majority. Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, senior leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir and others met the party MLAs at Taj Krishna. Within hours of the MLAs checking in at the hotels came the Supreme Court judgment directing the BJP government in Karnataka to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly on Saturday. Meanwhile, the leaders of the two parties were busy making arrangements to take their MLAs back to Bengaluru. Sources said the legislators may fly to the Karnataka capital in a chartered plane. --IANS ms/him/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has ruled out the use of the so-called "Libya model" in efforts to pursue denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, media reported. Trump on Thursday was responding to a suggestion made by his National Security Adviser John Bolton a few days back, and said: "The Libyan model is not a model that we have at all, when we're thinking of North Korea." Ahead of his meeting with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump told reporters at the White House: "The Libyan model that was mentioned was a much different deal. "This would be with Kim Jong-un -- something where he would be there, he would be in his country, he would be running his country." Trump, who was scheduled to meet the top leader of North Korea on June 12, however, also cautioned that the Libya model could take place if "we do not most likely make a deal", Xinhua news agency reported. Bolton had put Pyongyang on alert with his remarks just days back suggesting the country's denuclearisation should follow the "Libya model" obeyed by its leader Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi had given up atomic weapons and was later killed in a US-backed uprising. Pyongyang on Wednesday responded strongly, saying that the country may reconsider the scheduled Trump-Kim summit because of extremely provocative remarks made by American officials. North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan said in a statement that Bolton had even urged Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear arsenal first in order to receive benefits on trade, a stance similar to that taken with Libya. "This is not about solving problems through dialogue, but is intended to replay the tragedy of Libya on North Korea," Kim Kye-gwan said, adding that Libya "has totally collapsed after handing over its fate to big powers". The slated talk almost hit a rough patch earlier this week with Pyongyang saying it was reconsidering the summit. However, the White House remained somewhat upbeat about the upcoming Trump-Kim summit in Singapore and its Spokesperson Sarah Sanders at a daily briefing on Thursday, said: "Nothing has changed on our end. The President is fully prepared to have the meeting. But if not, that's okay too. And we will see what happens beyond that." --IANS in/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Innovative cocktails like the one made with chilli and rasam powder, as also discounts and freebies would mark this years World Whisky Day falling on May 19, senior hotel industry officials in three metros said. World Whisky Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of May each year. In Chennai, the Black & White resto bar at The Residency has drawn up plans to celebrate the day with a toast in honour of the makers and lovers of this golden brew, said Food and Beverage Manager Rohit Jha. "On May 19, Black & White invites its guests to revel in the aroma of this irresistible spirit - whisky fans around the world would cradle their old fashioned glasses and reminisce good times with friends and buddies; Jack, John & Jim," Jha told IANS. He said the guests can browse the selection - Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal, J&B Rare, Teacher's, 100 pipers, Monkey Shoulder, Jack Daniel's, Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, Cardhu, Whyte & Mackay, and Dewar's and avail an irresistible 1+1 offer. Queried about the special cocktail that Black & White would offer on May 19 Jha said it would be 'Spice up the Night' and listed the ingredients: Curry leaf (2), ginger (small slice), green chili (1), rasam powder (1 tsp), salt (a pinch), whisky (60 ml) Dip a whisky glass rim into rasam powder and salt. Add a few ice cubes and pour the whisky over them. Add the curry leaf and a small slice of ginger, then top with fizz. Garnish with slit green chilli. One can munch on beer batter fries, savour the stuffed tandoori mushroom and drown the signature Kozhi varutha curry with a classic Mojito or the popular Patiala. "World Whisky Day is all about making whisky fun and enjoyable for whisky lovers and those willing to try something unique," Banquet Manager Atanu Dawn at Courtyard by Marriot, Chennai. The hotel is celebratingt he day at its Rhapsody lounge bar. That apart, the property will not charge for accompaniments and snacks if a guest buys a bottle and shares it with his/her friends at the hotel. "We also are offering an all-day flat 20 per cent off on whisky," he said. Some of the special cocktails curated at Rhapsody Bar Chef Akash are: * Twisted Whisky Sour - Inspired by the Classic. Ingredients: 60ml whisky, fresh lemon juice (20 ml), fresh orange juice (30ml), honey (10ml) and dash of bitter. Shake with ice, strain into ice-filled old fashioned glass and serve on the rocks. * Spiced Scottish water. Ingredients: Blended scotch (60ml), fresh lemon juice (10ml), simple syrup (10ml), a dash of bitter and Indian spices. Preparation: Shake with ice. Strain into ice-filled rock glass and serve on the rocks. * Jack & Pop. Ingredients: Spice-infused Tennessee whisky (60ml), popcorn, fresh lemon juice (10ml), orgeat syrup (25ml) Preparation: Shake with ice; Strain into ice-filled jam jar and serve on the rocks. In Mumbai Suresh Thampy, Executive Chef, Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport too has planned special cocktails and promos for the day at the property's 72 Bar. "72 Bar is so named as 72 is local pin code for Saki Naka where the hotel is located. The place is ideal for a business or casual meet," Thampy told IANS. The special cocktails for the day: * Smokey Wood, a mix of Talisker, Malibu, Cointreau, lime juice, sugar syrup and egg White, Sprinkled with Midori. * Winter Warmer, a mix of Ballantine, Malibu, pineapple juice, lime juice, sugar syrup. "Reinvention of the dull and the conventional is intrinsic to us as we continue to focus on creating new and delectable cocktails with indigenous flavours," says Pankaj Balachandran, the Brand Ambassador of Monkey Shoulder, told IANS in New Delhi. His concoction for the day is Monkey Raaj, comprising 50 ml of whisky, an egg white, one teaspoon superfine sugar or 15 ml of sugar syrup, 10 ml of Gondoraj lime, five ml of lime juice and four slices of mango ginger. Shake the ingredeints well with ice, double strain and serve in a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with Gondoraj lime and a mango ginger slice. (Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in) --IANS vj/vm/bg/hs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 22-year-old man who had escaped from police lock-up after his arrest for the murder of two persons in Uttar Pradesh has been rearrested in southwest Delhi, police said on Friday. Dwarka Deputy Commissioner of Police Shibesh Singh said that accused Sandeep Kumar had escaped from lock-up at Gosai Ganj police station in Lucknow. He was allegedly involved in the sensational murder of Anita Yadav and her cousin Jaikishan over a property dispute. He was arrested on April 3. Main accused Naveen, Yadav's neighbour, had helped him procure a firearm and ammunition and promised him Rs two lakh for the killings. The deceased had purchased some land in partnership with Naveen's wife and Naveen was pressurizing them to transfer the entire land in his name. --IANS mg/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday hailed the Supreme Court order directing a floor test for Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to ascertain majority support to him. "We have great respect for the verdict of the Supreme Court. We will watch tomorrow's floor test. We, the 'regional' parties, will decide our next course of action after that," Banerjee tweeted. The Supreme Court directed a floor test on Saturday to ascertain whether Yeddyurappa enjoys majority support in the 224-member assembly and barred him from taking any policy decisions till then. Directing the floor test at 4 p.m, a bench of Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan on Friday said the pro-tem Speaker, the senior-most member of the House, would administer the newly-elected members their oath and then conduct the floor test. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa was on Thursday sworn-in as the Chief Minister after the May 12 elections threw up a hung assembly. --IANS bdc/him/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Many people were killed and some injured in a shooting on Friday at the Santa Fe High School in Texas, according to law enforcement officials. A suspect has been taken into custody. At least three people were killed, according to Mark Henry, the Galveston County judge, the county's top elected official. The injured included at least one police officer, whose condition is not known, Ed Gonzalez, the Harris County sheriff, said on Twitter. In addition to the suspect in custody, another person has been detained, he said. The gunman opened fire inside the school at about 7.45 a.m., around the time the school was about to start for the day, according to Joe Giusti, a Galveston County commissioner, the New York Times reported. He said the injured officer worked for the Santa Fe school district as a school resource officer. The Santa Fe Independent School District said that law enforcement agencies were securing the building and that students were being transported to the nearby Alamo Gym, where parents could meet them. Santa Fe is 20 miles west of Galveston, in Galveston County. Another student told the station that a gunman entered her art class with what looked like a shotgun and began shooting at students. She said she saw a student get hit in the leg before she and others started running. The Santa Fe Police Department, Harris County Sheriff's Office, Galveston County Sheriff and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all said they were assisting in the response. "Large police presence, please avoid the area," Sheriff Gonzalez said on Twitter. President Trump commented on the shooting in a tweet: "Early reports not looking good," he said. "God bless all!" --IANS ahm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major night-long operation, police in Ghaziabad seized 20 trucks transporting stolen iron bars worth Rs 3 crore and arrested about 30 men including the gang leader, police said on Friday. Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna said the police force conducted searches on National Highway-24, covering the entire distance from UP Gate on the Delhi border to Pilkhuwa in Hapur district, overnight. This followed intelligence inputs that iron bars manufactured by factories in Ghaziabad were being looted in an organised manner. "I started the patrol from UP Gate till the end of the district boundary and nabbed about 20 trucks illegally transporting iron roads," the officer said. The drivers and the gang leader, identified as Satish Yadav, confessed that they would intercept the trucks coming out of the factories. The gang would unload the iron bars from the trucks and instead put scrap of the same quantity. This affected the buyers while the mafia made huge money on the racket, the officer said. --IANS sps/mr/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Monsoon rains are set to arrive in India, with Kerala receiving the first showers on May 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday. India is set to get a normal monsoon this year, with average rainfall likely to be 97 per cent -- essential for the economy. The southwest monsoon will mark the beginning of the rainy season. As it progresses northward, the heat marred region will experience relief from scorching summer, Met said. "The southwest monsoon is expected to set in over Kerala on May 29 with a model error of plus-minus four days," IMD said. In 2017, the average seasonal rainfall over northwest India was 95 per cent, in central India 106 per cent, in southern peninsula 92 per cent and in northeast India 89 per cent. Over 50 percent of the Indian population is dependent on agriculture and allied sectors. The maximum area under cultivation depends on rain. Earlier in April, IMD said that India was set to get a normal monsoon this year, with average rainfall likely to be 97 per cent. The prediction stands at a moderate error estimated of plus-minus 5 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA). A figure between 96 to 104 percent is considered normal monsoon. Monsoon season normally extends from June 1 to September 30. In 2017, India got the first showers through the southwest monsoon on May 30. --IANS kd/mr/him (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korea has urged South Korea to stop its joint military drills with the US and stop using northern defectors to attack Pyongyang, so that inter-Korean talks could be resumed. Pyongyang suspended inter-Korean talks on Wednesday to protest a two-week-long large-scale US-South Korean air drill which will last until May 25. Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country of North Korea, was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying that South Korean authorities launched "the extremely adventurous 2018 Max Thunder joint air combat exercises with the US which was aimed at precision strike on key strategic objects of the North Korea and the seizure of the air control." "On the other hand, they let human scum hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of North Korea and its social system and speak ill of the historic Panmunjom Declaration at the 'National Assembly'," he said, in reference to the appearance of northern defectors at the South Korean parliament, Xinhua reported on Friday. North Korea took "a resolute step" to postpone the north-south high-level talks indefinitely until the South Korean authorities "take a responsible measure, and notified it to them and made this public through a KCNA report," he said. Holding South Korea completely responsible for the suspension of inter-Korean talks, he also blamed Seoul for expressing regret over Pyongyang's decision to suspend the talks, "far from thinking over the meaning of the step taken by North Korea and taking necessary follow-up measures." "All the confrontation rackets kicked up by them have had something in common with the nature of the conservative regime which had been engaged in inciting hostility and division in the past," said the North Korean official in charge of several rounds of inter-korean talks at Panmunjom. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met on April 27 for a historic summit at Panmunjom and issued a joint declaration calling for improving inter-Korean relations and working for complete denuclearisation of the peninsula. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is among the world's major hotspots which has seen a serious decline in the availability of freshwater due to overuse of water resources, reveals a new study that combined an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth with data on human activities. The study, published in the journal Nature, found that Earth's wetland areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water management, climate change and natural cycles. Areas in northern and eastern India, the Middle East, Australia and the US state of California are among the major areas where overuse of water resources has led to a serious decline in the availability of freshwater, the Guardian reported this week citing the study. Without corrective actions by the governments to preserve water, the situation is likely to worsen in these areas, it added. The first-of-its-kind study used 14 years of observations from the US/German-led Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft mission to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions around the world. "This is the first time that we've used observations from multiple satellites in a thorough assessment of how freshwater availability is changing everywhere on Earth," said Matt Rodell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, "A key goal was to distinguish shifts in terrestrial water storage caused by natural variability - wet periods and dry periods associated with El Nino and La Nina, for example - from trends related to climate change or human impacts, like pumping groundwater out of an aquifer faster than it is replenished," Rodell added. Freshwater is found in lakes, rivers, soil, snow, groundwater and ice. Freshwater loss from the ice sheets at the poles - attributed to climate change - has implications for sea level rise. On land, freshwater is one of the most essential of Earth's resources, for drinking water and agriculture. The researchers found that while some regions' water supplies are relatively stable, others experienced increases or decreases. "What we are witnessing is major hydrologic change," said co-author Jay Famiglietti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "We see a distinctive pattern of the wet land areas of the world getting wetter - those are the high latitudes and the tropics - and the dry areas in between getting dryer. Embedded within the dry areas we see multiple hotspots resulting from groundwater depletion," Famiglietti warned. One of the biggest causes of groundwater depletion across the board was agriculture, which can be complicated by natural cycles as seen in California, Famiglietti said. Decreases in freshwater caused by the severe drought from 2007 to 2015 were compounded by groundwater withdrawals to support the farms in the state's Central Valley. Southwestern California lost four gigatons of freshwater per year during the same period. A gigaton of water is the equivalent of the mass of water in 400,000 Olympic swimming pools. Downward trends in freshwater seen in Saudi Arabia also reflect agricultural pressures, the study said. From 2002 to 2016, the region lost 6.1 gigatons per year of stored groundwater. The study also showed that previously undocumented water declines occurred in northwestern China's Xin Jiang province. Famiglietti noted that while water loss in some regions, like the melting ice sheets and alpine glaciers, is clearly driven by warming climate, it will require more time and data to determine the driving forces behind other patterns of freshwater change. The GRACE satellite observations alone could not tell the researchers what was causing the apparent trends. "We examined information on precipitation, agriculture and groundwater pumping to find a possible explanation for the trends estimated from GRACE," said co-author Hiroko Beaudoing of Goddard and the University of Maryland in College Park. --IANS gb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge-sheet here on Friday against Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Mohammad Amir for illegally entering India from Pakistan alongwith three associates to carry out terrorist attacks. The charge-sheet was filed in a Patiala House court. The 19-year-old Amir and three other terrorists infiltrated into Indian territory along with weapons, ammunition, grenades and navigation and communication equipment. They had planned terror attacks in different parts of India, including Delhi, on the directions of their handlers in Pakistan, the charge-sheet said. A resident of Baldia town in Pakistan's Karachi, Amir was arrested on November 24 last year from Handwara town in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district. His three accomplices were killed in shootout with security forces three days earlier. --IANS rak/tsb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) on Monday said that it has received the "Part 30" exemption from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to the NSE, the exemption enables NSE members to trade in derivatives for US clients. The US CFTC issued a "Part 30 exemptive order" on May 17, 2018 to the NSE as part of its programme of regulatory deference to foreign regulatory frameworks. The "Part 30" exemptive programme of CFTC provides US customers with increased access to foreign futures markets. "The order issued to NSE permits its members to accept US customer funds directly for the purpose of trading in futures and options contracts on NSE without the members having to register with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant," the NSE said in a statement. "The relief is based on the finding by the CFTC that the local laws and regulations in India applicable to NSE members provide a comparable level of customer protection, including licensing standards, minimum financial requirements, and robust compliance programmes." --IANS rv/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan on Friday voiced concern about the inauguration of the Kishenganga hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. "Pakistan believes that the inauguration of the project without the resolution of the dispute is tantamount to violation of the Indus Waters Treat," a Foreign Office statement said. During his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday and Sunday, Modi will inaugurate the 330 MW power project in Bandipora district on Saturday. The Pakistani statement said that despite several rounds of bilateral negotiations as well as mediations under the auspices of the World Bank, India continued with the construction of the project. "This intransigence on part of India clearly threatens the sanctity of the treaty." Pakistan has raised objections over the design of the hydel project in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is not in line with the criteria laid down under the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries. India says the project design was "well within parameters" of the treaty. --IANS ahm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan raised concern over the ongoing surge in crude oil prices and the resultant hike in transport fuel prices in the country during a telephonic interaction with Saudi Arabias Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih. "Minister Pradhan expressed his concern about rising (oil) prices and its negative impact on consumers and the Indian economy," an official statement said here on Friday. The concern comes as the petrol price in the national capital hit Rs 75.61 per litre on Friday, inching closer to the previous high of Rs 76.06, reached in September 2013. Pradhan emphasised his desire for stable and moderate prices. According to the statement, Minister Al-Falih also assured Pradhan that supporting global economic growth is one of the Saudi Arabia's key goals. He reiterated his commitment towards stable supplies and that "the Kingdom together with other producers will ensure availability of adequate supplies to offset any potential shortfalls and ensure that prices remain reasonable." The spike in transport fuel prices in India can be largely attributed to the consistent rise in global crude oil prices recently. Brent crude oil is currently priced above $79 per barrel. Petrol prices in the major cities of Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai also were at multi-year highs on Friday -- Rs 78.29, Rs 83.45 and Rs 78.46 per litre, respectively. Similarly, prices of diesel, continued its gaining momentum and reached new record levels across the country, with the price in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai being -- Rs 67.08, Rs 69.63, Rs 71.42 and Rs 70.80 per litre. --IANS rrb/ag/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Picture this: Seated inside a dimly lit eatery in a remote village of Himachal Pradesh and gorging on falafel and shakshuka, traditional Israeli dishes. That's Pulga for you - a 24-hour bus ride from the national capital followed by a 40-minute hike. Surrounded by snow-capped peaks, this tiny hamlet in Kullu district nestles in the lap of the Parvati Valley. The cool climate, warmth of the locals and plentiful availability of hashish (cannabis resin) draw plenty of Israelis to the region, where they stay for extended periods. The village, where electricity is a luxury, is an abode of raw beauty. Untouched by the outside world, it has kept its local charm alive owing to its distance from commercialisation. The tiny wooden huts surrounded by tall pine and spruce trees further enhance the appeal of the place. The valley resonates to rapturous "music": the river Beas gushing down the white rocks, the cool wind blowing from the snow-peaked mountains cutting through the hilly edges, and the call of the cuckoos -- what more would one need to connect with nature! Though the hypnotic beauty of the place might compell you to linger, it wouldn't be a bad idea to visit some nearby villages like Kalga, Tulga and Tosh. The serenity and tranquility that Pulga offers attracts backpackers from not just India but from abroad as well, especially those from Israel who come here to unwind after completing their compulsory military service. And their constant presence in the region has led to emergence of many cafes serving Israeli food which are run by Indians. Take Jagdish Parmar. Hailing from Rajasthan, he was in class 9 (aged 14) when he first visited the village. He was so fascinated by its beauty that he kept returning. Over the years, he developed such an attachment to Pulga that he dropped anchor in the village. Popularly known as 'Jacky', he runs his own 'Jacky's Kitchen' which serves some of the finest Israeli cuisine. But how did he learn to prepare dishes like falafel and shakshuka? "I settled here in 2004. Prior to that I was running a restaurant in Pushkar (Rajasthan). I met a lady from Israel back there, fell in love and came to Pulga along with her. She taught me how to make such dishes. I realised that the village is a popular hub for the Israelis and thought why not serve them their food. That's how 'Jacky's Kitchen' started off," said the 33-year-old. And not just food, Jacky is now fluent in Hebrew; he started learning the language from the travellers who kept coming to his eatery. "Not all of the Israelis are good in communicating in English. And even I am not an expert of the language. So instead of learning English, I decided to learn Hebrew from the travellers. Now, most of the travellers prefer coming here because I can communicate with them. I even make dishes which are not in the menu but as guided by visitors," he beamed. Dipu, born in the same village, runs 'Boom Shankar' which is another favourite spot among the travellers. "I am not much educated and haven't seen much beyond Himachal, but it feels good when travellers from other countries come here and stay for longer periods, make Pulga their home," he stated who started the food joint some 10 years ago. His father ran a tea-stall in the village. Over time, they shaped it into a small food joint serving snacks. Dipu remembers that Pulga would earlier be hub of European travellers, especially from Spain and Italy and opening a cafe was an idea suggested to him by the visitors. "We used to earlier serve more of Spanish or Italian dishes but now Israelis are more here; so we too have learnt to prepare their food. But our specialty is still pasta which is even liked by them," Dipu grinned. Though there is a so-called hippie culture that rules the village, the local residents say it doesn't go against their traditions. "Pulga's economy is largely dependent on these travellers. We do not have much scope for farming so we rather want more visitors here," Dipu explained. FAQs: It takes approximately 14 hours by bus from Delhi to Pulga. There is no direct road to the village. The last bus stop is Bharsheni. From there, it's a 40-minute trek to Pulga. Small hotels and home-stays cost Rs 300-Rs 400 per day. (Somrita Ghosh can be contacted at somrita.g@ians.in ) --IANS som/vm/tb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, registering his protest against the "murder of democracy" in Karnataka, will on Friday meet Governor Satyapal Malik and stake claim to form the Bihar government being the leader of the single largest party in the state Assembly. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders and workers staged dharnas across Bihar throughout the day to protest against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's move on Wednesday inviting B.S. Yeddyurappa to form the government in that state despite falling short by eight seats to get a simple majority in the 224-member assembly. In the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, the RJD had emerged as the single largest party with 80 seats in the 243-member House. Tejashwi Yadav along with his party MLAs was scheduled to march to the Raj Bhavan here this afternoon. RJD's ally Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi have extended support to RJD in its protest. Sitting along with his party leaders here, RJD state president Ram Chander Purve told the media that the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav along with HAM and Congress MLAs was expected to meet the Governor around 1 p.m. and stake claim to form the government. "RJD is the single largest party in Bihar, if Bharatiya Janata Party got a chance to form the government in Karnataka, why would the RJD not be invited and why would there be separate yardsticks." Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday said: "We will request the Bihar Governor to dismiss the state government comprising of Janata Dal-United and the BJP, and invite the RJD to form the government," he said. --IANS ik/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court collegium has said that an unanimous view existed on further deliberation and broad-based consideration of names of High Court Chief Justices before it sent to the Centre its reiteration on the elevation of Uttarakhand Chief Justice K.M. Joseph as an apex court Judge. A resolution adopted at the May 16 meeting of the Supreme Court collegium said: "... in the meeting of the collegium, an unanimous view was expressed that there should be further deliberation and broad-based consideration of the names of the Chief Justices as well as Judges of the High Courts, which are at present not represented in the Supreme Court. "In view of the above, the meeting stands deferred to be held at the earliest." The resolution was uploaded on the Supreme Court website on Friday. Informed sources on Wednesday said that the collegium had met to deliberate on several issues, including reconsidering the name of Justice Joseph for elevation to the apex court after it was returned by the central government. But, as no decision could be taken on the elevation of other Judges to the apex court, the two-hour meeting had also deferred the decision to reiterate the elevation of Justice Joseph to the Supreme Court, the sources said. The collegium comprises Chief Justice Dipak Misra and four senior most Judges -- Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph. Friday was the last working day for Justice Chelameswar since the court's summer vacations start from May 19. He is set to retire on June 22. Besides reiterating the elevation of Justice Joseph, the collegium had earlier recommended the elevation of Chief Justices of the High Courts in Rajasthan, Calcutta and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The collegium, during its May 11 meeting, had taken an "in-principle" decision to reiterate its recommendation for the elevation of Justice Joseph. The collegium reiterated its January 10 recommendation, after the Centre on April 26 returned it for reconsideration. Besides Justice Joseph, the collegium had on January 10 also recommended the appointment of Senior Counsel (now Judge) Indu Malhotra to the Supreme Court. While returning the name of Justice Joseph, the government cleared (now Justice) Malhotra's appointment. The collegiums on January 10 said: "The collegium considers that at present Justice K.M. Joseph is more deserving and suitable in all respects than other Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts for being appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court." But, the government, while sending back Justice Joseph's name for reconsideration, had invoked the principle of seniority, saying that Justice Joseph stood at number 42 in the seniority of High Court Judges and that there were 11 Chief Justices of High Courts senior to him -- a clear suggestion that any elevation of Justice Joseph to the top court would be at their expense. It had also said that the Kerala High Court, being comparatively a smaller court with a sanctioned strength of 42 judges, was a parent High Court for Supreme Court Judge Kurian Joseph, and Chief Justices of three High Courts -- Justice K.M. Joseph (Uttarakhand), Justice T.B. Radhakrishnan (Chhattisgarh) and Justice Antony Dominic (Kerala). The government had also flagged the issue of non-representation of Scheduled Castes and Tribes Judges in the apex court. However, the general perception is that Justice Joseph had earned the displeasure of the central government after a bench headed by him ruled against the imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand. It is not first time that the government has sought to block the collegium decision on Justice Joseph. Earlier, the government did not materialise the collegium decision to transfer Justice Joseph as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court. The collegium's decision taken in 2016 remains unimplemented till date. --IANS gt/tsb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court has directed a floor test on Saturday to ascertain the support to Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in the 224-member assembly and barred him from taking any policy decisions till then. Directing the floor test at 4 p.m, a bench of Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan on Friday said the pro-tem Speaker, the senior most member of the House, would administer the newly-elected members their oath and then conduct the floor test. The court also rejected Yeddyurappa's plea, made through senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, for a week's time to face the floor test. Before passing the order for floor test, the court noted that the adjudication of question whether Governor's decision inviting Yeddyurappa to form government is valid in law or not would consume substantial time and final decision cannot be given immediately, and hence, the court decided to take up the issue after vacations. Having postponed the examination on the main issue for a later date, Justice Sikri said: "We deem it fit and proper that floor test to ascertain majority be conducted immediately." The court also rejected Attorney General K.K. Venugopal's suggestion that the floor test be conducted through secret ballot. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa was on Thursday sworn in as the Chief Minister after the May 12 elections threw up a hung assembly. The BJP won 104 seats in the assembly elections held in 222 out of total 224 seats, falling eight short of the 112 halfway mark. The Congress won 78 seats and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) 37. The Congress later said it would support a JD-S-led government. The court also restrained nomination of an Anglo-Indian member. The election to one seat was countermanded after the death of a candidate. The court also directed the Karnataka Director General of Police to personally ensure the security of newly-elected lawmakers. At the outset of the hearing, senior counsel Rohatgi produced before the court two communications from the Chief Minister to Governor Vajubhai R. Vala staking claim to form government, which said that besides 104 BJP MLAs "I have the support of others and have requisite majority." Apparently discomforted by the direction for floor test on Saturday, Rohatgi sought one week time telling the court that the Governor has given 15 days' time and Sakaria Commission 30 days' time. Resisting the floor test on Saturday, Rohatgi said that both Congress and JD-S have "locked their people" but "I have to gather my flock together". "MLAs have to come, apply their mind and vote freely." He said the MLAs belonging to "unholy alliance" of the Congress and the JD-S have been "detained and threatened" in Kochi are being prevented to "vote according to their conscience". Taking a jibe at Rohatgi's concern over the "locking" of the two parties' legislators, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for JD-S leader Kumaraswamy, said: "Their problem is that they (MLAs) are not approachable." On the lighter side, Justice Sikri referred to a tweet wherein the owner of the resort where 117 MLAs are lodged has said that he has the majority with him. Taking a dig at the Governor giving Yeddyurappa 15 days' time to prove majority, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi described Vala's decision as an "enabling act with a small window" to "manufacture" majority support by poaching the Congress and the JD-S MLAs. He said this could not be the interpretation of the exercise of power in "discretion" of the Governor. This "is not, can't be, shouldn't be" the interpretation of "discretion" in the exercise of powers by the Governor, said Singhvi appearing for G. Parameshwara -- President of the Karnataka Cogress -- who had moved the court on behalf of the party. At this, Justice Sikri said: "Discretion may be there in case of hard cases. But in easy cases, it is not there. Problem comes when nobody has a majority. If this exercise has to be done objectively, he has to be satisfied." Sibal said that discretion can be exercised in furtherance of constitutional morality and asked: "Will this court permit constitutional immorality?" --IANS pk/nir (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 Supreme Court on Friday directed that the floor test be held in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 p.m. on Saturday to ascertain the support Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa enjoys, slashing the time given to him by Governor Vajubhai Vala to prove his majority following a split verdict. The court also barred Yeddyurappa from taking any policy decisions till the floor test. While Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leaders hailed the court order, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders still expressed confidence of proving the majority in the curtailed time span. The Congress and JD-S, which formed a post-poll coalition and staked claim to form the government, have shifted their newly-elected MLAs to Hyderabad from Bengaluru to prevent any poaching by the BJP. The court rejected Yeddyurappa's plea, made through senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, asking for at least a week's time to face the floor test. A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan on Friday said the pro tem speaker, the seniormost member of the Assembly, would administer the newly-elected members their oath and then conduct the floor test. The court also junked Attorney General K.K. Venugopal's suggestion that the floor test be conducted through secret ballot. BJP legislative party leader Yeddyurappa was on Thursday morning sworn in as the Chief Minister after the May 12 election threw up a hung Assembly. The BJP won 104 of the 222 seats, falling eight short of the 112-halfway mark. The Congress bagged 78 seats and the JD-S 37. The court also restrained the nomination of an Anglo-Indian member. The court directed the Karnataka Director General of Police to personally ensure security of the newly-elected lawmakers. Following the apex court order, Yeddyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru that he was confident of proving his legislative majority. "We welcome the Supreme Court order of floor test at 4 p.m. on Saturday. We are confident of proving our majority," he said. Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was election in-charge of the BJP in Karnataka, said: "BJP is ready and confident of winning trust vote in Karnataka. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House." Congress President Rahul Gandhi said the apex court order vindicated his party's stand that the Governor acted unconstitutionally. "The BJP's bluff that it will form the government, even without the numbers, has been called by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money and muscle, to steal the mandate," he tweeted. In Bengaluru, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Supreme Court had saved democracy by advancing the floor test to Saturday. Azad said it was surprising that the Congress and the JD-S, which together have the support of 117 legislators including two independents, were not invited to form a government by the Governor. JD-S spokesman Ramesh Babu told IANS that they had shifted 36 legislators in a bus to Hyderabad to prevent the BJP from poaching them. The Congress also shifted its MLAs to Hyderabad in a separate luxury bus to prevent the BJP from approaching them but did not say how many legislators had been moved to the neighbouring state. The Supreme Court, after a rare midnight hearing early on Thursday, had refused to stay the oath taking ceremony of Yeddyurappa as was sought in a joint petition by the Congress and the JD-S. --IANS ps/mr/him (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will hear on Saturday an application by the Congress and the JD-S challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to appoint K.G. Bopaiah, a relatively junior MLA, as the pro-tem Speaker. Advocate Dev Dutt Kamat, who has filed the application, told reporters at the Supreme Court that the application was filed at 7.45 p.m. (on Friday) and has been listed to be heard by a bench of Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday. He said the Supreme Court has passed scriptures against Bopaiah for acting in a partisan manner and disqualifying MLAs who had earlier revolted against then Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. Bopaiah is to preside over the floor test on Saturday to ascertain whether newly-appointed Chief Minister Yeddyurappa enjoys a majority support in the assembly. Seeking the setting aside of the appointment of Bopaiah as pro-term speaker and appointment of the senior most member in his place, the application has sought the videography of the floor test. The plea by both Congress and JD(S) has said that except for administering oath and conducting floor test, the pro-term Speaker should be restrained from exercising any other power. On Friday evening, a team of Congress lawyers arrived at the Supreme Court to file the plea. The Congress has contended that Bopaiah is not the senior-most member in the newly-elected House and as per the parliamentary convention, it is only the senior-most member in terms of number of times he has been elected to the Assembly who can be a pro-tem Speaker. Earlier in the day, the party alleged Bopaiah's appointment was made "with the sole intent of manufacturing a majority out of minority for Yeddyurappa". Pointing to the "brazen unconstitutional action" in appointing Bopaiah after the passing of the order earlier on Friday morning, the application by both the Congress and JD(S), said that despite the settled parliamentary convention and practice that the senior most member of the assembly in term of number of times he has been elected to the assembly, a junior MLA K.G. Bopaiah (BJP) has been appointed as pro-tem speaker. The application said that Bopaiah has a "dubious and controversial record of passing biased disqualification orders". Bopaiah, the application says has been "severely criticised and strictures" were passed against him by the top court and the disqualification orders passed by him earlier as Speaker of Karnataka assembly were also set aside as being "vitiated with mala fides and undue haste". The application has said that Governor Vala has appointed Bopaiah in a shocking disregard to binding parliamentary convention and long standing parliamentary practice of appointing the senior most member of the House. "The sole purpose of appointing a relatively junior member of the House is nothing but an attempt to seize and manipulate the floor test" the application says expressing "reasonable apprehension" of both the Congress and the JD(S). The application has contended that the Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in "tandem with the Government at the Centre is exercising influence through the Governor of the State to ensure that he sails through the floor test by hook or crook, in absolute disregard to Parliamentary practice and the well-established convention of appointing the senior most member as the pro-tem Speaker". The "manner in which preparations for the floor test is being carried out seems to suggest that it is being designed to replicate defections orchestrated" by Yeddyurappa in the year 2008 when he was again short of majority. The same is commonly known as "Operation Lotus", says the application. --IANS pk/pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A schoolgirl was crushed to death and her elder brother injured on Friday when a speeding dumper hit them in south Delhi, police said, adding that the vehicle's driver has been arrested. As Raju, 14, and his sister Ishrat, 12, were on way to their school around 7 a.m, the dumper driver lost control over his vehicle after colliding with a bus while overtaking in Sarita Vihar near Shaheen Bagh and mowed down the girl and injured her brother. "Accused Puspender was caught by passerbys and handed over to police," Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said. Both children were rushed to hospital, where Ishrat was pronounced dead while Raju is undergoing treatment. The two lived in a slum and studied in a government school in Noor Nagar. --IANS sp/tsb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Janata Dal-United rebels led by former Union Minister Sharad Yadav on Friday formally launched the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) here, party leaders said. "The LJD was formally launched today (Friday) at a function in the Talkatora Stadium after the Election Commission approved the name," party leader Arun Srivastava told IANS. Srivastava said that a former Rajasthan Minister Fateh Singh, an eight-time MLA, has been made the new party's national President. He said that the need to float the new party arose as the matter relating to the JD-U was pending in court. Srivastava said that the JD-U leaders who backed Sharad Yadav needed a party to contest elections. Thus, the new party was floated. On November 17, 2017, the Election Commission recognised the Nitish Kumar-led group as the real JD-U, rejecting the claim of rebel leader Sharad Yadav and his supporters. The JD-U was divided last year over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to switch over to the National Democratic Alliance after breaking from the Grand Alliance comprising the JD-U, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress. The Sharad Yadav faction approached the Election Commission to contend that it was the real JD-U and not the one led by Nitish Kumar. About whether Yadav and other senior leaders will join the LJD, Srivastava said that the decision will be taken on the basis of the court case verdict. --IANS aks/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Social acceptance is a stepping stone to the integration of refugees and migrants, said an O.P. Jindal Global University professor at a UN symposium. "The integration (of refugees and migrants) is a multi-group responsibility involving the host government, non-governmental organisations, communities and local residents," a statement quoted S.P. Sahni, Principal Director at the University's Institute of Behavioural Sciences, as saying on Friday. The five-day UN symposium was held in Vienna from May 14-18. According to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), there are about 65.6 million people forcibly displaced worldwide out of which 16.1 million refugees are registered with the council, while another 5.2 million are registered with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and many of them are under the age of 18 years. There are about 10 million stateless people who are denied nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement. The people who leave everything behind in the hope of finding safety and a better tomorrow are also on the risk of developing mental health issues, and thus need to be targeted in a "integrative and holistic" way, Sahni said. "Mental health of refugees is dependent on a complex web that is governed by bio-psycho-social factors being mediated by government and other agencies at large," he noted. Sahni emphasised about the need to build a conscious narrative where there is a cohesive social acceptability for immigrants that needs to be instilled among host citizens by making a "a robust policy" at the governmental level and involving non-governmental organisations. The event also saw participation of leading global experts on refugee crisis, human rights crusaders, health care professionals and legal luminaries. --IANS rt/qd/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday said restrictions will be imposed in Srinagar city during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's daylong visit to the state on Saturday. "Restrictions will remain in force tomorrow (Saturday) in areas under the jurisdiction of Khanyar, Rainawari, Nowhatta, M.R. Gunj, Safa Kadal, Nishat, Maisuma and Kralkhud police stations", police said. Authorities have already announced that all schools and colleges will remain closed in Srinagar. Examinations scheduled for the day too have been postponed by the University of Kashmir. Modi will visit all the three regions of the state including Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu. He will attend the closing ceremony of the birth centenary celebration of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in Leh. Modi will unveil a plaque to mark the commencement of work on the Zojila Tunnel, the Prime Minister's Office said. This will be India's longest road tunnel and Asia's longest bi-directional tunnel. The Prime Minister will dedicate the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower project to the nation, at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar. He will also lay the foundation stone for the Srinagar Ring Road. Modi would lay the foundation stone for the Pakul Dul Power Project and the Jammu Ring Road. He will also inaugurate the Tarakote Marg and Material Ropeway of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, it said. The Prime Minister will also attend the Convocation of the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu. He will fly back to New Delhi in the evening. --IANS sq/ahm/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An 18-year-old youth was arrested on Friday by London's Metropolitan Police on suspicion of planning terrorist acts, Scotland Yard said in a statement. The detainee, whose name and nationality were not made public, was arrested on a street in north London by armed officers, Efe news reported. "The man was arrested under the Terrorism Act and taken into custody at a south London police station," said the Met police in a statement. According to the interior security agency MI5, the current terror threat level in the UK is severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday registered a thumping victory in elections to the three-tier rural bodies in West Bengal, with the BJP emerging a distant second in almost all the districts as the final round of counting of votes was underway. The Left Front, which ruled the state for 34 years till 2011, was relegated to third position, while the Congress was virtually wiped out in Monday's polls, marred by widespread violence and allegations of strong-arm tactics and irregularities against the Trinamool. As per reports received till 5 p.m., the ruling party had won 21,110 Gram Panchayat seats out of 31,814 that were contested, while it was leading in 29 seats. The TMC won 4,888 of the 6,125 contested Panchayat Samiti seats, capturing more than 80 per cent of the total, and were comfortably ahead in another 30. The Trinamool Congress also won 20 Zila Parishads by registering victory in 589 seats out of the total 622. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday night had congratulated party workers for the massive win and dedicated the victory to the people. She said many winning independent and BJP candidates had got in touch with her party to switch sides. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which managed to bag 5,747 seats in Gram Panchayats, 756 in Panchayat Samitis and 23 in Zila Parishads, gave a tough fight to the Trinamool in the western districts of Purulia and Jhargram. Interestingly, independents bagged more seats than the Left Front candidates. In South 24 Parganas district's Bhangar, on the boil over construction of a power grid sub-station by the state government, independent candidates backed by Jomi-Jibika-Bastutantra O Poribesh Rokkha Committee (committee for protecting life, livelihood, ecology and environment) won five of the eight Gram Panchayat seats. The Panchayat Samiti was, however, won by ruling party strongman Arabul Islam, who was arrested a day before the election for his alleged involvement in the murder of a youth. BJP state President Dilip Ghosh said his party was moving on the right track and claimed that the people of Jangalmahal (western districts which have large forest tracts) have given a firm reply to the ruling party. "The situation for the people of Jungalmahal has not changed. They are still struggling but Mamata Banerjee repeatedly claims that 'Jangalmahal is smiling'. People have given a strong reply to this propaganda," Ghosh told the reporters here. On Banerjee's claims that BJP winners have contacted the Trinamool, Ghosh said: "She does not keep in touch even with her own party people. How can she be in touch with the BJP winners? In reality, many of the TMC Ministers and candidates are in contact with us." After sporadic violence on Thursday, counting on Friday remained largely peaceful. Statistics reveal that of the total 58,692 seats in the three tiers, 20,076 seats, or 34.2 per cent, have been decided uncontested, with the Trinamool bagging a whopping proportion of these seats. These include 16,814 of the total 48,650 Gram Panchayats seats, 3,059 of the 9,217 Panchayat Samiti seats and 203 of the 825 Zila Parishad seats. The Supreme Court asked the SEC not to issue winning certificates in these seats. --IANS mgr/ssp/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has met Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy and Vice Premier Liu He to discuss bilateral ties here at the White House. Liu arrived in Washington on Tuesday for economic and trade consultations with the US side at the invitation of the US government. Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-US comprehensive economic dialogue, leads a delegation whose members come from major economic sectors of the Chinese government, Xinhua reported. Liu extended the warm wishes of Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan to Trump and US First Lady Melania. Trump expressed his gratitude for the wishes, asking Liu to extend their wishes to Xi and Peng. Liu said on Thursday that guided by Xi and Trump, the bilateral ties have achieved important and positive progresses. He added that the two nations, whose relations are at an important stage, need to implement the significant consensus reached by their heads of state, meet each other halfway, respect each other, and work together to push forward bilateral ties in a healthy and stable manner. For his part, Trump said he values the good working relations and personal friendship with Xi. He added that he is willing to continue to keep close contact with Xi so as to ensure that the bilateral relationships could continue to move forward. The two sides engaged in deep-going exchanges of ideas on China-U.S. economic and trade ties in the meeting. Liu said that his ongoing visit aims to continue the in-depth communication with the US side on bilateral economic and trade issues in accordance with the consensus of the two presidents. China is willing to work with the US to appropriately handle and settle economic and trade issues of mutual concern on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, in a bid to make sure that the bilateral economic and trade cooperation remains to serve as the ballast and propeller of bilateral ties, said the senior Chinese official. Trump said that it is very important for the two nations to keep a sound cooperative relationship in economy and trade. He added that the two nations are enjoying sound development momentum, huge market potential and wide room for furthering economic and trade collaboration. The White House host urged economic teams of the two sides to work together to proactively settle the problems existing in bilateral economic and trade relations. The two nations should prioritize trade and investment cooperation in such areas as energy and manufacturing, expand agricultural product trade and market access, and deepen bilateral cooperation on intellectual property rights protection, so as to create more tangible benefits for the two peoples, Trump said. US Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also attended the meeting. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court directive on Friday to hold floor test in the Karnataka Assembly on Saturday led to heightened political activity in the state, with the Congress-JD-S post-poll alliance sure of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa losing the battle and the BJP sounding confident to sail through. The Supreme Court had in its Thursday morning order rejected Yeddyurappa's plea, made through senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, asking for at least a week's time to face the floor test, and directed it to be conducted on Saturday instead. A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan on Friday said the pro-tem Speaker, conventionaly the senior-most member of the assembly, would administer the newly-elected members their oath and then conduct the floor test. The court junked Attorney General K.K. Venugopal's suggestion that the floor test be conducted through secret ballot. The court also barred Yeddyurappa from taking any policy decisions till the floor test. On Friday evening, the confrontation between the two sides once again reached the Supreme Court, with the Congress claiming that the appointment of BJP legislator K.G. Bopaiah as pro-tem Speaker by the Governor "violates every single constitutional norm" of senior-most member being appointed to the post. Karnataka the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader Yeddyurappa was on Thursday morning sworn-in as the Chief Minister after the May 12 election threw up a hung Assembly. The BJP won 104 of the 222 seats, falling eight short of the 112-halfway mark. The Congress bagged 78 seats and the JD-S 37. The court also restrained the Chief Minister from nominating an Anglo-Indian member. Following the apex court order, Yeddyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru that he was confident of proving his majority in the House. "We welcome the Supreme Court order of floor test at 4 p.m. on Saturday. We are confident of proving our majority," he said. Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was election in-charge of the BJP in Karnataka, also expressed similar confidence. On the other hand,, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said the BJP's "bluff" has been called. "The BJP's bluff that it will form the government, even without the numbers, has been called by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money and muscle, to steal the mandate," he tweeted. Congress communications incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters in Delhi that they will bring the matter of Bopaiah's appointment before the court. He said Congress member R. V. Deshpande was the senior-most member of the House. Bopaiah, 62, is a three-time legislator. He was Speaker during the BBJP rule in the state from 2008-13. Surjewala said Bopaiah has been indicted by the apex court. "People of Karnataka are determined to foil and defeat these evil and nefarious designs of Governor Vajubhai Vala, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah." Party Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the BJP will be defeated in floor test and that Yeddyurappa had exhibited "desperation" in becoming the Chief Minister. Singhvi referred to Venugopal's suggestion and took a dig at the Modi government, saying that trust vote is never conducted through secret ballot. However, BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra accused the Congress of "murdering the mandate" in Karnataka after being "rejected" by the people of state with its numbers coming down from 122 to 78. "The Congress has welcomed the Supreme Court's decision. Some days back they had questioned the Supreme Court verdict in the case of judge Loya's death. They even tried to impeach the CJI," he said. Patra said both "prayers" of the Congress to the apex court to quash Governor's decision to invite the BJP to form government and to invite the Congress-JD-S instead, have been rejected. "Yet the Congress is claiming victory, like Rahul Gandhi had claimed 'moral victory' after defeat in Gujarat elections." Meanwhile, both Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leaders said they had shifted legislators to Hyderabad to prevent the BJP from "poaching" them. In Bengaluru, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said it is surprising that the Congress and the JD-S, which together have the support of 117 legislators including two Independents, were not invited to form a government by the Governor. Former state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a crucial meeting with newly-elected Congress MLAs in Hyderabad to discuss the strategy to be adopted during the floor test. The Supreme Court, after a rare midnight hearing, early on Thursday refused to stay the oath-taking ceremony of Yeddyurappa as sought in a joint petition by the Congress and the JD-S. --IANS ps/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot on Friday questioned Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to ask B.S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP -- the single-largest party in the new Assembly -- to form the government in the southern state. "One country, one Constitution, but two laws! This is what was showcased in Karnataka when the Governor invited the BJP to form the new government despite the fact that Congress-Janata Dal-Secular had the majority numbers. "However, in Goa, Meghalaya, and Manipur, the Congress was the single-largest party but the Governors there still invited the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies to form the respective governments," Pilot told the media here. "How can a Governor adopt two approaches in different states in a country that follows one Constitution?" --IANS arc/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister on Friday wrote to Prime Minister seeking his intervention in ensuring sufficient water supply from Haryana as the capital stares at a possible water crisis next week. In his letter to the prime minister, Kejriwal said the city has been receiving 1,133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996, but recently, for the first time in 22 years, the neighbouring state has contested Delhi's right over this water and partially stopped the supply to the capital. "The has directed Haryana to keep supplying the earlier quantity of water till May 21, which means the state could reduce water supply after Monday," he said. If that happens, it would create an "unprecedented shortage of water" in Delhi and could lead to "serious" law and order situation, the chief minister said. "I would urge you (PM) to kindly use your good offices to persuade Haryana to continue supplying same level of water that it has been supplying for last 22 years and not to disrupt it till the issue is finally decided by the courts," Kejriwal said in the letter. The Haryana government on Wednesday told the that it would maintain status quo on supply of Yamuna river water to Delhi till May 21. The apex court asked the Delhi government and the (DJB) to request Haryana for the maintenance of status quo on water supply and directed Haryana to take an independent decision on the matter. The chief minister also wrote to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, saying, "Just two days are left, we need to act fast to prevent a crisis." He requested Baijal to talk to the prime minister seeking his intervention in the matter if there is no response from Haryana. Yesterday too, Kejriwal had written to his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar and Delhi L-G over the issue. In his letter to Modi, the chief minister said disruption in water supply from Haryana could affect Chandrawal water treatment plan, which supplies water to NDMC area where Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, embassies and major establishments like railway stations and hospitals are located. "In addition to affecting the public at large, any disruption in water supply would affect all these establishments also. "The Delhi government has already filed an application before Upper Yamuna River Board. However, final adjudication by the board could take some time," Kejriwal said. A 27-year-old employee of a BPO was killed and four others were injured after their office car was hit by a truck in the early hours today in southeast Delhi's Okhla area, police said. Five employees of a call centre located in Sector 22, Noida, were returning home in their office car after their night shift when around 4 AM, a truck, bearing a Haryana registration number, hit their vehicle, they added. Jai Kumar Saini died in the accident while his colleagues Nitesh Sood (27), Dushyant (27), Swaroop (25) and Dharmender (26) were injured. The injured have been discharged after treatment. The autopsy of Saini was carried out at the AIIMS. The accused truck driver, identified as Shriramis, fled. However, the truck's numberplate fell down near the spot and the truck was later found in an abandoned condition from Mahipalpur. The truck driver was absconding and raids were being conducted to trace him, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Elevenpeople, many of them in their teens, were killed and 19 injured in Champawatdistrict today when a speeding truck rammed into a group of pilgrims walking to the Purnagiri temple. The pilgrims from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh were on their way to the hilltop temple, well known in the region, when they were knocked down by a dumper truck coming from behind. The accident took place at 5 am at Bichai, Tanakpur Sub Divisional Magistrate Anil Chanyal said. Nine pilgrims were killedon the spot and twoothers succumbed to their injuries while being taken to hospital, the district disaster management office in Champawat said. The group was following the 'dolas' (palanquins) of Purnagiri Devi, placed on two tractors, when the accident happened, the Tanakpur SDM said. The devotees, still about 30 km from the temple, were travelling on foot as a mark of gratitude towards the deity for fulfilling their wishes, he said. The seriouslyinjured pilgrims were admitted at a hospital in Khatima and the others taken to Tanakpur,he said. The dead included Vir Singh (18), Sonu (8),Vishal (17), Ram kumar (16), Deendayal (35), Babu (12), Kesher Singh (16), Ramswaroop (40), Sohan (40) and Kamal (19). They were all fromBaheri in Bareilly district, the SDM said. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressed grief at the loss of lives and asked Champawat District Magistrate Ahmad Iqbal to ensure proper treatment to the injured. The dumper truck driver fled after the accident. The police have launched a search for him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some 14,000 people have fled violence in the Central African Republic and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo in less than a week, the United Nations said Friday. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was "alarmed" about the displacement of 7,000 people from the southeast of the strife-torn country, adding that they were arriving "into a situation of little help and desperate need". "The speed of arrivals and the very limited humanitarian presence in the area mean that people urgently need increased support," said UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler, adding that most of the refugees were women and children. He said the agencies capacity for an emergency response is "severely stretched". A further 7,000 refugees from the central CAR town of Bambari also poured into DRC, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Violence in Bambari on Monday and Tuesday night led to the deaths of a local NGO worker and midwife, and saw the town's police station and UN bases attacked by armed men, presumed to be linked to the Union for Peace in CAR (UPC) group. The UN said it had resumed control of the city on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twenty of India's fastest-growing companies were today felicitated with the prestigious London Mayor's awards for their innovation and high-growth promise. The Mayor's India Emerging 20 (IE20) business programme covers companies from regions across India and represent some of country's stand-out ventures specialising in technology, life sciences and business services. They will now receive help from the Mayor's office in setting up or expanding their business in London. "London has strong cultural and economic ties with India, and Indian businesses make an important contribution to our city," said London Mayor Sadiq Khan. "Following my visit to India last year, I see lots of opportunities to strengthen investment between London and Indian cities," the Pakistan-origin Mayor said. The 20 winners were chosen from over 300 applications from some of India's leading business hubs such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. The IE20 programme was launched by the Mayor of London's official promotional agency, London & Partners (L&P), in collaboration with BDO and Lalit Hotels, with the aim to identify some of India's most ambitious companies that are considering international expansion. The winners are given the chance to benefit from discounted rates on a London office and tailored expert advice on marketing, access to finance and local market analysis. Rajesh Agrawal, London's Indian-origin Deputy Mayor for Business, said: "London is the best city in the world in which to grow a business, so I am delighted that these exciting companies will now be able to explore opportunities to expand here in the capital. "It is now 16 years since I moved from India to London. This great city welcomed me with open arms and thanks to its entrepreneurial spirit helped me to launch two successful businesses. It is great that these 20 companies will now be able to experience the same welcoming business environment that I enjoyed." Entering its third year, the IE20 programme has helped a number of previous winners set up or expand in London. Indian medical technology company, RX Prism, opened a 2 million pound innovation hub in London, while Chennai-based analytics firm LatentView and Curadev Pharma have also expanded their operations in the British capital since their involvement with the IE20 initiative. "The India Emerging 20 programme has opened doors for our business and helped us with our international expansion plans. Through our involvement in the programme, we have gained valuable insight into the UK market and understood how best we can bring future focused talent solutions to build the workforces of tomorrow," said Arjun Pratap, Founder & CEO EdGE Networks and 2017 IE20 winner. Some of the 2018 winners, unveiled at an event in Bengaluru today, include Hyderabad-based wearable tech firm Hug Innovations, Mumbai's music education firm Furtados School of Music, Bengaluru-based marketing tech firm Ittisa Digital Media Services, and Delhi's premier table reservation platform Dineout. According to L&P data, London is a leading destination for Indian companies looking to expand globally, with India the third-largest investors into the UK capital, behind the China and the US. Further analysis by the agency notes that 2017 was a record year for foreign direct investment (FDI) from India into London, with Indian tech firms accounting for over half of all businesses investing in the UK capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An "active shooter" situation was reported today at a high school in Texas, where a witness said a gunman opened fire with a shotgun, prompting the district to initiate a "lockdown." "There was someone that walked in with a shotgun and started shooting, and this girl got shot in the leg," an eyewitness identified as Nikki told local television station KTRK of the incident at Santa Fe High School in a suburb of Houston. The eyewitness said students fled the school in a panic. A large contingent of police responded to the school campus. The school district announced a "lockdown" in response to the shooting, but it was not immediately clear how many schools were affected. "This morning an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter. The district has initiated a lockdown," it said on its website. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Cuban-operated airliner with at least 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after takeoff from the Havana airport yesterday. Cuban media reported three survivors. The Boeing 737 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport while on a short-hop flight to the eastern city of Holguin. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the jet. "There is a high number of people who appear to have died," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said from the scene. "Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified." Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. The cause of the disaster was under investigation. State TV said the jet veered sharply to the right after takeoff. Authorities said there were 104 passengers and nine crew members on the flight, operated by Cubana, the Cuban state airline. An employee who answered the phone at the Mexico City office of the charter business Aerolinea Global Air said the plane belonged to the company and had a six-person Mexican crew. Cubana is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Four crash survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, and three remained alive as of mid-afternoon, hospital director Martinez Blanco told Cuban state TV. State media reports stopped short of saying the rest were dead. On Thursday, Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa met with Cubana officials to discuss improvements to its service. The airline blames its spotty record on a lack of parts and airplanes because of the US trade embargo against the communist island. It was Cuba's third major aviation accident since 2010. Last year a Cuban military plane crashed into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers. In 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather, killing all 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners, in what was the country's worst air disaster in more than two decades. The last deadly accident involving a Cubana-operated plane was in 1989, when a charter flight from Havana to Milan, Italy, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board and at least two dozen on the ground. Cubana's director general, Captain Hermes Hernandez Dumas, told state media last month that the airline's domestic flights had carried 11,700 more passengers than planned between January and April. It said 64 per cent of flights took off on time, up from 59 per cent the previous year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thirty-four Chilean bishops announced their resignation today over a child sex abuse scandal within the Church in Chile after three days of intense meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican. "We, all the bishops present in Rome, have tendered our resignation to the Holy Father so that he may decide freely for each of us," the bishops said in a statement read out by a spokesman at the Vatican. "We want to ask forgiveness for the pain caused to the victims, to the Pope, to God's people and to our country for the serious errors and omissions we have committed," the statement continued. The striking announcement comes after Francis summoned the bishops to the Vatican over the scandal that has come to haunt his papacy. Several members of the Chilean church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s. "We thank the victims for their perseverance and courage, despite the enormous personal, spiritual, social and family difficulties they had to face, to which were often added the incomprehension and attacks of the Church community," today's statement said. Last evening, Francis promised "changes" to the Chilean church to "restore justice" following the private meetings with the delegation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons suggested the civil aviation ministry today to provide better air connectivity to tourist destinations by introducing more flights to such regions, a statement said. Alphons held a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu and his deputy, Jayanta Sinha, along with officials from both the ministries regarding the issue, the statement from the tourism ministry said. The tourism minister requested daily Air India flights to Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, better connectivity to Aurangabad, Maharashtra, for accessing Ajanta-Ellora caves. He also asked for triangular flights on Kochi-Goa-Jaipur sector, international flights from Kozhikode and flights to Southeast Asian countries from Guwahati Airport, the tourism ministry statement said. The minister sought the commissioning of Kannur airport in Kerala; direct flights from Delhi to Kozhikode, from Ahmedabad and Kolkata to Srinagar; daily flights from Kolkata to Shillong; more flights to Varanasi and opening of the new airport in Sikkim, the statement said. He also requested for more flights to Jindal airport for better access to Hampi in Karnataka, it said. It was agreed that Ministry of Civil Aviation will take immediate action in consultation with air operators to provide better connectivity. The ministry would underwrite any loss-making route, if it is not already covered under the Udan scheme, which could be extended to all the underserved destinations at the earliest, it added. Udan ('Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik') is a regional airport development and regional connectivity scheme of the Centre, aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread, to boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development of all regions and states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority will raise Rs 2000 crore by issuing 'Amaravati Bonds' by the end of this month for the construction of the state capital, Amaravati. The necessary credit rating for the proposed bonds is expected by May 22 and the Andhra Pradesh government clearance will be finalised by May 23, an official release here said today. Subsequently, the bonds would be issued in the open market by the end of this month. CRDA Commissioner Ch Sreedhar, the release said, informed Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at a review meeting here today that they were expecting a rating of A or A+ for the bonds. "We are working towards securing AA rating as well," the Commissioner said. The money raised through the bonds would be utilised for infrastructure development in the capital city, he added. The Chief Minister directed the CRDA to issue special bonds for non-resident Indians. Chandrababu said an exclusive organisation should be set up to streamline fund flow for the capital as many people were donating money for Amaravati. Noting that an additional 50,000 people would start living in the capital by the end of this year, the Chief Minister said at least 12,000 houses would be required for them. He asked the CRDA to expedite establishment of hotels, malls, educational institutes, hospitals and other facilities for the new population. Meanwhile, the CRDA said it would organise a real-estate developers' conclave in the capital region in June that would see the participation of reputed realtors from India and abroad. Amaravati Development Corporation Chairperson D Lakshmi Parthasarathy and other senior officials attended the review meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today called on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and discussed bilateral and defence relations during his maiden visit to the island country, officials said. Gen Rawat is in Sri Lanka for a week-long visit at the invitation of his Sri Lankan counterpart Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake. His visit as the Army Chief began on Monday with an aim to take forward the military cooperation between the two countries to the "next level". Gen Rawat and Sirisena discussed the importance of the well established bilateral relations between the two nations, the president's office said. He earlier met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The Indian Army has said that the focus of the visit would be to take forward the military-to-military cooperation between the two countries to the "next level". In December last, Sri Lanka had handed over the control of the southern sea port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease, triggering concerns in New Delhi. Sri Lanka had later clarified that the port will not be used as a military base and it will not engage in any activities which may harm India's security interests. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Arunachal Pradesh government has taken full ownership of the Donyi Polo Ashok Hotel here, an official statement said. A share transfer agreement to this effect was signed between India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC) and Arunachal Pradesh Industrial Development and Financial Corporation Ltd (APIDFC) here yesterday. Chief Minister Pema Khandu was also present during the agreement signing ceremony, the release said. The state government will now own 100 per cent share in the centrally located 3-star hotel in Itanagar through the APIDFC, and the word Ashok will be done away with. As per the share agreement, 51 per cent equity share has been transferred from ITDC to APIDFC. The Hotel Donyi Polo Ashok Corporation Ltd is a joint venture project of ITDC and APIDFC established consequent upon execution of promoters agreement for JV project on January 7, 1982 on 51:49 ratios of equity shares, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A BJP legislator from Borkhola constituency in Assam along with several members of his family have been served notices by the Foreigners' Tribunal, suspecting them of being "doubtful citizens". The Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) No 1 today sent notices to the MLA from Barak Valley, Kishore Nath, his wife Nilima Nath, four brothers -- Matilal Nath, Pradip Nath, Jagdish Nath, Manik Nath -- and sister-in-law Rakhi Nath, the BJP legislator said. As per the notices, Kishore Nath along with his family members, who are residents of Ward 28, have been asked to appear before an FT judge to prove that they are citizens of India. Stating that he and his family were indigenous citizens of India, Nath said he will move court with the requisite documents to prove his citizenship. The BJP legislator blamed the previous Congress government in the state for having instructed the tribunal to randomly pick out names for serving such notices. Nath has apprised the Speaker of the Assam Assembly about the FT notice served to him and his family, sources said. A series of protests have rocked Assam over the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, with locals fearing it would breach the clauses of the Assam Accord which states that all the illegal foreigners who came to the state after 1971 from Bangladesh, irrespective of their religion, have to be deported. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants belonging to six communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- eligible for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The riot in Aurangabad city last week appeared to be pre-planned and the result of simmering unrest over the civic body's drive against illegal water connections, a police report has said. Two persons were killed in clashes in this central Maharashtra city on April 11 and 12. Aurangabad police commissioner has submitted a report on the violence to the state Director General of Police, an official said here. "There was a month-long unrest over the municipal corporation's crack-down on illegal water connections and some other civic issues in the area (where the violence started)," he said. The special investigation team of city police found petrol bombs and balls of kerosene-soaked balls during searches, suggesting that the violence was pre-planned, he said. Police also found stones, collected for hurling through catapults at police or rival groups, he said. Over 50 persons have been arrested following the violence. Laxminarayan Bakharia alias Lachchu Pahelwan, alleged mastermind of the violence, was held two days ago. Before that, Shiv Sena corporator Rajendra Janjal and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) corporator Feroz Khan were arrested. The violence left a 65-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy dead and around 60 others, including a dozen policemen, injured. Several shops and vehicles were gutted. Meanwhile, authorities have denied permission for the Sena's protest march through the city tomorrow for seeking "proper probe" of the violence, a police official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Subhash Bhamre is on a three-day visit to Nauru -- a tiny island-country in the central Pacific Ocean -- amidst India's increasing interaction with the region. Bhamre, the minister of state for defence, was the chief guest at the 50th anniversary celebrations of Constitution Day of Nauru yesterday, a Defence Ministry statement said. On his maiden visit to the island-country that began on Wednesday, the minister was introduced to the Nauruan Cabinet by President Baron Divavesi Waqa. During the meeting, wide-ranging discussions were held to further enhance and deepen the bilateral relations between the two countries. The two sides discussed projects relating to climate change, renewable energy, health, education, capacity building and infrastructure, the statement said. Bhamre hailed the "wise-and-farsighted" leadership of Waqa and called India and Nauru as "friends, who have transcended the geographical barriers of great distances and have come together to jointly face the common challenges", it said. The minister conveyed that India will be offering 22 Mahindra SUVs and two Tata buses worth USD 706,000 to the country, it added. The central Pacific country will be hosting the 49th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' meet in September this year. India had earlier supported the island-nation with police uniforms for the Nauru Police Force to mark the 50th Independence Day of the country on January 31 this year. In 2007, India had supplied one 16-seater mini van for the country's MPs, one eight-seater for its Parliament Speaker and two 30-seater buses for school children. New Delhi has been increasing its interaction with the region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hosted the first Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC-I) summit in Suva, Fiji, during his visit in November 2014, which saw the participation of 14 Pacific countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Trinamool Congress today accused the BJP of instigating unrest in West Bengal during the May 14 panchayat elections to create a situation favourable for imposing President's rule. But the people of the state gave the BJP a befitting reply with their verdict in favour of the ruling Trinamool Congress and its chief Mamata Banerjee, party's Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said. Widespread violence during the single-phase panchayat polls had claimed at least 12 lives and left 43 injured. "The BJP wanted to foment trouble during the panchayat polls in the state to create a situation favourable for imposing President's rule here. But it failed to achieve the target," Chatterjee, also a senior minister, said. Almost 80 per cent of the seats in the three-tier panchayat system went to the Trinamool Congress, he said, adding that none of the BJP, the CPI(M) or the Congress had the power to create such a situation in the state. Taking a dig at the CPI(M) and the Congress, he said both the opposition parties provided oxygen to the BJP in this election. "The Congress handed over its flag to the BJP, while workers from both the CPI(M) and the Congress joined the saffron party. It is most unfortunate," he said. "This election has exposed the BJP's understanding with the CPI(M) and the Congress. I feel pity for the two parties. They have been reduced to ordinary parties securing only third and fourth positions respectively," Chatterjee said. He said the massive mandate had enhanced the TMC's responsibility and "peace has to be maintained to take forward the development process". On the BJP faring comparatively better in Purulia and Jhargram districts, Chatterjee said, "We are examining the results of both the districts bordering Jharkhand. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) German car manufacturer BMW today expanded a British safety recall for another 88,000 vehicles because of a fire risk. The announcement -- the second in two weeks -- comes after it had already expanded an initial recall to 312,000 diesel and petrol vehicles on May 9 due to a risk of engines cutting out. It will now examine another 88,000 cars, plus 200,000 cars that were already affected by the earlier safety checks. "BMW has chosen to expand on its existing battery connector recall," a company spokesman said, adding it would replace two wiring connections. Models affected by the latest recall are all 3 Series petrol and diesel cars manufactured from December 2004 and July 2011. The models affected in the May 9 recall are the BMW 1 Series, the 3 Series, the Z4 and its X1 cars that were produced between March 2007 and August 2011. "We are taking the opportunity of the existing recall to proactively check," the spokesman added on Friday. "In doing so we are taking every precaution in terms of safety while minimising disruption and inconvenience to affected customers." The initial recall was launched last year after former Gurkha soldier Narayan Gurung died on Christmas Day in 2016. He had crashed his Ford Fiesta into a tree while trying to avoid a stalled BMW in the town of Guildford in southern England. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Minister Harsh Vardhan today said BRICS nations face similar concerns like air pollution and climate change and stressed on the need for them to come together to tackle air pollution through technology transfer and requisite capacity building. The minister also called for the judicious use of resources while advocating for bringing secondary resources (waste materials) into production and adopting a Circular Economy (CE) approach. BRICS comprises of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. "BRICS countries should together emphasise on cooperation in air pollution control through technology transfer and requisite capacity building," he said. Vardhan underlined that BRICS nations face similar environmental concerns such as waste management, resource crunch and climate change. He urged the nations to commit to cooperation and collaboration on technology transfer, capacity building and knowledge transfer at the country, regional and global levels. "BRICS countries can complement, facilitate access to and provide adequate information on existing science, technology and innovation platforms, avoiding duplications and enhancing synergies," he said while speaking at the 4th BRICS Ministerial Meeting in Durban. The minister said India would be pleased to contribute and provide further recommendations to the BRICS Working Group on the modalities of the Partnership for Urban Environmental Sustainability Initiative (PUESI). Vardhan expressed confidence that the proposals on BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) platform, clean river umbrella, circular economy, ocean economy, biodiversity and integrated water resources management would further strengthen the cooperation for sustainable development. He said a decrease in global materials, or at least stabilisation at present levels, demand major reductions in metabolic rates in the Asia-Pacific region, especially India. Vardhan pointed out that this could become possible only through Resource Efficiency (RE) not only throughout the material life cycle, but also at the post-consumption stage. "Secondary resources (waste materials) need to be brought back into production, adopting a Circular Economy (CE) approach," he said while emphasising that Resource Efficiency (RE) and CE were key elements of sustainable development and impact resource efficiency and that was why there was a global commitment to achieve it. Outlining the contours of the Green Good Deeds movement in India, Vardhan said, "We are asking people to alter their behaviour to Green Good behaviour to fulfil their green social responsibility". He urged the BRICS countries to jointly help in the development of a social movement that could be emulated by the rest of the world. Minister of Water and Affairs, South Africa, Bomo Edith Edna Molewa, Vice Minister for Environment, Energy, Science and Technology of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil, J Antonio Marcondes, DG, International Cooperation Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, Nuritdin Imanov, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, China, Huang Runqiu and representative of United Nations Environment Jorge Laguna-Celis were present on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A BSF jawan was killed while six persons, including a BSF officer, were injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled villages and Border out Posts (BoPs) in Jammu early today, a senior officer said. This is third day of shelling and firing by Pakistan troops along the IB in Jammu frontier and comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow. Pakistan Rangers increased the arch of mortar shelling to R S Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors of Jammu by resorting to heavy mortar shelling and firing since 0100 hours in these sectors, a senior BSF officer told PTI. BSF troops guarding the borderline retaliated and exchanges are going on when reports last came in from the area, he said. The slain jawan was identified as 28-year-old constable Sitaram Upadhyaya of 192 Battalion. He was critically injured at Jabowal BoP around 0130 hours and died en route to GMC Hospital in Jammu. Upadhyay hailed from Giridih in Jharkhand and joined the force in 2011. He is survived by a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter, officials said. An Assistant Sub Inspector of BSF suffered a splinter injury at Pittal BoP, the officer said adding that he has been admitted to a hospital. In the heavy Pakistan shelling in R S Pura and Arnia sectors, five civilians have been injured and evacuated to hospitals by police in bullet proof vehicles, a police officer said. He said three civilians have been injured in Arnia sector and two in R S Pura sectors. Several houses have suffered damage and few animals have died. SDPO, R S Pura, Sahil Prashur said police is using bullet-proof vehicles to evacuate the injured to the hospital and is reaching out to the people in shelling-hit zones. In view of the shelling, the administration has activated the shelter set up. However, there was a lull in the shelling in Kathua and Samba districts. "There was no firing and shelling from across the border since yesterday in Kathua and Samba districts", the officer said. Yesterday, a BSF jawan was among two persons injured when Pakistan Rangers opened fire and lobbed mortars at over 15 border outposts (BOPs) and some civilian areas along the International Border in Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir. On May 15, a 28-year-old BSF jawan was killed as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by opening fire on forward posts to help infiltrators cross the International Border in Samba sector. Troops have also foiled four infiltration bids along the IB since May 12. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI today filed a charge sheet against Hyderabad-based Totem Infrastructure Ltd and its directors for allegedly defaulting on a Rs 313.84-crore loan from Union Bank of India which was part of a Rs 1,394-crore loan given by a consortium of eight banks, officials said. In its charge sheet filed in a special CBI court in Hyderabad, the agency charged the company, a contractor for railway construction works and other infrastructure projects, and its directors Tottempudi Salalith and Tottempudi Kavita with criminal conspiracy and cheating, they said. CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said a probe found that the company and its directors allegedly availed credit facilities between 2005 and 2012 by manipulating its financial statements. They allegedly utilised the money for personal gains by diverting the same to various other companies not having business-related activities for which the loan was advanced, he said. "An alleged loss of Rs. 313.84 crore was caused to Union Bank of India. The accused were arrested on March 23 and are in judicial custody," Dayal said. He said the company figured in the list of the biggest tax defaulters released by the Income Tax department in 2015 with an outstanding tax of over Rs 400 crore. In its complaint to the CBI, the bank had alleged that the promoters were untraceable but the agency said its tracked them down at their new place of residence and arrested them. The bank has said that the loans given to the company had become non-performing assets in June 2012. It also said the total dues of the firm towards the consortium allegedly stood at Rs 1394.43 crore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Every Chilean bishop offered to resign today over a sex abuse and cover-up scandal, in the biggest shakeup ever in the Catholic Church's long-running abuse saga. The bishops announced at the end of an emergency summit with Pope Francis that all 31 active bishops and three retired ones in Rome had signed a document offering to resign and putting their fate in the hands of the pope. Francis can accept the resignations one by one, reject them or delay a decision. It marked the first known time in history that an entire national bishops conference had offered to resign en masse over scandal, and laid bare the devastation that the abuse crisis has caused the Catholic Church in Chile and beyond. Calls had mounted for the resignations after details emerged of the contents of a 2,300-page Vatican report into the Chilean scandal leaked early today. Francis had accused the bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring investigators to minimize abuse accusations and showing "grave negligence" in protecting children from pedophile priests. In one of the most damning documents from the Vatican on the issue, Francis said the entire Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible for "grave defects" in handling cases and the resulting loss of credibility that the Catholic Church has suffered. "No one can exempt himself and place the problem on the shoulders of the others," Francis wrote in the document, which was published by Chilean T13 television and confirmed as accurate today by the Vatican. In a statement in response, the Chilean bishops said the contents of the document were "absolutely deplorable" and showed an "unacceptable abuse of power and conscience," as well as sexual abuse. They asked forgiveness to the victims, the pope and all Catholics and vowed to repair the damage. Francis summoned the entire bishops' conference to Rome after admitting that he had made "grave errors in judgment" in the case of Bishop Juan Barros, who is accused by victims of Chilean priest, the Rev Fernando Karadima, of witnessing and ignoring their abuse. But the scandal grew beyond the Barros case after Francis received the report written by two Vatican sex crimes experts sent to Chile to get a handle on the scope of the problem. Their report hasn't been made public, but Francis cited its core findings in the footnotes of the document that he handed over to the bishops at the start of their summit this week. And those findings are damning. Francis said the investigation showed there were "grave defects" in the way abuse cases were handled, with superficial investigations or no investigation at all of allegations that contained obvious evidence of crimes. The result, he said, "created a scandal for those who denounced them and all those who know the alleged victims." In other cases, there was "grave negligence" in protecting children from pedophiles by bishops and religious superiors - a reference to the many cases of sexual abuse that have arisen in recent years within Chilean religious orders, including the Salesians, Franciscans and the Marist Brothers community. Some of these religious order priests and brothers were expelled from their congregations because of immoral conduct, but had their cases "minimized of the absolute gravity of their criminal acts, attributing to them mere weakness or moral lapses," Francis wrote. But those same people "were then welcomed into other dioceses, in an obviously imprudent way, and given diocesan or parish jobs that gave them daily contact with minors," he said. Such behaviour has been the hallmark of the clerical sex abuse crisis worldwide, with bishops and religious superiors shuttling abusers from parish to parish or dioceses rather than reporting them to police or launching canonical investigations and removing them from ministry. Francis said he was also "perplexed and ashamed" by the report's evidence that there were "pressures exercised" on church officials tasked with investigating sex crimes "including the destruction of compromising documents on the part of those in charge of ecclesiastic archives." He said such behaviour showed "an absolute lack of respect for the canonical process and worse, reprehensible practices that must be avoided in the future." He said the problem wasn't limited to a group of people, but can be traced to the training Chilean priests receive in seminary, blaming the "profound fracture" within the church on the seminaries themselves. The Vatican investigation, he said, contained "grave accusations against some bishops and superiors who sent to these educational institutions priests suspected of active homosexuality." The harsh assessment of the quality of seminaries suggests that a possible next step might be a full-on Vatican investigation of Chilean schools of priestly training. Pope Benedict XVI ordered such an investigation into Irish seminaries after he convened the entire Irish bishops' conference for a similar dressing-down in 2010 over their dismal handling of abuse cases. "The problems inside the church community can't be solved just by dealing with individual cases and reducing them to the removal of people, though this - and I say so clearly - has to be done," Francis wrote. "But it's not enough, we have to go beyond that. It would be irresponsible on our part to not look deeply into the roots and the structures that allowed these concrete events to occur and perpetuate." For years, sex abuse victims have blasted the Chilean hierarchy for discrediting their claims, protecting abusers and moving them around rather than reporting them to police and then handing out light sentences when church sanctions were imposed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China has dropped an anti-dumping investigation and given long awaited approval for the sale of Toshiba's memory chip business, in gestures that could suggest a thaw between Beijing and the U.S. as trade talks resumed in Washington. The Commerce Ministry said today ended the probe into imported US sorghum because it's not in the public interest. A day earlier, Beijing cleared the way for a group led by US private equity firm Bain Capital to buy Toshiba Corp.'s computer memory chip business. The moves signaled Beijing's willingness to make a deal with Washington amid talks between senior US and Chinese officials aimed at averting a trade war between the world's two biggest economies, analysts say. "I think China is willing to make concessions," said Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS. "The Chinese stance has been very clear, that China wants to mute any trade dispute. But of course it doesn't mean China would heed to all the demands the US would place." A White House official said China had offered to work to cut the trade deficit with the US by USD 200 billion, while stressing that the details remained unclear. But China's Foreign Ministry denied it. "It's untrue," said spokesman Lu Kang. "The relevant discussion is still underway, and it is constructive." The Commerce Ministry said it was ending the anti-dumping probe and a parallel anti-subsidy investigation because they would have raised costs for consumers. The US is China's biggest supplier of sorghum, accounting for more than 90 per cent of total imports. China's investigation, launched in February, had come as a warning shot to American farmers, many of whom support the Trump administration yet depend heavily on trade. They feared they would lose their largest export market for the crop, which is used primarily for animal feed and liquor. The Commerce Ministry said that, "Anti-dumping and countervailing measures against imported sorghum originating in the United States would affect the cost of living of a majority of consumers and would not be in the public interest," according to a notice posted on its website. It said it had received many reports that the investigation would result in higher costs for the livestock industry, adding that many domestic pig farmers were facing hardship because of declining pork prices. China's US sorghum imports surged from 317,000 metric tons in 2013 to 4.76 million tonnes last year while prices fell by about a third in the same period. The ministry said any deposits for the preliminary anti-dumping tariffs of 178.6 per cent, which took effect on April 18, would be returned in full. The announcement came after President Donald Trump met at the White House with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the leader of China's delegation for talks with a US team headed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trump had told reporters earlier that he had doubts about the potential for an agreement. He also raised fresh uncertainty about resolving a case involving Chinese tech company ZTE, which was hit with a crippling seven-year ban on buying from US. suppliers, forcing it to halt major operations. Trump said the company "did very bad things" to the US economy and would be a "small component of the overall deal." Song Lifang, an economics professor and trade expert at Renmin University, said haggling is currently underway. "It's time for both to present their demands, but it's also a time to exhibit their bargaining chips," said Song, adding that approval for the Toshiba deal, worth USD 18 billion, was "an apparent sign of thaw" amid a US investigation into Chinese trade practices requiring US companies to turn over their technology in exchange for access to China's market. The Trump administration has proposed tariffs on up to USD 150 billion in Chinese products to punish Beijing while China has responded by targeting USD 50 billion in US imports. Neither country has yet imposed tariffs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China may buy up to USD 200 billion worth of American goods under intense pressure from the Trump administration to reduce its massive trade deficit with the US, a media report said today, amid a round of high-level trade talks between the world's two largest economies. The US has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on up to USD 150 billion in Chinese goods while China has targeted USD 50 billion in American exports. The two countries have not yet implemented their tariff increases to reach a negotiated settlement. A high-level Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He is currently in Washington for trade negotiations with the US. The two-day talks would continue until Friday. Liu called on US President Donald Trump at the White House yesterday. "Chinese negotiators are preparing to offer the administration a deal to buy up to USD 200 billion worth of American goods, which would allow Trump to claim victory in his campaign to reduce the trade deficit with China and rebalance America's trade relationship with its biggest economic rival, according to people briefed on the deliberations," The New York Times reported. The Chinese promises would be largely illusory, economists cautioned, given the structural hurdles in China to buying more American exports and the sheer amount of goods the United States would have to produce to meet Beijing's demand, the daily reported. But in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the "rumours are false" and the "consultations are indeed still in progress and the talks are constructive." Lu also said the decision to drop the sorghum probe should not be "over-interpreted." In a readout of the latest round of trade negotiations, the White House said the US officials conveyed the President's clear goal for a fair-trading relationship with China. The US delegation is led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. It also includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representatives Robert Lighthizer. "The United States officials and the Chinese delegation also participated in a meeting with President Donald J Trump at the White House. The two sides agreed to continue the discussions on Friday," the White House said. According to The New York Times, under the deal being discussed, China would pledge to buy substantially more American goods, including agricultural products like soybeans, as well as semi-conductors and natural gas. "That could theoretically reduce its trade surplus with the United States - which hit USD 372.5 billion last year - by up to USD 200 billion, though the real number would most likely be lower," it said. In return, China is asking the US to set aside tariffs and investment restrictions it has threatened against Chinese companies, the report said. Meanwhile, the US Congress is looking set to advance a bill that would give the US greater power to block deals between American and Chinese companies that could risk national security, The Wall Street Journal said. The US, the world's largest economy, has a trade deficit of almost USD 500 billion with the world's second largest economy China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An influential US think-tank expert has warned that the increasing Chinese economics of "debt trap" will likely result in Beijing gaining greater access to several key countries around India. Richard D Fisher, Senior fellow at International Assessment and Strategy Centre, told members of the House Select Intelligence Committee during a hearing on 'China's Worldwide Military Expansion' that the Chinese economic and 'debt trap' pressures will likely result in China gaining greater access to bases in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and perhaps the Maldives. "Bangladesh carries about USD 8 billion in Chinese debt but has a close military relationship, purchasing many of its latest weapons systems from China," he said in his testimony yesterday. He also said India assumes that in case of a major conflict with China, there could be a coordinated military action from Pakistan. Recently, India has decided to upgrade its military facilities on the Nicobar Islands, which could restrict Chinese Navy access to the Indian Ocean, he said. "Indian planning already assumes that a major conflict with China could see coordinated military action from Pakistan," Fisher said. During the 2017 Dokalam confrontation with China, India was ready for conflict with Pakistan as well, he claimed. In February-March 2018, a government crisis in the Maldives, 400 km South of India, combined with simmering Indian concern over growing Chinese influence, saw both India and China deploy forces for signalling, Fisher said. India deployed air assault forces to bases closer to the Maldives, while China sent into the Eastern Indian Ocean a PLA Navy group centred around a Type 071 amphibious assault ship to assure its friends in the Maldives government, he said. "It is instructive that even though its amphibious projection forces are small, China was bold enough to employ them to deter India. China will likely show greater activism in support of its friends when it has aircraft carrier battle groups to deploy and obtains greater military access to Indian Ocean bases," Fisher said. China is critical of the Japanese proposal, more recently boosted by the Trump administration, for Australia, Japan, India and the US to form a "Quad" for the purpose of increasing coordination and eventual strategic cooperation, he said. Dan Blumenthal Director and Resident Fellow Asian Studies American Enterprise Institute said China has mass investment and construction projects in countries that offer potential access to the Indian Ocean, such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. In addition to infrastructure and capital investment, China has bought up many global ports around key trade routes and maritime choke-points, usually first for commercial purposes and then sometimes transitioning their use for military assets as well. "An example of this is the Gwadar port in Pakistan, where first Beijing invested heavily to secure ownership over a strategic trading base and eventually the PLA Navy began conducting port visits. "In Sri Lanka, Greece and Djibouti, Chinese investment in civilian ports have likewise been followed by deployments or visits of PLAN vessels," Blumenthal said. Djibouti has become China's first overseas military base, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China's first indigenously-built aircraft carrier today successfully completed its maiden sea trial and returned to its home port in Dalian, a major step in the country's quest to modernise its military and bolster its naval presence in the disputed South China sea and in the Indian Ocean. China currently has two aircraft carriers. The first aircraft carrier named Liaoning, which was launched in 2012, was a refit of the former Soviet vessel bought from Ukraine. The People's Liberation Army Navy said that the aircraft carrier, built at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, underwent a five-day sea trial starting from May 13. Its sea trial tested multiple facilities and attained the anticipated objectives, state-run China Daily reported. The completely home-grown aircraft carrier, named Type 001A for now, weighs 50,000 metric tonnes. Earlier, the Chinese Navy said the sea trial aimed to demonstrate the reliability and capability of the ship's propulsion systems. Though Liaoning became operational in 2012, it is being mostly used for research and improvements for the new aircraft carriers China plans to build. China is already building its third aircraft carrier in Shanghai. According to reports, plans are afoot to build a nuclear aircraft carrier. China reportedly plans to have four aircraft carriers by 2030 to operate from the disputed South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean. The aircraft carriers are being built at feverish pace by China as it enhanced the role of its navy to increase its global influence. With the advent of carriers, China's power projection is expected grow in the disputed South China Sea and India's backyard in the Indian Ocean. China already has built a naval base at Djibouti in the Indian Ocean which is officially called a logistic base. It has acquired the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka through a debt swap deal for a 99-year lease and is building a strategic port at Pakistan's Gwadar in the Arabian Sea. China made a late entry into the exclusive club of aircraft carriers which included India, the US, Russia, Britain, France, Italy and Thailand. These countries together operate 18 aircraft carriers. The US is the largest operator as it runs 11 nuclear-powered carriers with each having a full-load displacement of about 100,000 tonnes. India has been operating the aircraft carriers since 1961. INS Vikrant which was purchased as an incomplete carrier in 1957 played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of the East Pakistan in 1971 before it was decommissioned in 1997. Its successor INS Virat commissioned in 1987 was decommissioned in March last year after an eventful four decades of service. It was succeeded by INS Vikramaditya, a modified version of Russian ship Admiral Gorshikov which became operational in 2013. The second INS Vikrant is being built in Cochin Shipyard. It was expected to be ready this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran could scare off European investors but oil-thirsty China may step into the void and ramp up business links with the country. China, which is already Iran's top trade partner and one of its biggest buyers of crude, has signalled that it intends to keep working with the Islamic regime despite the US move. Beijing is a signatory of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that had eased sanctions on Tehran, but President Donald Trump quit the accord earlier this month and said Washington would reinstate punitive measures. "By driving away American, European and Japanese companies, the sanctions could increase opportunities for Chinese businesses," Hu Xingdou, an economist at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told AFP. The Iran deal has been highly profitable for the Asian giant. Chinese businesses involved in Iranian developments are worth at least $33 billion as of June 2017 according to Beijing's Commerce Ministry -- part of the country's ambitious Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. In September, China provided a $10 billion credit line to five Iranian banks financing water, energy and transport projects, and in March the two countries inked a $700 million deal allowing China to build a train line that links the port of Bushehr to the rest of Iran's railway network. Beijing now has its sights on the expansion of a major Iranian gas field, with state-owned oil company CNPC set to replace Total if the French energy behemoth withdraws from the project over US sanctions. Trump's move to reimpose sanctions will affect all firms that operate in US dollars or do business on American soil, hitting European companies especially hard. But the lure of fresh hydrocarbons could prove irresistible for China, the world's largest crude oil importer. Iran is currently China's fifth top oil supplier, with more than a quarter of its output going to Beijing. Bolstered by the flow of black gold, Chinese-Iranian trade leaped by 20 percent in 2017 to $37 billion. European companies could be hit hard by US sanctions. Total started the huge $4.8-billion gas field project known as South Pars 11 in July 2017, two years after the nuclear deal between Tehran and Western powers prompted the return of many businesses to Iran. But the French company said Wednesday that unless it is exempt from US sanctions, it would "not be in a position to continue" the project, leaving the door open for CNPC to take its place. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that if Total pulls out, its share of the project -- slightly over half -- will be handed to the Chinese firm. China "needs the oil", Victor Shum, vice president of energy group at IHS Markit, told CNBC. "With trade skirmishes between the US and China and all kinds of political issues, I see the resistance from Chinese crude buyers to comply" with US sanctions, he said. The price of Iranian oil is likely to fall as its pool of buyers shrinks, Shum said, making it "more attractive" to the Chinese. And with Washington targeting transactions made in dollars, the yuan could be used to skirt around the new rules. "In 2012-2013, Iran opened accounts in local currencies in buying countries that it then used to finance imports," said Barclays analyst Michael Cohen in a note. "If China, India, Japan and South Korea do not impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran, these countries would be unlikely to stop taking Iranian oil," he added. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made clear last week that Beijing would keep doing business with Tehran: "We will continue with our normal and transparent practical cooperation with Iran on the basis of not violating our international obligations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China today welcomed the merger of Nepal's two Communist parties, one headed by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and the other by former premier Prachanda, saying it supports the country's choices to develop its social system. The ruling CPN-UML, led by Oli, and Prachanda's CPN-Maoist Centre yesterday merged to form the Nepal Communist Party - the country's largest Leftist party. "As a good neighbour and friend to Nepal, China supports Nepal's independent choice for the social system and development path that suits its own national conditions and we welcome the merging of the two parties," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said here. "We also wish that they can achieve national development goals at an early date. We are willing to continue our mutual beneficial cooperation for the benefit of both the countries and people," he said. Both the factions headed by Oli and Prachanda maintain close ties with the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). The new Nepal Communist Party has a strength of 175 members in the 275-member House of Representatives, which is a nearly two-third majority. As per the terms of agreement of the unification of the two parties, Oli and Prachanda will lead the unified party and a nine-member secretariat, and enjoy equal power. The advent of the Nepalese Communist parties to power has broadened China's political influence in Nepal while Beijing consolidates its presence with big investments and infrastructure projects, affecting India's close ties with the Himalayan country. During his last tenure as prime minister in 2015, Oli had signed the transit treaty to end dependence on India for his landlocked country and improve rail and road links between Nepal and China through Tibet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today asked the Union government to sanction the maximum possible amount for compensating the farmers hit by pest attacks and the fishermen whose boats were destroyed during Cyclone Ockhi. Fadnavis met a team of Central officials led by Joint Secretary, Agriculture, Ashwini Kumar and discussed the damage suffered by cotton and paddy farmers and fishermen, a release said here. A pink bollworm attack affected the cotton crop in 28 districts and a pest attack on paddy hit the farmers in Sindhudurg, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts, Fadnavis told the Central team. The state government has demanded Rs 3,373.31 crore from the Union government, he said. The Central team visited Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and interacted with farmers to assess the crop damage, the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today said his party was denied the opportunity to form governments in Manipur and Goa despite having the highest number of seats in the respective Legislative Assemblies. He was interacting with booth level party workers here. "In Karnataka, the BJP was given an opportunity (to form the government as the single largest party post polls) but the Congress was not given this option in Manipur (28 seats out of 60) and Goa (16 seats in 40-member House)," Gandhi said. Asked if he thought electronic voting machines should be replaced with the old system of ballot papers, he said, "A lot of people feel that a change should be brought about and the ballot paper system should be reintroduced," he said. "The Congress fights elections (in accordance) with rules and regulations. The BJP does not," he added. The Congress chief said the more "serious" situation was of the RSS "capturing every democratic institution". "For the first time, four judges of the Supreme Court came out in public and sought justice from the people. The RSS has been capturing every democratic institution. This is a fight of ideology," he told party workers, adding that "we all" have to fight the ideology of the BJP and the RSS, and defeat them. Alleging that the RSS was involved in pitting people against each other, Gandhi said the Narendra Modi government was for some "selected 15-20 per cent of the richest people". He assured workers that tickets to the state Assembly polls, slated for later this year, would be distributed only after consulting them. "I assure you that only people believing in the Congress ideology will be given tickets in the coming (Assembly) elections in Chhattisgarh. It will be finalised after having discussions with workers. Tickets will not be given to those who join the Congress from other parties," Gandhi said. The Congress chief said the party would finalise 90 per cent of its candidates for the state Assembly polls by August 15. The state has a 90-member Legislative Assembly. He exhorted workers to spread the ideology of the Congress and expose the "hollow claims" of the Modi government. Gandhi told them that it was their duty to tell the people that the PM was a "liar" and the state chief minister "corrupt". "Farmers, Dalits, Adivasis and people belonging to the weaker sections and small shopkeepers are disappointed. The Modi government has made false promises of depositing Rs 15 lakh into the accounts of people, providing jobs, ensuring good return to farmers for their produce, Swachh Bharat, Start Up India and Digital India," he said. Calling party workers as the Congress' family as well as its backbone, Gandhi said action would be taken against any senior leader who disrespected them. "The way a Congress worker should have been respected, they were not. I have a target and am going to change this trend. In next one or two years, if any party worker is disrespected by any senior leader, I will take action against the leader concerned," he said. Accusing the RSS of not giving importance to women, he questioned the organisation on the absence of women members in its "shakhas". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala came under severe attack from the Congress over his decision to invite the BJP to form the government in the southern state. The Congress workers staged protests at various places across the country, including the governor's Rajkot residence in Gujarat. Delhi Congress unit chief Ajay Maken led the party's Save Democracy' demonstration at RK Puram here and accused the BJP of trying to "kill democracy" in connivance with Vala by installing a minority government in Karnataka by allowing the saffron party's legislature party leader B S Yeddyurappa to take oath as the chief minister. The BJP is throttling democracy in the country in its hunger for power, he said. In Gujarat, Congress workers shouted slogans against Vala outside his residence in Rajkot, terming his move as a blot on democracy. Despite being the governor of a state, Vala has acted like a BJP worker," Congress's city unit chief Rajput charged. The police detained 30 of the party protesters in Gujarat. Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan led the party's protest against the Karnataka governor's decision. "Vala's decision to invite Yeddyurappa to form the government shows that he is acting under the Modi-led central government's pressure," he said. In Himachal Pradesh, Congress workers protested outside the Raj Bhavan. A delegation led by Congress legislature party leader Mukesh Agnihotri and HPCC president Sukhvinder Singh Sukkhu met the governor and submitted a memorandum, opposing the decision of his Karnataka counterpart. The developments in Karnataka are of serious nature and the Congress- JD(S) alliance which has an absolute majority has been ignored. The BJP which failed to win a majority was invited to form the government, throwing all the democratic norms to the wind," the memorandum read. Similarly, Congress' Uttarakhand unit chief Pritam Singh led the party's protest in Dehradun and handed over a memorandum addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind to the district magistrate. Addressing the party men during the protest, Singh alleged that the BJP was "murdering democracy using money and muscle power", and that Karnataka was the latest example of it. The BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in the recently held Karnataka Assembly elections, followed by the Congress with 78 seats, the JD(S) with 37 seats, and three seats had gone to others in the 224-member House. The elections were held for 222 seats. The majority mark is 112 seats and the post-poll alliance strength of the Congress-JD(S) combine, which claims to have 117 MLAs, has alleged foul play in the Karnataka governor inviting the BJP to form the government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress workers in Uttar Pradesh today held demonstrations across the state to protest the "unconstitutional and undemocratic" manner in which the BJP has formed the government in Karnataka. Top Congress leaders, including state unit chief Raj Babbar, gathered here, even as demonstrations were carried out at all district headquarters of the party to protest the Karnataka Governor's decision to invite the BJP to form the government in Karnataka despite the saffron party's numbers being less than the combined tally of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in the state Assembly. Karnataka Governor Vajhubhai Vala has acted "under pressure" of BJP national president Amit Shah in administering oath to B S Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister, Congress spokesman K K Pandey alleged. In Lucknow, party workers and leaders led by Babbar along with Pramod Tiwari and Sanjay Singh held a sit-in protest before Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the GPO park. Babbar alleged that the Karnataka Raj Bhawan was "misused" to ensure that the BJP somehow comes to power in the state and in a similar fashion its governments were also installed in Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya and Manipur. It has become a "habit" for the BJP to somehow form its government even without getting majority in the elections, he said. Later, the Congress leaders met UP Governor Ram Naik and handed over a memorandum in this regard, Pandey said. Yesterday, Congress workers had burnt an effigy of the BJP and its president in the state capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of Congress workers today assembled outside the home of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala here and shouted slogans against him following which 30 of them were detained, the police said. They were protesting against Vala's decision to invite the BJP to form the government in Karnataka despite the saffron party's numbers being less than the combined tally of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in the state Assembly. Congress city unit chief Mahesh Rajput, who led the protest outside Vala's Nutan Nagar society residence near Kalavad Road here, called the Karnataka governor's act a "blot on democracy" "Despite being the governor of a state, Vala has acted like a BJP worker," Rajput alleged. Deputy Commissioner of Police Harshad Mehta said, "We have detained 30 Congress workers from outside the residence of the Karnataka governor. No member of Vala's family was at home when the protest and sloganeering took place." Protests by the Congress against Vala's decision were also held at Ahmedabad and Vadodara. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing the BJP government at the Centre of "murdering democracy" in Karnataka, the Uttarakhand unit of the Congress today observed "save democracy day" and staging demonstrations all over the state to protest the political developments in the southern Indian state. Congress workers staged demonstrations to protest the Karnataka Governor's decision to invite the BJP to form the government despite the saffron party's numbers being less than the combined tally of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in the state Assembly. The Congress' Uttarakhand unit chief Pritam Singh, who participated in a day-long sit-in at the Gandhi park here, handed over a memorandum addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind to the district magistrate. Addressing partymen during the protest, Singh alleged that the BJP was "murdering democracy using money and muscle power". "Karnataka is the latest example of this," he said. Noting that the Governor is the "custodian of the Constitution" of a state, the party urged President Kovind to recall Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala and "save democracy" in the southern state. Similar protests were staged in several states across the country as the Congress observed 'save democracy day' to protest against Vala's decision to invite B S Yeddyurappa to form the government in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa was yesterday sworn-in as the chief minister of the state. The Supreme Court today ordered a floor test at 4 PM tomorrow, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove majority. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former diplomat Madhuri Gupta, who had served at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, was today convicted by a Delhi court for passing on sensitive information to Pakistan's ISI and compromising national interest. Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma held the former diplomat guilty under various provisions of the Official Secrets Act for the offences of spying and wrongful communication of information protected under the law. The court would hear arguments on the quantum of sentence to be handed down to Gupta tomorrow. Gupta, who was the Second Secretary (Press & Information) at the Indian High Commission, was convicted under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act which attract a maximum sentence of three years and fine or both. She was arrested on April 22, 2010, by the special cell of the Delhi Police for allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistani officials and remaining in touch with two ISI officials, Mubshar Raza Rana and Jamshed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi court today denied bail to journalist Upendra Rai, arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in dubious financial transactions. Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann denied the relief to Rai noting that the investigation was at its initial stage. The court noted the CBI's submission that the time period was very less to complete investigation as the magnitude of the crime was very large. The CBI also told the court that if he was granted bail, Rai could tamper with the evidence. In his application, Rai had claimed that no purpose would be served by keeping him in further custody. He had claimed he was not required for further custodial interrogation since the CBI's plea for this was rejected by the court on May 9. Rai, arrested by the CBI on May 3, is currently in judicial custody. The Delhi-based scribe was arrested for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions and getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information. The Supreme Court had on May 4 refused to interfere with his arrest. In his application seeking protection from arrest, Rai had claimed he was framed in the case because of his writings against an ED officer who was part of the team probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. Prasun Roy, chief security officer of Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd, was also booked by the CBI, which had carried out searches at eight locations in Lucknow, Noida, Delhi and Mumbai. In its FIR, the agency has alleged that going by the value of the transactions of over Rs one lakh during 2017, Rai's accounts received Rs 79 crore while Rs 78.51 crore was debited from it during the same period. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police today questioned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for over three hours in connection with the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February, a senior officer said. Emerging from the questioning by a six-member police team, Kejriwal said it is the first time a chief minister was questioned in "such a fake case". He also termed the presence of the team a "raid" on his camp office-cum-residence at Civil Lines here. "It is the first time that questioning of a chief minister was done in such a fake case and a police raid was conducted," he said in a tweet minutes after the Delhi Police team left his office. He also alleged that the only aim of the Centre and the Delhi Lt Governor (L-G) was to "trouble and bother us". Kejriwal, however, said the questioning took place in a "very congenial atmosphere". The team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Harendra Singh began questioning the chief minister at his camp office at 5.10 pm and finished around 8.20 pm, police said. While some members of the team arrived at the chief minister's office around 4.40 pm to set up the recording equipment, Singh arrived at 5 pm. During the questioning that took place in the drawing room, two lawyers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo were also present. "We questioned him for three hours. He was cooperative during the investigation, but at the same time he evaded many of the questions. The replies to some of the questions were not satisfactory. If required, we will again question him in the case," said the officer. The proceedings of the questioning were video-recorded by the police, but a copy of the recording will not be provided to Kejriwal because the law does not allow it, Singh said. The officer said that they may also question Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, if required. Police sources said some questions put to Kejriwal included the decision to convene the late night meeting with Prakash, the sequence of events that led to the assault and the trigger for the incident. During investigation, police had found that the assault was pre-planned and Kejriwal's private secretary Bibhav Kumar had directed a party volunteer to call the MLAs. The chief minister was also questioned about whether he had any idea about it. AAP leader Ashish Khetan slammed the police for questioning Kejriwal for such a long duration. "A 5 member Delhi Police team has been questioning @ArvindKejriwal for the last 3 hours. What is his crime? Has he done a scam? Did he steal public money? Did he order fake encounters? Did he orchestrate riots? Did he give bank loans to his cronies? (sic)" he posted on Twitter. Prakash was allegedly assaulted during a meeting at Kejriwal's official residence on February 19. Police said the chief minister was present when the alleged assault took place. Kejriwal had agreed to join the probe yesterday following a notice by the Delhi Police on May 16. He had demanded he be allowed to video record the proceedings. However, the police had said the proceedings will be video recorded, but the chief minister would not be allowed to do so. The police have already questioned 11 AAP MLAs present at the chief minister's residence for the meeting. Two of the party MLAs -- Amantullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal --were arrested in the case. Last month, Kejriwal's private secretary Bibhav Kumar and a party volunteer Vivek Kumar were also questioned in connection with the case. Kejriwal, his former advisor V K Jain and Sisodia were also present in the meeting. Jain was also questioned in the case. On February 23, a police team had examined the CCTV system installed at the chief minister's residence in the Civil Lines area and seized the hard disk. The forensic report on the hard disk is still awaited. The alleged assault on the chief secretary had triggered a bitter tussle between the Delhi government and its bureaucrats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With general elections just a year away, the railways have set monthly targets for the completion of its major projects with an aim to finish work in time for the country to go to polls in 2019. In a letter sent to all 16 zones, Chairman set such targets for zonal railways for timely commissioning of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling projects announced in the budget this year and said that the tendency to keep most of the works for the last quarter be avoided. In fact, section-wise deadlines were set for completion in 2018-2019 for the projects to link the northeast to the main rail network. The projects were Narendra Modi-led government's programmes with a 2020 deadline. While the Bogibeel project in Dibrugarh, was assigned a completion target of June 2018, in the Jiribam-Imphal line, the Vangaichungpao-Kaimai-Kambiron a section was set a deadline of February 2019. In the (Dimapur) Dhansiri - Kohima (Zubza) line in Nagaland, a section, Dhansiri-Sulhovi was earmarked for completion by March 2019. Needless to say, the timely commissioning of these projects calls for meticulous planning in respect of preparatory works like approval of plans, arrangement of materials, fixing of executing agencies, creation of posts for maintenance of new assets, fixing of tentative dates for Commissioner Railway Safety inspection, Lohani said in the letter issued on May 9. All zonal railways must set up a system through which finalisation of projects and other inputs required to achieve the targets were reviewed and monitored at the level of additional general managers, he said. Timelines for these activities have to be so prepared in advance that the final outcome of commissioning of the projects for traffic is accompanied with the deadline, he said, adding that senior officials of the zones should monitor the projects. Former diplomat Madhuri Gupta, who had served at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, was today convicted by a Delhi court for passing on sensitive information to Pakistan's ISI. Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma held the former diplomat guilty under various provisions of the Official Secrets (OS) Act for the offences of spying and wrongful communication of information protected under the law. The court would hear arguments on the quantum of sentence to be handed down to Gupta tomorrow. The court noted that the e-mails "passed on by the accused were categorically sensitive information which could have been useful to the enemy country which were strategically very important for the foreign policy of the country and its secrecy was of utmost important". Gupta, who was the Second Secretary (Press & Information) at the Indian High Commission, was convicted under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act which attract a maximum sentence of three years and fine or both. She was arrested on April 22, 2010, by the special cell of the Delhi Police for allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistani officials and remaining in touch with two ISI officials, Mubshar Raza Rana and Jamshed. While convicting Gupta, the court observed that in one of the e-mails, she had promised to collect information regarding Hydro Electric Power Projects in Jammu and Kashmir which could have had a serious repercussion on the security of the country. "It is seen that accused was unable to give such information but her intention of passing on such information and her going to Jammu after giving false excuse of attending marrige points out her intention of helping the enemy country. "She had been giving information regarding various postings of officers of defence, MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and HCI (High Commission of India) as well as their family particulars, which could have caused danger to the life and security to said officers and their family," the court noted. It also noted that various electronic gadgets, including laptops and Blackberry mobile phones which has been purchased in her name, contained e-mails sent to various ISI handlers. The court convicted Gupta for the offence under "second part" of sections 3(1)(c) (obtaining, publishing or communicating to any person any secret official information which is useful to an enemy) and 3 (wrongful communication of information) of OS Act and section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code. These offences contain a maximum punishment of three years of imprisonment. The court, however, absolved her from the "first part" of Section 3(1)(c) of OS Act that attracts a maximum punishment of 14 years, holding that none of the information divulged by her pertained to any work of defence or to the naval, military or air force or affairs of the government. According to the prosecution, Ministry of External Affairs had received information that the accused had been maintaining unauthorised contacts with Pakistani intelligence officials and passing on sensitive official information personally as well as through electronic means from her computer at her office and residence. Gupta had denied the incriminating evidence against her and had stated that she was innocent and falsely implicated in this case by the officials of the high commission and the External Affairs Ministry, with whom she had strained or frosty relations, in connivance with the police officials of Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi government has locked horns with the Supreme Court-appointed EPCA over a 'proposal' to purchase 1,000 e-buses from the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) funds, to combat air pollution in the city. In its report submitted to the apex court, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) has expressed reservations about the city government's proposal for procuring 1,000 e-buses, citing "lack of detailing" as well as the government's past track record of bus procurement. The ruling AAP, however, said no such proposal had been submitted by it in the court so far. "The Delhi government has so far only submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court, outlining the various projects for which it will be using the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) funds," the statement said. ECC is a green tax imposed on the entry of commercial vehicles in the national capital. A sum of Rs 999.25 crore has been collected under this tax till April 12 this year. Hitting out at the EPCA's observations, the Delhi government said, "Rather than casting aspersions on the government's ability to carry out its plans, concerned individuals should have done their own job first...i.e. of clearly informing the Supreme Court if they are in favour of replacing CNG bus fleet with electric buses, and if this project can be supported by ECC funds. "No clear view has been expressed on this central point asked by the Supreme Court," said the statement by the Delhi government. The EPCA panel, in its report to the Supreme Court, had said that it was not in a position to recommend that the court should clear the proposal as given in an intervention application of the Delhi government. Citing the reasons for rejecting the city government's proposal, the environment panel said, "The government of NCT Delhi has not done sufficient work to detail out the proposal for induction of 1,000 e-buses and its necessary infrastructure. "Also, the Delhi government's past track record of inducting conventional CNG buses has been lacking. It is therefore, all the more imperative, that better design and detail, is provided for this necessary project," it said. The Delhi government, however, said it was yet to complete the technical detailing of the project and was currently in the process of appointing a consultant for the project. "An ill-informed opinion has been put out in the media," it said in response to the EPCA reports. The ruling AAP said the city government was in "advanced stages" of procuring 2,000 CNG buses, but it had nothing to do with its plans to induct 1,000 e-buses, which is a separate project. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Civil Aviation Ministry today said it had sought a detailed report into the charges by JD(S) that it was denied permission by the DGCA to fly its legislators to Kerala, asserting that the flight regulator's permission was not required for chartered flights operating inside India. The party had yesterday alleged that chartered flights that were scheduled to carry its legislators along with those of the Congress from Bengaluru to Kochi were denied permission by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) at the last minute. A Civil Aviation Ministry official, however, was quick to dismiss the charges last night and said the DGCA's permission was not required for chartered flights operating within India. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in an early morning tweet said today, "Domestic charter flights do not require DGCA approval. They have to get their flight plan approved by local Air Traffic Control and then are free to fly. We will get a detailed report tomorrow and provide all the facts." Talking to PTI yesterday, a JD(S) source had said, "We are just working out, all flights have been denied permission...flights that were confirmed, last minute there is a problem." Asked whether the plan was for both the Congress and JD(S) MLAs travelling together, the source said, "Plan was there....you know what all kinds of things, they are doing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An eight-year-old girl died after being mauled by a pack of dogs in Sitapur district, taking the toll to 14 in such fatal attacks by feral hounds in the last six months, police said. The victim, Sonam, had gone to the fields with her father and cousins yesterday morning to attend nature's call when a pack of stray dogs attacked her, Station Officer (SO) of Khairabad police station, Sachin Singh, said. She was bitten on her neck and thighs by the dogs before she was rescued by her father, Singh said, adding that the girl's cousins climbed a tree to save themselves. The minor was rushed to the district hospital where she succumbed to injuries today, the SO added. She was a resident of Khairampur village. With Sonam's death, eight children have killed by the stray dogs this month alone. In a statement issued last night, Sitapur District Magistrate, Sheetal Verma, said that the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Humane Society of India had confirmed that Sonam and others were attacked by feral dogs and not some wild animals like wolves. The statement said that a helpline had been setup, which the residents could call to give information about stray dogs. Around 22 villages in Khairabad block of the district are affected by the dog menace. A total of 164 district officials have been tasked with spreading awareness in the affected areas about the stray canines and ways to protect children from them. The administration was not facilitating dog killings and had instead taken measures to check their population in affected areas, the statement said. "We have established an animal birth control clinic for dogs in Sitapur where canines from these areas are being sterilised," it said. Residents have also been advised against allowing children to venture out alone to mango orchards, since it is where most of the attacks have taken place. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited Sitapur district last week and met families of children who had been attacked by the feral dogs. He also met two injured children at the district hospital and stressed the need to launch a drive against the strays which had turned violent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) today expressed shock at reports that the University Grants Commission was working to grant autonomous status to St Stephen's College. In a statement, DUTA president Rajib Ray said, "Despite several protests, it seems that the government is moving ahead on its agenda of turning colleges and universities of repute into teaching shops through the scheme of Autonomous Colleges and Graded Autonomy. This is shocking." "We have written to the UGC today in this regard opposing any move to fragment and privatise the college and the varsity. The DUTA has also written to the HRD Ministry reiterating its demands," he added. St Stephen's Principal John Verghese did not respond to calls or message from PTI. "The Scheme of Autonomous Colleges and Graded Autonomy, which is a push towards self-financing schemes and online courses, will have far reaching consequences. Privatisation of public-funded institutions will hit badly the educational prospects of students coming from marginalised sections, women students and the middle-class," Ray said. Thus far the management of only one college, namely St. Stephen's College, has sought autonomous status without taking the opinions of the teachers and students into account, he added. The DUTA also demanded suspension of such initiatives till the matter was honestly and rigorously debated and the performance of the autonomous colleges reviewed. On May 10, members of St. Stephen's College Staff Association and DUTA staged a demonstration outside the college to protest against the visit by a team of the UGC to the college. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gunman opened fire at a high school in the US state of Texas today, killing at least eight persons. The incident took place at Santa Fe High School in the city of the same name, located about 50 kilometres southeast of Houston. An unidentified law enforcement officer was shot, but sources said he was "clipped" and was not seriously injured. At least eight persons were killed in the gunfire, Houston Chronicle quoted federal and county law enforcement officials have confirmed. One source said the gunman was a male, but could provide no further information. The shooter has been "arrested and secured," said Santa Fe HS Assistant Principal Cris Richardson. Several other students as well as an officer was injured in the shooting. This is the third school shooting in the past seven days, and the 22nd since the beginning of the year in the US. Junior Liberty Wheeler, 14, was in class when she heard five shots ring out near the art room. Her teacher told them to run toward the theatre department's storage room, where they hid for 45 minutes before being escorted outside by the SWAT team. "You could small the gunpowder that came from the gun," Wheeler recalled as she was escorted out of the building. "We were all scared because it was near us." The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is treating two patients, their conditions not yet being disclosed, said spokesman Raul Reyes. He said more patients are expected, including one currently being transported from the branch's League City hospital. He said a helicopter with at least one patient is on the way and more ambulances are expected. President Donald Trump expressed concern over the incident. "School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!," he tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor today welcomed the end of the campus protest triggered by the Jinnah portrait row, describing it as a Ramzan gift to the entire AMU community. In an interview to PTI to mark his one year in office, Mansoor said, "I laud AMU students for exercising their democratic right to protest while totally maintaining exemplary discipline and communal harmony on the campus." "During the entire protest in which thousands of students participated, not a single act of vandalism took place and despite grave provocation by certain forces inimical to this institution, the boys held on to the AMU's traditional universal values of large-hearted tolerance and the brotherhood of mankind," he said. The AMU was at the centre of a controversy over a portrait of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah that has been on the walls of the student union office for decades. The AMU Students' Union (AMUSU) had given a call for a boycott of classes and activists took part in a hunger strike and a sit-in for about a fortnight, demanding a judicial enquiry into the violence on the campus. The student union demanded action against members of right-wing organisations who had barged into the campus, demanding the removal of the portrait after BJP MP Satish Gautam raised the issue with the AMU. They also sought action against the police officers responsible for a lathi-charge on AMU students in a clash with them over the entry of the protesters into the campus. Referring to the Islamic holy month, Mansoor said, This is a month of peace and introspection and I hope that when the student community begins the next academic year, we will review both our gains and also our shortcomings." "During the past one year, despite pulls and pressures from all sides, the AMU community has remained steadfast in its commitment to the cause of building a united, harmonious and strong India," he said. "Despite the attempts to vilify us by certain forces, we did not allow them to deter us from our path," he added. He said the university has taken commendable steps for becoming a centre of excellence in higher in the country During the past year, the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in AMU has carved out a place among the top 10 medical institutions in the country, he said. The University Grants Commission has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for the establishment of a College of Nursing and an Institute of Paramedical Sciences at the medical college, he said. The government has also sanctioned Rs 16 crore for the newly established Centre for Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, he said. The University has expanded its presence on the international scene by signing collaborative projects with institutes like Brooklyn College (University of New York, USA), International Islamic University in Malaysia and Massachusetts General Hospital in Somerville, USA. "Many other similar proposals are on the anvil," the VC said. The Human Resource Development Ministry has sanctioned 16 new research projects, including a prestigious Rs 4 crore project for the Centre of Nanotechnology. The AMU has become a leading player in this field in the country, he said. Mansoor said PhD seats have increased from 590 to 940 in the current academic year. "This will go a long way in helping talented young researchers in creating a space for themselves in different streams of knowledge," he said. The AMU is playing a critical role in the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the VC said. "Our scientists are playing a very notable role in vital environmental projects, he said, also listing the AMU initiatives in solar energy. He said over thousand AMU students have been offered jobs through campus placement drives in which national and international companies like HDFC, Wipro, L&T, Voltas, TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Motors and Tata Steel visited the campus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rupee depreciation is impacting the bottomline of auto industry, which is already reeling under the impact of increasing crude oil prices, a top official of Toyota Kirloskar Motor said today. "Rupee depreciation is impacting the auto industry to an extent of erosion of profitability," Shekar Viswanathan, vice chairman and whole-time director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor told reporters at the launch of the firm's mid-sized sedan, Yaris, in the domestic market. "Crude oil price increase also taking a toll on the industry," he added. While the rupee is hovering around the Rs 67 mark against the US dollar, crude oil price has crossed USD 80 a barrel this week, amid rising geopolitical tensions. Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the joint venture between Japanese auto major Toyota and Kirloskar group, today marked its entry into the highly competitive mid-sized sedan segment, with the launch of Yaris. The car prices start at Rs 8.75 lakh (ex-showroom). Yaris would compete with the likes of Honda City, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Hyundai Verna in the domestic market. Viswanathan said the company plans to increase the local content in the variants, adding Yaris currently has 87 per cent localisation, while the Etios has the highest local content, at 90 per cent. Stating that the company is expecting the government to rationalise the goods and services tax (GST) rates on hybrid cars, Viswanathan ruled out any plans to increase vehicle prices. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A lesser number of Indian companies from the eastern region have shown their inclination so far to participate in the upcoming SelectUSA Investment Summit to be held from June 20 to 22, 2018, in Washington DC. Last year, participation from the eastern region was good as 10 companies were a part of a delegation comprising 60 firms nationally, US consulate general Principal Commercial Officer Jonathan Ward said. "Out of the 67-odd respondents nationally so far for this year's summit, only four are from the east. We expect a higher level of participation as time is still there," Ward said at a conference here today. The SelectUSA Investment Summit is the highest-profile event dedicated to promoting FDI in the United States. Several companies from this region such as Vikram Solar had made investments in the US, he said. Other companies from the east which has presence in the US are IFGL Refractories, Usha Martin, RP-Sanjiv Goenka group, ITC Infotech, Tata Steel, Patton and EMC. US consul general in Kolkata Craig Hall said many a private Indian educational institute like Techno India and JIS, which have operations in West Bengal, had shown interest in the US. Hall said Indian rules does not allow US universities to come here. On US tariff imposition in steel and aluminium, he said it was done for national security. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If British marketers are to be believed, nothing is a better royal wedding tribute than a limited-edition bucket of fried chicken chased with a bottle or two of Royal Wedding pale ale. Estimates are that consumers will spend between 40 million pounds to 70 million pounds ($54 million to $94 million) on royal wedding-related merchandise, including commemorative mugs, plates, coins and posters. If you're tucking in to watch the wedding from home but want to feel "part of" it you can enjoy a bowl of "Wedding Rings" cereal, featuring and on the box and sold online for only 35 pounds ($47). It promises to be "royally good." There's also "Harry" and "Meghan" Marmite, if you can choke that down. Britain's Heck food company has created special pork sausages including the ingredients of "sweet ginger" for Harry - a nod to his famous red hair - and "American mustard" for Meghan. At 3 pounds ($4) a package, they're available at Sainsbury's grocery stores around Britain. KFC's Royal Wedding-themed buckets, complete with the company logo in gold, were allegedly inspired by Harry's confession that he proposed to Markle while preparing a roast chicken. The reverse side reads: "We declare a regal day of celebration, jubilation, and fried chicken." They're available in limited quantities only at KFC Windsor on Saturday, the royal wedding day. After enjoying the chicken, you might want to try the Windsor and Eaton Brewery's "Harry & Meghan's Windsor Knot" pale ale, which boasts barley grown locally on the Royal Farms in Windsor and retails for 2.25 pounds ($3) a bottle. The company says "marrying" together a combination of British and American hops and champagne yeast "creates a new pale ale that is young, fresh and full of character." For those with a sporting bent, royal fans can shop online for a Meghan or Harry one-piece lycra women's swimsuit offered by the gift store Bags of Love. For 28 pounds ($37.70), the suits are available in sizes from XS to 4XL and promise to be "soft, stretchy and supportive." They also display enormous faces of either the bride or groom across your torso. For those already in the mood, the Crown Jewels Heritage Condoms company (yes, it's real) is offering a box of Royal Wedding souvenir condoms for 10 pounds ($13.50). When opened, the consumer is treated to a pop-up picture of Harry and Meghan and the slogan "your prince will come" as an arrangement of "God Save the Queen" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" plays in the background. A certificate of authenticity makes the packet complete. The Supreme Court collegium has favoured "further deliberation" and "broad-based consideration" of names of Chief Justices of various high courts before sending its decision reiterating the elevation of Uttarakhand Chief Justice K M Joseph as a judge of the top court. The resolution of the May 16 collegium meeting, uploaded on the apex court website today, stated that there was need for deliberation on bringing the judges from the high courts, which are not represented, to the Supreme Court. "Today (May 16), in the meeting of the Collegium, a unanimous view was expressed that there should be further deliberation and broad-based consideration of the names of the Chief Justices as well as Judges of the High Courts which are at present not represented in the Supreme Court. "In view of the above, the meeting stands deferred to be held at the earliest," the resolution said. Official sources on May 16 had said that the Collegium comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and four senior most judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, deliberated for more than an hour. This meeting was the second in five days. Today was the last working day of Justice Chelameswar, who retires on June 22, as the court's summer vacation starts tomorrow. At its previous meeting on May 11, the Collegium had agreed in principle to reiterate its recommendation for elevating Justice Joseph as a judge of the apex court, almost three weeks after it was returned by the Centre, but could not decide on a date. It had then adopted a resolution which also stated that there was a need for further discussion on the issue of sending the other names of judges to the Centre. "The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court (Parent High Court: Kerala)as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. "However, the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required," the resolution of May 11 had said. It had also decided to consider the names of other High Court Judges for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court. Official sources said those high court judges who are in the race to be elevated to the apex court are Chief Justice of Madras High Court Indira Banerjee, who is originally from the Calcutta HC, Gujarat HC Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy, whose parent cadre is Telangana and Andhra Pradesh HC, and Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, who is originally from Rajasthan HC. The government had on April 26 returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. The Collegium has recommended the name of Additional Judge Justice Ramchandra Singh Jhala to be appointed as a permanent judge of the Rajasthan High Court. "... the Collegium resolves to recommend, for the present, that Justice Ramchandra Singh Jhala, Additional Judge be appointed as Permanent Judge of the Rajasthan High Court against one of the existing vacancies," its resolution had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 12-year-old girl was killed and her brother injured after a dumper hit them this morning while they were going to school in southeast Delhi's Jamia Nagar, the police said. Around 6:45 AM , a dumper bearing a Haryana registration number hit two school children,a girl and her 14-year-old brother. The girl was dragged for a few metres beneath the truck and was severely injured. The girl succumbed to her injuries and her body was kept at AIIMS for post-mortem. Her brother sustained leg injury and bruises on the forehead and is admitted to Apollo Hospital, the police said. The victims were students of Class 6 at a government school. The accused, Pushpender, 28, was arrested. He was carrying building material in the truck and was going towards Noida. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing the BJP of adopting unethical means to grab power, its estranged ally Shiv Sena today questioned why the party had a different sets of rules while forming governments in Goa, Manipur and Karnataka. The Sena claimed that although BJP chief Amit Shah had inadvertently called B S Yeddyurappa "most corrupt", the party faced the "ignominy" of making him the chief minister of Karnataka once again. The Sena was referring to a gaffe by Shah who had in March described his party's former government led by Yeddyurappa as "number one" in corruption. "In Karnataka, Yeddyurappa was invited to form the government. There is nothing surprising about it. It has happened not as per the law and the Constitution, but as per political rules," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'. "The governor (of Karnataka Vajubhai Vala) is a humble worker of the BJP, who has worked in the Gujarat Cabinet for 14 years. He could become the governor of Karnataka only because of Modi, hence it is right to invite the BJP to form the government there," it said. Had he invited the Congress-JD(S) combine to form the government, it would have been surprising, it claimed. "However, nobody -- from the judiciary to governors -- follows the law. Therefore, the Congress-JD(S)'s proposal bearing signatures of 116 MLAs was rejected and a red carpet was laid for (BJP's) 104 MLAs," the Sena added. Had this happened during the Congress' regime, it would have been termed as a murder of democracy and the governor would have been dubbed as a puppet in the hands of the government, it alleged. "But since the governor belongs to the BJP ideology, we have to accept that he has not done anything wrong and taken a decision as per the rules," the Sena claimed. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that a different sets of laws was applied in Goa, Manipur and Karnataka. "There was one set of rules in Goa and Manipur, and another one in Karnataka. Rules and laws are made for others, while power is being grabbed and retained through unethical means. "People voted the BJP to power as they knew that there is no point in expecting the Congress to follow purity of means and morality. But the BJP turned out to be like the Congress," it claimed. "Even we want the Congress to be wiped out from Karnataka and a BJP rule there. However, after Siddaramaiah, corrupt Yeddyurappa took his place," the Sena alleged. The editorial said that promises were made to bring back black money from abroad. "But actually, black money is in operation here only and it is being used for political purposes" it said. "What is the use of removing the Congress from power if the BJP's 'Mann ki baat' has become 'Dhan ki baat'? The prime minister, the chief minister and the governor are working as per the culture of the Congress and the people's woes have not diminished," the Sena claimed. Referring to Shah's gaffe, the Sen said, "It was true. What was there in his mind came out. But the BJP faced the ignominy of making him the chief minister once again. This will lead to chaos in Karnataka". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Passengers of on board an IndiGo flight from Lucknow to Mumbai had a harrowing time today morning as they spent around three hours on the stationary aircraft after one of its engines developed a technical snag. The passengers took to social media to narrate their ordeal, with one of them claiming that it was hot inside the plane as the air conditioners weren't functioning. Flight 6E 685, which was supposed to depart for Mumbai at 7.45 am, took off after 11 am after the snag was rectified. "Indigo flight Lucknow Mumbai 6E 685 is stuck at the lucknow airport due to some technical problems, why they dnt check their aircraft's before allowing pax to board," a passenger wrote on Twitter. "It's frustrating, the ac of aircraft are not working,why this technical snag was not detected before completing the boarding?" tweeted another. According to the airline, the plane was about to take off when it developed a snag in the engine. "VT-IEI (non-neo) aircraft, operating 6E685 flight was ready to depart to Mumbai from Lucknow. After start up, the engine developed a minor snag. The aircraft was held at Lucknow for minor rectification," the airline said in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Students from rural areas in Haryana have performed better than their urban counterparts, while girls have outshone boys in the Class 12 state board examinations, results for which were declared today. The overall pass percentage for the Class 12 Haryana School Board stood at 63.84 per cent. The result was declared jointly by Chairman of the Board, Dr Jagbir Singh and Secretary, Dhirendra Khadgata in a press conference organised at Board office in Bhiwani today. The students can check their results at website www.bseh.org.in and www.indiaresults.com, Singh said. He said that overall toppers in the examination are Naveen and Heena from Hisar. The board chairman said that 2,22,388 students had appeared in the senior secondary examination of which 1,41,973 have passed, 49,163 have got compartments and 31,252 failed. A total of 1,24,242 boys had appeared in the examination of which 70,936 have passed while 71,037 of the 98,146 girls have passed. Singh said that the pass percentage of government schools was 63.62 and that of private schools was 64.06. The result of private students was 47.44 per cent. As many as 19,076 such students had appeared in the examination of which 9,049 have passed. Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said here that this time the pass percentage of rural areas was 64.75 whereas it was 62.04 per cent in urban areas in the 12th class examination. Congratulating the students and the toppers, Sharma said in a statement, "The credit for this goes to Haryana government paying more attention to the school education and the hard work of the teachers and the children." Sharma said that overall the girls have outshone boys with a better pass percentage of 72.38 as against 57.10 per cent of the boys. For the first time, the board has decided to keep safe the certificates and result of students in a 'DigiLocker' which could be downloaded from its website when needed, he said. The candidates' result and mark sheet would be uploaded on the same locker. Subsequently, after the announcement of the results, it would provide the hard-copy of the marks sheet. Along with this, all the mark-sheets and the results declared from 2004 till date would also be uploaded on the digital locker, the Education Minister said. He said that the digital locker would be maintained on the basis of candidates' mobile number and the Aadhar card. Resultantly it would be easier for any recruitment agency to verify any result or certificate of the applicant through this, he said. After this decision, a code would be released to all the Sainik Boards, Haryana Public Service Commission and Haryana Staff Selection Commission so that the marks sheets of the candidate can be seen. "The concerned authority would be able to verify the application. It would save the time and would also avoid the possibility of any kind of fraud," he said. He said that result can also be checked on mobile app developed by the Board which could be downloaded from Google Play Store by searching Education Board Bhiwani Haryana. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court today dismissed the plea of Hyatt Regency Hotel's managing director and two others seeking quashing of summons issued to them by a trial court in a criminal negligence case in which a man had fallen from the sixth floor of the hotel and suffered serious injuries that had put him in a vegetative state. Justice Anu Malhotra dismissed the petitions of Hyatt Hotel's MD Shiv Kumar Jatia, its senior managers Aseem Kapoor and Karan Lal, who had claimed that there was no negligence in their part. Jatia, Kapoor and Lal had moved the high court in 2015 challenging the summoning order of the trial court on the grounds that there was no involvement and negligence on their part. They had claimed that they provided timely medical help to the injured and there was no delay on their part. Prosecutor Ashish Dutta opposed their pleas and said that there was a delay of over one hour by the accused who did not inform the PCR and ambulance in time. Relying on a judgement of the Supreme Court, he said the golden hour is the first hour after any traumatic injury and doctors say that treatment is most likely to succeed during that period. According to the prosecution, victim Gaurav Rishi, 30, had fallen off a ledge under construction connected to the five-star hotel's sixth floor lobby on October 16, 2013. It had said that he had gone to the hotel to meet two of his friends and had stepped out to the terrace for a smoke. Medical reports had said he was not inebriated at the time of fall. Besides the three, the trial court had in May 2015 also summoned as accused senior manager Pawan Kumar Singh, Asian Hotels (North), hotel's director of security Lt Col Deepak Khanijou and two other hotel staff PR Subramanian and Amit Ghildiyal in the case. They were summoned for the alleged offence of endangering life or personal safety of others. The Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet in the case against the accused in March 2015. According to the police, the hotel had not implemented several licensing conditions on that day. It did not put in place emergency evacuation nor did it inform local police or the control room about the incident. It had claimed that emergency lighting and self-luminescent markings were not provided in the terrace, emergency exits or staircases and neither was a guard deployed in the area. It had also alleged that the terrace area under construction was made accessible to guests without any indication that the area was unsafe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are the highlights for 2040 hour TOP STORIES: DEL53POL-LDALL KARNATAKASC orders floor test in Karna Assembly tomorrow itself, rival camps confidentof outcomeNew Delhi/Bengaluru: The new Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa was today ordered by the Supreme Court to face a floor test in the state Assembly tomorrow itself after it drastically reduced the 15-day deadline set by the governor for him to prove his majority. MDS6 KA-YEDDYURAPPA Hundred per cent confident of proving majority: Yeddyurappa Bengaluru: Welcoming the Supreme Court order for a floor test, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today asserted he was "100 per cent" confident that he would prove the majority in the state Assembly. MDS8 KA SIDDARAMAIAH All MLAs with us, says Siddaramaiah Bengaluru: Rejecting suggestions of any break in the ranks of Congress and JD(S), former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today maintained that all their MLAs were together ahead of the floor test tomorrow. DEL29 POL-SC-BJP Congress's 'double standards' towards judiciary exposed: BJP New Delhi: The BJP today hit out at the Congress, saying the the party's "double standards" towards the judiciary has been exposed as it was now praising the Supreme Court after insulting it and also attempting to impeach the Chief Justice of India (CJI). DEL36 CONG-SC-LD KARNATRAKA SC order on floor test in K'taka assembly 'historic', BJP 'baffled' as it lacks numbers: Cong New Delhi: Hailing the Supreme Court's order of holding floor test in the Karnataka assembly as historic, the Congress today accused the BJP of being baffled and frustrated as it lacked numbers to prove majority and objected to the appointment of a BJP MLA as the pro tem speaker ahead of the confidence vote tomorrow. BOM12 GA-CONGRESS-LD STAKES CLAIM Cong stakes claim to form govt in Goa, submits letter to Guv Panaji: The Congress today sought adoption of the Karnataka example in Goa and staked claim to form government in the state, being the single largest party in the Legislative Assembly. DEL34 JK-4THLD FIRING BSF jawan, 4 civilians killed in Pak shelling in Jammu Jammu: Four civilians and a BSF jawan were killed while 12 others were injured as the Pakistan Rangers rained mortars on villages and border outposts in Jammu today, escalating border skirmishes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir. DEL44 POL-CONG-LD-PRO TEM SPEAKER Pro tem speaker Bopaiah 'dented and tainted', may move court over appointment: Cong New Delhi: The Congress today took strong objection to the appointment of dented and tainted BJP MLA K G Bopaiah as the pro tem speaker ahead of the floor test in Karnataka assembly, and was likely to approach court against Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision. DEL38 DL-CS ASSAULT-KEJRIWAL CS assault case: Six-member police team questions Kejriwal New Delhi: A six-member team of the Delhi Police today arrived at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office here for questioning him in connection with the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February. DEL45 CENTRE-LETTER-TO-CMS 'Disappointed' Centre slams 9 states including JK, WB over 'slow progress' in abolishing govt jobs interviews New Delhi: The Centre has slammed nine states including Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal over "slow progress" made by them in abolishing interviews from selection process for junior level government jobs. DEL61 SECY-LD-APPOINTMENTS Babus rejig at Centre: Fodder scam whistleblower named I&B secy New Delhi: Senior bureaucrat Amit Khare, who blew the lid off the infamous fodder scam in Bihar, was today appointed Secretary of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry as part of a major reshuffle involving 24 top IAS officers. DEL42 JK-LD PM In J-K tomorrow, PM to launch works on Zojila tunnel, other projects Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is arriving on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow, will kickstart work on the prestigious Zojila tunnel, that will provide all-weather connectivity between Ladakh and the Valley. DEL55 KA-SPEAKER-BJP Cong's protest over pro tem speaker 'hoax objection': Javadekar New Delhi: Union minister Prakash Javadekar today defended senior BJP MLA K G Bopaiah's appointment as the pro tem speaker of the Karnataka Assembly to conduct the crucial floor test tomorrow and dismissed the Congress' protest over it as a "hoax objection". PILGRIMS-ACCIDENT 11 pilgrims killed, 19 hurt in Uttarakhand accident Dehradun/Pithoragarh: Eleven people, many of them in their teens, were killed and 19 injured in Champawat district today when a speeding truck rammed into a group of pilgrims walking to the Purnagiri temple. DCM82 BIZ-FINMIN-CURRENCY Currency situation normal, all ATMs functioning well says DEA Secy New Delhi: The currency situation is completely normal and ATMs are working well across the country, Economic Affairs Secretary S C Garg said today. FOREIGN: FGN38 TRUMP-MIGRANTS-2NDLD ANIMALS Trump defends 'animals' remark, says will continue to use it Washington: US President Donald Trump today defended his use of the controversial word "animals" to describe some illegal immigrants, asserting that he will continue to use it for members of the deadly transnational gang MS-13 despite facing flak from the Democratic leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Welcoming the Supreme Court order for a floor test, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today asserted he was "100 per cent" confident that he would prove the majority in the state Assembly. "We will abide by the Supreme Court verdict...we have got100 per cent support and cooperation to prove the majority," Yeddyurappa told reporters here soon after the apex court's order. "Amidst all these political games, we will prove our majority tomorrow. We will obey the Supreme Court order," said Yeddyurappa, who faces an uphill task rustling up the 112 MLAs required to cross the floor test hurdle. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House with an effective strength of 222, and hopes some newly elected lawmakers of the Congress and JD(S) would break ranks with their respective parties and back the Yeddyurappa government. Yeddyurappa said he would discuss with the chief secretary and call the Assembly session, and other procedures will follow. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of angry residents of hamlets along the border today protested after four civilians were killed and 12 injured in heavy Pakistan mortar shelling, demanding stern action against the neighbouring country for targeting innocent people. The border dwellers carried two of the bodies to Mangu Chak, a Ranbir Singh Pura sector town, and raised anti-Pakistan slogans as fear and anger gripped the hamlets. They said Pakistan should be taught a lesson so that it stops targeting civilian villages. The shelling and firing by Pakistani troops along the international border comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow. The protesters also accused the Mehbooba Mufti government of failure to provide ambulances to save lives. The shelling started early this morning and a mortar hit the compound wall of 52-year old Tarseem Lal's house in a Mangu Chak village, severely injuring him and his 45-year-old wife Manjeet. They died in hospital. The blood stains had dried up but the house, which had splinter holes and broken windows, bore a mute testimony to the death and destruction caused by Pakistani shelling. Another hamlet in Treva in the Arnia sector was hit and two villagers -- Sat Paul (60) and Jag Mohan (45) -- were killed when shells exploded in their houses. Villages in R S Pura, Suchetgarh and Bishnah sectors also came under fire. Twenty-eight-year-old BSF constable Sitaram Upadhyaya was also killed in the firing. The shelling was very heavy and several bullet-proof vehicles were pressed into services to evacuate people to safer places, officials said. "Tarseem Lal and Manjeet had just begun their daily chores when a shell hit their compound wall at around 8 am resulting in their death," Surinder Singh, a villager, told PTI. What can the village people do? We are there for their target practice. The villagers preferred to leave their houses and move to the safer places, he said. Another villager Devi Dass accused the authorities of failure to reach out to the affected people and said border dwellers carried the injured couple on cots for first aid and then by a tractor trolley to hospital. Had we got an ambulance and taken the couple to a hospital in time, they may have been saved. Where is the administration? Where are the ministers? They come to us only to seek votes, he said. Amid the protest that caused a traffic jam here, Kulwant Singh, a kin of an injured, said 10-15 mortar shells landed in the village in a period of 30 minutes, resulting in death and devastation. The protestors demanded that the Centre should take a stern action against Pakistan so that it does not dare again to target innocent civilians in the border villages. Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, Health Minister Devender Manyal, who is an MLA from Samba area, Housing Minister Sat Sharma and state BJP chief Ravinder Raina visited the Government Medical College Hospital where the 12 injured persons were being treated. Two of them were in a critical condition. Jammu Inspector General of Police S D Singh said camps were being activated to house the people who were being evacuated from the border hamlets. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian and European experts will gather in the national capital to brainstorm possible measures to tackle air pollution in India and deliberate on the draft National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) recently announced by the Ministry. The two-day conference on the 'EU India Air Quality Initiative' on May 21 and 22, being organised by AETS, France along with TERI, and supported by the European Union (EU) and the Ministry, will also strive to find solutions to improve the local air quality. The event will mark the culmination of the workshops organised in 2017 in Goa, Raipur and Bangalore, where the EU shared its best practices and experiences in addressing the issue of air pollution. "The government's newly announced NCAP will also be up for discussion in the two-day conference. It will also propose multiple strategies to address this menace," a statement said. The draft NCAP has been framed by the Ministry with an overall objective of a comprehensive management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution, besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country. The statement said that the EU is engaging with the Indian government to improve air quality by contributing to the drafting of a national air quality strategy and local action plans, with particular focus on urban settings, a statement said. Through this project, the EU has engaged with the Environment Ministry and their executive agencies -- Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) -- establishing a positive dialogue in various fields of action in terms of air quality management in India. Pilot cities were selected for development of Local Action Plans aligned with and supported by EU best practices and discussions with officials started to enable the drafting of a national air quality strategy for India, the statement said. "The impact of air quality on human health is undeniable and I am pleased that the EU is contributing to its improvement," said Ambassador Tomasz Kozlowski before the conference in the statement. In the EU-India project, the present status of air quality issues and management has been assessed along with a gap analysis involving key stakeholders in India and mapping opportunities and challenges via use of local knowledge, research institutions among others. Three urban cities Goa, Raipur and Bangalore - were selected in consultation with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), using a multi-criteria approach. Training sessions were given to the SPCBs on baseline assessment including emission inventory work and design and implementation of local action plans and associated monitoring schemes. A report on the EU-India project will also be released at the conference. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jakarta, India and Indonesia discussed developing a cruise tourism circuit between Andman & Nicobar Islands and the Southeast Asian country as part of steps to bolster bilateral ties. Union minister Nitin Gadkari met Luhut Binser Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs of Indonesia, here yesterday and discussed ways to take ahead bilateral relations between the countries, the Shipping Ministry said in a statement today. The prime minister is scheduled to visit Jakarta this month. Pandjaitan, who is on a two-day visit to India met Gadkari to discuss bilateral cooperation in the maritime sector between the two countries, the statement said. Bilateral talks covered a wide range of topics including river rejuvenation, wastewater treatment, generating revenue streams from waste, enhancing shipping linkages between the two countries, developing ports and airports, training on light house technology and development of navigational aids. "Developing a cruise tourism circuit between Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Indonesia and thus implementing Govt of India's vision to put India on the global cruise market both for ocean & river cruises under its Sagarmala programme was highlighted. "Cooperation for developing alternative fuels such as natural gas and methanol for ships also featured in the talks," it said. The statement said for developing collaboration in Maritime Training & Education between India & Indonesia, both the ministers were keen to draw up an MOU between Indian Maritime University & Indonesian institutes for maritime studies. It was decided by both ministers to take up these areas of work in a proactive manner by arranging for exchange of information soon and establishing contact between technical teams on both sides, it said. It was also decided that technical teams from Indonesia would visit India at the earliest to look at the experience of the Indian side on Ganga rejuvenation, development of National Waterways and training in the maritime sector, it added. The meeting was attended by a 10-member high level delegation comprising senior officials of Department of Maritime Affairs, Indonesia, Chairman of Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Ambassador of Indonesia to New Delhi along with senior officials from the Ministry of Shipping. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a new twist in the Sherin Mathews' case, US child protection authorities say they have found "insufficient evidence" if the deceased Indian toddler was physically abused by her adoptive mother and blamed "an unknown perpetrator" for her injuries, prior to her adoption. Sherin, 3, was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a culvert in Richardson, in suburban Dallas, Texas, on October 22, two weeks after her Indian-American foster parents reported her missing. Her adoptive father, Wesley Mathews originally told police he had left Sherin outside the home at 3 am to punish her for not drinking her milk. Then he changed his statement and said Sherin had choked on her milk while he tried to feed her in the garage. He also admitted the family had gone out to dinner that night and left Sherin home alone. An autopsy report released in January this year revealed that Sherin died of "homicidal violence." The couple from Kerala had adopted Sherin from an orphanage in Bihar in 2016. While Wesley was indicted on charges of capital murder and tampering with evidence, his wife, Sini was indicted on a charge of abandoning a child. A Child Protective Services (CPS) report released on Tuesday detailed the agency's investigation into allegation that Sherin's adoptive parents abused her months before she died, WFAA, an ABC-affiliated television station reported. The report detailed a CPS investigation from March 2017. The CPS said it found "insufficient evidence to determine if the deceased child was physically abused by her mother." "An unknown perpetrator was confirmed for the physical abuse...which may have happened prior to her adoption," the report said. "The allegation of physical neglect of the deceased child by her parents was not confirmed," the report said. Dr Suzanne Dakil, a pediatrician, testified during a custody hearing for Sherin's sister had said that she was the one who called the CPS in March last year with concerns that Sherin was being abused by her parents. "I tried, actually, very hard to find another good explanation, and I didn't have one," the doctor said in court, noting that she concluded Sherin's injuries had occurred after her time in India. Dakil's clinic in Dallas had been treating Sherin for her weight problems, the Dallas Morning reported. Sherin was been hospitalised in February 2017 after her adoptive mother "noticed swelling around [Sherin's] right shoulder," the report said. Sini reported that Sherin had fallen on a slide at the park, the report said. Doctors diagnosed Sherin with a skin infection and fractures on her shoulders, and X-rays revealed a previous injury, a fracture of her left leg, the report said. "There were concerns that the child's injuries were not consistent with the explanation given and that the child had been physically abused," the report said. The CPS interviewed Sherin's parents, who "denied harming the child," the report said. Sini said she had taken Sherin to a park, where she fell and her mother tried to grab her arm to break the fall. Wesley told investigators that Sherin slipped and fell while on monkey bars at the park, the report said. When asked about Sherin's previous arm fracture, Sini told CPS officials that Sherin fell while jumping on the couch with her sibling, the report said. The CPS contacted medical officials, who "stated there were no concerns about the previous injury because the story was consistent with the child falling off the couch." The medical officials said the fractures in Sherin's shoulder injury were "questionable," the report said. The report said "although there were no concerns regarding the child's previous injuries, the new injuries were not consistent with the explanation given." The issue of Sherin's weight was also raised in the investigation. Both parents said Sherin had health problems when they adopted her from India, including being underweight. Doctors who had treated Sherin "denied having concerns about abuse and neglect while the child was with her adoptive parents" and that Sherin "was in better health and at a better weight following her adoption," the report said. Law enforcement authorities investigated the report but did not file charges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An alleged interstate gangster Pavitar alias Dhola, who carried a bounty of Rs 75,000 on his head, was arrested with three associates today in Haryana's Sonipat district, police said. Pavitar's associates were identified as Abhishek and Vineet, hailing from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, and Sanjeev, a native of Bihar's Champaran district. The arrests were made following a tip off received by a team of Sonipat police that Pavitar and his associates were roaming with illegal weapons in looted cars near the border of Kundli village, a police spokesperson said. The four men were wanted in about two dozen cases of murder, attempt to murder and robbery, he said. Two country made pistols, live cartridges and the looted vehicles were seized from the four men. During interrogation, they confessed to their involvement in several criminal activities including theft of cars, motorcycles, cash and mobile phones, the spokesperson added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan told the World Trade Organisation today it was ready to take retaliatory measures against US tariffs on its steel and aluminium, reversing its earlier conciliatory stance toward its close ally. Japan informed the WTO it had the right to impose tariffs on US goods worth 50 billion yen (USD 451 million) -- equivalent to the impact of the US tariffs newly imposed on Japanese metal products, the foreign ministry said in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Newly-elected JD(S) and Congress MLAs from Karnataka, who had been camping here in two hotels to avoid any poaching bids, tonight left for Bengaluru for the crucial floor test in the state assembly tomorrow. JD(S) MLC Basavaraj said in the morning that as many as 36 legislators belonging to his party and 77 of the Congress were camping in the city hotels. Though the legislators were prepared to stay in the city hotels for a few days, they all left in the night by road as the Supreme Court today ordered that a floor test be held in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 PM tomorrow to confirm whether newly-appointed BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa enjoys a majority in the state. "All the legislators left for Bengaluru by road at 10 pm," Vamshi Chand Reddy, Congress MLA in Telanagana, said. Earlier this morning, the legislators reached here in four buses from Karnataka. Congress' Karnataka unit chief K Parameshwara said his party was confident of keeping their MLAs together and alleged that the BJP was trying to woo their lawmakers with incentives. "All our MLAs are with us... tomorrow they will be present in the Assembly (in Bengaluru)," he said. The JD(S) had last night alleged that chartered flights that were scheduled to carry its legislators along with those of the Congress from Bangalore to Kochi were denied permission by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the last minute. However, a Civil Aviation Ministry official had said that DGCA permission was not required for charter operations within India. Former Chief Minister of Karnataka and JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy earlier addressed the legislators in Taj krishna Hotel. Later Congress legislature Party meting elected Siddharamaiah as their leader, a senior Congress leader of Telangana said. Political observers say Hyderabad was chosen for keeping the MLAs together owing to the rapport that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has with the JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. Rao had recently met Gowda at the latter's residence before the Karnataka polls. The Telangana chief minister had appealed to Telugu people living in the neighbouring state to vote for the JD(S). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Jim Sarbh has landed in a controversy after a purported video emerged online where the "Padmaavat" star is seen cracking a rape joke and Kangana Ranaut laughing and clapping on it. The short clip was apparently shot during a party the two actors attended on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. The 30-year-old actor's joke evoked laughter from other attendees, including Kangana who is seen clapping in response. The two actors were at Cannes as brand ambassadors of a liquor brand. Many users on Twitter shared the viral video and lashed out at the two actors for their "insensitivity towards sexual violence". People especially mentioned Kangana, who had condemned superstar Salman Khan for making a similar joke in 2016. "After Bashing #SalmanKhan #KanganaRanaut laughs on a rape joke by Jim Sarbh. These people...think it's okay to joke and laugh about rape. We live in a society that teaches women to defend themselves from rape, instead of teaching men not to rape women and they laugh! Shame on you!" tweeted a user. "So Jim Sarbh made a rape joke at #Cannes2018 and feminist Kangana Ranaut laughed over it. Of course twitter feminists haven't gone mad at her or Jim the way they did over Salman Khan's comment. Who knows Jim anyways. Small Fly. No prime time debate material," read another tweet. After the backlash, Sarbh issued a statement claiming that his comments were "taken out of context". "I understand the environment we live in just now: rape is a deadly serious issue and I treat it as such...," he said. "I personally do not find it to be about a desire to rape, or to inflict sexual violence upon another. I did not intend to hurt anybody, and I certainly do not consider actual sexual or physical violence funny," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Academic Council "passed" a proposal to set up a Centre for National Security Studies under which there would be a course on "Islamic Terrorism", a professor who attended its meeting today said. Many members of the Academic Council opposed the proposal to impart courses on 'Islamic Terrorism', arguing that it was communal in nature, Sudhir K Suthar, a special invitee to the 145th meeting of the Council, said. "Many members opposed the topic 'Islamic Terrorism' so as to not club any religion with terrorism, and suggested to call the phenomenon 'religious terrorism'," Suthar, who is an office-bearer of the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA), told PTI. "There was a debate on the issue in the meeting with many members supporting it too, saying that it was a globally accepted phenomenon and majority of the cases (of terrorism) were associated with the religion," another Academic Council member, who was present in the meeting, said. "The chair passed the proposal and said the objections would be considered (later)," Suthar said. The draft of the proposal was prepared by a four-member committee headed by Ajay Kumar Dubey, a professor of the Centre for African Studies. According to the proposal, in the first five years, the centre will only focus on research activities. "The centre may have only M.Phil and Ph.D students (initially). After five years, the centre may start MA programme. In the first year, two professors, two associate professors and four assistant professors may be recruited to give the centre a good and visible shape," according to the proposal. Dubey told PTI, "Report was circulated for feedback and discussion. All suggestions including objections will be considered by the committee (later)." Opposing the move, JNU Students Union president Geeta Kumari said, "In a deeply problematic and shocking move the JNU VC also allowed the tabling of a course/topic on 'Islamic Terrorism' under the Centre for National Security Studies." "This grotesque propaganda of Islamophobia in the name of academic courses is deeply problematic. It seems the RSS-BJP's election propaganda material will be prepared through these courses rather than studying the nature of terrorism in general," she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing JNU Vice Chancellor of "suppressing dissent" at the 145th Academic Council that was held today, the varsity's teachers association (JNUTA) said the administration was resorting to "brazen violation" of assurances it has given to the Delhi High Court that a full discussion over the attendance issue would take place in the meeting. JNUTA President Sonajharia Minz claimed that the minutes of 144th AC meeting, which have been objected to orally and in writing by several members of the Academic Council and have also been challenged in the Delhi High Court, were declared confirmed without any discussion. No member, including the Deans and Chairs reinstated by the Delhi High Court, were allowed to speak at all, she added. Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, Registrar Pramod Kumar and Rector 1 Chintamani Mahapatra did not respond to calls from PTI. "It is alarming that the highest academic body of the university, in which due deliberation must be accorded to all academic matters, was conducted by means of open suppression of dissent. The JNUTA is appalled at the brazen violation of the assurances given to the court by JNU that a full discussion of the attendance issue would take place in the Academic Council," Minz said. JNU Students Union (JNUSU) President Geeta Kumari who also took part in the meeting said, "In a continuation of total decimation of JNU's time-tested process of deliberation and dialogue, the JNU VC today conducted the 145th AC meeting in a brazenly undemocratic manner." She said the majority of AC members including the JNUSU office-bearers were not allowed to even speak once. "In one stroke all agenda items were passed in a absurd 'clap of hands' of those loyal to the VC," she added. Among the various agendas was the illegal confirmation of falsified minutes of the last (144th) AC meeting which introduced attendance. Questions of reservations and Atul Johri were sidelined, she claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal government would offer a job to the wife of a deceased panchayat poll official and pay a compensation sum of Rs 5 lakh to his family, a senior official said here today. The state would also give Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the 14 people, who lost their lives in the course of panchayat elections, he said. "The government has decided to compensate the family of presiding officer Rajkumar Roy with Rs 5 lakh and his wife with a job at a state-run office. Each of the family members of the 14 people, who died in poll violence, will get Rs 2 lakh," the officer said. Roy (42), who was a government school teacher at Rahatpur High Madrasa, had been deployed as presiding officer at an election booth in Itahar area of Raiganj subdivision, North Dinajpur district. He went missing during election duty and his body was found a day later on the railway tracks near Sonadangi area of the district. Roy's wife had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that her husband was "kidnapped from the polling booth" at Sonapur Basic School. The panchayat elections were held in the state on May 14 and its results were declared three days later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) JSW Steel today inked a pact with Algeria's Cevital to buy its Italian arm Aferpi for around Rs 600 crore, a source in the know of the development said today. The Sajjan Jindal-owned firm had earlier tried to acquire the second largest plant in Italy in 2014, when it was known as Lucchini. The Algerian conglomerate Cevital however acquired Lucchini and renamed it Acciaierie e Ferriere di Piombino (Aferpi). "JSW Steel has signed a deal with Algeria's Cevital to buy Italy's second largest steel firm Aferpi for around Rs 600 crore on Friday," the source who did not wish to be quoted said. According to the source, senior officials of JSW are in Italy and the agreement document was signed at Italy's Ministry of Economic Development. While JSW Steel refused to comment on the development, an email query sent to Cevital remained unanswered. The acquisition will help JSW to expand its reach in the specialised steel market, particularly in the automobile sector. Aferpi makes a wide range of quality and special steel for rails, wire rods and bars for railway, automotive, earthmoving vehicles, energy, fastening, springs and welding. At present, it is working on projects that involve production of 1 million tonne (MT) of long steel products and revamping of wire rod and bar mills, installation of one electric arc furnace of 1 MT capacity with two continuous casting machines. Besides, it is working on installation of a new rails- and beams-rolling plant and installation of the second electric arc furnace and the third continuous casting machine. JSW Steel is planning to increase its manufacturing capacity to 40-45 million tonne by 2030 from the present 18 million tonne. "If the country builds 300 MT capacity by 2030, we would like to plan accordingly to maintain our 15 per cent share, which will be 40-45 MT," JSW Steel joint managing director & group CFO Seshagiri Rao had said earlier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Supreme Court judge C K Prasad is likely to get a second term as the chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI), sources said. A three-member committee headed by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, which met here yesterday, has given its nod for appointing Prasad as the PCI chief for a second term, they said. However, there was no official notification in this regard. Prasad, when contacted, said that he was out of station and was not aware of the development. The former SC judge was appointed as the chairman of the media watchdog in November, 2014 for three years. He had succeeded Justice Markanday Katju. The Press Council of India is a statutory body with a mandate to act as a watchdog to oversee the conduct of the print media. It was reconstituted for three years in October, 2014, whose term ended in October last year. According to the Press Council Act, the council shall consist of a chairman and 28 other members. In March, the government had notified the names of eight nominated members of the reconstituted council, while 20 other names are yet to be announced. Prasad had said that the Council has submitted the names of the other members of the revamped PCI to the Centre, which will decide on its notification. Last month, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) had accused the PCI chief of "biased" selection of new members. The claims were, however, rejected by the media watchdog, which said, laid down rules were followed in the process of induction of new members. The INS had also moved the Delhi High Court on PCI's rejection of its nominee after which the court stayed the Council's decision. On April 9, eight prominent media bodies had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to defer the April 11 meeting of the "truncated" Council, alleging that the PCI chairman had adopted "arbitrary" procedure to reconstitute the media watchdog. Countering the allegations, Prasad had said that he had followed the rules while making the nominations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Justice J Chelameswar, the senior most judge of the who had virtually revolted by holding a controversial January 12 presser, on Friday shared dais with of India on his last working day. Justice Chelameswar, who retires on June 22, sat in a bench headed by the CJI along with Justice D Y Chandrachud as Friday was the last working day before the apex court goes for the long summer vacation. It is the custom in the top court that a retiring judge, on his last day, is given the honour of sitting with the CJI in the majestic Court no 1. Justice Chelameswar, who has been at loggerheads with the CJI over the functioning of the apex court including the allocation of sensitive cases and on recommendation of judges for appointment to higher judiciary, maintained the tradition of sharing the dias with the CJI. The judge ended the speculation among the legal circles that he would not be a part of the bench. The speculation had gained momentum after he had refused the invite of the Bar Association which was preparing a farewell function for him on Friday. A large number of people, besides lawyers and litigants, thronged the court room this morning. There was no mentioning in the court no 1, which is usually flooded with cases and where 11 matters were listed for today. The bench sat for a brief period and rose for the day at 11:15 AM. Senior Advocate Rajiv Dutta, advocates and Gopal Sankaranarayanan gave short farewell speeches to Bhushan thanked for "upholding democracy" and said,"On behalf of the Bar, I would like to say that it was an honour to have appeared before you. Future generations will remember your contribution to democracy and to the country." Dutta thanked the judge for "upholding the ideals of the institution", while Sankaranarayanan expressed his gratitude towards him for the grace he has shown towards junior members of the Bar and said this would always be remembered and appreciated. left the courtroom with folded his hands. He had earlier declined an invitation from the SCBA for his farewell function citing personal reasons. The judge also told the members of the bar that he had not accepted a farewell earlier when he was moving out of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to another high court. Congress workers in Uttar Pradesh today held demonstrations across the state to protest the "unconstitutional and undemocratic" manner in which the BJP has formed the government in Karnataka. Top Congress leaders, including state unit chief Raj Babbar, gathered here, even as demonstrations were held at all district headquarters of the party to protest the Karnataka Governor's decision to invite the BJP to form the government despite the saffron party's numbers being less than the combined tally of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in the state Assembly. Karnataka Governor Vajhubhai Vala has acted "under pressure" of BJP national president Amit Shah in administering oath to B S Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister, Congress spokesman K K Pandey alleged. In Lucknow, party workers and leaders led by Babbar along with Pramod Tiwari and Sanjay Singh held a sit-in protest before Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the GPO park. Babbar alleged that the Karnataka Raj Bhawan was "misused" to ensure that the BJP somehow comes to power in the state and in a similar fashion its governments were also installed in Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya and Manipur. It has become a "habit" for the BJP to somehow form its government even without getting majority in the elections, he said. Later, the Congress leaders met UP Governor Ram Naik and handed over a memorandum in this regard, Pandey said. Yesterday, Congress workers had burnt an effigy of the BJP and its president in the state capital. In Mathura, party activists assembled in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Vikas Bazar. "To invite a person, who on record does not have sufficient number of legislators, to form government is murdering the democracy in Karnataka," alleged Pradeep Mathur, former leader of Congress Legislature Party and four-time MLA. He also accused the Karnataka Governor of working as "an activist of the BJP". Similar protests were staged in several states across the country as the Congress observed 'save democracy day' to protest against Vala's decision to invite the BJP to form the government in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa was yesterday sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka for a second time, after an overnight high-voltage legal battle in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court today ordered a floor test at 4 PM tomorrow, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove majority. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seeking a uniform rule for a Governor to follow in a hung assembly, the RJD in Bihar and the Congress in Goa and Manipur today staked claim to form the government, citing the example of Karnataka where the BJP was invited after it emerged as the single largest party. However, questions were raised on the surprising move by the two allies, more than a year after elections were held to the respective assemblies which appeared to be aimed at embarrassing the BJP. BJP's Goa state unit president Vinay Tendulkar called the Congress move a "stunt". Also, the numbers were completely in NDA's favour in all the 3 states. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, accompanied by the Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and CPI(ML) leaders, had a meeting with Governor Satya Pal Malik during which he demanded that his party be invited to form a government in Bihar since it was the single largest party and also constituted the single largest pre-poll alliance. "We met the governor and submitted a memorandum stating that we have support of 111 MLAs, those of my own party as well as our allies -- the Congress and the Hindustani Awam Morcha -- besides CPI(ML). "We said that we have 111 MLAs together and if we are asked for floor test, we are confident of winning, as more legislators are likely to vote in our favour," he told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan in Patna. Yadav, who is the Opposition Leader in the Assembly, said, "The point we are trying to make is that there has to be one rule in the country. If the Karnataka Governor's decision to invite the BJP on the ground of it being the single largest party was proper, then the same yardstick should be applied to Bihar. The RJD, by virtue of its being the single largest party in the state, should be allowed to form government here." The RJD was relegated to opposition last year after the JD(U) walked away from the three-party alliance, which also involved the Congress, and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government under Nitish Kumar. Assembly polls in Bihar were held in November 2015. In the 243-member Assembly, the RJD is the single-largest party with 80 MLAs, while JD(U) has 71 legislators and the BJP has 53. NDA constituents LJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party have two seats each. The Congress has 27 MLAs. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vajubhai Vala to form the government despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The Congress won 78 seats and the JD(S) 37. The Goa Congress Legislative Party, led by Chandrakant Kavlekar, met Governor Mridula Sinha at Raj Bhavan in Panaji and submitted a letter seeking an invite to the party to prove its majority on the floor of the House. The party said it gave the governor seven days to decide on its request. Fourteen of the 16 Congress legislators were present during the meeting with the governor as one of them is abroad while another one is hospitalised. The meeting lasted for about 15 minutes. "We requested the governor to follow the precedent of Karnataka and undo the mistake she had committed on March 12, 2017 when she invited the minority party (BJP) to form the government," Kavlekar said, adding, "We have given a time of seven days to revert to us on our request." In the Assembly elections held in February last year, the Congress had bagged 17 seats in the 40-member House, but falling short of the majority figure by four seats. The BJP, which had bagged 13 seats, firmed up an alliance with Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, both of which had secured three seats each, and also took support of three Independents. Subsequently, the governor invited the BJP-led coalition to form the government. The present dispensation is headed by Manohar Parrikar, who is currently undergoing treatment in the US for a pancreatic ailment. The Congress currently has 16 members in the Goa Assembly as one of its legislators, Vishwajeet Rane, joined the BJP last year. Rane later won Valpoi Assembly bypoll on BJP ticket. "We have all the required numbers with us to form the government in the state. We can prove our numbers on the floor of the House. The magic figure of 21 is there with Congress... even without poaching into BJP camp," Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Girish Chodankar told reporters. "In Karnataka, the governor invited the single largest party, hence in Goa too, the same precedent should be followed," he said. In Manipur, a Congress delegation staked claim to form a government, said Kh Jaikishan Singh, the spokesperson of the party's state unit. Nine leaders of Congress Legislature Party (CLP), led by the Opposition Leader in Manipur Assembly and former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, met Acting Governor Jagdish Mukhi at Raj Bhavan and staked claim to form a government, Singh told reporters in Imphal. The Congress had bagged 28 seats in the 60-member House in the 2017 Assembly polls and emerged as the single-largest party. The BJP, which secured 21 seats, had joined hands with regional parties and Governor Najma Heptulla had invited the coalition to form the government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Odisha Congress today observed 'Save Democracy Day' in protest against the Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite the BJP to form government in the southern state. Senior leaders of the Odisha Congress submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind through acting Governor Satya Pal Malik urging him to safeguard democratic principles and the sanctity of the Constitution. The Congress's protest was a part of a nation-wide dharna in front of Raj Bhawans at state capitals and all district headquarters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa to form the government shows that he is acting under the Modi-led central government's pressure, Congress leader Ashok Chavan said here today. " is taking place from the (Karnataka) Raj Bhavan," he said while addressing a 'save democracy day' protest near the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) here. "Vala's decision to invite Yeddyurappa to form the government shows that he is acting under the Modi-led central government's pressure," the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president said. Congress is observing 'save democracy day' across the country today to protest against Vala's decision to invite Yeddyurappa to form the government in that state. Chavan joined Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president Sanjay Nirupam and party workers at the protest near the 'Amar Jawan Jyoti'. "The role of a governor should be neutral and unbiased but unfortunately, this is not the case in Karnataka," he said. Chavan welcomed the Supreme Court's order for floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the governor to Yeddyurappa to prove majority. "We believe in democracy," the former chief minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kashmiri youth who have taken to militancy are "our children" but "misguided" and the Ramzan ceasefire announced by the government is an opportunity to bring them back into the mainstream, a top Army official said here today. "It is unfortunate that some youth are joining militancy but the government has now declared a unilateral ceasefire during the holy month of Ramzan," said Lt General Satish Dua, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) who has earlier served as the Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps. The central government, on May 16, had announced that security forces would not launch any operation in the state during the Ramzan but they reserved the right to retaliate if attacked. Dua said the ceasefire period can be used by the civil society, government organisations, NGOs and "elders to engage with their children" to bring them back into the mainstream. "These youth (militants) are our children but they are misguided. We are hopeful of positive results during this one month window," he said while talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the valedictory function of flagship courses at the Military Institute of Technology (MILIT). Prior to his current assignment, Lt Gen Dua was the General Officer Commanding (GoC) of 15 Corps which is responsible for security of Kashmir valley and the Line of Control (LoC). Replying to a query on terror activities during the ceasefire, Lt Gen Dua said that in such a scenario where terrorists open fire at the security forces, the latter had the right to retaliate in self-defence. "During the ceasefire, we (armed forces) will not initiate any activity. But while doing this (retaliating), they (security forces) will take all precautions. That mechanism is already being built," he clarified. Commenting on the integration among tri-services, he said that the Prime minister, over the last couple of years, had given great thrust on the integration of the forces and, hence, the Ministry of Defence was working in that direction. "We have already identified many areas where the tri-service integration is there and where it has to be increased," he said. Speaking about Artificial Intelligence, the officer said it was a comparatively new subject and that the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) was "already doing something". "We have the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) (under the DRDO) in Bengaluru and they are working on this subject," he said. Earlier in his address to the officer-students, Lt Gen Dua asked them to keep abreast with the latest technological developments. A total of 146 officers from the Indian armed forces, and five officers from the Sri Lankan defence forces, completed the technical officers and naval staff courses from MILIT. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention in ensuring sufficient water supply from Haryana as the national capital stares at a possible water crisis next week. In his letter to the prime minister, Kejriwal said the city had been receiving 1,133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996, but recently, for the first time in 22 years, the neighbouring state had contested Delhi's right over this water and partially stopped the supply to the national capital. "The Supreme Court has directed Haryana to keep supplying the earlier quantity of water till May 21, which means the state could reduce water supply after Monday," he said. If that happens, it would create an "unprecedented shortage of water" in Delhi and could lead to a "serious" law and order situation, the chief minister said. "I would urge you (PM) to kindly use your good offices to persuade Haryana to continue supplying same level of water that it has been supplying for the last 22 years and not to disrupt it till the issue is finally decided by the courts," Kejriwal said in the letter. In a letter to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, the chief minister said, "Just two days are left, we need to act fast to prevent a crisis." Baijal told Kejriwal that he had taken up the issue with different agencies to ensure adequate water supply in Delhi. "I have taken up the matter with Govt. of Haryana and Union Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India so that adequate water supply is ensured for people of Delhi - Hon'ble CM @ArvindKejriwal," Baijal tweeted. Kejriwal had yesterday written to his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar and the Delhi L-G over the issue. The Haryana government had on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it would maintain status quo on supply of Yamuna river water to Delhi till May 21. The apex court asked the Delhi government and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to request Haryana for maintenance of status quo on water supply and directed Haryana to take an independent decision on the matter. In his letter to Modi, Kejriwal said disruption in water supply from Haryana could affect the Chandrawal water treatment plan, which supplies water to the NDMC area where Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, embassies and major establishments like railway stations and hospitals are located. "In addition to affecting the public at large, any disruption in water supply would affect all these establishments also. "The Delhi government has already filed an application before the Upper Yamuna River Board. However, final adjudication by the board could take some time," Kejriwal said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala Tourism has bagged the 'Best Destination for Families' award through an online poll conducted by Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Award 2018. Director of Kerala Tourism, P Bala Kiran received the prestigious award at a function at Mumbai today. Kerala Tourism had won the award for 'Best Destination for Romance' for Munnar by Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Award last year, a government press release said. This is the latest in the bunch of prominent awards that Kerala Tourism has been winning. The consecutive award wins demonstrate the growing popularity of the state as the most sought-after destination across the globe. Rightfully, Kerala has become the tourism trendsetter in India. Speaking on the occasion, Bala Kiran said Kerala has something to offer from every generation of travellers, which makes the state best destination for families. Stressing on the concept of 'Best Family Destination,' Kerala Tourism has launched 'Come Out and Play' campaign that emphasises on the prominence of the state being the most preferred family destination, a press release said. "Additionally, the Tourism Department has been offering experiential water and action-based activities for the tourists. Subsequently, Kerala is hopeful to drive the growth of tourist arrivals during monsoon season this year," he added. Over the years, the state has witnessed tremendous growth in tourist arrivals. More than expectations, an increase of 11.39 per cent has been recorded in domestic tourist arrivals to Kerala in 2017, compared to the previous year. Foreign tourist arrivals have increased by 5.15 per cent during the period. The Tourism Department has set an ambitious target of increasing domestic tourist arrivals by 50 per cent by the year 2021 and doubling the foreign tourists by this period. Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Award 2018 recognises the best national and international travel destinations. Out of a wide range of categories, travellers get to choose the best destination across the globe based on their travel experiences. An Industry expert panel nominated a couple of destinations across the country for various categories such as romance, culture, adventure, food and drink, and wildlife, on the basis of certain industry parameters. Winners were chosen by an online-based readers' survey. Tourism minister, Kadakampally Surendran, Kerala Tourism expects to woo vacationers from across the world during this monsoon season with two key tourist attractions that include Neelakurinji and Jatayu Earth Center, which is Kerala's premium tourism product. Tourism Secretary, Rani George, Kerala is one such state that offers travel enthusiasts enriching travelling experiences throughout the year. It's a 12-month ready tourism destination, which caters to every generation of travellers, she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thousands of people in Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated northern province today participated in a commemorative ceremony to observe the ninth anniversary of the three-decade long brutal civil war which claimed at least 1,00,000 lives. The main ceremony was held at Mullaivaikkal in the Mullaithivu district, the scene of the final battle between the Sri Lankan troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). All businesses remained shut in Mullaivaikkal as a mark of respect for those who died during the civil war. Around 5,000 people took part in the ceremony in which no other Tamil politician participated except northern Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran, according to local journalists covering the event. Wigneswaran saw the lighting of an oil lamp by a girl who had lost both her parents and three brothers during the final stage of the civil war battle, they said. Main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance's (TNA) conciliatory attitude towards the Sri Lankan government has angered the Tamil nationalists. "Wherever our Tamil people might be, let us come together to remember the massive human destruction that our community was subjected to," Wigneswaran said in a statement. In the south of the island dominated by the Sinhala majority, the government troops commemorated the fallen war heroes who had fought the LTTE's 30-year separatist campaign. Students from the Jaffna University arrived at the memorial ground in a long motorcade where oil lamps were lit in commemoration of the dead. Tamils claim tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final phase of the battle, a charge that is denied by the government troops. The government has banned the commemoration of the fallen LTTE cadres in the conflict and it remains a banned terrorist organisation in Sri Lanka. Government forces killed the LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran on May 18, 2009 after a brutal military crackdown, putting an end to the 37-year long conflict, which claimed at least 1,00,000 lives. According to UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksas regime that brought an end to the conflict. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal today hit out at Arvind Kejriwal over his letter on a possible water crisis next week, saying that the chief minister should have discussed the matter earlier with him given its importance rather than spending time in "dharnas without reason". The LG was referring to the dharna of Kejriwal, his ministers and AAP MLAs near the LG Secretariat earlier this week against the committee constituted by Baijal for installation and monitoring of CCTV cameras in the city. Early in the day, the chief minister wrote to Baijal requesting him to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in ensuring sufficient water supply from Harayana. Baijal wrote back to Kejriwal assuring him of full support in resolution of the issue of adequate water supply to the people of Delhi. In his letter to Kejriwal, the Lt Governor said that the CM mentioned this (water crisis) matter to him on May 16 and that too along with other issues without any accompanying material or background note on such a "complex issue". According to a statement issued by the LG office, the Lt Governor said that before meeting him on May 16, the CM chose to cancel each weekly scheduled meeting on Wednesdays for the last two months. "Given the importance and complexity of the issue, CM should have met and discussed the matter with him earlier along with officers of Delhi Jal Board, rather than spending time on dharnas without reason' and now sending frantic letters and messages at this late juncture when the matter has escalated to a critical stage," L-G office said quoting Baijal as saying in his letter to Kejriwal. According to the statement, Lt Governor also observed that the manner in which all the letters sent by the CM are released on social media even before reaching his office, "betrays an attempt to sensationalize" the issue rather than seriously resolve it. In the morning, Kejriwal also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in ensuring sufficient water supply from Haryana as the national capital stares at a possible water crisis next week. In his letter to the prime minister, Kejriwal said the city was receiving 1,133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996, but recently, for the first time in 22 years, the neighbouring state had contested Delhi's right over this water and partially stopped the supply to the national capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Liquidated damages, the penalty imposed on contractor for delay in execution of projects, will attract GST, said the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR). The Mahashtra bench of AAR passed the order on an application filed by Mahashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco). The company, which is engaged in power generation, sought the opinion of the AAR on whether Liquidated damages (LD) would attract GST and, if so, at what rate. "... GST would be applicable on the Liquidity Damages," AMRG & Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said, adding LD charges are a mandatory clause in high-value construction and maintenance contracts. "By construing it as a service and subjecting it to a levy of GST at 18 per cent could have momentous impact on innumerable businesses. Due to this ruling, most of the contractees are looking at colossal tax demands since July 2017 and the credit of which may also be in jeopardy," Mohan said. EY India Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said as per the AAR order, LD has been identified as an independent levy and not as a reduction of the contract price. "While the ruling corroborates the view of revenue authorities (who have been contending a service tax levy on similar lines), it may entail opening of a series of litigation for industry players who have taken a no tax position on such recoveries," Jain said. Mohan said charging 18 per cent tax on LD charges irrespective of the underlying contract would knockout suppliers/contractors who are exempt from tax, namely, government contractors, contractors under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, government service providers in relation to agriculture, water management, fisheries, rural housing, roads, fire services, forestry and public amenities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rapper Mac Miller has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), after he allegedly crashed his 2016 G-Wagon into a power pole. After law enforcement officers matched the vehicle's license plates to Miller's address, they arrested him at his home, a Los Angeles Police Department public information officer told People magazine. Miller, whose real name is Malcolm McCormick, was held on USD 15,000 bail prior to his release on Thursday morning and is set to appear in court on June 7. According to TMZ, Miller, 26, confessed to the hit and run after driving drunk. "He was the most polite and nice intoxicated person we've ever seen," a police source told the website. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Farmers will now receive funds for irrigation wells and orchards directly into their bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) method, Maharashtra Minister for Employment Guarantee Schemes (EGS), Jaykumar Rawal, said today. "Earlier, funds for irrigation wells used to be given to the shop keepers against the material purchased and orchard funds were given to the nurseries. Now farmers will get the funds directly in their bank accounts and hence will be the beneficiaries," Rawal said. Rawal reviewed schemes, district-wise, related to MNREGA, EGS, irrigation wells, orchards and Samruddh Maharashtra Jankalyan Yojana over a period of two days in meetings held at the Sahyadri state guest house. Giving information about the decisions taken during the review, Rawal said the EGS department was extensively implementing the irrigation wells scheme. "This scheme has proved to be a revolutionary one for farmers. It is expected that work on 76,000 such wells currently underway will be completed soon, as per the planning done in this meeting," he said. "The funds required for material like cement, sand, steel etc, used to be given to the shopkeeper through gram panchayats. From now on, money will transferred to the farmers accounts through DBT," he stated. He said that money for purchase of saplings to set up private orchards, planted under the Kalpvruksh Orchard scheme with funds made available from MNREGA, would also be transferred directly into the bank accounts of farmers. "The profit from the produce goes to the farmer. The funds for purchasing saplings for orchards used to be given to the nurseries but now this fund will also be transferred to farmers' bank accounts through DBT. This will enable the farmer to purchase saplings from government or registered nurseries," he said. He further said a decision had been taken to encourage mulberry plantation as there was good scope for a silk industry in the state. "Mulberry plantation is done during rainy season through MNREGA. However, it has now been decided to allow mulberry plantation throughout the year. Similarly, orchards can be planted throughout the year as per availability of water," Rawal said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 42-year-old man was arrested for allegedly attempting to extort money from his acquaintances using international phone numbers and posing as an officer of the Sales Tax Department, the police said today. Three persons had been receiving text messages and videos on their WhatsApp numbers from an international number with the sender was claiming to be an official of the Sales Tax Department. The sender claimed that the complainants had committed tax irregularities by misdeclaration and not paying taxes, the police said. The sender also sent images and videos of government files to establish his credentials as a government official. Later, he started demanding a large amount of money from the complainants to settle the issue. Police zeroed down on the location of the suspect. It was found that the suspect was active in west Delhi's Hari Nagar area and the accused, Naval Kishore, was nabbed. During interrogation, he confessed his involvement in the crime and was subsequently arrested. Later, the phone along with SIM used in the crime was recovered. The application used for creating International Whatsapp number was been found on the recovered mobile instrument. Besides this, various incriminating details were found in the mobile instrument. It was found that the accused and the complainants were having a business connection. One of the complainants is the owner of a firm that is manufacturing snacks items and the remaining two complainants along with the accused person are distributors, said Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (Crime). Till a few years ago, Kishore was a super stockist and had a handsome sale but after he was made a simple distributor, his turnover was grossly reduced. In order to take revenge and also earn some quick money, the accused hatched this conspiracy, Kumar said. Kishore had created an international WhatsApp' number by using an online application and made attempts to extort money. Kishore has done MBA in marketing and had good cyber knowledge. He was also well-versed with the latest gadgets and technology, the officer said. He is addicted to gambling and had suffered huge losses in business in the last two years and was in dire need of money, Kumar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man, who had allegedly concealed 10 kilograms of marijuana inside large pumpkins, was apprehended by the CISF at the airport here today, officials said. KTK Basheer, a resident of Karnataka, was intercepted when a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official, tasked to scan baggages of passengers, detected images of large round-shaped objects in his cabin bag at about 4.15 pm, an official said. Basheer's bag was opened and three large pumpkins were recovered. As this was found to be suspicious, the personnel on duty cut open the pumpkins to find 10 kg of marijuana placed in plastic wrappers inside, the official said. The man, who was supposed to take a flight to Doha, and the narcotics cache has been handed over to customs authorities, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today hit out at Pakistan for violating ceasefire in Arnia sector of Jammu region, saying Islamabad has shown no respect for the fasting month of Ramzan. "Continued firing on the border in Jammu is cause of pain & worry. Sad that while our country took the lead in starting peace initiatives with cessation of operations during Ramzan, Pakistan has shown no respect whatsoever for this holy month," she said in a series of tweets. The chief minister said Pakistan will have to reciprocate the peace initiatives taken by the Centre by announcing cessation of operations during the fasting month. "Pakistan will have to reciprocate & contribute to efforts for lasting peace. Everyone must realise that violence is a zero sum game. My deepest condolences to families of victims," she added. Four civilians and a BSF jawan were killed while 12 others were injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled villages and Border out Posts (BoPs) in Jammu early today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet, in a meeting on Wednesday, approved the setting up of a National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) here under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Union minister Thawarchand Gehlot said today. The project, which will be set up under the Societies Registration Act, is expected to cost Rs Rs 179.54-crore, the minister informed. The Madhya Pradesh government has allocated 5 acres of land in Bhopal for the purpose and the institute will be established in three years in two phases, he said. Talking to reporters here today, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment said, "In a meeting on Wednesday, the Union cabinet approved setting up of a National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation in Bhopal. This institute will be set up under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and will function under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities." "It will serve as an institution of excellence to develop capacity building in the area of mental health rehabilitation. It will help the government to develop models for effective rehabilitation of persons with mental illness," he said. Gehlot said that the institute will provide a complete set of rehabilitation services for persons with mental illness and will also conduct courses up to Master's degree and M.Phil. "It will have nine departments and will conduct 12 courses to offer diploma, certificate, graduate, post graduate and M.Phil degrees in mental health rehabilitation. Within a span of 5 years, the student intake of the institute in various courses is expected to be over 400," the minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A three-tier security arrangement has been thrown around the city ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to all three regions of Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow, during which he will lay the foundation stone for the ambitious Zojila tunnel that will provide all-weather connectivity to Ladakh with the rest of the country. Ahead of the Prime Minister's visit, the NDA government announced a unilateral ceasefire on security forces' operations as a goodwill gesture during the holy month of Ramzan which started yesterday. The visit of the Prime Minister has generated hope among the people in the militancy-ravaged Kashmir Valley, which has been witnessing increased violence since 2016. During his Independence Day address last year, Modi had said bullets or abuses would not resolve the Kashmir issue and that it could be addressed by embracing every Kashmiri. Modi had them said his government was committed to restoring the lost glory of Kashmir and its status as "heaven on earth". "Na gaali se samasya sulajhne wali hai, na goli se, samasya suljhegi har Kashmiri ko gale lagane se (Kashmir problem cannot be resolved by either bullets or abuses. It can be resolved by embracing all Kashmiris)," Modi said. Modi will inaugurate the 330-MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project, whose progress was monitored by the Prime Minister's Office. He will inaugurate it from Sher-e-Kashmir Convention Centre, located on the picturesque Dal Lake in the city. Security around the venue has been tightened and barricades had been erected as separatists had given a call for 'Lal Chowk chalo' tomorrow. Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq tweeted, "Mr Modi all have been listening to your maan ki baat' for years now. As you come here tomorrow allow us Kashmiris to peacefully gather at Lal Chowk so that you hear our maan ki baat'! It's just three words Resolve Kashmir Dispute." In his address at a Friday congregation, the Mirwaiz referred to the Ramzan ceasefire and said that "confidence building measures (CBMs) cannot be for a month alone but have to be long term and meaningful. If government really means business it must look at real CBMs like demilitarisation and repealing draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Public Safety Act. This must be followed by a political process of engagement among all parties to the dispute." According to a traffic police advisory, all roads leading to the venue will be closed till tomorrow afternoon until the Prime Minister is in the city. River police wing of the state police, CRPF and BSF have been deployed at the Dal Lake, while the Army has been asked to dominate the Zaberwan peak overlooking the venue where Modi will inaugurate a Ring Road around Srinagar. Police have also erected barricades around the city to prevent separatists from staging a protest march at Lal Chowk. Police were also carrying out raids in various parts of the city to nab the notorious anti-social elements as a precautionary measure. The hectic tour of the Prime Minister will begin from Leh tomorrow morning from where he will inaugurate work on the prestigious 14-km Zojila tunnel, that will provide all-weather connectivity to Ladakh. It will be India's longest road tunnel and Asia's longest bidirectional tunnel which will be built at a cost of Rs 6,800 crore. The construction of this tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh as this route remains snow-bound for a large part of the year and is ravaged by frequent avalanches. The tunnel will cut down the time taken to cross the Zojila pass from the present three-and-a-half hours to just 15 minutes, besides making the drive much safer and convenient. The construction of the tunnel is expected to bring about all-round economic and socio-cultural integration of these regions, an official spokesperson said. Later, the Prime Minister will participate in the 100th birth anniversary celebrations of Ladakhi spiritual leader Kushak Bakula. From Leh, the PM will fly to Srinagar where he will inaugurate the 330-MW Kishanganga Power Project and lay the foundation stone for the 42-km Srinagar Ring Road which will link West Srinagar to Sumbal in Badnipora district. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 1,860 crore. The Kishanganga project was started in 2007 but on May 17, 2010, Pakistan moved for international arbitration against India under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 that regulates the use of waters in the shared rivers. The Hague-based International Court of Arbitration allowed India in 2013 to go ahead with construction of the project in North Kashmir and upheld India's right under the bilateral Indus Waters Treaty to divert waters from the Kishanganga for power generation in Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister will later arrive in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, where he will inaugurate the 58-km Jammu Ring Road which is being constructed at a cost of Rs 2,023 crore. The Prime Minister will address the convocation of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) in Jammu and inaugurate Tarakote Marg and Material Ropeway of Vashino Devi Shrine Board. The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone from Jammu for Pakal Dul hydroelectricity project at Kishtawar before returning to the national capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Blasts set off by an explosion at a weapons warehouse in central Syria killed 11 people and wounded dozens Friday, a war monitor said, amid soaring tensions between regional archenemies Israel and Iran. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths at the Hama air base included Syrian government troops and allied militiamen, adding it was not clear what triggered the explosions. Syrian state TV also reported the blasts, which sent off a large plume of smoke into the sky, but did not give a reason or mention casualties. A rebel commander in the area said the armed opposition did not target the air base and is not responsible for the explosion. There were also no reports of jets in the skies at the time of the explosions. Today, the Britain-based Observatory reported at least five successive explosions and said it was not clear whether they were a result of attacks that targeted the air base or a result of a technical error or overheating. The Hama air base is used by government warplanes that carry out airstrikes on central and northern Syria. The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, which has troops and thousands of allied Shiite militias supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in Syria's civil war. Also today, a Kremlin official reiterated President Vladimir Putin's statement a day earlier from his meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad about the need for the foreign troops to pull out from Syria, referring to Iran and Hezbollah. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar visited Austria and Slovak Republic and discussed with the leaders of those countries major global and regional issues as well as ways to strengthen ties, the ministry said today. The minister visited Austria and Slovak Republic from May 15-17, 2018, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. He visited Austria on Tuesday and held a meeting with its Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Karin Kneissl. They discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, ways to strengthen them further, and major global and regional issues of common concern, the MEA said. Akbar also had a meeting with Lt. General Christian Segur-Cabanac, President of STRATEG (Society for Political and Strategic Studies), a leading Austrian think tank. There have been regular high-level exchanges between the India and Austria. Austrian Foreign Minister had visited India in February 2016. India-Austria annual bilateral trade has reached USD 1.4 billion and witnessed rapid growth in recent years. From Austria, Akbar left for Slovak Republic for a two-day visit from May 16-17. He participated in the GLOBSEC 2018 Bratislava Forum at the invitation of Slovak Republic's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajcak. Akbar's visit coincided with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of independent Slovak Republic and marked the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between India and the Slovak Republic. During the visit, Akbar met Deputy Prime Minister of Investment and Informatisation Richard Rasi, Foreign Minister Lajcak, Defence Minister Peter Gajdos, and Slovak Republic's State Secretary of Foreign and European Affairs Lukas Parizek. The leaders discussed various aspects of India-Slovakia relations and committed to further expand and strengthen bilateral relations in all areas, the MEA said. The leaders also shared views on major global and regional issues of mutual interest, it said. At the GLOBSEC 2018 Bratislava Forum, Akbar participated at a panel discussion titled 'Global Economy: How Fair & Free Can Trade Just Be?', with co-panelists Malta's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela and others. He also visited the 7th International Defence Exhibition Bratislava (IDEB) 2018, an important exhibition of defence and security technologies in Central Europe, and met Indian business visitors from the defence sector, the MEA said. There have been regular exchanges of high-level visits between the two countries. Lajcak visited India in August 2017, while Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh visited Slovakia and participated in the GLOBSEC 2016 Bratislava Forum in April 2016. Indian investment in Slovakia has increased lately and a new dimension in economic cooperation has been created by significant Indian investment in automobile manufacturing in Slovakia, the MEA said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 25-year-old man was today arrested for trying to extort money from former Gujarat minister Jayanti Kavadia by posing as an associate of gangster Ravi Pujari, police said. Ashishkumar Sharma, who told police that he was an assistant director in the film industry, was arrested from Mumbai in a joint effort by the Morbi police, the Ahmedabad police's Crime Branch and Mumbai police's Anti-Extortion Cell, said a senior official. "On May 16, former minister Kavadia got a call from Sharma, who after identifying himself as gangster Ravi Pujari's henchman, demanded Rs 5 lakh from him," said Akshayraj Makwana, Superintendent of Police, Morbi. "After receiving a complaint from the former minister, a team was formed and, with the help of Ahmedabad and Mumbai police, Sharma was nabbed within a few hours," Makwana said. He said that investigations so far had revealed that Sharma had tried this modus operandi with five to six personalities from the Hindi film industry. Sharma, the official said, has stated that he called Kavadia because he was in dire need of money. Kavadia was the Panchayat and Rural Development minister in the previous Gujarat government. He had, however, not contested the 2017 Assembly polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A CBI court here today awarded life imprisonment to two persons for murdering a man 17 years ago allegedly for marrying a Muslim in Kasargod district. Balakrishnan was murdered on September 18, 2001 near the Chandragiri bridge in Kasaragod. Mohammed Iqbal alias Ikku and Mohammed Hanifa alias Jackie Hanif were found guilty yesterday under various IPC sections including 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). The court had acquitted three others. Pronouncing the verdict, special CBI court judge S Santhosh Kumar said the case does not fall under rarest of rare cases. "Accused are convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for the offence under Section 120B of IPC and imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs one lakh each for the offence under Section 302 of IPC. In default of payment of fine, rigorous imprisonment for two years," the judge said in his order. The court said the entire fine amount if released will be paid to the victim's father. Sentence of imprisonment shall run concurrently, the court said. The court also ordered probe against two witnesses --Mohammed Kunhi and C A Abbas-- for perjury on the basis of a complaint by the CBI. In its order, the court also observed that both Kunhi and Abbas after giving statements under Section 164 of CrPC before a judicial magistrate, denied the contents of statement before the court. There were six accused in the case but one later turned approver. Balakrishnan, who was in love with the Muslim woman, had married her in June 2001. His parents had alleged that Balakrishnan was stabbed to death by a gang hired by the woman's father Aboobacker Haji, also accused in the case. He was stabbed by the accused, who abducted him in a car and murdered him for marrying the Muslim woman, the parents alleged. The Kerala High Court ordered a CBI investigation in 2010 after Balakrishnan's parents filed a plea in this regard. In their petition, the parents had alleged that the local police and the crime branch did not conduct proper investigation in the case. Ikku, who went absconding, was arrested from Dubai in 2010 with the assistance of Interpol after the CBI took over the investigation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rafael Nadal continued his clay domination today, rallying from a set down to reach the Italian Open semi-finals with a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory over Fabio Fognini. The world number two needs to lift an eighth career title at the Foro Italico on Sunday to return to the top of the ATP rankings after losing that position to Roger Federer last week. Spaniard Nadal dropped the opening set in an hour but re-grouped effortlessly as he swept past the Italian in the one-sided second and third sets of their quarter-final tie. "I'm not used to playing so early," Nadal said of his midday start. "But I'm very happy to be in the semi-finals. "This was a very important win for me today." Nadal also beat Fognini in Rome in 2013 in their first ever meeting. This was his 11th victory in 14 meetings with the 21st-ranked Italian, and sixth in a row. He is working towards Roland Garros, where he will aim for an unprecedented 11th title. "My clay court season has been, I think, fantastic. It will be much better if I finish here with another title," added the 16-time Grand Slam winner. "But I can't forget that I had five months without competing, from Shanghai (October 2017) until Monte-Carlo (last month). I didn't complete -- not one event. "The comeback has been great, I am happy with everything." It was the first time in four years that Nadal managed to win his quarter-final tie in Rome and next up he will face either fellow former world number one Novak Djokovic or Japan's Kei Nishikori. Marin Cilic beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-3 to reach the Rome semi-finals for the first time in his career. The Croatian fourth seed lost in the 2011 and 2017 quarter-finals at the Foro Italico, but dismissed Busta in 65 minutes. Nadal and Cilic were joined as semi-finalist by women's fourth seed Elina Svitolina, who recovered from a slow start to defeat former world number one Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4 6-4. "I had to really step up and play really aggressive in important moments," Svitolina said. "I think that was the key for today. "I played really good on the important points. That's what made a difference. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Company Law Tribunal has asked debt ridden Jaiprakash Associates Ltd to return nearly 760 acre land to its subsidiary Jaypee Infratech, declaring the transfer of the land as "fraudulent" and "undervalued". In an order, the Allahabad bench of NCLT has directed JP group's flagship firm Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) to release and discharge interest created over the patch of land to lenders including ICICI Bank. The order came over a petition filed by Jaypee Infratech's resolution professional (RP) Anuj Jain in the NCLT seeking direction over the transactions entered by the company's promoters, creating mortgage on its 858 acre to secure debt for JAL. "The impugned transactions... are declared as fraudulent, preferential and undervalued transactions," said the two member bench comprising Saroj Rajware and VP Singh. In the 77-page order, the tribunal had listed out the details of six parcels of land totalling 759 acres land in Agra and Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh. "We pass the order for release and discharge of the security interest created by the Corporate debtor (Jaypee Infratech) in favour of lenders of the Jaiprakash Associates," the bench added. However, the NCLT directed to return only 759 acre out of total 858 acre as it found that the transaction related to 100 acre in Aligarh district was entered before the start period of corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP). According to sources, this order will increase the total asset value of Jaypee Infratech as the 759 acre of land would be worth around Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore at the current market value. "...it is clear that the mortgage of land of JIL (Jaypee Infratech) in favour of lenders of JAL, amounts to transfer of interest in property of JIL for the benefit of its creditors i.e. JAL and putting it in a beneficial position vis-a-vis other creditors in a preferential transaction," the NCLT observed in its order. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had on May 16 directed JAL to deposit an additional Rs 1,000 crore with its Registry by June 15 to provide refunds to the hassled home buyers. On submission of this amount, the liquidation proceedings against Jaypee Infratech, will remain stayed, the apex court had said. Last year, NCLT had admitted the application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium, seeking resolution for Jaypee Infratech under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The tribunal had appointed Jain as Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to mange the company's business. Later, Jain invited bids from investors interested in acquiring Jaypee Infratech and completing the stuck real estate projects in Noida and Greater Noida. Consequently, Lakshadweep emerged as a front runner to acquire Jaypee Infratech with Rs 7,350 crore bid. Earlier this month, lenders of Jaypee Infratech rejected the bid by Lakshadweep, the highest bidder for the company, as they found it inadequate. Jaypee Infratech has an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 9,800 crore, of which Rs 4,334 crore pertains to IDBI. The comnpany is developing about 32,000 flats, of which it has delivered 9,500 apartments. For giving possession of another 4,500 flats, it has applied for occupancy certificates. It has also developed Yamuna Expressway connecting Noida-Agra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The chief minister of Nepal's Province No 4 has expressed his discontent over Indian television channels broadcasting visuals from inside the holy temple of Muktinath during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chief Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung expressed dissatisfaction after the Indian media aired footage of the temple in Mustang district which went live on their channels despite restrictions on using cameras within the temple complex. Many temples in Nepal prohibit people to capture photos of prime religious sites. Modi had reached at Muktinath temple early morning on May 12 and performed a special homage, which was telecast live by Indian channels. Muktinath, is a holy shrine which attracts both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims alike. Hindus consider the deity of the temple as Lord Vishnu, while Buddhists worship it as their deity Padmasambhava. However, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Romy Gauchan, who hails from Mustang, said he does not agree with the view, adding that Modi's visit has helped in promoting tourism in Nepal's mountainous region. Every year thousands of pilgrims, mostly from South India, visit Muktinath, he told PTI. "We had even tried to invite Prime Minister Modi to Muktinath during his last visit in 2015," he said. He said the region can be a gateway to the holy site of Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet, if a few hundred kilometres of motorable road could be built the site which is just 600 kms from Muktinath, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte will visit India on May 24 and 25 with an aim to boost the economic and political cooperation between the two countries. Rutte's visit comes within a year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the European nation. It will be Rutte's second visit to India since June 2015 but the first after being re-elected as prime minister in 2017. "The visit is expected to boost the economic and political cooperation between India and the Netherlands," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. It said Rutte would be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising deputy prime minister, minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, minister for infrastructure and water management, and minister for medical care. In addition, about 231 business delegates representing 130 companies had registered to join the Trade Mission accompanying Rutte to India, the MEA said. Besides the official engagements here, Rutte is likely to visit Bengaluru. India and the Netherlands have a bilateral trade of USD 5.39 billion and they are likely to focus on increasing it further. The Netherlands is the fifth largest investor in India with a cumulative investment of USD 23 billion from 2000 to Dec 2017. The Netherlands is also home to a 2,35,000-strong Indian diaspora, the largest in mainland Europe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigating Agency today filed a charge sheet in a city court against an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, saying he had infiltrated into India intending to carry out terror attacks in different areas including Delhi. Mohammed Amir Awan was nabbed by the army on November 24 last year from Handwara area of North Kashmir during an intensive search launched after an encounter in the area three days before, that had left three alleged Lashkar militants dead. One soldier was also killed during the encounter. The charge sheet, filed before District Judge Poonam A Bamba, said "Mohammad Amir, along with three others, had illegally infiltrated into Indian Territory from Pakistan along with weapons, ammunition, grenades, navigation and communication equipment with an intention to carry out terrorist attack at different parts of India including Delhi upon the directions of their handlers in Pakistan," The final report, filed during an in-chamber proceeding, was understood to have been filed under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and other sections of Indian Penal Code and various provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, including section 20 (punishment for being member of terrorist organisation). It has accused Awan of offences under various provisions of Explosive Substance Act, Arms Act, Foreigners Act, Explosive Substance Act and Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act. Awan is currently is in judicial custody. The matter was transferred to the NIA which had registered a case on November 26 and took custody of the alleged terrorist. During initial interrogation, he had identified himself as Mohammed Amir Awan whose code in the Lashkar terror group was Abu Haamaz, the NIA said. The accused had told his interrogators that he hailed from Bardiya town near the port city of Karachi and was recruited and trained by the terror group. He was allegedly pushed into the Kashmir valley from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to carry out attacks on various important installations in the Valley, the agency had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State-ownedNMDC Limitedtoday said itbagged the prestigious S&P Global PlattsGlobal Metals Award 2018 in the corporate social responsibility category. The awards' function was held yesterdayat London Grosvenor Square Marriott Hotel, UKandN Baijendra Kumar Chairman-cum-Managing Director and Sandeep Tula, Director (Personnel), NMDC received the coveted award,according to a company press release. This is the first time since inception of this awards, an Indian Company bagged an award in this category,it added. S&P Global Platts is the leading independent provider of information, benchmark prices and analytics for the energy and commodities markets. It has been in existence for over 100 years. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award recognizes the organization that best demonstrates leadership, commitment to action and real-world social impact on social responsibility of corporate business entity. NMDC is the largest iron ore mining company in Indiaand withiron ore production of around 35 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), it has a domestic market share of about 25per cent(non-captive category). NMDC also extracts diamonds through its mine in Panna, which is the only mechanized diamond mine in Asia. CSR is "raison detre" of NMDC and not just a part of business strategy. Some of the outstanding features of the CSR programmes of NMDC are mentioned below: NMDC's CSR engagement has grown over the years which gets reflected in the CSR expenditure which has increased from Rs 86 crore (USD13.25 million) in 2011-12 to an average of Rs.190 crore (USD30 million ) during the last three (03) years,it said. The company has been supporting initiatives on Education, Health, Skill development, Infrastructure creationand drinking wateramong otherswith a view to enhance the quality of life and empower the local population,NMDC said. Kumar also congratulated all the employees of the company for winning this award and stated that it was the collective efforts and collaborative approach of all the employees which made it possible. He thanked Ministry of Steel for their continuous support and guidance and also appreciated the efforts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telecom minister Manoj Sinha today said there is no proposal to merge state-run telecom companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL). "There is no proposal to merge BSNL and MTNL. We had appointed a consultant to revive MTNL, who has given some recommendations. We are working on it," the minister said on the sidelines of a conference here. He, however, did not elaborate on the recommendations of the consultant but reiterated that no merger proposal for the state-run firms is on the cards. The publicly-listed MTNL serves the national capital and financial capital alone, while the unlisted BSNL serves the rest of the country and also anchors several key projects for the government. A May 7 report had quoted an unnamed official saying that there is a proposal given by the central public sector enterprises to merge all the state-run telecom firms, to create a public sector behemoth. Sinha, who was speaking on the sidelines of the department of telecom-organised seminar on 5G technology, said the government will do it all to ensure that the country gets the latest generation telephone services. "Getting 5G to reality is our government's priority and we are serious about it," he said. Speaking at the same event, BSNL's chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava quoted some estimates which peg the total investments required for a pan-India rollout of 5G services at up to Rs 50 lakh crore, but affirmed that the industry will deploy the technology by December 2019. It can be noted that the entry of Reliance Jio in 2016, coupled with policy initiatives like the deep cut in the interconnect user charges have led to financial troubles at a majority of the telecom companies, consolidation in the sector and job losses. When asked if the government will help by way of cheaper availability of spectrum given the importance of 5G, Sinha hinted that the department may help by approaching the Supreme Court (SC), which had passed a judgement asking for sale of spectrum assets. "There's a SC order in 2G case. We are bound by that. We've asked TRAI to give recommendations and on that basis, if needed, we will approach SC," he said. He, however, added that the 5G services will be rolled out by a multitude of players beyond the current set of battered telecom service providers (TSPs). "TSPs are facing financial difficulties due to competition. But 5G roll out will not be only by TSPs; there will also be others investing in it depending on use cases. And if need be, the government will help. We are not going to miss the 5G bus this time," the minister said. With reports pegging loss of about 90,000 jobs due to the ongoing woes in the industry, Sinha said it is incorrect to say that there have been job losses. The entry of Reliance Jio has created many job, down till the neighbourhood seller of connections, while the state has also pitched in with projects like public wi-fi and Bharatnet which have created jobs, he said. The minister said it has been a phase of consolidation in the telecom sector acorss the world and India cannot be insulated from it. He exuded confidence that the market will "stabilise" with the fewer operators that are currently on board. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Conference working president Omar Abdullah hit out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today over the loot of weapons by suspected militants here, the incident coming ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state. "Looted (three rifles) from the police at Dalgate, the heart of Srinagar's uptown & at the centre of our area of tourist accommodation. At some point the CM needs to stop looking at New Delhi & Islamabad to bail her out & start acknowledging the failings of her administration," the former J&K chief minister tweeted. Suspected militants had snatched three rifles from a police post in Dalgate area of the city last night. The photograph of the three rifles was posted on a Facebook page later on, claiming that the weapons were snatched by militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen. Two such incidents have taken place in the city over the past two days, setting alarm bells ringing, as the prime minister is scheduled to visit here tomorrow. Modi will attend a function at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of Dal Lake, just a few kilometres away from the police post, where the incident happened. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The special task force (STF) unit of Kolkata Police has apprehended a man from Paschim Burdwan district for his alleged involvement in the arms smuggling racket, which was busted here recently with the arrest of two Rifle Factory Ishapore (RFI) officials among others, an officer said today. Ganesh Paswan alias Bhagwani ji, a resident of Gazipur in Bihar, was taken into custody by the STF sleuths yesterday evening from Barakar area of the district, he said. With yesterday's arrest, eight people, including two RFI officials, had been apprehended by the Kolkata Police since May 7 for their alleged involvement in smuggling arms to Maoists, the officer said. Last Sunday, the sleuths had nabbed Rajesh Kumar alias Munna, a resident of Ramchadrapur in Bihar's Nalanda district, in connection with the case. Kumar's name had cropped up during a grilling session of the other accused. A preliminary investigation has revealed that the arms were smuggled out of rifle factory with the help of its two employees, the officer said. "The racket, probably active since 2008, was supplying arms and ammunition to Maoists in Bihar. The sleuths are also trying to find out if they had supplied arms to insurgent groups in Nepal," he added. Incidentally, the STF unit had in September last year arrested another junior works manager of the factory on the charge of illegally selling parts of SLRs and Insas rifles to arms manufacturers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government of Pakistan's Punjab province has restored the security of Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed citing threats to his life, almost a month after it was withdrawn on the order of the Supreme Court. "The policemen have been deployed again for the security of Hafiz Saeed on the order of (chief minister) Shahbaz Sharif's Punjab government," a senior official of the provincial government told PTI today. He said the decision was taken in the light of threats to the life of Saeed. As the government restored Saeed's security, he has withdrawn a petition he had filed in the Lahore High Court to challenge the Punjab government's earlier decision to withdraw his security. The Punjab government last month had withdrawn policemen deployed for the security of Saeed after the Supreme Court directed inspector-generals of Islamabad and all four provinces to take back security escorts from people who are not entitled to it. The chief justice, however, later directed the top provincial police officials to ensure the provision of security to all those who face genuine security threats. In the light of the Supreme Court order, the Punjab police have withdrawn as many as 4,610 personnel deployed for the security of influential persons not entitled to official security in the province. In a petition filed through his counsel Advocate A K Dogar, Saeed said the Punjab government on the pretext of the apex court order has withdrawn his security. He said the Supreme Court had ordered that the security of those facing life threats should not be withdrawn. "But the government made a wrong interpretation of the Supreme Court order in my case and has withdrawn my security despite threats to my life," Saeed said. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, who carries a USD 10 million American bounty for his role in terror activities, accused the government of discrimination in his case. The JuD usually makes elaborate arrangements for the security of Saeed wherever he goes. Even at home, the JuD special squad has been given the task of his security. Saeed is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed. JuD was declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh today said the party was being defeated by "governors appointed by prime minister" and not by voters. Replying to a query on the party's string of losses in recent assembly polls, he said, The Congress is not defeated in the elections. But the governors appointed by Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) ensure the party's defeat. Citing examples of Goa, Mizoram, Manipur, Bihar and Karnataka, the Congress leader questioned why the single largest party was not invited to form government in the above mentioned states, like in Karnataka. If the single largest party should be invited to form the government, why did this not happen in Bihar and Goa? These activities go against the party (Congress)," he said. In Bihar, Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had emerged as the single largest party with 80 seats in the 243-seat assembly, but ended up in the opposition. The BJP-JD(U) alliance rules the state. Similarly, in Goa, the Congress bagged the maximum - 17 of 40 seats, yet BJP with 13 seats formed the government in alliance with the Goa Forward Party and the MGP along with three Independents. In Manipur and Meghalaya too, the BJP managed to form alliance governments despite the Congress being the single largest party. Singh said the BJP was only hankering after power and money and was indulging in horse-trading in Karnataka to prove majority in tomorrow's floor test. The BJP, which won 104 seats in the 222-member Karnataka Assembly, was invited by the governor to form the government despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark is 112 seats. On the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, slated for later this year, Singh said the Congress would go to the electorate asking them to give the party a clear mandate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate has summoned at least four members of absconding diamantaire Nirav Modi's family, including his father and brother, and his US-based business partner in connection with a money laundering case linked to the over USD 2 billionPNB fraud, officials said today. The family members are required to be questioned as a number of financial transactions and Nirav Modi's businesses are linked to them, they said. The officials said summonses had been issued to Nirav Modi's father Deepak Modi, brother Nishal Modi, sister Purvi Mehta, her husband Mayank Mehta, and Mihir Bhansali, who is the director of the jeweller's US-based firm Firestar Diamond Inc. They said the summonses, issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), were sent through e-mail as all the five people are settled abroad. The officials said Deepak Modi was suspected to be in Antwerp in Belgium, Nishal and Bhansali could be in the US and the Mehtas were reportedly in Hong Kong. "However, their current locations are not exactly known and hence, summonses have been sent through e-mail," a senior official said. The ED asked them to depose before the investigating officer of the case in Mumbai over the next few days. However, the sources said the agency was not very hopeful about their deposition and joining the probe in person. A case-to-case call would be taken on the next course of action based on the replies received. Earlier, the ED had summoned Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi in a similar fashion, but they did not depose before it, citing business engagements and the revocation of their passports by the government. Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED for allegedly cheating the Punjab National Bank, the country's second largest lender, to the tune of more than Rs USD 2 billion. The duo and others are also being probed by other central agencies after the fraud came to light this year following a complaint by the PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank. The Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED have registered two first information reports each in the case. The CBI had earlier this week filed two charge sheets in the case before a Mumbai court, while the ED is expected to file its own prosecution complaint soon. The ED complaint or charge sheet will focus on the money laundering aspect and the role of Nirav Modi, Choksi and others in perpetrating the alleged fraud. Both Nirav Modi and Choski are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent two months ago, leading to a major diplomatic standoff with Russia, was today discharged from a Salisbury hospital and taken to an undisclosed location. The 66-year-old former Russian double agent and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a shopping centre bench in the Salisbury town on March 4. They were hospitalised in critical condition after he was found poisoned and spent weeks in critical condition. Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month and also taken to an undisclosed location. "This is an important stage in his (Skripal's) recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital," said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at Salisbury District Hospital, where the Skripals were treated since being admitted on March 4. "While these patients have now been discharged, their right to patient confidentiality remains and limits us from giving detailed accounts of the treatment these individuals received," a hospital statement said. "However, treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned," it added. The poisoning incident had triggered a major diplomatic crisis after the British government accused the Kremlin of organising the attack Skirpal and his daughter with a Soviet-era deadly nerve agent called Novichok. Russia has staunchly denied the allegations, which also led to other Western countries joining the UK in expelling Russian diplomats from their countries. British security officials continue to question the former spy and reportedly want to know more about his frequent train journeys to London and his alleged monthly meetings with a former MI6 handler in a Salisbury restaurant. Russia, meanwhile, has accused the UK of "forcefully containing" the Skripals as the Kremlin maintains it was not behind the attack and that Britain has invented a "fake story". Nick Bailey, the police officer who first attended the Skripals on the day of the poisoning, was also treated for exposure to the nerve agent and was the first to be discharged. Salisbury District Hospital Chief Executive, Cara Charles-Barks, said it was "fantastic" that Skripal was well enough to be discharged. "That he (Sergei), Yulia and Detective Sergeant Bailey have been able to leave us so soon after coming into contact with this nerve agent is thanks to the hard work, skill and professionalism of our clinicians, who provide outstanding care to all our patients, day in and day out," she said. "This has been a difficult time for those caught up in this incident the patients, our staff and the people of Salisbury. I want to thank the public for their support, and I want to pay a special tribute to both the clinical staff here at the trust and those who work so hard behind the scenes, she said. International chemicals weapons inspectors had confirmed that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sergei Skripal, the ex-Russian spy poisoned with a powerful nerve agent in the UK in March, triggering a fierce diplomatic standoff with Russia, has been discharged and taken to an undisclosed location, it was announced today. The 66-year-old former Russian double agent and his daughter Yulia were found slumped on a bench on March 4 along with his daughter, Yulia, after being exposed to novichok, a military-grade nerve agent. They were hospitalised in critical condition and spent weeks in critical condition. Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month and also taken to an undisclosed location. "This is an important stage in his (Skripal's) recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital," said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at Salisbury District Hospital, where the Skripals were treated since being admitted. "While these patients have now been discharged, their right to patient confidentiality remains and limits us from giving detailed accounts of the treatment these individuals received," a hospital statement said. "However, treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned," it added. The poisoning incident had triggered a major diplomatic crisis after the British government accused the Kremlin of organising the attack Skirpal and his daughter. Following the incident, the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats who had been declared as unidentified intelligence officers. More than 20 other countries -- including the US, Canada, Australia and 18 European Union states -- have kicked out Russian diplomats in a show of support for the UK. Russia has staunchly denied the allegations. Moscow also expelled several British diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. British security officials continue to question the former spy and reportedly want to know more about his frequent train journeys to London and his alleged monthly meetings with a former MI6 handler in a Salisbury restaurant. Russia, meanwhile, has accused the UK of "forcefully containing" the Skripals as the Kremlin maintains it was not behind the attack and that Britain has invented a "fake story". Nick Bailey, the police officer who first attended the Skripals on the day of the poisoning, was also treated for exposure to the nerve agent and was the first to be discharged. Salisbury District Hospital Chief Executive, Cara Charles-Barks, said it was "fantastic" that Skripal was well enough to be discharged. "That he (Sergei), Yulia and Detective Sergeant Bailey have been able to leave us so soon after coming into contact with this nerve agent is thanks to the hard work, skill and professionalism of our clinicians, who provide outstanding care to all our patients, day in and day out," she said. "This has been a difficult time for those caught up in this incident the patients, our staff and the people of Salisbury. I want to thank the public for their support, and I want to pay a special tribute to both the clinical staff here at the trust and those who work so hard behind the scenes, she said. International chemicals weapons inspectors had also confirmed that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2006 Skripal, a former Russian colonel, was jailed in Russia for 13 years for passing on the identities of Russian spies in Europe to the UK intelligence services. But in 2010 he was part of a prisoner swap between Moscow and the United States. He eventually settled in the English city of Salisbury. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a first telephonic conversation with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reinforced the commitment of US investment in Afghanistan, the state department has said. This was Pompeo's first call with Ghani after he became the Secretary of State last month, replacing Rex Tillerson. "Secretary Pompeo reinforced our enduring investment in Afghanistan, as outlined in the President's South Asia strategy, and expressed support for the Afghan military's defence of the city of Farah," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. During the call, he also commended Ghani for his commitment to building a secure and prosperous future for his country and noted the government's efforts to reform their institutions to ensure the upcoming elections are transparent, credible and carried out on time. "The two discussed the strong partnership between the United States and Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism and our support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process," Nauert added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prince Charles will step into the role of Meghan Markle's father and walk her down the aisle at the St George's Chapel when she marries Prince Harry tomorrow, Kensington Palace announced today. The 36-year-old former American actress asked her father-in-law-to-be and the Prince of Wales to walk by her side at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after it was confirmed that her father Thomas Markle Sr would not be attending the wedding ceremony due to ill-health, having reportedly undergone a heart procedure earlier this week. "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire at St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," the Palace said in a statement. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the Royal Family in this way," it said. The 69-year-old heir to the British throne has some practice of this role, having previously escorted Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, down the aisle at her high society wedding to Thomas Hooper in 2016. After days of speculation, Markle finally confirmed yesterday that "sadly" her own father will not be walking her down the aisle, adding that she cares for him and hopes that "he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health". Prince Harry, 33, has not yet met his future father-in-law, a retired TV lighting director who lives in Mexico. It had been expected that her mother Doria Ragland might step into the role as she is accompanying her daughter in the wedding car when she arrives at the chapel. However, there was no royal protocol preventing Markle from choosing a member of the royal family or a close friend from escorting her, or decide to walk alone. Ragland, the 61-year-old yoga instructor and social worker who divorced Thomas Markle when Meghan was a little girl, flew into London from Los Angles earlier this week and met Prince Charles and Camilla and Prince William and Kate along with their kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Clarence House here. She met Queen Elizabeth II, Harry's 92-year-old grandmother, in Windsor Castle today. Prince Harry's grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, will also attend the wedding, Buckingham Palace confirmed. Prince Philip, 96, has been recovering from a hip operation. Other members of the royal family are also in Windsor ahead of the wedding, including William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; and Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. There had been widespread speculation over Thomas Markle's attendance at the wedding ceremony after allegedly staged paparazzi photographs of him emerged in the media. The wedding day "order of service", printed long before, still has his name on the list. Meanwhile, the finishing touches are being added to the royal wedding preparations in Windsor, about 42 kms from here. Further details on the wedding cake have been revealed by its baker Claire Ptak who said it would be presented in a "non-traditional" way, displayed in a special "installation". The layered lemon and elderflower cake will be served to 600 guests at the afternoon reception after the wedding ceremony at Windsor Castle. So-called royal "super fans" have already begun camping out in Windsor to secure the best spots of the wedding procession tomorrow. They will also be hoping to see 33-year-old Prince Harry before he spends his final night of bachelorhood at the Dorchester Collection's Coworth Park in nearby Ascot. The bride will stay at the Cliveden House Hotel, set in a historic estate in Taplow, Berkshire, with her mother. As per tradition, the bride and groom are expected to spend time apart from each other on the night before their wedding. According to the weather forecast, Windsor is expected to see "ideal" wedding conditions tomorrow, with balmy temperatures and clear skies accompanied by a light breeze. The newly-wed royal couple will be doing a tour of the city centre of Windsor in a traditional horse-driven Ascot Landau carriage after they tie the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The palace had revealed earlier that Prince Harry's niece, three-year-old Princess Charlotte, will be one of the six young girls chosen as bridesmaids at the wedding. Her elder brother, Prince George, aged four, will be a pageboy among a total of 10 children chosen for the roles. So far, all details of the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses and the pageboys' uniforms remain under wraps. Local Thames Valley Police have said the wedding is expected to attract thousands of people and reporters from around the world to Windsor and that their planning is well under way, with security barriers and CCTV cameras. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prince Charles will step into the role of Meghan Markle's father and walk her down the aisle at the St George's Chapel when she marries Prince Harry tomorrow, Kensington Palace announced today. The 36-year-old former American actress asked her father-in-law-to-be and the Prince of Wales to walk by her side at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after it was confirmed that her father Thomas Markle Sr would not be attending the wedding ceremony due to ill-health, having reportedly undergone a heart procedure earlier this week. "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire at St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," the Palace said in a statement. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the Royal Family in this way," it said. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will marry the prince and Ms Markle, said he thought it was "wonderful" Prince Charles will walk Markle down the aisle. "He's a very warm person and that he's doing this is a sign of his love and concern and support," he said. The 69-year-old heir to the British throne has some practice of this role, having previously escorted Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, down the aisle at her high society wedding to Thomas Hooper in 2016. After days of speculation, Markle finally confirmed yesterday that "sadly" her own father will not be walking her down the aisle, adding that she cares for him and hopes that "he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health". Prince Harry, 33, has not yet met his future father-in-law, a retired TV lighting director who lives in Mexico. It had been expected that her mother Doria Ragland might step into the role as she is accompanying her daughter in the wedding car when she arrives at the chapel. However, there was no royal protocol preventing Markle from choosing a member of the royal family or a close friend from escorting her, or decide to walk alone. Ragland, the 61-year-old yoga instructor and social worker who divorced Thomas Markle when Meghan was a little girl, flew into London from Los Angles earlier this week and met Prince Charles and Camilla and Prince William and Kate along with their kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Clarence House here. She will meet Queen Elizabeth II, Harry's 92-year-old grandmother, in Windsor Castle later today. Prince Harry's grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, will also attend the wedding, Buckingham Palace confirmed. Prince Philip, 96, has been recovering from a hip operation. Other members of the royal family are also in Windsor ahead of the wedding, including William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; and Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. There had been widespread speculation over Thomas Markle's attendance at the wedding ceremony after allegedly staged paparazzi photographs of him emerged in the media. The wedding day "order of service", printed long before, still has his name on the list. Meanwhile, the finishing touches are being added to the royal wedding preparations in Windsor, about 42 kms from here. So-called royal "super fans" have already begun camping out in Windsor to secure the best spots of the wedding procession tomorrow. They will also be hoping to see 33-year-old Prince Harry before he spends his final night of bachelorhood at the Dorchester Collection's Coworth Park in nearby Ascot. The bride will stay at the Cliveden House Hotel, set in a historic estate in Taplow, Berkshire, with her mother. As per tradition, the bride and groom are expected to spend time apart from each other on the night before their wedding. According to the weather forecast, Windsor is expected to see "ideal" wedding conditions tomorrow, with balmy temperatures and clear skies accompanied by a light breeze. The newly-wed royal couple will be doing a tour of the city centre of Windsor in a traditional horse-driven Ascot Landau carriage after they tie the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The palace had revealed earlier that Prince Harry's niece, three-year-old Princess Charlotte, will be one of the six young girls chosen as bridesmaids at the wedding. Her elder brother, Prince George, aged four, will be a pageboy among a total of 10 children chosen for the roles. So far, all details of the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses and the pageboys' uniforms remain under wraps. Local Thames Valley Police have said the wedding is expected to attract thousands of people and reporters from around the world to Windsor and that their planning is well under way, with security barriers and CCTV cameras. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle for her wedding with Prince Harry tomorrow, Kensington Palace announced today. The announcement came a day after royal bride-to-be Markle yesterday confirmed that her ailing father will not attend her wedding with Prince Harry in Windsor Castle tomorrow. Markle asked Prince Charles to carry out the responsibility when she marries Prince Harry at St George's Chapel, Kensington Palace said in a tweet. The 36-year-old former American actress said her father Thomas Markle Sr needed to focus on his health, confirming media reports that he had to undergo a heart procedure. Preparations are in full swing for the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Markle as hundreds of British armed forces officers took to the streets of Windsor to rehearse their roles this weekend. The newly-wed royal couple will be doing a tour of the city centre of Windsor, around 41 kms from London, in a traditional horse-driven Ascot Landau carriage after Prince Harry, 33 and Markle, 36, tie the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's Prince Charles will step into the role of Meghan Markle's father and walk her down the aisle at her royal wedding with Prince Harry tomorrow, Kensington Palace announced today. The 36-year-old former American actress asked her father-in-law-to-be to walk by her side at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after it was confirmed that her father Thomas Markle Sr would not be attending the wedding ceremony for health reasons. "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire at St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," the Palace said in a statement. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the Royal Family in this way," it said. The 69-year-old heir to the British throne has some practice of this role, having previously escorted Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, down the aisle at her high society wedding to Thomas Hooper in 2016. After days of speculation, Markle finally confirmed yesterday that "sadly" her own father will not be walking her down the aisle, adding that she cares for him and hopes that "he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health". It had been expected that her mother Doria Ragland might step into the role as she is accompanying her daughter in the wedding car when she arrives at the chapel. However, there was no royal protocol preventing Markle from choosing a member of the royal family or a close friend from escorting her, or decide to walk alone. Ragland, the 61-year-old yoga instructor and social worker who divorced Thomas Markle when Meghan was a little girl, flew into London earlier this week and met Prince Charles and Camilla and Prince William and Kate along with their kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Clarence House here. She will meet Queen Elizabeth II, Harry's grandmother, in Windsor Castle today. Other members of the royal family are also in Windsor ahead of the wedding, including William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; and Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. There had been widespread speculation over Thomas Markle's attendance at the wedding ceremony after allegedly staged paparazzi photographs of him emerged in the media. The former Hollywood lighting director was quoted as saying that he hated the idea of missing "one of the greatest moments in history and walking my daughter down the aisle" after it emerged that he was to undergo a heart procedure. The wedding day "order of service", printed long before, still has his name on the list. Meanwhile, the finishing touches are being added to the royal wedding preparations in Windsor, about 42 kms from here. Further details on the wedding cake have been revealed by its baker Claire Ptak who said it would be presented in a "non-traditional" way, displayed in a special "installation". The layered lemon and elderflower cake will be served to 600 guests at the afternoon reception after the wedding ceremony at Windsor Castle. So-called royal "super fans" have already begun camping out in Windsor to secure the best spots of the wedding procession tomorrow. They will also be hoping to see 33-year-old Prince Harry before he spends his final night of bachelorhood at the Dorchester Collection's Coworth Park in nearby Ascot. The bride will stay at the Cliveden House Hotel, set in a historic estate in Taplow, Berkshire, with her mother. As per tradition, the bride and groom are expected to spend time apart from each other on the night before their wedding. According to weather forecasts, Windsor is expected to see "ideal" wedding conditions tomorrow, with balmy temperatures and clear skies accompanied by a light breeze. The newly-wed royal couple will be doing a tour of the city centre of Windsor in a traditional horse-driven Ascot Landau carriage after they tie the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The palace had revealed earlier that Prince Harry's niece, three-year-old Princess Charlotte, will be one of the six young girls chosen as bridesmaids at the wedding. Her elder brother, Prince George, aged four, will be a pageboy among a total of 10 children chosen for the roles. So far, all details of the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses and the pageboys' uniforms remain under wraps. Local Thames Valley Police have said the wedding is expected to attract thousands of people from around the world to Windsor and that their planning is well under way, with security barriers and CCTV cameras. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress today took strong objection to the appointment of BJP MLA K G Bopaiah as the pro-tem speaker ahead of tomorrow's floor test in Karnataka, alleging he was "dented and tainted" as strictures were passed against him and moved court against Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision. Raising questions over Vala's move to appoint him, Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said according to convention, the senior-most MLA is appointed the pro-tem speaker and the Governor should have followed past precedents. The Congress claimed that its eight-time MLA R V Deshpande is the senior-most lawmaker in the assembly and appointing Bopaiah is not according to convention and constitutional norms. "The option of going back to the court is open," he told reporters when asked whether the Congress is moving court. "We will positively bring this to matter before the notice of the court," he said when prodded further. Later in the evening, the Congress-JD (S) combine approached the Supreme Court challenging Vala's decision to appoint Bopaiah. According to sources, the petition was placed before a registrar of the apex court but some defects were pointed out in the plea. "Some defects have been pointed out to us and we are looking into these," one of lawyers, associated with the development, said. In Bengaluru, Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot, who is camping there, alleged that the Raj Bhawan has shut its doors as it is not accepting the party's complaint against Bopaiah's appointment. "Raj Bhawan has succumbed to pressure from the BJP and the Centre as it is not ready to accept our letter of protest," he said, adding, "We have the mandate as all our MLAs are together and BJP will not be able to prove its majority." Surjewala alleged this is the third time Governor Vala has "encountered" constitution, saying, "he cannot murder democracy in broad daylight and trample the Constitution". He said by appointing such a person who has tried in the past to prove a majority by fraud and manufacture a majority out of a minority in favour of B S Yeddyurappa. "This reflects that the BJP does not have a majority... The trio of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Vajubhai Vala will not be allowed to trample the Constitution," he said, adding that it has lost the mandate to form a government. Surjewala said it was "utmost important" to follow the past convention at a time when the BJP and Vala had "hijacked" and "encountered" democracy thrice and are "conspiring" to "forcibly" form a government led by Yeddyurappa. "Deshpande is the senior-most MLA in the Karnataka assembly. Though Deshpande belongs to the Congress, MLAs from the opposition too have always sworn by his reputation and neutrality...but they appointed a three-time MLA KG Bopaiah who is dented and tainted, Surjewala said. He said that Bopaiah, when the latter was assembly speaker in the state between 2009 and 2013, had allegedly violated democratic and constitutional norms to save the previous government of Yeddyurappa, who faced corruption charges then. Considered close to Yeddyurappa, he had disqualified 11 disgruntled BJP and five Independent MLAs ahead of a trust vote to help the Yeddyurappa government in 2011. Bopaiah's decision was upheld by the Karnataka High Court but overturned by the Supreme Court, which said he had acted in haste, indicting him and passing strictures against him. "He is the same Bopaiah who had disqualified those BJP MLAs who had exposed corruption of Yeddyurappa... The Supreme Court bench had said he did not believe in the Constitution, democracy. "The SC had dismissed his orders (as speaker) with stinging strictures...Does such a person have the right to continue even for a day," he said. Earlier, another Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi too had raised questions over Bopaiah's appointment and pitched for Deshpande to play the role. Top Congress leaders met here today soon after Vala appointed the BJP MLA as the pro-tem speaker, and decided that the matter should be challenged in court, the sources said. The Supreme Court today ordered a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 PM tomorrow, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove majority. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, followed by the Congress with 78, the JD(S) with 37 and three seats have gone to others in the 224-member assembly where elections were held for 222 seats. The majority mark is 112 seats and the post-poll alliance strength of the Congress-JD(S) combine, which claims to have 117 MLAs, has alleged foul play in the Governor inviting BJP to form the government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country. A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin yesterday met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi. "After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists" the condition are in place for "the start of a political process on a major scale," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "there were detailed discussions" between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia. "With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory," Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces. Russia has been involved in Syria's civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Assad's regime but also changed the course of the war. Putin also congratulated Assad on the "successes of the Syrian government's army in the fight against terrorist groups". "The next task, of course, is the economic recovery and humanitarian aid for those people in a difficult situation," Putin added. The latest round of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana wrapped up on Tuesday, but did not however make any concrete progress towards ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives. Russia, Iran and Turkey have been attempting to resolve the conflict in the talks that started last year in Astana in competition with a US and UN-backed Geneva initiative. In a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad added yesterday "we have evaluated the political process" and will select candidates for a constitutional committee, a suggestion proposed in January at a summit in Sochi, that will work with the United Nations. According to the Kremlin statement, Assad said "stability is improving" in Syria, "opening the door to the political process we started some time ago". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Renaissance Steel has approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) requesting to declare "ineligible" the Tata Steel's bid for the debt-ridden under the and Code. An NCLAT bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhyaya has issued notice to Tata Steel, which was the second highest bidder, and the resolution professional of Electrosteel over it. It has also directed them to file reply within a week and directed to list the matter for hearing on May 28. In its petition, Renaissance Steel has requested the NCLAT to "pass an appropriate order declaring Ltd as ineligible under section 29 (D)" under the and Code. During the proceedings, senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing for Tata Steel, contended that the entire exercise is now academic only because it was the second highest bidder for Renaissance Steel is contesting Rs 53200 million resolution plan by for Electrosteel, which was approved by the Kolkata bench of the NCLT, before the appellate tribunal. Yesterday, the NCLAT had admitted the petition of Renaissance Steel challenging Vedanta's bid for Electrosteel. Renaissance Steel's resolution application was rejected by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Electrosteel Steels owes lenders more than Rs 130000 million, of which about Rs 50000 million is to alone. On May 1, the NCLAT had directed that status quo be maintained in the case pertaining to the sale of debt ridden Electrosteel Steels to Renaissance has submitted before the NCLAT that Vedanta is not eligible to bid for Electrosteel under section 29 A of the and Code. As part of its plan to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, the Punjab government has decided to rename as 'Guru Nanak Marg' the roads linking various places across the state, which the Sikhism founder had visited. The Congress government in Punjab has also decided to take up these places for special development, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced today after chairing a meeting of the executive committee formed to finalise modalities for the celebrations to be held on a global scale. Singh also constituted a high-level committee to coordinate with various organisations to build public support for the mega celebrations. The celebrations will be centred around the theme of 'Nanak Naam Chardikala, Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhala' (the essence of Guru Nanak Dev's ideology of all pervasive love, harmony, peace, compassion and amity). The committee has been tasked with collaborating with experts and historians, as well as representatives of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Sant Samaj, an official release said here. The committee comprises Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Cooperation Minister and MLA from Dera Baba Nanak Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi Navtej Singh Cheema. The chief minister said he would soon write to his counterparts in other states, urging them to undertake special development of infrastructure in places visited by Guru Nanak Dev. He said he would also urge the chief ministers of these states to make suitable arrangements for devotees, or those desirous of visiting Punjab from their states during the commemorative celebrations. The chief minister said he would also exhort the Ministry of External Affairs, to take up the issue of sprucing up religious shrines, associated with Guru Nanak Dev, with appropriate authorities in various countries visited by the first Sikh Guru. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saudi authorities have detained at least six activists, including three of the country's most prominent women's rights campaigners, just weeks before the kingdom is set to lift a ban on women driving, people familiar with the arrests said today. The Associated Press spoke with two people in touch with the detainees' relatives. One activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussion, said five were arrested on Tuesday and the sixth person was detained on Thursday. Several more are feared to be detained and others have been banned from traveling abroad by the government. The government has not commented on the arrests and government spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The crackdown on prominent activists comes just six weeks before Saudi Arabia is set to lift the world's only ban on women driving on June 24. It is seen as a significant step toward greater women's rights in the kingdom. Among those detained since Tuesday is Loujain al-Hathloul, who was arrested in late 2014 and held for more than 70 days for criticizing the government online and pushing for the right to drive. Others arrested include Eman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef, two of the most well-known women's rights activists in the kingdom who for years had campaigned for the right to drive and were involved in human rights issues in the kingdom. Al-Nafjan and al-Yousef have both taught at state-run universities and are mothers, with al-Yousef also a grandmother. The three women had also called for an end to other less visible forms of discrimination in Saudi Arabia, such as guardianship laws that give male relatives final say on whether a woman can travel abroad, obtain a passport or marry. When the kingdom issued its stunning royal decree last year announcing that women would be allowed to drive in 2018, women like al-Nafjan and al-Yousef were contacted by the royal court and warned against giving interviews to the media or speaking out on social media. Following the warnings, some women left the country for a period of time and others stopped voicing their opinions on Twitter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court today allowed Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, to travel to offshore locations in United Kingdom, Germany and Spain with certain conditions, including that he would not open or close a bank account abroad. Karti, who has been facing probe in various corruption cases, was allowed to go abroad from May 19 to 27 by a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said "he (Karti) shall not open or close any overseas bank account" and not enter into any property transaction abroad. It asked Karti to furnish an undertaking before it, saying he would follow the conditions and apprise it about the flight details and date of arrival back to India. The court also made it clear that its permission to Karti to travel abroad should not be used in any court of law for grant of statutory and regular bail in any other offence. The bench told Karti that he would cooperate in investigation and hand over passport to investigation agency, that is the Enforcement Directorate, on return. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court today approved the Centre's draft Cauvery Management Scheme for smooth distribution of water among four southern riparian states. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra rejected the suggestions of Karnataka and Kerala governments over the scheme, terming them as devoid of merits. The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's award, which was modified by the apex court, has to be taken to the logical conclusion by the Cauvery Management Scheme. It also dismissed Tamil Nadu's plea seeking initiation of contempt against the Centre for non-finalisation of Cauvery scheme. Karnataka, which is facing political tug of war between BJP and Congress-JD (S) over government formation, had earlier made a failed bid to temporarily stall the finalisation of draft Cauvery management scheme. The top court had made it clear that it would see that the draft scheme is "in consonance with its judgement only." Earlier, the bench had red-flagged the provision empowering the Centre to issue the directions, saying "this part (power of Centre to issue directions) of the scheme is not in consonance with the judgement. We make it clear to you". The observation was made after the Centre had submitted the draft Cauvery management scheme in the court for its approval. The apex court, in its verdict delivered on February 16, had asked the Centre to frame the Cauvery management scheme, including creation of the Cauvery Managament Board, for release of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. The scheme, once finalised, would deal with the issue of water share of the four states in different circumstances like normal and deficient water years in the Cauvery river basin. The top court had modified the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award of 2007 and made it clear that it will not be extending time for this on any ground. It had 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". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court today ordered a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 PM tomorrow, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the Governor to BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove majority. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," a three-judge bench headed by Justice A K Sikri said, while noting that ultimately the question was about a majority which has to be proved on the floor of the House. The bench, which also comprised Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, turned down Yeddyurappa's request for a secret ballot during the floor test and also directed the Karnataka government and the Governor not to nominate any MLA from the Anglo-Indian community to participate in the voting to prove majority. It asked the newly elected government not to take any policy decision till it proved majority in the House, while also making it clear that it would later deal with the constitutionality of the Governor's letter inviting Yeddyurappa to form government. The bench said the pro tem Speaker will take decisions in accordance with the law on the issue of floor test and ordered the authorities, including the Director General of Police, to ensure law and order outside the Karnataka Assembly. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, followed by the Congress with 78, JD(S) with 37 and three seats have gone to others in the 224-member Assembly where elections were held for 222 seats. The majority mark was 112 seats and the post-poll alliance strength of the Congress-JD(S) combine, which claims to have 117 MLAs and has alleged foul play in the Governor inviting BJP to form the government. Now the majority mark has gone down by one to 111 as JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has won from two assembly constituencies of Ramanagaram and Channapatna. However, he will be eligible to cast only one vote during the floor test. The high-voltage hearing witnessed trading of charges between the BJP and the Congress-JD(S) combine with both claiming to have numbers in their favour. The combine has alleged that Governor Vajubhai Vala was not correct in inviting the BJP, which had lesser numbers than the Congress-JD(S) alliance. However, the BJP has contended that the support letter given by Kumaraswamy to the Governor can be disputed as one of the Congress MLAs, Anand Singh, has not signed it. Rohatgi sought reasonable time till Monday for the floor test but the bench ordered for tomorrow by accepting the plea of the rivals. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the combine, said the question is whether the Governor was correct to call the party which has less numbers than the alliance which has the majority, has to be tested upon. He said the first letter of Yeddyurappa was written on May 15 at 5 PM, even before the counting was over or the Election Commission given the certificates to the MLAs. "Therefore, at that time, it was not clear who has the majority and Yeddyurappa could not have claimed majority at that time in his letter to the Governor," he said. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kumaraswamy, said the Governor cannot have used his discretionary power as signatures of MLAs were placed before him. Yeddyurappa placed before the apex court letters he had sent to Governor in which he had staked claim to form the government in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka yesterday, told the bench that being the single largest party, the BJP had the "mandate of people" of the state who have "thrown out" the Congress. Rohatgi said there was no pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JD(S) and they have formed an "unholy alliance" after the elections. "The single largest party (BJP) is the mandate of people of Karnataka who have thrown out the ruling party. The ruling party has much less members than us. There was no pre-poll alliance. It (Congress-JD(S)) is an unholy alliance," he said adding there was no requirement to give or disclose names of MLAs supporting the party to the Governor. "It can be done on the floor of the House. According to us we do have the support. It is the discretion of the Governor to swear in the CM of the party whom he feels can provide a stable government in the state," Rohatgi said. However, the bench said there is no doubt about it, but the only question here is a person who has just staked claim of having majority and another person who has staked the claim of majority with names of MLAs. "We have to decide on what basis the Governor called A over B or B over A," the bench said. It also justified its order for a floor test tomorrow in the later part of the hearing saying "there are precedents where courts have orders floor test in 24 or 48 hours". Attorney General K K Venugopal was also present to assist the court, at one point, came to the aid of Rohatgi by advocating holding of secret ballot during the floor test. Additional Solicitor General Tushar, appearing for Karnataka, said Governor did not receive any notice containing the signatures of MLAs of Congress-JD(S) combine. The court said the only question was who has the right to enter the arena first and added "at the end of the day, ultimately it has to be tested on the floor of the House, who has the majority. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Markets regulator Sebi today exempted the central government from making an open offer for the shareholders of Allahabad Bank following capital infusion. In January this year, the government had proposed capital infusion to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore in the public sector lender. According to a Sebi order, the infusion of additional capital by the government is stated to enable Allahabad Bank to meet regulatory capital norms. It would also provide the public sector lender with an additional leverage for raising further equity capital at a later date, as and when the need arises, the regulator said. Following the capital infusion in the public sector lender, the government's stake would rise in it by 7.03 per cent. Under Sebi norms, if the shareholding of an entity in a listed company goes beyond a particular threshold, then it has to make an open offer. As per Sebi, there would be no change in control of the lender pursuant to the proposed acquisition of additional shares by the government. "Further, there will be no change in the number of equity shares held in the target company (Allahabad Bank), by the public shareholders, pursuant to the proposed transactions," Sebi said. In March, the lender had filed an application on behalf of Indian government seeking exemption from the applicability of Regulation 3(2) of the SAST (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations. Regulation 3(2) requires an acquirer to make a public announcement of an open offer for acquiring shares in case the existing stake goes beyond a certain threshold. Earlier this year, Sebi had exempted the central government from making an open offer for the shareholders of several lenders including Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank, Vijaya Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India, following capital infusion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Launching Loktantrik Janata Dal, formed by his supporters, Sharad Yadav today said constitutional values faced a danger under the Modi government like never before and asked opposition parties to work together to defeat it in the next Lok Sabha poll. Addressing a large number of party members on its Foundation Day, he claimed that opposition parties would not get another chance if the BJP came back to power as it would further curb constitutional rights of the people. In a scathing attack on the NDA government at the Centre and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whom he accused of bringing "disgrace" to people of his state by "sitting in the lap" of the BJP, Yadav said the Modi dispensation has failed to fulfil key promises it had made and the ruling party now solely relied on "Hindu-Muslim" issues to come to power. The former union minister himself is not a member of the new party as he is fighting a court battle to claim the election symbol of Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) but is believed to be the key man behind its formation. Rajya Sabha member M P Veerendra Kumar proposed a social resolution on the occasion, Javed Raza, a close aide of Yadav said. The resolution seeks to achieve the objective of justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, socialism and secularism. Likening the BJP to a demon, whose life was in a bird, Yadav in his concluding address said the saffron party's survival depended on communal issues. "Hindu-Muslim issues are the only reason for its wins in elections," he said. Condemning the Karnataka governor's decision to swear in BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa as the state's chief minister, he said Governor Vajubhai Vala has been acting at the behest of the saffron party. The Yeddyurappa government will lose the floor test tomorrow, he said. The current BJP has been grabbed by some people, he alleged, in an apparent reference to its top brass, and claimed that ministers at the Centre lived under fear and were afraid of speaking out. It is an unprecedented crisis, Yadav said, adding that this was an "undeclared emergency" and thus more dangerous. Making a distinction between the BJP when its key leaders were Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani and its function under the current leadership, he said Vajpayee resigned as prime minister after losing a trust motion by one vote while the party is now crushing people's mandate in the southern state even as the Congress-JD(S) combine had 13 more MLAs than it. "Out Constitution was prepared after our forefathers made a lot of sacrifice. You have adult franchise, freedom of expression due to this. Its values are now under a threat never seen in the 70 years since Independence," he said. Continuing his attack, Yadav added, "We should vow to remove this government in 2019. If they come to power again, there you will not allowed to hold meetings and make speeches (against them). I will make this plea to all parties. They won't get a chance after 2019. There is no democracy in the BJP." If this government is not defeated, then those who made sacrifices for the country would be ashamed, he claimed. Targeting Kumar, his longtime colleague before he rebelled last year against the Bihar chief minister's decision to break ties with the RJD-Congress alliance and join hands with the BJP, Yadav said the JD(U) chief crushed people's mandate with his move. "He (Kumar) would say he will rather die than ally with the BJP again. He is still alive but has preferred to sit the lap of the BJP," Yadav said. "Nitish Kumar has brought disgrace to people of Bihar," he said. The BJP had promised to provide jobs to two crore people and give farmers 50 per cent more money than they spent in their produce but its government has completely failed on both fronts, he said. "They forgot their promises and instead launched a campaign on Hindu-Muslim issues, triggered violence against Dalits and minorities," Yadav said, referring to Jinnah portrait row, alleged lynching and controversial statements of ministers, including Anant Hegde's claim that his party would change the Constitution. Hegde had later apologised. The Centre's crackdown on animal trade had resulted in stray cattle destroying farms, he claimed and added that instead of getting a better price for their products distressed farmers are forced to commit suicide due to a number of issues. "Animals are like ATMs for farmers. This government has done a robbery on their ATMs," he said. Farmers, Dalits and minorities are facing a crisis and so is the economy, he said. He also demanded that the government bring an ordinance to nullify a court ruling on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court order, many have claimed, dilutes its provisions. Several leaders from Bihar, including former minister Ramai Ram and former assembly speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary, were also present in the event. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand government announced Rs 10 lakh monetary assistance to the family of Sitaram Upadhyay, the BSF jawan who was killed in Pakistani shelling in Arnia sector of Jammu today, an official release said. Upadhyay, who was 28, hailed from Giridih in Jharkhand. "Jharkhand government has decided to pay Rs 10 lakh monetary assistance to the family of BSF jawan Sitaram Upadhyay, who was martyred by unprovoked Pakistani firing in Jammu," the release said. Chief Minister Raghubar Das condoled the death of Upadhyay and said all the people of the Jharkhand are with the bereaved family. Upadhyay was critically injured in the shelling at the Jabowal border outpost around 0130 hours and died en route to GMC Hospital in Jammu. He joined the force in 2011. He is survived by a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter, officials said. Four civilians were also killed while 12 others were injured as the Pakistan Rangers rained mortars on villages and border outposts in Jammu today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Google and other social media platforms have done a great disservice to the nation by uploading contents which revealed the identity of an eight-year-old girl who was raped and killed in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, the Delhi High Court said today. The court issued notice to social media platforms Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube after their Indian subsidiaries told the bench that they were not the concerned entity to reply to the court's notice on the issue. "You have done a great disservice to the nation. India has been branded... It is an injustice to the nation and to the victim's family. This kind of publication is not permissible," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Hari Shankar said. The bench also said messages and images were circulated on Whatsapp showing India in a bad light. It also observed that the entities cannot absolve themselves for the illegal activities on their websites and the law was the same for everyone. The court was informed by the counsel for the social media platforms that the court has arrayed as parties the Indian subsidiaries which were not responsible for the contents on the websites and it should make the parent companies a party. It also asked the counsel for the foreign entities to take instructions as to how much they were willing to deposit to the Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Fund as compensation for the victims. The bench also stayed the proceedings initiated by the Press Council of India (PCI) under the Press Council Act against some of the media houses for disclosing the identity of the child victim in the rape case. PCI has initiated the proceedings on receiving a reference from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding the suo motu cognisance taken by the high court in the Kathua rape case. The court listed the matter for further hearing on May 29. It was also informed by one of the counsel that in Srinagar, the child victim's photographs were pasted on autos and buses. To this, the court said it was conscious of its boundaries and limitations and would pass such orders which could be executed. The bench had earlier observed that the names or photographs of a sexual abuse victim should not be revealed as such actions have long term "detrimental consequences". It had on April 18 directed 12 media houses to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for revealing the identity of the minor rape victim. It had also indicated that it may enhance this amount, which has to be deposited in the Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Fund. The media houses had apologised before the court. Later, the bench added several other media houses and websites and asked them to pay the amount and file their response as to why action be not taken against them for disclosing the identity of the rape victim. In its reports connected with the case, The Press Trust of India had not disclosed the name or put out a photograph of the victim. The court had directed that wide and continuous publicity be given to the statutory provisions of the law regarding the privacy of victims of sexual offences and punishment for revealing their identities. While Section 23 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act lays down the procedure for the media to report cases of sexual offences against child victims, Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with disclosure of identity of victims of such offences. The penal law provides for jail term of two years with a fine. On April 13, the high court had issued notices to 12 media houses andr prohibited all of them "from effecting any publication including the name, address, photograph, family details, school details, neighbourhood or any other particulars which may have an effect of leading to the disclosure of the identity of the child victim". The eight-year-old girl from a minority nomadic community had disappeared from near her home in a village near Kathua in Jammu region on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later. The state police's Crime Branch, which probed the case, filed the main charge sheet against seven persons and a separate charge sheet against a juvenile in a court in Kathua district last week. The charge sheet revealed chilling details about how the girl was allegedly kidnapped, drugged and raped inside a place of worship before being killed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid a power struggle in Karnataka, some of the newly-elected JD(S) and Congress MLAs from the state arrived in the city today and are expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts here, party sources said. The legislators arrived here by road from Bangalore, the sources said. "All the MLAs of Congress and JD(S) are coming here. We are all staying here," Congress MP from Karnataka D K Suresh said. However, it is not clear whether all the MLAs were coming to the Telangana capital and would stay in one place. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had met JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at the latter's residence before the Karnataka polls. Rao had appealed to Telugu people living in the neighbouring state to vote for the JD(S). The JD(S) last night alleged that chartered flights that were scheduled to carry its legislators along with those of the Congress from Bangalore to Kochi were denied permission by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the last minute. However, a Civil Aviation Ministry official had said that DGCA permission was not required for charter operations within India. Fearing poaching of their legislators by the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) had earlier decided to fly them from out of Karnataka. BJP legislature party leader B S Yeddyurappa was yesterday sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka. Yeddyurappa has 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House.The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD(S) was victorious in 37 constituencies. Polling was held in 222 of the state's 224 seats, for which results were declared on May 15, delivering a hung House. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran filmmaker Steven Spielberg and Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who last worked together on 2002's "Catch Me If You Can", are in early talks to re-team for a Ulysses S Grant biopic. Lionstate and DiCaprio's Appian Way shingle last November acquired movie rights to "Grant", the bestselling Ron Chernow biography that is being adapted by David James Kelly, reported Deadline. Grant has been widely recognised as a superior military tactician for leading the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy during the Civil War under the supervision of President Abraham Lincoln, winning key battles at Shiloh and Vicksburg. He won two terms as President as a successor to Andrew Johnson and stabilised the economy along with attempting to remove the last vestiges of slavery, which included working to crush the Ku Klux Klan. David James Kelly is adapting the biography. The feature will be produced by DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson. DiCaprio, 43, who will next film Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", is attached to star in several projects in which he would play famous men in history, including a Leonardo da Vinci project for Paramount and a Teddy Roosevelt biopic that will reunite him with director Martin Scorsese. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Property brokerage firm Square Yards has reported 70 per cent increase in net revenue to USD 23 million (about Rs 156 crore) for the last fiscal as it closed higher transactions in real estate and home loan businesses. Backed by Anil Ambani-led Reliance group, which invested about Rs 80 crore in November 2016, the company had posted a net revenue of USD 13.5 million in the 2016-17 fiscal. The company achieved USD 27 million gross revenue, USD 23 million net revenue, gross transactional value of USD 725 million and 12,000 transactions last fiscal, its founder and CEO Tanuj Shori said. The gross revenue in 2016-17 was USD 17 million, while the number of transaction stood at 6,000 and gross transaction value at USD 422 million. Shori said that the company is "just shy of break even" with March being EBITDA positive on a monthly basis, at the corporate level. Square Yards said it has achieved steady increase in both real estate brokerage and mortgage businesses. "We believe that tech is fast disrupting the real estate world. While the first phase of real estate technology innovation was more focused on home search and discovery, the second phase, which focuses on enabling real estate transactions, has truly begun," Shori said. Founded in 2013, Square Yards is distributor for primary residential real estate in India, and focuses on the Non Resident Indian (NRI) markets. The company is targeting a double digit market share in Indian real estate distribution, expanding to 25 plus countries and becoming largest mortgage advisory and developer marketing firm in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran Bollywood actor Sridevi was honoured with the TITAN Reginald F Lewis Film Icon Award at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. The award traditionally celebrates women of the film industry all over the world and also salute the multi-cultural impact on the world of cinema. Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai and producer Namrata Goyal received the award on behalf of Sridevi's family. "Janhvi, Khushi and I are overwhelmed with the recognition and tributes and love of millions of her fans being showered on her. Her work and life has touched so many hearts across the world and she has been an inspiration to millions. She will live forever, thanks to her body of work," the actor's husband, producer Boney Kapoor, said in a statement. Recently, the late actor was also posthumously honoured with the Best Actress award for her performance in "Mom" at the 65th National Film Awards. Sridevi passed away on February 24 in Dubai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi today said the state government was striving hard to fill vacant posts in its various departments. The Punjab government is committed to provide employment to youths in government and private sector of the state, Channi said after handing over appointment letters to 15 newly appointed lecturers at his office here. The state government is striving hard to fill the vacant posts in various departments, he added. Technical education and industrial training is the flag bearer in this campaign as the government has managed to fill a large number of vacant posts, the minister said. Exhorting the newly appointed lecturers to adopt students and train them for competitions, the minister allotted them stations of choice and said that there postings will be made on merit. Lecturers, who would perform well, would be posted at nearby institutes as per their preferences, the minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan's Sumitomo Corporation has bought 49 per cent stake in its Indian joint venture (JV), Mukand Sumi Special Steel, for Rs 1,181 crore. Mukand (the Indian JV partner) will retain 51 per cent equity in the company, which will be a leading speciality steel supplier for the fast growing automotive and engineering industries, Mukand's chairman and managing director Rajesh V Shah told reporters here. The JV is at present engaged in the business of rolling, finishing and marketing of alloy steel wire rods and bars made from blooms and billets, procured from Mukand's Hospet plant in Karnataka. It has 100 acre of land adjoining Mukand's existing plant at Hospet for the proposed construction of new steel rolling facilities by mid 2020 at a cost of around Rs 600 crore, Shah said, adding that the money will be raised through internal accrual and debt. Mukand is a supplier of speciality steels to all global manufacturers in the domestic automotive sector for their critical components. For Sumitomo Corporation, a company present in 129 locations in 66 countries and regions, this investment is their largest in India. Makoto Horie, senior managing executive officer, general manager, metal products business unit, Sumitomo Corporation, said, "We were keen to strengthen our presence in India, one of the fastest growing markets in the world." Niraj Bajaj, chairman and managing director, Mukand, said that both the partners have already been working closely together for the past five years. Mukand has a debt of around Rs 3,000 crore at present, which according to Bajaj will be reduced to Rs 1,000 crore by end of this year. The company is also looking at monetising its excess land to reduce debt further, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lieutenant General Satish Dua today said that the suspension of operations against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir during Ramzan was an opportunity to engage with, and bring back into the mainstream, youth who have joined the ranks of militants. Dua is currently the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC). The Centre, on May 16, had announced that the security forces would not launch any operation in Jammu and Kashmir during Ramzan but reserved the right to retaliate if attacked. "It is unfortunate that some youth are joining militancy but the government has now declared a halt in operations during the holy month of Ramzan. Civil society, government organisations, NGOs and elders can engage with their children in order to bring them back into the mainstream," said Dua. "These youth are our children but they are misguided. We are hopeful of positive results during this one month window," he said. Dua was talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a valedictory function of flagship courses at the Military Institute of Technology (MILIT) here today. Replying to a question on terror activities during the suspension of operations, Lt Gen Dua said that in such a scenario where terrorists opened fire at the security forces, the latter had the right to retaliate in self-defence. "During the suspension of operations, we (armed forces) will not initiate any activity. But while doing this (retaliating), they (security forces) will take all precautions. That mechanism is already being built," he clarified. Cncommenting on the integration among tri-services, Dua said that the prime minister, over the last couple of years, had given great thrust on the integration of the forces and, hence, the Ministry of Defence was working in that direction. "We have already identified many areas where the tri-service integration is there and where it has to be ireased," he said. Speaking about artificial intelligence, the official said that it was a comparatively new subject, adding that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was "already doing something". "We have the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) (under the DRDO) in Bengaluru and they are working on this subject," he said. Earlier in his address to the officer-students, Dua asked them to keep abreast of the latest technological developments. A total of 146 officers from the Indian armed forces, and five officers from the Sri Lankan defence forces, completed the technical officers and naval staff courses from the MILIT. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today held talks with Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Gen (Retd) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership. The meeting between the two leaders assumes significance as it comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected visit to Indonesia later this month. "Building upon deep civilizational linkages between two maritime neighbours! EAM @SushmaSwaraj met with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Gen (Retd.) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. Discussions focused on steps to further expand our strategic partnership," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Indonesia has emerged as the largest trading partner of India in the ASEAN region. Bilateral trade has increased from USD 4.3 billion in 2005-06 to USD 17 billion in 2016-17. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Chemicals today reported a 23.37 per cent growth in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 355.90 crore, mainly driven by healthy margins in chemicals, soda ash and salt business and gains from sale of its urea business to Yara Fertilisers India. The company's net stood at Rs 288.48 crore in the same quarter last year. "Our key businesses including chemicals, soda ash and salt business continued to perform very well with healthy margins. We had record production in Tata Salt and in the consumer portfolio we continue to expand our product range. We recently launched new products like 'khichdi' and 'chila mix'," Tata Chemicals' managing director R Mukundan told reporters here. The revenue for the quarter declined by 1.40 per cent to Rs 2,555.08 crore, compared with Rs 2,591.59 crore in the same period last year. "The decline in revenue is mainly due to roll out of the goods and service tax (GST) from last July," he said. However, the company reported a net exceptional gain of Rs 1,266.72 crore on account of sale of its urea business to Yara Fertilisers India. The company's net debt reduced to Rs 1,860 crore as on March 31, 2018, against Rs 5,573 crore as on March 31, 2017. "We are expecting to become cash positive very shortly as we continue to pay down our debt," Mukundan said. The revenue growth will continue to be driven by the three key businesses - consumer, speciality and industrial chemical, according to him. The consumer business, through Tata Salt, continued its leadership in the national branded salt segment, while the chemicals business registered a robust performance and the recently launched MediKarb, a pharma-grade bicarb was well received in the market, Mukundan said. On the global front, the company's North American and Kenya operations are now performing well, while the UK business showed steady performance despite operational disturbances earlier this year, he added. In the speciality business, the company seeded two businesses, a Nutraceuticals and highly dispersible Silica business. "We are expecting to take over the silica operations in 60 days. And our nutraceuticals plant will become operational by the end of FY19," he said. "Our agrochemicals subsidiary, Rallis, registered steady performance and the seeds business in Metahelix continues its growth trajectory. We have successfully completed our first stage of transformation with the exit from fertiliser business," he said. The company also entered into an agreement to sell its Haldia plant to the Netherlands-based Indorama Holdings by way of slump sale for Rs 375 crore during the quarter. Meanwhile, the company's board of directors today recommended a dividend of Rs 11 per share and a special dividend of Rs 11 per share to reflect the sale of the fertiliser business, aggregating to Rs 22 per share, for the for fiscal year 2017-18. The company's scrip ended at Rs 718.70, down 3.30 per cent today on the BSE, against 0.86 per cent decline in the benchmark. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ten devotees, many of them in their teens, were killed and eleven injured when a speeding dumper rammed into a group of pilgrims on a trek to the Purnagiri Temple in neighbouring Champawat district early today, officials said. The pilgrims from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh were on way to the Purnagiri temple located on a hilltop on foot when they were knocked down by the dumper coming from behind around 5 AM at Bichai, SDM Tanakpur Anil Chanyal said. Nine pilgrims were killed on the spot and 12 injured out of whom onedied later on way to hospital, taking the number of casualties to ten, he said. 19-year-old Kamal, who was one of the four seriously injured in the mishap, was referred to another hospital. However, he succumbed en route, Champawat District Magistrate Ahmad Iqbal said. Those seriously injured were admitted to Khatima hospital and the rest to Tanakpur hospital, the SDM said. The deceased were identified asVir Singh (18), Sonu (8), Vishal (17) Ram Kumar ( 16), Deendayal (35), Babu (12), Kesher Singh ( 16) Ramswaroop (40), Sohan (40) and Kamal (19), all fromBaheri in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, he said. Search has been intensified to nab the driver of the dumper who fled the spot after the accident. The dumper has a registration of Khatima. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Axed from the England squad for the Tests against Pakistan, all-rounder Moeen Ali says his IPL stint will make him a better one-day player and improve his game. "I have really worked on my game and I feel going further in the future for RCB and for England, hopefully it will help me become a better one-day player. Hopefully, it is going to improve my game," he told reporters here. Ali has been instrumental in keeping Royal Challengers Bangalore's chances of qualifying for playoffs intact. He picked up two wickets and in the company of AB de Villiers then, smashed a match-winning half century against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The English player hammered a 34-ball 65, which was studded with two boundaries and six sixes, to guide RCB to 218 for 6. He credited RCB support staff, including Gary Kirsten and Trent Woodhill, for his improved batting. "Yeah Gary and Trent Woodhill. I have worked the most with them on my batting. I am trying to hit the ball and be consistent in hitting boundaries. They have really opened my game and I feel going further for England, it will help me become a better ODI player and improve my game," he said. Pleased after being able to express himself with the bat, Ali hoped that his team's confidence gets a boost going ahead. "It was almost nice to have a break. I wasn't in great form coming here. It is just nice to go out and express myself. And for my own confidence and the team's confidence in me. Hopefully, we can keep going and I can keep this form going," he added. After managing a mere 179 runs and five wickets in the Ashes, Ali found himself out of the team for the second New Zealand Test, and then dropped for the Pakistan series. RCB captain Virat Kohli lauded Ali for bringing in balance to the side. "Moeen's come in and done a great job for us. Three games he has bowled really well and tonight his knock was outstanding, so hats off to him for grabbing his opportunities," he said. Sunrisers' Manish Pandey praised Mohammed Siraj for bowling the last over, in which 20 runs were required for his side to get past the target of 219, but the visitors managed only five runs. "Twenty runs. Kane (Williamson) was on strike, first ball when a wicket goes sometimes it is difficult to come up from there. Mohammed Siraj bowled really well to get those yorkers right on the spot. Probably if I would have connected a couple, we would have come closer, but they bowled better in the last five overs than us. That was the difference," he said. Pandey, who scored an unbeaten 62 off 38 deliveries, also had good words to say about his skipper Kane Williamson, who too struck a fine half century. "(He has done) very well. He has got about 600 runs this IPL already. Captaincy... he has been using the bowlers really well. "He is understanding the culture of the team and how to bring in our main spinners like Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan. They have been taking wickets for us and are real assets," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Ekavali Khanna feels Indian cinema shuns mature love stories as the industry finds older couples at the centre of a romantic plot a bit difficult to digest. The 38-year-old actor, who features in "Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain" opposite Sanjay Mishra, says the society has conditioned people in a way that the elder generations are expected to behave in a certain manner that is "agreeable to their age". Khanna has worked in films such as "Kaun Kitne Pani Mein", "Aur Devdas" and critically-acclaimed Norwegian film "What Will People Say". "There are so many mature love stories that have been very successful in Europe, even Hollywood, but in India, somehow I feel there's this hesitation to explore that age group, especially in the context of romance. So I think with this film, our director Harish Vyas, is kind of breaking the mould. "Also because we are socially conditioned that a mature couple is supposed to behave in a certain way. If they are going on a bike ride or holding hands, that's considered to be very strange," the actor told PTI in an interview. Khanna plays Kiran Batra to Mishra's Yashwant, who tries to rekindle love and romance in their long and listless marriage after taking his wife for granted for many years. She says the clarity of Vyas' vision was a major factor in bringing the "real" story alive on the silver screen. The director, who also wrote the story, adds the script played a major role in handling the subject with "maturity". "Age changes a lot. I have changed a lot as I have grown old. Here, I was supported by a stellar cast who brought along their experiences into their characters. About the story, I'd say that it was written in flow... "I feel maybe I've lived with characters like these all my life," he told PTI. Citing similarity with "Dum Laga Ke Haisha", that love comes in all shapes, sizes and forms, Vyas says people need to view romance in larger terms. "There will be all sorts of romance between people of different shapes and sizes, ages, love is everywhere. It will not just be between two great looking people." The filmmaker believes the film industry should revisit the idea of "who" or "how" a hero should be. He says due to the stereotypical portrayal of a hero figure "we not only end up making less films but also are able to tell less stories". "When the writer has decided that this is how his hero is supposed to be or else a commercial film won't work. Then stories don't flow. "I feel, in our films, the character should become a hero after undergoing a process. The part should not be a hero from the outset. If we start doing this I feel we'll start putting out better stories with more range," he says. Also starring Pankaj Tripathi, Brijendra Kala, Anshuman Jha and Shivani Raghuvanshi, the film released today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are the top stories from the northern region at 4.30 pm JAMMU DEL13 JK-3RDLD FIRING Jammu: Four civilians and a BSF jawan were killed while 12 others were injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled villages and border outposts in Jammu early today, officials said. SRINAGAR DEL21 JK-FIRING CM Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today hit out at Pakistan for violating ceasefire in Arnia sector of Jammu region, saying Islamabad has shown no respect for the fasting month of Ramzan. PITHORAGARH DES5 UKD LD PILGRIMS Pithoragarh: Ten devotees, many of them in their teens, were killed and 11 injured when a speeding dumper rammed into a group of pilgrims on a trek to the Purnagiri Temple in neighbouring Champawat district early today, officials said. ALIGARH DEL22 UP-AMU-VC Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor today welcomed the end of the campus protest triggered by the Jinnah portrait row, describing it as a Ramzan gift to the entire AMU community. SITAPUR DEL23 UP-STRAY DOGS-ATTACK Sitapur (UP): An eight-year-old girl died after being mauled by a pack of dogs in Sitapur district, taking the toll to 14 in such fatal attacks by feral hounds in the last six months, police said. LUCKNOW DES1 UP-FLYOVER-REPORT-CM Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered proceedings for strict penal action against former Managing Director of UP State Bridge Corporation Rajan Mittal and six others in connection with the Varanasi flyover collapse, which killed at least 15 people earlier this week. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are the top stories from the northern region at 9 pm JAMMU DEL34 JK-4THLD FIRING Jammu: Four civilians and a BSF jawan were killed while 12 others were injured as the Pakistan Rangers rained mortars on villages and border outposts in Jammu today, escalating border skirmishes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir. MANGU CHAK DEL48 JK-SHELLING-HAMLET Mangu Chak (Jammu district): Hundreds of angry residents of hamlets along the border today protested after four civilians were killed and 12 injured in heavy Pakistan mortar shelling, demanding stern action against the neighbouring country for targeting innocent people. SRINAGAR DES38 JK-ENCOUNTER Srinagar: Security forces are engaged in a gun battle with militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir today, the Army said, in a first counter-militancy operation since the Centre announced a conditional suspension of operations during Ramzan. PM-JK-LD VISIT Srinagar: A three-tier security arrangement has been thrown around the city ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to all three regions of Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow, during which he will lay the foundation stone for the ambitious Zojila tunnel that will provide all-weather connectivity to Ladakh with the rest of the country. DEHRADUN DEL40 UKD-2ND LD-PILGRIMS-ACCIDENT Dehradun/Pithoragarh: Eleven people, many of them in their teens, were killed and 19 injured in Champawat district today when a speeding truck rammed into a group of pilgrims walking to the Purnagiri temple. SHIMLA DEL47 HP-KASAULI-PROBE Shimla: The magisterial inquiry into the deaths of an assistant town planner and a PWD employee during a demolition drive in Kasauli has indicted the police for lapses, sources said. CHANDIGARH DEL60 PB-JAIL-OFFICIALS-ACTION Chandigarh: Up to 14 Punjab jail officials may face stern action for allegedly allowing two Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists to contact their handlers in Pakistan, a senior officer said here today. LUCKNOW DEL54 UP-POLICE-GRAFT Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police today shunted out 18 personnel from their Noida crime branch and ordered an inquiry after a WhatsApp message "exposed" their "bribe rate card". ALIGARH DEL22 UP-AMU-VC Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor today welcomed the end of the campus protest triggered by the Jinnah portrait row, describing it as a Ramzan gift to the entire AMU community. SITAPUR DEL23 UP-STRAY DOGS-ATTACK Sitapur (UP): An eight-year-old girl died after being mauled by a pack of dogs in Sitapur district, taking the toll to 14 in such fatal attacks by feral hounds in the last six months, police said. LUCKNOW DES1 UP-FLYOVER-REPORT-CM Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered proceedings for strict penal action against former Managing Director of UP State Bridge Corporation Rajan Mittal and six others in connection with the Varanasi flyover collapse, which killed at least 15 people earlier this week. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) expects sales to grow by around 7-8 per cent this fiscal as it marks its entry into the mid-sized sedan segment in the country with Yaris. TKM, which is a joint venture between auto major Toyota and Kirloskar Group, today started deliveries of the new model across the country. The company expects to deliver around 1,000 vehicles today itself. The manual transmission variants of the petrol powered Yaris are priced between Rs 8.75 lakh and Rs 12.85 lakh. Automatic variants are tagged between Rs 9.95 lakh and Rs 14.07 lakh (ex-showroom). "We are entering a very competitive segment with Yaris. But with a host of industry first features, we are confident of the vehicle performing well in the market," TKM Deputy Managing Director N Raja told PTI. Raja said the company is also counting on the existing around 10 lakh Toyota customers in India to drive sales for Yaris. When asked about the company's sales growth expectations during the current fiscal, Raja said: "Our sales growth rate currently is around 3 per cent. With Yaris coming in, we hope to see our growth rate more or less like the industry, single digit -- 7-8 per cent this year." The highly competitive mid-sized sedan segment in the country is around 2 lakh vehicles a year, dominated by the likes of Honda City, Hyundai Verna and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. Commenting on the response for Yaris so far, Raja said: "In less than a month of announcing the price and opening the bookings, we have collected nearly two months equivalent of customer orders." Having initiated production last month itself, the company is looking forward to ship around 4,000 units across the country for customers by the end of this month, he added. "We hope to service all these customers by the end of this month which will take us amongst the top three in sales in the petrol segment," Raja said. The Yaris comes with a 1.5 litre petrol engine mated to 7-speed CVT (continuous variable transmission) and 6-speed manual transmission options. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BSF and Jammu and Kashmir Police today paid tributes to a jawan who was killed in unprovoked firing along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in the Arnia sector. A wreath-laying ceremony was held for constable Sitaram Upadhyay (28), who hailed from Giridih in Jharkhand, at the BSF Frontier headquarters. Jammu and Kashmir's Housing and Urban Development Minister Sat Sharma; Divisional Commissioner of Jammu Hemant Kumar; senior BSF, CRPF and police officials paid floral tributes to Upadhyay. Constable Upadhyay made the supreme sacrifice while defending the country's sanctity, Inspector General of the BSF, Jammu Frontier, Ram Awtar, said. Upadhyay was martyred amid heavy firing from Pakistan at 0135 hours today while valiantly responding from the duty point at the IB, the IG said. The constable, who joined the force in 2011, is survived by a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. BSF has a history of bravery and is always committed to maintaining the sanctity of the IB and safety of the border population, Awtar said. The brave act (by Upadhyay) has once again proved that the men on the border are always ready to sacrifice their lives for the nation's security, he said. Awtar reiterated that as the peaceful country, India never initiates fire, but will never hesitate to give a befitting reply if it is compelled. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump today hit out at China for "fleecing" his country with hundreds of billions of dollars every year, even as high-level delegations from the two countries were holding intense negotiations in Washington over a series of trade disputes between them. "China has taken our hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the United States. And I explained to (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping), we can't do that anymore, we just can't do that anymore. It's a much different situation," Trump told reporters at the White House. "But with all the years and all the years that you covered trade and nations and wars and everything else, you've never seen people come over from China to work on a trade deal. Now, will that be successful? I tend to doubt it," he said. The reason, he said, he doubts it is because China has become "very spoiled". China was not the only country to face Trump's criticism in this regard. "The European Union has become very spoiled, other countries have become very spoiled, because they always got 100 per cent of whatever they wanted from the US," Trump said. "But we can't allow that to happen anymore. We're an incredible country. We have incredible potential. The potential we have is incredible. We lost USD 800 billion on trade last year, if you add it all up. Of which, China was around the USD 500 billion mark," Trump said, asserting that the US is not going to be doing that any longer. Trump said he does not blame China for this. "I blame our leadership of this country from the past. We have been ripped off by China. An evacuation of wealth like no country has ever seen before given to another country that's rebuilt itself based on a lot of the money they've taken out of the United States. And that's not going to happen anymore," he asserted. Responding to a question on his recent decision on the Chinese telecom giant ZTE, in which he appears to be giving concessions to it, Trump said he did this out of respect for President Xi who requested him in this regard. "ZTE was a company that I spoke to with President Xi. He asked me if I'd look at that because it was very harmful to them in terms of their jobs and probably other things. And I certainly said I would -- he asked me to do it and I would do that -- I would certainly -- out of great respect," he said. Trump said that it was his administration that took strong action against ZTE. "I put very strong clamps on ZTE. It did very bad things to our country and our economy. It also buys a large portion of parts for its phones and is the fourth largest company in terms of that industry. It buys the parts from the US. That's a lot of business," he said. "So have a lot of companies that won't be selling those parts. But President Xi asked me to look at it. I said I would look at it. But anything we do with ZTE just a small component of the overall deal," he said. Trump exuded confidence that the US is going to come out fine with China. "Hopefully China's going to be happy. I think we will be happy. As the expression goes, when you're losing USD 500 billion a year on trade you can't lose the trade war, you've already lost it," Trump said as he blamed earlier administrations for the crisis. And those days are gone, those days are over, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US and Chinese officials face a new round of tough trade talks today as President Donald Trump discounted chances of a deal, but Beijing extended a potential olive branch. Trump met with a Chinese delegation headed by Vice Premier Liu He yesterday as talks aimed at easing frictions between the economic powers got underway. "The two sides agreed to continue the discussions on Friday," the White House said. But speaking earlier in the day about the prospects for the talks to be successful, Trump was not optimistic, saying: "I tend to doubt it." "China has become very spoiled... Because they always got 100 per cent of whatever they wanted from the United States," he said. Trump unleashed a barrage of criticism against former US administrations for allowing Beijing to take advantage of the United States. "We have been ripped off by China. And an evacuation of wealth like no country has ever seen before given to another country that's rebuilt itself based on a lot of the money that they've taken out of the United States," he said. "Trade has been a total one-way street," Trump said. "And I explained to (China's) President Xi (Jinping) that we can't do that anymore." But hours later, China's commerce ministry announced that it was terminating its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe into US sorghum imports, saying punitive measures would increase costs for the Chinese livestock industry and consumers. Provisional duties had been imposed last month. Tariffs on sorghum would hurt farmers in states such as Kansas, Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma, which are also major Republican-leaning states that make up Trump's electoral base. Separately, the Chinese delegation has offered a USD 200 billion reduction in its annual trade surplus with the US by increasing American imports and other measures, according to Bloomberg News, which cited a Trump administration official. Such a reduction is among a list of US demands. But in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the "rumours are false" and the "consultations are indeed still in progress and the talks are constructive." Lu also said the decision to drop the sorghum probe should not be "over-interpreted." - 'Meet each other halfway'. China's Liu held talks with Trump and other top US officials, saying the two countries should "meet each other halfway, respect each other, and work together to push forward bilateral ties in a healthy and stable manner," according to China's official Xinhua agency. The US has threatened to impose 25 per cent punitive duties on up to USD 150 billion in Chinese goods while China has targeted USD 50 billion in American exports. China said it hoped the two sides could resolve the trade frictions through talks. "But of course we've prepared a response for various possibilities," commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a press briefing yesterday. The meetings, part of a busy week of US trade negotiations and tight deadlines in Washington, have become enmeshed in political intrigue after a Trump advisor considered a hardliner on China was left out. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President on Friday defended his use of the word "animals" against some illegal immigrants, asserting that he would continue to use the term to refer to violent gang members. Trump said he used the word yesterday against the MS-13 gang members and asserted that he would not shy away from using the term time and again. "When the MS-13 comes in, when the other gang members come into our country, I refer to them as "animals." And guess what? I always will," Trump said when asked by reporters at the White House. "We are getting them out by the thousands. But it's a big, dangerous job. And they're able, in some cases, to come back in or new groups come in also from the gangs," he said. Trump made the controversial remark during a roundtable with law enforcement officials from California. "We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in - and we're stopping a lot of them - but we're taking people out of the country. You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals," Trump said during a California Sanctuary State Roundtable at the White House. "We are taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. It's crazy," he said. Trump blamed the influx of illegal immigrants in the US on the country's "dumbest laws". The White House asserted that Trump's use of the word "animals" against the MS-13 gang members was "the least that describes them". "The President was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally and whose deportations are hamstrung by our laws. This is one of the most vicious and deadly gangs that operate by the motto of rape, control, and kill. If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, they're more than welcome to," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference. "Frankly, I don't think the term that the President used was strong enough. MS-13 has done heinous acts," she said. "It took an animal to stab a man a hundred times and decapitate him and rip his heart out. It took an animal to beat a woman -- they were sex trafficking -- with a bat 28 times, indenting part of her body. And it took an animal to kidnap, drug, and rape a 14-year-old Houston girl. Frankly, I think that the term "animal" doesn't go far enough," Sanders said. "I think that the President should continue to use his platform and everything he can do under the law to stop these types of horrible, horrible, disgusting people," the presidential spokesperson said. US President Donald Trump today defended his use of the controversial word "animals" to describe some illegal immigrants, asserting that he will continue to use it for members of the deadly transnational gang MS-13 despite facing flak from the Democratic leaders. Trump clarified that he had used the term "animals" to refer to the members of the MS-13 gang, an international criminal gang that originated in the US in the 1980s and later spread to Canada, Mexico and Central America. Most of its members are of Central American origin, principally El Salvador. "MS-13, these are animals coming onto our country. When the MS-13 comes in, when the other gang members come into our country, I refer to them as animals. And guess what? I always will," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We are getting them out by the thousands. But it's a big, dangerous job. And they're able, in some cases, to come back in or new groups come in also from the gangs," he said. Trump made the controversial remark yesterday during a roundtable with law enforcement officials from California. "We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in - and we're stopping a lot of them - but we're taking people out of the country. You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals," Trump said, triggering a torrent of condemnation from the lawmakers. "When all of our great-great-grandparents came to America they weren't 'animals,' and these people aren't either," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted. "Every day that you think you've seen it all, along comes another manifestation of why their policies are so inhumane," House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi said. Mexico's foreign ministry sent a formal diplomatic letter to the US State Department complaining that Trump's remarks were "absolutely unacceptable." Trump also blamed the US' "dumbest laws" for the influx of illegal immigrants in the country. The White House also defended Trump's remarks today, saying the use of the word "animals" for the "deadly" gang members was "the least that describes them". "The President was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally and whose deportations are hamstrung by our laws," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters. Terming MS-13 as one of the "most vicious and deadly" gangs that operate by the motto of rape, control and kill, she said if the media and liberals wanted to defend the gang, they were "more than welcome". "Frankly, I don't think the term that the President used was strong enough. MS-13 has done heinous acts," she said. "It took an animal to stab a man a hundred times and decapitate him and rip his heart out. It took an animal to beat a woman - they were sex trafficking - with a bat 28 times, indenting part of her body. "And it took an animal to kidnap, drug, and rape a 14-year-old Houston girl. Frankly, I think that the term "animal" doesn't go far enough," Sanders said. "I think that the President should continue to use his platform and everything he can do under the law to stop these types of horrible, horrible, disgusting people," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a surprise announcement that caught the candidate off-guard, President Donald Trump said today he'll nominate acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to permanently lead the beleaguered department. Trump spilled the about Wilkie at a White House event on prison reform as he introduced Cabinet members in attendance. When Trump got to Wilkie, he said, "I'll be informing him in a little while he doesn't know this yet that we're going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary." Trump added, "I'm sorry that I ruined the surprise." The president had already appeared impressed with Wilkie, saying publicly last month that he's been doing a "great job" at VA. Today, Trump upped his assessment of Wilkie's job performance to "incredible job." Wilkie has led the VA since Trump fired David Shulkin in March amid an ethics scandal and mounting rebellion within the agency. Trump then turned to Ronny Jackson, the Navy doctor who had been his personal physician, but Jackson abruptly withdrew last month amid allegations about his professionalism. Wilkie, 56, is a former Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness who oversaw a new policy aimed at stemming harassment in the military after an online nude-photo sharing scandal rocked the Marine Corps. The Senate confirmed him unanimously for the post. At the VA, Wilkie has sought to rebuild morale at a department beset with inner turmoil and rebellion over Trump's push to expand access to private care. On Thursday, he announced a major USD 10 billion contract with Cerner Corp. to overhaul electronic health records for millions of veterans, a 10-year project that aims to improve mental health care and ease access to private providers. Wilkie's selection reflects Trump's desire to have a steady hand leading the government's second-largest department following the abrupt withdrawal by Jackson, who had never managed a large workforce. The Pentagon is the government's largest department, with more than 700,000 employees. Veterans groups expressed support for the nomination. Garry Augustine, executive director of Disabled American Veterans' Washington headquarters, said he considered it a "good sign" that Wilkie seemed receptive to hearing from veterans' service organizations. "We're optimistic that we'll be able to work with him and his staff," Augustine said. "He's doing what he needs to do to get up to speed." Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said veterans "need a committed, focused leader who will always put veterans above politics." He said Wilkie "will have to prove to millions of veterans nationwide that he is up to this mammoth, sacred leadership task." Dan Caldwell, executive director of the conservative Concerned Veterans for America, called Wilkie an "outstanding choice." "He is somebody who has shown that he can manage the department in a time of immense change," Caldwell said. "He unequivocally supports the president's agenda for reforming the VA and we think that he will be on the same page as the White House."Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said he enjoyed working with Wilkie in his acting capacity. He did not announce a date for Wilkie's confirmation hearing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sanitation workers in Uttarakhand ended their 11-day-old strike late last night after some of their demands, including increase in wages, were conceded by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The chief minister last night held a meeting with representatives of the Safai Karamchari Sangathan and resolved the crisis, an official release said here. He agreed to their demands of Rs 275 as daily wage to safai karamcharis of Swachchata Samitis in Uttarakhand and reinstatement of sanitation workers who were ousted from work during the strike, it said. The meeting came amid growing clamour by the opposition over mounds of uncleared garbage on streets here due to the strike. Thanking the chief minister for conceding their demands, the sangathan ended their strike, the release said. President Akhil Bharatiya Majdoor Safai Karmachari Sangh Rajesh Kumar and former president Safai Karmachari Ayog Bhagwat Prasad Makwana attended the meeting. Taking up the issue with Governor K K Paul, Uttarakhand Congress president Pritam Singh on Wednesday sought his intervention to end the strike. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Speaker of Britain's House of Commons, John Bercow, was under pressure today for allegedly calling a senior minister a "stupid woman", in the latest bullying claim to hit parliament's top official. Prime Minister Theresa May's spokeswoman said the language reportedly used against Commons leader Andrea Leadsom during a foul-mouthed outburst overheard in the chamber this week was "unacceptable". After the story broke in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Bercow's spokeswoman admitted "some strong and differing views were expressed on all sides" during a discussion about the government's legislative programme. But she insisted: "The speaker treats his colleagues with respect." Bercow was already facing calls to resign after two of his former private secretaries, Angus Sinclair and Kate Ems, accused him of bullying -- allegations he strongly denied. Downing Street described those claims as "concerning" and her spokeswoman said today of the remarks against Leadsom: "Clearly the prime minister thinks they are unacceptable." She said that if an official complaint were made, it should be "properly investigated". The claims come just weeks after the Commons established an independent inquiry into the bullying of staff in parliament, amid concerns that victims have nowhere to turn to. However, this will not look at specific cases, and on Tuesday, the Commons Standards Committee of MPs voted against allowing parliament's watchdog to investigate the Bercow claims. Asked if she had confidence in his leadership, May's spokeswoman said: "The speaker is elected by MPs, so questions of confidence are for parliament." The speaker is the highest office in the Commons, who presides over debates with his bellowing cry "Order! Order!" and has the power to decide which MPs speak and when and how debates are held. Bercow was a member of May's Conservative party, but gave up his affiliation on his election in June 2009, as the role requires political neutrality. Many Tories accuse him of favouring the main opposition Labour party, and he clashed repeatedly with former Conservative prime minister David Cameron, whose government sought unsuccessfully to unseat him. Bercow has proudly championed the role of parliament in holding the government to account, increasing the time available for MPs to challenge ministers, particularly on the issue of Brexit. Last year he sparked controversy by speaking out against the idea that US President Donald Trump might address parliament during a state visit to Britain. When he took office, Bercow said he would only serve for nine years -- and critics are holding him to this promise, which would see him step down in June. But when questioned on this pledge earlier this month, the speaker signalled his intention to carry on. Bercow noted that he had been unanimously re-elected by MPs after the election in June last year, which could theoretically see him serve until the next planned vote in 2022. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) World agencies and neighbouring countries today hiked their response to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the toll from the notorious disease mounted. A World Health Organization (WHO) emergency panel met in Geneva to determine whether the outbreak was "a public health event of international concern" -- a move that would step up global action. The death toll rose by two to 25 out of 45 cases, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters. Fourteen of the cases have been confirmed in laboratory tests. Alarm bells sounded yesterday after the outbreak, previously reported in a remote rural area, notched up its first confirmed case in a northwestern city -- the bustling transport hub Mbandaka. That amounts to bad for containing and rolling back the haemorrhagic fever virus, experts warned. "The confirmed case in Mbandaka, a large urban centre located on major national and international river, road and domestic air routes increases the risk of spread within the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to neighbouring countries," the WHO said. "WHO has therefore revised the assessment of public health risk to very high at the national level and high at the regional level," it said. "At the global level the risk is currently low. As further information becomes available, the risk assessment will be reviewed." Separately, the UN's migration agency said it was helping DRC's health ministry to send disease-tracking experts and medical staff to monitor travellers at 16 border points. The operation was enabled by funding of USD 75,000 from Japan and USD 100,000 of internal funds, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. A regional bloc, the East African Community -- five of whose six members have borders with the DRC -- said it was on "high alert" over the outbreak and had put in place measures to screen travellers arriving from that country. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had mobilised more than 200 volunteers. "We are totally ready to respond with more support if necessary," the ICRC's national representative, Christine Cipolla, told a press conference in the eastern city of Goma. The fresh outbreak, publicly declared on May 8, was first reported in a rural part of Equateur Province in the vast country's northwest. Ebola is both lethal and highly contagious, which makes it difficult to contain -- especially in urban environments where people are mobile and come into more contact with others. Lacking an arsenal of drugs to treat the virus, doctors isolate patients and trace people who have been in contact with them. This is a major task even for medical services in rich countries, but the DRC is one of the world's poorest countries. Four times the size of France, the DRC has been chronically unstable and episodically racked by violence since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Hospitals, roads, electricity are all major problems, especially in remote areas. In Mbandaka, whose population is estimated at up to 1.2 million, the mood among many people changed from insouciance to worry yesterday. Bars, restaurants and public offices set up basins of water and soap dispensers for people to wash their hands, while at the city's airport, health ministry workers were taking travellers' temperatures with pistol thermometers, an AFP reporter saw. Ebola is notorious for its high fatality rate and extreme symptoms, which can include internal and external bleeding. The virus has a reservoir in tropical African wildlife, being carried by species of bats, which do not themselves fall ill but can pass the pathogen on to humans who hunt for food. Among humans, the commonest form of infection is through close contact with the blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of someone who is sick with Ebola or has recently died. The current outbreak -- the ninth to hit the DRC since Ebola was identified in 1976 -- involves the same strain of the virus that struck three West African countries in 2013-15 and sparked an international panic. It went on to kill more than 11,300 people, in the deadliest ever Ebola epidemic. The WHO was fiercely criticised over its handling of the epidemic and has pledged to improve its emergency response.There is no licensed drug to treat or prevent Ebola, although an experimental vaccine arrived in the DRC on Wednesday and has been cleared for use by the Kinshasa government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak has lauded India's contribution and "commitment" to UN peacekeeping operations during his meeting with Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar in Slovakia. Lajcak and Akbar met yesterday on the sidelines of GLOBSEC 2018 Bratislava Forum, a gathering that brings together international government officials, academics and civil society, including the private sector in Slovakia's capital Bratislava. "Kicked off Day 1 at #GLOBSEC2018 with a discussion on migration, sustaining peace and sustainable development, as well as regional issues, with MJ Akbar, Minister of State of #India," Lajcak, President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, tweeted. "I also commended him on India's commitment to @UNPeacekeeping," Lajcak said. Lajcak's spokesperson Brenden Varma told reporters at the daily briefing yesterday that Lajcak and Akbar discussed issues like migration, sustaining peace, sustainable development, regional issues and India's commitment to United Nations peacekeeping. He "commended" Akbar on "India's contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations", he said. "We have never needed multilateralism more. Yet, calls for unilateralism and isolation seem to be louder than ever," Lajcak said in his opening remarks to the forum and during his keynote address at a panel on 'Multilateralism in the 'Me-First World'. Calling for a "multilateral renaissance", he said that the multilateral system nations created can produce solutions "but only if we use it the right way". He called for a recommitment to dialogue, which he described as "the most basic but most powerful tool in our toolbox". India is the largest cumulative troop contributor, having provided almost 200,000 troops in nearly 50 of the 71 UN peacekeeping missions over the past six decades, including 13 of the current 16 missions. India provided the first ever Female Formed Police Unit to UN peace operations in Liberia. The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is celebrated world over on May 29 to honour the fallen peacekeepers and to pay tribute to those who served or are still serving in UN peacekeeping missions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A high-level delegation of the UP government, led by state health minister Sidhartha Nath Singh, was on a visit to the US, where it had detailed discussions with top American industrialists about the investment opportunities in the state. The delegation visited the country from April 30 to May 4 to tap prospective investors there. Singh said that a number of one-to-one meetings were held with top business leaders in the US and the delegation highlighted the investment opportunities in the state. Elaborating about the meetings held with various companies, Singh said, "Orcale is planning to establish an academy in Varanasi. The procedural hurdles need to be taken up with commissioner Varanasi. Oracle wants to open a data centre at Noida..." He further said Intel Capital is willing to open a start-up centre in Uttar Pradesh. "Intel Capital will also soon send a project report on use of pods in urban transportation system to the government of Uttar Pradesh," he said. At his meeting with cab aggregator Uber officials, Singh said, "Uber representatives have expressed their keen desire on expansion of their operations in UP. Currently, Uber is having operations in Lucknow and NCR region of Uttar Pradesh. Uber is looking forward to expand its operations to establish an IT back office in Noida." The minister also met officials of Medtronics (a medical technology, services and solutions company). The company is looking forward to setting up of cath labs in the state on a PPP mode. "Medtronics is also interested in providing preventive and initial healthcare services in district hospitals of UP and in PPP mode. Medtronics also agreed to conduct an audit of cath labs in medical colleges," the minister said. CISCO is also willing to set up an innovation centre in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur to nurture start-ups in the field of artificial intelligence, he said. During discussions with Stanford University, Singh said, Stanford University expressed its keen interest "to sign an MoU with UP government for finding a solution to the problem of Japanese Encephalitis in the state. Stanford University has shown its willingness in joining hands with UP government for finding affordable healthcare solution". "Stanford University is willing to offer a solution for problems related to pollution in UP cities. It also wants to undertake a project on road safety which will help the state government in building emergency services in trauma centre in UP," he said. At the meeting with officials of Honeywell, the company wants to provide software solution for Kumbh and willing to set up a command and control centre at Kumbh mela, he said. "Honeywell has also agreed for a collaboration with UP government in sunrise sector of defence and aerospace," he said. The 'One District-One Product' scheme of the UP government was also discussed. "At a meeting with Amazon, the company agreed to sign an MoU with the UP government to help in achieving objectives of ODOP scheme," the UP minister said. Lockheed Martin, which is having an association with TATA in India, wants to finalise a location for setting up a manufacturing plant. "Lockheed Martin is keen on establishment of a manufacturing facility in India in order to strengthen its global supply chain of its existing fleet of F-16 and Hawker aircraft. Lockheed Martin has also shown an interest in starting a MRO complex in Jewar," Singh said. A number of issues were discussed with officials of Mastercard. "Some of the points of discussion with Mastercard include -- Mastercard can work as a common transit card. This transit card will be used as a health card and metro card. The UP government has suggested that the card should be linked with Ayushman Bharat and Aadhaar as well. Mastercard can be linked with Internet of Things (IoT) and cybersecurity. Opening of an incubation centre in UP was also taken up for discussion," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh Police has set up a coordination cell in compliance with the Union home ministry advisory to check cybercrime. The state cybercrime coordination cell will be led by an inspector general of the special task force (STF), said Praveen Kumar, deputy inspector general (law and order). The district-level cybercells will be constituted under the ASP (crime) or deputy superintendent of police (crime), Kumar told media persons here. The misuse of social media for spreading communal frenzy, insulting individuals, harassing and blackmailing women and posting vulgar videos and other such criminal acts have often posed serious law-and-order problems, the DIG added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States Senate today voted to confirm Gina Haspel as the first female director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Haspel, facing allegations from opposition Democratic Senators and human rights bodies for her alleged role in CIA's interrogation program post 9/11, was confirmed by the Senate by 54-45 votes, after six Democratic senators supported her nomination. Prominent among those was Senator Mark Warner, Ranking Member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. "Congratulations to our new CIA Director, Gina Haspel!" Trump tweeted soon thereafter. Haspel will be the first woman to lead the agency in its 70-year history. A career CIA official for more than three decades now, Haspel, 61, is expected to be sworn in shortly as the top American spymaster. She worked in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe and was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year. She worked under former CIA director Mike Pompeo until President Donald Trump moved him to the secretary of state. During her illustrious career in the CIA, Haspel has worked in various capacities and has been stationed clandestinely overseas including her stint in Africa, wherein in the 80s she assisted Mother Teresa in humanitarian assistance. "Gina has clearly demonstrated that she is a person of high integrity with valuable frontline and executive experience as a career intelligence officer. Her confirmation represents the best we have to offer as a country. On behalf of the Intelligence Community, we salute Director Haspel, a trailblazer...," said Daniel Coats, Director of National Intelligence. During her confirmation hearing on May 9, Haspel assured lawmakers that under her leadership, the CIA will not restart a detention and interrogation program experienced during post 9/11. "Today the US Government has a clear legal and policy framework that governs detentions and interrogations. Specifically, the law provides that no individual in US custody may be subjected to any interrogation technique or approach that is not authorised by and listed in the Army Field Manual," she said. Senator Marco Rubio applauded the Senate's bipartisan confirmation of Haspel's nomination for CIA director. "With her unparallelled CIA experience, she will hit the ground running and continue to lead the world's finest intelligence agency. I look forward to working with her as she helps advance and protect America's national security interests from the daily threats we face," he said. "I believe she is someone who can and will stand up to the President if ordered to do something illegal or immorallike a return to torture," said Warner, who had initially opposed her nomination but finally voted yes. "Gina Haspel is among the most qualified people to be nominated for the position. She's served with the Agency for 33 years, including tours as a case officer, four times as a station chief, the deputy chief of the National Resources Division, the Deputy Director of the National Clandestine Service, and currently as CIA Deputy Director," he said. However, several members of the opposition Democratic party remained critical of her and voted against. "Ms Haspel played a central role in the CIA's Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program. This was one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history and it must not be repeated," Senator Diane Feinstein said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Treasury today slapped sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's powerful deputy Diosdado Cabello, just two days before the crisis-hit country goes to the polls for an election Maduro is widely expected to win. Cabello, a Socialist party boss and former speaker of the National Assembly, was targeted along with his wife and brother. "The Venezuelan people suffer under corrupt politicians who tighten their grip on power while lining their own pockets," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "We are imposing costs on figures like Diosdado Cabello who exploit their official positions to engage in narcotics trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement of state funds, and other corrupt activities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The biennial Vibrant Gujarat Summit will be held in Gandhinagar from January 18 to 20 next year, the state government said today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who started holding the investor summit when he was Gujarat chief minister, would be attending the event. In the past, the summit was held from January 11 to 13. "The next year's summit will be held from 18 to 20 January," chief minister Vijay Rupani said here. He did not give any reason for the change of dates, only saying those were suitable dates. Modi will attend the summit, Rupani said. "This is our government's flagship event which has made Gujarat the best investment destination. Representatives of more than 125 countries will participate this time," Rupani said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling Trinamool is heading for a massive victory in rural polls bagging more than 80 per cent of the seats in the three-tier panchayat election, while the emerged a distant second, according to the results declared till 10 am. State Election Commission (SEC) sources said of the 622 zilla parishad seats in which were held, the won 522 seats and is leading in 50 seats. The won 20 zilla parishad seats and is leading in three others, they said. The saffron party bagged zilla parishad seats in Purulia (eight), Malda (six), Jhargram (three), Nadia (two) and North Dinajpur (one) districts. The has won two zilla parishad seats in Malda district and is leading in two other seats. The is yet to open its account in zilla parishad but is leading in one seat. Independents have won two seats, SEC sources said. The continued to maintain its dominance in zilla parishads with a complete sweep in 10 districts. The ruling party had a clean sweep in Jalpaiguri, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, East Burdwan and West Burdwan districts. The counting of votes which began at 8 am yesterday is still on. With the rural polls being the last major election in the state before the Lok Sabha next year, a jubilant said the result would boost the party. The said the result in the panchayat polls, which saw its emergence as the main challenger to the ruling TMC in Bengal, would act as a morale booster for the party's rank and file. The Trinamool outclassed others in panchayat samiti seats too by winning 4,900 of them so far and leading in another 58 seats. The BJP won 740 seats and is leading in 12. The won 108 panchayat samiti seats and is leading in two, while the Congress won 130 seats and is leading in one, SEC sources said, adding Independents have won 111 panchayat samiti seats. The TMC also continued to maintain its dominance in gram panchayats, the lowest level of the three-tier panchayat system by winning 21,067 seats and ahead in another 57 seats, for which counting was in progress. The BJP has won 5,737 seats and is leading in 15 seats, SEC sources said. According to a senior state BJP leader, it was the first time in last 10 years that the party had been elected to the gram panchayat level in every district of the state. The slipped to the third position from the second place it had occupied in the last panchayat polls in 2013. It won 1,479 gram panchayat seats and is ahead in another four, the sources said. The Congress is at fourth position by winning 1,057 seats and leading in four - a score lower than that of independents, who won 1,827 gram panchayat seats and are leading in 18 seats. The panchayat polls were held in 622 zilla parishad, 6,123 panchayat samiti and 31,802 gram panchayat seats in 20 districts on May 14. Of the total 48,650 seats in gram panchayats, 16,814 went uncontested. There was also no contest for 3,059 of the 9,217 panchayat samiti seats and in 203 of the 825 zilla parishad seats. "Despite so much violence, we have won more than 5,000 seats in gram panchayat. Had the been free and fair, we would have won 50 per cent seats at all the three levels of the panchayat," state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said. Widespread violence during the polls claimed at least 12 lives and left 43 injured. While the CPI(M) and the Congress dubbed the election a "farce", the ruling TMC, on the other hand, said the people of had voted in favour of development ushered in by Chief Minister "People have voted in favour of development and have defeated the forces who were spreading canards against our state," TMC secretary-general said. A 60-year-old woman riding pillion on a motorcycle was killed after the two-wheeler was hit by a truck in southeast Delhi's Lajpat Nagar today morning, the police said. The deceased, Noor Jahan , was returning home after a check-up at Safdarjung Hospital when an Indian Oil truck, bearing a Delhi registration number, hit the Splendor motorcycle on the Ring Road around 9.50am, a police official said. She was taken to a hospital where she was declared dead. Her post-mortem examination was conducted at AIIMS. Her son, who was riding the motorcycle, escaped with minor injuries, the official said. The truck driver, Kamlesh, 40, was arrested, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Tom MilesGENEVA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has the World Trade Organization in a chokehold, and the United States has made clear what he wants: no more judicial rulings that interpret WTO rules to Washington's disadvantage.Trump has effectively engineered a crisis in the WTO's system of settling global disputes by vetoing all appointments of judges to its appeals chamber.True to the president's style, his ambassador to the Geneva-fbased body, Dennis Shea, is unapologetic about shrinking the supreme court of world trade to a size where it will struggle to function."The United States ... (Reuters) - India's Tata Steel Ltd said on Friday it had completed the acquisition of a 72.7 percent stake in Bhushan Steel Ltd, which was in bankruptcy court over unpaid loans.As part of the deal, a unit of Tata Steel is paying 352.33 billion rupees ($5.18 billion) to Bhushan Steel's creditor banks. It will also pay Bhushan Steel's operational creditors, such as vendors, another 12 billion rupees over 12 months.The Tata Steel unit will raise a bridge loan of 165 billion rupees to help fund the acquisition, while Tata Steel is investing the remainder in the unit, Bamnipal Steel.Bamnipal has ... AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Tata Steel's Dutch works council could take until August to complete its assessment of a planned joint venture with Thyssenkrupp, its president said, questioning the German group's timeline for a signing of the deal by end-June."We expect to need at least two to three months to finish our process," Dutch works council president Frits van Wieringen told Reuters. The council started its evaluation on May 1.Thyssenkrupp earlier this week said it expected to be able to sign the deal with Tata Steel in the first half of the year.But this will not happen without the consent of ... Mormon church President Russell M. Nelson shakes hands with Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP during a news conference Thursday, May 17, 2018, in Salt Lake City. Top leaders from the NAACP and Mormon church are calling for greater racial harmony and mutual respect following the first official meeting between national leaders from the civil rights organization and Utah-based religion. Johnson said the alliance should serve as an example for others to work in harmony and with greater civility as he read from read prepared remarks during a media event in Salt Lake City Thursday. Nelson called for greater racial and ethnic harmony. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Top leaders from the NAACP and Mormon church on Thursday called for greater racial harmony and mutual respect following the first official meeting between national leaders from the civil rights organization and Utah-based religion. The media event in Salt Lake City came ahead of a 40th anniversary celebration planned next month by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of its 1978 decision to lift a ban on blacks in the religions lay priesthood. The ban was rooted in the belief that black skin was a curse, and it lingers as one of the most sensitive topics in the religions history. Neither NAACP President Derrick Johnson nor Mormon church President Russell M. Nelson mentioned the past ban during their brief prepared remarks. They instead focused on highlighting the historic nature of the two institutions creating an alliance they hope can lead to work on education and humanitarian causes. Johnson said the newly-minted alliance should be an example for others to work in harmony and with greater civility. Nelson echoed that, calling for everyone in the world to show greater racial and ethnic harmony and eliminate prejudice of all kinds. Its not exaggerating to call the meeting historic because the two organizations have in the past existed in different worlds and had different trajectories, W. Paul Reeve said, the Simmons Professor of Mormon Studies at the University of Utah. The joint statement and meeting marks another marker on the Mormon churchs trajectory to being more willing to speak out forcefully against racism and white supremacy, he said. This is an indication they are willing to engage in racial justice for the future, Reeve said. Nelson didnt take questions from the media following his remarks. Johnson and other NAACP officials did take questions and were asked about the past Mormon ban on blacks in the priesthood. Johnson said evolving organizations must be better at addressings todays needs. Leon W. Russell, chairman of the NAACP board of directors, spoke more directly about the ban and applauded the Mormon churchs decision to celebrate the anniversary during a June 1 event in Salt Lake City with music planned. Any religious domination in the United States at some point had a history that included discrimination and repression of Africans in America so the recognition by this church that it needed to evolve needs to be celebrated, Russell said. In 2013, the Mormon church posted an essay disavowing the ban and the reasons behind it, saying it was put into place during an era of great racial divide that influenced early teachings of the church. The 2,000-word piece was the most comprehensive explanation of why the religion had previously had barred men of African descent from the lay clergy and was lauded by many as an important step in the religions history. Others, though, wished it had gone further and included a formal apology. An apology didnt happen Thursday, despite a fake news release posted on a website made to look strikingly similar to the Mormon churchs newsroom website that included a made up apology from Nelson. Church officials declined to comment on the fabricated post that briefly got traction on social media. The religions decision not to speak about the ban on Thursday isnt surprising, Reeve said. The religion prefers not to deal with its racial history before the ban was lifted, instead trying to turn the focus on what it is doing today to improve things. The Utah-based religion doesnt provide ethnic or racial breakdowns of its members, but scholars say blacks make up a small portion of the 16-million member global faith. Among the 6.6 million Mormons in the U.S., blacks account for about 3 percent of members, according to the Pew Research Center and independent Mormon researcher Matt Martinich. Globally, Latter-day Saints of primarily African descent account for about 6 percent of members, Martinich said. Russell, of the NAACP, said that there hasnt been bad blood between his organization and the Mormon church, but rather a lack of any connection. This gives an opportunity to build a relationship and to start a dialogue, Russell said. Samuel Kleda W. Musa Cameroonian Bishops grouped under the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, NECC, have made an unprecedented outing since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in 2016. In a strongly worded communique, the Bishops said there was need for urgent mediation. The Bishops began by confirming that it is a socio-political problem rocking the two regions and expressed their deep concerns. They said since 2016, the two regions have been going through difficult times, Marked by inhuman, blind, monstrous violence and radicalization of positions which leaves us worried. The Bishops said they are stand in solidarity with all victims and are praying hard for them but they noted that they drew attention to the crisis which jeopardizes people and their properties. NECC Communique (c) NECC The Bishops think it is time for mediation to end the impasse, the communique partially reads, In the name God the Almighty Father, we address this cry of distress to all Cameroonians: Let us put an end, all forms of violence and stop killing one another! We are all brothers and sisters According to the Bishops, the war is useless and senseless. The Catholic Church in Cameroon was recently described as weak in handling the Anglophone crisis by International Crisis group following an investigation on the situation. This is the first time Bishops of both languages are coming to terms with an aggressive but frank position on the Anglophone crisis. Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province had previously written a missive to President Paul Biya explaining the genesis of the problems and proposing solution while NECC has all along been on the fence. Gunshots were heard in Buea for the first time since Ambazonia fighters picked up arms to fight against the Military in the ongoing Anglophone crisis. Unknown men on a Motorbike shot several times in the air around Bunduma gates before disappearing into bushes. The shots sent everyone indoors including pupils taking on Government Common Entrance examinations. But the tension short-lived after security forces arrived the scene heavily armed, conducting a thorough search around the vicinity. Though life has returned to normalcy, an uneasy calm still exists Buea Subdivision. However Pupils who wrote the Common Entrance into form one in Buea, have successfully carried out the exercise especially in centers like GSS Buea town. Parents waited impatiently outside to escort their kids home. Before the Bunduma Gate shootings, serious gunshots were heard in Muea, still in Buea, following an all morning stormy atmosphere in neighboring Ekona town, in Muyuka Subdivision. Internally displaced persons have begun entering Buea for safety with Muea recording the first cases. The presence of Ambazonia fighters in Ekona has forced denizens to flee into bushes for fear of Military reaction which has always been characterized by burning s, arrests, torture among others. Attacks in Buea are geared at scaring the people from taking part in May 20 celebrations coming up in five days. The situation in Buea and Ekona were less tensed as compared to Foe Bakundu, a locality found in Mbonge Subdivision, Meme Division in the South West region of Cameroon. Soldiers stormed the area burning houses and destroying properties forcing villagers to flee into bushes. Prominent among the houses set ablaze was that of former Mayor of Mbonge Council, Prince Ebako Motanga. Chris ANU Archives It has been revealed that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, is finalizing investigations on the possible arrest, detention and repatriation of two prominent Ambazonia leaders, Interim Government Communication Secretary Chris Anu and Tapang Ivo, also known as General Ivo. The news featured in the Guardian Post newspaper, Cameroons lone English language daily outlet in its Tuesday edition confirmed that if arrested, the Ambazonian Communication Secretary could be jailed for three years in the US while Tapang Ivo will be sent back to Cameroon to face justice. Contacted by Guardian Post, Chris Anu said his arrest will be betrayal of Americas string adherence to values of liberty and free speech. Meanwhile Tapang Ivo Tanku said, I am liberation fighter. No man born of a woman can stop me from liberating my people dying in slavery. Whether you are Ambassador or Soldier, I reserve my legitimate rights to fight for protection and equality of women and children whom you neglected when they begged you for rescue. The information came just hours after the US Ambassador to Cameroon condemned hate speech by some tiny Cameroonians living in the US, going by his description. He called on the Government of Cameroon to open dialogue with disgruntled Anglophones while calling for ceasefire on both sides. His call was received with mixed feelings as many Anglophones chastised him with some suggesting that he might have taken bribed from the State. Peter Henry Barelin later told Equinoxe Television that his country can only intervene in the crisis if she is invited to mediate. | BY Ricki Green | AIRBAG and TKT Sydney have both scored one Silver Prize each at New York Festivals International Advertising Awards New York Show gala held last night, May 17th at the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Centers Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. AIRBAG has scored a Second Prize for Australian Marriage Equality Bachelor & Bachelorettes, created with Leo Burnett Melbourne and TKT Sydney has scored its Second Prize for V Energy Bit Better Fallout. Australia has also picked up 16 Third Prize Awards led by CHE Proximity with eight. CHE Proximitys Cochlear The Hearing Test in Disguise won four, Velocity Frequent Flyer The Billion Point Giveaway scored two and Swann Insurance Inconvenience Stores and Lego Australia Making the List scored one each. Australian agencies scoring two Third Prize Awards each include Ogilvy Melbourne for AAMI AAMI SmartPlates and BWM Dentsu for Queensland Police Snapchat Disappearing Persons and Victorian Government Alert Ad. Scoring one Third Prize each is Fenton Stephens for Telstra Phonewords, Words Are more Memorable Than Numbers; McCann Sydney for Mastercard Tap For Your Town; BMF for Sportsbet Putting the Roid in Android and Alt.vfx for Tile Lost Panda. Colenso BBDO scored a Grand Prize in the Integrated/Mixed Media category for Pedigree The Child Replacement Programme. The annual event celebrating the Worlds Best Advertising was hosted by actress and TV personality, Debi Mazar and kicked off with a cocktail reception followed by the awards ceremony and an after-party to honor trophy-winners. The spotlight was on the 2018 award-winners as they celebrated with advertising creatives, executive/grand jury members, press and guests from around the globe. The 2018 executive jury of global and chief creative officers, in addition to NYFs Film Craft executive jury, comprised of some of the most creative, technically advanced filmmakers in the industry today, selected the Worlds Best Advertising award winners from the shortlist chosen by the NYFs 300+ grand jury members. The combined 2018 executive juries deliberated and awarded Best of Show, 9 prestigious Grand Prize Awards, 76 First Prize Awards, 111 Second Prize Awards, and 216 Third Prize Awards. The coveted 2018 Best of Show Award was awarded to Fearless Girl McCann New York for client State Street Global Advisors SHE fund: an investment fund for companies with more women in leadership. The statue of a fearless young girl standing up to Wall Streets Charging Bull became a symbol of female empowerment, the icon of International Womens Day, a piece of city art, and a social media phenomenon. People across the world emulated her stance as an expression of personal empowerment. Fearless Girl was in the winners circle taking home 3 Grand Trophies and an impressive 9 First Prize Awards. Says Devika Bulchandani, president, McCann New York: We are thrilled that Fearless Girl had caught the worlds attention and that gender diversity in the corporate world had a visible champion. To be recognized by your peers for the continued impact she is having with the Best of Show honors is exhilarating and humbling. Procter & Gamble Corporation, the American multi-national consumer goods corporation was recognized with the New York Festivals 2018 Brand of the Year Award for their commitment to creativity and innovation. Saatchi & Saatchi New Yorks Its a Tide Ad Campaign, for client Procter & Gamble, earned 2 distinguished Grand Awards and 4 First Prize Awards. McCann Worldgroup was in the spotlight; the network was honored with the title of 2018 Network of the Year. The prestigious award is presented to the agency network that achieves the most awards and produces the finest caliber of work. The network earned, along with the 2018 Best of Show and 3 Grand Awards, a staggering 18 First Prize Awards, 19 Second Prize Awards, 21 Third Prize Awards, and 96 finalist certificates. Says Rob Reilly, global creative chairman, McCann Worldgroup: We cant thank our clients enough for partnering with us on brave ideas that end up having a huge impact on culture. Winning Network of the Year is a huge honor, especially with so many other agencies and networks doing incredible things. It is a testament to the resiliency of the people of McCann Worldgroup, all around the world. The Regional Agency of the Year Award is awarded to an advertising agency that earns the highest score for entries in all competitions across all mediums. The 2018 Regional Agency of the Year Awards honor the following agencies: Europe Jung von Matt, Germany; North America McCann New York; South American AlmapBBDO Publicidade e Comunicacao LTDA, Brazil; Mena FP7 Egypt and Asia Pacific Cheil, Hong Kong. The Independent Agency of the Year, based on total points earned, is given to the non-networked agency that obtains the highest score for entries in all competitions across all mediums, irrespective of whether these have been entered by the agency or another party. Jung von Matt, Germany is the 2018 Independent Agency of the Year. Says Doerte Spengler-Aherns, chief creative officer, Jung Von Matt /SAGA Germany: It is a big honour for Jung von Matt to win the prize of Independent Agency of the Year of the New York Festivals and we welcome this in particular as it strengthens again the non-networked-agencies. In addition, we are very delighted, that it is a joint achievement of various Jung von Matt agencies in various locations for different clients. The Film Production Company of the Year Award is based on total points scored, irrespective of whether these have been entered by the production company, advertising agency, or another third party. The 2018 Film Production Company of the Year Award goes to Rattling Stick for their award-winning work for Saatchi & Saatchi New Yorks Its A Tide Ad Campaign. Says Jeff Shupe, executive producer, Rattling Stick, Santa Monica & London: Its an honor to be recognized by New York Festivals as Production Company of the Year for Its a Tide Ad. On behalf of Rattling Stick and Traktor, a huge thanks to Saatchi NY and P&G for the opportunity and collaborative efforts that created a transcendent campaign. Every day we strive to elevate the ideas that come our way and its truly special when all of the components come together as perfectly as they did for Tide. New York Festivals honored two of New York Citys iconic theatre organizations, The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing with the New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award. Their commitment to fostering awareness of the theatre industry and their co-sponsorship of the Tony Awards, theatres highest honor, make them deserving recipients of this distinguished award. Heather Hitchens, President & CEO of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League accepted. The 2018 executive jury awarded the following prominent agencies with Grand Awards for their exceptional entries: ACTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT: McCann New York, USA Fearless Girl State Street Global Advisors. AVANT-GARDE: McCann New York, USA Fearless Girl State Street Global Advisors. DIRECT & COLLATERAL: FF Paris, France Libe des refugies Liberation. FILM CINEMA / ONLINE / TV: Saatchi & Saatchi New York, USA Its a Tide Ad Campaign Procter & Gamble Tide. INTEGRATED: Colenso BBDO Auckland, New Zealand, The Child Replacement Programme Mars / Pedigree. MEDIA: Saatchi & Saatchi New York, USA Its a Tide Ad Campaign Procter & Gamble Tide. OUTDOOR / OUT of HOME MARKETING: McCann New York, USA Fearless Girl State Street Global Advisors. PRINT: Akestam Holst NOA Stockholm, Sweden IKEA Pee Ad IKEA Sweden. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMUNICATIONS: FF Paris, France Libe des refugies Liberation. New York Festivals, in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information, appoints a UN panel to select public service work that exemplifies the aims and ideals of the United Nations. The 2018 UNDPI Jury honored the following entries: Jung von Matt AG Germany The Gender Pay Gap Experiment for TERRE DES FEMMES earned the UNDPI First Prize Award; Kolle Rebbe GmbH Germany Misereor Micro Meals for Bisch fliches Hilfswerk MISEREOR e. V. was awarded the UNDPI Second Prize Award; and Grey Germany Open your eyes for TERRE DES FEMMES was honored with the UNDPI Third Prize Award. | BY Ricki Green | The trailer and poster for Exit director Ben Lawrences first feature length documentary Ghosthunter has been released. Ghosthunter follows Jason King, a Western Sydney security guard and part-time ghost hunter, who has spent two decades searching for his absent father. As a survivor of trauma, he seeks to reconcile his fractured memories and piece together his past. When his search converges with a police investigation, a horrific family secret is exposed forcing him to confront a brutal past in order to reclaim his future. Says Ben Lawrence, director, Exit Films: As humans, we have to forget in order to survive, but we have this burning desire to remember what happened. Its this struggle that lies at the heart of the film. Ben Lawrence is an award winning director of short films and commercials, as part of the collective at Exit films . View Ben Lawrences reel here. Ghosthunter is funded by Screen Australia, SBS, Exit Films, philanthropic donations and private investment. It was chosen as one of the six social impact films for 2017 by Goodpitch Australia. Ghosthunter will have its world premiere at the 2018 Sydney Film Festival where it is being showcased in the highly regarded documentary section. Following its world premiere, Ghosthunter will screen at the prestigious Sheffield International Documentary Festival, where it has been nominated for an Illuminate Award. The film will receive a theatrical release across Australia in early 2019. #ghosthunter | BY Kim Shaw | Friday 22 June, 12pm Sir Martin Sorrell with Ken Auletta Sir Martin Sorrell will sit down with Ken Auletta for a candid discussion about the marketing industry issues of today. In a dynamic and stimulating session, Sir Martin Sorrell will be in conversation with Ken Auletta, a globally respected journalist and author. Kens new book: Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (And Everything Else) will be published in June 2018. | BY Lynchy | Love, Bonito has partnered with 72andSunny Singapore to refresh the Love, Bonito brand as it continues to grow in Singapore and beyond. We are excited to work with 72andSunny in our next stages of growth and cant wait to start working with their dynamic team said Rachel Lim, co-founder of Love, Bonito. | BY Lynchy | Luck has never been more pervasive at Changi Airport as the group celebrates the return of its iconic Be A Changi Millionaire shopping promotion with a colourful campaign by Ogilvy Singapore. To kick off the ninth installment of the anchor retail promotion, the theme of the campaign adopts the simple metaphor that shows how one finds a proverbial pot of gold at the end of a rainbow in this case, a shot at winning either S$1 million dollars or the ultra luxurious Jaguar E-Pace SUV. As part of the six-month long campaign which will run from May to October 2018, Ogilvy Singapore developed a film which features the rare sight of rainbows flowing along the airport boulevard and into the terminals, resembling a tidal wave of luck streaming into Changi Airport. Using rainbow lightsticks mounted on the back of a moving car, the video was filmed at a high-frame rate which creates an echoing effect of racing light streaks around Changi. Melvyn Lim, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Singapore said, We wanted to create an atmosphere of luck with some of its most iconic metaphors. Rainbows are a wonderful sight themselves; and anyone whos lucky enough to spot them are always left in awe. We captured that feeling in the film with the new Jaguar E-Pace, by using the magic of Pixelsticks to recreate rainbows in the night literally wrapping the airport in a colorful streak of luck! Edwin Lim, General Manager of Airside Concessions, Changi Airport Group said, The Be a Changi Millionaire shopping promotion is Changi Airports flagship airport-wide campaign aimed at rewarding our shoppers and diners. This year, building on the concept that luck is all around in Changi Airport, we planted lucky charms such as the four-leaved clover and the 88-butterfly throughout the airport and in our online game site to make shopping and dining even more exciting for our passengers and visitors. We have also lined up some intriguing activations in the lead up to the grand draw to be held in January 2019. Credits Chief Creative Officer: Eugene Cheong Executive Creative Director: Melvyn Lim Account Management: Brenda Han, Alex Chong, Vanessa Ho Creative Director: Loo Yong Ping Art Directors: Nico Tangara Copywriters: TJ Sie Production House: The Prosecution Film Company Director: Ros Yusof | BY Lynchy | Independent digital creative shop Propel Manila has appointed Raymund Sison as its new creative leader and partner. Sison will lead the creative department and oversee the creative vision and direction of Propel Manilas roster of clients such as Samsung Philippines, Unilever Food Solutions, Kiehls, Ayala Corporation, among others. Prior to joining Propel Manila, Sison (pictured left) was lead creative for Jollibee at Publicis JimenezBasic where he created some of the most memorable campaigns for the countrys most iconic brand. His early years as a creative were spent making exceptional campaigns and pop culture breakouts for BBDO Guerrero, Campaigns & Grey, and DDB Philippines. We have been looking for a creative leader who shares our vision and values and has the passion, stamina to steer the agency to where we want to take it, and Raymund is the perfect fit. He is a strong leader with a passion for creating ideas that solve business problems, build brands, and connect well with people, said JC Valenzuela, CEO & President of Propel Manila. His entrepreneurial approach to provide creative solutions, not just ads, to business issues makes him perfect for Propel Manilas entrepreneurial culture. We are positive that Raymunds addition to our current team builds further momentum within the industry and hell continue to propel the agency further to greater heights. 12 years in advertising has seen Sison take care of some of the worlds biggest brands (P&G, Heineken, Pepsi, Johnson & Jonson AXA, Fonterra, Mazda, Lacoste) and some of the countrys largest (Jollibee, Globe Telecom, PLDT, Unilab, Monde Nissin, Splash, Greenwich, Sun Cellular, Philippine Department of Tourism). His works have been recognized at creative festivals like Cannes, Clio, London International, European Epica, One Show, Spikes Asia, Adfest, Busan Ad Stars, Kidlat, Boomerang, and Tambuli. He served as one of the Board of Directors at the 4As Creative Guild of the Philippines and Co-Principal at The Guilds Raw School. Notice for the Postmedia Network This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Goodwill to close South Fort Myers retail and donation center Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida Inc. has announced that it will be closing its retail and donation center located in South Fort Myers, 11601 S. Cleveland Ave., effective at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 26. Goodwills lease is expiring and will not be renewed. Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida successfully operates 28 other non-profit retail and donation centers throughout the five-county-area to generate revenue for much needed programs and services for people with disabilities and disadvantages. Associates affected by the closing will receive assistance with job placement and will be encouraged to apply for open positions among the other Goodwill locations. Customers are encouraged to shop at Goodwills many other convenient locations, including: 13500 Plantation Road, off Daniels Parkway; 16523 Island Park Road and the McGregor Book Store, 15165 McGregor Blvd. In preparation for the store closing, the store will have two special sale days Friday, May 25, and Saturday, May 26. All donated goods will be 50 percent off. Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. Its mission is to help people with disabilities and disadvantages by offering life-changing opportunities to achieve independence. For more about Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, visit www.goodwillswfl.org or call (239) 995-2106. Hurricane preparedness topic of next WIB meeting The Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce Women in Business Committee will host its June networking meeting from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 6, at Wayne Wiles Floor Coverings, 16240 South Tamiami Trail in Fort Myers. This months WIB event will focus on hurricane preparedness while providing open networking for local professionals. During the program, three local business professionals will share their real-life experiences and lessons learned from Hurricane Irma. This panel will provide insight on what you should or shouldnt do, in both business sand home life, when preparing for the worst-case scenario. The event will be catered by Francos and there will be a 50/50 raffle, as well as a raffle for a hurricane preparedness kit donated by our host and sponsor, Wayne Wiles Floor Coverings. The panel members include Karen Ryan, PR manager for LCEC, Keith Ruebeling, president/owner of Larue Pest Management, and Will Prather, executive producer/owner of Prather Productions, also named Best Chill in a hurricane in Florida Weeklys Best Of issue. All business professionals are invited to attend. Admission is $10 for GFMCC members and $20 for future GFMCC members. To register, call 239-332-3624 or visit www.fortmyers.org. Schoenfeld appointed co-chair of Lee County Bar Association group Attorney Jennifer J. Hammond of Green Schoenfeld & Kyle LLP has been appointed co-chair of the Lee County Bar Associations Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Practice Section. Hammond has nearly 20 years of business and legal experience. Her focus areas include estate planning, trust administration, taxation, probate, corporate, business and partnership law, and wealth preservation. Hammond is a member of the Florida and Lee Bar Associations, as well as the American and Maryland Bar Associations. Hammond is joined by Kenneth Kemp as co-chair. Established in 1949, the Lee County Bar Association was formed as a voluntary organization of attorneys living and working in Lee County, Florida. The purpose of the organization is to further the education of its members, create meaningful interaction among its members, and to inform the community on important legal matters. Since 2000, Green Schoenfeld & Kyle LLP has provided legal services to Florida individuals and businesses. The firms specialty areas of practice are estate planning; probate, estate and trust administration; business planning, corporate, LLC and partnership law; and estate and gift tax issues. For more information, visit www.gskattorneys.com. Pushing the Envelopes Scott to address FPRA The Florida Public Relations Association Southwest Florida Chapter has announced that Samantha Scott, APR, president of the marketing communications firm, Pushing the Envelope, will be the keynote speaker for its May 22 luncheon program. Scott will present Social Media For Business Growth from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m at the Holiday Inn Fort Myers Airport at Town Center, located at 9931 Interstate Commerce Drive in Fort Myers. Scott will educate attendees on how to create motivating content, strategically choose the most effective channels to optimize peak performance, as well as, how to attribute leads, sales and revenue accurately. Social media use by businesses today is no longer optional or uncommon, however, using it as a definitive business driver is. The cost for attending the luncheon program is $25 for members, $30 for non-members and $20 for students. Space is limited, so registering early is encouraged. RSVP online at fpraswfl.org. Established in 1938, FPRA is the oldest public relations organization in the country. FPRA is dedicated to developing public relations practitioners, who, through ethical and standardized practices, enhance the public relations profession in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. For additional information, please visit the Southwest Florida Chapter of FPRA website at www.fpraswfl.org. Local dentist named one of Americas best The National Consumer Advisory Board has named Pediatric Dentistry of Florida, Dr. Tim M. Verwest, DMD, one of Americas best dentist for 2018. Verwest selection is based on a proprietary assessment of a dentists experience, training, continuing education, and commitment to excellence to ensure the most impartial unbiased review of all applicants. Verwest is a board certified diplomat of the National Board of Pediatric Dentistry with professional interests in the areas of pediatric pharmacology, biomaterials, and pediatric anesthesia. Pediatric Dentistry of Florida, Dr. Tim Verwest, DMD & Associates has provided pediatric dental care to children for the last 26 years. Areas of service include comprehensive dental exams, cleanings, composite fillings, dental hygiene education, extractions, fluoride treatments, sealants, sedation dentistry, space maintainers, x-rays and tooth nerve treatment. For more, visit www.DrVerwest.com or 239-482-2722. The Horizon Council and Lee County Economic Development Office are seeking applications for the 2018 Industry Appreciation Awards, which celebrate the Lee County business community and recognize outstanding local businesses that have positively influenced Southwest Florida. The honorees and finalists will be recognized during the Industry Appreciation luncheon Thursday, Oct. 4, at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Estero. Applications must be received no later than June 29. Businesses will be honored in five categories: Business Citizenship Awarded to a company whose financial, volunteer and active involvement in community organizations and programs create a better quality of business and civic life in Lee County. Awards will be given in two categories: Large (51-plus employees), Small (1-50 employees). Nonprofit of the Year Awarded to a Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has recognized a business or civic need within our community and through community responsibility, innovation, growth, sound business practices and community partnerships serves our community with vision and integrity. Awards will be given in two categories: Large (Operating budget $1 million or more), Small (Operating budget under $1 million). Diversity in Business Awarded to a business that has implemented programs in the workplace to create and promote diversity by employing initiatives within the organization and the community. Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice and public assistance status. Startup of the Year Awarded to a company founded in Lee County in the last three to five years with demonstrated continued growth, both financially and in staffing, since startup, while leading and overcoming challenges. Business of the Year Awarded to a company in business six or more years in Lee County, under the same corporate name and ownership, which offers high-quality products and services, provides superior customer service, demonstrates strong ethical standards, is community-minded, supports employee development, exhibits exemplary leadership within its industry and among its clients and contributes to the economic growth and free enterprise of Lee County. For applications or for additional information please go to www.leecountybusiness.com/iaw or call 239-533-6800. The Lee County Economic Develop-ment Office provides business assistance to retain existing businesses, encourage entrepreneurship and to attract new businesses to ensure Lee County has a strong economy, thriving communities and broadly shared prosperity. For additional information, visitLeeCountyBusiness.com. The Horizon Council is a public-private advisory board established in 1991 to advise the Lee Board of County Commis-sioners on economic development issues. The councils mission is to improve Lee Countys business environment, retain and encourage expansion of existing businesses, and attract new and diversified employers. It is the only public-private partnership of Lee County Government and business leaders. The Horizon Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organizations established as a fundraising vehicle enabling individuals and businesses to actively support the program of work of the Horizon Council and the Lee County Economic Development Office. For more information, visit www.leecountybusiness.com or call 239-533-6800. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Lee County will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in its services, programs, or activities. To request an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or a reasonable modification to participate in this meeting, contact Joan LaGuardia, 239-533-2314, Florida Relay Service 711, or jlaguardia@leegov.com. Next months roster of activities at Cape Coral Lee County Public Library offers topics for all ages. The following activities are free to the public. Adult Programs English Caf 10 a.m., Fridays, June 1, 8, 15, 29 6 p.m., Tuesdays, June 5, 12, 26 Free, informal conversation sessions for adult ESOL/ESL students. Download Drop-in 11 a.m., Tuesdays, June 5, 19 Receive personalized help downloading e-books, movies, music and more from the librarys online library. Bring your tablets, phones, e-readers, and other digital devices for a hands-on help session. Exploring Arts & Crafts 1:30 p.m., Tuesdays, June 5: Greeting Cards June 19: Miniature Books Explore arts and crafts through demonstrations and hands-on practice. Each session will begin with a demonstration followed by an opportunity to create, practice and explore. Everyone is welcome to bring carpet-friendly arts and crafts supplies and work on their own projects. Chess Anyone? 5:30 p.m., Tuesdays, June 12, 26 Rise to the chess challenge and join in the fun. Bring a personal chess set, if desired. Sponsored by the Friends of the Cape Coral Public Library. Coloring for Grown-ups 11 a.m., Thursday, June 21 The repetitive motion involved in coloring has a calming effect and adults have found this childhood activity a refreshing way to release their creativity, relieve stress and meet other participants. Materials provided. Sponsored by Friends of the Cape Coral Public Library. Invasive Species Awareness 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 26 Learn how to identify and report non-native wildlife in Southwest Florida. Un-derstand how Nile monitors and black spiny-tailed iguanas impact burrowing owls and gopher tortoises. Presented by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Hurricane Preparedness Seminar 2 p.m., Tuesday, June 26 Learn how to plan and prepare for hurricane season. Receive information about the Special Needs Program, volunteering with Emergency Management, family emergency plans, evacuation routes, public shelters, emergency supply kits, evacuation zones and what resources are available during a disaster. Presented by Lee County Emergency Management. Storytime Family Storytime 10 a.m., Wednesdays, June 6, 13, 20, 27 Your whole family is invited to this enjoyable, all-ages storytime that encourages the development of prereading skills through songs, rhymes, fingerplays and stories. An age appropriate craft or art activity will be provided following the storytime. Online registration is required. Childrens Programs Drumming with Ndakthe 2 p.m., Monday, June 11 Learn to play the fiery rhythms of West Africa with Master Drummer Ndakhte Ndiaye. Children will learn the fascinating history and meaning of the rhythms and dance movements in this lively cultural presentation. Authentic hand-carved Djembe drums provided. Sponsored by Friends of the Cape Coral Public Library. Free tickets available beginning June 4. For children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade. Kids Read Down Fines 1-2 p.m., Saturday, June 16 Children and teens earn a $2 credit for every 15 minutes they read in the designated area for a total of $8 in one session. Credit may be applied to cards issued to patrons age 18 and under only and applies only to charges on overdue materials. Please bring your library card. John Storms: World of Reptiles 2 p.m., Monday, June 18 Discover the fascinating and slithering world of reptiles with John Storms as he features several favorite cold-blooded creatures. Sponsored by Friends of the Cape Coral Public Library. Free tickets available beginning June 11. For children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade. Dance to the Rhythm 2 p.m., Monday, June 25 Join Emily Gibson with Lee Memorial Health System as we move and groove to our favorite hits. Keep cool and stay fit during this indoor dance and fitness class. Sponsored by Friends of the Cape Coral Public Library. Free tickets available beginning June 18. For children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade. Invasive Species Awareness 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 26 Learn how to identify and report non-native wildlife in Southwest Florida. Understand how Nile monitors and black spiny-tailed iguanas impact burrowing owls and gopher tortoises. Presented by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Teen Programs Chess Anyone? 5:30 p.m., Tuesdays, June 12, 26 Rise to the chess challenge and join in the fun. Bring a personal chess set, if desired. Sponsored by the Friends of the Cape Coral Public Library. Rocks n Runes 2 p.m., Thursday, June 14 Join us for a rock painting party. Turn your rock into a photo holder or write your name in runes, Elvish and other fun alphabets. Sponsored by Friends of the Cape Coral Public Library. For grades 6 12. Kids Read Down Fines 1-2 p.m., Saturday, June 16 Children and teens earn a $2 credit for every 15 minutes they read in the designated area for a total of $8 in one session. Credit may be applied to cards issued to patrons age 18 and under only and applies only to charges on overdue materials. Please bring your library card. Teen Tech Extravaganza 2 p.m., Thursday, June 21 Try out lots of different technology for free. There will be Sphero SPRK+ robots, MakeyMakey (make your own circuit), Littlebits (more circuitry with snap-on electronics), iPads with fun apps, and programming with Scratch. For grades 6-12. Invasive Species Awareness 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 26 Learn how to identify and report non-native wildlife in Southwest Florida. Understand how Nile monitors and black spiny-tailed iguanas impact burrowing owls and gopher tortoises. Presented by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Stranger Things Escape Room 2 p.m., Thursday, June 28 Will is missing again. Help Mike, Steve, Dustin, Lucas and Eleven find their friend by solving Stranger Things puzzles before its too late. Costumes are encouraged, but masks are not permitted. For grades 6 12. The Cape Coral Lee County Public Library is located at 921 S.W. 39th Terrace in Cape Coral. For more information about a program or to register, please call the library at 239-533-4500. Check the Lee County Library Systems website at www.leelibrary.net to find out about programs at other locations. Call the host library, or Telephone Reference at 239-479-INFO (4636), for more information about a specific program. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Lee County will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in its services, programs or activities. To request an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or a reasonable modification to participate, contact Joan LaGuardia, 239-533-2314, Florida Relay Service 711, or jlaguardia@leegov.com. Accommodation will be provided at no cost to the requestor. Requests should be made at least five business days in advance. Staying up to date on crime in Cape Coral is now as easy as opening an app on your smart phone. The Cape Coral Police Department is joining forces with the Neighbors (by Ring) app that will give residents real-time alerts and let users report crime in their area. Neighbors is the newest tool that we want to provide citizens to connect with the Cape Coral Police Department and each other. Neighbors allows the Cape Coral Police Department to share real-time, local safety information with our citizens. More importantly, it allows residents to share information directly with us, and each other, building a stronger, safer Cape Coral, one neighborhood at a time, said Lieutenant Dana Coston, CCPD?spokesperson in a written statement. Think of it as a neighborhood crime watch network social media style. Upon downloading, users will enable their devices location and the app will provide you with all crime reports in your surrounding area coming from law enforcement, along with posts from people in the community. Videos, pictures, and regular text-posts of potential crime in your area is accessible on your device to read and post, as well as how far away these incidents happened from you. Coston says the decision to implement this technology was an easy one. Ring approached us regarding this partnership. Access to Neighbors is free for users as well as the Cape Coral Police Department and after going through the demo to see how easy the tool is to use for us to push information to citizens and for citizens to share with us, it was a no-brainer, he states. This was not a reactionary decision made by CCPD towards crime, but one that allows them to cast a wider net in the community. This has more to do with the technology being ready than anything else. We have hit a technological inflection point where HD cameras and wifi are ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive and social media is popular and by all appearances here to stay. Neighbors taps into the connected cameras that are out there already (whether Rings own products, other manufacturers products, cell phones, etc) and is creating a social network for users to share info with each other and with law enforcement, said Coston. Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor and founder of Ring said in a written statement: Were excited to have the Cape Coral Police Department join Neighbors to keep their community up-to-date on local crime and safety information. Over the past few years we have learned that, when neighbors, the Ring team, and law enforcement all work together, we can create safer communities. Neighbors is meant to facilitate real-time communication between these groups, while maintaining neighbor privacy first and foremost. By bringing security to every neighbor with the free Neighbors app, the Cape Coral community can stay on top of crime and safety alerts as they happen. In a short amount of time, CCPD has used the technology to its benefit according to Coston, I can say that the Cape Coral Police Department has had a couple of apprehensions recently that were aided by their products. Potential users who are worried that this app will be difficult to navigate, shouldnt be overwhelmed. Very, said Coston on whether Neighbors is easy to use. The app is free to download, free to use and you do not have to be an owner of a Ring product to benefit and participate, he added. More information about the Neighbors app in Cape Coral can be found at capecops.com or ring.com/neighbors. Ryan Lamb can drive around the Cape, look at a place, and tell you what emergency happened there. It was that kind of knowledge helped Lamb, a Cape Coral Fire Department division chief, the role of fire chief. Lambs appointment by Cape Coral City Manager John Szerlag on Friday is effective as of Saturday. He replaces Donald Cochran, who retired in December after 26 years of service with the CCFD. The city had several candidates serve as interim fire chief. Szerlag gave Lamb a 60-day stint, followed by Mike Russell and Robert Topoleski, who indicated he wasnt interested in the position but agreed to be interim chief so to not give an advantage to the other two candidates. Lambs starting salary will be $133,000. Im humbled and honored to be able to gain this position. Its a dream come true for me because its the organization I started out with, Lamb said. I have a lot of institutional knowledge and its the place I live and I love. Lamb began his career as a volunteer firefighter in Punta Gorda and was hired by the CCFD in 2005. He has served as firefighter, engineer/driver, paramedic field training officer, acting lieutenant and battalion chief. Lamb was promoted to Fire Division Chief of Professional Standards in 2014 and was responsible for the development of policies, hiring, training, EMS and Special Operations programs within the department. In 2017, Lamb received the Chief Fire Officer designation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence, which recognizes individuals who demonstrate excellence in experience, education, professional development, professional contributions, association membership, community involvement and technical competence. There are only 1,305 CFOs worldwide. Lamb holds a masters in Administration from Barry University and a bachelors in Public Safety Administration from St. Petersburg College. He currently is enrolled in the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer program Education never stops. Ive had some great mentors in my career who have pushed me to where I needed to go. Ive achieved a lot, but there is still a lot more I can achieve, Lamb said. Ryan has proven to be a professional leader and has been an integral part of the Fire Departments command staff for a number of years, said Szerlag in a prepared statement. His management style and communication skills will be assets as the department moves forward. Lamb will have much to deal with as he takes over. He will almost immediately be proposing a budget for next fiscal year, as well as oversee the progress made on Fire Station No. 11 on Burnt Store Road, which will be complete by years end, and the rebuild of Station No. 2, near City Hall, next year. Land has also been acquired for stations No. 12 and 13, while the citys real estate experts are working to find appropriate sites for more stations as the city continues to grow. Lamb said he will look at best practices on a state and federal level and see how they would work for Cape Coral and make sense for the city. My job is to run the most effective and efficient fire department I can with the funding provided. We work with our elected officials to determine what level of risk they want, Lamb said. We can put a station on every corner, but thats not the most effective way to meet those risks. Lamb said he is coming in at the right time, with the community growing and the economy back to where it was before the recession hit. He will also use the lessons learned from Hurricane Irma to improve the department further. Ive never been on a perfect incident in my career. There are always things we can do to improve and do better next time, Lamb said. Failure is if we have the same mistakes repeated. It only takes one hurricane for it to be a bad year. Identity Records/The Fuel MusicEarlier this month, Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain published a memoir titled Don't Stop Believin': The Man, the Band, and the Song that Inspired Generations. Now the veteran musician has announced plans to release a new digital album as a companion to the book. The Songs You Leave Behind, which arrives June 8, is a 19-track collection featuring two brand-new tunes, five unreleased recordings and 12 autobiographical songs that reflect stories and themes from Cain's memoir. The album's title track, which is one of the new tunes, premiered today at Billboard.com. The piano-driven ballad, which features guitar work by Miles Schon, son of Journey guitarist Neal Schon, finds Cain reflecting on his legacy as a songwriter. "It's just me saying you'll be remembered for the songs you leave behind," Cain tells Billboard. "As a songwriter and having the blessings and the success I've had, that's all I can hope for." The other new tune on the album, "What Else Have I Missed," was co-written by Grammy-winning country songwriter Gary Baker and is dedicated to Jonathan's children. Among the five archival unreleased recordings is "The Day They Became Angels," a song commemorating the fire at Cain's grade school that claimed the lives of 92 of his classmates. Jonathan debuted the tune at a 50th anniversary memorial mass held in 2008 at Holy Family Church in Chicago. Some tracks on The Songs You Leave Behind are remastered versions of tunes that appeared on Cain's previous solo albums, 1995's Back to the Innocence and 2001's Anthology. The audiobook edition of Jonathan's memoir features 20 songs. Journey kicks off a lengthy North American tour with Def Leppard this Monday, May 21, in Hartford, Connecticut. The trek is mapped out through an October 6-7 stand in Inglewood, California. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Photo: Contributed A West Kelowna teacher has won a national award for her work with the blind and visually impaired. Lynn Langille, who has been teaching for nearly 30 years, won the Canadian National Excellence in Teaching the Blind and Visually Impaired Award at the Canadian Vision Teachers Conference in Edmonton. "It was quite a walk down memory lane. I'm proud of all that I've accomplished and very lucky to still be loving the work I get to do with these amazing children and professionals," said Langille. "She is so giving and doesn't want the publicity, but it's good to be heard," said partner Daniel Thomas. Langille's interest in this special field was piqued when she was a student at University of Kings College/Dalhousie University and volunteered at the Sir Frederick Fraser School for the Blind in Halifax in 1986-87. She took the children skating and read to them in the evenings in residence. She knew she wanted to be a teacher of students with special needs, but that confirmed what she wanted to do. Langille began her teaching career in Vancouver in 1998 and then moved to West Kelowna. Her passion was further influenced by her opportunity to take children from Canada to an international space camp in Alabama. Not only did she have the chance to see her students "reach for the stars," but she met teachers of the visually impaired from across the globe. This gave her the inspiration to create the Children's Low Vision Project of B.C., which is now in its 13th year. The effort brings together professionals trained in ophthalmology, optometry, orientation and mobility, assistive technology and education. The team evaluates each child, prescribes and dispenses vision aids, and makes recommendations to support the child, their family and teachers. Photo: Contributed The owner of Hi-pro Sportswear dumped his frustrations on Vernon's City Hall Wednesday. For his actions, Bob Sattler is now being investigated by RCMP. Sattler confirmed the investigation but declined to comment further. Sattler arrived to work Wednesday morning to find trash and shopping carts strewn about his property. He collected the items in his truck, drove them down to City Hall, and dumped the contents of his truck on the front steps. Sattler is one of a growing number of business owners who are frustrated with the actions of some of Vernon's street-entrenched population. The discussion around Vernon's Street-entrenched population is heated. There are no easy answers and business owners, like Sattler, feel there is nowhere to even ask the questions. So, armed with their frustration they set their sights on city hall for a solution. "We are left struggling with how we deal with it," says Vernon mayor Akbal Mund. "I think the expectations of people is that we as politicians should bring in some laws that are going to make the street-entrenched people disappear. As we all know, that is not going to happen. These people have rights too." Mund is frustrated as well. He hears the calls from the public for action but says the city is limited to what it can do. "It is not like we haven't asked the questions," says Mund. "They are not breaking the law by standing on the corner. It is not loitering. What do we do, bring in a law that says you can't stand on the sidewalk anymore?" In 2015, the BC Supreme Court ruled in favour of a group of homeless people challenging municipal bylaws that displace them from public spaces. "It is very difficult, but I think when you produce bylaws you have to make sure they work the same for everybody." The ruling changed the landscape across the province. It meant a municipality could not just pass a bylaw(s) that effectively infringe on an individual's charter of rights. "I didn't write the human charter of rights, but it applies and municipalities aren't going to go out there and break those laws," says Mund. "They have to apply to everybody in a reasonable manner. And I think the expectation, is that they (street-entrenched) can't stand on the corner, they can't be in the park. Well, they have the same right to be in the park, as you do." As for whether the city is listening to the Vernon business community, Mund says it has taken steps to help. "If you are asking, have they been heard? We just had a town hall meeting; we've started a task force; we've approved six more officers; we've increased our bylaw. We are doing what we can under our own laws to mitigate the issues where we can, but we can't be everywhere." Mund says he feels for Sattler and he plans on reaching out to him to talk. However, at the end of the day, the mayor wishes Sattler had of taken different action to get his point across. "Your chances of dumping garbage in front of the RCMP and not seeing any repercussions are not good." The mayor asks the hypothetical question: Should the city be responsible for cleaning up trash from fast food restaurants left behind by its customers? "The city cannot favour certain business owners ... because then it shows favouritism." The mayor adds, "You have to look at the bigger picture and as a business owner you have to ask the question, what can I do to mitigate the situation?" Kelowna's Dave McElroy relived the highlights and trials of a 68-day air odyssey from Kelowna to the tip of South America and back, Wednesday night. The Give Hope Wings flight raised awareness and funds for Hope Air, which transports patients to needed care at the coast for free. McElroy was joined by two other pilot buddies from Ontario and Saskatchewan in their homebuilt aircraft. While speedy, they only have four hours flying time, so logistics were everything. "It was more fun than adult humans should be allowed to have," McElroy quipped during Wednesday's fundraiser at Okanagan College. "We were basically adopted by the entire South American general aviation community." More than $530,000 was raised, including contributions Wednesday of $5,000 from First Choice Hair Cutters and $1,000 from RBC. Hope Air CEO Doug Heller-Hobson says it was the biggest local fundraiser in the organization's 32-year history and will fund 2,000 flights. "To put this in perspective, they raised enough money for 2,000 flights, last year there were 1,400 Hope Air flights from Kelowna, so they raised enough to cover all those and nearly half of this year," said Heller-Hobson. Vernon's Leila Ward was a Hope Air patient. "I had 20 more years of breathing that I wouldn't have had, thanks to Hope Air," she said. Ward has flown 13 times with Hope Air for specialized treatments in Vancouver. McElroy is enjoying some time at home, finishing a book about his solo trip around the world and planning his next great aviation adventure. Photo: District of Summerland Area in red, dike along Trout Creek currently under repair The District of Summerland is hopeful Trout Creek has already seen its peak as crews repair erosion to one of its dikes. The municipalitys own snowpack surveys conducted Thursday in the Isintok Lake and Summerland Reservoir areas came up empty with zero snow left at the sample sites. However, manager of utilities Devon van der Meulen said staff observed over a foot of snow in the trees near the test site, then more still up in the hills above those areas. Both test sites are within the Trout Creek watershed, and van der Meulen noted all but one of the municipalitys reservoirs that flow into Trout Creek are currently spilling. The provincial government doesn't provide any forecasting for Trout Creek like it does for Mission Creek in Kelowna, so district staff are left to predict flows themselves. The level that we see in Trout Creek near our intake has dropped, probably close to 30 cm since it peaked last week, van der Meulen said. Except for the possibility of significant rains, which could change everything, we would expect that whats left up there may continue at the same flows as they are currently for some time," he said, explaining they don't expect a second peak if the weather cooperates. The district is still warning residents of Trout Creek of the possibility of an evacuation alert should the creek rise quickly before repairs on the dike are completed. It also appears the worst is behind the residents that live along Eneas Creek, but there are a number of trees along Peach Orchard Road that have been undermined by the creek. Arborists are working on a plan to remove or top the danger trees, and residents walking or driving down the road are asked to be aware. Chantelle Deacon What's your favourite topping on a caesar? Thursday was International Caesar Day and for Canada, that's a big deal. Castanet staff decided to take a short break from work to celebrate the very special occasion. "I love toppings, I'm all about the toppings," said Kari Sargeant, Castanet sales staff. "I really do like a good pickle." The most amazing caesar Kari ever consumed isn't one she will soon forget. "I think it was on a patio in Vancouver once but I can't remember the name of the place," she said. The caesar featured a blue cheeseburger and stuffed olives all piled on top. Castanet sales staff member Krystina Rossworm loves has been celebrating the famous Canadian caesar for years. "[I celebrate National Caesar Day] every year," Rossworm said. "I've been celebrating it before it was actually a national day to celebrate." For Krystina she wants some 'eye candy' to pair with the cocktail. "A very cute waiter," she says, adding that her caesar better come with some great toppings as well. I guess it's fairly clear that the garnish on 9 (or with) a caesar is the most important element. Plus, he urged local authorities to "use these resources properly." "I do not offer to solve all the problems, but I do pledge to listen to you and adopt an approach to start providing solutions to those problems," he pointed out. Huanuco is the fourth region Mr. Vizcarra has visited so far since he took office as President of the Republic . He has previously traveled to Puno, Ucayali, and Cajamarca. Photo: RDOS The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen has ordered nine properties in the tiny community of Olalla evacuate, to move out of the way of a swollen Keremeos Creek. All nine properties have addresses on 1st Street, although two front onto 2nd Street. The RDOS says it made the order due to immediate danger to life and safety due to flooding. Property owners are requested to leave their properties, and check in with emergency support services located at Penticton Community Centre, 325 Power St. in Penticton. Open until 7 p.m. Keremeos Creek has also created problems in Keremeos itself, breaching its banks overnight, putting 61 properties on evacuation alert. Spring is in full swing and that means so is the Vernon Farmer's Market. The market is held every Thursday and Monday in the Kal Tire Place parking lot starting at 8 a.m. and manager Ingrid Baron said there is plenty of stuff to check out. There is so much great stuff down here, a lot of plants tomato plants and other veggie plants. I even saw some strawberry plants, said Baron. This is just the beginning, we hardly have any of the veggies here yet, but they are starting to come. And of course we are going to start with fruit here pretty quick. Baron said there are no big box stores allowed at the market. We are a make it, bake it, grow it market, said Baron. Photo: Peter Weeber With flood prevention infrastructure being installed all over the South Okanagan-Similkameen, the Regional District is reminding residents to steer clear and exercise caution along waterways. Gabion baskets, tiger dams and sandbags should not be walked on, stood on or tampered with. Their contents could have shifted due to wave action, and become hazardous. All sandbags and related infrastructure must stay in place until local authorities dictate otherwise. The RDOS advises that the flood threats may not be over for some time, and weather uncertainty, groundwater levels and creek and lake levels are still fluctuating. People are also cautioned to be careful on local lakes and waterways, and be mindful of the wakes their watercrafts create, as these can further stress sandbagged shorelines. Rivers are faster than usual, and hidden debris floating beneath the water can be hazardous to boaters as well. Overall, the RDOS is asking people to just be careful as this year's flood season reaches a peak. Photo: Alanna Kelly Ben Stewart spent more than $87,000 to secure the Kelowna West riding for the BC Liberals prior to the Feb. 14 byelection. Financial figures were released Thursday by Elections BC. Stewart, who won the election by nearly 5,000 votes over runner up Shelley Cook of the NDP, spent $53,500 during the campaign and nearly $34,000 in the weeks leading up to it. The largest expense was for advertising at nearly $38,000, combining media, newsletters and promotional materials such as signs. He spent just under $15,000 for salaries and benefits. Cook, who also ran unsuccessfully against former MLA Christy Clark in the general election, spent a little more than $48,000. Of that, $20,000 went to various advertising platforms and $14,300 to wages and benefits. Green Party candidate Robert Stupka's third place finish cost him and the party a little more than $50,000. More than $27,000 went to various forms of advertising and nearly $3,000 for travel. BC Conservative Party candidate Mark Thompson spent $6,400, while Libertarian candidate Kyle Geronazzo spent just $250. Elections BC regulations allowed candidates to spend a maximum of $58,000 on the campaign, with the party able to spend another $58,000. Photo: RDOS The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen has approved the construction of a massive marijuana grow facility in Okanagan Falls on the old Weyerhaeuser mill site. The board voted Thursday to approve the development permit, which required no rezoning or variances. The 17-acre greenhouse, production and administrative building is being built by Sunniva Inc., lead by Poplar Grove Winery owner Tony Holler. The company recently announced the purchase of the entire 126-acre vacant industrial site for for $7M, a sale set to close on June 15. The property has been empty since the mill closed in 2007. Sunniva has also publicly discussed plans to build a cannabis-production facility on Osoyoos Indian Band lands, but says they selected to OK Falls site because of the ability to purchase and own the land and future expansion opportunities. The company has hired EllisDon as the projects general contractor. Billed as Sunnivas Canadian Campus, the facility differs from most others in that it will actually utilize natural light with greenhouses, lowering the carbon footprint significantly. A similar facility is currently under construction in California. RDOS Board Chair Karla Kozakevich said there was some debate from board members that wanted to postpone or deny the decision, but the majority saw no reason as the development fits the Official Community Plan. Sunniva says the facility will employ 240 people once it is up and running. Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference in New York on Thursday, May 17, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick The United States declared the NAFTA countries were nowhere close to a deal in a statement Thursday designed to douse expectations that an agreement might be just a few minor adjustments away. It rebuffed an effort from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, and several high-ranking staffers who were in the U.S. on Thursday urging a quick deal. U.S. trade czar Robert Lighthizer rejected the idea that an agreement was within imminent reach. He cited big differences on intellectual property, agriculture, online purchases, energy, labour, rules of origin, and other issues. "The NAFTA countries are nowhere near close to a deal.... There are gaping differences," Lighthizer said in an evening statement. "We of course will continue to engage in negotiations, and I look forward to working with my counterparts to secure the best possible deal for American farmers, ranchers, workers, and businesses." All three countries agreed that they would keep negotiating beyond Thursday, a date that had been presented as a procedural deadline for getting a deal to the U.S. Congress for a vote this year. Photo: Google Earth The Regional District of North Okanagan has issued a local state of emergency in the Whitevale Road area of Harris and Bessette Creek in Lumby. The RDNO made the decision due to ongoing localized flooding, and is monitoring weather patterns while it coordinates with other agencies to manage the water. Residents are reminded that sandbags are available in Lumby on Shields Avenue across from the arena. They are also in Enderby at the public works yards at 2308 McGowan Avenue and at the BX Swan Lake Fire Department at 5764 Silver Star Road. Photo: Facebook It may not be the debate of the ages, but it's certainly got the world talking. What do you hear? Yanny or Laurel? The viral social media phenomenon has everyone from celebs to politicians sounding off. Some hear Yanny, some hear Laurel. Some hear both. It's 2018's version of the great "Is the dress blue or gold?" debate. And people are wasting time trying to decide all over the world. Everyone from talk show host Ellen to author Stephen King are offering their opinions. What do you think? Photo: The Canadian Press Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle when she marries his son Prince Harry a gesture of welcome to the American actress as she joins the royal family. Kensington Palace said Friday that Markle asked the heir to the British throne to offer the supporting elbow Saturday at St. George's Chapel in Windsor once Markle's father was unable to attend after falling ill. Charles "is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to the Royal Family in this way," the palace said. The news came amid the final wedding preparations. Union Jacks have been unfurled, security barriers are up and fans are already moving in to capture the prime viewing positions in Windsor. Buckingham Palace announced that the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding, just a few weeks after undergoing a hip replacement operation. The 96-year-old Prince Philip has largely retired from public duties and it had not been clear whether he would be feeling well enough to attend. The last-minute announcements came after days of speculation. Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, was the bookies' favourite to escort the bride, but Prince Charles has a lifetime of experience in appearing at large-scale public events amid intense scrutiny. It's not the first time a royal bride hasn't been walked down the aisle by her father. The monarch's sister, the late Princess Margaret, was walked down the aisle by Prince Philip. Queen Victoria walked two daughters down the aisle. Photo: The Canadian Press Six young squirrels whose tails were stuck together by tree sap are recovering after a Nebraska wildlife expert untangled them. A Nebraska Humane Society worker rescued the squirrels from a pine tree in Omaha last week. Nebraska Wildlife Rehab executive director Laura Stastny told the Omaha World-Herald that the sap-covered tails became knotted as the youngsters wrestled in their nest. Stastny says they are about eight weeks old. Resident Craig Luttman spotted the rodents' predicament, describing it Thursday as "kind of like a tug of war, going in completely opposite directions." Stastny gave the squirrels a mild painkiller before removing the sticky fur and untangling them. She says some of them suffered injuries to their tails, but that she expects all six to be released in a few weeks. The souvenirs created with the support of Business Armenia and under the Tag (translated as crown) brand are already in the market presented in 20 sales outlets. As the Brand public relations team reports in a Facebook post, batches of the souvenirs have also been exported to Russia and the United States. May 18, 2018, 12:46 The Armenian Tag presented in local, Russian, and American markets STEPANAKERT, MAY 18, ARTSAKHPRESS:In Armenia those are presented in the National Gallery, museums, and souvenir shops. In the near future the number of outlets will increase and will include souvenir galleries by the churches. Besides, the export market will expand reaching Canada, Ukraine and France, stated the Business Armenia Businessmen Support team leader Mr. Hayk Mirzoyan. We currently produce 15 types of souvenirs, and the highest demand among those have hats, shirts, teas and bookmarks. We simultaneously work on providing e-commerce, noted the CEO of 47 design company, Mr. Arsen Meliksetyan. To note, Tag has been created to produce souvenirs with the images of Tigran the Great, Queen Parandzem Hayk Nahapet, Paruyr Skayordi, and goddess Anahit. The project is being implemented with the public-private partnership. The "47 Design" company implements the production. Photo: CTV Finance Minister Carole James B.C.'s planned real estate speculation tax may hurt local homeowners most. The Ministry of Finance says about 32,000 properties will be hit with the tax on unrented second homes. Nearly two-thirds of them are B.C. owned, and about half as many, roughly 10,000, belong to foreign owners. Two thousand are owned by Canadians from other provinces. "From my perspective, this is an asset tax," says Liberal finance critic Shirley Bond. "After working very hard in this province and putting their resources into an asset, this government intends to focus on British Columbians." But, Finance Minister Carole James said Thursday that 99 per cent of British Columbians won't pay. "This tax is impacting people who have second or third or fourth homes in the least affordable communities in British Columbia," she said. Locals will pay a lower rate and get a tax credit. But, British Columbians will still make up about two-thirds of those taxed. The tax starts at 0.5 per cent of the home's assessed value and climbs to 1.0 per cent for Canadians outside B.C. and 2.0 per cent for foreigners. with files from CTV Vancouver Photo: The Canadian Press UPDATE: 2:20 p.m. A 17-year-old carrying a shotgun and a revolver opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. It was the nation's deadliest such attack since the massacre in Florida that gave rise to a campaign by teens for gun control. The suspected shooter, who was in custody on murder charges, also had explosive devices, including a Molotov cocktail, that were found in the school and nearby, said Gov. Greg Abbott, who called the assault "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." Authorities offered no immediate motive for the shooting. The governor said the assailant intended to kill himself but gave up and told police that he did not have the courage to take his own life. Another 10 people were wounded at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 people roughly 30 miles (48 kilometres) southeast of Houston. The wounded included a school police officer who was the first to confront the suspect and got shot in the arm. The suspect was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis. Pagourtzis plays on the Santa Fe High School junior varsity football team and is a member of a dance squad with a local Greek Orthodox church. Acquaintances described him as quiet and unassuming, an avid video game player who routinely wore a black trench coat and black boots to class. The suspect used a shotgun and .38-revolver obtained from his father, who owned them legally, Abbott said. It was not clear whether the father knew his son had taken them. One or two other people of interest were being interviewed about the shooting, Abbott said. UPDATE: 11:25 a.m. At least one gunman opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday, killing eight to 10 people, most of them students, authorities said, in the nation's deadliest such attack since the massacre in Florida that gave rise to a campaign by teens for gun control. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he could not be precise about the number of deaths at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. One person was in custody, and a second person had been detained, he said. An unknown number of possible explosive devices were found at the school and off campus. Authorities were in the process of rendering them safe and asked the public to call 911 if they see anything suspicious. The district confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but did not release details. A school police officer was shot, officials said, but there was no immediate word on his condition. Michael Farina, 17, said he was on the other side of campus when the shooting began and thought it was a fire drill. He was holding a door open for special education students in wheelchairs when a principal came bounding down the hall and telling everyone to run. Another teacher yelled out, "It is real." The shooting was all but certain to reignite the national debate over gun regulations. While cable news channels carried hours of live coverage, survivors of the Feb. 14 attack in Parkland, Florida, took to social media to express grief and outrage. "My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School. It's an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town Parkland will stand with you now and forever," Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Jaclyn Corin said in a tweet. Senior Logan Roberds said he was near the school's art room when he heard a fire alarm and left the building with other students. Once outside, Roberds said, he heard two loud bangs. He initially thought somebody was loudly hitting a trash can. Then came three more bangs. "That's when the teachers told us to run," he said. UPDATE: 9 a.m. Sheriffs report there are eight to 10 dead at a Texas high school shooting. Most of the victims are said to be students. Two people believed to be students have been detained. UPDATE: 7 a.m. Law enforcement responded to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus Friday, with at least one student saying she saw a man with a gun enter her classroom and start shooting as the class evacuated. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert around 8 a.m. saying Santa Fe High School was on lockdown. Galveston County sheriff's Maj. Douglas Hudson said units were responding to reports of shots fired, but said he had no immediate details on whether anyone had been hurt. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. The student said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. "We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, 'Start running,'" the student told the television station. The student said she didn't get a good look at the shooter because she was running away. She said students escaped through a door at the back of the classroom. ORIGINAL: 6:44 a.m. Law enforcement officers are responding to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. Galveston County sheriff's Maj. Douglas Hudson says units are responding to reports of shots fired. He had no immediate details on whether anyone has been hurt. Santa Fe is a city of about 13,000 residents, about 50 kilometres southeast of Houston. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. The student says she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. Authorities have not yet confirmed that report. Photo: Twitter Authorities handed out about 2,000 masks for protection as people living near Hawaii's Kilauea volcano braced for pulverized rock, glass and crystal to rain down after an explosive eruption at the peak's summit. Lindsey Magnani, her fiance Elroy Rodrigues and their two children picked up masks for their family Thursday afternoon at Cooper Center in Volcano, Hawaii. Magnani said both of her children Kahele Rodrigues, 2, and Kayden Rodrigues, 3 months old were doing OK, but her and her fiance had both been sneezing all day. "This morning it smelled like sulfur so we had to close all the windows," Magnani said. Most residents found only thin coatings of ash, if they saw any at all, as winds blew much of the 30,000-foot plume away from people. "It was a grit, like a sand at the beach," said Joe Laceby, who lives in the town of Volcano a few miles to the northeast of Kilauea's summit. The ash was a bit of an irritant, he said, but "not too bad." Laceby sealed windows and cracks in his home with cellophane wrap to keep out ash and volcanic gases. He has gas masks to protect himself from the toxic fumes and ash. The explosion at Kilauea's summit came shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday following two weeks of volcanic activity that sent lava flows into neighbourhoods and destroyed at least 26 homes. Scientists said the eruption was the most powerful in recent days, though it probably lasted only a few minutes. Geologists have warned that the volcano could become even more violent, with increasing ash production and the potential that future blasts could hurl boulders the size of cows from the summit. Canadian military have arrived in the Central Okanagan to help protect infrastructure from the rising waters of Okanagan Lake. Forces met this morning at the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre before heading to Green Bay in West Kelowna. The 45 soldiers will join municipal staff, B.C. Wildfire Service crews, and contractors in installing flood mitigation measures along the lakefront. After Green Bay, they will move to other areas most prone to flooding. Okanagan Lake currently sits at 342.45 metres. The normal high-water level is 342.48 metres above sea level. It is expected to rise to 2017 levels, and authorities recommend all measures used to protect property last year should be implemented again. Check the rise of Okanagan Lake on our lake level graph page. Photo: CTV UPDATE: 1:40 p.m. A pregnant woman lost her unborn baby in what police are describing as a targeted double-shooting Friday in Vancouver. Const. Jason Doucette says the 31-year-old woman from Vancouver was in the third trimester of her pregnancy and she was taken to hospital in critical condition. He says a 23-year-old man from Langley, B.C., was also taken to hospital and he is expected to survive his injuries. Police say an unidentified man went to the woman's apartment just before 6 a.m. The woman called 911 to report the shooting and shortly after officers arrived, they also found a man in the apartment who had been shot. Doucette says the shooting was targeted but it is not related to any type of gang conflict. Police are asking anyone who might have witnessed anything suspicious in the area to contact them. Asked at a news conference if the shooting could be related to domestic violence, Doucette replied: "We look at all the different factors. We are going to follow the evidence on this. ... But as far as the specific motive, that will form part of the investigation, but we won't rule anything out at this point." The shootings happened in an industrial area of the city on a street not far from the Pacific Central train station at the east end of False Creek. Doucette says the apartment is above a commercial premise. UPDATE: 11:40 a.m. CTV reports one of two people shot in East Vancouver this morning is a pregnant woman. Police say the woman is in critical condition, but did not comment on the baby. UPDATE: 11 a.m. Vancouver Police are providing more details on a targeted shooting at an East Vancouver apartment this morning. Just before 6 a.m., an unidentified suspect went to the home of a 31-year-old Vancouver woman on Industrial Avenue near Scotia Street and shot her. The victim was able to call 911 herself. Officers arrived minutes later to find a 23-year-old Langley man had also been shot. The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and the woman is in critical condition. Initial information leads us to believe this was a targeted shooting, unrelated to gang conflict, says Const. Jason Doucette. Anyone with information is asked to call the VPD at 604-717-2541 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477. ORIGINAL: 9 a.m. Two people have been taken to hospital in Vancouver following a double shooting. Vancouver police Const. Jason Doucette says the attack occurred just before 6 a.m. He says the incident is targeted, but did not release any information about the victims. It happened in a residence on a street not far from the Pacific Central train station at the east end of False Creek. No arrests have been made. Photo: Axis Intervention Darrin Taylor chairs the Activate Safety Task Force While the discussion regarding Vernon's street-entrenched population continues, many business owners directly affected are looking to the Activate Safety Task Force to provide some answers. The task force was set up with the goal of addressing the issues related to the impacts of homelessness, poverty, addictions, and criminal behaviour on the local business community. "One thing that's become clear to me over the course of meeting with, and talking to, people in Vernon is the degree of frustration felt by both business owners and members of the public at what they see as the degradation of the city," said Darrin Taylor chair of the task force. Members of the task force have been meeting regularly as they form recommendations for city council. "We are zeroing in on having our documents completed, recommendations ironed out, and we expect to present to city council in July." Taylor says the task force has broken down its recommendations into seven or eight areas of concern. "What became apparent, and the consensus in the room was that we had to come up with recommendations that were clear and precise - something that could be acted upon in a fairly short amount of time." Taylor says the recommendations that will be brought forward in July will not focus on a two or three-year rollout, but instead succinct points the city could take action on in short order, if it chooses to. "The immediate and most effective change the city might be able to make is to expand, for instance, the hours that bylaw officers are working and change their rules of engagement," he says. "That is a much more fluid process than saying we have to hire more RCMP officers." The City of Vernon has approved funding for up to six more RCMP members, but at a recent council meeting the acting officer in charge of the Vernon detachment, Insp. Gord Stewart admitted there was no clear timetable for E Division to hire said officers. "We are not attempting to solve the root causes of homelessness, drug addiction, crime, or poverty," says Taylor. "Those are huge issues and there are already tens of millions of dollars devoted to those issues at the provincial and federal levels. We are simply attempting to find solutions to the impacts of these problems on the business community in Vernon." Taylor says he feels positive about the work being done by the task force so far. "You know we go into these things with some of us thinking that there's going to be some magic recommendation that is going to alter the landscape and change everything. But, perhaps over time, stacking some of these recommendations on top of the other creates an environment where it becomes more and more uncomfortable for people who would engage in lawless behaviour on the streets of our lovely city to do that. The more uncomfortable it gets the quicker we will see change." Photo: Contributed Devastating wildfires in British Columbia's southern Interior last summer have created the potential for a lucrative mushroom harvest this spring, and a First Nation in the region is moving to regulate pickers on its land. A news release from the Secwepemc Nation says it is asserting its jurisdiction to manage forest resources in the area of the Elephant Hill wildfire west of Kamloops, which scorched nearly 2,000 square kilometres of bush. Studies, including one published in October 2016 in the online magazine Forest Ecology and Management, confirm bumper crops of prized morel mushrooms can almost always be found a year after a major wildfire. Several bands of the 17-band Secwepemc Nation say the mushrooms will flourish this spring within the Elephant Hill fire boundaries and only permitted harvesters will be allowed into the area in order to regulate the harvest and prevent damage to the recovering land. A website managed by the First Nation says permits will be required to harvest, buy or process morel mushrooms from the region, and permits for camping within the territory are also mandatory. A harvesting permit costs $20, a camping permit is $30 and buyers must pay $500 for a permit to get mushrooms from the area that will be monitored daily by the Secwepemc Territorial Patrol. Photo: Twitter UPDATE: 10:45 a.m. Cuban media say a Boeing 737 operated by state airline Cubana has crashed on takeoff from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with 104 passengers on board. There was no immediate word on casualties. State television and websites said the plane was headed to the eastern city of Holguin and crashed between the airport in southern Havana and the nearby town of Santiago de las Vegas. The plane was rented by Cubana, which has taken many of its aging planes out of service in recent months due to mechanical problems. ORIGINAL: 10:40 a.m. Havana airport staff tell the Associated Press that a passenger jet has crashed on takeoff. Happening just minutes ago, reports are surfacing on social media that a Boeing 737 crashed at Jose Marti Airport, in Havana, Cuba. Firefighters are apparently trying to control the flames. It's not known which airline the jet belongs to or how many people were on board. More details to come... Contributed Traffic heading south on Highway 97 is slow going following an earlier accident. A Castanet reader sent us a raw video that appears to show a two-vehicle crash. The accident happened roughly five kilometres north of Turtle Bay around 11 a.m. No word on injuries or a cause. The May long weekend is typically referred to as the unofficial start of summer. It is the weekend most people make their first road trip of the year, but it also historically has a high number of reported crashes. ICBC has posted a few tips to help drivers arrive at their destination safe and sound. Let others into your lane: Don't speed up as someone is trying to pass you. Help the other driver get into your lane by slowing down and making room. Don't speed up as someone is trying to pass you. Help the other driver get into your lane by slowing down and making room. Slow down: Posted speed limits are intended for ideal conditions. On uneven or wet roads, and in bad weather conditions, slow down and increase your following distance to at least four seconds. Posted speed limits are intended for ideal conditions. On uneven or wet roads, and in bad weather conditions, slow down and increase your following distance to at least four seconds. Plan ahead: Allow extra time to get to your destination. Avoid rushing by planning your route in advance. Be realistic about your travel time. If you're going to be later than expected, be patient and accept the delay. Allow extra time to get to your destination. Avoid rushing by planning your route in advance. Be realistic about your travel time. If you're going to be later than expected, be patient and accept the delay. Scan intersections: The majority of crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists happen in intersections, so it's important to approach all intersections cautiously. The majority of crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists happen in intersections, so it's important to approach all intersections cautiously. Prepare your vehicle: Make sure your vehicle's ready for the trip. Don't drive with badly worn or under-inflated tires. Keep the wiper fluid topped up for clearer visibility. Make sure your vehicle's ready for the trip. Don't drive with badly worn or under-inflated tires. Keep the wiper fluid topped up for clearer visibility. Watch for other road users: As the days get longer and the weather gets nicer, pay extra attention to pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. As the days get longer and the weather gets nicer, pay extra attention to pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Leave your phone alone: No call or text is worth risking your life or the lives of others. Remember using a phone at a stop light is prohibited. If you have to take a call, pull over when it's safe; stay focused on the road and keep the conversation brief. Make sure you're focused on driving before re-entering traffic. Photo: The Canadian Press The Russian military will soon receive new nuclear weapons, which are far ahead of any foreign designs, President Vladimir Putin said Friday. Speaking at a meeting in Sochi, Putin said delivery of the new Avangard hypersonic vehicle will begin next year, while the new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will enter duty in 2020. The Avangard and the Sarmat were among an array of new nuclear weapons Putin presented in March. The Russian leader said then that the Avangard has an intercontinental range and can fly in the atmosphere at a speed 20 times the speed of sound. The Russian leader added that the weapon can change both its course and its altitude en route to a target, making it "absolutely invulnerable to any air or missile defence means." Putin noted that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 C resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. "It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball," he said in March. The Sarmat is intended to replace the Soviet-designed Voyevoda, the world's heaviest ICBM that is known as "Satan" in the West and which carries 10 nuclear warheads. Putin said in March that Sarmat weighs 200 metric tons and has a higher range than Satan, allowing it to fly over the North or the South Poles and strike targets anywhere in the world. He added that Sarmat also carries a bigger number of nuclear warheads, which are more powerful than the ones on Satan. Putin said the new ICBM accelerates faster than its predecessor, making it harder for the enemy to intercept in its most vulnerable phase after the launch. He also said Sarmat could carry an array of warheads capable of dodging missile defences. Speaking Friday at a meeting with the top brass in Sochi that wrapped up a series of such conferences with military leaders this week, Putin said Russia's new nuclear weapons far surpass any foreign designs. "These unique weapons systems are years and, perhaps, even decades ahead of any foreign analogues," he said. "They have rendered many expensive, I would say highly expensive foreign systems, useless and outdated." Armenias defense minister David Tonoyan and minister of foreign affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan have visited Armenias south-western border in the direction of Nakhijevan, defense ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan said on Facebook. May 18, 2018, 16:41 Defense, foreign ministers visit Armenias border in Nakhijevan direction STEPANAKERT, MAY 18, ARTSAKHPRESS:By getting to know the tactical situation on sport, the two ministers discussed the specificities of border direction service with the commanding staff of the military base. Minister David Tonoyan ordered the commanding staff to be constantly alert, not give in to any provocations, however to prevent any advancement of the adversary in the severest way, Hovhannisyan said. Photo: The Canadian Press Snohomish County Cold Case Detective Jim Scharf. Police in Washington state say they have made an arrest in connection to the murders of a Victoria-area couple more than 30 years ago. Eighteen-year-old Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jay Cook, were found dead near Seattle in November 1987. Police say they have arrested 55-year-old William Earl Talbott from the Seattle-Tacoma area and he has been booked on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Van Cuylenborg. Police say the suspect's DNA collected at the scene of Van Cuylenborg's murder was used to identify Talbott's ancestors, which led them to him. Officers say once genealogists made the connection, police acquired a DNA sample from a cup Talbott had used. Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary says the department never gave up hope in their investigation. "Yesterday's arrest shows how powerful it can be to combine new DNA technology with the relentless determination of detectives," he told a news conference. The arrest was made five weeks after police released composite drawings of a potential suspect created through groundbreaking DNA technology. Images released by the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office showed a Caucasian man with fair hair and green or hazel eyes, traits that investigators said are connected to the DNA of the person they think killed the couple. The high school sweethearts were on their way to Seattle to pick up furnace parts for Cook's father when they disappeared. Their bodies were found in separate locations outside the city days later. Photo: Colton Davies UPDATE: 1:50 p.m. A witness to the crash tells Castanet the incident actually began at the Wholesale Club gas bar on the other side of Carmi Ave. Alyssa Milanovic says she was sitting in her vehicle when she saw the Chevrolet Equinox drive through the bushes beside the gas bar, dart across Carmi Ave. and into the Chevron parking lot before ending up in the fence. I was crazy, it felt like I was dreaming while I was watching it was Fast and Furious or something," she said. The driver of the SUV was on his feet after the crash, but disoriented, and could not remember how he got across the road and into the fence. ORIGINAL 11:50 a.m. Emergency crews are currently removing a SUV from a fence on Main Street in Penticton. The fire department was called to the Chevron at 1450 Main Street around 11:30 a.m. for a report of a car through a fence at the back of the property. The Chevrolet Equinox was occupied by a male driver, who avoided serious injuries from the crash. He was responsive and walking around at the scene while being tended to by paramedics. The crash knocked down part of a fence that belongs to EZ Rock Penticton. Fire crews said one of the building's air conditioning units may have also been damaged. The vehicle punctured two tires and deployed its airbags in the crash, so a tow truck was needed to clear the scene. It is unclear what sent the driver through the fence. - with files from Colton Davies Photo: Facebook Jonathan Haller Police in Princeton have made an arrest following a violent break and enter on Sunday. Jonathan Haller, 22, has been charged with seven offences including possession of property obtained by crime, possession of a firearm while prohibited and two counts of uttering threats, among others. Princeton RCMP were called to a property early Sunday morning where a 91-year-old man was assaulted and robbed of several items after his home was broken into. The victim was treated for his injuries in hospital after the incident. "I would like to thank the community members of Princeton for your patience while this complex investigation unfolded," Cpl. Chad Parsons said in a news release. "We have accomplished a lot on this file so far but the investigation is not over." Parsons said mounties are working with the BC Prosecution Service to see if further charges are appropriate. Haller made a brief appearance in Princeton court on Friday and remains in custody. His next appearance is scheduled for June 14. He denied any wrongdoing in relation to the incident in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Surprised and thankful. That was the reaction of Green Bay Property Owners' Association president Bea Kline when she learned the military was being deployed to help with flood mitigation in the neighbourhood. "Truthfully, all of the province is in trouble. The Fraser River, Grand Forks, my heart goes out to everybody. We're all in trouble this year," Kline said Friday morning. Forty-five troops from CFB Edmonton, part of a larger deployment sent to assist with flood mitigation, were sent to Green Bay Friday. Kline said residents felt they may be safe from flooding this year because so much water had been let out of the lake. However, they've been watching day-over-day as it continued to rise. This is not a precaution, said Kline. "We are going to flood." Jean Buckner, another resident, said the community is concerned. "We don't want to see any devastation again and go through what we went through last year," she said. West Kelowna assistant fire chief Brent Watson says military personnel will be looking after filling and placing sandbags. "Our primary focus is protecting our critical infrastructure, but the unique nature of our infrastructure in Green Bay requires us to protect the entire neighbourhood," said Watson. The deployment reflects the fact the Southern Interior is facing a "real threat from floods," he said. Okanagan Lake is a mere 1.6 centimetres from reaching full pool. At noon Friday, the lake level was 342.464 metres above sea level. It is expected to hit full pool today and surpass it over the weekend. According to provincial officials, flood danger is about 35 centimetres above full pool. Photo: RDKB More bad news for some residents of flood-ravaged Grand Forks. The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has issued hazard notices for 39 addresses due to increased sloughing, erosion and bank instability along the Kettle River and its tributaries. Officials say anyone living on a riverbank and concerned about riverbank instability should stay clear. Those residents concerned about slope instability should also prepare to evacuate if they notice any riverbank deterioration near their homes. Nearly two dozen rapid damage assessment teams will assess homes in the evacuation-order area, and will rate homes green, yellow or red to determine the likely level of damage. Assessments will begin shortly after the river peaks, which is expected to happen this long weekend. A dozen troops from CFB Edmonton have arrived to lend assistance to Grand Forks, with more arriving tonight. Accident on Highway 5 Photo: Jesse Mathers Photo: Jesse Mathers Photo: Contributed Photo: Contributed Update: 4:18 p.m. Video posted to Twitter by Anne Kessler @kess_anne shows a truck fully engulfed. Fire on the Coquihalla Highway at the Box Canyon chain up. pic.twitter.com/ygzpzZNlcq Anne Kessler (@kess_anne) May 18, 2018 UPDATE: 4:03 Several photos have been submitted to castanet from driver travelling along Highway 5 outside of Hope. The photos show what appears to be a burned-out truck and a red trailer. There are no word on injuries or a cause, but Drive BC is reporting northbound delays through the Box Canyon area of the Coquihalla. Castanet will have more details as they become available. ORIGINAL: 3:45 p.m. Thick, black smoke can be seen billowing into the sky, and traffic along Highway 5 has almost come to a full stop. A Castanet reader has sent us pictures of what appears to be a multi-vehicle accident just outside Hope on Highway 5. Drive BC is reporting a northbound vehicle incident near Box Canyon and drivers should expect 30 minute delays. Traffic is apparently backed up for about 5 kilometres. There are no other details at this time. Castanet will update the story as more information becomes available. Australia has long maintained a well-established and enduring relationship with the people of the Pacific. But Chinas influence is undeniably increasing. Its investment in soft power in particular has been a success, not only in economic terms but also in the lives of ordinary people. It was promptly rejected by the Vanuatu government, but the likelihood of having Chinese military hardware on a long-term basis in the Pacific has raised significant discussion on the strategic implications for Australia and its allies. CANBERRA - The China-in-the-Pacific dilemma has once again hit the headlines in Australia, this time with a proposed naval base in Vanuatu. Chinese infrastructure projects, while not always successful, have enabled access to government services, giving people a sense of modernity and development. Chinas growing diaspora in the Pacific is also increasingly active in community engagements and maintain a close influence on local politics. Chinas people-to-people relations continue to expand as it becomes a first responder to disaster relief efforts, shows goodwill through local charities, and provides scholarships for Pacific students to prestigious Chinese universities. To bridge the cultural gap, China is currently considering building Chinese language schools in the Pacific, beginning with Papua New Guinea. Australia believes, as part of its strategic policy, that a secure Pacific means a secure Australia. Chinas emergence in the Pacific is seen by some as a threat to this state of order. Recent rhetoric in Australia seems to be aimed towards pressuring Canberra to deepen its engagement with the Pacific as a way of countering China and projecting Australia as a partner of choice for the Pacific countries. But these approaches are not new, considering Australias extensive awareness of Chinas influence in the region. Australias interest in the Pacific has varied over the years, but the Chinese question at least in the last two decades has been a cornerstone of Australias strategic policy. However, one problem is how this issue is framed and perceived. Rhetoric in Australia has mostly been about countering China in order to secure Australias interests in the Pacific. There is less discussion about Pacific interests or, more specifically, how Australias position on China would secure Pacific interests. While the rhetoric about securing Australias interests in the Pacific is hoisted with zeal here in Australia, it is viewed among some in the Pacific as neo-colonialist. Pacific leaders do not want to be seen succumbing to securing Australias interest at the expense of that of their people. Unlike in the past, Pacific leaders are increasingly assertive and well-informed of the geopolitical nuances currently at play in the region. They have intelligent military and political advisors dedicated to consolidating their sovereignty and exploiting the current geopolitical tussle, while acutely sensitive to any sign of bullying or cohesion. Australia was traditionally a leader in the Pacific, but this has been reconfigured. China sees past Australia to the United States as the force to be reckoned with in the region, and that is apparent to Pacific leaders. Australias prestige and influence is declining in this new regional order, although it still maintains a strong influence on the peoples hearts and minds. In The Embarrassed Colonist, Sean Dorney refers to the lack of Pacific content in Australias public consciousness as an important reminder of the disconnect between modern Australia and the people of the Pacific. Australia will need to return to the time when the Pacific was part of Australias family. The Pacific is embedded in Australias history (for instance, see section 51 (xxx) of the Australian Constitution). The camaraderie during the World War II continues to project Australia as brave, while colonialism ties Australia to a common history and shared responsibility to the Pacific. Australia needs to consider these close historic and political relations when contemplating the appropriate approach to the Chinese question. Australia is not alone in its anxiety over Chinas influence. The people of the Pacific are also wary of China, as its system of government, business model and institutions are at odds with their democratic society. Chinese business influence has resulted in violence in the past. China is aware of these sensitivities. Within this context, Australia is not an outsider. The important question for Australia, then, is not how Australia can secure its interests in the Pacific, but how Australias position can secure Pacific interests in the Pacific and beyond. This approach will require Australia to be genuine and make some sacrifices. Pacific leaders will honour Australias sacrifice if they see it. If this approach is appropriately framed, it will bolster the rule-based regional order Australia intends to create, as well as restore respect of Australia. Such respect is likely to be followed by appropriate compromises among Pacific leaders, who would be satisfied that Australia has done all it could to secure Pacific interests in regional and global platforms on issues pertinent to the Pacific, such as climate change, good governance, infrastructure development, trade, etc. Foreign relations are about giving as well as taking, and Australia must be prepared to give the Pacific its proper place of importance if Australia is to receive good tidings from the Pacific in return. Otherwise, this anxiety about China in the Pacific is likely to continue, as Pacific countries, feeling restless and neglected, search for new allies. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- It is said that Baoneng Group, Chinese property and financial services conglomerate, is working on setting up a European technology center, in order to accelerate to deploy in alternative fuel vehicles. On May 15, Yao Zhenhua, chairman of Baoneng Group, together with Li Feng, executive vice president of Baoneng and CEO of Qoros, as well as Robin Wu, director of Baoneng R&D Institute, visited companies like Bosch in Stuttgart and also discussed the future cooperation and key technologies in alternative power, intelligent connected vehicles and new materials. One of the visit's purposes is to promote the establishment of Baoneng and Qoros's European technology center. It is known that Yao Zhenhua and his team conducted deep research on setting up a European engineering and technology center for Baoneng Auto and Qoros Auto during the visit to Stuttgart. Yao Zhenhua stated that the group will recruit international and domestic talents to build up a world-leading automotive R&D system in the future. Local media think that Baoneng's automotive R&D system can obtain substantial supports in projects, experience and talents from its European technology center, which is based in the most high-tech area worldwide. It is rumored that Baoneng Group plans to acquire stake of Chery Auto with a total of RMB 25-27 billion, and aims to be the biggest shareholder of the automaker in recent days. It is said that both parties will announce the merger and acquisition (M&A) as early as next month. Once the acquisition is finished, Chery Auto will transform from a state-owned company to a private automaker. []B:2017 20180518 19:34:21 Wafangdian Bearing Company Limited Announcement of Resolution of 2017annual shareholders meeting The Company, all the members of the Board of Directors, supervisors and top management hereby guarantee the truth, accuracy and completeness of the information disclosure, no any false records, misleading statements and major missing contents. 1. Important notes a. The notification of the meeting has announced on the Securities Times, Hongkong Commercial Daily" and the http//www.cninfo.com.cn published on April 26, 2018. b. No rejection proposals situation occurred during the meeting, c. No adding and change of the proposals situation occurred during the meeting, 2. Information of the meeting 1) Time a):On-site meeting:14:30 P.M ,May 18,2018 b): Internet polling: May 17,2018--May 18,2018.Of which the poll through network via trading system of Shenzhen Stock Exchange will be at 9:3011:30 a.m. and 1:00-3:00 p.m. dated May 18,2018; any time from 3:00 p.m. May 17,2018 to 3:00 p.m May 18,2018 will available for polling through internet poll system of Shenzhen Stock Exchange. 2) On-site meeting Place: 309 meeting room at ZWZ Group headquarter 3) Way of meeting: on-site votes plus network polling 4) Convener: Board of directors of Wafangdian Bearing Co., Ltd. 5) Preside: Mr. Zhao Yang 6) Holding of the meeting abides by the Company Law, Regulation of Listing of Stock and the Articles of Association of the Company. 3. Attendance information 1) 5 shareholders (proxy) attended the meeting on behalf of 323,542,100 shares, which take 80.36% of the total voting shares. Of which 1 internal capital shareholder (proxy) attended the meeting on behalf of 244,000,000 shares which take 60.61% of the total voting shares.4 foreign capital shareholders (proxy) attended the meeting on behalf of 79,542,100 shares, which take 19.76% of the total voting shares a: 2 shareholders (proxy) attended the spot meeting on behalf of 323,300,000 shares, which take 80.31% of the total voting shares. b: 3 shareholder (proxy) vote through network via trading system of Shenzhen Stock Exchange and internet poll system of Shenzhen Stock Exchange on behalf of 242,100 shares, which take 0.06% of the total voting shares. The situation of minority shareholders attending the meeting: 3 minority shareholder vote on the spot and on the internet on behalf of 242,100 shares, which take 0.06% of the total voting shares. 2) Several directors, supervisors and top management as well as lawyer attend the meeting. 4. Discussion of the proposal and the information of voting (1)Directors Report of 2017 The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (2) Report of Supervisory Committee of 2017 The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (3) Profit Distribution Plan of 2017; The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (4) Final Account Report (Audited) of 2017 The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (5)Financial Budget of 2018 The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (6) Annual Report 2017 and its Summary The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (7) Provision for impairment of assets The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (8) Election of Independent Director The election of Ms. Sun kun as an independent director of the company's board of directors. The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (9) Engagement of CPA and their Remuneration The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected and internet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by the shareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived. 244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held by all the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived. 79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of the valid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained. Voting result: approved. (10) Routine Related Transaction of 2017 and Budget of Related Transaction for year of 2018(after audited) The first shareholder of WBC is ZWZ Group, who held 244,000,000 internal capital shares abided all the terms in accordent requirement all the items.The voting results of other shareholders: 79,500,000 shares affirmative(Spot voting 79,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling 200,000 share affirmative), which take the 50.13% of the voting right held by non-associated shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take the 0.03% of the voting right held by non-associated shareholders who attended the meeting. 0 share waived. The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and senior management personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company's shareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the valid voting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.The result of voting: approved. 5. Legal advices showed by lawyer 1) Name of the law office: Dalian Huaxia law office 2) Lawyer: Mrs. Bao Jingxin, Mrs.Liu Cuimei 3) Conclusion: The holding and convening of the shareholders meeting conforms to the relative laws, rules and the Article of Association. The qualification of people who attended the meeting is legal and valid. The voting procedure is legal and valid. The resolution of the meeting is legal and valid. 6. Reference document 1) Resolution of 2017 annual Shareholders meeting 2) Law opinions report 3) Other documents required by SZSE. Wafangdian Bearing Co. Ltd Board of Directors May 18, 2018 Wafangdian Bearing Company Limited Announcement ofResolution of 2017annual shareholders meetingThe Company, all the members of the Board of Directors, supervisors and top management herebyguarantee the truth, accuracy and completeness of the information disclosure, no any false records, misleadingstatements and major missing contents.1. Important notesa. The notification of the meeting has announced on the Securities Times, HongkongCommercial Daily" and the http//www.cninfo.com.cn published on April 26, 2018.b. No rejection proposals situation occurred during the meeting,c. No adding and change of the proposals situation occurred during the meeting,2. Information of the meeting1) Timea):On-site meeting:14:30 P.M ,May 18,2018b): Internet polling: May 17,2018--May 18,2018.Of which the poll through network via tradingsystem of Shenzhen Stock Exchange will be at 9:3011:30 a.m. and 1:00-3:00 p.m. dated May 18,2018;any time from 3:00 p.m. May 17,2018 to 3:00 p.m May 18,2018 will available for polling through internetpoll system of Shenzhen Stock Exchange.2) On-site meeting Place: 309 meeting room at ZWZ Group headquarter3) Way of meeting: on-site votes plus network polling4) Convener: Board of directors of Wafangdian Bearing Co., Ltd.5) Preside: Mr. Zhao Yang6) Holding of the meeting abides by the Company Law, Regulation of Listing of Stock and theArticles of Association of the Company.3. Attendance information1) 5 shareholders (proxy) attended the meeting on behalf of 323,542,100 shares, which take80.36% of the total voting shares. Of which 1 internal capital shareholder (proxy) attended the meeting onbehalf of 244,000,000 shares which take 60.61% of the total voting shares.4 foreign capital shareholders(proxy) attended the meeting on behalf of 79,542,100 shares, which take 19.76% of the total votingsharesa: 2 shareholders (proxy) attended the spot meeting on behalf of 323,300,000 shares, which take80.31% of the total voting shares.b: 3 shareholder (proxy) vote through network via trading system of Shenzhen Stock Exchangeand internet poll system of Shenzhen Stock Exchange on behalf of 242,100 shares, which take 0.06% ofthe total voting shares.The situation of minority shareholders attending the meeting: 3 minority shareholder vote on thespot and on the internet on behalf of 242,100 shares, which take 0.06% of the total voting shares.2) Several directors, supervisors and top management as well as lawyer attend the meeting.4. Discussion of the proposal and the information of voting(1)Directors Report of 2017The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(2) Report of Supervisory Committee of 2017The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(3) Profit Distribution Plan of 2017;The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(4) Final Account Report (Audited) of 2017The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(5)Financial Budget of 2018The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(6) Annual Report 2017 and its SummaryThe result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(7) Provision for impairment of assetsThe result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(8) Election of Independent DirectorThe election of Ms. Sun kun as an independent director of the company's board of directors.The result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(9) Engagement of CPA and their RemunerationThe result of voting: 323,500,000 shares affirmative (Spot voting 323,300,000 shares affirmativeand internet polling 200,000 shares affirmative), which take 99.99% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 42,100 share objected(Spot voting 0 shares objected andinternet polling 42,100 shares objected), which take 0.01% of the valid voting right held by theshareholders who attended the meeting; 0 share waived.244,000,000 internal capital shares affirmative, which takes 100% of the valid voting right held byall the internal capital shareholders who attended the meeting;0 share waived;0 share waived.79,500,000 foreign capital shares affirmative, which take 99.95% of the valid voting right held by allforeign capital shareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take 0.05% of thevalid voting right held by all foreign capital shareholders who attended the meeting ; 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Voting result: approved.(10) Routine Related Transaction of 2017 and Budget of Related Transaction for year of2018(after audited)The first shareholder of WBC is ZWZ Group, who held 244,000,000 internal capital shares abidedall the terms in accordent requirement all the items.The voting results of other shareholders:79,500,000 shares affirmative(Spot voting 79,300,000 shares affirmative and internet polling200,000 share affirmative), which take the 50.13% of the voting right held by non-associatedshareholders who attended the meeting, 42,100 share objected,which take the 0.03% of the votingright held by non-associated shareholders who attended the meeting. 0 share waived.The minority shareholders (in addition to the company's directors, supervisors and seniormanagement personnel and other shareholders, alone or together hold more than 5% of the company'sshareholders) voting for: 200,000 share agree,which take 82.61%of the valid voting right held by all theminority shareholders who attended the meeting,42,100 share objected,which take 17.39%of the validvoting right held by all the minority shareholders who attended the meeting, 0 shares abstained.Theresult of voting: approved.5. Legal advices showed by lawyer1) Name of the law office: Dalian Huaxia law office2) Lawyer: Mrs. Bao Jingxin, Mrs.Liu Cuimei3) Conclusion: The holding and convening of the shareholders meeting conforms tothe relative laws, rules and the Article of Association. The qualification of people whoattended the meeting is legal and valid. The voting procedure is legal and valid. Theresolution of the meeting is legal and valid.6. Reference document1) Resolution of 2017 annual Shareholders meeting2) Law opinions report3) Other documents required by SZSE.Wafangdian Bearing Co. LtdBoard of DirectorsMay 18, 2018 Rob Freeman first post in three years was a picture of him holding an immense timber rattlesnake that the SC resident found in his backyard. Freeman posted a photo of him holding the massive venomous snake up with a tree branch, using both hands to hold it up. He captioned the post "Leg breaker." Freeman said the snake had just eaten a squirrel when he spotted it near his Cheatham County residence, The Red Bank City Commission on Thursday approved rezoning for a bulldozer-scarred tract on Hedgewood Drive despite some opposition from neighbors. Developer Tyler Smith said he owns two adjacent homes that he fixed up and he had long had his eye on the land that was once a one-and-a-third acre heavily wooded, gently sloping lot at 252 Hedgewood. The previous owner, Kevin Rentzell, had gone on a rampage with a bulldozer after the city had condemned a large house on the lot. The bulldozing left a deep, 200-foot cut in the one-time slope that is along the property lines of several neighbors. Mr. Smith said he plans to fix up the 4,800-square-foot home into three townhouses, which he said will be sold for about $350,000 each. He also plans to build two single-family homes at the rear of the property. He said the houses would not be Craftsman style, but will be quality, energy efficient and healthy living homes that would raise property values. He previously had a development on Hamilton Avenue in North Chattanooga. He said they would not be much closer together than nearby homes. Neighbors cited traffic problems and said the developer was trying to cram too many homes on one site. They said it was unknown how he was going to deal with the big ditch. Mayor John Roberts made the motion for approval, saying that change is inevitable in Red Bank. He said the project would add new life to the long-derelict property. And he said the developer would have to meet all city requirements, including dealing with the ditch. The property is near Duncan Hills, which Mayor Roberts said was the first subdivision north of the river built in the 1920s. The commission also approved a rezoning allowing two single-family homes at 128 Goodson Ave. They will have over 1,600 square feet and feature three bedrooms and two and a half baths. Vladimir Mostepanenko, Chief Research Associate of KFU Cosmology Lab and Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory, explains, "Despite graphene layers' extremely small width, it has proven to be a firm material which conducts electricity even under zero temperatures when density of charge carriers also equals zero. But something absolutely unexpected was that this residual conductivity can be expressed through fundamental physical constants - electron charge and Planck constant. Graphene has been used successfully in dozens of electronic devices and has been found in interstellar matter." Graphene's unusual qualities led to speculation that the causality principle may not be observed for it. The authors, Vladimir Mostepanenko and Galina Klimchitskaya, proved that the principle is preserved for graphene. Through the direct analytic calculation it was shown that the real and imaginary parts of graphene conductivity, found recently on the basis of first principles of thermal quantum field theory using the polarization tensor in (2+1)-dimensional space-time, satisfy the Kramers-Kronig relations precisely. The results are important for further inquiries into reflective and absorptive qualities of graphene. Voice of the People Audio Article Native son Tom Smiths history of East Chesterton (Chesterton Tribune 9-30-21 Commentary) was interesting and a poignant tribute to his five-generations back ancestors, the Morgans, who traveled from West Virginia and Ohio to settle here in 1833 to raise a family, to farm and... Voice of the People Audio Article This summer the Times of NW Indiana again suggested in an editorial that Dunes Action had been in opposition to the renovation of the State Park Pavilion. We never did. In fact, most of us had been waiting for it for decades. They did not... Guest Commentary Audio Article This is a short history of the Morgan family farm before the possible development of the remaining 49 acres east of Chesterton. Jesse and Jane Morgan arrived in Northwest Indiana in 1833 after traveling through Ohio, northern Indiana, stopping off in LaPorte County for a... Echoes of the Past Audio Article 10 Years Ago Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 Bethlehem Lutheran Church will host a wellness screening event. . . CHS girls soccer team beats LaPorte 5-0 and clinches a share of the DAC title. Scoring goals are Rosie Biehl (2), Hannah Kollar (2), and Sam... The state Supreme Court considered a different case on the issue last year. But the court vacated an appellate courts ruling and sent it back to a lower court without weighing in on the laws constitutionality. At the time, at least one Supreme Court justice wondered aloud if it would be better to wait for a different case to make a decision on the overall law. Four of the redistricting commissioners would be selected by Republican and Democratic leaders of the state House and Senate and five would be picked from a pool of 12 independent candidates endorsed by the Chief Justice of Indiana and presidents of Indiana, Purdue and Ball State universities. The commission would draw new maps, make them available for public review and submit them to the Legislature for final approval, with only limited changes permitted. While the list is impressive, a few of the stars are far from rising and, in fact, have soared for quite some time. Most notable among them? Noah Sandoval, chef and owner of Oriole restaurant, and partner in the highly anticipated Bar Kumiko, both in the West Loop. Tribune critic Phil Vettel awarded Oriole a rare four-star review in 2016. Even Michelin caught up later that year with two out of its three stars. Celebrity art collectors, and rapper art collectors in particular, are nothing new. P. Diddy went public in a significant way with his predilections in 2011 when he splashed for a pair of works at Art Basel in Miami Beach, where he has become something of a fixture. Jay-Z is rumored to be the rap music worlds biggest collector of works, with a hoard estimated in value at something around a half-billion dollars. Producer Swizz Beatz acquired an Ansel Adams photograph when still a teenager, and has a substantial collection. The megasale to P. Diddy, however, lays down a significant marker. Given the new attention being paid to African-American artists in the market, other eye-opening auction prices could follow. Seeing Stars on the Oregon Coast Above - and Below - This Week Published 05/16/2018 at 5:15 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff (Manzanita, Oregon) This week is action-packed with intense nature fun on and near the Oregon coast, some of it literally interstellar. Theres a star party, a tour of tidepools in Oceanside, and a tour of oyster-growing facilities in Tillamook County. Theres some stargazing to be had in the Oregon coast range this week. On Saturday, May 19, join OMSI and Rose City Astronomers at both Rooster Rock State Park and L.L. "Stub" Stewart State Park starting at sunset. From beginners to experts of all ages, its an opportunity to view the stars and other celestial objects up close and personal through telescopes. Viewing highlights waxing crescent moon, Venus, Jupiter, and more. Join the group as they gaze at the spring night sky at Rooster Rock State Park, located 22 miles east of Portland on I-84 just east of Sandy River at exit 25. To reach L.L. "Stub" Stewart State Park, take US-26 west of Portland and turn right on OR-47. The event starts at sunset and is free with $5 parking per vehicle. On the scheduled day of each OMSI Star Parties, it is suggested that interested visitors check back on OMSIs website for possible weather-related cancellations. Warm clothing and a flashlight with red light are recommended. Personal telescopes and binoculars are welcome. In wondrous Oceanside, Tidepool Discovery Days bring the coolest critters into the light on May 19. The group Friends of Netarts Bay Watershed, Estuary, Beach & Sea (WEBS) is hosting this event, which starts at 9:30 a.m. and is free. What amazing creatures are lurking at the waters edge? Come out to Oceanside and make some discoveries. WEBS staff and volunteers will be onsite in the tidepools helping visitors understand what is living along the coastal edge. Learn about anemone clone wars, how a sea star eats, or how hermit crabs steal shell homes from other crabs. From seaweeds to sculpin fish, there is another worldly place to uncover. It happens at the main access: Oceanside Recreation Area. Wear boots or bring a change of shoes. Flip flops are never ideal for exploring tide pools. Be prepared for shifting Oregon coast weather. Dogs are allowed. 541-231-8041. Registration at this link. The following day, May 20, Friends of Netarts Bay hosts the Art of Growing Oysters. Do you enjoy Pacific Northwest oysters? The oyster industry is an important part of Tillamook County and includes a number of farms, like Pacific Seafood operating out of Bay City, and one of the largest oyster hatcheries in the country, Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery on Netarts Bay. If you are interested in understanding where the tasty critters on your dinner plate come from, join in on the next tour. This is a rare opportunity to learn about the these facilities, the state-of-the-art scientific research going on at the hatchery, and the issues faced by the shellfish industries and wild shellfish along the Pacific Northwest. This event includes an estuary walk to view oyster beds near Bay Ocean Peninsula County Park, a stop at Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, and ends at Pacific Seafoods restaurant, the Fish Peddler. It is free and starts at 9 a.m. Wear boots or closed toe shoes. The walk to the oyster beds will be muddy and is a moderate to moderate plus walk depending on the day. The groups requests you consider your comfort walking through mud and water. Meet at Netarts. 541-231-8041. Registration at this link. ----- Oregon Coast Hotels for these events - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Buckingham Palace also announced that the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, will attend the royal wedding, just a few weeks after undergoing a hip replacement operation. The 96-year-old has largely retired from public duties and it had not been clear whether he would be feeling well enough to attend. Then, Spectrum Dance Theater, led by Bessie Award-winning and Tony-nominated choreographer Donald Byrd, will return to Chicago (Jan. 31Feb. 2, 2019). Spectrums artistic director since 2002, Byrd brings his Rambunctious Iteration #3 The Immigrants, which looks to the works of American composers from countries that America has historically been at odds with or are part of the current debate on immigration: Mexico, Iran, Cuba, Russia and China. A: I really, at the forefront of my mind, had black women reading this book. I really want black women to feel seen; I want black women to feel heard. I feel like there are a lot of books out there on the black male experience, but they really made me think about those of us who have a different experience, those of us who didnt grow up in the hood, those of us who have always been around white spaces, and I really wanted to uplift that story because we so often feel alone and isolated because there is only a handful of us where we work or worship or volunteer. So I just wanted to write a book that said: I see you. And I affirm what youre experiencing. You are not alone. Nurses told the Chicago Tribune in a March investigation that the requirements do take time to complete and work around a nurse's schedule. Many said they struggle to complete training because their hospitals do not provide paid time off to attend it or funds for travel. It is not unusual for an Illinois nurse to use vacation days to attend training, or his or her own money for exam fees or travel. I was surprised we didnt know this information when we started the study, but a lot of folks dont do research on people under the age of 18, especially on LGBTQ teens under the age of 18, for a variety of reasons, said Dr. Kathryn Macapagal, an author on the study and research assistant professor of medical social sciences at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. But we found that teens in this study were super excited that somebody was paying attention with what was going on in their lives and how these apps played a role in their sexual development and coming-out process, she said. To be sure, not even the highest level of architectural refinement will be enough to convince those who say a tower of such height has no place in the pastoral landscape of the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Jackson Park. But the tower will rise on the edge on the park, not in its center, and it wont cast significant shadows, a study by the architects shows. Most important, it could provide a vivid symbol of ascendance, not only representing Barack Obamas rise but also the South Sides rejuvenation. In emergency rooms, the lack of proper training for security staff is the biggest issue, and for health care professionals, (the biggest issue is) how they should react and what they should look for in dealing with patients under care or being guarded, OMalley told me in an interview. The city depends on revenue from riverwalk businesses to pay off the federal loan that helped finance the improvements. The businesses are doing so well, Woods said, that the city expects to pay off the loan early, and so well that it shouldnt need to commercialize the path by selling naming rights. Whitley, 61, who worked for more than two decades as a Chicago police officer, paid for sex with underage teen runaways at parties, in his apartment and even in his vehicle while riding around with his partner, federal prosecutors say. Whitley also took graphic photos of many of the girls on top of his leopard-print bedspread and had their numbers stored in his phone under names such as Bunny, Mocha and Jasmine. He was arrested in November 2016. There were multiple safeguards in place at the Rookery designed to prevent violent attacks like this one from happening," said Andrew P. Stevens, who filed the suit against Titan and the owner of the building, the John Buck Company. "The fact that the buildings security personnel allowed this criminal to bypass each of those safeguards can only be described as an utter failure." About two hours later in the same neighborhood, a 32-year-old man was shot in the chest and taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. A dark-colored sedan drove up alongside the man shortly before 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the 4800 block of West Washington Boulevard and someone inside started shooting, hitting the man in the chest, police said. Authorities and witnesses said the incident began about 8 a.m. Wednesday when Milby allegedly fired several shots inside the school near the gym, where seniors had gathered for graduation rehearsal. Dallas, who has worked as a school resource officer at Dixon High for five years, rushed to the area. He confronted Milby, who then fled outside. With the officer in pursuit, Milby allegedly fired several shots at Dallas but did not strike him, Dixon police Chief Steven Howell said. Chicago police are searching for a 3-month-old girl last seen four days ago on the West Side with her biological mother who does not have custody. Both entities use the same storefront along Britts Main Street as their business address on veterinary inspection certificates, though a sign on the door identifies it only as the J.A.K.S office. The rescue puppies are fed at the same time, examined by the same veterinarians and often transported on the same day as the commercial ones sold to suburban pet shops, state records show. The vast majority come to the Chicago area at 8 weeks old the earliest a puppy can be separated from its mother under Illinois law. Dallas lawyer lauded him for running into a hail of bullets. He did so to save the lives of the students and staff he was sworn to protect. Somewhere, in the midst of the chaos, a lesson might be heard: our world truly can be changed when we refuse to hide from adversity but instead run toward it. In the plan developer Full Circle Communities submitted to IHDA, 15 of the 75 units in the building would be rented at market value and the remaining 60 would go to lower-income renters. Up to 30 units would go to tenants with Chicago Housing Authority vouchers to subsidize rent. Veterans and people with disabilities would get the first shots at all the units in the building. Rauners rewrite would create a 72-hour cooling off period to buy any firearm and reinstate capital punishment for slaying a law enforcement officer or in cases where two or more people are killed. A new bill containing the governors plan will be discussed by the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, and Democrats said Madigan intends for it to be eventually called for a full House vote. Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas has reported raising $8,000 so far. Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, whose office has been the target of a federal investigation, has reported raising $4,000 since declaring a run for mayor last month. Tech entrepreneur Neal Sales-Griffin has raised $77,314, including $10,150 since he admittedly bombed his campaign kickoff speech. Chicago principals association President Troy LaRaviere has reported $6,119 in donations while activist JaMal Green has contributed $3,000 to his campaign and former 11th Ward aldermanic candidate John Kozlar has yet to start a mayoral campaign fund. One official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press that Krajnyak was the intended recipient of an explosive package. The official was not authorized to disclose details about the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. "It would be at best irresponsible, and at worst potentially illegal, for members of Congress to use their positions to learn the identity of an FBI source for the purpose of undermining the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in our election," Warner wrote in a statement. "Anyone who is entrusted with our nation's highest secrets should act with the gravity and seriousness of purpose that knowledge deserves." The Republican governor then declared: "No matter what they throw at me, no matter how painful they try to make it, no matter how much suffering they want to put me and my family through and my team through ... we are going to step forward day after day after day, and we are going to continue in our mission to fight for the people of Missouri." Although most Americans couldnt recite the text of the Fifth Amendment, those arrested are critically reminded of its protections, thanks to a Supreme Court decision that turns 52 next month. Without knowing the name or details of the case, most Americans who have watched a police or legal drama such as NYPD Blue or Law & Order know the familiar scene of police officers initiating an arrest by telling the accused that they have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. But the Van Dyke case is not one of them. There are very few things that should be conducted in secret, particularly in a case of this importance to the community, Taylor said. The judge should err on the side of transparency, otherwise the community is going to be suspicious of what happened, and whether anything is being covered up. This is not just a case of police misconduct, it is also a cover-up. Eventually, however, Democrats are going to have to either give up their big dreams or hand those voters the bill, because they're the ones with most of the money. This creates a certain cognitive dissonance for progressives. "There's a bitterness that all the tax cuts went to the rich," says Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, "and not enough of them went to the rich in New York and California and Connecticut." Until that dissonance is resolved, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will keep promising big new programs with laughably inadequate financing mechanisms and blue-state legislators will denounce inequality while cooking up tax-evasion schemes to perpetuate it. In a New York Times video interview with Chicago artist Theaster Gates, Marshall once suggested that his intent isnt to protest whats been missing from the art world, but to contribute to it: Theres 500 years of history thats structured around the representation of an ideal of beauty thats not us, he said. You have to recover the capacity to imagine yourself as an ideal and then figure out ways to project that ideal into the world. This Vatican treatise, which can be seen as the churchs critique of the Great Recession, amounts to a papal warning that business, banking and trading are profoundly amoral or, worse, of proximate immorality. The document suggests that, from the trading floor to the boardroom, greed rules while ethical behavior is devalued: The objective of mere profit easily creates a perverse and selective logic that often favors the advancement of business leaders who are capable, but greedy and unscrupulous, and whose relationship with others is prevalently driven by a selfish and personal gain. May we say we're relieved? We wrote in an April 20 editorial of concerns in the legal community about who might replace Freeman. Outgoing justices generally get to tap someone to finish an unexpired term, and the other justices go along with the choice. Because an interim justice has a leg up on other candidates when the seat is up for election, a retiring justice often, in effect, chooses his or her successor. Its important to recognize that if indeed we believe that everyone is equal, then we cant consider any option where some people get certain rights and others get different. In the case of gun control, some of the first laws here were only made to disarm the freed slaves. These days, gun control may affect all races equally, but instead of skin color, proponents of gun control have singled out average citizens. Politicians, movie stars, rich people they will never relinquish their ability to defend themselves with a bodyguard with guns. They just dont trust you or me to have guns, and they dont think you deserve the same rights they enjoy. To the editor: Perhaps instead of selling their presidential artifacts, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum should consider pawning them. It would work in reverse of how we normally think of pawning in that the items would stay in the possession of the library and there would be various lenders. In return for the loan to cover the cost of a particular item, the individual or corporation would get a pawn ticket with a redemption scale printed on it. The lender could get 10 percent of the face value of the loan back after one year. The remaining 90 percent would be deemed a donation and the item would be available to be pawned again. After two years it would be 20 percent return/80 percent donation and so on until the end of 10 years. At that point the lender could redeem the ticket for the full value of the loan plus interest. And, let us not forget, shes biracial. Her mom is black and her father is white. She and Harry most likely are too far down the line of succession to become king or queen. But, as culture critic Margo Jefferson wrote in The Guardian, Hes marrying up by marrying out out of long-entwined bloodlines, out of entrenched rituals and hierarchies, out of a lineage as constricted as it is privileged. All of the animals will be available for adoption, and you can find the adoption process on their website. People can simply get to know them as well. After all, adoption is a big commitment, and animals are very cute and like to socialize. Everyone wins! As far as the so called adults in the room who are calling you names and disparaging your efforts, its really a sad commentary of how they do not respect new ideas and are living in the past. The power of being educated and informed on the issues is immense. The participation in the most patriotic action of all is voting in every election as soon as you are able to do so that will prove to be the most impactful of all. In April 2008, Kane County authorities filed murder charges against Carlos Perez of Aurora, who was 18 at the time of the shooting. Perez had been deported to Mexico for unrelated reasons by the time a warrant for his arrest was issued in 2008. The Aurora Police Department did not have jurisdiction to bring him back, and in 2013 U.S. Marshals went to Mexico to extradite him but could not locate Perez because no one would give up the information on where he was living, police said. After all, Hager is competing in the U.S. Special Olympics Games in Seattle later this summer after becoming one of the 46 Special Olympic athletes from Illinois who were selected to play in the national games, which take place every four years. To determine the states where residents report getting the most and least sleep, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the share of adults in every state who report sleeping less than seven hours per night on a regular basis. These figures were obtained from the 2021 report by the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps , a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program. For similar lists visit 24/7 Wall St. I have welcomed resolution to this matter since its inception, Barnett said in a statement expressing his satisfaction with the appellate decision. It is my hope that the case law created through my decision will serve as motivation to some young person who believes that they will never be able to live their best life as a result of them having had used poor judgement (sic) at some point. The year before, residents were vehemently opposed to another plan by Joe Pascale to build a 9,000 square foot banquet center on the green space adjacent to the parking lot. They said the use was too intense for the downtown area and they wanted to preserve the park-like setting along the trail, land that was previously occupied by Fox Lumber. Pascale withdrew his plan. Officers who stop offenders may issue drivers a ticket or a written warning, he said, depending on the drivers record and other factors. The goal is to get everyone to drive more safely, especially in areas where children play. Marlene Suarez is one Illinois mom who wants a better future for her two daughters. The Chicago native is raising her family in the same neighborhood where she grew up, Little Village. That comes with its fair share of challenges. As school gets out for the summer, violence is likely to swell, cruelly correlated with the temperature. But Suarez knows a quality education is powerful enough to transform those circumstances. And thats why for the past few years, shes sacrificed a great deal of her paycheck for her second-grader and fifth-grader to attend a local Catholic school. This defendant is a dangerous person who suffers from a significant mental illness, Kane County States Attorney Joe McMahon said the release. Incarceration is the only way to keep the public safe from her. I wish there were better alternatives and opportunities for treatment. This sentence removes her from the community for what will likely be the rest of her life. The study states: For all options, we assume a $1 acquisition price and then consider private equity, sweat equity from neighbors and other interested parties, a conventional 20-year bank loan, federal and state historic tax credits, a facade improvement program as sponsored by the Gifford Park Association, a 5-year tax rebate on the citys portion of taxes (at 20 percent of the full tax bill), additional city participation in the amount of $50,000, the hopeful donation of landscaping material with volunteer installation, and a gift from the DC Cook Foundation of $100,000. Center said the city has been working with consultants on the web update, which will be set up in parts a main page designed for easier searching and browsing and a web portal designed to give residents more personalized access. The portal is powered by Salesforce, the citys software provider, and will require users to have a password and log in. The candidates who were interviewed are Eva Porter, of Hanover Park, a trustee for the Poplar Creek Public Library District Board and a former teacher and teacher representative for the Schaumburg Education Association; Lisa Klimek, of Streamwood, a former booster club president for Streamwood High School who works in billing for the transportation industry; Preet Mittal, of Bartlett, an environmental specialist for the Metro Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago active in parent groups and councils at Liberty Elementary School, Kenyon Woods Middle School, and Bartlett High School; John Devereux, of Bartlett, employed as a chief actuary for Ryan Specialty Group in Chicago and father of a Bartlett High School senior; and Kevin Sweeney, of Elgin, a member of the U46 Citizens Advisory Council and a programmer/analyst for Deutsche Investment Management Americas in Chicago. The incident occurred about 5 a.m. Nov. 27, 2017 and led to a car crashing into a home. Police responded to a call of a car burglary in progess near Gladys and Evergreen streets and saw two vehicles leaving the area. One of the vehicles, a Toyota, crashed into a home after striking the second vehicle, a Dodge. After the crashes, four men attempted to flee east on Fremont Avenue, police said. A police vehicle also was struck. However, engineering technology instructor Antigone Sharris told the board that attaching wage increases to enrollment would poison the Triton community. Her statement was met with applause and echoed by Dusek in a later interview when he said the administrations proposal treats students like a commodity. Were excited to learn of the news that our alumna, Meghan Markle, will marry Britains Prince Harry, Laura Wayland, executive director of the Northwestern Alumni Association, said when the couples engagement was announced in November. On behalf of Northwestern University, we extend our congratulations to the couple. His mother, Princess Diana, visited Northwestern in 1996, so we are particularly pleased to welcome Prince Harry to the extended Northwestern family. The two men are hospitalized in Evanston after someone shot them around 1 p.m. Friday while they sat in the vehicle that was parked in the 300 block of Custer Avenue, Evanston police said. Theres one window in particular McMahon said he likes. Its the first one he saw when he first arrived at St. Peter it depicts King Saul on his throne and David playing a harp. He likes it because it's on the top floor of the church near a set of stairs, where it aways seem peaceful, he said. You can talk about it or be about it. I choose to be about it, and its time to make a change, he said. The event has been in the planning stages for a while and part of it came from a youth outreach program he runs at the church. No, it was not just yesterday, nor was it just a few or more than a few years ago. For some of us rolling into DeKalb last weekend, it has been exactly 30 years since we walked into the Chick Evans Field House to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance, ready to accept the degree we had managed to secure, if not ready to set the world on fire. McHenry County authorities said he has nine prior convictions for driving under the influence in four different states. This is his first time being sent to prison. He also has a prior conviction for driving on a revoked license. Family members recall attending the boom-boom concert in the park offered by the Naperville Municipal Band. Aunt Malinda called it the boom-boom concert because during the bands playing of the William Tell Overture, the Civil War brigade would set off the cannons, Stillmunkes said. Faith also was important to Malinda Woesthoff. She was baptized and confirmed at the Zion Lutheran Church, where is listed as the oldest living member of the congregation. A 32-year-old Chicago man was charged May 9 with retail theft and criminal trespass after a police officer was dispatched to Kohls at 4220 N. Harlem Ave. Vincent Florito, of the 4800 block of West Belle Plaine Ave., is due in court June 11. Police Florito entered the Ultra Beauty shop after leaving Kohls. A Harwood Heights officer then observed him attempting to exit through the rear fire escape. A Norridge officer then pointed his stun gun at Florito and ordered him to lay down on the ground, to which he complied. A Kohls loss prevention officer said he had entered the store, selected a pair of mens shorts and concealed the item inside his personal backpack. He then proceeded to exit the store without paying. The agent told police he attempted to apprehend Florito but that he then ran across Harlem Avenue to Ultra Beauty, located at 4115 N. Harlem. The mural, which hung for about 30 years inside the old Park Ridge Post Office at 164 S. Prospect Ave., was removed in 1970 and professionally restored in 2013 after four years of fundraising by Park Ridge residents. It depicts U.S. soldiers and settlers meeting with Native Americans near two rivers and a forest and, according to the restoration group, was one of approximately 1,100 murals and sculptures commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in the 1930s and 1940s to decorate federal buildings across the country. Hansen was born in Denver, Colo., but moved to Illinois when he was a couple of months old. He grew up on a farm and promptly joined the service following his high school graduation. As he traveled to boot camp in late 1943, he had no idea to where he would be assigned. It was only after he was sent to learn the finer points of rolling bandages and wrapping wounds that he realized he was destined to be a medic. For her to come here and just tell us she cares and hug us in a time when we desperately need to be hugged, its just amazing and just beyond words, Doughty said. Police Sgt.Ronald Russo, the city's code enforcement officer, said he visited the house on May 2 on order from Councilman Dave Vinzant, D-4th, and found several violations, including damaged siding, junk on the property and high grass. He said he didn't send the owner a notice to comply at that time, however, when he learned that Hannigan had already sent a notice to the owner. We have received a lot of questions as to the applications of the bulldogs. Please understand it is not first come, first serve, the department posted on Sept. 3, 2017. All the applications that are turned in all week will be reviewed and we will be choosing adopters based on the application and background check. Officials said the registration process requires information such as insurance policies and bank information for possible direct transfer of funds. Survivors are encouraged to register before visiting a recovery center. Online registration is available at DisasterAssistance.gov. or call the FEMA hotline at 800-621-3362. Porter Regional Hospital will offer a variety of upcoming programs and support groups for the community. A free joint pain seminar will be held from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, and from 1-2 p.m. May 30 at the hospital, located at 85 E. U.S. 6, Valparaiso. An orthopedic patient navigator will discuss options for relief, including exercise, weight control, medication therapy and minimally-invasive joint replacement. Register at porterhealth.com and click on events, or call 800-541-1861. An ostomy support group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Community Room at Porter Regional Hospital. More information is with Sarah Grcich at 219-309-5939 or Michele Kaplan-Jones at 219-406-0019. A stroke survivor support group will run from 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday in room 2100 at Porter Regional Hospital. More information is at 219-983-8355. Beyond the Baby Blues, a support group for parents experiencing postpartum depression, will meet from 5-6:30 p.m. May 30 in the Community Room at Porter Regional Hospital, or from 6-8 p.m. at Childbirth Melodies, 138 S. Main St., Crown Point. More information is at 219-331-1945 or 219-782-4149. The current work includes finishing an environmental impact statement on the double-track project and convincing the FTA that all the local matching funding for the grants is in place. The local funding is complex, Noland said, because it includes three state statutes as well as multi-year agreements by the state legislature, the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, and LaPorte and St. Joseph counties. Smith, of the 1600 block of North County Road 500 East, went to a neighbors home in the same block as his around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and stayed there for about 45 minutes before walking away in an unknown direction, Jeff Biggs, chief deputy with the Porter County Sheriffs Department, has said. The state's rate remained below the national rate of 3.9 percent. With the exception of October 2014, when it was equal to the national rate, the state's unemployment rate has been below the U.S. rate for more than four years. ValpoNet is owned and managed by the city, Lyp said, and businesses can use their own providers or hire one to connect to the network. The city hasnt signed any contracts with users yet and will have a pricing structure and other details in the coming days that will have to go before the citys redevelopment commission. People always see a veteran and say thank you for your service, Carter said. But its another thing to support and help them, such as with this program, he said. "Originally, if you looked at it from the top, the plan was for it to be a cross," Day said. "It was supposed to have four wings and a central atrium with a cupola above, but I guess they didn't have money to complete it so they left off the back part. So now you have the front section and two sides, but the rear section was left off." Everyone agrees that we need to spend more on our military. If Mexico would enforced their immigration laws, that would free up $360 billion per year that could be spent on our military and social programs. We would be safer and many citizens would be given back their honor and dignity of having of job. I know Ill be able to try again, but Id like to do as well as I can now, he said. Im treating this like my first and last chance. 121st Bell Game was a return to normalcy More than just a game, this year's Bell Game represented a return to normalcy after more than a year impacted by the pandemic. Our weekly round up of other news affecting foreign investors throughout Asia: Thailands Automotive Industry: Opportunities and Incentives Thailand offers great investment potential as a leading automotive production base in ASEAN. Read our latest article to know more about the opportunities and incentives on offer as well as the outlook for 2018. Investing in Digital India: BFSI Sector Fuels Need for Regional Data Centers As more industries in India develop information technology (IT) solutions to improve delivery capacity and adopt new business models to match global innovation trends, Indias dependence on global data centers is becoming problematic. Eurasian Economic Union Ratifies Observer Status to Moldova, Could Become Low Cost European IT Hub The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the main leadership body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), has agreed to grant observer status to Moldova Chinas Belt Road Import Growth Overtakes Export Growth for the First Time Chinas imports from Belt and Road countries increased faster that of exports for the first time, in 2017, according to Chinas State Information Center. Port Infrastructure in Vietnam In the last 10 years, the production growth in Vietnam has led to a significant increase in freight traffic, highlighting the importance of ports and the need for further investments in its infrastructure to reduce logistics costs, which currently accounts for 21 percent of the GDP. The Pacific Symphony recently concluded its first China tour with a grand gesture. It performed My Motherland, one of the most famous Chinese songs, at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Tuesday, as it signed off. The tour, which ran from May 9, covered five Chinese cities - Shanghai, Hefei in Anhui province, Wuxi in Jiangsu province, Chongqing and Beijing. The 39-year-old Pacific Symphony, one of the largest orchestra in the United States, is based in Orange County, California. Orange County has the third largest Asian American population in the US. And the Chinese community there in particular has seen explosive growth. Speaking about how the symphony has tried to boost its links with the Chinese in Orange County, Pacific Symphony's president John Forsyte says: "Since 2013 we have been devoted to engaging with the Chinese communities of the region (county area), and building on their enthusiasm for symphonic music. We are proud of the role we are playing as cultural ambassadors for Orange County and the community. "Crossing the Pacific Rim to perform for the Chinese on the mainland is the logical extension of the work we've been doing in Orange County." The Pacific Symphony toured Europe in 2006 and made its Carnegie Hall debut on April 21, 2018. Earlier, in 2017, the orchestra relocated its headquarters to the city of Irvine, a city of Orange County. Forsyte says that the orchestra is supported by board members, including Chinese-American members. And three years ago, the orchestra launched a lantern festival event to celebrate the Chinese New Year, introducing traditional Chinese musical instruments, dance and art activities. Speaking about increasing Chinese involvement with the symphony, Forsyte says: "There are about half a dozen musicians in the orchestra from China, and you can often hear Mandarin backstage. "By coming to China, our musicians have a better understanding about Chinese culture, which is also important for our audience at home." Chinese-American violinist Shelly Shi joined in Pacific Symphony in 2009. Shi, who was born in Beijing, studied at the high school affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing from the age of 9. She was awarded a scholarship to go to the US to study violin in Santa Monica after she turned 16. Speaking about her experience with the symphony, Shi says: "The orchestra has built a good relationship with the Chinese-American community by introducing various educational programs." Giving details, she says one program is called Strings for Generations, and it teaches Chinese families to play instruments and perform together. Meanwhile, Carl St. Clair, 66, the music director of Pacific Symphony since 1990, was invited to be a guest conductor for the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Hangzhou Philharmonic and Guiyang Symphony Orchestra. During their China tour, Pacific Symphony performed repertoires that include three short pieces from Leonard Bernstein, to mark the composer's centenary this year. Besides, they have also performed works by Mozart, Mussorsky and Ravel. Separately, Israeli-American violinist Pinchas Zukerman accompanied the orchestra during the tour, playing as soloist, performing Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3. At the NCPA in Beijing, Zukerman also performed the theme of the 1993 film Schindler's List by John Williams and invited the audience to sing along with him on Johannes Brahms' Lullaby. Giving details about how he chose the music for the tour, St. Clair, a friend of Chinese conductor Chen Zuohuang since 1978 when they met at the University of Michigan, says: "I carefully selected the repertoire to show off Pacific Symphony's energetic spirit and warm sonority." St. Clair, who was mentored by the late American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, first met Bernstein in the summer of 1985, when St. Clair was a conducting fellow at Tanglewood, studying conducting under his teacher Gustav Meier, who headed the program there. St. Clair then became a student of Bernstein, who called him "cowboy" since St. Clair was born in Texas. In 1990, Bernstein conducted his last concert, leading the Boston Symphony to perform Beethoven's Seventh Symphony at Tanglewood. But Bernstein was not able to conduct the premiere of his newly orchestrated final work, Arias and Barcarolles, so he turned that over to St. Clair, then a 38-year-old assistant conductor of Boston Symphony. Speaking about that experience, St. Clair says: "I will never forget each lesson he gave me. It's hard to imagine that he has been gone for 28 years. For every piece I play onstage, I remember what he told me: to keep the flag of creating music flying and to give back. St. Clair says when the orchestra toured China, they selected repertoires they enjoy and shared music with the audience. The 15th Meeting of Cultural Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States was held in Sanya, Hainan province, on Wednesday and Thursday. Key discussions focused on achieving more in-depth and creative multilateral cultural cooperation. In a keynote speech at the gathering, Luo Shugang, China's minister of culture and tourism, expressed the goodwill of the Chinese government and people in seeking to build a shared community with other countries. He spoke highly of the cultural ministers meeting mechanism of SCO member states in promoting regional cultural cooperation and mutual understanding of the people. Luo proposed further building up the "Shanghai spirit" through deepening cultural exchanges and the cooperation of member states. He suggested developing creative models to create cultural brands and suggested that local forces should be encouraged to join in cultural exchanges and cooperation. He said China will continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation to enhance understanding and friendship with SCO member states, based on principles of mutual respect and mutual benefits, to provide ethical and cultural support for the healthy and sustainable development of the organization. All participants agreed that cultural cooperation between SCO member states made remarkable progress in the past year, and reports presented at the meeting about diversified exchanges and cooperation clearly showed that bilateral and multilateral cooperation is growing deeper and wider. The two-day meeting concluded on Thursday with the issuance of the 2018-20 Executive Plan. The representatives also joined in a news release welcoming India and Pakistan into the SCO and encouraging more direct contacts and practical exchanges of cultural organizations within SCO member states, as well as joint creation of cultural products and works. "India has a long history of cultural exchanges with China and other SCO member states," said Mahesh Sharma, India's minister of culture. "Joining the SCO has provided a new platform, greater space and opportunities for exchanges and cooperation." "Culture brings people together. It is a binding force in the development of peaceful coexistence for humanity. It will be a win-win situation for China and India - both of which have a rich and diversified culture - to further explore and develop wider cultural exchanges and cooperation that could include tourism, education, science, archaeology, music, drama and even yoga." Vladimir Aristarhov, the Russian Federation's first vice-minister of culture, said at the meeting: "More multilateral cooperation among smaller cities in SCO member states should be developed, and more diversified cooperation programs including education, cultural contests, art festivals and exchanges of students should be cultivated to produce cultural cohesion." At a welcome dinner on Tuesday, Shen Xiaoming, the governor of Hainan, said SCO member states are important tourist resources for the province, which is developing an international tourism and consumption center under the new development strategy laid down by the central government. Hainan attaches great importance to the SCO tourism market and will build more platforms to promote cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation with SCO member states, Shen said. The Pacific Symphony recently concluded its first China tour with a grand gesture. It performed My Motherland, one of the most famous Chinese songs, at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Tuesday, as it signed off. The tour, which ran from May 9, covered five Chinese cities - Shanghai, Hefei in Anhui province, Wuxi in Jiangsu province, Chongqing and Beijing. The 39-year-old Pacific Symphony, one of the largest orchestra in the United States, is based in Orange County, California. Orange County has the third largest Asian American population in the US. And the Chinese community there in particular has seen explosive growth. Speaking about how the symphony has tried to boost its links with the Chinese in Orange County, Pacific Symphony's president John Forsyte says: "Since 2013 we have been devoted to engaging with the Chinese communities of the region (county area), and building on their enthusiasm for symphonic music. We are proud of the role we are playing as cultural ambassadors for Orange County and the community. "Crossing the Pacific Rim to perform for the Chinese on the mainland is the logical extension of the work we've been doing in Orange County." The Pacific Symphony toured Europe in 2006 and made its Carnegie Hall debut on April 21, 2018. Earlier, in 2017, the orchestra relocated its headquarters to the city of Irvine, a city of Orange County. Forsyte says that the orchestra is supported by board members, including Chinese-American members. And three years ago, the orchestra launched a lantern festival event to celebrate the Chinese New Year, introducing traditional Chinese musical instruments, dance and art activities. Speaking about increasing Chinese involvement with the symphony, Forsyte says: "There are about half a dozen musicians in the orchestra from China, and you can often hear Mandarin backstage. "By coming to China, our musicians have a better understanding about Chinese culture, which is also important for our audience at home." Chinese-American violinist Shelly Shi joined in Pacific Symphony in 2009. Shi, who was born in Beijing, studied at the high school affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing from the age of 9. She was awarded a scholarship to go to the US to study violin in Santa Monica after she turned 16. Government officials, business leaders and academics attending China's second World Intelligence Congress, abbreviated WIC 2018, envisioned people's liberation from labor with the help of artificial intelligence. With the theme "The Age of Intelligence: New Progress, New Trends, New Efforts," the three-day event began in north China's Tianjin municipality on Wednesday. Lin Nianxiu, deputy director of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at the opening of the congress that the aspirations to make machines more intelligent and liberate human beings from as much labor as possible have been major impetuses driving worldwide technological advances and industrial innovation. After more than six decades since the first AI programs were developed in the 1950s, AI has become the most vibrant and promising field of science and technology, Lin said. Richard Liu, founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, said in his speech at a forum with the theme "Vision: Intelligent and Sustainable Development" that his biggest dream is for all people to be liberated from labor. He said that with the development of AI, machines are expected to replace humans in generating material wealth. In this way, people will be able to spend more time on leisure activities, such as developing their hobbies and enjoying quality time with their families, Liu said. George Smoot, a 2006 Nobel laureate in physics, also noted that "AI can replicate labor activities at much greater scale and speed, and even perform some tasks beyond the capacities of humans." "For example, by using virtual assistants, a thousand legal documents can be reviewed in a matter of days instead of taking three people six months to complete," Smoot said. With a focus on the changes and opportunities brought by AI technologies and how they can be utilized to shape a sustainable world, the WIC 2018 features the World Intelligent Technology Expo, three main forums, 18 themed forums and four contests, namely the World Intelligent Driving Challenge, the World Intelligent Drones Contest, the Open Data Innovation and Application Contest, and the 2018 China (Tianjin) Industrial APP Innovation and Application Contest. The event is co-organized by the Tianjin Municipal People's Government, the NDRC, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the China Association for Science and Technology. China hopes for positive and constructive outcomes from the ongoing Sino-U.S. economic and trade consultations, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday. "We hope that the two sides can meet each other halfway, and properly resolve disputes and manage differences through consultations, based on the principle of mutual respect and equal consultation," MOC spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference. Gao also expressed hope that the two sides would make joint efforts to advance bilateral economic and trade cooperation. "China does not want to see escalating Sino-U.S. economic and trade friction, but is prepared for all possible scenarios," Gao said. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrived in Washington Tuesday afternoon for economic and trade consultations with the U.S. side at the invitation of the U.S. government. Gao reiterated China's opposition to the U.S. Section 301 investigation and urged the United States to cease investigation procedures. The Section 301 investigation is "an act of unilateralism" and "unpopular with the public," he said, citing that more than 90 percent of the 2,000-plus published comments during the hearings opposed the tariff proposal. "China expects the United States to take concrete action as soon as possible on a case involving Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE, and to resolve it in a fair and reasonable manner," he said. The comment came after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet Sunday that the two sides are working together to give ZTE "a way to get back into business, fast," and the U.S. Commerce Department has been instructed to work on the issue. Gao pointed out that market forces were behind China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation. "We will resolutely defend our own interests and will not make any deal at the cost of China's core interests," Gao said. Gao said China would expand the opening of its market in a proactive, steady and orderly manner, in accordance with its own development need, its own pace and timetable, to benefit both the Chinese people and people across the world. China and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) on Thursday signed an agreement on trade and economic cooperation, the first major systematic arrangement ever reached between the two sides. The document was signed by Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Tigran Sargsyan and representatives of the EAEU members at the Astana Economic Forum that kicked off on the same day. The agreement covers 13 aspects such as customs cooperation, trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, sectoral cooperation and government procurement, including new topics like e-commerce and competition. China and the EAEU agreed to further simplify procedures of customs clearance and cut costs of trade in goods by strengthening cooperation and exchange of information between each other. The agreement is expected to take effect as early as the beginning of 2019. Marking a new stage where China's trade and economic cooperation with the EAEU has upgraded from being driven by projects to being guided by rules and regulations, the agreement is seen as a milestone in driving the integration of the Belt and Road Initiative and the EAEU framework. It is expected to help further reduce non-tariff trade barriers, create a better environment for industrial development and promote the in-depth development of economic and trade relations between China and the EAEU. Established in 2015, the EAEU groups Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. In May 2015, top leaders of China and Russia signed joint declarations on integrating the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the framework of the EAEU. In October 2016, China and the EAEU started one-year negotiations on trade and economic cooperation, during which five rounds of talks, three meetings of joint working groups and two ministerial consultations were held. The Chinese government has demanded local authorities to halve the time required for starting businesses as part of efforts to improve the business environment and encourage entrepreneurship. The amount of time required to start a business in municipalities, sub-provincial cities and provincial capitals should be reduced from an average of 20 workdays to within 8.5 workdays by the end of this year, according to a document released by the General Office of the State Council. The measure will also be introduced in the five leading cities of Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shenzhen, with other areas also required to see positive progress, the document said. The target will be realized nationwide in the first half of 2019. "The procedures that a new firm needs to go through to become initially operational should be streamlined, making it simpler to submit applications, register a business, carve common seals, apply for invoices and manage social insurance," according to the document. "The efficiency, transparency and predictability of the services should be increased, and the experience of starting a business should be improved, so as to reduce institutional costs and boost mass entrepreneurship and innovation," the document said. The pace of the reform to cut red tape in China was fast in the past five years. World Bank data has seen China's ranking improve by 18 places for "ease of doing business" in the past five years, and increase by 65 places for "ease of setting up a business." China on Thursday released around 85,000 endangered sturgeon in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in a bid to help restore the wild population. "Dabry's sturgeon, a class A protected fish in China that is also called the Yangtze sturgeon, had lost its natural ability to breed since 2000 due to dam constructions, overfishing and river traffic, thus the wild species was near extinction," said Yu Kangzhen, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. "The Yangtze sturgeon is an important indicator of the ecological health of the Yangtze River," Yu said. Authorities released 50 adult sturgeon, 5,100 young sturgeon and 80,000 fry at a section of the Yangtze River in Yibin City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The release marked the launch of the Dabry's sturgeon rescue program (2018-2035), the country's third such operation for rare species in the Yangtze. The first two were for the Chinese sturgeon and finless porpoise. The artificially bred adult sturgeons, which have the natural ability to breed, can help restore natural propagation in the wild and ultimately restore the wild population. Fishery authorities have tagged the adult and young fish so they can track their migration and monitor their activities. Previously, China released nearly 50,000 Dabry's sturgeon into the country's largest river from 2007, according to Cao Wenxuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "But no naturally-bred sturgeons have been found," Cao said. "With the large release, we hope that the species can naturally reproduce in the future." In the next three years, authorities are expected to release 100,000 young Dabry's sturgeon and 800 adult sturgeon annually into the river. The construction of Beijing's new airport will wrap up by the end of June 2019, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-rural Development. After a three-month period of equipment testing, the new airport will open on Oct. 1, 2019. Designed as a large-scale international transportation hub, the new airport will play a key role in substantializing the strategic positioning and functional planning of Beijing. It is an important part of the integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as well as the Belt and Road Initiative. The construction work has stayed on schedule, with the terminal buildings roofed and undergoing interior decoration and equipment installation. About 90 percent of the supplementary municipal projects are finished, and the overpasses leading away from the airport are complete. The progresses made on the port of entry, the western air traffic control tower, and the airfield are at roughly 18 percent, 35 percent, and 92 percent, respectively. Nearly one-third of the work is done for the fuel supply system, the eastern base, and the southern base. Meanwhile, the communication center of the airport and its accompanying communication systems are under construction as planned. Once the airport is complete, Beijing will have another 700,000 square meters of airport terminal area, four new runways, and 268 new airport terminal gates. The city will be able to accommodate many more international flights. The new airport will link up with various transportation methods such as high-speed railways, subways, and trains, optimizing transfer services for both domestic and international airline networks. The distinctively designed piers and zoning operation in the new terminals will greatly cut foot travel distances for the passengersthe longest walk between destinations will only be 600 meters. In addition, innovative designs for the baggage system of the new airport will shorten the required check-in time spans. Incoming baggage could arrive within 13 minutes, which will help to cut down on long layovers. The opening of the new airport is expected to significantly improve the current shortage of international airline slots in Beijing. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said that airline companies are encouraged to operate in the new airport and open up more international routes. The CAAC will endorse new airline routes originating from Beijing's new airport to help develop its international airline network. The nanny responsible for killing four members of a family in an arson appeared in court in eastern China on Thursday to appeal her death sentence. Mo Huanjing, nanny of the family of Lin Shengbin, pleaded guilty to starting the fire. But she said during the appeal at Zhejiang High People's Court that "the penalty in the original ruling was extremely heavy". "The tragedy wasn't the result I wanted to see," she added. She said the efforts of firefighters were flawed. And she confessed to her offense during the initial interrogation, which could be regarded as a reason to earn a more lenient sentence. Wu Pengbin, her lawyer, said that some firefighters and employees of the property management department of Lin's apartment attended the hearing as witnesses at his urging. "I wanted them to show what they were doing at the time to the court, as I, with my client, thought their rescue attempt lacked urgency and there was also something wrong with the water pressure in the apartment," he said. Mo, 35, expressed deep remorse for her actions and apologized to Lin's family at the end of the hearing. She requested a lenient sentence in court, but added that she would accept the result if the original verdict is upheld. The court said the judgment would be announced at a later date. Mo was sentenced to death on Feb. 9 at the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court after intentionally setting the fire in Lin's apartment in the city on June 22, 2017, killing Lin's wife Zhu Xiaochen and their three children, ages 6, 9 and 11. She was also convicted of theft and fined 10,000 yuan (US$1,570) at the same time. The original verdict ruled that the defendant, who was burdened with heavy gambling debts, sought nanny positions in 2015 to pay her debtors. In September 2016, she obtained a live-in nanny job at Lin's home in Hangzhou. She stole gold jewelry and watches from the family and then pawned them for over 180,000 yuan (US$28,257.46) between March and June last year, it said. On June 22, she decided to win Zhu's gratitude by lighting a fire and then extinguishing it to get more money, after having lost 60,000 yuan from bad bets. But the fire spread quickly and she escaped from the home. Zhu and her three children died of carbon monoxide poisoning, it said. In a statement posted by the high court on Thursday, Mo said she tried to extinguish the fire at the time, and had prepared buckets of water in advance. She said she knocked on windows of the children's rooms to wake them up and called police and security guards for help. But she added that she failed to extinguish the blaze amid a bout of anxiety, it added. China's cultural department said Friday that its "Artificial Intelligence Museum" project with the search engine Baidu had brought 2,894 museums onto a digital museum map, giving easier public access to museums. Guan Qiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), said Friday that after the administration signed the cooperation agreement with Baidu in December 2017, some 2,894 of China's 5,000 museums had joined. Clicking a museum on the AI museum map on the Baidu search engine, people can find its real-time map, introduction and museum tour tips. Baidu Senior Vice President Xiang Hailong said three museums would take the lead in AI museum solutions: Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, built on the original site of the Terracotta Warriors, as well as Suzhou Museum and Shanghai History Museum. In the coming three years, the museums will provide visitors smart maps for searching for exhibits, AI technology-aided exhibitions and education. Li Yanhong, chair and CEO of Baidu, said that once you take a photo of the world-renowned Terracotta Warriors using the Baidu App, image recognition and AR technology would bring the Terracotta Warriors "back to life," as the app can automatically match the photo with the exhibit and send you a video showing how the grey terracotta warriors transformed to their original colors as they were more than 2,000 years ago. The International Council of Museums chose "Hyperconnected museums: New approaches, new publics" as the theme for this year's International Museum Day, which falls Friday. SACH and Baidu co-sponsored the official launch of the project Friday with the theme "Inheriting Culture civilization with technology: The AI Museum Project." There are more than 80,000 museums in the world. Nearly 70 percent are less than 40 years old. Digital technology is becoming one of the important driving forces for the development of museums. Technology such as the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing and AI give visitors a "time traveling" experience in museum tours, according to Guan. Earlier this year, the Hubei Provincial Museum introduced a robot tour guide to tell visitors the cultural background of one of the museum's top treasures -- "Blue and white bottle of Lin Hejing, Yuan Dynasty." In three days, the robot answered more than 7,000 questions. Enditem Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Washington's Middle Eastern allies, are the countries supporting Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. European countries and the rest of the world are unanimous in dismissing the U.S. decision as thoughtless and harebrained. Most of the criticism in European statements and analysis highlights that the current accord ensures the close monitoring of Iran's nuclear activities and would allow for "bridging gaps," such as negotiations with Iran on its ballistic missiles and its so-called "destabilizing" activities in the Middle East region, as well as negotiations on uranium enrichment after 2025. The European leaders' insistence on the need to adhere to the terms of the 2015 accord stems from their attempt to protect European companies' interests in Iran that are being dealt a severe blow with the pullout. This comes amid the 90-day and 180-day wind-down periods set by Trump for necessary measures to be taken by the U.S. department to re-effectuate the sanctions on Iran, and thus accordingly for European companies to halt business deals in the targeted country. Trump's withdrawal does not only jeopardize the European companies' interests, but also threatens Europe's existence as a balancing and influential political power in the larger political landscape dominated by the U.S. The "beseeching" efforts made by Emanuel Marcon, Theresa May and Angela Merkel to dissuade Trump from scraping the international deal in the weeks and days leading up to his final decision, which came out on May 8, fell on deaf ears. The so-called "allies," who were part of negotiating and striking the agreement among the P5+1 group of countries -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) plus Germany -- were completely excluded as Trump unilaterally took his decision and has threatened European countries and companies with punitive measures in the event of non-compliance with his "orders." Trump's actions since he came into office have signaled disregard for Europe. He unilaterally walked out of the Paris climate accord with Europe and threatened to discard the free trade agreement with Canada. He reprimanded the EU, on top of it Berlin, for running a big trade deficit with the U.S., hinting at America's sacrifices in the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe, mainly Germany, after World War II. Leaders of Europe are as much to blame for having relinquished their historical European legacy in favor of blindly following the American model and policies, only to now find themselves struggling to salvage Total's contract to develop Iran's South Pars natural gas field -- the world's largest, the Airbus aircraft supply deal and Renault and Peugeot deals, which will lose tens of billions of U.S. dollars, among others. Trump's pullout of the Iran deal adds more momentum to the mounting anti-American sentiment that has been building up in Europe for years, amid the growing appeal for a European-modeled globalist alternative to the U.S.' nationalism, that is doing serious damage to the transatlantic relationship between both sides. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire's call on Europe to resist the U.S.' self-proclaimed position as the "world's economic policeman" in addition to his question: "Do we want to be vassals who obey decisions taken by the United States while clinging to the hem of their trousers?" is an example of the heated anti-American rhetoric that is increasingly prevailing not just among Europe's elites but also across the whole Old Continent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was clearer in expressing the need for Europe to follow a new path away from the U.S. to shape its own policies and fate. "It is no longer such that the United States simply protects us, but Europe must take its destiny in its own hands, that's the task of the future," she said. The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker struck a more defiant note calling on Europe to take up leadership of the world and replace the U.S., whom he said "has lost its vigor." Now that Europe's illusions of having enjoyed a relationship of "equals" with the U.S. within the transatlantic alliance's framework are dispelled, it is time for Europe to make a historic decision whether to stay under the umbrella of a hegemonic mentality, made more extreme by a capricious president, or to forge a way out into a more independent path where other partners, like China and Russia, are extending a hand of cooperation. Iran's current limited willingness to cooperate with and get practical guarantees from the European countries to try to keep the deal in place without the U.S. could be a great opportunity for the Europeans to take the first step on their new path and offer a new alternative multipolar world order based on international law which ensures the interests of countries are equally preserved. Haifa Said is chief editor of the English Department at the Syrian Arab News Agency. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Flash The recent efforts made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) should be encouraged, welcomed and supported by the international community, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday. Lu Kang told a daily news briefing that the DPRK had made a series of efforts, including announcing a halt of nuclear tests and the dismantling of its northern nuclear test ground. The efforts reflect the DPRK's willingness to promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and build mutual trust with relevant parties, as well as its sincerity to promote a political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue, he said. "The DPRK's efforts should be hailed and deserve the encouragement, welcome and support of the international community," Lu said, calling on parties to meet each other halfway. Media reported U.S. Republican senator Rand Paul said the DPRK had made concessions, as the country recently released three U.S. detainees and announced it would stop nuclear tests, but the DPRK had not "seen a little bit on the other side" from the United States, adding that he believed the talks between the two countries would still occur. In response, Lu said he hoped this attitude of mutual understanding and empathy would receive attention. With the joint efforts of all parties, an important step in the right direction has been made in settling the Korean Peninsula issue, Lu said. He said the current momentum for dialogue and easing of tension on the Korean Peninsula, which has not come easily, should be cherished by all. China has always advocated that all relevant parties should promote a political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue and consultation, and fully consider the concerns of all, including the DPRK's legitimate security concerns, he said. "We hope the United States and the DPRK will seize the current opportunities, continue to build mutual trust, and make joint efforts to realize denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and lasting peace and stability in the region," Lu said. Flash The Arab foreign ministers council entrusted on Thursday the Arab League (AL) to outline a plan to counter United States or any other country recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or moving their embassies to the disputed city. Wrapping up the AL emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Cairo, the council demanded the pan-Arab organization to form an international independent committee of experts to investigate into the recent "crimes and violations" conducted by the Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza Strip which left at least 63 people killed and hundreds injured. The council reiterated its rejection and condemnation to the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and the relocation of its embassy to the holy city. It also condemned Guatemala's plan to relocate its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, stressing that the Arab League would take all necessary political and economic measures against such a move. On Monday, the United States moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, six months after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized the city as the capital of Israel. At least 63 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were killed and about 2,800 wounded over the past three days in confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters against moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the city that the Palestinians want its eastern part to be the capital of their future state. Mass Palestinian protests were launched from March 30 in five different locations along the borders between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel. Some 111 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire since late March during the protests held to demand the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes in Israel. Meanwhile, AL Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said the Arabs will demand that the UN Security Council form an investigation committee into the Israeli latest crimes in the Gaza Strip. If the United States blocks the Arab action as expected, the Arabs will recourse to the UN General Assembly, he told reporters during the meeting. Aboul-Gheit said the UN Human Rights Council will convene on Friday in Geneva, noting that the body has the authority to form a committee for such incidents. The AL delegation in New York will start from tonight to implement what was agreed upon during today's talks on the U.S. embassy relocation, the AL chief affirmed. Saudi foreign minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, who chairs the meeting, said the U.S. decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem defies the international legitimacy and ignores the rights of the Palestinian people. He warned of the dangerous consequences of the U.S. decision, which provokes the feelings of Muslims. Al-Jubeir stressed that Saudi Arabia rejects the U.S. decision on Jerusalem, adding that his country will always help the Palestinian people until they establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Saudi minister also condemned Israel's killing of dozens of peaceful protesters in the Gaza Strip in recent days. Also speaking at the meeting, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said the U.S. decision to relocate its embassy is null and void and will not give the Israeli occupation any legitimate rights. "East Jerusalem will remain the capital of Palestine," Shoukry said. Shoukry called on the international community to stand up to Israeli practices against Palestinian civilians and launch a probe into Israel's violence committed against peaceful Palestinian protesters. He also called for reviving political talks between the two sides based on international resolutions to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Meanwhile, Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi called on the international community to recognize East Jerusalem as a capital of the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. In his speech during meeting, Safadi stressed that solving the Palestinian crisis is necessary to maintain Middle East's peace and security. He also slammed the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem. Flash China and France have agreed to make use of "three handles" to comprehensively enhance practical cooperation between the two countries, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday. Wang made the remarks at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian after their talks. The two sides have agreed to seize the opportunity and bring the bilateral ties to a new level, said Wang, who is also a state councilor of China. The first handle is their major cooperative projects, through which the two countries would jointly promote the development of various high-tech industries such as nuclear energy, aeronautics and space, said Wang. The second handle is China's further opening-up, which allows the two sides to deepen cooperation on various new areas such as innovation, artificial intelligence, digital economy, and to open new grounds for bilateral cooperation, the Chinese minister said. The third handle is the hosting of China-France Year of the Environment, a joint decision by the leaders of the two countries made in January during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to China, according to the Chinese top diplomat. The two countries will strengthen strategic communication and cooperation on climate and environment, promote bilateral cooperation on green manufacturing and green finance, and contribute to the global efforts to fight climate change and achieve sustainable growth, said Wang. The Chinese minister also highlighted alignment of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with France's own development strategies. Other issues the two foreign ministers discussed during their meeting include China-European cooperation, Iran nuclear deal, and their commitment to the multilateral global trade system with the World Trade Organization at its center. Flash Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Russia's city of Sochi on Thursday, saying it's an opportunity for future peace talks, the Syrian presidential media office said. Assad said the meeting at the opening of the Sochi Summit is an "opportunity to put forward a mutual vision for the next stage for the peace talks either in Astana or Sochi." According to the report, Putin has congratulated Assad on the "big achievements" made by the Syrian army in the war against terrorism, noting that the military successes have created suitable conditions for the resumption of the political process. Putin said the mutual goal is the rebuilding of the Syrian economy and providing humanitarian help, noting that his administration is in contact with all concerned sides for the political "complicated process," including the UN. For his side, Assad said that many positive changes have taken place as the terrorists' arena in Syria has become much smaller and hundreds of thousands of Syrians have returned to their homes and millions of others are on their way back. "This stability is a wide door opened for the political process," Assad told Putin, according to the report. The visit of Assad to Sochi is his second, as last November the president met with Putin in Sochi and hailed the Russian support to Syria. The 21st CHITEC, or China Beijing International High-Tech Expo, is currently drawing big crowds in showcasing the major benefits flowing from the capital's state-of-the-art technology sector. Organizers said the show is also demonstrating the key roles being played by young people in shaping Beijing's technological innovation. The aim of the event, which started on Thursday and ends Sunday, is to promote the commercialization, market-oriented operations and internationalization of the technology industry. Among the areas of endeavor taking center stage are the home automation, industrial internet, new-energy smart automobiles, healthcare and new materials. The new-energy smart automobile stands display progress in the key technologies related to autonomous driving. Visitors can learn about the intelligent driving simulation test systems developed by Beijing-based HiRain Technologies Co, as well as the low-speed autonomous driving vehicle brought out by Idriverplus, founded in 2015. Elsewhere at the event, Beijing's Capital Youth Technology Innovation Exhibition invites younger people to learn about commercializing their achievements. This exhibition displays projects, including those by prizewinners from an innovation and entrepreneurship competition in Beijing, as well as the fruits of extracurricular activities of college students in the city. Among them is a new generation environmentally-friendly titanium battery, which boasts a clean and pollution-free chain from production to use, developed by a Beijing-based technology company. The company has won important awards at several young people-focused innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. Tsinghua University is exhibiting a mechanical arm at this year's expo, which won first prize at an extracurricular scientific and technological competition hosted by the university recently. The arm can alter its shape, enabling it to avoid obstacles, making it highly adaptable, insiders said. The youth-focused exhibition welcomed about 100 young people from Xinghe county in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, with an aim to help broaden the young visitors' horizons and increase their sense of innovation, organizers said. Local companies in Beijing have also brought along their high-tech products to show off. Tsinghua Unigroup has been exhibiting the progress it has made in innovation in the fields of chips and cloud computing, including a flash memory chip. The group is currently China's biggest comprehensive integrated circuit company and the world's third-biggest mobile phone chip group, according to its official website. Beijing Automotive Group is displaying its achievements, especially in new-energy automobiles. Visitors have the opportunity to explore the company's technology in new energy cars, its representatives said. They added that the car manufacturer aims to become a world-class new-energy auto scientific and tech innovation leader. The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, a key region in the capital's ambitions to become a national scientific and technological innovation hub, also joined this year's expo. Its exhibition display consists of six parts - new-generation information technology, intelligent manufacturing and robots, biological medicine and healthcare, advanced autos and new-energy autos, new materials, and scientific and technological cultural integration. More than 60 companies, including e-commerce retailer JD and German automaker Mercedes-Benz, drew in visitors to learn about the area's latest progress in innovation. songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 05/18/2018 page10) Sector to boost economic growth, booming in size to become 50 billion yuan in 2020 Tianjin Binhai New Area has thrown its weight behind intelligent technology's ability to become a new driver of economic growth, and as a result is expecting the size of its intelligent industry to reach 50 billion yuan ($7.84 billion) by 2020. In its role as a national research and development center of advanced manufacturing, Binhai New Area has sought to optimize the layout of its intelligent manufacturing industry and create an attractive environment for business in order to attract companies and professionals from home and abroad. As part of its most recent efforts, Binhai New Area used the second World Intelligence Congress, held from Wednesday to Friday, as a platform to showcase its latest developments, trends and favorable policies. According to officials from Binhai New Area, it plans to cultivate a batch of innovative artificial intelligence enterprises and resourceful entrepreneurs, to fulfill its goal of achieving more than 2,000 independent intellectual property rights by 2020. The AI industry will contribute the bulk of the anticipated 50 billion yuan in intelligent revenues by 2020, with related industries expected to generate 300 billion yuan, according to officials from Binhai New Area. To achieve this goal, a slew of favorable policies have been introduced in recent years to speed up growth in intelligent technology and related industries. The Development Plan 2017-20 for its software and information service industry is already bearing fruit, according to Binhai New Area. An integrated circuit design industry fund to support research and foster talent has also been implemented across the whole industry chain. At last year's World Intelligence Congress, Tianjin Binhai New Area announced its plans to establish a 30-billion yuan fund with China Traffic Construction Group among others to support the development of the intelligent technology industry. The fund will primarily be used to facilitate cooperation among global intelligent engineering technology centers and Binhai's Sino-German Industry 4.0 intelligent manufacturing center, its integrated circuit center, automotive electronics and automated driving center, and its intelligent transportation center. "In the next step, Binhai New Area will boost the innovation of intelligent technology by developing advanced technology research, expanding AI application and cultivating AI innovation organizations," said a representative of Binhai New Area. "We will also create AI innovation platforms, introduce and cultivate AI professionals, and build an open and inclusive support system." Intelligent manufacturing, automated equipment, robots, healthcare, security, logistics, maritime, finance, port, city and other related areas will be included in the key areas for future development, the representative said. One area that is already building an open and inclusive support system for its enterprises is the Tianjin Economic-Technology Development Area, also known as TEDA which has a specialized zone for intelligent automated manufacturing equipment. The zone is working to build a public service platform that allows companies to share facilities and resources, in order to help lower costs and foster innovation. Tianjin Chenxing Automation Equipment, a company developing parallel robots often used in flight and road simulators, ranks among the first batch of enterprises that settled in the intelligent automated equipment industry zone of TEDA. "With the support of the zone, a series of problems that the company encountered during its development have been solved," a representative from the company said. Binhai New Area hopes that its efforts in building itself into a national intelligent manufacturing demonstration zone, which showcases the fruits of the central government's Made in China 2025 strategy, will pay dividends in the near future. Technicians assemble parts of computers at a plant in Tianjin Binhai New Area. Photos Provided to China Daily (China Daily 05/18/2018 page24) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Asociatia Obsteasca DEMOS anunta concurs pentru angajarea unui expert/grup de experti/a unei companii care sa presteze servicii pentru lansarea afacerii sociale Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global Biochip Market: Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024 Global BiochipMarket: By Product Type (Biochips Instrument, Microarrays, Reagents, and Analysis Software), By Application (Drug Discovery, Gene Sequencing, Cancer Research, Clinical Diagnosis, Proteomics, and Others), By End-Users (Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies, and Others), and Geography -Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024 Global biochip market was valued at US$ XX Mn in 2017 and expected to grow at 20.0% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2018 to 2024 Market Outline: Biochip Market Biochips are the miniaturized test sites that are collectively arranged on a solid substrate. It allows various tests to be performed at the same time owing to higher speed. The biochip has the capacity of performing thousands of mathematical operations within a second. There are various types of biochips available, which include protein chips, DNA chips and lab-on-chips. Biochips are used in various applications such as drug screening and development. They are also used in analyzing the organic molecules that are associated with living organisms and they are also helpful in identification of gene sequences. Market Dynamics: Biochip Market Increase in the demand for personalized medicine is the major factor driving the growth of the biochip market. The widening use of the biochips in detecting several viral and bacterial agents which cause diseases is also likely to influence the growth of the market. Biochips application in detecting cancer in the patients and installation of the biochips in the patients body through non-invasive techniques is gaining popularity among the patient pool, which is likely to drive the growth of the biochip market. The increasing investments by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the R&D activities are enriching the growth of the market. However, the higher investment in the initial stages is likely to hinder the growth of the biochip market. Free sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/biochip-market/#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnx Market Scope: Biochip Market Biochip market is segmented based on the product type, application, and end-user. Based on the product type, the market is segmented into the following: Biochips Instrument Microarrays Reagents Analysis Software Based on the application, the market is segmented into the following: Drug Discovery Gene Sequencing Cancer Research Clinical Diagnosis Proteomics Others Based on the end-user, the market is segmented into the following: Hospitals Diagnostic centers Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies Others Free TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/biochip-market/#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhu Regional Analysis: Biochip Market Geographically, global biochip market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. North America biochip market is growing due to its technological advancements. The rising count of the population affected with cancer is also a major factor that is adding scope for the development of biochip market in this region. The affordability of the treatment is also considerably high in the North America when compared with that of the other regions. The growing awareness among the patient pool regarding the new treatment procedures is helping in the adoption of the modern treatments. Need more information about this report @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/biochip-market/#ulp-14mlyhjMGhVjZqa3 Competition Assessment: Biochip Market Some of the players in the global biochip market include: Abbott Laboratories (U.S.) Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (U.S.) Fluidigm Corporation (U.S) PerkinElmer Inc. (U.S) Agilent Technologies, Inc. (U.S) Illumina, Inc. (U.S) F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Switzerland) GE Healthcare (U.S) Get access to full summary @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/biochip-market/ About Precision Business Insights Precision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs. Contact to Precision Business Insights, Kemp House, 152 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX Email: sales@precisionbusinessinsights.com Toll Free (US):+1-866-598-1553 Website @https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com Today is Bill of Rights Day, a commemoration first established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to cherish the immeasurable privileges which the charter guaranteed and to rededicate its principles and practice. Here are five facts you should know about the Bill of Rights: 1. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, George Mason of Virginia said that he wished the plan had been prefaced by a Bill of Rights, because it would give great quiet to the people. A motion was made that a committee be established to prepare a Bill of Rights, but the delegates, voting as states, defeated it 10-0. The reason? It was deemed to be unnecessary. (Some were also skeptical about what James Madison called parchment barriers against overbearing majorities.) 2. James Madison initially presented 19 amendments for ratification, but the House only advanced 17 of them. The Senate trimmed it further to 12 before sending them to the states. In the end, numbers three through 12 were approved and collectively became our Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791. 3. The U.S. Bill of Rights was heavily influenced by George Masons Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), the English Bill of Rights (1689), and the Magna Carta (1215). 4. The third amendment (No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.) is the least contested amendment in the Bill of Rights. To date, no significant Supreme Court case hinges on the amendment. One of the most prominent citations, notes Andrew P. Morriss, is in the name of marital privacy as support for constitutional restrictions on state governments abilities to regulate the sale of contraceptives in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). 5. Three statesConnecticut, Georgia, and Massachusettsdidnt ratify the bill of rights until 1939, the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Constitution. Combined, the candidates raised about $892,300, according to the latest campaign finance filings. Wall has raised $541,832, with $375,000 from the Oregon Law and Justice political action committee run by a woman with ties to billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Washington County voters on Tuesday elected a longtime child abuse prosecutor as district attorney, the culmination of a race that saw an unprecedented influx of cash, questions about outside funding, a proliferation of TV ads and a debate about criminal justice in Oregon. Kevin Barton, 40, a chief deputy district attorney in the county, defeated former Polk County prosecutor and Beaverton criminal defense attorney Max Wall, 40, in a decisive vote. Barton captured 70 percent of the vote in early returns compared to Wall's 30 percent. This week we have some good news from Washington County, Oregon. (Hillsboro and vicinity, west of Portland.) Noelle Crombie reports for the Oregonian: George Soros has been using his wealth in a number of ways to make America's criminal justice system better for the criminals and less effective for the protection of law-abiding people. One of the ways is dumping big money into district attorney elections to oust effective DAs (or in-house candidates to succeed retiring ones) and replace them with Politically Correct disasters. We noted previously his success in Orlando and Philadelphia here and here Whether Soros or someone else funded the campaign remains unclear. A political consultant for Wall said she was told Soros is not behind the PAC but she did not know who was. Wall refused to answer questions from reporters about who provided the money. * * * The race was historic by Oregon standards. District attorney races are typically sleepy affairs often involving a candidate who has risen through the ranks of the office. But advocates eager to reshape Oregon's approach to criminal justice saw the Washington County race as an opportunity to elect a prosecutor friendly to their agenda. So we can't say for certain that this was Soros money, but it seems likely, and it is also likely he is covering his tracks to prevent that information from coming out until after the election. The Oregonian requires us to do a little math here. If the candidates combined raised $892,300 and Wall raised $541,832 of that, then Barton raised $350,468. That is a 1.5 ratio, a serious disadvantage, but not crushing. If $375,000 came from the PAC with Soros ties, then only a little over a third of Wall's money, at most, came from the kind of local donors who normally fund DAs races. Three cheers for the people of Washington County for not allowing their DA's office to be bought. Last Saturday, when there was no shortage of lawn-mowing to be done, I was obliged to spend four hours with a former detective. If that sounds alarming, it was, though not for the reason you might suppose. The retired female cop, who in the name of Christian discretion we will call Wendy, was the safeguarding officer of our local diocese of the Church of England. Her creed? I assume nothing, she said. I believe no one. I tend to suspect the worst in people. As deputy churchwarden and a member of our villages parochial church council, or PCC (a group of about 15 volunteers), I had been ordered to undergo Wendys C1 Learning and Development Framework Safeguarding Core Module. As deputy churchwarden and a member of our villages parochial church council, or PCC (a group of about 15 volunteers), I had been ordered to undergo Wendys C1 Learning and Development Framework Safeguarding Core Module Apologies for the jargon. I am afraid there is going to be rather a lot of that. And this from an Anglican hierarchy that has largely abandoned Thomas Cranmers Book of Common Prayer because no one understands it any more. For the next four hours, my fellow church volunteers, one aged 100 and one a septuagenarian Austrian countess, and I were battered and splattered by gibberish. It was like standing in front of some muckspreader loaded with stinking bureaucrat-ese. The thrust of Wendys message was that there could be a pederast behind every churchyard yew tree. Just as station Tannoys command us to see it, say it, sorted and report any suspect package, Wendy told us to be alert to all forms of abuse sexual, inter-marital, even abuse of vulnerable churchgoers by over-zealous preachers throughout our communities. Listen, hear, pass it on. But dont ever go into the judgment bit, intoned Wendy. If we heard neighbours squabbling at night, children with bruises or a church member taking a lot of photos on his mobile, we should sidle up to the authorities and submit a report. We should not ourselves reach any conclusion, mind you. We must allow the experts to carry out an investigation. The Stasi secret police in communist East Germany used to get citizens to snoop on their neighbours. Now this message is being pushed by the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, sees safeguarding as his mission. Past archbishops have been known for their emphasis on liturgical novelty or inspiring church music or even, Heaven help us, promoting Christian values. Yet Archbishop Welby for, I am sure, the best of motives has put his trust in a belt-and-garters approach to spotting wrong uns. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, sees safeguarding as his mission. Past archbishops have been known for their emphasis on liturgical novelty or inspiring church music or even, Heaven help us, promoting Christian values. Yet Archbishop Welby for, I am sure, the best of motives has put his trust in a belt-and-garters approach to spotting wrong uns. So it was on Saturday that, after introducing ourselves like attendees at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting (actually, most of us already knew one another), we were given leaflets about safeguarding strategy and action plans, a diocesan working group, independent safeguarding audits and about the team (modern clerics love the word team) of expert safeguarding professionals at Church House, in London. There was a list of safeguarding policy and practice guidance, publications such as Responding to Domestic Abuse and Responding Well to those who have been Sexually Abused. We were urged to mug up on managing safeguarding concerns or allegations against church officers and forcefully told we should formally adopt national safeguarding policy and practice guidelines on a yearly basis and display a safeguarding policy statement in a prominent place at our place of worship. Look closely enough at the noticeboard outside your parish church and you may spot it: alongside the yellowing advert for last years bring-and-buy there will be your churchs mandatory small print about how its on the lookout for kiddy-fiddlers. Lets hope the wind doesnt rip it away, or the churchs insurance policy may be rendered invalid. On Wendys course it was drummed into us that the Churchs main insurance company will pay out on claims only if PCCs have followed the national safeguarding policy and practice guidelines, as enforced by the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016. The lawyers and their friends in modern officialdom (and the insurance business) have plainly got the system royally gummed-up. The modern Church hierarchy may not be much good at inspiring worshippers, it may have a banjo-Billy tin ear for hymns and it may have presided over a catastrophic slump in churchgoing, but when it comes to making sure volunteers darn well do as theyre told and ensuring that a fortune is spent on bureaucrats who are paid much more than vicars and organists, it is horribly efficient. Had I refused to attend this course, I would have been sacked, insofar as any volunteer can be sacked. I would have been told that, under recent laws which sailed through Parliament with minimal debate, I could no longer be a church officer. That term applies not only to clergy and professional employees of the Church, but also to lay volunteers. There are some 12,500 parishes in England and each has a PCC. The Church could not say, but there are probably about 180,000 PCC members in the country, all unpaid, most of them (except for me) kindly, positive-minded, patient people. As Wendy churned through her litany of modern sex-crime tendencies and extreme instances of abuse by churchgoers, some of my fellow attendees started to twitch. OK, one or two seemed prepared to become unpaid snoopers for the professionalised nanny state, squealing on neighbours who were unkind to their wives or who left their children alone at home when they went to the pub or to work. But others, in the politest way, started to bridle. The Austrian countess told me afterwards, rather perplexed: I thought the English believed in minding their own business. Wendy said we should never let volunteers (such as flower arrangers) work alone in the church. If unaccompanied, she said, they could lay themselves open to false allegations. Visitors might invent some story that a volunteer had abused them. And that would lead to the police swooping in and arresting Mrs Boggins! Gotcha, sunshine, youre coming to the nick, says PC Plod. Oh dear, Constable, says Mrs Boggins, do you mind if I just put this sprig of gypsophila in the oasis before we are taken to the high-security unit for suspected sex offenders? Have the Justin Welbys of this world ever run the volunteer side of a church? If so, they might know it is far from easy to find enough souls to cover the basics, let alone to double up on your rotas, guys, as Wendy instructed us. Until recently, the only risk- assessing we did was trying to calculate if our little church would go bust in the next few months. Most of the money we raise (about 8,000 a year from collections, fetes, etc) goes to the diocese, to pay for the Church hierarchy. Here is the same Church spending millions on safeguarding jobsworths who tell us to report suspect activity and thus create more work for their self-perpetuating bureaucracy. As a mere lay person, I am no authority on morality, but Id call that wicked. How can a Church built on faith allow one of its representatives to boast, as Wendy did, I believe no one and I suspect the worst in people and to tell us to keep our eyes perpetually peeled for Mr Nasty? Wendy spoke approvingly of a possibility that the Church will soon tell priests no longer to do solo home visits, such as when they give Communion to the dying or offer spiritual consolation. She wanted such visits to be accompanied to prevent accusations of rape or theft being made against a priest. The ancient rite of the confessional may soon be trumped by the demands of todays managerialists. That is appalling. Unless, that is, the decent, push-us-only-so-far PCC members the backbone of Anglican England go on strike. Without its volunteers, the Church of England would close in a week. We PCC members maintain the buildings, organs, pews, graveyards. We spread the word, find the organists and raise the funds. Yet now we are being told to waste our spare free time attending almost meaningless safeguarding courses, just to tick bureaucratic boxes. I know several PCC members in our diocese, including a churchwarden who is a pillar of the county, who intend to quit rather than succumb to any safeguarding course. The bishop can get stuffed, I have been told. Wendy is demanding that I soon surrender to another course, and then repeat the whole exercise in three years time. I love our church. Despite a wobbly faith, I have a desire to serve our parish. But if I have to listen to church representatives spouting the doctrine of politically correct, self-enriching bureaucrats, Im not sure being a PCC member will be worth the altar candle. Graduation season is in full swing, leaving many young adults planning the next steps for their future. But for Dreamers who are graduating, the future hangs in the balance and many are using their graduation caps to send a message. While attending ceremonies across the country this month, young adults who have benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) showed off their customized caps, which they decorated with inspirational words and creative designs. Speaking to Refinery29, several of these undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children shared why they decided to decorate their caps in this way, and why they are grateful for DACA, which is currently in a state of uncertainty. A job well done: Dreamers have been sharing pictures of their decorated graduation caps in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program Patience and faith: Twitter user @jmoreyyyno, shared a photo of her cap, which says 'paciencia y fe' Skarley Gonzalez, 21, University of Nebraska Skarley said that she decided to decorate her graduation cap because she was grateful for the opportunity to get a degree. She told Refinery29: 'Without my parents, I wouldn't have been able to graduate, let alone make it to college. They sacrificed their dreams in order for me to live mine, and I will forever be grateful. They supported me through this long journey and made sure I never gave up. The degree might have my name on it, but we earned it together, and I wanted everyone to know that.' She also wants people to know that she's proud to be a Dreamer, despite previously being ashamed about it. She knows that DACA has given her the ability to 'succeed and create a better society'. Next, she wants to attend law school to focus on immigration law, but knows that may not be possible with the 'current unstable state of DACA'. Appreciative: Skarley Gonzalex (pictured) said she decided to decorate her graduation cap because she was grateful for the opportunity to get a degree Big thanks: Skarley's graduation cap said Gracias por todo mama y papa, which translates to 'thanks for everything, mom and dad' Hers to keep: She shared her feelings about her graduation in a tweet Erika Molina Ramirez, 23, Northeastern Illinois University Erika plans to become an attorney to help immigrants navigate the legal system, and decorated her cap because she wanted to 'defy the negativity connected to being an immigrant'. 'Some people think my people steal jobs, but we work harder than anyone, against the odds, to achieve our goals and aspirations,' she said. 'I'm proud to be the daughter of undocumented immigrants, who left everything behind to give me a better life. I'm proud of my resilience, to go against everyone who told me people like me aren't supposed to succeed.' For Erika, it's important to talk about DACA because future generations need to know that they have the ability to pursue their dreams. She knows she had it easier than her parents, and she wants to make it even easier for her own children to achieve their goals. Hard worker: Erika (pictured) said that people think 'my people steal jobs, but we work harder than anyone' Celebration: She shared her photo in a tweet with the hashtags #newprofilepic #Undocugrad #immigrad Sandra Villa-Lomeli, 22, College of Central Florida Sandra graduated from a two-year college with an associate's degree in human services, and is now going to save up so she can get her Bachelor's in social work from the University of Central Florida. She wrote 'Gracias a mis padres' 'thanks to my parents on her cap, because without them, she wouldn't have been able to get her degree. 'They were my biggest supporters throughout this college journey,' she said. 'We are the definition of the American Dream. Our parents left everything behind and migrated to an unknown land just so we could have a future.' Grateful: Sandra (pictured) decided to decorate her graduation cap because she would not have been able to do it without her parents Encouragement: Her cap said 'Gracias a mis padres.' She decided to dedicate it to her parents because they were her 'biggest supporters throughout this college journey' Home: Sandra, pictured with her parents, said it's important to talk about DACA because it's the only country 'we know' Living the dream: Sandra shared her pictures in a tweet that said 'this is what the American Dream looks like' Nancy Barragan Rodriguez, 22, California State University - Fresno Nancy majored in majored in media, communications, and journalism, and would eventually like to be known in her community as a bilingual public relations specialist. Shewanted to decorate her cap because she wanted to honor her parents who have been with her 'every step of the way'. 'They helped me understand that being undocumented doesn't have to feel like a curse all the time, but that it's up to me to make it into a blessing, and that's exactly what I've done,' she said. Although she felt alone and confused upon realizing she was undocumented, hearing similar stories gave her the courage to 'explore what being undocumented means'. Recognition: Nancy (pictured) decorated her cap because she wanted to honor her parents who have been with her ' every step of the way' Handling her mental illness: Nancy (pictured with her parents) said that having a community of Dreamers has also helped her cope with depression and anxiety Making it a reality: The graduate shared her success in a tweet that said 'this was a dream come true' Yatziri Tovar, a spokesperson for Make the Road New York (an organization that advocates for immigrant rights), spoke about the Dreamers to the outlet. 'Thousands of undocumented young adults are graduating across the country, but because of Congress inaction, we are left in a limbo of not knowing if or for how long we will be able to pursue the careers that we worked so hard to study for and graduate,' Yatziri, a DACA recipient herself, said. It's no small feat that these woman have accomplished all that they have thus, she added, because Dreamers face additional challenges at college. Some can't qualify for federal financial aid, certain grants and loans and when they do qualify for in-state tuition, there's a chance it may not be available in their state. But the setbacks have only made these young graduates that much more proud to be Dreamers, and they hope their stories will make a difference in Congress' decision. Several other Dreamers have also decorated their caps, and have taken to social media to share photos of their work. For family: One graduated decorated her cap 'para mi familia' and added a witty message Making it possible: Another graduate shared their decorated cap that said: 'It always seems impossible until it's done' For those that couldn't: Some graduation caps even paid homage to those who didn't have the chance to graduate, with one that said 'por los que no tuvieron la oportunidad' Chasing dreams: A graduate decorated her cap with an inspirational message that translates to 'fly as high as you can without forgetting your roots' Proud parents: Another graduate decorated her cap with 'for my mami y papi' Heritage: One wrote on her graduation cap, 'I am one of those people Mexico sent' Big dreams: Another graduation cap read 'dreams bigger than your borders' Support: A lot of graduates dedicated their caps and accomplishments to their parents, as seen above with 'gracias a mi madre y padre' Graduation props: Another one decorated their cap in Spanish along with added accessories One graduation cap read: 'Dreams bigger than your borders,' while another said: 'It always seems impossible until it's done. Unafraid. Undocumented.' Dome graduation caps even paid homage to those who didn't have the chance to graduate, with one that said: 'Por los que no tuvieron la oportunidad,' which translates to: 'For those who did not have the opportunity.' Another graduation cap said: 'Ask me for my papers and I'll show you my Bachelor's para mi familia.' But the common theme among the graduates seems to be that they are grateful for the opportunity to graduate, which would't have been possible without their parents. MOSS POINT, Miss. -- Two men from Moss Point were arrested by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force on charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance - crack cocaine on May 7, 2018. Thomas Earl Armstrong, 41, and Demarkes Kwamane Williams, 28, face sentences of not more than 20 years in a federal penitentiary and a fine of up to $1 million if convicted. Armstrong and Williams were ordered to be detained pending trial by United States Magistrate Robert H. Walker, United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Gulfport on May 11, 2018. Trial is set for Aug. 6, 2018. The FBI Safe Streets Task Force is a Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area initiative and receives funding from the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C. It is made up of Special Agents from the FBI and law enforcement officers from the Pascagoula, Moss Point, Gautier and Ocean Springs Police Departments, Jackson County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Border Patrol. The South Mississippi Metropolitan Enforcement Team in Pascagoula, assisted with the investigation. A woman walked around the streets of Baltimore wearing just body paint, a thong, and nipple pasties in a risque experimentwhich left her urgently seeking shelter after it started raining. Body painter Jen Seidel from Baltimore, Maryland, who goes by Jen the Body Painter, is a pro at making paint look like clothing. For her latest experiment on her YouTube channel, she and her daughter Kennedy decided to paint a woman named Brianna Anthony to see if she could fool unsuspecting people into thinking she was wearing clothing. Brianna was completely naked except for a flesh-colored thong and nipple pasties on her breasts. When the artistic duo were finished, it looked like she was wearing blue denim cut offs and a brightly colored floral T-shirt. Scroll down for video Big reveal: Body painter Jen Seidel (right) from Baltimore, Maryland and her daughter Kennedy (left), painted a revealing outfit on a woman named Brianna Anthony (center) Illusion: Brianna was completely naked except for a flesh-colored thong and nipple pasties on her breasts, but the paint made it look like she was wearing a floral T-shirt and denim cut-offs Test: Brianna and a cameraman then went out onto the streets when it was raining to see if people would notice she was only wearing body paint Accompanied by a cameraman, Brianna began her experiment by approaching random groups of people. The first woman she approached immediately suspected Brianna was wearing body paint and asked, 'is your outfit painted on?' However, another woman seemed totally cluless and only realized after a couple of minutes. 'At first I thought okay, maybe the shirt but I didn't expect the shorts,' she told Brianna, to which she replied, 'Well I think when you see my butt it's a little bit more obvious.' Brianna and her cameraman then approached a woman who was with two children who had their faces painted. 'At first I did not notice the bottom, I noticed the top because it looks so real,' the woman said. However, the next group Brianna approached seemed to voice some concerns about how young she looked and one of the women asked: 'The question is, do you look old enough to be dressed like that?' Next up, Brianna was approached by a group of young men who asked her if she was wearing shorts before one man told her he was afraid to look. Leaning in for a closer look, they soon realized she was almost naked. Then, as the weather turned and it seemed like it was about to rain, the cameraman asked the public what would happen if she stayed out in the rain. While one group of guys unsurprisingly told Brianna it would be 'the best idea' if it started raining and her body paint washed off, she decided to see whether people would help her by sharing their umbrellas with her. Approaching two women, the cameraman asked: 'Can we borrow your umbrella? She's about to melt.' Looking slightly confused, the two women agreed. Question: They also asked people nearby if going out in the rain with only body paint was a good idea, and checked whether onlookers could guess Brianna was only wearing body paint Help: Brianna then tested the goodwill of the people she met on the streets by asking passersby if she could use their umbrellas once it started raining Good result: A couple of people told Brianna she could borrow their umbrella. The man pictured let her walk alongside him While her second attempt didn't work out, Brianna was able to convince a man walking down the street alone to share his umbrella after she told him she was 'about to melt'. However, when the cameraman asked another group if they would oblige, they declined and one woman said 'that will be interesting', referencing Brianna's possible nudity. Next up, two girls gave her shelter before another man let her walk under his umbrella. While the majority of people seemed happy, one man seemed shocked and embarrassed when he realized he was about to share his umbrella with an almost naked woman. This is not the first time Jen and her daughter have tried an experiment of this nature involving body paint. On May 8, they released a similar video that saw a woman named Sydney walk around a college campus butt naked. 'Dressed' in her new outfit consisting of skinny jeans and a tie-dye halter, Sydney put Jen and Kennedy's handiwork to the test by walking around a college campus where she asked students to share their cheesiest pick-up lines. Sydney then started to test her own pick-up line and asked several people, 'Would you tie-dye the knot with me?' alluding to her body paint while exposing her bare breasts, covered in paint. When the cameraman tasked with shooting the video asked one student, 'Did you notice anything about her shirt?', the embarrassed young man sheepishly replied, 'I have to go' before saying 'She's not wearing any clothes, man!' as he ran away. Optical illusion: Jen (right) and her daughter Kennedy (left) previously tried to see if their handiwork could trick students into thinking this woman named Sydney was wearing clothing Experiment: In order to test the effectiveness of her outfit, Sydney traveled to a college campus under the guise of asking students for their cheesiest pick-up lines Shock: Most students had a positive reaction to Sydney's body paint and expressed their shock at how life-like it seemed Surprise: One girl spoke to Sydney for several seconds before she realized she wasn't wearing any clothing However, when Sydney tried the same tactic on a group of three girls, one person in the group immediately realized she was wearing body paint and had a positive response. 'Wait, that's so cool,' she said. Two other girls immediately recognized Sydney and told her they'd seen her on Facebook, before one of the women commented on how 'perky' her breasts were. 'Your butt looks good too!' her friend said. Another group of girls were shocked to discover Sydney was wearing body paint and shared, 'I thought everything was real' before asking if they could get a picture with her. However, one student hilariously admitted that she initially thought Sydney was wearing clothes and mentally complimented her on her top before she realized it was paint. 'I'm so dumb, holy s**t!' she exclaimed before admitting, 'I thought she was wearing a shirt, I was like "I love that top."' Sydney then allowed some girls to touch the paint to prove she wasn't wearing clothes. The royal influence on Australian baby names is bigger than ever, with a new report revealing Charlotte, George, William and Henry are all go-to monikers for new babies. The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages released their list of the top 100 names and while Oliver is still at the top of the list for boys, Charlotte has overtaken Olivia and now sits at number one for girls. According to the data, which was based on name trends throughout 2017, William remained in second place for boys and was followed by Noah, Jack, Henry, James and Thomas. Lucas, Ethan and Alexander rounded out the top 10. Scroll down for video As seen with the rise of Henry into the male category and Charlotte still topping the female category, the influence of the royals is stronger than ever Top 10 names for boys Oliver William Noah Jack Henry [New] James Thomas Lucas Ethan Alexander Advertisement Top 10 names for girls Charlotte Olivia Ava Amelia Mia Isla Chloe Zoe [New] Ella [New] Grace Advertisement Henry hasn't appeared in the top 10 for many years - the jump likely due to Prince Harry's popularity. 'The name Henry has entered the top 10 for boys for the first time in a decade - it's the Prince Harry effect as Henry is a variation of Harry,' social commentator Mark McCrindle told FEMAIL previously. 'It's a sign that we are really going back to the past with names in a lot of ways. It is the third top name in two states - the ACT and Tasmania.' George also made it into the top 100 for boys, coming in at 29th. Previously, the name George sat at 37th. For girls, Ava, Amelia, Mia, Isla, Chloe, Zoe, Ella and Grace all rounded up the top 10. Emily and Ruby dropped from the top 10, with Ruby falling from 10th to 15th within 12 months. FEMAIL spoke to leading Australian social researcher, Mark McCrindle, about the data so far, the top names for boys and girls and his key predictions ahead of the report's official release Some of the more unique names to enter the top 100 for boys included Jaxon, Kai, Austin, Beau, Felix and Bodhi. For girls, unique monikers to make the list included Zahra, Ayla, Maryam, Aurora, Aria and Lilly. Other names new on the list for boys included Ibrahim and Nixon. Speaking to FEMAIL ahead of the Australian name release, Mr McCrindle said that from the data he had seen, the trend of conservative names is continuing. He added that there are a number of names that are big movers due to the 'decade fade'. The names Henry and Zoe have made the top 10 lists for the first time (pictured are Henry Cavill and Zoe Saldana) 'Names that were popular a decade ago fall off the list. For example Joshua [23rd] was the top name a decade ago and now it's not in the top 10,' Mr McCrindle said. For girls, Zoe is in the top 10 for the first time in a long while. 'Zoe is another traditional name and its a refreshing name. It's one of those names that ends in a vowel like Chloe and Ava and Isla and Mia and Olivia that people are loving,' Mr McCrindle said. Mr McCrindle said that while in 2017 it was popular to be inspired by a celebrity when naming a baby, this is no longer the case. 'It's the whole Weinstein effect where people are now very cautious about the influence of celebrities - people aren't using names of celebrities because they don't know what the future holds for them and whether their influence will be positive for long,' Mr McCrindle said. The same cannot be said for royal names. As seen with the rise of Henry into the male category and Charlotte still topping the female category, the influence of the royals is stronger than ever. 'The royal names are traditional which people love and also scandal-free,' Mr McCrindle said. 'The young royals are so popular and we know that the Duchess of Cambridge's child will be a huge influence. 'Charlotte raised to number one, George is right up there and this baby will be big too. 'Basically there's a big rise in royalty and a decline of celebrity names.' Unisex names are also bigger than ever. 'Unisex names haven't been big since the 70s and 80s when names like Peta and Riley were big,' Mr McCrindle said. 'Now we are seeing a big resurgence. 'We are seeing this rise in creative naming more and more as parents aren't as set on "boy" names versus "girl" names when making their decisions,' he said. The full data for all Australian states is expected to be released in late May. A man left with unsightly excess skin after dropping 13 stone has undergone a pioneering 360 degree body lift surgery in a UK first. Jordan Martinez, 22, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, once tipped the scales at 25 stone, but managed to shed almost half of his body weight after overhauling his lifestyle in December 2015. Despite turning his life around, Jordan was still plagued by insecurity due to the rolls of saggy skin left behind after his dramatic weight loss, and launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for surgery after being denied an operation on the NHS. His plight struck a chord with a plastic surgeon who offered to carry out the five hour surgery - which involved removing strips of skin from his abdomen and behind then raising his nipples - for just the 6,000 it cost to cover hospital fees, and Jordan says he is the first UK patient to undergo the procedure. 'I wasn't willing to tuck my skin into my trousers before leaving the house anymore,' said Jordan - now a personal trainer - who confessed he would rather have 'died' than carried on as he was. Jordan Martinez, 22, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, weighed in at 25 stone before undergoing an intensive weight loss regime in December 2015 (seen) Jordan then became the is the first patient in the UK to undergo pioneering excess skin surgery after losing 13 stone Despite losing such a large amount of weight, Jordan, who is now a fitness instructor, felt incomplete with his drooping excess skin still hanging over him (seen before left, after right) 'I would have rather died on the surgery table than live with my excess skin,' Jordan said. 'Despite being the first person to have that surgery, I knew that it was what I had to do to feel complete. 'I was nervous, because people said to me that realistically I could bleed to death on the table because they were performing surgery on my whole body at once, but I was sure I was in safe hands. 'But I wasn't willing to tuck my skin into my jeans every morning before leaving the house anymore. 'After just five hours worth of surgery and having all of my excess skin removed, I felt like a new person as soon as I woke up.' His decision to lose weight came after Jordan was advised by doctor's to lose weight at just 19-years-old, in fear that he would die at an early age if he did not take action (seen before loss) His decision to lose weight came after Jordan was advised by doctor's to lose weight at just 19-years-old, in fear that he would die at an early age if he did not take action Jordan was advised by doctor's to lose weight at just 19-years-old, due to fears his size was threatening his long-term health. Jordan decided to join Slimming World and within two years had halved his body weight. He added: 'I had dealt with years of being bullied at school, I was branded Jabba the Hut. 'After dealing with that for so many years and being told how dangerous my weight was, I decided to join Slimming World. The five hour surgery involved removing strips of skin from his abdomen and behind then raising his nipples (before left and after right) The 360 operation also involved removing the saggy skin around his buttocks and back (before left and after right) 'But after I lost about 10 stone, I noticed that my skin was starting to hang and I knew that I wasn't going to have an ironing-board stomach. 'I looked like a sack of potatoes, and I knew that I'd come so far that I couldn't just give up, but money was the main issue,' Jordan said. 'So I started a fundraising page to raise the funds for surgery and eventually a consultant surgeon reached out to me and saw how desperate I was and arranged the pioneering surgery.' Now, Jordan weighs 12 stone, and is working to pay back the 6,000 loan he used to cover the hospital fees for his surgery. Jordan decided to join Slimming World and within two years had halved his body weight (seen during his weight loss with excess skin) 'After I lost about 10 stone, I noticed that my skin was starting to hang and I knew that I wasn't going to have an iron-board stomach', he admitted (seen during transformation) Jordan's diet before his transformation... BREAKFAST Half box of cornflakes with milk and sugar LUNCH Large Big Mac, two large portions of chips, cheeseburger, apple pie, milkshake DINNER 15 inch doner meat pizza, large curly fries SNACKS Two tubs of ice cream, sharing bag peanut m&m's, multi pack of crisps, large chocolate bar MIDNIGHT MEAL Family sized Chinese order of spring rolls, shredded beef, egg fried rice, noodles Advertisement ... And what his daily diet looks like now... BREAKFAST Bowl of shreddies with milk LUNCH Chicken tikka wrap, bag of low calorie crisps DINNER Spaghetti bolognese SNACKS Low calorie ice-cream Advertisement He said: 'I feel complete now and it's changed my life in so many more ways than I could imagine. 'I used to have to drive three doors down to the corner shop to stock up on junk food, but now I've left my call centre job to become a fitness instructor. 'I go to the gym three times a week and now I'm working on my body whilst still being able to treat myself once in a while. 'Despite the fear before surgery, I'm so glad that I took the risk and it has made my life worth living again.' The Standard London hotel is home to several hip drinking and dining spots, with Double Standard being one of the most sceney. I settled into a corner table in the buzzy restaurant, which like the rest of the hotel, has a sultry sixties vibe mixed with a dash of California swagger and futuristic cool. Mo, our super friendly waiter for the evening, came over and set us up with a couple of expertly poured vodka martinis to start. Despite it being packed out, the service was swift and efficient. The food menu at features a mouth-watering mix of hearty American-inspired nibbles and we opted for a mixed feast of Padron peppers, fried chicken bites, moules frites and a generously portioned superfood salad topped with avocado. Seduced by the convivial atmosphere we ordered a couple more drinks and settled into our moreish selection of morsels. Post-dinner, be sure to make a booking for a couple more drinks on the rooftop bar. It serves up some of the best views in London... The mother of a teenage girl with an extreme form of epilepsy has revealed how the condition can cause her to sleep for up to 20 hours a day. Emily Rowland, 16, from Georgia in the US, has generalized non-convulsive epilepsy and intractable epilepsy, which means she suffers with extreme lethargy as well as headaches, vomiting and dizziness. The teenager, nicknamed 'Sleeping Beauty' by her boyfriend, experiences 'staring spells' and can fall into deep sleeps that last for days on end, meaning she has to be hospitalised and fed through a drip. Emily was forced to give up school - and her passion for competing in beauty pageants - two and a half years ago as a result of her condition, and her mother Brandi is now her full-time carer. Tragically, Emily has now developed a form of dementia as a result of the constant seizing, and has told how she's had to come to terms with the life she planned 'slipping away'. Now the family, who live in Warner Robins, are hoping to raise $25,000 to pay for Emily - who hasn't slept alone in eight years and has fallen into a coma due to her illness on several occasions - to have a vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) device implanted in her chest, that will help to control her seizures. Emily Rowland, 16, from Georgia, suffers from severe epilepsy which causes her to have 'staring spells' and fall into a deep sleep for days on end Her condition makes Emily appreciate small things other teenagers take for granted more, and she was delighted to be able to attend her school prom Mother Brandi, 42, said the condition has meant Emily has lost friends - but that her boyfriend, IV Hickam, 17, has stood by her, and took Emily as his date to the school prom. Speaking about her condition, Emily said: 'It makes everyday activities so hard. Just trying to get makeup on is tricky - things that other teenage girls do every day with ease. 'My mum has to do it because I can't stay awake to. I don't have the coordination to do it due to the seizing either. 'The condition also makes getting dressed difficult. There is video of me literally falling asleep standing up trying to get ready in the morning. Emily has been hospitalized hundreds of times and has not slept alone for the past eight years 'It happens in restaurants when I am out with my boyfriend or family. It happened at school. My mum has footage of me holding my school books as I struggled to stay awake heading out to class. 'No place is worse than others for me really. 'The fact that my whole life, every aspect of it, has been disrupted and my ability to go to school and learn and be an active teenager has been taken away is most upsetting. 'The hardest part is watching the life I had planned slip away. But I will never give up. 'I find comfort in listening to music, particularly Shawn Mendes as well as the Zach Williams band.' Emily is determined to live life to the full and finds comfort in listening to music, particularly Shawn Mendes as well as the Zach Williams band She enjoyed the prom with her boyfriend IV Hickam, 17, who gave her the nickname 'sleeping beauty' Mother-of-five Brandi said of her daughter's tough journey: 'Emily was a fast learner and high achiever. 'She started school a year early and was doing incredible well. So we had no idea that something terrible was going on with her brain. 'When Emily was younger she started to complain of really bad headaches. 'She started to get really sleepy. Emily had always suffered on road trips but we thought it was normal car sickness. 'It was only with hindsight that we now recognise that these things were all connected. 'Emily began missing more school. Some days we could just not wake her, then tests confirmed that Emily had epilepsy. 'It is hard to put into words how scary it is. Emily can sleep for days and will need to be put onto a drip as she is not getting the food and water 'Her boyfriend calls her his Sleeping Beauty and he invited her to his school prom. 'She misses out on activities because she is 'asleep' normally more than 20 hours a day. 'She can sleep for days and will need to be put onto a drip as she is not getting the food and water she needs. 'When she is awake, she puts her best foot forward despite how sick she is and always puts others before herself.' But Emily has support from her boyfriend, who she managed to enjoy the prom with. 'Her boyfriend calls her his Sleeping Beauty and he invited her to his school prom,' her mother added. What are Emily's symptoms? Emily's generalized non-convulsive epilepsy with intractable epilepsy means she suffers from extreme lethargy, headaches, vomiting and dizziness. She has 'staring spells' that can last for days and can fall into deep sleeps - preventing her from eating, drinking or taking her medicines orally. Emily's brain misfires more than 80 per cent of the time. Her severe seizures have left her with a form of dementia, forcing her to drop out of school. After unsuccessfully exploring a range of treatments her family is now hoping to try a new method of implant a VNS device in her chest which wires up into her Vagus nerve and will send electrical pulses throughout her brain to help control the seizure activity. To help Emily's family with her medical costs visit her Go Fund Me page. Advertisement After unsuccessfully exploring a range of treatments her family is now hoping to try a new method of implant a VNS device which should help control seizure activity Emily's severe seizures have left her with a form of dementia, forcing her to drop out of school Meghan Markle is not expected to vow to 'obey' Prince Harry in her wedding vows tomorrow - but Piers Morgan's wife Celia Walden has revealed she 'firmly believes' women should. Appearing on Good Morning Britain to discuss the royal couple's big day, Celia referred to rumours that the former US actress would be breaking with tradition by omitting that section from the traditional wedding vows - as the Duchess of Cambridge and Diana did before her. She admitted - to the surprise of hosts Ben Shepherd and Kate Garraway - that she did vow to obey her husband Piers Morgan, even though it is now 'out of fashion'. Many brides leave out the word 'obey' from the traditional pledge to 'love, honour and obey' their new husbands in modern ceremonies. Princess Diana did not say it at her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, Kate Middleton followed in her late mother-in-law's footsteps in 2011, and it's expected that Meghan will do the same. Piers Morgan's wife Celia Walden made a bold claim that she believes women should 'obey' their husbands It's believed that Meghan will follow in the footsteps of Kate and Diana and remove the archaic term from her vows 'Somebody was saying she is not going to obey because Diana said she wouldn't obey didn't she in the vows. 'It's gone completely out of fashion for obvious reasons,' Celia laughed. Curious about what happened at Piers and Celia's 2010 wedding, presenter Kate Garraway asked the journalist what she said. Suddenly appearing to recall the memory of her own nuptials, Celia said: 'Oh that's true, I did...' 'Did you obey?' Kate pressed. 'I did say obey...' she confessed. The revelation clearly shocked Ben and Kate who jokingly screeched: 'You fool!' But Celia, who has six-year-old daughter Elise with Piers, attempted to defend her vows: 'Because I very firmly believe in obeying. It was a little bit smaller than this one actually.' Her revelation stunned GMB presenters Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard who told Celia she was a 'fool' She confessed that she had agreed to 'obey' Piers at their 2010 wedding and thinks Meghan should do the same Celia appeared on Good Morning Britain ahead of the royal wedding which is set to be watched by millions around the world TRADITIONAL ROYAL VOWS Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will be married by the Archbishop of Canterbury, which means their wedding ceremony will be pretty traditional. However, there's some speculation among fans that the former actress and her beau will write their own vows. There are vows traditionally recited at royal weddings, which Meghan, 36, and Prince Harry will surely say as well. The royal vows were used by Queen Elizabeth in 1947 and come from the church's Anglican Book of Common Prayer. In them, grooms vow 'to love and cherish till death do us part'. The bride promises to 'love, cherish and obey'. According to ABC News, the vows have been modernized, however. In 2000, they were changed to: 'I, (bride/broom name), take you, (groom/bride name) to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.' Princess Diana omitted the word 'obey' from her vows at her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981. Kate Middleton followed in her footsteps in 2011 and Meghan will likely do the same. Advertisement Her interview came just a day ahead of the royal wedding, which is set to be watched by millions around the globe. Details of the couple's wedding day have been debated for weeks from Meghan's dress, to who will walk her down the aisle. It was announced earlier today that Meghan asked Prince Charles to accompany her down the aisle on her big day, after it emerged her own father will not attend the ceremony due to ill health. Prince Harry's father will take the unprecedented step of giving away his son's fiancee at St George's Chapel, Windsor, as millions watch around the world. The American-born former actress asked him after discussions with Harry and Charles said today he was 'pleased to welcome her to the Royal Family in this way'. Kensington Palace has said that the Prince of Wales will 'accompany her down the aisle of the Quire' - which is halfway into the church. This suggests Meghan could enter St George's alone apart from her six bridesmaids and four page boys before walking through the Nave where her soon-to-be father-in-law will be waiting. Kensington Palace has said that the Prince of Wales will accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel (pictured) - which is halfway into the church Meghan's mother Doria Ragland had been expected to step in for Thomas Markle, whose deal with a paparazzi photographer threatened to overshadow the biggest and happiest day of his daughter's life. The majority of royal fans appear delighted at Meghan's decision, with many pointing out that Charles never had a daughter, but some critics believe the star, 36, should have plumped for Doria. It came as Prince Philip, 96, confirmed he will be well enough to attend the ceremony after successfully recovering from a hip operation last month. Today Meghan and Harry will put days of horrendous family drama behind her as she takes her mother to meet the Queen and huge crowds gathered outside Windsor Castle ahead of tomorrow's wedding. Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV from 6am Many have drawn comparisons between Meghan and Diana ahead of the royal wedding tomorrow. And now, royal fans have gone wild over a 'genius' Marks & Spencer meme featuring the pair - playing on their surnames, Markle and Spencer. The meme was created by London-based artist Freddie Smithson, who has become known for his playful Photoshopped adverts. It comes as Marks & Spencer announced that it was re-branding as Markle & Sparkle this weekend, in honour of Meghan. The Marks & Spencer meme featuring Diana and Meghan has sparked a flurry of comments on social media, with many branding it 'brilliant'. Royal fans have gone wild over a 'genius' Marks & Spencer meme featuring the pair - playing on their surnames, Markle and Spencer One fan commented 'So good!, while another added: 'Hahahaha love this'. Another Instagram user simply added: 'Beyond genius'. The British High Street retailer announced today that it was becoming Markle & Sparkle for one weekend to celebrate the royal wedding. The Windsor branch of M&S is a focus of the re-brand, with the new signage unveiled there overnight. Harry and Meghan are expected to pass the store during their wedding procession tomorrow, following the ceremony at St George's Chapel. Instagram users were quick to comment on the meme, describing it as 'genius' The Windsor store's windows has been decked out in the colours of the Union flag, with Percy and Penny pig characters helping celebrate the unveiling today. The retailer said the re-brand was its way of capturing the excitement of 'receiving a real-life Hollywood princess into our royal family'. Customers will be able to take advantage of in-store Markle & Sparkle selfie booths and send messages via its social channels, all of which will be made into a virtual wedding album and sent to Kensington Palace. Marks & Spencer announced that it was re-branding as Markle & Sparkle this weekend, in honour of Meghan The M&S store in Windsor has got a new Markle & Sparkle sign. Harry and Meghan are expected to pass the store during their wedding procession tomorrow Sharry Cramond, marketing director of food and hospitality at M&S, said: 'As a quintessentially British brand we had to do something special to mark the royal wedding, and what better way to welcome Meghan to the family than to 'marry' both our names together for the weekend. 'As a retailer, we've celebrated 34 royal weddings over our 134-year history, but this is the boldest idea we've delivered yet. 'We wanted to spark a smile from Harry and Meghan on their big day and capture the excitement and celebratory mood of the nation on receiving a real-life Hollywood princess into our royal family.' The Spanish Queen looked striking in black-and-white today as she toured a Military Emergency Unit at Torrejon Air Base in Madrid. The 45-year-old royal, who's heading to Haiti and the Dominican Republic for a whistle-stop four-day tour, watched a military parade at the unit before discussing how the country responds to disasters. The mother-of-two opted for an elegant Adolfo Dominguez collarless coat in white, contrasted with cropped black trousers with button detail at the ankle by Hugo Boss, and a sharp pair of black stilettos. Scroll down for video Letizia, who's travelling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic this weekend on a four-day tour, visited the disaster unit of the Spanish military in Madrid today The glamorous royal looked sharp in black-and-white sporting a white collarless coat with cropped black trousers with button detail. Right: A member of the military unit shows the Queen consort to the working meeting Let's shake on it! The Queen offers her hand to a soldier...as he salutes in her presence Wearing her brunette locks sleekly pulled back, Spain's Queen consort finished the look with a matching bow-style monochrome clutch bag by Felipe Varela. The working meeting saw Letizia discussing the work of the Military Emergency Unit, which deals with national catastrophes. She toured facilities and chatted with the soldiers serving at the unit. It's been a busy few days for the Queen consort as she prepares to fly out to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Last night, she attended the 2018 Famelab Monologues Contest award final with her husband King Felipe IV by her side. Letizia looked typically stylish in an all-white ensemble including a white tunic featuring pleating detailing around the neckline, with matching trousers. Letizia finished the look with a matching bow clutch bag, maintaining the black-and-white theme All smiles: The mother-of-two looked relaxed as she toured the facility; she will jet out to Haiti on Sunday She finished off the look with a gold and cream clutch bag, along with a statement cuff around her wrist. Wearing her glossy locks down over her shoulders, Letizia showed off her glowing complexion, adding a touch of colour to her ensemble with a red lip gloss. Quick march! Letizia matches the stride of the soldier accompanying her as she attends the meeting which discussed how Spain's military emergency services react to disasters Queen Letizia looked typically stylish in an all white-ensemble as she joined King Felipe at the Famelab Monologues Contest Final in Madrid Last night, the Queen ditched the black and opted for all white Wearing her glossy locks down over her shoulders, Letizia showed off her glowing complexion, adding a touch of colour to her ensemble with a red lip gloss Felipe, 50, meanwhile looked smart in a blue shirt and suit as he and his wife sat down to enjoy the final of the science contest. The Famelab Monologues Contest is an international competition that sees scientists explaining their research in three-minute presentations. The competition, which began at the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK, aims to promote the communication of science to non-scientists. Ivanka Trump made a quick exit on Friday morning as she headed to work in her Secret Service SUV, avoiding the rain inside her vehicle. The first daughter, 36, was seen at the back of the black SUV, looking out the window as she departed a little after 9. While Ivanka is often seen making the walk between her front door and her parked vehicle, on Friday she left straight from her garage, staying away from the showers. Scroll down for video Ride: Ivanka Trump made a quick exit on Friday morning as she headed to work in her Secret Service SUV, avoiding the rain inside her vehicle On the go: The first daughter, 36, was seen at the back of the black SUV, looking out the window as she departed a little after 9. She was photographed gazing outside, her long hair down on her shoulders, while she was whisked away to work. Ivanka was pictured later in the day attending the Prison Reform Summit at the White House. She listened as her father, President Donald Trump, addressed the crowd, acknowledging a deadly school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, before resuming his speech. On Friday morning, Ivanka's husband and fellow White House adviser, Jared Kushner, 37, opted to brave the elements in a rain coat. Jared was all smiles as he left around 7:30, walking the short distance between his house in the upscale neighborhood of Kalorama and his own Secret Service car. He returned to Washington, D.C. earlier this week after he helped inaugurate the new US embassy in Jerusalem. Both Ivanka and Jared have come under fire for celebrating the opening while deadly clashes erupted, with Israeli soldiers killing dozens of Palestinians in Gaza. Jared was photographed on Tuesday returning to his home in D.C., getting out of an SUV as a Secret Service agent held the door open for him and strolling into his home. Greeting the day: Meanwhile, Ivanka's husband and fellow White House adviser, Jared Kushner, 37, opted to brave the elements in a rain coat In high spirits: Jared was all smiles as he left around 7:30, walking the short distance between his house in the upscale neighborhood of Kalorama and his own Secret Service car Mingling: Ivanka was pictured later on Friday attending the Prison Reform Summit at the White House, during which her father gave a speech Power couple: Jared and Ivanka sat next to each other near CNN's Van Jones Tuning in: Ivanka (pictured next to Jeff Sessions) listened as her father addressed the crowd, acknowledging a deadly school shooting in Texas before resuming his speech Snap: Jared was pictured taking a selfie with a guest after the Prison Reform Summit On Monday, the day of the new embassy's inauguration, the world witnessed scenes of jarring contrast. Israeli forces killed nearly 60 Palestinians, most by gunfire, and injured more than 2,700 during protests along the Gaza border, while a few miles away Israel and the US held a festive inauguration ceremony for the new diplomatic post in Jerusalem. The high toll in Gaza revived international criticism of Israel's use of lethal force against unarmed protesters, while the opening of the embassy, condemned by Palestinians as blatantly pro-Israel, further dimmed prospects of what President Donald Trump had once touted as plans to negotiate the Middle East 'deal of the century'. The Gaza Health Ministry said 58 Palestinians were killed on Monday, including 57 by Israeli fire and a baby who died from tear gas inhalation. More than 2,700 were hurt, 1,360 by gunfire, the ministry said. Of the wounded, 130 were in serious or critical condition. Israel has defended its actions, saying troops were defending its border. It also accused Hamas militants of trying to carry out attacks under the cover of the protests. The Israeli military said its aircraft had struck 11 'terror targets' in a Hamas military compound a day earlier, and that tanks targeted two Hamas posts. It said protesters used 10 explosive devices and firebombs against troops and that shots were fired at soldiers positioned along the border. While in Israel, Ivanka and Jared served as the face of the administration. The power couple was photographed hobnobbing with senior Israeli officials in a celebratory dinner after the inauguration. Back: On Tuesday, Jared was photographed returning to his home in Washington, D.C. after he helped inaugurate the new United States embassy in Jerusalem Embassy: Both Ivanka and Jared have come under fire for celebrating the opening (pictured) while deadly clashes erupted, with Israeli soldiers killing dozens of Palestinians in Gaza Jarring: The festivities in Jerusalem (left) were a stark contrast to the bloodshed on the Gaza border (right) where dozens of protesters were killed by Israeli snipers Address: Jared delivered a speech at the inauguration ceremony for the embassy that struck many as callous and cold-hearted. Pictured is a young child overcome by tear gas Jared, whose portfolio as senior adviser to the president includes responsibility for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, delivered a speech at the inauguration ceremony for the embassy that struck many as callous and cold-hearted. While Jared was speaking, Israeli soldiers were gunning down Palestinians who protested en masse near the fence that rings the Gaza Strip. He suggested the terror group Hamas was responsible for bloodshed in Gaza that raged while speech after speech wore on. 'As we have seen from the protests of the last month and even today, those provoking violence are part of the problem and not part of the solution,' Donald Trump's son-in-law told the crowd as his wife Ivanka looked on. Advisers: The trip gave the pair an opportunity to serve as the face of the administration Event: The power couple was photographed hobnobbing with senior Israeli officials in a celebratory dinner after the inauguration. Jared is seen above looking on as wife Ivanka shakes hands with Naftali Bennett, Israel's minister of education Two hours later, however, a White House aide gave television reporters a transcript that omitted that line. An MSNBC journalist caused a firestorm overnight by tweeting about the discrepancy. DailyMail.com requested an official transcript from the National Security Council on Tuesday morning. It arrived complete and intact. It's still not clear why it was missing, and what led to it being re-inserted. It would have been impossible for the White House to hide Jared's words, which were broadcast worldwide. Jared said on Monday that the United States showed the world it could be trusted by opening its Israeli embassy in Jerusalem. 'When President Trump makes a promise, he keeps it,' Jared said at the embassy's opening ceremony. A nine-year-old is on a quest to pet as many dogs as he possibly can in his lifetime, and he has already managed to meet over 300 furry friends. Gideon Kidd started his journey to meet lots of dogs back in September 2016, and decided to document it on his own blog and Twitter account, both called I've Pet That Dog. The American boy has since accumulated over 42,000 followers, who gleefully like and retweet every photo he posts of the dogs that he has pet. Dog lover: A nine-year-old is on a quest to pet as many dogs as he possibly can in his lifetime and he has already managed to meet over 300 furry friends (pictured with his 300th dog) Adorable: Gideon Kidd started his journey to meet as many dogs as he could back in September 2016, and has since accumulated over 42,000 followers on Twitter Journey: The little boy created his own blog, I've Pet That Dog, where he posts a photo of himself with each dog he meets Famous: While there are over 300 dogs that he has met, Gideon confessed that his favorite dog breed is a Chihuahua, and he has even joined a Chihuahua fan club with a friend Every time he meets and pets a new dog, he takes a picture of it and posts it online. He also shares information he learned about the pup, including his or her name, breed, age, and likes and dislikes. 'I pet Oliver. He is a 1 1/2 year old goldendoodle,' he wrote in one post. 'He can jump in the air for treats and loves belly rubs. Right when I pet him, he rolled over and showed me his belly!' 'I pet Lucy. She is a 4 year old golden retriever who was born on Valentines Day. Lucy was a wedding gift from her caregivers parents. She is loyal and friendly,' reads another. While he has met over 300 dogs so far, Gideon confessed that his favorite dog breed is a Chihuahua, and he has even joined a Chihuahua fan club with a friend. 'I love dogs and I love petting them. I wanted to see how many different dogs I could meet and pet, so I decided take pictures and post them on a website,' Gideon wrote in an article for BuzzFeed. Favorites: There's not one type of dog that Gideon is not excited to meet, but he did admit that some of his favorite dogs on his website include Clementine, Jax, Bertha, and Chubby Loves dogs: Gideon admitted that he likes dogs because 'they have fluffy fur' Fluffy fur: Another reason why Gideon loves puppies is because 'every dog is different' There's no one type of dog that Gideon is not excited to meet, but he did admit that some of his favorite dogs on his website include Clementine, Jax, Bertha, and Chubby. As for why he loves Clementine so much, he said that she holds a special place in his heart because Clementine was the 300th dog he pet. Gideon gave some advice to Vice for other people who would like to pet tons of dogs as well. If you're meeting a dog for the first time, Gideon suggests placing your hand under its nose so that the dog can sniff you. He insists that you'll know when the dog doesn't want you to pet him because he will bark and growl, but if he does want you to touch him, he will happily come to you. Expressing why he started this journey in the first place, Gideon said: 'I like dogs because they are super cute, they can play with you and they're good company,' he wrote. As an added benefit he mentioned: 'I like that they have fluffy fur.' Advice: Gideon gave some advice for other people who would like to pet tons of dogs as well Be patient: If you're meeting a dog for the first time Gideon suggests placing your hand under their nose so that the dog can sniff you Let them come to you: He insists that you'll know when the dog doesn't want you to pet him because he'll bark and growl, but if he does want you to touch him, he will happily come to you 'Every dog is different and that is another reason why I like dogs,' he continued. He also said people should always ask a dog's caretaker if they can pet their dogs first. While it may sound like a pretty easy task, Gideon warns to always watch out for 'very big, excited dogs,' because they can harm you. His advice when petting large dogs that are happy to see you: 'Don't sit on the ground! They will jump on you.' So many people are fans of Gideon's Twitter, including Ned Pyle, a principal program manager at Microsoft, who wrote: 'It is a matter of national importance that you follow @IvePetThatDog. Gideon pets a dog and then you get to see it. So there's at least one good tweet on twitter every day and you are there.' GAUTIER, Mississippi -- After "Renew Our Rivers" kicked off with a cleanup of Deer Island last month, the annual waterway cleanup program turned its attention to the lower Pascagoula River Friday morning, with some 50-plus volunteers scouring the waterway to collect an estimated 1-1.5 tons of garbage and debris. "This is such a fantastic idea," said Gautier city councilwoman Mary Martin, who was on hand to help out at the registration site at Gautier City Park. "All these things that get in the water from storms and high tides, and people throwing their trash in the rivers and bayous -- it's harmful to the fish, turtles. "But I think the majority of it comes from the people. They throw their trash out there like they do on the sides of the road. But we have good people who come out here to help do the work and clean it up." Sponsored annually by Mississippi Power, Friday's cleanup saw MPC partner with the City of Gautier, Singing River Electric, CableOne and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. "This is our first year to be a community partner for Renew Our Rivers," noted Lori Freeman, Public Relations Director for Singing River Electric. Our employees -- we live here and work here and this is our 80th year to serve this area. We're used to going out to the islands on our free time and we just want to be that good community partner and get out there and clean up our community." Singing River Electric had about a dozen employees volunteer to assist, traveling the river via two boats searching for trash and debris. "This was our first time, so we wanted to get out here, get our hands dirty and see what it's like," Freeman said. "We're hoping to have a bigger presence next year." The marshes and small islands along the river were littered with all manner of debris, from glass bottles to beer cans to shards of styrofoam, tires and other debris. "It's disheartening," agreed Tracy Yanez, a 19-year employee of Mississippi Power who had participated in Renew Our Rivers since its inception in 2005. "We've been coming here to the Pascagoula River since the beginning of Renew Our Rivers and it's continually one of the larger cleanups we have. "We're blessed with a wonderful set of natural resources here," Yanez continued. "You've probably heard it many times -- we live here, we work here, we play here. There's not a lot of places in the world like this, with the rivers we have and the Gulf of Mexico, the wildlife. "We come out here to help take care of it, better it. We'd love to see more people take ownership and one day be put out of the business of having to do this." Renew Our Rivers begins each year in April and continues through October. Local events still to come are the Pass Christian cleanup, Upper Pascagoula River cleanup and the Gulfport Lake & Big Lake cleanups. A man who turned to strangers in a desperate bid to find his wife a kidney donor has revealed how the power of social media saved her life. Luis Pinto from North Carolina decided to place an ad for a kidney donor on his car window after his wife Phyllis was told she would need a kidney transplant. Phyllis was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease four years ago, and was in stage 4 kidney disease when she was told she would need a new kidney. Bright idea: Luis Pinto from North Carolina decided to place an ad for a kidney donor in his car window after his wife Phyllis was told she needed a kidney transplant but couldn't find a match Desperate measure: Luis drove around with a sign that read 'Wife Needs A Kidney, "O" Blood Type,' along with his phone number for four years before they found a donor Rare: As Phyllis has a rare blood type, none of her family or friends were a suitable match 'We asked friends and family there's only so many of those, and there were no matches, nobody who said, 'I'll try.' And I was like, what do I do?' Luis told Yahoo Lifestyle. 'The only thing I could think of at that point was social media. Thank God that's available,' he added. Desperate to find a way to keep the mother of his two children alive, Luis decided to turn to a wider audience after reading about someone else in a similar position who had found success by putting a sign in a car window. So for four years, he drove around in his Jeep with a sign placed in the rear-view mirror that read: 'Wife Needs A Kidney, 'O' Blood Type,' along with his phone number. He said he would notice people taking pictures of the car, and they began to share it on social media. The picture went viral in December 2017 and went all over the world, including from someone in Dubai. However, not everyone was prepared to take the next step and commit to surgery. One in a million: While the ad received a lot of attention, only one woman named Heather Johnson (pictured) came forward for tests to see if she was compatible Emotional: Luis and Phyllis invited Heather and her family to their home for Easter, and Luis said that it was an emotional day as the families got to know each other ahead of the surgery 'There are a lot of good people out there who want to do it. But they wouldn't go to the next step, maybe they changed their minds.' However, one person who didn't change her mind was Heather Johnson, the mother of a child who also has kidney issues. She told the couple that the sign 'moved' her. As Heather lived just 45 minutes away in North Carolina, she was able to meet with doctors to see if she was a suitable match and luckily she passed all tests 'with flying colors'. Luis and Phyllis invited Heather and her family to their home for Easter and Luis said that it was an emotional day. 'The emotions were running so high. To finally meet this person one-on-one, her family and everything. It's become a wonderful relationship. I was asking God, and he sent us Heather.' Phyllis and Heather underwent surgery on May 15, and both women are doing well and recovering in hospital. Recovery: Phyllis (left) and Heather (right) underwent surgery on May 15, and both women are doing well and recovering in hospital Luis called the woman who saved his wife a 'sweet, wonderful person'. And as Heather will be out of work during her recovery time, Luis has raised some funds to help her during this time. He also called Heather a 'wonderful angle,' adding that he couldn't have asked for an angel like her if he tried. He's also planning a trip to Disney World for the donor, since she has never been. He is trying to raise funds to help her and her children travel there. 'I told her she's a part of my family, as far as I'm concerned, she's my new sister. We're going to take care of her, and she'll always have a family with us,' he added. The phrase 'like mother, like daughter' has never been more true for two women from North Carolina. Sixty-two-year-old Frann Griffin was crowned Ms. North Carolina Senior 2018 on April 28, and the Winston-Salem resident was doubly thrilled when she heard her name called. Besides the excitement of taking the title, Frann now has something special to share with her 90-year-old mother Sarah Brooks who won the same title two decades before. Legacy: Frann Griffin (left) and her mother Sarah Brooks (right) both hold the title of Ms. North Carolina Senior Queen: Sarah won the title at the age of 70 in 1998 (pictured) and her daughter was crowned last month at the age of 62 Frann told Fox 8: 'I sort of blacked out for a minute, and I was like, for real? And then all the flowers came out and the badge and the sash and it was just awesome - awesome experience.' Frann's mom Sarah took the title in 1998, giving them something unique in common. 'She's my sister, my daughter, my friend and now my fellow queen,' Sarah said. 'She calls me in the morning and I say, "Good morning, Queen Frann," and she says, "Good morning, Queen Sarah."' Even though she's 'following in her mother's footsteps,' as Frann puts it, the new Ms. North Carolina Senior never dreamed of participating pageants. 'The ladies would say, 'When get to be of age, you can be in the pageants,' and I would say, 'No, not me.'' Close relationship: Sarah said that now, Frann is 'my sister, my daughter, my friend and my fellow queen' The main event: Frann will be competing for the National title of Ms. Senior America 2018-19 during the week of October 14 through October 19 In an article published by the Winston-Salem Journal eight years ago, Sarah, a retired principal of an alternative school for pregnant teenagers, detailed how she grew up never using the word 'can't'. And it looks like she passed that can-do attitude on to her daughter, who will be competing for the National title of Ms. Senior America 2018-19 during the week of October 14 through October 19 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She will, of course, be accompanied by her mother Sarah who despite her pageant expertise, had very minimal advice for her daughter. 'She has to do what is comfortable for her. I think my days of telling her what to do are kind of, sort of over,' Sarah said. 'We hope she'll be the first Miss North Carolina to bring that crown home.' Great company: She will, of course, be accompanied by her mother Sarah ,who despite her pageant expertise, had very minimal advice for her daughter Short and sweet: Frann said that her mother told her to 'just be yourself and the rest will come along' 'She basically said just be yourself and the rest will come along.' Frann said. 'Right now, I believe there are only two other states that have a mother-daughter combination and I believe it's the state of Louisiana and New Jersey.' To enter, women must have reached the 'Age of Elegance,' which is 60 years or better, according to the pageant website. Last year, the winner of the national title went to Carolyn Slade-Harden, who was crowned 2017's Miss Senior America last October after a three-day long competition held at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. The Miss Senior America pageant is in its 40th year, and was founded by Dr. Al Mott It is for women between the ages of 60 and 90. The Queen is believed to have ridden to Windsor alongside Meghan's rescue dog. A pooch bearing a striking resemblance to her beloved beagle, Guy, was spotted in the back of the monarch's car as she rode through Datchet yesterday, ahead of tomorrow's royal wedding. It was spotted by Lainey Gossip in a video posted by MailOnline and shared widely on Twitter. The bride-to-be took Guy with her when she relocated from Toronto to London last year to live with Harry at Kensington Palace. The Queen was said to be heartbroken last month after the death of her last corgi, Willow. Close: The bride-to-be took Guy with her when she relocated from Toronto to London last year to live with Harry at Kensington Palace The beagle once described by Meghan as her absolute world was injured shortly after Clarence House announced the actresss engagement to Prince Harry, the Mail on Sunday recently revealed. Guy was flown to London last year from Canada where he lived with Meghan while she worked on television series Suits. While it is not clear how the injuries occurred, the dog was reportedly receiving treatment from television super vet, Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, who is renowned for his bionic surgery techniques. Prince Harry is said to have joined his anguished fiancee on visits to see Guy. The dog is believed to be receiving treatment at a facility in Surrey. Is this Guy? The beagle once described by Meghan as her absolute world was injured shortly after Clarence House announced the actresss engagement to Prince Harry Close bond: Meghan has previously described her dogs as my boys, and gushed that they mean the absolute world to her Puppy love: During her time in Toronto, the animals repeatedly appeared on her Instagram page and were pictured snuggled up in bed with her Guy arrived to join his owner having gone through a lengthy checking process. To secure permission to live in the UK, foreign pets must be microchipped, be given a rabies vaccination, and then have a blood test 30 days later. In an interview earlier this month, Meghan revealed: One [dog] is now staying with very close friends and my other, little Guy, hes in the UK, hes been here for a while. Meghan has previously described her dogs as my boys, and gushed that they mean the absolute world to her. During her time in Toronto, the animals repeatedly appeared on her Instagram page and were pictured snuggled up in bed with her. Prince Harry's fiancee had to make the heartbreaking decision to leave behind her dog Bogart after moving to the UK to start her new life, as the pet is thought to be too old to fly overseas. A prom queen gave away her title to a classmate this weekend for an incredibly heartwarming and selfless reason. Macy Galietta, a junior at Ararat High School, was asked to attend the prom with her friend Wesley Lucas who attended Lisbon High School in Lisbon Falls, Maine. The two students, who both have autism, were over the moon after Wesley won prom king. But Macy received a surprise of her own after senior prom queen Shelby Cyr gave up title so she, too, could be crowned. Excited: Macy Galietta (right) attended the prom with her friend Wesley Lucas (left) at Lisbon High School in Lisbon Falls, Maine Touched: Senior Shelby Cyr (right) won prom queen, but gave her title to Macy after Wesley won prom king. Shelby said she thought it would mean a lot to Macy Crowning: Wesley and Shelby were announced as prom king and queen before Shelby gave her title away to Wesley's date, Macy Shelby won prom queen, and Macy's date Wesley won prom king but they didn't reign together for long. 'When it came time to announce a prom king and queen, I saw how much Wesley loved it and I saw the smile on his face, and I just wanted to make [Macy] feel the same way,' Shelby told the News Center Maine. The 17-year-old senior quickly decided she would rather have Macy, whom she had never met before, take the title as prom queen at the dance. This heartwarming moment was made special for Macy because she didn't expect to receive the title. 'I've never gotten anything at a dance before,' Macy said. 'It made me really touched.' Special: Macy said later that she really appreciated the gesture because she had never won anything at a dance Hug! The two students had never met before, but they have since become fast friends Sweet: Shelby gave her flowered crown and sash to Macy once she decided to give her the title of prom queen at the school dance Cute: The two students, who are both autistic, were touched when they both reigned as prom royalty during the school dance this past weekend Not only did Macy get to share the royal title with her date, but she also received a gold sash and floral crown to commemorate the honor. Shelby explained to the Maine news station that giving away her title to make someone else's night special meant so much more to her than winning it in the first place. 'Making a memory and make their night special, that just meant everything to me and that meant more than being prom queen to me,' she said. Although the two girls hadn't met until prom night, they have since become fast friends. It was her first official appearance as the mother of the bride. And Doria Ragland debuted a dramatic new look tonight as she arrived at Cliveden House Hotel with her daughter Meghan Markle tonight. The yoga instructor and social worker, who wore her hair tied back as she jetted out of Los Angeles earlier this week, appeared to have styled her hair into soft twists, tied back with a silk scarf. Swapping her uniform of yoga pants and trainers for a smart, champagne-coloured dress and black cropped blazer, the proud mother, who is believed to have met the Queen today, gave onlookers are regal wave. Her daughter, who will be walked up the aisle tomorrow by the Prince of Wales, wore a 1,450 navy dress from Roland Mouret. Wedding ready! Doria Ragland debuted a dramatic new look tonight as she arrived at Cliveden House Hotel with her daughter Meghan Markle tonight Doria was picked up at her home in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon before heading to the airport. She was then spotted going through a private entrance at Los Angeles International where she will enjoy VIP treatment before boarding her flight to the UK. The 61-year-old's departure for London came just hours before her ex-husband, Thomas Markle, confirmed he would not be attending the ceremony at Windsor Castle on Saturday. She was carrying a Burberry garment bag, which likely contained an outfit she will wear during the wedding celebrations this weekend. Should Burberry her chosen designer for the main event, it will be a fitting option; not only is Burberry a British brand, it is also one that Doria has shown herself to be a fan of in the past. Twinning: Doria's daughter, who will be walked up the aisle tomorrow by the Prince of Wales, wore a 1,450 navy dress from Roland Mouret New look: The yoga instructor and social worker, who wore her cornrows tied back as she jetted out of Los Angeles on Friday, wore her hair down in soft twists, tied back with a scarf What a difference a day makes! Earlier this week, Doria spotted going through a private entrance at Los Angeles International where she will enjoy VIP treatment before boarding her flight to the UK The mother of the bride opted for a Burberry design when she made her first public outing with Meghan and Prince Harry, at the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Canada in September 2017. Tonight, Doria will be spending time with Meghan before travelling with her to St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle on the day. The five star mansion, near the village of Teplow on the border of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire is roughly 15 minutes away by car to the wedding venue. It has been chosen for its secluded location and privacy. Bride to be: Her daughter, who will be walked up the aisle tomorrow by the Prince of Wales, wore a 1,450 navy dress from Roland Mouret Final night together: Tonight, Doria will be spending time with Meghan before travelling with her to St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle on the day Doria also swapped her trainers for heels for the walkabout; The yoga instructor and social worker has been described by Meghan as a 'free spirited clinical therapist' On route: The proud mother beamed out the window with her diamond earrings, necklace and nose stud sparkling in the light The bride to be gave a final smile to photographers as she followed her mother inside Doria has been keeping a low profile over recent weeks in the run up to Saturday's nuptials, and has been photographed out and about near her home in Los Angeles. The yoga instructor and social worker has been described by Meghan as a 'free spirited clinical therapist' and she has been seen alongside Meghan at a number of public events. Prince Harry, who has described her as 'amazing' flew Doria out to Toronto to join Meghan and himself at the Invictus Games last year. Royal experts said at the time that Harrys decision to invite Meghans mum to join them at the closing ceremony of his Invictus Games was 'hugely significant.' At first glance, it seems like an ordinary pocket notebook that many of us possess. But look a little closer and you will notice that the cover has a logo of the supersonic jet Concorde. Indeed, it is one of many complimentary notebooks given to passengers who travelled on the plane with British Airways when it was in operation between 1976 and 2003. And this particular passenger was rather special: Margaret Thatcher. She used the pages to make notes written in her distinctive blue felt-tip and often underlined in school-mistressy red for emphasis. It wasnt a diary, and the entries arent dated. Instead, Mrs Thatchers thoughts and quotations come in random order, with a fresh page for a fresh thought or quotation. At one point, she flipped the notebook round intentionally or unintentionally and started writing from the back. That means the writing in the back half is upside down. Margaret Thatcher, pictured, used a complimentary notebook from British Airways to make notes - and the book is now up for sale The book is a remarkable piece of history, containing her innermost thoughts during the years after she stepped down as prime minister. And it will surprise her critics for it shows her to be a feminist and even quotes communist Karl Marx. Fascinatingly, they reveal she was still deeply bitter at having been the victim of a coup by cowardly Cabinet ministers who urged her to stand down in 1990. They show how she was smarting about the policies of her successor, John Major a man she had groomed, having appointed him her chancellor and foreign secretary. Her notes give a unique insight into the mind of Britains greatest peacetime prime minister: her unshakeable belief in the power of women; her views on the importance of small government; and the value of sensible household finances. Although the jottings are disjointed and often brief, the Thatcherite ideology shines through and remained unchanged after her fall from power. Later this month, the notebook is to be sold (for an estimated 25,000) by Peter Harrington Rare Books at the ABA Rare Book Fair in Battersea, South-West London. Theres no date inscribed in the book but John Ryan, a cataloguer and bookseller, believes most of the notes were written in 1995, five years after she was turfed out of No 10. Reading them today, its possible to understand her anger and pain at having been forced to resign as prime minister, and watching the Major government struggle against a resurgent Labour under Tony Blair. Some sections show how she felt the Tories had abandoned the principles she employed to rebuild Britain. Speaking of Labour and the Conservatives, she despairingly wrote that neither camp stands FOR anything. She added: Differences between parties are narrowing [narrowing is underlined]. Tendency towards pragmatism. She also moaned that her free-market values, which had helped reinvigorate the UK economy, had been dropped in favour of more state control: Alas, in the West, political leaders cling to the belief that govt. can manage the economy directly. The Concorde notebook, pictured, wasnt a diary, and the entries arent dated - but the book is a remarkable piece of history, containing her innermost thoughts during the years after she stepped down as prime minister Other passages give an insight into her thoughts about her place in history. She cites the dictum of the Victorian political philosopher Thomas Carlyle, history is the biography of great men, to which she adds, and women, clearly with her own legacy in mind. Manuscripts by Thatcher are rarely owned by private individuals. Most of her papers are held in the archive of Churchill College, Cambridge. This notebook was considered among personal possessions not destined for the archive, however, and is being sold anonymously. Many of the notes were made in preparation for speeches. She writes of the Pilgrim Fathers, the 17th-century settlers of America, saying: For every Pilgrim Father there must have been a Pilgrim Mother who worked and suffered alongside the men, and who ultimately brought about the success we share as Thanksgiving. Similarly: Small business often owed a great deal to the business shrewdness of the wife. Warming to this theme and giving the lie to the Leftist claim that she was not a feminist, but downplayed the role of other women in government while only promoting male ministers, she writes: Many more women can do mens [underlined] jobs than men could do womens jobs bringing up a family . . . This was even more true in the days before the transformation of equipment for the kitchen and home generally. In a way, the advance of technology transformed the lives of women vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washing machines . . . In other words, she was saying that while women could excel in a male world of business and commerce and, yes, politics, men could not possibly have coped with the domestic chores expected of women. America, too, is at the forefront of her thinking. She praises her great ally, Ronald Reagan, writing: Reagan and MT. Same beliefs. Same direction. Ron Reagan, decisive at Reykjavik, she writes, referring to the 1986 Iceland summit between the U.S. president and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev, which was instrumental in bringing an end to the Cold War. On the same page, she refers to her own great triumph in the Falklands War of 1982: Falklands issues fundamental. Other entries explain Mrs Thatchers belief in the importance of the special relationship between Britain and America. She wrote: Part played by history [underlined] and language [underlined]. Correspondence between Franklin Roosevelt [the U.S. president during World War II], Churchill. Theres no date inscribed in the book but John Ryan, a cataloguer and bookseller, believes most of the notes were written in 1995, five years after she was turfed out of No 10 This was a reference to coded cable traffic between the two men from the outbreak of the war, through Americas entry in December 1941, until Roosevelts death in 1945. Thatchers fundamental belief in the enduring importance of democracy is prominent. She writes: Your role in democracy does not end when you cast your vote in an election it applies daily the standards and values that are the moral foundations of society are also the foundations of our lives. Once that is accepted, democracy is essential to preserving freedom. She follows that with the quote from the 19th-century historian Lord Acton, Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Actons aphorism was one of many favourites. Others copied into the notebook include those of U.S. humorist and author Mark Twain, such as: Never prophesy, especially about the future. It was a quote she used in a speech titled Challenges Of The 21st Century, which she made in Taiwan in 1996. S he told her audience: We shall only get the best out of the 21st century if we learn the lessons of this one, which itself has been one of dramatic change most of which could not have been foreseen. Indeed, I remember Mark Twains advice, Never prophesy, especially about the future! Another favourite was the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw. On the notebooks first page, Thatcher wrote: The love of economy is the root of all virtue. 1903 G. B. Shaw. Ever eclectic in her sources, but perhaps surprisingly, she quotes Karl Marx and Friedrich Engelss Communist Manifesto. On what foundation is the present family, the bourgeois family, based? she writes, copying their words, On capital, on private gain . . . The bourgeois family will vanish as a matter of course with the vanishing of capital! The exclamation mark is Thatchers own. Marx was quoted in order to compare his views with others much closer to Mrs Thatchers heart. She said: Contrast Pope Pius XI, The family is more sacred than the State, and men are begotten not for the earth and for time but for heaven and eternity. The papal words chime with one of Thatchers most famous quotes: There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. Again and again, Thatchers core philosophy resonates in the notebook. Often, she makes comparisons between high politics and voters everyday lives. Quoting the English 18th-century preacher Thomas Fuller, Mrs Thatcher, the daughter of a devout Lincolnshire Methodist, wrote: Better to have a hen tomorrow than an egg today Thomas Fuller 1732. She then adds an old Chinese proverb: Though you live near a forest, do not waste firewood. Waste, needless to say, was one of Thatchers great bugbears. Among her quotes and notes for speeches are charming insights into her everyday life. While staying at a hotel in Dallas, Texas (visiting her son Mark, who at the time was married to his Texan first wife, Diane Burgdorf), she carefully lists the tips for the hotel staff. Tip on behalf of all the party $200, she writes. Intriguingly, she noted the cost of having her hair done $170. This unique piece of British history has been compared with the Little Red Book, the quotations of Chinas Communist leader Chairman Mao but the values in Maggies Little Blue Book will undoubtedly stand the test of time much longer. Huma Abedin took her seven-year-old son to school on Friday morning, making the most of the still-chilly spring temperatures in New York City. The longtime Clinton aide, 41, was seen holding her son Jordan's hand during the school run as both of them crossed the street. She mixed several styles by way of a classic, straight, calf-length black dress with a round neckline, paired with a light beige biker jacket. School run: Huma Abedin took her seven-year-old son to school on Friday morning, making the most of the still-chilly spring temperatures in New York City Duo: The longtime Clinton aide, 41, was seen holding her son Jordan's hand during the school run as both of them crossed the street Huma completed her outfit with a pair of deep red, pointy flats, as well as large Miu Miu sunglasses that retail for $399. The political staffer wore her long hair down and finished off her look with a touch of red lipsticka shade she often wears on nights out as well as in her day-to-day activities. Her son, bundled up in a blue jacket, carried his backpack on his shoulders as he and his mother headed to school. Huma is currently taking on parenting duties by herself while her estranged husband Anthony Weiner, 53, serves a 21-month prison sentence for sexting a minor. The disgraced congressman began his time behind bars in November last year, when he reported to the Federal Medical Center Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. After his prison term, he will remain on probation for three years, and will have to register as a sex offender. He and Huma were in divorce proceedings, but decided in January to withdraw their case to settle it privately instead. Wardrobe: Huma mixed several styles by way of a classic, straight, calf-length black dress with a round neckline, paired with a light beige biker jacket The 21-month prison sentence came after the former Congressman pleaded guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor. Prior to that, he was involved in several sexting scandals that saw him sending explicit photos of his anatomy to other women, costing him his spot in Congress and his political career. Huma recently spoke out about the scandals and how they affected her, while opening up in the June issue of Vogue about her relationship with Georgina Chapman, the now-estranged wife of Harvey Weinstein. Georgina herself spoke about her life in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, and the friends who have supported her over the very difficult past eight months that saw dozens of women accusing the former producer of sexual harassment. Among those friends is Huma, who said she and Georgina grew close for a number of reasons, including the fact that they were both publicly humiliated by their husbands many, many times. 'We just... bonded,' said Huma. 'In all kinds of ways.' Gotta have friends: Huma (left at the Met Gala earlier this month) previously opened up about her relationship with Georgina Chapman (right in October) in the June issue of Vogue The two had known one another for years due to Georgina's involvement in the Hillary Clinton campaign, and her son Dashiell, five, would have plays dates with Jordan, who is the same age. Their sons do not attend the same school, but the women live just a mile apart from one another. Huma also spent time in the Hamptons with Georgina back in 2014 and 2015 when her boss Hillary rented the mansion next door to the one that was owned by Harvey. The mogul has since sold the mansion, along with all his other properties. Huma was not shy to address the most well-known similarity between the womentheir predatory husbands. The FBI learned of Weiner's unlawful actions after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the disgraced politician had been exchanging sexually-charged messages with a 15-year-old high school student for close to three months. 'This particular club, ironically, its not such a small one: women who have had to endure it in such a public way, women like Georgina and me,' explained Huma of their husbands' misconduct. 'People dont feel sorry for us; you dont get that empathy. People think youre beautiful, youre thin, youre rich, youre photographed on the red carpet, and you get stuck in this category.' She added: 'Theres so much more depth beyond all that with Georgina.' Disgraced: Anthony Weiner (pictured in court with Huma in September last year) is currently behind bars after receiving a 21-month sentence in September last year for sexting a minor Huma also noted that while Georgina may look flawless most of the time, she is more concerned with her kids and making a happy home than keeping up her appearanceor appearances. 'You look at her from the outside, if you dont know her, and you think, "Shes perfect. She could be a model for the clothes she designs,"' said Huma. 'But when you go to the house, she opens the door without any makeup on, and shes stunning, and shes funny and goofy with her childrenwho are clearly the most important people in her life.' Huma continued: 'Shes at the stove making chicken fingers and French fries, and shes one of the realest people I know. Theres nothing entitled about her. You believe she is someone who works really hard at being a good and present mom, and doing her job really well.' The two women are now both single mothers with full-time jobs, although Georgina is thinking about getting out of the spotlight and moving to a farm upstate. Huma seems intent on staying in New York City however, where she attended the annual Met Gala earlier this month. A Muslim woman who used to suffer from an eating disorder has revealed how she used Ramadan as a way to conceal her unhealthy relationship with food. Adeline Hocine was born in Algeria and moved to use US as a child, and believes her problems with food stemmed from the big move. 'After my Algerian family immigrated to the United States, I found myself surrounded by light-haired girls with delicate features, and my own thick, dark hair and sharp nose seemed unusual in comparison. Right away, I felt like I wasn't normal,' Adeline, who lives in California, wrote for Teen Vogue. Secret: Muslim-American Adeline Hocine, who lives in California but was born in Algeri,a has revealed how she used Ramadan, a month of religious fasting, to conceal her eating disorder Trigger: When she started school in the US, Adeline found herself comparing her appearance to her classmates, which triggered her unhealthy relationship with food In an effort to fit in, Adeline started eating less and pushed her body to 'conform to new standards'. She also detailed how having an eating disorder helped her cope with her new surroundings. Yet, Adeline described living with a secret eating disorder as a 'daily battle' and shared that during Ramadan it often felt like she was at 'war' with her body. She explained: 'In fifth grade, when my Iraqi-American best friend began fasting for Ramadan, I saw an opportunity to mask my eating disorder with the veil of dedication to my faith.' While her parents had never pressured her to observe Ramadan growing up, she found that fasting for her faith was encouraged by others in her community. Excuse: By the time she reached the fifth grade, she started observing Ramadan so she could mask her eating disorder with her faith Pattern: Fasting all day followed by a night of feasting known as iftar triggered a bout of purging that 'quickly became a pattern' for Adeline Hopeful: Adeline is now hoping the Muslim community will start to recognize how damaging Ramadan can be for people with eating disorders Throughout the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown. They are not even permitted to consume water in the process. 'Not only does this practice teach appreciation and gratitude, but the hunger one experiences creates a space that can only be filled by their faith. At the end of each day, the fast is broken with iftar, a community meal that more so resembles a feast rather than your average dinner,' Adeline added. However, on her first day of fasting, the end-of-day feasting triggered a bout of purging that 'quickly became a pattern' for Adeline. 'Even long after the holiday ended, my routine remained,' she confessed. And she now admits that her eating disorder and not her faith motivated her to fast: 'As my body grew weaker, my mind continued giving in to the triggering thoughts. I somehow had managed to convince myself this was all a sign of strength.' The first migraine-prevention drug was approved by US regulators yesterday. Due to be available within the next week, experts claim the injected medication, known as Aimovig, will 'change the way we treat migraines'. It is unclear if the drug may be available outside of the US. The once-a-month treatment works by blocking the protein CGRP, which is elevated in migraine sufferers. Unlike existing treatments that reduce CGRP levels, Aimovig, which is manufactured by pharma giants Amgen and Novartis, does not cause side effects, such as weight gain, sexual dysfunction and dry mouth. Previous research suggests migraine drug side effects are often worse than the headaches themselves, with up to 86 percent of patients discontinuing treatment within a year. Migraines affect more than 37 million people in the US. Around six million suffer in the UK. US regulators approved the first migraine-prevention drug yesterday (stock) WHAT HELPS TO PREVENT MIGRAINES? Being open to new experiences reduces people's risk of migraines, research suggested in June 2017. A preference for variation over routine prevents crippling headaches among depression sufferers, a study found. Yet, neuroticism - a personality trait associated with nervousness and irritability - increases migraine's risk, the research adds. Study author Dr Mate Magyar from Semmelweis University in Budapest, said: 'An open character appears to offer protection from [migraine]. 'Our study results could help to provide a better understanding of the biopsychosocial background of migraine, and help to find novel strategies in the prevention of and interventions for [migraine].' The researchers analysed the relationship between personality traits, depression and migraines in more than 3,000 sufferers of the mental-health condition. Depression is associated with an increased risk of migraines. The participants were ranked according to their openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Advertisement 'They will change the way we treat migraine' Speaking of Aimovig's expected impact on migraine treatment, Dr Stewart J. Tepper, from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, told the NY Times: 'They shake the ground under our feet. They will change the way we treat migraine.' Robin Overlock, 32, who participated in the study testing Aimovig, previously had up to 27 migraine days a month. Since then trial ended in January, Ms Overlock has had only two headaches, with neither being severe enough to require medication. Speaking of her experience, Ms Overlock said: 'It's definitely life changing.' How much will it cost? Aimovig contains immune-cell proteins known as antibodies, which have to be grown in living cells in the lab and are therefore expensive to produce. It is expected to cost $6,900 a year, leaving some doubting whether insurers will pay up and if patients will be able to afford it. According to Dr David Rind, chief medical officer at Amgen, Aimovig is cost effective considering the impact it will have on severe migraine sufferers' quality of life when no other treatments have worked. Hair transplants may cure migraines This comes after research released last January suggested hair transplants cure migraines. The cosmetic procedure prevents headaches in people who have suffered crippling pain for up to 20 years, a study found. After undergoing hair transplants, migraine sufferers who experienced agonising discomfort for up to four hours, several times a month, no longer require any pain-relieving medication, the research adds. It is unclear how hair transplants prevent migraines, however, it may be linked to the surgery destroying nerve endings in the scalp, reducing signals that trigger such pain. Lead researcher Dr Safvet Ors, from the SO-EP Aesthetic & Plastic Surgery Clinic, Turkey, said: 'The post-operative improvement in each patient was dramatic. 'As a result of this study, hair plantation in bald migraine patients may be an alternative to migraine treatment,' The Sun reported. A woman battling cervical cancer has started a last-ditch fundraiser for life-saving treatment after she claims she was 'fobbed off' by doctors. Tracey Burke, 30, from Dundee, was diagnosed in 2015 and is now seeking 90,000 private treatment in Germany because none of the NHS treatments worked. She says doctors played down her concerns because they thought she was too young to have the disease, which means there was a delay in her diagnosis and treatment. Mrs Burke and husband Greg have raised more than 22,000 of their 70,000 target on GoFundMe, for treatment for the cancer, which has spread to her lymph nodes. She is now urging other women in a similar situation to keep badgering their GP until they are happy with the answers they get. Tracey Burke and husband Greg have started a fundraiser for 70,000 towards the cost of 90,000 immunotherapy treatment in Germany After being diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2015, aged just 27, Mrs Burke was given chemotherapy, radiotherapy and brachytherapy, a form of internal radiotherapy. None of the treatments worked, however, and Mrs Burke says she could have started therapy sooner if GPs had not 'sent her on her way' on several occasions. She had a hysterectomy womb removal to get rid of tumours, but it was then discovered the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in both sides of her pelvis. Describing her trouble getting diagnosed in a blog, Tracey writes: 'I had been to the doctors several times with my symptoms but because my smears were clear and my young age I got fobbed off repeatedly and sent on my way. 'If it wasn't for me contacting them and insisting further investigation god knows where I would have been left. 'So if anyone reading this is in a similar situation please do not stop contacting your GP until you're happy with answers you're getting.' Last hope for couple who want to start a family Mr and Mrs Burke got married in 2016 after spending eight inseparable years together. Following their tragic diagnosis the couple have had fertility treatment to harvest embryos in the hope that one day they can start their own family. Mrs Burke shaved her head in a 'Brave the Shave' fundraiser which raised 11,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support However, Mr Burke, 34, says an immunotherapy trial in Germany, costing 90,000, is the last thing that could save his wife's life. 'There is nothing more they can do for her,' he writes on the GoFundMe page. 'All the standard NHS treatments have not worked so the private treatment is our last hope. 'We are now fundraising to have her treated privately at clinic in Germany who use immunotherapy as a treatment. Immunotherapy treatment costs 90,000 'The estimated costs are around 90,000 but we are asking for 70,000 as we have a certain amount we can put towards this ourselves. This treatment can potentially cure Tracey. 'I understand times are hard for people but please spare anything you can to help us. I can't imagine life without Tracey by my side.' Last month, Tracey had been accepted for a trial for immunotherapy but was dropped due to a cut in numbers. The therapy is still in trial stages for some cancers, and works by stimulating the body's own immune system to fight the disease. Mrs Burke had to have kidney drains put in to relieve pressure in her abdomen which was caused by the growing cancer Writing about her journey, Tracey said: 'The night we got told I had cancer kind of passed in a blur. 'I was prepared for it so no tears or upset from me. 'But seeing my partner Greg break his heart on the doctor's floor, then having to go face my mum and best friend who didn't even know I was having issues, that was the real tough thing. 'Everyone focuses on the person who has the disease but hardest of all, for me anyway, is watching your loved ones struggle to cope with what you're going through.' 'Women your age don't get cancer' In a similar case, a newlywed from Crossgates, Fife last year revealed that she had just months to live after a GP missed a lump in her breast and told her 'Women your age don't get cancer'. Deanna Wilson, 36, found a rapidly-growing lump three years ago and went to see her family doctor, was sent away, and three months later after persistence was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ms Wilson continues to receive treatment. Washington House Democrats on Thursday vowed to fight back against what they called the Trump administrations moves to roll back progress on civil rights in education, and highlighted research that they said proves ongoing disparties in schools disproportionately harm students of color. In a forum on Capitol Hill hosted by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the top Democrat on the House education committee, Democratic leaders spoke about the importance of the Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on its 64th anniversary. They also unveiled a resolution that calls for the enforcement of the Civil Rights Act by the U.S. Department of Education . If the Trump administration continues on its current path, The question will no longer be when we fulfill the promise of Brown, the question will be if we ever achieve the equity that it envisioned, Scott said. Civil rights enforcement one of the most controversial elements of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos record so far. She has reversed Obama administration guidance on transgender students, changed how civil rights investigations are handled, and is considering tossing overboard other Obama-era initiatives, such as 2014 guidance addressing racial disparities in school discipline. DeVos has said she wants to make federal civil rights enforcement in education fairer and more efficient. Her critics charge that she is willfully ignoring systemic and improper discrimination in many schools. From day one, the Trump administration has undermined civil rights protections in our schools, kicking out the ladders of opportunity from under our children, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said at Scotts forum. We must combat that injustice and build a future where every child has the tools to learn and succeed in the 21st century. Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn of South Carolina said he recalled exactly where he was when he heard about the Brown decision: I feel very strongly that that [1954] decision is what really launched the activities that brought me here as a member of the United States Congress. At the forum, researchers from the Government Accountability Office also presented their recent research on civil rights issues, such as a 2016 report on trends in the racial and economic composition of school enrollment . Many schools are resegregating, said Jacqueline Nowicki, the director of education, workforce, and income security issues at the GAO. In Ferguson, Mo., there were 211 days of instruction lost for every 100 black males, compared to 54 such days for their white counterparts, said Dan Losen, the director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Discussing these and other statistical disparities revealed in the most recent Civil Rights Data Collection , Losen told the forum that, They should shock our conscience. Democrats werent alone in highlighting the anniversary of Brown. While the forum was in progress, DeVos highlighted its impact on social media: More than 60 years ago, a remarkable woman, Linda Brown, demonstrated courage beyond her years as she fought to end legal segregation in American schools. Today, we celebrate her and the right of every student, no matter their race, to access a quality education. #BrownvBoard Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) May 17, 2018 And Wednesday on the House floor, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., praised the plaintiffs in the Brown case and their success in bringing about an end to the abhorrent segregationist policy of separate but equal education. As a result, millions of children were afforded the educational opportunities they deserved and their rightful shot at a successful life, Foxx said. Photo: Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina speaks at an event hosted by Rep. Bobby Scott, R-Va., left, about the 64th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. (Andrew Ujifusa/Education Week) Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . Chiropractors really do relieve back pain, new research suggests. When given alongside pain medication and physical therapy, spinal manipulation benefits 62.6 percent of lower-back pain sufferers after six weeks, a study found today. This is compared to just 46.6 percent who find their discomfort is eased by medication alone, the research adds. Study author Dr Daniel Cherkin, from the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle, said: 'There are several possible explanations why chiropractic care improved outcomes. 'In contrast to most clinicians, chiropractors are specialists in back problems and enjoy seeing patients with lower back pain. 'Chiropractic care often includes treatments not included in usual medical care - electric muscle stimulation, heat or cold therapy, and at study entry, patients had higher expectations of usual medical care with chiropractic care than usual medical care alone.' Lower-back pain affects 31 million people living in the US at any one time. Chiropractors really do relieve back pain, new research suggests (stock) DOES EXERCISE HELP BACK PAIN? Being highly active reduces the risk of chronic lower-back pain by 16 per cent, research suggested in July 2017. Regular moderate activity lowers the risk of such discomfort by 14 per cent, a study review found. Yet, exercise has no impact on short-term back pain or that which causes hospitalisation or disability, the research adds. Dr Joel Press, physiatrist-in-chief at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, who was not involved in the study, said: 'We were meant to move. We were not meant to be stagnant in any way. 'Generally lower impact, walking type things are probably the starting point. 'Swimming is another low-impact activity that puts less load on your back'. Dr Press advises back-pain sufferers avoid sports that involve a lot of twisting and turning, such as golf and tennis. The researchers, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, analysed data from 36 studies that included a total of 158,475 people. The studies' participants did not have back pain at the start of the investigations. Physical activity was defined as sport and intentional exercise, as well as walking and climbing stairs. The participants were considered active if they engaged in physical activity at least twice a week for a minimum of 60 minutes. Advertisement How the research was carried out The researchers analysed 750 serving members of the US armed forces from three military sites between September 2012 and February 2016. Some of the participants were just given the standard lower-back pain care of medication and physical therapy for six weeks. The remainder were given standard care alongside chiropractic sessions, rehabilitative exercises, and hot and cold therapies. All of the participants' pain and disability levels were assessed before and after their treatments. The findings were published in the journal JAMA Open. Improved pain intensity and disability Dr Christine Goertz, from The Spine Institute for Quality, Iowa, said: 'Chiropractic care, when added to usual medical care, resulted in moderate short-term improvements in low back pain intensity and disability in active-duty military personnel. 'This trial provides additional support for the inclusion of chiropractic care as a component of multidisciplinary health care for low back pain, as currently recommended in existing guidelines 'Changes in pain intensity and disability reported by US military personnel in this clinical trial that supports usual medical care plus chiropractic care for low back pain are consistent with existing literature on spinal manipulation therapy in both military and civilian populations.' When given alongside pain medication, spinal manipulation benefits 62.6% of sufferers (stock) Back pain may be psychological This comes after research released last September suggested back pain may be psychological. People over estimate their lower back discomfort, a study found. Lead author Dr Tasha Stanton, from the University of South Australia, said: 'People with chronic back pain and stiffness overestimated how much force was being applied to their backs. 'This suggests that feelings of stiffness are a protective response, likely to avoid movement.' The researchers analysed 15 people with chronic lower back pain who reported feelings of stiffness. The study's participants rated their stiffness from 'not stiff at all' to the 'most stiff imaginable'. These participants were compared against 15 volunteers without such complaints. The researchers carried out three experiments. The first applied pressure to the spine to determine its stiffness. In the second experiment, the participants received a force that they were asked to score. The third experiment assessed whether adding sounds to the perception of pressure changed the participants' stiffness. Men who fear they are going through the 'manopause' could be at risk of problems in their love lives, an expert claims. Middle-aged men who simply believe low testosterone will hit their libido could end up less interested in sex. They may also suffer erectile dysfunction as a psychological response to worrying about the male menopause. Middle-aged men who simply believe low testosterone will hit their libido could end up less interested in sex, a study from the University of Sheffield has shown (stock image) Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: 'This label of the male menopause creates the expectation that every man will go through it. Some of the symptoms are hormone-related but some are influenced by psychology.' Speaking at an event on male fertility organised by the Progress Educational Trust in Edinburgh this month, he added: 'A common question that I am often asked is about the existence of the male menopause. 'In this regard, let me be quite clear it doesn't exist.' The fertility expert used Charlie Chaplin, who had his youngest son at 73, as evidence that the male menopause is a myth, saying that men latch on to the idea because they are getting older and 'clearly do not like it'. His comments come amid warnings that men taking testosterone to regain their youthful energy could increase their risk of heart attack and stroke. Prescriptions for male 'HRT' leapt by 20 per cent between 2012 and 2016, and this can damage men's fertility. The British Fertility Society conference heard last year that the hormone is being increasingly misused as a 'lifestyle drug' by men who are convinced that they have hit the 'manopause'. Two children have died of a form of eye cancer that rarely leads to death, and their parents are suing a hospital for negligence. Damian Creed and Salette Ruiz were both diagnosed with retinoblastoma at the age of two in Miami, Florida. It was unusual - the rare, aggressive eye cancer affects just 200 to 300 children a year in the United States. However, prognosis is usually good: 95 percent of sufferers survive. But Damian and Salette, who both received chemotherapy from Dr Timothy Murray at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, became part of that tragic five percent. They died within six days of each other, in the same hospital, despite never meeting. Now, their parents are suing the hospital and the doctor for failing to provide the standard treatment, surgical removal of the affected eye. 'I had to leave that hospital without my baby,' Damian's mother Sarah Hancock told the Miami Herald. 'I had to leave him in that morgue and drive home without him. 'They killed my kid.' Damian Creed (left) and Salette Ruiz (right) were both diagnosed with retinoblastoma aged two in Miami, Florida. Though 95 percent of sufferers survive, Damian and Salette died the same week in 2016 The two families have now joined forces, suing Drs Murray and Khatib for negligence in care, and Nicklaus Children's for failing to monitor their decisions. Dr Murray is regarded as one of the nation's top practitioners for retinoblastoma, and allegedly hadn't lost a patient before Salette and Damian. Retinoblastoma is a rare type of eye cancer that usually affects children under the age of five. As it is usually caught early in the US, the vast majority of children with the disease are successfully treated. It is specifically a cancer of the retina, which is the light-sensitive lining at the back of the eye, and it can affect one or both eyes. A fault gene is responsible in about 40 percent of cases. This can be inherited from the sufferer's parents or may occur spontaneously. The most common symptoms are the pupil looking like a cat's eye - typically seen in photos - and the child developing a squint. While small tumors can usually be treated with laser or freezing treatment, larger tumors may require chemotherapy or surgery. Damian's story Damian was diagnosed when he was two, in May 2014, when his left pupil dilated and didn't go back to normal. His mother took him to get checked at their local hospital in Naples, Florida, and a CT scan revealed a possible tumor. Mrs Creed told the Herald they were immediately airlifted to Nicklaus, which is 100 miles away in Miami. That day, a doctor said he suspected retinoblastoma but that Dr Murray - a specialist who had treated 370 other kids with this disease - could confirm the diagnosis. The next day, they had their first consultation with Dr Murray, where he confirmed that Damian had an advanced case of retinoblastoma, and also had a detached retina that was so damaged he would never regain the sight in that eye. Mrs Creed claims she asked Dr Murray immediately if he would remove the eye, which she had discovered to be the most effective way of eliminating the cancer after frantically searching for hope on Google. Damian was diagnosed when he was two, in May 2014, when his left pupil dilated and didn't go back to normal WHAT IS RETINOBLASTOMA? Retinoblastoma is a rare type of eye cancer that usually affects children under the age of five. As it is usually caught early in the UK, 98 per cent of children with the disease are successfully treated. About 50 children develop the condition every year in Britain. It affects up to 300 youngsters annually in the US. Retinoblastoma is specifically a cancer of the retina, which is the light-sensitive lining at the back of the eye. It can affect one or both eyes. A fault gene is responsible in about 40 per cent of cases. This can be inherited from the sufferers parents or may occur spontaneously. The most common symptoms are the pupil looking like a cats eye and the child developing a squint. The cat eye look is most commonly seen in photos. Small tumours can usually be treated with laser or freezing treatment. Larger tumours may require chemotherapy or surgery. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement Dr Murray, she claims, said no. She recalled Dr Murray saying: 'We open up a whole other can of worms when we remove a child's eye so young. The socket can't develop properly. It stops growing. There are a lot of issues that go with that. It's a slippery slope... We have to balance. So we wait as long as we can to remove the eye to keep the socket safe and keep it healthy.' Damian subsequently underwent a few rounds of intra-arterial chemotherapy. In November 2014, six months after his diagnosis, Damian was given the all-clear. But in June 2015, his eye swelled painfully, pushing out of his socket. Dr Murray said the time had now come to remove the eye surgically, and did so in July 2015. After the operation he said, again, that Damian had no trace of cancer. But that was not the case. They went for a follow-up MRI scan two months later, in September 2015, which revealed the worst: the cancer had spread to his optic nerve, meaning it had infected his brain. According to his father Ron Creed, 'a quarter of his brain' was consumed by cancer cells. Damian's care was then passed to a neurooncologist at Nicklaus, Dr Ziad Khatib. Damian was given the all-clear, but months later a scan revealed it came back. It was only then that he got his eye removed. Months later, however, a scan showed it had spread to his brain In a desperate bid to control it, Dr Khatib put Damian on high dose systemic chemotherapy, low-dose chemotherapy, and proton beam radiation therapy (a targeted form of radiotherapy), the family explained on their GoFundMe page. Though there was some shrinkage of the tumor after the radiation therapy, none of it could contain the cancer. Throughout, Damian, whose immune system was weakened by all the drugs, suffered fevers, infections, and even sepsis, a life-threatening blood infection. Eventually, in May 2016, the family tried their final option: a stem cell transplant, transplanting bone marrow from a donor into his immune system. The highly risky operation is hit-and-miss. It had worked wonders in some, rejuvenating their body to attack the virus. In others, the very operation has proved fatal, as the recipient's immune system attacks the new cells. In others, it is simply futile. Damian saw no change in his condition, and began rapidly worsening. He died in November 2016, at the age of four, at Nicklaus. Salette's story Salette, too, was refused removal as a first-line treatment. The little girl from Miami was referred to Nicklaus by a local eye surgeon at the age of two in November 2013, the family said on their GoFundMe page. According to her father, Jorge Ruiz, Dr Murray said it was the worst case he had ever seen of retinoblastoma. But when they asked what could be done, he told the family that surgery would not be appropriate in this instance. Instead, he prescribed five rounds of intra-retinal chemotherapy, insisting after each one he saw promise; that the eye was 'dead' but stable. Salette's family believe she could have been saved if she'd had her eye out straight away However, eventually her eyes and arteries could not handle any more of it, so she was put on a general course of chemotherapy for most of 2014. In early 2015, her eye swelled up. Dr Murray, Mr Ruiz said, concluded that the eye was 'dead' and needed to be removed. Ruiz said he was baffled by the diagnosis, and why it hadn't happened after her first visit. 'If he sees her Friday [for the first time] and Monday we're removing her eye, Salette would not be dead and we wouldn't be here,' Mr Ruiz told the Herald. 'But he started to invent things, doing chemotherapy, radiation, and that opens a path for the cancerous cells to spread. If it's the most aggressive you've ever seen, then remove the eye.' After the operation, in May 2015, Dr Murray came into the waiting room to Salette's parents, informing them that the cancer had spread into the optic nerve. It meant the disease would be incredibly difficult to contain, treat and even cure. Salette, like Damian, was referred to Dr Khatib. She spent the rest of her life, largely, in hospital - suffering urinary tract infections, pneumonia and severe vomiting throughout all the treatment. In the first week of November 2016, scans revealed the cancer had spread to her right optic nerve and spine. Her condition rapidly deteriorated, and she was put on life support. Days later, she was declared brain dead. The lawsuit Both families are demanding unspecified damages for the deaths of their children, which they claim could have been prevented. Supporting their case, they have an independent review conducted by an anonymous peer doctor at Nicklaus. According to the Herald, the review found Dr Murray made clinical errors in both cases. They found Salette's eye could have been removed straight away, or that, at least, the move could have been considered. They found Damian's case was 'risky' because the scans Dr Murray took did not clearly capture everything, meaning he ventured into guess work. 'Allowing a child to progress from treated intraocular retinoblastoma to ocular tumor recurrence and then subsequently optic nerve extension and even central nervous system extension (while under observation) is not considered to be within the standard of care at a modern medical center,' the report states, according to the Herald. Daily Mail Online has contacted Nicklaus for a comment. Thomas Cook seen an 80% boost in bookings for Turkey Thomas Cook warned that hotel costs in Spain were eating into profits. The travel operator has been turning its focus away from the country even though it remains its most popular destination, with 1.3m customers travelling there in the six months to March 31. It has seen an 80 per cent boost in bookings for Turkey, however, with demand also strong for holidays in Greece and Egypt. The company said that its airlines were also doing well, helped by the demise of some rival carriers last year, and it is looking to boost growth with 15 new hotels next summer under the Cooks Club banner, which will be a cheaper version of its upmarket Casa Cook business. Peter Fankhauser, chief executive, said: The work weve done in the past two years to improve customers experience of our flights and our holidays is bearing fruit. Thomas Cooks revenues over the period rose 7.8 per cent to 3.2billion. Shares yesterday fell 4.8 per cent, or 7p, to 139.1p. Political spouse: Publican Charlie McVeigh Cheery publican Charlie McVeigh is planning for life as a devoted political spouse after flogging his Draft House chain of watering holes to Brewdog for 15million. Sophia, the wife of the whiskery Old Etonian, has been elected as a Tory councillor for Kensington. McBoozer, 50, announces: 'I'm modelling myself on Denis Thatcher.' The distinguished Wincott Foundation awards, which recognise 'outstanding achievement in the field of economic, business and financial journalism for television', didn't present its usual award for best television journalist during this week's ceremony at Mansion House. Why so? Because none were this year deemed worthy of a gong. A flying kick in the crutch to our puffed-up broadcasters, no doubt about it. IAG chief executive Willie Walsh, 56, is quoted on fancydrawers Chelsea trattoria Ziani's website championing their Coda di Rospo alla Graticola charcoal-grilled monkfish to you and I as 'the best I've ever tasted'. Well, well. Wee Willie's certainly come a long way since he was flying rickety Aer Lingus 737s out of Donegal airport, hasn't he? Charismatic Vodafone chief Vittorio Colao's newly announced replacement, 3.4million-a-year chief financial officer Nick Read, might look like your average bean-counter, but he does at least have a compelling back story. The son of a humble market stall trader, Read, 53, grew up under the Heathrow flight path in listless Feltham. He attended the local comprehensive, long since demolished, where he was one of only two pupils in his year to sit A-levels. News that those rug-chested property twins the Tchenguiz brothers Robert and Vincent are on non-speakers due to a row over their family trust is nothing new. Germans Adi and Rudi Dassler, respective founders of sportwear giants Adidas and Puma, fell out during a 1943 bombing over Bavaria. Clambering into the air raid shelter, Adi remarked: 'There come those pig dogs again.' He meant our RAF boys, but Rudi thought he was referring to him. Result: the two brothers never spoke again. TV's Edmund Blackadder once observed: 'The Germans are such a cruel race.' Around 700m fewer letters will be sent this year following a shake-up of European privacy rules, warns Royal Mail. The changes coming into effect next Friday would see the decline in letters accelerate, it says. It is because the new rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, make it harder for businesses to send unsolicited junk mail. Slowdown: Volumes of letter declined by 4 per cent overall in the year to March 31, to 11.27bn, Royal Mail said yesterday Letter volumes declined 4 per cent overall in the year to March 31, to 11.27bn, Royal Mail said yesterday. And because of the privacy rule changes, that is expected to worsen to 6 per cent or more this year, or about 676m fewer. However the number of parcels handled surged by 5 per cent to 1.23bn and is expected to grow. The Spam Stopper The General Data Protection Regulation is the most important change to privacy rules in 20 years. From next Friday, people have more control over how personal information is used. Companies must ask permission to collect and use information such as names, email addresses and internet browsing habits, and are contacting customers on their databases. Firms that break the rules face fines of up to 18million, or 4 per cent of their annual turnover. Sales overall rose 4 per cent to 10.2billion last year but profits slipped 36.7 per cent, to 212million as Royal Mail grappled with transformation costs and a pensions overhaul. Moya Greene, Royal Mails outgoing chief executive, clinched a deal on pensions and pay with unions earlier this year, before announcing her retirement. The 63-year-old said: It has been another successful year, despite the challenging environment. Group revenue is now over 10billion, a significant milestone, thanks to our geographical diversification and focus on growth. Canadian Greene steps down at the end of this month after steering the company through its 2013 privatisation, and has been hailed for her efforts since to modernise its operations although the changes have provoked several run-ins with unions. The latest row with the Communications Workers Union last year led to the announcement of strikes. However Royal Mail said this violated an earlier agreement requiring the union to go through mediators first, and successfully blocked the planned industrial action in the High Court. After the two sides returned to the table, Greene personally negotiated a deal to replace the defined benefit pensions scheme in exchange for a pay rise for staff and shorter hours. She will be succeeded by Rico Back, the boss of Royal Mails parcels arm, GLS, but will stay on at the company until September. He is set to receive a 640,000 salary 100,000 more than Greenes and it also emerged he was given 6million by the group to buy out a previous contract he was on. Shares in Royal Mail yesterday sank 7.2 per cent, or 42.8p, to 555p. Ikea has pulled the plug on plans to build a flagship store near Preston in Lancashire amid concerns about the British high street and soaring costs for retailers. The Swedish flat pack furniture giant had planned to open a store on a 36million site in Cuerden in 2020, creating 350 jobs - and had even started groundwork on the site. However, the company has said the commitment is no longer viable. No go: Ikea has pulled the plug on plans to build a flagship store near Chorley amid concerns about the British high street and soaring costs for retailers Lancashire County Council has entered into talks to convince the retailer to move ahead with its plan, saying IKEA's decision was disappointing. IKEA had secured planning permission from the council to build the store, which would have been its second largest in the UK and its first in Lancashire. Geoff Driver, leader of Lancashire County Council, said: This is extremely disappointing and we will hold discussions over the next few weeks with Ikea, the main anchor occupier for the retail element of strategic development site at Cuerden. We appreciate that there is a current state of uncertainty in the UK retail market generally and we know there have been rising costs. However, this still remains a great investment opportunity. IKEA had been due to be one of five large retail units alongside six restaurants, hundreds of houses and almost 2,000 parking spaces at the 650 square kilometre site near Bamber Bridge. Richard Rands, IKEA UK and Ireland property manager, said: After careful consideration, IKEA UK and Ireland has decided not to progress with the planned development of an IKEA store at Cuerden Strategic Site, Preston. 'Our decision is due to increased development costs and delays outside of IKEAs control which no longer make this location viable. 'We will continue to look for new sites and opportunities in this region as part of our commitment to expansion in the UK. Grand designs: The Swedish flat pack furniture giant had planned to open a store on a 36m site in Cuerden, near Preston, in 2020, creating 350 jobs 'Within the last year alone, we have opened two new stores in Sheffield and Exeter and we continue to have ambitious expansion plans in the UK which we expect to create hundreds of new jobs in the coming years. 'Next year will see us open our 22nd UK store in Greenwich and subject to planning permission being granted, a start on site at Lancing, near Brighton. 'At IKEA, we want to be more accessible, bringing our unique home furniture expertise and product range closer to more people, meaning we will continue to explore new opportunities throughout the UK and Ireland.' The leader of South Ribble Borough Council, councillor Mary Green, said: While I would strongly urge IKEA to continue with their plans for the site, there remains a really strong demand for commercial space in South Ribble, given the excellent links to the motorway networks. We will be working incredibly hard with Lancashire County Council and our partners in order to continue to bring the Cuerden site forward. Last year IKEA announced plans to create 1,300 new British jobs by the end of next year as it opens three new outlets in Sheffield, Exeter and London. Well furnished: Ikea had secured planning permission from the council to build the store, which would have been its second largest in the UK and its first in Lancashire The new stores will take popular Swedish flat-pack furniture giant to a total of 22 warehouse outlets across the UK, along with four smaller format stores. And the new roles will see the total number of staff employed in the UK jump to 11,700. A total of 350 jobs will be created in Exeter and 500 in Greenwich, where new stores are scheduled to open next year. IKEA's decision comes after a string of retailers announced plans to shut stores, putting thousands of jobs in doubt. This week, Mothercare said it was closing 50 stores as part of a Company Voluntary Agreement, affecting 800 jobs. Other retailers opting for CVAs, a restructuring plan which involves closing stores and slashing rents, include New Look, House of Fraser and Carpetright. A British web designer has admitted to having a long-term affair with the estranged wife of a billionaire oligarch at the centre of Britain's biggest divorce. Mark Isle enjoyed a romance with Tatiana Akhemedov, 45, during her marriage to Russian oil tycoon Farkhad, who is fighting their record 453m divorce settlement. Mr Isle was 19 when he began his affair with the wealthy blonde mother-of-two who he met at the school gates four years into her marriage to billionaire Farkhad, 62. Speaking to MailOnline, he said: 'I know my name has been said in court as part of the divorce hearing but I'd rather not become involved. Tatiana Akhemedov (left) had an affair with Mark Isle (right) that ended her marriage to Russian oil tycoon Farkhad Akhmedov, which resulted in their record 453m divorce settlement Billionaire Mr Akhmedov (pictured) is fighting the High Court's decision to award his ex-wife the money in their divorce settlement - and claims that they were divorced in Moscow in 2000 'I am really piggy in the middle of two people arguing over silly amounts of money. 'All I will say for now is that I was single at the time and I have moved on with my life. 'I am engaged now to a wonderful woman and this will have an impact on my life,' he added. Mr Isle, 37, from Weybridge, Surrey, added that he had not benefitted financially in any way from the affair, which began in 2000 when he was 19 and Tatiana was 28. Mr Akhmedov, a devout Muslim, claims that he was devastated when he learned of his wife's affair in 2000 and divorced her shortly afterwards in Moscow. But his Tatiana denied that the marriage ended when the affair with Mr Isle was uncovered. She claims that their marriage continued for the sake of their two children for a further 14 years before she finally filed for divorce in 2014. Tatiana claimed during that period her estranged husband had a number of affairs with other women. She told the court that although Akhmedov only spend 90 days a year in the UK for tax purposes, when they were together the couple slept in the same bed and had sex. She said that they went on holiday regularly together with their sons and shared a joint bank account. She added that her husband continued to support her financially in exactly the same way as before, and to the same degree. They exchanged presents and in 2013 he bought her jewellery worth 400,000. Tatiana, 45, a mother-of-two, was four years into her marriage when she began a relationship with Mr Isle that lasted several years - but was over by the time she filed for divorce Tatiana began her fling with Mr Isle, 37, a software engineer, when she met him at the school gates. Her two young children went to the same school as his younger brother. Mr Isle said: 'I am really piggy in the middle of two people arguing over silly amounts of money.' Mrs Akhmedov filed for divorce in 2014 was granted a Decree Nisi by a British court in December 2015. The divorce was finalised in 2016 and she was awarded 453million in the UK's biggest ever divorce. Since the hearing Akhmedov and his ex-wife have been locked in a bitter legal dispute with the billionaire refusing to hand over the court awarded money. Akhmedov, who was born in Caucasus, has refused to accept the British court ruling ordering him to hand over half of his fortune. He has claimed the court has no jurisdiction over two Russians despite his wife taking British citizenship and living in Surrey since 1993. As their marriage floundered and her husband spent long periods of time out of the country on business, Tatiana struck up a friendship with Mr Isle on the school run. Tatiana's young sons with Akhmedov attended the same school as Mr Isle's younger brother. The couple met in Moscow in 1993 and married in 1993 when Tatiana was pregnant with their eldest son. But seven years later Akhmedov insisted the marriage had irretrievably broken down when he discovered the affair of his Russian-born wife. Akhmedov is fighting the 453m divorce. He claims he has made his wife a generous settlement by allowing her to keep the contents of their Surrey home worth 2.5m (pictured) Akhmedov's legal team is said to be 'furious' that the divorce hearing was held in an English court when both parties are Russian citizens who married in 1993, moved to the UK and whose marriage ended in 2000. Pictured: A property in South of France owned by the billionaire His vast wealth includes this 300m super yacht called Luna he bought from his friend Roman Abramovich and which had been seized in Dubai as his legal fight with his wife continued Akhmedov's estimated 1bn wealth includes a 90million art collection, an Aston Martin worth 90,000 and this private jet The businessman claimed that he and his wife were divorced in Moscow in 2000 while they were Russian citizens - and his legal team produced legal documents to prove it. However, a search by Tatiana's lawyers of the official records in the Moscow court revealed that no such divorce proceedings existed. This statement was not challenged by Akhmedov's lawyers and the court judgement concluded that that the 2000 Moscow divorce documents relied upon were forged. Akhmadov claims he has made her a generous settlement by allowing her to keep the contents of their Surrey home valued at 2.5m, a 90,000 Aston Martin and his 90m art collection. In their divorce she argued she was due almost half of her former husband's 1billion fortune because of her 'equal contributions to the welfare of the family' during their marriage. In a statement earlier this year he said: 'The British courts should never have sought to interfere in a former marriage which took place in Russia, between two Russian citizens and which had long been dissolved in that country with generous provision for my ex-wife.' Judges previously described Mr Akhmedov as having demonstrated a 'naked determination' to keep his immense fortune out of the clutches of his former wife. Mr Isle, pictured with his fiancee Kristina Fraser, told MailOnline that he doesn't want to get involved with the warring couple and wants to move on with his life and get married He was hit with a worldwide asset freezing order two years ago by the judge who slammed his 'cavalier attitude' to the English courts. During their marriage, the couple enjoyed a glitteringly lavish lifestyle, with a 39m mansion in Surrey, as well as a 27.8m holiday home. Akhmedov has a rags-to-riches story which saw him arrive in Moscow from his native Azerbaijan aged 15 'with 48 roubles in his pocket'. The billionaire - who started out selling sable furs - made his fortune when he sold shares in Russian company, ZAO Northgas, in 2012 for almost 1billion. A spokesman for Akhmedov and his ex wife were unavailable for comment. Advertisement The thick white mist sweeps across the slopes of Puna and the air bites at the back of the throat. Filled with a potent noxious cocktail of sulfur dioxide and other harmful gases, the toxic vog, short for volcanic smog, is highly dangerous to breathe in. The phenomena caused when volcanic gases react with oxygen - is just one of the many perils facing residents here at the foot of the erupting Kilauea volcano. And when DailyMail.com neared the 'death zone' our team was warned to wear our $50 professional grade respirator masks at all times. A weather service broadcast on Thursday predicted vog would sweep across the Puna, Kau and Hilo districts of the Big Island. But despite widespread evacuations, thousands of Hawaiians living in the shadow of this disaster are still here, dealing with the aftermath. Many cross police and National Guard checkpoints several times a day to access their homes many destroyed or left uninhabitable - to collect all their belongings. Each time they do so they take their lives in their hands. Aftermath: Greg Johnson, 67 (right) and his son Braha, 39, (left) own a farm just two miles away from the 'death zone' that is in the path of the molten rock tearing across the countryside Braha Johnson, 39, has been carrying a pump action shotgun to defend his farm from opportunistic looters - and says three suspicious men have been seen sitting in a car watching farms in the area When DailyMail.com neared the 'death zone' our team was warned to wear our $50 professional grade respirator masks at all times since the air has been poisoned with sulfur dioxide and other harmful gases The organic produce at the 20 acre Johnson Family Farm has been destroyed due to the toxic air quality near the Kilauea Volcano, the family fears the farm might never recover if the volcanic fallout doesn't stop soon Devastation: Lettuce, kale, beets, arugula, parsley and basil crops have been wiped out, with their leaves curled up and burned black Once lush, healthy crops have turned brown and shriveled due to the toxic air The family, who has owned the farm for nearly 40 years, has set up a GoFundMe page to help salvage their livelihood As well as the vog, there's the thick volcanic smoke, methane gas explosions, not to mention the tons of bubbling 1,000 degree lava spewing from dozens of fissures that have opened up in suburban areas. The US Geological Survey (USGS) says Kilauea has 20 open fissures now, with some of them continuously erupting and that lava bombs the size of microwaves were found a few hundred yards from the Halemaumau crater. Kilauea finally erupted from its summit just before dawn on Thursday after erupting for 11 days - spewing ash 30,000 ft into the air. But while the exploding bright orange lava and distant booms and cracks of the molten rock river continue to make the headlines, for many the hazardous vog is the hidden killer. And it's this toxic cloud that is ripping the heart out of the community. DailyMail.com visited a farm two miles from the so called 'death zone'. The 20-acre Johnson Family Farm is in the path of the molten rock tearing across the countryside, but tragically there's little left to save. All of the farm buildings are intact and lava is nowhere to be seen. But sitting downwind from the volcanic eruptions, this once booming farm has been destroyed by the toxic gas. Devastated owner Greg Johnson, 67, gave DailyMail.com a tour of his land where he farms a vast range of exotic fruits and vegetables - and he says most of it is already gone. An avocado orchard with $100,000 worth of produce in its trees has been devastated, its leaves turning yellow and fruit dropping to the ground. Lettuce, kale, beets, arugula, parsley and basil crops have been wiped out, leaves curled up and burned black. Kilauea finally erupted from its summit just before dawn on Thursday sending ash spewing 30,000 feet into the sky Lava erupting from the volcano is seen illuminating the sky and raining down on Thursday A shelter in place warning has been issued after Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted from its summit on Thursday A group of golfers were seen playing a round nearby Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, which has been erupting for 11 days, as an ash cloud forms behind them Once lush, healthy banana trees have turned brown, citrus trees are losing their leaves and even tomatoes, sheltered inside greenhouses, have shriveled and discolored all of them choked by the toxic air. And where the vog doesn't do the damage the acid rain does - with several other agricultural businesses in the area suffering a similar fate. 'It's devastating,' said Greg, who bought the farm in 1979 after moving from Orange County, California in his 20s. 'The smog and the acid rain is killing everything and there's nothing we can do. 'I planted all of the trees and plants you see here myself and with the help of my wife Cathy and five sons. 'My children were all raised here and we've worked hard to slowly build the farm up over almost 40 years.' Holding back tears Greg says that if the volcanic fallout doesn't stop soon the farm might never recover. And he fears the eruption could go on for months and get worse - the air is so bad some pets are reportedly suffering bloody noses. 'Most of the crops are destroyed, at the very least I will be put back a year. But if the larger trees die I'll be ruined, there's no coming back,' he explained. Greg estimates he is losing around $30,000 in revenue a month while the farm is closed and 12 employees who relied on his company for work are out in the cold. The US Geological Survey (USGS) says Kilauea has 20 open fissures now, with some of them continuously erupting and that lava bombs the size of microwaves were found a few hundred yards from the Halemaumau crater Geologists inspect cracks in the road on Thursday that continue to widen due to the underlying magma The Kilauea volcano sent more lava into Hawaii communities on May 3, a day after forcing more than 1,500 people to flee from their mountainside homes Huge mounds of black hardened lava rock block the road and spill over property lines the homes that once stood there - a mangled, burned mess beneath Kialuea Volcano erupted on May 3, following reports of small earthquakes earlier that week. Above, lava is seen spewing up in the air in front of local David Hess's home What's more, Johnson Family Farm is the heartbeat of the community in Puna, supplying hundreds of families and businesses with fresh organic produce every week. 'It feels likes death before death,' said Greg, who had hoped to retire and pass his business on to his sons. 'I have fond memories with my family at this farm and every year we have hundreds of people here for a community pizza cook out. 'There's a great community spirit and the farm has been the life-blood.' The farmer's son, Braha, 39, says his father is devastated and the family has set up a GoFundMe page to help rebuild. The page has raised more than $25,000 of its $75,000 target in just two days. 'It's tearing dad apart, everything he has worked for has been destroyed,' explains Braha. 'It was a booming farm serving the community and in an instant it's gone, it's heartbreaking for us all.' The family is frantically trying to remove everything of value from the property through fear opportunistic looters will carry out a raid. Braha, who carries a pump action shotgun over his shoulder as he surveys the land, says three suspicious men have been seen sitting in a car watching farms in the area. David Hess, a resident of worst-hit Leilani Estates, says his four-bedroom house (left) on Luana Street is almost completely surrounded by a mountain of lava rock (right) Religious statues have been placed on the old lava flow from the Kilauea Volcano And the police have warned residents that if the air is too toxic they will have to pull officers out, leaving many to defend their properties alone. Up on Hookupu Street in Leilani Estates, the devastation of the wider volcanic eruption is plain to see. Huge mounds of black hardened lava rock block the road and spill over property lines the homes that once stood there - a mangled, burned mess beneath. Large cracks have opened in the street and across green lawns with toxic volcanic smoke billowing out of the holes. DailyMail.com's team had to maneuver around downed power cables criss-crossing the road in what looks like a war zone. And in some areas bright yellow sulphur oozes from cracks giving the air of an alien planet. Braha, who has made dozens of trips up to the Leilani Estates area to help evacuate his friends and members of the community, carries two wooden planks in the back of his truck. Braha, an arborist by trade, explained: 'A friend of mine drove over a narrow crack in the road to get to his house, but when he came back 30 minutes later the crack had widened and he got stuck, you've got to be prepared for the worst out here.' On Tuesday, the USGS raised the volcano aviation alert level at Hawaii's Kilauea to red - the highest level - which indicates a 'major volcanic eruption is imminent, underway, or suspected with hazardous activity both on the ground and in the air.' The rating is still in place. For now David, three adult family members and three children can't return to the property until the area is deemed safe The Hawaii Volcano Observatory assigned an aviation code red, which indicates there is a significant ash emission which is posing a hazard to aircraft. Thousands are bracing themselves for worse to come. And local resident Ikaika Marzo, 34, who owns a lava tour company, knows more than most about the dangers the lava poses. He claims it was him who found the first fissure, sparking the whole drama almost two weeks ago. He told DailyMail.com he and some friends had been investigating an area where they feared an eruption was imminent. 'There were earthquakes and cracks and we were checking things out when I saw the first fissure,' he said. 'It just popped and steam and sulphur came up and then it started to spatter. 'Then all hell broke loose. It was like a warzone, like being in Baghdad, loud bangs like bombs going off, you could hear it 20 miles away. 'It was pretty scary, a lot of people haven't been able to sleep all week, they are so traumatized by what has happened.' Seeking adventure Ikaika has repeatedly ignored police warnings to stay away from the violent eruptions, but managed to capture incredible footage of lava exploding into the air. He says the footage, which he has shared with DailyMail.com, was taken 50 yards away from the open volcanic vents and shows 60ft high bursts of bright orange lava illuminating the night sky. For others, who are not so fool-hardy, a community evacuee camp in the center of town has been set up, offering safety and hot food. The camp is called Pu'uhonua o Puna (place of refuge in Puna) and dubbed The Hub by locals. Flight attendant Lilinoe Kahalepauole and hotel worker Mehana Kihoi have been volunteering at The Hub all week and dish out essential supplies to those in need. 'Not everyone has lost their houses but a lot of people need some help,' said Lilinoe, 32. 'We've received so many donations, people are coming saying I have extra toothpaste, toilet paper, and other families affected can use it. Flight attendant Lilinoe Kahalepauole and hotel worker Mehana Kihoi have been volunteering at The Hub - a community evacuee camp in Puna - all week and dish out essential supplies to those in need Trucks full of donations have been arriving daily with people bringing beds, cots, toilet paper, tooth paste and other goods 'People can get emotional, they have moments when they are crying, but when they come here to share their stories it's a way for them to release their negative energy and we're also trying to comfort them. The community really is coming together.' Many evacuees are sleeping on cots in a community center in Puna while others are staying with friends. And trucks full of donations arrive every day with people bringing beds and cots, clothing, food, water. Daysha Mendes, head chef and a 'Captain' at The Hub, is serving three square meals a day to hundreds of evacuees. She said the people in Puna are equipped to cope with the disaster. A sign pinned nearby saying 'Puna strong' echos her sentiment.II Local resident Ikaika Marzo claims it was him who found the first fissure, sparking the whole drama almost two weeks ago 'This is 100% grassroots community driven, we have volunteers and businesses on and off the island donating food and it's not our first sing and dance, we've had other lava flow threats, we'll get through it,' she explained. Daysha was serving up rice and stew to a steady line of hungry evacuees. One of those was David Hess Jr, a resident of worst hit Leilani Estates - a small rural community just outside Pahoa. David says his four-bedroom house on Luana Street is almost completely surrounded by a mountain of lava rock. Amazingly his home wasn't touched despite the earth opening up and spewing fountains of hot lava within feet of his property. 'There's lava on all sides except at the back but that's a forest, my home is like an oasis. The lava came 30ft from the house so we're lucky, all my neighbors houses were destroyed, four homes around us. 'The hot lava flowed right up the drive and a fissure opened up creating a mountain of lava. 'It's pretty much inaccessible. It's hard to take.' For now David, three adult family members and three children can't return to the property until the area is deemed safe. For David, who is battling malignant melanoma cancer as well as this latest drama in his life, it's important to stay strong. 'We knew we were living on a volcano, so we knew this might happen one day,' he said. 'We know what to do.' A woman has been left with serious head and leg injuries after a suspected hit-and-run. The 20-year-old was crossing a road in Villawood, west of Sydney, when she was hit by what has been described by police as 'light-coloured ute'. The green walk signal was lit when she crossed Woodville Street at the intersection of Tangerine Street at 9.35pm on Thursday, police said. The 20-year-old was crossing a road in Villawood, west of Sydney, when she was hit by what has been described by police as 'light-coloured ute' The truck allegedly fled the scene without stopping, heading northbound. The truck overtook two vehicles before it failed to stop at the red light, according to 9NEWS. The woman has been taken to Liverpool Hospital where she remains in a critical condition with 'serious head and leg injuries', according to police. She also has a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain, 9News reported. Anyone with information about the vehicle or who witnessed the incident are urged to contact Crime Stoppers. The woman has been taken to Liverpool Hospital where she remains in a critical condition with 'serious head and leg injuries', according to police The truck allegedly fled the scene without stopping, heading northbound. Los Angeles Education journalists from across the nation gathered here this week with a focus on diversity in their profession, recent activism by teachers, and the scourge of school violence, among other topics. The Education Writers Associations top award for education reporting went to John Woodrow Cox of The Washington Post for a compelling three-part series on children and gun violence , which was published last June. Riveting, heartbreaking, infuriating, and tender, one contest judge said of Coxs entry, which examined the effects of gun violence on student survivors in Townville, S.C.; Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C. The Posts series won an award for best single-topic news or feature story by a large staff general news outlet, as well as the Fred M. Hechinger grand prize for distinguished education reporting, which is named for a late education correspondent of The New York Times. Participants at the EWA national seminar at the University of Southern California also heard from a panel of four students affected by school violence: Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a gunman killed 14 students and three staff members and injured 14 others; Alex King, a student activist fighting gun violence affecting Chicago teenagers; and Jackson Mittleman, now a high school student in Newtown, Conn., who was in middle school when a gunman attacked Sandy Hook Elementary School in that community in 2012. The student panel was sponsored by Education Week and moderated by staff writer Evie Blad, who reminded Mittleman that at the March for Our Lives in Washington on March 24, he had vowed to be with the student victims and activists of Stoneman Douglas High after the media trucks leave. What is it like after the media trucks leave, Blad asked. It hurts people so much to talk about it that they dont want to talk about it, Mittleman said. We dont want to be defined by this tragedy. ... I dont want to have a tattoo of tragedy and sadness. Hogg, Gonzalez, and King have remained outspoken in the battle for gun control measures, with Hogg noting that in a search for accurate data, he even called up Cox at The Washington Post to learn more about the database on gun violence the reporter had developed. Hogg also scoffed at criticism the student activists have received from pro-gun rights advocates that they spend too much time on their phones. That may be true, but were communicating, Hogg said. [Edweeks Madeline Will has a more detailed account of the panel.] Teacher activism was discussed in several sessions, with Lily Eskelsen Garcia, the president of the National Education Association observing that recent walkouts in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Arizona amounted to the Education Spring and made education reporters the cool kids among journalists. EWAs awards continued to reflect the impact of nontraditional news outlets such as web-based publications and nonprofit organizations. Matt Barnum, Dylan Peers McCoy, and Laura Kebede of Chalkbeat won an award for The Portfolio Model , their series about the rising influence and power of a network of organizations pushing school districts to outsource school managementespecially of low-performing schoolsto charter groups. Erin Einhorn of Chalkbeat Detroit won the small-staff award for beat reporting for her coverage of the Detroit school system . David Kidwell of the Better Government Association, a venerable public interest organization in Chicago, won the small-staff investigative reporting prize for an examination of increased graduation rates at the City College of Chicago. Kidwell said he was struck as he delved into education reporting by how much teachers and journalists have in common. We love what we do, and we pretty much do it for nothing, he said. Graduation rates were also a focus of The Failure Track , a joint effort between ProPublica, a nonprofit public interest journalism organization, and the Teacher Project. This project was a thorough examination of how some schools were funneling marginal students into alternative charter schools to boost their graduation numbers, a judge said. The reporting combined deep data with student stories, and the voices of parents, teachers, advocates and administrators. In the opinion category, Alexander Russo won for his essays about media coverage of education in The Grade, a site affiliated with Phi Delta Kappan magazine. The full list of category finalists is here , the category winners are here , and the announcement of EWAs top awards is here . For the second year in a row, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos declined EWAs invitation to address education reporters at the conference. DeVos cited scheduling conflicts, an EWA official said. Other U.S. education secretaries have addressed the conference, though not every year. (DeVos was visiting private schools in New York City this week, among other events on her schedule.) Greg Toppo, the president of EWAs board and an editor at the web publication Insider Higher Ed, said an EWA conference in Los Angeles would not be complete without a nod to the citys iconic film industry. While DeVos was a no-show, we did get Luke Skywalker, Toppo said. The actor Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame and his wife, Marilou York, attended a conference luncheon on May 17, where the couple discussed their support for the Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative , a USC-based college prep program for inner city students and their parents. This is designed to lower the barriers to educational access, York said of the program. Its really amazing to see the participants be able to grab the opportunity and make their own future, Hamill said. Hamill lent some star power to the luncheon by announcing the top EWA awards, after the main category winners had been announced the night before. The last awards I presented was at the Oscars, and this is a lot less pressure, the actor said. When the panel of high school student activists ended on Thursday morning, several education reporters approached the students to ask further questions. When the awards luncheon was over, many of the hard-bitten, streetwise journalists here crowded around Hamill to snap selfies and shake his hand. A two-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped by her meth using parents a month ago has been spotted at a hospital in Iowa and could now be in Minnesota, authorities say. Police say Dakota Ray was taken from South Carolina by her parents Jessica and William Ray on April 15, after they lost custody of her through a judges order, Fox News reported. Social services placed the child with her uncle Johnny, and he later returned the child to her biological parents. William and Jessica are heavy drug users, police say, and authorities are worried for Dakota's safety. The family are believed to be travelling in a 1996 Ford Aerostar van and frequently changing license plates to avoid detection. Jessica (left) and William (right) Ray allegedly kidnapped their two-year-old daughter a month ago and are still on the run. The family were spotted in Iowa on Monday Dakota Ray (pictured) is reportedly the third child to be taken from the parents Pictured: Surveillance footage of William and Jessica Ray with Dakota in Iowa The family were seen at a hospital and were later spotted in Minnesota Police say they may be sleeping in the van and asking passers-by for money. After the group were seen on surveillance footage in Iowa, they were spotted at a gas station in Marshall, Minnesota. Earlier reports from WACH claim the couple have had two other children taken out of their custody and are well known to police in Camden. A post on William and Jessica's shared Facebook suggests the couple had been having trouble with their young daughter for some time before the family went on the run. On Christmas Eve last year the couple shared a post in response to criticisms they had received from people concerned they were living in a motel. Pictured: William Ray in North Carolina just days after he and wife Jessica allegedly kidnapped their daughter The Ray family are believed to be living out of their van (pictured) and changing the license plates frequently to avoid detection Police say they may be changing the license plates frequently to avoid detection 'Well people think that if you're in a motel that you're not a good parent and you can't possibly be anything more than bad parents,' they wrote. 'If you know us then you already know that we could give two f***s about what people think. 'I wanted to tell people, and you motherf***ers know who you are, that all the time you hating motherf***ers spend micro managing everybody's life should be spent [making] yours better to the point of not having time to live other folks lives and decide what the right way for them to act and how they should spend their life [is]. 'I mean come on people stop with all the judging and mean comments cause as much as you are worried I bet it's more then we give a f***.' Advertisement Donald Trump's family real estate business has added a second Palm Beach mansion to its holdings, spending $18.5 million on a beachfront house owned by the president's older sister. The manse is across the street from Mar-a-Lago and even closer to the ocean. A source close to the Trump Organization confirmed the purchase and said the home was listed for $23.9 million: Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. got it from their aunt, Maryanne Trump Barry, at a $5.4 million discount. The manor features eight bedrooms, 9.5 baths and nearly 200 feet of beachfront. This beachfront mansion on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, Florida is the newest jewel in the Trump Organization's real estate crown The president's family business bought the house for $18.5 million from Maryanne Trump Barry, his elder sister The house (upper right, marked by a red map pin), abuts one corner of the Mar-a-Lago estate (left), which Donald Trump uses as the 'Winter White House' If swimming in the ocean is too pedestrian for whoever stays at the house, it boasts a private pool under the shave of palm trees Only a few dozen houses in Palm Beach are actually on the water. The property at 1125 South Ocean Boulevard also hugs the perimeter of the Trump family's private club, making it a quasi-extension of the sprawling resort. That means the Trump empire's new digs are close enough to where the president lays his head on many winter weekends to smell the Secret Service agents' aftershave. It's not clear what the property will be used for, however. a Trump Organization source said it could become an exclusive Mar-a-Lago amenity, rented out to a prominent club member. Eric Trump told DailyMail.com that the deal, months in the making, was finalized on Thursday. The president ceded control of the company he built when he took office last year, handing the reins to Eric and Don Jr. 'It is a great honor to have purchased one of the finest mansions in Palm Beach,' he told DailyMail.com in a statement that could have been chiseled from one of his father's tweets. Maryanne Trump barry (right), 81, owned the Palm Beach house for 14 years and gave the Trump Organization a $5.4 million discount on the property's asking price There's only a one-car garage at the house, but plenty of space out front for parking sports cars or the president's Secret Service-manned limousine Mar-a-Lago is right next door, the 'Winter White House' where Donald Trump spends many of Washington's cold-weather weekends The mansion's main foyer opens out onto a private beach 'Mar-a-Lago is among the most iconic properties anywhere in the world,' he added, 'and it is very special to be able to add this incredible beachfront estate to the property.' Also included in the deal is a swimming pool and a sweeping waterfront balcony. Public records show that Maryanne Trump Barry, 81, had owned the home since 2004. Her second husband, John Barry, died in 2000. She's a senior judge on the federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, nominated to judicial posts by presidents Reagan and Clinton. Judge Barry still owns an apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York City, a stone's throw from Central Park. She paid $11.5 million for the Palm Beach house 14 years ago, moving there from another house just a 3-minute walk away on the other side of Mar-a-Lago. Eric Trump (right) and Donald trump Jr. (left) took over operations of the president's company when he took office; Ivanka Trump (center) went to Washington to work in the White House The main living area is a cross between Trump rococo and beach house chic It's unclear whether anyone will live in the home, if it will become a Mar-a-Lago amenity, or if it's destined to be rented to a club member The master bedroom is all hardwood and sea views Sotheby's and Trump International Realty aided in the Palm Beach purchase. The 8,270-square-foot home was on the market for five months. Owning and maintaining the newest chez Trump won't cheap. Property taxes alone were more than $170,000 last year. That's 85 per cent of the purchase price of the average house in the United States. Previous owners of the house, in addition to Judge Barry, included the late Alyne Queener Armistead Massey. She was a socialite trustee of Vanderbilt University who endowed the school's law library. Eric says the house, too, has 'a truly gorgeous library.' Anti-abortion protesters could soon be banned from demonstrating outside clinics after a partner of a woman terminating a pregnancy was violently attacked by a pro-life man. A private member's 'safe access' bill co-sponsored by Labor's Penny Sharpe and Nationals MP Trevor Khan was introduced into the New South Wales upper house on Thursday. If passed, the legislation would create a 150-metre exclusion zone around abortion clinics and make it an offence to film staff and patients without their consent. 'How many women seeking reproductive healthcare will have graphic images of dismembered foetuses shoved in their faces?' Ms Sharpe asked parliament on Thursday. Anti-abortion protesters could soon be banned from demonstrating outside clinics after a partner of a woman terminating a pregnancy was violently attacked by a pro-life man 'How many will have leaflets full of lies about the dangers, risks and consequences of abortions shoved in their hands?' Under the proposed laws, anti-abortion protesters caught intimidating staff or patients could be fined $5,500 or jailed for six months for a first offence. Repeat offenders could be fined $11,000 or jailed for 12 months. The Australian Christian Lobby says the proposal will prevent 'communication of support' to women considering an abortion. Labor's Penny Sharpe (pictured last year) asked parliament on Thursday: 'How many women seeking reproductive healthcare will have graphic images of dismembered foetuses shoved in their faces?' 'If communication is banned within zones around abortion clinics many women will never receive genuine support,' ACL NSW director Kieren Jackson. Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT and the Northern Territory already have safe access zones around abortion providers. But the laws in Victoria and Tasmania are being challenged on the basis they interfere with the implied freedom of political communication. The bill comes after footage emerged showing an anti-abortion protester punching a man outside a Sydney clinic. A private member's 'safe access' bill is co-sponsored by Ms Sharpe and Nationals MP Trevor Khan (pictured) The bill comes after footage emerged showing an anti-abortion protester punching a man outside a Sydney clinic The 21-year-old man was approached by members of Helpers of God's Precious Infants, outside the Surry Hills centre, Nine News reported. According to its Facebook page, the group is committed to 'maintaining a loving and prayerful presence outside of the abortion mills, where God's children are put to death.' The coordinator of the group, Paul Hanrahan, was seen confronting the man during the incident on January 30, 2016. A few moments later the man was approached by the group before one of the members threw a punch at the young man. On Facebook, Mr Hanrahan said the group is always assaulted, abused and harassed for what they do The man who assaulted the partner of a woman inside the clinic was arrested but escaped conviction. Mr Hanrahan told Nine News that the man was taunting the group with bad language and abuse and that this is the first incident in 24 years. 'After 24 years of engaging in peaceful, prayerful vigils outside abortion clinics, you have one case,' he said. In a Facebook post, Mr Hanrahan said the group is regularly assaulted, abused and harassed for what they do. A teenager has pleaded guilty to stealing her step-grandfather's credit card before going on an almost $6,000 shopping spree. Angela Blair from Queensland's Sunshine Coast admitted to 151 fraud charges and one count of stealing on Thursday at the Maroochydore Magistrates Court. The 19-year-old took the card from the elderly man's car last year before spending $5,976 at clothing and cosmetic stores between August and October, according to the Sunshine Coast Daily. Angela Blair (pictured) racked up a $5976 bill on her step-grandfathers credit card The teen was charged with 151 counts of fraud faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court The woman even used the card to get her nose pierced. Her step-grandfather said he immediately suspected Blair after noticing the card was missing. Despite being reimbursed by the bank, the court ordered Bali to pay her relative the outstanding balance. The 19-year-old took the card from the elderly man's car last year before spending $5,976 at clothing and cosmetic stores between August and October In court, Blair's lawyer said his client was experiencing 'financial strain' at the time, and had 'major health issues'. Magistrate Ron Madsen said her crime was a 'great shame' but she had clearly been through a lot already. The youth was sentenced to 18 months' probation with no conviction recorded. As soon as her relative noticed his card was missing, he immediately suspected her In photos on social media, a sun-kissed Blair is seen in beachside snaps styling wavy blonde locks and a number of different swimwear looks. In one selfie, she is seen lying beside a pool with circular, reflective specs and and a tattoo of a young girl on her left arm. Boasting almost 2000 friends on Facebook, she appears in images with friends, holding beverages in the sun or smiling with the hair in her face. The Irish premier has warned Britain must keep some ties to the single market with Brexit in order to avoid a hard border with the Republic. Theresa May has drawn up new plans to keep the whole of the UK aligned with the EU customs union after Brexit if no deal can be done to keep a soft Irish border. The PM is expected to unveil the new details of the 'fallback option' to EU leaders in a fortnight's time. But Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who met with the PM for talks in Sofia yesterday, said the plan will 'require more than just customs' in order to avoid a hard border. He told Irish broadcaster RTE: 'Certainly any move on customs that brings the UK closer to the EU is to be welcomed but resolving the issue of avoiding a hard border requires more than customs.' His comments will spark fears that Ireland is plotting to use the thorny issue of the Irish border to force the UK to stay in the EU single market and customs union. Mrs May has scrambled to try to quell Brexiteer unease over her fallback option by insisting that Britain will be able to strike its own free trade deals after the transition deal ends at the end of 2020. Speaking at a press conference in Macedonia yesterday she said Britain would have an 'independent trade policy' after its departure. Leo Varadkar (right) met PM Theresa May (left) yesterday in Bulgaria and said he would welcome any customs move which brought the UK closer to the EU The leaders appeared at ease with each other as they shared a joke on arriving for the summit It came as Tory MPs last night warned Mrs May against shackling Britain to the customs union for an extended period after Brexit. Whitehall officials yesterday confirmed that ministers have agreed a 'backstop' plan that could see the UK temporarily stick to EU tariffs. Sources said it would only be invoked if new customs technology needed to prevent the creation of a 'hard border' in Ireland is not ready by the end of the Brexit transition in December 2020. Any extension would be 'time-limited', they added. The move was agreed by Mrs May's Brexit 'war cabinet' on Tuesday, despite reservations from Brexiteers including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. But the move raised fears the UK could become permanently shackled to the customs union, limiting the ability to strike new trade deals. A Whitehall source said ministers had discussed a possible extension lasting 'months rather than years'. But officials have warned it could take as long as five years to implement a new customs plan. Iain Duncan Smith said Eurosceptic MPs could accept a delay of 'a month or two' for practical reasons but making provision for it now was akin to 'planning for failure'. The former Tory leader said: 'Pre-announcing an extension would be barking mad you would send a signal to the EU that we don't know what we want.' Mrs May tucked in to breakfast with her fellow EU leaders as the summit got under way today The move is designed to placate Dublin and Brussels, which have warned they will block a trade deal unless Britain guarantees there will be no 'hard border' in Ireland. EU proposals to resolve the problem by keeping Northern Ireland in the single market have been condemned as 'unacceptable' by Mrs May as they would effectively put a border down the Irish Sea. Mr Varadkar discussed the proposal with Mrs May yesterday while they attended a summit in Bulgaria. He said he was 'not discouraged' by the plan and hinted it could lead to the UK remaining closely aligned with the customs union long term. It came as Tory MPs last night warned Mrs May (pictured in Bulgaria yesterday) against shackling Britain to the customs union for an extended period after Brexit But he warned that Britain may end up crashing out of the bloc without a deal unless ministers come up with details plans ahead of a crunch EU summit in June. He said: 'If the UK wants to put forward alternatives to that - whether it's an alternative text to the backstop or whether it's some some sort of alternative relationship between the UK and the EU - we are willing to examine that. 'But we need to see it written down in black and white, we need to know that it's workable and legally operable and we have yet to see anything that remotely approaches that.' The PM yesterday insisted she was not 'climbing down' and said the UK would be 'able to operate an independent trade policy' from the end of 2020. Tory Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said he would be opposed to any significant extension of ties to the customs union, adding: 'We must not give in to ultimatums.' Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, warned that Britain risked being left in 'purgatory' in which the horizon would be 'unreachable.' Emmanuel Macron talked up his close links with Theresa May and Angela Merkel as they met at a summit in Sofia today (pictured) But pro-Remain MPs welcomed signs of a compromise. Mrs May's former deputy Damian Green said he was willing to accept a 'small delay' to ensure a smooth exit. Whitehall sources last night dismissed the idea of the UK remaining shackled to the customs union long term. Ministers have also raised fears that Brussels is stalling talks while peers attempt to frustrate Brexit. EU negotiators are understood to be waiting to see how many of the 15 amendments pushed through by pro-Remain peers in the Lords are overturned by MPs. Downing Street said the flagship EU Withdrawal Bill would return to the Commons in 'weeks not months'. Jermaine Baker was shot when police foiled an attempt to free a convict being taken from Wormwood Scrubs prison to Wood Green Crown Court A police marksman could be sacked over the fatal shooting of a suspect during a failed prison van escape, the police watchdog announced yesterday. The officer, known as W80 for legal reasons, was told by the Crown Prosecution Service last year that he would not face criminal charges over the death of Jermaine Baker in Wood Green, north London, in December 2015. But the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said that the Metropolitan Police will hold a gross misconduct hearing having carried out an independent investigation into the 28-year-olds death. Announcing the decision, IOPC regional director Sarah Green said: I have determined that in the specific circumstances of this case, a hearing could make a finding of gross misconduct. The decision has angered W80s colleagues who said it threatened officers with losing their jobs for protecting the public. W80 could be sacked if the tribunal concludes he used excessive force when he shot Mr Baker dead. Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents Londons rank and file officers, told the Daily Telegraph: Firearms officers are some of the bravest and highly skilled officers who are expected to make split-second decisions that are then analysed over many years. Baker was unarmed though investigators later recovered an imitation firearm from behind the drivers seat of the car he was in It is no wonder that the Police Service is struggling to recruit firearms officers when they are threatened with losing their job after protecting the public. Mr Baker, from Tottenham, north London, was killed as armed police foiled an attempt to free convicted criminal Izzet Eren, while he was being taken from Wormwood Scrubs prison to Wood Green Crown Court on December 11. Mr Baker and two other men were waiting in a car. W80 said he had acted in self-defence and was therefore told he would not face a murder charge. It was revealed after the incident that Mr Baker was unarmed. However, investigators later recovered an imitation firearm from behind the drivers seat. One in three Carluccios restaurants face closure as it becomes the latest food chain to fall into financial distress. Around 500 jobs are at threat at the Italian restaurant group set up by the TV chef Antonio Carluccio in the 1990s. Carluccios may be forced to close 34 of its 103 sites that are lossmaking unless it can secure a deal with landlords to get rent reductions. It follows a raft of rescue deals to save chains. Around 500 jobs are at threat at the restaurant chain set up by the TV chef Antonio Carluccio in the 1990s. Prezzo is in the process of closing a third of its 300 restaurants and 12 of 37 Jamies Italian restaurants have shut. Byron is expected to axe 20 of its stores and pasta restaurant Strada has already called time on 11 of its outlets. This week Gordon Ramsay said he was closing his flagship Maze restaurant in Mayfair as accounts for his holding company Kavalake revealed a 3.8m loss last year. The restaurant started life as an Italian food shop which Carluccio, who died last year, opened with his wife. In 1999 the first Carluccios cafe was opened in London before expanding across the UK. But fierce competition and a perfect storm of rising staffing costs, business rates and rents have seen Carluccios fall into trouble. Earlier this year it was forced to call in accountants KPMG to advise on restructuring the business. It is not known which restaurants face closure but sites in Newcastle, Gloucester, Norwich and London are understood to be at risk. Carluccios said it will do everything possible to avoid job losses and redeploy people where it can. Gordon Ramsay has announced he is closing his flagship Maze restaurant in Mayfair The restructuring comes after Carluccios appointed chief executive Mark Jones and chief financial officer Andrew Campbell joined the business in January. Following a review of the business, the pair determined that urgent action was needed to keep it afloat. Jones said: Carluccios remains a very strong brand known for high-quality food. However, the business is not immune from well-documented pressures sweeping through the casual dining sector and indeed much of the wider UK high street, including retail, he added. Regrettably, this is the only course of action available and if approved, will safeguard the future of the group, protecting this strong core business. It is therefore in the best interests of the company, its people, its creditors and its customers. A California politician once at the forefront of the #MeToo movement has been cleared on allegations that she groped a male staff member, investigators say. Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, 40, took a voluntary leave of absence in February when it was revealed she was being investigated for allegedly groping Daniel Fierro at a 2014 legislative softball game. Days later four employees filed a formal complaint accusing her of sexual misconduct including frequent discussions about sex and alcohol consumption at her Capitol office. Garcia has been cleared of Fierro's allegations but is still facing discipline for using vulgar language in violation of the chamber's sexual harassment policy. The Los Angeles-area Democrat will have no committee assignments when she returns to work next week after her three-month absence. Scroll down for video California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, 40, has been cleared of allegations that she groped a male staff member in 2014. She still faces discipline for using vulgar language in violation of the chamber's sexual harassment policy Speaker Anthony Rendon, a fellow Democrat, said he's also requiring her to attend sensitivity training and a session about the chamber's sexual harassment policy. The accusations against Garcia marked a surprising twist in the California Legislature's sexual misconduct reckoning that began last fall. Three male lawmakers resigned their seats after investigations found they likely engaged in sexual misconduct. Garcia had been vocal in calling on them to step aside. On February 9 it was revealed that Daniel Fierro accused Garcia of drunkenly grabbing his buttocks and trying to grab his crotch at the 2014 legislative softball game. At the time the 25-year-old worked for another lawmaker. A week later four staffers filed a joint complaint of misconduct including heavy drinking and sex talk in the office as well as requests by Garcia to perform personal duties such as taking care of her dogs. It was filed on behalf of David Kernick and three others who remained anonymous. Kernick, who worked for Garcia's office for five months in 2014, said Garcia asked him to play spin the bottle after a fundraiser. News of the alleged sexual misconduct came as a surprise given Garcia's record as a fierce advocate of women's issues and a leader of the #MeToo movement. She is pictured in April In a letter to Dan Gilleon, a San Diego lawyer who represented the former Garcia staffers, investigators said they found evidence that Garcia 'commonly and pervasively' used vulgar language, used staff to perform personal services and disparaged other elected officials. It said no other claims were substantiated. Following the announcement Thursday Fierro said he might appeal the findings within the allowed 10-day window. The investigators haven't released full details on the findings, making it unclear what vulgar comments were made. But Rendon said Garcia has a 'pattern of behavior that must be addressed.' 'I believe our members have the responsibility to treat constituents, staff, colleagues and the entire Capitol community with respect and dignity,' he said in a statement. 'Disappointingly, that has not always been the case with Assemblymember Garcia.' In February it was revealed that Daniel Fierro, left, had accused Garcia of drunkenly grabbing his buttocks and trying to grab his crotch at a 2014 legislative softball game Garcia, for her part, apologized for the substantiated claims. 'I want to assure everyone that I have learned from this experience and will do everything in my power to make amends for my past,' she said in a statement. 'I know that I can only effectively serve my constituents if staff and my colleagues feel comfortable and respected on the job.' Garcia previously acknowledged calling a former Assembly speaker a derogatory term for gays and making a disparaging comment about Asians, both of which drew swift rebuke from her Democratic colleagues. Fierro and Gilleon criticized the Assembly's investigation process. Neither have seen the full report because of attorney-client privilege, according to letters sent to both by the Assembly Rules Committee. Fierro said at least one of the witnesses he suggested was never interviewed by Assembly investigators. 'This is an incredibly opaque and questionable process,' Fierro said. None of Gilleon's clients were interviewed by Assembly investigators. He argued the process was not independent because the Assembly hired the investigator and he wanted a separate attorney in the room. Garcia is running for re-election and faces a June 5 primary against six Democrats and one Republican. The two candidates with the most votes will advance to the November election. The powerful State Building and Construction Trades Council has launched a $500,000 campaign against her, including television and newspaper ads highlighting the allegations of sexual misconduct and negative language. 'The news today will not change our course,' Erin Lehane, a spokeswoman for the building trades, said in a text message. 'What we already know, by Garcia's own admission, makes her a bad boss and a bad colleague.' A 77-year-old farmer said he's happy to give away 12 hectares of land for $2.5 million to accommodate a new hospital. Alan McIntosh who lives just outside Kingscliff on the NSW's north coast, said he is 'not getting any younger' and wanted 'to give something back to the community.' The great-grandfather, who needs to travel across the border for his bowel cancer treatment, said the need for better services in the area was behind his generous offer. Alan McIntosh (pictured), a 77-year-old farmer outside Kingscliff on the northern New South Wales coast, said he's happy to give away 12 hectares of $2.5 million land for a hospital The New South Wales Government has planned to build a $534 million new hospital on farm land closer to Kingscliff. However, the proposed site has divided the community. 'If the hospital was to be built there, the domino effect of all the re-zoning and all of that will be built on high rises and that's what concerns me,' Barbara Roughan told Nine News. Mr McIntosh believes his land would be a perfect site for the hospital, but when he rang his local member to offer the property, he was told they would get back to him. 'Then I thought, gee if I was getting that land for nothing, you know I'd be having a look at it straight away,' he told Nine News. Not even the locals were happy to take the free land, stating the hospital should be moved further out of town. Alan McIntosh who lives just outside Kingscliff on the northern New South Wales coast, said he is 'not getting any younger' and wanted 'to give something back to the community' The New South Wales Government has planned to build a $534 million new hospital on a site of farm land closer to Kingscliff. However, the proposed site has divided the community Recent resumptions have indicated the land could be worth three times the initial estimated amount. But for Alan, it isn't about money - although he admits his family have concerns. 'My wife keeps reminding me as the hours go by that I could be a wealthy man ... She keeps saying do you know what you've done?' Alan said. The Tweed Valley community has been given six weeks to give feedback on the proposed site and suggest alternative sites, a Health Infrastructure spokesperson said. A real estate agent is giving a away an 87-year-old home for free. Michael Elliss, a real estate on the Gold Coast, bought the home in July 2017 with the goal of knocking it down and building apartments in its place. However, Mr Elliss said he soon fell in love with the old, 'charming' home and couldn't bring himself to demolish it. Scroll down for video A real estate agent who hoped to build apartments in the place of a 'charming' home has decided to give the home away for free Michael Elliss, a real estate on the Gold Coast, bought the 1932 home in July 2017 so that he could build an apartment block He has decided to give the home, which sold for $880,000 according to former real estate agents, away for free. Speaking to 9News , Mr Elliss said: 'If somebody is going to love it as much as I do, and have it in the area, then that is ideal.' Twenty people are interested in the one-bedroom home. It also has a sunroom, one bathroom and a 'spacious eat-in style' kitchen. Sue Kirby, who looked at the home, told 9News it was almost 'too good to be true'. Speaking to 9NEWS, Mr Elliss said: 'If somebody is going to love it as much as I do, and have it in the area, then that is ideal However the home will need to be removed from where it currently stands, and whoever scores the home will be footing the bill for that However, the home will need to be removed from the property by the buyer, who will have to foot the bill. The removal needs to be done in the next three months. Mr Elliss will decide what lucky person gets the home in the next week. Los Angeles In an emotionally charged session at the Education Writers Associations national seminar, student activists from Parkland, Fla.; Newtown, Conn.; and Chicago urged the media to keep the national spotlight on gun violence and not let their tragedies fade away. The young activistsEmma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Alex King, and Jackson Mittlemanrattled off statistics on gun violence and shared how they became the faces of a national movement in a panel discussion moderated by Education Week Staff Writer Evie Blad at the University of Southern California here on Wednesday. (Video of the hour-long conversation is embedded below.) This isnt just an issue that we care a lot about, this is a part of us now, said Mittleman, a Newtown High School junior and the co-chairman of the Jr. Newtown Action Alliance. He was 11 years old during the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 children and six educators. Youre doing it for the people who arent here anymore, ... youre doing it so people will never again have to experience what you did. ... Were always going to keep pushing [to] ignite youth to speak up and use their voices. In fact, several young activists will spend the summer bouncing around from community to community to have conversations about how to prevent gun violence, said Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a gunman killed 17 people on February 14. The conversations will be with young people who need to have their voices empowered because for so long, theyve been squished down, she said. The first stop on the tour will be Chicago on June 15, said King, a senior at North Lawndale College Prep High School there. King is a member of the Peace Warriors, a group that offers support to students who have lost a loved one to gun violence. King, whose 16-year-old nephew was shot and killed a year ago, said the Peace Warriors have met with 160 students at North Lawndale this school year. I have to do this [activism work] because a life lost is a life lost, he said. I know the type of person I amif I get on board, I can get a lot more people on board. This type of advocacy is critical to holding politicians accountable, because it makes sure they dont forget victims stories, said Hogg, a senior at Stoneman Douglas High School who along with Gonzalez is one of the most publicly visible activists from the Parkland school. While the shooting was taking place at his school, Hogg recorded some of his classmates on video talking about how they were feeling during the lockdown. If we did die in that classroom, I was hoping that our voices would carry on even if our souls wouldnt, he told the audience. For too long, the student activists said, efforts to prevent gun violence have failed to lead to significant changes, such as tighter gun controls. But young people refuse to bite [their] tongues, King said: Teenagers are committed to making change. When asked by an audience member how they had become so confident and articulate on these issues, Gonzalez was quick to answer: What I love is that people sent us to high school so we could learn stuff and then are amazed that we paid attention, she said. The day of the shooting, Gonzalez said she had been learning about special interest groups and the National Rifle Association in class. During an emotional speech at a gun control rally in Florida that went viral in the days after the shooting, she held up her AP Government notes. She had planned to reference the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines, which affirmed students constitutional rights to free speech, but she couldnt read her notes through her tears, Gonzalez said. Hogg, also a senior at Stoneman Douglas High School, said he had done extensive research on gun violence before the shooting happened for his speech and debate class. Weve always been this way, he told the room of reporters. You guys are just listening now. A Universal Conversation In the days after the shooting in Parkland, King and some of his fellow activists from Chicago flew down to Florida to meet with the teen survivors. The students have since been trying to expand the conversation past school shootings to encompass gun violence of all kinds. Its a universal conversation. Adults were looking at this in a single-faceted way. Nobody was addressing the whole problem, Gonzalez said. Everybodys getting hurt by this. Its not just schools. If you just address schools, Las Vegas is still happening. So is Charleston. We cant let that happen. The students are pushing for measures like universal background checks, prohibiting the purchase semi-automatic weapons, and imposing stricter federal laws against weapons. They also want more mental health and trauma counselors in schools. Hogg said too often, peoples attitude toward the gun violence occurring in major cities is, that happens there, we cant do anything about it. He was disturbed that only when a shooting happened in a suburbParkland is a mostly white, affluent communitydid people start paying more attention. For the students, it was common sense that they include activists from Chicago and other cities where gun violence is so commonplace, Gonzalez said. Hogg echoed: It shouldnt be surprising that we did thatit should be expected that we do that. Whats Next Beyond the summer listening tour, the activists are figuring out their next steps, especially as many of them will graduate from high school this spring. They all said they feel a sense of responsibility to continue this work. Hogg, for instance, said he is taking a gap year before college to continue his advocacy. Hes currently working on passing a bill through Congress that would address some of the issues. If it doesnt pass, Hogg said, he will work to vote those legislators out of office. Part of that is through harnessing student activism. On May 29, Hogg said, high schools across the country will be registering students to vote through HeadCount, a nonpartisan voting organization. Meanwhile, Mittleman said he wants to continue the conversations about what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary and other places. For a while, people in Newtown found the shooting too painful to discuss. Now, he said, theyre starting to talk about it again. You need to find the right time to talk about it, Mittleman said. Still, we dont want to be defined by this tragedy. When he tells someone where hes from, Mittleman added, he sees the look in their eyes. I dont want to have a tattoo of tragedy and sadness. Its important to not normalize gun violence, King said. Too often in Chicago, he said, people dont talk about those who were killed by guns. Im here to bring those names out of the shadows, he said. The activists all said they feel a sense of responsibility to their friends, relatives, and peers who died to keep telling their stories. You cant let it fade away. Its not something that should be insignificant to anyone, Mittleman said. Weve just endured one of the worst things that people endure. Youre going to listen to us, and were going to start making change. See also: A record 6,200 foreign criminals are living in the community instead of being deported. Killers, sex attackers, robbers and drug dealers are among the thousands released back onto the streets at the end of their jail sentences. Although they are due for deportation, the offenders are not kept in prison. Many then simply slip off the radar. Others challenge their deportation orders, often using human rights or asylum laws. In total, there were 6,231 foreign national offenders living in Britain in December who were due for deportation. This was up 10 per cent on the figure in December the previous year. Nearly a third 2,032 have been out of jail for more than five years. Another 1,502 have dodged being removed from the country for between two and five years. Aliou Bah a 28-year-old refugee from Guinea, West Africa, who has two convictions for sexual assault, was awarded 110,000 last week at Central London County Court The figures published by the Home Office raise concerns the beleaguered department is failing to get a grip on the problem. It is already facing flak after ministers admitted 63 members of the Windrush generation could have been wrongfully removed or deported since 2002. Sex attacker given 100,000 Sex attacker Aliou Bah was given 110,000 compensation for being locked up for 21 months after his own country refused to take him back. Making the award, Judge Nicholas Madge said he wholeheartedly agreed that many would think his victims should get payouts instead. Bah came to the UK in 2007 from Guinea to join his refugee father. Four years later, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl and was jailed for 18 months. He was also jailed for two years for another sexual assault three years later. But last year, the High Court ruled Bah, 28, was held unlawfully as there was little prospect of deporting him. Officials in Guinea had refused to process his case and another obstacle was that Bah had been granted permission to stay in the UK as a refugee. Advertisement Conservative MP Philip Hollobone said: There is no excuse for these deplorable figures. If foreign national offenders are subject to deportation they should be deported straight away. It is easier to deport people straight away as once you leave them in the community things get more difficult as years go on. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey added: Yet again the Government have got their immigration priorities wrong. At the same time as treating British citizens from the Windrush generation so unfairly, ministers have failed to get to grips with foreign criminals. We need a common sense approach that puts the public and the taxpayer first. Where someone is a threat, we cant afford the risk they might abscond. Britain can deport EU criminals who serve time in jail while non-EU offenders must have served at least one year behind bars. Once convicts have served a sentence, they can only continue to be held if there is a good chance of them being deported imminently. But many slip off the radar while others fight deportation orders, often using controversial human rights or asylum laws to trigger a lengthy and costly legal battle. In November, a report by David Bolt, chief inspector of borders and immigration, found that in April last year, 753 foreign criminals were missing after being freed from jail. He added that a third of planned removals failed: 7,772 out of 24,289 dating back to 2014-15. A team set up to finding missing criminals had only 11 staff. Police have caught and arrested thousands of foreign criminals but thousands have remained in the UK despite told they would be deported. Figures have now hit record highs A Home Office spokesman said more than 41,000 foreign offenders have been removed since 2010. He added: Foreign nationals who commit crimes should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. Weve made huge progress in identifying these individuals. This has contributed to the rise in the number of recorded foreign criminals living in the community. A Tory peer who tried to resurrect plans for another multi-million-pound Press inquiry yesterday told his fellow plotters it was time to give up. Lord Attlee urged the Lords to abandon any more challenges after the Commons rejected an attempt to stage a further Leveson-style probe for a second time earlier this week. The peer, who was one of three Tories to back a rebel amendment to the Data Protection Bill, said they should not seek to hold the legislation to ransom. He added: We have had a good battle and now we have lost. We should not pursue it further. We should not hold a time-sensitive Bill to ransom in order to force the Government to change policy. In my opinion, that would be wrong. Scroll down for video Lord Attlee had been rallying opposition to the Commons vote among fellow peers - but today urged them to abandon the plot I have campaigned very hard on this, but I could not convince my colleagues in the House of Commons, that is democracy. If they do not want to do it, it is their choice. There is another amendment tabled, I would hope that would be withdrawn. Lord Attlee is the grandson of former Labour prime minister Clement Attlee, who was in office from 1945 to 1951. On Tuesday, the Commons rejected attempts to resurrect the 5.4million inquiry into historic allegations against newspapers. MPs were forced to act again on the issue after peers attempted to amend the Data Protection Bill, ignoring an earlier vote in the Commons last week. Downing Street later urged the Lords to finally respect the wishes of the elected house. Theresa May heaped pressure on peers to abandon their assault on Press freedom and her official spokesman said: We welcome the vote. MPs have now voted twice to reject a backward-looking, disproportionate and costly Leveson 2 inquiry. Tuesdays vote passed by 12 votes 301 votes to 289 an even larger majority than last week. Three slurring and stumbling American men were seen brawling in a Chinese McDonalds, as a fourth man, oblivious to the action, was off ordering chicken. Incredible footage taken at the Seaworld McDonalds about 4am in Shenzhen, China, shows a man who says he is 50 years old appear to start a fight with a much younger man. 'Do you wanna be a b****,' he is heard saying as the younger man appears to gently push his opponent back. 'There's no need to show off, we're not trying to fight,' the younger man can be heard saying, as friends of the two rivals appear to hug in the background. Two American men began to brawl inside a McDonalds in Shenzhen, China at about 4am (pictured). The men and their friends appeared drunk as they stumbled and slurred their words While an older man appeared to be the aggressor, the younger man quickly gained the upper hand and began to punch his opponent around what appeared to be his head As the younger man pushes back, his older opponent grabs his arms and twists them, before grabbing his ear and pushing him towards a wall. But in a sudden burst of strength, the previously passive younger man gets up, grabs the older man by the shirt and throws him into a wall. He then begins to punch the older man aggressively around what appears to be his head. Suddenly, another older man comes out swinging and is heard saying 'f*** you motherf***er'. As the second older man takes another run at the younger man, his opponent steps aside, leaving him to face-plant into the self service machine. The older man's friend jumped in to help, but struggled to make much of an impact and ended up face planing into a self service machine The second older man then tries to put his head between the younger man's legs, the younger man is heard calling to his friend:'Steve... Steve it's two versus one'. Steve immediately works to establish the peace - pulling the men apart, he announces: 'I have chicken'. He keeps the brawlers apart as both the second older man and the younger man turn to other customers in the store, who had been silently sitting and eating their meals as chaos swirled around them, for validation. Victorians are joining One Nation in droves as Melbourne is gripped by a wave of Sudanese gang crime. Insiders in the state's ruling Labor Party fear Pauline Hanson's right-wing, nationalist party could win three seats in the upper house and have the power to frustrate Daniel Andrews's government should it be re-elected. James Ashby, Senator Hanson's chief-of-staff who is also One Nation's general secretary, said Victoria was the party's strongest state when it came to membership. Victorians are joining One Nation in droves as Melbourne is gripped by a wave of Sudanese gang crime (an African youth being arrested at Tarneit pictured) Insiders in the state's ruling Labor Party fear Pauline Hanson's party could win three seats in the upper house and have the power to frustrate Daniel Andrews's agenda if he's re-elected 'We dont give our membership away but it surprised me that in the last six months, Victoria has been the strongest state in this country for One Nation membership, followed by New South Wales, followed by Queensland which is now our third strongest state,' he told Fairfax Media. One Nation is polling higher in outer suburban areas of Melbourne, with internal Labor polling showing it has 11 per cent support in the safe Labor seat of Sunbury, which is double the state-wide average for the party. While One Nation would be unlikely to win any lower house seats at Victoria's November election, Labor fears it would win a swag of electorates in the Legislative Council. James Ashby, Senator Hanson's chief-of-staff who is also One Nation's general secretary, said Victoria was the party's strongest state when it came to membership One Nation is polling higher in outer suburban areas of Melbourne, with internal Labor polling showing it 11 per cent support in the Labor seat of Sunbury, which is double the state average 'If they play their cards right, they could get two and maybe even three [seats] in the upper house,' a party insider told The Age. Josh Bull, the Labor member for Sunbury, paid for Essential Research to poll 771 voters in his electorate. It found One Nation was taking more voters from the Liberal Party than the government, with the 12 per cent of Greens voters in the seat more likely to preference the ALP. African gang problems have been more prevalent in other areas of Melbourne, such as Tarneit and Werribee in the city's west. However, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called for Sudanese gang members to be deported if they are permanent residents convicted of violent crime. 'I'm hearing it constantly all the time saying they are fed up with the violence, crime that's happening on the streets,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Friday. Britain could double its military presence in Afghanistan after mounting pressure from President Trump. An extra 400 military personnel could be sent to the war zone as part of a Nato training mission. Whitehall sources told The Times that Theresa May was due to announce the plans at a summit of Nato allies in July, although the plans are yet to be signed off. An extra 400 military personnel could be sent to the war zone as part of a Nato training mission. Pictured: Theresa May and Donald Trump speak together during the Nato summit in May 25, 2017 Mr Trump is also expected at the gathering in Brussels which takes place on July 11 and 12. Britain and its European allies fear the President will use the meeting to threaten to pull out of the Nato alliance out of frustration at Europe's minimal defence spending. The President has said on a number of occasions that Nato nations need to spend at least two per cent of their national income on their militaries. Currently, only five nations, including Britain, do this. It is understood that the extra soldiers would be used in a training role and not for combat. A senior military officer told The Times: 'The greatest worry is that Trump might come thereand say 'screw you all, you still have not done what I told you to do a year ago' [when he realised the issue of spending on Nato]. 'We are pulling out and not paying you any more money.' 'That would be the end of Nato.' And last night President Trump took the opportunity to raise the stakes even higher, saying that nations who do not comply with his spending demands would be 'dealt with'. New plans to send personnel back to Afghanistan are in stark contrast to Britain's position last year. Pictured: British troops in Afghanistan in 2010 With pressure from the President mounting, new plans to send personnel back to Afghanistan are in stark contrast to Britain's position last year when officials suggested they were only considering sending more aircraft and logistical support. Colonel Richard Kemp who served in Afghanistan told The Times he was not surprised that soldiers were being sent back as Britain and the US withdrew regular troops too soon in 2014. He said: 'We have a national interest in maintaining security in Afghanistan and therefore we should be doing it.' New soldiers would join 3,500 US troops who, it was announced last year, would be sent to Afghanistan to help key areas under Taliban control. The extra 3,500 US troops add to the 11,000 US personnel already in Afghanistan. About 600 British military personnel are in the country at the moment. Forces are taking part in a Nato-led training mission, called Resolute Support providing security and helping Afghan forces. British special forces are on the ground as part of a separate counter terrorism operation, alongside Afghan, US and other coalition special forces, pursuing Islamic State and al Qaeda militants as well as the Taliban. A Whitehall source told The Times that the US defence secretary, James Mattis, had told a meeting in Brussels that patience in the US was wearing thin at the continued US funding of European security. They said: 'Everyone is expecting for him [Mr Trump] potentially to kick off [at the summit].' Sam Gyimah has been touring universities to talk with students Students are being subjected to vile abuse on campuses for holding Right-leaning views, the universities minister has warned. One undergraduate found Tory bitch written on her bedroom door after airing her political views in a lecture, Sam Gyimah said. In another example, a student had his car egged for expressing his political opinions. Mr Gyimah, who has been touring universities to talk with students, said: I think that is an unacceptable way to deal with people for expressing quite valid views. Speaking at Kings College London, the minister expressed serious concern at the state of free speech in universities. He said: We have a danger of developing a mono-culture, where some views are in and some views are out. The MP for East Surrey is currently overseeing new guidance that will require all universities to protect freedom of expression. He said he worried that intolerance on campuses may be originating from professors with strong views. Lets say you happen to be quite Right-wing, but your lecturer disagrees with your politics, he said. You can suddenly become quite conscious about expressing your views because they mark your essays and grade you. The universities minister also expressed concern about the growing culture of safe spaces Criticising what he suggested was a Left-wing bias on campuses, Mr Gyimah said: I have never seen a Left-wing politician in this country treated on campus the way some Right-wing politicians are. If you are going to condemn Toby Young, you have to condemn Ken Livingstone too. Free speech has to cut both ways. The minister also expressed concern at the growing culture of safe spaces at universities, which has led to speakers being banned simply because they might offend someone. He said: You might think someones views offensive and abhorrent, in which case challenge them. I do not think we can progress by sticking our hands in our ears to views we simply do not want to hear. Earlier in the day in a Commons debate on free speech, Christian MP Fiona Bruce revealed how she was rebuked by a university official for giving a talk at a campus pro-life society. She was informed she was offending students and asked to screen off the event so it could not be observed from outside. I believe it is emboldening students who want to silence or censor views that they think are wrong or offensive, she told the Commons human rights committee. A US soldier stationed in South Korea was devastated when his wife revealed that their child had died at birth. But just a month later Sgt Steven Garcia, 24, found out the truth. The baby boy was alive and had been allegedly sold to another couple by his wife. And Garcia wasn't the biological father. It has been a roller coaster of revelations that have left Garcia fighting for custody of the baby boy. His estranged wife, Marina Garcia, pleaded guilty to a felony. Sgt Steven Garcia was first told that his newborn had died in childbirth. Then he found out his wife had allegedly sold their baby boy to a couple. Then he found out he wasn't even the father. Sgt Garcia is seen with the baby above Garcia was told in January that his wife had given birth to a baby girl who died during childbirth. But his son was actually born on February 2 The story begins in January, when Garcia - who is a patrol supervisor in Seoul - was told that Marina, 31, had given birth to a baby girl who died during childbirth. 'When my sister called me about that, it was pretty emotional,' Garcia told KVOA. 'We cried quite a bit together over the phone. It was devastating.' But the baby, who was born in Arizona on February 2, was alive - and a boy. Marina had given her son to longtime friends Leslie and Alex Hernandez. Garcia's estranged wife Marina Garcia was arrested after it was revealed she had given the child to her longtime friends in Texas The truth was discovered by an Arizona highway patrolman, who pulled the couple over for speeding while they were driving back to their home in Texas with the child. He noticed the couple seemed nervous and began to question them, the trooper later told investigators. That's when he learned they were not the biological parents of the baby boy, who was just three days old. Alex Hernandez later admitted he had fraudulently signed the birth certificate as the boy's father so that they could take the child. Garcia's relatives, who have named the boy Leo, claim Garcia sold the child to Alex and Leslie Hernandez. The Cochise County Attorney has yet to find evidence that any money changed hands between the couple and Garcia, who also claims there was no payment. Both Alex and Leslie Hernandez pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit forgery and were each sentenced to four years of supervised probation. Marina has pleaded guilty to a felony count of an attempted fraudulent scheme and will be sentenced next month. Marina has pleaded guilty to a felony count of an attempted fraudulent scheme and will be sentenced next month Investigators found Marina in Sierra Vista, where she was living with her Army Specialist boyfriend. She was the first to reveal that Garcia was not the father of the child Prosecutors have recommended that she be sentenced to prison. 'The only thing on [Marina's] mind was getting rid of this child,' said Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre. 'This "problem" in her life. What scares me is that if it hadn't been the Hernandez', if the couple hadn't been willing to step forward, then what person off the Internet might have been next?' As for little Leo, he has been handed over to the Arizona's Department of Child Safety and is currently in foster care. While the charges have been settled, the fight for Leo has only just begun. Investigators found Marina in Sierra Vista, where she was living with her Army Specialist boyfriend. She told detectives that she did not know who Leo's father was, but claimed it could not possibly be Garcia. An Arizona highway patrolman found out the truth after he pulled over Leslie Hernandez and Alex Hernandez on their way back to Texas, with the three-day-old baby in the car The statement shocked Garcia, who told detectives he last had sex with his wife in May 2017 - around the time of conception - before he left for South Korea. 'I was under the assumption the entire time that she was pregnant that I was the father,' he said. 'When I found out...I was kind of in denial. I couldn't believe what was going on.' Messages between Marina and Garcia also proved that Marina knew her husband was under the impression that he was the father. Garcia, who has since filed for divorce, has spent thousands of dollars flying from South Korea to Arizona to visit Leo but has still not been granted custody. His cousin has since started a GoFundMe to help raise money for Garcia's legal and travel fees. Garcia, who was adopted, said it doesn't matter to him that he's not Leo's biological father. 'My adopted father completely changed my life,' he said. 'Without him, I would not be where I am today.' 'The opportunity to do that for someone else, I believe it's important. It could change the child's life and give him a better future. I believe that's the right thing to do.' The family Stephanie Scott (pictured) is suing the state government over her murder The family of a young teacher who was raped and murdered by a deranged school cleaner is suing the state government. Bride-to-be Stephanie Scott, 26, was killed on Easter Sunday in 2015 at her Leeton School in the New South Wales Riverina before her body was burned and dumped at Cocoparra National Park, some 70km away. The claims were filed on behalf of Ms Scott's relatives this week and the state Department of Education was not approached before proceedings commenced, AAP understands A department spokesman declined to comment in detail, citing the current legal action. 'The department is aware the circumstances resulting in these proceedings are sensitive and all efforts will be made to respond to the claims appropriately,' he said in a statement. Ms Scott is pictured with her fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley before she was murdered on Easter Sunday in 2015 School cleaner Vincent Stanford was in October 2016 convicted of the brutal murder School cleaner Vincent Stanford was in October 2016 convicted of the brutal murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole, with a judge declaring the crime fell within the worst category of the offence. Stanford dragged Ms Scott into a storeroom where he attacked her with his fists and a large knife. He was arrested three days later and admitted to going 'a little nuts'. The crime was labelled as 'calculating', 'conniving' and 'callous' by Supreme Court Justice Robert Allan Hulme. The family was struck by tragedy again in November 2016 when Ms Scott's father, retired teacher Robert Scott, was killed by a falling tree while clearing land on his Canowindra farm in the central west of NSW. The murdered New South Wales teacher is pictured with her mother, Merrilyn A terminal ill man who needs around-the-clock care filed a lawsuit claiming doctors are pressuring him to go home or die in medically assisted death. Roger Foley, of Canada, said he has been a patient at London Health Science Centres Victoria Hospital in Ontario for the past two years. Foley suffers from an incurable brain disorder called cerebellar ataxia, a condition which limits his ability to move his arms and legs and leaves him unable to perform mundane tasks such as feeding himself and lifting himself up. Because of the condition, Foley also has trouble speaking. According to the February 14 lawsuit, Foley was given two options on how to move forward with his medical care: 'forced discharge' from the hospital 'to work with contracted agencies that have failed him' or medically assisted death. Roger Foley suffers from an incurable brain disorder that limits his ability to use his arms and legs and makes tasks such as feeding himself extremely difficult Foley said he has been a patient at a London, Ontario hospital for two years and was recently told that he either needs to return home under the care of contracted agency home care providers or allow a medically assisted death Foley said although his deteriorating condition qualifies him for medically assisted death, he wants to live - and he wants to do so at the comfort of his own home, CTV News reports. Foley, however, said he has run into some issues. In a video he recorded recently from his hospital bed, Foley said he does not want to return home under the care of nurses hired through contracted agencies. He said there were two instances in which he received horrible home care providers and even contemplated suicide after one provider allegedly left him so sick he needed to be hospitalized. 'I have been given the wrong medication,' he claimed. 'I have been provided food where I got food poisoning, I've had workers fall asleep in my living room, burners and appliances constantly left on, a fire, and I have been injured during exercises and transfers. When I report(ed) these things to the agency, I would not get a response.' 'Unfortunately, the Ontario health-care system and the Ontario home-care system has broken my spirit and sent my life into a void of bureaucracy accompanied by a lack of accountability and oversight,' he added. Foley claimed that when he continued to complain the agency allegedly threatened to stop sending providers. He said he wants to manage his own health care team but needs the appropriate funding to hire workers. Foley posted a video pleading for help saying that he wants to return home but not under the care of providers selected for him Foley, pictured in an older photo, said his does not want the agency contracted providers caring for him because of bad experiences in the past Foley, pictured in an older photo, said one provider gave him the wrong medication and he got food poisoning and had to be hospitalized under the care of another In the video, Foley said he applied for self-directed funding, which would help him hire his own home care providers, but he was denied. Foley said if he refuses to the leave hospital under the care of contracted agency providers and does not allow a medically assisted death, he will have to pay $1,800 a day to stay in the hospital. That's when he contacted a lawyer and sued the hospital, several health agencies, the Ontario government and the federal government. Foley's lawyer sent a letter to Canada's justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould (pictured) asking that all medically assisted deaths are halted until legislation is changed 'There are many individuals that are not being offered alternatives,' his layer Ken Berger told CTV News. 'They are not being supported or not having the necessary services put in place in a way that relieves their suffering.' '(Foley) is substantially suffering,' he added. 'He is going to fight this, not only to protect his own constitutional rights, but also the constitutional right of all Canadians.' Berger also sent a letter to Canada's justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould demanding that all medically assisted deaths are halted until legislation is changed to ensure that all necessary services to help patients live are provided first. 'Persons suffering with severe disabilities require necessary health care, assistance and compassion,' Berger wrote in the letter. 'These crucial services are not always provided at times of most need or in such a way that relieves suffering; instead, persons with disabilities are being assisted to their death rather than being assisted with life.' Berger told CTV News that he believes there are many other people in a situation similar to what Foley is going through. Foley's lawsuit includes London Health Science Centres Victoria Hospital, where he has been a patient for two years He wrote in his letter that the Canadian government ensure 'all necessary health services are provided before persons are misled into premature and inappropriate deaths because of their belief that they are a burden to society with no alternative to death'. A spokesman for Wilson-Raybould told CTV News that she would be looking into Berger's letter. 'Our government passed legislation that provides a national framework for medically assisted dying that protects our most vulnerable,' David Taylor said. Hilarious footage taken from a NASA spacewalk shows even our most qualified astronauts are not immune to human mistakes. A spaceman revealed he had forgotten to pack a crucial piece of technology as he set out on his live-streamed spacewalk on Wednesday. 'Hey Houston I gotta ask you a question about the GoPro real quick,' he said. 'I'm pushing the button and getting a "no SD [card]:"... that means... do I need that to record? And if it's recording is there supposed to be a red light on?' Without an SD card, the astronaut would be unable to record anything, rendering it useless. The forgetful astronaut was either Drew Feustel (left) or Ricky Arnold (right). Both are highly experienced spacemen The astronaut, who is either Drew Feustel or Ricky Arnold, was left in silence by the command center for an agonizing 40 seconds. 'I'm told that if it has the card in it, it should have a red light if it's recording,' a person in the command center back on earth said. With the ramifications of his mistake still not sinking in, the astronaut asks about his missing SD card again. 'And if it says "No SD", what does that mean?' he asked. 'I think that means no card,' the control center responded. Frustrated, he tried to move on from his embarrassing blunder. 'Well, let's just forget it for now. I'll get it later,' he said. 'Let's just not worry about it.' Wednesday's spacewalk, NASA's fifth of the year, took six hours and 31 minutes. The two veteran astronauts were performing maintenance on the International Space Station. The astronaut forgot to bring an SD card for his GoPro (pictured) and seemed frustrated he could not get the camera to record Posted Friday, May 18, 2018 1:00 pm Pleasant Hope Elementary School students will begin the 2018-19 school year under a new principal. The district announced this week PHES lead teacher Jessica Johnson, a Pleasant Hope graduate, will step up to fill the vacancy following the departure of Michael Methvin. Methvin, who has served as PHES principal since 2013 and previously as Bolivar Middle School assistant principal, is leaving Polk County to take up a post as director of elementary education with Springfield Public Schools. He did a wonderful job for our district, R-6 Superintendent Kelly Lowe said. Needless to say, we will miss him, but we are excited to grow his vision in the elementary. Lowe said the district looks forward to the leadership of Johnson, who joined the district in 2010 as a second-grade teacher, adding she will continue the growth of that building. Lowe said the district sought internal candidates before looking outside the district. The administration team met with Mrs. Johnson to discuss her vision while asking her multiple questions, he said. We were very impressed with her responses and, of course, her work ethic these past few years speaks for itself. We appreciate the gains Dr. Methvin made in his five years. We are excited to see where Mrs. Johnson can now lead us to. Department of Human Services said it understands 'frustration' at the wait University students who say their Centrelink claims haven't been processed are struggling to buy food and pay their rent. Trent Clarke, who is studying at the University of Wollongong College in the south coast, told the Illawarra Mercury that the '$3 in my bank doesnt cut it'. He claimed to have launched his application on February 26. Trent Clarke, who is studying at the University of Wollongong College in the south coast, claims his Centrelink application was delayed by months (Pictured: The University of Wollongong main campus) Department of Human Services General Manager Hank Jongen said: 'We work hard to process student claims as quickly as possible. Some complex claims can take longer and we understand this can be frustrating' (stock image) While he does pick up work shifts when he can, money is tight. 'The student youth allowance claim was suppose to go through by April 9, and there is still nothing and its May,' he said. He said he was told some documents had not been submitted correctly and that he would be contacted in a few days time. After he didn't hear back, Mr Clarke said he visited his Centrelink office. 'I went there this week to put through an urgent claim and then a customer complaint letter.' His claim went through on May 14 and he was paid on May 15. Other students have been unable to pay rent, reaching out to family members for financial help. Due to 'media interference', these students were contacted in regards to their claims, the publication reported. Department of Human Services General Manager Hank Jongen told Daily Mail Australia the department has 'extended an offer to contact these students to discuss their concerns and provide appropriate support.' 'We work hard to process student claims as quickly as possible. Some complex claims can take longer and we understand this can be frustrating.' Students studying at the University claimed that they were unable to buy rent due to not receiving the payments Mr Jongen said data from April 30 this year showed the average time it took an Austudy claim to be processed is 14 days. It took around 20 days to process Youth Allowance claims. He said: 'This is an improvement compared to the previous financial year. 'Students can be assured that all claims will be processed and payments will be backdated to the date the student lodged their completed claim.' Mr Jongen said that: 'The department prioritises claims for people experiencing financial hardship and encourages anyone in these circumstances to contact us.' Two paramedics have been kicked, punched and spat on by a patient in yet another drunken attack on Melbourne emergency workers. The paramedics - a man and woman - were called to Caroline Springs railway station at 9.40pm on Thursday to reports of a man in his 60s who had collapsed, smelling of alcohol, Ambulance Victoria said on Friday. As the man was being taken to hospital, he punched the male paramedic five times in the knee, thigh and abdomen. When he arrived, he spat at both paramedics and kicked the female in the leg. Both paramedics continued their shift after the incident. The incident comes less than 24 hours after another alleged drunken assault of a paramedic, who was hospitalised for his injuries. Two paramedics have been kicked, punched and spat on by a patient in yet another drunken attack on Melbourne emergency workers The attack comes as anger grows after the jail sentences handed to Caris Underwood, 20 (left) and Amanda Warren (right) were revoked on appeal in the Victorian County Court on Tuesday An ambulance was called to a home in Epping in Melbourne's north in the early hours of Thursday morning to attend to a man aged in his 20s, who was reportedly unconscious and frothing at the mouth after an excessive drinking binge. 'A paramedic was admitted to hospital with back and facial injuries after being spat at and punched by a patient,' an Ambulance Victoria statement said. 'On attempting to rouse the patient, he woke and became verbally aggressive and abusive towards the crew, spitting at them.' The patient was sedated but as he was wheeled on to a stretcher, he allegedly punched a paramedic in the face. Caris Underwood admitted punching and kicking Paul Judd as he and another paramedic tried to treat a patient in Reservoir Ambulance workers protested against a decision by a court to quash the jail sentences handed to two women who injured a paramedic 'This caused the stretcher to tip, and the paramedic grabbed the stretcher to stop it from falling, resulting in the paramedic taking the full weight of the stretcher and the patient in his outstretched arms,' the statement said. 'The crew transported the patient to hospital, where the assaulted paramedic experienced severe back pain. He was treated, before being admitted to hospital for pain management and further assessment.' The injured paramedic, 44, has since been released from hospital but is expected to be off work for a fortnight. His alleged attacker, Wishwan Seetloo said on Thursday he doesn't remember the alleged incident after overindulging in whisky at a cousin's wedding. 'I was intoxicated, I don't know what happened, all right,' he said. Mr Seetloo begged for forgiveness and wants to meet the paramedic he allegedly attacked. 'I want to apologise because I don't want this thing to happen to anyone,' he said. 'I want to say sorry for it.' Wishwan Seetloo fronted the media to express his remorse over the alleged attack of a paramedic in Melbourne. He claims he has no memory of the incident Mr Seetloo, who was lost for words when asked about the possibility of jail time for his alleged actions. The paramedic, named only as Paul, said he wasn't ready to accept Mr Seetloo's apology. 'I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet,' he told 3AW Radio on Friday, adding that violence against paramedics had gotten worse during his 20-year career. 'If one of us loses an eye, or is pushed down the stairs and ends up with an acquired brain injury I think the apology is beside the point.' A Victoria Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia it is investigating the incident but is yet to lay charges as they wait to interview those involved. That alleged assault came two days after jail sentences originally given to Amanda Warren, 33, and Caris Underwood, 20, were reversed on appeal in the Victorian County Court. Ambulance vehicles were pictured in Victoria plastered with protest graffiti after the decision was handed down. Wishwan Seetloo (right) allegedly spat on and punched a paramedic, who was hospitalised for back and facial injuries Fair Go paramedic posted photos of ambulance vehicles displaying the message in pink and white writing: 'It's not OK to assault paramedics'. An #itsneverok hashtag went viral social media on Tuesday as ambulance officers and the community expressed their support for the paramedics. A petition calling for a review of the sentencing of Underwood and Warren had over 100,000 signatures within 24 hours. It is now approaching 300,000. 'I've just discovered that this is the fastest growing petition of 2018,' Andrew Cross, who started the petition, wrote. 'My intention is to take these to [Victorian Premier Daniel] Andrews as a show of just how united we all are over this.' Victim Paul Judd was 'gutted' by Tuesday's decision and said: 'I just feel that justice hasn't been done' Victim Paul Judd was 'gutted' by the decision, according to Fairfax Media, and said: 'I just feel that justice hasn't been done.' Mr Judd broke his foot in the violent attack and has required multiple surgeries since. The experienced paramedic has not been able to return to work since the incident in April 2016. The County Court decision prompted the Victorian government to flag a review of the mandatory minimum six-month term for attacking emergency service workers unless there are special reasons. Premier Andrews admitted that loophole needed to be 'fixed' but said the government would not rush the process. 'We're going to take the time to get this right. Poor drafting is perhaps one of the reasons we are ... talking about this,' he said on Thursday. 'The other reason is, of course, that some people think it's OK to behave this way.' Assaults on paramedics dropped from 234 to 147 last year, but crews still faced abuse, Ambulance Victoria boss Tony Walker said. 'Every 50 hours a paramedic is actually either physically or verbally assaulted,' he told parliament's public accounts and estimates committee on Thursday. 'And they're reporting being exposed to about 14 events a day where violence or aggression was part of the scene.' A shocking surveillance image has emerged showing the scale of the devastation caused by a massive explosion inside a Southern California spa that left one woman dead and three others injured. The image shows an investigator surveying the scene, where much of the ceiling appears to have been collapsed, wires were blown out of place, and a hole was created in the wall. Meanwhile, federal agents investigating the ex-boyfriend of the woman who was killed, 48-year-old Ildiko Krajnyak, have allegedly found two improvised devices at his home. Stephen Beal, 59, of Long Beach was arrested on Thursday by the FBI. He has been charged with one count of possession of unregistered destructive device, KABC-TV is reporting. Beal made his first appearance in a Santa Ana federal court on Thursday. He was handcuffed and only spoke to answer questions from the judge. A shocking surveillance image has emerged showing the scale of the devastation caused by a massive explosion inside a Southern California spa that left one woman dead and three others injured The image shows an investigator surveying the scene, where much of the ceiling appears to have been collapsed, wires were blown out of place, and a hole was created in the punctured wall Meanwhile, federal agents investigating the ex-boyfriend of the woman who was killed, 48-year-old Ildiko Krajnyak, have allegedly found two improvised devices at his home. Stephen Beal, 59, of Long Beach was arrested on Thursday by the FBI and appeared in court (above) He was charged with possessing an unregistered destructive device after federal agents searched his home following the deadly bombing in Aliso Viejo on Tuesday. Beal hasnt been charged in connection with the bombing. His attorney declined to comment after the court hearing. Investigators said they found more than 100 pounds of explosives, including two improvised explosive devices, three firearms and other materials in Beals home. After news of the blast became public on Tuesday, Beal phoned police at the urging of his new girlfriend and then let them search his house. Authorities say his former girlfriend, Krajnyak, was killed when the bomb went off as she opened a package inside the Aliso Viejo day spa she owned with Beal. Aside from being her former companion, Beal is also believed to have had a business relationship with Krajnyak. Krajnyak's 20-year-old son, Keanu Vestil (above), returned home Thursday from Washington State University after hearing the horrific news about his mother 'It's just all so sudden that a lot of this is still very raw,' an emotional Vestil told reporters. 'And still really hard to process for everybody.' Krajnyak's 20-year-old son returned home Thursday from Washington State University after hearing the horrific news about his mother, according to KABC-TV. 'It's just all so sudden that a lot of this is still very raw,' an emotional Keanu Vestil told reporters. 'And still really hard to process for everybody. 'I just want to express my gratitude for just all the love and support that I've gotten from everybody in the last two days. It's just been a lot.' A neighbor said Beal and Krajnyak used to date. Stuart Davis, who lives a few doors down from Stephen Beals home in Long Beach, said he often saw Beal and his adult son working on large rockets on their front lawn. The son told Davis that they built movie props, he said. Id come home from home sometimes and there would be rockets, but big, like something youd see in a movie, Davis said. Beal told investigators that the explosives found at his home were part of his rocket-building hobby. Above is a picture he posted on his Facebook page He told authorities that he did not have materials needed to set off a large explosion. Above are pictures he posted of rockets on Facebook Beals wife died after she fell down the stairs inside two-story home in a tidy middle class neighborhood, Davis said. Neighnor Don Westerhoff, 90, told The Orange County Register that Beal and his late wife Christine were moving a heavy piece of furniture down the stairs and Beal lost his grip. She died in 2008, age 48, according to coroner's records seen by the outlet, with the cause of death listed as 'undetermined'. Other causes where listed as 'pancreatitis, electrolyte imbalance and other undetermined factors.' 'Chronic lead intoxication' was also mentioned in the report, and an autopsy described the death as mysterious but said there was no evidence of foul play. The Orange County Register reports that Beal won a $500,000 settlement from American International Life Assurance Company of New York in 2010. He said Christine died from traumatic pancreatitis after she fell while carrying a 49lb end-table. Beal, a father-of-four, told investigators that the explosives found at his home were part of his rocket-building hobby, The Orange County Register reported. He told authorities that he did not have materials needed to set off a large explosion. Beal also acknowledged that he once made a smaller explosive device to help neighbors with a gopher problem. An FBI agent wrote a note included in the court filing which said that the materials found in Beal's home were 'not consistent with that of a model rocket.' Nathan Beal told The Associated Press on Thursday that his father built sport rockets fueled by a propellant that is legally available at specialty hobby shops. He believes federal agents may have found 'motor cases made out of aluminum.' He said it was 'highly unlikely' his father was guilty of any charge related to a destructive device. The biggest of the rockets used about 5 pounds of fuel in multiple motors. The younger Beal also confirmed that Stephen had been in a relationship with the woman killed in the blast but they recently broke up. Stephen Beal, 59, an ex-boyfriend of slain day spa owner Ildiko Krajnyak (pictured together on vacation), has been arrested on an unrelated explosives charge Krajnyak, 48, (left and right) died and three other people were seriously injured in the blast at 11 Mareblu, in Aliso Viejo, California, on Tuesday The explosion blew siding off the walls, exposing insulation and framing and shattering windows at the two-story building Beals Facebook page has many photos of him traveling with Krajnyak, a married mother-of-one of Coto de Caza, Orange County. Their travel destinations included Mexico, Canada and Portugal. State documents show Beal and Krajnyak as officers in a skin care business called I&S Enterprises. Krajnyak was a licensed cosmetologist who ran day spa Magyar Kozmetika out of the first floor of the building. Authorities say the explosion occurred on the same floor, after a package was delivered. One of the other women injured in the blast told federal investigators that the device was inside one of a number of cardboard boxes on the floor, according to court doucments. When Krajnyak opened the box, it exploded. The victim said she remembers being thrown backwards onto the floor and seeing smoke and flames. A witness told investigators that she saw 'everything on fire' after the blast. Investigators said they found a nine-volt battery, a cell phone, melted material believed to be duct tape and loose wires, according to the court filing. The blast blew siding off the walls, exposing insulation and framing and shattering windows at the two-story building. 'At this point, we do not believe this was an accident,' said Paul Delacourt, special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Los Angeles. 'Our working theory is that this explosion was caused by a device.' Pieces of the device found at the scene were being sent to the FBI's laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to be analyzed, he said. Delacourt said investigators were still working to determine a motive and figure out exactly how the device was brought to the spa. Globetrotters: Beals Facebook page has many photos of him traveling with Krajnyak to places like Portugal, Mexico and Canada Risky hobby: A neighbor said Beal (left and right) was often seen building big rockets on his lawn with his son It's complicated: Beal is a widower and Krajnyak was separated from her husband, but still living with him under the same roof Photos on Beals Facebook page, where he described himself as an actor and a member of the SAG-AFTRA actors union, showed him vacationing with Krajnyak in Cuba, sitting together on the beach and riding jet skis in Mexico and shopping in Portugal. Meanwhile, friends of the victim set up a fundraising campaign to cover her funeral costs and fly her son home from Seattle, where he attends college. Krajnyak was originally from Hungary and had just visited there, according to her Facebook page and a neighbor. It was during her trip to Hungary that the mail which was received at her day spa - including the suspected explosives-laden package, began to pile up. Her Facebook page showed photos from her home country, including a selfie outside the clinic where she trained to become an aesthetician 30 years ago. Her Orange County business offered services such as facials, waxing and wrinkle treatments. Irene White, a friend, read a statement Wednesday on behalf of Krajnyaks family, calling her death a complete shock. Firefighters and sheriff's deputies escort children from Academy on the Hill pre-k school in Aliso Viejo on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, after a fatal explosion nearby The deadly explosion at this Southern California office building is believed to be an intentional act and a result of a package The family asked for privacy as they mourn 'a mother, a wife, a daughter and a friend.' She said the family is cooperating with investigators. Search warrants were served at the business and two other locations, including the Long Beach house. They also searched Krajnyaks house in Trabuco Canyon. A neighbor there who would only give her first name as Tiffany said Krajnyak lived there with her estranged husband and mother, whom she cared for. The couple, although separated, continued to live under the same roof, the neighbor said. Court records show they had filed jointly for bankruptcy in 2014 and the case was dismissed and closed Monday. Krajnyak, a married mother-of-one of Coto de Caza, Orange County, was a licensed cosmetologist who ran day spa Magyar Kozmetika out of the first floor of the building Krajnyak and Beal had met online in June 2016 and dated about a year and a half. Photos on his Facebook page showed them living it up in far-flung places: a beach in Cuba, restaurants in Portugal, and riding jet skis in Mexico. The romance cooled earlier this year after disputes over exclusivity and finances, FBI Special Agent Evan Jesch wrote. They remained business partners, with Beal serving as spa manager, and the two operated a separate cosmetics firm. Beal was listed on the spa's lease because Krajnyak and her estranged husband had filed for bankruptcy, he said. Beal paid the $1,500 monthly rent and half the spa's operating costs. He had to loan Krajnyak money some months to cover her costs. Beal was once an investment banker who turned to acting after his wife's death several years ago, said friend and neighbor Steven Young. Beal appeared in several small films. 'You can't imagine him doing what we've been hearing,' Young said, referring to the blast. 'I don't recall him ever being visibly angry at anything. He's been a good neighbor and a good friend.' The home of a homicide victim, Ildiko Krajnyak, is seen after it was searched by police overnight in Trabuco Canyon, California Two officials told The Associated Press that investigators believe the blast was caused by an explosive package that was specifically targeting the office where the explosion occurred. One of the officials said one of the victims was believed to be the target. The officials were briefed on the investigation but not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The two patrons who were injured underwent surgery Wednesday and expected to survive. A third victim was treated for smoke inhalation. Bomb technicians and investigators from the sheriff's department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were sifting through debris left at the blast site. Investigators said they hadn't yet located an explosive device and were searching through debris. The Tuesday afternoon blast shattered windows and forced children in a nearby daycare center to be evacuated. The blast occurred on the first floor of the Aliso Viejo building in Orange County that was under renovation In this photo taken from video provided by KABC-TV, children are evacuated from a preschool across the street from a building that was rocked by the explosion Mary McWilliams of San Clemente tells the Orange County Register that she saw two women with burns stagger out of the building. Fire officials say a third person suffered smoke inhalation. The never-ending Yanny vs Laurel debate has reached the White House. Donald Trump's staff have released their own video trying to settle the question that has been on America's mind since a YouTube clip went viral earlier this week. Ivanka Trump is the first to appear on screen, listening to the quick audio clip before declaring 'It's so clearly Laurel'. Donald Trump's staff have released their own video trying to settle the Yanny vs Laurel question that has been on America's mind since a YouTube clip went viral earlier this week 'It's Laurel, but I could deflect and divert to Yanny if you need me to,' Kellyanne Conway says with a smirk in the clip 'Definitely Laurel,' Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah agrees. Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence's Chief of Staff, also reveals he's on Team Laurel. 'It's Laurel, but I could deflect and divert to Yanny if you need me to,' Kellyanne Conway says with a smirk. But there are also plenty of White House staffs who only hear Yanny, including strategic-communications director Mercedes Schlapp. 'Yanny's the winner, Laurel's the loser,' she confidently declares. Mercedes Schlapp, the White House strategic-communications director, was Team Yanny, as was Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders But many on Trump's staff were happy to put their support behind the clip saying 'Laurel' Vice President Mike Pence even made an appearance in the clip, simply asking 'Who's Yanny?' White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also pledges her allegiance to Yanny. 'Sarah it's been reported that you hear Laurel, how do you respond?' the man behind the camera asks Sanders in the video. 'Clearly you're getting your information from CNN, because that's fake news,' she jokes. 'All I hear is Yanny.' Even Mike Pence gets in on the fun, asking the camera 'Who's Yanny?' But the grand finale is Trump himself, who is filmed sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office. 'I hear covfefe,' he declares, referencing the strange tweet he sent out at 3am last year that became a viral sensation of its own. New Zealand's self described 'first bloke' posted a picture of the amazing moment he fought of a bronze whaler shark while as a dolphin watched on from a distance. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's domestic partner Clarke Gayford is the hosts of a fishing show on New Zealand television and was said he was helping one of the camera crew film footage for the Young Ocean Explorers children's show. They were shooting footage about 90km off the coast of Auckland near Great Barrier Island, capturing shots of bottle nosed dolphins and false killer whales when the incident occurred The Australian reported. New Zealand's self described 'first bloke' Clarke Gayford posted a picture of the amazing moment he fought of a bronze whaler shark while as a dolphin watched on from a distance He said the dolphins had been feeding prior to the scary encounter, which had brought sharks into the area. 'They were feeding on kingfish and had been tearing some large ones in half and putting blood in the water, which attracted several large bronze whaler sharks,' he said. 'I got in the water and they turned their attention on me. I had to fend the large one pictured off with a pole several times, as it was getting quite agitated. We got out not long after.' The dolphin watching on nearby did not go unnoticed by Mr Gayford who captioned the photo 'So it turns out that not only do Dolphins not help, they actually quite like watching. A childhood myth is ruined'. A dolphin researcher from the University of Otago told The Australian that there are instances of dolphins coming to the rescue of humans when sharks are nearby but it depended on the size of the shark in the encounter. She said that smaller species of dolphins are actually very unlikely to engage when a human and a shark come face to face. A grandmother who almost ploughed into a police car in Sydneys south on Thursday, will appear in court next month after being charged with drink-driving. On Thursday afternoon the 57-year-old woman drove from the well-off suburb of Grays Point in Loftus to collect her two grandchildren, aged two and four, from pre-school. The woman was almost involved in a collision with a police vehicle that had been patrolling near the intersection of Sixth and Loftus avenues (pictured) Police say that the grannys vehicle was almost involved in an accident with a police vehicle that had been patrolling near the intersection of Sixth and Loftus avenues. A roadside breath test returned a positive reading and the woman was arrested and taken to Sutherland Police Station, where she was later charged. The woman almost crashed into a police vehicle (pictured) on Thursday afternoon A second breath test returned a reading of 0.103 Her license was suspended, and she was granted conditional bail. She will face the Sutherland Local Court in June. The granny was arrested and taken to Sutherland Police Station (pictured) Her two young grandchildren were left with a responsible guardian, and Family and Community Services were notified about the incident. South Korea believes the North is committed to peace despite threatening to cancel talks between Kim Jong-un and President Trump. South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Baek Tae-hyun said he is confident of the peace process moving forward despite the North's sharp criticism of Seoul over joint military drills with the US. Seoul also expects North Korea to abide by the peace accord signed by Kim and President Moon at their own summit last month. South Korea has said it believes North Korea is still committed to peace despite Kim cancelling talks with high-level officials over joint military drills with America North Korea has also threatened to walk away from its summit with Trump scheduled for next month, saying it will not be pressured into giving up its nukes 'We are just at the starting point and we will not stop or waver as we move forward for peace in the Korean Peninsula,' Baek said. Moon and Kim's summit marked an historic occasion for both men, who pledged to denuclearize the peninsula and bring and end to the Korean War, which finished with armistice rather than a peace treaty. But this week the North cancelled further high-level talks with the South and issued several statements sharply criticising the Seoul for holding military drills with the US. Such drills were a 'rehearsal for invasion', the country's state-sponsored news service said, and violated the terms of the pact signed by Moon and Kim. The North also rejected what it described as moved to force it to give up its nuclear weapons under a Libya-style deal, saying it would walk away from the Trump summit if such rhetoric continued. Analysts said it's unlikely that North Korea intends to scuttle all diplomacy. More likely, they said, is that it wants to gain leverage ahead of the talks between Kim and Trump, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore. Kim has declared his nuclear force is complete and announced a halt to nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests while inviting foreign journalists to witness the dismantling of his nuclear test site between May 23 and 25. North Korea invited journalists from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain to witness the dismantling process, but on Friday it did not respond after Seoul sent a list of South Korean journalists who were picked to go, the Unification Ministry said. Seoul said it expected Pyongyang to abide by the terms of a peace accord signed by Kim and President Moon Jae-in in Panmunjom last month Baek spoke hours after Ri Son Gwon, chairman of a North Korean agency that deals with inter-Korean affairs, accused South Korea's government of being 'an ignorant and incompetent group devoid of the elementary sense of the present situation, of any concrete picture of their dialogue partner and of the ability to discern the present trend of the times.' In comments published by the North's Korean Central News Agency, Ri said the 'extremely adventurous' U.S.-South Korean military drills were practicing strikes on strategic targets in North Korea, and accused the South of allowing 'human scum to hurt the dignity' of the North's supreme leadership. Ri was apparently referring to a news conference held at South Korea's National Assembly on Monday by Thae Yong Ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat who defected to the South in 2016. Thae said it's highly unlikely that Kim would ever fully relinquish his nuclear weapons or agree to a robust verification regime. Ri said it will be difficult to resume talks with South Korea 'unless the serious situation which led to the suspension of the North-South high-level talks is settled.' Senior officials from the two Koreas were to sit down at a border village on Wednesday to discuss how to implement their leaders' agreements to reduce military tensions along their heavily fortified border and improve overall ties, but the North canceled the meeting. In Washington, Trump said Thursday that nothing has changed with respect to North Korea after its warning. He said North Korean officials are discussing logistical details of the meeting with the U.S. 'as if nothing happened.' Trying to address the North Korean concerns, Trump said if Kim were to agree to denuclearize, 'he'll get protections that would be very strong.' But Trump warned that failure to make a deal could have grave consequences for Kim. Mentioning what happened in Libya when it gave up its nuclear program, Trump said, 'That model would take place if we don't make a deal.' 'The Libyan model isn't the model we have at all. In Libya we decimated that country.' Trump added. 'There was no deal to keep Gadhafi.' Some analysts say bringing up Libya, which dismantled its rudimentary nuclear program in the 2000s in exchange for sanctions relief, jeopardizes progress in negotiations with the North. Kim took power weeks after former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's gruesome death at the hands of rebel forces amid a popular uprising in October 2011. North Korea has frequently used Gadhafi's death to justify its own nuclear development in the face of perceived U.S. threats. A veteran has defended her decision to trade in army life to travel the world for free thanks to paid dating. Lior Dvash, 23, is treated to all-expenses-paid trips to dreamy destinations including Thailand, Canada and Spain - accompanying men of all ages. Ms Dvash said: 'In the army it was not a fun experience, I didn't go in hoping for a fun experience, I wanted to gain maturity and connect with my family that lives in Israel. Lior Dvash, 23, is treated to all-expenses-paid trips to dreamy destinations including Thailand, Canada and Spain - accompanying men of all ages Israeli-born Lior, who grew up in Canada but now lives in Brisbane 'I wanted to travel for free. I'm a nice person, great company and was really broke after finishing my army service.' Israeli-born Lior, who grew up in Canada but now lives in Brisbane, Australia, started taking the holidays shortly after leaving two years' service in the Israeli army, where she held an educational position educating volunteers. For the excursions, organised through website MissTravel.com, she travels to accompany men of all ages, not spending a penny and even being given a daily allowance and gifts including clothes and perfume. But she admitted some people judge her for the decision, believe that she is 'using the men' despite them freely choosing to pay for her company. 'I like meeting new people and seeing different perspectives, it's not a big deal as long as you feel comfortable with the person,' Ms Dvash said. 'My friends all know but my family don't know yet as it's unnecessary for them to know. I tell them I'm going on vacation and they don't know the details. She started taking the holidays shortly after leaving two years' service in the Israeli army, where she held an educational position educating volunteers ut she admitted some people judge her for the decision, believe that she is 'using the men' despite them freely choosing to pay for her company 'Some people make faces but it's because they think using somebody is negative thing, in reality we all use one another for many reasons, this is life. After leaving her army service in 2015, Lior started looking for ways to travel the world. She discovered Miss Travel and has since been on three trips, where aside from all expenses being paid for she was also treated and given gifts. 'After being released from the army, I was travelling to the highest luxury five-star hotels with a spa and everyday room service as a kid I was never allowed to order it,' Ms Dvash said. 'It was a welcome break for me, I definitely needed a break and to be able to spoil myself. A veteran has defended her decision to trade in army life to travel the world for free thanks to paid dating After leaving her army service in 2015, Lior started looking for ways to travel the world Lior believes if you are smart you can gain a lot from the experience and maintains that she always vets every man before going on a date 'I've had day-in day-out massages every single day. When we stayed in the resort as everything was paid for, they also took me shopping and things like that. 'In Malaga I was given cash and was taken on a day of shopping, I also was bought perfume. 'In Toronto the gentleman gave me $800 for the city tour and in Koh Samui I received a daily allowance, a dive trip and perfume.' Lior believes if you are smart you can gain a lot from the experience and maintains that she always vets every man before going on a date. She added: 'If they are weird I'm not obligated to go anywhere and also I make sure to have cash on me, the money will allow me to go back if I don't want to stay. 'As long as you speak with them over facetime and use common sense that's really important. 'Miss Travel is a great experience, anybody who is comfortable with themselves should try it out and there are a lot more benefits than cons.' She discovered Miss Travel and has since been on three trips, where aside from all expenses being paid for she was also treated and given gifts Malaysian police have confiscated a haul of luxury goods during a corruption and money laundering investigation into the country's former Prime Minister. Officers seized 284 designer handbags and 72 suitcases containing cash, jewelry and other valuables on Friday during the probe into Najib Razak's business affairs. Commercial crime chief Amar Singh said the valuables were found during a search of apartments linked to Najib at an upscale condo in Kuala Lumpur. Police load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They included 72 suitcases containing cash, jewelry and other valuables Police prepare to load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which included orange boxes full of designer handbags Singh said the seizure was part of investigations into a corruption scandal at the 1MDB state fund, which is also being probed by the U.S. and other countries. U.S. investigators say Najib's associates stole and laundered $4.5billion from the fund. Some of the money allegedly landed in Najib's bank account and $23million was used to buy a pink diamond necklace for his wife, it is claimed. Najib, whose coalition was ousted in a stunning election defeat last week, denies any wrongdoing. Television networks showed police carting away orange boxes containing handbags and luggage of various sizes from the condominium. Each orange box has a label and a picture of the bag. The labels on some of the boxes describe the bags as a 'navy blue crocodile skin with diamond,' a 'blue with diamonte' crocodile skin Hermes and a gray crocodile skin Hermes. Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves after performing Friday prayers in Kuala Lumpur on May 18 Najib Razak is met by a supporter who gives him a warm embrace Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor arrive in Tokyo on May 24, 2015. He is said to have bought her a $23million pink diamond necklace with laundered money All appeared to be new and were bought abroad, including in Paris and Switzerland in 2013 and 2015. Singh said the seizure included Birkin Hermes bags, cash in various currencies, watches and a 'big amount' of jewelry. Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, is known in Malaysia for her love for Birkin bags, which luxury publications say cost from $12,000 to more than $200,000. Singh declined to say who the apartments belonged. He said the 'search was conducted in relevance to our 1MDB investigations.' Police conducted simultaneous raids at several other locations including Najib's family house, his former office as prime minister and an official residence. Boxes containing confiscated items are put inside a police truck in Kuala Lumpur Police prepare to load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur. A label showing a luxury handbag can be seen printed on two of the orange boxes Police prepare to load confiscated items into a truck in Kuala Lumpur. A label showing a luxury handbag can be seen printed on one of the orange boxes Documents related to 1MDB were taken from the office and police are still trying to crack open a safe in Najib's house, he said. He declined to say if the haul would lead to an indictment for Najib. The search for evidence continues, he said. New Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who led an opposition alliance to victory in May 9 polls that ended the 60-year rule of Najib's coalition, has reopened the probe into 1MDB. Mahathir, 92, has said an initial investigation showed the scale of wrongdoing by Najib's administration was more serious than thought. He has said that arrests will be made when there is evidence, and there would be 'no deal' with Najib. Mahathir was premier for 22 years until 2003 but made a political comeback amid anger over the 1MDB scandal. Police spent 20 hours beginning late Wednesday searching Najib's house, and his lawyer said items such as handbags and clothing were taken away. Several police cars arrived at Najib's house Friday morning, fueling speculation his arrest may be imminent. Najib and his wife have been barred from traveling overseas. Mahathir has said the government will seek to retrieve billions of dollars laundered from 1MDB to repay government debts that have piled up over the years. A car (center) believed to be carrying former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves his private residence in Kuala Lumpur The government has also told the current attorney general, who cleared Najib of wrongdoing in 2016, to go on leave. It has relieved the country's treasury chief, who is also the 1MDB chairman. The government has set up a five-member committee to handle the 1MDB case. It includes a former attorney general and an adviser to Indonesia's Financial Services Authority. The son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has weighed in on his country's ongoing war of words with Turkey through an obscene Instagram post. Yair Netanyahu, 26, made his views on the diplomatic spat between Jerusalem and Ankara clear when he briefly posted 'F**k Turkey' to his social media. Written across a photo of the Turkish flag, Natanyahu replaced the 'c' in the expletive phrase with the nation's famous symbol of a crescent moon and star. Yair, the eldest of two sons from Mr Netanyahu's current marriage, deleted the photo from his Instagram story and took down his account several hours after posting. Scroll down for video Yair Netanyahu (right), the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), has posted an obscene photo to Instagram Yair, 26, posted this photo saying 'F**k Turkey' to his Instagram story before quickly deleting it. Turkey has been a strong opponent of Israel's deadly recent attacks on Palestinian protesters A spokesperson for the prime minister's office said in a statement: 'Yair Netanyahu is a private individual and his Instagram account is private.' Yair was previously a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces before transferring into the Spokesman's Office in a public relations role. His controversial Instagram post is not the first time he has used social media to hit out at Turkey over their involvement in the Gaza unrest. 'Turkey, you're responsible to unbelievable atrocities and suffer to Cyprus, the Greek people, the Kurds and a genocide of the Armenians,' Yair commented last year. 'Also I would like to remind the Turks that they're a people coming from Central Asia, illegally occupying little Asia and Constantinople that was Christian before their invasion. So shut up!' That Facebook rant by the former student at Jeruslaem's Hebrew University followed criticism from Ankara over Israel's strong response to Palestinian protesters last year. In 2015 a heavily-intoxicated Yair was recorded outside a strip club in Tel Aviv talking about prostitutes and boasting about his rich father. Speaking to Nir Maimon, the son of millionaire gas tycoon Kobi Maimon, outside the club Yair argued about money according to the Times of Israel. Sara (far left), Benjamin (left), Yair (right) and Avner Netanyahu (far right) pose for the cameras as the Israeli prime minister casts his vote at the 2013 election 'My dad set up 20 billion dollars for your dad, and you're fighting with me about 400 shekels (USD$110)?' Yair can be heard to ask. The pair then reportedly spent the night at the apartment of Australian billionaire James Packer. The number of Palestinian protesters killed at the border with Israel has now reached 60, leading Turkey to boot Israeli Ambassador Eitan Na'eh from the country. Turkey's ambassador to Israel had already been ordered home by Ankara, while Israel also expelled the Turkish consul in Jerusalem in another tit-for-tat move. Posted Friday, May 18, 2018 2:45 pm CIRCUIT COURT ACTIONS The following actions were taken last week in Polk County Circuit Court. Dollar amounts listed are for fines only; court costs are in addition to the fine. Amended charges were amended by the prosecutor. Cases heard by Associate Circuit Judge John C. Porter: Steven Ryan Volner, 23, Springfield; probation violation by committing new offenses of possession of controlled substance, committing assault on law enforcement officer, possession of firearm and concealment of a weapon with intent to deliver to county jail; probation and SIS revoked and ordered to serve four years in prison concurrent to other sentences. Volner was originally placed on probation in 2015 for shoving and hitting another student at Pleasant Hope High School on April 18, 2013. Cases heard by Circuit Judge Michael OBrien Hendrickson: Sherry Lynn Lewis, 43, Bolivar; class D felony sodomy - second degree and class E felony incest; seven years and three years in prison, respectively, concurrent, suspended, five years probation, 50 hours community service, complete sexual offender program, register as a sex offender, no access to social media and no contact with the victim. Nancy G. Tindle, Ozark; class C felony possession of controlled substance; suspended imposition of sentence, five years supervised probation, $300 to LERF and $150 in lab fees. CRIMINAL CHARGES The following new felony charges have been filed in Polk County Circuit Court: James Lee Burdette Jr., Pleasant Hope; class D felony driving while intoxicated - aggravated offender; summons issued for June 13 court date. Burdette was cited for DWI on July 7 on Mo. 215 near South 222nd Road and has prior DWI convictions in April 2003, May 2006 and July 2007. Hannah G. Corp, 20, Springfield; class D felonies tampering with vehicle - first degree, second-degree burglary, possession of controlled substance and first-degree property damage; free on $50,000 bond. Robert Henry Harris, 40, Bolivar; grand jury indictment in two cases; class D felony possession of controlled substance; class D felony possession of controlled substance and class C felony possession of c/s with intent to distribute; warrants issued; due in court Aug. 13. Todd Allen Herbert Sr., 36, Bolivar; class D felony possession of controlled substance; warrant issued; $10,000 bond. Herbert is accused of possession of 2.76 grams of methamphetamine found Jan. 11 during a search of a residence in the 1300 block of East 474th Road. Timathy Hollingsworth Sr., 48, Pleasant Hope; class E felony property damage - first degree; held on $15,000 bond; due in court May 23. Hollingsworth is accused of damaging three vehicles on North Main Street in Pleasant Hope on May 16. James Fred Price, 47, Bolivar; class E felony resisting arrest; held on $15,000 bond; due in court June 6. Price is accused of running from law enforcement on May 14 and was arrested on outstanding warrants. Shanda M. Rogers, 24, Springfield; class D felony tampering with vehicle - first degree; held on $7,500; due in court June 6. Rogers is accused of unlawfully operating a stolen Chevy HHR on May 15 in the 900 block of East South Street. Amber Lynn Shimp, 24, Halfway; grand jury indictment; class B felony arson - first degree and class E felony damage to jail or jail property; held on $50,000 bond; arraignment set for June 4. Zachary Allen Williams, 26, Buffalo; class D felonies second-degree burglary, unlawful possession of firearm, possession of controlled substance and first-degree property damage; class E felony unlawful use of weapon - possession of c/s and weapon; held on $75,000 bond; due in court June 6. Janissa M. Wilson, 23, Bolivar; class E felony resisting arrest; held on $15,000 bond; due in court May 23. She is accused of running from law enforcement on May 14 and was arrested on outstanding warrants. CIVIL ACTIONS The following civil suits have been disposed in Polk County Circuit Court with Associate Circuit Judge Elizabeth V. Rohrs (unless otherwise noted) presiding: Lester E. Cox Medical Center vs. Jeffrey Shane and Kim Payne, Bolivar; breach of contract; dismissed by parties. Stephanie N. Stebbins, Wichita, Kansas, vs. Clayton L. Mathis, Brighton; CS UIFSA responding; dismissed by court. Rebecca Dalton, Ozark, and Jeremy W. Dalton, Ozark; motion to modify; modification granted. Jay Wendell Moffett, Bolivar, vs. State of Missouri; post-conviction relief; tried by court - civil; judgment entered (Circuit Judge Michael O. Hendrickson). Central Polk County Fire Protection District; other miscellaneous actions; final judgment and decree of extension of boundaries. Stacey Weeks, Halfway, vs. Brittany Lehne, Burnet, Texas; administrative order; other final disposition. CIVIL PETITIONS The following civil cases have been filed in Polk County Circuit Court: Ag First Farm Credit Bank vs. Michael Kurt Vote, Bolivar; promissory note; certified for circuit court. Anne Letterman, Fair Grove, vs. Willy J. Wilson and Landsey Faye Righter, Walnut Grove; unlawful detainer. Ditech Financial LLC vs. John A. Redburn, Dunnegan, Betty A. Redburn, Springfield, and Bridget L. Redburn, Dunnegan; contract - other. Connie L. Brakebill, Bolivar, vs. Correction Services; SATOP review. Southwest Baptist University vs. Brooke E. Robinson, Fair Play; suit on account. Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC vs. Jesse W. Moore, Morrisville; breach of contract. DISSOLUTIONS The following couple has filed for dissolution of marriage in Polk County Circuit Court: Michael James Thorington and Angela Renee Thorington. The following dissolution of marriage has been granted in Polk County Circuit Court: Melinda Davison and Cory A. Davison; sole legal and physical custody of one child; former name of Melinda Kessler restored. ASSOCIATE COURT The following people pleaded guilty to traffic citations and misdemeanors in Polk County Circuit Court, Associate Judge John C. Porter presiding. Dollar amounts listed are for fines only; court costs are in addition to the fine. Amended charges were amended by the prosecutor. Celena Hope Renee Aleshire, Mt. Vernon; unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia; $100. Bryan K. Anglin, Springfield; driving without valid license; $41. Billi Jo Askew, Morrisville; three counts no seat belt; $30. Samuel D. Baker, Aldrich; speeding; suspended imposition of sentence, one year probation, youth traffic offender program and $100 to county law enforcement restitution fund. James Wesley Baldwin, Glenwood, Washington; failure to display plates; $71. Keith Allen Behee, Preston; no seat belt; $10. Jennifer Marie Zarda Brinkley, Shawnee Mission, Kansas; amended stopped or parking in prohibited area; $250. Debbie Lynn Bray, Humansville; no seat belt; $10. Sydney Christine Burney, Pittsburg; speeding; $81. Juan Jose Carmons, Humansville; speeding; $206. Miranda Lynn Carter, Bolivar; violation of intermediate drivers license or temporary drivers permit; suspended imposition of sentence and one year probation. Kristina Marie Dishman, Springfield; no insurance; $111; speeding; $206. Kimber Lynn Dunn, Bolivar; driving without valid license; suspended imposition of sentence, one year probation and $100 to LERF. Corey Michael Gentry, Louisburg; possession of marijuana; $100. Rebecca Irene Hall, Springfield; class A misdemeanor assault - third degree; 30 days in jail. Jerrin Lachelle Hampton, Fair Grove; amended defective equipment; $97. Zachary James Hampton, Pleasant Hope; no insurance; $111. Tammatha Donnell Herbert, Morrisville; possession of marijuana; $100. Jeffrey Allen Hunt, Bolivar; driving without valid license; $41. City of Fair Play vs. Larry Thomas Jarman, Humansville; speeding; $110. Angelea Dawn Karlstromer, Springfield; failure to transfer plates; $21; no seat belt; $10; no insurance; suspended imposition of sentence and one year probation. Allison Glenne Lindhart, Blue Springs; amended defective equipment; $87. Kolin Lee Lindsay, Bolivar; driving without valid license; $41. Richard Douglas McAllister, Morrisville; no insurance; $61; no seat belt; $10. Samuel Paul McPherson, Bolivar; failure to register vehicle; $31. Dylon Franklin Michael Meadows, Springfield; unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia; $100; no seat belt; $10; speeding; $81. Shane Lee Miller, Fulton; no seat belt; $10. Kimberly J. Mills, Warrensburg; speeding; $156. Elizabeth Ann Moemeke, Memphis, Tenn.; speeding; $81. Jenny Jo Adele C. Nix, El Dorado Springs; unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia; $100; no seat belt; $10. Brenda Sue Rogers, Brighton; failure to display plates; $71. Christopher Jason Rogers, Pleasant Hope; failure to drive on right half of roadway; suspended imposition of sentence and one year probation. Amanda Sue Rouse, Springfield; driving without valid license; suspended imposition of sentence, one year probation and $100 to LERF. Quintin Mark Russell, Taneyville; driving without valid license; $41. Tara Shae Ryan, Flemington; failure to drive on right half of roadway; $100. Israel C. Thompson, Kansas City; speeding; $300; driving without valid license; suspended imposition of sentence and one year probation. Charles Augustus Tietgen, Shawnee Mission, Kansas; amended stopped or parked in prohibited area; $122. Terry Mark Tosh, Fair Play; driving without valid license; suspended imposition of sentence and one year probation. Bradley K. Waltrip, Stockton; class A misdemeanor stealing; $100 and 10 days in jail with credit for time served. Scott Cameron Watson Jr., Urbana; no insurance; $61; no seat belt; $10. Cody Ray Westfall, Halfway; class B misdemeanor driving while intoxicated; suspended imposition of sentence, two years probation, $300 to LERF, 40 hours community service and substance abuse traffic offender program. POLICE REPORT The Bolivar Police Department released the following reports for: Friday, April 20 A vehicle was reported stolen in the 200 block of West South Street. Property damage was reported in the 700 block of East Locust Street. A St. Louis man was arrested in the 500 block of West Broadway Street on suspicion of possession of marijuana. A combative juvenile and assault were reported in the 1200 block of East Broadway Street. Saturday, April 21 Property damage was reported in the 500 block of South Gary Avenue. Property damage was reported in the 500 block of South Flint Avenue. A man from St. Ann was arrested on suspicion of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana in the 1300 block of South Lillian Avenue. Domestic assault and a physical assault was reported in the 600 block of East Maupin Street. A man and a woman were later arrested on suspicion of assault. Sunday, April 22 A man was arrested on suspicion of marijuana on South Lillian Street. A man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault or attempted assault on East Lindon Street. Two women were arrested on domestic assault on East Lindon Street. Monday, April 23 A vehicle was reported stolen in the 700 block of East Lindon Street. A report of leaving the scene of an accident was reported in the 1600 block of West Parkview Street. A woman was arrested on suspicion of failure to register vehicle on South Springfield Avenue. Tuesday, April 24 A report of interference with duties of an officer was taken on South Springfield Avenue. Theft was reported in the 3300 block of West Broadway Street. A Bolivar man was arrested near Broadway Street and Springfield Avenue on suspicion of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and driving while suspended/revoked. A man was arrested on suspicion of driving while suspended or revoked near East Broadway Street and Springfield Avenue. Wednesday, April 25 Leaving the scene of an accident was reported in the 600 block of North Oakland Avenue. Identity theft was reported in the 200 block of West Walnut Street. Thursday, April 26 A past theft was reported in the 2400 block of South Springfield Avenue. Theft was reported in the 2400 block of South Springfield Avenue (two reports). A white man was arrested on suspicion of driving while suspended near Albany Avenue and Division Street. Fraud was reported in the 1400 block of East Lindon Street. A man was arrested on suspicion of driving while suspended or revoked near North Boston Avenue and East Chestnut Street. A man was arrested on suspicion of driving while suspended or revoked near North Albany Avenue and East Division Street. SHERIFFS REPORT The Polk County Sheriffs Dept. released the following reports for: Tuesday, May 15 Brooke Fox, 34, of Bolivar was arrested on warrants for possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, stealing and a traffic violation. A 24-year-old Springfield woman was arrested on suspicion of tampering with a motor vehicle. Chase Polodna, 28, of Bolivar was arrested on a warrant for leaving the scene of an accident. Patricia Diaz, 44, of Springfield was arrested on a warrant for possession of controlled substance. Casandra Murphy, 22, of Bolivar was arrested on a warrant for domestic assault. Domestic assault was reported on South 127th Road, Flemington. Theft was reported on South 248th Road, Buffalo. Wednesday, May 16 Timathy Hollingsworth, 48, of Pleasant Hope was arrested on a warrant for property damage. Bridgette Butcher, 38, of Dexter was arrested on a warrant for possession of controlled substance. Donald Morris, 24, of Bolivar was arrested on warrants for a seat belt violation and possession of controlled substance. Property damage was reported on North Main Street, Pleasant Hope. Property damage was reported on Rt. AC, Urbana. Burglary was reported on East 350th Road, Humansville. Theft was reported on East 135th Road, Bolivar. Domestic assault was reported on East Second Street, Fair Play. A gastro outbreak has forced a private Catholic school to close after 20 students and two teachers were sent to hospital with vomiting and diarrhoea. The source of the outbreak is still unknown, but students at Mt Maria College in Brisbane are believed to have caught the illness during a Year 10 excursion to Parliament House and the Law Courts on Tuesday. 'Four or five students who went on that excursion had gone to hospital for some sort of gastro infection. They were really, really sick,' Mt Maria College Principal Glenn McConville told ABC radio. A gastro outbreak has forced Mt Maria College, a Brisbane private Catholic school, (pictured) to close after 20 students and two teachers were sent to hospital with vomiting and diarrhoea The decision to close the school on Friday was made in consultation with Queensland Health to prevent the illness spreading any further. 'I believe the safety, health and well-being of the students and staff must be our main priority at this time and by giving at least a 48-hour window from student sickness today may help break the transmission cycle,' Mr McConville said. Cleaners will work to disinfect school common areas, surfaces, doors handles, and veranda railings over Friday and the weekend. While the source of the outbreak is still unknown, it is suspected to have been picked up during a Year 10 excursion to Parliament House (pictured) and the Law Courts on Tuesday 'We can confirm that approximately 20 students from Mt Maria College have fallen ill with a suspected gastro-like illness,' a Metro North Public Health spokeswoman said. 'Metro North Public Health Unit is working closely with the school to investigate the matter with the cause yet to be determined.' The school hopes to return as normal with students returning to class on Monday. 'We pray that students and staff affected make a quick recovery,' Mr McConville said. Cleaners will work to disinfect school common areas, surfaces, doors handles, and veranda railings over Friday and the weekend A burka-wearing Muslim who refused to stand for a judge 'because she only stands for Allah' has had her appeal dismissed. Moutia Elzahed, the wife of jailed terrorist recruiter Hamdi Alqudsi, was ordered to pay NSW Police $250,000 in costs after she tried to sue the force for raiding her home. She appealed that the decision but today had her case thrown out of court, the Daily Telegraph reported. Elzahed's lawyer claimed the woman had been unable to give 'crucial' evidence because the judge in the initial case had refused to let her speak without removing her veil. Scroll down for video A burka-wearing Muslim who refused to stand for a judge 'because she only stands for Allah' has had her appeal dismissed Moutia Elzahed, the wife of jailed terrorist recruiter Hamdi Alqudsi, was ordered to pay NSW Police $250,000 in costs after she tried to sue the force for raiding her home But Justice Anthony Payne today told the NSW Court of Appeal that the decision to not let her give evidence with her face covered was correct in law. 'Viewing the appellant's face while she was giving her evidence was capable of affecting the resolution of that conflict,' the judge said. 'The primary judge did not err in concluding that fairness to all parties required her to reject the appellant's application.' Elzahed, 50, was ordered to cough up the $250,000 costs. Earlier this month, Elzahed gave the one-finger ISIS salute outside court after being found guilty of refusing to stand for a judge. She held up her index finger - which was covered completely in a black glove - to awaiting crowds outside court. Wearing an ink black burqa, she walked away from the Sydney Downing Centre Court as she continued to perform the ISIS salute while her friend called journalists 'cockroaches'. Elzahed's lawyer claimed the woman had been unable to give 'crucial' evidence because the judge in the initial case had refused to let her speak without removing her veil The single finger salute of a right hand represents tawhid, a key component of Muslim religion, and signifies 'ISIS' violent and uncompromising posture' towards 'the destruction of the West', according to Foreign Affairs. The Muslim woman's decision to use the ISIS salute appears to reflect the moment her husband performed the same gesture moments before he was sentenced for eight years. Elzahed's extremist husband, Alqudsi, who was found guilty of recruiting terrorist fighters in 2016, held up his index finger to Supreme Court Judge Christine Adamson while he stood in the dock. The traditional Islamic gesture has been used by a number of Islamic State fighters which reportedly shows their belief towards world domination. Elzahed is the first person in New South Wales to face the charge after she refused to rise for a judge in 2016 purportedly on religious grounds. The woman was found guilty in the Downing Centre Local Court of nine counts of disrespectful behaviour in court. The stand-off came to a head when the magistrate Carolyn Huntsman returned to the bench and ordered Elzahed to leave her seat at the back of the courtroom and approach the bar table. 'Remain standing - you remain standing when I speak to you,' Ms Huntsman said. The Muslim woman's decision to use the ISIS salute appears to reflect the moment her husband (pictured 2016) performed the same gesture moments before being sentenced Elzahed's husband, Alqudsi (pictured), who was found guilty of recruiting terrorist fighters in 2016, held up his index finger to Supreme Court Judge Christine Adamson while at the dock Ms Elzahed (pictured) reportedly told the court she only stood for Allah and gave the single finger ISIS salute to awaiting crowds outside the Sydney Downing Centre Court The single finger salute of a right hand represents tawhid, a key component of Muslim religion, and signifies ISIS' violence and 'the destruction of the West' The devout Muslim's lawyer told the NSW Court of Appeal she could not give 'crucial' evidence about her version of what police did during the September 2014 raid The magistrate had found Elzahed intentionally flouted the established court convention on nine separate occasions in 2016 when she remained seated in front of District Court Judge Audrey Balla. Each offence carries a maximum jail term of 14 days and/or a $1100 fine. Elzahed, who has no prior convictions, said she only stood for Allah, but Ms Huntsman on Friday ruled there was no evidence she was acting on a genuine religious belief or that the teachings of Islam compelled such behaviour. The mother-of-two previously told Daily Mail Australia she did 'nothing wrong' and felt 'very happy about everything'. The woman, who is one of two wives of Alqudsi, said she refused to reveal her face in court to give evidence over an incident in 2014. The 50-year-old's black Islamic dress covers her entire body, including her hands, and she said only her 'brother, husband, father or son' can see her uncovered. Elzahed refused to stand in front of District Court Judge Audrey Balla on nine separate occasions in 2016 when she remained seated 'You are all missing the point. People who say rude things about me do not understand my beliefs,' Elzahed said. Last December the Australian National Imams Council said Islamic defendants have no faith-based reason not to stand before a judge or uncover their faces while giving testimony. CCTV footage previously played in court showed Elzahed failed to rise nine times in November and December 2016 with each offence carrying a maximum jail term of 14 days and/or a $1,100 fine. The defence had originally cast doubt over whether Elzahed was the woman under the black niqab but her lawyer later conceded her identity would no longer be contested. The court heard the mother-of-two had been subjected to online trolling and death threats since the case began. Defence barrister David Hume instead argued his client should be acquitted because there was no evidence Elzahed was under a legal duty to stand. WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC STATE ONE FINGER SALUTE? The traditional Islamic gesture of raising a single index finger has been widely adopted by Islamic State fighters. The salute refers to the tawhid - a belief in the oneness of God - and is a key component of the Islamic religion. The tawhid is the first half of the shahada, an affirmation of faith which is one of the five pillars of Islam and a part of the daily prayer ritual. 'There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.' But for ISIS the symbol is more sinister. Members of the terrorist group use the gesture to communicate their violent and uncompromising posture towards its adversaries in the West. It is an active reaffirmation that they are dedicated to their ideology which 'demands the destruction of the West'. The salute is used heavily in ISIS propaganda material, with militants seen holding their finger up alongside macabre beheading scenes. The traditional Islamic gesture of raising an index finger - which refers to the tawhid or 'the belief in the oneness of God' - has been adopted by Islamic State fighters (left) Source: ISIS Exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam By Erick Stakelbeck Advertisement The Muslim woman claimed it was because of religious belief but Australian National Imams Council said Islamic defendants have no faith-based reason not to stand before a judge Qantas is slashing fares to a beach destination as part of a new Australian flight deal. In an attempt to put West Australians off going on holiday to Bali, the government has struck a deal with the airline to offer cheap flights to Broome. Qantas will offer daily one-way flights from Perth to Broome for $179, with the fares costing $199 in peak season. Qantas is slashing fares to a beach destination as part of a new Australian flight deal The WA Government is keen to encourage people to holiday within the state rather than go abroad to Indonesia, The trial will see 29,400 discounted airfares offered, Perth Now reported. WA Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said this was 'easily the biggest thing done for Broome by any State government.' 'The aim of this initiative is to provide affordable fares throughout the year to help stimulate leisure travel to Broome and the Kimberley,' he said. 'We hope it will encourage people to escape to Broome for a weekend getaway, or vice versa, or to plan a longer one to two-week stay and it is a higher quality offering than Bali.' Qantas said the partnership would offer 'great value' to travellers. Advertisement A popular middle school teacher was one of two victims who was killed in a horrific school bus crash that injured 43 people in New Jersey on Thursday morning. Jennifer Williamson, 51, has been identified as the adult who was killed when a bus full of fifth graders from East Brook Middle School in Paramus collided with a red dump truck on I-80 near Mount Olive Township. There were 38 students, all aged between 10 and 11, and seven adults on board for a school trip. A student was also killed in the crash. The name of the student who was killed has not been released but one source at the scene told the Times that the victim is a young girl who died from blunt force trauma. Jennifer Williamson, 51, has been identified as the adult who was killed when a bus full of fifth graders from East Brook Middle School in Paramus, New Jersey collided with a red dump truck on I-80 near Mount Olive Township on Thursday morning There were 38 students, all aged between 10 and 11, and seven adults on board for a school trip. A student was also killed in the crash The name of the student who was killed has not been released but one source at the scene said the victim is a young girl who died from blunt force trauma Forty-three people were taken to hospital and some remain in a critical condition. Some of the victims are still undergoing surgery in various area hospitals Williamson had been a teacher for more than 20 years who grew up on a block not far from the school where she taught fifth grade social studies, a family member told theNew York Times. Paramus Mayor Rich LaBarbiera, who has known Williamson and her family his whole life, called the crash a 'horrific event'. 'Paramus will miss her,' he told NJ.com. 'She was an amazing person.' Tributes began to pour in for Williamson on Thursday night from both family members and former students on social media. Williamson's niece, Kelly Hulahan, wrote on Facebook: 'Rest in Peace Aunt...You will forever be missed and loved. So many great memories with you.' Denise Schider Medvitz, whose son David had Williamson as his fifth grade teacher, said it was 'obvious' how much the educator 'loved her job'. 'David just sent me a message saying "she was the best"', Medvitz wrote on Facebook. 'He and his friends went back to visit her when they were in high school. This is beyond heartbreaking.' Theo Ancevski (pictured), an 11-year-old student who was in the bus at the time of the accident, said his classmates were 'hanging from their seat belts' and screaming during the crash 'I heard a scraping sound and we toppled over the highway,' Theo, who suffered minor cuts from the accident, told the Times. 'A few people got out of the windows and they got out of the emergency exit at the top of the roof' Both police and passengers have confirmed that all children in the bus were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash Not only did the bus carriage come off its chassis but the cab, where the driver sits, also tore away from the rest of the bus, splitting the driver and the children up. The steering wheel was left entirely exposed This is the mangled dump truck which was also involved in the accident. Its driver is receiving treatment in hospital. The vehicle belongs to Mendez Trucking which is based out of Belleville, New Jersey First responders and motorists who got out of their cars to help the children are shown above as the first police arrived A view from an overpass shows the bus crashed through the barrier on the side of the highway and flipped on to its side. Students had not yet been taken to hospital and there was a rush of other motorists who offered to help them as they climbed out of the vehicle Nick Daurio, another former student, shared his sadness on Twitter. 'Today I heard news from my old school. One of my old teachers passed in that horrific accident I just want to pray for everyone...rip Ms Williamson' The school bus had been headed to a recreated 19th century town known as Waterloo Village when it collided with the truck. It was just a few miles from its destination. It remains unclear how the accident happened. The impact was so strong it forced the bus off its chassis. The cab carrying all of the passengers and driver went flying into the metal barrier on the side of the highway as a result. Theo Ancevski, an 11-year-old student who was in the bus at the time of the accident, said his classmates were 'hanging from their seat belts' and screaming during the crash. 'I heard a scraping sound and we toppled over the highway,' Theo, who suffered minor cuts from the accident, told the Times. 'A few people got out of the windows and they got out of the emergency exit at the top of the roof.' Both police and passengers have confirmed that all children were wearing their seat belts. Forty-three people were taken to hospital and some remain in a critical condition. Some of the victims are still undergoing surgery in various area hospitals. A view from the overpass shows emergency workers loading students into ambulances as other traffic came to a standstill in the immediate aftermath of the crash The mangled wreck of the bus on Thursday morning. The bus was one of three taking students from the school to the historic village for the field trip At the scene, discarded bandages and pieces of gauze were left lying on the ground after being used by paramedics Investigators are pictured at the scene of the crash on Thursday afternoon. The crash is being investigated by both the State Police and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office 'We had every injury type that you can imagine in a scenario like this,' Jeffrey Paul, the director of the Morris County Office of Emergency Management, said. 'It's tragic for anybody to be in a situation like this. But children - our hearts certainly go out to the families.' The bus was one of three taking students from the school to the historic village. The other two vehicles arrived safely at the historic site but, when teachers learned of the accident, made their way back to the school after 10 minutes. The children were told at the time that they had to turn back because of a storm. They only learned of the accident involving their classmates once they were back at the school, where they were met by the principal and crisis counselors. School was dismissed at 12.12pm. Police were seen searching the surrounding woodland with cadaver dogs afterwards. Students on the other two buses have since revealed that none of them had their cell phones with them at the time because they all left their phones in lockers at the school before departing for the trip. At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said morosely: 'I stand here as both the governor and somebody who knows the community very well.' 'I am also here as a dad and you have days like this...this is tragic.' Shattered glass from the windows were left on the highway along with clothes, pieces of paper and bandages that all flew onto the road in the accident An investigator with a cadaver dog walks through the wreckage on Thursday afternoon An investigator peers into the bus on Thursday to work at the scene. There were several agencies there by the afternoon 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, the teachers, the counselors, the staff, the extraordinary first responders who in many cases were at the scene of this accident.' 'It is with a heavy heart that we stand before you.' The bus collided with a red truck which belongs to Mendez Trucking, a Belleville based company. The New York Post reports that the company and, specifically the truck which was involved in Thursday's accident, has had a history of problems. The same truck was involved in an accident on the NJ Turnpike in 2016. It is not clear if it was the same driver. The vehicle has the words 'In God We Trust' written on the back. The front of it was destroyed in the accident. Investigators work at the scene of the accident on Thursday. Students on the other two buses have since revealed that none of them had their cell phones with them at the time because they all left their phones in lockers at the school The bus remained on the road long into the afternoon as investigators flocked to the scene. It remains unclear what caused the horrrific crash The entire body of the bus came off the chassis and went flying in to the highway median. The cab where the driver sits also came apart from the rest of the carriage The sun roofs on the bus were left flung open. The students are likely to have used them to escape after the bus flipped onto its side Police will not give any possible explanation for the crash and are referring questions to the state investigators and county prosecutors The accident happened on Interstate 80 near Exit 25 in Mount Olive Township. The children are believed to have been on their way to Stanhope on a school trip As news of the crash emerged, petrified parents rushed to the school to find out if their child was one of those involved. 'This is something you hope never happens in your hometown. Were just waiting to hear from everyone we know,' Angela Miaoulis, one parent, told North Jersey. Her son is in the eighth grade. Two patients are at St Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson. Ten were being cared for at St Clare's Health in Dover and Denville. At least one patient was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, and several patients were taken to Hackettstown Medical Center.' Photographs from the crash show children sitting by the side of the road, hugging one another after escaping from the wreckage. Paramus education officials said the schools will remain open on Friday and there will be crisis counselors available to talk with students and parents. East Brook Middle School has canceled all field trips for the rest of the year. The crash is being investigated by both the State Police and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office. The investigation is being monitored by the National Transportation Safety Board. Police used dogs to help search the wooded areas surrounding the road in case anyone had been thrown from the vehicle All of the people in the bus and in the truck are accounted for in hospitals across the area. Before police were able to reach that conclusion, they combed the woodland nearby Julian Assange speaking on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London last year. His communications were cut off in March after he made political comments on Twitter The President of Ecuador has ordered the withdrawal of extra security at the country's London embassy where Julian Assange has lived for the last six years. Lenin Moreno made the move after it was revealed that at least 3.7 million was spent on an intelligence operation to protect the WikiLeaks founder. The operation - initially called 'Operation Guest' and later 'Operation Hotel' - ran up an average cost of at least $66,000 (48,885) a month. Assange's activities, moods, interactions with embassy staff, his legal team and other visitors were monitored by security personnel and recorded in minute detail. An international security company was contracted to secretly film and monitor all activity in the embassy. Its bill was $55,000 (40,000) a month, paid from a 'special expenses' government budget, documents belonging to Ecuador's intelligence agency Senain revealed, according to The Guardian. A team was also installed at a 2,800-a-month flat round the corner from the Knightsbridge embassy to provide round-the-clock security. The operation to protect Assange had the approval of the then Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa and the then foreign minister Ricardo Patino. But the Ecuadorian government have now said that the London site 'will maintain normal security similar to that of other Ecuadorian embassies' going forwards. Assange emerges onto a balcony at the embassy in August 2012, the year he took refuge in the small diplomatic headquarters Assange fears he will be extradited to the U.S. and imprisoned over WikiLeaks' publication of secret US military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010. The 46-year-old Australian took refuge in the small diplomatic headquarters in 2012 to avoid sexual abuse charges in Sweden, which he has always denied. Prosecutors have since abandoned their investigation, but British authorities are still seeking his arrest for breaching bail conditions. Ecuador suspended Assange's communication systems in March after he made political comments on Twitter. This broke a promise he made in 2017 not to interfere in other countries' affairs while he remains in the mission. Moreno has described Assange's situation as 'a stone in his shoe.' A young Sydney man who supplied the gun used in the terror killing of police accountant Curtis Cheng will remain behind bars until at least 2029. Talal Alameddine provided Raban Alou with a pistol that was then given to 15-year-old Farhad Jabar, who shot Mr Cheng as he left work at Parramatta Police Headquarters in 2015. The 25-year-old refused to stand for Justice Peter Johnson on Friday when he was handed a maximum sentence of 17 years in jail with a non-parole period of 13-and-a-half years. Talal Alameddine provided Raban Alou with a pistol that was then given to 15-year-old Farhad Jabar (right), who shot Mr Cheng (left) as he left work at Parramatta Police Headquarters in 2015 The NSW Supreme Court judge praised Mr Cheng's widow, Selina, his daughter, Zilvia, and his son, Alpha - who were all present in court - for their 'fortitude and dignity'. Alameddine in October 2017 pleaded guilty to recklessly possessing a thing connected with a terrorist act and supplying a pistol. The maximum penalty for both offences is 30 years. Jabar - also known as Farhad Mohammad - was swiftly killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers after shooting Mr Cheng in the back of the head on the night of October 2. The court heard officers found a chilling suicide note in the teenager's blood-soaked robes, stating he had 'come to put terror in your hearts' by carrying out religious-inspired violence for Islamic State. 'You all are being watched 24/7, while you are asleep, awake, planning,' the letter read. 'Your nights will be turned into nightmares, your days into hell ... by the will of Allah.' Alameddine's co-offender Alou was jailed for at least 33 years in March. Alameddine (pictured when he was arrested) in October 2017 pleaded guilty to recklessly possessing a thing connected with a terrorist act and supplying a pistol Supporters of Talal Alameddine are seen leaving the Parramatta Supreme Court in Sydney Justice Johnson said Jabar and Alou were radicalised extremist supporters of IS while Alameddine had at least some level of sympathy for the 'fanatical' organisation. The judge found the Merrylands man knew the gun was to be used for an immediate terror act but he couldn't determine whether he supplied it for free. Mr Cheng's widow in March said she was 'utterly repulsed' by those who played any role in the murder of her gentle, humble and beloved husband. 'I felt total darkness completely envelope me. I was completely devastated and all sense of security and hope was lost,' Selina Cheng told Alameddine's sentence hearing. Alameddine, who has a criminal history and displayed no remorse, received a 15 per cent sentence discount for his guilty plea, the judge said. 'I am not persuaded the offender has good prospects for rehabilitation,' Justice Johnson said. Footy legend James Hird has hard his car stolen by thieves who broke into his home while he and his family were sleeping. Victoria Police confirmed they were investigating a robbery at a home in the affluent suburb of Toorak in Melbourne. The robbers are believed to have entered fallen star Hird's home between 12am and 1.30am on Friday. Scroll down for video Footy legend James Hird has hard his car stolen by thieves who broke into his home while he was sleeping Hird's wife Tania (right) and daughter Stephanie (left) leave their Toorak mansion in early 2017 He was home at the time, as were his wife and four children. 'We were all upstairs sleeping, it was a bit scary,' Hird told Channel Nine on Friday. 'The took out car, that's the main thing, we've got to go and find our car. 'It is a bit (disturbing) that someone's come into your house... but luckily no one was hurt.' A 'shaken up' Hird reportedly revealed his family's overnight ordeal when speaking at a luncheon on Friday. The 1996 Brownlow Medalist and Essendon premiership star's silver Audi Q7 wagon was stolen. Police are now searching for the vehicle, which has registration XCA-676. A number of laptop computers were also snatched. The 1996 Brownlow Medallist was home at the time, as was his wife and four children (pictured in 2010) Police are now searching for Hird's silver Audi Q7 wagon, which has registration XCA-676 Hird's home became a daily haunt for media during the height of the drug scandal that engulfed the Essendon Football Club in 2013. After leaving his role with sports consulting firm Gemba he took up the reins as head coach at the Bombers in September 2010. But his dream of leading his former club to a premiership as coach ended in August 2015, when he finally resigned amid massive scrutiny. Two teenagers have been rushed to hospital after reportedly taking an unknown substance. Emergency services attended Mitchelton State High School in Brisbane's north about 11:30am after the alarm was raised. A spokesperson for Queensland Ambulance Service said both girls, believed to be students, were assessed at the scene. Emergency services attended Mitchelton State High School (pictured) about 11:30am They were then taken to the Prince Charles Hospital and Lady Cilento Children's Hospital. Both are now in a stable condition. More to come. A 64-year-old woman has made her first court appearance over the deaths of four women who were killed in a car crash when they were returning home after a night of line dancing. Lorraine Nicholson, who is on bail, is charged with dangerous driving and culpable driving causing death at Navarre, regional Victoria, on May 5. She is also accused of failing to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Stawell-Avoca Road and Ararat-St Arnaud Road and driving at 89km/h in an 80km/h zone. A 64-year-old woman has made her first court appearance over the deaths of four women who were killed in a car crash when they were returning home after a night of line dancing Lorraine Nicholson, who is on bail, is charged with dangerous driving and culpable driving causing death at Navarre, regional Victoria, on May 5 She is also accused of failing to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Stawell-Avoca Road and Ararat-St Arnaud Road and driving at 89km/h in an 80km/h zone Line dancing friends Elaine Middleton, Margaret Ely, Dianne Barr and Claudia Jackson, aged 64 to 75, were returning home when a Jeep allegedly T-boned their Kia on the isolated stretch of road. All four women died of internal injuries. Nicholson suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the alleged crash. Nicholson's lawyer Andrew Madden told Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday the matter may proceed to a jury trial. Nicholson was supported in court by her husband and a younger male relative. Tess Ely was also killed after the collision between the Kia and another vehicle Lorraine Nicholson (left and right) departs the Ballarat Magistrates court in Victoria on Friday The court was told during the preliminary filing hearing that Nicholson must surrender her passport to the court as part of her bail conditions. She was bailed to reappear in court on September 20 for a committal mention. 'The 64-year-old Stawell woman driving the other vehicle has been charged with four counts of culpable driving causing death,' a police statement said One of the women who died in the crash was farewelled on Thursday. 'The funeral for Dianne Barr was held today in Heywood at the Uniting Church, with more than 200 people attending, including police and Emergency services members,' one man commented on the ABC Ballarat Facebook page. Nicholson was supported in court by her husband and a younger male relative 'The president of the Hamilton Boot Scooting Club read the eulogy while a specially written poem & reading were given by her sons. The Hamilton Boot Scooting club formed a guard of honour at the completion of the service.' Two of the four friends killed on the isolated road held hands as they died from their injuries. They were among eight deaths within the space of 24 hours on Victorian roads. The intersection had no history of significant crashes prior to the tragedy. 'Seeing that scene, it was horrific...four women who looked like they were just asleep, so they've died from internal injuries,' Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said at the time. 'The sight of the driver holding the passenger's hand as she passed will haunt me for some time.' He added that the four women had been valued members within the community for decades. The women were travelling down a clear stretch of road when the other car (right) allegedly came straight through an intersection in an 80km/h zone Dianne Barr's husband Gavin Barr said he was 'lost for words' at his loss and described his late partner as a 'happy go lucky lady', the Herald Sun reported. The couple were due to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary the following week. He said Ms Barr 'wouldn't have an enemy in the town' and 'loved her dancing'. 'I encouraged her to go out and meet people so she could have a social life,' he said. The couple, who shared two sons and two granddaughters, ran a busy small parts business which allowed them to work side-by-side 24/7. Gable Tostee, known as Eric Thomas, shared his thoughts on feminism over Facebook Tinder Lothario Gable Tostee has claimed feminists will be 'cured' if they have sex. The Gold Coast man, who has since changed his name to Eric Thomas, shared his controversial opinion on feminism in a vile Facebook post on Friday. 'The best cure for feminism is a good root,' he said in a post shared with his 4,000 followers. Tostee accompanied the statement with a photo of a raised middle finger. The 31-year-old has not held back from voicing his opinions on females since he was cleared of murder more than a year ago. Tostee stood trial for the death of New Zealand tourist Warriena Wright, 26, after she fell 14 storeys from his Gold Coast apartment in 2014. The pair were on a first date after they met through dating app Tinder. The outspoken 31-year-old (left) has felt no need to keep his silence since his highly-publicised court appearance over charges in relation to the death of Warriena Wright, 26, (right) and has appeared on 60 Minutes and the Kyle and Jackie O show to speak out about the case Shortly after he was acquitted over the death, Tostee created another Tinder profile. 'Shhh don't tell Channel 9,' his profile read, referring to the media attention surrounding the death of Ms Wright and his subsequent trial. Tostee is no stranger to social media controversy, posting a string of provocative posts on Facebook since being acquitted. In March this year he drew criticism for a comment he made to mark International Women's Day. 'Happy International Women's Day to all ma hoes!!', he wrote at the time. The backlash he received on social media failed to deter him, as he went on to make more controversial posts. Mr Tostee appeared to activated a new Tinder account just months after he was acquitted of all charges over the death of Ms Wright (pictured) In March this year he also drew criticism after he posted a derogatory post on Facebook to mark International Women's Day. 'Happy International Women's Day to all ma hoes!!', he wrote 'Merry Christmas to all ma ho ho hos!,' he said. Tostee has also referred to his murder acquittal in an online post, saying: 'the only thing I murder is p***y'. His other posts vary greatly, from rambling philosophical questions to pop culture references to support for US President Donald Trump. Posted Friday, May 18, 2018 1:00 am Lucas Oil Speedway's off road track rumbles back to life on Saturday with the first visit of the Kansas City Off Road Racing Association and its seven divisions of competition. "We just would encourage fans to come out and support it," said Scott Morrow of the Kansas City Off Road Racing Association in a news release. Race classes include 170 Kids UTV, 1000 UTV, Unlimited/Turbo UTV, 1600 limited Buggy, Super Buggy, Formula 4X4 and Mini Stock/Bro Lite trucks. Practice begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with opening ceremonies and round one of racing at noon. Feature events are scheduled for 3 p.m. with awards following the races. There is no on-track activity on Friday. Those fans purchasing off road tickets will be admitted free to Saturday night's Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series on the dirt track next door. Morrow said he founded the Kansas City Off Road Racing Association to bring short-course racing to this part of the country. "We have some guys who have been with us since day one and some for the last couple of seasons," Morrow said. "We've grown every year with our numbers. "We started off trying to draw in the buggy classes and the UTV classes," Morrow added. "Two years ago, we started a youth class, the Razor 170s. This year, we're hoping to have two buggy and two truck classes. The mini-stock trucks, which are basically 4-cylinder, 2-wheel drive are kind of new to the area. "It has developed into four classes of UTVs and we're working on growing it for the area." Morrow said KCORRA has seven events scheduled in 2018, including a second one at Lucas Oil Speedway on July 28. Two families have now gone to court to keep their sons on life support at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Anna and Jonathan Auyeung filed for a temporary restraining order in Common Pleas Court on Wednesday to keep their 10-year-old son Jayden alive. It comes less than a month after Rumpa Banerjee was granted the same order to keep her 14-year-old son Areen Chakrabarti on life support. Jayden, who suffers from a genetic motor neuron disease, was rushed to the hospital after a mucus plug developed in his throat and blocked his airway. Anna Auyeung filed for an emergency injunction to stop the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from taking her son off life support. She is the second mother to do so in a month Rumpa Banerjee was granted to same order to keep her autistic 14-year-old son Areen Chakrabarti on life support He was placed on life support at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick before being transferred to CHOP, where he has been treated for years. It was there that Jayden was declared brain dead after suffering cardiac arrest. Anna said that Jayden moves his fingers, legs, and mouth when she and Jonathan touch or talk to him. But she revealed doctors dismissed this as merely 'spinal reflex' and recommended that the couple take their child off life support. Anna and Jonathan were informed on Thursday that if a neurological test confirmed that Jayden was brain dead, the hospital would move forward with removing him off life support without their consent, according to Philly.com. Jayden, who suffers from a genetic motor neuron disease, was rushed to the hospital after a mucus plug developed in his throat and blocked his airway Just hours after Anna recorded a video of Jayden being responsive in the hospital (pictured) he suffered cardiac arrest and was declared brain dead Pennsylvania law does not recognize the difference between brain death and clinic death, the latter being when the heart stops beating. So the couple filed an emergency injunction, citing their religious beliefs as the reason they cannot remove Jayden from life support. Jonathan and Jayden are both Catholic, while Anna is a Buddhist. Anna said she made a promise to her son to always fight for him. 'I have to keep my promise to my child, because I know he's fighting too,' she told Fox 29. 'He can't open his eyes and talk to me, but I know he's fighting.' Anna was informed on Thursday that if a neurological test confirmed Jayden was brain dead, the hospital would move forward with removing him off life support without her consent Anna and her husband Jonathan have filed a temporary restraining order and cited their religious beliefs as the reason why they can't take their son off life support Rumpa Banerjee has also been fighting since her autistic son Areen, who suffered brain damage during a fire at their Bordentown, New Jersey home on April 14. Banerjee and Areen were said to have run outside to escape the fire, but then the teen went back into the house to rescue his laptop, according to NJ.com. Firefighters found Areen hiding under a staircase. He was unconscious and suffered from severe smoke inhalation. After being taken to a New Jersey hospital, he was transported to CHOP for specialized treatment. A week into his stay at CHOP, Areen was declared brain dead and doctors asked for permission to take him off life support. On April 24, doctors told Banerjee, a single mom, that if a neurological test confirmed brain death, they would remove him from life support even if it was against her wishes, according to Philly.com. Areen suffered brain damage during a fire at his Bordentown, New Jersey home on April 14. A week later at CHOP, he was declared brain dead Court documents revealed that Banerjee refused the request to remove her son from life support on the grounds that Areen apparently still responded to her touch. Banerjee has also said that she had seen him move his feet. 'I know my son is alive and will come back to me, he just needs some time to recover from the trauma,' she wrote on a GoFundMe page that has been set up for Areen. The court ruled that CHOP must keep Areen on life support until he can be transferred to another hospital or there are additional hearings. 'They were about to take the life support away. I cannot let it happen. Its a murder. Its a murder in my faith,' Banerjee told FOX 29. The court ruled that CHOP (pictured in a file photo) must keep Areen on life support until he can be transferred to another hospital or there are additional hearings Banerjee is now hoping to find a hospital for Areen in New Jersey, where state law recognizes a difference between being brain dead and clinically dead. The Auyeung family, who are now working with the same lawyer as Banarjee, hope to do the same with Jayden. Both of the families' cases have been referred to the Orphan's Court Division. 'This goes to show you that there needs to be policy changes in the state of Pennsylvania, not only with CHOP,' said Christopher Bagnato, the families' attorney. 'What we hope for is a change in death criteria, procedures, and protocol, because they must see that there are issues with the policies that are in place right now.' And Anna, who has since set up a GoFundMe for her son, is hoping that Jayden will get a chance to have the 'long, full life' that doctors once promised her. 'He has a happy and full life,' she said. 'There is a bright future ahead of him.' A shocking 1997 Howard Stern interview has re-surfaced in which Donald Trump makes salacious remarks about late Princess Diana and her sexual health. The president said in two different chats with shock jock Stern he would have slept with the royal beauty, but that he would have made her take an HIV test beforehand. In an interview with Stern on his morning radio show in 2000, Trump revealed 'without hesitation' he would have gotten intimate with Her Royal Highness - and previously in 1997, he spoke on the topic again. Trump stated he would have 'nailed' Diana but suggested only under circumstances her HIV test came back clean. The old remarks re-emerged just days before the Princess of Wales' son, Prince Harry, is set to marry California actress Meghan Markle. Donald and Melania won't attend the royal wedding - like other political leaders they weren't invited to the society event - but the White House said they will make a donation to one of the charities Harry and Meghan recommended to their guests. The couple has asked guests and well-wishers donate to charity close to their hearts rather than buying a gift when they tie the knot on May 19. Causes they selected include social change, women's empowerment, conservation, the environment, homelessness and the Armed Forces. They showed their determination to continue Princess Diana's work in support of people with HIV by nominating the Children's HIV Association, as well. Donald Trump revealed he would have slept with Princess Diana 'without hesitation' if he'd had the chance but would have also made her take an HIV test Stern further asked Trump: 'Why do people think it's egotistical of you to say you could've gotten with Lady Di? You could've gotten her, right? You could've nailed her?' Trump replied: 'I think I could have.' In a conversation just months after her death, Stern started to imagine a conversation between Trump and Diana, saying: 'Hey Lady Di, would you go to the doctor?' Stern mockingly asks. Trump then runs with the joke, imagining the conversation with the royal. 'Go back over to my Lexus, because I have a new doctor,' he says, as if addressing her. 'We wanna give you a little checkup.' The pair were carrying on an earlier joke in the conversation where Trump said he always made sure women had HIV tests before sleeping with him. The now president Trump also commented on Diana's appearance in interview. 'She had times when she didn't look great, and sometimes you look better than anybody in the world. But she was a supermodel. 'She was crazy, but you know these are minor details,' Trump added. Later that year in November 1997, Trump published his book, The Art of the Comeback, in which he wrote: 'I only have one regret in the women department that I never had the opportunity to court Lady Diana Spencer.' 'I met her on a number of occasions,' Trump stated. 'I couldn't help but notice how she moved people. She lit up the room with her charm, her presence. She was a genuine princess a dream lady.' A few years later he spoke about Princess Diana once again: 'She had the height, she had the beauty, she had the skin, the whole thing,' he said during the May 2000 call-in. 'She's magnificent.' Trump called into the show to discuss his top ten hottest women list with Stern in the recording, released by Factbase. Princess Diana was third on his list, after ex-wife Ivana in second and now-First Lady Melania in first. The show saw him also make outlandish comments about Angelina Jolie, who he said had lips that were too big, as well as Mariah Carey and Cindy Crawford, who he also said he would sleep with. The old remarks have re-emerged two days before the Princess of Wales' son Prince Harry is set to marry California actress Meghan Markle on Saturday. Couple pictured above in England in November Trump was so infatuated, he sent Diana a bouquet of flowers six months after her divorce from Prince Charles (pictured with her in the 1990s) The pair met on a number of occasions, including at a charity dinner for some of New York's most powerful at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan in 1995, where fate had placed Donald Trump on the princess's table - although his second wife Marla was also present. He didn't make a move at the dinner, but six months later - soon after Diana announced her divorce from Prince Charles in July 1996 - she was surprised to receive a huge basket of flowers from Trump for her 35th birthday. Trump attached a message expressing his sympathy over her divorce, his regard for her and even, it is said, suggesting they get together. However, it's clear the princess didn't feel the same way. British broadcaster Selina Scott claimed he actually gave Diana 'the creeps'. Trump also revealed that Princess Diana was third on his top ten hottest women list, after ex-wife Ivana in second and now-First Lady Melania (pictured with him last year) in first Trump and Diana met at a number of charity events over the years, including an event at the Hilton Hotel, New York in 1995, where he was sat on her table (Diana at the dinner with Dr Henry Kissinger (left) She says the billionaire businessman pursued the Princess of Wales to the point of 'stalking' in the mistaken belief he 'had a shot' with her. Writing in the Sunday Times, she said: 'He bombarded Diana at Kensington Palace with massive bouquets, each worth hundreds of pounds. 'Trump clearly saw Diana as the ultimate trophy wife. As the roses and orchids piled up at her apartment she became increasingly concerned about what she should do. It had begun to feel as if Trump was stalking her. 'When she died in the tragic accident in Paris in 1997 Trump told friends his biggest regret was that they hadn't dated.' He said that he always thought he had a chance of romance and would have had a 'shot with her.' Advertisement Meghan Markles mother will meet the Queen today after a whirlwind 24 hours where she was introduced to Prince Charles and Camilla as well as William, Kate and their three children. Doria Ragland, 61, is also supporting her daughter after an extraordinary week where her father Thomas pulled out and her estranged relatives landed en masse to cash in on her big day. Ms Ragland has already enjoyed a 'very jolly' afternoon with Charles and Camilla this week with royal sources saying they got on famously. Today Meghan's yoga instructor mother will meet her most esteemed new relative by marriage the Queen for tea at Windsor Castle, along with Harry and his fiancee. It emerged today that Prince Charles will walk Meghan down the aisle rather than Ms Ragland, who had been favourite to give her away. Cliveden House Hotel of the notorious Profumo affair, one of the greatest scandals of the Cold War period is where Meghan and her mother will stay tonight, along with a group of her closest girlfriends plus her dress designer and hairdresser. Doria (left, leaving her home in LA on Tuesday, is supporting her daughter through the continuing drama over her father Thomas Markle's involvement in the wedding and has enjoyed a 'jolly' afternoon with Charles and Camilla (right at Kensington Palace yesterday) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle looked relaxed as their Range Rover took them from Windsor Castle after the rehearsal The Queen travelled to Windsor from Buckingham Palace to help the couple with their final wedding preparations and wiull meet Doria later today Doria Ragland, pictured with Meghan, was whisked off to the royal residence after arriving in the UK yesterday Harry, as is tradition, will say goodbye to wife-to-be and stay elsewhere with his best man, Prince William. The princes have plumped for Coworth Park, a five-star country house a stones throw from Windsor and one that has been the venue for many a royal polo match and his first public kiss with Meghan. Doria Ragland has had the royal red carpet rolled out for her ahead of the royal wedding on Saturday. She has been staying at Kensington Palace, has already enjoyed a 'very jolly' afternoon with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, just hours after landing, and yesterday met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children. Miss Ragland also met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their two eldest children Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Windsor Castle yesterday afternoon. She will meet the Queen later and Her Majesty is set to host a traditional afternoon tea, which she likes to take at 4pm. Former staff have said she often drinks a cup of Earl Grey with no milk in her favourite bone china cup and saucer. This is served with a selection of crustless finger sandwiches such as cucumber, egg mayonnaise and ham and English mustard. She also likes 'jam pennies' - small white sandwiches containing raspberry jam cut into the shape and size of an old English penny - and staff are also asked to serve a selection of biscuits, including her favourites Rich Tea, as well as scones and a sponge cake. Meghan was forced to make an extraordinary and moving statement confirming her father will no longer walk her down the aisle at St George's Chapel on Saturday Prince Harry, 33, and his bride-to-be Meghan Markle, 36, are pictured leaving Windsor Castle after a dress rehearsal for their wedding at St George's Chapel on Saturday Meghan looked serene in the back of the car and even smiled despite the turmoil in the build-up to her wedding on Saturday Pictured: Harry and Meghan's Range Rover, yesterday afternoon, escorted by police as they sped past crowds of well-wishers lining the Long Walk Meghan Markle has described her sadness after revealing her father will not attend her wedding to Prince Harry Meghan Markle is now just 24hours from her royal wedding as she tries to put a horrendous week of family dramas behind her. She was pictured smiling last night as she left her final wedding rehearsal with Prince Harry after a dramatic week of set backs. Meghan's father Thomas Markle is in hospital after heart surgery and days after it emerged he had done a paparazzi-deal to pose for wedding-related photos said to be worth $100,000. Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., was pictured outside Windsor Castle this week after flying to the UK ahead of the service Her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., was pictured outside Windsor Castle this week after flying to the UK ahead of the service while her half-sister Samantha has continued to use TV interviews to undermine her. The royal bride will hope there are no further surprises from her family to disrupt the build-up to the wedding. Last night royal fans were seen camping out outside the castle to ensure a good view of the planned procession, using sleeping bags and even folding chairs after local police banned tents. Yesterday they witnessed a full rehearsal in which a carriage and members of the armed forces paraded through the streets of Windsor. Meghan has pleaded for her 73-year-old father, who is recovering from heart surgery in Mexico after revelations about his alleged collusion with a paparazzi photographer, to be given 'space'. In the statement, which she is said to have written herself, Miss Markle, 36, said: 'Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. 'I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. 'I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday.' The actress also appeared to reject criticism by her siblings that she had failed to do enough to support the reclusive Thomas Markle, saying she had 'always cared' for him. Prince William is seen leaving Windsor Castle during the final preparations for Saturday's royal wedding William and Kate were also photographed leaving Kensington Palace as they joined the couple in Windsor for rehearsals 'It'll take a long time to heal': Meghan Markle's father says he's 'ok' after undergoing heart surgery Thomas Markle (pictured this week) is recovering after he had three stents Meghan Markle's father is 'alone and upset' in hospital after undergoing heart surgery. Thomas Markle is recovering after he had three stents implanted in arteries following a heart attack at home in Mexico eight days ago and said: 'It will take a long time to heal'. Mr Markle told TMZ last night: 'I'm okay. Staying in the hospital a few more days. Not allowed to get excited' and his children said he is 'heartbroken' to miss the wedding. Mr Markle said his doctors needed to 'go in and clear blockage, repair damage, and put a stent where it is needed' during the operation. His daughter Samantha, who has a poor relationship with Meghan, claims her father is 'upset and alone' following his surgery. But there is some confusion over his care as sources close to the Markle family said he had already been diagnosed with a heart condition and was due to undergo planned surgery to fit a stent, the same operation Prince Philip underwent in 2011, early next week on his return from London. Advertisement Amid criticism from some in the extended Markle family, sources close to Miss Markle yesterday insisted that she and Harry, 33, had offered both her parents substantial 'support and advice' as to how to handle the global interest since they started dating in 2016. And friends told the Mail that contrary to claims by her half-siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jnr, that she had left their intensely private father to deal with the paparazzi on his own, she had been in 'frequent' touch with him by phone and text, including in recent days. It is understood Mr Markle told his daughter personally that he would not be medically fit enough to fly to the UK. It was claimed yesterday that he was recovering after having three stents implanted in arteries following a heart attack at home in Mexico eight days ago, and that he had said it would 'take a long time to heal'. In return, Miss Markle was said to have told him that she loved him and supported him, regardless of the paparazzi photograph debacle. Kensington Palace declined, however, to confirm when Miss Markle had last seen her father or when she planned to see him next. They were also unable to say when Prince Harry would meet his new father-in-law. Although the couple have been dating for two years, the prince has only ever spoken to him by phone. Yesterday's announcement came at the end of a truly remarkable few days, in which Kensington Palace was accused of failing to get a grip of the situation, leaving Thomas Markle to brief the US gossip website TMZ about his plans. Even Buckingham Palace courtiers have started looking at the website for the latest updates. But as the final preparations were put into place yesterday afternoon, Miss Markle and Harry appeared to be all smiles. The couple attended their last wedding rehearsal at St George's Chapel in Windsor with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who are page boy and bridesmaid. Miss Markle looked radiant despite the strain of the past week, wearing a white 285 Boss bodysuit and 7,000 Birks diamond earrings. Although the Queen arrived at Windsor Castle for the weekend while the wedding party was there, she is understood not to have taken part. Friends said last night that despite the drama of the past few days, Miss Markle was excited about the wedding and looking forward to exchanging vows with her prince. One admitted that families could sometimes be 'messy', but that she and Harry knew they had done everything possible to support her parents. 'They are just looking forward to the next few days and happy and excited about becoming man and wife,' the source said. TMZ yesterday said it had again been in touch with Mr Markle. Journalist Sean Mandell said Miss Markle's father had told him: 'It will take a long time to heal. I'm okay. Staying in the hospital a few more days. Not allowed to get excited.' Meghan will stay at Cliveden House Hotel (pictured), on the National Trust's Cliveden Estate, with her mother Doria. It was owned by Lord Astor and his family until it was bought by investors in 2012 Cliveden House hotel in Taplow, Berkshire, can cost 445-a-night for a Club Room like this one but suites cost 1,500 Prince Harry will stay at the Dorchester Collection's Coworth Park (pictured) in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on Friday, which is owned by the Sultan of Brunei Harry and his brother will enjoy sumptuously furnished bedrooms like this on the night before the wedding As for his daughter, Mr Mandell said it was clear she had been very upset by events. 'Meghan was embarrassed and tearful in private,' he said. 'She is holding up, from what I've been told. It has been a tearful and a trying time for her.' When asked if her relationship with her father could recover from this week's debacle, he said: 'I do get the sense he does want to be reunited with Meghan. 'She's no stranger to having to deal with hard moments in her life'. He told Good Morning Britain: 'She [Meghan] called him Monday when the story first broke. But he did not have his phone on him and then she texted him, saying she loved him, that she was concerned over his health and bore him no ill will over the controversy of the fake photos. 'He told us we wanted to be there and had a change of heart on Tuesday after speaking with Meghan over text and he felt he had pulled out prematurely. 'He had originally felt it would be better for him not to be at the wedding because it would cause further embarrassment, he thought, for the Royal Family, and for Meghan, which is the last thing he wanted. 'He realised, 'I'm a father, and I want to be there for my daughter, and I want to be part of history'. Ultimately his health prevented him from being able to do that. 'Meghan is by all accounts a very strong women. 'From what Thomas has told me there's just love being conveyed there and a gentle approach between them when they speak.' Meghan, pictured with her retired father Thomas Markle, 73, circa 2000, says she still cares for her father despite the chaos he has caused ahead of her wedding day The Ascot Landau carriage set to carry the couple was paraded empty through the Berkshire town with Harry and Meghan still at Kensington Palace A man is behind bars after he allegedly went on a racially motivated and unprovoked violent rampage in Sydney's east. At least seven people, including four women and a 70-year-old man were allegedly kicked and punched in Randwick on Thursday night. The alleged attacks caused bruising, swelling and facial injuries. The alleged rampage eventually stopped when a group of nearby workmen intervened and restrained the man until police arrived. Scroll down for video This Korean woman, 26, (pictured) feared for her life when she was allegedly grabbed for behind, punched and kicked during an alleged racially motivated and unprovoked violent rampage The 25-year-old man was taken to Maroubra Police Station, where he was charged with three counts of reckless grievous bodily harm and four counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. 'Police allege the assaults were bias-crime related, with the man targeting victims of Asian background,' a NSW Police statement said. Shai Lewis appeared in Waverley Local Court on Friday, where he was refused bail and will undergo a mental health assessment, the Southern Courier reported. One female victim, 26, told 9 News how she feared for her life after she was allegedly grabbed from behind and attacked. Bystanders rushed to her aid and helped her flee to safety inside a hairdressers salon. She was later taken to hospital to be treated for bruising and swelling. 'I couldn't even say 'help', I was screaming and he was kicking me,' she claimed. Too frightened to reveal her identity, the woman claimed to 9 News it was the first incident of racism she has encountered in Australia since she arrived from Korea last October. 'If he was here, I would cut his b***s,' she said. At least seven people suffered injuries in the alleged violet rampage Emil Lamprecht told 7 News he stepped in to stop the alleged attacker and he was punched in the face. His was taken to hospital with a fractured nose. Residents were shocked by the alleged incident. 'Randwick is generally quite a nice area, safeyou wouldn't worry to walk around at night here,' Emma Neilson-Phillips told 9 News. Investigations into the incidents continue. Police have appealed for anyone who was assaulted, or who witnessed any assaults and have not yet spoken to police to come forward and to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Pauline Hanson said a spate of African gang crime was driving a surge in One Nation membership in Melbourne and accused police of going soft on festival rioters. The Queensland senator's party now has more members in Victoria than her home state and she said disgust at violent Sudanese thugs was behind this. 'I know there's strong support in Victoria,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Friday. 'I'm hearing it constantly, all the time - they are fed up with the violence, crime that's happening on the streets. 'The footage we see up here of these gangs, smashing down doors in their hoodies going into businesses, smashing it up, terrorising people, this is not the country I grew up in and a lot of Australians wouldn't relate to this.' Scroll down for video Pauline Hanson says a spate of African gang crime is driving a surge in One Nation membership in Melbourne, with more paid-up supporters in Victorian than Queensland The One Nation leader has also claimed Victorian Police officers had been directed to go soft on African gangs, as they ruined Melbourne's Moomba festival for the third year running The One Nation leader also claimed Victorian Police officers had been directed to go soft on African gangs in March, as they ruined Melbourne's Moomba festival for the third year running. 'The police were told do not go in, break it up, we will get it on CCTV footage and deal with it later. That is a fact. I've had police sources,' she said. However, Victoria Police disputed this assertion. 'We refute any suggestion that police members were instructed to go soft during Moomba 2018,' a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia on Friday, 'We had sufficient resources to deal with any issue that occurred including Operational Response Unit, Mounted Branch and community engagement teams.' Senator Hanson has called for African gang members and any dual citizen convicted of a violent crime to be deported. 'You might be able to do this stuff back in your own country but it's not acceptable here in Australia,' she said. 'Why are we allowing these sort of people in the country in the first place?.' The One Nation founder blamed Daniel Andrews's Labor government for being soft on crime and predicted his handling of the African gang issue was helping One Nation gain the support of frustrated Victorians (Footscray barber shop riot last year pictured) The One Nation founder blamed Daniel Andrews's Labor government for being soft on crime and suggested his handling of the African gang issue was helping her party gain the support of frustrated Victorians. 'People are saying, "What is going on her? Why doesn't the government do something about it?",' she said. 'Why are the police allowing this to go on?' 'Why should people live in fear from these gangs? Insiders in the state's ruling Labor Party fear One Nation could win three seats in the upper house and have the power to frustrate the Andrews government's agenda should it be re-elected. James Ashby, Senator Hanson's chief-of-staff who is also One Nation's general secretary, said Victoria was the party's strongest state when it came to membership. Victorians are joining One Nation in droves as Melbourne is gripped by a wave of Sudanese gang crime (an African youth being arrested at Tarneit pictured) Insiders in the state's ruling Labor Party fear Pauline Hanson's party could win three seats in the upper house and have the power to frustrate Daniel Andrews's agenda if he's re-elected 'We dont give our membership away but it surprised me that in the last six months, Victoria has been the strongest state in this country for One Nation membership, followed by New South Wales, followed by Queensland which is now our third strongest state,' he told Fairfax Media. One Nation is polling higher in outer suburban areas of Melbourne, with internal Labor polling showing it has 11 per cent support in the safe Labor seat of Sunbury, which is double the state-wide average for the party. While One Nation would be unlikely to win any lower house seats at Victoria's November election, Labor fears it would win a swag of electorates in the Legislative Council. James Ashby, Senator Hanson's chief-of-staff who is also One Nation's general secretary, said Victoria was the party's strongest state when it came to membership One Nation is polling higher in outer suburban areas of Melbourne, with internal Labor polling showing it 11 per cent support in the Labor seat of Sunbury, which is double the state average 'If they play their cards right, they could get two and maybe even three [seats] in the upper house,' a party insider told The Age. Josh Bull, the Labor member for Sunbury, paid for Essential Research to poll 771 voters in his electorate. It found One Nation was taking more voters from the Liberal Party than the government, with the 12 per cent of Greens voters in the seat more likely to preference the ALP. African gang problems have been more prevalent in other areas of Melbourne, such as Tarneit and Werribee in the city's west. A yoga retreat in New South Wales' Central Coast once home to a child abusing sex cult is up for sale for $6 million. The large 99 hectare property in the lower Mangrove Mountain made headlines in 2014 when it was divulged that children were being raped, drugged and beaten there in the 1970s and 1980s. The yoga retreat (pictured) in New South Wales' Central Coast once home to a child abusing sex cult is up for sale for $6 million The owners of the property are non-for-profit organisation Mangrove Yoga who re-branded from Satyananda Ashram, the group that started the shamed yoga retreat back in the 1970s. The group have stated that they plan to put proceeds of the properties sale towards a new wellness foundation. The group sold their yoga studio located in Sydney's Northern Beaches in 2016 for $3.1 million and reportedly used the money to make undisclosed payouts to victims. The sale of the 300 Mangrove Creek Rd property includes the ashram site which features commercial kitchens, accommodation, multipurpose rooms, and 35 hectares of farmland to the north. (pictured) An aerial view of the 99 hectare property that is being sold Shishy (centre) pictured with two young residents at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain In 2014, a Royal Commission heard shocking details about the ashram in court from nine victims who suffered abuse at the site. One of the most disturbing testimonies came from the handmaiden of the camp's leader Swami Akhandananda Saraswati. 'Shishy', had legal guardianship of children at the retreat in the 1980s and is alleged to have given young girls to the swami for sexual initiation. One victim recounted being stripped naked at seven years old and held down while the swami cut her skin, licked the blood and proceeded to have intercourse with her. The swami and Shishy are believed to have turned parents and their children against each other, giving up their names and identities to become disciples of the community. They would then indoctrinate the children into becoming 'sex spies' and having sex with the swami. Shishy left the ashram in 1985 and gave evidence against Akhandananda, who was jailed in the late 1980s forthe indecent dealing of four girls. Akhandananda (pictured) was accused of abusing children at the yoga retreat The conviction was overturned in 1991 and Akhandananda was set free before dying in 1997. Mangrove Yoga said selling the property was a way to establish a new foundation with a focus on wellness. Selling agent Peter Vines of CBRE Western Sydney said he was sure that they would find a buyer who could 'move on and create something positive' as the site is '...one of the most magical places in the world.' With comparable sales in the area going for close to $85,000 per hectare, Vines also suggested that the property could even sell for more than the asking price. A first-time father is fighting for his life in hospital after being hit by a car travelling over 90mph in a late-night police chase. Zakeri Hussain, 28, has just a 10 per cent chance of survival after he was knocked off his bike during the pursuit in Walthamstow, east London last Friday. He was on his way home from work at a pizza restaurant just after 1am when the BMW struck him while trying to escape an unmarked police car. Doctors have said his chances are slim, with fears he could be paralysed if he emerges from his coma. Originally from Afghanistan but resident in the UK for 10 years, he became a father for the first time last month and has not yet met his son, who currently lives in Iran with his wife. Family and friends in the UK are in a race against time to bring them to the UK and believe their presence could be what saves his life. Zakeri Hussain, 28 (pictured before left and in intensive care right after) has a 10 per cent chance of survival after he was knocked off his bike during a police chase in east London Family friend Kansiga Sharifullah, 22, is spearheading the 'urgent' crowdfunding campaign to raise 6,000 to be able to unite Mr Hussain with this family. She told MailOnline: 'He's an innocent man. He is such a kind a and genuine man, who didn't deserve this to happen to him. That's why we're fighting for him. 'He is fighting for his life because some criminals did something wrong and didn't want to get caught. 'But it's the police's fault as well. Both of them are in the wrong. 'There are other ways to catch criminals - public safety was not the police's top priority that night.' The Met Police has referred the incident to its Directorate of Professional Standards. An independent investigation has also been launched by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. No one has yet been charged over Mr Hussain's injuries. A 22-year-old man handed himself into Tottenham Police station on Sunday where he was arrested for causing serious injury by dangerous driving among other offences. But he was released under investigation. Mr Hussain travelled to Iran to marry his wife last year, but returned to the UK for work. She gave birth out there and has not yet been reunited with her husband. Family friend Kansiga Sharifullah, 22 (pictured) is spearheading the 'urgent' crowdfunding campaign to raise 6,000 to be able to unite Mr Hussain with this family Mrs Sharifullah's husband, 24, has worked with Mr Hussain at a pizza restaurant in north London for several years. As a mother to a 10-month-old daughter herself, his wife is terrified of what might happen to his family if Mr Hussain does not pull through. She said: 'I'm a mother as well and I know that pain. It kills me inside. 'My words for these people are these: This man is in a coma and could be paralysed if he wakes up now. 'If that happens his family will have nothing. They depend on him for everything.' The housewife claims Mr Hussain's hand moved when her husband played his wife's voice to him on loudspeaker in intensive care this week. She says 'his eyes nearly opened' when he did the same with his mother's voice and believes he could recover fully if they travel to the UK to be with him in person. The mother-of-one said: 'It came completely out of the blue. Hussain had been to the solicitors a few weeks ago and they agreed that as long as he was in full-time employment, he could bring them to the UK. 'When we tracked down his wife and told her she was devastated, she has being crying non-stop since it happened. 'He was so excited to bring them to England, he was just trying to find the time off work to go. But now this has happened.' Mr Hussain was knocked over in Forest Road, Walthamstow, east London (pictured) at 1am last Friday She continued: 'At first I wanted to bring my baby to the hospital so he might think it was his son and wake up. 'I know it sounds absurd, but when my father was in a coma he could still hear me talking, so I thought it might work. 'But we played him his wifes voice on loud speaker and his hand moved. 'We played him his mothers voice and he half opened his eyes but closed them again. 'Before then we had no hope. We thought he was going to die, because nothing was happening. 'But now there might be a chance of saving him and we need to save him now.' The campaign has already raised 1,000, which will go towards costs of passports, flights and visas. Her GoFundMe page for Mr Hussain reads: 'This young man has been in London and has been hardworking to bring his wife and child who is currently only a one month old newborn baby and he was a newlywed. 'He hasn't even seen his own child face to face yet and this has happened to him and we trying to raise urgent funds to bring his loved ones to him, whom are his wife, his child and his brother who are in Iran right now. 'He is currently in a coma in royal london hospital ICU and we put out an urgent appeal for any help possible donation wise. Mrs Sharifullah and her husband (pictured) believe getting Mr Hussain's wife and baby in the UK from Iran may be what makes him wake up 'Wouldn't you help someone, if you know this could save his life even or even help us wake him from coma by seeing his loved ones and newborn baby. 'Any small donations would do as we all need to work together to make a difference in someone's life and let's hope for the best for him, all or prayers are with him.' The police is still looking for dash cam footage of the crash that left Mr Hussain in a critical condition. A Met Police spokesman said: 'Detectives from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) are appealing for witnesses, or anyone with dash-cam footage, to come forward in connection with a traffic collision in Forest Road, Walthamstow, E17, that has left a man with life-threatening injuries. 'The collision occurred at approximately 01:06 hrs on Saturday, 12 May 2018. 'Officers attended, along with the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade. 'A light coloured BMW was in collision with a cyclist and a number of parked vehicles on Holmes Avenue junction with Forest Road, E17. 'Just prior to the collision the car failed to stop for an unmarked police vehicle. 'The cyclist - a 28-year-old man - has been taken to a London hospital and remains in a critical condition. 'A 22-year-old man from Tottenham voluntarily attended an east London police station on Sunday, 13 May. 'He was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and other driving offences. He has been released under investigation. 'The Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) has been informed as is routine. 'The Independent Office for Police Conduct have also been informed and launched an independent investigation. 'The Serious Collision investigation Unit is carrying out enquiries into the circumstances of the collision. 'Anyone who witnessed the collision, is asked to call officers from the Roads and Transport Policing Command on 0208 597 4874. Or contact via Twitter @MetCC. Quote CAD 216/12MA. 'To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.' A definitive link between creative genius and mental health has been established by scientists. Previous research has been limited due to small sample sizes, but the new study used records of more than four million people and show that the creativity and mental health have common cause. Scientists have long believed there to be a link between the two, but there has been difficulty in establishing clear results due to a lack of definition of 'creativity'. Ernest Hemingway (left) and Virginia Woolf (right) were both novelists known for their creative genius. They both suffered from depression and took their own lives Hans Christian Andersen, who famously wrote fairy-tales such as The Little Mermaid, had depression The research published in The British Journal of Psychiatry comes from a review of Sweden's pubic records and found those who studied a 'creative subject' at university were 90 per cent more likely to be hospitalised for schizophrenia than the general population. They were also 62 per cent more likely to suffer from bipolar disorder and 39 per cent more likely to suffer from depression. Dr James McCabe, of King's College London, the paper's lead author told the New Scientist the genetics behind creativity might also influence mental health. 'Creativity often involves linking ideas or concepts in ways that other people wouldn't think of. 'But that's similar to how delusions work for example, seeing a connection between the colour of someone's clothes and being part of an MI5 conspiracy.' However, the new study is limited in that degree subject was used as the sole measure of creativity. Researchers used broadly defined 'creative' subjects such as visual arts, music, media, and dance. Dr MacCabe added that the news should not be cause for concern for art students as the development of illnesses such as schizophrenia are still low. Sylvia Plath (right) suffered from depression and took her own life aged 30. Ludwig van Beethoven (left) suffered from Bipolar disorder A marble bust of Greek Philosopher Aristotle. He famously said 'No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness' Russia is developing an underwater drone that can carry a two megaton nuclear warhead capable of obliterating Western ports. The Kremlin's Poseidon torpedo sub is designed to destroy 'enemy navy bases' and will be able to travel at up to 70 knots. President Vladimir Putin announced plans for an underwater drone in his state-of-the-nation speech in March, in which he boasted of an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception'. Russia is developing an underwater drone that can carry a two megaton nuclear warhead capable of obliterating Western ports. A Russian Defence video shows how the Poseidon could look In March, Putin (pictured) announced that Russia has tested an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception' Russian state news agency TASS says it has not been able to confirm details of the weapon. But it quoted a source as saying: 'It will be possible to mount various nuclear charges on the "torpedo" of the Poseidon multipurpose seaborne system, with the thermonuclear single warhead similar to the Avangard charge to have the maximum capacity of up to 2 megatonnes in TNT equivalent.' With its nuke, the weapon 'is primarily designed to destroy reinforced naval bases of a potential enemy,' the report added. In March, Putin announced that Russia has tested an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception' in a speech where he praised scientists behind the arsenal as 'the heroes of our time'. In his annual state-of-the-nation speech in Moscow, Putin said the weapons include a nuclear-powered cruise missile, a nuclear-powered underwater drone and new hypersonic missile and showed video footage the launch of a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile on big screens. President Vladimir Putin announced plans for an underwater drone in his state-of-the-nation speech in March, in which he boasted of an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception' The video footage also contained a computer generated sequence showing the potential power and reach of the new rocket, which included bombs raining down over the U.S. state of Florida. During his speech, Putin said the creation of the new weapons has made NATO's U.S.-led missile defense 'useless,' and means an effective end to what he described as Western efforts to stymie Russia's development. It comes amid continued heightened tensions between Putin and the West over his role backing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Diplomatic ties between Britain and Moscow have plummeted in the wake of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury. Advertisement From Glastonbury to Reading, the English rock festival - with its huge stages, lavish production and crowds numbering in the tens of thousands - is now part of mainstream life. But not so in 1967, when arguably the first ever festival of its kind - modestly called Barbecue '67 - was hosted in a tulip auction house in the small market town of Spalding. Few photos survive from this obscure slice of rock history. The ones below were captured by fan George Elderton on his Kodak Instamatic camera and held in a private collection before being acquired by FOTO. This story has been published in published in partnership with them. The stage looked like it belonged in a pub, wires and lights were haphazardly tied to rafters overhead, the crowd was hard up against the stage and entry cost just 1. But the bill featured some of the greatest rock acts of all time - Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pink Floyd - all on the cusp of super-stardom. The Jimi Hendrix Experience play the Tulip Bulb Auction Hall in Spalding, England, at what was arguably the first ever rock festival, Barbecue '67. Hendrix had released his first album, Are You Experienced, just two weeks before playing this show Hendrix was a relative unknown when he took to the stage in Spalding, but was already perfecting the stage tricks that would make him famous. Here (pictured far right) he plays his guitar with his teeth Eric Clapton (right), Ginger Baker (centre) and Jack Bruce (left), also known as Cream, had not yet released Disraeli Gears or the groundbreaking Wheels of Fire when they played this show, just inches away from the crowd at their feet The raw, gritty images show Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Barker, Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Rick Wright and Nick Mason playing the ramshackle venue just a few months before they made history. Hendrix had released his first album, Are You Experienced, two weeks before playing this show. Floyd would release their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, just a few months later. Cream released Fresh Cream the previous year, but still had not finished Disraeli Gears. The groundbreaking Wheels of Fire would not come out until a year afterward. All of them were billed behind Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band, who were one of Britain's biggest soul acts at the time, and far more experienced at live shows. While the crowd appears tiny compared to today's festivals, Barbecue 67 took place a year before Woodstock proved what was possible, and Washington had never seen anything like it. In BBC interviews afterward, he recalled 'thousands and thousands' of people, some of whom were hanging from the ceiling, and guards with pockets stuffed full of bribes from those who didn't have tickets. 'The atmosphere was electric, he said. 'Anyone who was there will never forget it.' The posters for Barbecue '67 promised 'ultraviolet lighting', 'non-stop dancing', and 'hot dogs'. But at these images show, it delivered so much more. To see the rest of the images, go to FOTO Pink Floyd (pictured here from left, Rick Wright, Syd Barrett and Roger Waters) were just months away from releasing their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn when this picture was taken by fan George Elderton Elderton took these images, some of the few to survive from the festival, on a Kodak Instamatic camera. They show just how rudimentary the setup was, with wires trailing across the stage and lights haphazardly tied to the rafters Posted Thursday, May 17, 2018 6:27 pm This year, Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation will award seven $500 classroom grants for each of the 14 regions in the state. The grants are available to all teachers in Missouri public schools. Funds may be appropriated in the areas of resources, leadership, research or materials used by an active Missouri classroom teacher. Applications must be postmarked by June 30. Applications and instructions may also be found and downloaded at mortf.org or at mrta.org. Winners will be notified by Aug. 31. This is the moment a motorcyclist survived a hijacking in Brazil when an armed robber shot him in the leg after threatening to kill him for his motorbike. Despite giving up his vehicle without a struggle and running to escape, Luiz Carlos dos Santos Perez, 57, was reportedly still shot by the ruthless thief. Footage filmed by a camera on the motorcyclist's helmet captures the two flip-flop wearing suspects riding tandem on a bike. They drive alongside Perez on a road in north Rio de Janeiro with one pointing a gun and gesturing for him to stop. Luiz Carlos dos Santos Perez, 57, was driving his motorbike on a road (pictured) in north Rio de Janeiro, Brazil After pulling over near the kerb, the clip shows the armed suspect approaching Perez while issuing death threats and ordering the victim to hand over his bike immediately. Perez's pleas to the gunman to calm down only infuriates his attacker who becomes more agitated and screams at him to 'hurry up and leave.' The thief angrily accuses the victim of taking 'too long' to stop and to get off the vehicle. He tries to pull the motorbike away from under the owner and violently lashes out, hitting the biker on the head with the butt of the weapon. Getting off the motorbike, the victim starts to run away. But as he does, the robber who is still swearing and vowing to kill him allegedly fires a single shot in his direction. Looking down, Perez suddenly realises he has been hit in the leg. Two flip-flop wearing suspects rode tandem on a bike and one pointed a gun (pictured) towards Perez and motioned for him to pull over He frantically hobbles and drags himself to a waiting car which has stopped to help him. Jumping in, the motorist asks, 'did they shoot you?' as the wounded man nurses his thigh in the blood soaked trousers. The driver raced Perez to Salgado Filho Municipal Hospital where he underwent tests and x-rays but didn't require surgery. Footage registered the faces of the aggressors and the pair have since been identified by police as Franklin Maia de Oliveira Andre, 22, and Felipe de Souza Valeriano, 25. Detective Fabio Asty said cops are confident on catching the suspects following the camera images which clearly show their faces. 'We believe the pair were riding a stolen bike at the time of the robbery and this has already been recovered,' he reported. Footage registered the faces of the aggressors and the pair have since been identified by police as Franklin Maia de Oliveira Andre, 22, and Felipe de Souza Valeriano, 25 A motorist pulled over to save Perez and when in the car the victim nurses his bloody leg (pictured) 'Both have criminal records and are known to us. We know the area they operate in and where they live, and we have a team searching for them,' he added. 'I stopped near the kerb, so they could take it but that's when things got even worse. I just wanted to put it down without making them angry but that didn't work,' Perez told Globo TV. The victim's wife said her husband had a lucky escape as he could have been killed if the shot had been higher. 'He didn't need surgery as the bullet had already exited his leg,' she explained while revealing her husband is 'doing fine but he's still in shock'. The systems analyst was on his way to work on a new motorcycle, which he had recently bought, when the robbery happened. on Tuesday at around 10am. Meghan Markle's half-brother has compared her to Princess Diana as he tries to patch things up after his poisonous open letter to Prince Harry. Thomas Markle Junior, who used to babysit for Meghan when she was young, is not invited to this weekend's royal wedding, which he has previously branded a 'fake fairy tale'. But he was keen to appear positive yesterday as he paid to take a tour of Meghan's new home, Kensington Palace, as a member of the public and spoke in glowing terms about the woman he previously called an 'acting phoney'. He claimed Meghan may remind Prince Harry of his mother, because of her caring personality and positive attitude. Meghan Markle's half-brother Thomas Junior is in England this week and, despite not being invited to the royal wedding, is trying to strike a more conciliatory note towards his half-sister He compared his half-sister to Princess Diana, saying has she a 'warmth for people' Thomas Junior told The Daily Mirror: 'Meg has this ability to bring comfort to those she meets, and I truly think it's something similar to what Princess Diana had. 'She has a great warmth for people she meets, installed in her by [her mum] Doria and Dad.' He added: 'Perhaps Harry sees a lot of his mum in Meg, how she is with people.' He said reports that Ms Markle had visited and spoke with Grenfell Tower survivors showed she has a compassionate nature like Prince Harry's late mother. Thomas Junior, 51, had initially welcomed his half-sister's romance with the prince, when it first emerged, saying that Harry was 'lucky to have her'. But after a series of very public, largely alcohol-fuelled run-ins with the police, he then changed his mind. Thomas Junior said: 'Perhaps Harry sees a lot of his mum in Meg, how she is with people' His latest comments are very different from a angry open letter he wrote to Prince Harry, in which he attacked Meghan, calling her a 'below C average Hollywood actress' He penned an 'open letter' for an Australian magazine in which told Harry: 'As more time passes to your royal wedding, it became very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal wedding history.' He described Meghan elsewhere as 'acting phoney' and claimed she was 'trying to reinvent herself as the new Princess Diana'. As a result, not only does Miss Markle no longer speak to him, but nor does his full sister, Samantha, who has accused him of being a 'drunk' who can't stop shooting his mouth off. But since arriving in Britain uninvited this week, Markle Junior has attempted to smoothe over his public criticism of Meghan in recent weeks. He said: 'My letter wasn't intended to cause hurt or upset. I'd hoped my letter might shame the palace, I guess, into getting in touch. I was wrong. 'It wasn't designed to humiliate Meg into inviting me, but more hoping we could get the help we needed.' Diane Abbott was likened to a member of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band after she donned an unusual blue suit on Question Time last night. The Labour MP's outfit was compared to the famous Beatles album cover, as well as Michael Jackson, Star Trek and the Swedish Army uniform. Abbott sported a royal blue suit with white detailing for the BBC debate show in London, which Twitter users were quick to comment on. One said: 'Has Diane Abbott come dressed as one of the people on the cover of the Sgt Peppers Album?' Scroll down for video Diane Abbott wore an unusual blue and white suit on Question Time yesterday, which viewers were quick to comment on The Labour MP's outfit was compared to the famous Beatles album cover, as well as Michael Jackson, Star Trek and the Swedish Army uniform Twitter exploded with comments about her bright blue suit (pictured) on Question Time last night Another wrote: 'Nice of Diane Abott to show off her Sgt. Pepper Jacket.' Someone else posted: 'Diane Abbot's turned up as Sgt Pepper tonight! ....'It was 20 years ago today....' Or was it 50, 763, 429.... #Bbcqt' Even more colourful comparisons ensued, with someone saying: 'I'd like to be the first to congratulate Diane Abbott on her recent, surprising promotion to Starfleet Admiral.' Another tweet read: 'Had no idea Diane Abbott was such a big Star Trek Enterprise fan.' More followed: 'What is Diane Abbott wearing looks like she has come from band practice.' Another one said: 'And tonight Matthew, I'm gonna be, Freddy Mercury' #DianeAbbot #bbcqt.' Michael Jackson was the focus of other tweets: 'Is Diane Abbott off to a Michael Jackson Tribute Show after?' The Hackney MP appeared alongside Conservative housing minister Dominic Raab, ex-Met Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty and Camilla Cavendish, former head of policy for David Cameron. She spoke passionately in defence of the Grenfell Fire campaigners, alongside a number of other issues. The episode of the current affairs programme was filmed at a church in Notting Hill, just half a mile from the Grenfell tower block where more than 70 people died last summer. One Twitter user posted: 'All very well being part of the Swedish armed services but perhaps she should get changed before going on the telly.' Despite the jovial tweets, others were concerned by the focus on her outfit and not her comments. One person commented: 'Everyone criticising Diane Abbott on twitter tonight is criticising her appearance. 'No one has said anything about any point she has made. That's the problem right there.' Someone else wrote: 'Came on here to look at the #bbcqt hashtag. 'The fact all the tweets are about Diane Abott's jacket, and not the subject - Grenfell, sums up everything that's wrong with society.' Asked whether the Grenfell fire, that killed over 70 people in north Kensington almost a year ago, was the result of putting money before, she blamed the Conservative-run council. She said: 'The Grenfell disaster was about the neglect of that part of north Kensington by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 'And certainly the de-regulation looking at the cost of the cladding rather than protecting people also played a part 'But because I am here in Kensington and Chelsea let me say this. Kensington and Chelsea failed the people of Grenfell. 'In the days after the fire it wasn't the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea coming to help people, they depended on volunteers from the churches and the mosques. 'Then nearly a year later most of the people made homeless by the tower are not in permanent accommodation. A year later. 'The people of Grenfell, the survivors and the bereaved had to fight to have people on the panel of this enquiry. They should never have had to fight. 'It should have been modelled on the Macphearson [Stephen Lawrence] Enquiry. 'I just want to say because I'm here in Kensington that the Royal Borough of Kensington of Chelsea have failed the people of Grenfell. 'They failed them at the time of the fire and they are failing them now. 'It is long overdue that this Government sent commissioners in.' A young man who supplied the gun used in the terror killing of police accountant Curtis Cheng refused to stand for the judge as he was sentenced to 17 years in jail. Justice Peter Johnson said the refusal confirmed the Sydney man's steadfast extremist beliefs, Nine News reported. Talal Alameddine provided Raban Alou with a pistol that was then given to 15-year-old Farhad Jabar, who shot Mr Cheng as he left work at Parramatta Police Headquarters in 2015. Scroll down for video Talal Alameddine (pictured: centre) refused to stand for a NSW Supreme Court judge as he was sentenced to 17 years in jail Talal Alameddine provided Raban Alou with a pistol that was used in the shooting of police accountant Curtis Cheng Talal Alameddine provided Raban Alou with a pistol that was then given to 15-year-old Farhad Jabar (right), who shot Mr Cheng (left) as he left work at Parramatta Police Headquarters in 2015 The 25-year-old refused to stand for Justice Peter Johnson on Friday when he was handed a maximum sentence of 17 years behind bars with a non-parole period of 13-and-a-half years. The NSW Supreme Court judge praised Mr Cheng's widow, Selina, his daughter, Zilvia, and his son, Alpha - who were all present in court - for their 'fortitude and dignity'. Alameddine in October 2017 pleaded guilty to recklessly possessing a thing connected with a terrorist act and supplying a pistol. The maximum penalty for both offences is 30 years. Jabar - also known as Farhad Mohammad - was swiftly killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers after shooting Mr Cheng in the back of the head on the night of October 2. Justice Johnson noted that 'If the offender had refused to supply the revolver to Alou, then the terrorist attack would not have occurred that day.' The court also heard officers found a chilling suicide note in Jabar's blood-soaked robes, stating he had 'come to put terror in your hearts' by carrying out religious-inspired violence for Islamic State. 'You all are being watched 24/7, while you are asleep, awake, planning,' the letter read. 'Your nights will be turned into nightmares, your days into hell ... by the will of Allah.' Alameddine's co-offender Alou was jailed for at least 33 years in March. Alameddine (pictured when he was arrested) in October 2017 pleaded guilty to recklessly possessing a thing connected with a terrorist act and supplying a pistol Acquaintances of Talal Alameddine are seen leaving the Parramatta Supreme Court in Sydney Justice Johnson said Jabar and Alou were radicalised extremist supporters of IS while Alameddine had at least some level of sympathy for the 'fanatical' organisation. The judge found the Merrylands man knew the gun was to be used for an immediate terror act but he couldn't determine whether he supplied it for free. Mr Cheng's widow in March said she was 'utterly repulsed' by those who played any role in the murder of her gentle, humble and beloved husband. 'I felt total darkness completely envelope me. I was completely devastated and all sense of security and hope was lost,' Selina Cheng told Alameddine's sentence hearing. Alameddine, who has a criminal history and displayed no remorse, received a 15 per cent sentence discount for his guilty plea, the judge said. 'I am not persuaded the offender has good prospects for rehabilitation,' Justice Johnson said. Alameddine was warned that he could be subject to a continuing detention order even after his sentence expires. Armed police descended on a London street and are questioning a teenager on suspicion of terrorism offences. The 18-year-old has been detained by counter-terrorism officers on suspicion of being concerned in the preparation of acts of terrorism. Police would not confirm the exact location of the incident in North London, which took place just after midnight on Friday. A 18-year-old has been detained by counter-terrorism officers on suspicion of being concerned in the preparation of acts of terrorism A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the suspect was being detained at a police station in the city for questioning after his arrest in the early hours of this morning. He said: 'Officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) arrested an 18-year-old man at around 12.10am on Friday, May 18 on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. 'The arrest took place in the street in the north London area and was carried out with the assistance of armed officers. 'The man was arrested under the Terrorism Act and taken into custody at a south London police station where he remains.' The UK was hit by a number of terrorist attacks in 2017, with the greatest death toll taking place at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena, where a bomb killed 22 people. Four major terrorist incidents took place in London last year, including the attack on the palace of Westminster in March, in which PC Keith Palmer and four other people were killed. An attack at London Bridge in June, saw three terrorists kill eight people before being killed themselves. Another attack took place near a mosque in north London during Ramadan and another at Parsons Green station in south-west London. Anyone who may have seen the incident or has any further information can contact MailOnline by emailing laura.forsyth@mailonline.co.uk The UN human rights chief has blasted Israel's killing of Palestinians and said they are kept 'caged in a toxic slum from birth to death'. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Israel's security forces had killed 60 Palestinians during Monday's violence alone and that nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week'. His remarks come after a week of bloodshed in the region in the wake of America opening a new embassy in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi has announced, in what would be the longest uninterrupted period since 2013. Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he has ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the longest length of time since 2013. Pictured: Palestinians wait to cross the border Palestinians, who were wounded by Israeli soldiers during the protests receive treatment in Gaza City Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Israel's security forces had killed 60 Palestinians during Monday's violence alone and that nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week' Al-Hussein said at an opening a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council: 'End the occupation, and the violence and insecurity will largely disappear.' However, Israel's Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter told the Council on Friday that Israel tried to minimise casualties when it defended its borders against 'terrorists' in Gaza, and blamed Hamas militants for using human shields. Responding to criticism from the U.N. human rights chief at a debate that is likely to end by setting up an inquiry into recent violence, she said the Council had returned to its 'worst form of anti-Israel obsession'. 'This special session, the resolution before you, and its call for a commission of inquiry are yet again politically motivated and won't change the situation on the ground by even one iota,' she said. The UN human rights chief has blasted Israel's killing of Palestinians and said they are kept 'caged in a toxic slum from birth to death'. Pictured: A wounded protester during clashes along the Gaza border earlier this week Palestinians wait to travel to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, in the southern Gaza Strip Meanwhile, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he has ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the longest length of time since 2013. Mr el-Sissi wrote on his official Twitter account late on Thursday that the opening would 'alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip'. The announcement comes just days after Israeli forces shot and killed scores of Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border. The high number of wounded has overwhelmed the Gaza health system. The crossing has been open since Saturday so Mr el-Sissi's announcement is technically an extension of the opening and Egyptian authorities said 510 people crossed on Wednesday, the majority coming from Gaza into Egypt. Mr el-Sissi wrote on his official Twitter account late on Thursday that the opening would 'alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip' The announcement comes just days after Israeli forces shot and killed scores of Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border. The high number of wounded has overwhelmed the Gaza health system On Thursday, 541 people crossed from Egypt into Gaza along with dozens of trucks carrying cement, steel, power engines and medical and food aid from the Red Crescent, the officials said. In 2007, Hamas wrested control of Gaza by force, provoking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade that severely restricted the movement of most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. The Rafah crossing is Gaza's main gate to the outside world but has only had sporadic openings since the 2013 ouster of Egypt's elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a high-ranking member of Hamas' parent group The Muslim Brotherhood. Jeremy Corbyn has made an activist who compared the Labour anti-Semitism row to the Salem Witch Trials a peer, it has emerged. The party leader has appointed the left-wing activist Martha Osmaor to the House of Lords - U-turning on his pledge not to create any new Labour peers. But the move sparked fury after it emerged she has previously signed an open letter defending activists suspended over the anti-Semitism row. The letter said allegations of anti-Semitism were being made to 'silence criticisms of Israel, hamper the work of Momentum activists, and undermine Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn'. Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: 'Mr Corbyn has promised action, not just words, against antisemitism in the Labour Party. 'Today his actions speak louder than ever. By elevating Ms Osamor to the peerage, Mr Corbyn has sent an unmistakable signal to those in the Jewish community who still harboured some hope that he might change. 'Mr Corbyn is telling us not only that he sees her behaviour as unproblematic, but that he sees it as being worthy of the highest honour and a lifelong seat in the House of Lords. 'Yet again, Mr Corbyn has sent the Jewish community a two-fingered salute, and the Labour Party has looked on inertly.' Jeremy Corbyn (pictured left) has made left-wing activist Martha Osmaor (pictured left) to the House of Lords - U-turning on his pledge not to create any new Labour peers Mr Corbyn has also made former Labour party general secretary Ian McNicol and campaigner and occasional Morning Star columnist Pauline Bryan peers. The letter, published in June 2016, accused party members who spoke out against the abuse of fuelling a 'hysterical atmosphere'. Theresa May appoints nine Tory peers after Brexit Bill defeats Theresa May has appoint another nine Tories to the unelected Chamber to beef up her ranks after suffering a slew of defeats on the Brexit Bill. The decision comes after unelected peers inflicted 15 defeat son the Government's crucial Brexit Bill over recent weeks. Critics slammed the unelected Chamber for overstepping the mark and trying to water down Brexit. Although the nine peers would not give Mrs May a majority in the House of Lords, their appointment will help beef up her support in the Chamber. Advertisement And it tore into John Mann, a Labour MP and leading campaigner against anti-Semitism, for 'haranguing and insulting' Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from Labour after saying Adolf Hitler supported Zionism. The decision to make Ms Osmaor - who is mother to the Labour frontbencher Kate Osmaor - a peer risks sparking a fresh anti-Semitism row in the party. The letter states: 'We also register our concerns about the suspensions of Ken Livingstone, Simon Hinds, Tony Greenstein, David White and others. 'We are disappointed that the appalling behaviour of John Mann MP, haranguing and insulting Ken Livingstone, a senior citizen, and calling him a liar and Nazi apologist in front of cameras, has not led to reproach or censure from the Labour Party and its Compliance Unit, even though the behaviour brought the Labour Party into disrepute. 'John Mann MP is an elected representative of the Party, and his behaviour fell far short of the standards expected of elected representatives.' They said allegations of anti-Semitism are being used to 'stifle the sharing of information' and free speech. Who have been made peers in the list? Here is a list of those hwo have been named as peers: Tories: Diana Barran MBE founder and lately chief executive of SafeLives Sir Edward Garnier QC ex MP for Harborough and former Solicitor General Sir Alan Haselhurst ex MP for Saffron Walden and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Lilley ex MP for Hitchin and Harpenden and former Secretary of State for Social Security Catherine Meyer CBE founder and lately chief executive of Action Against Abduction Sir Eric Pickles ex MP for Brentwood and Ongar and former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sir John Randall ex MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip Amanda Sater, JP ex Deputy Chairman of the Tory Party Andrew Tyrie ex MP for Chichester Labour: Martha Osamor - campaigner on immigration, employment rights and racial discrimination Pauline Bryan author and campaigner Iain McNicol lately General Secretary of the Labour Party DUP: Dr William McCrea ex MP for South Antrim Advertisement It adds: 'Allegations are also being made to silence criticisms of Israel, hamper the work of Momentum activists, and undermine Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.... 'This is reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts, rather than of calm, rational consideration.' The open letter was signed by over two dozen activists. Mr Corbyn has been dogged by accusations that he has willfully failed to tackle anti-Semitism among his supporters. And Jewish MPs within his own parties have shamed him by telling of the flood of abuse and death threats they received for daring to speak out. But after a mass rally by Jewish leaders near the gates of Parliament he has vowed to act. Ms Osamor today scrambled to insist that she has always opposed anti-Semitism She said: 'I am and always have been implacably opposed to anti-Semitism and have spent my life as an anti-racist campaigner. 'As Jeremy has said clearly, raising concerns about antisemitism is not a smear. 'I welcome Jennie Formby's recent actions as Labour's new General Secretary to ensure there is no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party.' Ms Osamor is a leading black activist and campaigner in Tottenham, north London, and has criticised policing in the area. In an interview she said that police reacted 'very badly' to the death of Cynthia Jarret in a police raid Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham, north London, in 1985. Theresa May (pictured today in Wales) is also set to appoint another nine Tories to the unelected Chamber to beef up her ranks after suffering a slew of defeats on the Brexit Bill. The death triggered massive riots on the estate which resulted in the death of Pc Keith Blakelock. More recently, she has campaigned about the treatment of the family of Mark Duggan - whose death triggered the 2011 riots - by the police. Mr Duggan was shot dead by armed officers in Tottenham in August 2011, triggering a wave of riots in the area that then spread across the UK. Mr Corbyn also appointed Mr McNicol to House of Lords - just months after he was forced out of his job as party general secretary by his allies. Pressure mounts for House of Lords to reform The House of Lords is the world's second largest parliamentary Chamber - only behind China's National People's Congress. And there has been growing calls for the unelected Chamber to be reformed and its numbers slashed. Research has found that each peers costs taxpayers an estimated 83,000 a year. While some are said to use parliament as a glorified members club - popping in to pic up their generous expenses allowance and enjoying its subsidised bars but rarely speaking in debates. And the Chamber has come under fresh pressure amid accusations it is overstepping its authority by trying to water down Brexit. Peers inflicted 15 defeats on the Government's crucial Brexit Bill. And critics have said the move has fundamentally tarnished the chamber's reputation. Advertisement Asked directly in 2015 if 'as leader' he would ever appoint any peers, Mr Corbyn replied: 'I don't see any case for nominating peers at all I see no case for it, that is my position.' Meanwhile, Mrs May used her powers of patronage to appoint nine Tory peers to beef up her ranks after suffering a slew of defeats on the Brexit Bill. They include former Cabinet ministers Peter Lilley and Eric Pickles, who was also chairman of the Tory party. While Andrew Tyrie, the former Tory MP and ex chairman of the Treasury select committee, is also being made a peer. Meanwhile, a former Democratic Unionist Party MP and nine Conservatives, including at least two former Cabinet ministers, are also to become peers. Rev William McCrea, a former Democratic Unionist Party MP who once shared a platform with the Unionist sectarian murderer Billy 'King Rat' Wright, will also be made a peer. In 1996, Rev McCrea stood at a Portadown rally alongside Wright, who was a commander in the Ulster Volunteer Force. Wright helped wage a bloody campaign against the Catholic population in the mid-1980s and was eventually murdered in 1997 in Belfast's infamous Maze prison. The House of Lords is the world's second largest parliamentary Chamber - only behind China's National People's Congress. The House of Lords is the world's second largest parliamentary Chamber - only behind China's National People's Congress. It is facing mounting calls for reform And there has been growing calls for the unelected Chamber to be reformed and its numbers slashed. Research has found that each peers costs taxpayers an estimated 83,000 a year. While some are said to use parliament as a glorified members club - popping in to pic up their generous expenses allowance and enjoying its subsidised bars but rarely speaking in debates. And the Chamber has come under fresh pressure amid accusations it is overstepping its authority by trying to water down Brexit. Peers inflicted 15 defeats on the Government's crucial Brexit Bill. And critics have said the move has fundamentally tarnished the chamber's reputation. A manhunt is underway for a registered sex offender with six different aliases who has been on the run for months. Ricky Wilson, 23, vanished in March after providing a false address to police, which is in breach of his reporting obligations. When police went to check out Wilson's supposed Richmond address in Melbourne's southeast, they discovered he had never lived there, 9 News reported. Scroll down for video Anyone who sees Ricky Wilson (pictured) is urged not to approach him but to call 000 immediately He goes by at least six different aliases, including Rangon Edwards, Rayon Edwards, Ricky Dean Edwards, Rangon Wilson, Ricky Dean Wilson and Ricky-Dean Aliwishes Wilson. Wilson was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2009. Police launched a public appeal on Friday in the hope someone recognises him and can provide information about his whereabouts. 'He has a strong and long history of violence, a drug history and of other sexual offences,' Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson told media. 'The public, as we do at Victoria Police hold concerns and that's why we're going public today to ask for assistance to locate him and bring him back into a custody environment.' Ricky Wilson is described as 160cm tall, medium build, black hair and brown eyes. He has a number of distinctive tattoos with Kiarra written on his right wrist, Mum on his left wrist and Drew on his right upper arm. He is known to frequent the Geelong, Norlane, Corio and Richmond areas. Anyone who sees Wilson is urged not to approach him but to call Triple Zero (000) immediately or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 if they have any information about his whereabouts. Dr Natalie Blakely, 44, secretly recorded confidential conversations between patients and a male doctor after she fell out with him over their business dealings A cosmetic surgeon nicknamed 'The Skin Queen' has been barred from practising medicine for six months after she bugged the medical consultations of 200 patients during a plot to oust a fellow doctor from her beauty clinic. Dr Natalie Blakely, 44, hired private detectives to secretly record confidential conversations between Dr Peter Forrester and his clients after the pair fell out over the alleged under-pricing of cosmetic surgery procedures. The tapes were discovered after former Harley Street surgeon Dr Forester, 65, quit his post when he was confronted by the investigators with a spreadsheet outlining various accounting discrepancies at the surgery. He subsequently learnt listening devices had been placed in his room before detectives eavesdropped on his discussions with patients over a two month period at the acclaimed Light Touch clinic in Weybridge, Surrey where clients have included former Eastenders actresses Martine McCutcheon and Charlie Brooks. Initially Dr Forrester himself complained to the General Medical Council before he informed various patients about the existence of the secret tapes and they made a string of complaints to the clinic and the Information Commissioners Office. Pictured: Dr Blakely at her Light Touch clinic in Weybridge, Surrey In response Dr Blakely claimed the tapes formed part of an 'investigation' sanctioned by a senior lawyer, the General Medical Council and The Care Quality Commission. She told one distressed client: 'I am sure you find this difficult but discussions were put in place and there was no compromise of patient confidentiality. Advice was sought on how to proceed with an investigation from all the relevant authorities.' But it emerged she had received no 'advice' from the organisation from GMC or CQC after officials told her they had no polices on covert recordings. Police were alerted to the scandal but the dispute was dealt with following an out-of-court settlement. At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, Blakely who was once voted 'Best Doctor for Botox and Fillers' by Tatler magazine was suspended from practising medicine for six months for breaching patient confidentiality and 'dishonest and misleading' conduct. The clinic's clients have included former Eastenders actresses Martine McCutcheon (left) and Charlie Brooks (right) She claimed she had been acting on the advice of the private detectives after facing 'the ruination of her business' due to her working relationship with Dr Forrester. She claimed her former colleague had been 'defrauding the business.' But she was found guilty of misconduct after Dr Forrester who 'vigorously' denied wrongdoing and four unnamed patients gave evidence against her at the Manchester hearing. The ICO which investigates breaches of data protection is taking no action over the scandal. In making its determination MPTS tribunal chairman David Robinson said it was making no finding about the dispute between the two doctors. But he added: 'Covert recordings should be carried out by the police in most circumstances, and that such recordings should only be undertaken where there is no other way of obtaining information, and in circumstances involving a serious crime or to prevent harm to someone - for example potential harm to a child. 'Patients must be able to trust that their right to confidentiality is paramount, and that any actions which may place that confidentiality in doubt are approached with utmost caution. 'The Tribunal noted Dr Blakely's assertion that she had been naive with regard to the legal side of making the recordings. However any naivety should not have led to her choice of using untrue wording when referring to the GMC and CQC. 'Against the background of the difficult position in which she found herself with regard to her dispute with Dr Forrester and having received complaints from patients, Dr Blakely knowingly used untrue statements to pacify those patients and to defend her actions in the making of the covert recordings. 'Using such untrue information to respond to the queries of patients who were expressing concerns as to whether or not their consultations had been covertly recorded and their confidentiality compromised, would be considered dishonest by the objective standards of ordinary decent people. ''A period away from medical practice will provide Dr Blakely with sufficient time and opportunity to properly reflect on, and gain insight into, her dishonesty, such that she will not repeat it. Members of the public would be shocked and concerned at such dishonesty in communication with patients.' Blakely was suspended from practising medicine for six months. Pictured is a view of Light Touch clinic in Weybridge, Surrey The anti-ageing clinic which was founded by Blakely and her lawyer sister Katie in 2009 claims to specialise in non-invasive procedures and other treatments including facials, threading and therapeutic massages. In 2015 a local actress suffering from acne underwent treatment and went onto to appear in several films including the BAFTA award-winning motor racing movie Rush starring Chris Hemsworth. But trouble began in October 2015 after Dr Forrester a consultant anaesthatist joined the board of the clinic as a co-director alongside Blakely and her businessman husband Michael, 54. The hearing was told there were discussions between Dr Forester and Blakely about pricing and discounting for patients of his former practise but the negotiations led to a bitter dispute between the pair. She subsequently hired investigators from Foster Guthrie Associations Corporate Intelligence Services to record Dr Forrester's consultations between January and March 2016. Dr Forrester resigned from the surgery on March 2016 after he was presented with the spreadsheet and the GMC were alerted to the covert recordings the following May. Civil action was taken by both doctors but a settlement was reached in March 2017. The anti-ageing clinic which was founded by Blakely and her lawyer sister Katie in 2009 is said to specialise in non-invasive procedures and other treatments including facials, threading and therapeutic massages Lawyer for GMC Gavin McBride said: 'The purpose of the recording and Dr Blakely's overwhelming aim was the removal of Dr Forrester from the clinic. A blinkered focus on this aim led to Dr Blakely ignoring the confidentiality of patients. 'There was no discussions about these covert recordings between him and the clinic patients. Around 200 patients were in these recordings - made without their knowledge or consent. 'They had the belief they would be heard in privacy as they would be discussing private matters such as their health records. They had no knowledge of how or when the recordings had started what was included in them and who had access to these recordings. 'Dr Forrester had been involved in a business dispute with Dr Blakely and the dispute was over an allegation of underfunding and undercharging by him which had led the company to a financial deficit. Matters were acrimonious. There had been a complaint to the police regarding this but they had not proceeded with prosecution, yet there was a civil claim.' Blakely claimed she did not approach the police about making covert recordings as she said detectives had failed to 'adequately investigate' a 500,000 raid at her clinic in which medical equipment and stock was stolen. She said: 'I am incredibly proud to be a doctor and take my professional responsibilities extremely seriously. 'I have tried to do the right thing every step of the way the right thing for patients, my employees and also for my family who are directly affected by threats to my livelihood. 'Despite whats been said, patient confidentiality has been respected and private information has never been shared or exposed. Ive always sought and followed the best available professional advice and have acted in good faith every step of the way. 'This whole episode has been horrible and Im desperately keen to get back to doing what I love: being a doctor, caring for my patients, running my business. 'I wish to take this opportunity to say thank you to my friends, family and everyone who has supported me along the way.' The BBC has come under fire after a Question Time audience member was seen wearing a hard-left T-shirt emblazoned with the anarchy symbol and a picture of a rat. The woman was filmed in the audience of last night's episode wearing a T-shirt that read: 'You're never more than 10 feet away from a Tory'. Her slogan is a play on the expression 'you're never more than 10 feet away from a rat', which points to the age-old fear of disease in urban areas. She was seen behind a woman who asked former Met Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe a question about youth crime after her cousin was stabbed in London recently. BBC rules state the Corporation must be impartial when reporting on news and current affairs. Scroll down for video A woman (pictured left) was filmed in the audience of last night's Question Time wearing a T-shirt comparing the Conservative Party to rats Conservative MP for Worcestershire could not believe his eyes when he watched the show It is not clear whether the BBC knew the woman would be wearing the T-shirt before she appeared in the background of the show. MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment but it refused to clarify the situation. A spokesman said: 'As with every edition of Question Time, both the panel and audience expressed diverse political opinions on a range of topics.' The incident triggered furious comments from viewers, who attacked the BBC for 'breaking the rules'. Conservative MP for Worcestershire could not believe his eyes, tweeting a still from the show with the caption: #BBCQT really? I mean really???' Lecturer Adrian Hilton tweeted: 'I think it was Nye Bevan who first compared to vermin: @BBCquestiontime employees appear have sympathy. 'I doubt that this T-shirt camera shot was accidental, and I also doubt that producers would have permitted offensive slogans to be broadcast against other groups.' Last night's episode was filmed at St Peter's Church in Notting Hill, west London, where the local council is Conservative. The Tory-run London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has come under attack after the Grenfell Fire disaster that killed over 70 people in the north of the borough last year. Welsh Labour MP described the Conservative Party as 'lower than vermin' at a rally in 1948. He was highly criticised for the comments, which have been repeated by various left-wing figures in later decades. The woman seen in the foreground of the shot was a Londoner called Amy Ling who asked Sir Bernard what he was doing to tackle the rise in youth violence in the capital. She said: 'My cousin was brutally stabbed last weekend in a random attack by a group of young people. It was about a 30 minute walk from here, so pretty local. 'So what action is being taken to tackle youth violence?' Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe replied: 'Well first of all clearly sadly an awful lot more people have died this year through stabbings or shootings. 'And mainly young men, I htink first of all Im going to say something that you have to look at but is not really a short term answer. 'They certainly in certain parts of London, , but in the north east of London it's getting younger. Sadly where we see more young men, we see more crime generally. 'I think that's some of what explains it. It doesn't explain all of it. But I think that's something we have to address. 'More importantly I think the causes are two-fold. One is that it's drug dealing. And the other is that clearly that too many people are carrying knives. Both are going to have to have something done about them.' Some congratulated the woman on her statement T-shirt, saying they would 'high-five her'. Last night's episode of Question Time was filmed at St Peter's Church in Notting Hill, west London, where the local council is Conservative The BBC's rules state impartiality 'lies at the hear of public service and is the core of the BBC's commitment to its audiences.' They read: 'The Agreement accompanying the BBC Charter requires us to do all we can to ensure controversial subjects are treated with due impartiality in our news and other output dealing with matters of public policy or political or industrial controversy. 'But we go further than that, applying due impartiality to all subjects.' A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesman told MailOnline the BBC assured them the Question Time audience for last night's show was selected 'in the usual way'. They added that the council leader was refused a spot in the audience. The statement issued read: 'The BBC assured us in advance that the Question Time audience would be selected in the usual way through an online application process. 'They also advised us that the leader of the council could only attend if she applied through the website, which we understood and agreed with.' Could not establish database connection. DB: bostonimc and SQL: --> The administrator has been notified and will resolve the problem ASAP. Britain will save over 100million by not holding elections to the European Parliament next year. The Government is set to announce later today that Britain will not take part in the vote in May next year. The last round of elections to the EU Parliament cost a massive 109million - even though turn-out was low at just 35 per cent. Iain Duncan-Smith, the former leader of the Tory Party and a leading Eurosceptic, hailed the early Brexit dividend. He told Mail Online it is an 'excellent decision' and the money saved can be pumped into Britain's NHS instead. The last round of elections to the EU Parliament - which saw Nigel Farage (pictured in 2014) elected - cost a massive 109million - even though turn-out was low at just 35 per cent. Ministers today said they do not think it is a good use of taxpayers money to splash out on running the election to the European Parliament (pictured) The last European Parliament elections in 2014 cost UK taxpayers 109million. Out of this, 41m went on a mail shot telling voters who the EU parliament candidates were. While another 31m went on running and staffing polling stations up and down the contry. Given that just 16.5m Britons bothered voting in the elections, the costs worked out at 4.12 for each vote cast. But the saving is still small compared to the many billions of pounds the UK will continue to pay into the EU budget after Brexit. What was the breakdown of the cost of the last EU Parliament elections? The last European Parliament elections in 2014 cost UK taxpayers 109million, the BBC reported. Out of this, 41m went on a mail shot telling voters who the EU parliament candidates were. While another 31m went on running and staffing polling stations up and down the contry. Given that just 16.5m Britons bothered voting in the elections, the costs worked out at 4.12 for each vote cast. Advertisement Theresa May has only agreed to cover the EU budget to the end of 2020 as part of a 35-39 billion divorce bill. While the UK could end up paying much more money into Brussels' coffers over the years as part of trade agreements and deals to stay in various EU agencies. Cabinet Office Minister Chloe Smith announced the saving in an answer to a parliamentary question posted today. She said: 'Following the EU referendum and the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017, the UK will cease to be a member of the European Union on 29th March 2019. 'At that point, we will no longer sit at the European Council table or in the Council of Ministers and we will no longer have Members of the European Parliament. 'We will therefore not be taking part in the European Parliamentary elections in 2019 which are currently scheduled to be held from 23rd to 26th May 2019. 'Given this, the Government does not consider it is necessary or a prudent use of taxpayers money for Returning Officers and electoral administrators to make the usual preparations for the conduct of a European Parliamentary poll in 2019. 'The Government does not intend to make an order setting the date of the poll for the European Parliamentary elections in 2019. 'We also do not intend to undertake the usual preparations for Information Exchange between the UK and the member states in respect of EU citizens (including UK citizens) living in another member state.' News of the looming saving comes as a fresh row is brewing over Britain's Brexit plans. Theresa May has drawn up new plans to keep the whole of the UK aligned with the EU customs union after Brexit if no deal can be done to keep a soft Irish border. The PM is expected to unveil the new details of the 'fallback option' to EU leaders in a fortnight's time. But Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who met with the PM for talks in Sofia yesterday, said the UK will have to keep ties with the single market too. He said the plan will 'require more than just customs' in order to avoid a hard border. Iain Duncan-Smith, the former leader of the Tory Party and a leading Eurosceptic, hailed the early Brexit dividend He told Irish broadcaster RTE: 'Certainly any move on customs that brings the UK closer to the EU is to be welcomed but resolving the issue of avoiding a hard border requires more than customs.' His comments will spark fears that Ireland is plotting to use the thorny issue of the Irish border to force the UK to stay in the EU single market and customs union. Mrs May has scrambled to try to quell Brexiteer unease over her fallback option by insisting that Britain will be able to strike its own free trade deals after the transition deal ends at the end of 2020. Speaking at a press conference in Macedonia yesterday she said Britain would have an 'independent trade policy' after its departure. A kangaroo was shot with an arrow, piercing right through the body and trapping her joey inside her pouch. Stomach curdling photos captured the moment the Eastern Grey was rescued by wildlife volunteers and nursed back to health after first being spotted with the arrow two weeks ago. Dutch Thunder Wildlife Shelter owner Kylee Donkers said the injured kangaroo, named Patience, underwent medical treatment on Tuesday evening to remove the arrow after it was shot at Ulupna Island, Murray River. Scroll down for video A kangaroo was shot with an arrow, piercing right through the body and trapping her joey inside her pouch narrowly missing internal organs (pictured) Stomach curdling photos captured the moment the Eastern Grey was rescued by wildlife volunteers and nursed back to health after first being spotted with the arrow two weeks ago Dutch Thunder Wildlife Shelter owner Kylee Donkers said the injured kangaroo, named Patience, had a little joey in the pouch who they have called 'Little Scruff' (pictured) Little Scruff (pictured) was not injured by the spear but is recovering from a fractured heel Volunteers were able to remove the joey and then transport Patience for medical treatment 'The joey wasn't harmed by the arrow, but being pinned inside her mother's pouch had reduced her ability to feed,' she said. The mother and joey, named Little Scruff, are stable and in recovery at the wildlife shelter, north of Victoria, after the horrific ordeal. Doctors said the arrow narrowly missed her vital organs. The wildlife workers were able to catch the speared roo and remove the joey from her pouch before transporting her to the shelter. The spear appeared to go from the start of the kangaroo's tail on it's back and through it's body, coming out through the pouch. Little Scruff is now recovering from a 'fractured heel' and will spend a few weeks in a cast. Ms Donkers told Daily Mail Australia just days after the successful hour-long medical treatment, which relies on donations , 'mum and bubs' shared some cuddles in blankets. 'Both are doing well, joey is happy taking a bottle from me then back to mum for toileting and cleaning,' she said. 'Mum is slowly getting back up on her feet but still is pretty unsteady.' The kangaroo underwent medical treatment on Tuesday evening about two weeks after it was first spotted with the spear (pictured) The arrow was removed (pictured left and right) after it was shot at Ulupna Island, Murray River Ms Donkers said the joey (pictured) 'wasn't harmed by the arrow, but being pinned inside her mother's pouch had reduced her ability to feed' Days after the arrow was removed during an hour-long procedure, 'mum and bubs' shared some cuddles in blankets (pictured) Ms Donkers said if Patience recovers from the infection she would have a good chance of survival. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning program manager compliance operations Greg Chant said anyone with information on the vile attack is urged to come forward. 'Kangaroos are protected under the Wildlife Act 1975, and there are significant penalties for deliberately injuring or destroying protected wildlife, including imprisonment,' he said. The maximum penalty for willfully injuring protected wildlife is $3171.40 while the maximum penalty for hunting, taking or destroying protected wildlife is $7928 or six months imprisonment. A man whose ex-girlfriend was blown up in her nail salon lost his first wife after she was mysteriously crushed by a table as she fell down the stairs. Stephen Beal was arrested on Thursday after Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, was killed and two others injured in an explosion at Magyar Kozmetika day spa in Aliso Viejo. Witnesses said the blast came from a cardboard box sitting with other mail that blew up when Krajnyak opened it on Tuesday. Stephen Beal, 59, an ex-boyfriend of slain day spa owner Ildiko Krajnyak (pictured together on vacation), has been arrested on an unrelated explosives charge The model rocket enthusiast won a $500,000 settlement from American International Life Assurance Company of New York in 2010 over the death of his wife in 2008 Beal's first wife Christine also died violently after a mysterious accident at their home in 2008, in which she fell down the stairs. The 59-year-old won a $500,000 settlement from American International Life Assurance Company of New York in 2010, according to The Orange County Register He claimed Christine, who like Krajnyak was 48 when she died, suffered traumatic pancreatitis after she fell while carrying a 49lb end-table. Neighbor Don Westerhoff told the 'word around the neighborhood' was they were moving a heavy piece of furniture down the stairs and Beal lost his grip. Coroners records listed the cause of her death as 'unexplained' with other causes including 'pancreatitis, electrolyte imbalance and other undetermined factors'. Beal was an investment banker at the time and decide to pursue acting after Christine died, friend and neighbor Steve Young said. It's complicated: Beal is a widower and Krajnyak was separated from her husband, but still living with him under the same roof Krajnyak, 48, (left and right) died and three other people were seriously injured in the blast at 11 Mareblu, in Aliso Viejo, California, on Tuesday Federal agents allegedly found two improvised devices at Beal's home as they investigated the explosion. He was charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and made his first appearance in a Santa Ana federal court on Thursday. He was handcuffed and only spoke to answer questions from the judge. Beal hasn't been charged in connection with the bombing. His attorney declined to comment after the court hearing. Investigators said they found more than 100lbs of explosives, including two improvised explosive devices, three firearms and other materials in Beal's home. After news of the blast became public on Tuesday, Beal phoned police at the urging of his new girlfriend and then let them search his house. Authorities say his former girlfriend, Krajnyak, was killed when the bomb went off as she opened a package inside the Aliso Viejo day spa she owned with Beal. Aside from being her former companion, Beal is also believed to have had a business relationship with Krajnyak. A shocking surveillance image has emerged showing the scale of the devastation caused by a massive explosion inside a Southern California spa that left one woman dead and three others injured The image shows an investigator surveying the scene, where much of the ceiling appears to have been collapsed, wires were blown out of place, and a hole was created in the punctured wall Meanwhile, federal agents investigating the ex-boyfriend of the woman who was killed, 48-year-old Ildiko Krajnyak, have allegedly found two improvised devices at his home. Stephen Beal, 59, of Long Beach was arrested on Thursday by the FBI and appeared in court (above) Krajnyak's 20-year-old son returned home Thursday from Washington State University after hearing the horrific news about his mother, according to KABC-TV. 'It's just all so sudden that a lot of this is still very raw,' an emotional Keanu Vestil told reporters. 'And still really hard to process for everybody. 'I just want to express my gratitude for just all the love and support that I've gotten from everybody in the last two days. It's just been a lot.' A neighbor said Beal and Krajnyak used to date. Stuart Davis, who lives a few doors down from Stephen Beal's home in Long Beach, said he often saw Beal and his adult son working on large rockets on their front lawn. The son told Davis that they built movie props, he said. 'I'd come home from home sometimes and there would be rockets, but big, like something you'd see in a movie,' Davis said. Krajnyak's 20-year-old son, Keanu Vestil (above), returned home Thursday from Washington State University after hearing the horrific news about his mother 'It's just all so sudden that a lot of this is still very raw,' an emotional Vestil told reporters. 'And still really hard to process for everybody.' Beal, a father-of-four, told investigators that the explosives found at his home were part of his rocket-building hobby, The Orange County Register reported. He told authorities that he did not have materials needed to set off a large explosion. Beal also acknowledged that he once made a smaller explosive device to help neighbors with a gopher problem. An FBI agent wrote a note included in the court filing which said that the materials found in Beal's home were 'not consistent with that of a model rocket.' Nathan Beal said his father built sport rockets fueled by a propellant that is legally available at specialty hobby shops. He believed federal agents found 'motor cases made out of aluminum' andit was 'highly unlikely' his father was guilty of any charge related to a destructive device. The biggest of the rockets used about 5lbs of fuel in multiple motors. The younger Beal also confirmed Stephen was in a relationship with the woman killed in the blast but they recently broke up. Beal told investigators that the explosives found at his home were part of his rocket-building hobby. Above is a picture he posted on his Facebook page The explosion blew siding off the walls, exposing insulation and framing and shattering windows at the two-story building State documents show Beal and Krajnyak as officers in a skin care business called I&S Enterprises. Krajnyak was a licensed cosmetologist who ran day spa Magyar Kozmetika out of the first floor of the building. Authorities say the explosion occurred on the same floor, after a package was delivered. One of the other women injured in the blast told federal investigators that the device was inside one of a number of cardboard boxes on the floor, according to court doucments. When Krajnyak opened the box, it exploded. The victim said she remembers being thrown backwards onto the floor and seeing smoke and flames. A witness told investigators that she saw 'everything on fire' after the blast. Investigators said they found a nine-volt battery, a cell phone, melted material believed to be duct tape and loose wires, according to the court filing. Globetrotters: Beal's Facebook page has many photos of him traveling with Krajnyak to places like Portugal, Mexico and Canada Risky hobby: A neighbor said Beal (left and right) was often seen building big rockets on his lawn with his son The blast blew siding off the walls, exposing insulation and framing and shattering windows at the two-story building. 'At this point, we do not believe this was an accident,' said Paul Delacourt, special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Los Angeles. 'Our working theory is that this explosion was caused by a device.' Pieces of the device found at the scene were being sent to the FBI's laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to be analyzed, he said. Delacourt said investigators were still working to determine a motive and figure out exactly how the device was brought to the spa. Krajnyak was originally from Hungary and had just visited there, according to her Facebook page and a neighbor. It was during her trip to Hungary that the mail which was received at her day spa - including the suspected explosives-laden package, began to pile up. Her Facebook page showed photos from her home country, including a selfie outside the clinic where she trained to become an aesthetician 30 years ago. Her Orange County business offered services such as facials, waxing and wrinkle treatments. Firefighters and sheriff's deputies escort children from Academy on the Hill pre-k school in Aliso Viejo on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, after a fatal explosion nearby Krajnyak, a married mother-of-one of Coto de Caza, Orange County, was a licensed cosmetologist who ran day spa Magyar Kozmetika out of the first floor of the building Krajnyak and Beal had met online in June 2016 and dated about a year and a half. Photos on his Facebook page showed them living it up in far-flung places: a beach in Cuba, restaurants in Portugal, and riding jet skis in Mexico. The romance cooled earlier this year after disputes over exclusivity and finances, FBI Special Agent Evan Jesch wrote. They remained business partners, with Beal serving as spa manager, and the two operated a separate cosmetics firm. Beal was listed on the spa's lease because Krajnyak and her estranged husband had filed for bankruptcy, he said. Court records show they had filed jointly for bankruptcy in 2014 and the case was dismissed and closed Monday. Beal paid the $1,500 monthly rent and half the spa's operating costs and had to loan Krajnyak money some months to cover her costs. The home of a homicide victim, Ildiko Krajnyak, is seen after it was searched by police overnight in Trabuco Canyon, California The blast occurred on the first floor of the Aliso Viejo building in Orange County that was under renovation Vladimir Putin has taunted Britain after Sergei Skripal's release from hospital - suggesting the Russian spy would have 'died on the spot' if he had been attacked with a military-grade toxin. Mr Skripal is being protected by 24-hour armed guard at an MI5 safe house after leaving hospital earlier this week, sources have revealed. The 66-year-old, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were admitted to Salisbury District Hospital along with Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey after being exposed to the nerve agent in March. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning, saying it was caused by a type of nerve agent known as Novichok which was developed in the Soviet Union. Putin wished Skripal 'good health' during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today. But he added: 'God grant him good health... If a military-grade poison had been used, the man would have died on the spot. Thank God he recovered and that he left (hospital).' Vladimir Putin (pictured today) has taunted Britain after Sergei Skripal's release from hospital - suggesting the Russian spy would have 'died on the spot' if he had been attacked with a military-grade toxin Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) wished Skripal 'good health' during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) today (right) Sergei Skripal, with his daughter Yulia Skripal, who was also exposed to a nerve agent Yulia Skripal, who recovered more quickly than her father was discharged last month Putin then accused Britain of failing to respond to the Kremlin's offer of help with the investigation. 'We have several times offered our British partners any necessary assistance in the investigation (of the poisoning). So far we have received no response. Our offer remains open,' he said. Mr Skripal, who nearly died after being exposed to the deadly nerve agent novichok, was discharged earlier this week and was whisked to an undisclosed location. His daughter Yulia, who was also poisoned and left gravely ill, left hospital last month. Today, Russia's ambassador to the UK stepped up demands to be allowed to see the pair, suggesting they may be being detained by the British state. Alexander Yakovenko said the pair were 'isolated', adding: 'You can call it kidnap.' He welcomed the announcement that former spy Mr Skripal had been discharged from hospital. But Mr Yakovenko has claimed the UK is violating international law by not granting access to the Skripals. The 1963 Vienna Convention gives consular officials access rights if one of their nationals is in prison, custody or detention. Setting out Moscow's interpretation of the case, he said: 'We are saying that they are isolated because we don't have access to them. 'This is our interpretation. You can call it detained, you can call it isolated, you can call it kidnap. Unless we see them it is difficult to make a conclusion.' He acknowledged that the Foreign Office had told him they did not interpret the situation in the same way and added, 'I got the impression that we will never see them'. Mr Yakovenko said: 'If it was really Novichok and they were poisoned by Novichok, the consequences would be very serious. My question was how they survived from Novichok.' Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning, saying it was caused by a type of nerve agent known as Novichok which was developed in the Soviet Union. President Putin is pictured with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Sochi, Russia, today Putin (shaking hands with Angela Merkel) accused Britain of failing to respond to the Kremlin's offer of help with the investigation Moscow has furiously denied claims it was behind the Skripal poisoning, suggesting at various points it has been set up by British security services At a press conference at his official residence in London after Mr Skripal was discharged, Mr Yakovenko said 'we are happy that he is all right'. He added: 'We are still demanding access to these people. We want to understand how they feel. 'We want them to tell (us) personally what they want. If they don't want our assistance, that's fine, but we want to see them physically.' Mr Yakovenko criticised the Government's attitude towards Moscow, highlighting Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson's comment that Russia should 'go away and shut up'. The ambassador said: 'We in Russia, we know the price of words. You will never hear from our minister of defence 'Britain should shut up'. It's impossible.' Mr Yakovenko, who was likened to the Iraqi propaganda chief known as Comical Ali during a parliamentary meeting with MPs and peers this week, said he had been given an apology by some lords. 'A few people from the House of Lords came to me yesterday and they apologised for the statements of the MPs,' he said. 'They know the price of words, they know how the ambassador of a big country should be treated.' Earlier today, a source told Mailonline Mr Skripal was released from hospital a few days ago 'and was taken to a safehouse owned by the security services'. 'These safehouses are distributed all over the country so he could be anywhere, it may be miles away from the Salisbury area. 'We don't know whether he has even been in touch with his daughter Yulia since leaving hospital. 'But rest assured he will be under armed guard 24-hours a day for the foreseeable future. Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious in Salisbury on March 4, and spent weeks in critical condition. The hospital confirmed on Friday that all three patients had now been discharged. A forensic tent covering the bench where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were discovered Police outside Sergei Skripal's home following the poisoning attack in March Treatment of such patients involves 'stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned', it said in a statement. Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital, said: 'We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal. 'This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital. 'Treating him and the other two people poisoned by this nerve agent, while still providing outstanding care to the other patients who rely on our hospital, has been a huge and unprecedented challenge that I'm proud our staff at Salisbury Hospital have risen to.' Army officers are pictured removing the bench where the Skripals collapsed Putin vows to continue sending gas via Ukraine - despite plans for new pipeline to Germany Russia intends to continue natural gas shipments via Ukraine despite a planned second pipeline to Germany, Vladimir Putin said today. The planned construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would further call into question Ukraine's role as a key transit nation for Russian gas to Europe, and has become a wedge issue between Europe and the United States. 'We will continue gas shipments (via Ukraine) as long as they are economically justified,' Putin said during a press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. For her part, Merkel said that 'Germany believes Ukraine's role as a transit country should continue after the construction of Nord Stream 2... it has a strategic importance'. She added that Germany was ready to help ensure such an outcome. Russia intends to continue natural gas shipments via Ukraine despite a planned second pipeline to Germany, Vladimir Putin said today during talks with Angela Merkel (pictured) Germany has supported plans by Russia's Gazprom to build the second pipeline under the Baltic Sea, preparatory works for which have begun and the pipeline should be completed in 2019. However Merkel last month shifted gears to say that Nord Stream could not go forward without guarantees for Ukraine. Merkel said Friday that while Germany looks at Nord Stream 2 as a business project 'there are other elements, so we need to think about guarantees for Ukraine'. Ukraine has so far rejected proposals from Gazprom that would reduce the volumes of gas shipped through the country. Russia has previously shut off deliveries to Ukraine in pricing disputes, which disrupted supplies to several nations in Europe during winter months. Washington has previously raised concerns about Nord Stream 2, as it will reinforce Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas when US liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are becoming available. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the US administration has increased pressure on Europe to abandon the pipeline in exchange for avoiding a trade war. Putin said he did not see anything new in the position of US President Donald Trump. 'Donald isn't just a president but a strong businessman. I think he is promoting his business interest to sell US liquefied natural gas on the European market,' said the Russian president. He also said that the United States 'wants us to inject a little of our money into Ukraine' via transit fees, which he said amount to $2-3 billion per year. Moscow and Kiev have been at loggerheads since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and is widely seen as having fuelled a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine that has claimed some 10,000 lives. Putin said Russia is ready for gas transit talks with Ukraine and is confident an economically advantageous deal can be found. Advertisement Salisbury District Hospital chief executive, Cara Charles-Barks, said: 'It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital. 'That he, Yulia and DS Bailey have been able to leave us so soon after coming into contact with this nerve agent is thanks to the hard work, skill and professionalism of our clinicians, who provide outstanding care to all our patients, day in and day out. 'This has been a difficult time for those caught up in this incident - the patients, our staff and the people of Salisbury. 'I want to thank the public for their support, and I want to pay a special tribute to both the clinical staff here at the trust and those who work so hard behind the scenes. 'They've demonstrated the very best of the NHS.' Detectives from the UK's Counter Terrorism Policing network released a statement saying they continues to 'investigate the attempted murders of Sergei and Yulia Skripal' It said: 'They are both making good progress and we are pleased that Mr Skripal has now also been released from hospital, which was announced by the NHS earlier this morning. Four locations around the cathedral city in Wiltshire were cordoned off by police after the attack, including The Mill pub Forensic officers search the area around the bench where the Skripals were found, and a police officer stands guard outside a Zizzi's, known to be one the last places the Skripals had been 'This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack. 'In the interests of Sergei and Yulia's safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place.' Meanwhile, Skripal's mother has demanded she be allowed to speak to her son. Yelena, who has not heard from the former spy since he was poisoned, has told a relative today that she wants to speak to him. Yelena's carer Viktoria Skripal, who has been twice refused a British visa to see him and her cousin Yulia said: 'We have just told the news to his elderly mother who has been waiting for more than two months for any word from him or Yulia,' said Viktoria. 'She is begging the hospital, or whoever now decides Sergey's freedom of movement and speech, to please allow him to call her.' Skripal's mother Yelena (left with her son in 2004) has demanded she be allowed to speak to her son DS Nick Bailey (left) who was also poisoned in the attack when he raced to the aid of the Sergei Skripal (right) and his daughter Yulia The UK government has blamed Russia for the attack, with Prime Minister Theresa May describing the incident as 'brazen' and 'despicable'. But the Russian government denied any involvement. It has accused the UK of inventing a 'fake story'. The PM's official spokeswoman said today: 'We welcome the news that staff have determined him well enough to be discharged. 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 'He was the victim of a horrific attack.' The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. Four locations around the cathedral city in Wiltshire were cordoned off by police after the attack. These included Zizzi's restaurant and The Mill pub, known to be the last places the Skripals had been before being found comatose on a bench in the Maltings shopping precinct. Hero police officer DS Nick Bailey, 38, originally came into contact with the deadly nerve agent with alleged ties to Russia when he ran to the aid of the Skripals. Mr Bailey was the first of the three to be released from hospital, describing it as the worst thing to have ever happened to him in his life. Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, revealed the Skripals were poisoned with up to 100 milligrams of Novichok. The attack has lead to a huge clean-up operation taking place in the cathedral city with multiple agencies and military personnel involved. The cordons have now been released by police, apart from Mr Skripals residence on Christie Miller road. A large decontamination operation has begun with many items - including the park bench where the Skripals were found - being taken away for destruction. In 2006 Mr Skripal, a former Russian colonel, was jailed in Russia for 13 years for passing on the identities of Russian spies in Europe to the UK intelligence services. But in 2010 he was part of a prisoner swap between Moscow and the United States. Russian ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko welcomed the news that Sergei Skripal had been discharged from hospital and repeated his demand for consular access to the former spy and his daughter Yulia. At a press conference at his official residence in London he said: 'We are happy that he is all right.' He added: 'We are still demanding access to these people. We want to understand how they feel. 'We want them to tell (us) personally what they want. If they don't want our assistance, that's fine, but we want to see them physically.' Mr Yakovenko has claimed the UK is violating international law by not granting access to the Skripals. A timeline of the key developments in the Salisbury poisoning case Russian agents attacked Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok in 2018 2010 - Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer jailed for spying for Britain, is released and flown to the UK as part of a swap with Russian agents caught in the United States. He settles in Salisbury. March 3, 2018 - Yulia Skripal arrives at Heathrow Airport from Russia to visit her father in England. March 4, 9.15am - Sergei Skripal's burgundy BMW is seen in suburban Salisbury, near a cemetery, where his wife and son are commemorated. March 4, 1.30pm - The BMW is seen driving toward central Salisbury. March 4, 1.40pm - The BMW is parked at a lot in central Salisbury. A police officer stands guard outside the Zizzi restaurant where Sergei and Yulia had lunch before they collapsed in a nearby park March 4, afternoon - Sergei and Yulia Skripal visit the Bishops Mill pub. March 4, 2.20pm to 3.35pm - Sergei and Yulia Skripal have lunch at the Zizzi restaurant. March 4, 4.15pm - Emergency services are called by a passer-by concerned about a man and a woman in Salisbury city centre. Officers find the Skripals unconscious on a bench. They are taken to Salisbury District Hospital, where they remain in critical condition. March 5, morning - Police say two people in Salisbury are being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. March 5, afternoon - Wiltshire Police, along with Public Health England, declare a 'major incident' March 7 - Police announce that the Skripals were likely poisoned with a nerve agent in a targeted murder attempt. They disclose that a police officer who responded to the incident is in serious condition in a hospital. March 8 - Home Secretary Amber Rudd describes the use of a nerve agent on UK soil was a 'brazen and reckless act' of attempted murder March 9 - About 180 troops trained in chemical warfare and decontamination are deployed to Salisbury to help with the police investigation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow might be willing to assist with the investigation but expresses resentment at suggestions the Kremlin was behind the attack. March 11 - Public health officials tell people who visited the Zizzi restaurant or Bishops Mill pub in Salisbury on the day of the attack or the next day to wash their clothes as a precaution. March 12, morning- Prime Minister Theresa May tells the House of Commons that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. March 12, afternoon - Public Health England ask everyone who visited Salisbury town centre on the day of the attack to wash all of their clothes and belongings. Officers wearing chemical protection suits secure the forensic tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia fell ill March 14 - The PM announces the expulsion of 23 suspected Russian spies from the country's UK Embassy. March 22 - Nick Bailey, the police officer injured in the attack, is released from hospital. March 26 - The United States and 22 other countries join Britain in expelling scores of Russian spies from capitals across the globe. March 29 - Doctors say Yulia Skripal is 'improving rapidly' in hospital. 'Unknown time in the spring' - Dutch authorities expelled two suspected Russian spies who tried to hack into a Swiss laboratory April 3 - The chief of the Porton Down defence laboratory said it could not verify the 'precise source' of the nerve agent. April 5, morning - Yulia Skripal's cousin Viktoria says she has received a call from Yulia saying she plans to leave hospital soon. Dawn Sturgess died in hospital on July 8 April 5, afternoon - A statement on behalf of Yulia is released by Metropolitan Police, in which she says her strength is 'growing daily' and that 'daddy is fine'. April 9 - Ms Skripal is released from hospital and moved to a secure location. May 18 - Sergei Skripal is released from hospital 11 weeks after he was poisoned. June 30 - Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley fall ill at a property in Amesbury, which is eight miles from Salisbury, and are rushed to hospital. July 4 - Police declare a major incident after Ms Sturgess and Mr Rowley are exposed to an 'unknown substance', later revealed to be Novichok. July 5 - Sajid Javid demands an explanation over the two poisonings as he accuses the Russian state of using Britain as a 'dumping ground for poison'. July 8 - Mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, dies in hospital due to coming into contact with Novichok. July 10 - Mr Rowley regains consciousness at hospital, and later tells his brother that Dawn had sprayed the Novichok onto her wrists. July 19 - Police are believed to have identified the perpetrators of the attack. August 20 - Charlie Rowley is rushed to hospital as he starts to lose his sight, but doctors can't confirm whether it has anything to do with the poisoning. August 26 - Charlie Rowley admitted to intensive care unit with meningitis August 28 - Police call in the 'super recognisers' in bid to track down the poisoners September 4 - Charlie Rowley's brother says he has 'lost all hope' and doesn't have long to live. Independent investigators, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, confirm the toxic chemical that killed Ms Sturgess was the same nerve agent as that which poisoned the Skripals. September 5 - Scotland Yard and CPS announce enough evidence to charge Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov for conspiracy to murder over Salisbury nerve agent attack. September 13 - Britain's most wanted men speak to RT and claim to be humble tourists September 26 - The real identity of one of the two assassins, named by police as Ruslan Boshirov, is reported to be Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. October 3: New photo emerges that appears to show Col Chepiga on the Wall of Heroes at the Far-Eastern Military Academy, providing more evidence against the Kremlin's denials. Advertisement The controversial half-sister of Meghan Markle is planning to hold a formal wedding party at her home in Florida this weekend. Samantha Markle has repeatedly been in the spotlight in the run up to Prince Harry's wedding, even vowing to write a tell-all book about their relationship. After she was not invited to the real wedding in Windsor, it emerged today that she will host a party at her home in Silver Springs, Florida. Meghan Markle's half-sister is hosting a party at her home on Saturday after she was not invited to the real royal wedding following a series of controversial claims she has made Samantha and her boyfriend will host friends at a formal party at their home in Silver Springs Guests are being told to come in formal attire, with US gossip website TMZ reporting Samantha is planning to wearing a smart dress and 'vintage art deco hat'. Samantha, 53, told the website she still loves Meghan and it will be 'bittersweet' to watch Meghan walk down the aisle. Samantha will be drafting in off-duty police officers to keep out any gatecrashers, TMZ reported. In repeated rants to the media, Samantha, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, has portrayed Meghan as 'narcissistic and selfish' and claimed her half-sister had disowned her because of her disability. Yesterday, hitting back at Meghan's reported pleas for her to stop sniping, she even invoked the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, saying angrily: 'She's not going to tell me that I can't speak about my life. I'm not going to take it.' But it is understood her views have recently mellowed and she now feels love towards her half-sister. Samantha is not close to Meghan and has been accused of 'cashing in' on the royal wedding Ms Markle previously said she had encouraged her father to do a deal with paparazzi, the discovery of which has partly led to his decision not to attend the wedding. She has also hit out at Kensington Palace for not helping her and Meghan's father Thomas after his heart attack, claiming she had to send him money. She said his heart condition had been 'life-threatening' and he needed surgery, and that afterwards she had to 'send my father money twice by MoneyGram because he needed it'. Dismissing reports that Kensington Palace had offered support for her father in Mexico, she claimed: 'That is not true or he would not have been living in his place, he'd have a reliable vehicle, he'd have security.' During one of a series of TV appearances this week, she was branded a 'little vulture' by Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan. In an explosive exchange, Mr Morgan asked her: 'How much money have you made from trashing Meghan Markle?' to which Samantha replied: 'Not very much'. A Sydney accountant who paid for sex with teenage girls has been sentenced to at least four years jail. Rino Raymond Mura was found guilty in November 2017 of three counts of being a client of a child prostitute and two counts of possessing child abuse. The 58-year-old was sentenced in Parramatta District Court on Friday by Judge Penelope Wass. Mura was given an aggregate sentence for his five offences, with a non-parole period of four years and maximum of six-and-a-half years. Judge Wass said the actions of child prostitution clients such as Mura, who paid for sex with two girls aged under 17, were just as serious as those involved in arranging such meetings. Scroll down for video Rino Raymond Mura (pictured) faces at least four years behind bars after Friday's sentencing hearing at Parramatta District Court 'Such acts could not occur without clients being willing to engage in sex with underage prostitutes,' she said. Mura was arrested after he went to police and told them he'd been robbed while in his car in a western Sydney car park in 2012. He made the 'embarrassing' admission at the time that a 12 or 13-year-old child prostitute had been in his car as a 'prequel' to the robbery, his barrister Marcel Sahade said at an earlier hearing. Mura told the girl to get out of the car when he realised she was so young, the lawyer said. The charges for which he's been found guilty relate to two other child prostitutes. Judge Penelope Wass said that the risk of Rino Raymond Mura (pictured left) reoffending was low but stressed the need for deterrence for crimes of this nature Mr Sahade had argued Mura should be spared jail as it was his decision to go the police that prompted an investigation which led to the arrest of several people linked to the child sex ring. Judge Wass said on Friday she had not heeded that request, as Mura had not mentioned his offending during his 'self-serving' interview with police. 'I do not regard this information to police to be complete or reliable,' she said. Mura claimed he believed the girls he paid for sex had been older than 18 and they appeared to be willing participants in the acts, the judge noted. The judge found that willingness was not a mitigating factor. 'The court should accept that even when the activity is not opposed by the victim, it will be damaging,' she said. The judge concluded Mura's risk of reoffending was low but stressed the need for general deterrence for crimes of this nature. An elderly college professor died after he was allegedly bashed into a coma by a mugger as he used an ATM. Young Kun Kim, 87, died in hospital on Thursday days after he was punched in the head from behind on New York's Upper West Side on Sunday. Matthew Lee allegedly ambushed him in the lobby of the Citibank on Broadway at W. 96th St and made off with $300 while leaving him for dead. Scroll down for video Young Kun Kim, 87, died in hospital on Thursday days after he was punched in the head from behind on New York's Upper West Side on Sunday Lee blamed 'bad spirits' as he appeared in court charged with murder and robbery on Thursday morning. 'You have to talk to my lawyer. Something is not right. Bad spirits or something,' he said as he was taken to court, according to the New York Daily News. Mr Kim taught political science at Lehman College for 50 years and his sudden death shocked students and staff. He received an award for his half-century of dedicated service to the college recently, presented by Lehman president Jose Luis Cruz. Matthew Lee allegedly ambushed him in the lobby of the Citibank on Broadway at W. 96th St and made off with $300 while leaving him for dead 'I was proud to present him with his award for his dedication to this noble institution,' he said. 'Dr Kim has challenged and inspired generations of Lehman students, mentored young faculty members, and advanced scholarship with his area of specialization.' He specialized in political thought and philosophy across cultures, wrote articles for Korean publications, and mentored younger faculty. Royal fans today spoke of their joy for Prince Charles after it was revealed he will step in for the father of the bride and walk Meghan Markle down the aisle. The Prince of Wales will give his soon-to-be daughter-in-law away when she marries Prince Harry tomorrow at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Meghan, 36, asked her future father-in-law to accompany her on the way to the altar after her father Thomas Markle had to pull out following heart surgery. Responding to the announcement by Kensington Palace this morning, royal fans praised the 'fantastic' decision and said they were delighted for Charles. Royal fans have mostly reacted positively to the news, speaking of their joy for Prince Charles One said: 'What a lovely thing. Charles himself has no biological daughters but he will definitely be gaining one tomorrow. It will be a very touching moment.' Another from New South Wales, Australia, tweeted: 'What a wonderful blessing for them both. Something Charles thought he would never be able to do. 'Her mother may not have been comfortable doing this. Whatever the reason, it is fantastic. Many blessings and prayers for both Harry and Meghan.' And a third said: 'I knew it would be Prince Charles. I was hoping for her mum to do it, but I guess she wanted to keep things as traditional as possible. Great choice!' However, not everyone was happy with the announcement. Aimee Day tweeted: 'No, it should have been her mum to do it. She brought her up and she should do it. Others are not so impressed by the decision, with some claiming it is a 'sexist' move 'In general I think the mother's should do it anyway. After all, in most situations the mother does everything for their child over the father - in my experience.' Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding in numbers 0 - Maids of Honour - all the bridesmaids will be children 1 - Best man - Harry's brother, the Duke of Cambridge 1 - Hour - the length of the wedding ceremony 2 - Diamonds from Diana, Princess of Wales's collection used for Meghan's engagement ring, plus one from Botswana 3 - Diana's siblings at the service 6 - Harry's position in line to the throne 6 - Windsor Grey horses taking part in the carriage ride 7 - Charities Harry and Meghan picked to receive public donations instead of wedding gifts 16 - The wedding will be the 16th royal wedding or blessing to take place in St George's Chapel since 1863 200 - Guests invited to the Frogmore House evening reception 600 - Congregation in St George's Chapel 2,640 - People specially invited into the grounds of the castle 5,000 - UK and international media accredited in Windsor 100,000 - Estimated number of visitors in Windsor on the day Advertisement And Rachel Douce added: 'Disappointing that Prince Charles is walking Meghan down the aisle. Perfect opportunity for the royals to show how modern and not sexist they are and let Doria do it, but no.' Mr Markle was forced to pull out of performing the fatherly duty after undergoing heart surgery in a dramatic upset just two days before the wedding. The actress's mother Doria Ragland had been tipped to perform the role. But Harry's father is far more experienced at appearing at big public events amid scrutiny. Wedding-watchers camped outside Windsor Castle in readiness for the festivities said they felt her soon-to-be father-in-law stepping in was a 'nice gesture'. The announcement from Kensington Palace on Friday morning came with just 24 hours to go until the big day, with final preparations well under way in Windsor. Windsor visitor Leslie Haynes, from Washington, said: 'I was surprised actually. I knew that Prince Charles was in the running. I just assumed it would be her mother. 'But it was Meghan's approval and choice and so we support that, and, as we say, the next King of England is going to walk her down the aisle.' The 58-year-old, who is camping opposite the castle, said she was 'somewhat' disappointed that Miss Ragland would not accompany Meghan to the altar. She added: 'But I have to say that it's her choice so we're happy for her. She is going to be the happiest woman in the world tomorrow so how could we be disappointed about that?' Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are pictured together at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in King's Lynn, Norfolk, on Christmas Day 2017 Prince Charles, soon-to-be father-in-law of Meghan, is pictured this morning giving an award to broadcaster Melvyn Bragg during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London Margaret Phipps, 25, from Texas, said: 'She has such a close relationship with her mum, so I think it is surprising to some people. But I think it's a nice gesture. 'He (Charles) doesn't have a daughter that he'd ever be able to walk down the aisle. And it just sort of shows her transition into the royal family. 'She's really becoming a part of that family with him kind of acting as the father figure in situations, so I personally think it's nice.' Sylvia Horn, 61, from Nashville, said it is 'wonderful', adding: 'It's usually a gentleman that does it.' 'I fully approve since Charles is going to be her father-in-law,' she said. Popular Stevan Miller, 38, (pictured left) protected stars such as Robert Pattison (right) from frantic fans A bare-knuckle boxer and bodyguard to A-list celebrities has been discovered dead in his home. Popular Stevan Miller, 38, protected stars such as Madonna, Robert Pattison, Tina Turner and P Diddy from frantic fans. The married father-of-two was found dead at his four-bedroom house in Hinckley, Leicestershire on Sunday. His death is not being treated as suspicious. Minder Steve 'The Killer' Miller - who weighed 21st stone and stood 6ft 6ins tall - appeared to have a positive future ahead of him. His fight promotion company had only just hosted their first successful bare-knuckle fighting event 'Rogue One' in Coventry on Friday night. After the event, he posted on Facebook: 'Last night was a groundbreaking show with everyone showing the upmost respect for each other #roguetwo???' Devastated wife Jemma paid tribute to the well-liked fighter. She posted on Facebook: 'I am truly heartbroken and devastated. 'I will never understand or except what has happened, but I do know that my Stevan would of been completely overwhelmed by the response from everyone. 'He had a heart of gold and only ever meant well. 'I will miss him every day until the day I die.' Also among the celebrities that Miller protected were Will Smith, Avril Lavigne and Lindsay Lohan. Miller also claimed that he was once offered a job by pop sensation Justin Beiber, who was said to have squared up to the burly guard at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. In 2015, he said: 'I've worked with pop stars, film stars, a lot of big names and I've enjoyed it all. Also among the celebrities that Miller protected were Will Smith, Avril Lavigne and Lindsay Lohan 'When you're protecting someone, you're the front line. 'If there is trouble, I'm the one who's going to be targeted. 'I was working for a client at the Cannes Film Festival. 'One of a number of high-profile guests there was Justin Bieber. 'At some stage he took exception to something and he actually pushed me. 'He then wanted to fight me... He later apologised to me.' Stevan previously said: 'I've worked with pop stars, film stars, a lot of big names and I've enjoyed it all'. He is pictured on the right with actor Bradley Cooper Stevan's promotion firm Rogue Elite posted a statement on Facebook saying: 'Jemma Miller and family would personally like to thank each and every single one of you for your love, kind wishes and support at this time. 'She says it has made her realise just how much respect and love every single one of us had for Stevan and she appreciates every single thing that is being done at this moment.' A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman added: 'We were called to an address in Hinckley at around 9am on Sunday. 'Upon arrival, officers found a man in his 30s dead inside the property. 'His death is being treated as non-suspicious and a file has been passed to the coroner.' South Carolina's most talented escape artist may be a kangaroo. The McCormick County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday that a mischievous marsupial was roaming the county for the second time in three days. 'Yes, the Kangaroo got out again this morning, but is back home safely ... again,' the office said in a Facebook post. Sheriff Clarke Stearns told WJBF that the kangaroo got out after the owner accidentally left the animal's pen open. A kangaroo escaped from its pen in Clarks Hill, South Carolina on Thursday, giving motorists a fright as it hopped along Highway 28 The kangaroo was out for about 30 minutes before it was recaptured and returned to the farm where it lives The owner let authorities know when he noticed the kangaroo's escape, and the animal was loose for just 30 minutes before being recaptured and returned to Melrose Farm, where it lives. But the kangaroo still gave locals a fright when they saw it hopping along Highway 28. Many took out their cameras to get footage of the rare sight. The kangaroo first got out of its pen on Tuesday morning. In that instance, the kangaroo was out for several hours before it could be corralled. The sheriff's office says the unidentified owner is properly licensed to keep the kangaroo in South Carolina. When asked if they planned to pres charges, the sheriff said they didn't catch the kangaroo crossing the road, so they couldn't charge him with jay walking. The kangaroo's owner operates a farm that has several animals, including ducks, geese and horses. The kangaroo is the most exotic animal on the property. Cambridge Analytica, the data firm at the centre of the Facebook privacy scandal, has filed for bankruptcy. The company filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in a New York court late on Thursday after being buried by legal fees and lost business. Cambridge Analytica LLC listed assets as about $100,001 to $500,000 and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million. Cambridge Analytica, the data firm at the centre of the Facebook privacy scandal, has filed for bankruptcy Chief Executive of Cambridge Analytica Alexander Nix (left) will appear before the British Parliament's media committee on June 6 to be grilled as it investigates the scandal SCL Group, parent company of Cambridge Analytica, is also closing in the wake of rising legal costs in the Facebook investigation and loss of clients. The company admitted making mistakes over the misuse of data harvested from Facebook accounts. Suspended boss Alexander Nix will appear before the British Parliament's media committee on June 6 to be grilled as it investigates the scandal. The row over the improper use of data on 87 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica in President Donald Trump's 2016 US election campaign, has hurt the shares of the world's biggest social network and prompted multiple official investigations. Cambridge Analytica employees were told the firm would be closing during a conference call with all staff. A sign belonging to the firm outside its London offices has already been taken down Staff lamented the firm's end by listening to songs such as 'The End' by The Doors, and 'Help!' by The Beatles, according to US website Gizmodo. Pictured: The sign that was taken down The company said it had 'unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully' but 'the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the Company's customers and suppliers.' 'As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business, which left Cambridge Analytica with no realistic alternative to placing the Company into administration,' it say earlier this month. Staff lamented the firm's end by listening to songs such as 'The End' by The Doors, and 'Help!' by The Beatles, according to US website Gizmodo. A sign belonging to the firm outside its London offices has already been taken down. Cambridge Analytica LLC listed assets as about $100,001 to $500,000 and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million The firm said it was the subject of 'numerous unfounded accusations' and vilified despite its attempts to correct the record. It claimed its activities were 'not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas'. Cambridge Analytica added it had 'unwavering confidence' that its employees acted ethically and lawfully, which was supported by the report of independent investigator Julian Malins. 'The siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company's customers and suppliers,' it said. 'As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business, which left Cambridge Analytica with no realistic alternative to placing the company into administration.' A bakery has sparked a debate on political correctness after re-branding its Gingerbread men 'Gingerbread people'. The owners of High Street bakers JL Bean in the seaside town of Cleveleys near Blackpool decided to make their biscuits gender neutral last year. But the decision has recently caused a backlash, with some customers claiming it is political correctness gone mad. The owners of High Street bakers JL Bean in the seaside town of Cleveleys near Blackpool decided to make their Gingerbread men gender neutral last year Jeff Dugdale was astonished when his wife told him about the new rule at the bakers, which was founded in 1933 and is the oldest in the town. He told the Blackpool Gazette: 'Seemingly now you have to call gingerbread men 'gingerbread persons' when ordering. The Gingerbread men have been changed to Gingerbread 'people' at JL Bean 'As far as I can see there is no law in place for this type of PC nonsense.' His wife asked for a gingerbread man she was told it 'wasn't a gingerbread man' but a 'gingerbread person' and 'that was how they had to be advertised'. Over 100 regular customers then took to social media to complain. Bakery boss Paul Lewis told the newspaper: 'My wife just put this little 'gingerbread persons' label on them as a whim, and that was last year. 'It was never anything to do with political correctness and we've not really had any comeback until now. 'I noticed the comments on Facebook and most of them were quite jokey but I was surprised at how seriously some of the people were taking things. I think maybe there's been a bit of a misunderstanding.' Wife Charmaine Lewis added: 'It was nothing meant by it. It was tongue in cheek. Owners Paul and Charmaine Lewis (pictured outside their bakery JL Bean) decided to make the change last year, but did not expect a backlash 'We are quite astonished by the number of comments but we are still selling them. 'The ginger bread persons are no different to ginger bread men. It is not as if we have added or taken away any little bits. The Gingerbread man has been around since the ancient Egyptians and was made popular in England by Elizabeth the First. It gives its name to a fairytale and features in the Shrek film franchise. A newborn baby was luckily saved after being found abandoned in a rubbish bin on the street of east China. The baby boy was sent to a local hospital for checkup while members of public shared the news online in a bid to look for his parents. Doctors confirmed the baby as healthy with no signs of defects. The baby will be transferred to a community centre for further care. A newborn was found in a bin among piles of rubbish in a neighbourhood of Mingguang, east China (left). Onlookers picked him up and wrapped him in clean towels (right) The newborn was found in a rubbish bin at a residential neighbourhood in Mingguang city of Chuzhou, Anhui Province yesterday. Footage uploaded on Pear Video, a Chines video-sharing platform, shows members of public carrying the baby. The newborn can be seen sleeping as onlookers wrap him in pink and white towels. A worker at Mingguang government told Pear Video that the baby boy had been taken to Mingguang Chinese Medicine Hospital for checkup. 'The baby shows good vital signs and he is a healthy boy,' said the staff. The baby was born around 5pm on May 17, the doctors told the officials. Members of the public made an appeal online to search for the baby's parents while the boy was sent to a community centre for temporary care. Despite the Royal Wedding being tomorrow, the designer of Meghan Markles wedding dress remains a tightly-guarded secret and will not be officially revealed until she walks down the aisle with Prince Harry. However, Meghans soon-to-be husband was spotted leaving the London branch of Ralph and Russo and rumours have been circulating that she will wear a hand-stitched, beaded design made by the British couturiers. The Meghan Markle effect has already resulted in many brands experiencing sales surges and increases in website traffic after the new Royal had been photographed wearing their piece, but how will Meghans wedding dress make an impact on the bridal industry? Despite the Royal Wedding being tomorrow, the designer of Meghan Markle s wedding dress remains a tightly-guarded secret Meghan Markles wedding dress There have been many rumours circulating about the Royal Wedding dress designer, but Ralph & Russo stands out as the most likely pick. She is expected to wear a hand-stitched and heavily beaded design with long sleeves, seemingly traditional for all Royal Weddings, displayed by Kate Middleton and Diana before her. The Queen will also be given a sneak-peek of Meghans dress before the Royal Wedding, as she did for Kate three weeks ahead of her big day. Meghan Markle imagined here wearing the gown she is rumoured to wear on her wedding day, at the Ralph & Russo fashion show at Paris Fashion Week Will Meghans wedding dress impact the bridal industry? Meghan, like Kate Middleton, is likely to choose a dress from a British brand in order to curry favour with the public and in turn, boost the nations valuable fashion and bridal industries. Despite the Meghan Markle effect being an industry in itself, being valued at 150 million to the British fashion industry in the form of unofficial brand endorsements, the new Royals impact on the bridal industry may be more subtle. After Kate Middletons marriage to Prince William, some bridal designers decided to replicate the Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen dress with hopes that all those who had watched the Royal Wedding would want to purchase a wedding dress similar to hers. According to Lori Conley, Senior Vice President of Product and Design at Davids Bridal, the recreated dress with lace sleeves, plunging neckline and full skirt did not sell. We have internal benchmarks we work with to understand traction of a dress. It feel below those. While women were inspired by Kates look, they did not want to feel as if they were in a costume, so bridal designers are expected to take elements from Meghans dress after May 19 and incorporate them in their new collections. However, before the 2011 Royal Wedding, 75 per cent of wedding dresses that Davids Bridal sold were strapless, but after, around 65 percent of brides opted for something with more coverage, from straps to full sleeves. Kate Middleton seen here on her wedding day with her Maid of Honour and sister Pippa Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London In the same way, Kates second wedding dress sparked an interest in sashes, Brides magazine Deputy Digital Director Roberta Correia told Racked that bridal designers are still being influenced by this accessory seven years on. Long sleeves, V-necks, and lace have been seen all over the bridal runways since, even at the most recent Bridal Fashion Week. H&M released a new dress as part of their wedding collection, which looked almost exactly like Kates, Roberta said. Although there is high consumer interest in what Meghan wears, trend adoption is slower in the bridal industry, but some brands, like minimalist brand Floravere have already announced that they will have styles inspired by the dress ready within days of the Royal Wedding. Floravere CEO Molly Kang said: As soon as she goes down the aisle, we can see whats going to explode, whether its silhouette, fabric, or neckline. Royal Wedding dresses While Meghan has somewhat disregarded the unspoken Royal dress code when it comes to her day-to-day fashion, she is expected to go for a traditional and classic bridal gown for her big day, similar to what other Royal brides have worn before her. The Queens wedding dress Queen Elizabeth II wore a timeless dress designed by the favoured royal couturier Norman Hartnell for her marriage to Lord Philip Mountbatten. The Duchesse ivory silk-creation took three months to complete and had a heart-shaped neckline with a scalloped edge, crystals and a 13 foot patterned train. Like all British brides at the time, the Government gave her 200 extra clothing coupons towards her wedding trousseau. This picture was taken during the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh showing the couple at Buckingham Palace Princess Margarets wedding dress Princess Margaret, the Countess of Snowdon and The Queens sister, was seen in a non-traditional dress made from silk organza in what was dubbed the most glamorous wedding of its time, in 1960. During her first marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones, the Princess wore a modern dress with a skirt comprising of 30 metres of fabric, also designed by Norman Hartnell. Critics claimed it was the simplest wedding gown in history, yet beautiful and sophisticated and can be seen as part of a display at Kensington Palace in London. Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones seen here on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day with one of the Princess's bridesmaids Princess Dianas wedding dress At the time, Lady Diana Spencers wedding dress was known as the most closely guarded secret in fashion history. Designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the meringue style gown was worth 9,000 in 1981 and is now valued at approximately 36,800. For her wedding to Prince Charles, Dianas dress was made of ivory silk taffeta and antique lace with what has now become an iconic 25 foot train. The Prince and Princess of Wales seen here returning to Buckingham Palace by carriage after their wedding in 1981 Kate Middletons wedding dress The Duchess of Cambridge wore a Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen lace dress for her 2011 Royal Wedding to Prince William and is thought to have cost a whopping 250,000. Royal Wedding time Prince Harry and Meghan Markles wedding date has been set for Saturday, May 19, 2018. The Royal couple will marry in a ceremony that is expected to last an hour, starting at 12pm BST and unlike most British royal weddings that are held on weekdays, Meghan and Harry will marry on a Saturday. Advertisement Harry and Meghan aren't the only couple getting married in Windsor this weekend. Ahead of tomorrow's royal wedding other loved-up pairs have been tying the knot in the historic town. Vicky Compson, 33, from Datchet, Berkshire, married Aron Hallam at the Windsor Guildhall this morning and was greeted by the world press, with some even mistaking the bride to be a Meghan lookalike. Another couple, Karen Lewis and Reg Palmer, from Slough also got married at the Guildhall - where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles held their civil ceremony in 2005. Vicky Compson, 33, walks through Windsor to adoring crowds with her daughter, the day before Meghan Markle will marry Prince Harry Bride Karen Lewis poses with her groom Reginald Palmer in Windsor. The pair tied the knot at the Windsor Guildhall today Vicky wore a floor length ivory dress and lace veil and holding a bouquet of white and pink flowers as she left the hotel she was staying and made her way to the Guildhall. The blushing bride had to fight her way through the crowds of well-wishers gathering ahead of the much anticipated wedding between Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle. As she manoeuvred her dress around the barriers which will hold the crowds back from the start of the procession route at the castle, she excepted spontaneous congratulations from strangers. Two bridemaids in silver dresses held her train as she walked through the streets along with her daughter who was a flower girl. The bride-to-be had spent her past night as a single woman in the Hart and Garter Hotel directly opposite Windsor Castle which was full of television crews from all around the world reporting on the day. She had momentarily popped out onto the balcony of the hotel in her bridal gear for her very own royal moment. She said: 'I feel amazing. This is surreal. I feel like a princess.' Their own royal moment: Vicky Compson and her groom Aron Hallam step out onto the balcony after their wedding. Vicky, who was mistaken for a Meghan Markle lookalike, said she 'felt like a princess' Onlookers who had travelled to Windsor for tomorrow's event said at first they thought it was a Meghan look-a-like. Susan Shott, 53, said the wedding 'It's so exciting and romantic. The bride looked beautiful.' Moire Liddle, 72, years, from Scotland, said: 'It's lovely, good for them. I thought she was a Meghan lookalike at first. They all look beautiful.' Vicky, 33, smiles with her bridesmaids and holds her daughter ahead of walking down the aisle The young couple had visiting a plethora of venues across the country, and even dabbling with the idea of going to Ibiza or Las Vegas, before settling on having a 'quiet' wedding closer to their home in the village of Datchet, Berkshire. But the loved-up couple's choice to exchange their vows under The Queen's brass chandeliers won't be the only connections to the Royal Family that day. Speaking before their wedding 33-year- old Vicky, said: 'We're getting married the day before, thank God. Crowds of well-wishers anticipating the Royal Wedding stand behind barriers as the bride makes her way from her hotel to Windsor Guildhall 'That wouldn't have been good if we were. I'd want to cancel it if I was getting married on the same day. 'It was a relief it wasn't on the same day. Because we were on tenterhooks really. They announced they were getting married, and then I thought 'oh don't worry they're going to be in London or something like that'. And then it came up on the news that they announced the location. Then it was spring. Then it was May. And I was like, no. C'mon. 'Then we waited for a couple of weeks then they announced the date. It came up breaking news on my phone and I was like, 'oh my God, look'. So, phew. We just took it as it was. Hairdresser Vicky, 33, holds her daughter's hand and a bouquet of pink and white flowers as she walks through Windsor 'The reason we booked there was because we thought it would be nice and quiet. It was convenient. Aron doesn't like all the attention as it is. 'So now it's just the complete opposite for us. I'm really excited and I'm loving it.' Hairstylist Vicky, her mother and daughter were booked into the Hart and Garter directly opposite Windsor Castle which has view that peaks into the Lower Ward next to St George's Chapel where Prince Harry and Meghan with say their vows. Vicky stayed directly opposite Windsor Castle the night before her big day. She then made a procession across the town Despite being booked for months the hotel emailed them and cancelled the booking as the rooms had all been let to foreign media outlets for the royal nuptials. Aron said: 'It was saying you're not staying in the room anymore. The broadcasters book it at the beginning of each year in case of an event like this so we couldn't have the room. But obviously they didn't know at the time it was for a wedding. After lengthy negotiations we've still got a room there.' Devastated the bride-to-be did not give up and negotiated with the hotel until another room was found. 'Then I was worried about how all the flowers and bits and pieces were going to get to us at the hotel. Onlookers lean over barrier to get a glance of the blushing bride who has been saving for three years to pay for the 10,000 wedding 'And I have to worry about now is negotiating the walk from the hotel to the Guildhall on the morning in my wedding dress as there will be lots of people and security. 'I did think about cancelling it entirely but the town is going to look beautiful and it will be very special.' That's not where the similarities end though, as Vicky, just like Meghan, won't have her father walk her down the aisle. And they too will be paying for their own wedding, after three years of saving up 10,000 for their special day. Vicky, like Meghan, was not accompanied down the aisle by her father. She considered Ibiza to get married before choosing Windsor, near her home 'We are really indecisive. So when we got engaged it took us three years because we actually looked at a lot of places. I even put a deposit down on somewhere and we lost the deposit'. 'We all went to Ibiza and looked at venue there. That was lovely. We loved that. But then I thought my grandparents wouldn't be able to make it. And we looked at Vegas. But for the children and the kids to go there it's not really practical and that was just adding up too much. 'So we have had a look at a lot of places. We went to so many hotels. We went to Liverpool because Aron's a massive Liverpool fan. 'It's been fun and now this. We thought, actually let's do it nice and close. Nice and quiet and do it in the school holidays, and now this has happened. Pretty surreal isn't it.' Vicky says she was really happy for Harry and liked Meghan Markle - and didn't feel upstaged by the royal nupitals Hair stylist Vicky and self-employed electrician Aron's big day will be a lot more low key than Prince Harry and Meghan's with a total of 70 guests, not that the soon-to-be newlyweds begrudge that. 'I wouldn't say I feel angry about it,' said the mother-of-two. 'I mean it was stressful. It's amazing for them that he's found someone. I don't hold any grudges. It's nice that he's found love. And it's lovely he's getting married a day after me in Windsor. 'I've always liked him because he's a bit out there.. He's the bad one. He's the one who has fun by the looks of it. Obviously I don't know a lot about her, but I speak to a lot of people as I'm a hairdresser. It all seems very positive about her. 'The only thing I thought was they've been together five minutes and it's took me this long to get my day and now this is happening. That's the only way I can say I feel about it. But they may have been together longer than we know. But we've got a nice story. And it's a nice joyous lovely story. So that's what's nice that's come out of this. 'And the Royals they are nice people. The Royals are good people. It's nice to have a connection in that way.' Vicky wore a floor length ivory dress and lace veil to her wedding. Her bridesmaids wore silver dresses and the groom a blue suit And while it's suggested Prince Harry and Meghan will be enjoying the exotic locations such as Barbados or Botswana for their honeymoon, Vicky and Aron will instead jet off to Mellieha in Malta, along with their two children, Elliot, 10, and Sienna, 7. So are the couple worried their most important day of their lives might get overshadowed? 'No, because everyone is going to be able to make it,' says Vicky. 'I'm very chilled and relaxed about it.' It was 15 years ago the pair met at Uxbridge high street pub The Good Yarn when Vicky 'heckled' at Aron after his phone went off 'like in Trigger Happy TV'. Police and photographers flanked the bride as she made her way down to the Windsor Guildhall 'He came in and his phone went off and I was like giving it some,' said Vicky. 'We were just having a bit of banter probably just taking the mickey.' 'And I thought I could probably get her number, so I did,' he tells me with a wry smile. 'We were young,' explains Vicky. 'I was 18, just turning 19. And he had just turned 20 and I thought he was really old. It developed from there.' Twelve years later, Aron thought it was the perfect time to 'stumble over' and get down on one knee to pop the question at The Grand Hotel in Brighton. Vicky said: 'I obviously wanted to get married for a long time but actually it's quite nice at the age we are. 'After all that time. We went back to the hotel as we were going out that evening and he just popped it out then. He doesn't like any audiences or anything like that as he gets quite shy. They say opposites attract. 'It was nice and quiet and intimate and of course I was going to say yes. There was nothing to be worried about.' Another happy couple also tied the knot at Windsor Guildhall today. Karen Lewis and Reggie Palmer also booked the Guildhall for their wedding before the announcement of the Royal Wedding. The couple, from Horton in Slough, posed for pictures outside the venue. Bride-to-be Karen Lewis, who is marrying Reg Palmer, waits outside the Guildhall in Windsor on May 18, 2018 Karen Lewis talks to international press outside Windsor Guildhall before her wedding to Reg Palmer Passerby hold Harry and Meghan bags as Karen Lewis prepares to enter the Guildhall in Windsor ahead of the Royal Wedding The bride-to-be Karen Lewis, calms her nerves outside the Windsor Guildhall which is covered in Union Flags ahead of the royal nuptials tomorrow Karen Lewis prepares to tie the knot to Reggie Palmer, from Horton, Slough. The couple booked the venue before the Royal engagement was annouced Ex Tory Party leader Iain Duncan Smith today accused the EU of trying to 'bully' the UK into staying in the customs union after Brexit. The leading Brexiteer warned Brussels to stop 'messing around' and accept that Britain will be fully quitting the bloc. He also warned Theresa May Brexiteers will only tolerate her 'fallback' plan to keep the UK in the customs union if no deal to keep a soft Irish border can be done, for a 'month or two'. His remarks effectively put the PM on notice that she can expect a revolt from her backbenchers if she goes too soft on Brexit. Mrs May wants to solve the thorny issue of the Irish border by striking either a customs partnership or 'max fac' free trade deal with the EU. Theresa May (pictured in Wales today with Tory party chairman Brandon Lewis) wants to solve the thorny issue of the Irish border by striking either a customs partnership or 'max fac' free trade deal with the EU Iain Duncan Smith (pictured on the BBC Andrew Marr show) warned Brussels to stop 'messing around' and accept that Britain will be fully quitting the bloc But she had drawn up plans to keep the whole of the UK aligned with the EU customs union after Brexit if no deal can be done in time. The Irish premier Leo Varadkar has welcomed the move but said Britain must also keep ties to the single market to avoid a hard Irish border. What are the UK's two options for a post Brexit customs deal? OPTION 1 - CUSTOMS PARTNERSHIP Under the so-called 'hybrid model', the UK would collect EU import tariffs on behalf of Brussels. Britain would be responsible for tracking the origin and final destination of goods coming into the country from outside the EU. The government would also have to ensure all products meet the bloc's standards. Firms selling directly into the UK market would pay the tariff levels set by Brussels - but would then get a rebate if Britain's tariffs are lower. Supporters of the hybrid plan in Cabinet - including Theresa May, Philip Hammond and Greg Clark - say keeping duties aligned up front would avoid the need for physical customs borders between the UK and EU. As a result it could solve the thorny issue over creating a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Mrs May has been advised by the chief whip that the hybrid option could be the only way of securing a majority in parliament for a Brexit deal. But Brexiteers regard the proposal as unworkable and cumbersome - and they were joined by Sajid Javid and Gavin Williamson in criticising it at a tense 'War Cabinet' meeting last week. There are fears the experimental system will either collapse and cause chaos, or prevent the UK from being able to negotiate free trade deals around the world after Brexit. Mrs May has instructed official to go away and revise the ideas. Eurosceptics are braced for her to bring back the plan with only 'cosmetic' changes, and try to 'peel off' Mr Javid and Mr Williamson from the core group of Brexiteers. They are also ready for Mrs May to attempt to bypass the 'War Cabinet' altogether and put the issue before the whole Cabinet - where she has more allies. OPTION 2 - MAXIMUM FACILITATION The 'Max Fac' option accepts that there will be greater friction at Britain's borders with the EU. But it would aim to minimise the issues using technology and mutual recognition. Goods could be electronically tracked and pre-cleared by tax authorities on each side. Shipping firms could also be given 'trusted trader' status so they can move goods freely, and only pay tariffs when they are delivered to the destination country. Companies would also be trusted to ensure they were meeting the relevant UK and EU standards on products. Senior ministers such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Liam Fox believe this is the only workable option. But Remain minded Tories such as Mr Clark insist it will harm trade and cost jobs in the UK. They also warn that it will require more physical infrastructure on the Irish border - potentially breaching the Good Friday Agreement. It is far from clear whether the government would be able to force anything through parliament that implied a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The EU has dismissed the idea that 'Max Fac' could prevent checks on the Irish border as 'magical thinking'. Advertisement Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, Mr Duncan Smith accused Ireland and the EU of playing political games. He said: ' What we have got is the EU now trying to put pressure on the British government to have to stay in the customs union. Theresa May has made it categorically clear that is not happening. He added: The question therefore is if in the eventuality some of these issues were not quite finished or fixed up, it is always useful I suspect to have a kind of backstop that says that for maybe a month or two we will have to just carry on. The question, therefore, is if in the eventuality some of these issues were not quite finished or fixed up, it is always useful I suspect to have a kind of backstop that says that for maybe a month or two we will have to just carry on.. But he stressed this fallback position must be 'very very limited' and only long enough to get the practical arrangements for a frictionless free trade deal in place. It must not be a way to keep Britain tied to the EU via the backdoor, he warned. He added: So we have made a decision we are leaving the customs union, that we all agree there will be flexible border arrangementsthen we will head towards that. If we do that now we can achieve our goal. But that requires political bravery by the Irish government and for the EU to stop messing around. The EU is trying to use the Ireland issue to bully the British.' A Whitehall source said ministers had discussed a possible extension lasting 'months rather than years'. But officials have warned it could take as long as five years to implement a new customs plan. Mr Duncan Smith's warning comes after Mr Varadkar, who met with the PM for talks in Sofia yesterday, tried to push Britain into making further concessions. He told Irish broadcaster RTE: 'Certainly any move on customs that brings the UK closer to the EU is to be welcomed but resolving the issue of avoiding a hard border requires more than customs.' The move is designed to placate Dublin and Brussels, which have warned they will block a trade deal unless Britain guarantees there will be no 'hard border' in Ireland. EU proposals to resolve the problem by keeping Northern Ireland in the single market have been condemned as 'unacceptable' by Mrs May as they would effectively put a border down the Irish Sea. Mr Varadkar said he was 'not discouraged' by the plan and hinted it could lead to the UK remaining closely aligned with the customs union long term. But he warned that Britain may end up crashing out of the bloc without a deal unless ministers come up with details plans ahead of a crunch EU summit in June. He said: 'If the UK wants to put forward alternatives to that - whether it's an alternative text to the backstop or whether it's some some sort of alternative relationship between the UK and the EU - we are willing to examine that. 'But we need to see it written down in black and white, we need to know that it's workable and legally operable and we have yet to see anything that remotely approaches that.' The PM yesterday scrambled to try to quell Brexiteer unease over her fallback option by insisting that Britain will be able to strike its own free trade deals after the transition deal ends at the end of 2020. Leo Varadkar (right) met PM Theresa May (left) yesterday in Bulgaria and said he would welcome any customs move which brought the UK closer to the EU The leaders appeared at ease with each other as they shared a joke on arriving for the summit Speaking at a press conference in Macedonia yesterday she said Britain would have an 'independent trade policy' after its departure. She said: No we are not (climbing down). The United Kingdom will be leaving the customs union, we are leaving the European Union.' It came as Tory MPs last night warned Mrs May against shackling Britain to the customs union for an extended period after Brexit. Whitehall officials yesterday confirmed that ministers have agreed a 'backstop' plan that could see the UK temporarily stick to EU tariffs. Sources said it would only be invoked if new customs technology needed to prevent the creation of a 'hard border' in Ireland is not ready by the end of the Brexit transition in December 2020. Mrs May tucked in to breakfast with her fellow EU leaders as the summit got under way today It came as Tory MPs last night warned Mrs May (pictured in Bulgaria yesterday) against shackling Britain to the customs union for an extended period after Brexit Any extension would be 'time-limited', they added. The move was agreed by Mrs May's Brexit 'war cabinet' on Tuesday, despite reservations from Brexiteers including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. But the move raised fears the UK could become permanently shackled to the customs union, limiting the ability to strike new trade deals. Tory Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said he would be opposed to any significant extension of ties to the customs union, adding: 'We must not give in to ultimatums.' Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, warned that Britain risked being left in 'purgatory' in which the horizon would be 'unreachable.' But pro-Remain MPs welcomed signs of a compromise. Mrs May's former deputy Damian Green said he was willing to accept a 'small delay' to ensure a smooth exit. Whitehall sources last night dismissed the idea of the UK remaining shackled to the customs union long term. Ministers have also raised fears that Brussels is stalling talks while peers attempt to frustrate Brexit. EU negotiators are understood to be waiting to see how many of the 15 amendments pushed through by pro-Remain peers in the Lords are overturned by MPs. Downing Street said the flagship EU Withdrawal Bill would return to the Commons in 'weeks not months'. Advertisement It's the one part of a wedding day that you really have no control over when booking it months in advance. So Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be relieved that the Berkshire town of Windsor is expected to see 'ideal' conditions for the royal nuptials tomorrow, with plenty of sunshine and 70F (21C) temperatures on the way. The glorious forecast has come with a health warning for the tens of thousands of well-wishers expected to turn out - use plenty of sun cream and wear a hat. Crowds congregate on The Long Walk in front of Windsor Castle in the sunshine today, one day before the royal wedding Royal fans cheer in the sunshine outside Windsor Castle today ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Windsor Castle is seen in the morning sunshine one day ahead of the royal wedding, which will see temperatures hit 70F However, the weather is set to be just right for when the newlyweds emerge from St George's Chapel before a ride around the town in the open-top Landau carriage at around 1pm. Met Office meteorologist Martin Bowles said: 'We are expecting wall-to-wall sunshine all day. The beginning of the day will start off cold - around 6C (43F) or 7C (45F) - but will rapidly warm up. 'Temperatures will peak around 3pm at 21C (70F) and there will be light winds - all ideal for a wedding.' The mercury is expected to have reached a summery 66F (19C) by the time the couple set off in the carriage procession. After lunch hosted by the Queen at St George's Hall at the castle, the wedding party will then move on to the evening reception at nearby Frogmore House hosted by the Prince of Wales. 'Once again we are expecting clear skies during the evening; it will be pleasant with sunshine, but temperatures will drop relatively quickly,' Mr Bowles said. 'At 8pm it will be around 12C (54F), but once you get past midnight it will be 8C (46F) or 9C (48F) and minimum temperatures will again be around 6C.' The sun will set at 8.53pm on Harry and Meghan's wedding day. A chilly night is in store tonight for any die-hard royal watchers planning to camp out in order to get the best spots along the route. The sun rises at 5.05am; however, it will take an hour or two before things will begin hotting up ready for the day's festivities. The minimum we are likely to get will be about 6C (43F) at around 6am,' Mr Bowles said. 'That's quite cold to be camping, but there will be low winds of maybe around 3mph and no rain is expected at all.' With Windsor expected to bask in summery conditions all day, well-wishers are advised to pack plenty of sun protection. Mr Bowles said: 'At this time of year the sun is quite intense, the radiation is quite strong with high UV levels. 'People who are not used to being out in the sunshine could be at risk of sunburn so should use lots of sun cream and wear a hat and sunglasses. Temperatures won't be too high, but it's going to be warm so lots of water is good.' The president's decision to hire Bill Clinton's impeachment lawyer isn't a sign the White House is bracing for Congress to make a move against Donald Trump, says the president's exiting attorney Ty Cobb. The retiring lawyer is being replaced by Emmet Flood, a hard-charging attorney whose resume reads like a who's who of government scandals in Washington and includes the former Democratic president's impeachment 20 years ago. 'Yes, he was on that team. Yes, he's one of the few people with presidential experience in impeachment,' Cobb told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. 'But I'm not sure that that actually is that consequential because I don't think people here are planning for impeachment.' 'But it's good to have somebody that has some experience,' he added. The president's decision to hire Bill Clinton's impeachment lawyer isn't a sign the White House is bracing for Congress to make a move against Donald Trump, says the president's exiting attorney Ty Cobb. He's seen here getting in his car on Thursday afternoon Cobb spoke on the eve of his departure from the White House after a 10-month stint serving as a lawyer to the president. Trump brought Cobb in to serve as the White House's official liaison to the special counsel's probe. He handed off his responsibilities to Flood, a former partner at Williams and Connolly, last week as he began a transition back to being a private citizen. Flood counts former Vice President Dick Cheney and former President George W. Bush among his past clients, in addition to Clinton. He worked in Bush's White House for two years as the point -man on congressional investigatory matters. The retiring lawyer is being replaced by Emmet Flood, a hard-charging attorney whose resume reads like a who's who of government scandals, including the Clinton impeachment 20 years ago 'I've met him. He's highly regarded and experienced and well-educated and smart,' Cobb said of his replacement, 'and I'm sure he'll do a great job.' Flood is inheriting the position nearly a year to the day that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller to probe Russia's election meddling in response to President Trump's decision to fire former FBI director James Comey. Cobb publicly predicted last year that the investigation would begin wrapping up by the Christmas holidays. Not only has it continued, but it shows no signs of stopping despite calls from the president and his personal attorneys for the Justice Department to finish it. Cobb said that while he was unable to shed new light on the circumstances surrounding the ongoing probe, 'it's the right time for me to leave. I finished the bulk of what I was going to do. I got all the documents in in October.' 'All the key interviews should have been completed by the end of the year, but they ended up getting completed in early January,' he said. 'We were on a track at that point to get some things accomplished with the special counsel in January, and that didn't happen, and since then it has sort of been a reactive mode.' One key interview in the probe has not taken place yet: a proposed sit-down between Mueller and the President of the United States. Trump's personal attorneys, Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, had considered May 17 the investigation's first anniversary as D-day for deciding whether the president would willingly talk. On cue, Giuliani said the president's legal team would prep him for questioning after his June 12 nuclear summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Cobb mostly deferred to Flood and Giuliani, saying it would be up to them to chart a course for the president's interview. He also left the president's messy dealings with his ex-attorney Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels to Trump's team of personal lawyers. 'I have not been involved in anything concerning Michael Cohen and have never met the man,' Cobb asserted. But he did get to know Mueller's team, and holds them in high regard, even though Trump has repeatedly characterized them as '13 Angry Democrats.' 'I've had a very professional relationship with the office of special counsel. We have negotiated in a principled way though many obstacles. I respect them as lawyers,' he said. Trump's full-scale assault on Rosenstein and other DOJ officials this year prompted speculation that the president was considering a 'Saturday Night Massacre'-style housecleaning something that would have rubbed Cobb the wrong way. 'I like Rod, but I'm not a bomb thrower,' he said of the deputy attorney general. 'And I think he's got a difficult job. And it will basically be for others to decide what the relationship is between the White House and the Justice Department on a going-forward basis.' Cobb spoke on the eve of his departure from the White House after a 10-month stint serving as a lawyer to the president Cobb arranged most interviews with White House employees and the special counsel's office. They were represented by their own individual lawyers, but Cobb said he was not concerned about anything they might have shared with the DOJ. 'I don't have any reason to believe that there was any negative information about the president,' he said, 'but I'm not privy to what it is they actually said.' The attorney's first day at the White House was also Chief of Staff John Kelly's. Kelly's arrival signaled the end of a chaotic beginning to the White House that has had lingering repercussions. 'I think Kelly's a highly-principled indefatigable leader. I think he's had great influence here,' Cobb said of the president's most senior West Wing aide. But the retired Marine Crops general's waning influence has coincided with the return of embarrassing White House leaks. Cobb declined to confirm whether the White House is conducting a formal investigation of aides who leak material to reporters. But he observed: 'Leaks are the bane of any administration's existence.' A former federal prosecutor who headed the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force for the Mid-Atlantic region and spent 30 years chasing bribery and corruption cases around the world, Cobb said he appreciated that his White House job involved 'so little travel.' 'And of course having the Navy mess at a discount,' he said of the exclusive dining room at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 'That was good.' Reflecting on his service, Cobb said, 'I'm not a stress guy. In my career, I've spent months wearing a bullet proof vest carrying a gun, avoiding death threats, traveling 200,000 miles a year to every corner of the world.' Having Donald Trump as a client, he said, 'was certainly a unique assignment.' A high school have reached their wit's end and began to instill drastic measures to eradicate bullying. Pimpama State Secondary College has now completely banned mobile phones in the hope it will end cyber bullying. The Gold Coast school said they will confiscate phones and hand out detentions if students are caught playing on their devices in class or on lunch breaks. Scroll down for video The Gold Coast school said they will confiscate phones and hand out detentions if students are caught playing on their devices in class or on lunch breaks This initiative is one of many after the tragic death of teenager Amy 'Dolly' Everett, 14, (pictured) who took her own life Students caught with their phones will have it taken from them, be handed a ticket and collect it after school. According to principal John Thornberry, social media has caused a massive impact at school. 'There is a lack of empathy and students are unable to speak face-to-face, read body language and facial expressions,' Mr Thornberry told The Gold Coast Bulletin. 'We have incidents of kids during lunchtime who have had a photo taken of them without their permission, or texting in the playground things that are inappropriate or nasty'. Mr Thornberry said cyber bullying not only needs to be addressed at school, but also in the community. 'Cyberbullying plays out in schools, but it is something that needs to be tackled as a whole community as most of the bullying itself happens at home. A school initiative around cyber bullying can't be the only step,' he said. Pimpama State Secondary College (pictured) has now completely banned mobile phones in the hope it will end cyber bullying This initiative is one of many after the tragic death of teenager Amy 'Dolly' Everett. The 14-year-old took her own life in January this year after it was believed she was bullied online. Dolly's death catapulted a nation-wide campaign to stop cyber bullying in Australia. The campaign investigates what legal measures can be taken to fight the issue. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14. For further support contact Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 and MensLine Australia1300 78 99 78. Donald Trump said Friday that media reports characterizing his comments about MS-13 drug-gang 'animals' as an attack on all immigrants were constructed intentionally to harm him. 'Fake News Media had me calling Immigrants, or Illegal Immigrants, "Animals." Wrong! They were begrudgingly forced to withdraw their stories,' the president tweeted. 'I referred to MS 13 Gang Members as "Animals," a big difference and so true. Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual!' When TV outlets broadcast footage Wednesday of Trump making that declaration, some including MSNBC and CNN initially omitted what had come before a sheriff's statement specifically about the ultra-violent MS-13 Salvadoran gang. One news agency, the Associated Press, ultimately corrected its reporting on the episode. 'AP has deleted a tweet from late Wednesday on Trumps animals comment about immigrants,' the news agency said on Twitter, 'because it wasnt made clear that he was speaking after a comment about gang members.' Scroll down for videos President Donald Trump said Friday that news reports were intentionally crafted to indicate he had labeled all illegal immigrants 'animals' with a comment that applied only to the violent Salvadoran 'MS-13' drug gang On Friday morning the president one-upped himself, saying early media coverage of his comments was intentionally skewed to make him look bad Trump defended himself Thursday as some news outlets reported his comment without providing the context of the discussion a day before White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders defended the president's characterization of the gangsters as 'animals' on Thursday, citing specific examples of gruesome rapes and murders and saying that the word 'doesn't go far enough' MS-13 is a hyper-violent Salvadoran drug gang whose motto is 'kill, steal, rape, control' Fresno County, California Sheriff Margaret Mims had vented Wednesday to the president about her state's law barring county and local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. 'Now ICE is the only law enforcement agency that cannot use our databases to find the bad guys,' she said, referring to criminal illegal immigrants during a roundtable event on California's 'sanctuary cities' laws. 'There could be an MS-13 member I know about,' Mims added moments later, complaining that if a case doesn't 'reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it.' Trump, who has specifically called MS-13 members 'animals' in the past, leapt in. 'We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in and we're stopping a lot of them but we're taking people out of the country,' he said. 'You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people. These are animals. And we're taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before.' The episode quickly became a political Rorschach test: Trump's enemies insisted he was dehumanizing everyone living in the U.S. illegally, while his backers pointed to the context of his remarks as proof that he was talking only about the menacing gang. Trump pushed back forcefully on Thursday against Democrats who portrayed his comments in the least favorable light possible. 'I'm referring and you know I'm referring to the MS-13 gangs that are coming in,' Trump protested at the White House. 'I was talking about the MS-13.' 'MS-13, these are animals,' he insisted, referring to the violent Salvadoran criminal organization, adding that 'when the MS-13 comes in, when the other gang members come into our country, I refer to them as animals. And guess what? I always will.' Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had told reporters an hour earlier that the president was referring only to 'horrible, horrible, disgusting people' in MS-13. Sanders left little doubt about what Trump thought he was communicating. 'The president was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally, and whose deportations are hamstrung by our laws,' she said. 'This is one of the most vicious and deadly gangs, that operates by the motto of "Rape, control and kill." If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, they're more than welcome to.' She defended the characterization of the gangsters as 'animals,' citing specific examples of gruesome rapes and murders and saying that the word 'doesn't go far enough.' 'It took an "animal" to stab a man 100 times and decapitate him and rip his heart out,' an uncharacteristically sharp-tongued Sanders said. 'It took an "animal" to beat a woman they were sex trafficking, with a bat, 28 times, indenting part of her body. And it took an animal to kidnap, drug and rape a 14-year-old Houston girl.' News outlets rushed to air video of Trump Wednesday complaining about 'animals' coming across the U.S.-Mexico border, but omitted the context: Fresno County, California Sheriff Margaret Mims (pictured, center) engaging the presdient specifically about MS-13 There are about 10,000 MS-13 gangsters in the United States, most of them in the country illegally Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell fired off angry tweets at Trump that claimed he was applying the label 'animals' to 'immigrants' in general Twitter's political ecosystem exploded in the hours that followed the president's initial comments Wednesday, with Democrats seeing Trump's judgement as a broad, racist indictment of all immigrants. 'When all of our great-great-grandparents came to America they werent animals, and these people arent either,' griped New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a persistent Trump critic. Another Democrat, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, directed her anger at Trump personally. '@realDonaldTrump, would you speak that way about your ancestors?' she tweeted. 'Let me tell you something: When you attack immigrants, you're attacking me. You're attacking my grandfather who crossed the Rio Grande to pursue the American Dream. RT to tell Pres. Trump you stand with immigrants!' California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell tweeted: 'IF you are a decent person and were in a meeting where @realDonaldTrump called immigrants animals, you will denounce him NOW. Otherwise, what makes you any different?' Trump has referred to MS-13 criminals as 'animals' in the past; he has also been openly hostile to illegal immigrants in general, giving his critics a foothold to suggest Wednesday's comment was broader than the president meant it to be Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe claimed that Trump's comment signaled the beginning of fascism and represented a 'tyrant' scapegoating his opponents Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto took Trump's attack personally, based on a New York Times headline: 'When you attack immigrants, you're attacking me' Mexico's foreign minister weighed in later, condemning Trump even while acknowledging that his words may have had a narrow, targeted meaning. 'President Trump referred to some immigrants perhaps he had criminal gangs in mind, I dont know as animals, not as persons,' Luis Videgaray said in an interview with local TV station Televisa. 'In the opinion of the Mexican government this is absolutely unacceptable, and we are going to formally communicate this to the U.S. State Department today,' he said. Liberal Harvard University Law School professor Laurence Tribe tweeted Thursday morning that Trump had 'actually said undocumented immigrants arent people, theyre animals. This is how fascism begins. Tyrants start by dehumanizing their scapegoats. Nobody should get used to this slide into the abyss.' The tide had already begun to shift in the White House's direction by then. CNN anchor Jake Tapper posted a lengthy excerpt from the White House's transcript, commenting: 'Here is the full context of President Trumps animals comment during the immigration/sanctuary city roundtable, which came as a Sheriff was complaining about restrictions placed on ICE databases, and MS-13 gang members.' After MSNBC anchor Andrew Mitchell said Trump saw immigrants as 'animals' and 'not people,' Donald Trump Jr. opened up with both barrels MS-13 gang members are pictured being arrested following a pre-dawn raid in Los Angeles County, California as a result of a two-year racketeering investigation Senior White House aide Kellyanne Conway piled on, praising Tapper as an outlier: 'Others who rushed to judgment to get the President rather than to get the story owe @POTUS - and the grieving loved ones who have lost family members to gang violence - an apology.' California Gov. Jerry Brown tweeted a Pinocchio emoji at the president, saying that he was 'lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA.' 'A tough take down by the California governor,' ruled MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell, 'after @realDonaldTrump calls people trying to get into the country "animals" not people.' Donald Trump Jr. had heard enough. 'He was specifically talking about MS-13, and you know it,' the president's eldest son tweeted at Mitchell. 'They are animals.' Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer noted that Trump had never used the word 'animals' as a blanket condemnation of immigrants in the past, chiding reporters for getting it wrong at first The Associated Press withdrew a tweet as reporters dug into the context of Trump's remarks, concluding that it was unfair to leave gang members out of the explanation CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted a large section of the Transcript from Wednesday, drawing praise from White House counselor Kellyanne Conway 'I know you would rather side with them than Trump as you so often make clear but its a bad look for you Andrea.' Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary during George W. Bush's presidency, tut-tutted reporters who he believed had gotten it wrong. 'On several previous occasions, Trump publicly referred to gang members as animals. Hes never referred to illegal immigrants with that word,' Fleischer tweeted. 'His previous language should have been a clue, but some things are too good to check. Hostility + sensationalism = bad reporting.' 'The many journalists and editors who wrote/published these stories are killing good journalism,' he added. 'To those who wrote this nonsense: I get you dont like Trump, but youre only hurting yourselves.' The name MS-13 stands for 'Mara Salvatrucha,' a combination of names for a San Salvador drug gang and the Salvatrucha guerrillas who fought in el Salvador's civil war. The group claims about 10,000 members in the United States, nearly all of whom are in the country illegally. Their motto is 'kill, steal, rape, control.' 180518TOKE WELCOMES DELEGATION New Dawn FM News The local ABG member for Baubake and Minister for Community Government, JACOB TOKE in welcoming the Australian High Commissioner to Buin said that Buin was safe as Centres like Arawa and Buin. MR. TOKE said that he was happy the High Commissioner chose to include Buin in his visit to Bougainville. He said Australia is welcomed in Buin as they also funded the sealing of the Buin town streets lifting the standard of Buin town. MR. TOKE also requested the Australian government to complete sealing the remaining streets in Buin town to really look like a well planned town. He said Buin had the potential in becoming a biggest player in the development of Bougainville. The Minister and local member made these remarks at the Opening of the Double Classroom and a Teachers house at the Buin Primary School yesterday. Meanwhile, the Member for South Bougainville also wanted the Australian Government to consider completing the remaining unsealed streets of Buin Lewa town. Ends Two teenage robbers likened to '21st century highwaymen' have been found guilty of stabbing a charity youth worker to death during a violent spree on a moped. Nathan Gilmaney, 19, and Troy Thomas, 18, tried to rob as many people as possible, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake on October 16 last year. Abdul Samad, 28, handed over his iPhone and other valuables when he was confronted by the teenagers in Paddington, west London - but they killed him anyway. Gilmaney got off his moped and stabbed the charity worker in the chest, leaving him for dead before committing another eight robberies at knifepoint. Nathan Gilmaney (pictured left), 19, and Troy Thomas (pictured right), 18, have been found guilty of the murder of charity woker Abdul Samad, 28, in west London last year Abdul Samad, 28, handed over his iPhone and other valuables when he was confronted by the teenagers in Paddington, west London - but they killed him anyway The victim staggered back to his home and collapsed on the doorstep in front of his horrified parents. He later died in hospital having received a devastating wound to the heart. Gilmaney and Thomas stabbed three others in their four-hour violent spree around Little Venice, west London. The Old Bailey heard the defendants were unmoved by the plight of their victim and his 'traumatised' family, and prowled the streets for their next target minutes later. The pair, from Maida Vale, west London, were convicted of murder today following a lengthy trial. Thomas has been pictured by police for the first time as he was underage and protected by anonymity laws during court proceedings. During the trial, prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said they were 'highwaymen of the 21st century who thought they had the right to threaten and rob whoever they found, who attacked their targets in a brazen and shocking manner and who stabbed their victims often for no reason other than simple aggression and blood lust'. He told jurors: 'They hoped to steal wallets and valuables from their victims and, where possible, they intended to take their victims' mobile phones, which they knew they could quickly sell for cash. 'By the end of their four-hour spree of violence, they had committed nine knife-point robberies, they had gratuitously stabbed four of their defenceless victims and they had killed Abdul Samad, a 28-year-old man whose job as a charity youth worker had seen him devote his time to helping the very sort of young men who took his life.' As the number of casualties mounted, police scoured the area and arrested the culprits after a chase. Their pockets were stuffed with stolen valuables and CCTV captured them in the act of riding around and attacking helpless strangers. The pair were armed with knives (one pictured) as they attacked people and demanded their things Pictured: Abdul Samad died despite handing his iPhone over to the pair of violent teenagers Abdul Samad's credit card was another valuable he handed over, before his killers attacked him Mr Samad's mobile phone was among stolen items sold on the same night, but recovered during a police search of a flat off Harrow Road, the court heard. Thomas admitted robbing the victims, but denied responsibility for the violence. Gilmaney had pleaded guilty to the robberies and violence, but both defendants denied murder. Gilmaney had admitted manslaughter, but claimed he did not intend really serious harm. The jury deliberated for more than 19 hours before returning their guilty verdicts. They rejected Thomas's claim not to have been involved in the violence and found him guilty of unlawful wounding and three counts of wounding with intent. Relatives of the victim wept in court as both defendants were found guilty of murder. Judge Richard Marks QC remanded the teenagers in custody to be sentenced on June 15. CCTV footage captures the pair putting balaclavas on before they went on their rampage Mr Samad's mother, Layla Begum, said: 'The death of my son has absolutely broken my husband, my eldest son, my entire family and me. 'I will never be able to get over losing a son. I feel like Abdul's death has caused a hole in my heart and a vital organ of my body is missing. I often feel like a dead woman walking around my home.' The victim's girlfriend, Sultana Ahmed, said: 'I had known Abdul for 11 years and he had the most amazing personality. He was caring, kind, loving and everyone adored him. 'I had seen Abdul grow into a beautiful human being who always wanted to help people in whatever capacity he could. 'We had many plans for this year and the last thing Abdul said to me was 'Watch - this year will be our year and we will be a family'. 'He also said 'I will give my mum and dad the perfect gift in the new year - which is you as a daughter-in-law'. 'Had we both known that this would be our last conversation ever and that he would not call me back as he had promised that night, we would have had a longer conversation. 'I felt like I died with Abdul that day. He took a part of me that will never come back. 'Abdul lived for his job of helping children; he was the change we needed to see in the world, the change he brought because he wanted to brighten the future for the youths of this generation. 'Why would someone hurt him and snatch his life away?' A military helicopter accidentally dropped a box of ammunition on a Texas elementary school that left a gaping hole in the roof. The ammo box hit Parkland Elementary School in El Paso on Thursday afternoon. No one was injured when the ammo crashed through the roof and into a classroom, causing a power outage in part of the building. Authorities are now trying to determine how the ammo box fell. The ammo box fell from a military helicopter and hit Parkland Elementary School in El Paso, Texas on Thursday afternoon - leaving a gaping hole in a classroom roof School officials said the incident happened after the school day at about 3.45pm when the students had already left. Officials at nearby Fort Bliss have said they will reassess flight patterns as part of their investigation. Col. Jay Hopkins, commander of the 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade, apologized for the damage. 'I'm extremely sorry for any damage done to the neighboring elementary school, and I am grateful that no one was injured,' Hopkins said. Officials at nearby Fort Bliss have said they will reassess flight patterns as part of their investigation. Pictured above is a military helicopter from the Fort Bliss base This box of ammo fell from a military helicopter, crashed through a roof, and landed in the middle of a classroom at Parkland Elementary in El Paso, TX, according to Ysleta ISD. Fortunately, the incident happened at 3:45pm local - when all the kids had left. No injuries. pic.twitter.com/2ID4a4HdRL Kurt Chirbas (@kchirbas) May 18, 2018 'The incident is under investigation.' NBC reporter Kurt Chirbas tweeted photos of the ammo box lying on the classroom floor and the gaping hole it left in the roof. 'This box of ammo fell from a military helicopter, crashed through a roof, and landed in the middle of a classroom at Parkland Elementary in El Paso, TX,' he tweeted. 'Fortunately, the incident happened at 3:45pm local - when all the kids had left. No injuries.' LAW ENFORCEMENT/ARSON DOGS K-9 Flash, from Detroit, Michigan Picked up on the streets, he works on the narcotics detection unit with over 2,200 finds and seizures and 3,000 deployments. K-9 Odin, a German Shepherd, from Katy, Texas Captured a murder suspect and ensured no other police officer was hurt during the arrest. K-9 Kano, a Red Nose Pit Bull, from Seward, Kansas He has assisted with three drug offenses including eight grams of meth, $7,500 of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. K-9 Kano, a Red Nose Pit Bull from Seward, Kansas, assisted with three drug offenses including eight grams of meth, $7,500 of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia EMERGING HERO DOGS Willow, from Las Vegas, Nevada A survivor of the South Korean dog meat trade after his owners turned him to the slaughterhouse for being old. He suffered neglect, his ears cut, matted hair, a mouth of bad teeth and an infected tongue. His story has raised awareness of the trade. Josh, from Sun Valley, California He was born with a cleft palate and rescued from a shelter that was preparing to euthanize him. His owner was inspired to set up a foundation to rescue pets on death row, that are disabled, terminal, or in critical need of care. Noah, from Mineral Point, Wisconsin Born without eyes and inverted back legs, he travels to schools to teach about disability, redefine perceptions, tolerance, and acceptance. He also visits elderly care homes. Some said he should have been euthanised but he battles to show why not. Willow, from Las Vegas, Nevada, survived the South Korean dog meat trade after his owners turned him to the slaughterhouse for being old. He suffered neglect, his ears cut, matted hair, a mouth of bad teeth and an infected tongue GUIDE/HEARING DOGS Frances, a Labrador, from Staten Island, New York Her owner adopted her after losing her eyesight while battling cancer and found out she was pregnant. She now helps her with motherhood, helping to guide her to preschool, and doctors appointments, as well as doing advocacy work. Xaverie, from Berlin, New Hampshire She helps her blind and autistic owner to communicate and feel more confident. She accompanies her owner to read braille books to children at a day care centre. Klinger, from Folsom, California He became the first ever certified dual purpose running guide dog in America, tasked with working alongside his blind owner, Richard, who was struck by a car while on a tandem bicycle. His work helped Richard to become the second blind runner to complete a 100-mile run. Frances, a Labrador, from Staten Island, New York was adopted by an owner who lost her eyesight while battling cancer and found out she was pregnant. She now helps her with motherhood, helping to guide her to preschool, and doctors appointments, as well as doing advocacy work MILITARY DOGS Summer, a Labrador, from Mount Airy, Maryland War dog deployed with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines to Afghanistan in 2012, where she conducted patrols, searched and found weapons caches and IEDS. As well as clearing routes and getting caught in fire fights, he did bomb safety work for multiple areas and security for Pope Francis. MWD Jig M834, from Lambertville, Missouri Served as a Improvised Detection Dog for the U.S. Marine Corps for three years - and became the 'poster dog' for the service. After being discharged she was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour and has battled six rounds of chemo. Sergeant Fieldy, a Labrador, from McAllen, Texas Served in Afghanistan in four tours combating IEDs and other explosives - including a 60lbs homemade plastic barrel bomb. He was honoured with a K-9 Medal of Courage award on Capitol Hill, and participated in the New York Veteran's Day Parade. K-9 Ruby tracked down a missing teenager when human rescuers couldn't find him SEARCH AND RESCUE DOGS K-9 Ruby, from East Greenwich, Rhode Island A teen went missing for 36 hours and rescuers couldn't find him. The police dog, who spent time growing up with the teen, was dispatched and tracked him down Piglet, from Lancaster, California She and her companion committed hundreds of hours to training and testing, as well as regularly being called on to search for the missing. She has also located a drowning victim after searchers struggled for seven days. Skye, from Dallas, Texas After being abandoned she trained to become a disaster search dog, including her most recent 15-day deployment to Hurricane Harvey. She also serves as an unofficial therapy dog for her owner who has nil-low antibodies and suffers pneumonia and bronchitis. Skye, from Dallas, is a disaster search dog, including a most recent 15-day deployment to Hurricane Harvey SERVICE DOGS Sampson, from Foosland, Illinois He is the first service dog to gain access to a university biology and research laboratory with his influence measured in labs in addition to helping people with brain injuries, psychological disorders, and PTSD. Charlie, from Tremont, Illinois His owner Todd, 41, needed 21 brain surgeries and replaced shunts over the years after a stroke he had to learn to walk again. He would likely not have been able to move without a walker without the support of his therapy dog. He also swims and recently finished a modified triathlon thanks to his pet. Roxy, a Pit Bull, from Canton, North Carolina His owner Justin, an Iraq war veteran who was blown-up by an IED, defies post-traumatic stress and a traumatic brain injury thanks to his therapy dog. She also now helps other veterans battling difficult times. Roxy, the Pit Bull from Canton, North Carolina, helps war veterans with their PTSD THERAPY DOGS Chi Chi, from Phoenix, Arizona The quadruple amputee left for dead in South Korea and found in a garbage bag with her legs bound, worn to the bone and necrotized. She's now used to her prosthetics and had cancerous tumours removed. She inspires people online through her online therapy work. Jeanie, from Lake Charles, Los Angeles Found homeless and crippled, the three-legged dog went from rescue to therapy dog. She comforts children who are questioned by forensic investigators in physical and sexual abuse cases, violent crimes and homicides. She also volunteers at hospitals, schools, nursing homes and more. Bandit, a Great Dane, from St Robert, Missouri Rescued at 14-weeks and found severely deformed, he now works with soldiers on suicide watch around the word. For many soldiers with deformities he is a pillar of strength. He also supports children mourning lost parents and loved ones. President Donald Trump on Friday poured gasoline on an already roaring political bonfire, suggesting he believes the FBI planted 'at least one' spy in his campaign in order to derail his White Houe aspirations by ginning up a phony reason to criminally investigate him. 'Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president,' Trump tweeted. 'It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a hot Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!' The president raised the ante after his attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, admitted on CNN that there's no proof the Obama administration had a mole inside the Trump campaign during the president's 2016 run. Trump had minutes earlier touted a televised claim that his Democratic predecessor's Justice Department tried to use a spy to 'frame' him. 'First of all, I don't know for sure nor does the president if there really was one," Giuliani said. 'For a long time we've been told that there was some kind of infiltration. At one time the president thought it was a wiretap. ... but we've never been notified that he was on a tap or an intercept.' President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he's inclined to believe the Obama administration embedded a spy in his 2016 presidential campaign Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said on CNN that there's no evidence the FBI or Justice Department planted a mole in Trumpworld surign the 2016 race The president cited 'reports' that the FBI implanted spies in his campaign 'for political purposes' but provided no evidence Earlier he had promoted the view of a Fox Business Channel anchor who said the Justice Department was 'out to frame' him Trump began his Friday online by tweeting that the rumors, if true, amount to 'really bad stuff.' He cited Fox Business Network host David Asman, who claimed Thursday that the Obama Justice Department 'put a spy in the Trump campaign,' suggesting that 'by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didnt commit.' Giuliani, though, would only say that he and his fellow attorneys have been 'told that ... off the record' by 'people who knew a little about the investigation.' But the president's legal advisers 'dont know if theyre right or not,' he conceded. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo compared the brewing tumult with the media free-for-all Trump himself created 14 months ago when he claimed the Obama administration had been monitoring his campaign team's communications in 2016. Trump stunned the world just six weeks into his presidency by tweeting that he had '[j]ust found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!' 'How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!' he added at the time. Cuomo said Friday that the president has stated that claim 'as fact many times.' 'I think he thought that,' Giuliani replied. Giuliani engaged in a contentious 45-minute sparring match Friday morning with CNN anchor Christopher Cuomo 'That doesnt make it true,' Cuomo fired back. 'Thats part of the problem with understanding this situation: The president feels something. States it as fact. There winds up being no proof. But now you have a lot of people [who] believe it.' Giuliani insisted Trump could be on the right track anyway. 'He may turn out to be closer to the truth than people thought,' he said. 'We're told there were two infiltrations, two embedded people in the campaign.' 'They should tell us if there was,' he said, referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office. 'The obligation is on them.' On Thursday the president tweeted about a National Review essay by former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, who argued that federal agencies under Barack Obama's control did indeed spy on the Trump campaign. 'Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI "SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN IMBEDDED INFORMANT",' Trump wrote. 'If so, this is bigger than Watergate!' Giuliani went on the Fox News Channel to back-stop his boss. Discussion of the possibility of government surveillance on Trump's campaign began when Fusion GPS boss Glenn Simpson told a Senate committee about a conversation he'd had with British ex-spy Christopher Steele Steele, hired by Simpson's firm to compile the 'dirty dossier' of anti-Trump research, said he was in contact with the FBI in Rome who told him they had a human intelligence source inside the Trump campaign Trump allowed in a tweet that the claim may not be accurate, if true, though, he said, it would be the biggest political scandal in modern American history 'I think were going to have to look into whether we can challenge the legitimacy of the entire investigation. Maybe a special prosecutor, a special counsel, never shouldve been appointed,' he said. 'Im shocked to hear that they put a spy in the campaign of a major party candidate or maybe two spies. And now Im going through my brain, because you know I was a big part of that campaign Im trying to figure out who was the spy.' Giuliani said it 'would be the biggest scandal in the history of this town, at least involving law enforcement,' if Trump's predecessor had weaponized federal law enforcement to snoop on Trump's presidential campaign. The leader of the opposition research firm behind the infamous anti-Trump 'dirty dossier' told Congress last year that the FBI collected intelligence from inside the president's campaign before the 2016 election. The agency was at the time run by James Comey, the now decidedly anti-Trump former official who has unleashed scathing criticism of Trump in his memoir Glenn Simpson's testimony is among the disclosures in Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee release of transcripts from its investigation into the unverified collection of dirt funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. In August 2017 Simpson told committee members and staff that former British sy Christopher Steele whom he had hired to probe Trump's potential Russia ties told him about a meeting in Rome with an FBI agent he knew. 'Essentially what he told me was they [the FBI] had other intelligence about this matter from an internal Trump campaign source,' Simpson recalled. Despite reporting that Steele had misspoken, Simpson's lawyer confirmed to the Senate that he 'stands by his testimony' James Comey was director of the FBI during the entirety of Trump's presidential campaign, leading the Bureau during the time Simpson says it had a mole inside it He said the Bureau 'believed Chris's information might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing, and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization.' Simpson moments later said the mole in Trumpworld 'was a voluntary source, someone who was concerned about the same concerns we had. It was someone like us who decided to pick up the phone and report something.' Simpson's words were first made public in January when California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein released a transcript of Simpson's interview. Feinstein drew howls from Republicans for unsealing the record without consulting with them first. President Trump called her 'Sneaky Dianne Feinstein' and blamed her for releasing the testimony 'in such an underhanded and possibly illegal way, totally without authorization.' Trump has called the swirl of investigations surrounding his alleged but unproven Russia ties a 'witch hunt' Trump said in morning tweet that Feinstein may have broken the law when she made the transcript public yesterday, bucking Republican leadership Simpson's testimony transcript includes this section where he described his conversation with his contractor Christopher Steele about his interactions with the FBI Simpson said Steele gave him the impression that the FBI's source in Trumpworld was 'voluntary' in nature A flurry of reporting ensued, with partisans leaking claims to NBC News and other outlets claiming that Simpson had misspoken that the FBI didn't have a human intelligence source inside the Trump campaign. Two days later, Committee chairman Chuck Grassley wrote to Simpson's lawyer Joshua Levy for clarification. Levy responded to the Iowa Republican senator: 'I am writing in response to your letter, dated January 11, 2018, in which you have asked about the August 22, 2017 testimony from our client Glenn Simpson that Christopher Steele in the fall of 2016 said he believed the FBI had another source within the Trump organization/campaign.' 'Mr. Simpson stands by his testimony.' Advertisement A New Jersey school bus which was involved in a horrifying highway crash on Thursday was hit by a dump truck when its driver tried to make a U-turn after missing the exit they were meant to take. The crash was filmed on a Department of Transportation camera on I-80 near Mount Olive Township in New Jersey. The driver was meant to have taken Exit 25 to Stanhope but missed it and instead carried on until it saw a police turnaround in the highway. Despite it clearly being marked 'no turns', the driver attempted to make their way across the three lanes of traffic to get to it. Footage has not been released but according to officials who have seen it, the crash unfolded when the school bus driver tried to switch lanes to make his U-turn. That was when the bus was smashed into by the red Mendez Trucking dump truck which was traveling in the same direction. The bus carriage went flying off its chassis and into the median with all of the children inside. Scroll down for videos The bus was hit as it moved from the outside lane (pictured left) to try to cut through the police turnaround on I-80 on Thursday, according to transport officials There were 45 people on board; 38 fifth graders aged 10 or 11 and seven adults including the driver. Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, 51, died. She was a beloved social studies teacher. Teacher Jennifer Williamson Kennedy, 51, died in the crash Her grieving husband released a statement on Thursday night to say he was 'totally crushed' by her death. One student, who has not been named, also died. The other 43 people on the bus were taken to hospital for treatment and some remain in a critical condition. The transport officials who saw the footage told NBC that the bus had not yet managed to make the U-turn and that the dump truck was traveling in the same direction it was - westbound. The bus was one of three from East Brook Middle School in Paramus, New Jersey, which was taking children on the trip. The other two were in front of it and took the exit they were supposed to. When they arrived at Waterloo Village in Stanhope, it took several minutes for them to learn what had happened. Staff did not tell children there had been an accident and instead boarded them back on to the buses claiming the trip had to be canceled because of bad weather. Waterloo Village staff then helped them come up with a route back to the school which would not take them past the horrifying crash site, they said. All of the surviving students were taken to six different area hospitals where some underwent surgery on Thursday. The wreck of the bus is pictured on Thursday at the scene. County prosecutors are investigating the incident This is the view of the westbound highway that the bus would have had. The driver was attempting to use a turnaround which is reserved for police and is clearly marked 'no turns' in both directions Jennifer Williamson, 51, has been identified as the adult who was killed when a bus full of fifth graders from East Brook Middle School in Paramus, New Jersey collided with a red dump truck on I-80 near Mount Olive Township on Thursday morning There were 38 students, all aged between 10 and 11, and seven adults on board for a school trip. A student was also killed in the crash Theo Ancevski (pictured), an 11-year-old student who was in the bus at the time of the accident, said his classmates were 'hanging from their seat belts' and screaming during the crash Others who were not seriously injured were released on Thursday afternoon. They included Theo Ancevski, 11, who recalled in harrowing detail how he and his classmates crawled through the bus's emergency exits and windows once it was overturned. 'I heard a scraping sound and we toppled over the highway. A few people got out of the windows and they got out of the emergency exit at the top of the roof,' he said. Kevin Kennedy, the husband of the teacher who died, said in a statement on Thursday that he was in shock. 'My beautiful bride and I have been in total love every day of our lives since the day our eyes met on May 5, 1994. I am in shock, devastated and totally crushed by today's tragedy,' Kevin Kennedy told News 12. The child who died is yet to be named. University of Akron professor Dr Liping Liu, pictured, said he would raise female students' grades to encourage more women to go into information systems A University of Akron professor said he would raise female students' grades to help encourage more women to go into tech fields. Dr Liping Liu, a professor of information systems analysis and design, wrote in an email to his classes that female students' grades would be inflated as part of what he called a 'national movement to encourage female students to go to information sciences'. Officials at the Ohio university caught wind of the email and blocked the plan from being implemented. Across the University of Akron's technology programs there is a stark gender imbalance. Only nine of the 68 students majoring in information systems in the Spring 2018 semester were women, according to Fox 8. The school also said in its College of Applied Science and Technology, 68 out of 484 total students majoring in Computer Information Systems were women. Dr Liu intended to make the program more desirable to women by inflating their grades. Officials at the Ohio university, pictured, caught wind of the email and blocked the plan In an email to students he said: 'FYI, your grade has been sent to the university registrar. The following categories of students may see their grades raised one level or two: Female students (it is a national movement to encourage female students to go to information sciences).' Other beneficiaries included: 'Students who had earned scores in exams (especially final exams) demonstrating a higher performance than their calculated ones; Students who attended class but missed reporting attendance (as long as I can tell).' The plan was quickly quashed by university officials. 'While the professor's stated intention of encouraging female students to go into the information sciences field may be laudable, his approach as described in his email was clearly unacceptable,' university provost and executive vice president Rex Ramsier said in a statement. 'The University of Akron follows both the law and its policies and does not discriminate on the basis of sex. 'The professor in question has been advised accordingly, and he has reaffirmed his commitment to adhering to these strict standards.' Students at the university were equally critical of the professor's plan. 'I think it's a good idea executed poorly,' Milos Kupusovic, a junior communications major, told Fox 8. 'I definitely think we need more women in the STEM fields, but I don't think that's the right way of going at it.' Nursing student Michalla Gordon, said: 'Everything should be based on hard work, and I don't think that women need a crutch to get into science.' A similar controversy broke out in the UK in January when Oxford University said it would extend the allotted time for exams in an effort to improve women's scores. Students taking math and computer science tests in the summer of 2017 were given an additional 15 minutes to finish, according to reports. Chevoughn Augustin, 39, is being held on $2million bail after being charged with critically injuring a police officer by stabbing her in the neck several times on Thursday morning in Hartford, Connecticut A woman who allegedly stabbed a Connecticut police officer in the neck several times is being held on $2million bail. Chevoughn Augustin, 39, has been charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of officer Jill Kidik, 34, in Hartford on Thursday. Kidik, a 12-year veteran of the force who was honored for saving a baby's life in 2015, is in critical but stable condition, police say. 'This morning ... she opened her eyes. She is alert and staying strong,' Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said in a Twitter post Friday. Augustin appeared in court on Friday where her bail was set at $2million and trial was scheduled for June 5. On Thursday morning police were called to an apartment building on a report of a disturbance involving Augustin. The 39-year-old resident was facing eviction proceedings for what the landlords said was menacing behavior toward other residents. Police say a struggle ensued and Augustin knocked Kidik to the ground before grabbing a ceramic knife. Augustin put the officer in a chokehold and stabbed her in the neck repeatedly. Jill Kidik,34, a 12-year veteran of the force who was honored for saving a baby's life in 2015, is in critical but stable condition after undergoing several hours of surgery, police say Two nearby building maintenance workers who heard the commotion subdued Augustin as other officers arrived and performed life-saving measures, police said. Officers carried Kidik, who was bleeding badly and could not communicate, to an ambulance that rushed her to the hospital where she underwent hours of surgery. 'This is obviously a difficult day for law enforcement,' Police Chief David Rosado said Thursday. 'It's a bleak reminder that it's a tough job and that it can go awry pretty quickly.' Kidik was honored in 2016 for saving a 1-year-old boy's life the previous fall. Police say she responded to a home where the baby choked on cereal and was not breathing. Authorities say she performed a Heimlich-style maneuver until the baby started to scream, cough and breathe on his own. In 2011, Kidik made news when she pulled over state Treasurer Denise Nappier while Nappier was driving her state car. Kidik cited Nappier for driving an unregistered vehicle and other infractions and had the car towed away. Nappier, who is black, accused police of racial profiling. An internal affairs investigation concluded the traffic stop was lawful, and the state Department of Motor Vehicles acknowledged Nappier's car registration had not been entered into a database used by law enforcement. The probe found, however, that Kidik didn't follow proper procedures in checking the registration and car ownership and she had to undergo retraining in motor vehicle laws. Augustin, center, appeared in court on Friday alongside public defender Victoria Pells, left Police had been called to the apartment building on Thursday morning after reports of a disturbance involving Augustin, who was in the process of being evicted Court records obtained by The Associated Press show the landlords of the Spectra Boutique Apartments where Kidik was stabbed had been trying to evict Augustin, who they say wandered the halls late at night and confronted other residents in a hostile manner, 'making them fear for their safety.' The landlords filed a case against Augustin on May 2, saying she was disturbing residents and disrupting business operations. They also alleged Augustin ordered food to be delivered, refused to respond to the delivery people, accused building staff of stealing the food and slandered staff on the internet. In court records, Augustin denied the allegations and claimed she was being discriminated against for being Native American and a single female. She was representing herself in the proceedings. A trial was scheduled to begin June 4. At Friday's arraignment, Augustin's public defender, Victoria Pells, asked for $500,000 bail but was rejected. Pells said Augustin was trying to start her own business but was not making money after having worked as a healthcare analyst, The Hartford Courant reported. She also said Augustin volunteered in the community. A father-of-two from Texas has been charged with child endangerment after police say he left his 18-month-old daughter covered with blankets inside a hot car while he was in a supermarket. Gene Curry, 24, was arrested in Baytown on Wednesday after a passerby spotted his daughter sleeping in the backseat of his car in the parking lot of the Kroger store on Alexander Street and called 911. Firefighters who responded to the scene rescued the child from the vehicle, where they say it was 112 degrees. The temperature outside was 90 degrees that morning. Gene Curry, a father-of-two from Texas (pictured with his kids), has been charged with with child endangerment for allegedly leaving his toddler alone in an overheated car for 20 minutes Caught in a lie: Curry claimed he had only been gone for 10 minutes, but surveillance video from the Baytown Kroger's told a different story (pictured) By the time Curry emerged from the store, first responders had rescued his daughter form his car, where it was 112 degrees Baytown Police Lt Steve Dorris said first responders initially did not see the girl in the car because she was covered up with two blankets while sleeping in her car seat. When Curry finally emerged from the supermarket and was questioned by police, he claimed that he had been gone for just 10 minutes, but surveillance video showed that the father was in the store for 18 minutes. His daughter was treated at the scene and released into the custody of other family members. Witnesses described the little girl as looking 'beet red' and crying. Curry was arrested on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child and booked into the Baytown Jail on $1,000 bail. As of Friday morning, his name was absent from the list of current detainees. The little girl was described as red in the face, sweaty and crying, but she was unharmed Curry made his initial court appearance overnight and was ordered held in jail Curry's grandmother, with whom the man appears to be very close based on recent Facebook posts, said her grandson loves his children but there is no excuse for what he had done. We're not bailing him out, because we think this is the lesson he needs, Christine Hayes told KTRK. Curry made his initial court appearance overnight, where it was stated that his daughter appeared sweaty and had red cheeks when she was extracted from the overheated vehicle The Archbishop of Canterbury has praised 'exceptional' Meghan Markle ahead of her royal wedding to Prince Harry tomorrow. Church of England leader Justin Welby, who will officiate the service at Windsor Castle, spoke of meeting the bride-to-be at her baptism into the Anglican faith ahead of the wedding. Dr Welby said: 'I've got to know her a bit and she's a very remarkable person... she is someone of thoughtfulness, integrity, service, commitment to duty.' The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (left) is pictured with American bishop Michael Curry (right) at St George's Chapel in Windsor today, ahead of the royal wedding tomorrow Asked about what he thinks of the Prince of Wales being chosen to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said Charles is 'someone of great care and affection'. He added: 'He's a very warm person and that he's doing this is a sign of his love and concern and support. And I think it's wonderful. It's beautiful.' The archbishop, who has attended a number of rehearsals for the ceremony, said of Prince Harry and Ms Markle as a couple: 'They're a very, very sensible, they're a very self-possessed couple. 'And at the rehearsal they just got on with it and it was very relaxed, laughing and enjoyable.' Asked whether Ms Markle's father Thomas Markle will be included or mentioned in prayers on the wedding day, Mr Welby said: 'I really couldn't comment on that side of thing, except obviously as with all times like this where someone's ill you remember them in your prayers. 'And I hope people will pray for him, and pray for the couple and pray for everyone involved in the process tomorrow.' Church of England leader Justin Welby has praised Meghan Markle (pictured, right, today) as he prepares to officiate at her wedding tomorrow Asked whether Ms Markle's father Thomas Markle will be included or mentioned in prayers on the wedding day, Mr Welby said: 'I really couldn't comment on that side of thing, except obviously as with all times like this where someone's ill you remember them in your prayers. 'And I hope people will pray for him, and pray for the couple and pray for everyone involved in the process tomorrow.' Meanwhile, following disgraceful comments by the girlfriend of former Ukip leader Henry Bolton, Archbishop Welby insisted he 'cannot begin to imagine why' anyone would object to the marriage. He told Canterbury Christ Church University's Students' Union website Unified: 'Her race has nothing to do with anything. Nor does her background, nor does her nationality.' Archbishop Welby said he was 'not allowed to talk about' baptising Ms Markle. The top-secret ceremony took place at the Chapel Royal, with holy water from the River Jordan used during the 45-minute service. Archbishop Welby said: 'It is private to the Royal Family. '[I think] exactly what I think when I am asked to baptise anybody. It is a privilege. It is a wonderful thing to do and it is part of the ministry of a priest to do baptism.' Dr Welby will officiate the service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle tomorrow The ceremony formally introduced Ms Markle into the Anglican faith. The Archbishop's comments on racism aimed at Meghan comes after Jo Marney, the girlfriend of scandal-hit ex-UKIP leader Henry Bolton, claimed Ms Markle would 'taint' the royal family in shocking messages. Prince Harry and Ms Markle have asked an American bishop to give the address at Saturday's royal wedding. He praised American bishop Bruce Curry, who will speak at tomorrow's service The Most Rev. Michael Curry, the head of the Episcopal Church, will give the sermon at the ceremony at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel tomorrow. Achbishop Welby tweeted: 'I'm thrilled that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have asked Bishop Michael Curry to preach at their wedding,' '@PB-Curry is a brilliant pastor, stunning preacher and someone with a great gift for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.' The Archbishop previously told of his nerves ahead of the ceremony, which will be watched around the world. He joked that he must 'not drop the ring' at their wedding at Windsor Castle on May 19, adding that he was also keen to ensure he gets 'the vows in the right order'. Dr George Tyndall (file photo) was hired by the University of Southern California in 1989, and first faced complaints on the 1990s A gynecologist who worked at USC for years despite decades of complaints is accused of making creepy comments about women, commenting on one patient's loose vagina and pulling out a tampon and dangling it in front of another woman's face. Dr George Tyndall was hired by the University of Southern California in 1989, and first faced complaints in the 1990s, when co-workers claimed he was unnecessarily taking photos of 'hundreds' of his patients' vaginas. He was allowed to resign last year with an undisclosed pay out but the university are facing questions on why it took so long for the women's complaints to be heard - and why the school failed to alert the state medical board. Several women have come forward to share their horrifying experiences with Tyndall after a hotline was setup for his alleged victims. One woman, now a lawyer, told The New York Times that she's had an appointment with the gynecologist shortly before graduating from USC in 2007. During the pelvic exam, she said claims he inserted several fingers inside her, before saying 'you know what they say about tall women, right?' 'It was just the grossest thing, but what are you supposed to do?' she said. 'Are you supposed to punch this person? You can't even recoil; he's physically inside you.' The woman, who is more than six feet tall, took his comment to mean she had a large or loose vagina. She said the comment stayed with her for years and made her self conscious during sex, although she didn't report him at the time - something she feels angry about today. 'One of the worst parts is that I feel like a dumb girl,' she said. 'I spent all this money on a fancy education, but I am this dumb broad who just didn't report something awful.' The lawyer says she would consider joining any legal action against USC. Another woman, identified only as Sarah, described how she's gone to see Tyndall when she was a freshman, concerned over a very heavy period. More damning allegations piled up in the years that followed - including that he inappropriately touched students while making sexual remarks. Pictured is the Engemann Health Center, where he worked since it opened in 2013 But during the exam, without any explanation, she claimed he removed her tampon and 'held it up for a very, very long time.' Sarah said she found the experience 'incredibly intrusive and inappropriate', although she wasn't sure whether it was something she could report at the time, but has seen a female gynecologist ever since. Alexandra Nguyen, 23, said she felt very uncomfortable during her appointment with Tyndall in late 2015, after he reportedly made multiple comments about Asian women being beautiful, and telling her she could be a model. Nguyen, who is now in medical school, said the doctor later commented on her 'wetness,' and asking how her 'wetness' compared to her friends. 'After that experience I just never came back,' she said. Other patients have mentioned Tyndall's comments about their smooth skin, while one patient said that the doctor once showed her photos of other women's genitals, saying they were part of a research project. The university said this week that his behavior and comments 'were completely unacceptable and a violation of our values.' Dr Tyndall told the Times he denies all the allegations and has always followed correct medical procedure. A full picture of the allegations against Dr Tyndall during his decades-long career at USC was put together by the Los Angeles Times from exclusive interviews with 20 current and former employees and 100 pages of complaints made against him. Complaints were first made about the doctor's conduct during medical exams by his chaperones - female nurses or assistants who accompanied him in the treatment room. They became concerned by what Tyndall described as a full body scan to check for unusual moles, which saw patients lie naked on the examination table as he slowly examined every part of their body, including the area between their buttocks. He is also said to have made 'creepy' remarks about the students' appearance during these exams, including describing their breasts as 'perky' and calling their skin 'flawless' and 'beautiful'. 'They stand right up there, don't they?' he allegedly told one patient. The latter part of gynecological exams often sees the doctor examine the uterus for abnormalities by inserting two fingers inside a patient. However, chaperones were concerned by Tyndall's use of his fingers at the beginning of an exam. They claimed he would often express concerns that a medical device used to open the walls of the vagina would not fit. 'Oh, I think it will fit. Let's put two fingers in,' one assistant recalled him saying, adding that he would move his two fingers in and out of the vagina as he spoke. The chaperones also said he repeated a similar statement to hundreds of women as he probed them: 'My, what a tight muscle you have. You must be a runner.' In some exams, Tyndall is said to have made explicit references to sex. One chaperone recalled him telling young patients not to worry their hymen was intact because 'your boyfriend's going to love it'. He also allegedly gave a Middle Eastern student a small bag of blood that she could pop on her wedding night so her husband would think she was a virgin. An internal USC investigation said Tyndall's conduct during pelvic exams amounted to sexual harassment. Co-workers also became concerned in recent years that Tyndall was targeting Chinese students who had little spoken English or knowledge of American medical conduct. Earlier in his career, chaperones were worried about how often he would take photographs of students' genitals. One chaperone recalled 'hundreds' of patients photographed in this way, while another witnessed '50 to 100'. Tyndall claimed he did this to reassure patients they did not have genital warts and to avoid future lawsuits for missing a cancer diagnosis. One alleged victim says she would consider joining any legal action against USC The doctor was allowed to continue practicing despite the numerous complaints that were filed against him. His downfall came in June 2016 when photographs of students' genitals shot in 1990 and 1991 were found under his desk, some with identifying information. This discovery, along with a nurse's complaint to a rape crisis center, led to Tyndall being immediately suspended. However, he was allowed to resign from the university's Engemann Student Health Center a year later with an undisclosed pay off. And as USC did not report him to the Medical Board of California, he is allowed to continue practising and renewed his medical license in January. USC President C. L. Max Nikias released a statement about Tyndall on Tuesday. Nikias said the university had acted quickly to suspend Tyndall in 2016 and said previous complaints had been handled independently by the former health center director, Dr Lawrence Neinstein. He also said the University of Southern California had complained to the California Medical Board when Tyndall asked to be reemployed earlier this year. But he admitted this complaint should have been made as soon as Tyndall resigned in June 2017 to prevent him from practising medicine elsewhere. While qualifying for a CONCACAF tournament is always a great achievement for any club, Perez Zeledon's entry into the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF League will have a special feeling to it.For the first time in the club's 27-year history, Perez Zeledon will play in a CONCACAF tournament thanks to their title-winning campaign in Costa Rica's 2017 Apertura.Going up against Costa Rica's two most decorated clubs in Deportivo Saprissa and Herediano and 2017 SCL finalist Santos de Guapiles, Perez Zeledon emerged on top in the round-robin Quadrangular before defeating Herediano 1-0 on aggregate in the final, courtesy of a Jeikel Venegas goal that will forever live in Perez Zeledon lore.But just because Perez Zeledon lack experience in regional tournaments does not mean they will not be a threat in the 2018 SCL.The Tico side boasts plenty of weapons. FW Josue Mitchell was the second-leading scorer during the 2017 Apertura with 11 goals, and scored 17 goals in 45 matches over the course of the 2017 Apertura and 2018 Clausura.Mitchell forms a lethal one-two punch with fellow striker Lauro Cazal, who scored 10 goals during the 2017 Apertura, good enough for third-best in the individual scoring table.Perhaps what makes Perez Zeledon such an interesting team to watch is the offensive contribution they also get from the back.Defender and team captain Keylor Soto is always a threat in the opposing team's penalty area, evidenced by his 13 goals scored in 48 matches during the 2017 Apertura and 2018 Clausura.While it may be a maiden voyage in CONCACAF for Perez Zeledon, one could say that the pieces are there to make it a memorable debut. Advertisement Royal bride-to-be Meghan Markle has enjoyed her last night of freedom and woken up to wall-to-wall sunshine on her wedding day. The 36-year-old has spent the night at the Cliveden House Hotel around 25 minutes from Windsor Castle where she will next see Prince Harry at the altar of St George's Chapel. Last night she looked stunning as she arrived with her mother Doria Ragland, 62, after enjoying afternoon tea with the Queen. Meanwhile her husband-to-be and Prince William enjoyed a walkabout through Windsor to meet the thousands of well-wishers who have gathered to see him get married. As she walked into the hotel wearing a 1,350 navy Roland Mouret Barwick dress she grinned as she told waiting royal fans that she felt 'wonderful, thank you' ahead of the biggest day of her life. Beaming Meghan also gathered her closest friends, her dress designer and hairdresser to join her in 1,500-a-night rooms last night. This morning she will leave for Windsor Castle with Doria before she travels alone to St George's Chapel where she will finally marry Prince Harry as millions watch around the world. Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, arriving at Cliveden House Hotel this evening Meghan hopped out of a Royal Range Rover as she and her mother Doria Ragland arrived at Cliveden House Hotel, where they will spend the night together before tomorrow's wedding Meghan was glowing as she smiled for waiting cameras at Cliveden House Hotel on the National Trust's Cliveden Estate where she will stay the night with her mother Doria Ragland who flew over from the US on Wednesday Meghan said she felt 'wonderful' as she arrived at the hotel where she will spend her final night before the royal wedding Meghan waved at royal fans while her mother Doria Ragland smiled at Cliveden House Hotel this evening Meghan and her mother, both wearing high heels, arrive at the hotel on the National Trust's Cliveden Estate Meghan and her mother's arrival at Cliveden House Hotel comes after the Palace announced that Prince Charles will walk Meghan down the aisle at tomorrow's wedding The bride-to-be smiled at royal fans at Cliveden House Hotel, where she will spend the final night before her wedding Doria Ragland waves at royal fans at Cliveden as she arrives at the Berkshire hotel this evening with Meghan Markle Meghan smiled broadly and looked at ease as they were greeted by the hotel general manager. Accompanied by her mother Doria, she said she was feeling 'wonderful' on the eve of her wedding. Doria, who wore a smart champagne-coloured dress, walked in heels and appeared to have styled her hair into soft twists, flew in to support her daughter in the week Meghan's father Thomas pulled out of the ceremony and Prince Charles stepped in to give the bride away. Ms Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker from Los Angeles, enjoyed a traditional English tea at Windsor Castle, complete with jam sandwiches and sponge cake, as she prepared for her daughter's big day tomorrow. Meanwhile just a few miles away in Windsor Prince Harry and his brother William joked with crowds outside Windsor Castle - their last public appearances before tomorrow's royal wedding. Harry and William chatted with excited royal fans outside Windsor, shaking their hands and posing for pictures with the thousands of people who have been waiting for days for tomorrow's marriage. The groom joked with one of the well-wishers that he was just trying to get to the pub, as some of the spectators who have been camping out at Windsor were rewarded with a glimpse of Prince Harry. Harry enjoyed his last night of single life with best man Prince William at Coworth Park, a five-star country house a stone's throw from Windsor and one that has been the venue for many a royal polo match and his first public kiss with Meghan. Meanwhile thousands of fans, some of whom have slept there for days, have already gathered in the centre of Windsor ahead of the biggest royal event in Britain since William married Kate in 2011. Prince Harry's father will take the unprecedented step of giving away his son's fiancee at St George's Chapel, Windsor, as millions watch around the world. But MailOnline can reveal that Charles will meet her halfway into the chapel because Meghan had always planned to walk in by herself, without her father and now, the Prince of Wales. The American-born former actress asked him after discussions with Harry and Charles said today he was 'pleased to welcome her to the Royal Family in this way'. Her mother Doria Ragland had been expected to step in for Thomas Markle, whose deal with a paparazzi photographer threatened to overshadow the biggest and happiest day of his daughter's life. Meghan will be driven from Windsor Castle to the chapel and enter at the famous West Door followed by her six bridesmaids and four page boys at around midday. Meghan smiled and extended her left hand towards her mother as they climbed out of a car at Cliveden House Meghan and her mother's arrival at Cliveden House Hotel comes after the Palace announced that Prince Charles will walk Meghan down the aisle at tomorrow's wedding Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Ragland leave the Windsor Estate after tea with the Queen Doria Ragland in the Range Rover which took her from tea with the Queen at Windsor to the hotel this evening Royal fans took pictures of Harry as he greeted crowds outside Windsor Castle this evening Prince Harry remained tight-lipped when asked if he was nervous ahead of his wedding to Meghan Markle, but assured well-wishers he felt 'great'. The prince greeted crowds on Castle Hill outside Windsor Castle with the Duke of Cambridge, just a short distance from St George's Chapel where he will tie the knot with the American star. Royal wedding well-wishers erupted in applause and cheers when the brothers emerged through the gates of the castle on Friday evening. Harry was asked twice in quick succession if he was nervous, but did not answer. Shortly afterwards, when asked how he was feeling, he said: 'Great, thanks. How are you feeling?' Meghan O'Shea, aged seven, from Holyport in Berkshire, was among those who chatted with Harry. The prince noted the 'H' in the little girl's name - like his soon-to-be wife Meghan - and she said he remarked: 'Is that like the one I'm going to marry? There's not very many Meghans with a 'H' around.' Little Meghan said of her namesake: 'I think she's very nice.' As Harry was returning to the castle, he spotted a friend in the crowd who has made it home from a big cycling trip just in time for the wedding. Dean Stott, 41, travelled the 14,000-mile Pan American Highway in 99 days, 12 hours and 56 minutes, knocking an astonishing 17 days off the previous best. The former special forces soldier trained with the prince for six weeks in 2007 and the pair have stayed close, with the groom-to-be finding time to congratulate his guest on the record-breaking achievement. Afterwards Mr Stott said it was the first time he and Harry had seen each other since he returned, adding that he had not quite realised the magnitude of the wedding. Mr Stott said he was 'honoured and privileged' to be attending the wedding. Accompanied by his older brother, Harry was met with loud cheers from the crowd as he emerged from the castle wearing a grey jacket, white shirt and slacks 'I just want to go to the pub!': Harry pointed at the Horse and Groom pub behind adoring fans and photographers in Windsor this evening Harry and Meghan are pictured among a crowd of well-wishers in the groom's final public appearance as a single man Harry holds a teddy bear with a red jumper as he and Prince William greet crowds outside Windsor Castle this evening Prince Harry walks around in front of Windsor Castle as he greeted well-wishers on his last evening of bachelorhood At tomorrow's service the bride will walk through the Nave and Prince Charles will be waiting at the start of the Quire - half way down the chapel - to take her to the altar. A source told MailOnline: 'It was something that she made clear she wanted to do when she and Prince Harry started planning their wedding last November'. Many royal fans appear delighted at Meghan's decision because Charles does not have a daughter - but some critics believe the star, 36, should have plumped for Doria. The dramatic twist came as Prince Philip, 96, confirmed he will be well enough to attend the ceremony after successfully recovering from a hip operation last month. Harry's father is vastly more experienced than Doria at appearing at large-scale public events amid intense scrutiny. He also performed the duty for Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, Lord Brabourne, in 2016. Meghan's father Thomas Markle was forced to pull out of performing the fatherly duty after undergoing heart surgery in a dramatic upset just two days before the wedding. One member of the adoring crowd gave Harry what is possibly his and Meghan's first wedding present - a fluffy teddy bear Outside the Horse and Groom pub, Harry shook hands with fans and spoke to children in the crowd while well-wishers filmed his every move on their mobile phones Prince Harry is given the teddy bear by one of his well-wishers outside Windsor Castle this evening In a statement, Kensington Palace said: 'Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day. 'The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to The Royal Family in this way.' Until today Prince Charles was the second favourite at 3/1 yesterday to walk Meghan down the aisle, with her mother Doria Ragland the favourite at 1/3. Third favourite was Prince William at 5/1. Her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., was pictured outside Windsor Castle this week after flying to the UK ahead of the service. The royal bride will hope there are no further surprises from her family to disrupt the build-up to the wedding. Ms Ragland has already enjoyed a 'jolly' meeting with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, just hours after landing, and yesterday met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children. Harry, looking relaxed wearing an open-necked white shirt and light jacket, waved to the crowds and chatted to his brother before making a beeline to talk to a young girl waiting among the crowds outside Fans carrying royal wedding memorabilia were out in force tonight as they poured into Windsor to wish Prince Harry well before he ties the knot with Meghan tomorrow The prince gives photographers and members of the public a thumbs up as he chats and jokes with people who gathered in Windsor tonight Royal fans use their phones to take pictures of a smiling Prince Harry as he appeared outside Windsor Castle this evening These ladies managed to secure a perfect vantage spot for seeing Prince Harry greet the public for the final time as a bachelor Prince Harry and Meghan Markle looked relaxed as their Range Rover took them to Windsor Castle today with just a day to go until they marry The couple waved and chatted in the back of their Range Rover while arriving at Windsor around an hour later (pictured) Meghan looked happy and relaxed despite a tumultuous few days caused by her father's paparazzi deal and poor health Meghan asked Prince Charles to give her away after her father dropped out at the last minute and the heir to the throne was seen entering the Windsor Castle estate today The surprise walkabout by the brothers echoed the eve of William's own wedding in 2011 when the pair greeted royal fans with an impromptu public appearance on The Mall in central London Prince Harry waves and holds the teddy bear he was given by one of the well-wishers as spectators take their own pictures Harry and William surprised royal well-wishers with a walkabout outside Windsor Castle the night before the wedding Prince Harry smiles broadly with Windsor Castle and crowds of well-wishers in the background the night before his wedding Prince Harry waves and gives a thumbs-up to members of the public as he steps outside Windsor Castle this evening Harry smiles as he greets some of the thousands of royal enthusiasts who have descended on Windsor for the ceremony William smiles as his brother Harry shows him the teddy bear which he was given as a gift by one of the crowd of royal fans Prince William meets members of the public who have gathered outside Windsor Castle ahead of the royal wedding Prince Harry and Prince William meet the public during a pre-wedding walkabout, outside the Horse and Groom pub Prince Harry gives royal fans a thumbs-up as some of the people waiting outside Windsor Castle take pictures of the groom Harry smiles for one royal spectator's camera as he goes for a walk outside Windsor Castle with his best man William Prince Harry reaches into the crowd to greet well-wishers outside Windsor Castle hours before the royal wedding Harry shouts to someone in the crowd as royal fans hold up their phones to take pictures of him in Windsor Prince Philip WILL go to the royal wedding The Duke of Edinburgh is to attend the royal wedding to see his grandson Prince Harry marry Meghan Markle, Buckingham Palace has said. Philip, 96, has been recovering after undergoing a hip operation. The Duke was spotted at the Royal Windsor Horse Show last week - the first public sighting of the Queen's consort since he left hospital last month. The Duke was taken to the private King Edward VII hospital in central London on April 3, for surgery to replace his joint with a prosthetic implant. He underwent the planned procedure the following day and left hospital on April 13. The duke, who retired from royal duties in August 2017, has since continued his recovery in Windsor. His appearance at tomorrow's wedding will please the royal fans, with whom he is extremely poplar. Advertisement Last night royal fans were seen camping out outside the castle to ensure a good view of the planned procession, using sleeping bags and even folding chairs after local police banned tents. Yesterday they witnessed a full rehearsal in which a carriage and members of the armed forces paraded through the streets of Windsor. Meghan has pleaded for her 73-year-old father, who is recovering from heart surgery in Mexico after revelations about his alleged collusion with a paparazzi photographer, to be given 'space'. In the statement, which she is said to have written herself, Miss Markle, 36, said: 'Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. 'I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. 'I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday.' Amid criticism from some in the extended Markle family, sources close to Miss Markle yesterday insisted that she and Harry, 33, had offered both her parents substantial 'support and advice' as to how to handle the global interest since they started dating in 2016. And friends told the Mail that contrary to claims by her half-siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jnr, that she had left their intensely private father to deal with the paparazzi on his own, she had been in 'frequent' touch with him by phone and text, including in recent days. It is understood Mr Markle told his daughter personally that he would not be medically fit enough to fly to the UK. It was claimed yesterday that he was recovering after having three stents implanted in arteries following a heart attack at home in Mexico eight days ago, and that he had said it would 'take a long time to heal'. In return, Miss Markle was said to have told him that she loved him and supported him, regardless of the paparazzi photograph debacle. A man puts a flag up above a shop featuring Harry and Meghan decorations in Windsor ahead of the royal wedding People with Canadian flags camp out in Windsor ahead of the wedding of Harry and Meghan tomorrow A group of royal wedding enthusiasts hold up flags and Harry and Meghan memorabilia outside Windsor Castle The Royal Standard flies over Windsor Castle showing the Queen is in residence with the tow below a sea of Union Flag bunting today In the town huge crowds of people have gathered on the eve of Meghan and Harry's wedding in the grounds of the castle Police, the Army and the security services are forming a 30million ring of steel to protect the couple and the 100,000 people expected to visit the Berkshire town - but some armed officers took the time to pose with some Meghan fans Royal fans from Britain, America and around the world are gathering outside Windsor Castle in huge numbers today with many wearing flags, costumes and hats Sniffer dogs protect the huge numbers in Windsor today as part of the biggest security operation of recent times One lucky bride, Vicky Compson, got to feel what it was like to be a princess for the day when she walked through the route Meghan and Harry will follow to her own wedding today Newlyweds Vicky and Aron Hallam then smiled after sharing a kiss during their reception at the Prince Harry pub in Windsor Isabelle Sherlock and Charlie Twitchett, both ten, play Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the day as they leave Fleetwood Methodist Church in Lancashire as hundreds of primary school children staged their own version of the royal wedding today Will Shepherd and Sienna Harrison, four-year-old cousins, played Harry and Meghan for the day at a nursery in Orrell, Wigan School children wave flags on the Long Walk ahead of the wedding of the year tomorrow Meghan and Harry will spend the evening apart this evening and the next time they will see each other again will be at the altar Charles and Camilla were pictured leaving Kensington Palace by helicopter yesterday and this may have been when Meghan asked her future father-in-law if he would step in This is how Meghan's entrance to St George's Chapel will unfold tomorrow and how Charles will meet her halfway Kensington Palace has said that the Prince of Wales will accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel (pictured Prince Charles said today he was 'pleased to welcome her to the royal family in this way', Kensington Palace revealed in a shock statement that also suggested Meghan could enter the church alone and meet Charles half way Charles is said to be very fond of Meghan (pictured together on Christmas Day at Sandringham) and was happy to help her after her father caused a crisis ahead of her wedding Royal fans have mostly reacted positively to the news, speaking of their joy for Prince Charles, but others have also said Meghan should have asked her mother Doria Meghan's mother Doria (pictured left in LA) was expected to give her daughter away. Meghan's father Thomas Markle (pictured right last week) is recovering from heart surgery and will now not attend the wedding Police marksmen on the ground and on rooftops have to do 'whatever it takes' to keep people safe tomorrow Kensington Palace declined, however, to confirm when Miss Markle had last seen her father or when she planned to see him next. They were also unable to say when Prince Harry would meet his new father-in-law. Although the couple have been dating for two years, the prince has only ever spoken to him by phone. Yesterday's announcement came at the end of a truly remarkable few days, in which Kensington Palace was accused of failing to get a grip of the situation, leaving Thomas Markle to brief the US gossip website TMZ about his plans. Even Buckingham Palace courtiers have started looking at the website for the latest updates. But as the final preparations were put into place yesterday afternoon, Miss Markle and Harry appeared to be all smiles. The couple attended their last wedding rehearsal at St George's Chapel in Windsor with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who are page boy and bridesmaid. Miss Markle looked radiant despite the strain of the past week, wearing a white 285 Boss bodysuit and 7,000 Birks diamond earrings. Although the Queen arrived at Windsor Castle for the weekend while the wedding party was there, she is understood not to have taken part. Friends said last night that despite the drama of the past few days, Miss Markle was excited about the wedding and looking forward to exchanging vows with her prince. One admitted that families could sometimes be 'messy', but that she and Harry knew they had done everything possible to support her parents. 'They are just looking forward to the next few days and happy and excited about becoming man and wife,' the source said. The Prince of Wales is at Buckingham Palace today where he made author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, a Companion of Honour as news emerged he will give Meghan away Charlies gave away Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, Lord Brabourne, in 2016. Meghan Markle has described her sadness after revealing her father will not attend her wedding to Prince Harry 'It'll take a long time to heal': Meghan Markle's father says he's 'ok' after undergoing heart surgery Thomas Markle (pictured this week) is recovering after he had three stents Meghan Markle's father is 'alone and upset' in hospital after undergoing heart surgery. Thomas Markle is recovering after he had three stents implanted in arteries following a heart attack at home in Mexico eight days ago and said: 'It will take a long time to heal'. Mr Markle told TMZ last night: 'I'm okay. Staying in the hospital a few more days. Not allowed to get excited' and his children said he is 'heartbroken' to miss the wedding. Mr Markle said his doctors needed to 'go in and clear blockage, repair damage, and put a stent where it is needed' during the operation. His daughter Samantha, who has a poor relationship with Meghan, claims her father is 'upset and alone' following his surgery. Advertisement TMZ journalist Sean Mandell said Miss Markle's father had told him: 'It will take a long time to heal. I'm okay. Staying in the hospital a few more days. Not allowed to get excited.' As for his daughter, Mr Mandell said it was clear she had been very upset by events. 'Meghan was embarrassed and tearful in private,' he said. 'She is holding up, from what I've been told. It has been a tearful and a trying time for her.' When asked if her relationship with her father could recover from this week's debacle, he said: 'I do get the sense he does want to be reunited with Meghan. 'She's no stranger to having to deal with hard moments in her life'. He told Good Morning Britain: 'She [Meghan] called him Monday when the story first broke. But he did not have his phone on him and then she texted him, saying she loved him, that she was concerned over his health and bore him no ill will over the controversy of the fake photos. 'He told us we wanted to be there and had a change of heart on Tuesday after speaking with Meghan over text and he felt he had pulled out prematurely. 'He had originally felt it would be better for him not to be at the wedding because it would cause further embarrassment, he thought, for the Royal Family, and for Meghan, which is the last thing he wanted. 'He realised, 'I'm a father, and I want to be there for my daughter, and I want to be part of history'. Ultimately his health prevented him from being able to do that. 'Meghan is by all accounts a very strong woman. 'From what Thomas has told me there's just love being conveyed there and a gentle approach between them when they speak.' Armchair guide to the royal wedding as timings for the big day are revealed for TV viewers Millions of people across the country will be tuning in to watch the royal wedding live on TV. Live coverage of the day's events at Windsor Castle by the BBC will be presented by Kirsty Young, Huw Edwards and Dermot O'Leary among others. Julie Etchingham and Phillip Schofield will lead ITV's coverage. Sky News is screening the proceedings in ultra high definition with Kay Burley presenting from a special studio on the Long Walk. Here MailOnline provides an armchair guide to the royal wedding on Saturday... 9am Members of the public who have been invited to watch the wedding day from the grounds of Windsor Castle begin to arrive. 9.30am Wedding guests begin arriving at the castle's famous Round Tower by coach. They will enter St George's Chapel through the South Door and take their seats. Guests will be arriving at the Round Tower at Windsor Castle by coach and will be seen walking to the South Door of St George's Chapel from 9.30am. The tower was closed to visitors in 1975 for major construction work and was under-pinned to prevent subsidence, but instead of reopening to visitors, it was later converted into office space for the Royal Archives in 2011 11.20am Members of the Royal Family begin arriving, entering via the Galilee Porch, some on foot and others by car. 11.45am Harry and his brother the Duke of Cambridge are expected to appear at the Chapel's West Steps, probably on foot, walking past the thousands of spectators invited into the grounds of the castle. This will give Harry an opportunity to acknowledge the 200 representatives from charities he is associated with gathered in the Horseshoe Cloister at the bottom of the steps. 11.55am Following protocol, the Queen will be the last member of the Royal Family to arrive. Following protocol, the Queen will be the last member of the Royal Family to arrive at around 11.55am. The service will start at noon and everyone will already know most of what to expect as the order of service is being released at midnight on Friday. Her Majesty is pictured left at garden party on Tuesday and right attending the first day of the Royal Windsor Horse Show 11.59am With a minute to go, Meghan Markle is expected to turn up at the Chapel's West Steps by car, from her overnight accommodation, with some of her bridesmaids and pageboys. She will start her journey, which will take her past some of the crowds in the Long Walk, with her mother Doria Ragland - but when the car stops at the castle her mother will exchange places with her bridesmaids and pageboys, including Princess Charlotte and Prince George. Ms Ragland will enter the chapel by the Galilee Porch. Noon The service starts. Everyone will already know most of what to expect as the order of service is being released at midnight on Friday. 1pm The newlyweds will emerge about an hour later at the West Steps of the Chapel. They will be waved off on their carriage procession through Windsor by members of both families. The congregation will file out of the chapel to see the newlyweds leave before heading to St George's Hall for the lunchtime reception hosted by the Queen. The carriage procession through the streets of Windsor is expected to take about 25 minutes. The congregation will file out of the chapel to see the newlyweds leave before heading to St George's Hall for the lunchtime reception hosted by the Queen 7pm The reception is not being televised and neither is the evening reception at Frogmore House, but viewers will get another glimpse of the royal couple when they leave Windsor Castle at 7pm for the evening do, which is hosted by the Prince of Wales. Advertisement The Ascot Landau carriage set to carry the couple was paraded empty through the Berkshire town with Harry and Meghan still at Kensington Palace Prince Charles steps in to give Meghan away after doing the same for Diana's goddaughter in 2016 Prince Charles, who walked family friend Alexandra Knatchbull down the aisle at her wedding in 2016, will step in for Thomas Markle, it was announced this morning The royal did the honours at Alexandra's wedding, while her father looked on. Many speculated that the bride's father was in poor health, while others believed it was family politics The Prince of Wales is no stranger to walking down non-relations down the aisle. He gave away Princess Diana's goddaughter Alexandra Knatchbull at her wedding to Thomas Hooper in 2016, as her own father looked on. At the time some speculated that Lord Brabourne, a close friend of the Prince and the grandson of Earl Mountbatten, was in poor health. Others suspected strained relations between Alexandra, goddaughter of Princess Diana, and her father could go some way towards explaining why a bride from one of Britain's most established families chose to break with tradition. In 2010 Norton Knatchbull, the eighth Baron Brabourne, abandoned his 31-year marriage to run away to Nassau in the Bahamas with fashion designer Jeannie Nuttall. When this relationship ended in 2014 and he returned to the historic estate where Noel Coward played the piano at weekend house parties he was banished from the house to live in a converted barn. Advertisement Snipers on the streets: Security forces build a 30MILLION taxpayer-funded ring of steel around Windsor as 100,000 superfans descend on the town for Harry and Meghan's big day National Grid predicts surge in power demand Interest in the royal wedding is set to trigger an energy demand big enough to boil 500,000 kettles. The National Grid said the biggest surge of 1,500MW, which is expected at the end of the ceremony and again as the carriage with the newlyweds enters Windsor Castle, would also be enough to open 100 million fridge doors. It expects viewers who have been glued to their seats to see Prince Harry marry Meghan Markle to celebrate with a cup of tea. The surge compares with a pick-up of 2,400MW following Prince William and Catherine Middleton's wedding in 2011. This would have been equal to boiling 800,000 kettles. The arrivals of the Queen and also Miss Markle could see a 600MW demand, according to the National Grid's expert forecasters whose estimates are based on detailed data, past events and behavioural trends to work out which parts of the day will be the most popular. Football fans are also set for a big day as the FA Cup final takes place in the evening, with a pick-up equivalent to powering 67,000 kettles expected at full time. Advertisement Snipers are on rooftops today with soldiers and armed police patrolling the streets below as a 30million ring of steel today surrounds Windsor Castle ahead of the royal wedding. Police, the Army and undercover members of the security services are ready 'do whatever is necessary' to prevent any attack on Harry and Meghan's big day, including shooting to kill. The 2.6-mile route the couple will travel from St George's Chapel to Windsor Castle is lined with sharpshooters on top of buildings and other vantage points. Specialist teams are also patrolling the Thames. Police and soldiers carrying automatic weapons will also line the streets ready to fire if necessary and are already patrolling the roads, which have crash barriers used to stop vehicle-based terror attacks. With the UK's terror threat level at severe the cost of security for the first major royal wedding since 2011 is expected to reach up to 30million and the bill will be picked up by the taxpayer. It is Thames Valley Police's biggest ever operation and they are relying heavily on Scotland Yard and MI5 for support. It came as superfans camped on the streets overnight to secure their spots to see the procession through the Berkshire town tomorrow. Police teams are even patrolling Windsor along the Thames today in an extraordinary security operation ahead of the royal wedding Police spotters and snipers are lining the 2.6mile route set to be followed by Meghan and Harry and are ready to shoot to kill A police officer watches on from the rooftops of Windsor during one of Britain's biggest security operations for years Soldiers have also been drafted in to secure a ring of steel around Windsor Castle ahead of the biggest UK royal wedding since 2011 Armed officers are on patrol and MailOnline understands there also undercover officers and MI5 ready to act if needed Excitement ahead of the wedding is reaching fever pitch today as Americans and Brits pose outside Windsor Castle Superfans camped on the streets overnight to secure their spots to see the procession through the Berkshire town tomorrow Armed police and specially trained sniffer dogs are patrolling the streets of the royal town, with squadrons of uniformed officers with machine guns toured the town in rotation. Their colleagues are checking drains, bins and any other potential hiding places for bombs as the Berkshire town was turned into a fortress. Thames Valley Police and the Metropolitan Police - who guard the Royals used the dress rehearsal yesterday to assess any potential security threats or bottlenecks and crowd surges. As many as 100,000 visitors are expected to flock to the Berkshire town this weekend - which has a population of 35,000 - to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds. Wedding planning service Bridebook say it could cost as much as 32million to ensure the event remains safe. The amount is more than double the security needed for the 1981 wedding between Prince Charles and Diana Spencer which was estimated to have cost 4million - which equates to around 12million today. Extra police from around Britain are being called upon to help ensure the event goes off without a hitch, as crowds will fill Windsor to catch a glimpse of the royals. Since Prince William's wedding the UK has experienced a surge in terror threats, meaning the cost of Harry's nuptials outside of the city will be much higher. The couple's decision to invite more than 2,000 members of the public to attend celebrations at Windsor Castle has also increased security costs. The Queen has said she and the rest of the royal family will pay for the traditional wedding costs like the ceremony, flowers, music and the reception - but security is likely to be paid in full for by the taxpayer. A police boat cruises the Thames in Windsor today as part of the 30m operation to keep the event secure Sniffer dogs are checking the streets while police are checking drains and removing bins to stop any attack on the royal wedding Crash barriers are also in place in Windsor to stop a terrorist attacking crowds using a vehicle What is St George's Chapel? The historic 15th-century venue hosting Harry and Meghan's royal wedding The stunning 15th century Gothic St George's Chapel is set in the Lower Ward of the Queen's beloved Windsor Castle. Steeped in history, it offers Prince Harry and Meghan Markle a slightly more intimate venue for their wedding, but one that is still appropriately grand. It usually holds around 800 guests, compared with the 2,000 capacity of Westminster Abbey, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge married in 2011. With the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in their nineties, the choice will be especially convenient for Harry's grandparents, who spend a great deal of time at home in the castle. Located within the castle's grounds and surrounded by the Horseshoe Cloisters and the Henry VIII gate, the venue will also provide the royal family with a certain amount of privacy on the day of the wedding. Harry was also christened in the chapel in December 1984, when he was three months old, which, according to Church of England rules, means he can also marry there. The Quire in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle tomorrow The prince and Ms Markle's reception will be held in the castle's 180ft (55m) long St George's Hall, traditionally used for glittering state banquets. The vast hall had to be restored following the devastating fire at the castle in 1992. The chapel, with its intricately carved stonework, magnificent fan vaulted ceiling and beautiful stained glass windows, has seen many royal weddings and funerals. The last royal wedding was for Harry's cousin, Peter Phillips, son of the Princess Royal, who married Canadian Autumn Kelly in 2008. Harry's father and stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall, had their televised religious blessing there in 2005, after their civil ceremony down the road in Windsor's Town Hall. In 1999, Harry's uncle, the Earl of Wessex, married Sophie Rhys-Jones, now the Countess of Wessex, at St George's. Royal newlyweds and their families traditionally pose for photographs afterwards on the vast west steps, as Harry and his new bride are certain to do. It has been the setting for many historic funerals including the Queen Mother's private committal service following her Westminster Abbey funeral in 2002, and in the same year, Princess Margaret's small, private funeral. The funeral of the Queen's father, King George VI, took place at St George's in 1952. Like Westminster Abbey, the chapel is known as a Royal Peculiar, with the Dean of Windsor responsible only to the sovereign. The church, a place of worship for the Queen and her family, is often at the heart of royal events, with the Windsors gathering there each year for Easter services, and in the past for occasions such as the service to mark the Duke of Edinburgh's 90th birthday. Within the chapel are the tombs of 10 sovereigns - as well as George VI, the remains of Edward IV, Henry VI, Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, the beheaded Charles I, George III, George IV, William IV, Edward VII and George V also rest there. Advertisement 'Prince Charles doesn't have a daughter so he must be VERY happy': Social media overflows with praise for Meghan's 'touching' decision to ask her father-in-law to give her away... although feminists claim the decision is 'sexist' Royal fans today spoke of their joy for Prince Charles after it was revealed he will step in for the father of the bride and walk Meghan Markle down the aisle. The Prince of Wales will give his soon-to-be daughter-in-law away when she marries Prince Harry tomorrow at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. Meghan, 36, asked her future father-in-law to accompany her on the way to the altar after her father Thomas Markle had to pull out following heart surgery. Responding to the announcement by Kensington Palace this morning, royal fans praised the 'fantastic' decision and said they were delighted for Charles. Royal fans have mostly reacted positively to the news, speaking of their joy for Prince Charles One said: 'What a lovely thing. Charles himself has no biological daughters but he will definitely be gaining one tomorrow. It will be a very touching moment.' Another from New South Wales, Australia, tweeted: 'What a wonderful blessing for them both. Something Charles thought he would never be able to do. 'Her mother may not have been comfortable doing this. Whatever the reason, it is fantastic. Many blessings and prayers for both Harry and Meghan.' And a third said: 'I knew it would be Prince Charles. I was hoping for her mum to do it, but I guess she wanted to keep things as traditional as possible. Great choice!' However, not everyone was happy with the announcement. Aimee Day tweeted: 'No, it should have been her mum to do it. She brought her up and she should do it. Others are not so impressed by the decision, with some claiming it is a 'sexist' move 'In general I think the mother's should do it anyway. After all, in most situations the mother does everything for their child over the father - in my experience.' And Rachel Douce added: 'Disappointing that Prince Charles is walking Meghan down the aisle. Perfect opportunity for the royals to show how modern and not sexist they are and let Doria do it, but no.' Mr Markle was forced to pull out of performing the fatherly duty after undergoing heart surgery in a dramatic upset just two days before the wedding. The actress's mother Doria Ragland had been tipped to perform the role. But Harry's father is far more experienced at appearing at big public events amid scrutiny. Wedding-watchers camped outside Windsor Castle in readiness for the festivities said they felt her soon-to-be father-in-law stepping in was a 'nice gesture'. The announcement from Kensington Palace on Friday morning came with just 24 hours to go until the big day, with final preparations well under way in Windsor. Windsor visitor Leslie Haynes, from Washington, said: 'I was surprised actually. I knew that Prince Charles was in the running. I just assumed it would be her mother. 'But it was Meghan's approval and choice and so we support that, and, as we say, the next King of England is going to walk her down the aisle.' The 58-year-old, who is camping opposite the castle, said she was 'somewhat' disappointed that Miss Ragland would not accompany Meghan to the altar. She added: 'But I have to say that it's her choice so we're happy for her. She is going to be the happiest woman in the world tomorrow so how could we be disappointed about that?' Margaret Phipps, 25, from Texas, said: 'She has such a close relationship with her mum, so I think it is surprising to some people. But I think it's a nice gesture. 'He (Charles) doesn't have a daughter that he'd ever be able to walk down the aisle. And it just sort of shows her transition into the royal family. 'She's really becoming a part of that family with him kind of acting as the father figure in situations, so I personally think it's nice.' Sylvia Horn, 61, from Nashville, said it is 'wonderful', adding: 'It's usually a gentleman that does it.' 'I fully approve since Charles is going to be her father-in-law,' she said. A hungry bear that devoured 31 rabbits has been hunted down and shot in Russia. The determined creature rampaged through a farm in the village of Severnyye Koryaki in the eastern Kamchatka Krai region and snatched two rabbits. Seemingly emboldened by its first successful pillage, it went back the next day and butchered the remaining 29, tearing down their hutches in a furious feeding frenzy. The brown bear, believed to be about six years old, lies slumped in the back of a trailer after being shot by hunters in Russia The dead bear lies in the back of a trailer after being killed. It massacred 31 rabbits on a farm The carnage left by the beast after it rampaged through the farm. Dead rabbits and debris from the demolished hutches lie strewn on the ground Hunters were called in by villagers to kill the brown bear, believed to be about six years old, because it was considered too dangerous to let it survive. Local resident Alla Ezeeva, who saw the bear arrive, said: 'When we saw it, we rushed into the house. It was very scary.' She believes the creature would have eaten all the cattle and other animals on the farm if it had not been shot. Some social media users blamed the bear's farm rampage on there being a lack of food in the woods. 'There are few berries or mushrooms in the forests and residents usually pick what is there,' said one. Another joked: 'I am waiting for the bear to come and eat all our parliamentary members!' The dead bear with blood seeping from its nose after being shot dead by hunters. They were called in by villagers to help them stop the animal from destroying their livestock A black male porn star is suing a production company and his former supervisor after a white female costar called him the n-word twice without his consent in a scene that made its way to a video posted online. Maurice McKnight, who performs under the name Moe the Monster, filed the lawsuit on Thursday against DF Productions Inc. and James Camp in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The suit claims that director Camp twice asked the Bronx, New York, native if he would consent to being called the n-word while filming a scene on July 12, 2017. Maurice McKnight, who performs under the name Moe the Monster, filed the lawsuit on Thursday against DF Productions Inc. and James Camp 'I told him, "No, I don't like the word,"' McKnight told BuzzFeed News. While Camp tried to explain that fans liked hearing the word, McKnight was adamant that 'I still don't like it.' Camp would then allegedly come back and ask again, noting that costar Deborah Hinkle - who performs as Ryan Conner - was cool with the racist remarks. 'I said, "I don't care if she's OK with it I don't like that word and I'm not down with it,"' said McKnight. The porn star asserts that Hinkle was present both times when he refused as well. The suit claims that director Camp twice asked the Bronx, New York, native if he would consent to being called the n-word by Deborah Hinkle (pictured) while filming a scene on July 12, 2017 McKnight is suing for fraud, negligence and failure to prevent racial harassment But when the scene actually occurred, Hinkle still managed to call him the n-word twice, which can be heard in a clip uploaded to website dogfart.com. Dogfart specializes in interracial scenes and McKnight has done plenty with them and more than 50 productions with the company. When the scene actually occurred, Hinkle still managed to call him the n-word twice, which can be heard in a clip uploaded to website dogfart.com 'I just felt violated and betrayed,' he said to the New York Daily News on Wednesday. 'I've shot over 50 scenes for this company. For a long time, I was one of their top guys. And I'm always publicly talking about racism. For them to even ask me was an insult, then to do it against my will, it hurts. It feels like it was a set-up.' His lawyer claims that Camp 'conspired' with DF Productions to 'dupe' McKnight into 'performing sex acts with Hinkle, knowing that Hinkle planned to use the racist slur during the final scene.' 'Camp and DFI defrauded McKnight for the purpose of creating and selling racist content to its racist customers.' 'The use of the n-word in the workplace is considered by courts, and our society, as the most offensive racial slur imaginable,' said McKnight's lawyer, Dan Gilleon. 'It embodies the evil of racism. McKnight is suing for fraud, negligence and failure to prevent racial harassment. He also claims that Camp and production owner Cable Christopher Rosenberg had promised to 'edit out' the slurs but failed to do so. The film started being sold in December, according to the suit. And McKnight claims that he was sent abusive text when he started voicing his concerns. 'You're a disgrace. To your people. To your family. To yourself,' one text reads that was included in the complaint and sent from Camp. The porn star - who has been in the industry for nine years - is seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress and embarrassment. He believes that the defendant created a 'work environment' that was 'hostile and racially abusive.' Thomas Latanowich, 29, texted his ex-girlfriend after he shot a Massachusetts police officer saying 'I killed a cop' A career criminal charged with murdering a Cape Cod cop confessed to the crime in a text to his ex-girlfriend saying 'I killed a cop'. Thomas Latanowich, 29, fatally shot Sgt. Sean Gannon and a Yarmouth Police K-9 on April 12, when officers tried to serve an arrest warrant against him. Although he has pleaded not guilty to murder charges, police documents show that Latanowich exchanged phone and text messages with his former girlfriend detailing his standoff with police. He allegedly said 'I'm taking as many as I can', 'I already shot him', and 'I killed a cop', according to an arraignment report written by Trooper Matthew R. Lavoie obtained by the Boston Herald. The messages were sent during Latanowich's hour-long standoff with police, where he shot Gannon and his K-9 Nero in the head around 3.30pm from a home in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Police called Latanowich's cellphone during the standoff, where he demanded to speak with his girlfriend at the time. On April 12 Sgt. Sean Gannon and a Yarmouth Police Dept K-9 tried to serve an arrest warrant against Latanowich when he opened fire on them, killing Gannon with a fatal hit to the head The K-9 Nero was shot in the neck and head and is still recovering, the Yarmouth Police said She agreed to come to the scene to help him exit the home peacefully. He obliged and was taken into custody around 5:30pm. Police later examined her phone where she identified Latanowich's number. Police reviewed the messages in which the shooter said he was 'in some s***' and the girlfriend advised him to 'do the right thing'. He also reportedly left voicemails where he is heard saying 'I shot a cop' and 'I killed a cop', according to police. Police have described Latanowich as a 'violent and notorious career criminal'. Latanowich was holed up in this home in Barnstable and was engaged in a standoff with police when he suddenly fired at Gannon Latanowich pleaded not guilty at Barnstable County Court on April 13, pictured above He also has a lengthy rap sheet of 111 prior offenses including arrests for gun and drug offenses and a 2016 stabbing. He pleaded not guilty to a murder charge on April 13 at Barnstable District Court and is being held without bail. His next hearing is scheduled for June 26. He was out on probation when he shot Gannon. After Gannon was shot he was taken to Cape Cod Hospital and pronounced dead at 4:05pm. The K-9 was taken to the veterinarian and survived the shot. On April 18 more than a thousand police officers lined the streets of Massachusetts to pay respects to the fallen sergeant who was killed in the line of duty. The Yarmouth Police Department said in a news release on Facebook that Gannon died on impact. He was posthumously promoted to sergeant following his tragic death. On April 18, thousands of officers gathered to honor the life of Gannon, who was shot and killed in the line of duty, his casket being carried from Saint Pius X Church above Officers took over the streets of Massachusetts in a stunning display of respect for Gannon Police chief Frank Frederickson said during the funeral that Gannon was the 'Tom Brady of our department'. Rev. Paul Caron, who delivered the eulogy, called the slain officer a 'star'. 'God was with him last Thursday,' he said. 'He sped him out that darkness into his arms.' Caron described Gannon as a 'true Christian gentleman' who had a great sense of humor. Officers from departments across Massachusetts and nearby states attended the funeral. Federal officials have created a secret watch list of passengers who have assaulted staff at airport checkpoints or tried to skip through security so airports can prepare for their arrival. The list was created by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in February after an 'alarming spike' in assaults on staff involved in security screening at airports. Although being on the list is not in itself enough to get a passenger barred from flying, it has prompted civil liberties concerns from critics who say the criteria for inclusion are too unclear. The list was created by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in February after an 'alarming spike' in assaults on staff involved in security screening at airports. File photo The existence of the list was first revealed by the New York Times, which reported that loitering by a checkpoint or simply swatting away the hand of a member of staff during a search was enough to be included. The newspaper quoted a line from a five-page directive on the list which stated: 'An intent to injure or cause physical pain is not required, nor is an actual physical injury.' This led to the critics suggesting that flyers could be included on the list simply for behaving in a grumpy or mildly anti-social way. But the TSA denies this, saying flyers will only be listed if their behavior was serious enough to prompt a call to police or a report to headquarters. The list currently includes fewer than 50 people. 'In most cases this is someone where there was assaultive behavior or someone tried to circumvent security screening,' Executive Assistant Administrator for Security Operations Darby LaJoye told CBS News. The agency reported that in the fiscal year 2017 there were more than 34 assaults on transportation security officials. 'In most cases this is someone where there was assaultive behavior or someone tried to circumvent security screening,' Executive Assistant Administrator for Security Operations Darby LaJoye (pic) said LaJoyce was grilled by the Transportation and Protective Services Subcommittee about the list on Thursday, the first time it had ever been discussed publicly. 'I am concerned about the civil liberty implications of such a list,' Representative Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said. But LaJoyce insisted the database was solely meant to act as a warning to officers that they were dealing with passengers who had assaulted their co-workers in the past. The names on the list are reviewed on a monthly basis, according to the TSA, although passengers are not informed of their inclusion or given a chance to appeal. TSA said it is 'committed to its people and wants to ensure there are safeguards in place to protect Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and others from any individual who has previously exhibited disruptive or assaultive behavior at a screening checkpoint and is scheduled to fly.' Several other federal agencies already keep watch lists of people who have exhibited suspicious or threatening behavior. This includes the Secret Service, which keeps the names of people who pose a potential threat to government officials or buildings. A two-year-old girl of Kurdish origin who died after police gave chase to a van carrying illegal migrants in Belgium succumbed to a bullet wound, prosecutors said today. The police had opened fire to stop the van on a highway between Namur and Maisieres, a suburb of the city of Mons, on Thursday. The child, named as Mawda, who was on board with her three-year-old brother and Kurdish-Iraqi parents, died in the ambulance on her way to hospital. A two-year-old girl of Kurdish origin, named as Mawda (pictured), who died after police gave chase to a van carrying illegal migrants in Belgium succumbed to a bullet wound, prosecutors said today 'The autopsy determined that the cause of death was a bullet that entered the cheek,' prosecutor Frederic Bariseau in Mons told AFP on Friday. 'I want to be careful that the bullet could be of police origin. We have to assess the evidence,' he added. Police have opened an internal investigation to determine the circumstances of the girl's death, Bariseau said. 'Tragic event with dramatic consequences. The investigation is ongoing,' Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said Friday on Twitter. The prosecutor's office initially said on Thursday, at the end of an initial investigation, that the girl had 'not died as a result of the police shooting'. In the van intercepted by the police were 30 people including 26 adults, all of Kurdish origin (file picture) In the van intercepted by the police were 30 people including 26 adults, all of Kurdish origin. Authorities initially evoked a number of possible causes of death, including illness or reckless driving during the chase. The death caused a stir on Thursday in the migrant community of Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk in France, as the girl was a member of a family currently housed there, French authorities said. The Belgium border region near France has become a magnet for migrants, with many heading towards Grande Synthe or Calais to try to board lorries and reach Britain. A 15-year-old girl is accused of shooting her would-be sugar daddy in the stomach after she demanded money while partying at the married man's home. Raelyn Domingo was arrested on Wednesday for first-degree assault and robbery after she went to the 56-year-old's home in Beaverton, Oregon last week. The teenager had met the married investment banker on the Seeking Arrangement dating website, which is advertised for sugar daddies and sugar babies. Domingo had only exchanged text messages with the man before they arranged to meet last Friday. Raelyn Domingo, 15, was arrested on Wednesday for first-degree assault and robbery after she shot the 56-year-old victim at his home in Beaverton, Oregon last week They went to his suburban home and got high smoking weed from his vape pen before the victim gave her $260 after she asked for money. Domingo allegedly then went into the bathroom briefly and shot the man in the stomach when she came back out. The victim told police Domingo then demanded more money from him, but eventually left when he said he had already handed over all of his cash. The 56-year-old was able to describe his attacker to police before he was rushed to hospital for surgery. Domingo, who attended Heritage High School in Vancouver, Washington, had a profile on the dating website under the name 'asianperssuasion'. Her profile said she was a certified nursing assistant. Domingo and the victim went to his suburban home in Oregon (above) and got high smoking from his vape pen before the victim gave her $260 after she asked for money Domingo, who attended Heritage High School in Vancouver, Washington, had a profile on the dating website under the name 'asianperssuasion' The teenager had met the married investment banker on the Seeking Arrangement dating website, which is advertised for sugar daddies and sugar babies Just hours after the shooting, Domingo was involved in another robbery in nearby Camas, Washington that targeted a different man she had been speaking to online. Domingo and three masked men stormed the man's home at about 3am and stole his iPhone X, cash, a debit card, his driver's license, car keys and an Xbox One. The victim in the second robbery wasn't injured. Domingo is currently being held at the Clark County Juvenile Justice Center on a Washington County arrest warrant for robbery in the first degree and assault in the first degree. Additionally, Camas Police investigators have charged Domingo with first-degree robbery. Oregon will seek her extradition from Washington. Plans to roll-out a 'seal of approval' for independently brewed craft beers have been denounced by industry heavyweights who claim affordability is more important. The independent Brewers Association, which represents some fifty per cent of Australia's craft brewers, has unveiled an 'indie' stamp for beers that are genuinely made in craft breweries. In doing so, the association hopes to bring awareness to locally owned brews and reclaim the term 'craft beer', News.com.au reported. Plans to roll-out a 'seal of approval' for independently brewed craft beers have been denounced by industry heavyweights who claim affordability is more important The independent Brewers Association, which represents some fifty per cent of Australia's craft brewers, has unveiled an 'indie' stamp for beers that are genuinely made in craft breweries 'Bigger companies, which include Carlton and United Breweries and Kirin, are using the term 'craft beer' as a marketing buzzword,' the company said. Supporters of the badge hope it will help to distinguish authentically independent brewers from those larger businesses, as an increasing number of craft beer brands are bought up by multinational corporations. Further to that, the hope is that the certification will make it harder for large-scale corporate brewers to pass their product off as 'craft' for the sake of branding. Brewers Association boss Brett Heffernan argues that consumers care more about the price-tag attached to their beer than the brewing processes that may or may not have gone into it But Brewers Association boss Brett Heffernan argues that consumers care more about the price than the provenance of their beer. 'Punters don't care who makes beer, they just want the beer they love at affordable prices,' he said. 'Consumers care about two things, quality and price... Not everyone wants to pay $12 for a beer, so efficiency and scale delivering consistently high-quality beer at affordable prices are always in vogue.' A handful of local Australian brewers have already expressed their support for the idea, with Stone & Wood, Stomping Ground and Bridge Road Brewers embracing the indie tag. The new label will be rolled out on beer packaging, tap points and marketing in the coming months. This remarkable footage shows the moment when two hikers who lost their way on a trail in New Mexico were rescued with the use of a firefighter departments personal drone. The hikers, an unidentified man and woman, were stranded with their incapacitated dog in Otero Canyon on Saturday afternoon. One of them called 911 and a rescue team was dispatched to the hikers from Bernalillo County Fire Department. Remarkable footage shows the moment when two hikers who lost their way on a trail in New Mexico were rescued with the use of a firefighter departments personal drone Within the hour the pair were found, however the firefighters were struggling to find their way back and so the drone was deployed. The clip captured the moment the drone discovered the lost group in the dense forest. The team along with the hikers waved and jumped around to draw attention to themselves. The clip shows the moment the drone discovered the lost group in the dense forest With the help of the crew back at command, the drone directed the group safely home. Neither the hikers nor any members of the rescue team were injured. Lt. David Lujan, a spokesman for the Bernalillo County Fire Department, said: '[The team] were really excited they accomplished the task.' The department were considering getting to drones before this mission and Lujan told ABC News: 'This particular mission ... proved that it could work.' A film festival has been cancelled in Alice Springs after almost 40 cars were damaged in a rampage by youths outside, one of a series of incidents that's prompted calls for the Northern Territory government to crack down on youth offenders. Windows were smashed and words spray-painted on 38 cars parked at the Araluen Arts Centre, where the touring Banff Mountain Film Festival was being held on Thursday night. Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were arrested by an off-duty police officer who saw them stall a car. A film festival has been cancelled in Alice Springs after almost 40 cars were damaged in a rampage by youths outside the Araluen Arts Centre (pictured) Windows were smashed and words spray-painted on 38 cars parked at the Araluen Arts Centre forcing the art centre to heighten security (pictured) Five youths, one male and four females aged 11 to 15, were also arrested after a short chase on foot. Police say they saw one of them smash a car window about 7pm. The brazen actions follow the arrests earlier this week of six youths in Alice Springs as part of Operation Dawson, which has been set up to target property offences, stolen cars and antisocial behaviour by youth offenders. Nearly 20 cars were also broken into in broad daylight at Palmerston last weekend at a 'park and ride' site used by workers at Darwin's Inpex project. The crimes are prompting calls for police and the NT government to get tougher on crime. The Labor government was focused on 'long-term generational change', such as committing $229 million to implementing the Royal Commission into youth detention recommendations, but current measures were not working now, opposition deputy leader Lia Finocchiaro said. Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were arrested by an off-duty police officer who saw them stall a car at the Banff Mountain Film Festival (pictured) She called for greater use of electronic monitoring bracelets for youths, more sentencing options for magistrates along with 'skills training and constructive activities' to change their lives. NT police crime statistics for Alice Springs show a drop in crimes against property such as cars in the last year by 10 per cent but there has been a sharp jump of 25 per cent in crimes against the person such as assaults, 66 per cent of which were alcohol-related. For all of the NT, crimes against persons were up 10 per cent and down four per cent for property. A Texas father and his son were both arrested for possessing child pornography. Johnny R Ingram Sr, 61, was taken into custody Tuesday in his Kerrville home. His son, Johnny R Ingram Jr, 39, who is a registered sex offender, was arrested the following day in the same home. Authorities found child pornography on multiple laptops in their house and were taken into custody by the Texas attorney general's child exploitation unit. Johnny R Ingram Sr, 61, and his son Johnny R Ingram Jr, 39, were arrested in their Kerrville home for possessing child pornography An undercover investigation revealed that child pornography was linked to a laptop in the Ingram's house. In separate interviews, the men confessed to downloading and saving child pornography, according to the attorney general's office. Ingram Sr posted $35,000 bail and was released from the Kerr County Jail the day his son was arrested. Ingram Jr, however, remained in jail with bail set at $150,000. In 2014, Ingram Jr was sentenced to 10 years probation for indecency with a seven-year-old girl in Bandera County, according to police records. If convicted he faces 60 years in jail. His father faces a maximum 10-year sentence if convicted. A 14-year-old boy has been left in a police watch house for over a week, leaving his family outraged. The boy has remained in the watch house since his arrest last week due to 'insufficient room for him' at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre. Murri Court elder Reverend Alexandra Gater lodged a complaint on behalf of the boy's family, ABC News reported. A 14-year-old boy has been left in a police watch house a week after his arrest in Queensland (stock image) Reverend Gater said the boy and his family fear for his safety as he is being bullied by older youth prisoners. 'It's inhumane treatment it's a frightening experience,' he said. 'The mother is helpless, that's why she came to me asking for my support.' Brisbane barrister and Youth Advocacy Centre chairman Damien Atkinson has warned that leaving children mixed with older prisoners is harmful. The guards at the watch houses are not trained to deal with youths and may cause issues. More beds will be added to the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in north Queensland (pictured) The boy was arrested last week and charged with robbery with violence and stealing offences. The State Government said it was normal practice for a young person who had been arrested to spend time in a police watch house before appearing in court and for a short time afterwards. In 2016, the Palaszczuk Government passed laws to keep 17-year-olds in youth centres rather than being moved to adult prisons. This law has led to the youth detention centres being full. However, more beds will be added to the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in north Queensland. Southern Rail's parent company has been slammed for advising staff not to help disabled people on and off trains if it risks making them late. A staff booklet issued by Govia Thameslink Railway instructs workers: 'Do not attempt to place people of reduced mobility on a train if there is a possibility of delaying the service'. It has sparked fury among rail union bosses who have branded it an 'insult to disabled people'. Southern Rail was voted the worst train service in the UK for the third year in a row in January, with a customer satisfaction rate of just 28 per cent. Southern Rail's parent company Govia Thameslink Railway has issued advice to staff telling them not to help disabled people on and off trains if it risks making them late Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMT) said: 'I cannot believe in this day and age we are telling staff to ignore the needs of disabled people if the time it will take to deploy a ramp and assist them onto the train will cause a delay. 'In the minute before the train departs staff are instructed to blow a whistle at 20 seconds, then, at 30 seconds the driver will close the doors and at 40 seconds the driver initiates the right of way procedure. 'They are introducing a policy which effectively means disabled people will not be assisted onto the train and allowed to travel. 'This is outrageous and flies in the face of their Disabled Peoples Protection Policy which requires them to ensure assistance is available. Mr Cash explained there is guidance in the booklet, called 'Pit Stop: key principles for managing station dwell times', which says: 'Explain that your first priority is care for the individual, but not taking action will cause thousands of other passengers to be stuckmove the ill passenger from the train as quickly as possible.' He added: 'This is truly shocking advice and an insult to all passengers. 'They now need to be stripped of the franchise to make way for an integrated, publicly owned operation that is properly equipped to deliver these services.' The new instructions on how to deal with disabled passengers has been issued alongside new timetables that come into effect on Sunday. The company was voted the worst train service in the UK for the third year in a row in January, with a customer satisfaction rate of just 28 per cent Southern Rail hit the headlines at the end of last year for repeated delays on the busy London to Brighton route. Some commuters were so consistently late for work they were forced to look for another job. A Govia Thameslink Railway spokesman told MailOnline: 'We place a high priority on making our services accessible to all and actively encourage people with restricted mobility to use our trains. 'Our policy remains the same which is to offer assistance to all passengers to help them with their journeys. 'We have a responsibility to make sure each service leaves on time to avoid knock-on delays, skipped station stops and cancellations to other services which would affect thousands of other passengers, many of whom may also be disabled. 'In central London between London Bridge and St Pancras, we've done away with the need for a ramp, by installing humps on every platform to give level access, manned by a member of staff throughout the day.' Advertisement Forty years ago, a tiny East Village club became the haven for punk rock music, ultimately altering the course of music history. With walls covered in graffiti, the smell of beer and cigarettes were constant scents lingering inside the CBGB during the 1970s and 80s. Located in what was then a seedy and grungy part of New York City, the venue became the stuff of legend due to the numerous bands that took to the stage. Patti Smith, the Ramones, Blondie, The Dead Boys, Television, Alter Ego, Elda Stilleto along with her brother, Fast Eddy Gentile and more all performed gigs at the club located at 315 Bowery into the wee hours of the morning. CBGB, which stood for Country, Bluegrass and Blues, quickly became known globally as the spot for hardcore punk and was often a stop for up-and-coming bands hoping to make it big. But over the years, gentrification took hold, and the grungy neighborhood - that was once known as New York's 'Skid Row' due to an overwhelmingly large homeless population and where CBGB belonged - transformed into a haven for hipsters. As a result, the owners of the venue could no longer afford the skyrocketing rent and the beloved club closed its doors for good in 2006. Two years after closing, a pricey John Varvatos men's retail store took its place, angering New Yorkers enough to protest outside of the store for days when it opened. Now, DailyMail.com has obtained exclusive and never-before-seen images taken inside CBGB during its heyday in the 1970s by acclaimed photographer Meryl Meisler. Here was this enigma, the CBGB, with crowds all the time, people hanging outside all the time, said Meisler, who is a New York native. The place itself, you can almost remember the smell - the smell of beer and whatnot - in the room, and it was very interesting. I photographed some of the people whether they were performers or friends of the performers hanging out in the downstairs, going towards the restrooms or the preparations areas. Located in what was then a seedy-part of New York City, a small bar in the 1970s became the stuff of legend when it altered the course of music history due to the rock acts that took to the stage at the venue. Patti Smith, the Ramones, Blondie, The Dead Boys and more all seemingly kicked off their careers at CBGB in Manhattans East Village neighborhood. Photographer Meryl Meisler captured the above image of Patti Smith performing at CBGB while wearing a neck brace in April 1977. This is the first time the image has been published CBGB, which stood for Country, Bluegrass and Blues, stayed open for decades at 315 Bowery until closing in 2006 due to increasing rent and gentrification. Pictured above is another photo captured by Meisler that's never been published showing The Dead Boys during a performance where they sprayed beer on the crowd at CBGB in March 1979 Of partying inside the venue, Meisler said: Here was this enigma, the CBGB, with crowds all the time, people hanging outside all the time. The place itself you can almost remember the smell, the smell of beer and what not in the room and it was very interesting.' Singer Elda Stilletto is one person that Meisler vividly recalls seeing inside CBGB. She is pictured above in a photo captured by Meisler in April 1978 smoking a cigarette as her brother, Fast Eddy Gentile, stands by with his guitar The thrilling photos Meisler captured at the CBGB are set to go on display on May 20 at The Living Gallery Outpost as part of the Enthrall & Squalor: Photographing Downtown 1977-1987 exhibit. Stilleto is pictured above in another never-before-seen photo captured by Meisler alongside another unidentified man inside the popular venue during April 1978 Meisler shared the scene at the iconic club wasnt a big range of ages like the disco clubs and that it also wasnt expensive to get in. She said that 'everyone was welcome' and that she even 'fit right in'. Meisler captured the image above showing two women sitting at the bar inside CBGB during March 1978 Meisler is one of four photographers who will be featured as part of the exhibit thanks to her being a New York original who captured the essence of a time indelibly etched in the Citys consciousness. Pictured above are two women with long hair that Meisler found captivating inside CBGB during a show by The Dead Boys in March 1979 Of how the CBGB became iconic, Meisler said: It shaped our culture in a lot of ways. I mean this tiny club had a long lasting effect on the early 21st century and I am glad that those people who were there said yes when I asked if I could photograph them. The photographer captured the above image showing a man leaning on a wall during The Dead Boys performance at CBGB in March 1979 'I photographed some of the people whether they were performers, or friends of the performers hanging out in the downstairs, going towards the restrooms or the preparations areas. And the customers, the crowds and the performers really had a distinctive style of looking and the coolness, Meisler stated. Pictured above is Stilletto sitting down while enjoying a beverage inside CBGB during April 1978 in a photo Meisler took Meisler is also the author of two books, A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick and Purgatory & Paradise: Sassy 70s Suburbia & the City, which include photos from Fire Island, Studio 54 and the Lower East Side. Some of the photos from the CBGB that will go on display as part of the exhibit on Sunday are included in her books. Pictured above is a photo Meisler took showing a woman's foot and leg April 1978 at the venue The graffiti was awesome on the walls, because you can see the names of the band members the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Jimmy Page, Patti Smith Group and Miriam + Joey with hearts around each other. This was a place that helped launch their careers and made them so well known. Of the captivating black and white photo collection, the 66-year-old shared that the images she captured of Smith at the venue are some of her favorite. I went purposely to see her and I also went purposely to see The Dead Boys, because they were somewhat well known. So I purposely went to go see those groups because it was a thrill - and so here I was, right in front of her, Meisler recalled. I liked photography; Im not usually someone who takes photos of people performing though, but I couldnt resist snapping photos of Patti Smith because, you know, here she was literally singing Gloria. And she had a neck brace on because she had hurt her neck. Shes a performer who didnt burn out and has always been true to who she is. Meisler's images of the iconic bar show a glimpse into how the CBGB played a critical role into music history. Pictured above is a woman walking down the stairway inside CBGB Meisler said that witnessing Smith perform inside CBGB was one of the best moments she's ever experienced. She captured the photo above of Smith as she performed her song 'Gloria' while wearing a neck brace in April 1977 at CBGB Meisler explained that she started going to CBGB regularly thanks to her friend Judy Jupiter who was dating a bartender who worked at the venue. She captured the above photo of a few band members after a show with Jupiter hugging a guy smoking a cigarette on the ground inside the venue in 1977 Meisler also said that the 'graffiti was awesome, on the walls because you can see the names of the band members the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Jimmy Page, Patti Smith Group and Miriam + Joey with hearts around each other. This was a place that helped launch their careers and made them so well known. Pictured above are two then-high school students from Brooklyn inside CBGB in 1977; Meisler years later reconnected with the two women above and they are still good friends Meisler also noted how the clothing style people wore inside the CBGB is still relevant. Looking in retrospect, when you look at the style from back then, I mean that is still a style of fashion, she stated. Its still in style and it was a very very East Village-Bowery look. I mean you heard about the SoHo look in London, but this is very different.' Pictured above are two people kissing during The Dead Boys show at CBGB in 1978 The late Stiv Bators, who was one of the leaders of The Dead Boys, was also a regular at CBGB with the band. Meisler captured the above image of him and said his death in the 1990s was truly a loss to music and culture Meisler, who captured hundreds of photos during the disco scene, noted that the clothing style that people wore to the CBGB is still being sported now, decades later. Looking in retrospect, when you look at the style from back then, I mean that is still a style of fashion, she stated. Its still in style and it was a very, very East Village-Bowery look. I mean you heard about the SoHo look in London, but this is very different. And the customers, the crowds and the performers really had a distinctive style of looking and the coolness. She added that the scene at the iconic club wasnt a big range of ages like the disco clubs and that it also wasnt expensive to get in. I fit right in and everyone was welcome, she noted. If you look at the photos, you see people smoking but people cant do that anymore in restaurants or bars. Meisler also captured images of the late Stiv Bators, who was one of the leaders of The Lost Boys. She said his death in the 1990s was truly a loss to music and culture. He is really respected by many generations of music lovers. These (performers) are people who really lived how they wanted to live and share how they wanted to share in their time, Meisler stated. Its pretty impressive and I also want to say that it was very impressive the long lasting styles. The thrilling photos Meisler captured at the CBGB are set to go on display on May 20 at The Living Gallery Outpost as part of the Enthrall & Squalor: Photographing Downtown 1977-1987 exhibit. The pop-up exhibition, part of Lower East Side History Month, aims to hark back to a time when living and (life) was cheap and legends were born according to a press release from the gallery. Its never been cheap to be in a place like New York City and the owners of the CBGB kept it going for a really really long time and I think thats impressive, Meisler shared. Pictured above is a woman standing inside CBGB The pop-up exhibition part of Lower East Side History Month aims to hark back to a time when living and (life) was cheap and legends were born according to a press release from the gallery. Pictured above is a woman smoking inside CBGB in 1978 Meisler is one of four photographers who will be featured as part of the exhibit thanks to her being a New York original who captured the essence of a time indelibly etched in the Citys consciousness. Her images of the iconic bar show a glimpse into how the CBGB played a critical role into music history. Its never been cheap to be in a place like New York City and the owners of the CBGB kept it going for a really, really long time and I think thats impressive, Meisler shared. It shaped our culture in a lot of ways. I mean, this tiny club had a long-lasting effect on the early 21st century, and I am glad that those people who were there said yes when I asked if I could photograph them. Meisler is also the author of two books, A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick and Purgatory & Paradise: Sassy 70s Suburbia & the City, which include photos from Fire Island, Studio 54 and the Lower East Side. Rising at the crack of dawn, tending to his hens and tucking into a large breakfast are the keys to living a long and healthy life, according to 121-year-old Manuel Garcia Hernandez. The Mexican, who hopes to live till he has reached 125, gets up at 5.30am, and starts every day with a banana and apple smoothie, along with oatmeal and two eggs. Then he goes out to tend to his chickens. The secret to longevity, he said, is sleeping well, waking up early, eating healthy food, taking vitamins and work. Mexican Manuel Garcia Hernandez, who claims to be 121 years old, poses with two of his great-granddaughters at his home in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on May 16, 2018 Mexican Manuel Garcia Hernandez holds a hen at his home in Ciudad Juarez. According to his birth certificate, issued by Veracruz state registry, he was born on December 24, 1896 Apart from his eyes being sensitive to the sun, which he tries to block out with dark sunglasses, Mr Hernandez is in remarkably good health 'I'm happy, but I do feel tired. I'm making an effort, because if I just lay in bed or sat in a chair all day, then I would get sick,' said Mr Hernandez, dressed in his trademark cowboy hat and Western shirt. 'I feel like I'm 80 years old though I'm starting to stumble a bit when I walk,' he told AFP. Born on December 24, 1896, according to his birth certificate from the Mexican state of Veracruz and his official identity card from the National Electoral Institute, Mr Hernandez may just be the world's oldest man. Mr Hernandez said that he only has two regrets in his very long life: losing his father at a young age, and the fact he can no longer work as much Mexican Manuel Garcia Hernandez, 121 years old, sits with his great-granddaughters at his home in Chihuahua state. The secret to living a long life, he said, is sleeping well, waking up early, eating healthy food, taking vitamins and work If the centenarian really is 121, he would be not only the oldest man alive, but the oldest man ever, according to Guinness beating Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, who died in 2013 at 116 years old But apparently he has never bothered calling Guinness World Records to make it official. However, if his documents are correct, he is more than eight years older than Masazo Nonaka of Japan, the man who currently holds the title born on 25 July 1905. At any rate, age is only a number for this centenarian, who said he does not feel a day over 80, coincidentally the age he lost a finger when it got tangled in his twirling lasso. Age is only a number for this centenarian, who said he does not feel a day over 80, coincidentally the age he lost a finger when it got tangled in his twirling lasso Apart from his eyes being sensitive to the sun, which he tries to block out with dark sunglasses, Mr Hernandez is in remarkably good health: he walks surprisingly fast, his vision is good since he had cataract surgery three years ago, and his mind is sharp. He is impressively spry as he tosses feed to his chickens at the home he shares with his daughter Tomasa, 54, in Ciudad Juarez, northern Mexico She said: 'I ask God to give him some more years, until he has had enough. Sometimes he tells me his candle is going to go out little by little, but I don't think so. He's alive, and I'm happy for that.' Mr Hernandez said that he only has two regrets in his very long life: losing his father at a young age, and the fact he can no longer work as much. He started working in the fields at nine years of age, and his father, who made and sold his own sweets, died at 35. Single until the age of 45, he and his late wife Rosa Medino Medino, who was just 13 when they wed, had five children, 15 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and were married for almost seven decades, until Rosa died eight years ago. Tomasa's daughter and her family live next door, while another neighbor, an American, lets Garcia raise chickens in his large patio. Mr Hernandez says caring for the chickens has helped keep him alive, and wishes he could work more. 'I'd like to be able to work the way I used to, make my living in the fields. But I can't anymore. That makes me sad. I was very hard-working as a young man,' he said. Although he has lived through the arrival of electricity, the invention of television, the Mexican Revolution and the election of US President Donald Trump his 22nd American president is Mr Hernandez the world's oldest man? Alice Pagan, a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records, said she would need to double-check. 'We ask for a great deal of paperwork and proof to substantiate claims that meet our official guidelines. We also work with various expert gerontologists and consultants who assist in the investigation of such claims,' she told AFP. If the centenarian really is 121, he would be not only the oldest man alive, but the oldest man ever, according to Guinness beating Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, who died in 2013 at 116 years old. The oldest woman ever was Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who died in 1997 at 122 years old, 164 days. A police officer has been cleared of unlawfully tasering her force's own race relations adviser in the face after he was mistaken for a suspect. District Judge Tan Ikram found Avon and Somerset Police officer Claire Boddie, 47, not guilty of assault by beating at Salisbury Magistrates' Court on Friday. The acting sergeant stood trial after being accused of unlawfully discharging a Taser and hitting Judah Adunbi, 64, in Bristol on January 14 last year. Avon and Somerset PC Claire Boddie, 47, was accused of attacking Judah Adunbi (right) in Easton, Bristol on January 14 This is the moment PC Claire Boddie arrested Avon & Somerset police race relations adviser Judah Adunbi - she was later arrested herself The court heard he had repeatedly been mistaken for a suspect before and after the incident. There was silence in the court as the verdict was announced and the 47-year-old sat in the dock looking at the floor. Mr Adunbi and his supporters left the room immediately after the judge left. Judge Ikram said: 'The issue for me is whether the prosecution have persuaded me that she didn't act in self-defence. 'The prosecution failed to persuade me and she is found not guilty of assault for that reason.' Judah Adunbi, 63, was accompanied at Taunton Magistrates' Court by a supporter wearing a 'Justice for Judah' T-shirt Mr Adunbi was trying to get into his Bristol flat after taking his dog for a walk and was tasered in the face on this spot In January Boddie tasered the elderly man after a neighbour told officers that Mr Adunbi was not a threat, and was holding his keys because he was going into his house, the court heard. As they handcuffed him, Mr Adunbi had thrown his ID card at the officers telling them to check it but they did not do so. Footage was captured of the confrontation by a neighbour, Tom Cherry, and on bodycams worn by both officers. Mr Adunbi was walking his dog Hazel when he was approached by the officers in a patrol car. Giving evidence, he said: 'I saw them. One of them said to me I was Royston McCalla. I said 'no, I'm not'. It is something that has happened to me before.' He refused to tell them who he was as he had done nothing wrong, Salisbury Magistrates Court heard. As police approached him, Mr Adunbi accused them of being racist and swore at them, bodycam footage showed. Boddie drew her taser due to a perceived threat, and Mr Adundi was recorded as saying: 'If you put your hand on me I will put you to sleep.' Mr Adunbi refused to give his name and told the officers to leave him alone before a struggle ensued. Boddie then drew her taser a second time, which the prosecution said was not in self defence and was an unlawful use of force to effect an arrest. Mr Adunbi was standing still with his arms by his side when Boddie shot the taser at him, with the barb hitting him in the face. Boddie, whose address in court papers was given as Avon and Somerset Police headquarters, asked Mr Adunbi if he was a wanted man He told the court he had taken his keys out because he wanted to open his gate, and Boddie made comment about a weapon. 'I was frustrated, upset, alarmed and distressed,' Mr Adunbi said. He opened the gate to let his dog, Hazel, through and as he tried to close it PC Darren Weston forced his way through, the court heard. Mr Adunbi said: 'He tried to grab onto me. I released myself away from him and went back into King Street. Then, suddenly, PC Weston tried to grab onto my left shoulder. 'I tried to get him off. I stood back with my hands at my side. I heard a noise and felt like my head was frying.' He said the Taser barb hit him in the jaw and he fell. In footage filmed by neighbour Tom Cherry, Mr Cherry told officers: 'He's got keys, he's going to his house, don't take that as a threat, seriously.' Boddie had requested not to sit in the dock at the trial. Prosecutor Richard Posner said Boddie was accused of Tasering Mr Adunbi unlawfully. Canine lovers have been forced to take action after toxic wild mushrooms killed a dog at a local park. Walter the puppy was walking at the north Adelaide parklands when it is believed he ate the poisonous mushroom. The area is rife with potentially lethal fungi which span across the grassed area of the park. Walter the puppy was frolicking at the north Adelaide parklands when it is believed he ate the poisonous mushroom Walter was rushed to the vet a day after he ate the mushroom suffering seizures, vomiting and was eventually put in to a coma. After three hours the seven-month-old puppy was dead. The council has refused to put signs warning of the deadly wild mushrooms claiming it is impractical because there are so many growing. Locals have now vowed to take matters into their own hands and put signs up themselves. 'I'll go home and print out signs and put them up,' John Swan told Seven news. Council have refused to put signs warning of the deadly wild mushrooms claiming it is impractical because there are so many growing Foragers have been warned to not harvest the wild mushrooms while dog owners are encouraged to keep an eye on their pets. Facebook users took to social media sending their condolences to Walter's owner who was away on holiday when he died. 'So sorry for the loss of your beautiful fur baby. The council should put signs up to warn dog owners, have people get rid of the mushrooms, something,' one user wrote. Veterinarian Dr Derrick McNair said the mushrooms affect the liver first which leads dogs to feel lethargic, stop eating, and in worst case scenarios, die. Cynda Miles told her friend she thought husband Peter's (pictured) depression was getting worse in chilling string of messages sent hours before the tragic murder-suicide Cynda Miles told her friend she thought her husband's depression was getting worse in a chilling string of messages sent just hours before the tragic murder-suicide. Peter Miles allegedly shot dead his wife, daughter and four young grandchildren before calling Triple Zero and taking his own life at their remote farm in Osmington, Western Australia. The day before the horrific mass-murder last week, Cynda engaged in a string of Facebook messages with her friend Cath Miller where she described her 61-year-old husband was getting 'worse and worse'. Peter Miles allegedly shot dead his wife, daughter and four young grandchildren before calling Triple Zero and taking his own life at remote farm in Osmington, WA (pictured together) The day before the horrific mass-murder last week, Cynda engaged in a string of Facebook messages (pictured) with her friend, Cath Miller, where she said she 'hoped he improves' The 58-year-old sustainability farmer told her neighbour Peter had recently increased his anti-depressant dosage, The Australian reported. 'Hi Cath. Hope you enjoyed yesterday!,' Ms Miles wrote. 'Peter seems to be getting worse and worse so I don't know that he is going to be able to do the yeomans plough - can you find someone else? 'Really sorry to let you down but I thought better to let you know than hang on hoping he improves. xx' About six hours after three generations of the Miles family were shot dead, Ms Miller responded to her friend at 11.11am. 'Just checking to see if you are all OK,' she wrote. The lengthy chain of messages are reportedly part of the investigation into the Western Australia murder-suicide - the worst mass shooting in the last two decades of Australia's history since the Port Arthur Massacre. Friends previously described Peter, who lived within a tight-knit farming community with about 135 other residents 15 minutes east of Margaret River, as 'chatty and cheerful' when getting to know him. 'Peter seems to be getting worse and worse so I don't know that he is going to be able to do the yeomans plough - can you find someone else?,' Cynda (pictured) wrote to her friend Hours after the Facebook conversation, three generations of the Miles family were shot dead at their home Peter and Cynda's daughter, Katrina Cockman, was found dead in a converted shed along with her children - Taye, 13, Rylan, 12, Ayre, 10 and Kaydn, 8 (pictured together) Another neighbour, Felicity Haynes, told the ABC's 7.30 program last week some locals were aware Peter was battling with mental health demons. 'I knew he had been depressed for some time,' Dr Haynes said. 'He's had a difficult life and there have been deaths in the family that really upset him.' The family moved to the 30-acre property in 2014 to create a sustainable farm and happy future. Another neighbour, Felicity Haynes, told the ABC's 7.30 program last week some locals were aware Peter (far left) was battling with mental health demons after a tough life Police forensics officers were seen (pictured) on the sprawling 30-acre property the family called home last Friday Less than four years later, police discovered seven bodies across the remote property shortly after receiving the 000 call at about 5am. Cynda was found in the lounge room of one house at the farm while their daughter, Katrina Cockman, was found dead in a converted shed along with her children - Taye, 13, Rylan, 12, Ayre, 10 and Kaydn, 8. Peter was found slumped dead in a chair on the veranda with a gun between his legs. Three guns found at the property were all licensed to Peter. As investigations continue, it is still unclear what led the grandfather to the evil crimes. More than 30 people have been injured after two buses collided in the Lincoln Tunnel on the Manhattan side at 9.50am. The New York City Fire Department said that 31 people have been transported to the hospital with minor injuries, while seven people suffered serious, non life-threatening injuries. One passenger refused to be treated at the hospital. One New Jersey Transit bus rear-ended another while exiting the tube at the end of rush hour Friday morning, according to Port Authority. The collision happened at the entrance of the center tube of the tunnel that connects New York City and New Jersey. As of now traffic delays are 10 minutes for those traveling to New York and 20 minutes for those traveling to New Jersey, according to Port Authority. At least 32 people have been injured after two New Jersey transit buses collided Friday morning One New Jersey Transit bus rear-ended another while exiting the tube at the end of rush hour 31 people have been transported to the hospital with minor injuries, while eight people suffered serious, not-life threatening injuries The crash happened at the center tube of the tunnel connecting New York City and New Jersey on the Manhattan side According to NJ Transit, both buses were coming from New Jersey - one out of Wayne and the other out of Oradell. One of the buses had 25 passengers on board and the other carried 37. Most of the injured passengers reported back and neck pain after the crash. They crashed on the city's west side near Dyer Avenue and West 40th street and both buses are currently outside of the tunnel. Port Authority Police Department is investigating the incident and said the Lincoln Tunnel is open but experiencing delays. #FDNY members are on scene of a motor vehicle accident involving 2 buses in the Lincoln Tunnel. Currently there are 32 non-life-threatening injuries reported pic.twitter.com/5OmBZEeYcv FDNY (@FDNY) May 18, 2018 Port Authority Police Department is investigating the incident and said the Lincoln Tunnel is open with delays Both buses were coming from New Jersey - one out of Wayne and the other out of Oradell Amanda Masako Greenfield, 42, was arrested Tuesday at the elementary school where she works in Edmond, Oklahoma, after police found meth, marijuana and a marijuana pipe in her possession An elementary school teaching assistant was caught with meth, marijuana and a pipe in her backpack on campus. Amanda Masako Greenfield, 42, was arrested Tuesday at Will Rogers Elementary School in Edmond, Oklahoma, after administrators reported her 'unusual behavior'. Police said when they arrived at the school Greenfield appeared to be drunk. 'She was not making sense and her words were running together,' officer Ben Daves said in a court affidavit filed on Wednesday and obtained by NewsOK. They searched her backpack and found baggies of methamphetamine and marijuana as well as a marijuana pipe. She has not yet been charged but was arrested on complaints of public intoxication and possession of drugs and paraphernalia. Greenfield has never been arrested before but she has been present in drug-related situations where Edmond police officers have arrested other individuals, a police spokeswoman said Thursday. Police said when they arrived at the school Greenfield appeared to be drunk. She told the police that she had last used methamphetamine the day before In the affidavit Daves noted that he was aware of prior suspected methamphetamine use by Greenfield. When asked Greenfield indicated that the last time she used the illegal drug was on Monday, the day before the incident. The 42-year-old is currently on administrative leave and officials at Edmond Public schools said they would take action as soon as the investigations are complete. 'The district is fully cooperating with Edmond police and has launched its own internal investigation,' Susan Parks-Schlepp, the district's public information officer, told NewOK. 'A safe school environment for all of our stakeholders is of the utmost importance.' Greenfield has been employed as a teaching assistant for the school district since January 2014. A plant science conference in Uganda which drew together dozens of world-class researchers from across Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK this month has confirmed the growing strength of a network whose collaborations promise to deliver solutions to devastating crop diseases in the years ahead. Delegates from ten African countries joined counterparts from the UK at the CONNECTED Virus Network Africa Launch Conference, which took place in Kampala, Uganda, from May 7 to 9. Bristol University-based CONNECTED team members Dr Diane Hird and Richard Wyatt attended to co-ordinate operations along with local National Crops Resources Research Institute staff, following pre-conference organisation largely facilitated by Bristol-based CONNECTED team colleague Sona Reale. It was immediately followed by a two-day training workshop aimed at early career researchers looking to develop skills including research grant proposal writing. Professor Neil Boonham from Newcastle University, UK and Co-Director of the CONNECTED project, says the outcomes of the conference confirm the value and potential of the project, and is urging more people to come forward to join the growing network. Our Africa Launch Conference was a superb event, with a tangible buzz of excitement amongst delegates for the whole week, he said. The CONNECTED project is as yet just a few months old, but we are already seeing promising collaborations between highly-skilled and enthusiastic researchers to find solutions to plant disease in Sub-Saharan Africa. The projects focus on encouraging early career researchers is already paying dividends, and its clear that one of the legacies of CONNECTED will be a cohort of scientists who have begun to form collaborations, injecting real energy to develop solutions to tackling devastating vector-borne plant disease in the years ahead. We are now looking to recruit still more scientists and researchers who share our passion to tackle food insecurity, and we are inviting anyone with an interest to join us at Importantly, we are not simply looking to recruit those working on issues directly related to plant disease, but also scientists and researchers working in other disciplines. For example, we need social scientists, economists, geographers and others as we work hard to make this a truly inter-disciplinary project. The conference was hosted by Dr Titus Alicai, National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Uganda and was officially opened by Yona Baguma, Deputy Director General of NARO. Delegates heard a number of research-focused presentations on issues including pest management, plant protection, and agricultural extension in Africa. There was a series of workshops during which delegates considered the projects future priorities for the pump-prime research funding which forms an integral part of the opportunities offered by CONNECTED, as well as identifying training needs and opportunities for future inter-disciplinary work. Day Two of the conference was hosted at The National Crops Resources Research Institute, and delegates enjoyed a tour of the laboratory facilities as well as some of the fields which are hosting much of the Institutes work on crops including cassava, sweet potato and maize. The CONNECTED network is funded by a 2 million grant from the UK governments Global Challenges Research Fund, which supports research on global issues that affect developing countries. It is led by Professor Gary Foster from the University of Bristols School of Biological Sciences jointly with Professor Neil Boonham from Newcastle University. Georgia Cassidy, 19, died after hiding a bag of cocaine in her mouth A popular teenage beautician died after hiding a bag of cocaine in her mouth when police stopped a car she was travelling in. Georgia Cassidy, 19, was described in court as a 'much loved daughter and family member'. She was in a car with her boyfriend when they were stopped in a random police check in Kirkby, Merseyside, an inquest in to her death was told yesterday. The hearing was told Georgia 'concealed a bag of cocaine in her mouth' shortly before the police stop in February. The police found nothing suspicious during the check and the car was allowed to drive away soon after, the inquest was told. However, Georgia suffered a serious seizure later the same day in the car park of The Punchbowl pub in Sefton Village. She was rushed to Aintree hospital where she died from cocaine toxicity three days later on February 14. Merseyside Police later confirmed a man had been arrested on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug and released under investigation. Georgia, from Kirkby, was a former pupil at All Saints Catholic School, and later worked as a beauty therapist at Define Hair and Beauty, in Liverpool. Her family have allowed her organs to be donated to others, potentially saving more lives. Heartbroken friends paid tribute to 'gorgeous' Georgia in the days after her death, who they described as a 'beautiful and lovely' young woman. One wrote online: 'Absolutely heartbreaking. I can't believe it, thinking of you all, such a beautiful girl.' Georgia, from Kirkby, was a former pupil at All Saints Catholic School, and later worked as a beauty therapist at Define Hair and Beauty, in Liverpool and was described as 'much loved daughter and family member' Coroner Andre Rebello told Georgia's family there was 'no suggestion that she had any connection with drugs', adding: 'Tragically, her death has occurred from an accident.' He added: 'Clearly the only people that benefit out of these tragic events are [...] the drug dealers and the people at the top of the chain. 'And they earn an awful lot of money out of the upset and destruction and chaos caused to families like Georgia's.' The hearing was told Georgia 'concealed a bag of cocaine in her mouth' shortly before the police stop in February The coroner noted that Georgia was clearly a popular teenager, telling her family: 'The more you love someone and the more they love you, the greater the hurt from loss when somebody dies. 'And therefore it's evident to me that she was a very much loved daughter and family member.' The coroner confirmed that police were still investigating the man who was arrested, and who was not named during the proceedings. He recorded a verdict of accidental death at Liverpool Coroner's Court. Kasie Pruden-Rivera, 32, has been accused of embezzling more than $400,000 from her disabled nine-year-old son's medical trust A Michigan woman who allegedly embezzled more than $400,000 from her disabled nine-year-old son's medical trust faces prison time after entering a plea of no contest. Kasie Pruden-Rivera, 32, received a settlement of $650,000 on behalf of her son Haiden, who suffers from cerebral palsy, permanent brain damage and other health problems after birth trauma. She reportedly spent about $240,000 on a house, but the rest of the estate is unaccounted for. Investigators spent months trying to contact her with questions about the missing money but she would not return their calls. This week Pruden-Rivera entered a plea of no contest in Charlotte, Michigan. The plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing. She could face up to 20 years in prison but prosecutors say she will likely receive a sentence of no more than 20 months because she has no previous convictions. Court records obtained by the Lansing State Journal show that Pruden-Rivera and her former husband Higinio Rivera, who was a soldier at the time of Haidens birth, sued the Army after their son suffered seizures and brain damage shortly after he was born at an Army hospital in Fort Hood, Texas. They reached a settlement agreement that placed more than $3million in a trust that can only be used for Haiden's medical care. If he were to die before the funds are depleted, the balance would be returned to the government. Another chunk of money, about $550,000, was directed to pay for living expenses that may not be directly linked to Haiden's disabilities. As the conservator of Haiden's estate, Pruden-Rivera was in charge of managing expenses. Investigators say the mother failed to deposit the money into the restricted account and spent it as if it were her own. The parents' divorce was recently finalized and Higinio Rivera was granted custody of Haiden and the couple's other son. Court records indicate that child protective services workers had placed the children into Higinio's care on a temporary basis discovering finding animal feces, rotting food, garbage and dirty diapers throughout Pruden-Rivera's home. Two women were severely cut and suffered scrapes after they were attacked by two warthogs at a Texas exotic animal park on Thursday. The owner, 50, and a 30-year-old employee were injured while feeding the male and female warthogs at the TGR Exotics Wildlife Park in Spring, Texas. And folks living in the area were rattled by the news. 'They're very safety-oriented. I know they have specific protocols when it comes to feeding the animals or touching the animals,' Amber Tatum, who lives across the street from the park, said to KPRC. The owner, 50, and a 30-year-old employee were injured while feeding the male and female warthogs at the TGR Exotics Wildlife Park in Spring, Texas On the animal park's about page , Troy and Gwen Scott are listed as the founders and owners of the park. Gwen wasn't named however 'They have a lot of rescue animals over there. They do a lot of good. It's just very sad to see something like this happen.' According to responding officials, the male warthog became disgruntled during the feeding and attacked the women. While the owner suffered both leg and chest injuries, her staff member did suffer leg injuries. Police are seen with the warthogs after the male one got angry and lashed out and the owner The park does guided tours and offers close encounters with exotic animals including: tigers, kangaroos and emus 'When dealing with wild animals you have to be careful because you know they could turn on you,' Sgt. Paul Bruce of the Harris County Sheriff's Office, added. 'What was described to me was they were severe injuries. Obviously, the male warthog has tusks, so it could be punctures ... it could be lacerations.' While the injuries were not considered life threatening, the two women were taken to an emergency room. It is currently unknown what happened to the warthogs. On the animal park's about page, Troy and Gwen Scott are listed as the founders and owners of the park. The park does guided tours and offers close encounters with exotic animals including: tigers, kangaroos and emus. It's been more than two decades since Princess Diana's death, but her story never gets easier to hear. Recently, an Australian designer opened up to Harper's Bazaar about working with the beloved Royal after her divorce from Prince Charles in August 1996. Jayson Brundson recalled Princess Diana, 36 when she died, revealing to him the gut-wrenching reason she wouldn't wear Chanel. Jayson told the outlet he was preparing Princess Diana for a photo op. She selected a cream-colored Versace skirt, but left it to him to chose the shoes she'd wear in the pictures. An Australian designer is speaking out about working with Princess Diana after her divorce, revealing that the Royal refused to wear Chanel for a heartbreaking reason Princess Diana and Prince Charles married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981 and divorced about 15 years later in August 1996 'I went through them all and I found a pair of Chanel shoes. And I said, "Well these would look great with the Versace" and she said, "No, I can't wear linked Cs, the double C." So I asked why, and she said, "It's Camilla and Charles",' he told the outlet. Jayson said Princess Diana's comment was made in 1996, the same year she and Prince Charles divorced. Her husband had been having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles at the time. They married in 2005, despite the drama surrounding their relationship. Jayson added: 'It was definitely the timing, it being post-divorce. She would have seen linked Cs and they would have just reminded her of Charles and Camilla. 'The shoes were quite boldly Chanel, I think they had gold linked Cs on them. And I think for photo optics, people would have honed in on that considering it was so fresh after the divorce as well.' Princess Diana opted for a pair of Gucci shoes instead. Jayson's story comes as the Royal family are preparing for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Princess Diana's revenge dress will forever be one of my most favourite style looks. Come on. pic.twitter.com/nEint6s1py Idealist (@ClinicallyLuxe) May 17, 2018 It's been rumored that the couple will work a special tribute to Princess Diana into their big day, though it's not clear yet what they may do. Some Royal fanatics speculate that Meghan, 36, may sport one of Princess Diana's tiaras, while Elle UK has reported that Meghan will honor her future hubby's late mother in her bouquet. Haven't gotten your Royal family fix just yet? Keep reading. When did Princess Diana get married? Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. She was 20 years old at the time and Prince Charles was 32. Who walked Princess Diana down the aisle? Princess Diana was walked down the aisle by her father, Earl Spencer, at her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981. See the fairy-tale wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles pic.twitter.com/K5u2BbFfH7 TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 16, 2018 Princess Diana wedding cake In 2017, pieces of cake from Princess Diana and Prince Charles's wedding went up for auction. Slices of the nearly four decade-old bake continue to pop up. As recently as Thursday, Express reported that a piece of Princess Diana and Prince Charles's wedding cake could sell for up to 2,000 ($2,694) at auction. In 2015, a piece of the cake sold by Julien's Auctions of London reportedly sold for 1,300 ($1,751 by today's exchange rate). Princess Diana and Prince Charles had 27 wedding cakes at their wedding with the official cake standing five-foot-tall, so there's certainly sure to be more pieces floating around. You can buy a piece of Princess Dianas wedding cake for $800 pic.twitter.com/EJ2p33RtL1 NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 15, 2018 Why was Diana a Princess but Kate is not? Royal titles are complicated. When a woman marries in to the Royal family, they adopt the titles of their husband officially. When Princess Diana married Prince Charles, he was the Prince of Wales, so when they married she became Princess Diana. By that same logic, Kate Middleton's official title is Her Royal Highness Princess William, Duchess of Cambridge Princess Diana was and still is such a style icon pic.twitter.com/Hzodahw06Q PetiteAnge (@PetiteAnge_) May 14, 2018 Due to the fact that Prince William is formally known as the Duke of Cambridge, thanks to a title bestowed upon him by The Queen, Kate's formal title is Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge. If you're in Scotland, her title's a bit different. There she's known as Her Royal Highness, The Countess of Strathearn. Many continue to refer to Kate by her full maiden name, Kate Middleton, rather than either of her Royal titles. There are a number of reasons for this, including public confusion, familiarity, her ties to the middle-class and more. Diana Princess of Wales death Princess Diana died in August 31, 1997. She was killed in a car crash that occurred inside the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Her rumored beau Dodi Fayed was also killed in the crash. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie thinks the first six months of Donald Trump's administration were a 's*** show,' but says he has respect for the president and doesn't want him to sit down with special counsel Robert Mueller. Christie, a former federal prosecutor who once worked with Mueller, vouched for his honesty and trustworthiness even as Trump mocks the Russia probe as a 'witch hunt.' Mueller is 'very tough, very direct, very driven,' said the Republican who ran for president and then advised Trump in 2016 in an interview for 'The Circus' on Showtime. 'Hes an aggressive guy. And every time I dealt with him an honest broker,' Christie said. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Robert Mueller an 'honest broker' 'I trust Bob Mueller and I think that the way hes conducted this investigation for the most part, thus far, shows that hes trustworthy,' he added. But Christie continues to advise Trump not to sit down for an interview with the special counsel who has secured multiple indictments and guilty pleas of Trump associates. 'I dont think that theres been enough evidence put forward that Mueller deserves an interview with the president. This is an extraordinary thing to get to interview a president of the united states. And whats the evidence that the president did anything that implicates a criminal statute. Christie made the comment to host John Heilemann at an La Fiamma, an Italian restaurant in Christie's home state of New Jersey, where he served for two terms but left with a low approval rating. The two bantered while Christie, who has publicly struggled with his weight, worked his way through a bowl of pasta in a white sauce and a soda. Heilemann had a salad. He was interviewed for 'The Circus' in an Italian restaurat Christie spoke to John Hielemann while having a plate of pasta 'You better really have some stuff if you want to talk to a president of the United States,' Christie said. Christie compared his own time in the Bridegate imbroglio to what Trump is experiencing with Russia. 'I think it is very analogous. It was completely overwhelming,' he told interviewer John Heilemann. 'It was incredibly frustrating,' he said. When Heilemann suggested the start of Trump's term was not well run, Christie, who ran Trump's transition before being removed, agreed, 'No, it hasn't be.' 'The first six months were a 's*** show,' he agreed, using the host's language. He compared Trump and Russia to his own having to contend with Bridgegate David Wildstein (R) former director of interstate capital projects for the Port Authority and his attorney Alan Zegas (L) is sworn in to testify at a hearing held by the Assembly Transportation Committee January 9, 2014 in Trenton, New Jersey, Pennsylvania But he said Trump's new team was 'more ready now than they were before' for the next big shoe that drops. 'You dont know until it happens,' he said, adding the Trump himself is ready. 'This guy's tested. You dont get to be president and not be tested,' Christie said. He repeated some advice he has given Trump, who has launched constant public attacks on the Mueller investigation. 'Ive told him many times, and Ive said this publicly ... theres nothing you can do to make it shorter. There's lots that you can do to make it longer. And Ive continued to counsel him that talking about things publicly just leads people to want to look more, not less,' Christie added. Jocelyn Wildenstein rose to notoriety in the 90s during her high-profile divorce from art dealer Alec Wildenstein and multiple plastic surgeries, which earnt her the cruel nicknames Catwoman and the Bride of Wildenstein. Now, the New York socialite is filing for bankruptcy, claiming she hasnt got any savings or stock left, despite receiving over $2 billion from her husband, who died in 2008, in the 1999 divorce proceedings. The Trump World Tower Condominium board of managers and two law firms filed an involuntary petition against the socialite, claiming she owes her creditors nearly $10 million; a figure that Wildenstein disputes, adding that she believes her personal assets exceed the amount she owes. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing marks a spectacular turn of events for a woman who once famously told Vanity Fair she spent $350,000 on one Chanel dress alone, owned $10 million-worth of jewellery, and built a mansion for her daughter on her 17th birthday that reportedly cost $3 million. Jocelyn Wildenstein was famous for her very public divorce from Alec Wildenstein in 1999 Here is all you need to know about Jocelyn Wildenstein, including what is her net worth, what she looked like before her plastic surgeries, and her marriage to Alec Wildenstein. Who is Jocelyn Wildenstein? Jocelyn Perisset Wildenstein grew up in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her father was a struggling department-store buyer. Wildenstein moved to Paris when she was a teenager. During that time she was in a relationship with the filmmaker Sergio Gobbi. Before her marriage to Alec, she was also linked to Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and Cyril Piguet. In 1977, at the age of 31, Wildenstein met Alec on a safari trip to Kenya. Alec was there to kill a lion and Wildenstein asked to accompany him. The pair eloped the following year in Las Vegas. It was a tempestuous marriage. The couple reportedly spent $1 million a month on average and went for his-and-hers eye-lifts a year into their marriage. This marked the beginning of a long list of plastic surgeries. I would always find out last. She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way. But she wouldnt listen, Alec Wildenstein told Vanity Fair. 'I dont think Ive known her when she wasnt healing from something,' said a friend of Jocelyn in 1998. Wildenstein has frequently denied shes had work done, saying in 1998 that her looks, which led to her being branded Catwoman, were natural. In February 2018, the 77-year-old socialite said that she hasn't had any plastic surgery done If I show you pictures of my grandmother, she says, what you see is these eyescat eyesand high cheekbones. Wildenstein went on to deny she ever had any work done on her nose. After the couples children left home, Alec and Wildenstein ended up having constant fights. One night, Wildenstein says she walked in on her husband with another woman and alleges he pointed a gun at her and her bodyguardssomething Alec disputed, saying Wildenstein was downstairs when he saw the bodyguards. Alec spent the night in jail after the police were called. The pairs divorce was highly public and messy, with Alec slowly cutting Wildensteins financial means. Jocelyn Wildenstein before and after plastic surgery Jocelyn Wildenstein reportedly had her first plastic surgery a year after marrying her husband, in 1978. The pair went in for eye-lifts and the surgery was reportedly the first of many. However, in February 2018, Wildenstein and her now second husband, Lloyd Klein both denied she had any work done. 'I don't understand the whole press and the Catwoman thing because Jocelyn always looked like that,' Klein told DailyMailTV. Slide me Jocelyn Wildenstein reportedly had her first plastic surgery, an eye-lift, with Alec in 1978 'She never really did anything to change her face. I have pictures from 16 years old where she looks exactly the same as today.' However, in April 2018, Wildenstein admitted to having surgeries but stopping for a time during her divorce from Alec. 'In the beginning, it's why I stopped correcting my appearance because the articles were mean and would repeat the image that my ex-husband tried to paint of me,' she told Paper Magazine. What is Jocelyn Wildensteins net worth? Jocelyn Wildensteins net worth is $16,386,100, according to her Chapter 11 bankruptcy documentation. This is a far cry from the $2.5 billion she was awarded during her divorce from Alec Wildenstein. The filing lists that the socialite receives a $900 check a month from Social Security, which it says is her only source of income. Jocelyn Wildenstein bankruptcy Jocelyn Wildenstein filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2018, reportedly owing 16 creditors over $6 million. This includes hundreds of thousands of dollars to several building contractors, $70,000 to American Express, over $200,000 to two law firms, and $179,000 to Trump world Tower Condominium. Wildenstein also owes a staggering $4.6 million to Castellan Capital and $700,000 to a New York storage company. Sarai Rodriguez-Miranda, 19, was sentenced on Friday in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after pleading guilty to the attempted murder of her brother's infant back in January 2017 An Indiana woman who tried to poison her infant niece by adding crushed painkillers to a bottle of breast milk has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Sarai Rodriguez-Miranda, 19, was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to attempted murder in March in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The teen had concocted a plan to kill her 11-week-old niece in January 2017 by mixing crushed Excedrin tablets in the baby's breast milk. Rodriguez-Miranda's scheme was foiled when her mother discovered a number of text messages detailing exactly how she planned to kill the baby girl and turned them in to the police. Luckily the infant hadn't yet been given any of the tainted milk, which investigators say contained the equivalent of nine Excedrin tablets, which is enough to kill an adult. Rodriguez-Miranda fled to Michigan where she was arrested in September before being brought back to Indiana for the trial. Rodriguez-Miranda's scheme was foiled by her mother, who found a string of text messages between the teen and her boyfriend (pictured together) detailing how she poisoned the milk Rodriguez-Miranda came up with the idea to kill the 11-week-old after her brother, his fiancee and the baby moved into her mother's home in January 2017. The teen became upset when she found out her mother agreed to let them stay longer at the home than they had originally planned. A chain of text messages between Rodriguez-Miranda and her boyfriend detail how the plan was hatched. 'I'm gonna crush up some of these pills since she decided they can stay longer and kill their baby,' she texted him that January. 'Idk they were laying on the counter in front of everyone so I couldn't check what they were,' she said in another message, seemingly talking about the pills. 'And I'm honestly not worried about getting caught. They're not gunna suspect me,' she told him confidently. In one message, Rodriguez-Miranda asked her boyfriend to look up how many milligrams were needed to kill a baby. In another message, she sent him a picture of a mortar and pestle containing white powder, which she then funneled into a bottle of breast milk for the baby. On January 12 Rodriguez-Miranda's mother spotted the texts on the phone she shared with her daughter. She checked the refrigerator and noticed that one of the two bottles of breast milk had a 'greenish circle at the bottom' and was a different color than the other. She located the used mortar and pestle and brought it to the police station with screenshots of the texts and both of the baby bottles. When Rodriguez-Miranda noticed the bottles had been removed from the fridge she excitedly texted her boyfriend saying: 'I know I'm excited dude. I'm glad it didn't happen while I was here.' In a following text she said: 'Yeah I thought it was funny that I don't have an ounce of guilt.' The baby and the brother's fiancee both went to the hospital where doctors determined neither of them had been poisoned. After realizing that her murder plot had been revealed the teen fled to Michigan with her boyfriend. She was arrested eight months later in September and extradited to Indiana When Rodriguez-Miranda saw that her niece was okay, she angrily texted her boyfriend that the plan had failed. 'Why didn't the baby die dude that's dumb,' she wrote. 'They definitely threw it out.' 'I hope she dies,' she wrote in another message. 'I don't feel bad about it bc she was destined to grow up abused.' 'I'd never be suspect I know but I hope it works.' She soon realized that the police knew what she had done and fled to Michigan with her boyfriend. Eight months later she was arrested by US Marshals in Bay City and extradited back to Indiana. Rodriguez-Miranda entered a guilty plea in March, telling the court she suffers from anxiety and depression. The now-one-year-old victim was present at the sentencing on Friday. She refused to do an interview but said she was 'just glad this is over'. Parkland activists David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez have taken to Twitter after the Texas school shooting to warn students that politicians will now act briefly like they 'give a s**t' about curbing gun violence. It comes after 17-year-old gunman Dimitrios 'Dimitri' Pagourtzis was taken into custody Friday morning after storming a classroom at Santa Fe High School and yelling 'surprise' before he shot dead eight to 10 people. Hogg and Gonzalez, who both survived the Parkland school shooting in February, quickly pledged their support to the Texas students in the aftermath. Parkland activist David Hogg took to Twitter Friday morning after the Texas school shooting to warn students that politicians will now act briefly like they 'give a s**t' about gun control Hogg and Gonzalez, who both survived the Parkland school shooting in February, quickly pledged their support to the Texas students in the aftermath. They are pictured above at the 2018 TIME 100 Gala in April 'We are fighting for you,' Hogg tweeted. 'Get ready for two weeks of media coverage of politicians acting like they give a shit when in reality they just want to boost their approval ratings before midterms.' Gonzalez also took to Twitter saying they would support the Santa Fe students after those same students participated in a nationwide walkout protest in the wake of the Parkland shooting. 'Santa Fe High, you didn't deserve this. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you,' she tweeted. 'You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices.' Gonzalez tweeted that they would support the Santa Fe students after those same students participated in a nationwide walkout protest in the wake of the Parkland shooting Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter Jaime in the Parkland shooting, said another school massacre had been his fear ever since February Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter Jaime in the Parkland shooting, said another school massacre had been his fear ever since February. 'This has been my fear since February 14th, that another mass casualty shooting would happen before we did anything,' he tweeted. 'Now, we have 8 more children dead and our leadership in Washington has done nothing. 'We do not need thoughts and prayers, we need action and we need it now.' Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted Friday that one person had been taken into custody and a second person was detained. Law enforcement early in Texas identified the suspected Santa Fe school shooter on Friday afternoon as Dimitrios 'Dimitri' Pagourtzis, 17 (left and right). He is now in custody Santa Fe High School in Texas was on lockdown after a shooter stormed into a class and killed 10 people Friday morning Students are pictured emptying their backpacks for inspection outside a row of buses after they evacuated the school Gonzalez added there 'could be 8 to 10 fatalities' and as many as a dozen wounded. A police officer is among the injured but the extent of the officer's injuries is unknown. Friday's shooting is the nation's deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland that killed 17 people and re-energized the gun-control movement after surviving teens launched a campaign for reform. In the aftermath of the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors pulled all-nighters, petitioned city councils and state lawmakers and organized protests in a grass-roots movement. Within weeks state lawmakers had adopted changes, including new weapons restrictions. The move cemented the gun-friendly state's break with the National Rifle Association. The NRA fought back with a lawsuit. In late March, the teens spearheaded one of the largest student protest marches since Vietnam in Washington and inspired hundreds of other marches from California to Japan. Michael Avenatti's estranged wife is becoming increasingly frustrated with his Stormy Daniels case because it is holding up their divorce, it has been revealed. On Friday, Avenatti's resortwear entrepreneur wife Lisa Storie told of her frustrations. 'I need to be divorced and if [Michael Avenatti] continues to paint the narrative, he can ignore our case! Everyone reports we are divorced. That does not help my goal to get a divorce. 'Can you imagine divorcing him?' she told Fox News. The narrative she was referring to was her ex's ongoing pursuit of President Trump and Michael Cohen on behalf of Daniels who says she slept with Trump in 2006 and who took $130,000 from his attorney to keep quiet about it before the election. Lisa Storie is Michael Avenatti's estranged, 47-year-old wife. She said on Friday that he is holding up their divorce with his ongoing case on behalf of Stormy Daniels Avenatti has led a media campaign on her behalf and is dogged about keeping his case in the headlines. It has cast a long shadow over his ongoing divorce from Storie, 47, who lives Newport Beach, California. Avenatti filed for divorce himself in December in Orange County. Their next court date is in July. So far, she has changed lawyers once. On Friday, he told DailyMail.com his wife's claims were 'ridiculous', saying: 'Nothing has been delayed.' His wife previously filed in Los Angeles but the case was dismissed in November. Both happened after she kicked him out of their home and changed the locks. Her reasons are unknown but on Friday she demanded: 'Tell me where our money and his time has been spent.' Storie said she would be 'happy' for her husband to move on with a 'nice woman' like Christie Brinkley, who he was tangibly linked to, but threw shade on his famous, Trump-bashing client. Storie is the founder of the swimwear line Ikaria Resortwear, a celebrity-adored clothing line. She is running a loss on the business and has personal expenses of $25,000-a-month, according to their divorce records Michael Avenatti, his estranged wife claims, is 'painting the narrative' of his case on behalf of porn star Stormy Daniels. His ex says porn stars are not his type and there is nothing going on between the pair but she will not reveal the reason for their divorce 'Id be more than happy if he dated a nice woman. 'Better than porn stars,' she said, hastily adding that there was nothing romantic between her husband and Daniels. 'Porn star is not his type if thats what you want to know. No story here except what you see on TV,' she added. Since Avenatti filed in December, the pair have been batting back and forth in court and the fight has laid their extravagant lifestyle bare. Avenatti, 47, is fighting for joint custody of the couple's three-year-old son. The street view of Avenatti's home in Newport Beach is shown with his Mercedes G Wagon. It backs onto a lake. According to real estate records, it sold at the start of the month for $17million Storie is Avenatti's second wife. They married in 2011 before she founded her resortwear line Storie will not say what prompted her to change the locks on their home and throw her husband out last year He spends $40,000-a-month on Ferrari Spyder, Mercedes G Wagon, a private plane and its pilot, and trips to a MedSpa where he spends $1,000. The pair lived together in Via Lido Nord, Newport Beach, in a sprawling, waterfront home which sold at the start of the month for $17.25million. Avenatti, 47, also spends thousands on a MedSpa every month, according to the divorce records Beforehand, they were paying $100,000 a month to keep it and $14,000 a month for an apartment in Los Angeles, the court papers reveal. Storie also spends thousands a month at a MedSpa. Her business, Ikaria Resortwear, is making a loss despite being adored by reality TV stars and Instagram stars. Storie's personal expenses total $25,000 a month and include cash for shopping, gifts and socializing, along with $12,000 a month on nannies for their three-year-old son. At an event for her swimwear line in October last year, she proudly sported her large engagement and wedding rings. There, she posed with former Real Housewives of Miami stars to have her photograph taken. Police are searching for a man who was seen on CCTV footage exposing himself in several stores in two Texas cities on Tuesday. A man was said to have taken off his clothes and paraded himself around naked in a Kirkland store in Woodlands, Texas, according to Oak Ridge North detectives. 'Obviously, this is a crime, and we're afraid he might do this in front of children,' said Oak Ridge North Detective Brandon Rogers to KPRC. A man was said to have taken off his clothes and paraded himself around naked in several stores in both Spring and Oak Ridge, Texas, on Tuesday Rogers is tasked with identifying the man who is said to be in his late 50s and weighs approximately 220lbs. He was said to have been wearing black short, a gray shirt and sneakers before ditching his clothing. Rogers explained how officers found three police reports detailing the man's movements that day. Oak Ridge North Detective Brandon Rogers is tasked with identifying the man who is said to be in his late 50s and weighs approximately 220lbs The earliest was said to have come from Posh Salon in Spring, Texas, at approximately 11am. 'He was naked. I think he came to the room first and came straight [into the lobby] and then he comes out and there is a girl sitting nearby and he says, "Here we go!"' said Minnie Nguyen, a stylist at the shop. According to Detective Rogers, the man waits a moment before disrobing inside the store. He then leaves after exposing himself to all those in proximity. The suspect then was said to have put his pants back on and ran off into a nearby parking lot, holding his shirt. The tendency of putting his shorts back on before running away is something Oak Ridge North investigators noticed as a trend among all the stops. He was said to have been wearing black short, a gray shirt and sneakers before ditching his clothing The man streaked in a Posh Salon (pictured) and two Kirkland stores, always putting on his pants before making a run for it On security footage, he is seen making a run form Posh Salon and running in front of Cilantro's Mexican Grill. But around 4pm, he was reported at a different Kirkland location in Spring before making his return to the Oak Ridge North location at 4.35pm. '[Witnesses say he gazes] intently at the ladies that are the store -- which obviously makes them uncomfortable,' Rogers said. The Oak Ridge North location shared that the man isn't a newcomer to their location. 'The employees that witnessed him yesterday positively identified him as the same subject that committed this act in 2014,' Rogers said. Police are still looking for the suspect. Posted 5/17/18 The Missouri Department of Agriculture has awarded Kropf Feeds in Buffalo the 2017 Excellence in Compliance Award for maintaining an outstanding record of consistency and accuracy on feed sample Dr Jorge Zamora-Quezada, 61, has been charged in a $240 medical fraud case A Texas doctor is being charged in a $240million medical fraud case for allegedly administering patients chemotherapy to collect the money that funded his lavish lifestyle. Rheumatologist Dr Jorge Zamora-Quezada, 61, of South Texas, has been accused of purposely misdiagnosing patients with debilitating diseases and giving them chemotherapy and other toxic medications they did not need. Authorities are now asking any former patients of his from 2000 to 2010 to come forward as they may have fallen victim to his ill-mannered practices without knowing. He is believed to have been a part of a money laundering scheme and was allegedly paid $50 million of the illegal earnings to fund his 'lavish and opulent lifestyle', according to the Department of Justice. According to the indictment, the disgraced doctor would order a number of 'fraudulent, repetitive, and excessive medical procedures on patients in order to increase revenue.' Scroll down for video The doctor would allegedly give patients 'toxic medications' they did not need and used the money to purchase a million-dollar jet (pictured) and Maserati Photos in the court documents show a pile of patient's medical records thrown in a barn in the Rio Grande Valley Zamora-Quezada owned a million dollar private jet and Maserati, both of which were branded with his initials 'ZQ'. He also owned multiple residential properties, including two penthouses and a condo in Mexico and another condo in Aspen, Colorado. He owned several homes and commercial buildings in Texas, court records show. His properties, car and plane have all been seized. The indictment says he and his unnamed partners in the alleged fraud scheme created fake medical records and hid thousands of patients' actual documents in a rundown barn in the the Rio Grande Valley. The 61-year-old has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, five counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to KRGV. Zamora-Quezada is currently in custody awaiting his court date set for July 2. The seven charges could land him in prison for decades if he is found guilty. The indictment says Zamora-Quezada owned medical practices in Brownsville, Edinberg and San Antonio, primarily practicing rheumatology. He focused on treating rheumatoid arthritis - a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects joints and can be treated with various medications and chemotherapy drugs that involve toxins. The doctor is thought to have targeted children, disabled and elderly patients. Zamora-Quezada's victims have come forward claiming their former doctor would diagnose them with degenerative diseases that other doctors would reveal they never had. One of his alleged victims is Maria Zapata, 70, who went to see the doctor more than five years ago because of a pain in her knee. The doctor told her she had arthritis and gave her injections that would 'strengthen the cartilage' in her knee. According to CNN, her husband would ask the doctor why he was administering so many injections, but he reassured them the treatment would help. However, there was discoloration on Zapata's leg and other doctors were concerned with the treatment. One doctor told Zapata she never had arthritis. The Southern Texas rheumatologist was allegedly paid $50million over 10 years Authorities are asking patients of his between 2000 and 2010 to come forward Another patient of Dr Zamora-Quezada, Nora Rodriguez, 44, told CNN that he yelled at her and threw her out of his office after she questioned his treatment. 'He kept getting upset when I was asking him why I was feeling worse and not getting better,' she said. 'He yelled and told me, ''you are no longer my patient; get out of this office,''' Rodriguez said. But this is not Zamora-Quezada's first time facing scrutiny for his practice. In 2006, he was accused of prescribing a drug 'inconsistent with public health and welfare' and of 'billing for treatment that was improper, unreasonable, or medically or clinically unnecessary.' He later settled for a public reprimand by the Texas Medical Board in 2009 and was fined $30,000 but able to continue his practice. CJ Porter of the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General's Dallas Region said: 'Today's indictment is the first step in holding Dr. Zamora-Quezada accountable for his allegedly egregious criminal conduct. 'His patients trusted him and presumed his integrity; in return he allegedly engaged in a scheme of false diagnoses and bogus courses of treatment and doled out prescriptions for unnecessary and harmful medications, all for his personal financial gain and with no regard for patient well-being. HHS-OIG will always pursue criminals masquerading as legitimate physicians, weed them out and seek the harshest possible punishment, particularly when patient harm is a factor.' The indictment does not say who his alleged co-conspirators are or their role in the medical fraud scheme. Former Playboy model Stephanie Adams and her young son tragically died on the morning of May 18 in New York City after jumping from their hotel room in Midtown Manhattan. The model and author, who appeared as a centerfold model in Playboy magazine and was named as one of the publications models of the month in 1992, was reportedly in midst of a fierce custody dispute with her ex-husband at the time of her death. Model and author Stephanie Adams committed suicide on May 18, 2018 in New York City Who was Stephanie Adams? Stephanie Adams was a model and author. She was born in Orange, New Jersey on July 24, 1970. Adams got her start as a model at age 16 at the urging of two of her aunts who raised her, themselves former models. After graduating from high school, she began her modeling career in earnest, appearing in ads for Clairol, Venus Swimwear and in Seventeen magazine. In 1992, she was named as the Playboy Playmate of the Month for November. Later in her career, Adams also appeared on the cover of Village Voice and made a cameo appearance in 2003 on the Late Show with David Letterman to mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of Playboy magazine. She also branched out from modeling, launching her own skincare product line called Goddessy and authoring books about metaphysics as well as calendars and tarot cards. Adams and her seven-year-old son died in New York City on the morning of May 18, 2018 after leaping from the 25th floor of their hotel. How old was Stephanie Adams? Stephanie Adams was 47 years old at the time of her death. She was born on July 24, 1970. Adams worked as a model for Playboy and other magazines and as an author before her death Adams was once awarded $1.2 million (889,800) from a lawsuit against the New York Police Department after she was tackled by a police officer who falsely claimed the model pulled a firearm on him following a dispute with a taxi cab driver. Who was Stephanie Adamss husband? Adams was believed to not be married at the time of her passing. She was reportedly formerly married to Charles Nicolai, a chiropractor, and was involved in a bitter custody battle with him over their seven-year-old son Vincent. She was also reportedly married to an investment banker from Italy at some point prior to her marriage to Nicolai, though the marriage ultimately ended in divorce. Adams and ex-husband Charles Nicolai were reportedly in a custody dispute before her death 2018 death Sadly, Adams died on May 18, 2018 in New York City after committing suicide by jumping from the 25th floor of a hotel in Manhattan. Her young son Vincent, who also jumped from their room, also perished. It is unclear if she was holding her son or if he jumped on his own. The tragic incident took place at the Gotham Hotel just before 8:30am EST on Friday, May 18. Both Adams and her son landed on the second-floor balcony of the hotel and were pronounced dead at the scene. Adams had reportedly checked into the hotel at approximately 6pm EST on Thursday, May 17. At the time of her death, Adams was reportedly locked in a tense custody battle with her ex-husband Charles Nicolai, a chiropractor who owns Wall Street Chiropractic & Wellness. Relations between Adams and Nicolai had deteriorated so badly that they had to conduct their custody exchanges at a police precinct in Lower Manhattan, according to reports. Nicolai was also thought to have demanded that their sons passport be turned over. This is the dramatic moment passers-by rescued two children from a sinking car - after the driver forgot to put the handbrake on. The kids' father Raymon Cosio had parked the SUV next to the harbour in Cebu, Philippines, on Wednesday afternoon, and was about to board a ferry. He then allegedly walked outside with another passenger, Reymund Gascon, leaving the two youngsters in the back seats. Moments later the car rolled back from the concrete docking area and plunged into the choppy sea. Onlookers dived into the water and pulled the two youngsters from the silver vehicle before it sank to the sea bed. Officers said the children were 'traumatised' but were not seriously injured after the accident in the town of Cordova. The car rolled back from the concrete docking area (left) and plunged into the choppy sea before the passer-by jumped in to save the children (right) Witness Donna Ramirez said: 'The car rolled off so quickly, before anybody could stop it. I was shocked. It's so fortunate that there were people there to help.' Police said the the family were supposed to go home from a day of island hopping in the are before the incident happened. A spokesman from the Cordova Police Station said: 'Residents helped to rescue the passengers from the water. The children were immediately given first aid treatment on site. 'The rescue lasted for several hours including the lifting of the SUV from the ocean using a forklift.' Donald Trump says he'll nominate Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to permanently lead the beleaguered department. Wilkie is a former Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness. He's led the agency for two months, ever since Trump fired David Shulkin amid an internal revolt and questions about his compliance with ethics rules. Trump surprised him on Friday with an East Room announcement during a prison reform event. 'I'll be informing him in a little while, he doesn't know this yet, that we're going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary of the Veterans Administration,' Trump said. 'Fantastic. I'm sorry that I ruined the surprise.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO President Donald Trump shakes hands with Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, during an event on prison reform in the East Room of the White House on Friday The VA has been rocked by turmoil in recent months, including by the March firing Shulkin. Trump previously nominated White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson for the job, but he withdrew last month. Wilkie was among those being considered to fill the post permanently with Jackson out of the running. He appeared in the White House press briefing room Thursday to accept a check for the amount of Trump's first-quarter salary, which he donated to the agency. 'I want to thank you for President Trumps generosity,' he told Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. 'The presidents gift underscores his promise to do all that he can for veterans, which includes supporting those who care for our veterans.' Trump gave Wilkie another gift on Friday, announcing him as the new pick for VA secretary. 'On another note, a very positive note, I'm honored to be here today with so many leaders from across the nation who are committed to the crucial issue of prison reform,' he said, name-checking Wilkie 'who, by the way, has done an incredible job at the VA.' Wilkie rose from the audience to shake the president's hand. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke also stood, giving Wilkie a pat on the shoulder and a handshake. Wilkie was among those being considered to fill the post permanently with Jackson out of the running. He appeared in the White House press briefing room Thursday to accept a check for the amount of Trump's first-quarter salary, which he donated to the agency The scene led to spontaneous applause and a standing ovation for the new VA secretary nominee. 'We're very close to getting choice approved, and we had just approved VA accountability, which for almost 40 years they could not get approved,' he said. 'And now as you know the House just passed choice and it's the finer level of choice. We had different levels of choice: good, bad, OK and really good, and I think this falls into the really good category. It's going to be a little more expensive but that's OK. So important.' Wilkie, 55, has been acting secretary of the department since Trump fired Shulkin in March over concerns about unauthorized travel expenses. The Republican president's first choice to replace Shulkin, Trump's White House physician, withdrew from consideration last month after allegations that he had been lax with prescription drugs and drank alcohol on the job. Jackson denied the allegations but faced questions in the Senate confirmation process over whether he had enough experience for the job. Wilkie successfully went through the Senate confirmation process last year after Trump nominated him to be undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The veterans agency has long been criticized for the quality of care it provides and the red tape that veterans encounter. Wilkie, 55, has been acting secretary of the department since Trump fired Shulkin in March over concerns about unauthorized travel expenses Jackson withdrew last week amid allegations related to his workplace practices, including improperly prescribing medication. The president has complained that Jackson, who denied the allegations, faced unfair attacks on his character. Trump made the decision to nominate Jackson, a career military doctor who lacked significant management experience, without consulting most of his senior advisers. While Jackson was well-liked in Washington and drew praise from Obama administration officials he'd treated, even many Republicans were skeptical of his ability to lead the VA. This time Trump is said to have delegated the search process for the VA to his advisers, in an effort to avoid more Cabinet embarrassment. The president has indicated he intends to pick someone with a more political background for the role, hoping such a person would better navigate the turbulent confirmation process in a narrowly divided Senate. Advertisement A Boeing 737 plane has crashed moments after taking off from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport - just one day after more than a third of its fleet were grounded over safety concerns. At least 100 are dead after the internal Cubana de Aviacion flight, which was carrying 113 passengers and crew, including five children, crashed into a yuca field near a high school, in the Santiago de las Vegas neighborhood, on Friday. Just four survivors were recovered and taken to hospital in critical condition, according to Cuban media. One has since died in hospital. Photos of the scene show fire crews attempting to put out the still smoking wreckage of the aircraft which was devastated in the crash. Debris was left scattered across the surrounding area after the explosion. Scroll down for video A Boeing 737 plane has crashed moments after taking off from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport - just one day after more than a third of its fleet were grounded over safety concerns (pictured is the wreckage) Fire crews and emergency services were on the scene to put out the fire still smoldering in the ashes of the plane A man stands in the airport terminal, watching the plume of thick black smoke rising from the crash Flight DMJ 0972 had taken off from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport, headed for the city of Holguin, in eastern Cuba, when it crashed in the Santiago de las Vegas neighborhood #BREAKING: Cuban TV have transmitted the video from the scene of the plane crash in Havana. pic.twitter.com/96Hz3Phj3h BreakingNNow (@BreakingNNow) May 18, 2018 A shocking video of the aftermath shows a victim being stretchered away from the scene while a large crowd of volunteers and emergency responders attended the scene. Hospitals in the capital, including the General Calixto Garcia University Hospital, are bracing themselves for the arrival of the survivors, Cuban state media Granma reports. Flight DMJ 0972, which was headed for the city of Holguin, in eastern Cuba, was carrying 104 passengers and nine crew when it crashed at 12.08pm local time. Wreckage was strewn over the area, 12 miles, south of Havana, and blackened parts of the fuselage were visible. 'We heard an explosion and then saw a big cloud of smoke go up,' Gilberto Menendez, who runs a restaurant near the crash site in the agricultural area of Boyeros, told Reuters. Carlos Alberto Martinez, the director of Havana's Calixto Garcia hospital, told Reuters that four victims of the accident had been brought there. One had died and three others, all women, were in a serious condition, he said. 'She is alive but very burnt and swollen,' said a distressed relative of one of the survivors at the hospital. The flight was leased by airline Cubana from a small Mexican airline called Damojh or Global, Cuban state media said. Holguin has some of the island's most pristine beaches, and attracts tourists. Cubana declined to comment. A Damojh representative in Mexico said, 'we are gathering what we can to give correct information.' The nationality of those on board was not immediately clear although the crew were Mexican. El vuelo DMJ 0972, con 105 personas a bordo entre pasajeros y la tripulacion, se dirigia a la ciudad de Holguin. Cuba.#Noticias https://t.co/pNsiJq1GRF pic.twitter.com/SKVVQWEPxI Canal 6 Honduras (@Canal6Honduras) May 18, 2018 Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (center) arrives at the site of the accident The newly sworn in president (L) spoke with emergency crews and volunteers at the scene of the tragedy A team of emergency personnel, in multiple ambulances, arrived at the scene. Local media reports that just three survivors have been found so far Ambulances and fire trucks line the nearby street near the to crash zone after the Boeing 737 went down at around midday local time The cause of the crash is not clear. Witnesses at the airport terminal reported seeing a huge fireball followed by a giant plume of smoke rising in the distance. Cuba's newly sworn in president Miguel Diaz-Canel arrived at the scene shortly after the crash. 'The news is not very promising, it seems that there is a high number of victims,' he told AFP. Cuba's national airline, Cubana de Aviacion, has been plagued with safety issues in recent years due to its aging fleet - and only yesterday, more than a third of its fleet were officially grounded. The company - which has a fleet of 16 with an average age of almost ten years old - received an order from the Cuban National Aviation Authority to ground its six An-158 aircraft due to 'serious' technical and safety issues including cracks and mechanical issues, according to Airline Geeks. Rescue and search workers on the site where the airliner with more than 100 passengers plummeted into a yuca field just after takeoff from the international airport in Havana, Cuba Dozens of rescue and search workers on the site where the Cuban airliner with 104 passengers plummeted into a yuca field A thick plume of smoke, rising from the wreckage (pictured) could be seen from the nearby airport terminal Emergency personnel worked at the site of the accident after the Boeing 737 operated by Cubana de Aviacion crashed 'near the international airport' Most of the Ukranian-built aircraft had already been grounded as the airline struggled to get new parts. Today's crash reportedly involved Cubana's Boeing 737, leased from the Mexican company Damojh, Cuban news agency Prensa Latina said. It's crew were also Mexican. Boeing Airplanes tweeted: 'We are aware of news reports out of Cuba and are closely monitoring the situation.' Cubana added two turboprop ATR 72-500s, provided by South African Solenta Aviation, in 2017. The last fatal crash in Cuba was in 2017, the Aviation Safety Network said. It was a military flight that killed all eight personnel aboard. In 2010, a commercial Aero Caribbean plane crashed in central Cuba. All 68 people on board were killed. The latest available information on Cuba from U.N. safety aviation agency ICAO, dating back to 2008, ranks it above the global average though that preceded the latest three crashes. Plane crash in Cuba, American flight crashed shortly after take off #cuba #planecrash pic.twitter.com/W4IuiIaF1K Matt Blakeley (@blakeley1990) May 18, 2018 Alex Reid, pictured outside the High Court in London today, has been told by a judge to 'sort it out' after spending 100,000 suing ex-girlfriend Katie Price A judge has told Alex Reid and ex-girlfriend Katie Price to 'sort it out' after the cage fighter spent 100,000 suing her over claims she shared a 'sex video' of him. The 42-year-old claims Ms Price showed photographs and a video of a 'sexual nature' of him to a 40-strong audience on the television programme Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side on January 9. His barrister, Chloe Strong, told the High Court in London that four witnesses allege they saw the footage as Ms Price held her mobile phone up in front of audience members while she was a guest on the show. Ms Strong told the court one witness said she has 'no doubt' the video was of Mr Reid and was 'shocked' upon seeing it. She said Mr Reid's main concern was to prevent any further distribution of the material, and that he was only seeking a 'low damages award'. Lawyers for Ms Price, 39, said she denies showing intimate footage of Mr Reid or having any such footage in her possession. They said she accepts she told audience members, during a 'very lighthearted' discussion that the video was of Mr Reid, but in fact it was a video she had downloaded from YouTube earlier that day. Mr Justice Jay said Mr Reid's right to privacy was 'very significant', adding: 'Although the claimant, it would seem, has placed aspects of his life in the public domain, he has never done so in relation to these particular matters.' The court heard Mr Reid's legal costs so far were about 100,000 and the judge said the sums were 'frankly absurd'. He added: 'What I am urging the parties to do is frankly to sort this out, because the costs are frankly absurd in the context of what this is about.' No date was set for a further hearing in the case. A live interview meant to show caring staff at a kennel went badly wrong when one began kicking a playful German Shepherd in the face. The interview for the Viva Galicia programme was filmed at the De Montegatto Canine Centre in the town of Oza dos Rios in the Spanish province of A Coruna. In the shocking footage, which has gone viral with over 317,000 views in just two days, the kennel staff member can be seen lying on the ground surrounded by dogs. The shot was meant to show the caring side of staff with the camera then panning to the director of the centre sitting on a bench as he is interviewed by the show's presenter. But it goes horribly wrong as an eager German Shepherd comes into shot and playfully bites at the man's right foot, before he responds violently by launching two kicks at the pooch's face. The man then slides himself along the ground, aiming further angry kicks at the playful German Shepherd. The camera switches to an interview with the director of the rescue centre, Octavio Villaleza, but the angry carer can be seen still trying to kick the German Shepard in the background and the dog, still treating it like a game, continues to try and bite his shoe. A German Shepherd comes into shot and playfully bites at the staff member's right foot Distraction technique: The presenter tries to pull attention away from the fracas but the man is still seen in the background kicking the German Shepherd Local media are reporting Villaleza eventually saw what was happening and ran to separate the worker from the German Shepherd. The director later admitted that the worker did not do the right thing by kicking the dog. But he added he had felt genuinely threatened by the dog. The worker also complained his shoe had been by the nibbling mutt. Social media users were outraged by the video, with 'D4Iray3s' commenting: 'If you love animals that much, when they play with you like that do not try and kick them in the face.' Daniel Gavilan added: 'It is a shame that he did not bite him in the balls.' But 'AlvaroDiego7' disagreed, writing: 'The idiots who are criticising him are those who then leave a two-year-old child alone with a dog bigger than it and also wonder why they end up in the news.' They say when death is imminent, your entire life flashes in front of your eyes. But the only thing flashing before my eyes was a large corrugated iron shed sticking up out of a Louisiana swamp which I was approaching at a fair old 60mph in an out-of-control boat. I was going to hit it and there was simply nothing I could do about it. I ended up in a heap on the floor of the boat my knee throbbing, my shoulder numb and my teeth feeling that they were being mangled one by one into little bits of gravel inside my mouth. Here I was, about to start playing James Bond for the first time, with no teeth. Roger Moore in a clinch with Gloria Hendry in Live and Let Die. Despite his wife being told people wouldn't go to the film if it had a scene like that he said: 'I personally dont give a damn, and it makes me all the more determined to play the scene.' How on earth did I get myself into such a situation? It had all begun on Sunday, October 8, 1972, when, as the new James Bond, I left England in a blaze of publicity for the first location in New Orleans. We flew via New York and our arrival was what can one say? Bond-style. My wife Luisa and I had two cars meet us one for our luggage and one for us. Now thats class! To say I was apprehensive about taking over from the great Sean Connery the first and original 007 would be an understatement. Id said as much to the Live And Let Die director Guy Hamilton when we met for oysters and martinis (very Jimmy Bond) in London soon after I knew Id got the job. I confessed that when I was reading through the script, all I could hear was Seans voice saying: My name is Bond. In fact, as I said my lines out loud, I found that I was doing them in a Scottish accent. Guy had said: Look, Sean was Sean and you are you, and that is how it is going to be. All very reassuring, but now, two days before filming had even started, Id smashed myself up rehearsing the famous boat-chase scene and ended up in hospital with a cracked tooth and a crocked leg. Was this to be the shape of things to come? Friday, October 13, 1972: The first day of proper shooting following a very bad night with my painful leg, aching shoulder and rattling teeth. I staggered out of bed only to find that when I tried to do my workout my knees wouldnt bend. Not a good omen. We filmed the boat chase sequence for real today, and fortunately I was shot by the camera, that is, not by a villain sitting down in the boat so my limp didnt show. I had one nasty moment though, when, on a sharp bend, my boat headed for the camera vessel with director Guy and about 15 other people sitting in it. Although they were anchored, they seemed to be tearing towards me rather like the corrugated iron shed had two days before. I thought: Here we go again, but I managed to come round on the wheel, thank goodness, and pull away just in time. The water is dirty and slimy, so that when we rev up the motors, mud just churns up and the stench is awful. Its also covered with nasty green algae and you can see black snakes slithering through it. They put me at ease by telling me the alligators are rather tired in this area, so they wouldnt be likely to bite. Thanks, guys! Saturday, October 14: D-Day plus one or B-Day, for Bond, plus one. Its also my birthday. Happy birthday, Roger. The place where were shooting today is part of the great state of Louisiana, known as the sportsmans paradise. But as far as I can see its the mosquitoes who get all the sport, chewing us up and spitting us out. Moore said despite his wife Luisa and children bring with him he felt homesick. 'I miss things like an English cottage loaf, Golden Shred marmalade and the English papers with my morning tea,' he said Yesterday, the first day, I felt rather like a new boy with the crew because most of them had worked together before. It took them a day to discover that I wasnt completely chicken. They really are a great group of people. Guy and Bob Kindred, the camera operator, tied themselves on the front of a boat today tearing at 60mph up and down the inlet, photographing close-up reactions of me. That takes a lot of guts. It was then I knew why they wanted me to practise with the boats first not so much for my safety, but for theirs! B-Day four and we seem to be dogged by bad luck. Its either a gremlin or some Soviet secret agent trying to sabotage Bonds activities. Today, one of the boat drivers got caught in the eye by a flying wire. I wonder who will be next. I spent the afternoon in a very expensive fashion playing gin rummy with our producer Harry Saltzman. I have a feeling he only asks me to play to get my salary back. Wednesday, B-Day five. At breakfast, I watched television: a horrifying amount of twaddle is served up at this hour. A small group of actresses and fringe showbusiness people make the constant round of chat shows telling the same stories day after day. It is a mystery to me how the interviewer manages to look interested. Id rather spend the day in the swamp with the mosquitoes. Sunday morning and B-Day nine: Up comes the televisions verbal mush with the breakfast marmalade. It is too much to take at any time, and impossible at 6am. B-Day 11: To my horror, on-set the other day I heard Harry bawling n****r. He was not trying to start a race riot, but simply calling to our English props man, N****r Weymouth, a nickname he has answered to since the days of silent movies. I pointed out that it might be better to find him another name here in the racial hotbed of Louisiana. Roger Moore in Live and Let Die with Jane Seymour. Two days before filming started, Moore ended up in hospital with a cracked tooth and a hurt leg rehearsing the film's famous boat-chase scene As Bond, I make love to Rosie Carver, played by the beautiful black actress Gloria Hendry, and my wife Luisa has learned from certain Louisiana ladies that if there is a scene like that they wont go to see the picture. I personally dont give a damn, and it makes me all the more determined to play the scene. The rain-cancelled shoot today deprived me of a moment of glory I was due to say my first two words as James Bond. The world will have to wait for my carefully rehearsed delivery of the two words: Wheres Strutter? B-Day 12 and back to work. Paul Rabiger, our make-up man, was telling me about other Bond films he has done. He said when you meet a girl every morning at around 7am without her make-up, its like being married to her. Speaking of leading ladies, Paul agrees with Guy, our scriptwriter and myself that it would have been more interesting if Solitaire, our present leading lady, had been black, as she was in the original screenplay, but United Artists would not stand for it. Today was another day of driving around in boats without a line of dialogue. My recurring nightmare is that when I do have a line to say I am going to forget the damned thing. My children arrive tomorrow, and I wonder if my six-year-old, Geoffrey, will realise I am Bond when he sees me in action. Just before we left England he asked: Can you beat anybody, including a robber? Oh, yes, I replied confidentially. Supposing James Bond came in, he persisted. Daddy is going to play James Bond, I explained. I know that, he sighed impatiently. I mean the real James Bond, Sean Connery. B-Day 14: Today, I finally said my first lines. I suggested to David Hedison (Felix Leiter, my CIA buddy in the film) that we run through the scene first, only to discover that the lines he was saying were entirely different from those I had learned. What script are you using, Diamonds Are Forever? I asked him. Then I noticed the colour of his pages. His were blue and mine were white, denoting script changes. The page and a half of dialogue I had mastered was reduced to: Hello, Felix. What are you doing here? Wednesday, B-Day 16: Today we moved to Lake Front Airport, New Orleans, to commit the same kind of carnage on planes as we did on the boats. Our flotilla looks like it has brushed with Nelson at his best. Out of the 30 new speedboats we had, 19 were write-offs and 11 badly battered. We have ten planes due for destruction, although none of them will ever take to the air. Bond is caught, breaks free and is hounded by car-loads of heavies at high-speed around the hangars and runways. He escapes by commandeering a Cessna training plane complete with pupil, a certain Mrs Bell. Our leading lady, Jane Seymour, who plays the virginal Solitaire, arrives tonight. She will be a fresh and beautiful face for the journalists to aim their lenses at. I hope Jane doesnt get turned over by customs. Come to mention it, if anybody is going to do any turning over with Jane, I would like it to be me on screen of course, with due deference to my wife. It was agreed it would more interesting if Solitaire, our present leading lady, had been black, as she was in the original screenplay, but film studio United Artists were orginally against it I lunched with Syd Cain, our production designer, who is just back from Jamaica, our next location. He was telling me about the crocodile farm he visited there, where Bond is to clash with the mighty reptiles. Production construction noise has driven all the crocs and alligators to ground, so their handler is busy digging them out of the mud where they have buried themselves. I have sent him word not to bother on my account. Sunday, B-Day 19: Yaphet Kotto, the villain of the piece, came to visit the set today and we lined up for pictures. The cameras clicked, and, suddenly, I noticed frantic, pressing fingers become frenzied. I looked to learn why: Yaphet was punching the air with a black power salute. Whether he was serious or not, I dont know, but the sequel was a scorching row. Derek Coyte, our publicity director, pointed out that the pictures would rouse resentment and could be seen as an endorsement of black power. We are making anything but a political picture, but Derek said the photographs syndicated far and wide would involve us in a controversy that could do nothing but harm. Monday, B-Day 20. Today was smash the aeroplanes day. We lined up for what, even on spectacular stunt terms, must be regarded as sensational. Many thousands of pounds worth of grounded DC3 passenger plane was parked on the airport apron. I buzzed around in a two-seater Cessna, and the stunt began with a pursuing car missing me, hitting the tail of the passenger plane and literally taking off to hurtle the full length of it. The watching crowd, sworn to silence because we were shooting sound, could barely stifle a shout as the car flew the whole length of the plane and crumpled into the wing. One of our stuntmen, Jim Heck, who is as game as they come but admitted he was scared of the stunt, stepped out shaken but unscathed. Meanwhile, I was whizzing around Lake Front Airport in the Cessna with Mrs Bell. I whipped through half-closed hangar doors and the planes wings were torn off completely, leaving 2ft stumps and flapping fabric on either side. If the stunt was not as dangerous as the flying car and plane crash, it looked just as effective. It worked so well the first time we shot it that we did not have to wreck the reserve plane but it will never fly again. We had sawn through the wings in case it was needed. Anybody want to buy a plane with wobbly wings? B-Day 23, and a lovely day for a funeral. Back we went to New Orleans to continue the sequence that the rain cut short. After shooting was finished, Jane Seymour and I agreed to pose for pictures for a photographer who had not got the standard shots of us together with me looking protective pointing my gun. The problem was we had no gun. The 25 carried by our props department were locked in a warehouse 15 miles away. The only gun in sight was a Smith & Wesson .38 slung on the hip of a young duty policeman, who said that on, condition his sergeant agreed, he would loan it to us. Permission granted, he took the bullets out of the gun and sat sipping coffee for half an hour watching while Jane and I worked with the photographers. Which is how a real-life police gun made it into some of our Press coverage. Dont enjoy your work too much,' Moore's wife told him about the love scenes he filmed with Gloria Hendry B-Day 24, the last day of shooting in New Orleans, and, oh, my head! I had a king-size hangover after a party wed thrown to say goodbye to the city, with varicose veins throbbing up and down the sides of my temples. Todays location was the local railway station not the place to be with a hangover. I wished desperately it was Paddington station in London and that I could walk outside, get into my car and drive back to my house in Buckinghamshire. Despite the fact that Luisa and the children are here, I still get desperately homesick. I miss things like an English cottage loaf, Golden Shred marmalade and the English papers with my morning tea. They are niceties of life. B-Day 25, and our first location in Jamaica. Tomorrow, Guy has banned all visitors because the voluptuous Gloria Hendry and I are going to play our love scene. Luisa has been plying me with questions all evening. You do love me, Roger, dont you? she asked. Of course, I do, I replied. I shall just be doing a job. Its my work. Yes. I know, sighed Luisa, and, lapsing into Italian, said: Non voglio che hai placere nel lavorare. Literally translated: Dont enjoy your work too much. B-Day 26, and I was wide awake before six. Half a mile up a hillside, our props for the love scene were ready. It was to take place during a picnic, and blankets and a table-cloth were laid out and the set cleared and closed. So, Gloria and I got busy. I will not bore you with the details, except to say that she put her heart, body and soul into her work. For further illustration, you could always, of course, see the film. Speculation on what happens after love scenes is, I believe, rife. Do the couple continue in private, or do they stand up and slap each other? The truth is much more mundane and usually along the lines of what happened to Gloria and me. We shared a car for the drive back to our hotel and chatted about everything under the sun, except what happened earlier. B-Day 27. 5.30am: My early morning loving mood embraced Luisa, and I prepared a quick, quiet breakfast myself instead of turfing her out of bed. I made my own tea, and, if I do pat myself on the back, I am always pleased with the way I brew it. Our boating base for todays scenes is a jetty. Spotting one of our aquajet boats moored, I needed no encouragement to leap in and take Gloria for a spin with George, our stills photographer. I was concentrating on the driving when I glanced over my shoulder to see Gloria without her towelling robe or anything else, for that matter. Her arms were outstretched skywards over the stern, and George was simply snapping happily away. All I needed was for Luisa to be sitting on the beach with binoculars and she would have had my guts for spaghetti. B-Day 35, and the hottest so far. At lunchtime I had a quick dip in the pool with the children, much to their delight. They are beginning to doubt they have a father lately, they see so little of me. Whether they will have one for much longer is another question tomorrow, B-Day 36, after weeks of waiting, we are to meet the crocodiles who are going to play such a memorable role in the film. I do hope they understand that actor is not on the menu. Adapted from THE 007 DIARIES: FILMING LIVE AND LET DIE by Sir Roger Moore, published by The History Press on June 1 at 14.99. Roger Moore 2018. To order a copy for 11.24 (offer valid to 7/6/18) visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640. P&P free on orders over 15. Former Marine David Griffin, who has never married, lives in retirement as a Chelsea Pensioner. The word David Griffin uses is treachery. It is a strong one, freighted with quiet anger towards a government he believes has betrayed him. And he does not use it lightly or intemperately. Mr Griffin is a Chelsea Pensioner, Army veteran and an ex-Royal Marine. He is an old man now (aged 77) quiet in demeanour, thoughtful; softy spoken and he has earned a peaceful retirement. But a dark shadow hangs over his years of loyal military service like a shroud. It relates to an incident 46 years ago when he was serving in Northern Ireland during the bloody height of the Troubles in 1972, when a man was killed. More than four decades on, Mr Griffin was questioned by police about it as part of an investigation led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Indeed, he faces a possible charge of murder or manslaughter because of it. Yet during the ambush in which the man died, Mr Griffin was acting under orders to save innocent lives. He was simply doing his job. Moreover, he had no idea then any more than he has now whether his bullet hit the man or a colleagues. And no amount of interrogation or inquiry will change that. His quiet outrage simmers. What I did was absolutely legal and yet 46 years on, these charges against me are being pursued, he says. No senior member of the judiciary with half a brain would listen to them once they knew what actually happened. But if they insist on dragging me onto the legal battlefield, I will give them a fire-fight that will exonerate me completely. Im not worried. I dont lose sleep. But I am monumentally annoyed, aggrieved and disappointed at the sheer treachery at the very top of the tree of state. Time has passed, and the facts about the shooting that has come back to haunt Mr Griffin are confused, as they often are when armed combat is involved. On the night in question, his commanding officer had received intelligence that their barracks in north Belfast was to be attacked by the IRA. Mr Griffin and five fellow Royal Marines were tasked with stopping the attack and protecting their comrades and civilians. That night, they hid behind foliage, a squad of six Marines, and lay in wait. Around midnight, as anticipated, they heard gunfire. Mr Griffin when he was a Royal Marine. Along with five of his colleagues, he was assigned to protect a barracks that came under attack from the IRA Mr Griffin raised his rifle to his shoulder and, peering through the night-sight, he saw a male figure emerge through the darkness. He was aiming a weapon in the direction of the main gate area where the sentries stood, he recalls. Later, I looked at the weapon. It was an old Lee-Enfield with a five-round magazine in place, a classic, very accurate rifle. He was standing in the firing position. So immediately I fired off four rounds. There was chaos, cross-fire from everywhere. Your life is on hold. You havent time to feel scared. Youre in the firing line and its a strange feeling. You accept for yourself the sheer chaos that rains down on you. There were thumps, bangs, bullets coming from all over the place and I fired four shots. It was very dark. A gunman on the street died. Ill never be able to tell if it was my bullet that killed him or any of the myriad others and no amount of questioning will reveal what happened. He makes no apology for his actions. My company commander put me in situ to ambush and, if necessary, kill an enemy who was trying to kill us, he says. You have to put them away quickly. Youre not on a film set. This is real. Youre not there to take his photo and get his name and address. Youre not there to shoot his weapon out of his hands in the John Wayne mode. Youre not there to shoot him in the foot to disable him. Youre there to stop him by all means bestowed on you by legal authority before he discharges his weapon at the security forces or a member of the public, whom it is your job to protect. The fire-fight over, the men were ordered back to barracks. They would later learn that one person had died 17-year-old Catholic labourer John Mooney. An inquest was subsequently held into his death, in which it would also be disputed whether Mr Mooney had a weapon or was simply an innocent passer-by. Mr Griffin is furious about what he claims is a politically motivated witch hunt of ex-service personnel who served in Northern Ireland But the inquest proved inconclusive. It looks unlikely that we will ever get satisfactorily to the bottom of this, the coroner was reported to have observed. That was 46 years ago, and still Mr Griffin has not been vindicated. I feel sorry for the poor coppers trying to make sense of it now, he says. Theyre doing their job but its hopeless. Above all he is furious at that he sees as a political witch-hunt. This persecution of the military by the Government after all these years is shocking; an absolute betrayal. Mr Griffin was reacting to comments from Theresa May which provoked outrage among fellow veterans when she announced that she would push ahead with proposals to deal with the toxic legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles without giving troops immunity from prosecution. Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley has been widely criticised for abandoning the idea of an official reprieve for former troops after objections from Sinn Fein, the DUP and families of the 3,600 killed during the Troubles. Her decision has provoked accusations of betrayal, not only from Mr Griffin, but from countless veterans and MPs. It has also caused dissent in the Cabinet. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is concerned that former soldiers face a witch-hunt. Meanwhile, hundreds of British troops who served in Iraq have been similarly hounded over their actions on the battlefield a decade ago. Their ordeal prompted former defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon to secure agreement last October on a statute of limitations. This time limit for prosecutions would have led to an amnesty for Northern Ireland veterans, too. However, politicians in Northern Ireland have blocked it, fearing it could also protect IRA killers. Critics of the investigation, though, say ministers are deluded if they think the inquiry would ensure IRA terrorists are investigated on the same scale as British troops. Julian Lewis, chair of the Commons defence committee, says the IRA didnt keep full documentation of its terrorist activity. Its much easier to pursue a soldier rather than a terrorist. We followed the rules and they didnt. (Tony Blairs government nevertheless sent so-called comfort letters to many IRA suspects after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to the province, giving them immunity from prosecution). So Mr Griffin, who was questioned five years ago by Northern Ireland police about the Belfast shooting in 1972, is left facing the prospect of a criminal trial. The former Marine, who has never married, lives in retirement as a Chelsea Pensioner. The settled routine of his life was first disrupted when he received a letter from the Northern Ireland Historical Enquiries Team (now superseded by the Legacy Investigation Branch) asking if he could help with a review of the incident in which 17-year-old Mr Mooney died. I wanted to know why? he recalls. All sorts of soldiers were being charged at the time and I wanted to know why no statement had been taken from me in 1972. They should have done it there and then. They should have put an immediate cordon round the scene of the shooting and questioned everyone, but they didnt. Why did they wait four and a half decades before asking to see me and hear the story? He is angry that the matter was not investigated properly in 1972 and has spent the last five years waiting to hear what action will be taken against him He did not get a satisfactory answer. Instead, two Northern Ireland police officers arrived to quiz him. He shrugs with incredulity at the fruitlessness of their task. A young Marine does his duty, then more than 40 years on when hes an old man, there are two men in blue on his doorstep with notebooks both too young to really understand the Troubles talking about events and illegality. Most old men who served, including me, cant remember the finer details of what happened. But I do know I was in an ambush group acting under a directive from the colours under which I served, to kill an armed enemy. He says his police interrogators were extremely polite. They wanted a great favour; for me to tell them what in heavens name went on in Belfast that night and I was very polite, too, and told them the full story as I recalled it. They showed me one or two witness statements very old, very poorly-typed and undated, without signatures. And when they ran out of questions four hours later, they said Id be hearing from them in the future. I asked the policemen at the end: Can you clear it up now and show my innocence?. They replied: Youre at the end of a long line. They said Id be hearing from them in about six months. That was five years ago and I havent heard a dicky bird since. Until this cropped up, of course. He refers to this weeks news that there is to be no amnesty for him; nor for comrades including an old friend, an ex-sergeant major, now dying from liver disease who has been told he faces charges of manslaughter following the death of a man in 1974. Its outrageously uncivilised, Mr Griffin says. How does a man with a short time to live cope with that? He strongly criticises the politicians reserving bitter invective for Tony Blair who brokered the Good Friday agreement who persecuted soldiers and police officers while exonerating hundreds of members of the IRA. When I was serving in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein were the enemy, and its my opinion that politicians are now appeasing them again, while sweeping under the carpet what the IRA did, which is a betrayal of the military, he says. Mr Griffin served in the armed forces in order to secure his British citizenship In his eighth decade, he is not a bellicose man, even though he has given 22 years of his life to the services. Born in Dublin in 1941, the youngest of eight children and the son of a police officer, he was raised a Catholic and came to the UK in 1958 where his application for British citizenship depended on him completing two years National Service. Having served this obligatory stint in the military, which he enjoyed, he signed up for a further six years in the Army, serving in Aden, Hong Kong and Germany. Then he completed an elite Marine Commando course and spent the rest of his service years with the Marines. He did so with distinction. In 1974 two years after the north Belfast shooting he was on another tour of duty in Northern Ireland when, one day, his job was to secure a cache of explosives discovered in a remote cottage. While doing so, he and a colleague apprehended six men who had come to retrieve the hoard. His devotion to duty was noted on his service record. He made sacrifices, too, remaining single because, as a seafarer, he spent so much time away. When I ask why he did not marry, he smiles: I loved the sea. And before I knew it I was 43 and that particular ship (the marriage one) had sailed. Now he lives alone; grateful for his billet at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea; appreciative of the support of military top brass who have expressed themselves completely outraged by the harassment of him, but anxious not to embroil his large extended family in the current furore. Of his siblings, only one a sister, aged 92 remains alive. This would worry her, he says. I hope shell never find out that her youngest brother is being pursued because its so bloody ridiculous that theyre chasing me. Ive kept it away from my family, my nieces and nephews, too. This whole thing is, in my view, libellous and unwarranted. I dare say that few people in authority now give a damn about my clean military legacy; about the fact that I did the best I could in times of danger. If a young man asked me today: If I join the military now, how do I answer for events 46 years later that I wouldnt be able to remember? How on earth would I be able to reassure him? Microsoft founder Bill Gates says it was 'kind of scary' how much Donald Trump knew about his young daughter's appearance after the two spoke at an equestrian event where Trump made a 'grand entrance' on his helicopter. In one odd feature, Trump first attended the event, in Florida only to leave and arrive again in a showy helicopter landing. "So clearly he had been driven away but he wanted to make a grand entrance in a helicopter,' Gates said at an event for Gates Foundation staff, drawing laughs. Gates spoke about his two encounters with Trump at the event, where MSNBC was able to obtain footage. 'He knew my daughter Jennifer because trump has this horse show thing down in Florida. In fact he went up to Jen and was being super nice. And then like 20 minutes later he flew in on a helicopter to the same place,' Gates said, telling of the incident by way of explaining his Trump encounters. 'Anyway, so when I first talked to him, it was actually kind of scary how much he knew about my daughter's appearance,' said Gates 'Anyway, so when I first talked to him, it was actually kind of scary how much he knew about my daughter's appearance.' It was something that Gates must have brought up at home. 'But Melinda didn't like that too well,' he said, mentioning his wife. There was a time Gates and Trump met in Trump Tower in December, before the election. At that event, Gates, who runs a massive global philanthropy effort, pitched a focus on science and innovation, saying it 'should be a great thing, you should be a leader who drives innovation.' Jennifer Gates, 22, is an accomplished equestrian He advised Trump he could 'accelerate' a vaccine for the devastating HIV virus. The two men also met in March in the White House, in a meeting about which little is known. 'In both of those two meetings, he asked me if vaccines weren't a bad thing because he was considering a commission to look into ill-effects of vaccines and somebody -- I his name is Robert Kennedy Jr. -- was advising him that vaccines were causing bad things,' Gates said. He was referring to the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's son. 'And I said no, that's a dead end, that would be a bad thing, don't do that,' according to Gates. Jennifer Gates of USA during the CSI5 Global Champions League of Cascais Final against the clock team and individual jumping competition at the final day of Longines Global Champions Tour on July 8, 2017 in Cascais, Portugal "Both times he wanted to know if there was a difference between HIV and HPV so I was able to explain that those are rarely confused with each other," Gates added again earning laughs from the crow. HPV is the human papillomavirus, the nation's most common sexually transmitted disease. There was also another oddity at the White House. 'When I walked in his first sentence kind of threw me off. He said: "Trump hears that you dont like what Trump is doing." And I thought, wow but youre Trump?' 'I didnt know third party form is what was expected. Gates says Gates knows that youre not doing things right,' he said, making fun of the president's third-person phrasing, which Trump has used in public. Posted 5/17/18 Logan Ashley Reeves, Buffalo, will receive her Associate of Arts in general studies from Missouri State University-West Plains during commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 19, at the West Plains Olivia Boland, 63 (pictured), claims she was harassed for two years by travellers A petting farm owner who was attacked by a traveller on her own land after two years of intimidation ended up being charged over the brawl. Olivia Boland, 63, claims she was harassed for two years by travellers next door who wanted to buy her land. And when one of their horses strayed onto her property she was beaten and dragged to the ground as she tried to return it. 'These travellers have made my life hell and the police have done nothing,' she said. 'I've reported over 30 crimes to the police and instead I was charged when I was attacked on my own land. 'Travellers can get away with anything. The police have allowed law and order to break down.' She and her son were walking the horse toward a gate to return it when Emma Foster, who is 25 years her junior, arrived and started yelling abuse. Within moments the women were grappling. Despite giving mobile phone footage of the fracas to police, Mrs Boland was charged alongside her attacker. Officers accused the shocked farm owner of fighting back when she should have 'walked away'. She had to wait eight months before the charge was dismissed by magistrates. Foster, however, was convicted and ordered to pay compensation and costs. Mrs Boland's son Peter, 37, said last night his mother 'didnt do anything wrong'. 'It was ludicrous that she was charged and I am glad that the court threw out the case against her,' he said. 'Nothing was done when we made earlier complaints about criminal damage and racist abuse. It is as if they wanted to protect the travellers.' Mrs Boland, a widow, set up Tostock Animal Parks, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, after buying the 16-acre smallholding in 2016. Animals there include llamas, alpacas, peacocks and horses. But the idyllic lifestyle she hoped for was ruined by repeated incidents of fly-tipping, trespassing and petty thefts. Dirty nappies were thrown over her gate, the windows smashed on her horsebox and threats made to 'kill and eat' her animals. The Taiwanese-born mother of three, who came to the UK in 1979, said she had also been subjected to racist abuse, including 'slant-eyed gestures'. She was also pressured to sell land to the permanent traveller site next door. She said one man warned her: 'If you don't sell me a piece of your land I will just call in the caravans.'Another allegedly told her: 'Everyone in England knows you don't cross gipsies'. Emma Foster yelled abuse and within moments the women were grappling (pictured left and right) Olivia and Peter on the Tostock Animal Park with two of their horses Folly and Furin Mrs Boland agreed to a police suggestion to opt for a community resolution which involves compensation or issuing an apology to deal with the situation. But the problems continued. On September 21 last year, she and her son went to return a horse that had wandered onto their land, but a woman from the travelling community arrived on their property to demand they let it go. She was joined by Foster, who started swearing and lunged at her. 'She picked up her sandal and began to attack me,' Mrs Boland said. 'She was hitting me and my vision was blurred. She landed a few blows and started dragging me to the ground. You can hear me screaming.' As her son told the group to get off their land, a traveller is heard shouting, 'Chinese pigs' and 'Get the f*** out of my country.' Mrs Boland admits pushing Foster away but said she was acting in self-defence. She contacted police, who suggested another community resolution, but she refused. The shocked farm owner was then told she would face being charged as she had 'fought back too hard'. Her ordeal finally ended on May 10 when Ipswich magistrates dismissed the case against her due to a lack of evidence. She had denied using threatening or abusive words of behaviour with intent to cause a person to believe violence would be used against them. Foster denied the same charge but was convicted. Travellers at the site refused to comment. Suffolk police said: 'All allegations of this nature reported to police are proportionately investigated and charging decisions are made based on the evidence gathered.' Meghan Markle's half-sister is already 'in talks with Hollywood' producers about turning her upcoming book The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister into a film or series. Samantha Markle, the royal bride-to-be's estranged half-sister, confirmed she is considering selling off the rights to her unreleased autobiography. 'I have been approached to sell the rights. My book is more of a sociological journey,' Samantha told The Sun. 'It's paralleled my sister's life being doubly marginalised as a biracial woman. It does talk about our family, but it has never been gossipy at all.' Meghan Markle's half-sister is hosting a party at her home on Saturday after she was not invited to the real royal wedding following a series of controversial claims she has made The sibling however insisted she had taken no joy or gained financially from her notoriously difficult relationship with Meghan. She also downplayed rumours the Markle family was actively pitching a Kardashian-style reality show, dubbed Meet the Markles. Samantha, who uses a wheelchair because she suffers with MS, went on to criticise her own nephew Tyler, who chose to cash in on Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry instead of tending to Meghan's father after his heart attack. She added: 'Tyler wanted to run around being big shots in London for photo opportunities while my father is suffering in hospital. It comes after she announced plans to hold a formal wedding party at her home in Florida this weekend. Samantha has repeatedly been in the spotlight in the run up toPrince Harry's wedding, even vowing to write a tell-all book about their relationship. After she was not invited to the real wedding in Windsor, it emerged today that she will host a party at her home in Silver Springs, Florida. Samantha and her boyfriend will host friends at a formal party at their home in Silver Springs Guests are being told to come in formal attire, with US gossip website TMZ reporting Samantha is planning to wearing a smart dress and 'vintage art deco hat'. Samantha, 53, told the website she still loves Meghan and it will be 'bittersweet' to watch Meghan walk down the aisle. Samantha will be drafting in off-duty police officers to keep out any gatecrashers, TMZ reported. In repeated rants to the media, Samantha, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, has portrayed Meghan as 'narcissistic and selfish' and claimed her half-sister had disowned her because of her disability. Yesterday, hitting back at Meghan's reported pleas for her to stop sniping, she even invoked the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, saying angrily: 'She's not going to tell me that I can't speak about my life. I'm not going to take it.' But it is understood her views have recently mellowed and she now feels love towards her half-sister. Samantha is not close to Meghan and has been accused of 'cashing in' on the royal wedding Ms Markle previously said she had encouraged her father to do a deal with paparazzi, the discovery of which has partly led to his decision not to attend the wedding. She has also hit out at Kensington Palace for not helping her and Meghan's father Thomas after his heart attack, claiming she had to send him money. She said his heart condition had been 'life-threatening' and he needed surgery, and that afterwards she had to 'send my father money twice by MoneyGram because he needed it'. Dismissing reports that Kensington Palace had offered support for her father in Mexico, she claimed: 'That is not true or he would not have been living in his place, he'd have a reliable vehicle, he'd have security.' During one of a series of TV appearances this week, she was branded a 'little vulture' by Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan. In an explosive exchange, Mr Morgan asked her: 'How much money have you made from trashing Meghan Markle?' to which Samantha replied: 'Not very much'. An Alaska Airlines flight attendant is suing her former employer claiming she was fired after she reported she was drugged and raped by a first officer. Ashley Geffre, 25, said she loved her job until things went south during an August 2017 work trip in Fort Lauderdale where she went out for dinner and drinks with a first officer and woke up naked and in pain. However days after she reported the assault, she said she was fired 'in retaliation'. To add to the blow Geffre says the first officer even corroborated her story on possibly being drugged, claiming he was drugged too, yet he was not terminated. Former flight attendant Ashley Geffre, 25, is suing Alaska Airlines for firing her after she reported she was drugged and raped by a first officer Geffre said working for the airline was a 'dream job' until the assault took place in August 2017 During a work trip to Fort Lauderdale she got dinner and drinks with a first officer and woke up naked and in pain in her hotel room Geffre, who hails from Graham, Washington, says she can't remember what happened after she went out with the first officer. 'The next day I woke up early in the morning around 6 or 7am. And I had no clothes on. My clothes were on every corner of the room and I was scared,' she said to KIRO7. 'I felt severe cramping beyond menstrual pain. I felt itchy. I felt sexually assaulted. I had no idea what had happened,' she added. Later she learned from the Broward County Sheriff's Office that she was found in her own filth in a stairwell. 'I was found in a stairwell by a security guard who swore under oath he did find me in a stairwell with my pants to my ankles and I was slouched over with vomit on me,' she said. Alarmed she told the airline she could not fly. 'As soon as I returned to Seattle a few days later, they called me in for questioning. And I went in with my union rep and I had no idea it was going to lead to termination,' Geffre said. Prior to the mishap, she said being a flight attendant was her 'dream job'. 'I've loved my job as a flight attendant. Its taken me amazing places. I've met incredible people,' Geffre said. 'It was probably the best three years of my life,' she added. Police said she was found in a stairwell covered in vomit, slouched over with her pants down to her ankles after the dinner, but she has no memory of it Speaking to KIRO7 she said: 'They called me dishonest. Ive been called a liar by a company that I loved working for' Under fire: Her lawsuit is the second to hit at Alaska Airlines following one filed in March, file image above Despite sharing her traumatic report with the airline, she did not receive the sympathetic response. 'They called me dishonest. Ive been called a liar by a company that I loved working for. I've been slut shamed by a company that I devoted my time to,' Geffre said. Geffre claims in her lawsuit that the first officer wasn't fired in light of her report and continues to work for Alaska Airlines. 'Part of me is believing that the flight attendants and the pilots are treated very differently,' she said. Alaska Airlines says they have removed the first officer from duty, in a statement to KIRO7. 'Alaska Airlines has a firm non-retaliation policy. We can confirm that the First Officer was removed from duty immediately and has not flown since Aug. 2017. When situations arise that are inconsistent with our values, we investigate them fully and act in accordance with our policies,' the statement said. Alaska Airlines is yet to respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Geffre hopes that her lawsuit will change the system to pay more attention to sexual assault reports among employees. In March Betty Pina, 39, (left) sued the airline saying she was drugged and raped by married Captain Paul Engelian, 50, (right) during a work stop Her lawsuit claims Alaska Airlines is liable for the alleged rape as well as how it handled the situation after Engelien was reported to company officials 'I feel that I made all of the right decisions and I would do them again in a heartbeat,' she said. But her report isn't the first of its kind with Alaska Airlines. In March pilot Betty Pina, 39, sued the airline saying she was drugged and raped by married Captain Paul Engelian, 50, during an overnight stop in Minneapolis last June. It was the first time that Pina, a pilot with 17 years experience, had met Engelian as she was the co-pilot for a flight from Anchorage to Seattle to Minneapolis last June. 'This is a problem. I'm not the first, but I would love to be the last, but this is a problem in this industry,' Pina said. In her lawsuit she claims Alaska Airlines is liable for the alleged rape, as well as how it handled the situation after Engelien was reported to company officials. Engelien is still working for the company, as of March. The Alaska Airlines lawsuits join a slew of sexual assault accusations to plague employees working in the skies. In March a woman claimed she was raped in the bathroom of an American Airlines flight and sued the airline after they offered a $5,000 settlement. A month later a SkyWest flight attendant accused a pilot of drugging and raping her during a layover. Also in April a British Airways employee came under fire, accused of raping a flight attendant during a Singapore stop. A Santa Fe school shooting survivor has given a heartbreaking interview saying she always expected to be shot at eventually. Paige Curry said she wasn't at all surprised by the shooting that unfolded at her Santa Fe High School when a student opened fire on Friday, killing at least 10 people. The 17-year-old, who was just three classrooms away from where the shooting unfolded, was on the verge of tears when she spoke to an ABC reporter in the aftermath. Footage of the interview is now going viral after she gave a profoundly sad answer to a question about whether she thought a mass shooting would ever happen at her school. Scroll down for video Paige Curry, 17, said she wasn't at all surprised by the shooting that unfolded at her Santa Fe High School when a student opened fire on Friday, killing at least 10 people 'It's been happening everywhere,' Paige said. 'I've always kind of felt it like eventually it was going to happen here too. 'I don't know. I wasn't surprised, I was just scared.' Gunman Dimitrios 'Dimitri' Pagourtzis, 17, opened fire at Santa Fe High School on Friday, killing at least 10 people Paige said she didn't know what the loud banging sounds were until she heard the screams a few classrooms down. 'I really just wanted to leave, but I thought it better to stay and hide with everyone else. 'I got up and I ran, and we went onto the stage and we hid backstage. 'Then the alarm started going off, and we hid back there for a while until the (SWAT team) found us. 'I managed to keep calm through it all. There was another girl who was just freaking out; they were struggling really hard to keep her calm. It was really - it was really scary.' Gunman Dimitrios 'Dimitri' Pagourtzis was taken into custody soon after storming a classroom at the high school and yelling 'surprise' before he shot dead eight to 10 people. Santa Fe High School in Texas was on lockdown after a shooter stormed into a class and killed 10 people Friday morning Students are pictured emptying their backpacks for inspection outside a row of school buses He was wearing a 'Born to Kill' T-shirt at the time as well as a trenchcoat. Pictures posted by the suspect on social media show a trenchcoat that is adorned with Nazi and Communist symbols, as well as the Japanese rising sun and the mythical creature known as the 'cthulhu'. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the 17-year-old male suspect was taken into custody and a second person of interest was detained. The majority of the deceased victims were students, according to Gonzalez. Ten others were wounded, among them a police officer who was reportedly shot in the shoulder. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says investigators also found explosive devices, including a molotov cocktail, in the school and nearby. The suspect told authorities after his arrest that he had intended to kill himself too, but that he lacked the courage. Parkland activist David Hogg took to Twitter Friday morning after the Texas school shooting to warn students that politicians will now act briefly like they 'give a s**t' about gun control Gonzalez tweeted that they would support the Santa Fe students after those same students participated in a nationwide walkout protest in the wake of the Parkland shooting Parkland activists David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez took to Twitter after the shooting to warn students that politicians will now act briefly like they 'give a s**t' about curbing gun violence. 'We are fighting for you,' Hogg tweeted. 'Get ready for two weeks of media coverage of politicians acting like they give a shit when in reality they just want to boost their approval ratings before midterms.' Gonzalez also took to Twitter saying they would support the Santa Fe students after those same students participated in a nationwide walkout protest in the wake of the Parkland shooting. 'Santa Fe High, you didn't deserve this. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you,' she tweeted. 'You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices.' An alleged President Trump supporter has come under fire after he turned up outside a Santa Fe high school during a mass shooting - wearing a MAGA hat and brandishing an American flag and handgun. Local news networks were near the scene of the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas, which left ten dead on Friday, when the unnamed man approached them, wearing the political statement. 'What was going through your head when you heard this was going on?' a reporter asked. Scroll down for video A President Trump supporter has come under fire after he turned up outside a Santa Fe high school during a mass shooting - wearing a MAGA hat and brandishing an American flag and handgun 'Get to the school, make America great again,' he replied, parroting Donald Trump's election slogan. But when asked exactly how he planned to do that, the MAGA hat wearer appeared to have no plan of action. The Trump supporter, who hand a handgun hanging off his waist, said he was there in 'support.' 'God bless y'all will go a long ways right now for a lot of people,' he added, before fleeing the press. 'Thank you, I'm gonna head this way. God bless y'all,' he added. Local news networks were near the scene of the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas, which left ten dead on Friday, when he approached them 'God bless y'all will go a long ways right now for a lot of people,' he added, before fleeing the press His appearance, moments after student Dimitrios 'Dimitri' Pagourtzis opened fire on his school, killing 10 and leaving another 10 injured, angered many including another a father of a student at the school. The dad, who said he had a son at Santa Fe High School, branded the Trump fan an 'idiot.' 'I have guns...but this idiot is walking down here saying 'Make America Great Again,' that's not what America needs. America needs prayers, we don't need this crap,' he said. He's walking into a crime scene with a pistol on him and I hate they get him... because it's disgusting. This guy right here is sick.' The MAGA wearer was also slammed on social media for the insensitivity of turning up at a mass shooting of children with a gun. 'Only in America would someone show up flaunting an American flag & a gun just after kids were murdered *by guns*. In what world is this a solution? Is this what patriotism looks like? Is this what #MAGA looks like? The kids at Santa Fe High School deserve better. We all do,' documentary maker Aaron DuRall tweeted. Santa Fe High School in Texas was on lockdown after a shooter stormed into a class and killed 10 people Friday morning A Pearland Police armored vehicle stands ready in front of Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe A man hugs a sobbing woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School 'Is this what patriotism looks like? No my friend, this is what nationalism looks like with a red,white, and blue flag draped over it,' another Twitter user wrote. Another added: 'Just what law enforcement needs, a guy showing up with a gun!??? How can sane people think this is okay??? #EnoughIsEnough but its NEVER enough, is it???!!!' Today's shooting left ten dead - the majority of whom were students. Ten others were wounded, among them a police officer who was reportedly shot in the shoulder. It was reported by Chron.com, citing law reinforcement sources, that the gunman carried out the massacre with an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol and a shotgun. On his now-deleted Facebook page, Pagourtzis on April 30 shared a photo of a black T-shirt with the words 'Born to Kill' printed across the front. CW39 reported that witnesses saw the suspect wearing a 'Born to Kill' shirt and combat-style boots. Law enforcement early in Texas identified the suspected Santa Fe school shooter on Friday afternoon as Dimitrios 'Dimitri' Pagourtzis, 17 (left and right). He is now in custody Other photos shared on Pagourtzis's page the same day in April depicted a dark-colored trenchcoat festooned with various insignia, including the Nazi Iron Cross, which the teen wrote stood for 'bravery.' Students at Santa Fe High told NBC News that Pagourtzis wore a trenchcoat to school every day. The Santa Fe Independent School District said in a statement Friday that authorities are in the process of rendering the recovered explosive devices safe. There's no indication how many devices have been found. Dr. Safi Madain at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center says six of eight shooting victims have been treated and released. Madain says one patient remains in critical condition and the other is in fair condition. All appeared to be high school students with gunshot wounds. Other victims have been treated at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr. David Marshall, chief nursing officer, says one adult male is in critical condition at the hospital. He says that man was shot in the upper arm and is undergoing surgery. Teachers are now using emojis to teach their pupils Shakespeare While you might not expect a bright yellow smiley face to appear in a quotation from Macbeth, teachers are now using emojis to teach their pupils Shakespeare. And some believe that adopting the images mobile phone icons which reflect emotions ranging from grinning to sad faces even helps improve youngsters' learning. But other educators argue that their use in lessons is a 'moral failing' and could harm pupils' chances of long-term educational success. Charlotte Hodgson, an English teacher at Avonbourne College in Bournemouth, Dorset, revealed that emojis are 'embedded' in her department's schemes of work. She told the Times Educational Supplement: 'Everyone in the English department is using them. I've had classes plot the entire summary of a scene in emojis and then they put them on to a graph to show the tension the characters are feeling, and they find quotations to illustrate this, so it builds to become higher-level learning as well.' Miss Hodgson said emojis had particularly helped her Year 7 class, with pupils aged 11 to 12, engage with Shakespeare. She said: 'I've just taught A Midsummer Night's Dream and, when we've read a bit of the scene, they summarise it in two main emojis and then have to explain it. The emojis are not used by themselves there is always some kind of verbal or written explanation that then allows you to check the pupils' literacy, writing skills or speech skills. The emojis just give them a starting point.' She claims that emoji use leads to higher understanding, engagement and learning. 'Everyone in the English department is using them. I've had classes plot the entire summary of a scene in emojis' says Charlotte Hodgson, an English teacher at Avonbourne College in Bournemouth, Dorset (stock image) Others use them to help pupils who have English as a second language. At a secondary school in Stockton-on-Tees, modern foreign languages teacher Luca Kuhlman argues that emojis are an invaluable aid. 'Wherever possible, I take out the English words in a text and replace them with an emoji, so they associate the French with an image rather than with an English translation,' he told the TES. But Jon Brunskill, teacher at Reach Academy Feltham, West London, said: 'If a teacher said, 'I know how to use standard spoken English, of course I do I've got a degree, it's how I got this lovely job and can pay my mortgage on a lovely house, but I'm not going to give it to you guys because I think it will be fun to use emojis for a few years', I think that's a moral failing.' And Clare Sealy, headteacher at St Matthias School in East London, added: 'As educators, we have not a single minute to waste teaching trivia such as emojis.' Emojis originate from Japan, with the first one invented by Shigetaka Kurita in 1999. More than 160 registered voters who have listed a Rapid CityWalmart as their address are at the center of a debate between two candidates for county auditor. Pennington County auditor candidate James Bialota raised the issue on Wednesday in a press release obtained by the Rapid City Journal. 'I will update the voter list and bring equality back to the election process,' Bialota said in a news release. Bialota's opponent for the position, Cindy Mohler, however, said that Bialota could not revoke voter registrations, even if elected. More than 160 registered voters who have listed a Rapid City Walmart in South Dakota as their address are at the center of a debate between two candidates for Pennington County auditor There are 162 registered voters who currently list the north-side Rapid City Walmart as their address, according to records from the county auditor's office. Bialota said, 'I am shocked that there are hundreds of illegal voters registered here in Pennington County, between the hundreds registered to vote who supposedly live at Walmart or others registering at other private businesses and homes, that they don't own, live or work at.' Mohler, who is currently the county's chief deputy auditor, said the auditor's office doesn't have the authority under federal or state law to revoke a voter's registration for listing a Walmart address. She added, 'If there's nothing in the state statute that says they can't do that, you're doing a disservice to those people who want to vote if you remove them from the voter rolls.' But Bialota wrote on Facebook on Friday that is against the law in the state of South Dakota 'to register to vote at commercial or industrial property.' The winner of the June 5 Republican primary between James Bialota (left) and Cindy Mohler (right) will be elected to the job of Pennington County Auditor due to lack of other candidates Bialota wrote on Facebook on Friday that it's not legal in the state of South Dakota 'to register to vote at commercial or industrial property' Current Auditor Julie Pearson said the practice originated from individuals who travel full-time in recreational vehicles. These individuals oftentimes stay overnight in parking lots such as Walmart, the world's largest retailer that's headquartered in Arkansas. Many RV owners now register to vote in South Dakota through mail-forwarding companies, she said. The winner of the June 5 Republican primary will be elected to the job because there are no other candidates. BMW has recalled a further 88,000 cars over a glitch which causes them to catch fire taking the total number of vehicles recalled over safety issues to 400,000 in the past two weeks. The German car giant issued a safety recall of 312,000 vehicles on May 9 over a technical issue which could cause them to suddenly lose power. And yesterday the firm said 294,000 of its 3 Series cars had a separate fault. This relates to wiring in the blower regulator controlling the heating and air conditioning unit which can overheat and catch alight. While 206,000 of the 3 Series models which have this heating fault had already been recalled over the problem of losing power, the other 88,000 vehicles affected by the latest technical glitch had not been previously recalled. Scroll down for video The German car giant issued a safety recall of 312,000 vehicles on May 9 over a technical issue which could cause them to suddenly lose power. Pictured: A BMW 3 Series The latest issue affects BMW 3 Series models built over a seven year period between December 2004 and July 2011. BMW said it was aware of six cases of cars in the UK catching alight which it has reported to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). It stressed no one was hurt. But last night the firm was facing questions over why it has been so slow to take action in Britain as it recalled 672,000 cars in the US last November over the same issue. This means some motorists in the UK could have been driving around in potentially dangerous cars for more than thirteen years. Labour MP Andy Slaughter, who has campaigned for tougher safety recall rules in the UK after a series of fires caused by faulty tumble dryers said: It looks like BMW have known about these faults for a long time and done nothing. It also looks like they have been very selective about the information they have given to customers. Last night the firm was facing questions over why it has been so slow to take action in Britain as it recalled 672,000 cars in the US last November over the same issue. Pictured: A BMW 3 Series 'This is a pattern we are seeing across a lot of different products and manufacturers. The reason is there is not sufficient policing of product safety in the UK. The DVSA can order car manufacturers to issue safety recalls, but it cannot force them to do so. Less than two weeks ago BMW issued a safety recall for owners of the BMW 1 Series, 3 Series, the Z4 and X1 petrol and diesel models manufactured between March 2007 and August 2011. The fault saw the cars battery lose its connection to the fuse box as the wires rubbed together. A spokesman for BMW said: We are taking the opportunity of the existing recall to pro-actively check and replace the wiring harness of the blower regulator. 'In doing so we are taking every precaution in terms of safety while minimising disruption and inconvenience to affected customers'. Pictured: A BMW 3 Series An inquest into the death of a former Gurkha soldier who died on Christmas Day 2016 after crashing into a stalled BMW car was told the firm had been alerted to the safety flaw in 2011. Even after the fatal accident BMW only initially recalled 36,410 petrol cars made between December 2009 and August 2011. It was forced to increase this almost ten-fold following the inquest and an investigation by BBCs Watchdog. BMW said it made the announcement yesterday after meeting officials from the DVSA. It said it decided to take action now because many of the cars affected by the first safety recall were affected by the fire risk problem and that the two wires are close together. This means that both problems can be fixed at the same time. A spokesman for BMW said: We are taking the opportunity of the existing recall to pro-actively check and replace the wiring harness of the blower regulator. 'In doing so we are taking every precaution in terms of safety while minimising disruption and inconvenience to affected customers. 'BMW has notified the DVSA this morning of its intention to recall and will begin the recall process immediately. BMW said it will write to all affected customers within three weeks but retailers will commence contacting their customers directly next week. Advertisement Police put up barricades outside the Upper West Side home of a racist Midtown Manhattan lawyer on Friday in anticipation of a mariachi band protest planned to agitate him. Aaron Schlossberg, 42, has not been seen since he tried to dodge reporters on Thursday after being kicked out of his rented office space on Park Avenue. Earlier in the week, he was filmed berating Spanish-speaking staff at a restaurant near his office. A video of his astonishing attack on them went viral. Now, politicians are seeking to have Schlossberg disbarred in New York. Scroll down for video Barricades are erected outside the home of racist lawyer Aaron Schlossberg on Friday ahead of a mariachi parade protest Dozens of NYPD officers were stationed outside the man's apartment in anticipation of the event Aaron Schlossberg has not been seen since Thursday (above) when he tried to evade reporters by changing clothes after being confronted in the street and thrown out of his office space. He ditched the hat and sunglasses when he realized the get-up fooled no one Two have written to the First Department of the New York State Unified Court System citing a grievance which is the formal way of complaining about a lawyer in the state. U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York, told ABC News: 'We are sending this grievance to say that you cannot engage in xenophobia, bigotry, hate and get away with it. Such behavior should never be tolerated.' In their complaint, the men said Schlossberg's behavior was a 'humiliating and insulting attack on the more than 50 years of progress that this nation has made since the Civil Rights movement.' 'The egregiousness of bold-faced racism, in all its ugliness, must be rejected and replaced with the kindness, solidarity and sense of togetherness that has made this great American experiment in democracy a shining example for all the world to see and admire for over two centuries. The organizers of the protest said they contacted the NYPD ahead of time to ask if they needed any permits. Their efforts triggered the large response of officers The NYPD did not spare any expense when it came to attending the protest on Friday Police smile outside the lawyer's apartment building on New York's Upper West Side The officers were all in high spirits and seemed to be almost looking forward to the festivities A large gathering of protesters outside the lawyer's home before the mariachi band arrived 'The audacity to profile and verbally assault innocent bystanders and customers in a public commercial location is a violation of our civil society. 'We watched Aaron's video and we were disgusted,' it went on. It is now up to the First Judicial Department Attorney Grievance Committee to decide whether or not he should be allowed to continue practicing the law. The committee will not comment on the complaint. On Thursday, a mariachi band will perform outside the lawyer's luxury apartment building. They had planned to go to his office to cheer up his staff but that plan was scuppered when he was thrown out. The idea came about in a GoFundMe page where organizers appealed for donations to pay the musicians. The band which ended up agreeing has donated their time and will not accept the $1,000 that was raised. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (left) and Ruben Diaz, Bronx Borough President (right) have sent a formal grievance to the New York Court System to ask that Schlossberg lose his license It is not clear what the money will now be spent on. In the description on the GoFundMe page, organizers said extra would go towards tacos for Schlossberg's suffering staff. 'Raising $500 to send a Mariachi band to cheer up the staff and attorneys at The Law Office of Aaron M. Schlossberg Esq. P.L.L.C. after a difficult day. 'We are requesting the band to sing the famous, endearing, and warm spanish children song, La Cucaracha, the cockroach. 'We are countering hate and racism with the sound of music. 'Any leftover money will be used to send a delicious Taco Truck lunch to the staff and a copy of all federal and state statute mentioning undocumented immigrants do not qualify for welfare,' it said. The protest moved to outside his luxury building on Friday afternoon and was scheduled to begin at 4.30pm but there was no sign of them at 4.50pm. Many people would say, however, that the two things they did have in common were more significant than their differences One tall, one short. One blonde, one dark-haired. There are many differences The old maxim that 'it's not where you come from that counts, it's where you're going' could have been written for Meghan Markle. But in a way, as she and Harry stand together before the altar today, the moment will mark the crowning work of two other lives those of their mothers. No two women could have been more different. One tall, one short. One blonde, one dark-haired. One born into aristocratic comfort and privilege, the other into the workaday family of a market stallholder. One carved out a career, the other did part-time work until a teenage engagement took her into a gilded but doomed marriage. Diana, who would have been 57 on July 1 had she lived, was just 20 when she married the Prince of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981 Many people would say, however, that the two things they did have in common were more significant than their differences. Both came from broken homes. In fact, both were under eight years old when their separated parents divorced. Yet both emerged as strong mothers described by their children as 'wonderful'. Indeed, Princess Diana and Doria Ragland, one living in a palace in London, the other 5,500 miles away in a suburb of Los Angeles, even felt the same emotional urge to take their children to deprived areas where they could see just how difficult life was for those with virtually nothing. Both women married men who were 12 years their senior and both marriages foundered. Diana, who would have been 57 on July 1 had she lived, was just 20 when she married the Prince of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981. Doria, now 61, was 23 when she married TV lighting director Tom Markle in Sunset Boulevard's Self-Realization Fellowship Temple two days before Christmas 1979. All the dreams, hopes and ambitions that now face their children, Harry and Meghan, faced them. Doria, now 61, was 23 when she married TV lighting director Tom Markle in Sunset Boulevard's Self-Realization Fellowship Temple two days before Christmas 1979 Doria, meanwhile, despite her early promise, did not go to university but started work selling jewellery, almost certainly to help the family finances So let us go back in time to when Doria Ragland (she now uses her maiden name) was a little girl. Her mother, Jeanette, grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of a bellboy and a lift operator, both of whom worked at the smart, whites-only, five-star St Regis Hotel. Jeanette had been previously married to a professional roller-skater, by whom she had two children Doria's half-brother and sister. When he skated out of her life, she was left to bring them up alone. After five years struggling as a single mother, Jeanette fell for snappy-dressing, smooth-talking Alvin Ragland and married again. Barely had Charles and Diana returned from their honeymoon when, in Los Angeles, Doria was giving birth at West Park hospital in Canoga Park to a baby girl Their only child, Doria, arrived in 1956 and it was soon after her birth that Alvin uprooted the family and set out to make a new life and better himself across country in California. He had relatives on the West Coast and for a time worked for a real estate business run by his aunt Lillie. Later, by the time Doria was five and he was setting up his modest bric-a-brac and antiques business in central Los Angeles, the marriage was crumbling. At around that time, in Norfolk, England, Diana Spencer was born not yet Lady Diana, as her father, Viscount ('Johnnie') Spencer, had not then succeeded to the ancient earldom. Spencer, a former officer in the Royal Scots Greys, had been equerry to both the Queen and her father, George VI, while Diana's mother, Frances, was the younger daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Ragland leave the Windsor Estate after tea with the Queen Doria Ragland in the Range Rover which took her from tea with the Queen at Windsor to the hotel this evening Royal fans took pictures of Harry as he greeted crowds outside Windsor Castle this evening They lived on the Queen's Sandringham estate in Park House, a lovely Victorian pile that is now a hotel for the disabled. Park House was, in fact, where Frances was born: her late father was a great friend of the King and her mother a confidante of the Queen, later the Queen Mother. The lives of the Spencer family and the royals were entwined and the children played together. Diana was the Spencers' third daughter but not, alas, the longed for son who would secure continuance of the title. When baby Charles arrived three years after Diana, it was an occasion for a firework display in celebration. As a result, although her mother always denied she was a 'disappointment', Diana carried doubts throughout her life. No such doubts, though, in Los Angeles for Doria, who got on well with her two older half-siblings, Joseph and Saundra, even though it wasn't long before her father abandoned the family home. Joseph recalls their mother, Jeanette, having to be 'both the mother and father of the family, bent on keeping them fed, clothed and together, and succeeding'. Here was a woman whose determination is seen in the family as having been passed down to her daughter, Doria, as well as her actress granddaughter Meghan. For Diana, growing up meant a series of nannies as, by the time she was five, her mother was no longer at home, having fallen for wallpaper heir Peter Shand Kydd. Contrary to popular gossip, her mother wasn't a so-called 'bolter' but fought in court for custody of her children only to lose, largely because of the infamous intervention of her own mother Ruth, who sided with her son-in-law. In Los Angeles, Doria's mother struggled on as a single parent, yet family life in her household was warm and stable. Doria was turning into a bright child who got a prized place at the formerly all-white Fairfax High School in West Hollywood. But in 1971, when she was 15, her education was disrupted by the San Fernando earthquake. The quake destroyed nearby Los Angeles High School, so the two schools had to merge. Doria's school day was rescheduled to begin at 7am and end at noon. Despite the disruption, she remained one of its brighter pupils, a member of the school's Apex Club for high achievers. No such academic high-flying for Diana. She was privately educated at boarding schools in Norfolk and later in Kent at a time when, even though the Queen Charlotte's Ball era of debutantes was over, little more was expected of girls from aristocratic families than to find a suitable husband. Accompanied by his older brother, Harry was met with loud cheers from the crowd as he emerged from the castle wearing a grey jacket, white shirt and slacks 'I just want to go to the pub!': Harry pointed at the Horse and Groom pub behind adoring fans and photographers in Windsor this evening Harry and Meghan are pictured among a crowd of well-wishers in the groom's final public appearance as a single man Diana was not academically strong and left school with no O-levels. But she was far from being 'thick as two planks', as she later self-deprecatingly (and foolishly) described herself. The phrase stuck and was used to denigrate her later during the 'War of the Waleses'. Doria, meanwhile, despite her early promise, did not go to university but started work selling jewellery, almost certainly to help the family finances. She also assisted in her father's store, called 'Twas New, and ran a bric-a-brac stall in a Sunday flea market. She even managed to work part-time in a travel agency. At this time, Diana was still at West Heath girls' school in Kent, excelling at swimming, ballet, tap-dancing and piano. For her, there was no question of having to start work when she left West Heath. Instead, it was finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland, followed by a cordon bleu cookery course in London. In Los Angeles, Doria was deciding to become a showbusiness make-up artist. As with everything she put her hand to, she did well and found herself training on the set of ABC's TV drama General Hospital. Also there was the large, cheery figure of Tom Markle, the show's established lighting director, who was divorced with two children. Before long she had moved in with him. But it wasn't all plain sailing, as his daughter Samantha was far from welcoming. To friends, she cruelly took great pleasure in referring to Doria as 'the maid' on account of her being black. Even in 1979, mixed marriages were not common in the U.S. But despite family uncertainty, Tom and Doria were married. The venue, the Self-Realization temple, was Doria's choice because she had started to follow the teachings of Yogananda, a Hindu yoga guru. Harry holds a teddy bear with a red jumper as he and Prince William greet crowds outside Windsor Castle this evening Prince Harry walks around in front of Windsor Castle as he greeted well-wishers on his last evening of bachelorhood Within 11 months, Doria was pregnant with Meghan. It was November 1980. Meanwhile, Diana was living in a flat in Earl's Court, West London, bought for her by her mother as an 18th birthday present, and sharing it with three other girls. She worked as a nanny and part-time nursery school assistant. In July 1980 she and Prince Charles spent a fateful afternoon together at a barbecue in Petworth, West Sussex. He was the most eligible bachelor on the planet, and within weeks he made it known to friends that he had found the woman he wanted to marry. Exactly a year later, theirs was a typically sumptuous royal wedding, with one sad similarity to today's event the frailty of the father of the bride. Earl Spencer had suffered a stroke and almost died. But he was at St Paul's Cathedral to give his daughter away, though everyone knew she was largely supporting him on their walk up the aisle. And so the parallel lives of Diana and Doria continued. Barely had Charles and Diana returned from their honeymoon when, in Los Angeles, Doria was giving birth at West Park hospital in Canoga Park to a baby girl, whom the happy parents called Rachel Meghan. She was their only child. The date of her birth August 4, 1981 was a day the British royals were also celebrating: it was the Queen Mother's 81st birthday. Tom Markle had decorated baby Meghan's room with Disney characters and few would have thought then that the marriage would not last. He and Doria seemed happy. But Tom spent a long time at work, sometimes 90 hours a week, and eventually the strain began to tell. Meghan had just had her second birthday in 1983 when her parents split up, although they didn't divorce for another five years. As for Charles and Diana, William had been born in June 1982 and Harry followed in September 1984. But already there were tensions in this royal marriage. Doria and Tom agreed to share custody of Meghan, still spent time with each other and even holidayed together. When Tom worked on a television programme, Doria let Meghan watch it with her, and loved it when their daughter rushed to kiss the screen as her father's name rolled by on the credits. Work would have been a big problem for Doria but for the help of her mother Jeanette, who stepped in to look after Meghan. As her older step-brother Joseph recalls: 'My mother babysat and when Doria finished work, she'd go over to my mother's house to pick her up.' Small wonder that in later years, after Jeanette suffered a stroke, Meghan would sit with her, talking to her granny, holding her hand and cooking for her. Jeanette died in 2000, aged 71. No such harmony at Kensington Palace. At around the time young Meghan was kissing the TV screen, Diana and Harry were watching a TV programme about Prince Charles which focused on Harry's father's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. When her name was mentioned, Harry asked his mother: 'Who's Camilla?' The split between Harry's parents when he was eight was the prelude to years of acrimony. When, finally, they were divorced in 1996, Diana and Charles also shared custody of their two sons. Harry has subsequently said he doesn't remember much about it, but friends believe the pain of that time was eclipsed by the death of his mother the following year. In the last months of her life, Diana's relationship with her own mother also suffered. They were no longer speaking at the time of the Princess's death. For Diana, the unhappiness in her marriage pulled her towards finding consolation in helping others, from Aids and leprosy victims to those maimed by landmines. She was concerned for people at the margins of society. And in LA, Doria was moving in a similar direction but hers was a switch in career, from make-up to training as a social worker. These days, she concentrates on the geriatric community, working for Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in West Los Angeles. Such caring values also dictated Meghan's upbringing. As a child, Doria wanted to show her there was more to the world than the affluent neighbourhood of Woodland Hills, where they lived. So she took her daughter to see life in the slums of Jamaica and the backstreets of the Mexican city of Oaxaca, where Meghan recalls seeing children playing in dirt roads and hawking chewing gum. Diana took the same approach. As boys, William and Harry accompanied their mother to meet rough-sleepers on the streets of London and the charity staff helping them to survive. As Harry and Meghan say their vows today, who could deny that the linking of this couple from two very different worlds would not be quite so smooth were it not for their mothers. Posted 5/18/18 Brad Jennings, of Buffalo, will be tried again July 6 in St. Louis, a St. Louis judge has announced. Jennings is accused of shooting his wife, Lisa, to death on Christmas of 2006.Jennings was found A Montana high school student has been disciplined for repeatedly wearing a Confederate flag sweatshirt despite teachers telling him not to. Mitchell Ballas was suspended on Tuesday after wearing the sweatshirt to Big Sky High School every day since last week. The 17-year-old Missoula student said the flag is misunderstood and claimed he is wearing it to stand up for students' freedom of speech. Mitchell Ballas was suspended on Tuesday after wearing the sweatshirt to Big Sky High School every day since last week 'The school is in the wrong for saying they can dictate me wearing this sweatshirt,' Ballas told the Missoulian. 'They're saying it's offending kids and it's derogatory and all that, but it's not. It's my First Amendment right.' Ballas started wearing the sweatshirt last week and he took it off after he was asked, he said. He continued to wear it during the following days and was given two days of detention last Friday, he said. Ballas continued to wear it this week, resulting in a suspension on Tuesday. 'Tomorrow, I'm going to wear the sweatshirt again, and if they suspend me longer, they suspend me longer, but I'm not going to give in to them,' Ballas said Tuesday. The 17-year-old Missoula student (seen in a Facebook photo) said the flag is misunderstood and claimed he is wearing it to stand up for students' freedom of speech 'What they're doing is wrong, and I won't allow it.' Principal Natalie Jaeger said she could not comment on matters related to specific students, but she noted that several students have been displaying the flag on clothing and cars over the last month. A few students and parents have disagreed with administrators over the flag's meaning, she said. 'Regardless of the intent of the students displaying the flag, the flag is a symbol in 2018 that is used to express racism and oppression, and that has no place in an educational environment,' Jaeger said. About 30 students have told school administrators that they feel anxious or afraid because of the flag displays, Jaeger said. The school handbook and dress code does not appear to prohibit wearing the symbol, Ballas said. The school's policy, however, states that if a student's behavior 'constitutes a disruption of the learning environment,' administrators can reserve the right to discipline students 'regardless of where or how the specific behavior occurs.' All in all it was the most elegant of solutions to the most intractable of problems. And it was reached in that most English of ways over a cup of tea. As the sound of discord over the royal wedding finally subsides, the decision that will today see Prince Charles escort his daughter-in-law down the aisle of St George's Chapel, Windsor, will be viewed as successfully pouring oil on troubled waters. It came too late to amend the order of service, which still has Meghan being accompanied by her father Thomas Markle, but it was not too late for the royals to ensure that all's well that ends well. Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, arriving at Cliveden House Hotel this evening Meghan and her mother's arrival at Cliveden House Hotel comes after the Palace announced that Prince Charles will walk Meghan down the aisle at tomorrow's wedding Ever since Meghan's father began his will-he, won't-he routine about turning up from his Mexican bolthole, palace officials have been on red alert over who would take his place to give the bride away. But such a delicate move required unanimous approval. So it was that no decision was taken until the arrival in Britain of the one person who was key Meghan's mother Doria Ragland. The bookies had installed her as favourite to do the honours. Already facing the most nerve-racking ordeal as mother of the bride she had no wish to add to the pressure. So the family tea party Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall threw for Harry and Meghan and Doria at Clarence House on Wednesday afternoon was more than just exchanging pleasantries. Harry had already sounded out his father about stepping into Mr Markle's shoes. But Charles wanted to be certain that this would receive the blessing of Miss Ragland. I understand she was gracious in her assent. The prince also wanted to be certain that Miss Ragland did not wish to stand in for her ex-husband. Meghan hopped out of a Royal Range Rover as she and her mother Doria Ragland arrived at Cliveden House Hotel, where they will spend the night together before the wedding Doria Ragland in the Range Rover which took her from tea with the Queen at Windsor to the hotel this evening For Meghan it was a thrilling moment when the man who this morning will become her father-in-law made his touching gesture. But there was still a twist, a sign that the wedding will have a very modern feel. Meghan will begin her walk up the aisle alone. Accompanied by her six bridesmaids and four pageboys, she will follow the Dean of Windsor up the length of the nave. There, at the entrance to the quire, Prince Charles will be waiting to complete her journey to the altar. In fact this had always been Meghan's intention. Even if her father had been there, she wanted to walk the first part alone a move being seen by some as a bold feminist gesture. Intriguingly, royal officials were not demurring at this interpretation and added to it by pointedly avoiding saying that the prince would be giving her away, rather that he would 'accompany her'. The distinction is significant in other ways too for there is no mention in the order of service as there was when Kate Middleton married Prince William of the traditional words where the priest asks, 'Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?' Meghan was glowing as she smiled for waiting cameras at Cliveden House Hotel on the National Trust's Cliveden Estate where she will stay the night with her mother Doria Ragland who flew over from the US on Wednesday Royal fans took pictures of Harry as he greeted crowds outside Windsor Castle this evening In 2011 at Westminster Abbey the Archbishop of Canterbury received Kate's hand from her father Michael Middleton. For the Prince of Wales the emotions will be bittersweet. It was once a dream of his to be a father of a bride giving away a daughter on her wedding day. Had his marriage to Diana survived and they had had the daughter Diana longed for it might have come to pass. But today he will, uniquely perhaps for a father of boys, find himself giving away a bride for the second time. Two years ago he accepted the honour to give away Alexandra Knatchbull in the place of her father and his childhood, friend Lord Brabourne, who was not well enough to carry out the role himself. At the time it raised eyebrows but it was left to the vicar who conducted the service at Romsey Abbey to point out that Charles was, in fact, 'family'. A cousin through his father Prince Philip, he had also been best man at Brabourne's wedding. The links between the family run deep, not least because of the murder of Brabourne's grandfather Earl Mountbatten, who was a powerful mentor for the prince. Drawing these strands together, Charles became the most obvious figure to step in today. Meghan said she felt 'wonderful' as she arrived at the hotel where she will spend her final night before the royal wedding Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Ragland leave the Windsor Estate after tea with the Queen Friends said yesterday that he was 'genuinely affected' to have been asked. 'He considers it a great honour and he is proud to do it,' said one of his circle. 'He feels that Harry and Meghan are entrusting him with something special.' Of course, Harry might have asked his brother to take on the responsibility were it not for the fact that William will be alongside him at the altar as best man. Indeed, switching William might have meant a last-minute call-up for one of his friends into the role of 'supporter', as the royals refer to their best man. Harry could, conceivably, also have asked either of his uncles, Prince Andrew or Prince Edward, but that would have raised yet more eyebrows. In the end it was the example of his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, he chose to follow. Fifty-eight years ago this month, Prince Philip walked his sister-in-law, Princess Margaret, down the aisle at her wedding to Lord Snowdon. Some inevitably will wonder why it is the Windsor side of the family and not the Markles taking on this duty for the bride. With her mother the only member of her family attending, Meghan could have turned to one of her male friends. Meghan waved at royal fans while her mother Doria Ragland smiled at Cliveden House Hotel this evening Canadian Markus Anderson was tipped for a role. As a membership director at the exclusive private members' club Soho House, on whose premises the couple met in the early days of their romance, he has been a close confidante of Meghan. It was the sheer enormity of the occasion that persuaded the couple that whatever the merits of her circle, Charles was the ideal choice. 'Meghan's dad would have been extremely nervous but the prince will be enormously reassuring,' says a courtier. 'Meghan would probably have been propping Tom Markle up but now it will be Charles who will be strong at her side.' After all the setbacks and family rancour of the past few days, there will now be an air of calm about the ceremony. More than anything, however, Charles's presence at Meghan's side will not just be a symbolic welcome into the Royal Family, it will prove that the royals believe she is the right person to be marrying the prince's son. For anyone who loves our country, enjoys a spectacle or just likes a good wedding, today promises to be a great occasion. All royal weddings come with a generous sprinkling of stardust, but the union of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is something extraordinary. Even two or three decades ago, the prospect of the Queens grandson, the son and brother of future kings, marrying a divorced American actress, born to a black mother, would have seemed inconceivable. Not even the most ambitious screenwriter in Ms Markles native Los Angeles would have come up with such a scenario. But times have changed, and for the better. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seen leaving Kensington Palace the day before their wedding And after all the red-top tabloid headlines, all the traumas of his early life, all the girlfriends, the parties and the scandals, Prince Harry seasoned in service to his country has found happiness at last. Good for him. He deserves it. This being the Royal Family, of course, things are never straightforward. To Buckingham Palace, the events of the last week must have felt like an unfolding nightmare. Even by the soap opera standards to which the House of Windsor often descends, the chaotic shambles of Meghans semi-estranged father Thomas who planned to walk her down the aisle, apparently staged pictures for a paparazzo, seemingly suffered a heart attack, decided to cry off, changed his mind and then cried off again so Prince Charles is now doing the honours marks a tragi-comic low point. Still, even the smoothest wedding build-up is rarely free from moments of panic, and there can be few married couples in Britain unfamiliar with the phenomenon of embarrassing in-laws. In any case, the monarchy has long had a melodramatic dimension, in which calamitous weddings have played a particularly eye-catching part. And when compared with past royal nuptials, the excesses of the House of Markle look almost mundane. Although we typically like to think of royal weddings as fairytale occasions, the truth is that many were like something from an unusually horrific nightmare. Think, for example, of the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves in 1540: the king an obese monstrosity with a stinking ulcer on his leg, his German bride a Flanders mare who seemed completely out of her depth. Not surprisingly, it was never consummated: rather ungallantly, Henry claimed he had been put off by the hanging of her breasts and looseness of her flesh. The real soap opera stars, though, were the Hanoverians, who specialised in laughably catastrophic weddings. The marriage of Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1736 is a case in point. Once again the bride was German. At just 16, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha did not speak a word of English and was patently terrified. As she shuffled down the aisle at St Jamess Palace she was violently sick, not merely over her own dress, but over her new mother-in-law, Queen Caroline. The most spectacularly disastrous royal wedding of all, though, was that of the future George IV to Caroline of Brunswick in 1795. They first met only three days before the wedding, when George was so disgusted with his brides appearance that he immediately called for brandy. At the wedding itself, again at St Jamess Palace, George arrived drunk, fell over on the steps of the altar and refused to recite his vows until his father, George III, ordered him to comply. Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, arriving at Cliveden House Hotel on the National Trust's Cliveden Estate to spend the night before her wedding to Prince Harry Somehow George managed to consummate the marriage that evening, though he told friends afterwards that it required no small [effort] to conquer my aversion and overcome the disgust of her person. For her part, Caroline was equally horrified, and claimed that he passed the greatest part of his bridal night under the grate, where he fell, and where I left him. This set the tone for what was to follow, climaxing with the chaotic scenes at Georges coronation in 1821, when the doors of Westminster Abbey were literally slammed in his estranged wifes face. To cap it all, Caroline was taken ill that night and died three weeks later. There is, I suppose, a valuable lesson here in the dangers of choosing an unsuitable royal partner not that the Royal Family should need such a lesson after the PR disaster that was the marriage of Harrys parents. Still, on today of all days, any nagging anxieties are best forgotten. There is no doubt, after all, that the union of Harry and Meghan is a genuine love match, which is not something that can be said for most of their royal predecessors. You would, I think, have to be peculiarly mean-spirited or a senior member of Jeremy Corbyns cult to deny that the happy pair make an attractive couple, and that there is a palpable spark between them. Perhaps this explains why the wedding has struck such a chord, not just here, but around the world. As publishers, music producers and film moguls will tell you, romance never goes out of fashion. There is also, of course, the novelty factor. We are accustomed to seeing members of the Royal Family at the altar with specimens of the English upper classes. Even the Duchess of Cambridge despite the jokes about doors to manual, a reference to her mothers past career as an air stewardess went to the impeccably blue chip Marlborough College and University of St Andrews. But Meghan is different. No casting director could have dared to supply the Palace with such a refreshingly original cast member, an American actress with a mixed-race heritage and more than a dash of star quality. In the murkier corners of the Left, whose inmates usually foam with rage at the very mention of the monarchy, Meghans racial identity has provoked all sorts of strange effusions. Self-styled republicans hate the Royal Family, but they also claim to love diversity, which has left them in something of a fix. I have to confess to rather enjoying the spectacle of the Guardian newspapers madder columnists banging out some absolute drivel about how the very concept of the Royal Family is the antithesis of diversity, and how Harry is about to get a crash course in the complex world of race and identity. I bet Meghan didnt mention that on their first date. To the vast majority of sane, normal people, however, the remarkable thing about Ms Markles background is how unremarkable it is. A fan of the Royal Family poses in a Union Jack outfit in Windsor ahead of the wedding Although we live in an age of risible hysteria about race and diversity, especially in the upper echelons of the BBC and in our major universities, most normal people see nothing sensational in the thought of the Queens grandson marrying a brown-skinned American. Most of us prefer to judge Ms Markle by her personality, not by her skin pigmentation. Ironically, the monarchy is much more in tune with the instincts of the nation than its chattering-class critics. After all, one in ten British couples now involve people with different ethnicities, while an estimated 833,000 British children are currently being raised by mixed-race couples. In this respect, one family the Windsors is the symbol of a bigger story. And that is precisely as it should be. The nation itself, after all, is nothing if it is not an extended family. And the appeal of the Royal Family, when you forget the palaces and pageantry, derives partly from the fact that when we look at them, we see ourselves. Few people embody that more than Harry himself. There cannot be many families who are unfamiliar with the younger son who struggled to find his niche, the party animal who found a serious side or the playboy who grew up. Indeed, one reason that Harry has such wide public appeal is that he is an immediately recognisable figure. Like a modern version of Shakespeares Prince Hal the wayward prince who grew in stature to become Henry V, victor of Agincourt he has evolved from the days of Nazi fancy-dress party costumes and Las Vegas stripping sessions to serving in Afghanistan and promoting the Invictus Games for injured military veterans. Harrys is an impressive and inspirational story, not least since he lost his mother in such traumatic circumstances and had to grow up in the glare of the international spotlight. Indeed, I suspect that Harrys spectacular public approval ratings one poll recently found that 81 per cent of us have a positive view of him and only 11 per cent have a negative view reflect the fact that many people still see him as the shell-shocked little boy walking behind his mothers coffin. No politician could dream of matching such figures. And that, of course, points to another story. In an era when so many other great institutions, from Parliament to the BBC, seem tarnished and beleaguered, the Firms sheer resilience, its tenacious grip on our national imagination, remains enormously impressive. Twenty years ago, after the death of Diana, there was a brief burst of apocalyptic talk about the end of the monarchy. But no one is talking about that now. Indeed, when our national destiny seems so uncertain and our public figures inspire such little enthusiasm, the monarchy stands out as the one unchanging fixture, a bulwark of tradition, a beacon of stability in an age of dizzying change. At a time when the worlds most famous republican office is occupied by Donald Trump, the hereditary principle of monarchy looks in pretty robust health to me. After all, the Swedes, the Danes, the Norwegians, the Dutch and the Belgians all have monarchies, and they rank among the safest, richest, most developed and contented societies on earth. Even Frances President Emmanuel Macron a would-be Napoleon if ever there was one once remarked that his countrymen are eternally nostalgic for their lost kings. The French elect their president to be a monarch, he said. Then they want to cut his head off. In Britain, thankfully, we gave up beheading our kings in 1649. And although other monarchies, from Germany to Russia, have fallen by the wayside, ours remains the supreme symbol of Britishness both at home and abroad. Cynics sometimes like to present us as forelock-tugging lackeys, brainwashed into subservience. But this is nonsense. We know perfectly well that the Royal Family are all too human, with faults and foibles we can all immediately recognise. But the monarchy is the symbol of something bigger, the nation itself which is why so many metropolitan liberals, the self-styled citizens of nowhere who think themselves above the time-honoured loyalties of place and nation, are intellectually incapable of understanding its appeal. Its magic does not lie in the flags and carriages, although they are part of it. The real magic lies in the blend of the national and the individual, the patriotic and the personal, the past and the present. Of course, the hard-Left can never understand this. Their minds twisted by extremism, their hearts coarsened by envy, they see only privilege where the rest of us see patriotism. Well, let the naysayers stew in their joyless misery. The rest of us, in our tens of millions, would raise a glass to an institution that has served Britain splendidly for centuries, and to two people who deserve a happy future together. For although this is a great national occasion, we should not forget that at its heart are two young people who are not so different, deep down, from thousands of others getting married this summer. So lets hope todays happy scenes banish the memories of the last week. And, if youll forgive the lese-majeste, lets hope the wedding night goes better than it did for Henry VIII. A six-foot pair of skull and crossbones adorn each of the wrought-iron gates at the entrance. The shoreline, an endless vista of sand backed by formidable dunes, is strewn with the bleached bones of whales and debris from the more than 1,000 wrecked ships that have met their fate here. By day, the temperature can change in an instant, from hot sunshine to bone-chilling winds. At night, an eerie fog drifts in from the ocean. It doesnt sound like a typical honeymoon destination let alone one fit for the newlywed royals. But Namibias bleak but hauntingly beautiful Skeleton Coast, located in the arid north-west of the African country, has emerged as the frontrunner for Harry and Meghans honeymoon destination. Desolate: Shipwreck Lodge's design is based on the vessels washed up on the Namibian shore And sources have told the Mail that 800-a-night Shipwreck Lodge, a new luxury hideaway in the remote spot, is being tipped as the couples venue of choice. The hotel, a trendy eco-friendly safari lodge whose striking architecture is inspired by wrecked ships, is due to open on June 1 and insiders say builders are frantically working to get it ready for the royal honeymooners. Double chalets at Skeleton Lodge are set on a private patch of sand and equipped with an outdoor hot tub, wood-burning stove, chandeliers, faux-fur animal throws and views of the windswept dunes, where lions, elephants and kudu antelopes can be spotted. Appealing only to exclusive clientele, the hotel also boasts a gourmet restaurant, bar and lounge with wraparound deck, where those fortunate enough to bag one of its ten rooms can sip cocktails as the sun sets. However, Kensington Palace has confirmed that, like William and Kate in 2011, Meghan and Harry wont go on honeymoon straight away. Instead, theyll stay in the UK to attend Prince Charless 70th birthday celebrations on Tuesday. There are also plans for a trip to Dublin within weeks. Luxury: Guest chalets at the lodge in Namibia feature breathtaking views of the ocean Indeed, their joint schedules are so busy over the coming months that some have predicted August is the earliest they will be able to escape. Last month, a local wrote on Facebook: A little birdie told me that Prince Harry and Meghan are here for their honeymoon. A spokesman for the lodge, Anica Britz, did not deny claims that Harry and Meghan might soon be jetting in, but said: Unfortunately we cannot comment on or confirm the rumours that the royal couple will be staying at Shipwreck Lodge. Sources say Namibia and the arresting landscape of the Skeleton Coast is certainly top of Harry and Meghans list. Africa is a continent close to their hearts: both have done extensive charity and conservation work here and neighbouring Botswana was the location of one of their early dates, as well as a whirlwind holiday to mark Meghans 36th birthday last August. It will also appeal to their love of wildlife: Namibia is home to the worlds largest free-roaming black rhino population and Harry is a passionate animal-lover and anti-poaching campaigner. He has travelled to Namibia in the past. With ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, he canoed the Orange River in 2006 and missed Princess Charlottes christening in 2015 because he was working with rhino conservationists. Also said to be on the royal wish list is the enchanting opportunity to watch wildlife by moonlight at a waterhole in Ongava, a game reserve on the edge of the Etosha National Park. Visitors can watch leopards, rhinos, lions and zebras coming and going in near silence. Shipwreck Lodge, which is owned by the local government in conjunction with three upmarket travel agencies, has a number of activities on offer for any adventurous couple. Locals admit access is tricky making it perfect for this publicity-shy pair. Guests can charter a plane from the capital, Windhoek, or drive the five-and-a-half hours from Swakopmund to Mowe Bay themselves, after which the hotel provides guided 4x4s to cover the remaining two hours. Insiders say builders are frantically working to get it ready for the royal honeymooners Their nautically-themed accommodation features porthole windows and curved wooden beams. On the walls are vintage posters depicting the fates of vessels that have been wrecked, including the Dunedin Star a cargo liner heading from Liverpool to Cape Town that ran aground in 1942. Day trips include excursions to the Mowe Bay seal colony, hyena-spotting at the Hoarusib River, sundowner cocktails in the spectacular dunes and treks to the homes of the nomadic Himba people. Rates rise to 1,450 in the August to mid-November peak season, although food and drink is included in the price, served by uniformed staff. Trespassers and the lenses of passing paparazzi will certainly be told to keep their distance. As well as the intimidating motifs on the gates, the entrance to the 146,600-hectare coastal area is fenced off with whale bones and rusty metal no entry signs. Judge Aaron Persky (Pictured) said he would handle Brock Turner's case the same way today as he did almost two years ago The judge who delivered a lenient sentence to a former Stanford University swimmer found guilty of sexual assault says he has no regrets. Judge Aaron Persky said he would handle Brock Turner's case the same way today as he did almost two years ago, though it's the reason he is the target of a June 5 recall election and has become the self-described 'most hated man on the internet.' In a lengthy interview with The Associated Press, the wiry 56-year-old former college lacrosse player argued the Santa Clara County recall effort is 'fundamentally unfair' because it boils down a thick criminal case to Twitter hashtags. He gets a little teary-eyed when he talks about being turned into a one-dimensional caricature as the judge who condones rape. 'I expected some negative reaction,' Persky said. 'But not this.' The recall effort comes amid the growing influence of the #MeToo movement, and observers say it will serve as a bellwether of the movement's influence on national politics. 'I expected some negative reaction,' Persky said in a recent interview (Pictured: May 15, 2018) Persky says he has resisted friends' call to quit and relieve the mounting pressure on his wife and two young sons because judicial independence is at stake. He is fighting the effort, he says, because recalling judges over unpopular rulings threatens the integrity of the judiciary. 'To get justice from a judge, they need someone who follows the rules. The basic rule is the rule of law,' he said. 'The problem with this recall is it will pressure judges to follow the rule of public opinion as opposed to the rule of law.' On June 2, 2016, Persky sentenced Brock Turner (Pictured) to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman On June 2, 2016, Persky followed the county probation department's recommendation when he sentenced Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman who came to be known as Emily Doe. Turner is also required to register for life as a sex offender. Turner was arrested after two graduate students from Sweden yelled at him as he lay atop the motionless victim, whose dress was hiked above her waist, her underwear lying nearby. They tackled him when he tried to run and held him down until police arrived. In court, the victim read an emotional statement recounting the assault, her treatment by investigators and the ordeal of facing questions about her sexual activity and drinking habits. It quickly went viral. 'Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney's questions that would be invasive, aggressive and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers,' she wrote. 'This was a game of strategy, as if I could be tricked out of my own worth.' Persky declined to discuss the victim's letter or other details of the case because it's on appeal. Generally, he said California law requires him to take into account the victim's statement. Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, who organized the recall campaign, poses for photos outside of the Palo Alto Courthouse in Palo Alto, California on May 14, 2018 Turner is appealing his jury conviction, arguing he didn't get a fair trial because character witnesses were barred from testifying about his honesty, scholastic success and his swimming career. Oral arguments are scheduled for June 28 in San Jose. Persky also declined to elaborate on his reasoning for Turner's sentence, which was widely criticized as too lenient. Stanford University law school professor Michele Dauber announced the creation of the recall campaign. Dauber is a friend of the victim's and was in the courtroom for Turner's sentencing. She's an outspoken on-campus activist who helped push through more stringent sexual harassment and abuse reporting and investigation policies. Dauber also is an adept Democratic fundraiser who has organized a well-financed recall campaign with glossy mailers juxtaposing photos of Persky with President Donald Trump and Turner's mug shot, garnering national support. 'We feel it's important to respond strongly with a message of accountability for elected officials like Judge Persky who do not take sex crimes and violence against women seriously,' Dauber said. Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, leaves the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, California, U.S. September 2, 2016 'Many eyes around the country are going to be on Santa Clara County as a model for how to respond to bias against women in the legal system.' Dauber said Persky's position takes a 'dim view of judicial integrity' and that she has faith judges will continue to exercise their independence regardless of the outcome. The recall campaign has drawn outsize attention and money for a local race: Proponents have raised about $1.2 million, and the judge about half that much. 'Recall Persky' signs dot the immaculate lawns of multimillion-dollar homes in Persky's Silicon Valley neighborhood, where the judge removed the numbers from the front of his house after a popular website published his address. Some former friends have told him they're voting for his recall. Persky grew up in an upper-middle-class home in San Francisco's leafy Lake Street neighborhood, the middle son of a psychiatrist father and a mother who taught French. He spent the first two years of high school at an exclusive East Coast boarding school before finishing closer to home at The Branson School in Marin County. Members of the national women's advocacy organization UltraViolet hold up signs before delivering over one million signatures to the California Commission on Judicial Performance calling for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky in this June 10, 2016 file photo He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in international relations at Stanford, then graduated from the University of California, Berkeley law school and took a job with the large law firm Morrison & Forrester, which sent him to Tokyo to work with Japanese clients. He took to the culture and took a year's leave to learn Japanese. In 1997, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office hired him as a prosecutor to handle cases ranging from drunken driving to sexually violent predators. Gov. Gray Davis appointed Persky to the bench a month before voters recalled Davis from office in October 2003 amid frustration over a poor economy and other problems in the state. A number of law school professors and retired judges have sided with Persky, including Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who called Turner's sentence too lenient but 'lawful.' Rosen agreed with Perksy that the recall threatens judges' willingness to make correct but unpopular rulings. 'This value is more important than any outcome in any individual case,' he said. Labour's David Lammy said the man, known only as Oliver, was invited to meet officials to clarify his immigration status but was handcuffed and taken to Pentonville, where he remains The Home Office has been accused of 'outrageous' behaviour after a 62-year-old Windrush man was arrested following a meeting about his citizenship. Labour's David Lammy said the man, known only as Oliver, was invited to meet officials to clarify his immigration status but was handcuffed and taken to Pentonville, where he remains. The father-of-three was arrested over a charge of handling stolen goods 20 years ago but denies the offence, the Tottenham MP said. Mr Lammy said: 'The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have repeatedly told Windrush citizens to come forward to the Home Office. 'The Prime Minister told me in Parliament and in writing that no enforcement action will be taken against anyone that comes forward to the Home Office. 'My constituent did what he was told and he is now in prison. I have been to see him this morning in custody and I am shocked and appalled at how he has been treated. 'He thought he was getting his citizenship and passport and instead he got arrested in the Home Office's building and taken to prison on a minor charge from two decades ago. 'He is homeless and has been living on the streets because of the Home Office. 'He is jobless and has been denied access to benefits and healthcare for years because of the Home Office. 'He has been in the underground economy for decades living hand to mouth because of the Home Office. 'This is outrageous. Oliver is the face of the hostile environment. 'Home Office officials requested to attend my constituency surgery last week to help people get their citizenship. But many of those who arrived in the Windrush era struggled to prove they are here legally because they lack these records, having never applied for British citizenship or passports (MPs debate the Windrush scandal in the Commons last month) 'The head of the Commonwealth Taskforce asked me for advice on their 'outreach strategy', fully recognising the fact that people are too afraid to contact the Home Office. 'My advice to the Commonwealth Taskforce is simple - do not tell people to come forward to the Home Office and then throw them in prison.' Recent restrictions in immigration law require paperwork proof of near-continuous residence in the country. But many of those who arrived in the Windrush era struggled to prove they are here legally because they lack these records, having never applied for British citizenship or passports. Thousands of landing card slips recording the arrival of immigrants from that generation were destroyed in 2009 by the Home Office. James Elliott, head of public law at Wilson Solicitors LLP said: 'What normally happens when you're arrested is you go to a police station but the man said this didn't happen. 'This is not an endorsement for people who may or may not have committed offences but this appointment at the Home Office was made in good faith. 'The Home Office informed police and effectively trapped him. 'We are not saying if wanted for serious crime, nothing should happen, but this is totally disproportionate and highly counterproductive.' TSB customers caught up in the firm's online meltdown are now seeing their accounts raided by fraudsters trying to take advantage of the chaos. A string of customers have logged into their online accounts to find their savings have disappeared in a series of payments they did not make. They have then been left on hold for up to five hours when they tried to complain to the crisis-hit bank. Many have been left struggling for cash or unable to make crucial payments for weddings or house moves. Pictured: Paul Pester, TSB's chief executive appeared to try to downplay the scandal in Parliament It is the latest crisis to hit the TSB after 1.9 million customers were locked out of their accounts following a botched IT upgrade last month. Last night, TSB insisted there had been no data breach. But IT experts said it was possible criminals were using the weeks of chaos as an opportunity to target customers. One theory is that they are posing as members of bank staff to convince frantic account-holders to hand over their details, or are sending emails to victims embedded with computer viruses that allow the crooks to raid accounts. Campaigners called on TSB to take action against the huge phone waiting times faced by fraud victims. Justin Modray, founder of consumer advice website Candid Money, said: 'This seems like an absolute mess. TSB needs to try to rectify things for customers who have been treated so badly during this fiasco.' Most customers affected by the fraud appear to have had their accounts raided in the past week. Teacher Ewan Monaghan had his savings snatched by fraudsters on Wednesday. He received an email from TSB congratulating him on a new overdraft that he had not requested. He checked his and his wife's accounts and discovered they had been raided. He contacted TSB's fraud department and was left on hold for an hour. Mr Monaghan, 39, from St Albans, said staff then agreed to freeze his account but refused to block his wife's unless she made a separate call herself, which involved another lengthy wait. The thieves also ran up a 3,000 overdraft in Mr Monaghan's name, and he says TSB is charging him interest on it. He said: 'It is unacceptable for banks not to keep our accounts safe. TSB do not seem to be fussed about sorting this out.' A 37-year-old woman from Edinburgh told Money Mail that she feared a house move would be put on hold after her 70,000 deposit was taken by crooks. She also said she was forced to wait for hours on the bank's fraud line. Nicki Joynes wrote on Twitter: 'Okay, my 74-year-old dad sat in a branch for five hours yesterday and is back today, 1000s taken from ISA and you can't understand how.' Ben Alford said: 'Our 8k wedding savings were stolen today. 'Sadly it happened as I was on hold to their fraud department trying to report suspicious activity. When they answered 4.5 hours later, it was too late!' TSB said: 'We are reminding customers not to click on any links or messages which they receive that they feel are suspicious.' HAS YOUR TSB ACCOUNT BEEN HIT BY FRAUD? Email moneymail@dailymail.co.uk or write to Money Mail, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT. French horn player Adam Jordan, 24 (pictured), was accused of attacking the woman Jurors yesterday took less than three hours to clear a student at a prestigious musical college of raping a fellow undergraduate. French horn player Adam Jordan, 24, was accused of attacking the woman in his halls of residence at Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music. He hugged tearful relatives outside court after being found not guilty by majority verdict. Mr Jordan did not wish to comment but a family friend said last night: 'His life's been on hold. 'He was able to complete his degree last summer but has been unable to take up an offer to study a Master's course and has ended up working in a factory.' During the week-long trial at Manchester Crown Court, jurors were told the complainant and Mr Jordan initially had consensual sex. But the woman, aged 19 at the time, told police she started screaming when he pinned her down and further sexual activity took place. Mr Jordan later admitted in Facebook messages to the complainant that he had done 'something beyond terrible', the court heard. Mr Jordan, of Atherton, Greater Manchester, insisted their sexual liaison had been consensual. He said the messages had been an apology for being too 'rough' and not a confession of rape. During the trial, jurors were told of a 'culture' of heavy drinking at the college and a friend of the complainant said the impact of the incident had turned the woman into 'a 19-year-old alcoholic'. Meghan Markle's uncle Michael has backed her father Thomas's claims that he is too ill - not too embarrassed - to walk her down the aisle, telling DailyMail.com that his brother had desperately wanted to be there. Prince Harry's bride-to-be instead will walk half way down the aisle at St George's Chapel, then be met by Prince Charles and escorted to the altar. Michael Markle told DailyMail.com Friday at his Palm Bay, Florida, home, that heart conditions run in the family and that Thomas Markle had always adored his daughter. 'I haven't spoken with Tom for two weeks,' said Michael, 78. 'I know he was ready to go to London, but he had a heart attack or something. 'I have the same ailment. I heard to put stents in his heart. I myself have three stents and a pacemaker, so it probably runs in the family.' Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, arriving at Cliveden House Hotel this evening. Her father will not be at her wedding - but his brother said that he had wanted to be Brothers: Thomas Markle's brother Michael said that he had three stents and a pacemaker, similar to the operation Meghan's father has told TMZ he had undergone instead of traveling to London Stand-in Meghan asked Prince Charles to give her away after her father dropped out at the last minute and the heir to the throne was seen entering the Windsor Castle estate today Charles will meet her halfway into the chapel. Meghan had always planned to walk in with her flower girls and page boys Thomas Markle's dramatic health crisis had, however, played out in the wake of the Mail on Sunday's revelations that he had staged photos for paparazzi at the same time as Prince Harry's aides were making aggressive demands that he be afforded privacy. Meghan had always planned to enter the church alone Meghan will arrive with Doria at the castle from her hotel and pause for a moment while her mother changes cars and is driven to the chapel, which she will enter by the royals' Galilee porch. Meghan will be joined out of sight from the cameras by her bridesmaids and pageboys and the party will drive down to St George's Chapel. The bride and her adorable little party will be met at the steps to the West Door of the chapel by the Dean of Windsor, who will escort her in. Prince Charles will be waiting half way down the chapel at the start of the Quire to talk her to the altar. It is understood that Meghan had always planned to walk in by herself, without her father and now, the Prince of Wales. 'It was something that she made clear she wanted to do when she and Prince Harry started planning their wedding last November,' a source said. Advertisement Thomas Markle then turned to TMZ to make a series of announcements about his health, first that he had had a heart attack, and then that he had undergone surgery earlier this week to place three stents in his heart. He has not not been seen since and his daughter issued a statement saying that she 'cared for' him, while Kensington Palace said there were no plans for her and Prince Harry to visit him in Rosarito, Mexico, where he lives. That led to social media discussion about the nature of Meghan's relationship with her father and its contrast to her obvious closeness to her mother, Doria Ragland, with whom she was spending Friday night at the luxury Cliveden Hotel close to Windsor Castle where she weds Saturday. Michael Markle said, however, that there was no doubt about the father-daughter bond and said he himself remembered the first time he saw Meghan. 'She must've been four or five years old,' says the uncle. 'I was living in Northern California at the time and I went to see my brother in Hollywood. 'Meghan was riding a tricycle around the house. She was very little, but very attractive already. 'My brother was always devoted to her. Maybe because she was the little one.' And he did thank Prince Charles for offering to walk Meghan down the aisle in the absence of her father saying: 'That was a very generous offer.' In common with every member of his family, Michael was not invited to the St George's Chapel ceremony. He said he feared that the actions of Thomas Markle Jr, Meghan's half-brother, and her half-sister Samantha Markle, had led to the situation. Both have spoken scathingly of the 36-year-old royal bride and in her brother's case, first begged for an invitation, then scorned her in an ugly public letter when none was forthcoming. 'I don't know why I wasn't invited,' Michael Markle - the eldest member of the family - said. Thomas Markle Snr. with Meghan as a baby. His brother Michael told DailyMail.com: 'My brother was always devoted to her. Maybe because she was the little one.' 'That's just how it is. I think the rebellious side of the Markle family affected the rest of us. 'Meghan's brother and sister haven't been really kind, and you have to wonder if that's why most of us in the States weren't invited.' Michael called it 'a long step' for the Markle family to end up tied to the British royals. Prince Philip WILL go to the royal wedding The Duke of Edinburgh is to attend the royal wedding to see his grandson Prince Harry marry Meghan Markle, Buckingham Palace has said. Philip, 96, has been recovering after undergoing a hip operation. The Duke was spotted at the Royal Windsor Horse Show last week - the first public sighting of the Queen's consort since he left hospital last month. The Duke was taken to the private King Edward VII hospital in central London on April 3, for surgery to replace his joint with a prosthetic implant. He underwent the planned procedure the following day and left hospital on April 13. The duke, who retired from royal duties in August 2017, has since continued his recovery in Windsor. His appearance at tomorrow's wedding will please the royal fans, with whom he is extremely poplar. Advertisement 'We're from a small town in Pennsylvania,' he said. 'My dad was a government worker and we were in the middle class. Not poor, but not rich. But nowhere close to anything royal.' Michale Markle himself was a career foreign service officer in the State Department, served as a communications specialist in embassies throughout the world, who came to play a part in his niece's career. When stationed in Argentina he smoothed the way for her to works as a State Department intern, helping her double major in foreign relations at Northwestern University in Illinois. His time in the diplomatic service meant that he would have enjoyed a trip to London, a city he has visited a dozen times. 'I've gone to live theater shows,' he says, 'and I love the corned beef sandwiches at Harrod's. That's worth the trip in itself.' However at 78, he said he has no desire to get up at 4 a.m. to start watching the broadcast - Florida is five hours behind Windsor. 'It's a little early for me. I usually wake up about 8 a.m. So, I'll record the whole thing and I might watch some of it later,' he said. 'But,' he says in a softer tone of voice, 'those things can get boring after a while with the horses and all that stuff. 'If my wife were alive she passed away six years ago she'd be up at 4 a.m. 'And my mom, Meghan's grandmother, would be very excited about this. She would be shocked. But Meghan was very close to her. She went to see her grandmother once a week in California.' A court in south-west China is naming and shaming stubborn debtors by showing their pictures and personal information on the big screen in the cinema. The 'trailer of shame' has been played in theatres of Sichuan province's Hejiang County since Sunday in a move to guilt borrowers who have failed to pay off debts in legal cases. The measure was implemented by The People's Court of Hejiang County, which posted the video on their official Weibo account. A cinema in China has started to name and shame debtors in preview clips before the main film The names and faces of 26 debt defaulters are edited into a clip, which has been shown as part of the preview in more than 30 movie screenings per day at Chuanyuan Cinema. 'We have successfully brought these "laolais" to the big screen!', using the Chinese derogatory term for borrowers who fail to pay money back. The 50-second clip shows an animated narrator explaining the concept of 'laolai' to the viewer. 'Everybody, come look at these "laolais",' says the narrator in a Sichuan dialect. 'These people borrowed money but never paid off their debts.' 'Shame on them!' the narrator continues. The clip then proceeds to show everyone in the audience the debtors' names, their faces and the crimes they were involved in. 'Pay up and the courts will cross your name off the blacklist,' the video urged. 'The defaulters' information were edited into a cartoon format so that it can catch the viewer's attention,' director of enforcement for Hejiang's courts Li Qiang said. 'Everybody, come look at these "laolais",' says the animated narrator in a Sichuan dialect The animation then explains what is a 'laolai' - borrowers who fail to pay money back The names and faces of 26 debt defaulters are edited into a clip shown as part of the preview The court also specifically chose to expose the names of debtors whose household registration were in that area of the cinema for more effective results. The defaulters are also named on posters on local buses as well as outdoor billboards in crowded shopping districts in Sichuan. The court added that it has approved several new measures to intensify its crackdown on offenders, vowing to bring these 'laolais' to justice. The Chinese government has been trying hard to get late payers to fulfill their legal obligations. Official figures in April showed courts in China have publicly listed information on more than 10.5 million people who have failed to pay back loans, according to South China Morning Post. Last August, the provinces of Hubei, Henan and Jiangsu worked with telecom operators to attach pre-recorded messages on the debtors' phone numbers to pressure them to pay their fines, according to China Daily. When someone rings one of the debtors they would hear a message telling them that the person they are calling has been put on a blacklist by the courts for failing to repay debts. Once on the blacklist, debtors in China are banned from purchasing seats that are business class or above during travels, according to the Supreme Court. They are also forbidden to purchase real estate, send his or her children to private schools, or buy expensive insurance products. Grief in open waters Im sitting by an open window, watching how the morning light filters in, feeling the brisk accent in the wind.... Remember When Last week I was talking about grocery stores and box stores we all used to go to, so I thought... Not all who wander are lost If youre a fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (like I am), then youre probably familiar with one... Remember When How America was settled is a passion of mine, since part of my family got here in the 1600s from... Two students in China have brutally killed a mother dog and burned its puppies alive, sparking a public outrage. Sickening footage of the burning of the dogs has been widely shared on social media since Wednesday. One of the pupils claimed he had been bitten by the mother dog, so he decided to torture it and its puppies as revenge, according to reports. Teenagers filmed themselves abusing a puppy before burning it to death in east China (left). The pair were said to have killed a total of 10 puppies in an act of revenge (right) Both students, male and aged 16, have been given a verbal warning by the school. The clip was initially shared among several closed chatting groups of Xuzhou. An animal rights group, Pets Adoption Centre, became aware of the incident on May 16 after receiving reports from residents who had seen the five-minute-long video. After investigation, the animal right group found out the teenagers in the video were pupils from Xuzhou No. 13 Middle School. The investigation also showed they had tortured 11 dogs, including one mother dog and 10 puppies. Footage showed the teenagers kicking a puppy as it whined and cried for help. One teen can be heard saying: 'Raised by a b****.' They then poured gasoline onto the black pooch and set it on fire. After the video was reposted to social media and became viral, the web users became outraged. Dozens of local residents reportedly gathered outside the school and the students' homes, demanding an explanation on the matter. The local Quan Shan Police launched an investigation into the incident yesterday; while the pupils' school also set up a team to look into the matter. 'We have contacted the students and their parents and gave them each a verbal warning. The students expressed their deep regrets and sincere apologies for their wrongdoings,' a school statement from yesterday said. Sickening footage shows the black pooch whining as the two teenagers kick it repeatedly (left). Afterwards, they poured gasoline on the puppy before setting it on fire (right) One teenager said 'raised by a b****' as he saw the newborn puppy struggling to walk (left). He then kicked the lifeless dog at the end of the video (right) Jason Baker, vice president at PETA Asia, condemned the shocking incident. Mr Baker said the teachers should educate the students on proper principles of ethics and moral values. He also urged the police to monitor the school in order to stop further violence from its students towards animals. While China has legislation safeguarding land-based and aquatic wildlife, it currently lacks legislation protecting animal welfare or preventing cruelty to animals. In September 2009, animal rights activists and legal experts began circulating a draft Law on the Protection of Animals and in 2010, a draft Law on the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the State Council's consideration, according to Human Rights in China, a Chinese non-governmental organisation based in New York. The draft proposes a fine of up to 6,000 yuan (696) and two weeks' detention for those found guilty of animal cruelty, according to China Daily. Aurora, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland, Waffle House. All have witnessed gun violence carried out by a killer brandishing an AR-15 or AR-15-style assault weapon, America's weapon of choice for mass shootings. Dubbed 'America's Most Popular Rifle' by the NRA, it is estimated that there are eight million of the powerful - and affordable - weapons across the nation. It is accurate, relatively lightweight and has low recoil. Gun experts claim the reason mass shooters gravitate towards AR-15s is mainly due to a 'copy cat' mentality as opposed to more precise gun knowledge. June 20, 2012: James Holmes, 24, uses an AR-15-style .223-caliber Smith and Wesson rifle with 100-round magazine, among other firearms to kill 12 and injure 58 while dressed as The Joker from Batman at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. December 14, 2012: Adam Lanza, 20, shoots dead 20 children between the age of six and seven, as well as six members of staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Prior to driving to the school he shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. Amongst his arsenal was a Bushmaster AR-15, where he fired off more than 150 rounds in less than five minutes. December 2, 2015: Syed Rizwyan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, use two AR-15-style .223-caliber Remington rifles and two 9mm handguns to kill 14 and injure 21 as his workplace in San Bernardino, California, before being killed by police. June 12, 2016: Omar Mateen, 29, bursts into the Orlando Pulse nightclub, using an AR-15-style rifle - a Sig Sauer MCX - as well as a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol to kill 49 and injure 50. October 1, 2017: Stephen Paddock, 64, uses a wide arsenal of guns, including an AR-15 to kill 58 and injure hundreds more at a music festival in Las Vegas. He doesn't even have to leave his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay hotel which overlooks the festival to carry out the worst mass shooting in US history. He commits suicide in the room. November 5, 2017: Devin Kelley, 26 uses an AR-15 style Ruger rifle to kill 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, before being killed. February 14, 2018: Nikolas Cruz, 19, uses an AR-15-style rifle to kill at least 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Cruz is captured and is currently awaiting trial. April 22, 2018: Travis Reinking, 29, armed with an AR-15-style rifle opens fire on a Waffle House in Tennessee, killing four people and injuring two more. He is prevented from killing more by James Shaw Jr, who hid near the restaurant's bathrooms and rushed the shooter, wrestling the rifle away. The gunman is captured 24 hours later. Advertisement A team of archaeologists at Pompeii has uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues. Archaeologists excavating an unexplored part of Italy's volcanic ash-covered city of Pompeii have discovered a street of houses with intact balconies that were buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Some of the balconies even had amphorae - the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times. The discovery has been hailed as a 'complete novelty' - and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public. Scroll down for video Archeologists inspect excavation works in the archaeological site of Pompeii, Thursday, May 17, 2018. Archaeologists excavating an unexplored part of Pompeii have discovered a street of houses with intact balconies that were buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The culture ministry's Pompeii authority announced the discovery Thursday. It said the balconies were a 'complete novelty' for this part of the buried city, which hasn't yet been fully excavated. Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six metres of ash and volcanic rubble. A handout photo made available by The Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Naples and Pompeii (SANP) shows aerial view of the excavation works at the archaeological site of Pompeii, where the 'Vicolo dei Balconi' (Alley of Balconies) was recently uncovered in Pompeii, Italy, 17 May 2018. The Alley of Balconies was uncovered in previously unexcavated area in Pompeii. Uncovered buildings with big balconies have Pompeian red colors and geometric, flowers and animal decorations. Almost two thousand years after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the buildings will be restored and will become a part of a route at the Pompeii. Left, a general view of the excavation works at the archaeological site of Pompeii. Right, An amphora recovered during excavation works at the 'Vicolo dei Balconi' (Alley of Balconies) was recently uncovered A statement said the balconies will be restored and the area included in a tour open to the public. 'This type of find is a novelty for this area of Pompeii,'a spokesperson for the archaeological site said in a statement shared to social media. 'Almost two thousand years from the eruption of 79 AD, Pompeii continues to give us treasures.' Archaeologists found a series of buildings with three large balconies, in an area of Regio V which has been the focus of excavations. 'On one of the balconies we have also discovered toppled over wine amphorae, which were likely left out to dry in the sun,' the team said. 'The balconies will be restored and included in an all new visitor itinerary which will connect Via di Nola with Vicolo delle Nozze d'Argento,' they added. Massimo Osanna, Superintendent of the Special Superintendency for the archaeological heritage of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia shows a bronze vase discovered during excavation works at the archaeological site of Pompeii, where the 'Vicolo dei Balconi' (Alley of Balconies) was recently uncovered in Pompeii, Italy, 17 May 2018. The Alley of Balconies was uncovered in previously unexcavated area in Pompeii. Uncovered buildings with big balconies have Pompeian red colors and geometric, flowers and animal decorations. Almost two thousand years after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the buildings will be restored and will become a part of a route at the Pompeii. A man points at a detail of a fresco that was found during excavation works in the archaeological site of Pompeii, Thursday, May 17, 2018. Archaeologists excavating an unexplored part of Pompeii have discovered a street of houses with intact balconies that were buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Right, jaguar painted on tiles recovered during excavation works at the archaeological site of Pompeii, where the 'Vicolo dei Balconi' (Alley of Balconies) was recently uncovered 'A series of buildings with three large balconies have emerged in an area now being excavated. 'On one of the balconies, pots of wine lying on their side [were also found, which were] probably put out to dry in the sun,' the statement continued. Experts will now restore the houses, which will be open to the public as part of a new tour route at the popular site once the necessary work has been completed. A column with overlaid marble emerged from the ground during excavation works at the archaeological site of Pompeii, where the 'Vicolo dei Balconi' (Alley of Balconies) was recently uncovered in Pompeii, Italy, 17 May 2018. The Alley of Balconies was uncovered in previously unexcavated area in Pompeii. Details of frescos that were found during excavation works in the archaeological site of Pompeii, Thursday, May 17, 2018. Archaeologists excavating an unexplored part of Pompeii have discovered a street of houses with intact balconies that were buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Earlier this week the ancient remains of a military horse that died 2,000 years ago in the inferno that obliterated Pompeii were discovered - thanks to the help of tomb raiders. Criminals had been using tunnels they dug to search for valuables in the ruins of a Roman villa, located in a suburb of the long destroyed city. Amphoras recovered during excavation works at the archaeological site of Pompeii, where the 'Vicolo dei Balconi' (Alley of Balconies) The Alley of Balconies was uncovered in previously unexcavated area in Pompeii. Uncovered buildings with big balconies have Pompeian red colors and geometric, flowers and animal decorations. Almost two thousand years after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the buildings will be restored and will become a part of a route at the Pompeii. Their work prompted conservators of the Unesco world heritage site to start their own digs, in order to put a stop to their activities and protect its remaining artefacts. Researchers used laser scanning to map a 200ft (60m) long network of illegal tunnels dug by the robbers and began excavating. They recreated the complete outline of the horse they discovered using plaster casting, the first time this has happened at the site. The remains of humans, mules, donkeys and other animals that were victims of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius' in AD 78 have previously been restored using the technique. Mozart lived a flamboyant life full of luxury foods and heavy drinking. At least that's the claim of some historians who believe the famous composer was an alcoholic who relied on booze to aid his creativity. But an academic from the London-based Royal College of Surgeons is now hoping to restore Mozart's reputation. In his new book, 'That Jealous Demon: My Wretched Health', Dr Jonathan Noble argues that Mozart is simply the victim of gossip and there is no evidence he was an alcoholic. In fact, he says alcoholism was an 'extremely rare condition' among composers. There is 'no way you can go around composing operas, symphonies or string quartets' if you are a true alcoholic, he claims. Scroll down for video The final portrait of Mozart (pictured), painted in 1790, shows the 33-year-old composer's puffy and blotched face, with many speculating that he had succumbed to alcoholism Jonathan Noble, fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, initially set out to write a book about illnesses that afflicted great composers. However, his research based on post-mortem reports and medical notes revealed that few suffered the conditions attributed to them. 'Maybe alcoholism inspires great poetry, but with music you come to a very different conclusion', Dr Noble told the Telegraph.. Despite the claims of their biographers, Dr Noble said he found no evidence Mozart, Schubert, Brahms or Beethoven had problems with alcohol. 'I started out really writing about illnesses and trying to find out what these composers actually did die of, but it soon became apparent many didn't have any diagnosis, their conditions were just hearsay,' he said. Dr Noble said that alcoholism was a rare condition that was 'inconsistent with serious, sustained musical composition'. Mozart suffered illness throughout his life, including kidney disease, smallpox, typhoid fever, tonsillitis and strep throat. Many have speculated over Mozarts death at the age of 35. He was buried just three days after he died in 1791, and no autopsy was ever performed. As well as dismissing claims about alcoholism, Dr Noble said that there were further unfounded claims about French composer Maurice Ravel and British composer Benjamin Britten (pictured) suffering from syphilis According to the retired surgeon and author, claims about Ravel's (pictured) condition came from a single nurse who had seen his blood report after he died As well as dismissing claims about alcoholism, Dr Noble said that there were further unfounded claims about French composer Maurice Ravel and British composer Benjamin Britten suffering from syphilis. According to the retired surgeon and author, claims about Ravel's condition came from a single nurse who had seen his blood report after he died. Britten's medical notes suggest he had a diseased heart valve, not syphilis. The playwright's doctor speculated that he acquired the reputation of an alcoholic because he liked a 'stiff drink before dinner'. Dr Noble's book That Jealous Demon: My Wretched Health is published by Boydell & Brewer. In it, Dr Noble says he wants to do justice to the reputations of composers who have been 'sullied' by unfounded claims about their health. Teenagers regularly use emojis in their text messages and social media - but the digital icons are now appearing in pupils' lessons as well. Some teachers believe that adopting the images - which reflect emotions ranging from grinning to sad faces - help improve youngsters' learning in the classroom. However, other educators argue that their regular use in lessons is a 'moral failing', which could damage pupils' chances of long-term educational success. Teenagers regularly use emojis in their text messages and social media - but the digital icons are now appearing in pupils' lessons as well Charlotte Hodgson, an English teacher at Avonbourne College in Bournemouth, Dorset, has revealed that emojis are 'embedded' in her department's schemes of work. She told the Times Educational Supplement: 'Everyone in the English department is using them. 'I've had classes plot the entire summary of a scene in emojis and then they put them on to a graph to show the tension the characters are feeling, and they find quotations to illustrate this, so it builds to become higher-level learning as well.' Ms Hodgson said emojis had particularly helped her Year Seven class, with pupils aged 11 to 12, to engage with Shakespeare. She said: 'I've just taught A Midsummer Night's Dream and, when we've read a bit of the scene, they summarise it in two main emojis and then have to explain it. 'The emojis are not used by themselves - there is always some kind of verbal or written explanation that then allows you to check the pupils' literacy, writing skills or speech skills. The emojis just give them a starting point that they understand.' She claims that emoji use leads to higher understanding, engagement and learning among students. They also help pupils who have English as an additional language. Emojis originate from Japan, with the first one invented by Shigetaka Kurita in 1999. He worked for mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo and realised that digital communication was void of the ability to convey emotion At a secondary school in Stockton-on-Tees, modern foreign languages teacher Luca Kuhlman also argues that emojis are an invaluable aid in his classroom. 'Wherever possible, I take out the English words in a text and replace them with an emoji, so they associate the French with an image rather than with an English translation,' he told the TES. 'If you can eliminate as much English as possible, they don't need much explanation. 'For example, the one with the sunglasses usually means 'cool'. And what's great is that there are always more emojis being released - I always look forward to a new update because I just like using them.' But Jon Brunskill, a Year Four teacher of children aged eight to nine at Reach Academy Feltham, West London, points out that it is only with an understanding of how to use standard written English that pupils can then be creative with language. He said: 'I'd put my money on children being better able to be creative by using standard written English than by not using standard written English and for lots of children, the only shot they get at learning standard English is in school. 'If a teacher said, 'I know how to use standard spoken English, of course I do - I've got a degree, it's how I got this lovely job and can pay my mortgage on a lovely house, but I'm not going to give it to you guys because I think it will be fun to use emojis for a few years', I think that's a moral failing.' Clare Sealy, headteacher at St Matthias School in East London, added: 'As educators, we have not a single minute to waste teaching trivia, such as emojis. How will such learning help bridge the word gap? 'How can we help disadvantaged children gain the sorts of powerful knowledge that children in, say, the top public schools have? Not by devoting precious curriculum time to the detritus of youth sub-culture. That would be fiddling while Rome burns.' She went on: 'Who uses emojis in a professional context? When was the last time that your doctor sent you an emoji? Or your lawyer or bank manager? ARE EMOJIS RUINING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE? Emojis may be a fun form of communication but they are destroying the English language, a recent study by Google has revealed. Smiley faces, love hearts, thumbs up and other cartoon icons - rather than words - are the preferred method of communication by teenagers, who are considered the worst offenders regarding the decline in grammar and punctuation. More than a third of British adults believe emojis are the reason for the deterioration in proper language usage, according to the study commissioned by the Google-owned site YouTube. Emojis were first used by Japanese mobile phone companies in the late 1990s to express an emotion, concept or message in a simple, graphic way. Now, Twitter feeds, text messages and Facebook posts are crammed with them Of the two thousand adults, aged 16 to 65, who were asked their views, 94 per cent reckoned English was in a state of decline, with 80 per cent citing youngsters as the worst offenders. The most common errors made by Brits are spelling mistakes (21 per cent), followed closely by apostrophe placement (16 per cent) and the misuse of a comma (16 per cent). More than half of British adults are not confident with their command of spelling and grammar, the study also found. Furthermore, around three-quarters of adults rely on emoji to communicate, in addition to a dependence on predictive text and spell checking. The use of emojis has seeped into our culture to such an extent that the Oxford Dictionary's 'Word of the Year' in 2015 wasn't actually a word at all - it was the Face With Tears emoji, which shows just how influential the little graphic images have become. They were first used by Japanese mobile phone companies in the late 1990s to express an emotion, concept or message in a simple, graphic way. Advertisement 'For personal use, children learn these sorts of communication much better from one another. 'In fact, it is hard to stop them. It strikes me as trying to be 'down with the kids'.' Anthony Radice, assistant headteacher at Great Yarmouth Charter Academy, said: 'My role is to introduce my students to things they're not already familiar with, and Year Sevens are not very familiar with great works of literature. 'Actually, they're very familiar with things like emojis, so isn't it a waste of class time to be giving them what they've already got?' Emojis originate from Japan, with the first one invented by Shigetaka Kurita in 1999. He worked for mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo and realised that digital communication was void of the ability to convey emotion. The emoji, which combines the Japanese words for 'picture' ('e') and 'character' ('moji'), was born. Advertisement The world's first independent floating nation which will launch in the Pacific Ocean in 2022 will operate outside of government regulations using its own 'Vayron' cryptocurrency. The plans will see the sea-bound city state, with 300 homes as well as a handful of hotels, restaurants, offices and more, built in the Pacific Ocean off the island of Tahiti. Bankrolled by PayPal founder Peter Thiel, the 37 million ($50 million) project is a pilot program in partnership with the government of Polynesia and is championed by a movement of academics, philanthropists and investors. In a new interview, Nathalie Mezza-Garcia, a political scientist and researcher for the Floating Island Project, says the island's residents will be free of 'fluctuating geopolitical influences and trade issues' and claimed the nation could one day house refugees displaced by climate change. Scroll down for video The world's first independent floating nation that operates outside of government regulations using its own cryptocurrency is set to launch by 2022. The plans will see the sea-bound city state (artist's impression), with 300 homes as well as a handful of hotels, restaurants, offices and more, built in the Pacific Ocean off the island of Tahiti Speaking to CNBC, Ms Mezza-Garcia, a researcher at Warwick University, said: 'There is significance to this project being trialed in the Polynesian Islands. This is the region where land is resting on coral and will disappear with rising sea levels. 'Once we can see how this first island works, we will have a proof of concept to plan for islands to house climate refugees.' The scheme is the creation of the nonprofits Seasteading Institute and Blue Froniters, which alongside Thiel's investment fund the project through philanthropic donations via tokens of their own cryptocurrency, Vayron. The radical plans are expected to be completed by 2022 and cost as much as 37 million ($50 million). The island's structures will feature 'green roofs' covered with vegetation and construction will use local bamboo, coconut fibre, wood and recycled metal and plastic. It could see the creation of an independent nation that floats in international waters and operates within its own laws to 'liberate humanity from politicians', according to the Seasteading Institute. Bankrolled by PayPal founder Peter Thiel, the 37 million ($50 million) project is a pilot program in partnership with the government of Polynesia and is championed by a movement of academics, philanthropists and investors A number of the island's dozen non-residential buildings are designed to function as business centres, allowing companies to work outside of government regulations. 'This means there is stability, outside of fluctuating geopolitical influences, trade issues and currency fluctuations - it's the perfect incubator,' Ms Mezza-Garcia said. She added that the project is an exciting prospect for those disenchanted with the politicial sphere of today. The scheme is the creation of the nonprofit Seasteading Institute, which hopes to 'liberate humanity from politicians'. This image shows how the artificial island will blend in with nature Nathalie Mezza-Garcia, a political scientist and researcher for the Floating Island Project, says the island's residents will be free of 'fluctuating geopolitical influences and trade issues'. The island has been designed to take into account swell, the wind, sunlight and even the position of the stars 'If you don't want to live under a particular government, 'people will be able to just take their house and float away to another island,' Ms Mezza-Garcia said. The Seasteading Institute, co-founded by Paypal founder Peter Thiel, has spent the past five years creating designs for 'permanent, innovative communities floating at sea', joining up with Blue Frontiers - a new startup that specialises in building floating islands - last year. Blue Froniters released concept images of the French Polynesia project in December 2017. The scheme is the creation of the nonprofits Seasteading Institute and Blue Froniters, which fund the project through philanthropic donations via tokens of their own cryptocurrency, dubbed Varyon. This artist's impression shows how dwellings on the island might look Hills and mountains, the shape of reefs and other underwater landmarks, as well as the rising and setting of the sun, moon and stars are reflected in the design. This image shows how the floating island will look from the shore of nearby Tahiti WHO ARE THE 'SEASTEADERS'? Seasteaders are a diverse global team of marine biologists, nautical engineers, aquaculture farmers, medical researchers, investors, environmentalists, and artists according to The Seasteading Institute's website. They plan to build floating islands, or seasteads to host aquaculture farms, floating healthcare, medical research islands, and sustainable energy powerhouses. 'Our goal is to maximise entrepreneurial freedom to create blue jobs to welcome anyone to the Next New World,' the group writes on its website. The Institute was founded in 2008 by PayPal founder, Peter Thiel and activist, software engineer and political economic theorist Patri Friedman, who is the grandson of Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman. Mr Theil, a venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal, has funnelled $1.25 million ($812,920) into the Institute and has previously called Seasteading an 'open frontier for experimenting with new ideas for government'. Advertisement The designs took inspiration from the rich Polynesian culture, in particular from traditional navigation, which is based on the observation and knowledge of natural elements. The world's first floating city is set to appear in the Pacific Ocean off the island of Tahiti In a written statement, a spokesman for the Seasteading Institute said: 'During several visits to French Polynesia and after getting acquainted with the environment and the local contexts, one thing was sure, the project has to blend into its environment. 'To achieve this, local environmental characteristics, climate, ecology and cultural context have all been studied and play a major role in the process. 'The project, however, doesn't only want to not hurt the existing environment, the vision of the Blue Frontiers [is to] facilitate the development of more conscious and balanced settlements at sea where humans can peacefully coexist with the environment and with each other.' The overall shape of the construction reflected the pattern of a fish hook, an ancestral tool that symbolises the actions of the demigod Maui. The radical plans, bankrolled by PayPal founder Peter Thiel, could see the creation of an independent 'start-up country' that will float in international waters and operate within its own laws Hills and mountains, the shape of reefs and other underwater landmarks, as well as the rising and setting of the sun, moon and stars were reflected in the design. Small platforms with villas would be aligned to the path of the stars of the Sirius, or Rua faupapa, star system, according to the plans. Larger platforms with mixed-use buildings aligned to the celestial pillar Pou, starting from the main platform, the 'star headlight' or Ta'urua, and ending by the guide star Avei'a, passing through the zenith of the floating island. Other elements of navigation were taken into account in the urban planning. French Polynesia, a collection of 118 islands in the southern Pacific, is interested in the project as the area is at risk from rising sea levels Draft legislation will be drawn up this year and construction is expected to begin in 2019. Floating islands would feature aquaculture farms, healthcare, medical research facilities, and sustainable energy powerhouses The larger platforms would be oriented according to the prevailing wind direction, in order to create calmer wave conditions behind them. The project aims to include Polynesian culture in the design and detailing of buildings and other structures. Local construction techniques and materials would be blended with modern technologies to fulfil contemporary needs while preserving continuity with tradition. Speaking in November, Joe Quirk, president of the Seasteading Institute, said he wanted to see 'thousands' of rogue floating cities by 2050, each of them 'offering different ways of governance'. The first city would be built on a network of 11 rectangular and five-sided platforms so the city could be rearranged according to its inhabitants' needs like a floating jigsaw, Joe Quirk, spokesman for the project explained last year A feasibility report by Dutch engineering firm Deltasync in January 2017 said the square and pentagon platforms would measure 164ft (50metres) in length and they would have 164 ft-tall (50 metre) sides to protect buildings and residents 'Governments just don't get better,' Mr Quirk told the New York Times. 'They're stuck in previous centuries. That's because land incentives a violent monopoly to control it.' First revealed in January, the plans have been approved by the French Polynesian government, which is now creating a special economic zone so the floating nation can operate under its own trade laws. The tiny nation, a collection of 118 islands in the southern Pacific with a population just over 200,000, has granted the Seasteading Institute 100 acres of beachfront to operate from. French Polynesia is interested in the project as the area is at risk from rising sea levels. Google may have faked a recent demo of its new AI assistant in which the software was shown to fool a hair salon receptionist into thinking it was human. The software, dubbed Duplex, debuted at a Google conference last week when it was tasked to book a hair appointment over the phone in front of a live audience. During the demo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said: 'What you're going to hear is the Google Assistant actually calling a real salon to schedule an appointment for you.' Duplex seemingly put on such a good impression of a human that the person it called failed to notice they were speaking to a robot. The creepy demo made headlines across the world, but a new report suggests that Google faked the phone call and misled viewers and investors. News site Axios highlights that a number of things about the call, such as a lack of ambient noise at the salon, point to a falsified or edited recording. Google's press team has repeatedly refused to hand over the name of the salon that Duplex called, it said. Scroll down for video Google may have faked a recent demo of its new AI assistant in which the software was shown to fool a hair salon receptionist into thinking it was human. During the demo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai (right) said the AI was 'actually calling a real salon to schedule an appointment' Two calls were played during the demo, one to a salon and another to a restaurant. Google said both businesses were based near its headquarters in Mountain View, California. Neither of the 'employees' who answered Duplex's calls identified the business they were speaking from, nor did they give their own names. When the hair salon picked up, a woman said, 'Hello, how can I help you?', while the worker answered with: 'Hi, may I help you?' Axios called over two dozen hair salons and restaurants, including several in Mountain View, and every one answered by giving the business name. It also outlined that neither employee asked for the customer's phone number or other contact information - a common practice for most businesses. Duplex debuted at a conference last week when it was tasked to book a hair appointment over the phone in front of a live audience. Pictured is the screen shown to the audience during the demo, in which the receptionist seemingly failed to notice she was speaking to a robot The phone calls lacked ambient noise, such as clattering plates or hair dryers, which Axios said it heard in most of the businesses it called. Multiple Google spokespeople refused to give the name of either business, and would not comment on whether the call was edited. The company did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment. WHAT IS GOOGLE DUPLEX? Duplex is a new tool from Google that aims to use Artificial intelligence (AI) to 'accomplish real-world tasks over the phone', according to Google. It uses Google Assistant to call up businesses and make appointments or book tables for you using a convincing, human-like voice. Little is known about the technology or how it works beyond a brief demo at Google's 2018 developer conference in May. During the demo, Google Assistant dialled up a local hair salon to schedule an appointment. Google wowed onlookers when it demoed a new technology called 'Duplex' that enabled its Google Assistant to make phone calls in real-time with actual humans. Pictured is Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the demo in San Francisco First, a user asked Google Assistant to make them a hair appointment, which prompted Assistant to make the phone call. It sounded like any other women talking, but one half of the conversation was held by Google's AI-infused digital assistant. Google Assistant worked out a time and date for the appointment, even when the salon employee said they were fully booked at the time the Assistant requested. The Assistant replied 'Mhm' in a natural, believable way when the employee asked her to wait a moment. Duplex, which CEO Sundar Pichai said the firm had been working on 'for many years', is still in the early stages of development. The firm has yet to decide how it plans to release the technology. Advertisement Google faced a wave of backlash following the Duplex demo, with many describing the technology as 'unethical' as it tricked people without their knowledge. Following widespread criticism Google was forced to promise it would add disclosures into Duplex during testing this summer. 'We understand and value the discussion around Google Duplex - as we've said from the beginning, transparency in the technology is important,' a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. Two calls were played during the demo, one to a salon and another to a restaurant (pictured). Google said both businesses were based near its headquarters in Mountain View, California The creepy demo made headlines across the world, but a new report suggests that Google faked the phone call and misled viewers and investors. Pictured is Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the demo at the company's developer conference last Tuesday 'We are designing this feature with disclosure built-in, and we'll make sure the system is appropriately identified. What we showed at I/O was an early technology demo, and we look forward to incorporating feedback as we develop this into a product.' Duplex, which CEO Sundar Pichai said the firm has been working on 'for many years', is still in the early stages of development. The firm has yet to decide how it plans to release the technology. Experts say the feature raises a slew of tough ethical questions around how AI and humans will interact as the technology weaves its way into our everyday lives. 'Google Assistant making calls pretending to be human not only without disclosing that it's a bot, but adding 'ummm' and 'aaah' to deceive the human on the other end with the room cheering it...horrifying,' Zeynep Tufecki, a techno-sociologist and professor, wrote on Twitter. 'Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless and has not learned a thing'. Google's Wavenet software is able to detect human voices and turn the soundwaves into sentences. Google has now taken the technology one step further with Duplex, which can now mimic human voices Pichai showed off the new technology at the I/O conference, which kicked off May 8 in Mountain View, California. In the demo, Google Assistant dialled up a local hair salon to schedule an appointment. First, a user asked Google Assistant to make them a hair appointment, which prompted Assistant to make the phone call. It sounded like any other women talking, but one half of the conversation was held by Google's AI-infused digital assistant. Google Assistant worked out a time and date for the appointment, even when the salon employee said they were fully booked at the time the Assistant requested. Google revealed that it's introducing six new voices to its AI Assistant, including singer John Legend (pictured above), whose voice will respond in 'certain contexts', the firm said The Assistant replied 'Mhm' in a natural, believable way when the employee asked her to wait a moment. A second demo showed how Assistant can book a reservation at a restaurant. In a live conversation, Assistant fielded several relevant questions and even knew to ask how long the wait is without being prompted. Assistant then sent a notification to the user to let them know an appointment had been scheduled. During the demo Google Assistant was able to work out a time and date for appointments, even when the salon employee said they were fully booked at the requested time The technology is poised to bring big changes to how we interact with our voice-activated devices, which is why Google executives told CNET that the firm will 'proceed with caution' in rolling out the technology to everyone. Google said it used a combination of natural language processing and machine learning, among other technologies, to develop Duplex. 'The Assistant can actually understand the nuances of conversation,' Pichai explained. 'We are still developing this technology and are working hard to get it right'. Internet payments giant PayPal has revealed that it is buying Swedish financial technology company, iZettle for $2.2 billion (1.6bn). PayPal, which spun-off from ecommerce company, eBay, three years ago, broke the news of the acquisition just over a week after the Swedish start-up revealed it was planning an IPO. 'Small businesses are the engine of the global economy and we are continuing to expand our platform to help them compete and win online, in-store and via mobile,' PayPal chief executive Dan Schulman said in a statement. Schulman said the iZettle merger was a strategic fit for PayPal. The acquisition will see PayPal broaden its reach into new territories such as Brazil, the Nordic markets of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Internet payments giant PayPal has announced that it is buying iZettle for $2.2 billion Combining our assets and expertise with a global industry leader like PayPal allows us to deliver even more value to small businesses to help them succeed in a world of giants, iZettle chief executive Jacob de Geer said in the release. Here is all you need to know about iZettle, including what it does and when it was founded. What is iZettle? iZettle is a financial technology company that handles retail transactions for small businesses through a range of commerce apps and payment card readers. The company was founded in Stockholm in 2010 by Jacob de Geer and Magnus Nilsson, after the formers wife, a sunglasses importer, complained about the difficulty of accepting card payments at a trade fair. According to de Geer this was because traditional card readers were too costly for many sole traders and sole businessmen. Were excited to acquire @iZettle, a leading #SmallBiz commerce platform in Europe & LatAm, expanding our in-store presence & enhancing $PYPLs position as a global one-stop-shop for omnichannel commerce. Learn more: https://t.co/awFFM5jFM3 pic.twitter.com/xcjky5NxKk PayPal Corporate News (@PayPalNews) May 17, 2018 The company launched its first reader in 2011. In February 2012, the company expanded to the Nordics, UK and Germany. The following year it set up operations in Brazil and Mexico. In 2018, the company expects to handle over $6 billion in transactions and take in roughly $165 million in gross revenue. Despite this, the company has yet to turn a profit, saying it expects to reach profitability in 2020. PayPal's iZettle acquisition It was only ten days before PayPal announced its acquisition of iZettle, that the Swedish fintech company was planning to go public. Weve taken a decision as a company to prepare the company for a listing, not really knowing when in time that is, but were doing everything we should as a company to make sure we have our ducks in a row to follow an IPO track, said back in December 2017. Big news - iZettle to join forces with PayPal. Becoming a part of the PayPal family will give us and our merchants an amazing opportunity to grow and expand. Were so excited! Read Jacobs thoughts on the news here: https://t.co/6Pc9eKOTKx pic.twitter.com/881a9TtzGq iZettle (@iZettle) May 17, 2018 While at the time, the company wasnt sure whether it would list on the London or Swedish stock exchange, by May 8, 2018, it was, announcing the latter. Ten days later, PayPal bought it for $2.2 billion. De Geer explained the PayPal decision in a company release: As you might have heard, we were preparing the company for a potential IPO. But plans sometimes change.' Had iZettle gone ahead with an IPO, its value would have been put at slightly more than $1 billion. Late in the IPO process, PayPal got in touch and showed a serious interest in iZettle. The relationship with PayPal is not a new one, in fact weve talked about different ways of working together for years, de Geer added. But this time it very quickly turned into a detailed discussion on how we could benefit from joining forces. And we both realised the great opportunity in doing just that. A 4,000-year-old intact clay urn containing a human cremation has been discovered in a Cornish field in a find described as 'nothing short of a miracle'. The set of burnt human remains were discovered near Looe in south east Cornwall and would have been part of a mysterious Bronze Age ritual ceremony. When digging began, farmers told the researchers that the field had been ploughed in their lifetime, so they were shocked to find the ancient artefact just 10 inches (25cm) below the surface. What has further baffled researchers is that the site appears to have been used into the Middle Ages, suggesting it could have been visited for thousands of years. Scroll down for video Pictured is the 4,000 year old clay pottery urn containing a human cremation. The set of burnt human remains were discovered near Looe in south east Cornwall and would have been part of a mysterious ritual ceremony Lead researcher Dr Catherine Frieman from the Australian National University said she believes there was a large mound over the Bronze Age burial which existed into the Middle Ages. 'This is a sealed, intact cremation so it has the potential to tell us a lot about the cremation rite as it was practised 4,000 years ago', she said. 'We also appear to have some identifiable fragments of bone among the cremated remains so we'll potentially be able to tell a lot about the individual themselves'. Dr Frieman says researchers will be able to work out what gender they were, their possible ages and even where they were from and what they ate. Further analysis could even reveal where the food they ate was coming from and what they ate and drink as a child when their teeth were forming. 'We were so excited to find such a lot of archaeology on the site despite scores of generations of ploughing, but to find an intact clay urn buried 4,000 years ago just 25 centimetres beneath the surface is nothing short of a miracle,' said Dr Frieman. 'This is a very beautiful, very complete burial, and we're very excited,' she said. Other items found include various examples of Cornish Bronze Age pottery, flint tools and two high-quality hammer stones, used to make flint tools. When digging (pictured) began, farmers told the researchers that the field had been ploughed in their lifetime, so researchers were shocked to find the artefact in perfect condition just 10 inches (25cm) below the surface BRONZE AGE BRITAIN: A PERIOD OF TOOLS, POTS AND WEAPONS LASTING NEARLY 1,500 YEARS The Bronze Age in Britain began around 2,000 BC and lasted for nearly 1,500 years. It was a time when sophisticated bronze tools, pots and weapons were brought over from continental Europe. Skulls uncovered from this period are vastly different from Stone Age skulls, which suggests this period of migration brought new ideas and new blood from overseas. Bronze is made from 10 per cent tin and 90 per cent copper, both of which were in abundance at the time. Crete appears to be a centre of expansion for the bronze trade in Europe and weapons first came over from the Mycenaeans in southern Russia. It is widely believed bronze first came to Britain with the Beaker people who lived about 4,500 years ago in the temperate zones of Europe. They received their name from their distinctive bell-shaped beakers, decorated in horizontal zones by finely toothed stamps. The decorated pots are almost ubiquitous across Europe, and could have been used as drinking vessels or ceremonious urns. Believed to be originally from Spain, the Beaker folk soon spread into central and western Europe in their search for metals. Textile production was also under way at the time and people wore wrap-around skirts, tunics and cloaks. Men were generally clean-shaven and had long hair. The dead were cremated or buried in small cemeteries near settlements. This period was followed by the Iron Age which started around 650 BC and finished around 43 AD. Advertisement However, what has puzzled Dr Frieman and her team was the discovery of medieval unaccountable activity on the same site. 'The site has thrown up a big mystery for us because we found what we believe is an entire - albeit crushed - medieval pot from the 12th or 13th century AD, carefully placed under a couple of layers of flat stones', said Dr Frieman. 'It had some cooked food remains adhering to it and we don't know what it's doing there or why.' Researchers say that hundreds of years after the mound was built, someone in the 12th or 13th century came back and dug into it to bury the pot. At the time there were two local monasteries in view of the site so it was strange to have non-Christian activity still active. Other items found at the site (pictured) include various examples of Cornish Bronze Age pottery, flint tools and two high-quality hammer stones, used to make flint tools What has further baffled researchers is that the site, near Looe in Cornwall, appears to have been used into the middle ages, suggesting it could have been visited for thousands of years 'The evidence looks quite ritualistic, but what the ritual was, we don't know,' she said. The team also excavated a round house - an ancient dwelling or land marker nearby, possibly from 500 BC and are trying to deduce possible reasons for the location of the barrow. 'This was a traversed place and regularly visited over the millennia, it affords a sweeping view of the south coast of England and we know that there are a series of Bronze Age shipwrecks off this coast, so this was an important shipping highway in prehistory', said Dr Frieman. The analysis of soil, pollen, flint and other samples is underway but it will probably be a year before a comprehensive story of the find is possible. Volunteers from the Cornwall Archaeological society, the tenant farmers, John and Vanessa Hutchings and the National Trust's regional archaeologist James Parry were involved in the dig. Elon Musk's Boring Company-branded flamethrowers are coming to a doorstep near you. At a Boring Company event on Thursday night, the billionaire tech mogul disclosed that the $500 (351) flamethrowers would start shipping within the next two weeks. Musk, who has already delivered branded hats, also revealed 'superbricks' made from the material excavated from tunnels are coming next, and also recently pledged to made Boring Company branded candy. Scroll down for video At a Boring Company event on Thursday night, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk disclosed that the $500 (351) flamethrowers would start shipping within the next two weeks But don't expect Musk to hand deliver a flamethrower to your door. The firm is using its own delivery vans to deliver the 20,000 flamethrowers sold after encountering 'some delivery challenges,' Musk said at the event. 'They don't like it if you ship things with propane,' Musk explained. ELON MUSK'S 'SUPERBRICKS': WHAT MAKES THEM DIFFERENT? Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk revealed in March that his next venture will involve selling Lego-like blocks made from rocks dug from the Boring Company's tunnels. The Boring Company is working to build an 'autonomous, underground multi-level car system' in Los Angeles, called 'Loop', that will carry passengers at high speeds aboard electric shuttles. A man poses with the Boring Company's snail mascot, Gary, on top of one of the new bricks after a community meeting at which Elon Musk spoke To do this, the firm is digging a network of passageways beneath the city that could eventually number in the thousands. Instead of disposing of leftover earth removed as part of the Boring Company's network of tunnels, Musk plans to recycle it. The Boring Company is working to build an 'autonomous, underground multi-level car system' in Los Angeles, called 'Loop', that will carry passengers at high speeds aboard electric shuttles. One of the Boring Company's two tunnel digging machines is pictured Instead of disposing of leftover earth removed as part of the Boring Company's network of tunnels, Musk plans to recycle it into bricks It's unknown when these bricks will be made available for purchase, but Musk said they would sell them for 'like 10 cents or something like that'. Musk said the bricks are 'stronger and smoother' than traditional cinderblocks and that they're compressed at 'extremely high pressures,' including only a small bit of concrete in each one. He believes the bricks could one day be used to build affordable housing. But in the meantime, consumers can order the Lego-like bricks as kits that can be used to build structures in their backyard. 'First kit set will be ancient Egypt pyramids, Sphinx, temple of Horus, etc', Musk wrote on his Twitter. The company had already hinted at these plans on the FAQ page on its website. 'Buildings have been constructed from Earth for thousands of years including, according to recent evidence, the Pyramids'. 'These bricks can potentially be used as a portion of the tunnel lining itself, which is typically built from concrete', it reads. Advertisement 'But we've got a solution, which is custom delivery to your house or business with a Boring Company delivery van.' 'We're just going to get some vans and people and deliver it to you. It starts in two weeks,' he added. Last December, Musk teased that he would create the 'safest flamethrower ever' after selling 50,000 Boring Company hats. Boring Company founder Elon Musk (pictured) spoke at a company event on Thursday and shared new details about the firm's plans to create a network of tunnels beneath Los Angeles Last December, Musk teased that he would sell the 'safest flamethrower ever'. The $500 product went on sale in January and sold out within hours of becoming available Most people seemed to assume that he was joking. 'I know it's a little off-brand, but kids love it,' Musk continued in a tweet. Within hours of the flamethrower becoming available, orders flooded in by the thousands. In total, Elon Musk's tunneling company has sold 20,000 flamethrowers and raised $7.5 million in the process. Some savvy consumers were even reselling the 'zombie-killing' flamethrowers oneBay for thousands of dollars. The flamethrowers originally cost $500 (351), but some eBay listings priced 'brand new' flamethrowers at upwards of $20,000 (14,164). In a video on Instagram, two Boring Company employees are shown firing up the flamethrowers. Musk also posted a video of him trying out the weapon At Thursday's event, Musk also gave a glimpse into the bricks Boring Company plans to sell next. The Boring Company is working to build an 'autonomous, underground multi-level car system' in Los Angeles, called 'Loop', that will carry passengers at high speeds aboard electric shuttles. To do this, the firm is digging a network of passageways beneath the city that could eventually number in the thousands. Musk has an idea about what the company plans to do with all the dirt dug up in the process. He hopes to reuse the dirt as material for bricks, which could one day be used to build houses. 'We're creating our own concrete segments and we're creating them onsite using dirt from the ground,' Musk explained. A first glimpse of an 'almost done' test tunnel in Los Angeles was shared online by Elon Musk on May 11. The billionaire shared footage of his Boring Company's exploratory excavation, which will be open to the public and offering free rides within months 'These bricks are made by compressing the dirt at extremely high pressures and then adding a small amount of concrete' 'We can sell the bricks for like 10 cents or something like that. And they're really great bricks', he added. Musk went on to say that the bricks are 'stronger and smoother' than traditional cinderblocks. They may even sell them in 'life-size Lego kits' that people can order online, then build iconic structures like the Egyptian pantheon and the Great Sphinx of Giza. 'You can order a kit and build this in your backyard. It seems like a fun way to spend an afternoon,' Musk continued. The company had already hinted at these plans on the FAQ page on its website. 'Buildings have been constructed from Earth for thousands of years including, according to recent evidence, the Pyramids'. 'These bricks can potentially be used as a portion of the tunnel lining itself, which is typically built from concrete', it reads. These aren't the only novelty items that Musk has tried to sell. The Boring Company's proposed route (in red) is from SpaceX in Hawthorne to West Los Angeles passing underneath Sepulveda Boulevard through Culver City. Musk has claimed the tunnel trip will take five minutes, compared to 45 minutes driving in normal LA traffic Musk had claimed he would begin selling flamethrowers in December if his tunnel-digging firm the Boring Company sold 50,000 hats. The Boring Company sold an astonishing 30,000 hats, raking in a total of $600,000, since the item first went on sale in October. When the flamethrowers went on sale, Musk tweeted updates nearly every few minutes or so. 'When the zombie apocalypse happens, you'll be glad you bought a flamethrower,' he tweeted last Saturday. 'Works against hordes of the undead or your money back!' The Boring Company also offered a $30 (21) fire extinguisher, which quickly sold out. Some where selling 'combo packs' of the Boring Company flamethrowers and extinguishers on eBay. Musk said in a tweet on Thursday that each of the flamethrowers would be individually numbered. CAMEROUN :: Cameroon: On Kamto and the Bamileke's Derangement Syndrome Frank Bafelis recent article titled, Le Pr. Maurice Kamto sur le viseurs du prefet des Hauts Plateaux is another testimony of the kamtos derangement syndrome in Cameroon. A conditioned reflex which has already claimed the scalp of the like of Mathias Owona Nguini one of the Biyas regime foremost ideologue. We need to begin by noting that the prefets argument against Prof. Kamto was also an argument against diversity and the diverse perspectives in the presidential race, or an argument for the merits of the individual candidate, but an effort to sell that the proliferation of the Bamileke presidential candidate and the notion that, just by being Bamileke, these people were bringing division into the presidential race. Leaving aside the argument that by interfering into the presidential race, the prefet is overstepping his authority and he is in total and flagrant dereliction of duties by openly flag-waving for the Biyas regime, the truth is that Cameroon never had a Bamileke president, how does the prefet know that by running for president the Bamileke candidates are sowing division into the country? The fact that many Bamilekes ran for the presidential office before and that did not lead to civil war, on what basis the prefet can argue that they are sowing division? The only answer is that the prefet is gaslighting, which is finding a target, forcing a toxic narrative on the people and forcing them to choose sides through enforced loyalty, intimidation and threats. Thus, in this vile tactic, he sees tribes and tribal men but fail to see bamileke people as Cameroonian citizens and as citizen, bamileke have the right to run for president like any other Cameroonian citizen. Thus, what we indeed witness is hate speech masquerading as saving democracy and preserving the peace. The prefet should at least be reprimanded by his hierarchy but that does not seem to be in the cards since the regime in place thrives on the manipulation and exploitation of tribalism. More, instead of attacking the mechanic of the gigantic infrastructure producing inequality, tribalism has become a commodity with a sense of entitlement. A worldview where some tribes are entitled to power and others are not is a recipe for disaster because it creates a de facto second-class citizenship and refuses to extend freedom and dignity to all. Thus, the central question becomes how to eliminate tribalism, which has no biological basis out of politics in Cameroon? Do not laugh at tribal, racist, sexist, ageist, homophobic and other stereotypical jokes or assumptions. By laughing, you are acknowledging the joke is. Second, people need to understand and recognize their own privilege. In addition, how that understanding is crucial to dismantle institutional discrimination by tackling the link between power, privilege and discrimination and breaking up our unhealthy dependency on corrupt and rotten institutions. The Committee For The Release of Political Prisoners (CL2P) http://www.cl2p.org As Hawaii residents deal with the devastating effects of the eruption of the Kilauea volcano, a US Geological Service map has revealed the other US hotspots where residents are at risk of volcanic activity. The United States Geological Survey counts 169 potentially active volcanoes in the country, with about 50 of them in six states are rated high priority or highest priority for monitoring. Alaska tops the at risk areas, with at least 50 volcanoes that have been active since 1760, attracting substantial attention from volcano watchers and researchers. Scroll down for the interactive map Lava is blurred as it erupts from a Kilauea volcano fissure, above treetops, on Hawaii's Big Island on May 17, 2018 in Kapoho, Hawaii. The United States Geological Survey counts 169 potentially active volcanoes in the country, with about 50 of them in six states are rated high priority or highest priority for monitoring. THE US VOLCANO RISK TOP TEN Here are the 10 most dangerous volcanic mountains in the U.S. 1. Kilauea, Hawaii 2. Mount St. Helens, Washington 3. Mount Rainier, Washington 4. Mount Hood, Oregon 5. Mount Shasta, California 6. South Sister, Oregon 7. Lassen Volcanic Center, California 8. Mauna Loa, Hawaii 9. Redoubt, Alaska 10. Crater Lake, Oregon Source : U.S. Geological Survey Advertisement The at risk Alaskan areas are are concentrated along the arc of the Aleutian Islands, which is part of the 'Ring of Fire' around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and eruptions are most common. Most observed volcanic activity takes place along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region around the Pacific Ocean where several tectonic plates meet, causing earthquakes and a chain of what geologists call subduction zone volcanoes. Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have a yellow alert in effect for Mount Cleveland, where they have been detecting seismic and thermal activity and occasional ash clouds. Around the globe today, about 800m people live within 100km, and 29m within 10km of active volcanoes. In Hawaii, scientist's predictions from eight days ago of powerful steam-driven explosions at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano have come true, as they say eruptions are likely to continue. Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted Thursday and sent ash spewing 30,000 feet into the sky before raining down on a nearby town, with residents being warned to shelter in place as the dusty plume engulfs the island. Experts say the explosive ballistic displays could go on for weeks - and they don't know when it's going to stop. THE INTERACTIVE VOLCANO MAP Fact-box text To use the map, use your mouse to see your area. The Volcanoes and Current Activity Alerts map shows the location and activity levels of all volcanoes in the United States. The map allows for filtering based on both location and current volcano status. Each volcano is depicted by a small colored triangle with different colors indicating various volcano alert levels: Green = normal Yellow = advisory Orange = watch Red = warning Users can click on individual volcanoes to see that volcano's page on the USGS website. Advertisement The powerful, steam-driven explosion occurred at 4.17am and started spewing large amounts of volcanic ash and smoke from the crater on Hawaii's Big Island that shot higher than the peak of Mount Everest. Geologists have warned that the volcano could become even more violent, with increasing ash production and the potential that future blasts could hurl boulders from the summit. The wind could carry the ash plume as far as Hilo, the Big Island's largest city and major tourism center, the County of Hawaii Civil Defense warned in an alert. 'Protect yourself from ash fallout,' the warning alert said. Most observed volcanic activity takes place along the Pacific Ring of Fire,. The Ring of Fire is a horse-shoe shaped seismic region stretching along the Pacific Ocean coastlines, where the Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that form the Earth's crust THE GLOBA VOLCANOES TO WATCH IN 2018 Some of the volcanoes that currently show signs of unrest may simply calm down without eruption, while others may enter a phase of eruption in the months to come and will need to be watched and monitored closely. As well as Agung,experts say these are the ones to keep an eye on: Kirishima, Japan Merapi, Indonesia Orfajokull, Iceland Popocatepetl, Mexico Villarrica, Chile Kilauea, US Advertisement 'The resulting ash plume will cover the surrounding area. 'You should shelter in place if you are in the path of the ash plume. Driving conditions may be dangerous so if you are driving pull off the road and wait until visibility improves.' USGS geologists and staff were evacuated from the summit shortly before the blast and a webcam showed a gray plume of ash and chunks of magma known as pyroclasts that showered the volcano's slopes. An aviation red alert was also issued due to risks that ash could be carried into aircraft routes and damage jet engines. The eruption could not only enshroud large areas of the Big Island in volcanic ash and smog but other Hawaiian Islands and potentially distant areas if the plume reaches up into the stratosphere and ash is carried by winds. National Guard troops donned gas masks to protect themselves from toxic sulfur dioxide gas at the intersection of highways 130 and 132, the main exit routes from the village of Pahoa, 25 miles east of the volcano, where many of the ground fissures have erupted. The current eruptions on land range from gentle lava effusions to moderate-sized explosions and are tiny compared to the largest in Earth's history. Even the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, also in Indonesia, arguably the largest eruption in recent recorded history, is dwarfed by super-eruptions in the geological past such as that of Toba volcano on Sumatra some 74,000 years ago. Globally, 'Volcanic threat', a measure that combines the level of hazard and the number of people exposed to it, is by far the highest in Indonesia, followed by the Philippines, Japan, Mexico and Ethiopia. These five countries combine to make up more than 90% of the total global volcanic threat. Toba erupted approximately 70 times more magma than Tambora, helped plunge the earth into another ice age and may have even created a genetic bottleneck in human evolution. In fact, Toba was the largest eruption in the past 25m years, so there is little chance of a similar catastrophe any time soon. Nevertheless, it is the frequent, small- to moderate-sized eruptions that pose a constant volcanic threat. Scientists have taken the tiny house trend to a whole new level. Using a new nanorobotic system, French scientists built a 'microhouse' on top of an optical fiber that's as thin as human hair, which is 75 microns thick. It measures just 20 micrometers across but has several stunningly accurate details, including a front door, windows and even a tiled roof. Scroll down for video A team of French scientists from the Femto-ST Institute built a 20-micrometer wide 'microhouse' (pictured) on top of an optical fiber to demonstrate a new nanorobotic system A team of French scientists from the Femto-ST Institute detailed the process of creating the microhouse in new study published Friday in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A. The new nanorobotic system, called Robotex, uses a combination of technologies, including a tiny maneuverable robot, a focused ion beam and a gas injection device. To construct the microhouse, the scientists used a mix of origami and nanometer-precise robotics. 'In this new type of nanolab, cutting, etching, folding, assembling and then welding thin membranes of silica on top of a cleaved optical fiber...or production of micro- and nanostructures, like the microhouse, are possible,' according to the study. The scientists said the process of building the microhouse is not unlike 'making a giant dice from a piece of paper'. A focused ion beam acts like scissors, tracing and cutting out the shape of the house. The scientists said the process of building the microhouse is not unlike 'making a giant dice from a piece of paper'. A focused ion beam acts like scissors, cutting the shape of the house The ion beam microscope is not miniature, but it's still able to operate with 'ultrahigh accuracy' of as little as 2 nanometers. A gas injection device forces the walls to stick together The walls then fold into position by a process called 'sputtering', in which thin membranes of materials like metals or polymers are folded, similar to origami. Finally, a gas injection system sticks the edges of the structure together, so that it can it can maintain its shape. The robot operates with 'ultrahigh accuracy' of as little as 2 nanometers. For the experiment, the ion gun was restricted to focusing on an area that was only 300 micrometers by 300 micrometers, where it had to accurately fire ions onto the fiber tip. A micrometer measures in at just one-millionth of a meter. Using a new nanorobotic system, scientists built a 'microhouse' on top of an optical fiber that's as thin as human hair. The robot was working with a space that was just 300 micrometers wide HOW DID SCIENTISTS CREATE THE WORLD'S SMALLEST SNOWMAN? Researchers have built a snowman in honor of winter solstice but, you will need a microscope to see it. Deemed 'the world's smallest snowman', the cheery figure stands less than three microns tall. The team used three 0.9 micron silica spheres for its body and cut its eyes and cheery grin with a focused ion beam. To envision how small this snowman is, know that the average human hair is 75 microns thick and Western University's creation is less than three microns. To make the three stacked sphere truly look like a snowman, the team gave it stick like arms and a carrot shaped nose made of platinum. The micron silica is actually a mineral found in nature, such as sand or quartz, and in the human body. In our bodies, the chemical compound plays a major part in creating collagen and it is also found 'in every organ of the body from the blood circulatory system to the transmission of nerve signals'. And there benefits of silica, including stronger fingernails, clearer skin and has been found to reverse some effects of aging. Advertisement 'It's very challenging to pilot the robot with high accuracy at this cross point between the two beams,' said Jean-Yves Rauch, an author on the paper. The scientists said many of the steps are already automated, but that they hope to make the whole process automated soon. Eventually, they may be able to build smaller structures on the ends of carbon nanotubes that are just 20 to 100 nanometers in diameter. 'With this advancement, optical fibers as thin as human hair can be inserted into inaccessible locations like jet engines and blood vessels to detect radiation levels or viral molecules,' the study noted. Google may be jumping into the augmented reality headset game. A secretive project referred to internally as 'A65' may be tasked with creating an AR headset that's reportedly similar to Microsoft's HoloLens, German news site Winfuture reported. The move comes as nearly every major tech player appears to have their eyes set on the AR headset market, including Apple, which is now rumored to be looking at a 2021 release date for its AR-powered wearable. Scroll down for video Google may be jumping into the augmented reality headset game with a secretive project called 'A65'. Google first entered the wearable market with its Google Glass product (pictured) Google's device would use Qualcomm chips and is expected to be built by Taiwanese computer maker Quanta. Quanta also helped build Google's now-defunct Pixel C tablet. The AR headset would be a standalone device that doesn't require a connection to a personal computer or smartphone, not unlike Facebook's newly-released Oculus Go VR headset. It will also be equipped with camera sensors and microphones, which would enable voice inputs. Presumably, this means that the headset would respond to commands from Google Assistant. It's unclear when Google plans to release the rumored device, as it's still in the prototype stage, according to WinFuture. It's unclear when Google plans to release its rumored AR device, as it's still in the prototype stage, according to WinFuture. It's expected to be built with Qualcomm processors Google's secretive augmented reality headset is rumored to be similar in design and functionality to Microsoft's HoloLens mixed reality headset (pictured) Google isn't a new entrant in the AR headset market. The firm broke into the space in 2013 when it released Google Glass, a pair of smart glasses connected to a computer. However, the device received criticism from many in and outside Silicon Valley who said it raised privacy concerns, in that users couldn't tell when they were being recorded. Google has since resurrected the device, releasing Google Glass Enterprise Edition in 2017. The new headset has longer battery life and a faster processor, but it's aimed at the business sector. So far, it's been shown to be a useful addition to the workforce at companies like GE and Boeing. Meanwhile, Apple also has its eyes set on releasing its own pair of AR glasses. Google isn't the only tech giant rumored to be taking on AR headsets. Apple is said to be building 'Apple Glasses' that use similar tech as its ARKit developer platform (pictured) WHICH COMPANIES ARE WORKING ON AUGMENTED REALITY GLASSES? Augmented reality (AR) glasses have seen a resurgence in desirability, with a host of firms working to develop their own technology. Last year, Bose joined a quickly growing list of tech companies that are building augmented reality eyeglasses. The first company to enter the race was Google, which released the Google Glass in 2011. Google Glass, now referred to as Glass, has been changed from a consumer-facing product to an enterprise product, used by companies like Boeing. Since then, several companies have come out with their own products. Secretive startup Magic Leap began working on a prototype several years ago, but finally debuted its 'mixed reality' smart glasses late last year. Magic Leap says its AR glasses will ship in 2018 after a multi-year wait. Tech company Vuzix, based in Rochester, New York, is launching its Vuzix Blade glasses later this year for about $1,300. Smart glasses that superimpose computer-generated images onto the world around you could start at at 1,000 when they are released this year. Magic Leap, the usually secretive Google-backed company behind the gadget, says it is working on multiple versions of the gadget They use a tiny projector to show a virtual image in the top right hand corner of their lenses. Wearers can connect to WiFi and read emails and other messages via the display, as well as use Alexa, Amazon's digital assistant, to issue voice commands. Amazon is also rumored to be working on its own AR glasses to be released sometime in the future. Additionally, Intel released its prototype smart glasses, the Vaunt, earlier this year. The glasses use retinal projection to put a tiny display on the wearer's eyeball. Snap has launched its Spectacles and there are rumours of Facebook abd Apple working on AR glasses, Niantic, the American firm being Pokemon Go, has also revealed it is partnering with Qualcomm to create its own AR headset technology. Advertisement Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster wrote in a recent post that he expects the iPhone maker to release 'Apple Glasses' late in 2021. Munster believes Apple's recent moves around augmented reality signal that the firm is focusing more and more on the prospect of AR glasses. 'We believe AR is real and Apple will be a beneficiary,' Munster, who is a long-term Apple analyst, wrote. He points to Apple's ARKit developer platform, AR components being included in the iPhone X, as well as the firm's acquisition of wearable computer vision firm SensoMotoric Instruments in 2017. Apple's recent moves around augmented reality signal that the firm is focusing more and more on the prospect of AR glasses, such as its AR functions in the iPhone (pictured) Citing meetings with AR industry experts, Munster said he believes Apple is likely to release some kind of AR glasses in December 2021. 'While these people do not have direct knowledge of Apple's plans, it is becoming clear that, as a category, AR glasses are a few years away,' Munster explained. Should Apple and Google both decide to release AR headsets, they'd be joining a market crowded with companies ranging from Microsoft's HoloLens mixed reality headset, to Lenovo's Mirage Solo, as well as secretive startup Magic Leap. And in the realm of virtual reality, there's also Facebook and Samsung, among others. Advertisement Dying for a cup of coffee? Then you will feel right at home at Bangkok's new 'death awareness' cafe, where customers are urged to confront their own mortality with skeleton-shaped snacks and morbidly-named drinks. The Kid Mai Death Cafe even features a resident skeleton who is on display and visitors are encouraged to get into a coffin for a few minutes to contemplate their final moments. If they dare to get into the casket with the lid shut, they will secure a discount on a drink, with concoctions such as 'death' and 'painful' to choose from. Customers at the Kid Mai Death Cafe in Bangkok are encouraged to lay down for a few minutes to contemplate their final moments - and secure a discount on a drink A range of skull-shaped confectionery for sale at the quirky eatery, which was launched to educate the public about death 'I feel like I am in a funeral,' 28-year-old Duanghatai Boonmoh said with a laugh as she sipped a chocolate 'death smoothie' on a recent Saturday afternoon. She and other curious customers took turns climbing into the wooden box as friends sealed the lid. 'The first thing that came to my mind was, what if no one opens it?' Duanghatai said after emerging from the coffin. 'How you going to tell everyone that 'I'm here, I'm still alive,'? I think that's probably the feeling you have when you know you're going to die soon,' she added. There is a resident skeleton at the cafe, with its bones perched on the furniture A man seen lying inside a traditional Thai coffin in a bid to get a discount on his drink The cafe's owner says his restaurant is more than just a gimmick. Above, the lid slowly closes on a patron The cafe's owner says his restaurant is more than just a gimmick or dark take on the cute and cuddly coffee shops common in the Thai capital, which boasts everything from cat, husky and meerkat cafes to unicorn and mermaid-themed eateries. A professor and social researcher, Veeranut Rojanaprapa launched the cafe as a way to teach Thai people - some 90 per cent of whom identify as Buddhist - about the benefits of 'death awareness'. 'We found that having an awareness of death decreases greed and anger,' explained Veeranut, whose giggly demeanour belies his fascination with more morbid matters. He believes the Buddhist concept, rooted in ideas of impermanence and selflessness, is the key to ridding Thai society of chronic problems like violence and corruption. 'When one is aware of their own death, they will do good. This is what our Lord Buddha teaches,' he explained. The casket experience is also a way to nudge the country's technology-addicted youth to step back and reassess their personal lives. A professor and social researcher, Veeranut Rojanaprapa launched the cafe as a way to teach Thai people - some 90 per cent of whom identify as Buddhist - about the benefits of 'death awareness' Veeranut believes the Buddhist concept, rooted in ideas of impermanence and selflessness, is the key to ridding Thai society of chronic problems like violence and corruption The cafe has also spread out to a public walkway, which is now posted with signs asking questions like: 'What is the purpose of your life?' Explaining why he set up the cafe experience, Veeranut said: 'When one is aware of their own death, they will do good. This is what our Lord Buddha teaches' 'When teenagers go down to the coffin and our staff close the coffin, because of the darkness, because of the small space, they will be aware of themselves... they will recall the things that they still haven't done,' said Veeranut, adding that he makes a point of considering his own demise nightly. The professor is not the first to offer a resurrection experience in Thailand, where a temple outside Bangkok is famous for hosting symbolic funerals for devotees looking to clear their souls of bad karma. But his cafe and coffin sit squarely in the middle of a local community centre in northern Bangkok, offering a public - and morbid - reminder of mortality that not everybody in the neighbourhood is happy about. The cafe has also spread out to a public walkway, which is now posted with signs asking questions like: 'What is the purpose of your life?' 'This is so disturbing. I feel really strange walking there and might avoid this shortcut,' one person wrote on a neighbourhood Facebook page. Yet Veeranut says he welcomes any controversy as a sign of success. 'I love all of the complaints. Because if they are complaining it means they are thinking about death, they are aware of death.' The professor is not the first to offer a resurrection experience in Thailand, where a temple outside Bangkok is famous for hosting symbolic funerals for devotees looking to clear their souls of bad karma Some neighbours have complained about the concept but Veeranut says he welcomes any controversy as a sign of success The cafe and coffin sit squarely in the middle of a local community centre in northern Bangkok A stunning series of panoramas take viewers on a topsy-turvy journey through the churches of Paris, with intricate masonry and stained glass on show. The images, taken by Richard Silver, from Brooklyn, New York, almost have a skeletal feel, as the rafters and ceiling beams are given centre stage. Worshipers are seen sat in the pews at the Notre-Dame Cathedral with grey stone arches looming above, meanwhile the colourful windows at Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais are difficult to miss. Mr Silver told MailOnline Travel that he first got into photographing churches while in Manhattan and over the past six years he has captured more than 300 places of worship all over the world. The photography technique involves taking multiple photographs which are digitally stitched together to create one seamless image. Once a shoot is complete, Mr Silver pieces his photographs together in Photoshop and the finished panorama consists of between five and nine images. Scroll down to see shots from Mr Silver's latest adventure in the French capital... Another luggage company that designs and sells 'smart suitcases' has folded - the second in just seven days. US firm Raden confirmed that it would be winding down its business and blamed airlines for banning its products containing ion lithium batteries from being stored in the hold of aircraft over fears they would catch fire. It comes just a week after Silicon Valley-based Bluesmart, a rival firm, was also forced to close due to financial difficulties. US firm Raden confirmed that it would be winding down its business and blamed airlines for banning its products containing ion lithium batteries. Its suitcases sold for $400 The $400 Raden suitcases, that once had a waiting list of 7,000 people, are able to weigh themselves give traffic updates and even tell you how long you'll wait in the security queue. They are powered by ion lithium batteries, which can overheat if damaged, defective or packaged improperly, leading to fires and explosions - so airlines began banning them from the cargo deck. But despite the batteries on Raden's product being able to be easily removed meaning they could be taken on board, the confusion surrounding the rules on smart luggage on aircraft is said to have made customer's more wary about purchasing one. A statement on New York-based Raden's website confirmed the closure of the business. It said: 'Raden is no longer in operation. All existing shipments have been processed for delivery. Raden suitcases are able to weigh themselves give traffic updates and even tell you how long you'll wait in the security queue 'You can still travel with your Raden cases, with the batteries simply removed as directed by each airline. Our companion app will continue to pair to your bags. Unfortunately, we can no longer process returns, exchanges or repairs. SUITCASE FIRM RADEN'S CLOSING STATEMENT Raden is no longer in operation. All existing shipments have been processed for delivery. You can still travel with your Raden cases, with the batteries simply removed as directed by each airline. Our companion app will continue to pair to your bags. Unfortunately, we can no longer process returns, exchanges or repairs. The changes in policies concerning batteries in luggage in December by all major airlines severely impacted the usefulness of our products, their value to our customers, our business performance and ultimately the ability to continue operating. We sincerely apologize to those who chose to travel with us, our intent was to add ease and simplicity to your travel experience and this unforeseen policy change has made this impossible. Despite the unfortunate impact to our valued customers and awesome team, we are not another cautionary tale. We are grateful to all those who supported us the last 3 years. Advertisement 'The changes in policies concerning batteries in luggage in December by all major airlines severely impacted the usefulness of our products, their value to our customers, our business performance and ultimately the ability to continue operating. 'We sincerely apologize to those who chose to travel with us, our intent was to add ease and simplicity to your travel experience and this unforeseen policy change has made this impossible. 'Despite the unfortunate impact to our valued customers and awesome team, we are not another cautionary tale. We are grateful to all those who supported us the last three years.' Fellow smart luggage company Bluesmart, which closed last week, also blamed new airline rules on the failure of its business. Passengers wanting to take their Bluesmart luggage on board had to remove the batteries by unscrewing the battery pack with a screwdriver and disconnecting the wires. Too much trouble for most customers. In a statement on its website, Bluesmart confirmed its closure saying it had 'bittersweet news to share'. The company said: 'The changes in policies announced by several major airlines at the end of last year - the banning of smart luggage with non-removable batteries - put our company in an irreversibly difficult financial and business situation. 'After exploring all the possible options for pivoting and moving forward, the company was finally forced to wind down its operations and explore disposition options, unable to continue operating as an independent entity. US firm Bluesmart, based in Silicon Valley, started selling its $400 suitcases in 2015 'This represents a very unfortunate outcome for everyone involved, and we are all very sorry for this unexpected turn of events. For five years, our team worked tirelessly to create great products and bring true innovation to travelers around of the world.' This means Bluesmart will no longer manufacture, sell, advertise any products or honour warranties. The luggage can still be used in conjunction with the company's app, but the 'service quality will be reduced in the future'. Another company called Travelpro has bought Bluesmart's intellectual property, designs and branding. In a statement on its website, Bluesmart confirmed its closure saying it had 'bittersweet news to share' The International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency that sets international safety standards, agreed in 2016 to ban lithium battery shipments as cargo on passenger planes and to require batteries shipped on cargo planes be no more than 30 per cent charged. There have been dozens of fire and smoke incidents involving lithium batteries in aviation. In April 2014 a Fiji Airways Boeing 737 was preparing for takeoff from Melbourne, Australia, when smoke was discovered coming from the cargo bay. The plane was evacuated and the cargo unloaded. The source of the fire turned out to be lithium-ion batteries in a passenger's checked bags. In July 2011 an Asiana Airlines Boeing 747 cargo plane carrying a shipment of electronics and lithium-ion car batteries crashed into the Strait of Korea after the crew reported a fire on board. Eighteen minutes later, contact was lost with the plane. Both pilots died. Im just about old enough to remember the Onion Johnny arriving by bike at our front door with strings of onions to sell. The French onion seller was once a common sight on our streets. Few knew that Onion Johnnies were onion farmers mostly from the Roscoff area of Brittany: they brought their harvest to the UK because they would get more money for their produce than at home. Natural beauty: A sunny view out towards Porte d'Aval arch in Etretat This was one bond that tied Brittany to Britain. During the 19th Century the region had become a popular holiday destination for travellers who flocked to smart hotels in resorts such as Dinard and La Baule. In the 1970s, when pre-erected camp sites and static caravans holidays were all the rage, it was Brittany that attracted most visitors; it was in France but it looked reassuringly like Cornwall but with better food and cheaper cider (the plunging pound has made the cider more expensive but the food is still good). Brittany Ferries was created to help French farmers find a UK market for their food (mainly cauliflowers but also onions) but it is with holidaymakers that the company has extended its reach to Normandy and Spain. The coast of northern France is a twisting promontory that stretches from Le Havre, through Cherbourg and the Brittany peninsula before heading south towards St Nazaire, in the western Loire. It is said to host more sweeping sandy beaches and hidden golden coves than any other region in Europe, possibly the world. Heres my at-a-glance guide. Le Havre is a Unesco heritage site thanks to its Auguste Perret-inspired resurrection and attractions Le Havre for hipsters Le Havre is a Unesco heritage site thanks to its Auguste Perret-inspired resurrection and attractions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MuMA), the Volcan cultural centre and Art Deco-inspired Les Bains des Docks. But less well known is its fabulous sandy beach. Tucked away almost out of sight when approaching the busy commercial port, it presents views that once inspired Monet and now hosts the best in street food and culture. Young hipsters and the young at heart can be found frequenting its pop-up restaurants, bars and temporary exhibitions. D-Day beaches for history Stretching from Ouistreham in the east, where British soldiers landed on Sword beach, to Omaha on the Cherbourg peninsula, where thousands of GIs gave their lives, the D-Day beaches are a living memorial to the sacrifice of thousands. Emotive and expansive, today they present a haven of tranquillity. You can walk for miles in the evening sun without ever meeting another person, reflecting on how much we owe to so many men. The war memorial on the shores of Omaha beach makes for a striking sight St Malo for families Why drive hundreds of miles to the Cote dAzure when Brittanys fabulous beaches are right on our doorstep? St Malos golden sands start a stones throw from the ferry terminal and stretch for miles beyond the famous walled city. Teenagers will love the Plage de Bon Secours, accessed through the old town. Santac Plage du Dossen for water sports Ten minutes from Roscoff, this beach boasts a mile-long arc of white sand and is beloved by sand-yachters, surfers, kite surfers and wave jumpers. It features a popular campsite behind the dunes and is one of the many beaches where wetsuits and boogie boards are as common as beach towels. Tahiti beach for romance Locals christened it Plage de Raguenez Tahiti Beach thanks to its similarity to sands and sea in more exotic climes. Its white sand and azure waters have established it as one of the most popular honeymoon spots for French newlyweds. The CW's feminist Charmed reboot will begin this autumn, weeks before Halloween. And a new sneak peek emerged this week, showing sisters Macy (Madeleine Mantock), Mel (Melonie Diaz) and Maggie (Sarah Jeffery) discover they are witches. All three sisters are blissfully ignorant of their powers until their mother is mysteriously murdered, causing their abilities to be 'activated.' Scroll down for video Incoming: The CW's Charmed reboots will begin this autumn, weeks before Halloween, and a new sneak peek has emerged this week Mel and Maggie grew up together with their mother, unaware that Macy existed, let alone that she was actually related to them. At the start of the trailer, their mother sits Mel and Maggie down and tells them: 'Always remember that you're better together, your differences are your strengths, and nothing is stronger than your sisterhood.' Though they initially respond with tongue in cheek, Mel and Maggie are about to learn just how important their bond will prove to be. Big moment: The trailer shows sisters (from right) Macy (Madeleine Mantock), Maggie (Sarah Jeffery) and Mel (Melonie Diaz) discover they are witches Idyllic: Mel and Maggie grew up together with their mother, unaware that Macy existed, let alone that she was actually related to them At the start of the trailer: Their mother sits Mel and Maggie down and tells them that 'your differences are your strengths, and nothing is stronger than your sisterhood' On one fateful night, the pair - who are in college - get a text from their mother urging them to return home instantly. When they arrive, they enter a massive study on the top floor and see that its window has been shattered. When they peer outside, they spot their mother's corpse below. Mel is furious at the cops' inability to solve the murder, and as she and Maggie fight about the former's being 'obsessed with mom's death,' there is a knock at the door. Cozy: Though they initially respond with tongue in cheek, Mel and Maggie are about to learn just how important their bond will prove to be 'Both of you': On one fateful night, the pair - who are in college - get a text from their mother urging them to return home instantly Trouble: When they arrive, they enter a massive study on the top floor and see that its window has been shattered Horror: When they peer outside, they spot their mother's corpse below Macy appears in the doorway and shows Maggie and Mel childhood photo of herself with their mother. 'I think I'm your sister,' she says haltingly. Though Mel is initially skeptical, all three sisters ultimately notice a huge commonality between them - they have superpowers. Mel, to her bewilderment, stops time as she has a conversation in a cafe. Bombshell: Mel is furious at the cops' inability to solve the murder, and as she and Maggie fight about the former's being 'obsessed with mom's death,' there is a knock at the door 'I think I'm your sister': Macy appears in the doorway and shows Maggie and Mel childhood photo of herself with their mother Shock: Mel, to her bewilderment, stops time as she has a conversation in a cafe Meanwhile, Macy is chatting with a pal in a bar when she briefly gets angry - and her beer flies unbidden out of her hand, smashing against a wall. Maggie walks through what appears to be a house party and finds herself hearing the internal thoughts of everyone in the vicinity. In a flash, the three girls wake up tied to chairs facing 'advisor to witches' Harry Greenwood (Rupert Evans). Whoops: Meanwhile, Macy is chatting with a pal in a bar when she briefly gets angry - and her beer flies unbidden out of her hand, smashing against a wall 'To see ourselves as others see us': Maggie walks through what appears to be a house party and finds herself hearing the internal thoughts of everyone in the vicinity Hunk: In a flash, the three girls wake up tied to chairs facing 'advisor to witches' Harry Greenwood (Rupert Evans) With a flourish from Harry, the ropes vanish, and he is able to explain to them that they are 'Charmed Ones - the most powerful trio of witches.' Maggie erupts: 'This is crazy! I am not a witch. I don't even like wearing witch costumes on Halloween - like, not even slutty ones!' Their mother, it turns out, was a witch who 'bound your powers when you each were born to protect you and let you live normal lives. She began the process of unbinding those powers the night she was murdered.' Harry then hands them 'your mother's spellbook, the Book Of Shadows - your guide to protect the innocent and vanquish demons. You three have to decide whether to accept your witchly fate.' Reveal: With a flourish from Harry, the ropes vanish, and he is able to explain to them that they are 'Charmed Ones - the most powerful trio of witches' History: Their mother, it turns out, was a witch who 'bound your powers when you each were born to protect you and let you live normal lives 'You three have to decide': Harry then hands them 'your mother's spellbook, the Book Of Shadows - your guide to protect the innocent and vanquish demons' Macy and Maggie are reluctant, but Mel insists they agree, saying: 'This is our legacy. Mom wanted us to do this, and then we can figure out who killed her.' The three of them unite and are seen warding off evil supernatural beings. At one point, the sisters join hands to cast a spell together. The WB's original series Charmed, produced by Aaron Spelling, starred Rose McGowan, Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs. The show ran for eight seasons from 1998 until 2006, and was created by Constance M. Burge. The new one was developed by Jane The Virgin's Jennie Snyder Urman. Heirloom: Macy and Maggie are reluctant, but Mel insists they agree, saying: 'This is our legacy,' adding: 'Mom wanted us to do this, and then we can figure out who killed her' Pia Miller and Meghan Markle struck up a friendship after the pair collaborated on The Tig, the Royal bride-to-be's former lifestyle website. But it would appear the two actresses have even more in common. Former Home and Away star Pia, 34, looked strikingly similar to Prince Harry's fiancee, 36, in an Instagram selfie she posted on Thursday. Scroll down for video She has Markle's sparkle! Former Home and Away star Pia Miller (left) looks strikingly similar to Royal bride-to-be Meghan (right) in an Instagram photo she posted on Thursday In her selfie, Pia appeared to match several of Meghan's physical attributes, including her chestnut brown locks and dark, sultry eyes. Pia's hair was also styled into soft flowing waves, in an almost identical fashion to Meghan's trademark tresses. In the caption, Pia explained she had recently visited the salon to dye her hair a darker shade. Separated at birth? In her selfie, Pia appeared to match several of Meghan's physical attributes, including her chestnut brown locks and dark, sultry eyes Pia and Meghan's secret friendship was revealed in 2016 after the former Suits star praised the Australian in an Instagram post. A year later, Pia returned the favour by congratulating her Hollywood pal and Prince Harry on their engagement. Taking to her Instagram Story, Pia shared a photo of the Royal couple, alongside a love heart emoji. Nothing but love! Pia and Meghan struck up a friendship after the pair collaborated on The Tig , the Royal bride-to-be's former lifestyle website In 2016, Meghan described Pia on social media as 'impressive' and 'entertaining'. No doubt flattered by the endorsement from a major American TV star, Pia replied with a heart emoji. The Logie nominee previously collaborated with Meghan on her now-defunct blog The Tig, which she closed after getting engaged to Prince Harry in November. The Royal couple will marry at Windsor Castle in England on Saturday. She's preparing to host Sunday's Billboard Music Awards. And Kelly Clarkson looked every inch the pop music sensation as she flaunted her newly trimmed figure at a promotional event in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 36-year-old beauty has been working on her fitness as she appeared in great shape rocking a black leather skirt for the red carpet. Scroll down for video Looking good! Kelly Clarkson looked every inch the pop music sensation as she flaunted her newly trimmed figure at a promotional event in Los Angeles on Thursday Daring to impress, the Since U Been Gone songstress looked sensational in the black and white blouse that was tucked into her lithe waist. Her gorgeous gams were swathed in a pair of black sheer tights as she stomped around in polka dot heels to match her top. She highlighted her chiseled face with a slight smokey eye and a smattering of bright berry lip. The Texas native - who rose to fame as the first American Idol winner - has collected three Grammy's in her illustrious career over the last 12 years. Critics: Kelly has battled critics about her fluctuating weight; (pictured right in December) And during that time, she has battled critics over her fluctuating weight. 'People think, Oh, there's something wrong with her. She's putting on weight. I'm like, "Oh, no! I'm sorry, but that represents happiness in my emotional world"', she told Redbook in 2017. 'If you gauge your life on what other people think, you're going to be in a constant state of panic trying to please everyone,' she added. And when someone tried to troll her last summer by tweeting 'You're fat,' Kelly tweeted back 'and still f***ing awesome.' Impressive: Daring to impress, the Since U Been Gone songstress looked sensational in the black and white blouse that was tucked into her lithe waist Meanwhile, the Voice judge will be onstage at the Billboard Awards in her first-ever hosting gig. And she is doing it solo. 'That was a DEFCON, red-alert, total run-for-the-hills moment,' she told USA Today. 'But then we figured out something fun and cool to do that's totally in my wheelhouse. Now Im not really nervous. 'And Im not afraid to look like an idiot, so well start with that,' she added. Slide me Clap back: 'People think, Oh, there's something wrong with her. She's putting on weight. I'm like, "Oh, no! I'm sorry, but that represents happiness in my emotional world"' Kelly said 'Hands down, I will trip, there will be some kind of wardrobe thing, something will happen with Spanx,' she said. But she's not concerned. 'I do not get embarrassed, honestly,' explained Kelly. 'If I trip, I'll get back up and be like, "Thats funny!'"' The Billboard music Awards airs this Sunday on NBC. Cameroun: THE CPP REAFFIRMS ITS NON-PARTICIPATION AT THE 20TH MAY PARADE THROUGHOUT THE NATIONAL TERRITORY :: CAMEROON To be clear and unambiguous, given the current state of things, the CPP will not participate in any parade across the country. Any other message is only a rude attempt to manipulate public opinion regarding the CPPs actual position. Indeed, our message remains constant: NO CELEBRATION OF UNITY IN EXCLUSION, VIOLATION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, THE REJECTION OF TRUE DIALOGUE AND THE BLIND REPRESSION OF CAMEROONIANS! The CPP is for a real celebration of unity that goes through dialogue between Cameroonians, acts of solidarity vis-a-vis the neglected persons and concrete measures to correct what divides or threatens the cohesion or the living together of Cameroonians. The CPP is against mockery celebrations, which do not take into account the reality, discontent and suffering of Cameroonians. Instead of participating in mockery demonstrations to the glory of one man, we will manifest our unity through acts of solidarity with Cameroonians in distress and reflections on ways to save our national unity in these troubled times. The CPP warns all media that are complicit in disinformation campaigns about her. The leaders and officials of the CPP are known. No serious media can relay the words or comments of individuals who are not members of the CPP. The CPP intends to take all the measures it deems necessary to ensure that such misinformation does not thrive. Strong and dissuasive provisions will not fail to be taken against the legal or physical persons who are complicit in such a campaign. The unity of our country is not the result of a decree, but the result of a permanent construction that cannot ignore any of the sons and daughters of this country. We don't build unity in the wind! For the Cameroon People's Party Frank Essi Secretary General Lando Calrissian is pansexual, Solo: A Star Wars Story screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan said Thursday, adding that 'there's a fluidity to' the performances turned in by both actors who played the intergalactic gambler, Billy Dee Williams and Donald Glover. Kasdan, who co-wrote the upcoming blockbuster with his father, Lawrence Kasdan, chat with the Huffington Post Thursday about the background of the character. Asked if Calrissian is pansexual - defined as a person who isn't limited in sexual preference based on biological sex, gender or gender identity - Kasdan, 38, replied, 'I would say yes.' Scroll below for video Reveal: Lando Calrissian (played by Donald Glover) is pansexual, Solo: A Star Wars Story screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan (R) told the Huffington Post Thursday He added: 'I mean, I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie. I think it's time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity - sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of.' Kasdan said that Calrissian 'doesnt make any hard and fast rules' in terms of a potential partner, which in the Star Wars universe includes women, men and droids. 'I think its fun,' Kasdan said. 'I dont know where it will go.' One scene in the new movie that stirs up speculation centers around a droid named L3-37 wisecracking that Calrissian and Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) are flirting with one another. At the helm: The surging superstar Glover plays the famed role in Solo: A Star Wars Story Staple: Billy Dee Williams played the part in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi Lawrence Kasdan said of the moment, 'Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't,' adding that the remark is reflective of the droid's 'personality.' Glover, 34, has had meetings to chat about the character with Williams, 81, who portrayed Lando in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi. Glover earlier this month told Jimmy Kimmel that Williams advised him in his approach to playing the iconic character. He said, 'Billy's like, "I don't know, just be charming, man." It taught me a valuable lesson: Don't overthink this. Just be cool.' Promo trail: Donald was seen arriving at BBC Radio 2 Studios in London for another round of interviews on Friday Looking dapper: The multi-talented star looked smart in a gingham top and pinstripe trousers Williams last year opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about his discussions with Glover, who he described as a 'delightful young man,' adding that Glover's 'eclectic' personality will work to his advantage in playing Calrissian. 'I think thats really important particularly for the character of Lando,' Williams said. 'He is particularly eclectic in the way he approaches his art. When I talked to him I really got the sense of him being a worldly person.' Solo: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters May 25. Advertisement She filed for divorce from Ryan Dorsey in December 2017. And now Naya Rivera has listed her Los Angeles home for sale at $3.869 million, Variety reported Thursday. The 'East Coast Traditional' in the celebrity-favored neighborhood of Los Feliz boasts five bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms according to the listing details. Moving on: She filed for divorce from Ryan Dorsey in December 2017. And now Naya Rivera has listed her Los Angeles home for sale at $3.869 million, Variety reported Thursday Making a profit: Rivera, 31, who shares a son with Dorsey, purchased the property in 2013 for $2.6 million Rivera, 31, who shares a son with Dorsey, purchased the property in 2013 for $2.6 million. The three-story house boasts 4, 330 square feet of living space plus a large yard with pool, spa and sunbathing terrace. The Glee alum has done renovations to it and opted for light and bright interiors with white walls and cabinetry and wood flooring. On sale: The 'East Coast Traditional' in the celebrity-favored neighborhood of Los Feliz boasts five bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms according to the listing details Chic sense of style: The Glee alum has done renovations to it and opted for light and bright interiors with white walls and cabinetry and wood flooring Reading nook: There's a formal living room with bay window and fireplace and it connects to a den with built-in bookcases Prime location: The home boasts city and mountain views and is situated close to LA's popular Griffith Park Room for a dinner party! A formal dining room is situated adjacent to the kitchen, perfect for entertaining guests The front door opens on a small foyer with a curved staircase leading to the upper floors. There's a formal living room with bay window and fireplace and it connects to a den with built-in bookcases. A formal dining room is situated adjacent to the kitchen that has a center island, stainless steel appliances and black and white countertops. Sleek finish: The kitchen that has a center island, stainless steel appliances and black and white countertops Check out the view: The master suite opens out onto a terrace which is bathed in sunlight and features a stunning view Bringing the outdoors in: The bedroom and adjoining outdoor area are perfect for the sunny California climate The master suite opens out onto a private terrace with city and mountain views. It features two walk-in closets and the master bath includes a soaking tub and crystal chandelier. The house also includes a wine cellar, media lounge and games room. Perfect spot for a soak: The master bath includes a soaking tub and crystal chandelier for a luxurious finish Airy, California feel: All the interiors are light and bright, especially in the white bathroom with aqua accents Five bedroom abode: The number of bedrooms make the residence a perfect family home or a home for welcoming guests Rivera is currently starring in the YouTube Red series Step Up: High Water created by Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan. Her divorce from fellow actor Dorsey comes after she was arrested and charged with domestic battery relating to an incident between the couple last Thanksgiving. The charges were dropped in January at Dorsey's request. All the mod cons: The property has a wine cellar, another ideal addition for a prospective buyer who likes to entertain Time for a movie: There's a cosy media lounge with a projection and speaker system and plush couches Fancy a game? A games room is big enough for a billiards table, with the room leading out to a patio Sun spot: Outdoors there's a pool, spa and sunbathing terrace which is dappled in California sunlight International media outlets have descended on London to report on the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry on Meghan Markle on Saturday. And on Friday, KIIS 106.5's Kyle Sandilands slammed the coverage he'd seen by Australian TV networks abroad. Kyle, 46, and his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson claimed that Channel Nine's Today show looked cheap compared to its American equivalent. Scroll down for video 'If you can't afford anything but two bar stools, why go?' Kyle Sandilands has slammed the Today show's coverage of the Royal Wedding in London 'There's media from all over the world over there and it doesn't look that glorious and good watching it,' Kyle said. 'You look at the American Today show... they're up on scaffolding with a giant stage with the entire Windsor Castle in the background. You couldn't have got a better view if you took a postcard photo!' The American Today show stage is, indeed, set atop tall scaffolding, complete with a news desk, wooden stools, stage lights and a premium view of Windsor Castle. 'It doesn't look that glorious and good watching it': Kyle, 46, and co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson claimed that Channel Nine's Today show looked cheap compared to its American equivalent Big budget production: The American Today show stage is set atop tall scaffolding, complete with a news desk, wooden stools, stage lights and a premium view of Windsor Castle Jackie claimed: 'I reckon their [NBC's] budget is way higher than the Today show in Australia.' Kyle added: 'Well if you can't afford anything but two plastic bar stools, why go?' However, he later admitted he may have been unfair to judge Channel Nine because he and Jackie didn't make a similar effort to broadcast from the UK. 'I'm just s**t-canning those people that are over there, really,' he added. Oh, dear! Without a heightened platform, hosts Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner have been interrupted by passers-by while broadcasting live Australia's Today show has been broadcasting from various locations in England during the week. However, they have been without a news desk and have instead been sitting on white plastic stools. Without a heightened platform, hosts Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner have even been interrupted by passers-by while broadcasting live. 'Their parents will be proud!' On Tuesday night, Karl was left looking very unimpressed when a gang of hecklers interrupted his live cross from London On Tuesday night, Karl was left looking very unimpressed when a gang of hecklers interrupted his live cross from London. The 43-year-old gave several 'rowdy Aussies' a dirty look and later revealed they had been removed from the area. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding takes place on Saturday, May 19th. Even Robert De Niro needs a hand sometimes. The two-time Academy Award winner was snapped in Ibiza Thursday getting help as he got off a vessel in the water after making a promotional appearance at the Nobu Hotel Ibiza Bay earlier in the day, which he owns in part with celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and producer Meir Teper. The 74-year-old actor wore a navy blue jacket over a black polo shirt with khaki pants and a khaki fisherman's cap with black sunglasses on. Scroll below for video Helping hand: Robert De Niro, 74, was snapped in Ibiza Thursday getting help as he got off a vessel in the water De Niro sported a layer of stubble as he looked to be in good spirits in the outing at sea, on the sunny day in the luxe resort town. At the event earlier Thursday, according to Diario de Ibiza, a Kagami-biraki ceremony was held. In it, a barrel is filled with sake, then broken with wooden mallets, at which point the sake is served to guests with a ceremonial toast. More events were slated for later Thursday, including a dinner with a custom menu Matsuhisa came up with. The Goodfellas star has been busy this week promoting the hotel-restaurant line, making a previous appearance in Marbella, Spain in support of the company. The life aquatic: The veteran actor pulled up his pants as he prepared to board the cruiser Enjoying the area: De Niro was snapped on another vessel in Ibiza on Thursday De Niro's name was in the news Wednesday amid a new revelation that his co-star in Awakenings, the late Robin Williams, broke his nose while filming the 1990 tear-jerker. It came from Robin, a new biography about the late star penned by the New York Times' Dave Itzkoff. According to the book, Williams said of the accident: 'My elbow went "BAM!" and it made a noise like a chicken bone breaking.' De Niro said that the injury improved his movie star looks as he previously broke his nose playing boxer Jake La Motta in 1980's Raging Bull. 'The thing is, my nose was broken once before, and he knocked it back in the other direction - straightened it out,' De Niro said in the book. 'It looks better than it did before.' Scruffy: The Hollywood icon sported a light beard on his day at sea Boost: A few men helped De Niro get off of the vessel after the ride Terra firma: De Niro had a grin on his face as he planted his feet in the sand Jovial: The Casino star smiled as he emerged back on the shore in the resort area She is an acclaimed actress, winner of two Oscars and former Labour MP. And while Glenda Jackson has become a legend in the world of film, television and theatre, she has revealed there was one iconic role that didn't quite take her fancy, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The 82-year-old Women In Love star admitted that she turned down Dame Judi Dench's role as steely spymaster M in the James Bond franchise 'because it was boring.' Reveal; Glenda Jackson admitted that she turned down Dame Judi Dench's role as steely spymaster M in the James Bond franchise 'because it was boring' Glare: Dame Judi, 83, first appeared as M in the 1994 film James Bond and quickly became one of the film series' favourite characters before she was killed off in 2012's Skyfall Dame Judi, 83, who has become a national treasure thanks to her roles films including Shakespeare In Love and A Room With A View first appeared as M in the 1994 film James Bond and quickly became one of the film series' favourite characters before she was killed off in 2012's Skyfall. In the interview Glenda was asked if she ever looked at her contemporaries Dame Judi and Maggie Smith and envied their James Bond or Harry Potter success. She replied: 'No, I was offered M, or whatever part Judi played in the Bond films.' It was claimed that Glenda was also offered the lead role in 2006's Notes On A Scandal but turned down the role, which later went to Dench. Interview : Glenda revealed all after she was asked if she ever looked at her contemporaries Dame Judi and Maggie Smith and envied their James Bond or Harry Potter success The A Touch Of Class star wound down her acting to become a Labour MP in 1992, said she was offered roles during her time in parliament but that the majority were 'rubbish.' She also voiced her opinion that there were still too little roles for older women in Hollywood and denied that older actresses were in high demand. She said: 'Oh come on, no they're not. I'm sorry, they're not. 'I mean, why is it that contemporary dramatists don't find women interesting. That has never since I first set foot on a stage.' She is currently starring on Broadway in Edward Albee's Three Tall Women which has earned her a fifth Tony Award nomination. Prince Harry took part in a State visit for the first time last year at the grand age of 32, escorting King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain to Westminster Abbey. But in Cornwall, they get cracking with their public duties decades earlier at the tender age of 13, in fact, in the case of Albert Clarence Eliot, 11th Earl of St Germans. For I can disclose that Albie, as the young Earl is more familiarly known, will tomorrow greet guests at Port Eliot, his magnificent family seat its generally thought to have 124 rooms, 13 staircases and 82 chimneys for a banquet celebrating the Royal Wedding. Albie will be meeting the guests, confirms a spokesman for Port Eliot. It should be a really fun way for people to enjoy the Royal Wedding. Unlike Harry and Meghan Markles bash, where guests will have to eat bowl food standing up, this will be a four-course, sit-down feast in the Drawing Room. The Earl inherited his title in 2016 when his grandfather, Peregrine, (pictured) died aged 75 Before the nuptials, guests are invited to enjoy a glass of Pimms or champagne and canapes in Port Eliots conservatory, before watching the service on a large screen in the Round Room. Guidance is available for those who are unsure how to attire themselves: Dress: Up. Two glasses of wine are included in the 50 ticket price, with a cash bar available for those who feel the need to make repeated toasts to Harry and Meghan. The Earl inherited his title in 2016 when his grandfather, Peregrine, died aged 75, a decade after the traumatic death of his son Jago Albies father who suffered a fatal epileptic fit in the bath. In 2015, Peregrine proposed selling Port Eliot to the Prince of Wales for 10 million a sensational deal, according to his third wife, Cathy Wilson, a former magazine journalist some 30 years his junior. But the sale did not go through and Cathy moved out last November. Locals appear eager to welcome the new era: tickets for the banquet have sold out. But presumably young Albie will be celebrating with nothing stronger than Ribena. Has Prince Harry invited all his immediate cousins to his wedding? I can reveal that Lady Kitty Spencer, the 27-year-old daughter of Princess Dianas brother, Earl Spencer, is taking her mother, Victoria Lockwood, as her date to the nuptials. They both went to get their hats fitted together at Philip Treacy in Battersea this week, says my source. Former model Victoria, 52, was Spencers first wife, until an acrimonious divorce in 1997. A spokesman for Earl Spencer declines to say whether his three other children by Victoria Viscount Louis and Ladies Amelia and Eliza are also invited. The three blonde sisters were lined up in a row in Westminster Abbey at Prince Williams wedding in 2011. BoJo's bro shows of new wife Max, 32, who works for Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, shared online this picture of himself and his wife, Gabriela Maia. 3 month wedding anniversary tomorrow so happy I married this woman, he captioned the shot Boris Johnson's half-brother Max is already celebrating his wedding anniversary just months after eloping to Indonesia with his Brazilian former model girlfriend. Max, 32, who works for Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, shared online this picture of himself and his wife, Gabriela Maia. 3 month wedding anniversary tomorrow so happy I married this woman, he captioned the shot. Max is Stanley Johnsons youngest son by his second wife, Jenny. Gabriela speaks four languages and has a degree in marketing from the University of Hull. Interior designer and style arbiter Nicky Haslam, who has worked with Prince Charles, is unimpressed with Prince Harry and Meghan Markles decision to serve bowl food at their wedding. Bowl food is awful. Its like something out of Oliver!, he tells me at the book launch of The Accidental Botanist by Robbie Honey. Its the most awful thing in the whole world. 'I think they should just have cake and then let everyone leave. Harry who? Prince's girl parties after THAT snub But the 37-year-old daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent was happy to attend a Belgravia party this week with her live-in banker boyfriend Tom Kingston (right), whom she has been dating since 2015 Lady Gabriella Windsor would be forgiven for wanting to keep a low profile. Not only has she been Not Flippin Invited to childhood pal Prince Harrys wedding, but her ex, Aatish Taseer, caused a stir recently by claiming they took drugs and went skinny-dipping in the Buckingham Palace pool. But the 37-year-old daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent was happy to attend a Belgravia party this week with her live-in banker boyfriend Tom Kingston, whom she has been dating since 2015. Advertisement Kelly Hoppen's mum says good riddance - to Knightsbridge Former Dragons Den star Kelly Hoppen did not pull her punches on the BBC show for budding entrepreneurs and it seems her mother, Stephanie, is equally outspoken. She has just sold her art gallery in Walton Street, Knightsbridge, because she hates its boring shops. Ive finally had enough, she tells me. Its gone terribly downhill. It was a marvellous street for years and everybody wanted to go there. Now, theyre trying to turn it into a high-rent thing with the same shops that you have everywhere, which is so boring. Ive been there since 1981, for a very long time. Im delighted to say goodbye to it. Former Cabinet secretary Amber Rudd is speaking at a Future Of Work conference today. What a shame she didnt know her own future of work would be losing her job as Home Secretary over her handling of the Windrush scandal. Mamma Mia! Look away now Mrs Brosnan That same day, Judy Craymer, producer of the forthcoming Mamma Mia! film sequel in which he stars, shared online this snap of them embracing on set (right) Former Bond star Pierce Brosnan is a hit with the ladies, just like his alter-ego. The Irish actor arrived at Cannes on his 65th birthday this week with his wife of 17 years, producer Keely Shaye Smith, 54, on his arm. That same day, Judy Craymer, producer of the forthcoming Mamma Mia! film sequel in which he stars, shared online this snap of them embracing on set. I used to assume I was going to get married and have children, but it was never the right time, Judy, 60, has said. Lets hope Keely, who matched Pierce in black, is not the jealous type . . . Turner Prize-winning sculptor Sir Antony Gormley says it doesnt matter who wins the award simply being shortlisted for the 25,000 prize is advertisement enough. The Turner Prize has done a very good job. Now, its just an opportunity to see four extraordinarily accomplished artists together, Gormley, who won the accolade in 1994, tells me. And, actually, who wins it is almost besides the point. The fact that people assume Tracey Emin has already won it, even though she didnt, means job done. She doesnt need to win it now. Her not winning it hasnt hindered her career at all. I cant remember if Damien Hirst has won it. Hirst did win, in 1995, for Mother And Child Divided: a cow and calf cut in two and pickled in formaldehyde. Why lonely Mariella is begging chums to visit Husky-voiced Mariella Frostrup admits shes begging her female friends to move in with her and her husband, human rights lawyer Jason McCue, after her menage a trois recently came to an end. My best friend who was living with us left, she went back to Florence, but she might be coming back in a month Im really hoping so, because its very lonely without her, the 55-year-old mother-of-two tells me. My life is bereft. I want her back. Ive been trying to encourage other female friends to come and live with me in her absence. But most of them are married with children and they keep going: Its not convenient. And what is the secret to her 15-year marriage? Compromise, compromise, compromise! Icelandic warbler Bjork complains that the silences on her song Black Lake have been wrongly credited to her producer, Arca. He did the beat for that song, but I had written it months before he came on the project. 'Those silences were already there. They were mine, the eccentric songstress argues. Good luck to bonkers Bjork her silence is golden, as anyone who has heard the song will confirm. Chrissy Metz before finding fame as an actress was a talent agent for nine years focusing on youthful entertainers. The 37-year-old This Is Us star during a chat show appearance on Wednesday said she represented pop star Ariana Grande, 24, and actress Dove Cameron, 22, early in their careers. Chrissy discussed being a talent agent on the NBC's The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon while promoting her book This Is Me: Loving The Person You Are Today. Talent agent: Chrissy Metz during a talk show appearance on Wednesday revealed that she used to be a talent agent before finding fame as an actress The Florida native said that after moving to Los Angeles she was a talent agent for nine years. Chrissy said she needed a job so she became an agent's assistant and ended up working in the youth department. 'I became an agent myself, represented Ariana Grande and Dove Cameron,' the actress revealed. 'Yeah, I was on the team that represented both of those incredible ladies. It's so fun. Also, like, you know they're going to be stars when you meet them for the first time,' Chrissy added. Florida native: The 37-year-old actress was an actress for nine years and was on the team representing Ariana Grande and Dove Cameron Chrissy said she knew that Ariana was destined for stardom before she landed her starring role in the 2010 Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious. Ariana was named a Next Generation Leader in the latest issue of Time magazine. The pop star described the Manchester terror attack last year at her concert as the 'worst of humanity'. Next generation: Ariana was named one of the Next Generation Leaders in the upcoming issue of Time magazine Ariana admitted that she didn't want her fans to think that 'something like that had won' - yet still found it 'very painful' herself. A terrorist on May 22, 2017 detonated an explosive device as fans were leaving her concert in Manchester - killing 22 innocent people and injuring more than 500. She released her new song No Tears Left To Cry last month and her new album Sweetener is due out this summer. Dove had a recurring role on the current fifth season of ABC's Agents Of SHIELD. She will voice the character of Gwen Stacy aka Spider-Gwen and Ghost-Spider in the upcoming animated Marvel superhero feature film Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors due out later this year. He's been linked to the likes of 'it' girls Bella Hadid, Hailey Baldwin, Sofia Richie and Megan Blake Irwin. And on Thursday model Jordan Barrett was spotted cosying up to more famous friends as he attended the 25th amfAR Gala. The 22-year-old posed and pouted at the star-studded bash alongside US actress Michelle Rodriguez, 39 and supermodel Barbara Palvin, 24. Always a hit with the ladies! Fashion 'bad boy' Jordan Barrett cuts a dapper figure as he cuddles up to actress Michelle Rodriguez and model Barbara Palvin at amfAR Gala Jordan suited-up for the exclusive soiree, stepping out in a dinner jacket, a button-up shirt and a pair of trousers. The Gold Coast-born model added a touch of sex appeal to his head-to-toe black ensemble by slightly un-buttoning his shirt. Jordan looked every inch the international model as he nonchalantly posed with his hands in his pockets alongside ravishing lady in red, Michelle. Red hot! The Fast And The Furious star upped the style ante as she posed alongside Jordan in a revealing red gown with a striking long train Blue steel: Jordan suited-up for the exclusive soiree, stepping out in a dinner jacket, a button-up shirt and a pair of trousers Meanwhile, The Fast And The Furious star upped the style ante as she posed alongside Jordan in a revealing red gown with a striking long train. Jordan dined alongside the 39-year-old US actress and film director, Mohammed Al Turki. The trio appeared to be in the throes of a lively conversation as guests enjoyed flowing glasses of Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque Champagne and Absolut Elyx signature cocktails. High-profile pals: Jordan dined alongside the 39-year-old US actress and film director, Mohammed Al Turki At one point, Jordan sidled up to leggy Victoria's Secret model Barbara for a happy snap. As the pair enjoyed a tight embrace, Barbara showed off her svelte physique and trim pins in a white and silver glitzy pant suit. All-smiles: At one point, Jordan sidled up to leggy Victoria's Secret model Barbara for a happy snap Famous friends! Jordan's celebrity-fest continued as he was spotted hanging out with Canadian model, Winnie Barlow Jordan's celebrity-fest continued as he was spotted hanging out with Canadian model, Winnie Barlow. Despite enjoying a lifestyle of A-list parties, beautiful companions and exotic destinations, Jordan insists that he's just a normal '21-year-old kid' at the end of the day. Last month, he told The Daily Telegraph: 'I am just working hard and making the most of the opportunities that come my way - but I am still the same kid.' She's a hard-working actress with a top television show. But Sofia Vergara was intent on handling a few errands during a rare day off in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon. The 45-year-old stunner kept her famous curves under wraps wearing a billowing black blouse paired with distressed denim as she pounded the pavement throughout the city. Scroll down for video Out and about: Sofia Vergara was intent on handling a few errands during a rare day off in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon The Modern Family starlet showed off peeks of her tanned and toned legs through various distressed elements on her knees and across her thighs. She covered her ample assets with a flowing, black buttoned-up top which was tied around her waist to reveal a hint of her slender waistline. Sofia towered through the parking lot wearing chunky beige heels adorned with golden studs across her toes and around her ankles. Casual: The 45-year-old stunner kept her famous curves under wraps wearing a billowing black blouse paired with distressed denim as she pounded the pavement throughout the city Ready to go! Sofia towered through the parking lot wearing chunky beige heels adorned with golden studs across her toes and around her ankles Her long, caramel-colored hair was full of volume and worn straight, cascading down past her shoulders. She carried a black leather bag across her shoulder and sported just a touch of crimson-colored lipstick. Vergara most recently shared the red carpet with husband Joe Manganiello, 41, during the Hollywood premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Cute couple: Vergara most recently shared the red carpet with husband Joe Manganiello, 41, during the Hollywood premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story The couple - who wed in 2015 - joined a host of stars for the event last Thursday, with Vergara looking fabulous in a strapless white chiffon dress with ruffles. Her actor love recently gushed to Cigar Aficionado about his marriage, saying it was about 'coming to grips with the idea that someone who is not related to you could possibly love you that much. She was it for me.' 'Looking back on the relationships I had before this, I think the universe was giving me some tough practice so I'd get this right,' he said. She recently confirmed she was expecting her second child with Hugh Dancy. And Claire Danes covered her growing baby bump as she was spotted out in New York City on Thursday. The Homeland star, 39, swathed her figure in a navy blue trench coat as she made her way through the streets of the Big Apple. Covering up: Claire Danes covered her growing baby bump as she was spotted out in New York City on Thursday Daring to impress, the natural stunner wrapped her gorgeous gams in tight black leggings that were tucked into stiletto boots. Her trademark ginger tresses were swept back in a messy bun allowing her youthful face to shine. Throwing caution to the wind, the Brokedown Palace thespian went virtually makeup free with just a touch of berry lip. Claire has previously admitted she would be a 'lousy stay at home mom', and is glad she waited until later in life to have her children. Stunner: The Homeland star, 39, swathed her figure in a navy blue trench coat as she made her way through the streets of the Big Apple Impressive: Daring to impress, the natural stunner wrapped her gorgeous gams in tight black leggings that were tucked into stiletto boots 'Ive always wanted to have kids, but Im glad I didnt until now,' she told ELLE magazine in 2013. 'When I was thinking about [working and being a mother] originally, I was really nervous about it. 'I think I would make a lousy stay-at-home mom. It just wouldnt suit me. I feel so fortunate, in that Ive had this arrow-straight focus that I wanted to act.' Hair story: Her trademark ginger tresses were swept back in a messy bun allowing her youthful face to shine Au natural: Throwing caution to the wind, the Brokedown Palace thespian went virtually makeup free with just a touch of berry lip Child bearing: Claire has previously admitted she would be a 'lousy stay at home mom', and is glad she waited until later in life to have her children The New York native stopped by Howard Stern's morning program late last month to promote the seventh season of her hit show before a surprise announcement to reveal she was 'deep' in the second trimester of pregnancy. She went on to tell Stern that she's keeping the baby's gender a secret until she gives birth later this year. Claire has a five-year-old son, Cyrus, with her husband of nearly one decade, actor Hugh Dancy, 42. After meeting Hugh on the set of Evening in 2006, the pair announced their engagement in February 2009. They tied-the-knot in the same year in a secret ceremony in France. As a former Victoria's Secret model, Shanina Shaik is no stranger to flaunting her enviable figure. And on Thursday, the Australian supermodel turned heads at the amfAR Gala in Cannes by going braless underneath a daring gold sequined blazer. The 26-year-old dazzled in the plunging jacket, providing a glimpse of her ample assets in the bold ensemble. She means business! Shanina Shaik turns heads at amfAR gala in Cannes by going braless underneath a plunging gold-sequined blazer Daring: The 26-year-old dazzled in the plunging jacket, providing a glimpse of her ample assets in the bold ensemble The newlywed, who tied the knot to husband DJ Ruckus last month, appeared at ease as she posed up a storm in the revealing number. Shanina wore a matching pair of glitzy trousers to complete the glam ensemble. Drawing further attention to her exposed decolletage, the brunette beauty slipped on a gold necklace. Taking the plunge! Drawing further attention to her exposed decolletage, the brunette beauty wore a gold necklace Bling ring! The newlywed, who tied the knot to husband DJ Ruckus in April, also flashed her impressive diamond sparkler Dazzling, darling! Shanina wore a matching pair of glitzy trousers to complete the glam ensemble on the red carpet The blazer hugged to her svelte frame and highlighted her petite waist. The aspiring actress teamed the impressive ensemble with a pair of towering gold heels that boosted her already statuesque frame. Shanina's brunette locks were styled in voluminous waved curls, which were parted over her left shoulder. Golden girl! The aspiring actress teamed the impressive ensemble with a pair of towering gold heels that boosted her already statuesque frame Her makeup look appeared natural, with her freckles visible over her cheeks and nose. Smokey eye shadow enhanced her piercing green eyes, complementing her bronzed and contoured base. The Cannes Film Festival ends on Saturday, May 19. Florence Alexandra felt that she had been 'played big time' when Jake Ellis ditched her for Megan Marx on Bachelor In Paradise. But it appears the 28-year-old may have moved on with mining magnate Tolga Kumova who, as of 2017, boasts a net worth of $95million. The reality TV star looked radiant in a white sweater and jeans while attending Rebel Blue's VIP party with the businessman in Melbourne on Thursday. Scroll down for video New couple alert? The Bachelor's Florence Alexandra (right) attended a VIP party in Melbourne on Thursday with mining magnate Tolga Kumova (left) - who has a net worth of $95MILLION Florence Alexandra cut a casually chic figure in a white sweater with bell sleeves, which she paired with ripped jeans. She added heels, a silver-chained shoulder bag and a coordinating denim jacket, which she draped over one arm. The Bachelor 2017 star opted for an elegant makeup palette, consisting of a flawless complexion, bold brows, lashings of mascara and a glossy pink lip. Effortless style: The 28-year-old cut a casually chic figure in a white sweater with bell sleeves, which she paired with ripped jeans The details: She added heels, a silver-chained shoulder bag and a coordinating denim jacket, which she draped over one arm Tolga, who flaunted his muscular figure in a cashmere sweater and jeans, was all smiles as he posed for photos with the Dutch socialite. The 39-year-old is certainly an accomplished man, having been ranked at No. 22 on the Financial Review's Young Rich List in 2017. As of 2017, the former stockbroker is said to have accumulated a net worth of $95million, up from $79million the previous year. He's quite a catch! Millionaire Tolga, who flaunted his muscular figure in a cashmere sweater and jeans, was all smiles as he posed for photos with the Dutch socialite Beauty: Florence opted for an elegant makeup palette, consisting of a flawless complexion, bold brows, lashings of mascara and a glossy pink lip The sighting comes after Florence failed to find love with Jake Ellis on Network Ten's reality TV spin-off Bachelor In Paradise. During the series, Florence told Jake that she felt 'played big time' when he ditched her for Megan Marx. 'I felt like you were dancing on my f**king grave,' she said during a rather awkward exchange. Romantic history: The sighting comes after Florence failed to find love with Jake Ellis on Network Ten's reality TV spin-off Bachelor In Paradise Betrayal: During the series, Florence told Jake that she felt 'played big time' when he ditched her for Megan Marx Florence added that she felt 'hurt' and 'betrayed' by his actions. After Jake apologised, she accepted that he regretted his behaviour - but was not quite ready to forgive and forget. 'I don't hate you - but I don't like you very much either,' she said. Past split: 'I felt like you were dancing on my f**king grave,' Florence told Jake during a rather awkward exchange She's rumored to be dating Paris Jackson. But Cara Delevingne arrived solo to the unveiling of her latest ad campaign with TAG Heuer in New York on Thursday evening. The 25-year-old supermodel looked chic wearing an all-black ensemble for the luxury brand's latest debut, which was shot at the same South African wildlife reserve where a woman was mauled to death by a lion in March. Scroll down for video Fashion: Cara Delevingne arrived solo to the unveiling of her latest ad campaign with TAG Heuer in New York on Thursday evening Cara was the center of attention at the big event which featured massive portraits of the famous catwalk queen She sported a black leather vest with various silver zippers and studs positioned across her chest. With long black trousers sitting on her hips, her toned arms were equally covered with black mesh material. Campaign: The 25-year-old supermodel looked chic wearing an all-black ensemble for the luxury brand's latest debut, which was shot at the same South African wildlife reserve where a woman was mauled to death by a lion in March Back in black: Cara was the center of attention at the big event which featured massive portraits of the famous catwalk queen Cara's shaggy platinum blonde hair was tousled a top her head, with her smokey eyes peering through the crowd. She took a moment to sign her autograph across the ad campaign, with the hashtag #DontCrackUnderPressure written in bold white lettering. The luxury brand scrapped a multi-million dollar promotional launch in March after it was revealed that a woman had been mauled to death by a lion at the Dionkeng Game Reserve - the same location where Cara shot the campaign. Cara was allowed to walk among the lions under the watchful eye of their handler, lion whisperer Kevin Richardson, after being assured that the animals would not attack with him present. Fashion: Cara's shaggy platinum blonde hair was tousled a top her head, with her smokey eyes peering through the crowd She took a moment to sign her autograph across the ad campaign, with the hashtag #DontCrackUnderPressure written in bold white lettering The shots, taken by David Yarrow, were due to be unveiled at a celebrity party at Londons Maddox Gallery and an auction was expected to raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity. But TAG called off the bash just three hours before it was scheduled to start. The firm said: Due to the deeply sad and shocking death at a reserve, which was used as a backdrop to the campaign, we have decided to cancel out of respect for the family of the deceased. A source close to the brand added: The relatives of the woman, rather than business, are our primary concern. Cara was instead taken to a nearby restaurant by TAG boss Jean-Claude Biver, where they dined with Spice Girl Geri Halliwell. Mr Richardson said he was devastated to learn of the unnamed womans death last week. The reserve has been closed to visitors since the tragedy. Brooke Blurton is widely believed to make it to the final four on the upcoming season of The Bachelor, starring Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins. It would make her the first ever Indigenous contestant to do so, in turn providing a platform for the 23-year-old to discuss her traumatic childhood. After overcoming the tragic loss of her mother to suicide at age 11, Brooke spent the rest of her upbringing living in fear of drug-fuelled violence. However, she ultimately vowed to turn her harrowing experiences into something positive by helping others. Scroll down for video Losing her mother to suicide, surviving drug-fuelled violence and mental health struggles: Inside the traumatic childhood of Brooke Blurton - The Bachelor's first ever Indigenous finalist The volunteer mental health service worker previously discussed her struggles on SBS program Noongar Dandjoo. 'I grew up in a country town in Carnarvon. I spent my childhood there up until I was about 11, when my mum unfortunately passed away - she committed suicide,' she told host Neil Coyne. 'That was a hard time, living in Carnarvon with my mum and nan, losing mum, and then nan actually passed away a month later.' Finalist? The 23-year-old is widely believed to make it to the final four on the upcoming season of The Bachelor, starring Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins (pictured) Brooke eventually went to live with her father, but admitted: 'To be honest, he wasn't that supportive. 'Growing up was pretty complicated. (There was) a lot of drug and alcohol violence in my childhood and I had an older sister who suffered from schizophrenia,' she said. The future reality TV star somehow found the strength to push through her own mental health issues to become a role model for her siblings. Struggles: 'I grew up in a country town in Carnarvon. I spent my childhood there up until I was about 11, when my Mum unfortunately passed away - she committed suicide,' Brooke said 'He wasn't that supportive': Tragic struck a month after her mother's death, with Brooke's nan passing away suddenly, forcing the 11-year-old to live with her unhelpful father Her brother Troy told the program: 'Brooke was definitely someone I had to run to when I had problems. 'I went through quite a bit of depression when I was on drugs, drinking a lot, wasn't really in the right place.' As a result of her circumstances, Brooke was forced to either adapt and learn, or risk falling victim to the same problems that had affected her loved ones. Complicated: 'Growing up was pretty complicated. (There was) a lot of drug and alcohol violence in my childhood and I had an older sister who suffered from schizophrenia'. Pictured: Brooke with her brother Troy 'Growing up so naive and not understanding mental health, to now understanding it, I'm more passionate about helping others in preventing the loss of loved ones,' she added. Earlier this month, The Bachelor Nick Cummins, 30, was pictured at Sydney Airport, where he boarded a flight to Perth. A source told Daily Mail Australia that he was there for a home visit with Brooke. If true, it all-but-confirms rumours Brooke is set to become the first-ever Indigenous finalist on the Australian version of the show. Alyssa Milano has opened up about her postpartum anxiety attacks. The actress penned an article for Time magazine discussing the suffering she endured following the birth of her son. 'My Generalized Anxiety Disorder was most likely triggered by my postpartum depression, and my journey with mental illnesses began with my journey into motherhood,' she wrote. Honest: Alyssa Milano has opened up about her postpartum anxiety attacks Alyssa, 45, said that after suffering a miscarriage in 2011 she became pregnant with son Milo. 'My miscarriage was heartbreaking, but this pregnancy was beautiful,' she said. 'I did not experience morning sickness; I went to prenatal yoga five times a week; I walked two miles a day; and I took naps in the afternoon.' 'Following this idyllic image of motherhood, I wrote a strict birth plan: no induction of labor, no pain medication and no c-sections. I equated a natural birth to my value as a woman and as a mother and I was determined not to stray from that course.' But complications meant she was forced to deliver via C-section, and subsequently had trouble producing milk. Opening up: The actress penned an article for Time magazine discussing the suffering she endured following the birth of her son, Milo 'That first night, after we returned from the hospital, I suffered my first anxiety attack,' she recalled. 'I felt like I had already disappointed my child. I felt like I failed as a mother, since I was not able to give birth vaginally or nourish him with the breast milk that had not come in yet. 'My heart raced. My stomach seized up. I felt like I was dying.' Although she recovered, she suffered another debilitating attack when Milo was struck down with a fever, while she was preparing for a new show. 'As we began filming, my anxiety worsened. I began to develop irrational and obsessive fears,' she wrote. 'Like many working moms, I was overwhelmed by guilt for leaving my son during work hours, and like many others who suffer from anxiety, my pain was not taken seriously. 'Every day, I would drive to work and think about all the ways that Milo could die in the hands of his caretakers. Every night, after working 16-hour days, after I was finally able to hold my child and put him to sleep, my days anxiety would culminate into a debilitating anxiety attack.' Her days continued like this until finally, she 'hit a wall'. Deviation: Despite writing up a strict birth plan, complications meant she was forced to deliver via C-section, and subsequently had trouble producing milk 'One early morning, I went to the emergency room at 2:00 AM, asked for a psychiatrist and got help. I felt as though I had no choice: I asked to be committed; I stayed in a public psychiatric ward for three days. 'At last, I began to feel as if my pain was recognized, but it wasnt easy. One of my doctors dismissed my symptoms, and many of my colleagues, even female colleagues, still had trouble understanding that I was hurting at all. 'But throughout this process, I also found angels including my psychiatrist and my therapist. They convinced me that I had the bravery to face my illness, the value to seek help and the strength to recover.' She pointed out that mental health is also not a threat that can only happen to someone else: one in six Americans face mental illness, and less than half of them receive any form of mental health services. 'Lets rededicate ourselves to talking about mental health. Lets demand that our lawmakers pass policies that open not restrict our access to mental health services,' she said. 'Lets remind each other that no one should have to face these challenges by themselves.' She concluded: 'And if you see me on the street, please come tell me that I am not alone.' At the beginning of Grey's Anatomy's Season 14 finale May 17's 'All of Me' Zola (Aniela Gumbs) tells mom Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) you can't have too much love, and the rest of the hour puts that claim to the test. Six (!) characters get married, two exes rekindle their relationship, one long-lost lover returns, and two docs try to put the moves on Meredith. Then, of course, we say fond farewells to two veterans docs As the episode starts, the Grey Sloan gang is gearing up for Jo (Camilla Luddington) and Alex's (Justin Chambers) wedding with April (Sarah Drew) overseeing preparations at the Bainbridge Island venue. At Meredith's house, Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) helps Alex get ready and forbids him from trying to talk her out of leaving for New York City with daughter Sofia. Jo barges in, too excited to care her groom is seeing her before the wedding, and she tells Alex she's been offered a fellowship at Mass Gen. Mer overhears and looks crestfallen. Reward: Bailey (Chandra Wilson) gets a huge check for her Trailblazer device Proposal: Matthew gets a brilliant idea of his own and gets down on bended knee, asking April to marry him right then and there In other joyous news, Bailey (Chandra Wilson) gets a huge check for her Trailblazer device, and Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) celebrate Betty (Peyton Kennedy) as the teen hits 30 days of sobriety. Richard (James Pickens Jr.), Catherine (Debbie Allen), Jackson (Jesse Williams), and Maggie (Kelly McCreary), and the interns arrive to Jolex's wedding venue or what they think is the venue, at least and Jackson mentions April quit her job to 'do God's work.' He, on the other hand, is still grappling with the prospect of believing in God following April's near-death experience last episode, and Maggie tells him, 'Religion is just not my thing.' Right about then, the wedding starts and a different bride walks in. There was a mixup with the GPS link on Jolex's online invitation, and now the docs are crashing the wedding of two total strangers. Just as they're trying (and failing) to make a stealthy exit, the mother of the bride (Tisha Campbell-Martin) collapses at the altar. Crashers: Richard, Catherine, Jackson, and Maggiearrive to Jolex's wedding venue or what they think is the venue, at least Casualty: Just as they're trying (and failing) to make a stealthy exit, the mother of the bride (Tisha Campbell-Martin) collapses at the altar At Jolex's actual venue, Mer tells Amelia about the prospect of the soon-to-be-newlyweds leaving for Massachusetts, and Amelia says: 'I knew it!' She thinks Mer is in love with Alex. Mer shoots down that notion but floats the idea Amelia is in love with Owen, which might actually be true. We all know Mer's not in love with Alex, but she still doesn't want him leaving so she offers Jo a job as a general surgery attending, which would mean Jo would skip right over the fellowship step. Jo then confronts Alex, thinking he pulled strings with Meredith, but he assures her he didn't. They start making out and then sneak off to a toolshed for some pre-nuptial nookie. Meanwhile, Bailey takes the mother of the bride the one from the wrong wedding, that is back to Grey Sloan via ambulance. The woman is having an abdominal aortic aneurysm, but the hospital's head of cardio, Maggie, isn't there to treat her. Fortuitously, Teddy (Kim Raver) picks that moment to reappear in Seattle, and Bailey has her scrub in on the spot. Trap: Jo and Alex start making out and then sneak off to a toolshed for some pre-nuptial nookie Tense: Jackson has an awkward run-in with Matthew (Justin Burning) the man whose fiancee, April, he stole from the altar and the two make their peace As the guests arrive at the right venue with Deluca (Giacomo Gianniotti) asking: 'Where do you sit if you used to be in love with the bride, but then the groom beat you up and put you in the hospital?' Jo and Alex make the postcoital realization that they're trapped in the toolshed. Even worse, there's a skeleton in the shed with them: Some poor sap had dropped dead and hadn't been missed, apparently. Once Jo gets over her fright, she starts cracking up. 'We had sex in a shed next to a corpse on our wedding day!' she laughs. Meanwhile, Richard gives Mer a stern lecture for offering Jo a job just to keep Alex around. Once he skulks off, Amelia sidles up to Mer and asks: 'I mean, is it Jo you're secretly in love with?' Mer explains she just doesn't want to lose her best friend (and the last remaining member of her intern class). 'Alex is he's my Alex,' she says. Elsewhere, Jackson has an awkward run-in with Matthew (Justin Burning) the man whose fiancee, April, he stole from the altar and the two make their peace. 'She deserves to be happy,' Jackson tells him. 'You both do.' Matthew says he still wants to punch him in the face, so Jackson says: 'Would it make you feel better to know that I recently lost a quarter of a billion dollars?' In a Grey Sloan operating room, Bailey reflects on the kismet that brought her to the wrong wedding to save the mother of the bride. 'If I hadn't accidentally been there, she'd be dead,' she tells Teddy. Then Bailey finally gets around to ask Teddy why she had flown in from Germany, and Teddy says she wanted to ask the Chief of Surgery if she had a job opening. Disaster: With the bride and groom missing, the wedding planner enlists DeLuca for an impromptu toast, not realizing he's very drunk Faint: Then the planner herself eats a shrimp canape and suffers an extreme allergic reaction Back at the wedding, everyone's getting a little bit tipsy. Intern Helm (Jaicy Elliot), for example, has worked up the liquid courage to ask out Meredith. But Carina (Stefania Spampinato) stops her, saying: 'Love is precious. Don't waste it on someone who can't love you back.' As for same-sex love stories with happier endings, Arizona is flirting with ex-wife Callie over text! Callie even says that she 'can't wait to see' Arizona. ('People change, you know?' April tells Arizona, waxing philosophical. 'And life changes us. And our one job really, our only job is to stay open to possibilities.') Calzona lives! We don't actually see Callie, and thus we don't see Sara Ramirez reprise her part, but we do Sara's cover of Brandi Carlile's 'The Story' as the episode wraps up. No one can find the bride and groom, and the wedding is quickly becoming a comedy of errors. The wedding planner, for example, enlists DeLuca for an impromptu toast, not realizing he's very drunk. Then the planner herself eats a shrimp canape and suffers an extreme allergic reaction, and April has to use a pinwheel decoration for a makeshift tracheotomy and the sight of blood sends Intern Schmitt (Jake Borelli) fainting into the wedding cake. Amid the chaos, Mer gives DeLuca a pep talk about finding love after loss, and he misreads the situation and smooches her. She's flattered, but she's quick to say: 'This is not a seduction!' Passion: Amid the chaos, Mer gives DeLuca a pep talk about finding love after loss, and he misreads the situation and smooches her Pregnant: Teddy has a big announcement that she hasn't told Owen about Plan B: After the mother of the bride of the wrong wedding collapses in church, the bridal party is rushed to the hospital to complete the day Touching moment: The other bride and groom get married in the hospital chapel as the mother of the bride, recuperating in her hospital bed, watches a live feed via Teddy's tablet She weeps, as does Teddy, and she asks the doctor: 'Are you expecting?' And Teddy says: 'I am' Happy ending: Jo and Alex finally escape the tool shed and wed with Meredith as minister Back at Jolex's original venue, April is overseeing the cleanup when the original wedding officiant finally shows up. Matthew gets a brilliant idea of his own and gets down on bended knee, asking April to marry him right then and there. 'I loved who you were five years ago, and I love you even more now,' he says. She happily accepts, as Jackson and Arizona happily look on. And that other bride and groom, whose wedding the doctors crashed? They get married in the hospital chapel as the mother of the bride, recuperating in her hospital bed, watches a live feed via Teddy's tablet. She weeps, as does Teddy, and she asks the doctor: 'Are you expecting?' And Teddy says: 'I am.' So not only is Teddy probably sticking around for Season 15, but she'll have big news to deliver to Owen. The guy always wanted kids, and suddenly he has three: teen stowaway Betty; her kid/Owen's foster kid, Leo; and now Teddy's unborn child. So April is heading for a happily-ever-after with her first fiance, Matthew; Arizona is heading for one with her ex-wife, Callie; Jo and Alex are finally wed; Teddy's pregnant; and Meredith is (inadvertently) wooing doctors right and left. Can't wait for Season 15! Meek Mill says he'll speak at the White House about prison reform. The rapper, 31, told journalist Roland Martin in a statement Thursday that he was focused on making a positive impact for the incarcerated in his visit there. 'When I was released from prison, I promised to use my platform to give a voice to the voiceless and Im humbled to have the chance to do that at the White House,' he wrote, adding the hashtag, '#prisonreform,' Martin said via Twitter Thursday. Scroll below for video Driven: Meek Mill, 31, will head to the White House on Friday to speak about reforming prisons. The rap artist was snapped last summer in Las Vegas It was not immediately clear if Meek Mill was going to speak directly with President Donald Trump. The Philadelphia native said that 'this meeting isnt about supporting individual or political parties. 'My goal is to share my story with our countrys top lawmakers, so we can continue the conversation around criminal justice reform and unite to fix a broken system,' said the musical artist, whose full name is Robert Rihmeek Williams. 'Together, we have a special opportunity to produce positive change.' Sources told TMZ that a number of notable names have contacted the performer in hopes of persuading him to cancel the visit. Emotional: Meek Mill said he was 'humbled' to speak on the topic in the nation's capital Speaking out: The rapper detailed his motivation to journalist Roland S. Martin To be determined: It was not immediately clear if the rapper was going to meet with President Donald Trump, seen Thursday in the Oval Office Last month, Meek Mill was released from a Pennsylvania prison on bail after almost five months in custody. He was let go amid an appeal on a 2008 conviction for gun and drug offenses, by the order of the state Supreme Court. In November, he received a two-to-four year sentence in connection with violation to the terms of his probation. The rapper makes music for the Roc Nation label ran by Jay-Z, who said in a statement he felt Meek Mill had been 'incarcerated unjustly and caught in a probation trap for years by a broken system.' We're used to seeing Natasha Oakley flaunting her incredible figure in tiny bikinis. And on Thursday, the swimwear designer and blogger swapped the bikinis for jeans, as she stepped out at Gigi Caruso's swimwear event in Los Angeles. Natasha, 26, looked chic as she showcased her curves in tight jeans, flashing her lace bra in a see-through top. Sheer daring! Bikini model Natasha Oakley (pictured) flashes her lace bra in a see-through top as she joins Devin Brugman at pop-up event in Los Angeles Natasha's top featured a high neck and long sleeves. The blonde beauty wore designer accessories including a nude Gucci belt, and nude high heels, which matched her designer handbag. Natasha styled her sun-drenched locks into voluminous tousled waves. All in the details! The blonde beauty wore designer accessories including a nude Gucci belt, and nude high heels, which matched her designer handbag Blonde beauty: Natasha showcased her flawless complexion thanks to a slick of dewy foundation and a pop of Illuminiser Natasha showcased her flawless complexion thanks to a slick of dewy foundation and a pop of Illuminiser. During the pop-up launch, Natasha posed alongside the bikini line founder, Gigi and her best friend and business partner, Devin Brugman. Devin opted for a midriff-baring ensemble featuring a cropped white shirt and a pair of tight jeans. In good company: During the pop-up launch, Natasha posed alongside the bikini line founder, Gigi (centre) and her best friend and business partner, Devin Brugman (R) Picture perfect: Devin kept her short locks out and over her shoulders, and wore natural-looking makeup She kept her short locks out and over her shoulders, and wore natural-looking makeup. Gigi C Bikinis line was launched last year by Gigi, who is the daughter of Los Angeles billionaire developer Rick Caruso, 59. The Caruso company owns and manages The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles as well as retail complexes in nearby Glendale, Calabasas and Marina del Rey. When one of the millionaire investors on Shark Tank tells a business owner 'I'm out' the once in a lifetime chance of securing a lucrative deal is lost. But it turns out that even when the Sharks opt in, small business hopefuls may not see a cent of that promised investment due to post show due diligence. Rick Coles, who along with his wife Tracy, appeared on Shark Tank in 2017 and say they were never given the $200,000 investment promised for their burgeoning delivery company, Fresh Meals 2 U. Scroll down for video Investors? Contestants claim that even when a Shark Tank investor opt in, small business hopefuls may not see a cent of that promised investment due to post show due diligence Sharks Janine Allis and Steve Baxter offered the sum for a 25 per cent stake in the pair's company, but Rick tells The Sydney Morning Herald that the deal fell through. 'Overall how the show was structured and how the reality was, was not what we had in our minds so that was a bit of a shock,' he told the paper. 'We did not know that there was a show deal and then a real deal we thought it was just one deal,' Rick added. Out: Rick Coles, who along with his wife Tracy, appeared on Shark Tank in 2017 and say they were never given the $200,000 investment promised for their burgeoning delivery company Not many winners? Fairfax Media uncovered that only four businesses that were offered investments in 2017 received them The Sharks must do 'due diligence' to ensure they feel the deal is viable after the cameras are off. But that means that after further investigation, some of the investors may pull out of the deal they had promised on camera for a variety of reasons. The paper goes on to claim that after an investigation, Fairfax Media uncovered that only four businesses that were offered investments in 2017 received them. They were Be Fit Food, Cancer Aid, Jimalie, Monday Food Co, with two sharks, Naomi Simson and Steve Baxter, not paying any investments in 2017 at all. An Endemol Shine spokesperson explained to the paper that, 'As in any proposed business investment, even one where the pitch and deal is filmed, comprehensive due diligence is required before the investment proceeds'. An Endemol Shine spokesperson explained: 'As in any proposed business investment, even one where the pitch and deal is filmed, comprehensive due diligence is required before the investment proceeds' Helpful: The spokesperson also went on to say that the sharks often provide mentoring and other support for companies even if the deal falls through The spokesperson also went on to say that the sharks often provide mentoring and other support for companies even if the deal falls through. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Ten for comment. It comes after Red Balloon founder and Shark Naomi Simson revealed to Woman's Day that all hell broke loose on the judging panel after a contestant gave them a taste test of a new type of vodka. Pictured: Shark Tank judges Steve Baxter, Janine Allis, Andrew Banks, Naomi Simson and Glen Richards She told the publication: 'Glen [Richards] had four sips and he was really feeling it... It was Monday morning and everyone was pi**ed!' 'Sometimes I think people pitching are trying to get us drunk so we invest in their product,' she joked. Naomi added: 'There's never a dull moment with these people!' Holly Willoughby has confessed that she is planning to watch this weekend's Royal Wedding in her own wedding dress as she celebrates her sister Kelly's 40th birthday. Chatting to Alison Hammond during Thursday's This Morning Live, Holly revealed that her sister had suggest they all attend the party in their bridal gowns to see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot. The 37-year-old This Morning presenter added that her frock needed a good steaming before she would be wearing it again, as it had not been touched since she first tied the knot with producer Dan Baldwin in 2007. Hilarious: Holly Willoughby has revealed that she plans to watch this weekend's Royal Wedding in her own wedding dress, as she celebrates her sister's 40th birthday Speaking at the event in Birmingham Holly said: 'It's my sister's 40th on the same day so I've got a big party for her birthday anyway, all day, and then obviously the royal wedding, so extra excitement. 'And then this week on the old family Whatsapp group that we all have, my sister Kelly said, ''I've got an amazing idea - for anyone that's been married go and get your wedding dress and wear it to the party.'' But Holly added that over a decade after first tying the knot with Dan, it took a good steaming before the once-white dress was ready to wear again. She said: 'I dug it out - I took it into This Morning to the big steamer as I haven't got one of those. It is filthy! I haven't had it dried cleaned. It's a bit ripped. I will look a bit like Miss Havisham.' Wedding-ready: Speaking at This Morning live on Thursday, Holly said her frock needed a good steam 11 years after she first tied the knot with producer Dan Baldwin Exciting: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be married on Saturday (May 19) at Windsor Castle in front of 600 guests Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will tie the knot this Saturday (May 19) at Windsor Castle in front of around 600 guests. A particularly touching story left Holly in tears on Wednesday's This Morning, as they heard an array of stories from people who had various relatives walk them down the aisle following the news that Meghan's father Thomas would be unable to attend the ceremony. One lady called Nicky emailed in to say her little boy had walked her down the aisle, but the sentiment was rather too much for Holly. It's all too much: Holly burst into tears on This Morning on Wednesday as a viewer revealed her toddler walked her down the aisle Lovely idea: Nicky's snap of her cute little son taking on this special role was overwhelming for some, as viewers recalled their wedding stories Having fun: Hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford joined in the royal wedding festivities, as they sported crown headbands She burst into tears at the very idea, needing to fan herself with her cue card in order to regain her composure. 'No, you're going to make me cry,' she said, although it was already too late. Another viewer called in to say she wanted to ask her mother to walk her down the aisle when she gets married in Vegas. Something to discuss: The news that Meghan Markle's father, Thomas, can no longer travel to the #RoyalWedding inspired Wednesday's phone-in Sad times: Meghan's father Thomas reportedly won't attend her wedding because he needs to have major heart surgery on Wednesday, it has been claimed She told Holly and Phillip her mother watches the show religiously, but sadly, in an awkward twist, it turned out she wasn't watching and she didn't answer the phone. However, they did manage to get hold of her a little later on and she of course, said yes. Meghan's father reportedly won't attend her wedding because he needs to have major heart surgery on Wednesday, it has been claimed. Special time: Another viewer called in to say she wanted to ask her mother to walk her down the aisle when she gets married in Vegas Oh dear: She told Holly and Phillip her mother watches the show religiously, but sadly, in an awkward twist, it turned out she wasn't watching and she didn't answer the phone The 73-year-old, who lives in Mexico, revealed that doctors will 'go in and clear blockage, repair damage, and put a stent where it is needed' during the operation, which will take place at 3.30pm UK time. The retired lighting director believes his heart attack was triggered by an open letter his son, Thomas Jr, wrote trying to convince Harry not to marry Meghan. This Morning did not just focus on the Royal wedding of course. There was also a segment about chickens. A guest called Julie Smith was diagnosed with severe depression 12 years ago and her husband Gordon bought her six chickens. Bringing with them routine, responsibility and a whole lot of chicken-love, Julie's girls have helped her regain a love for life and her depression has all but disappeared. Erlanger Health System on Thursday celebrated Trauma Awareness month and 30 years of providing trauma services in the region as a Level I Trauma Center. In honor of this milestone, Erlanger hosted an event showcasing the history of the program and three trauma survivors shared their remarkable stories. Patient stories include: Ashlyn Andersons car was struck by another vehicle and a dump truck resulting in a severe brain injury among other injuries. Kristy Kelly was seriously injured when she suffered a high fall landing on concrete resulting in multiple injuries including a head injury. Aiden Brown fell off the front of his familys pontoon boat and was struck multiple times by the propeller requiring a LIFE FORCE flight to Childrens Hospital at Erlanger. Erlanger provides the highest level of 24/7 care for critically ill and traumatically injured patients in the region. As southeast Tennessees only Level I Trauma Center designated by both Alabama and Tennessee, Erlanger is the comprehensive resource for a 63-county service area, as well as the tertiary care facility central to the areas Regional Trauma System covering Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. For more information about Erlangers Trauma Services visit www.erlanger.org. Tekashi69 was reportedly barred entry from Snoop Dogg's intimate gig hosted at 1 OAK by undercover New York City police officers in this week. The heavily inked rapper was said to be seeking the advice from his pal Snoop on his personal ongoing feuds, according to TMZ. Snoop was DJing at 1OAK. Only three months ago, violent footage captured the moment the musician was caught up in a bloody brawl with a seven-man gang outside LAX. Claims: Tekashi69 (R) was reportedly barred entry from Snoop Dogg's (L) intimate gig hosted at 1 OAK by undercover New York City police officers this week The US gossip site reports the hitmaker also known as 6ix9ine is said to be locked in a bitter feud with gangs on the West Coast. Tekashi69 was touching base with the fellow rapper because he is said to have a lot of respect for Snoop with TMZ citing the pair often exchange texts and calls. MailOnline has approached 1 OAK and Snoop Dogg's representatives for comment. In February, Tekashi69 who admitted to groping a 13-year-old girl and allied to street gangs including the Bloods was caught getting into a brawl outside LAX. Pictured: Only three months ago, violent footage captured the moment the musician was caught up in a bloody brawl with a seven-man gang outside LAX Tekashi69, also known as 6ix9ine, has been carving his spot in the limelight as an increasingly popular rapper. But the star has pleaded guilty to the use of a child in a sexual performance after allegedly cupping a 13-year-old girl's breast in a video in 2015. The Brooklyn-based rapper, who still faces one to three years in jail, could be seen in footage with four of his gang as they confronted a shouting man standing by a car. After apparently defusing the situation, Tekashi's posse begin to walk away before the man took off his jacket and rushed towards them swearing. Although Tekashi was escorted into Terminal 5, another of his crew punched the man but he was also soon assisted by rapper Acie High, TMZ reported. Several of the rapper's concerts in LA had been canceled due to gang-related threats. He seen above last year. Takeshi69 has been linked to both the Bloods and rival Crips Tekashi then got caught up in a vicious fight with seven gang members, which saw the explosive showdown take place in the middle of the road. During the scuffle, Takeshi was taken down to the ground in front of oncoming traffic, losing one of his sneakers, as the person filming the fight says: 'Oh my God. This is too crazy.' Police officers were then seen talking to the rapper and his crew inside the airport. No charges were pressed, according to TMZ. Takeshi, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was believed to be allied to the Crips gang, who have appeared in at least one of his videos. However, he has also been seen with the rival Bloods bringing the exact nature of his gang allegiances into question. Some believe that the fight was staged to promote Takeshi's upcoming mixtape, Day69, according to Billboard. On his Instagram account, the rapper posted an image of the brawl with the message: 'Here's the video! Stop playin wit us! ... Preorder the tape link in bio for a shoutout!' Further footage after the fight shows Takeshi being asked why the brawl started, to which he says: 'I don't know. Everyone wants to make a name for themselves... I don't think they came for me. Nobody wants to come for me.' When asked whether people are 'coming for' him following his social media posts, he replied: 'I'm still smiling.' Several of the rapper's concerts in LA had been canceled due to gang-related threats. She was spotted spending time with Emmerdale actor Danny Miller at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday night. And it looks like Georgia Toffolo is in high-demand as she was seen cosying up to a handsome mystery man at the Bluebird Cafe, Chelsea, London, on Thursday night. The Made In Chelsea star, 23, appeared animated in conversation as she enjoyed a cigarette and appeared to be drinking a glass of Champagne in the outdoor smoking area. Mystery man?: It looks like Georgia Toffolo is in high-demand as she was seen cosying up to a handsome mystery man at the Bluebird Cafe, Chelsea, London, on Thursday night And while there is nothing to suggest that there could be romantic intentions between the pair, the duo were later joined by four other handsome males who were dressed to impress in black suits. Georgia appeared in good spirits as she laughed and joked with her companions, even leaning in to hug one of them goodbye. MailOnline has contacted Georgia's representative for comment. Cosy: The Made In Chelsea star, 23, appeared animated in conversation after she was spotted spending time with Emmerdale actor Danny Miller at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday night Girls just wanna have fun: Georgia enjoyed a cigarette and appeared to be drinking a glass of Champagne in the outdoor smoking area Companions: And while there is nothing to suggest that there could be romantic intentions between the pair, the duo were later joined by four other handsome males Having fun: Georgia appeared in good spirits as she laughed and joked with her companions, even leaning in to hug one of them goodbye For her fun evening out, the I'm A Celebrity 2017 winner showed off her slender figure in a plunging black and sparkly embroidered dress, with a tasselled hem. Georgia opted for comfortable footwear as she wore a pair of stylish black and nude Chanel ballet bumps, with a chic black and gold chain handbag. The This Morning presenter styled her blonde locks into a voluminous bouncy blow-dried hairdo. Stylish: For her fun evening out, the I'm A Celebrity 2017 winner showed off her slender figure in a plunging black and sparkly embroidered dress, with a tasslled hem Was it something I said?: At one stage, Georgia appeared shocked as she put her hand to her mouth as she talked to the trio Shocked: The reality star looked both in awe and surprised as one of the gentleman appeared to show her something Friendly: Staying true to her cheerful and friendly nature, Georgia hugged one of her companions goodbye She added a full face of make-up, which included bronzer, lashings of mascara and pink lipstick. The outing comes just days after she was spotted spending time with Emmerdale actor Danny Miller, who plays Aaron Dingle on the ITV soap, at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday night. Georgia looked close with the 27-year-old at the Mondrian Hotel bar - and even borrowed his jacket while she waited for a taxi. Chic: Georgia opted for comfortable footwear as she wore a pair of stylish black and nude Chanel ballet bumps, with a chic black and gold chain handbag Gorgeous: The This Morning presenter styled her blonde locks into a voluminous bouncy blow-dried hairdo Glamorous: She added a full face of make-up, which included bronzer, lashings of mascara and pink lipstick The pair set tongues wagging as they laughed and joked together in the hotel lobby after the bash. While she had a glass of champagne in hand, Toff appeared deep in animated conversation with the actor as they left the party alongside the other guests. Proving to be a gentleman, Danny was even seen lending the MIC star his jacket to keep her warm while she waited for her ride home. Having made it til the late hour of 4:30am, Toff then headed home to nurse her cold in bed - giving Danny a warm hug goodbye as she left the bar. MailOnline has contacted both Georgia and Danny's representatives for comment. Busy-bee: The outing comes just days after she was spotted spending time with Emmerdale actor Danny Miller at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday night He's playing a disgraced politician in his latest role. But Hugh Grant can't help but attract controversy in real life too as he was forced to apologise for swearing twice during Chris Evans' Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Friday morning. The acting legend, 57, said sorry to 'mums on the school run' after his epic double blunder during an interview to discuss his role as Jeremy Thorpe in a new BBC biopic. Blunder: Hugh Grant was forced to apologise for swearing twice during Chris Evans' Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Friday morning Chris mentioned during the chat that Hugh shared a similar view of acting with fellow star Anthony Hopkins, to which Hugh interjected: 'Oh he always says that, he says it's b*****ks doesn't he?' A horrified Chris told him 'Oh you can't say that!' only for Hugh to exclaim 'Oh s**t' leading the host to demand Hugh apologise to 'mums on the school run.' Hugh, who made his name in hits such as Four Weddings and Funeral, Notting Hill and the Bridget Jones movies, says he steers clear of such roles, choosing instead to focus on meatier dramatic parts like that of Thorpe.. Apology: The acting legend, 57, said sorry to 'mums on the school run' during an interview to discuss his role as Jeremy Thorpe in a new BBC biopic Promo: The actor, who rarely does interviews, stopped to sign autographs before heading inside the Radio 2 studios on Friday At 57, he says he is too 'old and ugly' for romantic comedies and insists 'the bird has flown'. Instead, he is moving in a different direction such as playing the disgraced former Liberal leader, in A Very English Scandal. 'I've always tried to take whatever was the most entertaining thing in front of me at the time,' he told the Radio Times. 'And getting older and uglier has made the parts, you know, more varied. There used to be quite a big snobbery about New role: The actor is playing disgraced former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal, which airs on BBC1 this weekend Arriving in style: Hugh made his entrance at the studios on a flash moped, with a Learners plate on the front Back in the limelight: Hugh looked in a serious mood as he headed inside for the chat 'Oh, I'm a film star now, I don't do television'. But that is eroding very fast. I saw De Niro is now doing television.' Grant, a father of five, says he had to lose weight to portray Thorpe's hollow-cheeked appearance in the drama, which will start on BBC1 on Sunday. 'I just got thinner. He was cadaverous, Thorpe, so I bought a bicycle and went racing round Richmond Park for four months and lost quite a lot of weight.' He said playing the old Etonian, who stood trial in 1979 for conspiracy to murder his gay ex-lover Norman Scott, also required a 'genius' make-up artist. 'He knew exactly what to do,' he said. 'Clever stuff like making my cheekbones even more hollow, the contact lenses and the hair.' A Very English Scandal debuts at 9pm on BBC1 on Sunday May 20. Radio stars: Chris Evans was seen arriving for his Radio 2 show along with James Bay She underwent a hip replacement last month due to her osteoarthritis. And Georgie Parker, 53, appears to be recovering well from her operation, as she shared some incredible photos of her doing Pilates on Friday. Performing the gravity-defying poses in a fitness studio, the Home And Away star could be seen holding herself up on metal bars as she kept her legs above her body. Wow: Home And Aways Georgie Parker, 53, did gravity-defying pilates on Friday... after revealing she had to have a hip replacement It seems like the actresses decision to get back into her exercise routine wasn't an easy one to make, though, as she told her fans: 'So a heads up re (sic) my hip, I've done Pilates for 10 years and have an excellent teacher. My physio gave the ok, so I'm back at it.' 'When youve had an injury or surgery, my advice is to listen to the professionals and your body before getting back into your routine. And... have a great weekend.' The brunette beauty looked sensational in her gym snaps, as she slipped her lithe frame into a black tank top and skin-tight leggings. Approved: The decision to get back into her exercise routine wasn't an easy to make, as she told her fans: 'When youve had an injury or surgery, my advice is to listen to the professionals' Pulling her long locks into a tight ponytail, Georgie went make-up free to highlight her natural beauty and didn't distract from her incredible flexibility. Speaking with Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur on The Morning Show last month, the Home And Away star said that her recovery process was 'debilitating'. Osteoarthritis is a disease in which tissue around the bones wears down, causing pain, immobility and disability. Serious recovery: She underwent a hip replacement last month due to her osteoarthritis The soap star also revealed that she'd tried to hide her condition even as it deteriorated and caused her mobility issues. 'I hid it as well as I could. I have Scoliosis as well, so I'm working with that as well as the hip,' she said. The star, who has played Summer Bay's Roo Stewart for close to a decade, added: 'Unfortunately, when the hip loses that movement, everything is compromised.' Opening up: Speaking with Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur on The Morning Show last month, the Home And Away star says that the process was 'debilitating' Georgie said her good friend and co-star Ray Meagher was by her side for her recovery. 'I had Ray visiting me, sending me flowers and chocolates. Everybody was messaging me a lot, so it was a real sense of family. 'I felt very loved and getting messages saying that they love me and miss me. It was really sweet,' she told the hosts. She's celebrating her 28th birthday with a luxurious break in St Lucia. But Charlotte Crosby's birthday night out on the tropical isle ended in a furious fight, as she was captured on video appearing to punch her boyfriend Joshua Ritchie, 23 on Wednesday. The reality star, 28, took to Instagram on Friday after the footage emerged to defend her actions, saying she 'pushed him away' but 'not once did she hurt, punch or hit him'. Fight: Charlotte Crosby's birthday night out on the tropical isle ended in a furious fight, as she was captured on video appearing to punch her boyfriend Joshua Ritchie, 23 on Wednesday Charlotte was celebrating her birthday at the Ultra Lounge with Josh and a group of friends when the argument happened. Replying to a fan via Instagram on Friday, she wrote: 'I pushed joshes arm away from me and flung a plastic cup at his feet. We had a argument which isn't really the strangest thing to happen in the world is it? 'Not once did I punch/ hit or hurt him or his face. He was trying to calm me down and I was pushing him away. (sic)' Night out: The ex Geordie Shore star can be seen in video footage obtained exclusively by MailOnline yelling at Josh, as he sat with their pals inside the Ultra Lounge Slamming claims: The reality star, 28, took to Instagram on Friday after the footage emerged to defend her actions, saying she 'pushed him away' but 'not once did she hurt, punch or hit him' The ex Geordie Shore star can be seen in video footage obtained exclusively by MailOnline yelling at Josh, as he sat with their pals inside the venue. Charlotte then stormed out, followed by a girlfriend, before Josh's mate told the dawdling Ex On The Beach hunk they need to leave. The fight continued outside with Charlotte seen standing in the road yelling at Josh, before appearing to punch and shove her boyfriend, while shouting 'f**k you'. She eventually stormed off. Heated: The fight continues outside with Charlotte seen standing in the road yelling at Josh Physical: Charlotte then appeared to punch and shove her boyfriend, while shouting 'f**k you' A source told MailOnline Charlotte 'stormed out of the club and started arguing' at around 12:30am. 'She chucked her drink at a man in a white t-shirt and stormed out. I heard someone say "we have to get her out of here" presumably because she was too drunk. I believe they must have gone home after that,' the insider continued. Charlotte alluded to the wild night out on her Instagram, posting a snap of herself in the same white bardot-style dress she's seen wearing in the video alongside the caption: 'HB To me. BTW Im absolutely WRECKED.' Boozy night: A source has told MailOnline that Charlotte 'stormed out of the club and started arguing' at around 12:30am 'Wrecked': Charlotte alluded to the wild night out on her Instagram, posting a snap of herself in alongside the caption: 'Im absolutely WRECKED' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Charlotte and Josh for comment. Just hours before their fight, Charlotte and Josh appeared in a loved-up mood, as he surprised the birthday girl by decorating their hotel room with rose petals and balloons to mark her birthday. Posing on the bed for a snap, Charlotte thanked Josh in the caption, writing: 'CUTEST SURPRISE EVER Thankyou for making my day special'. Fiery pair: The night before, Charlotte and Josh shared cosy Instagrams as they rang in her birthday together Charlotte is in the throes of her passionate relationship with Josh as she mends her heartache from her split with Stephen Bear. The Charlotte Show star's 11-month love affair with Stephen came to a dramatic end amid cheating claims in October last year. The Charlotte and Josh love story goes back to when they locked lips at reality star pal Aaron Chalmers' MMA win in December last year. Reality star worlds collided when they made their romance official in February as they shared a cosy Instagram together with the date '9.2.2018'. (sic) Sweet surprise: Just hours before their fight, Charlotte and Josh appeared in a loved-up mood, as he surprised the birthday girl by decorating their hotel room with rose petals and balloons Meanwhile Charlotte unleashed a foul-mouthed rant as she hit back at bodyshamers for calling her 'larger' in a candid Instagram video on Wednesday. The Geordie Shore alum couldn't contain her venom as she lashed out at Instagram fans for negative comments left on her racy bikini photos. Opening the video with a shot of her make-up free visage the vitriolic star said: 'All the people commenting on my photos saying "you have put weight on', you are larger in your real pictures. So here is video footage of my body. Oh dear: Charlotte unleashed a foul-mouthed rant as she hit back at bodyshamers for calling her 'larger' in a candid Instagram video earlier on Wednesday The camera then pans down to show a underwear-free Charlotte showing off her toned waist and midriff as beau Joshua holds the blanket down. The brunette beauty then filmed herself in the mirror which she captioned: 'Same position as on my instas, you c****'. Cutting back to Charlotte, she said: 'There are certain positions I may be in where I may look...' as Joshua cut in 'like the Michelin Man' as she burst out laughing. She then proceeded to pull different faces to give herself a double chin and showed off a slight roll in the stomach when she bent over. The star said: 'See that little roll there. The natural roll of a sitting position!' This comes after the television personality, who's an advocate for health and fitness, became upset when she couldn't fit into any of her size 8 clothes from her In The Style clothing range during a photoshoot - despite the fact she still looked amazing. Wow: The Geordie Shore alum, 28,couldn't contain her venom as she lashed out at Instagram fans for negative comments left on her racy bikini photos And when a yellow leather skirt ripped in the back, the style team were forced to tape it shut. To which an embarrassed Charlotte said: 'My a**e is completely out. Imagine if I wore this on a date?' She added: 'I feel so much pressure. All eyes are on me to look good in these clothes.' And after getting emotional about the lack of clothes fitting her, she continued: 'I'm having a bad time again. How embarrassing. Im meant to be the ambassador for the brand and now none of the clothes fit us?' Former Made In Chelsea star Kimberley Garner showcased her daring sense of style as she attended the amfAR Gala after-party on Thursday night. The swimwear designer, 28, went underwear free as she let her hair down during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc She commanded attention as she slipped her incredibly toned figure into a heavily-sequinned gown, risking revealing a little too much in the number. All eyes on her: Kimberley Garner went underwear free while wearing this sequin dress her at the amfAR Gala after-party at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cannes, on Thursday The silver garment featured a perilously high split, which put her envy-inducing pins on full display. Looking every inch the bombshell, Kimberley added to her statuesque frame in a pair of nude strappy heels. The socialite ensured all eyes were fixated on her stunning dress as she kept accessories at a minimum. Wow-factor! The swimwear designer, 28, commanded attention as she slipped her incredibly toned figure into a heavily-sequinned gown Kimberley accentuated her radiant complexion in dewy foundation, lashings of mascara and rose blush. Shortly after the glitzy event, she was spotted arriving at the Martinez Hotel with a male companion on Friday. The pair emerged from a lavish McLaren vehicle, before heading to the 5-star establishment. Off she goes: Shortly after the glitzy event, Kimberely was spotted arriving at the Martinez Hotel with a male companion on Friday Off-duty style: Showing off her taut abs, the London native donned a patterned bralet, tied in with a semi-sheer maxi skirt Showing off her taut abs, the London native donned a patterned bralet, tied in with a semi-sheer maxi skirt. Kimberely injected a hint of glamour into her look as she wore trendy gladiator sandals, and toted a tan handbag. Looking every inch the natural beauty, the reality star went make-up free while accessorising with circular-framed sunglasses. Chic: Kimberely injected a hint of glamour into her look as she wore trendy gladiator sandals, and toted a tan handbag With her own line of clothing under her belt, the reality star has brought a number of show-stopping gowns for the prestigious red carpet events. Kimberley recently revealed how she used to pretend to be the intern when she first started in business as nobody took her seriously. The blonde bombshell shot to fame when she starred in Made In Chelsea in 2012 as a love interest of Richard Dinan, but is now better known for her sultry bikini shots on Instagram. Hopping out: The pair emerged from a lavish McLaren vehicle, before heading to the 5-star establishment However, the property heiress insists she's more than just the face of her line Kimberley London and is involved with every aspect of creating her sell-out swimwear range. 'I think people sometimes think that Im only the face, but I am responsible for every bit of the business,' she told Femail. 'I was 18 when I started my first company - I came up with an idea, stayed up for days learning how to register the company and teaching myself. It became very successful overnight. However, as I was only 18, no one ever imagined it was mine. 'I was a young blonde girl with a soft voice. No one would take me seriously or realise it was my company. So, I pretended to be the Intern! Married at First Sight's Zoe Hendrix grew up without knowing who her biological family really are. But on Friday, the 29-year-old had a breakthrough, with an uncle coming forward who is willing to share information on the whereabouts of her mother and father. Zoe shared the news on Instagram, posing with two of the workers who cared for her when she, along with her twin brother Micael, was abandoned at an Ethiopian orphanage at just five years of age. Found! Married at First Sight's Zoe Hendrix grew up without knowing who her biological family really are. ut on Friday, the 29-year-old had a breakthrough, with an uncle coming forward who is willing to share information on the whereabouts of her mother and father 'After 22 years of wondering about our biological family, I recently have been advised that my twin brother and I have a living uncle (a priest) who has come forward and is willing to talk,' she wrote. 'A living family member who will (finally) be able to provide us some answers. Answers to questions like, who was our mother? What is her story? Is she alive? Who is our father?' Zoe then explained that in July, she 'will be boarding a plane to Ethiopia and going to see that priest.' Tough childhood: Zoe shared the news on Instagram, posing with two of the workers who cared for her when she, along with her twin brother Micael (pictured) was abandoned at an Ethiopian orphanage at just five years of age That priest, she explained, baptised Zoe and her brother under a waterfall, a fact that she calls, 'like destiny.' 'Like my whole life, and every battle strengthened me for this point. That in this meeting I will find the closure I need to be a better mother, partner and the woman I need to become. To heal' she wrote. Zoe says she is 'both terrified and overjoyed' to finally learn where she comes from. In 2015, the Melbourne digital marketing executive revealed she was abandoned by her mother in her birth country Ethiopia. Life in the orphanage: In 2015, the Melbourne digital marketing executive revealed she was abandoned by her mother in her birth country Ethiopia (pictured in her orphanage) Zoe and brother Micael, were left at an orphanage, after a war left the single mother desperate and worried for her children's safety. 'She told us to go out there and be brave and maybe one day we'd be able to find her again,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'As a child in the orphanage there wasn't much to eat, we shared one pair of shoes pretty much what you see in the World Vision ads, not a nice place, horrible place to be in,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Difficult journey: Zoe and brother Micael, were left at an orphanage, after a war left the single mother desperate and worried for her children's safety Siblings: 'She told us to go out there and be brave and maybe one day we'd be able to find her again,' Zoe told Daily Mail Australia While she admits, as a child it was easy to be resilient and adjust to life in the orphanage as 'normal,' the loss of blood relatives has always been hard on her. 'I have no blood family in my life except for my brother, so it's been a hard thing to live with, losing my entire family,' she said. In 2007, Zoe and Micael travelled to Ethiopia to find their mother, and while they did meet their godmother, they had no luck finding their mum. Efforts: In 2007, Zoe and Micael (pictured with Zoe on Married at First Sight) travelled to Ethiopia to find their mother, and while they did meet their godmother, they had no luck finding their mum Zoe, whose real name is Eyerusalem, was adopted along with her brother in 1995 by a Tasmanian couple when she was five years old. The reality star and her partner Alex Garner, 32, who she met on Married at first Sight, announced in April that they had split after three years. They continue to amicably co-parent their 17-month-old daughter Harper-Rose. She has been shooting sensational snaps for her own bikini range under the Spanish sunshine. And Demi Rose, 23, proved it was second nature when she put on an enticing display in her latest fashion shoot for ISAWITFIRST.COM in Ibiza, Spain. Tyga's ex showed it was time for Kim Kardashian to move aside as she exhibited some serious sideboob to rival the reality star in her skimpy nude dress. Nude appeal: Demi Rose shows off sideboob as she exhibits her desirable curves in figure-hugging nude dress in Ibiza From the back, the curvy pin-up put her sun-kissed skin on display thanks to the backless design which was cut to just above her peachy derriere. Seductively, the British born beauty showed she was confident in her sex appeal as she rested her hands on her hips. Demi had a coquettish pout when she flirted up a storm for the cameras, with only natural touches of make-up to highlight her God given beauty. Those curves! Tyga 's ex showed it was time for Kim Kardashian to move aside as she exhibited some serious sideboob to rival the reality star in her skimpy nude dress Raunchy: The Kylie Jenner lookalike threatened to let her cleavage spill out of her dress as the sexy cut of the dress barely covered her modesty Sassy: Seductively, the British born beauty showed she was confident in her sex appeal as she rested her hands on her hips The brunette bombshell has been keeping to her jam-packed schedule in Ibiza as she has modeled a series of tantalizing looks. Yet making the most of her sunny trip, she has been teasing a look into her photo sessions with her fans via her social media. Kylie Jenner lookalike Demi was first propelled into the spotlight when she was linked to the reality star's ex, rapper Tyga, after they split. Letting her hair down! Demi wore her long tresses down to her waist to draw further attention to her hourglass shape Flirty: Demi had a coquettish pout when she flirted up a storm for the cameras, with only natural touches of make-up to highlight her God given beauty Killer curves: She has been shooting sensational snaps for her own bikini range under the Spanish sunshine Different look: Usually clad in bikinis or swimwear, Demi was trying something different when she posed up a storm in a sexy floor-length gown The star has since gained a huge following on Instagram and she is known display her incredible curves in a number of risque ensembles. So of course she was more than happy to divulge the secrets to her sensationally curvy figure in an exclusive chat with MailOnline. In September, Demi told us: 'I try to keep as healthy as I can. With travelling, it's hard to work out, I travel across the world but try to keep my routine. Dazzling diva: The model added a matching set of golden hoop earrings to bring a hint of sparkle to her sexy appearance Busy lady! The brunette bombshell has been keeping to her jam-packed schedule in Ibiza as she has modeled a series of tantalizing looks Wow: The star has since gained a huge following on Instagram and she is known display her incredible curves in a number of risque ensembles 'Everyone says I'm the healthiest person they know. The fattiest thing I will ever eat is nuts and peanut butter.' 'My figure just gains weight so fast. Any bad thing I eat my body isn't used to it and just puts on the weight. That means no birthday cake! 'All I've eaten today is nuts. I've managed to eat a whole pot. I feel guilty as there's a lot of fat in the nuts. That's my treat! So I'm happy!' Amazing looks: The model has been topping up her tan in the Spanish sunshine as she makes the most of her modelling trip Artistic: Proving she's got a creative eye, Demi posed up a storm against the graffiti wall where she stood out in her nude dress Move over Kim! Demi showed there was some truth in her boasts that her curves rival the Kardashians Yet making the most of her sunny trip, she has been teasing a look into her photo sessions with her fans via her social media Hilaria Baldwin says she is 'on the mend' following the birth of her fourth child. The new mother posted an update to fans from her hospital bed, speaking softly so as not to wake her newborn son, who slumbered softly beside her in his bassinet. 'Guys I just wanna say thank you for all the nice wishes,' she whispered. 'We're doing really well, he's right here.' Scroll down for video Recovery: Hilaria Baldwin 'on the mend' as she shares update from hospital Friday morning after 'very sweet' son's birth Snuggles with baby: The newborn cuddles into his mother Skin to skin: The mother of four snuggles her son beneath her blanket Wearing a hospital gown, the yoga expert explained: 'He's doing really well, he's a really good eater. He;s very very sweet, we love him so much and we're on the mend.' Meanwhile father Alec, 60, was pictured visiting his wife and their son on Friday morning. Looking rather tired, the father-of-five wore a dark outfit as he made his early arrival. Update: Wearing a hospital gown, the yoga expert explained: 'He's doing really well, he's a really good eater. He;s very very sweet, we love him so much and we're on the mend' Baby news: The new mother posted an update to fans from her hospital bed, speaking softly so as not to wake her newborn son, who slumbered softly beside her in his bassinet The actor and his 34-year-old wife announced their son's birth on Thursday. In an Instagram post which showed the new parents gazing down at their tiny tot, Hilaria wrote: Hes here! Hes perfect! 8lbs 2oz #wegotthis2018 (sic) Alec posted the same picture on his own Instagram account, and captioned it: Here we go again! #BaldwinitosEverywhere (sic) The couple, who married in 2012, are already the proud parents of daughter Carmen, four, son Rafael, two, and 20-month-old son Leonardo, whilst Alec has 22-year-old daughter Ireland from a previous relationship. Long night: Alec, 60, was pictured visiting his wife and their son on Friday morning The arrival of the couples fourth child will no doubt be good news to young daughter Carmen, as Hilaria previously revealed the toddler is already keen for her parents to have yet another baby, as she wants a little sister. Hilaria said: "Mommy doesn't even want to think about another one right now. But we'll see if she [Carmen] bullies me into it." The pair dont have a name for their new arrival just yet, as they claimed theyre going to wait and see what monikers suit him in the coming days. Father of five: The baby joins older siblings Carmen, four, son Rafael, two, and 20-month-old son Leonardo, whilst Alec also has 22-year-old daughter Ireland from a previous relationship Hilaria said previously: "This is the first one that we really don't know going into it, and we're going to see what he looks like and take a good look. Earlier this year, the couple were making sure they packed in plenty of time together as a couple before their hands were full with another young child. Hilaria wrote on Instagram: "Alone time before number 4 comes...Alec always tells me that no matter how many kids we have and that we are "husband" and "wife", I'll always be his girlfriend. We really work hard to maintain this. How do you feel about this in your own relationships? #WeGotThis2018 is @apeainthepodmaternity (sic)" The Irish sitcom has developed a huge following since it first aired on the BBC in 2011. But despite its comical nature, star and creator Brendan O'Carroll has revealed Mrs Brown's Boys would come to a heartbreaking end if it were to be axed. Speaking to the Daily Star, the 62-year-old threatened to kill off lead character Agnes - the beloved Mrs Brown - if the series was ever dropped completely. 'It would break your f***ing heart': Star and creator Brendan O'Carroll has revealed he would KILL OFF Agnes in Mrs Brown's Boys (above) if the show were to be axed He said: 'We are booked to do Christmas specials for the BBC until 2020 but if they go, 'We are going to drop you as we don't think it's strong enough' then I'd kill Agnes off.' Revealing he'd want to mix the show's trademark humour with a gut-wrenching ending, he explained: 'Our final episode would be the funniest show I've ever written for the first 24 minutes. 'Then the last four minutes would break your f***ing heart.' Better than ever: However fans have nothing to worry about just yet as Brendan (above), who plays Agnes, revealed the show is slated to create Christmas Specials until 2020 Luckily for fans, the show is not receiving the axe any time soon - with the new series of All Round To Mrs Brown's kicking off on Saturday night. Mrs Brown's Boys started off as a stage show before being picked up by the BBC and becoming a TV smash hit. It first aired on the channel in 2011 to huge acclaim and a movie, called Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie, was released three years later. Huge fanbase: Mrs Brown's Boys started off as a stage show before being picked up by the BBC and becoming a TV smash hit (Brendan as Agnes, left, with Eilish O'Carroll as Winnie, right) Brendan himself dresses in drag to portray the beloved Agnes Brown, with Jennifer Gibney - the comic's wife in real life - co-starring as her daughter Cathy. While the wildly successful production has gone from strength to strength, the Irish comedy has still suffered setbacks in recent months. Outraged fans called on show bosses to axe the 'new Rory' earlier this year, after he forgot his lines during the New Years Day special episode. Damien McKiernan replaced Rory Cowan in the role of Rory Brown, but received lukewarm reception from fans in the 2017 Christmas special. May 22, Demystify Business Plan Writing 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Please park across the street in the Republic Parking lot at Renaissance Park) From the ground up, well facilitate conversations through the fundamentals of writing a business plan and guide participants in an interactive, group setting workshop to get those ideas onto paper. Speakers: TSBDC Staff Register at tsbdc.org/chscc. No cost. May 22, East Brainerd Chamber Council Meeting 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Car Barn: 6721 Heritage Business Ct. Speaker: Mitch Patel, CEO, Vision Hospitality $12 May 22, Ooltewah Collegedale Chamber Council Monthly Mixer 5 to 7 p.m. Puleo's Grille: 6108 Artesian Cir. Join the Ooltewah/Collegedale Council for their monthly mixer at Puleo's Grille, held on the 4th Tuesday of every month. Free; complimentary light appetizers as well as drink specials. May 23, Pick the Brain of a Commercial Insurance Agent 11 a.m. to Noon INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Please park across the street in the Republic Parking lot at Renaissance Park) This Q&A group session will cover topics such as: insurance coverage required by law, top three policies every business should have, and how proper risk management can reduce your insurance cost and protect your company. Speaker: Keith Rocha, The American Insurance Group Register at tsbdc.org/chscc. No cost. May 24, Get Found on Google Search & Maps 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. INCubator: 100 Cherokee Blvd. (Please park across the street in the Republic Parking lot at Renaissance Park) Join the TSBDC of Chattanooga as we partner with Google to help put every business in Chattanooga on the map. You will learn: how to help local customers find you whether theyre using a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device. Speakers: TSBDC Staff and Erik McNair of McNair Media Register at tsbdc.org/chscc. No cost. May 24, Enterprise Gateway Chamber Council BOOST Event 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. East Chattanooga Youth & Family Development Center: 2409 Dodson Ave. BOOST Luncheon & Program 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Panelists include: Steve Hiatt, Nicole Lewis, Demetrus Coonrod and Cora Lanier $15 East Chattanooga Summer Kick-Off 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Scholarships presented at 4 p.m. Food, games, prizes for kids and families BOOST Job Fair 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. May 25, Ribbon Cutting for Southeastern Consolidated Services, LLC 4 to 4:30 p.m. Southeastern Consolidated Services, LLC: 832 Georgia Ave., Ste. 240 Join the Chattanooga Chamber for a ribbon cutting event for Southeastern Consolidated Services, LLC. For the most up to date event listings, check chattanoogachamber.com. She's already confirmed to be attending the Royal Wedding this weekend. But it appeared Priyanka Chopra wasn't ready for the surprisingly warm weather in London on Friday, as she ditched the top under her suit on the way to visit royal-approved milliner Philip Treacy in Battersea. The 35-year-old Quantico star was rocking a plunging tartan suit as she went to try on her hat ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big day on Saturday. Glamorous: Priyanka Chopra was suited and booted in a blue and yellow tartan trouser suit on Friday as she touched down in London ahead of this weekend's Royal Wedding They go way back: Priyanka and Meghan are good friends and Chopra once shared this photo of the pair As Priyanka was first seen out and about in the capital, she was rocking the blue and green tartan trouser suit, adding an extra layer with a grey undershirt. But as she was seen out and about later on, the former Miss World seemed to have removed her undershirt to keep cool in the unusually warm May weather, flashing a hint of cleavage via the plunging blazer's front. The brunette beauty confirmed her attendance last month to US Weekly. Priyanka accessorised her stylish look with blue suede T-strap heels and narrow-framed Oliver Peoples sunglasses, and as she first stepped out the star covered her brown curled tresses in a floppy black sunhat. Chic: The 35-year-old Quantico star ditched her undershirt to show a hint of cleavage under her plunging suit as she visited milliner Philip Treacy, which is famed for its royal clientele All eyes on her: Priyanka accessorised her look with blue suede t-strap heels and Oliver Peoples sunglasses, with her ombre tresses styled into effortless curls Revealing: Originally when Priyanka arrived in Heathrow airport, she was sporting a grey hooded long-sleeved top under her suit Chic: But perhaps the unusually warm May weather proved too much for the Bollywood beauty, as she was seen whipping off her undershirt later on in the day Busy girl: Just hours after touching down in the capital, Priyanka was seen heading to the Philip Treacy office to try on her hat ahead of the big day Priyanka will be attending Megan and Prince Harry's ceremony this weekend among a guestlist that has been shrouded in secrecy, taking her spot in the congregation at Windsor castle on Saturday. The star also recently divulged that getting ready for such a big event - whether it be the royal wedding or walking the red carpet - is no easy feat. She told W magazine it takes 'an army' of people to get her ready. Secretive: Inevitable details of Priyanka's look have been kept under wraps before the big day, as she is set to join 600 guests at the ceremony Exciting: Priyanka also recently divulged that getting ready for such a big event is no easy feat, telling W magazine it takes 'an army' of people to get her ready Busy: She said: 'There's nothing better than a good hair day. A good hair day makes you feel attractive, which fuels your confidence and sets you up for success' She said: 'A great hair wash and conditioning session, like with Pantene's new Micellar Shampoo and Conditioner. It gives my hair the gentle wash it needs to prepare for a day of heat and styling. 'There's nothing better than a good hair day. A good hair day makes you feel attractive, which fuels your confidence and sets you up for success. '(And) a red lipstick! It's still a staple in my make-up bag, and a must have for me.' Priyanka's appearance at the wedding will come just days after she gushed over her best friend and how exciting her nuptials to Prince Harry will be. Speaking on Barstool Sports' Sirius radio show Chicks in the Office, she said: 'It's a fairy tale for our generation.' Hosts Ria Ciuffo and Francesa Mariano made sure to ask about the wedding that is on everyone's minds. 'I think it will be really fun, I'm really happy for Meg, Meghan,' Priyanka answered. 'And I just feel like it's gonna be such a life-changing thing not just for them, but for the world and for young girls out there because she is one of us, right? She's that girl.. She loves grocery shopping.' Getting married: Priyanka confirmed earlier this month that she will be attending Meghan Markle's and Prince Harry's wedding as a close friend of the actress Beaming: Speaking on Barstool Sports' Sirius radio show Chicks in the Office about the big day, Priyanka said: 'It's a fairy tale for our generation' Protected: As she later left Philip Treacy's office, Priyanka covered up her tresses with a black zipped hat Working girl: Never one to rest before a special occasion, Priyanka headed straight to try on her accessories ahead of getting her top-secret outfit together for the special day Good pal: Speaking more about the wedding she also revealed: 'I think it will be really fun, I'm really happy for Meg, Meghan' Raving about what a wonderful person her friend is, she went on: 'She has always been someone who cares about the world that I think she will fit so well into this new role that she is going to get into to. I'm just really happy for her.' Though Priyanka herself is not a bridesmaid, she did share her thoughts on the fashion choices that will be made on the big day. 'She's doing it so cool like she has her own perspective the way she dresses... she's such a little fashionista, but at the same time she keeps it really real, which I really like about her style, it's very relatable.' As for her own outfit, she said: 'I just hope my shoes are comfortable.' Candid: The star also revealed that her and Meghan are still in touch despite her impending nuptials Delighted: Raving about what a wonderful person her friend is, she went on: 'She has always been someone who cares about the world that I think she will fit so well into this new role' New look: Though Priyanka herself is not a bridesmaid, she did share her thoughts on the fashion choices that will be made on the big day Transformed: 'She's doing it so cool like she has her own perspective the way she dresses... she's such a little fashionista,' adding she will want to keep the look 'relatable' Normal: On Rachael Ray, the host asked if the future Mrs. Prince Harry is 'normal' to which Priyanka laughed and replied, 'She is! She's such a girl's girl' When she dropped by both Rachael Ray and Jenny McCarthy's XM Radio show, Priyanka confirmed to Jenny that she will be attending the wedding and to Rachel that the future Mrs. Prince Harry is still keeping in touch. On Rachael Ray, the host asked if the future Mrs. Prince Harry is 'normal' to which Priyanka laughed and replied, 'She is! She's such a girl's girl. 'I've known her for three years now,' she went on. 'I'm so happy for everything that's happened to her because I really feel like she's one of those female icons that you know could be a strong idol for young girls around the world because she really cares about the world. For real cares.' When Rachael asked if she still had a cell phone or whether it's taken away from her, like the President's Priyanka insisted she does and still uses it to catch up with buddies. 'She still texts a lot, which is great,' she added. Honest: She also revealed that after being friends with Meghan for three years, she views her as one of those female icons that you know could be a strong idol for young girls' Hilarious: Priyanka has been giving away little titbits about Meghan while promoting her ABC series Quantico, which is currently its third season Over: Sadly the thriller series was cancelled last week, with it's now-final season set to conclude this summer Roxy Jacenko's stunningly extravagant blue tulle gown has returned to the front of the boutique's window. According to Private Sydney, the dazzling dress by Sydney couturier Velani was spotted back in the shop front, after the PR queen stepped out for the Gold Dinner charity gala with her husband Oliver Curtis last Friday. A photo published by the website claims the Italian tulle powder-blue dress was on the dress mannequin less than 48 hours following the event and on full display for people walking past the Five Dock-based designer's store. Scroll down for video Belle of the ball no more! Roxy Jacenko's stunningly extravagant blue tulle gown has returned to the front of the boutique's window, according to Private Sydney The Sweaty Betty founder told Daily Mail Australia: 'Nicky Velani is a very dear and long-time friend of mine, she often makes me garments to wear for special occasions. 'Following that I'll always return them [the dress] as they are one offs that we have worked on together,' she added. 'It's wonderful for Nicky to showcase her work in her boutique given the hours it takes to make the pieces. It's what you call having principals!' Friends with fashion benefits! The Sweaty Betty founder told Daily Mail Australia: 'Nicky Velani is a very dear and long-time friend of mine, she often makes me garments to wear for special occasions' 'Isn't it nice to support OTHER local designers instead of ridicule them based on their "location", the PR guru said. Roxy added: 'I find the mentality of making a joke of someone's work room and boutique so out of order. Who cares where someone with such talent is located!' On the evening of the charity event last week, Roxy carried the elaborate costume with grace. One of a kind: The Sweaty Betty founder said after events 'I'll always return them [the dress] as they are one offs that we have worked on together' The flamboyant frock featured a short hem in the front, elegant ruffle detailing, and a 10 metre-long train sprawling behind it. She teamed it up with beautiful collection of her favourite jewelry pieces and luxurious accessories. Her entire ensemble for the evening earned her thousands of social media likes and plenty of praise from her fashion-loving followers, including one who commented: 'Heavenly. What a knock out.' She and her Star Wars stars flew to London following a successful run at the annual Cannes Film Festival. And Emilia Clarke joined forces with her co-stars at the photocall for Solo: A Star Wars Story at The Trafalgar St. James, in London on Friday. The actress, 31, posed with Chewbacca after her cheeky confession Phoebe Waller-Bridge gyrated against the actor in his furry costume. Cheeky! Emilia Clarke posed with Chewbacca at star-studded London photocall on Friday after she confessed Phoebe Waller-Bridge gyrated on Chewwy during filming Game Of Thrones star Emilia teamed her elegant polka dot skirt with a clashing striped long sleeved top. The Me Before You star flattered her sensational figure in the pleated garment and she elevated her height with sky-scraper heels. Emilia injected a splash of colour to her day-to-day appearance with a shade of deep red lipstick, which was a striking contrast to her monochrome look. Posing up a storm: The golden-haired beauty also joined forces with Thandie Newton (left) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (right) at the photocall Game of Robes! Game Of Thrones star Emilia teamed her pleated polka dot skirt with a clashing striped long sleeved top Going strong: The Star Wars cast flew to London following a successful run at the annual Cannes Film Festival Westworld's leading lady Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover and Woody Harrelson descended on the photo call. Solo: A Star Wars Story is directed by Ron Howard, who took over after original helmers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller departed over 'creative differences'; they will retain an executive producers credit. Press for the film describes the plot, saying: '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.' Details: They are promoting the latest spin-off/standalone in the lucrative sci-fi franchise which was given a new lease of life in 2012 when Lucas Film was purchased by Disney It is the latest spin-off/standalone in the lucrative sci-fi franchise which was given a new lease of life in 2012 when Lucas Film was purchased by Disney for a little over $4billion. Since then two parts of a sequel trilogy The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi have been released, as well as the stand-alone prequel Rogue One, with many more unnamed projects planned. During Emilia's appearance on Thursday's Graham Norton episode, the actress confessed her co-star Phoebe gyrated on Chewy. Leading ladies! Thandie caught the eye in her vibrant patterned midi dress while Phoebe oozed sophistication in her white two-piece My turn! The Westworld beauty looked sensational as she posed with Peter dressed as Chewwy against the backdrop of the bustling city Aw! The actress placed a tender hand on Chewwy as they posed against the backdrop of London Candid: During Emilia's appearance on Thursday's Graham Norton episode, the actress confessed her co-star Phoebe (right) gyrated on Chewy Exciting: Phoebe was joined by singers Gloria Stefan and Leon Bridges, actor David Tennant andco-star Emilia Clarke as she discussed the upcoming Star Wars film She said: 'I did what I could we had a dance-off under the Millennium Falcon to gangster rap. It turned into a dance-off between Chewwy and Phoebe.' Emilia has been treading the red carpet during the Cannes Film Festival promoting the latest in the Star Wars franchise with her co-stars. She said: 'We just kept knocking on doors to find out where the party was. We knocked on a few until we found the right one. Wed already gate crashed one of Stella McCartneys!' Solo: A Star Wars Story hits UK theatres on May 24, and in the US the following day. Dramatically different: Donald Glover cut a sharp figure in his plaid jumper and smart trousers while Woody Harrelson caught the eye in his deep blue shirt Suits you! Alden Ehrenreich looked hunky in his olive green suit, although it was bizarrely worn with a grey polo top Good pals: Clad in his furry Chewy costume, Peter gave Woody a bear hug showcasing the bond they forged on the Star Wars set She made a glamorous appearance at amfAR's 25th Cinema Against AIDS gala during the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday night. But newly single Alessandra Ambrosio proved to be the consummate professional on Friday as she embarked on a stunning sun-soaked photo shoot - despite her undoubtedly late night. The Brazilian beauty, 37, slipped into a flirty pink midi dress, as she struck her best poses by the pool at the exclusive Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in d'Antibes. Professional: Alessandra Ambrosio embarked on a stunning photo shoot at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Friday - despite her late night at amfAR's 25th Cinema Against AIDS gala Here she is: The Brazilian beauty, 37, slipped into a flirty pink midi dress, as she struck her best poses by the pool at the exclusive hotel Alessandra displayed her famously statuesque figure in the dress - which cinched in at her slim waist and cut off at her thigh, to leave her long and slender legs on show. Pulling into thin spaghetti straps and tying into a bow at the chest, the pink frock was then patterned with white polka dots all over, in a feminine finishing touch. Keeping things casually chic, the supermodel accessorised with simple cream espadrilles and draped a cropped denim jacket across her shoulders as she posed. Fit and flare: Alessandra displayed her famously statuesque figure in the dress - which cinched in at her slim waist Pins on parade: The dress then cut off at her thigh, to leave her long and slender legs on show Feminine: Pulling into thin spaghetti straps and tying into a bow at the chest, the pink frock was then patterned with white polka dots all over Comfortable: Keeping things casually chic, the supermodel accessorised with simple cream espadrilles Vintage vibes: She also draped a cropped denim jacket across her shoulders as she posed Sweeping her hair into a ponytail and adding only metallic sunglasses to her face, Alessandra drew attention to her naturally stunning features and glowing skin as she embarked on her shoot. She first posed fiercely for the camera beside the bars of the famous hotel pool, before reclining in the sunshine for further sultry shots. Proving her more playful attitude however, she wrapped up the photo call by draping herself across a rope that hung over the water, and giggling for the camera. Stunning: Sweeping her hair into a ponytail and adding only metallic sunglasses to her face, Alessandra drew attention to her naturally stunning features and glowing skin Work it: She first posed fiercely for the camera beside the bars of the famous hotel pool, before reclining in the sunshine for further sultry shots Sun-worshipper: The mother-of-two basked in the sunlight for another stunning shot Knows her stuff: The model struck a number of reflective poses by the pool Fooling around:Proving her more playful attitude however, she wrapped up the photo call by draping herself across a rope that hung over the water, and giggling for the camera Easy as 1, 2, 3: Alessandra looked completely at ease as she posed - after many years in the fashion industry Icon: The Brazilian beauty is best known for her work with Victoria's Secret, but hung up her wings as an Angel last year Alessandra showed no signs of tiredness at the shoot, after an undoubtedly late night at the star-studded amfAR gala the previous evening. The model commanded attention in a flowing hot pink gown, featuring a thigh-high slit and a long train, as she arrived at the bash held at the same hotel. Alessandra has been enjoying a jam-packed trip to the French Riviera, and has attended a host of glamorous events during the famous Cannes Film Festival so far. Model material: Alessandra was one of the best known Victoria's Secret models, having walked in a whopping 17 of their annual fashion shows Down time: Alessandra has been enjoying a number of holidays since her retirement from the brand - including Cannes, her native Brazil and LA for the famous Coachella festival Comfortable: The beauty proved to be relaxed with the photographer as they chatted during the shoot The trip marks one of many holidays for the model in recent weeks, following her retirement as a Victoria's Secret Angel at the end of 2017. It's been a time of change in the model's life, as she also ended her 10-year engagement to Jamie Mazur in March. 'They [have] been trying to keep their split on the down low,' an insider recently told Us Weekly. 'But Alessandra has been out and about ready to mingle and hasn't been taking Jamie to anything.' Easy: Alessandra showed no signs of tiredness at the shoot, after an undoubtedly late night at the star-studded amfAR gala the previous evening Show-stopping: The model commanded attention in a flowing hot pink gown, featuring a thigh-high slit and a long train, as she arrived at the bash held at the same hotel Alessandra and RE/DONE founder Mazur were first engaged back in 2008, and despite their decade long engagement, the couple did not seem to be in any hurry to get married. 'If I have been engaged to him for eight years, then it's not my priority,' she told the publication previously. 'I have a lot of things going on, and I haven't got married because I'm so busy. I'll think about that when I have time off.' The two had been dating since 2005, and have two children together - daughter Anja, nine, and son Noah, who celebrated his sixth birthday in Malibu - with both of his parents in attendance - last week. It's a classic 1966 Western starring Clint Eastwood. But that didn't stop James Corden enlisting Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin for a hilarious sketch ripping off The Good, The Bad And The Ugly for his Late Late Show. Dressed in classic gunslinger gear the three of them meet up in a bar as an ominous voice introduces them. Scroll down for video Terrible trio: James Corden enlisted Ryan Reynolds, center, and Josh Brolin, right, for a hilarious sketch ripping off western The Good, The Bad And The Ugly for his Late Late Show Ryan is 'The Good' as he plays the superhero in Deadpool 2, Josh is 'The Bad' as he is the villain in the sequel, which opens on Friday. But James is less than happy when he realizes that he is 'The Ugly' one of the trio. And he immediately stopped filming to argue the point with his co-stars. Superhero creds: Ryan did a reasonable impression of Clint Eastwood in the 1966 original as 'The Good' thanks to his role in Deadpool 2 Classic baddie: Josh, who plays the evil Cable in Deadpool 2, chomped on a cigar as 'The Bad' Problem here: The voiceover, and the scrawl, abruptly halted when James realized that he was tagged as 'The Ugly' one of the trio 'Youre not that good, Im the one who is good,' James told Ryan. 'Im a loving father and husband, Im active in my community, I give to charity.' The audience howled with laughter as Ryan kicked back: 'I'm all of that - and I'm Canadian.' He added: 'Everyone thinks British people are villains, James,' who replied, indignantly, 'We are not!' 'You're not that good': James made a case for Ryan's role, saying, 'Im a loving father and husband, Im active in my community, I give to charity' Playing on his strengths: The audience howled with laughter when Ryan kicked back, 'I'm all of that - and I'm Canadian' 'Then why do you guys play bad guys in every movie?' he asked as he and Josh took it in turns to list Star Wars, The Jungle Book and Silence Of The Lambs Josh ended with Harry Potter in a terrible British accent. An evermore irritated James kicked back: 'Everybody is British in Harry Potter.' 'He's uglier than me': But James didn't fare any better when he tried to nab Josh's role, who compared the TV host to a 'sack of pig testicles' However he did suggest, 'If British people are bad then let me be Bad, he can be Ugly,' pointing at Josh. Things went downhill from there when Josh compared the TV host to a 'sack of pig testicles.' Meanwhile, Deadpool 2 opens on Friday. She's famed for strutting her famously slender pins across fashion's leading catwalks. And Georgia Fowler left little to the imagination as she posed up a storm during a sizzling photoshoot in Cannes, France on Friday afternoon. The 25-year-old model paraded her toned frame in a series of eye-popping numbers, including a perilously low-cut swimsuit, which put on busty assets on full display. Wow-factor! Georgia Fowler left little to the imagination as she posed up a storm during a sizzling photoshoot in Cannes, France on Friday afternoon Looking every inch the superstar, the New Zealand native wore a sequinned purple cover up around her waist. The brunette bombshell commanded attention as she added to her statuesque frame in a pair of black barely-there heels. With her glossy locks slicked back, Georgia ensured all eyes were on her strikingly beautiful features, which were accentuated in rose-tinted lipstick and heavy eyeliner. Sizzling hot! The 25-year-old model paraded her toned frame in a series of eye-popping numbers, including a form-fitting nude dress Striking: For her third outfit, the Victoria's Secret star made a bold fashion statement as she sported a heavily-feathered dress, which skimmed her toned thighs In another racy ensemble, the catwalk queen went braless as she donned a clingy nude gown, which included a sexy backless feature. Georgia gave the camera a smouldering gaze as she took to the large body of water during her shoot. For her third outfit, the Victoria's Secret star made a bold fashion statement as she sported a heavily-feathered dress, which skimmed her toned thighs. Glowing: Looking every inch the superstar, the New Zealand native wore a sequinned purple cover up around her waist All eyes on her: The brunette bombshell commanded attention as she added to her statuesque frame in a pair of black barely-there heels Ooh-la-la! In another racy ensemble, the catwalk queen went braless as she donned a clingy nude gown, which included a sexy backless feature Georgia upped the ante in the accessory department as she wore triangle-shaped stud earrings. Georgia recently lit up the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week runway in Sydney, while opening Camilla and Marc's stylish show earlier this month. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the model revealed why she loves being back in Australia, as she gushed about getting that 'warm, fuzzy feeling' from being in a familiar place. The leggy star said: 'It is always amazing to come home it is like a big reunion, seeing old designers, stylists and friends which are back here. It is always special.' Sultry: The siren gave the camera a smouldering gaze as she took to the large body of water during her shoot Stunning: With her glossy locks slicked back, Georgia ensured all eyes were on her strikingly beautiful features, which were accentuated in rose-tinted lipstick and heavy eyeliner Working it! The model upped the ante in the accessory department as she wore triangle-shaped stud earrings After enjoying an illustrious modelling career since the age of 12, gracing the cover of numerous glossy magazines and walking for the the likes of Victoria's Secret - it's safe to say that Georgia has lived a jet-setting lifestyle. But the New York-based model revealed that Australia stands out from the crowd for one very particular reason. Georgia said: 'People really support each other here compared to other cities.' Besides walking for major brands such as Victoria's Secret, Georgia is also known for her rumoured fling with Harry Styles in 2015. Busy bee: Georgia recently lit up the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week runway in Sydney, while opening Camilla and Marc's stylish show earlier this month Living her best life: In an interview with The Daily Telegraph , the model revealed why she loves being in Australia, as she gushed about getting that 'warm, fuzzy feeling' from being in a familiar place Hard working: After enjoying an illustrious modelling career since the age of 12, it's safe to say that Georgia has lived a jet-setting lifestyle Comfort: The New York-based model revealed that Australia stands out from the crowd for one very particular reason, as natives are 'supportive' During an interview with The Morning Show in November, Georgia addressed speculation that Harry's song Kiwi was about their relationship. 'I don't really know anything about it...definitely don't have a baby... that's what the song is all about [so] I think it's highly unlikely.' Whispers of a romance between Georgia and the former One Direction star, 24, began in October 2015 after she posted Snapchat videos of them together. Love life: Besides walking for major brands such as Victoria's Secret, Georgia is also known for her rumoured fling with Harry Styles in 2015 MasterChef judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan have slammed Sydney's lockout laws - which were brought in to quell alcohol-fuelled violence in the city back in 2014. The Melbourne-based duo condemned the dying out drinking scene in the Harbour City - as a direct result of the government's move to close bars and clubs early. 'When you're paying $17 for a glass of wine, you're unlikely to throw it in someone's face,' Matt told The Daily Telegraph. 'When you're paying $17 for a glass of wine, you're unlikely to throw it in someone's face!' MasterChef judge Matt Preston blasted Sydney's lockout laws The 54-year-old food journalist added: 'I think in 24 years of drinking in small bars in Melbourne, I have never seen a fight.' Sydney's lockout laws prohibit patrons from entering venues after 1.30am, while last drinks are served at 3am within the CBD. Gary, 51, said: 'Closing at 1am is bulls**t. There's nothing like rocking up to a whisky bar at 1am and they're like: "Sorry, we're closed."' 'Closing at 1am is bulls**t': Fellow MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan (left) also took umbrage with the laws, which were brought in to quell alcohol-fuelled violence in the city back in 2014 The judges are currently finalising filming the tenth season of MasterChef, which has already started airing on Network Ten. MasterChef itself was shot in Sydney until the fourth season back in 2013. After the original warehouse venue was sold, the production company Shine Australia scoured for a new venue. Cut off: Sydney's lockout laws prohibit patrons from entering venues after 1.30am, while last drinks are served at 3am within the CBD Controversy: Matt and Gary, who are both based in Melbourne, condemned the dying out drinking scene in the Harbour City - as a direct result of the government's move to close bars and clubs early TV executives settled on the 'poultry shed' inside Melbourne Showgrounds. Meanwhile Gary recently admitted that he was initially hesitant about working with Matt on the show. Speaking to Carrie Bickmore on The Project, the English-born restaurateur even revealed that he warned fellow judge George Calombaris to 'be careful' because he believed that Matt would be a 'smiling assassin' when it came to critiquing dishes. Move to Melbourne! MasterChef was shot in Sydney until the fourth season in 2013 before it moved to the Victorian city instead But the trio have clearly bonded throughout the experience, with Matt adding: 'We started tasting food together and we realised it is objective. We all agreed what was good and bad.' He added: 'Ten years is a solid commitment. 'At the beginning we were really reluctant to admit or give any fuel to the fact that MasterChef had really changed the landscape in any meaningful way in food, but now I'm quite the opposite. 'I feel very confident in saying, I think it has, I think it did!' Advertisement She has been stealing the show for the 71st Cannes Film Festival. And Alessandra Ambrosio continued to rule the red carpet as she attended the premiere for The Wild Pear Tree on Friday. The model, 37, looked ethereal in a stunning bead-encrusted gown as she posed up a storm at the swanky soiree. Stealing the show: Alessandra Ambrosio continued to rule the red carpet as she attended the premiere for The Wild Pear Tree on Friday The Brazilian beauty's incredible figure was highlighted in the off-the-shoulder dress, which cinched her in at the waist before it billowed out into a modest train. Adorned with thousands of intricate silver sequins, Alessandra oozed elegance as she sashayed down the red carpet in the show-stopping gown, displaying her lithe limbs with a thigh-high split. The former Victoria's Secret Angel swept her long brunette locks off her face in a sophisticated ponytail, complementing the look with dazzling silver drop earrings. Dazzling display: The model, 37, looked ethereal in a stunning bead-encrusted gown as she posed up a storm at the swanky soiree Elegant: The former Victoria's Secret Angel swept her long brunette locks off her face in a sophisticated ponytail, complementing the look with dazzling silver drop earrings Ethereal: The Brazilian beauty's incredible figure was highlighted in the off-the-shoulder dress, cinching her in at the waist before billowing out into a modest train Gorgeous: Adorned with thousands of intricate silver sequins, Alessandra oozed elegance as she sashayed down the red carpet in the show-stopping gown, displaying her lithe limbs with a thigh-high split Brazilian beauty: Alessandra accentuated her golden complexion with a bronzed smoky eye with blush-swept cheeks and a slick of matte pink lipstick Still stealing the limelight: Alessandra's trip marks one of many holidays for the model in recent weeks, following her retirement as a Victoria's Secret Angel at the end of 2017 Glam: The former Victoria's Secret Angel gave a wave to the crowd before heading inside the venue Alessandra accentuated her golden complexion with a bronzed smoky eye with blush-swept cheeks and a slick of matte pink lipstick. Dozens of stars turned up to watch The Wild Pear Tree, a Turkish drama film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. The film has been selected to compete for the Palme d'Or, one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry. Seductive: Isabeli Fontana put on a leggy display in a black gown complete with sultry thigh-split and a cut-out detailing under the bust Sparkling: The 34-year-old amped up the glamour with a glittering diamond necklace and added a boost to her leggy frame with black court shoes Brazilian beauty: Styling her sleek chocolate brown tresses in Hollywood curls, Isabeli finished off the look with deftly touches of make-up Fellow Brazilian model, Isabeli Fontana put on a leggy display in a black gown complete with sultry thigh-split and a cut-out detailing under the bust. The 34-year-old amped up the glamour with a glittering diamond necklace and added a boost to her leggy frame with black court shoes. Styling her sleek chocolate brown tresses in Hollywood curls, Isabeli finished off the look with deftly touches of make-up. Touch of pastel: Martha Hunt opted for a light mint green gown which was adorned with hundreds of clear beads Pert: Her tiny waist and peachy derriere were accentuated with a ruched design, while her sun-kissed skin was complemented with burnt orange eyeshadow and a nude lip Meanwhile, Martha Hunt opted for a light mint green gown which was adorned with hundreds of clear beads. The American model, 29, turned heads as she took to the red carpet, showcasing plenty of sideboob due to the garment's sleeveless design. Her tiny waist was accentuated with a ruched design, while her sun-kissed skin was complemented with burnt orange eyeshadow and a nude lip. Alessandra's trip marks one of many holidays for the model in recent weeks, following her retirement as a Victoria's Secret Angel at the end of 2017. It's been a time of change in the model's life, as she also ended her 10-year engagement to Jamie Mazur in March. 'They [have] been trying to keep their split on the down low,' an insider recently told Us Weekly. 'But Alessandra has been out and about ready to mingle and hasn't been taking Jamie to anything.' Breathtaking: Neelam Gill looked elegant in a semi-sheer netted gown which featured feathers around the neckline Flirty: The British model couldn't resist blowing a kiss as she worked her magic on the red carpet Revealing: Lady Victoria Hervey upped the skin-flashing ante in a plunging black gown which featured netting, and sheer material Wow factor: Jade Foret flaunted her incredible figure in a figure-hugging silver foil gown Svelte figure: The model ensured all eyes were on her as she strutted down the red carpet, sweeping her hair to the side Pouty display: The Belgian star stopped to blow an air kiss to the crowd before making her way into the glamorous venue Alessandra and RE/DONE founder Mazur were first engaged back in 2008, and despite their decade long engagement, the couple did not seem to be in any hurry to get married. 'If I have been engaged to him for eight years, then it's not my priority,' she told the publication previously. 'I have a lot of things going on, and I haven't got married because I'm so busy. I'll think about that when I have time off.' The two had been dating since 2005, and have two children together - daughter Anja, nine, and son Noah, who celebrated his sixth birthday in Malibu - with both of his parents in attendance - last week. She recently hit back at trolls who claimed her second boob job looked 'wonky'. However it seems Chloe Ferry is more than happy with the results of her recent surgery, as she put on an eye-popping display in a tiny blue bikini. The Geordie Shore star, 22, pouted up a storm as she posed in a swimming pool during a romantic break with her co-star, Sam Gowland in Dubai. Flaunting it: She recently hit back at trolls who claimed her second boob job looked 'wonky' however it seems Chloe Ferry is more than happy with the results of her recent surgery, as she put on an eye-popping display in a tiny blue bikini Chloe rested on the side of the pool giving a full-frontal view of her surgically enhanced breasts while flashing a glimpse at her perky derriere. The reality star, who has also appeared on Ex On The Beach, shaded her eyes with a huge pair of sunglasses. However the tip of her recently reconstructed nose was still visible after she underwent a second operation. Boat life: The Geordie Shore star, 22, pouted up a storm as she posed in a swimming pool during a romantic break with her co-star, Sam Gowland in Dubai Earlier in the day Sam shared a picture of the couple putting on a cosy display while sunning themselves on a yacht. Although Chloe's new bust was shielded by Sam's muscular chest, the picture did manage to showcase her voluptuous behind. It was previously revealed that Chloe has spent 50,000 on cosmetic surgery to perfect her look so far, with her recent double nose and boob job believed to have cost another 15,000. Surgery: In Chloe's recent photos, her bandages can be seen as she continues to heal from her operation, which took place at the end of April (pictured with her surgery scars on Thursday) Yet her latest and second chest enlargement, after previously undergoing a breast uplift, has been cruelly ridiculed by trolls who claim it's 'wonky' after she shared a photograph of herself to Instagram on Wednesday. The star showed off her incredible figure in a matching white cropped bandeau top and bodycon skirt with a cherry print on it. And in the picture, Chloe's bandages could be seen as she continues to heal from her operation, which took place at the end of April. Cruel: Chloe Ferry's latest and second chest enlargement has been cruelly ridiculed by trolls who claim it's 'wonky' after she shared a photograph of herself to Instagram on Wednesday 'Nasty': Yet despite being told that she looks 'beautiful' by her loyal fans, some cruel trolls decided to ridicule her chest enlargement and claimed it looked 'wonky' Yet despite being told that she looks 'beautiful' by her loyal fans, some cruel trolls decided to ridicule her chest enlargement and claimed it looked 'wonky'. One person said: 'Why is your left boob square and the other one is round ???' A different user put: 'Very odd boobs.' While another cruel troll added: 'Dem boobs are wonky,' followed by crying laughing emojis. However, it wasn't long until her loyal fan base came to her defence - with even Big Brother star Lateysha Grace hitting out at the cruel trolls. One person said: 'Why are people so negative and judgemental. Its her body at the end of the day.. she has every right to change if she wants. Doesnt make it right when idiotic people comment absolute pure s**t think you look good girl!' (sic) A different user put: 'As long as you feel beautiful inside or outside thats all that matters, b***s to what anyone else thinks. .' (sic) Loyal: However, it wasn't long until her loyal fan base came to her defence - with even Big Brother star Lateysha Grace hitting out at the cruel trolls While Lateysha added: 'Some people are so vile and stupid! When you have a boob job they sit like that until there settled which can take a few weeks! You look stunning Clo,' followed by a flower emoji. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Chloe took to her Instagram stories to show off her healing scars, which could be visibly seen, from her new second boob job as she took a relaxing bath. Sadly, it looks like trolling is a regular occurrence for the reality star, as just days ago the reality star hit out at her cruel trolls on Twitter. Tweeting to her 728K followers on Saturday, she said: 'Some of the nasty comments I get on my social media photos are disgusting from other girls! No wonder people are so insecure these days !!!! They are one of Hollywood's hottest couples. And George and Amal Clooney have reportedly landed a coveted invite to Prince Harry, 33, and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding on Saturday. The actor, 57, and his wife, 40, are said to be on the guestlist due to Amal striking up a friendship with Meghan after being introduced via a mutual friend when she moved to England, with the pair even sharing the same hairdresser who is set to do the bride-to be's hair on the big day. On the guestlist: George and Amal Clooney have reportedly landed a coveted invite to Prince Harry's, 33, and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding on Saturday 'Meghan and Amal have known each other for a while' a source told People. The insider added the human rights lawyer and the former Suits actress, 36, share 'many of the same interests'. The couple, who have been married for nearly four years, will also reportedly attend the private reception at Frogmore House on Saturday evening. Close pals: The actor, 57, and his wife, 40, are said to have been invited to the nuptials due to Amal striking up a friendship with Meghan after being introduced via a mutual friend when she moved to England MailOnline has contacted their representatives for comment. The Mail on Sunday previously revealed the Royal bride-to-be is to use the human rights lawyers favourite hairdresser for her wedding. Meghan has hired celebrity stylist Miguel Perez, who charges 180 for a cut and blow dry, after a personal recommendation from Mrs Clooney. Spanish-born Perez, who also created a plaited updo for Millie Mackintoshs wedding to rapper Professor Green, told The Mail on Sunday: Yes, I do Meghans hair. I do Amals, and Meghan is friends with her. 'I also do Georges, I do the whole family. Amal put Meghan and me together when she moved here. I do her colour, her cut and her styling.' Trusting Amal: The Mail on Sunday previously revealed the Royal bride-to-be is to use the human rights lawyers favourite hairdresser for her wedding We have talked about it [the wedding] and we have a plan. I cant say any more but we know what were doing. Perez styled Amal for a recent Vogue magazine cover shoot at her Berkshire home, telling his 1,700 Instagram followers: Very proud to work with this amazing inspirational woman. On Saturday, Charles will meet the American beauty halfway into the chapel because Meghan had always planned to walk in by herself, without her father and now, the Prince of Wales. Magic touch: Spanish-born Perez, who also created a plaited updo for Millie Mackintoshs wedding to rapper Professor Green, said: Yes, I do Meghans hair. I do Amals, and Meghan is friends with her' The American-born former actress asked him after discussions with Harry and Charles said today he was 'pleased to welcome her to the Royal Family in this way'. Her mother Doria Ragland had been expected to step in for Thomas Markle, whose deal with a paparazzi photographer threatened to overshadow the biggest and happiest day of his daughter's life. Meghan will be driven from Windsor Castle to the chapel and enter at the famous West Door followed by her six bridesmaids and four page boys at around midday. The 2018 NAACP 11th Annual Criminal Justice Seminar is set for Saturday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at the UTC Student Center. The keynote speaker will be Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, who retired after 30 years of service this May. The 2018 Thurgood Marshall Award will be presented at the seminar. The event is free and include a luncheon. All ages are welcome and there is a special seminar for the youth and young adults. Representatives from the school system, criminal justice department, civil rights, juvenile justice department and other scholars will be present to assist those in need. A lifelong Tennessean, Mark Gwyn became director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in 2004. Originally from McMinnville, he holds a Bachelors Degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a Masters Degree from Tennessee State University. Mr. Gwyn began his career in public safety as a patrolman with the McMinnville Police Department before joining the TBI as a special agent in 1988. Mr. Gwyn served as the agencys executive officer and later led its Forensic Services Division before becoming director in 2004, becoming the first African-American to lead the states primary investigative law enforcement agency. In July 2016, Governor Bill Haslam reappointed Mr. Gwyn to serve as director, making him the first director in the TBI's history to be reappointed to a third term. During his tenure, Mr. Gwyn has expanded the reach and resources of the agency. He oversaw the creation of the Technical Services Unit, which is responsible for high-tech surveillance methods, computer forensics, and investigating internet crimes against children. Under his leadership, the Tennessee Fusion Center was established within TBIs headquarters as a central hub of information sharing between local, state, and federal law enforcement partners. More recently, Mr. Gwyn spearheaded the TBIs efforts to combat human trafficking, including a unit of agents to investigate cases and train law enforcement officers across the state. Director Gwyn has completed some of the most prestigious law enforcement and leadership training available, including the FBIs National Executive Institute, Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the FBIs Leadership in Counter-Terrorism Program. He has also graduated from the FBIs Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar, the FBI National Academy, the Leadership Nashville Foundation, and the Tennessee Government Executive Institute. Director Gwyn also received extensive terrorism training conducted in Israel by the Israeli National Police while attending the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange. In 2015, he also graduated from the inaugural Tennessee Law Enforcement Command College. In 2010, Mr. Gwyn received the Distinguished Alumni Award for professional achievement from MTSU, and in 2015, received the Lead By Example Award from the Tennessee Government Executive Institute. In 2016, he was awarded the Good Guy Award from the Women's Political Collaborative of Tennessee. Mr. Gwyn proudly serves as president for the Board of Directors of the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies. Additionally, he serves on several boards, including the IACP Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Committee, the University of Tennessee National Forensic Academy, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, the Criminal Intelligence Coordinator Council, Law Enforcement Executive Forum, Nashvilles Sexual Assault Center, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Partners Board, and the Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team. To host a booth at this event please contact the NAACP at NAACPChattanooga@epbfi.com or call 280-0083 or 704-8232. She stunned in a gold Versace gown while attending the Met Gala earlier this month with her partner Bradley Cooper. And on Friday, Irina Shayk dressed down in casual wear while stepping out with her daughter Lea De Seine, 14 months, in New York City. The model, 32, covered up in a graphic sweater with dark colored track bottoms and a thick knit scarf. Bundled up: Irina Shayk dressed down in casual wear while stepping out with her daughter Lea De Seine, 13 months, on Friday in New York City The cat walker slipped on a gray and blue pullover that had Friday emblazoned on the front. The mother of one chose black bottoms, adding white sneakers and a thick scarf wrapped around her neck. She also carried a small navy bag from Linjer on her shoulder. Irina covered up her eyes with vintage inspired sunglasses with a large diamond and emerald ring on her engagement finger. The dark haired beauty opted for a center part with her hair loose underneath the bulky scarf. Lovely lady: The model, 32, covered up in a graphic sweater with dark colored track bottoms and a thick knit scarf, while carrying a navy Linjer handbag Irina flaunted her natural beauty by opting to go makeup free for her Big Apple stroll with her daughter. Two days prior, the Russian stunner shared a close up snap of herself with her cat to her Instagram for her 9.9 million followers. She held the adorable kitten up near her piercing eyes in the striking image. So adorable: Two days prior, the Russian stunner shared a close up snap of herself with her cat to her Instagram for her 9.9 million followers Earlier this month, Irina hit the carpet at the 2018 Met Gala - the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The beauty wowed in her custom Versace look that had a plunging neckline and a deep thigh slit; she wore the golden frock with a coordinating statement choker. Bradley, 43, looked handsome in his black blazer and trousers set with a matching bow tie, adding a white button up. Irina and Bradley started dating in early 2015; they welcomed daughter Lea on March 21, 2017 in Los Angeles. Bradley is set to work with movie legend Clint Eastwood in a film called The Mule, according to Deadline. They previously worked together on the drama, American Sniper, which was released in 2014. Wow: Earlier this month, Irina hit the carpet at the 2018 Met Gala - the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; pictured with her beau Bradley Cooper; pictured at the event on May 7 She is an international modelling sensation jet-setting across the globe for photo shoots and glitzy events. And Emily Ratajkowski added a hint of glamour to the occasion, as she joined the likes of Nico Rosberg at the Formula E dinner at China Club, in Berlin on Friday. The starlet, 26, put on a busty display in a lacy ankle-length frock as she she posed up a storm with the Finnish-German Formula One racing driver. Sexy: She is an international modelling sensation jet-setting across the globe for photo shoots and glitzy events and Emily Ratajkowski added a hint of glamour to the occasion Emily, who is no stranger too flaunting her sensational figure, wore a form-fitting strappy dress to the event, which showcased her gym-honed physique. She teamed her sultry gown with a pair of barely-there sandals and a nude and black leather clutch bag. The model accessorised her ensemble with a chunky gold watch and bangle for the dinner which was being held ahead of the BMW i Berlin E-Prix. Busty: She joined the likes of Nico Rosberg at the Formula E dinner at China Club, in Berlin on Friday The raven-haired beauty wore her locks in a straight sleek style, framing her striking model looks, which were highlighted in bronze tones. Last week, Emily was spotted stepping out with her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard in the Big Apple. The lovebirds tied the knot in a surprise wedding at City Hall in New York City in late February. Cosy: The starlet, 26, put on a busty display in a lacy ankle-length frock as she she posed up a storm with Formula E racing driver Lucas di Grassi The duo were first spotted together on Valentine's Day of this year, just one week before they said their I do's. The star shot to fame in the Robin Thicke music video Blurred Lines where she bravely went topless in the sizzling clip. Speaking about her breasts in the June issue of Marie Claire, she shared her mixed emotions on her highly acclaimed body part. 'Boobs are funny. They hurt sometimes, and sometimes theyre the thing that makes me feel the most powerful. Theyre a key to my sexuality. Theyre all those things,' she said. She shared one awkward experience: 'I remember there was some article like "Emily Ratajkowski Is the Mozart of Breasts." What was so bad is someone sent it to my dad, who sent it to me. My dad still sees me as a little kid.' On breasts generally, though, the Blurred Lines model added: 'I love my boobs. I love other peoples boobs. Boobs are kind of great.' Glitzy: Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag was in good company with the stunning model by his side If Meghan Markle decides to wear a tiara as her "something borrowed" on her wedding day, she'll have an impressive array to chose from. Recent royal brides have worn tiaras either gifted or loaned to them by family members, including Queen Elizabeth II, on their big days. Catherine Middleton famously wore the Cartier Halo tiara, on loan from the Queen, when she wed Prince William while Sarah, Duchess of York was gifted a piece from Garrards by the monarch. Christine Ross, who's been chronicling Markle's style on the blog Meghan's Mirror since 2016, predicts the US actress will wear the Strathmore Rose tiara as she walks down the aisle. "The Strathmore Rose tiara is a solid bet, but I could also see her in a bandeau tiara, which is a bit more modern and fresh," she told AAP. While there's no word yet on whether Ms Markle will choose to wear a tiara or go with a more modern look, here's a look at a few of the options she could wear. -- THE STRATHMORE ROSE TIARA A gift to the Queen Mother, then the Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, from her father the Earl of Strathmore on her wedding day to the Duke of York, later King George VI. The tiara features rose-cut diamonds mounted in silver and gold. -- THE LOVER'S KNOT Fashioned out of pearls and diamonds the Lover's Knot was a favourite of the late Princess Diana. The popular tiara was originally made for the Queen Mary by famous court jeweller Garrard, to replicate a 200-year-old tiara owned by her grandmother. On her death, Queen Mary left the tiara to her granddaughter Queen Elizabeth, who wore it many times before loaning it to Princess Diana. After Diana's death, the tiara made its way back to the Queen and has since been worn by her granddaughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge. -- THE QUEEN MOTHER'S CARTIER BANDEAU This sleek bandeau is made up of a set of Cartier bracelets given to the Queen Mother by her husband in the 1920s when she was the Duchess of York. The art deco piece features a trio of the five bracelets set on a frame. The Queen Mother typically wore low on her forehead, in keeping with 1920 fashions. The jewellery was passed to Queen Elizabeth, who has been spotted sporting the bracelets. -- QUEEN MARY'S FRINGE TIARA Worn by Princess Elizabeth at her wedding to Prince Philip the tiara is was originally a diamond necklace. Queen Mary had Garrad fashion the jewels into a tiara in 1893. The design features 47 diamond bars divided by smaller diamond spikes and can still be worn as a necklace. Queen Mary gave the tiara to the then-Queen Elizabeth in 1936 who then lent it to her daughter Princess Elizabeth to wear on her wedding day. It was also worn by Princess Anne at her first wedding to Captain Mark Phillips. -- THE CARTIER HALO An unlikely choice as it is currently on loan in Australia, the Cartier Halo was worn by Catherine Middleton when she married Prince William. The delicate tiara was commissioned as a gift by the Queen's father when he was the Duke of York for his wife. It was later given to the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, as a gift on her 18th birthday in 1944. The Queen later loaned the piece to her sister Princess Margaret and her daughter Princess Anne - before it famously appeared on Miss Middleton's head at one of the world's most watched weddings. -- THE SPENCER TIARA Another unlikely choice as the Spencer Tiara is an heirloom of the family of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Diana chose to wear the tiara on the day of her wedding to Prince Charles. While Ms Markle and Prince Harry told the BBC after the announcement of their engagement they wanted Diana involved in their day, it isn't thought the tiara will be how this is done. It wouldn't be a fairytale wedding without a princess riding in a horse-drawn carriage and Prince Harry and new bride Meghan Markle won't disappoint the crowds at their May 19 nuptials. After an hour-long ceremony, the newly married pair will take part in a carriage procession from St George's Chapel, through Windsor Town and then returning to Windsor Castle along the Long Walk. "They hope this short journey will provide an opportunity for more people to come together around Windsor and to enjoy the atmosphere of the special day," Kensington Palace tweeted in February. Previous royal couples have delighted crowds with carriage processions after their nuptials, with thousands gathering to spot newlyweds Prince William and Catherine Middleton as they made their way to Buckingham Palace in a 100-year-old gold-trimmed open top carriage after their 2011 wedding. The same carriage, known as the 1902 State Landau, carried William and Harry's mother, the Lady Diana Spencer, through the streets of London after her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981. Prince Harry and Ms Markle have chosen the Ascot Landau carriage for their procession, which will be escorted by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and pulled by Windsor Grey horses. After the Turnbull government languished for eight months in China's sin bin, the first minister to visit the mainland was keen to go on a charm offensive. Relations with China have soured in the past year and Beijing is especially cranky about Australia's foreign interference laws. No Australian minister had visited the Chinese mainland for eight months until Trade Minister Steve Ciobo broke the drought this week. However, it's understood his schedule does not include meetings with anyone senior from the Chinese government. Mr Ciobo's trip is predominantly to attend a Port Adelaide-Gold Coast AFL clash in Shanghai as well as Asia's largest food and beverage exhibition. He delivered a speech at an Australia-China business awards ceremony overnight. "For the partnership between Australia and China, if we find ourselves in choppy waters, we should bring our boats together and help each other to find a way to the other shore, avoiding the storm," Mr Ciobo said. Mr Ciobo said China wasn't just an economic miracle. "China is today one of the true global giants," he said. He lavished praise on President Xi Jinping and China's One-Belt One-Road international infrastructure building scheme. The Turnbull government has not signed up to have infrastructure projects built under that scheme but instead is keen to secure opportunities under the scheme for Australian businesses in China or third countries. "Australia and China share the common goal of improving infrastructure in the region and Australia welcomes the contribution (the scheme) can make to regional infrastructure," Mr Ciobo said. Earlier this year, his colleague Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who is international development minister, raised concerns about China building "white elephants and roads to nowhere" in the South Pacific and tiny island countries being laden with huge Chinese debts. Meanwhile, Mr Ciobo's office is helping an Australian wine importer navigate a bureaucracy bottleneck. Treasury Wine has said it was facing delays getting some products through Chinese customs. Julie Bishop is en route to Argentina this weekend to attend a G20 foreign ministers meeting and may have bilateral talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Police are hunting a Victorian registered sex offender who gave authorities a false address and has not been seen since. Police on Friday appealed to the public to help track down 23-year-old Ricky Wilson, who also goes by six aliases, saying he may be frequenting the Geelong, Norlane, Corio and Richmond areas. Wilson is about 160cm tall, with a medium build, black hair, brown eyes and a number of distinct tattoos, including "Kiarra" written on his right wrist and "Mum" on his left wrist. The Australian offshoot of French submarine designer Naval Group will soon have its third boss in three years. John Davis will take on the chief executive and submarine project director roles from July 1. He replaces Brent Clark, who had been acting in the position since last year following the surprise departure of Sean Costello. Mr Davis has 30 years defence industry experience and has previously worked for Raytheon Australia and been involved in the air warfare destroyer project. Mr Clark will stay on with the French parent company as a special adviser. Naval Group has the $50 billion contract for Australia's 12 new submarines to be built in Adelaide. The first steel for the Australian submarines is expected to be cut by 2022, with the first vessels due to enter service in the early 2030s. The Australian submarine design will be based on France's Barracuda nuclear-powered submarine. Alan Jones will continue to be cross-examined in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday as part of defamation proceedings against the talkback radio host. The Toowoomba-based Wagner brothers are seeking $4.8 million in damages from Jones, Harbour Radio, 4BC and journalist Nick Cater over 32 broadcasts made between 2014 and 2015. John, Denis, Neill and Joe Wagner allege they were blamed for the deaths of 12 people in the town of Grantham during the 2011 floods, when one of the walls of the Lockyer Valley quarry they owned collapsed. They claim they were also subjected to accusations of a high-level cover-up with politicians, corruption and intimidation relating to their Wellcamp Airport. Jones admitted to the court on Thursday his broadcasts had been savage, but he and his team always took "reasonable steps" to be accurate. The broadcaster stood by his allegations the Wagners lied about the cause of the Grantham flood and the fact the quarry wall that collapsed was man-made. Jones also maintained his claims the processes involved in the family receiving approval to build the airport at Toowoomba were corrupt. Barrister Tom Blackburn SC repeatedly accused Jones of grossly irresponsible reporting because of his failure to tell the family about the "grave allegations of misconduct" he was going to make on air. But Jones said his team had previously contacted them and the Wagners had made it clear they wouldn't speak to him. "I'm not going to waste my time calling people up who won't speak to me," he said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says hasn't revealed what the country's wedding gift to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be except to say it's "very Australian". He's some of the gifts Australia has given to other royal couples. -- PRINCE WILLIAM AND CATHERINE MIDDLETON Australia's official wedding gift to the happy couple in 2011 was a $25,000 donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, one of 26 charities the pair asked well-wishers to donate to in lieu of wedding gifts. South Australia also made a $10,000 donation to the charity as a wedding gift. -- PRINCE CHARLES AND CAMILLA PARKER BOWLES The people of Australia gifted Prince Charles and his second bride a landscape painting by Australian Artist Fred Williams for their 2005 nuptials. Williams' work was inspired by the forested hills of Victoria, an area the prince was familiar with after spending time at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School. -- PRINCE CHARLES AND LADY DIANA SPENCER Australia gave 20 handcrafted silver platters to the doomed couple at their 1981 wedding. -- CROWN PRINCE FREDERICK OF DENMARK AND MARY DONALDSON The Australian government gave the home-grown Aussie and her Danish prince six eucalyptus and three Huon pine trees for their wedding, which were planted in the grounds of the palace in Copenhagen. -- PRINCE EDWARD AND SOPHIE RYS-JONES A pair of intricate inlaid timber panels were gifted to the Queen's youngest son and his bride for their 1999 nuptials. The design by NSW artist Michael Retter featured Australian flora and used native timber. -- PRINCESS ELIZABETH, the future Queen, and PHILIP MOUNTBATTEN The Queensland government in 1947 sent the pair 500 cases of tinned pineapples, a gift well-received in Britain which was still suffering food shortages after World War Two , and a fumed maple cigarette box. Ingredients for the wedding cake were also sent by the Australian Girl Guides Association. PRINCE HARRY: FROM WILD CHILD TO RESPECTABLE ROYAL -- DEATH OF DIANA Hearts melted when 12-year-old Prince Harry walked alongside his older brother William, their father Prince Charles, grandfather Prince Philip and uncle Earl Spencer behind Princess Diana's coffin through the streets of London in 1997. Atop her casket lay a small wreath of white roses with an envelope simply inscribed with "mummy". In interviews marking the 20th anniversary of Diana's death, Harry described the anguish he felt at the time of his mother's public funeral but also how, in retrospect, he was "very glad" he took part. -- NAUGHTY SCHOOLBOY Harry admits to being scarred by his mother's death, which marked the beginning of years of turmoil for the young royal. He confessed to a group of teenagers at a Cape Town youth centre in 2015 how he "didn't enjoy school at all" and "wanted to be the bad boy". As a 16-year-old, Harry threw parties at his father's Highgrove estate while home alone on holiday from the exclusive boarding school Eton. However Prince Charles soon put a stop to them - and his son's underage drinking sessions with mates at a nearby pub - after Harry admitted smoking cannabis. His academic record was also called into question in 2004 after one of his former teachers at Eton claimed she helped Harry complete art assignments. -- PARTY PRINCE In his early 20s Harry was regularly snapped by paparazzi at London nightclubs. Frequently on his arm was his Zimbabwean-born on-off girlfriend Chelsy Davy. The pair began dating in 2004 but their romance crumbled in 2011, with Davy later revealing the constant media attention was "crazy and scary". Not long after their romance began, Harry sparked controversy in 2005 photographs emerged of him wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party. He issued an apology, saying he didn't mean to offend. Another apology followed four years later when a home video filmed in 2006 showed Harry referring to Pakistani soldier serving with his platoon as a "Paki". The prince's derogatory remarks saw him branded foolish, ignorant and a yob. More controversy erupted in 2012 when photos of the prince playing "strip billiards" at a private party in Las Vegas hit the newspapers. Only a few months earlier he'd begun dating aristocratic English actress Cressida Bonas. Their relationship lasted two years before she became fed up with the media attention. -- ARMY LIFE Months after the Nazi uniform controversy in 2005, Harry enrolled at Sandhurst Military Academy. The Daily Mail's royal correspondent Katie Nicholl described this as a the turning point when Harry "went from hooray Henry to genuine hero". It took many years though to rehabilitate Harry's public image. His 10 years as an officer with the Household Cavalry played a big part. He earned sympathy when an Australian women's magazine and a US website ignored a global media blackout and published details in early 2008 about his secret mission fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Harry returned to Afghanistan in 2012 as an Apache attack helicopter pilot. Three years later, he wrapped up his decade of service by spending time with Australian Defence Force troops in Darwin, Perth and Sydney. He described his decision to leave as "really tough" and talked about being at a crossroads in his life. -- NEW PATH The new path Harry chose was largely focused on charity work, helping veterans as well as humanitarian and conservation causes in Africa. His time in the army inspired him to set up the Invictus Games for wounded veterans. Harry was also a big presence during the Queen's Jubilee in 2012, when he completed his first royal solo tour overseas to Belize, the Bahamas, Brazil and Jamaica. -- MENTAL HEALTH In an attempt to shine a light on mental health issues, Harry joined brother William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, in founding Heads Together, a charity for veterans, the homeless and young people. He won plaudits from experts in April 2017 when he told a British podcast about how he had sought help after "shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years" in response to his mother's death. -- ROYAL DUTIES While on royal duties, Harry's proved a favourite with crowds on walkabouts. On a quick trip to Sydney in June 2017 to promote the Invictus Games, Harry charmed fans waiting in the pouring rain on the shores of Sydney Harbour. Among the crowd was 97-year-old Daphne Dunn, who shared a hug with Harry after he recognised her from a previous visit. "He's marvellous, I've met him before and he's an absolute gem," she said. Walden Security has completed a recertification audit of its ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System. The achievement ensures that Walden Security maintains certification for the next three years. It is our commitment to always do what we say we will," said Michael S. Walden, CPP, president of Walden Security. "Our recertification to the new ISO 9001:2015 standard exemplifies Walden Securitys dedication to the overall quality of our operations. It means our customers can rely on Walden Security to deliver exceptional security services and always do whats right. ISO certification confirms that the Walden Security QMS applies formal business practices and measurable quality standards in areas such as human resources, training, operations, customer service, documentation and contract compliance. During the third-party audit by American Systems Registrar, Walden Securitys QMS was reviewed to ensure proper implementation, procedure compliance and proof of continuous process improvements, as required by the ISO 9001:2015 standard. The new ISO 9001:2015 standard incorporates proven process improvement methods used by innovative companies around the world, said officials. Although nearly 8,000 security firms operate in the United States, Walden Security is one of the only security firms that has made the investment of time and resources to meet ISO quality standards. Walden Security has been dedicated to company-wide quality assurance since Mike and Amy Walden founded the company nearly 30 years ago," said Tom Shipley, director of Quality Assurance at Walden Security. "I appreciate the commitment of our team members who have continued to do the hard work required to maintain our certification for 15 years. Two Sydney seamstresses will pull an all-nighter on Saturday to recreate Meghan Markle's royal wedding dress, starting from the second the former Suits actress steps out of her car to marry Prince Harry. Elizabeth Alexandrou and Tessa Rankin have dozens of fabrics and patterns at the ready to replicate the much-anticipated gown but are unable to get a head start given the conflicting speculation about its design. "I'm trying not to think about it until the dress walks out the door. There are so many variables," Ms Alexandrou, who is producing the one-off creation for haberdashery chain Spotlight, told AAP. The American actress wore a simple, strapless white dress with a beaded waistband for her first wedding, to film producer Trevor Engelson, in 2011. "Her recent looks are all fairly tailored, smart and stylish, so this could be her time to let loose and be a princess," Ms Alexandrou said. "I would say she'll have a big skirt but it's difficult because it's her second marriage too." The seamstress is predicting the 36-year-old's dress to have a fitted bodice, sleeves, beadwork and a dash of colour but has ruled out a high neckline and a massive train. She said while a handmade lace or heavily hand-beaded dress will be impossible to recreate overnight, the overall silhouette is still "achievable" for the everyday bride, without the exorbitant price tag. "As a bride, they (customers) want to be unique and special on their wedding day; they don't want to be in the exact same dress as somebody else." Royal fashion is hot property in the retail market with outfits worn by the Duchess of Cambridge frequently selling out. Belfast-based designer MaryRose McGrath whipped up a ready-to-wear copy of the white lace Alexander McQueen wedding gown worn by Catherine Middleton less than 24 hours after she walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey to marry Prince William in 2011. Australia's third and final air warfare destroyer, the Sydney, is set to be launched in Adelaide, as the $9 billion program to significantly bolster the nation's defence capability nears an end. The Sydney will be lowered into the water in Adelaide on Saturday as work continues to complete its fit-out ahead of sea trials. Like its sister ships, the HMAS Hobart and the Brisbane, the Sydney is 146 metres long with a range of about 5000 nautical miles, or about 9000 kilometres, and a top speed of more than 28 knots. It will have a crew of 186 and is powered by a combination of gas and diesel turbines driving twin propellers. The destroyers are armed with harpoon missile systems and have missile decoy technology. They are also fitted with a flight deck and hangar for one helicopter. The HMAS Hobart was launched in Adelaide in 2015 and commissioned in September last year. The Brisbane was launched in 2016 and is expected to be commissioned later this year, while the Sydney is scheduled to come into full service in late 2019. The launch of the Sydney comes as shipbuilding jobs continue to be shed in Adelaide with the wind down of the destroyer program. The program was also plagued with problems in its early years, with delays and cost blowouts but was recently removed from the defence department's projects-of-concern list. The federal government has moved to bolster the defence shipbuilding sector in South Australia with a decision to produce some offshore patrol boats at Osborne, along with the navy's next fleet of frigates and future submarines, providing for decades of continuous work supporting thousands of jobs. Queensland's opposition has blasted a decision to make it non-compulsory for a student's English mark to be included in their university entrance rank. Education Minister Grace Grace has confirmed English won't be a mandatory part of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) in the state - unlike NSW and Victoria - with students able to obtain the rank with a "sound achievement" mark in the subject. Liberal National Party Leader Deb Frecklington has labelled the decision "ludicrous" and has the potential to harm the employability of Queensland students. The shift to fairer electricity prices has been slow because of a lack of progress toward a consensus between government and industry, new research claims. The first review of the Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap calls on governments to step up and work with industry on a new pricing plan. The plan, released with the CSIRO last year, called for an economy-wide carbon price and intermittent renewable energy generation projects to replace coal-fired generators. Energy Network Australia chief executive Andrew Dillon said developing consensus between governments and industry had been slower than industry hoped. But there was progress on five priority areas including "incentivising" efficiency and improving trust with customers. The original plan laid out 45 milestones and more than 150 steps to transform the network. Australia's workplace minister has a message for an emboldened union movement: bring it on. The CFMEU scored a major victory on Wednesday when blackmail charges against Victorian boss John Setka and his deputy Shaun Reardon, that stemmed from a coalition government-initiated union corruption royal commission, were dropped. But Workplace Minister Craig Laundy says suggestions the federal government has been outsmarted by the construction union are rubbish. "Any inkling or any assertion by anyone including Mr Setka that this is a Liberal Party witch-hunt is an absolute farce," Mr Laundy told Sky News. Mr Setka wants Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to make it easier for workers to go on strike and relax union right-of-entry laws if Labor wins government at the next federal election. "We've now got a new shadow minister for industrial relations and that's John Setka," Mr Laundy said. "I think that's a great thing for us to argue against between now and the next election." Mr Laundy linked Mr Setka, who has admitted fighting for workers' rights outside the law, to 59 criminal charges and his union to $15 million in fines. He accused unions of trying to take workplace laws back to the 1970s when strike action was more common. "It's going to be gung-ho battle for the next 12 months, but one I'm up for." Mr Setka and Mr Reardon were accused of trying to blackmailed Boral managers Paul Dalton and Peter Head at a coffee shop in Melbourne in April 2013. ACTU secretary Sally McManus wants an investigation into whether former prime minister Tony Abbott and his then employment minister, Eric Abetz were involved in the events that led to the court action. Mr Abetz said he was happy to release any alleged correspondence with Boral executives under freedom of information laws. But he railed against suggestions of a conspiracy, saying that would rely on the independent Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions playing along. "It is just fantasy land at its worst," Senator Abetz told ABC radio. The NSW attorney-general wants an electronic monitoring bracelet fitted to convicted rapist Graham Kay, who is accused of breaching his supervision orders after his release from prison. Attorney-General Mark Speakman on Friday confirmed he had instructed the Crown Solicitor's Office to apply to the Supreme Court to vary Kay's extended supervision order. Mr Speakman said he had sought the stricture "in view of changed circumstances". Kay, who terrorised Sydney's north shore with a series of rapes in the 1990s, is accused of breaching his order earlier this year. The breaches relate to Kay not disclosing to authorities he was having "an intimate relationship" and that someone was staying at his house, according to court documents. For such a beloved activity, the travel part of travelling is usually the most dreaded. The very thought of queues, customs and long flights can be enough to sour the thought of any getaway. A multi-stop trip to Asia, an adventure on bucket lists around the world, immediately conjures up nightmarish images of frantic connections and language barriers. If only someone could take care of the travelling and leave you to enjoy the destination. In the space of two weeks, I visited the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China with a minimum of fuss, and without once having to ask for directions. Welcome to the wonderful world of cruises. The Volendam, soon to be my home for 14 days, is an unassuming sight in port. Recently refurbished, the mid-size Holland America Line vessel looks remarkably upbeat and perky compared to its enormous neighbours. Don't let the small size deceive you, however. There's space for around 1450 passengers, but at no time do I feel crowded. Economy this ain't. One advantage of a "middie" is that the smaller size means less time to disembark for shore excursions. With so many stops on the itinerary, that's definitely a plus. Another advantage - if you're not in the family market - is fewer kids around; this ship isn't big enough for water slides (although there is a kids club). On this 14-day journey, there were 1330 passengers of which 935 were aged between 51-74 and there were fewer than 10 children (17 or younger). The trip started out well; I had a "free" night's accommodation in Hong Kong where Volendam was waiting for us before heading into the South China Sea. It was enough for to enjoy the local nightlife and have dinner while others visited markets or just strolled the city. Once onboard, we were happy to discover our room (1823) had a massive amount of storage space and the bathroom had a double-sized shower. Overall, the ship had a mellow and chilled-out vibe compared to other cruises I'd experienced. The meals in the Lido Market buffet, where self-service is all but erased, were on the shallow side, but that's also a good thing. Beside the main dining room and buffet, the two specialty restaurants are the Pinnacle Grill (additional $39), which has a feature evening with Rudi's Sel de Mer seafood fare, and Canaletto ($15), which serves Italian cuisine. Disembarking for day tours was effortless, but expect delays in Japan (Naha) and China (Shanghai) because of the need to first pass through immigration upon arrival. Like all cruises, day tours are charged in US dollars and it pays to study the itinerary like a Melbourne Cup form guide. While there's a detailed description and duration of each tour, there's no breakdown of the time spent travelling or at each attraction. In Taiwan, for instance, Taipei Highlights was a four-hour tour that included two shrines, one memorial and just five minutes at Taipei 101 skyscrapper - for a photo. If you're a church, shrine or temple junkie, meanwhile, you will overdose on choice - there are more than 20 tours featuring some type of religious or war attraction. If you're a "I've seen one church, I've seen them all" sort of person, however, then choose wisely. On The Charms of Old Manila tour, we spent an hour at a church and that was after a 45-minute trundle through a reconstructed 19th century building. In other words, in true Manila style, the building was a knock-off. Truth be known, this was not the tour I chose, but when you miss the bus for Modern Manila, you really shouldn't complain. The tour organisers, realising my stupidity, went out of their way to accommodate me, which I was more grateful for than the tour itself. When it came to choosing Japanese tours, I stayed clear of all religious attractions, but not war memorials given what happened in 1945. The Nagasaki Peace Park and nearby museum and memorial were moving experiences while the day trip ended with a cable car to Mt Inasa, which provided a panoramic view of the city. Directly below us were a cluster of some extraordinary modern houses, including a stand-out pink, two-storey building, squeezed on the side of a hill with next to no car access. The final port of call, Shanghai, was another overnight and, like Hong Kong, provided a full day to experience this amazing city, before it disappointingly came to an end the following morning. IF YOU GO GETTING THERE: Any number of international carriers fly direct to Hong Kong from Australian capitals where the cruise departs including Qantas, Virgin Australia, Cathay Pacific and British Airways. Return flights home should be from Shanghai. STAYING THERE: Arrive on the same day as the cruise check-in opens and you get a "free" night's accommodation onboard because the cruise does not depart until the following day. Otherwise stay at InterContinental Grand Stanford with rooms from $A250. Transfers to the cruise port are also available from here. Visit www.intercontinental.com/HongKong PLAYING THERE: The next similar trip is February 3, 2019: A 14-day trip from Hong Kong to Shanghai via Taiwan and Japan on the Westerdam. Prices twin-share. Inside (Cabin): $A2,379. Obstructed Oceanview: $A2,909. Verandah : $A3,489. Signature Suite: $A5,449. For more info, visit https://www.hollandamerica.com/ A 64-year-old woman has made her first court appearance, charged with culpable driving, causing the deaths of four women in regional Victoria who were returning home after a night of line dancing. Stawell resident Lorraine Nicholson, who is on bail, is charged with dangerous driving and culpable driving causing death at Navarre on May 5. She is also accused of failing to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Stawell-Avoca Road and Ararat-St Arnaud Road and driving at 89km/h in an 80km/h zone. Line dancing friends Elaine Middleton, Margaret Ely, Dianne Barr and Claudia Jackson, aged 64 to 75, were returning home when a Jeep allegedly T-boned their Kia on the isolated stretch of road. All four women died of internal injuries. Nicholson suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the alleged crash. Nicholson's lawyer Andrew Madden told Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday the matter may proceed to a jury trial. Nicholson was supported in court by her husband and a younger male relative. The court was told during the preliminary filing hearing that Nicholson must surrender her passport to the court as part of her bail conditions. She was bailed to reappear in court on September 20 for a committal mention. One of NSW's top greyhound trainers has been charged with exporting 120 racing dogs to China and Macau without proper documentation. Greyhound Racing NSW on Friday charged Michael Abbott with sending the registered dogs without their greyhound passport and certified pedigree documents. He was also charged with damaging the sport through his actions. Abbott will have a chance to respond at a hearing later in May. The charges come just weeks after other leading figures, including a GRNSW board member, were slapped with similar charges. Board member Michael Eberand was charged on May 4 with aiding or abetting and facilitating the export of registered greyhound Wandering Mija to Dubai without a greyhound passport. Peter Lagogiane, James Cortis and Bradley Eberand were also charged with facilitating the export of the same greyhound without a greyhound passport. NSW Racing Minister Paul Toole promised "strong and swift" action including sacking Eberand if he was found guilty by GRNSW. "People in senior leadership positions in the industry need to act with the utmost integrity," he said in a statement. The "king" of the sport, Paul Wheeler, was in late April found guilty of exporting 10 dogs to China without documentation and disqualified for 12 months. The charges have all emerged as part of an ongoing inquiry into dog exports. The industry is under increased scrutiny and pressure to improve animal welfare after years of scandals involving live baiting and the mass killing of dogs in NSW. If ever a Super Rugby team needed an injection of star power, it's the Brumbies. The ACT side welcomes Wallabies star David Pocock back with open arms as they tackle the first of two games in South Africa against the Lions on Sunday morning (AEST). Pocock has been sidelined for the past two games with a calf injury as the Brumbies' finals hopes have been virtually crushed. The 30-year-old has played only four games this season after returning to the nation's capital from a 12-month sabbatical. He isn't the only important inclusion, with No.8 Isi Naisarani recovering from an ankle injury that saw him miss the nail-biting 27-24 loss to Melbourne last week. Kyle Godwin has also earned a recall, slotting into the No.12 as co-captain Christian Lealiifano shifts back to flyhalf. Star prop Scott Sio has passed his concussion tests after copping a knock against the Rebels. Co-captain Sam Carter says the team has gained confidence out of those inclusions "It's massive to have (Pocock) back, he's world class," Carter told Fairfax Media. "To have him coming back into your team with the leadership and experience he has, the boys will lift and everyone loves playing with him. I've got no doubt that will be any different this week." Entering the match second bottom in the competition, Dan McKellar's team can take confidence from the last time they travelled to South Africa. The Brumbies defeated the Kings in Port Elizabeth before backing up in Argentina against the Jaguares last year. They will have milestone motivation for this clash as centre Tevita Kuridrani becomes the third Brumbies player to bring up 100 games this year. Veteran Ben Alexander will extend his games record with the Brumbies as he lines up for his 150th appearance off the bench. The Brumbies will start as significant underdogs for the match as the Lions sit atop the South African conference with six wins. McKellar's men have a 3-7 record and are two and a half games behind the NSW Waratahs on top of the conference. BRUMBIES: Tom Banks, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Kyle Godwin, Andrew Muirhead, Christian Lealiifano, Joe Powell, Isi Naisarani, David Pocock, Rob Valetini, Sam Carter, Rory Arnold, Allan Alaalatoa, Folau Faingaa, Scott Sio. Res: Robbie Abel, Nic Mayhew, Ben Alexander, Blake Enever, Lachlan McCaffrey, Tom Cusack, Matt Lucas, Andrew Smith. As summer kicks off and families hit the road for vacation, the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) to remind motorists to Click It or Ticket.From May 21st to June 3rd, participating law enforcement agencies across the state will increase seat belt enforcement as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations (NHTSA) nationwide mobilization.According to Tennessees Integrated Traffic Analysis Network (TITAN), 315 people killed in Tennessee traffic crashes last year were not wearing a seat belt.This represents approximately 30 percent of the states total traffic fatalities in 2017.According to the NHTSA, nearly half (48%) of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were unrestrained. At night from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 56 percent of those killed. That is why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.HCSO Traffic Division personnel will be participating in a press conference on Monday, May 21 at 10 a.m. at the I-75 Welcome Center in East Ridge with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office and numerous other law enforcement agencies in the community as they promote driver safety during the summer months.For more information about seat belt safety or the THSO, visit www.tntrafficsafety.org. NEW TEST FOR MP CITIZENSHIP? * If renunciations are required, as the Attorney-General suggests, then there are eligibility doubts over more federal MPs. COALITION * Scott Morrison: Maternal grandfather born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided. * Michael McCormack: Maternal grandfather born in Greece. Greek Embassy does not have him registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen. * Zed Seselja: Both parents, all grandparents born overseas, no renunciation confirmation provided. Croatian embassy says he is not a citizen. * Julia Banks: Greek father and four Greek grandparents. Greek Embassy does not have her registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen. * Alex Hawke: Mother and maternal grandparents were born in Greece. Greek embassy does not have him registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen. * Craig Kelly: South African maternal grandfather, no renunciation confirmation provided * Nola Marino: No documents proving she does not get Italian citizenship from her husband. Father born in the USA, maternal grandfather born in Sweden, paternal grandparents born in Italy. * Llew O'Brien: Paternal grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided. * Ken O'Dowd: Paternal grandmother born in the Netherlands, no renunciation confirmation provided. * Tony Pasin: Italian mother and father, grandparents on both sides, document says he is not eligible to apply for Italian citizenship, but not whether he is a citizen. * Angus Taylor: Maternal grandparents born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided. * Alan Tudge - Maternal grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided. * Tim Wilson: Maternal grandfather born in India, no renunciation confirmation provided. LABOR * Emma Husar: Polish grandparents, checked that she did not have citizenship but renounced it anyway, no renunciation confirmation provided. * Mark Dreyfus: Jewish father and paternal grandparents fled Nazi Germany and stripped of their citizenship. No renunciation confirmation provided. * Michael Danby: Jewish father and paternal grandparents were born in Germany. Father was stripped of citizenship when he arrived in Australia. No renunciation confirmation provided. A water spider named after surfer Mick Fanning has officially been recognised in science literature, along with 23 other new species discovered by Queensland arachnologist Dr Robert Raven. The Ornodolomedes mickfanningi name was chosen by a public competition a year ago, however the variety of the spider had only now been verified by the scientific community. Among the other 23 spiders recognised is the Ornodolomedes nicholsoni, named after American actor Jack Nicholson. Dr Raven said the name was chosen because the species was found at Two Peoples Bay, in Western Australia, and the US actor excelled at playing characters with dichotomous personalities. "We usually ask permission from the people we are naming the spider after, however we didn't get permission from Jack Nicholson. We don't think he will mind," the arachnologist told AAP. "We did ask Mick Fanning though, and he said he was very pleased." Another new species is the Dolomedes briangreenei, named after string theorist Brian Greene. Dr Raven says they chose the celebrity names which reflect different features of the spider and to try make the arachnids more popular. "People don't want to hear a scientific name, so we ran a competition last year for people to name the spider. And the winner was a Brazilian who suggested Mick Fanning," he said. "This spider lives behind Mick's area of the Gold Coast hinterland and hunts alongside the water." A woman has been charged over the alleged operation of an illegal brothel in regional Victoria. The 45-year-old from Hong Kong was arrested at a Shepparton motel on May 3 before being charged with knowingly living on the earnings of a sex worker and dealing in proceeds of crime. "Any business or property owners who think their premises is being used for illegal sexual services should contact Shepparton police station," Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Paul Shortis said in a statement on Friday. The 45-year-old woman has been bailed to appear in Shepparton Magistrates Court on July 13. Two Brisbane men accused of raping a drunk student as she stumbled home twice bragged about having sex in an alley. Jack Scott Turner Winship and Ryan David George came across their alleged victim as they walked to meet friends in April 2011 and soon after were "all over each other". The woman, who can't be identified, ended up in a dark alley with the men and they engaged in sexual interactions, their Brisbane District Court trial has heard. The brief encounter resulted in the woman emerging from the alley bloodied, and rape and sexual assault charges being laid against Turner Winship and George. The pair have been on trial this week. Turner Winship gave his version of events from the witness box on Friday. After clocking off from a shift he went to George's Paddington home and drank five or six large glasses of rum, he said. Jovial and tipsy, they strolled through to West End, where they ran into the medical student and began talking and laughing, Turner Winship said. She first kissed Turner Winship and then George, the court heard. "It was just a fluid sort of thing," he said. Next, according to Turner Winship, they were involved in consensual sexual activity. But the prosecution alleges it was far more sinister. Crown prosecutor Dzenita Balic has argued the men manoeuvred the woman into an alley to rape her and targeted her because she was staggering drunk. After the alleged rape, while Turner Winship and George walked off to meet friends at a nearby pub, the woman sought help from a man who described her as "out of it" with blood on her lower thighs and hands. "She said 'these guys are trying to hurt me'," prosecution witness Michael Hayward said on Tuesday. He ran to catch up with them and chatted briefly, he said. One of them bragged of a sexual encounter in an alley. And after the pair greeted their friends, they again boasted about what had happened. "We had a sexual encounter, so yeah we told our friends about it," Turner Winship said while being questioned by Ms Balic. "We had no reason to not tell anyone." Throughout the trial, the jury has heard the question of consent would be central to their deliberations, with the defence saying the woman was an active participant. "She was enjoying herself," Turner Winship said. The trial continues. An elderly man is recovering in hospital after an alleged axe-wielding thief attacked him during a break-in near Newcastle. The 44-year-old man had broken into multiple homes in Rathmines about 7am on Friday when the confrontation took place, NSW Police said in a statement on Friday. The armed man allegedly struck the 73-year-old with the axe in the shoulder outside a home on Rosemary Row Road. The victim was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remains with non-life threatening injuries. The men are known to one another. The 44-year-old was arrested at the scene and charged with multiple robbery, weapon and assault offences. He is expected to face Newcastle Local Court on Saturday. A threatened species of rock wallaby has been released in a remote part of Western Australia under a program to re-establish the marsupial in the region. A group of 25 black-flanked rock wallabies were flown from Cape Range National Park in Exmouth to Kalbarri National Park in WA's north to help increase genetic diversity among the mob. Thought for decades to be extinct in Kalbarri due to feral wildlife, the tagged wallabies are the last to be moved in a project to re-introduce the native animals to the area. The government-run scheme began in 2015 after a pair of wild wallabies and their joey were spotted in the park. And in 2016, a partnership between the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and the World Wildlife Fund transported 23 rock wallabies from the Wheatbelt region to Kalbarri, followed by another 24 in 2017. No more of the little marsupials will be released but they will be monitored using a combination of radio collars, trapping and remote sensor cameras. "The future is looking bright for these rock wallabies," WWF Australia species conservation manager Merril Halley said. Former prime minister John Howard has paid tribute to mentor Sir John Carrick following his death at the age of 99. Sir John, a World War II soldier, was secretary of the NSW Liberal party between 1948 and 1971, supplying "legendary" campaigning skills and political analysis. Mr Howard on Friday said Sir John taught him more about politics than anyone else and still displayed acute political observations when the two spent time together this week. "John Carrick was my close friend and political mentor," Mr Howard said in a statement. Sir John saw politics as a contest of ideas and values rather than a public relations exercise, Mr Howard added, and had a lifelong interest in all aspects of education. He abhorred so-called "identity politics", Mr Howard said, and constantly urged the party to present policies that would appeal to all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnic background or religion. "His death truly ends an era in Liberal, and, indeed, in Australian politics," Mr Howard said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Sir John was "a lion" of the party whose contribution to Australia spanned almost a century. "A generation of politicians, including myself, have benefited from his wisdom and integrity," Mr Turnbull said in a statement. Sir John was a senator for NSW between 1971 and 1987. He was also a survivor of Singapore's notorious Changi prison camp. Mr Turnbull said despite terrible hardship, Sir John showed upon his return that his wartime experience hadn't buried his love of humanity. NSW Liberal Party state director Chris Stone said the party owed Sir John a debt that can never be repaid. "Sir John has left an incredible legacy, having provided an extraordinary service to Australia and the Liberal Party," he said in a statement. Sir John's wife Angela, to whom he was married for 67 years, died four months ago. Three people have been arrested for allegedly stealing a BMW in Adelaide after the owner spotted the trio in the act. A man saw his BMW sedan on Hampstead Road at Clearview about 12.25pm on Friday, called police and saw it being driven to a house in Westbourne Park with police stopping the car and arresting three people. The trio, aged 33 to 53, has been charged with illegal use of a motor vehicle, with the driver to also to face court on Monday for driving unlicenced and breach of bail, while the other two will face drug offences at a later date. A SNAPSHOT OF THE CASE OF TALAL ALAMEDDINE: WHO Talal Alameddine, 25, of Merrylands THE CHARGE Alameddine pleaded guilty to recklessly possessing a thing connected with a terrorist act and supplying a pistol after he supplied a pistol that was given to 15-year-old Farhad Jabar, who shot accountant Curtis Cheng as he left work at Parramatta Police Headquarters in 2015. THE ARREST Police swooped in the days after the shooting and arrested Alameddine and Raban Alou, who received the gun from Alameddine before giving it to Jabar. THE JUDGMENT Justice Peter Johnson said Alameddine displayed at least some level of sympathy for Islamic State and wasn't persuaded he had good prospects of rehabilitation. THE SENTENCE Alameddine was sentenced to a maximum 17 years and eight months in jail with a non-parole period of 13-and-a-half years. THE DEFIANCE Alameddine refused to stand in the dock as his sentence was handed down, which Justice Johnson said confirmed his concerns about Alameddine's fundamentalist beliefs. One of his supporters stormed out of court after learning the sentence, declaring it was "not f***ing fair". A Sydney accountant who paid for sex with teenage girls has been sentenced to at least four years behind bars. Rino Raymond Mura, who was found guilty in November 2017 of three counts of being a client of a child prostitute and two counts of possessing child abuse material, was sentenced in Parramatta District Court on Friday by Judge Penelope Wass. Judge Wass said the actions of child prostitution clients such as Mura, who paid for sex with two girls aged under 17, were just as serious as those involved in arranging such meetings. "Such acts could not occur without clients being willing to engage in sex with underage prostitutes," she said. Mura was arrested after he went to police and told them he'd been robbed while in his car in a western Sydney car park in 2012. He made the "embarrassing" admission at the time that a 12 or 13-year-old child prostitute had been in his car as a "prequel" to the robbery, his barrister Marcel Sahade said at an earlier hearing. Mura told the girl to get out of the car when he realised she was so young, the lawyer said. The charges for which he's been found guilty relate to two other child prostitutes. Mr Sahade had argued Mura should be spared jail as it was his decision to go the police that prompted an investigation which led to the arrest of several people linked to the child sex ring. Judge Wass said on Friday she had not heeded that request, as Mura had not mentioned his offending during his "self-serving" interview with police. "I do not regard this information to police to be complete or reliable," she said. Mura claimed he believed the girls he paid for sex had been older than 18 and they appeared to be willing participants in the acts, the judge noted. The judge found that willingness was not a mitigating factor. "The court should accept that even when the activity is not opposed by the victim, it will be damaging," she said. The judge concluded Mura's risk of reoffending was low but stressed the need for general deterrence for crimes of this nature. Mura was given an aggregate sentence for his five offences, with a non-parole period of four years and maximum of six-and-a-half years. Southern Legacy Waffles, LLC has partnered with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank to fight hunger by placing donation canisters at the registers in 26 of their 70 Waffle House restaurants, and team members encouraged patrons to donate their spare change. The participating restaurants, which are located within the 20 counties the Food Bank serves across Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia, are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are a part of the largest and oldest franchise in the Waffle House system. Due to the generosity of the diners, the campaign raised $2,354. Because we can leverage our buying power to stretch $1 into 4 meals, the Food Bank can turn this money into 9,416 nutritious meals, said Gina Crumbliss, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. Our Waffle House partners were great to work with and truly believe in inspiring philanthropy and promoting goodwill both inside and outside of the company. Also, Michael Leonard, a Food Bank Souper Volunteer, did an outstanding job managing the collection of change each week, for which we are grateful. To reward a lucky Waffle House team member at the restaurant that raised the most money, Mayor David Wear and the Rotary Club of Pigeon Forge donated a dream vacation package for a family of four, including a two-night condo stay at RiverStone Resort & Spa, passes to The Island in Pigeon Forge, passes to both Dolly Partons Stampede and Smoky Mountain Adventures and tickets to the Country Tonite Theatre. On Friday, April 27, representatives from the Food Bank surprised the East Ridge Waffle House (Store 123) and Kirk Lewis of Southern Legacy Waffles, LLC randomly selected Nicole Jackson, a veteran Waffle House employee of 10 years, as the grand prize winner. After a 500-kilometre journey, two wild Orange-bellied parrots in love have reunited at a Melbourne sewage plant. The migratory birds, weighing less than 50 grams each, welcomed three baby chicks in Tasmania four months ago. The parrots then traversed Tasmania's west coast and the rough seas of Bass Strait separately, to find their way back to Werribee's Western Treatment Plant, where they first met, to reunite. There are only about 50 Orange-bellied parrots in the wild and Victoria's environment department and Zoos Victoria are aiming to boost numbers of the critically-endangered population. The lovebirds joined a flock of the parrots released from captivity last month as part of their project to save the species from extinction. "It's very exciting to see the project's first Orange-bellied parrot couple unite," environment department project manager Rachel Pritchard said. "With so few Orange-bellied parrots left in the wild, each and every parrot that makes the journey over Bass Strait is significant and keeps hopes of the species' survival alive." Each year the birds spend summer in Tasmanian breeding grounds and autumn and winter feeding in coastal Victoria and South Australia. Land in and around the Werribee plant is a well known bird sanctuary, offering a wide variety of food plants. The Victorian government is investing $200,000 to protect the species' future. A solo Jamayne Isaako try has clinched a late 28-22 victory for Brisbane in a see-sawing NRL battle with the Sydney Roosters. With scores locked 22-22, Isaako shaped to kick a field goal before weaving his way to the line for a sensational match-winner for his injury-hit side. His try capped an incredible back and forth contest, highlighted by the showdown between NSW Origin centre hopefuls, James Roberts and Latrell Mitchell. Roberts used sheer speed to beat five to put the Broncos level with seven minutes to play after Mitchell had tormented him in a devastating first half display. Incumbent Queensland forward Dylan Napa was sin-binned in a frenzied finish after felling Korbin Sims and will face a nervous wait at the judiciary after offering an early plea last week. The hyped showdown between potential Queensland hookers Andrew McCullough and Jake Friend was unremarkable but the clash of centres more than made up for it. In another example of his State of Origin readiness, Mitchell toyed with Roberts to set up two first-half tries and look dangerous every time he touched the ball. Roberts joked earlier this week that he still had the 20-year-old's palm print on his chest from a fend in last year's finals series. He added to that show reel by brushing Roberts aside to usher the Roosters' first try for Luke Keary 12 minutes in, while an accidental knee to Roberts' groin completed a forgettable first 40 minutes for the Broncos speedster. He responded well, though, setting up Isaako for a four-pointer 10 minutes into the second stanza that reinstalled the host's lead. Again the Roosters had a reply, Isaac Liu bumping off McCullough beside the posts for a 18-16 lead entering the final 15 minutes before Boyd Cordner pounced on a Keary grubber to put Sydney ahead 22-16 with 13 minutes to play. Debutant Kotoni Staggs was thrust into the action after just three minutes, replacing a groggy Tom Opacic after he copped a knee while tackling Blake Ferguson. His try and assist helped the Broncos, missing five regulars through injury, stay in the hunt before Roberts and Isaako powered them home. The win puts both sides level on 12 points, with 6-5 records entering the Origin period. Liberal Party bosses will explain to the rank-and-file on Saturday why they're not running a candidate in a key federal by-election. WA Liberal senator Dean Smith says it's not too late to choose a candidate for the seat of Perth, with the by-election still not officially called. Senator Smith wrote an opinion piece for The West Australian calling on his party to run a candidate in Perth, which Labor holds by just 2.2 per cent. "Why would the Liberal Party give Bill Shorten a free kick in WA just when voters are waking up to him and the political tide is turning against Labor?" Senator Smith wrote. But Treasurer Scott Morrison said Perth - which Labor holds by just 2.2 per cent - is a long-time Labor seat. "The Western Australian division of the Liberal Party is focusing on the state by-election and the seats that are held in Western Australia by the Labor Party have always been Labor Party seats," Mr Morrison told reporters on Friday. Special Minister of State Mathias Cormann is due to front a meeting of the Liberal party faithful on Saturday to explain the party's decision to focus on the Darling Range state by-election instead of Perth. The Liberals are running Georgina Downer in the South Australian seat of Mayo, where the Greens have announced Major "Moogy" Sumner will be their candidate against incumbent Rebekha Sharkie. And former Braddon MP Brett Whiteley will run against Labor's Justine Keay, who had to resign over her dual citizenship. But the party still has not chosen a candidate to run against Labor's Susan Lamb in Longman, with the Liberal National Party's preselectors due to meet on Tuesday. "They will make their decision in a thoroughly grassroots, democratic way," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in Queensland on Friday. The coalition is not running a candidate against Labor's Josh Wilson in Fremantle. The by-elections have not been officially called, with Speaker Tony Smith consulting with the various parties. The earliest they can be held is June 23. There's a new boss in town at Melbourne's town hall. Sally Capp has been named as the next lord mayor after securing 53.05 per cent of the total votes in the City of Melbourne by-election. She is the first woman in the $193,000 job in about 30 years. The Property Council of Victoria chief, who took leave during her campaign, nabbed the coveted prized from businesswoman Jennifer Yang who notched up 46.95 per cent of the total votes. Ms Capp secured 25.38 per cent of the primary vote with Ms Yang netting 15.39 per cent with Greens candidate and serving councillor Rohan Leppert next best at 14.77 per cent. The result came about an hour after the Victorian Electoral Commission began counting on Friday. "The hard work starts now," Ms Capp said in a statement to news organisations on Friday. "I'm committed to building on the two pillars of community and prosperity, with a plan for an even better Melbourne. "My only obligation is to good outcomes for Melbourne and Melburnians." She wants to tackle homelessness, population growth and proposed a $250 million elevated walking path from Federation Square to Docklands. Ms Capp will follow in the female footsteps of Lecki Ord who held the post in 1987-88 and Winsome McCaughey in 1988-89. She secured the victory from 13 other candidates after former lord mayor Robert Doyle resigned, strenuously denying allegations from colleagues of misconduct. An independent inquiry later found he sexually harassed two women, which he denies. Thousands are expected to gather at beaches across the country - including one in Adelaide - to protest offshore oil and gas exploration in the Great Australian Bight this weekend. Hands Across the Sand, held on Saturday, will call on Norwegian oil giant Statoil-Equinor to drop its plans for drilling in the region. In Adelaide, the protest will take place on the foreshore at Semaphore Beach, while events will also be held at Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln, Ceduna, Streaky Bay, Elliston, Port Willunga and Middleton Point. Sea Shepherd Australia managing director Jeff Hansen said community awareness about the dangers of drilling was on the rise. "This will be the seventh Hands Across the Sand event in Australia and the numbers keep on growing as communities become more aware of the horrific threat of oil and gas exploration on our magnificent coastline," he said. "Modelling showed that an oil spill from an ultra-deepwater well blowout in the Great Australian Bight could impact anywhere along all of southern Australia's coast, from Western Australia right across to NSW and Tasmania." Mr Hansen said the threat was particularly pertinent in South Australia, with several areas directly at risk. "Former Statoil Bight partner, BP's modelling showed a spill from its proposed Stromlo-1 well could hit Adelaide in 20 days and Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island in 15 days." A 'BnB' for bees will be assembled in Adelaide parklands in an effort to protect and potentially boost the local population of the native species. The City of Adelaide will host a community working bee at Bonython Park on Saturday to build the structure, which will provide a nesting site for the bees, and plant native species. Lord Mayor Martin Haese said a recent bee information night was attended by more than 150 people, demonstrating concern for the species. "In urbanised environments, it is harder for bees to find suitable food plants and homes, which can lead to a decline in bee numbers,' he said. "Building bee hotels can provide bees with nesting sites, but it is also important to plant a range of native flowering plants to provide them with food, and help increase their populations and flowering activities. He encouraged residents to limit their use of pesticides and install their own artificial nests to help the bees. The City of Adelaide is one of eight councils to partner with the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board to deliver the project, with three native bee hotels to be installed in the Adelaide CBD. Health experts are urging residents not to die for fungi after more than two dozen people were hospitalised after eating wild mushrooms across NSW. There have been 38 cases of mushroom-related hospitalisations across NSW in 2018 to date with 27 taking place in autumn, which is peak mushrooming season. "Cooler, wetter weather is making good growing conditions for wild mushrooms," NSW Health's Dr Benjamin Scalley said in a statement on Saturday. "But it is difficult for most people to recognise edible from poisonous mushrooms." Poisonous varieties can cause severe abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, sweating and confusion - or even death. "Some varieties of mushrooms can be fatal, causing severe kidney and liver damage," Dr Scalley said. There have been 281 hospitalisations in NSW and the ACT between 2014 and 2017 and almost 900 mushroom-related calls to the poison hotline in the same period. The most dangerous variety of mushroom, the so-called death cap, was spotted growing in Victoria and the ACT earlier this month. Four people have died in the ACT since 2002 and there have been a number of poisonings associated with the lethal mushrooms. Experts warn cooking wild mushrooms does not make them safe to eat and people should avoid eating them unless they're store bought. Women will go topless in Melbourne's CBD to fight for animal rights and urge the dairy industry to stop killing calves. About 15 women will have slogans branded against their bodies from 'Their milk is not yours' to 'ditch dairy' to help passers-by on Saturday connect the human maternal instinct to that of cows in Australia. Organiser Suzy Markovski said in a statement there was "unimaginable suffering" to cattle in the dairy industry. "It is an industry which depends on the suffering of mothers and babies in order to exist.," she said. "Just like humans, cows must be impregnated to produce milk. After nine months of pregnancy and the emotion of giving birth, her baby is stolen from her so that the industry may profit from humans unnecessarily consuming her milk." Ms Markovski said male calves often go to the slaughterhouse while female calves may have artificial insemination before "the daily enslavement of being hooked up to machines that should be the suckling of her offspring". Activists will gather outside GPO in Bourke Street to call on farmers to move to ethical and sustainable industries such as crop farming instead of dairy. Melbourne's Palestinian community will protest on the steps of the state library against the US relocating its embassy to Jerusalem while Israeli supporters will march in support of the act. Palestinian Community Association of Victoria's Mai Saif said he was confident of a "very large turnout". "The whole world has seen how Israeli snipers gunned down unarmed protesters in Gaza as Netanyahu and the Kushners celebrated the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem," he said ahead of the event. Protesters will also mark the 70th anniversary since the establishment of Israel. "For the Palestinians, the Nakba is an ongoing catastrophe," Mr Saif said. "Right now villages in the West Bank are being bulldozed to make room for Jewish settlements, the Palestinians' remaining enclaves continue to shrink and refugees in ghettos like the Gaza Strip are unable to leave, even to receive medical care." Solidarity for Palestine and the Palestinian Community Association of Victoria organised the rally, which will start from the library before marching through the city streets. The Australian Liberty Alliance has organised a counter rally with many Israeli flags expected to be flown. "We will tell the truth and stand for liberty, democracy and equality," the ALA event states. A man has been questioned over a hit and run in Sydney's west that left a 20-year-old woman fighting for life in hospital. The 35-year-old attended Fairfield Police Station on Friday afternoon after detectives made a public appeal to find the driver, however he wasn't under arrest. The victim was struck by a white ute at the intersection of Tangerine Street in Villawood about 9.30pm on Thursday, leaving shocked witnesses to render first aid. She was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition. Detective Assistant Inspector Naomi Earle said the woman was crossing the road on a green pedestrian signal when she was hit. "It appears the alleged driver has run a red light," she told reporters. In the last five months, over 700 students and faculty across the Bledsoe County School system have been trained on bleeding control through Erlanger Health Systems Stop The Bleed Program.Trauma Services, Life Force and Childrens Safe & Sound have worked together to provide bleeding control education for each school in Bledsoe County. Students and faculty are taught how to recognize life-threatening bleeding and what steps to take to stop the bleed, including direct pressure, tourniquet application and wound packing.Every school in Bledsoe County completed Stop the Bleed Training through the Erlanger partnership and each received a multi-use Quick Clot - Bleeding Control Kit, purchased by the Southeast Regional Healthcare Coalition of Tennessee. These kits have been placed with each schools AED to use in the event of life-threatening bleeding.Erlanger Health System offers Stop the Bleed Bleeding Control classes free of charge to the public.To learn more or request a class for church, school, community or business groups, go to www.erlanger.org/stopthebleed.org Agriculture Minister David Littleproud will travel to the Middle East to assure live sheep importers Australia is staying in the trade after a crackdown on dodgy exporters. Mr Littleproud will visit Kuwait and Qatar over the weekend after adopting the recommendations of a veterinarian-led review into live sheep exports during the northern hemisphere summer. Giving sheep more room on ships during the hottest months and reducing animal numbers headline a slew of measures designed to stop cruelty. The industry has been rocked by revelations of sheep dying in their own filth in horrific conditions during Middle-East bound voyages. Mr Littleproud will assure major Middle Eastern importers Australia will continue trading to the region. He'll return home next week to introduce a bill to parliament slapping harsh new penalties on exporters doing the wrong thing, including jail sentences of up to 10 years. A separate piece of legislation to stop live sheep exports will also hit the lower house next week. Liberal MP Sussan Ley is pushing on with plans to introduce a private bill to phase out the trade, despite tougher rules imposed on the industry. A woman is in a critical condition after a hit and run incident in Sydney's east which killed her dog. The 47-year-old woman was first struck by a Toyota Corolla as she ran across Fitzgerald Avenue, Maroubra, with her dog about 7.15pm on Friday. The woman came to rest on the opposite eastbound lanes, but was struck by another older vehicle, which dragged her a short distance but failed to stop after the collision. The dog received serious injuries and died at the scene. The woman was taken to St George Hospital in a critical condition and remains in an induced coma. The 19-year-old male driver of the Corolla was uninjured. Police are appealing for any witnesses to come forward. A 20-year-old woman remains in hospital following a hit and run in Villawood on Thursday night. A man has been charged after allegedly assaulting police and attempting to grab an officer's firearm in Byron Bay. Police were attending the scene of an assault at the intersection of Jonson St and Lawson Lane about 10pm on Friday when a 43-year-old man allegedly tried to remove a policeman's firearm from its holster while resisting arrest. He also allegedly took hold of and bit the genital area of one of the officers, and eye gouged another. Police were assisted by security officers from a nearby licensed premises in bringing brought under control. He was taken to Byron Bay Police Station and charged with numerous offences, including affray and assaulting police. The man was refused bail to appear at Lismore Local Court on Saturday. A "very fierce" fire at a Sydney public school has severely damaged a two-storey building and forced the evacuation of hundreds of nearby residents. It's not yet known what caused the blaze, which broke out on the ground floor of a Parramatta Public School building in the early hours of Saturday morning. Fire and Rescue NSW superintendent Norman Buckley told AAP the fire was under control but not extinguished as of 8am, with about 75 firefighters still at the scene. No one was injured, and about 300 residents of a nearby building who were evacuated as a precaution have since returned to their apartments, Supt Buckley said. He described the fire as "very fierce" and said it had severely damaged the building with some roof collapse. Najin (L) and Fatu, the only two remaining female northern white rhinos graze together in their paddock on March 20, 2018 in Kenya A southern white rhino at a California zoo has been impregnated through artificial insemination, researchers announced on Thursday, in what could prove a major step in saving a nearly extinct close relative. The rhino called Victoria was inseminated in March at the San Diego Zoo and the embryo will continue developing for about 14 months, meaning that the calf would be born in summer 2019. "The pregnancy, created through artificial insemination with sperm from a male southern white rhino, is an important milestone in the ongoing work to develop the scientific knowledge required to genetically recover the northern white rhino, a distant subspecies of the southern white rhino," officials at the San Diego Institute for Conservation Research said in a statement. "Only two northern white rhinos currently remain on Earth (unfortunately both are female)," the statement added. Barbara Durrant, the director of reproductive sciences at the institute, said that while news of the pregnancy was something to celebrate, it was still too early to determine whether it would lead to the birth of a healthy rhino. Artificial insemination of rhinos has rarely been attempted in zoos and there have only been a few births from this procedure in the past, the institute said. The northern white rhino on the brink of extinction It added that to reach the ultimate goal of successfully producing a northern white rhino, multiple steps must be accomplished. "One of the first steps involves sequencing the genome of the northern white rhino to clarify the extent of genetic divergence from its closest relative, the southern white rhino," the statement said. Another step, it added, requires conversion of cells preserved from 12 individual northern white rhinos to stem cells that could develop into sperm and eggs. "There are many challenges ahead, but researchers are optimistic that a northern white rhino calf could be born from these processes within 10 to 15 years," the institute said. "This work also may be applied to other rhino species, including critically endangered Sumatran and Javan rhinos." Sudan, the last male northern rhino, died in Kenya in March following a series of infections, leaving only two females of his subspecies alive. Artificial insemination of rhinos has rarely been attempted in zoos and there have only been a few births from this procedure in the past Rhinos have few predators in the wild due to their size. However, demand for rhino horn in traditional Chinese medicine and dagger handles in Yemen fueled a poaching crisis in the 1970s and 1980s that largely wiped out the northern white rhino population in Uganda, Central African Republic, Sudan and Chad. A final remaining wild population of about 20-30 rhinos in the Democratic Republic of Congo died out during fighting in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and by 2008 the northern white rhino was considered extinct in the wild. Iranians take part in an anti-US demonstration inside the former embassy headquarters in Tehran on May 16, 2018 Washington wants to build a global "coalition" against the Tehran regime and its "destabilizing activities," the State Department said on Thursday, after pulling out from the Iran nuclear accord to the anger of US allies. The plan is to be detailed on Monday by the top United States diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his first major foreign policy address since taking office in April. "The US will be working hard to put together a coalition," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. The aim is to "bring together a lot of countries from around the world with the specific goal of looking at the Iranian regime through a more realistic lens" which would include "all of its destabilizing activities that aren't just a threat to the region but are a threat to the broader world," she said. Nauert added that the coalition will not be "anti-Iran" because the US stands "firmly behind" the country's people, in contrast to the regime and its "bad actions." She evoked a comparison with the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Iran a regional power Begun in 2014, that coalition now counts as members 75 countries or institutions and intervened militarily against the jihadists, although only a minority of coalition members have conducted most of that military action, which has left the extremists nearly defeated on that battlefield. Nauert did not say whether the proposed coalition against Iran's regime would have a military component. She said the State Department received on Monday about 200 foreign diplomats to explain to them President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear accord, and the next steps. In a breakthrough that ended a 12-year standoff over Western fears that Iran was developing a nuclear bomb, the administration of former president Barack Obama and other major powers reached the accord with Iran in 2015. It lifted punishing international sanctions in return for Iran's agreement to freeze its nuclear effort. Withdrawing from the deal last week, Trump called for a new agreement with deeper restrictions on Iran's nuclear program as well as curbs on its ballistic missiles and its backing for militant groups across the Middle East. Along with Iran the other signatories of the 2015 deal -- France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia -- strongly criticized the US withdrawal. On Thursday the European Union said it will begin moves to block the effect of reimposed US sanctions on Iran as efforts to preserve the nuclear deal deepened a transatlantic rift. Asked about the potential willingness of European nations to join the proposed new coalition, Nauert said many US allies "fully understand" and are "not turning a blind eye" to Iran's actions. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says she will press ahead with 'painful but necessary' pension cuts As Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen reaches the half-way mark in her first term on Sunday, she is under growing pressure from a public tired of economic stagnation but critical of her reform efforts. An increasingly aggressive Beijing is tightening the screws on Taiwan diplomatically and sabre rattling with military drills, but the biggest protests in Taipei in recent months have not been about China relations, which have triggered mass rallies in the past. Instead, thousands of military veterans and other civil servants have regularly gathered outside parliament in emotive displays against pension cuts. The rallies have seen physical attacks on journalists and the death of a retired colonel, who fell from a wall during a protest. Tsai has labelled the cuts "painful but necessary" to prevent public-sector pension schemes from collapsing and dragging down government finances. Some pension funds could go bankrupt as early as 2020 if the system is not overhauled, the government has warned. Tsai has said she will press ahead with reforms, arguing the public will see benefits over time. Her moves to revise labour laws, including scaling back public holidays, have also touched a nerve in Taiwan where salaries have risen little since the 1990s. "The government has many loud slogans but the policies and reforms have not been well executed and that lowers public confidence in them," said NGO worker Wu Cheng-cheng, 28. When Tsai took office in May 2016, her approval rating stood at 70 percent, with wage hikes and improved working conditions part of her election pledge. Her popularity has since waned, with the economy topping the list of public gripes. A recent poll by local broadcaster TVBS put her approval rating as low as 26 percent, although other surveys found it to be over 50 percent. Andie Huang, a 36-year-old office worker, believes Tsai should "stick to what she's doing" but hopes for better treatment of workers. "Our salaries are low and commodity prices are high. We can't afford to buy houses," she told AFP. - Struggling youth - Taiwan's economy is estimated to have grown 3.04 percent year-on-year in the first quarter this year, but analysts say the data means little to regular people who are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living soars. Tsai's plans to reform Taiwan's pension system have sparked angry protests Labour groups blame companies for being unwilling to raise salaries and share profits. Taiwan's legal minimum monthly wage stands at Tw$22,000 ($735) compared with Tw$15,840 20 years ago. Young voters like Carter Chen, 21, question whether Tsai can fulfil her promises to boost the economy for ordinary people. He says his own daily life issues far outweigh any concern over Taiwan's political relations with China, which have deteriorated under Beijing-sceptic Tsai and often grab headlines. While self-governing democratic Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign country, Beijing views it as part of its territory to be reunified, by force if necessary. "Right now many young people can't even make a decent living," Chen said, referring to the Tw$25,000 starting monthly salary for college graduates which has remained flat for around two decades. "I don't have the time and energy to worry about unification, independence or sovereignty issues". However, some still believe better China ties are key to prosperity as Taiwan's export-driven economy relies on mainland business. "The most important thing is to boost the economy and to do that we have to be on friendly terms with China," said Chen Bo-lin, 41, who works for a state-owned company. - Fuelling opposition - The opposition Kuomintang party is still on the back foot after a disastrous election in 2016, which saw it lose both the presidency and its majority in parliament, but observers say Tsai needs to be careful economic woes do not spark a resurgence. Many Taiwanese voters question whether Tsai can fulfil her promises to boost the economy for ordinary people The main challenge in the remainder of her term will be to "deliver measurable improvements to the economy and ease public discontent" so as not to give fuel to the KMT, said Meng Chih-cheng, a political scientist at National Cheng Kung University. Local elections in November will be a major test. If Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) fails to perform well, some analysts say the party may consider fielding a different candidate for the 2020 presidential election. But Dafydd Fell, director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, said moves such as pension reform have been a brave step that previous governments failed to tackle. He described Tsai's performance as "mixed" but said she was not at risk of becoming a lame duck president. "Her key challenge for 2020 will be to complete many of the reforms she has started or promised, so that she can make the argument (that) she deserves reelection," Fell said. Sherpa Ang Tshering Lama -- one of Everest's dying breed of experienced guides -- at the mountain's base camp The Everest industry is suffering from a dangerous shortage of its most important resource: experienced Sherpa guides. Ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest have become synonymous with high altitude climbing. With their unique ability to work in a low-oxygen, high altitude atmosphere, they are the backbone of the industry, hauling clients and equipment to the top of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain. The number of Everest climbers has more than doubled in two decades, however, and the Sherpa supply has not kept pace. Raw recruits are now being used to reach the top and it has already taken a toll. The number of Everest climbers has more than doubled in two decades but the Sherpa supply has not kept pace Dawa Sange Sherpa, 20, summited Mount Everest last year -- a first for him and the climber he was with. On the way down, the cold, lack of oxygen and exhaustion took hold. The pair collapsed just below the summit and were found hours later, barely alive. "My friend said to me, 'He's done'. But I found a small pulse in him," said guide Ang Tshering Lama, who found Sange. - Everest victim - Lama dragged the unconscious Sange back down the mountain while others helped his client. Both had severe frostbite. Sange lost all of his fingers, spelling the end of his short career on Everest. Mountaineers walk from Camp 3 to Camp 4 as they push for the summit of Mount Everest Sange was not meant to be guiding that year. He was planned to be carrying equipment up the mountain, a job many young Sherpa do before graduating to become guide. "I was in the second team, in which untrained Sherpa usually carry the equipment and food from the base camp to camp two, three and four," Sange said. But his employer, Seven Summit Treks, the largest Nepal-based expedition operator, had more than 60 clients on Everest and needed someone to take a paying climber to the top. Mount Everest Head of Seven Summit Treks Mingma Sherpa said Sange was ready to be a guide and had previously summited Everest. Sange said he had not. Nine other Sherpa from Seven Summit Treks were rescued on Everest that year, but Mingma denied there were any problems. "A Sherpa can summit five times, eight times but sometimes he gets a problem. That's the body," he said. With the climbing season barely started, so far this year at least four Sherpas from Seven Summit Treks have already sustained frostbite, according to base camp sources. - 'Risky business' - No qualifications are needed to work on Everest. Some expedition operators require staff to do one of two short courses for mountain workers. Others do not. A climber walks through base camp below Everest, which is suffering from a dangerous shortage of its most important resource: experienced Sherpa guides Mingma dismissed the Nepal Mountaineering Association courses as worthless, saying everything could be learned on the mountain. "My Sherpa don't have any training with NMA. NMA training for us is not enough, we should do our own training on the mountain," he said. Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking requires all staff to have done the NMA course. He said that budget expedition operators hire inexperienced Sherpa to cut costs. "As long as his name is Sherpa," he quipped of the recruitment criteria. Experienced Sherpa guides can make up to $10,000 in the April to May climbing season, more than 14 times Nepal's average annual income. The lowest paid will barely scrape together $1,000 for two months' risky work. "It's the fault of the clients as well if they just close their eyes and go cheap," said Lama, who rescued Sange. Tents at Everest base camp. No qualifications are needed to work on the mountain and although some expedition operators require staff to do a short course for mountain workers, others do not Seven Summit Treks -- which charges about $20,000 to climb Everest, less than a third of other operators -- blames rivals for the shortage, accusing them of not investing in the next generation of Sherpa guides. "They take only experienced Sherpas. They don't want to spend extra money to train new Sherpas," Mingma said. Phurba Tashi Sherpa, head Sherpa with the Himalayan Experience company, who has summited Everest 21 times, said it was becoming more difficult to find experienced Sherpa for his team. "The young Sherpa are very strong and they think they can do everything, but actually they can't. The older Sherpa go slow and steady," he said. Sherpa have been helping Everest climbers since the first British teams set their sights on the summit in the 1920s. Their unique physiology, adapted over thousands of years of living at high altitudes, has made them essential since. A recent British study found that Sherpas use oxygen more efficiently than lowlanders. But climbing Sherpa have arguably become a victim of their own success, and the community is now at a generational turning point. Many experienced Sherpa who started working for the first commercial expeditions in the 1990s are retiring. Others have left Nepal for rival mountaineering countries buoyed by their reputation for being strong and dedicated. They have earned enough money to educate their children in Kathmandu, or even in India and the United States. "They are educated so they can find other jobs," said Kami Rita Sherpa, who has been guiding on Everest since 1994 and admits he would never allow his son to work in such a "risky business". "If the old climbing guides don't bring their kids into this sector, the number of climbing Sherpas will definitely decline," he continued. "Those from the next generation won't join this field." Fighting in the northeastern state of Kachin has surged dramatically this year, displacing 20,000 people since January Seng Moon grabbed her day-old baby and fled into the thick jungle, joining thousands of villagers escaping fighting between ethnic Kachin rebels and Myanmar's army, now reinforced by a unit notorious for its brutal "clearance" operations. The insurgency in Myanmar's remote northeast has festered for six decades, but unlike the Rohingya crisis in the far west of the country, it has garnered few global headlines. Fighting has surged dramatically this year, displacing 20,000 people since January, adding to the legions already uprooted by one of the world's longest-running civil wars. Often called the "forgotten war", the Kachin conflict is a messy struggle over autonomy, ethnic identity, drugs, jade and other natural resources between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar state. The Kachin conflict reignited in 2011 after a 17-year ceasefire collapsed. Clashes have intensified since 2016, displacing more than 100,000 in Kachin and the north of neighbouring Shan state On April 11, with the sound of gunfire and fighter jets closing in, the villagers of Danai township sought refuge in their paddy fields. Three days later shells started falling on their village and leaders took the decision for the 2,000 inhabitants to flee. Seng Moon, 22, had given birth to her daughter only the day before. "I was still bleeding (from the birth) and I felt like I was dying," she told AFP at a camp in Danai town. "It was so difficult and we had to cross a river." Internally displaced people and local villagers attend a church service in Myitkyina, Kachin state. Ethnic Kachin are mainly Christians in a nation that is overwhelmingly Buddhist For the group that included many young children, as well as the sick and elderly, progress through the arduous jungle terrain was slow. But they were lucky to encounter local elephant handlers -- known as mahouts -- who helped ferry the most vulnerable across a chest-deep river to a displacement camp in the grounds of a small, wooden church. Ethnic Kachin are mainly Christians in a nation that is overwhelmingly Buddhist. - 33rd Light Infantry - International focus has been on the crisis in Rakhine state, from where some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have been driven into Bangladesh by a relentless military campaign the UN says amounted to "ethnic cleansing". An army unit accused of atrocities against the Rohingya -- the 33rd Light Infantry Division -- has now been redeployed to Kachin. The insurgency in Myanmar's remote northeast has festered for six decades, but unlike the Rohingya crisis in the far west of the country, it has garnered few global headlines While the scale of violence in Kachin does not match operations against the Rohingya, experts say the deployment of the unit is an ominous sign for civilians. "Yes, they are here," Kachin state minister for security and border affairs, Colonel Thura Myo Tin, told AFP without giving any further details about their mission. Human Rights Watch accuses the unit of "multiple massacres" in northern Rakhine while Amnesty International has recorded "violations" against civilians on previous missions to Kachin. "Kachin civilians... have little hope of divisions like these changing their behaviour," HRW Myanmar researcher Rich Weir said. - Surge in fighting - The insurgency in the northeast is one of two dozen ethnic minority rebellions that have plagued Myanmar since independence from British colonial rule in 1948. Church grounds around Myitkyina are providing sanctuary to those able to escape remote villages Civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi said forging nationwide peace was her main priority after her government assumed power two years ago, ending decades of military domination. But the army still retains control over security issues. The Kachin conflict reignited in 2011 after a 17-year ceasefire collapsed. Clashes have intensified since 2016, displacing more than 100,000 in Kachin and the north of neighbouring Shan state. Independent analyst David Mathieson said the military appears to be taking advantage of the focus on the Rohingya to attack the KIA and bring it "to the peace negotiation table". The military is also "targeting the KIA's sources of income" in amber and jade mining areas, he added. Cartoons drawn by internally displaced children hang on a bamboo wall of a temporary shelter at a church compound in Myitkyina, Kachin state Myanmar's army accuses the KIA of involvement in an attack at the weekend on security posts and a casino in Shan that left at least 19 dead. The military says it is protecting the country's sovereignty and borders. But the KIA's political wing has a different view. "They are invaders. We are defenders," said Dau Hka, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). "The fighting will stop immediately" once the military halts its offensive, he added. - Peace protest crackdown - The Kachin conflict is a powerful rallying cry in a country whose citizens suffered under decades of junta repression. Youth groups have led peace protests that spread from Kachin's capital Myitkyina across the country. In Myanmar's largest city Yangon, riot police on Saturday arrested several demonstrators at a large rally. Protest leaders in Kachin were also fined and will likely face further charges. "We haven't done anything wrong," said 24-year-old Sut Seng Htoi, co-leader of the Kachin Youth Movement. "We have only asked for help to allow the trapped people to escape." For now church grounds around Myitkyina are providing sanctuary to those able to escape remote villages. Sin Na Khawn Bu's family says she is over 100 years old and was carried some 30 kilometres (19 miles) by her grandson to safety. "I have not been able to eat well for 12 days because I'm so afraid," the centenarian told AFP, stuttering and rocking back and forth as she spoke. "We are suffering a lot. Please help us." Sudanese women's rights activist Amal Habbani, who was detained for weeks for participating in opposition protests in January, speaks during an interview with AFP in Khartoum on May 14, 2018 When a Sudanese teenager was sentenced to death last week for killing her husband, who had allegedly raped her, activists knew that a new fight had begun for women's rights in Sudan. Noura Hussein, 19, received the sentence for the "intentional murder" of the man her father had forced her to marry. "Noura is facing death. Her case has brought us close to an execution," said Sudanese women's rights activist Wini Omer, who witnessed the sentencing on May 10. "The situation is dangerous and necessitates taking women's rights more seriously so that we can protect them," she said. Hussein's case has triggered outrage, with activists launching a campaign called "Justice For Noura" and the United Nations' women's agency appealing for clemency. The teenager's plight has also focused attention on issues facing women in Sudan such as marital rape, child marriage, forced marriage and the arbitrary application of Islamic law, along with tribal traditions that often target women. Rights group Amnesty International says Hussein was forcibly married at the age of 16, and that when she refused to consummate the marriage, her husband invited two of his brothers and a male cousin to help him rape her. When he tried to rape her a second time, she stabbed him to death, said Amnesty. Sudanese law allows children above 10 to be married. "In our arguments we raised the issue that it was a forced marriage and that she was raped," Hussein's lawyer, Adil Mohamed al-Emam, told AFP. "The court discussed it but did not recognise that she was raped." Emam says he will appeal against the sentence. - 'Regime ideology' - Days after Hussein was sentenced, another Sudanese woman was lashed 75 times at a police station in the Sudanese capital after a court found her guilty of marrying without her father's approval. Omer has also faced the wrath of Sudan's controversial public order law, which she says primarily targets women. In one case a prosecutor accused her of "indecent dressing," although she had worn a skirt, top and headscarf whilst waiting for a bus on a Khartoum street. A court found her not guilty. In a second case, Omer said she was accused of prostitution after police stormed an apartment where she was with friends. She was detained for five days. "Women in Sudan have been systematically oppressed since 1989," Omer told AFP, referring to the year when President Omar al-Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup. "It is the regime's ideology that discriminates between men and women," she said, dressed in a black top and leggings. Activists want Sudanese laws to be amended, particularly the security act, which gives security agents sweeping powers to make arbitrary detentions. "It's not about the judge, the problem is with our laws themselves," said leading human rights activist Mudawi Ibrahim Adam. "Imagine you can be detained up to nine months without charges under the security act," he said. He was detained for several months amid a crackdown on opposition activists in 2016. - 'Bad Laws' - Even before Hussein's sentence, rights activists had been urging Washington, which in October lifted decades-old sanctions against Khartoum, to push the Sudanese authorities to allow women more freedoms. "We are trying to cooperate with the government to assure them that allowing more freedoms enhances the society," Steven Koutsis, top US envoy to Khartoum, told AFP at an event in March to honour courageous Sudanese women. He said there was a will within the government to improve the human rights situation in Sudan. "But that is tempered by fears (about) how to react to threats of instability," he said, adding that for Washington, human rights included women's rights. Sudanese officials claim that many issues facing women are to do with the African country's centuries-old traditions, often tribal in nature. "Had Noura gone to a court right at the beginning when she was being forced to marry, she would have been protected," insisted Abdulnasser Solom, an official from the government's Human Rights Commission. But activists say Hussein's case is just the tip of a vast iceberg. "There are tens and thousands of cases like Noura in our community that no one knows about," said leading women's activist Amal Habbani, who was detained for weeks for participating in opposition protests in January. Sudanese laws do not consider women as human beings who can take their own decisions, she said. "Bad laws create a bad environment in which women get oppressed," Habbani said. TVAs dams provide hydropower, flood control, water quality, navigation and ample water supply for the Tennessee Valley. Did you know that they also supply summertime fun? Come summer, TVA operates its dams to fill the reservoirs for recreation. Boating, fishing, swimming, rafting and blueway padding are all supported by TVA with boat ramps, swim beaches and put ins. There are plenty of hiking and biking trails, picnic pavilions, playgrounds, campsites, scenic overlooks and other day-use areas, too. The six vacation packages will help you maximize your fun in any part of the Tennessee Valley. We offer both developed facilities (such as playgrounds and restrooms) and wild, undeveloped lands for you to explore. Best of all? Theyre free. Valley Frontier Region (Bristol-Kingsport-Johnson City, Tenn., area) Trout anglers must add the South Holston River in upper east Tennessee to their bucket liststhe aerating dam beneath South Holston Dam provides optimal habitat for monsters of the species. Beautiful Wilbur Lake stays cool even during summers dog days. And mountain breezes make for perfect sailing conditions on Watauga Lake. Theres much more to do in the Valley Frontier Region. Heart of the Valley (Near Knoxville, Tenn., and Great Smoky Mountains) Visit TVAs first dam, Norris, and while youre there rent a pontoon boat to float the lovely lake. Take a family hike to Cherokee Reservations Cross Country Trail. Stay at Douglas Lakeour headwater campground allows easy access to the lake for anglers, and our tailwater campground faces the Great Smoky Mountains and the resort town of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Discover more to explore in the Heart of the Valley. Mountain Lake Region (At the conjunction of southeast Tennessee, western North Carolina and north Georgia) You can find world-call whitewater on the Ocoee River, which hosted the 1996 Olympics. The many rafting outfitters on the river will make sure you have a good time. See beautiful Fontana and visit with hikers on the Appalachian Trail, which crosses the dam. Blue Ridge Lake in north Georgia offers paddlers plenty of scenic water trails to be explored. Learn about more fun things to do in the Mountain Lake Region. River Gorge Region (Chattanooga, Tenn., area) Mountain bikers can do no better than the nearly 30 miles of trails on Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Reservationwhile youre there, soak up the scenic views of Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain. Bank fish for bass along the shore of Chickamauga Lake. At Nickajack Lake, hike the Little Cedar Mountain Trail to appreciate its unique stone outcroppings, boulder fields, historical stone walls and bluffs. See more and do more in the River Gorge Region. River Shoals Region (North Alabama) Lake Guntersville is known as an anglers paradise for a reasonits one of the top 10 destinations for bass anglers in the U.S. Horses are welcome on the Cooley Cemetery Trail south of Guntersville Dam. Families love the Rockpile Recreation Area at the Wilson Dam Reservation for its trails, waterfalls and unique playground, which is shaped like the dam. Find more things to do in the River Shoals Region. River Plains Region (Western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky) Fishing and hunting are fantastic on Kentucky Lake, a real sportsmans paradise. Nature loves will get in touch with their sensesas well as many wildlife and bird speciesat Ladys Bluff Small Wild Area. Pickwick Lake paddlers can trek to gorgeous Cooper Falls. And all are welcome at laid-back Beech Lake near quaint Lexington, Tenn., home to some serious barbecue. Have even more fun in the River Plains Region. Dead coral on a reef in Kawahira bay, Ishigaki island Japan Japan's biggest coral reef has not recovered from bleaching due to rising sea temperatures, with only one percent of the reef in a healthy condition, according to a government study. The overall volume of coral in Sekisei Lagoon in southwestern Japan near Okinawa had already plunged by 80 percent since the late 1980s due to rising water temperatures and damage caused by coral-eating starfish. Now only 1.4 percent of the lagoon, which stretches over 67.89 square kilometres, is in a healthy condition, the environment ministry said, after it was hit by mass bleaching in 1998, 2001, 2007 and most recently 2016. "If coral reefs don't recover, it means a loss of rich fauna for a variety of creatures and would have grave impact on the ecosystem in the region," ministry official Chihiro Kondo told AFP on Friday. For the first time since 2008, the ministry analysed satellite photos and information from some 1,000 monitoring sites for the Sekisei Lagoon and two other reefs around the Ishigaki and Iriomote islets in Okinawa. The ratio of healthy corals stood at 14.6 percent in 1991 but dropped to 0.8 percent in the 2008 survey, Kondo said. Two other neighbouring lagoons had similar results with the ratio of healthy areas around one percent. Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour. Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonise them. "But the latest study shows that corals haven't recovered much since 2008, presumably partly because of the 2016 bleach," Kondo said. One of the worst mass bleaching episodes on record took place in 1998 when the El Nino phenomenon was exceptionally strong, affecting reefs in 60 tropical countries. Coral reefs are also under pressure from ocean acidification linked to CO2 emissions, scientists warn. Corals make up less than one percent of Earth's marine environment, but are home to more than 25 percent of marine life. An image grab taken from a video released by the Syrian civil defence in Douma shows volunteers helping children at a hospital following an alleged chemical attack on the rebel-held town on April 8, 2018 France on Friday froze the assets for six months of companies based in Syria, Lebanon and China after they were linked to an alleged chemical weapons programme in Syria. The businesses include Sigmatec and the Al Mahrous Group, both based in Damascus, Technolab in Lebanon, and a trading company in Guangzhou in China, according to a list published in the government's official gazette. Two Syrian nationals will also face asset freezes, as well as a person born in Lebanon in 1977 whose nationality was not specified. The asset freezes were signed by French Finance minister Bruno Le Maire. In January, France sanctioned 25 people and companies based in Syria, but also French, Lebanese and Chinese, over suspicions of fuelling the development of chemical weapons in the war-ravaged country. The companies targeted included importers and distributors of metals, electronics, logistics and shipping. Some thirty countries meet in Paris on Friday to put in place mechanisms to better identify and punish those responsible for using nerve agents such as Sarin and chlorine in attacks. After hundreds of people were killed in chemical attacks near Damascus in August 2013, a landmark deal with Russia was struck to rid Syria of its chemical weapons stash, staving off US air strikes. Despite the deal, a suspected chlorine and sarin attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7 triggered a wave of punitive missile strikes against alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria by the United States, Britain and France. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is due to soon release a fact-finding report into the suspected Douma attack. The Rafah crossing is Gaza's only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel, but Egypt has largely sealed it in recent years, citing security threats Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has made a rare decision to open the Rafah crossing with Gaza for a month, allowing Palestinians to cross during the holy period of Ramadan. The decision to keep the crossing open was taken "to alleviate the suffering" of residents in the Palestinian enclave, Sisi said on Facebook late Thursday. The Rafah crossing is Gaza's only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel, but Egypt has largely sealed it in recent years, citing security threats. The last extended opening lasted three weeks in 2013, while usually Palestinians are able to cross for a few dozen days a year. Previous openings of Rafah have been cut short by violence in the Sinai peninsula or with authorities giving other reasons. Sisi's announcement comes after some 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Gaza's frontier earlier this week, with the victims described by Egypt's foreign ministry as "martyrs". A total of 114 Gazans have been killed in border protests and clashes since March 30, in the run-up to the controversial opening Monday of the US embassy in Jerusalem. Egypt has relations with both Israel and Gaza rulers Hamas, giving Cairo an instrumental role in easing tensions between the two sides and alleviating the pressure on the territory's two million residents. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya paid a brief visit on Sunday to Egypt, where he met with the director of the country's intelligence services Abbas Kamel. For more than a decade Israel has imposed a crippling blockage on Gaza which it says is necessary to isolate Hamas, with which it has fought three wars since 2008. Map and social-economic data on the Gaza Strip, based on a United Nations report released in July 2017 But critics argue it amounts to collective punishment of the enclave's residents, with 47 percent suffering from food insecurity according to United Nations figures. An emergency summit of the world's main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, will be held in Istanbul on Friday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed the extraordinary meeting should send a "strong message to the world" over Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. At an Israeli checkpoint early Friday, Palestinians were crossing from the West Bank town of Bethlehem to the first weekly prayers of Ramadan at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Palestinians were seen being searched with metal detectors and having their bags checked by Israeli authorities, while at least two men in wheelchairs were pushed through the checkpoint by border agents. Health workers don protective gear before examining suspected Ebola patients at Bikoro hospital in DR Congo's Equateur province An Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo has a high risk of spreading internally, the World Health Organization warned Friday ahead of a meeting on whether to declare it an event of international concern. In a statement, the UN agency said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus would convene an emergency committee to discuss the matter. He is due to speak to the media later on Friday. The fresh Ebola outbreak, publicly declared on May 8 with 23 deaths so far, was first reported in a rural part of Equateur Province in the vast country's northwest but has now spread to the city of Mbandaka. Mbandaka's population has been variously estimated at between 700,000 and 1.2 million. Peter Salama, in charge of emergency response at the WHO, has said the spread to a city complicated the fight against Ebola, which depends on identifying and isolating suspected cases. The city is on the banks of the Congo River which connects to the capital Kinshaha, hundreds of kilometres to the south, and also to surrounding countries, increasing the risk of a national and regional outbreak, according to WHO officials. Ebola is lethal and highly contagious, which makes it difficult to contain -- especially in urban environments where people are mobile and come into more contact with others. Lacking an arsenal of drugs to treat the virus, doctors isolate patients and trace people who have been in contact with them. The WHO revised its assessment of the risk of spread of the epidemic to "very high" at the national level and "high" for neighbouring countries. Globally the risk of the outbreak spreading is classified as "low". The current outbreak involves the same strain of the virus that hit three West African countries in 2013-15 and sparked an international panic. It went on to kill more than 11,300 people, in the deadliest ever Ebola epidemic. The WHO was fiercely criticised over its handling of the 2013 outbreak and has pledged to improve emergency response. There is no licensed drug to treat or prevent Ebola, although an experimental vaccine arrived in the DRC on Wednesday and has been cleared for use by the Kinshasa government. A tiger, not the one pictured, was guarding the house of the gang leader, according to authorities Mexican military and police forces detained a suspected leader of a fuel-stealing gang -- along with a tiger "guarding" his house, weapons and drugs, authorities said. "We carried out two searches, seized firearms, drugs, radio communication equipment and a tiger guarding the house," said Jesus Morales, security secretary of the state of Puebla, east-central Mexico. Authorities accuse the unidentified suspect of being "one of the important leaders of a gang dedicated to fuel theft, taking fuel from the town of San Martin Texmelucan, which generates violence." In the detainee's house, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Mexico City, there were also blankets with threatening messages apparently signed by the Jalisco NE Generation Cartel. Such blankets are often left by drug traffickers with the bodies of their victims, police commissioner Victor Torres Moreno told the same press conference on Thursday. Fuel theft has led to millions in losses for Mexican state-owned petroleum company Pemex, and Puebla state is a hotspot for the crime -- with gangs sometimes colluding with employees and the police. As of May 2, a total of 119 police officers in San Martin Texmelucan -- including the force's director -- had been dismissed on suspicion of such collusion. Ramadan, the holy Muslim month where faithful abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk, is also a multi-million-dollar opportunity for filmmakers, TV producers and advertisers to scoop up viewers Soaps and dramas normally unite binge-watching Arab audiences during Ramadan but this year an Egyptian series has been caught up in a bitter dispute with Saudi Arabia over one of its star actors. "Ard El Nefaq" (Land of Hypocrisy) was forced to remove a guest appearance by prominent journalist and TV presenter Ibrahim Eissa. His scenes were re-shot after a Saudi public channel protested his casting, at a time when the Gulf's expanding television series production is gaining popularity among Arabic-speaking viewers. Ramadan, the holy Muslim month where faithful abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk, is also a multi-million-dollar opportunity for filmmakers, TV producers and advertisers to scoop up viewers. But politics is never far away from the shows. Historical series produced in Syria were hugely popular until the 2011 outbreak of the country's conflict, and a number of channels, including Saudi outlets, have boycotted popular Turkish soaps off the back of regional disputes. Eissa, who has accused Riyadh of using oil revenues to finance the spread of Islamic extremism, was targeted by the Saudi Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) which is to run Ard El Nefaq along with several other Arab channels. The show "will be broadcast without Ibrahim Eissa... in agreement with the producer," SBC director Dawood Shirian told AFP. Ard El Nefaq, adapted from Youssef El-Sebaay's 1949 novel and a subsequent film, is a expected to be a comic-drama examining the culture of hypocrisy in Egyptian society. It will also star one of Egypt's top comedians, Mohamed Henedy. Series producer Gamal el-Adl has failed to respond to requests for comment on how much the re-shot scenes cost, nor was it immediately clear if Eissa will be cut entirely from the programme or just the version shown in Saudi Arabia. "There won't be two versions of the show, just one, and this version will be broadcast on SBC channel," Shirian said. The Saudi protest at Eissa's casting came after Saud al-Qahtani, an influential royal advisor, tweeted his opposition to "Arab media figures who have insulted our leaders and country". "The terrorism that has spread across the Muslim world and the globe and all of humanity, it all came from this Wahhabi seed," Eissa said in one of his shows, referring to the puritanical ideology of Saudi Arabia. - Costs of 'Mosalsalat' balloon - In the industry, Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, is the biggest market with more than 100 million viewers inside and outside the country. In the industry, Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, is the biggest market with more than 100 million viewers inside and outside the country. Ahmed Saad el-Din, art critic at the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, expected around 25 to 30 series to be aired this Ramadan on channels across the region. The costs of the series, known in the region as "Mosalsalat", have ballooned along with the fees commanded by the region's stars. "There is no 30-episode series that costs less than 25 million pounds ($1.4 million), and these are the series without any stars, with only new faces," said Hosny Saleh, who has directed several well-known Ramadan series. The costs can climb to 70 million pounds when featuring leading actors, he said. Yet Ramadan series can be a very profitable venture. "Every seven or eight minutes the episode is interrupted by advertisements that last for at least five minutes," said Saad el-Din. Pro-independence activist Edward Leung was convicted of rioting One of Hong Kong's leading independence activists was found guilty of rioting Friday, convicted for his involvement in some of the city's worst protest violence for decades. Edward Leung, 26, who was already in custody after pleading guilty to a separate charge of assaulting a police officer during the 2016 clashes, could be jailed for up to 10 years when he is sentenced at a later date. The charges against Leung relate to his involvement in running battles with police over Lunar New Year when protesters hurled bricks torn up from pavements and set rubbish alight in the commercial district of Mong Kok. The protest began as a seemingly innocuous rally to protect illegal hawkers from health inspectors but it quickly morphed into an outpouring of anger against authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing. Police fired warning shots in the air as the unrest worsened and scores of people including officers were injured, with dozens arrested. It was later dubbed the "Fishball Revolution" after one of the city's best-loved street snacks. At the forefront of the clashes were young "localists", a term coined for radical groups promoting a split from the mainland which grew out of the failure of massive pro-democracy rallies in 2014 to win concessions from Beijing on political reform. At the time, Leung was the head of localist group Hong Kong Indigenous and a rising star on the political scene as the fledgling independence movement gathered momentum, infuriating Beijing. Prosecutors accused Leung of using violence which caused "damage to social order" and aroused others to engage in "rioting behavior". They argued he should be held responsible for the acts of his peers. After nearly three days of deliberation the jury convicted him of rioting but acquitted him of inciting others to riot. The defence said Leung had no intention to riot but wanted to "protect Hong Kong culture". Leung testified his participation in activism was inspired by the pro-democracy slogan: "Without resistance, how is there change?" according to local media. Multiple pro-democracy activists who want a greater say in how the city is run but do not push for full independence have been prosecuted on protest-related charges over the largely peaceful 2014 Umbrella Movement. Leung is the first high profile activist advocating full independence to come to court. He was previously barred from standing in legislative elections due to his support for independence as Hong Kong's pro-Beijing government cracks down on any advocacy of a split. Leung resigned as spokesman of Hong Kong Indigenous and left the group in December last year, saying he wanted to spend time with his family. The government's squeeze on independence campaigners has seen several activists barred from standing for office and others ejected from Hong Kong's partially elected legislature. Medics help evacuate one of those wounded in cross border firing between Indian and Pakistan Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged fire across the tense, heavily militarised Kashmir border Friday, leaving eight civilians and an Indian soldier dead, officials said. The heavy weapons fire along a rare stretch of frontier that India and Pakistan do not argue over also left 22 people wounded. It came a day ahead of a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kashmir. The two sides started shooting at each other on Wednesday in the RS Pura sector of Indian Kashmir, opposite Sialkot in Pakistan's Punjab province. Indian authorities rushed armoured vehicles to evacuate residents Friday morning as heavy artillery and small arms fire came across the border, officials said. "Four border residents and a Border Security Force soldier were killed in the Pakistani firing," the Indian-administered region's director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid told AFP. Twelve people were injured on the Indian side. Pakistan's military said four civilians, including three children, were killed in Sialkot sector by "unprovoked" firing by Indian troops. Another 10 were wounded. "The Indian high commissioner (ambassador) was summoned to the Pakistani foreign ministry Friday to condemn the unprovoked ceasefire violations," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement. An Indian solider was killed on Wednesday in an exchange of fire that its border guards blamed on Pakistani Rangers". Officially there has been a ceasefire on the Kashmir border since 2003. But there are regular frontier skirmishes that have left hundreds dead along the nearly 930-kilometre (580-mile) border, most of which is disputed. The flare-up came after India suspended military operations against Kashmir rebels for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that began Thursday. Militants have rejected the truce offer. Kashmir has been divided between the arch-rivals since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the former Himalayan kingdom in full. India has about 500,000 soldiers in the part of Kashmir it controls, where scores of armed groups are fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan. Nearly daily violence in the region has left 72 militants, 33 civilians and 30 Indian security forces dead this year. Security has been cranked up across the restive region ahead of Modi's two-day visit beginning Saturday. The prime minister is to inaugurate a hydropower station near the disputed border. He is also to open road projects including a tunnel to the Ladakh tourist region, more than 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, which is mainly cut off in winter. Palestinians wait to leave the Gaza Strip and enter Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on May 18, 2018 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has taken the rare decision to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire holy month of Ramadan after Israel killed some 60 Palestinian protesters in the enclave this week. The decision was made "to alleviate the suffering" of residents in the Palestinian territory, Sisi said on Facebook late Thursday. The Rafah crossing is the Gaza Strip's only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel, but Egypt has largely sealed it in recent years, citing security threats. The last extended opening lasted three weeks in 2013. Usually Palestinians are able to cross for a few dozen days a year. Previous openings of the crossing have been cut short by violence in the Sinai peninsula, or with authorities giving other reasons. Sisi's announcement came after some 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Gaza's frontier on Monday, with Egypt's foreign ministry describing the victims as "martyrs". At least 114 Gazans have been killed in border protests and clashes since March 30, prior to the controversial opening Monday of the US embassy in Jerusalem after Washington recognised the disputed city as capital of Israel. The UN's human rights chief on Friday slammed Israel's response to protests along the Gaza border fence as "wholly disproportionate". Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein warned that "killing resulting from the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute wilful killings, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention". Egypt has relations with both Israel and Gaza's rulers Hamas, giving Cairo an instrumental role in mediating between the two sides and alleviating pressure on the territory's two million residents. Israeli expansion in occupied east Jerusalem Hamas leader Ismail Haniya on Sunday briefly visited Egypt, where he met with the director of the country's intelligence services, Abbas Kamel. - 'Strong message' - The crossing at Rafah is open until the end of Ramadan in mid-June for sick and elderly Palestinians, as well as students enrolled in foreign universities or those who have family in Egypt, border officials said. For more than a decade, Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, arguing it is necessary to isolate Hamas, with which it has fought three wars since 2008. But critics say that amounts to collective punishment of the enclave's residents, 47 percent of whom suffer from food insecurity, according to the United Nations. Turkey was preparing Friday to host an emergency summit of the world's main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, in Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has clashed with Israeli leaders over the Gaza killings, has vowed the extraordinary meeting will send a "strong message to the world" over Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. At an Israeli checkpoint early Friday, Palestinians were crossing from the West Bank town of Bethlehem to the first weekly prayers of Ramadan at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. A Palestinian child at the Rafah border crossing, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2018 Palestinians were checked with metal detectors and had their bags searched by Israeli forces, while at least two men in wheelchairs were pushed through the checkpoint by border agents. Health workers don protective gear before examining suspected Ebola patients at Bikoro hospital in DR Congo's Equateur province The Democratic Republic of Congo joined with world agencies and neighbouring countries on Friday in boosting the response to an Ebola outbreak in the sprawling country's northwest, as the death toll mounted. The health ministry declared it had activated an "action plan" in the city of Mbandaka after a case of Ebola was confirmed there. After visiting Mbandaka and launching a coordination centre there, Health Minister Oly Ilunga announced on television that all health care would be free. "Financial hurdles should not in any way be a brake to having access to health care, especially at a time of epidemic," Ilunga said. In Geneva, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the death toll had risen by two, to 25. Forty-five cases have been recorded, 14 of which have been confirmed by lab tests. A WHO panel debated whether the outbreak should be labelled "a public health event of international concern" -- a move that would step up global action -- but decided this step was not "currently" necessary, the agency said. Alarm bells sounded on Thursday after the outbreak, previously reported in a remote rural area, notched up its first confirmed case in a city -- bad news for rolling back the notorious virus. "The confirmed case in Mbandaka, a large urban centre located on major national and international river, road and domestic air routes increases the risk of spread within the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to neighbouring countries," the WHO said. "WHO has therefore revised the assessment of public health risk to very high at the national level and high at the regional level," it said. "At the global level, the risk is currently low. As further information becomes available, the risk assessment will be reviewed." - Region on 'high alert' - Where Bikoro and Mbandaka are located in the Democratic Republic of Congo Separately, the UN's migration agency said it was helping DRC's health ministry to send disease-tracking experts and medical staff to monitor travellers at 16 border points. The operation was enabled by funding of $75,000 (64,000 euros) from Japan and $100,000 of internal funds, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. A regional bloc, the East African Community -- five of whose six members have borders with the DRC -- said it was on "high alert" and had put in place measures to screen travellers arriving from that country. The DRC branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had mobilised more than 200 volunteers. The fresh outbreak, publicly declared on May 8, was first reported in Bikoro, a rural part of Equateur Province, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Mbandaka. Ebola is both lethal and highly contagious, which makes it difficult to contain -- especially in urban environments where people are mobile and come into more contact with others. Lacking an arsenal of drugs to treat the virus, doctors isolate patients and trace people who have been in contact with them. This is a major task even for medical services in rich countries, but the DRC is one of the world's poorest countries. Four times the size of France, the country has been chronically unstable and episodically racked by violence since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Hospitals, roads and electricity are all major problems, especially in remote areas. - 'You don't see any change' - The current outbreak is the ninth to hit the DRC since Ebola was identified in 1976 In Mbandaka, an AFP reporter who visited the city's river ports on Friday found staff had been issued with infrared pistol thermometers to check travellers for high temperatures, soap and basins of water, as well as logbooks for writing down travellers' names and addresses. Police also stepped up deployment at key intersections in the city, whose population is estimated at up to 1.2 million. But several people who spoke to AFP said the city's safety net had many holes in it. "What kind of 'action plan' is this?" asked local resident Gaston Bongonga. "Delegations come here and then go, but on the ground, you don't see any change. They were all unable to hold back Ebola in Bikoro because they don't do anything effective." "I come from Bikoro," a man called Abraham told AFP. "There are only two checkpoints on more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) of road in the villages of Kalamba and Ndenga. "This isn't effective because many people travelling by motorbike or on foot evade inspection. - Worst outbreak - Ebola is notorious for its high fatality rate and extreme symptoms, which can include internal and external bleeding. The current outbreak -- the ninth to hit the DRC since Ebola was identified in 1976 -- involves the same strain of the virus that struck three West African countries in 2013-15 and sparked an international panic. It went on to kill more than 11,300 people, in the deadliest ever Ebola epidemic. The WHO was fiercely criticised over its handling of the epidemic and has pledged to improve its emergency response. There is no licensed drug to treat or prevent Ebola, although an experimental vaccine arrived in the DRC on Wednesday and has been cleared for use by the Kinshasa government. Statement of the Knights of Columbus on the Trump Administration's Change in Title X Funding for Abortion NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 18, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- "Today marks an important step in protecting the lives of unborn children in the United States. The Knights of Columbus applauds the Trump administration's announcement that it intends to end the use of Title X taxpayer funding for centers that perform, support or refer abortions. Americans should not be forced to have their tax dollars fund abortion. In fact, Knights of Columbus Marist polling conducted earlier this year found that most Americans believe abortion is morally wrong and six in 10 want an end to its funding with tax dollars. There is a consensus that crosses party lines. Of those polled, four in 10 who identify as pro-choice and more than four in 10 Democrats--along with the overwhelming majority of Republicans--want to see an end to taxpayer funding of abortion." Erdogan addressed thousands packed in an Istanbul meeting area at a rally he personally called, hours ahead of an emergency meeting of Islamic leaders he was also hosting over the killing of Gaza protesters this week A summit in Istanbul of Muslim heads of state on Friday called for the creation of an international peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinians, as host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of "brutality" comparable to the Nazis. The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) -- seeking to bridge severe differences within the Muslim world -- said in a final communique that Israel had carried out the "wilful murder" of some 60 Palestinians on the Gaza border Monday. It called "for the international protection of the Palestinian population, including through dispatching of international protection force". Erdogan said the sending of such an "international peacekeeping force" was essential to help the Palestinians and stop the international community being a "spectator to massacres". He compared such a force to the UN forces sent to deal with the aftermath of the Balkan wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. The statement also angrily lashed out at the United States, saying that Washington was complicit in the "crimes" of Israel and "emboldened" its government by moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. - 'No difference with Nazis' - The summit had been called at a few days notice by Erdogan, who had earlier addressed thousands at an open air rally in Istanbul to express solidarity with the Palestinians. Speaking at the opening of the summit, Erdogan compared Israel's actions against the Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust during World War II. "There is no difference between the atrocity faced by the Jewish people in Europe 75 years ago and the brutality that our Gaza brothers are subjected to," he said, accusing Israel of using methods "similar to the Nazis". Around six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War II in the Holocaust. Addressing the earlier rally, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim used similar language, saying Israel was "imitating Hitler and Mussolini" by occupying Palestinian territory and disregarding international law. Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah -- stepping in for president Mahmud Abbas who this week had surgery on his ear -- told the rally that the US was "trying to provoke a religious conflict in the region" by moving its embassy to Jerusalem. - 'Test for Islamic world' - Erdogan complained that Muslims had too often given a "shy and cowardly" image to their foes and failed to sort out internal disagreements. Describing the issue of Jerusalem as a "test", he said: "If we need to speak clearly, the Islamic world failed in the Jerusalem test." This is the second emergency OIC meeting Erdogan has hosted in the space of half a year after the December 2017 summit, also in Istanbul, that denounced US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Disputes between the OIC's key players -- notably between Sunni kingpin Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran -- always complicate the adoption of any measures going beyond harsh rhetoric. Riyadh -- which appears to have softened its stance on Israel as the influence of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has grown -- and its allies fear alienating the United States with tough measures against Tel Aviv. Saudi Arabia's chief foreign policy preoccupation, shared with Israel, is ensuring US backing to contain Iran which both Riyadh and the Jewish state see as the main threat to regional peace. In his speech, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pointedly criticised "the silence of certain countries" without which "the Zionists would have never attempted such a brutality" OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu listen during a meeting of foreign ministers ahead of a summit of the main pan-Islamic bloc to support Palestinians and condemn Israel Both Cairo and Riyadh are wary of Turkey's support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, as well as its close alliance with Qatar which is currently under a Saudi-led blockade. the Egyptian and Saudi foreign ministers came but not the heads of state. - 'Called to account' - Erdogan has long craved a role as a Muslim leader within the entire Islamic world, rarely holding back with tirades against Israel even though Ankara has diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. Tensions with Israel and hosting such a meeting also does Erdogan no harm with his core supporters as Turkey heads to presidential and parliamentary polls on June 24. And he has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of Israel after Monday's bloodshed, earlier this week even accusing the Jewish state of genocide. He called for an international investigation into the "crimes" Israel has committed. "It will be called to account sooner or later," he said. Explosions rocked weapons and fuel depots at a regime military airbase in central Syria, a monitor said, adding that the cause of the blasts was not yet clear Explosions rocked weapons and fuel depots at a regime military airbase in central Syria Friday, a monitor said, adding that the cause of the blasts was not yet clear. "The explosions struck several regime depots of weapons and fuel at Hama military airport," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. Official Syrian state media also reported massive explosions near Hama and pictures posted on social media showed a huge plume of grey smoke billowing into the sky. Amid speculation of another Israeli strike against military targets in Syria, Abdel Rahman said it was not yet clear what caused the blasts. Israel has carried out several air strikes against Iranian targets in Syria in recent weeks, with the latest wave coming a week ago and bringing the region closer to a major flare-up. Iran is one of the Syrian government's key allies and has forces positioned across the country. A health worker wearing protective equipment at a hospital in DRC's Bikoro, the rural region where the Ebola outbreak was first reported People in Mbandaka in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were fearful and angry Friday after an Ebola outbreak spread from remote villages to their densely-populated city. A wave of concern rippled through the Congo River port city after the World Health Organization (WHO) and the DRC's health ministry on Thursday reported a confirmed case of the deady viral disease in one of the city's districts. In bars, restaurants and offices, staff swiftly reacted to radio news reports by offering soap and basins of water for people to wash their hands -- a basic preventative step against infection. The country's health ministry said Friday that it had activated an "action plan" boosting safeguards in the city. Police also stepped up deployment at key intersections in the city, whose population is estimated at up to 1.2 million. But several people who spoke to AFP said the safety net had many holes in it, and angrily blamed the authorities. "The authorities have done nothing to prevent Ebola reaching Mbandaka," said a man who gave his name as Claude. "I come from Bikoro," a man called Abraham told AFP, referring to the rural region, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Mbandaka, where the outbreak was first reported on May 8. "There are only two checkpoints on more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) of road in the villages of Kalamba and Ndenga. "This isn't effective because many people travelling by motorbike or on foot evade inspection." Market hawker Adolphine Dikela said on Thursday: "Even at normal times, the hospitals are short of medicines. How are we going to survive if the disease spreads here?" - Port controls - The outbreak's overall death toll rose on Friday to 25 out of 45 cases, 14 of them confirmed in laboratory tests, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva. The public health risk is now "very high" nationally and "high" regionally, the WHO said, highlighting Mbandaka's place as a transport hub on the Congo River system. The city is located upstream from the DRC capital Kinshasa as well as Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, and downstream from Bangui, the capital the Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world. An AFP reporter who visited Mbandaka's river ports found staff had been issued with infrared pistol thermometers to check travellers for high temperatures, soap and basins of water, as well as logbooks for writing down travellers' names and addresses. "We've received instructions from the authorities to close all ways out apart from one, so that people go through a checkpoint," said an official. In the privately-run port of Menge, health ministry workers were systematically checking people's temperatures with thermometers. "But we don't have enough of the thermometers, so people are crowding up and getting annoyed," said Joseph Dangbele, a Menge port official. On Thursday, a doctor at Mbandaka General Hospital, who requested anonymity, told AFP that more than 300 people in the city had had either direct or indirect contact with Ebola. The outbreak is the ninth in the DRC since Ebola was identified in 1976. The disease is named after a Congolese river where the first known cases were recorded. The last outbreak in the country was rapidly brought under control in 2017, at an official cost of four lives. The vaccine prompts the human body to develop antibodies able to quickly identify and fight an Ebola attack The experimental Ebola vaccine dubbed rVSV-ZEBOV has shown promising signs that it can contain the spread of the prolific killer virus. With a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo triggering fears of a regional threat, the vaccine is about to face its toughest test. The single-dose injection -- developed by pharma company Merck and funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Canada's public health agency -- has been approved for use by the Kinshasa government. Roughly 7,500 doses have been sent to Equateur province in the northwest of the DRC. Here is what we know about the vaccine. - What is rVSV-ZEBOV? - It uses a modified version of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which causes illness in rodents, cattle, pigs and horses, but is not dangerous to humans. The vaccine prompts the human body to develop antibodies against the invader so that when Ebola attacks, the antibodies are quick to identify it and fight back. Clinical trials involving 16,000 volunteers in Africa, Europe and the United States have indicated it may be 100 percent effective. The vaccine does not contain any live Ebola virus. It can trigger side effects like cold or flu-like symptoms and swelling at the point of injection. - Can it stop an epidemic? - The "vaccine is an additional tool," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva on Friday. "It does not replace all the other elements of the response." Because rVSV-ZEBOV remains experimental and has not been tested in the height of the epidemic, it is premature to assume that it alone can contain Ebola's spread. The epicentre of the outbreak is also an extremely remote, rural part of DR Congo, making access difficult. WHO has therefore conceded that "getting the vaccination teams to the affected area will be challenging". The vaccine also has to be stored at temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit), so keeping it stable in an area with poor infrastructure creates additional complications. - Are there enough doses ready? - In addition to the doses that WHO has sent to DRC and a small reserve stock in Geneva, Merck has said it has 300,000 doses ready for the UN's use free of charge, according to Jasarevic. WHO estimates that for every confirmed Ebola case, 100 to 150 of that patient's contacts should be vaccinated. That number could go up for urban cases, given the increased frequency of close human contact in cities. As of Friday, there were 31 suspected or probable cases in the current outbreak, plus 14 that have been laboratory confirmed. Health workers and other responders -- like those tasked with burying Ebola victims -- should also be vaccinated, WHO said. A WHO spokesman told reporters it was a "targeted vaccination" and therefore not for the "general population". Gavi, the vaccine alliance, has given $1 million towards the operational costs in the DRC campaign, in addition to other support donated to WHO. Jasarevic said the UN health agency was aiming to start vaccinations in Equateur as soon as possible. Japan says it is ready to retaliate against US tariffs on its steel and aluminium Japan told the World Trade Organization on Friday it was ready to take retaliatory measures against US tariffs on its steel and aluminium, reversing its earlier conciliatory stance toward its close ally. Japan informed the WTO it had the right to impose tariffs on US goods worth 50 billion yen ($451 million) -- equivalent to the impact of the US tariffs newly imposed on Japanese metal products, the foreign ministry said in a statement. But the ministry stopped short of saying Tokyo might take action, saying: "We plan to decide appropriately, considering the impact on Japanese companies as well as related US measures." US President Donald Trump sparked fears of a trade war in March when he decided to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent on aluminium imports, primarily to target China, but also allies, including EU countries as well as Japan. Marking a departure from a decades-long US-led drive for open and free trade, Trump has claimed that massive flows of imports to the US threatened national security. While Washington has granted Europe and other allies a delay from imposing the controversial levies, Japan remains on the list of countries facing the tariffs. While China has already taken retaliatory measures, Japan had taken a conciliatory approach, attempting to win exemptions through dialogue. Palestinian worshippers pray near the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on May 18, 2018 Tens of thousands of Palestinians prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem Friday, the first weekly prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Around 120,000 people attended the Friday prayers, a spokesman for the religious authority that governs the mosque told AFP. Heavily armed Israeli police stood guard in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site for Muslims, after two others in Saudi Arabia. It is located in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank were allowed to enter Jerusalem for the prayers, passing through checkpoints where they underwent searches. There were no restrictions on women crossing into Jerusalem, but men under 40 were prevented from crossing by Israel, which normally cites security concerns. Friday prayers passed peacefully at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while outside the compound heavily armed police officers were deployed in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. There are "confirmed injuries" in the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas A gunman opened fire at a Texas high school on Friday, wounding an as yet unknown number of people before the situation was "contained," officials said. The incident took place at Santa Fe High School in the city of the same name, located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Houston in Galveston County. "There was someone that walked in with a shotgun and started shooting, and this girl got shot in the leg," an eyewitness identified as Nikki told local television station KTRK. The suspect was in custody, the school's assistant principal, Cris Richardson, told CNN. "This morning, an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter. The situation is active, but has been contained. There have been confirmed injuries," the Santa Fe school district said in a statement. "Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location." Other schools in the district were not affected, it added. The shooting was the latest in what has become an all-too-familiar situation in American schools, with shootings a near-daily occurrence. Earlier this year, 17 students and staff were killed in a shooting at a Florida high school -- a massacre that prompted survivors to launch a grassroots campaign against gun violence. In Texas, the eyewitness, Nikki, said students fled the school in a panic, and several other students told local media they heard multiple gunshots. Parent Richard Allen told KTRK he arrived at the school soon after the shooting and reported seeing a number of victims being taken away in ambulances. "My son said someone went into the art room and started shooting a lot of the kids," Allen said. Student Paige Curry told local media that she heard gunshots and then a fire alarm, after which students were taken out by teachers to a nearby gas station. "I saw some girl -- she had, you know, she got shot in the kneecap, I guess. So she had a bandage around it. She was limping and then the firemen came and got her," another student, who gave his first name as Tyler, told CBS. A large contingent of police as well as agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were responding to the incident. Television footage showed students being led out of the school. Some students were evacuated to a nearby auto shop, where parents were picking up their children, according to KHOU TV. Delegates gather for a special session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council which voted to send a team of war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces The UN Human Rights Council voted Friday to send a team of international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. The UN's top human rights body voted through a resolution calling on the council to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry" -- the UN rights council's highest-level of investigation. Only two of the council's 47 members, the United States and Australia, voted against the resolution, while 29 voted in favour and 14 abstained, including Britain, Switzerland and Germany. The text said the team should investigate all alleged violations and abuses... in the context of the military assaults on large scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018, ... including those that may amount to war crimes." United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein at a special session of the UN Human Rights Council which voted to send a team of war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces The special UN session comes after six weeks of mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border with Palestinian refugees demanding the right to return to their former homes inside what is now Israel. The violence has claimed more than 100 Gazan lives, with 60 Palestinians killed and thousands injured in a single day of protests that coincided with Monday's move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. - 'Horrific events' - Opening the special session earlier Friday, UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein slammed the "wholly disproportionate" use of force by Israeli troops and backed the call for an international probe. "Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," he said. But Zeid insisted that many of those injured and killed on Monday "were completely unarmed, (and) were shot in the back, in the chest, in the head and limbs with live ammunition", he said, saying there was "little evidence of any (Israeli) attempt to minimise casualties". Israel's Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter gestures during a special session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council which voted to send a team of war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces He said, "some of the demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used slingshots to throw stones, flew burning kites into Israel and attempted to use wire-cutters against the two fences between Gaza and Israel." But he added: "these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force." Israel has justified its actions, arguing it was necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave which is run by the Islamist Hamas movement. Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aviva Raz Shechter, meanwhile slammed what she called a "shameful" and "biased" resolution. US representative Theodore Allegra gestures during a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council which voted to send a team of war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces "Hamas is the aggressor. Hamas is the one committing war crimes," she said, insisting that with Friday's resolution, the Human Rights Council "has reached a new height of hypocrisy". "This resolution is void of any sense, and deserves nothing less than being torn apart." US representative Theodore Allegra also lamented the council's "biased focus on Israel", charging that the resolution had a "one-sided focus, without any call for investigation of Hamas". US President Donald Trump alleges the FBI had an informant embedded in his election campaign President Donald Trump alleged Friday that the FBI planted an informer in his 2016 election campaign, stepping up efforts to cast Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe as a politically-driven "witch hunt". "Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a 'hot' Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!" On Thursday Trump tweeted about news reports on the alleged informant, suggesting it was a spying operation of president Barack Obama. "If so, this is bigger than Watergate!" Trump said. Trump's tweets came as the FBI remained silent on questions of whether it did have a deep intelligence informant providing inside information on contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia during 2016. If true, the powerful law enforcement agency -- which had a sordid history in its early years of monitoring prominent politicians -- could be forced to defend itself against charges it was spying on a presidential candidate. Last month Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a close supporter of Trump, demanded the FBI and Justice Department provide his committee with classified information on the informant, raising worries that the infamously leaky panel would expose his or her identity. Hoping to avoid that, senior government intelligence officials gave Nunes and fellow Republican lawmaker Trey Gowdy a private briefing last week, at the Justice Department and FBI. But that has not quelled the story. Suggestions that law enforcement had an inside Trump campaign source have been around nearly as long as the one-year-old Mueller investigation into campaign-Russia ties. Last year Trump alleged, without offering proof, that Obama had law enforcement tap communications in his Trump Tower offices in New York during the election. Both the New York Times and Washington Post say law enforcement sources confirm the existence of a deep-cover source, used by the FBI for years in multiple investigations, who provided information on campaign-Russia contacts. The Post reported Friday that the FBI has been working for two weeks to try and control any damage that could come if the source's identity is outed. The FBI declined to comment Friday on the issue. Nevertheless, Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani, a former Justice Department prosecutor who has worked closely on FBI investigations, told CNN Friday that they did not have any proof of an FBI informant embedded in the Trump campaign. "We're told there were two infiltrations, two embedded people in the campaign," he said. He said they learned that from unnamed "people," adding, "we don't know if they are right or not." "I don't know for sure, nor does the president, if there really was. We're told that... by people who for a long time have been told there was some kind of infiltration." The FBI "should tell us if there was," he added. Police responding to a shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices in Annapolis, Maryland, June 28, 2018 At least five people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside a newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday. The suspect -- who was being questioned in custody -- was described as a white adult male armed with a rifle or a shotgun, who appeared to have acted alone and whose motive remained unknown. Here are some of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States in the past three decades: - Vegas concert: 58 killed - A 64-year-old retired accountant shoots down from his hotel room at a crowd attending an outdoor country music concert on October 1, 2017, killing 58 people and wounding around 550 before committing suicide. It is the worst mass shooting in modern US history. - Florida club: 49 killed - A heavily-armed gunman opens fire inside a gay nightclub in the city of Orlando on June 12, 2016, killing 49 people. The attacker is killed in a shootout with police. He pledges allegiance to the Islamic State group, which later claims responsibility. - Virginia Tech: 32 killed - A 23-year-old student of Korean descent goes on a rampage at Virginia Tech University in the town of Blacksburg in April 2007. He kills 27 students and five teachers before committing suicide. - Sandy Hook: 26 killed - A 20-year-old man kills his mother in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 before blasting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and shooting dead 20 six- and seven-year old children and six adults. He commits suicide. - Texas church: 26 killed - A 26-year-old man who was court-martialed while in the Air Force shoots dead 26 worshippers during Sunday services and wounds at least 20 others at a Baptist church in the small rural community of Sutherland Springs outside San Antonio, Texas, on November 5, 2017. The shooter flees and is later found dead in his car with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. - Texas restaurant: 22 dead - In October 1991, a man shoots dead 22 people at a restaurant in the town of Killeen, Texas and then kills himself. Another wounded victim dies later. - Florida high school: 17 dead - A 19-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was expelled for disciplinary reasons returns to the school in Parkland, Florida, and opens fire on February 14, 2018, killing 14 students and three adult staff members. - California office party: 14 dead - A radicalized Muslim couple storm a Christmas office party at a social services center in San Bernardino in December 2015 and gun down 14 people, wounding 22 others. They are shot dead by police. - Fort Hood military base: 13 dead - In November 2009, a US army psychiatrist opens fire at his military base in Killeen, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 42, before being overpowered by police. - New York immigrant center: 13 dead - A Vietnamese immigrant shoots dead 13 people at a civic center in Binghamton, New York in April 2009, before killing himself. - Columbine High: 13 dead - Two teenage boys shoot and kill 12 classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in April 1999, before killing themselves. - Washington Navy Yard: 12 dead - A former serviceman shoots randomly at workers at the Washington Navy Yard headquarters in September 2013, killing 12 people before he is shot dead by officers. - Denver cinema: 12 dead - A young man wearing body armor opens fire in a movie theater showing a late-night premiere of a Batman film in Aurora, Colorado in July 2012. Twelve people are killed and 70 wounded. He is sentenced to life in prison. Second Annual Mother of the Fleet, U.S. Navy, Commemoration Dinner Honoring Verna Hall Linzey SAN DIEGO, May 18, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- The 2nd Annual Mother of the Fleet, United States Navy, Commemoration Dinner was hosted at the Airman-Marine Memorial Chapel Fellowship Hall, MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California. Verna Hall Linzey (May 17, 1919 -- Veterans' Day 2016), of Coffeyville, Kansas, was the only woman given the title years ago. Her activities included building the largest Sunday School program in the U.S. Navy at Naval Air Station Moffett Field from 1968 to 1970. Photo: Admiral Fox Johnson, USN (Ret.), giving the keynote address for the 2nd Annual Commemoration Dinner for Verna Linzey, Mother of the Fleet, United States Navy, credit George Strother. She was a crusade evangelist, reaching up to 80,000 in attendance, which describes her crusade in Haiti in 2013. She was the keynote speaker for the 2014 Pastors' Leadership Conference in Singapore, and has spoken for Regent University, various mega churches and conferences around the world, including the Heritage Foundation and television venues. She has hosted her own television and radio programs. She served on the translation committee for the Modern English Version Bible, which is in bookstores across North America and the United Kingdom. She was a movie actress, starring in 'Iniquity.' Also, she wrote the famous hymn "Oh Blessed Jesus." The commemoration dinner was kicked off by the Command Chaplain, Commander Don Biadog, CHC, USN, who made the commemoration an official community military event at MCAS Miramar. Chaplain Biadog delivered the welcoming remarks, invocation, prayer for the dinner, and the benediction. Roger Ferm, an accomplished soloist and musician, and who often serves as the liturgist for Sunday morning Protestant Divine Worship services at the chapel, led the audience in singing one of Verna's favorite hymns, 'Amazing Grace.' And he himself sang a beautiful solo. Verna Linzey's biography was read by the State President of the California Military Officers Association, Lt. Col. David C. Yorck, USMC-Ret., who also introduced the keynote speaker, Admiral Fox Johnson, USN (Ret.). Admiral Johnson gave an emotional speech in which he recounted the story of Verna Linzey and her ministry, her work in building the largest Sunday School program in the U.S. Navy, and how Verna met Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., CHC, USN (Ret.), when he was a sailor on the USS Yorktown before the epic Battle of Midway. Stan Linzey was a survivor on the Yorktown in this most decisive naval battle in all of world history. Stan later became a chaplain. Stan was one of the Protestant chaplains at NAS Moffett Field when Verna worked with the Sunday School program from 1968 to 1970. In 1973, Stan and Verna returned to NAS Moffett Field for his last tour of duty before retiring as a Captain. He was the senior chaplain during his second tour there. Admiral Johnson received a standing ovation for his moving tribute to Verna Linzey, while recounting Captain Linzey's accomplishments and status as a World War 2 hero. Following the keynote address, Chaplain (MAJOR) Jim Linzey, U.S. Army (Ret.), son of Navy Captain Stan Linzey and Verna Linzey, and manager of Verna's ministry, showed the documentary of Verna's worldwide crusades. Verna's well known 'Seven Principles of Spiritual Leadership' are as follows: 1. Seek Knowledge and Self Improvement 2. Develop Moral Biblical Character 3. Relate Like a Leader 4. Care About the Well Being of Others 5. Communicate Like a Leader 6. Employee People's Abilities and Gifts 7. Build Up Your Team--Work in Unity The meal of Italian Herbed Chicken was catered by Brothers' Signature Catering & Events, followed by a massive carrot cake with the Navy logo on it, accompanied with the words, "Verna Linzey, Mother of the Fleet, U.S. Navy." The commemoration dinner took place on what would have been Verna's 99th birthday. She has left a very remarkable legacy for us to appreciate and guard, and which inspires us to succeed in life. The commemoration is an annual event. Burundi's incumbent president since 2005, Pierre Nkurunziza, queues up to cast his vote for the referendum on a controversial constitutional reform that would allow him to remain for another 16 years in power Burundi looked set to adopt constitutional reforms that could allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to remain in power until 2034, with official results on Friday showing a "yes" vote winning in 14 of 18 provinces. The official results, published by a coalition of 15 public and private radio stations which covered Thursday's referendum, showed a majority of "yes" votes in the 14 provinces. The referendum comes three years after Nkurunziza sought a third term in office, plunging the country into crisis with a crackdown on protests, an attempted coup and spiral into violence leaving 1,200 dead and displacing some 400,000. Critics say the referendum has struck a death blow to the Arusha peace deal which ended a 1993-2006 civil war, and ushered in measures to ensure power would not be concentrated in either the hands of the majority Hutu or minority Tutsi, after decades of violence between the communities. In traditional opposition strongholds, where the ruling CNDD-FDD has never won an election, such as the capital Bujumbura and southern Bururi, the "yes" vote won 53.9 percent and 51.97 percent respectively. This prompted accusations of fraud from opposition parties who complained of massive voter intimidation. Ruling party deputy secretary general Joseph Ntakarutimana denied these "exaggerations". The other provinces recorded between 61 percent and 84 percent of "yes" votes. The media coalition reported turnout in the provinces counted stood at over 90 percent. Some 4.8 million people had registered to vote. Burundi's constitution currently allows presidents to seek two five-year mandates. Nkurunziza circumvented that in 2015 by claiming he had been elected by parliament in 2005. The new constitution will increase term lengths to seven years, which would allow Nkurunziza to start again from scratch in 2020. If passed, Nkurunziza would be the latest in a long line of African leaders to tweak the constitution in order to stay in power, along with Rwanda's Paul Kagame, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, Cameroon's Paul Biya and others. Other changes weaken constitutional constraints over the feared national intelligence agency and allow the revision of ethnic quotas seen as crucial to peace after the war. The new constitution also gets rid of one of two vice-presidents and shifts powers from the government to the president. "There were articles preventing authorities from doing good, paralysing government works. These reforms will allow us to move things forward," said Ntakarutimana. The opposition and rights groups have said that, much like the preceding three years, the run-up to the referendum was marked by threats, intimidation and violence. There were "intimidations of every kind and even people going to polling stations, forcing people to vote against their will," said main opposition leader and former rebel Agathon Rwasa. Human Rights Watch said Friday it had documented "15 killings, six rapes used as punishment against those seen as against the (ruling) CNDD-FDD, eight abductions, and numerous other violations." The watchdog said that with fear preventing the report of abuses, the real figures were likely much higher. Israel's ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter is present during a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to discuss "the deteriorating human rights situation" in the Palestinian Territories after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians Israel condemned the "hypocrisy and absurdity" of the UN Human Rights Council after it voted Friday to send war crimes investigators to probe the shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. "Israel totally rejects the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council, that once again has proven itself to be a body made up of a built-in anti-Israeli majority, guided by hypocrisy and absurdity," the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. In Geneva, 29 of the council's 47 members voted for a resolution calling on the body to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry" -- its highest-level of investigation. Only two members, the United States and Australia, voted against the resolution, while 29 voted in favour and 14 abstained, including Britain, Switzerland and Germany. The resolution came after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border on Monday as the US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem. In its statement, the Israeli foreign ministry said the results of the inquiry were a "foregone conclusion inherent in the wording of the resolution". "It is clear to all that the purpose of the commission is not to arrive at the truth, but rather to impair Israel's right to self-defence, and to demonise the Jewish state," it added. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (L) looks at a Corgi dog during a visit to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in London in 2015 Guy the beagle is living a fairytale. The 25-pound (11-kilogram) dog was a few days from being euthanized in 2015 after being found abandoned in the Kentucky backwoods. After a massive effort to bring the pooch to Canada, where by happenstance it cast its "big, sad eyes" on Meghan Markle, Guy will officially be welcomed into the British royal family when she marries Prince Harry on Saturday. "Guy was living in a shelter after being found lost in a Kentucky forest, and now he's living in a palace," said Dolores Doherty, who runs A Dog's Dream Rescue and arranged to have Guy driven 500 miles (805 kilometers) to Canada by a relay of volunteer drivers, for adoption. "It's a fairytale, a real rags to riches story," she told AFP. The beagle had been in Canada only one day when Markle, who was living in Toronto and filming her television series "Suits," spotted him at an adoption event. Markle had been looking for a companion for her other dog Bogart, a German shepherd mix, Doherty explained. "He's so adorable with his long brown ears and big eyes and little round beagle body. We'd shown Meghan another dog that we thought might be a good match, but she saw Guy and immediately she wanted to take him home," she said. Guy would go on to become a minor Instagram star with photographs showing the dog strolling with Markle along Toronto streets and curled up next to her and Bogart at home. But that celebrity pales in comparison to its new role as a royal pet. Guy moved to Britain last November to live with the soon-to-be-newlyweds. Unfortunately Bogart was too old and frail to make the trip and so is staying with friends of Markle in Canada. The opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, after Washington recognised the disputed city as Israel's capital, sparked deadly demonstrations in Gaza in which Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinians. Here is an overview. - Bloodbath - Hours before the embassy's controversial opening Monday, tens of thousands of protesters gather at the Gaza-Israel border, defying Israeli warnings to keep away. The border had been a flashpoint for deadly demonstrations that began on March 30, with some protesters attempting to breach the fence as part of demands that Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homes now inside Israel. Clashes quickly flare and Israeli soldiers positioned on the other side of the barrier open fire. By the end of Monday, 59 Palestinians have been killed, most of them by Israeli snipers. At least 2,400 are wounded. A top official from Gaza's ruling Islamist movement Hamas says most of those killed are its members. - 'Massacre' - An eight-month-old baby dies overnight after inhaling teargas, marking the deadliest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the 2014 Gaza war. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority condemns the "terrible massacre" and calls for "immediate international intervention". European nations call for calm and Amnesty International condemns the "abhorrent violation" of human rights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends the use of force. "Every country has the obligation to defend its borders," he says on Twitter, accusing Hamas of inciting the protesters. "Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response," US President Donald Trump's administration adds. - The embassy opens - The embassy is officially opened when Trump's daughter Ivanka unveils a plaque and a seal. Trump hails it as a "great day for Israel" and says in a video message: "Our greatest hope is for peace." For Israel, the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv formally recognises all of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a crushing blow to Palestinians who see the city's east as their capital. - Investigations demanded - Protests continue on the Gaza border with less intensity on Tuesday, with another two Palestinians killed. Calls mount for an enquiry into the violence, with the Arab League urging the International Criminal Court to investigate "the crimes of the Israeli occupation". Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused Israel of "state terror" and "genocide", tells the Israeli ambassador to leave temporarily. Israel responds by expelling the Turkish consul, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Hamas of deliberately putting children in the line of fire. - US support - US ambassador Nikki Haley defends Israel at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, saying its forces had acted with restraint in the face of provocation by Hamas. The US State Department says Hamas is using the unveiling of the American embassy as an "excuse" to encourage violence. On Wednesday, Guatemala also inaugurates its Israel embassy in Jerusalem. The next day the Israeli army carries out strikes against Hamas, saying it is responding to gunfire against soldiers stationed along the border and the town of Sderot, near Gaza. - UN probe - The Arab League on Thursday calls for an international probe into alleged crimes by Israeli forces. On Friday Kuwait submits a draft UN resolution| calling for an "international protection mission". In Geneva the UN Human Rights Council votes to send an a team of international war crimes investigators to Gaza. Israel condemns its "hypocrisy". Erdogan hosts Muslim leaders for a summit in Istanbul, where thousands mass in support of the Palestinians. Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, warned that US President Donald Trump's administration is fanning the flames of unrest in the Middle East US President Donald Trump's administration has fanned extremism and weakened political moderates in the Middle East, a senior Palestinian official and chief negotiator warned on Friday. Saeb Erekat, Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary-general, said Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and his close alignment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on issues such as Jewish settlements, were major destabilizing factors. "They're giving so much strength to extremism in the region," Erekat said on a conference call organized by the Wilson Center, a think tank on global issues. Erekat accused Trump of seeking to "dictate" a solution through his deeply contentious act of moving the embassy, as well as slashing aid to programs aimed at improving conditions in the West Bank and Gaza and dropping the issue of Palestinian refugees from possible negotiations. "This will not work for Palestinians," Erekat said. "We have been weakened by the actions of Trump and the actions of Netanyahu." Erekat was speaking days after some 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in chaotic demonstrations on the Gaza border on the same day the United States inaugurated its Jerusalem embassy. While Erekat stressed that the anger level was "higher than any time before," he also said it was up to officials such as himself and moderate Israeli leaders to step up and help improve prospects for peace. "This is the absence of peace," he said, referring to the current conditions. "I don't see anyone expressing sorrow for one human life." Erekat also accused Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is working on an upcoming peace plan with Jason Greenblatt, the US envoy for Middle East peace, of failing to support a two-state solution and not condemning the expansion of Jewish settlements. Also on the call was Gilead Sher, an Israeli attorney who spent years as a peace negotiator and is a former negotiator with the Palestinians. "I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives" in the clashes, Sher said, but he insisted Israeli forces were protecting their territory and that Gaza's Islamist leaders Hamas bear responsibility. Sher and Erekat nevertheless expressed hope for progress, agreeing it was crucial to "lower the flames" of conflict, improve Gaza's humanitarian conditions, and resume talks. "Our conflict can be resolved," Sher said. "How to get there is the problem." The mother of Leila al-Ghandour (C) weeps as she holds the body of her eight-month-old baby who according to Gaza's health ministry died of inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli army during protests on the Gaza-Israel border The Israeli army on Friday disputed Palestinian accounts that a baby had died of tear gas inhalation during protests on the Gaza border. "This is another instance of Hamas fake news," said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an army spokesman, referring to the Palestinian Islamist movement which runs the Gaza Strip. "We got reports... from a doctor that said that the baby had a preexisting heart condition and that was most likely the cause of death," he told AFP, without naming the physician or explaining how the information was obtained. "We don't have any additional evidence, the body of that poor baby is in Gaza... There is no way of finding out for sure," Conricus said. The Hamas health ministry in Gaza reiterated on Friday that eight-month-old Leila al-Ghandour died after inhaling tear gas along the Israeli border on Monday as protests escalated into the deaths of 60 Palestinians, almost all killed by army gunfire. "Did she suffer from another illness? We are waiting for the medical examiner to complete his report which could come on Sunday," said its spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra. The baby's family has blamed the Israeli army for her death, while explaining that Leila had been at the scene of the border protests because of a misunderstanding between the child's teenage mother and a brother. A spokesman for the justice ministry in Gaza City said an investigation was being carried out into the death of Leila, who was buried on Tuesday, as was customary for all deaths. In Geneva on Friday, the UN Human Rights Council voted to send a team of international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. Israel has justified its actions, arguing the measures were necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave. More than 600,000 people have been displaced by violence within the Central African Republic and a further 500,000 have crossed borders as refugees, while 2.4 million people are in need of emergency food aid Some 14,000 people have fled violence in the Central African Republic and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo in less than a week, the United Nations said Friday. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was "alarmed" about the displacement of 7,000 people from the southeast of the strife-torn country, adding that they were arriving "into a situation of little help and desperate need". "The speed of arrivals and the very limited humanitarian presence in the area mean that people urgently need increased support," said UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler, adding that most of the refugees were women and children. He said the agencies capacity for an emergency response is "severely stretched". A further 7,000 refugees from the central CAR town of Bambari also poured into DRC, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Violence in Bambari on Monday and Tuesday night led to the deaths of a local NGO worker and midwife, and saw the town's police station and UN bases attacked by armed men, presumed to be linked to the Union for Peace in CAR (UPC) group. The UN said it had resumed control of the city on Wednesday. On Thursday a Mauritanian peacekeeper was killed and eight injured in an attack on a UN convoy near the southeastern town of Alindao. The number of people from CAR fleeing to northern DRC had jumped even before the latest influx, the UN said, having risen from 102,000 to 182,000 in less than a year. The UN has around 12,500 personnel deployed in Central Africa as part of its MINUSCA mission, one of the world body's largest peacekeeping forces. The state controls only a small part of CAR's national territory. Armed groups clash in the provinces for control of resources, including diamonds, gold and livestock. The violence has raised fears that the country, one of the most unstable in the world, could again plunge into a bloody sectarian conflict. Venezuelan security forces are seen at the entrance of the intelligence service's Helicoide center in Caracas after opposition figures took control of a part of it A group of Venezuelan opposition prisoners on Friday ended their takeover of part of a prison run by the feared intelligence services, where an American accused of espionage is also being held, one of the inmates said. The incidents came ahead of Sunday's presidential election in which Socialist incumbent Nicolas Maduro, who has been accused of using the detention facility to crack down on opponents, is seeking a second six-year term in the crisis-hit nation whose economy is crippled. "We want to inform the country that as of now the installations are under the control" of the authorities, opposition figure Villca Fernandez said in an audio message sent by internet from his cell in the Sebin intelligence service's Helicoide center in Caracas. Dozens of opposition prisoners launched the protest late on Wednesday, demanding the immediate release of 20 inmates who have been ordered free on bail, speedier court processes and medical care. Fernandez said that following negotiations with the prosecutor's office, dozens of inmates are to be transferred from Sebin to other facilities. "We achieved freedom for the four minors... and the transfer elsewhere of 68 common prisoners to their respective detention centers," he said. The sister of a prisoner at the Sebin intelligence service's Helicoide center in Caracas appeals for his release Venezuela's state prosecutor Tarek William Saab on Thursday said 72 prisoners were being transfered following talks with the protesters. A total of 256 prisoners are being held at the facility, including 54 for "political reasons", according to the prisoners' rights group Foro Penal. The United States on Thursday expressed "serious concerns" over the standoff with Venezuelan authorities after an American man among the prisoners, Joshua Holt, pleaded for help in a video sent via Twitter. "I'm calling on the people of America. I need your help to get me out of this place," said Holt, who was detained in 2016. Holt was arrested by Sebin and accused of possessing weapons and plotting to destabilize the Maduro regime. Top officials in the Socialist government have labelled him a US spy. On his Twitter account, Daniel Ceballos, a former opposition mayor of the city of San Cristobal, published a photo of a group of prisoners, including Holt, gathered inside the center. Saab said the protest began after one prisoner beat Gregory Sanabria, one of the imprisoned opposition figures, who then took over a "small corridor" at the entrance of the prison. It remains unclear how the inmates took control of the space as they were not armed, nor how they could send videos and photos of what happened. "We got out of a situation that could have been very dangerous," Saab told state television, indicating he believed the takeover was intended to tarnish Sunday's election. In audio and video messages, the opposition prisoners appealed for a boycott of the vote in line with a call by the coalition of opposition parties, which has labeled the election as a "farce" to maintain Maduro in office. Steven Gardiner, who ran a 2018 world-leading 43.87 seconds to win a Diamond League meeting at Doha on May 4, will race at 200m, where he set a national record of 19.75 last month Star turns by reigning 100m world champion Tori Bowie and 400m world runner-up Steven Gardiner and a 100m showdown between Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake highlight this weekend's Boston Games. The event features Saturday night distance events on a college track and Sunday afternoon sprints on an elevated straightaway track built at Boston Common on Charles Street in the heart of the city. Bahamas 22-year-old star Gardiner, who ran a 2018 world-leading 43.87 seconds to win a Diamond League meeting at Doha on May 4, will race at 200m, where he set a national record of 19.75 last month. Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards, third in last year's worlds 200 and the Commonwealth Games champion at the distance, and Machel Cedenio, and Panama's Alonso Edward, the 2009 world runner-up, will challenge Gardiner. But American Noah Lyles, who won in 19.83 at Doha, will instead run the rarely contested 150m in Boston. Bowie will be tested in the 100 by another US star, 100 hurdles world record-holder Keni Harrison, this year's world 60 hurdles indoor champion in just her third 100 flat start in three years. The men's 100 offers American Gay, the 2007 world champion who was stripped of London 100m Olympic silver for doping, against Blake, the 2011 world champion who helped Jamaica's 4x100 relay to Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016. But both could be overshadowed by Commonwealth Games winner Akani Simbane of South Africa, who edged Blake in the Gold Coast sprint final and faces a rematch half a world away. Michelle-Lee Ahye, the first woman from Trinidad and Tobago to win Commonwealth Games gold, will test Olympic 400 champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the women's 150. Spanish Olympic runner-up Orlando Ortega will face American Jarret Eaton, second in the indoor worlds in the 60 hurdles, in the 110 hurdles with new Commonwealth Games champion Tobi Amusan of Nigeria favored in the women's hurdles. American Ajee Wilson, coming off her second world indoor 800 runner-up finish, will be favored Saturday on the track at the distance. New Zealand's Nick Willis, twice an Olympic 1,500m medalist, makes his 2018 outdoor debut in the mile on Saturday after the 35-year-old missed last month's Commonwealth Games with a leg injury. Britain's Chris O'Hare, a 1,500 Rio Olympic semi-finalist coming off a foot injury, is also in the mile field. "At USA Gymnastics, we are focused every day on creating a highly empowered culture that puts our athletes first," said USA Gymnastics in a statement on behalf of chief executive Kerry Perry The head of the United States women's gymnastics program has been removed from her post in the wake of the abuse scandal that has rocked the sport, USA Gymnastics said Friday. Rhonda Faehn, who had run USA women's gymnastics since 2015, was no longer with the organisation, the sport's governing body said. "This is a personnel matter that we will not discuss in detail," USA Gymnastics said in a statement on behalf of chief executive Kerry Perry. "We recognize that change can be difficult, but we will not be deterred from making necessary and bold decisions to transform our organization. "At USA Gymnastics, we are focused every day on creating a highly empowered culture that puts our athletes first." Faehn's role in the abuse scandal involving disgraced former team doctor Larry Nassar has come under scrutiny. Olympic gold medallist Aly Raisman, one of Nassar's victims, said she believed Faehn had been slow to act after being made aware of the abuse in June 2015. "I don't know what she did or didn't do with that information, but I didn't get contacted by the FBI for over a year, and in that time 50 to 100 gymnasts were molested," Raisman told the Indianapolis Star. Nassar, 54, was sentenced in January to spend his life behind bars after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting women and girls over a two-decade period under the guise of medical treatment. Raisman and fellow US stars including Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney have all identified themselves as victims of Nassar's abuse in what is the biggest scandal in US Olympic history. USA Gymnastics meanwhile said it would continue to implement "positive changes that reinforce our desire to have our athletes train and compete at the highest level in an empowering and safe environment. "USA Gymnastics is moving forward and positioning for the future with the commitment to our athletes safety and well-being at the heart of everything we do," the organisation said. "Together, we will create a culture of empowerment for the young men and women who are pursuing their gymnastics dreams today while honoring those who have gone before them." The terrorists mixed in with civilians and fired shots and hurled pipe bombs at Israeli soldiers guarding the border, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. It accused Israel of "trying to improve its black image". Palestinians organized the six-week demonstration called the "Great March of Return" in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip along the Israeli border. The committee says protests will resume on Friday. Israeli military forces on Monday afternoon dispersed tens of thousands of Palestinian protesters, who had amassed at Gaza's perimeter fence, with live fire, killing as many as 60 people and injuring several thousand, according to Palestinian health officials. "While presidents before him have backed down from their pledge to move the American embassy, once in office this president delivered". But the four European countries criticized by the Palestinians broke with EU policy to attend the celebration. Each accused the other's country of violating global law. An extraordinary session of the Arab League Council took place on Wednesday to review means of confronting the USA decision to move its Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. They had previously met with former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who became notorious for his verbal diatribes against Israel. "The U.S.is not a mediator anymore", Abbas said. "So this has to be measured not against some ideal of a nonlethal solution, but against Hamas's purposes and what would have happened if they had breached the fence". "Israel can only be stopped with the help of such a boycott on a state basis", Demirhan emphasized. He said: "We will always stand against aggressors and oppressors and believe that the ultimate victory belongs to the oppressed and Palestinians". Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Guatemala was a "friend" which had also followed the U.S. to be the second country to recognise Israel 70 years ago. The Palestinian U.N. envoy urged the council to condemn the killings, back an investigation, and get Israel to lift the blockade. Commenting on Israel's recent missile strikes on Syria and escalating tensions in the Gaza Strip, Turkish political analyst Yasin Atlioglu told Sputnik that there is no legal justification for Tel Aviv's steps. Later in the day, gunfire from southern Gaza targeted Israeli troops, in response to which a tank targeted two Hamas "military posts" in the same region. Nonetheless, Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi said Tuesday he planned to draft a resolution on providing worldwide protection to Palestinians. Sanders, who condemned the violence yesterday, added in a statement: "In light of yesterday's horrific violence in Gaza, in which more than 50 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded by Israeli snipers, it's important to understand the desperate situation out of which these protests have arisen". Ambassador Eitan Na'eh was seen in Istanbul's main worldwide airport en route to Tel Aviv. Turkey had already withdrawn its ambassador in Tel Aviv for consultations and told the Israeli ambassador to Ankara to leave. In Jerusalem, following the United States lead, Guatemala opened its embassy in the city on Wednesday. He said Arab states had agreed at previous summit meetings that they would cut ties with any country that moves its embassy to Jerusalem. "It's not a coincidence that Guatemala is opening its embassy in Jerusalem right among the first, you are always among the first", said Netanyahu. "We must never take these long-held allies for granted", he says, in apparent reference to Trump overruling the advice of his former top diplomat and others and withdrawing from some worldwide agreements, threatening import tariffs. President Trump announced his decision on Jerusalem in December, triggering a joyous reaction from Netanyahu's government. The General Assembly declared the United States' recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as "null and void". Mansour spoke just hours after the ceremony to inaugurate the relocated US embassy concluded. Emergency crews in the parking lot of Santa Fe High School where a a student opened fire Friday, killing at least eight people dead The United States is the only developed country in the world that suffers from a relentless cycle of school shootings, such as the rampage that took yet more lives at a Texas high school on Friday. Ten people were killed and another 10 injured when a student armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire just as classes were starting at the school in Santa Fe. There is roughly one school shooting a week in the United States, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that is pushing to limit the proliferation of firearms in the country. US schools have become less and less a safe havens for children, as the country grapples with an epidemic of gun violence that claims around 33,000 lives each year, and many Americans appear fatalistic. Unless there is a high body count, most school shootings don't even make the national press. According to a database compiled by the Washington Post, more than 214,000 primary and secondary school students have experienced a school shooting in the United States since 1999. At least 139 students, teachers and others have been killed over the same period. The familiar television images of students fleeing for their lives across playing fields, or tearfully recounting their near-death experiences, prompt the inevitable same questions: Should all schools have security gates? Should teachers be armed? Just three months ago, in February, a young man armed with a semi-automatic, assault-style weapons killed 17 people at his old high school in Florida. That particular rampage, in a school whose surviving students spoke out movingly and articulately against gun violence, prompted a fresh movement to demand legislation that would impose stricter controls on firearms. That led to a wave of marches across the country and overseas on March 24 that brought as many as two million people on to the streets to demand action. The hundreds of thousands of school kids were portrayed as the "school shooting generation" or the "Columbine generation," named for the school where two students in Colorado gunned down 12 of their schoolmates and a teacher in 1999. Yet there has been no progress towards legislation that would dent the rampant gun violence, aside from a few minor measures introduced in a handful of states. President Donald Trump himself has proposed arming teachers. - Disturbing trends - The actual definition of what constitutes a school shooting varies, hence the difference in the reported numbers of such incidents. But the simple fact remains that there are far more of them in the United States than in the rest of the developed world, and the long-term trends are disturbing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation carried out a study of "active shooters" between 2000 and 2013 and found that the numbers of mass shootings are on the rise nationwide. In 70 percent of cases, the killings and injuries occur within five minutes or less, giving law enforcement a very short time to react. And 24.4 percent of all gun rampages take place in schools or other educational establishments. Shooters who open fire in schools or colleges are, for the most part, students or former students, as was the case in Santa Fe on Friday. And the FBI also notes that school shootings are becoming deadlier. Some of the more prominent attacks have had a lasting impact on the national psyche, such as Columbine in 1999, Virginia Tech in 2007 or the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, when 20 kids aged between six and seven were shot dead by a gunman. Since that slaughter, emergency "active shooter" drills have been stepped up in schools to prepare students to react when a gunman attacks their classroom. Humpback whales feed in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary May 10, 2018 near Gloucester, Massachusetts Take a boat out to sea an hour from Boston and whale lovers are in for a treat. The vast Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is one of the best whale-watching spots in the world, with a high concentration of humpback, sei and minke whales, as well as the endangered fin whales. The humpbacks are the most popular, easily identifiable by their long fins that generate easy maneuverability and see them loved for their acrobatics. Gulls feed on the sand eels missed by a feeding humpback whale More than 40 feet (12 meters) long and numbering 1,500 to 2,000 in the North Atlantic, visitors can watch them hunt sand eels using a technique known as "bubble netting," said New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse. Two or three humpbacks will work together, encircle a school of sand eels, while one dives to the bottom to blow bubbles. The eels will be fearful and make a tighter school, and another whale will dive in -- and swallow a giant mouthful of the little fish. Eels that escape are caught by seagulls, who perch on top of the whales, ready to ambush. Harder to spot so close to the coast are sei whales, longer and slimmer than the humpback but no less spectacular. A humpback whale exhales a blow and raises its fluke as it prepares to dive while feeding Around 30 of the threatened species were visible in mid-April, a rare concentration so close to the mainland, LaCasse said. Usually, only up to a dozen are spotted each season hunting down copepods, a group of small crustaceans, found in the waters of Cape Cod. Only the luckiest get to see the right whale, which can weigh up to 70 tonnes. It's an almost extinct species, with only around 430 left in the North Atlantic after decades upon decades of hunting. Boats are not allowed to approach closer than 500 yards (meters). Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C), Kuwait's Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (2-R), Iran's Hassan Rouhani (R) and King Abdullah II of Jordan (2-L) were among the leaders present at the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, A summit of Muslim leaders in Istanbul on Friday, chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called for an international force to protect the Palestinians after Israel killed dozens on the Gaza border. The final communique issued by leaders of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a copy of which was obtained by AFP, said Israel had carried out the "wilful murder of at least 60 civilians" when Palestinians protested on the Gaza border Monday. It called "for the international protection of the Palestinian population including through dispatching of international protection force." The statement also angrily lashed out at the United States, saying that Washington was complicit in the actions of Israel against the Palestinians. It denounced the "savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the US administration". This was the second emergency OIC meeting Erdogan has hosted in the space of half a year after the December 2017 summit, also in Istanbul, that denounced US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The statement said that move had "further emboldened the Israeli government in its reckless behaviour towards civilian Palestinian population." It strongly warned other counties not to follow the decision by the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. "Any state that follows... is complicit in undermining international law and order." Students and staff demanded answers Thursday nearly a month after officers went classroom by classroom at a largely minority high school in Denver and asked teenagers for their IDs as they looked for a suspect in a shooting. Several students spoke at a school board meeting, saying the April 24 search made them feel targeted, disrespected and unsafe. 'We should not be treated like animals that have just run away from a shelter. We should be treated like humans, like students,' said Mary Jimenez, a 17-year-old junior at Rise Up Community School. 'Because we are students of color and students of low income, we get harassed and pushed around and we're expected not to fight back. Students and staff at Rise Up Community School are accusing Denver police of mistreating them while officers searched the school for a suspect. Principal Lucas Ketzer is shown in the lobby of the Rise Up Community School Thursday, May 17, 2018, in Denver Police were at the school last month looking for a student who was allegedly involved in a shooting. Students said cops made them show their IDs and remove their hats as they searched for the teen 'We need our respect and we need answers,' she said to loud applause. Denver police said Thursday that they have launched an internal investigation. 'What happened should not have happened,' Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg said. The search occurred at the small alternative charter school for students ages 16 through 20 who have dropped out of traditional schools or who are at risk of leaving school. Principal Lucas Ketzer said officers looked for the juvenile suspect over his objections, which he said caused students to feel unsafe and intimidated. Police pushed a teacher away from her classroom after she said she wouldn't allow them to enter without a warrant and pulled a gun on a teacher who went out a back door looking for students in an alley where they sometimes hang out, he said. 'I have heard the concerns from the community and independent monitor regarding the incident that occurred at the RiseUp Community School, and an administrative investigation was opened this morning to review the incident,' Department of Public Safety executive director Troy Riggs said, referring to the civilian oversight agency for Denver's police and sheriff departments. The principal questioned whether police would have conducted such a search at a school with more affluent students. He said his students commonly report feeling intimidated by police outside of school and that the search showed teachers working to gain their confidence cannot protect them from that. 'This just sets back all the work we're trying to do because the trust is broken again,' Ketzer said. He said he initially searched for the student at school April 24 and told police he was not there. School district security then intervened, allowing the officers to go inside. Police said in a statement that they had confirmation from a school staffer that the suspect was there. Because of that and the 'potentially dangerous circumstances,' police said they did not need a warrant. Police said no guns were drawn inside the school but did not address Ketzer's allegation about the teacher outside. The principal said police told him they wanted to speak to a student potentially involved in a shooting in suburban Lakewood the night before but that officers did not mention any suspicion of him being armed. The juvenile suspect turned himself in a few days later and has been charged with attempted first-degree murder. Student Marquise Tom, 20, said police approached him outside during lunch. He said police told him he looked like a suspect they were looking for and asked him for his ID. Officers were also accused of pushing a teacher who refused to let them in the classroom and pulling a gun on another teacher, principal Lucas Ketzer said Tom said he is friends with the suspect, who has lighter skin and fewer tattoos. Later, he said officers came into his classroom and asked a boy to take off his hat so they could look at his face. 'It just made me feel irritated and angry because I couldn't focus and do my work,' he said. The school district said its safety chief allowed the search because of the risk of an armed student at school but realizes it was traumatic. 'We look forward to working with our schools, community partners, and the Denver Police Department to ensure that our school-based policing practices preserve the safety and dignity of all involved,' the district said in a statement. One expert in police training said making an arrest at school can be the right approach to take someone suspected of a violent crime into custody uneventfully. In a school environment, though, officers have to follow procedures and be cooperative with school officials to minimize risk to everyone else, said Jon Shane, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. 'You have a contained environment and you know exactly where the suspect is,' said Shane, a former police captain in Newark, N.J. 'You want to be able to expedite things, keep him from running away or getting outside the school and running off.' An independent monitor will oversee the police investigation and civilian employees of the police's conduct review office will review the results to see if any rules or policies were broken, Riggs' spokeswoman, Daelene Mix, said. If there were, Riggs would ultimately be the one to decide whether any disciplinary action is warranted. DALLAS (AP) - Marc Leishman enjoyed the old home of the AT&T Byron Nelson as much as anyone, considering he made the last nine trips there and had one of the best scoring averages in tournament history. The Australian might take a liking to the new place as well. Leishman shot a 10-under 61 on the links-style Trinity Forest course to take the first-round lead Thursday and was eight shots clear of hometown star Jordan Spieth in the event that returned to Dallas after 35 years at the TPC Four Seasons in suburban Irving. Marc Leishman, of Australia, reacts to the crowd after parring the 15th hole during the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament Thursday, May 17, 2018, at Trinity Forest in Dallas. (Andy Jacobsohn) Considering the criticisms of Trinity Forest from others - mentioned vaguely by players who did show up - Leishman wouldn't have needed much to join that chorus after a history of high finishes in Irving despite a couple of recent missed cuts. Instead, Leishman opened with an eagle, started the back nine with three straight birdies and reached 9 under with another eagle at the 14th. The 34-year-old, a three-time PGA Tour winner, had chances to go lower but settled for a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th for the lowest round of his PGA Tour career. He was a stroke shy of the Nelson record. "Probably would have been the harshest critic, I think," Leishman said with a smile. "I played very well over there. When I got here and saw instantly, you know, was happy that we're here and it's just a cool spot." J.J. Spaun and Texan Jimmy Walker were three shots back at 64. Spaun had six birdies in a span of seven holes for a 30 on his second nine - the front nine on the undulating layout with no trees or water hazards a few miles south of downtown Dallas. Walker had a chance to get to 8 under when his shot from the edge of a fairway bunker on 18 rolled within a foot of the cup before settling 14 feet away. He missed the birdie putt. Sam Saunders, Aaron Wise and Keith Mitchell shot matching 65s playing in the first group off the first tee. They were part of an eight-way tie four shots behind Leishman. Defending champion Billy Horschel shot 68. Spieth, one of just two world top-10 players in the Nelson field at No. 3, didn't have many chances and missed on some of the few that he did, starting with a short birdie putt for a disappointing par 5 on the opening hole. It was another frustrating round for the 24-year-old Spieth, a Trinity Forest member who was hoping the venue change would help him top his best Nelson finish. That was a tie for 16th when he was a 16-year-old amateur playing for a private high school in Dallas. Spieth had just three birdies when the course was at its easiest because of calm winds. His bogey on the short par-4 fifth came after he drove the green and then sent an 82-foot putt off it. "Looking back the last year and a half I've had maybe four, five opportunities where I've actually been in a tournament after the first round which is really frustrating," Spieth said. "Thursdays for whatever reason just haven't been good days for me." Saunders, Wise and Mitchell each opened with a birdie as the first to tee off on the par-5 first. Saunders had the most birdies of the trio with eight, Wise had seven and Mitchell had a bogey-free round. The grandson of the late Arnold Palmer, Saunders played Trinity Forest before the Nelson last year and made up his mind then he would return for the debut. "I think it's a very fair test of golf," said Saunders, who missed the cut at the last two Nelsons in Irving. "There was a lot of thought put into all the slopes out there. You've got to think your way through it a little bit more than some of the courses we play." Horschel said he didn't do enough thinking after losing the momentum of an eagle at the par-5 14th on his front nine with bogeys at 16 and 18, both par 4s. And yes, he said they still count as mental mistakes even though he and most of the field don't know the course very well. "It's stupid idiot errors," he said with a chuckle. "It's knowing what I shouldn't do and it's just me trying to get greedy. I know better than that on certain shots." With a forecast of stronger winds and temperatures in the mid-90s on Friday, Trinity Forest figures to play a little tougher after 103 players broke par in its debut. Spieth will be surprised by a repeat of Leishman's number. "Looking at the forecast, I don't think that will happen again," Spieth said. "I'm excited there's wind. I wish it was windy every day. I really struggled when there's been no wind compared to the field this year and today was no different." And all too familiar for Spieth in front of the home folks. Jordan Spieth watches his shot from the ninth tee during the first round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament at Trinity Forest in Dallas on Thursday, May 17, 2018. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News) Keith Mitchell hits from the first tee off during the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament Thursday, May 17, 2018, at Trinity Forest in Dallas. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News via AP) Sam Saunders watches his tee shot on No. 14 during the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament Thursday, May 17, 2018, at Trinity Forest in Dallas. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News via AP) Marc Leishman, of Australia, speaks to caddies after parring the 15th hole dduring the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament Thursday, May 17, 2018, at Trinity Forest in Dallas. (Andy Jacobsohn) Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday: 1. WHAT MUELLER HAS SAID ABOUT HIS RUSSIA PROBE Nothing. And in the year since he was appointed special counsel, that is rattling just about everyone involved. FILE- In this Dec. 5, 2017 file photo, Summer Zervos leaves Manhattan Supreme Court at the conclusion of a hearing in New York. A New York court said Thursday, May 17, 2018, that the former "Apprentice" contestant can proceed with her defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, at least for now. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File) 2. WHO IS CONFIRMED TO LEAD THE CIA The Senate confirms Gina Haspel as the first female director of the CIA following a difficult nomination process that reopened an emotional debate about brutal interrogation techniques. 3. NEW YORK COURT SAYS TRUMP CAN'T DELAY DEFAMATION LAWSUIT The court says former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos can proceed with her defamation lawsuit against Trump, at least for now. 4. SURVIVORS OF CHINA'S FAR WEST POLITICAL CAMPS DETAIL ORDEAL According to Muslim Chinese former detainees, the program aims to rewire their thinking and reshape their identities. Chinese officials say ideological changes are needed to fight Islamic extremism. 5. WHERE A VOLCANO ERUPTS ANEW Hawaii's Kilauea spews a steely gray plume of ash about 30,000 feet (9,100 meters) into the sky that began raining down on a nearby town. 6. WORRYING TURN IN CONGO EBOLA OUTBREAK As the virus spreads to a crossroads city of more than 1 million people, it marks the first time the vast, impoverished country has had to fight the lethal virus in an urban area. 7. WHY TRUMP NEEDS TO ACT SOON ON NAFTA If the U.S. can't cut a deal with Mexico and Canada in the next week or two, Trump could abandon the pact he's lambasted as a job-killing disaster. 8. MAN'S RANT AGAINST SPANISH-SPEAKING WORKERS COULD HAVE CONSEQUENCES State lawmakers want to file a formal complaint against an NYC lawyer caught on video threatening to call immigration enforcement on restaurant workers after he heard them speaking Spanish. 9. FATHER OF THE BRIDE TO MISS OUT ON ROYAL WEDDING Meghan Markle says her father will not be able to attend her wedding to Prince Harry due to health problems. 10. 'SOLO' IS A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL, AND TONE, OF 'STAR WARS' The troubled production for "Solo: A Star Wars Story" comes at a potentially precarious moment for Disney's lucrative "Star Wars" empire. FILE - In this June 21, 2017, file photo, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington. It was one year ago Thursday when Robert Mueller, the former FBI director, was appointed as special counsel to take over the Justice Department's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) TOKYO (AP) - Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have one big thing in common as they prepare for what would be the first ever U.S.-North Korea summit next month in Singapore: They both claim to deserve total credit. In a country where there is no Twitter but lots of fake news, North Koreans are getting a very different take than American media-watchers on what got the two leaders to the negotiating table and what they will be trying to accomplish. What North Koreans are hearing is that Kim is calling all the shots. That he's a strategic genius whose bold nuclear policies have opened the door to Korean-led peace talks with the South. And that he has finally succeeded in forcing the leader of the most powerful country in the world to acknowledge their country's new status. FILE - In this May 8, 2016, file photo, North Koreans read their leader Kim Jong Un's speech published in the local newspaper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have one big thing in common as they prepare for what would be the first ever U.S.-North Korea summit: They both claim to deserve total credit. In a country where there is no Twitter but lots of fake news, North Koreans are getting a very different take on what got the two leaders to agree to meet next month in Singapore. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon, File) It's a message that fits in nicely with what North Koreans always hear: that their leaders are essentially infallible. But unlike some Trump backers who have already begun talking about a possible Nobel Prize, North Korea's media have been exceedingly cautious not to set expectations for specific concessions from Trump too high or to divulge government positions that might need to be walked back or reframed if the talks don't go as planned. The North's media didn't even make their first explicit announcement of the Trump summit until last week. That news came May 10, the day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang to work out details of the release of three American prisoners and finalize the summit's venue and its June 12 date. The North's ruling party newspaper put a photo of Kim shaking his hand on its front page. The media were at it again this week, warning that hard-liners like Trump's new National Security Adviser John Bolton are ruining the atmosphere of detente by suggesting Pyongyang must unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons before any easing of trade sanctions can begin. North Korea's often-stated policy is the exact opposite: that its precondition for denuclearization is an end to Washington's "hostile policy and nuclear threats." Caution over the handling of Trump news aside, the North's media have been pretty clear in suggesting something big is going on. They made quite a fuss - albeit after most of the rest of the world had already seen the news - of Kim's summit with China's President Xi Jinping and later his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the south side of the Demilitarized Zone, in April. They have also repeatedly stressed the country is in the process of shifting to Kim's "new strategic line." What the North Korean people, accustomed to seeing Washington as the root of all their problems, make of these developments is undoubtedly more complicated and nuanced. Largely because of the lack of a free and robust media, Pyongyang is a hotbed of gossip. It's a safe assumption that with even just scattered bits and pieces of news, the North is by now virtually awash in rumors and that there is an intense curiosity about how relations with Washington are changing, at least among the more educated, affluent urban population. More than most Americans, average North Koreans have good reason to care. If the summit goes well, they could see the lifting of economic sanctions that will make their daily lives easier in tangible, essential ways, such as more and cheaper goods at the stores and eased restrictions on what they can do and say. If it doesn't, they could well bear the brunt of food and fuel shortages, stepped-up work requirements or even preparations for a military conflict. State media, of course, is also not their only source of information. Much of the news getting out to the broader population is likely trickling down through the hierarchy of the ruling party. It is then disseminated out to the broader membership, believed to number several million, before spreading to others officially or through conversations or around-the-water-cooler sorts of ways. That process was set in motion in earnest last month, when Kim called a meeting of the party's central committee and announced his decision to suspend nuclear tests and ICBM launches. The committee is comprised of more than 100 senior party members and a roughly equivalent number of alternates whose task is to make sure that party policies are understood and implemented throughout the country. Outside of North Korea, the announcement was widely reported as a major pre-summit concession. But that wasn't the way it was presented to the party by Kim. Kim's pitch was that under his leadership the country had in just five years completed its development of nuclear weapons, which he called a "miraculous victory" that meant there was no more need for testing and paved the way for the country to turn its attention to economic growth. North Korea, Kim announced, would never use nuclear weapons or transfer nuclear weapons or nuclear technology "unless there are nuclear threats and nuclear provocations" against it. He added that the North's nuclear weapons are "a powerful treasured sword for defending peace" that guarantee future generations "can enjoy the most dignified and happiest life in the world." Kim's message to his own people so far, in other words, sounds a lot like the opposite of denuclearization. And that's a position Trump probably won't want to take credit for if Kim decides to bring it with him to Singapore. ___ Talmadge has been the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief since 2013 and has traveled to the North dozens of times. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter: @EricTalmadge FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2015, file photo, people read the newspaper at a subway train platform in Pyongyang, North Korea. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have one big thing in common as they prepare for what would be the first ever U.S.-North Korea summit: they both claim to deserve total credit. In a country where there is no Twitter but lots of fake news, North Koreans are getting a very different take on what got the two leaders to agree to meet next month in Singapore. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File) FILE - In this May 16, 2028, file photo, people watch a TV screen showing file footage of U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have one big thing in common as they prepare for what would be the first ever U.S.-North Korea summit: they both claim to deserve total credit. In a country where there is no Twitter but lots of fake news, North Koreans are getting a very different take on what got the two leaders to agree to meet next month in Singapore. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The Melbourne Rebels have released former captain Nic Stirzaker, who will leave the Super Rugby team to play in England for Bristol. After leading the Rebels for two seasons, Stirzaker joined English side Saracens in January on a short-term injury cover. However with test halfback Will Genia and ex-Western Force playmaker Michael Ruru now at the Rebels, Stirzaker decided his future was elsewhere. "After ongoing dialogue between the club and Stirzaker's management, it has been agreed the scrum-half will remain in the United Kingdom after agreeing to a multi-year deal with recently promoted Bristol Rugby Club," the Rebels said in a statement on Friday. Stirzaker played 60 matches for the Rebels. YABUCOA, Puerto Rico (AP) - The Army Corps of Engineers is ending its work to rebuild Puerto Rico's electric grid, despite residents' fears that the island's government won't be able to restore power on its own to more than 16,000 people who remain blacked out eight months after Hurricane Maria. The federal agency will keep operating more than 700 generators on the island, including three "mega generators" supplementing Puerto Rico's aging and storm-damaged power plants. But on Friday the restoration of thousands of miles of downed power lines will be handed back to the U.S. territory's bankrupt public utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA. The Corps took over power restoration efforts in Puerto Rico on Sept. 30 after PREPA failed to call in mainland utility companies under a disaster response plan known as mutual aid, in which power companies from around the U.S. send staff to help stricken areas. In this May 16, 2018 photo, a worker with Cobra Energy Company, contracted by the Army Corps of Engineers, installs power lines in the Barrio Martorel area of Yabucoa, a town where many people are still without power in Puerto Rico. The Army Corps of Engineers is ending its work to rebuild Puerto Rico's electric grid, despite residents' fears that the island's government won't be able to restore power on its own to more than 16,000 people who remain blacked out eight months after Hurricane Maria. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) Puerto Rican officials said 98.86 percent of PREPA's customers had electricity Thursday, but 16,723 remained without power as the longest blackout in U.S. history continued. Trump administration officials say a big federal presence is no longer needed to hook up the relatively few remaining connections in the often-remote areas where people are still without power. But many people on and off the island are dissatisfied by the decision to pull out the Corps without Puerto Rico's power fully restored. "It's not in our culture to walk away from a mission when it hasn't been fully accomplished, but we follow orders," Charles Alexander, the Corps' director for contingency operations, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at a May 8 hearing. The Corps has operated under the orders of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which says it has deferred to Gov. Ricardo Rossello's requests on the extent and duration of federal assistance to Puerto Rico. FEMA on Thursday indefinitely extended the Corps' power generation mission but did not extend the grid repair work because Rossello did not request that. Most of those still without power live in the town of Yabucoa, which was the first place in Puerto Rico struck by Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20. Alberto Rodriguez, a 65-year-old retiree, has solar panels and a diesel generator supplying power to the house where he takes care of his wife, who is confined to bed after suffering a stroke a month after the hurricane. "I'm very worried because we are still without power. We've been using these generators for so long, at any moment they might fail," he said. "I don't think they should leave before completing the work because there are people here still waiting for electricity." The Corps of Engineers has received more than $2 billion to restore power to Puerto Rico, overseeing more than 1,200 personnel on the ground and more than 1,000 contractors, with more than 650 of them working directly on distribution and transmission lines. Contractors included Fluor Corp., an Irving, Texas company that obtained two contracts worth a total of $1.3 billion. The Corps helped energize some 80 percent of transmission lines and nearly 90 percent of distribution lines across Puerto Rico, erecting more than 52,000 power poles and stringing more than 5,700 miles of wire. Corps contractors planned to work in the northern cities of Arecibo, Bayamon and Caguas and the southern city of Ponce through the end of Friday. A group of Corps officials plans to remain in Puerto Rico for several weeks to demobilize contractors and hand logistic operations back to FEMA and PREPA. Besides the residents of Yabucoa, hundreds of people don't have power in the central town of Comerio, where Mayor Jose A. Santiago said many feel they have been forgotten. "They feel that there is no reason why they've been left for last," he said. "What is painful is not the amount of people without electricity. It is the time that these people have been without power and we don't see an articulate plan from the government, nobody seems to be worried with this. "It is so uncertain and so much suffering because, in that darkness, there is terrible sadness." ___ Associated Press photojournalist Carlos Giusti reported this story in Yabucoa and AP writer Michael Weissenstein reported from Havana. In this May 15, 2018 photo, residents from Yabucoa, where many are still without power, protest outside the Electric Power Authority office, demanding the reestablishment of electricity eight months after Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The sign reads in Spanish "Light now!" Many people on and off the island are dissatisfied by the decision to pull out the Army Corps of Engineers without the island's power fully restored. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this May 16, 2018 photo, an electric power pole leans over the road in the Piedra Blanca area of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. Most of those still without power live in this town, which was the first place in Puerto Rico struck by Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this May 16, 2018 photo, Norma Medina, left, and a caregiver, move her elderly mother Tomasa Silva in Yabucoa, a town where many still live without power in Puerto Rico. Silva suffers Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart issues, requiring electricity to power her oxygen machine and IV, which they resolve with a generator. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this May 16, 2018 photo, a home in the Barrio Jacana Piedra Blanca still has a temporary canvas roof cover eight months after Hurricane Maria, in Yabucoa, a town where many residents continue without power in Puerto Rico. On Friday, May 18, the restoration of downed power lines will be handed back to the U.S. territory's bankrupt public utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this May 16, 2018 photo, tinsmith Otoniel Ramos Aponte poses for a portrait inside his mother's home, which lost its roof to Hurricane Maria but did not qualify for federal aid for repair in Yabucoa, a town where many continue without power in Puerto Rico. The Army Corps of Engineers is ending its work to rebuild Puerto Rico's electric grid despite fears the island's government won't be able to restore power on its own to more than 16,000 people who remain blacked out eight months after the storm. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this May 16, 2018 photo, a worker from the Cobra Energy Company, contracted by the Army Corps of Engineers, installs power lines in the Barrio Martorel area of Yabucoa, a town where many residents continue without power in Puerto Rico. Trump administration officials say a big federal presence is no longer needed to hook up the relatively few remaining connections in the often-remote areas where people are still without power. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this May 16, 2018 photo, Alberto Rodriguez gives water to his wife Mirella Sepulveda who suffered a stroke in Yabucoa, a town where many continue without power in Puerto Rico. Rodriguez, a 65-year-old retiree, has solar panels and a diesel generator supplying power to the house where he takes care of his wife, who is confined to bed after suffering a stroke a month after the hurricane. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) In this May 16, 2018 photo, a worker from the Cobra Energy Company, contracted by the Army Corps of Engineers, installs power lines in the Barrio Martorel area of Yabucoa, a town where many continue without power in Puerto Rico. A group of Corps officials plans to remain in Puerto Rico for several weeks to demobilize contractors and hand logistic operations back to FEMA and PREPA. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 15) Both houses of Congress are waiting for the Supreme Court to decide with finality its decision to oust Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice before they act on her impeachment case. The House Committee on Rules was supposed to discuss its next action on Sereno's impeachment during its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday, but its chairman, House Majority Leader Rudy Farinas removed the item from the committee's agenda. "I have excluded it in our agenda because we will wait for the action of the Supreme Court out of respect to a co-equal department. " Farinas told reporters. The impeachment proceeding was preempted after the Supreme Court unseated Sereno in a historic ruling on May 11. The Supreme Court said its ruling is "immediately executory," although Sereno has 15 days to appeal the decision. Farinas said the House Committee on Justice's report, which include the Articles of Impeachment against Sereno, will be among the plenary's order of business on July 25. He said the report was already transmitted to his committee, which gives it 10 days, or until July 25, to bring it to the plenary. If a vote of at least one-third of the members of the House of Representatives vote to impeach Sereno, the complaint would go to trial at the Senate. If the High Court decides to junk Sereno's appeal, Farinas said he will move to dismiss the impeachment proceeding against Sereno because it will be considered moot and academic. But if the Supreme Court overturns its earlier decision, House will vote on Sereno's impeachment, Farinas said. Senate President Koko Pimentel in a separate interview said the upper chamber will not move until the articles of impeachment are transmitted to them by the House of Representatives. "For as long as walang articles of impeachment na na-file sa senado, the Senate cannot constitute itself as an impeachment court so it's a passive institution as far as the impeachment is concerned," Pimentel said. Senators urged to assert right over impeachable officials The group Coalition for Justice staged a protest outside Senate on Tuesday, calling on the legislators to assert their exclusive right over impeachable officials. They insist that impeachment is the only way to remove a Chief Justice according to the Constitution. Senator Risa Hontiveros said the minority is finalizing an initiative to assert the authority of the Senate on Sereno's impeachment. Pimentel said if and when a resolution is filed by a senator to assert the authority of the Senate over impeachment proceedings then the Senate will have to entertain the resolution and this will be referred to the proper committee for deliberation. Sereno herself had asked her colleagues at the Supreme Court to junk her quo warranto case and "give me my day in the Senate impeachment court." She is the first top magistrate to be ousted by the Supreme Court, over her alleged incomplete filing of statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth. She said she will only present her missing SALNs before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court. CNN Philippines' Joyce Ilas, Cecille Lardizabal, and Eimor Santos contributed to this report. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Canadian computer scientists helped pioneer the field of artificial intelligence before it was a buzzword, and now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping to capitalize on their intellectual lead. "We've been investing massively in AI," Trudeau told a conference of tech entrepreneurs Friday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before name-dropping several of the Canadian academics he said provided the underpinnings of the technology during an "AI winter" when most weren't paying it much notice. Trudeau has become a kind of marketer-in-chief for Canada's tech economy ambitions, explaining the basics of machine learning as he promotes a national plan and government investments to "secure Canada's foothold" in AI research and education. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Solve conference at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., Friday, May 18, 2018. The Solve initiative connects innovators with corporate, government and academic resources to help them tackle world problems. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) He said Friday that Canada is making a "deliberate choice," but not an easy choice, to embrace change at a time when new technology is disrupting workplaces and leading to anxiety and fear about the future. He said leaders also have a responsibility to shape the rules and principles to guide the development of artificial intelligence. His visit headlined MIT's Solve initiative, which connects innovators with corporate, government and academic resources to tackle world problems. He also spent time visiting a technology lab, chatting with engineers and asking pointed questions about hydroponics, neurology, robots and kids' coding programs. Trudeau isn't the only head of state talking up AI - France's Emmanuel Macron and China's Xi Jinping are among the others - but his deep-in-the-weeds approach to promoting Canada's knowledge-based economy has caught U.S. tech companies' attention in contrast to President Donald Trump, whose administration "got off to a little bit of a slow start" in expressing interest, said Erik Brynjolfsson, an MIT professor who directs the school's Initiative on the Digital Economy. "AI is the most important technology for the next decade or two," said Brynjolfsson, who attended the Trump White House's first AI summit last week. "It's going to completely transform the economy and our society in lots of ways. It's a huge mistake for countries' leaders not to take it seriously." Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Uber and Samsung have all opened AI research hubs centered in Montreal, Toronto and Edmonton. They were drawn in large part by decades of academic research into "deep learning" algorithms that helped pave the way for today's digital voice assistants, self-driving technology and photo-tagging services that can recognize a friend's face. Canada's reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants is also helping, as is Trudeau's enthusiasm about the AI economy, Brynjolfsson said. "When a national leader says AI is a priority, I think you get more creative, smart young people who will be taking it seriously," he said. AI is an "easy and recognizable shorthand" for the digital economy Trudeau hopes to foster, said Luke Stark, a Dartmouth College sociologist from Canada who studies the history and philosophy of technology. A former schoolteacher, Trudeau is "smart enough to know when to learn something so he can talk about it intelligently in a way that helps educate people," Stark said. Stark said that also allows Trudeau to "push into the background some of the less high-tech, less fashionable elements of the Canadian economy," such as the extraction of oil and gas. The visit comes amid talks between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico over whether to renew the North American Free Trade Agreement. Negotiators have now gone past an informal Thursday deadline set by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, increasing the likelihood that talks could drag into 2019. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Solve conference at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., Friday, May 18, 2018. The Solve initiative connects innovators with corporate, government and academic resources to help them tackle world problems. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Solve conference at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., Friday, May 18, 2018. The Solve initiative connects innovators with corporate, government and academic resources to help them tackle world problems. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves to the audience as he is introduced during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Solve conference at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., Friday, May 18, 2018. The Solve initiative connects innovators with corporate, government and academic resources to help them tackle world problems. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves to the audience as he is introduced during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Solve conference at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., Friday, May 18, 2018. The Solve initiative connects innovators with corporate, government and academic resources to help them tackle world problems. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wears fashionable shoes and socks as he addresses the audience during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Solve conference at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., Friday, May 18, 2018. The Solve initiative connects innovators with corporate, government and academic resources to help them tackle world problems. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visit the MIT Media Lab and talks with associate professor Cynthia Breazeal, left, and research assistant Stefania Druga, right, as they talk to and demonstrate artificial intelligence technologies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks with Mariana Matus about her wastewater purification technology while visiting the MIT Media Lab and the Innovation Exhibition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston on Friday, May 18, 2018.(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP) Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talk with Angel Adelaja about hydroponic technology while visiting the MIT Media Lab and the Innovation Exhibition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP) BELLEVILLE, N.J. (AP) - The owner of a trucking company whose dump truck collided with a school bus on a New Jersey highway said Friday he's "deeply saddened" by the accident that killed a student and teacher and injured more than 40 other people. In brief comments to The Associated Press at his office, Mendez Trucking owner Juan Munoz called the wreck a terrible tragedy. Munoz didn't comment on details of the accident, which occurred Thursday morning on Interstate 80 in western New Jersey. He referred questions to his attorney, who released a statement saying the company is "deeply saddened by this tragedy." Emergency personnel work at the scene of a school bus and dump truck collision, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) "Our thoughts and prayers are with the involved family," the statement said. "We are fully cooperating with the authorities in their investigations of this incident." Gov. Phil Murphy said flags at state buildings would be flown at half-staff on Monday in honor of the victims. The Morris County prosecutor's office, which is leading the investigation, didn't comment on reports that the bus driver had tried to make a U-turn across the highway median before the accident. The crash occurred on a stretch of highway just past the exit for Waterloo Village, where the group from East Brook Middle School in Paramus was headed. The bus wound up on a guardrail close to a spot for emergency vehicles to make a U-Turn on the highway. A sign there reads "No Turns." Officials said Friday that most of the 43 injured people from the bus were discharged from hospitals, but they declined to provide details about the types and severity of the injuries they suffered. Officials also didn't detail what injuries the truck driver suffered. The husband of teacher Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy said in a statement to News 12 New Jersey that he was "in shock, devastated and totally crushed" by her death. Kevin Kennedy said "my beautiful bride and I have been in total love every day of our lives since the day our eyes met on May 5th, 1994." Williamson-Kennedy was a social studies teacher and had taught for about two decades, according to state payroll records. Schools were open Friday, with crisis counselors on hand to help students and staff. But evening activities were canceled, and standardized testing was canceled for Friday and next Monday. The bus was one of three taking students from the school, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of New York City, to Waterloo Village, a historic site depicting a Lenape Indian community and once-thriving port about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the crash scene. The other buses made it to the site but returned to the school about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away. The crash left the bus lying on its side on the guardrail of Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, its undercarriage and front end sheared off and its steering wheel exposed. Some of the victims crawled out of the emergency exit in the back and an escape hatch on the roof. There is no federal requirement for seat belts on full-sized school buses, but six states including New Jersey require them. New Jersey Democratic state Sen. Joseph Lagana, who represents Paramus, called for a legislative hearing on school bus safety to review best practices and compare New Jersey to other states. Legislative leaders agreed to the idea but haven't set a date yet. Trucks operated by Mendez Trucking have been in seven crashes, none fatal, during the last two years before Thursday's crash, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. A Mendez-owned dump truck driven by a driver police say had a suspended license struck and killed a French fashion stylist in New York in January 2011, according to court records. ___ Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in Philadelphia contributed to this report as did investigative researcher Randy Herschaft in New York. Emergency personnel work at the scene of a school bus and dump truck collision, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Emergency personnel work at the scene of a school bus and dump truck collision, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (Ed Murray/NJ Advance Media via AP) Emergency personnel examine a school bus after it collided with a dump truck, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) This photo shows an overturned school bus after it collided with a dump truck, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (Chrissy Oleszek via AP) Emergency personnel work at the scene of a school bus and dump truck collision, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) A dump truck sits on the road after it collided with a school bus, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Emergency personnel work at the scene of a school bus and dump truck collision, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Emergency personnel examine a school bus after it collided with a dump truck, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (Bob Karp/The Daily Record via AP) Emergency personnel examine a school bus after it collided with a dump truck, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Emergency personnel respond to a crash after a school bus and dump truck collided in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (Jay Faltings via AP) This image taken from WABC-TV video shows an overturned school bus after it collided with a dump truck, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (WABC-TV via AP) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri lawmakers opened a historic special session Friday to consider whether to impeach Gov. Eric Greitens for a variety of allegations ranging from sexual misconduct to misuse of a veterans' charity donor list for his political campaign. It marked the first time Missouri lawmakers had ever achieved the supermajority necessary to summon themselves into a special session. And depending on the outcome of the session, Greitens could become the first Missouri governor ever impeached in an attempt to oust him from office. But Friday also contained a victory for the Republican governor, as a prosecutor said he had decided not to charge Greitens with a misdemeanor of filing a false campaign finance report. Earlier this week, another prosecutor decided to drop an invasion-of-privacy charge stemming from what Greitens has described as a consensual extramarital affair in 2015. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens stands off to the side before stepping up to the podium to deliver remarks to a small group of supporters announcing the release of funds for the state's biodiesel program Thursday, May 17, 2018, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) The opening evening of the special session was quick and merely procedural. In the House, proposed rules were filed that would let the public watch the hearings in most circumstances but wouldn't allow the governor's attorneys to call and cross-examine witnesses as they had desired. The rules would expand the membership of a special House investigatory committee that has been meeting since March and grant it the authority to decide whether to file articles of impeachment. If a majority of the Republican-led House votes to impeach Greitens, the Republican-led Senate then would appoint a judicial panel for a trial on whether to remove him from office. The Missouri Constitution says executive officeholders can be impeached for crimes, misconduct and "moral turpitude," among other things. It does not require a conviction in a criminal court. Greitens already faces a felony charge in St. Louis of tampering with computer data for allegedly disclosing a donor list of The Mission Continues to his political fundraiser in 2015 without the permission of the veterans' charity he founded. That charge came after Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley shared information with the St. Louis circuit attorney's office. Hawley also had shared evidence with Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson for another potential charge of filing a false campaign finance report about the charity donor list in April 2017. "After due consideration, I have decided not to file the criminal charge suggested" by the attorney general's office, Richardson said Friday without explaining why not. He declined to comment further. Hawley spokeswoman Mary Compton said in a written statement that the office "stands by its determination that the information provided supports a determination of probable cause." Greitens' campaign attorney Catherine Hanaway said Richardson's decision was gratifying. "From the beginning, our position has been the governor and his campaign wouldn't and didn't do anything to hurt the charity he founded," Hanaway said. Greitens' finance report, which was the result of an ethics complaint settlement, listed the charity donor list as an in-kind contribution valued at $600 provided on March 1, 2015, by Danny Laub, who was functioning as Greitens' campaign manager. But Laub testified to the attorney general this year that he wasn't the source of the donor list. Records released this month by a special House investigatory committee show that Greitens himself received the charity donor list in 2014 so he could call key supporters and explain that he was stepping down as CEO. The legislative report indicated that Greitens later directed political aides to work off the charity's list to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign - even though he had signed an agreement never to disclose the charity's confidential donor information. Greitens' attorneys have contended he was entitled to use the list because it contained contact information for people he had cultivated as donors to the charity. But The Mission Continues says it never gave Greitens permission to use the list for political purposes, and federal law bars 501(c)(3) charities such as The Mission Continues from intervening in political campaigns on behalf of candidates. The Associated Press first reported in October 2016 that Greitens' campaign had obtained a list of individuals, corporations and other nonprofits that had given at least $1,000 to The Mission Continues. The AP reported that Greitens raised about $2 million from those who had previously given significant amounts to the charity. During their special session, lawmakers also will be considering allegations of sexual misconduct against Greitens. A St. Louis prosecutor on Monday dropped a felony invasion-of-privacy charge alleging Greitens had taken and transmitted a nonconsensual photo of the woman involved in the affair while she was at least partially nude in the basement of his home in March 2015. The House investigatory committee has released additional testimony from the woman alleging that Greitens slapped and shoved her during other sexual encounters. Greitens has hired attorneys Ross Garber and Eddie Greim to represent his office in the potential impeachment proceedings. Garber is to be paid $320 an hour and Greim's law firm $340 an hour from taxpayer funds. But Hawley said Friday that the governor's office lacks the legal authority to hire private attorneys without the consent of the attorney general's office. Hawley said Greitens' office hadn't sought permission. Greitens spokesman Parker Briden said it's a long-established fact that governors can hire attorneys to represent them in an official capacity. ___ Follow David A. Lieb at: http://twitter.com/DavidALieb MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) - Judge Aaron Persky says he has no regrets. The Northern California judge says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost two years ago, though it's the reason he is the target of a June 5 recall election and has become the self-described "most hated man on the internet." In a lengthy interview with The Associated Press, the wiry 56-year-old former college lacrosse player argued the Santa Clara County recall effort is "fundamentally unfair" because it boils down a thick criminal case to Twitter hashtags. He gets a little teary-eyed when he talks about being turned into a one-dimensional caricature as the judge who condones rape. In this May 15, 2018 photo, Judge Aaron Persky poses for photos in Los Altos Hills, Calif. Persky says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost exactly two years ago, even though it's the reason why he is the target of a June 5 recall election in Santa Clara County. Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) "I expected some negative reaction," Persky said. "But not this." The recall effort comes amid the growing influence of the #MeToo movement, and observers say it will serve as a bellwether of the movement's influence on national politics. Persky says he has resisted friends' call to quit and relieve the mounting pressure on his wife and two young sons because judicial independence is at stake. He is fighting the effort, he says, because recalling judges over unpopular rulings threatens the integrity of the judiciary. "To get justice from a judge, they need someone who follows the rules. The basic rule is the rule of law," he said. "The problem with this recall is it will pressure judges to follow the rule of public opinion as opposed to the rule of law." On June 2, 2016, Persky followed the county probation department's recommendation when he sentenced Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman who came to be known as Emily Doe. Turner is also required to register for life as a sex offender. Turner was arrested after two graduate students from Sweden yelled at him as he lay atop the motionless victim, whose dress was hiked above her waist, her underwear lying nearby. They tackled him when he tried to run and held him down until police arrived. In court, the victim read an emotional statement recounting the assault, her treatment by investigators and the ordeal of facing questions about her sexual activity and drinking habits. It quickly went viral. "Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney's questions that would be invasive, aggressive and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers," she wrote. "This was a game of strategy, as if I could be tricked out of my own worth." Persky declined to discuss the victim's letter or other details of the case because it's on appeal. Generally, he said California law requires him to take into account the victim's statement. Turner is appealing his jury conviction, arguing he didn't get a fair trial because character witnesses were barred from testifying about his honesty, scholastic success and his swimming career. Oral arguments are scheduled for June 28 in San Jose. Persky also declined to elaborate on his reasoning for Turner's sentence, which was widely criticized as too lenient. Stanford University law school professor Michele Dauber announced the creation of the recall campaign. Dauber is a friend of the victim's and was in the courtroom for Turner's sentencing. She's an outspoken on-campus activist who helped push through more stringent sexual harassment and abuse reporting and investigation policies. Dauber also is an adept Democratic fundraiser who has organized a well-financed recall campaign with glossy mailers juxtaposing photos of Persky with President Donald Trump and Turner's mug shot, garnering national support. "We feel it's important to respond strongly with a message of accountability for elected officials like Judge Persky who do not take sex crimes and violence against women seriously," Dauber said. "Many eyes around the country are going to be on Santa Clara County as a model for how to respond to bias against women in the legal system." Dauber said Persky's position takes a "dim view of judicial integrity" and that she has faith judges will continue to exercise their independence regardless of the outcome. The recall campaign has drawn outsize attention and money for a local race: Proponents have raised about $1.2 million, and the judge about half that much. "Recall Persky" signs dot the immaculate lawns of multimillion-dollar homes in Persky's Silicon Valley neighborhood, where the judge removed the numbers from the front of his house after a popular website published his address. Some former friends have told him they're voting for his recall. Persky grew up in an upper-middle-class home in San Francisco's leafy Lake Street neighborhood, the middle son of a psychiatrist father and a mother who taught French. He spent the first two years of high school at an exclusive East Coast boarding school before finishing closer to home at The Branson School in Marin County. He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in international relations at Stanford, then graduated from the University of California, Berkeley law school and took a job with the large law firm Morrison & Forrester, which sent him to Tokyo to work with Japanese clients. He took to the culture and took a year's leave to learn Japanese. In 1997, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office hired him as a prosecutor to handle cases ranging from drunken driving to sexually violent predators. Gov. Gray Davis appointed Persky to the bench a month before voters recalled Davis from office in October 2003 amid frustration over a poor economy and other problems in the state. A number of law school professors and retired judges have sided with Persky, including Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who called Turner's sentence too lenient but "lawful." Rosen agreed with Perksy that the recall threatens judges' willingness to make correct but unpopular rulings. "This value is more important than any outcome in any individual case," he said. ___ This story has been corrected to add a dropped "e'' in Michele Dauber's first name. FILE - This Sept. 6, 2016 file photo released by the Greene County Sheriff's Office shows former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner at the Greene County Sheriff's Office in Xenia, Ohio, where he officially registered as a sex offender. Judge Aaron Persky says he would handle the sexual assault case of Turner the same way today as he did almost exactly two years ago, even though it's the reason why he is the target of a June 5 recall election in Santa Clara County. Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail. (Greene County Sheriff's Office via AP, file) In this May 14, 2018 photo, Stanford law professor Michele Dauber poses for photos wearing a pin to recall Judge Aaron Persky outside of the Palo Alto Courthouse in Palo Alto, Calif. Persky says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost exactly two years ago, even though it's the reason why he is the target of a June 5 recall election in Santa Clara County. Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) FILE - In this June 10, 2016 file photo, activists from UltraViolet, a national women's advocacy organization, hold up signs before delivering over one million signatures to the California Commission on Judicial Performance calling for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky from the bench at a rally in San Francisco. Persky says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost exactly two years ago, even though it's the reason why he is the target of a June 5 recall election in Santa Clara County. Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, file) In this May 15, 2018 photo, Judge Aaron Persky poses for photos while being interviewed in Los Altos Hills, Calif. Persky says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost exactly two years ago, even though it's the reason why he is the target of a June 5 recall election in Santa Clara County. Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) In this May 14, 2018 photo, Stanford law professor Michele Dauber poses for photos outside of the Palo Alto Courthouse in Palo Alto, Calif. Judge Aaron Persky says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost exactly two years ago, even though it's the reason why he is the target of a June 5 recall election in Santa Clara County. Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) PARIS (AP) - French authorities have thwarted a possible attack using ricin or explosives and handed preliminary terrorism charges to a young Egyptian man arrested in Paris, officials said Friday. The announcement came as French police and President Emmanuel Macron's government are under criticism for not preventing attacks like a deadly Islamic extremist stabbing in central Paris on Saturday. The Egyptian man was arrested a week ago in the French capital's 18th arrondissement, or district, according to a security official. Authorities found explosive powder and tutorials on how to make explosives and poison from materials such as ricin, the official said. The man, identified as Mohamed M., was handed preliminary charges of association with a terrorist enterprise, according to a judicial official. Another man was also arrested but later released. A police official said both men were born in 1998 and at least one was a college student. The officials weren't authorized to be publicly named discussing the investigation. Earlier, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the two men arrested were brothers. But the other officials said later they weren't brothers. The reason for the discrepancy wasn't immediately clear. Authorities were tracking extremist activity on social networks when they identified the two young men, Collomb said earlier on BFM television. Collomb said the men had been communicating on encrypted messaging app Telegram. "We were able to detect them, detect this attack plan and were able to arrest them," he said. He also defended the government's handling of the 26,000 people on police watch lists for suspected radicalism. The assailant in Saturday's stabbing, a 20-year-old Frenchman of Chechen origin, had been on the watch list, like several others who have attacked France in recent years. Assailant Khamzat Azimov, a nursing student, killed one person and wounded others in the attack near the Garnier Opera house. Azimov was killed when he advanced on police. A close friend of his was arrested and given preliminary terrorism charges Thursday night. Two female friends of the men were arrested Thursday in the Paris region, the anti-terrorism prosecutor said. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for inspiring Azimov's attack. IS sympathizers have killed more than 200 people in France in recent years. PARIS (AP) - Blasts set off by an explosion at a weapons warehouse in central Syria killed 11 people and wounded dozens Friday, a war monitor said, amid soaring tensions between regional archenemies Israel and Iran. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths at the Hama air base included Syrian government troops and allied militiamen, adding it was not clear what triggered the explosions. Syrian state TV also reported the blasts, which sent off a large plume of smoke into the sky, but did not give a reason or mention casualties. FILE - In this Saturday, April 14, 2018 file photo, a Syrian soldier films the damage of the Syrian Scientific Research Center which was attacked by U.S., British and French military strikes to punish President Bashar Assad for suspected chemical attack against civilians, in Barzeh, near Damascus, Syria. France's government is imposing new sanctions on people and companies suspected of helping Syria's chemical weapons program. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File) A rebel commander in the area said the armed opposition did not target the air base and is not responsible for the explosion. There were also no reports of jets in the skies at the time of the explosions. On Friday, the Britain-based Observatory reported at least five successive explosions and said it was not clear whether they were a result of attacks that targeted the air base or a result of a technical error or overheating. The Hama air base is used by government warplanes that carry out airstrikes on central and northern Syria. The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, which has troops and thousands of allied Shiite militias supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in Syria's civil war. Also Friday, a Kremlin official reiterated President Vladimir Putin's statement a day earlier from his meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad about the need for the foreign troops to pull out from Syria, referring to Iran and Hezbollah. Alexander Lavrentyev, Putin's envoy for Syria, said Friday that Putin's statement was also aimed at the U.S. and Turkey. Israel views the Iranian expansion along its doorstep as a threat, and has launched blistering bombardment of Iranian positions in Syria recently, killing Iranian fighters after an alleged Iranian rocket barrage toward its positions on the annexed Golan Heights. In late April, a missile attack on government outposts in Hama and Aleppo provinces in northern Syria killed more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians. Meanwhile, France's government said Friday it is imposing new sanctions on people and companies suspected of helping Syria's chemical weapons program. The Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry announced a freeze on assets of three individuals and nine companies involved in research or purchasing for the Syrian Scientific Research Center. The Syrian lab is accused of producing chemical weapons for President Bashar Assad's government. France says companies from multiple countries have been furnishing materials for the manufacture of chemical weapons, including sarin gas. France hosted leading diplomats Friday from 32 countries for a meeting of a new body aimed at better identifying and punishing those who use chemical weapons. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said "we will first firstly act on finding a new mechanism so that the international community is able to establish who is responsible for a chemical attack." British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson insisted "there can be no impunity for those that deploy" chemical weapons. France, the U.S. and Britain bombed Syrian government sites last month in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack. Assad's forces have denied accusations they repeatedly used chemical weapons in Syria's 7-year-old civil war. Rebels also have been accused of using poison gas. In the latest report of poison gas being unleashed, the international chemical weapons watchdog said Wednesday that chlorine was likely used as a weapon in the rebel-held northern Syrian town of Saraqeb in early February. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons released details of a report into the chlorine use, but did not say which side in the fighting used it. The OPCW is not mandated to apportion blame for the attack. The group meeting in Paris on Friday plans to publish information about chemical attacks to name and shame perpetrators and eventually sanction them. Separately in Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces continue their push to weed out the last remnants of Islamic State militants in eastern Syria. The force's main group, the Kurdish People's Defense Units, said Friday the SDF forces have besieged IS in a batch of land on the eastern banks of the Euphrates river. The operation is in collaboration with the Iraqi forces across the border. It was launched May 1 and the SDF forces have since seized the village of Bagos and besieged the militants. The extremists' stronghold in the area is Hajin town to the north of Bagos. An SDF member said his forces aim to seize Hajin and chase the militants out of the eastern banks of Euphrates and along the border with Iraq before the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which runs until mid-June. Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militia are operating on the western side of the Euphrates river. NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - The U.S. decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord last year is "dangerous nonsense," France's former prime minister said Friday, warning that the world's climate is worsening faster than imagined. Laurent Fabius, who was instrumental in negotiations to establish the 2015 Paris accord, told a climate conference that the withdrawal of the world's second-largest polluter sets a "very bad example" to other countries wondering whether to stick to their commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions. "President Trump's decision might not destroy the worldwide movement toward climate action but is a very serious blow," Fabius said, calling it a "race against time" to stop global warming as carbon dioxide emissions are on the rise. Last year was one of the three warmest years on record, he said, and global temperatures could rise 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, a half-century earlier than the international community's intended target. The key to whether global temperatures can be curbed depends on whether several South Asian countries follow through with the construction of new coal-fired power plants, Fabius said. He said another challenge is establishing a roadmap for the implementation of the Paris agreement, which is expected to be approved in December amid difficult negotiations. Fabius reiterated the need for a global environmental pact to prevent nations from backsliding on their environmental protection obligations. LONDON (AP) - Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from a British hospital more than two months after he was poisoned with a nerve agent and left fighting for his life, health officials said Friday. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury on March 4, and spent weeks in critical condition. Britain has accused Russia of poisoning the pair with a military-grade nerve agent, a claim Moscow denies. The poisoning has sparked a Cold War-style diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West, including the expulsion of hundreds of diplomats from both sides. FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2018 file grab taken from CCTV video provided by ITN, former spy Sergei Skripal shops at a store in Salisbury, England. A UK hospital has announced on Friday, May 18, 2018 that ex-spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged, more than 2 months after poisoning with nerve agent. (ITN via AP, file) Salisbury District Hospital said Friday that all three people hospitalized in the attack - the Skripals and a police officer who came to their assistance - had now been released. "We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal," said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital. "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital." Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month. The Skripals have been taken to an undisclosed location for their safety. Sergei Skripal is a former Russian intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain before coming to the U.K. as part of a 2010 prisoner swap. He had been living quietly in the cathedral city of Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of London, when he was struck down. Britain says Russia poisoned the Skripals with a Soviet-designed nerve agent dubbed Novichok. Moscow denies the claim, and accused Britain of failing to provide any evidence and stonewalling Russian requests for information. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the news of Skripal's recovery gave him joy, but denounced the British explanation for his illness. "If a military-grade agent had been used as our British colleagues claimed, the man would have died on the spot," Putin said Friday after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the southern Russian city of Sochi. "Thank God he has recovered, has walked out of the hospital and I hope will stay safe and healthy." Russia's ambassador to Britain, Alexander Yakovenko, said Britain had in effect kidnapped the Skripals. He accused Britain of breaking international law by not granting Russia consular access to them. Yulia Skripal is a Russian citizen, while her father was granted British citizenship after settling in the U.K. "You can call it detained, you can call it isolated, you can call it kidnap," Yakovenko told reporters in London. "We are still demanding access to these people," he added. "We want to understand how they feel. We want them to tell (us) personally what they want. If they don't want our assistance, that's fine, but we want to see them physically." The international chemical weapons watchdog has backed up Britain's conclusion that the Skripals were poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, but has not determined where it was produced. British police say they believe the toxin was smeared on the door handle of Sergei Skripal's suburban house. Hundreds of counterterrorism officers and support staff have been assigned to the case but police have not yet named any suspects. ___ Frank Jordans in Sochi, Russia contributed to this report. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - A Cambodian court on Friday extended the pre-trial detention of two Radio Free Asia journalists who have been in prison for six months while espionage charges, which critics say are part of a crushing crackdown on independent media, are investigated. The journalists, Uon Chhin and Yeang Socheamet, were arrested in November and charged with undermining Cambodian national security by supplying information to a foreign state. The charge, which both men deny, has a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment. The two journalists were also later charged with producing pornography after police said they found pornographic images on their computers. The men's lawyer has said the law allows for them to be released if they haven't been tried within six months. But a spokesman for Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Ei Rin, said a judge extended their detention because the investigation isn't complete. He said their continuing detention is crucial to the investigation but wouldn't elaborate. The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen and its allies in the judiciary have been clamping down on critics in recent months, shutting more than a dozen radio stations and dissolving the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. In September, U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia's Phnom Penh bureau closed after operating in the Southeast Asian nation for 20 years, citing government intimidation of the media, which it said had reached an "unprecedented level." The same month, the independent English-language newspaper The Cambodia Daily was forced to shut down after being accused of not paying a huge tax bill, a charge it said was politically motivated. The crackdown is seen as part of the Hun Sen government's effort to neutralize political opponents ahead of a general election this July. Hun Sen has been in office since 1985 and has held a tight grip on power since ousting a co-prime minister in a bloody 1997 coup. SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - A convoy of buses with 270 migrants, including children that were stuck in central Bosnia, was allowed to pass after several hours of political bickering on Friday - reflecting the chaotic situation in the war-scarred Balkan country as it struggles to cope with the influx. Authorities were transporting the migrants from Sarajevo, the capital, toward a center for asylum-seekers near the southwestern town of Mostar, but regional authorities there didn't allow them in. They said they weren't informed about the arrival of the convoy, something that was denied by the country's interior minister. The buses returned to the Sarajevo district and remained blocked for hours on a mountain road. Local media reported 18 children among the migrants, who appeared frightened and confused. A woman holds a child in her arms as as they board buses, during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Bosnia's authorities earlier in the day dismantled a migrant tent settlement in central Sarajevo in preparation for the move to Mostar. Interior Minister Dragan Mektic told N1 television that the stoppage of the convoy was illegal and that it "jeopardizes the constitutional order" of Bosnia. He said the blockade amounted to a "coup d'etat." After a bloody war in the 1990s, Bosnia was split among Bosnian Muslim, Croat and Serb entities. Sarajevo is under Bosnian Muslim control, while Mostar is under Croat control. Denis Zvizdic, the acting head of Bosnia's Council of Ministers - or the country's government - said the local Bosnian Croat authorities "will have to face the consequences" for preventing state authorities from carrying out their policies of trying to shelter the migrants "in a humane and dignified manner." Peter Van Der Auweraert, chief of the International Organization for Migration mission in Bosnia, said the migrants were to be transported to a refugee camp "where there are barracks, there are medical services, where there would be food." Thousands of migrants fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa have recently turned from Serbia to Bosnia to avoid more heavy guarded routes and borders in other Balkan countries. Hundreds have been camping outdoors in Sarajevo and elsewhere. Bosnian police have increased patrols along the borders with Serbia and Montenegro to prevent the growing influx of migrants illegally trying to reach Western Europe. A migrant man comfort his wife who has lost consciousness at the Ivan sedlo, 30 kms south of Sarajevo, on Friday, May 18, 2018. A convoy of buses with around 270 migrants, including children, has been blocked in central Bosnia, reflecting the confusion in the war-scarred Balkan country as it struggles to cope with the influx. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Group of migrants stand near a bus at the Ivan sedlo, 30 kms south of Sarajevo, on Friday, May 18, 2018. A convoy of buses with around 270 migrants, including children, has been blocked in central Bosnia, reflecting the confusion in the war-scarred Balkan country as it struggles to cope with the influx. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A migrant sits in a bus after the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A police officer stands guard by a bus with migrants on board during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across from the City Hall, in Sarajevo, Friday May 18, 2018. Hundreds migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a make- shift tent settlement in a city park is relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A migrant child from Syria sleep inside the tent in the park across from The City Hall, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, May 17, 2018. Thousands of migrants have been stuck in the Balkans while trying to reach Western Europe. Hundreds have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo where a make-shift tent settlement has sprouted in a city park. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A migrant women from Afghanistan peers from the tent in the park across from The City Hall, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, May 17, 2018. Thousands of migrants have been stuck in the Balkans while trying to reach Western Europe. Hundreds have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo where a make-shift tent settlement has sprouted in a city park. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A woman holds a child as migrants pack their belongings and their tents during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A migrant sits in a bus after the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Migrants carry their belongings before boarding buses, during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Migrants carry their belongings before boarding buses, during the evacuation of a makeshift campin a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A man holds a child in his arms as they board buses, during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) Various youth groups are flocking to the streets of Manila on Friday to condemn the Supreme Court decision to oust Maria Lourdes Sereno from the Chief Justice post, a move the protesters say consolidates President Rodrigo Duterte's control over all branches of government. Students from Metro Manila are expected to join youth organization Anakbayan and In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND) in the Black Friday protest. The groups slammed Duterte for his alleged involvement in the ouster of Sereno, the country's first female Supreme Court chief who earned the President's ire for calling for respect for human rights as his government's war on illegal drugs left thousands of suspects dead. "Duterte's maneuvers are clearly a working of a cheap dictator-wannabe, no matter how much he tries to deny it. He may now be wielding control over all branches of the government and celebrating his virtual dictatorship, but let him be reminded that his days are numbered because dictators are destined to be overthrown," said Einstein Recedes, Anakbayan Secretary General. The protesters are expected to assemble in the following areas this afternoon: University of Santo Tomas Taft, Vito Cruz Padre Faura St., Manila (near the Supreme Court) PUP-Sta. Mesa Main Gate Boy Scout Circle, Quezon City University of the Philippines - Diliman, Palma Hall Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City (in front of Miriam College) Sereno was ousted on May 11 by her colleagues in the high court, through a quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida for Sereno's failure to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Networth from 2002 to 2006. While the Duterte administration lauded the historical ruling, critics and dissenting justices have slammed the move as unconstitutional. Duterte had denied his hand in the ouster, although he previously called himself Sereno's enemy. The legal counsel of the ousted Chief Justice said they are considering filing an appeal to overturn the SC ruling. BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania and Croatia have signed an agreement to cooperate in defense and security matters as they seek to bolster ties. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, on a visit to Romania, said bilateral trade stood at 310 million euros ($366 million) last year. Plenkovic and Romanian Premier Viorica Dancila said they supported other regional countries, including Serbia and Montenegro, in their attempts to join the bloc. They also discussed the visa-free Schengen travel area that both countries are seeking to join. Romania takes over the rotating presidency of the EU on Jan. 1, 2019. SOCHI, Russia (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin reshuffled his Cabinet Friday, replacing some longtime members while keeping key figures in place. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev presented the candidates for ministerial posts at a meeting with Putin in Sochi, and the president approved his proposals. Earlier this month, Putin re-appointed Medvedev, who has been prime minister since 2012 after serving as Russia's president for the previous four years while Putin switched to the premiership because of term limits. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Friday, May 18, 2018. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Many key Cabinet figures, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, are staying. Siluanov, the main architect of Putin's economic policies, was also promoted to hold the post of first deputy prime minister. Other key members of Putin's economic team - Economics Minister Maxim Oreshkin, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov and Energy Minister Alexander Novak - also retained their positions. However, Igor Shuvalov, who previously held the post of first deputy prime minister, is not in the new Cabinet, and Arkady Dvorkovich, a longtime Medvedev's ally who served as a deputy prime minister, has also left. Another Cabinet member to lose his seat is Dmitry Rogozin, who served as a deputy prime minister in charge of military and space industries. Rogozin, famous for his anti-Western tirades, failed to stem a decline of the Russian space program, which has been dogged by launch failures and other problems. Along with his role in Russia's space woes, Rogozin might also have irked the dog-loving Russian president by attending a weird experiment when a dachshund was forced into a container filled with an oxygen-rich liquid as part of research into liquid breathing. Rogozin said the dog was unhurt, but the video angered animal rights activists. Rogozin is replaced with Yuri Borisov, a military general who oversaw the Kremlin's sweeping weapons modernization programs as a deputy defense minister. Sergei Prikhodko, a veteran official who served as a deputy prime minister, lost his rank. Prikhodko recently figured in an investigation by Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. Navalny alleged that Prikhodko received lavish hospitality from Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska rejected the report and won a Russian court ruling that ordered Navalny to remove the investigation as an unlawful intrusion into the tycoon's privacy. Prikhodko, who served as the Cabinet's chief of staff, was demoted to a deputy of the newly-named chief of staff Konstantin Chuichenko, a Kremlin aide who was in charge of personnel issues. Another newcomer is Dmitry Patrushev, who was named agriculture minister. He is the son of Nikolai Patrushev, the powerful executive secretary of Putin's Security Council. Some Cabinet members have kept their seats despite fierce public criticism. One is Vitaly Mutko, who was in charge of sports and faced broad criticism over doping scandals that haunted Russian sports. Mutko was named a deputy prime minister in charge of construction industries. Another holdover is Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, who kept his seat even though he long was rumored to be on his way out. SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - The Latest on migrants in Europe (all times local): 2:40 p.m. Buses with about 270 migrants are on their way to an asylum center in southwestern Bosnia following a blockade reflecting confusion in the Balkan country struggling with the influx. A migrant man comfort his wife who has lost consciousness at the Ivan sedlo, 30 kms south of Sarajevo, on Friday, May 18, 2018. A convoy of buses with around 270 migrants, including children, has been blocked in central Bosnia, reflecting the confusion in the war-scarred Balkan country as it struggles to cope with the influx. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) The buses had left Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, early Friday toward the camp in Salakovac, near Mostar, but regional authorities had banned entry and stopped the convoy. Migrants previously had camped for weeks in an improvised tent settlement in a park in central Sarajevo. Authorities dismantled the site to move the migrants to a proper camp. In addition to the central government in Sarajevo, Bosnia includes a Muslim-Croat and a Serb entity, as well as a number of separately-governed regions and districts. Ethnic tensions are still simmering more than two decades after the 1992-95 war. ___ 1:20 p.m. Germany's asylum authority says it will re-examine some 18,000 cases handled by one of its regional offices amid a scandal over the improper granting of asylum requests. Jutta Cordt, the head of Germany's Federal Office for Migration, said Friday that the office will review all cases since 2000 in which people were granted asylum by its branch in Bremen, the country's smallest state. In April, prosecutors said at least 1,200 asylum requests, mostly by members of Syria's Yazidi minority, may have been wrongly approved between 2013 and 2016. The former head of the Bremen branch office is being investigated on suspicion of corruption. Cordt says her authority so far has reviewed some 4,400 decisions by various branches and found that cases handled by Bremen were by far the most problematic. ___ 12:20 p.m. A convoy of buses with about 270 migrants, including children, has been stuck in central Bosnia, reflecting the chaotic situation in the war-scarred Balkan country as it struggles to cope with the influx. Authorities were transporting migrants Friday from Sarajevo, the capital, toward a center for asylum-seekers near the southwestern town of Mostar, but the regional authorities there didn't allow them in. The buses then have returned into the Sarajevo district and remain blocked. Local media say there are 18 children among the migrants, who are frightened and confused. Bosnia's authorities earlier on Friday dismantled a migrant tent settlement in central Sarajevo to move them to the Mostar area. Interior Minister Dragan Mektic told N1 television that the convoy blockade there amounted to a "coup d'etat." A migrant sits in a bus after the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A police officer stands guard by a bus with migrants on board during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across from the City Hall, in Sarajevo, Friday May 18, 2018. Hundreds migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a make- shift tent settlement in a city park is relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A migrant child from Syria sleep inside the tent in the park across from The City Hall, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, May 17, 2018. Thousands of migrants have been stuck in the Balkans while trying to reach Western Europe. Hundreds have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo where a make-shift tent settlement has sprouted in a city park. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A migrant women from Afghanistan peers from the tent in the park across from The City Hall, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, May 17, 2018. Thousands of migrants have been stuck in the Balkans while trying to reach Western Europe. Hundreds have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo where a make-shift tent settlement has sprouted in a city park. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A woman holds a child as migrants pack their belongings and their tents during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A migrant sits in a bus after the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Migrants carry their belongings before boarding buses, during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Migrants carry their belongings before boarding buses, during the evacuation of a makeshift campin a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) A man holds a child in his arms as they board buses, during the evacuation of a makeshift camp in a park across the City Hall, in Sarajevo, on early Friday morning, May 18, 2018. Hundreds of migrants who have been camping in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in a makeshift tent settlement in a city park are being relocated this morning in southern Bosnia. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan officials say Taliban fighters have attacked several security posts in three provinces, killing 16 security forces. Ramadan Ali Mooseni, deputy provincial police chief, said Friday the Taliban launched an attack the previous night in Ghazni province's remote Ajristan district, killing nine security forces and wounding seven others. The gun battle also left 25 Taliban fighters dead, he said. Elsewhere, Taliban insurgents attacked police security posts in the Maruf district of Kandahar province, killing five police and wounding six. Also, 12 Taliban were killed and 18 wounded, said Zia Durani, spokesman for the chief of police. Similar attacks Thursday night in southern Uruzgan province left two police dead, officials said. NEW YORK (AP) - Police say a stylist at a Brooklyn barbershop threw a client through the front window after he complained about his haircut. According to the Daily News of New York, the 33-year-old victim was at the Levels Barbershop in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Thursday afternoon. Police say he threatened to withhold payment for the cut because he didn't like it. Police said the barber was enraged and shoved him through the storefront window, leaving a gaping hole in the glass. The victim's face was ripped open and his clothing was covered in blood. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital and expected to recover. The stylist ran off. Other barbers said they didn't know the stylist's name or how to reach him. Police are investigating. ___ Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com SANTA FE, Texas (AP) - Law enforcement responded to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus Friday, with at least one student saying she saw a man with a gun enter her classroom and start shooting as the class evacuated. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert around 8 a.m. saying Santa Fe High School was on lockdown. Galveston County sheriff's Maj. Douglas Hudson said units were responding to reports of shots fired, but said he had no immediate details on whether anyone had been hurt. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. The student said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) "We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, 'Start running,'" the student told the television station. The student said she didn't get a good look at the shooter because she was running away. She said students escaped through a door at the back of the classroom. Authorities have not yet confirmed that report. Aerial footage from the scene showed students standing in a grassy field and three life-flight helicopters landing at the school. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was responding to a shooting at the school. There was a large law enforcement response to the same school in February when it was placed on lockdown after students and teachers said they heard "popping sounds." Santa Fe police swept the campus but found no threat. Santa Fe is a city of about 13,000 residents located 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) Companies large and small are updating their privacy policies and service terms to comply with upcoming European Union rules governing data and privacy. Only EU users are technically covered by the rules, formally known as the General Data Protection Regulation. But many companies are making broader changes anyway, at least to some degree. Here's a look at how three leading internet companies - Facebook, Google and Twitter - are adapting to a post-GDPR world. ___ FILE- In this March 29, 2018, file photo the logo for Facebook appears on screens at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York's Times Square. Many companies large and small are updating their privacy policies and service terms to comply with upcoming European Union rules governing data and privacy. In preparation for GDPR, Facebook in March updated its privacy controls in hopes of making them easier to find and understand. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) FACEBOOK In March, Facebook updated its privacy controls in hopes of making them easier to find and understand. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook intends to offer those same controls and settings around the world, even though the GDPR governs only EU users. But Facebook has been vague about applying other GDPR provisions to non-Europeans. That includes one that lets Europeans object to the processing of personal data, such as for marketing. Facebook has also ramped up efforts to get your permission to use facial recognition to automatically identify people in photos - for instance, to make it easier to tag friends or to let you know if someone uses your photo. Facebook has been using that technology in much of the world for six years, but not in the EU and Canada, where privacy laws are stronger. Now, EU and Canadian users are being invited to turn that feature on. Facebook says it will eventually ask everyone to reaffirm the use of facial recognition; the company previously assumed consent unless users took the initiative to turn that off. Though Facebook isn't making major changes to its data practices, its new privacy policy has one subtle change. Previously, all users outside the U.S. and Canada were legally managed by Facebook's Irish subsidiary. Under the new rules, everyone outside Europe will be fall under the jurisdiction of its U.S. headquarters. That means users in Asia, for instance, won't get the EU privacy protections. Facebook didn't explicitly announce the change; The Associated Press confirmed it through checks in six countries. Facebook also plans to offer a less-personalized version of its service for EU teens to comply with requirements it obtain parental permission before kids under 16 can, for instance, list their political or religious views online. In the U.S., the cutoff is lower, at 13. Facebook won't ask for parental consent in such cases outside the EU, but will ask teens themselves I they want these features. ___ GOOGLE Google also isn't making major changes to its data practices, although it did rewrite its privacy policy to make it easier to understand. It now includes video to explain concepts better. Section headers have larger fonts, and links to related settings are more clearly marked. Google also expanded many sections to more fully explain how it collects and uses data. Google is also expanding the availability of Family Link, a feature that lets parents create Google accounts for their children. As part of this, parents will have to give consent to comply with new EU provisions governing teens. The feature also gives parents tools to control Android devices, such as locking the child's device and blocking apps. Family Link was already available in 11 countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland. Google is now making that available in the rest of the EU. ___ TWITTER Twitter's new policy includes a few exemptions just for Europeans. Twitter says it may receive log data from websites that embed tweets or tweet buttons. But its policy now states that Twitter won't collect such data "from browsers that we believe" are in the EU and four countries linked to the EU by trade agreements - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Twitter also provides a link to contact its data protection officer, but says it's for those in the EU or those four non-EU countries. Twitter doesn't say what will happen when someone outside Europe tries to make contact through that link. ___ Associated Press writers Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Youkyung Lee in Seoul, South Korea, Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong, Cara Rubinsky in London and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report. FILE - This March 19, 2018 file photo shows the Google app on an iPad in Baltimore. Many companies large and small are updating their privacy policies and service terms to comply with upcoming European Union rules governing data and privacy. Google rewrote the privacy policy to make it easier to understand. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee trooper shot and wounded a man who authorities say shot at him from inside a pickup truck believed to be stolen. News outlets cite a release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that says a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper approached a pickup truck stopped along an interstate ramp early Friday morning. Kenneth C. Powell of Kingsport told the trooper the truck was out of gas. The TBI says the trooper ran the truck's plates and noticed it had been reported stolen. Authorities say Powell tried to pull away and then began shooting at the trooper when he approached again. The trooper returned fire, hitting the 25-year-old, who was hospitalized in unknown condition. The trooper was unharmed. An investigation is ongoing. Authorities say a teenager killed 10 people and wounded 10 others, most of them students, in a mass shooting at his high school in Santa Fe, Texas, about 30 miles southeast of Houston. The suspected assailant, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was taken into custody and was being held on a capital murder charge. Here's a look at some recent U.S. school shootings and some of the deadliest of years past: - Feb. 14, 2018: Authorities say a former student killed 17 people, including 14 children and three staff members, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Nikolas Cruz, 19, faces 17 counts of first-degree murder in the attack, which sparked student walkouts throughout the country calling for tougher gun restrictions. - Jan. 23, 2018: Two students were killed and 14 were wounded by gunfire when a student opened fire before classes began at Marshall County High School in western Kentucky, authorities said. Gabriel Ross Parker, who was 15 at the time of the attack, is charged with two counts of murder and 14 counts of assault. Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. Shrader said her friend was shot in the incident. (Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) - Dec. 7, 2017: Two students at Aztec High School in New Mexico were killed by a 21-year-old gunman disguised as a student. Police said the shooter later killed himself. - Sept. 13, 2017: A 15-year-old boy was killed at Freeman High School in Rockford, Washington, and three female students were wounded when authorities say another 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun. A suspect was arrested. - April 10, 2017: A gunman opened fire in the special education classroom of his estranged wife at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California, killing her and an 8-year-old boy, and wounding another child. The gunman then fatally shot himself. - Sept. 28, 2016: A 6-year-old boy was fatally shot on the playground of Townville Elementary School in South Carolina by a 14-year-old boy who had just killed his father, authorities said. Another child and a teacher were struck by bullets but survived. The teen was charged with murder. - Sept 8, 2016: A 14-year-old girl died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting and wounding another female student at Alpine High School in West Texas. - Dec. 14, 2012. A 20-year-old gunman killed 20 first-grade children and six educators inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and then killed himself. He also fatally shot his mother before entering the school. - Feb. 27, 2012: Three students were killed and two wounded in a shooting that started in a school cafeteria in Chardon, Ohio, as students waited for buses to other schools. Police charged a suspect, 17 at the time, as an adult. - April 16, 2007: Twenty-three-year-old Seung-Hui Cho fatally shot 32 people in a dorm and a classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, and then killed himself. - April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school's library. - Dec. 1, 1997: Three students were killed and five wounded at a high school in West Paducah, Kentucky. Michael Carneal, then 14, later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder and is serving life in prison. A woman prays in the grass outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their kids following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Musician and rapper Afroman is settling a lawsuit filed by a woman he punched during a 2015 Mississippi performance. WLOX-TV reports that the performer, also known as Joseph Edgar Foreman, is settling a civil lawsuit filed by Florida woman Haley Byrd. Afroman earlier pleaded guilty to assault charges for punching Byrd after she got on stage during a Mardi Gras performance at a Biloxi nightclub. Byrd later sued Afroman, seeking damages for injuries. She also claimed Afroman defamed her by writing a song about the assault called "Stay off the Stage." Tim Holleman is Byrd's lawyer. He says a settlement will be signed next week, averting a trial. Holleman says details won't be released until all parties have signed. Holleman says Byrd earlier settled a lawsuit against the nightclub. ___ Information from: WLOX-TV, http://www.wlox.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) The Department of Labor Employment has lifted the ban on sending Filipino workers to Kuwait in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's order. Administrative Orders 254 and 254-A issued by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello allow the deployment of skilled, semi-skilled and household service workers to the Gulf state. The total ban was lifted in line with the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait on the protection of migrant workers in the Middle Eastern country. President Rodrigo Duterte ordered to lift the ban completely on Thursday. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration will issue guidelines for the processing and deployment of domestic workers to Kuwait. The ban was implemented in February in the wake of reports Filipino workers in Kuwait have been abused and some died, including the case of Joanna Demafelis who was found inside a freezer of her employer's home. Around 262,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait as of 2018, with 170,000 recorded as household service workers. LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - A former University of Kansas student who admitted stealing professors' computer passwords in order to change his failing grades has been convicted of four felonies. Varun Sarja, 20, of Olathe, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of identity theft and two counts of unlawful computer acts. Fourteen other felony charges were dropped as part of the plea deal, The Lawrence Journal-World reported . Sarja had no prior criminal record, meaning he will receive probation under the state's sentencing guidelines, Douglas County District Court Judge Kay Huff said. Sentencing is scheduled for July 2. Under the plea deal, Sarja will be required to undergo a mental health evaluation and allow law enforcement to ensure that a keystroke logger program he used to steal the professors' passwords has been removed from all his electronic equipment. Sarja was a freshman studying engineering during the 2016-17 school year when he used the keystroke logger to hack into the university's computer system and change F grades to As. Keystroke loggers plug into computers and record every keystroke that has been typed, enabling hackers to obtain others' user names and passwords for accounts and computer systems. Sarja was on academic probation in spring 2017 and after records showed he had an A in math, an engineering school academic adviser and the math professor began to investigate. An investigation by university police revealed Sarja had changed almost all of his 10 grades that year, starting in December. Sarja told detectives he loved engineering and was afraid to tell his parents he had failed classes. He told the judge Thursday he has completed his sophomore year of college, but did not specify where. ___ Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com HAVANA (AP) - A 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after taking off from the Havana airport Friday, leaving three survivors in Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials said. The Boeing 737 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport while on a short-hop flight to the eastern city of Holguin. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the field of debris left where Cubana Flight 972 hit the ground. "There is a high number of people who appear to have died," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said from the scene. "Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified." Rescue teams search through the wreckage site of a Boeing 737 that plummeted into a cassava field with more than 100 passengers on board, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport in Havana, Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. State TV said the jet veered sharply to the right after takeoff, and Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to investigate the cause of the crash. "The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed," Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena told The Associated Press at the airport. Skies were overcast and rainy at the airport at the time of the incident, with winds reportedly around 4 mph (6 kph). Authorities said there were 104 passengers and six crew members on the flight operated by the Cuban state airline. Mexican authorities said the Boeing 737-201 was built in 1979 and rented by Cubana from Aerolineas Damojh, a small charter company that also goes by the name Global Air. A statement from the country's Transportation Department identified the pilot and co-pilot as Capt. Jorge Luis Nunez Santos and first officer Miguel Angel Arreola Ramirez. It said the flight attendants were Maria Daniela Rios, Abigail Hernandez Garcia and Beatriz Limon. Global Air said maintenance worker Marco Antonio Lopez Perez was also aboard. Outside the company's Mexico City offices, former Global Air flight attendant Ana Marlen Covarrubias said she had worked for the company for over seven years and knows nearly all the crew members. "I don't have the words. I'm very sad. We're in mourning," a she said in tears. "It was something really, really, really terrible; a tragedy for us." In addition to the Mexican crew, Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that the passengers were mostly Cubans plus five foreigners from countries it did not identify. Argentina's Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had died in the crash. In November 2010 a Global Air flight originating in Mexico City made an emergency landing in Puerto Vallarta because its front landing gear did not deploy. The fire was quickly extinguished, and none of the 104 people aboard were injured. That plane was a 737 first put into service in 1975. Mexican aviation authorities said a team of experts would fly to Cuba on Saturday to take part in the investigation. Cubana has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Four crash survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, and three remained alive as of mid-afternoon, hospital director Martinez Blanco told Cuban state TV. State media reports stopped short of openly declaring the rest on board were dead, but there was no word of other survivors by Friday evening. Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa had met with Cubana officials on Thursday to discuss improvements to its service. The airline blames its spotty record on a lack of parts and airplanes because of the U.S. trade embargo against the communist-run country. It was Cuba's third major aviation accident since 2010. Last year a Cuban military plane crashed into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers. In 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather, killing all 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners, in what was the country's worst air disaster in more than two decades. The last deadly accident involving a Cubana-operated plane was in 1989, when a charter flight from Havana to Milan, Italy, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board and at least two dozen on the ground. Cubana's director general, Capt. Hermes Hernandez Dumas, told state media last month that the airline's domestic flights had carried 11,700 more passengers than planned between January and April. He said 64 percent of flights took off on time, up from 59 percent the previous year. ___ Associated Press writer Amy Guthrie contributed to this report from Mexico City. The few surviving passengers of an airliner that crashed arrive at the Calixto Garcia General Hospital in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after takeoff from the Havana airport, leaving three survivors in Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials say. (Marcelino Vazquez Hernandez/ACN via AP) Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, third from left, walks away from the site where a Boeing 737 plummeted into a yuca field with more than 100 passengers on board, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport on Friday. (AP Photo/Enrique de la Osa) The few surviving passengers of an airliner that crashed arrive at the Calixto Garcia General Hospital in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after takeoff from the Havana airport, leaving three survivors in Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials say. (Marcelino Vazquez Hernandez/ACN via AP) The few surviving passengers of an airliner that crashed arrive at the Calixto Garcia General Hospital in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after takeoff from the Havana airport, leaving three survivors in Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials say. (Marcelino Vazquez Hernandez/ACN via AP) Relatives of passengers a Boeing 737 that plummeted into a yuca field with more than 100 passengers on board wait for news near airport terminal in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan) Relatives of passengers a Boeing 737 that plummeted into a yuca field with more than 100 passengers on board wait for news near airport terminal in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan) People look from far at the remains of a Boeing 737 that plummeted into a yuca field with more than 100 passengers on board, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan) A plane flies after takeoff over the area where a Boeing 737 plummeted into a yuca field with more than 100 passengers on board in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan) Relatives of passengers a Boeing 737 that plummeted into a yuca field with more than 100 passengers on board, arrive near the airport terminal in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 18, 2018. The Cuban airliner crashed just after takeoff from Havana's international airport. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan) HAVANA (AP) - A look at some of the major plane crashes in Cuba in recent years: - May 18, 2018: A Boeing 737 operated by state airline Cubana crashes on takeoff from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with 104 passengers on board. There was no immediate word on casualties. The plane was headed to the eastern city of Holguin and crashed between the airport in southern Havana and the nearby town of Santiago de Las Vegas. - April 29, 2017: A Cuban military plane crashes into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight troops on board, the government said. The Soviet-made AN-26 took off from the Playa Baracoa airport outside Havana and crashed outside the town of Candelaria about 40 miles (65 kilometres) away. - Nov. 4, 2010: An AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather as it flew over central Cuba, killing all 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners. It was the country's deadliest air disaster in more than two decades. Cuban aviation authorities later blamed bad weather and pilot error for the crash. - Sept. 4, 1989: A chartered Cubana plane flying from Havana to Milan, Italy, went down shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board, as well as at least two dozen on the ground. - Oct. 6, 1976: Cubana flight from Barbados to Jamaica is blown up by bomb, killing 73. The attack is blamed on exiles with ties to U.S.-backed anti-Castro groups. Both of the men accused of masterminding the crime took shelter in Florida, where one, Luis Posada Carriles, lives to this day. WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Prosecutors on Poland's Baltic coast have opened a probe into potential environmental damages in the Bay of Gdansk after the sewage system of that Baltic Sea city malfunctioned. The spokeswoman for Gdansk province prosecutors, Grazyna Wawryniuk, said Friday that prosecutors were looking into the cause of the accident and into whether it had endangered the environment or residents. Refuse from Gdansk's main sewage system was redirected as an emergency measure into the Motlawa River and then the Bay of Gdansk after the engines pumping it to a treatment plant were flooded and stopped. With its sandy beaches, the Bay of Gdansk is a popular vacation spot on the Baltic Sea during the summer. ROCKPORT, Maine (AP) - Maine Gov. Paul LePage revealed Friday that he was stuck by a vehicle while biking in Florida last fall and credited a bicycle helmet with saving his life. LePage told MaineToday Media the impact cracked his helmet into two pieces and "sent me flying 40 feet." The crash exacerbated a shoulder injury, which will require shoulder surgery. "Without a helmet, I wouldn't be here," the governor said. LePage revealed the news at Maine International Trade Day, saying he was knocked off his bike the day before Thanksgiving. He acknowledged he kept the matter quiet, initially brushing off questions. The accident happened on Nov. 22 while he and his wife, Ann, were riding their bikes in Daytona Beach, not far near their Florida home in Ormond Beach, he said. LePage was taken to a hospital, but his wife was unhurt. LePage said a young woman who was uninsured and distracted cut him off while making a turn, hitting him as his wife followed behind. The official police report, however, indicates the SUV driver had an insurance policy number, and it does not cite distraction as a cause. The motorist, who was in a Dodge Durango, told the officer she thought she had time to turn without hitting the bicyclist, according to the police report. A Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman declined to say if the governor had been accompanied by his state police security detail while on the bike ride. The accident came up when LePage mentioned surgery could interfere with his plans for a trade mission to Taiwan before he leaves office in January. This isn't the first time LePage kept medical details to himself. In September 2016, he underwent a weight-loss operation at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. The bariatric surgery wasn't disclosed until months later. BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A 70-year-old woman accused of manufacturing the deadly toxin ricin and testing it on fellow residents at a retirement community has pleaded guilty to possessing it. Betty Miller, who has an extensive mental health history, was arrested last November after telling investigators she made ricin at her home at the Wake Robin community in Shelburne because she wanted to injure herself, the FBI said. A federal complaint said Miller told investigators she tested the ricin's effectiveness by putting it in residents' food or drinks. No one became seriously ill from consuming the ricin, which is found naturally in castor beans and can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains and kidney and liver problems. Miller said she harvested 30 to 40 castor beans from plants growing on Wake Robin's property and made two or three tablespoons of ricin twice in her kitchen and exposed residents to the ricin on at least three occasions, the federal complaint said. Miller entered her plea on Friday. The plea agreement calls for a sentence of time served with a recommendation for three years of supervised release to include placement at a secure mental health treatment facility. A judge must approve the deal. President Donald Trump made waves on Friday night when he tweeted about a spy implanted in his 2016 election campaign team by the Department of Justice. He quoted Fox News anchor David Asman, who said: 'Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn't commit'. And while neither Trump nor his lawyer Rudy Giuliani have any concrete proof a spy was implanted in the campaign, there was definitely one working around the edges. A retired American professor contacted three Trump aides during the summer and fall of 2016 while working for the FBI, The Washington Post reported. President Donald Trump said a spy had been sent to infiltrate his 2016 campaign by the Department of Justice Trump tweeted a quote from Fox News anchor David Asman, claiming the DOJ would 'frame him for crimes he didn't commit' The man, who has also provided information to the CIA, has been working as an informant for years, and has helped with the investigation into possible Russian interference in the election since before Robert Mueller was appointed as Special Counsel. His conversations with the Trump aides centred entirely around foreign policy. In late summer, he offered his expertise to the Trump campaign through campain co-chairman Sam Clovis. The informant met with foreign policy adviser Carter Page and invited him to London to work on a research paper. He also spoke with George Papadopoulos, whose boasts to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer of knowledge that Russia had damaging information on Hillary Clinton sparked the collusion investigation. The professor's meetings with the advisers began just weeks before July 31, 2016, when the FBI formally opened an investigation on Russia's attempts to influence the election. But while the professor was working around the edges of the campaign to gather intelligence, he was not 'planted' and he was not in the inner circle of the campaign. Trump, and many of his allies, are claiming there was a source within the Trump campaign, planted to frame the President for crimes he did not commit. George Papadopoulos was one of three Trump aides that met with the professor turned informant. His boasts of knowledge that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton to an Australian diplomat sparked the investigation into Russian collusion On whether there was an 'informant' in the 2016 presidential campaign, Giuliani told CNN on Friday: 'I don't know for sure, nor does the president, if there really was one,' though he said they have long been told there was 'some kind of infiltration.' Last week, the National Review raised the question of a possible FBI spy in Trump's campaign. The article cites work by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, an ardent Trump supporter and head of the House intelligence committee, who has demanded information on an FBI source in the Russia investigation. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, objected Friday to such demands, emphasizing 'the critical importance of protecting sources and methods.' 'It would be at best irresponsible, and at worst potentially illegal, for members of Congress to use their positions to learn the identity of an FBI source for the purpose of undermining the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in our election,' Warner wrote in a statement. 'Anyone who is entrusted with our nation's highest secrets should act with the gravity and seriousness of purpose that knowledge deserves.' The New York Times reported separately this week that at least one government informant met several times with Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, both former foreign policy advisers for Trump's Republican campaign. The Times reported on Friday the informant talked to Page and Papadopoulos because they had suspicious contact linked to Russia. The newspaper attributed the information to current and former FBI officials. Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told CNN on Friday neither he or Trump actually knew for sure if there was a spy or not Giuliani said he and Trump had been told there was 'some kind of infiltration', but they do not know what form it took Also on Friday, Giuliani said special counsel Robert Mueller has narrowed his possible interview subject areas from five to two as negotiations continue over whether the president will sit down and answer questions in the Russia investigation. Mueller is investigating possible coordination between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. Giuliani said Trump's legal team doesn't expect him to be asked about his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who faces a separate criminal investigation in New York. But Giuliani did not provide many additional details, saying that some questions are still 'subject to negotiation.' As the Russia probe moves into its second year, many Trump allies, including some Republicans on Capitol Hill, have increasingly pushed for ways to paint Mueller and his investigators as political actors, not above-the-fray lawmen, in an effort to discredit his findings or justify his possible dismissal. A number of Trump outside advisers - including former chief strategist Stephen Bannon - have stepped up their attacks on the Department of Justice, calling for it to release more documents to the White House while saying a confidential source has worked against Trump. The allegation of a government-sanctioned spy is unverified, but Trump's allies have been pushing the President to act more aggressively towards the DOJ Working from his Capitol Hill town house, Bannon has consulted with Trump-friendly congressmen including Nunes and Rep. Mark Meadows, to rally support among Republicans and push Trump to act more aggressively, according to two people familiar with the discussions but not authorized to discuss them privately. Bannon, who had a falling out with the President last year, often passes his thoughts to the White House via the congressmen or Trump advisers, including former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and ex-deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, according to the people. He has long pushed for a more antagonistic approach to the probe, dismissing talk from former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb and others who he feels minimized the threat the special counsel posed. In a series of late night calls to allies, including Meadows and Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, Trump has blasted the reports of an informant as evidence that the so-called deep state of career government officials has been working against him. He has frequently fumed about the Russia probe even while in White House meetings this week about other topics, according to a White House official. Talk of the reported FBI source has rocketed through the conservative media - Hannity discussed it on his show Wednesday - and was a centerpiece of Giuliani's attacks on the probe Friday. 'I want to know because I believe, if there was an embedded person, that person cleared us because the FBI cleared us. I wonder what the heck is the legitimacy of the Mueller investigation in the first place,' Giuliani told CNN. CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (AP) - First responders who were called to help a man allegedly suffering from an allergic reaction in Pennsylvania say he actually had bullet holes in his neck. The Public Opinion reports emergency workers found the man in Chambersburg on Wednesday with two gunshot wounds in the back of his neck. Police went to the area where the shooting was believed to have happened and found a man who said he had assisted the victim. The man said he was 54-year-old John Black and acknowledged shooting the victim with a .22-caliber rifle that he thought was unloaded. Black has been charged with discharge of a firearm and recklessly endangering another person. He has a court hearing May 29. Black's attorney information is unavailable. There were no details on the man's condition. ___ Information from: Public Opinion, http://www.publicopiniononline.com MILAN (AP) - Parma has earned promotion to Serie A just three years after being declared bankrupt, becoming the first Italian club to earn three successive promotions. Parma's 2-0 win at Spezia on Friday saw it finish second in Serie B, after Frosinone conceded a late goal to draw 2-2 at home to Foggia. They finished level on points but Parma clinched second courtesy of a better head-to-head record. Alessandro Lucarelli was Parma's captain when it was declared bankrupt in 2015. Even though he had to start again from Serie D, he remained with the club. "It can't be true, it's not possible, I can't believe it," Lucarelli said on Italian television, his voice cracking with emotion. "We have done something incredible in these past three years. Something out of this world. No one could have imagined a finale like this. I'm dying, I can't anymore. It's more than a dream." The veteran defender also credited the loyal supporters of Parma - which was once among Serie A's best teams and twice won the UEFA Cup in the 1990s. "This promotion is a great prize for our fans who together with us never gave up," Lucarelli said. "I am proud to be their captain. Now I can even retire." Lucarelli turns 41 in July and is likely to take up a position on Parma's staff. Empoli had already earned promotion as Serie B winner, dominating the league by finishing 13 points clear. The other automatic spot was up for grabs with Frosinone second going into the final round, with two points more than Parma and three more than Palermo. Parma won with goals from Fabio Ceravolo and Amato Ciciretti, while veteran former Italy striker Alberto Gilardino missed a penalty for Spezia. Foggia led at Frosinone, but Luca Paganini's header and a Matteo Rubin own goal had the hosts heading for Serie A until Roberto Floriano's last-minute equalizer. Frosinone goes to the two-legged playoff semifinals, where it will play either Bari or Cittadella. They face each other in the first leg on May 26. Palermo will play the winner of Venezia vs. Perugia. Venezia and Perugia are coached by former Italy teammates Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Nesta, respectively. They won the World Cup in 2006, along with Fabio Grosso - Italy's goal-scoring semifinal hero against Germany in that tournament - who coaches Bari. Frosinone's matches will be on May 29 and June 2, while Palermo's will be on the following days. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Rep. Diane Black rode a private plane linked to a Tennessee-based trucking company for which she helped extend a federal emissions loophole. Black, a leading Republican candidate for governor, also accepted $225,000 in campaign contributions linked to the Fitzgerald Glider Kits company. Black helped convince Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to continue exempting rebuilt diesel engines used by Fitzgerald Glider Kits trucks. "Glider kits" include a truck chassis and cab assembjmatly without a new engine. According to The Tennessean , campaign spokesman Chris Hartline said Black rented the plane at fair-market value, which will be disclosed in campaign finance reporting. She and staffers flew to last month's Paris Fish Fry and Hamilton County Reagan Day Dinner. The plane is registered to Dale Hollow Aviation LLC, which shares an address and registered agent with Fitzgerald Glider Kits. The Fitzgeralds, who founded the glider kit company, were officers of Dale Hollow Aviation LLC in recent years, according to filings with the Tennessee secretary of state's office. Joe DePew, an attorney with Fitzgerald Glider Kits, said the company doesn't own the plane. Black approached Pruitt with a Tennessee Technological University study funded by Fitzgerald that downplays the trucks' pollution problems. Fitzgerald also promised to build the university a new research center on land owned by the company. Two former EPA administrators urged federal officials to withdraw the proposed trucking emissions exemption, saying it's based on flawed scientific analysis. Carol M. Browner, who served under President Bill Clinton, and Christine Todd Whitman, who served under President George W. Bush, wrote Pruitt in March, saying the university's president said the study should not be cited pending an investigation of potential research misconduct. Black's campaign has said the congresswoman fights to support the few companies trying to keep rural Tennessee manufacturing jobs. Though Federal Election Commission rules generally prohibit U.S. House candidates from taking non-commercial campaign flights, there's no such ban in Tennessee law, which would govern the governor's race. Hartline said the fish fry and Reagan dinner flights were the only times she's flown on that plane. He said the campaign usually uses a service that offers annual memberships for private charter flights. Black has flown on a private plane nine times since the start of 2017, and paid for it each time, Hartline said. She has flown commercial 112 times and rode Air Force One with President Donald Trump twice over that time frame, Hartline added. "While Diane usually drives across the state, important events on opposite sides of the state simply don't allow that," Hartline said. ___ Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) Aside from the controversial "Buhay Carinderia" project, there are irregularities in other programs of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), an official said Friday. The projects of the TPB, headed by Cesar Montano, were suspended after it was revealed that the P320-million "Buhay Carinderia," a project that aims to promote local eateries, did not go through the proper bidding. TPB Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Marketing and Promotions Sector Maricon Ebron told CNN Philippines this is one of many cases. She said the TPB spent millions of pesos in projects that did not go through proper bidding or were not even approved by the Board of Directors. "Marami nang naimplement na medyo nangangailangan ng bidding (Many implemented projects needed bidding.) or it has to go through the process, ng board approval na medyo nagskip doon sa mga processes na iyon (but skipped the process). So I think na tama na dapat ireview (It's right to conduct a review)," Ebron said. She said there are at least 10 projects with irregularities, with the costs ranging from P4 million to P15 million. She said some of these were concerts of both local and foreign artists, marathons, fun runs, which she believes are not in line with the mandate of the TPB and were not included in TPB's approved workplan. Newly-appointed Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat has asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to review the projects of the TPB, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism. Ebron said she was pleased with this move. "It's about time. There's so many things that needs to be attended to." "COA should be there with us to look into these irregularities," she added. Ebron refused to identify what these projects are but she said some of these were already implemented while some are still under progress. Puyat said Montano agreed to the shelving of his projects after she talked to him about the "Buhay Carinderia" project that went through a sponsorship instead of a bididng. Puyat said this is a common practice in TPB. Puyat said the first tranche of payment P80 million of P320 million was already received by the organizer and proponent of "Buhay Carinderia." Despite questions about the processing of the project's papers, Puyat defended Montano's role in TPB. "I believe he did everything in good faith, but this is up to the COA," she said. CNN Philippines' Lara Tan and Eimor Santos contributed to this report. DALLAS (AP) - Wind or no, Marc Leishman likes his chances at the AT&T Byron Nelson after breaking the 36-hole record previously shared by Tiger Woods. Hometown star Jordan Spieth really wants it to blow. Leishman followed the best round of his PGA Tour career with a 5-under 66 at the new Trinity Forest course Friday, reaching the halfway point at 15-under 127 for a one-shot lead over 21-year-old rookie Aaron Wise - and keeping Spieth eight back on the links-style layout where the Dallas native is a member. Marc Leishman watches his tee shot on the first hole during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Friday, May 18, 2018. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP) Maybe Spieth isn't the only one who feels at home. "This course has got a real Australian feel to it," said Leishman, the 34-year-old Aussie who opened with a 10-under 61 . "Reminds me a lot of home. So that might have something to do with it." Winds were stronger on the treeless tract, but not until late in the morning rounds of Leishman and most of the others on the second-round leaderboard. The wind didn't bother Wise, who shot a bogey-free 63 in the afternoon. He will be in the final group for the third round two weeks after tying for second while playing with Wells Fargo winner Jason Day on Sunday. "It makes this course play way different just because of how firm and fast it is," Wise said. "You're really out there with the wind. I just felt like we did a great job of managing it, leaving our ball in good spots." Brian Gay, another playing in calmer morning conditions, matched his tour low at 62 to reach 13 under. Kevin Na (65), Eric Axley (65) and Jimmy Walker are 11 under. "I was telling my caddie it's never this calm in Dallas three days in a row," said Gay, who has played every Nelson except one since 2000. "Looks like it might start picking up now." That's what Spieth figures he needs since he's more familiar with wind and firmer greens on a course named for the 6,000 acres of thick trees surrounding the undulating layout a few miles south of downtown Dallas. The Nelson spent the past 35 years in suburban Irving. Spieth, at 7-under 135 after matching Leishman's 66, would feel a little better about making a run if the three-time major champion hadn't missed two putts inside 3 feet for two of his three bogeys. The first was from 15 inches early in the round when Spieth was lurking around the cut line. The second came on his final hole , the ninth, while ending a run of four straight birdies. The forecast Saturday has wind gusts reaching 25 mph, and the player with the highest world ranking in the field at No. 3 is hoping for at least that. He's trying to improve his best Nelson finish of a tie for 16th as a 16-year-old amateur in 2010. "If the wind really does pick up, which I really hope it does and the course can show some teeth, you're looking at a potential winning score at under 20 under even though it took 15 for the first two," said Spieth, who missed the cut in the final Nelson at the TPC Four Seasons last year. "Just dicey." Leishman made a 56-footer for birdie at the par-3 12th, his third hole, and separated from the pack with four birdies in five holes to start his back nine after his first missed fairway and only bogey came on the par-4 15th. Gay closed the gap with birdies on all six par-4s for a 29 on the back nine. The previous 36-hole record for the Nelson was 12-under 128 at the par-70 Four Seasons. Woods did it twice along with four others. Wise matched the 128 and is at 14 under. "I'm not disappointed that the wind's forecast to get up," said Leishman, a three-time PGA Tour winner. "With it down, I've done OK." As has fellow Aussie Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters winner who is trying to avoid sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open to maintain a major streak that goes back to 2001. He shot a bogey-free 65 and is among five players at 10 under a week after finishing tied for 11th at the Players Championship. "Last week and the first two rounds this week, really promising for me," said Scott, the 2008 Nelson winner. "I've got a lot to play for this weekend." Scott and Leishman played together the first two days and wouldn't mind doing it again. Both made comparisons to courses from their homeland, with Leishman saying the most important similarity is contour around greens that can trick players into shooting for pins when they shouldn't. "You're always trying to play it a little safer because you know how bad it is if you were to miss the green and then it runs off," Leishman said. "That's probably the big thing, the runoffs around the greens." Defending champion Billy Horschel shot 69 and was 5 under. Hideki Matsuyama, the only other world top 10 besides Spieth in the field at No. 9, shot 63 to join him at 7 under. Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion and two-time Nelson winner, missed the cut at 1 under. Jordan Spieth reacts after hitting a tee shot on the first hole during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Friday, May 18, 2018. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP) Aaron Wise pumps his fist after making a birdie putt on the eighth green during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament in Dallas, Friday, May 18, 2018. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP) Adam Scott hits his second shot on the 18th fairway during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Friday, May 18, 2018. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News via AP) EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - New DNA technology has led to the arrest of a 55-year-old man in the killing of a young Canadian couple in Washington state more than three decades ago, police said. William Earl Talbott II of SeaTac, Washington, was arrested Thursday for investigation of first-degree murder as he left his job at a trucking company in Seattle, The Daily Herald reported . Authorities announced his arrest at a news conference Friday in Everett where they said Talbott is believed to be responsible for the 1987 killing of 18-year-old Tanya Van Cuylenborg. Detectives said they also are trying to connect him to the death of her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jay Cook. William Earl Talbott II enters the courtroom at the Skagit County Community Justice Center before entering a plea of not guilty for the 1987 murder of Tanya Van Cuylenborg, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Mount Vernon, Wash. New DNA technology has led to the arrest of Talbott, 55, in the killing of a young Canadian couple in Washington state more than three decades ago, police said. (Charles Biles/Skagit Valley Herald via AP) "He was never on any list law enforcement had, there was never a tip providing his name," Snohomish County sheriff's Detective Jim Scharf said of Talbott. "If it hadn't been for genetic genealogy, we wouldn't be standing here today." Talbott was identified as a suspect through genetic genealogy, the same technique used to arrest Joseph James DeAngelo, who police said was the Golden State Killer in California. It wasn't immediately clear if Talbott has an attorney. "Yesterday, the killer had his last sleep in his own bed, his last coffee break, his last day of freedom," Cook's sister Laura Baanstra said. "It's hard to put into words the relief, joy, and great sorrow this arrest brings." Van Cuylenborg and Cook left their Saanich, British Columbia, homes on Nov. 18, 1987, for an overnight trip to Seattle. They were driving a brown 1977 Ford van to buy furnace parts for Cook's family business. When the couple failed to return home, their families filed a missing persons report. On Nov. 24, a man walking on an isolated road south of Bellingham, Washington, discovered Van Cuylenborg's body. She had been sexually assaulted, bound with plastic ties and shot in the head. Cook's battered body was found the next day about two miles (3.2 kilometers) south of Monroe, Washington. The two locations where the bodies were found are about 75 miles (120 kilometers) apart. Police were able to obtain DNA from the van. In April, investigators from Snohomish and Skagit counties said they had sent DNA belonging to Van Cuylenborg's killer to a lab that provided scientific approximations of what the killer might look like based on traits embedded in his genetic code. From there, DNA genotype data was uploaded to a public genetic-genealogy website that found likely matches for two of Talbott's relatives and further work by the genealogist led to Talbott, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said. Police acquired a DNA sample from a cup Talbott had used and discarded. The sample was found to match DNA from crime-scene evidence, the sheriff's office said. Detectives are still seeking tips about Talbott's activities in 1987 and 1988. A double-decker bus offering refuge to rough sleepers in Windsor has been impounded ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markles wedding, a charity has said. Thames Valley Police said the The Ark Projects 10-bed bus was seized from the town centre on Thursday due to an issue with the drivers licence. Charity founder Michael Longsmith, 42, vowed to pay 1,500 to get it out of the impound before driving it straight back to Windsor Castle on Friday morning ahead of Saturdays royal wedding. The Ark Projects founder Michael Longsmith had vowed to pay to get the bus out of the impound before driving it back to Windsor Castle on Friday (Izzy Lyons/PA) Inspector Gavin Biggs, a roads police officer, said the force seized the commercial vehicle in the afternoon. It was being driven otherwise than in accordance with a licence, a man was reported for the offence and the vehicle was removed, he added. Mr Longsmith, of Newbury, Berkshire, said police pulled the bus over for not having an MoT, but he proved it was exempt. Then, he added, they questioned his licence, which he claimed is appropriate for the vehicle. The bus is in the impound, he said. We have got to pay 1,500 to get it released. We are going straight back to Windsor with it in full force. We are going to park right outside the castle, he added The buss presence came after Windsor councils Conservative leader Simon Dudley sparked controversy with a letter to Thames Valley Police saying rough sleepers should be removed ahead of the wedding. But, after a backlash, it appears the street homeless have not been removed and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead said it has been working with charities to get rough sleepers the help they need. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was exposed to a nerve agent along with his daughter, has been discharged from hospital. Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, were admitted to Salisbury District Hospital along with Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey after being exposed to the novichok agent on March 4. The hospital confirmed on Friday that all three patients had now been discharged. Treatment of such patients involves stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned, it said. Sergei Skripal and his daughter were treated at Salisbury District Hospital (Steve Parsons/PA) Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital, said: We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal. This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital. Treating him and the other two people poisoned by this nerve agent, while still providing outstanding care to the other patients who rely on our hospital, has been a huge and unprecedented challenge that Im proud our staff at Salisbury Hospital have risen to. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from hospital more than two months after being exposed to a nerve agent along with his daughter. Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, 33, were admitted to Salisbury District Hospital after coming into contact with the military-grade nerve agent novichok. The pair were left fighting for their lives after being found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on March 4. Personnel in hazmat suits work to secure a tent covering a bench in Salisbury, where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill after exposure to a nerve agent (Andrew Matthews/PA) Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, of Wiltshire Police, was also admitted to Salisbury District Hospital after being exposed to the nerve agent. In a statement on Friday morning, the hospital said all three patients had now been released. DS Bailey went home on March 22, while Ms Skripal was discharged on April 10. A hospital spokesman said: While these patients have now been discharged, their right to patient confidentiality remains and limits us from giving detailed accounts of the treatment these individuals received. However, treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned. Sergei Skripal and his daughter were treated at Salisbury District Hospital (Steve Parsons/PA) A small amount of novichok is thought to have been used in liquid form to target former Russian agent Mr Skripal and his daughter. The attack in March sparked a wave of diplomatic expulsions by Britain and its allies, and retaliatory ones by Russia. Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility for the attack. NHS England medical director Prof Steve Powis commends the NHS staff who saved the lives of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Det Sgt Bailey @SalisburyNHS https://t.co/NSNYBetapB pic.twitter.com/WNOnOx9ySL NHS England Media (@NHSEnglandMedia) May 18, 2018 Hospital chief executive Cara Charles-Barks described Mr Skripals discharge as fantastic news. That he, Yulia and DS Bailey have been able to leave us so soon after coming into contact with this nerve agent is thanks to the hard work, skill and professionalism of our clinicians, who provide outstanding care to all our patients, day in and day out, she said. This has been a difficult time for those caught up in this incident the patients, our staff and the people of Salisbury. I want to thank the public for their support, and I want to pay a special tribute to both the clinical staff here at the trust and those who work so hard behind the scenes. Theyve demonstrated the very best of the NHS. Update from Salisbury Hospital: https://t.co/94XrdcdTrZ Salisbury Hospital (@SalisburyNHS) May 18, 2018 Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital, said Mr Skripals discharge was an important stage in his recovery. Treating him and the other two people poisoned by this nerve agent, while still providing outstanding care to the other patients who rely on our hospital, has been a huge and unprecedented challenge that Im proud our staff at Salisbury Hospital have risen to, she said. Professor Steve Powis, medical director of NHS England, said: I would like to thank the nurses, doctors, and all the other staff whose skills, compassion and dedication have saved the lives of Yulia and Sergei Skripal and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey. Prof Powis described their remarkable recovery as a reminder of the world-class treatment and care available at local hospitals around the country. Tottenham youngster Keanan Bennetts is the latest Premier League prospect to head to the Bundesliga after joining Borussia Monchengladbach. Here Press Association Sport looks at four other players who have broadened their horizons and moved to Germany in the last couple of seasons. Oliver Burke Oliver Burke caught the eye of RB Leipzig (John Walton/PA) In 2016-17, Kirkcaldy-born Burke raised eyebrows when he joined Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig at the age of 19, going on to make 25 appearances for the Bulls. The Scotland international helped Leipzig to a second-placed finish which earned qualification for the Champions League, before joining West Brom last summer. Ademola Lookman Ademola Lookman was in great form at the end of the Bundesliga season (David Davies/PA) Londoner Lookman has been a real hit in the German top flight, impressing since joining RB Leipzig on loan from Everton at the age of 20. The England Under-21 international forward has netted five goals in 11 games for Leipzig since February, including three in his last two, as they narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification. Reece Oxford West Ham youngster Reece Oxford has had two spells in Germany (Richard Sellers/PA). Bennetts is not the first bright young thing from Britain to move to Borussia Monchengladbach recently. Last summer, aged 18, West Ham prospect Oxford headed to Borussia-Park for a loan deal which ended after four appearances in December. However, the midfielder rejoined the Foals at the end of January, playing four more matches. Jadon Sancho Jadon Sancho has swapped Manchester for Dortmund (John Walton/PA). Manchester City forward Sancho signed for Borussia Dortmund last summer for around 8million. Aged 17, the London-born forward took the number seven shirt previously worn by Barcelona-bound Ousmane Dembele and has since made 12 appearances, netting his first goal in last months 4-0 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen and having a hand in two others. The Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding and join members of the monarchy for Prince Harry and Meghan Markles big day, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. Philip had been in doubt for the royal nuptials after having a planned hip replacement operation at the beginning of April. But royal fans got a boost when he made his first public appearance last week during the Royal Windsor Horse show. He was spotted driving himself around in a Land Rover Freelander as he watched events and chatted to the Queen while sat at the wheel. The Queen chatting to Philip when they both made an appearance at the Royal Windsor Horse show (Steve Parson/PA) For about a month before the operation the duke had complained about trouble with the joint. Philip was admitted to King Edward VII hospital in central London on April 3 and had the planned operation the following day. At the time of the procedure Buckingham Palace said the surgery to replace the joint had been a success and Philip was comfortable and in good spirits. The Duke of Edinburgh leaving King Edward VII hospital where surgeons replaced his hip joint with an prosthetic implant (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The duke will have spent the past six weeks on a rehabilitation programme starting with moving with the aid of a stick or crutches and gradually progressing towards increased mobility. The Queen Mother underwent two successful hip replacement operations in the 1990s, first a planned procedure when aged 95 then later an emergency operation when 97 following a fall. Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi has announced, in what would be the longest uninterrupted period since 2013. The move is meant as a humanitarian gesture during the annual holiday, one of the few occasions in which Egypt allows some Gazans stranded by a 2007 Egypt-Israel blockade to leave and return to the territory ruled by the militant Islamic group Hamas. The announcement came days after Israeli forces shot and killed 59 Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border. Mr el-Sissi wrote on his official Twitter account that the opening would ease the burden on our brothers in the Gaza Strip. (Screenshot/PA) Adham Abu Selmia, head of the Hamas-linked National Committee to Break Gaza Siege, welcomed the extension as a positive step. We hope the crossing will stay open as a normal right, he said, calling for an increase in the number of departures and a faster exit process. The crossing has been open since Saturday so Mr el-Sissis announcement is technically an extension and Egyptian authorities said 510 people crossed on Wednesday, the majority coming from Gaza into Egypt. Palestinians wait with their luggage to cross into Egypt at the Rafah crossing (Khalil Hamra/AP) On Thursday, 541 people crossed from Egypt into Gaza along with dozens of trucks carrying cement, steel, power engines and medical and food aid from the Red Crescent, the officials said. Last month, Hamass Interior Ministry said more than 20,000 people were on exit waiting lists. Through this week, an average of 500 travellers a day moved through the border, mostly leaving. On Friday, travellers were slowly moving toward the crossing, a bus arriving about every hour with people whose names appeared on lists provided by Hamas officials, who oversee who goes through the border. Monday was the deadliest day of cross-border violence in Gaza since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. Capping weeks of protests, about 40,000 Gaza residents descended on the border area. The high number of wounded has overwhelmed the Gaza health system. Palestinian protesters run for cover from Israeli troops (Adel Hana/AP)) Mr el-Sissi said in televised comments earlier this week that Egypt has been communicating with Israel and the Palestinians in an effort to stop the bloodshed. He urged Israel to understand that the Palestinian reactions are legitimate and they should handle it very carefully. In 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza by force, provoking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade that severely restricted the movement of most of Gazas two million inhabitants. The Rafah crossing is Gazas main gate to the outside world but has only had sporadic openings since the 2013 removal of Egypts elected Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, a high-ranking member of Hamass parent group, The Muslim Brotherhood. While Egypt has been struggling with Islamic insurgency for decades, militant attacks increased after Mr Morsis was removed, giving Egyptian authorities more justification to tighten movement to and from Gaza. Over the years, Egypt has opened the crossing for a few days every two to three months. Travelling has mostly been restricted to humanitarian cases, with priority given to medical patients, students admitted to outside universities and Palestinians with residency permits in third countries about to expire. Palestinian-Egyptians and dual-nationals are also eligible to apply. Mr el-Sissis announcement is not expected to ease the lengthy, complicated security procedures that turn Palestinians trips to the Rafah crossing into a hardship. Egypts security and intelligence services haves lists of Palestinians allegedly involved in the Islamic insurgency and anti-government attacks during the 2011 uprising that forced long-time president Hosni Mubarak to step down. The police force in charge of security for the royal wedding has urged well-wishers in Windsor not to throw confetti. Thames Valley said the tradition posed a potential security risk during the Prince Harry and Meghan Markles carriage procession but was also a bit of a pain to clean up. Confetti at the #RoyalWedding Please do not throw confetti or any other items at any time during the day, particularly during the procession. It poses a potential security risk and it's a bit of a pain to clean up! We hope everyone enjoys the day pic.twitter.com/wrMlIe8Hfy Thames Valley Police (@ThamesVP) May 18, 2018 The force said: Please do not throw confetti or any other items at any time during the day, particularly during the procession. It poses a potential security risk and its a bit of a pain to clean up! They added: We hope everyone enjoys the day. Crowds in central London threw confetti during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges wedding day in 2011. Confetti is thrown outside Buckingham Palace for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey (David Bebber/PA) Prince William and Prince Harry also showered their father Prince of Wales and stepmother the Duchess of Cornwall with confetti as the newlyweds left Windsor Castle on the evening of their wedding in 2005. The brothers had also scrawled Just married and Prince and Duchess along with hearts and C+C in white pen on the windows of the car and had attached red, white and blue balloons on one side, and silver heart balloons on the other. The Prince of Wales and new wife Camilla depart Windsor Castle on their wedding day in 2005 (PA) The confetti ivory and pink freeze-dried delphinium petals had been specially ordered by William and Harry. A massive police operation is under way in Windsor with a ring of steel surrounding the town centre for the wedding at St Georges Chapel on Saturday. Some 100,000 people are expected to travel to the Berkshire tourist destination in the hope of catching a glimpse of the bride and groom. It is the largest ever police operation in the history of Thames Valley Police. A chimney sweep used his poles to help firefighters rescue two tiny kittens trapped in an underground pipe. The pair of four-week-old kittens got stuck in the 18ft-long sewage pipe which is 6ft underground in Grays, Essex. A concerned member of the public heard cat noises coming from underground and called the RSPCA, who in turn called firefighters and a chimney sweep. Chimney sweep David ODonnell used his poles to help rescue two kittens trapped in a sewage pipe in Grays, Essex. (RSPCA/ PA) David ODonnell, from Essex & Suffolk Sweeps, used a camera on a pole to locate the kittens. He then blocked one of the entrances with his pole, allowing firefighters to hose water through the pipe and gently flush the kittens to safety. RSPCA animal collection officer Anna Glozier said the layout of the drain made it very difficult to find the kittens and it took three and a half hours to free them. The sewage pipe where two kittens got trapped in Grays, Essex. (RSPCA/ PA) It was great team work by all involved, she said. I think these cats have definitely used up one of their nine lives. Chimney sweep Mr ODonnell said: Im just glad everything turned out alright for these poor cats. I was on my way between jobs but took a detour as I wanted to help in any way that I could. It certainly was one of my more unusual days at work. The kittens, who were rescued on May 11, are now in RSPCA care recovering from their ordeal. The charity said it is likely they were strays but if anyone recognises them they can call the RSPCA on 0300 123 4999. Once the kittens are fit and well they will be able to be rehomed. A police race relations adviser who was Tasered in the face by one of the forces own officers had frequently been mistaken for a suspect, a court has heard. Members of Avon and Somerset Police wrongly identified Judah Adunbi as a man with an arrest warrant against his name on several occasions before and after Pc Claire Boddie unlawfully discharged the weapon on January 14 last year, Salisbury Magistrates Court was told. Boddie, 47, believes she used reasonable force when she Tasered the 64-year-old in the street outside his Bristol home and is standing trial after denying assault by beating. Pc Claire Boddie is accused of assault by beating over the incident involving Judah Adunbi (Ben Birchall/PA) Richard Posner, prosecuting, said Mr Adunbi became increasingly frustrated and swore at officers when they approached him at around 9am as he walked to his back door off Colston Road in the Easton area of the city, because he had been mistaken for a suspect before. He refused to identify himself, as was his legal right, but a scuffle ensued and he was hit in the jaw with the Taser, the court heard. There were gasps of Oh my God from the public gallery, which was packed with supporters of the black African, as they watched footage of their friend falling to the ground from the blow. Giving evidence, Mr Adunbi said: I heard a noise. Then it felt like my head was frying. In body-worn camera footage shown to the court, both officers told Mr Adunbi they believed he looked like Royston McCalla a suspect wanted by police for failing to turn up to court who had warnings for violence and weapons on his file. Mr Adunbi repeatedly shouts at them to leave him alone, claiming they were victimising him, he was being pursued for no f****** reason and the officers were racist. Race relations adviser Judah Adunbi had been mistaken for a suspect before, the court heard (Ben Birchall/PA) In the video, when asked to give his name he can be heard saying: Why are you following me around? F****** leave me alone. Dont ask me any questions, I dont give a damn. Go and find who youre looking for. Im not giving you my name, because it is my right. I have done no wrong. I dont have to tell you sweet jack. You wanna arrest me? Go on. Arrest me. Mr Posner said Mr Adunbi had his hands by his side before the alleged assault, and in footage he appears to have pushed away from the officers and stands apart from them in the street. As he fell to the ground, a bystander who was filming the incident, can be heard telling the police: That was totally uncalled for and unnecessary. At this point Mr Adunbi throws his wallet on the floor, pointing to it and repeatedly yelling at officers: Theres my ID, check my ID, why wont you check my ID, before giving his full name. Mr Posner said: He made it clear it was not him. He wasnt under arrest. He was upset and swore at the defendant. There was no good reason for (discharging the Taser). It was not in self-defence, it was not in defence of Pc Darren Weston, and in doing so Claire Boddie demonstrated an unlawful use of force to affect an arrest. The trial continues. With royal wedding fever gripping the nation, fans were gearing up to celebrate Prince Harry and Meghan Markles big day in spectacular style. With excitement growing as the hours count down to the ceremony, wedding watchers donned their finery to provide a colourful backdrop to proceedings. Close up and personal: Rebecca Hiliard , Caroline Wagstaff and Jean Hood pose with a cut out of Harry and Meghan in Windsor ahead of the wedding (Owen Humphreys/PA) Pleased to meet you: Royal fans greet each other as they take their positions outside Windsor Castle (Gareth Fuller/PA) Camping out: Fans make sure they get the best spot to view the big day (Owen Humphreys/PA) Three cheers: Excited wedding fans get in the party spirit (Owen Humphreys/PA) Flying the flag: fans don their `wedding best (Owen Humphreys/PA) Nap time: Its tiring work keeping hold of the best spot to view proceedings (Gareth Fuller/PA) Global appeal: Fans have flown from around the world to see the royal wedding (Gareth Fuller/PA) Time for a stroll: Fans take a wander around Windsor before the Big Day (Owen Humphreys/PA) A head start: Top hats are the order of the day to mark the celebrations (Gareth Fuller/PA) Wedding finery: T-shirt at the ready, a fan shows off her attire for the wedding surrounded by flags and balloons (Owen Humphreys/PA) Picture perfect: one fan pays homage to the royal couple with a colourful montage (Gareth Fuller/PA) The real deal? Two schoolgirls wave at a cut-out of the Queen in Windsor (Owen Humphreys/PA) Trading in: Souvenir sellers show off their wares in Windsor (Steve Parsons/PA) Vicky Compsons Windsor wedding was a little different to what she had been expecting, with thousands of well-wishers, media from around the world and a police escort. Having booked to get married to Aron Hallam on Friday May 18 nine months ago, the couple were expecting a quiet ceremony with about 30 guests. But Prince Harry and Meghan Markle changed all that. The happy couple outside Windsor Guildhall following their wedding (Ben Birchall/PA) Ms Compson left her hotel opposite the castle at 12.30pm and made the short journey to Windsors Guildhall past cheering crowds, overwhelmed with wedding fever. Hundreds of strangers surged forward, smartphones in hand, seemingly treating this special day as a warm-up for tomorrow. Before the ceremony, Laura Davis, a friend of the bride, who lives just outside Windsor, said she has never seen the town like this. Its crazy. Absolutely mad, she said, as armed police officers walked past, and an Elton John impersonator sang into a microphone for a Canadian radio station. But Vicky is buzzing. Shes such an outgoing person anyway so Im sure shes loving it. Once inside the relative calm of the historic towns Guildhall, just next door to the Prince Harry pub, Ms Compson, 33 and Mr Hallam, 34, exchanged their vows and headed back to the melee outside. Confetti was thrown and cameras from television networks in France, Australia and the UK were all rolling. Mr Hallam, beaming from ear to ear, said: Its been absolutely lovely. If Id have known I was going to be on the news I might have been a bit more reserved, but I just want to put it on the record. I booked it first. His new wife was quick to say the same. This was booked in August. I was well in there before Meghan, she said. They shut the road off, I got a police escort, everyone cheered, it was pretty unreal really. Its been fun. The couple, from Datchet, in Berkshire have been together 15 years and engaged for three years. They will honeymoon in Malta, where they will finally find some peace and quiet. A rare attack by a dolphin on porpoises has been captured on camera in the north of Scotland. Photographers initially thought the bottlenose dolphin was throwing a large salmon into the air as they feed on the species but a closer look at the pictures revealed the rare sight. The pictures were taken by Jamie Muny and Alister Kemp at Chanonry Point in the Moray Firth earlier this month. Photographers caught the rare sight on May 9 and 11 (Jamie Muny/PA) Sea Watch Foundation, a national charity that monitors the numbers and distributions of whales, dolphins and porpoises around the British Isles, said it had been alerted to a series of unusual sightings of bottlenose dolphin attacks in the Moray Firth and described the pictures as exceptional. Mr Kemp said: In the hundreds if not thousands of hours Ive spent photographing the dolphins, I have never witnessed such an attack. The exact reason for the attacks is not known (Jamie Muny/PA) Chiara Giulia Bertulli, sightings officer for Sea Watch Foundation, said: The cause of these incidents is not clear but aggressive interactions could be due to the high co-occurrence of the two species which can result in competition over a shared food resource, occasionally leading to the death of the smaller species, although other theories have included misdirected infanticide. The changing testosterone levels in male dolphins could also influence the extent and seasonality of these attacks. The waters in the UK are incredibly rich for whales, dolphins and porpoises, and reporting sightings, whether they are of species displaying unusual behaviours or not, is a really important for Sea Watch as they are way to learn more about the many cetacean species occurring around the UK. A police officer has been cleared of unlawfully Tasering her forces own race relations adviser in the face after he was mistaken for a suspect. District Judge Tan Ikram found Avon and Somerset Police officer Claire Boddie, 47, not guilty of assault by beating at Salisbury Magistrates Court on Friday. The acting sergeant stood trial after being accused of unlawfully discharging a Taser and hitting Judah Adunbi, 64, in Bristol on January 14 last year. The court heard he had repeatedly been mistaken for a suspect before and after the incident. Judah Adunbi, a police race relations adviser, was Tasered in the face (Ben Birchall/PA) There was silence in the court as the verdict was announced and the 47-year-old sat in the dock looking at the floor. Mr Adunbi and his supporters left the room immediately after the judge left. Judge Ikram said: The issue for me is whether the prosecution have persuaded me that she didnt act in self-defence. The prosecution failed to persuade me and she is found not guilty of assault for that reason. The Prince of Wales will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle before she exchanges vows with Prince Harry. But what is the venue hosting the royal wedding? The stunning 15th century gothic St Georges Chapel is set in the Lower Ward of the Queens beloved Windsor Castle. Steeped in history, it offers Prince Harry and Meghan Markle a slightly more intimate venue for their wedding, but one that is still appropriately grand. The funeral of the Queens father, King George VI, took place at St Georges in 1952. Like Westminster Abbey, the chapel is known as a Royal Peculiar, with the Dean of Windsor responsible only to the sovereign. The church, a place of worship for the Queen and her family, is often at the heart of royal events, with the Windsors gathering there each year for Easter services, and in the past for occasions such as the service to mark the Duke of Edinburghs 90th birthday. Within the chapel are the tombs of 10 sovereigns as well as George VI, the remains of Edward IV, Henry VI, Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, the beheaded Charles I, George III, George IV, William IV, Edward VII and George V also rest there. Construction of the chapel was started in 1475 by Edward IV, and completed under Henry VIII in 1528. The Quire in St Georges Chapel (Dominic Lipinski/PA) It is the Chapel of the Order of the Garter, the senior order of chivalry in England, established in 1348 by Edward III. Each year in June, royals who are Knights and Ladies of the Garter process in carriages from the state apartments down the hill to the chapel for the traditional Order of the Garter ceremony. They dress in their Garter robes heavy blue velvet capes and black velvet hats with elaborate white ostrich plumes. On each side of the choir are the 15th century carved stalls of the Knights and Ladies of the Garter. Between eight and 10 people have been killed in a high school shooting in Texas, most of them students, according to police. Officers said two people believed to be students have been detained after the incident at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles south east of Houston. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said a police officer was injured but the extent of the officers injuries is unknown. School Shooting in Texas (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) Vice president Mike Pence said he and President Donald Trump have been briefed on the shooting. He said the students, families, teachers and all those affected should know: Were with you. Youre in our prayers and I know you are in the prayers of the American people. Mr Trump added in a tweet: Early reports not looking good. God bless all! First lady Melania Trump tweeted: My heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today. At least one gunman has opened fire at a Texas high school, killing eight to 10 people, most of them pupils, authorities said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he could not be precise about the number of deaths at Santa Fe High School. Two suspects believed to be students are in custody. Authorities said possible explosive devices have been found at the school and experts are in the process of rendering them safe. Theres no indication how many devices have been found. Police asked the public to remain vigilant and to call 911 if they see any suspicious items. It was the nations deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and re-energised the gun-control movement after surviving teenagers launched a campaign for reform. School officials confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but would not release further details. A school police officer is being treated in hospital, the sheriff said, but there was no immediate word on the extent of his injuries. We hope the worst is over, and I really cant say any more about that because it would be pure speculation, assistant principal Cris Richardson told reporters at the scene. Police officers in tactical gear at Santa Fe High School (Kevin M Cox/Galveston County Daily News/AP) Aerial footage showed students standing in a grassy field and three medical helicopters landing at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 residents about 30 miles south east of Houston. School officials said police were working to secure the building and move pupils to another location to reunite with their parents. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. She said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting ( Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle/AP) We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, Start running, the student told the television station. She said she did not get a good look at the gunman because she was running away. She said students escaped through a door at the back of the classroom. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was responding to the shooting. After the February 14 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors pulled all-nighters, petitioned city councils and state legislators, and organised protests in a grassroots movement. Within weeks, state legislators adopted changes, including new weapons restrictions. The move cemented the gun-friendly states break with the National Rifle Association, and the NRA fought back with a lawsuit. In late March, the teenagers spearheaded one of the largest student protest marches since Vietnam in Washington and inspired hundreds of other marches from California to Japan. Prince Harry has greeted well-wishers outside Windsor Castle on the eve of his wedding to Meghan Markle who says she is feeling wonderful. Harry and Meghan will spend their last night as an unmarried couple in separate luxury hotels, only meeting again at the altar on Saturday. Joined by his brother and best man, the Duke of Cambridge, Harry looked relaxed during the 10-minute walkabout. Wearing an open-necked white shirt and light jacket, he waved to the crowds and chatted to his brother before making a beeline to talk to a young girl waiting among the crowds outside. Prince Harry during a walkabout in Windsor to meet members of the public ahead of his wedding to Meghan Markle this weekend. And the bride-to-be said she was feeling wonderful as she arrived with her mother Doria Ragland at the luxury Cliveden House Hotel after meeting the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for afternoon tea. The bride and groom-to-be were also present. Meghan, with an arm briefly around her mother, smiled broadly and looked at ease as they were greeted by the hotel general manager. Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, arriving at Cliveden House Hotel on the National Trusts Cliveden Estate to spend the night before her wedding to Prince Harry. The surprise walkabout by the brothers echoed the eve of Williams own wedding in 2011 when the pair greeted royal fans with an impromptu public appearance on The Mall in central London. Harry shook hands with dozens of well-wishers who shouted good luck to the groom. At one point the prince was handed a small teddy bear wearing a red sweater, which he gave a quick hug before moving on to speak to a young boy sporting a red, white and blue crown-style hat. When asked how he was feeling, Harry replied: Great. The prince appeared to have a neatly-trimmed beard in preparation for his big day. Prince Harry meet members of the public outside Windsor Castle ahead of his wedding to Meghan Markle this weekend. Fans, many decked out in the national colours of both Britain and the United States, are camped outside the castle and have been singing loudly in readiness for the festivities. It was announced earlier that the Prince of Wales is to step in for the father of the bride and walk Meghan down the aisle. Kensington Palace said that Charles would give his soon-to-be daughter-in-law away when she marries Prince Harry on Saturday in the historic surroundings of St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle. The palace said the American former actress had asked her future father-in-law to accompany her as she makes her way to the altar. In statement, Kensington Palace said: Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St Georges Chapel on her Wedding Day. The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to The Royal Family in this way. Meghans father Thomas Markle was forced to pull out of performing the fatherly duty after undergoing heart surgery in a dramatic upset just two days before the wedding. An update on the #RoyalWedding: pic.twitter.com/wfJ6ZFyzHi The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 18, 2018 Charles previously performed the duty for Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, Lord Brabourne, in 2016. A large security operation saw police manning the barricades outside the castle, snipers on the roofs of high street buildings and sniffer dogs carrying out checks before Saturdays ceremony. A police force has been accused of being institutionally racist despite one of its officers being cleared of assault after one of the forces own race relations advisers was Tasered in the face after repeatedly being mistaken for a suspect. Supporters of Judah Adunbi, a 64-year-old black African man from Bristol, lashed out at Avon and Somerset Police after acting sergeant Claire Boddie was acquitted. She had been accused of unlawfully discharging a Taser in the Easton area of the city on January 14 last year when Mr Adunbi refused to confirm his identity. She said he looked familiar to a suspect wanted on an arrest warrant. Claire Boddie was cleared by a judge (Ben Birchall/PA) The 47-year-olds trial heard how the force had mistaken Mr Adunbi for Royston McCalla on several occasions. In a slip of the tongue in court, her defence solicitor Richard Shepherd even mixed up the names, addressing Mr Adunbi as Mr McCalla. Members of the public exclaimed and Mr Shepherd apologised for the error. Desmond Brown, an equality campaigner who sits on several police and council boards in Bristol, accused the force of being institutionally racist when he spoke to reporters outside court. The gated entrance and garages on King Street, Easton, Bristol, where Judah Adunbi was Tasered (Ben Birchall/PA) Sporting a t-shirt with the slogan I Am Judah, Mr Brown told the Press Association: This was an opportunity for UK justice to be a shining beacon as we are always told it is. Justice doesnt work for people of colour in Bristol. There is a disturbing pattern. It feels like trying to move a dinosaur that doesnt want to change. We are now considering civil action and will continue to fight for justice and equality. Judah Adunbi, a police race relations adviser, was Tasered in the face (Ben Birchall/PA) Mr Adunbi said: I hope the fact this prosecution was brought will mean other black people will not be Tasered in the face when out walking their dog; and the police will finally realise that not all black people look or act the same. Supporters also hit out with claims Ms Boddie was given special treatment because she was a police officer. Persistent requests were made for the case be heard in Bristol but it was moved to Salisbury. When arriving at court, the defendant was whisked through a back door away to avoid the main entrance. Activist Desmond Brown outside court (Flora Thompson/PA) The press is banned from publishing her street address, a routine detail in court proceedings to identify a defendant, because her solicitor said it put her at risk. The judge did order her details to be recorded by the court to show that everyone was seen to be treated fairly under the law. Prosecutors refused to release footage shown as evidence in the trial which would normally be published. Ms Boddies solicitor failed in a bid to stop Mr Adunbi giving evidence. When he did try to speak in detail, Mr Shepherd said his grandstanding was not relevant to the case. The judge made Ms Boddie enter the dock like any other defendant after it was asked she be excused from doing so. A police officer has been cleared of assault following a Taser incident in #Bristol last year following a trial in Salisbury today. Our full statement can be found here: https://t.co/3QKC5jeeKq pic.twitter.com/6W7evacM7j Avon and Somerset Police (@ASPolice) May 18, 2018 The trial heard how Mr Adunbi claimed the officers were victimising him because it was not the first time they had mistaken him for the defendant. They approached him from behind as he walked home with his dog and a scuffle ensued after he repeatedly told them to leave him alone and refused to give his name. He told the court he felt like his head was frying after falling to the floor from the Taser blow. Ms Boddie said she acted with reasonable force in defence of herself and fellow officer Pc Darren Weston, seeing Mr Adunbi as a danger because he had keys in his hand and had made verbal threats. He later used them to open a gate at his home. District Judge Tan Ikram said Ms Boddie was well-trained, experienced and with an unblemished record but the officers did make a mistake in wrongfully identifying Mr Adunbi. He described him as uncooperative with police, but said this was his right. He said the prosecution failed in its attempts to persuade him she had not acted in self-defence. Ms Boddie now faces a gross misconduct hearing after The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found she had a case to answer but this does not include allegations she discriminated against Mr Adunbi. Deputy Chief Constable Sarah Crew, who leads the forces diversity and inclusion board, said: Were proud of the positive engagement we already have with our multi-cultural neighbourhoods but we know theres more work to do and conversations to be had to improve our understanding of those who live in our communities, their concerns, the issues they face and our relationships with them. The force has a string of groups dedicated to this work, supports organisations like the Black Police Association, conducts outreach programmes while Independent Advisory Groups, of which Mr Adunbi was a member, are undergoing a review, she said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) Actor and former tourism official Mark Lapid, as well as several former and current Cabinet chiefs including former Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo face graft raps for an alleged anomalous deal to operate Boracay's sewerage system. The complaint was filed at the Ombudsman by Rod Padilla and Roberto Gelito, who identified themselves as residents of the island, on May 8 at the Office of the Ombudsman. Also implicated in the complaint as members of the TIEZA board are several of President Rodrigo Duterte's and former President Benigno Aquino III's cabinet secretaries including Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, Interior Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing, former Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, former Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, and former Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez. Also implicated as part of the TIEZA board are former Secretary Teo's husband, Roberto Teo, and Tourism Promotions Board Chief Cesar Montano. They also included Virgilio Rivera Jr. as Group Director for Regulation and Corporate Development of Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWCI), Luis Juan Oreta, Frank Beaumont, and Jose Rene Almendras as the incorporators of the Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC). Almendras later headed the Department of Energy from 2010 to 2012. The complainants alleged Lapid violated Section 3 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. 3019) when the Philippine Tourism Agency (now TIEZA) that he headed, on April 21, 2009, went into a joint venture with MWCI to operate, manage and maintain the sewerage systems of Boracay. MWCI and PTA created BIWC through their joint venture agreement. According to the complaint, the P300 million total annual capital of BIWC was split 80-20 percent between MWCI and PTA (later, TIEZA) favoring MWCI, a private company. The complainants argued that the deal greatly disadvantaged the government, as MWCI has majority control of BIWC. "As a consequence of this clever scheme through the questioned Joint Venture Agreement, the PTA was illegally deprived of its income, particularly the Concession Fees equivalent to five percent of the gross income of the Joint Venture Company," the complaint read. They also argue that the PTA had rigged the competitive challenge for public-private ventures in granting MWCI the contract to operate the island's sewerage system. "Respondents, in connivance with one another, violated Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 for giving MWCI unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference through manifest partiality when they rigged the process of PTA in selecting MWCI as its joint venture partner for the project contrary to the [Joint Venture] Guidelines," read the complaint. The complainants said had Lapid followed proper procedure, the PTA would have published the invitation to challenge MWCI's proposal within 7 days after it had publicly announced the said proposal through a resolution. The PTA issued a resolution on March 5, 2009 and announced the challenge on March 17, 2009. The complainants argued they should have announced the challenge on March 12 at the latest. The body then awarded the contract to MWCI on April 14 of the same year. The complainants argued that according to the guidelines for joint ventures, private companies should be given 30 days to respond to a challenge. Had the PTA issued the challenge on March 12, then the award should have been granted on April 12. CNN Philippines has reached out to those named in the complaint for comment. Prince Harry is one of us, Lesothos Prince Seeiso has said ahead of the royal wedding. Harry, who marries Meghan Markle on Saturday, has had a long relationship with the African nation, having visited during his 2004 gap year. Seeiso said the children at Sentebale, the HIV charity he formed with Harry, would make Ms Markle most welcome. Harry with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho on stage during a Sentebale concert in Kensington Palace Gardens (Tabatha Fireman/PA) For us, Harry is one of us. (That) he is taking a person who has African roots again cements our love for Harry and his respect for the African continent, he told ITV News. Seeiso also praised his fellow prince for giving his energy, passion and love for the children during visits. Harry and Prince Seeiso during the prize giving ceremony after taking part in a fundraising polo match (Chris Radburn/PA) The children of Lesotho have been as honest with him, as open with him as humanly possible. Because they see him as one of their own, Seeiso, 52, said. They dont see him as an invader, an intruder, a white prince coming from London to Lesotho just to show face. Some 10 people are dead and 10 more wounded after a shooting at a high school in the town of Santa Fe, Texas governor Greg Abbott has said. He said Fridays shooting was one of the most heinous attacks that weve ever seen in the history of Texas schools. Mr Abbott said explosive devices including a molotov cocktail had been found in the suspected shooters home and a vehicle, as well as around the school and nearby. The suspect said he originally intended to commit suicide but gave himself up and told authorities he did not have the courage to take his own life, the governor said. Mr Abbott said there are one or two other people of interest being interviewed about the shooting. He said the suspect used a shotgun and .38 revolver, which he obtained from his father. Mr Abbott said both weapons were owned legally by the suspects father. It is not clear whether the father knew his son had taken them. He said: We look to God to give the first responders, as well as the victims and the families, the guidance they need in the coming days and weeks. Mr Abbott said he will organise meetings around the state to discuss preventing further shootings. Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting ( Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle/AP) A law enforcement official has identified the person in custody as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis The district confirmed a number of injuries. A school police officer was shot, officials said, but there was no immediate word on his condition. Michael Farina, 17, said he was on the other side of campus when the shooting began and thought it was a fire drill. He was holding a door open for students in wheelchairs when a principal came running down the hall telling everyone to run. Another teacher yelled: It is real. Students were led to take cover behind a car shop across the street from the school. Some still did not feel safe and began jumping the fence behind it to run further away, Mr Farina said. I debated doing that myself, he said. Aerial footage showed students standing in a grassy field and three medical helicopters landing at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 people roughly 30m (48km) south-east of Houston. One student told Houston television station KTRK a gunman came into her art class and started shooting. She said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, Start running, the student said. Vice President Mike Pence said he and President Donald Trump were briefed on the shooting. Mr Pence said the students, families, teachers and all those affected should know: Were with you. Youre in our prayers and I know you are in the prayers of the American people. Mr Trump added in a tweet that that early reports were not looking good. God bless all! First lady Melania Trump also weighed in on Twitter, saying her heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today. Three survivors have reportedly been taken to hospital in a critical condition after a plane crashed on take-off from an airport in Cuba. The Boeing 737 operated by Cubana de Aviacion crashed after leaving Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. The plane, with 104 passengers and nine foreign crew aboard, ploughed into a farm field where firefighters sprayed the charred fuselage with hoses. Residents living near the site said they saw at least some survivors being taken away in ambulances. A military officer said there appear to have been three survivors in a critical condition. There were more than 100 passengers on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) Its a disaster, the officer said. State media also reported there were three survivors. An employee of a Mexican charter firm said the plane belonged to the company and it had a six-person Mexican crew. My daughter is 24, my God, shes only 24! cried Beatriz Pantoja. Her daughter Leticia was on board the plane. She and other family members were rushed to a private area inside an airport terminal in the afternoon. The plane crashed as it took off from an airport in Havana (Ramon Espinosa/AP) Cubana has placed many of its planes out of service due to maintenance problems in recent months. An employee who answered the phone at the Mexico City office of Aerolinea Global Air said that the Mexican crew included a pilot and a co-pilot. Firefighters rushed to extinguish flames engulfing the plane, which was meant to be on a short jaunt to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin. Government officials including President Miguel Diaz-Canel rushed to the site, along with a large number of emergency medical workers. On Thursday, Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa met with Cubana officials to discuss improvements to its service. The airline is notorious for its frequent delays and cancellations, which Cubana blames on a lack of parts and planes due to the US trade embargo on the island. Fridays crash was Cubas third major accident since 2010. Hundreds of happy campers have bedded down for the night outside Windsor Castle to grab the best spot ahead of Saturdays Royal Wedding. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are due to marry on Saturday afternoon, and hundreds of people have travelled from all over the world to see the pair say I do. With Union Flag camping chairs and Royal bunting in hand, the overnight revellers began filling up the pavements of Windsor as early as 10am on Friday in a bid to secure the best vantage points. Royal enthusiasts wrapped up warm to see out the night in the hope of catching a glimpse of the happy couple during the wedding of the year. Prince Harry met members of the public outside Windsor Castle the day before his wedding (Jonathan Brady/PA) Nicky and Matt Pruner, from California, extended their holiday in the UK for an extra week so they could be in Windsor for the Royal Wedding. Nicky Pruner, 62, said: I camped out all night at Kate and Williams wedding and I said I would never do it again and here I am. Matt Pruner, 63, added: It feels like a festival, except this one has a meaning. It just gives hope to the world. We are very excited to be here. Travelling a more modest distance to set up an overnight camp in Windsor was Claire Aston, 74, from Ealing, west London. She said: I slept out three nights for William and Kates wedding and three nights for Charles and Dianas. You would think Im old enough to know better than to camp outside, but rather stay at home in a comfy bed. But Im a Londoner we can do this sort of thing! Ms Aston, who managed to catch a glimpse of William and Harry earlier in the evening as they greeted crowds outside the Castle, said shes looking forward to the big day. Its always a lovely crowd. You meet like-minded people with tales to tell, she said. Im very excited for tomorrow. I wish them the very best of luck, she added. Boris Johnson will venture into the Amazon jungle to drum up support for trade with Britain after Brexit. The foreign secretary will touch down in Latin America as part of a five-day tour of Peru, Argentina and Chile. Mr Johnson will also view the front line efforts against the battle against the illegeal trade in wildlife. He will be the first foreign secretary to visit Argentina since 1993, as the UK tries to reset a relationship with Buenos Aires. Foreign secretary Boris Johnson will touch down in Latin America as part of a five-day tour of Peru, Aregentina and Chile Mr Johnson will be the first foreign secretary to visit Argentina since 1993, as the UK tries to reset a relationship with Buenos Aires The capital city was thrust into the deep freeze by the bellicose approach to the Falklands of presidents Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Kirchner between 2003 and 2015. The arrival of Mauricio Macri as president has seen Argentina dial down its rhetoric on the disputed islands and seek engagement with the wider world, including by hosting the G20 this year. Mr Johnson will attend a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Buenos Aires on Monday. Theresa May is also due to become the first prime minister since Tony Blair in 2001 to visit Argentina by taking part in the leaders' summit in November. Britain is already using its experience from the 2012 London Olympics to support Peru's preparations for next year's Pan Am Games in Lima, with construction contracts linked to the sporting spectacle likely to attract bids from UK firms. The capital city was thrust into the deep freeze by the bellicose approach to the Falklands of presidents Nestor Kirchner, left, and Cristina Kirchner, right, between 2003 and 2015. Mr Johnson will be joined on his trip to the Peruvian jungle by President Martin Vizcarra The three South American countries on Mr Johnson's itinerary are viewed as key targets for enhanced UK exports after Brexit. They are revered for their support for free trade and their growing middle classes creating a market for British expertise in areas such as infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and professional services. The UK currently provides only about 1% of imports in each country a figure which London believes should be higher. Peru and Chile already have free trade agreements with the EU, which the UK hopes can be rolled over after Brexit. Mr Johnson will be joined on his trip to the Peruvian jungle by President Martin Vizcarra. The pair will see the work of an animal rescue centre as well as launching a UK-funded solar project providing electricity and drinking water for a remote Amazonian school. Theresa May is also due to become the first prime minister since Tony Blair in 2001 to visit Argentina by taking part in the leaders' summit in November The visit to Peru the first by a British foreign secretary for more than 50 years forms part of preparations for a major international conference on the illegal wildlife trade, hosted by the UK in London in October. Speaking ahead of the visit, Mr Johnson said: 'This will be my first visit to the region since becoming Foreign Secretary. 'Latin America is a vibrant and dynamic part of the world that works closely with the UK on a number of issues including trade, security, science, infrastructure and education, among others. 'I am looking forward to strengthening the UK's relationship with countries in the region, as well as representing the UK at the G20 foreign ministers' meeting for important talks on climate change, the illegal wildlife trade and how to ensure girls across the world receive 12 years of quality education.' As well as attending the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Mr Johnson is due to hold talks with President Macri and foreign minister Jorge Faurie. In Chile, he will meet President Sebastian Pinera and foreign minister Roberto Ampuero as well as visiting a British Council-funded project which aims to train young women in coding skills. ISTANBUL, May 17 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities on Thursday detained 33 members of the air force over alleged links to the U.S.-based cleric Ankara blames for a July 2016 failed military coup, the Hurriyet daily said. It said those detained were among 101 members of the air force facing arrest in an investigation launched by Ankara prosecutors and spread across 21 other provinces. Those ordered detained included a brigadier-general and five colonels, Hurriyet added. Authorities have carried out such sweeps against alleged supporters of the cleric Fethullah Gulen on a regular basis since the coup attempt of July 2016, in which 250 people were killed. Gulen denies involvement. Turkey has detained 160,000 people and dismissed nearly the same number of civil servants since the putsch attempt, the U.N. human rights office said in March. Of that number, more than 50,000 have been formally charged and kept in jail during trial. Turkey's Western allies have criticised the crackdown. Critics of President Tayyip Erdogan accuse him of using the failed putsch to quash dissent. Turkey says the measures are necessary to combat threats to national security. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen Editing by Dominic Evans) BRASILIA, May 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian police arrested 132 men on Thursday in the country's largest offensive against child pornography on the internet, seizing more than 1 million picture files in 284 cities across the country, the government said. The operation involved 2,600 police officers, who seized computers, thumb drives and cellphones for inspection. Public Security Minister Raul Jungmann said the men arrested in the operation faced charges of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. Under Brazilian law, anyone found in possession of child pornography can face a prison sentence of up to four years, increasing to six years for selling pictures and eight years for producing pornographic material with children. "This was the biggest ever coordinated police operation in Brazil and the largest in the world in one single day against the crimes of child abuse and sexual exploitation of children," Jungmann said at a news conference. An earlier operation in October against online child pornography led to the arrest of 112 people. (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca and Anthony Boadle; editing by Jonathan Oatis) May 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian right-wing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro has stirred controversy with comments denigrating women, gay, black and indigenous people that have landed him in court but not erased his early polling lead in the country's October election. His pledges to crack down on crime and corruption have made the former army captain Brazil's most popular politician after former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is serving a prison sentence for corruption. The following are among Bolsonaro's more controversial comments: - During 2016 impeachment proceedings against former leftist President Dilma Rousseff, who was jailed and tortured during Brazil's military dictatorship in the 1970s, Bolsonaro dedicated his vote to the colonel who tortured her. - In 2003, Bolsonaro pushed a congresswoman and told her: "I would never rape you because you do not deserve it." He repeated the comment in 2014 in the chamber and as a result is facing trial for inciting rape. - On a radio program in 2016, Bolsonaro said the error of the dictatorship had been "to torture and not to kill." Brazil's national truth commission found that 440 people died under the 1964-85 military rule, of which 210 disappeared without trace. - Brazil's public prosecutor charged Bolsonaro last month with inciting discrimination against black people, indigenous people, women and gays in public comments he has made, including "If I see two men kissing in the street, I will hit them." - At an event last year in Rio de Janeiro, he said having a daughter, his fifth child after four boys, was a "weakness." - "I would not be able to love a gay son. I would rather he die in an accident," he told Playboy magazine in 2011. - Speaking last year about communities of descendants of escaped slaves, who are protected by Brazil's social programs, Bolsonaro suggested the state was wasting money: "They do nothing! I don't think they even serve for reproduction." - Bolsonaro has criticized Brazil's biggest trading partner. In an interview with Reuters last year, he said: "China is taking over Brazil and that is worrying. They are investing in mining, agriculture, energy, ports and airports." (Reporting by Lais Martins and Anthony Boadle, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) By Melanie Burton and Tom Daly HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters) - The latest step in China's push to develop its commodities derivatives market gets under way on Monday as the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) launches a month-long test of a much-anticipated copper options contract. The options, approved by China's securities regulator in November, are on track to be the country's first industrial options after sugar and soymeal launched last year. An options contract gives the buyer the right - but no obligation - to assume a futures position at a specified price. Simulated trading will begin on the ShFE on May 21, according to a notice on the bourse's website. It will run concurrently with the ShFE's daytime trading hours until June 22, but there will be no night session. No timeframe has been set for the contract to launch for real, but participants expect it before year-end. The options have been touted as a way for Chinese metal firms to manage their price exposure. Traders from units of China Minmetals Corp and Jiangxi Copper, two of China's biggest state-run metals firms, said they would participate in the trial. A trader from international trading house Trafigura said his company would also take part. The traders declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. He Jinbi, chairman and CEO of Maike Metals Group, told Reuters on the sidelines of the LME Asia Week conference in Hong Kong that his company would not participate in the trial but that its brokerage subsidiary, Maike Futures, would. The listed options contracts for the simulation will run from June 2018 to May 2019. But Guy Wolf, global head of market analytics at brokerage Marex Spectron, was sceptical about the project's chances given that the "vast majority of liquidity" on the ShFE is in the front-month copper contract. "You cannot create a liquid options market around an illiquid future," he said. ShFE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on potential liquidity. In a bid to encourage companies to step up and play the role of market makers, the exchange said it would hand out rewards to participants, including two 'first prizes' based on the number of active accounts, average transaction volumes and positions. It did not say what those prizes would be. Market sources said they expected the ShFE to look for market makers for when the contract is up and running, but will probably only take Chinese companies linked to state-owned enterprises or top-tier China brokers rather than any overseas firms. Meanwhile, traders at the industry event in Hong Kong said it was unlikely that Shanghai copper futures would be opened up to international investors in 2018. (Reporting by Melanie Burton and Tom Daly; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Joseph Radford) While commemorating the security forces who sacrificed their lives, all civilians who lost their lives from the day the war began should also be remembered during the war heroes day, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. He said this at the opening of the 'Build Sri Lanka 2013' exhibition in Colombo today. Today is an important day for Sri Lanka as the country is commemorating the end of the war and the emergence of peace. We will also remember the security forces personnel who sacrificed their lives the civilians who died during the armed conflict, he said. Minister Sajith Premadasa said the War Heroes Day is held to pay tribute to the security forces personnel who sacrificed their lives in the exercise of defeating terrorism. "This government will do its utmost for the war heroes and address all their needs, Mr. Premadasa said. (Yohan Perera) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will wait for the Supreme Court's final ruling on the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno before beginning the search for her replacement. Members of the JBC, which screens appointments to the judiciary, reached a consensus Friday not to act on the Supreme Court's directive for them to open the nomination and application for Chief Justice. This was confirmed by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, a member of the council, to CNN Philippines. "There is no permanent vacancy to speak of till the QW (quo warranto) decision attains finality." Guevarra said in a text message. Sereno was removed on May 11 after the High Court granted Solicitor General Jose Calida's quo warranto petition against Sereno. This is a legal proceeding where a person's right to hold office is challenged. The Supreme Court invalidated Sereno's 2012 appointment as Chief Justice for failing to meet the requirement of submitting her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) from 2002 to 2006. The Supreme Court also ordered the JBC to begin the search for Sereno's successor, saying its ruling to remove Sereno from her post is "immediately executory." The Rules of Court states Sereno has 15 days to file an appeal. "It makes sense for the JBC to wait until all legal remedies are exhausted by CJ Sereno to contest the grant by the Supreme Court of the petition for quo warranto against her last May 11," said Sereno's spokesperson Jojo Lacanilao. He added that Sereno intends to file a motion for reconsideration within the prescribed period. Sereno's camp urged the public to let the JBC fulfill their functions, while stressing that the process of selection for vacancies in the court is an internal matter within the jurisdiction of the JBC. President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he does not want a woman to be the next Chief Justice. "Gusto ko 'yung bilib ang tao sa integrity niya [I want someone with integrity]. Of course it could not be a politician, lalo na hindi babae [especially not a woman]," Duterte told reporters in Malacanang on May 15. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was quick to defend the President, saying that what he heard was a question regarding the next Ombudsman. Sereno is the first impeachable official to be ousted without a Senate trial. REUTERS: China denied yesterday that it had offered a package to slash the U.S. trade deficit by up to US$200 billion, hours after it dropped an anti-dumping probe into U.S. sorghum imports in a conciliatory gesture as top officials meet in Washington.U.S. officials had said in Washington on Thursday that China was proposing trade concessions and increased purchases of American goods aimed at cutting the U.S. trade deficit with China by up to US$200 billion a year. This rumor is not true. This I can confirm to you, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news briefing. As I understand, the relevant consultations are ongoing and they are constructive, he said, adding that he could not elaborate on the specifics of the negotiations. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is in Washington this week for talks with U.S. officials led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin aimed at heading off a trade war between the worlds two biggest economies. Earlier yesterday, China announced that it was ending its sorghum investigation, which had effectively halted a trade worth roughly US$1.1 billion last year. The imposition of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on imports of sorghum originating from the United States would have a widespread impact on consumer living costs, and does not accord with the public interest, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement. Getting to a $200 billion reduction of the U.S.-China trade deficit on a sustainable basis would require a massive change in the composition of trade between them, and the news had been met with scepticism from economists. The U.S. goods deficit was US $375 billion last year. One U.S. source said earlier U.S. aircraft maker Boeing Co would be a major beneficiary of the Chinese offer to narrow the trade gap if Trump were to accept it. Boeing is the largest U.S. exporter and already sells about a quarter of its commercial aircraft to Chinese customers. Another person familiar with the talks said the package may include some elimination of Chinese tariffs already in place on about US$4 billion worth of U.S. farm products including fruit, nuts, pork, wine and sorghum. A White House statement described the meetings as part of ongoing trade discussions and said Trump met the Chinese delegation led by Liu and the U.S. team led by Mnuchin. The United States officials conveyed the presidents clear goal for a fair trading relationship with China, the White House said. That top-line number in the Chinese offer would largely match a request presented to Chinese officials by Trump administration officials in Beijing two weeks ago. The two biggest U.S. exports to China were aircraft at US $16 billion last year, and soybeans, at US $12 billion. The United States shipped 4.76 million tonnes of sorghum to China in 2017, worth about US $1.1 billion, accounting for the bulk of Chinese imports of the grain used in animal feed and Chinese liquor. In April, China forced U.S. sorghum exporters to put up a 178.6 percent deposit on the value of sorghum shipments to the country after launching an investigation in February following Trumps imposition of steep tariffs on imports of solar panels and washing machines. Advent of the digital economy has helped improve access to services and information where traditional channels have not been able to deliver. Reinforcing its commitment towards improving digital literacy in Sri Lanka, Facebook has announced the launch of a Digital Literacy Program. The program in partnership with Sarvodaya Fusion's IT Yahamaga initiative in Sinhala and Tamil underscores Facebook's mission of giving people the power to build communities. As part of the program, 20,000 school and university students will be educated over a 1- year period. The program will include students from across different community groups in Colombo, Jaffna, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Matara, Hambantota, Anuradhapura, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ratnapura. The interactive training sessions will include training on safe and responsible use of the internet and contains topics that teach online users on how to think critically online, and effectively identify credible information from questionable information. It also includes empathy as a key value to express online with the aim of not just creating a safer and informed community but one that embraces perspectives and respects differences of opinion. Speaking at the launch of the program, Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director - India, South & Central Asia - Facebook said, Our mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. We believe that when we share information and connect, we achieve extraordinary things. In a young nation like Sri Lanka, with over 5 million Facebook users, whats really needed is a raised awareness about the potential of the internet and the need to remain safe while being online. When this happens, we will see more meaningful and profound online experiences which will ultimately benefit the nation and its economy while strengthening its social fabric Maithree Malwattegoda, General Manager, Sarvodaya Fusion, added, We are delighted with this collaboration with Facebook as it will go a long way in enhancing digital literacy in Sri Lanka. It is important that we make sure that we are putting the right intervention to address the responsible usage of internet. With our reach and experience in e-empowerment of communities at the grassroots and Facebooks technology and online reach, we will work together towards maximizing the potential of the internet for the benefit of young people in Sri Lanka The program will help participants increase awareness of best practices to stay safe online. The internet plays a very large role in the lives of the youth of Sri Lanka and this program will go a long way in training the youth of Sri Lanka who are responsible, well-informed and insightful citizens. Viyathmaga - has been viewed in most sections of the media as an elitist organization with a predominantly Sinhala membership The new regime introduced the 19th Constitutional Amendment debarring dual citizens from contesting Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Sri Lanka Our foremost priority is economic growth to ensure the sustained prosperity and well-being of our people By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Viyathmaga is an organization that claims to be dedicated to the goal of an intellectually inspired Sri Lanka. It is said to possess an elitist membership comprising top level professionals, academics and entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka. The Viyathmaga website describes the organization in the following manner -The Professionals for a Better Future (VIYATHMAGA) is a network of Academics, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs who love the country and wish to contribute actively towards the development of a prosperous Sri Lanka where all citizens can live in peace and harmony. VIYATHMAGA is not a political organisation. It is a civil society movement, wishing to contribute towards the betterment of the country. Viyathmaga articulates its vision as seeking to mobilize the nascent potential of the professionals, academics and entrepreneurs to effectively influence the moral and material development of Sri Lanka in par with the other developed countries where all citizens live in an environment of equity and fair play, with equal opportunities in the advancement of these ideals. Viyathmaga in its mission statement outlines the following objectives - To provide a common forum for Sri Lankan scholars, professionals and academics with patriotism and a sense of purpose, living here and abroad, to network for the noble cause of influencing those policy makers and legislators to steer the country in the correct path with accountability. Conduct Districtwise campaigns and workshops to create broad awareness of the objectives among the like-minded, in order to build up a non-violent, discerning public opinion on matters affecting the livelihood and betterment of all citizens in Sri Lanka. Mobilize the expertise and knowledge of the members of this forum in innovating and developing strategies and policies which would influence the decision making of the government in power, for the greater good of the society. To act as a pressure group to the prospective decision makers in Government and Public bodies to motivate good governance and inculcate democratic values. Identify and project honest, capable and committed individuals in all three tiers of governance. Be an effective and recognized organization capable of interacting with Sri Lankan diaspora domiciled abroad and foreign missions here and abroad for intellectual dialogue on matters concerning Sri Lanka. Notwithstanding its avowed lofty ideals - Viyathmaga - in recent times has been viewed in most sections of the media as an elitist organization with a predominantly Sinhala membership that is determined to enthrone former Defence and Urban Decelopment Secretary Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa known popularly as Gota Rajapaksa or Gota in a powerful politico-administrative position in Sri Lanka. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the chairman of Viyathmaga. Whether this perception is correct or not the current reality today is that a vast number of people share this perception and as is the case in many instances such perceptions are indeed becoming the reality. Viyathmaga Annual General Meeting Viyathmaga held its annual General meeting for 2018 in the form of a convention-seminar in the ballroom of plush Shangri-la Hotel at Galle Face. The keynote speech was by Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Among the invitees were former President and elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Speaker and eldest brother Chamal Rajapaksa, former Economic Development Minister and younger brother Basil Rajapaksa. Gotas nephew and Hambantota MP Namal Rajapaksa was also an invitee but was absent due to an overseas trip. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed made headlines recently by getting re-elected as Premier again at the age of 92. Mahathir Mohammed is regarded as the foster father of the Malaysian Bhumiputra movement that encouraged economic advancement through preferential treatment for those of Malay ethnicity over those of Chinese, Indian and European descent in Malaysia. One of the highlights of Mahathir Mohammeds 22 year rule was his unveiling in 1990 of an economic blueprint phased out over 30 years for the betterment of his country. It was themed as Mahathir Mohammeds Vision for 2020. Likewise in a significant gesture that evoked a sense of Deja Vu vis a vis Mahathir Mohammed, ex-Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his Viyathmaga keynote speech also unveiled his own Vision 2030 for Sri Lanka. It appeared that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa sought to re-invent himself as a man with an economic vision on a political mission. An extensive news report in our sister paper the Daily Financial Times filed by its Editor Nisthar Cassim stated as follows - Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is widely speculated to be a 2019 presidential candidate, yesterday unveiled his vision 2030 for Sri Lanka, promising to transform the economy with futuristic policies and measures but more importantly with the right people and execution. He told a packed audience of over 2,000 professionals, business leaders, diplomats, clergy and politicians at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo that the future window of opportunity for Sri Lanka for faster economic growth hinges on an intellectually and technology competent society via a social open economic policy. Gotabaya was emphatic when he said the foremost priority was economic growth which was the foundation and the cure for all ills of Sri Lanka. He also emphasised that economic growth and law and order went hand in hand. At the forum, which was attended by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya said: An economy is not built merely through policies, programmes, products, capital inflows and exports. It is driven by the humans who power it in many different capacities He said the foremost priority was economic growth which is the foundation and the cure for all ills of Sri Lanka China,India,Japan and Indonesia What do we need as a society? he asked the forum before answering they were a socialist democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice, safety and security and a conducive and sustainable environment. He emphasised that professionals, intellects, business leaders, entrepreneurs and society at large as well as the Government had a collective responsibility to ensure this. Noting that global economic power will shift to Asia by 2030 with the region being home to four of the top five economic powers China, India, Japan and Indonesia Gotabaya asked the forum whether Sri Lanka was ready for this transformation Our foremost priority is economic growth to ensure the sustained prosperity and well-being of our people, Gotabaya said. In that context, he said the challenge was to transform economic growth and the economys structure. This he said could be done only through positive and relevant development initiatives and efficiency of this development process. We will open up (for foreign investors and international partners) whilst safeguarding the sovereignty and cultural values of Sri Lanka. Noting that past and current economic policies must be reviewed and improved to reverse policies that harm the economy, Gotabaya went on to outline his vision. Amidst a slew of ideas were thoughts on harnessing new technologies to increase value addition in exports and manufacturing, focusing on skilled labour, a knowledge-based and technology-focused economy, modernising agriculture, private sector and SME development, promoting innovation, research and development, greater local and foreign investments, removal of red tape and better management of state resources, etc. He stressed that infrastructure development was critical for the country but returns would be yielded only in the long run. He said that the State should not invest without analysing market realities in order to obtain optimal returns and that state enterprise must make state funds profitable and ensure employees were given fair wages. Investments should be equitable and profitable, he added. Focusing on corruption, he said that State sector corruption was a hindrance for economic growth hence systems and processes must be introduced to ensure officials could not indulge in corruption and politicians of stature and high-calibre state officials should be identified to take lead roles. In summing things up, Gotabaya said it was time to embrace nationalism. Love your country, play your part in its future, he said, reminding people that everyone counts and Sri Lankans had to move beyond divisions of race and religion. We are one. Sri Lankas future is in our hands, he stated. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Well-known journalist and author of the book Gotas War, C. A. Chandraprema who was also present at the convention, pointed out in an article in The Island that the floral arrangement on the lectern was made up entirely of the Nelum pohottuwa the symbol of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. The symbolism spoke a thousand words observed Chandraprema. Relevant Excerpts from Chandrapremas article - The first to speak was Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He spoke not a word about his previous subjects, national defence and urban development, but solely on economics, spelling out a vision for Sri Lanka for the year 2030 with economic growth being the primary focus. In the run up to this event, the government and their allies provided it with a great deal of publicity saying this was really the commencement of Gotas presidential election campaign. They had said the same thing about last years Viyathmaga annual general meeting and about the inaugural meeting of the Eliya organization as well. However, for those looking for clues relating to intent, this event was replete with what looked like tell tale signs of what was on the cards. The most obvious sign was Gotas complete shift to economics, and the focus of the entire proceedings being on development and economic affairs alone. Today, its the economy that most worries the constituency that was in attendance at that meeting the business and professional elite. Indeed its a major source or worry for the ordinary man on the street as well and in that sense the pitch was timely and relevant But to those trying to look for clues, Gotas concentration on the economy could be seen as a move to prove that he was not a one dimensional military man but someone who could shift from fighting a war, to urban development and to economic policy with ease. He said that by 2030, the prognosis was that the Chinese economy was projected to become twice the size of the American economy. India was to come third, Japan fourth and Indonesia will become the fifth. He posed the question whether Sri Lanka was ready for this transformation of the global economy and said that Viyathmaga was engaged in studying how Sri Lanka should be positioned by 2030. Economic growth was posited as the top priority for Sri Lanka. He said that other Asian countries had demonstrated that it is possible to achieve our economic goals and open the country to the world while yet safeguarding our culture and our sovereignty. The meeting was attended by the creme de la creme of the private sector including the top business magnates and no doubt what they heard from all the speakers, would have been music to their ears. If the private sector was looking for a way out of the morass the country finds itself in today, the Viyathmaga AGM seminar seemed to show the way. Speaker after speaker addressed the audience on an economic vision for the future. All the correct chords were struck at this event. Mano Sekaram, an IT expert who addressed the audience said that the fact that he was invited to speak indicated an appreciation of diversity and inclusiveness and thanked the organisers for that. The panel of speakers included members of all communities and the highlight of the evening was a rehabilitated LTTE cadre turned musician singing two songs in Tamil and Sinhala. Gotas Pitch For The Presidency The author of Gotas War who is presumed by some as possessing an insight into the mindset of Gotabaya Rajapaksa concludes his piece by opining, If anyone was looking for clues that this was Gotas pitch for the presidency, the whole event seemed replete with evidence that it may indeed be that. Apart from Chandraprema some websites also interpreted or depicted Gotas speech at the Viyathmaga convention as an indication of his intention to contest the next presidential elections in 2020 as the joint opposition candidate. Gota himself in various interviews has stated that he is not averse to the idea but had not made up his mind yet. In any case Gota Mallihas repeatedly pointed out that the final decision would have to be made by Mahinda Aiya - his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. Though there is speculation in some circles that there are differences between the Rajapaksas over the presidential stakes, Gotas responses in interviews has made two things clear. Firstly he would contest only with the approval and support of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Secondly all the Rajapaksa brothers would stand unitedly behind the candidate selected by Mahinda. Even though Gotabaya is being talked of as a presidential candidate filling in for Mahinda Rajapaksa, the same 19th Constitutional amendment which blocked Mahinda Rajapaksa from contesting the presidency again has also prevented Gotabaya also from contesting presidential elections since he is a dual citizen of both Sri Lanka and the USA. Prior to the 19th Constitutional Amendment being enacted, it was possible for people with dual citizenship to contest elections in Sri Lanka. When the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Govt. replaced the Rajapaksa regime in January 2015 , many of the bottlenecks surrounding the obtaining of dual citizenship by Sri Lankan expatriates were removed. Despite these dual citizenship friendly actions, the new regime introduced a problematic provision in the 19th Constitutional Amendment debarring dual citizens from contesting Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Sri Lanka. He was not a one dimensional military man but someone who could shift from fighting a war, to urban development It was widely believed then that the provision was a pre-emptive move to prevent ex-President Rajapaksas sibling Gotabaya Rajapaksa from seeking electoral office. Former Defence and Urban development secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a controversial personality who is loved by some and hated by others. There is a school of thought in Sri Lanka which is optimistic that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is destined to rule the country in the future just as his elder brother did. Nineteenth Constitutional Amendment The Nineteenth Constitutional amendment has reversed the Eighteenth amendment and blocked Mahinda Rajapaksa from contesting for the presidency again. If the envisaged new constitution materialises and the executive presidency is abolished and the Prime ministerial office is further empowered then Mahinda Rajapaksa can or may seek Prime ministerial office. If however, the diluted executive presidency continues to remain then an alternative to Mahinda has to be found. Many think the alternative is Gotabaya. In recent times the Gotabaya fan club has been working overtime promoting the retired Army Colonel as the prospective presidential candidate. This support for Gota suffered a minor setback last year when former actress Geetha Kumarasinghe was unseated as Galle District MP by the courts because she was a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and Switzerland. As of now Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a dual citizen holding US citizenship. His only son is well-settled in the US. If Gota is to contest the presidential or Parliamentary poll in the future he would have to give up his US citizenship. In spite of critically denouncing the US at times, Gotabaya has not shown any inclination to renounce his US citizenship so far. Some months ago when Gota addressed the Foreign Correspondents Association in Colombo the ex-Defence secretary was non - committal about renouncing US citizenship and entering active politics. Mahinda too has not been too enthusiastic about Gota contesting polls to date. In any case, the Appeal court ruling upheld by the Supreme Court on Geetha Kumarasinghe has demonstrated that if Gotabaya Rajapaksa wants to be elected to high office then he has to clearly and unequivocally renounce US citizenship. Those in the Sirisena - Wickremesinghe - Kumaratunga camp opine that Gota would never give up his US citizenship. Hence the provision in the 19th amendment was an anticipatory stratagem aimed at keeping Gota out of Parliament and the Presidents House. It was based on the premise that Gotabaya would never opt to lose his dual citizenship status. It remains to be seen whether this calculation is correct or not. This support for Gota suffered a minor setback last year when former actress Geetha Kumarasinghe was unseated as Galle District MP by the courts because she was a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and Switzerland Despite these doubts about the eligibility or willingness of Gotabaya to contest the presidential poll, recent events indicate that Gotabaya like Barkis the Dickensian character in David Copperfield is now willing. While saying he is yet to make up his mind, the ground reality seems to be that of Gota being ready, able and willing if Mahinda Rajapaksa gives the go ahead signal. Gota would renounce US citizenshop at the appropriate juncture if given the green light to be candidate. According to knowledgeable circles all that Gotabaya Rajapaksa has to do is to make an unequivocal, unambiguous declaration that he is renouncing US Citizenship at the US embassy in Colombo. Thereafter his US citizenship will be revoked and will lose dual citizenship. The process is expected to be over in a matter of few weeks. In the case of Geetha Kumarasinghe the blunder she reportedly made was in assuming incorrectly that communicating with Swiss authorities by letter would be sufficient. Apparently it was not! Gotas Dilemma Like Shakespeares Hamlet Gotabaya appearing to be somewhat hesitant to enter the presidential election fray is perceived by some detractors to be a political drama. They think he is feigning reluctance and that he is very eager for power. Others however say that the wavering is not political pretence and that Gota was indeed placed in an agonizing dilemma like Shakespeares Hamlet. He did not like electoral politics and he did yearn to spend his twilight years in retirement in the USA with his only son. However, they say that the indecisiveness is now over and that Gota has now resolved to throw his hat into the ring. A number of inquiries are being conducted and cases have been filed in courts against Gotabaya and other members of the Rajapaksa family over many alleged offences. Gota himself has obtained court orders staying his possible arrest over some of these matters. He has consistently proclaimed his innocence in these cases and accused the present government of conducting a political vendetta against him. The constant attempts by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime to pursue - what is perceived by Gota to be - a witch hunt against him and the Rajapaksas has compelled him to lock horns in political combat. Gota has resolved to answer the Hamlet-like dilemma in his own way. Gota does not want to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and instead wants to end them by opposing. Besides he also believes that the country is at peril and needs him. For all these reasons Gotabaya Rajapaksa seems to have indicated his willingness and readiness to contest the next Presidential elections. Gota is projected as a leader for change on a political mission with an economic vision. Although he is trying to project an image of being an economics oriented man with a mission above race and religion, it is doubtful whether the extremist ethno-religious elements who have been supportive of him in the past would ever let him follow that course. It remains to be seen whether Gota could break free of these bonds even if he wants to do so. Diversity Or Mono-Ethnic Majoritarianism An immediate question that arises is whether a Gotabaya candidacy could attract votes from the ethnic and religious minority communities of this country by embracing diversity or whether it would pander only to mono-ethnic majoritarianism. There is also the larger question as to whether economic upliftment and renaissance alone could bring about understanding, amity and reconciliation among the diverse sections that make up the plural society of Sri Lanka. These and other related matters would be delved into deeply in a forthcoming article. D.B.S. Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com Malaysia, (Daily Mail) 18 May 2018 - Malaysian police seized 72 suitcases stuffed with cash and jewels along with scores of designer handbags in raids on luxury properties linked to ex-prime minister Najib Razak on Friday as a corruption probe gathered pace. The discovery adds significantly to the peril faced by Najib, who just last week had seemed to be cruising toward an election victory, before he was unseated in a stunning upset. A visibly shattered and anxious Najib declined to comment on the latest developments as he waded through a throng of media into a mosque for Friday afternoon prayers in the Muslim-majority country. Asked to comment, Najib, 64, patted an AFP journalists arm and said: Later, later. Minister Sagala Rathnayaka visited the Christian Socialist Union party head quarters in Bavaria, German and met its Secretary General, Markus Blume and discussed matters of mutual interest. The certainty of death has taken from us our friend Karin Ramachandra. My first meeting with her was when I oversaw the Cathedral Institute. I invited her to teach our students counseling as they walked the journey of priesthood. My second meeting with Karin was under tremendously traumatic circumstances when I was in hospital for six months and she visited me with bottles of homemade fruit juice. This was significant and touched me a lot during a time of immense ordeal. Karin also used to assist me and my daughter with our own personal issues. She came to our home regularly to meet with us and was a constant source of support for my daughter. My final meeting with Karin was when I was a member of the clergy at St. Pauls Milagiriya. I made it a point to meet with her after service to learn more about her journey from Denmark to Sri Lanka, how she became a Christian, and how she met and married Vinoth. My late wife and I had known Vinoth for over three decades since my days as the Chaplain of the Peradeniya University Chaplaincy. Their marriage was a true testimony of Christian love. As a mark of respect to Karin, the monthly meeting of our Inter-Church fellowship was postponed because of her funeral. That spoke volumes about her commitment to ecumenism. I am sorry to have missed Karins funeral. However, my son-in-law and daughter attended the service. Vinoth and all those near and dear to her can be certain of my continued love and concern. May Karins soul rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen. Sydney Knight Oops....! We couldn't find that... 404 error Unfortunately the page you were looking for could not be found. It may be temporarily unavailable, moved or no longer exist. Check the URL you entered for any mistakes and try again. Alternatively, search for whatever is missing or take a look around the rest of our site. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) Resigned Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo's name is dragged in yet another controversy. An official of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) said Teo was the one who referred to the board the controversial "Buhay Carinderia" program, a P320-million project that is now being reviewed for not going through the proper bidding process. TPB Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Marketing and Promotions Sector Maricon Ebron told CNN Philippines it was Teo "who presented ("Buhay Carinderia") to us," prompting them to meet with Erlinda Legaspi, the President and CEO of Marylindbert International, the organizer and proponent of "Buhay Carinderia." The project aims to promote local eateries. Other reports also quote Cesar Montano, the head of the TPB, as saying Teo was the one who pushed for the program. CNN Philippines' is trying to reach Teo for comment. Teo stepped down from her post on May 8 amid rumors she would be axed over the Department of Tourism's P60-million television ad placement that went to a show produced by her brothers in state-run station PTV-4. Her camp said she maintains her innocence but quit her post "out of delicadeza." Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat replaced Teo. She ordered the suspension of all projects of the TPB the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism, after alleged irregularities in the "Buhay Carinderia" project were revealed. She asked the Commission on Audit to review all projects. READ: Tourism Secretary Berna Puyat suspends Cesar Montano's projects pending COA review 'Good but costly project' Ebron said the "Buhay Carinderia" project was approved by the board knowing that it would only cost P80 million, not P320 million. "If we look at the project objectively maayos naman, wag mo lang tingnan yung cost (It's a good project but very costly)," she said. She also revealed there are irregularities in other programs of the TPB, adding "it's about time" to have them all reviewed. CNN Philippines' Eimor Santos contributed to this report. (CNN Money) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have ditched the traditional wedding gift registry. Instead, they're suggesting people donate to a charity that makes affordable sanitary pads for women in India. The couple has asked for donations to a handful of charities instead of presents for their wedding in Windsor on Saturday, and the Mumbai-based Myna Mahila Foundation is the only foreign organization they have picked. The charity aims to improve access to sanitary protection for women living in Mumbai's slums, providing them with pads that are both affordable and hygienic. "[Menstruation] is a very natural body process, but still remains a big taboo in India," said Sumati Joshi, the founder of the charity. Grocery stores are often staffed by men, meaning women are ashamed to buy sanitary products. That's where Myna steps in. The charity employs 15 local women to make the pads, providing them with stable and safe work, while busting myths and taboos. Another 50 women distribute the pads in the slums. "[We] go door to door educating women and also giving them access to the products at a very subsidized rate," she added. Related: Will the Royal Wedding boost the UK economy? It's a big task: According to the India National Family Health Survey, more than 40% of Indian women aged 15 to 24 do not have access to sanitary products during their period. Instead, they resort to using rags, old clothes, newspapers, hay, sand, or even ash, according to Unicef and other aid organizations. Because of the stigma associated with menstruation, women are often ashamed to wash and dry the rags and clothes properly. Stored in damp, dark conditions, the materials become breeding grounds for bacteria, spreading diseases and infections. Royal wedding: How much will it cost? The taboos are persistent. Research sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found that 71% of girls in India have no knowledge of menstruation before their first period, which leads to distress and shame. Women are often not allowed to enter places of worship or touch food while on their periods. Myna said it has manufactured 500,000 pads over the past two years, converting 3,000 women across 15 slums to using sanitary pads. Joshi will attend the royal wedding, along with one of the charity's volunteers and two local women from Mumbai. While in London, they will host a fundraiser for the charity. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Harry and Meghan: Don't send gifts, buy sanitary pads for Indian women." 1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. 2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. 3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. 4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. 5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. 6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. 7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N. 8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N. 9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N. 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems. 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western Chinas new indoctrination camps had to disavow their Islamic beliefs, criticize themselves and their loved ones and give thanks to the ruling Communist Party. When Bekali, a Kazakh Muslim, refused to follow orders each day, he was forced to stand at a wall for five hours at a time. A week later, he was sent to solitary confinement, where he was deprived of food for 24 hours. After 20 days in the heavily guarded camp, he wanted to kill himself. The psychological pressure is enormous, when you have to criticize yourself, denounce your thinking your own ethnic group, said Bekali, who broke down in tears as he described the camp. I still think about it every night, until the sun rises. I cant sleep. The thoughts are with me all the time. Since last spring, Chinese authorities in the heavily Muslim region of Xinjiang have ensnared tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of Muslim Chinese and even foreign citizens in mass internment camps. This detention campaign has swept across Xinjiang, a territory half the area of India, leading to what a U.S. commission on China last month said is the largest mass incarceration of a minority population in the world today. Chinese officials have largely avoided comment on the camps, but some are quoted in state media as saying that ideological changes are needed to fight separatism and Islamic extremism. Radical Muslim Uighurs have killed hundreds in recent years, and China considers the region a threat to peace in a country where the majority is Han Chinese. The internment program aims to rewire the political thinking of detainees, erase their Islamic beliefs and reshape their very identities. The camps have expanded rapidly over the past year, with almost no judicial process or legal paperwork. Detainees who most vigorously criticize the people and things they love are rewarded, and those who refuse to do so are punished with solitary confinement, beatings and food deprivation. The recollections of Bekali, a heavyset and quiet 42-year-old, offer what appears to be the most detailed account yet of life inside so-called re-education camps. The Associated Press also conducted rare interviews with three other former internees and a former instructor in other centers who corroborated Bekalis depiction. Most spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their families in China. Bekalis case stands out because he was a foreign citizen, of Kazakhstan, who was seized by Chinas security agencies and detained for eight months last year without recourse. Although some details are impossible to verify, two Kazakh diplomats confirmed he was held for seven months and then sent to re-education. The detention program is a hallmark of Chinas emboldened state security apparatus under the deeply nationalistic, hard-line rule of President Xi Jinping. It is partly rooted in the ancient Chinese belief in transformation through education taken once before to terrifying extremes during the mass thought reform campaigns of Mao Zedong, the Chinese leader sometimes channeled by Xi. Cultural cleansing is Beijings attempt to find a final solution to the Xinjiang problem, said James Millward, a China historian at Georgetown University. Rian Thum, a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, said Chinas re-education system echoes some of the worst human rights violations in history. The closest analogue is maybe the Cultural Revolution in that this will leave long-term, psychological effects, Thum said. This will create a multigenerational trauma from which many people will never recover. Asked to comment on the camps, Chinas Foreign Ministry said it had not heard of the situation. When asked why non-Chinese had been detained, it said the Chinese government protects the rights of foreigners in China and they should also be law-abiding. Chinese officials in Xinjiang did not respond to requests for comment. However, bits and pieces from state media and journals show the confidence Xinjiang officials hold in methods that they say work well to curb religious extremism. Chinas top prosecutor, Zhang Jun, urged Xinjiangs authorities this month to extensively expand what the government calls the transformation through education drive in an all-out effort to fight separatism and extremism. In a June 2017 paper published by a state-run journal, a researcher from Xinjiangs Communist Party School reported that most of 588 surveyed participants did not know what they had done wrong when they were sent to re-education. But by the time they were released, nearly all 98.8 percent had learned their mistakes, the paper said. Transformation through education, the researcher concluded, is a permanent cure. ___ PEOPLES WAR ON TERROR On the chilly morning of March 23, 2017, Bekali drove up to the Chinese border from his home in Almaty, Kazakhstan, got a stamp in his Kazakh passport and crossed over for a work trip, not quite grasping the extraordinary circumstances he was stepping into. Bekali was born in China in 1976 to Kazakh and Uighur parents, moved to Kazakhstan in 2006 and received citizenship three years later. He was out of China in 2016, when authorities sharply escalated a Peoples War on Terror to root out what the government called religious extremism and separatism in Xinjiang, a large Chinese territory bordering Pakistan and several Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan. The Xinjiang he returned to was unrecognizable. All-encompassing, data-driven surveillance tracked residents in a region with around 12 million Muslims, including ethnic Uighurs and Kazakhs. Viewing a foreign website, taking phone calls from relatives abroad, praying regularly or growing a beard could land one in a political indoctrination camp, or prison, or both. The new internment system was shrouded in secrecy, with no publicly available data on the numbers of camps or detainees. The U.S. State Department estimates those being held are at the very least in the tens of thousands. A Turkey-based TV station run by Xinjiang exiles said almost 900,000 were detained, citing leaked government documents. Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the European School of Culture and Theology, puts the number between several hundreds of thousands and just over 1 million. Government bids and recruitment ads studied by Zenz suggest that the camps have cost more than $100 million since 2016, and construction is ongoing. Bekali knew none of this when he visited his parents on March 25. He passed police checkpoints and handed over his decade-old Chinese identity card. The next day, five armed policemen showed up at Bekalis parents doorstep and took him away. They said there was a warrant for his arrest in Karamay, a frontier oil town where he lived a decade earlier. He couldnt call his parents or a lawyer, the police added, because his case was special. Bekali was held in a cell, incommunicado, for a week, and then was driven 500 miles (804 kilometers) to Karamays Baijiantan District public security office. There, they strapped him into a tiger chair, a device that clamped down his wrists and ankles. They also hung him by his wrists against a barred wall, just high enough so he would feel excruciating pressure in his shoulder unless he stood on the balls of his bare feet. They interrogated him about his work with a tourist agency inviting Chinese to apply for Kazakh tourist visas, which they claimed was a way to help Chinese Muslims escape. I havent committed any crimes! Bekali yelled. They asked for days what he knew about two dozen prominent ethnic Uighur activists and businessmen in Kazakhstan. Exhausted and aching, Bekali coughed up what he knew about a few names he recognized. The police then sent Bekali to a 10- by 10-meter (32- by 32-foot) cell in the prison with 17 others, their feet chained to the posts of two large beds. Some wore dark blue uniforms, while others wore orange for political crimes. Bekali was given orange. In mid-July, three months after his arrest, Bekali received a visit from Kazakh diplomats. Chinas mass detention of ethnic Kazakhs and even Kazakh citizens has begun to make waves in the Central Asian country of 18 million. Kazakh officials say China detained 10 Kazakh citizens and hundreds of ethnic Kazakh Chinese in Xinjiang over the past year, though they were released in late April following a visit by a Kazakh deputy foreign minister. Four months after the visit, Bekali was taken out of his cell and handed a release paper. But he was not yet free. ___ WE NOW KNOW BETTER Bekali was driven from jail to a fenced compound in the northern suburbs of Karamay, where three buildings held more than 1,000 internees receiving political indoctrination, he said. He walked in, past a central station that could see over the entire facility, and received a tracksuit. Heavily armed guards watched over the compound from a second level. He joined a cell with 40 internees, he said, including teachers, doctors and students. Men and women were separated. Internees would wake up together before dawn, sing the Chinese national anthem, and raise the Chinese flag at 7:30 a.m. They gathered back inside large classrooms to learn red songs like Without the Communist Party, there is no New China, and study Chinese language and history. They were told that the indigenous sheep-herding Central Asian people of Xinjiang were backward and yoked by slavery before they were liberated by the Communist Party in the 1950s. Before meals of vegetable soup and buns, the inmates would be ordered to chant: Thank the Party! Thank the Motherland! Thank President Xi! Discipline was strictly enforced and punishment could be harsh. Bekali was kept in a locked room almost around the clock with eight other internees, who shared beds and a wretched toilet. Cameras were installed in toilets and even outhouses. Baths were rare, as was washing of hands and feet, which internees were told was equated with Islamic ablution. Bekali and other former internees say the worst parts of the indoctrination program were forced repetition and self-criticism. Although students didnt understand much of what was taught and the material bordered on the nonsensical to them, they were made to internalize it by repetition in sessions lasting two hours or longer. We will oppose extremism, we will oppose separatism, we will oppose terrorism, they chanted again and again. Almost every day, the students received guest lecturers from the local police, judiciary and other branches of government warning about the dangers of separatism and extremism. In four-hour sessions, instructors lectured about the dangers of Islam and drilled internees with quizzes that they had to answer correctly or be sent to stand near a wall for hours on end. Do you obey Chinese law or Sharia? instructors asked. Do you understand why religion is dangerous? One by one, internees would stand up before 60 of their classmates to present self-criticisms of their religious history, Bekali said. The detainees would also have to criticize and be criticized by their peers. Those who parroted official lines particularly well or lashed into their fellow internees viciously were awarded points and could be transferred to more comfortable surroundings in other buildings, he said. I was taught the Holy Quran by my father and I learned it because I didnt know better, Bekali heard one say. I traveled outside China without knowing that I could be exposed to extremist thoughts abroad, Bekali recalled another saying. Now I know. A Uighur woman told AP she was held in a center in the city of Hotan in 2016. She said she and fellow prisoners repeatedly were forced to apologize for wearing long clothes in Muslim style, praying, teaching the Quran to their children and asking imams to name their children. Praying at a mosque on any day other than Friday was a sign of extremism; so was attending Friday prayers outside their village or having Quranic verses or graphics on their phones. While instructors watched, those who confessed to such behavior were told to repeat over and over: We have done illegal things, but we now know better. ___ OWING THE COUNTRY Other detainees and a re-education camp instructor tell similar stories. In mid-2017, a Uighur former on-air reporter for Xinjiang TV known as Eldost was recruited to teach Chinese history and culture in an indoctrination camp because he spoke excellent Mandarin. He had no choice. The re-education system, Eldost said, classified internees into three levels of security and duration of sentences. The first group typically consisted of illiterate minority farmers who didnt commit any ostensible crimes other than not speaking Chinese. The second class was made up of people who were caught at home or on their smartphones with religious content or so-called separatist materials, such as lectures by the Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti. The final group was made up of those who had studied religion abroad and came back, or were seen to be affiliated with foreign elements. In the latter cases, internees were often were sentenced to prison terms of 10 to 15 years, Eldost said. While he was teaching, Eldost once saw through the window 20 students driven into the courtyard. Two rows of guards waited for them and beat them as soon as they got out of the police van. He later heard that the internees were recent arrivals who had studied religion in the Middle East. Violence was not regularly dispensed, but every internee AP spoke to saw at least one incident of rough treatment or beatings. Eldost said the instruction was aimed at showing how backward traditional Uighur culture is and how repressive fundamentalist Islam is compared to a progressive Communist Party. The internees confessions of their backwardness helped drive the point home. Internees are told to repeat those confessions to the point where, when they are finally freed, they believe that they owe the country a lot, that they could never repay the party, said Eldost, who escaped from China in August after paying a bribe. Eldost said he tried in little ways to help his internees. Tasked with teaching the Three Character Classic, a Confucian standard taught widely in elementary schools, he would make up mnemonic devices to help his students including elderly or illiterate Uighur farmers who barely knew their own language recite a few lines. He also advised students to stop habitually saying praise God in Arabic and Uighur because other instructors punished them for it. Every time he went to sleep in a room with 80 others, he said, the last thing he would hear was the sound of misery. I heard people crying every night, he said. That was the saddest experience in my life. Another former detainee, a Uighur from Hotan in southern Xinjiang, said his newly built center had just 90 people in two classes in 2015. There, a government instructor claimed said that Uighur women historically did not wear underwear, braided their hair to signal their sexual availability, and had dozens of sexual partners. It made me so angry, the detainee said. These kinds of explanations of Uighur women humiliated me. I still remember this story every time I think about this, I feel like a knife cut a hole in my chest. Kayrat Samarkan, a Chinese Kazakh from Astana who was detained while running errands in a northern Xinjiang police station in December, was sent to an internment camp in Karamagay in northern Xinjiang with 5,700 students. Those who didnt obey, were late to class or got into fights were put for 12 hours in a loose body-suit that was made of iron and limited their movement, he said. Those who still disobeyed would be locked in a tiger chair for 24 hours. As one form of punishment, he said, instructors would press an internees head in a tub of ice and water. After three months, Samarkan couldnt take the lessons anymore, so he bashed his head against a wall to try to kill himself. He merely fell unconscious. When I woke up, the staff threatened me, saying if I did that again they would extend my sentence to 7 years there, he said. After 20 days, Bekali also contemplated suicide. Several days later, because of his intransigence and refusal to speak Mandarin, Bekali was no longer permitted to go into the courtyard. Instead, he was sent to a higher level of management, where he spent 24 hours a day in a room with 8 others. A week later, he went to his first stint in solitary confinement. He saw a local judicial official walking into the building on an inspection tour and yelled at the top of his lungs. He thought even his former detention center, with the abuse he suffered, would be better. Take me in the back and kill me, or send me back to prison, he shouted. I cant be here anymore. He was again hauled off to solitary confinement. It lasted 24 hours, ending late afternoon on Nov. 24. Thats when Bekali was released, as suddenly as he was detained eight months earlier. A Baijiantan policemen who had always gone easy on Bekali during interrogation appeared and checked him out of the facility. You were too headstrong, but what the department did was unjust, he told Bekali as he drove him to his sisters home in Karamay. Bekali was free. ___ FREEDOM, BUT NOT FOR HIS FAMILY The next morning, a Saturday, the police opened their immigration office for Bekali to pick up a unique, 14-day Chinese visa. His original had long expired. Bekali left China on December 4. Seeking compensation from the Chinese government is out of the question. But Bekali keeps a plastic folder at home of evidence that might prove useful someday: his passport with stamps and visas, travel records and a handwritten Chinese police document dated and imprinted with red-ink seals. The document is the closest thing he has to an official acknowledgement that he suffered for eight months. It says he was held on suspicion of endangering national security; the last sentence declares him released without charge. At first, Bekali did not want the AP to publish his account for fear that his sister and mother in China would be detained and sent to re-education. But on March 10, back in China, the police took his sister, Adila Bekali. A week later, on March 19, they took his mother, Amina Sadik. And on April 24, his father, Ebrayem. Bekali changed his mind and said he wanted to tell his story, no matter the consequences. Things have already come this far, he said. I have nothing left to lose. ___ Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Subscriber content preview SEATTLE An older apartment building at 3200 E. Union St. has sold for just over $3.2 million, according to King County records. The seller was Bellevue Ave Venture LLC, associated with West Freeman Properties, which had owned the property for decades. . . . Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has welcomed a Federal Court order forcing Coles to display notices informing consumers it broke Australian consumer law. In June this year Coles was found to have broken three sections of consumer law for falsely advertising bread products as being freshly made and baked on the same day when this was not the case. Only some of the products offered for sale were freshly baked while others had been made overseas in Denmark, Germany and Ireland before being frozen and sent to Australia. Former Victorian Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett sparked the debate after discovering his bread and muffin products were made in Ireland and informed the ACCC. Today, Federal Court Chief Justice James Allsop ordered that Coles display in a prominent location on its counters a corrective notice informing potential customers that it breached Australian consumer law. The notice informs consumers that Coles engaged in false, misleading and deceptive representations. Coles has also been banned for a period of three years from promoting products as being baked on the same day when this is not the case. Mr Kennett said he was glad the court found his complaint was not frivolous and hoped it would send to a message to other merchants and retailers engaged in deceptive product branding. I know from the day I raised the issue and submitted the case to the ACCC, Coles started to review the way it promoted its goods. And I know that from someone who used to work at Coles and now works at another company Im associated with, he told Dynamic Business. I therefore hope that this will send a shot across the bows of everyone who markets goods and services, that the public are entitled to receive factual information. Coles may still be fined for its conduct and faces a potential penalty of more than $3 million with further orders to be issued on a future date. Mr Kennett said whether Coles was fined or not would be a question for others. Jonas Cullwick, a former General Manager of VBTC is now a Senior Journalist with the Daily Post. Contact: [email protected]. Cell # 678 5460922 Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Sharp Philippines Corporation (SPC) continuously strives to innovate and provide consumers with World-class quality products that meet the needs and wants of consumers. With this, SPC announces the release of the AQUOS LED 4K and 8K Series, the Super Premium IoT (Internet of things) Inverter Air Conditioner, and the start of its locally made products campaign. Changing the World with 8K and AIoT This longstanding commitment brings excellence to reality and consistently exceeds the markets expectation and satisfaction. The company continues to offer something new to Filipino consumers. Sharp is now promoting Changing the World with 8K and AIoT as we display products equipped with this outstanding technology that we will introduce in the Philippine market this year. Yoshihiro Hashimoto, Managing Executive Officer of Sharp Corporation explained Sharps company direction. As one of the global leaders in manufacturing of electronics and home appliances, SPC embraces the market competition through understanding the ever-changing consumers demands. AQUOS 8K LED TV 8K is a revolutionary technology for ultra-high-definition images with 16 times the resolution of full-HD (19201080 pixels). It reproduces images at ultimate reality, with ultra-fine details even the naked eye cannot capture. As the first step, Sharp released Worlds First 8K display to the B2C market, last October, which is currently distributed to China, Japan, Taiwan, and European Market. Today I am excited to announce the launch of Sharps AQUOS 8K LED TV tuned for Asia in the end of year 2018 here in the Philippines to lead the 8K Display Industry emphasized Toshio Kawata, Deputy General Manager TV System Business Unit of Sharp Corporation. Apart from displaying TV broadcasts and other media contents, 8K will dramatically impact many aspects of our lives: medical, business, security, education, transportation and many more. Kawata elaborated the advantage of 8K technology. Sharp (Phils.) Corporation Strategy SPC headed by Kazuo Kito, President and General Manager is confident with the strategy of developing Advance Technology business with 8K and AIoT. SPC is eager to deliver its consumers the thrill of revolutionary technologies of 8K and AIoT, focusing on the need to evolve depending on the trend of technological impulse. SPC is optimistic on taking on the challenge to achieve the target to increase sales in LED TV by 40% this fiscal year with their new product line up. Were expanding our LED TV line up which focuses on 4K SMART TV that you can enjoy greatness and experience new technology. Kito explained. In addition to the highlight of Advance Technology is the Super Premium IoT Inverter Air Conditioner. This innovation will redefine the way consumers experience cooling. Three outstanding features of Airflow Technology, Super Energy Saving and Smart Control using IoT functions are controlled using iOS and Android devices under Wi-Fi connection. Furthermore, J-Tech Inverter technology enables precisely controlled power consumption leading to energy saving and energy-efficient operation. Equipped with Plasmacluster Ion Technology, it deactivates airborne bacteria, viruses, mold and other contaminants that can be found inside houses. The Super Premium IoT Inverter Air Conditioner combines both convenience and technology for the benefit of consumers. Over and above the companys striking technologies, SPC is set to launch a campaign which aims to highlight Philippine-made goods. As SPC manufactures locally made products including LED TV, washing machines, Videoke and electric fans. The company believes that supporting local will improve the Philippine Economy and will inspire them to double their production. This activity will contribute to the local firm that will benefit the Filipino family and result to a stronger economy. commented Kito. The impressive features in every product are to become game changers to bring overwhelming sterling innovation to enable SPC to rise with superiority within the industry. With such actions, SPC will be working to achieve their target to increase sales by 20% in fiscal 2018 year on year. Sharing is caring ! 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Vaccination should be voluntary but those who don't get vaccinated should be frequently tested for COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel and employment. Both vaccination and testing should be voluntary and not required as a condition of long-distance travel or employment. I defer to the judgment of lawmakers as long as they base their decisions on a consensus of medical professionals. Vote View Results This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. The arbitrary and indiscriminate use of the Public Safety Act, 1978 to stifle political dissent in the Kashmir Valley shows a blatant disregard for the Constitution and the right to personal liberty enshrined therein. An examination of 100 cases in which Kashmiri youth were detained under the draconian PSA following the death of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani reveals that both the state executive and the judiciary are complicit in perpetuating this lawless law. Ever since the youth uprising following Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Commander Burhan Waniskilling by the Indian army on 8 July 2016, the Kashmir Valley has seen repression and human rights violations on a scale greater than ever before. A lot has been written about the deaths and injuries caused by pellet guns, but one of the greatest weapons in the governments armoury has been the preventive detentions carried out under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978. The law, which has been described as lawless by the Supreme Court (A K Roy v Union of India 1982), has been excessively applied with over 500 preventive detention orders being issued between July and October 2016 (Masood and Ahsan 2016). While this may appear to be a small number, the arbitrary nature of the use of the PSA has led to a chilling effect. Nobody knows what conduct attracts detention under the PSA or who may be the next target. It has been used against political leaders, human rights activists, protesters, and even common criminals. Moreover, the uncertainty that comes along with a PSA order is such that it affects not only the detainee, but his entire family. The article examines the manner in which the PSA had been used between July and October 2016 and the resulting human rights violations by analysing 100 PSA cases1 in which habeas corpus petitions had been filed. Six families of detainees have also been interviewed. Before discussing the arbitrary and indiscriminate use of the PSA in the time period mentioned above, the article also briefly outlines the powers given to the administration under the PSA and the history of the act. In India, fiscal consolidation is rule-based and focuses on deficits and debt. Macroeconomic concerns are not integrated with fiscal targets, which have been achieved at the cost of infrastructure investment. States have to use their revenues more effectively to spend on health and education, and borrow more to fund infrastructure. The centre must incentivise states to use their fiscal space effectively. A strategy for infrastructure investment by the central and state governments is discussed, especially in the context of the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission. Indias record in reducing absolute poverty is poor by the standards of developing countries and, indeed, of South Asia (Olinto et al 2013). Government investment in infrastructure has fallen over the past two decades, first following economic reforms and macroeconomic adjustment policies and later as part of fiscal consolidation. Infrastructure levels today are lower than in East Asia in the 1960s. A lesson learnt from the experience of the East Asian growth miracle is that for rapid growth and poverty reduction, large investments in physical and social infrastructure are necessary (World Bank 1993). In India, the infrastructure gaps are large. If India seeks to sustain high levels of growth over an extended period and make a rapid dent in poverty, the government at all levels needs to invest large amounts to fill these large infrastructure gaps. And public investment in infrastructure, in contradistinction to other kinds of public expenditure, tends to crowd in private investment rather than crowd it out, especially in a liberalised economic environment (Blejer and Khan 1984; Argimon et al 1997; Bahal et al 2015; Dash 2016). In developing countries, there are also few alternatives to government investment, given especially the risks involved in infrastructure development and the length of gestation. A World Bank study in the 1990s (Briceno-Garmendia et al 2004) found that governments and public utilities financed about 70% of all infrastructure investment in developing countries and official development assistance another 5%; the share of private investment was only 20%25%, of which over 80% was in telecom, electricity, and toll roads. In India, the hope that private investment would fill this gap has been belied by the experience of public-private-partnerships (PPPs) over the past 15 years. Experience suggests that the Twelfth Plans targetabout 50% of infrastructure investment would come from private sourceswas too optimistic. Written by ACM *Strasbourg/CoE/Angelo Marcopolo/- The 47 Member Countries" strong (including Russia) PanEuropean CoE's Director for Education, experienced Sjur Bergan, speaking to "Eurofora" on the sidelines of a 2 Days-Long International Conference of almost 140 Experts for the official Launch of a widely Popular New Tool for Language Learning, Teaching and Assessment (See Infra), stressed that among the Main Innovations of 2018 are not only "Digital"/Internet Technologies-related matters, but also a Brand New Dimension Focusing on "Mediation" Capacity-Building on interacting in real Social issues. (Comp. Infra. +For Other, earlier "Eurofora"s original INTWs on Bergan, See, f.ex., also : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/coeonperfectteacherfor21stcentiury.html , http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/coedsgoneducation.html , etc). By a Timely Coincidence, Bergan (who made the Opening Speech of this International Conference) is from Norway, whose Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, (the most "Favorite Prime Minister" for experienced German Chancelor Angie Merkel, as she has revealed earlier in Berlin), is a Keynote Speaker invited at the prestigious International Organisation OECD's Annual Summit, later this Month in Paris, together with Iceland's new Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, by OECD's Long-Time Secretary General Angel Gurria, (Comp. several Gurria's Statements to "Eurofora", in Paris or Strasbourg, f.ex. at ... + ..., etc). And Education is among one of the main segments of the International Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, (where it includes also original Data from China, etc), of Growing Importance recently, (Comp. f.ex., the Replies by OECD's Education Director, Andreas Schleicher, to "Eurofora"s Questions at a recent Webinar for invited Journalists, at: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/oecdeducationstagnationorgap.html ). ------------------ + Bergan also made it clear to "Eurofora" that, while CoE agrees with, and supports EU's prefernce for 3 Languages-learning in the Future, (Mother Tongue, English, and anOther Language of choice, as French President Emmanuel Macron recently Highlighted while Launching the 1st EU Citizens' Public Consultation at nearby Epinal City on April : See "Eurofora"s NewsReport from the spot at: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/macronlauncheseucitizenconsultations.html ), nevertheless, the PanEuropean Organisation of Strasbourg is clearly Open also into Learning several More Languages (i.e. a 4rth, 5th etc), if possible... British Expert Brian North, who has a solid Experience in that matter (See Infra), told "Eurofora" that a main characteristic of the New Approach is also to Boost Switching over, from one language into anOther, as a way to Solve practical Problems through Pluri-Lingualism, pointing at a Demonstration Video where Kids spontaneously search and use their Knowledge of various Other Languages, just in order to Translate some Key Wording at a given Language, (etc). Widely Known as "Common European Framework of Reference", alias "CEFR", this CoE's Education Tool is Not due to have an Obligatory Force, but to Serve as a Handy Guide, both to Experts, Policy Makers and Praticians, as well as ordinary People, Teachers, Students, etc, and has been Largely Used both inside and outside of the EU Countries, since its 1st and Earlier, Complementary, Part, already Published during the 1990ies. As Experienced Swiss Professor, from Freiburg University, Guenther Schneider, (the Keynote Speaker of this International Conference, whose Observations made a Net Impression to several participants, as we saw), told "Eurofora", initially, back on 1977, CoE's Education Ministers had rejected such an approach, prefering then to focus excusively on simply "Training Teachers", while, on the Contrary, the Wide-Spread use of Crystal-clear and accurate "Reference Descriptors" on Languages were, for the First Time, endorsed by the CoE after 1991, a Top Meeting in Switzerland. The New, 2018 Book, (called "Companion volume", and crafted in order to be Used Together with the Previous one in real Practice), has just been made Available by the CoE to Download On-Line, and will be Soon Published also on Hard Paper, most probably in a Few Months' time, as told "Eurofora" its Coordinator, Brian North, (Comp. Supra and See Infra). ---------------------------- However, Bergan's main Aim was to Explicitly Focus on a Stronger and UpDated "Orientation" towards CoE's Principles for "Democracy, Human Rights and Rule of Law", pointing, inter alia, also to the Fact that Languages are also relevant the PanEuropean Organisation's most Recent Tool : anOther "Reference Framework of Competences", this time, directly on "Democratic Culture", which has just been Published in 3 Volumes on April 2018, (and of which "Eurofora" was handed a Hard Paper Copy : See relevant Photo). >>> What Describes Best this Nowadays' Trend is the Addition of Proficiency for "Mediation" (Comp. Supra), whose "Proficiency" goes Beyond classical "Competences", towards real "Activities" and "Strategies", Adding to simple "Reception/Production/Interaction", also an ability to "Mediate", (See Infra). This New Concept, (which, in fact, already existed somehow in the Past, but was Clearly Developed only Recently), was the Subject of a special, well attended "Working Group" of CoE's Experts, during the Second Day of this International Conference, whose Moderator was a "Heavyweight" Expert : German Professor Bernd Ruschoff, from the Institute of Anglophone Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen, actively Involved in several EU and CoE's projects. Focusing on the "Social" Utilisations of Language for Nowadays "Inclusive" Society, as Professor Enrica Piccardo from Canada's Toronto and French Grenoble Universities told "Eurofora", it includes f.ex. Capacities for Inter-Mediation in real Situations of Conflict, but also on how to Guide a Group of People (f.ex. Workers, etc) in order to Reach a certain Goal in various Circumstances, and even on how to use and behave in Internet Modern Digital Medias "On Line", (etc). ------- Some Experts, speaking to "Eurofora" on the sidelines of CoE's International Conference, indicated that a large part of such methods could be used also in order to Help "Integrate" recent Mass Migrants in the European Society (after their Sudden and Exceptionaly Massive Appearance, mainly through Turkey), notoriously raised some UnPrecedented Issues, even in real Refugees-Friendly Countries like Sweden, etc. Meanwhile, withOut showing any link to that Issue, Bergan had already noted, from the outset, that a Group of Language Educators expressed a DisAgreement and Concern about this New "Companion CEFR". But he also found that a CoE's Committee of Ministers' relevant Recommendation has "largely adressed" such concerns, and promised to Distribute it to all participants. - In Fact, "Mediation" lies "at the Heart" of some "Profound Developments" which emerged recently, mainly on 2017, corresponding also to "Political Expectations" and "Needs" for efficient "European References", which show that the matter is Not just "Technicist", but also fairly "Political", stressed in Conclusion of COE's 2 Days-Long International Conference, the experienced French Expert Francis Goullier, General Inspector of the National Education, in fine. In order to find Concrete and Efficient Ways to Face such Big Challenges by Implementing this New Tool in Real Practice, (nick-named : "Companion CEFRL"), CoE organized 4 Introductory "Workshops" during the 1st Day of this International Conference, among which, "Eurofora" chose to attend the number 1, officially destinated to "Policy Makers". Lively Debates among participants, as well as manifold concrete Proposals and Ideas were Shared, during a Friendly and Efficient Moderation by Experts Jonas Erin, Inspector General in the French National Education, and Nick Saville (Rapporteur), Director of Research at Cambridge University (a Specialist on Language Assessment), who organized meticulously the participants' concrete Ideas, (often Expressed in Simple Hadwriten Pieces of Paper sticked to a Board, almost as a ... Maoist "Dazibao"), f.ex. between "Political", "Cultural" and "Technical" Challenges, etc., as they felt according to their precious Experience in real Practice Situation, (where was also included a long Russian Contribution, among others). "Eurofora" had the Chance to be Invited to sit, by a Coincidence, aside British/Swiss Expert Tim Goodier, Head of Academic Development for the "EuroCentres" Foundation, Headquartered in Switzerland and regularly Cooperating with the CoE in Strasbourg, who Resumed, the Day After, at the Final Plenary Session of that International Conference, the Recommendations for Draft Action Plans in the foreseeable Future, mainly by Stressing that CoE's New Language Policy is Developing a much "Broader" Scope of Issues, than what all were used to do in the Past. Goodier, (who is accustomed to Work particularly with People often Switching over between English and French), seemed to Apply rather .. Strict Criteria of Language Capacity Assessment on himself, since, as he carefully Told "Eurofora", he has a "real Working Knowledge of 2 Languages", and "a Social Knowledge of 4", ...including Korean (as his Wife comes from Korea, which, by a Coincidence, is, Nowadays at the Forefront of a World-wide Attention for Peace-Making Efforts involving Top World Leaders and Nuclear and other Arms, etc). However, his Experienced Compatriot, Brian North (Comp. Supra), told "Eurofora" that, Paradoxicaly, he personally Finds "quite Easy" to Learn the ..."Japanese" Language, apparently because of its "Simple Structure", as he claimed ! Nevertheless, the most Wide-Spread Chinese Language, apparently still remained quite a Mystery for him, but, Hopefully Not for CoE's New Tool... ------------------------------------ => Finally, Concluding that International Conference by HighLighting the Main Targets for the Next 2 Years (2018-2019), CoE's Education Policy Head, Villiano Qiriazi, particularly Focused on "promoting Inclusivity" in Nowadays Societies, as well as on "Influencing Policy Makers to Broaden their Scope on Languages", (Comp. Supra), and Pleading for an "Holistic" approach of relevant "Skills". For that purpose, inter alia, it's also by Supporting the actual "Implementation" of the CEFRL, in "Coordination with National Agendas", and by "Selection of Case-Studies", as well as Other relevant Draft Projects, that the CoE intends to resolutely Advance Forward on this Topical and Key role of Languages Nowadays, (including by a Hard Paper Copy Publication of CoE's New Tool, expected "by October or November 2018", initially "in English and in French", followed also by a German Translation, before it becomes really Multi-Lingual in the foreseable Future, as Qiriazi announced). (../..) ------------------------------------------ *** (NDLR : "DraftNews", already send to "Eurofora" Subsrcibers/Donors, earlier. A more accurate, full Final Version, might be published asap). *** Yup. Read that silly argument and posted the counter to it in the thread. (If you want I can link it again). Try using it if you hit and kill a pregnant woman w/ your car. You are charged w/ both lives. Again, i am not really interested in that side of the debate as it is not solvable. I meet w/ a group of very serious libertarians and anarcho capitalists and we have done this one a dozen times. It splits the room. Both sides make logical arguments. The only solution is to remove the federal government. Written by ACM *Strasbourg/Institute of Political Science/Angelo Marcopolo/- In an event organized at Strasbourg's University by the European Movement for the Anniversary of Hague's Historic Congress of 1948 on Europe, the top Human Rights Professor Florence Benoit-Rohmer, former Dean of the Faculty of Law, who has teached also at Venice University and created a Paneuropean Network on Human Rights, reacting to an observation made by "Eurofora" during the Debate, Concluded by expressing her basic agreement on the Crucial Point that those who really support the Development of a Strong Europe in the foreseeable Future, should better "Wish to Build Europe Together with the People". - "Eurofora", who had been invited to that special event, organized at the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) by the European Movement, basically observed that the Fact that, still, Nowadays, even the Strategic importance Deepening of uroArea's Integration, needed, in order to be Succesfull, also to Strengthen considerably the links of the relevant European Institutions with EU Citizens, in order to Stimulate Popular Support, which is of Vital Importance nowadays. It's mainly in this Direction that can be perceived, f.ex., the recent Calls by new French President Emanuel Macron to ReVitalize the European Democracy, f.ex. by Consulting EU Citizens before Important Strategic Decisions, (Comp.: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/macronforcitizensdebatesalsoafter2019.html + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/macronineuparliamentaskscitizensdebates.html + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/tajaniandmacrontowardseuroforaprojectonapril2018.html , http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/macronatthehistoricsourcesofdemocracy.html, etc), to prepare Trans-National Lists for Candidate MEPs in the Future, eventually even to Create a kind of "EuroArea"s New Parliamentary Expression, etc., which have been, more or less, basically supported also by German Chancelor Angie Merkel, while even the Experienced, former Finance or Interior Minister, and Now President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schauble, had clearly stressed, (f.ex. earlier in Strasbourg, at a joint event with ChristianDemocrat/EPP President Joseph Daul : See ...), that a Desirable "EuroArea"s Deepening should go Hand by Hand, Together with a decisive Strenghering of EU Democracy. Benoit-Rohmer was Speaking together with German Professors in Modern History, Birte Wassenberg (Germany), and Sylvain Shirmann (France), Experienced former IEP's Director and current Scientific Director of Schuman Foundation, before a Debate with the European Movement's Invitees on the 70th Anniversary of the Congress of Hague (1948-2018), where most pro-European Top Political Personalities had notoriously gathered, (including Churchill, Schuman, Cundenhove-Callergis, etc), making various Key Proposals for the Creation of a Modern Europe, many among which were, Meanwhile, Realized, or are in the process of doing so, (including, f.ex., the establishment of Council of Europe and ECHR, EU Parliament, uro-Currency, European University and/or "Erasmus" EU Students' mobility, etc). - Significantly, (particularly in this Preparartory Period for the Forthcoming EU Elections of May 2019), Professors Wassenberg and Schiermann, together with Prof. Libera, have recently Published an interesting Original Research on: - "Abstentionism, Euro-Scepticism and Anti-Europeanism, at the European Elections between 1979 and 2014", (i.e. covering all of them, until now), edited by Franz Steiner Verlag, at nearby Stuttgart, as the latter confirmed to "Eurofora". - In Fact, it seems to exist "a Desire for Europe" among many People still Nowdays. EU Parliament is, naturally, very Important, in this regard, but it's also a Fact that "the People were Absent" at that "Hague's Summit of 1948" (where 2 Tendencies were notoriously present : the "Federalists" and the "Unionists", supporting European Integration or Cooperation, respectively), and the way that EU Citizens are Consulted until now is "Not Enough", because the European "People should play a Greater Role" in the Future, stressed Professor Benoit-Rohmer, who resumed Today's Anniversary event in Conclusion, stressed, particulary after the above-mentioned "Eufora"s observation, (Comp. Supra). => Thus, Nowadays, "I wish that Europe is Build Together With the People", concluded Human Rights' Professor Florence Benoit-Rhomer in this regard. - Earlier, Benoit-Rohmer had also reminded that, while the 1948 Congress of Hague had inspired the Creation of the CoE and of the ECHR, already as early as since 1949, (i.e. just 1 Year later !), which notoriously Developed (particularly after the 2004 CoE Heads of State/Government's Summit in Warsaw (Poland : Comp. "Eurofora" co-Founder's NewsReports from the spot, Published, then, at "TCWeekly", f.ex. : ... + ..., etc), along the main lines shaped by "Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law", in fact, more Recently, it's also the EU's Reforms which have also Started to "Protect Human Rights", more and more, f.ex. with the relevant Developments in the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) Case-Law, the Lisbon Treaty's "Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms" (which Entered into Force on 2010), etc., and this Trend is, normally, due to unfold Further in the foreseable Future. + Meanwhile, History Professor Sylvain Schirmann (Comp. Supra), expresssed the view that it might be Better, and more Efficient in Practice, to Focus on "Building Concrete Elements which Create real Links" between EU Member Countries, (citting, fex., earlier, the possible Example of a ReinForced Cooperation on European Defense, etc). In Fact, as the Building of Modern Nations often took "several Centuries" before they become really Developed, also "Europe needs a Long Process of Building up", as he said. I.e., apparently joining EU Commision President, Jean-Claude Juncker's surprizing Conclusion, at his Recent Speech, by a Symbolic Coincidence, ...exactly at this Same Place, i.e. at Strasbourg University's Istitute of Political Sciences (IEP), just a Few Months Ago, that, from the point of view of History, "contrary to what some think, Europe has just ...Started to be built !" (See: ...). Not far away from what even the 1st EU Parliament's President, former Minister Simone Veil, had already said to "Eurofora", in Reply to a Question raised on the sidelines of her landmark Speech at Sorbonne University, previously in Paris, on 2009, (See : ... + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/simoneveileuropeintransition.html, etc), i.e. that, in fact, "Europe is in a Transition stage". - But, at the Same Time, "Human Rigts" and Democracy have "become a Key part of the Foundations of Europe's Identity", observed German History Professor Birte Wassenberg, who also Warned on their Importance, particularly "Now that EU's Foundations seem to be at a Crisis", as she noted. -+ Joking, in an attempt to Stir up spirits, if not really believing it, she, However, suggested, with a Bright Smile : - "Sometimes, I Feel that, at least, our "Euro-District" (i.e. Strasbourg City, at the French side of Rhine's internal EU Borders, and Ortenau District, at the German side of that River), "might Become something like USA's .... <> at Europe's Core", "leaving for Later-on the task to Bring Together also Paris' and Berlin's National Capitals of France and Germany"... This, at least, Lighted up some Faces in the Audience : It was, precisely the Moment for a "European DREAM" section, as scheduled in the Program of Today's event... And, after all, why Not ? (../..) ------------------------------------------ *** (NDLR : "DraftNews", already send to "Eurofora" Subsrcibers/Donors, earlier. A more accurate, full Final Version, might be published asap). *** MUNICH, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- - Sub-analysis presented from ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48, the longest single comparative global trial of a non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant (NOAC) in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) to date - Results showed a reduction in both spontaneous and traumatic intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) in patients who took edoxaban, compared to warfarin[1] - The data is being presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) 2018, in Gothenburg, Sweden Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo), today announced new sub-analysis data from the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial, which demonstrates that patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with edoxaban (known by the brand name LIXIANA(R)Black Triangle Drug), for the prevention of stroke or systemic embolic events (SEE), had reduced rates of different types of intracranial haemorrhage (ICH, bleeding inside the skull),[2] compared to those on warfarin.[1] The data was presented at the 4th European Stroke Organisation Congress (ESOC), on 16-18 May, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Providing insights on the rates of ICH by cause, the sub-analysis showed a 42% reduction in spontaneous ICH (HR 0.58 [0.41-0.81]), which occurred in 97 patients taking either edoxaban or warfarin, and a 62% reduction in traumatic ICH (HR 0.38 [0.23-0.63]), which occurred in 185 patients taking either edoxaban or warfarin, among patients taking edoxaban (60 mg or 30 mg dose reduced, once-daily) compared to warfarin.[1] These results build on the body of evidence supporting the use of edoxaban in clinical practice and follow results from the ENGAGE-AF-TIMI 48 trial, where edoxaban demonstrated non-inferiority to warfarin for the prevention of stroke or SEE in patients with AF, with significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality and major bleeding.[3] "Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants are increasingly used in clinical practice, and it is essential that we continue to expand our understanding of these therapies in specific patient populations, to help inform and optimise care" said co-author of study Robert P. Giugliano, from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. "Results from the sub-analysis of the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial suggest that edoxaban offers an advantage over warfarin in patients who need anticoagulation and are at risk of ICH, providing guidance and offering further assurance to physicians regarding its use." ICH is a type of bleeding that occurs inside the skull, either within the brain parenchyma or the surrounding meningeal spaces.[2] It can have serious life-long implications for patients, and the mortality rate in ICH is three times that of ischemic stroke.[4] The sub-analysis provides further insights into outcomes in edoxaban compared to warfarin by ICH subtype, with edoxaban (60 mg or 30 mg dose reduced, once-daily) treated patients having lower rates of intraparenchymal haemorrhage (IPH) (HR 0.55 [95% CI 0.38-0.78]) and subdural hematoma (SDH) (HR 0.36 [0.22-0.58]), and similar rates of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) and ischemic stroke with haemorrhagic transformation (ISHT) (both p>0.05).[1] "These data provide further insights into the benefits of edoxaban and its use to achieve the best possible outcomes for AF patients," said Wolfgang Zierhut, MD, Head of Antithrombotic & Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area, Daiichi Sankyo Europe. "We remain committed to advancing understanding of edoxaban and this data adds to the growing body of evidence supporting its use." These latest sub-analysis findings from the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial align with the '2018 European Heart Rhythm Association guide on the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation', published in March 2018. The guidelines recommend NOACs over warfarin for the prevention of stroke in eligible AF patients, due to the reduced risk of intracranial and life-threatening bleeds, which has been consistently observed across multiple studies.[5] About the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 Study ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 (Effective aNticoaGulation with factor xA next GEneration in Atrial Fibrillation) was a three-arm, randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, global phase 3 clinical trial comparing once-daily edoxaban with warfarin in 21,105 patients with NVAF at moderate-to-high risk of thromboembolic events at 1,393 centres in 46 countries. ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 compared two edoxaban treatment strategies, a higher dose arm (60 mg or 30 mg dose reduced) once-daily and a lower dose arm (30 mg or 15 mg dose reduced, which is not currently licensed) once-daily, with warfarin in patients with NVAF for a median of 2.8 years. Patients were dose reduced for creatinine clearance (CrCL) 30 to 50 mL/min, body weight of 60 kg or less or certain p-glycoprotein inhibitor use. ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 represents the longest single comparative global trial with a novel anticoagulant in patients with NVAF performed to date. The full results were presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2013 in Dallas and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.[3] About Edoxaban Edoxaban is an oral, once-daily, direct factor Xa (pronounced "Ten A") inhibitor. Factor Xa is one of the key components responsible for blood clotting, so inhibiting this makes the blood thin and less prone to clotting. Edoxaban is currently marketed in Japan, the U.S., South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand Switzerland, the U.K., Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Canada, and other European countries. The edoxaban Summary of Product Characteristics can be viewed here: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_... . About Edoxaban Clinical Research Programme (ECRP) Daiichi Sankyo is committed to expanding scientific knowledge about edoxaban, as demonstrated through our research programmes evaluating its use in a broad range of cardiovascular conditions, patient types and clinical settings in AF and VTE. The edoxaban clinical research programme includes multiple RCTs (randomised, controlled trials), registries and non-interventional studies, with the goal of generating new clinical and real-world-data regarding its use in AF and VTE populations. Daiichi Sankyo expects that more than 100,000 patients will participate in the edoxaban clinical research programme, including completed, ongoing, and future research. The RCTs include: - ENSURE-AF (EdoxabaN vs. warfarin in subjectS UndeRgoing cardiovErsion of Atrial Fibrillation), in AF patients undergoing electrical cardioversion - ENTRUST-AF PCI (EdoxabaN TReatment versUS VKA in paTients with AF undergoing PCI), in AF patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention - Hokusai-VTE CANCER (Edoxaban in Venous Thromboembolism Associated with Cancer), in patients with cancer and an acute VTE event - ELDERCARE-AF (Edoxaban Low-Dose for EldeR CARE AF patients), in elderly AF patients in Japan - ELIMINATE-AF (EvaLuatIon of edoxaban coMpared with VKA IN subjects undergoing cAThEter ablation of non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation) - ENVISAGE-TAVI AF (EdoxabaN Versus standard of care and theIr effectS on clinical outcomes in pAtients havinG undergonE Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) - Atrial Fibrillation) (CONTINUA) Good evening I am new member here and just getting the feel for the site. My husband is looking at possible work in Kuwait, he works in the motor vehicle trade. We currently live in Scotland and have a 7 year old daughter - is Kuwait good for children.?- would it be a better idea for hubby to go out alone and see how things go rather than up root the whole family ? Would it be easy enough for me to get a job when out there ?? So much to think about although very very early stages yet and no offer has been made or accepted Thanks for the advice 26 from the UK here, trying to do as much research as I can so any help would be great! I want to apply for the two year working holiday visa for Canada and was planning to work at Whistler mountain for a winter season, for about 5/6 months so I can ski on my days off!. But I have no idea where to start about applying for jobs there that could also give me accomedation. And I'd have to time it well with applying because who knows how long the VISA application would take or if I even get accepted! Also I'm a LGV (class 2, wagons/trucks) driver and was wondering if I would have to go through all the theory tests again if I wanted to do driving work in Canada or would I just have to take a driving test and thats it? Thanks for that. However I am still confused. If I have understood what you have posted then this is what I think will occur but i am left with one question. Chronology for my case: May 16 2018 Submitted Tax Return on line for Y/E 31 Dec 2017. -do- Only one more instalment to be paid in June 2018 and my Tax for 2017 will have been paid off in full. Jan 2019 My employer starts to deduct Tax at Source from my Monthly wages related to the money paid by them to me in that month, that is real time not for the previous year. Spring 2019 I will have to make a Tax Return on line for my earnings in Y/E 31/12/18. As at present my employer informs the Tax Office of my earnings as stated on the Fische Fiscale so this amount appears on the Tax Return. I also declare any Incomes for the UK as i have done since I came here 5 years ago. So far so good. Now the bit that confuses me. The Bureau des Impots issues a Tax Credit in respect of my Income for Y/e 31/12/18 which contras the Income Tax payable for that year so Ii only pay Tax on my small UK annuity incomes.. Sounds great BUT Will Ii have to pay Tax on my main 2018 Income from Employment here in France? If so when and how? In the UK HMRC would simply reduce my Tax Code and claw back the Tax for 2018 that way from my monthly wages in 2019 and if needs be ongoing until paid off. I don't think that is the system here in France as we don't have a Tax Code like UK Employees. So the 64 Thousand Euro Question is this. Will i owe the French Taxman the income Tax on my 2018 earnings or will I and millions of others get off Scot Free? If that is not the case then when will I have to pay it and how? Sorry to be bit thick but the French Income Tax system is very complicated to me compared to the one in the UK even for the Self Employed there , called Schedule D, and of course PAYE for the greater number of Employees in Britain who unless they have other incomes such as from Investments, Rents etc seldom have to fill out a Tax Return in their working lives. As expected, the Spanish Grand Prix saw an array updates and changes for most Formula 1 teams, with Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren introducing the most extensive packages. F1i's resident techie Nicolas Carpentiers takes a look at the squads' mods. STILLBORN REARVIEW MIRRORS In Barcelona, Ferrari modified the fixing mounts of its rear-view mirrors, now attached to the Halo and no longer to the cockpit. It will be remembered that the FIA authorized this installation between the Chinese and Azerbaijani Grand Prix, in response to the complaints of the drivers and the teams about the poor rearward visibility due to the widening and lowering of the rear wing last year. As usual, engineers quickly realized that change could be exploited to improve performance. This is how the Scuderia took the opportunity to add a winglet above the actual mirror, whose shape is superimposed perfectly on that of the rear-view mirror fairing. While the tether itself is likely to offer few aerodynamic gains, this is not so the case with the winglet. Its curved profile indicates a desire of aerodynamicists to direct the airflow down ("downwash"), in order to send a better quality flow to the rear wing. Thats why several teams asked Charlie Whiting to comment on the legality of it all, a request which resulted in a technical directive being sent to everyone this week by the FIA's head of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis, clarifying the governing body's position on the concept of halo-mounted mirrors. The Scuderia will subsequently be forced to modify its assembly for next week's Monaco Grand Prix. The dispute concerned the definition of the word mounting, which Maranello apparently interpreted too freely (the FIA considers that it is not an attachment stricto sensu but a bodywork element, which is prohibited in this area of the car). Clarification will be useful as several teams are working on a similar assembly, including Renault: Were working on something too, Technical Director Bob Bell told Auto Motor und Sport. I think all the teams will be. As can be seen in the last image above, the French team tested in the garage a resin prototype made with a 3D printer. New Historic Town Signage Unveiled in Leighlinbridge, Athy, Carrickmacross and Wexford Failte Ireland will bring to life the history and stories behind some of the oldest towns in Irelands Ancient East through a series of newly updated Historic Town trail signs around the region.Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin T.D., officially unveiled the new Historic Towns signs in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow the first of four towns to have the signage installed.Working with local authorities and historians, Failte Ireland has uncovered interesting and lesser known stories from each areas history. This content will be displayed through wayfinding, interpretation, photography, maps and other signage across each town.The Historic Towns initiative, designed to encourage visitors to stay longer and explore the wider region as well as Leighlinbridge - have also been strategically placed in Athy (Co. Kildare), Carrickmacross (Co. Monaghan), and Wexford town. A further seven towns across the Irelands Ancient East region will have signage installed and updated over the coming months.Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin T.D., said:Im delighted to unveil the new Historic Town signage at Leighlinbridge, which I know will really bring the storied past of this charming town to life. Im pleased that Failte Ireland has worked so closely with Carlow County Council and local historians to bring to life the lesser known history of the area. This scheme will allow locals and visitors alike to properly appreciate and engage with the areas unique heritage.Failte Irelands Head of Irelands Ancient East, Jenny DeSaulles, said:There is a growing tourism trend for exploring local areas and uncovering their unique stories. Thats why at Failte Ireland weve worked closely with local historians to bring to life the hidden history of each town. History and storytelling are at the core of the Irelands Ancient East brand and the signage unveiled in Historic Towns today will really help to shape engaging visitor experiences.Vitally, it will also encourage visitors to explore different parts of Irelands Ancient East and to stay in the region for longer. We look forward to unveiling more signage in Historic Towns across Irelands Ancient East over the coming months.Failte Ireland has identified a number of strategic objectives and priorities for Irelands Ancient East which are specific to using storytelling interpretation to create brilliant experiences and in turn to deliver economic benefits.These objectives are to: Deliver engaging world class visitor experiences that make Irelands living and historical culture accessible through the use of authentic stories as a differentiator; Create and deliver unique visitor experiences based on living the history; Provide the visitor with interpretation in the first language of the target audience, i.e. in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian; Increase the length of time visitors spend in Irelands Ancient East and the amount of money they spend there; Encourage overseas visitors to stay beyond the traditional tourism season and to visit longer. Jump to top The Ryan Tubridy Show broadcasts along Irelands coastal touring route The Ryan Tubridy Show has joined forces once again this year with Failte Ireland, as part of its Embrace the Wild Atlantic Way of Life summer marketing campaign. Ryan will be broadcasting live with RTE Radio 1 from Clonakilty, Cork to Kenmare, Kerry and from Roundstone, Galway to Ballina, Mayo, as his show tours the Wild Atlantic Way from Monday 28th until Thursday 31th May. The tour will be known as Tubs on the Wild Atlantic Way and will broadcast live in each location from 9 10am each morning, along the route.Failte Ireland is encouraging everyone to come out and attend the broadcasts and to arrive early. Looking forward to the arrival of the popular RTE Radio 1 show, Miriam Kennedy, Head of the Wild Atlantic Way, Failte Ireland, said Ryan Tubridy is a fantastic ambassador for the Wild Atlantic Way and he can really get across to his listeners what the Wild Atlantic Way is all about and how it captures peoples imagination. This is the fifth consecutive year the show has chosen to experience the Wild Atlantic Way and we are delighted to be supporting it.Spectators coming down to watch the broadcast - whether in Clonakinty, Kenmare, Roundstone, or Ballina - can expect to see plenty of festivities, interviews, live music as well as hear about local tourism highlights. We are encouraging everyone to come on down and join in the fun and discover ways to Embrace the Wild Atlantic Way of Life through the airwaves.The RTE Radio 1 team have a busy schedule as the popular host broadcasts live from the following locations:Monday, 28th May Clonakilty, Co CorkTuesday, 29th May Kenmare, Co KerryWednesday, 30th May Roundstone, Co GalwayThursday, 31st May Ballina, Co MayoRyan will be interviewing some local tourism businesses from the surrounding area and discussing some of the many activities and experiences available to anyone touring the Wild Atlantic Way as well as trying some water based activities and visiting some well known attractions in each area.Failte Irelands Shauna Cunningham/Joan Crawford will be accompanying Ryan and are available for interviews on local radio.Follow Tubs on the Wild Atlantic Way on Twitter @wildatlanticway #wildatlanticway Jump to top GIVEN the high percentage of Australian broadacre farmers planting into low or no moisture, a fertiliser specialist has urged farmers to be careful with seed and fertiliser placement. Rob Norton, a member of the Grains Research and Development southern solutions panel, said when seed was placed too close to fertiliser in dry soils there was the risk of burn. In particular, he said farmers in low rainfall zones with lighter soils, such as the northern Wheatbelt in WA, were at particular risk. It is a bigger problem in dry, sandy soils, Dr Norton said. To combat this, he said farmers needed to make sure there was good distance between seed and fertiliser and also potentially consider dropping the fertiliser rate. The dry lead in to winter sowing in 2018 means last years strategy might not be safe this year, he said. Dr Norton encouraged growers to use a seed damage calculator, available at goo.gl/NT8vmB, to check how much fertiliser they can apply with seed through the same chute. The calculator doesnt address fertiliser placed below or to the side of seed, but Dr Norton said separation of seed and fertiliser at about 3-5 centimetres was usually enough distance to protect seed. The severity of problems will vary from crop to crop with canola and lentils being more sensitive, while wheat and barley are relatively tolerant. The order of sensitivity for crop species can vary for fertiliser type, but in general, the order from most to least sensitive in major grain crops is canola, followed by lentils, peas, oats, wheat and then barley, Dr Norton said. Fertilisers can affect germinating seeds in at least two ways, with the first relating to salt index. Most granular fertilisers are salts and as such, too much fertiliser salt can burn the seedling or stop seedlings from absorbing water. Nitrogen and potassium fertilisers tend to have a higher salt index than phosphorus fertilisers. Sulphate forms of popular fertilisers tend to have lower salt indexes. Ammonia formation potential is the second consideration. Dr Norton said free ammonia could be toxic to seed. Placing urea-containing fertilisers in-furrow is risky because they produce ammonia, he said. A fertiliser with polymer coatings or urease inhibitors may slow the rate of ammonia production enough to protect seed, although these fertilisers are still considered risky to place near seeds. Dr Norton said the safe rate of fertiliser per hectare increased as row spacing narrowed. Closer row spacing dilutes fertiliser over the length of row, he said. Machinery configuration, such as twin chuting systems which separate seed and fertiliser, can assist in protecting the seed. Fertiliser is placed in bands to the side or below the seed bands and separation of 3-5cm is usually enough to protect seed. Dr Norton said the more scatter there was between seed and fertiliser, the more fertiliser could be safely applied. The concept of seed bed utilisation (SBU) addresses this factor, he said. SBU is the proportion of row width occupied by seed row. OPPORTUNITIES for Australian noodle wheat growers in the Chinese market could be on the horizon, despite the obstacles presented by tariffs. That was optimistic take-home message from a group of representatives from the Australian noodle wheat industry following a recent tour to China. The trip was part of a Curtin University project working with Jinshahe Flour Group Manufacturing Company exploring Australian-made wheat noodles and Chinese wheat products for the Chinese market, supported by the Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) Agricultural Trade and Market Access Co-operation (ATMAC) program. With much of Chinas demand for wheat met domestically, and Australian wheat still subject to an out-of-quota tariff rate of 65 per cent, the tour was aimed at boosting Australias growth potential by building market relationships. Curtin University associate professor Vicky Solah and Dr Haelee Fenton, led the group of 14 growers, plant breeders, scientists and other industry representatives who travelled to the Chinese cities of Xian, Yangling, Xingtai and Beijing, touring manufacturing facilities, universities, flour mills and research institutions in March. Dr Solah and cereal chemist Dr Graham Crosbie who also joined the tour have had a close working relationships with Chinese researchers for more than 20 years. Long term relationships are an important aspect in Chinese culture and business, Dr Solah said. While entering the market place with a bulk commodity is prohibitive at present, the market situation may change quickly. We want to be on top of whats happening and we want the growers to be connected with the markets as well. Were trying to bring more people into that group, that relationship is very important and we dont want to lose that association. As part of the tour, Australian varieties and blends were put under the microscope and underwent sensory evaluation against Chinese wheat. When tested for noodle and steamed bread quality requirements, Dr Solah said results found flour produced from Australian wheat had better gluten properties, dough mixing characteristics and starch properties than the best flour from Chinese wheat. She said a blend of 40 per cent Mace and 60pc Zen had positive results, with the highest score for noodle smoothness. We were really quite excited because the report came back and said all the wheat flours that we sent that were made into noodles were so much better than Chinese flours. Dr Solah said. We sent Mace, but we also sent blends of Mace and Zen and we were trying to look at what they felt about the high-swelling starch thats in the noodle wheat, and it actually made the noodles a lot smoother, so the noodles got a significantly higher sensory score when compared to high quality Chinese flours. Dr Solah said the high Australian quality wheat could soon be in greater demand, with an increased focus on quality produce, and health food products in parts of China. She said this was highlighted when the group visited food company Good Morning Ancient Capital Breakfast Engineer (GMACBE), where no food additives or colours were used in food products. Theres a demand for healthy food, they want food that is still processed that they can buy cheaply on the street, but they dont want preservatives and additives, Dr Solah said. Young Chinese people are restaurant eaters and so they go to Japanese and other sorts of restaurants and eat different sorts of foods. Liberal Party agriculture spokesperson Ian Blayney, who joined the group, said Australias high quality wheat could be the ticket to expand the Chinese market, and emphasised the importance of a close relationship with China. Mr Blayney said WA growers needed to be at the front of the line if trade arrangements changed. In parts of Asia we know our very high grade wheats are frequently blended to lift the standard of poorer wheats and so I think theres automatically, as it deregulates and as we come under the free trade agreement, theres that opportunity for our wheat to be what lifts the standards, Mr Blayney said. He was hopeful continued engagement with Chinese flour companies could lead to investments on Australian soil, which would open opportunities for WA noodle wheat growers and expand the local noodle wheat market. I would have thought that if we produce the best noodle wheats in the world, we should be able to produce the best noodles, so that sort of fits into the bigger picture, Mr Blayney said. Were never going to be the granary of Asia but we can be the gourmet deli, and we can produce the best quality stuff so thats an interesting opportunity. Obviously thats something well keep an interest in, the thing we want is whats best for WA growers and Id love to see a noodle plant here. Sabcat said: Why are there two identical threads, even down to the responses. Click to expand... Why can't you just either join in or ignore one or the other?BFD The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia has confirmed the detection of citrus canker on three properties in the States north, linked to imported plants from the Northern Territory. The department has conducted tracing and testing of plants imported from Darwin, where citrus canker has been detected. Department Biosecurity Executive Director Mia Carbon said test results had confirmed the disease in citrus plants which were traced to two retail businesses at Kununurra. It has also been confirmed in a citrus plant at a property at Wyndham. The infected plants on the properties have been removed and destroyed to minimise the risk of the disease spreading, Dr Carbon said. Citrus canker is a serious disease that can affect all citrus, and it is vital we work together with industry and the Kununurra and Wyndham communities to contain this disease and protect our important citrus production. We will be providing further information to industry and local residents on containment and control measures as the response progresses. Citrus canker does not affect human health or animals, and affected fruit is safe to be consumed. Dr Carbon said the department would work closely with Northern Territory authorities to coordinate response activities and follow national emergency plant pest arrangements. Anyone with citrus plants is asked to check them for symptoms, particularly anyone who has purchased wholesale or retail plants from Darwin or Kununurra. The symptoms of citrus canker include blister-like lesions on leaves, stems and fruit that are raised, tan to brown in colour, and are surrounded by an oily, water-soaked margin and a yellow ring or halo. Large or older lesions may have a crater-like appearance. Plants with suspect symptoms must not be moved and should be reported to the departments Pest and Disease Information Service on (08) 9368 3080 or padis@dpird.wa.gov.au, or via the departments MyPestGuide ReporterTM app. The department recently introduced import restrictions to suspend the entry of plants, plant material and fruit of the Rutaceae family, which includes all citrus, from the Northern Territory. More information on citrus canker is available from the department website agric.wa.gov.au SEVERAL new appointments have been announced for the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Regional Cropping Solutions Network (RCSN) groups in Western Australia. The five western region RCSN groups are an important part of the GRDCs consultation process with growers and industry stakeholders, identifying issues critical to ensuring the prosperity of the grains industry in their grain receival port zones and initiating ideas for locally-focussed projects. Western region GRDC RCSN co-ordinator Julianne Hill welcomed to the networks the 14 new representatives who join several other RCSN representatives located across the State. The RCSN groups representing WAs Albany, Esperance, Kwinana West, Kwinana East and Geraldton port zone areas provide regional intelligence to the GRDC, including to its Western Regional Panel, helping to fine-tune grains research, development and extension (RD&E) investments, Ms Hill said. I look forward to the contributions that will be made by the new members, including growers, agronomists, advisers and other industry representatives, who were selected from many high-calibre applicants. The successful applicants have a broad range of experience and were chosen for their skill sets, passion and willingness to share information with others. I would like to take the opportunity to thank outgoing RCSN representatives, who have completed their valuable contribution in helping guide grains industry RD&E investment in WA. New RCSN representatives include: Albany zone Tim Mathwin, adviser; Peter Bostock, adviser Esperance zone Cameron Mudge, grower; Joel Ebert, grower; Monica Field, agronomist Kwinana West zone Chad Hawksley, grower; Dani Whyte, agronomist Kwinana East zone Callum Wesley, grower; Nic McGregor, adviser; Natalie Purdy, financier; Floyd Sullivan, adviser and Geraldton zone Phil Smyth, agronomist; Andrew Cripps, rural services; Jerome Critch, grain marketer. KEEP calm and get pregnant. Thats the advice from a study published by The University of Western Australia (UWA) after researching the reproductive outcomes of 200 Merino ewes known to have either a calm or a nervous temperament. The study, Calm Merino ewes have a higher ovulation rate and more multiple pregnancies than nervous ewes, revealed that ewes increased their likelihood of carrying more foetuses, getting pregnant, carrying twins and producing more milk (for dairy ewes) if they were calm. Conducted in collaboration with researchers from Uruguay, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the study has implications for the impact of stress in human reproduction. UWAs School of Agriculture and Environment and Institute of Agriculture associate professor Dominique Blache, who led the study, said temperament affected the ovulation rate in ewes but not the occurrence of ovulation. Differences in reproductive outcomes between the calm and nervous ewes were mainly due to a higher ovulation rate in calm ewes, Dr Blache said. Even when the ovulation rate is maintained some of the nervous ewes have problems in maintaining their pregnancy, possibly because of the quality of the eggs and subsequent embryos, and perhaps the quality of the uterine environment during the first two weeks of pregnancy. The results also suggest that reproduction in nervous ewes is compromised by factors leading up to ovulation and conception, or in the uterine environment during early pregnancy, which reflects differences in energy utilisation. Understanding why the reproductive outcome of these ewes is different will help to breed sheep better suited for the production system, improving their welfare. The study reveals that in 1990, two different selection lines of Merino sheep were established for low and high behavioural reactivity (also called calm and nervous temperament) at UWA. Breeding records of the two lines obtained over four years showed that 10 per cent to 19pc more lambs (to mated ewes) were weaned from the calm ewes than from the nervous ewes. The higher ovulation rate in calm ewes was possibly due to the effects of metabolic hormones. Previous investigations have shown that calm ewes were more likely to seek males and receptive to approaches by males than nervous ewes. Colostrum produced by calm ewes has more lactose, less fat and is less viscous than that from nervous ewes. The study found that calm dairy ewes produced more milk than nervous ewes and milk from calm ewes had more protein. An analysis of two years of data from routine ultrasound scanning of the two selection lines during mid pregnancy (60 to 90 days post mating) suggested that selection for behavioural reactivity could influence fertility and prolificacy. The analysis showed that ewes in the calm line carried more foetuses. The calm ewes carried a higher proportion of twins, 35.4pc compared with 14.6pc for the nervous ewes. The paper was published in the journal Animal and the research was supported by Meat and Livestock Australia. The first shipment of Indian buffalo meat for 2018 arrived prior to Ramadan and Idul Fitri, from May 15-June 16, in anticipation of increased demand over the religious festival period. The Indonesian government said the new permits were part of its continued efforts to keep beef prices affordable. Through distributors, it aims to increase the presence of Indian buffalo meat beyond Greater Jakarta, to wet market operations, BULOG retail shops and other sectors across the country. The new permits went contrary to a previous Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) report that said, In mid-November (2017) the Indonesian government stated it does not intend to issue any additional Indian buffalo meat allocations beyond the 110,000 tonnes agreed at the December 2016 limited coordination meeting. The MLA 2017 market snapshot said that the entry of Indian buffalo meat into the Indonesian market in August 2016, combined with high Australian cattle prices and the Indonesian government policy to achieve self-sufficiency for major commodities including beef, affected Australian live cattle shipments in 2017. The entrance of Indian buffalo meat into the Indonesian market has also impacted Australian beef exports, with boxed beef shipments lower in 2017, MLA said. Cattle exports to Indonesia dropped 16 per cent, to 512,000 head, for the 12 months to the end of January, and boxed beef exports declined by 19pc over the same period, to 50,000 tonnes swt, with the trend set to continue. In March 2018 MLA released details of Indonesias increased permits issued for Indian buffalo meat to provide affordable prices to consumers. If fully utilised, the permits reflect a further increase in competition in a market worth $1.09 billion in export receipts to the Australian cattle industry, MLA said. Indonesia is a key beef trading partner with Australia and is ideally located for the northern cattle export trade. MLA said beef consumption in Indonesia was expected to increase by 160,000t carcase weight by 2021. In 2017, Indonesia received 60pc of Australias live cattle exports, was the fifth largest beef export market and was the leading destination of beef offal exports. MLA said the fresh permits must be considered in context of an overall beef shortage in Indonesia, with the local cattle herd unable to meet demand in a country of 264 million people. In the current market, the cost of cattle in Australia due to an ongoing herd rebuild is having a far greater impact on the live and boxed beef trade to Indonesia than additional Indian buffalo meat entering the market. Indonesias first series of permit allocations were for 110,000t of buffalo meat (for August 2016 to December 2017), which was almost double the volume of Australian beef exports to Indonesia in 2016, but only about 78pc of the permit allocation was realised. MLA said the entry of Indian buffalo meat has made Indonesia an increasingly challenging market for Australian exports, alongside high cattle prices and increased regulatory complexity. Indian buffalo meat undercuts imported and locally slaughtered beef and has penetrated wet markets in the Greater Jakarta region where about 70pc of beef from Australias feeder cattle exports are ultimately consumed. MLA said buffalo meat was a cheap and ideal substitute for beef in many Indonesian dishes, making it popular among small meat manufacturers and foodservice operators. Indian buffalo meat attracts consumers and further processors, seeking the cheapest available product on the market and is often blended with fresh beef in wet markets to reduce overall purchase costs. MLA said that while manufacturing beef and cattle exports to Indonesia have faced headwinds, some segments have shown growth. Boxed beef primal exports in 2017 lifted 35pc year-on-year, to 34,000t swt, underpinned by increased shipments of blade, brisket and outside, MLA said. Further supported by the relaxation of cut restrictions and reduced slaughter of imported cattle (and decline in local offal production), offal exports to Indonesia lifted 44pc, to 26,000t swt in 2017. Despite the majority of the population being Hindu and vegetarian, India consumed more than 2.4 million tonnes (carcase weight) of beef and buffalo meat in 2017 with more than 170 million beef consumers, mainly from among the Muslim and Christian population. India is the world leader in beef and buffalo meat exports with more than 40pc of its total production shipped to south east Asia and the Middle East. Vietnam takes 50pc of Indian exports and shipments to Iraq, Indonesia, Russia and Turkmenistan increased considerably in 2017. India also has an 80pc share of the Malaysian market. Shaun Thomas was "pretty upset" when he was told his 'Emmerdale' character was being killed off. Shaun Thomas The 20-year-old actor's alter-ego Gerry Roberts was murdered by evil Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson) in last night's (17.05.18) episode, and while Shaun was surprised he remained on the ITV soap for so long, he was disappointed when bosses told him his time was up. He told BANG Showbiz: "It was a shock because I was only meant to come here for two episodes in the prison scenes with Lachlan and then I ended up staying here for a year and a half. "So I really got used to being around everybody and making a connection with everybody. And then to be told that it would be coming to an end it was pretty upsetting." Gerry was killed off after Lachlan made the roof of the B&B collapse on his so-called pal in horrific scenes, and then instead of getting help as Gerry was clinging on, he dropped a huge stone on his head. Shaun had to spend three days lying on the floor covered in rubble while shooting the tragic scenes, and he joked that was a "challenge in itself". He said: "Just lying on that floor was a challenge in itself but working with Tom and the directors and the guys that we were working with they were so brilliant and made it so comfortable. "They made it a lot easier to do my own thing." Viewers watched on last night as despite being on the brink of meeting his maker, joker Gerry still managed to make some great quips. Shaun added: "It's typical Gerry isn't it, whatever situation he's in he finds a way to make someone laugh or to make someone smile." Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Why don't we admit when we are wrong? AND why are apologies becoming an endangered species?I recently read a rather old article published (Jeff Jacoby) in the Boston Globe and it hit home.Nobody likes to apologize, particularly when the world is watching. For many of us, the first instinct when our wrongdoing is exposed is to rationalize our offense, minimize the harm we caused, or put the blame somewhere else. Celebrities, politicians, and business moguls are especially notorious for non-apology apologies.I think this is a topic worth investigating since theres a lot of talk right now about whether President Trump should admit when he's wrong and when he lies. Trump is not the first person in power to be in this situation. Im sure you also see this play out all the time. Its frustrating to see our leaders play these types of avoidance games. They cause us to lose faith, with the result being that we learn not to trust them. Many voters certainly do NOT trust Donald Trump, the KING of LIES, exaggeration, and hyperbole.So, why do we avoid admitting our mistakes? I'm just as guilty as the next guy.Our knee-jerk reaction when caught is to avoid taking responsibility by:1. Blaming someone else,2. Getting defensive, or3. Rationalizing a wrongdoing with some sort of storyline we create.Unfortunately, there are those among us who have gotten into a habit of doing one or all three consistently. Whats up with that? There's also the un-apology APOLOGY. You know the one. There's usually a .."BUT" in the apology and it doesn't ring sincere.Apologies need a big comeback if we the people want a united country. We need to grow up and find a little maturity because THAT'S the missing link.Maturity means owning up to a mistake, admitting we DID IT/SAID IT and saying something like: You were right. I was wrong and Im truly sorry for what Ive done. Truly sorry.It's not really that hard--humbling, yes. Embarrassing--probably. But the bottom line, we all need to learn to admit when we are wrong and to take responsibility appropriately. "Its highly important that we confront the protection gap in the UK and ensure clients are not leaving themselves at considerable risk by under-insuring." Paradigm Protect has announced a new relationship with retirement, investment and protection provider, Canada Life. From today, Paradigm Protect is just one of a handful of distributors which will have access to Canada Lifes individual protection products. Canada Lifes life insurance provides terminal illness cover right up to the end of the policy and includes up to 300,000 accidental death benefit during the underwriting process. Canada Lifes critical illness contract includes full cover for over 40 critical illnesses, 19 additional illnesses for a lower amount of cover, and comprehensive child cover. Mike Allison, head of protection at Paradigm, commented: Were incredibly pleased to be able to offer Canada Lifes range of individual protection products through the members of Paradigm Protect. We are currently one of a small number of distributors who have access to these very effective, market-leading products and Im sure advisers will be keen to utilise this access and ensure their clients have access to both the life insurance and life insurance plus critical illness cover offering. Its highly important that we confront the protection gap in the UK and ensure clients are not leaving themselves at considerable risk by under-insuring. This is particularly important for clients who may not have seen their adviser for a number of years, and whose circumstances could well have changed drastically during that time. By committing to protection, advisers are doing all they can to provide at the very least, an adequate amount of protection for all. Were looking forward to working with the Canada Life team and to helping develop their presence with Paradigm member firms. Natalie Summerson, head of individual protection sales at Canada Life, said: We are delighted to be working with Paradigm Protect and its member firms which are passionate about reducing the protection gap. We have designed our individual protection proposition with the customer and adviser controlling the speed of decision. This enables our customers to obtain terms in a timely manner. We believe our approach which uses technology to keep the adviser and customer firmly in control, is key to helping protect more individuals and their families for when the worst happens. Adzuna, a London, UK-based job search engine, raised 8m in Series C funding. Smedvig Capital joined Index Ventures, Passion Capital, LocalGlobe and over 400 Crowdcube investors. The round takes the total funding to 12m. The company intends to use the funds to grow in the UK and internationally and invest in technology. Founded in 2011 by Andrew Hunter and Doug Monro, Adzuna is a search engine for job ads used by over 10 million visitors per month. The engine searches thousands of websites bringing together millions of ads in one place. It also provides smart search options and data about the job market to give jobseekers the information they need to take control of their careers. The platform has over 5,000 sources of jobs, 7m registered users, millions of CVs. The company recently launched in the United States, including its innovative ValueMyResume tool. In 2018, the company intends to expand its development and data science teams, including the recently-launched US market and international operations. Alongside the fundraising, Adzuna has launched Find a job, which connects millions of jobseekers with thousands of employers online and through job centres around the UK. FinSMEs 18/05/2018 Incopro, a London, UK-based online brand & IP protection platform, raised $21m in funding. Highland Europe made the investment. In conjunction with the funding, Sam Brooks and Gajan Rajanathan from Highland Europe are joining the Incopro board. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of its platform and expand its existing operations in China, as well as strengthen its presence in the United States and Europe. Co-founded by Simon Baggs (CEO) and Bret Boivin (CTO), Incopro provides its Talisman online brand protection technology platform for businesses to safeguard their brands from counterfeit and piracy threats online. Talisman monitors IP infringements by scouring the web in real time using machine learning technology, pulling in data from major platforms ranging from online marketplaces and social media through to websites and app stores, enabling comprehensive takedown of all associated operations. The companys other products include Identify, an anti-piracy intelligence tool that tracks over 17,000 piracy websites across the globe, and Spectrum, which allows brands to navigate the ad-buying universe to ensure their adverts are not positioned beside undesirable content. Clients include Reckitt Benckiser, Ted Baker, ghd, NBC Universal, Harley Davidson, Hunter, Tangle Teezer, and BBC Studios. FinSMEs 18/05/2018 PayPal is to acquire iZettle, a Stockholm, Sweden-based small business commerce platform operating in Europe and Latin America. The deal reportedly amounts to $2.2 billion. The acquisition significantly expands the companys in-store presence around the world, strengthening the platform in an omnichannel retail environment. Founded in 2010 by Jacob de Geer and Magnus Nilsson, iZettle provides mobile payments tools including a mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices. PayPals President and CEO Dan Schulman commented on the acquisition in a post whose content is pasted below: . . . , , , , , , , ... Alphabet Incs Google says that an India anti-trust ruling that found it to be guilty of search bias could cause irreparable harm and reputational loss to the company. To refresh your memory, Indian Antitrust watchdog has fined Google Rs.135.86 crores back in February. The firm slammed Google for abusing its position in online web search and has also slammed the company for preventing its partners from using competing search services. However, Google opined that the ruling raised only narrow concerns and in its plea challenging, the company opined that the impact could be far greater. According to the plea, the order said: Google required to change the way it conducts business in India on a lasting basis and the way it designs its search results page in India. Among the other things, Google was asked to stop imposing restrictions on its direct search agreements with other publishers. However, Google says that allowing the CCIs findings implemented without proper scrutiny would cause the company irreparable reputational loss seeking a stay on the ruling. Google managed to get a partial stay on the ruling from Indias company law tribunal, allowing it to deposit only a small part of the imposed penalty. This isnt the first time Google is facing something like this, last year, the European Commission fined a record $2.8 billion fine on the company for demoting rival offerings. What makes this interesting is that matchmaking website Matrimony.com has appealed against CCI ruling claiming that the ruling isnt sufficient. In a statement, in the plea, Google said: If Google is restricted from entering into certain types of contracts while the appellate review is conducted, Google will be irreparably harmed. Source The advent of industrys cell-based renaissance is being signaled by early movers in the space, particularly in Europe. Frozen food giant Nomad Foods has linked up... Read More A development on Shell Point Boulevard was granted a continuance request after receiving a negative staff review. Laura Belflower, a Lee County Hearing Examiner, agreed to continue the hearing for the Eden Oak rezoning request until Sept. 25. The hearing was scheduled for Friday, but the developer asked for the delay to be able to meet with county staff again. There are a lot of outstanding issues to be resolved, said Robert Pritt, an attorney for Eden Oak I LLC. Eden Oak is a 2016 rezoning request for 307 acres on Shell Point Boulevard between the Shell Point Retirement Community and the Palm Acres neighborhood. Eden Oak I LLC, the applicant, seeks to construct 55 single-family homes on about 45 acres of land, rezoning the mangrove habitat from agricultural to residential. The LLC is registered to Romas Kartavicius of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. According to his LinkedIn profile, Kartavicius is also president of Eden Oak, a home building firm thats been in business for more than 30 years in Toronto. More than 100 people attended the Friday hearing, but didnt get the chance to speak publicly. A majority of them were Palm Acres residents, and others, in opposition to the project. Their public comment forms were collected for the public record, however. Representatives from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida also attended the meeting. Lee County staff released a report two weeks ago stating that they did not recommend approval of the rezoning request a surprise to the applicant. We were expecting a more positive staff report, so we need to find out why, Pritt said. The staff report said the request was inconsistent with the Goals, Objectives, and Policies related to the protection and enhancement of wetlands, the protection of wildlife habitat, the protection of life and property, the limitation of public expenditures within Coastal High Hazard Areas, and development within coastal planning areas established by the Lee Plan. The request, if approved, will adversely affect environmentally critical and environmentally sensitive areas and natural resources, and presents compatibility-related concerns to adjacent uses as a result of these adverse environmental impacts, in the 135-page report. The report also states that the developer would also only be allowed 32 homes based on the propertys future land use designations, which are 2.75 acres of suburban and 303.25 acres of wetland. The applicant claims that previous disturbances of the site created enough upland area to allow for residential development but Rae Ann Wessel of the SCCF disagrees. Some of the claimed land is spoil piles from mosquito trenches dug in the 50s; another area Wessel said was illegally cleared in 1984 but was partially restored later by the Army Corps of Engineers. This is such a bad idea, she said in a previous story. You bought it as agricultural zoned critical wetlands. What gave you the idea you were entitled for a rezoning? Wessel, who authored a letter of opposition on behalf of SCCF, is also concerned with the threat of a new development in a Coastal High Hazard Zone the new homes could be under threat for sea level rise, storm surge and road-clogging in a mass evacuation event. Staff agreed in the report the request is inconsistent with the countys policies in regards to wetland preservation in the high hazard zone, it reads: Mangroves and saltwater marsh wetlands act as the first line of defense during storm events by dissipating wave energy and providing retention of water during periods of storm surge. Impacting this area will make private property and public infrastructure in the surrounding area more vulnerable to the effects of storm events. The report notes that part of the property proposed for development has been recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Digital Mapping Pilot Project to be included in the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). In all, staff found the project to be inconsistent with 12 goals and policies of the Lee Plan or substantially inconsistent. Regardless of the density proposed by the request, the request is inconsistent with Lee Plan Goals, Objectives and Policies intended to limit density within the Coastal High Hazard Area, to protect and enhance the ecological character of wetlands and coastal areas, to protect life and property from the hazards of natural disasters, to limit public expenditure in areas of the County most vulnerable to the effects of storms, hurricanes, and flooding, to protect the habitat of threatened and endangered species and species of special concern, and to maintain and enhance native habitat, floral and faunal species diversity, fresh and estuarine water quality, and natural surface water characteristics, the conclusion reads. Now, the developers team and the county staff will try to work through that substantial inconsistency. Pritt said the team will meet with the county. He maintained that some of the property was previously disturbed and that his client had the right to reasonable use of his property. Some organizations are against anything, any building by the water, Pritt said. A lot of people here were already living on the land, and now theyre all about conservation now that they have their land. He said the development team is considering having a meeting with the neighborhood to talk about the project. Its good to have communication, he said. But many local neighbors have already attended their own public meeting. SCCF and Palm Acres residents organized a meeting May 7 in advance of Fridays hearing to get the community on alert about the development. Mary Tracy Sigman, a Palm Acres resident, helped get the word out about the meeting. They were expecting between 30 and 50 attendees and were taken by surprise when double that showed up, she said. Word had spread on Sanibel and at Shell Point Retirement Community. It isnt a personal, back-yard opposition, Sigman said. Everybody realizes its a group environmental issue. She said comparing this development to developing her neighborhood is using an out-dated code. Palm Acres was developed in the 60s and 70s before restrictions on wetlands, mangroves and coastal zones were established. The hearing drew residents from Sigmans community as well as carpoolers fromShell Point and Sanibel. Sigman said the turn-out was fabulous. Before the meeting, word had gotten out the developer was going to ask for a continuance, so Sigman and others worked hard to remind people they still needed to attend the meeting. Until he asked in person, its not official, and if we dont show up and make our stand, he could go ahead with it, she said. She hopes to be able to rally even more people for the September meeting, but shes not sure how the developer will be able to reconcile his application with the staff report. You cant build on something that will get flooded, or take out the barriers that protect the property already there from getting flooded. But crazier things have gotten approved, thats why were concerned, she said. The county commissioners are not bound to accept the report, or any of it, its on what they choose to grant or not. We have to keep up the fight. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. When Michael Avenatti, the lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels, has a rare free moment in between CNN and MSNBC appearances and threatening non-friendly news organizations with lawsuits, he apparently spends his time partying in the prestigious Hamptons area east of New York City, where the citys wealthiest residents have multi-million dollar weekend homes. A former aide to Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic Governor of New York and brother of anti-Trump CNN star Chris Cuomo, recently tweeted -- and then deleted a photo of herself with Avenatti and another CNN star, Dom Lemon, who apparently hosted a bash at his Hamptons weekend home. Chris Cuomos wife, Cristina Greeven Cuomo, is a prominent Hamptons socialite and the couples lavish summer residence has been featured in design magazines. The younger of the anti-Trump Cuomo siblings, who will soon move to primetime alongside Lemon, has posed for multiple shirtless fishing photos of himself in the Hamptons and is also a regular attendee of areas social gatherings. The former Andrew Cuomo aide, Juanita Scarlett revealed on Wednesday night via twitter that she was at the Sag Harbor soiree of her second favorite on air journalist, with a photo that included her husband, New York Daily News columnist Errol Louis, and CNN contributor Margaret Hoover (the great granddaughter of President Hoover) and in addition to the porn lawyer and Lemon. Its unclear how many other CNN personalities were at Lemons Sag Harbor soiree. The network did not respond to a request for comment. It shouldnt surprise media watchdogs that Avenatti is attending posh events with CNN stars, as Lemons boyfriend shockingly admitted they all run in the same circle during an impromptu conversation with one of the reporters that the lawyer threatened earlier in the week. Tim Malone, a media ad sales executive, engaged in a Twitter direct message conversation with acclaimed Daily Caller reporter Joe Simonson after Lemon, the CNN Tonight host, failed to press Avenatti about why he made the threats. In the Twitter exchange that followed the interview, Simonson asked Malone if he thought Lemon erred by not pressing Avenatti. You dont think Avenatti is smart enough to try and befriend the liberal media? he said, according to Simonson, implying that Lemon and the attorney are friends. There have been questions regarding who is paying the outspoken attorney for representing Daniels, and it should be noted that hes been spending his free time in the playground of New Yorks rich and famous. Avenatti is emerging as a Sag Harbor socialite with his newfound fame, as he was also seen cozying up to super-model Christie Brinkley in the ritzy area of Long Island on Saturday night, according to Page Six. Avenatti is currently estranged from his wife of seven years, who is desperate to divorce him. Back in 1998 the attorney representing Monica Lewinsky, William Ginsburg, appeared on the Sunday public affairs programs of five different networks on the same day. The impressive feat was dubbed the Full Ginsburg. While he hasnt yet accomplished the Full Ginsburg, Avenattis 15 minutes of fame could one day have a nickname of its own, as he continues to pop up on liberal networks at an unprecedented rate while apparently making pals in the process. Avenatti has appeared on broadcast and cable news shows a whopping 147 times and counting over the past 10 weeks, according to the Media Research Center. The study indicates that 74 of the appearances were on CNN which almost certainly makes Avenatti the most ubiquitous guest in the networks history. CNNs hefty staff of reporters around the world, have been largely unable to appear on the network due to Avenattis constant presence. A CNN insider told Fox News that CNN might as well lay off its whole reporting staff and save millions of dollars due to Avenattis takeover of the cable network. The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Caller and Dan Abrams Law & Crime have all reported that Avenatti threatened to take legal action over unfavorable coverage. Avenatti has also bullied journalists on Twitter and reportedly called one an ahole. CNNs Brian Stelter, the left wing media critic, didnt mention Avenatti threatening journalists in his Reliable Sources newsletter on Wednesday or Thursday night. The newsletter, which typically defends the First Amendment, mentioned the threat to the Daily Caller earlier in the week but has ignored it since Malone contacted Simonson. The newsletter also failed to mention Avenattis attendance at Lemons home. The New York Times reported on Thursday that television agent Jay Sures has pitched a debate program with CNN and MSNBC executives where Avenatti would battle former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on a nightly basis. I have no interest in television right now. Ill leave that to the experts, Avenatti ironically tweeted regarding the Times report. Its unclear when Avenatti decided he didnt have an interest in being on TV, but the decision was presumably made after his 147th appearance since bursting onto the scene. CNN did not respond when asked a series of questions about the situation including why whether or not Avenattis relationship with CNN impacts the way the networks media team covers him. Avenatti has said that all legal bills are being paid for by Daniels herself and a crowdfunding campaign that has raised nearly $500,000. Meghan Markle is everywhere. From the moment you arrive at London's Heathrow Airport, gifts and trinkets with the Suits stars face are on display, as excitement for her upcoming wedding to Prince Harry grows in the days leading up to Saturdays grand affair. The wedding will take place at St. Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle, about an hour outside of London, but you dont have to look far to find wedding-themed odds and ends. In Heathrow, keychains, towels and mugs that feature the actress and her royal fiance are all for sale alongside standard travel items. At The Queens Gallery, a gift shop at Buckingham Palace, commemorative china, shot glasses and champagne bottles adorned with Harry and Meghans monogram are all available. The merchandise, however, does not come cheap. A shot glass will set you back about $25 and a pillbox costs about $47. Theres even a replica of the engagement ring Harry proposed with for sale. And fans of the royal family are eating it up. Joanne Farr, who is in town for the wedding from Australia, purchased a tea towel, chocolates, a mug, a bandana for her dog and a replica of Markles ring. Her husband, Joe, told Fox News the pair couldnt resist making the trip to England for the royal wedding. Ive never been to Europe before, he said. This got me to come sooner than expected. This is just a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Linda Hunter and her longtime friend Chris Dorington were also loading up on merchandise to celebrate their trip to London for the royal wedding. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ROYAL WEDDING Ive got my Harry and Meghan mug and I want more Meghan and Harry stuff, Hunter said as she piled items into her shopping basket. Hunter, from Los Angeles, and Dorington, from Toronto, decided to meet in London for the wedding. They booked their tickets as soon as Kensington Palace announced the couples wedding date. On the streets of London, newspaper stands are decorated with flags featuring Harry and Markle. Magnets, postcards, plates and flags of all sizes are for sale. At the famously high-end store Harrods, a large display celebrating the royals stands at the center of the stores second floor gift shop. Three different types of tote bags are for sale, all with Meghan and Harrys names and their wedding date printed on them. In Windsor, where the wedding will take place, even more royal wedding-themed memorabilia can be found. Nearly every shop near Windsor Castle is decorated in some way with well-wishes for Markle and Harry, and large U.K. flags line the pedestrian streets surrounding the area. Royal family bobblehead dolls, flags, hats and party masks with Markle and Harrys faces are also available. Most souvenir shops are bustling with tourists, eager to gather up all the commemorative items celebrating Harry and Markle. The party masks have been a big seller for A.P. Souvenir and Gifts. Loads of people [are buying them], a clerk at the crowded shop told Fox News. Theyre selling like hot cakes. Meghan Markles wedding to Prince Harry on Saturday will be a much smaller affair than when his brother Prince William wed Kate Middleton in 2011, but the overwhelming interest in the upcoming nuptials is causing a stir in the U.K. and making the royal family, who has been seen as stodgy or outdated at times, relevant, Princess Dianas famed biographer Andrew Morton said. Morton told Fox News there is a lot of interest surrounding the wedding of Markle and Harry because of the barriers Princess Dianas youngest son is breaking by marrying Markle. Theres as much excitement for this wedding as there was for William and Kates, Morton said, but in a different kind of way. "People are intrigued by her as an American actress, divorced, biracial [woman]. Its the intrigue of it all, he said. Outside of Windsor Castle, media tents can be seen all along the stretch where Markle and Harry will travel by carriage. Camera crews crowd the sidewalks, with anchors reporting live in different languages about the upcoming festivities. In many souvenir shops on High Street, near the famed castle, reporters and photographers make the rounds alongside the royal enthusiasts who are there to buy wedding-themed merchandise. I have to say, Ive not known the media as excited for a long time, Morton mused. Im surprised by how big it is. He said the media frenzy is exactly what the royal family needs. Queen Elizabeth II, 92, has been the monarch for more than 65 years. Its making the royal family relevant, he explained. Its making it seem more inclusive. Its making it seem more part of multiracial Britain. You walk through London and within 10 paces you see all races under the sun. Its a very multiracial place. Its a genuine melting pot so it is good to see the royal family embracing someone who is not white, [upper] class, typical people who the royal family married. Morton, who recently released a book titled Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, said Harrys choice to marry Markle would make his mother proud. Morton got to know Princess Diana when he published Diana: Her True Story with the icons cooperation in 1992. The tell-all style biography was an instant best seller. I think she would be thrilled to see [Markle] is not the typical royal bride from the shire She is someone challenging. [Diana] challenged an entire system and her legacy is that she changed the monarchy, he said. Hes sure Diana would have loved the Suits actress. Hes got a spring in his step, Morton said of Harry. Hes whistling a merry tune. He looks like a man who has won the lottery and she would be thrilled as a parent to see him so happy. Morton praised Markle for how shes helped the princes image. I think wild child Harry is now saint Harry. He is now focused on the Commonwealth, on representing the hundreds of millions of youth of the commonwealth. Hes settling down. He wants to be a dad. The word from the palace is that he is besotted. But not everyone has been fully accepting of the 36-year-old royal-to-be. Ive heard some racist comments, some pejorative comments, he said. Most people are very favorable to her but some people are quite hostile. There is a cohort of people who are very supportive of everything that Meghan does, and there are some people that are very skeptical of her. She has only just joined the family and people are only just starting to get to know her. Theres a lot of learning that has to be done on both sides. For the British shes been around for what? A year and a half. Most people did not watch Suits. In Britain, that was on an obscure channel and so she is sort of having to introduce herself, he noted. Morton said one thing hes noticed is that there is a lot of chatter surrounding whether or not Markles marriage to the prince will last. You never got that with William and Catherine, he pointed out. I think the fact that she has been divorced has given people license to say that. Morton, for one, feels very confident in the union. He said the starlet is fitting into her role as a full-time royal already. Shes already a natural, he raved. Just compare it to when Diana and Kate and for that matter Fergie first entered that arena. Diana did not do an engagement until three months after the wedding [and] not very many before. And Catherine, her first engagement was not [until two months before the wedding]... Look at Meghan, shes accompanied the queen to a service... Shes being thrown in at the deep end and she is swimming, and that is what she wanted, by the way. She made it perfectly clear. Her mantra is I dont want to be a lady that lunches. I want to be a lady that works. Meghan Markle's "Suits" co-stars, who are already in Windsor for Saturday's royal wedding, revealed they knew all about the actress' romance with Prince Harry way before the rest of the world. On Friday morning, Gina Torres, Sarah Rafferty and Rick Hoffman appeared on the special royal wedding edition of the "Today" show and spilled all the details about her whirlwind romance to her prince. When asked if the cast and crew knew Markle had been dating Harry, the cast members all nodded, smiled and replied, "Yes." I was like, Youve got to be kidding me. It was like both of us in the trailer, like, Youre dating a prince,'" Hoffman told "Today" hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, adding that he also gave Markle some advice, I was like, Take it slow, be careful, dont let him hurt you. "We knew she was excited, but there was a reason to keep it [the romance] close to the vest," Torres explained. "But you knew it was Harry?" Kotb asked again. "Yes," Torres nodded. "They're lovely, they're a great match," Rafferty gushed. The "Suits" trio was then asked if they were shocked to get an invite to the royal nuptials, to which Torres replied, I was. I think you know, you hope, and I hope nothing but the best as we all do for her, this is an incredible step in her life, so to bear witness to that is extraordinary. Rafferty then joked that when she opened her invitation, doves flew out before reflecting on the bond she and her castmates share. We worked together for so many years we were with each other longer than we went to high school, she said. This is a wonderful family affair. Two days ago, it was reported that a few of Markle's "Suits" co-stars had arrived in Europe ahead of the wedding, though it was not officially confirmed. Now, Us Weekly has confirmed that the first of the "Suits" cast member to land in England was Gabriel Macht and his wife, Jacinda Barrett, who posted images of her and her son at Buckingham Palace on Mother's Day. The following day, the TV star shared an intimate photo of he and his wife on what appeared in be a romantic stroll in Hyde Park in London, which read, "Yesterday #London #HydePark Today #guess." Before heading to England, Rafferty spent some time in Paris with her family and even shared a photo a few days ago with the caption, "Something tells me theyre not going to forget this. #Paris #views." Markle and Harry will tie the knot at Windsor Palace in St. Georges Cathedral on Saturday morning. It was confirmed Friday morning that Prince Charles will walk the actress down the aisle, following reports that her father, Thomas Makle, will not attend the wedding to do health conditions. Dont mess with the royal wedding. Thats the message British authorities are sending about security arrangements as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan to tie the knot Saturday. Snipers in full military gear roamed Londons streets with officers given orders to do whatever is necessary, including shooting to kill, The Sun reported. Operations will have been planned for months, security expert Will Geddes told the Daily Star. Police will have mapped the area, established risk profiles and worked out the modus operandi of high-risk groups. He added: Police will be looking for a variety of threats, including ISIS terror threats, stalkers and YouTube pranksters. The $40 million security bill for a ring of steel perimeter is even higher than that for Prince William and Kate Middletons wedding day, according to The Sun. The country has been on high alert after a spate of terror attacks, including incidents on London Bridge, Westminster Bridge and Manchester Arena. Vehicular attacks, as well as those by a lone attacker with a knife, could spark pandemonium in the crowds. The objective of such attacks would be publicity, Geddes said The world will be watching nothing can afford to go wrong, he said. Police also have asked the public not to toss confetti or other festive items during the event citing security and sanitation concerns, according to the Windsor & Eton Express. Please do not throw confetti or any other items at any time during the day, particularly during the procession. It poses a potential security risk and its a bit of a pain to clean up! the Thames Valley Police tweeted. This article originally appeared on Page Six. Miriam Hopkins wasnt just sought after by Hollywood. A recent biography on the actress revealed the FBI reportedly kept a file on her for nearly 40 years because the agency believed she was a communist sympathizer. THE 7 BEST WEDDINGS MOVIES OF ALL TIME The popular Georgia-born blonde, who appeared in over 30 films, passed away in 1972 at age 69 from a heart attack. Cinema writer Allan R. Ellenberger recently published a book on the screen stars legacy titled Miriam Hopkins: Life and Films of a Hollywood Rebel with the approval of her son Michael Hopkins. Ellenberger was given access to family members, as well as close friends of Hopkins, to gain new insight on her career and her final days. Ellenberger, who investigated Hopkins FBI files, told Fox News he wasnt surprised she was targeted over the years. With Miriam, she got involved in politics in the late 30s, he explained. It was thought she was a conservative, but by the time she met [her third husband] Anatole Litvak, her political views changed and she was considered to be more liberal." "She was a Roosevelt Democrat," he added. "She was on a lot of political organizations. The FBI thought they were communist fronts They thought she was a communist supporter. The accusations may have first occurred in 1939 when communist-run Paris newspaper Film Fronts praised Hopkins and other film stars. That same year, an FBI informant told J. Edgar Hoover she allegedly had ties with an unnamed communist organization. A 1943 report also claimed several sources believed Hopkins had backed programs that may have hinted allegiance to communism. Then, in 1945, Louis F. Budenz, the managing editor of the Daily Worker, renounced communism and created the List of 400 Concealed Communists for the FBI. Hopkins was on the list. However, Ellenberger dismissed the claims. A lot of people accused her of being a communist, although there was never any definite proof she was, he explained. Publicly, she never made any statements for or against communism. "I think that because she was so liberal and she was with people who were thought to be communist sympathizers at that time I dont think she was a communist. I think a lot of the organizations she was with were liberal Her son didnt think she was either And she married [Litvak], a Russian, which threw up a red flag. Ellenberger added the FBI kept files on several movie stars, including Hopkins, due to their possible political beliefs and questionable associations. Still, the allegations did impact Hopkins career. During the 50s she was gray-listed and made few films. And Ellenberger did confirm Hopkins was considered difficult on set. I think she was a very insecure person and she felt she had to fight to get whatever roles she wanted, he said. I think thats why she had a reputation because she did stand up for herself. She didnt just let the studio or director push her around. "If she had a weak director, she felt she had to take over She felt films were beneath her and preferred the theater, but her true popularity came from the movies. And Hopkins didnt just bump heads with directors or even studio heads. Her rivalry with fellow actress Bette Davis was far from a secret. It only grew worse when Davis had an affair with Litvak while he directed her in 1938s The Sisters. Hopkins and Litvak would divorce a year later. One weekend [Litvak and Davis] had an affair at a local hotel and Miriam found out about it, said Ellenberger. That was a few months before they [starred together] in 1939s The Old Maid. Bette was also beginning to get more popular. That made Miriam a little jealous too. Ellenberger said that by the time they filmed 1943s Old Acquaintance, their fighting on set had worsened. It took three times longer than it would normally [to finish], he said. There would be all sorts of things they would do to each other to make it worse. Bette said she would never work with Miriam again. And she never did. Hopkins insisted there was never a feud, but their time filming suggested otherwise. In one scene, Bette was giving a speech and Miriam was supposed to be listening, he said. But shes dusting the piano or moving around, taking the attention away from Bette and putting it all on her. But Bette would do things too. "In one scene, they were filming a close-up of Miriam and Bette would be talking to the crew, laughing out loud and distracting Miriam. They would find all sorts of things to annoy each other Then in one scene, Bette had to go up and shake Miriam Half the studio came to watch this scene because they knew Bette was going to take it out on Miriam. And Miriam knew it. Despite the numerous obstacles she endured in Hollywood, Hopkins found happiness as a parent. She adopted her son in 1932 as a single mother, a rarity for her time. Michael wouldnt learn he was adopted until he turned 20 and decided to join the Air Force. He needed a birth certificate, said Ellenberger. Then she was forced to tell him. He said he was shocked about it, but wasnt really angry. He said, What could I do? I was treated well. I had everything I ever wanted. "So he didnt really blame her for it. But he never really knew why she never told him. It was unusual because everybody in Hollywood knew he was adopted. So its really strange that no one mentioned it to him. It was kept a secret from him for 20 years. However, Hollywood came calling. When Michael turned 8, he was placed in boarding school so she could salvage her dwindling career. They didnt see a lot of each other after that, said Ellenberger. And it kind of bothered him that he didnt get all the love he wanted He just didnt see his mother a lot after the age of 8. Later in life, when he married, he had a son and Miriam evidently tried to make up for things in the past. She spoiled [her grandson]. "And according to the family, it kind of made [Michael] a little bit jealous He was seeing all the love and attention she was giving to him and thinking, Geez, why didnt you do that when I was that age? But from the time he was born until the age of 8, he was with her all the time. They were inseparable. Ellenberger hopes his book will introduce Hopkins to a new generation of movie fans. Shes one of the major film stars of the 30s and 40s who never had a biography written, he said. She was a top player during that time. Before she plunged from a New York City hotel on Friday with her 7-year-old son, former Playboy centerfold Stephanie Adams endured years mired in lawsuits, failed relationships and an ugly custody dispute. Sources told the The New York Post the 46-year-old was in the middle of a fierce court battle with her estranged husband Charles Nicolai, the owner of Wall Street Chiropractic & Wellness. Adams filed for divorce from Nicolai in 2017 and was seeking child support from him. At the time of her death, Adams reportedly owed money to her lawyers for her ongoing custody battle. The relationship between the former couple was allegedly so toxic Adams was required to meet at the NYPDs 1st Precinct for handovers of their son, Vincent. It ensures no violence takes place, claimed a friend. The New York Post's Richard Johnson revealed on Friday that Adams was distraught because she couldn't take her son to Europe for the summer. Adams and Nicolai were in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday morning when the model asked the judge for permission to take Vincent to Spain. Her boyfriend, who reportedly lives in Spain, also owns a home in London. Nicolai fought against the getaway and ultimately a judge sided with the father. Adams was then ordered to turn over Vincent's passport, the Post reported. "All I want to do is take my son and get away from this nightmare for a few days," Adams told Johnson on Thursday. "But they won't let me." In 2013, the couple was sued by Dilek Edwards, a former massage therapist at Nicolai's practice who claimed she was fired after her boss admitted Adams would get jealous because Edwards was too cute. Edwards told the Post she would receive frantic text messages from Adams that read, You are NOT welcome any longer at Wall Street Chiropractic, DO NOT ever step foot in there again, and stay the F--- away from my husband and family!!!!!! And remember I warned you. The 32-year-old claimed her relationship with Nicolai was purely professional and she had no clue what sparked Adams absurd suspicions. However, Edwards claimed Nicolai said their sessions had to be a secret because if his wife hears about it, she can create some scenarios. At the time, Adams denied the allegations. No disrespect to anyone but Im a centerfold, she said. And just a year before, Adams received $1.2 million after she successfully sued the NYPD. The model claimed in court that in 2006 she was manhandled by police, which resulted in injuries. The New York Daily News reported Adams said police threw her to the ground at gunpoint after a confrontation with taxi driver Erik Darko, who falsely claimed she flashed vampire teeth and was going to shoot him. Consequently, Adams argued with the driver after he refused to carry her clothing into her apartment. Sergeant John Rajan testified in court, We didnt know if she had a firearm. However, he admitted she was wearing tight-fitting clothing, and there was no place to conceal a weapon. The pinup, who claimed to be a direct descendant of U.S. presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, revealed on her website she was raised by her aunts, two former models. By age 16, Adams said she was convinced to also pursue the fashion world. Adams, who claimed she was first signed to Wilhelmina Models and then Elite, had her photos submitted to Playboy by a photographer with her permission "for fun." She accepted an offer to appear at the Playboy Mansion, noting its every bad girls dream and every good girls fantasy. She then chose to pose for the magazine and was featured as Miss November 1992. A rep for the mens lifestyle magazine told Fox News they were not going to comment. When Adams appeared in Playboy, she declared herself the first openly lesbian Playmate. However, her site noted she allegedly dated Elites founder John Casablancas, Calvin Klein supermodel Ted Stephenson and other prominent New York City men, including famous ones, such as Robert De Niro. She also claimed to have married an Italian investment banker, whom she subsequently divorced. I joked with my lawyer that I started out single and gay and at the end of the lawsuit, I ended up straight and married, she told the New York Post in 2012. She added that her marriage to Nicolai at the time didnt stop her from supporting gay and lesbian causes. I still identify myself as LGBT, she said. The publication added she and Nicolai met on Match.com. In 2009, they were engaged. We felt like we were soul mates right from the beginning, she said. Adams site revealed that after her aunt passed away in 2003, she quit modeling full time and dedicated her time to writing and running GODDESSY, a New Age company that offered astrology and metaphysical books. In 2014, Adams told Urbasm she was a wickedly accurate sharp shooter and allegedly trained with Special Forces, Secret Service and Navy Seals. I prefer shooting to shopping and although I might look girly, I am far from it, she said. As far as anything else; well, as much as there is written about me, there is so much more to me. "No one truly knows me but my family and I often surprise them once in a while. Mystery and controversy have always stood guard beside me, seldom allowing folks to get close enough to know more about me and I kind of like that, so lets stop there. Kensington Palace announced on Friday morning that Meghan Markle will be walked down the aisle by Prince Charles after the American actress said in a statement on Thursday her father would not be attending her wedding. "Ms. Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day. The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to The Royal Family in this way," Kensington Palace stated. Prince Charles, 69, previously had no formal role at the wedding, and many speculated he would step in to walk the 36-year-old down the aisle after her father had heart surgery following a series of public scandals. Charles is Prince Harry's father. MEGHAN MARKLE AND PRINCE HARRY'S ROYAL GUEST LIST A Buckingham Palace source told Us Weekly Friday the royal patriarch is "very touched" by the loving gesture. "Prince Charles was very touched to be asked by Meghan to walk her down the aisle and he is very much looking forward to welcoming her into the family," said the source. "There is a real growing affection between Charles, Camilla and Meghan, which of course extends to [her mother] Doria [Ragland] too." On Thursday, Markle revealed her dad, Thomas Markle, would be absent on the big day. Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health, Markle said in a statement released by Kensington Palace. I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday. Thomas Markle had heart surgery on Wednesday following days of press surrounding his health and speculation on whether or not hed attend the royal wedding. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ROYAL WEDDING The actress' dad began making headlines earlier in the week when it was revealed he staged paparazzi photos that showed him preparing for the wedding. The patriarch received a lot of criticism when it was reported he was paid for the posed photo-op. His daughter, Meghan Markles half-sister Samantha Grant, claimed she set up the paparazzi shoot not Thomas Markle. As curiosity grew about whether or not Thomas Markle would be present to walk his daughter down the aisle to marry Prince Harry, the royal couple asked for privacy. "This is a deeply personal moment for Ms. Markle in the days before her wedding," read a statement from the palace on Monday. "She and Prince Harry ask again for understanding and respect to be extended to Mr. Markle in this difficult situation." Fox News' Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report. A homeless man who spent over three months in jail after being wrongfully accused of trying to pay for his Burger King meal with a counterfeit $10 bill is now suing the restaurant for nearly $1 million. Emory Ellis, who lived on the streets of Boston, went into the fast-food chain in November 2015 to order breakfast when the cashier called the police over the allegedly fake cash. MILLENNIALS CALL CHICK-FIL-A OVERHYPED IN VIRAL VIDEO, SPARK SOCIAL MEDIA OUTRAGE The call resulted in Ellis arrest for forgery of a bank note, which triggered a probation violation, and he remained in jail without bail until his final probation violation hearing, the Associated Press reports. Ellis is now suing the fast-food chain and franchisee for $950,000 for discrimination, saying he was unfairly treated based on the color of his skin and economic status. Ellis attorney, Justin Drechsler, whos white, told AP, "A person like me would've gotten an apology, but a person like Emory somehow finds his way in handcuffs for trying to pay for his breakfast with real money." According to the lawsuit, the Burger King employee refused to give Ellis his money back and threatened to call police if he didnt leave the restaurant, the The Washington Post reports. It also states that besides losing three months of his life, Ellis suffered from sleeplessness, anxiety and depression associated with defending himself against this baseless charge that exposed him to a potential criminal sanction of life in prison. Ellis was released in February 2016 after the Secret Service found the money he tried to use was real and prosecutors dropped the forgery charge. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS A spokesperson for Burger King Corp. told AP that the company doesnt tolerate discrimination "of any kind," but cannot comment on the specifics of the case. They did note that individual franchisees are responsible for training employees and handling legal matters specific to their location. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Starbucks has apologized to a Latino customer in California after an employee was accused of printing a racial slur on his coffee cup. The customer, who goes by Pedro (though a friend also refers to him as Peter in one report) had purchased an iced coffee from a Starbucks in the city of La Canada Flintridge on his way to work Tuesday, KTLA reports. Upon arriving at work, however, the mans co-worker spotted the word beaner where his name should have been written on the cup. STARBUCKS PLANNING TO OPEN NEW STORE EVERY 15 HOURS IN CHINA Pedros co-worker, Priscilla Hernandez, said she called up Starbucks to complain on his behalf, only to be told the employee had not understood the name Pedro had given, The New York Post reports. Hernandez then followed up on Twitter (the post has since been deleted) and the company responded by telling Hernandez they had reached out to her co-worker directly. Thank you for letting us know, Priscilla. This is not the welcoming experience we aim to provide, and we have reached out to this customer to apologize and make this right, a Starbucks representative named Ryan tweeted in response. A spokesperson for Starbucks further confirmed to Fox News that the company apologized to the customer in person. "Our leadership team met with the customer Thursday morning at one of our local stores in the area and he accepted our apology," said Starbucks in a statement to Fox News. "This kind of mistake is unacceptable, and we will take additional steps to assess what happened here and how our partners can be better." WOMAN ARRESTED FOR DEFECATING ON FLOOR OF TIM HORTONS Hernandez later confirmed on Twitter that Starbucks has been in contact with her and her co-worker. Meanwhile, a friend of Pedros tells KTLA hes been sad about the issue. The coffee cup controversy comes just over a month after two black men were arrested for trespassing at a Starbucks in Philadelphia while they were waiting for a friend. Starbucks has since apologized for the incident, and the city of Philadelphia settled with the men for the sum of $1, plus a grant for the funding of an entrepreneurship program in the mens' names. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS In response, Starbucks will also be closing over 8,000 of its locations on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial bias training. An outbreak of Ebola, once confined to remote rural areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, now has spread to an area just outside of city of more than one million people, health officials said Thursday. Dr. Peter Salama, the World Health Organizations deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response, called the new development a major, major game-changer in the outbreak. The announcement came from the office of the Congos health minister late Wednesday night after it was learned that there was a single case of Ebola reported in Mbandaka, a densely populated city just under 100 miles from the site of the last reported case. Since the outbreak began, there has been a total of 45 cases: 14 confirmed, 21 probable and 10 suspected. Only one of the 25 deaths actually has been confirmed by the health ministry as Ebola. The fatal disease is spread by bodily fluids and can spread rapidly in densely populated regions. The scenario has changed, and it has become most serious and worrying, since the disease is now affecting an urban area, said Henry Gray, emergency coordinator in Mbandaka for Doctors Without Borders. The aid organization said 514 people believed to have been in contact with infected people are being monitored. WHO said it is deploying about 30 more experts to the city. This is the ninth Ebola outbreak in Congo since 1976, when the disease was first identified. The virus initially is transmitted to people from wild animals, including bats and monkeys. While there is no specific treatment for the deadly disease, which has a 90 percent fatality rate, WHO has shipped thousands of doses of an experimental vaccine to the region. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and internal and external bleeding. As the outbreak continues to grow, fears that it may spread abroad linger as many remember the West African Epidemic in 2014. Eleven people were treated for Ebola in the United States in 2014, two of whom died, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ken Meeks had a stroke following a serious car accident. His left arm and leg havent been the same since. The Ohio resident is hoping a device being studied in a new clinical trial will help return some function to his arm. Meeks is taking part in the trial at the Neurological Institute at Ohio State Universitys Wexner Medical Center. Its one of the first hospitals in the world to try out an experimental treatment to help people recover from stroke. Vivistim therapy involves the use of a neurotransmitter implanted just below the skin on the chest in a minimally invasive outpatient surgery. The device is connected to the vagus nerve in the neck. The vagus nerve transmits signals to the brain, telling it what and when to learn. The purpose of the device is to help rewire circuits in the brain that control motor functions. Vagus nerve stimulation has been used to treat other conditions, including epilepsy and depression. For this study, the device is being used along with rehabilitative therapy to see if the combination will help improve upper limb movement following a stroke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 800,000 people in the United States have a stroke every year. Stroke is one of the top causes of serious long-term disability. Once the damage has been done, it takes a lot of work to make even small gains. For people like Meeks, its worth trying something new. How nerve stimulation works Dr. Marcie Bockbrader is a research physiatrist for the Neurological Institute at Ohio State Universitys Wexner Medical Center and a principal investigator for the trial. The device may be promising, but it wont be a quick fix. Bockbrader notes that it doesnt work on its own. Its a device that helps the brain get into a state where it can benefit more from therapy. Theres a button that the therapist presses to activate the device as participants do therapy. The intent of the pulse is much like a heart pacer to pace the brain. Its about half a second of stimulation. We think that this very brief pulse is like a wake up and pay attention to the brain to use what happens next to help relearn how to use a paralyzed limb, she explained. Bockbrader says this trial is focusing on the upper limbs in part because people need their hands to take care of themselves. If you can use your hands, you can do a lot of what you need to do with a wheelchair. If you cant use your hands, you need people around to help more, she said. Bockbrader says some patients may feel a buzzing or tingling sensation from the stimulation. Others feel a hoarseness or lump in the throat when trying to swallow. There may be some discomfort from having the stimulation. If a patient doesnt like that, we turn the intensity down. So, were still delivering pulses, but they cant feel it, she said. The vagus nerve could potentially stimulate the muscles that help with swallowing. For that reason, the trial isnt currently enrolling people who have difficulty swallowing. But its possible this therapy could eventually be used to help people who have trouble swallowing. Thats something that can be studied down the line after the device is shown to be safe and effective in this group of people, Bockbrader added. The long road back from stroke Meeks, 63, had his stroke in summer 2016. Hed already been through a lot of therapy before joining the trial. When I left the hospital, my left arm and fingers were nearly completely paralyzed. By that, I mean it pretty much hung limp at my side. I had to move it with my right hand, he told Healthline. At first, much of his therapy involved just moving the hand and fingers in any way possible. As he progressed, he worked on trying to move small objects and using video games. Then my wife found this study on the internet, so I looked at it, signed up, and became patient number one at OSU, he said. Hes been hard at work for months now. For the first six weeks, he had inpatient therapy for two hours a day, three days a week. Hes currently in a one-month in-home rehabilitation phase. This involves a half hour of therapy every day. Even home therapy isnt easy, says Meeks. Its hard enough to get up in the morning and go through this tedious process of getting dressed and getting a cup of coffee. Then to do therapy is difficult. More mentally than physically. You do repetitive things gross motor movement, something for the fingers, then something for the wrist. Repetitiveness is the key to all of this, he said. Although he hasnt felt any real change in his daily life, hes hopeful and says hes scoring better on tests. Neuroplasticity is a very slow process. The fact that I dont see a change right now is, I dont think, unexpected, he said. Meeks hasnt had any side effects from the device aside from some discomfort right after the surgery. Clinical trial still recruiting Thirteen institutions in the United States, plus five in the United Kingdom, are taking part in this trial. And theyre still seeking participants. Were looking at people in the chronic phase of stroke because it gives them the chance to recover naturally as much as possible, Bockbrader said. The typical participant is about nine months out from a stroke and has done all the therapies theyre eligible for. But we know the potential to improve is still there, though at a slower rate. This ability to improve lasts for years, so were accepting patients 10 years out from a stroke. Its a fairly wide window, she said. To really be able to tell how much and whether the device is helping, the researchers are choosing a middle-of-the-road impaired population. This includes people who can flex and extend the wrist and move the thumb, but cant use their hands the way they should for daily living. This suggests to us that connections between the arm and the brain are still there but not working at 100 percent efficiency. Theres still room for improvement. If the device is found to be effective, we can start looking at whether it can be beneficial for those more severely affected by stroke. Its early on in the evaluation process, Bockbrader said. Recruitment will probably continue for the next two years. Bockbrader says its a complicated three-phase study design. The initial two phases can last up to a year and a half. But if people choose to, we will keep the stimulator in and follow them yearly after that. Theres no end in sight for people who want to keep the stimulator in place and feel its helping. If they dont, removal is a short outpatient surgery, she said. Interested stroke survivors can contact the recruitment office of the nearest participating institution. Because its fairly intense therapy in the clinic for the first six weeks, its helpful if they live nearby one of the study centers, Bockbrader said. If accepted, participants arent responsible for study-related expenses. The study is sponsored by MicroTransponder Inc., developer of the Vivistim device. Moving forward The trial is ongoing and double-blind, so Meeks doesnt know yet if hes in the control group or not. But he doesnt hesitate to recommend the study to others dealing with the aftermath of stroke. First of all, it will probably help you, even if only from the therapy itself. And from an altruistic point of view, anything that moves the science forward will not only help you in the long run, but will help somebody else, he said. And he has some other advice for stroke patients. Use anything you can find in your environment that helps you keep moving forward. If you keep moving, then youll keep making progress, even if its small, and you wont backslide, he said. Bockbrader believes that regardless of where someone is in recovery after a stroke, theres always potential to get better. Theres this idea that youve reached a maximum level of function after certain therapies or a certain amount of time. The reality is thats probably not true. To get better, people often have to go off the beaten track to get an opportunity to boost their potential. Thats one of the things I like about studies like this. Its one of the ways you can do that, she said. She told Healthline that after a stroke, some of the brains connections that are important to movement get disconnected or destroyed. Many people have difficulty using their hands after a stroke. This article first appeared on HealthLine.com. Curious about Capriccio Bubbly Sangria? Twitter has you covered with an array of reviews. This drink must have some secret s*** they dont include in the ingredients cause this wild asf, one person said last week in a now-viral tweet, INSIDER reported. The sangria, first launched in 2014, is 13.9 percent alcohol by volume. Florida Caribbean Distillers' national sales director, Dave Steiner, spoke to Fox News and called the drink all-natural sangria made from 100 percent fruit juice and grape wine. He said it doesnt have any additives or preservatives. Capriccio Bubbly Sangria, however, has received other descriptions on Twitter. did a lil capriccio test taster. this s*** really like a 4loko lol Be safe tho, a tweet said. That Capriccio Sangria is the new Four Loko another Twitter user claimed, adding that they are here for it. Steiner had a different take on the sangria being the next version of Four Loko. Its not a comparison that we make, he said, adding that the company cant certainly control what happens in social media. Twitter users have been describing the Florida Caribbean Distillers' beverage in various posts. Kay so about the Capriccio its all true it is VERY true, a user chimed in. It is the effects of a fourloko but the taste of wine with the sparkle of champagne. Get it. Its worth it. Two or chugging one will have you straight for a WHOLE night. Ok so these capriccio bubblies taste like a fruit punch four loko. Nothing too serious with the taste but one bottle WILL F*** YOU UP," another person weighed in. Idk whats worse that or 4lokos. I had two Friday and woke up the next morning on the kitchen floor with a chicken tender in my hand, one review said. Not everyone felt the same way. my final verdict on the capriccio is that I will not spend $11.28 on that again, a Twitter user wrote. If someone else buys it I will drink it. As a starter. It doesnt even get me tipsy so thanks for nothing. Ehh, it was okay, another consumer said when replying to the viral May 12 tweet. Its really not worth the hype. All alcoholic beverages affect every person differently, Steiner said, citing age, gender, weight and food consumption as factors. He said the company is unable to speak to every specific instance of how the product affects someone, but that it recommends drinking responsibly and knowing your tolerance. Steiner, who described the sangria as a premium product, said the company is very proud of it and very humbled by the sudden hype. In the middle of rural Arkansas, in a landscape dotted with farms and surrounded by vast, empty terrain, lies the boyhood home of one of Americas most iconic country music stars. That house now has a place in the history books. Johnny Cash, who was known simply as J.R. to the locals in Dyess, Ark., moved into Farm No. 266 with his family in 1935 when he was just 3 years old. The town only has 410 residents today but back then it was a thriving colony with skilled farmers made up of 500 families. Earlier this month, the historic home became listed on the National Register of Historic Places after an extensive refurbishing process. The Cash family home gives a peak into what life was like after the Great Depression. The home has two bedrooms, one bathroom and common areas including a kitchen, den and dining room. Original wood paneling along with 1930s-style linoleum, which was called congoleum back in the day, decorates the floors. There are also items such as an old radio, a couch and a bathtub without plumbing. Essentially, the house looks as it did in 1935. But it wasnt always in such good shape. In order to qualify for the registry, Arkansas State University, which maintains and operates the site, had to completely revamp the tattered home, which had been sinking into the ground. ASU has controlled the site since 2011 and it shelled out $575,000 to buy and restore the property. There were also previous renovations that had to be reversed in order to uncover the original building materials used in the 1930s. There used to be hundreds of homes just like it spread throughout the former colony. This house, to me, tells the story of the Cash family but it tells the story of hundreds of other families who may not have been as famous but still came here looking for a new start, Edward Salo told Fox News. Salo and a team of research students from Arkansas State Univeristy put together the application to get the old Cash home listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Cashes were just one of 500 families that relocated to the swamp-covered land. Each family had to clear 18 acres to pay the government back for the home, which sat on a cleared two-acre plot. Clearing the land was hard, back breaking work, according to Ruth Hawkins, who is the executive director of Arkansas State University heritage sites. The hardships that Johnny Cash and his family faced were a huge part of the inspiration behind many of his songs. Hawkins noted that Cash, who died in 2003, called the Dyess area the promise land. There are a lot of Johnny Cashs songs that are directly influenced by growing up here in Dyess, Hawkins said. Songs like Five Feet High and Rising, are based on the 1937 flood. Songs like Pickin Time are based on his experience in the field picking cotton with his family. Or even hauling water to the cotton fields when he was too little to pick. Members of the Cash family were very involved in the restoration process, according to Hawkins. Some of the items in the home are actual items that the family owned at the time or similar-looking items that were donated by Johnny Cash fans. The original family piano is there, which is probably the most significant thing in the house, Hawkins said. Johnnys brother and sister talk about how the family would come in from the fields at night and they would gather around the piano after supper and sing. The home attracts over 30,000 visitors each year, with many of them traveling from 58 different countries, according to organizers. Theres even a map with pins on it to highlight all of the visitors and Johnny Cash fans from around the world who visit. There are plans to expand the site to include more buildings that were part of the original farmstead. There will even be a walking trail to connect the house with the center of town, which has a gift shop inside the old movie theater and a museum inside the old administrative building. Were going to build an outhouse, a smoke house, a chicken coop and a barn just like the typical colony family had, said Larry Sims, who is the facilities manager for the historic home. Any expansion will require more funds and Hawkins noted that ticket and gift shop sales support the upkeep of the museum. But the biggest draw for funds will be the Johnny Cash Music Festival, slated to take place in fall of this year. The event will be hosted for the second time in a field that is adjacent to the old Cash home. Although the Cashes moved out of the house in 1950s, the music and nostalgia of the era will still live on for many to see for years to come. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Saturday is the big day, not only for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but for millions upon millions of people who will tune in to watch the royal wedding. There will be plenty of things to notice in the wedding ceremony. The clothes will be stunning. The flowers will be beautiful. The procession will be impressive. The words of the ceremony, with their Shakespearian cadences, will be both beautiful and inspiring. Amid all that, dont forget to notice the address. For the first time, an American has been invited to speak at a royal wedding. Bishop Michael Bruce Curry, the head of the Episcopal Church in the U.S. will give a brief sermon during the ceremony. You can read Bishop Currys biographical details, but the best way to understand him is to hear him preach. The man can certainly preach! Not long ago, he preached at the Washington National Cathedral, and he offered a powerful sermon. If you want to get a sample of Bishop Currys strong preaching, here he is talking about how Christians should be witnessing to Christs love. I know Bishop Curry well. He serves as the president of the board of the organization I serve, Forward Movement, and Ive heard him preach many times. As you listen on Saturday, there are several things to expect. Bishop Curry will preach about love. Of course, this is appropriate for a wedding, but every sermon he preaches and almost every conversation he has is about Gods love. You can expect to hear about Gods love for everyone. When he preaches for Episcopal Church occasions, Bishop Curry often talks about the Jesus Movement, the call for all people to know Jesus and to be transformed by him. He probably wont talk about the Jesus Movement, but he will certainly talk about Jesus. Transformation will be a theme. Bishop Curry will not just give a dry address for a photo op. No, he will invite people to be transformed through relationship with Jesus Christ. Bishop Curry will struggle. Mostly, hell be battling the clock. Reports say hes been given just a few short minutes to preach at the wedding. But he is accustomed to preaching for 20 or 30 minutes. Hell rise to the occasion, Im sure. But if you think to yourself hes just getting started, youre right. Bishop Curry loves to quote African-American spirituals, and sometimes he gets the congregation singing. Now, he probably wont expect the Queen to burst into song, but dont be surprised if Bishop Curry invokes spirituals. Every time I listen to a sermon, I try to do one thing. I ask myself, What is God saying to me through this preachers voice? If you listen this way, you might just find yourself inspired and transformed. And if you ever get a chance to hear Bishop Curry preach in person, do it. Hes even better when he has more than a few minutes to preach. Give the man some time to build up momentum, and hes unstoppable. Even then though, its never about Bishop Curry or his ego. Every word is about Gods love in Jesus Christ. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Millions of young American girls love to play princess. They dress up covered in tulle, sequins and tiaras, whether in the backyard playing or accompanying their parents to grown-up events (I recently met a bedazzled princess at a memorial service). They imagine a handsome prince asking them to marry and living happily ever after in a castle. On Saturday this dream will come true for Meghan Markle, an American woman marrying Britains Prince Harry. The world is fascinated. An audience of more than 3 billion people (out of a global population of 7.6 billion) is expected to view the wedding on TV and on the web. No pressure on the bride to look just perfect, right? But of course, no one is perfect, and no real person has led a completely charmed life. Markles parents divorced when she was only 6. The 36-year-old actress is also divorced. Once upon a time back in 1936 the idea of a British royal marrying a divorced American woman was so scandalous that King Edward VIII was forced to step down from the throne when he decided to marry his true love, Wallis Simpson. Thankfully, times have changed in that regard. The daughter of an African-American mother and a white father, Markle struggled to figure out where she fit in as a child and young woman. She has said that when she was a young girl out with her mother, some people thought her mother was her nanny. My high school had cliques: the black girls and white girls, Markle wrote on her blog in 2014. Being biracial, I fell somewhere in between. So every day during lunch, I busied myself with meetings not so that I was more involved, but so that I wouldnt have to eat alone. Markles candor about her own struggles growing up, combined with royal wedding news this week about squabbles within the Markle family, remind us of an important truth: No family and no individual leads a problem-free, perfect life. We all face things that are hard, things that make us sad. So will Saturdays royal wedding of a princess not really living in a fairy tale impact American girls Princess Culture? As adults, we might simply be relieved to know that even the rich, famous, beautiful people of the world have to deal with challenges and bad breaks. Many of us dont understand Princess Culture, anyway. I have found it mysterious, and I know it is often polarizing and even political. Those on the left see the Princess Culture as an affront to feminism, while those on the right (like me) can see it as un-American. (Didnt we fight a war to get away from the whole concept of royalty being better than the common folk?) While I dont relate to todays little princesses and while I worry about the expectations that might be created if you are told you are a princess before you experience the real world I have come to see the Princess Culture as, mostly, just being a girl, and being really excited about being a girl! The fluffy, sparkling dresses and the adornment of a tiara are not all that different from my own desire to paint my fingernails and put ribbons in my hair when I was a girl. And I seem to recall being very, very excited on the rare occasion I wore a dress with a skirt that would stand out when spinning! (This may or may not still be true today.). Those worried about Princess Culture might have a great gift in Meghan Markle. Her story isnt just about a non-royal becoming a princess. Her story proves that a perfectly beautiful surface is actually the only place something like perfection can be achieved. No human being, and no human family, lives in a fairy tale. We can be pretty and sparkly, we can look and feel our best, and we will still be flawed and our families will still be flawed. Sometimes our greatest joy (like marrying the man we love) will coincide with our deepest pain (like conflict or neglect within our own family). None of it means we cant live happily. Real families, real relationships, and real life are complex and messy. And they are wonderfully so. Especially if your skirt stands out when you twirl. Barack Obama's multimillion dollar plan to build a 12-story museum and library dedicated to his presidency has been approved by a city commission. The Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday overwhelmingly signed off on the Obama Presidential Center, which is proposed to be built in historic Jackson Park on the city's South Side. LAWSUIT ALLEGES 'CON SHELL GAME' TO BUILD OBAMA CENTER IN CHICAGO PARK A lawsuit filed Monday by Protect Our Parks is seeking to block construction of the center, alleging the city of Chicago has engaged in "a short con shell game" to help the former president construct the center. It argues the project is not a true presidential library, as it will only have a digital archive of Obama's presidential papers and not the documents themselves. While the plan was approved by a city commission Thursday, it still has to be approved elsewhere, including the City Council. Fox News' Robert Gearty and The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday night that he had a "hopeful communication" with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team about the parameters for a possible presidential interview. "I think it was a good-faith attempt to really narrow the focus quite dramatically of the questioning," Giuliani told host Sean Hannity. Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor, said Mueller's investigators had responded to five information requests from the president's attorneys. Giuliani previously claimed that the lack of response had forced Trump's legal team to postpone a decision about an interview with the special counsel. "The president has a great desire to come forward and tell the truth if he gets a fair hearing," Giuliani said. "Our job is to make sure that he gets a fair hearing from Mueller. Now, were not convinced that he will." Giuliani previously had warned that an in-person interview of Trump by investigators would be considered a "perjury trap." On Thursday, he told Hannity: "If we thought there was any kind of trap, he's not doing [the interview] and there's a whole argument that there is a trap here." Even if Trump ultimately does not agree to an interview, Giuliani insisted Thursday that Mueller's team "could write their report right now, today." "Every explanation that they need [has] already [been] given by President Trump in interviews," he said, referencing an interview Trump gave to Lester Holt of NBC News shortly after he fired FBI Director James Comey last year. "He explained precisely why he fired Comey for a non-corrupt reason," said Giuliani, who added: "By the way, he didn't have to have a reason for firing Comey and everything we've learned since then is, 'My goodness, he should have fired him earlier.'" A Democratic mayor from Pennsylvania has resigned nearly a month after he was arrested for allegedly soliciting a woman for sex a woman who turned out to be a police informant. Bloomsburg Mayor Eric Bower, 36, initially claimed the accusations were made up because of his political position. He was arrested on April 20 after investigators said he showed up at a Hampton Inn with condoms and $200 in cash. According to the attorney generals office, the woman, whom Bower solicited for sex that day, was a Pennsylvania State Police confidential informant. Police said Bower met with the informant on several different occasions, with the most recent meetup resulting in his arrest. Bower negotiated a fee for sex with the informant and arrived at the location with cash and condoms, where he was taken into custody by police, the attorney generals office said in a statement. ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN, POWERFUL NY DEMOCRAT ACCUSED OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DRUG ABUSE, RESIGNS AS STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL Four days after his arrest, Bower told WNEP that the unidentified woman was a friend he described their relationship as very playful, you know. At the time he planned to fight the charges, claiming that it was a setup because of my political position. However, the Democrat, who was elected in November, announced Thursday through the attorney generals office that he would be waiving a preliminary hearing and immediately would vacate the mayors office. He also stepped down from his post as a state constable. Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that Bower flouted the law. No one is above the law, Shapiro said in a statement. I will not allow individuals in power to abuse the trust the public has placed in them. Im rooting out public corruption wherever we find it, without fear or favor. SCHNEIDERMAN RESIGNATION LEAVES REPLACEMENT ATTORNEY GENERAL UP TP NEW YORK LEGILATURE But Bowers attorney, Patrick OConnell, said that the decision to step down was done for the good of Bloomsburg, a small town northwest of Philadelphia. The town of Bloomsburg needs to focus on the tasks that it needs to focus on, running an efficient local government, which is challenging enough. But these charges caused a circus environment. Eric Bower recognized that and for the better of the town, decided to resign, OConnell said. Earlier reporting at the time of Bowers arrest by WOLF cited him as saying that he planned to hold his position as mayor and fight the charges against him. Now that he has resigned, it remains unclear if he will continue to dispute the allegations against him. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Senior officials in the White House communications office have decided to cancel the large morning meetings, attended by lower-ranking staffers, after a leak during a previous meeting ensnared communications aide Kelly Sadler in a controversy after inappropriate comments regarding Sen. John McCains brain cancer. A White House official confirms to Fox News, a story first reported by the New York Times, that since the blow up over Sadlers remarks not only has the larger meeting been cancelled, but also the meetings now only consist of the higher-ranking staff and have omitted the lower-ranking staff and middle ranking staff that some in the West Wing blame for the current leaking of information that have made the White House look poorly in recent months. Periodically, we streamline our operations to better communicate the presidents message, Deputy White House press secretary Lindsay Walters said in a statement about the restructuring of the meetings. Earlier this week, senior administration officials told Fox News that the controversy surrounding the comments by Sadler are overblown and one of the main reasons they were disheartened by it, is that they believe some internally purposely are trying to cause chaos and dissension among the ranks with these leaks on Sadler, even after the aide called Meghan McCain to apologize. Sadler, a White House communications official, was overheard talking about the Arizona Republicans opposition to President Donald Trumps pick to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel. Sadler said, It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway. Sadler has not issued a public apology. The 81-year-old McCain was diagnosed in July with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The Senate voted 54-45 Thursday to confirm Haspel, with six Democrats supporting and two Republicans defecting. A lack of staff discipline, one official said on background. We need to make changes at our core, another official said to Fox News. One senior administration aide told Fox News exclusively to expect staff changes because of this Sadler fallout. On Monday, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway who has taken on more of a leadership role in the White House communications shop after former Communications Director Hope Hicks departure was asked by Fox News host Martha MacCallum on The Story whether she expected personnel changes as a result. I do, Conway responded. Actually, yes I do. Fox News' Martha MacCallum and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The White House has jumped in on the "Yanny vs. Laurel" audio debate and it turns out President Trump doesn't hear either of the names that have split the nation. "I hear covfefe," Trump said in a video posted to Twitter Thursday night, seemingly poking fun of himself after he tweeted "covfefe" one year ago. The tweet, posted and deleted on May 31, read: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." The confusing social media post quickly became the No. 1 Twitter trend and turned into a meme. "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" Trump wrote later that day. The video, which also features Vice President Pence, Ivanka Trump, Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway getting it on the debate, was posted by the White House days after an audio clip asked listeners to choose if they heard "Yanny" or "Laurel." The clip was initially posted online by a high school student who needed to learn the definition of "laurel," Wired reported Wednesday. The student, Katie Hetzel, said she searched for the word on Vocabulary.com, but when she played the pronunciation recording, she thought she was actually hearing "yanny." Hours after a gunman opened fire in a Texas high school classroom, killing at least 10 people, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took to Twitter demanding President Trump "DO SOMETHING." After listing seven mass shootings in a tweet to Trump, Cuomo, a Democrat, then drafted a letter. The May 18 "open letter" calls on Trump, the House of Representatives and the Senate to take action. "When is enough enough?" Cuomo asks. "How many more innocent people have to die before you act?" Cuomo, who boasted about his "F" rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA), told the politicians to put their country first. "You were elected to lead - do something. Your first responsibility is to the people of this country, not the NRA - do something," Cuomo repeated. "My heart breaks for the families who have to grieve from this needless violence - DO SOMETHING." AFTER TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING LEAVES SEVERAL DEAD, HUNT FOR EXPLOSIVES CONTINUES The letter, signed by Cuomo who dubbed himself the "father of Cara, Mariah and Michaela, taxpayer, Governor of New York, NRA 'F' Rated Elected Official" garnered more than 665 retweets by Friday evening and received dozens of fiery replies. Several Twitter users lectured Cuomo for allegedly not offering any solutions himself, while others told him he should instead focus on New York's issues. "Youre the elected official. Whats your plan? Dont just pass the buck." Twitter user "This isn't about you, it's like you can't help yourself. You were elected to help NYS, so NYers should be your priority. Sincerely, an ACTUAL taxpayer of NYS, commuter (when the trains work) and NRA member," one Twitter user replied. "Why don't YOU do something in the State of NY that is so terrific that the rest of the States in the USA will follow? IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO LEAD!" another added. "Youre the elected official. Whats your plan? Dont just pass the buck," one user wrote. "Oh, like NYC is a crimeless utopia. Governor, DO SOMETHING," another demanded. Some people suggested Cuomo was "politicizing" the tragedy in order to boost his own popularity among voters with at least one user calling it his "2020 audition." TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING SPARKS REACTION FROM TRUMP, OTHER LAWMAKERS: 'THIS HAS TO STOP' "Nice to politicize a tragedy. So while were going there, who were the presidents during all of these shootings?" one person asked. "Really? You're using this horrible massacre for your campaign? NRA F rated could have been left out of this tweet," another added. "Andy, STOP making it so obvious that you are running for Prez in 2020 with your 'new found voice' on Twitter!" a Twitter user added. "Nice to politicize a tragedy. So while were going there, who were the presidents during all of these shootings?" Twitter user In particular, many users took issue with Cuomo labeling himself a "taxpayer." "You are a Taxpayer rated F official as well," one user commented. "Taxpayer? Tax Spender Extraordinaire is more like it," another jabbed. However, a handful of people did offer Cuomo some support, echoing his comments to Trump and other lawmakers. SANTA FE, TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT RECOUNTS HORRIFIC SHOOTING New York Democratic Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda wrote, "Couldn't agree more Governor." "I agree, Congress is failing our children," one man responded. Trump spoke with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Friday afternoon to "offer his condolences for those affected by the shooting at Santa Fe High School," an official told Fox News. He later addressed the nation, asking government officials to work together to prevent similar tragedies. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others," Trump said. "Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe." Trump announced in late March that the administration would ban bump stocks and all devices that turn otherwise legal weapons into illegal machine guns, keeping a promise made amid a bipartisan gun control debate just weeks after 17 students were gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report. Ex-son-in-law of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has cut a plea deal with the Justice Department that forces him to cooperate with other criminal probes, Reuters reported Thursday. Jeffrey Yohai, a former business partner of Manafort who was married to his daughter until last August, has reportedly entered a guilty plea agreement with the DOJ. The existence of the deal wasnt revealed until now as it remains under seal, the report said. Yohai reportedly pleaded guilty to misusing construction loan funds and to a count involving a bank account overdraft. The deal lets the federal government to ask for help at any time. The agreement may cause legal problems for Manafort as hes facing two indictments brought by special counsel Robert Mueller and his probe of alleged Russian government meddling in the 2016 presidential election and the collusion with Trump campaign. Yohai was a close business partner to the ex-Trump campaign manager and was aware of many of his financial dealings. He also reportedly worked with him to secure loans for property deals in New York. The ex-son-in-law hasnt yet been asked to assist with Muellers prosecution of Manafort, but it remains a possibility, according to two people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. He was already interviewed by prosecutors sent by Mueller last June. Its largely believed that Muellers team is pursuing Manafort to force him to plead guilty and cooperate with the investigation into Russian meddling. Such legal strategy sparked U.S. District Judge T.S. Elliss outburst earlier this month at a hearing for Manafort, suggesting Muellers team is seeking unfettered power and are interested in bringing down the president. "You don't really care about Mr. Manafort, he judge said. You really care about what information Mr. Manafort can give you to lead you to Mr. Trump and an impeachment, or whatever." The former Trump campaign official has been charged with a number of crimes, including tax evasion, bank fraud, and failing to disclose lobbying work for a pro-Russian party in Ukraine. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and will face a trial later this year. Following pressure from pro-life Republicans in Congress ahead of the midterm elections, the Trump administration is planning to resurrect a Reagan-era rule banning federally-funded family planning clinics from discussing abortion with women. The rule would also prohibit the clinics from sharing space with abortion providers, a senior White House official told the Associated Press Thursday. That practice, known as "co-location," was specifically decried by more than 150 House members and more than 40 senators earlier this month in letters to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar. HHS will be announcing its proposal Friday, officials said. The policy has been derided as a "gag rule" by abortion rights supporters and medical groups, and it is likely to trigger lawsuits that could keep it from taking effect. However, it's guaranteed to galvanize activists on both sides of the abortion debate ahead of the congressional midterm elections. The Reagan-era rule never went into effect as written, although the Supreme Court ruled that it was an appropriate use of executive power. The policy was rescinded under President Bill Clinton, and a new rule went into effect which allowed "nondirective" counseling to include a range of options for women. GOP LAWMAKERS ASK TRUMP TO CRACK DOWN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD Abortion is a legal medical procedure. Doctors' groups and abortion rights supporters say a ban on counseling women trespasses on the doctor-patient relationship. They point out that federal family planning funds cannot be currently used to pay for abortion procedures. "I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged." National Family Planning VP Jessica Marcella Abortion opponents say a taxpayer-funded family planning program should have no connection whatsoever to abortion. "The notion that you would withhold information from a patient does not uphold or preserve their dignity," said Jessica Marcella of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, which represents family planning clinics. "I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged." She said requiring family planning clinics to be physically separate from facilities in which abortion is provided would disrupt services for women across the country. But Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said, "Abortion is not health care or birth control and many women want natural health care choices, rather than hormone-induced changes." OPINION: SORRY, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: YOUR RADICAL PRO-ABORTION CULTURE WAR IS FAILING Abortion opponents allege the federal family planning program in effect cross-subsidizes abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood, whose clinics are also major recipients of grants for family planning and basic preventive care. Hawkins' group is circulating a petition to urge lawmakers in Congress to support the Trump administration's proposal. Known as Title X, the nation's family-planning program serves about 4 million women a year through clinics, at a cost to taxpayers of about $260 million. Planned Parenthood clinics also qualify for Title X grants but they must keep the family-planning money separate from funds used to pay for abortions. The Republican-led Congress has unsuccessfully tried to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood, and the Trump administration has vowed to religious and social conservatives that it would keep up the effort. The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump on Friday tore into media outlets for twisting a comment he made this week about MS-13 "animals," while the Homeland Security secretary said Democratic lawmakers who did the same should apologize. Fake News Media had me calling Immigrants, or Illegal Immigrants, 'Animals.' Wrong! They were begrudgingly forced to withdraw their stories, Trump tweeted. I referred to MS 13 Gang Members as 'Animals,' a big difference - and so true. Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual! Trump made the original comments at a roundtable on Californias sanctuary immigration policies on Wednesday. Media outlets and top Democrats were quick to accuse him of describing undocumented immigrants in general as "animals." But some outlets have walked back that characterization, given Trump made the remark after Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims lamented how California policies could restrict the fight against MS-13. There could be an MS-13 gang member I know about, if they dont reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about them, she said. The president responded, You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people, these are animals, and were taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate thats never happened before. But a number of outlets glossed over the MS-13 context, stating that Trump was talking about all illegal immigrants. The New York Times tweeted that Trump lashed out at undocumented immigrants.calling those trying to breach the countrys borders animals. The Associated Press deleted a tweet that made a similar representation of his remarks. ANTI-TRUMP MEDIA TAKE PRESIDENT OUT OF CONTEXT TO INCORRECTLY CLAIM HE CALLED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 'ANIMALS' DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen also defended Trump on Fox & Friends Friday, blasting Democratic politicians she said also missed the point. When all of our great-great-grandparents came to America they werent 'animals,' and these people arent either, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, while House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that we are all Gods children. Personally, I think those lawmakers owe the president an apology, Nielsen said, accusing them of "pretending" Trump was saying something else. "Frankly, it's unprofessional," she added. DHS REVEALS DOZENS OF MS-13, OTHER GANG MEMBERS RELEASED BY 'SANCTUARY' POLICIES Nielsen also responded to a recent report claiming she had drafted a resignation letter after Trump berated her at a meeting -- Nielsen said the report was not true. MS-13 is a violent gang known for its gruesome crimes that was started by Central American immigrants in the 1980s. Violence is a central tenet of MS-13, as evidenced by its core motto -- 'mata, viola, controla,' translated as, kill, rape, control, the DOJ said in a 2016 release. Figures from Immigration and Customs Enforcement document a surge in arrests related to MS-13 since Trump came into office. In fiscal 2017, there were 796 arrests of MS-13 members, compared with 432 in fiscal 2016 and 322 in fiscal 2015. Trump on Thursday defended himself during remarks at the White House. I am referring to the MS-13 gangs coming in. I was talking about MS-13. If you look further in the tape, you'll see that. I'm surprised you're asking the question because most people got it right, Trump said. MS-13, they're animals, we're getting them out. Fox News Brian Flood contributed to this report. President Donald Trump is trying to jump-start efforts in Congress to overhaul the U.S. prison system and help more former inmates successfully re-enter society. Trump says lawmakers in the House and Senate need to "work out their differences, get a bill to my desk -- I will sign it." His administration has pushed for a plan that focuses on helping released prisoners with their return to society and rehabilitation. The president says overhauling the system "unites people from across the political spectrum." But five influential Democrats are opposing a House bill as a "step backward" and flawed, and they say it doesn't include changes to sentencing guidelines. Their opposition raises questions about whether it could pass in a divided Congress run by Republicans, with a slim Senate majority. ABC News(LOS ANGELES) -- A Southern California man has been arrested on suspicion of having an unregistered destructive device amid the investigation into the explosion that killed his ex-girlfriend at the day spa she owned, according to the FBI and a criminal complaint. But Stephen Beal, 59, has not been charged in connection with the Tuesday explosion that killed his ex, 48-year-old Ildiko Krajnyak, who was also his business partner, and injured three people, federal authorities cautioned. Inside the Aliso Viejo, California, crime scene, agents said they found items consistent with an explosive device: a 9-volt battery, a cellphone, loose wires melted material that appeared to be duct tape, according to the criminal complaint against Beal. Injured victims saw the Krajnyak pick up a box in a pile of mail and open it, after which it exploded, according to the complaint. During the investigation into the explosion, officials served a search warrant at Beal's Long Beach, California, home. Multiple explosive materials were found in Beal's home, including at least three containers of black powder, a 7-foot-tall rocket, rocket-making equipment, two containers of potassium perchlorate -- used as a precursor -- and two containers of red gum, which is used as fuel and binder in fireworks, according to the complaint. Altogether, 130 pounds of explosives/precursor material were found in his home, more of which was discovered in the garage, the complaint states. Beal appeared to have rented space in the building with Krajnyak, according to the criminal complaint. Beal is making his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana this afternoon. The crime scene at the day spa has been rendered safe after the blast sent plumes of white smoke into the air and debris flying into the parking lot. While evidence collected from the blast suggests that the incident was intentional, the exact means by which it was carried out has not yet been determined, according to the complaint. The family and friends of Krajnyak are in "complete shock," Irene White, a friend of the family, told reporters Wednesday on the family's behalf. "Families always came first for Ildiko," White said. "She took great pride in finding beauty in everyone. At this time our family and friends would like to privately mourn a mother, a wife, a daughter and a friend." White said the family is hoping to get answers. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. President Trump took aim once again Friday at Andrew McCabe, asking why the fired former acting FBI director is not being investigated over his political connections during the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Why isnt disgraced FBI official Andrew McCabe being investigated for the $700,000 Crooked Hillary Democrats in Virginia, led by Clinton best friend Terry M (under FBI investigation that they killed) gave to McCabes wife in her run for office? Then dropped case on Clinton! Trump tweeted. Trump was referring to donations to Dr. Jill McCabe's 2015 Virginia State Senate campaign from a political action committee for then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe -- a longtime Clinton ally. According to The Wall Street Journal, the PAC donated $467,500, while the Virginia Democratic Party donated an additional $207,788 to McCabe's campaign. McCabe was fired in March ahead of his planned retirement, putting his pension in jeopardy. The move came after the Department of Justice inspector general determined he lied about a media leak to investigators and to former FBI Director James Comey. Comey backed the findings of the DOJ watchdog, which also sent a criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney in Washington. McCabes legal team vowed to fight any possible charges. "Although we believe the referral is unjustified, the standard for an IG referral is very low. We have already met with staff members from the U.S. Attorneys Office," McCabe's legal team said in response to the referral. "We are confident that, unless there is inappropriate pressure from high levels of the Administration, the US Attorneys Office will conclude that it should decline to prosecute," they said. Trumps tweet comes as his own legal team is stepping up criticism of Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia probe, after the investigation hit the one-year mark. Trump also weighed in again Friday on a New York Times report that said an unnamed government informant was in contact with Trump advisers during the 2016 campaign fueling allegations about FBI spying. "Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a 'hot' Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!" he tweeted. Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report. Days ahead of a White House visit from South Korean President Moon Jae-in, President Trump announced Friday his nominee for ambassador to the country. The president said he intends to nominate Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., who currently serves as the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, to be the American ambassador to South Korea, according to a statement from Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. TRUMP: US DEALING WITH NORTH KOREA AS THOUGH NOTHING HAPPENED Harris, who currently resides in Hawaii with his wife, is a highly decorated, combat proven Naval officer with extensive knowledge, leadership, and geopolitical experiences in the Indo-Pacific region, the statement said. Over the course of 40 years, Harris has served in every geographic combatant command region, it continued, and he has commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the U.S. Sixth Fleet and VP-46, among others. Trumps announcement comes as he prepares to host the South Korean president on Tuesday, marking the third summit for the leaders. TRUMP TO HOST SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT AMID PLANNING FOR U.S.-NORTH KOREA SUMMIT, WHITE HOUSE SAYS The schedule meeting affirms the enduring strength of the alliance and deep friendship between our two countries, the news release said. Trump and Moon are expected to discuss the upcoming meeting between the U.S. and North Korea, set to be held on June 12 in Singapore. However, that meeting was recently called into question after North Korea threatened to pull out of talks. Fox News Jon Decker contributed to this report. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Tuesday called the National Rifle Association just shy of a terrorist organization. The NRA is kind of just shy of a terrorist organization, the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman told HuffPo. They have done everything they can to perpetuate the culture of violence that we have in our country with the spread of assault weapons across the nation. Her comment came after the newly appointed NRA president Oliver North said earlier this month that the survivors of the Parkland High School shooting who are advocating for tougher gun-control measures are participating in civil terrorism. They call them activists. Thats what theyre calling themselves. Theyre not activists this is civil terrorism, North said in an interview with the Washington Times, adding that they rely on intimidation and harassment and lawbreaking. Wasserman Schultz criticized the NRA president for saying it faces opposition thats never been seen against a civil-rights organization in America and for comparing it with the terrible days of Jim Crow. The Jim Crow laws actually resulted in the deaths of people standing up for their rights, the congresswoman said. People that are dying as a result of the infection that is the spread of assault weapons thanks to the NRA are being murdered in cold blood without any cessation or interest on the part of the NRA to do anything about it, she added. Wasserman Schultz then mocked the NRA for, in her view, pretending their group isnt in decline amid the backlash and negative coverage. Its kind of like a spoiled child stamping their feet on the ground, insisting that something right in front of their face isnt true, the lawmaker said. Last month, the NRA announced that its political arm of the organization raised $2.4 million in March, which is $1.5 million more than in March 2017. House Republicans suffered a catastrophic defeat Friday afternoon as the massive farm bill failed to pass. All House Democrats opposed the bill in a 213-198 defeat. A few dozen Republicans also voted against it. From food stamps to conservation issues, the farm bill is a huge piece of legislation that needs to be updated by Congress about every 5 years. It influences everything about agriculture production -- from how food is grown to how its distributed, including on an international level. The farm bills massive size and undertaking gives way to various critiques from those who think its too costly or doesn't do quite enough. President Trump had threatened to veto the legislation if it didn't include tight enough work requirements for people on food stamps, sources told Fox News. Read on for a brief overview of what's in the bill and why its so important. What is the farm bill? A complicated omnibus package, the farm bill, at its core, regulates agriculture production in the U.S. In particular, it tackles how produce is grown, what it costs and how American agriculture exists in the international food arena, Dr. Marion Nestle, a well-known New York University food nutritionist, told Fox News. The goals of the farm bill have changed over time, from having more of a focus on a safety net for farmers to including protection from hunger, said Margot Pollans, a Pace University law professor and member of the Farm Bill Enterprise. What's in it? The nearly 700-page bill covers a myriad of agriculture-related regulations and programs, including conservation issues, commodity subsidies and crop insurance. Among some items included in the massive bill are: a $100 million feral swine control pilot program, $450 million for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify animal disease outbreaks, incentives for beginning farmers, resources to combat the nations opioid epidemic and $50 million to assist disadvantaged farmers and military veterans in agriculture, according to a fact sheet. Ferd Hoefner, senior strategic advisor for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, says programs that promote fresh products into the food system should not be overlooked -- even if, he said, lawmakers do. If you put more emphasis on things that relate to organic produce or new farmers or renewable energy on farms, then there might be more public support for a bill that otherwise, in broad strokes, the general public thinks of as having big subsidies for big farms, Hoefner told Fox News. Arent food stamps in this bill? The farm bill includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) under the nutrition component of the massive legislation. Its the SNAP portion of the bill that dominates the conversation, Nestle said, even though the legislation covers so much more. The House bill, as it stands now, would tighten already existing work requirements for the SNAP program. It would require all work capable adults between the ages of 18 and 59 to work or participate in work training programs for at least 20 hours per week, meaning a greater number of people would have to work or enroll in work training to receive food assistance. Seniors, disabled people, those caring for children under the age of 6 and pregnant women would be exempt from these requirements, according to a committee fact sheet. Democrats have objected to the inclusion of new requirements for SNAP in the House bill, saying it could throw as many as two million people off the program. Those opposed also say the bill does not provide enough funding for job training and would create bulky bureaucracies to keep up with extensive rule keeping. It makes no sense to put the farmers and rural communities who rely on the farm bills safety net programs at risk in pursuit of partisan ideology on SNAP, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said in an April statement, adding that the bill attempts to change SNAP from a feeding program to a work program. Pollans told Fox News the inclusion of the SNAP program in the farm bill is an exciting opportunity to bridge the urban and rural divide. However, she called the additional work requirements added to the House bill a threat to working families, especially for those who have less formal employment or an hourly schedule by bosses they dont have any control over. I think the requirements are coming from a real misunderstanding of how SNAP benefits are used and families who are using them, she said. How much does it cost? For the 2014 farm bill, which is currently in place, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) originally predicted the total cost of mandatory programs -- which typically operate as entitlements -- would be $489 billion. About 99 percent of the predicted mandatory program outlays were taken by four out of 12 titles, according to the CBO: conservation, crop insurance, farm commodity support and nutrition. SNAP is included under the nutrition umbrella, which makes up about 80 percent of the total mandatory funding. So what are the problems with bill? Because its so large, there are a wide array of complaints from economic and agriculture-focused think tanks and policymakers. What theres no sign of -- and there hasnt been for a while -- people who are involved in agriculture policy sitting down and thinking what kind of an agriculture policy we need in a situation where were dealing with climate change, Nestle said. If youre doing rational agriculture policy, you want to have enough food to feed the people, farmers to be able to make a living, and an agriculture system that will promote public health and do the least possible harm to the environment. Caroline Kitchens, a policy analyst at the conservative R Street Institute who has a focus on agriculture issues, called the legislation a bloated bill and even more wasteful and full of cronyism than previous iterations, in a blog post. If youre doing rational agriculture policy, you want to have enough food to feed the people, farmers to be able to make a living, and an agriculture system that will promote public health and do the least possible harm to the environment. Dr. Marion Nestle We have limited funds, and when were facing a big deficit, we should make sure that were spending money on people who really need it, Kitchens told Fox News, criticizing the increases in commodity subsidies for farms. If were going to have work requirements for recipients of welfare, we should have requirements for farmers, too. If youre not working on the farm, its ridiculous to get handouts, she said. If this is a House bill, what is the Senate doing? While the Senate version of this bill has not yet been released, Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told the Wall Street Journal it would not be as far-reaching as the House legislation. A committee aide has told Fox News that the Senate version would not contain revolutionary reforms to programs, but added its premature to say just what will be included. What has Trump said about it? Trump has warned senior lawmakers that he will veto the bill if it doesnt include tighter work requirements for people who have food stamps, a source familiar with the discussions told Fox News. In April, Trump highlighted what he called a great statistic showing the number of people on food stamps has fallen since January 2017. The American people are finally back to work! he tweeted. Fox News Chard Pergram, Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Robert Wilkie has served as acting secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs since March and now his position is permanent. On July 23, the Senate confirmed Wilkie to lead the VA, the government's second-largest department, with 360,000 employees serving 9 million veterans. Wilkie, 55, has led the department since Trump announced his decision to replace David Shulkin. Then, Trump said he intended to nominate presidential physician, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, to lead Veterans Affairs, but Jackson eventually withdrew his name from consideration following controversy. Read on for a look at four things to know about the Wilkie. He served in the Air Force and Navy Wilkie served in the United States Naval Reserve, according to his Defense Department biography. He would later join the Air Force as a reserve officer and was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff, his biography said. He holds a masters in strategic studies from the United States Army War College. Wilkie is also a graduate of Wake Forest University, Georgetown University and Loyola University in New Orleans. He is also the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Wilkie took over as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in November 2017. According to his Defense Department biography, he advises the Secretary of Defense for Total Force Management on the National Guard, training, health issues and personnel requirements. WHOS IN TRUMPS CABINET? A FULL LIST OF THE PRESIDENT STOP ADVISERS In 2005, Wilkie was tapped to serve as assistant secretary of the Defense Department. He was the youngest senior leader in the department at the time, his biography states. He worked for a massive engineering firm Wilkie was vice president for strategic programs for CH2M HILL, a global engineering company, from 2010 to 2015, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. Some of his assignments included reforming the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense Supply and Logistics System, his biography explains. Wilkie also worked on the Hill Wilkie worked for Sen. Trent Lott, then the Majority Leader, from 1997 to 2003, according to the News & Observer. He also served as an aide to former Sen. Jesse Helms and former Rep. David Funderburk. Additionally, Wilkie was executive director of the North Carolina GOP, the newspaper reported. In 1996, Wilkie unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress, the News & Observer reported. Lawyer Michael Avenatti is too busy defending porn star Stormy Daniels to attend to important business involving his own wife - who desperately wants a divorce, she told Fox News. The ubiquitous attorney, who has become CNN's favorite prime time guest, represents the porn queen, who claims she had a 2006 fling with President Trump and believes Trump is defaming her by denying it. But while he is basking in the limelight, his wife says their divorce proceedings have stalled. I need to be divorced and if [Michael Avenatti] continues to paint the narrative, he can ignore our case! Lisa Storie-Avenatti wrote in a text message from their home in Newport Beach, Calif. Storie did not explain what she meant by the narrative and how exactly Avenatti was ignoring the divorce. Storie married Avenatti in 2011. Just months before he started pursuing the legal challenge against Trump, he filed for divorce. Court records claim Storie kicked him out of the house and changed the locks. Avenatti has been on a non-stop media blitz since bursting onto the scene earlier this year and has appeared on broadcast and cable news shows a whopping 147 times and counting over the past 10 weeks, according to the Media Research Center. The study indicates that 74 of the appearances were on CNN which almost certainly makes Avenatti the most ubiquitous guest in the networks history. The New York Times reported on Thursday that television agent Jay Sures has pitched a debate program with CNN and MSNBC executives where Avenatti would battle former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on a nightly basis but the outspoken lawyer claims he isnt interested at the moment. The irony of Avenatti painting himself as a champion of women while negecting the pressing domestic matter is evident in his own recent tweet. I need to be divorced and if [Michael Avenatti] continues to paint the narrative he can ignore our case! Lisa Storie-Avenatti We should all thank Stormy Daniels for her sacrifice and strength. The full extent of her courage will come into focus in the coming weeks, he wrote in a tweet on Thursday. The tweet was accompanied with a quote from poet Maya Angelou reading: Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women. Storie criticized media reports that claim they are already legally separated. Everyone reports we are divorced. That does not help my goal to get a divorce, she said. Can you imagine divorcing him? she added. The lawyers performances across Stormy-hungry media have earned him unchecked attention for months and brought him new friends over his scrutiny of Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Along the way, however, Avenatti underwent scrutiny. Hes facing questions over his past business failings and how he obtained Cohen's bank records, while the State Bar of California is investigating him after a complaint was filed regarding allegedly unpaid taxes. HEAT ON STORMY DANIELS LAWYER OVER PAST BUSINESS DEALINGS, BANK RECORD DISCLOSURES Id be more than happy if he dated a nice woman. Better than porn stars. Lisa Storie-Avenatti Among his new acquaintances is model and Billy Joels ex-wife Christie Brinkley, who was seen dining and chatting late into the night with Avenatti on Saturday, TMZ reported. His wife was receptive to the news of a possible romance, saying Id be more than happy if he dated a nice woman. She then added: Better than porn stars. Storie backtracked when quizzed about it, saying porn star is not his type if thats what you want to know. No story here except what you see on TV. It remains unclear what the exact reason is for the divorce. Storie confirmed that she kicked him out of the house, though noted that it had nothing to do with Stormy Daniels. She declined an in-depth interview regarding the case, but asked to read court records and said, Tell me where our money and his time has been spent. Court records detail Avenattis extravagant lifestyle, with monthly expenses running to about $40,000. Hes a noted collector of watches and artwork, uses a private jet to travel, and leases expensive cars, his wife claimed in case documents. In a combative phone call with Fox News on Thursday, Avenatti said he had no idea what youre talking about. The headquarters flag used by George Washington during the Revolutionary War will go on display in Philadelphia next month, marking its first public appearance in the city since the war itself. The rare faded and fragile blue silk flag, which measures two feet by three feet, will be on display in the Museum of the American Revolution from Flag Day, June 14, through June 17. The display will also mark the flags first public appearance in Pennsylvania in decades. Adorned with 13 six-pointed stars to represent the original 13 colonies, the artifact is thought to be the earliest surviving 13-star American flag. 'THE FIRST OVAL OFFICE': MUSEUM WILL SHOWCASE WASHINGTONS REVOLUTIONARY WAR TENT The flag will be joining another historic Washington artifact in the Museum in Philadelphias Old City. The Generals Revolutionary War field tent is on permanent display at the Museum of the American Revolution, where it is displayed in a dedicated theater. Described as the first Oval Office, the canvas tent was Washingtons Command Center throughout the Revolutionary War. The tent went on display when the Museum opened its doors in April 2017. This is an incredibly special opportunity to witness a true American treasure, General George Washingtons personal flag, under the same roof as the tent that served as his command center throughout the war, said Museum Chairman and Acting CEO General John P. Jumper, in a statement emailed to Fox News. The adoption of the U.S. flag took place right here in Philadelphia, so there is truly no better place to celebrate Flag Day and everything it stands for. EXTREMELY RARE COPY OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, ONCE HIDDEN BEHIND WALLPAPER, SURFACES Jumper, a retired four-star general, spent nearly four decades in the U.S. Air Force. The historic flag was donated to the Valley Forge Historical Society by descendants of George Washingtons sister, Betty Washington Lewis, in the early 20th century. The society subsequently transferred the collection, including the Standard, to the Museum of the American Revolution. The Museum will also display a replica of the flag that traveled into space with astronaut John Glenn in 1998 as part of the buildup to the bicentennial commemoration of Washingtons death in 1799. INCREDIBLE REVOLUTIONARY WAR JOURNAL SURFACES, DETAILING POW'S ESCAPE FROM BRITISH PRISON SHIP Revolutionary War artifacts offer a fascinating glimpse into the events that shaped America. Other items in the Museum of the American Revolutions collection include a host of Revolutionary War-era weapons, artworks and documents. A young American sailors journal detailing his harrowing experiences during War, for example, was recently donated to the Museum. In August 2017, a Revolutionary War-era knife was unearthed during an archaeological dig at Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan, the latest in a series of amazing finds at the site. The following month, archaeologists in Boston discovered a centuries-old outhouse that may be linked to the family of Patriot Paul Revere. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers A stunning new study from NASA highlights the impact humans are having on fresh water availability across the globe. The study, published earlier this week, found that Earth's wetlands are getting wetter and dry regions are getting drier, due to human water management, climate change and natural cycles. "What we are witnessing is major hydrologic change," said co-author Jay Famiglietti, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., in a statement. "We see a distinctive pattern of the wetland areas of the world getting wetter those are the high latitudes and the tropics and the dry areas in between getting dryer. Embedded within the dry areas we see multiple hotspots resulting from groundwater depletion." NORTHEAST STORMS WERE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO GENERATE 'METEOTSUNAMI' ALONG COAST A team of researchers led by NASA's Matt Rodell trekked across the globe, looking at trends in 34 regions and using 14 years worth of data. They pulled in satellite precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project, NASA/U.S. Geological Survey Landsat imagery, irrigation maps, and published reports of human activities related to agriculture, mining and reservoir operations, according to the statement. The study was published in the scientific journal Nature. Rodell noted in the statement this is the first time they've been able to see that freshwater availability is changing on the planet. In the study's abstract, the authors noted that the trends had been lacking the proper investigation and attribution, including in areas in northwest China and and Okavango Delta. "This observation-based assessment of how the worlds water landscape is responding to human impacts and climate variations provides a blueprint for evaluating and predicting emerging threats to water and food security," the abstract reads. Rodell added that a key goal of the study was to determine what shifts were caused by natural occurrences, including wet and dry periods on the planet, associated with El Nino and La Nina, and those caused by humans, including tasks such as "pumping groundwater out of an aquifer faster than it is replenished." WHAT IF THE OCEAN'S CLIMATE-CONTROLLING 'CONVEY BELT' CAME TO A HALT? Freshwater is defined as water found in lakes, rivers, soil, snow, groundwater and ice. The shifting of availability of freshwater from ice is especially noteworthy, given the loss from ice sheets at both the North and South Poles has implications for sea levels rising. Famiglietti said that while the melting of ice and alpine glaciers is clearly caused by climate change, there is more work to do to see why the other changes in freshwater availability are occurring. "The pattern of wet-getting-wetter, dry-getting-drier during the rest of the 21st century is predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change models, but well need a much longer dataset to be able to definitively say whether climate change is responsible for the emergence of any similar pattern in the GRACE data," he added. The GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) mission was a joint mission between NASA and the German Aerospace Center to watch the world's water. It is being followed up with GRACE Follow-On, a joint mission between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). It's uncertain at this point whether it's possible to reverse the effects of climate change, though scientists and researchers are certainly trying. GREENLAND IS LITERALLY CRACKING APART AND FLOODING THE WORLD Earlier this week, a team of geneticists laid out plans to comingle the permafrost-preserved DNA of a Woolly Mammoth with that of an Asian elephant to increase the elephant's tolerance to cold weather. Cities are also taking up the task of trying to combat climate change. In Los Angeles, for example, officials are painting streets white to reduce the effect of urban "heat islands" and combat the effects of climate change. Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia This is a rush transcript from "Your World," May 17, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: With the exception of the so-called crisis hot line, you're a vet, you wait, and you wait a long time still. Is that true? SCOTT DAVIS, VETERANS ADMINISTRATIONS WHISTLE-BLOWER: That is correct. And, matter of fact, The Hill did a report on this just in March that VA had been caught sending false reports about wait times. We know that veterans are still waiting on average longer for care. And this is something that the president talked about fixing when he was running for office. You institute safeguards to make sure that the billing is appropriate, that the hospital staff is properly making sure each veteran has access to his or her appointment outside the VA network. CAVUTO: All right. DAVIS: And that's what we have. (END VIDEO CLIP) CAVUTO: All right, Scott Davis, the whistle-blower at the VA, was back with us to say that, despite all the big words and promises to change things, things are not changing. The wait times are still bad for a lot of veterans hoping to get care. But they do have some progress on the legislative front here. Tennessee Republican, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs committee, Phil Roe, with us on that. Congressman, I know this measure passed that overwhelmingly addresses this issue. It's still potentially in limbo here, and we still don't have someone heading the VA on a full-time basis. We have a lot of candidates. And if this guy is right, the problems remain. What do you make of that? REP. PHIL ROE, R-TENNESSEE: Well, the problems aren't solved. There's no question about that. The VA, Neil, is a huge organization, 370,000 employees, 168 medical centers, 800 outpatient clinics. It's a big organization. But I think it's headed in the right direction. And what we did yesterday was recognize the fact that folks were having, veterans were having -- as I'm a veteran -- were having difficulty getting appointments. And so we did. We passed a Community Care Act yesterday, which will make it easy when fully implemented. And it's going to take a year for the new secretary to implement this plan. But the idea for the VA will create access standards. And if the VA can't meet those standards, then the veteran can go outside and -- of the VA. And we're also doing a network analysis, in other words, going into communities where VA medical centers and assets are, and saying, what is in the private community, what assets, what doctors does the VA have, and then use the best of both to provide the best care for veterans. CAVUTO: It sounds -- and you're a veteran. And thank you for your service, sir. But you have seen that giving the VA the opportunity to change its ways hasn't worked. And I'm wondering giving them another chance to get it right, whether that is going to work. Why not this private opportunity available for soldiers right now, and veterans right now, because they have been burned, not once, twice, but many times? ROE: Yes, Neil, we have a system in the country where we have a shortage of medical providers. CAVUTO: Right. ROE: For instance, at the VA -- I was out in Denver not too long ago in their psychiatric area, mental health. They were 60 providers short. So, when you have a situation like that, you want to use the best of the private sector and the best of the VA sector to provide the highest-quality care for people. This is not going to be easy. And the new secretary is going to have a big job on their hands, but I'm excited about it. Yesterday was a big, big step forward. CAVUTO: Do you think we need -- I know a couple of retired generals have been added to the list now close to half-a-dozen candidates. Do you need someone with military experience like yourself or even a retired general to head the VA? ROE: Well, we did have a retired general, General Shinseki, back in the first VA secretary under the Obama administration. CAVUTO: Right. ROE: It didn't work. Look, I -- I think you need someone who has administrative experience. For instance, myself, I have had experience in the examining room with a patient. I'm a physician. Been in the military. And I think you need someone with that level of understanding to be able to operate this huge system. And then I think you're going to have to have a lot of help. It's a huge -- you need very competent undersecretaries to manage this massive organization. The VA has more employees, Neil, than the U.S. Navy has sailors. CAVUTO: Amazing. Amazing. All right, we will watch this. Congressman, thank you for taking the time. ROE: Thanks, Neil. CAVUTO: All right. END Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. Passengers aboard an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this week became part of a landmark trip for the carrier, as it was the first of its flights to be piloted by two African-American women. Captain Tara Wright took to the intercom to make the announcement shortly before takeoff on Sunday, telling passengers they were about to be part of a pretty interesting piece of Alaska Airlines history. In a Facebook post shared by Wright, the captain can be seen standing in front of the cockpit alongside First Officer Mallory Cave, addressing the cabin ahead of the flight from San Francisco to Portland, Ore. LAWMAKER WITNESSED NAKED MAN 'RUN FROM FRONT OF PLANE TO BACK' ON ALASKA AIRLINES Today is a fun day. We have Mothers Day, and Im sure there are plenty of mothers on board this morning, Wright began. She then revealed that Sunday also marked her fathers 80th birthday, telling passengers he was celebrating by roaming the countryside in Spain this morning. But Wrights most exciting news was yet to come. And finally youre sharing a pretty interesting piece of Alaska Airlines history this morning, she told travelers. Youll be piloted by two African-American female pilots, for the first time in Alaska Airlines history. Youre making [history] this morning, whether youre awake or not, joked Wright, as passengers began to applaud. The two pilots were then asked by a passenger to pose for a picture, and gladly complied. UNITED FLIGHT ATTENDANT TRACKS DOWN MOM WHO FORGOT BREAST MILK UNDER SEAT A representative for Alaska Airlines was not immediately available to comment, though the airline did share Wrights post to its Facebook page. History in the flying, the airline captioned the post. The airline also made a reference to Bessie Coleman, the first black woman to earn a pilots license and pilot a public flight. What Bessie Coleman started in 1921, we continue here, the airline wrote. Followers also joined in to congratulate the airline and pilots, though some wondered why the day didn't come sooner. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Alaska Airlines milestone flight follows a similar milestone for Southwest Airlines in October, during which the airline celebrated its first unmanned flight i.e., one with an all-female crew of pilots and attendants. News of Southwests landmark October flight was met with positive responses on Twitter, though some found it odd that this turn of events didnt happen sooner. Good God it is 2017 and this is a FIRST?? wrote one Twitter user at the time. It's late in September, 2018 and you're at home in Omaha, on North 24th Street between Cuming and Burt neatly tucked between Creighton University and the McDonald's, glued to the TV screen. Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell have basically been covering nothing but the two Manafort trials that started in July and August. The whole country is talking about nothing else. It's the closest we're going to get to a Trump trial until after he's impeached. The Manafort daily revelations have been stunning and tonight is no different. Congressman Don Bacon is ready to commit suicide. His Democratic challenger, Kara Eastman, doesn't care that the DCCC has refused to make her one of their candidates. She's going to win by at least 10 points anyway and she won't owe Pelosi or Hoyer anything. The early ballots arrived a couple days ago. The return rate is the biggest in history, especially from Democrats and independents. They're voting in record numbers. In a few days California will start voting. Nebraska early voting starts 35 days before the election. In California it's 30 days. Polls show Mimi Walters, Steve Knight, Duncan Hunter, Dana Rohrabacher, Jeff Denham, David Valadao and Devin Nunes are all going down. That's been expected since the trials began. But now it looks like Paul Cook, Ken Calvert and Tom McClintock could lose their seats too; stunning! Doug LaMalfa and Kevin McCarthy may be the only Republicans from California left in Congress-- and McCarthy's race is looking sketchier by the day... by the revelation. This week the country met a slickly dressed greasy crook, Manafort's former son-in-law, Jeff Yohai. He must have really hated his father-in-law. An old, old friend of mine had a rental property in Malibu and he rented it to a young married couple. Eventually they stopped paying rent on time and then stopped paying rent altogether... and it got worse from there. One day my friend gets a call from the FBI telling him they're about to raid the house, explaining that he has nothing to fear and that it was just the tenants who were involved in a ponzi scheme. The wifey was Paul Manafort's daughter, Jessica and her hubby was notorious real estate crook Jeffrey Yohai. More recently Yohai swindled Dustin Hoffman and his son, Jacob Hoffman, out of $3 million The Hoffmans werent the only high-profile investors in Yohais business. Manafort, his wife Kathleen and daughter Jessica-- who was married to Yohai-- invested $4.7 million in the developers L.A.-area projects, according to bankruptcy filings. The biggest of those investments was a $2.7-million loan made by Manafort last year to the now-bankrupt company that owns a property on Stradella Road in Bel-Air, documents show. ...Companies controlling Yohais four L.A.-area properties-- the ones on Blue Jay Way and Stradella Road and two others in Los Feliz-- filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December. The properties each entered foreclosure proceedings last year after Yohai defaulted on loans attached to them, real estate records show. They had been scheduled to be sold in trustees sales late last year, but that was delayed by the bankruptcies. USAToday reported that Yohai has been cooperating with the Feds and accused his father-in-law Jessica filed for divorce soon after the FBI started talking with Yohai late last winter [2016] about putting her father in prison. Early in Octoberreported that Yohai has been cooperating with the Feds and accused his father-in-law of conspiring to mislead a federal bankruptcy court about real estate investments Yohai's legal declaration alleged that Manafort and other parties in the cases "have all conspired to mislead this court ... as to their true intentions and motivations." Yohai has worked in real estate in California and New York, business and court records show. Part of that work has focused on buying upscale homes in the Los Angeles area, renovating them and then marketing and reselling the properties to luxury buyers. Four of the properties he planned to redevelop now are in the bankruptcy proceedings. ...FBI investigators are also examining financial transactions between Manafort and Yohai, theNew York Times reported in June. Separately, Politico reported that federal investigators had sought Yohai's cooperation, while CNN reported that he had met with investigators. It is unclear whether Mueller's investigation has included the real estate issues now in bankruptcy court. Yohai's filing alleged that Manafort and others had misled him and the court about the funding and ownership of the companies that have proposed to clear up the bankruptcy issues. He questioned whether the rescue plan had sufficient funds to finalize the deal. It looks to me like Yohai and Jessica moved from small time swindling to major money laundering on behalf of Manafort and-- what else?-- Russia criminals. High end real estate, as you know by now, is how crooks from around the world launder their ill-gotten gains. The revelation about investigators interest in Mr. Yohais activities comes amid indications that the scrutiny of Mr. Manafort has intensified. Besides the F.B.I. and congressional inquiries, the New York State attorney generals office has opened a preliminary inquiry focused on certain real estate dealings involving Mr. Manafort, according to a third person with direct knowledge of the matter. Last month [Oct, 2017], the Wall Street Journal reported that federal officials had requested his bank records from Citizens Financial Group, and NBC News said a subpoena had been issued for records related to a $3.5 million loan obtained last August by a shell company, Summerbreeze L.L.C., linked to Mr. Manafort. The New York Times first reported on the existence of the loan in April. ...The Summerbreeze loan was part of a series of mortgages over the past year, totaling $20 million, secured by properties belonging to Mr. Manafort or his wife. Some of that money appears to have been used by Mr. Manafort to try to salvage his investments with Mr. Yohai. Court records show that Mr. Manafort and his wife invested at least $4 million in several California properties, part of a real estate business that one of Mr. Manaforts daughters described as a joint venture between her father and Mr. Yohai. The partnership was unexpected given Mr. Manaforts early opinion of his son-in-law, as described in text messages belonging to Andrea Manafort, one of Mr. Manaforts two daughters, which were hacked last year and posted on a website used by Ukrainian hackers. In the messages, Ms. Manafort said in 2013 that her father wholeheartedly opposes her sister Jessicas marriage to Mr. Yohai, whose financial problems had deeply concerned Mr. Manafort. Yet within two years, Mr. Yohai, who had a degree in journalism and became a real estate professional only in 2011, was forming shell companies to purchase luxury properties in the Hollywood Hills, worth tens of millions of dollars, which Mr. Manafort would put money into. Mr. Manafort was more than a passive investor; Jessica Manafort told her sister last year that Mr. Yohai had a contract that says dad and him are 50/50 business partners. He flew out to California and helped Jeff completely reorganize and set up his business, wrote Jessica Manafort, who filed for divorce in March. While Mr. Yohai borrowed millions from banks and obtained money from investors, he also intimated he had access to large amounts of cash. In January 2016, he offered $7 million in cash for a mansion whose owner, a Russian businessman, was in debt to several associates from Russia who had liens on the house. Mr. Yohai put $160,000 down to secure the mansion deal, but by June 2016 had backed out of it and forfeited the deposit. A month later he appeared on a reality television show, Million Dollar Listing, and proposed buying three apartment units in New York City for $15 million in cash; the real estate agent said on the show that he had seen proof of funds. When a friend texted Andrea Manafort, asking if her sister and Mr. Yohai really had access to that kind of money, Ms. Manafort replied, Of course they dont. Her hubby is running a Ponzi scheme, Ms. Manafort wrote. Im sure of it. That is what Mr. Yohai was accused of in a lawsuit filed in November by an investor in Mr. Yohais real estate business. The suit asserted that Mr. Yohai employed a web of dozens of limited liability companies to repay early investors with money from new investors to create the illusion of a quick and large return on their investments. The lawsuit-- filed by Guy Aroch, a fashion photographer who said he invested $2.9 million with Mr. Yohai-- also accuses Mr. Yohai of taking advantage of his connection to Mr. Manafort to meet celebrities and public figures. It is unclear how Mr. Hoffman and his son, Jacob, came to invest $3 million in one of Mr. Yohais deals that has since gone bankrupt; a photo shows Mr. Yohai and Jacob Hoffman together at a launch party for a website in 2015. A representative for the Hoffmans did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Yohai denied Mr. Arochs accusations in a court filing, and said the lawsuit invoked Mr. Manaforts name in an improper effort to attract publicity. Mr. Yohai and Mr. Manafort have the same lawyer. This allegation that I participated in fraud and criminal activity is obviously an extremely derogatory accusation that will harm my reputation, he said in the filing. Many of Mr. Manaforts real estate purchases over the years coincided with his long-running work as a political consultant to the Russia-backed Party of Regions in Ukraine. During his time there, Mr. Manafort used a network of shell companies in the tax havens of Cyprus and Belize to move money around and collect payments from clients, who, in addition to the Ukrainians, included Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with whom Mr. Manafort partnered in investments. Back in the United States, Mr. Manafort created still more shell companies to make cash purchases of expensive properties for millions of dollars and other investments. His Los Angeles investments were handled through a limited liability company called Baylor Holding, in which Mr. Manafort and Mr. Yohai were partners, according to court records. In a deposition related to Mr. Arochs lawsuit, Mr. Yohai said his California real estate business operated under the name Marin West and was focused on buying and redeveloping luxury homes in exclusive neighborhoods around Hollywood. Although he was the sole owner of Marin West, Mr. Yohai seemed ignorant of important details, saying he was not sure when it was created or where it was incorporated, and was uncertain who wrote the content for its website. He speculated it could have been written by someone he described as kind of like the accountant for Marin West. I think he wrote this bio, Mr. Yohai said, referring to a description of himself that appeared on the site. I honestly dont know. Old news... updated yesterday by Reuters: Yohai "has cut a plea deal with the Justice Department that requires him to cooperate with other criminal probes. The guilty plea agreement, which is under seal and has not been previously reported, could add to the legal pressure on Manafort, who is facing two indictments brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election." A flight attendant formerly employed by Alaska Airlines has filed a lawsuit against the carrier, claiming that she was fired after she reported she had been drugged and raped by a first officer during an August 2017 work trip. Ashley Geffre is accusing the airline of firing her "in retaliation" after reporting the assault, which allegedly occurred in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., KIRO 7 reported. The 25-year-old further claimed that even though the first officer "corroborated her story about possibly being drugged" to their employer he claimed he was drugged, too he was not terminated. "I've loved my job as a flight attendant. Its taken me amazing places. I've met incredible people," Geffree said of her "dream job." It was probably the best three years of my life, she noted. WOMAN CALLED A 'SMELLY FATTY ON UNITED FLIGHT SAYS STRANGER STEPPED IN TO INTERVENE Everything changed during an overnight stay in Fort Lauderdale, she said, when she went out for dinner and drinks with the first officer. The next day I woke up early in the morning around 6 or 7 a.m. And I had no clothes on. My clothes were on every corner of the room and I was scared, the former flight attendant recalled to KIRO 7 of the devastating realization. I felt severe cramping beyond menstrual pain. I felt itchy. I felt sexually assaulted, she further divulged. I had no idea what had happened. She learned more terrifying details about the night when she approached the Broward County Sheriffs Office to report the incident. "Ive been called a liar by a company that I loved working for. I've been slut-shamed by a company that I devoted my time to." Ashley Geffre I was found in a stairwell by a security guard who swore under oath he did find me in a stairwell with my pants to my ankles and I was slouched over with vomit on me, Geffree said. PASSENGER ARRESTED FOR STORMING TARMAC AT MELBOURNE AIRPORT, TRYING TO YANK OPEN PLANE DOOR Geffre then notified Alaska Airlines that she would not be able to fly that evening as originally scheduled as she did not feel safe. She claimed that the first officer also reported he was drugged and could not fly that day. Upon returning to the West Coast, Geffree said she was questioned about the incident with her union rep and had no idea it was going to lead to termination. They called me dishonest. Ive been called a liar by a company that I loved working for. I've been slut-shamed by a company that I devoted my time to, Geffre said. Her lawsuit further alleges that the first officer who assaulted her was not fired and is still actively employed by Alaska Airlines. When KIRO asked Geffre why she thought this was the case, she replied that part of me is believing that the flight attendants and the pilots are treated very differently. Geffres lawsuit is the second of its kind to slam Alaska Airlines in recent months. In March, pilot Betty Pina sued the airline after she said she was drugged and raped by Capt. Paul Engelian during an overnight stop in Minneapolis in June 2017. She said the airline failed to hold Engelian accountable and he remains employed by the airline. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS "This is a problem, Pina said at the time. I'm not the first, but I would love to be the last, but this is a problem in this industry." My hope is that by me doing this, it may protect other women," she added. Geffree said she feels the same way. I feel that I made all of the right decisions and I would do them again in a heartbeat, she said. Though Alaska Airlines did not immediately return Fox News request for comment, the carrier did tell KIRO 7 that the reported attacker has been grounded, and provided a statement. Alaska Airlines has a firm non-retaliation policy. We can confirm that the First Officer was removed from duty immediately and has not flown since Aug. 2017. When situations arise that are inconsistent with our values, we investigate them fully and act in accordance with our policies, a representative said. Geffre and Pinas lawsuits join a chorus of recent sexual assault accusations related to travel in the skies. In March, a woman claiming she was raped in bathroom on American Airlines flight sued the airline after rejecting $5,000 to settle. And in April, a SkyWest flight attendant accused a pilot of drugging and raping her during a layover. Days later, a British Airways employee was accused of raping a senior flight attendant during a stop in Singapore. The parents of a South Carolina woman who are suing American Airlines for her wrongful death say they never heard from the company after the tragedy. Christopher and Tina Starks, along with their lawyer Brad Cranshaw, appeared on Megyn Kelly Today Thursday and told the host about the death of their 25-year-old daughter, Brittany Oswell, who suffered an embolism midflight in April 2016. HOMELESS MAN SUING BURGER KING FOR ACCUSED HIM OF USING FAKE MONEY, WHICH LANDED HIM IN JAIL Oswell, a nurse from the Midlands area, was flying home from Hawaii with her husband Cory on American Airlines Flight A102 when she began to feel dizzy and disoriented and ultimately fainted. A doctor aboard the flight spoke with Oswell after she regained consciousness and initially believed she was suffering from a panic attack, per court documents obtained by Columbias The State. According to the lawsuit, a few hours later, as the plane was flying over Albuquerque, N.M., Cory took Oswell to the lavatory, where she collapsed on the floor, vomited and defecated on herself. The doctor on the flight examined Oswell again and instructed the flight crew to notify the pilot so the plane could to be diverted to the nearest airport and she could receive medical attention. The doctor then spoke with the pilot about Oswells symptoms, but after consulting with another doctor on the ground, the pilot decided to continue on to their destination of Dallas-Forth Worth, which was still about 90 minutes away, the lawsuit claims. ALASKA AIRLINES FIRST FLIGHT PILOTED BY TWO AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN EARNS ROUND OF APPLAUSE In his attempt to help Oswell, the doctor tried to use the medical equipment on board the plane but discovered it wasnt functioning. One blood pressure machine was broken and the other was giving an error message. At this time, Oswell stopped breathing and no longer had a pulse. The doctor attempted to use the defibrillator, but despite three attempts, no shock was administered. Flight crew and the doctor then took turns administering CPR, but Oswell never regained consciousness. Upon landing, Oswell was taken to Baylor Medical Center. Two days later, on April 18, 2016, she was declared brain dead and taken off life support. Her cause of death was listed as acute massive pulmonary embolism and cardiogenic shock, the lawsuit states. Oswells family is now suing American Airlines, accusing them of negligence for failing to divert the plane, among other things, which they believe resulted in her death. They are seeking damages in an amount to be determined by a jury for severe emotional distress, anxiety, grief and sorrow. We got her home but not in the way we wanted to get her, Tina told Kelly. Weve never heard from American Airlines. Were left without a daughter and no reasons why. They havent told us why they wouldnt divert the flight. We know nothing. We want to know what happened, Christopher said. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Cranshaw told Kelly they are currently in federal district court and should get an answer from American Airlines shortly. Its a tragedy. We cant go back in time. The airline cant give us back Corys wife, but were interested to know what the airline plans to do, he said. A spokesperson for American Airlines released the following statement to Fox News: We take the safety of our passengers very seriously and we are looking into the details of the complaint. A Texas jury reportedly convicted two former top Bandidos biker gang members on Thursday of racketeering charges leveled against them. Jeffrey Fay Pike, the national president of the gang for roughly 10 years before his January 2016 arrest, was found guilty in federal court, along with John Xavier Portillo, who was the gangs vice president, The Associated Press reported. The charges against the pair alleged that they committed several murders and attempted murders, as well as other criminal acts. Pike was also charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon. Pike, 62, and Portillo, 58, will face sentencing on separate dates in the fall. Both remain in custody until sentencing and could face life in federal prison. MURDER CHARGES FILED IN 2015 TEXAS BIKER SHOOTOUT The 2006 slaying of Anthony Benesh sparked the federal investigation into the gang leaders. Before his death, Benesh was working to start a Texas chapter of a gang rival, the Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Organization, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. During the federal trial, it was revealed that Portillo, with Pikes approval, waged war between the Bandidos and a rival gang, the Cossacks. Portillos declaration of war ultimately led to a series of violent encounters around the state. The gangs were both involved in a deadly 2015 shooting at a restaurant in Waco, Texas that killed nine people and injured 20 others. TEXAS PROSECUTORS DROP DOZENS MORE CASES FROM WACO SHOOTING Just days before the statute of limitations expired, McLennan County prosecutors on Wednesday indicted three bikers on murder charges stemming from the shooting. More than 20 other bikers were re-indicted on new charges, ranging from rioting to tampering with evidence. Jurors also found that Portillo participated in the 2002 killing of Robert Lara to avenge the slaying of a Bandidos member. They also found that Portillo and other Bandidos trafficked in methamphetamine and cocaine under the arrangement with the Texas Mexican Mafia. Fox News Travis Fedschun and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Law enforcement is still searching Santa Fe High School in Texas and other locations for explosive devices after a gunman opened fire at the school on Friday morning, leaving at least 10 people dead and another 10 injured in what Gov. Greg Abbott labeled the worst disaster to ever strike this community. Suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, is in custody in connection with the shooting. He was charged with capital murder of multiple persons and aggravated assault against a public servant, according to a probable cause affidavit and complaint. Pagourtzis allegedly used a shotgun and a .38 revolver in the attack, Abbott said in an afternoon press conference. Various kinds of explosives, including a CO2 device and a Molotov cocktail, were also found in a home and a vehicle, Abbott stated, adding there is potential for explosive devices in other sites being investigated. It appears the devices were made by the shooter but that could not be solidly confirmed. Officials are still working on a total number of explosive devices, which may be in the suspects house, car and other two locations. Law enforcement is still in the process of undertaking searches and investigations of the entire scene and other locations, the governor said. This," he added, "is just the beginning of what will be a very robust response. Police officers responded to the location around 8 a.m. CDT Friday following reports that a shooter opened fire inside. Witnesses said the gunman started shooting in an art class during the first period. He allegedly entered wearing a long coat with a shotgun hidden underneath. Some 1,400 students attend the school, officials said. A 17-year-old student told Fox News her friend was shot in the leg. "We all thought it was practice drill and we all started kind of running and laughing across the street, hiding behind the auto place. At that point, they had us starting to write our names on papers showing that we were there... and they had us walking over..." Destiny Clark, a junior, said as she pointed to stores. "It was very dramatic. Nobody really knew what was going on." The timeline was not immediately clear, but officials noted that officers were at the school, on the scene when the shooting began. Retired police officer John Barnes, working as the school's resource officer, was shot in the incident, Fox News has learned. There were two officers assigned to the school, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick noted, adding that a safety award had been given to the school in recent weeks. The school had previously passed a safety test and performed a lockdown test, too. We may have to look at the design of our schools going forward and retrofitting the schools, Patrick stated while urging a rethinking of school safety protocols. There are too many entrances and too many exits. Maybe we need to look at limiting the entrances and exits of our schools, he continued. We need to harden our schools and make them safer. This is not acceptable in the state of Texas or in this country. There have been too damn many of these, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said. We need to be doing everything humanly possible from stop this from ever happening again. A reason for the shooting was not immediately clear, although officials said they have a statement from the subject which will help to determine motive. Unlike recent shooting events, the governor claimed, this one involved no red flag warnings. Such hints, he said, were nonexistent or very imperceptible, adding that Pagourtzis has no criminal history. His slate is pretty clean, Abbott said. In addition to Pagourtzis, one or two other people of interest are currently being interviewed, Abbott said. One of those people were at the school at the time of the shooting and may have had some involvement in the crime. Pagourtzis, Abbott said, told authorities he wanted to do the shooting and planned to kill himself but didnt have the courage to commit suicide. The weapons used in the attack, Abbott said, neither were owned or legally possessed by the shooter. The guns were instead allegedly obtained from the shooters father, who legally owned them. The shooting, the governor said, was one of the most heinous attacks that weve ever seen in the history of Texas schools. We grieve for the victims that have lost their lives, Abbott continued. Nothing can prepare a parent for the loss of a child, he said, adding that this will be a long and a painful time as the parents of the deceased cope with the greatest challenge theyve ever dealt with. We grieve for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this horrible attack in Texas, President Trump said. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High School we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever... Later Friday afternoon, Trump ordered the American flag be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, May 22, 2018. Fox News Kathleen Joyce, Madeleine Rivera and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Authorities at a North Dakota on Friday are searching for an M-240 machine gun that has been unaccounted for since Wednesday, officials said. The 7.62mm caliber weapon was missing from the Minot Air Force Base, The Minot Daily News reported. The Air Force Global Strike Command directed an immediate inventory search of weapons in the 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing, the report said. Earlier this month, a container of grenades fell off a Humvee on a Native American reservation. The Air Force sent 100 airmen to walk the entire six-mile route where the military explosives were likely lost, The Washington Post reported, citing a statement from the local Mountrail County sheriff. The military has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the container with the ammunition, The Minot Daily News reported. Kenneth Halvorson, the Mountrail County sheriff, said in a statement to The Post that the missing ammunition is a belt of linked grenades for the MK 19 automatic grenade launcher. This ammunition is specific to that launcher and will not operate in any other launching device without catastrophic failure, Halvorson said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Bhutan native Tika Acharya came to the U.S. nine years ago with his parents and his wife after spending 17 years in a Nepal refugee camp. The 40-year-old father graduated from college in India and has a degree in business, but he was turned down by banks when he approached them about starting a company of his own. Acharya, who launched an independent insurance agency last year in Manchester, was the first participant to be helped by the Regional Economic Development Center, a New Hampshire nonprofit that helps first-generation immigrants achieve their American Dream of becoming business owners by providing them with microloans and technical assistance. "In just one year, we've been able to gain close to 1,000 customers," said Acharya, the first of many to be helped by the center. The nonprofit on Friday unveiled a statewide economic program called the New Hampshire New Americans Loan Fund, which provides small-business loans for $50,000 or less. It also brings in experts to act as advisers to the businesses during their first two to three years, helping with website design, marketing and accounting. It anticipates administering six to eight loans over the next year to new residents with U.S. citizenship, green cards or work visas. The loan program is an expansion of the Welcoming Concord Initiative, which focused on immigrant newcomers in the state's capital. For Acharya, the center not only helped him with his business, it also gave him a chance to feel welcomed in a country that recently has witnessed significant anti-immigrant rhetoric. "After the (2016 presidential) election, we were nervous about what would happen, but I knew we were backed up by welcoming, big-hearted people," Acharya said. "We have confidence and faith in those people in America." The nonprofit's president, Laurel Adams, said it looked at New Hampshire demographics and saw a growing population of immigrants facing challenges as they tried to open their own businesses. According to the center, in 2015 the state, which has about 1.3 million residents, had more than 75,000 foreign-born residents. "We want New Hampshire to have a young, vibrant workforce," Adams said. "Our aim is to help mitigate those challenges so we can keep new Americans here." Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, a Democrat, said the program would have a tremendous impact on her city and its residents. A representative from U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's office spoke on her behalf on the program's benefits to the state. In a statement, Shaheen said the financing will provide economic support for the region for years to come. "By empowering immigrants, we can help them achieve their dreams, and in turn, find our community enriched by the contributions of our newest neighbors," wrote Shaheen, a Democrat. Acharya said he believes the U.S. will always have space for new Americans because it is known for helping people. "It's an investment for the country because we'll be giving back," Acharya said. "One day, I'll be sending my sons to college here." The woman who plunged to her death Friday along with her 7-year-old child after apparently jumping off the balcony of a New York City penthouse hotel suite has been identified as former Playboy centerfold model Stephanie Adams. Police told Fox News that the woman and the child were both found dead after falling from the Gotham Hotel, located in Midtown Manhattan. Law enforcement officials that spoke to the Associated Press identified her as Adams, a 47-year-old model who had been locked in a bitter custody dispute with her estranged husband over their son, Vincent. The officials said police had been called to their home several times in the past few months. A lawyer representing Charles Nicolai had recently demanded that she hand over his son's passport, sources also told the New York Post. The newspaper previously reported that Adams would meet Nicolai at a police precinct for handovers of their child. It ensures no violence takes place," a friend of Adams had told the New York Post in March. Police have not publically identified the woman and child, pending notification to next of kin. The incident Friday was reported around 8:30 a.m. EST. The woman and child landed on the hotel's second-floor balcony and died of their injuries. Police said a witness told them that they heard two loud noises before the bodies were discovered and that the pair had checked into the hotel around 6 p.m. Thursday. A hotel employee who works at a restaurant in the building told Fox News the woman and child fell from the 25th floor, the penthouse, in the back of the building. Witnesses at the scene told Fox News that the situation was "very confusing. Gotham Hotel officials also told Fox News that the police were investigating the situation and refused to comment further. A medical examiner was called to the scene and police were looking to determine whether the woman had a history of mental illness. The Gotham Hotel is about four blocks from Grand Central Terminal, and has 67 rooms over 25 floors. Rooms go for about $220 a night, according to the website. Elsewhere in court, Adams had successfully sued the citys police department for a $1.2 million jury award following a 2006 incident in which she was thrown to the ground by an officer who claimed she had drawn a firearm on him. Adams and Nicolai, in 2013, also were sued by a former massage therapist who worked at the chiropractic office Nicolai owns. Dilek Edwards, in the lawsuit, claimed she was illegally let go from the job because Nicolai told her his wife might become jealous of her too cute looks. You are NOT welcome any longer at Wall Street Chiropractic, DO NOT ever step foot in there again, and stay the F--- away from my husband and family!!!!!!! Edwards claims she was told by Adams in an early morning text message. The suit was eventually tossed but an appeals court last year restored it, ruling that Edwards could sue for gender discrimination, the New York Post reported. A Texas father was arrested Wednesday for allegedly covering his 18-month-old daughter with a blanket and leaving her in a car as the temperature inside reached 112 degrees, authorities said. Gene Curry, 24, left the cars windows rolled up in a Kroger parking lot in Baytown while he shopped, police said. A customer spotted the baby and dialed 911. "The scary thing about that was when the fire department showed up, they didn't even see the child in the car, Baytown Police Lt. Steve Dorris told KHOU-TV. Firefighters unlocked the 112-degree car and rescued the baby, who was beet red, the station reported. She was treated at the scene and placed in the care of other family members. Curry claimed to have been gone for 10 minutes, but surveillance video showed it was actually twice that long, police said. Currys grandmother, Christina Hayes, told ABC13 Houston that her grandson loved his kids, but there was no excuse for what happened. "I don't think he'll ever forgive himself, and we're not bailing him out, because we think this is the lesson he needs," she told the station. Curry was taken to the Baytown Jail and charged with child endangerment. A Vancouver teenager shot a 56-year-old Oregon man she met through a sugar daddy website last week, authorities said. Raelyn Domingo, 15, was arrested Wednesday in connection to last Fridays shooting, The Oregonian reported. She also may face armed robbery charges in a separate case, police said. Police were called to a home in Washington County on May 11 following a report of a shooting. The man, Thomas Licata, 56, told authorities a woman he believed was named Samantha came over to his home that day. US JURY FINDS OREGON MAN GUILTY OF ABUSING CAMBODIAN ORPHANS The victim met Samantha on SeekingArrangement.com and thought she was between the ages of 19 and 20 years old and was employed as a certified nursing assistant. The teenagers username was asainperssuasion [sic]. The website advertises itself as "Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies ... both get what they want, when they want it. Licata told authorities he gave Samantha $260 and seltzer before sharing his vape pen. He said she left to use the bathroom and came back with a gun before shooting him in the stomach. She demanded more money from him and he told her he did not have any more. She fled the scene leaving the victim with a gunshot wound that went into his stomach and through his buttocks, KATU reported. OREGON STATE REP. BUEHLER WINS GOP PRIMARY FOR GOVERNOR Witnesses told authorities they saw the suspect fleeing the scene in a gray sedan. On Saturday, Domingo and three men in masks allegedly robbed residents at gunpoint in their houses, The Oregonian reported. Washington State Police have opened an investigation into the robbery. Domingo was arrested in Vancouver and was being held at the Clark County Juvenile Justice Center. She faced a first-degree robbery charge and was expected to be extradited from Oregon to Washington. The GOP, particularly the NRSC, is starting to acknowledge they have their first Todd Akin/Richard Mourdock of 2018: Lou Barletta. In 2012 when Joe Donnelly was winning a Senate seat in Indiana and Claire McCaskill was being reelected in Missouri because their opponents were judged by voters as too insane and extreme, Bob Casey was running in Pennsylvania against a mainstream conservative, Tom Smith. Casey won 53.7% to 44.6%. Washington Examiner would rather blame Barletta's inability to run a competitive race on "his lackadaisical, disorganized effort" than on his racism. On Tuesday, following the recommendation of Senor Trumpanzee, Pennsylvania Republicans dealt the NRSC an unwindable hand . Barletta's entire career has centered around deranged racism-- fine in a Republican primary, not so fine in a general election. Thewould rather blame Barletta's inability to run a competitive race on "his lackadaisical, disorganized effort" than on his racism. Trump rallied support for Barletta in a string of Wednesday afternoon tweets. But the congressman is taking fire from Republicans at home and in Washington who worried that he is relying too much on the president to boost his flagging Senate bid. Barletta has been a disappointing fundraiser and been too slow to ramp up a capable statewide campaign operation, his critics charge. "The sense is, nobody knows what the fuck hes doing," a Republican strategist with Pennsylvania ties said, requesting anonymity in order to speak candidly. "He's not really working it hard. It's a sad thing, because people like Lou." "Casey should be vulnerable," this Republican added. "But Lou is just like a ghost." Red flags about Barletta were raised anew after he won the party's Senate nomination on Tuesday with 63 percent of the vote despite being Trump's handpicked candidate and enjoying the support of Pennsylvania's GOP machine. The fourth-term congressman defeated little-known and underfunded state legislator Jim Christiana. Barletta's camp dismisses the criticism, pointing to Casey receiving only 62,000 more votes than those in the GOP primary combined despite registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by more than 800,000. They also insist that Barletta isn't running a sluggish Senate bid. Fundraising is a real problem. Barletta looks not just like a crazy racist, but like a crazy racist loser. Even Republicans who like crazy racists, don't like losers. As of the last FEC reporting deadline Bob Casey had raised $16,432,140 and had $9,927,813 cash on hand. Barletta had raised $2,942,100 and had only $1,314,990 left in his war chest. and some of his biggest contributors will go over poorly with Pennsylvania voters: the American Bankers Association, the Koch brothers, frackers, crooked pharmacy outfits and Mitch McConnell. Barletta got his political start in 1999 as mayor of Hazleton (population 25,000), where he earned a national reputation as a xenophobic asshole demonizing Hispanic immigrants. He introduced legislation making English the official language of Hazleton while allowing the city to deny business permits to employers who hired illegal immigrants and gave the city authority to fine landlords for renting to illegal immigrants. His ordinance was struck down as unconstitutional in a federal district court and, when he appealed, again by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Barletta vowed to take it to the Supreme Court-- but never did, instead using his racism and xenophobia to run win a congressional seat-- with the endorsement of KKK Grand Dragon David Duke-- against a crooked Democrat, Paul Kanjorski in the 2010 GOP wave election. Since then he has been active cultivating anti-Semites, Muslim-haters, conspiracy theorists, and xenophobes who want to end all immigration. He and Trump have a mutual admiration society. He's also a bad campaigner and at a fundraiser last week with Pat Toomey, a Republican operative reported that "of the 20 people, 15 of them fell asleep. He's just not a good speaker." A Montana high school student was disciplined Tuesday for wearing a Confederate flag sweatshirt after school officials told him not to. Mitchell Ballas, 17, was suspended after wearing the sweatshirt to Big Sky High School every day since last week. The student denies the flag represents hate and said hes wearing it to stand up for students freedom of speech. "The school is in the wrong for saying they can dictate me wearing this sweatshirt," Ballas said. "They're saying it's offending kids and it's derogatory and all that, but it's not. It's my First Amendment right." The school handbook and dress code allows wearing the symbol, Ballas added. But while the school doesnt ban symbols, it can deem a students behavior a disruption of the learning environment and discipline students regardless of where or how the specific behavior occurs. The teenager wore the controversial sweatshirt last week and took it off when asked by school administrators, he said. He was given two days of detention last Friday as he continued to wear it the next days. This week, Ballas was suspended after wearing the sweatshirt. But despite the suspension, he promised to continue sporting the clothing. "Tomorrow, I'm going to wear the sweatshirt again, and if they suspend me longer, they suspend me longer, but I'm not going to give in to them," Ballas said Tuesday. "What they're doing is wrong, and I won't allow it." "What they're doing is wrong, and I won't allow it." Mitchell Ballas Principal Natalie Jaeger declined to comment on matters related to Ballas, but said multiple have been displaying the Confederate flag on clothing and cars over the last month. Some parents, he said, expressed disagreement with the school administrators over what the flag represents. "Regardless of the intent of the students displaying the flag, the flag is a symbol in 2018 that is used to express racism and oppression, and that has no place in an educational environment," Jaeger said. The principal added that about 30 students said they were afraid and anxious because of the flag displays. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Authorities in Las Vegas on Thursday said there was no threat to the public after an earlier massive police response at a mall after reports of a person with a gun. Shoppers at The Boulevard shopping mall earlier posted images on social media that showed dozens of police cars outside the mall. Video was obtained showing a person with a long gun, wearing a mask, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Deparment tweeted. Weve conducted 3 searches and are unable to locate the individual at this time. Not an active shooter, no shots fired and no citizens were injured. Check back for updates on this breaking news story. An 87-year-old college professor died on Thursday, five days after he was savagely beaten for $300 at an ATM in New York City. Young Kun Kim, a former political science and Asian studies professor who taught at Lehman College, was using an ATM in Upper Manhattan on Sunday afternoon when he was ambushed and punched in the head. Kims attacker stole his money and fled the scene, while the professor was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in extremely critical condition and placed on life support. New York City police officers on Wednesday arrested 50-year-old Matthew Lee for the attack. Lee has been charged with robbery and assault. It is still unclear whether his charges will be upgraded following Lees death. Speaking to reporters, Lee offered some bizarre responses when asked if he remembered attacking the aging college professor. "I don't remember," Lee said, according to the New York Daily News. "You have to talk to my lawyer. Something is not right. Bad spirits or something. Lee has one previous arrest for assault on his record, which occurred back in 1984. Kims attack and death drew an outpouring of support from his neighbors and former colleagues. Lehman College president Jose Luis Cruz recently awarded Kim with an award for his half-century of dedicated service to the school. I was proud to present him with his award for his dedication to this noble institution, Cruz said on Facebook. Dr. Kim has challenged and inspired generations of Lehman students, mentored young faculty members, and advanced scholarship with his area of specialization. Kims neighbor, Eric Schwartz, told ABC7NY that he was furious when he heard news of the violent robbery that led to his death. "Why would somebody do this? I wish I was there to pick Mr. Kim up, protect him, jump in front of the attacker before he had a chance, Schwartz said. A military helicopter accidentally dropped a box full of ammunition over a Texas elementary school Thursday mid-afternoon, leaving a gaping hole in the roof, according to officials. The incident caused a portion of Parkland Elementary School to be without power, the Ysleta Independent School District said in a statement. The mishap occurred after school had already been released, the statement read. Military police responded to the scene and an investigation is underway. Local police retrieved the ammunition and will return it to Fort Bliss Military Police, KTSM reported, citing an official from the base. The military base will reevaluate its current flight patterns to ensure a similar incident doesnt happen in the future, a spokesperson told the outlet. "I'm extremely sorry for any damage done to the neighboring elementary school, and I am grateful that no one was injured, Col. Jay Hopkins, commander of the 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade, told the station. The incident is under investigation. Authorities in Oregon this week announced charges against 11 people accused of participating in a 'kind of demented social club' that would kill animals "for the thrill." The alleged poachers were hit with more than more than 100 misdemeanor charges on Tuesday by the Wasco County District Attorneys office, The Seattle Times reported. The investigation was launched in November 2016. Authorities were investigating why deer were being found without heads. Nearly every year, it seems we have deer showing up minus their heads at the end of seasons, Craig Gunderson, a senior Oregon trooper, told the paper. Officials set up cameras last November that captured a truck and hunters carrying rifles. Authorities reportedly said they located a headless deer near the site of vehicle. For some of these people, it was kind of a demented social club. For some, it was about ego and bravado who could kill the biggest? The most? said Gunderson. For some people, its what their family did. Authorities located the truck on Dec. 3 and said they seized photos and videos of the suspects. Washington investigators said they were led to more than a dozen hunt sites in the state and to more suspects. William J. Haynes and Erik C. Martin allegedly admitted to killing two bucks, the report said. Officers said they found 12 deer heads in Hayes backyard and a freshly cut deer head in the garage, according to the paper. Authorities in Oregon discovered evidence that resulted in charges being filed against nine alleged poachers in January, according to the paper. Gunderson told the paper that the group stayed in communication and some members would go on weekly hunts. Authorities reportedly found 20 kill sites. The scope of what we can prove and what actually happened, theres a real gap there, Gunderson said. Well never have the whole story, but the stuff we can prove is pretty gross. The members in Oregon are allegedly responsible for the death of seven bobcats, four cougars, five bear, 35 deer and one silver gray squirrel, Gunderson said, citing evidence. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities in both states are still unclear about a motive. Most people, when they kill an animal, theres respect for everything. They take the hide, they take the meat and theres something thats respectful about it, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Region 5 Captain Jeff Wickersham told FOX 12. In this case, its all about the thrill. Theyre going out there and killing to kill. Some of the alleged poachers charged Tuesday in Oregon are also facing charges in Washington, according to the paper. In Washington, those accused of spree killing face felony chargers, whereas in Oregon it is only a misdemeanor. The New York City lawyer caught on video this week launching a racially-charged tirade against Spanish-speaking restaurant workers is facing legal complaints from elected officials and has been booted from his office as his whirlwind fall from grace continues Friday. Aaron Schlossberg, who has been continuously denounced on the Internet since the footage emerged Wednesday, also has been panned by fellow lawyers over the clip in which he is heard threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have workers at the Manhattan eatery kicked out of my country. I was taken aback that he would have the balls to come to court in front of all of his colleagues after his crazy outburst, one attorney told the New York Post Thursday at the Supreme Court in Long Island City, where Schlossberg appeared. But before even showing up Thursday, Schlossberg -- who apparently had a penchant for giving people an earful in public, according to numerous videos that have surfaced purportedly showing him yelling elsewhere was filmed hiding behind an umbrella after reporters confronted him outside his apartment. Why you running man, you dont want to stand by what you said? a reporter is heard asking the lawyer, who has not made any public statements following the incident. I think its all men, Schlossberg is then heard saying into a cellphone while pressing himself up against the window of a building. They are yelling, they are claiming things they arent true. They are grabbing my personal items. Were claiming things that arent true? You mean we are only talking about what you said yesterday that was on videotape, the reporter responds. We did not grab you once sir. Schlossberg who on Thursday was kicked out of the business center on 275 Madison Ave. that housed his office is also at the center of a pair of formal complaints that Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. filed with the states court system. Racism and hatred have no place in New York State, and certainly no place in our justice system," Diaz Jr. said in a statement. "I stand with Congressman Espaillat in calling for the disciplinary committee of the New York State Unified Court System to examine the attorney identified as Aaron Schlossberg's reprehensible behavior and review his law license for possible revocation." The lawyer appeared in Long Island City, a neighborhood in the Queens borough, to represent medical clinic Aimes Enterprises Inc. Its chief, Tom Major, told the New York Post on Thursday that he was unaware of Schlossbergs viral tirade. This is the first time Im aware of something like this, he said, when asked to comment on the clip. Another one of his reported clients, real estate investor and film producer Todd Courtney, also said to the newspaper that he hasnt seen the clip. But a former client said Schlossberg turned sour on him after switching attorneys during the middle of a lease dispute last September. When we stopped working [with him], he start screaming and all this stuff, Gennadiy Kosyakovskiy told the New York Post. A man who police say was yelling anti-Trump sentiment was arrested early Friday after exchanging gunfire with officers in the lobby of a hotel at a sprawling golf resort that the president owns near Miami. Yellow caution tape was seen stretched across the main gate of the Trump National Doral Golf Club Friday morning following the overnight rampage, in which the shooter, identified as 42-year-old Doral resident Jonathan Oddi, burst into the property for unknown reasons and draped an American flag over a lobby counter while spraying bullets. This guy was ready for war, he was waiting for our officers to come in, Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez told Miami radio station 610 WIOD. Perez said Oddi was yelling and spewing some information about President Trump. Although the exact words were unclear, Perez said it was an anti-Trump sentiment and the Oddi had an American flag that he did drape over the counter. Police say Oddi had taken the flag from the property and was firing a handgun at chandeliers and the roof of the lobby. Oddi eventually was neutralized in a shootout with officers, suffering multiple gunshot wounds to the legs, but he currently is in stable condition at a local hospital, police added. It appears he was trying to engage our police officers in some type of ambush-style attack, Perez said. He prepared the area for battle. Doral and Miami-Dade officers said they were called to the scene around 1:30 a.m. local time after receiving reports of an active shooter and immediately jumped into the fray. In my opinion, they probably saved a hell of a lot of lives today, because this could have gone a lot worse, Perez told 610 WIOD. Eric Trump hailed the officers response in a Twitter post Friday morning. A huge thank you to the incredible men and women of the @DoralPolice Department and @MiamiDadePD, he wrote. Perez also said a Doral officer suffered a broken wrist, but he is expected to be OK. The Secret Service says it is on scene and helping in the investigation. The U.S. Secret Service is aware of shooting that took place early this morning at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Doral, FL," it said in a statement. "Special Agents from the Miami Field Office are on the scene and working closely with our law enforcement partners." Authorities also said they are not ruling out terrorism. Police told WPLG that the suspect repeatedly called 911 and was actively shooting in an attempt to draw authorities inside. The golf resort previously known as the Doral Resort & Spa was purchased by the Trump Organization in 2012. The massive property has four courses its most signature being the Blue Monster, which has hosted numerous PGA Tour and World Golf Championships events featuring the worlds top golfers. Court records in Miami-Dade and Broward counties show no felony arrests for Oddi, but a slew of misdemeanor traffic infractions. David Jiminian told the Associated Press he lives in Cordova Phase II, the same gated complex where Oddi lives. Crime-scene tape marked off a driveway to the community and police cars were parked outside. Jiminian said he has seen Oddi entering and leaving his garage but has never spoken to him. He also said Oddi drove a new sand-colored Jeep Renegade. "It's pretty crazy," Jiminian said. "It's scary that it's so close to home." Jiminian added that he had never noticed any anti-Trump bumper stickers on Oddi's vehicle. Fox News' Ellison Barber and the Associated Press contributed to this report. After a suspect opened fire at a Texas high school on Friday morning, leaving up to 10 people dead and another 10 injured, survivors from the Parkland, Florida school shooting reacted on social media. Santa Fe High, you didnt deserve this. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you, Emma Gonzalez, one of the teens who has lobbied for tighter gun controls since the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, tweeted. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices, she continued. Texas suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, was in police custody in connection with the school shooting, the deadliest since a gunman opened fire and killed 17 people at the Florida school on Valentine's Day. TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL GUNMAN IN CUSTODY IDENTIFIED: AP Fellow classmate David Hogg also tweeted Friday, seemingly in regard to the Texas shooting, stating simply, We are fighting for you. He later called out lawmakers, tweeting, Get ready for two weeks of media coverage of politicians acting like they give a s**t when in reality they just want to boost their approval ratings before midterms. Another Parkland student activist Cameron Kasky tweeted a similarly scathing reaction. At least 8 students have been shot and killed at Santa Fe High School, Kasky wrote. Prepare to watch the NRA boast about getting higher donations. Prepare to see students rise up and be called civil terrorists and crisis actors. Prepare for the right-wing media to attack the survivors. AFTER TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING LEAVES 10 DEAD, HUNT FOR EXPLOSIVES CONTINUES He later also called out President Trump on Twitter. March For Our Lives, the group organized after the Parkland shooting, also responded to the Santa Fe shooting. We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at Santa Fe High School and send our love and support to the families affected as well as the entire community, the tweet read. Though this is the 22nd school shooting this year, we urge those reading this not to sweep it under the rug and forget. This is not the price of our freedom. This is the most fatal shooting since the one at our school and tragedies like this will continue to happen unless action is taken. Santa Fe, we are with you, and we will do whatever we can to support you as the days go on, the tweet continued. Fox News Kathleen Joyce, Jennifer Earl, Madeleine Rivera, Matt Richardson and The Associated Press contributed to this report. After a fire broke out at a Pennsylvania bar early Friday, everything was destroyed everything but an American flag, that is. The fire, which occurred at Chubbys Tavern in Dawson, Pa., started just before 2 a.m. on Friday, firefighters with the Dawson Volunteer Fire Company told KDKA-TV. The building was completely destroyed. It was a fully engulfed commercial structure fire. It was through the roof from the get-go, Second Capt. Steve Swiger told the news station. The only thing we seen that we could salvage was an American flag that was at the entrance of the building, he added. No one was injured in the fire, KDKA-TV reported. Officials are currently investigating to determine the cause of the blaze. I notice that warning signs concerning Italy are being posted by more and more observers. Of course, the situation inside Italian domestic politics is somewhat akin to the Mad Hatter's tea-party. Somehow, in someway, the extreme Italian Right and the extreme Left have managed to form a (sort of!) coalition, although how long that will last is anybody's guess. Jeremy Warner (for a change from A E-P!) in The Telegraph points to the fundamental differences between the two, er, 'partners' but it seems that they might have a deal. As Nicholas Farrell emphasises in The Spectator, this is partly due to a rare wise move on the part of Snr. Berlusconi with whom the Lefties refused to do business so he stepped down to clear the way. As Farrell points out, Berlusconi's 'altruism' might not be all it seams because Berlusconi probably believes that once the Lefties are in government they will probably implode which will then leave space for him to return! In the meantime, the occupants of the other lunatic asylum, situated somewhere between Berlin and Brussels, continue to strut their ludicrous stuff as the foundations begin to shake. As Mr. Warner puts it: Most of the countries that have signed up to the euro are still a million miles from being ready for a common currency with Germany. For the first seven or eight years, things muddled along without serious mishap, but beneath the apparent calm the single currency was incubating the mother of all economic and financial crises. Voluminous money printing by the European Central Bank eventually succeeded in extinguishing the worst of the fires, but the crisis never entirely went away, and now, with the possible formation of a populist Government in Italy, it threatens to come storming back again. The invention of a single currency, designed mainly to appease German industry was, possibly, the very worst mistake the Germans have made since they last invaded Poland! The grotesque arrogance of the EU leadership in pushing this through has led directly to the wasteland that is modern Greece, the alarmed recoil of the Ost Bloc nations, the Brexit vote in Britain and the decision of the Italian population to vote for loonies rather than the Merkel/Juncker axis. As Mr. Farrell explains: Whatever your views on populism, what is happening in Italian politics makes it crystal clear that Italians, like so many people throughout Europe, believe that their governments and the European Union have failed them. The Italians were once the most Europhile people in Europe. Now especially the young they are among the most hostile. And they really are sick to death of those among their countrymen and women who have wheedled their way into membership of the corrupt and obscenely overpaid political class which has dominated Italian politics since the early 1990s or since the last political class, which was even more rotten and overpaid, was booted out. We Brits need only glance at those posh, leather seats in the House of Lords and the fat, useless graspers that park their arses there when there is half a chance of doing down Brexit against the democratic will of the British people, so I for one have considerable sympathy for Italians as they thrash around desperately trying to rid themselves of the leeches who have ruined their once prosperous country. As Mr. Warner puts it: Most of Italys problems are home grown; the great tragedy of modern Italy, the birthplace of much of what is good and civilised in the world, is that it has become little more than a museum, a place of entrenched vested interest and immunity to serious political, judicial, and labour market reform. Yet the euro has greatly compounded this predicament. By imposing inappropriate macro-economic policies and an uncompetitive exchange rate, monetary union has made an already dire condition very much worse. Almost unbelievably, the economy hasnt grown in nearly 20 years, a hiatus whose duration is unprecedented in the modern age. The intentions of the new Italian leadership will be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb in Brussels - and Berlin. Suddenly, Brexit will be the least of the problems facing 'Mutti' Merkel and 'Junck the Drunk'. Mr. Warner reminds us: Yet to push Italy out of the euro would be to risk catastrophic loss to Germany as well. When you owe the bank just a little, goes the saying, then youve got a problem, but when you owe it a lot, it is the bank that has the problem. The same holds true for Germanys exposure to Italy. If Angela Merkel wants to save the euro in its current form, she must row back on her previously uncompromising stance, and loosen the fiscal straitjacket. Yet she is caught between a rock and a hard place; to do so risks a further political backlash at home. It is necessary to remember that even in its impoverished condition, Italy remains the fourth largest economy inside the EU. I still thank God and Gordon Brown - I'm not sure who takes precedence! - for keeping us Brits clear of joining the euro currency. In the meantime, what can one say, except possibly to shout as loudly as possible: Vivi l'Italia! University of Akron officials this week blocked a professor from carrying out his plan to raise female students' grades as part of what he called a "national movement to encourage female students to go to information sciences." According to school officials, Liping Liu, an information systems analysis and design teacher who has worked at the university since 2001, said in an email to students: "FYI, your grade has been sent to the university registrar. The following categories of students may see their grades raised one level or two: Female students (it is a national movement to encourage female students to go to information sciences)." Liu added that there might be other beneficiaries: "Students who had earned scores in exams (especially final exams) demonstrating a higher performance than their calculated ones; Students who attended class but missed reporting attendance (as long as I can tell)." OXFORD UNIVERSITY EXTENDS EXAM TIME TO HELP WOMEN'S GRADES: REPORT University officials caught wind of the email and nixed the plan. "Everything should be based on hard work, and I dont think that women need a crutch to get into science." Nursing student Michalla Gordon "While the professor's stated intention of encouraging female students to go into the information sciences field may be laudable, his approach as described in his email was clearly unacceptable," university provost and executive vice president Rex Ramsier said in a statement. "The University of Akron follows both the law and its policies and does not discriminate on the basis of sex," the statement continued. "The professor in question has been advised accordingly, and he has reaffirmed his commitment to adhering to these strict standards." Several University of Akron students interviewed by FOX-8 Cleveland said they were disappointed by the professor's plan. ELEVATOR JOKE GETS PROF IN HOT WATER IN 'CHILLING EXAMPLE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS' I guess you could say its a noble thing to do, like you want to incorporate more women into the field," said senior psychology major Samiyyah Ceaso. "However, at the same time, its completely unacceptable and no professor should." Michalla Gordon, a nursing student, told FOX-8 that "everything should be based on hard work, and I dont think that women need a crutch to get into science." I think its a good idea executed poorly," Milos Kupusovic, a junior communications major, told the station. "I definitely think we need more women in the STEM fields, but I dont think thats the right way of going at it." According to FOX-8, 68 students -- nine female -- are majoring in information systems at the University of Akron in the Spring 2018 semester. The episode isn't the first time female students at a major university have gotten a gender-related edge over their peers. Prestigious Oxford University in Britain extended exam times in a bid to improve women's scores, reports in January said. Students taking math and computer science tests in the summer of 2017 were given an additional 15 minutes to finish, according to the documents obtained by the London Times. During the last year, multiple schools across the U.S. have been impacted by shootings, which have resulted in the deaths of both students and faculty members. Read on for a look at school shootings that have taken place within the last year. Noblesville West Middle School, Indiana A male student fired shots at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana on May 25, critically injuring another student and a teacher at the school. The alleged shooter, who has not yet been identified, was taken into custody shortly after the incident occurred at roughly 9 a.m. Sources told FOX 59 the suspect walked into a science classroom with a gun and opened fire, hitting a female. A science teacher was able to tackle the student who fired shots inside the classroom, student Ethan Stonebraker told The Associated Press. The victims were taken to a local hospital. The extent of their injuries is unclear. Santa Fe High School, Texas At least eight people were killed and several others were injured following reports of an active shooter at a Texas high school on May 18, local affiliate KTRK reported. The suspected shooter was taken into custody. "Personnel treating the injured. Info is still preliminary, but there are multiple casualties," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed. Police officers responded to Santa Fe High School around 8 a.m. CDT after reports that a shooter opened fire inside a first-period art class. Details of the incident were not immediately available. "Details will be released as we receive updated information. Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location," the school district said in a statement. Highland High School, California A 14-year-old student was taken into custody after allegedly shooting a classmate at Highland High School in Palmdale, California on May 11. The suspected gunman shot a fellow student in the arm, police said. The shooting stemmed from a dispute between the shooter and the victim, according to authorities. The injured student is expected to make a full recovery. Forest High School, Florida A suspected gunman, later identified as 19-year-old Sky Bouche, allegedly opened fire at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida, on April 20. The shooting occured on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. At least one student was injured after the gunman shot through a classroom door, hitting a 17-year-old student in the ankle, authorities said. The student was later taken to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening injury. A school resource officer, James Long, was hailed a hero after arresting Bouche just three minutes after he opened fire. Bouche, a former student at the school, allegedly carried the weapon in a guitar case inside the school, authorities said. Great Mills High School, Maryland On March 20, a gunman, identified as 17-year-old Austin Rollins, shot 16-year-old sophomore Jaelynn Willey at Great Mills High School in Lexington Park, Maryland, authorities said. Willey died days later from her injuries. Investigators believe the shooting was not random as the gunman and Willey had recently ended their relationship. Rollins was fatally wounded during a confrontation with Deputy Blaine Gaskill, an armed school resource officer who doubles as a SWAT team member. "Our school resource officer...pursued the shooter, engaged the shooter, fired a round at the shooter," St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said. "The shooter fired a round as well. In the hours and days to come, we'll be able to determine if our school resource officer's round struck the shooter." Gaskill was praised because he reportedly contained the situation in under a minute, Cameron said. Willey's parents announced on March 22 that their daughter was brain dead and that they would be taking her off of life support. She died later that night. Jaelynn's mother, Melissa, told reporters her daughter had "no life left in her." "On Tuesday ... our lives changed completely and totally forever. My daughter was hurt by a boy who shot her in the head and took everything from our lives," she said. A 14-year-old boy, later identified as Desmond Barnes, was also injured in the shooting. Authorities said he was shot in the thigh but was later released from a local hospital. Police are still investigating if the boy was shot by Rollins or Gaskill while the two exchanged gunfire. Huffman High School, Alabama A 17-year old girl is dead and one other person was left injured from a March 7 shooting at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Courtlin Arrington, 17, was killed when shots were fired in a classroom, Birmingham Police Chief Orlando Wilson told WBRC. A 17-year-old male student was wounded. He was taken to the hospital and released. Birmingham Police Department announced March 8 that a student was taken into custody in the investigation into the deadly shooting. Police said evidence, surveillance video and statements were reviewed throughout the night. Police initially called the shooting accidental, but later reviewed a video that captured the deadly incident. "We're not saying he shot her, we're not saying he didn't shoot her," the chief said. "We're asking those questions ourselves so we can determine exactly what happened." Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida Police responded to reports of shots fired at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., around 3 p.m. on Feb. 14. Seventeen people lost their lives and 17 others were injured. The day after the shooting, the suspected gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, told authorities he arrived at the school with an AR-15 rifle, adding that he shot "students that he saw in the hallways and on school grounds," according to an arrest affidavit. Cruz may plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, his lawyer reportedly said Feb. 16. Cruz was formally charged March 7 with 17 counts each of premeditated murder and attempted murder. A 12-year-old girl was taken into custody after police said the loaded gun she brought to Salvador B. Castro Middle School in Los Angeles accidentally discharged on Feb. 1, shooting a 15-year-old boy in the head and a 15-year-old girl in the wrist. Police interviewed the 12-year-old student and agreed the shooting was accidental. She was booked in a juvenile detention center on suspicion of negligently discharging a firearm on school grounds. It is unclear where the girl got the gun or why she decided to bring it to her school. Doctors said both students who were shot are expected to recover. Additionally, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were treated at the hospital and released while a 30-year-old woman, who is a school staff member, had only minor injuries, Los Angeles city police said in a statement. Marshall County High School, Kentucky A shooter opened fire at Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky., on Jan. 23, killing two people. Students Bailey Nicole Holt and Preston Ryan Cope, both 15 years old, died. Suspected shooter Gabriel Ross Parker, 15, was arraigned on Feb. 16, according to Kentucky State Police. "A Marshall County Grand Jury returned an indictment on Tuesday, charging Parker with two counts of Murder and fourteen counts of First Degree Assault," KSP said. Marshall County Circuit Clerk Tiffany Griffith told Reuters a judge entered a not guilty plea on the teen's behalf. Italy High School, Texas A 15-year-old girl was hurt in a Jan. 22 shooting at Italy High School in Italy, Texas. A 16-year-old male student was taken into custody, Ellis County police told Fox News. In the school's cafeteria, the suspect "engaged the victim" and fired several shots with a semi-automatic handgun, Ellis County Sheriff Chuck Edge said during a press briefing. The suspect was confronted by an Italy Independent School District staffer in the school cafeteria and took off, Edge said. Law enforcement later apprehended the suspect on school grounds. The suspect was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the Ellis County district attorney's office announced. Aztec High School, New Mexico Gunman William Atchison, 21, disguised himself as a student to get inside Aztec High School in Aztec, N.M., on Dec. 7, 2017, according to authorities. Atchison was also a former student. State police said that Atchison killed students Francisco I. Fernandez and Casey J. Marquez. Officials said Atchison eventually shot himself, adding that the students killed were not targeted, but were at the "wrong place at the wrong time." Rancho Tehama Elementary School, California A man in Northern California went on a random shooting rampage on Nov. 14, 2017, killing five people and wounding at least a dozen adults and children before authorities shot and killed him. The gunman, who was later identified as Kevin Neal, 44, rammed a car into the gates of Rancho Tehama Elementary School and shot at its portable classrooms. He repeatedly tried to get into a kindergarten classroom but quick-thinking staff locked the school down, and he eventually stormed off. Neal reportedly targeted the elementary school as part of a long-running feud with neighbors. Mattoon High School, Illinois A male student shot and injured a fellow student at a central Illinois high school on Sept. 20, 2017. The shooting unfolded in Mattoon High Schools cafeteria around 11:30 a.m., officials said at the time. One female teacher intervened and successfully subdued and disarmed the gunman -- a move Mattoon Police Chief Jeff Branson said at the time was pivotal. The gunman was taken into custody shortly after the incident. Freeman High School, Washington A 15-year-old student opened fire on fellow classmates at a Washington state high school on Sept. 13, 2017, killing one, investigators said. Caleb Sharpe, the suspected gunman, said the student who died had bullied him. The slain student tried to stop the teen's rampage when the gun jammed, according to The Associated Press. A school janitor was hailed a hero after he was able to subdue the alleged shooter. Three other students were wounded in the attack. According to court documents, Sharpe told officials that he brought the two guns to school to teach everyone a lesson about what happens when you bully others. North Park Elementary School, California A special needs teacher and a child, 8, were killed in what police said was a murder-suicide at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California. Police said Cedric Anderson walked into the school on April 10, 2017, and shot his estranged wife, Karen Elaine Smith. Two other students were also struck before Anderson killed himself, although law enforcement officials said they do not believe they were intended targets. Jonathan Martinez was identified as the 8-year-old killed at the elementary school. A 9-year-old was injured. Liberty-Salem High School, Ohio Two high school students were injured after a fellow student allegedly fired a shotgun inside Liberty-Salem High School in Ohio on Jan. 20, 2017. Logan Cole, who was 16 at the time, was shot twice but survived. Another student was grazed by a bullet. Champaign County Sheriff Matthew Melvin said the gunman intended to harm more students than he did. Ely Serna, the accused gunman, was 17 at the time of the shooting but is being tried as an adult in Champaign County court. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Fox News' Nicole Darrah, Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Elizabeth Zwirz, Katherine Lam, Lucia I. Suarez Sang, Samuel Chamberlain, Kathleen Joyce, Shira Bush and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A U.S. soldier stationed abroad is fighting the battle of a lifetime in an effort to gain custody of a baby that is not biologically his. Army Sgt. Steven Garcia, 24, who is stationed in Seoul, South Korea, was expecting a baby with his estranged wife Marina Garcia, until she told him that the child was not biologically his. "I was under the assumption the entire time that she was pregnant that I was the father. When I found out I wasn't, I was pretty upset; I was kind of in denial. I couldn't believe what was going on, Garcia News 4 Tucson. Despite the child not being his, he said he was willing to adopt the child and raise him as his own. DEMS WAGE BATTLE AGAINST ARIZONAS BALLOT HARVESTING BAN, AMID VOTER FRAUD CONCERNS On Feb. 2, Marina Garcia went into labor at Canyon Vista Medical Center in Sierra Vista, Arizona. She told her husbands sister that the baby had died in child birth. "When my sister called me about that, it was pretty emotional. We cried quite a bit together over the phone. It was devastating, Garcia said. However, Marina Garcia was lying. She gave birth to a baby boy that day. The tragic story took another unexpected turn. Three days later, on Feb. 5, a trooper pulled over a car for suspected speeding near Wilcox. Inside the vehicle, the trooper encountered a couple in their 40s as well as a newborn baby. The couple, identified as Alex and Leslie Hernandez, of Kennedy, Texas, told the officer they were not the childs parents. Instead, investigators uncovered the couple conspired with the birth mother, who was identified verbally as Marina Garcia, to forge the signature as the father to take possession of the infant child. Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre said Marina Garcia gave the newborn to the couple and forged the birth certificate. He said there was no evidence that any money was exchanged. The only thing on her mind was getting rid of this child. This 'problem' in her life. What scares me is that if it hadn't been the Hernandez's, if the couple hadn't been willing to step forward, then what person off the Internet might have been next?" McIntyre said. ARIZONA HIGH SCHOOL APOLOGIZES OVER SENIOR QUOTE IN YEARBOOK, REPORT SAYS Marina Garcia did not immediately comment on the allegations. She told News 4 Tucson her husband was not the babys biological father and that no money was involved in the exchange. When asked who the babys father was, Garcia answered, Its unknown. Steven Garcia has filed for divorce from his wife and DNA tests revealed he was not the babys father. However, the soldier said he would like to custody of the baby because he himself was adopted. "My adopted father completely changed my life. Without him I would not be where I am today. And for the opportunity to do that for someone else, I believe it's important. It could change the child's life and give him a better future and I believe that's the right thing to do, Garcia said. Marina Garcia told News 4 Tucson that her husband is not gonna get custody of the baby. She pleaded guilty to an attempted scheme to defraud by forging the birth certificate, naming Alex Hernandez as the father, News 4 Tucson reported. She was slated to be scheduled next month. Alex and Leslie Hernandez pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit forgery and were sentenced to four years of supervised probation. The baby was currently in foster care and the soldiers cousin has created a GoFundMe to pay for Steven Garcias legal and travel expenses. When asked what Steven Garcia would ask his wife, he said, "I would just ask her, 'Why?' Why she lied about everything. I want to know what was going through her head, to be honest with you. The suspect accused of unleashing a hail of bullets inside one of his classes early Friday morning that left up to 10 people dead and another 10 injured has been identified, reports stated. Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, was identified as the person in custody in connection to the shooting at Santa Fe High School, The Associated Press reported. Explosive devices were found at the school, authorities said. The suspected shooter was taken into police custody and a second suspect has been detained. The suspect in custody and the suspect detained for further questioning were both students. Police officers responded to Santa Fe High School around 8 a.m. CDT following reports that a shooter opened fire inside. The Santa Fe Police Department confirmed explosive devices were found at the campus of the high school and the "surrounding areas adjacent to the school." The school has been evacuated and the campus was cleared, the Santa Fe Police Department said. Retired police officer John Barnes, working as the school's resource officer, was shot in the incident, Fox News has learned. The chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch told reporters the center received two adult patients and one person under 18 years old. Galveston County Sheriff's Maj. Douglas Hudson said units responded to reports of shots fired. Witnesses say a gunman opened fire inside an art class during first period. A 17-year-old student told Fox News her friend was shot in the leg. "We all thought it was practice drill and we all started kind of running and laughing across the street, hiding behind the auto place. At that point, they had us starting to write our names on papers showing that we were there... and they had us walking over...," Destiny Clark, a junior, said as she pointed to stores. "It was very dramatic. Nobody really knew what was going on." Two seniors at the school told KHOU 11 their friend pulled the fire alarm after spotting the shooter and urged other students to run. They also said they saw an injured female student. Now I am worried about everyone else, one student commented. I dont even want to go to graduation now. The student said she did not get a good look at the shooter because she was running away. She said students escaped through a door at the back of the classroom. Authorities have not yet confirmed these accounts. A parent of one of the students told Fox News they drove to the school immediately after hearing about the shooting. "If it can happen in Santa Fe, Texas, it can happen anywhere," the parent said. "I mean, it's just unbelievable." President Trump tweeted Friday after the shooting, saying: "School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" Trump later tweeted that he "grieved for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this horrible attack in Texas." He also mentioned the school shooting during a speech at the White House Friday. Unfortunately I have to begin by expressing our sadness and heartbreak over the deadly shooting in Texas, he said. We send prayers and support for everyone affected in the horrific attack. Trump spoke with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to "offer his condolences for those affected by the shooting at Santa Fe High School," an official told Fox News. Gov. Abbott ordered flags in Texas lowered half-staff in memory of those killed in Fridays shooting. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said it was also on the scene. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted early Friday that he arrived at the school to assist officers with the Galveston County Sheriff Office. Santa Fe is a city of about 13,000 residents, located 30 miles southeast of Houston. The incident is the nation's deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. Fox News' Madeleine Rivera, reporting from Santa Fe, Texas, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Texas has seen some of the most horrific cases of gun violence in the country, with three of the deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history taking place in the state. Six months after Devin Patrick Kelley gunned down 26 people worshipping inside First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, the state witnessed another deadly shooting this time, at a high school. Up to nine people were killed following reports of an active shooter at Santa Fe High School on May 18, police said. The suspected shooter was taken into police custody and a second suspect has been detained. Both suspects were students. Heres a look back at five of the deadliest shootings the Lone Star State has ever seen as the nation mourns yet another tragedy. Sutherland Springs' First Baptist Church 26 killed On Nov. 5, 2017, gunman Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. He killed 26 people, including an unborn baby, and injured another 20. Kelley, 26, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire at the church and chased after him in a vehicle. Investigators said the attack appeared to stem from a domestic dispute involving Kelley and his mother-in-law, Michelle Shields, who sometimes attended services at the church. Kelly sent several disturbing text messages to Shields prior to the shooting. I suggest you dont test my resolve, read one of several texts. That wasnt the first time Kelley became violent. In New Mexico, he was kicked out of the Air Force following a court-martial in 2012 for abusing his first wife and reportedly hitting her child hard enough to fracture his skull. In Colorado, he was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after someone saw him punch a dog several times. And in Texas, sheriffs deputies were called to his parents house after his girlfriend told a friend he was abusing her. You had to walk on eggshells around him all the time because youre afraid of saying something to upset him, Shields told the San Antonio Express-News months after the attack. Lubys Cafeteria shooting 23 killed George Jo-Jo Hennard, an unemployed merchant seaman, shot and killed 23 people and wounded 27 others during the lunchtime rush at Lubys Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, on Oct. 16, 1991. Hennard killed himself shortly after the rampage. During the attack, Hennard reportedly targeted women, whom he called vipers. University of Texas 14 killed On Aug. 1, 1966, University of Texas engineering student Charles Whitman climbed to the schools iconic clock tower and opened fire. Whitman, a former Marine who had earlier murdered his mother and wife, killed 14 and wounded 31 before he was gunned down by police. Whitman fired at people from his perch on the tower for more than an hour. Fort Hood 13 killed An Army psychiatrist went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, leaving 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded. The gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, opened fire before he was scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan. Hasan reportedly yelled "Allahu akbar!" -- Arabic for "God is great!" as soon as he pulled the trigger, sparking a debate about whether the incident should have been called an act of terror. Hasan was sentenced to death in August 2013. Santa Fe High School 10 killed A teen suspect is accused of opening fire inside a first-period art class at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018, killing at least 10 people and injuring others, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. The suspect, identified by The Associated Press as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was taken into custody, along with another student who was detained for further questioning. The Santa Fe Police Department confirmed explosive devices were also found at the campus of the high school and the "surrounding areas adjacent to the school." Fox News' Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Kathleen Joyce and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A suspect who allegedly stabbed a police officer in the neck at a Connecticut apartment Thursday was previously evicted and waging a legal fight to remain in the building, court records said. Chevoughn Augustin, 39, who lived on the ninth floor in a Hartford, Conn., apartment, had been evicted for numerous complaints about disturbing behavior, The Hartford Courant reported. She was charged with attempted murder when an altercation at the apartment building escalated on Thursday, Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley told The Courant. Foley said Augustin knocked an unidentified officer to the ground, put her in a chokehold and repeatedly stabbed her in the neck with a ceramic knife. "This is obviously a difficult day for law enforcement," Hartford Police Chief Rosado said. "It's a bleak reminder that it's a tough job and that it can go awry pretty quickly." The 12-year female police officer was rushed to the hospital and remains in critical but stable condition. Augustin is in custody and has been charged with attempted murder. She had previously filed a self-represented counter motion that claimed she was discriminated against because she is Native American, the report said. Augustin said she is facing fair housing discrimination for being a member of a several protected classes including being a Native American and being single. Attorneys for the landlord allege that Augustin wandered the hallways aimlessly very late at night, slept in the common room couch and confronted other residents in a hostile manner, making them fear for their safety, according to court records. FEMALE COP IN ICU AFTER GETTING STABBED IN THE THROAT, SUSPECTED CHARGED, POLICE SAY In her counter-complaint, Augustin wrote that the allegations cannot be substantiated. State court records show no criminal record for Augustin. She was a former youth counselor at the Community Action Against Substance Abuse, a program that trains youth to teach their peers about substance abuse prevention, The Courant reported. In 1997, she also received the first ever Spirit Award by Citizens of Connecticut Children Youth Inc. for her research on teen sexual behaviors and attitudes. The Associated Press contributed to this report. South Korea believes North Korea remains committed to improving relations despite strongly criticizing Seoul over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and saying it will not return to inter-Korean talks unless its grievances are resolved. South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Baek Tae-hyun said Friday that Seoul expects Pyongyang to faithfully abide by the agreements between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in their summit last month. The Korean leaders then issued a vague vow on the "complete denuclearization" of the peninsula and pledged permanent peace. North Korea has canceled a high-level meeting with South Korea and threatened to scrap next month's historic summit with President Donald Trump, saying it won't be unilaterally pressured into relinquishing its nuclear weapons. Vote-counting has started in Burundi's referendum on constitutional changes that would extend the president's rule until 2034. Five million Burundians were registered to vote in Thursday's referendum that raised concerns about further bloodshed in the East African country that has seen deadly political violence since 2015. It is not clear when final results will be announced. President Pierre Nkurunziza had campaigned forcefully for the changes that include extending the president's term from five years to seven. That could give him another 14 years in power when his current term expires in 2020. Opposition leaders say Nkurunziza's stay in power is already unconstitutional. His quest for a disputed third term in 2015 led to violent protests that have killed at least 1,200 people and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing the country. A Boeing 737 plane operated by state airline Cubana crashed after taking off from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana on Friday and three passengers were said to have survived in critical condition, local media reported. The surviving passengers have been brought to the hospital, according to newspaper Granma. The flight from Havana to Holguin, a city in eastern Cuba, had 104 passengers and nine crew members on board. The plane lay in a farm field and appeared heavily damaged and burnt. It crashed around noon not far from the end of the runway. The cause remains under investigation. Government officials, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel, rushed to the site, along with a large number of emergency medical workers and ambulances. "There is a high number of people who appear to have died," Diaz-Canel said from the scene. "Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified." Residents of the rural area told The Associated Press they watched as some survivors were taken away in ambulances. Video showed dark plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site. Several first responders were at the scene, including firefighters who could be seen spraying water on the smoldering remains. The plane was rented from Blue Panorama by Cubana, which has taken many of its aging planes out of service in recent months due to mechanical problems. Cubana is known by locals for consistently having delays and cancellations, which the airline attributes to a lack of airplanes and parts because of the American trade embargo on Cuba. Friday's crash marked the third major deadly accident for Cuba since 2010. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy who was poisoned with a nerve agent in the U.K. more than two months ago, was released from the hospital Friday, health officials said. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a public bench in the city of Salisbury on March 4, and spent weeks in critical condition. Officials suspect the father and daughter were poisoned with novichok, a Soviet-engineered nerve agent. Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month. Salisbury District Hospital said Friday that all three people hospitalized in the attack -- the Skripals and a police officer who came to their assistance -- have now been released. The Skripals have been taken to an undisclosed location for their safety. POISONED FORMER RUSSIAN SPY SERGEI SKRIPAL NO LONGER IN CRITICAL CONDITION, HOSPITAL SAYS "We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal," said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital. "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital." Sergei Skripal served with Russias military intelligence agency, often known by its Russian-language acronym GRU, and retired in 1999. He then worked at the Foreign Ministry until 2003, and later became involved in business. Skripal was arrested in 2004 in Moscow and later confessed to having been recruited by British intelligence in 1995. He also said at the time that he provided information about GRU agents in Europe, receiving over $100,000 in return. In 2006, Skripal was convicted on charges of spying for Britain and sentenced to 13 years. However, he later was pardoned and released from custody in July 2010 as part of a U.S.-Russian spy swap, which followed the exposure of a ring of Russian sleeper agents in the U.S. He had been living quietly in the cathedral city of Salisbury, 90 miles southwest of London, when he was struck down. DAUGHTER OF POISONED SPY SERGEI SKRIPAL TURNS DOWN RUSSIAN HELP Britain blamed Russia for the attack while Moscow denied all allegations. In response, more than two dozen Western allies, including the U.S., ordered out over 150 Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity. In response, Russia ordered out 60 U.S. diplomats and closed the consulate in St. Petersburg in a tit-for-tat response. Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it was punishing seven Russian oligarchs and 17 Russian government officials with sanctions for what the U.S. called Russia's "malign activity" around the world. British police say they believe the toxin was smeared on the door handle of Skripal's suburban house. Hundreds of counterterrorism officers and support staff have been assigned to the case but police have not yet named any suspects. The Associated Press contributed to this report. France's government is imposing new sanctions on people and companies suspected of helping Syria's chemical weapons program. The Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry announced Friday a freeze on assets of three individuals and nine companies involved in research or purchasing for the Syrian Scientific Research Center. The Syrian lab is accused of producing chemical weapons for President Bashar Assad's government. France says companies from multiple countries have been furnishing materials for the manufacture of chemical weapons, including sarin gas. France is hosting leading diplomats Friday from 32 countries for a meeting of a new body aimed at better identifying and punishing those who use chemical weapons. France, the U.S. and Britain bombed Syrian government sites last month in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack. Assad's forces have denied accusations they repeatedly used chemical weapons in Syria's 7-year-old civil war. Rebels also have been accused of using poison gas. In the latest report of poison gas being unleashed, the international chemical weapons watchdog said Wednesday that chlorine was likely used as a weapon in the rebel-held northern Syrian town of Saraqeb in early February. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons released details of a report into the chlorine use, but did not say which side in the fighting used it. The OPCW is not mandated to apportion blame for the attack. The group meeting in Paris on Friday plans to publish information about chemical attacks to name and shame perpetrators and eventually sanction them. France's former prime minister says the world's climate is worsening faster than imagined and he calls the U.S. decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord "dangerous nonsense." Laurent Fabius told a climate conference Friday that the U.S. withdrawal last year dealt "a very serious blow" to environmental protection. Fabius was instrumental in negotiations to establish the 2015 Paris accord. He says it is a "race against time" to stop global warming with carbon dioxide emissions on the rise. Fabius is reiterating the need for a global environmental pact to prevent nations from backsliding on their environmental protection obligations. Front part of car completely burnt On May 18, at 01:50, the 911 service received information that a traffic accident took place at the crossroads of Garegin Nzhdeh and May 9 streets in Yerevan. It turned out that Nissan Altima and Honda collided as a result of which Nissan Altima car crashed a tree and started to burn. Before the rescuers arrived at the scene, the driver was hospitalized in "Erebuni" Medical Centre. Doctors assessed the victims health condition as satisfactory. The fire was isolated at 02:03 am and extinguished at 02:08. The front of the car was completely burnt. Foreigners have been lost near Nor Arajadzor village. On May 17, at 17:22, the 911 service received information that foreign citizens were lost near the city of Meghri in Syunik region, the coordinates provided by GPS were received. It turned out that foreigners are near the village of Nor Arajadzor village. At 20:23, rescuers discovered a Toyota 4Runner and passengers, Velina Pichi (born in 1993), Velien Exskin (born in 1991) and Maximila Olie (born in 1992). Foreigners are Germans. The rescuers unlocked the car and brought the citizens to the city of Kapan. Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group At UCOM only: Tv sets at 10% discount + 1 month free UMIX package + 4k tv channel Ameriabanks Special Offer for New Clients of Hrazdan Branch "Fall forward": Gurgen Khachatryan, the Co-Founder of the Galaxy Group of Companies, addressed a message to young people in Armenia UCOM hosted interns of Russian CBOSS corporation for a month The 20-episode Bloody bet thriller to be broadcast on Ucom's Armenia Premium TV channel Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group UCOM offers affordable gadgets at bigger discount Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to New York Governments preventing publication of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper during state of emergency UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers Ucom employees received recognition for their services to the homeland Karen Vardanyan has allocated 105 million AMD to rescue the Yerevan Botanical Garden. "The Power of One Dram" to overcome childhood cancer Generation A 13 your chance to be the change President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan met with Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovayev Google Ad "uDays" special offer at Ucom: discounts for all smartphones and accessories for 2 days only For more than 3 hours, 50 or more Azerbaijani servicemen have blocked the interstate road Call on the international community for an adequate response against azerbaijani aggresssion Transformation and trust are important for success in modern banking. Artak Hanesyan UCOMS LEVEL UP 1700 REGIONAL TARIFF PLAN USERS TO RECEIVE MORE THAN THOSE IN YEREVAN Joint statement Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Covid-19: 163 new cases in Armenia Armenia: Remarks by Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi at the press point with Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan The United States Welcomes Azerbaijans Release of Armenian Detainees and Armenias Actions to Facilitate Demining The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia International aviation: Council greenlights signing of major agreements with four countries With UCOMs level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Netflix, Duolingo and Zoom Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Prime Minister presents newly appointed NSC Secretary (video) Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan presented the newly appointed secretary of the National Security Council (NSC) Armen Grigoryan to the leadership of the Security Council. According to the head of the government, the Security Council is a body that defines the main directions of the defense sector policy. He added that this body "stands" aside of the daily management problems and accumulates information in working conditions about threats and offers solutions. The head of the government expressed hope that the Council will carry out its functions fully and efficiently, equitably with modern requirements and challenges, offer solutions to the security challenges our country faces. Armen Grigoryan thanked the Prime Minister for his confidence. "I am convinced that the process of developing the security policy will be put on a new level. Armenia has challenges that require political solutions. I am confident that the team will be able to fulfill its tasks, to raise the level of Armenia's security, offering solutions to existing challenges and problems," said the new Secretary of the Security Council. Prime Minister Pashinyan instructed to prepare a Security Council session to discuss defense policy, implement various agenda items. "The security sector, the normal development of the armed forces is a priority for us, and we must do everything to ensure the normal development of the armed forces, to accurately assess the existing challenges and to take effective countermeasures. RA citizens should be confident that the government has tools to ensure full security of the country. At present, we have all the necessary means to develop an effective policy of the domain," Nikol Pashinyan stated. According to the Prime Minister, one should not be afraid to speak about the shortcomings as the problems will only deepen if they are not revealed. "It is important to diagnose existing problems and achieve quick and effective solutions. In this respect, the Security Council plays a crucial role. I wish success for the successful implementation of the functions," the Prime Minister said. Court is still besieged (video) The separated part of the trial of the State Penitentiary Service did not take place, the trial began without the defendants. Demonstrators demanding the release of Sasna Tsrer have blocked all the entries of the Court of General Jurisdiction of the Shengavit administrative district, not allowing to transport defendants, that were participating in the trial of Sasna Tsrer two days ago, from the court. The citizens surrounding the court told A1 + that they support Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with their protest, since the judicial power is not in his hands and the Prime Minister needs them to make changes. Let us remind you that yesterday, Pashinyan announced that all protest actions should be stopped, the demonstrators actually followed only one of his demands- opening the streets. Arshakunyats avenue was opened yesterday, at 15:00. Gaffney woman killed, infant hurt in two vehicle crash Free Access A Gaffney woman was killed and an infant was hurt Thursday evening in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 18. Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler identified the victim as Betty Ann... VICTORY DANCE Gaffney High mascot Mallory Garcia jumps in celebration with the cheerleaders Friday following a touchdown during the Indians 34-0 victory over Boiling Springs. To continue reading this article, log in... Middle school locks down for bomb threat City of Gaffney Police are investigating a bomb threat at a middle school Thursday. Gaffney Middle School was placed on lockdown Thursday afternoon as police investigated the threat. Chief Gerald... Sponsors needed to host all-star football game Informational meeting to be held at 10 a.m. today After being held in Raleigh for many years, Cherokee County has been given an opportunity to host this years Carolina Bowl Senior Showcase. An informational meeting will be held today... Galveston, TX (77553) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 87F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with thunderstorms becoming likely overnight. Low around 80F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible. [This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.] Tokyo, Japan- ASOBIMO, Inc. participated in B2B mobile game conference POCKET GAMER CONNECTS * held in San Francisco, USA on May 14-15,2018, and spoke about their ICO project ASOBI COIN. POCKET GAMER CONNECTS is a huge global B2B mobile game conference, this time held in San Francisco, following with Helsinki in September and London in January. Asobimo, Inc. CEO Katsunori Kondo spoke in San Francisco and explained about the reasons to use blockchain. He talked briefly about the most common problem on online games: copying items. He stated that by linking players game items to the blockchain, we can manage them securely and create a fair play environment for players. Furthermore, he explained about ASOBI MARKET, a protected digital content platform. This market uses blockchain to prove the ownership of digital content and creates a market for selling used digital content. During the speech he showed a video clip from one of the ASOBI COIN advisers, Andre RuppiThe NAGA Group AG Director of Business Developmenti, where he stated the following: They are the first real, big-time game publisher involved in an ICO project with lots of games and with an already established user base. I dont know any other case like Asobimos. As far as I know there are only a couple of game publishers who focus on blockchain technology. And I think its a great opportunity for Asobimo to take this kind of challenge, confront this innovative technology, and also develop into this direction for the future. Get more information about ICO token ASOBICOIN and Distributed Secondary Content Platform ASOBI STORE by visiting our website. ASOBI COIN Official Website a https://asobimo.io/ a Company Outline ASOBIMO, Inc. is a game maker company, that specializes in 3D MMORPG games for smartphones and provides services globally, mainly in Japan and other Asian countries. Titles include Iruna Online, service started for feature type phone in 2007, as well as Avabel Online and Toram Online for smartphones. Company Nameis ASOBIMO,Inc. Locationis 3-1-2 Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, 171-0014, JAPAN Presidentis Kondo Katsunori Type of businessis Online game development URLis https://asobimo.com/ a Contact Information ASOBIMO, Inc. New Business Development Team, Masaya Murai E-mail: [email protected] TEL: +81-3-5927-9350 FAX: +81-3-5927-9353 Throughout the summit, over 300 industry experts who are currently shaping the crypto games industry gathered in Kyiv to discuss the hottest trends in the industry and network with business partners from all around the world. Kyiv, Ukraine - May 18 - Participants from more than 20 countries: the USA, Canada, China, South Korea, Russia, Belarus, Germany, France, Japan, Ukraine and others attended the event. Crypto Games Conference presented a broad variety of talks and panels in two summit tracks, dealing with three themes in depth: Blockchain based games (ryptoKitties, Dragonereum, Spells of Genesis, and others) Game services using blockchain or cryptocurrencies (Alto.io, BitGuild, Decentraland, and more) Gaming using blockchain or cryptocurrencies (DAO.asino, TrueFlip, EtherSport, etc.) Experts from the leading companies such as WAX, AxiomZen (developer of CryptoKitties), PUBG, WAVES, DMarket, Play2Live, RAWG, Fitify and many more visited the first edition of Crypto Games Conference this May. "We can say with a complete confidence: the world's first Crypto Game Conference was a success! - says Evgeny Lavrinenko, co-founder of Crypto Games Conference. We, as organizers, are happy to gather in Kiev such a big audience of C-level representatives from the most important crypto gaming companies and ICOs. Thank you all for participating! Our next goal is even more ambitious - to host a two-day conference in Minsk in October 2018. Preparations are already started. Our attendees expect a broader set of attending companies and even more interesting talks and networking events. Open for public access is the large collection of official CGC photography linked at this FB account here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/CryptoGamesConference/photos/ . Keep an eye out for CGC first call for speakers and exhibitors opening up soon! https://cryptogames.events/ For more information and announcements please follow CGC FB page: https://www.facebook.com/CryptoGamesConference/ Or Telegram group: https://web.telegram.org/#/im?p=g245752823 For any questions please contact: [email protected] While internationally licensed online racebooks do accept customers from the great state of Georgia , U.S-based websites the likes of TwinSpires and XpressBet do not. Sites like BetUS (in business since 1994) also allow those 18 and up and will NEVER report your winnings. We would note that the internationally-licensed Bookmaker.eu, which dominates the Latin American market, has been in business longer than all of the U.S-based websites (first established in 1986). They also do not require customers to provide a social security number or report tax information to the Government. U.S.-based racebooks will not accept customers from the Peach Tree State as the operation of a horse racing establishment within Georgia's borders is prohibited. The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of the Triple Crown. Though not as popular as the Kentucky Derby, the race still attracts a significant number of bettors across the U.S., and even the world for that matter. 2021 Preakness Stakes Odds Place Your Bets Here Medina Spirit 7-2 Concert Tour 9-1 Midnight Bourbon 15-1 Crowded Trade 16-1 Ram 18-1 Unbridled Honor 18-1 France Go De Ina 20-1 Rombauer 20-1 Get Her Number 25-1 - Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com Lady luck was on my side - Hovhannes Aivazovsky (video) The collection of Aivazovsky in National Gallery, which is considered the second one after Theodosius, was created and replenished thanks to donations. The first 7 paintings were brought from Moscow's Lazarian institute, which personally was dedicated by the sea painter to the institution. In 1925, Hakob Ekizlian donated four paintings by Aivazovsky to the gallery. "Recreation, The Mediterranean coast" picture was donated by Vahan Khorasanjian. It was brought from Belgium to Yerevan through the Armenian Relief Committee in 1936. The largest canvas is in the collection of the National Gallery. Inspired by the image of a famous traveler, Aivazovski visited his native town Geneva in 1879. During his American trip, Aivazovsky created several works dedicated to Christopher Columbus. "Columbus" high-value canvas, Abraham Jinjyan preferred to send it to the gallery rather than to dedicate his son or sell like other ten works of Aivazovsky. In 1957, the Armenian gallery was enriched with 41 artworks made by Aivazovsky, including 30 paintings and 9 graphics, which were presented by Abraham Jinjyan, a French entrepreneur of Armenian. "Storm on the steep coast" picture was gift was donated to the Armenian Cultural Relations Company by the French Youth Union. It was abducted in 1990. This canvas was considered "lost" 21 years in the catalogs, whereas in 1996, it was examined by Vladimir Petrov, an expert in Tretyakov's State Gallery, and was sold at Moscow's Gelos auction, where it was found and returned to the National Gallery. In 1996, "Sea in the Moonlight" painting was discovered in one of the Moscow auctions and returned the National Gallery. However, a huge "Ecstasy"canvas was disappeared years ago from the scientific library of the National Library of Armenia, 5 pieces from the branch of Etchmiadzin of the National Gallery that were donated by Abraham Jinjyan were also disappeared. In 1889, Aivazovsky donated his "Noah goes down from Ararat" to the Armenian male gymnasium in Nor Nakhijevan. During the civil war, the door was covered through the canvas. The painting has been rescued and brought to the newly-opened Martiros Saryan's State Museum of Armenia. Sea painter of headquarters of the Russian Navy did not forget his origins. He was the first Armenian painter that portrayed Ararat and Lake Sevan, painted "Byron's visit to the Mkhitaryan's St. Lazarus Island" and the portrait of Khrimian Hayrik, Catholicos of All Armenians. Hovhannes Aivazovsky was born in the family of Armenian small-scale merchant Gevorg Ayvazi, who migrated from Moldova. In the birthday and baptism book of the Armenian Church of Theodosius, the birth of Aivazovsky is registered as Gevorg Ayvazyan's son Hovhannes. "Lady luck was on my side," said the painter, whose name is known even by people far from art. Hey Long Beach, join us as we soar through the skies of Long Beach, California for a unique look at our great city! (Click below to watch video). Robert Sargsyan: This is a nationwide protest in support of Taron Margaryan (video) Taron Margaryan's incumbent, Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP Robert Sargsyan considers wrong those protest actions which are demanding the mayor's resignation. "Why do they require it? Who has proven that he was elected by the electoral fraud? Let Nikol Pashinyan appeal to the relevant authorities, let them see whether he has been elected with fraud or not, It is not just for saying. Taron Margaryan does his job very well, you see that." Robert Sargsyan was particularly angry about the fact that juveniles were also involved in protests of Taron Margaryan. "Are serious now? That is the actions that children were taking part could, but yesterday's demonstrations could not. It was also nationwide, they were protecting Taron, as he was elected by the people of Yerevan, they were not people from regions who were shouting Taron." RPA leader is convinced that it is wrong to demand a resignation from electoral independent bodies, such as the Council of Elders. "It is a different matter when there are criminals in some of these independent bodies or elective bodies, which are facts and can be discussed. But this way is not the way that the movement has adopted," head of the RPA faction Vahram Baghdasaryan told A1 +. The RPA has a positive attitude to Nikol Pashinyan's Government program, since it belives that it does not differ from what RPA presented in the past. "Extraordinary elections should be constitutional. If that happens, we will discuss it, I do not see such path yet," said Vahram Baghdasaryan. "The issue of snap elections has not been discussed in the executive body of the party. Why it has not been discussed, since there is no agenda issue today, even there is no urgent snap elections in the agenda of the executive power. If it were, there is an option at this point, the government's program should fail," said NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov. Nikol Pashinyan and Richard Mills discuss Armenian-American relations (video) Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on May 18 received US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills. The PM attached importance to the constant development of the Armenian-American ties and welcomed official Washingtons commitment and readiness to give new impetus to the bilateral cooperation in different sectors. "The Armenian government is interested and attaches great importance to the mutual partnership with the American side in the process of reforms in democracy development, anti-corruption fight, human rights and other spheres. We are full of energy to reach our goals and concrete results also taking into account the positive atmosphere existing today in the country," PM Pashinyan said, stating that the government is committed to moving forward the activities at these directions. In his turn US Ambassador Richard Mills congratulated PM Pashinyan on assuming office and conveyed the readiness of the US government to assist Armenia in implementation of the aforementioned goals. "The US government is committed to assisting the goals on democracy, human rights, transparency and accountability that will improve Armenias business environment and will make the country more attractive for American investors. We see a number of opportunities for dialogue and cooperation, including within the format of the Armenian-American inter-governmental works," the Ambassador said. During the meeting a number of other issues relating to the increase of trade turnover volumes between the two countries, the ongoing regional affairs, holding parliamentary elections in Armenia, the reforms of the Electoral Code and issues of bilateral interest were discussed. Incidents in Bonn and the region : How emergency forces experience attacks Bonn Are fire brigade and paramedics victims of violence more often nowadays? Emergency personell from North Rhine-Westphalia report. The incident lies eight years in the past, but Duisburg fire fighter Valentino Tagliafierro will never forget this call-out. We were on a rescue and fire fighting mission. A woman was unconscious on the floor. Out of nowhere I was hit in the neck. It was the womans life partner who hit me. Tagliafierro pressed charges against the culprit, but the case remained without consequences. The public prosecutors office said, there is no general interest in this kind of case. Raw violence against people who rescue others - a disturbing thought. Is our society getting more brutal? Should the state change the laws or punish the culprits harder? Michael Kramer, 55, department director at the Malteser in Rheinbach, is responsible for their rescue stations in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis. Is the question if the level of violence grew a problem description or are we talking about the Zeitgeist? For 35 years he is working for the emergency services, many of those in the Bonn hole near the main station, where call-outs to look after drug addicts or heavily drunk were his daily business. If you work here, you chose the rescue service of the Maltese, he explains. Its a extreme job, we are handling very difficult matters. Severely injured people in accidents, bloody fights and domestic violence, heart attacks and strokes - matters of life and death. If drugs and alcohol play into these extreme situations, violence is never far off, explains Kramer. But he cannot answer the question, or wont, if brutal force against emergency forces happens more often than 20 years ago, like the media reports suggest. The case of the 23-year-old paramedic in Swisttal-Heimerzheim, who was attacked and severely injured while looking after a patient, made headlines. Heimerzheim was a work accident, explains Michael Schafers, who supervises the Maltese services nationwide from Cologne. I cannot say if work accidents increased. The problem is that our statistics dont alway show if a violent attack preceded the accident. Also in Henenf, paramedics were attacked during a call-out. We have to investigate this on a countrywide level and agree to common definitions. The Ruhr University in Bochum tried to shed a light on the phenomenon last year. Criminologist Thomas Feltes who led the project had to admit that the response rate of 18 percent - of the 4,500 approached emergency personell - did not offer a representative nature of a study. Probably only those responded who were somewhat affected directly. We dont know how many call-outs get taken. The numbers are hard to judge. Also, the scientists combined all kinds of violence - physical and verbal - in the study. We didnt previously mention verbal violence but it always existed, says Kramer. How often drunk patients at the Bonn hole called him an asshole - countless times. But we didnt pay any heed to that. Once or twice he was kicked or hit. But I was probably on 20,000 call-outs in my life - so over all, very little happened to me. That relatives lose their poise and attack a paramedic, like happened to Tagliafierro, can be attributed to sheer despair, for example when a baby dies. Imagine a paramedic tries to resuscitate the child and it dies nonetheless. It cannot be expected that mother or father remain calm, says Schafers. In a different situation, a paramedics team gets called to an apartment in which a woman lies on the floor, unconscious. She is wearing a head scarf, a devout muslim woman. Should the paramedics remove the scarf before treating her, they might be hit by the husband who is hurt in his pride. Schafers admits: We have a heightened public sensitivity for the phenomena of violence against emergency forces. And it might be related to more women in the job. 30 years ago, there might have been maybe one woman on a team, today nearly 40% of all paramedics in the Rhein-Sieg area are female. Kramer: The team communication changed - things get discussed openly. Women admit making mistakes more easily too. And they have a de-escalating effect on their colleagues too. Emergency psychologist Clivia Langer considers it possible that women judge violence differently, that they dont just accept it as normal. The Ruhr University study showed that emergency personell would like the matter of violence on the job to be more of a subject during apprenticeship and further training. Prevention would be better and to be informed more on cultural differences. And to learn about simple protection methods - like keeping a good old arms-length distance for example, says Schafers. And how not to block escape routes. Everybody agrees though that tightening the laws will not have any real effect. Criminologist Feltes: I doubt that that would change the human behaviour. Today, I touch upon an ongoing study I'm doing of the City of Mesa and unusual ghostly findings that may have ancient roots. Ancient HoHoKam canals map I kept getting people from the city of Mesa Arizona complaining about ghostly issues that seemed to repeat themselves in description by many people. I looked around at the geology and found nothing of significance or in the history of the town, except if you go back to ancient times and a missing tribe called the HoHoKam whose canal system fed from this area. As well, upon visiting one of their mounds in Mesa behind the hospital off of Country Club Road, I learned that many neighbors around that mound area have these same haunting issues on a larger scale. I did a post some time ago about the rate of hauntings in the City of Mesa, Arizona. I'd like to follow it up because I have for years gotten people contacting me about these issues and the post I wrote got a substantial response. People in the area report: Voices Knocking Doors opening and closing Apparitions Feelings of being watched/doom/uncomfortable Shadow people Objects being thrown Pets acting strangely I am going to give some regions of the town I've heard from just from that post alone: University west of the 101: (talking, footsteps, heavy sensation) Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said that Palestinian liberation is a divine tradition. (AhlulBayt News Agency) - Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said that Palestinian liberation is a divine tradition. Speaking in a glorious ceremony held in Hosseiniyah of Imam Khomeini (RA) in the presence of reciters, memorizers of Holy Quran and Quranic activists on the first day of Holy Month of Ramadan, the Leader pointed to the current issue of the Islamic world and said, Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the capital of Palestine and relying upon the assistance of the Almighty God, Palestine will undoubtedly get rid of aggression of enemies. Affinity and intimacy to the Holy Book and practice of its commands is one of the essential needs of Islamic Ummah in the current situation, he said, adding, current problems of the Islamic world including the deplorable and frustrated condition of Palestine and crimes of Zionist regime against Palestinians especially in recent days are the result of seclusion of the Islamic Ummah from the Holy Quran. He called on Islamic Ummah and heads of Islamic governments to adopt firm position against atrocities of Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinians and said, in the contemporary world of today, we are witnessing spread of war and discord among Muslims due to seclusion from the Holy Quran. In conclusion, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, US and its allies will inevitably doom to failure in this regard. /257 The content you are looking for has either been removed or requires you to login to view Please login below or register for an account With Naijapals.com Iran's President Hassan Rouhani described the extraordinary OIC summit in Turkey "an opportunity for the Muslim world to declare its support for the Palestinian people and to condemn the illegal relocation of US embassy to Jerusalem (al-Quds)," saying US is more inferior than ever in the Muslim world. (AhlulBayt News Agency) - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani described the extraordinary OIC summit in Turkey "an opportunity for the Muslim world to declare its support for the Palestinian people and to condemn the illegal relocation of US embassy to Jerusalem (al-Quds)," saying US is more inferior than ever in the Muslim world. Rouhani made the remarks on Friday morning at Mehrabad Airport, before leaving Tehran for Istanbul to attend the OIC extraordinary summit on the latest serious developments in the State of Palestine. He stressed that defending Palestine and al-Quds is defending Islamic values and saving the great and civilized Palestinian nation from current regretful conditions. "The relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds is illegal and contrary to international laws and regulations," he noted, adding this move has ndoubtedly provoked the anger and protests of across Muslim world. Rouhani said his visit to Istanbul is upon the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend the extraordinary summit of OIC. He added that the summit is slated to investigate two incidents; first, "illegal transfer of US embassy to al-Quds" and second, "brutal slaughter of Palestinians by Zionist regime." He condoled with the great nation of Palestine on behalf of Iranians and added "the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been the advocate of the oppressed; one of the major goals of Islamic Revolution is the freedom of al-Quds and occupied Palestine; our nation will definately pursue this aspiration until it comes true." Undoubtedly, he noted, the Zionists and the Americans are seeking to distract the attention of the Islamic world from Palestine to other issues, and to this end, they create crises every day in the Muslim world. Over 60 Palestinians lost their lives and over 2,700 others were injured during the military crackdown on the anti-occupation demonstration, which was held on the eve of Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) Day and coincided with the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds. The summit will be attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Afghan President Ashraf Gani, Mauritanian President Mohammad Ould Abdulaziz, Emir of Kuwait, the king of Jordan and the Egyptian foreign minister. The summit is expected to produce a strongly-worded resolution condemning the recent Israeli aggression. /257 Senator Dino Melaye who was recently granted bail in his on going case with the Nigerian Police has taken to social media to call them out againThe senator shared the photo above with the caption, Quote 'Police illegal arrest and harassment did not start now. This was four years ago. Where Court awarded 10 million naira damage to me that Police is yet to pay. Fear not him that can destroy or damage the body,fear only Him that can destroy both the body and the Spirit. My Spirit and resolve is unshakable'. Video Clip Of How South African Robbers Blow Up 2 Armored Cash Carrying Vans In Broad Day Light felicilin at 18-05-2018 12:48 PM (3 years ago) (f) Robbers armed with assault rifles and explosives blew up two armoured cash-carrying vans in Johannesburg on Thursday morning in a brazen daylight incident that underscored South Africas reputation for violent crime. Video: South African robbers in dramatic broad daylight cash van heist In dramatic cellphone footage of the incident recorded by a motorist, the assailants seal off a block in the suburb of Boksburg, east of Johannesburgs commercial center, before calmly detonating explosives under the cash vans. Three large explosions are heard, with plumes of gray smoke shooting up into the air. There are also rapid exchanges of gunfire before and after the blasts, although it is not clear where the shots were coming from. The assailants, who numbered around a dozen, then load sacks into at least two get-away cars before speeding away. Motorists caught up in the shoot-out are seen pulling U-turns across the road to escape the scene. Police said two security guards in the cash vans were injured in the incident and were treated in hospital. They also said some of the robbers were arrested after being tracked by helicopter to a run-down industrial park. Security experts quoted in South African media said the way the assailants behaved and handled the weapons suggested they had military backgrounds. In an update to the banditry, police have arrested some of the suspects, one of them a policeman. TimesLive reported the suspects were caught at the George Goch hostel in Johannesburg after police chased them with a helicopter. Police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo told TimesLIVE at the scene on Atlas Road that the polices speedy response to the heist resulted in the quick arrest. Robbers armed with assault rifles and explosives blew up two armoured cash-carrying vans in Johannesburg on Thursday morning in a brazen daylight incident that underscored South Africas reputation for violent crime. Video: South African robbers in dramatic broad daylight cash van heist In dramatic cellphone footage of the incident recorded by a motorist, the assailants seal off a block in the suburb of Boksburg, east of Johannesburgs commercial center, before calmly detonating explosives under the cash vans. Three large explosions are heard, with plumes of gray smoke shooting up into the air. There are also rapid exchanges of gunfire before and after the blasts, although it is not clear where the shots were coming from. The assailants, who numbered around a dozen, then load sacks into at least two get-away cars before speeding away. Motorists caught up in the shoot-out are seen pulling U-turns across the road to escape the scene. Police said two security guards in the cash vans were injured in the incident and were treated in hospital. They also said some of the robbers were arrested after being tracked by helicopter to a run-down industrial park. Security experts quoted in South African media said the way the assailants behaved and handled the weapons suggested they had military backgrounds. In an update to the banditry, police have arrested some of the suspects, one of them a policeman. TimesLive reported the suspects were caught at the George Goch hostel in Johannesburg after police chased them with a helicopter. Police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo told TimesLIVE at the scene on Atlas Road that the polices speedy response to the heist resulted in the quick arrest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTobIAtbZqg Post Reply Posted: at 18-05-2018 12:48 PM (3 years ago) | Hero ruthie at 18-05-2018 12:50 PM (3 years ago) (f) ABEG THIS HELL HOLE CALLED S.A AINT SAFE...I WONT BE RETURNING THERE ANYTIME SOON... Posted: at 18-05-2018 12:50 PM (3 years ago) | Hero ABEG THIS HELL HOLE CALLED S.A AINT SAFE...I WONT BE RETURNING THERE ANYTIME SOON... Reply Mykie010 at 18-05-2018 01:08 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 18-05-2018 12:50 PM ABEG THIS HELL HOLE CALLED S.A AINT SAFE...I WONT BE RETURNING THERE ANYTIME SOON... so u were living in South Africa madam. Posted: at 18-05-2018 01:08 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac so u were living in South Africa madam. Reply nonsovin at 18-05-2018 01:29 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 18-05-2018 12:50 PM ABEG THIS HELL HOLE CALLED S.A AINT SAFE...I WONT BE RETURNING THERE ANYTIME SOON... u want to announce to the world that u lived in South before not even presently. in the Africa for that matter. meanwhile people living in better countries have always been humble. u really have a lot of problems u know.. LEARN TO BE HUMBLE !! Posted: at 18-05-2018 01:29 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac u want to announce to the world that u lived in South before not even presently. in the Africa for that matter.meanwhile people living in better countries have always been humble.u really have a lot of problems u know..LEARN TO BE HUMBLE !! Reply remiOne at 18-05-2018 01:32 PM (3 years ago) (m) wazup S.A Posted: at 18-05-2018 01:32 PM (3 years ago) | Newbie wazup S.A Reply ruthie at 18-05-2018 01:34 PM (3 years ago) (f) DID I SAY I LIVED THERE? DEAD BRAIN SIGHTED. Quote from: nonsovin on 18-05-2018 01:29 PM u want to announce to the world that u lived in South before not even presently. in the Africa for that matter. meanwhile people living in better countries have always been humble. u really have a lot of problems u know.. LEARN TO BE HUMBLE !! Posted: at 18-05-2018 01:34 PM (3 years ago) | Hero DID I SAY I LIVED THERE? DEAD BRAIN SIGHTED. Reply ruthie at 18-05-2018 01:36 PM (3 years ago) (f) WHATS YOUR BIZ....BESIDES I DIDNT SAY THAT? Quote from: Mykie010 on 18-05-2018 01:08 PM so u were living in South Africa madam. Posted: at 18-05-2018 01:36 PM (3 years ago) | Hero WHATS YOUR BIZ....BESIDES I DIDNT SAY THAT? Reply gogoman at 18-05-2018 02:37 PM (3 years ago) (m) there cousin copycat in Nigeria will copy it very soon Posted: at 18-05-2018 02:37 PM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero there cousin copycat in Nigeria will copy it very soon Reply crocatum at 18-05-2018 02:43 PM (3 years ago) (m) by the time all the white with their big brains leave South Africa, I wonder, how the country will sustain itself. Posted: at 18-05-2018 02:43 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac by the time all the white with their big brains leave South Africa, I wonder, how the country will sustain itself. Reply chukkychukky at 18-05-2018 03:01 PM (3 years ago) (m) seen Joramentity aka chukkychukky Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:01 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac seen Reply kaposky at 18-05-2018 03:15 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: nonsovin on 18-05-2018 01:29 PM u want to announce to the world that u lived in South before not even presently. in the Africa for that matter. meanwhile people living in better countries have always been humble. u really have a lot of problems u know.. LEARN TO BE HUMBLE !! DONT MIND THE HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING HER STUPID MOUTH HERE.LET HER/HE COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:15 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac DONT MIND THE HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING HER STUPID MOUTH HERE.LET HER/HE COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE Reply nonsovin at 18-05-2018 03:16 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 18-05-2018 01:34 PM DID I SAY I LIVED THERE? DEAD BRAIN SIGHTED. I think u need to re-read ur first comment, rather than disgracing urself and viewing ur nonentity to the world. with due respect ma'am.. what is the meaning of "RETURNING" ?? well, I assumed that u don't even understand what u wrote.. SHAME !! Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:16 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac I think u need to re-read ur first comment, rather than disgracing urself and viewing ur nonentity to the world.with due respect ma'am.. what is the meaning of "RETURNING" ??well, I assumed that u don't even understand what u wrote..SHAME !! Reply kaposky at 18-05-2018 03:23 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 18-05-2018 01:34 PM DID I SAY I LIVED THERE? DEAD BRAIN SIGHTED. U ARE THE IDIOT WHO IS A DEAD BRAIN. CHRONIC ILLITERATE. WHAT DO U UNDERSTAND BY THE WORD (RETURNING). U HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, U LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING UR STUPID MOUTH HERE.COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:23 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac U ARE THE IDIOT WHO IS A DEAD BRAIN. CHRONIC ILLITERATE. WHAT DO U UNDERSTAND BY THE WORD (RETURNING). U HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, U LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING UR STUPID MOUTH HERE.COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE Reply nonsovin at 18-05-2018 03:24 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: kaposky on 18-05-2018 03:15 PM DONT MIND THE HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING HER STUPID MOUTH HERE.LET HER/HE COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE chai! bro.. pity for this girl small abeg hahahahaha na person pikin o Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:24 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac chai!bro.. pity for this girl small abeg hahahahahana person pikin o Reply nonsovin at 18-05-2018 03:27 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: kaposky on 18-05-2018 03:23 PM U ARE THE IDIOT WHO IS A DEAD BRAIN. CHRONIC ILLITERATE. WHAT DO U UNDERSTAND BY THE WORD (RETURNING). U HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, U LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING UR STUPID MOUTH HERE.COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE my brother, God will bless you! please help me ask her o I thought I was the only person with this sentiment. Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:27 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac my brother, God will bless you!please help me ask her oI thought I was the only person with this sentiment. Reply ruthie at 18-05-2018 03:37 PM (3 years ago) (f) ignorant son of a bitch...try and get some sense....see this MF who claims to be living in S.L ...YET YOUR VIEWS ARE AS DUMB ARE AS THE AGBEROS IN LAGOS...DONT YOU DO DARE COME FOR ME AGAIN...U BASTARD FAGGOT WITH NO SENSE. NO WONDER YOU LIVING A GHETTO LIFE, DEAD BRAINS....COME AND GET SOME SENSE Quote from: kaposky on 18-05-2018 03:15 PM DONT MIND THE HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING HER STUPID MOUTH HERE.LET HER/HE COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:37 PM (3 years ago) | Hero ignorant son of a bitch...try and get some sense....see this MF who claims to be living in S.L ...YET YOUR VIEWS ARE AS DUMB ARE AS THE AGBEROS IN LAGOS...DONT YOU DO DARE COME FOR ME AGAIN...U BASTARD FAGGOT WITH NO SENSE. NO WONDER YOU LIVING A GHETTO LIFE, DEAD BRAINS....COME AND GET SOME SENSE Reply ruthie at 18-05-2018 03:40 PM (3 years ago) (f) HAHA...RETURNING ....DOES NOT MEAN I LIVE THERE?...HOW STUPID CAN ANY ONE GET? YOU ARE A MONUMENTAL DISGRACE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR GENERATION...AT YOUR MISERABLE AGE, YOU STILL CANNOT DECIPHER ENGLISH LANGUAGE...DAMN SHAME Quote from: nonsovin on 18-05-2018 03:16 PM I think u need to re-read ur first comment, rather than disgracing urself and viewing ur nonentity to the world. with due respect ma'am.. what is the meaning of "RETURNING" ?? well, I assumed that u don't even understand what u wrote.. SHAME !! Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:40 PM (3 years ago) | Hero HAHA...RETURNING ....DOES NOT MEAN I LIVE THERE?...HOW STUPID CAN ANY ONE GET? YOU ARE A MONUMENTAL DISGRACE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR GENERATION...AT YOUR MISERABLE AGE, YOU STILL CANNOT DECIPHER ENGLISH LANGUAGE...DAMN SHAME Reply ruthie at 18-05-2018 03:41 PM (3 years ago) (f) I NEED NO PITY ...BRING IT ON...BUNCH OF BITCHES.. Quote from: nonsovin on 18-05-2018 03:24 PM chai! bro.. pity for this girl small abeg hahahahaha na person pikin o Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:41 PM (3 years ago) | Hero I NEED NO PITY ...BRING IT ON...BUNCH OF BITCHES.. Reply nature7888 at 18-05-2018 03:49 PM (3 years ago) (m) nA WOW Posted: at 18-05-2018 03:49 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac nA WOW Reply Video Clip Of How South African Robbers Blow Up 2 Armored Cash Carrying Vans In Broad Day Light (Page 2) blowout at 18-05-2018 05:55 PM (3 years ago) (m) I tire for these guys o. see as all of una dey join mouth fire one woman. shuoo. na wetin Posted: at 18-05-2018 05:55 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac Reply Sniper101 at 18-05-2018 06:12 PM (3 years ago) (m) too many OLD FOOLS on here Posted: at 18-05-2018 06:12 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac too many OLD FOOLS on here Reply kaposky at 18-05-2018 06:20 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 18-05-2018 03:37 PM ignorant son of a bitch...try and get some sense....see this MF who claims to be living in S.L ...YET YOUR VIEWS ARE AS DUMB ARE AS THE AGBEROS IN LAGOS...DONT YOU DO DARE COME FOR ME AGAIN...U BASTARD FAGGOT WITH NO SENSE. NO WONDER YOU LIVING A GHETTO LIFE, DEAD BRAINS....COME AND GET SOME SENSE ILLITERATE ASHAWO, TODAY IS UR DAY AGAIN, IT IS FRIDAY AGAIN WHEN U LEAVE UR BROTHEL ROOM TO GO OUT TO HUSTLE FOR WEEKEND MEN IN CLUBS,BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IT WILL LAST TILL SUNDAY EVENING. IDIOT, SHAME ON U.WHAT ELSE DO U KNOW BEST IF NOT FU.CKING AND COLLECTING LITTLE LITTLE MONEY FROM MEN.EWU Posted: at 18-05-2018 06:20 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac ILLITERATE ASHAWO, TODAY IS UR DAY AGAIN, IT IS FRIDAY AGAIN WHEN U LEAVE UR BROTHEL ROOM TO GO OUT TO HUSTLE FOR WEEKEND MEN IN CLUBS,BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IT WILL LAST TILL SUNDAY EVENING. IDIOT, SHAME ON U.WHAT ELSE DO U KNOW BEST IF NOT FU.CKING AND COLLECTING LITTLE LITTLE MONEY FROM MEN.EWU Reply kaposky at 18-05-2018 06:23 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 18-05-2018 03:40 PM HAHA...RETURNING ....DOES NOT MEAN I LIVE THERE?...HOW STUPID CAN ANY ONE GET? YOU ARE A MONUMENTAL DISGRACE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR GENERATION...AT YOUR MISERABLE AGE, YOU STILL CANNOT DECIPHER ENGLISH LANGUAGE...DAMN SHAME U ARE THE IDIOT WHO IS A DEAD BRAIN. CHRONIC ILLITERATE. WHAT DO U UNDERSTAND BY THE WORD (RETURNING). U HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, U LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING UR STUPID MOUTH HERE.COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE Posted: at 18-05-2018 06:23 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac U ARE THE IDIOT WHO IS A DEAD BRAIN. CHRONIC ILLITERATE. WHAT DO U UNDERSTAND BY THE WORD (RETURNING). U HERMAPHRODITE BINGO RUTHIE, U LIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND STILL BE OPENING UR STUPID MOUTH HERE.COME TO SWITZERLAND AND SEE WHAT GOOD COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT.VILLAGE HERMAPHRODITE Reply WhaleDog at 18-05-2018 06:26 PM (3 years ago) (m) A Nigerian must be involved or a high possibility a Nigerian masterminded the operation Spare me Posted: at 18-05-2018 06:26 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac A Nigerian must be involved or a high possibility a Nigerian masterminded the operation Reply slimber at 18-05-2018 07:23 PM (3 years ago) (f) Professionals Posted: at 18-05-2018 07:23 PM (3 years ago) | Hero Professionals Reply nonsovin at 18-05-2018 08:00 PM (3 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 18-05-2018 03:40 PM HAHA...RETURNING ....DOES NOT MEAN I LIVE THERE?...HOW STUPID CAN ANY ONE GET? YOU ARE A MONUMENTAL DISGRACE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR GENERATION...AT YOUR MISERABLE AGE, YOU STILL CANNOT DECIPHER ENGLISH LANGUAGE...DAMN SHAME ruthie u know what.. u are just a confused fellow, u don't even know what u are tying. what is the meaning of "returning.. does not mean I leave there?" u are just confused! why don't u just admit u made a mistake and save yourself all these more and more public embarrassment?? IT'S A PITY !! Posted: at 18-05-2018 08:00 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac ruthie u know what.. u are just a confused fellow, u don't even know what u are tying.what is the meaning of "returning.. does not mean I leave there?"u are just confused!why don't u just admit u made a mistake and save yourself all these more and more public embarrassment??IT'S A PITY !! Reply kenkenkelly at 18-05-2018 08:01 PM (3 years ago) (m) Drama,naija here I come Posted: at 18-05-2018 08:01 PM (3 years ago) | Newbie Drama,naija here I come Reply kima77same at 19-05-2018 03:00 PM (3 years ago) (m) THESE ARE NIGERIAN ROBBERS IN S. A. ONLY THEM CAN DO THIS Posted: at 19-05-2018 03:00 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac THESE ARE NIGERIAN ROBBERS IN S. A. ONLY THEM CAN DO THIS Reply Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have fired a domestically-designed and -developed ballistic missile at a strategic economic target in Saudi Arabias southwestern border region of Jizan in retaliation to the Riyadh regimes devastating military aggression against their impoverished country. (AhlulBayt News Agency) - Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have fired a domestically-designed and -developed ballistic missile at a strategic economic target in Saudi Arabias southwestern border region of Jizan in retaliation to the Riyadh regimes devastating military aggression against their impoverished country. A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the short-range Badr-1 missile struck Jazan Economic City, located 967 kilometers southwest of the capital Riyadh, with great precision early on Friday, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported. The development came a day after Yemeni forces fired a Badr-1 missile at al-Anad air base in the southwestern province of Lahij, leaving scores of Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to Yemen's resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, dead and injured. Also on Friday, more than a dozen Saudi mercenaries were killed and injured as Yemeni snipers and their allies carried out separate operations across the country. The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights announced in a statement on March 25 that the Saudi-led war had left 600,000 civilians dead and injured since March 2015. The United Nations says a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. A high-ranking UN aid official recently warned against the catastrophic living conditions in Yemen, stating that there was a growing risk of famine and cholera there. People's lives have continued unraveling. Conflict has escalated since November driving an estimated 100,000 people from their homes, John Ging, UN director of aid operations, told the UN Security Council on February 27. Ging said cholera had infected 1.1 million people in Yemen since last April, and a new outbreak of diphtheria had occurred in the war-ravaged Arab country since 1982. /257 Mr. Choi Hung, father of Rev. Francis Choi, passed away on April 23, 2020. He was 91 years old. His faithfulness, passion, and dedication to God was manifested in his tender love for his own family and for his church. Rev. Francis Choi would like to express his love and reverence for his father through the following letter to him who just arrived in heaven. Taiwan churches have grown rapidly in recent years, but has become more and more enterprise-oriented. A pastor couple from the United States recently came to Taiwan to share the experience of church planting. Mr and Mrs Tony and Felicity Dale, U.S. Simply Church Movement leaders, attended the "2018 Church Planting Movement Conference" on May 2nd to 4th and shared about the concept and practice of home churches. The Core Concept of Simply Church: Disciple Training Dr Donald Dale, father of Tony Dale, is a medical missionary sent from the United Kingdom to Taiwan. He made a great contribution to the churches in Taiwan. Tony Dale was born and raised in Taiwan and he feels great calling for evangelizing in Taiwan. Tony Dale is currently the head of a medical service company. He has established over 100 home churches in 20 years. He pointed out that the model of home churches was inspired by the Southern Baptist Church in China, which developed the core concept of "disciple training" under persecution in a perilous environment. Such concept is about how to train disciples and teach believers to solely follow God. Tony Dale explained that "disciple training" is like when Jesus was living with his 12 disciples, He taught them the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven and they loved, confessed their sins and prayed for one another. How Home Churches Operate During home church gatherings, believers can follow the "four marks". Tony Dale said that the first one is "question mark", which means to ask questions. Everyone shares their opinions according to the Bible. The second is "light bulb". Believers can share new ideas and thoughts. The third is "bow and arrow", which guides believers to the core of life and changes their lives, like a hunter hitting the bullseye. The fourth is "ears". Believers write down the ideas and insights they hear in the gathering and share with others, especially nonbelievers. Felicity Dale, the wife of Tony Dale, shared the example of a church in the center of an American city. The company is a church. When new employees join the company, they receive trainings based on the values of the Bible and are being influenced by them. That church even carries out 25 outreach ministries, which bring influence on many people in the work place in the city center. The characteristic of home churches is to "multiply simple churches". In recent years, Pastor Tony and Felicity Dale promote simple churches and disciple training movements to help church pastors break away from the structure of traditional churches in church planting and enter the society and workplace to reach out to people who are not easily accessible through traditional church models. Taiwan Promotes Home Churches Pang Chih-chin, who is working with the 153 Horn Ministry, said that he plans to promote home churches in Taiwan and to accomplish the goal within three years. He pointed out that there are 7,853 villages in Taiwan and each village will have at least one home church. After three years, he hopes to have over 20,000 gathering places to conduct one-on-one disciple training, Bible studies, other equipping courses, etc. (Translated from Chinese.GospelHerald.com) Due to the lack of teaching periods, the recent development consultation for the Hong Kong Junior Secondary Chinese History curriculum proposed to remove the history of Christianity in China. This section includes Western missionaries, such as Matteo Ricci and Robert Morrison, who brought Catholicism and Christianity to China. However, Principal Cheng Kwun Kit and other history teachers point out that Christian history in China played a vital role in the modernization of China and the development of Hong Kong. Therefore, it would be unreasonable to omit this topic from the junior secondary curriculum. The brief account of the activities about Christianity in China is included in Religious Studies under Cultural Study in the Chinese history syllabus Section B. There are five lessons together with the activities about Buddhism, Taoism, Muslim, etc. During 2016, the Education Bureau released the first consultation, which suggested the inclusion of the technological achievements and influences in the Ming Dynasty brought about by the return of Christianity. Such topics would be included in the lesson about the Ming Dynasty in secondary two. In 2017, the Bureau released the second consultation, which the above topic was suggested to be removed due to the lack of teaching periods during the school year. They consented because teachers requested to emphasize on the downfall of each dynasty. However, Chinese history teachers at Christian schools think that the Christian activities in China were not limited to evangelizing. They also encouraged Eastern countries to acquire Western knowledge. They had a deep influence in the modernization of China and the development of Hong Kong. The teachers also believe that learning about these events could allow students to have a better understanding of how this history came about. For example, why did missionaries make Hong Kong their base when evangelizing to China? What is the role that Hong Kong plays in China's modern history? How about nowadays? etc. If the topics are removed from the curriculum and the students only learn about the rise and falls in history, the teachers believe that it would affect both teachers and students and they could not even explain why their schools were founded by churches. Principal Cheng Kwun Kit from Ying Wa College, which was founded 200 years ago, commented, "Our school was founded during that time. In the early years, the missionaries translated the Bible and some Chinese classics at our school. They also published the first Chinese newspaper, Chinese Serial, in Hong Kong." He also points out that both the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement initiated by Hong Xiu Quan and Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Revolutionary Principles were created under Christian influence. He says, "if the students only focus on the events in history, but not the context and cultural backgrounds behind them, they would have only scratched the surface of the matter and the materials would lack complexity." Moreover, he thinks the Christian history in China is particularly important for understanding the interaction between Hong Kong and China, which the new syllabus emphasizes. "One of the topics for the Chinese History Syllabus is Religious Activities and Cultural Exchange, therefore it is an important topic. It is unreasonable to completely omit this topic from the junior secondary syllabus." Principal Cheng Kwun Kit reiterates that teachers should reflect on how to help students fill the void in history if they replace the cultural topics due to the lack of teaching periods. (Translated from Chinese.GospelHerald.com) Islamic extremists in Indonesia, including a family of suicide bombers that targeted three churches, launched multiple attacks yesterday and today that reportedly killed at least 12 people not including the assailants. The father of the family that killed the Christians on Sunday (May 13), Dita Futrianto, was the suspected head of the local cell of an Islamic State-inspired network called Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), the BBC reported, citing police. Futrianto was reported to have dropped off his wife, Puji Kuswati, and their two daughters, ages 9 and 12, at Diponegoro Indonesian Christian Church in Surabaya, East Java. With her two daughters present, Kuswati hugged a parishioner before detonating her bomb, according to the Associated Press, citing a security guard. At Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church, Futrianto then drove his car onto the church grounds and detonated explosives. Earlier in the morning his sons, ages 16 and 18, had ridden motorcycles into Santa Maria Catholic Church and detonated their explosives. Police reportedly said the second and third church attacks came five minutes apart. East Java police told reporters today that 13 of the 25 dead were the assailants, according to the Jakarta Post. The newspaper reported that 12 people died in the church attacks. Two other churches were targeted as well, but bombs failed to explode at St. Jacob's Church in West Surabaya and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, according to the Post. Another family reportedly attacked a police station this morning (May 14), wounding 10 people, including police officers. The four perpetrators on two motorbikes died after driving into the building gateway and detonating explosives, according to police, who said an 8-year-old girl on one of the motorcycles was thrown from the vehicle but survived. On Sunday night (May 13), a bomb in the Wonocolo low-cost housing complex in Sidoarjo exploded prematurely, killing a woman and her 17-year-old child, police said. Officers reportedly found the father of the family in the house holding a detonator and shot him. The family's 12-year-old son reportedly took two younger sisters to the Bhayangkara Police hospital. Police said they killed four suspected members of JAD in Cianjur, West Java Province, and arrested two others, according to the BBC. The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for Sunday's church attacks in Indonesia. The bombings, the deadliest in Indonesia in more than a decade, also wounded more than 40 people, police told journalists. IS first mounted attacks in Indonesia in 2016, claiming the lives of four civilians in explosions and shootings. It also claimed responsibility for an attack on a high-security prison near Jakarta that killed five security forces personnel earlier this month, among other attacks. Al-Qaeda has carried out the worst attacks in Indonesia, killing more than 200 people on the island of Bali in 2002. Other attacks killed 22 people on the island of Sulawesi in May 2005, and 20 in Bali later that year. On Feb. 11 in Central Java's city of Yogyakarta, a Muslim extremist attacked a Catholic church. The 23-year-old identified as Suliyono of Bayuwangi in East Java wounded a priest and three others during Mass at St. Lidwina Catholic Church. The Jakarta Post quoted National Police spokesman Setyo Wasisto as saying that the assault fit a pattern of recent attacks by terrorists in other countries, and that Suliyono had been radicalized after joining several religious organizations, which he declined to name, while a student in Sulawesi. Indonesia ranked 38th on Christian support organization Open Doors' World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is mot difficult to live as a Christian. The marine environment is critical to Grenadas economy and closely linked to the islands income generating tourism sector. Grenadas tri-island ocean state is not just a hub of maritime activity, but also home to unique marine biodiversity The farm bill, which included substantial changes to food stamps , failed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.The legislation, crafted by Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee, would have imposed stricter work requirements on more food stamp applicants and eliminated options that states have to expand or ease eligibility rules. It also would have invested about 10 times more money per year in workforce training programs.The bills defeat may spell the end of any serious effort to make major changes to federal anti-poverty programs through legislation in 2018. But theres still one place where advocates of stricter eligibility requirements are likely to have some success: states.In the past few years, many states -- most recently Tennessee and West Virginia -- have chosen to end federal waivers that allowed able-bodied adults to receive food stamps without working or participating in job training. In Wisconsin, which began letting those waivers expire in 2015, Gov. Scott Walker also signed legislation that requires more hours of work or training and imposes those requirements on more people, including parents of school-age children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the food stamp program, is also reportedly interested in allowing state waivers to drug test food stamp recipients.But the farm bill was the Trump administration's best chance to enact nationwide welfare reform on a more permanent basis. Congress reauthorizes the farm bill, which sets funding and eligibility rules for the food stamp program, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), every five years. The bill died because Democrats opposed the SNAP changes, and many conservatives felt they didnt go far enough.The vote casts doubt on whether House Speaker Paul Ryan, a long-time proponent of stronger work provisions for federal anti-poverty programs, will pass any major welfare legislation this year. U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, the Republican chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has said the Senate version of the farm bill would be bipartisan and would not seek to restructure SNAP.The House farm bill, which would have resulted in an estimated 1.2 million people losing benefits over the next 10 years, drew criticism from all corners of the political spectrum.The American Public Human Services Association, a bipartisan group representing state and local agencies, took issue with provisions that would have rolled back state flexibility in deciding whether to make work programs voluntary or mandatory, whether to waive federal work requirements when a local area lacks jobs, and whether to loosen eligibility criteria to boost benefits or add near-poor residents.Some of the groups strongest language came in the context of the work requirements: What states do not want or need to be effective are highly prescriptive instructions and rigid, administratively cumbersome federal reporting requirements that often measure the wrong performance indicators and divert staff time from focusing on getting people employed.At the same time, the Secretaries Innovation Group (SIG), a conservative coalition of state agency heads serving Republican governors, complained that the House farm bill would still provide too many ways for states to exempt people from working, looking for work or participating in training.Under the failed bill, states would have continued to have the ability to seek state or local area work requirement waivers from the federal government when unemployment was high. States would also have had the option of exempting up to 15 percent of their SNAP caseload from work requirements for other reasons, such as undiagnosed disabilities. Despite decades of being a relatively nonpartisan program, Title X -- the only federal grant program exclusively for family planning and reproductive health -- is gearing up to be front and center of a debate about abortion.On Friday, the Trump administration will reportedly propose a rule that prohibits Title X funding from going to organizations that perform or support the procedure."Any grantees that perform, support, or refer for abortion have a choice -- disentangle themselves from abortion or fund their activities with privately raised funds," a Trump official told CNN. Federal funds already can't be spent directly on abortions because of the 1976 Hyde Amendment. Any federal money that organizations like Planned Parenthood get is instead used for other women's health services. But the Trump administration's new rule would take the Hyde Amendment a step further.Opponents call it the "domestic gag rule" because it's similar to the "global gag rule," which prohibits American aid money from going to overseas organizations that provide or support abortions.Planned Parenthood's executive vice president says it would harm women's health overall."Under this rule, people will not get the health care they need. They won't get birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, or even general women's health exams," Dawn Laguens told NBC News. Groups against abortion applauded the proposal."This money will now be redirected to comprehensive family health and planning centers that dont perform abortions and understand that abortion is not healthcare," said Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, in a statement. Most of the patients at Planned Parenthood and similar clinics are below the federal poverty level The proposed rule may not come as a surprise to some. The Trump administration started the Title X grant application process several months late this year and revamped the application. It eliminated the Obama administration's focus on all forms of contraception and instead emphasizes abstinence-only sex education and natural family planning methods -- neither of which had historically been part of Title X.Theyve moved away from the core tenet of Title X, which is nonintrusive care, says Jessica Marcella, vice president of advocacy and communications at the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.That organization, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and three Planned Parenthood affiliates, already launched a legal attack on those application changes, so it's likely that they will also fight this new proposal in court. This week, 20 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit.Because the Trump administration began the Title X application process late, some grants could expire before new ones are awarded. That could leave organizations scrambling to make ends meet.Some states, however, are taking preventative action. In February, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, announced $1.6 million in supplemental funds for Title X grantees in case their federal funding dries up.But Title X isn't the only federal family planning program being targeted for cuts or changes.Last summer, the Trump administration ended the grants for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. Baltimore was one of the places to lose funding.The funds were [already allocated], and we received no explanation as to why. The teen pregnancy rate in Baltimore has fallen 61 percent [from 2000-2016], so we want to protect the gains weve made, says Leana Wen, Baltimores health commissioner.The health department sued, and a judge sided with the city last month, ordering the Trump administration to restore the grants. But soon after that ruling, the White House released new guidelines for the grants, with a focus on abstinence-only education.To understand what happens when women's health clinics lose government funding, look no further than Wisconsin.The Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has been the Title X grantee for the state since the grants inception in 1970 and is one of the Planned Parenthood affiliates currently filing suit against the Trump administration. In 2011, GOP Gov. Scott Walker defunded Planned Parenthood from the state budget. As a result, five clinics closed across the state."One of the many lessons weve learned under Gov. Walker is that when we closed a clinic, no one stepped in to provide that care. So theres a real gap now for women and children in Wisconsin," says Nicole Safar, director of government affairs and legal advocacy for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.Up until now though, regardless of any decisions made by the state, Safar says they could always count on federal Title X and teen pregnancy prevention funds. The Trump administration's proposal now puts them in jeopardy.Half of Title X grantees are state health departments. The once-bipartisan program was signed into law by President Richard Nixon and at the time was championed by President George H.W. Bush -- then a congressman. In 2007, his son, George W. Bush, signed the largest increase of Title X funding since the Clinton era.Fast forward a decade, though, and 13 states have prohibited clinics that provide abortions from receiving Title X money -- despite the fact that no federal money directly pays for abortion services. Last month, Nebraska became the 14th state. Just before Barack Obama left the White House, he finalized a rule that would have prohibited more states from withholding Title X money to centers that provide abortions. President Trump rolled back the rule during his first few months in office.For Wen, the Baltimore health commissioner who is also a doctor, this issue comes down to what's most effective.We always have to follow evidence and science," she says. "Weve implemented interventions in Baltimore that have worked." San Francisco's mayor wants to create a special medical team -- the first of its kind in the nation -- to spread out onto the city's streets and give homeless people a drug that one expert calls "blindingly effective" at abruptly stopping heroin cravings.Mayor Mark Farrell is set to announce Thursday that he is including $6 million in his current budget proposal to fund the 10-person team over the next two years, with the aim of prescribing the medication buprenorphine to at least 250 street addicts.Buprenorphine, widely available only in recent years and commonly known by its main brand name Suboxone, works faster and causes fewer side effects than methadone. Given the heroin epidemic that is swelling the city's streets with dirty needles and addled users, it's being seen as a potential game-changer."The consequences of standing still on this issue are unacceptable," Farrell told The Chronicle. "Drug abuse is rampant on our streets, and the recipe of waiting for addicts to come into a clinic voluntarily is not working. Plain and simple. So we're going to take a different approach."The Department of Public Health, which will run the team, began testing out the effectiveness of prescribing buprenorphine in tent camps in 2016 -- and since then, nearly 60 percent of the approximately 200 people who began taking the drug are still working on being clean, officials said. That is remarkable considering more than 80 percent of heroin users relapse into addiction after starting treatment; most then give treatment another try.The department estimates there are 11,000 heroin addicts in San Francisco who use needles. There is no accurate count on how many of those are homeless, but it is believed to be in the thousands. The Public Works Department alone picks up more than 12,500 discarded needles every month at homeless hot spots and encampments."This is a great innovation because we are going out to people where they are, not waiting for them to come to us," said Director of Public Health Barbara Garcia. "We want to get people into treatment because of not just the heroin epidemic, but the danger of overdose. But we have this situation where people can be afraid to come in for care because of the stigma and maybe even a fear of being arrested even though we don't arrest people in our clinics."So we're making sure, with this approach, that we really reach people," she said. "This is what the rest of the country needs to think about. They need to follow our lead on this."The money Farrell proposes to spend would come from the city's general fund, but about $900,000 would be reimbursed each year to the city by Medi-Cal.Dr. Alex Stalcup, a national expert in addiction technique and head of a clinic in the East Bay, said he is excited at the prospect of San Francisco launching a buprenorphine team. He has been prescribing it on a limited basis at his clinic since 1990, when he first heard of "this amazing new drug" in Britain."From the very first patient, I was nearly on the edge of tears when I saw buprenorphine's effect," Stalcup said. "I saw people coming in throwing up, messing their pants, in terror from the junk (heroin), and 15 minutes later they were sitting up having a cup of tea. It is blindingly effective."It clearly saves lives. It ought to be part of the national program. And people who go into tents, like San Francisco has done to distribute Suboxone, they are my heroes."Methadone is considered an effective treatment for heroin addiction. But the advantage of buprenorphine is that rather than gradually pulling an addict away from cravings as methadone does, it stops them almost immediately -- and, unlike methadone, it blocks opioid receptors in the body so effectively that it's virtually impossible to overdose, or even feel an effect, if a user relapses and shoots smack.Like methadone, however, buprenorphine must then be taken regularly to keep the hunger for heroin suppressed. Most patients can taper off buprenorphine quicker than methadone to become medication-free, but for each some doctors recommend long-term usage. They also recommend a range of other treatments and therapies, in conjunction with medication, to help those with substance use disorder stay clean.Perhaps most significantly, however, is the legal aspect that makes the proposed new team possible. Under federal law, methadone can be prescribed and disseminated only at a special methadone clinic. But buprenorphine can be prescribed by a doctor and handed out immediately at a pharmacy, and the drug can be given to an addict in a one-week pack of daily doses, which means he or she won't have to return for resupply right away.In a pinch, the street team can go fetch the medication and give it to the addict on the spot -- an important capability, given the notorious inability of chronically homeless people to keep appointments. But driving a user quickly to a pharmacy has worked very well, said Dr. Barry Zevin, who led the buprenorphine test program, and as head of the public health Street Medicine division would oversee the new team."This treatment has been remarkably effective," Zevin said the other day as he saw patients at his downtown clinic. "In the short term and the long term, it takes away any craving for opioids, and that's quite an amazing effect."It also sits on the opioid receptors and won't let anything else in, which prevents overdoses and the feeling of being high. Almost everyone is initially skeptical about that, but it's true. And yes, it is amazing.""Amazing" is also how 24-year-old Ronald Sellers describes what buprenorphine has done for him since Zevin helped get him on the medication eight months ago at his tent encampment in the Bayview neighborhood."I tried methadone, but I couldn't go in to the clinic every day while I was living in a tent," Sellers said when he dropped into Zevin's clinic for a checkup. "But Suboxone? It stopped my heroin craving, like, right then and there -- and I got to take home a week's supply. I was able to get straight for the first time in years."After letting Zevin's team work on his other medical issues, including recurring sores, Sellers finally moved into a Navigation Center all-service shelter two weeks ago and is now on track to get permanent housing. Drawing people in for encompassing medical care is a prime secondary goal of the buprenorphine program, Zevin said, and Sellers chuckled when he mentioned that."Seriously, I never trusted doctors before, but this guy -- he actually talks to me, and not just to write some s---ass report," Sellers said. "If he hadn't talked to me about Suboxone I probably wouldn't get (help for) all the other stuff."Zevin allowed himself a small smile. "See you next Monday?" he said."Yes sir," Sellers replied. Two state lawmakers got into a fist fight in a downtown Baton Rouge bar just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, both admitted hours later in their respective chambers, apologizing to other members, their constituents and each other.State Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, and Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, "had a gentleman's disagreement and settled it with our hands" at the River Room, a posh cocktail lounge, as first reported by The News Star.As news of the fisticuffs spread through the State Capitol on Wednesday, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, downplayed the incident during his monthly call-in radio show, saying he considers Bishop and Chabert friends."They're both good friends of mine, and they are good friends with one another," Edwards said. "Every now and then people get too passionate and things can get out of hand.""It doesn't exactly reflect well on the House or Senate or state government but I think it's something we can all get past," Edwards added.Bishop earlier took to the House floor to address the fight."One of my colleagues and I from across the hall had a disagreement and it got physical," he said, facing his colleagues in the chamber. "I feel like it was unbecoming of a gentleman or unbecoming of a member of this House. For that, I truly apologize if I did anything to upset y'all or make y'all look bad, because the integrity of this body is one thing that I cherish and I hold very dear."Chabert later took the Senate floor, also expressing remorse."It's something you never want to have to live with. But when you do it, you have to own it," he said. "We're still friends, we're always going to be friends and we're going to continue to do our best for our constituents and this state."Police were called, but no arrests were made. There were no serious injuries and in separate interviews with The Advocate both legislators called their brawl "not serious."River Room Owner Brad Watts said he was told in the morning that someone with the group broke up the altercation, and they all left together. Watts added that nothing was broken and no one was hurt, but the bartender called the police and then the general manager out of caution."There's a lot of spirited debate in the River Room," Watts said. "It just doesn't always lead to fisticuffs."Watts said the group from Tuesday night are at the bar, located just blocks from the State Capitol, often during session."I think even they found humor in it," Watts said. "It is Louisiana politics at its best or worst, I don't know what the right adjective is, but it's not surprising."By the end of the day, members and others were cracking wise about the ordeal and, at one point, someone placed caution tape around Bishop's Capitol desk.Lawmakers are working toward an early end to the regular session as soon as Friday so that the Legislature can enter its sixth special session since January 2016.In an interview with The Advocate, Chabert said the incident stemmed from ongoing arguments on coastal issues between the two, and not a specific bill.Bishop, meanwhile, said the fight was over a bill to alter the make-up of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board. Chabert's bill, Senate Bill 433, would grant voting power to two legislative members on the executive-branch board, which Bishop changed through amendment.Edwards said he, too, had heard that the fight stemmed from a disagreement over the CPRA make-up. 'Many hateful messages' In violation of new law Free legal assistance Cody Wisniewski made good on his threat Tuesday night to sue Boulder and its council, mounting a legal challenge to the city's ban on assault weapons fewer than 24 hours after it was voted into law.The staff attorney for Denver-based Mountain States Legal Foundation filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver on behalf of Boulder resident and media personality Jon Caldara, the Boulder Rifle Club and the Bison Tactical gun shop.The federal lawsuit claims the ordinance -- which bans the sale and possession of assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines -- violates the plaintiffs' Constitutional rights.Twenty-year-old Tyler Faye, of Boulder, also is named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit because the city's new ordinance raises the age for legal firearm ownership from 18 to 21.Neither Wisniewski nor Caldara, a radio and television host who also is the president of the Independence Institute, responded to requests for comment Thursday. Representatives from Boulder Rifle Club and Bison Tactical, a gun shop at 2041 Broadway, also could not be reached.The lawsuit says Caldara, the rifle club and Bison Tactical would continue possessing and selling assault weapons if not for the Boulder City Council's unanimous decision Tuesday night to ban the weapons within city limits."The right of self defense is an unalienable, natural and fundamental right," the lawsuit reads. "The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution memorializes the right of self defense."Upon passage, Ordinance 8245 immediately became law in the City of Boulder, thereby infringing upon the rights of all of Boulder's 108,707 residents," the lawsuit reads.The plaintiffs are seeking a declaratory judgment finding the Boulder assault weapon ordinance unconstitutional and a permanent injunction enjoining the city from enforcing provisions of "Ordinance 8245."The plaintiffs also are seeking compensatory damages, reimbursement for attorneys' fees and other costs in bringing the lawsuit.The lawsuit names City Manager Jane Brautigam, police Chief Greg Testa, Mayor Suzanne Jones, Mayor Pro Tem Aaron Brockett and the other seven council members as defendants.Boulder's elected leaders also have been faced with a flood of criticism from gun owners since Councilwoman Jill Adler Grano first proposed the ban in February. Grano said the scope and intensity of the feedback has increased noticeably since Tuesday night's vote."Many of the emails have been respectful, too -- I don't want to characterize them all as vulgar," she said Thursday. "But there's been a lot. Many, many hateful messages, lots of profanity."Brockett said his council Facebook page was targeted by a national effort led by pro-assault weapons groups. Dozens of users from around the country are commenting on a post Brockett had made in early May regarding the ban with a copy-and-paste form message.Others were more original in their thoughts, sharing insults and memes."It's not fun to get nasty messages," Brockett said. "But I feel strongly about what we're doing to protect our community. It makes it tolerable."Councilwoman Mirabai Nagle -- who Tuesday night voiced a teary opposition to the ban before voting in support of it -- on Thursday reaffirmed her position and said she has received support from gun-rights supporters. She is named in the suit nonetheless.Among the plaintiffs, Faye owns one or more firearms in compliance with state and federal law that are now banned by the Boulder ordinance because he is not yet 21 years old, the lawsuit says. He also has magazines that accept more than 10 rounds, which don't violate state or federal law but do violate Boulder's new ordinance."At 18 years of age, a U.S. citizen can: vote in a federal election, join the U.S. military without guardian permission, and die in combat for his or her country," the lawsuit reads. U.S. citizens can also buy a firearm, it says.The lawsuit says Caldara owns one or more gun magazines capable of accepting more than 10 rounds, which is legal under state and federal law but not under the new ordinance. Caldera owns one or more firearms that are banned by the ordinance and "plans to continue possessing lawfully owned property to acquire additional property implicated by Ordinance 8245."The bylaws of Boulder Rifle Club, which has existed since 1889, requires it to support the constitutional right of all its members to keep and bear arms, the lawsuit says. By bringing this lawsuit, the club is representing the interests of its hundreds of members, the lawsuit says.A violation of the new ordinance could result in sentences of up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $1,000 -- though Boulder officials have acknowledged that it will be difficult to enforce. It bans certain pistols and semi-automatic rifles with pistol grips, a folding or telescoping stock or any protruding grip that allows a weapon to be stabilized with the non-trigger hand.City Attorney Tom Carr said Boulder has received offers of gratis help from "outside law firms" that will reduce the impact of both cost and time to city staff.Council members Grano and Brockett said they are confident the law will stand up to a legal challenge. Similar bans in several other states and cities across the U.S. -- including Denver and Vail -- have been upheld by courts; Massachusetts' was affirmed by a federal judge in early April."Every other amendment in the Bill of Rights we temper in some way for the safety of our society," said Grano. "The Second Amendment is the one that has been let go to such far extremes." 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 Thursday, in the afternoon, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey returned to Brisbane from official travel to Cloncurry. Following, at Parliament House, the Governor presided at a meeting of the Executive Council. Following, at RAAF Base Amberley, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey attended a formal dinner to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the RAAF Combat Support Group, and the Governor addressed guests. Description GIS 18 May, 2018: The Home Solar Project was inaugurated yesterday at the residence of Mrs Marie Valerie Priscile Manan at Allee Jacques, Cascavelle, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Mr Ivan Collendavelloo. The Home Solar Project was inaugurated yesterday at the residence of Mrs Marie Valerie Priscile Manan at Allee Jacques, Cascavelle, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Mr Ivan Collendavelloo. This project, to be implemented by the Central Electricity Board (CEB) and CEB (Green Energy) Co. Ltd aims at installing solar photovoltaic systems on rooftops of 10 000 households in Social Category tariff 110A as part of the Governments efforts to alleviate poverty whilst contributing to the national target of achieving 35% of renewable electricity in the energy mix by 2025. In the first instance, around 2 000 households will be targeted per year. It will be implemented in five phases over the next five years. The pilot phase (1 000 Solar PV Kits) has been completed at 10 different places in the region of Black River and Bramsthan. The first 10 Solar PV Kits has been installed in these regions. In his address, Mr Collendavelloo expressed his satisfaction that the project has started while adding that it is the first time that people from the lower rungs of society will be able to consume electricity that they will produce themselves through solar panels. He lauded the Home Solar Project which he said is a significant one since it aims at helping low-income communities to be energy sufficient, save energy costs and protect the environment. He added that the CEB will pay for the installation of the photovoltaic panels on the rooftops of those households which have been identified. The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that in a bid to promote the development of renewable Energy particularly solar energy for generation of electricity, the CEB (Green Energy) Co. Ltd, a private company fully owned by the CEB, was set up in October 2016. Speaking about the Home Solar Project, Mr Collendavelloo underlined that a sum of Rs 350 million (USD 10 million) has been obtained as a loan from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for the implementation of this project. According to him, the project will bring 10 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity into the grid, resulting in savings of over USD 35 million in fossil fuel imports over the project lifetime and improvements in the energy security of the country. People in low income communities will also benefit from significant electricity bill savings, he added. Furthermore, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that the Home Solar Project earned an IRENA Award International Recognition on 13 January 2018, as supported by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the IRENA, the global platform for international cooperation on renewable energy. The Project ranked first out of all 89 projects submitted to IRENA. He recalled that the Director General of IRENA, Mr Adnan Z. Amin, had congratulated Mauritius for the quality and the innovativeness of the Home Solar Project which will support low income households and improve their quality. (TNS) Faced with cybersecurity threats to their voting systems, Florida election supervisors say they want access to the $19 million in federal election security money Congress approved for all 50 states nearly two months ago.But the state doesn't have the money partly because it hasn't submitted the necessary paperwork and election officials say they're growing impatient."We sure wish the money was available. It's frustrating," said Supervisor Mark Earley in Tallahassee's Leon County. "This is a big deal. There's certainly room for improvement, especially in smaller counties."Congress included $380 million in a 2018 budget bill and in March directed the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to distribute the money to states. President Donald Trump signed the budget bill on March 23."The EAC is releasing this money quickly so that the grants can have an immediate impact," the commission said on March 29. The money will help counties "immediately begin system upgrades."The feds say the money can be spent to replace voting equipment using paper ballots (the system in Florida); create post-election audit systems to ensure accurate results; upgrade voting systems to protect against "cybervulnerabilities," and train employees.Meanwhile, elections officials say they need to harden systems against threats, improve technological security and better educate voters. All that costs money.Plus, there's an urgency to spending that money sooner rather than later, like after November. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has said that Florida's importance as the nation's biggest battleground state makes the state a prime target for attempted cyberattacks like the kind that took place in 2016, when the FBI called election supervisors together on a Friday afternoon to warn them of a "malicious act in a jurisdiction in Florida."Elections officials are looking locally for money now, preparing next year's budgets to present to county commissioners.This week, for instance, the election supervisor in Gainesville, Kim Barton, asked for more money for a truck, costs of printing an exceptionally long ballot, and for a new computer monitoring sensor known as ALBERT.But what about all that federal money?Paul Lux, supervisor of elections in Okaloosa County and the new president of the supervisors' statewide association, said: "We are still in an ongoing conversation with the state over disbursement of these funds."Lux called Florida "one of the most proactive states" in taking steps to fight intrusions either by Russians or by others determined to disrupt the Florida voting system.Still, time is running out. With a statewide primary election a little more than three months away, the state has not relayed too much information about the money, said Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Christina White.Florida's share of the federal pot is $19.2 million. By law, states must match 5 percent of the federal total, or about $959,000 in Florida."The Department of State is in the process of determining the best use of this funding to support state and local election officials in order to ensure the continued security and integrity of Florida's elections," said agency spokeswoman Sarah Revell.Florida still must submit extensive paperwork to qualify for the money.Every state must submit a detailed summary of timeline, description and project details to the feds to get the money, Revell said.She said that when the money finally does arrive, hopefully by summer, the state will have to obtain legislative approval to spend it.Revell said the agency is focused on distributing $1.9 million in federal money to counties to pay for network monitoring security solutions to check for suspicious activity in voting systems.Scott asked the Legislature for five cybersecurity experts in the state Division of Elections, but lawmakers rejected the request.Instead, the state will hire five consultants with cybersecurity expertise. The application window for those five positions closes today. On the job a little more than three months, Minnesotas new head of IT has made a quick start, beginning with key changes to the agencys organizational culture and management of large tech projects, while monitoring cybersecurity and testifying a tremendous amount to lawmakers.Members of the states 90th Legislature have had numerous questions for Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) Commissioner Johanna Clyborne, the states chief information officer, many surrounding ongoing improvements and updates to the new Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS), which has had difficulty with the timely processing of vehicle paperwork.Clyborne, who was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton and started on Feb. 2 , after the departure of CIO Tom Baden , is a founding partner of the Shakopee, Minn.-based law firm Brekke, Clyborne and Ribich. Shes also a brigadier general in the Minnesota National Guard and its director of the joint staff.In an interview with, Clyborne repeatedly praised the work of MNIT staff, months after one state senator proposed reorganizing the division over MNLARS woes, and cautioned against expecting quick fixes to potentially deep-seated technology issues.The commissioner said she is still assessing state IT, but has already set in motion several changes to how MNIT operates at least one of which includes improving the environment that may have led to the troubled launch of MNLARS in July.First funded by the Legislature in 2008, the troubled system had a narrow, first-phase rollout in 2014 after the state terminated work with vendor Hewlett-Packard. Minnesota subsequently took the project in-house and MNIT and the Department of Vehicle Services (DVS) completed it at a cost of at least $90 million.Since taking the helm at MNIT, Clyborne said she has held town hall meetings and has created an anonymous reporting process that gives email users the option to include their contact information when identifying an issue or remain unknown. Responses, she said have included everything from praise to questions about methodology and recommendations about program development.Clyborne described her leadership style as "you are free to disagree, but said that if you do not speak up when you see something going wrong or something is being done thats not kosher, youre just as at fault for not speaking up.The new CIO is now requiring status reporting and logging of issues, decisions and associated risks from team members working on IT projects. MNIT has also clamped down on testing shortcuts and is requiring full regression testing on all releases.In an effort to ensure information on project status and issues flows freely, the agency has implemented skip-level meetings to facilitate communication. The new CIO said she has emphasized that state employees must acknowledge their actions impact all Minnesotans and has worked to ensure that her chief business technology officers are comfortable informing her when theyre pressured by other agencies or by the Legislature to take shortcuts.The CIO said that type of pressure may have informed the MNLARS rollout, which was revealed to have cost residents, the state and dealers significant amounts of money by inhibiting the sale, license and registration of vehicles. In late November, the state announced that it would spend $26 million to hire FAST Enterprises of Colorado to create software, implementation services, conversion and training for Minnesotas drivers license IT system.Inability to challenge thinking the inability to challenge your peer, through peer review, and the inability to say This isnt right, I dont agree those are leadership failures that led in part to MNLARS. Not the sole reason, but a lot of it can be chalked up to leadership, Clyborne said.MNIT has formalized the governance process around MNLARS, it and the Department of Public Safety said in the first quarterly update on the system, delivered to the Legislative Oversight Committee April 30.The MNLARS Executive Steering Committee a 25-member group including Dana Bailey, MNIT executive director of projects and initiatives; Scott Lambert, president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association; as well as auto auction and registrar representatives meets weekly to discuss improvement and process timelines. Smaller project management, senior and executive leadership teams also meet weekly.But the state vehicle licensing and registration system is just one of the higher-profile responsibilities for Clyborne. The CIO pointed out that she is also charged with making the organizational changes needed to ensure MNIT continues to be the "premier centralized" IT service provider for state agencies and business partners, as well as identifying strategies for improving the states cybersecurity posture.That cybersecurity stance has been a discussion topic during Clybornes testimony to the state Legislature, however, it remains unclear whether lawmakers will fund all or a portion of the governors proposal to invest $19.7 million to minimize risk exposure, replace and upgrade unsecure equipment, deploy more sophisticated software to prevent attacks and fund continuous security monitoring.The investment that were proposing would enhance our position to fight against malicious cyberactivity. But Im also very cognizant I dont want to grow government for the sake of growing government. So, we want to work efficiently with the resources we have, Clyborne said, stressing the one thing I cant buy back is trust from residents should a cyberattack compromise their data.The states Real ID-compliant drivers license and ID card effort is also on track, the CIO said, and will deploy Oct. 1. That positive progress earned the state an enforcement extension earlier this month, to Oct. 1, 2020 giving residents nearly two-and-a-half more years before the licenses and ID cards are required for domestic air travel or access to federal facilities. As hurricane season approaches (June 1) the American Red Cross wants everyone in hurricane-prone areas to be reminded of some of the preparation that should take place before a hurricane hits.Thinking through how you would react to an approaching hurricane before it happens is probably the most important thing, said Tom Heneghan, senior manager of Community Preparedness Education. Being knowledgeable about where you would go, what you would take with you, and how you would leave your residence if you were forced to evacuate.The Red Cross recommends preparation in advance, including: Putting together an emergency kit Creating a household disaster plan and practicing it Being informed. Knowing the communitys evacuation plan and where to get information.Heneghan said being ready to leave, knowing where youre going and having friends and family know where you are going and how to reach you are some of the important things to remember.Planning ahead of time is probably the No. 1 thing the Red Cross would encourage folks to do. Making decisions like that and trying to figure out information like that when the hurricane is 24 hours out is a little late and limits your options.The good news about hurricanes is that you do get that warning of a couple of days to execute the plan and evacuate if necessary.The thing about hurricanes is at least you do get that countdown, usually 24, 36, 48 hours, so you have a pretty good idea and you can start making decisions. If you have a plan already it moves so much smoother and faster, Heneghan said.Its important to have a kit or supplies that you would need if forced to evacuate, such as three days of food and water, medications for seven days, a flashlight, batteries and battery-powered or hand-cranked radio and other personal items that you would need.Heneghan said its not necessary to buy the expensive kit, but that they are a good starting point and should be customized to individual needs prior to an event.You need to think about what are the things that if youre a way from home you would really want. Food and water is great, but you really need to customize it medications, documents those types of things. The last thing you want is to open up a kit and realize, Oh my gosh, theres stuff in here that I dont need, and I wish I had brought this or that.Having a family plan is important, especially if family members are dispersed when the time comes to evacuate. Its prudent to have someone you could call, and have it prearranged and have people in your household know where you would evacuate to and where your contact point would be, Heneghan said. So even if traveling and not at home, everyone knows the plan is to go to Uncle Johns.Also, knowing where to get information and understanding certain things about a hurricane, such as the difference between a hurricane warning and a hurricane watch. A warning indicates a hurricane is expected and a watch means that a hurricane is possible.He compared disaster preparation to exercising and eating right. Everyone knows they are good for you and you should do it, but getting started makes it difficult. Thats why the Red Cross urges just doing something, getting a start.You dont have to have a comprehensive plan, but at least start something, he said. Even just a quick conversation over dinner goes a really long way. Dont be intimidated into thinking you have to do everything. (TNS) WASHINGTON The FBI appears to have made headway in cracking a cybercrime extortion group that has plagued health and dental clinics, schools, law firms and even Hollywood production companies since 2016.Serbian authorities, saying they were working with the FBI, arrested a 38-year-old man, believed to be a member of The Dark Overlord, the nations Interior Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.The aim of the campaign was to uncover a large number of people who, using the name The Dark Overlord on the Internet, have (gained) unauthorized access to computer networks and data of at least 50 victims since June 2016, the statement said.The FBI declined comment.Hackers from The Dark Overlord have breached scores of U.S. institutions and clinics, freezing hard drives and demanding payment in bitcoin as ransom to decrypt files, including medical records. Theyve mocked and threatened victims, and have released private medical records and Social Security numbers on the internet to pressure for payment.In one case last October, the group issued threats to individual parents and students at Johnston Community School District in suburban Des Moines, Iowa, that forced schools to shut for a day.Our local police and the FBI were involved because we were like the third school district hit, said Laura Sprague, director of communications for the school district.Following the closure of schools on Oct. 3, a tweet from an account used by The Dark Overlord (@tdo(underscore)hackers) warned that the group had released a school directory and that Any child predator can now easily acquire new targets and even plan based on grade level.That same Twitter account minimized the arrest in Serbia of a man identified by authorities only as S.S., saying in a tweet late Wednesday: Law enforcement has proven to be most incompetent.Other school districts in Montana, Tennessee and Texas were also subject to ransom demands from The Dark Overlord, and dental and health clinics in Florida, New York, California, Missouri and Oklahoma reported breaches linked to the group, followed by ransom demands.The Serbian statement, translated using Google, said the cybercrime group had hit some 50 victims and the victims paid a total of more than $275,000.A look at the Twitter accounts used by the group, though, would indicate the list of victims may be much longer.The group gained some notoriety in April 2017 when it released 10 unaired episodes of the fifth season of the Netflix hit show Orange is the New Black, declaring that the Los Gatos, Calif., streaming media company had declined to pay a ransom. Two months later, the group released eight unaired episodes of ABCs Steve Harveys FUNDERDOME show.In an encrypted chat with a McClatchy reporter last year, a member of the group displayed the swagger and vulgarity that also marks the groups Twitter feed. The person suggested that the group did its victims, or clients, a favor by pointing out security flaws in their computer networks.Its easier to sign on as a client and pay up than it is to fight us. You will lose and fall with a great thud, the person told McClatchy at the time.The group has suggested on Twitter that some victims minimize the damage that they have suffered.On April 2, the group tweeted, Its true we breached the Waverly Police Department, referring to a small community in Virginia southeast of Richmond. However, we stole far more than they admitted, and were going to prove them wrong. (TNS) The establishment of the U.S. Armys new Cyber Command headquarters at Fort Gordon, Ga., will have a huge impact in Aiken County, S.C., Thomas Scott told the Rotary Club of Aiken during the organizations May 14 meeting at Newberry Hall.This entire region is going to see exponential growth like it has never seen before, said Scott, who is the executive director of SC Cyber. We all know that for the last 50 years or so, the Savannah River Site has been anchor for the community and community development as an economic engine. We fully expect that cyber will be that economic engine for the next 50 years.Launched in 2016, SC Cyber is a statewide initiative based at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. According to its website, SC Cybers mission is to develop the talent, techniques and tools to defend critical, connected infrastructures within South Carolina and the United States.Scott said a top priority for SC Cyber is to create a workforce ecosystem in Aiken and Edgefield counties that will provide residents with the training needed to fill jobs in the cybersecurity industry.That involves working closely with Dr. Sean Alford of the Aiken County Public School District, Dr. Forest Mahan of Aiken Technical College and Dr. Sandra Jordan of USC Aiken to build an education pipeline, Scott said.In Augusta, the Georgia Technology Authority is overseeing the construction of the Hull McKnight Georgia Cyber Center for Innovation and Training. The project has a budget of more than $100 million.Answering a question from the audience about job salaries, Scott said the average per year for information technology positions is $70,000.In the cybersecurity sector, the average for jobs related to the protection of data and privacy is $85,000. There a negative unemployment rate, Scott said. There are more jobs out there than there are people to fill them. The average starting salary is $60,000 to $70,000. These are career paths that should definitely be looked at.In South Carolina, the average salary for workers in all fields is $34,000, Scott said.SC Cyber has an office in North Augusta at the Municipal Building on Georgia Avenue.We are in the process of hiring someone to work there, Scott said. Fifty percent of the job will be community engagement, and 50 percent will be serving as my workforce development lead for the entire state.October is National Cyber Security Awareness month, and on Oct. 2, SC Cyber plans to hold a Cyber Day celebration in North Augusta.Scott said he recently hired an economics professor from the University of South Carolinas Darla Moore School of Business to do a study that will provide more detailed information about the economic impact of the Armys new Cyber Command headquarters and the cybersecurity industry in the Palmetto State.On Cyber Day, we hope to be able to provide the results of that report, Scott said. Mercedes-Benz Cars is expanding its production capacities for electric cars in Europe. The Hambach plant in France, which currently produces smart brand electric vehicles, will produce a compact electric car of the new product and technology brand EQ. Mercedes-Benz Cars plans to launch more than ten electric cars by 2022 throughout all segments, from smart to large SUVs. The company assumes that unit sales of electric models will represent a share of somewhere between 15 and 25 percent of total Mercedes-Benz sales by 2025. From 2020, the brand smart will only offer electric vehicles. Thereby, smart will be the first automotive brand of the world, which completely changes from combustion engines to electric drives. The Hambach site in France features many years of experience in building fully electric cars. We want to take advantage of the enormous expertise and prepare the plant for the production of an electric Mercedes-Benz. We are investing a total of around 500 million euros in the Hambach plant and in the product. Dr. Annette Winkler, Head of smart With the smart location in Hambach, Mercedes-Benz Cars has a longstanding competence center for the production of electric vehicles. In 2007 smart launched a battery-powered vehicle as a pioneer in e-mobility and has been producing electric smarts in series since 2012. Two electric vehicles, the smart EQ fortwo coupe and the smart EQ fortwo cabrio, are currently being produced there. In Germany the smart brand is the market leader among all-electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2018. The smart plant in Hambach already obtains all its electrical energy from renewable energy sources and is therefore CO 2 -neutral. With the production of a compact electric car in Hambach, we are adding further capacities for our electric initiative at six locations on three continents. The smart plant in Hambach will become a part of our global compact car production network with the lead plant Rastatt, Germany. Markus Schafer, Member of the Divisional Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain The production network of the new generation of compact cars includes the plant in Kecskemet, Hungary, the BBAC production site in Beijing, the COMPAS plant in Aguascalientes (Mexico) as well as the Finnish manufacturing service provider Valmet Automotive. The preparations for the new model in Hambach will start shortly. The investment of around 500 million ($589 million) will be spend for the construction of new facilities and also flow in the product itself, including a new body shop and surface treatment. The plant will also expand the assembly facilities and reshape the sites infrastructure. In the next few years, Mercedes-Benz Cars will invest 10 billion (US$11.8 billion) in the expansion of its electric fleet and around 1 billion in a global battery-production network within the worldwide production network. This will create a global battery-production network that will comprise six battery factories on three continents. With the smart EQ fortwo and the smart EQ fortwo cabrio, the smart plant Hambach is producing the fourth generation of electric vehicles of the small city car since 2017. The first Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle of the new product and technology brand EQ will roll off the assembly line at the Mercedes-Benz Bremen plant. Production of the EQC, a fully-electric SUV, will start in 2019. Shortly after, the EQC will also be produced at BBAC, the joint venture of Daimler and BAIC. Further locations for future EQ models of Mercedes-Benz are the Mercedes-Benz plants Rastatt (Germany), Sindelfingen (Germany), Tuscaloosa (US). Synthetic graphite electrode prices rose nine-fold through the first three quarters of 2017, increasing from US$1,748/t in January 2017 to a high of US$16,309/t in September, according to Roskill Information Services. Despite some fallback during the winter months, prices remained above US$15,600/t through February and March 2018. Spot prices were reported at up to US$35,000/t through late 2017, although most material is typically sold on a contract basis. Producers of crude steel, stainless steel and ferroalloys have all introduced electrode surcharges to pass on some of the rising costs to their customers. Outokumpu reported in its interim report for Q1 2018 that high graphite electrode costs were still having a negative impact on steelmaking profits in Europe. Consumers have been reluctant to pay the rapidly rising costs and drew down on graphite electrode stockpiles for as long as they could. The tight supply/demand situation for graphite electrodes is expected to persist for much longer than many market observers expect. Price rises are the result of a perfect storm of conditions in China, Roskill said. First, environmental plant closures in the raw material coal needle coke industry hampered the production of graphite electrodes. At the same time, consumption of graphite electrodes in electric arc furnaces (EAFs) began to rise as the Chinese government took steps to halt production of poor quality induction furnace steel. Scrap steel was banned from sale to such furnaces in early 2017, becoming available for use in EAFs. Meanwhile, needle coke is being increasingly diverted into the battery market. Batteries underpin growth in natural graphite. Synthetic graphite accounts for more than 60% of the worlds graphite consumption, with natural graphite accounting for the remainder. Both synthetic and natural graphite compete for use in lithium-ion battery anodes, along with an increasing amount of needle coke and other existing carbon materials. Natural graphite often provides a low-cost option, despite the extensive processing needed to transform mined product into the high carbon, low impurity, technical grades required for lithium-ion batteries. Natural flake graphite has to first be purified with high temperatures and strong acids and sphericalized into the intermediate product spherical graphite for use as an anode materiala process which is currently carried out only in China. Demand for graphite in battery applications is forecast to grow by 5-8% per year over the decade between 2017 and 2027, depending on the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storagethe largest end-use applications for lithium-ion batteries. Roskill forecasts that global sales of EVs and hybrid vehicles will increase rapidly in the coming years and could account for 69% of all motor vehicle sales by 2027. Rising flake graphite prices spur new development outside of China. The growing demand for spherical graphite has injected life into natural graphite supply chain development in the rest-of-world (ROW). Projects that had been quiet for a number of years during a time of price stagnation have begun to raise capital and progress projects supported by rising flake graphite prices through late 2017 and early 2018. By February 2018, flake graphite prices had increased by up to 50% since September 2017, and around 20 projects outside of China have now been developed to feasibility study or beyond. The focus for developers is now to produce the highest ratio of fine to medium-size flake, most-suited for spherical graphite. Developers can supply their larger flake sizes to refractories, which remain the largest market for flake graphite by tonnage, but one which is growing slowly thanks to Chinas weak crude steel growth rate. Extra-large jumbo flake sizes are increasingly sought after for use in the smaller, but rapidly growing, market of expandable/expanded graphite, used in flexible graphite products and fire-retardant materials. ROW still far from developing a spherical graphite supply chain. Syrah Resources jump-started the ROW graphite supply chain when it brought its Balama flake graphite project online in November 2017. The project, situated in the Cabo Delgado province of northern Mozambique, some 200 km (124 miles) west of the port town of Pemba, has the potential to become the largest in the world with plans to increase capacity to 350 ktpy in the future (around 60% of current global flake production). Near-term targets are still substantial at 160-180 ktpy of production in 2018 and 250-300 ktpy in 2019, although it is still too early to tell if the 2018 target will be achieved following minor setbacks to processing ramp-up early in the year, Roskill said. The focus for new natural graphite development remains in Africa, where almost 1 Mtpy of additional concentrate capacity has the potential to come online by 2027 with projects in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Tanzania. Other projects are also planned in Austria, Canada, India, Russia and the US. A major theme in recent years has been the attempt to establish a spherical graphite supply chain outside of China. Barriers to entry are high, including the need to develop alternative processing methods with a lower environmental impact than those used in China. Syrah Resources plans for a spherical graphite production plant in Louisiana were disrupted in early 2018 when the governing authority of the proposed port location determined the plant not to be a suitable fit for the site. Syrah has a binding sales agreement with Jixi BTR Graphite Industrial (a subsidiary of Chinas BTRthe largest producer of anode materials in the world) to supply 30 kt of graphite during the first year of production, which will be processed into spherical graphite in China. China remains the center of the graphite industry. China continues to dominate graphite production and demand, Roskill said. Almost all stages of the lithium-ion battery manufacturing chain are focussed on China and China is by far the largest and most rapidly growing market for lithium-ion batteries. In the electrode industry, China is on the brink of a rapid shift to EAF steel production. Just 6% of Chinas steel is currently produced in EAF, far below the global average of 25%. As high quality steel products reach the end of their lives in China and other Asian countries, the increasing availability of scrap steel will combine with Chinas plans to reduce its environmental footprint and drive a shift to EAF. It is likely that China will be able to meet its own steel demand with domestic scrap within a few years, Roskill said. In 2017, the closure of induction furnaces resulted in large amounts of scrap steel flooding the market, although much of this is believed to be low quality. Chinese exports of scrap steel increased from around 1,000 t in 2016 to 2.2 Mt in 2017. The Chinese government is unlikely to allow high exports to continue, however, and exports of steel scrap are now being discouraged with a 40% duty. Roskills Natural and Synthetic Graphite: Global Industry, Markets and Outlook to 2027 report will be published in May 2018 and details natural and synthetic production, consumption and market trends. Volvo Cars said that it will remove single-use plastics from all its offices, canteens and events across the globe by the end of 2019. The decision reflects the companys active support of the UN Environment Clean Seas campaign, and underlines its ambition to minimize its global environmental footprint. The automaker will replace more than 20 million single-use plastic items such as cups, food containers and cutlery with more sustainable alternatives, including biodegradable products made of paper, pulp and wood. This equates to the removal of more than 500 plastic items per employee per year. The switch will be implemented incrementally. By the end of 2018, single-use plastics will be removed from global events such as car launches, as well as from all offices and restaurants in Volvo Cars facilities in China, Belgium, the United States, Sweden and Malaysia. During 2019, all national sales companies (NSCs) will eradicate single-use plastics from their operations, including local events. Volvo Cars estimates that the 2018 roll-out alone will result in the replacement of more than 140 tonnes of single-use plastic items with plastic-free alternatives. Plastics pollution is one of the great environmental challenges of our time. We take our responsibility seriously. We must play our part in helping tackle this global problem. Stuart Templar, Director for Sustainability at Volvo Cars The European Commission is due to unveil its legislative proposals on single-use plastics by the end of the month. The companys action on single-use plastics follows its 300,000 (US$354,000) support for the Volvo Ocean Races Science Program. Several of the boats in the 2018-19 edition of the Race are equipped with sensors that are capturing data on marine health from some of the remotest parts of the worlds oceans, including levels of micro plastics. Sales of the V90 Cross Country Volvo Ocean Race special edition vehicles have contributed to this support. Meanwhile, the car itself contains carpet inlays made from Econyl, a fabric made from 100% recycled nylon, including abandoned fishing nets reclaimed from the seabed. In 2017, Volvo Cars announced an industry-leading commitment to electrify all new Volvo cars launched after 2019. Last month, Volvo Cars reinforced this strategy, by stating that it aims for fully electric cars to make up 50% of its global sales by 2025. In terms of operations, Volvo Cars aims to have climate-neutral manufacturing operations by 2025. In January this year, the engine plant in Skovde, Sweden, became its first climate-neutral facility. Haiti - Croix-des-Bouquets : Drinking water is coming to Canaan Wednesday, Mayor Rony Colin of Croix-des-Bouquets, in the presence of Deputy Mayors Jean Jonas Saint-Juste and Geraldine Cetoute, Mayor's Chief of Staff, Mr. Jacky C. Pierre and representatives of partner institutions at the Town Hall (Global Communities, American Red Cross, UCLBP, DINEPA, UN-HABITAT), has launched the construction works of a 500 m3 drinking water tank at Canaan 5 and the implementation of a drinking water supply network to supply the entire Canaan area. This project, initiated by the Croix-des-Bouquets Town Hall, benefited from the financial support of the American Red Cross and the technical support of Global Communities and the Housing and Public Buildings Unit (UCLBP). Several drinking water sites will be constructed and 7.5 linear km of pipeline from Sibert to Canaan will be installed to provide access to drinking water for the entire population of Canaan and surrounding areas. Let's remember that the town hall of Croix-des-Bouquets pays particular attention to Canaan and undertakes several works in the area including: the rehabilitation of several roads, the construction of community centers, schools, health centers, public squares and public markets... HL/ HaitiLibre The week that was By Jo Gilbert In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have put together a review of the top online news, Q&As, and opinion stories. Top Stories: This week there was news from new Bibendum and Matthew Clark owner C&C Group, which announced that former Bibendum head honcho, Michael Saunders, has re-joined the business as chief executive. The news was met with optimism by many, who recalled the integral role Saunders played in growing the company to become a market leader in the UK wine industry throughout the 1900s and 2000s. This was dampened slightly however two days later when C&C Group announced a drop in full-year net revenue and profit with sales hit by severe weather in the second half. Despite annual revenue dipping 4.9% to 548.2 million, the company said its Tennents, Magners and premium and wholesale businesses in the UK had performed strongly. Elsewhere, restaurant operators blasted rent and rate increases in London as unmanageable for their businesses, while Halewood announced the company is exploring potential sale options. CEO Stewart Hainsworth revealed the business is looking to replicate the success of its gin brand Whitley Neill abroad with a newly re-focused portfolio of artisanal spirits craft beers. Analysis and Insights: With UK wines and spirits taking the spotlight at the London Wine Fair next week, Jo Gilbert looked at how home-grown products are promoting a quality and evolving industry amid continued political and economic uncertainty. And we also picked out the key points made at the panel debate at Harpers recent Think Gin event, with insights from leaders in the category on how to continue gins still growing momentum. People and Opinion: A year into the job, Accolade UKs big chief, Ade McKeon, spoke to Andrew Catchpole about the new acquisition by Carlyle Group, and how it is likely to change things for the global Aussie wine business. We also continued our latest Meet the Buyers series with wine manager Andrew Harris, who oversees the evolving and quality wine portfolio at regional brewer, Harveys. Applicants Sought for Hawaii Elections Commission UPDATE: Hawaii Elections Commission (Kauai): Application Deadline Extended to June 15, 2018 News Release from Hawaii Judiciary, May 17, 2018 Hawaii Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has been notified by the State of Hawaii Elections Commission of the need to appoint two members to the commission to fill the following vacancies, under the authority conferred by Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 11-7(c) , and in the absence of a Senate Minority Leader: 1) The term of Charles King (County of Kauai) that expired on April 20, 2018, and 2) The term of Patricia Berg (County of Kauai) that will expire on June 30, 2018. As vacancies on the commission shall be filled with a person from the same county as the departing elections commission member, Chief Justice Recktenwald is soliciting applications from residents of the County of Kauai. Please note that persons currently taking an active part in political management or in political campaigns cannot serve on the commission. Any resident of the County of Kauai who is interested in serving on the State of Hawaii Elections Commission should submit a resume and cover letter that includes the following information: A statement explaining why he or she is qualified to serve on the commission. Education and employment history. A list of immediate relatives who serve in elected office. A disclosure of any pending litigation, tax, or criminal matter, any potential conflict of interest with regard to the duties of the commission, or anything else that could adversely affect your ability to serve on the commission. The names and contact information of three references. Cover letters and resumes may be sent to: Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald Supreme Court of Hawaii 417 S. King Street Honolulu, HI 96813 Fax: 808-539-4703 Email: chiefjustice@courts.hawaii.gov Resumes must be post-marked, emailed, faxed, or hand delivered no later than Thursday, May 31, 2018. The names of all applicants will be made public. Once appointed, the individuals terms will be effective through June 30, 2022. Good intentions pave road to homelessness From Grassroot Institute, May 18, 2018 We are all aware of Hawaiis "pay to play" culture and "friends and family" cronyism, but the high cost of housing does not appear to be the result of widespread corruption. It is more a case of good intentions gone awry. That was the message of David Callies, law professor at the Williams S. Richardson School of Law, who spoke this past Tuesday at an event on Maui hosted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Well-intentioned laws have created the most over-planned and over-regulated state, from a property standpoint, in the country, said Callies, who also is author of the book Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawaii, published in 2010 by University of Hawaii Press. Callies said, None of the regulations are in themselves meant to be pernicious or driving up the cost of housing. There was no animus involved. All of them had good purposes and good reasons, but collectively (they have had) the effect of driving up the cost of housing. We dont ever repeal anything, we just add to it, Callies said. Callies noted that 95 percent of the land in Hawaii is zoned as conservation or agriculture, which leaves less than 5 percent of the land zoned as urban the only land available for development of affordable and middle-income housing. This has created an artificial scarcity of land available for housing. As a thought experiment, I asked Callies What if we moved from 5 percent urbanization to 6 percent? Would we damage the aquifer? Would we hurt the environment greatly? But by doing so, I figure we would increase land supply available for development by 20 percent. He responded: My land economist friends tell me that you can go to 10 percent without noticeable difficulty, depending on which island you reclassified. The only isle that has anything remotely resembling a shortage and even that has plenty of land to use is Oahu. Yet the state agency in charge of approving reclassifications of land, the Land Use Commission, rarely does so, according to Callies: Instead of just focusing on its main broad brush strokes of so much for conservation, so much for agriculture), so much for urban, so much for rural, the Land Use Commission gets involved in a detailed fashion exactly what the land owners going to do with the property. Sometimes the landowner doesnt know yet. In Callies opinion, what the landowners want to do with their property should be none of the Land Use Commissions business. Thats the countys business. Meanwhile, the mountain of land-use restrictions, although well-intentioned, has been a major cause of Hawaiis skyrocketing home prices and ever-increasing cost of living. If Hawaii leaders wanted to, they could make more room for housing, while not touching conservation lands preserved for our environment. Sensible relaxation of Hawaiis highest-in-the-nation housing regulations would be a good start. E hana kakou (Lets work together!), Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. (Reuters) If Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk needs to raise even more money, there may be a way.On Tuesday billionaire investor George Soros disclosed a $35 million stake in Tesla convertible senior notes during the first three months of the year. Convertible notes give investors the right to trade their debt for equity at a conversion rate and are more appealing to the risk-averse, allowing them to benefit from Teslas stock price rising while guarding against the risk that it might not. To read this article: In other news, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is concerned about transatlantic relations after the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, while the BBC wonders why a Finnish father of six has decided to give his children total freedom. While Finland always seems to rank highly in international polls related to education, happiness and healthcare, apparently Finns are more interested in pointing out their failures than celebrating their successes. Mother Nature Network wonders why Finland is so indifferent about being called the best. Why Finland is so ho-hum about being the best Mother Nature Network Whether it's for overall happiness or the best place to live, Finland often earns high marks. But such accolades aren't always greeted with cheers and high-fives like they are in other places. The Finnish response is more muted, more pragmatic, more focused on the big picture. To understand why, you have to dig a little deeper into the culture. When Finland was named the happiest country in the world, "Finns reacted the same way as we have reacted to other top rankings in various international comparisons: we criticized the methodology of the study, questioned its conclusions and pointed to the shortcomings of Finnish society," Finnish photographer and researcher Frank Martela explains to Scientific American. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, either. Martela cites an op-ed written by the CEO of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in 2014, after the country was named the most economically competitive country in the European Union by the World Economic Forum. While Risto Penttila's op-ed is partially a political piece about certain policy failures, it speaks to an overall tendency among Finns to downplay successes by pointing out their failures. Martela posits that Finns, simply by not overstating or even showing their happiness, are making themselves happier overall. "The Finnish tendency to downplay one's own happiness and the norm against too much public display of joy might actually make Finns happier," Martela writes. "This is because social comparison seems to play a significant role in people's life satisfaction. If everybody else is doing better than you, it is hard to be satisfied with your life conditions, no matter how good they objectively are." Martela's assertion isn't entirely off base. As he explains, social media posts that present an idealized version of people's lives may make us feel bad about our own lives, even if they are objectively good. So are Finns really the happiest people in the world? Maybe, maybe not. It just depends on how you want to define happiness and how you're willing to show it. Original article was published by Mother Nature Network on 17/05/2018 and can be found here. Niinisto: U.S. withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal badly hurts transatlantic relations Xinhua The withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement could badly hurt transatlantic relations, said Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Tuesday. At a press conference held after his meeting with President of Iceland Guni Johannesson, Niinisto said that the issue surrounding the Iran nuclear agreement is a reason to worry about the global security situation. "The U.S. is no longer a part of it. That badly hurts transatlantic relations," noted Niinisto. "It has a wider impact than just Iran and the nuclear agreement." Finland and Iceland have a similar viewpoint when it comes to maintaining a peaceful situation in Europe and the rest of the world, he added. Original article was published by Xinhua News Agency on 15/05/2018 and can be found here. Environmental group ClientEarth files complaint to stop Nord Stream 2 in Finland Reuters Environmental campaign group ClientEarth on Monday said it had submitted a complaint to a Finnish court seeking to stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline through Finnish waters, citing the risk of serious harm to marine life. Finland approved the pipeline last month and the pipelines operator started preparatory work shortly after that. The work involves detonating World War Two bombs on the sea floor along the pipelines proposed route and ClientEarth said that could cause serious harm to porpoises, seals and birds. A Nord Stream spokeswoman said the project organization would examine the complaint, but added that it had agreed with Finnish authorities on mitigation measures to reduce the impact on marine life. The proposed pipeline between Russia and Germany, owned by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, is set to cross around 375 km of Finlands economic zone through the Baltic Sea. Like Finland, Germany has also approved the pipeline. The project is currently collecting permits from Russia, Sweden and Denmark. Original article was published by Reuters on 14/05/2018 and can be found here. One billion people have played a game made in Finland this new 'Gaming Embassy' is doubling down on the momentum Business Insider Nordic Its almost two years since Finland turned a 130-year-old hospital in Helsinki's city centre into the biggest startup hub in the Nordics. The hub, Maria 01, has grown rapidly, and now a new games-focused hub will be opening on the same site next month. Games Factory will serve as a home base for a select group of gaming studios, and will also serve a larger role as a gaming community meeting place, a window for outsiders into the Finnish gaming ecosystem, and also as a platform for gaming initiatives in Finland and beyond. Well be the embassy and showroom of the Finnish games industry in the global arena. Games Factory will develop the Helsinki and Finnish gaming ecosystem from the inside out, explains CEO Jose Jacome. Jacome says that a key role for the new hub will be to increase cohesion within the industry by acting as a sort of regional community that allows game developers and others in the industry to network and collaborate, sharing both information and knowledge. This new Games Embassy will be home to 20 small to medium-sized gaming studios. Gregory Pellechi, creative writer & storyteller at Third Culture Kids, said: I think this hub will develop to be a fount of knowledge and exploration. Games and game development is constantly changing, and to stay relevant and push boundaries you need a place to share what you know and learn from others. Original article was published by Business Insider Nordic on 18/05/2018 and can be found here. Would you give your kids total freedom? BBC News Juha Jarvinen is a father of six living in a rural area in western Finland. He has an unusual parenting style: put simply, his children enjoy total freedom in the house. The idea is to teach children to only take risks that they can handle. Does his approach work? Original article was published by BBC News on 13/05/2018 and can be found here. Dan Anderson HT Photo: AFP / Lehtikuva Feeding a rapidly growing world in the face of climate change and resource scarcity will be an immense challenge and test for human ingenuity. The effects of climate change on food production around the world are accelerating and could lead to more than 500,000 deaths by the year 2050, according to a grim new study . Rising temperatures, more frequent droughts and extreme weather events will result in crop productivity losses for farmers in many parts of the world. Agricultural biotechnology is playing an increasingly important role assisting farmers all over the world. A wide ranging and rapidly expanding toolbox of technologies, including controversial and fast evolving techniques, such as genome editing and genetic modification, have produced crops that today are cultivated by about 18 million famers. All in all, genetically modified crops cover about 180 million hectares, or roughly 13 percent of all global cropland. But to what extent can these technologies also help smallholder farmers those farming less than five hectares in developing countries foster more-sustainable and secure food systems? The early reports on conventional agro-biotechnology and genetically modified (GM) crops are impressive. GM crops developed by "cutting and pasting" genes from one organism to another are improving livestock vaccines, disease diagnostics and using DNA marker assisted breeding to speed up development of new crop varieties. All of these technologies have already improved crop and livestock productivity for millions of small-scale farmers around the world. The benefits of the first generation of GM crops include better soil management, a reduction in the use of insecticides and increased farm profitability. The second generation of crops is still in the R&D pipeline and include varieties with increased drought tolerance and improved nutritional characteristics, such as bio-fortified cassava, banana and rice with improved protein, vitamin and micronutrient content. These crops are of high interest to small scale farmers and for the food insecure. This includes the efforts to develop drought and insect tolerant maize through conventional breeding and genetic engineering with a goal to make these varieties available to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa through African seed companies. In Bangladesh, the introduction of genetically modified, insect-tolerant Brinjal (eggplant) has been successful, decreasing the use of chemical insecticides, and improving crop productivity and profitability for many small-scale farmers. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and many agricultural experts are positive about the use of agro-biotechnology, but the use of GM technologies is continuing to cause debate in the international community. Controversies about GM crops revolve around a combination of concerns about safety for human and environmental health, market control and proprietary issues linked to the use of technology, and to what extent GM technologies are relevant for and accessible to smallholder farmers in the global south. Clearly, there is still a wide gap between what can be achieved with advanced biosciences and what has materialized so far. The current GM seed and biotechnology crop market is heavily concentrated among a few multinational corporations, across three major commodity crops: maize, soybeans and cotton. Critics argue that agro-biotechnology, and in particular genetic engineering, only provides large multinational corporations with the means to continue their dominance of the global food system, disadvantaging smallholder farmers, and ultimately consumers. Proponents argue that agro-biotechnology, like the genome editing CRISPR-Cas9 system, should be made more accessible to smallholder farmers who will benefit from advanced breeding efforts in their own countries, using these precise tools to improve the crops of most interest to them. The hope is that these new effective breeding tools could enable new collaboration, where researchers work hand-in-hand with farmers to develop crops and livestock more resistant to diseases and droughts, adapted to specific local needs. In South America, for example, researchers could assist potato farmers across the Andes Mountains create crops more tolerant to climate change, while at the same time protecting the regions highly valuable agro-biodiversity. And so the future is already here, but its not evenly distributed and were not ready. This is why we need to step up capacity-building efforts and strengthen and broaden the innovation agenda, enabling the benefits of modern biosciences to reach smallholder farmers in the southern hemisphere. Climate-related impacts on agriculture will hit developing countries especially hard, only amplifying the importance of getting these God-like innovations into the hands of those farmers who need it most. Given the magnitude and the urgency of the challenge, it will be crucial to include modern biology in the broad portfolio of tools supporting smallholder farmers in developing countries in their struggle to meet rising demands in a sustainable manner. Dr. Ivar Virgin is a Senior Researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute. He is one of the main architects and initiators of the two largest bioscience innovation programs in Africa, the BIO-EARN (1999-2010) and BioInnovate (2010-ongoing) focusing on resource efficient, climate smart and productive agricultural production and value chains in East Africa. He is the editor and an author of the Routledge book project Creating Sustainable Bioeconomies: The Bioscience Revolution in Europe and Africa (2017). The possibility of abolishing the fifth statutory holiday week was explored recently by a tripartite task force assigned to mull over measures to reform the annual holidays act, reports Helsingin Sanomat. One option is to remove the fifth holiday week from the act, which exceeds the four-week minimum set forth in the EU [working time] directive. This would see us move across the line towards the standards of the EU, Mika Karkkainen, a legal adviser at EK, confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat. Shortening the duration of paid annual holiday was discussed as a means to offset the costs incurred by businesses as a result of a piece of EU legislation that obliges the country to guarantee four weeks of paid holiday also to employees who are absent for extended periods of time due to illness or other reasons. The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) branded the proposal radical but also reminded that it would not rule out the possibility of agreeing on five-week holidays in collective bargaining agreements. But its a totally different thing to have the right to a five-week holiday written down in law, Anu Tuija-Lehto, a legal adviser at SAK, commented to Helsingin Sanomat. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Employment and the Economy underlined that shortening annual holidays is no longer on the agenda of the task force after the efforts to overhaul the annual holidays act fell through. The annual holidays act, they added, will be amended only to the extent necessary to ensure compliance with the EU directive. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi LORRAINE HILLIER has been elected chairwoman of South Oxfordshire District Council. The Henley town councillor, who served as mayor in 2015/16 and has just stepped down as deputy mayor, was voted to the role by her colleagues at a full meeting of the authority yesterday. She takes over from Councillor Jeanette Matelot while Councillor Alan Thompson, for Didcot West, takes over as vice-chairman from Councillor Imran Lokhon, for Wallingford. Councillor Hillier, an independent Conservative who lives at Park Corner, was offered the role by her Conservative colleagues several weeks ago and accepted immediately. She was formally proposed for the role by district council leader Jane Murphy and seconded by Councillor Felix Bloomfield before winning the vote. She said: "I'm really honoured. It was totally unexpected and I've got some big shoes to fill but I feel ready as my time as mayor of Henley gave me a lot of confidence." Councillor Hillier, 62, represents the district's Henley ward and also sits on the general licensing, licensing acts, planning and scrunity committees. She was elected to the authority in 2015. For the full story, see next weeks Henley Standard. The 17th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was held at Kenya's oldest university on Friday and featured diverse performances like speeches, dancing, martial arts and contemporary music. The Chinese Embassy in Kenya partnered with the University of Nairobi's Confucius Institute and Kenya China Economic and Trade Association (KCETA) to host the contest that attracted 16 young participants who showcased their prowess in spoken Chinese. Li Xuhang, the charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, hailed Kenyan youth who participated in the mandarin proficiency contest stressing that language proficiency is key to promoting inter-cultural exchanges. "Through this competition, I believe you have deepened your understanding of Chinese language and its culture," says Li. He notes that the teaching of Chinese language and culture has undergone rapid transformation in Kenya thanks to the establishment of four Confucius Institutes in the country's leading public universities. "Chinese language has been listed in Kenyan primary and secondary school curriculum as an optional course. Today, thousands of people in Kenya are learning and using Chinese," Li remarks. This year's competition also featured male and female vocalists as well as instrumentalists whose performances thrilled the audience at the University of Nairobi's main auditorium. A panel of judges reviewed all the performances keenly and concluded they had raised the bar in terms of standards. Mwika Mage Kiarie, a 20-year-old student at the University of Nairobi's Confucius Institute, emerged the overall winner of this year's Bridge contest after performing a famous Chinese song. "I felt overwhelmed by the victory which was unexpected and thank my tutors for preparing me adequately for this contest," Kiarie tells Xinhua. He will join contestants from other parts of the world to participate in the finals of Bridge Competition to be held in Beijing in the middle of this year. Armed with a half ton of explosives, the crew of an antiquated Val diver bomber set out to crash into a U.S. ship of Okinawa. But fatein the form of three attacking Corsairssoon intervened. Kazuo Nakajima still remembers the moment he decided that he wanted to fly fighters for the Japanese navy. As a small boy growing up not far from one of the many airfields dotting the Kanto Plains near Tokyo in the 1920s, he almost seemed fated to develop an early love for planes. Any chance I got, I would take a packed lunch and ride my bicycle to the airfield to watch the planes take off from morning to night, he said. It was his first glimpse of a navy plane on an elementary school excursion to the port town of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, that made the most powerful impression. Many Japanese navy planes at the time had their tail surfaces painted red for easy identification by rescue boats should the pilot have to ditch in the ocean, and it was this unique marking that stuck in the young boys mind. Now 82 years old, his eyes light up as he remembers them. The navy planes looked so stylish compared to the army planes.I thought they were fantastic, and I decided right then that I wanted to join the navy. Nakajima had been a poor student until that point, and his headmaster was skeptical he would even be able to graduate from elementary school, much less improve his grades enough to enter naval flight training school. But despite having a reputation for fooling around in class, he buckled downand eventually the day came when he proudly showed a letter of acceptance to his dumbfounded teachers. He entered naval flight school on May 1, 1942, shortly after his 16th birthday. By late 1944, most Japanese commanders recognized that the war was going so badly that it was only a matter of time until the United States attempted to invade the main islands of Japan itself. Successive blows at Midway, the Solomons and Guadalcanal had not only crippled the offensive capability of the Japanese navy but had also left it with just a handful of experienced combat pilots. As the Allies poised to strike the Philippines, in what many in Japan feared would be the last battle of the Pacific War outside of the nations home waters, senior Japanese naval air commanders decided there was no alternative but to use the desperate tactic of loading planes with bombs and crash-diving them into the flight decks of enemy carriers. The first such crash-diving units sank the carrier Saint Lo and damaged a number of other ships on October 25, 1944, in Leyte Gulf. These initial successes, and the decreasing effectiveness of conventional tactics against the improving defenses of the U.S. Navy, led to the decision to dramatically expand the tactic in the Battle of Okinawa. The kamikaze attackers, known as tokubetsu kougekitai (special attack units), were originally limited to the Japanese naval air force, but the Japanese army also adopted equivalent units in the last few months of the war. The term kamikaze is usually used to refer to any World War II crash-diving Japanese plane regardless of whether navy or army in origin, but in Japanese it initially referred only to the naval planes involved in the Leyte Gulf attacks. These first crash divers were reputedly named kamikaze (divine wind) after a typhoon that saved Japan from an invading Mongol fleet in 1274. The name reflected both the hope that the units would be instrumental in preventing an imminent U.S. invasion, and the reality that Japan needed a miracle to avoid a crushing defeat. Through a combination of good piloting and sheer luck, a handful of these Japanese special attack pilots and crew survived their missions and remain alive today. Like most old soldiers, they gather regularly to reminisce about their combat experiences. Nakajima counts himself lucky to be among them. Although Hyakurihara air base just north of Tokyo had been on high alert since the beginning of March 1945, it wasnt until the 25th that a meeting was called to announce that the possibility of an imminent U.S. landing attempt on Okinawa required use of the crash-diving tactic in defense of the islands. Petty Officer 2nd Class Shigeyoshi Hamazono was dismayed at the prospecthe had barely escaped with his life in the chaotic Japanese withdrawal from the Philippines less than two months before. A number of his comrades who had been serving alongside him since his first posting in 1943 at the 582nd Naval Air Unit in Rabaul had died in such attacks toward the end of the Philippines campaign. That week the squadron leader selected crews, taking into account the family circumstances and physical condition of candidates, to fly 14 planes on a special attack mission. As one of only three pilots with combat experience in the grouphaving flown in the Solomons, Truk and the Philippinesthe 21-year-old Hamazono knew he would be on the list. He also knew the odds they faced were poor. He spent the next week trying to keep his mind off the mission by catching movies at the local theater, but was plagued by nightmares and unable to sleep. The planes designated for the attack were close to antique. In the final months of the war, Japan had little choice but to use models that would normally have been reserved only for training purposes. Compounding the problem of old planes was the loss of maneuverability caused by the additional weight of the bombs, since many of the special attack planes carried up to twice the normal ordnance payload. Finally, there was the superiority of the U.S. forces, both in terms of technology and manpower, and the fact that the enemy had had time to develop countermeasures to the crash-diving tactic, as its use in the Philippines had been widely reported. The U.S. invasion of Okinawa began on April 1 in what was to be the last major campaign of the Pacific War. The first wave of special attack missions in defense of the islands began on April 6 as the Kikusui No. 1 operation, named for the floating chrysanthemum that symbolized the Japanese imperial household. On April 5, Hamazono flew from Hyakurihara base down to Kokubu No. 2 air base in southern Kyushu with the 13 other planes from his unit that were to take part in Kikusui No. 1. His aircraft was, as he had feared, practically obsoletean Aichi D3A Type 99 carrier dive bomber, code-named Val by the Allies. First produced in 1939, the Val had played an important role in early Japanese victories across the Pacific but hadnt been used much since October 1943, when most of its pilots were retrained to fly Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. The Val had a crew of two: a pilot and a navigator who doubled as a rear gunner. Its light defenses of just two forward-firing 7.7mm Type 97 machine guns mounted on the engine cowling and one flexible rear-firing 7.7mm Type 92 machine gun left only a slim chance of escape if they ran into enemy planes en route to their target. Hamazonos navigator for the mission was to be 19-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Kazuo Nakajima, who was straight out of flight school and had no combat experience. After yet another sleepless night, Hamazono was surprised to have a visitor early on the morning of April 6. Kokubu base was in Kagoshima prefecture, where he had grown up, and his elder brother had ridden a bicycle through the night to come and pay his respects and bring Hamazono some of their mothers homemade rice dumplings. More than 400 miles to the south at Okinawa, the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific campaign was underway. Naval support for the Okinawa landing comprised more than 1,200 ships, and it was this naval support against which the bulk of the 10 massive Kikusui operations would be deployed. Estimates vary on how many planes were involved in special attack missions, but U.S. data shows there were more than 1,900 suicide plane attacks on Allied forces from the first hostilities in late March until fighting ended on June 23. The special attack forces sank about 30 ships and damaged hundreds more during the Okinawa campaign, adding to the tally of a dozen or so that had been sunk in such attacks since October 1944. The number of Japanese crewmen who died in crash-diving attacks during the campaign may never be accurately known. Records at the Kanoya Naval Air Base Museum in Kagoshima show that 1,575 navy personnel were killed in special attack missions during the Okinawa campaign. Data at the nearby Chiran Peace Museum indicate that 1,036 army personnel died in such attacks over the roughly three-month period, but this number is known to include some deaths unrelated to crash-diving missions, such as paratroop attack casualties. Other Japanese records show slightly higher casualty numbers. In the end, the rough figures of 1,900 airborne attacks and combined army and navy casualties of close to 3,000 give some idea of the magnitude of human sacrifice incurred by Japanese fliers during the Okinawa campaign. At 1400 hours, with a full tank of precious gas and a stomachful of his mothers dumplings, Hamazono climbed into the cockpit of the Val after checking the 250-kilogram bomb under the fuselage and the two additional 60- kilogram bombs on racks under each wing. The plane could barely muster enough speed to get airborne despite using the full length of the runway. Hamazono gently pulled on the control yoke and managed to lift off the ground, but by the time they had passed to the right of Sakurajimaa small volcano lying about 20 kilometers to the south in the middle of Kagoshima Baythe Val was still only at an altitude of 200 meters. Their flight path took them directly over the lower part of the Satsuma Peninsula, where Hamazono had spent his childhood. As he looked down at the familiar fields where he had gone on picnics as a boy, he imagined he could make out the face of his elementary school headmaster looking up at him. He saluted as the plane passed Kaimondake, a volcano resembling Mount Fuji that stands sentinel at the tip of the peninsula, while Nakajima released the safety catches on the five bombs. Above, the clouds rolled in as the plane headed out over the ocean with its half ton of primed explosives. The weather grew steadily worsesomething of a blessing for the crew, as it made it easier to escape detection. Nakajima noticed that the No. 2 plane in their formation of three had disappeared. Given the weight of the bombs and the age of the aircraft, Hamazono estimated they could only manage a speed of about half that of any enemy fighters that might be in the area. If they could avoid interception and find a target, it was said that the time from beginning a crash dive until hitting the ship was about 25 secondsbut in that short timeframe the intense anti-aircraft fire meant that the chances of being killed before impact were extremely high. Hamazono knew it was simply a matter of luck whether the plane broke up in midair or not, but decided that he would try to aim for a large transport ship and dive at a steep 70-degree angle to reduce the chances of being shredded in a storm of AA projectiles. Shortly after 1615 and about 10 kilometers north of the rocky islets of Ioutorishima, Hamazono saw through a break in the clouds the white glint of two or three objects in the skyenemy planes. That meant they had been spotted on radar. The fastest method to alert his wing leader was to fire a few bullets in the direction of the enemy, but the forward guns on the Val seemed to be jammed. Hamazono signaled the lead plane, but the pilot, who had no combat experience, failed to acknowledge. Nakajima, sitting in the rear, had spotted the enemy planes too. They were above and behind and less than a minute away. Soon about a hundred tracer bullets came raining down. As they whistled past, Hamazono pulled hard to the left on the control yoke and banked the plane to reduce the exposed target area. As the tracer bullets got closer, he entered a steep dive and pulled level only when he left cloud cover. The altimeter showed they had dropped from 4,500 to 2,500 metersfar more than he had intended. As Hamazono quickly headed back up into the clouds he thought he saw flames above and guessed that his wing leader had been shot down. Now the enemy fighters would be coming after his Val. Nakajima yelled that three planes were headed their way. Hamazono made the key decision to dump the main 250-kilogram bomb to improve speed and handling. That still left 120 kilograms of explosive on each wingnot enough to sink even a small ship, but ample to put a large hole in a flight deck and render a carrier useless if the strike was precise enough. From his previous dogfights in both Zeros and Vals, Hamazono knew that the most difficult planes to target were those flying just over the surface of the water. He dropped the Val dangerously lowjust a few meters above the blue swells of the Pacificand saw for the first time what was chasing them. It was three Vought F4U Corsairs, considered by the pilots who flew them to be the best single-seat fighter of the warnewer, faster, more heavily armed and vastly more maneuverable than the old Val. The mission had been suicidal from the start, but now it appeared as if their deaths would serve no purpose at all. Hamazono looked around desperately for any kind of ship that he might be able to ram before it was too late, but there was nothing in sight, so he dumped the remaining bombs and prepared to engage in what was likely to be a short dogfight. I could tell straight away from the speed and the way he flew that the lead Corsair was a veteran with a lot of experience, recalled Hamazono. By the closing days of the war, Japanese pilots were sent into battle with only a years flying experience, while U.S. pilots had a minimum of two. The lead Corsair put the Val in his sights and came in for the attack. Its four machine guns were blazing awayas it was my first experience at the front I was very frightened and ducked down between the seats to hide, admitted Nakajima. Hamazono rolled hard left and slid the plane away in the same direction. Each time the Corsair attacked from the right, he would slide the Val away to the left, and move away to the right when it came in from the left. After recovering his wits, Nakajima grabbed the rear machine gun and began firing relentlessly at their pursuers as Hamazono continually wrenched the Val from side to side. While the aerial dance continued, Hamazono tried to remain on a rough north by northwest course in the general direction of Kyushu. The plane was using up fuel at a much faster than normal rate due to the engine being at full throttle in many of the sudden power maneuvers, but he wanted to give the Val even just a small chance of returning to base. Following one violent bank to the left, five or six bullets burst from above through the cockpit and sliced a line inches over Hamazonos right shoulder and down in front of his left foot. The smell of gasoline wafted through the cockpit. Hamazono looked down to see blood dripping from his right hand. I didnt feel it at all until I saw the blood, he remembered. Then I wondered at what point Id been hit. Even then, I didnt have much time to think about it. The Corsair continued to attack relentlessly. Then suddenly, silence. The lead U.S. fighter rejoined the others, and the three planes formed a line facing the Val so that any escape left or right would be covered. No dodging was possible this time, Hamazono thought. A shootout wasnt an option either: Nakajima had used up 540 rounds, and there were barely 40 bullets left. His only choice was to dive, and try to escape as low as possible across the ocean. The Val skimmed across the waves, its crew clenched in fear, awaiting the final hail of lead that would finish them off. But when Hamazono peered up through the bullet-riddled canopy, he saw that the Corsairs were banking away. Inexplicably, they had given up. Hamazono initially felt a brief sense of relief, but then gulped as he looked down at the fuel gauge. They were flying on a nearly empty tank. I was 99 percent sure that we wouldnt be able to get back to land, he said. If we could evade the Americans for a bit longer, I thought we stood a chance of pulling off a forced landing in the Amami Islands. But this option wasnt appealing to the hardened pilot who had prepared to throw himself at the enemy in defense of Japan. A forced landing would put them out of action for weeks, as it would be difficult to get back to the mainland from the remote island chain several hundred kilometers south of Kyushu. It was very distressing [because I knew that] if we could get back we would soon be able to go on another attack, Hamazono explained. He ruled out a forced landing and decided to try to return to Kyushu despite the odds. Miraculously, the two young men managed to navigate the battered Val back to Kagoshima for a crash landing after dark in the woods near an army air base at Chiran. Hamazono and Nakajima remember little after the impact, but found out later that some local residents had extracted them from the wreckage and carried them to the army hospital. Hamazono regained consciousness the next day around lunchtime and realized he had gotten off lightly, with only a few minor injuries. Nakajima, too, was barely scathed. The two men were given some time off to recuperate at a hot spring, but once they had recovered, the crew of the Val was ordered to part ways. Hamazono, as one of the few pilots with significant frontline experience, was asked to take on temporary training duties at Hyakurihara air base, while Nakajima was sent back into the rotation with a novice pilot partner. Hamazono was scheduled to fly another kamikaze mission sometime in August, but the war ended before the final order was posted. Nakajima and his new partner were so lacking in piloting skills that they were reassigned to standard training. He says today that if he had been sent on another mission with his new pilot, he doubts they would have gotten very far. Both Hamazono and Nakajima still have no idea why the Corsairs decided to abandon their attack on that overcast April afternoon. To the American pilots with their superior planes, the Val must have looked like an easy target, peppered with bullets, slow and low on fuel. Perhaps they ran out of ammo, or ran out of gasor maybe they just figured our plane was about to drop out of the sky anyway, said Nakajima. I cant explain itbut it is for that unexplained reason that I am still alive. Bennett Richardson is a Tokyo-based writer whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor and South China Morning Post. Fumiko Hattori is a researcher and translator who served as associate producer for the award-winning 2007 kamikaze documentary Wings of Defeat (wingsofdefeat.com). For further reading, they recommend: The Divine Wind, by Rikihei Inoguchi and Tadashi Nakajima with Roger Pineau; Blossoms in the Wind, by Mordecai Sheftall; and The Sacred Warriors, by Denis and Peggy Warner. Originally published in the September 2008 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here. In the lull between world wars, Paraguay and Bolivia battled over a wasteland of desert scrub, deadly reptiles and rumored oil deposits South Americas Chaco Boreal is a deadly place. Temperatures often reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the flat, arid region approximately the size of Oregon. The Green Hell, as it is known, is home to more than 60 species of snakes, armies of fire ants and jaguars that can strike in a flash. Historically, Paraguay and Bolivia both laid half-hearted claim to this desolate region, which forms a rough triangle bound by the Pilcomayo River to the southwest, the Paraguay River to the east and the foothills of the Andes to the north. But no one, other than small bands of nomadic Amerindians, paid much attention to the Chaco. All that changed in the years between the world wars. In the interest of maintaining their respective claims to the region, Paraguay and Bolivia established small outposts, or fortines, throughout the Chaco. These positions often comprised little more than a few mud huts, barbed wire entanglements and a flagpole. The rival nations also periodically sent out small patrols to probe the others positions. Inevitably these patrols collided with one another, escalating tensions. In February 1927 soldiers at a Bolivian outpost captured a five-man Paraguayan patrol and later killed its commander, Lt. Adolfo Rojas Silva, reportedly as he attempted to escape. Bolivia notified Paraguay of Silvas death and repatriated the prisoners. Though outrage rocked the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, cooler heads prevailed, and diplomats negotiated a peaceful resolution. Still, the incident inflamed the smoldering hostility between the adversarial nations, and each added outposts in the Chaco. In the belief open warfare in the Chaco was only a matter of time, both Paraguay and Bolivia accelerated efforts to modernize their military forces. The Bolivian army, which numbered about 8,600 men in 1927, had begun its campaign of modernization in the early 1900s, eventually under the tutelage of a German military mission under Major Hans Kundt, a competent, if unimaginative, administrator and drillmaster. After commanding a German brigade in combat against the Russians during World War I, General Kundt returned to Bolivia. (Among his officers was Ernst Rohm, who would later achieve notoriety in Nazi Germany as the commander of the Sturmabteilung, Adolf Hitlers infamous Brownshirts.) In addition to modern infantry rifles and field artillery, Bolivia acquired a variety of heavy and light machine guns and anti-aircraft weapons. It also invested in flamethrowers, Vickers armored vehicles and a number of combat and transport aircraft. The Paraguayan army, which by 1927 numbered little more than 2,700 men, sent its officers to study at military academies in Argentina, France and Chile. Its quartermasters had purchased Mauser rifles, Maxim machine guns, Krupp field artillery and Stokes-Brandt 81 mm mortars, the latter of which would prove highly effective in the low, dense scrub of the Chaco. Paraguay acquired a limited number of biplane fighters and transport aircraft, while its navy invested in two state-of-the-art Italian gunboats to augment the fleet securing the Paraguay River. Though anger over the death of Lt. Silva subsided, further clashes again brought the nations to the brink of war. In December 1928 a Paraguayan battalion seized a Bolivian outpost along the Paraguay River at Vanguardia. In response a Bolivian division attacked and occupied several Paraguayan positions, including the stronghold of Boqueron, a few hundred miles northwest of Asuncion. Through the auspices of the Pan-American Union (a precursor to the Organization of American States), concerned neighbor states assembled a Commission of Neutralscomprising representatives from Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and the United Statesand met in Washington, D.C., to negotiate a settlement. Within months Paraguay and Bolivia reached accord, withdrew forces and exchanged prisoners, once again averting war. Years earlier Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey had discovered rich petroleum deposits in the Bolivian foothills of the Andes, and its engineers had since speculated that the oil deposits probably extended beneath the dry, sandy plains of the Chaco to the south, a prospect that further boosted Bolivias interest in asserting control over the region. Meanwhile, Standards Anglo-Dutch rival Royal Dutch Shell had made lucrative offers to the Paraguayan government for rights to drill for oil under the same tangled scrubland west of the Paraguay River. The Paraguayan government was also engaged in Chaco land sales, a much-needed source of revenue. Argentinean investors had purchased large tracts of grassland near rivers to support livestock ranches. In a rather incongruous development, Canadian Mennonite farmers had negotiated with Paraguay to purchase land for a self-governing religious colony in the arid heart of the Chaco. It had since drawn thousands of Mennonites from Germany, Switzerland and Russia. Were Paraguay to forfeit control of the Chaco, it would forgo revenue from similar sales. National pride also played an important role in the rivals claims to the region. Paraguay had suffered humiliating defeat in the disastrous 186470 War of the Triple Alliance, in which megalomaniacal Paraguayan President Francisco Solano Lopez had taken on the combined forces of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. By the time Paraguay finally surrendered, it had lost nearly three-quarters of its population, and the victorious allies were preparing to carve up Paraguayan territory. Only the intervention of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes saved Paraguay as a sovereign entity, but its territory was significantly reduced, and it was saddled with heavy war debt. Paraguayan patriotism, which ran strong in its people, would not allow another such loss of territorynot without a fight. Likewise, Bolivia had endured a humiliating loss to Chile in the 187983 War of the Pacific. Bolivia was forced to cede Antofagasta Provinceits Pacific Ocean shorelinethus becoming a landlocked nation in need of a route to the sea by which to export its valuable petroleum. The Chaco provided just such a potential route to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Paraguay River. Bolivia, whose population was nearly three times that of Paraguay, could not concede to its weaker neighbors provocative claim to the Chaco without swallowing its pride. Adding to the renewed interest in the Chaco, a 1931 Paraguayan military mapping expedition to the region made a startling discovery. Under the leadership of exiled White Russian Maj. Gen. Ivan Belyaev (aka Juan Belaieff), the survey team stumbled on Lake Pitiantuta, a large body of fresh water in the midst of the parched, desolate plains. Such an abundant supply of potable water could open the central Chaco to travel, settlement and the establishment of military fortifications. Belyaevs hasty construction of Fort Carlos Antonio Lopez, a small outpost along the lakeshore, soon drew Bolivias attention. In what may have stemmed from a miscommunication between the Bolivian army and its government, a Bolivian military expedition seized Fort Carlos Antonio Lopez in June 1932. Intentional or not, the assault prompted a counterattack a month later by Paraguayan forces, who drove the Bolivians from the lake. Bolivian President Daniel Salamanca then yielded to popular pressure for war with Paraguay and authorized a force of 10,000 troops to seize the fortifications around Boqueron. The offensive easily routed the Paraguayan garrisons and captured the town, leaving little to prevent the Bolivians from marching on the Paraguayan city of Concepcion and the key logistics base of Puerto Casado on the Paraguay River. It appeared Bolivia would secure a quick victory over its smaller foe. Paraguayan leaders called for full national mobilization. The people responded patriotically, even donating household possessions and wedding rings to the war effort. In a stroke of good fortune for Paraguay, heavy rains turned the Chacos few roads into muddy quagmires, temporarily halting the Bolivian advance. But perhaps the best luck for Paraguay was the emergence of Lt. Col. Jose Felix Estigarribia as operational commander of its army. In a culture that revered the imposing, powerful caudillo, or strongman, Estigarribia was an unlikely choice for command. He was relatively small in stature and reportedly a man of few words. The son of a peasant silversmith, he had planned to study agriculture before opting for a military career. The 44-year-old colonel had attended Frances vaunted Saint-Cyr military academy and spent time as a frontline observer during World War I. Though he had little practical combat experience, he was a keen strategist. In early September, taking advantage of the pause in the Bolivian onslaught, Estigarribia rapidly mobilized and concentrated 13,000 Paraguayan troops to retake Boqueron. After three unsuccessful and costly frontal assaults on the Bolivians fortified positions, the Paraguayan commander shifted tactics. While fixing the Bolivian defense with frontal pressure, Estigarribia slowly infiltrated around the enemy flanks to envelop the defenders and cut off their supply line. In the torrid heat the besieged Bolivians soon ran out of water, and supplies of food and ammunition dwindled rapidly. In mid-September the Paraguayans cut off a Bolivian relief column before it could reach Boqueron. Bolivian aircraft tried to drop ammunition, rations, medicine and, ingeniously, blocks of ice as a water supply, but the airdrops often fell within Paraguayan lines. On September 29, after a three-week siege, Boqueron capitulated. As the victorious Paraguayans made their way through the pockmarked defenses to reclaim the outpost, they were shocked at the skeletal appearance of the 466 surviving Bolivian defenders, who begged their captors for water. After retaking Boqueron, newly promoted Col. Estigarribia sustained the momentum by pushing westward toward the Pilcomayo River, driving Bolivian forces out of 15 successive defensive positions and away from Paraguayan population centers. In December seasonal rains brought offensive operations to a halt, as dirt roads in the region became impassable. Estigarribias adaptability as a military leader was one of several factors working in his favor. Most important, he benefited from relatively short lines of communication. Paraguayan troops and supplies traveled by steamer up the Paraguay River, accompanied by the navy gunboats, then transferred to a narrow-gauge railway that ran west roughly 100 miles into the Chaco. The rough last leg to the front was either on foot, pack mule or jolting Ford trucks. The entire journey took about four days, whereas it took weeks of hard travel for Bolivian troops to reach the Chaco front. Estigarribias troops also proved more capable than those of his opponent. The homogenous composition of the Paraguayan army reflected a society that celebrated its mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian) heritage. Almost every Paraguayan proudly claimed descent from both Spanish settlers and indigenous Guarani people, thus both officers and soldiers shared a common culture. In addition, most Paraguayan troops were hardy campesinos, or peasants, accustomed to tropical heat, primitive conditions and hard work. Although they were poorly equipped, often lacking even shoes, Paraguayan soldiers proved determined, resourceful and resilient. The Bolivian army, by contrast, was led by an officer corps drawn mainly from the criollo (full-blooded Spanish) class, while the rank and file largely comprised indigenous Andeans. The latter were more acclimated to temperate, hilly conditions than the dusty, oppressive heat of the Chaco. While Paraguayan troops fought to defend their home turf, Bolivian soldiers were thrust into a war for possession of an inhospitable wasteland with little personal meaning for them. In what proved another significant advantage, Estigarribia had the full confidence and trust of Paraguays military high command and civilian leadership, while President Eusebio Ayala allowed the colonel the freedom to command without political interference. To his armys detriment, Bolivian President Salamanca continuously meddled with and criticized his commanders. Bolivia faced another sort of leadership crisis. In early 1932 President Salamanca had recalled General Kundt from exile related to a military coup two years earlier. If that werent shaky enough ground, many Bolivian commanders took umbrage at the appointment of a gringo as senior commander. The 63-year-old German general was either oblivious or unconcerned. During the rainy season he organized a force of 12,000 troops in the Chaco, and in January 1933 he launched an offensive against the Paraguayan fortifications around Nanawa, very nearly managing to encircle the defenders. The resourceful Paraguayans, however, mounted successful counterattacks against the Bolivians, who repeatedly proved unable to coordinate their forces at the point of attack. The Paraguayans took hundreds of prisoners, further degrading morale in the Bolivian ranks. In March four Bolivian regiments mutinied, the men returning to their home villages in the Andes. Promoted to general that fall, Estigarribia launched a pincer movement against Bolivian positions around Nanawa. In a decisive clash at the Campo Via pocket on December 11 the Paraguayans killed some 2,700 Bolivians and captured another 4,800, while seizing 536 light and heavy machine guns, 20 artillery pieces, 25 mortars and two tanks. A disgraced Kundt tendered his resignation. Believing the war all but over, Paraguayan President Ayala agreed to a truce on December 19 in order to negotiate a peace agreement. The Bolivian armys new commander, General Enrique Penaranda, instead used the respite to reconstitute and resupply forces, raising troop strength to more than 15,000. No settlement was forthcoming, and the truce expired. Also taking advantage of the truce, Estigarribia had assembled a force of some 28,000 Paraguayans, resolving to drive the Bolivians finally from the Chaco. In a series of steady actions, the Paraguayans pressed the Bolivians northwest toward the Andes foothills and the banks of the Pilcomayo. With each successful push, however, the thinner Estigarribias supply lines stretched over the dirt roads of the Chaco. That May in a valley known as Canada Strongest the Bolivians lured the advancing Paraguayans into a trap, encircling a force of more than 1,500 troops, who had no choice but to surrender. Despite the loss, the Paraguayans inexorably pressed the Bolivians back toward their heavily fortified position at Ballivian on the Pilcomayo. Estigarribia, perhaps impatient to bring the war to a close, launched a series of costly frontal assaults that Penaranda readily repulsed. The Paraguayan commander then devised a clever plan. While maintaining pressure on Ballivian, Estigarribia sent a strong column north to threaten the crucial oil fields in Bolivias Santa Cruz Department, forcing Penaranda to transfer troops from Ballivian to check the Paraguayan threat. To ensure Bolivian forces remained distracted, Estigarribia instructed his subordinate commander in the north to retreat, thus drawing the Bolivians into pursuit increasingly farther from Ballivian. Only then did Estigarribia strike the fortifications at Ballivian, killing 2,669 Bolivians, capturing more than 4,000 and seizing millions of dollars worth of supplies and equipment. The battered Bolivian survivors crossed the river and retreated north to Villamontes. Theyd been pushed out of the Green Hell, leaving Paraguay in full possession of the Chaco Boreal. In November 1934 Bolivian President Salamanca descended on Villamontes to chastise his commanders for their poor performance. Fed up, the generals arrested Salamanca and replaced him with Vice President Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano. Through June 1935 the two armies continued to slug it out in the vicinity of Villamontes and around the Santa Cruz oil fields. Perhaps because the Bolivians were defending their home turf, or perhaps because Estigarribia was attempting to drive his war-weary army over thinly stretched supply lines, the war devolved into inconclusive clashes and costly losses for both sides. On June 12 Bolivia and Paraguay finally instituted a permanent cease-fire. The subsequent peace treaty ceded some three-quarters of the Chaco Boreal to Paraguay, although Bolivia was permitted a corridor to the Paraguay River, thus ensuring its transportation route to the Atlantic Ocean. The cost to each nation had been high. Paraguay had lost some 36,000 men, Bolivia a staggering 52,397. The disease-ridden Chaco itself had claimed most of the dead. In monetary terms the conflict had cost Bolivia the equivalent of $231 million. Although Paraguay had incurred $198 million in war debt, the government was able to sell off large quantities of captured Bolivian armaments and military equipment to help pay it off. The Chaco War became a point of national pride for Paraguay. For Bolivia the war was a tragic episode, though it touched off much needed social reforms that eventually empowered the indigenous Andean population. In recent years both Paraguay and Bolivia have discovered significant oil and natural gas reserves in the Chaco Boreal, but the Green Hell remains largely a dry, barren place inhabited only by small bands of Amerindians, Mennonite farmers, isolated soldiers and a frightening variety of deadly reptiles. From time to time scorching winds or torrential rains uncover the bones of someone who paid far too much for a region that wasnt worth the price. MH Paul Gregory Smith [paulgregorysmith.com] is a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who served as an adviser to the armed forces of Paraguay. He is currently an instructor at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., and Nichols College, in Dudley, Mass., where he teaches counterterrorism. For further reading he recommends The Green Hell: A Concise History of the Chaco War Between Bolivia and Paraguay, 193235, by Adrian J. English, and The Chaco War, 193235: South Americas Greatest Modern Conflict, by Alejandro de Quesada with Phillip Jowett. President Tran Dai Quang receives Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn (Photo: VNA) The State leader congratulated Cambodian people on the achievements they have obtained, while showing his delight at the growth of the Vietnam-Cambodia partnership in all fields from politics, diplomacy, defence to economy, trade and investment, benefiting people of both sides. He spoke highly of the regular exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high level ones, between the two countries, along with the effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms in trade, investment, education, tourism, security, and defence, as well as collaboration among ministries, sectors and localities. He lauded the outcomes of the 16th meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, holding that the minutes of the meeting will lay firm foundation for the further expansion of bilateral ties in the coming time. He asked Minister Prak Sokhonn to convey his regards to King Norodom Sihamoni and expressed his wish to welcome the King to visit Vietnam latter the year. For his part, Minister Prak Sokhonn noted that Vietnam and Cambodia jointly held many specific activities to mark the Friendship Year 2017 and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. He briefed his host on outcomes of the 16th meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, with the minutes of the meeting signed to act as a guideline for ministries and sectors of both sides to implement their cooperation. He said that at the meeting, the two sides discussed a wide range of issues such as economy, trade, investment, culture, society, security, and defence, while showing their determination to thoroughly settle border-related issues as well as other matters in bilateral relations. The minister showed gratitude towards the Party, State and people of Vietnam for saving Cambodia from the genocidal regime in the past, as well as providing assistance for Cambodias national development. President Quang lauded efforts of authorised agencies over the past years in completing a large number of workload in land border demarcation and planting. He proposed that in the coming time, the two sides should exert more efforts in seeking more effective measures to finish the rest of the work, while coordinating closely in managing a shared border towards peace and stability. He said that he hopes the Cambodian side will continue applying flexibly related policies to assist Vietnamese Cambodians, with the consideration of political, legal, historical and social factors to create optimal conditions for the community, helping them settle down in the host country and make contributions to the local development. The Vietnamese leader also suggested that Minister Prak Sokhonn continue contributing to the reinforcement of the sound neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability between Cambodia and Vietnam./. In Hot Press special Best of Ireland 2018 magazine, we celebrated the Irish Food Revolution and spoke to some of Ireland's leading Food Champions about the part they have played in making Ireland one of the hottest food destinations in the world. For more Food Champions, and all of the gen on Ireland's Food Revolution, get the Best of Ireland 2018 or check out Features on hotpress.com. This article can only be read with a Premium Account Please Log In or Subscribe to continue reading This years Africa Day flagship event will take place on Sunday, 27th May at Farmleigh Estate in Dublin. Family-focused and free of charge, Africa Day is a colourful, vibrant and uplifting celebration of Africas rich culture and unity. It also serves to highlight important links between a diverse continent and Ireland. The celebration will run from 11am to 6pm and is supported by Irish Aid. Irish Aid has been the driving force behind Africa Day celebrations in Ireland since 2006. Here is a short video of last years Dublin event. This years Africa Day Dublin event will feature three stages of live music with performances by well-known African and Irish musicians, traditional African drumming and dance workshops and cultural performances. It will also feature an African bazaar showcasing food, hair-braiding and traditional fashion designs from various African countries, and a dedicated childrens area, Mount Kiddimanjaro. This jammed-packed celebration has something for everyone. Check out this video clip of Dagogo, who is a super cool spoken word artist, who will be performing on the day. He has also performed as part of the St. Patricks Day Festival and Electric Picnic, amongst other events. 33 new acts have been added to the festival line-up. The countdown to this years festival is on with 33 new acts added to the line up for Longitude 2018 featuring some of the best international and homegrown talent. SIGRID * PLAYBOI CARTI * ALMA REJJIE SNOW * IAMDDB * JESSE JAMES SOLOMON DURAND JONES & THE INDICATIONS * KOJAQUE MANGO X MATHMAN * LE BOOM * SOULE Advertisement ERICA CODY * DAY_S * TEBI REX * LAOISE JYELLOWL *JAFARIS * FLYNN * SEQUENCE AND MANY MORE Red Bull Music return to Marlay Park with a fresh supply of the best Irish and international acts to rock your Longitude weekend. In no particular order the jam packed line-up for the Red Bull Music Stage will include: Friday, 13th July: Stevie G, Krystal Klear, EVE, Cailin, Sarah Mooney Saturday, 14th July: Advertisement Boots & Kats, DJ Deece, Jack Thompson, Long Island Sound, Staxx Lyrical Sunday, 15th July: Solardo, Ghostboy, Kettama, Ciara Brady, Justyna Koss More details including stages times, will be announced in the coming weeks. TICKET INFORMATION Sunday Day Tickets 69.50 Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh citys Party Committee at the ceremony (Photo: VOV) Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mayor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko stressed the significance of the event 95 years ago, saying it laid the foundation for the current relationship between the two countries people. President Ho Chi Minh was a true revolutionary and a great friend of Russian people. St. Petersburg is proud to be the basis for the ties. According to the Russian official, the ceremony, along with activities held in local universities and agencies, is part of efforts to promote Russia-Vietnam relations. Over the past years, the two nations have cooperated in education with thousands of Vietnamese students trained in St. Petersburg. The municipal authority also held many seminars on Ho Chi Minhs ideology. It is also proud of its Ho Chi Minh Institute - the only research institute on the spiritual heritage of President Ho Chi Minh outside Vietnam. At the event, Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh citys Party Committee, affirmed that President Ho Chi Minh arriving in Russia 95 years ago was very significant, becoming a historical symbol for decisive changes to Vietnams revolution, as well as protection and construction. He also recalled President Ho Chi Minhs warm feelings for Russian people, the great Russian October Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and the Vietnam-Soviet Union friendship. Mayor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko (Photo: VOV) The Secretary added that from the first years of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, developing relations with the Soviet Union was a top priority in Vietnams foreign policy, and the Soviet Union became one of the first countries in the world to officially establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Mr. Nhan said that the Vietnamese people have received great support from Russian people in the struggle for national independence and unification, as well as the national construction and development process later. According to him, relations between Vietnam and the former Soviet Union and Russia today is not only following the good foundation, but developing to new heights. Vietnams consistent guideline gives priority to consolidate and develop the relations with Russia, while Russia also promotes its Look East policy, considering Vietnam a bridge and fulcrum to implement this policy. In the framework of the joint statement on enhancing Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership signed in 2012, the two sides have maintained regular exchanges of delegations and strategic dialogue mechanisms, thus creating strong impetus to promote bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Right after the celebration, Mr. Nhan attended the opening ceremony of the St. Petersburg International Book Fair. During his stay in Russia from May 16th-21st, he has also attended programs to enhance the friendship between Ho Chi Minh city and St. Petersburg./. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian hold a press conference after a meeting in Paris, France, May 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen) PARIS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China and France have agreed to make use of "three handles" to comprehensively enhance practical cooperation between the two countries, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Wednesday. Wang made the remarks at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian after their talks. The two sides have agreed to seize the opportunity and bring the bilateral ties to a new level, said Wang, who is also a state councilor of China. The first handle is their major cooperative projects, through which the two countries would jointly promote the development of various high-tech industries such as nuclear energy, aeronautics and space, said Wang. The second handle is China's further opening-up, which allows the two sides to deepen cooperation on various new areas such as innovation, artificial intelligence, digital economy, and to open new grounds for bilateral cooperation, the Chinese minister said. The third handle is the hosting of China-France Year of the Environment, a joint decision by the leaders of the two countries made in January during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to China, according to the Chinese top diplomat. The two countries will strengthen strategic communication and cooperation on climate and environment, promote bilateral cooperation on green manufacturing and green finance, and contribute to the global efforts to fight climate change and achieve sustainable growth, said Wang. The Chinese minister also highlighted alignment of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with France's own development strategies. Other issues the two foreign ministers discussed during their meeting include China-European cooperation, Iran nuclear deal, and their commitment to the multilateral global trade system with the World Trade Organization at its center. 2 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Senators Back Music Modernization Act A bipartisan wave of support from the Senate Judiciary Committee washed over the Music Modernization Act, legislation introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, raising hope of bringing the laws surrounding music and music rights into the 21st Century. __________________________ Guest post by William Glanz of SoundExchange Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday expressed broad bipartisan support for the Music Modernization Act (S. 2823), a comprehensive music reform package introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). This unprecedented wave of support from senators adds momentum to reform efforts and makes it more important than ever for music creators to contact lawmakers and urge them to support Senator Hatchs Music Modernization Act. Chorus of Support Senators on both sides of the political aisle joined the chorus of support for Senator Hatchs bill and urged swift passage: If I interpret it correctly, every member of this committee who has shown up here today is for solving this problem, and I hope that we can move ahead and get this problem solved because it is really unjust the way the current system works, as far as Im concerned. I think we can make it a much better system with a lot more incentives than we have today, and create a situation where a lot of talented people can get involved and well all benefit from more music, more talent and more opportunity, Senator Hatch said at the conclusion of the hearing. I think we should just take a moment and recognize that we have right in front of us a chance for the Senate to solve a long-standing problem, said Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), a cosponsor of the CLASSICS Act (S. 2393), which is part of the comprehensive Music Modernization Act. I think the 415-0 vote in the House is instructive on how much support there is for this bill, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) said. Im encouraged by the momentum [of] the unified package and the possibility of Congress finally passing meaningful reform in this area. Smokey Robinson Says CLASSICS Act Will Ensure Fairness GRAMMY Award-winning recording artist Smokey Robinson told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that passage of the bill is vital to legacy artists. Thats because the Music Modernization Act includes the CLASSICS Act, which guarantees federal copyright protection for artists who recorded before February 15, 1972, and will ensure that legacy artists receive compensation for their work. Some legacy artists are no longer able to work, Robinson said. It is not just about music, he said. It is about lives they could really use that money. Robinson said he doesnt receive sound recording performance royalties from digital radio services for some of the biggest hits created by his band, The Miracles, including Shop Around and I Second That Emotion. Both were released prior to 1972. But he does receive royalties for his solo hit Cruisin, released in 1979. Musicians who recorded before February 15, 1972, deserve to be compensated the same as those who recorded after that date, Robinson said. Its like going to a grocery store or a supermarket and the owner is in there and you say, Im going to get groceries from here but Im not going to pay you. Its the same thing. Songwriters and Producers Praise AMP Act The Music Modernization Act also includes the AMP Act (S. 2625), sponsored by Senator Grassley and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), which builds on SoundExchanges existing process for honoring letters of direction for producers and sound engineers. GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Justin Roberts told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the AMP Act is an important piece of the Music Modernization Act and he credited SoundExchange for establishing a system to compensate producers and engineers. The Recording Academys Producers & Engineers Wing has worked tirelessly to help producers receive fair compensation and attribution cash and credit, if you will. And part of that work was the Wings landmark arrangement with SoundExchange. At the direction of the artist, SoundExchange pays royalties directly to producers, even though they have no statutory right to receive those royalties. We are grateful to SoundExchange for their creator-friendly approach. But now we need protections for producers in the law. Support for the SoundExchange Model The Music Modernization Act would require the creation of a new collective to administer a blanket license for mechanicals and would be charged with maintaining a rights management database that will be made publicly available and free of charge. SoundExchange represents the model that the collective would be patterned after, said Senator Feinstein, who identified SoundExchange as a successful music licensing entity. Market Rates The Music Modernization Act also includes the rate standard parity provisions from the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. The provisions will establish a willing buyer, willing seller rate standard that will require all digital platforms to pay fair market value for music. The sole dissenting voice to a willing buyer, willing seller rate standard was David Del Beccaro, of Music Choice, which currently pays below-market rates because it was in existence in 1998 when Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and extended the company a special exemption. In a letter to Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Feinstein, SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe said its time to eliminate the grandfathered status granted to Music Choice, SiriusXM and Muzak. Importantly, each of these companies has competitors that pay at market rates. Not surprisingly, the three beneficiaries of the below-market rate standard are urging Congress to preserve their unfair advantage, Huppe wrote. Theres no sound policy reason that Congress should give these three companies a perpetual advantage in the marketplace, simply because they happened to be in existence in 1998. Next Steps The absence of serious opposition to the Music Modernization Act bodes well for the bill, but numerous procedural hurdles remain before a vote by the full Senate. The next step is the Committees markup of the bill. Senator Hatch expressed optimism that the momentum of the Music Modernization Act will continue, but he encouraged supporters to keep working. We should get this up in front of the committee get the committee to pass it out, and then get it passed through the Senate, and I think we can do that, Senator Hatch said. That is why it is so important for the music community to continue expressing support for the Music Modernization Act (S. 2823). Remember to contact your senators and urge them to support the bill today. Share on: Norman Rockwell Museum Names Chief Educator STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. The Norman Rockwell Museum has appointed Mary A. Berle, a Harvard-trained educator who is the current Principal of Muddy Brook Elementary School in Great Barrington, as the museums new chief educator. Berle will officially join the museum on September 1, 2018, assuming a newly created senior-level position to lead the museums education vision at a pivotal time of growth. In this position, she will build on the strengths of the museums robust education program currently led by Chief Curator Stephanie Plunkett and Digital Learning Director Rich Bradway. As a member of the museums strategic leadership team, Berle will oversee all aspects of the museums educational programs, including distance-learning and digital initiatives to grow regional, national and global engagement. Partnering with Bradway, who has led the creation of numerous digital learning platforms, including the online Curriculum Lab, the museums app, gallery interactives, and VR experiences, she will ensure that Norman Rockwell Museum meets the increasing demand for digital access to content. In her new role, Berle will build upon the existing strengths and prolific content creation for all audiences and will guide the museum forward in planning, execution, and distribution of its learning and engagement experiences. Berle joins the museum as she concludes 13 years of service with the Berkshire Hills Regional School District, where she currently serves as principal of Muddy Brook Elementary School in Great Barrington. During her tenure in the district, she created a unique-in-the-nation innovative Collaborative Care model to support students and families in working with both the school system and health-care providers to support student success. Prior to joining the Berkshire Hills District, Berle created inquiry-based math and science curricula for TERC (formerly Technical Education Research Center) in Cambridge, Mass., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the teaching and learning of mathematics for all students and teachers. These large-scale projects were funded by the National Science Foundation and published by National Geographic and Pearson Education and are widely used across the nations schools and internationally. Berle has an A.B. in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard College and her masters in education in human development, also from Harvard. She is the mother of three children, Louisa, Thomas and David and makes her home in Stockbridge. China's first female astronaut Liu Yang (2nd L), Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (2nd R), Space tourist Anousheh Ansari (1st L) and ITU Secretary-General Zhao Houlin attend an interactive forum in Geneva, Switzerland, May 17, 2018. On the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), the United Nations on Thursday called for focus on the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) GENEVA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- On the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), the United Nations on Thursday called for focus on the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As this year's WTISD was marked during the 2nd AI for Good Global Summit held in Geneva, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICT), has come up with the theme of Enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence for All. "The inaugural 2017 summit sparked inclusive global dialogue on the potential of AI to act as a force for good," said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. "The action-oriented 2018 summit will now harness this momentum to identify practical applications of AI to improve the quality and sustainability of life on our planet." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his video message, "I commend the ITU for the critical role it plays in narrowing the digital divide and connecting people wherever they are, whatever their means. As we look to an increasingly digital future, I welcome your focus on exploring how artificial intelligence can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals." "Emerging technologies have the potential to empower people and transform how we transmit knowledge, increase agricultural yields, harvest sustainable and renewable energy, treat diseases and so much more," the UN chief added. At ITU headquarters in Geneva, the day was marked by an interactive forum with female astronauts and the first female private space explorer, who have been invited to share their perspectives on existing and potential AI-based technologies in space travel and exploration. Among them was Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut, who said that human exploration of space has never stopped since 1961 when the first human, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin from the former Soviet Union, journeyed into outer space. "Thanks to the rapid development of AI, we can anticipate that 'AI astronauts' could be very helpful in future human spaceflight missions," said Liu Yang. But Liu doesn't worry that human will be replaced. "Human astronauts will never be replaced, since they are still the essence of human space flight. We firmly believe that the efficiency of human space explorations will be significantly improved with assistance of AI astronauts." The first female taikonaut also confirmed that by around 2022 China will have built a new space station, which would also be part of the international space cooperation. The World Telecommunication Day was set by ITU in 1973 to commemorate the founding of the International Telecommunication Union on May 17, 1865. In 2005, the United Nations declared May 17 also as World Information Society Day to focus on the importance of ICT, and decided in 2006 to celebrate both every year. 4 1 [ Editor: WPY ] Roses were laid in honor of the five members of law enforcement who died while on duty in the city of Pittsfield. PreviousNext Pittsfield Honors Police Officers Killed In The Line of Duty Police Chief Michael Wynn provided remarks to honor the day. PITTSFIELD, Mass. On Friday morning, Hartford, Conn. Officer Jill Kidik regained consciousness, surrounded by friends and family. She will not become the 56th officer killed in the line of duty in the United States this year. "Officer Kidik was repeatedly stabbed by her assailant after responding to a landlord-tenet dispute. Although we in law enforcement dislike the word routine for any call for service, in this case, there was no indication that this would be a violent encounter," Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn said. "While Officer Kidik attempted to diffuse the situation she was spontaneously assaulted, knocked to the ground, choked, and stabbed. If not for the timely intervention of maintenance workers and the prompt medical aid provided by her backup, she would be number 56 this year." In an emotional address to fellow officers, city officials, and those from the general public who gathered in the Common Friday afternoon to honor all of those police officers killed in the line of duty, Wynn shared Kidik's story, demonstrating the dangers of the job. "On average one American law enforcement officer is killed every 53 hours somewhere in the United States. In 2017, 135 law enforcement officers made the ultimate sacrifice," Wynn said. "As of this morning, 55 American police officers have already paid the ultimate price in 2018." One of those 55 was in Yarmouth. "Five weeks ago, Sgt. Sean Gannon of the Yarmouth Police Department was murdered in the line of duty. I never had the honor of meeting Sean but his chief is a friend and a trusted colleague. I know many of his brother and sister officers, many of our officers trained alongside Yarmouth PD in their facility. We share a bond," Wynn said. "His murderer was a career criminal with over 100 prior offenses, many of them violent. He should not have been at large in the community." Locally, five officers have died in the line of duty: Capt. Michael Leonard, in 1898; Jailer James Fuller, 1901; Secret Service Operative William Craig, 1902; Officer Leo Sullivan, 1956; and Officer Timothy Shepard, 1988. Gannon joins those five and more than 22,000 other officers who have been killed in the line of duty since 1791 in America. Those two close to home stories was a change for Wynn. Normally at the annual ceremony, Wynn recites the history of the memorial ceremony and National Police Week, followed by the statistics, and then discusses the duty and the risks of being a police officer. Kimberly Dawley read a poem on behalf of the Pittsfield Police Department's Wives Group. But, this year, with those two incidents so recent and so close to the Berkshires, Wynn let those stories make the point. But, he added, that those violent encounters are only some of the risks officers take in the profession. Earlier this year, Pittsfield Police lost one of their own when Lt. Michael Winston died from a heart attack while on vacation. "While Lt. Michael Winston's death was not due to a polonius assault, I have no doubt that the stress, conditions, and the impact of our work contributed. Long hours, unpredictable calls, constant vigilance, and overt hostility take a toll on all of our sisters and brothers. We're still devastated by his loss," Wynn said. "It does us no good to gather and recognize the fallen if we don't take steps to preserve the living. Equipment is important, training is critical, however, access to screening services, counseling, wellness initiatives, resiliency education, fitness programs, and other protective measures are vital. We must do better by our personnel." The ceremony included Mayor Linda Tyer reading a proclamation honoring the day. Pastor Joseph Farmes provided the invocation and benediction; Retired Lt. Katherine O'Brien read the poem "The Thin Blue Line;" Kimberly Dawley of the Pittsfield Police Department's Wives Group read "My Heart for an Officer;" Mary Brinton played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes; and Ray Kinsella played Taps after roses were laid on the Common stage in front of pictures of the five officers who died locally. National Police Week began in 1962 and for years Pittsfield has held a ceremony. The event serves as a reminder of the risk officers take every day when they go to work. The Pittsfield Police Department holds a ceremony every year during that week to remember those local officers who had their name inscribed on the national monument in Washington D.C. iciHaiti - Diaspora : Message of the Consul General of Haiti in Orlando As part of the celebration of the 215th anniversary of our flag (May 18, 1803 - May 18, 2018), Pierre Max Charles, the Consul General of Haiti in Orlando addresses today a message to all Haitians that we invite you to read : "215 years ago the Haitian flag was born to unite a nation in its aspirations, struggles and victories. The commitment of May 18, 1803 to merge efforts in the pursuit of high collective goals led to the Proclamation, January 1, 1804, of the Independence of the Republic of Haiti, our common homeland. The union was our strength and in the name of this force we also helped to build other freedoms and other equal rights. Our flag has always identified us in a world converging on peace, the promotion of the universal human rights, a decolonized world. On the occasion of the 215th anniversary of the Flag, the Consulate of Haiti in Orlando invites the Haitians of Central Florida to always take inspiration from this sublime act of solidarity of May 18, 1803 that generated the Haitian nation, to contribute with their positive energies, know-how, resources and potential to build a stronger Community and a united and prosperous Haitian nation. Happy Flag Day to all the Haitian community." Note that images depicting the history of the Haitian Flag are on display at the Consulate from May 17 to June 1, 2018 inclusive. IH/ iciHaiti (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2018-05-17 Sino-Zambian Medical Cooperation Medals are conferred onto the 19th Chinese medical aid team in Zambia for their diligent work over the past year. [Photo/news.01ny.cn] Zambian Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya conferred Sino-Zambian Medical Cooperation Medals onto the 19th Chinese medical aid team in Zambia on May 14 in recognition of their contribution to advancing local healthcare over the past year. The team, comprised of 28 Nanyang doctors specializing in traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, neurosurgery and orthopedics, was sent by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Henan Province. They arrived in the southern African nation last May and began a year-long medical aid practice in four local hospitals. As of April, the medical aid team had treated 15,275 outpatients, performed 726 operations, and rescued 392 critically ill patients. It also trained 352 local medical workers and provided free medical consultation to residents in remote areas and children in orphanages. A doctor of the Chinese medical aid team in Zambia trains local medical staff. [Photo/new.01ny.cn] Chilufya said that the government was happy to honor the doctors who worked diligently over the past year to strengthen the Zambian healthcare system during their tour. Their hard work was reflected by improved service in the four hospitals where they were stationed. According to Chilufya, China has been sending medical aid teams to Zambia since 1978. The two countries have developed close relations in the health sector over the past 40 years, which is crucial to local infrastructure construction and high-level health personnel training. A myriad of fees For the past month, Ha Thanh Huong in Hanoi has received several text messages notifying her that various service charges have been debited from her bank account. A rough estimate shows that each month Huong is charged VND11,000 for the SMS banking service and another VND11,000 for the mobile banking service. Previously, the charge was VND8,800 and has only been increased recently. But these are just two of a multitude of fees she has to pay, with others for card management, account maintenance, money transfers and paper statements. Furthermore, under her banks policy change, a fee of at least VND10,000 is imposed when depositing money into her account at one of its transaction offices if she forgets to bring a form of identification to demonstrate that she is the real owner of the deposited account. Huong is even more upset as she recently learnt that her bank plans to raise its cash withdrawal fees. Like Huong, many customers have also expressed their disappointment at the banks move to raise their fees one after another in such a short space of time. Le Xuan Hung, owner of a private enterprise in Hanoi, is also bewildered by the bank fees he is charged each month. My company maintains a non-term deposit of VND1 billion at the bank but I have to pay various fees every month. Recently I was surprised to learn that the SMS notification fee has gone up from VND50,000 to VND200,000 a month and the internet banking fee from VND350,000 to VND1 million a year. I did not receive any text messages or emails about the changes from the bank in advance Hung said. Transparency needed While consumers are strongly resenting the fee hikes, banks are citing various reasons for their policy changes. The issue is how to harmonise the interests of both sides. Customers have the right to question their banks transparency over the fees and the fee increase roadmap. According to Dao Minh Tuan, deputy general director of Vietcombank, a circular issued by the central bank in 2012 allowed commercial banks to raise the maximum ATM cash withdrawal fee to VND1,000 in 2013, VND2,000 in 2014 and VND3,000 from 2015 onwards. But in fact, the ceiling has been imposed by a number of banks and the increases are in line with the regulation and were already calculated six years ago, Tuan explained. He added that the ATM maintenance costs are currently well above that which the banks are charging their customers. Tuan said, In Vietnam, 97% of card transactions are cash withdrawals rather than paying for goods and services. That is why cash machines are always overburdened and wearing out faster than in other countries. The fee of VND7,000 to VND10,000 for a withdrawal already includes all costs, including maintenance for many years. Although the ATM fee increases are in accordance with government rules and an approved roadmap, experts say banks still meet opposition from customers because of their lack of transparency. For example, although banks frequently send service promotion ads and security warnings to their customers, they rarely send out information on fees through text messages or emails. Customers are only aware of the fee increases by visiting their banks websites or through mass media. Soon after a number of major banks announced their intention to raise the ATM withdrawal fee from VND1,100 to VND1,560, the central bank promptly asked them to consider halting the change. Commercial banks have also been urged to increase their transparency to ensure their customers fully understand the fee schedule as regulated. A central bank official said Our stance is to protect the legitimate rights of customers and balance the interests of banks and their customers in order to create a harmony between the service providers and service users. As such, if banks plan to raise fees, they need to work out and publicise a roadmap in order to procure the customers agreement. Three-year-old Sherin Mathews was found dead in a culvert in Richardson, Texas, last October, allegedly after her Indian American adoptive father Wesley Mathews watched her choke on her milk late night and then hid her body outside the family home. A Child Protective Services report said May 15 there was little evidence she was physically abused by her parents. (Love & Justice for Sherin Saraswati Mathews photo via Facebook) Nirmala Roy, an assistant professor of information systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was named a CAREER Award recipient by the National Science Foundation. The smart home technologies proposed in this project can decrease the number of medical specialist visits and overall healthcare costs, the Indian American researcher said. (UMBC.edu photo) Indian Foreign Service officer Madhuri Gupta is escorted by police after making an appearance at Tis Hazari Court in New Delhi on May 1, 2010. Gupta was convicted of passing information to Pakistan spies while stationed at The Indian High Commission in Islamabad. (STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images) John Pilger: Palestine Is Still the Issue Watch "This film is about the Palestinians and a group of courageous Israelis united in the oldest human struggle, to be free." John Pilger first made the film 'Palestine Is Still The Issue' in 1977. It told how almost a million Palestinians had been forced off their land in 1948, and again in 1967. Twenty five years later, John Pilger returned to the West Bank of Jordan and Gaza, and to Israel, to ask why the Palestinians, whose right of return was affirmed by the United Nations more than half a century ago, are still caught in a terrible limbo - refugees in their own land, controlled by Israel in the longest military occupation in modern times. Posted May 17, 2018 Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter "If we are to speak of the great injustice here, nothing has changed," says Pilger at the start of the film, "What has changed is that the Palestinians have fought back. Stateless and humiliated for so long, they have risen up against Israels huge military regime, although they themselves have no army, no tanks, no American planes and gunships or missiles. Some have committed desperate acts of terror, like suicide bombing. But, for Palestinians, the overriding, routine terror, day after day, has been the ruthless control of almost every aspect of their lives, as if they live in an open prison. This film is about the Palestinians and a group of courageous Israelis united in the oldest human struggle, to be free." Pilger distills the history of Palestine during the twentieth century into an easily comprehensible struggle for land - the loss of seventy-eight per cent of that belonging to Palestinians when the state of Israel was founded in 1948 and their claim to only the remaining twenty-two per cent, which had for thirty-five years been occupied by Israel. In a series of extraordinary interviews with both Israelis and Palestinians, he speaks to the families of suicide bombers and their victims. He witnesses the humiliation of Palestinians at myriad checkpoints with a permit system not dissimilar to apartheid South Africa's infamous pass laws. One Palestinian woman tells of how she was stopped from passing through a checkpoint when she went into labour and had to return home to give birth with her mother-in-law using a razor to cut the umbilical cord. The baby later died. He goes into the refugee camps and meets children who, he says, "no longer dream like other children, or if they do, it is about death." He is shown round the Palestinian Ministry of Culture in Ramallah after a recent Israeli attack where he discovers faeces smeared on walls and floors and a room of childrens paintings vandalised. Archive footage shows pledges by successive American presidents in support of Israel. Pilger describes the Israeli administration as "Americas deputy sheriff" in the oil-rich Middle East, receiving billions of dollars and the latest weapons: F16 aircraft, bombs, missiles and Apache helicopters. He reveals that Britain also fuels the conflict even though it condemns Israel for its illegal occupation. "During the first fourteen months of the Palestinian uprising, the Blair government approved 230 export licences for weapons and military equipment to Israel... Tony Blair has said, and I quote him, "We are doing everything we can to bring peace and stability to the Middle East.'" As a result, Israel is now the fourth-largest military power in the world. On a hillside overlooking Jerusalem, Pilger concludes. "The truth is that Israelis will never have peace until they recognise that Palestinians have the same right to the same peace and the same independence that they enjoy, he said. Recently, that great voice of freedom, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, asked this: Have the Jewish people of Israel forgotten their collective punishment, their home demolitions, their humiliations so soon? Israels own dissenting voices have not forgotten and those who speak out in this film honour the best traditions of Jewish humanity... The occupation of Palestine should end now. Then, the solution is clear: two countries, Israel and Palestine, neither dominating nor menacing the other. Is that impossible or is history to witness the consequences of yet another silence?" Palestine Is Still The Issue was a Carlton Television production for ITV first broadcast on ITV1, 16 September 2002. Director: Tony Stark. Producer: Chris Martin. Awards: The Chris Statuette in the War & Peace division, Chris Awards, Columbus International Film & Video Festival, Ohio, 2003; Winner, War & Peace category, Vermont International Film Festival, 2003; Certificate of Merit, Chicago International Television Awards. The majority of John Pilger's 58 documentaries and films are available to watch in their entirety at his website ===== Join the Discussion The industry has grown well recently in Vietnam, creating more than 50,000 jobs and contributing three percent of the State budget. The soft drink sector grew 6.6% in 2011 2016 on an annual basis, while the beer sector was said to have caught up with global trends. However, difficulties remained in the industry, including high inventory rate and shortcomings in business management policy. VBA Chairman Nguyen Van Viet said to realise an average growth of 5.8% for 2016 2020, the beverage industry needs long-term and stable policies which must be practical to avoid impacts on business operations. Rungphech Chitanuwat, a sales director of Thai-based UBM Asia, said the global beverage has high demand for food safety, with environmentally friendly materials. She said key measures to boost the sector growth include trade promotion, material development, and new production machinery. May 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In an apparent swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday decried what he called a growing crisis in ethics and integrity in American public life. Full Speech If our leaders seek to conceal the truth or we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then we as American citizens are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom, Tillerson said in a graduation address at the Virginia Military Institute. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Tillerson, who was fired by Trump in March after little more than a year on the job, did not mention the U.S. president by name during his address to cadets at the school in Lexington, Virginia. But he warned that a crisis involving truthfulness and integrity is threatening U.S. democracy. When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth, even on what may seem the most trivial of matters, we go wobbly on America, Tillerson said. If we do not as Americans confront the crisis of ethics and integrity in our society, and among our leaders in both public and private sector - and regrettably at times even the nonprofit sector - then American democracy as we know it is entering its twilight years, he said. Tillersons speech was among his first public remarks since Trump dismissed him, ending a rocky tenure overseeing the State Department and policy disputes with the White House. The U.S. president has frequently said or tweeted statements not backed up by fact. For example, he insisted, despite evidence to the contrary, that the crowd at his January 2017 inauguration was bigger than at predecessor Barack Obamas. More recently, Trump at first disputed that he was aware of a $130,000 payment made by his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleges an affair with Trump. But another Trump attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, then said Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment. In an ethics disclosure on Wednesday, Trump acknowledged repaying Cohen more than $100,000 for an undisclosed purpose. In his speech, Tillerson said a commitment to facts cements U.S. alliances with other democracies worldwide. It is also that foundational commitment to truth and facts that binds us to other like-minded democratic nations - that we Americans will always deal with them from the same set of truths and facts, he said. And it is truth that says to our adversaries, we say what we mean, and we mean what we say. Editing by Cynthia Osterman This article was originally published by "Reuters Ecuadors Ex-President Rafael Correa Denounces Treatment of Julian Assange as Torture By Glenn Greenwald May 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, in an exclusive interview with The Intercept on Wednesday morning, denounced his countrys current government for blocking Julian Assange from receiving visitors in its embassy in London as a form of torture and a violation of Ecuadors duties to protect Assanges safety and well-being. Correa said this took place in the context of Ecuador no longer maintaining normal sovereign relations with the American government just submission. Correa also responded to a widely discussed Guardian article yesterday, which claimed that Ecuador bankrolled a multimillion-dollar spy operation to protect and support Julian Assange in its central London embassy. The former president mocked the story as highly sensationalistic, accusing The Guardian of seeking to depict routine and modest embassy security measures as something scandalous or unusual. On March 27, Assanges internet access at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was cut off by Ecuadorian officials, who also installed jamming devices to prevent Assange from accessing the internet using other means of connection. Assanges previously active Twitter account has had no activity since then, nor have any journalists been able to communicate with him. All visitors to the embassy have also been denied access to Assange, who was formally made a citizen of Ecuador earlier this year. Assange has been confined to the embassy for almost six years, when Ecuador granted him asylum in August 2012. The grant of asylum was made on the grounds that Assanges extradition to Sweden for a sexual assault investigation would likely result in being sent to the U.S. for prosecution, where he could face the death penalty. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter From the start, Ecuador told both the U.K. and Swedish governments that it would immediately send Assange to Stockholm in exchange for a pledge from Sweden not to use that as a pretext to extradite him to the U.S., something the Swedish government had the power to do but refused. Correa also emphasized that Ecuador, from the start, told Swedish investigators that they were welcome to interrogate Assange in their embassy, but almost five years elapsed before Swedish prosecutors in 2016 finally did so. Citing those facts, a United Nations panel ruled in 2016 that the actions of the U.K. government constituted arbitrary detention and a violation of Assanges fundamental human rights, a decision British officials quickly said they intended to ignore. Despite the fact that Swedish prosecutors dropped its sex crimes investigation last May (not because they concluded Assange was innocent, but because they believed further efforts to bring him to Sweden were futile), U.K. authorities have vowed to arrest him on what it claims are bail violations. The danger for Assange thus remains high if were to leave the embassy, particularly in light of a highly threatening speech given last year by Mike Pompeo, then U.S. President Donald Trumps CIA director and now his secretary of state, in which he labeled WikiLeaks a non-state hostile intelligence service, denied that its publication of documents is protected by the First Amendment, and vowed that to give them the space to crush us with misappropriated secrets is a perversion of what our great Constitution stands for. It ends now. In January, doctors who examined Assange inside the embassy warned that continued confinement posed grave threats to both his physical and mental health. Assanges mother said earlier this week that his health was rapidly deteriorating and had become extremely dangerous. Correa cited those facts, as well as Ecuadors legal obligations under international law to asylees, to denounce Ecuadors denial of visitors to Assange as basically torture. Denial of visitors is, Correa said, a clear violation of his rights. Once we give asylum to someone, we are responsible for his safety, for ensuring humane living conditions. But without communications to the outside world and visits from anyone, the government is basically attacking Julians mental health. The ex-president said he believed it could be appropriate to limit Assanges communications if he were acting irresponsibly by interfering in another countrys politics. During the 2016 U.S. election, Correa said, his own government told Assange that it thought his attacks on Hillary Clinton were becoming excessive and briefly suspended his internet connection to underline its concerns. But that was just temporary, said Correa. We never intended to take away his internet for an extended period of time. That is going way too far. Correas Foreign Affairs Minister Guillaume Long similarly said in an interview with The Guardian earlier this morning that he, too, believed that the denial of visitors to Assange and the blocking of his internet access for this long believed to be due to Assanges frequent tweeting over the Catalan independence movement in Spain was unjust. As for reports that Ecuador is negotiating with the U.K. government to turn over Assange, Correa said that he had no knowledge of those discussions, but said it would be unthinkable for Ecuador to do so without first obtaining enforceable protections for Assanges rights, including not having the U.K. government use the bail violations as a pretext to hand over Assange to the U.S. Emphasizing that the U.S. government has made clear that it wants to prosecute Assange for publishing newsworthy material under statutes that allow for the death penalty, Correa said any such deal that did not include protections against extradition to the U.S. would be a terrible betrayal, a violation of the rules of asylum, and a breach of Ecuadors responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of Julian Assange. During his presidency, Correa was particularly assertive about defending the sovereignty of his country from intrusions by more powerful states, particularly the U.S. In 2007, he ordered a U.S. military base on Ecuadorian soil closed unless the U.S. was willing to allow Ecuador the reciprocal right to establish a military base in Miami. But earlier this month, Correas successor, the current Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, announced that it had recently signed an agreement focused on security cooperation [with the U.S.] which implies sharing information, intelligence topics and experiences in the fight against illegal drug trafficking and fighting transnational organized crime. Many in Ecuador viewed that as a prelude to a return to the days when the U.S. dominated Ecuador, including with new military bases, a suspicion Morenos government denies. But to Correa, Moreno is returning Ecuador to the days when it was subservient to the dictates of the U.S. government. Everyone in Latin America knows what this agreement with the U.S. means control, intervention, spying, he said. Given the submissive posture of the current Ecuadorian president, Correa said it would not shock him if they submitted to American and British demands regarding Assange. Correa also cited the Moreno governments recent decision to terminate peace talks between the Colombian government and rebels on Ecuadorian soil, which the ex-president believes was done at the behest of the U.S. As for the spying allegations in the Guardian article, Correa said that the newspaper took a customary and standard security arrangement, and tried to make it appear sinister and scandalous. Of course we provided security to Assange in the embassy, Correa said. It was our duty under the law to do so. We had the U.K. government threatening to break into the embassy. We spent what amounts to a small amount of money to provide security. Correa said that unlike the U.S., which surrounds its embassies with massive military protection, Ecuador does not have the means to do that. So, when we have special security needs, we hire private firms to provide it. There is nothing unusual about this. It would have been a violation of our duties if we did not. Correa said his government hired a well-known security firm based in Spain, UC Global, to provide those services, but the current government replaced it with an Israeli firm. But those services are still being provided by the current government, Correa said. As for The Guardians claim that Assange himself breached Ecuadorian cybersecurity systems to read emails and documents from Ecuadorian officials, Correa said the claim seemed absurd, adding that The Guardian presented no evidence for this, just an anonymous source. Conceding that it was possible that Assange had managed to hack into various government systems, he emphasized that he had no knowledge that any such spying by Assange had taken place nor has he seen any evidence for this claim. The former president stressed that he had been given virtually no chance to respond to The Guardians allegations before publication of its article. They sent it to some email address in Ecuador very shortly before they published the story, said Correa, who is currently in Belgium. I did not see the email until after the story was published. They seemed to want to make a sensationalized story, not any serious report to find out the truth. Correa said he would provide The Intercept with the email sent by The Guardian; upon receipt from Correa, this article will be updated to include it. Correa continues to believe that asylum for Assange is not only legally valid, but also obligatory. We dont agree with everything Assange has done or what he says, Correa said. And we never wanted to impede the Swedish investigation. We said all along that he would go to Sweden immediately in exchange for a promise not to extradite him to the U.S., but they would never give that. And we knew they could have questioned him in our embassy, but they refused for years to do so. The fault for the investigation not proceeding lies, he insists, with the Swedish and British governments. But now that Assange has asylum, Correa is adamant that the current government is bound by domestic and international law to protect his well-being and safety. Correa was scathing in his denunciation of the treatment Assange is currently receiving, viewing it as a byproduct of Morenos inability or unwillingness to have Ecuador act like a sovereign and independent country. This article was originally published by " The Intercept " - ===== Join the Discussion May 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - On the very hour of the US opening its embassy in Jerusalem, hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians, including children, were being slaughtered by Israeli snipers. Nearly 60 people, including eight children, were brutally murdered in cold blood by Israeli sharpshooters. At least a thousand others were injured from bullet wounds, many of whom will be maimed for life. More bloodshed is expected in coming days. What kind of criminal world are we living in? When news channels can report this carnage as if it's somehow normal. Where is the outrage of Western pundits who foam at the mouth over alleged atrocities elsewhere? Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been widely rebuked by the rest of the world. The move is killing whatever little peace process there was between Palestinians and Israelis, with the latter emboldened by Trump to ruthlessly annex all territory. Trump was not present at the embassy ceremony, sending his congratulations by video link instead. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner headed the American delegation. Kushner in an address praised Israel for its "democratic values" and how the US and Israel were eternal allies. With a solemn face, Kushner said: "those who incite violence cannot be part of any peace process". Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gloated over America's backing for his dream to make Jerusalem the "undivided capital of the Jewish state". Without a hint of shame, Netanyahu crowed that "you can't build peace on a foundation of lies". He called it a "great day". What Trump has done is give official US endorsement to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, which Palestinians and international law designate as the future capital of a Palestinian state supposedly arrived at through negotiations with the Israelis. Thus, under Trump, Washington is now blatantly complicit in the illegal annexation of Palestinian territory by Israel. The role of the US in sponsoring Israeli violations was always present, albeit deceptively disguised with claims of being a mediator and "honest broker" between Palestinians and Israelis. And yet, given this audacious unmasking by Trump of America's role as a brazen accomplice to Israeli crimes, the American president has the brass neck to say this week that Washington is still committed to "full and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians". The opening of the US embassy on Monday was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel as a state in 1948. That foundation was built on pogroms and massacres carried out by Jewish settlers who had migrated to historic Palestine from around the world with their Zionist dream and blessings from the United Nations and Western powers to usurp Palestinian rights. Netanyahu's speech about peace not being possible on "a foundation of lies" applies, ironically, to the creation of the state of Israel. Appropriately, though despicably, the 70th anniversary and the opening of the US embassy was accompanied with the massacre of unarmed Palestinians. The following day, Tuesday, is what the Palestinians commemorate as "Nakba" or the "Catastrophe" the 70th anniversary marking their dispossession as a people from their historic lands. Over seven decades, millions of Palestinians have been expelled to refugee camps in neighboring states like Jordan and Lebanon. Others ended up in confined ghettos like Gaza or the West Bank, held under siege by Israeli "defense forces". Out of these balkanized shards of land, the Palestinians are in theory supposed to gain future statehood. But that is a cynical pipe-dream that neither the Israelis nor the US really believe in. The trite talk of future peace is just a cover for the ongoing slow-motion dispossession of Palestinians until they are driven out altogether by the encroaching Israeli state. The opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem this week, crushing Palestinians claims to East Jerusalem, is emblematic of the cynical and insidious process of historical ethnic cleansing. In Gaza, where two million Palestinians subsist in appalling conditions of no clean water or electricity, the UN says that the coastal enclave will become unlivable in a matter of years. Under siege from the Israeli military, the people of Gaza are trapped in an open-air prison. Eventually, when they have been ground down into total destitution, the Israelis will probably evacuate them under some grubby American-backed deal to a compliant neighboring state, and finally, annex Gaza. It is under these conditions of desperation that the people of Gaza have for the past six weeks taken to protesting at Israeli military penning them in with a so-called "security border". Over the past six weeks, nearly 50 unarmed protesters, including journalists and children, were shot dead by Israeli snipers under orders from high command in a tactic of shoot-to-kill. This week, the death toll more than doubled. The sickening paradox of Israel is too much for words. The state was set up by Jewish migrants fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe. Today, it is maintained by the murderous practices of the Nazi SS and a Western media propaganda system that would marvel Josef Goebbels. What adds to the horror is how supine European governments, the UN and the Western media are towards the barbarity being inflicted on Palestinians by the Israeli state and its American sponsor. The Arab client regimes of Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states are equally odious in their silence. The hypocrisy and double standards shown by Western governments is truly shocking. Only a few weeks ago, they were clamoring over an alleged chemical-weapons incident in Syria, and carried out air strikes on that country in "retribution". It turned out that the incident was a fabrication concocted by Western-backed terrorists. How many times have we heard Western governments and their media pontificate about alleged Russian "annexation" of Crimea? But these Western hypocrites say nothing about the ongoing murderous annexation of Palestine by the US-backed Israeli state. We are living in nefarious, lawless times, where Western governments and media say next to nothing about the murder of civilians when it suits their geopolitics. But these same governments make up accusations on the basis of lies and fulminate with righteous condemnation out of cynical expedience against "enemies" like Syria, Iran and Russia. The opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem this week was anointed with the blood of innocent people shot down by Israeli snipers. That massacre is surely the grotesque sign of the iniquitous and very dangerous times were are living in. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. May 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Imagine the outrage western governments would express if terrorists were to kill more than 50 Israelis on the streets of Tel Aviv in a single day. Yet when it comes to the killing that Israeli forces carried out on Monday at the gates of Gaza and have been doing for the past several weeks the silence from most western ministers is deafening. Worse still, there are attempts to justify the deaths as legitimate self-defence. The Israeli government argues that the crowds of mostly young Palestinians at the Gaza fence offer a lethal threat to peaceful Israelis. The claim is as ludicrous as it is cynical. Even if one or two protesters broke through the fence they would have nowhere to go except into the arms of the Israeli security forces, who could easily detain them. The Palestinian interlopers have no allies on the Israeli side of the fence, nor any transport to take them to populated parts of Israel. Nor are they armed. It is clear from video footage that they have no suicide belts round their waists, or guns in their hands. Occasional stones were the only weapons. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Normal police methods of arrest and trial would be perfectly adequate to handle the issue. Yet instead, Israeli snipers used live ammunition against demonstrators, wounding thousands in the legs but also killing dozens. In spite of the outrage from international human rights groups on Monday, matched by a few courageous Israeli groups also, there was no sign on Tuesday that Israeli commanders had given their troops any new rules of engagement. With tensions raised as the funerals of victims got underway, the risk of new deaths remained high. A chief cause of the protests is the misery and despair created by 11 years of blockade that the people of Gaza have had to suffer because they had the temerity to vote in a Hamas government in 2006. Egypt shares some of the blame for the collective punishment inflicted on Gazans. So too does the Palestinian authority, which held back the payment of civil servants salaries in Gaza. But the lions share of the blame rests with Israel, which initiated and orchestrated the embargo and has repeatedly refused to end or even relax it significantly. Offers by Hamas to declare a ceasefire or truce with Israel in return for an end to the embargo have been spurned. The result is the hopelessness that encourages young Palestinians to risk their lives at the border fence. Hamas certainly encourages the protests, seeking to highlight Israeli intransigence and cruelty; but to dismiss the young demonstrators as though they were robots being manipulated to act as Hamass human shields as official Israeli spokespeople do is to minimise the genuine frustration and agony that many Gazans feel. The second deep cause for the protests is history. Palestinians see themselves as a sending a reminder to the world that Israels foundation 70 years ago involved the deliberate ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Their demands for compensation or restitution have been routinely ignored for decades. Palestinians are struggling to keep the unresolved issue from fading from view. Yet where the Israelis take aim with ruthless efficiency, Donald Trump shoots from the hip. This weeks carnage in Gaza is not directly linked to the US presidents provocative decision to transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognise the city as Israels capital. But this move has added to the anger and frustration. Under previous US administrations, official policy on all aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute has always been skewed overwhelmingly towards the Israeli government. Few Palestinians have been naive enough to see Washington as an honest broker. But most US presidents have at least tried to restrain the violence and seek political compromises, however much the terms gave Israel the better part of the bargain. This remains true for any of the variants of the much-vaunted two-state solution that have been put on the table. Trump is different from his predecessors. He makes no effort to understand the Palestinians current proposals for peace, let alone the history of the conflict. Choosing to move the US embassy to Jerusalem on the very day Israelis marked their states anniversary while Palestinians mourned their Nakba (catastrophe) showed insensitivity at best. At worst it was a deliberate provocation, denying to the Palestinians all pretence of US even-handedness. But then, of course, Trump has form. He has shown that blend of ignorance and arrogance which is the hallmark of many would-be aspirants to the highest office in the United States, and which some who get elected never overcome. On the nuclear deal with Iran, he took action without considering the consequences. He did not listen to those allies who had negotiated for years with the Iranians. He also chose to ignore the findings of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran was not violating any of the nuclear deals terms. Trump failed to explain why tearing it up was better than having a less-than-perfect deal. No two issues in the Middle East are more tense than Israels dispute with the Palestinians and the wests dispute with Iran. They require careful analysis of each sides legitimate aspirations as well as grievances, and mature discussion and compromise to find solutions. Trump will have none of this. He failed to consult the scores of experts from his own country or from the Middle East who had warned him that jumping to endorse the current Israeli governments ambitions for Jerusalem also held by its settler constituency would destroy any chance of successful negotiations in the future. Instead, Trump thinks he can simply tell the Palestinians youre fired and they will meekly go away. Jonathan Steele is a former chief correspondent for the Guardian The Ruinously Expensive American Military Pay and benefits are out of control By Philip Giraldi May 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Americas Republican politicians complain that entitlements, by which they mean pensions and medical care, are leading the country to bankruptcy even as they fatten the spending on the Pentagon, which now takes 12 percent of the overall budget. And it should be noted that while workers contribute to the social programs during all their years of employment, the money that goes to the military comes straight out of the pockets of taxpayers before being wasted in ways that scarcely benefit the average citizen unless one seriously thinks that folks over in Syria, Iran and Afghanistan actually do threaten the survival of the United States of America. I was in a Virginia supermarket the other day checking out when the woman behind the cash register in a perky voice asked me Will you give $5 to support our troops? I responded No. Our troops already get way too much of our money. She replied, Hee, hee thats a funny joke and I said Its not a joke. Her face dropped and she signaled to her boss over in customer service and asked her to take over, saying that I had been rude. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter If there is any group in the United States that exceeds the sheer greed of our politicians it is the military, which believes itself to be entitled as a consequence of its role in the global war on terror. I am a veteran who began service in a largely draftee army in which we were paid twenty-one dollars a day once a month as the old World War 2 song goes. When we got out, the GI Bill gave us $175 a month to go back to college, which did not cover much. Todays United States has 2,083,000 soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen on active duty plus reserves. Now that the military is an all-volunteer rather than a conscript force, it is understandable that pay and benefits should be close to or equivalent to civilian pay scales. Currently, a sergeant first class with 10 years in service gets paid $3968 a month. A captain with ten years gets $6271. That amounts to $47,616 and $75,252 a year respectively plus healthcare, food, housing, cost of living increases and bonuses to include combat pay. Though there are several options for retirement, generally speaking a soldier, sailor Marine or airman can retire after 20 years with half of his or her final high three pay as a pension, which means an 18-year-old who enlists right out of high school will be 38 and if he or she makes sergeant first class (E-7) he or she will be collecting $2338 a month or more for a rest of his or her life adjusted for cost of living, Many Americans would be astonished at the pensions that general officers and admirals receive, particularly since 80% of them also land in retirement generously remunerated positions with defense contractors either in active positions soliciting new contracts from their former peers or sitting on boards. General David Petraeus, whom The Nation describes as the general who lost two wars, pulls in a pension of $220,000 even though he was forced to resign as CIA Director due to passing classified information to his mistress. He is also chairman of a New York City based company KKR Global, which is part of a private equity firm Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts. He reportedly is paid in six figures plus bonuses for oversee[ing] the institutes thought leadership platform focused on geopolitical and macro-economic trends, as well as environmental, social, and governance issues. It apparently is difficult to take money away from general and flag officers. An Air Force four-star general named Arthur Lichte was reduced in rank to a two-star in 2017 after he was found guilty of having raped a lower ranking woman officer. His pension went down from $216,000 to $156,000 due to the reduction. Normally, however, Americas 1,000 general and flag officers can look forward to comfortable retirements. But on top of that rather generous bit of cash there are the considerable other benefits, as the old recruiting sergeants would put it, the bennies. Military retirees can receive full tuition and expenses at a college or technical school if they choose to go back to school. This is why one sees so many ads for online universities on television they are trolling for soldier dollars knowing that its free money. The retiree will also have access to heavily subsidized medical care for him or herself plus family. The medical care is a significant bonus under the Tricare system, which describes itself on its website as the gold standard for medical coverage, [that] is government managed health insurance. A friend who is retired recently had a hip replacement operation that would have cost $39,000 for only a few hundred dollars through Tricare. What is significant is that even enlisted military personnel can start a second career on top of their pension, given that many of them are still in their thirties. Some that have security clearances can jump into highly paid jobs with defense contractors immediately while others also find places in the bureaucracy with the Department of Homeland Security. Working for the government twice is called double dipping. Some would argue that military personnel deserve what they get because the jobs are by their very nature dangerous, sometimes fatal. Indeed, the number of maimed and PTSD-afflicted soldiers returning from the endless wars is a national tragedy and caring for them should be a top priority. But the truth is that only a very small fraction, by some estimates far less than 20% of Army and Marine personnel in so-called combat arms, ever are in danger. Air Force and Navy personnel rarely experience combat at all apart from bombing targets far below or launching cruise missiles against Syrians. It is true that given the volatile nature of war against insurgents in places like Afghanistan many soldiers in support roles can come under fire, but it is far from normal and most men and women in service never experience a gun fired in anger. Some numbers-crunchers in the Pentagon have already raised the alarm that the current pay, benefits and retirement levels for military personnel is unsustainable if the United States continues its worldwide mission against terrorists and allegedly rogue regimes. And it is also unsustainable if the U.S. seeks to return to a constitutional arrangement whereby the nation is actually defended by its military, not subordinated to it and being bankrupted by its costs. May 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Back in the 2008 presidential race, I explained to then-candidate Rudy Giuliani the concept of blowback. Years of US meddling and military occupation of parts of the Middle East motivated a group of terrorists to carry out attacks against the United States on 9/11. They didnt do it because we are so rich and so free, as the neocons would have us believe. They came over here because we had been killing Muslims over there for decades. How do we know this? Well, they told us. Osama bin Laden made it clear why al-Qaeda sought to attack the US. They didnt like the US taking sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict and they didnt like US troops on their holy land. Why believe a terrorist, some responded. As I explained to Giuliani ten years ago, the concept of blowback is well-known in the US intelligence community and particularly by the CIA. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Unfortunately, it is clear that Giuliani never really understood what I was trying to tell him. Like the rest of the neocons, he either doesnt get it or doesnt want to get it. In a recent speech to the MeK a violent Islamist-Marxist cult that spent two decades on the US terror watch list Giuliani promised that the Trump Administration had made regime change a priority for Iran. He even told the members of that organization an organization that has killed dozens of Americans that Trump would put them in charge of Iran! Giuliani shares with numerous other neocons like John Bolton a strong relationship with this group. In fact, both Giuliani and Bolton have been on the payroll of the MeK and have received tens of thousands of dollars to speak to their followers. This is another example of how foreign lobbies and special interest groups maintain an iron grip on our foreign policy. Does anyone really think Iran will be better off if Trump puts a bunch of former terrorists in charge of the country? How did that work in Libya? Its easy to dismiss the bombastic Giuliani as he speaks to his financial benefactors in the MeK. Unfortunately, however, Giulianis claims were confirmed late last week, when the Washington Free Beacon published a three-page policy paper being circulated among National Security Council officials containing plans to spark regime change in Iran. The paper suggests that the US focus on Irans many ethnic minority groups to spark unrest and an eventual overthrow of the government. This is virtually the same road map that the US has followed in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and so on. The results have been unmitigated disaster after disaster. Unleashing terrorists on Iran to overthrow its government is not only illegal and immoral: its also incredibly stupid. We know from 9/11 that blowback is real, even if Giuliani and the neocons refuse to understand it. Iran does not threaten the United States. Unlike Washingtons Arab allies in the region, Iran actually holds reasonably democratic elections and has a Western-oriented, educated, and very young population. Why not open up to Iran with massive amounts of trade and other contacts? Does anyone (except for the neocons) really believe it is better to unleash terrorists on a population than to engage them in trade and travel? We need to worry about blowback from President Trumps fully-neoconized Middle East policy! Thats the real threat! This article was originally published by "RPI " - May 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Julian Assange appears to be painfully close to being unceremoniously thrown out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. If that happens, the consequences for journalism, for freedom of speech, and for press freedom, will resound around the world for a very long time. It is very unwise for anyone who values truth and freedom to underestimate the repercussions of this. In essence, Assange is not different from any journalist working for a major paper or news channel. The difference is he published what they will not because they want to stay in power. The Washington Post today would never do an investigation such as Watergate, and thats where WikiLeaks came in. It filled a void left by the media that betrayed their own history and their own field. Betrayed the countless journalists throughout history, and today, who risked their lives and limbs, and far too often lost them, to tell the truth about what powers that be do when they think nobodys looking or listening. Julian is not wanted because hes a spy, or even because he published a number of documents whose publication was inconvenient for certain people. He is wanted because he is so damn smart, which makes him very good and terribly effective at what he does. Hes on a most wanted list not for what hes already published, but for what he might yet publish in the future. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter He built up WikiLeaks into an organization that acquired the ultimate trust of many people who had access to documents they felt should be made public. They knew he would never betray their trust. WikiLeaks has to date never published any documents that were later found out to be false. It never gave up a source. No documents were ever changed or manipulated for purposes other than protecting sources and other individuals. Julian Assange built an empire based on trust. To do that he knew he could never lie. Even the smallest lie would break what he had spent so much time and effort to construct. He was a highly accomplished hacker from a very young age, which enabled him to build computer networks that nobody managed to hack. He knew how to make everything safe. And keep it that way. Since authorities were never able to get their hands on WikiLeaks, its sources, or its leader, a giant smear campaign was started around rape charges in Sweden (the country and all its citizens carry a heavy blame for what happened) and connections to Americas favorite enemy, Russia. The rape charges were never substantiated, Julian was never even interrogated by any Swedish law enforcement personnel, but that is no surprise. It was clear from the get-go what was happening. First of all, for Assange himself. And if theres one thing you could say hes done wrong, its that he didnt see the full impact from the campaign against him, sooner. But if you have the worlds largest and most powerful intelligence services against you, and they manage to find both individuals and media organizations willing to spread blatant lies about you, chances are you will not last forever. If and when you have such forces running against you, you need protection. From politicians and from -fellow- media. Assange didnt get that, or not nearly enough. Ecuador offered him protection, but as soon as another president was elected, they turned against him. So have news organizations who were once all too eager to profit from material Assange managed to obtain from his sources. That the Guardian today published not just one, not two, but three what can only be labeled as hit pieces on Julian Assange, should perhaps not surprise us; they fell out a long time ago. Still, the sheer amount of hollow innuendo and outright lies in the articles is astonishing. How dare you? Have you no shame, do you not care at all about your credibility? At least the Guardian makes painfully clear why WikiLeaks was needed. No, Sweden didnt drop its investigation into alleged sexual offences because it was unable to question Assange. The Swedes simply refused to interview him in the Ecuador embassy in London, the only place where he knew he was safe. They refused this for years. And when the rape charges had lost all credibility, Britain asked Sweden to not drop the charges, but keep the pressure on. No, there is no proof of links from Assange to Russian hackers and/or to the Russian government. No, there is no proof that DNC computers were hacked by Russians to get to John Podestas emails. In fact there is no proof they were hacked at all. No, Ecuador didnt get tired of Julian; their new president, Moreno, decided to sell him out at the first pressure from the United States. Just as his predecessor, Correa, said he would. Julian Assange has been condemned by Sweden, Britain, the US and now Ecuador to solitary confinement with no access to daylight or to medical care. Without a trial, without a sentence, and on the basis of mere allegations, most of which have already turned out to be trumped up and false. This violates so many national and international laws its futile to try and count or name them. It also condemns any and all subsequent truth tellers to the prospect of being treated in the same way that Julian is. Forget about courts, forget about justice. Youll be on a wanted list. I still have a bit of hope left that Vladimir Putin will step in and save Assange from the gross injustice hes been exposed to for far too many years. Putin gets 100 times the lies and innuendo Assange gets, but he has a powerful nation behind him. Assange, in the end, only has us. Whats perhaps the saddest part of all this is that people like Chelsea Manning, Kim Dotcom, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are among the smartest people our world has to offer. We should be cherishing the combination of intelligence, courage and integrity they display at their own risk and peril, but instead we let them be harassed by our governments because they unveil inconvenient truths about them. And pretty soon there will be nobody left to tell these truths, or tell any truth at all. Dark days. By allowing the smartest and bravest amongst us, who are experts in new technologies, to be silenced, we are allowing these technologies to be used against us. Were not far removed from being extras in our own lives, with all significant decisions taken not by us, but for us. Americas Founding Fathers are turning in their graves as we speak. They would have understood the importance of protecting Julian Assange. To say that we are all Julian Assange is not just a slogan. Big Brother Naija 2018 First runner-up, Cee-C appears to be having so many good deals from big brands coming her way. The controversial former housemate looks set to become the first female ambassador of one of Nigerias biggest betting company, Nairabet. The popular betting Company CEO, Akin Alabi, Cee-C revealed via a tweet that he was looking forward top working with the Cee-c despite her fiery nature and even though he never really watched the big naija reality game show when it was on. Recall that, Cee-c became a brand ambassador of House of Lunnettes which TBoss is already an ambassador. Akin Alabi wrote; See who came to @NairaBET HQ today. Thank you Cee-C and Ubi Franklin for coming I didnt watch Big Brother but following it on Social Media, it seems that CeeC is a fiery and combative person. Sound like someone I will like to hire. -Gistreel Chuka Austine Obiozor, a justice of the Lagos high court , has issued a restraining order to the Federal Registry, Ikoyi saying marriages conducted there is not legally binding. According to the judge, it is unconstitutional for the federal government to perform the duties of the state and local governments. The judgement delivered on Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1760/16 said marriage registries in the local government and local council development areas of Lagos state are the authentic and legally-binding government divisions established to carry out such functions. TheCable reports that Muslim Folami, the Lagos state commissioner for local government and community affairs, while addressing a press conference on Thursday, said the judgement will be communicated to all stakeholders, including embassies. Folami said the decision of the court is supreme and is legally binding on all and that all marriages conducted and registered in any of the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas are valid and in accordance with the marriage act. He added that, the judgment will put a stop to the perception of superiority of Ikoyi Marriage Registry over the local government registries. We are going to use every available platform in the five divisions across the state to sensitize our people and inform them about this latest development; From Epe to Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja and Lagos Island, he said. Punch The Supreme Court has ordered a former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, to return to the Federal High Court in Lagos to face his trial on N5bn fraud charges. Vanguard Weve made Gov. Okorocha politically irrelevant Imo APC stakeholders The All Progressives Congress (APC), Imo stakeholders have said that they have made Gov. Rochas Okorocha politically irrelevant in their determination to rescue the party from imminent collapse in the state. The Sun Ramadan Kareem : President Buhari participates in Tafsir President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday joined the Muslim faithful all over the world who crowded neighborhood mosques for the Ramadan Tafsir the translation and explanation of the Holy Quran. Daily Times A clash happened along Ada George Road in Port Harcourt on Thursday morning as soldiers sacked the Rumukpakani Police Station, allegedly over the killing of their colleague by a policeman. Guardian U.S. Secretary of State calls Buhari, reaffirms Nigeria-U.S. relations U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Nigerias President Muhamadu Buhari and reaffirmed the longstanding relationship between the U.S. and Nigeria, U.S. Department of State, said. Leadership I Didnt Orchestrate Arrest Of Kwara Youths Lai Mohammed The minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has vehemently rejected the accusation that he orchestrated the arrest of youths in Kwara State. The Nation Tribune President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja received a briefing from the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen, Tukur Buratai, on the happenings in the Nigerian Army as well as latest security situation across the country. Replying to questions on Vietnams reaction to the USs opening of its embassy in Jerusalem and the rising tension in the region, the spokesperson said that Vietnam protests the use of violence and calls for restraint and an end to escalating tension. Vietnam once again calls for the settlement of conflicts by peaceful measures and efforts to seek a comprehensive, fair and sustainable solution, while ensuring the safety for civilians and the legitimate interests of all concerned parties, as well as peace and stability in the region, Hang said. She stressed Vietnams stance that all solutions related to Jerusalem should adhere to international law, especially the resolutions of the United Nations, with a consensus of all related parties. Vietnam maintains the consistent position of supporting the just struggle of the Palestinian people and the two-State solution with the establishment of a State of Palestine that co-exists in peace with the State of Israel, along the pre-1967 border and with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, the spokesperson said. Regarding the USs withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the spokesperson made it clear that Vietnam supports dialogues in order to seek peaceful solutions to all disputes. We hope that all parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA) will persevere in negotiating to find a solution that can bring long-term peace and stability for the region and the world as a whole, she said. Asked to comment on the meeting between US President Donald Trump and the leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un on June 12, in Singapore, Spokesperson Hang said Vietnam supports all constructive efforts to settle all disputes through peaceful dialogue, contributing to peace, security and stability on the Korean peninsula in particular and the world in general. Super Eagles forward, Ahmed Musa has shown once again that he has his peoples welfare at heart. The 25-year-old CSKA Moscow attacker has already made provisions for his community in Jos by buying bags of rice among other items which he is to share to them at the end of the 30-day Ramadan fast which began today. Meanwhile, president Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday sent his greetings and best wishes to Muslims in Nigeria and across the world as they commenced the 30-day Ramadan fast. In his message to the nation on the beginning of the Ramadan made available to journalists by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said fasting was not just meant to stay hungry or thirsty, but an opportunity to strive for inner purification and self-accountability. It is meant to inculcate righteousness and discipline, he said. Buhari enjoined fasting Muslims to increase their love for humanity, acts of charity, kindness, generosity, and gratitude. While saying the Holy Prophet Muhammad used to spend generously on the poor and the needy during this period, the President urged Muslims in the country and all over the world to copy the good example. He called on Muslims and all Nigerians to always remember men and women who are less fortunate than themselves and to help the government in confronting the challenges facing the nation. The President prayed Allah to grant all Muslims the strength to successfully complete the fasting period. -Nationalhelm The Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim in an interactive session with Nigerians on social media today answered some mind-blogging questions most people have been seeking answers to. In the tweet chat which trended with the hashtah #AskThePolice, the IG made quite a lot of informative revelations and also revealed that the trending video where he couldnt read his own speech was doctored. See some of the questions thrown at him and what his answers were like If an officer wants to search you in your house/ car, he must first surrender himself for searching. This is the procedure. Ask politely. #AskThePolice Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) May 17, 2018 Police in investigation departments for instance wear mufti. And as such use Police vests. It is your right however in case you come across anyone in mufti, and in doubt, for their Identity Cards. #AskThePolice https://t.co/seztIr4QaW Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) May 17, 2018 It is not ideal for a Police officer to take someone's phone and start flipping through without any complaint. We discourage this and we are looking into it. #AskThePolice https://t.co/4QZ2VoPaSw Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) May 17, 2018 Thank you for your question. Yes it was doctored. #AskThePolice https://t.co/lYSpkyRIdh Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) May 17, 2018 I would say, summarily, to fight violent crimes such as Armed Robbery, Kidnappings and Cattle Rustling in the country. #AskThePolice https://t.co/YzkdXYALNS Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) May 17, 2018 Sponsored Vincent Hayes, Global Head of Family Office and International Wealth Management at BNY Mellon Wealth Management describes the evolution of BNY Mellon Global Family Offices 50 years of serving family offices, and how its strategic approach has helped generations of families maintain and grow their wealth. SYDNEY, Australia - May 18, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Incent Loyalty, a blockchain rewards system and Australia's first cryptocurrency product to hit mainstream consumers, will unveil its flagship Marketplace application at CeBIT Australia 2018. The team will demonstrate their software to the 15,000 professionals and 300 companies that will attend APAC's largest B2B technology event in Darling Harbour this week. 'We're really excited to show off the Marketplace and get it in the hands of our peers and consumers,' explains CEO Rob Wilson, who started the company back in 2016. 'Businesses are fighting to keep customers coming back, but mainstream reward schemes give little value to consumers. We believe Incent offers so much more.' Crypto Rewards Incent's solution leverages the blockchain - the technology that underpins digital currency like bitcoin. Instead of merchants issuing points as IOUs to customers, they instead use a percentage of every purchase to buy Incent from the open market. 'Customers can do whatever they want with it - spend it with supporting merchants, save it, exchange it for dollars, send it to their friends and family,' continues Wilson. 'Businesses have known and fixed costs, and customers gain a reward that has a transparent value. We anticipate that this will not only revolutionise the loyalty sector, but provide a new and powerful way for consumers to save for the future as they go about their day-to-day shopping.' After launching a toolbar in January that distributes cryptocurrency to users as they browse the web, the Marketplace will now enable users to shop with over 290 retailers, rewarding them instantly with Incent tokens after checkout. 'The next step is direct merchant integration with local retailers,' says Wilson. 'Later this year we'll be looking to partner with leading Australian brands. We're already seeing a lot of interest in our approach.' To celebrate the unveiling of the Marketplace, Incent will be holding a competition at CeBIT Australia offering a prize of $5,000 in INCNT. Interviews with Incent CEO Rob Wilson are available upon request. For more information, please email Liz Alexander at liz@incentloyalty.com, visit stand J23 at the event, or check out the Marketplace Beta at https://beta.incentloyalty.com/. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information May 18, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The Canadian Constitution couldn't be clearer about who controls pipelines that cross provincial boundaries - as in Kinder Morgan's proposal to twin an existing pipeline that runs from Edmonton to Burnaby, BC. According to the 1867 Constitution, section 92(10)(a), the federal Parliament has jurisdiction over railways, canals and "other works and undertakings" (including pipelines) that extend across provincial boundaries. If the federal government approves a pipeline, as Justin Trudeau's Liberals did with the Kinder Morgan TMX Expansion project in 2016, no provincial government may, within the limits of our Constitution, over-ride the decision. The "declaratory power" of section (c) strengthens federal jurisdiction even more if the project is considered to be in the national interest. The following is from Tom Flanagan, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, who knows the Constitution inside-out: This allows Parliament to declare a work, even though "wholly situate within the province," to be for the general advantage of Canada, or of two or more provinces, and therefore to come under federal jurisdiction. Parliament could invoke the declaratory power over all the local roads, bridges, storage facilities, hydro connections and any other physical installations necessary to construct and maintain a pipeline. - Tom Flanagan So, all the federal government needs to do is pass a law stating that we WILL build a pipeline to allow Alberta oil to get to tidewater and enjoy international prices rather than the current $27 discount Canadian producers of Western Canadian Select must accept versus the North American West Texas Intermediate benchmark. Instead, we have the Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, saying Wednesday that they have agreed to write Kinder Morgan a cheque to ensure that the pipeline gets built despite the steadfast opposition of the BC government. In other words, the federal government's solution to what has become a ridiculous dog and pony show of separate interests all fighting each other instead of working together in what could be a national infrastructure project of benefit to all Canadians, is for the costs of any delays to be picked up by you, the taxpayer. And so far Morneau has given no limit as to what he'd pay. It's a blank cheque. How did we get to this sad state of affairs, where our government has to pay off a company just to get a key piece of infrastructure built? A brief history It all goes back to the decision in 2016 by newly-minted PM Justin Trudeau. The golden boy who could do no wrong, despite the Trudeau name being a curse word in Alberta for Trudeau Senior's hated National Energy Program, decided to reject Northern Gateway and approve Kinder Morgan's project, aka the Trans Mountain pipeline. Why did Trudeau do that? In a bit of twisted logic, Trudeau and his Environment Minister, Catherine McKenna, reasoned that in order for Canada to meet its international carbon emissions reduction obligations, it would impose a national carbon tax. Knowing that a carbon tax wouldn't go over big in Alberta, Trudeau rejected Northern Gateway, which faced impossibly high hurdles in First Nations and environmental opposition, and instead green-lighted Kinder Morgan. The proposal would twin the Texas-based company's existing pipeline, allowing a tripling of crude oil from 300,000 barrels to 890,000 barrels a day, while also triggering a seven-fold increase in the number of oil tankers coming and going from Vancouver Harbour. Since it was not a new pipeline but an extension of an existing one, Trudeau likely reasoned it would face less opposition than Northern Gateway (people forget that the National Energy Board - an independent regulatory agency - recommended that the federal government approve it, with 157 conditions). He was obviously wrong about that, as the ongoing protests on Burnaby Mountain, just outside of Vancouver, demonstrate. Thus, the bargain struck in 2016 was a carbon tax in return for Alberta being granted a route for its bitumen from the oilsands, and a way out of the current dilemma of chock-full pipelines forcing producers to accept a discount on Canadian crude oil. The oil flowing through Kinder Morgan's new pipes would be exported, meaning it could fetch the higher Brent crude price. Win win, right? Wrong. Remember Christy Clark? The former BC premier was instrumental in cutting a deal with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley that would satisfy BC's concerns that it was getting a fair shake over this Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal. Clark and Notley's predecessor, Alison Redford, got off on the wrong foot right away (their relationship was described as "frosty") when Clark demanded that she wouldn't agree to the pipeline unless five conditions were met: world-leading marine and land oil spill response protection and recovery measures for B.C.'s coast and land areas environmental reviews First Nations consultations participation and economic agreements that reflect the level and nature of the risk the province bears with a heavy oil project. On January 11, 2017, after five years of negotiations, Clark announced that the five conditions had been met and therefore gave the pipeline environmental approval, with 37 conditions. The deal included a revenue-sharing agreement worth up to $1 billion; the money from the fund was supposed to go into local environmental projects. Kinder Morgan promised that between $25 million and $50 million would flow to BC provincial coffers every year for the next 20 years. Four months later, an agreement was cemented with Kinder Morgan Canada, along with separate agreements with 33 BC First Nations and 19 cities in BC and Alberta. The 30-page document came with a poison pill, though. If the BC government resorted to undue regulatory hurdles, the company could declare it null and void. "The province will continue to endeavor to have a timely and efficient regulatory and decision making process for all provincial regulatory matters related to the project," states the agreement quoted by the Calgary Herald. But the next month, in May 2017, the BC Liberals lost the election to the NDP, who clung to power with a majority cobbled together with the BC Green Party, which won just three seats. Both NDP leader John Horgan and Green Party leader Andrew Weaver campaigned on a promise to kill the pipeline, with Horgan famously saying he planned to "use every tool in our tool box" to stop it, and Weaver, a climate scientist, saying the project represented a massive threat to the province's environment. So far neither Kinder Morgan nor the provincial government have said they will pull out of the deal, despite obvious rancour between the company and the government since the NDP-Green coalition assumed power last summer. Crucially, Clark in 2013 agreed that none of the royalties from Alberta's oil pipelines would go to BC - despite BC talking all of the risk of an oil spill in the waters of Vancouver Harbour and the shipping lanes that tankers would travel carrying Canadian heavy oil destined for Asian markets. Clark defended her decision based on the fact that BC gets royalties from its northern BC gas fields, and her Liberals were gung-ho to develop an LNG industry in BC - which has yet to happen and likely never will. So while it sounded good to say all five conditions were met, all Clark really had were vague promises of taxes from Kinder Morgan and the Alberta government, a federal pledge for a $1.5-billion coastal protection plan, and no royalties. In 2015 the Alberta government earned about $8 billion in royalties, with the majority coming in the form of royalties from bitumen extracted from the oilsands. From the horse's mouth Officially, Kinder Morgan says the pipeline will mean $7.4 billion to the Canadian economy through project spending, generate 800,000 direct and indirect jobs - 189,000 person-years for BC during construction and operations and 441,000 for Alberta. Houston-based KM says Canadian producers will see increased revenues of $73.5 billion over 20 years. $46.7 billion in additional taxes and royalties would go to federal and provincial governments from construction and two decades of operations. Out of that, BC would receive $5.7 billion, Alberta $19.4 billion, and the rest of Canada $21.6 billion. Municipal tax payments would total $992 billion for BC and $124 billion for Alberta. The stalemate The BC government though is having none of it. Since taking power Premier Horgan, a career politician born and raised in Victoria, has said that he will defend BC's environmental interests and is currently having his government draft a reference case to the B.C. Court of Appeal to decide whether British Columbia has the legal right to restrict the flow of bitumen by pipeline or rail through the province. The Alberta government tried to stop what it saw as BC meddling in Alberta's oil industry by slapping a boycott on BC wines. While that ban was lifted a few weeks later, the feud has escalated. On Wednesday Alberta passed Bill 12, a landmark piece of legislation giving it sweeping powers to intervene in oil and gas exports - including stopping the flow of hydrocarbons to British Columbia. "Albertans, British Columbians and all Canadians should understand that if the path forward for the pipeline through B.C. is not settled soon, I'm ready and prepared to turn off the taps," said Notley in a story written by Global News. Meanwhile Kinder Morgan has dug in its heels, stating that it won't be spending any more money on the project until conflicts between levels of government stop impeding construction progress. It has given Trudeau's government until May 31 to show there is a way to complete it. Benefits questioned Pipeline proponents quote Kinder Morgan's numbers when arguing that the benefits clearly outweigh the costs. Oil tankers have plied the waters off BC's coast for years with no incidents. But in fact a study done in 2014 shows that KM is overstating the project's benefits while, unsurprisingly, downplaying its risks. The study by Simon Fraser University's Centre for Public Policy Research combined with The Goodman Group, a US consulting firm, said the 36,000 person-years of employment for BC quoted by KM is more like 12,000. Spinoff jobs once the pipeline is operational are pegged by the study at around 800 versus Kinder Morgan's estimate of 2,000. As far as taxes from the pipeline, the report's authors say the take by BC municipalities along the route would average less than 1% of their total revenues. Overall, it's estimated that Kinder Morgan will derive two-thirds of the fiscal benefits of the pipeline, with Alberta getting most of the rest, 32%, and BC receiving just 2% of benefits, according to Doug McArthur, director of Simon Fraser University's graduate school of public policy. On the costs of a spill, the report says the clean-up would be in the billions, from $2 billion to $5 billion, compared to the company's worst case scenario of $100 million to $300 million. "What they did not do is look at a major or catastrophic event in a major urban area. This pipeline comes right into the heart of Burnaby and Vancouver," McArthur told CBC. So to summarize: We have a pipeline project in the works that would undoubtedly raise the revenues of Canadian oilsands producers as it would allow them to command a higher price for their product. But most of the benefits of the pipeline - despite what Kinder Morgan says - will go to the company and the Alberta government, not BC. Looking at it this way, why should British Columbians support it? What has the Alberta government given BC taxpayers in return for shouldering all the risk? Nothing. No royalties, no funds for spill response, no promise of compensation for losses in the event of a major spill. Most oppose Trans Mountain on environmental grounds, but there is just as much reason to reject the pipeline on economic grounds as well. Killing the economy But it gets worse. Much worse. Now we have a law in place that allows Alberta to cut oil and gas supplies to BC at a moment's notice. Imagine what would happen if Notley and her crew decided to use the legislation to actually turn off the taps. Gas and diesel prices would shoot up, not just in Vancouver, which already has the most expensive gas in the country, but across the province - in places where diesel is a key input in running equipment for fishing, mining and forestry - the lifeblood of the provincial economy despite the gleaming new downtown Vancouver offices of Microsoft and Amazon. If the spat between BC and Alberta resulted in a slowing or even stoppage of that flow, gas prices would definitely be hit very hard. Dan McTeague, an analyst with GasBuddy.com, told Global News that turning off the tap to the pipeline would mean a drop of at least 50% of fuel supplies, including diesel, gasoline and oil that is stored at the Parkland refinery in Burnaby. He estimated that 50 to 60% of BC's fuel needs would be affected. Gas is already at around $1.60 a liter across Vancouver; a stoppage by Alberta could easily put prices up to $2.00, to start, says McTeague. Plus there would be shortages, gas and diesel prices could top $3L. Remember the 1973 oil embargo? Motorists might have to tag another hour or two onto their commute for lining up to fill up the tank. On the other hand, approving the Kinder Morgan expansion would flow more fuel to the tight Lower Mainland gas market and push prices back down. Even Justin Trudeau, who is no economist, has tried to argue that, in defending the pipeline. "With the extra capacity there, it would allow wholesale prices in Vancouver to basically go down to the same level as across the rest of Canada," Michael Ervin, senior vice-president at Kent Group Ltd., an Ontario-based analytics firm focused on the petroleum industry, told Global. Nobody likes high gas prices, but they have ripple effects far beyond those behind the wheel - higher fuel prices affect people's discretionary spending. That includes everything from dining out, to taking vacations, to putting more away for retirement. Less consumer spending causes businesses to re-evaluate hiring plans, and even lay workers off. The prices of many goods go up, since bricks and mortar retailers have to pass on the higher costs of shipping them, to buyers. More expensive commutes have been shown to mark down the value of homes in suburban areas compared to ones closer to city centers. Higher gas prices also have a disproportionately negative effect on the poor. While for some families, having to pay more for gas might mean buying a smaller car, for low-income families the choice is usually between cutting spending somewhere else, within their limited budget, or borrowing money to make up for the shortfall. First Nations have most to lose Many, though not all, First Nations lining the pipeline route are first to join the pipeline protests being stewards of the land - but the irony is that this demographic has the most to gain from the pipeline and the most to lose from scrapping it. Why? Let's look at mining as an example. Mines built on or near native lands not yet settled by treaties almost always have a First Nations hiring component built in as part of the company's corporate social responsibility. The diamond mines in the Northwest Territories employ a significant number of native people; Ekati and Diavik have Impact Benefit Agreements (IBAs) and Participation Agreements with nine First Nations groups. In 2013 the then-Liberal BC government announced two new revenue-sharing agreements that enable two Williams Lake-area First Nations to benefit from the expansion of the Mt. Polley mine - bringing the total number of Economic Development Agreements to seven. The New Afton mine near Kamloops started with a resource-sharing MOU with the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc and Skeetchestn Indian bands in 2007, which evolved into an IBA in 2008. The copper-gold mine started production in 2012. While First Nations in BC often oppose new mines due to infringement on their traditional hunting, fishing and sometimes burial grounds - New Prosperity and Ajax being two examples recently rejected by government - the untold story is that mines are being built with the support of First Nations. The Red Chris and Brucejeck mines were both approved and built with the blessing of local native groups. In fact according to the federal Department of Natural Resources, mining is the largest employer of First Nations in Canada, right now employing 11,000 indigenous people. BIV quoted Kim Rudd, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Natural Resources Canada, saying at this year's Roundup event in Vancouver that there are 400 agreements between mining companies and First Nations across Canada. So isn't it ironic that the environmentalist-First Nations coalition opposing the Kinder Morgan pipeline contains a group that will lose out big time in construction and operational jobs should this pipeline get the Deep Six. Think of what $3L gas and diesel does to resource plays bottom lines. Meddling mayors We can understand the environmental opposition to this pipeline, since there are substantial risks to the picturesque BC coastline with a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic, but what is more difficult to fathom is the interference by local government politicians trying to stop it. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan are the most vocal opponents, despite having absolutely no jurisdiction over whether the pipeline gets built. All Burnaby can do is delay or reject permits needed for land clearing and the like, which the city has done in an effort to slow construction as long as possible. It's the equivalent of hooking a fish and dragging it so long it eventually drowns on the line. Radio station CKNW uncovered that Robertson and his Vision Party spent $323,000 of taxpayer money to fight the pipeline, not including staff time and contributions to environmental charities, which as we have written about, are mostly all funded by big US philanthropic organizations like Tides Canada. Derek Corrigan is a longtime NDP supporter whose wife Kathy Corrigan served two terms as an NDP MLA in a Burnaby riding. Corrigan frequently rails against the pipeline - clearly his pet project - despite the City receiving $6.5 million in property taxes annually from Kinder Morgan. That's about 2.4% of total revenues of $268.3 million in 2016, the latest financial statements available to the public. Not exactly chump change. And KM says if the pipeline expansion goes ahead its tax contribution will double to $12 million. Conclusion: How do we fix this? Well, we could start by having a BC government that has the guts to stand up to the Alberta premier. The two are on the same ideological side for God's sake, both espousing socialist ideals, though you would never know it from the words coming from Notley, who has to appease the oil industry to survive the next election. Anyway, instead of fiddling around with court challenges, which it will most certainly lose, the province would be far better off getting behind the pipeline - possibly tossing some goodies to the Greens for their support - and demanding royalties from Alberta along with money that will defend British Columbians against a catastrophic oil spill. And as for the federal Liberals, instead of promising to indemnify the pipeline against delays it has lost control over, how about passing a law stating that this pipeline will be built in the national interest, over and above the objections of BC? Could that cause a constitutional crisis? Maybe. But arguably we already have one, with the makings of a tit for tat trade war brewing between BC and Alberta, like a smaller-scale version of the one Donald Trump has initiated south of the border. Not to mention legal wranglings over who is allowed to do what constitutionally which could drag this out for years - killing the pipeline in the process. What would that do? Hike gas prices, more oil and gas would need to be moved by rail and truck - way more dangerous than pipelines - just ask the people of Lac Megantic, Quebec. The Canadian oil and gas industry is already on its knees, with investment fleeing the sector in droves to the US where companies can actually make money. Not building the pipeline will keep Canadian oil cheap, resulting in billions in lost tax revenue that could be used to build schools and hospitals. In other words, without this pipeline, everybody suffers. But the politicians don't seem to get it. We've become like tribal chiefdoms, all fighting amongst ourselves, with no over-riding leadership. I blame Trudeau for that. He thought his pipeline for carbon tax bargain would pay off. In fact it's been a dismal failure - underestimating the anger on the one hand of BC residents who say he reneged on a campaign promise to reduce greenhouse gases, and another segment who are tired of the pipeline fight and just want it built - likely scared of higher gas prices. A poll taken in April showed most, 69%, think their government should allow the pipeline to be built if the courts rule it doesn't have the authority to block it. Once again, who's serving who? The BC NDP needs to oppose the pipeline to preserve its extremely tenuous coalition with the Greens who have promised to topple it should it acquiesce on Kinder Morgan. As the dithering continues, we all suffer. Time to man up, Horgan and Trudeau, and take some leadership. Cut a deal with Alberta and build this pipeline. Richard (Rick) Mills aheadoftheherd.com Just read, or participate in if you wish, our free Investors forums. Ahead of the Herd is now on Twitter. Newsletter Archives. Legal Notice / Disclaimer This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Vancouver, British Columbia - May 17, 2018 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) ("PEMC" or the "Company"), a hybrid prospect generator focused in British Columbia, reports that it has completed Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling at the Red JV Property, staked four properties, commissioned an airborne magnetic survey on its recently acquired Moffat Property and cleared access roads on the Wildcat Property. "Exploration targets at the Red JV Property remain, but we are moving on to other projects in our portfolio," commented Brad Peters, President and CEO. "We are pleased with the performance of our RC drill and crew. Our ability to rapidly and cost-effectively test targets is central to our strategy and allows us to test a large number of targets and prioritize future exploration programs." Red JV Property - RC Drilling Complete Testing of the Company's new, highly mobile RC drill rig has been completed at the Red JV Property where a total of 8 shallow holes totaling 403 metres were drilled ranging from depths of 27.5 metres to 94.5 metres. All drill samples were screened in-house using an X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer. No significant copper mineralization was encountered, and results suggest the IP chargeability anomalies tested, in this instance, are explained by the presence of graphite within a volcano-sedimentary unit. Staking of BC Properties Moffat Property The 4,090 hectare Moffat Property is located approximately 56 kilometres east of Williams Lake and 35 kilometres northeast of the village of Lac La Hache in south-central British Columbia. The claims cover the northeast portion of a prominent airborne magnetic anomaly within the Quesnel Terrane. The Quesnel Terrane is host to several large tonnage copper-gold porphyry deposits including New Gold's Afton Mine, Imperial Metals' Mount Polley Mine, Taseko Mines' Gibraltar Mine and Centerra Gold's Mount Milligan and Kemess deposits. Historical drilling encountered anomalous copper-gold mineralization associated with localized potassic alteration on the eastern portion of the Moffat property. The focus of future exploration by PEMC is a large, open-ended Induced Polarization ("IP") chargeability anomaly coincident with anomalous "down-ice" soil geochemistry. Bulkley Initiative The Bulkley Initiative consists of three properties totaling 5,070 hectares in central British Columbia. The three properties are within 40 kilometres of the past-producing Bell copper-gold mine and are accessible by vehicle via gravel logging roads. The properties were staked to cover intriguing airborne magnetic signatures with coincident anomalous copper-molybdenum-gold soil geochemistry. Historical data are being compiled to develop targets for exploration in 2018. As laterally extensive glacial overburden exists on the properties, these three properties are ideally suited for RC drilling. PEMC Portfolio Moffat Property - Airborne Magnetic Survey Following acquisition of the Moffat Property an airborne magnetic survey was commissioned to cover the property, in addition to completing reconnaissance of access roads. A total of 208 line-km is planned at line spacings of 200 metres over the entire property. Results from the survey will enable the Company to better define target areas. The airborne survey results will be merged and reviewed in conjunction with historical data, including an IP survey, soil geochemistry and diamond drilling. Wildcat Property - Road Clearing Complete In preparation for the upcoming 2018 RC drill program access roads have been cleared to gain a head-start on summer exploration activities. The Company intends to mobilize the drill crew to the Wildcat Property in one week. The 5,826 hectare Wildcat Property lies approximately 10 kilometres to the southwest of Centerra Gold's currently producing Mount Milligan Copper-Gold Mine in central British Columbia. 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., Vice President of Exploration for the Company, serves as a 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. 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 brad@pemcorp.ca 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, 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. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders 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. 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Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp May 17, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Jayant Bhandari, host of the "Capitalism and Morality" seminar, discusses with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable the state of mining in India, as well as some mining companies that offer arbitrage opportunities. Maurice Jackson: Joining us is Jayant Bhandari, the host of the highly acclaimed "Capitalism and Morality" seminar and a prominent, sought-out advisor to institutional investors. Today, we will discuss the mining industry in India and arbitrage opportunities. Let's begin our discussion in India. There are some new reform laws taking place in the mining industry that could really have a significant impact on India. For those that may not be familiar with India and its natural resources, can you share what India produces and how it has been extracting those resources historically? Jayant Bhandari: India produces about 40,000 ounces of gold and should be able to produce a lot more ounces of gold in that country, but the problem is no one cares to explore for gold in that country. This is mostly because the land rights are not properly defined, and the bureaucratic procedure to get from reconnaissance permit to mining permit is virtually impossible. It takes a huge amount of time, and at every step in the process the bureaucrat has the right to take away the project from you. So you might invest hundreds of millions of dollars on these projects, but at the end of the day, the government might just take that project away from you. That is the very reason why the Indian mining industry is extremely backward. Coal mining is a monopoly run by the government of India. Iron mining takes place in a very confined space in that country in which private operators operate iron mining as a part of the steel industry. In virtually every case, these companies are in bed with the government in a corrupt way, and they are in bed with the mafia. When you have corrupt regulations, you also empower mafia kind of organizations to come in and exist, who then exploit the local people. So Indian mining industry is almost an impossible industry. You might be able to operate that as a mafia-run industry, but even then Indian companies prefer to own coal mines and iron mines in Brazil, Africa, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea or Australia. They prefer not to operate in India not only because of the cost, but also because the bureaucratic regulations are very difficult or impossible, plus land rights are very difficult obtain, and on top of that, costs of making mining happen in that country is extraordinarily high. Maurice: For someone not familiar with India, are the mines there nationalized, and if so, what changes is India trying to implement to change this course? Jayant: Coal India is a nationalized company. It is run by the government of India. It is listed on the stock exchange, but the majority of the shares are owned by the government, which means that the government runs the company based on what looks beneficial to the government. The government of India has made many attempts to liberalize coal mining. The problem is that India has among the highest and the largest reserves of coal mining in the world. However, Indian coal-powered electricity generating stations must import a huge amount of coal from Brazil and Australia and Indonesia because Coal India is an extraordinarily corrupt organization, which means that it cannot supply the required coal to the electricity generating power stations, and when it does supply coal to the power stations, it is mixed with a huge amount of waste, which creates a massive amount of efficiency problems at the power stations. This means that people and electric generating companies find it much easier to import coal from outside of India than buy it domestically. That is how difficult mining has been in India. Mostly because there's no rule of law in that country, and mostly because these bureaucrats who have zero experience of real life assume that they must be trusted by companies and citizens, and they reserve the right to steal your property when they wish to take it away for the so-called greater good of the society and that so-called greater good of the society always translates into more bribes and more corruption in that country. Maurice: Sounds as if there's a number of inefficiencies within the industry. As a champion of liberty, I assume you're in favor of the privatization of the mining industry in India, but is there a catch on India's initiatives on this legislation? Jayant: Nothing will change because of the new law. The government of India is trying to liberalize the coal production in that country, and again the reason is very simple. It will make some superficial changes as it has consistently made over the last 30 years, but nothing significant, nothing material will change to make it attractive for outsiders to invest in that country. In fact, not much will change for even Indian companies to invest a lot more money in that country. As I said earlier, even Indian companies prefer to invest their capital in Africa or Papua New Guinea or Indonesia, which are by themselves very difficult jurisdictions. But India is such a tough jurisdiction that no one really cares to invest in mining in that country. Maurice: Jayant, if India is not a good place to put our capital, do you have any names and/or arbitrage opportunities that have your attention at the moment? Jayant: Well, there's certainly one Indian company, a mining company, that I follow. I don't invest in that company. However, it is run by some good people. The name of the company is Australian/Indian Resources and its sister company is Deccan Gold Mines. Deccan Gold Mines is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Again, it is run by people I like, but I don't necessarily think this will lead to a profitable investment. However, I can talk with you about other investment opportunities that I see right now. One company is Nevsun Resources, a company that I have talked with you about in the past when it was trading for almost half as much as it is trading now. It is currently trading at $4.50 Canadian, and there is a hostile takeover offer, which is priced at $5.00 Canadian. So from a hostile takeover perspective, you already have about 10%12% upside in owning Nevsun Resources, but also I think the offer will likely get increased significantly over a period of time. My guess is that with very limited downside risk by investing in Nevsun, I might position myself to make about 25%50% upside in investing in Nevsun. There are two more arbitrage opportunities, Maurice. One is U.S. Cobalt, the ticker is USCO in the venture exchange, and it's trading at $0.95 Canadian. The arbitrage upside is more than 20% if you buy it at less than $0.95 Canadian. And there's another company called ValGold Resources, the ticker is VAL, and it's trading at $0.11. If you invest in it at $0.11, you position yourself to make about 20% arbitrage upside. There are two more companies that I want to mention, Maurice. One is Amarillo Gold and the other is Treasury Metals. Both are trading at prices lower than pure gold companies. AGC, Amarillo Gold, is trading at $0.25 and Treasury Metals is trading at $0.41. At these two prices, I like both the companies. Maurice: You wrote a piece recently regarding uranium. Give us your thesis on uranium, please. Jayant: I don't like investing in uranium for two reasons. First, uranium companies mostly produce uranium at a loss today. When you make something at a loss, this means that for investors to invest in uranium companies means that they position themselves for a loss. Now, yes, uranium prices can go up in the future, but if I think uranium prices can go up in the future, I must invest in uranium as a commodity, and you can do so by buying uranium futures and one mechanism is via uranium participation corporation. That way you not only buy uranium, you protect your downside risk because you are not consuming your capital waiting for uranium prices to go up. But I'm not very optimistic about the future of the uranium price, and the reason is that the capital required for generating electricity from uranium is very high and not many jurisdictions have the capital to provide for uranium, infrastructure to produce electricity using uranium, and also uranium electricity is now increasingly competing with electricity generated from solar, solar cells and from raw energy. So I am actually not very keen on investing in uranium mining. Maurice: What can you share with us about "Capitalism and Morality," which is the preeminent name for reason, argumentation and liberty? Jayant: Tickets are still available. We have sold about 60%-70% seats already. The next seminar will be held on the 21st of July 2018 in downtown Vancouver. People like Rick Rule, Doug Casey, Adrian Day will be speaking at the seminar. Dr. Ian Plimer will fly in from Australia to speak. So there are a lot of very good speakers at the seminar. It is a philosophy, libertarian seminar. It will be held immediately after the end of Sprott Natural Resource Symposium, and it is held at the Simon Fraser University's downtown campus in Vancouver, Canada. Maurice: Last question, what did I forget to ask? Jayant: As I have talked with you, Maurice, in the past, people should be paying a lot more attention to what is happening in the third world countries. The third world countries are glorified, romanticized in the media and by the World Bank and IMF. The third world is in a very bad shape, and it will continue to get into a worse shape as time goes by. People in the third world countries should try to protect their wealth, and while they try to start protecting their wealth more aggressively, my guess is gold price will start outperforming. That is one of the reasons why I like to invest in gold. Maurice: Jayant, if someone listening wants to get more information about your work, please share the contact details. Jayant: The website of mine is JayantBhandari.com and on that website, I post everything that I speak about or write. Also, there's a tab called "Capitalism and Morality" on my website that takes you to all the past video recordings of the seminars I have ever run. It also gives you links for registration for the next seminar. Maurice: For our listeners, there is a link as well on our website to register for "Capitalism and Morality." Please look on the right hand corner. Last but not least, please visit our website www.provenandprobable.com where we interview the most respected names in the natural resource space. You may reach us at contact@provenandprobable.com Jayant Bhandari, the host of "Capitalism and Morality," thank you for joining us today on Proven and Probable. Jayant Bhandari has been an Asia-based institutional investor adviser for the last several years. Prior to that he worked for six years with U.S. Global Investors in the United States, a boutique natural resource investment firm, and for one year with Casey Research. Prior to his involvement in the investment industry he established and managed Indian subsidiary operations of two European companies. He received his Master of Business Administration from Manchester Business School (UK) and holds a Bachelor of Engineering from SGSITS (India). He frequently writes on cultural, political and social issues for several publications. Maurice Jackson is the founder of Proven and Probable, a site that aims to enrich its subscribers through education in precious metals and junior mining companies that will enrich the world. Disclosure: 1) Jayant Bhandari: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of all the companies mentioned in his discussion on arbitrage. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) Maurice Jackson: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: None. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: None. Proven and Probable disclosures are listed below. 3) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 4) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 5) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 6) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article, until one week after the publication of the interview or article. 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You understand that you are using any and all Information available on or through this forum AT YOUR OWN RISK. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp May 18, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Canada-based zinc mining company expands drilling program at U.S. site. Pasinex Resources Ltd. (PSE:CNX) has announced that it has signed a drilling contract with Idea Drilling LLC of Minnesota. The contract is for drilling at least four holes of up to 3,000 feet of oriented diamond core at the Gunman high-grade zinc project in Nevada. It is expected that this drilling work will begin at the end of May. The budget for the work is $500,000. "This is a 'surgical' drilling program designed to confirm previous reverse circulation drilling results and, for the first time, to provide oriented diamond core to crucially work out the structural controls on the mineralization. Detailed mapping of the Gunman project is also almost complete and fundamental to effective targeting within mineralized host-carbonate rocks along strike and under cover. A drone-borne magnetic survey over the Gunman project is being planned in the coming months to reveal covered geology and hidden structure," explained Pasinex's VP of Exploration, John Barry. The Gunman project has both a high-grade zinc and deep root potential, according to the company. It is located north and east of Eureka, Nevada. Cypress Development Corp. (CYP:TSX.V; CYDVF:OTCQB; C1Z1:Frankfurt) and privately held Caliber Minerals Inc. own the project, but Pasinex could earn an 80% interest by paying US$675,000 in cash and issuing 4.8 million shares of Pasinex common shares over a four-year period. Pasinex must also spend US$2.95 million over four years to explore the property. Toronto-based Pasinex Resources also owns 50% of the Pinargozu high-grade zinc mine located in Turkey. Disclosure: 1) Jake Richardson compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise reports as an independent contractor. He or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. He or members of his household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Cypress Development. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article, until one week after the publication of the interview or article. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp This main principle of international law is clearly set forth in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations, which provides for diplomatic and legal measures and processes with a view to an amicable settlement of any dispute, Nga stated. The Vietnamese representative also highlighted the role and contributions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in strengthening dialogue, creating a friendly and cooperative environment, and promoting peaceful solutions to disputes in the East Sea in accordance with international law, the UN Charter and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and, while ensuring the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) in its entirety and the early conclusion of an effective and legally binding Code of Conduct (COC). As a candidate for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, Vietnam will spare no efforts in upholding international law and contributing to the Councils noble endeavors to maintain international peace and security, Nga told participants. On the theme of Upholding International Law within the Context of the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, the UNSC open debate attracted delegates from more than 70 member states. Delegates agreed that international law plays an indispensable role in preserving rule-based international order, and serves as a foundation for international peace and security. However, respect for international law is facing numerous challenges. Flagrant violations of international laws have been seen in many parts of the world, including power politics, unilateral measures, impositions; violations of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of states; interference into countries internal affairs, and threats to use or the use of force. In this context, the international community, especially the UN Security Council, must continue to uphold and promote compliance with international law, and the implementation of Security Council resolutions. Many countries emphasised the role of the International Court of Justice and other international legal mechanisms and the importance of following the courts rulings in addressing disputes, preventing conflicts, and protecting peace. They also said that the UN Security Council needs to intensify cooperation and promote the important role of regional organisations in building trust, preventing conflicts, and peacefully resolving disputes. May 18, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Vince Sorace, the president and CEO of Kutcho Copper Corp., tells Resource Stock Digest about the company's plan of attack for the 2018 field program, which he believes will generate substantial news flow over the coming months. Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me is president and CEO of Kutcho Copper Corp. (KC:TSX.V), Mr. Vince Sorace. You know it's been quiet as far as the share price goes, until recently. And it's not a coincidence that news flow is really picking up. You had some news yesterday. And it's an important piece of news because you've now commenced field mobilization, and this includes the mobilization of heavy equipment, camp facilities, and as important as anything, the drill rigs. Let's talk about the 2018 field program and what you're trying to accomplish, Vince. Vince Sorace: We're getting to work. There's been a lot of planning going on in the last four months. And so at this point we are going to start executing on everything that we said we were going to. That's going to involve a number of exciting aspects with respect to the project. As we've talked to you in the past, the real potential behind this project is that it's already a very highly economic, high-margin project with a manageable capex. We see the potential to expand the size of this and make it even more robust. That'll be our plan of attack this year and what we're going to capture during this field season. The drill rigs will be looking to capture a lot of upside potential and that resides in converting a bunch of the inferred resourcesthere's a lot of low-hanging fruit thereand potentially some new stuff on the exploration side. All this will feed into the feasibility study in Q2/2019. But the results of that will be apparent coming throughout the summer. There'll be lots of news flow this summer with respect to the drilling that we're doing, with respect to optimized metallurgical programs that we're advancing, with respect to restating our resources in the fall. As a result of this field season, we're targeting a 6570% increase in reserves heading into the feasibility study. And all this will have a significant positive impact on the already robust economics of the project. Gerardo Del Real: You mentioned how robust those economics are, and let me just provide a bit on context. The base case estimate of the last prefeasibility study gives an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of CA$265 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 27.6%. And that's using metal prices way below where they're at right now. That's using metal prices of $2.75/pound copper, $1.10/pound zinc, $17/ounce silver, and $1,250/ounce gold. Also, you're basing that on reserves from a Measured and Indicated resource that is 49% smaller than what's currently stated in the 2017 preliminary feasibility study. So I think that should provide some context as to what the upside is. You are starting this drilling program with two diamond drill rigs. Is that correct, Vince? Vince Sorace: Yes, that's correct. And just to add to that previous comment. It doesn't take much. We've done a lot of this work at $3.10 copper and with some higher zinc pricesyou can see this in our presentationit already has a $100 million impact to NPV. So very sensitive to copper prices. I think the sentiment out there is very bullish on copper, now and in the coming years. So just the commodity price alone has a substantial impact on what the project economics are going to look like. And I'll also say we've identified a lot of opportunities, even in opex and a few other areas, that I think we'll be capturing in the feasibility study that can also help feed into the project economics as well. Gerardo Del Real:Excellent. Who do you have leading the feasibility study? Vince Sorace: We chose Ausenco Engineering. A great outfit, they've got lots of experience in doing this, a very practical shop. We believe the guys are very good at what they do and we think they're going to deliver a great product to us at the end of this that will recognize the potential of the project. Gerardo Del Real: You executed a deal in 2017 with Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM:TSX; WPM:NYSE) that I think was one of the best, if not the best deals in the junior space. How is the support from the Wheaton group coming along? Vince Sorace:Wheaton's commitment is firm and strong. They are very big supporters of this project. They believe and want to see this project into production. They've just been an outstanding, and will continue to be a great partner for us. We recently received the first tranche of the upfront money that they committed to us, that was US$3.5 million, I guess about a month ago. And we're expecting to receive the second tranche of that, similar amount, in the coming couple of months. I'm in constant communication with them. They are an outstanding group of individuals and fully supportive of our efforts moving forward. Gerardo Del Real: You also recently signed an Exploration and Communication Agreement with the First Nations group. Can we talk about that? Because we know how important the social license is. Vince Sorace: We have put a lot of emphasis with respect to the social license and this project moving forward. That's reflected in the permitting team we've put together on this project. We have, and we will continue to, put a lot of emphasis on that. I would say that the relationships that we've formed already with respect to the First Nations are fantastic. At this point we're all on the same page. It seems like it's going to be a joint effort for all parties involved to move this forward. I think we're lucky to have the First Nations partners that we do on this project and we look forward to a great relationship with them. Gerardo Del Real: You know the last time we spoke, Vince, I talked about how impressed I was with the board of directors and the management group. I believe it's Allison Rippin Armstrong that's leading that effort with the community and environment relations. Vince Sorace: Yes, it is. And she has a lot of experience with this and I believe that that will pay off in spades moving forward. Gerardo Del Real: Well I know she led the charge for Kaminak, which of course was acquired by Goldcorp Inc. (G:TSX; GG:NYSE) in 2016 for $520 million. So it looks like you're in good hands, Vince. Lots of new flow the rest of the year. I hope you can come back here in the next month or two as those drills start turning. Thank you so much for your time today, Vince. Vince Sorace: Thank you very much. For the past decade, Gerardo Del Real has worked behind-the-scenes providing research, due diligence and advice to large institutional players, fund managers, newsletter writers and some of the most active high net worth investors in the resource space. He brings his extensive experience to the public through Outsider Club, Resource Stock Digest, Junior Mining Monthly, and Junior Mining Trader. Disclosure: 1) Vince Sorace: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Kutcho Copper. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company currently has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: Kutcho Copper. 2) Gerardo Del Real: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Kutcho Copper. My company currently has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: Kutcho Copper is a sponsor of Resource Stock Digest. 3) The following companies mentioned are sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 4) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. 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Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 6) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article, until one week after the publication of the interview or article. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Chile - May 18, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Cerro Dominador, a Chilean company owned by investment funds managed by EIG Global Energy Partners ("EIG"), announced today the signing of the financing for its Concentrated Solar Power plant (CSP) located in the Atacama desert, in Chile. This milestone will allow the company to finalize the construction of the first combined CSP and photovoltaic project in Latin America, with a total of 210 MW of capacity. The plant will supply clean, reliable energy to the national interconnected system in Chile, selling most of its power under 15-year power purchase agreements awarded at the end of 2014. The $758 million financing has been subscribed by a group of international financial institutions and the contribution of local banks. Among the financial entities involved are: Natixis, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, ABN AMRO, Santander, Commerzbank and BTG Pactual as well as other institutional investors in a tranche parallel to the bank financing. Other participants are expected to join the banking group in the coming weeks. "This is another significant milestone in our plan to build the first CSP project in Latin America. Chile has one of the best locations to harness solar energy and this technology is ideally placed to bring solutions to the country by providing clean, reliable power operating 24 hours a day. We are meeting the commitments made and are excited to be contributing to Chile's energy agenda", said Fernando Gonzalez, Cerro Dominador, CEO. The Cerro Dominador project is located in Maria Elena, near Calama, in the Antofagasta Region, an area with one of the highest solar radiation in the world. The new plant will produce clean energy, replacing the expected emissions of 640,000 tons of CO2 per year, reaching -as an integrated project- a total of 870,000 tons of CO2 reduction per year. The new construction phase will have an important contribution in terms of employment for the region, generating more than 1,000 jobs at the peak during the next two years. The company has been advised throughout the financing process by Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy (International Counsel), Morales y Besa (Local Counsel), and Astris Finance (Financial Advisor). The completion of the plant construction will be carried out by a consortium formed by world leading companies in solar technology. Cerro Dominador is a proud contributor of the Chile Energy Agenda, which has pursued to diversify the country's matrix by increasing the use of renewable energy. EIG took its control position and management oversight of the solar project at the end 2016. The first part of the Solar Project, with 62 MW of photovoltaic power started in October 2017, reaching the full 100 MW in February 2018. About Cerro Dominador Cerro Dominador is a solar energy project, with the first Concentrated Solar Power plant built in Latin America. With a total of 210 MW of a combination of CSP and photovoltaic technologies, the project will provide renewable baseload energy to the Chilean Electricity System. The project is carried out on lands granted by the State of Chile as a way to contribute to the development of Renewable Energies. About EIG EIG Global Energy Partners specializes in private investments in energy and energy-related infrastructure on a global basis and has $18.9 billion under management as of March 31, 2018. Since 1982, EIG has been one of the leading providers of institutional capital to the global energy industry, providing financing solutions across the balance sheet for companies and projects in the oil and gas, midstream, infrastructure, power and renewables sectors globally. EIG has invested over $26.3 billion in more than 325 portfolio investments in 36 countries. EIG is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Houston, London, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong and Seoul. For more information, please visit www.eigpartners.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking statements," which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook, "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "target," project," "potential," "estimate," "intend," "continue" or "believe," or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon. Because of various risks and uncertainties, actual events or results or actual performance may differ materially from the events, results or performance reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and in the Company's filings. The Company and EIG assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events or circumstances. As a result, investors should not rely on such forward-looking statements. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Expressing his admiration for Vietnams heroic history as well as the countrys current reform course, he said that Vietnam and Mexico share many similarities as both nations have experienced struggles for independence and have a strong love for peace and justice. This is a firm foundation for both sides to further foster their sound partnership, he said. General Zepeda lauded the outcomes of the Vietnam visit of the Military Doctrine Department of the Mexican Secretariat of National Defence led by its Director, David Rivera Medina, which opened up the prospects for new cooperation between the two defence ministries in the future, including the exchange of military experience through visits, the opening of a military attache office and the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. On the occasion, the Mexican defence chief also asked Ambassador Duong to send his invitation for a Mexico visit to Vietnamese Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich. For his part, Ambassador Duong affirmed that Vietnam treasures the support the Mexican government and people have given to Vietnam both in the past and present, as well as the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries at present. He noted that the level of friendship and affiliation between the two countries is gathering momentum, especially after the meeting of President Tran Dai Quang and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Da Nang city in November 2017 within the APEC Economic Leaders Week, and the two countries participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The diplomat also pledged to work to strengthen and expand Vietnam-Mexico ties. General Zepeda vowed to support the Vietnamese Embassy in strengthening the partnership between the two countries as well as their defence ministries. Earlier, on May 7, Ambassador Duong presented his credentials to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. The event was attended by Secretary of Ho Chi Minh Citys Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan, Director of the HCM City National University Huynh Thanh Dat, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh, officials of HCM City, representatives from the host authority and Vietnamese expats living, working and studying in the Russian city. In his opening speech, Mayor of St. Petersburg. Georgy Poltavchenko underlined the significance of the event 95 years ago, saying it laid the foundation for the relationship between the two countries people today. President Ho Chi Minh was a true revolutionary, and a great friend of Russian people, he said, adding that St. Petersburg is proud to be the basis for the ties between the two countries. According to the Russian official, the ceremony, along with activities held in local universities and agencies, is part of efforts to promote Russia-Vietnam relations. In recent years, Russia and Vietnam have cooperated in education with thousands of Vietnamese students trained in St. Petersburg. The municipal authority held many seminars on Ho Chi Minhs ideology. It is also proud of its Ho Chi Minh Institute - the only research institute on the spiritual heritage of President Ho Chi Minh outside Vietnam. For his part, Nhan affirmed that President Ho Chi Minh arriving in Russia 95 years ago was very significant, becoming a historical symbol for decisive changes to Vietnams revolution as well as protection and construction. He also recalled President Ho Chi Minhs warm feelings for Russian people, the great Russian October Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and the Vietnam-Soviet Union friendship. From the first years of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, developing relations with the Soviet Union was a top priority and the Soviet Union became one of the first countries in the world to officially establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, he said. The Vietnamese people have received great support from Russian people in the struggle for national independence and unification, as well as the national construction and development process later, Nhan stressed. According to the Vietnamese official, relations between Vietnam and the former Soviet Union and Russia today are not only following their good foundation but growing to a new height. The Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMNAP) hosted a ceremony in Hanoi on May 16 to celebrate the Day, with the attendance of Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, and Director of the HCMNAP. The event aims to honour the contribution of generations of scientists in the cause of the theoretical work and scientific research of the Party, as well as creating unity in the awareness of the task of renewal and the improvement of the quality of scientific activities. On the occasion, the Academy announced and handed over the decision to appoint an associate professor title to 24 lectures in 2018. On the same day, the National Agency for Science and Technology Information under the Ministry of Science and Technology opened the technology and information technology equipment market (IT Techmart 2018). The three-day event is expected to offer trade opportunities for businesses, institutes, schools, science and technology organisations, and individuals. IT Techmart 2018 will provide many benefits for research and investment promotion activities, and promote the development of new products within Vietnam. A symposium on information technology (IT) amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) took place in Hanoi on May 16, looking into the features, opportunities and challenges of Industry 4.0 and the development directions for the IT sector in Vietnam. Also on May 16, the Thua Thien - Hue Association of Science and Technology organised a ceremony to celebrate the Vietnam Science and Technology Day. 17 outstanding individuals who have made outstanding contribution to the province's science and technology development were honoured at the ceremony. The escalating tensions have led to diplomatic retaliations between Israel and a number of countries. The gunpowder barrel in the Middle East is at risk of exploding if the parties concerned do not show restrained. The US moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and opening the new headquarters inflamed a wave of protests by Palestinians in the border area between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers cracked down on and shot at the demonstrators in the bloodiest clash between the two sides, killing over 60 Palestinians and injuring more than 2,700 others. Immediately afterwards, many nations strongly criticised Israels use of force against the protesters, stating that the Jewish state used asymmetric forces. The UN Security Council summoned an urgent meeting in an attempt to put out the flames flaring up in the Gaza Strip. Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, affirmed that Israel must be responsible for the use of force against the Palestinians. The UK, France, and other countries in the European Union (EU), strongly condemned the actions of Israel, while reiterating the EUs stance on the status of Jerusalem, whereby all three religions, including Judaism, Islam, and Catholicism, have close ties to the holy area and this must be maintained. France affirmed its security pledges with Israel, but stated that Israels security issue cannot account for such a level of violence. Countries in the region have demonstrated strong opposition to Israel. The Arab League (AL) held an urgent gathering to discuss the situation in Gaza. Notably, Turkey was one of the strongest critics of the violence in Gaza, as well as the USs embassy move to Jerusalem. Turkey expelled Israels ambassador in Ankara, while Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim urged Muslim countries to re-examine their relationships with Israel and called for an extraordinary summit of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on May 18. In reply, the Israeli Foreign Ministry asked the Turkish consul-general in Jerusalem to leave the country. Muslims in many countries took to the streets to express their solidarity with the Palestinians. More than 2,000 Turkish people poured down the streets in Istanbul to protest the USs decision to move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem. Hundreds of Arab students rallied in front of the UN headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, with slogans reading Jerusalem will always be the capital of Palestine. Meanwhile, King Mohammed VI of Morocco said that the international consensus in opposing the USs decision is a strong message to support the rights of the Palestinian people. As criticisms from the public were aimed towards Israel, the US still voiced advocacy for its ally, stating that Israel acted with the most restrain possible in dealing with the Palestinian protesters. Palestine in particular, and the international community as a whole, have called for urgent actions to end the tragedy that is happening to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Russia voiced its willingness to chair a high-level Palestinian-Israeli meeting to restart direct talks between the two sides. Russia affirmed that the talks should be resumed on the basis of the decisions and principles adopted by the UN Security Council, as well as the Arab Peace Initiative. Despite being an important economic partner of Israel, Russia also had to state that acting outside the boundaries of international law only makes the region more unstable. The Arab countries in the region pledged their support for the Palestinians struggle in restoring their sovereignty and establishing an independent Palestinian state with the capital of East Jerusalem and the pre-1967 borderlines. The international community has affirmed its determination to resolve all problems through dialogue, stressing that the use of force to threaten civilians is unjustifiable. The unilateral change of Jerusalems status quo will endanger the efforts to seek a comprehensive and long-term solution to the crisis between Palestine and Israel, causing serious consequences for regional security and stability. China's first privately-developed carrier rocket for commercial use, called Chongqing Liangjiang Star, was launched from a test base in northwest China on Thursday morning, reports thepaper.cn. Designed by OneSpace, a private domestic space technology company, the nine-meter-long rocket can send a 100 kilogram payload to an altitude of 800 kilometers. OneSpace says the test launch was successful, and that data collected during the launch is currently being analyzed. Screenshot of TV footage showing China's first privately-developed rocket, Chongqing Liangjiang Star, blasts off at 7:33 a.m. from a test base in northwest China on Thursday, May 17, 2018. [Screenshot: CCTV] OneSpace estimates the launch cost for its rockets will be kept at around 10,000 U.S. dollars per kilogram, around one-third of the cost available in the international market. Founded in August 2015, OneSpace says it plans to produce over 30 of its M-series rockets, and 20 of its X-series rockets by 2020. A report by Beijing-based investment institution FutureAerospace, over the past three years more than 60 private Chinese firms have entered the commercial space industry with a focus on the production and launch of satellites and rockets. This follows a government policy issued in 2015 to encourage the growth of private space companies. China's economic transition to high-quality development requires further reform and opening up, a senior Chinese official has said. "Governments should substantially reduce their role in direct resources allocation and channel more energy into macro regulation, public services, market supervision, social management, and environmental protection," said Yang Weimin, deputy head of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs. Yang Weimin, deputy head of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs. [File photo: people.com.cn] "Resources allocation should be based on market rules, prices and competition," Yang said Thursday at a forum marking the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up drive, hosted by the Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. As the world's second largest economy, China is in the middle of a major economic transformation shifting from speed to quality. For example, slower GDP growth is more tolerable while other factors including employment, environment and industrial restructuring are given greater importance. Yang said China had altered its concepts and road maps for economic development amid a changing circumstance. "There have been dramatic changes in China's demand structure ... pollution has exceeded the environmental bearing capacity," he said. The senior economic official listed several areas for China's high quality development. "China should maintain equilibrium in indicators of growth, employment, prices and international balance of payments," Yang said. "Industrial modernization should be promoted, with intelligent production and core technology." "There should be more emphasis on improving the efficiency of new production factors including talent, technology, data and environment," Yang said. He also stressed spatial equilibrium of resources and coordinated development of agriculture, industry and services. Bailang River Bridge Ferris Wheel opens to the public in Weifang City, Shandong Province, May 16, 2018. At a staggering 145 meter height, the structure is the largest spokeless Ferris wheel in the world. Also known as the Eye of Bohai Sea, the wheel is 125 meters in diameter and features a grid design, with 36 carriages all able to host 10 people. It takes half an hour to complete a rotation. (Photo: China News Service/Yuan Yankui) remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The city of Pensacola, Florida, on Wednesday urged [oral arguments calendar, PDF] the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [judicial website] to overturn a lower court order [opinion, PDF] to remove [JURIST report] a 34-foot cross in Bayview Park because the cross violates the Establishment Clause. Pensacola argued [brief, PDF] both that the plaintiffs lack standing and that Pensacolas actions are constitutional because the lower court incorrectly applied the Lemon test. The Lemon test says that the government action must be supported by a secular purpose, cannot have the primary effect of advancing religion, and cannot have an excessive entanglement with religion. The city maintains that since a monument is at issue and not an action, the test used in Van Orden v. Perry should apply instead, which takes the historical context of the monument into consideration. The city says, The cross memorializes how private citizens in Pensacola came together to support each other during World War II, and it acknowledges the role of religion in American lifewhich is expressly permitted [in case precedent]. The lower court said that the cross did not have any legitimate secular purposes and relied on a previous case where a cross in a state park was deemed unconstitutional. The Establishment Clause is frequently litigated. In April the Supreme Court heard [JURIST report] oral arguments for the travel ban case, in which the court asked the parties to brief whether the ban violated the Establishment Clause. In March a federal judge rejected [JURIST report] a challenge under the Establishment Clause to Trumps new rules on birth control. In November an LGBT rights activist filed [JURIST report] a law suit challenging a Tennessee law allowing therapists to refuse to treat LGBT patients, alleging that it violated the Establishment Clause. A foreign businessman seeks opportunities at the 15th China Hi-tech Fair in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, on Nov 16, 2013. [Photo/VCG] Starting June 30, most functions will be done online across country China will further simplify the process of setting up foreign-invested enterprises to promote its high-standard of liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, the State Council decided at an executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. One-stop service and a single required form will be needed to file and register a foreign-invested enterprise. The whole process will be conducted online and free of charge. This practice, which will take effect on June 30, is expected to significantly shorten the time required to start a foreign-invested enterprise. Real-time sharing and coordinated management of information on foreign-invested enterprises will be promoted among the banking, customs, taxation and foreign exchange authorities. Government inspection will also be strengthened to ensure that measures are fully implemented. In the Government Work Report this year, Li said procedures to set up foreign-invested enterprises would be simplified and business filings and business registrations would be processed simultaneously together. The premier said at the meeting that consolidating the filing and registration procedures for such enterprises is a matter of high significance. He called for all government departments concerned to fully collaborate and coordinate their work to make things easier for such enterprises. According to the Commerce Ministry, over 35,600 foreign-invested enterprises were set up in 2017, up by 27.8 percent year-on-year. Foreign investment rose 7.9 percent from 2016, hitting a new high of 877.5 billion yuan ($137.6 billion). Measures were also adopted at the meeting to establish a unified e-platform for accessing government services and to have items that require an office visit to be done in one place in a single visit. All government services will be put on this platform unless laws stipulate otherwise or to protect confidentiality. The government will remain committed to a unified e-platform for all government services and link separate networks. In principle, no department will be allowed to set up an independent system. "Government services are to serve public good and hence must be universally accessible. Current technologies have made it possible to do many things online," Li said. "What's important is to introduce a unified e-platform for all government services by linking the separate networks." The State Council also decided that the procedures for accessing government services will be further simplified. There will be no repeated requirement for materials that can be shared and reused. Electronic licenses will be more widely introduced, and their reciprocal recognition will be further promoted. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] reported [press release] on Friday that members of Burundis security forces and ruling party youth league killed, raped, abducted, beat, and intimidated suspected opponents in the months leading up to a constitutional referendum. The referendum on whether Burundis president, Pierre Nkurunziza, can hold office past the two-term limit (potentially allowing him to stay in power until 2034) occurred on Thursday. Nkurunziza has been in office [HRW report] since 2005. According to the report, security forces and the youth league targeted victims for refusing to contribute funds to Nkurunzizas campaign, or for not registering for his political party. HRW interviewed more than 100 people since last February and from these interviews documented 15 murders, six rapes, and eight kidnappings, among other crimes. Of those interviewed, 67 had fled the country. This is an increase from the 19 cases of abuse HRW documented [JURIST report] in a report released last month. The full scale of abuse is difficult to determine and most likely significantly higher than the cases documented, said HRW. HRW urged the Burundian government to hold the perpetrators accountable and to prevent violations by its own forces. The organization called on African leaders to pressure Nkurunziza to end the violence and repression in Burundi. Finally, HRW urged the European Union and the United States to expand their targeted sanctions on Burundi and for the UN Security Council to impose sanctions. In November an International Criminal Court prosecutor was authorized [JURIST report] to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burundi. In September a UN commission called on [JURIST report] Burundi to end ongoing human rights violations. The US Department of the Treasury [official website] issued new sanctions [press release] against Iran on Thursday. The new sanctions target two individuals, Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi and Abdallah Safi-Al-Din. Both of them have been identified as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Bazzi has been identified as a financier for Hezbollah, and Safi-Al-Din has been identified as Hezbollahs representative to Iran. The Department of the Treasury stated that the sanctions show the convergence of Irans support for terrorism with many facets of illicit criminal activity, including narcotics trafficking. The sanctions come after President Donald Trumps decision [JURIST report] to leave the Iranian Nuclear Deal last week and to begin reimposing sanctions against Iran. These sanctions are in addition to the sanctions placed [press release] against Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, and Ali Tarzali, the assistant director of the International Department at the Central Bank of Iran, which were issued on Wednesday. Sanctions against Seif and Tarzali were imposed after they also were designated as SDGTs due to moving millions of dollars for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Iran previously placed sanctions [JURIST report] against 15 US companies in March 2017 in retaliation for sanctions the US placed on China, North Korea and United Arab Emirates for aiding Irans ballistic missile program. Photo Courtesy Pacifica Hotels If your idea of a good vacation involves water as the prime attraction, then Marina del Rey is for you. Billed as Los Angeles coastal playground, this city boasts water activities abounding year-round. Surprisingly just a short four mile drive from the LAX airport, Marina del Rey is central to the LA coastline. Its a short walking distance to the famed Venice Beach and just a bike ride away from trendy Abbott Kinney Boulevard and gorgeous Santa Monica, which each have a character and charm all their own. But, for its part, Marina del Ray is a stellar waterfront destination with perennial aqua and outdoor-oriented recreation options for families, couples, friend groups and business travelers, alike. From sailing, harbor and dinner cruises, and yacht excursions to scuba, snorkeling, parasailing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding to sport fishing, whale-watching and more, Marina del Ray is rife with activity opportunities. And while the city is certainly replete with accommodation choices, one boutique property in particularJamaica Bay Innoffers a distinctive array of features and benefits paired with warm and gracious hospitality that sets it apart from the pack. Photo Courtesy Pacifica Hotels Location. Location. Location. There are only a handful of hotels in Los Angeles that actually sit right on the beach, and this is one of them. However, the particular setting for this property is quite serene, clean and decidedly family friendly. Set on Marina del Reys peaceful Mothers Beach, Jamaica Bay Inn provides a quiet cul-de-sac waterfront respite without the usual noise and crowds of typical beach areas. Photo Courtesy Pacifica Hotels Fab Fare Al Fresco Boasting its own on-site eatery, Beachside Restaurant & Barhelmed by Chef Victor Moralesis a bright and fresh space offering superb waterfront views amid indoor/outdoor bar and dining options. Its here where you really feel like youre on vacation as both the view and the breeze is delightful. In the foreground, theres the clean sandy beach leading to the waterway thats active with swimmers, kayakers, paddle boarders and such. Further beyond is a marina filled with gorgeous sailboats, which provides a stunning backdrop. Viewing the sailboat masts against the blue sky during the day and dusk in the early evening is a treat all its own. Diners also enjoy this entire vista while sitting inside the nautical-chic eatery where windows and natural light abounds. Beachside also doesnt disappoint food-wise as the fresh California coastal cuisine here is excellent. Open for breakfast/brunch, lunch (as all-day dining), happy hour and dinner, Chef Morales menu is casual and approachable, but her penchant for quality, flavor and presentation is readily evident. On the current iteration of the menu, dishes like to-die-for Brussels Sprouts with sambal sauce, Thai basil, mint and peanuts, Ahi Tuna Tartare, Tempura Fish Tacos, 10-ounce Kurobuta Pork Chop and Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes delight. Photo Courtesy Pacifica Hotels Here you can sip, savor and settle into vacation mode. Notably, Beachside serves gluten-free items and organic entrees are available on the various menus throughout the day and night, including organic chicken, sustainable wild fish, and environmentally conscious farm-raised fish. Theres also a kids menu. For those who prefer to dine in the privacy of their room, Beachside Restaurant & Bar will deliver right to your door for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Amenities Aplenty Jamaica Bay Inns casually-elegant island-inspired guest rooms and suites all feature new 55-inch flat screen TVs, complimentary Wi-Fi (hotel-wide, actually), granite countertops, plush linens and bathrobes, Molton Brown bath amenities, a mini-fridge and Keurig coffee maker with complimentary coffee, and safe for securing valuables. Many also have private balconies with panoramic water and marina views. Other hotel amenities include a fitness center, a 24-hour business center, beach cruiser rentals and a heated (year-round) outdoor beach-side pool and Jacuzzi. Valet parking is also available, as are water taxis eager to take guests from Mothers Beach to various stops around the Marina. With its waterfront location and as creature comforts abound, Jamaica Bay Inn truly offers everything a vacationer needs to relax and enjoy some quality fun-in-the-Southern California sun. And, given its close proximity to world-class restaurants and leisure activities, not to mention the mere 15-minute driving distance from LAX, guests at the Inn have access to the best Los Angeles has to the offer while feeling worlds away. ~~~ ***Some or all of the accommodations(s), experience(s), item(s) and/or service(s) detailed above may have been provided or arranged at no cost to accommodate this review, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of Merilee Kern and have not been influenced in any way.*** [File Photo] Two years after wiping the floor with Uber, Chinas single-largest car-hailing giant Didi has been mired in a fatal scandal relating to its hitchhike service, with both the government and public calling for a new law to regulate the emerging carpooling industry. The tragedy, which took place in Zhengzhou, Henan Province on May 5, has led to public uproar following the murder of a 21-year-old female flight attendant by a pinchbeck Didi driver. The victim, who used Didis hitchhike service, was found dead in a semi-naked state with multiple stab wounds, while the perpetrator later killed himself by jumping into the local river. Serving as a carpooling and social platform, Didi Hitch can match people heading in the same direction to travel together. The passenger only needs to pay a fair share of fuel to the driver, while both passenger and driver can rate and tag each other. In response to the public inquiry, Didi on Wednesday limited its hitch service to daytime, as well as scrapping ratings and reviews of both drivers and passengers, but such remedial measures were insufficient to pacify the fury of the public, who now demand the company tackle its management and supervision loopholes. Didi has yet to release any plan to compensate the victim, or to specify its responsibility in the incident. The company has failed to take its social responsibility, while the lack of laws regulating carpooling in China has also indulged Didis carefree attitude, Chen Ziyu, a Beijing-based lawyer, told Peoples Daily Online. Blowing Ubers China business out of the water in 2016, Didi now controls over 90 percent of Chinas car-hailing market, while over 1.05 billion seats were shared via its core hitchhiking service in 2017. Outlawed carpooling Hitchhiking services, also known as carpooling, have been welcomed by many countries including China, with its capital issuing a guideline in 2016 to encourage the new traveling method, which can abate both environmental pollution and private costs incurred by solo driving. Though the service is convenient and has led to cheaper costs, its noncommercial nature somehow exempts platforms such as Didi from taking responsibility when accidents occur. Unlike car-hailing services which are a commercial act and thus regulated by law, carpooling doesnt generate revenue for the drivers, making it a legally gray area, Chen said, adding that since there is no legal basis ensuring the carpooling standards or safety, its hard to say whether Didi is guilty or not in this incident. Li Mingzhu, a 21-year-old flight attendant, was killed by a pinchbeck Didi driver. China launched its Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Taxi Booking Business Operations and Services in 2016. The legal document, which is the only national regulation regarding online car-hailing services, vaguely stipulates that carpooling should obey local rules, which most Chinese cities have yet to establish. Didi has used such legal loopholes to exempt itself from taking any responsibility regarding carpooling accidents. According to its disclaimer, Didi will not be liable to any member in the event that information provided by another member is false or inaccurate, a brush-off which clearly suggests that passengers and drivers carry the entire burden of risk themselves. The lack of legal regulation has also led to a rampant misuse of carpooling services in China. For instance, Didi Hitch drivers were reported to leave inappropriate reviews of passengers who have no ability to remove the remarks. Comments such as sexy and beautiful or nice body shape were frequently seen on the services review pages, annoying and frightening female passengers. New laws should be made to regulate the emerging carpooling service in China, Li Xiaohong, a researcher from law department, Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, told Procuratorial Daily, who added that many nations, such as Germany, have already established a lawful system for carpooling, as well as setting regulatory institutions for the service. Serving as an origin of carpooling services, Germany passed its car-sharing law in 2017, which even regulates the establishment of parking spaces for car sharing on a country-wide basis. In response to public outcry, Chinas transportation authorities have issued five announcements in one week, noting that carpooling should be properly regulated, a claim interpreted by many experts as a sign of readiness for the establishment of a carpooling law in China. Fierce competition Didis failure in background checks of Hitch drivers has also attracted criticism, with many experts claiming that the company has intentionally loosened its admittance restriction for drivers, who appeared to be limited resources. According to media reports, the perpetrator, who acted illegally by using his father's Didi account, had passed the security checks required by Didi Hitch, while users can even use false personal information to register as a Hitch driver. Facing fierce competition in the carpooling industry, the priority for most platforms is to attract as many drivers as possible. This has led to perfunctory background checks of drivers true identities, said Zhong Xiaoyu, an independent writer for news portal Sohu.com. Though taking the lead in Chinas car-hailing industry, Didis service has been challenged by many domestic rivals. According to media reports, Meituan Dianping, Chinas online shopping platform, picked up the gauntlet in March, taking over 30 percent of the car-hailing share in Shanghai in just one day. The incident will urge passengers to consider more about their own safety when using carpooling services, pushing platforms such as Didi to take more action to ensure the authenticity of drivers information, Zhong added. Infrared camera footage captured a giant panda at a nature reserve in southwest Chinas Sichuan province. It's the first time in six years that a panda has been spotted in this area. As seen in the footage, the bear first walked into the camera's line of vision on February 16. The same panda was then captured biting the camera, making some noise in the process. The palm-sized camera was barely recognizable when an employee of the Baishuihe Nature Reserve arrived to collect data on May 14. The bear is in good health, the employee said. He explained that in the past, pandas were often known as iron-eating beasts because they broke into peoples house and ate ironware to replenish trace elements they needed. Panda activity had been frequent here before the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. After the earthquake, the forest resources and mountain lines changed, so some pandas left. Data of wildlife is checked and collected every three months. The area where the panda was discovered is regarded as the most difficult place to go within the reserve, due to the high altitude and complex geographical conditions, the employee said. He explained that it is the pleasant climate and environment that attracts the pandas here. To keep the animals safe, the nature reserve has 20 routes to keep watch of rare and endangered wild animals, and has cracked down on poaching in collaboration with neighboring reserves and local forest police. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi reiterated that the decision by the US to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would lead to instability in the region. "We have said that this issue would have negative ramifications on Arab and Islamic public opinion, leading to disenchantment, instability and repercussions on the Palestinian cause," El-Sisi, who voiced concerns over relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem in a phone call with Trump last December, said at the National Youth Conference held in Cairo on Wednesday. In remarks broadcast live on TV, El-Sisi called on Palestinians and Israelis to work towards putting an end to the recent bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, after Israeli forces killed 61 Palestinians near the Gaza-Israeli border on Monday during protests against the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem. The Palestinian casualties in Gaza was the worst in years. El-Sisi said the Palestinians should make sure "that protest and expression of their rejection of the decision do not lead them to measures that result in the fall of more victims." The president added that the Israelis must "understand that the reactions of the Palestinians to the issue are legitimate," while urging Israelis to be "very careful" with the lives of Palestinians. The president said that Cairo is doing all it can to improve the situation for the Palestinians. Egypt has been in contact with the Palestinian and Israeli sides to help end the bloodshed, has kept its border crossing with Gaza open and has been providing ambulances and medicine to the Palestinians in an effort to "alleviate the impact of the situation in the [Gaza] Strip," El-Sisi said. "We cannot do more than this, the president said, adding that Egypt makes statements that help resolve the situation, not complicate matters. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ordered on Thursday to keep the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip open during the whole month of Ramadan. "I issued my directions to the concerned apparatuses to take the necessary measures to maintain the opening of the Rafah border crossing throughout the holy month of Ramadan in order to ensure the easing of the burdens on the brothers in the Gaza Strip," El-Sisi said in a tweet on Thursday evening. Last Saturday, Egypt had opened the border for traffic in both directions with the intention of keeping it open for four days. However, on Monday, the authorities decided to extend the opening to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians after the killing of at dozens of civilians by the Israeli occupation army during protests in Gaza against the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Rafah border crossing is the main gateway to the outside world for 1.8 million Palestinians living in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, and is the only crossing point not controlled by Israel. Search Keywords: Short link: Doctors expressed their anger this week in the wake of a court ruling against a colleague The Doctors Syndicate this week initiated legal measures to contest a jail term recently handed down against Mohamed Hassan, a doctor working at a Sharqiya governorate hospital, on charges of insulting the judiciary. On 9 May, the 10 Ramadan Misdemeanours Court convicted Hassan of insulting the judiciary and hindering the work of the prosecution authorities. The court sentenced him to a one-year jail term, dismissed him from his job, and gave him bail of LE5,000. The Sharqiya branch of the syndicate paid the bail in order to suspend the ruling and to enable Hassan to contest the sentence before an appeals court. The story started on 20 March, when Fathalla Radi, a member of the 10 Ramadan prosecution, headed to the hospital where Hassan worked and asked for data related to a case he was investigating. The prosecutor asked Hassan, who was working on a shift in the emergency department, to accompany him to the prosecution offices to finish some legal procedures. A quarrel was reported to have taken place after Hassan refused to leave in the middle of his shift. Hassan said he went to the prosecution office after he had finished his work, but he had been ordered to leave, he said. On the following day, an arrest warrant was issued against Hassan remanding him for four days in custody pending investigations on charges of hindering the work of the prosecution authorities and acting improperly with a member of the judiciary. He was then released on a LE10,000 bail, and 18 April was set for the judicial hearing. Last weeks ruling against Hassan intensified the anger created by his arrest among his colleagues. The ruling is being viewed by many doctors as shocking and biased since the doctor was punished for being committed to his work. Calls for a partial work stoppage, sit-ins, and collective resignations have been made. However, such measures have not been taken because the 11 May Extraordinary General Assembly of the syndicate, which was to have been held to discuss the case, was not held as the legal quorum required to hold the meeting was not complete. Unlike the 2016 General Assembly meeting of the syndicate in which thousands of the countrys doctors protested against practices of the security services, only 500 doctors took part in the 11 May Assembly. It ended with a symbolic sit-in in front of the syndicate attended by dozens of people holding banners. Syndicate members then held a meeting to discuss further steps to be taken in Hassans case. The syndicate stressed its readiness to offer legal support to Hassan and to bear his legal costs. Its council called upon the prosecutor-general to establish a proper system for summoning doctors to prosecution offices given the nature of their work. It also asked the prosecutor-general to investigate the complaint filed by the Sharqiya syndicate chairman against the prosecutor who had stirred up the crisis. Some doctors blamed the syndicate council for foiling the meeting of the General Assembly. Fewer than 24 hours ahead of the meeting, Syndicate Chairman Hussein Khairy and Deputy Osama Abdel-Hai met Health Minister Ahmed Emadeddin in an attempt to contain the problem. Some doctors argued the meeting had weakened the General Assembly and given the impression that the council was ready to settle for a compromise. Addressing the doctors present at the meeting, Khairy said that maybe I made a mistake, but we all learn from our mistakes. On 12 May, Abdel-Hai resigned his post without giving a reason. Mona Mena, deputy secretary-general of the syndicate council who has temporarily taken Abdel-Hais place, said the meeting with the health minister was an unintentional mistake. She called on doctors to join hands with the syndicate council to defend their rights. We are not hostile to the judiciary. However, we are not going to abandon our colleague. Our support for him is professionally motivated, she said. Talk about the ruling should stop. Court rulings should not be criticised. They can just be appealed, said judge Reda Al-Sayed, spokesman of the Judges Club, during an interview with the Dream satellite TV channel on Saturday. Rulings passed by the Egyptian judiciary are void of personal whims. The judges should not be accused of issuing biased rulings. The judiciary is an authority whose neutrality is above question, he said. *A version of this article appears in print in the 17 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with headline: Doctors in dismay Search Keywords: Short link: MEDFORD, Ore. -- May 15th marked the 100th anniversary of the air mail service that was implemented with President Wilson. Today people from all across the Rogue Valley came to see three vintage biplanes that are retracing the pioneering west coast airmail route that was established in the 1930s. Six pilots are heading up the venture to retrace the route, each flying a Stearman Speedmail biplanes. Today there are only seven left in the world and three of them are participating in the historical trip. These airplanes were used by several airlines as mail planes in the early 1930s. Powered by 450 horsepower engines, the wood-winged and fabric covered open-cockpit aircraft were noted for their dependability and ability to carry heavy loads. The pilots are hoping to bring to the general publics attention the contributions that air mail pioneers made to our modern air space and airline system today. The route ran from San Diego to Seattle with stops in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco and Redding in California; Medford and Eugene in Oregon; Vancouver, Olympia and finally Paine Field in Everett, just north of Seattle, Washington. The establishment of air mail service marks the first steps towards the founding of commercial aviation and airline service in America, said Addison Pemberton, one of the pilots participating in the trek. The fact that the Congress specifically asked that service begin while the nation was mobilized to fight the first world war, shows that the potential and importance of aviation was recognized even in those early days. When airmail was implemented in America many airmen died due to the dangerous terrain surrounding the pacific northwest. Pilots had to rely solely on ground contact. Meaning that they didnt have any instruments to aid in their navigation. Pilots had to be able to see the ground at all times, using landmarks and other man-made arrows on the ground the guide them to their destination. They were flying in the middle of January from New York to San Francisco over the Rocky Mountains with no navigation at 100 feet following farm houses and headlights and things like that, that you just cant imagine today, said pilot Katie LeFriec. Each of the three biplanes being flown during the centennial anniversary are privately owned and have been completely restored. Addison Pemberton is one of the six pilots and has restored his vintage Stearman 4DM Senior Speedmail. The aircraft was originally built for American Airways, starting service in 1931, it flew mail routes from Dallas to Chicago and California before being modified for use as an instrument trainer. It was later converted for use as a crop sprayer. Pemberton acquired the aircraft was a wingless hulk in 1989 and restored it from the ground up. Pemberton has restored 21 aircraft and calls the Speedmail The best airplane I ever built. Ben Scott is another pilot flying the route. He restored his Stearman 4E Junior Speedmail after it was originally bought by his father, a prominent Reno businessman, to use for his frequent business trips throughout the 1930s. When private flying was curtailed during World War Two, the aircraft was sold and like the other surviving Speedmails, became a crop sprayer. It was rescued and restored in the 1970s and Scott, a long-time pilot, was happy to get the heirloom back into the family. Jeff Hamilton and father of Katie LeFriec finished the reconstruction of his Speedmail that was used by American Airways between 1931 and 1934 to fly mail on routes from St. Louis, Atlanta and Dallas. It was the converted to dual cockpits and used as a blind flying instrument trainer for the airline. In 1939 it was converted to agricultural work, remaining in that field for the next 35 years. The plane was partially restored in 1999. Hamilton bought the aircraft in 2016 and completed the restoration. MEDFORD, Ore. Oregon celebrates Free Fishing Weekend on June 2-3, and the event will be making a local appearance at Fish Lake on Saturday, June 2 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Fishing rods and tackle will be provided for kids, along with other family activites. There will be demonstrations on how to measure fish and make a "fish print" painting using real salmon and steelhead. Rangers will also be hosting talks and providing grab bags to familiesplus Smokey Bear will make an appearance for photos and the distribution of his far-famed 'Smokey Hugs.' The event is put on every year by the Medford Bureau of Land Management and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Find information about other free fishing weekend events by clicking here. The Facebook event can be found here. UPDATE: The Jackson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) has released more details about a marijuana-related robbery that started in Ashland yesterday. The two suspects have been identified as Jelani Johnson and Orlando Rickmanboth 27-year-old and from Washington, D.C. Both have been lodged in the Jackson County Jail on charges of First Degree Robbery. Dispatch received a call after 5 p.m. on Thursday, with the caller reporting an armed robbery in the 1200-block of North Mountain Avenue in Ashland. The victims reported being robbed at gunpoint by three suspects, who stole marijuana and then fled in two vehicles. No one was hurt in the incident. Police were able to spot one of the vehiclesa Toyota Highlanderdriving north on Interstate 5, and an Oregon State Police (OSP) trooper stopped the vehicle at a Chevron station near Exit 33 in Central Point. JCSO deputies and officers from other agencies all responded to the scene as well. Johnson and Rickman were arrested without evidenceand upon searching the vehicle, detectives found 37 pounds of marijuana and other evidence of the robbery. Police are still investigating to locate the possible third suspect who was reported to be in a second vehicle. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Detective Jason Penn at (541) 774-6800, reference case #18-9829. CENTRAL POINT, Ore. Two suspects are in custody following an armed robbery.Deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office say they received a report of an armed robbery near Eagle Mill and Oak Street in Ashland at 5:15pm.They were told two suspects, armed with rifles, stole several pounds of marijuana and a cell phone.Those suspects then left the scene in a white Toyota Highlander.OSP had a description of the suspects and their vehicle shortly after the armed robbery thanks to quick communication by dispatch.OSP was able to intervene and arrest the suspects in the parking lot of the Chevron in Central Point without incident.The suspects were taken into custody at 5:30pm, just 15 minutes after the report of the armed robbery was made.Deputies say its unclear at this time if the location of the armed robbery was at a residence. Several agencies assisted, including Oregon State Police, Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Central Point Police, Ashland Police, and Phoenix Police. MEDFORD, Ore. When Norm Kester looks out on his humming factory each day, he sees a business he built from the ground up. He also sees a location perched perfectly just outside the grounds of Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport. Kester admits that one of the main draws to the area for many people is the gorgeous scenery and the easy access to the outdoors. Still, he explains, there is much that can be done in the area to encourage and promote small businesses. WalletHub is a personal finance website based in Washington, D.C. It recently evaluated just over 1,200 small-sized cities with less than 100,000 people. It ranked them according to the best place to start a small business based on 18 key metrics ranging from average growth in number of small businesses to investor access to labor costs. Medford came in 430th place. As Jill Gonzalez with WalletHub explained, thats pretty good. Its definitely in the top half, and almost in the top third. Where it seems to be struggling slightly is access to resources, says Gonzalez. That includes things like financing, investors, higher education assets, and workforce attainment. Joan McBee is a professor and the Chair of Southern Oregon Universitys School of Business. She understands how small businesses in the Rogue Valley often struggle to secure financing to get their company off the ground or to bring it to the next level. Plus, as she explains, I hear a lot of complaints from employers that they cant find qualified workers. And I hear workers or potential workers say they cant find a job. So I dont know what the problem is but theyre not matching up. Fortunately, McBee says there are resources for anyone thinking about starting their own small business. One of the best in the area is the Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc, or SOREDI. Colleen Padilla is the executive director of SOREDI. We have many, many entrepreneurs doing really cool things in our region," claims Padilla. They dont just necessarily know about each other. And thats another role of SOREDI, to help businesses prosper. SOREDI helps bridge that gap, allowing businesses to talk to one another more effectively. They also hold a variety of events and seminars to help new businesses owners prosper. One such event includes allowing people to attend a faux pitch meetings. It allows new owners to get practice presenting their ideas a products so theyll be ready when the real pressure is on. Norm Kester is one of those business owners working to help elevate the profile of businesses in southern Oregon. Hes the owner of Quantum Innovation. This world-class company manufactures and operates equipment that uses vacuum-applied thin film technology. Simply put, they make lenses work better. Kester remarks how there is much more available in the Rogue Valley than 10 years ago, but explains that it still has weak pointslike affordable housing, attracting top talent, and hiring workers with the right skills. Mindy Hvall experiences the daily trials and tribulations of being a small business owner. She decided to open Bubbles & Bows Grooming and Boutique for pets out of her desire to love animals and express herself creatively. Every day she takes peoples prized pets from drab to fab by washing and grooming them until they sparkle. Hvall loves what she does but admits that its the little things that stress her out. Most of my struggles are wages going up, insurance, taxes, she details. They say there are a lot of tax relief for small business owners but I havent found them. MEDFORD, Ore.-- The Jackson County Sheriff's Office says two of their deputies saved the life of a 25-year-old inmate who attempted to commit suicide last Friday. Nobody was injured in the incident. Sheriff Nathan Sickler says he is proud of deputies Cody Fuhrman and Steven Sagert, who acted quickly to help the inmate. This happened last Friday. Deputies say the 25-year-old male inmate was being escorted to a new cell when he dove head-first through a safety railing on the upper level. Deputy Fuhrman caught the inmates leg as he dangled over the edge. Deputy Sagert ran upstairs to help. The deputies were able to pull the inmate back to safety, despite the inmates active resistance. A medical staff member witnessed the inmate dangling from the railing and attempted to assist from the level below. Following the incident, the inmate received medical and mental health treatment at the jail. Deputies urge anyone experiencing a mental health crisis to seek help. If someone you know is a risk to themselves or others due to a mental illness, call the Jackson County Mental Health Crisis Line at (541) 774-8201. Egypts interior ministry said on Friday it had arrested a number of people running an organ trafficking ring in Cairo. In an official statement, the interior ministry said the members of the ring had encouraged Egyptians on lower incomes in Cairos Ramses district to sell their organs. Three suspected members of the ring were arrested; one of the suspects, a butcher, had been given a 15-year prison term in a human trafficking case previously. The 31-year-old butcher confessed that he was working for the head of the kidney transplant department in one of Maadis hospitals, through a broker who worked at the same hospital. He said, according to the statement, that he would receive a commission of EGP 10,000 (approximately $560) for every donor, and said he also used to accompany the donors to a private laboratory for necessary checkups. He himself sold his kidney ten years ago, with the surgery then prompting him to start the trafficking activity. Following his confession, he guided the police to a rented apartment, where four young men were waiting ahead of undergoing necessary medical tests prior to surgery. They said they were promised EGP 20,000 ($1,123) each to sell their kidneys. Organ trafficking is explicitly forbidden in Egypt according to Article 60 of the countrys 2014 constitution. Egyptian law criminalises the trade of organs and penalises traffickers by up to seven years in jail. In 2016, Egyptian authorities arrested 45 suspects -- including Egyptians and foreigners on suspicion of running an organ trafficking ring. The suspects included university professors, doctors, nurses, medical centre owners and brokers the trafficking. Since then, the country has been working to impose harsher penalties for illegal or forced operations. According to the new law in 2017, those who perform an organ transplant by deception or force will face life in prison and fines of between EGP 1 million ($56,000) and EGP 2 million ($112,000), with the possibility of a death sentence if the donor or recipient dies. Search Keywords: Short link: Born in Canada, former PLO legal advisor Diana Buttu grew up shielded from the trauma of her parent's displacement- only to come of age between the two Intifadas, as she tells Amira Howeidy It has been 70 years since the Nakba: the forced eviction of 800,000 Palestinians from their homes by Zionist gangs, paving the way for the creation of Israel on 14 May 1948. Today, their descendants over 10 million Palestinians are scattered in the Diaspora, the West Bank, inside Israel and in besieged Gaza, still without a state. The Israeli occupation is even more entrenched. Yet 70 years later the Palestinian question refuses to go away. In the first of series of interviews, Al-Ahram Weekly asks Palestinians born decades after their ancestors were displaced why they remain bound to their cause. ---- Abu Bassem was watching TV with his 12-year-old daughter in their Toronto home when he started weeping. Baba, why are you crying? Because theyre killing us in Lebanon. At first, ABC News reported on the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) departure from Lebanon; then the news of the massacre: 2,000 Palestinians were killed over three days in September 1982 in south Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Israeli-backed right-wing Christian Lebanese militias. None of it made sense to the child. But what do you mean? The father quickly changed the channel and the topic. When Abu Bassem and his wife moved from Nazareth to Canada in 1967, they took the very calculated decision not to spend time talking about Palestine. He was nine years old when his family, like many others, fled their Palestinian town, Al-Mujaydil, upon the arrival of Zionist gangs in 1948. After seeking shelter for six weeks in a neighbouring city, less than two kilometres from Nazareth, they werent allowed to return home. Al-Mujaydil had become a closed military zone. Israel declared everyone who had fled from Nazareth or Haifa present absentees. They lived in the country, so they were present, but were absent from their parcel of land. Using that mechanism, Israelis were able to expropriate and take over Palestinian land. The displaced family settled in a small town near Nazareth, in northern Palestine. They were among the minority of Palestinians 125,000 or 25 per cent of the population who stayed after 1948 and became Israeli citizens. But this was an isolated community. Israel viewed them as a Fifth Column a body that would undermine the creation of a Jewish state. The Arab world considered them traitors because they had remained inside Israel. Living under Israeli military rule meant that this Palestinian minority was now barred from travelling freely throughout their land, where they and their ancestors were born, requiring permits to move from one place to the next. Any hint of dissent jeopardised their livelihood. In 1965, an Israeli killed Abu Bassems younger brother and wasnt prosecuted. When Abu Bassem demanded justice, his permits were revoked. By then he had had enough of living under a system that was working against him and, now a married man, Abu Bassem applied for and got residence in Canada. After moving there, the couple became blue collar workers and had three daughters. The middle child, Diana Buttu, would later become a Palestinian household name with an international profile at the age of 30, after joining the PLO as its legal and communication adviser for five years. A distinguished lawyer specialized in negotiations, international law and international human rights law, today Buttu is based in Haifa (Jaffa) and takes legal cases related to the Israeli occupation, such as home demolitions and land confiscations. She remains a prominent Palestinian expert sought out by international and Arab media. Growing up in Toronto, Buttu and her siblings only spoke English at home. Her parents talked about Nazareth, but avoided their story of dispossession. I think it was because in part my father thought it was painful, and in part he felt its kind of a career killer, she told Al-Ahram Weekly in a recent telephone interview from Nazareth. Buttu, 48, still remembers the scene of 1982 in their Toronto living room. Thats what I was raised with: you put your head down, you work hard. Palestine wasnt really something that was brought up. It was like, forget and lets move on. Buttus first glimpses into her fathers thorn in history was in 1987 when she and her sister spent their Christmas vacation in Nazareth. Once there, Buttu, now 17 and who spoke no Arabic, began to notice the difference between the small and overpopulated Palestinian areas in Nazareth and the outskirts of empty fields. The homes in a nearby town like Nazareth Illit looked like the houses in Canada: with backyards and trees. This struck her as odd, and wrong, so she started asking questions, in English, which no one around her understood. Suddenly, the first Intifada breaks out and Buttu is able to recognise that theres a problem: there were protests and kids were throwing stones. It was the first time that things started to click. It was during that period that I was finally told of the story of my fathers displacement. By the time she returned to Canada she was very charged and started to read about Palestine. As the Intifada was in full swing, Buttu started university and became very involved in the issue. The Intifada totally changed me; it changed my direction. I had wanted to become a physician, then the Intifada made me want to become a lawyer. Because for some reason I thought that lawyers were the ones who solved problems and made issues go away. While at the University of Toronto she spent time studying and learning Arabic, majored in Middle East and Islamic Studies and became involved in a group on Palestinian rights, which worked on divestment as early as the 1990s and brought speakers like Norman Finklestein and Hanan Ashrawi. That was during the period of the Madrid Peace Conference, which paved the way for the beginning of Palestinian-Israeli talks two years later. By the time Buttu was in law school, the Oslo process had begun: the PLO and Israel signed an agreement to negotiate a two-state solution. I was naive. I thought everything was going to get better with negotiations. When Edward Said came to her university and talked about how Oslo was a huge failure, Buttu remembers thinking: who is this Edward Said character who is raining on my parade? In 1996, she went to Ramallah for research work and immediately noticed the mushrooming of illegal Israeli settlements. Before Oslo, settlements where in remote areas, accessible only through dirt roads and 4X4s. Now, many of the roads to settlements were perfect and it was the Palestinians who were now on dirt roads. There were also more Israeli checkpoints. She no longer saw Palestinians from the West Bank in Nazareth. An effective separation between Palestinian Israelis in Nazareth and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who were now living under the Palestinian Authority (PA), created in 1994, was evident. As the negotiations continued over the next three years, Buttu received a phone call from a friend in 1999 offering her a job in the PLOs negotiations unit, which she turned down because she felt that the talks were going in the wrong direction. But a year later, as Buttu was doing her PhD in law at Stanford University, she got into a long conversation with an Israeli friend who accused the Palestinians of wasting genuine offers for peace by then Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. After she refuted his argument, point by point, Buttu decided to take up the job that was offered to her a year earlier. She packed her bags, got on a plane in California, only to land in Ben Gurion airport as the second Intifada broke out. I thought do I stay or do I go? I decided to stay because I felt I had made a commitment and it became very ugly. The first days of the second Intifada werent pretty -27 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in less than a week- and got worse with the passage of time. When the Palestinians and Israelis eventually got down to negotiations, a war was underway in Buttus head. While I was negotiating, in my mind I was thinking none of this was going to be undone. By 2000, the Israeli settlements were like cancers that had metastasised throughout the West Bank; the destruction of Palestinian land, the fact that people have been displaced, that Palestinians havent been able to return. The sheer grip [the Israelis] now had on the West Bank and Gaza Strip was unlike anything I had seen in the years past. It wasn't just that the issues "couldn't be mashed." There was so much arrogance on the part of the part of the Israelis. "Imagine arrogance and multiply it by one hundred." She recalls one negotiation session in Taba in January 2001 on the borders of the would-be State of Palestine and existing Israeli settlements. Looking at a map it was clear that the settlements were scattered across the West Bank and not concentrated in one area. One of the Israeli negotiators, a lawyer, took a pen and drew a line to cut out a huge part of the West Bank for a settlement called Ariel. When Buttu asked him on what basis of international law was he demanding this concession, he turned to her and said: We will recognise international law only when we are forced to recognise it. Until that time, its just you and me in a room. At the end of Taba session the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators stitched together a poorly worded final paragraph and Ariel Sharon got elected into office. I then realised Im wasting my efforts focusing on law, because the Israelis dont respect the law. Instead, I should start focusing on changing peoples perceptions on Palestine and public opinion and getting the story of Palestine out. But it took Buttu five years to leave her job with the PLO. I wouldnt undo it, I learnt a lot; it shaped me into the person I am today. But I wouldnt encourage anybody to do it now. It was the first time in its history that the PLO had a Canadian-born legal expert represent Palestinians in international media. Zionist lobbies wanted her out of the picture and pressured international donors to cancel funding for her communications project in 2004 for speaking out against Israel in eloquent English. Buttu was also the first female Palestinian negotiator during her five-year tenure. In 2006, she started doing consultant work, but it wasnt easy as her resignation from the PLO irked some quarters. Jobs she was applying for were suddenly unavailable, she said. Buttu moved back to the US for a couple of years where she was a fellow at Harvard, but found it difficult to stay away. I think when Im outside the country its so easy to turn off Palestine and I didnt want to do that. In addition to her legal work, Buttu continues to educate the media about the Palestinian side of the story, which is similar to what she was doing before but without the official veneer. But in doing so, she's also become one of the few voices who have started speaking out forcefully against the the Palestinian Authority. Having been part of the two-state solution negotiation process, then for a longer period of time, its critic, who does she blame for the fact that the Palestinians are still without a state? Oslo? No. First and foremost, Buttu blames Israel. In each step of the way, Israel had the choice to continue being an occupier. They have defended it fiercely and theyve invested in it. Its not just something that flipped and happened theyve invested heavily in AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the largest Israeli lobby group in the US, in the military, in the UN and in changing world opinion. The second obstacle is the international community, which has turned a blind eye to the Palestinian cause and has enabled Israel to do whatever it wants. Massacre after massacre, settlement after settlement, confiscation after land confiscation, ethnic cleansings. The world has let Israel literally get away with murder. The third reason is the Palestinian Authority, which didnt realise its playing tug of war with a giant. The PA served to feed the notion that Palestinians have a government when instead, in Buttus words, its a group people managing a project, making sure that funds provided by donors are spent. The security budget, she notes, is double the amount of money spent on health and education combined. More money goes into protecting Israel. Here we are 25 years later and the equation is still the same: Israel is still playing tug of war with a baby, and the international community is still doing absolutely nothing. What the PA should be doing is making it difficult for Israel. When I contrast 1990 with 2018, in 1990 Fatah wasnt in the country. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PLO, all of them, werent there. Now, here we are in 2018 and we have all these political factions inside the country, not outside, and yet complete paralysis. But for young Palestinians on both sides of the Gaza-West Bank divide, theres fire and movement. Its week seven since thousands of Gazans took to the electrified fence Israel erected to separate them from the Israeli side, in massive, peaceful and unarmed marches demanding to return to their homes from which their ancestors were dispossessed in 1948 and 1967. Long before the marches, 17-year-old Ahed Al-Tamimi, a Palestinian Israeli like Buttu, became a global symbol for Palestinian resistance to the occupation when she was arrested and sentenced to eight months in prison for slapping an Israeli soldier. Buttu says her generation saw what it was like before and after Oslo; the last generation that saw what the first Intifada looked like and then what the PA coming into power looked like. For this generation, theyve only ever seen the PA. Their whole existence is just about the the Palestinian Authority. And at certain point they gave up on it. "Because of that theyre taking matters into their own hands -as they should- and thats why youre having the return marches and people like Ahed Al-Tamimi. But she is cautious. Were at a moment now where the factions are shown to be no longer very useful, because they havent harnessed and mobilised people. If we want a thousand Tamimis, it requires political organisation. And none of it exists right now. So, what will happen? In the past when Israel bombs Gaza there would be a spike in Israeli arms sales, she replies. "Gaza is like the test ground for all Israeli weapons. And Israeli technology sells: countries all over the world are buying it." The difference with the return marches is that "people dont really want to be associated with a country that is using snipers to kill kids and journalists." Palestinians are showing up to a fence and not a single Israeli has been injured. Thats the part thats changing the equation for many, including for Israelis, Buttu says. But to her, the importance of the marches is that there are people still talking about return 70 years later- and from Gaza, which is blockaded by Israel since 2007 from land, sea and air. The irony, Buttu observes, is not only that the vast majority of the population of Gaza wasnt alive in 1948 and yet return is still the issue that people are talking about, but the majority of Palestinians in Gaza have never seen an Israeli. Its not return in time. Its return in place. Weve lived through 70 years of Zionism being shoved down our throats, being told to just accept it, accept our fate and our second-class status, accept being discriminated against and accept all of the racism. Palestinians across the board are saying no. Seventy years of Nakba have affected Buttu, she affirms, so 80 years of Nakba will also affect people. Thats the part for Israel thats unpredictable. They can put into place all those systems and designs and make themselves feel good, but you cant predict that in three years were not going to have a thousand Ahed Tamimis. They cant crush peoples will to have freedom. Read Al-Ahram Weekly's archives: 50 years of dispossession 1948 - 1988 *A version of this article appears in print in the 17 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly with the headline: "A thousand Ahed Tamimi's" Search Keywords: Short link: Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi suffered a stunning electoral loss to his key Shia rivals after his political bloc failed to achieve the majority of the votes in Iraqs parliamentary elections this week. Al-Abadis failure to form a new government is widely seen as a severe setback to the United States and its Sunni Arab allies, which had hoped the incumbent prime minister could rein in the Iran-backed Shia militias in Iraq and act as a bulwark against Tehrans increasing influence in the country. The general elections on 12 May, the fourth since the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein in the 2003 US-led invasion and seen as crucial in determining the countrys post-Islamic State (IS) future, were also marred by massive boycotts, violence and accusations of political interference and fraud. With Iraq now in political gridlock after the inconclusive vote, speculation is growing that the war-battered nation will be facing weeks, if not months, of uncertainty, and even possibly chaos. Voting for MPs in the 329-seat parliament, the Iraqi House of Representatives, was held in Iraq amid a deep political crisis and fears of renewed ethnic and sectarian violence. The elections were seen in part as a referendum on the tenure of Al-Abadi, who receives backing from the United States and its Western and Arab Sunni allies and had been billed as a powerful leader who could rally Iraqs ethnic and sectarian communities behind him after victories against IS. However, the elections produced a highly fractured verdict. Results announced by Iraqs Higher Independent Elections Commission (HIEC) showed that a bloc led by firebrand anti-American Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr had taken a remarkable lead in the elections. The Al-Fatah, or Conquest Alliance led by Hadi Al-Amiri, a commander of the Popular Mobilisation Force (PMF), bringing together supporters of other Iran-supported Shia militias was in second place, according to the HIEC. Meanwhile, Al-Abadis Al-Nasr, or Victory, bloc came third and sometimes even fourth in vote counts in Iraqs Shia-dominated provinces, one of the worst results in the elections and a rude shock for Washington and some Sunni Arab governments. However, the results, which still need to be endorsed by Iraqs highest court, show that no single list has won an outright majority in the parliament enabling it to form a government, which had been widely expected before the vote. The elections were wracked by boycotts, demonstrated by low turnouts and high abstention rates and reflecting apathy and widespread discontent at the slow pace of reform by Al-Abadis government. The HIEC reported that turnout was about 44.52 per cent, significantly lower than in previous elections. Voter turnout has dropped from 70 per cent in Iraqs first-post Saddam elections in 2005 to 62 per cent in 2010 and 60 per cent in 2014. The abstentions sent a frustrated no message to all parts of the political spectrum in a determined show of public mistrust, but it was perhaps mostly directed at Al-Abadi. Accusations of irregularities in the poll have added more drama to Al-Abadis humiliating defeat. Allegations of fraud including the malfunctioning of the newly installed electronic voting system emerged soon after the ballots closed, and there were reports of minor clashes and political wrangling. Several blocs in the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk demanded manual recounts, while Iraqi Vice-President Ayad Allawi, who heads the mainly Sunni-backed National Alliance, called for annulling the results and holding new elections. The messy results and the splits in the political blocs have cast shadows on efforts to form a new government, something which Iraq badly needs in order to avoid a relapse into ethnic and sectarian conflict and possibly a new IS insurgency. In 2014, it took Iraqi political factions more than five months to form a government amid mounting international and domestic pressure to end the political deadlock between the nations Shia majority and its Sunni and Kurdish minorities. This time there are growing fears that the country will be stuck in the worst logjam of its post-Saddam history. None of the alliances that have done well in the polls could provide the majority needed to form a government, and this will require tough horse-trading with other blocs. Under the Iraqi Constitution, the new parliament will have 15 days after the ratification of the election results to elect a new president who must nominate the candidate of the largest parliamentary bloc as prime minister. Many expect the process to drag on for much longer if there is no clear winner, as scores of political factions attempt to cobble together a political bloc large enough to hold a majority of the seats in parliament. Worse, the race in the elections is also a sectarian one between Iraqs three main communities of the Shia, the Sunnis and the Kurds whose candidates run on ethnic and communal tickets. Since the overthrow of Saddams Sunni-dominated regime, the countrys Shia majority has run Iraq through a coalition of religious and political groups. As a result, all eyes are once again on the Shia factions to choose a leader and ask him to form a government. If no compromise is found in this poker game, the kind of showdown not seen since 2005 when Tehran and Washington intervened to break the deadlock can be expected. Until the announcement of the election results, Al-Abadi had had a strong case for re-appointment as prime minister. He is the prime minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces who boasted of the victory over IS and the foiling of the Iraqi Kurds push for independence last year. However, with Al-Abadis bloc losing in the elections his chances for a second term in office have now dimmed, and he will need to make painful compromises to secure renewal. He will most certainly need Al-Sadrs backing together with support from other tickets. Al-Sadr has already declared that he has been considering fielding Ali Dawai, the governor of the southern oil-rich province of Maysan, for the job of prime minister. Dawai is Iraqs most popular local government official, known for his hard work in a country ranked as having one of the worlds most dysfunctional governments. Al-Abadis other chief contender is Al-Amiri, leader of one of the most powerful Iran-backed Shia paramilitary groups, whose Conquest Alliance has said it will propose him for the post of prime minister. The controversial Iraqi vice-president and former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki, known for his close ties to Iran, had also showed a willingness to run for the job. Since both Al-Amiri and Al-Maliki are unlikely to receive support from Al-Sadr and Al-Abadi, they are unlikely to win an absolute majority either inside the expected Shia coalition or within the parliament. At the end of the day, the outcome of the elections in Iraq mirrors the continuing political uncertainty in the country since the US-led invasion in 2003 and particularly the shadow of the IS retreat. The controversy over the flawed elections creates further instability in the beleaguered country and puts Iraqs fragile political projects at risk. In the aftermath of the vote, Iraq appears as a bitterly divided country, and optimism for an exit is in short supply. Many flashpoints remain, and things could go badly wrong amid continuous communal tension and rising social and economic grievances that are largely blamed on the same political class that fought hard to maintain its grip on the new parliament. The resilience of the changing regional system should also receive its due. The region is marred by conflicts such as the war in Syria, and the confrontation with Iran, and these are causes for concern that Iraq could be driven into the regions most troubled waters. The elections were widely seen by many as a contest pitting the United States and its Arab allies against Iran. The results of the vote will deepen the polarisation and escalate the US-Iranian struggle for influence in Iraq. Even if a sort of government does emerge in the days and weeks to come, one thing is already clear: Iraq is unlikely any time soon to become the model of a stable, peaceful and united country that can muster the leadership to reform itself. The elections usher in a very bad scenario in Iraq, and both Iraqis and the international community need to look harder at how to live with it. *A version of this article appears in print in the 17 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Iraqs familiar deadlock Search Keywords: Short link: PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The judge deciding how much restitution a teenager must pay for starting a wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge says he will issue a written ruling, possibly Friday. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports 11 requests for restitution -- totaling almost $37 million -- have been submitted to the court. The lawyer for the 15-year-old defendant called that amount "absurd" at a hearing Thursday, and urged Judge John Olson to impose a reasonable and rational amount. The teen from Vancouver, Washington, did not attend the hearing. He pleaded guilty in February to reckless burning of public and private property and other charges. Olson sentenced him to community service and probation. The September blaze forced evacuations, caused the extended shutdown of a major interstate highway and sent ash raining down on Portland for days. EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon Conference on Opioids, Pain, and Addiction Treatment invited community leaders, health providers, and health system leaders to find solutions for the ongoing opioid epidemic. Opioid addiction killed 63,6200 people in 2016, alone. The epidemic has hit Oregon hard. Though Oregon is no longer the #1 state for opioid addiction, it still causes more deaths per year than car crashes in the state. Michelle Marikos is a certified peer support specialist. She holds community forums that help people face their addiction and find help. She herself was dependent on opioids for 10 years. After she was pushed off of a deck 15 years ago, she found herself in chronic pain. She said she was initially on a small amount of medication but was put on even more after she had surgery. She said she felt stuck in that place. "Dark, very dark. Very depressed. Very fearful, angry. Emotional...high emotions and despair, Marikos said. Marikos said she saw the way this was hurting the people around her as well. When she wanted to have another surgery to hopefully solve her pain problems, she was told she couldnt be on these medications. She attended a pain program where she stopped using opioids. In the end, she didnt end up getting the surgery, and she learned to manage the pain on her own. One of the major parts of the opioid epidemic is overprescribed painkillers. Doctors prescribe medication to help people with chronic pain, and they end up being addicted. Dr. Jim Shames used to work in primary care. He said he understands how doctors could fall victim to this behavior. He said he, himself, just wanted to be empathetic to his patients pain and help them feel better. "If you treat people's pain, legitimate pain, they're not going to get in trouble, said Shames. You know, I kind of swallowed all that, and I think I caused some harm during my practice." Shames said looking forward, a few things need to be addressed to help solve this epidemic. One is finding the root of peoples chronic pain, as well as finding more natural ways to treat it. Another is making sure medical treatment for addiction is available to those who need it. This could help in a long-term battle and a short-term one, by saving someones life during an overdose. The conference began Thursday, May 17, at the Eugene Hilton, and will continue through Saturday, May 19. SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- It may come as a surprise, but one travel agent in Springfield said its business as usual when it comes to tourism in Hawaii even with the recent Kilauea eruptions. KEZI spoke with Lauri Quinby with Premier Travel and Cruise on Thursday. She said the vendors in Hawaii that her agency works with said travelers do not need to change or alter their travel plans. They told her the only area affected is the eastern part of the big island, closest to the volcano. Quinby said most accommodations and activities on the Big Island are running normally, along with flights in and out of the Hawaiian Islands. Quinby said even with the recent eruptions, none of her clients have cancelled their trips to Hawaii. She said the recent eruption is a good reminder for travelers to always invest in travel insurance before any trip. "Whether you're traveling to Hawaii or traveling overseas or if you're traveling within the U.S., always purchase travel insurance, Quinby said. It covers Mother Nature, which is a perfect example here, it covers medical emergencies you know to ourselves or our immediate family members... So we always highly recommend it." Quinby said on average travel insurance is 10 percent of the trip cost. It also varies depending on how old you are and how long you're traveling for. Although tourism is running smoothly even with the recent eruptions, Quinby still suggests that travelers should continue to monitor the situation. Israel's Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter told the UN Human Rights Council on Friday that Israel tried to minimise casualties when it defended its borders against "terrorists" in Gaza, and blamed Hamas militants for using human shields. Responding to criticism from the UN human rights chief at a debate that is likely to end by setting up an inquiry into recent violence, she said the Council had returned to its "worst form of anti-Israel obsession". "This special session, the resolution before you, and its call for a commission of inquiry are yet again politically motivated and won't change the situation on the ground by even one iota," she said. Search Keywords: Short link: CLEAR LAKE, Iowa - It was like the apocalypse, Rachel Smith said. As a resident of Clear Lake for the past five years, Rachel Smith is becoming well aware that every spring she's bound to see, midges. They fly up your nose I hate that, I feel like they're in my nose, in my ears and i just want to take a shower, Smith said. They look like mosquitoes, but they're not. Scott Grummer with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources explains they're harmless. The insect lives around the lake, laying eggs in the water, then they hatch, and they fly around until they die which is whats happening currently in town. Living for around 48 hours Grummer says. The bad news is there's not much one can do to get rid of them, again they only live for a short amount of time. The good news is they're a sign of good water quality. They're a pain to have to deal with for a few days sometimes there's multiple hatches and you have to deal with them a little bit longer but they're a sign we have a clean lake, Smith said. When it comes to fishing, Grummer states midges are a great food source for the fish, and good news is the fish are still biting. PLYMOUTH, Minn. (AP) Police say a 7-year-old boy fatally shot himself in his suburban Minneapolis home after a loaded handgun was found in a box containing a toy. Police were called to a townhome apartment complex in Plymouth around 3 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a child bleeding from the head. When officers arrived they discovered Keyaris Samuels with a gunshot wound. Police said Thursday that the boy and his siblings were home alone when the gun was discovered in a box containing a hoverboard. The three other children were outside when Keyaris accidentally shot himself. The boy's mother came home shortly afterward. Plymouth Police Chief Michael Goldstein says the boy's mother told police she doesn't know the source of the gun. Police are investigating and want to hold the gun owner responsible. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa A North Iowa man is pleading guilty to federal drug charges. Joseph Angel Luna, 28 of Mason City, entered a guilty plea Thursday to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance. Hes accused of working with Brenda Ruehlow to distribute methamphetamine Luna was arrested after the search of a Forest City home in December 2017 but state drug charges were dismissed to allow for federal prosecution. No sentencing date has been set. MASON CITY, Iowa- For the first time this campaign season all of the candidates for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture are in one place and they are talking about the Renewable Fuel Standard. The RFS is a federal program that requires fuel solid in the US to contain a minimum amount of renewable fuel, such as ethanol. All of the candidates were in agreence that the standard needs to be upheld, which is good news for many area businesses. Julie Billings works at the Mason City Renewable Energy Group where hey breakdown corn oils and make bio diesel. On Thursday she hoped to hear about how each candidate feels about the RFS because it plays a big part in the states economy. According to RFA, around 400 million gallons of bio diesel is produced each year in Iowas 12 refineries. It has a big impacted on the industries and for people such as REG for producing bio diesel to complete with other industries and big oil we need to have those its very very important. Explosions were heard in and around Syria's Hama airport on Friday, Syrian state media said, without elaborating on the cause of the blasts, and a monitoring body said 11 pro-government troops were killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the series of explosions happened inside Hama's military airport and had been heard in Hama city. Eleven people had died and dozens were missing from among Syrian government and allied forces. "Five blasts at least were heard inside Hama military airport ... targeting ammunition and fuel depots," the Observatory added. The war monitor said it wasn't clear whether the blasts had been caused by technical failure inside the depots or an attack. Thick plumes of smoke could be seen above the airport, it said. Search Keywords: Short link: ROCHESTER, Minn. -- According to the Minnesota Seat Belt Survey, 92% of people in Minnesota riding in the front seats wear their seatbelts. But for those who don't wear their seat belts, the consequences can be deadly. In 2016, 30% of people who died in car accidents in Minnesota weren't wearing their seat belts. Olmsted County Public Health, The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office, and the Rochester Police Department are joining more than 300 law enforcement agencies across the state in the Click it or Ticket program. Between May 21 and June 3, there will be increased seat belt enforcement on interstates and local roadways. WASHINGTON (AP) In an embarrassment for House Republican leaders, conservatives on Friday scuttled a bill that combines stricter work and job training requirements for food stamp recipients with a renewal of farm subsidies popular in GOP-leaning farm country. Hard-right conservatives upset over the party's stalled immigration agenda opposed the measure, which failed by a 213-198 vote. Some 30 Republicans joined with every chamber Democrat in opposition. The vote was a blow to GOP leaders, who had hoped to tout its new work requirements for recipients of food stamps. The work initiative polls well with voters, especially those in the GOP political base. More broadly, it exposed fissures within the party in the months before the midterm elections, and the Freedom Caucus tactics rubbed many rank-and-file Republicans the wrong way. A handful of GOP moderates opposed the bill, too, but not enough to sink it on their own. "You judge each piece of legislation on its own," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. "You don't hold one thing hostage for something that's totally different and has nothing to do with it. I would say that's a mistake in my view." Key conservatives in the rebellious House Freedom Caucus opposed the measure, seeking leverage to win procedural advantages to in a debate on immigration next month. Negotiations with GOP leaders Friday morning failed to bear fruit, however, and the unrelated food and farm measure was defeated. Iowa Republican Steve King made the following comments on the House floor about the farm bill: "20 Hours a week. Is that too much to ask, Mr. Speaker? For someone to put in 20 hours a week in order to eat for free all the other hours of the week? I think it's entirely reasonable. Furthermore, all work has dignity. All work has honor. All work enhances the work ethic and the character of the people doing it. We just need some Democrats who support work and we would've passed this bill here today. But looking at the roster, of those that voted no, every Democrat voted no on this Farm Bill. And they didn't vote no because they didn't like what was in it on the Ag side; they voted 'No' because there were work requirements in it on the food stamp side." "We are here today with a Farm Bill that went down on this floor. It went down because no Democrat supports work. It went down because some Republicans wanted to leverage this Farm Bill in order to get a bill out on the floor to vote on that has within it two components of Amnesty. I want to restore the Rule of Law, pass the Farm Bill, and I want to get people back to work. And I want to have allies on this floor that support work whether they are Democrats or Republicans." Conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said some members had concerns over the farm bill, but said, "That wasn't my main focus. My main focus was making sure we do immigration policy right" and "actually build a border security wall." Beyond the drama and infighting among Republicans, the debacle appears to make it even more likely that Congress will simply extend the current farm bill when it expires in September. The farm bill, a twice-per-decade rite on Capitol Hill, promises greater job training opportunities for recipients of food stamps, a top priority for House leaders. Democrats are strongly opposed, saying the stricter work and job training rules are poorly designed and would drive 2 million people off of food stamps. They took a victory lap after the vote. "On a bipartisan basis, the House rejected a bad bill that failed farmers and working families," said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Republicans wrote a cruel, destructive Farm Bill that abandoned farmers and producers amid plummeting farm prices and the self-inflicted damage of President Trump's trade brinkmanship." Currently, adults 18-59 are required to work part-time to receive food stamps, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or agree to accept a job if they're offered one. Stricter rules apply to able-bodied adults 18-49, who are subject to a three-month limit of benefits unless they meet a work or job training requirement of 80 hours per month. Under the new bill, the tougher requirement would be expanded to apply to all adults on SNAP, with exceptions for of seniors, pregnant women, caretakers of children under the age of 6, or people with disabilities. "It sets up a system for SNAP recipients where if you are able to work, you should work to get the benefits," said Ryan, R-Wis." And if you can't work, we'll help you get the training you need. We will help you get the skills you need to get an opportunity." The measure would have greatly expanded funding for state-administered job training programs, but Democrats and outside critics say the funding for the proposed additional job training would require huge new bureaucracies, extensive record-keeping requirements, and that the funding levels would fall far short of what's enough to provide job training to everybody covered by the new job training requirements. "While I agree that there are changes that need to be made to the SNAP program, this is so clearly not the way to do it," said Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, top Democrat of the Agriculture Committee. "The bill cuts more than $23 billion in SNAP benefits and will result in an estimated 2 million Americans unable to get the help they need." He said it "turns around and wastes billions ... cut from SNAP benefits to create a massive, untested workforce training bureaucracy." In addition to food stamps, the measure would renew farm safety-net programs such as subsidies for crop insurance, farm credit and land conservation. Those subsidies for farm country traditionally form the backbone of support for the measure among Republicans, while urban Democrats support food aid for the poor. On Thursday, supporters of the agriculture safety net easily defeated an attempt to weaken the government's sugar program, which critics say gouges consumers by propping up sugar prices. The measure mostly tinkered with farm programs, adding provisions aimed at boosting high-speed internet access in rural areas, assist beginning farmers, and ease regulations on producers. But since the measure makes mostly modest adjustments to farm policy, some lawmakers believe that the most likely course of action this year is a temporary extension of the current measure, which expires at the end of September. In the Senate, the chamber's filibuster rules require a bipartisan process for a bill to pass. There, Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., promises a competing bill later this month and he's signaling that its changes to food stamps would be far more modest than the House measure. ROCHESTER, Minn. Several law enforcement vehicles responded to a fatal accident involving a train and scooter Friday morning. Upon officers arrival, they found a man deceased on scene who had been riding the scooter that was struck. Our initial investigation based upon eyewitness statements is that crossing gates were down and signals were operational at the time the accident occurred, Rochester police said in a press release. The victim has been identified as Ricky Allen Thalacker, 58 of Rochester. Around 7:50 a.m., authorities responded to the intersection of Civic Center Dr. NW and 1st Ave. NW. The Rochester Police Department is being assisted in its investigation by officials of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the Canadian Pacific Police Service. The roadway reopened at 1:20 p.m. MASON CITY, Iowa - Summer break is right around the corner. Unfortunately, that means some students will be hungry as they don't have access to school meals. That's where the Mason City Public Schools' Summer Feeding Program comes in, and this year, it's going to be easier for your kids to get there. This year, beginning June 4th, the district is expanding their summer meal sites to the YMCA, Rhythm Church, the Mason City Parks and Recreation Office and Roosevelt Elementary. In addition, Mason City Transit is offering free transportation 18 years or younger to any of the meal sites from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For children to get a ride, they need to be on any street corner along one of the five bus routes and signal to the driver they want a ride. Ashley Brand and her husband both work full time and have three kids. They definitely notice the struggle some families have in feeding their kids year round. "I have two that are in school and they tell me mom this kid doesn't get lunch because they don't have lunch money." Not only is it about money, it also comes down to time, especially in the summer months when kids are home. "I myself work three days a week full time and my husband works full time six days a week, so making sure that they get the adequate lunches is sometimes a challenge." Natalia Cardena is a senior at Mason City High School and is planning to help out this summer. "I think this is an issue that isn't seen everywhere in the school and a lot of kids are oblivious to it. Just finding any way to help out for me is something really important to give back." As for Brand, she says her family will take advantage of the program, and would like to see it expand. "For spring breaks and when kids don't have school." In Mason CIty, the program will begin at the YMCA and Rhythm Church on June 4th, at the Parks and Recreation Office on the 6th, and at Roosevelt Elementary on the 18th. The program goes until August 24th. To find out where and when meals will be served in your community, you can contact your district office. ROCHESTER, Minn. A man accused in a fatal shooting is pleading not guilty. Sao Yim Jr., 24 of Rochester, is charged with 2nd degree murder and possession of a firearm after being found guilty of a crime of violence. Authorities say he shot Ahmed Muafaq Abdulhu Al Naddf to death on March 12 in the 2800 block of Charles Court NW in Rochester. A trial has not been scheduled. Yims next court appearance is set for June 14. For previous coverage of this story, click here or here. AUSTIN, Minn. - It's a way to remember those who sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War, a traveling memorial wall. It's at the Mower County Fairgrounds in Austin until Sunday, May 20, with a closing ceremony at noon. Organizers tell KIMT it took two hours to put up, but for many who come to visit it's a timeless memorial. Mike Johnson is from Austin, and served in Vietnam all those years ago. "It's 50 years ago that I got home," Johnson said. The wall has a total of 58,307 names on it, and Johnson knows 42 of them. Searching for the names he knows takes Johnson back. "You actually get somewhat of a survivor guilt," Johnson said. "You know, why them and not me? And it's just something you don't, you never forget." Johnson never forgetting the bonds he created - not with 42 names, but 42 people. "We didn't get any parades when we came home," Johnson said. "We didn't get much of anything, and, yeah, I just hope people remember these guys and you know look at the families that were affected by this. Unreal, it's unreal." Organizers say the wall is open 24 hours, so veterans are able to come when there's not so many people and it's quiet. CLARION, Iowa A Waterloo man is now scheduled to stand trial for a standoff in Belmond. Andrew George Schroeder, 36, is charged with 3rd degree burglary, control of a firearm as a felon, operating a vehicle without the owners consent, and 4th degree criminal mischief. He was arrested on April 7 after the North Iowa Special Operations Group entered a rural Belmond home and Schroeder surrendered. The Wright County Sheriffs Office says it had been called by the property owner and told Schroeder was inside the home and may have had access to weapons. The Belmond Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, Hancock County Sheriffs Office and Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement all assisted at the scene. Schroeders trial is set to begin on July 26. Successful implementation depends decisively on the staff. (Photo: Manuel Balzer, KIT) After the steam engine, conveyor belt, and computer, industry is now facing the fourth revolution: Digital networking of facilities enables companies to better adapt their products to the wishes of customers. This requires systems capable of change, which adapt to changing situations. A joint study published by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Leibniz Universitat Hannover (LUH), and the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) reveals, however, that capability of change crucially depends on the staff. Virtual-reality applications and learning factories can help the staff build up comprehensive system understanding. Results and best practices will be presented by acatech, KIT, and LUH on April 26, 2018 at the Hannover Messe. Modern information and communication technologies, such as sensors or data communication systems, interconnect individual facilities at globally distributed locations to smart factories. Digitization and the technical solutions of Industry 4.0 enable companies to meet individual wishes of customers at the costs and within the terms usually encountered in large series production. But this new flexibility does not only have advantages, Gisela Lanza, Professor and Head of the wbk Institute of Production Science of KIT, says. A larger diversity of products, shorter product lifecycles, and volatile demand lead to unforeseeable market changes to which the companies have to react. To be successful and economically efficient in such a volatile environment, companies have to adapt their production systems and networks to market conditions at low cost and within shortest periods of time. Successful implementation of such a capability of change does not only depend on the technical aspects of facilities, Lanza explains. Dynamic organization will only be successful, if the employees have the necessary competence and flexibility. The readiness to react to changes is an important aspect of the capability of change. Hence, the study of KIT, LUHs Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA), and acatech focused on how companies can make humans the center of structures capable of change and how Industry 4.0 can help them doing this. The basis was a close exchange of experience with the representatives of industry, associations of employers and employees, politics, and science. The Human Being in the Center of Structures Capable of Change The study reveals that employees decisively contribute to the successful implementation of the capability of change: They initiate and push reactions to internal and external changes of production and their environment and live the change of organization and work conditions. Employees will quickly accept new tasks and make qualified decisions in any situation only, if they understand the relevant relationships in the system and see the advantages of the changes for themselves and their direct work environment, says Peter Nyhuis, Professor and Head of the IFA. Digital assistance systems can help build up comprehensive system understanding. Industry 4.0 applications, such as virtual reality, help to digitally experience and understand changes. In his opinion, it is very important to enhance trust in new systems: Companies should focus on reasonable changes in order to reduce fears and concerns of the employees with respect to new, so far unknown tasks. Dynamic and Modular Company Organization Change does not only take place at the level of the employees, also organizational structures are changing. The more complex factories and networks creating added values are structured, the more difficult and complicated is their adaptation. Dynamic and modular company structures may be a solution. Thanks to a flexible organization and technology, employees can plan and manage change. Again, Industry 4.0 applications may provide support. They enable decentralized control of certain parts of the factory or of the entire network. Intelligent assistance systems can make the impacts of changes visible to the employees. This largely contributes to the efficiency of change: Implementing the capability of change in all areas and at all levels would not be reasonable, as the additional expenses would be too high, Gisela Lanza says. Companies rather have to identify the needs of change for all areas. These and other results as well as best practices are described in detail in the study Wandlungsfahige, menschzentrierte Strukturen in Fabriken und Netzwerken der Industrie 4.0 (Human-centered structures capable of change in factories and networks of Industry 4.0). We want to support companies identify the needs of their productions and successfully implement the capability of change by technical, organizational, and human means, Lanza says. Official Presentation of the Study at the Hannover Messe 2018 on April 26, 2018, 12 to 13 hrs, hall 2, Forum tech transfer Discussion: Wandlungsfahige, menschzentrierte Strukturen in Fabriken und Netzwerken der Industrie 4.0 (Human-centered structures capable of change in factories and networks of Industry 4.0), in German only Participants: Konrad Klingenburg (IG Metall), Professor Gisela Lanza (KIT, wbk), Dr. Manfred Wittenstein (WITTENSTEIN SE) About the Study The study covers three project stages: In a fireside chat, representatives of science, industry, and associations of employers and employees first discussed the impacts of technologies and methods of the fourth industrial revolution on the capability of change of factories and networks. In the second project stage, experts and actors of leading companies and associations of employees reported their experience relating to Industry 4.0 and the capability of change. In addition, they presented their expectations regarding the further development and application of the corresponding technologies. By means of best practices from their environment, they illustrated the extent to which the capability of change is implemented at their companies. In the third project stage, representatives of industry, associations of employers and employees as well as of politics and science discussed the results of the first two phases. In the plenum and in parallel work sessions, they identified different perspectives (e.g. of the supervisory board, management, trade union, expert planners) as well as prerequisites, opportunities, and risks. The study Wandlungsfahige, menschzentrierte Strukturen in Fabriken und Netzwerken der Industrie 4.0 (Human-centered structures capable of change in factories and networks of Industry 4.0) (in German only) can be requested by electronic mail to presseMde6kit edu. Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,600 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 23,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. Turkey called on Muslim countries on Friday to stop other nations from following the United States and moving their embassies in Israel to Jerusalem, as it opened a meeting in Istanbul on Friday. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called the summit of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) after Israeli forces this week killed dozens of Palestinian protesters who were demonstrating in Gaza against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of the US move and the violence in Gaza, declaring three days of mourning. Erdogan has described the actions of the Israeli forces as a "genocide" and Israel as a "terrorist state". "We will emphasise the status of the Palestine issue for our community, and that we will not allow the status of the historic city to be changed," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an opening address. "We must prevent other countries following the US example." The events in Gaza have also sparked a diplomatic row between Turkey and Israel, with both countries expelling each other's senior diplomats this week. The plight of Palestinians resonates with many Turks, particularly the nationalist and religious voters who form the base of support for Erdogan, running for re-election next month. Trade Ties Despite the rhetoric, Israel was the 10th-biggest market for Turkish exports in 2017, buying some $3.4 billion of goods, according to IMF statistics. "We have excellent economic ties with Turkey. And these relations are very important for both sides," Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon told Israel Radio on Friday when asked if Israel should break ties with Turkey. US President Donald Trump's decision to move the embassy reversed decades of US policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies. Guatemala this week became the second country to move its embassy to the holy city, and Paraguay said it would follow suit this month. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian television after arriving in Istanbul that "Israel's recent crimes in Palestine and the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem need serious coordination between Islamic countries and the international community". UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein on Friday said Israel had systematically deprived Palestinians of their human rights, with 1.9 million people in Gaza "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death". Search Keywords: Short link: The UN Human Rights Council voted on Friday to set up a probe into recent killings in Gaza and accused Israel of excessive use of force. The resolution to send a commission of inquiry to investigate was rejected by the United States and Australia, but backed by 29 members of the 47-state UN forum. Another 14 countries, including Britain, Germany and Japan, abstained. Israel's ambassador in Geneva, Aviva Raz Shechter, castigated the council for "spreading lies against Israel" during "five hours of ludicrous statements". Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki welcomed the UN decision. The Human Rights Council's formation of an international committee of investigation is a step towards doing justice to the Palestinian people, he said in a statement. He urged speedy implementation "to stop Israeli war crimes". The special session of the Human Rights Council was convened after the bloodiest day for Palestinians in years on Monday, when 60 were killed by Israeli gunfire during peaceful demonstrations against the US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said as he opened the debate. Israeli forces had killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children, since March 30, he said. More than 12,000 were injured, at least 3,500 by live ammunition. Israel was an occupying power under international law, obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said. "But they are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity; dehumanised by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest." The United States has stood by Israel during the past week's violence, which coincided with the opening of a new US embassy in Jerusalem. US charge d'affaires Theodore Allegra said the Council was ignoring the real culprit: Hamas. "The one-sided action proposed by the council today only further shows that the Human Rights Council is indeed a broken body," he said. Two million people live in Gaza, most of them stateless descendants of refugees who were forced out of their historic homes by Zionist gangs in 1948. Israel has maintained an all-out siege on Gaza since 2007, leaving the vast majority of residents in abject need. Israel has fought three wars against the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead, thousands injured, and infrastructure in shambles. Search Keywords: Short link: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that NATO members that do not contribute fully to the group would be "dealt with," and singled out Germany as a country he said was not doing enough. At a Cabinet meeting attended by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, Trump listed countries he said had paid the amount "they're supposed to be paying." "We have some that don't and, well, they'll be dealt with," Trump said. He added Germany "has not contributed what it should be contributing and it's a very big beneficiary." "In particular Germany must demonstrate leadership in the alliance by addressing its longstanding shortfall in defense contributions," Trump said. Despite often disagreeing with Trump in other areas, German Chancellor Angela Merkel agrees that Germany should contribute more and wants her country to boost military spending to meet the NATO target of 2 percent. She told senior military officers on Monday more spending is needed in light of changing security requirements in the world. Stoltenberg praised Trump's work on shoring up NATO, whose continued purpose Trump questioned while campaigning in the 2016 election. Sitting on Trump's right, Stoltenberg said: "Your leadership on defense spending has really helped to make a difference." "It is impacting allies because now all allies are increasing defense spending," he said. "No allies are cutting their budgets." Search Keywords: Short link: Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who was left in critical condition by a nerve agent attack in Britain more than two months ago, has been discharged from hospital, England's health service said on Friday. Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack and Western governments including the United States have expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and retaliated in kind. The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But their health began to improve rapidly, and Yulia was discharged last month. "It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital," the hospital's Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Police said they would not discuss the security arrangements in place for the Skripals. Investigators hope their improved health will allow the Skripals to help better establish what happened in Salisbury. Britain and international chemicals weapons inspectors say the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who called the attack a "reckless and despicable act", welcomed Skripal's discharge. Russia has denied involvement in the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. Moscow suggested Britain carried out the attack itself to stoke anti-Russian hysteria, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last month that the agent used in the attack may have never been made in Russia. The Russian embassy declined to comment on Skripal's release from hospital but Russia's ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, was due to give a news conference later on Friday. He has previously requested consular access to offer assistance to Yulia Skripal since her recovery, which had not been granted. Britain said she has chosen not to take up Russia's offer of help. Search Keywords: Short link: FSS Governor Yoon Suk-heun answers a question during a press conference held in the government agency's headquarters in Yeouido, in this file photo. Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung BioLogics, a contract drug manufacturer affiliated with Samsung, said late Friday its U.S.-based business partner has offered to increase its stake in their joint venture, a central point in the ongoing dispute between the Samsung affiliate and the country's top financial regulators. "Biogen, Samsung's business partner, made a decision to exercise its call option during an earnings report conference call on April 24. Samsung BioLogics requested confirmation of Biogen's intentions to increase its stake in the venture and Biogen confirmed," Samsung BioLogics said in a statement. A call option is an agreement that offers an investor the right, but not the obligation, to purchase a stock, bond, commodity or other instrument at a specified price within a specific time period. Samsung BioLogics shares went up 2.64 percent to close at 408,500 won on the Korea Exchange (KRX), the country's main bourse, Friday. The opening of the statement is regarded as a major turning point that will affect the ongoing investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and Financial Services Commission (FSC) over allegations the Samsung affiliate broke accounting rules before going public. "Samsung BioLogics received the notification via email on May 17. We can't share details as it includes lots of sensitive information and that would also against the non-disclosure agreement signed by the two parties," company spokesman Seo Hae-su said, adding it was talking with KRX and Biogen regarding the letter's disclosure. Samsung BioLogics categorized Samsung Bioepis as a unit of Samsung BioLogics before 2016. At that time, Samsung BioLogics said the decision was a part of its "strategic plan" to get managerial rights after Biogen announced it was planning to exercise a call option to increase its stake to 50 percent minus one share, up from about 5.4 percent. Samsung BioLogics joined hands with Biogen to create Samsung Bioepis. But the FSS and FSC claim Samsung BioLogics broke accounting rules by intentionally inflating the valuation of Samsung Bioepis after it switched to valuing the unlisted firm at fair market value instead of book value. But Samsung BioLogics has consistently denied the allegation the change was a result of consulting with major accounting firms and was necessary to reflect different accounting standards in the event its U.S. partner exercised its call option. "Biogen expressed its intention to exercise its call option right by midnight June 29, and stated that both Biogen and Samsung BioLogics should commence preparations to transfer funds and shares pursuant to the exercising of the call option," the statement said. Regarding the estimated cost to exercise the call option, which Biogen planned to do by the end of June, the Samsung statement said, "As of June 29, the amount required to an additional approximately 44.6 percent stake in Samsung Bioepis is expected to be around 700 billion won." Samsung BioLogics said the call option will be exercised by the first half of this year as the plan needs approval from Biogen boards. FSS Governor Yoon Suk-heun said the regulator "acknowledged" the latest updates on this issue, but he declined to say whether the confirmed intention by the Samsung affiliate's U.S. business partner would affect the ongoing probe. "It's fair not to comment on this issue for the time being as the Samsung issue is being probed," Yoon told reporters in an event held in downtown Seoul. "The FSS will await further developments." Results from the probe will be disclosed to KRX, the bourse operator, which will later assess the qualification of Samsung BioLogics' listing, said Yoon. Samsung BioLogics is jointly controlled by Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T, the two key Samsung affiliates in which Samsung the group's de facto leader Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is the top shareholder. The latest trouble is the newest controversy to hit the Samsung affiliate, after Samsung Securities' damaging "fat finger" mistake last month. It also follows on the heels of U.S. hedge fund Elliott launching a legal case against the Korean government over a 2015 merger between Samsung affiliates. The biosimilar drug business is one of Samsung's new growth engines amid a rapid slowdown of its mobile phone business. As many as 10 people may have died, a majority of them students, in the latest US high school shooting, according to the Texas sheriff for the county where a gunman opened fire in Santa Fe High School on Friday. The suspected shooter, now in custody, was a student at the school, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, adding the campus is still considered an active crime scene. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that eight to 10 people, both students and adults, died in the incident at the school about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Houston. At least nine people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, hospital officials said. The conditions of those people was not immediately clear. Gonzalez said a police officer was also being treated for injuries. Live television images showed lines of students and buses gathered in fields surrounding the school. "This is no longer an active shooting situation and the injured are being treated," the sheriff's department said on Twitter. Sophomore Leila Butler told the local ABC affiliate that fire alarms went off at about 7:45 a.m. local time (1245 GMT) and students left their classrooms. She said some students believe they heard shots fired, and that she was sheltering with other students and teachers near campus. Another sophomore, Dakota Shrader, told Fox 26 TV her 17-year-old girlfriend told her by phone that she was wounded but was recovering in a hospital. "My friend got injured," said an emotional Shrader. "Her leg, she got shot in the leg." Dr. David Marshall, chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said that the hospital was treating at least three patients - two adults and one person under 18. He said it was not immediately clear if that child was a student. "I know that they have gunshot wounds but that's the extent of the knowledge I have at this point," Marshall told reporters at a news conference. "One adult is in our operating room." "We're ready for more patients," he said. "We have not heard of any en route at this point." US President Donald Trump on Friday said a deadly shooting at a US high school in Texas was heartbreaking and that federal and local authorities were coordinating in the wake of the gun attack. "My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others," Trump said at the White House. Search Keywords: Short link: By Yoon Ja-young Local banks are preparing for a routine inspection by the financial regulator, which may be tougher than usual. According to sources in the banking industry, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is preparing for a regular management inspection of local banks. It will begin with KEB Hana Bank at the end of this month. Woori Bank and Citibank Korea are also subject to inspections this year. "The management inspection of banks is a routine examination. It will be similar to previous probes in scale," an FSS official explained. In the four-week inspection which comes every two years, the Bank Examination Department of the FSS will evaluate banks in terms of both measurable and non-measurable indicators, dispatching around 20 inspectors. They will evaluate banks' overall management and risk management in terms of capital, asset, management, earnings, liquidity and risk management (CAMEL-R). "We will sincerely prepare for the inspection when the FSS informs us of the plan," a Citibank Korea spokesperson said. He said the bank doesn't have special issues for this year's inspections. Woori Bank said it has not been informed of the inspection yet. "We are subject to the inspection this year, which will be in the latter half of the year. We don't have any specific issues for the probe and we expect it to be no different from previous inspections," a Woori Bank spokesperson said. While the FSS says it will be a regular inspection with little difference from previous ones, banks have reason to be fully prepared, especially following the appointment of the new FSS chief Yoon Suk-heun. During the 2013-17 Park Geun-hye administration, the FSS decided to scrap regular "comprehensive probes" of financial companies. Instead, it adopted the current "management inspection," in a determination that the regulator should shift focus to "management consulting" for financial companies rather than "penalizing" them. In a column, however, Yoon, who was a professor back then, heavily criticized the scaling down of regular inspections. He pointed out the regulator was foregoing its core responsibility, which would damage financial consumers. He stressed the financial supervisor's top priority is inspecting the soundness of financial companies. Compared with his predecessor, however, he might be milder. "Though Yoon has a strong reform mind, he knows the market better than his predecessor and there are also expectations over his soundness and rationality as he comes from academia. The market thus has been responding calmly to his appointment," said Choi Chung-uk, an analyst at Daishin Securities. Yoon's predecessor Kim Ki-sik resigned only two weeks after being appointed in April, amid controversies over overseas junkets and political donations. The civic activist-turned-lawmaker was expected to drive strong reform in the financial sector. The toughness of the inspections under Yoon will be proven soon, as the FSS has started preparing for its inspection of KEB Hana Bank, requesting relevant documents. "It is scheduled around the end of this month," a KEB Hana Bank spokesperson said, adding the bank doesn't see too much significance to it. "It is a routine inspection the bank has to go through every two years. We had the last one in 2016 and we are subject to it this year." The bank was subject to a regular comprehensive inspection between September and November in 2016 but it also went through a special probe between March 13 and April 2 of this year due to hiring irregularities. A number of local banks were found to have given special favors to jobseekers related to influential figures such as politicians, bank executives and top government officials, leading to anger among young jobseekers and their families amid the record-high youth unemployment. They passed resume screenings despite falling short of criteria, and got hired despite low grades or poor interviews. Banks have become one of the most preferred workplaces among young jobseekers due to their high salaries and job stability, but it turned out the door was open wider for those with special connections. The bank was also at odds with the FSS due to a confrontation between former FSS chief Choe Heung-sik and Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tae. Choe, who had been criticizing Kim for taking a third term, resigned following allegations he was involved in hiring irregularities during his 2013 stint at Hana. New book asks if you are happy By Kang Hyun-kyung Back in 2002, Oh Jong-nam, then commissioner of Statistics Korea, wondered why Koreans no longer threw parties to celebrate their 60th birthdays, a tradition called "hwangab" to commemorate their longevity. "I realized the disappearance of the 60th birthday celebration was linked to Koreans' extended life expectancy," Oh, 66, said in a recent Korea Times interview. In 1960, Koreans' life expectancy was 52. In 2001, over four decades later, the figure surged to 76. "Korea's life expectancy would go up further to 90 or so for people my age," Oh said. "This means that average Koreans have to live 30 years or so without incomes, considering many people retire from their work in their late 50s." Oh Jong-nam, former commissioner of Statistics Korea, has released a new book _ "Are You Happy?" In this collection of his published columns, Oh says that due to extended life expectancy, Koreans on average will live three decades without income and thus should be mentally prepared for their lives after retirement./ Courtesy of Oh Jong-nam North Korean officials are continuing to hold talks on next month's planned summit with the United States despite this week's threat to cancel the meeting, U.S. President Donald Trump says. "We are continuing to negotiate in terms of location -- where to meet, how to meet, rooms, everything else - and they've been negotiating like nothing happened," he said Thursday at the White House. Trump said it "will be very interesting" if the June 12 meeting in Singapore is scrapped, after Pyongyang said it might cancel if the U.S. demands complete denuclearization. "I can only say our people are literally dealing with them right now in terms of making arrangements for the meeting," he said. (dpa) U.S. President Donald Trump tried to put his summit with Kim Jong Un back on track Thursday, offering the North Korean leader guarantees of staying in power if he abandons nuclear weapons. As prospects for a historic summit next month between the two leaders dimmed, Trump told reporters that if the meeting were to go ahead successfully, Kim "will get protections that will be very strong." "He'd be in his country and running his country. His country would be very rich." But the pledge came barbed with a warning that if diplomacy fails, Kim could suffer the same fate as Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, who was overthrown and killed by rebels. Trump's comments came as Pyongyang appeared to cool to the idea of the sit-down in Singapore on June 12, denouncing US demands for "unilateral nuclear abandonment." Trump suggested Kim's apparent about-face may have been at the behest of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. South Korea continues to search for ways to resume dialogue with North Korea ahead of the U.S.-North Korea summit, an official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday, apparently suggesting the North's recent suspension of inter-Korean dialogue may not be meant to be anything permanent. On Wednesday, the North said it was indefinitely suspending high-level inter-Korean talks that were set to be held the same day, citing the recently launched Max Thunder joint military exercise of South Korean and the United States. On Thursday, Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, which is in charge of inter-Korean affairs, said it will "never be easy to sit face to face again with the present regime of South Korea" unless the South changes its behavior. Cheong Wa Dae officials insisted the suspension may be temporary. "There has been no mention of completely calling off the dialogue. Ri's remarks too said it will not be easy, not that they will not hold talks," an official said while speaking on the condition of anonymity. The official added there may also be other reasons or agendas for the recent suspension of inter-Korean dialogue by the communist state, possibly including the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, scheduled to be held in Singapore on June 12. Seoul and its President Moon Jae-in have been and continue to be working as a broker between Washington and Pyongyang that helped arrange the unprecedented U.S.-North Korea summit in the first place. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un grabs Chinese leader Xi Jinping's right hand with two hands one in the palm and the other at the wrist while shaking hands in this photo taken in Beijing on March 28. Such a handshake reflects Kim's personality trait of being macho, active, goal-oriented and ambitious, says behavior analyst Lim Moon-su. / Yonhap By Park Si-soo Lim Moon-su All eyes are on the June 12 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore. What will be on the agenda? How will the talks unfold? What will be the outcome and how will it change the world? These are questions political pundits and analysts around the globe are tantalizingly storming their brains to find the answers. North Korea recently added a complexity to the conundrum by threatening to call off the meeting. And the unexpected threat has spawned another set of queries: What is the North's true intention behind the threat? Is this a tactic to ramp up negotiation leverage in the lead-up to the meeting? Has Kim determined to turn everything back to square one? As the summit day nears, the situation appears to be heading toward rough water, with questions and uncertainties, rather than clarity and predictability. Against this blurry backdrop, Lim Moon-su, a seasoned behavior analyst, may be able to provide some answers. Lim, who leads Seoul-based behavior analysis institute I Can Read You (ICRU), has analyzed the North Korean leader's personality traits based on his behavior, gestures and facial expressions in dozens of video clips, including ones captured during the April 27 inter-Korean summit. He also has explored Trump's personality in the same manner to estimate the depth of Kim-Trump chemistry, which could determine the fate of the June meeting. "Actions sometimes tell more than words," Lim said in a recent interview with The Korea Times in Seoul. He admitted his analysis of Kim could be flawed given North Korea normally releases videos featuring its idolized leader after strict editing and censorship aimed at showing people only his good side. But Lim said it is "impossible to manipulate everything." Trump's fresh approach for North Korea denuke: 'South Korean model' Trump: North Korea still preparing summit 'like nothing happened' Seoul exploring ways to resume talks with North Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks while tapping the table with "knife" hands during the meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Panmunjeom on April 27. This gesture reflects Kim's personality trait of being macho, active, goal-oriented and ambitious, explains behavior analyst Lim Moon-su. / Korea Times file Lim cautiously predicted the outcome of the Kim-Trump summit, based on his view of the personality traits of the two. "Once the two leaders sit at a negotiation table," he said, "the result would be a huge success or complete failure. It's hard to expect a deal to be struck somewhere in the middle." He said Kim and Trump appear to share the same traits of an "actioner," characterized as being macho, active, goal-oriented, ambitious, and in unfavorable situations aggressive and violent. Lim defined Trump as a "typical actioner," while Kim also has elements of "innovator," characterized as being creative, witty, self-determined, self-directed and risk-taking. Lim's analysis of Kim is in sync with that of Thae Yonh-ho, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom who defected to Seoul in 2016. In his recently published memoire, "Password for the secretariat on the third floor: Thae Yong-ho's testimony," Thae described Kim as an "extremely hot-tempered, hasty and impulsive" individual. "If the goal the two leaders are pursuing is the same, and terms and conditions are acceptable for both sides, the meeting will unfold very smoothly and quickly to make a surprisingly good outcome," Lim said. "Actioners don't hesitate to move forward when they find themselves in a good position." U.S. President Donald Trump makes an "O" with his thumb and index finger during a speech. People who make such gestures frequently tend to be macho, active, goal-oriented and ambitious, says behavior analyst Lim Moon-su. Hand gestures of people characterized as being "actioners" tend to be big and wide. They also tend to speak or do things with their chins up and point, says behavior analyst Lim Moon-su. Frequent thumbs up are a byproduct of "actioner" traits, says behavior analyst Lim Moon-su. On the other hand, he said, the meeting could "break up completely" if the two leaders are stuck in a tricky dilemma in which they face a critical issue requiring a bold concession from any side. "They are not such a person who gives up something they have desired to seize under any circumstances," he said. "They have to seize what they want. Making a backdown is unthinkable." Lim's analysis indicates fruitful pre-summit negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington are crucial to make the June 12 summit a success and, above all, contending issues should be settled clearly to head off the meeting's possible derailment. He said South Korean President Moon Jae-in's role as a "mediator" is important, adding he has personality traits fit for that job. "Kim and Trump share the traits of an all-or-nothing personality," he said. "If the two happen to be left on a collision course alone, without a mediator, it's very likely that they would collide head-on and screw up everything. People pass by a TV screen showing file footage of U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 18, 2018. South Korea said Friday it believes North Korea remains committed to improving relations despite strongly criticizing Seoul over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and insisting it will not return to inter-Korean talks unless its grievances are resolved. / AP U.S. President Donald Trump and his team have a daunting to-do list to work through as they prepare for next month's expected summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump's plan to meet with Kim may have come as a surprise decision, but his team hopes to leave nothing to chance when they come together in Singapore. They're gaming out policy plans, negotiating tactics, even menu items. With two unpredictable leaders, it's hard to anticipate every possibility. But White House aides are expecting hard-ball negotiating tactics _ already in evidence this week as the North Koreans cast fresh doubt on the sit-down. The president said Thursday that preparations were underway: ''Our people are literally dealing with them right now in terms of making arrangements for the meeting.'' The two sides, he said, ''are continuing to negotiate in terms of location, the location as to where to meet, how to meet, rooms, everything else. They've been negotiating like nothing happened.'' Leader summits on this level are a massive undertaking. Much like icebergs, only a small fraction of the work is visible above the waterline. And when the meeting involves the heads of two technically still-warring states, the list of logistical concerns expands, including sensitive items like the number and deployment of security officers. Officials on both sides are still determining the format for the meeting or meetings, whether Trump and Kim will share a meal, and the extent of any one-on-one interactions. All of that comes as the U.S. formulates its strategies for the talks, including what the U.S. is prepared to give up and how precisely to define ''denuclearization'' on the Korean Peninsula _ Trump's stated goal. ''I would say there are hundreds if not thousands of hours put into summit preparations,'' said Patrick McEachern, a public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and a former State Department official. Scott Mulhauser, a former chief of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said that in the leadup to summit meetings, staffs try to anticipate the various negotiating positions their counterparts might take, adding that ''if you're not gaming that out, you're not preparing adequately.'' US president reaffirms security guarantee for N. Korea By Yi Whan-woo U.S. President Donald Trump said he pursues a "South Korean model," not a "Libyan model," for the denuclearization of North Korea. Speaking at the White House, Thursday, Trump also said North Korea will be "tremendously industrious" under the "South Korean model" and that Kim Jong-un will receive "very adequate protection" in return for his nation's possible denuclearization. His remark is seen as a bid to reassure the Kim regime's survival, ahead of their planned June 12 summit in Singapore. It also came as both the U.S. and North Korea are playing hardball with each other in a possible attempt to take the initiative before the summit. Pyongyang was apparently infuriated early this week over White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's suggestion of the "Libyan model" for U.S. policy on North Korea. Calling the suggestion an "awfully sinister move," North Korea said it would even "reconsider" the summit with the U.S. Trump downplayed the "Libyan model," under which Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi _ later killed after his regime was toppled _ conceded to Western demands to give up his weapons of mass destruction in 2003 in return for sanctions relief. Still, the unpredictable American president warned a "Libyan model" is likely, should he and Kim fail to make a deal. "The Libyan model isn't the model we have in mind at all while we are thinking of North Korea," Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Calling Kim Jong-un by his initials, Trump said things will be different for the North Korean despot. By Oh Young-jin Korea's ties with the United Arab Emirates look closer than ever but it may run a diplomatic risk in the complicated regional politics of the Middle East. Korea's Vice Minister of National Defense Seo Ju-seok called the country a "brother" nation and declared that the brotherhood will last for "centuries," during his congratulatory speech at a ceremony to celebrate the UAE's Armed Forces Day, at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, Monday. Seo attended the function on behalf of Defense Minister Song Young-moo and read the speech for him. "Korea and UAE are brother nations to one another, sharing a strong and special relationship," Seo said. "We will continue to stand by each other for centuries to come." The vice minister also stated that the relationship is based on defense and defense industry cooperation. It is rare for a senior government official to confer brotherhood on another country. It apparently reflects a mega-deal Korea has for the construction of nuclear power plants in the UAE. The current government discovered that the deal, made by former President Lee Myung-bak, had secret agreements, one obligating Seoul to come to the UAE's rescue in times of trouble. The revelation jeopardized the deal but the government managed to save it and President Moon Jae-in's visit to the UAE strengthened ties with the country. But it is suspected that it may come at a cost in the Middle East that is influenced by two rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran. UAE is close to the Saudis. Moon Jae-in, then-presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Sang-gon, the incumbent education minister, speak to parents about his education policy at Daeyeong Elementary School in March 2017. Korea Times file By Kim Hyun-bin Most of the education policies the Moon Jae-in administration has introduced over the past year have been a failure by all accounts. Marking the first-year anniversary of President Moon Jae-in's tenure, Gallup Korea recently released a survey rating Moon and his key government branches. Unsurprisingly, the Ministry of Education ranked at the bottom among all departments with an approval rating of only 30 percent. Just the number alone speaks volumes. But to make matters worse, the low number comes even as Moon's approval rating stands at 74.5 percent, according to a Realmeter survey released Friday. Policies confuse public People have been left in confusion during the year as few educational policies were carefully thought out, and those who implemented them didn't take the time to gather public opinion. Soon after the education ministry announced new policies, such as college admissions reform and banning afterschool English classes in daycare centers, the plans faced a strong public backlash. This opposition led the ministry to postpone the moves. Since then, the ministry has tried to avoid making decisions on major issues. In the case of college admissions reform, the education ministry tossed it to the Presidential Committee on National Education for further review. "The problem is the ministry is avoiding making policy decisions," Rep. Lee Dong-sup of the Bareun Mirae Party said. "The education ministry recently announced it will choose its final college admissions policy through public opinion. This shows a lack of policy enforcement, conviction and philosophy of the ministry. We need to restructure the MOE in the education committee to quickly reduce the commotion." Wider inequality gap As a candidate, Moon vowed to reduce inequality in education. But many experts say his policies might create an even wider gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots." Moon's administration banned all afterschool English classes in daycare centers up to the second grade. The ministry claims it is ineffective to teach a second language below the third grade and claimed that it causes excessive stress on the children. This goes against decades of domestic and international research, which shows starting a second language early is better for children so they can comprehend the language. Rising prices have meant that more people will have difficulty meeting their basic needs in Ramadan this year, but the government is stepping in to help Every Ramadan, many people complain about rising prices and their inability to meet their basic needs for the holy month due, they say, to price-gouging by vendors. Some 27 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, said Abu Bakr Al-Guindi, head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), and these people in particular may have difficulty meeting their needs this Ramadan. The struggle to provide is not limited to the poor, however. Even members of the middle classes may have difficulty this Ramadan after the continuous price hikes that have taken place over the past two years and particularly after the devaluation of the pound. This is the only month I dont worry about. God provides with abundance, declared Um Hussein, a Cairo resident. There are many good folks. People in my neighbourhood take care of me. Every Ramadan they give me cooked food, and last year they gave me two food bags before Ramadan full of rice, macaroni, tomato paste, sugar and many other things. Um Hussein, 47, lives in the working class neighbourhood of Dar Al-Salam in Cairo and is a single mother of three children after her husband divorced her and abandoned the family. She has no regular income. I sell some vegetables on the street to provide for my family. Some days we have nothing to eat. Life is very hard, and prices keep going up every day, she said. She recalls one day when they had an indulgent meal of chicken. Three years ago, I had LE40, so I bought chicken wings and made soup, moloukheya, and rice. The kids were so excited. I bought some basbousa [a kind of cake] as well so they could taste what its like, Um Hussein remembered. Today, I cant even buy a kg of lentils or four loaves of bread for LE40. But the poor may be doing better than the middle classes in Ramadan. Um Hussein explained that I dont have to buy anything during the month, as people give me bags of food. We eat them all month long. There is dried food like macaroni, rice, dried beans, flour, sugar, tea, and so on, and then someone will send me cooked meals, like some meat or chicken. Thanks be to God, we manage, she said. Mahmoud Asqalani, chair of Citizens Against High Prices, a pressure group, said the poor suffered less during Ramadan compared to the middle classes, because despite their hardships society takes care of the poor, especially in Ramadan, because of increased charitable donations. The state and charities also provide assistance such as millions of boxes full of food to assist poorer people during Ramadan, he said, adding that the middle classes, on the other hand, suffered most because of price-gouging. Some people also have a bad habit of hoarding goods before Ramadan, which raises prices at the expense of ordinary citizens, he said. I have not, and I will not, buy anything for Ramadan this year, declared Ashraf Abdou, a website designer for a private company in Cairo. Since prices went through the roof two years ago, we have been struggling. Every day it is getting worse. Prices go up, but salaries stay the same, he said. On 3 November 2016, Egypt devalued the pound as a prerequisite for a $12 billion loan from the IMF. While the decision improved the economy and raised the countrys foreign reserves by $17.5 billion in the first 11 months, according to Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) figures, the decision caused prices to skyrocket, poverty to spike, and youth unemployment to explode when private companies laid off workers. The middle classes almost began to disappear because of the seismic price hikes. I earn LE7,000 a month and have two boys in school, said Ashraf, 37. I pay LE2,000 for rent, LE400 for electricity, LE1,500 for transportation, and then there is food, tutoring and bills. The money is all gone without paying for healthcare, clothing, outings or anything else. It will be Ramadan soon, and I cant buy the traditional nuts and dried fruit because they cost LE400 a kg. We can only eat meat three times a month since it costs more than LE180 per kg. Then Ramadan will end, followed by the Eid [holiday]. I wont be able to buy new clothes for the kids, especially since I have to pay the next installment of the school fees and the school bus which keep rising insanely every year. We definitely cannot afford to go on a summer vacation. How can I afford all these things with LE7,000 a month, he asked. Government Answers Rising prices and low wages averaging LE670 for those working in the private sector, which employs 60 per cent of the workforce according to CAPMAS, have caused the Ministry of Supplies to put forward some solutions in preparation for Ramadan this year. It declared a state of vigilance a few days before the holy month by contracting a chain of vendors to stock Welcome Ramadan products at wholesale prices and 15 to 20 per cent discounts. The Cairo products sale opened on 10 May. The ministry will take similar action in other governorates until the end of May. It is also distributing one million free food bags during Ramadan to those in need. The Ministry of Religious endowments will supply 600,000 bags, the ministry of petroleum 200,000, and the ministry of Tourism 200,000. A committee formed from the ministries of social solidarity, supplies and endowments will distribute donations in coordination with local governments. I buy everything I need from the government co-op by my house in Basateen, a district of Cairo, said Hosniya Ismail, a homemaker. The prices are reasonable, not like they were in the past, but still reasonable. We dont buy meat from the butcher anymore because it costs LE150 per kg. Instead, I buy it at Armed Forces meat outlets where it costs LE85. Ismail went to a Welcome Ramadan outlet last year and bought her supplies for the month there. Last year, the products were fine, and the prices were reasonable. Not cheap theres nothing cheap anymore but better than at the supermarket and close to the prices of the co-ops. There were a lot of things available. I went there twice and bought everything I needed for the entire month of Ramadan. I cant wait until the outlets open this year, and I will shop there again, she said. She said she had stopped buying Ramadan nuts and dried fruit three years ago. Dates, tamarind juice or a cheap sheet of apricot paste will do just as well. No one can afford nuts anymore. I use peanuts and raisins instead, she commented. Ahmed Abdel-Zaher, head of the General Union of Co-ops, believes the government has prepared for Ramadan well by supplying the market with basic goods and monitoring prices at its outlets. It has even reduced prices to make it easier on consumers during Ramadan. Abdel-Zaher said that all basic commodities were available at government co-ops at fair prices to suit all classes. We coordinated with the National Service Agency of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interiors Aman Co-op to provide superior Sudanese meat at LE80 per kg, chicken at LE22 per kg, rice at LE6.5 per kg, best quality macaroni at no more than LE7 per kg, and the best dates from Aswan, New Valley, Siwa and the Delta at good prices, he said. He said these commodities were available at all 3,000 government co-ops across the country. The co-ops are a primary partner of the Welcome Ramadan outlets that began three years ago, along with other partners such as the Chambers of Commerce and some vendors. These outlets reach everyone, including those who cant go to the co-ops, and the prices are the same, he said. Abdel-Zaher explained that the co-ops have an assistance programme that tallies the poor in their neighbourhoods and gives them Ramadan food bags that contain two kg of macaroni, two kg of rice, two kg of dates, two cans of tomato paste, tea and sugar. In Aswan, we distributed nearly 2,000 bags and are planning another 1,000 elsewhere, he said, adding that the assistance programme operates all year round to orphanages, the poor, and those with special needs. Asqalani said there were nearly 500 outlets selling meat, including co-op butchers, across the country under the supervision of the Citizens Against High Prices group that sells meat at a stable price of LE75 per kg. A kg usually costs LE80, but we pressured them to bring it down by five pounds to help consumers and make Ramadan easier, he said, noting that many people look forward to eating meat and chicken during Ramadan, making them in high demand. Charities: A Primary Partner Charities also try to meet the needs of the poor and limited-income families during Ramadan, either by donating Ramadan food bags or through Feed a Fasting Person campaigns. Some of these charities are main partners in the Month of Goodwill month, which provides services and assistance to families in need during Ramadan in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, the Ministry of Religious Endowments and the Armed Forces Public Services Agency. Ezzeddin Farghali, head of the Regional Federation of Non-Governmental Organisations in Cairo, an umbrella group, said NGOs and charities had donated more than 250,000 Ramadan food bags that would be distributed to low-income and most-needy families before and during Ramadan. The donations will also include Eid clothing at the end of Ramadan, as well as donations by the Misr Al-Kheir and Orman Association groups of more than one million Ramadan bags. One woman, Khadra, sitting outside her house in Ezbet Khairallah, a Cairo district, might be targeted by the campaigns. Now in her 60s, she lives alone in an unfinished house. I eat anything. Im not particular. God provides. I live alone, as all my children got married and moved away. No one has time to ask about anyone else, as they are already working hard to make a living. A charity gave me Ramadan supplies last year. I cooked them and thanked God, she said. One charity, Misr Al-Kheir (MEK), is planning to feed 10 million fasting people this year, which is double last years target, according to Hala Al-Sayed, its media spokeswoman. We want to double last years numbers through a variety of activities including distributing 420,000 Ramadan food bags, setting up 60 Ramadan tents in 22 governorates, and distributing 500,000 meals through the Feed a Traveller campaign by the end of the month, she said. She explained that it was providing the largest family size Ramadan bag, containing 25kg of different foods including seven kg of rice, six kg of macaroni, two kg of sugar, two kg of flour, 500g of fuul (fava beans), 500g of white beans, 500g of yellow lentils, 500g of brown lentils, 500g of wheat, 500g of dates, 500g of dry peas, one kg of vermicelli, 400g of tomato paste, 250g of tea, and 700g of ghee at a cost of LE250. She added that its campaigns were in partnership with 200 young people, and since last year several other charities had participated. MEK, which started in 2007, focuses on six sectors of development, namely health, education, scientific research, social solidarity, aspects of life and integrated development. MEK has succeeded in reaching its goal of supporting and assisting families in need all year round, especially in Ramadan, Al-Sayed noted. Although in recent years Ramadan food bags have been a more common form of assistance, their numbers have dropped this year due to the high costs of some main consumer goods, and some items are no longer included. Al-Mohandess Mohie, in charge of the Nasser Bank Charity Committee at the Al-Rahman Mosque in Dar Al-Salam, said the committee had prepared 1,000 food bags and would add another 500, which was less than last years 2,000 Ramadan food boxes. Each box costs LE53 and includes a bag of rice, a bag of sugar, a bag of lentils, a bag of macaroni, a bottle of oil, a jar of tomato paste and tea, he said. Last year, the bag cost LE50 and included more items, but this year we took out the more costly items such as dates, apricot paste, hibiscus and tamarind. The high prices have also reduced donations, and this has negatively impacted on assisting the poor and needy, not only in Ramadan but also all year round. There have been almost no donations at all this year, Mohie said. They have been far fewer than last year due to price hikes. His committee assists 1,000 families a month, including widows and orphans, with about LE70. We cannot add more families, unfortunately. Our committee is financially audited, and there are receipts for all our donations, he said. The committee also provides other assistance and activities such as paying for orphaned young women to get married and eliminating illiteracy. A form of charity that is a common sight during Ramadan are the Ramadan Tables where tables and chairs are set up in the street to feed people who are poor, in need, or even simply have not made it home in time for Iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast. These free meals are paid for by wealthier residents in the neighbourhood, and they occur daily throughout the month of fasting. However, the recent price hikes have changed this tradition. Some people have decided not to host the meals anymore, while others have reduced the menu because they cannot afford to pay for the entire month. Every year the committee hosts a Ramadan Table for 200 people and relies on neighbourhood donations that have included rice, macaroni, meat, chicken and vegetables about four weeks before Ramadan begins, Mohie said. However, this year the donations came in very late, only 10 days before Ramadan started, and we have only received one quarter of what we usually do so our choices are more limited. He is concerned his committee will not be able to host Ramadan Tables throughout the whole month because of the reduced donations. For five years, Ahmed Abdel-Raouf, an engineer living in the Cairo suburb of Maadi, has hosted Ramadan Tables with his friends and neighbours, serving meat, vegetables, macaroni and rice. However, this year the cost is too high, he says. Each year, we have fed around 250 people every day at a cost of LE3,000. When we calculated for this year, the cost had jumped to LE7,000 with fewer dishes. So, unfortunately, we decided to cancel the Ramadan Tables, he said in dismay. Instead, they will prepare food bags that include ghee, oil, macaroni, rice, fuul, lentils, sugar and dates. We will distribute them and hope that this helps, he said. I wish the tradition of feeding someone who is fasting had not ended, but we cant help it. Prices have skyrocketed, he concluded. *A version of this article appears in print in the 11 May 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: A month of piety and poverty? Search Keywords: Short link: The Pentagon is not considering cutting back the joint US-South Korean military exercises that have drawn angry condemnation from Pyongyang ahead of a planned US-North Korea summit, an official said Thursday. "There's been no talk of reducing anything. There's been no talk of changing our scope," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said. The exercises "are defensive in nature and the scope hasn't changed ... This is about safeguarding the alliance," she added. North Korea has canceled talks with Seoul over the "Max Thunder" joint military exercises between the US and the South. Pyongyang has also threatened to cancel a historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month, following weeks of tentative rapprochement. The Max Thunder drills started May 11 and involve some 100 aircraft from the US and South Korea, including F-22 stealth fighter jets. (AFP) Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il By Kim Hyun-bin An advisory board meeting was held at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on Friday to review the controversial handling of the ongoing investigation for hiring irregularities at Kangwon Land. The advisory committee consists of outside experts including four lawyers and three law professors that have over 10 years of experience dealing with such matters. Kangwon Land, state-owned casino, has come under increasing criticism for improper hiring practices that have been allegedly linked to Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP). Kim Woo-hyun, the head of the anti-corruption department at the Supreme Prosecutors Office, allegedly exerted pressure on Ahn Mi-hyun, a prosecutor who had investigated the case while working at the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office last year. Ahn requested a summons for an aide of Rep. Kweon on Dec. 14, but Kim did not report to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and questioned the legitimacy of the summons. Kim allegedly received a call from Kweon who said the investigation is problematic and claimed the summons deviated from the procedures. On Oct. 20, the investigative team also requested to search the suspects' homes linked to the hiring scandal, but was postponed by Kim. The anti-corruption department acknowledges the postponement, but questioned if the act could be classified as abuse of authority. After conducting a hearing involving both sides, the advisory committee will hold a vote on whether to indict Kim and Choi Jong-won, head of the Seoul Nambu District Public Prosecutors' Office, for abuse of power. The prosecution team investigating the probe also clashed with Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il over the arrest of the lawmaker and indictments of senior prosecutors. Moon denied all accusations that he exerted pressure to impede the investigation. The investigative team, led by the head of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, Yang Bu-nam, reported to the top prosecutor to seek a warrant from the court to arrest Rep. Kweon, but it was not approved. Instead, Moon ordered Yang's team to set up an advisory panel to determine the probe's next course. The prosecutor's probe was started after a recently revealed case that there had been pressure by the head of the regional prosecutor's office not to seek an arrest warrant of those involved. The investigative team held a press conference, claiming Moon blocked their move to seek arrest warrants. In February, prosecutor Ahn Mee-hyun first raised an allegation against the alleged intervention in the Kangwon Land investigation. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office denied the allegation at the time, saying there would be no outside pressure, even from Prosecutor General Moon. Members of different defector communities in Korea protest forced repatriation of defectors in front of the Chinese embassy in downtown Seoul in this 2017 file photo. / Korea Times By Jung Da-min, Kim Ji-soo The rapid pace toward peace is raising a mixed bag of questions for different groups of Koreans, long accustomed to division and tension on the peninsula following the 1950-53 Korean War. For some 30,000 North Korean defectors who have settled in the South, however, the questions and apprehensions are about security and stability. "I heard some North Korean defectors wept, in relief and joy, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un mentioned North Korean defectors," said Ahn Chan-il, a defector who now heads the World Institute for North Korea Studies. Ahn Chan-il / Korea Times file By Lee Min-hyung North Korea's sudden shift in stance is creating a murky outlook in the recently thawing inter-Korean relations, putting the brakes on implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration. On Wednesday, Pyongyang canceled a scheduled inter-Korean high-level dialogue, citing the ongoing Max Thunder air training exercise between the South and the United States. The North has since renewed its provocative rhetoric against Seoul. The latest in a series of the North's verbal threats came on Thursday when Ri Sun-kwon, chairman of Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, criticized the South for carrying out the drill at a time when the regime shows its strong determination for peace on the Korean Peninsula. "The South insists on resuming the dialogue to discuss the validity of the drills, but this is just a shameless act of slander to justify the war game," Ri told the regime's mouthpiece Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), Thursday. "The South Korean government is doing nothing to come up with countermeasures for our response, but instead, has no common sense by expressing regret and urging us to resume the dialogue." South Korea's unification ministry did not disclose detailed countermeasures for the regime's abrupt stance shift. Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said Friday the bilateral willingness to fulfill the declaration will remain in place despite the recent discord. The Seoul-Washington air drill ends on May 25, and expectations are that the two Koreas may resume peace talks after the exercise. Ri said the regime has no plans to hold dialogues with the South unless the latter takes any actions on the military exercise. "Pyongyang will never sit face to face unless Seoul resolves the issue," said Ri. "The South holds the key to decide how upcoming inter-Korean relations develop." The unexpected suspension of the North's peace signal is also raising doubts over whether the regime continues to fulfill its pledge for the complete denuclearization of the peninsula. In particular, the North pledged recently to dismantle its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri sometime between May 23 and 25, as part of a show of its strong determination for peace. The regime has yet to express its position over whether to scrap or delay the plan, but chances remain that Pyongyang can break the pledge again in consideration of the worsening bilateral relations. Last week, the North said it would invite journalists from five countries including South Korea, the U.S. and China to inspect the shutdown of the site. The unification ministry spokesman said: "The South hopes the North carries out the schedule as planned." The ministry plans Friday to send a list of the South's eight journalists who will visit the North for the inspection next week. South Korean President Moon Jae-in will try to use his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump to broker a nuclear deal between the United States and North Korea, a presidential aide said Friday. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday in Washington, three weeks before the U.S. president and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il hold their first summit in Singapore. "We expect the upcoming summit to play a role as a bridge (between the U.S. and North Korea) that will lead to the success of the North Korea-U.S. summit as it comes three weeks before the North Korea-U.S. summit," Nam Gwan-pyo, a deputy director of the presidential National Security Office, told reporters. The two are "expected to discuss ways to guarantee a bright future for the North when North Korea achieves complete denuclearization," the Cheong Wa Dae official added. Moon is set to head for Washington late Monday (Seoul time). He will return home early Thursday after his two-day trip. Moon's trip follows his historic summit with the North Korean leader at the border village of Panmunjom on April 27, in which the leaders of the divided Koreas agreed to pursue complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and also halt their countries' hostile acts against each other. The Trump-Kim summit, set to be held June 12, is expected to set the terms for the North's denuclearization process. Pyongyang has already offered to publicly dismantle its only known nuclear test site in northeastern Punggye-ri between May 23-25, inviting journalists from five countries -- South Korea, China, Russia, Britain and the U.S. -- to witness the event. However, the communist state also sought to up the ante for its giving up its nuclear program, saying it may have to reconsider the summit should the U.S. insist on its unconditional and unilateral denuclearization. Trump said in Washington that he never had the so-called Libya model for the North's denuclearization process in mind, saying Kim will be very happy with what he plans to propose at their upcoming summit if they do reach a deal there. (Yonhap) By Lee Min-hyung The United States has no plans to downsize joint military exercises with South Korea over the ongoing verbal provocations from the North, the U.S. defense department said Thursday. The response came two days after Pyongyang denounced Seoul and Washington for carrying out the joint Max Thunder air drills. Citing the exercises, the regime also threatened Wednesday to cancel the upcoming summit between its leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. "The scope of our exercises has not changed," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said. "There are alliance decisions, and this is something that we do to ensure the readiness of both our forces as well as the South Korean forces." For the joint exercise, Seoul and Washington deployed F-22 Raptor stealth jets, F-15Ks and F-16s on the Korean Peninsula. The joint exercise started its two-week run on May 11. South Korea's Ministry of National Defense also said its position is in line with the Pentagon, saying it does not have any plans to scale down or cancel the drills and will carry them out as planned. White also made it clear there has been no talk of changing its scope or reducing its scale, underlining that the annual exercise is "defensive in nature." Pyongyang canceled a planned inter-Korean high-level dialogue on Wednesday, claiming Max Thunder goes against the peace momentum. In response, South Korea expressed regret over the North's abrupt cancellation, urging the regime to return to the dialogue table. By Park Ji-won The South Korean government is preparing to reopen air routes that go through North Korean airspace to save time on flights to Russia as well as Europe and North America, according to government officials. These are part of the measures Seoul is seeking in line with agreements made at the inter-Korean summit on April 27. North Korea has applied to an international flight organization to start a new air route that also runs through the two Koreas. "We are carefully reviewing (the air route changes) in the spirit of economic cooperation between the two Koreas," said an official, Tuesday, of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to The Korea Times, on condition of anonymity. "We are analyzing the effects of cutting the flight route, fuel costs and times, and assuming that the North Korea-the U.S. summit goes well," another official at the ministry was quoted as saying. "Airline companies are waiting to resume flight operations. There is no argument over the issue as it is a win-win for both sides. If the summit ends successfully, we would be able to promptly start the process." The government's move will likely welcome the North's move to expand its economy between the Koreas in tandem with the North's summit with the U.S in Singapore. A Cheong Wa Dae official welcomed Washington's decision to economically support the North, saying "the sooner (the process for such an investment is made), the better." Washington has pledged a plan for U.S. firms to invest in North Korea if Pyongyang completely dismantles its nuclear arsenal. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration is also open to lifting sanctions on the North. Image from the document of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The air route B467 is seen in a thick dotted line. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon speaks during the memorial event to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising at the May 18th National Cemetery, Friday. / Yonhap By Park Ji-won GWANGJU _ Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon pledged Friday to continue efforts to find the truth behind massacres in Gwangju in 1980, in a speech at a memorial ceremony to mark the 38th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, Friday. "There are things to be done even though it has been 38 years since the Gwangju Uprising. The first thing we should do is find the truth," Lee said at the May 18th National Cemetery. "Recently, we have discovered new evidence and testimonies of the May 18 incident. The fact-finding committee that has been launched according to a special law for the May 18 uprising in the Moon Jae-in administration will officially operate from this September and find full truth without any hindrance." The event, under the theme "May's Gwangju, rebuild the justice," attracted up to 5,000 people, including families of victims and survivors, as well as party leaders, lawmakers and governors. Lee also pledged that the government will restore the historical site of the former South Jeolla provincial building that has been a symbolic place where the citizen-based army fought against the government army. During a blockade of the city by the government from May 18 to 27, 1980, about 200 people were known to be killed and over 1,800 wounded by the government army. Former President Chun Doo-hwan's military dictatorship has been criticized for being in charge of the massacre, including firing at citizens, but Chun has denied the fact, saying "I have nothing to do with it." Participants sing the memorial song "Imeul Wihan Haengjingok" (March for the Beloved) during the May 18 ceremony in Gwangju, Friday. / Yonhap Last year, President Moon Jae-in attended the ceremony and sung the song "Imeul Wihan Haengjingok" (March for the Beloved), which had been allegedly prohibited by the previous Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak administrations. At the venue Friday, people sang the song together, while some families of missing or dead people and survivors spoke about their families and memories of Gwangju. Martha Huntley, a witness and the widow of pastor Charles Betts Huntley who took photos of the Gwangju Uprising and spread them to the world, speaks during the memorial event to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising at the May 18th National Cemetery, Friday. / Yonhap By Carl Bildt STOCKHOLM The bicentennial of Karl Marx's birth has occasioned a surge of interest in the man's work, complete with the unveiling of a statue in his hometown of Trier, Germany. At a celebration of Marxism in Beijing last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that, "like a spectacular sunrise, the theory illuminated the path of humanity's exploration of the law of history, and humanity's search for [its] own liberation." He would go on to claim that Marx "pointed out the direction, with scientific theory, toward an ideal society with no oppression or exploitation, where every person would enjoy equality and freedom." Given that Xi's words were uttered in "Marxist" China, those in attendance had no choice but to agree with them. Yet, speaking in Trier on the same day, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered a somewhat generous appraisal of his own: "Today he stands for things which is he not responsible for and which he didn't cause, because many of the things he wrote down were redrafted into the opposite." It is not entirely clear what Juncker meant by this. Marxism, after all, has inflicted untold misery on tens of millions of people who have been forced to live under regimes waving its banner. For much of the 20th century, 40 percent of humanity suffered famines, gulags, censorship, and other forms of repression at the hands of self-proclaimed Marxists. In his speech, Juncker seemed to be alluding to the standard counterargument: that communist atrocities throughout the 20th century were due to some sort of distortion of Marx's thought, for which the man himself can scarcely be held responsible. Is there anything to this argument? Marx spent most of his life analyzing the political economy of the industrializing mid-19th-century West. But his enduring relevance owes more to his ideas for the future, and the implications they would have for society. In considering his legacy, this area of his thought cannot be ignored. Marx regarded private property as the source of all evil in the emerging capitalist societies of his day. Accordingly, he believed that only by abolishing it could society's class divisions be healed, and a harmonious future ensured. Under communism, his collaborator Friedrich Engels later claimed, the state itself would become unnecessary and "wither away." These assertions were not made as speculation, but rather as scientific claims about what the future held in store. But, of course, it was all rubbish, and Marx's theory of history dialectical materialism has since been proved wrong and dangerous in practically every respect. The great 20th-century philosopher Karl Popper, one of Marx's strongest critics, rightly called him a "false prophet." And, if more evidence were needed, the countries that embraced capitalism in the 20th century went on to become democratic, open, and prosperous societies. By contrast, every regime that has rejected capitalism in the name of Marxism has failed and not by coincidence or as a result of some unfortunate doctrinal misunderstanding on the part of Marx's followers. By abolishing private ownership and establishing state control of the economy, one not only deprives society of the entrepreneurship needed to propel it forward; one also abolishes freedom itself. Because Marxism treats all contradictions in society as the products of a class struggle that will disappear when private property does, dissent after the establishment of communism is impossible. By definition, any challenge to the new order must be an illegitimate remnant of the oppressive order that came before. Thus, Marxist regimes have in fact been logical extensions of his doctrines. Of course Juncker is right that Marx who died 34 years before the Russian Revolution was not responsible for the Gulag, and yet his ideas clearly were. In his landmark three-volume study Main Currents of Marxism, the Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, who became a leading critic of Marxism after having embraced it in his youth, notes that Marx showed almost no interest in people as they actually exist. "Marxism takes little or no account of the fact that people are born and die, that they are men and women, young or old, healthy or sick," he writes. As such, "Evil and suffering, in his eyes, had no meaning except as instruments of liberation; they were purely social facts, not an essential part of the human condition." Kolakowski's insight helps to explain why regimes that have embraced Marx's mechanical and deterministic doctrine inevitably must turn to totalitarianism when confronting the reality of a complex society. They have not always fully succeeded; but the results have always been tragic. For his part, Xi views China's economic development over the past few decades as "cast iron proof" of Marxism's continued validity. But, if anything, it is exactly the other way around. Remember that it was the China of pure communism that produced the famine and terror of the "Great Leap Forward" and the "Cultural Revolution." Mao's decision to deprive farmers of their land and entrepreneurs of their firms had predictably disastrous results, and the Communist Party of China has since abandoned that doctrinaire approach. Under Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping, the CPC launched China's great economic "opening-up." After 1978, it began to restore private ownership and permit entrepreneurship, and the results have been nothing short of spectacular. If China's development is being held back by anything today, it is the remnants of Marxism that are still visible in inefficient state-owned enterprises and the repression of dissent. China's centralized single-party system is simply incompatible with a modern and diverse society. Two hundred years after Marx's birth, it is certainly wise to reflect on his intellectual legacy. We should do so not in celebration, however, but to inoculate our open societies against the totalitarian temptation that lurks in his false theories. Carl Bildt is a former prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate ( www.project-syndicate.org ). Banque Misr, Egypts second largest bank, has mandated Citigroup to arrange a $500 million syndicated loan, banking sources said, the latest sign of a pick-up in interest among international banks in lending to Egyptian borrowers. Misr's debt facility follows a $600 million loan being syndicated among banks for National Bank of Egypt, the countrys largest lender. Other deals in the Egyptian bank market include a loan of up to around $700 million for Egyptian Electricity Holding Company and three loans recently raised by Telecom Egypt with a combined value of around $900 million. Such loans are being seen as a sign of returning confidence among international lenders in the Egyptian economy, where business conditions are slowly improving under a three-year IMF loan programme tied to fiscal and economic reforms. Banque Misr could not be reached for comment, while Citi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Before November 2016, when the central bank allowed the Egyptian pound to float, Egyptian banks could only access foreign liquidity through central bank auctions, rather than the interbank market. While the move has improved Egyptian banks access to foreign currency liquidity, they still need to bolster their hard currency buffers to face requirements accrued before the currency floatation. National Bank of Egypt is syndicating its planned $600 million loan with HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, Emirates NBD, Bank ABC, Rakbank and Commercial Bank of Qatar. Telecom Egypts loans were mostly backed by United Arab Emirates banks, while the loan for Egyptian Electricity is being arranged by Credit Suisse and HSBC, banking sources told Reuters earlier this month. Search Keywords: Short link: Moon to expedite fact-finding on democracy uprising It has been 38 years since the Gwangju Democratization Movement of May 18, 1980. The pro-democracy uprising against the authoritarian rule of Chun Doo-hwan has gained special attention under President Moon Jae-in, who visited the southwestern city last year to take part in the commemorative event. Rather than giving a routine speech, the President paid a sincere tribute, even hugging a woman who lost her father in the uprising. President Moon skipped the event this year amid preparations for his upcoming May 22 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Given the importance of the Korea-U.S. summit, it is understandable that he sat out the event this year and sent Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon instead. The prime minister, who formerly served as governor of South Jeolla Province, fought back tears during his speech which highlighted the need to heal the scars of Gwangju citizens who suffered from the uprising and bring justice to those responsible. "The full truth will be clarified in the future. I am deeply sorry for the crimes committed by the past government," Lee said. The prime minister said a fact-finding committee will form in September. So many years have passed since the movement, but there is much to be uncovered. There is still no exact data on the number of people who died during the movement, with the government and the committee representing the bereaved families of victims saying different things. There are still no definite findings about who ordered soldiers to open fire on civilians, one of the most controversial issues regarding the uprising. Moon issued a message on the uprising this year, which focused on the women of Gwangju who suffered sexual abuse and violence during the suppression. Their stories have been largely unknown but it is meaningful that they are finally getting more attention in light of the #MeToo movement. Lately, there have been testimonies on the sexual assault and torture by the military and police. "The lives of ordinary daughters and sisters of Gwangju were ruined," Moon said. Chun triggered public outrage with his latest memoir where he said he had nothing to do with the massacre and that he was a victim of the uprising. There are still grieving families who lost their loved ones and have lived their entire lives in pain due to state violence. Although it is too late, Chun should cooperate with the fact-finding efforts. By Hyon O'Brien We just returned from a two-week tour of Morocco in North Africa. Seventeen of us traveled. All of us were American citizens who came from different states and different backgrounds. However, we all had one thing in common: the Peace Corps. Four had served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Morocco, two in Tunisia, others in Malaysia, Belize, Costa Rica, Korea, Brazil, Mali and Jordan at different times. The remaining four are spouses of those who served: interestingly, these spouses represented four countries, Turkey, Korea, Australia and America. In recent years, the National Peace Corps Association began to sponsor trips to various countries around the globe, and we were delighted to find the tour to Morocco. Not only was it a country we had always wanted to visit, but also it added one more dimension to our regular trips: the opportunity to meet currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers while traveling to different cities in Morocco. Over the past nearly 50 years during which I have been involved with the Peace Corps (first romantically, then professionally as a Korean language teacher), I have come in contact with many Peace Corps Volunteers and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. The most consistent traits and characteristics I have personally observed among these volunteers, no matter which country they served in, is their respect for other cultures, countries and people. I have concluded most of them were open-minded people to begin with before joining the Peace Corps, but their individual service in a particular host country must have deepened, cultivated and reinforced that inclination and disposition. I have been in constant awe of their great attitudes. They are truly wonderful role models for world peace. It is very unlikely wars and conflicts are stirred up and violence inflicted on others by people who consider the wellbeing of other countries' people as important as their own. So I am dismayed by the current American administration's approach to immigrants and minorities. I am uneasy to hear the talk of building a wall along the national border between Mexico and the United States, and of a policy of deportation of countless undocumented immigrants whose children may be separated permanently from their parents, as well as deportation of those who grew up here after their parents brought them into the country illegally as children. The list could go on. I am saddened and shocked by this turn of events. I grieve at this change in the story that America tells the world. I was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on May 1, 1970, and I have always admired and loved my adopted country because it represented social justice, righteousness and equality for all, where the rule of law guarantees human rights and liberties. Recently I re-read the contents of the poem "New Colossus," a sonnet American poet Emma Lazarus (18491887) wrote in 1883 that was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal that established the Statue of Liberty as the greeter of the new immigrants coming to America through the New York harbor. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" What's happening in America goes against an American value that for many years has been a touchstone of what makes America great. Former U.S. President Barack Obama urged us to bear in mind that we need to reject any politics that target people because of race or religion. This isn't a matter of political correctness. It's a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and openness and the way we respect every faith. What about diversity in nature? I was stunned to discover that in the palm tree category alone, there are 2,600 species. Daily I am enthralled to see varieties of seagulls, pelicans, terns and sandpipers that fly around our beach. Many different wildflowers and plants adorn the path that parallels the shore. Nearly 40 lifeguard huts that line Miami Beach's miles of shore are designed in the "Miami Modern" (MiMo) style, adding color and liveliness. I see people walking their dogs: they are all different and it provides me with fascinating time to gawk and stare. Indeed it is never flat when I look around my neighborhood. The architectural styles the houses and buildings have adopted vary while maintaining harmony. I am so glad everything is different and unique. Mohamed VI, the current King of Morocco, said something that resonates with me. "We need to fight violence and ignorance... Morocco is built on tolerance." People's ignorance is a dangerous hindrance to cultivating diversity. It perpetuates narrow-mindedness that blocks nurturing the different human potentials to thrive and grow. Diversity is strength, not weakness, Diversity is prosperity, not poverty, Diversity is natural, not man-made. Let's honor the God-endowed gifts to humanity. Hyon O'Brien (hyonobrien@gmail.com) is a former reference librarian now living in the United States. By Oh Young-jin Is North Korea's Kim Jong-un going down the path of the last Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev? The two have converged a lot so far, but of course we know about the end of Gorbachev's story, while Kim's remains open-ended. Gorbachev had pushed for glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) and was hailed for it by western media, but his effort ended up hastening the demise of the Soviet empire, which rivaled the U.S. and ruled the half the world ideologically. Kim Jong-un, the third dictator in the North's quasi-communist dynasty (sounds like an oxymoron), is catching the world off guard with his bold attempt to open up his reclusive kingdom. He recently declared that becoming a nuclear weapon state, one of the North's two goals -- under the "Byeongjin doctrine" -- has been achieved, enabling him to focus on the other -- economic development. So Kim has started on a bold path as Gorbachev did. There are many interpretations about Gorbachev's role in the Soviet collapse. One is he made a fatal mistake in giving away the store, thinking he could pull off the Soviet turnaround. That confidence derived from his close association with leaders of the West -- U.S. President Ronald Reagan, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, with U.S. President Ronald Reagan before the collapse of the Soviet Union. / Wikipedia Lotte Shopping CEO Kang Hee-tae responds to a question during a news conference to update its business strategies held at the Lotte Hotel headquarters, downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chul Lotte Shopping's decision to sell one of its retail store operations to China's Liqun Commercial Group for 291 billion won would lift Lotte's soundness, a leading credit ratings agency said Friday. Lotte Shopping recently announced that it will sell 53 hypermarket stores in eastern China to Liqun. The announcement follows its announcement on April 26 that it would sell 21 hypermarket and supermarket stores in northern China to Wumei Holdings, said the company. "These transactions, which Lotte Shopping is likely to close this year and next, are credit positive because they will improve the company's adjusted debt and pre-tax margin, given the sizable operating losses and adjusted debt associated with its China hypermarket business," Wan Hee Yoo, vice president at Moody's Investors Service (Moody's), said in a report. The senior credit officer stressed the sales will improve Lotte Shopping's business profile "because of its weak market position in China's highly competitive hypermarket sector." Lotte Shopping's hypermarket operations in China have been loss-making, and political tension between South Korea and China since March 2017 have further deteriorated the company's performance in China. According to the company, 87 of its 99 hypermarket stores in China suspended operations at the end of 2017 after its affiliate, Lotte International, agreed to a land swap with the Korean government that allowed the latter to deploy a missile-defense system on the land. The result was catastrophic as Lotte Shopping reported operating losses of 269 billion in its Chinese hypermarket business, last year, a significant weakening compared with a loss of 139 billion in 2016. "Operating losses from the hypermarket stores in eastern and northern China accounted for about 83 percent of the total losses in Lotte Shopping's hypermarket business in China in 2017," said the executive in the report. Lotte said it plans to close down its remaining 21 stores in eastern China and dispose of the remaining stores in other regions as part of its decision to exit its hypermarket business in China. "Although uncertainties exist about the closure or disposal of the 36 remaining hypermarket stores in China, if we assume that Lotte Shopping successfully disposes of the remainder during the next two years, we expect Lotte's adjusted debt and pre-tax earnings to improve because of a significant improvement in earnings and a decrease in adjusted debt," said the credit analyst. "A moderate recovery in the operating performance of Lotte Shopping's domestic department store business would also support the improvement. This level of financial leverage is consistent with its current rating level, particularly given its sizable cash balance of about 3 trillion won at the end of March 2018," he added in the report. In a related note, Lotte Shopping also acquired Lotte.com after it restructured its online shopping mall businesses previously operated by the various affiliates of Lotte Group. Lotte said it plans to invest up to 3 trillion won to expand its online shopping-centric business over the next five years. Former German ambassador to Egypt lectures on Naguib Mahfouz Literature at the Cultural Office of the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin The Cultural Office of the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin organised a seminar on the literature of Naguib Mahfouz at the embassy in Cairo. Former German ambassador to Egypt Bernd Erbel presented major works by Naguib Mahfouz through an in-depth reading of his novels. Erbel also showcased the places where the events of Mahfouz's novels took place through a collection of photographs taken by the former ambassador during his time in Egypt, especially in the Mamluk area in Cairo. During his lecture, Erbel said that the international writer and Nobel laureate was able to brilliantly pass on Egyptian and Arab literature to the world although he travelled abroad only three times through his honest reflection on Egyptian society and its transformations. Ambassador of Egypt in Berlin Bader Abdel-Aati opened the lecture with a speech where he praised Ambassador Erbel and his role in further strengthening relations between Egypt and Germany, adding that he was one of the most successful German ambassadors to work in Egypt because he understood Egyptian society, loved it and deeply studied its history. "The lecture is especially important because it deals with the literature of Naguib Mahfouz, who is undoubtedly the 'legitimate father' of the Arabic novel. He expressed the truth about the developments in Egyptian society in different historical stages, and Mahfouz's literature concerns not only Egypt or the Arab world, but humanity as a whole," he added. The lecture was heavily attended by Germans who are interested in Egyptian literature and civilisation, as well as a number of ambassadors accredited in Berlin. Search Keywords: Short link: Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Considerable clouds this morning. Some decrease in clouds later in the day. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low near 65F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will head on Friday to Istanbul to lead Egypt's delegation at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urgent summit on the latest developments in Palestine, Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid in a statement. Abu Zeid said that Shoukry will participate in the summit on behalf of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. "The Egyptian foreign minister will present Egypt's firm stances on the Palestinian issue and Jerusalem, as well as the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and Egypt's efforts to ease the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip," the statement said. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an extraordinary summit in Istanbul on Friday to discuss the latest serious developments in Palestine. The organisation, which comprises 57 member nations, said in a statement that the summit will be held per an invitation by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the chairman of the 13th session of the Islamic Summit Conference. The Israeli occupation army killed more than 61 Palestinians on Monday and injured hundreds during protests in Gaza against the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city of Jerusalem. Search Keywords: Short link: Rome, May 18 - Italy's supreme Court of Cassation has upheld a 30-year sentence for a former firefighter found guilty of killing his wife. The victim, Elena Ceste, 37, had disappeared from her home in Costigliole d'Asti on January 24, 2014. Her body was found later that year, on October 18, in a drainage ditch in the country near the home. Rome, May 18 - The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) on Friday started an online vote of members about the government contract it has agreed with the League. The poll started at 10:00 and will run until 20:00, the M5S's blog said. The anti-migrant, Euroskeptic League will also consult its supporters about the programme via voting at stands throughout the country at the weekend. The contract for the M5S-League government features plans to introduce a two-tier flat tax, a basic income and the revision of a 2011 pension reform that raised the retirement age, among other measures. Experts have estimated that the measures in the programme could cost over 100 billion euros. Critics have said the programme does not give sufficient information about the financial coverage for these measures. "If you decide that its the right road to take, despite what all the big Italian and foreign newspapers say, despite (the opinion) of some Brussels bureaucrats, despite the spread, then as the political head of the 5-Star Movement I will sign the contract to finally launch the government of change," M5S leader Luigi Di Maio said on the M5S blog as he launched an online vote. League chief Matteo Salvini and Di Maio have not yet agree who will be the premier of the new government. Salvini said Thursday that it will be neither him nor Di Maio. Milan, May 18 - The ex-wife of a retired Italian man who was beaten to death on the night between January 31 and February 1 at his home in the Dominican Republican has been arrested in relation to the homicide, local media reported. The newspapers quoted the son of the victim, Vittorio Giuzzi, saying that the woman, Teodora Mendez, has been put under house arrest with another relative. Initially Giuzzi's death had appeared to be the result of a burglary that went wrong and a 22-year-old local confessed to the killing. The investigation continued, however, and the suspicion is that Mendez, who had recently divorced the man, ordered the killing. Vatican City, May 18 - Chilean bishops in Rome to discuss the clerical sex abuse scandal on Friday said they had tendered their resignations to Pope Francis. They made the announcement at the end of talks with the pope over the crisis in the Chilean Church over the paedophilia scandal. Pope Francis ended his talks with Chilean bishops on the paedophilia scandal by thanking them in a letter Thursday "for the full willingness that each showed to join and collaborate in all those changes and resolutions that we will have to implement in the short, medium and long term, necessary to restore justice and ecclesial communion". Pope Francis met with 34 Chilean bishops at the Vatican as part of a series of confidential gatherings to formulate a response to the child abuse crisis that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church in the South American country, director of the Vatican press office Greg Burke has said. There were meetings on four days this week. In a statement on Saturday the Vatican Press Office explained that "it is fundamental to restore trust in the Church through good Pastors who witness with their lives that they have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd, and who know how to accompany the suffering of the victims, and work in a determined and tireless way in the prevention of abuse". "The Holy Father thanks his brother Bishops for their willingness to stand in docile and humble listening to the Holy Spirit, and he renews his request to the People of God in Chile to continue to pray for the conversion of all". The pope has apologised to abuse victims for playing down their opposition to Bishop Juan Barros who they said covered up abuse by the country's worst clerical predator Father Fernando Karadima, despite allegedly witnessing it. Last month Francis admitted to making "serious mistakes" over child sex abuse by members of the clergy in Chile. The pontiff made the admission in a letter to the bishops of Chile after reading a report by two special envoys sent for the express purpose of listening the stories of victims in the South American country. Francis caused an outcry during his visit to Chile in January when he defended Bishop Barros, who is accused of protecting predator priest Karadima despite having witnessed the abuse, saying there was no proof. "The collected testimonies speak in a stark way, without additives or sweeteners, of many crucified lives, and I confess to you that that causes me sorrow and shame," the pope wrote in the letter, which the Vatican made public. "I have made serious mistakes in the assessment and perception of the situation, especially due to the lack of truthful and balanced information." The head of the Catholic Church asked for forgiveness "from all those I have offended," saying he hoped to do so personally in coming days, in a series of meetings in Rome with representatives of the people interviewed. Palermo, May 18 - Art critic and polemicist Vittorio Sgarbi and Il Giornale editor Alessandro Sallusti were found guilty Friday of defaming Palermo prosecutor Nino Di Matteo in the conservative newspaper owned by Silvio Berlusconi. Sgarbi got a suspended six-month sentence and Sallusti a suspended sentence of three months for failure to stop the offending article being published. Both will have to pay damages to the prosecutor, who is now at the central anti-mafia directorate in Rome. The amount will be set at a separate civil trial. In the incriminated article, published on January 2, 2014 and entitled When You Fight The Mafia With Words Only, Sgarbi wrote that late boss of bosses Toto Riina "is not, if not in intentions, the enemy of Di Matteo. "In the facts he is his accomplice. He guarantees his clout and consideration. "There is something disturbing about (Di Matteo's) vocation for martyrdom....Riina's only accomplices are magistrates". photo: Sgarbi Bologna, May 18 - Bologna prosecutors on Friday asked for a five-year, nine-month prison term for 36-year-old Matera-born man Sisto Salvatore Urgo for posing as a gynecologist and 'examining' young women, often university students. Urgo was reported by ten alleged victims and arrested in 2012. The sentence is expected on July 13. Moscow, May 18 - Russia and the West risk being sucked into an "escalation of sanctions" that may have devastating effects, above all on the economic front, Italy's Ambassador to Moscow Pasquale Quito Terracciano has said in an interview with ANSA. As a result it is essential that Italy use its role as a "bridge" between Russia and the West to contribute to "confidence building", he commented. Terracciano said that this process could include "finance mechanisms" that encourage relations between small and medium-sized enterprises to offer a different outlook to "the new Russian generations". He said that the relationship between Russia and Italy was one of "great trust" despite the recent tensions caused by the Skripal case. "We took part in the expulsions of Russian diplomats because we were bound by Atlantic solidarity, not because we had complaints about hostility in Italy, which has not taken place and I don't think will," Terracciano said. "Naturally, if we had broken away from this initiative we could have earned further space in Russia. We didn't do so because there was a legitimate assessment of foreign policy priorities. "That's why I talk about the failure to move forward rather than a move backwards". The ambassador recognised that the tension is almost as high as it was during the Cold War. "It's true and I say that there is no logic to this," he said. "Today there is no longer the irreconcilable ideological contrast of the past, although there are contrasts in terms of geopolitics and values. "But there's nothing to stop a settlement of the differing interests between Russia and the West. "Good will is needed, that's true. And we, as Italy, can do a lot to favour confidence-building measures thanks to our traditional role as the bridge between these two worlds". Vatican City, May 18 - Chilean bishops in Rome to discuss the clerical sex abuse scandal on Friday said they had tendered their resignations to Pope Francis. They made the announcement at the end of talks with the pope over the crisis in the Chilean Church over the paedophilia scandal. "When we held the first press conference last Monday, we said we had come with pain and shame to these meetings with the pope," Bishop Fernando Ramos told the press, saying the pope had identified a series of "absolutely deplorable" actions by the Chilean Church. He said the pope would decide in the next few weeks whether to accept the resignations. "Now the pontiff can decide freely," said Ramos. Pope Francis ended his talks with Chilean bishops on the paedophilia scandal by thanking them in a letter Thursday "for the full willingness that each showed to join and collaborate in all those changes and resolutions that we will have to implement in the short, medium and long term, necessary to restore justice and ecclesial communion". Pope Francis met with 34 Chilean bishops at the Vatican as part of a series of confidential gatherings to formulate a response to the child abuse crisis that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church in the South American country, director of the Vatican press office Greg Burke has said. There were meetings on four days this week. In a statement on Saturday the Vatican Press Office explained that "it is fundamental to restore trust in the Church through good Pastors who witness with their lives that they have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd, and who know how to accompany the suffering of the victims, and work in a determined and tireless way in the prevention of abuse". "The Holy Father thanks his brother Bishops for their willingness to stand in docile and humble listening to the Holy Spirit, and he renews his request to the People of God in Chile to continue to pray for the conversion of all". The pope has apologised to abuse victims for playing down their opposition to Bishop Juan Barros who they said covered up abuse by the country's worst clerical predator Father Fernando Karadima, despite allegedly witnessing it. Last month Francis admitted to making "serious mistakes" over child sex abuse by members of the clergy in Chile. The pontiff made the admission in a letter to the bishops of Chile after reading a report by two special envoys sent for the express purpose of listening the stories of victims in the South American country. Francis caused an outcry during his visit to Chile in January when he defended Bishop Barros, who is accused of protecting predator priest Karadima despite having witnessed the abuse, saying there was no proof. "The collected testimonies speak in a stark way, without additives or sweeteners, of many crucified lives, and I confess to you that that causes me sorrow and shame," the pope wrote in the letter, which the Vatican made public. "I have made serious mistakes in the assessment and perception of the situation, especially due to the lack of truthful and balanced information." The head of the Catholic Church asked for forgiveness "from all those I have offended," saying he hoped to do so personally in coming days, in a series of meetings in Rome with representatives of the people interviewed. The new era of big batteries has already drawn scrutiny after fiery electric-car crashes across America and Europe. Now, U.S. city planners are worried about the same risk of hard-to-control blazes as these power-storage units make their way into basements and onto rooftops. You can have these things go on fire, and then hours or days later, they can reignite, presenting a new challenge for first responders, said Paul Rogers, who led New York Citys effort to establish battery safety standards until he retired as a lieutenant with the fire department this year. Firefighters if they act inappropriately they could get killed, he said. Improvements in energy storage are revolutionizing how and when electricity is used. Batteries now fuel such diverse machines as smartphones and the electric cars proliferating around the world. In the latest trend, racks of batteries stacked up to the size of studio apartments are being installed in urban spaces like office buildings and shopping malls. The units enable buyers to tap into lower-cost and renewable energy and supply backup power during widespread outages. But the same chemistry that makes lithium-ion batteries so effective also poses a hazard. Although fires are rare, an overheating unit can ignite. And although water can put out a battery blaze, it takes a lot more water than other kinds of fires. A few high-profile fires involving mobile phones, laptops, electric cars and even jumbo jets have some city officials calling for more caution and clearer standards before storage units end up in buildings. Advertisement An effort by New York to review the safety of these battery systems has already limited their deployment, according to the research group Electric Power Research Institute. Not a single lithium-ion battery system has been installed inside a building there, though there have been four approved for outdoor spaces, New York utility Consolidated Edison Inc. said. New Yorks fire department says it isnt deliberately slowing installations. The agency just wants to ensure these installations meet appropriate safety standards, said Ronald Spadafora, the departments chief of fire prevention. The way Rogers puts it: A lot of code officials, they dont know what to do with the lithium-ion batteries. More batteries Lithium-ion batteries have gotten a lot cheaper dropping almost 80% in price since 2010 as demand increased for electric cars. That has increased the appeal for utilities to integrate batteries that can store the intermittent energy produced by wind and solar farms. Commercial building owners can deploy batteries to buy energy when its cheap, then use it to power air conditioners and lights during hot summer days when electricity prices surge. California, New York and Massachusetts have set targets to increase the amount of storage on their grids, and New York City wants to have 100 megawatt-hours deployed by 2020 enough to power 25,000 to 80,000 homes for an hour, based on wide-ranging estimates of residential electricity use. As rare as battery fires are, periodic blazes in e-cigarettes, laptops and even battery packs on one of the most sophisticated jetliners in the world, the Boeing Co.s 787, have led to government restrictions and frightening headlines. In 2012, an energy storage system made up of lead-acid batteries caught fire next to a wind farm in Hawaii. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has opened investigations into two recent fires involving Tesla Inc. cars, along with a blaze last year. And the agency tasked with setting vehicle safety standards, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said it was gathering information on a recent episode in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Swiss police are examining a fatal Tesla crash last week that triggered a fire. More research Incidents like these have some government officials urging more research into the risks of having even bigger batteries in buildings. A unit can be as small as a school locker or as big as a standard 8-by-20-foot shipping container. The installation of lithium-ion and other new energy storage technologies offer exciting opportunities but also present significant safety concerns, Spadafora said. Installations at scale necessary to power buildings and building systems potentially present very serious fire and life-safety hazards. In San Francisco, the fire department says lithium-ion batteries in buildings with capacities larger than 20 kilowatt-hours must comply with city and California fire codes for stationary battery systems. Rules include placing the batteries in separate rooms with automatic sprinklers, ventilation and smoke detection systems. New York has been more cautious in greenlighting installations, partly because the United States largest city is so densely urban. The fire department said it has taken time to develop its own guidelines to allow for researchers to conduct tests that would help determine the appropriate safety measures. Developing standards A lot of municipalities are waiting to hear what New York is doing, Rogers said. Last month, the New York City fire and building departments, City University of New York, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and utility Con Edison published a guide for permitting and connecting outdoor lithium-ion systems. What we are trying to do is bring this to scale, said Tria Case, director of sustainability at the City University of New York who is responsible for facilitating the development of the energy-storage guidelines. There is a need to develop standards so each project doesnt have to be on a case-by-case analysis. New York City should have a guide for installing indoor storage systems in buildings by years end, Case said. That should help reduce deployment times and cut down on costs for systems. Were excited about the role battery storage can play, both in small scale and large scale, but we have to balance that with the safety concerns with first responders, said Susanne DesRoches, deputy director for energy and infrastructure for the New York City mayors office. So far, the effort to develop consistent regulations hasnt created any bottlenecks in installations, according to Kelly Speakes-Backman, chief executive of the Energy Storage Assn., a Washington-based industry group that has been working with the city. Of course, safety is our first concern, Speakes-Backman said during an interview at an industry conference in Boston last month. We are participating in the working groups to help make sure these standards are safe and reasonable. Chediak writes for Bloomberg. Chinese officials are hoping to mollify President Trumps oft-stated displeasure with Americas huge trade imbalance with China by pledging to import at least $200 billion more in made-in-the-USA products, the director of the White House National Economic Council said Friday. Larry Kudlow, the presidents chief economic advisor, said that meetings Thursday and Friday with Chinese trade officials went well and that President Trump was more optimistic than Ive seen him that a deal can be reached to avert a global trade war. Chinas come to trade, Kudlow told reporters Friday. They are meeting many of our demands. Theres no deal yet to be sure. Its probably going to take a while. Its a process. But theyre coming to play. I believe they want to make a deal. Analysts doubted, however, that China will be able to boost imports fast enough or in the amounts needed to meet earlier demands by Trump to shave more than half of the $370-billion merchandise trade surplus with the United States by 2020. Advertisement More important, analysts warn, such purchases would do little to address systemic problems in the trading relationship and American grievances involving Chinas aggressive industrial policies. Many U.S. businesses have complained about Chinas theft of intellectual property and forced technology transfers to do business there. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Trump to reject the offer. Dont let President Xi play you, Schumer wrote in a tweet Friday. Trading some short-term purchases of American goods and giving up on Chinas theft of American intellectual property (which are our family jewels that will create millions of good paying jobs) is the art of a bad deal. Kudlow stressed that such issues were still on the table. I think just as important, they have to lower their tariff rates, they have to lower their non-tariff barriers, he said. We have to have a verifiable process whereby the technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property stops. Also, some Chinese officials cast doubt on the $200-billion offer. According to Bloomberg on Friday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said he was unaware of such an agreement. Still, American business groups with interests in China were encouraged by the continuing dialogue and noted that the latest visit by the Beijing delegation, led by Vice Premier Liu He, marked a sharp contrast to Lius previous meeting in Washington in February, when the high-level emissary was practically snubbed by Trump. The president announced tariffs targeting Chinese steel on the day Liu was holding talks with administration officials. On Thursday, Trump received Liu in the Oval Office and tweeted a photo of the two men shaking hands. Talking trade with the Vice Premier of the Peoples Republic of China, Liu He. pic.twitter.com/9T7Iq6F3Xe Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2018 Just two weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other senior administration officials, in a visit to Beijing, came away empty after exchanging unusually tough demands with Liu and other Chinese officials. They were pretty far apart and [had] a wide gap to overcome, so I think its good that on a pretty quick basis that Vice Premier Liu comes here to continue discussions, said John Frisbie, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, which represents some 200 large companies doing business in China, including General Motors, Walmart and FedEx. He said he hoped for an early harvest, or some immediate outcomes, to emerge from the two days of talks that could defuse tensions and help lead both sides to step back from threats of massive tariffs that have stoked fears of a trade war between the two biggest economies in the world. At the same time, Frisbie said, any short-term results should not come at the expense of dealing squarely with the structural issues in the relationship, such as market access and protection of intellectual property. At the top of the Trump administrations demands outlined two weeks ago was a $200-billion reduction in Chinas trade surplus with the United States, reflecting the presidents perspective of the bilateral trade number as the key scorecard, even though economists widely view the U.S. trade deficit as caused largely by a mismatch between the nations savings and investments. Chinas response in committing to ramp up purchases of American goods was clearly aimed at soothing Trumps personal sore point with China, but experts said it was hard to see how Beijing could make a big dent in the deficit anytime soon. For one thing, China can buy only so many Boeing airplanes and soybeans, the top two U.S. imports in China. Beijing could direct Chinese firms to shift purchases from other countries to the U.S., but that would present problems for Chinas relations with other nations and also risk putting too much dependence on America. The Chinese proposal was said to include importing the United States growing production of energy resources such as natural gas, but a lack of pipeline and other U.S. infrastructure constraints would limit such purchases in the near term. For years Chinese officials have argued that the U.S. could improve its trade balance with China by relaxing export controls prohibiting the sale of various U.S. software, equipment and other products that could contribute to the Asian countrys military capabilities. But the recent trend has been to tighten these controls, not ease them, the latest example being the recent ban on U.S. companies selling products to ZTE, the giant Chinese telecom-equipment maker. The Trump administration last month sanctioned ZTE for violating a previous settlement over illegal shipments to Iran, although the president this week indicated that those restrictions could be softened as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trumps reversal of position on ZTE helped pave the way for the talks this week but also perpetuated confusion and questions about what Trump would be willing to accept and what would weigh in that decision. As before, the president on Thursday referred to his special relationship with Chinas Xi. At the same time, he criticized China and other U.S. trading partners as very spoiled. He also suggested China was behind North Koreas recent second thoughts about attending a June summit with Trump as a way to increase Chinas leverage in the U.S. trade talks. The latest from Washington Previously Trump had offered to ease up trade demands on China if Xi would help the U.S. rein in North Koreas nuclear program. Im at a loss as to understand what the administrations priorities are with China, said Wendy Cutler, who has led trade negotiations for Presidents George W. Bush and Obama and is now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. Theyve put so many issues on the table, and its unclear to me whether they would be willing to settle for a deal if China agrees to buy more U.S. goods and lower the trade deficit, she said. Is that sufficient for a deal with some market access commitments, or do they need to see underlying structural changes? ... All of these issues were in their proposal, and they just dont lend themselves to a quick deal. Sharp differences in the upper reaches of the Trump administration also have complicated matters. The U.S. side is being led by Mnuchin, who analysts say has been eager to seek a deal with Chinas Liu and calm trade waters that have weighed on financial markets and the broader American economy. But other senior administration officials, Lighthizer and especially trade advisor Peter Navarro, have been more vocal critics of the Chinese and have preferred a more antagonistic approach. Navarro, a former UC Irvine professor and noted China hawk, was said to have been excluded from the two-day meetings with Liu and the Chinese delegation. The Chinese dont want him in the room, and if the U.S. wants a deal, the U.S. doesnt want him either, said Derek Scissors, a China expert at the American Enterprise Institute. Regardless of the rift or any immediate gains from the talks, Scissors said, the forces shaping the long-term competitive battle between the two countries will be much more difficult to find a middle ground on. Even if theres a deal, it wont change the trajectory of the U.S.-China story, he said. don.lee@latimes.com Twitter: @dleelatimes noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @noahbierman UPDATES: 2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with Kudlows comments. 1:15 p.m.: This article was updated with Schumers tweet. This article was originally published at 9 a.m. Ride-sharing giants Uber and Lyft patted themselves on the back this week for adopting a totally #MeToo policy that victims of sexual assault and harassment wont be held to the companies forced-arbitration requirement and will be able to seek their day in court. We have learned its important to give sexual assault and harassment survivors control of how they pursue their claims, Tony West, Ubers chief legal officer, said in a blog post. He said the company will allow such people to sue rather than arbitrate and will not hold them to any confidentiality agreements. They will be free to tell their story wherever and however they see fit, he said. Lyft promptly declared itself on board with that, declaring: We agree with the changes and have removed the confidentiality requirement for sexual assault victims, as well as ended mandatory arbitration for those individuals. Advertisement These are laudable moves. Theyre also not good enough. Not even close. When you get to the fine print of each companys announcement, you see that Uber and Lyft are still concerned as much with protecting themselves as they are with protecting victims. While the companies get points for allowing some customers to sue, theyre still denying people the right to join others in class actions, which can be far more costly to businesses than individual lawsuits. Theyre also still requiring people to secretly arbitrate any dispute that doesnt involve sexual assault or harassment, even though theyve acknowledged that going to trial can be preferable for people with a story to tell. The ability to join in a class-action lawsuit is very important, said Barbara Hadsell, a Pasadena lawyer who specializes in sexual harassment and civil rights cases. It sends a much larger message. The changes by Uber and Lyft came two weeks after CNN reported that at least 103 Uber drivers in the United States have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing their passengers over the last four years. The drivers were arrested, are wanted by police, or have been named in civil suits related to the incidents, a CNN investigation found. At least 31 drivers have been convicted for crimes ranging from forcible touching and false imprisonment to rape, and dozens of criminal and civil cases are pending. Hadsell told me that allowing sexual assault victims to seek redress in court if so desired is a very big deal, as is freeing women from confidentiality agreements in the event of settlements. But she said class actions are crucial in situations in which there may have been harassment or abuse but no physical assault. Under such cicumstances, a woman might be reluctant to go through the time and expense of pursuing an individual lawsuit. A class action, on the other hand, in which people with shared grievances band together, can hold a company accountable for relatively minor issues that nevertheless reflect negligent corporate practices, such as not sufficiently vetting drivers. Going forward as a class sends a different but similarly important message, Hadsell said. It shows that its not just one woman or one crazy driver. It says something is wrong with the company. When Uber and Lyft customers download each companys app, they have to agree to the terms of service. Those terms stipulate that if you have a legal beef, you have to resolve it through private arbitration and cant join any class actions. Gloria Allred, the Los Angeles lawyer who has squared off against President Trump and Bill Cosby (and seemingly every other high-profile man accused of treating women horribly), told me that class actions may be the only way many victims of sexual harassment can seek justice. Most plaintiffs lawyers arent going to take the case unless there are significant damages, she said. Its not going to be worthwhile to file a lawsuit and possibly litigate for years. A class action, Allred said, allows women to unite in pursuing accountability in situations in which the harm may not rise individually to the level of significant damages, but on a combined basis can make for a meaningful case. I reached out to Uber and Lyft with questions about why class actions had been excluded from each companys go-ahead-and-sue policy switch. Spokeswomen for both companies agreed to speak only on background, which means anonymously. The Uber spokeswoman said a lot of thought and review went into the companys decision, and that the heart of the issue is that we want to make sure victims and survivors are free to speak out. When I asked why not apply that same thinking to class actions, she said a big chunk of class-action settlement money ends up in lawyers pockets, which is true, and the decision was made for victims, not for lawyers. Lyfts spokeswoman would only confirm that the company still preserves its ability to compel arbitration in the class-action context. I asked why but received no answer. Every attorney and consumer advocate I spoke with commended the two companies for at least doing something. Uber and Lyft deserve recognition for moving in the right direction, they said. But they could have done more to level the playing field, said Christine Hines, legislative director for the National Assn. of Consumer Advocates. They should allow all other legal complaints to also be heard in open court, and they should stop banning their customers and workers from participating in class actions. Requiring that complaints go forward one by one, in forced arbitration or in court, often works out better for corporations accused of pervasive misconduct than for their victims. It seems pretty simple to me. If Uber and Lyft are saying that theres merit to having your day in court, even for primarily cathartic reasons, its disingenuous to continue denying many people a right to sue. Some victims of sexual abuse deserve the sunlight of a public hearing but others do not? Victims of other bad practicies, such as, say, systemic overcharging, have no right to join forces in seeking accountability? Yes, class actions can enrich lawyers. Id have no problem with limiting lawyers to 10% of a settlement rather than their customary third of the take. But that unfortunate quirk of our legal system doesnt mitigate the usefulness of class actions as powerful tools for holding a companys feet to the fire. Our message to the world is that we need to turn the lights on, Ubers West wrote in his blog post. It starts with improving our product and policies, but it requires so much more, and were in it for the long haul. Prove it. 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. Whether its sand from a beach in Israel or a little Buddha sculpture acquired during a post-tsunami rebuilding effort in Thailand, actor Marque Richardsons Silver Lake loft brims with simple yet meaningful objects from around the world. They all have a common thread of peace, gratitude and oneness, said Richardson, 32, the star of Netflixs Dear White People. These are reminders that everything is OK because I have my health, my family and the things that matter to me. If all this stuff was to go, Id be OK. The loft sits atop Richardsons 800-square-foot apartment and is used mainly as a creative and compact workspace. Traveling around the world, especially in famously space-efficient Tokyo, taught Richardson to be resourceful when decorating a cloistered room. This place has everything stacked on top of itself, so turning this loft into an office called for creativity and having appropriate-sized furniture that fits the space, he said. Advertisement Why is this your favorite room? Because its the highest room; I like to be high. Theres a view of the hills and the Silver Lake situation that almost reminds me of the Bay Area in terms of the vibe, the homes and the hilliness. How would you describe your design taste? Clean, modern and crisp. What inspired the orange, white and blue paint choices up here? Its weird, because this orange color was not the original plan. It was supposed to be a glossy brown thats what it looked like on the little sample. But all of a sudden we painted the whole thing, and it was orange! But it was cool, because I do so much work up here that I need energy, and I feed off of these bright and bold colors. It was a happy accident. What is one of your favorite memories in here? I work out up here like its a prison cell, doing push-ups, lifting free weights, power block weights, sit-ups, and Ive got my yoga mat and ab roller. But whenever I work out in this small space, my dog will come up and start licking my face. He will not leave me alone. Whats one of your favorite pieces? My little gratitude rock from Malibu beach. When I hold it, it keeps me grounded and focused on what matters. There have been different times in my life when I didnt have things, financially and in other ways, but Ive been able to build on top of that. This rock is a reminder to stay grateful. Tell me about this wall of film posters and photos. The signed True Blood poster was from when I worked on the show. I was too nervous to ask any of the actors to sign my poster, so I just forged their signatures. I never lie about it and just tell people I was too shy. Theres a photo with the Sheens [Charlie and Martin] from Anger Management and one with the cast of Dear White People. This wall is an acknowledgment of how far Ive come, a reminder to be grateful as well motivation for the many things that Im looking forward to in terms of career and life. hotproperty@latimes.com MORE FROM HOT PROPERTY: Princes Caribbean compound set for auction in July Veteran actor Judd Hirsch takes to a hillside home in Studio City Songwriter-producer Stephan Moccio lists Pacific Palisades home for $10 million Tyler Perry sells modern tour de force in Mulholland Estates for $15.6 million Despite its name, West Los Angeles is not the westernmost part of the city; its western border does not even reach the 405 Freeway. It ends instead a few blocks east of that gargantuan river of asphalt, where Sawtelle begins. Nowadays, West L.A. is actually a marooned rump of the once-mighty West Los Angeles of old, which stretched from Century City to the Santa Monica city limits, and which has atomized over the years into a handful of disparate neighborhoods. Its cloaked in a state of semi-anonymity. Many people assume West Los Angeles refers to all that lies between the sea and Robertson Boulevard (or wherever their own arbitrary border of central Los Angeles lies). But it is its own place, not just a toponym to be used interchangeably with the Westside. Advertisement Reduced now to a rectangular patch of heavily residential streets squeezed in between Santa Monica and Pico boulevards, it is something very like a suburb in the heart of the city. Its a hometown, a place whose most recognizable extant landmark might just be the appropriately homey Apple Pan, since the oh-so-suburban Westside Pavilion actually lies across Pico in Rancho Park and will soon be converted to offices anyway. The agricultural origins of the neighborhood are apparent in its orderly street grid, which is substantially broken only in its hilly northeast corner. In the 1920s, when Pico Boulevard was paved and the bean fields and orchards were subdivided, there were no small townships to incorporate into the street plan, so developers laid out regularly spaced blocks and filled them with homes. Santa Monica, Westwood and Pico boulevards served as the Main Streets of the residents of these homes, with small businesses of every stripe within walking distance of most. The widening of Santa Monica Boulevard, which began when it was part of Route 66, obliterated much of the older construction that once lined it, but on Pico, the pleasing street wall of old brick buildings remains. In the postwar boom years, developers began to build apartments at either end of the core of West Los Angeles, especially in the Beverly Glen corridor, and in the 1980s, the Westside Pavilion replaced a number of neighborhood shops, despite protests from residents. The appeal of West Los Angeles as a place to live has survived all of these relatively minor disruptions. It has stayed so popular that mansionization is the big worry now. And as for Sawtelle and the other parts of the neighborhood that were cleaved away over the years, West Los Angeles probably doesnt even miss them. (@latimesgraphics ) Neighborhood highlights Shop til you drop: The impending death of the Westside Pavilion aside, West Los Angeles is still a thriving retail destination for those who like to shop local, and, better yet, its fairly walkable. A Westside commuters dream: For anyone who commutes to Century City, Culver City or Silicon Beach, West Los Angeles offers an extremely appealing location for your home base. Neighborhood challenge Cut-through traffic: With three major thoroughfares and navigation apps dumping commuters onto surrounding residential streets, its best to cross the street carefully in West Los Angeles. Expert insight Elizabeth Donovan, who just sold the areas priciest home this year, said West L.A. is hip sans the smugness that comes across in some surrounding areas. The neighborhood has become home to a relatively young demographic thats hip and cool and wants equally hip and cool places to dine, shop and experience the community, she said. She added that the Expo Line has been a game-changer for the community and that the Expo/Bundy Station has opened the door for easier commutes and an increase in visitors. West L.A. is chock-full of new developments, she said. With hundreds of units and nearly 100,000 square feet of proposed retail and restaurant space, the neighborhood is definitely evolving. Market snapshot In the 90025 ZIP Code, based on six sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in March was $1.45 million, up 5% year over year, according to CoreLogic. Report card Four public schools lie within the West Los Angeles boundaries. Of those, Nora Sterry Elementary scored the highest on the 2013 Academic Performance Index, at 814. Richland Avenue Elementary and Brockton Avenue Elementary posted scores of 785 and 778, respectively. The areas high school, University Senior High, scored 747. Times staff writer Jack Flemming contributed to this report. hotproperty@latimes.com MORE FROM HOT PROPERTY: Princes Caribbean compound set for auction in July Veteran actor Judd Hirsch takes to a hillside home in Studio City Songwriter-producer Stephan Moccio lists Pacific Palisades home for $10 million Tyler Perry sells modern tour de force in Mulholland Estates for $15.6 million In her four decades as a celebrated curator of photography, Anne Wilkes Tucker has combed through the archives of such masters as Dorothea Lange, Robert Frank and Diane Arbus. But none of that was on the scale of what she took on for the Annenberg Space for Photography in L.A.: diving into the 14 million photographs at the Library of Congress. It was a massive assignment, culminating in the multimedia exhibition Not an Ostrich: And Other Images From Americas Library, on view at Annenberg through Sept. 9. In prints and on digital screens, the show samples nearly two centuries of history and Americana, some by notable photographers, others by unknown creators behind the camera. I love the library and I treasure it. I sat there, and the staff brought me boxes. I never knew what I was going to look at that day, said Tucker, 72, who retired from the Museum of Fine Arts Houston in 2015 and then spent a year and a half visiting the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to look through slides, contacts, prints, magazines and notebooks. As the staff got to know me, they began to bring me favorites: Youre probably not interested, but ... And I was, Oh, yeah, oh yeah. Toni Frissell photograph of Jacqueline Bouvier and John Kennedy on their wedding day, Newport, R.I., 1953. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division At the Annenberg, a copy of the earliest photograph of Abraham Lincoln now hangs beside a young Harriet Tubman, the abolitionist and former slave. There is Dorothea Lange's classic 1936 Migrant Mother portrait epitomizing the Great Depression, plus pictures of the Wright Brothers first flight, Muhammad Alis swollen hands after a fight and a modern scene of adoption by a gay couple. The library has built this extraordinary collection of who we are and its available online, Tucker said. Also among the Annenberg shows 440 images is an 1839 self-portrait by Robert Cornelius, who built a camera with a box and lens from a pair of opera glasses to create an early selfie. And there are pictures of New York City in the late 1940s by Stanley Kubrick, a teenage staff photographer at Look magazine years before his groundbreaking career as a filmmaker. This is the first time weve partnered with another cultural institution to have an exhibit like this. This is what we need to keep doing. Carla Hayden, librarian of Congress Benjamin F. Powelson photograph of Harriet Tubman, 1868 or 1869. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division The pictures Tucker found archived at the library could be joyful or tragic, reflecting the full range of American experience, with its recurring themes and images. One picture captures a nighttime initiation meeting of the Ku Klux Klan, as dozens of men in white hoods surround new recruits in civilian clothes a 1920s image with new relevance in 2018. Thats a news picture that suddenly had current meaning, Tucker said. That picture was made during the rebirth of the Klan, when all these [Confederate] statues were put up. That picture was taken two miles from Washington Klansmen looking creepy as they can look. It just shows how recurring this is. Historical moments dont always remain historic. She remembers a tough morning going through the photo archive of the NAACP, which included images of violence and hatred toward African Americans before and during the civil rights era. The library staff seemed to understand her challenge, and balanced her material between the serious and uplifting. On that same day, they brought her pictures from the work of Mack Sennett, the silent-era filmmaker who discovered Charlie Chaplin. Tucker uncovered a panoramic picture of 1920s bathing beauties on a beach in Southern California, as well as a portrait of a house cat dressed heroically like the Valkyrie Brunnhilde, with breastplate and tiny winged helmet. It just made me laugh, Tucker said. Brunnhilde, 1936. photographer unknown. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division In organizing the exhibition, she sought to represent every state in the U.S. Working closely with Beverly W. Brannan, the librarys curator of photography, Tucker aimed to unearth uncataloged treasures along with iconic historic images. Not an Ostrich is Tuckers fourth show at Annenberg and likely her last as a curator anywhere, as she intends to spend her retirement focused on writing and editing books about photography. The Library of Congress, she said, has been an important resource for her entire career, starting with her first book, The Womans Eye in 1973, and more recently with an Annenberg show on war photography. I felt honor-bound to represent it, she said of the library. I kept asking, Am I getting it right? Not an Ostrich was conceived by Wallis Annenberg, chairwoman of the photography spaces parent Annenberg Foundation, to bring wider attention to the Library of Congress holdings. The collection encompasses 126 million historical records, images, documents and artifacts that include the archives of 23 American presidents and the worlds largest collection of comic books. What we do is preserve, conserve, collect these materials and make them available for people to create knowledge from, said Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress since 2016 and herself a history-maker as the first woman or African American to hold that position. This is the first time weve partnered with another cultural institution to have an exhibit like this. This is what we need to keep doing. Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" photograph, officially titled "Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children, age 32," 1936. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division Hayden developed special affection for photography from a young age, participating in her cousins elaborate experiments with cameras. That relative, Stephen Smith, is now a professor of photography at Arizona State University. I became his subject. A lot of times it was maybe my arm, she said with a laugh. It wasnt a lot of straight-on portraits. So I know about cameras, lighting. With a staff of 3,200, the Library of Congress collects materials as they emerge sometimes historical items found in attics and garages, sometimes contemporary material deemed important. So far, a million images have been digitized and are free to download at www.loc.gov. Its challenging, because what is going to be important 50 years from now? Hayden said. History never stops. Were all on this journey. Not an Ostrich: And Other Images From Americas Library Where: Annenberg Space for Photography, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, L.A. When: Through Sept. 9; closed Mondays and Tuesdays Admission: Free See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts. MORE ART: How Damien Hirst shark art came to swim above the new bar at the Palms in Vegas 2018 Herb Alpert Award winners noted for explorations of race and social justice Miro masterpiece sold to the highest bidder. It belongs in a museum instead In an inspiring joint effort, three small theater companies are about to present bite-size chapters in the supersize The Ballad of Bimini Baths, set at a Los Angeles natatorium popular in the first half of the 20th century. The trilogy of plays by L.A. playwright Tom Jacobson is built on social observation, as are other recent and imminent openings: Ripe Frenzy, about a mass shooting, and a new take on the ancient Greek drama Antigone that points up its rebellious nature. Bimini Baths trilogy at 3 theaters The essentials: From the dawn of the 20th century to 1951, Angelenos enthusiastically splashed about in the Bimini Baths, at the site of hot springs one block east of Vermont Avenue between 1st and 2nd streets. A relatively affordable luxury for a 25-cent entry fee, the baths were visited by everyday folks and the Hollywood crowd alike, but as at many facilities of the period, only white people were admitted. From the baths history Jacobson has devised three plays about racism and sins in need of being washed away. The pieces are being staged concurrently by three of L.A.s most adventurous companies, all devoted to new work. Why this? Among the true events woven into the plays are the 1908 drowning of a 15-year-old boy at the baths, believed to be at the hands of a Roman Catholic priest; the 1939 burning of the nearby Palomar Ballroom shortly before Count Basie and his orchestra were to play there; and a 1948 sit-in by Los Angeles Tribune reporter Hisaye Yamamoto to desegregate the baths. These events figure prominently in, respectively, Plunge, Tar and Mexican Day the last taking its name from the one day a month that people of color could visit, the day before the pools were drained and cleaned. The plays progress from sin to redemption, something that Jacobson says hes tried to show cant be done alone you have to do it together. The stories are self-contained and dont need to be seen in chronological order, Jacobson says, but each contains enough unresolved issues and twists, he hopes, to entice viewers to attend all three. Details: A pass to all three shows is $45 at www.biminitrilogy.com. Plunge presented by Son of Semele, 3301 Beverly Blvd., L.A. Previews Saturday and Sunday; opens May 26. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 5 p.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Tuesdays; ends June 17. $10 previews; $20 and $25 regular run. www.sonofsemele.org. 90 minutes, no intermission. Tar presented by Playwrights Arena at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., L.A. Opens June 9. 8 p.m. Saturdays and Mondays, 5 p.m. Sundays; ends July 2. $15-$30. playwrightsarena.org/theater/tar. 85 minutes, no intermission. Mexican Day presented by Rogue Machine at the Met Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., L.A. Opens May 26. 8 p.m. Fridays and Sundays; 4 p.m. Saturdays; ends July 1. $20-$40. (855) 585-5185, www.roguemachinetheatre.com. About two hours, one intermission. Ripe Frenzy at Greenway Court Theatre The essentials: Opening night at a small-town high school production of Our Town becomes a scene of tragedy. A mass shooting prompts the towns mothers to consider Americans culpability in the pandemic of gun violence. Why this? Central to Jennifer Barclays Ripe Frenzy is the question of whether violence is being perpetuated by social media and news coverage that feeds on the horror and excitement of killings. Theres a resonance with Thornton Wilders quintessentially American Our Town. The play was awarded the National New Play Networks 2016 Smith Prize for Political Theatre, was developed in part at last years Ojai Playwrights Conference and is being presented in L.A. as part of a rolling world premiere that included productions in Boston and Atlanta. Greenway Arts Alliance, the plays L.A. presenter, will foster community conversations with post-performance discussions and a play-related art contest at Fairfax High School, where Greenway operates. Details: Greenway Court Theatre, 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles. Previews 8 p.m. Friday, opens 8 p.m. Saturday and continues at 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. May 20 and June 17; ends June 17. $15-$34. (323) 673-0544, GreenwayCourtTheatre.org/RipeFrenzy. Melody Butiu, from left, Elizabeth Ann Bennett and Renee Marie Brewster in "Ripe Frenzy." Michael Lamont Antigone by Fugitive Kind What: Antigones brothers died on the battlefield. One is left unburied by decree of her vindictive uncle, whos now king. She buries her brother anyway, and the uncles over-the-top response precipitates his downfall. Why this? A play by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles is rethought by New York playwright Matt Minnicino, who serves warning to todays autocrats. The expanded title of his piece, Antigone, or We Are Rebels Asking for the Storm, borrows the words of Russian activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who was imprisoned in 2012 with other members of the punk band Pussy Riot. The world premiere by Fugitive Kind is directed by Amanda McRaven, a 2014 Ovation Award-winner for Fugitives The Pliant Girls. Details: Fugitive Kind at the Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends June 2. $20 and $25. (330) 209-7711, www.fugitivekind.org. Sage Howard Simpson, left, and Mercedes Manning in "Antigone, or We Are Rebels Asking for the Storm." Alana Cheuvront SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter The 99-Seat Beat appears every Friday. Our reviewers shortlist offerings with an emphasis on smaller venues. Some (but not all) recommendations are shows we've seen; other picks are based on the track record of the company, playwright, director or cast. Comprehensive theater listings are posted every Sunday at latimes.com/arts. See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts. daryl.miller@latimes.com Twitter: @darylhmiller MORE THEATER: Lust, secrets, murder: Dive into the drag-rific world of 'Die, Mommie, Die!' 'Sisters Rosensweig' sends Wendy Wasserstein's storytelling back into the limelight Jane Anderson gives her 'Baby Dance' some smart new steps 'Solo Must Die,' and so must this 'Star Wars' musical spoof Last week on the 99-Seat Beat Just how crazy was Robert Schumann? He was, without doubt, a peculiar and troubled composer who had suicidal tendencies and ended his days institutionalized. Then again, he was a quintessential 19th century Romantic. We need some focus. Thursday night the Los Angeles Philharmonic began Gustavo Dudamels annual composer festival, this year Schumann Focus. It was preceded by an Upbeat Live talk by psychiatrist and pianist Richard Kogan, who described Schumanns brilliantly overheated, obsessive, disjointed piano music as an instance of a serious bipolar condition in operation. There is plenty more Schumann baggage we could add. He is not a composer generally admired for his orchestral ability, and conductors have regularly re-orchestrated his symphonies. He wasnt supposed to be all that great at stringing thoughts together. His fancies he sometimes signed pieces with his alter egos, the dashing Florestan or the dreamer Eusebius could get the better of him. His late music has been viewed as a sad map charting a mind losing its center. Oh, yes, he drank. He wasnt very good with money. Someone should mention, though, that he was, besides being one of the most influential composers of his time, one of the great writers on music and the first great music critic. Advertisement I felt a little bipolar myself Thursday after first encountering Kogan illustrate Schumanns sequence of solo piano character pieces, Carnival, as a manic-depressive cavalcade and then, a half hour later, hearing pianist Mitsuko Uchida play the opening piano cascade of Schumanns Piano Concerto as a glorious attention-getter signaling that all is right with the world. What followed was a performance of the concerto in which one thing flowed graciously, elegantly, exuberantly and naturally into the next (so much for Mr. Fragmentation). Sure, moods changed. The slow movement could be heard as an exquisite love song to Schumanns wife and muse, Clara. Maybe the exhilarating Finale was the product of the composer on a manic jag, but with Uchida giving life to every heartfelt note, maybe it was love. It has been 13 years since Uchida was last at Walt Disney Concert Hall. She is a beloved pianist. The hall was full. She walked on stage to cheers, sat at the piano, gave a funny look and then got up, quickly leaving the stage and quickly returning, smiling and carrying her glasses to laughter all around. She said something to Dudamel, who checked his jacket to make sure he had his glasses. Then, as in a virtuosic slapstick routine, Dudamel cued the orchestral gunshot on the note E, beginning the concerto like a race. Uchida hit the nerve-racking cascade a millisecond later. It was a brilliant indicator that this would be Schumann without apologies. Not Schumann the nut job, not Schumann as mood elevator or depressor, but life giver. This was also a performance of bonding between Dudamel and Uchida, who seemed on the same wavelength throughout, also adding to the sheer persuasiveness of the performance. Conductor and soloist returned to the stage, arm in arm, Dudamel clearly not letting Uchida go without an encore, which he listened to siting on the podium, at her feet. Her reward was Aveu from Carnival played with a miraculous beauty that could hardly be mistaken as the last word of sanity. The three-week festival will include all four of Schumanns symphonies, the cello concerto, a chamber music program and a Peter Sellars staging of Schumanns oratorio, Das Paradies und die Peri. On Thursday there was the First Symphony. (The Second Symphony will replace it for the Saturday and Sunday concerts.) Schumann wrote the score in winter with thoughts of Spring, a depressive in search of mania, perhaps, or merely a Spring symphony. Dudamel made it bright and compelling, emphasizing a rhythmic vitality that made the symphony seem almost a precursor of Stravinskys Rite of Spring. Dudamel further emphasized Schumanns tight symphonic structure and handled the instrumental balances with illuminating clarity. The performance valued method over madness, which is maybe the single most mature example of what art can offer our world right now. Schumann Focus is a very good title. Los Angeles Philharmonic Schumann Focus Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $72-$220 Information: (213) 850-2000, www.laphil.com mark.swed@latimes.com MORE MUSIC: Star cellist, 19, was to perform in L.A., but then Meghan Markle called The Love Potion: Tristan and Isolde, the Long Beach Opera way Soft Power at the Ahmanson: Big, bold, overly complicated and spectacularly unique L.A. Master Chorale time-travels through dreams of the new world Heres a twist: The marvelousness of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is pretty much reserved for the women on the show. Fortunately, three-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub, who plays the title characters dad, Abe, and Michael Zegen, who plays her wayward husband, Joel, are delighted to make hay from the back seat as the women drive the plot surrounding the Mrs. in question (Rachel Brosnahan), a 1950s housewife who, when ditched by her husband, decides to become a stand-up comic. Shalhoub and Zegen sat down with The Envelope at Bond 45 in New York City to discuss what makes them laugh and the importance of heads being blown off. Considering the name of the show, and that the Maisels split in the first episode, I didnt really think youd be sticking around, Michael. Zegen: My parents said the same thing. Advertisement Shalhoub: A lot of people asked me, Is he going to be gone? No! Hes never leaving. Zegen: Amy (Sherman-Palladino) and Dan (Palladino, co-showrunners), unless you get them drunk dont really reveal too much. Shalhoub: I prefer not knowing too much, because when youre doing any given episode, its like life. We dont know whats going to happen in our lives. If you know too much it can sometimes color or inform what youre doing. Its more liberating to blindly put one foot in front of the other. Actor Tony Shaloub (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times ) WATCH: Video Q&As from this seasons hottest contenders Maisel is very female-centered; the men are really more supplemental to the story. Does that feel different to you both in some ways? Zegen: I did Boardwalk Empire and Rescue Me, which are pretty masculine shows. It does feel different to me, but after the pilot aired, one of the Teamsters who was driving me said, I loved the pilot. Its funny and universal in that regard. Shalhoub: I find it liberating. Theres a pressure thats lifted. Were not really driving story so much, were in more of a reactive mode, and thats freeing because these men are not your typical TV male characters. One thing I talked to Amy and Dan early on about, before I got on board I wanted their reassurance that this wasnt going to be a typical TV dad whos the brunt of everyones joke. Thats been done to death. With so much television today, one marker that makes things stand out is when story lines dont go where you expect. Zegen: For me [the series] turned into something even greater than Id expected. I didnt know how big it was going to be. I walked into the Gaslight [comedy club] set and I was like, This is incredible. Then in the second episode its like, Oh, they got more money. This scene Im walking through the garment district and they had like 200 extras and they shut down streets and there was a 1950s bus driving by and I thought, This is going to be a big show. Whats your dream arc for upcoming seasons with Joel and Abe? Shalhoub: Its risky to get ahead of ourselves, because were not privy to what the writers have in mind. But Abe as we transition into the early 60s and Kennedy and Nixon and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Id like to see that he gets really obsessed as a father, as a citizen. Id love to see that this is another huge obstacle in his path. Actor Michael Zegan (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times ) Zegen: I would like for Joel to find something hes good at. He doesnt have a game plan right now. Right now hes kind of miserable and I just want him to be happy. Have either of you ever done stand-up? Zegen: No desire at all. Shalhoub: I cant imagine anything more terrifying. Zegen: I applaud anyone who has the courage to do that. Getting heckled thats something I dont need to experience. Have you ever been heckled? Shalhoub: Only in my marriage. Im kidding. Not really. I have had horrible experiences where youre asked to emcee something, or run a live auction, and you cant get anyones attention. That to me is like what stand-up must be like when people dont laugh. Zegen: I had a sketch comedy group in college, and we did a show once where the audience just decided not to laugh. We did three shows that weekend Thursday and Friday were great, and Saturday nobody laughed. When it happens, you cannot get off the stage fast enough. So what makes you laugh? Zegen: Ive always been attracted to sarcasm. I grew up watching The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live and my dad raised me on Bill Murray movies. Randomness, random humor. Shalhoub: I like political humor, the kinds of things [Late Night host] Seth Meyers does, and [Late Show host Stephen] Colbert. Zegen: These days its funny, but so depressing. Shalhoub: But I need it; I need to be able to look at that material to get some relief. These guys devote all their time and energy to finding that perfect comedic line. Zegen: I was listening in at the last table read, and there are lines on paper that wouldnt be funny but when Tony says them theyre hilarious. How do you do that? Shalhoub: I wish I knew. calendar@latimes.com Curb Your Enthusiasm took a six-year break between its eighth and ninth seasons. Fans and its cast members wont have to wait so long for another go-around, as Curb will soon begin shooting a 10th season. Cast member J.B. Smoove, who plays Leon, Larry Davids permanent houseguest on the show, says he was thrilled to hear the news, if only to brush up on his arithmetic skills. Heres what I do when I get an announcement like that: I start counting my money, Smoove told The Times during a recent video interview. Everybody should always do math. Like, If I dont pay my light bill and my lights go off today, can I keep my gas on for another week? Is that a consideration even with Curb cast member money? Advertisement Like they say, the more you make, the more you spend, Smoove said. Except for maybe David, who, according to Smoove, has a unique way of withdrawing funds from the bank. Larry is sitting on a lot of money. Larrys got that old Seinfeld money, Smoove said. I tell people all the time, Larry carries his money long. Most people fold their money over, carry it in their pocket. Larry carries his money straight, flat. So, heres how Larry does it, Smoove continued. When Larry goes to the bank, he brings a big security guy. Larry hasnt even touched his Curb Your Enthusiasm money. He spends his money from the bottom up. He has his money all stacked up. All his Seinfeld money is on the bottom; all his Curb money is on the top. So he has this big guy who lifts his money up and Larry grabs his Seinfeld money from the bottom. Thats what rich people do. Apparently, the rich or at least David do a lot of things differently. I went to Larrys house, Smoove recalled. I dont know if hes crazy or was just trying to show off but he made money lemonade. He came in there, put a lemon on the table, squeezed the lemon in the pitcher and we just started to have a conversation, and he didnt even mention that he just put 25 $100 bills in a pitcher of lemonade. You let a few go in your mouth and you can keep the lights on. You can watch the full interview below. Its an enriching experience. J.B. Smoove talks about paying the bills, becoming a regular on Curb Your Enthusiasm and more. glenn.whipp@latimes.com Twitter: @glennwhipp Cannes notebook: The wonderful, improbable Palme dOr triumph of Hirokazu Kore-edas Shoplifters Director Hirokazu Koreeda winner of the Palme dOr award for Shoplifters. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images) On the last day of every Cannes Film Festival, word begins to leak out about which filmmakers from the competition have been called back for the closing-night awards ceremony. Many of us already knew, going into Saturday nights show, that Pawel Pawlikowskis Cold War, Alice Rohrwachers Happy as Lazzaro, Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman, Nadine Labakis Capernaum and Hirokazu Kore-edas Shoplifters were certain to go home with awards, though which film would win what remained a mystery. Festival juries are notoriously difficult to predict, but several other critics shared my hunch that the Palme dOr, the festivals top prize, would go to either Capernaum or BlacKkKlansman. Both were among the most enthusiastically touted films in the competition, and they offered the jury a chance to anoint either Labaki, a Lebanese director who had just launched herself into the big leagues, or Lee, a veteran American auteur who had famously (and angrily) lost the Palme nearly 30 years ago for Do the Right Thing. Would they go with the striking new talent or the overdue veteran? In the end, they chose the overdue veteran, though not the one some of us were expecting. In a development as startling as it was altogether marvelous, the jury president, Cate Blanchett, announced that the Palme dOr had gone to Kore-edas Shoplifters, one of the quietest, loveliest and most emotionally enduring films in the competition. Did anyone see this coming? To judge by his genially shell-shocked reaction, Kore-eda himself certainly didnt. Read more on this years winners For the past week, rumors have swirled that Troy Carter was planning to step down from his post as Spotifys global head of creator services after pushing back on the streaming services newly launched Hate Content and Hateful Conduct public policy. Last week, the streaming giant announced it was rolling out the policy that would curb content that expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including, race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability. Embattled R&B star R. Kelly and controversial rapper XXXTentacion were the first causalities under the policy, and their music was removed from promotional playlists and algorithmic recommendations, a move that sparked a fervent response from the music industry. Its important to us that our values are reflected in all the work that we do, whether its distribution, promotion, or content creation, the company said in its decision. Advertisement Variety reported that within hours of Spotifys announcement of the new policy, Carter who left artist management to join the company in 2016 called an emergency meeting to discuss the firestorm that came with its rollout. There were reports in the music trades that he had decided to resign after pushing back against the notion of Spotifys determining values. The reports, according to Carter, arent true. I dont think its a secret that everybody didnt agree, Carter told The Times before hosting a private company dinner at his home Thursday. Spotify is one of those companies where we debate about everything just because its such a diverse company, he continued. Everybody has different point of views. Everybody has different backgrounds. While Carter admits the policy is still a work in progress, he dismissed the rumor mill and growing whispers about an impending exit. I think [the answer] is pretty obvious: Im hosting a [company] dinner at my home, he laughed. I invested in Spotify seven years ago. Ive been on the other end of that phone with Daniel [Ek, Spotifys CEO] during some of its toughest moments when I wasnt at the company, and Im still on the other end of that phone while Im here. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour gerrick.kennedy@latimes.com For more music news follow me on Twitter:@GerrickKennedy It might sound like the title of a Sherlock Holmes story, but the Mystery of the Royal Wedding Dress Designer is, if not as elaborate as a Holmes tale, then certainly as thrilling, judging from the feverish media coverage the topic has garnered ahead of Saturdays nuptials of Great Britains Prince Harry and Los Angeles-born Suits actress Meghan Markle. And just like the dapper detective, fashion hounds have been sniffing out clues at every possible opportunity. When Markle wore a Stella McCartney cape dress for Queen Elizabeth IIs birthday concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London last month, that label was suddenly a contender. But, the subsequent choice of a bespoke Emilia Wickstead skirt suit for a commemoration service at Westminster Abbey a few days later proved equally tantalizing to royal watchers especially because Wickstead created a universally admired wedding gown for the Duke of Wellingtons daughter, Charlotte Wellesley, two years ago. Other names being bandied about include Erdem, Burberry and Alexander McQueen; the last of those labels was responsible for the Duchess of Cambridges wedding dress in 2011. Burberry, clockwise from top left, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Erdem are some of the brands mentioned as possibly designing Meghan Markle's wedding gown for Saturday's royal wedding. Getty Images Countdown to the Royal Wedding Your complete guide to the 2018 royal wedding However, it is Ralph & Russo, Britains only official haute couture label, that is considered the front-runner. It was a daring Ralph & Russo dress that Markle chose for her official engagement portrait with Harry in December, and last month, paparazzi snapped the prince exiting the brands London store. So convinced are royal experts that London-based, Australian-born duo Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo are behind the gown that bookmakers have suspended bets on the wedding dress designers identity. (British bookmakers are offering bets on all aspects of the wedding, including the color of the queens hat.) Unsurprisingly, when contacted by The Times, a spokesman for the label declined to comment. Prince Harry and fiancee Meghan Markle, who's wearing a Ralph & Russo dress, pose for official engagement photos at Frogmore House in December 2017 in Windsor, Britain. Alexi Lubomirski via Getty Image Take a look at Prince Harry's style through the years While the provenance of the gown will remain a closely guarded secret until the wedding, history suggests it will most likely be made by a British brand, despite the fact that Markles homeland boasts some of the worlds top names in bridal, including Vera Wang, Zac Posen and L.A.s own Monique Lhuillier. When Harrys great-great-great-grandfather Edward VII wed Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863, the bride was forbidden from wearing a dress made from Brussels lace. Her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, was adamant she wear British lace as a very clear statement that she was becoming part of the British royal family, said Elly Summers, a curator at the Fashion Museum in Bath, England. Similarly, when Harrys mother, the then-Diana Spencer, asked Elizabeth and David Emanuel to create her wedding gown for her 1981 marriage to Prince Charles, the duo was determined to use only British materials. The formal wedding portrait of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, taken at Buckingham Palace on July 29, 1981, after their marriage at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. Associated Press Not that any such protocols were explicitly communicated to the Emanuels. We made up our own rules, Elizabeth Emanuel said. We knew it was going to be at St. Pauls [Cathedral in London] and we wanted to make an absolutely amazing, ultimate fairy-tale princess dress. The result included a 25-foot train and a spare skirt in case of spillages. Emanuel also offered a very practical reason why the identity of Markles dress designer is being such a carefully guarded secret using Charles and Dianas wedding by way of example. We were hassled from Day 1, she said, recalling how she and her now-former husband went to great lengths to keep the design a secret from dogged journalists. We left false trails for reporters; we left threads of different colors in the dustbins, Emanuel said. Any small scrap of fabric, even an individual sequin, we would pick up and put it in a trunk. A sign for the Ralph & Russo store in Mayfair in London. The designer for Meghan Markle's wedding dress hasn't been announced ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry on Saturday. Among the speculated favorites are Erdem, Ralph & Russo and Stella McCartney. Jack Taylor / Getty Images Of course, for those who have scored a coveted invite to the wedding, they must also give some thought to their own outfits. Its very difficult to look like a cool, 21st-century girl and go to a royal wedding, said Richard Dennen, editor of the British society bible Tatler. I know a lot of people at the moment are panicking about it. As well as adhering to a strict set of unwritten rules governing hemlines and shoulder straps (the former should be neither too long nor too short; the latter should not be too slim), there are also shoes and hats to consider, because the ceremony will take place at St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle. Jacques Azagury, one of Dianas former couturiers, is dressing a number of guests for Harry and Meghans nuptials. The most important thing to think of is that you want to look good, but its not your day, he said. So anything thats going to take any attention away from the bride is a no-no. Support our journalism Please consider subscribing today to support stories like this one. Get full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks. Already a subscriber? Your support makes our work possible. Thank you. image@latimes.com For fashion news, follow us at @latimesimage on Twitter. Liz Johnson, the chef at the new Echo Park delicatessen Freedmans, has put in time at Noma, the Michelin two-starred LEffervescence in Tokyo, and the tiny New York brasserie Mimi. Her three-tiered smoked fish platters at Freedmans are the equivalent of a first-class plateau de mer (I encountered it as a Mothers Day special). She makes her schnitzels out of sweetbreads and makes you believe they should always be made of sweetbreads. Her dense little matzo balls have the presence of quenelles. But the only time you see Johnson at Freedmans, and then only if you order the $105 brisket for four, the emotion she is likely to inspire is not chefly reverie, but fear. She wheels a cart over to the table and flicks on a big battery-powered carving knife of a sort you may not have seen since your mom accidentally cut through the cord of hers on Thanksgiving 1983. She wordlessly slices the soft, herb-glazed brisket into thick slices, deftly angling the blade when she gets to the point. She turns the knife off, and you realize how ominous the sound had been; certain scenes from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre come to mind. When you reach for a slice, you realize why the electric knife may have been a good idea the meat is luscious, juicy, soft enough to eat with a spoon but by the time you look over your shoulder to thank her, she and the cart have already disappeared. To create a spectacle with flambeed duck thats why the dish was invented. To create a spectacle with brisket, the homiest dish of the Jewish American kitchen, is remarkable. And while Im sure the brisket your bubbe trots out on Pesach is truly delicious, you really should give Johnsons version a try. Advertisement Freedmans would have been the favorite restaurant of your late Uncle Morris, the guy who had a drawer full of cuff links, a favorite room at the Sands, and a chilled seltzer gun in the fridge. The restaurant may be in Echo Park instead of on Fairfax, but the wood is dark, the bar is ready to make a whiskey sour or a fancy martini, and you can get smoked dates served in a splash of smoked foie gras fat. Tiny latkes pommes Freedman are tricked out like tater tots. There is an entire salad based around half-sour pickles, a concoction you may have wished for the existence of when you were still in the second grade. Cured sea trout pairs with a crispy potato latke at Freedmans. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) The wallpaper looks like something William Morris might have dreamed up in his arsenic-green phase. Slender whitefish eggrolls are served in repurposed candy boxes. The china is mismatched in a way that suggests the year Morris and Yetta just gave up on the idea of separating the milchig plates from the fleishig ones, even on the holidays. A plate of cured yellowtail with green tomato splits the difference between an appetizing plate from Russ & Daughters and a dish you had the last time you went to Koi. Freedmans is Jewish but doesnt hit you over the head with it, as you will realize the first time you see the golden, crunchy potato latkes that have been crisped in a waffle iron, with curls of firm, salty cured sea trout and a schmear of sour cream. (Also, although Johnson is notably fond of Norwegian death metal, whoever is in charge of the music is not above playing an Oasis album all the way through.) When you walk into the restaurant the cooking scent that wafts toward you is not garlic or chicken soup, but fat hot dogs, spiked and spinning endlessly in what looks like an old carnival machine. This may be the only deli in existence whose signature sandwich involves neither pastrami nor brisket, but ripe avocados and fried chicken skin, which is delicious in ways it may be difficult to explain. But there is house-smoked pastrami good if not quite Langers arranged on a plate with an equal quantity of what may be the best sliced deli tongue you have ever tasted, cured in the manner of corned beef but with a bounciness and depth that corned beef rarely approaches. A mushroom-barley soup, which is a pallid dairy dish at even the best delicatessens, is thick as congee and as mushroom-pungent as a double-boiled Chinese soup, with a piercing mushroom flavor that stays with you long after the soup is gone. Afterward, a chewy black-and-white cookie, which is so far above the usual sat-on-cupcake concoctions you may have gnawed on at a Jewish bakery that it should really have another name. But the best meal at Freedmans may actually be weekend brunch, when the soft, dense Toronto-style bagels are freshly baked, the cream cheese may be blended with whitefish or roasted Hatch chiles, and the streaky scrambled eggs are airy and light. You will be tempted by the pancakes with creme fraiche and salty shreds of hot-smoked salmon, and the spectacular hash made with corned tongue and diced potatoes. Will the bagel tower be on the menu when you visit? You should only be so lucky. :: Freedmans A new take on the Jewish deli in an Echo Park strip mall. LOCATION 2619 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 568-3754, freedmansla.com. PRICES Snacks $4-$11; cold plates $12-$18; hot appetizers $11-$18; larger plates $15-$29 (whole brisket $105). DETAILS Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; dinner 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 6 to 11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; brunch 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. Credit cards accepted. Full bar. Lot parking. RECOMMENDED DISHES Half-sour salad; matzo ball soup; latkes with sea trout; black-and-white cookie jonathan.gold@latimes.com @thejgold Pity the poor woman who marries into the British royal family. In exchange for a life of material wealth and privilege, she must give up her own successful career, she must never express her political opinion in public, she must always look like she stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine, and she must live with the knowledge that the intense media interest in royal life has actually resulted in death. (See: Princess Diana.) But pity her poor family even more. This much is clear in the run-up to Saturdays wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales to Her Accomplished Actress Meghan Markle of Los Angeles. Advertisement Apart from the occasional tasteless Nazi costume, the current crop of royals just doesnt seem to generate much in the way of juicy headlines. (At least not the kind that led Queen Elizabeth to dub 1992 her annus horribilus. The marriages of three of her four children were on the rocks. Princess Diana had published a memoir in which she revealed the long-standing infidelity of her husband, Prince Charles. A tabloid had run a photo of a man licking the toes of the queens estranged daughter-in-law, the Duchess of York. Oh, and Windsor Palace was extensively damaged by fire.) These days, its all William and Kate and babies, babies, babies. So tame. And so, with little dirt to report about the royal family, the British tabloid media have turned their rabid gaze on Markles family, most of whom have not been invited to the wedding and are understandably teed off. Some, including Markles much older half-siblings, have unwisely spoken out about the snub. Well, who doesnt love a public family feud? The British tabloids are treating Markles family like nutty relatives, squeezing them for every drop of crazy. :: The media have been much kinder to Markles mother, Doria Ragland, who has remained admirably under the radar, and will accompany her daughter to Windsor Castle on Saturday. Her father, Thomas Markle, has been less fortunate. He has been subjected to intense negative coverage after it was revealed that he had posed for fake paparazzi photos that made him appear to be getting ready for the wedding. Some reports, noting he once filed for bankruptcy, said he did it for money. On Tuesday, however, the New York Post reported that he had been coerced into posing for the photos by a paparazzi agency that threatened to release unflattering photos of him if he did not agree to the shoot. Who knows what really happened? In any case, after he was widely derided for the ginned-up photos, the poor guy announced hed had a heart attack and would not be able to walk his daughter down the aisle. Then he said he would. Then he said he wouldnt because he had to have heart surgery. Long-lensed paparazzi have followed him everywhere. They chronicled his trips to McDonalds, KFC and 7-Eleven. (Two days after his heart attack, Thomas was seen at a McDonalds drive-thru where he purchased two Happy Meals and a milkshake, reported the Daily Mail. Oh, wow. Stop the presses.) After watching British media rip up Markles family for sport, and seeing American celebrity news outlets like TMZ pile on, its clear to me that one of the worst things that can befall a typical, dysfunctional American family is a royal engagement. The Windsors, after all, live in a bubble of security dedicated, among other things, to foiling unscripted media access. The Markles, on the other hand, are defenseless. They have had no experience dealing with the intense public interest in their lives, nor with aggressive photographers and talk show hosts. They are not sophisticated enough to understand that when you take on a future princess (well, Markle is probably going to be a duchess), the world is not going to be in your corner. This disaster-racked world demands a fairy tale, and is in no mood to sympathize with the anger, envy and hard feelings displayed by the commoner family left behind. That is not to say that the unwashed masses dont enjoy watching a family melt down while the princess keeps her cool. People eat this stuff up, which is exactly the problem. So, was it dumb of Markles father, Thomas, to agree to staged photos? Probably. Was it stupid of Markles half-brother to give InTouch Weekly an open letter to Prince Harry in which he described his half-sister as a jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the royal family heritage. God, yes. He apologized to her, again via an open letter in InTouch Weekly, and practically begged for a wedding invitation. And dont get me started on the older half-sister, Samantha, who has waxed hot and cold on her little sister. In 2016, Samantha described Meghan as studious and brilliant, with the eloquence of a Condoleezza Rice, and the grace of Princess Diana. Later, she knocked Meghan to Radar Online for not providing the Markles with emotional or financial support. She is on an emotional teeter-totter that is swinging up and down ever more wildly as Saturday approaches. And, of course, she is egged on by some of the more shameless media figures. The other day, the eternally annoying Piers Morgan invited Samantha onto his morning television show in order, basically, to savage her. After Samantha described the media as vultures, Morgan grew vicious. Theres no bigger media vulture with this wedding than you, he told her. How do you have the gall to come on here and talk about media vultures? Youve been trashing her for two years, you little vulture. It was a tour de force of intellectual dishonesty. Knowing that everyone connected with Meghan Markle would face scrutiny, why did palace officials not create a plan for them? Why werent media experts dispatched to help this family understand how they would be scrutinized, exploited and trashed? It does rather make you wonder whether there is a single grown-up in charge at Kensington Palace, wrote Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine. Wild guess here, but maybe the royals are enjoying the spectacle of someone elses family being dragged through the mud for a change. robin.abcarian@latimes.com Twitter: @AbcarianLAT The University of Southern California said Friday it has received about 200 reports from former patients of gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall in the wake of a Los Angeles Times investigation detailing years of misconduct complaints and is establishing a process to forward some of those accounts to the Los Angeles Police Department for criminal review. In a somber letter to the university community sent Friday, USC President C.L. Max Nikias said he has personally read reports from Tyndalls patients over many difficult hours and that it left him profoundly disturbed. The former physicians behavior distresses us deeply. He should have been removed and referred to the authorities years ago, he wrote. Once again, I want to personally apologize to any student who visited our student health center and was made to feel uncomfortable in any way. You deserved better, and we let you down. The letter came the day after the university ousted two top administrators at the clinic where Tyndall practiced for nearly three decades. Advertisement The lead physician at the Engemann Student Health Center, Dr. William Leavitt, confirmed he was fired Thursday afternoon and said he was not informed of the reasons for his termination. Tammie Akiyoshi, the clinical director at the health center, was also fired, sources said. The terminations come as outrage grows both on and outside the USC campus over the universitys handling of Tyndall and as more former patients step forward with disturbing stories about their treatment while studying at the university. Leavitt, a physician at USC since 1991, said in a brief phone interview Friday that Im basically the scapegoat From my perspective its a wrongful termination. USC said this week that complaints about Tyndall dating to the early 2000s reached Dr. Larry Neinstein, the late executive director of the clinic, but he handled patient complaints independently. The university said it was unclear why Tyndall was allowed to remain in his position. Leavitt said that Neinstein, who died in 2016, was being unfairly blamed, and he dismissed USCs portrayal of his management. Dr. Neinstein never did anything without consulting the people above him, Leavitt told The Times. Michael Jackson, vice president for student affairs and one of Neinsteins supervisors through 2013, said in a statement that Neinstein never shared with me information about behavior that is cited in the recent L.A. Times articles about Dr. Tyndall. Had Dr. Neinstein ever shared that kind of information with me, I would have promptly reported it to USCs General Counsel Office and the Provosts Office for their review. The Times reported that Akiyoshi had received several complaints from a nurse about lewd remarks and inappropriate pelvic exams by Tyndall, the sole full-time gynecologist at the clinic. Akiyoshi could not be reached for comment. Todd Dickey, USCs senior vice president for administration, said in a statement: In light of newly received patient complaints indicating the extent of George Tyndalls inappropriate conduct, the university has decided to remove Tyndalls direct supervisor and another senior supervisor from the student health center. The university does not take personnel decisions lightly, but will hold people accountable for their supervision and inaction. The complaints about Tyndalls behavior from co-workers and patients date to at least 2000, according to USC, which admitted this week that the physician should have been forced out of his job years ago. Other patients alleged that the misconduct was occurring from the early 1990s. Some of the most serious allegations against Tyndall involve claims of inappropriate remarks about patients bodies and his use of fingers at the start of pelvic exams. Witnesses told The Times that the physician frequently inserted one finger and then a second in patients, telling them he was trying to see if a speculum would fit inside. Cindy Gilbert, a supervising nurse, became frustrated by Akiyoshi and other administrators. In June 2016, Gilbert reported Tyndall to the campus rape crisis center. Tyndall was removed from the clinic in the wake of Gilberts report, and he was placed on paid leave for nearly one year. An internal investigation determined that his pelvic exams were outside the scope of accepted medical practice and amounted to sexual harassment of patients. USC reached a secret deal with Tyndall last summer that allowed him to resign with a financial payout. Administrators did not report him at the time to the state medical board, which investigates problem doctors. The university acknowledged this week that not reporting him was a mistake and said it had filed a belated complaint in March. In earlier interviews, the 71-year-old physician denied that he acted improperly and said his pelvic exams were thorough and appropriate. He did not respond to several messages seeking comment this week and could not be reached Friday. Gilbert reiterated Friday that she told Akiyoshi about Tyndall about a half-dozen times. Anyone who knew that it was going on and didnt act on it should be held responsible, she said. The trail of allegations against Tyndall has grown since The Times published its report, making headlines around the world. Gilbert said the publics attention was overdue. Im glad that it came out, but Im sad that it took so long, she said. In his letter Friday, Nikias said the university was reviewing the student reports about Tyndall and was developing a process to get them to the LAPD, with the consent of the patients. LAPD Capt. Billy Hayes confirmed that USC has been in contact with the department but said no reports about Tyndall have been filed. The university said Friday it was offering personalized support and counseling for those who come forward and stressed the clinic was under new leadership. Nikias issued a public apology Tuesday, noting that his two daughters attended the university and calling Tyndalls conduct a shameful betrayal of our values. The university said Wednesday that Nikias first learned of the complaints against Tyndall late last fall, months after the doctor had resigned. USC did not reach out to patients who had been treated by Tyndall until Tuesday, after The Times presented the university with its findings. The firings appeared to have not quelled calls for more sweeping accountability at the private university. Rini Sampath, a 2016 graduate and the former student body president, launched a Change.org petition demanding the the Board of Trustees remove Nikias. As of Friday evening, more than 400 people had signed. In an interview, Sampath, 23, said she was disgusted by the allegations against Tyndall. Everyone is outraged, Sampath said. People are upset. And they are looking for avenues to make change. Tiana Lowe, 22, who graduated from USC last week, said the university must move against anyone who knew about Tyndalls behavior and didnt take action. If people knew about this for five years and did nothing, at every level there needs to be some trimming of the fat. Its important that people realize multiple levels were complicit, she said. The universitys handling of the incident has left her outraged. And she is not alone. Even the Chinese government issued a statement regarding its deep concern about the scandal, citing former colleagues who told The Times that Tyndall seemed to mistreat international students, especially those from China. The consulate has every right to be furious, Lowe added. Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report. harriet.ryan@latimes.com | Twitter: @latimesharriet matt.hamilton@latimes.com | Twitter: @MattHjourno paul.pringle@latimes.com | Twitter: @PringleLATimes UPDATES: 5:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details of a letter from USCs president. This article was originally published at 3:55 p.m. California cities and towns may find themselves on a water budget in the next decade under a pair of bills approved Thursday by the legislature. The measures follow Gov. Jerry Browns call to make water conservation a permanent way of life in a state long accustomed to jewel-green lawns and suburban tracts studded with swimming pools. More than a year of legislative negotiations reflected the enduring conflicts over state and local control. Though the bills establish a framework to end excessive urban water use, the proposals were substantially weakened by a series of amendments sought by water districts. Advertisement I would say it was amended with so many exceptions and so many carve-outs that I have serious doubts that its going to reduce water use or lead to more efficient use, said Matt OMalley, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental group. Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), co-sponsor of one of the bills, said that despite necessary compromises, the measures represented a gigantic move forward in the states approach to urban water use. Instead of having a governor that [issues] emergency orders when we have a drought, it sets standards in terms of indoor, outdoor water use and enforcement. So were not just engaged in crisis management all the time. Under the bills, which Brown is expected to sign, the state will set standards that will be used to create individual water budgets for the more than 400 water agencies that distribute supplies to cities and towns. The budgets will in essence set a target for how much water a district should use in a year, taking into account such factors as the local climate, amount of irrigated landscape and population. How the local districts meet the targets will be up to them. The budgets will be developed over the next several years, based on standards for indoor and outdoor use as well as leakage from water distribution systems. If an agency doesnt meet its target, the State Water Resources Control Board can start issuing conservation orders after July 1, 2026. A clause that would have allowed the board to issue cease-and-desist orders was dropped. But starting in late 2027, the board can impose fines of $1,000 a day on agencies that violate orders. This is the first legislation with a threat of a fiscal penalty, said Tracy Quinn, California water conservation director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. While it may not be the giant leap we were hoping for when we started this process, its definitely a step in the right direction, she added. The approach departs from the one taken during Californias five-year drought, when Brown issued an unprecedented order to cut the states overall urban water use by 25%. Water districts complained that the order treated all districts the same, whether they were water hogs or models of conservation. The mandate ended when Brown declared the drought over last year, but the governor directed state agencies to develop permanent urban conservation measures. The legislation is a step in that process. Water districts and environmental groups were split on the bills, according to a legislative listing of supporters and opponents. Supporters included the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Los Angeles, the Pacific Institute and the NRDC. Opponents included numerous water districts across the state, which considered the measures overreach, as well as environmental groups such as the Sierra Club of California and the California Coastkeeper Alliance, which argued they didnt go far enough. Its really death by a thousand cuts, said Sara Aminzadeh, executive director of the Coastkeeper Alliance. She complained that the indoor use standard was too high. The measure sets an initial indoor standard of 55 gallons per person per day which Aminzadeh said the vast majority of water suppliers already meet. The number drops to 52.5 gallons in 2025, and to 50 gallons in 2030. The Sierra Club and the Coastkeeper alliance also objected to an amendment favoring water districts that include recycled water in their potable supplies. They can increase their annual water budget by 10% to 15%. We felt it was really bad public policy to set a precedent where uses of certain supplies could essentially be wasted, Aminzadeh said. bettina.boxall@latimes.com Twitter: @boxall When the doors to the Leo Baeck Temple swung open at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, the public rushed through with the enthusiasm of a crowd sprinting toward a Black Friday sale. The crowd jostled for good seats, then waited. About 25 minutes late, billionaire Elon Musk walked onto the stage to applause, attributing his lateness to the 405 Freeway. The joke landed well in an audience that fought rush-hour traffic in the Sepulveda Pass to attend, and set the tone for Musks first public meeting about his Southern California tunnel project: a charm offensive, designed in part to stoke public support for a 2.7-mile tunnel the creator of Space X and Tesla hopes to build in West Los Angeles. In contrast to meetings held by public agencies, the session put on by the tunneling firm the Boring Co. was sparingly advertised and tightly controlled. Reservations and photo IDs were required. Television cameras were not allowed. Before the presentation began, six people spent more than 10 minutes buffing fingerprints from a gleaming company logo. Advertisement In an hour-long talk, Musk and Boring Co. Director Steve Davis focused on the changes their tunneling technology could bring to traffic-choked Southern California, and largely ignored the tensions and the lawsuit brewing over the companys efforts to exempt the Westside tunnels construction from environmental review. It did have the tech cool factor, said Andres Cuervo, vice president of the neighborhood council in Palms, which borders the proposed West L.A. tunnels route on Sepulveda Boulevard. But it felt like an open call to come see Elon talk. I wish it would have been more focused on the community. Attendees had driven from as far as San Diego to hear Musk speak, Cuervo said, but he did not see many familiar faces from Los Angeles advocacy groups, transportation organizations or universities. The audience cheered more than a half a dozen times, including at videos showing a SpaceX rocket blasting off. At one point, Musk urged the community to show their support for the tunnel. The audience cheered again. The crowd was majority male, and there were very few people of color, Cuervo said. Based on tonights meeting, they may have a different definition of what a community looks like. The Boring Co. has said its technology could move drivers and pods carrying passengers through tunnels at speeds of more than 100 mph. Its video simulation shows a driver steering onto a car-sized platform on the street, parallel to the curb. The platform, called a skate, sinks downward like an elevator, then carries the car through the tunnel. Musk said residents would feel no impact from the tunneling, and joked that if anyone can detect that were digging a tunnel, wed be glad to hire them. That was heartening for local advocates, but not informative enough on how community groups and residents can get their specific questions answered, Cuervo said. The upbeat meeting followed weeks of controversy over how the tunnel project has been handled at Los Angeles City Hall. Last month, the City Councils public works committee unanimously agreed to exempt the tunnel from environmental analysis. The move still needs a full council vote. Weeks later, two community groups sued the city over the project, alleging that the city violated state law when it sought to waive a full environmental review for the tunnel. The lawsuit, filed by the Brentwood Residents Coalition and the Sunset Coalition, said state law bars agencies from giving piecemeal approval to one component of a larger construction project. The states environmental law cannot be evaded by chopping large projects into smaller pieces that taken individually appear to have no significant environmental impacts, the suit said. In March, a city commission approved the route that the Boring Co. would use for hauling 80,000 cubic yards of dirt from the Westside tunnel. The panel also deemed the project exempt from state environmental law, according to the lawsuit. The two Westside groups are challenging both actions. When an audience member asked, in a preapproved question, why Musk would not perform a full environmental impact report for the tunnel excavation, Musk said the company would definitely perform an analysis once the West L.A. tunnel is open and before they pursue a full city network. Before that expansion, he said, the Boring Co. will open the West L.A. tunnel to the public to solicit feedback and discover how to create the best rider experience. He described a system that could eventually carry commuters from downtown to Los Angeles International Airport in less than 10 minutes. A ride from LAX to Sherman Oaks would cost like, a dollar. In response to previous criticisms that the tunnel network could spark more traffic congestion by creating more available space to drive a phenomenon known as induced demand Musk said the company could build many layers of tunnels to accommodate as many people as necessary. Highways are at the outer limit of their capacity, and youre really just barely moving the needle on capacity, he said. But for tunnels, you can have hundreds of lanes. Theres no real limit. He added: Without the city even appearing different, you could solve the transport problem. Adding hundreds of small stations, about the size of a parking space, throughout Los Angeles could also eliminate the crowding that cities sometimes see at large transit hubs, Musk said, and could create room for more park space. You can really seamlessly integrate a new transport network into a city, and it wouldnt affect things in a bad way, Musk said. Vehicles would not line up to get into the system, he said, because so many stations would be available. The meeting ended with a light-hearted question: Will you organize a big party before the tunnel launch? Of course, Musk responded. A tunnel would be a really trippy place to throw a party. Yeah, I think a party in a tunnel would be kind of fun. Musk left, and the audience rushed the stage, taking selfies, high-fiving and posing in front of the tunneling companys logo. They met on a dating app in the summer of 2016. She was a skin care expert in her 40s who had recently filed for bankruptcy, he a widower who dabbled in acting and building model rockets. In the year and a half or so that followed, Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, and Stephen Beal, 59, traveled extensively vacationing in Cuba, Portugal and Canada and decided to open a day spa together in Aliso Viejo. Their romance soured, authorities said, over disputes about money and their dating exclusivity. In February or March, they broke up, but decided to stay business partners. Beal paid the $1,500 monthly rent for the spa space and half its operating costs. Sometimes, if Krajnyak didnt make enough, hed loan her the rest. Krajnyak was killed Tuesday when a cardboard package blew up at the the Magyar Kozmetika spa, causing a fiery explosion that tore open the ceiling and buckled the floor. Body parts flew into the parking lot. Advertisement Soon after, authorities made startling discoveries during a search of Beals Long Beach home. They said they found two complete improvised explosive devices, two cardboard tubes, batteries, a nine-volt battery connector, 130 pounds of explosives and precursors, two handguns and a shotgun. The findings were detailed in a 10-page affidavit and criminal complaint filed by federal authorities Thursday in U.S. District Court. Beal faces one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device. He has not been charged in connection with the explosion. During a brief court appearance Thursday afternoon, Beal wore street clothes and handcuffs, which were removed for the hearing. He was not asked to enter a plea, and his attorney declined to comment. According to the court filing, Beal told investigators that Krajnyak was his former girlfriend and that he was a model rocket builder but dropped the hobby in 2004. But on his personal website, Beal wrote that he builds and flies large-scale rockets and posted about rocket launches in an amateur rocketry Facebook group as recently as 2012. One of his rockets exceeded Mach 2 in less than one second after launch, he wrote on his website. When asked by investigators about one of the rocket devices, Beal first said he did not recognize it. Later, the filing said, he identified the device as a smoke detonator that releases smoke during flight so a rocket would stay visible. When showed photographs of the two pipe IEDs, Beal initially said he didnt recognize them. But he later explained exactly where they were found. The affidavit said the devices were not consistent with that of a model rocket. Beal also said he once built a smaller device to help with his neighbors gopher problem, the affidavit said. He told investigators that he saw news coverage of the explosion, and said he did not have material to create a blast that large, according to the affidavit. Beals wife, Christine, died in 2008, according to the Los Angeles County coroner. The coroner lists the manner of death as undetermined, but points to pancreatitis, electrolyte imbalance and chronic lead intoxication as factors. She was 48. A coroners report obtained by Fox LA called the womans death a mysterious case, and notes that Beal was uncooperative, not wanting to reveal information to the hospital staff about his wife or her medical history. Christine Beal had been vomiting for four to five days and was admitted into the intensive care unit at Community Hospital of Long Beach, according to the report. A claim he filed to obtain a $21,225 payout from his wifes life insurance policy was denied at least once, according to court records from his 2009 bankruptcy filing. Its unclear if he ever received the money. Neighbor Steven Young, 63, said Christine Beal had fallen down a curved staircase while moving furniture in the familys home. He also said he sometimes saw Beal in his garage, working on rockets. Beal would go to the desert near Edwards Air Force Base to launch them with his children. Hes a good neighbor, Young said. Its hard to fathom that he would be involved in something like this. On his website, Beal said he worked as an executive consultant before turning to acting and performing. His love of performing comes from a deep love of being seen, his biography reads. His profile on the Internet Movie Database lists 15 credited roles, mostly in short films and television programs. Documents filed in court also provided graphic details of the violent blast. One of the two people injured told investigators that she and her mother had finished their spa treatments when they approached the front counter to pay Krajnyak. The woman said she noticed mail piled up along with three to four brown cardboard boxes on the floor next to the front counter. Krajnyak picked up one of the boxes, the woman said, placed it on the counter and started to open it with a tool. Thats when the device exploded, blowing the woman backward and onto the floor, the filing said. Flames and smoke enveloped the spa. The womans mother told investigators she was knocked to the ground and saw everything on fire. The women, who had burns and cuts, left the building and waited for help. They did not see what happened to Krajnyak. Glass from the business was blown into the parking lot, the affidavit said. Near the blast, investigators found a 9-volt battery, a cellphone and melted scraps that looked like duct tape and loose wires. In addition to Beals home and his Toyota Prius, law enforcement officials searched other locations Wednesday, including the two-story building that housed the spa, Krajnyaks home in Trabuco Canyon and her Lexus sedan. Authorities are examining the victims romantic, personal and financial relationships, sources familiar with the investigation said. In paperwork filed with the California secretary of state last month, Beal listed Krajnyak as the chief executive officer of a skin care and retail company called I and S Enterprises Inc. Beal listed himself as the corporations secretary and chief financial officer. Krajnyak worked for three decades as an aesthetician, according to public records and her LinkedIn account. She worked so, so hard, always trying to make money to support her family and send her son to private school, said a neighbor who identified herself only as Tiffany. She would go on trips, come back home and 45 minutes later, walk back out, heading to work. Times staff writers Brittny Mejia, Samantha Masunaga and Cindy Carcamo contributed to this report. javier.panzar@latimes.com Twitter: @jpanzar richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @LAcrimes alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Twitter: @AleneTchek During the 13,991 days he was incarcerated, Craig Coley denied any involvement in the brutal murders of his ex-girlfriend and her young son in 1978. On the eve of Thanksgiving last year, Gov. Jerry Brown exonerated the 70-year-old man, declaring that Coley did not commit these crimes, and ordered his immediate release. Now, Brown has signed off on a second move to correct the injustice. The governor on Thursday approved a $1.95-million payment for Coley $140 for each day he was wrongfully behind bars that marks the largest payout by the states Victim Compensation Board for an erroneous conviction. Brown did not comment Thursday in approving the settlement, but in his pardon of Coley in November, the governor said investigations ordered by his office, police and prosecutors cleared the man in the killings. Advertisement The grace with which Mr. Coley has endured this lengthy and unjust incarceration is extraordinary, Brown wrote. Soon after the pardon, a judge found Coley factually innocent. Coley was arrested in November 1978 after Rhonda Wicht, 24, was found beaten, raped and strangled, and her 4-year-old son, Donald, was smothered in his bed. Coley, a Vietnam War veteran with no previous criminal record, was convicted by a jury and sent to prison after Wichts former boyfriend and a neighbor reported seeing a truck belonging to Coley drive away from the scene around the time of the slayings. Craig Coley is shown when he was booked on suspicion of murder, left, and recently. (Simi Valley Police Department ) Coley maintained his innocence, but his conviction was affirmed on appeal. After Coley filed a petition for clemency and with the help of a retired Simi Valley detective named Mike Bender, the governor ordered an investigation by the state Board of Parole Hearings. The Simi Valley Police Department and the Ventura County district attorney supported the clemency claim after their own follow-up probe found significant exculpatory evidence, including new DNA testing of Wichts bedsheets that identified DNA from another man, according to a report by legislative analysts. No DNA belonging to Coley was found at the crime scene, the report said. Since then, Simi Valley detectives have been searching for the true killer. After hearing last month that Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was arrested on suspicion of carrying out 12 slayings as the Golden State Killer, they decided to look for a possible link to the Wicht murders. A comparison is in the works to see whether DNA from the double homicide matches that of DeAngelo, though the process can take weeks or months depending on the crime labs workload. As of this week, the results had not come back. Once we do a side-by-side comparison, well be able to tell fairly quickly whether or not hes involved, Simi Valley Deputy Police Chief Joseph May said recently regarding DeAngelo. Brown said in his pardon of Coley that the investigation into the Wicht slayings should be pursued. It is my hope that any and all individuals responsible for the murder of Rhonda and Donald Wicht are brought to justice, the governor said. In February, after the Victim Compensation Board voted that he should receive the payment, Coley said he looked forward to traveling and seeing friends who he hadnt seen for many years. I dont have that many years left, he told The Times. Theres a lot of things that I want to do. Coley could not be reached for comment Thursday. A friend said he was traveling in New York. alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com | Twitter: @AleneTchek patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com | Twitter: @mcgreevy99 A suspect was booked on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 66-year-old woman in the parking garage of a mall in Rolling Hills Estates, Los Angeles County sheriffs officials said Friday. Cherie Townsend, 39, was taken into custody Thursday in Victorville, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said at a news conference. She will be charged with murder and is being held on $1-million bail, he said. This was a crime that shocked the community, McDonnell said, calling it a brutal murder. The city had not reported a homicide since 2009. On May 3, deputies found Susan Leeds with stab wounds to her upper torso inside her SUV parked at the Promenade on the Peninsula mall, authorities said. The crime is believed to have occurred around 12:10 p.m. on the first floor of the parking structure. Advertisement Items taken from the scene led authorities to believe the motive of the crime was a robbery. Investigators believe Leeds was randomly chosen and did not know the suspect, McDonnell said. Authorities have not ruled out the potential involvement of other suspects and urged anyone who was in the parking structure to come forward. A video at the news conference showed cars and foot traffic on the first floor when the crime occurred. Its a very violent, personal crime, said Capt. Chris Bergner of the sheriffs homicide bureau. I ask you to imagine that this was your brother, your sister, your mother, your relative, and would you want somebody to step out and come forward and help? The community needs to come together and help out with this. Leeds stepchildren, who attended the news conference, described her as very kind, very sweet, very loving. I spoke to my father this morning and he wanted to convey that he loved her very much and that shes missed, shes greatly missed by our family, said Fred Leeds, the oldest of six stepchildren. Ben Leeds said his stepmother, who had Type 1 diabetes, worked for decades assisting other people with the condition. To see such a sweet, great, innocent woman go through such a horrific death is certainly beyond words, he said. Shell be missed by the community and certainly missed by the family. Authorities initially identified a man as a person of interest, but forensic evidence and video surveillance indicated that he was not involved in the crime. Rolling Hills Estates Mayor Britt Huff said the community is reeling from the killing. Obviously this was a very traumatic experience for a city that is known for being one of the safest in California to have this violent crime take place in midday, she said. brittny.mejia@latimes.com Twitter: @Brittny_Mejia Faced with an uproar in his district over a temporary homeless shelter, City Council president Herb Wesson convened a rally Friday at which he urged Angelenos across the city to support bridge housing for those living on the streets. To a crowd of a couple hundred homeless advocates, service providers, labor groups and activists assembled on the City Hall lawn, Wesson called homelessness the most important issue in the city of Los Angeles. He called the temporary shelters, to be built in each of the 15 council districts, a bold and creative solution. The announcement earlier this month that the first of the shelters will be built in a central corridor of Koreatown has been met with a groundswell of opposition, with residents and business owners staging their own rallies to protest that that site was chosen without input from the community. More than 9,000 people have signed an online petition protesting the site, which opponents contend is not optimal because of its proximity to schools and businesses. Wesson, accompanied by Mayor Eric Garcetti and five members of the City Council, said at Fridays rally that it takes power, it takes leadership to get the temporary housing built. Advertisement People at the rally hold signs in support of the homeless. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) Its urgent because thousands and thousands of people are only one or two paychecks away from a room, he said. Homeless advocates and City Council members who spoke in support of Wesson and the shelters said he was paying a political price for stepping up and being the first to commit to a shelter in his district. Mel Tillekeratne, executive director of skid row service provider Monday Night Mission, said that in the fight to end homelessness, the city was in front of a roadblock. We are gonna get through Koreatown, we are gonna get through West L.A., we are going to get through Orange County and the whole state of California, he said. Councilman Mike Bonin, whose district includes Venice, where groups have sued over City Council laws around permanent supportive housing and motel conversions for the homeless, said the rally showed support from the various neighborhoods of L.A. We will show we are not Orange County, he said. We will show that we are not NIMBYs. Donnie Anderson, chairman of the California Minority Association, attends the rally. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) Alexandra Suh, executive director of labor group Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, said that although her group supports the shelter and help for the hundreds of homeless on the streets of the neighborhood, the way the decision was made and announced to the community was problematic. We could have done this in a different way and not come to this, she said, calling the outrage that has unfolded in Koreatown heartbreaking. We all need to work together, we need to be communicating not dig down and say, Were going to push this through. She said the consensus among Koreatown community leaders was that residents and community members are supportive of a shelter in the neighborhood, but are concerned about the particular site and lack of engagement with the community. Some question whether this is the best site, a reasonable question when there has not been adequate discussion, she said. In addition to groups working on homeless issues including United Way, St. Josephs Center and the Asian American Drug Abuse Program, the crowd included many corralled by labor groups, including the Carpenters Union and Ironworkers. Also at the rally were lobbyists and special interest groups with business in City Hall, including those wearing T-shirts representing Airbnb or marijuana industry groups. Some wearing shirts for the California Minority Alliance, which advocates for the inclusion of people of color in the marijuana industry, stood on the steps alongside Wesson. A Wesson spokeswoman said the rally was free flowing and lots of folks found themselves on stage. It was open to everyone, spokeswoman Vanessa Rodriguez said of the rally. A homeless man sleeps on the lawn at City Hall on Friday during the rally. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) Not present was Councilman David Ryu, whose district only brushes the edges of Koreatown but who has been under pressure from the community to convey their opposition as the first and only Korean American member of the City Council. A spokesman for Ryu, who last week met with Korean community groups along with Wesson and Garcetti, said he had a previously scheduled family matter. Vincent McDonald, 58, was at the rally holding a sign that said Homeless Lives Matter. McDonald said he lived in his car for about a year before moving into a temporary home run by the Asian American Drug Abuse Program about a month ago. McDonald, who worked maintenance at UCLA for years and lived in a Westwood apartment until he retired, said he never imagined he would become homeless until the death of his father and grandmother sent him on a downward spiral. Im bouncing back and feeling better about myself, he said of the shelter. Jenny Seon, immigrant rights project director for the Korean Resource Center who lives in Koreatown a few blocks from the site of the proposed shelter, said she hoped the Korean community could see past the fairness of the process and assess the shelter for what it is. The temporary housing will be a lot easier to explain to the communitys children than the homeless encampments that are currently on their walk to school, she said. Its wonderful for kids to see that the community will build housing for people on the street, she said. victoria.kim@latimes.com Twitter: @vicjkim West Covina Mayor Michael Spence has resigned from his largely ceremonial post amid a police investigation into possible drug use. Spence, 51, told the City Council on Thursday night that he would relinquish his mayoral role on June 1. But council members later voted to make his resignation effective immediately. Spences troubles began on May 4 when Costa Mesa police responding to a medical-aid call at a hotel in the 2000 block of Newport Boulevard shortly after midnight found two people, one of whom was Spence, with controlled substance items, police said. Spence was unconscious. He was not arrested and no charges have been filed against him. Costa Mesa police are continuing to investigate and are expected to turn their findings over to the Orange County district attorneys office. Advertisement On Thursday, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune published audio of the 911 call. A woman who says she is a friend of Spences tells a dispatcher that she thinks he may have overdosed, according to the audio. She says she believes he overdosed on heroin because he has used it in the past and that she saw a syringe nearby. Spences term as a councilman ends in December. He said at Thursdays meeting that he plans to serve out his term. I will not be resigning from the City Council, he said at the meeting, according to video posted by a San Gabriel Valley Tribune reporter. Spence was elected to the City Council in 2013. Asked if he will run for reelection in the fall, Spence told The Times in an email Friday that he is taking things a day at a time. He also said he is in a recovery program for chemical addiction. I have been, and I am still in, and will always need to be in, recovery programs, he said in an email. Spence pleaded guilty in 2016 to a misdemeanor DUI charge stemming from a crash in June that year that put him in a hospital with serious injuries. Authorities said he had methamphetamine in his system when his rental car slammed into a utility pole. He was sentenced in December 2016 to three years probation and was ordered to complete a three-month alcohol and drug education program, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records. javier@panzar@latimes.com Twitter: @jpanzar UPDATES: 1:25 p.m.: This article was updated with new information about Spences resignation from his mayoral post. This article was originally posted at 8:15 a.m. Judge Aaron Persky says he has no regrets. The Northern California judge says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost two years ago, though its the reason he is the target of a June 5 recall election and has become the self-described most hated man on the internet. In an interview, the 56-year-old Persky argued that the Santa Clara County recall effort was fundamentally unfair because it reduces a complicated criminal case to a litany of inflammatory Twitter hashtags. He even got a little teary-eyed as he protested being turned into a one-dimensional caricature of the judge who condones rape. I expected some negative reaction, Persky said. But not this. Advertisement The recall effort comes amid the growing influence of the #MeToo movement, and observers say it will serve as a bellwether of the movements influence on national politics. Persky says he has resisted friends calls to quit and relieve the mounting pressure on his wife and two young sons because judicial independence is at stake. Recalling judges over unpopular rulings threatens the integrity of the judiciary, he said. To get justice from a judge, they need someone who follows the rules. The basic rule is the rule of law, he said. The problem with this recall is it will pressure judges to follow the rule of public opinion as opposed to the rule of law. On June 2, 2016, Persky followed the county probation departments recommendation when he sentenced Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman known in court records as Emily Doe. Turner is also required to register for life as a sex offender. In court, the victim read an emotional statement recounting the assault, her treatment by investigators and the ordeal of facing questions about her sexual activity and drinking habits. It quickly went viral. Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorneys questions that would be invasive, aggressive and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers, she wrote. This was a game of strategy, as if I could be tricked out of my own worth. Persky declined to discuss Does statement or other details of the case because its on appeal. Generally, he said, California law requires him to take into account the victims statement. Turner is appealing his jury conviction, arguing he didnt get a fair trial because character witnesses were barred from testifying about his honesty, scholastic success and his swimming career. Oral arguments are scheduled for June 28 in San Jose. Persky also declined to elaborate on his reasoning for Turners sentence, which was widely criticized as too lenient. Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber is one of the leaders of the recall campaign. Dauber is a friend of the victims and was in the courtroom for Turners sentencing. Shes an outspoken on-campus activist who has helped push through more stringent sexual harassment and abuse reporting and investigation policies. Dauber also is an adept Democratic fundraiser who has organized a well-financed recall campaign with glossy mailers juxtaposing photos of Persky with President Trump and Turners booking mug shot. We feel its important to respond strongly with a message of accountability for elected officials like Judge Persky who do not take sex crimes and violence against women seriously, Dauber said. Many eyes around the country are going to be on Santa Clara County as a model for how to respond to bias against women in the legal system. Dauber said Perskys position takes a dim view of judicial integrity and that she has faith judges will continue to exercise their independence regardless of the outcome. The recall campaign has drawn outsize attention and money for a local race: Proponents have raised about $1.2 million, and the judge about half that much. Recall Persky signs dot the immaculate lawns of multimillion-dollar homes in Perskys Silicon Valley neighborhood, where the judge removed the numbers from the front of his house after a popular website published his address. Some former friends have told him theyre voting for his recall. Persky earned his law degree from UC Berkeley. In 1997, the Santa Clara County district attorneys office hired him as a prosecutor, and Gov. Gray Davis appointed Persky to the bench a month before voters recalled Davis from office in October 2003. A number of law school professors and retired judges have sided with Persky, including Santa Clara County Dist. Atty. Jeff Rosen, who called Turners sentence too lenient but lawful. Rosen agreed with Perksy that the recall threatens judges willingness to make correct but unpopular rulings. This value is more important than any outcome in any individual case, he said. The parents of a San Diego musician who died after a giant tree fell on her car in Pacific Beach settled their lawsuit against the city for $700,000, officials confirmed Thursday. The tree, estimated to be 100 feet tall, 6 feet wide and more than 50 years old, fell across Ingraham Street near Fortuna Avenue during a powerful storm on Jan. 31, 2016. It crushed three parked vehicles and a passing car driven by Nicki Lyn Carano. She died before she could be taken to a hospital. Her parents, Anthony and Carole Ann Carano, filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging city authorities had actual and/or constructive knowledge that there was a defect in the tree that caused their daughters death. Advertisement They also claimed the city had a duty to inspect trees near the roadway for flaws and have a hazardous tree management plan in place. They contended the city failed in its duties to keep the area safe and warn the public of any hidden danger. The county and the state also are named as defendants in the suit. Initially, the homeowners association that owns the property nearest the tree was named as well, but it was later determined the city was responsible for the trees maintenance. The City Council will be asked to approve the settlement on Tuesday. On the day Carano was killed, she was on her way to Ocean Beach to perform with her band Spider Tree. She also played in an all-female band called Nectarine, as well as the band Donna Cristy & The Camel Tones. She taught drums at Nightingale Music School. According to the lawsuit, the tree was a large Torrey pine that was designated as a landmark tree under the citys policy providing for preservation and protection of public trees. It was also located within a dedicated public right-of-way. Authorities said at the time of the incident that it took firefighters about two hours to cut away enough of the tree to get to Caranos car. lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com Winkley writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune USC has relied on bright young minds from across the Pacific to propel itself from prominent Southern California commuter school to international research university. Aggressive recruitment of Chinese students has delivered high-quality students and tuition dollars to the university and given scholars from rural provinces access to top professors and the bright lights of Hollywood. But the unique bond forged in recent decades between USC and the worlds most populous nation was shaken this week amid allegations of misconduct on the part of a longtime campus gynecologist. A Times investigation quoted former colleagues alleging that Dr. George Tyndall targeted young women, especially those from China and other Asian countries, for exams that included inappropriate touching and lewd remarks about patients sex lives and bodies. Advertisement The Chinese government issued a pointed public statement late Wednesday expressing serious concerns about USCs handling of Tyndall. We ask the USC authorities to deal with the case in a serious manner, conduct an immediate investigation and take concrete measures to protect the Chinese students and scholars on campus from being harmed, said Gao Fei, a spokesperson for the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles. The consulate has all along attached great importance to the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens overseas, including Chinese students and scholars. A university spokeswoman said in a statement Thursday that top USC administrators were in communication with consular officials and had proactively reached out to others in the Chinese community locally and at USC. Tyndall was the sole full-time gynecologist at the student health center for 27 years. The complaints about his behavior from co-workers and patients date to at least 2000, according to USC, which admitted this week that the physician should have been forced out of his job years ago. Other patients have told The Times that the misconduct was occurring from the early 1990s. Tyndall was removed from the clinic in 2016 after a nurse reported him to the campus rape crisis center. An internal investigation determined that his pelvic exams were outside the scope of accepted medical practice and amounted to sexual harassment of patients. USC reached a secret deal with him last summer that allowed him to resign with a financial payout. Administrators did not report him at the time to the state medical board, which investigates problem doctors. The university acknowledged this week that the failure was a mistake and said it had filed a belated complaint in March. In earlier interviews, the 71-year-old physician denied that he acted improperly and said his pelvic exams were thorough and appropriate. He could not be reached for comment Thursday. USC medical school dean out amid revelations of sexual harassment claim, $135,000 settlement with researcher Tyndall told The Times he made special efforts to connect with students from China and other Asian countries. He kept a map of China and a bamboo plant in his office. He said he often showed patients a picture of his Filipina wife and waxed nostalgic about his medical training in Manila. Clinic staff said many of these patients had limited English skills and didnt complain about his inappropriate touching and comments. Some didnt understand what he was saying. The ones who did were perfectly silent, said one woman who worked with Tyndall for years. More than 5,400 Chinese nationals currently attend USC, giving the university the second-largest contingent of international students in the U.S. Many interviewed this week criticized USC for allowing Tyndall to continue treating students despite the string of misconduct claims. I cant imagine how administrators could allow this to happen at USC, especially at the health center, because we depended on its resources so much and had to trust it, said Viola Leqi He, a senior from Shanghai studying communications. One USC student penned an anonymous essay Thursday on the website of ifeng News, a major news station in China, about Tyndall. Writing in Mandarin, the student said the most frightening aspect of The Times report were allegations that the physician mistreated Chinese and other international students. USC, you owe us an explanation, the post concluded. Kaidi Yuan, a 21-year-old junior, said that fellow Chinese students and incoming freshmen were expressing concerns about Tyndall on WeChat, a messaging app popular in China, but that there was a cultural hesitancy about speaking publicly. Many fear their visas could be rescinded for being critical of USC administrators, said Yuan, who hails from Wuhan, China. The revelations about Tyndall come as USC is still rebuilding trust with its Chinese students and alumni frayed by the murders of two graduate students in 2012 and another in 2014. The slayings devastated the wider Chinese community and outraged many who felt the university was not doing enough to protect the safety of students navigating a new country. Rosemead attorney Daniel Deng, who served as legal counsel when the parents of the students killed in 2012 filed a lawsuit against USC, said three alumnae two in Beijing and one in Shanghai contacted him this week about Tyndall. The women said that the physician made them feel uncomfortable during their exams, but that they did not object at the time because they were unsure how American doctors practiced, Deng said. One student recalled Tyndall was touching everything, holding her hand, saying that her skin is so beautiful, the lawyer said. Theyre still coping with the fact that this really happened to them that what they thought was wrong at the time, really was wrong, Deng said. An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of a USC med school dean Faculty members were also reflecting on their responses to international students who had talked to them about the gynecologist, said Clayton Dube, who runs a university institute dedicated to U.S.-China relations. He said male professors recalled Chinese students approaching them over the years asking if the exams performed at the clinic were normal. Dube said the male teachers felt they werent in a position to offer advice. It wouldnt be surprising if for many Chinese international students it would be the first time theyve had that sort of exam, said Dube, executive director of the USC U.S.-China Institute. While sexual education in China has improved, its not as good as it can be. Chinese students play an important role in USCs bottom line. As international students, they are not eligible for most financial aid. Their families often must cover tuition and other expenses that can cost more than $80,000 a year. Elites from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan now sit on the board of trustees, and administrators barnstorm Asia, putting on recruitment programs from Beijing to Mumbai. The pitch to prospective students and their parents includes spirited explanations of campus life and the concept of the Trojan Family. One of those drawn to USC was Fan Yang, who arrived on campus Thursday from Shanghai to start an MBA program. I heard its like a family here, and I want to be a Trojan, she said. She said the accusations against Tyndall left her shocked and hoping administrators would present information about appropriate gynecological exams. I didnt know things like that could happen here, she said. Sex in China is taboo, and people rarely talk about sexual abuse. Times staff writers Harriet Ryan, Frank Shyong and Sarah Parvini contributed to this report. melissa.etehad@latimes.com | Twitter: @melissaetehad paul.pringle@latimes.com | Twitter: @PringleLATimes rosanna.xia@latimes.com | Twitter: @rosannaxia matt.hamilton@latimes.com | Twitter: @MattHjourno The crowded courtroom reeked of stale sweat, and 92 immigrants filled all five benches, leaving standing room only for visitors and court personnel. Its packed in there, said one of a dozen guards and deputy marshals stationed at the courtroom this week. This is what its going to be like from now on no more catch and release. Thats how opponents of illegal immigration, including President Trump, have long condemned the policy of releasing migrants with pending court cases. But under a policy the Trump administration announced last week, migrants caught crossing the border illegally are charged in federal criminal court, including those without criminal records and parents traveling with small children. The result: scores of cases flooding the federal courts, especially here in southern Texas, the leading pathway for illegal immigration into the U.S. Advertisement The impact is worst in McAllen, but its everywhere, said Marjorie Meyers, federal public defender for the Southern District of Texas, calling it an explosion. Our caseload has jumped in all four divisions, including Corpus Christi, which is not even on the border, she said. The 92 immigrants appeared in the McAllen courthouse Monday. The next day, there were 50 migrants more than in the past, but less than expected these days. At the last minute, another 50 immigrants were quarantined because of a chicken pox outbreak at a detention center. Immigration lawyers expect the caseload to increase this summer, the height of the immigration season, to perhaps 400 a day. We have always been one of the busiest courts in the nation, said McAllen Assistant Federal Public Defender Miguel Andy Nogueras. Now its ridiculous. Of the 92 migrants, 65 had no criminal records. Ten were parents, all separated from their children. Most were from Mexico and Central America and listened to the proceedings with headphones linked to a court interpreter. As U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby explained, the first-time migrants face a misdemeanor charge, with a maximum penalty of $10,000 and six months in jail. Most plead guilty and are sentenced to time served at their first hearing. Then they serve their sentence and are transferred to administrative immigration court for deportation. If they are caught crossing again, they will face a federal felony charge and heftier sentence. Those who appeared in McAllen this week had been caught by Border Patrol on their way to join relatives in the Rio Grande Valley and other parts of Texas, along with New York, Virginia and South Carolina. Some brought their children. Others came to reunite. One woman was trying to celebrate her daughters high school graduation. The status of children is a constant theme. After Nogueras told the group that that the judge knows many of you have been separated from your children and want to reunite, a man with graying hair raised his hand. I have a question about my son: Is he going back with me to my country? said Calixton Ramon-Mateo, a Guatemalan who had pleaded guilty to crossing illegally with his 9-year-old. Nogueras didnt have an answer. Neither did the judge or Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who had escorted the group to court. Before last week, most parents were charged with administrative immigration violations. They were either held by ICE with their children in family detention or released at the border some with ankle monitors, others with notices to appear in federal immigration court. Under the new policy, some parents are separated from children and jailed. The agency says it aims to reunify parents with their children once they are released or placed in family detention. Border Patrol caught more than 100,000 people illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in March and April, the highest monthly totals since Trump was elected. Families with children and unaccompanied minors increased from 10% of undocumented migrants detained five years ago to 40% now. In McAllen, Ormsby arraigned and sentenced each migrant individually, repeatedly checking that they knew their rights, had met with an attorney and were not pleading under duress. Did anyone threaten you in any way or try to force you to plead guilty? he asked again and again. No, the immigrants said. The hearings took hours. Immigrant advocates say the zero tolerance policy impedes asylum claims and lets the government use children as leverage, forcing parents to agree to deportation so families can reunite. They should be able to seek asylum first, Katy Murdza, pro bono legal project advocacy coordinator at one of two immigrant family detention centers in south Texas, said of migrant families. Certain migrant parents were still being taken to family detention, including pregnant women and babies less than a year old, Murdza said. Some were families who claimed asylum at ports of entry instead of crossing the border illegally, while others may have been processed before the new policy took effect. On Tuesday, a migrant mother from Guatemala apologized to Ormsby for crossing illegally into surrounding Hidalgo County on Saturday. She started to cry as she pleaded with him to reunite her with her 9-year-old daughter. Shes already had three operations on her eyes. At her age, she cant read because of the problems with her eyes, said Mildred Lucia Rojas-Quevedo de Roguel, 37, a slight redhead in a black jacket who had no criminal record.I will go back to my country, but I need my daughter. She was sentenced to time served and sent back to detention to await a hearing on her immigration case. It was unclear when, or if, she would see her daughter. Rojas-Quevedo was the only mother in court Tuesday separated from her children, although others told the judge they had crossed the border illegally to join children living in the U.S. The Trump administration piloted the zero-tolerance policy along other, less busy stretches of the border last year, from Arizona to El Paso. Immigration officials said that they were separating parents from children older than 5, and that the policy helped deter migrants and catch those posing as parents to claim asylum and avoid detention. Immigration records show that so far this year, 700 families have been separated, including at least 100 children younger than 4. The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to house migrant children on military bases, as it last did during an influx of Central American families in 2014. The agency is responsible for unaccompanied migrant youth, including those separated from parents. It has 100 shelters in 14 states with space for 10,571 children, but theyre 91% full. In the next two weeks, officials will visit four potential sites in Arkansas and Texas: Ft. Bliss, and Goodfellow, Dyess and Little Rock Air Force Bases. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in California on behalf of parents separated from their children and detained. One, a Brazilian mother, was detained in El Paso in August and recently released but is still waiting to be reunited with her 14-year-old son, who was sent to a shelter in Chicago. Its not clear if the policy will be enforced the same way in the Rio Grande Valley as it was on other stretches of the border. Many more migrants are caught crossing illegally into the valley than elsewhere: 15,993 so far this year, triple the next busiest area of the border. McAllens court is struggling to handle the influx of mostly misdemeanor cases. The courts three magistrate judges have transferred cases to counterparts in Brownsville and Laredo, officials said. The U.S. attorneys office for the Southern District of Texas is adding three lawyers in McAllen. Local jails and courthouse holding areas the U.S. Marshals Service uses to house prisoners are packed, Nogueras said. We have never seen this before and it is affecting everyone, he said. Nogueras said he saw a woman last week caught crossing illegally a second time to find her daughter after officials separated them last year. He also represented a father separated from the 11-year-old daughter he had brought to the U.S. from Guatemala after being threatened by a gang. They came to him and said, Your daughter is becoming beautiful, we want her for a member of the gang. He said, I brought her to protect her and now I dont even know where she is, Nogueras said. He said many parents have no idea where their children are placed after they are separated, and instead of deterring them from returning to the U.S. illegally, the separations could drive them to return to find their children. The logic of this is that parents learn their lesson. But theyre going to come back. Its their kids. As he finished Tuesday, Ormsby warned migrants, especially those hoping to reunite with their children. Please dont try to come back illegally to do that, because each time its going to be a harsher sentence, he said. The migrants thanked the judge and nodded before they were led back to the buses and jail. Some mothers were still sobbing, still in shackles. The next day, 70 more immigrants arrived at the federal court in McAllen, 66 without criminal records, 18 of them parents separated from their children. molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com @mollyhf An attorney who threatened to call immigration enforcement on restaurant workers who angered him by speaking Spanish has had a complaint filed against him with a disciplinary committee that oversees lawyers in New York state. The lawyers brief rant, which was captured on video, prompted two elected officials to send a letter to the disciplinary committee Thursday. The power of the internet also went to work against the attorney: An online fundraiser was launched to send a mariachi band to perform outside his office. The clip of the man yelling in a Manhattan restaurant went viral Wednesday, and he was identified through social media as attorney Aaron Schlossberg. In the video, Schlossberg said he would be calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have the workers kicked out of my country. He complained to another restaurant employee that its America and that in a Manhattan eatery staff should be speaking English. Advertisement The clip quickly sparked outrage among many critics, including U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who wrote to the state court system, which has a grievance committee for attorney complaints. Espaillat and Diaz, both Democrats, called the video vile and said the audacity to profile and verbally assault innocent bystanders and customers in a public commercial location is a violation of our civil society. It was unclear what action the disciplinary committee could take, if any. A message left with the committee was not immediately returned. Schlossberg also didnt respond to a call and an email seeking comment. In a video posted by the New York Daily News, Schlossberg is seen holding an umbrella in front of his face as he avoids reporters. The social media furor turned up more instances of a man who appeared to be Schlossberg getting irate with others. One clip was posted to YouTube in October 2016 by a man who said Schlossberg attempted to shove him on a sidewalk before threatening to call the police. Another from May 2017 appeared to show the attorney berating a group of Jewish protesters who were speaking in support of a Palestinian American activist. Schlossbergs biography on his website says he focuses on commercial and insurance coverage issues. It says that besides English he speaks Spanish, French and some Hebrew and Chinese. The company that runs the building Schlossberg uses as his law firms address said Thursday that his agreement with it had been terminated because his actions were contrary to its rules and regulations. New York City has a human rights law that protects against discrimination and harassment based on immigration status or national origin. The citys Commission on Human Rights can investigate potential violations and levy fines. The commission said it was aware of the Schlossberg matter but wouldnt comment on whether it was or would be the subject of an investigation. New York has always been diverse, and there are anywhere from 600 to 800 languages spoken in the metropolitan region, said Ross Perlin, co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance. This is the most linguistically diverse city, he said, not only in the world but in the history of the world. If Schlossberg wanted to speak the citys indigenous language, Perlin said, it wouldnt be English. Hed have to learn the Native American language of Lenape. The Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas on Friday stirred strong reactions from Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and Parkland, Fla., families. Emotions ranged from anger and outrage to sorrow among gun control and school safety advocates as they processed the news that another shooting struck a high school in the United States. Santa Fe High, you didnt deserve this, wrote Stoneman Douglas student Emma Gonzalez, one of the more vocal survivors of the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting and one of the organizers of the March For Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., in March. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School, wrote fellow Parkland student Jaclyn Corin. Its an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town - Parkland will stand with you now and forever. Advertisement Im so sorry this is happening, and Im so sorry that it continues to happen, shared fellow Stoneman Douglas student Sarah Chadwick. Here are some of the other reactions on social media: My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School. Its an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town - Parkland will stand with you now and forever. pic.twitter.com/ckVPxYi6qz Jaclyn Corin (@JaclynCorin) May 18, 2018 Today is my last day of school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high and I find out theres been a shooting in Texas at Santa Fe high school. My heart aches for them. Kyra Parrow (@longlivekcx) May 18, 2018 At least 8 students have been shot and killed at Santa Fe High School. Prepare to watch the NRA boast about getting higher donations. Prepare to see students rise up and be called civil terrorists and crisis actors. Prepare for the right-wing media to attack the survivors. Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) May 18, 2018 Donald Trump does not care about school shootings. Donald Trump does nothing to stop school shootings. Dont talk to me about the stop school violence act, because that does nothing to stop school shootings. Donald Trump does not care about you or your kids getting shot. Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) May 18, 2018 To everyone at Santa Fe high school ,I hope youre safe, Im so sorry this is happening, and Im so sorry that it continues to https://t.co/zLRbrizYiD one should be in the situation that youre all currently in. Im not going to say thoughts and prayers but instead policy and action Sarah Chadwick (@Sarahchadwickk) May 18, 2018 Santa Fe High, you didnt deserve this. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices. Emma Gonzalez (@Emma4Change) May 18, 2018 Every time I see anything like this it feels like February 14th all over again.. https://t.co/ZevoONl4N5 Tyah-Amoy Roberts (@xotyahmarie) May 18, 2018 This has been my fear since February 14th, that another mass casualty shooting would happen before we did anything. Now, we have 8 more children dead and our leadership in Washington has done nothing. We do not need thoughts and prayers, we need action and we need it now. Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) May 18, 2018 To the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, we are with you. #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/3DYXOhmwsP March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) May 18, 2018 I should be celebrating my last day of high school, but instead my heart is broken to hear of the tragedy at Santa Fe. We cannot let this continue to be the norm. We cannot. Delaney Tarr (@delaneytarr) May 18, 2018 Today when I read this news my heart immediately broke. As I looked up from my phone I realized that I myself was standing in the same hallway that I was in just three months ago when I was told to put my hands above my head and not to move. How many more?https://t.co/GsIWQrm03j Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) May 18, 2018 INNOCENT STUDENTS are dying because GUN VIOLENCE. just let that sink in, HOW MANY MORE LIVES?#EnoughIsEnough #SantaFeHighSchool Carlitos Swaggy Way (@cswaggyway) May 18, 2018 #SantaFeHighSchool The time for gun reform is now! My heart is broken. 21 to buy a gun! Stop the mentally ill from getting guns! #MentalHealth #GunReform #SocietalReformCorp Kai Koerber// #MSDStrong (@KaiStoneKoerber) May 18, 2018 Students of Santa Fe, I lost my sister in February cause of the reason you lost your friends. I know exactly what youre feeling right now, and this makes me want to fight even more for you guys. Stay strong. #SantaFeStrong pic.twitter.com/bSu0YhhaJp Hunter Pollack (@PollackHunter) May 18, 2018 California voters are often tempted to see their June primaries as little more than spring training a sort of try-out round for the main event on Nov. 6. Many wait the five months before poring over the candidates and the issues. Thats a shame, because some decisions made now are likely to be final. Candidates for sheriff, superintendent of public instruction and some other offices just might get more than 50% of the primary vote and win outright without a runoff. For governor, U.S. Senate and other partisan races, there will be no victor; the top two vote-getters (regardless of political party) will proceed to the ballot in November. The outcome of the June 5 vote will dictate whether any Republicans in this deep blue state will be in the final contests for state offices, the Senate and many House seats; meanwhile, in some GOP strongholds, the question is whether the top two candidates will include any Democrats. In making its recommendations, the Times took on the elections for governor and U.S. Senate, the statewide ballot measure and the nonpartisan state and local races that could conceivably be over in June. Offices and candidate names in this summary link to the The Times full endorsements. Completed vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before June 5 and received by June 8. And of course voters can still go old-school, casting their ballots at the polling place on June 5. To find your polling place, go to https://www.lavote.net/locator. Advertisement Here are The Times recommendations, with links to our full endorsements: U.S. Senator: Dianne Feinstein Governor: Antonio Villaraigosa Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond Proposition 68: Yes Proposition 69: Yes Proposition 70: No Proposition 71: Yes Proposition 72: Yes Los Angeles County Sheriff: Jim McDonnell Los Angeles County Assessor: Jeffrey Prang Los Angeles County Supervisor, District 1: Hilda Solis Los Angeles County Supervisor, District 3: Sheila Kuehl Superior Court Judge: Office No. 4: Alfred A. Coletta Office No. 16: Sydne Jane Michel Office No. 20: Wendy Segall Office No. 60: Holly L. Hancock Office No. 63: Malcolm H. Mackey Office No. 67: Maria L. Armendariz Office No. 71: David A. Berger Office No. 113: Michael P. Ribons Office No. 118: David D. Diamond Office No. 126: Rene Caldwell Gilbertson Office No. 146: Emily T. Spear Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook As appalling as it sounds today, the practice of sterilizing mentally ill women and men to prevent them from passing on their supposedly defective genes was routine and accepted across the United States in the first half of the 20th century. But nowhere was the eugenics movement, as it was called, more entrenched and aggressively pursued than in California. An estimated 20,000 people in the care of state homes and hospitals in California were sterilized because they were deemed mentally ill, feeble-minded or, in some cases, just sexually promiscuous; thats one-third of all the sterilizations that were performed under eugenics programs around the country. A disproportionate number of those sterilized, unsurprisingly, were poor or Latino. Many were pressured into giving consent; others were forced. Doctors in state institutions could order patients to undergo the procedure; the State Commission on Lunacy, created in 1913, often approved those decisions. The law allowing sterilizations was not repealed until 1979. California has officially apologized; Gov. Gray Davis did so in 2003. But thats not enough. Academics and advocates have long argued for something more substantial than an apology to recognize this unconscionable violation of human rights perpetrated under law. Now, the California Legislature has the chance to provide just that. A bill introduced by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) would establish the Eugenics Sterilization Compensation Program to offer financial reparation to victims of this state-sponsored abuse. If SB 1190, now in the Senate Appropriations Committee, passes, it will make California the third state to compensate survivors of sterilization under the eugenics programs. This is the least that the state of California should do. Advertisement There are an estimated 631 victims believed to be still alive. The program would offer compensation to anyone who was sterilized under the eugenics law at one of a dozen state institutions. There are an estimated 631 victims believed to be still alive. The bill would require the existing California Victim Compensation Board to search out these still-living victims, who would be given a two-year period in which to apply. Their identities would be kept confidential. Their compensation would not be taxed by the state. (We would certainly hope not.) Descendants would not be eligible just the victims themselves. Right now, neither the size of the fund nor the size of the payout has been determined, although that could and should be worked out by the Appropriations Committee. North Carolina offered victims $50,000 apiece. Virginia offered $25,000. If California went with the lower number, as the nonprofit advocacy group Disability Rights California suggests, and if (as in other states) one-quarter of the eligible recipients were to come forward, that would require roughly $4 million. That would be the total size of the fund, so that if more people than expected were to come forward, each recipient ultimately would get less. No matter what figure legislators decide on, it will be but a token, a modest offer of restitution for a colossal wrong that cannot be corrected or truly compensated. Nonetheless, it should be done. Its important that the state offer what advocates call a material acknowledgement of this injustice. The state should quickly pass this bill and launch a robust outreach effort to find these aging survivors and compensate them. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook Dowajuseyo. In Korean, it means help me. A few months ago, I received a call from an L.A. County mental health facility. They had just taken a frail Korean grandmother into their care, and officials couldnt figure out what to do with her. In her 70s, with a full head of gray hair, the woman probably weighed no more than 85 pounds and had been living on the streets after being evicted from her Koreatown home. She was afraid to be alone in a facility with people who were unable to communicate with her and wanted to be released. As executive director of the Korean American Coalition, I often find myself in this somewhat fraught position a bridge between the limited-English-speaking Korean immigrant community and the service providers who have the resources to help them. I spoke with the grandmothers family, who told me that their financial hardship made their grandmothers mental illness difficult to manage on their own. I tried again and again to broker some kind of arrangement. Ultimately, we were unable to find a solution. The grandmother was released to the streets. Shes currently among a growing number of Korean American seniors who are experiencing homelessness. Koreatown is changing. Advertisement The area has long been a symbol for the Korean American and immigrant story. It is a place of identity and pride for a community that believes in hard work and sacrifice. But in just the past two years, the city of Los Angeles has approved over 50 new Koreatown development projects the majority of them hotels and luxury rentals in what is the densest and arguably the most socioeconomically diverse community in all of California. Though you dont hear much about it, homelessness is increasing at a rapid rate. Ive heard stories of a hidden Korean American homeless community that uses 24-hour spas to stay off the streets and sleeps in the pews of local churches. In 2017, in an effort to figure out just how widespread this problem is, our organization filmed a documentary called Invisible Neighbors on the topic. The results were disturbing enough that, this year, we partnered with homelessness experts from the United Way, EPATH, Homeless Health Care, Rand and USC, as well as representatives from L.A. City Council District 10. Our goal was to develop a process to count the invisible ethnic Korean homeless population, identify the causes of its spread and brainstorm possible solutions to the growing issue. After three months of preparation, this effort was scheduled to launch in May. But everything came to a halt when L.A. announced plans to build a new homeless shelter in Koreatown. It caught everyone off guard, especially longtime residents and small shop owners who were unaware and uninformed of the plan to put a shelter in the heart of Koreatowns economic corridor, where many business owners are quietly experiencing a financial downturn. After speaking with various members of the community, I feel confident saying the protests occurred not because we dont want temporary or supportive housing for those struggling with homelessness. These protests were a direct response to being left out of the process unable to ask questions and work together with the city to find the best location. Theres also a deeper context here. For many Koreatown residents, a deep sense of distrust of local government exists, one which stems back to the 1992 L.A. riots, when the Koreatown community was abandoned and left to fend for itself. Over 1,700 businesses were destroyed, leaving residents and small businesses to pick up the pieces and rebuild on their own. Koreatown may look like a hip place to eat and play, but for many, it remains a symbol of the difficult Korean American journey. City officials have since acknowledged their community outreach should have been better. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Council President Herb Wesson are working with community leaders to educate the public on the details of the project and address concerns. Thats important, because the truth is that more and more Korean Americans and Koreatown residents need access to homeless services and this is an opportunity to get them that help. At first glance, the appearance of a homeless shelter may seem like a threat to our identity and culture of hard work and resilience. But the reality is that our community is changing and has been for some time. Be it the high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, a rapidly growing elderly population or threats to immigration status, Korean Americans are indeed amongst the homeless. We have a responsibility to take care of them. Wherever a shelter ends up being located, we must ensure it delivers on its promises not only for the community, but, more importantly, for the sake of those who will be sleeping there. Dowajuseyo. Help me. As Angelenos, we need to step up together and answer the call. Joon Bang is the executive director of the Korean American Coalition and a 2018 Impact-Maker to Watch Award honoree. Follow him on Twitter @joonbang213 Click here for the full Livable City archive Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook While we were barely looking, the terminology of American democracy has been quite literally disappearing down Donald Trumps equivalent of George Orwells infamous Memory Hole. One example hit me in a personal way. At an annual national security conference in New York City, aimed largely at law students, the organizers invited presenters from the Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. agencies. The bureaucracy was punishing: The government withheld the names of possible participants until the last moment, they couldnt be recorded (which led to a decision to bar recordings at all the conference sessions), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement demanded the word refugee be removed from the conference program. ICE claimed that bit of censorship would speed the approval process so that its members could participate in the conference. The organizer reluctantly agreed. I understood his plight, having myself put together similar events on such hot topics as torture, Guantanamo detainees and targeted government killings. Sometimes a Bush or Obama administration invitee would beg off or say no to meeting with the audience after a panel. But no one ever asked me to change the language describing an event, to wipe a word or phrase out of the program! The very idea violates the independence of educational institutions, the sanctity of free speech and the democratic principle of open debate. But that, of course, was in the era before Donald Trump became president. That edited national security conference is a minor incident in the scheme of things, but it catches the essence of this administrations take-no-prisoners approach to what can and cannot be said. One well-known term to be avoided: climate change. The Department of Agricultures act of erasure was typical. Shortly after Inauguration Day, agency officials made it clear they wanted mentions of climate change replaced with weather extremes. They preferred exchanging the phrase reduce greenhouse gases with increase nutrient use energy. Advertisement The State Department deleted democratic from its mission statement. Other alterations have been no less notable. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials read the tea leaves and edited their mission statement accordingly. Out went vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender fetus and even evidence-based and science-based. At U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the label nation of immigrants was dropped from the mission statement, which now defines the agencys role not so much as serving newcomers but merely efficiently and fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits while protecting Americans, securing the homeland, and honoring our values. Along the same lines, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, led by Ben Carson, has ditched free from discrimination, quality homes and inclusive communities in favor of self-sufficiency and opportunity. In other words, the onus is put on the individual, not the government. Trump is hardly the first president to discover the importance of language as a political tool. President Obama, for instance, all but banished the term war on terror for the United States unending post-9/11 conflicts, and radical Islamic terrorism as a term for our enemy, though nothing much had changed in the war zone. Still, the current president may be the first whose administration hasnt hesitated to delete terms tied to the foundational principles of the country, among them democracy, honesty and transparency. The State Department deleted democratic from its mission statement as it backed away from the notion that the department and the country should promote democracy abroad. Similarly, the U.S. Agency for International Development no longer cites as its goal ending extreme poverty and promoting the development of resilient, democratic societies that are able to realize their potential. Now it wants to support partners to become self-reliant and capable of leading their own development journeys. The idea of protecting civil liberties has simply taken a nosedive. Trumps first appointee to head the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, Rear Adm. Edward Cashman, for example, took legal and transparent out of the prison facilitys mission statement. The Department of Justice has conveniently excised the portion of its website devoted to the need for free press and public trial. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also disappearing basic factual information. The White House missed a May 1 deadline for reporting on civilian casualties resulting from U.S. drone strikes a yearly requirement established by Obama in 2016. A representative explained that the tally was under review and could be modified or rescinded. All of this represents a coordinated attack on 250 years of American history and the nations progress toward inclusion, diversity and equal rights for minorities. It conjures instead racial and ethnic divides, ignorance (rather than science), and the creation of a state of unparalleled heartlessness and greed. It might be worth reflecting on the words of Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister for Hitlers Nazi Party. He had a clear-eyed vision of the importance of disguising what motivated his campaign against truth. The secret of propaganda, he said, is to permeate the person it aims to grasp without his even noticing that he is being permeated. Consider this is a warning. Instead of hurling insults at the presidents incompetence and the seeming disarray of his administration, it might be worth asking ourselves whether there is a larger goal in mind: namely, a slow, patient, incremental dismantling of democracy, beginning with its most precious words. Karen J. Greenberg is the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School and the author of Rogue Justice: The Making of the Security State. Samuel Levy, Hadas Spivack, and Anastasia Bez contributed research for this article. A longer version appears at TomDispatch. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook When Uber announced early this month that it was entering into a series of partnerships with NASA and the U.S. Armys research wing, among other entities to bring flying ride-share to Los Angeles by 2023, my first thought was Blade Runner. The Ridley Scott science fiction film, released in 1982, takes place in 2019 and portrays a dystopian Southern California in which the urban core has crumbled into chaos and darkened skies are filled with unrelenting rain and airborne vehicles. The further we get from the 1980s, the more the films vision of the future seems like a reaction to its own time rather than a projection into ours. Except perhaps for those cars. The appeal of flying ride-share is pretty clear. The drone-like vehicles on Ubers drawing boards could mitigate the congestion on our overloaded streets and freeways, and zip us across town like VIPs. At an early May conference in Los Angeles, Uber Elevate CEO Jeff Allison referred to what he called the 3-D space of the air. What he means is multiple layers, varying altitudes, the idea that flying vehicles would not be restricted by such earthbound necessities as lanes and off-ramps. But the skies over Los Angeles are already crowded: news and traffic helicopters, aerial tourism, police choppers, airplanes taking off and landing at LAX, Santa Monica, Burbank, Van Nuys, Long Beach, Ontario. Advertisement To its credit, Uber acknowledges these issues: A successful, optimized on-demand urban VTOL [vertical takeoff and landing] operation will necessitate a significantly higher frequency and airspace density of vehicles operating over metropolitan areas, a 2016 company white paper avers. Los Angeles is at a transit crossroads. The old model is antiquated, overloaded, and new ones have yet to fully arise. When it comes to a solution, though, what Uber mostly has to offer is conjecture. It may be possible, the report continues, for hub airport airspace to embrace cutouts that can dynamically open up more airspace to non-controller managed flight. May be, of course, is a long way from will be, or is. There are airspace questions that arise with having more than just a few rotorcraft vehicles flying around a metropolitan area, Seth Young, director of the Center for Aviation Studies at Ohio State University, told Wired magazine in November, when Uber first publicly floated the idea of flying cars. Even if this mix of tech entrepreneurs, NASA and the military can solve that puzzle, there is still the issue of ride sharing itself. No one doubts we have a transportation crisis in Los Angeles. Yet at ground level, ride-share is almost certainly part of the problem instead of the other way around. A report produced last year at UC Davis found that services like Uber and Lyft attract passengers away from public transit, biking and walking by as much as 60%. It is in Ubers interest to present its model as utopian; its goal, after all, is market share. The same is true of Elon Musk, whose ambitious Loop project received fast-track approval in April from the City Councils public works committee to build a 2.7-mile tunnel under Sepulveda Boulevard. (Lawsuits against the project have been filed.) When or if it is completed, supposedly at no cost to the public, Musks Loop could extend from Torrance to the Getty, Dodger Stadium to the beach. More science fiction? Maybe so. But less than a week after the Uber Elevate conference, Musk announced that a test tunnel in Hawthorne might open with free rides to the public in a few months. In the end, should we rely on the profit-driven private sector to build our transportation future? Uber presents a troubling case. Last year, its former CEO Travis Kalanick and several executives resigned in the wake of allegations of pervasive gender discrimination and sexual harassment. In November, the company was fined nearly $9 million by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for failing to put its drivers through sufficient background checks. Around the same time, Uber admitted that a data hack had jeopardized the personal information of 57 million customers and employees. This scandal looms as particularly disturbing when you consider Uber Elevates public-private relationship with NASA and the U.S. military. Im not happy about a company that knows a lot about me where I go, when, with whom, and how I pay for the ride sharing anything with the government. Los Angeles is at a transit crossroads. The old model is antiquated, overloaded, and new ones have yet to fully arise. Over the next few decades in L.A., we will see at the least the continued build-out of Metros light rail and subway network, as well as the addition to our streetscapes of autonomous vehicles. The future rarely turns out the way we imagine it will. For proof, just look at Blade Runner. The city we live in is more coherent, far less disrupted than Scotts Los Angeles. As for travel by corporate drone above the ground, or on a rich mans hyperloop underneath it, that I think is dystopia by another name. David L. Ulin is a contributing writer to Opinion. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook To the editor: It is unsurprising that people with religious objections to terminally ill patients having the right to choose the time and place of their dying persist in trying to impose their beliefs on everyone else. (Riverside judge overturns Californias doctor-assisted suicide law, May 15) This looks to be a suspicious case of judge shopping. In this case, the Riverside Superior Court judge could not find anything but an abstruse technical ground on which to overturn Californias aid-in-dying law. Three-quarters of California voters support this law. Hopefully, Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra will be able to turn back these transparent efforts to impose the religious beliefs of one group on everyone else. By the way, it does not help that the Los Angeles Times refers to assisted suicide. Those who choose it already are dying. They are not committing suicide. All they want is to end their lives with dignity, at home, painlessly, and with their family beside them. I bet that even those who oppose the law on religious grounds will admit that this is how they would choose to die as well. Advertisement Susan Meister, Pebble Beach, Calif. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: For the umpteenth time, the Los Angeles Times has mischaracterized the Malibu I know. (The human catastrophe of homelessness hits the shores of Malibu, and some try to offer a helping hand, May 16) Yes, Malibu is beautiful, but most people dont want to live here because, it has been said, were too far from L.A. We have few rich neighbors; most of us are retired teachers, firefighters, lifeguards and nurses who live frugally. Wealthy people tend not to live here, but rather buy beachfront property that they sometimes visit. I no longer can go to my beloved library because it is not safe. Homeless drug addicts linger inside and out, and men sometimes drop their pants while drunk, staggering and urinating on the building. There are a growing number of homeless encampments in the canyons where cooking fires are a constant safety threat. If you dont live here full time, you cant possibly describe Malibu accurately. Advertisement Susan M. Tellem, Malibu .. To the editor: No, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors did not decide to serve meals and provide services to homeless people at an abandoned Malibu courthouse. The county merely approved a request from the city to use our Civic Center as a centralized venue to resume feeding the people without places to sleep. This is the same Civic Center where Malibu funds a labor exchange for day workers, next to our library. Its also the same place where a homeless encampment sparked a fire that nearly took out several homes last winter, by the way. Very few services in Malibu? This city funds outreach workers and helps the Santa Monica and Venice shelters. Koreatown, Irvine and other communities are saying no. Malibu volunteers and the city are saying heres how we can help. Hans Laetz, Malibu Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Newsoms budget proposes $3 million for Alzheimers research, brain task force By Melody Gutierrez Amyloid plaques, shown here in human brains, are a hallmark of Alzheimers disease. (UCLA School of Medicine) Gov. Gavin Newsom will call for the creation of a brain health task force and dedicate $3 million annually from the states general fund to Alzheimers disease research in the budget proposal he will release Thursday, a source close to the administration said. The money for Alzheimers research would target the new grants at understanding why the disease is more prevalent in women and people of color. Former California first lady and Alzheimers activist Maria Shriver pushed for the funding to be included in the state budget. Shriver said in a statement Wednesday that the funding would make California the first state to make understanding our brains a priority. The states former first lady, whose late father Sargent Shriver was diagnosed with Alzheimers, founded the Womens Alzheimers Movement, an advocacy group raising awareness about womens increased risk for developing the disease. In 2011, she wrote a comprehensive assessment on the disease, to which Newsom then mayor of San Francisco contributed a portion called What one city is doing. This is personal to me, just like it is to millions of California families, Shriver said. Alzheimers is one of the largest medical, social and economic crises in our state, and of our time. I am so proud that, once again, California is leading the way. Wiping out Alzheimers is going to require bold thinking, and there is no doubt in my mind that California is home to bold thinkers who can make this happen. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Gavin Newsom orders reinvention of troubled California DMV By Patrick McGreevy A line of people stretches around the South L.A. location of a California Department of Motor Vehicles Office on Aug. 7. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered an overhaul of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which has been plagued by hours-long wait times at field offices, computer crashes and voter registration errors involving tens of thousands of customers. Just a few days after taking office, Newsom appointed a top advisor to a new DMV Reinvention Strike Team to revamp the beleaguered agency over the next six months. By any metric, California DMV has been chronically mismanaged and failed in its fundamental mission to the state customers it serves and the state workers it employs, Newsom said in a statement, adding Its time for a reinvention. The governor appointed state Government Operations Agency Secretary Marybel Batjer to lead the strike team with a goal of modernizing the agency and enacting changes that improve customer satisfaction, employee performance and transparency. Newsom also ordered an accelerated review of initial findings of an ongoing audit ordered last year by Gov. Jerry Brown. The action was welcomed by lawmakers who have been critical of the DMV, including Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield). The egregious management failures of the DMV have been self-evident, which is why I have been calling for new leadership and a comprehensive independent audit of this troubled state agency over and over again as the problems grew significantly worse, Fong said. Last summer, Californians seeking new driver licenses complained of wait times of four to six hours at DMV offices, which the agency blamed partly on snafus caused by a rush of people trying to get Real IDs, a new identification card design required for airline passengers starting in late 2020. Delays were also blamed on computer crashes at DMV offices as the agency struggled to update its aging automation systems. The DMV also admitted that there were an estimated 23,000 errors as people either were unknowingly registered to vote or mistakes were made in their registration status as part of the states new motor voter program. The agency registered to vote as many as 1,500 people with legal U.S. residency but no citizenship. Last month, DMV Director Jean Shiomoto retired from the agency. Legislators were angered earlier this week when the DMV said it needed an additional $40 million to prevent the return of long lines at its field offices. In addition, the agency has been under fire for issuing driver licenses in the last year that do not comply with the federal Real ID standards requiring two forms of identification by applicants. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California police unions are preparing to battle new transparency law in the courtroom By Maya Lau Just as a landmark police transparency law is going into effect, some California police agencies are shredding internal affairs documents and law enforcement unions are rushing to block the information from being released. The new law, which begins to unwind Californias strictest-in-the-nation protections over the secrecy of law enforcement records, opens to the public internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. But the lawsuits and records destruction, which began even before the law took effect Jan. 1, could tie up the release of information for months or years, and in some instances, prevent it from ever being disclosed. The fact that police unions are challenging this law is on some level not surprising, said Peter Bibring, director of police practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, one of the principal supporters of the new law. They have a long history of fighting tooth and nail against transparency. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Secretary of State Alex Padilla begins second term with challenge to ensure every Californian is counted By Jazmine Ulloa Secretary of State Alex Padilla takes the oath of office as his family stands by his side on Monday in Sacramento. (Jazmine Ulloa / Los Angeles Times) Secretary of State Alex Padilla was sworn in for a second term on Monday, saying he would continue the battle to protect the right to vote at a time when voter suppression efforts, online disinformation campaigns and interference from foreign adversaries have polarized the public and threatened to undermine trust in U.S. elections. I am doubling down on our fight here in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C., to defend our democracy, he said. Working on the front lines with so many of you, I know that our collective resolve has never been stronger. But the loudest applause came when Padilla promised to fight back against the Trump administrations changes to the U.S. census, saying he will ensure every Californian gets counted. Padilla, a former state senator and Los Angeles City Council member from the San Fernando Valley, led the cause for a new motor voter registration law in 2015, and a new system for online business registrations. But the programs have had experienced problems: More than 23,000 Californians were registered to vote incorrectly by the state DMV, the agency reported last year. On Monday, Padilla said he would continue to push back against false claims of voter fraud in California and pointed to the states voter turnout as proof that his office was involving more people in the democratic process, a promise he made when he was first sworn in four years ago. More than 12.7 million voters cast ballots in the Nov. 6 midterm election, representing roughly 65% of the states registered voters, the highest number of any midterm election since 1982, according to state certified results. I made that promise based on a shared belief that we are a stronger democracy and a better California when we hear all voices from all corners of California, and when those voices are not just heard but counted, Padilla said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Ricardo Lara, Californias first statewide officeholder to come out as gay, sworn in as insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara on the floor of the state Senate in 2016. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Ricardo Lara took the oath of office as California insurance commissioner on Monday, pledging action to boost healthcare coverage and combat climate change. Lara, a Democrat from Bell Gardens, is the first elected statewide officeholder in California who has come out as gay. He began his speech in downtown Sacramento by thanking LGBTQ leaders who came before him and celebrated the occasion. Today, because of you, weve shattered the pink ceiling, Lara said. In his inaugural speech, Lara announced the creation of an executive position in his office to address climate change. There is no other industry that has the necessary expertise to ensure that California is prepared to mitigate and reduce risk to our communities and our environment, Lara said. Our planet cant wait. Im ready, and I hope you are too. Lara served as a state legislator and in 2017 introduced a bill to create a single-payer healthcare system in the state. He promised to work with new Gov. Gavin Newsom to expand coverage across California. Lara was sworn in by retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who declared unconstitutional Californias Proposition 8 gay marriage ban. State Sen. President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) was on hand for the ceremony along with multiple other state lawmakers. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis says she will help expand access to universities in the state New Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, center, is shown in June talking with attendees at the Power to the Polls rally in Sacramento. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) More Californians should be given access to public universities, Eleni Kounalakis said as she took the oath of office Monday to become the states first woman elected lieutenant governor. Kounalakis was given the oath of office by Gov. Gavin Newsom, her predecessor in the job, who pledged they would work together. As lieutenant governor, Kounalakis serves on the University of California Board of Regents and the California State University Board of Trustees, she noted in a speech at her swearing-in ceremony at the main Sacramento Library. In that role, she said, she will be committed to expanding access to affordable public higher education here in our state. Its wise, its smart and it is the best way to address our rapidly changing digital economy. Kounalakis is former president of a development company founded by her father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, and served during the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary. In November, she won her first run for statewide office. Also attending the ceremony were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California meets Dutch Newsom, who steals the show at his fathers inauguration By Taryn Luna Gov. Gavin Newsom gives his inaugural address while holding his youngest son, Dutch. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) In the California political world, all eyes were on Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday until his 2-year-old son stole the show. Dutch, the youngest of four children in the Newsom brood, climbed onstage in the middle of his fathers inaugural address in a tent outside the Capitol on Monday. The unplanned moment saw the 51-year-old governors big day interrupted by the toddler, bringing levity to the ceremony. Newsom was recounting Gov. Jerry Browns last inaugural speech and reference to the Sermon on the Mount, a biblical story about two men who built separate homes on sand and rock, when Dutch approached his father, a pacifier in his mouth and blanket in hand. Now more than ever we Californians know how much a house matters and children matter, Newsom said, improvising as he scooped the boy into his arms. The governor kissed Dutch on the cheek and held him for several minutes as he continued with the speech. This is exactly how it was scripted, Newsom joked. Newsom eventually put his child down and Dutch walked to the edge of the stage before retreating behind the podium to hide from his mother, First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The crowd roared. Siebel Newsom was able to briefly divert her son only for him to return to the stage minutes later. She grabbed him again and this time, the crying toddler did not reemerge. When fires strikes, when kids cry and the earth shakes, well be there for each other, Newsom said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said the moment humanized Newsom, threw cold water on any theories that Dutchs cameo was planned. No, I know it was not, Garcetti said with a laugh after Newsoms speech concluded. I could see that look of absolute abject terror [on Newsoms face]. Weve all been there. Kids always think its about themselves and theyve proved it. California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) agreed. I worked in early childhood education for 20 years and theres no way you can ever get a child to do anything when you want them to do it, Rendon said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Fiona Ma takes oath as Californias new treasurer By Liam Dillon State Treasurer Fiona Ma. Fiona Ma took the oath of office in Sacramento on Monday as the states 34th treasurer, promising to boost Californias economy. Ma previously served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in the state Assembly and on the California Board of Equalization. I want to thank everyone for entrusting me with this important job. I understand my role here as your state treasurer is to build that financial wall around California so that we will remain the fifth-largest economy, Ma said in brief remarks. That is my promise to you. California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye administered the oath to Ma. Following the ceremony, Ma held an ice cream social for guests. On Wednesday, she will host a public event in San Francisco to celebrate her swearing-in. State Treasurer Fiona Ma takes the oath of office. (Liam Dillon / Los Angeles Times) Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Expectations are high for newly sworn-in state schools chief Tony Thurmond Tony Thurmond shakes hands with retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco after taking the oath of office. (Melody Gutierrez / Los Angeles Times) Tony Thurmond took the oath of office as Californias state superintendent of public schools on Monday, promising a labor-friendly agenda before the teachers, students and Democratic officials who filled an auditorium at McClatchy High School in Sacramento to watch him being sworn in. We cant close the achievement gap without a great teacher at the head of every class, Thurmond said Monday to applause. We have to make sure we provide quality compensation and support to our teachers and our classified staff and all the educators who support our kids. Thurmond, a Bay Area Democrat who served in the state Assembly, won a hotly contested and expensive race with the help of labor leaders against charter school executive Marshall Tuck. The race took several days to sort out after Tuck held an initial lead in early returns on election night before falling behind thereafter. Thurmond was sworn in Monday by retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco. He was joined on stage by labor rights leader Dolores Huerta and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount). Thurmonds former colleagues in the state Assembly took turns praising him and promising to be an ally in improving schools. Many said they expected Thurmond would be a strong leader focused on improving student outcomes. We know we are going to work hard to give you the money you need and the budget you need to fully fund education and our schools so we can put our money where our mouth is and make sure our children have everything they need, Assemblywoman Connie Leyva (D-Chino Hills) said. As state superintendent, Thurmond will oversee the education of 6.2 million students at 10,000 schools. Thurmond was a member of the West Contra Costa County School Board and a Richmond city councilman before he was elected to the state Assembly. Tony is the right man at the right time to fight the federal, Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos anti-child, anti-education, anti-civil and -human rights agenda, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said. Tony is going to do that for us. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State Controller Betty Yee takes oath of office with call for more affordable housing and healthcare State Controller Betty Yee California Controller Betty Yee took the oath of office Monday for a second term, saying she still has work to do addressing problems that include a lack of affordability in housing, healthcare and higher education. A San Francisco native, Yee is the chief financial officer of California the fifth-largest economy in the world having first won election to the post in 2014 before winning reelection in November. No region is spared from the widening inequality and increased poverty that plague our state, fueled by the lack of affordable, stable housing, the cost of healthcare and transportation, limited educational opportunities, student loan debt, displacement caused by disasters and more, she said. Yee was administered the oath of office by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento before an overflow crowd that included state Senate leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and San Francisco Mayor London Breed. As a public official it is about governance that delivers results and stays accountable while upholding the underlying value of dignity for all, Yee said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra begins new term promising to fight Trump policies California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra ( (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Monday took the oath of office for a new term, saying he would continue his role as a leading challenger to Trump administration actions that he believes are counter to the states interests. Becerra, a former 12-term congressman, has become a national opposition figure to Trump, having sued the federal government 45 times since he was appointed as the states first Latino attorney general in 2017. Weve been a little busy stopping the dysfunction and insanity in Washington, D.C., from infecting California, Becerra told an audience during a swearing-in ceremony at the California Museum in Sacramento. Whether its the criminals on our streets or the conman in the boardrooms or highest office of the land, Becerra said, the California Department of Justice, well, weve got your back. Becerra won his first statewide election as the states top cop in November, two years after he filled the post vacated when predecessor Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. He has peppered the Trump administration with lawsuits challenging federal policies on healthcare, the U.S. census, the environment and immigration. Our state builds dreams, not walls, he said in a direct criticism of Trumps proposal to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Just last week, Becerra led a coalition of 17 Democratic attorneys general in announcing an appeal of a federal judge in Texas that ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The ACA has been the law for nearly a decade and is the backbone of our healthcare system, Becerra said last week. This case impacts nearly every American workers covered by employers, families, women, children, young adults and seniors so we will lead the ACAs defense as long and far as it takes. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California Democratic Party Vice Chairman Daraka Larimore-Hall announces bid to lead group By Christine Mai-Duc Daraka Larimore-Hall. (Dominic Parisi / Courtesy of Daraka Larimore-Hall) Daraka Larimore-Hall, a top official at the California Democratic Party, said Monday hes running to replace former chairman Eric Bauman, who resigned abruptly in November after being confronted with allegations of sexual misconduct. Larimore-Hall, a longtime state party activist and former chairman of the Democratic Party of Santa Barbara County, was one of the party leaders who urged Bauman to resign following the allegations. In an email to supporters announcing his bid, he urged both structural and cultural change at every level of our Party. He also repeated his call for a top-to-bottom investigation of the allegations, the party and its culture. In a Times investigation, 10 party activists and staff members said Bauman made crude sexual comments and engaged in unwanted touching and physical intimidation in professional settings. In order to be where we need to be for 2020, we have to confront the culture of abuse and fear that allowed someone to behave in such a vile way for so long, Larimore-Hall said in an interview. We cant brush it aside or think that our activists or our candidates or our donors are going to forget about this overnight. Larimore-Hall said his first priority would be to fully investigate the allegations and restore rank-and-file confidence in the partys leadership. The second would be to refocus the party on political priorities as the 2020 presidential election nears. The Bauman episode, Larimore-Hall said, threatens to derail the Democrats plans to help defeat President Trump and keep the seven congressional seats gained in the midterm elections. Its definitely a crisis, Larimore-Hall said. But the component parts the energy, the enthusiasm, the volunteers, the infrastructure its still there. We just need to direct it toward something. Larimore-Hall was elected vice chairman of the state party in February following Baumans razor-thin victory over Bay Area activist Kimberly Ellis. Ellis has announced another bid for the chairmanship and former state Senate leader Kevin de Leon is also mulling a run. The vote will take place at the partys May convention in San Francisco. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom will vow to seize this moment, and swipe at Trump in Monday inaugural address By Melanie Mason Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and his family attend an Inauguration Family Event at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento on Jan. 6. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Building on the theme of California exceptionalism that defined his campaign, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will depict the state as a guardian of progressive values and a counterweight to President Trump in his inaugural address Monday, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks. What we do today is even more consequential, because of whats happening in our country, read the excerpts obtained by The Times. Peoples lives, freedom, security, the water we drink, the air we breathe they all hang in the balance. The country is watching us. The world is waiting on us. The future depends on us. And we will seize this moment. The speech casts Californias political stakes in a decidedly national scope, promising an agenda that will unify and be an example to the rest of the country. It contrasts the governing goals of Newsom, a Democrat, with that of Trump, the incoming governors perennial foil. We will offer an alternative to the corruption and incompetence in the White House, the excerpts say. Our government will be progressive, principled, and always on the side of the people. Newsom campaigned on an ambitious and wide-ranging platform, promising sweeping solutions on housing, healthcare, education and other issues that rank among Californians top concerns. In the weeks after his election, he struck a more muted tone, taking pains to emphasize his fiscal caution and need for patience in achieving those goals. The inaugural excerpts indicate a return to lofty pledges. While Newsom will vow to prepare for uncertain times ahead by building budgetary reserves and paying down debt, the prepared remarks quickly turn to a vow to be bold. Newsom has already floated several proposals for his first budget that carry significant price tags, including a nearly $2-billion plan to boost early childhood development for low-income families and a dramatic expansion of paid family leave from six weeks to six months. When asked for a preview of his inauguration speech during a news conference Sunday evening, Newsom predicted pundits would criticize his address as short on specifics. Well, of course, Im at an inaugural, Newsom said. But Ill be very detailed in the budget, a few days later. And then we will architect, in much more nuance and detail, in state of the state. I really see this as three opportunities to communicate over the next few weeks our agenda, our vision for the state. Times staff writer Taryn Luna contributed to this report. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom-hosted benefit concert raises nearly $5 million for wildfire victims By Taryn Luna Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom speaks at a concert to benefit wildfire victims at the Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento on Jan. 6. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) On the eve of the gubernatorial inauguration, Californias political class rubbed elbows in Sacramento for a benefit concert hosted by Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and headlined by the rapper Pitbull. Newsom told the crowd gathered at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday evening that the fundraiser brought in nearly $5 million for the California Wildfire Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that supports the families of fallen firefighters and communities affected by wildfires. You know, a lot of folks feel anxious about not just politics, but government, Newsom said on stage before introducing the rapper and activist Common. But those firefighters, they are the antidote to the fear and cynicism; they are the manifestation of why government matters and why you should care. Top sponsors, including Salesforce, Kaiser Permanente and other interest groups, paid up to $1 million each to support the cause and curry favor with the new administration. Nathan Click, a spokesman for Newsom, said organizers sold more than 7,000 tickets. Several state lawmakers attended the concert alongside Capitol staff, lobbyists and business types, who mingled on the floor of the arena and offstage in private VIP areas. The rock band X Ambassadors and a duo called the Cold Weather Sons from the town of Paradise, which was destroyed by fire in November, were among several performers who entertained the crowd during the four-hour event. The California Rises concert is the final in a series of festivities held Sunday to celebrate the inauguration of Californias 40th governor. Earlier in the day, Newsom attended a private brunch at Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum and his inaugural committee hosted a free party for families at the California State Railroad Museum at the Old Sacramento Waterfront. Newsoms inauguration is set to begin at 11 a.m. Monday on the steps of the Capitol. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Inauguration fever hits Sacramento as Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom prepares to take office By Phil Willon Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom holds his son, Dutch, as he and his family attend an inaugural event at the at the state Railroad Museum Sunday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom doesnt officially take the oath of office until Monday, but the parties celebrating his inauguration were in full swing all day Sunday. Newsom and his family were mobbed by well-wishers at the California State Railroad Museum at the Old Sacramento Waterfront in the afternoon, where his inaugural committee hosted a free party for families. He just has charisma. Hes able to really connect with people, said Rosielyn Pulmano, an attorney from Elk Grove who came to see Newsom with her husband, two sons and her niece. I think he cares about working Californians and a lot of their issues. Newsom arrived with his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and their four young children, and the governor-elect spent a good deal of his time wading through crowds, taking selfies with supporters and signing autographs as music boomed in the background. As the family toured the inside of the museums locomotives and the bevy of exhibits, Newsoms two-year-old son, Dutch, was wide-eyed, impressed by all the train cars and seemingly a little overwhelmed by the crowd. Newsom said that for his son, all that was missing from the museum was Thomas the Train, popular fictional locomotive in childrens books and cartoons . If theres one thing I can contribute to Sacramento maybe its getting a Thomas the Train exhibit for the two years olds, Newsom joked when talking with reporters afterward. Newsom said he wanted to include such an event in his inaugural festivities to highlight families and children, whose wellbeing will be among the top priorities of his administration. Youll see that not only as a preamble to the inaugural and the budget that well be submitting next week, but I think itll be a big part of the administration, Newsom said. The museum event followed a private, high-dollar brunch at Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum. A steady rain failed to dissuade as many as 200 guests who sipped wine and dined on chicken and salmon while waiting for a photo with Californias new first couple. Seen at the event were representatives of some of the states most powerful political interests, among them organized labor, healthcare companies and tribal gaming interests. A few other high-profile guests attended, too, including Larry Baer, CEO of the San Francisco Giants, and Erika Jayne, a singer and cast member of the reality TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Im excited to see someone like Gavin young, vibrant taking over the state and leading us into the future, Jayne said after attending the brunch with her husband, attorney Tom Girardi. Hes got a lot of great plans. Attendees said the event, which was closed to reporters and held under a tent in the museums outdoor atrium, did not include prepared remarks by Newsom. Among those seen leaving the event were representatives of AT&T, the California Medical Assn., Uber, Kaiser Permanente and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. A fundraising invitation obtained by The Times offered bundled tickets to all of the inauguration events, including those on Sunday and the Monday ceremony, ranging in price from $25,000 to $200,000. The money will be collected by a committee specifically organized to pay for Newsoms inaugural weekend. Sundays festivities are scheduled to end with a benefit concert headlined by Pitbull at the Golden 1 Center, home of the NBAs Sacramento Kings, to raise money for the victims of Californias recent deadly wildfires. Among the attendees at @GavinNewsoms pre-inaugural leadership brunch: Real Housewife of Bev Hills @erikajayne. Im excited to see someone like Gavinyoung, vibranttaking over the state and leading us into the future. Hes got a lot of great plans. pic.twitter.com/561NHiy2XQ Melanie Mason (@melmason) January 6, 2019 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement As Newsom inaugural events begin, he unveils more state budget promises on education and paid family leave Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, seen here last April, will propose new state budget efforts on paid family leave and education subsidies. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Californias incoming governor, who must send his first state budget plan to the Legislature this week, has already signaled a significant new focus on programs to help families and children from infancy to college. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom campaigned on a platform that included a number of child-focused efforts specifically aimed at helping lower-income families. The price tag for the initial efforts is expected to approach $2 billion a cost paid out of an unrestricted tax revenue windfall that could be one of the largest in state history. Newsom may also seek help for families through new subsidies paid by California employers. The governor-elect is expected to propose a dramatic expansion of paid parental leave from six weeks to six months according to an internal document provided by a source close to the Newsom transition team, first reported on Sunday by the New York Times. The document doesnt offer a full explanation for how the program will be funded, saying instead that the budget will set a goal of ensuring that all newborns and newly adopted babies can be cared for by a parent or a close family member for the first six months. Employers across the state are currently assessed a payroll tax that helps offer a subsidy to parents who temporarily leave their job to care for a newborn. Newsoms plan, according to the document, would pay for some of the new costs by shrinking the mandated cash reserve of the state fund that administers the program, allowing more of the money to be paid in benefits. The increase in paid leave would not all happen at once but instead be phased in over a multi-year period. A task force to help implement the expanded care plan is also envisioned, according to the document. It would determine whether two parents could split the six months of paid leave and whether an extended family member could be enlisted to help care for the child of a single parent over the six-month period. The incoming administrations focus on young children will also include $1.8 billion in new spending on early childhood education programs, with a particular focus on training childcare workers and pushing for more California schools to offer full-day kindergarten. Those costs, according to an overview memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times, are considered to be a one-time expense while leaving the long-term costs of the effort to be determined later. More community college students would get free tuition under a third initiative expected in the new governors budget plan. Newsom will propose spending $40 million to offer a second year of tuition-free college to California students, according to an outline provided by a transition official, first reported by Politico. Students are already eligible for a single year of paid tuition under a plan agreed to by Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers in 2017. The incoming governor embraced the idea of free community college during the 2018 campaign as part of a broader focus on additional investments in higher education. Education is an economic development strategy, Newsom said at a higher education forum last spring. We need to significantly increase the investment from the general fund of this state on higher education. Theres no greater higher return on investment. Whether the proposal would be targeted to students based on a familys financial need is unclear. Many low-income students are already eligible for fee waivers at community colleges. The new governor must submit his full state budget plan to lawmakers no later than Thursday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gavin Newsom and his family decide Sacramento is the place to be The Old Governors Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will move his family into the mansion. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and his family will give up the Marin County life and move to the Victorian-style governors mansion in Sacramento after he takes the oath of office Monday. Newsom and his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, had debated whether or when to relocate to the state capital since his election in November. The couple have four young children and expressed reservations about moving in the middle of a school year. To best serve the people of California while also maximizing family time together, the Newsoms have therefore decided to move to Sacramento, said Newsoms spokesman, Nathan Click. On Monday, they will move into the Governors Mansion along with their four children, their two family dogs, and their family bunny rabbit and reside there for the immediate future. The Newsoms currently live in Marin County. Gov. Jerry Brown and his wife, Ann Gust Brown, moved into the grand house in 2015 after it underwent $4.1 million in renovations to update electrical and plumbing systems, as well as to remove lead-based paint and install a fire sprinkler system and other security features. The mansion was built in 1877 and has been home to 14 governors, but before Brown it had not housed a California governor for nearly half a century. The state bought the mansion from a wealthy Sacramento hardware merchant, Albert Gallatin, in 1903 for $32,500. It was one of the few California homes at that time to have indoor plumbing. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom announces top labor, business liaisons as he prepares to take office Julie Su will be secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency for Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom on Friday named two advisors on issues related to the California economy, each recognized for their expertise on business and labor. The incoming governor will appoint Julie Su as secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and Lenny Mendonca as chief economic and business advisor and director of the Governors Office of Business and Economic Development. Su, 49, has served as state labor commissioner under Gov. Jerry Brown since 2011 and has led an office tasked with the enforcement of Californias labor laws. She won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 2001 and previously worked as a civil rights attorney representing low-wage workers. In her new position, Su will be tasked with coordinating the work of several workforce departments in state government, including those that administer unemployment benefits and oversee the relationship between agriculture workers and employers. Mendonca, 57, has been a longtime advocate for rethinking government operations as co-chairman of the nonprofit organization California Forward. Previously, he was partner at McKinsey & Co., a global management consulting firm. While he will be a key advisor to Newsom on the states economy, Mendonca will also lead the office often referred to as Go-Biz, designated as a high-level way to encourage job growth and economic development. In his new role, Mendonca will help ensure that California is rolling out the welcome mat to current and future California businesses and growing a sustainable economy for every Californian, said a statement from the Newsom transition team. Newsom will take the oath of office as governor Monday. He has previously selected key advisors on the state budget, legislative affairs and the executive branchs wide array of agencies and departments. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Joshua Groban, aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, sworn in to California Supreme Court By Taryn Luna California Supreme Court Justice Joshua Groban gives remarks after he is sworn into the court by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday. (Taryn Luna) California Supreme Court Justice Joshua Groban, a lawyer and longtime aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, was sworn into the states highest court Thursday in Sacramento. The ceremony marked Browns fourth appointment to the state Supreme Court and gave the seven-member bench a Democratic majority. We live in a highly chaotic, ever-changing and ever-confusing world, Groban said in prepared remarks at the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building. But Im happy to report that Im joining an institution whose fundamental purpose, at core, is to provide stability and consistency amidst this chaotic place we live. I look forward to doing that with a sense of reflection, respect, fidelity to the law and compassion. None of Browns appointees, Groban included, have judicial experience. Groban served as legal counsel to Browns 2010 gubernatorial campaign and joined the administration as a senior advisor to the governor, overseeing the appointments of some 600 judges over the last eight years. Prior to working with Brown, Groban, 45, practiced law for more than a decade. In perhaps his final public appearance before his successor, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, takes office next week, Brown pushed back on notions that he stacked the court. I dont want this to be known as a Brown court, the governor said before administering the judicial oath of office. First of all, the so-called Brown appointments do not agree with themselves and nor should they. They are individuals. They will differ. Its not anybodys court. The governor called the court a high calling and said Groban possesses the values for the job. Probably, next to my wife, Ive talked to no person as much as Ive talked to Josh Groban, Brown said. I think youve talked to him more, Californias First Lady Anne Gust Brown interjected. I cant tell you what the hell hes going to do, Brown later quipped. I warned him, dont screw up, at least not at first. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California campaign watchdog agency seeks law barring use of campaign funds to fight harassment claims Former state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia). ( (Steve Yeater / Associated Press)) Elected officials accused of harassment or discrimination would be barred from using political contributions to cover their legal defense costs under legislation proposed by Californias campaign watchdog agency. The state Fair Political Practices Commission has agreed to pursue a law change to clear up confusion after an attorney for one former state lawmaker argued political funds could be used in such legal defenses. Commission Chairwoman Alice Germond said putting a prohibition into the law would provide some much needed clarity. As chair, I would like to show the public their lawmakers are held to a standard that is above reproach, Germond said in a statement. People dont give money to campaigns for lawmakers to use it to defend their own bad behavior, so lawmakers shouldnt be able to use it in that manner. The issue came up a year ago when an attorney for former Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) sought a formal opinion from the FPPC after the Senate launched an investigation that later concluded Mendoza likely engaged in a pattern of harassment against female aides. Mendoza resigned in February under threat of expulsion by the Senate. In a Jan. 10, 2018, letter, Cassandra Ferrannini, an attorney for Mendoza, wrote to the FPPC that she believed Mendoza should be allowed to establish a legal defense fund able to defray his legal expenses in defending himself against the allegations. The use of campaign funds for attorneys fees under these circumstances would fall squarely within the scope of legislative matters, since it involves the alleged conduct of a legislator with regard to legislative staff that he supervised, Ferrannini wrote. The commission staff originally issued an advice letter that said Mendoza may use campaign and legal defense funds to defend himself from claims of sexual harassment that arose directly out of his activities or status as a candidate or elected officer. But the panel later rescinded the letter after some members questioned using campaign funds to fight sexual harassment claims. That left uncertainty about what was allowed, which Germond said could be cleared up by a new law. The FPPC is still looking for a legislator to carry the bill, a spokesman said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias landmark police transparency law takes effect after court denies police union effort to block it California Supreme Court building (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) A new state law allowing the public disclosure of internal police shooting investigations has gone into effect after the California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a bid by a police union to block it. The law opens to the public for the first time internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Employees Benefit Assn. challenged the law last month, asking state Supreme Court justices to decide that the law only apply to incidents that occur in 2019 or later. The court rejected that request Wednesday, allowing members of the public to seek all applicable records held by police departments. Union president Grant Ward said in a statement that his organization was disappointed with the decision and is now seeking other legal options. We feel this is a statewide issue and should be considered accordingly, Ward said. Last month, the city of Inglewood authorized the destruction of more than 100 police shooting investigations and other records in advance of Jan. 1, when the disclosure law was scheduled to take effect. California law requires police departments to keep such records for five years, and Inglewood City Council voted to destroy records older than that. Mayor James T. Butts has said the decision had nothing to do with the new law. In Los Angeles, Police Chief Michel Moore has said that complying with the new disclosure rules could take hundreds of thousands of hours of work. State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the author of the transparency law, has said she has no immediate plans to propose changes to it. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Few complaints of racial profiling are sustained by police agencies in California, state panel finds CHP Officer J. Nelson stands outside the office of Gov. Jerry Brown as activists in 2015 support requiring the tracking of police stops. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Law enforcement agencies in California sustain few citizen complaints of racial or identity profiling, according to a report Wednesday by a state panel set up to help reduce bias in policing. The states Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board recommended in its annual report that law enforcement agencies improve training and adopt clear guidelines for tracking and reporting data on who is stopped by officers. The panel said that 453 law enforcement agencies in the state received 9,459 civilian complaints in 2017, including 865 complaints alleging racial or identity profiling. Of the racial and identity complaints that reached a disposition that year, 1.5% were sustained, 14.6% resulted in officers being exonerated and 83.9% of complaints were not sustained or were determined to be unfounded, the report said. A clearer picture of the issue is expected from a 2015 law that requires police agencies to report demographic data on all detentions and searches. The first reports by the eight largest agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, are due to be submitted in April. California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, whose office oversees the board, said tracking of all detentions and searches will be helpful to understand the scope of the issue. The Boards recommendations will help make our law enforcement agencies more transparent and promote critical steps to enhance, and in some cases, repair the public trust, Becerra said in a statement Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California housing crisis podcast: What Minneapolis decision to end single-family zoning might mean for California A view of downtown Minneapolis in 2014 (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images) Theres a national movement brewing to roll back zoning rules in cities that only allow one house on a plot of land. The epicenter of that movement is Minneapolis, which passed a plan last month to eliminate single-family zoning citywide and let landowners build duplexes and triplexes on residential property. On this episode of Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast, we talk about the reasons why Minneapolis leaders took this action, including their desire to combat a history of racial exclusion and spur more housing density to fight climate change. We also debate how Minneapolis decision might affect housing politics in California. Our guest is Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender, who helped shepherd the new zoning rules to passage and a former San Francisco city planner. The episode also crowns 2018s Avocado of the Year the most ridiculous story exemplifying Californias housing woes and includes our predictions for the most under-the-radar important themes in housing politics in 2019. Gimme Shelter, a biweekly podcast that looks at why its so expensive to live in California and what the state can do about it, features Liam Dillon, who covers housing affordability issues for the Los Angeles Times Sacramento bureau, and Matt Levin, data and housing reporter for CALmatters. You can subscribe to Gimme Shelter on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play and Overcast. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement How young immigrant Dreamers made flipping control of the House a personal quest By Jazmine Ulloa Gabriela Cruz, who was brought to the U.S. illegally when she was 1, couldnt vote, but in the final hours before the Nov. 6 election, she was making one last run to get people to the polls. The sun was setting in Modesto when she found Ronald Silva, 41, smoking a cigarette on a tattered old couch behind a group home. He politely tried to wave her off until she reminded him he had a right that she as an immigrant without citizenship didnt have. It could really make a change for us, said Cruz, 29. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will propose almost $2 billion for early childhood programs (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Seeking to frame his new administration as one with a firm focus on closing the gap between children from affluent and poor families, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will propose spending some $1.8 billion on an array of programs designed to boost Californias enrollment in early education and child-care programs. Newsoms plan, which he hinted at in a Fresno event last month, will be a key element in the state budget proposal he will submit to the Legislature shortly after taking office Monday, a source close to the governor-elects transition team said. The spending would boost programs designed to ensure children enter kindergarten prepared to learn, closing what some researchers have called the readiness gap that exists based on a familys income. It would also phase in an expansion of prekindergarten and offer money to help school districts that dont have facilities for full-day kindergarten. The fact that hes making significant investments with his opening budget is really exciting, Ted Lempert, president of the Bay Area-based nonprofit Children Now, said Tuesday. Whats exciting is the comprehensiveness of it, because its saying were going to focus on prenatal through age 5. A broad overview document reviewed by The Times on Tuesday shows that most of the outlay under the plan $1.5 billion would be a one-time expense in the budget year that begins July 1. Those dollars would be a single infusion of cash, an approach favored by Gov. Jerry Brown in recent years. Most of the money would be spent on efforts to expand child-care services and kindergarten classes. By law, a governor must submit a full budget to the Legislature no later than Jan. 10. Lawmakers will spend the winter and spring reviewing the proposal and must send a final budget plan to Newsom by June 15. Though legislative Democrats have pushed for additional early childhood funding in recent years a key demand of the Legislative Womens Caucus those actions have typically come late in the budget-writing season in Sacramento. Quite frankly, to start out with a January proposal that includes that investment in Californias children reflects a new day, state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said. The governor-elect will propose a $750-million boost to kindergarten funding, aimed at expanding facilities to allow full-day programs. A number of school districts offer only partial-day programs, leaving many low-income families to skip enrolling their children because kindergarten classes end in the middle of the workday. Because the money would not count toward meeting Californias three-decades-old education spending guarantee under Proposition 98, which sets a minimum annual funding level for K-12 schools and community colleges, it will not reduce planned spending on other education services. Close behind in total cost is a budget proposal by Newsom to help train child-care workers and expand local facilities already subsidized by the state, as well as those serving parents who attend state colleges and universities. Together, those efforts could cost $747 million, according to the budget overview document. An expansion of prekindergarten programs would be phased in over three years at a cost of $125 million in the first year. The multiyear rollout would, according to the budget overview, ensure the system can plan for the increase in capacity. Lempert said the Newsom proposal is notable for trying to avoid the kinds of battles that in recent years pitted prekindergarten and expanded child care against each other for additional taxpayer dollars. The reality is we need to expand both simultaneously, he said. Another $200 million of the proposal would be earmarked for programs that provide home visits to expectant parents from limited-income families and programs that provide healthcare screenings for young children. Some of the money would come from the states Medi-Cal program, and other money from federal matching dollars. Funding for the home visits program was provided in the budget Brown signed last summer; the Newsom effort would build on that. Emphasizing a policy area with broad appeal in his first state budget could reflect Newsoms political sensibility about the challenges ahead. Democratic lawmakers and interest groups will be especially eager to see how Newsom addresses the demand for an overhaul of healthcare coverage in California especially after a 2017 effort to create a single-payer, universal system fizzled. The path forward on healthcare is complex and costly, making early childhood education a more achievable goal in the governor-elects early tenure. Newsom is likely to face considerable demands for other additional spending. In November, the Legislatures independent analysts projected that continued strength in tax revenues could produce a cash reserve of some $29 billion over the next 18 months. Almost $15 billion of that could be in unrestricted reserves, the kind that can be spent on any number of government programs. Kim Belshe, executive director of the child advocacy organization First 5 LA and a former state health and human services secretary, said the initial Newsom budget proposal suggests the next governor will focus on a comprehensive approach to improving outcomes for children from low-income families. School-ready kids deserve quality early learning, strong and well-supported families, and access to early screening services, Belshe said. Newsom understands the whole child, multifaceted needs of our kids and is clearly ready to lead. Mitchell, the chair of the Senate budget committee, said shes eager to see the details of the governor-elects proposal to determine whether it might signal the beginning of an even broader expansion of early education efforts. Similar efforts have been hindered by a lack of money and ongoing debate over which services to help children 5 and younger need state funding the most. Universal preschool, in particular, has been debated for more than a decade. California voters rejected a ballot measure to fund a full prekindergarten system in 2006. Its clear theres a new movement afoot trying to engage on investment for universal preschool, Mitchell said. How we invest, and how we prioritize that investment, is going to be a great conversation for the coming months. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Politics Podcast: A final conversation with Gov. Jerry Brown No Californian has served longer as governor, signed more laws, granted clemency to more felons or waged more high-profile campaigns than Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown will leave behind a unique legacy when he packs his last belongings for the trip from the governors mansion in Sacramento to his Northern California ranch. His final two terms in office could be his most consequential. The governor reviewed some of the more notable moments from the past eight years in a far-reaching interview with The Times on Dec. 22. This weeks podcast episode includes extended portions of that conversation. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement A sagging economy could doom a 2020 ballot measure to raise commercial property taxes, Gov. Jerry Brown says Gov. Jerry Brown, at his Colusa County home on Saturday, said a ballot measure to raise commercial property taxes could struggle in 2020. (Randall Benton/For The Times) An effort to remove commercial property in California from the tax limits imposed by the landmark Proposition 13 could be felled by an economic slowdown, Gov. Jerry Brown said. In a Saturday interview with The Times at his Northern California ranch, Brown said liberal activist groups that have successfully placed the proposal on the November 2020 statewide ballot shouldnt read too much into early poll numbers showing support for the plan. That isnt as easy as you think, Brown said. Because youre going to be in a downturn of the business cycle. And youre talking many kinds of business. And the cost of doing business in California is already high. The ballot measure would allow counties to more frequently assess the market value of commercial property in California than allowed under Proposition 13, a 1978 ballot initiative that amended the state constitution to place strict limits on assessing property values and taxation for both homeowners and businesses. An analysis of the new measure, which qualified in October for the 2020 ballot, estimates it could bring in some $10.5 billion a year in new tax revenue. The business community will fight it, Brown said. And the minimum wage, the family leave, the environmental rules business[es] have left California, thats going to be the big argument. And I think thats something you really have to think a lot about. The governor, who leaves office early next month due to term limits, declined to either endorse or oppose the ballot measure. He said Californias economic health in two years time could be a key factor in how voters weigh the proposal. Well be in a recession by then, Brown said. So its anybodys guess. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Inglewood to destroy more than 100 police shooting records that could otherwise become public under new California law By Jack Dolan Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) The city of Inglewood has authorized the shredding of more than 100 police shooting and other internal investigation records weeks before a new state law could allow the public to access them for the first time. The decision, made at a City Council meeting earlier this month, has troubled civil liberties advocates who were behind the state legislation, Senate Bill 1421, which takes effect Jan. 1. The law opens to the public internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The legislature passed SB 1421 because communities demanded an end to the secrecy cloaking police misconduct and use of force, Marcus Benigno, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said in a statement. Inglewood PDs decision to purge records undermines police accountability and transparency against the will of Californians. California law says police departments must retain records of officer shootings and internal misconduct investigations for five years. The city of Inglewood, however, had kept records longer than that, including case files of police shootings dating to 1991. State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the author of SB 1421, intended for her bill to allow public access to all qualifying records held by a department, no matter the date of the incident. Inglewood City Council approved the destruction of records that have been in the police departments possession more than 100 cases longer than required by law. The city staff report and council resolution describing the action makes no mention of the new police transparency law. Instead it says the affected records are obsolete, occupy valuable space, and are of no further use to the police department. It added the traditional method of destroying such records is to shred them. It is unclear whether the records have since been destroyed. A spokesman for the Inglewood Police Department along with Inglewoods city manager, attorney, clerk, four council members and Mayor James T. Butts, a former Santa Monica police chief, did not respond to requests for comment. Inglewoods City Hall is closed the last two weeks of December. The Inglewood Police Department has a reputation for secrecy and using excessive force. In 2008, the departments officers fatally shot four men in as many months, three of whom turned out to be unarmed. The U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights probe and found significant flaws in the way the department oversaw use-of-force cases and investigated complaints against officers. Civil rights advocates still question why Inglewood police opened fire on a couple found sleeping in a car in 2016, killing them both. California police have a long history of shredding records to avoid scrutiny of their actions. In the 1970s, the LAPD famously destroyed more than four tons of personnel records after defense attorneys began requesting them as part of criminal cases against their clients. The move resulted in the dismissal of more than a hundred criminal complaints. In response, the Legislature demanded that records be preserved but then took other measures, supported by police unions, to ensure the public had very little access to them, making California the most secretive state in the nation when it comes to police misconduct. Skinners legislation begins to unwind those laws, which have been on the books since 1978. No video or audio of the Dec. 11 council action is available on the citys website and neither are meeting minutes or any record of the decision. A city spokeswoman, Courtney Torres, confirmed that the council had voted in favor of the police records purge, and said all the relevant reasons for the decision were included in the city staff report. The Jan. 1 implementation for SB 1421 has prompted other police officials to act. A police union in San Bernardino is asking the state Supreme Court to determine that Skinners bill only applies to incidents that occur in 2019 or later. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore sent a letter to Skinner earlier this month warning that complying with the law in regard to older records in the departments possession could take hundreds of thousands of work hours. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Federal officials question California DMVs process for issuing Real IDs (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has notified the California Department of Motor Vehicles that its process for providing residents with federally recognized identification cards is not adequate. DMV spokesman Armando Botello said Friday that 2.3 million residents who received Real IDs under the current process will have to submit additional documentation when their cards are renewed in five years but will be able to use them in the meantime. The DMV is developing a way for residents to submit more documentation online or via email to comply with the stricter federal requirement, he said. But some state legislators are upset about delays in notifying them of the problem and say Homeland Security could eventually require additional documentation provided by current holders. The DMV has known for a month that millions of Real IDs theyve been dolling out are potentially invalid, Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) said. The DMVs only hope is that the Department of Homeland Security takes pity on California and gives the DMV more time to fix this mess. Real IDs are a new kind of driver license and identification card that federal law will require legal residents to present when boarding domestic flights or visiting military bases and other federal facilities starting Oct. 1, 2020. The DMV has only been requiring one form of documentation, including a current lease or utility bill, to verify the residence of a card applicant. But the federal government said in a Nov. 21 letter to the agency that two such documents are needed. On Friday, DMV Director Jean Shiomoto released a letter defending the current process but said her agency will start requiring a second document to prove residency in April. In order to minimize confusion among our customers, the CADMV will work to inform individuals who have been issued a Real ID under the current process that their card will be accepted for official federal purposes, even if their renewal occurs after the October 1, 2020, final enforcement date for Real ID, Shiomoto wrote to the federal agency. Legislative officials worry there is still a possibility that those issued Real IDs in the past might be required to present a second document to have their cards designated as compliant. The more complex process for obtaining Real IDs has led to hours-long waits for customers at DMV field offices this year, although wait times have been reduced recently by an increase in staffing. Shiomoto last month announced that she is retiring amid problems with the motor voter registration system and after the governor ordered an audit of her agency in response to the long wait times. On Friday, Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido blasted the DMV for waiting a month to tell legislators of the problem. This is unacceptable and flies in the face of security for our citizens, which is what Real ID was created for in the first place, she said in a statement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom taps Keely Bosler to be his finance director Keely Bosler, the director of the California Department of Finance, will continue in that role under Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. (California Department of Finance) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom on Friday appointed Keely Martin Bosler as director of the California Department of Finance, continuing the role she has served under Gov. Jerry Brown since August. Bosler will become Newsoms chief fiscal advisor, and will play a pivotal role in shaping Newsoms spending plan for the state that will lay the foundation for his top policy priorities. Newsom must roll out his first budget plan within days of taking office on Jan. 7. Californias brighter future depends on a strong, stable fiscal foundation, Newsom said in a statement released Friday afternoon. Keely is an accomplished public servant of sound fiscal judgment. She understands that state budgets are more than numbers on a page they are value statements affecting the fate and future of millions of families reaching for the California Dream. We are fortunate to have her on our team. Prior to being appointed finance director, Bosler served as Browns cabinet secretary for two years and, before that, as the chief deputy director for budget in the Finance Department for three years. Earlier this year, Brown picked Bosler to lead an audit of the Department of Motor Vehicles, which had come under fire for long wait times at DMV field offices and numerous computer problems, including errors in the new motor voter program that registered Californians to vote. As we have discussed, long wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles do not reflect the high standards of service that Californians expect from their state government, Bosler wrote in a letter in September to DMV Director Jean Shiomoto. The audit is still ongoing, but Shiomoto has since announced she will retire at the end of the year. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias legislative analyst, after decades of nonpartisan research for lawmakers, calls it a career Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, who has led the state research unit since 2008, will retire on Dec. 31. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Only five people have led the independent research office of the California Legislature since its creation in 1941. And each of them has had a pretty simple mantra to live by in reviewing public policy proposals and government programs: Call it like you see it. The job of any analyst, to me, is you maintain that nonpartisanship, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said. Taylor, 65, will retire from the post at the end of December after a four-decade career with the research team that began, as he likes to tell it, just after the passage of the landmark property tax rollback, Proposition 13, in 1978. He became the leader of the office, with the title of legislative analyst, in October 2008. Two months later, state government found itself in arguably the worst fiscal crisis in its history a projected shortfall that ultimately grew to $42 billion by the following winter. There were forces beyond our control, Taylor said of that time. But dont underestimate the policy changes that were made afterward. Those changes, most notably a boost in taxes paid by high-income earners and a robust state budget cash reserve fund, have helped lead to successive years of fully funded government services. The state is projected to have some $24 billion in reserves by the end of the current fiscal year. Taylor announced his intention earlier to step down this year. Leaders from both houses of the Legislature select the analyst, who leads a staff of almost five dozen researchers. The office provides in-depth reports on pending legislation, as well as on broader policy topics like education and healthcare, and produces an independent analysis for every proposed ballot measure. A succession of lawmakers and governors alike have praised or panned the work of the Legislative Analysts Office based on their own political worldview. Taylor said his staff is mindful that they work for legislators, but try to ignore the rhetoric that follows the release of a major report. People are going to do what theyre going to do with our information, he said. They dont always like it, but they appreciate that we give them our best advice. Taylor oversaw a transformation in the way the Legislative Analysts Office distributes its information, embracing the release of research reports through social media instead of relying on traditional printed copies and journalist roundtable events. But he said the work of the researchers has remained largely unchanged through the decades. Having an independent take on things, I think, is good for the Legislature, he said. No replacement for Taylor has been announced, which means a short transition for his eventual successor before Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom sends his first budget proposal to lawmakers in early January. Taylor, who lives in the Sacramento suburbs, said he will honor the tradition of his predecessors in stepping away from public policy debates in order to give the new analyst space to lead the team as he or she sees fit. He said he hopes to travel in the coming years and spend time with his children who have moved to the East Coast. Forty years in state government, Taylor said in why he was stepping aside now. Isnt that enough? Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Brown sues to save California sentencing laws By Don Thompson, Associated Press (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown sued Thursday to protect one of his signature actions in office, a voter-approved measure that allows most prison inmates to seek earlier release and participate in rehabilitation programs. His administration filed a lawsuit challenging a pending 2020 initiative that seeks to toughen criminal penalties as part of an effort to roll back reforms adopted by voters within the last decade. Browns lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court contends the measure lacked enough valid signatures to overturn a previously approved constitutional amendment. County officials and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla certified the signatures in July but said they were submitted too late to qualify for last months election. The lawsuit names Padilla and the ballot measures official proponent, Nina Salarno Besselman, president of the advocacy group Crime Victims United. Padilla said the measure exceeded the required roughly 366,000 valid signatures, equal to 5% of votes cast for governor in 2014. Browns lawsuit says he used the wrong threshold. It says changing the state Constitution requires 8%, or more than 585,400 signatures. That makes the pending initiative more than 150,000 signatures short, the lawsuit says. Hes wrong, said Jeff Flint, a spokesman for the campaign backing the measure. He predicted a judge will be reluctant to reject a measure that already has qualified for the ballot. The secretary of state told us how many signatures are required, and thats how many we collected, Flint said. Padillas office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The measure would reverse reforms adopted by voters through Proposition 47 in 2014 and Proposition 57 in 2016. Proposition 57 allows most inmates to seek earlier paroles, and Proposition 47 reduced some drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. The combination has helped keep Californias inmate population below a population cap set by federal judges. Corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said the measure gives corrections and parole officials broad discretion to protect our communities and fashion a rational system of rehabilitation and punishment. This new initiative unlawfully seeks to supplant the departments constitutional authority to implement these critical reforms to our criminal justice system. The pending initiative would shorten the list of crimes that qualify for earlier parole and change some theft crimes from misdemeanors back to felonies. It would also increase the number of crimes for which DNA is collected, a list that was limited when some crimes went from felonies to misdemeanors. Those supporting the tougher penalties say easing criminal penalties has increased the number of dangerous criminals on the streets, but those backing the changes say they have helped reduce mass incarceration and rehabilitate convicted criminals. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Supreme Court orders records unsealed in pardon of ex-state Sen. Roderick Wright Former state Sen. Roderick Wright (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) The California Supreme Court has granted a request to unseal court records involving Gov. Jerry Browns decision last month to pardon former state Sen. Roderick Wright for felony convictions involving lying about living in his legislative district, officials said Thursday. The court order was in response to a request by the nonpartisan First Amendment Coalition, which argued that the public has a right to know what information went into the governors decision to grant clemency to Wright. This is an important victory for public access to court files involving the exercise of executive clemency, said coalition spokesman Glen A. Smith. We are gratified the court has recognized that these decisions should be subject to the same public access rules that apply to other judicial records under California law. The court gave Browns office until Jan. 2 to redact confidential material before giving the court documents that can be released to the public. The court files submitted by the governors office include letters of support for a pardon and an internal review of Wrights case. The court denied a motion to unseal the records of all clemency cases but left open consideration of requests on other individual cases. Browns office is currently evaluating the courts decision, said spokesman Brian Ferguson. The governor argued against unsealing records in a recent court filing that said confidentiality is consistent with historical practice and is supported by state law. In pardoning Wright on Nov. 22, the governor wrote: He has shown that since his release from custody, he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character, and conducted himself as a law abiding citizen. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California political watchdog agency fines BART, urges prosecution over using public funds for campaign A Bay Area Rapid Transit train leaves the station in Oakland in this 2013 file photo. (Ben Margot / AP) Californias state political watchdog agency on Thursday imposed a $7,500 fine against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and called for a possible criminal or civil prosecution over allegations the district used public resources to campaign for a 2016 bond measure. The state Fair Political Practices Commission levied an administrative fine against BART for its failure to disclose spending on YouTube videos, social media posts and text messages to promote Measure RR, which authorized $3.5 billion in general obligation bonds. Though the panel lacks authority to seek criminal charges over the misuse of public funds, it also urged county district attorneys in the BART service area and the state attorney general to pursue possible criminal or civil charges over the spending of taxpayer dollars for campaign purposes, Commission Chairwoman Alice Germond said. It is the concept of misusing public funds that I think we all here are very disturbed about, and we want to send a warning and not create a precedent that is a minor, little slap on the wrist, Germond said, adding that the referral to criminal prosecutors would further send a message that this is wrong. Commissioner Brian Hatch also called for the state Legislature to consider granting the FPPC power to go after public agencies that spend taxpayer money on campaigns. Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) called on the agency to increase the fine to the maximum level of $33,375. The proposed $7,500 fine represents a slap on the wrist for a very serious violation of the law and the publics trust, Glazer said in a letter to the panel. In supporting the fine recommended by the staff, Germond said BART has agreed to pay the penalty. Somebody did something wrong and they have admitted it, she said. A staff report said there were factors in favor of a fine below the maximum. Although the Commission considers BARTs violations to be serious, the absence of any evidence of an intention to conceal, deceive, or mislead; the voluntary filing of the delinquent campaign statement; and the absence of a prior record are mitigating, the report said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California police union seeks state Supreme Court review of new law disclosing internal investigation records Los Angeles Police Department officers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) A police union is asking the California Supreme Court to block the release of internal officer investigations before a new state law takes effect next year. The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Employees Benefit Assn. filed a petition Tuesday asking justices to rule that only investigations of incidents that occur after Jan. 1 would be available under the law and not those the department has on file from years prior. The litigation comes after this years passage of Senate Bill 1421, which opens to the public for the first time internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The law goes into effect Jan. 1, and the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department has told the union it intends to make available in response to public records requests all the information it has. The union is very concerned about any plans to retroactively apply Senate Bill 1421, Grant Ward, the unions president, said in a statement. We believe retroactive application violates our members rights and we hope the California Supreme Court will consider the serious issues raised by our legal challenge. The bills author, Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), does not agree with the unions interpretation. She has said her legislation should apply to all the records in a police departments possession because the law simply declared that affected records were no longer confidential. If the record exists, its disclosable, Skinner said. A decision on what records will be available under the law is key to how far-reaching it will be. If the court restricts access to incidents that occurred prior to 2019, those cases will not be subject to public scrutiny. The police union in San Bernardino County is not the only one raising concerns about the law. Earlier this month, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore sent a letter to Skinner expressing concern that his agency would be overwhelmed if the law required the department to disclose older incidents. Even if the law only applied to the previous five years, Moore wrote, it could take nearly 300,000 hours of work to comply with its provisions. The LAPD operates with a guiding principle of Reverence for the Law; as such, we will diligently comply with SB 1421, Moore wrote. We maintain, however, that a retroactive implementation of SB 1421 will be exceptionally burdensome and would require significant reallocation of front-line investigative personnel. Skinner said if complying with the law becomes untenable for law enforcement agencies that maintain records for a long time, she would consider modifications. But she said agencies did not raise this concern during discussion over the bill. SB 1421 went through multiple committee hearings, multiple floor debates, extensive opportunity for all parties to weigh in on concerns with its structure, she said. That was not an issue that was raised by law enforcement at the time. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Brown warns of backlash for Republicans in 2020 if Obamacare repeal is upheld Gov. Jerry Brown at the National Press Club in April. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Gov. Jerry Brown warned Republicans on Tuesday that repeal of the Affordable Care Act would devastate the partys political chances in the 2020 election. Brown, speaking at a Sacramento Press Club event moderated by Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton and Brown family historian Miriam Pawel, said a federal judges ruling last week to strike down the 2010 law if upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court will build such a backlash that the Democrats will not only take over the Senate, theyll win the presidency and will win with the kind of momentum, particularly on the issue of healthcare, that [the law] will be replaced probably with something even better. The governor, who leaves office in less than three weeks, said he did not believe the ruling by a Texas judge would ultimately prevail. I think the decision will probably be overturned, Brown said. Few states have embraced the law championed by former President Obama more than California, both through its healthcare exchange, Covered California, and by expanding access to government-funded services under Medi-Cal. Some 12 million Californians now receive healthcare through Medi-Cal, and Brown said a final ruling affecting the federal dollars that subsidize that care would be a serious blow. California would not be able to afford it without the subsidy, the governor said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bars in Los Angeles, San Francisco could stay open until 4 a.m. under new bill A bar in Sherman Oaks (acuna-hansen) For the third year in a row, a California lawmaker is trying to keep bars open until 4 a.m. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation that would allow Los Angeles, San Francisco and seven other cities to extend the sales of alcohol in bars, clubs and restaurants by an additional two hours. Nightlife brings people together, fosters creativity and innovation, supports small businesses, and creates middle-class jobs, Wiener said in a statement. Its time to embrace our nighttime economy and give our cities the tools they need to foster the best nightlife possible. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill by Wiener, writing: I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem. Should this years measure, Senate Bill 58, advance through the Legislature, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom would decide whether to sign it into law. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed SB 58, saying the city should have more flexibility than it does now. Every community has its own needs, and cities should be able to make informed decisions about what nightlife hours make sense for residents, visitors, and neighborhoods, Garcetti said in a statement. The bill would create a five-year pilot program where Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City and Palm Springs could decide to allow restaurants and bars within their cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. with the approval of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bars in Los Angeles and San Francisco could stay open until 4 a.m. under new bill A bar in Sherman Oaks. (Acuna-Hansen) For the third year in a row, a California lawmaker is trying to keep bars open until 4 a.m. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation that would allow Los Angeles, San Francisco and seven other cities to extend the sales of alcohol in bars, clubs and restaurants by an additional two hours. Nightlife brings people together, fosters creativity and innovation, supports small businesses and creates middle-class jobs, Wiener said in a statement. Its time to embrace our nighttime economy and give our cities the tools they need to foster the best nightlife possible. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill by Wiener, writing: I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem. Should this years measure, Senate Bill 58, advance through the Legislature, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom would decide whether to sign it into law. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed SB 58, saying the city should have more flexibility than it does now. Every community has its own needs, and cities should be able to make informed decisions about what nightlife hours make sense for residents, visitors and neighborhoods, Garcetti said in a statement. The bill would create a five-year pilot program where Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City and Palm Springs could decide to allow restaurants and bars within their cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. with the approval of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias DMV director announces retirement amid problems with motor voter program (Kent Nishamura/Los Angeles Times) The director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles will retire at years end with a number of questions unanswered about the implementation of a major voter registration system and long wait times experienced by customers for much of the past summer. Jean Shiomoto will not continue in her current role as Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom takes office, and announced to staff several weeks ago her intent to retire at the end of the year after 38 years in state service, spokesman Armando Botello said in an email to The Times on Friday. Newsoms transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on who might lead the department in 2019. Shiomoto was appointed DMV director by Gov. Jerry Brown in the fall of 2013, having served in prior leadership roles with the department. DMV officials have been sharply criticized by lawmakers in recent months for delays in serving customers at its field offices across the state. Last week, DMV officials revealed errors in registering California voters for the November election mistakes that followed a series of problems in the rollout of the states new motor voter registration system. Secretary of State Alex Padilla last week said he had lost confidence in Shiomotos leadership as a result of the voting registration problems. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement New law could break the stalemate over housing on the site of a near-vacant Cupertino mall By Liam Dillon For more than a decade, developers have tried to build new housing on the site of an all-but-empty mall in Cupertino, a city in the heart of Silicon Valley and home to Apple headquarters. A well-organized group of neighbors, upset about traffic, building heights and the potential loss of the communitys suburban lifestyle, turned away every plan. Now, for the first time, the stalemate might be broken thanks to a decision made in the state Capitol. In an effort to address Californias housing affordability problem, legislators passed a law last year that requires cities and counties to approve housing projects if they comply with local zoning rules and other standards, forcing some resistant communities to agree to new homebuilding. In September, the city of Cupertino, citing the state law, approved developer Sand Hill Property Co.s proposal to build an office park and more than 2,400 homes where the Vallco Shopping Mall sits. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Local government was a last bastion for struggling California Republicans. Not anymore By Mark Z. Barabak Theres no shortage of watery metaphors to describe the disaster that befell California Republicans this midterm election. A blue wave. A Democratic tsunami. But the most apt may be a flood, with the casualties steadily rising as the vote count climbed in the days and weeks following Nov. 6. Eventually half the GOP congressional delegation was washed away, along with the entire slate of statewide Republican candidates. In Sacramento, Democrats claimed 29 of 40 state Senate seats and seized three-quarters of the 80-member Assembly the largest number since 1883, when Chester A. Arthur was serving in the White House. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print For the Republicans left in Californias Legislature, fewer lawmakers will have to do more work By John Myers From January to late summer every year, the California Legislature is a perpetual motion machine. And in the new year, the people most likely to struggle in keeping up will be Republicans, vastly outnumbered but still responsible for representing millions of the states residents. There are 22 standing committees in the state Senate, plus at least a dozen more subcommittees or special committees. And after Novembers election, only 11 Republican senators will be left to divvy up the work. To the victors go the spoils. To the vanquished go the extra assignments. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Californias DMV failed to finish registering 329 new voters before November election (Los Angeles Times) Officials at the California Department of Motor Vehicles said Friday that the agency failed to send information for 329 new voters to state elections officers in time for the November election, the latest revelation in a string of mishaps regarding voter registration. Secretary of State Alex Padilla responded with a blistering letter, calling on Gov. Jerry Brown or Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom to replace Jean Shiomoto, the DMV director. The Director of DMV has lost my confidence and trust, Padilla wrote. In all, the agency revealed that 589 mailed voter registration records that should have been processed under election deadlines werent sent to Californias secretary of state until late November, including forms from 260 drivers who had intended to update their address on existing voter registration records. The DMV had been instructed to not send registration forms that came in after Oct. 22, but the voters in question had forms that were postmarked before the deadline. In some cases, when the postmark wasnt legible, the agency said, documents inside indicated the voter had intended to finish their registration in time for the Nov. 6 election. The DMV recognizes the pause in transmittals was an error and affected the timing of the registration of the 589 individuals referenced above relative to the November election, Shiomoto wrote in a letter to Padilla on Friday. The pause was due to a misunderstanding on the part of the department, for which we take responsibility. Those who were trying to update their address for voter registration would not have been blocked from casting ballots. But officials said its unclear whether any of the 329 new voters were able to participate in the election. Shiomoto said in her letter that DMV will work with elections officials. The errors were not related to previous DMV mistakes about registering voters, problems associated with the rollout of the states new motor voter law. In those cases, multiple registration forms were sent to local elections offices for some voters, some people were assigned the wrong political party preference and others who are noncitizens were incorrectly placed on the list of registered voters. DMV officials have yet to respond to questions posed by The Times over the last several weeks about who knew of those mistakes and when. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newsom appoints a labor advocate and a former staffer as his chief deputy Cabinet secretaries By Taryn Luna A labor advocate and a San Francisco political operative have accepted positions in Gov.-elect Gavin Newsoms new administration. Angie Wei, a Capitol insider with deep ties to organized labor in California, will serve as a chief deputy Cabinet secretary with a focus on policy development. As a legislative director and chief of staff at the California Labor Federation, Wei has represented more than 1,200 unions and 2.1 million workers in Capitol fights over a host of policy issues, including drug-pricing transparency and paid family leave. The governor-elect also tapped Jason Elliott, a policy advisor to Newsom during his time as mayor of San Francisco and a chief of staff to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, as another chief deputy Cabinet secretary overseeing executive branch operations. Elliott and Wei will serve under Ana Matosantos, Newsoms previously A 300-mile torch relay run honoring Los Angeles County peace officers killed in the line of duty kicks off Friday morning in downtown Los Angeles and continues through the weekend. Relay runners will visit all but one of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments patrol stations during the 41st annual Memorial Torch Relay Run. This years relay run will honor Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Steven Belanger, who was shot in the head in 1994 by a man on a skateboard while questioning another suspect he had pulled over. The bullet would remain lodged in his skull the rest of his life. He was 52 when he died in February of complications related to injuries he suffered from the shooting. Advertisement Four other fallen officers will be honored. Murray Olsen, an officer with the Los Angeles County Department of Hospitals died in 1975, LAPD officer Frank Coe died in 1921, Los Angeles County Sherrifs motorcycle officer Louis Allison died in 1915 and Vernon deputy city marshall Maurice Halleran died in 1913. javier.panzar@latimes.com Twitter: jpanzar The White House has finally found someone to take on the stress of overseeing President Trumps fossil fuel-friendly environmental agenda in the heart of hostile territory: California and nearby states. But theres one glaring problem. For the record: A previous version of this story misspelled Carpinteria as Carpenteria. The guy who will lead the Environmental Protection Agencys headquarters in San Francisco doesnt appear to want to live anywhere near San Francisco. That didnt stop the administration from hiring Santa Barbara County GOP stalwart Mike Stoker, a politico well positioned to annoy the powers that be in California. Advertisement He credits himself with conceiving the lock her up chant that Trump rallygoers shouted in their rage against Hillary Clinton. He was the spokesman for one of the states most embattled oil companies. He questions the scientific consensus on climate change. None of those things are disqualifying, even if some in California think they should be. But Stokers refusal to work in the liberal City by the Bay has put the administration in a pickle. Instead he wants to oversee the 700 or so enforcement officers, scientists, researchers and others guiding environmental protection in California and nearby states from a small, sparsely staffed Los Angeles satellite office. Thats a big ask in an agency already reeling from investigations into the travel habits of its leaders, including the taxpayer-funded flights back home to Oklahoma by EPA chief Scott Pruitt, some of which were in the first-class cabin. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein fired off a letter to Pruitt on Thursday warning of the consequences of allowing Stoker to be an absentee chief of EPA Region 9. The Democrat demanded to know how the arrangement could possibly work, and what costs taxpayers would bear. The EPA weeks ago alerted Stoker allies in Santa Barbara that his appointment was imminent. But the official announcement came only Friday, after his backers, including EPA political appointees, scrambled to figure out how he can run a large San Francisco-based bureaucracy without showing up there, according to staffers inside the agency who spoke on condition that their names not be used. Some career officials at the EPA are deeply skeptical, and warn such an arrangement could create yet more ethics troubles for the agency. The last time a regional EPA chief tried juggling work at the San Francisco headquarters with trips home to Southern California, federal investigators discovered some $69,000 in flights they said may have been inappropriately billed to taxpayers. That was during the late years of the George W. Bush administration. Feinstein reminded Pruitt about that investigation, and questioned if his EPA is heeding the lessons learned from it. Stoker, a former Santa Barbara county supervisor who made his entry into politics in the 1980s as a strident opponent of a ballot measure limiting offshore oil development, did not return calls and emails. A statement from the EPA said only, Mike Stokers duty station is San Francisco. Officials did not respond when asked multiple times if that is where he would be working. Environmental groups joined Feinstein in expressing bewilderment that the region chief may keep living in Carpinteria, which is hours from even the Los Angeles office. You cant do that job without face-to-face contact with the scientists, engineers, lawyers, and other professionals in Region 9s office who do the heavy lifting, said Eric Schaeffer, a former chief of civil enforcement at EPA who now runs the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project. Phoning it in is not going to work. Finding a leader for Region 9 was vexing for the Trump administration. One ally of industry after another rejected its overtures to lead the feisty office of career professionals who have little enthusiasm for the Trump agenda. The pay hardly compares to what potential recruits are making in the private sector, the cost of living in San Francisco is crushing and the neighbors are not particularly hospitable to folks carrying the Make America Great Again torch. For such reasons, Stoker is a good fit. A Trump delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention who delights in mocking liberals on social media, Stoker is a rare commodity on the California coast: a resilient Republican. Pruitt said he understands the environmental challenges facing the region and will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to EPA. Hes a bull wrangler, and thats exactly what we need, said Andy Caldwell, executive director or the Santa Barbara County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business. He said Stoker is skilled at brokering deals among disparate interests. Not all Stokers fellow Republicans are as impressed. Dale Francisco, a former chair of the Santa Barbara County GOP, wrote several senators in March to urge they reject Stokers appointment for a different high-level job in the administration, running the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Francisco said in an interview that Stoker has never managed a major organization. You can be the worlds most wonderful guy, but without any management experience, you should not be managing as large an organization as EPA Region 9. Period, Francisco said in an interview. How is he going to manage this agency in a state where elected leadership is utterly opposed to Trump and get anything done? Other Republicans attributed Franciscos attacks to bitterness over Stokers role advising the local GOP party in its dispute with Franciscos girlfriend, who was fired as the partys executive director. The woman brought her complaints of discrimination and retaliation to state labor investigators, who declined to take any action. Stokers record suggests he will be an unflinching champion of the rollbacks of fuel economy standards, air quality rules and other federal environmental protections that are riling Californias leaders. He criticized lawsuits that California municipalities filed against the oil industry for their role in climate change, telling the Santa Barbara News-Press last year that they ignore the conflicting evidence about global warming, and as we all know, there is conflicting evidence. One of the oil companies in the area most despised by environmentalists, Santa Maria-based Greka Oil & Gas, which has a history of regulatory troubles, spills and violations at its California facilities, was represented by Stoker. That company, now known as HVI Cat Canyon Inc., has been in a years-long legal fight with the EPA and federal prosecutors over pollution from its operations. In 2011 the Department of Justice filed suit alleging a series of spills at the companys California facilities violated state and federal environmental laws. Last month, the company was hit with a $12.5-million fine by state regulators over violations at an oil field in Orange County. Stokers alignment with forces long at odds with the EPA makes him a particularly troubling pick for environmentalists. Once again, said Linda Krop, chief counsel of the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara, its putting someone in charge who actually opposes the mission of the agency. The latest from Washington More stories from Evan Halper tony.barboza@latimes.com evan.halper@latimes.com UPDATES: May 18, 1:05 p.m.: This article was updated with the official announcement of Mike Stokers appointment to lead the San Francisco EPA office and a statement from the agency. This story was originally published May 17, 5:20 p.m. Allies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. #Georgia Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush. The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump as recently as Tuesday continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops You really are our heroes, he said as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see. James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes he last won reelection by a 14-point margin suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election again, in blowout fashion but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10. Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters... Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children the older ones are 5 and 2 about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican she the race felt m Healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente plans to invest $200 million in community efforts across the country to reduce homelessness, joining a growing list of health systems that are moving to address the housing crisis afflicting many large cities. The commitment which Kaiser is announcing Friday morning alongside a coalition of mayors and business leaders marks one of the largest private-sector initiatives to tackle homelessness. For the record: A previous version of this article misidentified Kaiser CEO Bernard Tyson as a medical doctor. Also, the article said last years count of homeless people in L.A. County was nearly 58,000. Officials today revised the count to more than 55,000. And it underscores the growing recognition among healthcare leaders that safe, affordable and stable housing is at least as important as medical care in improving health. In the 21st century, we should not accept the whole concept of homelessness in our communities, said Kaiser CEO Bernard Tyson, noting that the health system has been working on new strategies to improve the total health of regions Kaiser serves. Advertisement In recent years, hospital systems in Oregon, Florida and elsewhere have helped develop affordable housing. UnitedHealthcare, the nations largest insurer, has been working in Phoenix to support housing for low- and moderate-income residents there. But the sheer size of Kaisers investment which officials said would be made in the next two to three years should help keep the focus on an issue that is becoming increasingly urgent for many cities, said Nan Roman, president of the National Coalition to End Homelessness. Its a lot of money, she said. Kaisers involvement can further elevate the issue and get businesses involved and get the public more involved. That will get through to policymakers. Oakland-based Kaiser, a nonprofit insurer and medical system, serves more than 12 million Americans, including nearly 9 million Californians. The new investments will target places where Kaiser operates, including Northern and Southern California, Washington state, Oregon, Hawaii, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Senior Kaiser officials said they are still determining which projects will be funded but that they are looking for initiatives that will provide Kaiser a financial return, allowing the investment fund to continue to support projects into the future. Requiring a financial return could preclude support for some community assistance, such as homeless shelters or other social services, which do not generate money for investors. But developing housing including units that serve upper- and lower-income residents could offer investment opportunities to private-sector players such as Kaiser. And at a time when many communities, including Los Angeles, face severe shortages of affordable housing, such development is crucial. More than 55,000 people in Los Angeles County were homeless last year when a count was taken by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Nationwide, more than 500,000 people are estimated to be homeless on any given day. That has made local communities increasingly desperate to find ways to tackle the crisis. Los Angeles County this week approved a new budget that calls for $402 million in spending on homelessness prevention, rent subsidies, outreach, preservation of affordable housing, employment services and shelters. The investment a $143-million boost over the previous year was made possible by a sales tax increase approved by voters last year, known as Measure H. At the same time, the city of Los Angeles has embarked on a $1.2-billion effort to build more affordable housing units, funded by a bond issue approved by local voters in 2016. But finding resources for this kind of effort remains a challenge. Cities simply cannot address this issue alone, said Portland, Ore., Mayor Ted Wheeler. We need broad community support to address the many complex issues that are causing homelessness. Wheeler is a member of Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment, a coalition that advocates for federal investment in affordable housing and homeless services and is working with Kaiser Permanente. Obamacare 101: A primer on key issues in the debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. The latest from Washington More stories from Noam N. Levey noam.levey@latimes.com Twitter: @noamlevey One year into the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III works away, mostly silent. Yet President Trump and his allies have been anything but, and theyve had some success in undermining public confidence in the sprawling inquiry. Though the investigation has reached deeper into his inner circle, Trumps approval ratings lately have ticked slightly higher, despite remaining at historic lows for a president serving during a time of economic growth. Also, more Americans seem skeptical of the investigation into Russias election interference and the Trump campaigns possible involvement, according to a CBS News poll conducted this month. A slim majority of 53% said the case is politically motivated, up from 48% in December. That shift in sentiment mainly owes to growing skepticism among Republicans, reflecting their receptivity to Trumps repeated attacks on what he calls the Mueller witch hunt that are regularly echoed by conservative media. As the president faces a possible subpoena to testify, more Republicans see no reason for him to cooperate with prosecutors. And with the prospect of a long fight ahead, perhaps even a constitutional crisis, Trumps solidifying of his base would give him the political armor he needs. Advertisement There is no question that the continued barrage from the White House, and the depiction of it as a witch hunt, is beginning to resonate among Republicans, said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster. They want it over with because that will allow the president to get back to his agenda. Trump, viewing himself as his best spokesman, has taken an unprecedented lead role in combating the Russia investigation, even at the risk of appearing to obstruct it. He began criticizing the special counsel by name in March after months of comparative restraint, tweeting that the Mueller probe should never have been started. The fusillade continued Thursday as Trump marked the anniversary of Muellers appointment. Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History, he tweeted. He called the investigation disgusting, illegal and unwarranted. To amplify his attacks, Trump recently added to his legal team brash former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who has since waged a war against the FBI, the Justice Department and Mueller in frequent television interviews, and made unrealized boasts about getting the special counsel to close the case within weeks. Were going to have to look into whether we can challenge the legitimacy of the entire investigation, Giuliani told Fox & Friends, Trumps favorite morning show, on Thursday. Yet no one can speak to the base like Trump himself, and his strategy of portraying himself as the victim of persecution befits a president who stokes the same sense of grievance among his voters. The risks, however, are that the investigation could deliver more bombshells beyond the indictments and guilty pleas to date, leaving the presidents defenders in particular, Republican politicians embarrassed. Although Mueller has not yet presented evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russians, the investigation has been full of surprises. Three former aides, including Trumps onetime national security advisor, have pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents, and a fourth, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is fighting charges of money laundering, bank fraud and tax evasion. Trumps longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, is in the crosshairs of prosecutors in Manhattan, who are developing a separate criminal case with information from the special counsels office. There is enough uncertainty in the outcome of Muellers work that one Republican strategist, Brian Walsh, advises candidates to steer away from the issue in their campaigns during this midterm election year with control of Congress at stake. There have been revelations people didnt expect, and there have been indictments, Walsh cautioned. The Russia investigation began as a secret counterintelligence inquiry in July 2016, and continued through the election and beyond. After Trump fired James B. Comey as FBI director in May 2017 and told NBC News he did so out of frustration with the Russia investigation, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein a Trump appointee named Mueller as special counsel to examine any potential coordination between Moscow and Trumps campaign. According to Rosensteins order, Mueller has a broad mandate to examine any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. In addition to Russian meddling and possible Trump campaign involvement, the Mueller team is examining whether Trump sought to obstruct justice. The more broadly the special counsel seems to reach, however, the more its given Trump and his allies ammunition to claim that Mueller has overreached. The American people supported the Mueller probe when it looked at Russia collusion, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News. But what we are starting to see is that a lot of it has nothing to do with Russia collusion. Tucker Carlson, a Fox News host who has been one of Trumps ardent defenders, recently tweeted, The public is recognizing the investigation for what it is: A political witch hunt created by an elite cabal frantic to keep its hold on power. Some Republicans and conservative media commentators, echoing Trump, say the investigation has gone on long enough Its time to wrap it up, Vice President Mike Pence recently told a TV interviewer and they complain that its distracting Trump from important issues like North Korea. Yet past investigations championed by Republicans during the Obama and Clinton administrations, including congressional reviews of the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, and of Bill and Hillary Clintons Whitewater land investment lasted much longer. Democrats and some legal experts have accused the president of a scorched-earth attack on the rule of law because Trump and his party fear what Mueller will uncover. What weve seen from the president and some of his allies makes you worry about the future of this democracy, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Thursday. Yet the attacks apparently have caused more Republicans to oppose the investigation. While 53% of Republicans in the CBS News poll said Trump should cooperate and be interviewed, that was down from 73% in January. Two-thirds of Republicans said Congress should try to end the investigation. Trumps overall approval ratings have improved, though they remain under water. Fifty-two percent of Americans disapproved of his job performance while 43% approved, according to an average this week of recent polls by RealClearPolitics. Can you believe that with all of the made up, unsourced stories I get from the Fake News Media, together with the $10,000,000 Russian Witch Hunt (there is no Collusion), I now have my best Poll Numbers in a year, he tweeted on Tuesday. Much of the Media may be corrupt, but the People truly get it! Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a close White House ally, cited as evidence of Muellers overreach the separate investigation by federal investigators into Cohen, whose home, office and hotel room were searched by the FBI last month. Shortly before the election, Cohen paid $130,000 in hush money to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged tryst with Trump. Theyre trying to find out if Donald Trump ever lived a playboy lifestyle, Schlapp said. I could simply give them a couple newspaper articles and we could get this all solved in 10 minutes. The more this looks political, the more this feeds into the idea that the president is being treated unfairly and the more this is a boondoggle, Schlapp added. Thats completely to the presidents advantage. Trump isnt the first president to attempt to turn the public against a politically damaging investigation. President Nixon did so during the Watergate scandal, along with Republican allies in Congress who backed him until incriminating Oval Office recordings were released. When independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr was dogging President Clinton, allies of the president formed a war room to convince voters that the case and the related impeachment effort by a Republican-controlled Congress were partisan. Ann Lewis, a communications advisor to Clinton, explained the strategy in April 1998: This is a democracy, and the most important court is still the public. The House ended up impeaching Clinton on obstruction and perjury charges, but the Senate acquitted him. Lanny Davis, one of Clintons most high-profile defenders during that time, said the Clinton and Trump situations are as different as apples and oranges. Attacking Ken Starr in the middle of a partisan effort made sense, he said. But attacking Mueller when there was not even a scintilla of evidence that he would be affected by it, and theres no impeachment process, makes no sense. Solomon Wisenberg, an attorney who worked on Starrs team, recognizes some of the same tactics, however. Its delay, attack and weaken, he said. Wisenberg suggested that the attacks by Trump and his allies became more urgent last month after the New York Times reported on potential questions that Mueller wanted to ask Trump, outlining what looked like an obstruction case against the president. The whole tone changed, Wisenberg said. It got much harsher. Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian President Trump on Friday named a seasoned government official to be secretary of the troubled Veterans Affairs Department after his first, unconventional pick his White House physician withdrew amid allegations of wrongdoing. The new nominee, Robert Wilkie, has been the agencys acting secretary since late March. If confirmed by the Senate, Wilkie would take over the second-largest federal department, one that has been on the defensive for years over complaints of inadequate service to veterans. Trump fired his first secretary, David Shulkin, nearly two months ago; his next choice, White House physician Ronny Jackson, dropped out of the confirmation process after reports of misconduct and mismanagement, which Jackson denied. Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington Trumps announcement of the nomination apparently came as a surprise to his choice. Introducing Wilkie along with other Cabinet members at an unrelated White House event on prison policies, the president said, He doesnt know this yet, that were going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary of the Veterans Administration. Fantastic. Advertisement Wilkie, an Air Force reservist, has been the interim head of Veterans Affairs its name was changed in 1988 while also serving as undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness. He served as an assistant secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration under Donald H. Rumsfeld, among other national security positions. More recently, he served as a senior advisor to Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican. Unlike Jackson, whom Trump seemingly nominated on a whim for being out of central casting and without the usual background vetting, Wilkie has experience with the Senate confirmation process. He was confirmed for his current, lower-profile Pentagon position in November by a voice vote and has prepared other nominees, including Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, for the sometimes grueling process. Still, he is unlikely to take his own approval for granted. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, the top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee whose scrutiny of Jackson led to his withdrawal, said in a statement that he has a good working relationship with Acting Sec. Wilkie and I look forward to sitting down with him again to have an in-depth conversation about his vision and plan for the V.A. The committees chairman, Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, offered similar qualified praise. He said he enjoyed my time getting to know Robert Wilkie and look forward to learning more about his long-term views for the V.A., including his plans to implement a veterans measure passed by the House this week and awaiting a Senate vote. The measure, known as the V.A. Mission Act, allows more private-care options for veterans, a priority for Trump and other Republicans. But the issue is contentious among veterans and it played a key role in Trumps ousting of Shulkin, who opposed the idea. Wilkie spoke favorably about the House bill from the White House briefing room on Thursday, noting that it passed with bipartisan backing and support from 38 veterans organizations. He emphasized that the bill would consolidate community programs and make it much easier for our veterans to obtain care that they need at the moment that they need it, in homes and in facilities closest to where they live. That televised appearance in which Wilkie also praised Trumps generosity for donating part of his presidential salary to the Veterans Affairs Department may have been something of a final screen test for Wilkie. Trump is known to measure advisors by their ability to speak up for him before the cameras. Though the job lacks the high profile of some Cabinet positions, it is one of the toughest and most important politically for Trump, given the influence of veterans and their families as voters. Trump campaigned on fixing the health system for veterans, which has been the subject of complaints, especially about long wait times. Veterans groups and lawmakers had a measured response to the nomination. The group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America expressed relief that after weeks of drama and tumult, we finally have a new nominee, but remained noncommittal. Like any other candidate, Mr. Wilkie will have to prove to millions of veterans nationwide that he is up to the mammoth, sacred leadership task, the groups leader, Paul Rieckhoff, said in a statement. noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @noahbierman UPDATES: 2:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details, background information and comments from Wilkie, lawmakers and veterans advocates. This article was originally published at 9:20 a.m. Hows this for a newspaper headline? One space between each sentence, they said. Science just proved them wrong. Wow. Strong stuff. It sounds like the Washington Post, which recently ran this story about how many spaces you should put after a period, must have blown the lid off some longstanding language myth. Actually, they didnt. Articles about new research have an annoying tendency to overstate the results. Eating fast food can cause spinsterhood is far more attention-grabbing than Single people, in general, and young single people, in particular, are less likely to cook meals and are, therefore, statistically more likely to eat fast food. Such is the case with a recent Washington Post article about spacing after a period. From the headline, we can infer two things: 1. Theres a they who have been arguing that single spacing is better. 2. They have now been debunked. The Washington Posts source: a recent study showing that double-spacing after a period improves reading speed. Thus, those hordes of people who say single-spacing is better are officially proven wrong. Its all quite misleading. First, despite the articles implication that armies of pro-single-spacers are marching on a town near you, only two such proponents are cited. Ive spent a lot of time talking with people about matters like this, and I can tell you that theres no war going on here. Its not like the serial comma the second comma in red, white, and blue whose proponents are loud, proud and plentiful (and whose opponents have an equally valid argument). When it comes to spacing between sentences, most people simply want to know what the rule is rather than tell others what the rule should be. Second, the research is weak. Psychologists monitored the eye movements of 60 test subjects thats right, just 60 and found that 21 of them read a tiny bit faster when sentences were separated by two spaces. Those 21 people, it turns out, were the same 21 who used double-spacing in their own writing. The other 39 read no faster when periods were followed by double spaces. Another problem: For the study, participants read text in a wide, squat courier font similar to the fonts used by the first typewriters. Back in those days, you pretty much had to double-space after a period because the typeface made every sentence look run together. Single-spacing came into vogue only after word processors created fonts that fixed this problem, making it easier to see where each sentence began. Finally, the conclusion, according to the article, is that double spaces are better not because they make reading faster but because they make it smoother. What does that mean? They dont say. But the biggest problem with the Washington Post piece: The whole thing is a straw-man argument. The people who say to use the single spaces between sentences dont argue their way is superior. They dont say it makes reading faster or smoother. They say only: Those are the rules. And, indeed, they are. The Chicago Manual of Style, which is followed by most book publishers, and the Associated Press Stylebook, which is followed by most news media, agree you should type just one space between sentences. Thats their rule. Its a safe bet these rules dont have much to do with reading speed measured in nanoseconds. In news media, many style rules stem from the fact that it costs a lot of money to print thousands of newspapers every day. Policies designed to use space as efficiently as possible improve cost efficiencies at least in the old days when the rules were written. Aesthetic considerations likely came into play, too. Either way, the consensus is clear: Most rule books require single spaces between sentences. JUNE CASAGRANDE is the author of The Best Punctuation Book, Period. She can be reached at JuneTCN@aol.com. During their special meeting of May 10 to hear from the many candidates hoping to be appointed to a vacant seat on the Burbank City Council, I witnessed some disturbing Orwellian behavior from council members. As Roy Wiegand was stepping up to speak, he was denied the podium on the pretense that he already spoken because another citizen had used their public speaking time to play a video clip in which Roy was featured. The mayor has argued that when Citizen A uses his/her public speaking minutes to show a media clip of the Mike and Roy Show, that clip counts not for that citizen but instead for Mike or Roy, since they are the ones featured on the clip the citizen presented to council. For the record: Due to an editing error, the letter from Oscar Merlo as first published incorrectly stated Roy Wiegand was a candidate for an open position on the Burbank City Council. He was not. If Citizen A shows a video of the Mike and Roy Show during public comment and then Citizen B decides to use their three minutes to play another Mike and Roy Show video, what happens if a third person, Citizen C, also wants to play an episode of the Mike and Roy Show? Would they be allowed to do so? Every citizen in Burbank has the right to show whatever media they feel best conveys their message about city issues, regardless of who is featured in that video. Is City Council really willing to infringe upon the free speech rights of Burbank citizens? Oscar Merlo Burbank -- The Rev. Bryan Griems hit job on Buddhism (Regardless of religion, is violence a part of being human? In Theory, May 16) ignores several important facts. First of all, there are many Buddhist sects, each with its own interpretation of the Buddhas teachings (sound like Christianity?) You cant lump them all together into a single category of religious belief or separate the actions of their practitioners from the politics and culture of their societies. Second, in the interfaith dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Father Laurence Freeman, to which Griem refers indirectly, the Dalai Lama finds plenty of parallels between Christianity and Buddhism, and he backs his assertions up with an encyclopedic grasp of and sensitivity to Christian belief. Rather than spread bias and assert the primacy of his own religion, as Griem does, the Dalai Lama seeks to build bridges between faiths a nobler and worthier mission, in my opinion. Finally, I would remind Rev. Griem of Christianitys long history of colonization, brutalization and suppression of other religions. Not so different from what were seeing today, is it? Would he have us judge all Christians by the same standard with which he judges all Buddhists? Is there no place in his ethos for respect of freedom of religion? Mickey Birnbaum Burbank Yorba Linda Town Center has started to take shape at the busy intersection of Imperial Highway and Yorba Linda Boulevard after more than 25 years of debate over what should be built on the former taxpayer-owned land. Construction crews recently completed a 430-space parking structure that will not only serve the project but also Old Town Yorba Linda, which has struggled over the decades to attract patrons due to a shortage of nightlife destinations and sufficient parking. The 11.22-acre project will be anchored by a 10-screen Regal Cinemas movie theater and Bristol Farms grocery store, which are expected to open in the first quarter of 2019. In the 125,000-square-foot projects center is a landscaped park that will be nearly an acre. City and business community leaders have talked about hosting public events there in coming years. These are major things that are happening that will be with us for the next century, said Yorba Linda City Manager Mark Pulone. Many Yorba Linda residents think of Old Town as exclusively Historic Main Street; however, the district is officially bound by Lemon Drive, Lakeview Ave., Yorba Linda Blvd. and Imperial Hwy. Over the years, the former Yorba Linda Redevelopment Agency purchased more than 20 residential and commercial properties in Old Town Yorba Linda with the intention of demolishing them to make room for new development. Los Angeles-based developer Zelman Retail Partners bought the land in 2016 for $3.4 million. The companys Co-President Brett Foy said there are a few remaining retail and dining locations in the project that are still available for lease. Were very happy with the tenant mix weve got, Foy said. We think its going to be a great thing for the community. Coinciding with the construction of the center, the city of Yorba Linda will revitalize Main St. and Lemon Drive with new landscaping, curbs, gutters and decorative pavement. On the other side of Lakeview Ave., the city plans to build a new library and 13,000-square-foot arts center to replace its old, seismically-unsafe library on Olinda St. Many long-time residents like Mayor Pro Tem Tara Campbell who was born and raised in The Land of Gracious Living were unsure if the Town Center would ever be built. I think this is a big deal for Yorba Linda, Campbell said. A lot of our community wants to spend time in our city. When I was going door-to-door I heard people want to dine here. Campbell said the city hopes to attract investment in Main Street as well as see an increase in sales tax, building permits and business licensing revenues. Mike Rocco, co-owner of Main Street Restaurant, said his familys primary incentive for moving to Yorba Linda more than 25 years ago and opening their restaurant and music venue was because of Yorba Linda Town Center. Rocco said it was frustrating to live through decades of public meetings at Yorba Linda City Hall. The city is still in its infancy, Rocco said. Nobody wanted to sign at the bottom unless they knew its going to happen. Now construction is happening a few feet from the restaurants patio windows. Yorba Linda City Councilwoman Peggy Huang said shes excited to see Old Towns new chapter. The Town Center will be the synergy we need to energize the downtown of Yorba Linda, Huang said. Daniel Langhorne is a contributor to Times Community News. Twitter: @DanielLanghorne About 60 people gathered Friday to mark the official completion of a roadway renovation project on Arlington Drive in Costa Mesa. The roughly $4.7-million undertaking funded essentially in equal parts by the city of Costa Mesa, the OC Fair & Event Center and the Orange County Transportation Authority resurfaced Arlington Drive between Fairview Road and Newport Boulevard, added a concrete multipurpose trail on the streets southern side and put in new landscaping and irrigation systems along the roadway. Workers also installed a new underground storm drain system and a bioswale that will collect and naturally filter urban runoff. This is a wonderful day, Costa Mesa City Manager Tom Hatch told the crowd during Fridays ribbon-cutting ceremony. Were celebrating some great teamwork between several agencies to provide some improvements to the fairgrounds area and for the whole community to enjoy. Another aspect of the project, Hatch said, is a new signaled crosswalk that will allow safer passage across Arlington, which separates the fairgrounds from other bustling facilities such as Costa Mesa Middle and High schools, Davis Magnet School and TeWinkle Park. Officials from the city of Costa Mesa, the OC Fair & Event Center and the Orange County Transportation Authority cut a ceremonial ribbon marking completion of a renovation project on Arlington Drive in Costa Mesa between Fairview Road and Newport Boulevard. ( Photo by Luke Money ) After cutting the ceremonial ribbon, dignitaries and residents tested the new trail, creating a convoy of bicyclists, walkers and people on scooters. Near the front of the pack was Hatch, who skillfully swerved down the path on a skateboard. Kathy Kramer, chief executive of the OC Fair & Event Center, said the project greatly improves the look of the northern side of the fairgrounds and that she hopes it also will encourage more people to walk and bike in the area. It took a few years ... but anything good is worth waiting for, she said. Al Murray, a board member of the OCTA, which awarded grant funding for the project in 2014, said, Its always nice to see an investment come to fruition. Anything we can do to get people active is good for health, its good for nutrition and its good for our environment, said Murray, who also is the mayor of Tustin. Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis described the project as a great example of what happens when public agencies work together cooperatively. Councilwoman Katrina Foley called it one of my favorite projects that weve done lately and said she hopes similar multipurpose paths will be built elsewhere in the city. I am very excited about this thing; I drove it yesterday for the first time, Councilman Jim Righeimer said. There are other places in the city where these kind of things can be done. Lets all work toward yes. luke.money@latimes.com Twitter @LukeMMoney When the Sea Scouts founded their Newport Beach unit in 1962, Mike Skip Stewart was there. By now hes received most of the awards an adult can get from the organization, the maritime branch of the Boy Scouts, so when one of his colleagues saw an opportunity to honor Stewarts 56 years of continuous volunteer service, he strongly encouraged the 80-year-old former sailor to join him Wednesday at the annual awards dinner for Orange Countys Venturing programs. Stewart had a hunch he would get an award and he joked that he was being kidnapped. But he went along. What he wasnt expecting was the group of boys squared away in their dress whites who filed into the back of the room just before he picked up his Sea Scout Leadership Award. Almost all 22 of the units currently registered Scouts were there, not because they were being honored but because Stewart was. Its not often we can surprise Skip, said Dale Stoica, the unit committee chairman. And having them all show up, that means they care. Sea Scouts applaud Mike Skip Stewart for his 56 years of continuous volunteer service to the organization, the maritime branch of the Boy Scouts. (Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer ) Stewart has been the volunteer skipper for Sea Scout Ship (or troop) 711 since 1963. Before that, he was a mate, akin to an assistant Scoutmaster, and not much older than the Scouts he guided. The Sea Scouts are for youths ages 14 to 20, in the vein of the high-adventure Venturing program. Stewart said most of his Scouts are good kids who are trying to be even better, even though todays teens have more demands on their time than they did in the 1960s through 80s. He said he tries to keep them on the straight and narrow. The troop meets almost every Wednesday thats about 3,000 Wednesdays for Stewart and on most weekends. Stewart left one of his mates, Darryl Mack, in charge of Wednesdays regular meeting to supervise the boys as they practiced knots and compass reading in advance of a competition this month at the California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo. The unit usually does well in competitions. In 2006 it was named the top Sea Scout ship in the country and made the top 10 last year. After Stoica told Mack that Stewart was up for an award, Mack quietly mobilized the rest of the unit to go to the dinner. Stewart was born in Riverside and joined a Sea Scout unit in the area as a teenager before serving two years of active duty in the Navy. After that, he returned to the Orange County area he knew well his family had a summer home in Newport Beach and earned a certificate in data processing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, operating computers that stored data on punched tape. Stoica, 29, was one of the roughly 650 Scouts whom Stewart has mentored in the past half-century. He said Stewart lets the boys lead the way as they explore maritime and life skills aboard a Columbia 43 sloop named Del Mar. Macks son Evan, who has administrative duties for the unit as its yeoman and purser, is looking at joining the Coast Guard after he graduates next year from University High School in Irvine. You have a chance to actually go out and try stuff and learn about the boat, he said. Stoica told the awards dinner crowd that anyone involved in Sea Scouting or anything remotely boat-related in Newport Harbor knows Mike Stewart. If I am half as active as he is at half his age, I will consider myself in great shape, Stoica said. Skip, get up here. Stewart rose, as did the rest of the room. All right, he said, a slight chuckle escaping as he accepted his award. Wow. Thank you all. Mike Skip Stewart, 80, wears the Sea Scout Leadership Award he received Wednesday. (Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer ) hillary.davis@latimes.com Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD No one likes to be bullied. Its a national problem at schools, in the workplace and in Costa Mesa. Sadly, some of my Costa Mesa neighbors are being bullied. Outspoken Costa Mesa residents are being bullied by representatives of the sober-living industry. Why? Because they are determined to publicly expose how sober living homes are ruining our neighborhoods and whose recovering clients pose a threat to our safety and property when clients are not good neighbors or when they relapse. These residents have been complaining about the proliferation of sober living homes to the Costa Mesa Planning Commission and City Council. They vocally oppose sober living home operators applications required by the city. They complain about parking, noise and smoking code violations, and cite their calls for service to the city for help. These operators charge clients anywhere from $800 to $4,000 per week, but the city ordinance does not require them to have a business license, which pays for services to help residents. The bullying is escalating. In 2013 Eastside residents received cease and desist letters after making comments on Nextdoor.com about their concerns. They were threatened with lawsuits. A senior citizen was assaulted at a public event. When the resident went to court to get a temporary restraining order, the judge ruled against the TRO. Now, the resident must pay court and defense attorneys fees of $2,500. The criminal complaint is winding its way through the state courts. A Costa Mesa business owner spoke up to oppose a sober living home city permit application. As a result, the resident was doxxed on the Internet, resulting in the residents identifying information being made public. During a City Council public hearing a sober living home operator shouted out to residents and business owners in the council chambers who had spoken against the home. Thats bullying. We have a right to speak out without fear of being bullied or dragged into court to pay attorneys and court fees. Restoration of our neighborhoods is the goal. Proposed federal and state legislation may help. But it will take more time. We must be patient. In the meantime, I hope my neighbors will be fearless and continue to speak up and not be intimidated by the bullies. I believe the united strength and courage of a group of people will stop the bullying. WENDY LEECE is a former member of the Costa Mesa City Council and the Newport-Mesa school board. A recent opinion piece in the New York Times asks, Why Are We Surprised When Buddhists Are Violent? The article refers to international criticism of events in Myanmar, where leadership is accused of looking the other way as attacks against minority Rohingya Muslims have led to a mass exodus of refugees and a humanitarian crisis. Widely held Western beliefs that Buddhism is a uniquely peaceful and tolerant religion fail to take into account the point of Buddhism itself, the authors argue, which is to overcome self-centered ways of being. Without the nature of humanity, the authors say, Buddhism would not be necessary. But the authors also blame British colonialism for the worlds simplified view of Buddhism and argue that Myanmars interest in becoming part of the contemporary world of nations means it is adopting globally held views of intolerance, including arguments that the Muslim minority are foreigners who threaten Myanmars integrity. Q. Is it fair to blame supposedly intolerant Western views and historic colonialism on the contemporary violent acts in Myanmar? Or is it worth remembering, as the op-ed states, that the histories of Buddhist societies are as checkered as most human history? Do you see violence as an intractable problem of human nature? Every human being is born with a human nature which the Bible refers to as the flesh. The flesh is fundamentally self-centered and hostile to Gods rule. The flesh may practice religion but ultimately it refuses to relinquish control to God. We have a fallen, sinful flesh nature because our first forefather, Adam, chose to rebel against Gods commandment. Notably, Adam blamed Eve for his sin, and this trend of blaming others for our sinful choices continues to this day. If people act in violent ways its because they have personally chosen to do so. When Adam sinned his nature changed to that of a sinner. Like begets like, sinners beget sinners, and so this sinful nature passes from generation to generation to this day. No one is exempt from this natural progression, including Buddhists. The Book of Galatians describes the kinds of actions the flesh does: Now the deeds of the flesh are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Each of these is an intractable problem of human nature unless we opt for the one solution Jesus Christ offers: You must be born again (John 3:7). God gives us a new nature when we turn to him through faith in Jesus Christs death for us on the cross to pay for our sins, and when we repent of our fleshly ways to follow him. No, we dont become perfect or sinless immediately, but we are given the capability to say no to the flesh and to say yes to the things God wants us to do, including the expressions of forgiveness and kindness to our enemies. Violence springs from the fallen human nature which dwells in each of us. Jesus Christ is our only hope to be delivered from it. If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by [Gods] Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8:13). Pastor Jon Barta Burbank -- I am not an expert on the Myanmar situation, but I know that colonialism has had a lot of lingering negative effects, and anti-Muslim animus is all too prevalent worldwide. Tempting though it would be for an atheist like me to condemn the houses of faith for religious violence, I see instead that inter-ethnic and political conflicts, and struggles for scarce territory and resources are often played out in the guise of religion. Much evidence of human cooperation abounds as well, and both strife and peace seem to occur throughout all societies. In fact, I dont think there is such a thing as a human nature, but that our so-called natures are largely culturally determined. While I have been pondering this question, science has marched on. A New York Times article on April 17 is headlined: Wired to be Besties; Research reveals shared neural response patterns in our social networks. Turns out in an experiment that the brains of close friends respond in very similar ways while they watched the same videos. In fact the researchers found that they could use neural response patterns of two subjects to accurately predict whether they were close friends. They will now move on to measure incoming college students unknown to each other and then see if those with similar brain responses become friends. Maybe someday we will discover that there is some biological basis to whether humans live together in peace or descend into violence. Roberta Medford Atheist Montrose -- In my attempt to answer these three questions, I want to start with the last, Do I see violence as an intractable problem of human nature? I do so as a way of addressing the other two, because you cannot separate the problems of human nature from religious practices and cultural influences. In looking up the adjective intractable, I see that this describes the problem of human nature as not easily governed, managed or directed. This has been my experience both inside and outside of the church. Violence is a serious problem, one that each generation wrestles with. Right now we have many forms of violence that grass-roots movements like Black Lives Matter, the Womens March and student protests calling for gun reform are addressing. On the international scene there are calls for the end of violence in many places around the world. So, yes, violence is an intractable problem of human nature. Violence is not easily governed, managed or directed. Violence has been justified by those who are seeking power and control over others, rather than finding the common good for all. I recently read a blog by a young man who wrote he is not religious because no matter what religion you study all have not managed or contained violence in their quest for religious war. I would say the culture of violence is much greater than any one religious tradition. More than a Western influence, it is an evil that persists in the world because of the way violence is exploited by those who want power over others or benefit from groups at war with one another. Rather than finding ways of managing and addressing violence, we arm ourselves, we arm others, we lose patience with long term solutions, and we scapegoat others for our problems. Each of us is capable of violence. It is a part of our nature, so the cure begins with us, can we find ways of being nonviolent, of caring for one another in the midst of life? I have heard so many stories of how families cannot talk to one another about those important topics of life, because when they do they end up screaming at each other, not talking at all with one another, and blaming one another for the problems of the world. We need to find ways to talk to one another. Places people gather for worship and study can be safe places to exchange ideas, examine the problems our society faces and find creative solutions. The problems are far too big for any one solution, and for us to change the worlds tendency toward violence we need to find ways of working together. I think of a team who responds to a patient in the hospital whose heart stops beating: The call goes out, the team responds doctors, nurses, chaplains, administrators all to save a persons life. No one is concerned about who is Jewish, or Catholic or Muslim or atheist, they are all there to save a life, to bring healing. Can we find ways of working together so we can find ways of eliminating violence in the world? Can we act in ways that help eliminate violence in our communities and families? I have hope that we can. If we can see that violence only leads to more violence, and this circle needs to be broken, we can start practicing nonviolence, nurture what we have in common, be creative in our thinking, work hard to stand up to violence in all its forms. We can be peacemakers in the midst of violence. So I would call us to resist violence in all its forms, in the places we find ourselves, to be part of the movement to build a better world. Rev. Steve Poteete-Marshall Crescenta Valley UMC -- It is interesting how theres this sort of peaceful perception of Buddhists, generally, but perhaps thats because so many in the West have played pick-and-choose with some of the religions supposedly enlightened pathways or acceptable truths, and the reality of the religions success hasnt been carefully considered. Maybe its because it comes across as a spiritual superhero kind of thing that so many of us picked up in childhood as we watched David Carradine travel across the cowboy West exhibiting nothing but humble love for everyone, that is, until he kicks and punches the crud out of all the bad guys. Isnt it funny how martial arts are so connected with this peaceful faith, and also how often Buddhists find themselves embroiled in violent conflict? Recently I spoke with a Christian missionary to a Buddhist country, and he told me that all the worrisome results of living badly were believed to be thwarted by a merit system. Prostitutes, for example, would decorate Buddhist temples early in the day, and earn enough spiritual merit to ply their salacious trade by night. One has to balance karma to ones own benefit, right? And I recall the Dalai Lama on several occasions being asked if Buddhists believe in God, to which he answered that there is no god except ones own mind. So, if a Buddhist is his own god, and god is doing just enough good to offset his bad, what divine end is actually achieved? And if a Buddhist monk somewhere is especially devout, he still carries within him a negative nature that necessitates his religious devotion in the first place. Why then should anyone be surprised that Buddhism cant guarantee peace? As a Christian, I pity those who try to pull themselves up by their own spiritual bootstraps while simultaneously denying the actual person of God. And violence is an intractable problem of human nature, since human nature is first and foremost sinful. Christ came to save us through our fallen nature and imbues us with a growing righteous nature that makes us more like God. We will never be God, but we can more reflect his image. If we do not believe in God, let alone his human incarnation as Jesus Christ, we will never see a day of complete peace, will never have enlightenment, never have Heaven, never be saved from damnation, and will never know our creator. What to do? You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all (Act 10:36 NIV). Rev. Bryan Griem Tujunga Heres a sure sign that the spring shoulder season is almost over: Fares to reader-favorite London have been creeping ever upward. Now comes news of a $544 round trip, including all taxes and fees, from LAX to Londons Heathrow on Air New Zealand. If you can go in the fall, youll save almost 40%. But you must act quickly. You must purchase the fare, which is subject to availability, by May 31. Advertisement It is for travel Oct. 1-Dec. 13. Info: Air New Zealand, (800) 262-1234 Source: Airfarewatchdog travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Cruise the tropical waters of Central America on a 10-day trip that includes visits to national parks in Costa Rica and to the Panama Canal. The region is known for its diverse animal and marine life, including sloths, monkeys and turtles. The One Ocean Expeditions tour begins in San Jose, Costa Rica, and works its way south with visits to four national parks and protected reserves. Highlights include sea kayaking, travel by inflatable boats and hiking along the parks trail networks. After a week, the ship heads for Panama City and a journey through the Panama Canal. Dates: April 23-May 2, 2019 Price: From $5,295 per person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, meals, activities and guides, permits and spa facilities. International airfare not included. Info: (855) 416-2326 or (604) 390 4900, lat.ms/centralamericaexcursion Hopes of containing a growing outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo are pinned on an experimental vaccine that was tested in 2015 during a major outbreak of the disease. The World Health Organization plans to vaccinate up to 10,000 people in the first phase of its response and so far has imported 4,000 doses of the vaccine, which is manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant Merck and appears to be highly effective in preventing infection. The outbreak was first detected this month in a rural area known as Bikoro. The threat of the disease rapidly spreading grew with the discovery of four cases in Mbandaka, a city of1.2 million that lies on the Congo River. The river is a major trade route linking Mbandaka to the capital, Kinshasa, as well as to Brazzaville, the capital of neighboring Republic of Congo. Advertisement An emergency meeting of the World Health Organization on Friday decided that the first doses of the vaccine will go to people who had contact with confirmed cases in Mbandaka, and the next will go to contacts of contacts. Vaccinations are expected to begin Sunday or Monday. The organization stopped short of declaring the outbreak an international health emergency. But Dr. Robert Steffen, chairman of the WHO emergency committee, said nine countries in the region had been advised to prepare themselves for Ebola cases. People believed to have Ebola wait for treatment at an isolation ward in Bikoro, Democratic Republic of Congo. (John Bompengo / Associated Press ) At least 45 people, including three medical workers, are thought to have been infected in the current outbreak, and 25 have died. In an effort to contain the spread, health workers have tracked down more than 500 people who had contact with people who were infected. Of the four cases in Mbandaka, one had been confirmed by laboratory testing. The other three involve members of one family who came from a remote region and attended a funeral. The WHO was notified of the outbreak in Mbandaka on May 8. Fighting Ebola in a crowded urban setting is deeply complicated. Though the new vaccine proved effective in clinical trials in Guinea in 2015, it is difficult to trace people who had contact with the virus in a major city. #Ebola vaccines arrived in Kinshasa today, ahead of deployment to affected health zones in #DRC. pic.twitter.com/5rSkle9K8g Peter Salama (@PeteSalama) May 16, 2018 In the biggest outbreak of Ebola when 28,000 people were infected and 11,300 died in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from 2013 to 2016 the virus spread swiftly to cities from a rural trade hub near the borders of the three nations. A recent outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar underscored the difficulty of trying to contain epidemics in cities. Normally limited to a remote mountainous area of the country, the bacterial disease spread to the capital, Antananarivo, and other cities after one man contracted it in the hinterlands and took a commuter minibus through the capital to the coast. What might have been a few dozen cases became 2,348, causing 202 deaths. In the case of the Ebola infection confirmed in Mbandaka, Steffen said it was not clear how it was contracted. Until that case was found, the outbreak had been concentrated in remote villages near Bikoro, a market town on the shores of Lake Tumba. Many of the villages in the area are accessible only along narrow dirt tracks on foot or motorcycle. WHO experts who responded to the crisis last weekend took a helicopter. Steffen said authorities now face the complex task of monitoring dozens of small ports along the Congo River for possible cases. Thirty WHO staffers have been deployed to the region, along with members of the health organization Doctors Without Borders, which played a major role in fighting the 2013-16 outbreak. At the outset of that epidemic, the available treatment was limited to rehydration. Victims were crowded into isolation wards in an effort to stop the spread of the virus, but in many cases intravenous fluids were not provided because using needles was seen as too risky for medical staff. Dying patients were simply given bottled water, but many were too sick to drink it. Westerners who were evacuated to hospitals in Europe and the U.S. fared better than the West Africans. Locals often hoped their symptoms were from less-fatal diseases such as malaria or typhoid and put off checking into Ebola treatment units, from where few survivors emerged. By the time they went for treatment, it was difficult to save them. This time, WHO experts are optimistic that those who suspect they may have the illness will report to Ebola treatment facilities early, trusting that the vaccine could save their lives. Health workers are disinfected after treating suspected Ebola patients in Bikoro, Democratic Republic of Congo. (Mark Naftalin / UNICEF/EPA ) In the Guinea trial, 5,837 people who had been in contact with someone who had the virus or someone who had been in contact with the contact got vaccinations. None of them became infected with the virus, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal. The vaccine was believed to have played a role in ending the 2013-16 outbreak. The vaccine has not yet been licensed to treat humans, but Congolese officials authorized its use. This is the first time it will be used to try to prevent an outbreak from spreading in its early stages. One potential challenge: The vaccine has to be stored between minus-76 and minus-112 degrees Fahrenheit, which is difficult in a remote region where electricity is unreliable. The WHO has sought $26 million from donors over three months to cover the vaccination campaign. The 2013-16 outbreak cost the international community as much as $4 billion. The Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, and except for the major outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, it has mainly been found in rural villages in central Africa. Because those outbreaks were relatively easy to contain, little work was done to develop a vaccine. Some research took place shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, amid fears that the virus could be weaponized in a terrorist attack. The effort laid the groundwork for the vaccine that was tested in Guinea. robyn.dixon@latimes.com Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT How about a lovely set of Meghan-and-Harry tea towels? Mmm, no thanks. Champagne celebration in front of the telly? Pass. A jaunt to join the crowds outside Windsor Castle? Dont think so. Its a lonely time to be an anti-monarchist in the United Kingdom. As Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tie the royal knot on Saturday, polls suggest some Britons a minority, but a substantial one, hovering in the low double digits -- would like to see the monarchy done away with altogether, though perhaps not by means as drastic as the head-lopping dispatch of a couple of Henry VIIIs recalcitrant brides. The House of Windsor remains an enduringly popular institution, weathering storms of scandal and the near-constant perception of creeping irrelevance to survive as a national symbol and for much of the outside world, an exemplar of British branding at its finest. Advertisement But the spectacle of a royal wedding, swooned over by so many, also serves to revive complaints that the sprawling family tree presided over by Queen Elizabeth II is rotten at its roots -- a drain on public resources, the epitome of a stiflingly unequal class system, a bizarre deviation from democratic values that Britain has historically claimed to hold dear. The anti-monarchy movement has followers both passive and passionate. Large numbers of Britons, especially the young, are greeting this weekends wedding hoopla with bored nonchalance, grumbling about wall-to-wall media coverage and complaining about the cost. (Security expenses are borne by the public, with the royal family picking up the rest of what has been reported to be a $43-million tab.) Armed British police officers patrol the streets of Windsor on May 18, the day before the royal wedding. (Tolga Akmen / AFP/Getty Images ) Its just not a big deal to me, said Paul Winstanley, 23, who lives less than 10 miles from the wedding venue. When asked if hed be heading to Windsor, or even watching the event on TV, he laughed. A considerably smaller subset of royal non-enthusiasts is not merely dismissive of the wedding hype, but stands actively in opposition to the notion that a pampered and tradition-encrusted hereditary dynasty should play such an outsize role in the public life of a supposedly modern, egalitarian society. The countrys main monarchy-abolition movement, which is called Republic and wants royals to be replaced by a directly elected head of state, is planning a pan-European gathering Saturday in London, just as the world spotlight is on the wedding at Windsor Castle. But Republic head Graham Smith said the timing is coincidental, as the conference date was announced before that of the royal nuptials. No one is looking to rain on Meghan and Harrys parade, Smith said only to cast a spotlight on the monarchys true costs to a society that aspires to hold all as equal citizens. We wish the couple well, but its fair criticism, he said. Its not about them in particular; its about the institution. Apart from a few entertainingly splenetic newspaper columns (in the Independent daily, commentator Mark Steel satirically envisioned a TV report that around Windsor, even the flies are buzzing with a joyful air), the anti-monarchists have kept a fairly low profile in this nuptial season. They acknowledge it might not be the most opportune moment to make their case, in part because both bride and groom are widely seen as so very ... likable. Harry is recalled sympathetically as the boy who lost his mother, Princess Diana, at the age of 12, and has broken with tradition to speak candidly and movingly about his years-long and largely solitary struggle to cope emotionally with her death. He joins forces with a bride who is strikingly glamorous, refreshingly approachable and at least up until now outspoken about matters including her biracial identity and proud feminism. Britains Prince Harry greets the crowd in Windsor, England, on May 18. (Nigel Roddis / EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock ) The two bonded in part, friends have said, over a deep and genuine devotion to charity work. In lieu of wedding gifts, the couple asked for donations to organizations championing environmental and social causes such as womens empowerment, veterans programs and helping the homeless. Theyre even directing support to a group called Surfers Against Sewage. But appealing personalities are beside the point, the monarchy abolitionists argue, even while acknowledging that Harry and Meghan -- together with elder brother Prince William, his shiny-haired wife Kate and their recently expanded brood of one little princess and two small princes -- are catnip to the public. (William and Kates elder children, 4-year-old George and 3-year-old Charlotte, are playing prominent roles in Saturdays wedding, as pageboy and bridesmaid.) Although televised images of adorable royal toddlers bearing bouquets and baskets are an extremely tough act to follow, the anti-monarchists believe that in the longer term, the temper of the times is on their side. The royal familys studiedly apolitical tradition, founded in the concept that a sovereign must embrace the spectrum of his or her subjects without championing any particular partisan cause, can seem out of place and out of touch in an era of such deeply consequential social change. The anti-monarchists also believe that lingering devotion to things royal may be shaken by succession, whenever that comes to pass. The queen is 92. Her son and heir Prince Charles is 69. Although the years have brought a measure of public forgiveness over the princes protracted and spectacularly messy 1996 split with Diana, and his marriage after her death to his longtime paramour Camilla Parker Bowles, the prospective crowning of a King Charles III excites almost no one. The idea of a generation-skipping ascension of 35-year-old William instead has considerable traction, according to polls, but no mechanism exists for making that a reality. And the young royals, for all their popularity, may never achieve the powerful emotional connection that many older Britons feel for Elizabeth and her late father, King George VI. Terry Hutt is a familiarly eccentric figure on the sidelines of royal occasions. Clad in a gaudy suit of material printed with the Union Jack, he arrived in Windsor days before this weekends wedding to claim a prime spot on Castle Hill, a stones throw from a stern-looking statue of Queen Victoria that was unveiled in 1887, when she was still on the throne and Britain ruled half the globe. At 83, Hutt calls himself a royalist of 79 years standing dating back to the depths of World War II, when King George and his queen made the rounds of blitz-battered neighborhoods, offering what was then unheard-of personal consolation to their subjects. Hutt was 4 at the time, and says he vividly remembers their visit to his own bomb-devastated neighborhood. After Buckingham Palace was itself bombed in September 1940, the future Queen Mother famously observed, referring to one of Londons hardest-hit areas, that she could at last look the East End in the face. They were with us then, one of us, Hutt said of the royal family. So its only right that we stand with them now. Republics Smith said he didnt expect public sentiment to change overnight, but that the passing of the generational torch will likely make all the difference. The debate will carry on for some time, he said. But things can change things will change. Special correspondent Christina Boyle contributed to this report from London. laura.king@latimes.com @laurakingLAT ALSO: Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle At L.A.'s Immaculate Heart school, the mission is to tell the world about the real Meghan Markle After centuries of practice, Britains royals figure out how to turn a wedding into a global watch party There are so few German army helicopters available for the troops that pilots have been forced to train in bright yellow civilian choppers leased from the German Automobile Club. A chronic shortage of spare parts and assorted technical woes have grounded 29 of the Bundeswehrs 130 camouflage-green helicopters. Acute shortages of parts have also left only 39 of the Luftwaffes 128 Eurofighter jets combat-ready idled along with nearly half of the armed forces 224 Leopard tanks and five of its six submarines. No country in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance has savored the peace dividend as much as Germany, which slashed military spending in half after the Cold War. And no country in NATO has drawn more criticism from President Trump for not carrying its own military weight than Germany. The countrys embarrassingly long laundry list of inoperable fighter jets, grounded helicopters, idled tanks and dry-docked submarines has exacerbated tension between Germany and the United States, which like other NATO allies worries about the threat of Russian aggression after its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Advertisement But for many Germans, a country with a deeply pacifist streak following two wars in the last century, the lack of military preparedness is of little concern. In fact, its a source of pride among the peaceniks who grew up with a post-World War II idealism of a world without wars the Nie wieder Krieg generation. While some in Germany, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, agree that Germany should spend more to pump up its military, there is no plan in place to significantly raise the amount that Europes biggest economy spends on defense. Though Germany is the second-largest of the 29 members of NATO, it spends just 1.2% of its gross national product on defense far less than the alliances goal of 2% for each member country. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, right, and Gen. Volker Wieker, chief of staff of the Bundeswehr, attend a Grand Tattoo military ceremony in April. (Felipe Trueba / EPA/Shutterstock ) The United States, by contrast, spends 3.3% of its gross domestic product on defense, or more than $600 billion a year. Eight NATO partners are expected to hit the blocs 2% goal this year and 15 more by the target date of 2024. But Germany wont be among them. Its current aim is 1.5% by 2025. Merkel recently told Trump that Germany could meet the 2% target by 2030. The situation with the Bundeswehr is not satisfactory at all, Merkel said in a speech last week, adding that the armed forces had shortcomings all across the board and that the armys combat readiness totally needs to be improved. Tension over military spending has boiled over during her 2-month-old grand coalition government, with the Defense Ministry, controlled by her conservative party, wanting to raise spending slightly but blocked by a finance ministry that is now controlled by the center-left Social Democratic Party, or SPD. Even though the federal government has been running widening budget surpluses the last four years, the SPD and other Germans on the left dont want to spend a single extra euro on arms and soldiers. Some even deride NATOs 2% target as a fetish. Theres a narrative going on here suggesting that progression towards 2% is something that could lead to a militarization of Germany, Merkel said in a speech in Berlin on Monday. This 2% goal is not some kind of fetish. Rather it is necessary for us to meet our international obligations and defend ourselves. Trump has repeatedly and publicly rebuked Germany for spending so little toward the blocs collective defense. Its unfair, he said, in one of his more polite comments. After a meeting in Washington last month, Trump took to Twitter and sarcastically congratulated Merkel for ripping off his predecessors in the White House on defense and trade another sore spot for the president, who has complained about Germanys perennial trade surplus with the United States. Officials at NATO headquarters in Brussels say Trump is right to demand that Germany increase defense spending. Trump is using different language and doing it more publicly, but hes essentially saying the same thing about Germany that previous U.S. presidents have been saying all along, said a NATO official from Britain in an interview in Brussels. On his first day on the job, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lambasted Germany for not doing enough, saying they should meet the goals they signed up for. In Berlin, the new U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, also quickly made it clear that he intends to be a thorn in Germanys side when it comes to investing in defense. This is not being taken seriously enough, Grenell told embassy staff upon his arrival in Berlin this month, adding that it would be his No. 1 issue as Trumps envoy to Germany. The 2% target is symbolic, and we all know that. But everybody agreed to move in that direction. Participants in an Easter peace march gather near the old town hall in Frankfurt, Germany, in April. (Frank Rumpenhorst / Associated Press ) But for all the tough talk, there appears to be little pride in the countrys armed forces among many Germans. We dont need weapons, said Anja Kruger, a 51-year-old Berlin travel agent. Instead of spending money on arms, it should be spent on education and making peoples lives better. Maybe it sounds naive, but the world needs more empathy and not war never, ever. It has been more than 70 years since World War II ended, and many Germans have little or no memory of wartime. Theyre more interested in their own welfare and their prosperity, and dont feel threatened, said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlins Free University. After generations of living in peace, the idea of war is too abstract, its too far away from their lives. During the Cold War, West Germany spent about twice as much on defense, or about 2.3% of the countrys GDP, when it and communist East Germany were at the focal point of the East-West standoff between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. But that was quickly cut in half in the early 1990s. The antiwar sentiment became even more pronounced in 2002 after former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder won an improbable come-from-behind reelection campaign largely thanks to his incredibly popular pledge to keep Germany out of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Since then, the SPD and parties on the left have vowed to keep defense spending to a minimum. Germans were completely indoctrinated with pacifism, thanks to American reeducation programs after World War II, said author and consultant Josef Braml, referring to U.S.-led de-Nazification efforts. Everything associated with war and the military was knocked out of our DNA, he said. Ever since, weve seen ourselves as a nation of peace, only interested in commercial trade. That neglect may help explain why 19 of the armys helicopter pilots lost their flying licenses in 2017 they simply couldnt get in enough training hours with so few army helicopters available. To prevent that from happening this year, the Bundeswehr is spending $25 million to rent the bright yellow traffic helicopters from the auto club so that the pilots can at least get enough training to keep their licenses current. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. Thousands of Palestinians protested along the Gaza Strips eastern border Friday, vowing to press on with a seven-week campaign to reclaim ancestral homelands in what is now Israel. They were the first significant demonstrations in the enclave since Israeli forces shot and killed 59 people and injured hundreds more during protests Monday coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Israels creation and the formal opening of a new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Raad Hussein, delivered a sharp rebuke against Israel on Friday, saying, There is little evidence of any attempt to minimize casualties on Monday. Addressing a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, he said the stark contrast in casualties on both sides was suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response. Advertisement More than 110 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began March 30. An Israeli soldier was injured by a stone Monday, Hussein said, but there have been no deaths on the Israeli side. The council voted 29 to 2 to set up a commission of inquiry to look into the deadly crackdown, a move decried by Israel and the United States. Charging bias against Israel, the two countries representatives noted that Fridays resolution made no mention of Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that controls Gaza and which they regard as a terrorist group. Most of those killed this week were members of the group, a senior Hamas official said Wednesday. If in the last round, 62 were martyred, 50 of them were from Hamas, and 12 were other peoples sons, Salah Bardawil, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said in an interview with the local Baladna Channel, a Palestinian news outlet that broadcasts via Facebook. This is an official figure Im giving you. And before that, you can say that 50% at least of the martyrs were from Hamas. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh rallies protesters Friday at the Gaza Strips border with Israel. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) Bardawil did not specify whether these were fighters or civilian supporters of Hamas. But Israeli officials who have accused Hamas of using the protests as cover to try to wage attacks against its soldiers and civilians seized on the comments as evidence that the protests are not the peaceful gatherings that organizers portray. It was clear to Israel and now it is clear to the whole world that there was no popular protest, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said Wednesday. This was an organized mob of terrorists organized by Hamas. Hamas leaders had said the protests would reach a climax Tuesday, when Palestinians commemorate what they call the Nakba, or catastrophe, of 70 years ago, when hundreds of thousands of their forebears were displaced or fled their homes. But after Mondays bloodshed, the focus shifted Tuesday to burying the dead, and the crowds at the border were much smaller. On Friday, prayer leaders across the densely populated enclave urged Gazans to return to the border fence. At a mosque in Gaza City, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that for all the painful farewells, good things had come from the protests, including a refocusing of international attention on the plight of Palestinians and real steps to ease a crippling blockade that has sharply curtailed the movement of goods and people to and from the strip since Hamas took over in 2007. He cited a decision by Egypt to keep the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip open throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the longest period since 2013. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi said in a tweet posted on his official account late Thursday that the move would alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh said the protests would continue until the blockade was completely lifted. Several injured Gaza residents with Jordanian citizenship were also allowed to cross into Israel on Friday with their relatives to be taken to Jordan for medical treatment, the Israeli military said. The military said it had transferred large quantities of equipment to Gaza earlier in the week, but all of it was returned by Hamas. Palestinians on Friday wait to board buses to transport them to a Gaza border protest camp to break their Ramadan fast. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) Later in the afternoon Friday, buses departed from mosques loaded with men, women and children who wanted to break their Ramadan fast at the main protest camp east of Gaza City. Most kept a safe distance from the Israeli soldiers on the other side of security barriers. But several hundred surged forward, swinging slingshots and burning tires to create a thick, black smokescreen. Israeli forces responded with volleys of tear gas and the occasional gunshot. But casualties were much lower than on Monday: 56 people were treated for gas inhalation, according to Gaza health officials. Hazem Naizi, who brought his 7-year-old son to the protests, planted a pair of plastic stools in the sand so they could watch the spectacle. I brought him here so he can know his land, Naizi said, pointing in the direction of agricultural fields on the other side of the security barrier. He shrugged off the danger: If he doesnt die from a bullet at the border, he will die from the siege, Naizi said. Mohammed Abu Marasa, 20, was shot in the ankle Monday but returned to the protest camp Friday leaning on a cane with a bandaged leg. I want to take [a bullet] in the head for the sake of Jerusalem, he said. It is better than this life. Conditions for most Gazans are desperate: Unemployment is close to 50%, the tap water is undrinkable, homes and businesses receive only a few hours of electricity a day, and hospitals are running out of supplies. On the Israeli side, fire crews struggled to keep up as kites carrying flaming rags floated over from Gaza during an unseasonable heat wave. There were too many fires to count, a soldier stationed amid the fields of Nahal Oz kibbutz said. While the green jojoba fields resisted the flames, dry wheat sheaves almost ready for harvest acted like kindling. Police later said they were looking into the possibility that some of the fires were the result of an arson attack, rather than incendiary kites from Gaza. In the rest of Israel and the West Bank, the first Friday of Ramadan passed quietly. Some 100,000 people prayed at Jerusalems Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam, including 40,000 Palestinians who were issued special permits to enter the city, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. About 7,000 others in the West Bank prayed at Hebrons Ibrahimi Mosque, a site known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, where a Sabbath service was held late Friday on the other side of the same ancient building. Special correspondent Tarnopolsky reported from the Nahal Oz kibbutz in Israel. Special correspondent Hana Salah in Gaza City contributed to this report. alexandra.zavis@latimes.com Twitter: @alexzavis UPDATES: 4:15 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting. This article was originally published at 2:25 p.m. Its shouting into the head winds of romantic swoonery, but Saturdays wedding will not create Princess Meghan. Quaint and odd they may be, but the rules of the royal road are both clear and strict, and neither tabloids nor TV will change them. In the House of Windsor, princesses are born, not made not even by marriage. No members of the British royal family can put the title prince or princess in front of their names unless they are born royal. So technically, there can be no Princess Meghan, just as there was no Princess Diana. Yet, confusingly, Meghan Markle, like Kate Middleton, will have the style of princess of the United Kingdom essentially her job description but not the title. Its one more nugget of headache-inducing royal arcana that someone can be a princess without being called princess. Advertisement What will she be called, then? Traditionally, just before a marriage, the monarch puts out what are called letters patent, a kind of royal wedding gift to the son or grandson, making him a royal duke. It sounds like a demotion from prince, but it isnt. Its a bonus. A royal dukedom is a super-duper-dukedom. Under Windsor house rules, that royal dukedom the rumor is the queen will make Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex spares Meghan Markle from bearing the clumsy title of Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales. Instead, she would be HRH the Duchess of Sussex, just as the former Kate Middleton is HRH the Duchess of Cambridge. The title doesnt come with any land they wont be getting the county of Sussex as a wedding present and the couple would be only the second Duke and Duchess of Sussex in modern royal history. The first, Queen Victorias favorite uncle, walked her up the aisle at her wedding, because her father was dead. It really is a kind of strange magic that a woman in a white dress says a few words in a church and becomes a royal highness. But when a princess born to royal rank marries a commoner, his status does not rise to match hers. Sexist, right? When Princess Margaret married a photographer, the queen made her sisters new husband an earl, in part so their children the grandchildren of a monarch would not be plain Mr. and Miss. The queen has been paring back the scale of the royal family to match modern sentiment, so its probable that any children Meghan and Harry have will not be royal highnesses, but simply Lord or Lady Whatever. Thats what the queen did with the children of her youngest son, Edward. Got it? Good. Now, cut this out and carry it in your wallet, and win those bar bets with the bold but accurate declaration, Theres no such person as Princess Meghan! patt.morrison@latimes.com The decision to require seat belts in large school buses, similar to the one involved in a fatal bus crash on I-80 Thursday, is left up to individual states. New Jersey is one of seven states with laws requiring seat belts, but only California and Nevada mandate three-point seat belts, similar to the type used in passenger cars. A state lawmaker has tried unsuccessfully for five years to change the law to require school buses to have the same type of shoulder and lap belts used in cars and other vehicles. What does New Jersey law require now? New Jersey's law requires lap belts and high back seats that meet federal standards. It does not require three point belts with a shoulder harness as California and Nevada do. What does federal law require in school buses? Federal regulations were changed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in October 2009, requiring all smaller school buses built after October 2011 weighing 10,000 pounds or less to be equipped with seat belts. The height of seat backs in buses built after 2009 were increased. High back, padded seat backs also had to be designed to withstand a certain amount of force without breaking or bending to hold passengers in place, a theory called compartmentalization. Why do school buses need three-point lap and shoulder belts? A bill introduced by State Senator Samuel Thompson, R-Ocean, would require new buses in New Jersey be fitted with three-point seat belts. The bill is in the Senate Education Committee. Thompson has proposed the bill since 2013, but it never went to a vote of the Senate or Assembly. Thompson said he introduced the first bill in 2013 after a fatal school bus crash with a truck in Chesterfield. An 11-year-old girl was killed inside the bus, even though she was wearing a lap belt. A three-point seat belt would hold children more securely in place, experts said. "That's what inspired me to put the bill in. Kids can go far and get seriously injured, even if they have a lap belt on," he said. "I want to see if we can get this (bill) moving." The National Transportation Safety Board recommended three-point belts be installed in school buses after investigating the Chesterfield crash, as had the NHTSA in 2015, but the federal administration stopped short of mandating it. What is the opposition to requiring three point belts? The only opposition in the past has been the cost, Thompson said. NHTSA estimated the cost to be $7,000 to $10,000 per bus. That cost can't be compared to the life of a child, he said. "That is the only opposition, cost. There is no other argument," Thompson said, adding Thursday's crash may spur some interest in changing the law. Why didn't NHTSA require belts on large school buses? Seat belts were required on smaller school buses -- 10,000 pounds or less --that are usually manufactured on van platforms. The seat belts were requried for small buses because they are closer in size and weight to cars, according to NHTSA. Large school buses are designed to distribute forces differently than a car, van or light truck during a crash, so passengers experience less force during a collision, according to NHTSA. Large buses use padding and high seat backs to protect children in a collision. How many people are killed in school bus crashes? NHTSA statistics said that four to six school age children die each year on school buses of all sizes. A federal General Accounting Office study of school bus safety found that from 2000 to 2014, there was an annual average of 115 fatal crashes involving school buses. However, that study did not address the role of seat belts in crashes. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Stock Market News Asia report: Most markets higher as Trump plays down China talks 18-05-2018 14:21 Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk Stock Market News Europe close: Italian and Spanish stocks heavily sold 18-05-2018 19:12 Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. 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They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, little known to those who surf the net rather than scrutinize On a bright Sunday morning, Indonesian people were shocked by a string of bombings in Surabaya, the second largest city in the country. But there was something different this time compared to past bombings, which made the tragedy difficult to fathom. The perpetrators were three families, with parents who brought along their young children in a string of suicide bombings. The involvement of innocent children in such a barbaric act has multiplied peoples natural anger and disgust towards terrorism. Many feel we are entering into a 'bizarre' epoch and they are not far from the truth. On 13 May, three bombs exploded, one after another, in three churches just after services were concluded and people were streaming out. The perpetrators were a family of six. The first suicide bombing was carried out at 6.30 AM at Santa Maria Catholic Church by two teenage sons, aged 18 and 16. The second bombing occurred at a nearby Pentecostal Church at 7.15 AM, conducted by the wife who brought along her two daughters, aged 12 and nine. The third bomb was detonated at 7.53 AM at Indonesian Christian Church by the husband, who was the head of an ISIS-linked Jamaah Ansharud Daulah (JAD) cell in Surabaya. 18 people died, with more than 40 injured. Three families conducted the bombings, including children / Image: fair use The dark, billowing smoke from the burning churches had yet to subside and the blood of the victims yet to dry when, in the evening of the same day, another bomb exploded not far from the churches. This time a family of six who were part of the same JAD cell in Surabaya were building a bomb that was clearly aimed for a similar suicide bombing operation, and the device accidentally exploded. The husband and wife, and their 17-year-old son died on the spot, while their other three children, aged 10, 11 and 15, were injured. The situation in Surabaya became even more tense. The next morning, when people were still in shock, they were hit with still more grave news. A family of five, riding two motorcycles, tried to ram through the gate of a Surabaya police headquarters. They detonated their bombs, injuring four police officers and six civilians. Miraculously, the youngest daughter, aged eight, survived the blast. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks / Image: public domain This string of suicide bombings was inspired by ISIS and planned under the direction of JAD: one of the largest Jihadi group that supports ISIS. ISIS itself has claimed these attacks as their own through their media channels. Even before these bombings in Surabaya, JAD cells initiated a series of attacks. On Tuesday, 8 May, JAD prisoners and other terrorist detainees started a deadly prison riot and a two-day standoff near the Indonesian capital. Five police hostages were executed, ISIS-style, and these barbaric acts were broadcasted through ISIS channels. Following this prison riot, a number of JAD cells moved into action to join the standoff but were successfully intercepted by the authorities. Everyone condemned this act of terrorism as barbaric: madness that can only arise from those who have been brainwashed by extremism. But where did this madness really come from? And why is it manifesting today? The origin of ISIS and JAD Before ISIS and JAD, the face of Islamic fundamentalism was Al-Qaeda. Formed by the Taliban, they declared the beginning of their worldwide campaign of terror by delivering a major blow to the heart of US imperialism on 11 September 2001. The US retaliated by launching an invasion of Afghanistan, vowing that they would free the Afghanistan people from the clutches of Islamic fundamentalism and deliver democracy and prosperity. But the US and the other imperialist forces conveniently forgot that it was they who nurtured and financed the forces of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East as a reactionary bulwark against the socialist movement. In the 1980s the US financed the jihadis to crush the Saur Revolution that exploded in 1978. This was a popular revolution that sought to eradicate the despotism, feudalism, landlordism and imperialism that had strangled the Afghan people for centuries. This revolution brought forward a number of progressive measures: cancellation of peasant debts to landlords; land confiscation from the nobility and its distribution to poor peasants; a guarantee of equality for women; the eradication of feudal-patriarchal relations between husband and wife; the criminalization of underage marriage and arranged marriage; and a number of other modernization measures that aimed to drag Afghanistan out of the dark ages. The Saur Revolution was inspired by socialist ideas, and these measures inevitably led to the eradication of feudal and capitalist relations. US imperialism leaned on Islamic fundamentalism to crush the Saur Revolution in the 1980s / Image: public domain Imperialist forces did not want to see Afghanistan turn communist, fearing its influence could spread to neighbouring countries like Pakistan or India. To crush this revolution, the US relied on the only reliable anti-communist forces in Afghanistan: the Islamic fundamentalists known as the Mujahideen the predecessors to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. According to the most conservative estimates, the US government provided $600m to the Mujahideen. In addition to support from the US, the Mujahideen also received hundreds-of-millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia to wage a holy war against the Saur Revolution and the Soviet forces that backed it. After the Saur Revolution regime was toppled in 1992, Afghanistan was ruled by the Islamic fundamentalists, the notorious Taliban. Under the Talibans rule, Sharia law was implemented in the most extreme and reactionary manner. Women effectively became second-class citizens with all their rights curtailed: they were not allowed to go to school, work or leave their homes without a male relative to accompany them. Feudal and tribal relations, combined with the most reactionary interpretation of Islam, dragged the whole society back in time. Under the Taliban, Afghanistan returned to the dark ages / Image: RAWA Poverty ruled and the Afghan economy was kept backward because of the Talibans choking rules that affected the whole of society. The economy was in such ruins that it had to be supported through opium production, which supplied up to 90 percent of world demand. Despite all the talk by Western countries about democracy and womens rights, they would rather allow the country to be run by the most reactionary Islamic fundamentalists than see the Afghan people free themselves from capitalism. The problem is, these mad dogs would later bite the hands of their master. Al-Qaeda became a global terrorist network with their own agenda. After suffering the 11 September attack, the US and NATO decided to put down their ungrateful attack dogs. The invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001 to uproot the Taliban. However, they were surprised to find that the dark forces that US imperialism had awakened couldnt be quashed that easily. 17 years after the US invasion, Afghanistan is still very unstable. Sectarian violence and bombs continue to shake the country. The US puppet government of Afghanistan de facto only rules Kabul, while a whole swathe of Afghanistan remains under Taliban rule, directly or indirectly. The invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001 to uproot the Taliban. However, the dark forces that US imperialism had awakened couldnt be easily quashed / Image: Sergeant Joseph R. Chenelly United States Marine Corps The US also used 9/11 as a pretext to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein. This invasion created even worse instability in the Middle East. It was easy to militarily topple the regime, but it was quite another challenge to establish a new and stable regime in a fractured Iraq. The chaos created by this intervention in Iraq served as fertile soil for the further development of Islamic fundamentalism. It is here that Al-Qaeda supporters underwent a metamorphosis to become a more fanatic, extreme and violent variant of Islamic fundamentalism, that we know today as ISIS. Al-Qaeda supporters became an even more fanatic, extreme and violent variant of Islamic fundamentalism: ISIS / Image: Alibaba2k16 After the Arab Revolution delivered a blow to the Assad regime in Syria, US imperialism thought it could use the opportunity to unseat Assad and install a friendlier government. They threw their whole weight behind supporting anti-Assad groups, the majority of whom are hard-line Islamists with direct or indirect link with the Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who also have their own cynical interests in Syria, the US funded these 'moderate Islamist' groups to the tune of hundreds-of-millions of dollars. In reality there is no such thing as moderate Islamists in Syria, and in effect the imperialist forces were arming the Islamic fundamentalists. The same thing happened in Libya, and the chaos created by imperialist intervention in these two key countries in the region was a perfect environment for the growth of ISIS and their ilk. The fractured Iraq, Syria and Libya become a base for ISIS to spread its tentacles of terror all over the world. It is from here we can trace the origin of terrorist groups in Indonesia, in particular: Jemaah Islamiyah (Al-Qaeda) who are responsible for the bombing in Bali in 2002, the Marriott Hotel in Mega Kuningan in 2003, the Australian embassy 2004 and Bali in 2005; and the JAD (ISIS) who carried out the recent bombing in Surabaya. The emergence of Islamic fundamentalism is an inevitable consequence of imperialism. The 'moderate' Islamist Syrian rebels backed by US imperialism were nothing of the sort / Image: fair use Eradicating terrorism down to its roots After the bombing in Surabaya, a motley crew of politicians, pundits and experts quickly registered their condemnation and vowed passionately that they will fight to eradicate terrorism down to its roots. People were immediately shown the usual spectacle, where politicians start pointing fingers at one another, especially given the election next year. Fadli Zon, House of Representative deputy speaker from the opposition party Gerindra, blamed the Jokowi government for not being tough enough in the face of terrorism. Meanwhile, Jokowis camp blamed Gerindra for the delay in the passing of a new anti-terrorism law, that the Jokowi government sees as a crucial weapon in the fight against terrorism. However, when President Jokowi vowed to push through tougher anti-terrorism laws that will give security forces more claws, Gerindra suddenly transformed itself into a defender of human rights. Fadli Zon asked that civil rights be respected in the war against terror, so that security forces dont arbitrarily arrest people. He warned the government against arbitrary definition of terrorism in the new law that could threaten human rights and democracy: Dont turn this [the new anti-terrorism law] into something that can later be used to violate human rights. Used for political interest, or other interests outside of pursuing terrorists. This comes from the same party whose leader, former army general Prabowo, is one of the biggest human rights violators, responsible for kidnapping and torturing activists during the New Order era. Where was Fadli with his talk of human rights when the rights of workers, peasants and urban poor were trampled; when unions were busted; when wages were not paid; and when peasants lost their land to developers under the watchful eyes and bayonets of the army? Such stinking hypocrisy is not the sole property of Gerindra. Every single political party today is filled with elements from the dictatorial New Order regime. Talk of democracy and human rights are revealed as just lip service when it comes to the toiling masses. This latest hypocrisy was part of a calculated political move to score points for the upcoming 2019 presidential election. The stinking hypocrisy of Fadli Zon presenting his party as a defender of human rights / Image: Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador Let us return to Jokowis attempt to equip the security forces with the necessary tools to wage a war against terrorism, from the new anti-terrorism law, to an emergency presidential decree, to the formation of a new counter-terrorism unit. Security experts argue amongst themselves about the best methods to stem the tide of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, with each convinced that his is the best way. But no one is able to explain the roots of Islamic fundamentalism today. As we have explained above, Islamic fundamentalism stems from imperialist intervention in the Middle East. In Indonesia, the roots are sturdier and buried deeper because of the politics of religious divide-and-rule that are often used in the interests of the ruling class, via their paid religious leaders. During the Jakarta governor election in 2017, sections of the ruling class mobilized the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and other reactionary white-robe thug organizations to launch a Defend Islam movement in order to unseat the incumbent Ahok, who is a Christian. President Jokowi vowed to push through tougher anti-terrorism laws that will give security forces more claws / Image: fair use A campaign message that it is haram (a heresy) for Muslims to elect a non-Islamic governor to the point that some mosques refused to perform funeral prayers for Ahok voters was constantly aired not only in Jakarta, where the election was taking place, but also throughout the nation. The working class was divided into two groups: Islam and non-Islam. This politics of religious division are sure to be used again in the upcoming presidential election next year. Amien Rais, a leader of Muhammadiyah, one of the two biggest Muslim organizations in Indonesia, who also led the Defend Islam movement against Ahok last year, already made a statement to that effect. He said the next election will be a battle between the Parties of Allah (referring to parties that support Prabowo, who is slated to run in the next presidential election) against the Parties of the Devil (referring to parties supporting the incumbent Jokowi). It is therefore a joke when Gerindra partys advocacy spokesperson Habiburokhman said that one way to eradicate radicalism is through the spirit of 212 action (212 was a Defend Islam demonstration that took place on 2 December two years ago). We fight radicalism with the spirit of 212, the spirit of peace and the spirit of respecting difference, said Habiburokhman, lying through his teeth. There was nothing peaceful about the 212 demonstration and the political campaign surrounding it, which whipped up religious sectarianism and fanaticism. The Indonesian ruling class always keeps reactionary elements on hand and are prepared to use Islam to divide the toiling masses. Peoples backward prejudices are always kept alive, and not just religious prejudices but also racial and ethnic. 20 years ago, an anti-Chinese sentiment was stoked by the ruling class to distract the working class so that they directed their anger toward the Chinese and not the failings of the New Order regime. Is it any wonder there is a layer of people who truly believe that the forces of Islam are engaging in a battle with non-Islamic forces that are threatening its existence? That therefore the task of Muslims is to defend their religion with whatever means necessary from the attacks of the infidels? Jamaah Islamiyah and the JAD are just the logical consequences of this. The Indonesian ruling class that is responsible for the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism and the terrorism that follows / Image: Cahaya Maulidian It is the Indonesian ruling class that is responsible for the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism and the terrorism that follows. There will never be enough laws, police, military forces and intelligence to eradicate terrorism down to its roots. This is because the ruling class has an interest in keeping fundamentalism alive, though they would like to have it more under control. Western countries possess the most advanced security forces, funded to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollar every year, with surveillance networks that could listen to the conversation of every individual, and secret prisons like Guantanamo that hold hundreds of terrorist suspects. But none of these can stop the terrorists from successfully mounting their attacks. The impasse of capitalism and the socialist future The economic, political and social cries that plague capitalism today create the conditions that give rise to extreme beliefs. When society seems to find itself in a harrowing dead-end, with worsening poverty, unemployment, inequality, moral degradation amongst its leaders, and unending military conflicts, then extreme spiritual ideas present themselves as logical explanations to a layer of people who are disturbed with what they see around them. This deep angst affects not only the poor, but the middle class even more so, as their once-stable lives are threatened by the capitalist crisis. When todays society can no longer offer any future, then the answer provided by fundamentalism is the return to the past: in this case, to the old, pure values of Islam or at least, Islam according to the twisted minds of the jihadis and reactionary ideologues. Here the ideology and movement of Islamic fundamentalism reflects the bankruptcy of capitalism, as does Hindu fundamentalism in India, Buddhist fundamentalism in Myanmar and Sri Lanka and Christian fundamentalism in the US. Embed from Getty Images Religious fundamentalism is a distorted rejection of the status quo, by people who look to the past because they cannot imagine a better future. But workers after witnessing the barbarism and cruelty of Al-Qaeda and ISIS quickly recognize that the glorious past that these jihadi leaders promise is in fact filled with the deepest darkness, and they are repelled by it. The fact that the fundamentalists have to resort to acts of terrorism is a sign of their weakness. Their movement lacks a solid mass base. The only idea that can offer a future for humanity is socialism. Poverty, forced idleness, inequality and war are possible only when a minority of people hold in their hands the main political and economic levers. If we eradicate social and economic conditions that degrade the dignity of the working people, then we will also eradicate the material conditions that give rise to fundamentalism. By nationalizing the economy, and putting it under the collective ownership and the democratically planned management of the toiling masses, we would be able to create jobs with living wages for all. We could guarantee land for the peasants, free healthcare, free education, and many more social measures that would lift everyone out of the abyss of poverty. Wealth abounds today, but it is monopolized by a handful of capitalists. Wrest this wealth and manage it for the needs of the masses, and the future will be bright for the people. Our Cookies Policy explains what cookies are, how we use them, how third-parties we may partner with may use them, your choices regarding them and further relevant information. What are cookies? Cookies are simple text files. 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SPRINGFIELD -- DevelopSpringfield says it will restart renovation work in mid-June on the long-stalled Springfield Innovation Center. MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development agency, sent DevelopSpringfield a commitment letter this week putting the local agency one step closer to getting the financing it needs to complete the project, said Nicholas Fyntrilakis, chairman of the DevelopSpringfield board of directors. He said he hopes his group can close on $1.8 million in loans -- $1.1 million for construction and a $700 bridge loan to fill a short-term funding gap -- by the end of May. MassDevelopment declined to comment Thursday, saying the financing deal has not yet closed. Fyntrilakis on Thursday pegged the new project budget as just more than $7 million, up from an original budget of $5.5 million. "Really it all stems from the project exceeding what we hoped it was going to cost," Fyntrilakis said of the delays. DevelopSpringfield has also settled its differences with contractor NL Construction, he said. NL will be the contractor that completes much of the work -- everything except repairs to the terra-cotta facade that needs a specialized restoration company. The facade, which has damage that can bee seen from the street, is one added expense. The Innovation Center project stalled in 2017, just before then-CEO Jay Minkarah left DevelopSpringfield for a job in New Hampshire. At the time, he said construction would restart sometime last fall. The financing is good news for a much-ballyhooed project that hasn't seen any progress since April 2017, when NL Construction stopped work saying it hadn't been paid. At that point, work on the 1923 building was 80 percent completed. The Innovation Center, at 270-276 Bridge St., was once hailed as the "secret sauce" for downtown redevelopment. The 24,000-square-foot building is still planned as a home for Valley Venture Mentors, a group that helps people with ideas start businesses, and will also host a cafe called Ground Up, office space for startups and shared coworking space for enterprises not yet ready for an office of their own. The VVM offices and Ground Up coffee shop space remain unfinished. One upper-floor tenant, the Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts, has moved out. One tenant remains. AnyCafe was founded by a Western New England University graduate to make and market a travel mug that can brew coffee on the go. The Innovation Center project was already funded through a MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant to MassDevelopment, MassMutual, the Beveridge Family Foundation and the Berkshire Bank Foundation. The building, once known as the Trinity Block, was home to a fur store and in its later years was a nightclub and then a church. DevelopSpringfield is a public-private partnership that finds new uses for buildings and land that for-profit developers have shied away from. DevelopSpringfield goes in to clear away barriers or to take on difficult projects in order to make way for private investment. In what is being described as a strong feminist statement, Meghan Markle will not be chaperoned for much of her walk down the aisle of St. George's Chapel at her wedding to Britain's Prince Harry on Saturday. In what CNN calls an unprecedented step for a royal bride, Markle will walk unescorted down the aisle of the chapel nave, after being met at the West Door by a member of the clergy. She will be accompanied in this first part of the wedding procession only by young girls serving as bridesmaids and page boys, with the senior church figure walking ahead. Prince Charles, the groom-to-be's father, will join her when she reaches the Quire, where the main royal guests will be seated. He will walk Markle down the Quire aisle to the foot of the altar, but not give her away to her husband-to-be in the traditional sense; instead, he will stand back as Markle approaches Prince Harry. It was always Markle's intention that her father, Thomas, would meet her at the Quire and she would walk the first part alone. However, ill health has prevented him from attending. The wedding will be televised worldwide with the ceremony taking place at 7 a.m. ET, or noon in London. Several cable channels, including BBC America, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and Univision, as well as U.S. broadcasters ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS have announced special live coverage of the wedding with some reports beginning as early as 4 a.m. on the East Coast. Police arrested a 16-year-old teen who allegedly shot a 17-year-old male in the chest during rush hour in Downtown Boston while wearing a court-ordered GPS monitor on May 2. The boy, who is not being identified because he is a minor, was arrested at Boston Juvenile Court on Thursday where he was set to appear for an unrelated case, Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said in a news release. He is charged with assault with intent to murder Police say the 16-year-old shot a 17-year-old teen in the chest just before 5 p.m. on May 2. The young men were "three to five feet" away from one another when the 16-year-old fired his gun on Washington Street, Wark wrote in the release. The 17-year-old victim recovered, but told police he did not know the person who shot him. "Witnesses described a chilling scene in which someone could easily have been killed," Conley said in the written statement. "The gunman fired without any apparent provocation in a busy area crowded with people. What possible motive could explain that conduct, much less justify it?" Witnesses told Boston police that the gunman was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt. They said he pulled out a handgun and shot the victim, who screamed and ran away before collapsing on Temple Place. He was taken to Tufts Medical Center for treatment, according to the news release. Boston Police detectives gathered video from cameras installed at the Downtown Crossing MBTA station. It captured the shooting and more video of the gunman running into the train station, jumping the turnstiles and boarding an Orange Line Train. He later got off the train and got into a cab near Stuart Street. Investigators learned the suspect was wearing a court-ordered GPS monitor at the time of the shooting. It showed the young man was in the area at the time of the shooting. The 16-year-old was held on $250,000 cash bail at his arraignment Thursday. The transformation of the Kimpton Nine Zero Hotel on Tremont Street is nearly complete, and its creators say the new space is redefining "smart modern luxury" for its "sophisticated" clientele. "There's no stuffed, fluffy lobster on your bed," said Denise Korn of Korn Design. From a brand perspective, Korn said the team worked hard to "go deeper" and uncover Boston's unique qualities, asking, "where's the cool underbelly of the city?" The wish of Kimpton Hotels, which own 63 hotels across the country, is that the cool underbelly of Boston will now be there at 90 Tremont Street. Located at the intersection of Downtown Crossing, Beacon Hill and the Financial District, the hotel aims to draw a unique demographic of innovators and academics, and those traveling on a less-restricted dime. It's historically an area known as "The Ladder District," where secret literary societies once met, according to Korn. That snippet of lesser-known Boston trivia inspired the hotel's upscale lounge-restaurant set to open in the fall. The penthouse suite on the 19th floor, with its two bathrooms, pool table and open windows, overlooks the cityscape and some of Boston's distinguishing landmarks. During high demand, the penthouse presidential suite can cost up to $2,000 a night, says Michal Penek, the hotel's general manager. In the off-season -- like mid-January -- the cost could drop to $895 per night. A bedroom on a lower floor with two queen beds, on the other hand, may max out around $650 during the city's peak hotel season and around $220 during the off-season. Every stay includes a European continental breakfast. The hotel does not want to be the most expensive in Boston, according to Jennifer Rutkowski, vice president of the hotel's ownership group Brookfield Properties. The Nine Zero, Rutkowski said, is focused on providing "tremendous value," and remaining just under underneath the top of Boston's luxury hotel market. Expensive, high-end apartments have sprouted up in Boston's growing Seaport District, and the trend is continuing to spread downtown. The masterminds behind the hotel's redesign say the new atmosphere aims to feel comfortable, "grounded" and luxurious all at once. Its logo is inspired by Boston's many manhole covers, a typically mundane object that Rutkowski described as possessing a "beautiful embossed metal texture." The creators also drew on Boston's culture to inform the rooms, with the help of artist Kevin Barry: in the penthouse suite, the bed headboard includes a love letter between John and Abigail Adams. Similar letters are found framed in other rooms. Room mirrors include images of a horse emerging from fog to remind visitors of Paul Revere, and a unique rendition of a blindfolded "Lady Liberty" hangs in the lobby. An "in-house historian" will be available for programs and historic tours, like a walk along the Freedom Trail (conveniently located across the street). Designers emphasized the inclusion of a Herman Miller Eames Chair in every room. The lounge chairs from Michigan-based Herman Miller are widely praised for their ability to serve as both art pieces and comfortable furniture. The company sells them at more than $5,000 per chair. The Nine Zero claims to be one of the only hotels to include such chairs in every room. "This is not a renovation, it's a transformation," said Kathleen Dauber, a partner of hospitality design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates. "We wanted to...up the ante for that luxury customer that doesn't want that prescriptive environment." It was a chaotic scene at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas as students ran from their classrooms, fleeing a gunman on school grounds. "All we heard was 'Run, run! And next thing we hear, 'Boom, boom!' And then everyone just started running" Dakota Shrader, a student at Santa Fe High School, told the Associated Press. Shrader called her mother after fleeing the school in a state of panic. Susan Davidson said she drove around the area looking for her daughter, finding her in a nearby field. Sixteen-year-old John Robinson told the Associated Press he was in English class when the fire alarm went off. "Everybody was just trying to get away from the school. They kept saying there was a shooter, people were shot," the sophomore said. Robinson believes at least two of his friends were injured. At least eight people were killed in the attack, more than a dozen were injured. Authorities remain unsure about the precise number of deaths at this time. The suspected gunman has been identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis. A second person has been detained. Nearly one in five of Springfield's children have asthma, and the disease sends city residents to emergency rooms at double the state-wide rate. But funding for two programs that could help local patients breathe easier has dried up in recent years, health advocates told a City Council committee Thursday evening. City Councilor Jesse Lederman organized the Health and Human Services Committee meeting after the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) released a report that ranked Springfield the most challenging metropolitan area in the United States to live with asthma. "This report that came out and the data that was just presented should be viewed as a call to action," said Dr. Matthew Sadof, a pediatrician at Baystate Medical Center and a member of the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition. "This is about health equity, this is about access, this is about lost wages, this is about poverty." 8 percent of people in the U.S. and 8.4 percent of children have asthma, with black people and Puerto Ricans more like to have the illness. Poverty is also correlated with the disease, according to the AAFA. While Springfield had the tenth highest asthma rate of the cities surveyed, it had the highest rate of asthma-linked emergency room visits - a sign that cases in the city are less well controlled than in other parts of the country. Springfield's rate of hospitalizations is particularly notable, given that it was not in the top 15 for poverty rate, poor air quality or lack of health insurance - indicators which are linked to poor asthma health outcomes. Springfield did have the seventh highest pollen count of the 100 ranked cities. The AAFA noted that several of the highest ranked cities were located in what the organization termed the "Northeast Mid-Atlantic Asthma Belt" - a swath of coastal states from North Carolina to New England which had particularly high asthma rates. "Poverty, air quality and access to specialists are key risk factors for these cities. This is likely a product of more industrial and urban populations," the report said. "Asthma rates tend to be higher, especially among children, in urban locations due to more rental housing, more manufacturing and industrial businesses, and proximity to high-traffic roadways." At the meeting, Sadoff and Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts Director of Programs and Development Sarita Hudson said health inequities are deeply pronounced in Springfield and across the state. Latinos are four times more likely and black people are two times more likely to visit the emergency room due to asthma, according to a presentation given by the group. In Springfield, 30.3 percent of people living in households earning less that $25,000 per year have asthma -- nearly four times the rate for households earning between $25,000 and $75,000 per year. And those affected are often least able to bear the medical bills and lost wages caused by emergency room visits. "Poverty is really linked to asthma," Hudson said. "It's a justice issue. It's a fairness issue." State, local and federal agencies have devoted resources to studying the problem and working on solutions. But two important initiatives have lost funding in recent years, Hudson and Sadof said. The Reducing Ethnic/Racial Asthma Disparities in Youth study sent communty health workers on home visits to several hundred at-risk families to provide education on asthma treatment and suggest ways of reducing asthma triggers in the home. Preliminary results were promising, according to the CDC, with a 94 percent reduction in asthma hospitalizations, 46 percent reduction in emergency room visits, and a two-day reduction in asthma symptoms. But state and federal funding for the study, which was designed to serve as a pilot for a possible widespread deployment of the program, dried up by 2015. And the home visits have not been scaled up in Western Massachusetts despite strong evidence of their effectiveness, Sadof said. Results from the study are currently being reviewed for publication. And a program to boost asthma education by nurses in Springfield Public Schools -- which helped the district win an award from the American Lung Association -- also lost its funding. "We were really proud at that point. But the funding went away," Hudson said. Lederman and Councilor Timothy Allen said they would inquire with the city's Department of Health and Human Services about the status of the programs and advocate for solutions. Lederman also said he would consider Sadof's request to declare asthma a public health emergency in Springfield. "The numbers are startling and have been startling for a long time," Lederman said. "I think it really does represent an epidemic level." LONGMEADOW - A retired Army official will speak about his experiences at the Battle of Mogadishu, the day-long fight in Somalia's capitol city upon which the film "Black Hawk Down" is based. Gerry Izzo, a retired Army chief warrant officer, will deliver a presentation on his involvement in the 1993 battle -part of Operation Gothic Serpent during the Somali civil war- at Longmeadow High School on 95 Grassy Gutter Road Friday beginning at 5 p.m., a statement from Longmeadow Veterans Services said. A reception at Nathan Bill's TJS Banquet Hall on 110 Island Pond Road in Springfield will immediately follow the presentation, according to the group. The reception will include appetizers and a meet and greet with Izzo. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Knights of Hero's Camp, a charity for children of fallen US soldiers, the statement said. The money will be donated under the name of Lt. Colonel Morris (Moose) Fontenot, an Airforce pilot and Longmeadow resident who was killed in a plane crash near Deerfield Valley, Virginia in 2014. Those seeking more information about the event may contact Longmeadow's Director of Veterans Services Lena Vellturo by phone at 413-565-4100 ext. 1403, or via email at lvellturo@longmeadow.org. Information is also available on Longmeadow Veterans Services Facebook page. Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans had strong words Friday for opponents of gun control laws, saying in a Boston Public Radio interview that this morning's shooting at Santa Fe High School in Houston, Texas was a "wakeup call" that demands action. "You can send all the condolences you want, but don't overwhelm us with this talk, do something about it," Evans said. "Whether it was Newtown, whether it's Parkland, it's time to wake up and stop the senseless violence across this country. We're the laughingstock of every country out there because we have so much gun violence in this country." Ten people were killed and ten wounded in the shooting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference Friday afternoon. Police say that 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a student at the school, used a shotgun and a .38 revolver legally owned by his father to carry out the attack. Pagourtzis has been taken into custody. There have been 16 school shootings in the U.S. this year, according to the Washington Post. In the interview, Evans strongly rejected arguments by gun advocates that firearm restrictions would not prevent shootings, arguing that stricter licensing requirements and "red flag" laws permitting the seizure of guns from people deemed dangerous are necessary steps. "I think the whole discussion on guns will come up again, but obviously there's way too many guns in this country and it's too accessible," Evans said. "The problem is a place like Texas, where they have open carry with little requirements, it's difficult to prevent a tragedy where somebody can carry guns in that state." Evans also criticized pro-gun legislators from other states, who he described as resistant to measures that would improve public safety. "They just don't get it, some of these guys," Evans said. "They're so gung-ho on the Second Amendment, they don't look at the sorrow and the despair that's behind this gun violence." WESTFIELD -- The City Council has agreed to meet with a panel of experts next week to discuss a $13 million bond request to address water contamination. The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall as a Committee of the Whole so that all members can participate in the discussion. The bond request, made by Mayor Brian P. Sullivan, failed twice already. Five of the 13 councilors voted it down earlier this month. It needed a two-thirds majority to pass. The bond includes funds to address Wells 2, 7 and 8, which are offline due to contamination from firefighting foam used at Barnes Air National Guard Base. The bond also includes funds to repair the East Mountain Road water tank and to create an interconnection with the Springfield Water Works. Councilor Dave Flaherty organized the meeting in conjunction with Sullivan and the city's Water Department. He said Department of Public Works Director David Billips is working with local experts -- including city employees and consultants from firms such as Tighe & Bond -- to participate in the panel. Flaherty said he took a list of questions from several councilors, including Finance Subcommittee members Daniel Allie, Matthew Emmershy and Andrew K. Surprise, and put them into three categories for the experts to address. "One is the quality of water in Wells 7 and 8, two is analysis of options for alternative sources of clean water and three is how to propose a solution for 7 and 8 and how a filtration facility would work," said Flaherty. Flaherty said the questions written by councilors fell within the three categories. "We hope that by having a panel of experts there we could address these questions and get answers," he said. Ward 1 Councilor Mary Ann Babinski thanked Flaherty for coordinating the panel. Babinski, who represents north side residents affected by the contamination, voted in favor of the bond previously and said she believes the questions already have been answered. "I hope this is enough to get the good housekeeping seal of approval," she said. Flaherty, Allie, Emmershy, Surprise and Nicholas J. Morganelli Jr. all voted down the bond. The five councilors all stated they wanted to further explore options for clean drinking water, including alternative well sites and purchasing water from Holyoke. They also said they were more likely to support the bond if it did not include Wells 7 and 8, which had the highest levels of PFOA and PFOS contaminants. Flaherty said the money is not the deterrent for him. "I don't care if it's $13 million, $18 million or $30 million," Flaherty said. "I want clean water." HARTFORD -- A veteran police officer, repeatedly stabbed in the throat while responding to a disturbance involving a landlord and tenant Thursday morning, is in critical but stable condition, police say. The suspect, Chevoughn Augustin, 39, of 5 Constitution Plaza, Apt. 903, was charged with criminal attempt murder; assault 1st, assault on a police officer and criminal mischief 3rd, according to a post on the department's Facebook page. Augustin was given a $4.5 Million dollar bond and is slated to appear Friday morning in Superior Court in Hartford. The incident occurred about 9:40 a.m. when police responded to the apartment building at 5 Constantine Plaza for a report of a disturbance involving a female tenant of the building. On arrival to 9th floor apartment, police made contact with Augustin. At some point during the investigation a struggle ensued and the suspect grabbed a large ceramic kitchen knife, placed the female officer in a chokehold and began stabbing her in the neck. The officer managed to radio for assistance and an officer in distress call was initiated. Building management and maintenance workers who were in the immediate area, heard the struggle and were able to subdue and disarm the suspect. Backup officers then arrived and began immediate bleeding control and other life-saving measures. The injured officer was taken to Hartford Hospital's Emergency Department. She suffered a lacerated jugular vein and trachea and was taken into surgery. The officer's family is with her and has asked that her name not be released pending arraignment of the suspect as they work to notify family and friends. Detectives say the building management and maintenance personnel who intervened in the struggle saved the officer's life. The suspect was taken to St. Francis Hospital and treated for minor lacerations to her hand. Upon her release she was taken to Hartford Police Department Major Crimes Division. Augustin was cooperative with detectives although she has aliases and they are trying to confirm her identity. A 20-year-old Haverhill man was shot and killed while sitting in the front passenger seat of a car Thursday night. The man, who police have not yet identified, was sitting in the car at the corner of Washington and Shepherd Streets when a person in a passing car shot him at about 5 p.m. The driver of the car containing the victim drove to City Hall where firefighters began to help the man, Carrie Kimball Monahan, a spokeswoman for the Essex County District Attorney's office wrote in an email. He was taken by ambulance to Merrimack Valley Hospital and later airlifted to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston where he was pronounced dead, Kimball Monahan said. The DA's office will not comment on a possible motive at this time as the investigation is "active and fluid," Kimball Monahan said. The husband of the principal of an Ashburnham elementary school has been charged with repeatedly raping an 18-year-old school employee -- including once on school grounds. The Sentinel and Enterprise reports that 64-year-old James McGrath, who is married to John Briggs Elementary School Principal Andrea McGrath, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of rape, four counts of assault and battery and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14. McGrath, who worked as a substitute janitor for the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District, allegedly assaulted the victim at a private home in Ashburnham. There was also an alleged assault after-hours at Briggs Elementary, police told the Sentinel and Enterprise. "The recent allegations against this substitute custodian are both disturbing and unacceptable," district superintendent Gary Mazzola told the newspaper. "While he was never a regular employee, he was immediately removed from any further employment with the regional school district as soon as we learned of the allegations against him," he added. NORTHAMPTON -- Lucio Perez, an immigrant and Springfield resident who has been in sanctuary at First Congregational Church in Amherst since October, was forced to leave the church this week to seek medical attention. Perez left the church Monday to have his appendix removed, said Rose Bookbinder, organizer for the Pioneer Valley Workers Center and Jobs with Justice. The operation at Cooley Dickinson Hospital was a success and he has since returned to the church, Bookbinder said. Perez, who entered the U.S. illegally from Guatemala in 1999, has been living at the church since the day he was ordered by federal officials to fly back to Guatemala. The father of four children, Perez formerly worked as a landscaper. Bookbinder said that organizers had been concerned that ICE officials might attempt to detain Perez at the hospital, but no such effort was made. "He was on the verge of rupturing his appendix and so was rushed to the hospital via ambulance Monday night," Bookbinder said. The Pioneer Valley Workers Center, a nonprofit that specializes in labor and immigrant rights, has worked to support Perez since his move into sanctuary last year. "The hospital was totally incredible and amazing," Bookbinder said. The workers center also put out a statement Thursday regarding the hospital visit. "This is a historic moment given that Lucio is the first person who has entered sanctuary to receive medical care while wearing an ankle monitoring device," the statement reads. "His ability to receive life-saving medical care sets an important human rights precedence for other immigrants living in sanctuary." "Lucio has been, and continues to be, in sanctuary here," said Rev. Vicki Kemper, pastor of First Congregational Church. "He had no intention of leaving the safety of the church, and he went to the hospital by ambulance only after a doctor examined him and determined that he needed emergency medical care. He has been anxious to return to the church, where he continues to await the resolution of his case, as soon it was medically safe for him to do so." Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, 10 members of the clergy and over 20 cars of supporters accompanied Perez on his trip from Northampton back to Amherst, according to the statement. "I'm proud that Lucio was able to receive outstanding medical care in the City of Northampton at Cooley Dickinson Hospital," Narkewicz said. "I'm also proud to stand with Lucio and other immigrant workers in keeping with our values as a sanctuary city." Lucio's case is pending at the Bureau of Immigration Appeals and a Stay of Removal is also pending at ICE. CHICOPEE - A new about $45 million development planned for Burnett Road calls for a four-story hotel, a sit-down restaurant, a coffee shop, two fast food restaurants and a gas station with convenience store. Friday Dinesh Patel, whose business is in Springfield, submitted site plans for his project to be located on about eight acres of property on Burnett Road, next to the existing Pride Station and Fifties Diner. Patel is seeking permits to build a four-story, 14,044 square-foot hotel as the anchor of the new project that will be located near the end of Interstate-291 and the on and off ramps for the Massachusetts Turnpike. The sit-down restaurant will measure 6,111 square feet and have 233 seats, one of the fast-food restaurants will have a drive-through and the coffee shop will measure about 2,275 square feet and have 35 seats, the plans said. The plans also call for First Avenue to be extended across Burnett Road and into the property where it would be a private road, James Dawson, planning development manager, said. In 2017 Patel closed and demolished the Econo Lodge on that property and announced he would be building a new hotel. He then submitted preliminary plans for the project, which were approved by the Planning Board in September, giving him the go-ahead to turn in more definitive plans. During the meeting Patel said his company continues to negotiate with businesses interested in locating on the lot. The new plans did not reveal information about any companies which will be occupying the new businesses once they are constructed. The Planning Board is expected to review the final plans in their regularly-scheduled meeting June 1 and could vote then to allow construction to begin on the project. During the last meeting no objections were aired about the project. This is the second major hotel project Patel is involved with in Western Massachusetts. In April, Patel with partners Vid Mitta of Lexington and Rohit Patel and Kamlesh Patel of Maine, purchased the Tower Square Hotel and mall in downtown Springfield for $10.5 million. The purchase includes an office tower and parking garage. Aaron Schlossberg, the New York lawyer who yelled at workers and customers in a Midtown restaurant for speaking Spanish, has a history of aggressive interactions. In the video, Schlossberg threatened to have workers "kicked out of my country" for speaking Spanish with Spanish-speaking customers. "Every person I listen to -- he spoke [Spanish], he spoke it, she's speaking it -- it's America," he says in a video recorded by another customer. "I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here -- the least they can do is speak English." The video went viral leading a man who had a similar interaction with Schlossberg to speak of the attorney. Willie Morris was walking in Midtown with his girlfriend in 2016 when he made eye contact with another man passing on the sidewalk. As they continued walking, Morris said he "made a beeline towards me, holds up his briefcase in front of me and tries to shove me with it." In the video, Schlossberg asks, "What country are you from? I'm going to call the police." He went on to tell Morris, "You don't run into people. I'm a citizen here, you're not. You're an ugly, [expletive] foreigner." Two years later, Morris saw New York Post coverage of the incident in Fresh Kitchen and recognized Schlossberg. "I was born in Massachusetts," Morris told PIX 11 News, reflecting on the encounter. "It just says to me that the rhetoric that our leaders put out and we see broadcast, it makes a difference and emboldens people, gives people the courage to say things that maybe they wouldn't normally say." Schlossberg has a history of attending anti-immigrant rallies and getting into loud disagreements with counter-protesters. Videos of such encounters have surfaced online since the incident in the Midtown restaurant. Schlossberg has been a member of the New York Bar Association since 2003. He faced widespread backlash after the video went viral leading to protests outside his office and his lease of a Madison Avenue work space being terminated by building management. "His actions are just not consistent with our community and rules and regulations," Hayim Grant, the president of Corporate Suites, told the New York Post. "It's totally contrary to everything we believe in as a company and personally." EASTHAMPTON -- The former director of the city's public access television station made threatening statements in the presence of school officials before she was fired from her job, according to a police report. Kathleen Lynch was fired as executive director of Easthampton Media on May 4, following a two-week paid leave of absence from April 9-20, and another two weeks back on the job. The nonprofit's board of directors has declined to say why Lynch was let go. However, a four-page report by Easthampton police detectives, obtained by The Republican Thursday, sheds light upon Lynch's alleged behavior in the weeks before her termination. The report begins with an allegation that Lynch, in a March 14 meeting with Superintendent Nancy Follansbee and Easthampton High School Principal Kevin Burke, said, "I am so angry that I could kill people." Lynch had set up the meeting to discuss a technical problem with a DVD player, but when she arrived, angrily denounced the "discourtesy" she said she receives from school employees, and twice spoke about killing people, Follansbee wrote in her statement to police. "I was so shocked that she would say something like that, so I asked her 'what did you say?' and she repeated 'I am so angry I could kill people,'" Follansbee wrote, adding that Lynch made other angry remarks before walking out the door. Lynch had previously sent or copied Follansbee on emails "in which she was very critical of me, our Director of Business Services Dayle Doiron, Kevin Burke, and our entire School Department," Follansbee wrote. Two detectives on March 26 interviewed Lynch at Easthampton police headquarters. Lynch denied that she meant any harm, and said the comments were "tongue-n-cheek." She "rolled her eyes" and claimed that she actually said, "I'm so angry right now that I could kill someone" instead of "kill people," the police report says. Police advised Lynch to be more careful with her words. Lynch said she would not meet with Follansbee again, and the investigation was closed -- only to be reopened three weeks later. On April 5, Doiron contacted police about Lynch's behavior during a public meet-and-greet event for superintendent candidate finalist Alison LeClair, who was later hired to replace Follansbee, who is retiring. Burke had relayed to Doiron that Lynch "was very unprofessional" on April 3 when LeClair visited the district, Doiron told police. Burke said Lynch was "very agitated and delivered a tirade of her complaints about and grievances with the school department," Doiron told police. Pat Correia, a consultant hired to guide the superintendent search process, also reported to Doiron that "Dr. LeClair had spoken to her about the difficulty of the interaction with Ms. Lynch," and asked her why no one had intervened. Doiron asked police to speak with former School Committee Chairwoman Debora Lusnia, who is now active on a ballot committee to promote a "yes" vote on a new, $109 million school project. Easthampton Media has been helping promote the ballot question, Lusnia said. Lusnia told police that, while "working with Lynch on the building project's public information campaign," that Lynch "had gone on a rampage with her, yelling about her unhappiness with the school department." Lynch had said "that she was so angry with Nancy Follansbee that she could kill her," Lusnia relayed to police. Lusnia asked "if her name could be kept out of any report," but police declined to offer Lusnia anonymity, the report states. Follansbee contacted Police Chief Robert Alberti following the initial incident on March 14 -- a day when students in Easthampton took part in a National School Walkout to protest the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida. In the investigative report, Detective Nicholas C. Weidhaas III concluded that "there isn't probable cause to believe a crime was committed," but noted that Lynch's comments about "being so angry she could kill someone" were concerning. A firearms sales inquiry returned information that Lynch does not own a registered gun in Massachusetts, Weidhaas wrote. Weidhaas conducted the investigation with Detective Sgt. Mark Popielarczyk. Lynch has declined to comment on her termination, and said this week she has a lawyer. Easthampton Media board President James Zarvis previously confirmed that Lynch was fired, but did not respond to an email Thursday seeking comment on the police report. "In the best interest of the station, for the present and the future, Easthampton Media has ended its relationship with our executive director," Zarvis said Tuesday. Lynch was not a public employee. Easthampton Media provides community access television services to the city on a contractual basis. The entity tapes and broadcasts government meetings in Easthampton and Southampton. It also provides equipment, facilities and instruction to community members who wish to make television and videos. Lynch worked for the nonprofit from 1997-2000, and returned in 2010 as digital media coordinator before being promoted to executive director. Under Lynch, Easthampton Media expanded its services and opened a 3,000-square-foot "cultural media center" at the Eastworks building on Pleasant Street. The organization does not let the public view minutes from its board of directors meetings, Zarvis said. Donald P. Bovio likely never would have been in New York on May 12 of this year if he'd served out his sentence in an Essex County jail. He never would have ben able to commit the heinous act, authorities accuse him of. And 3-year-old Panagiotis Stephanides-Vacchino might still be alive. Bovio, who New York authorities say savagely beat his stepson with a belt until the child hit the floor and lost consciousness, was sentenced to a 4-year suspended sentence in Essex County on a prior offense and was scheduled to serve until June 8, 2018. He got an early release, however, getting out of jail more than a year early on May 25, 2017. Less than a year later, his probation would be cut short, too. In a hand-written note to the judge, Bovio, who had an extensive history of violence in Massachusetts, asked to be let off probation early. He cited the fact that he'd been consistent with his probation and that he was "very happy" with his new wife and stepson. MassLive has obtained a copy of the hand-written note Bovio submitted to the court that got him his early release from probation, which would have prevented him from leaving the state and required continued check-ins with a probation officer. The note is pictured below. Bovio and his wife Alison, who police say acted in concert with him, have been charged with three counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree manslaughter, reckless assault of a child, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, among other charges. "It is the worst case of child abuse I have seen in my career. By far," Seneca Falls Police Chief Stuart Peenstra told MassLive earlier this week. Police said Donald Bovio called 911 Saturday to report his stepson had fallen down the stairs at the Seneca Falls apartment complex where the couple had recently moved to after leaving Massachusetts. When police arrived, the boy was unresponsive and lying on the kitchen floor. Police said the child was flown to Upstate Medical Center where he underwent treatment. It was there that doctors determined the injuries were not consistent with a fall and a child abuse investigation began. According to court records, the toddler had bleeding on the brain and had no brain activity. The child's biological father arrived at the hospital prior to "final life decisions," the Seneca Police Department said. On May 17, police announced the child had died. SPRINGFIELD - A Springfield man on the state's most wanted fugitive list is being held on $250,000 bail following his arrest on a child sex charge. Ramon Torres, 60, pleaded not guilty May 10 in Springfield District Court to two sexual assault charges, including rape of a child. Torres allegedly sexually assaulted a boy between the ages of 6 and 7, according to a summary of the investigation filed in court. In January the child told his mother, who reported the alleged assaults to Springfield police. The defendant often gave the boy money and gifts, and spent time alone with him while doing repair projects in his garage, the report said. Torres, listed as single and unemployed in court records, was believed to have fled to Puerto Rico as police investigated the boy's allegations. He was placed on the Massachusetts State Police's list of most wanted fugitives on March 28. A state police flier indicates he was captured April 2. Torres was extradited from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, on May 9 and transported to Springfield police headquarters, where he was arrested by city and state police officers, Springfield police spokesman Ryan Walsh said. At his arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Colleen Monroe requested $250,000 bail. Judge Robert Santaniello granted the bail request and continued the case for a pretrial hearing on June 11. If Torres posts bail, he must submit to GPS monitoring and home confinement and have no contact with the victim or witnesses in the case. He must also have no contact with children under the age of 6, Santaniello said. SPRINGFIELD -- Police have confirmed that a disturbance on Dwight Street Friday afternoon was an armed home invasion robbery that briefly led to a lockdown at a neighborhood school. Police spokesman Ryan Walsh said suspects from the robbery fled the scene with police in pursuit toward the Connecticut line. The suspects apparently ditched the car, and police have recovered firearms inside of it. Officers arrested one suspect in Longmeadow near Ely Road and Wheel Meadow Drive, Walsh said. A second suspect remains at large, with police searching an area on the state line between Enfield and Longmeadow. Springfield is being aided in the search by Longmeadow and Enfield police, and by Massachusetts and Connecticut state police. Walsh said victims in the robbery did not require a trip to the hospital. The Lincoln Elementary School was briefly locked down early in the investigation, Walsh said. One of the victims from the home invasion ran to the school to get help. The lockdown has since been lifted. A 30-year-old man who authorities say set a fire to lure two people out of their Lawrence home before shooting them in 2011 will be arraigned on two counts of murder in Salem Superior Court on Friday. The suspect, Waldos Rojas, was arrested at a home in Pennsylvania after United States marshals executed an arrest warrant that was issued after a lengthy investigation into the murders of 29-year-old Daniel Diaz and 25-year-old Elizabeth Hernandez. Police say Rojas intentionally set the fire outside of 5 Bailey St. on Oct. 17, 2011, which drew Diaz and Hernandez outside where they were shot. The Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Unit, working with the United States Marshall's Service, tracked Rojas to a home in Pennsylvania where he was arrested without incident. "I am grateful to all of the law enforcement officers for not giving up on finding the person responsible for this brazen crime," Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement. "The family and friends of Mr. Diaz and Ms. Hernandez hopefully can find some peace knowing that the man responsible for their murder will be finally brought to justice." The son of former Massachusetts State Police Col. Richard McKeon, who resigned last year as the first of several State Police scandals was uncovered, has received a probation sentence after he was accused of pushing a Worcester police officer during the St. Patrick's Day parade, an incident for which the younger McKeon has offered several apologies. As Grant McKeon, 23, received his probation sentence Thursday, he submitted a letter of apology to the officer he pushed, saying he was sorry for his actions and would consider the incident a learning experience. Grant McKeon allegedly pushed a Worcester police officer during the St. Patrick's Day parade in the city on March 11. He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. In Worcester Central District Court on Thursday, Grant McKeon received a pre-trial probation deal from Judge Michael Brennan, who was brought in from another county to handle the case. A special prosecutor was also brought in on the case. "Anytime there is a conflict of interest or a potential conflict of interest the District Attorney's Office appoints a special prosecutor," a spokesman for Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said. The case was continued for nine months and Grant McKeon was ordered to not drink alcohol and submit to random testing until June 30, according to court documents. As he was being arrested, Grant McKeon apologized to the officer he pushed, according to court documents. He also wrote the officer a letter of apology, dated May 17, which was obtained by MassLive. In full, the letter reads: Dear Worcester Police Officer, On Saturday, March 10th of 2018, I attended the Worcester Saint Patrick's Day Parade. On this day there was an altercation with you that I sincerely regret and apologize for. I understand that my actions were unacceptable and that I take full responsibility for them. I hope to use this as a learning experience and to not let it happen again. I understand that you were just doing your job and that I gave you a reason to arrest me. Again, I apologize for my actions and will grow from this experience. Sincerely, Grant McKeon Grant McKeon was represented by attorney James Gribouski, the same attorney who represented Alli Bibaud, the daughter of a Massachusetts judge who became the center of a State Police scandal, for one of her cases out of Westborough. Gribouski did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Friday morning. Bibaud was arrested for drunken and drugged driving in October and salacious statements she made about offering sex acts in exchange for heroin and statements about being a judge's daughter were removed from her arrest report. Both Richard McKeon and District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. have been criticized for their handling of the incident. Independent investigations revealed that the two discussed Bibaud's case and arrest report by phone in the days following her arrest. Richard McKeon and his second-in-command resigned from the State Police after the Bibaud arrest report scandal came to light. McKeon, a Worcester native, took over the State Police in July 2015, which was his 33rd year with the department. Independent investigations into the incident by both the office of Attorney General Maura Healey and the State Police found that McKeon was wrong in ordering the alteration of the report. No criminal charges are being filed in connection with the handling of the report. Kristen Scammon, an attorney representing Richard McKeon for a case he is facing in federal court filed by troopers involved with Bibaud's arrest report, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. George McMahon, another attorney representing McKeon in that federal case, said Friday morning that he was not aware of Grant McKeon's arrest and had not spoken to the former colonel about the incident. At the St. Patrick's Day parade on March 11, two Worcester police officers went to the area of 20 Hudson St. to assist a man who had passed out, according to a police report obtained by MassLive. The officers and paramedics started assisting the man, when Grant McKeon got upset, according to the report. The report lists Grant McKeon's address as 5 Douty Lane in the Fiskdale neighborhood of Sturbridge, a home which is owned by Richard and Cheryl McKeon, according to town assessor's records. "McKeon began swearing at the paramedics and Officer Cooney told McKeon to relax, they were treating his friend," the report reads. "McKeon began walking toward Officer Cooney in an aggressive manner yelling, 'No you [expletive] relax!" An officer stepped in front of Grant McKeon and put his palms up, telling him to back up and calm down, the report reads. However, Grant McKeon then began "slamming" his index finger into the officer's chest. The officer pushed McKeon's hand away and yelled, "don't touch me." "McKeon then used both hands and started to forcefully push me yelling, 'Don't [expletive] touch ME!," the report reads. Officers tried to arrest Grant McKeon, but he resisted, according to the report. He kept his hands tucked under his chest and on the hood of an ambulance that was at the scene for his friend. The officer was able to pull Grant McKeon's hands out from under his chest. Then, Grant McKeon apologized, according to the report. "While walking McKeon to the wagon he stated to me that he was sorry for putting his hands on me and that he was just upset about his friend," the report reads. Grant McKeon was taken to the police station without further incident. MassLive staffer Scott J. Croteau contributed to this report. Charlie Baker's success as governor has rested on his ability to balance Democratic Party legislative power with his own core beliefs as a moderate Republican. Now Baker is trying to oversee a compromise with another influential entity: the sector of public interest pushing ballot initiatives that legislators fear could tie their hands on state finances. The governor has influence in this process, but he hardly has total control. Nobody does. The Retailers Association of Massachusetts is pushing to reduce the state's 6.25 percent sales tax to 5 percent, which would cut state revenue by $1 billion per year. Then there is the "millionaire tax," would place a 4 percent surtax on any portion of an individual's annual income that exceeds $1 million. The coalition known as Raise Up Massachusetts says the millionaire tax could produce nearly $2 billion each year for public education and transportation. The Supreme Judicial Court, is reviewing a challenge that could keep the millionaire tax off the ballot. Baker has expressed optimism that talks to come up with what he called a "grand bargain" will be fruitful. The goal is pretty clear: produce legislation that would satisfy tax cut proponents enough to keep the these questions from being decided by referendum vote. Raise Up Massachusetts also favors raising the state minimum wage from $11 to $15, and increasing paid medical leave for workers. Even Democratic leaders in Boston who have been sympathetic to worker benefits see a need to consider the impact on business, especially if a minimum increase causes companies to cut jobs. Cutting the sales tax looks very appealing to strapped taxpayers. The millionaire tax has created a heated and increasing emotional debate. Advocates call it a revenue source from those who can afford it. Opponents say it will drive wealthy taxpayers out of Massachusetts, costing revenue the state can ill afford to lose. They also say adding another layer of tax on people, just because they're successful, just isn't fair whether it's legal or not, The state Senate shows no interest in lowering the sales tax this year. Lawmakers are also looking at the practicality of a sales tax-free weekend, which is part of the sales tax ballot question but has been skipped for two years because of revenue concerns. Bitter, tax--stressed residents call this state Taxachusetts, and a report by a commission surveying retail activity says the state has the 13th highest sales tax of the 45 states that have a sales tax. The report also says, however, that Massachusetts falls to 35th when local sales taxes are also included. Deciding tax questions by ballot would take partial control of revenue flow out of the hands of legislators. Yet these lawmakers would still be expected to craft a balanced budget that doesn't gut the state's needs. Elected officials fear that by losing $1 billion or more from ballot decisions would make that nearly impossible. Whether they can come up with satisfactory alternatives in time to stave off referendums in November is one of the great "ifs" on Beacon Hill this year. As they deal with this complicated maze of issues, time is not on their side. Neither are some fundamental differences between the parties involved. Where lawmakers agree is that money is needed to run the state. Any "grand bargain" will have to address the monumental task of determining just where it will come from, and how much is needed to satisfy the needs of business, workers, the state budget and the state taxpayers, all at once. By John Messervy and Dr. Regina LaRocque Climate disruption poses one of the greatest health risks of our time. As an institution committed to the health and wellness of our community, we believe that by tackling climate change, we have an opportunity to improve health outcomes, save money, and invest in a clean energy future. Public health and clean energy go hand in hand, so it is fitting that Massachusetts is a longtime leader in both healthcare and clean energy investment. The commonwealth is known around the globe as a premiere healthcare destination, and our state leaders were early actors in passing bold policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Through the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), the commonwealth set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050. Businesses and institutions are currently leading the way on emissions reductions by setting and achieving our own targets. In 2009, Partners HealthCare set a goal to reduce energy consumption by 25 percent by 2015 -- which we have now exceeded. Last year, we doubled down by setting a 100 percent carbon neutral by 2025 target. We are not alone in our efforts to invest in clean energy. Businesses and hospitals throughout Massachusetts have made major investments in both onsite and offsite renewable energy to reduce their own emissions. Our joint success demonstrates that the GWSA targets are more than achievable. That's good news, because meeting the GWSA targets is essential to our public health and our economy. Renewable energy and energy efficiency save us money that can be reinvested into patient care. We have installed on-site renewable energy generation on multiple facilities, including a 1.3 MW solar array at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Our Cooley Dickinson Hospital receives a little over 1.6 MW of off-site solar energy through the community solar program, and just last year we announced a power purchase agreement with a wind farm in Antrim, New Hampshire, for more than 20 MW of clean energy. Altogether Partners has committed to 31MW of renewable power, equivalent to 22 percent of our demand. These investments help lower our operating costs, lock in competitive energy prices, and contribute to a more resilient grid. They also ensure that we continue to deliver the highest quality care to our patients. As a healthcare institution based here in Massachusetts, we were able to make these investments in part because of our state's leading programs and policies--such as the GWSA, renewable portfolio standard, and net metering. While Massachusetts has been a leader in advancing clean energy and investing in resiliency, we believe more can be done. Legislators should support efforts to increase deployment of clean energy -- such as increasing the renewable portfolio standard to 3 percent per year. Partners also agrees with the Massachusetts Attorney General's position that additional pipeline capacity is not needed to maintain reliability. The effects of climate disruption on public health can already be felt here in Massachusetts. We see the impacts as more patients seek treatment during extended heat waves and for asthma, chronic bronchitis, and other respiratory ailments. Cutting carbon pollution can improve air quality and mitigate some major healthcare challenges such as emergency room visits, lost work and school days, and more. As extreme weather becomes more frequent and severe, hospitals need to remain open and able to care for patients. Partners is committed to making our facilities resilient, so communities can count on us during emergencies. That's why we designed our Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown to be one of the most resilient buildings in the commonwealth. Because the facility is directly on the water, we wanted to ensure that the first floor would receive only minor damage if flooded during a storm. We also elevated all critical mechanical equipment to the upper floors, including our on-site combined heat and power generator. While businesses and institutions like Partners have an important role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy, we need smart policies that support renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation -- especially if Massachusetts is to continue as national leader. Transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy will have immediate benefits for our patients, our business, and our community. _____________________ John Messervy AIA is corporate director of design and construction at Partners HealthCare. Dr. Regina LaRocque is an infectious disease physician and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, part of the Partners HealthCare system. BOSTON -- Three companies responsible for public construction projects -- including a bridge rehabilitation project in Springfield and the renovation of a Statehouse auditorium -- were fined by Attorney General Maura Healey on Friday for failing to properly pay their workers. "Employers working on public projects have a duty to treat workers fairly and pay them what they are due," Healey said in a statement. Florida-based Gemstone LLC and its manager Cameron Jewell were fined $45,126. The company was hired by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for a bridge rehabilitation project on Interstate 291 in Springfield. Healey alleged that the company missed multiple step increases for its bridge painters. As a result, the painters were paid less than the prevailing wage and paid less in overtime pay. Massachusetts' prevailing wage law sets a pay level that is different from the minimum wage for workers on public construction projects. Spencer-based Leveillee Architectural Millwork Inc. and its President and Treasurer Richard Leveillee were fined $50,000. Healey said the company unintentionally failed to pay the prevailing wage and failed to submit required payroll reports. It also misclassified workers as apprentices and paid them too low a wage. The fines related to four public projects: renovating Gardner Auditorium at the Statehouse, renovating Boylston Public Library and doing work at a Plymouth charter school and at Fitchburg State University. The largest citation was for $60,841 against the Woburn-based RJ Morello Inc. and its President and Treasurer Roger Morello. Healey found the company failed to pay 12 of its plumbers the total wage rate due, misclassified plumbers and underpaid them as apprentices while working at Everett public schools. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, will address students graduating from colleges in Worcester and Boston this weekend, her office has confirmed. The senator is set to deliver commencement remarks to Quinsigamond Community College and Lesley University's respective 2018 graduating classes. Warren will address Quinsigamond Community College graduates during Friday's afternoon commencement ceremony at the DCU Center in Worcester, according to officials. The Massachusetts Democrat will then receive an honorary degree and deliver a speech at Lesley University's Saturday afternoon commencement ceremony, which is set to take place a the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston. Quinsigamond Community College President Luis G. Pedraja said he expected that the senator would "serve as a strong foundation" for the event. "Sen. Warren has a clear vision of the roles that community colleges play in the economic prosperity of our students and our communities. ... We are sure her words will inspire and motivate our graduates to continue achieving great heights as they leave QCC and fulfill their dreams," he said in an April statement. Lesley University President Jeff A. Weiss, meanwhile, offered that Warren -- along with other commencement speakers -- "embody the Lesley mission of addressing core societal problems with action, creativity and dedication." Warren, who taught at Harvard University before entering politics, is no stranger to speaking at college commencements. The senator previously delivered Wheelock College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst's 2017 commencement addresses. She also addressed Suffolk University graduates in 2016. With several people reportedly killed in a Friday shooting at a Texas high school, members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation again called on President Donald Trump and Republican leaders to take action to end gun violence. The Democrats argued that shootings, like the one at Santa Fe High School, are becoming "all to frequent" and underscore the need for universal background checks, increased purchasing ages and other "common sense" firearms policies. The lawmakers, who have repeatedly urged congressional Republicans to pass various gun control measures in wake of deadly school shootings in Parkland, Florida and Newtown, Connecticut, further offered their prayers to those impacted by Friday's shooting, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least nine people. Stressing that schools should be a safe place for learning, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, argued that it's time for Congress to act to prevent similar deaths in the future. "Today's massacre at Santa Fe High School in Texas is just another reminder of the necessity for Congress to address common sense gun control. ...While I have always been a supporter of the rights of the hunter, the sportsman and the gun collector to bear arms under the Second Amendment, I believe there are sensible proposals that we should all be able to get behind," he said in a statement. "And the time for that is now." U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, argued that "enough is enough." "My heart breaks for the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, and the families of those who lost their lives today," she tweeted. "One young person lost to gun violence is one too many. This cannot continue." My heart breaks for the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, and the families of those who lost their lives today. One young person lost to gun violence is one too many. This cannot continue. #EnoughIsEnough Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 18, 2018 U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, meanwhile, slammed lawmakers' inaction on addressing gun violence, arguing that "Congress failed the victims at Sante Fe High School." "I am disgusted and angry that we continue to fail our kids. I grieve with the families and friends who have lost loved ones. But thoughts and prayers must be accompanied by real solutions," he tweeted. "Otherwise, it's an empty platitude." Congress failed the victims at Sante Fe High School. I am disgusted and angry that we continue to fail our kids. I grieve with the families and friends who have lost loved ones. But thoughts and prayers must be accompanied by real solutions. Otherwise, its an empty platitude. Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) May 18, 2018 U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Brookline, agreed, arguing that "thinking and praying harder won't stop this." "We need to act," he posted on Twitter. Congresswoman Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, said she was "horrified" that another set of students, families and teachers have now been impacted by a school shooting. "When will Congress stop offering silence and start acting?" she tweeted. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, meanwhile, urged lawmakers to look at the human impact of such shootings. "Kids in Santa Fe went to school this morning and won't ever come home. They won't hug their parents, or fight with their siblings, or procrastinate on homework, or play outside ever again," he posted on Twitter. "They're not statistics - they're our kids. And they're gone. We have to stop this." Kids in #SantaFe went to school this morning and wont ever come home. They won't hug their parents, or fight with their siblings, or procrastinate on homework, or play outside ever again. They're not statisticstheyre our kids. And they're gone. We have to stop this. Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) May 18, 2018 Congressman Bill Keating, D-Bourne, asked when Republicans will allow lawmakers to take action to protect students and citizens from such mass shootings. "Once again, my prayers are with the victims, their families, and all those affected today in Santa Fe at yet another school shooting," he tweeted. "Once again, I continue to pledge my commitment to common sense gun safety laws." Like Massachusetts Democrats, Trump agreed that school shootings have "been going on too long in our country." The president stressed that his administration is committed to doing everything possible to protect students, secure schools and keep weapons out of the wrong hands. "Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe," he said, according to White House pool reports. "May God heal the injured and may God comfort the wounded and may God be with the victims and with the victims' families." Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos noted that the Federal Commission on School Safety is working to identify ways to prevent such violence and keep students safe. "Our work remains urgent. Our nation must come together and address the underlying issues that lead to such tragic and senseless loss of life," she said in a statement. The overhaul of the criminal justice system passed by lawmakers earlier this year was supposed to expand diversion programs to keep more people out of prison. But the new law -- apparently inadvertently -- has actually eliminated some diversion opportunities for veterans, including veterans charged with drunken driving. Rep. John Velis, D-Westfield, vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs and an Army Reserve captain, said the criminal justice bill "gutted" some parts of the Valor Act, a law passed in 2012 to help veterans. "I believe this was wholly unintentional on the part of legislators," Velis said. But he said lawmakers need to fix the problem to give veterans those opportunities to be diverted out of the criminal justice system. "We need to remain as steadfast now 17 years later after 9/11 in our support of our service members," Velis said. The Valor Act, signed by former Gov. Deval Patrick, established a way for veterans with no criminal record who are charged with a crime in District Court to be sent to pre-trial diversion programs focused on treatment or education. That gives veterans a chance to get mental health or substance abuse counseling and not be burdened with a criminal record as they return to civilian life. It does not apply to the more serious cases heard in Superior Court. There has been some controversy about what crimes the Valor Act applies to. The Boston Globe reported on one case in Bristol County where a man was cleared of charges for assaulting and strangling his ex-girlfriend because of the Valor Act. Some lawmakers talked about limiting its applicability for crimes of violence. In 2017, the Supreme Judicial Court, in Commonwealth vs. Morgan, ruled that second and subsequent offenses of operating under the influence are eligible for pre-trial diversion through the Valor Act. The criminal justice reform bill signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in April expands diversion for the general population. But under the new law, certain offenses are not eligible for pre-trial diversion, for the public or for veterans. Some are crimes that hurt other people, such as drunken driving that results in injury, leaving the scene of an accident or violating an abuse restraining order. Others involve interfering with the courts. The bill would also make operating under the influence no longer subject to diversion. Guidance issued by District Court Chief Justice Paul Dawley on May 10 says that due to the passage of criminal justice reform, veterans charged with operating under the influence for offenses committed after 3:31 p.m. on April 13, 2018, when Baker signed the bill, are no longer eligible for diversion under the Valor Act. Sen. Will Brownsberger, D-Belmont, one of the chief authors of the criminal justice reform law, said it was not intentional if lawmakers overturned that part of the Valor Act. "We were not thinking of the Valor Act," Brownsberger said. A bill introduced by Sen. Michael Rush, D-Boston, chairman of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, dubbed the BRAVE Act, recently passed the Senate. The bill, now pending in the House, would provide new benefits to military members and would also restore eligibility for diversion for first-time drunken driving offenders who are veterans. Baker spokesman Brendan Moss said the governor and lieutenant governor have worked with the Legislature on criminal justice reform, including a provision in the bill requiring District Attorneys to establish their own diversion programs for veterans. "The administration has also proposed new legislation to continue improving the criminal justice system and is open to working with the Legislature on additional reforms," Moss said. Michael McDonough, a Springfield attorney with Egan, Flanagan and Cohen, is a U.S. Army Reservist who does legal work for veterans. McDonough said operating under the influence is one of the most frequent charges against veterans returning to civilian life. "The trouble with transitioning veterans to civilian life is there's a known problem of substance abuse," McDonough said. McDonough said until now, if a veteran was caught for a first offense of drunken driving, he or she could receive treatment and get the case dismissed. McDonough said if that is no longer an option, veterans will be more likely to lose their license and get a criminal conviction, which will make it harder for them to get a job. "We want to give veterans a second chance if they have a glitch when they're transitioning to civilian society," McDonough said. Peter Elikann, a Boston criminal defense lawyer who has represented veterans, said the Valor Act acknowledged that veterans often deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. "The whole point of the Valor Act was to provide treatment and rehabilitation for veterans having a tough struggle getting back into society as opposed to just punishing them and ruining their future with criminal records," Elikann said. Elikann said some lawmakers were concerned about cases in which people who had been out of the military for decades used the Valor Act to avoid punishment for serious crimes. "It was not surprising that they wanted to make the Valor Act a little more stringent to exclude more egregious violent crimes," Elikann said. "But it was a surprise to many supporters of veterans and the Valor Act that a first offense drunk driving charge would not be included in diversion." Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, said prosecutors did not request this particular change and were not consulted on it. The MDAA has not taken a position. Morrissey, speaking for himself, not the MDAA, said he would oppose diversion in a case that resulted in serious injury or death. But he noted that Norfolk County had the first Veterans Court in the state, and he recognizes that veterans can have unique problems with alcohol or drugs. "It's reasonable for an individual judge to have discretion to divert a first offense OUI under the Valor Act protocols," Morrissey said. Morrissey said it will be up to the Legislature to decide how to resolve the issue. Martin Healy, chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Bar Association, said there has been growing concern among lawmakers for the last year that the Valor Act was too broad, and there has also been heightened concern about drunk driving. "This is one of those balancing acts that the Legislature has to perform and weigh in terms of what is good public policy here," Healy said. "I think it's not a matter of what veterans deserve, but I think it's a matter of protecting the public from drunk drivers and sending the right message to the public that drunk driving isn't going to be tolerated at all." "Under Anne Baileys leadership, the Montana Journalism Media Lab will help train scientists, entrepreneurs and businesspeople how to tell their stories in the most effective way." The University of Montana School of Journalism has established a new media lab to serve as a center of innovation offering skills-based journalism training to members of the public interested in multimedia storytelling and audience engagement. Journalist and filmmaker Anne Bailey, a former professor and graduate of the school, will become the founding director of the Montana Journalism Media Lab. This new center marks a major expansion for the century-old journalism school, which regularly ranks among the top 10 journalism schools in the nation. The School of Journalism will create the lab as an interdisciplinary center that will make the school and its work more accessible to other units on campus and to storytellers around the state and the nation. http://news.umt.edu/2018/05/051718mdia.php Yesterday, the United States Senate voted to protect a free and open internet and reverse the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) repeal of net neutrality rules. Back in January, I was the first Governor in the nation to sign an executive order to protect net neutrality in Montana. My order requires that successful recipients of state contracts continue to adhere to internet neutrality principles. The governors of New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Hawaii, and Rhode Island, have since join me in protecting our free and open internet. State legislatures around the country are also considering similar legislation. You can read my full executive order online HERE http://governor.mt.gov/Portals/16/docs/2018EOs/EO-03-2018_Net%20Freedom.pdf?ver=2018-01-22-122048-023 and share it with others. A free and open internet is one of our societys great equalizers and I will continue to fight for citizens access to it. Access to reliable and high-quality internet promotes economic growth, job creation, and the free flow of information. I am glad states have finally been able to talk some sense into politicians in Washington, D.C. I am pleased at the Senates step in the right direction yesterday, but now its up to the House of Representatives to finish the job. Please contact Montana Representative Greg Gianforte https://gianforte.house.gov/ and encourage him to vote to protect a free and open internet by reversing the FCCs repeal of net neutrality. Sincerely, STEVE BULLOCK Governor -ClassPass, the leading fitness membership, today announced its corporate membership program, enabling companies to optimize their benefits package with customized wellness programs for employees. With ClassPass, one plan gives employees access to over 9,000 participating studio and gym partners in 50 markets globally and a live, interactive video product. A number of companies have already taken advantage of the ClassPass corporate offering, including ALLSAINTS, Fairmont San Jose, GIPHY and Under Armour Australia, among others. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180517005267/en/ClassPass-Announces-Corporate-Membership-Program-Comprehensive-Fitness The Idaho Board of Education announced Thursday that after a first round of interviews of the remaining three finalists, it will extend and expand the search https://www.agbsearch.com/searches/president-boise-state-university for the next Boise State University president. As first reported by the Idaho Statesman on Saturday, some members of the search committee, business leaders and residents at large have voiced concern that the search for BSUs new president did not bring forward candidates up to the challenge of replacing retiring President Bob Kustra. People have been critical of AGB Search, the company hired by the Idaho Board of Education to run the search, saying that the pool of presidential candidates for BSU was not strong or deep enough to begin with. By Dana Oland And Christina Lords http://www.idahostatesman.com/latest-news/article211333589.html All Career Opportunities at BSU: https://hrs.boisestate.edu/careers/search-careers-external-applicants/ The Treasure Statement Endowment Program (TSEP) is a state-funded program that is designed to help address the "affordability" of local infrastructure projects by providing grants to lower the cost of constructing public facilities. The Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP) http://comdev.mt.gov/programs/TSEP will host Project Grant Application webinars on Friday, May 25, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. for projects being considered for submission to the upcoming funding cycle. These workshops will review changes to program guidelines and give a general overview of critical application components. The sessions offered will include the same information. The workshops can be attended in person at 301 S. Park Ave., Helena, in Conference Room 228, or via webinar by registering below. If you will be attending via webinar, details and presentations will be available at: http://comdev.mt.gov/MET/events#Infrastructure-1036 Full Story: https://t.e2ma.net/message/xoj94/1vvibo Les membres du Cabinet ont pris note de lintroduction prochaine au parlement au Disciplinary Bodies (Health Sector) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, des travaux a laeroport de Plaine Corail entre autres. 1. Cabinet has agreed to the introduction of the Disciplinary Bodies (Health Sector) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill into the National Assembly. The main object of the Bill is to amend various legislations with a view to reviewing and harmonising the disciplinary procedures and powers of statutory disciplinary bodies in the health sector, such as the Allied Health Professionals Council of Mauritius, the Dental Council of Mauritius, the Medical Council of Mauritius, the Nursing Council of Mauritius and the Pharmacy Council of Mauritius. These amendments have been rendered necessary since the disciplinary procedures and powers of those disciplinary bodies differed from each other. In addition, a time limit would be imposed on the Medical Disciplinary Tribunal, such that whenever a disciplinary case of professional misconduct or negligence is referred to it by any such disciplinary body, the Tribunal would have to hear and determine the disciplinary case not later than 90 days after the start of the hearing of the case, except where there is a valid reason, and with the consent of the parties to the case. The Dangerous Drugs Act and the Veterinary Council Act would also be amended accordingly. 2. Cabinet has taken note of the status regarding the construction of the new runaway of 2,100 metres long and 45 metres wide including provision of the various airport facilities, to support operations of A321 Neo type of aircraft at the Plaine Corail Airport in Rodrigues. The project would be financed by way of a loan from the Agence Francaise de Developpement as well as a grant from the European Union. 3. Cabinet has taken note that the National Audit Office of Mauritius has been awarded the prize for the best Performance Audit Report 2018, by the African Organisation for English Speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E), for its Performance Audit Report entitled Moving Towards Sustainable Artisanal Fishery. The prize was presented on 08 May 2019 to Mrs K.C. Tse Yuet Cheong, Director of Audit by the Auditor General of the National Audit Office of Sweden and the Senior Performance Audit Manager from AFROSAI-E, at the Strategic Review and Governing Board Meeting, held in Mozambique. 4. Cabinet has taken note that a Technical Committee has been set up under the chair of Mrs D. Chinien, Registrar of Companies to consider the priority ranking of employees under the Insolvency Act and the Code Civil Mauricien in cases of liquidation of companies. The Committee would comprise representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the Attorney Generals Office, the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, Employment and Training and the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance. The Committee may consult other relevant stakeholders. 5. Cabinet has taken note of the first Report of the Working Group on the Blueprint for the Financial Services Sector regarding the status of implementation of the recommendations of the Blueprint. 47% of the action points falling under the six broad strategies recommended in the Blueprint have already been implemented while work on another 40% is ongoing. 5% of the action points have been set aside owing to the international obligations of the Mauritius International Financial Centre towards the EU and OECD and the remaining 8% of the action points would require a prolonged period for either implementation or completion. 6. Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius submitting its initial Schedule Tariff Concessions in the context of ongoing negotiations on the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area. 7. Cabinet has agreed to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research initiating consultations with various stakeholders for the setting up of an Educators Council and the preparation of an Educators Council Bill. The Educators Council would represent teachers from across the different levels in the education system and ensure commitment to their professional development. The objectives of the Educators Council would be, inter alia, to: (a) provide for the registration of educators; (b) promote the professional development of educators; and (c) set, maintain and protect ethical and professional standards for educators. 8. Cabinet has agreed to the Mauritius Standards Bureau hosting the 2nd Meeting of the Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Standardisation Technical Committee on Automotive and Transportation, from 3 to 7 June 2019. The Meeting would, inter alia, cover areas such as vehicle roadworthiness, requirements for vehicle examiner, ISO compliance driving licences, vehicle fitness testing and transportation of dangerous goods by road. It would also be a platform to raise awareness of stakeholders on road safety and the use of standards and regulations to ensure safe roads. Some 55 delegates from SADC Member States are expected to attend the Meeting. 9. Cabinet has agreed to the setting up of a Committee to work out the concept of the Intercontinental Slavery Museum. The Concept Committee would examine the Report of the Preliminary Study and Survey for the setting up of the International Slavery Museum submitted by consulting firm STEGET S.r.l and make recommendations regarding the restoration option for the Ex-Military Hospital Building. The Concept Committee would also be responsible to work out the historical content and concept of the Museum, the displays to be contained therein and the use of the indoor and outdoor spaces thereat. The Concept Committee would be chaired by Mr Jean Maxy Simonet, Secretary for Public Service. 10. Cabinet has agreed to the Office of the Electoral Commissioner organising a Symposium, in collaboration with the Electoral Supervisory Commission and in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the Indian Ocean Commission, on 17 and 18 June 2019 in Mauritius. The Symposium is being organised to commemorate the 60 years of committed service of the Office of the Electoral Commissioner to the promotion of democratic values and delivery of credible and transparent elections in the country. The aim of the Symposium is to bring together distinguished experts and members of Electoral Management Bodies in the region to share their knowledge and good practice through their unique experiences and perspectives as election administrators. Some 30 delegates from Electoral Management Bodies in the region and from regional and international organisations such as the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the United Nations Development Programme, the Commonwealth Secretariat and lOrganisation Internationale de la Francophonie would attend the Symposium. 11. Cabinet has taken note that the Mental Health Care (Amendment) Act 2019 which was passed by the National Assembly on 02 April 2019 would be proclaimed so as to come into operation on 15 June 2019. 12. Cabinet has taken note that the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre has provided a grant of USD 10 million to the Republic of Mauritius. The purpose of the grant is to assist Mauritius in dealing with the effects of floods, cyclones and other natural calamities which affect the lives of many people, especially the most vulnerable ones of the society and to meet expenses aimed at minimising the impact of climate change. 13. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent mission of the Minister of Youth and Sports to Seychelles where he attended the annual Ministerial Meeting of the Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de lOcean Indien (CJSOI). The Meeting approved the recommendations submitted by the Experts Meeting regarding the budget of the CJSOI for 2019/2020 and the programme of activities for the same period. Two proposals submitted by Mauritius were approved, namely: (a) Formation des Animateurs Jeunesse et Encadreurs a laccompagnement et la prise en charge des jeunes en situation vulnerable en vue de promouvoir leur insertion sociale et leur resilience; and (b) Seminaire sur la Formation des preparateurs physiques et mentaux des athletes jeunes. The next Jeux de la CJSOI would be held in Mauritius in 2021. Elections for the chairmanship of the CJSOI for the year 2019/2020 were held and the Republic of Seychelles was elected as Chair and the Union of Comoros as Vice-Chair. 14. Cabinet has taken note that in the context of the forthcoming 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in collaboration with Comite dOrganisation des 10emes Jeux des Iles, is organising the 5th Edition of Mobilizasion Moris19 in the yard of the Municipal Council of Curepipe on Sunday 19 May 2019 as from 16 00 hours. Activities would include a fun run, skating, a drift show and cultural and musical shows by popular local artists. Fireworks would also be displayed at the end of the event. 15. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Professional Architects Council for the period 2019 to 2021. 16. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Pharmacy Council of Mauritius for the period 2019 to 2021. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Mahen Seeruttun a pris part aux celebrations du 65e anniversaire de la presence Life Insurance Corporation Of India a Maurice en compagnie des hauts cadres et les employes ainsi que la Haute Commissaire de lInde a Maurice, Nandini Singla, le 1er septembre 2021 dans les locaux de la compagnie dassurance. It gives me immense pleasure to be here this morning and share a historic moment with you all. It is indeed a very special occasion, an occasion worthy of praise for the amazing accomplishment of the Life Insurance Corporation of India in its homeland, in Mauritius and abroad. From a household name across cities and remotest of villages in India, LIC has flourished into a global financial conglomerate and is today, firmly established in 14 countries across the world. I was truly impressed by your track record as I went through the financials yesterday. An asset base of over USD 440 billion, a family of more than 115,000 employees and 1.3 million agents, extending to over 300 million customers, what more can we say to epitomise success! It is nothing short of phenomenal when a company comes such a long way after a 65-year eventful journey from a monopoly to a hyper-competitive environment and all the time being a Government entity with all the procedures that this entails. With one in five Indians insured and a control over two thirds of Indias life insurance market, it is a matter of great pride that the LIC is so deeply anchored in Mauritius. Ladies and Gentlemen In fact, relations between India and Mauritius are so inextricably linked that the Mauritius branch was set up in the same year that it was instituted in India. This occasion, ladies and gentlemen, reminds us just how incredibly fortunate we are that businesses such as yours with strong social insurance responsibility have become such an integral part of our economy. And the LIC, ladies and gentlemen, was set up in Mauritius not just for business sake but to serve the community. Ever since our pre-independence days, the LIC has played an invaluable role in nation building, becoming part of the community and growing with the community. You were the first insurance company to start granting life insurance protection to our fellow citizens of Rodrigues. Every life assured meant that one more family could sleep better at night. You always delivered on your promises, stood by your clients not at the time of your choice but at the time of their need and maintained trust throughout your relationship with them. Her Excellency Distinguished Guests In the same manner that trust binds the LIC and the Mauritian people, trust also binds the political leadership of the two countries. Bilateral relations between India and Mauritius have never been so strong. India has been an important partner in our economic and social development and businesses. In particular, pioneers such as the LIC, play such an important role in this relationship, insuring the financial health and wealth of the population. More and more Indian companies are setting up shop on Mauritian terrain trusting the ecosystem and the conducive business environment. The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement effective since last April is an important milestone in the trade and economic relationship between India and Mauritius. This institutional mechanism will further encourage and improve trade in goods as well as trade in services, and economic cooperation between our two countries. Ladies and Gentlemen Focusing more on the Mauritian market, as you are aware, the insurance industry contributed to 2.8 percent to GDP in 2020 and is a driver of growth for the economy. Insurance products and services, once perceived as a means to minimize risk factors, has progressed as investment vehicles. However, to keep abreast with Governments mission to boost economic growth, we have no choice but to improve insurance penetration both long term and general. There is still much room for us to improve insurance penetration so that we are at par with rates in jurisdictions with similar GDP. In this respect, my Ministry and the Financial Services Commission are working on reforms and creation of new insurance products. Furthermore, Financial Literacy and inclusion remains critical success factors. In this respect, the Ministry, in collaboration with the Financial Services Fund, is working on consumer education projects aimed at raising the awareness of consumers, entrepreneurs, investors, and retired people on the need and adoption of long-term insurance products and pensions. You will be hearing more in the media in days to come. Before I close, I wish to say a few words on employment and capacity building. The sector employs around 2600 people directly as employees and approximately 3000 people as brokers, accredited agents and other insurance professional. Improving market penetration means creation of more jobs in the sector. The insurance sector presents opportunities for employment and needs expertise ranging from underwriting, broking, claims, investment analysis, actuarial services, financial advice as well as customer service excellence to earn the publics trust and confidence. In this respect, I am happy to say that the Insurers Association of Mauritius has collaborated with the Financial Services Institute on a Skills Development Framework with a first cohort of 60 professionals currently being trained. I understand that the LIC is a regular customer of the FSI and has recently organised an-house training for 30 persons on AML/CFT and is regularly enrolling participants on our programmes. Ladies and Gentlemen COVID-19 which is still impacting our industry in more ways than we ever imagined. Over the last few months, you have been responding to the pandemic in numerous ways whether as employers or claims payers. The economic situation will evolve for the better I am sure my colleague Hon. Minister Padayachy will soon be giving you more insight in that respect. I am confident that the insurance industry will emerge even stronger in years to come and continue to act as an important shock absorber for the economy and society. Distinguished staff and agents of the LIC, In closing, I would like to share with you the words of the Indian mystic Jaggi Vasudev, who said and I quote: The success of businesses makes a nation live well. End of quote You are in the right place doing business in Mauritius and I look forward to continue celebrating your companys longevity here for many more years to come. Long may you flourish. Long Live India-Mauritius relations. I thank you for your time and attention. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn iStock/Thinkstock(LAS VEGAS) -- A masked man armed with what authorities believe is a fake gun was arrested after he allegedly frightened shoppers at a Las Vegas mall Thursday night, police said. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a 911 call Thursday night about an armed man at the Boulevard Mall on Maryland Parkway. Surveillance cameras captured the suspect on video wearing a mask and wielding a long gun, police said. The mall was evacuated as responding officers searched the premises three times, but they were unable to find the suspect. No injuries were reported and no shots were fired, police said. Early this morning, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced on Twitter that the suspect was located and arrested. A mask and "what appears to be a fake gun" were recovered. The suspect's identity has not yet been released. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The recent military exercises performed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) serve as a clear warning to "Taiwan independence" separatists, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday. "'Taiwan independence' is a dead end, which brings nothing but disaster to the island," said An Fengshan, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference. The PLA has in recent weeks conducted combat drills on the sea. The air force sent fleets of aircraft including bombers and fighter jets to fly around the Taiwan island. "We have the resolve, confidence, and ability to safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contain 'Taiwan independence' activities in any form," he said, adding that there is "no way out" for separatists. An said the reunification is an "unstoppable" historical trend and every stubborn separatist will be condemned by society and punished by history. The spokesperson said the current tense cross-Strait relations are caused by the Democratic Progressive Party administration which does not put a stop to "de-sinicization" and "Taiwan independence" activities and obstructs cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation. An said such deeds have drawn firm opposition from compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Source: Daily Times General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC) called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters (GHQ) on Thursday. The meeting was followed by delegation level talks. During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, regional security and enhanced bilateral defence cooperation came under discussion. The COAS said that Pak-China relations were based on mutual trust and confidence. Highlighting defence and security cooperation between the two countries, General Zhang Youxia said, China and Pakistan are iron brothers, all weather friends and strategic partners. We share the tradition of mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support. China deeply appreciates the achievements of Pakistan Army in counter terrorism and the successful operation in various fields. China values the efforts of Pakistan Army in fighting against all terrorists groups, including East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). He continued: The CPEC is equally beneficial to both China and Pakistan. Both countries are committed to its continuous process and future success. Efforts of Pakistan Army in safeguarding CPEC security are highly appreciated. We look forward to close cooperation with Pakistan to ensure security of the CPEC. Both sides also signed different MoUs for bilateral defence cooperation. To pay homage to the martyrs of Pakistan Army, the visiting dignitary laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada. A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Army presented a guard of honour to the Vice Chairman of Chinese CMC. By Qiu Yue The J-20, a new-generation stealth fighter jet independently developed by China, recently had its first realistic military training on the sea. Military expert Wang Mingliang said in an interview with China Central Television that the J-20 is sure to patrol the Taiwan Island in the future. Wang pointed out that China is currently focusing on military preparedness on the sea, and the J-20 fighter jet, shifting its flight training from the land to the sea, also aims to become familiar with maritime battles. In the future, the J-20 fighter jets' mission will be to secure air supremacy over the enemy's 4th generation fighter jets, create overwhelming advantages over the enemy's 3rd generation fighter jets, and launch surprise attacks on sea targets, added Wang. Senior Colonel Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the PLA Air Force, said on May 12 that since the J-20 was commissioned it has had realistic air battle training with other fighter jets like the J-16 and J-10C, playing an important role in systematic confrontational drills. According to Wang, joining the realistic training with the J-16 and J-10C indicates that the J-20 is an integrated fighter jet, a "role that the past three generations of fighter jets have never played". Wang Mingzhi, another military expert, held that the first realistic flight training on the sea meant the J-20 was capable of conducting sea battles and has taken an important step forward to all-territory combat operations. That capability will be further enhanced after it completes adaptive training on land, sea and the plateau. Both experts believe the J-20 is sure to patrol the Taiwan Island in the future. Disclaimer: The author is Qiu Yue, reporter with People.cn. The article is translated from Chinese into English by the China Military online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author 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. MOSCOW, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia's weapons export increased in 2017 in spite of sanctions, CEO of Russia's Rostec State Corporation told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Weapons export totaled 13.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 compared with 13.1 billion dollars in 2016, Sergey Chemezov said when presenting a report on the performance of his company to Putin, according to a transcript on the presidential website. State-owned Rostec, established in late 2007, is Russia's largest weapons exporter. The company and its CEO are both under U.S. sanctions. Western sanctions have complicated sales of Russian arms, but Moscow is ready to work under the challenging conditions and export more military equipment to other countries than planned, Tass news agency quoted Vladimir Kozhin, a presidential aide, as saying in March. Russia carries out cooperation with some 100 countries in military and technical sectors, Kozhin added. The latest set of sanctions affecting 38 Russian individuals and entities, including seven business leaders and 17 senior officials, for their alleged "malign activity" around the world, was adopted by Washington in April. ANN ARBOR, MI - An Ann Arbor company is offering to collect stem cells from people and then store them in a frozen state, allowing the customer to use them anytime for medical treatment in the future. Cofounder and CEO Steven Clausnitzer said he was inspired to create Forever Labs in 2015 through the stem cell research being done by his fellow cofounder Dr. Mark Katakowski at Henry Ford Hospital. "We see our purpose at Forever Labs to combat aging and aging-related diseases," Clausnitzer said. "There's something remarkable about knowing you have access to a pool of your stem cells that are no longer biologically aging." While storing adult stem cells is now an active industry, the use of the stem cells to treat age-related diseases is still evolving. The National Institutes of Health said adult stem cells are currently being tested for the ability to change into specific cells needed by the body, and are also being used to test new drugs like anti-tumor medication. Potential treatments involving adult stem cells include the regeneration of bone using cells from a person's bone marrow, the development of insulin-producing cells to treat diabetes and the repair of heart muscle with cardiac muscle cells after a heart attack, according to NIH. "To summarize, stem cells offer exciting promise for future therapies, but significant technical hurdles remain that will only be overcome through years of intensive research," the NIH website said. How it works While Forever Labs is not the first business to get involved in the stem cell industry, Clausnitzer said it is the first to offer storage solutions that vary from a lifetime storage plan for $7,000, which includes the procedure, or an annual plan that includes a $2,500 procedure fee and $250 annual storage fee. The procedure can take up to 15 minutes and starts with physicians applying a numbing agent near the patient's hip and then removing mesenchymal stem cells from the person via a needle. The stem cells are divided into nine samples and then cryogenically frozen, processed at the company's lab on Wagner Road and stored for the future in a FDA-compliant biorepository in Massachusetts. Patients can view photos and information about their samples through the Forever Labs client dashboard and can have the vials shipped around the world when needed. All employees of Forever Labs have had the procedure done, Clausnitzer said, and most patients rate it as a three on a pain scale of one to 10. "It's surprisingly well-tolerated," he said. "Most patients say they'd rather do that than go to the dentist. One woman said it was easier than walking around for a night in heels." Clausnitzer said Forever Labs is different in that it is the first to develop physicians in markets across the United States to perform the procedures and offer it to forward-looking clients versus other companies that use the technology for research purposes. "At Forever Labs, these cells belong to clients," Clausnitzer said. "They belong to you, and you decide what use is best for the future." There are some restrictions on who can undergo the procedure through the company. Along with age limits to patients under the age of 65 to ensure the highest-quality stem cells, Forever Labs also cannot perform the procedure on patients with HIV. "Our entire focus is on getting people to store their stem cells as young as possible and in the best possible state," Clausnitzer said. The future of stem cells Forever Labs recently closed on $2 million in financing from organizations like Northwestern Mutual and Babel Ventures along with a group of physicians, including Dr. Michael Schenden who performs procedures for the company at his office in Troy, Michigan. The support from what he described as "top-quality physicians," has been encouraging and exciting for Forever Labs, Clausnitzer said. "They see the value of what we're doing not just monetarily, from an investment stand point, but medically," he said. The company is bringing on new clients along with new markets at a rapid rate as clinical trials continue to reach advanced phases and discover what adult stem cells are capable of. Forever Labs has completed hundreds of procedures in the past few months and Clausnitzer expects that figure to reach into the thousands by the end of 2018. "When we started the company, our first clients tended to be the physicians themselves," Clausnitzer said. "Our clients now, in Michigan, are mothers and fathers and teachers. They have a family history of disease or know the value of stem cell from cord blood program." Forever Labs has not had any clients use their stem cell samples yet, though Clausnitzer said it will make a difference in the life of someone diagnosed with cancer that may be in need of a bone marrow transplant and could be their own best donor decades down the road. "It's been only 50 years that we've known what this biology is," Clausnitzer said about stem cells. "We're at a point in human history we have tools we've never had before in science and medicine and you're going to see a sea change in medicine in the next 10 to 20 years." "The best possible tool you can set aside right now to be prepared is your young stem cells." DEARBORN, MI - The University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance plans to construct a new $19 million dance building that would include a 100-seat performance venue on UM's North Campus in Ann Arbor. The new, 24,000-square-foot building was approved Thursday, May 17, by UM's Board of Regents at their meeting in Dearborn. The project is funded by gifts, resources and investment proceeds from the school. UM Regent Andrea Fischer Newman, who has advocated for resources for the SMTD in the past, said the university should consider even further renovations to the school's facilities. "I think it's a long time coming and a terrific project," she said. "I actually went up there the other day and was walking around and the music part of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and wondered if there was any thinking of when we would be able to remodel the rest of the building." The new building's prospective location is adjacent to Brehm Pavilion, on the southern end of the Earl V. Moore Building, "in order to create collaboration opportunities," according to the Board of Regents action request. In addition to the performance venue, the new building would house dance studios, locker rooms and administrative space. The architectural firm of TMP Architecture Inc. would design the project. A new dance building would further expand the Earl V. Moore Building, which underwent a three-year, $29.5 million renovation and expansion that was completed in 2015 with the addition of Brehm Pavilion. The project was funded in part by $10 million in donations by UM benefactors William and Delores Brehm. The renovation was completed to address a shortage of practice rooms, modernizing the 1950s-era building while providing additional storage, offices and classrooms. Environmental activists on Friday presented 15,000 petition signatures collected to pressure the city to shut down a Detroit waste-to-energy facility they say could have harmful effects on residents. The goal, said William Copeland of the group Breathe Free Detroit on Friday at Spirit Plaza, is to get the attention of Mayor Mike Duggan and help Detroiters win their right to breathe clean air. "He must work to end the blatant racism of the incinerator," Copeland said. "Not only do Detroit families bear a disproportionate burden of waste disposal because Detroit is the site of the incinerator, but to add insult to this injury, Detroiters pay more than their suburban neighbors to burn trash in the incinerator." The facility in question is Detroit Renewable Power on Russell Street, just east of the Midtown neighborhood. It burns waste to generate steam and electricity. A message seeking comment was left with the company. A frequently-asked-questions list on the company's website claims the facility isn't an incinerator at all: "Old incinerators burned trash inefficiently, had minimal (if any) air emission control systems, produced smoke, and did not recover any of the energy released during the combustion process. Our EFW facility produces steam and electricity that reduces burdens on landfills, recycles waste metals, doesn't smoke, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions... Detroit Renewable Power is subject the most stringent federal, state and local operating and performance permits. Historically the EFW facility has performed well within the federal, state and local operating and performance compliance guidelines." Melissa Cooper Sargent, a resident living within two miles of the incinerator, said several clean air standards have been violated at the 30-year-old facility. "They've had over 750 violations since 2013," Sargent said, citing a study conducted by Breathe Free Detroit. "They've demonstrated they're not able to stay in compliance. Even if they are in compliance, they are still releasing chemicals that can contribute to asthma and climate change ... Everything that is being thrown away and being burned could actually be, much of it could berecycled." The mayor's office says air quality regulation falls under the state control, said Alexis Wiley, Duggan's chief of staff, who met with the activists after the rally. "We are sympathetic to the concerns of these residents, however neither the mayor nor the city have any authority to shut down the incinerator or to regulate its emissions," she said. "That falls completely under the MDEQ, so that's where the petitions should have been delivered. "We had a very constructive conversation and they seem to understand this is a state issue and that the city is contractually obligated to take its trash to the incinerator through October of 2021. As we get closer to the end of that contract we will be taking a closer look at this issue." Kathryn Savoie, community health director for Breathe Free Detroit, argued there are things the city can do. "The city owns the land on which the incinerator operates. The city has a contract with the facility to dispose of our waste. The city has a lot of opportunity to implement new policies," she said. FLINT, MI-- Meetings between the City of Flint and the state will restart in regards to improving the city's water distribution system. The state's decision comes on the same day the Environmental Protection Agency issued a letter urging both parties to put their differences aside and to determine the most effective way to continue holding Flint Water Interagency Coordination Committee meetings. "The meetings will resume, with the understanding that until the city's intentions against the state are clear, the state will need to have attorneys present if the city's attorneys are present," Rick Snyder's Press Secretary Anna Heaton wrote in an email. "We hope the meetings can continue in good faith with honest and open discussions, without the ongoing threat of additional lawsuits." In a letter addressed to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the City of Flint, the EPA states it's administrative order requires both the state and city to work together in improving the water system throughout the city's distribution system. "EPA believes the continuation of the FWICC process, including holding regularly scheduled meetings, will be of value to the Respondents and the City's residents," EPA Water Division Director, Christopher Korleski states in the letter. "I urge the City and State to determine the most effective way to move forward with holding FWICC meetings." The letter was released in response to Flint Mayor Karen Weaver's request for the agency to intervene with the state to force a restart of work by a Flint water advisory committee appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder. Her request to the agency was made three weeks ago. "I am glad to have received the response from Mr. Korleski, and am pleased that he appears to agree with me and my administration that the FWICC meeting is key to the City's ongoing recovery and that despite the differences between City and State officials, this meeting should not be stopped," Weaver stated in an email. "There are still questions that city staff and residents are waiting to be answered regarding the status of our water quality, especially given the sudden end of state-funded bottled water. Moreover, the FWICC meeting is necessary and the Administrative Order requires our participation. My team and I look forward to working with all parties involved to determine how best to ensure that this water recovery meeting resumes as soon as possible." Last month, Harvey Hollins, chairman of the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee, cancelled a meeting of the group because Weaver threatened to sue the state over the city's water crisis. "I am concerned that we haven't received a response from USEPA or MDEQ leaders, now three weeks after I contacted (EPA regional water office Director Chris Korleski), informing him of the situation and asking him to intervene," Weaver's statement Thursday says. Weaver wrote to Chris Korleski, director of EPA's Region 5 Water Office, calling the cancellation retaliatory and saying the decision has prevented the city and state from complying with a January 2016 federal order. The order, which is still in place, required the state, with the city's concurrence, to create a panel of experts to make recommendations on the city's water system. Snyder created FWICC by executive order and Harvey Hollins, director of the state Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives, was appointed chairman of the group. It was Hollins who told Weaver and other committee members not to show up for a meeting scheduled for April 20. Hollins' email to FWICC members said meetings would be on hold "until the city's intentions have been established" regarding a possible lawsuit. The potential lawsuit against the state remains "under consideration," Flint spokeswoman Kristin Moore said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal on Thursday, May 17. Hollins wrote to committee members earlier this month, calling FWICC meetings important and saying he looks forward to reconvening the group. "Admittedly, It is extremely frustrating that certain things external to FWICC truncates the much-needed candid and open discussions," Hollins wrote in an email to the committee. The email came in response to Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a committee member, who wrote to the group after the death of State Superintendent Brian Whiston, a member of FWICC. "As I reflect on his premature death and his unwavering commitment to the potential of all our kids, I hope we can renew our unfinished work and commitment," Hanna-Attisha wrote. "We may have disagreements, but we need to figure out a path forward." HUDSONVILLE, MI -- A 22-year-old woman former day care worker is charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault for allegedly using inappropriate disciplinary methods on children. Keyonia Ratliff was arraigned Wednesday, May 16 in Ottawa County. She previously worked at Rainbow Child Care Center on Edgewater Drive in Allendale. According to a special investigative report from the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, a co-worker allegedly witnessed Ratliff use her fingers to "flick" children in the face and also an open hand to "bop" them on the back of the head. The children involved a 20-month-old boy and two 17-month-old girls. Ratliff came under investigation after police and rescuers went to the day care Feb. 19 on a report of a 3-month-old boy with difficulty breathing. The boy's condition was not related to any abuse, but the visit by authorities to the day care led to a complaint the following day regarding the inappropriate discipline. Ottawa County sheriff's deputies earlier said the alleged assaultive behavior did not inure any children. The Rainbow center in Allendale has been temporarily suspended. NAQOURA, Lebanon, May 18 (ChinaMil) -- The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Headquarters conferred the Certificate of Appreciation on the multifunctional engineering detachment and the construction detachment of the 16th Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon on May 17, local time, to commend the two detachment's outstanding contributions to maintaining regional peace and stability in the past year. The Certificate of Appreciation is the highest honor granted by the United Nations peacekeeping missions in the name of force commander to commend individuals or units that have made outstanding contributions to the peace cause. Chinese peacekeeping detachments have completed all peacekeeping tasks with diligent work and perfect technologies, the UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Michael Beary said in the order of commendation. The UNIFIL Force Commander spoke highly of the Chinese peacekeepers by saying that they have demonstrated a high level of professionalism and valuable dedication. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Grand Rapids Police Department is soon to be recognized among the top 4 percent of law enforcement agencies nationwide. An assessment team from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) has concluded its top-to-bottom review of the department, and submitted a 26-page report of its findings to the CALEA board, recommending accreditation. "GRPD is truly a community-oriented, citizen-focused police agency that is striving to deliver the highest degree of services possible," according to a portion of the report. "They have been transparent and open to discussions with the public about incidents, policies, procedures, training and equipment." CALEA accreditation is considered the gold standard for law enforcement, according to Police Chief David Rahinsky. It shows a dedication to best practices, and can be beneficial in recruitment and applying for grant money. The assessment took almost a year and included a full review of department policies, procedures, file organization, training, staffing levels and policing data. Community members participated during the process through phone calls and public meetings with the assessment team. Rahinsky called it a "glowing report" and a "joint victory" for all of Grand Rapids. The report was released Thursday, May 17. "In terms of the law enforcement climate nationally and some of the conversations and some of the dings this agency has had to go through over the last several years, I think when we do succeed and exceed expectations and we have an outside entity like CALEA, which is really recognized as the gold standard, come in and praise us, it's important to take that opportunity and take a moment to recognize, internally and externally, that this is a victory for the police department and a victory for the community we serve," Rahinsky said. CALEA accreditation was a top priority for the chief when he was hired four years ago. The department voluntarily went through the process, which cost about $25,000 -- half of which was covered by insurance, Rahinsky said. The report acknowledged issues the department has had in recent years, including a traffic stop study that found evidence of minority members of the community being stopped and searched at an inequitable rate to their makeup of the population. However, it praised the department for how it handled such incidents, and pointed to the city's 12-point plan and hiring of 21st Century Policing as examples of positive proactive steps taken in response to high-profile incidents. "Even though the agency has had some incidents over recent years that have caused questions and concerns within some parts of the community, the agency and community are working together," according to the report. "The agency has taken proactive steps to enhance relationships with all citizens." CALEA's assessment team commended the agency for providing a high level of service with a low level of staffing, citing the department's 295 sworn officers serving a community of approximately 190,000. The department has seen an almost 23 percent decline in its ranks since 2002, despite the population returning to that of 2002. Its ratio of officers per 1,000 residents is below national and state averages. Rahinsky has been very vocal about his department's need for more officers in recent years, and he said the CALEA report further strengthens his requests to the city commission for additional funding for officers. The report states that crime levels have generally remained constant or decreased in recent years, while demands for the agency to do more have increased. The assessment team graded training and support of agency personnel as "extremely high," and volume and variety of outreach, community interaction, education, and crime prevention programs offered and conducted by the agency as "exceptionally high." "The report is 20-something pages and I read through it waiting to see if there was that one critique that really struck a nerve in terms of things we needed to improve upon," Rahinsky said. "To our credit, and by that I meant the men and women who worked so diligently on this process, there wasn't that ding." About 4 percent of law enforcement agencies across the country are CALEA accredited. Rahinsky said Grand Rapids will be the largest department to be accredited in Michigan. Grand Rapids will officially receive its accreditation this summer when it hosts CALEA's national conference July 28. Other agencies will be in attendance to earn accreditation and re-accreditation. Afterward, officers will wear pins recognizing the status, and department vehicles will be outfitted with stickers. The CALEA report is available to download on the city website. OTTAWA COUNTY, MI - When Jerad Kluting refused a robber's demand for his Louis Vuitton Kitan, it wasn't so much about his $1,700 designer bag but a refusal to be victimized, he said. He held tight, despite two shots fired into the ground, and another, after the gun jammed, that was fired as he ran. Kluting avoided gunshots but not a media frenzy - he has gotten calls from around the country - about protecting his treasured messenger bag. "The reason I stood up to him was, I was not about to fall victim to a violent crime," he said. "When you're in that situation, nothing can prepare you for what your reaction is going to be. My reaction was to fight back." The robbery happened around 5 p.m. Monday, May 14, on Riley Street near Amwood Avenue in Holland Township. Ottawa County sheriff's deputies arrested Christian Bracamontes, 21, shortly after the holdup. Police spotted a vehicle that fit the description of the robber's and pulled it over. Police recovered a stolen handgun in the vehicle, police said. Kluting, 31, said that his mother, Lisa Kluting, a registered nurse who works in the emergency room, taught him to pay attention to his surroundings, note red flags and have an exit plan. "Don't ignore those signs. They're there for a reason," he said. He was walking back to his home when the robber, his face covered with a bandanna, approached and pulled a gun from his waistband. He said the robber told him to hand over the bag. Kluting recalled the brief exchange, punctuated by gunshots. "'Give me your bag.' No. Boom. 'Give me your bag.'" No. Boom." Kluting bolted after that. The gun jammed before the robber cleared it and fired another shot. "I was in shock," he said. "I wasn't scared until I heard the (last) shot. The first two were meant to intimidate." The final shot, he said, was "absolutely, 100 percent to take my life, to kill me." Kluting, an interior designer, said he now wants to work to fight gun violence. He said he made a "split-second" decision to defy the robber. He said the loss of the bag wasn't the issue. He felt like he was standing up to a bully. Still, he said: "In hindsight, I probably should have given him the bag." KENT COUNTY, MI -- The Kent County Sheriff's Office recently ordered a $175,000 "rapid deployment vehicle" to combat violators of Michigan's medical marijuana law and illegal grow operations. The specially outfitted Ford F-59 step van will largely be used to deploy tactical teams for drug search warrant raids -- most of which are marijuana-related, according to Kent County Undersheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young. The bulk of the cost, $118,314 of it, is paid from the state's Michigan Medical Marihuana Operation and Oversight grant, an annual award to law enforcement promoting education, communication and enforcement of the state medical marijuana law. The remaining $54,812 comes from the county's drug forfeiture fund, according to a purchase proposal unanimously passed by the Kent County Board of Commissioners in March. Although the grant stipulates some use in medical marijuana enforcement, LaJoye-Young contended the purchase won't result in targeted operations and increased scrutiny of caregivers, cardholders and dispensaries in the county. "This is not mark a change in our agenda in any way," the undersheriff said. "We don't set an agenda to shake the trees for marijuana grow operations." The origin of investigations into illegal grow operations and medical marijuana violations are, and continue to be, tips, LaJoye-Young said. There are 5,153 medical marijuana cardholders in Kent County, according to 2017 state data. In 2017, the multi-jurisdictional Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team conducted 613 marijuana-related arrests, confiscated 1,238 marijuana plants, seized about 138 pounds of marijuana, dismantled 26 marijuana-growing operations and inspected four medical marijuana facilities, according to the state grant request. The year before, in late 2016, the Kent County Sheriff's Office caught criticism after they raided three Plainfield Township dispensaries. According to the grant request, the sheriff's office expects to see more "large illegal marijuana growing operations/criminal enterprises" across the county in 2018. "Because of these lengthy and labor-intensive investigations, additional equipment is needed to assist in the investigation, surveillance, raids and dismantling of operations found to be in violation of current laws," the sheriff's office stated in the grant application. "It has been determined that a multi-purpose/rapid deployment vehicle needs to be purchased." The rapid deployment vehicle is expected to roll out sometime in late 2018 or early 2019. It has a 20-year lifespan, looks like a bread truck and won't have any logos labeling it as a law enforcement vehicle, keeping it nondescript and undercover. LaJoye-Young said it can carry about 12 officers and all their raid equipment -- communications devices, flashlights, flak jackets, helmets and flashbang grenades. Having a one-stop shop staging vehicle for raids is a boon, as currently the sheriff's office and Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team require multiple vehicles to transport equipment and officers to a scene. "In some circumstances we would have multiple passenger vehicles with trunks packed out," LaJoye-Young said. "It takes multiple vehicles to get this equipment up to the area." ALGOMA TOWNSHIP, MI -- Michigan regulators have found a way to pass along increasingly detailed information about a plume of toxic chemicals in the groundwater near Rockford that doesn't involve public meetings, announcements or media coverage. It's called "neighborhood meetings." Few people have heard about these gatherings because they aren't publicly noticed or announced beyond hand-delivered invitations. The meetings use government facilities, but are not hosted, per se, by government entities, according to officials in Algoma Township where they've been held 11 times since last fall. No public record of what's been conveyed to homeowners about the contamination investigation or potential health impacts is being kept because, according to township officials, the meetings aren't public and there's no obligation to do so. But attendees say that timely and detailed information not available elsewhere about the investigation into per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, dumped years ago by Rockford-based shoemaker Wolverine World Wide is being shared. Attendees at the most recent meeting, held May 10, say the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality disclosed expansion of a sampling area west of Rockford where Wolverine is testing wells for PFAS from tannery waste the company allegedly dumped into an old farmland gravel pit that was developed into upscale housing. The PFAS testing zone is crossing the Rogue River, which had formed the westernmost testing boundary in Algoma Township. The DEQ hasn't announced the move, although Wolverine contractors began handing out bottled water there last week. Wolverine says the new area includes 19 homes. The DEQ also showed a map with red and yellow dots denoting properties where drinking water had tested positive for high levels of PFAS, as well as streams feeding the Rogue River that are thought to be geologic pathways transporting the chemicals. "There was a lot of information that should be out in the public at that meeting," said Scott Harvey, who lives on Grange Avenue NE near 11 Mile Road in the new testing area. "They showed us maps and told us they'd be posted online soon," Harvey said. "What 'soon' means -- who knows." "It's awfully secretive." Harvey was one of about 40 people who attended the May 10 meeting at the Algoma Township Hall. Township Supervisor Kevin Green said the meetings began seven months ago, on Oct. 19, 2017. Other meeting dates include Oct. 30, Nov. 8 and 13, Dec. 11, 19 and 20, Jan. 16, 21 and 25, and Feb. 22. Attendance has varied, but there are usually 25 to 45 people, Green said. Alongside DEQ, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Kent County Health Department and Wolverine's consultant Rose & Westra GZA have sent people to answer questions at the meetings. Representatives of local legislators like state Sen. Peter MacGregor, R-Rockford, have also attended. "We try to get a mix of toxicologists and geologists," said Green. The state has shared "updated and fresh" information about in-home water filtration, possible extension of Plainfield Township's municipal system to contaminated areas, health impacts of PFAS exposure and "what they have found study-wise," he said. "They're starting to talk about how this affects fishing," Green said. At the most recent meeting, "that came up a lot more than in the past." "It's all done by PowerPoint." The DEQ declined to share the May 10 PowerPoint presentation with MLive, calling it a draft that needs vetting. The agency says the document won't be available until at least June 5 in response to a May 11 Freedom of Information Act request. The DEQ has routinely taken the fully allowable time permitted by law to provide public records related to the PFAS investigations in Rockford and elsewhere. Both Green and DEQ spokesperson Scott Dean likened the meetings to a form of individualized communication with homeowners in the plume areas, arguing that they're essentially no different than a phone call between state staff and residents. The DEQ has done a "fair amount" of such personal briefings, Dean said. "All of these meetings have been at the request of the community, not government officials," he said. "We are accommodating requests from various neighborhoods." "We are an invitee," Dean said. "The DEQ is acting properly in this regard." Green said the township facilities are "reserved often by the neighborhood associations themselves." He characterized the township as a liaison for residents in the area who are concerned with privacy and media exposure. The meetings grew out of a brainstorming session with a neighborhood association president after the PFAS news broke last fall, he said. He characterized the meetings as "joint efforts of the neighborhood associations, the residents, Algoma Township, DEQ and DHHS." Media outlets are not invited, Green said. "We hold these meetings so the residents impacted by it are getting their questions answered," Green said. "It's no different than if they were calling DEQ directly, but this way they get a face-to-face." Although the state began investigating PFAS near the House Street dump last spring, the DEQ and Wolverine kept it quiet until late August, when news broke about drinking water contamination in Belmont. The testing was kept so quiet that residents less than a half mile to the south, in homes that later tested at extremely high PFAS levels, did not learn of it until attorneys began canvassing. The Kent County Health Department subsequently held two large townhall meetings in Rockford regarding House Street, on Sept. 12 and Nov. 29. None have been held since, although Green said there was talk about another one this spring. Health Department spokesperson Steve Kelso said the county doesn't plan to hold another meeting. "We really believe the investigative agency (the DEQ) needs to do that." In contrast to the House Street dump plume, the Algoma Township PFAS plume has received much less attention -- even though contamination levels there are arguably worse. Of the 530 homes tested in Algoma, 194 are positive for PFAS and 67 of those are above the Environmental Protection Agency health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOS and PFOA -- two of numerous PFAS chemicals. Some are way above it. Ten homes are testing between 1,000- and 10,000-ppt for PFOS and PFOA. All PFAS compounds in one well totaled 61,450-ppt -- a state record for PFAS in drinking water that may be the highest in the country. At the May 10 meeting, Harvey said DEQ showed the location of a former gravel pit on high ground at the south end of Lady Lauren Dr. NE in the Wellington Ridge subdivision, where Wolverine is believed to have dumped tannery sludge when the land was farmed. The upscale neighborhood was first developed in the 1990s. When Wolverine may have dumped there is unclear. "The sources are still being identified for this study area," Wolverine said through a spokesperson. Because there are homes built atop the old gravel pit, Harvey said attendees were told any cleanup there would be more difficult than House Street or the Rockford tannery. Blue lines on the DEQ map, which Harvey photographed, show a stream leading from the North Kent Landfill northwest under U.S. 131 to an area of red dots denoting high PFAS wells near 11 Mile and Jewell Ave. NE next to the Rogue River. "That map was a shock to me," said Harvey. "The paleo-geological features told me they know an awful lot more than they are sharing." Harvey said the expanded testing boundaries include land east of Grange Avenue north of the river to Fonger Street, and east to Algoma Avenue. Wolverine did not specify whether a specific contamination level would determine which homes might get filtration systems. "Testing is currently being scheduled for these homes, and the homeowners are being provided with bottled water while waiting for their results," the company said. After MLive began making inquiries, the testing area boundaries were updated midday Thursday on the state website where PFAS information is sometimes quietly posted. Dean said the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) website created in November will be undergoing fixes to make it more user-friendly. The state has sporadically updated the site with Wolverine investigation testing totals for large delineated zones, but does not identify results by property or street. The state is concerned about privacy issues, Dean said. "The community wants these meetings to be small, discreet gatherings," he said. Messages left with the Wellington Ridge and Cottages on the Rogue neighborhood association presidents were not returned. Linda DeVries, who lives on a private drive off Algoma Avenue NE, said she learned about the May 10 meeting from a woman who walked down the street handing out fliers. The flier includes contact information for both Green and his deputy supervisor, and text calling it a "meeting with DEQ, DHHS and a representative from GZA" (Wolverine's consultant), that is "meant to be a neighbor only meeting." "What are they hiding that they don't want outside people to know?" said DeVries, who attended the meeting. The well at DeVries' home has been tested several times this year and she thinks the high PFAS levels found in her drinking water have caused her immune system health problems. Testing has ranged between under 70-ppt to 381-ppt, she said. The PFAS-carrying stream channel runs near her home. Aaron Phelps, a Varnum attorney representing more than 100 clients who are suing Wolverine in over the contamination, said the DEQ's reluctance to disclose information about the PFAS contamination in Rockford is troubling. DEQ refuses to publicly identify specific properties where contamination exists aside from the location of actual some actual dump sites themselves. Dean said that information is only provided to well owners. "If you provided someone's private well data to another entity without their consent, they might feel they had been treated unfairly," he said. Phelps countered that groundwater is a public resource, contamination is a public health threat, water samples are not collected with a confidentiality agreement and are widely disbursed among labs, authorities, homeowners, Wolverine and consultants. There is no basis for secrecy about investigation findings, he said. "They are taking information about a public resource and trying to keep it a secret from the public," Phelps said. "They do it under the guise of protecting residents when, in fact, what they're really doing is trying to protect either themselves or trying to avoid public scrutiny and knowledge about the scope of the problem." The group supporting a clean energy initiative on Michigan's 2018 ballot is ending its efforts after utilities promised to invest in more renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts. The group Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan had been collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that would have raised Michigan's renewable energy portfolio standard to 30 percent by 2030 in increments if passed. In a joint announcement with DTE Energy and Consumers Energy Friday, the group announced the energy companies had agreed to target a goal of 50 percent clean energy by 2030 through a 25 percent investment in renewable energy sources and the rest through energy efficiency. The companies also hope to reduce carbon emissions by more than 80 percent in the coming decades. "Michigan wants clean energy and we saw support across the state from the moment we started this campaign," said John Freeman, the campaign manager for CleanEnergy, Healthy Michigan. "We look forward to working with Michigan's energy companies and leaders across the state to continue to push for more progress on this issue and working for a healthy, prosperous future for Michigan families." A Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan press release said the group had collected 350,000 signatures in support of placing a clean energy initiative on the ballot, which organizers will not submit to the state. The initiative was supported by Tom Steyer, a billionaire philanthropist who is known for backing many progressive causes. Energy companies initially balked at the plan, pointing to the steps they'd already taken to invest in renewables and arguing mandate by ballot initiative would complicate already complex policies. DTE Energy Chairman and CEO Gerry Anderson and Consumers Energy CEO Patti Poppe said in a joint statement that they appreciated Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan's willingness to work with them on clean energy in Michigan. "Our two companies are overwhelmingly in favor of renewable energy and are focused on bringing additional energy efficiency opportunities to our customers," they said. "We will continue to work within the framework put forward by our legislature and regulators to build on our environmental initiatives to benefit all residents of the state." In 2016, the state Legislature passed a plan to overhaul the state's energy policy that included a 15 percent renewable requirement by 2021. Michigan was the first state to end prohibition, the first state to use a police radio system and the first state with a paved road. Did you know our state was also the first to abolish the death penalty? After the Michigan legislature voted to abolish capital punishment on May 18, 1846, the law went into effect March 1, 1847, ending the death penalty in Michigan for nearly every crime. A Michigander could still be executed for treason, according to the law, but that never happened. Michigan firsts: 16 times our state led the waySo what led to Michigan becoming the first state to officially outlaw death as a penalty for crime? It was likely connected to a backlash against casual executions that were common in European countries at the time, according to the Michigan Bar Journal. The state's final public execution took place in 1830. After Stephen Simmons was convicted of an assault on his wife that likely caused her death, he was sentenced to be executed. The idea of executions had become so controversial that Wayne County Sheriff Thomas Knapp refused to carry out Simmons' punishment and a temporary sheriff, Benjamin "Uncle Ben" Woodworth, was called in to complete the act. Since the law ending capital punishment went into effect in Michigan, there has been a single execution carried out in the state. Anthony Chebatoris was convicted of murder in federal court in 1937 and sentenced to death. He was hanged on July 8, 1938 in Milan. More than a century after the vote to abolish the death penalty, the action was cemented in the state constitution when the current version was ratified in 1963. There is still currently one Michigan prisoner on death row. Marvin Gabrion was federally charged with and convicted of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of Rachel Timmerman. Gabrion continues to fight to avoid the death penalty. Including Michigan, 19 states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment. When Michigan State University's $500 million settlement for the Larry Nassar sexual-abuse case is divvied out, it's possible -- even probable -- that some of the biggest individual payouts will be to lawyers rather than victims. Each plaintiff could get between $250,000 and $2.5 million, based on one early estimates. But a collective $165 million could go to the 12 or so law firms representing the victims, assuming Michigan's standard contingency fee of 33 percent for personal-injury lawsuits. And the bulk of those millions would presumably be paid to the four law firms that represent almost 90 percent of the current plaintiffs. That's to be expected in a difficult, complex case that faced some serious hurdles, legal expects say. Among the potential obstacles: Michigan law makes it difficult to sue state agencies; many of the victims had claims that arguably exceeded the statute of limitations, and the law firm representing MSU is one of the best in the country. "Michigan State had a reasonable argument of sovereign immunity" based on state law, said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor. "And (the law firm of) Skadden Arps is not second-string. They are very, very tough; very aggressive. "This was never an easy case. There was a reasonable chance that some of these women wouldn't get anything," Henning said. The Nassar victims "got a good result, but it was never easy." The settlement includes $425 million for the current 332 plaintiffs and $75 million for future plaintiffs. The current plaintiffs could each get up to $2.5 million from the MSU settlement, said David Mittleman, with ChurchWyble/Grewal Law, an Okemos firm that represents 111 Nassar victims, "A rough range is $250,000 to $2.5 million, somewhere around that," Mittleman said. He and other attorneys interviewed by MLive declined to say how much of the settlement will go to legal fees and expenses, but it's likely to be significant. Assuming an 33 percent contingency fee for the Nassar plaintiffs -- the standard fee in Michigan, where most of the cases were filed -- that means $165 million would go to the 12 law firms that have filed lawsuits. Four of those firms represent almost 90 of Nassar victims. Grewal Law represents a third of the victims, and three firms -- Drew, Cooper and Anding of Grand Rapids, White Law of Okemos and Manly Stewart Finaldi of Los Angeles -- have been working jointly with 180 of the 332 plaintiffs. Several of the lawyers said the legal fees will be based on contracts signed with the individual plaintiffs, and that those fees may vary. Some of the women filed their lawsuits in California, where contingency fees can go up to 40 percent, and some filed in Texas, where there is no cap on contingency fees. Contingency fees are an "entrenched" part of the U.S. legal system, especially in the personal-injury cases, said Terence McEnally, a North Carolina attorney who runs the Bernie Sez website that analyzes legal issues. For plaintiffs, the big advantage of the contingency-fee system is they don't pay upfront for legal representation or expenses. The lawyer or lawyers are paid only if and when the plaintiff wins an award. The downside, McEnally wrote in a blog post, is that lawyers can end up with a fee "which, if thought of in terms of hourly rates, would be so outrageous that no one in their right mind would pay it." In an interview with McEnally said his issue with contingency fees involves situations where "lawyers are essentially performing an administrative function and they get a windfall." "I am very, very critical of what many attorneys do, where they're simply being administrators -- like in the case of an auto accident where they gather the documents and broker a deal and get 33 percent" in a situation where not much skill or negotiation is needed, he said. But situations like the Nassar case, McEnally said, "are at the other end of the spectrum." "There are complicated cases that need to be finessed," he said. "It is like rocket science. The lawyers deserve to be well-compensated." McEnally added the value of a personal-injury lawyer goes beyond the hours spent on the case In the case of the Nassar victims, "these are women were nobody was listening to them until capable lawyers came in and gave them a voice," he said. "Who can't applaud that?" Andrew Shubin, an attorney in State College, Penn., was among the attorneys representing victims in the Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse case. In that controversy, Penn State University paid about $109 million to 30-some victims. "There are no apologies necessary" about the fees earned by lawyers in such cases, Shubin said. "We're out there doing what the university didn't do for itself" in terms of protecting children. He added that sexual-abuse cases "are among the hardest and riskiest cases for lawyers to litigate." A big reason, he said, is that the victims in such cases typically have trust issues and are convinced nobody will believe them, which means lawyers working with them have to be counselors as well as advocates. "It's nothing like representing people in auto accidents or cases of catastrophic birth injuries, where it's based on medical records," he said. "With sexual-abuse victims, the damage is continuing." Based on his experience in the Penn State case, he said that plaintiffs making accusations of sexual abuse also can face a "powerful counter-narrative" among supporters of the accused and the institution involved, in which the victims are accused of lying to get money and attention. "It can be incredibly, incredibly painful," Shubin said. "It's ironic that the most contentious cases I've ever had involve children who have been horrendously sexually abused. "Without good lawyers, aggressive lawyers, willing to put their own resources into these cases," plaintiffs such as the Nassar or Sandusky victims would have little recourse, Shubin said. The plaintiffs' lawyers are fighting for justice, he said, and that justice comes in the form of punitive damages. "For better or worse, accountability in our legal system is about money," Shubin added. "That's when people pay attention." LANSING, MI -- The state of Michigan will test 1,380 public water systems and about 460 schools for fluorochemicals as part a comprehensive effort to develop a baseline dataset on their presence in statewide drinking water supplies. On Friday, May 18, letters announcing testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ says the $1.7 million effort will be the most robust survey of water supplies undertaken thus far by any state. The agency says that roughly 75 percent of drinking water consumed in Michigan comes from public water systems. Schools that operate their own wells will be considered priority sites. The goal is to have testing finished by January. "We think this is a proactive step," said DEQ communications director Scott Dean. "It allows us to learn more, even in the absence of clear policy direction from federal agencies." PFAS -- sometimes called "forever chemicals" because they do not naturally degrade or breakdown in the environment -- have been found at more than 30 locations in 15 communities so far across Michigan. The chemistry has been used in fire suppressant foam at airports, fire departments and refineries, as well as by industrial chrome platers and apparel manufacturers. High profile examples of contamination in drinking water include public and private wells in the Rockford area where shoemaker Wolverine World Wide dumped tannery waste laden with PFAs from use of Scotchgard to waterproof shoe leather. Chemical firefighting foam used at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda and Camp Grayling have also caused widespread PFAS pollution in private wells in those areas. The chemicals have also been discovered in water systems that pull from the Great Lakes. The Saginaw-Midland Municipal Supply Corporation, which draws from Lake Huron, and several municipal systems drawing from Lake St. Clair have tested for low PFAS levels. Exposure to PFAS has been linked in human studies to some cancers, thyroid disorders, elevated cholesterol and other diseases. Drinking water testing is the latest effort in a multi-prong state response to PFAS contamination that began with creation of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) in November. Since then, regulators have asked wastewater plants to find PFAS usage among industrial customers and fire departments to find out how much PFAS-laden firefighting foam is in fire department inventories. The public utility and school water will be tested for 14 different PFAS compounds using what's known as the EPA 537 method. The testing announcement comes amid debate about the adequacy of federal health guidance on what concentrations of PFAS exposure is safe after the Environmental Protection Agency and the Trump White House blocked the release of a federal health study that emails show was poised to recommend lower levels. Public health advocates and university researchers say the Environmental Protection Agency health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOS and PFOA -- two of numerous PFAS chemicals -- is not based on the most recent scientific studies and does not adequately protect mothers and unborn children. In January, the DEQ established a new cleanup standard of 70-ppt for PFAS in groundwater used for drinking water. Advocates of lower standards in Michigan say they're concerned PFAS testing guidance issued by the DEQ in materials distributed by the Michigan Department of Education gives the impression that anything under the EPA's 70-ppt level is safe. A PFAS FAQ document distributed by the DOE calls the EPA level "protective of everyone, especially pregnant women, young children, and the elderly." "They're leading people to believe that anything below 70-ppt is fine for school children," said Anthony Spaniola, a Troy attorney who owns a cottage on Van Etten Lake, which is polluted with PFAS from Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Spaniola said assurances that 70-ppt is an acceptable safety threshold in drinking water is "directly at odds" with recommendations by Harvard University public health researcher Philippe Grandjean, who studied immune system impacts on people exposed to PFAS and concluded a safe level is closer to 1-ppt. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reportedly ready to recommend safety thresholds as low as 12-ppt for some PFAS chemicals, according to emails about the blocked PFAS report. Next week in Washington, D.C., Heidi Grether, Michigan DEQ director, is taking part in a PFAS communication panel at the EPA's PFAS Summit. In a statement, MPART director Carol Isaacs said that while "acceptable PFAS exposure levels continue to be debated nationally, the right thing to do here in Michigan is advance our knowledge of this emerging contaminant." "We will share what we learn with the public and are prepared to advise communities, if necessary, on steps they can take to reduce PFAS levels in their water supplies." Only four months ago, Michigan State University's official stance on the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal was that the university had done nothing wrong -- that, in fact, MSU was among Nassar's victims. It underscored that stance with a Jan. 12 court filing seeking to remove MSU as a defendant in lawsuits filed by Nassar victims. While Nassar's actions were "repugnant," the motion said, the university was not legally liable, citing the statute of limitation and state law limiting the ability to sue state agencies, among other arguments. Fast forward to this week, when MSU announced it will spend $500 million to settle the Nassar lawsuits -- a huge sum equivalent to half of MSU's 2017-18 tuition revenue, yet a settlement pulled together so quickly the university has yet to determine exactly where it will get the money. So why did Michigan State move so fast and spend so much to settle the Nassar lawsuits? MSU didn't have much choice, legal experts told MLive. The costs weren't going to go down. Michigan State has been under public pressure to do right by the Nassar victims. The university had little stomach for the lawsuit discovery process. And the MSU community is anxious to move on from the biggest scandal in its history. "MSU was willing to pay a premium and pay quickly because it wanted to avoid lawyers scrutinizing how they enabled Nassar," said Andrew Shubin, a State College, Penn., attorney who represented victims of Jerry Sandusky in the Penn State sex-abuse case. There's also this: The university's hand was essentially forced a few days after its Jan. 12 court filing when Nassar's sentencing hearing in an Ingham County courtroom unexpectedly turned into a national story. Under the glare of national media attention, 156 Nassar victims described in excruciating detail how they were molested by the longtime MSU doctor. Some also described how they raised concerns to raise MSU officials over the years about Nassar's behavior, only to be ignored. That hearing "changed everything" in terms of MSU's defense in the Nassar case, said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor. "Nobody expected that Nassar hearing to get the attention that it did. But once it happened, Michigan State saw it could never let this case go to trial." Tony Dillof, another Wayne State University law professor, agreed. The sentencing hearing "demonstrated to Michigan State what a trial would be like -- and that it would be horrendous," Dillof said. In fact, Henning and Dillof said, Michigan State had a "reasonable" chance of getting the Nassar lawsuits dismissed based on Michigan's legal immunity for state agencies and/or the six-month statute of limitations for filing notice to sue a state entity. But the public outrage generated by the sentencing hearing eliminated the possibility that Michigan State could successfully evade liability through legal technicalities, they said. "They were in a very unattractive position," Dillof said. "People were expecting them to pay something to the victims, and if they had avoid that on a technicality, that would have not played well." "It would have been a public relations disaster," Henning said. Moreover, "as a public institution, there is political accountability as well," Dillof said, putting more pressure on MSU to settle the lawsuits. Shubin agrees that Michigan State's motion to dismiss could have succeeded. "The law makes these cases very, very difficult" by putting significant obstacles in front of individuals trying to told state government accountable, he said. John Manly, a Los Angeles attorney who is one of the lead lawyers for Nassar plaintiffs, concurred Michigan's laws didn't help the Nassar victims. "The law in Michigan is probably the worst in the country for sexual abuse cases," Manly said, adding the average settlement in Michigan for a sexual abuse case is less than $100,000. Shubin suggested that MSU's decision to negotiate a settlement was motivated by the same sentiments as when MSU leadership was taking a hard line. "It's all about protecting the brand," he said. As public outrage swelled, "you're protecting the brand by settling the case fast." In terms of the settlement amount, Shubin and others said it wasn't surprising considering the number of plaintiffs -- 332 so far. By comparison, Penn State University paid $109 million to 30-some victims, and in the largest settlement in the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles paid $660 million in 2007 to settle with 508 victims abused by Catholic clergy. "I think it's in the ballpark" of awards for institutional cases of sexual abuse, Dillof, said. "I was not surprised." He also said the fact $500 million is a "very round number" indicates "both sides had an idea of where this was going to come out." "It doesn't show there was a lot of negotiating or looking at individual claims," he said. Shubin said the $500 million figure is fair and also a "formidable number in terms of the signal it sends" to other institutions. But given the number of victims, Shubin said, "my guess is that MSU is very with happy with that number. In terms of the survivors, I'm sure they're happy too, that they can move on. This was probably a resolution with benefits for both sides." Manly said he doesn't see the case at all as one that was fast or easy. He pointed out the first lawsuit was filed almost two years ago, and this was the third round of mediation. "This was not easy and it was not fast," he said. "The idea that this somehow was easy or it was a lay-down, that's a joke. "This came about because of a lot of hard work," he said, "and a lot of creative legal thinking on the part of our team." KALAMAZOO, MI -- Health services will be closer for residents of Kalamazoo's Edison neighborhood with the purchase of a site for Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offices. The city of Kalamazoo's Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Thursday, May 17, decided to sell two empty parcels at 409 and 427 E. Alcott St. to build a two-story, 70,000-square-foot building. The division of state government bought the property for $280,000, with an additional $400,000 guaranteed during the next 20 years. Terri Fitzpatrick, Boji Group's chief executive officer, delivered a presentation on the planned DHHS offices to city officials Thursday morning. A 14-month construction schedule is expected to begin in September, if the state legislature approves a lease agreement by July. Plans include 293 above-ground parking spaces for employees, 100 spaces in an underground structure and 75 spots for visitor parking. Assistant City Manager Jerome Kisscorni said the project has been very difficult, but that state Rep. Jon Hoadley and state Sen. Margaret O'Brien have been instrumental in moving the work forward. The development is not expected to impact potential flooding in the area. The new occupants are not seeking a permit to discharge runoff into Portage Creek. It will sit on a portion of the Performance Paper Mill site, which required years of state and federal funding to clean up. Historic contamination and damage to Portage Creek was caused by paper mills releasing polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. PCBs have been demonstrated to cause a variety of adverse health effects, according to the EPA, including being probable human carcinogens. The parcels were acquired from the state by the city's brownfield authority in 2003 and 2005. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the city, and the Environmental Protection Agency demolished former buildings on the site, removed contaminated soils and reconstructed Portage Creek. Last week, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality loaned the city of Kalamazoo $600,000 for additional cleanup activities. The site has been marketed as part of a medical and health services campus. Community partners have focused investment on Alcott Street to put health services in one location on Kalamazoo's south side. It began with the completion of a new $15 million, 50,000-square-foot Family Health Center location last year. A community needs assessment determined more health resources were needed in the Edison neighborhood. A building at 311 E. Alcott St. will be redeveloped into a new space for 160 staff members from Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services. The move will take place between Monday, July 30, and Friday, Aug. 3. The department's offices will be closed to the public during the scheduled move week and will re-open at the new location on Monday, Aug. 6, when it will return to normal hours of operation. Paraguay's government says President Horacio Cartes will open the country's new embassy to Israel in Jerusalem on Tuesday, following similar steps by the United States and Guatemala. Government spokesman Mariano Mercado says Cartes will leave for the trip on Saturday. The decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem has been controversial in Paraguay. It comes less than two months before Mario Abdo Benitez replaces Cartes, and the president-elect has said he wasn't consulted. NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI - The Michigan Department of Transportation is planning to resurface a significant stretch of M-37 in the cities of Grant and Newaygo, and is seeking public input from area residents. MDOT plans to resurface five miles of M-37 from M-82 in Newaygo to East State Street in Grant. The department estimates the project will cost $2.6 million to resurface M-37. Work began on May 7 and is slated to continue until Aug. 27. Between May and June, weekday traffic will be reduced to a single lane of M-37. All lanes will remain open over the weekend. The tail end of the project will include the reconstruction of M-37 between West State and East Lee Street. An new storm drain system will be installed during reconstruction. Between June and August, northbound M-37 truck and through-traffic will be detoured east on 128th Avenue. One lane of southbound traffic will remain open throughout the project. Overall, MDOT officials said the upgrade will extend the life of the road and will improve drivability. MDOT plans to hold a public meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Grant Community Center, 105 S. Front St. Representatives from MDOT will be on hand to present project details and scheduling. The presentation primarily concerns work in Grant, which aims to build an additional storm water drain drain system as MDOT reconstructs M-37 between West State Road and East Lee Street. Residents are invited to attend to learn more and to provide public comment. SAGINAW, MI -- A man is being held behind bars with no bail and hopes to hire a popular local lawyer to represent him on an open murder charge. Cedell "Smoke" Virgies III, 36, was arraigned by Saginaw District Court Judge Randall Jurrens on a count of open murder for the homicide of Jermaine Boose. Boose, 23, was shot to death early morning on May 5 at the Birch Park apartments, 3000 Birch Park Drive. Boose was the city's eighth homicide of 2018. Virgies, who also faces probation violation charges, is also charged with a count of felony firearm, in relation to Boose's death. Jurrens asked Virgies if he had an attorney to which he responded no. However, Virgies told Jurrens he hopes to hire Alan Crawford, who is becoming a popular choice for people in Saginaw charged with serious crimes. Crawford is currently representing The Rev. Robert Deland, who is charged with sex and drug crimes. Virgies was ordered held without bail. "Unless the serious situation which led to the suspension of the North-South high-level talks is settled, it will never be easy to sit face to face again with the present regime of South Korea," the North's official Korean Central News Agency quoted Ri Son-gwon, the chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, as saying. A senior North Korean official on Thursday put the blame for canceled cross-border talks firmly on the "incompetent" South Korean government. Ri added, "The direction of the future North-South ties relations will entirely depend on the behavior of the South Korean authorities." North Korea in the small hours Wednesday abruptly canceled high-level talks planned for that day, citing a South Korea-U.S. air drill and a high-profile press conference by a prominent defector in the National Assembly. Ri accused Seoul of hypocrisy in expressing regret at the cancellation. "Far from thinking over the meaning of the step taken by [North Korea] and taking necessary follow-up measures, they went so senseless as to express 'regret' and 'urge' something," he fulminated. He denounced the South Korean authorities "an ignorant and incompetent group devoid of the elementary sense of the present situation." The regime took exception to the "Max Thunder" joint South Korea-U.S. aerial drill, which has been going on since last Friday, and widely publicized remarks by Thae Yong-ho, the former No. 2 man in the North Korean Embassy in London and now a vocal critic of the regime, warning that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons. Ri fumed the drill "is aimed at precision strike on key strategic objects of [North Korea] and the seizure of the air control together with the U.S." The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana. Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, May 18, 2018 Afghanistan - U.S. Military Finds No Fault With Special Forces' Potential Drive-By Murder On January 9 we wrote about a video some U.S. special force veteran had posted online to promote his tactical clothing brand. The U.S. military launched an investigation into the issue and has now announced its conclusion. Here are the first graphs of the original Moon of Alabama report: Afghanistan - U.S. Special Forces Commit Drive-By Murder (Video): A recent video mashup provided by some U.S. Special Force soldiers in Afghanistan seems to show evidence of a warcrime. A military truck passes a civilian truck on a paved road at normal traveling speed. A soldier fires directly and intentionally at the driver of the civilian truck without any discernible reason. This is the relevant two second long cut (repeated 5 times) from a private video mix of scenes taken during the last few months in Afghanistan. The reporting on the video was taken up by several mainstream news sites. The U.S. military in Afghanistan launched an investigation into the incident. Stars & Stripes, a newspaper for the U.S. military, now reports of the official result: Probe: No criminality in incident of soldier shooting into Afghan truck caught on video: An American servicemember seen in an online video shooting into a moving truck in Afghanistan acted in accordance with military rules, an investigation has found. ... After a thorough investigation, [the Armys Criminal Investigation Command] found that the Americans had acted in accordance with the rules of engagement, Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the command, said in a statement. An Afghan driver ignored several warnings not to encroach on the U.S. convoy, so a non-lethal beanbag projectile was fired at the driver, Grey said. Its not clear where the shooting took place, what units were involved, or whether the driver was injured. Officials did not immediately release a copy of the investigation. Some critics found the results of the investigation troubling. Matthew Nasuti, a former Air Force captain and military lawyer, said via email that the findings were not credible. He suggested a shot into the drivers window was too risky and could have caused more harm than warranted. ... U.S. military officials declined to comment on the incident and referred questions to CIC. A spokesman there declined to provide comment beyond Greys brief statement. Note: The scene discussed above was only one short take in the longer video. Other scenes were from special force action in Afghanistan. I had uploaded the full video to the MoonofA Youtube account and linked the unlisted video in the above piece. Youtube took the video down and sent a warning (three warnings and you are out ...). The original link now goes to a page which says: This video has been removed for violating YouTube's policy on violent or graphic content. As the video was unlisted, no Youtube search would have found it. Someone must have seen the video on Moon of Alabama, disliked the content or the fact that it was published on, and complained about it to Youtube. For documentary purposes a copy of the full video is provided here (video, 46 MByte). Posted by b on May 18, 2018 at 11:58 UTC | Permalink Comments May 18, 2018 Trump's Newest Threat To North Korea Makes A Deal Impossible President Trump again derailed the negotiations with North Korea. It will be difficult to get them back on track. The attitude he showed makes it unlikely that any deal will be made. Tuesday night North Korea threatened to cancel the summit with U.S. President Trump. Remarks by U.S. National Security Advisor Bolton that the "Libya model" would be applied to North Korea were taken as insult. Libya had bought some equipment that could be used to eventually start Uranium enrichment. But it never had a coordinated program to develop nuclear weapons nor did it have the industrial and academic base to pursue such a project. To get out of sanctions Libya gave up the little material it had. All was shipped to the U.S. before the sanctions were lifted. Bolton probably referred to only that part of the "Libya model". But there is also the other part. A few years after Libya had given up its minuscule nuclear stuff France, the United Kingdom and the U.S. (FUKUS) waged a regime change war against it. With U.S. help Muhammad Ghaddafi was murdered by radical Islamists and Hillary Clinton even joked (vid) about it. Libya has since devolved into total chaos and a multi-sided tribal war with continued foreign meddling. North Korea naturally rejects both parts of the Libya model. It sees itself -quite rightly- as a full fledged nuclear state. It demands negotiations on an equal base. On Wednesday, after the North Korean threat to cancel the summit, the White House spokesperson pulled back on Bolton's "Libya model": Referring to the Libya comparison, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that she hadn't "seen that as part of any discussions so I'm not aware that that's a model that we're using. "I haven't seen that that's a specific thing. I know that that comment was made. There's not a cookie cutter model on how this would work." The train to the summit seemed back on its track. Then Donald Trump derailed it again. During a press conference yesterday he was asked about the "Libya model" issue (vid) and, in a seemingly off the cuff remark, managed to push the divisive comparison to a new level: The model, if you look at that model with Gaddafi, that was a total decimation. We went in there to beat him. Now that model would take place if we dont make a deal, most likely. But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy. One might call that the 'art of the mafia deal': "Sign here or I will kill you." Some media pretend that Trump was only "assuring" Kim Jong-un. Reuters headlined Trump seeks to placate North Korea's Kim over uncertain summit; the New York Times: Trump and North Korea Rebuff Boltons Libya Model; Politico: Trump offers North Koreas Kim assurances and a warning. In my book a thread of "total decimation" is a quite a bit more than "a warning". The British Guardian had a more realistic take: Donald Trump's threat to Kim Jong-un: make a deal or suffer same fate as Gaddafi. The threat Trump made shows North Korea that it was right to acquire nuclear weapons and the capability to launch them onto the continental United States. Giving them up would be suicidal. Trump also mumbled that he would give "strong assurances" to North Korea and Kim Jong-un for their safety should they make a deal. He did not explain what those assurances would be. The way Trump destroyed the nuclear agreement with Iran, which came with "strong assurances" from a U.S president and a UN Security Council endorsement, demonstrates that no assurance the U.S. ever gives is worth the paper it is written on. When the summit was announced I gave it little chance to succeed because there were too many potential spoilers with interests to keep the conflict with North Korea going. These include John Bolton, the U.S. military and the Japan's president Abe. North Korea will surely respond to Trump's "total decimation" threat. It will likely pull out of the summit, planned for June 12 in Singapore. It may come back if the White House backtracks on Trump's remarks. China, which is nudging North Korea and the U.S. towards making a deal, will let the White House know what it needs to do. But I now believe that the summit, if it takes place at all, has zero chance to succeed. Trump has no knowledge of the political and technical details and no feel for Asian culture. He will huff and puff and insult his negotiation partner. He will likely demand the total nuclear disarmament of North Korea. He will end up with no deal. Only after that failure will he learn that a "total decimation" of North Korea is not an option he can pursue. Posted by b on May 18, 2018 at 20:10 UTC | Permalink Comments Morgan Hill resident Kayla Womach, a ninth grader at Valley Christian High School, (second from left in photo) was part of a four-person team to win the Presidents Business Challenge, a Business & Entrepeneurship Initiative at the San Jose private school. Her team won money totaling $1,000 for the team. The winning team was announced at the annual BEI Banquet, which was held May 5 at Valley Christian High School. Through the BEI, students not only learn core business concepts through school-day courses, but are also given the chance to apply what they learn through numerous business programs, according to the school. A team of six teachers from Barrett Elementary has received the Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation California Educator Leveraging Innovation by Growing and Honoring Teachers (LIGHT) Award, according to a May 14 announcement. The team of Dawn Petty, Teresa Colbert, Jen Myers, Diane Wilson, Heather Oliver and Janet Lammers receive $30,000 over two years to fund Teacher Learning Labs. This award is going to allow us to jump-start a program of math instruction that we believe will be super engaging and empowering to the students, said Barrett Principal Mary Alice Callahan of the award. The LIGHT Awards program is designed to honor the significant and influential role that educators play in our society. It allows teachers to enhance their skills and passion as professionals and renew their commitment to the career of teaching. The Barrett teachers goal is to change the way they teach math by using the new National Council of Teachers of Mathematics effective teaching practices, which establishes a more student-centered approach, according to Morgan Hill Unified School Districts release. The team plans to attend their chosen professional development opportunities/classes, and use time to collaborate and develop lessons with activities. Over the course of two years, team members will build math units and try them out with their students. They will design lessons where students learn to construct knowledge instead of relying on the teacher to model one way to find solutions. We are super excited and every teacher engaged in the grant is looking forward to beginning this summer as we meet and study together, Callahan said. It will be a lot of work, but we think it will also be a wonderful experience for the teachers, the students and our families here at Barrett. The grant allows Barrett to develop a two-year professional development agenda and builds in dedicated time for teachers to learn, to plan, to observe each other, to refine, to teach others and to engage deeply in a what some would call a cycle of inquiry for re-imagining what the best mathematical teaching and learning practices could be. North Korea's highest court has handed down death sentences in absentia for defectors who are campaigning in South Korea for the improvement of human rights in the North, the Liberty Korea Post reported Tuesday. According to the defectors' online news outlet, the chief of one defector group that has sent propaganda to the North has recently heard from his mother in the North that the court sentenced him to death. His mother is living home alone and all his brothers have been sent to a political prison camp. Agents from the State Security Department read her the court decision, which caused her to faint, the website said. He told the website the agents also threatened that the sentences will be carried out by assassins. The website also said that in late 2016, the North's highest court handed down death sentences for 24 defectors. The government will reveal records of its interventions into the domestic foreign currency market from March next year. Korea is on a U.S. watchlist of currency manipulators, either for issuing comments to sway trading activities or actually buying or selling currencies to keep the won low for exporters. The records to be published are net trades, which will be disclosed every six months until the first half of next year and every three months thereafter. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Bank of Korea decided to take the step at a meeting Thursday. Ever since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held two summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has increased supplies of crude oil to North Korea and female workers are streaming across the border again, Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday. These are among the latest signs suggesting China may have compromised international sanctions against North Korea, which has suddenly become more abrasive again in its rhetoric against the West after Kim met Xi for the second time in as many months. One source in the Chinese border city of Dandong told RFA that China is rumored to be sending North Korea 80 tanker trucks a day filled with crude oil. Each oil tanker truck holds 60 tons of crude oil, adding up to 4,800 tons a day. That would clearly violate the 4 million barrel limit -- around 640,000 tons or 1,754 tons a day -- the UN has set. Oil brought from a well in Heilongjiang Province is stored at a facility 30 km north of Dandong, where the pipeline heading to North Korea starts before passing under the Yalu River. One staffer at Japan's Asia Press said, "Gasoline prices in North Korea started to go down slightly in mid-April, and on May 8, [a day after Kim visited China] gasoline and diesel prices fell 35 percent compared to the previous day." The number of complex investment strategies available to investors has never been greater. But most investors are probably still best served by a few simple, market-cap-weighted index funds. One of the pre-eminent reasons for the popularity of index-tracking funds revolves around the notion of market efficiency--the idea that the market quickly and accurately incorporates all available information about a public company into its stock price. This all-knowing market mechanism makes it difficult to identify stocks that are mispriced, so the logical conclusion is that you should simply own the index and take advantage of the market's long-term aggregate growth. This is a mostly valid argument (there are times when the all-knowing market can be a bit of a know-nothing), and one that I would largely agree with. But the rationale for using a market-cap-weighted index fund goes beyond market efficiency. The Letter of the Law Last month, the New York attorney generals office published a letter recommending that investors in actively managed stock funds consult a calculation called Active Share. It is an unusual thing for an attorney general to give such specific investment advice. Then again, New York attorneys general tend to be an unusual breed. (Morningstar currently does not publish Active Share scores on Morningstar.com, but will do so in the future. They are available in our institutional, Morningstar Direct product) Unfavorable weather weighed on the most recent quarterly results for many of the agriculture companies we cover, as a delayed start to the U.S. planting season reduced sales across every crop input category. While seed sales should bounce back in the next quarter, we expect lower quantities of nitrogen and crop chemicals will be used in 2018 as the late start reduces midseason applications. However, stronger potash demand outside North America should more than offset stagnant or slightly reduced demand in North America. So far this year, potash and phosphate prices have been supported by reduced supply. In potash, new supply delays via lower-than-expected potash production from SQM (SQM) and K+S (SDF) have led to a tighter market. We expect this dynamic to continue throughout the year, and weve raised our 2018 potash price forecast to $270 per metric ton. Phosphate prices have also been supported by reduced supply as production has decreased in both the United States (from Mosaic (MOS)) and China. Accordingly, weve raised our 2018 phosphate price forecast to $380 per metric ton. Our long-term price forecasts for potash and phosphate are unchanged at $270 and $350 per metric ton, respectively, in real terms. NAR Curtails Earlier Home Sales Estimates In the face of continuing inventory shortages, declining consumer sentiment in favor of buying a home, and concern about the homeownership impacts of the 2017 tax cut bill, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has revised down, albeit only slightly, its forecast for home sales this year. Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told Realtors attending NAR's Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo that, after accelerating 3.8 percent in 2016, existing home sales rose only 1.1 percent to 5.5 million in 2017. He forecasts they will finish this year around 5.6 million, a gain of 1.8 percent. In his initial 2018 forecast last November Yun said he expected sales to increase by 3.7 percent to 5.67 million units. Looking further into the future, he sees 2019 sales totaling 5.7 million existing homes. As he has dozens of times over the past several years, Yun cited the widespread shortage of homes for sale as a major problem for homebuyers. He said that, while home sales have been rising modestly since the first of the year, the short supply is putting pressure on home prices. Without a larger inventory to satisfy demand, contract activity "is likely to remain flat and will more or less continue sideways through the end of the year." At the end of March there were 1.67 million existing homes available for sale, down 7.2 percent from the 1.80 million listings at the same point in 2017. Inventory has trended down steadily for the past five years, Yun said, and levels are the lowest in a generation. Available homes are estimated at a 3.6-month supply at the current sales pace compared to 3.8 months a year ago. Despite the shortages, Yun said "Overall fundamentals remain solid, driven by a growing economy and steady job creation, which will sustain home sales in 2018 slightly above last year's pace. The worsening housing shortage means home prices are primed to rise further this year too, hindering affordability conditions for homebuyers in markets across the country." Also speaking at the session, Danielle Hale, chief economist at realtor.com said the affordable inventory shortage is especially acute. According to the website's data there are 250,000 fewer starter homes, those priced under $200,000, now than there were in May 2015. Millennials, boomers and inventors may all be going after the same affordable inventory of homes, so competition is great. Still she expressed some optimism saying they have started to see new listings grow in recent months, but adding "The inventory shortage isn't over, it took us years to get into an inventory rut, so it's going to take us years to get out of it, but we do see signs of a turnaround." Yun also moderated his earlier prediction for a 5.5 percent increase in home prices this year. He said the aggregate of increases from 2011 to 2017 total 48 percent. He expects an additional 4 percent in appreciation this year. The increases, he said, have far outpaced income growth, which is up only 15 percent since 2011. Increased home prices on top of rising mortgage rates - Yun anticipates rates will rise to 4.6 in 2018 and 5 percent in 2018 - puts affordability, measured by NAR's Housing Affordability Index, at a six-year low and he said it will likely continue to fall in coming months. "Challenging affordability conditions have prevented a meaningful rise in the homeownership rate after having fallen to a 50-year low a few years ago," said Yun. "To increase homeownership, more home construction is needed, which could be boosted by delivering regulatory relief to community banks, removing the lumber tariff, re-examining stringent zoning laws and training more workers for the construction industry." A third speaker, Jessica Lautz, NAR's director of demographics and behavioral insights, presented findings about homeownership from her doctoral thesis, Is the Dream Still Alive? Tracking Homeownership Amid Changing Economic and Demographic Conditions. According to Lautz, the affordability crisis has impacted some segments of homebuyers more than others, specifically African American and Hispanic/Latino buyers and those with student debt. She said student loan debt has risen dramatically and presents a massive barrier to homeownership, delaying homeownership among millennials who have it by a median of seven years. Her research found that consumers with student loan debt who were successful in buying purchased a home costing 17 percent less than those without any student debt. Consumer optimism that now is a good time to buy a home has fallen the past two years, Yun said, citing data from an NAR survey and other studies. Hale said realtor.com has found that buyers aren't giving up their dreams of purchasing a home. New survey data from the website found three-fourths of recent shoppers started their home search in 2017 and are still in the market in 2018. "Buyers know it's tough, 35 percent of shoppers anticipate a lot of competition, but they remain optimistic, and more than 70 percent expect to close in 2018," she said. Yun said affordability conditions would improve measurably if homebuilders increased their production of homes, especially in the affordable price ranges. He forecasts housing starts to come in around 1.3 million in 2018 and reach 1.4 million in 2019, but that is barely above year-ago levels and well below demand. Shipwreck 'treasures' trace maritime history From:Shine | 2018-05-18 01:29 Two models of Chinese ships are on display. Shachuan (sand boat) on the left will be exhibited at the Peoples Square Metro station in July. The China Maritime Museum in the Lingang area of Pudong is currently hosting a collection of 242 artefacts, mostly ceramics, recovered from shipwrecks. The exhibition, entitled China and the World, focuses on 11 shipwrecks and the cargoes sunk with them, ranging from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Many merchant ships were destroyed by storms or other disasters, said Mao Min, who works at the museum. Shipwrecks tell a lot about the commercial history of ancient China and its trade links with the world. All shipwrecks, domestic or foreign, carried cargoes of ceramics made in China. One of them was the famous Belitung shipwreck found in Indonesia. Its believed to have been an Arabic merchant ship dating back to 9th century. The exhibition displays 12 ceramics recovered from the ship. From the discoveries, we get a glorious glimpse of the Tang era, said Mao. Some 67,000 artefacts were found in the shipwreck, 98 percent of which were ceramics made in China. The exhibition also includes artefacts made abroad. A Persian pot found in Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province, is considered a premier display item. There are only four of such imports from the Tang Dynasty, Mao said of the pot. They were preserved and found in China. Ceramics tell us much about the prevailing cultures during which they were made. As dynasties changed, the recovered ceramics show increasing cultural diversity, Mao said. Wang Rongjiang / SHINE A blue and white porcelain kettle from the Qing Dynasty. He cited a plate with glazed Arabic script found in the city of Zhangzhou in Fujian Province, a relic from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was obviously customized for western Asia clients, said Mao. The pattern of Chinese ceramics had a great impact on ceramic works from around the world. Many foreign countries copied our style of the time. In addition to ceramics, the museum also displays the restored models of the ships before they sank. Alongside them is a model of Baochuan, or Treasure Ship, that carried the famous Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He (1371-1433) on voyages that extended as far as Africa. On July 11, Shanghai will host the Maritime Day of China, said Huang Jiaping, director of the museums operations department. For the event, the museum will coordinate with Shanghai Metro to showcase one of our ship models in the hall of the Peoples Square Station. It is a model of a shachuan, or sand boat, one of four typical ship models of ancient China that plied essentially on Yangtze River. Wang Rongjiang / SHINE A plate made during Ming Dynastywith Arabic lines on the glaze. Since Tang Dynasty, sand boats have been the major carrier of river cargos in and out of Shanghai for almost a thousand years. A sand boat is part of the emblem of Shanghai, symbolizing the citys long history as a port. Yang Zheng, a volunteer at the museum, said the current exhibition is very informative and interesting. It gives us a lot of information about ancient ships and ceramics, said Yang. Its another way of looking at history. Huang said most of the museums visitors are students on field trips, said Huang. The museum is capable of handling more than 8,000 visitors at one time. The usual entry fee of 50 yuan (US$8) will be waived today and reduced by half this weekend to mark the International Museum Day. Home Just In Bishwa Prakash Sharma: Nepali Congress will be good opposition after communist merger Nepalgunj, May 18 Nepali Congress spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma says the party does not believe that opposition parties have to resort to agitation and strikes. As the two ruling parties recently merged into one, Sharma clarified that his party would continue to be a good opposition despite the challenge it faced with the unification. He argued that the unification between the two large communist forces would strengthen democracy, and that his party viewed the unification in the same light. It is wrong to think that Nepali Congress lost just one election. Now, the Congress will commit itself to building its organisation after reviewing its defeat, he added. Speaking at a press meet organised in Banke on Friday morning, Sharma said, The opposition party must play creative and constructive roles. Throwing stones and holding strikes are not the mark of a character of a good opposition; Nepali Congress is a good opposition party. Stating that NC would review the works after the incumbent government reaches its hundred days in office, he said that his party would raise alertness over weak and wrong steps and not stint in extending support on good works. RSS For the past 17 years Andrew Storer has been a part of the faculty of the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (SFRES) at Michigan Technological University. On July 1, he will lead it. Michigan Tech Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Jacqueline Huntoon announced that Storer, the associate dean of SFRES since 2012, will succeed Dean Terry Sharik, who will retire at the end of June. Calling it an exciting opportunity at a very exciting time for the University, Storer says he is looking forward to working with faculty, staff and students to explore areas where the School and University can continue to contribute to creating the future in a changing world. He says his years as associate dean have prepared him to help facilitate growth in the School and its programs. Huntoon says Storers experience makes him well prepared to take on the leadership of SFRES: He has been involved in accreditation activities, hosting the Schools external advisory board, reviewing and improving undergraduate and graduate curricula, mentoring faculty and students and managing financial commitments. At the same time, according to Huntoon, Storer has been able to maintain a strong research program that brings him, the School and the University national and international recognition. Andrew Storer will become dean of the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science on July 1, 2018. More than forestry Storer received the Universitys Research Award in 2012 and sees research as one of the biggest challenges facing SFRES. There is an environment where there are more people competing for fewer resources, he says. SFRES has been a leader in research areas such as forestry, ecology, wildlife biology and genetics." "We will develop strategies to ensure we remain at the forefront of research and build on our strong reputation." Andrew Storer Storer earned his bachelors, masters and PhD degrees from University of Oxford in England. An entomologist by training, Storer sees SFRES as much more than forestry. The School has developed distinctive education and research programs in areas such as ecology, wildlife management, climate change, conservation biology, molecular genetics and geospatial sciences. Leading by collaborating Storer views interdisciplinary cooperation as the key to success and sees multiple areas of collaboration between engineered and natural systems. This can include managing natural resources to provide various materials from them and understanding the benefits of natural systems on human health and wellbeing, he says. Storer joined the Michigan Tech faculty in 2001 and rose to the rank of professor of forest insect ecology. In addition, he has served as director of the Honors Institute at Michigan Tech and director of graduate studies within the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. His areas of expertise include forest insect ecology, impacts of exotic species on forest ecosystems, interactions among fire, insects and disease in forests and urban forest health. Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, the University offers more than 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure. Kathmandu, May 18 After successfully testing the operation of old traffic lights in Naya Baneshwor and Maharajgunj, the Department of Roads has said that it will soon repair old traffic lights and install them at various other junctions of the Kathmandu Valley. The Department has already concluded a study for the reuse. Earlier, the Department had tried to install an intelligent traffic control system with the financial and technical support from Asian Development Bank. The attempts, however, failed. A meeting of the Cabinet had directed the Department to bring the traffic lights into operation. Following the directive, the traffic lights were installed in Naya Baneshwor and Maharajgunj. Ra 1.5 million was spent to repair traffic lights in Naya Baneshwor whereas Rs 2.7 million was spent to repair them in Maharajgunj. Around Rs 2 million needs to be spent for the repairing of traffic lights in more than 20 locations of the Valley, according to the Department. A look at what's happening around the majors today: TOUGH TRIP The New York Yankees will be back in action, they hope, during a rather strange road swing. Their game at Washington on Tuesday night was suspended in the sixth inning because of rain, and they were washed out the next day at Nationals Park. The Yankees then spent Wednesday night at Dulles International Airport because of bad weather and plane trouble, and traveled to Kansas City on Thursday. After a day off, CC Sabathia and the Yanks take on the Royals. The weather forecast is calling for a zero percent chance of rain. MAYBE Shortstop Dansby Swanson could return to the Braves' lineup when they host Miami. Swanson has been on the disabled list because of inflammation in his left wrist. The 24-year-old Swanson is hitting .289 in 28 games for Atlanta. MAXING OUT Max Scherzer is dominating this season after winning the last two NL Cy Young Awards. He is 7-1 with a 1.69 ERA for Washington, striking out a league-high 91 in only 58 2/3 innings. Scherzer starts at home and takes on the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have lost six of seven. AVAILABLE Right-hander reliever Junichi Tazawa has been designated for assignment by the Marlins. He was cut after giving up three runs in one inning of a 7-0 loss to the Dodgers. Tazawa, who turns 32 next month, is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in 22 games. He is making $7 million this year. "I'm hoping a change of scenery will benefit me and get me back on track," he said in a statement released by the team. "I do feel fine, and that is the frustrating part about all of this." TRY AGAIN Alex Cobb makes another bid to post his first win with Baltimore. He is 0-5 with a 7.06 ERA in six starts since signing a $57 million, four-year deal as a free agent late in spring training. He's set to face the Red Sox at Fenway Park. PERFECT SO FAR Astros righty Charlie Morton is 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA going into his start at home vs. Cleveland. Morton struck out 14 without a walk in seven innings against Texas in his last outing. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. TRENTON, N.J. (AP) The Latest on the aftermath of a school bus crash with a dump truck in New Jersey (all times local): 5:30 p.m. The owner of a trucking company whose dump truck collided with a school bus on a New Jersey highway says he's "deeply saddened" by the accident, which killed a student and a teacher and injured more than 40 other people. Mendez Trucking Co. owner Juan Munoz on Friday called the wreck a terrible tragedy. The bus was carrying 38 fifth-graders and seven adults from Paramus (puh-RAM'-uhs) on a field trip on Thursday and was traveling on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive when it hit the truck and toppled over. Munoz's attorney says the company is cooperating with authorities as they investigate. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has ordered flags at state buildings to be flown at half-staff on Monday. ___ 4 p.m. A New Jersey lawmaker is calling for a hearing into school bus safety after a crash left a student and teacher dead and dozens injured. Democratic state Sen. Joseph Lagana said Friday that he wants a special transportation committee hearing to analyze safety standards, review best practices and compare New Jersey with other states. The chairman of the committee and the senate president both say they support the idea. The bus carrying 38 fifth-graders and seven adults was traveling on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive when it hit a dump truck. Officials say most of the dozens of people hurt in the accident have been discharged. The crash is under investigation. ___ 2:45 p.m. Officials say most of the dozens of people injured in a New Jersey school bus crash that left a student and a teacher dead have been discharged from hospitals. But they have declined to provide further details about the types and severity of the injuries they suffered in the crash Thursday on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive. The cause remains under investigation. The bus was carrying 38 fifth-grade students from the East Brook Middle School in Paramus and seven adults. It was headed to Waterloo Village for a field trip when it collided with a dump truck. Forty-three people from the bus and the truck driver were hospitalized. Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, a social studies teacher who had taught for about two decades, and an unidentified student were killed in the crash. ____ 9 a.m. The husband of a New Jersey teacher killed along with a student in a school bus crash that also injured dozens of others says he's "in shock, devastated and totally crushed" by the tragedy. Kevin Kennedy released a statement late Thursday to News 12 New Jersey, hours after the crash on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive killed Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy and an unidentified student and injured dozens of others. The bus was carrying 38 fifth-grade students from the East Brook Middle School in Paramus and seven adults. It was headed to Waterloo Village as part of a field trip when it collided with a dump truck. Kennedy wrote that "my beautiful bride and I have been in total love every day of our lives since the day our eyes met on May 5th, 1994." Police haven't commented on the cause of the crash. ___ 7 a.m. Staff members and some students are starting to arrive at a New Jersey school that's mourning the loss of a student and teacher killed in a school bus crash that also injured dozens of other students. Paramus school officials say they decided to hold classes Friday at the East Brook Middle School so students and staff could be together and grieve following Thursday's accident on Interstate 80 west in Mount Olive. Crisis counselors will be on hand to offer assistance. The bus was carrying 38 fifth-grade students and seven adults, including the driver. It was headed to Waterloo Village as part of a field trip. The names of the student and teacher killed have not been disclosed. ___ 12:25 a.m. Investigators are working to determine why a school bus taking a group of fifth-graders on a field trip collided with a dump truck and tipped over on a busy New Jersey highway, killing a student and a teacher. The crash happened Thursday morning on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of New York. Police declined to release details about how the crash happened, but it occurred on a stretch of highway just past the exit for Waterloo Village, where the group from East Brook Middle School was headed. The bus wound up on a guardrail close to a spot for emergency vehicles to make a U-Turn onto the highway. A sign there reads "No Turns." The impact of the accident tore apart the bus. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. MELBOURNE, Fla. -- A mother turtle saved from a Tampa roadway that then laid eggs in the car of the woman traveling to Melbourne has died. Woman rescued pregnant turtle from roadway As she drove, it laid eggs in car's floorboard Turtle died overnight, wildlife hospital workers say RELATED: Turtle lays eggs in woman's car after being saved The 14-pound turtle was being cared for at Melbourne's Florida Wildlife Hospital. Workers there said they came in Thursday and found the turtle had died overnight. X-rays taken of the turtle Wednesday didn't reveal any significant issues, but often in the wild, animals are good at hiding illness to protect themselves from predators. Laura Pinto had saved the turtle from getting hit by cars on a Tampa street Monday and brought it to the hospital in Melbourne during a visit to see her cousin. As she drove, the turtle laid nearly a dozen eggs on the floorboard of Pinto's car. None of the eggs survived, workers said. OCALA, Fla. A Marion County teacher under fire for drowning animals in front of students at Forest High School earlier this week has retired. Teacher Dewie Brewton submitted retirement letter Accused of drowning nuisance animals in class FWC, Health Department investigations to continue Marion County Public Schools confirmed that agriculture teacher Dewie Brewton submitted his retirement letter, effective Thursday. The school district said the move ends the district investigation, but Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers and the Florida Department of Health in Marion County will continue theirs. Video shared to Spectrum News 13 by a parent purportedly showed Brewton drowning two raccoons in front of students in his agri-science class. The teacher reportedly killed the raccoons because they had eaten a chicken the students had raised. School Superintendent Heidi Maier recommended earlier this week that Brewton should be fired. The school district said Brewton had been in Marion County Public Schools for 31 years. CHESHIRE A 90-year tradition continues. Local family-owned eatery Blackies hot dog stand is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the restaurants opening in 1928. Manager Rick Flavin grew up near the hot dog stand and most of his family has worked in the restaurant. Blackies was founded by Flavins great aunt, Mary Mahoney, originally from Ireland, and his great uncle, Art Blackman of Waterbury. Following Blackmans death in 1939, Mary ran the restaurant with her sister Nel Flavin who later inherited Blackies from Mary. Nel Flavin was a fixture at the restaurant until her death in 1994. Nel was awesome, Rick Flavin said of his grandmother. She was always working behind the counter. She loved the customers. She was very protective of her relish. The business began in 1928 as a gas station, which soon sold hot dogs to hungry travelers and families during the day and couples who danced to all hours of the night, according to a history on the restaurants website. A No Dancing sign still in place at the restaurant was posted to avoid a local cabaret tax. Rick Flavin said many of Blackies regular customers are families that have been eating there for years. There are lots of people who have had first dates here and gotten married, said Flavin. Pretty much the most common thing to hear is my grandfather or father brought me here. The original building burned down in 1945 and a separate building was built at 2200 Waterbury Road. The current establishment displays its history throughout the restaurant in photographs, newspaper clippings and original menus. One photo in particular displays a bottle of Blackies Pepper Relish floating in outer space with the Earth behind it. Rick Mastraccio, a NASA astronaut, was a frequent customer at Blackies and decided to take the relish into space. His wife had contacted me and asked if I can put it in a specific bottle so that it can be able to go into outer space, said Flavin. The family has held onto many of the traditions of the restaurant including serving their signature relish, not serving fries and remaining closed on Fridays due to the founding familys Catholic faith. Were just keeping the tradition alive, said Flavin. We often do private parties on Fridays. Mostly its for fundraisers and things like that. Flavin said Blackies prides itself in giving back to the community through fundraisers and other activities. Theresa Mastrianni said she has been eating at Blackies with her family for as long as she can remember. Mastrianni knows most of the people that work at the restaurant and Flavin always remembers her order. Its comforting, she said. We come every Monday. Weve been doing it for a couple of years. jroman@record-journal.com 203-317-2420 Twitter: @JenieceRoman MERIDEN A former Cumberland Farms employee faces charges after police said she stole more than $1,600 worth of cigarettes from the Broad Street store in 2015. Becky Switzer, 44, of 17 Oak St., New Britain, was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with third-degree burglary, fourth-degree larceny and operating an unregistered motor vehicle. On Oct. 30, 2015, the manager of the Cumberland Farms at 937 Broad St. called police to report about 170 packs of cigarettes were missing, said police spokesman Sgt. Darrin McKay. Security video showed Switzer, a former employee at the North Haven Cumberland Farms, pulled her car around the back of the store, unlocked a managers office and put cigarettes in her car, McKay said. She was released on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on May 31. Lauren Sellew Record-Journal staff National Weather Service officials determined that Tuesdays microburst brought 100 mph winds along a 7-mile path from Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden to the Tyler Mill Preserve in Wallingford, uprooting trees, snapping utility poles and damaging homes. NWS reports that a tornado, which caused damage on a 9-mile path from Beacon Falls to Hamden, transitioned to a microburst near Wallingford, bringing 100 mph winds along a path 7 miles long and a half-mile wide from Sleeping Giant State Park, across Wharton Brook State Park, to an area just east of Tyler Mill. Extensive damage occurred, with numerous pine trees uprooted and snapped, NWS officials said in a statement late Thursday. Spokesman Bill Goodman said tornadoes can have a life cycle that goes back and forth. Gary Lessor, meteorologist with the Weather Center at Western State Connecticut University, said damage would have been without a doubt worse if the microburst had hit more residential areas. When you get involved in residential, the damage becomes exponentially higher, especially in dollars and cents, Lessor said. The best scenario happened it went through woods, it went through parks. Only two Wallingford roads remained impassable, which officials expected to reopen by midnight Friday. Schools were closed for the third straight day Friday. As of Friday evening, about 1,000 customers were still without power. We estimate that we were 6,500 (outages) at the peak, Hendershot said. The town Electric Division serves about 25,000 customers. Hendershot said power will likely be restored by end of day Sunday, but cautioned efforts may stretch into Monday. He said Tuesdays storm broke around 40 utility poles, about 20 more than Hurricane Irene damaged in 2011. This weeks microburst was the worst storm in terms of power outages and broken poles that Hendershot has seen in the 14 years hes been with the department, he said. The microburst was determined to have sustained winds of 100 mph, which are 10 mph less than an EF1 Tornado. Lessor said the 10 mph difference is insignificant when it comes to damage. Because (microbursts and macrobursts) are wider in path, they typically end up doing more damage, or at least have the potential to be doing more damage, Lessor said, comparing microbursts to tornados. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Friday Sleeping Giant State Park and Wharton Brook State Park remain closed. Several local parks, including Tyler Mill Preserve, Pire Park on Northfield Road, Wallace Park, Marcus Cooke Park and Lufbery Park have also been closed. For the safety of the general public and the crews working to clear the parks, it is imperative that only authorized personnel enter the parks at this time, DEEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Whalen said. EnCon officers have increased patrols of the closed parks. Failure to obey the closures of these parks could result in an infraction or arrest for trespassing. Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust president Jerry Farrell Jr. said the Franklin Johnson Mansion/Silver Museum, 153 S. Main St., will not host an open house this weekend due to storm damage. Instead, Farrell is asking for volunteers to assist in cleanup efforts Sunday. We have major branches down so chainsaws, wood chippers, pickup trucks and rakes would be very helpful, he said in an email. The microburst was the second to strike the town in recent history. In June 2015, a microburst took down trees and utility poles on the east side of Wallingford and parts of Meriden, damaging homes and knocking out power for thousands of customers. Stopping habitat loss is the key to saving Canadas endangered species Evening grosbeak (Photo by Anna Tchoulik) Canada has been losing and saving species for a long time. Since European settlement, over 100 species have been lost here. These include plants and animals that are extinct and extirpated and species that are considered historic (no one has seen them in Canada for a long time). The number of lost species varies between different regions of the country. In the Great Lakes region of southern Ontario, there are extinct species (passenger pigeon), extirpated species (paddlefish) and historic species (Eskimo curlew). There are also species that have vanished from this landscape but still exist elsewhere in Canada. This includes large carnivores, such as black bear and cougar, and plants and smaller wildlife, such as white prairie-clover, spring salamander and Melissa blue butterfly. The causes of species loss in Canada have varied through time, and include over-hunting, pollution, invasive species, habitat loss and climate change. These mirror the threats to species around the world. Canada has made significant progress in reducing some of these threats, and helping some species to recover. Pronghorn antelope, Old Man on His Back (Photo by Karol Dabbs) Over a century ago, many of our game and furbearing animals, such as pronghorn, beaver and marten, had vanished from huge areas of Canada because of unregulated hunting and trapping. Many migratory birds were becoming rare because of over-hunting and commercial harvest. Today, trapping and hunting are not a significant threat to endangered species in Canada. We have also seen an extraordinary recovery of species, such as wood duck and river otter. Peregrine falcon, ON (Photo by Brian Ratcliff) When I was kid in the late 1970s, I had posters of peregrine falcons and American white pelicans on my wall. Their populations had drastically declined, in part, because of the pesticide DDT. DDT would accumulate in these birds and cause the shells of their eggs to thin and crack. Without new generations of these birds being born, their populations were declining. When DDT was mostly phased out by the mid-1970s, populations of these birds recovered. While there are still some chemicals that are impacting species, we now know that by reducing environmental pollution, species can recover. Canadians today should be thankful to those who made the changes needed to help wildlife recover. Introducing new trapping regulations, passing the Migratory Birds Convention Act in 1917 to control hunting and protect birds, and the banning of DDT were not simple feats. But they were necessary, and those conservation actions benefit Canadians and Canadian wildlife today. Today our challenge to save species is also not simple, but it is equally necessary. Of all the threats to species and of all the factors endangering Canadas wildlife, the challenge to our generation is stopping habitat loss. Now, you might have thought climate change is our biggest challenge. But to save species, to prevent the further loss of Canadas wildlife, we need to save habitat. There is no opportunity for species recovery if their habitat is lost. Changes in hunting regulations couldnt have saved pronghorns if there wasnt any habitat left. And solving climate change wont protect species if, in our race to reduce carbon emissions, their habitat disappears. The Green Mountains Nature Reserve, QC (Photo by Appalachian Corridor) There are many important initiatives to protect habitat for endangered species and wildlife. Canada's commitment to protect 30 per cent of our land and inland waters by 2030 will help us meet an important conservation milestone, but many of these new protected areas and conservation lands will be in our northlands. This is critical for woodland caribou and wolverines, but many of Canadas most endangered species live in the southern areas of Canada where most of the land is privately owned. This is also a landscape that is under the most immediate threat. In many regions, we have a one-time opportunity for our generation to protect critical habitats for our most endangered plants and animals. One of the most important roles of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and other land trusts is to work with private landowners to protect habitat for species that are at risk of being lost from Canada. NCC now protects habitat for over 225 species that have been assessed as endangered, threatened or special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). This growing number reflects both the increasing number of species assessed as at risk by COSEWIC and NCCs continued focus on protecting lands that provide habitat for our most endangered species. Over the last few years, with support from the Government of Canadas Natural Heritage Conservation Program, NCC has documented over 20 new species of endangered wildlife on our properties. Some of these are found on new NCC properties. Some are the result of new information and discoveries, and additions from recent COSEWIC assessments. Some of the species new to NCCs portfolio of Canadas endangered wildlife that we help to protect include: Maritime ringlet (endangered) The entire range of this small butterfly is restricted to coastal marshes in northern New Brunswick and the southern coast of the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec. NCC documented this globally rare and nationally endemic butterfly in 2016 on a property in the Southern Gulf of the St. Lawrence. Lark bunting (threatened) The global population of this grassland bird has declined by 98 per cent in the last 50 years due to habitat loss. When the species was assessed as threatened by COSEWIC in 2017, NCC had already protected over 30 properties in Alberta and Saskatchewan, including the Wideview Complex in Saskatchewan, that provide the shrinking prairie habitats it needs. Van Brunts Jacobs ladder (threatened) This globally rare wildflower was recently discovered on an NCC property in Quebecs Eastern Townships. Van Brunts Jacobs ladder is rare throughout its range in northeastern Northern America and is threatened by habitat loss. Evening grosbeak (special concern) This coniferous forest songbird has been declining throughout most of its range. Threats to the evening grosbeak include loss of mature and old-growth forests. This bird was assessed as special concern by COSEWIC in 2016. At that time, NCC was already protecting nesting and stopover habitat across Canada, including Southwest Nova Natural Area in Nova Scotia, Riding Mountain in Manitoba and the Salish Sea in BC. Hines emerald (endangered) The Canadian distribution of the globally rare Hines emerald dragonfly is restricted to the Minesing Wetlands, just west of Barrie, Ontario. In 2017 and 2018, NCC protected two properties where the Hines emerald has been recorded. In addition to habitat protection, NCC will also be restoring wetlands on the Patrick W. E. Hodgson Property over the next few years to create additional habitat for this species. Habitat is the lynchpin of wildlife conservation. There are important successes in recovery and discovery that we need to share. But most importantly, we need to do more conservation and we need to do it faster. No one else can save Canadian wildlife except Canadians. Kanu Sarda By Express News Service NEW DELHI: It all started around 8 pm on Wednesday, when top Congress leaders decided to seek legal recourse and challenge Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Valas decision to invite the BJP to form the government in the state. Before Chief Minister Yeddyurappas swearing-in at 9 am on Thursday, the Supreme Court opened its doors at 1.45 am to hear the Congress-JD(S) petition. This was only the third occasion in the top courts history when it had agreed to hear a matter past midnight, and the first instance when it had opened its doors to hear a matter related to government formation. READ HERE | All the highlights from the midnight SC hearing The Supreme Court registry opened after hours to admit the petition, and secretary general Ravinder Maithani went to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misras residence for instructions. By 1.15 am, the crowd outside the CJIs residence had begun moving to the Supreme Court. All eyes were on court number six, which was a beehive of activity as staff specially called in the middle of the night made arrangements for the hearing. Two court masters were brought in to facilitate the proceedings. Both were not new to post-midnight proceedings; they were present in July 2015, when, at 3 am, the court had heard a final plea seeking a stay on the execution of Yakub Memon. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Congress, was present, as was Attorney General KK Venugopal, for Vala and the Centre. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for three MLAs who saw the news on TV and asked him to appear in court, and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was also there. Singhvi, who took the longest time to put forth his points, remained sharp throughout the hearing. On the other hand, the octogenarian Venugopal was fatigued, having been woken up from his sleep.Sorry, we woke you up. This is not a case that deserves a midnight hearing, Rohatgi was heard saying several times during the course of the night. Are heavens falling if the swearing-in takes place? he said repeatedly. Is this Yakub Memon situation? It should have never been heard at midnight, Rohatgi said. Exhaustion from working at the unearthly hour was visible on almost every face. Between sips of hot tea, the judges too battled fatigue to pay attention to the arguments being made. The hearing ended at 5.30 am with the decision that the swearing-in would be subject to the outcome of the case. The crowd that had entered the court in the dead of the night emerged to the first rays of the sun on Thursday. By Online Desk The Supreme Court will hear the Congress-JD(S) combine's plea challenging the appointment of KG Bopaiah as the Pro Tem speaker tomorrow at 10.30 am. Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday had named Virajpet MLA and former speaker KG Bopaiah as pro tem speaker. The Congress sought an urgent hearing on the appointment as Pro Tem speaker will conduct the floor test in the Legislative Assembly, following directions by the Supreme Court. The order was issued by the Governor's office around Friday afternoon after much speculation on who the Pro Tem speaker will be. B.S. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday, has to prove his majority in the state assembly on Saturday at 4 pm, the Supreme Court said today. The decision was taken after the apex court here heard the arguments for and against the petition jointly filed by the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), following Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's invitation to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in the state. [READ FULL REPORT] Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who is appearing on behalf of the BJP, had requested the top court for time till Monday for the floor test. However, the same was rejected. Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, section 144 has been imposed in Mangalore ahead of the floor test. While the Karnataka polls witnessed a high-octane campaigning with several allegations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the real twist came in after the results threw a hung Assembly with BJP emerging as the single largest party by winning 104 seats, followed by Congress (78) and the JD-(S), which won 37 seats. Despite Congress and JD-(S) forming a quick alliance and strengthening its position to form the government with enough seats together (115), Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R. Vala on Wednesday went on to invite the BJP to form the new government. Sumi Sukanya dutta By Express News Service NEW DELHI: A senior IIT professor has questioned the governments recently launched Study in India programme that aims to attract 2 lakh foreign students, every year. Launched by the Union Human Resources Development Ministry in April, the initiative is supported by the MEA. IIT-Kanpur professor Dheeraj Sanghi, who teaches Computer Science, blogged wondering on what basis the government expects to draw foreigners when 5.5 lakh Indians study abroad due to lack of sufficient quality institutes. Instead of 1.5 lakh foreigners, can we have a goal to attract 1.5 lakh of these back to Indian universities by 2023? I am convinced that if we can attract Indians to Indian universities, foreigners will also get attracted. READ BLOG POST HERE An MHRD official, however, said the scheme was launched keeping in mind the need to advertise and publicise brand value of Indian institutions. Sanghi asserted that a large number of Indians were abroad because there were not many good institutions. And therefore, those who didnt get admission and could afford to study abroad, leave India. If we want to have 2 lakh foreigners, and if we assume that on an average our best institutions will have 5 per cent foreign students within the next 5 years, it means that we must have good institutions with 40 lakh Indian students in them. Sanghi told TNIE that due to political situation, the emphasis has largely been on access rather than quality. I believe quality institutions be openedwhether in public or private sectorand government should subsidise studies, particularly to those belonging from poor families. By Express News Service TIRUPATI: Chief Priest of Lord Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala AV Ramana Deekshithulu and three other head priests --Srinivasa Deekshithulu, Narayana Deekshithulu, and Narasimha Deeshithulu - who are from the hereditary priests' families were served the retirement orders and asked not to attend duties with immediate effect. The orders were handed over to the priests at 12 midnight on Thursday and the priests were told that orders were issued as per the decision, that was taken in the TTD Board of Trustees meeting held on Wednesday. ALSO READ: Tirumala head priest Ramana Dikshitulu alleges irregularities in TTD governance TTD Board has decided to fix 65 years as the age of retirement for the temple priests and has sought a legal opinion with regard to the decision. According to sources, TTD officials held a meeting on Thursday night after 10:30 pm following the directive from the Chief Minister's Office and Endowment Department asking them to implement the TTD Board decision and serve the retirement orders to the four head priests, how have crossed 65 years of age. Chief Priest AV Ramana Deekshithulu, who was supposed to attend the morning rituals in the temple, did not attend the duty following the orders from TTD. The rituals were carried out by other priests. Meanwhile, TTD appointed Venugopala Deekshithulu as the new head priest. By Express News Service KOCHI: Following reports that Congress and JD(S) MLAs will be flown to Kochi from Karnataka and accommodated in a star hotel to avoid poaching by BJP, the wait for the MLAs continued till late in the night on Thursday. Karnataka LIVE UPDATES Rumors were also rife that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has denied permission to a chartered flight from Benguluru airport which was supposed to fly out the MLAs to Kochi. Crown Plaza hotel authorities confirmed that they had some bulk room booking for a couple of days. ALSO READ | Opposition accuses BJP of murdering democracy, Congress demands Karnataka Governor recall Even police officers also said that they had inputs about the MLAs possible arrival to Kochi. Police personnel were also deployed near the hotel on Thursday night as part of strengthening the security. Meanwhile, Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran expressed the government's willingness to host the MLAs in Kerala. ALSO READ | Congress dares PM Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah to prove majority in Karnataka house tomorrow itself In a tweet, he said "heard news from different sources that the elected representatives of K'taka are travelling to Kerala. As the tourism minister of the state, we are happy to welcome them & aid them, there wont be any trouble of horse traders here!". By Associated Press WINDSOR: Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Ragland arrived at the exclusive Cliveden House Hotel Friday evening (British time) where they will spend the night before the royal wedding. The wedding ceremony will take place Saturday, May 19 between 12 to 2 pm in British time (IST: 4:30 pm). Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, arrive at Cliveden House Hotel. (AP Photo) Both looked happy and relaxed after Ragland's first meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, at Windsor Castle. She has now met most of the senior British royals since her arrival from California on Wednesday. Ms. Meghan Markle arrives at Cliveden House Hotel, accompanied by her mother Ms. Doria Ragland #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/SqOFhb0Wr5 Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 18, 2018 Ragland will ride to St. George's Chapel on the ground of Windsor Castle with Markle on Saturday morning for the ceremony that will officially bring her daughter into the royal family. Tens of millions of TV viewers around the world, as well as 600 invited guests, are expected to watch at least part of her wedding to Prince Harry. Watch it LIVE here Meanwhile, Prince Harry visited delighted crowds of well-wishers outside Windsor Castle Friday evening on the eve of his wedding to Meghan Markle, accompanied by his brother and best man Prince William. The brothers, wearing jackets and open necked shirts, walked along a line of flag-waving spectators, shaking hands and chatting -- causing huge excitement among the crowd. Thank you to the crowds in Windsor for the amazing reception for Prince Harry and his best man The Duke of Cambridge! #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/XUmx7XbrFX Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 18, 2018 William conducted a similar impromptu walkabout on The Mall on the night before his 2011 wedding to Kate, accompanied again by his brother. Harry was William's best man back then, and he has repaid the compliment by asking his older sibling to be his best man at Saturday's ceremony at St George's Chapel. A smiling Harry gave a thumb's up and answered "Great, thank you" when asked how he was feeling. He also accepted a teddy bear from one well-wisher as he talked with people from Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere. Prince Harry with a teddy bear given to him by a well-wisher (AP Photo) Final preparations On the other side, final preparations were being made inside the walls of Windsor Castle hours ahead of Saturday's royal wedding. Florists were busy adding finishing touches to the floral decorations at St. George's Chapel. WATCH | The route the horse carriage carrying the newly weds will take As preparations for the Wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle continue in Windsor, join us for a look at the route the newlyweds will take in a Carriage Procession following the Wedding Ceremony.#RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/YnFQVhxxti The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 18, 2018 A team of five workers was adding boughs of green foliage and white flowers to a voluminous display surrounding the South Door of the chapel. The entrance will be used by guests arriving ahead of the noon ceremony. The wide open courtyard outside the chapel, known as the Lower Ward, was a hive of activity. Amid the bustle of castle workers, soldiers were carrying kit bags through the Henry VIII Gate into the castle grounds. Some children of residents of the castle were playing on the clipped lawns, which were bathed in the evening sunshine, as their parents smiled. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's official engagement photo (AP) Prince Charles will don father's role for Meghan Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said it's "wonderful" that Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at her wedding to Prince Harry. The heir to the throne stepped in after Markle's father was unable to fly to Britain for the ceremony because of poor health. With my brother @PB_Curry in Windsor getting ready for the #RoyalWedding tomorrow! We are praying Gods blessing on the couple and all involved. pic.twitter.com/j48oHn5LmN Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) May 18, 2018 Welby, who will marry Harry and Markle at Windsor Castle on Saturday, says Charles is "a very warm person and that he's doing this is a sign of his love and concern and support. And I think it's wonderful. It's beautiful." Royal wedding fans camped outside Windsor Castle have expressed happy surprise that Prince Charles plans to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle during her marriage to Prince Harry. The groom and the bride-to-be (AFP File Photo) The fans decked out in the national colors of Britain and the United States had expected Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, to do it. Roseline Morris, a 35-year-old from Basildon, points out that Charles doesn't have a daughter. "So he's never going to get the chance to walk a daughter down the aisle, so this will be nice for him as well." she says. "I imagine he'll be feeling very proud." Sylvia Horn, 61, from Nashville, calls the decision "wonderful." She adds that "I fully approve since Charles is going to be her father-in-law." (Twitter @KensingtonRoyal) French fans The French may have overthrown their own monarchy more than two hundred years ago but for some there remains a fascination for the trappings of the royal experience. French admirers of the British royal family were getting ready Friday for the wedding, with shops selling merchandise seeing brisk sales in recent days. Marmite jars with the names of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on it are photographed on a supermarket shelf in Windsor, England. | AP The Franco-British owner of the "British Shop" in Paris' posh 16th district, Chantal Laserre, said customers have been rushing in to get souvenirs to mark the event. Laserre says "there's an interest for this wedding because she is Catholic and she is divorced and she is American. It's a big change in the royal family." Fresh out of Harry-and-Meghan dish towels, she was frustrated that she didn't order more in advance. All French news channels and other major television channels TF1, France 2, M6 will broadcast the wedding ceremony live on Saturday. Security check British police are manning barricades and patrolling the grounds around Windsor Castle as authorities take on the massive security operation for the wedding. A view of Windsor Castle in Windsor, England (AP Photo) The barricades are in place to deter attackers using vehicles, such as the one on Westminster Bridge in London last year. Sniffer dogs and mounted patrols are also out and about. The Thames Valley Police say guests and spectators will be subject to airport-style security scanners and bag searches. Royal fans are also being asked not to throw confetti, particularly during the procession, for police say "it poses a potential security risk and it's a bit of a pain to clean up!" Tens of thousands of spectators are expected in the town west of London for the newlyweds' carriage ride route after their wedding Saturday. WATCH | The wedding cake being prepared Watch as baker Claire Ptak begins work on the #RoyalWedding Cake! pic.twitter.com/OTdcF9hc0a The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 18, 2018 Prince Philip in attendance Buckingham Palace says the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding just a few weeks after undergoing a hip replacement operation. The palace confirmed Friday that Prince Philip would attend the wedding Saturday between American actress Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The 96-year-old Philip has largely retired from public duties and it had not been clear whether he would be feeling well enough to attend. Queen Elizabeth II's husband made his first public appearance since the April 13 surgery at the Royal Windsor Horse Show earlier this month. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's official engagement photo (AP) (With inputs from AFP and online desk) We are much obliged to the Schola Sainte Cecile for permission to publish this translation by Mr Gerhard Eger of an article by Fr Jean-Pierre Herman La Pentecote Fete elaguee ou restauree ? La suppression de lantique vigile baptismale de la Pentecote, which is also being published simultaneously on Canticum Salomonis. The Baptismal Character of the Ancient Vigil of Pentecost The Vigil of Pentecost no longer contains any reference to baptism. It has become a day like any other, and makes the Missal tell a lie in the Canon. This vigil was an annoying neighbour, a fearsome rival! Scholars of the future will likely be more severe in their judgement than pastoral types are today. [2] Although the sacrament of Baptism is entirely distinct from that of Confirmation, yet the latter takes its name of Confirmatio from the fact that the coming down of the Holy Ghost into the soul of the neophyte completes the work of his supernatural regeneration. Through its sacramental character it confers on him a more perfect likeness to Jesus Christ, impressing on his soul the final seal or ratification of his union with the divine Redeemer. The word Confirmatio was used in Spain to denote also the invocation of the Holy Ghost in the Mass, Confirmatio Sacramenti. Hence the existing analogy between the epiklesisthat part of the Mass which begs from the Paraclete the fullness of his gifts upon those about to receive Holy Communionand the sacrament of Confirmation, which in olden days was administered immediately after Baptism, shows very clearly the deep theological meaning hidden in the word Confirmatio as applied to this sacrament. [3] Another solemn day of Baptism is Pentecost, when a sufficient amount of time has passed to dispose and instruct those who are to be baptized. [4] Formerly, this Vigil was kept like that of Easter. The faithful repaired to the church in the evening, that they might assist at the solemn administration of Baptism. During the night, the Sacrament of regeneration was conferred upon such catechumens as sickness or absence from home had prevented from receiving it on Easter night. Those, also, who had then been thought insufficiently tried or instructed, and had, during the interval, satisfied the conditions required by the Church, now formed part of the group of aspirants to the new birth of the sacred font. Instead of the twelve prophecies, which were read on Easter night while the priests were performing over the catechumens the rites preparatory to Baptism, six only were now read; at least, such was the usual custom, and it would lead us to suppose that the number of those baptized at Pentecost was less than at Easter. [7] The Paschal Candle was again brought forward during this night of grace, in order to impress the newly baptized with respect and love for the Son of God, who became Man that He might be the light of the world. The rites already described and explained for Holy Saturday were repeated on this occasion, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, at which the neophytes assisted, began before the break of day. [8] Today is a solemn vigil and thus a day of full penance with fasting and abstinence (in certain diocese, however, this obligation is no longer binding under pain of sin but merely recommended). A vigil is always a day of preparation. The house of the soul must be cleaned and prepared for the great feast. Two thoughts should occupy the Christian who follows the Church in these days: 1) the memory of his baptism; b) preparation for Pentecost. [9] The beginning of the vigil of Pentecost, from a Roman Missal printed in Venice in 1596 Time and Structure of the Vigil The Prophecies The Mass The Reform of 1955 The Missal of 1969 Continuity or Rupture? The Missal of Paul VI promulgated on April 3rd, 1969, effectively eliminated the ancient custom of assigning vigils and octaves to major feasts. Subsequently, octaves are celebrated only for Easter and Christmas. As for vigils, all that remains of them is a vigil Mass in the evening for certain feasts, which usually passes unnoticed. Further, the nature of this service is different. It has become an anticipation of the feast and no longer a day of fasting and preparation for it.The Mass for the Vigil of Pentecost is a unique case. There are now four texts to choose from for the first reading, all Old Testament readings in which the gift of the Holy Spirit is prefigured. But this is all that remains of the rich ancient liturgy of the Vigil of Pentecost.This reduction was accomplished in two steps. The Vigil disappeared first in the reforms of the 50s and then the octave was abolished with the promulgation of the new missal.In a conference on Pius XIIs restored 1955 Holy Week liturgy [1] , Msgr Leon Gromier declares:The rite he is referring to was in many respects a sort of repetition of the baptismal vigil of Easter, practiced by Christians from earliest antiquity at the Vigil of Pentecost.The first Christians celebrated the entirety of the Paschal Mysterydeath, resurrection, and the gift of the Holy Spiritduring the one great night of Easter. But very soon the teaching mind of the Church focused its attention on the various aspects of this mystery, and spread out the liturgical celebrations according to the chronology of the Gospels.Moreover, as we know, the sacraments of Christian initiationBaptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharistwere formerly conferred on candidates during the same celebration, a practice that the Eastern Churches have retained. Cardinal Schuster points out the intimate connection between Baptism and Confirmation and their distinct characters:As early as Tertullian, we have evidence for the celebration of baptisms not only during the great Easter Vigil but also during the Vigil of Pentecost:The choice is not accidental, for during baptism the bishop places his right hand on the head of the neophyte calling the Spirit by means of a blessing.We also have a letter written by Pope Siricius (384399) [5] to Bishop Himerius of Tarragona that attests this practice. Furthermore, in a letter to the bishops of Sicily, Pope St Leo the Great (440461) exhorts them to imitate St. Peter, who baptized three thousand people on the day of the first Pentecost. [6]Liturgical books of a later period give the framework for a celebration of the same type as the Easter Vigil found in all the missals that preceded the Tridentine reform, as well as in the missal of St. Pius V up to the reform of the 1950s. We will leave it to Dom Gueranger to describe the practice:As Schuster relates, in ancient times the Vigil of Pentecost, as the Vigil of Easter, was celebrated in the Lateran during the night between Saturday to Sunday. By the 12th century, it had been moved to the afternoon. Towards the end of the day, the Pope betook himself to St Peters for the singing of Vespers and solemn Matins.As Baptism began to be celebrated on other days and the practice of baptizing infantsmeant that these ceremonies were no longer exclusively performed on the Vigil of Pentecost. This brought the day down to the level of a preparation for a feast, like any other vigil, but it remained a celebration of a manifestly baptismal character.Pius Parsch introduces it thus:After None, the prophecies are read without title, with candles extinguished, as on Holy Saturday. This is the rubric found before the Pentecost Vigil in the Missal. It is celebrated at the same hour as the Paschal Vigil. Once celebrated in the night of Saturday to Sunday, it was eventually fixed to be celebrated after None, a situation ratified by the rubrics of the Tridentine liturgical books. By the end of the Middle Ages it was commonly anticipated to Saturday morning, before noon, in imitation of the Paschal Vigil, which the Tridentine books mandate be celebrated beforeIts structure is comparable to that of Holy Saturday, except for the blessing of the fire and Paschal candle. Pius Parsch describes it as an abridged imitation of the Office of Holy Saturday It begins with the reading of the prophecies, three of which are followed by a Tract, and each one by a prayer said by the celebrant. Then there is a procession to the Baptistry for the blessing of the water, accompanied by the chant of a Tract composed of verses from Psalm 41 (Sicut cervus ad fontes aquarum). After a prayer, the celebrant says the prayer for the blessing of water, as at the Paschal Vigil. The procession returns to the altar chanting the Litany of the Saints, while the celebrants go to the sacristy to vest for Mass. [10]The color used in the vigil is violet. The rubrics specify that the priest wear a cope for the procession to the baptismal font. The deacon and subdeacon wear folded chasubles. Red, the color of Pentecost, is used for the Mass. When the litany is finished, the candles are lit, the ministers go to the altar, and while the choir chants the Kyrie they recite the prayers at the foot of the altar. Then the priest performs the incensation and intones the Gloria, during which the bells are rung. [11]The readings of Pentecost are taken from the readings of Easter, but in a different order.1 - Gen. 22 The Sacrifice of Abraham (3rd of the Easter vigil)2 - Exod 14 and 15 The Passage of the Red Sea (4th of the Easter vigil3 - Deut. 31 The Mosaic Testament, Respect for the Law (11th of the Easter vigil)4 - Isa. 4 The Liberation of Jerusalem (8th of the Easter vigil)5 - Bar. 3 Return to the Promised Land (6th of the Easter vigil)6 - Ezek. 37 The Dry Bones (7of the Easter vigil)The second, third, and fourth prophecies are followed by Tracts, the same three Tracts as sung in the Paschal Vigil. The prayers that follow the readings, however, are different. They are taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary. [12] They all focus, each in its own manner, on the continuity between the two Testaments, and the passage of the Israel of the Old Testament, liberated from slavery in Egypt, to the new Israel of the baptized, liberated from the bondage of sin. We cite here only those that follow the second and fourth reading, which are remarkable:O God, who by the light of the New Testament hast expounded the miracles wrought in the first ages of the world, so that the Red Sea was a figure of the sacred font, and the deliverance of the people out of the bondage of Egypt did represent the Christian sacraments: grant that all nations who have now obtained the birthright of Israel by the merit of faith may be born again by the participation of thy Spirit. Through the same Lord in unity with the same Holy Ghost.andO almighty and eternal God, who by thy only Son hast shown thyself the husbandman of thy Church, mercifully cultivating every branch which bringeth forth fruit in that same Christ, who is the true vine, that it may be more fruitful; let not the thorns of sin prevail against thy faithful, whom thou hast transplanted like a vineyard out of Egypt by the baptismal font; but protect them by thy holy Spirit, that they may be enriched by everlasting fruits. Through the same Lord in unity with the same Holy Ghost.The procession to the baptismal font and the blessing of water that follow the prayer of the sixth prophecy re-use all the texts of the Paschal Vigil, with the exception of the collect that precedes the blessing of water, which speaks about the feast:Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that we who commemorate the giving of the Holy Spirit, being inflamed with heavenly desires, may thirst after the fountain of life. Through our Lord in unity with the same Holy Ghost.In these texts the intimate links between Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Christian life are put in clear relief.As we have already seen, the Mass follows directly upon the Litany. As at Easter, there is no introit. It was only at a later period, when the custom of private masses became widespread, that an introit was added,, taken from Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent.This Mass is the culmination of the Vigil and its collect expresses once more, in a very concise manner, the link between Baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit:Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that the splendour of thy glory may shine forth upon us, and the light of thy light may by the illumination of the Holy Ghost confirm the hearts of those who have been regenerated by thy grace. in the unity of the same Holy Ghost.This link is underscored once again in the Epistle taken from the Acts of the Apostles (19, 1-8). The subject is the encounter of Paul with the disciples of John the Baptist, who had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit, after which Paul baptizes them in the name of Jesus Christ.The rest of the Mass is entirely focused on Pentecost, including the Gospel, John 14, 15-21, in which Jesus promises never to leave his disciples orphans, but to pray the Father to send them the Comforter.The Secret and Postcommunion both ask God to purify the hearts of his faithful in preparation for the effusion of the Holy Spirit.The Canon contains two proper parts. In the, mention is made of the days feast:Communicating, and keeping the most holy day of the Pentecost, whereon the Holy Ghost appeared to the Apostles in countless tongues; and also venerating the memory, first of the glorious Mary, ever a Virgin, Mother of the our God and Lord Jesus Christ While the, as at Easter, intercedes for those baptized that night:We therefore beseech thee, O Lord, to be appeased and accept this oblation of our service, as also of thy whole family; which we make unto thee on behalf of these also whom thou hast vouchsafed to bring to a new birth by water and the Holy Ghost, giving them remission of all their sins; dispose our days In the missals after 1955, the Vigil of Pentecost has been reduced to the Mass alone, in the form we just described, including the introit. The prophecies, procession, and blessing of water have simply been abolished. The baptismal character of the vigil has been erased and the liturgy is entirely focused on the coming of the Holy Spirit.The Epistle, which expresses the link between the two sacraments, has been retained. One wonders why the proper, which intercedes for those who were baptized just before Mass, was retained, even though the baptism ritual it references was effaced. As in Easter, the properis said in the Vigil Mass, the Mass of the Day, and the masses throughout the octave.Thishad already become merely symbolic by the time of the reform, because in actual fact baptisms were practically never held during the celebration. Nevertheless, it referred back to the ceremonies performed at the baptistry before the Mass proper, and thus emphasized the baptismal character of the entire Vigil. The choice to retain the prayer here after having suppressed the ceremonies before the Mass renders it much more of a meaningless vestige.The Missal of 1969 contains, as we mentioned above, a Vigil Mass in the evening. It is an anticipatory mass of Pentecost that, apart from a prayer retained here and there, is quite different from the ancient Vigil.The opening antiphon is no longer the ancient introit, but a citation of Romans 5, 5, The love of God has been poured into our hearts by his spirit living in us, alleluia, rescued from the suppressed Mass of the Ember Saturday of Pentecost.The baptismal aspect no longer receives any explicit mention and the accent is placed on the coming of the Holy Spirit and the close of Paschal Time.The ancient collect has been retained, but only as an alternative; another prayer, which is found in several ancient sacramentaries and was also used in the Ambrosian Rite, is set before it.Almighty ever-living God, who willed the Paschal mystery to be encompassed as a sign in fifty days; grant that from out of the scattered nations, the confusion of many tongues may be gathered by heavenly grace into one great confession of your name. Through our Lord.The allusion is to Babel, the division of languages, and the reading of the next day from Acts, where each one understands the apostles preaching in his own language.The particularity of this mass, making it unique in the missal, is the option of four texts for the first reading. They are:--Genesis 11:1-9: The Tower of Babel--Exodus 19:3-20: God manifests himself in the fire in the midst of his people--Ezekiel 37:1-14: The Dry Bones--Joel 3:1-5: The Spirit will make Its dwelling in all menThe prophecy of Ezechiel was traditionally said at both the Easter and Pentecost vigils: the others are selectedThe rest of the Liturgy of the Word is fixed:Psalm 103, 1: Lord, send forth thy Spirit to renew the face of the earth.Romans 8, 22-27: The Spirit come to our aid in our infirmity.John 7, 37-39: They who believe in Him will receive the Spirit.Theof the Eucharistic prayer is the one found in the ancient missal:Communicating, and keeping the most holy day of Pentecost, whereon the Holy Ghost appeared to the Apostles in countless tonguesThere is of course no mention of the baptised in theor its equivalent in the new Eucharistic prayers.The prayer over the offerings and the Postcommunion make abundant references to the Spirit:Pour out upon these gifts the blessing of your Spirit, we pray, O Lord, so that through them your Church may be imbued with such love that the truth of your saving mystery may shine forth for the whole world. Through Christ our Lord.AndMay these gifts we have consumed benefit us, O Lord, that we may always be aflame with the same Spirit, whom you wondrously poured out on your Apostles. Through Christ our LordThe Communion antiphon, it is taken from the Gospel:On the last day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink, alleluia.One wonders why the following phrasebut this he said of the Spirit, which they should receive who believed in himwas not kept.This renewal has also shown clearly that the formulas of the Roman Missal ought to be revised and enriched. The beginning of this renewal was the work of Our predecessor, this same Pius XII, in the restoration of the Paschal Vigil and of the Holy Week Rite, which formed the first stage of updating the Roman Missal for the present-day mentality. Thus the words of Paul VI in the Apostolic ConstitutionWe return to the perennial question: have the changes made since the 1950s, during the liturgical reform, been in logical and historical continuity with the ancient Frankish-Roman rite or do they mark a rupture?In this case of the Pentecost Vigil, an immemorial practice has simply been suppressed. As Msgr Gromier rightly said, this suppression effaced the baptismal character of this day, and all emphasis is now therefore laid on the coming of the Holy Spirit. The goal of the members of the Commission was manifestly to focus solely on Baptism at Easter and then on Confirmation at Pentecost, on account of the descent of the Holy Ghost.Nevertheless, at least the Mass remains, without serious change, and even contains elements that hearken back to the Vigil. The least that can be said is that this is rather incoherent. The restoration of the 1950s did not restore anything. As a result of its vague operating criteria, it hewed with axe-strokes and didnt bother to put finishing touches on its work. It doesnt take any extraordinary perspicacity to see that this reform was carried out in haste, and its numerous incoherences are obvious.With regard to the formulary of 1969, save for the two retentions mentioned above, we are dealing with a novel creation. Currently, the majority of dioceses organize a vigil of Pentecost, sometimes with the mass of the vigil, often with the sacrament of Confirmation, but in these cases one must allow for a large helping of creation and creativity due to the missals lack of sufficient directives.Far from an organic development , we must once more note the absence of logic and continuity in the work of the commissions. In this case, it was largely a work of suppression that left a void and ample room for improvisation. Furthermore, perhaps more so than any other day in the liturgical year, the diversity of current practice regarding the vigil of Pentecost recalls one of the optional readings for the day: the one about the tower of Babel. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Record high temperatures expected. High 87F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 69F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. 2 Kids Will Never Be the Same, but Gun Owner Gets Off Easy (Newser) An enduring mystery in Azita Milanians life was solved Wednesday when she was reunited with 20-year-old Matthew Whitaker, reports the Los Angeles Times. Two decades ago, Milanian went for a jog in the foothills of Altadena, Calif., with her dogs when one of the dogs started scratching at the dirt. Milanian walked over to the dog and saw something that took her breath away: two tiny feet sticking out from a shallow grave. Milanian started to dig and found a 7-pound, 12-ounce newborn wrapped in a blanket, his umbilical cord still attached, barely clinging to life. His body temperature was 80. She cleared the dirt from his mouth and nose and begged him not to die. "He grabbed my wrist and stopped crying," Milanian told the LA Times in 1998. story continues below Milanian called 911 and flagged down a motorist who got help from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The baby was nursed back to health at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena and was eventually adopted. Unbeknownst to Milanian, the baby grew into a strapping young man named Matthew Whitaker. Over the years, Milanian has been haunted by the memory of finding the baby and tried repeatedly to locate him. No luck. But years later, a producer for On Air with Ryan Seacrest heard Whitakers story, did some detective work, and reunited them 20 years to the day of the rescue. When Milanian saw Whitaker, she burst into tears as he hugged her. That day, Milanian drove Whitaker to the hiking trail where she found him. "This could have been my grave," Whitaker said as he looked out at the trail. To read the complete story, go here. (Read more uplifting news stories.) (Newser) TV insiders say at least two networks have been pitched a show featuring a different kind of odd couple: Anthony Scaramucci and Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' lawyer. TV agent Jay Sures has talked to execs at CNN and MSNBC about a show in which the former White House communications director and the fiercely anti-Trump attorney would square off, sources tell the New York Times. Both men are frequent guests on cable TV, the Times notes, with Scaramucciwho became famous as "The Mooch" during the 11 days he was in the Trump administration last yeargenerally delivering a strongly pro-Trump point of view. story continues below The show may never happen because Scaramucci "is focused on possibly doing a show that has more of a financial focus than a political one," a source tells the Hill. Scaramucci tweeted Thursday that the show should be called "Not Happening." Avenatti tells the Times that despite talk of a cable show, he has no interest in television while his lawsuits on behalf of Daniels are in progress. "I enjoy my law practice and look forward to prevailing on behalf of my client Stormy Daniels," he says. (The $130,000 paid to Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump was in the president's annual financial disclosure form.) (Newser) The Air Force has apologized for bringing the "Laurel or Yanny" debate into an update on a battle in Afghanistan. "Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10," the Air Force said in a now-deleted tweet, referring to a viral audio file that some people hear as "Laurel" and others as "Yanny," the BBC reports. The post was deleted after reporter Thomas Watkins asked the Pentagon whether it was appropriate to put out such a "lighthearted comment essentially kind of making war a meme in light of the heavy casualties that the Afghans took." story continues below Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said she would look into what critics called a crass and flippant tweet, the Air Force Times reports. "We apologize for the earlier tweet regarding the A-10," the Air Force later tweeted. "It was made in poor taste and we are addressing it internally." The A-10 "Warthog" fighter aircraft the original tweet referred to took part in the fight to defend the provincial capital Farah from Taliban attackers earlier this week, Vox reports. At least five civilians and 25 members of the Afghan security forces were killed in the Taliban attack. Officials say hundreds of Taliban fighters were killed in the counterattack that drove the militants from the city. (Read more Air Force stories.) (Newser) Manhattan attorney Aaron Schlossberg had a lot more to worry about than restaurant workers speaking Spanish on Thursday. After his rant against the workers for not speaking English went viral, two Democratic lawmakers filed a complaint against him with a disciplinary committee, the AP reports. "The audacity to profile and verbally assault innocent bystanders and customers in a public commercial location is a violation of our civil society," Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. wrote to New York state's court system, calling the video, in which Schlossberg threatens to have the workers kicked out of the country, a "viral racist rant." In other developments: Kicked out of his office. Schlossberg has been evicted from the Madison Avenue business center he was using as his law firm's address. Corporate Suites president Hayim Grant tells the New York Post that the agreement has been terminatedand he was "completely shocked" by the video. "His actions are just not consistent with our community and rules and regulations," Grant says. "Its totally contrary to everything we believe in as a company and personally." story continues below Call for disbarment . Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, tells Gothamist that he believes disbarment would be an appropriate punishment for the 44-year-old attorney "Diversity is supposed to be the strength of this city, but here we are fighting against the same vitriol and invective that's coming out of the White House," he says. "Someone who has the privilege to be a member of the bar should not conduct themselves this way," . Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, tells Gothamist that he believes disbarment would be an appropriate punishment for the 44-year-old attorney "Diversity is supposed to be the strength of this city, but here we are fighting against the same vitriol and invective that's coming out of the White House," he says. "Someone who has the privilege to be a member of the bar should not conduct themselves this way," Mariachi fundraiser . A GoFundMe fundraiser to send a mariachi band to Schlossberg's office easily raised more than double its $500 goal, meaning there is enough money for a taco truck and some pinatas as well, the Hill reports. . A GoFundMe fundraiser to send a mariachi band to Schlossberg's office easily raised more than double its $500 goal, meaning there is enough money for a taco truck and some pinatas as well, the Hill reports. Dodging reporters . Schlossberg hid behind an umbrella and called the police instead of answering questions when he was confronted by New York Daily News reporters outside his Manhattan apartment building. "Please send help," he said to police, complaining that reporters were "yelling" and "claiming things that aren't true." . Schlossberg hid behind an umbrella and called the police instead of answering questions when he was confronted by New York Daily News reporters outside his Manhattan apartment building. "Please send help," he said to police, complaining that reporters were "yelling" and "claiming things that aren't true." A previous video. This isn't the first time Schlossberg has engaged in this kind of behavior, the Boston Globe reports. After the restaurant video went viral, a video of the attorney harassing a man walking down a New York City street surfaced. In the video, Schlossberg berates Massachusetts man Willie Morris, calling him an "ugly f------ foreigner." (Read more Manhattan stories.) (Newser) The US-China trade dispute is excellent news for farmersin Russia. Amid uncertainty over future US tariffs, China has canceled several shipments from American soybean producers and tripled the amount it is buying from Russia, Bloomberg reports. According to the Russian government's latest statistics, Russia sold 850,000 metric tons of soybeans to China between July last year and this week, compared to 340,000 tons in the whole of the 12 months before that period began. Analysts say that while Russia is a very minor soybean supplier compared to countries like Brazil, it is now likely to expand production in its far east, the Russian region closest to China. story continues below Rep. Cheri Buston, an Illinois Democrat and a member of the House Agriculture Committee, slammed President Trump after the Russia statistics were released, accusing him of breaking his promise to "end the war on the American farmer," the Quad City Times reports. In brighter news for US farmers, China announced Friday that it is ending an anti-dumping investigation of US sorghum because it would have raised prices for China's livestock producers and eventually affected the cost of living for Chinese consumers, the AP reports. China started the probe in February after determining large volumes and falling prices were negatively affecting Chinese producers. Analysts say Beijing's announcement may be a sign that it is ready to make a deal to avoid a damaging trade war with the US. (Read more soybeans stories.) (Newser) Spa owner Ildiko Krajnyak was opening a package that had piled up with mail during her recent trip to her native Hungary when it exploded Tuesday, killing her and injuring three others. News reports of the blast quickly reached Stephen Beal, her ex-boyfriend and a partner in the southern California business. At the urging of his new girlfriend, Beal phoned police and then let them search his house. They found more than 100 pounds of explosive material and charged him Thursday with possessing an unregistered destructive device, the AP reports. While not charged with the fatal explosion, the arrest puts Beal in custody as authorities investigate what they believe was a targeted bombing. story continues below Beal, a model rocket hobbyist, told investigators he had not made any bombs and did not have material for an explosion as powerful as the one he saw in news coverage. He said he had once made fireworks and mortars, but quit that after 9/11 because he "did not want to give the wrong impression." Beal, 59, did not enter a plea during his initial appearance in US District Court in Santa Ana. The criminal complaint was accompanied by an affidavit from an FBI special agent that briefly described the relationship between Beal and Krajnyak, as well as the grisly blast. The two had met online in June 2016 and dated about a year and a half. The romance cooled earlier this year after disputes over exclusivity and finances but they remained business partners, FBI Special Agent Evan Jesch wrote. (Read more California stories.) (Newser) Bill Gates recently helmed a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation meeting with staff, and per the Guardian, he offered some anecdotes involving President Trump. In the footage aired Thursday night on MSNBC, Gates noted that when he first met Trump in late 2016, it was "kind of scary" how much Trump seemed to know about his adult daughter Jennifer's appearance. "Melinda didn't like that too well," he said. He also noted that in that 2016 meeting, as well as in a subsequent one in March 2017, Trump threw out a question that actually threw Gates during a discussion about vaccines. "Both times he wanted to know if there was a difference between HIV and HPV," Gates told his audience. "So I was able to explain that those are rarely confused with each other." story continues below Trump apparently isn't the only one who may have harbored uncertainty about the viruses: The Guardian points out the UK's National Health Service website features a dedicated page with the question "What's the difference between HPV and HIV?" Still, jokes flew online about the president possibly not having a handle on this. "Guys, we could probably get him to stop watching Fox and Friends by telling him it has HDTV," one Twitter user snarked. One other Gates anecdote that drew laughs: "When I walked in, his first sentence kind of threw me off. He said: 'Trump hears that you don't like what Trump is doing.' And I thought, 'Wow, but you're Trump.'" (Where the two men rank on Forbes' billionaire list.) (Newser) The former Russian spy targeted in a nerve agent poisoning has finally left a UK hospital. Sergei Skripal, 66, was discharged from Salisbury District Hospital more than two months after he and his daughter, Yulia, were found slumped on a park bench on March 4. "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital," its director of nursing tells the BBC. Yulia, 33, was discharged in April. story continues below The hospital notes treatment involved "keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned," per the Guardian. The New York Times earlier this week reported the attack came after sources say Skripal met and shared information on Russia with Czech and Estonian spies, possibly with approval from British authorities. (The nerve agent used in the poisoning was liquid.) (Newser) Another Starbucks, this time in California, is in trouble. A restaurant in La Canada Flintridge has acknowledged that a barista wrote beaner on a Latino customers two coffee orders. The customer, Pedro, didnt notice the slur at the time, but when he brought the beverages back to work, a colleague did. I asked him if he realized what they had put on his cup. He said no. So I was really upset about it, because that isn't OK," coworker Priscilla Hernandez tells CNN. When Hernandez called the store to complain, they told her the barista didnt catch Pedros name, so she wrote beaner on the cup instead. The store reportedly offered Pedro a $50 gift card, which he declined, calling it insulting, per USA Today. Hernandez and Pedro have met with the stores district manager who apologized and promised to look into the incident. story continues below Starbucks also tweeted an apology. Hernandez seems angrier than Pedro, who Hernandez says wishes not to comment. "Out of all the names they could've put on his coffees for 'misunderstanding' him they decide to put 'beaner,'" she said. Patrons at the La Canada Starbucks Wednesday were dumbfounded when they heard about the incident, reports CBS. Im shocked, said one woman. I go to that Starbucks almost every day. Starbucks is closing all 8,000 stores on May 29 to provide its 175,000 employees with racial-bias training. That decision came after two African-American men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks while waiting for a business meeting. (Read more Starbucks stories.) (Newser) Every Chilean bishop offered to resign Friday over a sex abuse and cover-up scandal, in the biggest shakeup ever in the Catholic Church's long-running abuse saga. The bishops announced at the end of an emergency summit with Pope Francis that all 31 active bishops and three retired ones had signed a document offering to resign and putting their fate in the hands of the pope. Francis can accept the resignations one by one, reject them, or delay a decision, reports the AP. It marked the first known time in history that an entire national bishops conference had offered to resign en masse over a scandal. Francis summoned the entire bishops conference to Rome after admitting that he had made "grave errors in judgment" in the case of Bishop Juan Barros. story continues below Barros is accused by victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima of witnessing and ignoring their abuse. But the scandal grew beyond the Barros case after Francis received a 2,300-page report written by two Vatican sex crimes experts sent to Chile to get a handle on the scope of the problem. Their report hasn't been made public, but Francis cited its core findings in the footnotes of a document that he handed over to the bishops at the start of their summit this week. And those findings are damning. Francis accused the bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring investigators to minimize abuse accusations, and showing "grave negligence" in protecting children from pedophile priests. The AP has much more here. (Read more Catholic Church stories.) (Newser) As of last week, Najib Razak was prime minister of Malaysia. As of Friday, he was a mere civilian barred from leaving the country as authorities raided his Kuala Lumpur properties. The rapid fall centers around $4.5 billion missing from a state development fund overseen by Najib before his election loss to Mahathir Mohamad last week, reports the Wall Street Journal. Though Najib was cleared of wrongdoing while in office, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has reopened the investigation based on claims he intervened to hide his pocketing of $681 million from fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), some of which he allegedly spent on shopping sprees for his wife. During recent raids at his properties, police say they seized 284 boxes of handbags from Gucci, Chanel, and Hermes; 72 suitcases holding jewelry and Rolex watches; and at least $157,000 in cash. story continues below Najib's lawyer says the investigation represents "unwarranted harassment," per the BBC. But Malaysia is only one of six countries investing the fund. The USwhich claims Najib's stepson used 1MDB funds to produce films, including The Wolf of Wall Streetalleges $1.7 billion was laundered through American banks, reports the New York Times. Najib is now to testify in front of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Reuters reports, citing one member as saying evidence shows $10.6 million was sent to Najib from 1MDB's former subsidiary. Per the Journal, the investigation may be widened to include the 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, who acted as translator during a purchase of submarines while Najib was defense minister. Two members of Najib's security detail were convicted of the murder, though one had his sentence overturned. (Read more Malaysia stories.) (Newser) An announcement expected Friday out of Health and Human Services has abortion rights advocates and doctors' groups steeled for a new battle on the family planning front. Per the AP and New York Times, White House officials and other sources say a Reagan-era ban is about to be rebooted: one that forbids family planning clinics from sharing space with providers of abortions and related services, or from referring women to such providers. The already existing Hyde Amendment bars clinics from using federal Title X grants for abortion services, with NBC News noting groups like Planned Parenthood put the feds' money toward non-abortion-related health services and pay for abortion services out of private money; they still sometimes offer abortions and related services at the same site and with the same workers. The new rule would effectively quash that option. story continues below What's still unclear is whether a ban on discussing abortion will ensue. That "gag rule" had been instituted by Reagan, though it never went into effect; President Clinton then rolled it back and mandated "non-directive counseling" that included various options, including abortion. The new proposal reportedly will nix the requirement for grant recipients to include abortion in the conversation, though it may not ban the topic outright. Abortion critics say this move is the right one, an action to "disentangle taxpayers from the abortion business," as Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of abortion-opposition group Susan B. Anthony List, puts it to NBC. Abortion rights advocates disagree. "This is an attempt to take away women's basic rights, period," says Planned Parenthood exec Dawn Laguens. "Everyone has the right to information about their health careincluding information about safe, legal abortion." (Read more abortion stories.) (Newser) Being stuck on a plane for hours is unpleasant enough, but even more so when your seatmate is mocking you. Per WTVF, that's what mom Savannah Phillips says happened to her on a United Airlines flight Monday from Oklahoma to Illinois. In a Facebook post, Phillips notes how she's always been self-conscious about her weight, which made it doubly worse when she saw what the older man sitting next to her was texting: that he was stuck next to a "smelly fatty." Phillips says she hunched into the wall, crying, until she heard another man's voice say, "HeyI need to talk to you" to her seatmate. It was Chase Irwin, a dad from Nashville, who'd also seen the other passenger's hurtful text from his own seat, as well as Phillips crying. Irwin demanded the man switch seats with him, then cheered Phillips up for the remainder of the flight, telling her not to let the other man's rude words affect her. story continues below "I could not have this guy sit next to her this whole flight and her thinking he's making fun of her," Irwin tells WTVF. "When I saw her crying it really hit me hard." Phillips says she feels "so blessed" Irwin intervened, and she wrote her Facebook post in the hopes someone would ID him (at the time, she only had his first name and where he worked). Though some commenters say she should've minded her own business and not read her seatmate's private text, many were more supportive, relaying their own experiences and insecurities about their size, per the Kansas City Star. Lending support to Irwin: his employer, Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row. "It has warmed the heart of our entire team," the company posted on Facebook. Meanwhile, a United rep tells Newsweek that "we appreciate the efforts of [Irwin] and would like to hear from Ms. Phillips to understand what occurred." (Read more uplifting news stories.) (Newser) The owners of the website Mugshots.com are getting mugshots of their own. California authorities have arrested Sahar Sarid, Kishore Vidya Bhavnanie, Thomas Keesee, and David Usdan on charges of extortion, money laundering, and identity theft, Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. Mugshots collects individuals' names, booking photos and charges from police websites, publishes the data online, and then charges a fee to remove it. When people see the mugshot online, their first instinct is to contact the site to get it down, only to be routed to another website called Unpublisharrest.com which charges a fee, usually $399, to have the content removed. Mugshots publishes the photo even if charges were dismissed or the arrest was made in error. story continues below There are other sites like Mugshots, which has allegedly raked in more than $2.4 million in fees from at least 5,703 people in the last three years, reports the Washington Post. In 2014 California passed a law that makes it illegal to charge a fee for mugshot removal, and other states have similar legislation, but websites have ignored the laws or figured out how to work around them, reports the Sacramento Bee. The release of incriminating information can take an enormous toll. One widow said in an affidavit that she tried to get the site to remove the mugshot of her husband, who was never charged with a crime and later committed suicide, per the Post. What they are doing is very ugly, she said. They are profiting from peoples pain. (Read more mugshots.com stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Saturday morning an application by the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to appoint KG Bopaiah, a relatively junior MLA, as the pro-tem Speaker. The battle for power in Karnataka is getting murkier. Although Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yeddyurappa on Thursday took oath as the 23rd chief minister of the southern, the Congress is unrelenting and leaving no stone unturned to thwart the BJP's attempt to rule the state. The fact that there is no clear majority has led the Congress to reach out to the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) to form the government in Karnataka. Amidst these high-octane political dramas, the Supreme Court on Friday pronounced verdict on Congress's petition, challenging Governor Vajubhai Vala's controversial invitation to Yeddyurappa to become the chief minister of Karnataka. The apex court directed a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday to ascertain whether newly appointed Chief Minister Yeddyurappa enjoys the majority in the state. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," a three-judge bench headed by Justice A K Sikri said. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the chief minister, had sought reasonable time till Monday for the floor test but the bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, ordered it for Saturday. The Congress-Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) combine had earlier termed Karnataka governor's invite to Yeddyurappa government 'an encounter of the constitution'. Yeddyurappa's swearing-in ceremony took place hours after a three-judge bench of the apex court refused to block Vala's invitation to Yeddyurappa in an unprecedented overnight hearing on Thursday. "As far as swearing-in is concerned, we are not restraining it, but we are making it subject to the outcome of the case," justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, was quoted in the rare midnight hearing on Thursday. Here are the HIGHLIGHTS on the high-octane political drama in Karnataka: # 04:25 PM: Congress workers protest outside Karnataka Governor's Rajkot residence. # 04:22 PM: KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations: Prakash Javadekar. 'KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations: Prakash Javadekar. (File Pic) pic.twitter.com/9ZItjLT8d6 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 04:03 PM: What the BJP has done is against the rulebook. Ideally, the senior most leader is supposed to hold that position: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress on BJP MLA KG Bopaiah being appointed as pro-tem speaker. # 03:48 PM: Karnataka Governor appoints BJP MLA KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker ahead of floor test tomorrow # 03:44 PM: BJP MLAs arrive at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru to meet the Governor. BJP MLAs arrive at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru to meet the Governor. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/YPxF0BwzWv ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 03:28 PM: BJP wanted that vote of confidence should be done via secret ballot. But, Supreme Court has written in its order that there shall be no secret ballot in proving vote of confidence tomorrow: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress. # 02:56 PM: Ahead of the tomorrow's floor test in Karnataka Assembly, all recently elected BJP MLAs to meet at the party office in Bengaluru, in the evening today # 02:20 PM: Manipur Congress meets acting governor Jagdish Mukhi and staked claim to form the government in the state. # 01:48 PM: Patna: Tejashwi Yadav and other alliance leaders met Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik, hand over letters stating that RJD is the single largest party and hence should be invited to form Government. Patna: Tejashwi Yadav and other alliance leaders met Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik, hand over letters stating that RJD is the single largest party and hence should be invited to form Government pic.twitter.com/K24yHxu3nH ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 01:43 PM: RJD and other alliance parties-Congress and CPI(ML) hand over letters to Governor Satyapal Malik stating that RJD is the single largest party hence should be invited to form Government. # 01:40 PM: Ghulam Nabi Azad accuses Centre of abducting Congress MLA Anand Singh. # 01:38 PM: Let us wait until 4 pm tomorrow. What is the outcome on the floor of the Karnataka Assembly? The Manipur Governor Jagdish Mukhi said that he will look into the matter. I hope he will do justice: Former Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh. Let us wait till 4 pm tomorrow. What is the outcome on the floor of the Karnataka assembly. The Manipur Governor Jagdish Mukhi said that he will look into the matter. I hope he will do justice: Okram Ibobi Singh, Congress & Former CM of Manipur. pic.twitter.com/ztOQDowV2K ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 01:25 PM: Goa: 13 Congress MLAs at Raj Bhavan, hand over memorandum to Governor Mridula Sinha saying Congress is the single largest party in the state. Goa: 13 Congress MLAs at Raj Bhavan, hand over memorandum to Governor Mridula Sinha saying Congress is the single largest party in the state pic.twitter.com/WCJ2DilCFN ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 01:18 PM: BS Yeddyurappa who has 104 MLAs including himself, in the letter requested for 7 days, he had no other name, yet Governor invited him. It was unconstitutional, Governor even gave him 15 days time: Siddaramaiah on Karnataka Election Results 2018. # 01:13 PM: We are going to prove our majority to the Governor. We stake claim to form the government. We have the support of many parties & MLAs of those parties are with us. Let's see what happens: Tejashwi Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal. # 12:15 PM: Will discuss with Chief secretary and call for assembly session tomorrow. We are 100% confident that we will prove full majority: Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa on Supreme Court's order for a floor test. Will discuss with Chief secretary and call for assembly session tomorrow. We are 100% confident that we will prove full majority: #Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa on Supreme Court's order for floor test pic.twitter.com/oE8V9q3sIu ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 12:01 PM: Supreme Court has also said that member of Anglo-Indian community cannot be nominated: Abhishek Manu Singhvi. # 12:00 PM: 13 Congress MLAs reach Raj Bhavan to meet Goa Governor Mridula Sinha. # 11:59 AM: Supreme Court also said that oath should be administered to all MLAs before the floor test tomorrow and BS Yeddyurappa cannot take any policy decisions until tomorrow: Abhishek Manu Singhvi. # 11:58 AM: SC has delivered a historic verdict, many important directions have been given, one of them being that floor test has to be conducted at 4 pm tomorrow under a protem speaker: Congress lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi. # 11:52 AM: We welcome the Supreme Court's order. We will prove majority on the floor of the House tomorrow, we are ready for floor test: Shobha Karandlaje, BJP. # 11:46 AM: SC verdict has upheld constitutional morality and democracy. It is a judgement that should be celebrated. The faith of people in the wisdom of SC is vindicated once again. It's set back for a party that wanted to usurp power: Ashwani Kumar, Congress on SC directing floor test in Karnataka Assembly. SC verdict has upheld constitutional morality&democracy. It's a judgement that should be celebrated. Faith of people in wisdom of SC is vindicated once again. It's set back for a party that wanted to usurp power:Ashwani Kumar,Congress on SC directing floor test in K'taka Assembly pic.twitter.com/2srcDuygg0 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 11:39 AM: Supreme Court directs for floor test in Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow, after hearing Congress-JD(S) plea against Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form the government. #FLASH Supreme Court directs for floor test in Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow, after hearing Congress-JD(S) plea against #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt. pic.twitter.com/qSwBEJmfp0 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 11:31 AM: BJP's lawyer Mukul Rohatgi opposes the floor test tomorrow, says, 'need time.' Congress-JD(S) plea against #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt: BJP's lawyer Mukul Rohatgi opposes the floor test tomorrow, says, 'need time.' ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 11:30 AM: Supreme Court stays Congress-JD(S)'s plea challenging Karnataka Governor's decision to nominate an Anglo-Indian MLA to the Assembly. # 11:24 AM: Supreme Court observed that it can pass an order to make proper security arrangements for Congress-JD-S MLAs. Congress-JD(S) plea against #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, sought proper security for Congress-JD(S) MLAs in case of floor test being conducted. Supreme Court observed that it can pass an order to make proper security arrangements. ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 11:23 AM: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, sought proper security for Congress-JD(S) MLAs in case of floor test being conducted on Saturday. # 11:16 AM: Lawyer for Congress-JD(S), Abhishek Manu Singhvi, submits to Supreme Court that Congress-JD(S) are ready for floor test on Saturday. # 11:15 AM: Lawyer for Congress-JD(S), Abhishek Manu Singhvi argues, 'Yeddyurappa claimed support, but he does not have letters of support from these MLAs or it is only his oral submissions'. Congress-JD(S) plea against #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt: Lawyer for Congress-JD(S), Abhishek Manu Singhvi argues, 'Yeddyurappa claimed support, but he does not have letters of support from these MLAs or it is only his oral submissions.' ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 11:05 AM: In Supreme Court, Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri said, 'floor test seems to be the best option'. Congress-JD(S) plea against #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt: In Supreme Court, Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri said, 'floor test seems to be the best option.' ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 11:04 AM: SC observed that as BS Yeddyurappa has claimed support and BJP is the single largest party, there could be two probabilities. Whether Guv's decision has to be tested or a floor test has to be held on Saturday. # 11:03 AM: Supreme Court says, 'It is just a number game, one who enjoys the majority should be invited to form the Govt'. Congress-JD(S) plea against #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt: Supreme Court says, 'It is just a number game, one who enjoys the majority should be invited to form the Govt.' ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 11:00 AM: BJP's lawyer Mukul Rohatgi told Court, 'We have certain information that many MLAs from other parties have not given any kind of written support to Congress-JD(S). # 10:57 AM: Supreme Court wanted to know on what basis the Governor asks a party to provide a stable government. BJP's lawyer Mukul Rohatgi submitted that at this stage he does not want to say anything more. # 10:55 AM: Appointment with Goa Governor at noon. We are going to tell her that since her counterpart in Karnataka has called the single largest party, she should also call us now. We are the single largest party, will prove majority on the floor of the House: Yatish Naik, Goa Congress spokesperson. Appointment with Goa Governor at noon. We are going to tell her that since her counterpart in Karnataka has called the single largest party, she should also call us now. We are single largest party, will prove majority on the floor of the House: Yatish Naik, Goa Congress spox pic.twitter.com/YNeihTYQE2 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 10:54 AM: All MLAs are intact, threats using various govt agencies are going on but we will fight it out. We were not allowed to take a charter flight last night: DK Shivakumar, Congress, in Hyderabad. All MLAs are intact, threats using various govt agencies are going on but we will fight it out. We were not allowed to take a charter flight last night: DK Shivakumar, Congress, in Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/2zKFEzBMVG ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 10:51 AM: Yeddyurappa has been elected as leader of the largest party, BJP and he has the support of the necessary number of MLAs and is ready to prove it on the floor of House: Mukul Rohatgi in the Supreme Court. # 10:50 AM: Congress-JD(S) plea against Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt: Supreme Court asks counsels for letters from BS Yeddyurappa, Mukul Rohatgi hands over two letters of the BJP leader's letters to SC. # 10:49 AM: Crucial hearing on Congress-JD(S) petition challenging Karnataka Governor's invitation to BJP to form govt, begins in Supreme Court Crucial hearing on Congress-JD(S) petition challenging Karnataka Governor's invitation to BJP to form govt, begins in Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/VHAGKr5FU4 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 10:46 AM: Attorney General KK Venugopal, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan in the courtroom. Ram Jethmalani is also present. # 10:45 AM: MLA and former Deputy Chief Minister of the state R. Ashoka files intervention application in the matter challenging Governor's decision; Proceedings yet to commence. # 10:44 AM: Congress plea against Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form the government: Kapil Sibal also present at Supreme Court to argue on behalf of the Congress party. # 10:43 AM: MLAs who were staying at Bengaluru resort received threats, we wanted to take them to Kerala by air but permission was not granted, ultimately they had to travel by road. Is this democracy? No one trusts Constitution anymore, people have faith only in judiciary: Gulam Nabi Azad, Congress in Hyderabad. # 10:38 AM: Certainly (BJP has the numbers), without that how can we form the government? It is their right no? They can take them anywhere, even to Pakistan: BJP's Sadananda Gowda on Congress MLAs being taken to Hyderabad. Certainly (BJP has the numbers), without that how can we form the govt?: BJP's Sadananda Gowda; on Congress MLAs being taken to Hyderabad he said, 'It is their right no? They can take them anywhere, even to Pakistan.' #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/sLIKcTWRRK ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 10:32 AM: Karnataka Congress MLAs arrive at #Hyderabad's Taj Krishna Hotel, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) head Uttam Kumar Reddy also present. Karnataka Congress MLAs arrive at #Hyderabad's Taj Krishna Hotel, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) head Uttam Kumar Reddy also present. pic.twitter.com/BTSwh4qtmU ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 10:15 AM: We'll show CM's letter to Court, it shows he has support & support will be shown in the house. There is no issue of horse-trading, it is the other way, as MLAs have been taken to resorts: BJP lawyer Mukul Rohatgi. We'll show CM's letter to Court, it shows he has support & support will be shown in the house. There is no issue of horse-trading, it is the other way, as MLAs have been taken to resorts: Mukul Rohatgi, BJP's lawyer, on being asked if they have numbers he said, 'yes.' #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/CIbtc1HXIe ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 09:50 AM: Spoke to our former Prime Minister Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji and conveyed birthday wishes to him. I pray for his good health and long life, tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Spoke to our former Prime Minister Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji and conveyed birthday wishes to him. I pray for his good health and long life. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2018 # 09:48 AM: Congress MP from Karnataka, DK Suresh, says, 'They (MLAs) are coming to Hyderabad's Park Hyatt Hotel, we are arranging everything and waiting for them. Both JD-S, Congress will come in another two hours. #Hyderabad: Visuals from Park Hyatt Hotel. Congress MP from #Karnataka, DK Suresh, says, 'They (MLAs) are coming here, we are arranging everything here. We are waiting for them, in another 2 hours they will come, JD(S) and Congress both.' pic.twitter.com/CGDVINUOSU ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 09:36 AM: Don't know where the MLAs are? They are misleading people for last 3-4 days. You will know how we will prove the majority and how many MLAs support the govt. We will respect SC's judgement, it'll have a bearing on the further development of political scenario in Karnataka: B Bommai, BJP Don't know where the MLAs are? They are misleading people for last 3-4 days. You will know how we will prove the majority&how many MLAs support the govt. We will respect SC's judgement, it'll have a bearing on further development of political scenario in Karnataka: B Bommai, BJP pic.twitter.com/2neAggHyEH ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 08:52 AM: Congress to observe Save Democracy Day across the country to protest Karnataka Governors collusion with the BJP and his partisan action of inviting Bharatiya Janata Party leader BS Yeddyurappa to take oath as chief minister of Karnataka. # 08:37 AM: I'm definite they (Karnataka JD(S) MLAs) are not coming by flight so I'm moving to Kurnool. Not sure about destination if they come here, they're welcome. I was expecting them yesterday but Civil Aviation Dept didn't give permission to charter flight: MT Thomas, Kerala JD(S) MLA and Minister. I'm definite they (Karnataka JD(S) MLAs) aren't coming by flight so I'm moving to Kurnool. Not sure about destination if they come here, they're welcome. I was expecting them y'day but Civil Aviation Dept didn't give permission to charter flight: MT Thomas, Kerala JD(S) MLA & Min pic.twitter.com/nrPBv48nHs ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 # 08:07 AM: All the MLAs are with us. We are going to Hyderabad and then well decide where to stay: JDS MLA CS Puttaraju. # 07:52 AM: Former Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh and former Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma have sought time from respective Governors of the state for a meeting on Friday. Former Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh & former Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma have sought time from respective Governors of the state for a meeting tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/M3xunbU8Vf ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018 # 07:30 AM: Meghalaya, Manipur, even Bihar and Goa on Thursday threatened to march till Raj Bhavan and stake claim to form the government. Read full story here. # 07:00 AM: Congress MLAs left for Cochin, Hyderabad and Puducherry as the post-election chaos had gone out of control in Karnataka. # 06:51 AM: Congress to meet Manipur governor to stake claim to form the government in the north-eastern state. # 06:46 AM: HD Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief, visited Tirupati temple last night. New Delhi: As confusion still prevails on the formation of Karnataka government, the Congress on Friday sought an appointment with President Ram Nath Kovind to raise their concern. All like-minded opposition parties will appraise Kovind about the Karnataka Governor inviting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form government in the state amidst a split verdict in the Assembly election. Although the opposition has requested Kovind for an appointment on Saturday, the meeting has been postponed to next week in the view of the floor test be held in Karnataka Assembly tomorrow. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the floor test to ascertain whether newly appointed Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa enjoys the majority in the state. The SC verdict came days after the Congress and JD-S moved the apex court against the decision of Governor Vala to invite Yeddyurappa to form government in Karnataka. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vala to form the government despite the JD-S-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The required number to form the government in Karnataka is 112. Read | Supreme Court orders floor test in Karnataka Assembly; CM Yeddyurappa 100% confident to prove majority Earlier, on May 12 polling for 222 of the 224 Assembly took place across the Karnataka. BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa took oath as chief minister in Bengaluru on Thursday. The parties, including the RJD, want to highlight to the President that different rules are being cited in different states over government formation. Even though the RJD is the single largest party in Bihar, it was not considered by the governor. Similar situations have been witnessed in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya. Congress MLAs are also seeking to meet the respective governors and stake their claim to form the government in states where they are the single largest party. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yeddyurappa, who took oath as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday, has asserted that he was 100 per cent confident that he would prove the majority during the floor test, scheduled to take place in Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday. "We will abide by the Supreme Court verdict...we have got 100 per cent support and cooperation to prove the majority," PTI quoted Yeddyurappa. Yeddyurappa's statement came minutes after the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the floor test to ascertain whether newly appointed Chief Minister Yeddyurappa enjoys the majority in the state. "Amidst all these political games, we will prove our majority tomorrow. We will obey the Supreme Court order," said Yeddyurappa, who faces an uphill task rustling up the 112 MLAs required to cross the floor test hurdle. Read | Karnataka Elections: Congress seeks an appointment with President Kovind; to raise concerns over government formation The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House with an effective strength of 222 and hopes some newly elected lawmakers of the Congress and JD-S would break ranks with their respective parties and back the Yeddyurappa government. Yeddyurappa said he would discuss with the chief secretary and call an Assembly session at around 11 am on Saturday. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: Soon, students can opt for a study on Islamic Terrorism as the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Academic Council has approved a proposal to set up a Centre for National Security Studies under which there would be a course on "Islamic Terrorism", a professor said on Friday. Many JNU Academic Council members opposed the proposal to impart courses on 'Islamic Terrorism'. They felt that it was communal in nature, Sudhir K Suthar, a special invitee to the 145th meeting of the Council, said. "Many members opposed the topic 'Islamic Terrorism' so as to not club any religion with terrorism, and suggested to call the phenomenon 'religious terrorism'," Suthar, who is an office-bearer of the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA), told PTI. "There was a debate on the issue in the meeting with many members supporting it too, saying that it was a globally accepted phenomenon and majority of the cases (of terrorism) were associated with the religion," another Academic Council member, who was present in the meeting, said. The proposal draft was prepared by a four-member panel headed by Ajay Kumar Dubey, a professor of the Centre for African Studies. "The chair passed the proposal and said the objections would be considered (later)," Suthar said. According to the proposal, in the first five years, the centre will only focus on research activities. "The centre may have only M Phil and PhD students (initially). After five years, the centre may start MA programme. In the first year, two professors, two associate professors and four assistant professors may be recruited to give the centre a good and visible shape," according to the proposal. "Report was circulated for feedback and discussion. All suggestions including objections will be considered by the committee (later)," Dubey told PTI. However, JNU Students Union president Geeta Kumari opposed the move. "In a deeply problematic and shocking move the JNU VC also allowed the tabling of a course/topic on 'Islamic Terrorism' under the Centre for National Security Studies," she said. The propaganda of Islamophobia in the name of academic courses is deeply problematic, the student leader said. "This grotesque propaganda of Islamophobia in the name of academic courses is deeply problematic. It seems the RSS-BJP's election propaganda material will be prepared through these courses rather than studying the nature of terrorism in general," she added. New Delhi: Congress members and workers in Meghalaya on Friday carried out statewide protests and sent a petition to President Ram Nath Kovind, appealing him to safeguard democratic principles and the sanctity of the Constitution. The Congress emerged as the single largest party in the Meghalaya elections held on 27 February, but was not invited to form the government. It had secured the maximum number of seats (20) in the then House of 58 in the Assembly elections. The party held demonstrations and submitted a memorandum to the president at the Raj Bhawan. "As a mark of protest, the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee is organising statewide dharnas to protest this blatantly partisan and authoritarian act of the governor of Karnataka," MPPC president Celestine Lyngdoh said in a petition to the governor. Earlier, state Congress president and MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh and Congress legislature party secretary Hima Shangpliang staged a protest at the Congress Bhavan here. Currently, state Governor Ganga Prasad is not in Shillong. In the 27 February, though the Congress was the single largest party, the National Peoples Party (NPP), with 19 seats, was called to form the government with the support from the United Democratic Party (6), the Peoples Democratic Front (4), the Hills State Peoples Democratic Party (2), the BJP (2), the NCP (1) and two Independents. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a first counter-militancy operation since the Centre announced a conditional suspension of operations during Ramzan, security forces were engaged in a gunbattle with militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir while police said a multi-tier security arrangement had been put in place in Jammu for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on Saturday, A multi-tier security arrangement had been ensured for the prime minister's visit and all necessary measures had been taken, IGP Jammu zone, S D Singh Jamwal told reporters in Jammu on Friday. In view of the security concern amid reports of five suspected militants having infiltrated from across the International Border in Kathua district, Jamwal said they had searched the entire area and would deal with it. The security forces had been on put on high alert in Jammu and checking and frisking were being done at various entry and exit points, he added. Modi will participate in the sixth convocation ceremony of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), lay foundation of the ring road and inaugurate the Tarakote Marg, the alternative link road to the cave shrine of Vaishno Devi. The Zorawar Singh and the SKUAST auditoriums, where the PM would be presiding over the functions, had been made out of bounds and multi-tier security in and around the areas was in place under the command of the SPG, Jamwal said. Modi would also inaugurate a hydro project and take part in the 100th birth anniversary celebration of Ladakhi spiritual leader Kushak Bakula. Encounter between militants, security forces in Kupwara Security forces were engaged in a gunbattle with militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, the Army said, in a first counter-militancy operation since the Centre announced a conditional suspension of operations during Ramzan. The encounter broke out in Haphruda forests in Handwara area of Kupwara in north Kashmir, an Army official said, adding that the gun battle was underway when reports last came in and further details were awaited. The Centre had on May 16 announced that security forces will not launch any operations in J&K during the holy month of Ramzan, but they reserve the right to retaliate if attacked. Union Home Ministry officials had said that the move was not a concession to the extremists, but an effort to create an environment free of terror and violence during the holy month and there will be no lowering of guard. They had said that the security forces, however, reserve the right to retaliate if attacked or if essential to protect the lives of innocent people. Five Pakistani terrorists infiltrate from across International Border in Kathua Five Pakistani terrorists had reportedly crossed over to the Indian side through a tunnel on Wednesday, according to the Border Security Force (BSF). Director General BSF KK Sharma also said that a successful infiltration bid took place on Monday in Samba district. He said that an alert was issued in the entire Jammu region and security agencies were asked to remain extra vigilant and verify intelligence inputs. The infiltration before Modis visit was a serious issue but our sister agencies and the police are fully aware of it and appropriate measures have been taken, the BSF chief said. Tributes paid to Jawan killed in Pakistan firing Meanwhile, the Border Security Forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday paid tributes to a jawan who was killed in unprovoked firing along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in the Arnia sector. A wreath-laying ceremony was held for the 28-year-old constable Sitaram Upadhyay, who hailed from Giridih in Jharkhand, at the BSF Frontier headquarters. Jammu and Kashmir's Housing and Urban Development Minister Sat Sharma; Divisional Commissioner of Jammu Hemant Kumar; senior BSF, CRPF and police officials paid floral tributes to Upadhyay. Constable Upadhyay made the supreme sacrifice while defending the country's sanctity, Inspector General of the BSF, Jammu Frontier, Ram Awtar, said. Upadhyay was martyred amid heavy firing from Pakistan at 1.35 am on Friday while valiantly responding from the duty point at the IB, the IG said. The constable, who joined the force in 2011, is survived by a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. BSF has a history of bravery and is always committed to maintaining the sanctity of the IB and safety of the border population, Awtar said. The brave act (by Upadhyay) has once again proved that the men on the border are always ready to sacrifice their lives for the nation's security, he said. Awtar reiterated that as the peaceful country, India never initiates fire, but will never hesitate to give a befitting reply if it is compelled. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: China will turn Taiwan into a major nuclear and conventional military base which will allow it to project power into the Indian Ocean and consolidate more control over the disputed South China Sea to isolate both India and Japan, a US lawmaker has warned. Expressing concern over China's growing economic and military power, Richard D Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center told lawmakers on Thursday that Beijing had a new strategy for gaining eventual global military access called "debt trap diplomacy". "China may be using debt pressure right now to force Djibouti to limit US military access in that strategic base. It recently gained ownership of a new large port in Sri Lanka by debt default. Vanuatu, Pakistan, Thailand and others are vulnerable, Fisher said. A good reason to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which could be perhaps as early as the mid-2020s, was that China will turn Taiwan into a major nuclear and conventional military base, he said. "This will then trigger Chinese moves to isolate Japan, consolidate control over the South China Sea even more, and project power into the Indian Ocean to isolate India. In Latin America, China will continue to exploit opportunities to cause trouble and gain military access," he said. China claims almost all of South China Sea and also laid claims on the Senkaku islands under the control of Japan in East China Sea and resorted to aggressive patrols in the last two years. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the waterway. The US periodically deploys its naval ships and fighter planes to assert freedom of navigation. By the 2030s, the Chinese Air Force air mobile projection could be based on 100 to 200 large C-17 size Xian Y-20 heavy transports, and both their lightweight airborne forces and now medium-weight airborne projection forces are anticipated. China is assembling a power-projection Navy that, by the 2030s, may have the world's first totally nuclear-powered carrier battle group, Fisher said. It will have an initial amphibious projection of about 12 large ships by probably as early as the early 2030s. And the Chinese marines are reforming into a force of about 100,000. Other lawmakers also echoed Fisher's concerns over China. Congressman Devin Nunes, Chairman House Intelligence Committee said during a Congressional hearing, that previous attempts to appease China had failed to improve the bilateral relations. "In fact, China has only become emboldened and may now be the preeminent threat to American security, our economy and our values," Nunes said. "From its One Belt Road initiative to its unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, China is using its economic and military power to subvert international norms, undermine US national security, threaten our friends and allies, and reshape the global balance of power, Nunes said. Ranking Member Congressman Adam Schiff said China's military growth had taken place alongside the Belt and Road initiative. China's massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) seeks to build rail, maritime and road links from Asia to Europe and Africa in a revival of ancient Silk Road trading routes. "Through the BRI and other tools such as the Asian Infrastructure Bank, China seems to be leading in economic engagement and then backfilling with greater military capacity as its capabilities grow," Schiff said. The Chinese Army base in Djibouti follows decades of Chinese investment in diplomacy in Africa and increasing oil imports by China, much of which passes through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait between Djibouti and Yemen, he said. "Similarly, Beijing's militarisation of the South China Sea reflects a deliberate approach that seeks to protect core Chinese economic and strategic interests that have long predated the island reclamation effort and the buildup there," he said. Dan Blumenthal from the American Enterprise Institute said under the BRI initiative, a lot of the major construction and investment projects were going to places like Pakistan and Bangladesh, which will provide outlets for China into the Indian Ocean that don't have to go through the Straits of Malacca and other areas that the US dominate. "It really is a cash or investment-for-access deal, in many of these places, he said. "The BRI will never achieve, in my view, what Xi Jinping has said, which is to establish a Silk Road. But, through targeted investments, China will gain a lot in terms of access...The base in Djibouti is a very big deal, a very, very big deal, and is the fruit of cash for diplomacy, as well, he said. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Manama : His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday received senior members of the Royal family and senior government officials who congratulated him on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, were present. Speaking on the occasion, HM the King pointed out the keenness of Bahraini people to celebrate Ramadan and stressed that Bahrain will always remain a country of security, stability, coexistence and tolerance. Manama : Police have arrested a 41-year-old man, who was working as a cleaner at a company operating at Bahrain International Airport, for theft. The man, according to the Director-General of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science, stole a jewellery worth BD10000. Four others were also arrested for assisting the man in committing the crime. The perpetrators were arrested after Bahrain International Airport Police Directorate launched an investigation into the incident based on a complaint received. Investigators, the directorate said, caught the man red-handed with the stolen jewellery. The seized materials were handed over to the concerned security directorate to complete legal proceedings and to refer the case to the Public Prosecution. Several arrested for drinking alcohol in open in Western Ekker Several arrested for drinking alcohol in open in Western Ekker Manama : Interior Ministry has arrested a number of Asians, who were drinking alcohol in open in Western Ekker, a day after the Daily Tribune reported the incident citing video clips. The General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science in the Ministry of the Interior said the culprits are now in police custody. Commenting on the issue, Lawyer Faysal Al-Jamaan told the Daily Tribune such people are legally called Clear drunkard and the penalty is only BD50. The penalty, Al-Jamaan said, however, will go up to three to six months imprisonment with deportation, if not a Bahraini national, for unlicensed sale of liquor. Manama : Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi yesterday honoured students from the public and private schools and the Bahrain Training Institute (BTI) who have won top accolades in the local and international competitions. Bahrain Training Institute won third place in Shaikh Nassers tournament for universities in its first edition and Ahmed Jalil won the best player. Al-Noor Girls Secondary School won second place in the Fadia Al-Saad Al-Sabah competition for scientific innovations in Kuwait. Al Duraz girls intermediate school won third prize in the same competition for an eco-friendly car project. The minister, Dr Majid Al Nuaimi, also honoured winners of the Torrance Award for creative production in the fields of poetry and drawing held in the United States, and the Global Chinese calculating Competition held in Malaysia. Isa Town : Car washers wandering the streets is a common sight in several towns and villages in the Kingdom, following the introduction of flexible work permits by Labour Ministry or the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), enabling expats to be their own sponsors and work anywhere of their choice. But some citizens say the flexi permits have also contributed to the phenomenal increase of streetcar washers in several parts of Bahrain. A large number of car washers are often seen scrambling for work in some areas and open yards such as Isa Town, East Riffa and Arad. Tribune spoke to Southern Area Municipal Council Chairman Ahmed Al Ansari, who demanded more official efforts to regulate the work of this category of workers. Al Ansari says some of the social and legal problems are caused by streetcar washers in the southern area especially in Riffa and Isa Town. We receive countless numbers of complaints at the council against these individuals who gather in huge numbers in some residential areas. Their residency conditions may have been regularized but they remain unwanted, especially by families who complained about them of thefts and harassments. Citizens and residents are worried about their children, women and housemaids, as some of these car washers harass them, Al Ansari told. He also said that the residents are demanding that the washers be moved out of residential areas. Al Ansari suggested that designated car washing areas are established to accommodate the washers, instead of being randomly scattered across residential areas. The council chairman criticised the lack of official supervision on foreign workers in Bahrain. He blamed the authorities for not controlling the masses of street workers. Al Ansari added, There are 14,000 inspectors on Dubai alone. In Bahrain, the numbers of inspectors in all fields, including the municipalities, labour, health and hospitality sectors, are below 1,000. Thats why violations are repeating without effective solutions. Interior Ministry, Labour Ministry and LMRA should cooperate to end these disturbing phenomena. Repeated brawls Commenting on footage recently posted online showing car washers fighting at one of their gathering points in Isa Town, Southern Area Municipal Council Member Mohammed Al Khal told Tribune that such fights became a regular scene in Isa Town. Al Khal commented, What has been posted online recently is only the tip of the iceberg. Tens of such occurrences are frequently witnessed here. In an interview over the telephone with Tribune, the representative of the area at the council shed light on another side of the issue. Al Khal elaborated further saying that despite the many opposing voices to streetcar washers, there is an equal number of people who need their services, especially among the youth. The youth prefer car washing and polishing services provided by streetcar washers over the officially registered establishments, as theyre cheaper by at least 70 percent. If theres no demand for these services, the number of streetcar washers will sure decrease. However, this matter is one of the most controversial discussions in social gatherings in the area (majlises). Many sympathise with citizens who own officially registered auto-service garages and washers, as theyre compelled to pay high fees. While these washers are pulling their customers away by offering them the same services in return for trifle amounts. More control and regulation is needed, Al Khal added. Manama : Foodstuff traders yesterday confirmed that the market is ready to welcome the holy month with sufficient supply of food materials. They also ruled out any possibilities for shortages during the month confirming that prices of staple foods from red meat, vegetables and fruits in Bahrain are still the lowest in price in the GCC countries. The demand, according to traders, will drop by the fifth day of Ramadan or the first week as most of the purchases will be made during that period. A meat trader in the central Manama market, Sayed Nasser Al-Hulaibi, said that the demand for meat during Ramadan increases by 60 percent to 70pc compared to normal days. He confirmed that the market is fully prepared to meet the needs of consumers during the holy month. Red meat, Al-Hulaibi said, is imported from Australia, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Sudan. Australian meat is ranked top by individual consumers and restaurants. He explained that each trader in the central Manama market offers around 80 to 100 cows and 200 to 300 sheep a day, adding that there are currently seven companies importing meat, which also resulted in breaking the monopoly of the Bahrain Livestock Company. According to Al-Hulaibi, prices of red meat are accessible to all and are still cheaper when compared to other GCC countries, where the price for one kilogram reaches BD2,500. Poultry supply stable On poultry supply, Al-Hulaibi said traders have stocked supplies in large quantities to meet the daily demand. People prefer local poultry, if not available they will resort to Saudi product. Another meat dealer at the central Manama market, Ali Jumah Abu Jaber, said that meat is a basic ingredient during the holy month. According to him, red meat offers better health benefits when compared to other varieties. He also ruled out any crisis during the holy month citing the diversity of import sources. Poultry merchant in the central Manama market, Mahmoud Sadiq, said that Saudi chickens are available in larger quantities when compared to Bahraini chickens. Demand for poultry is three times more in Ramadan. Demand not strong Sadiq, however, said that the demand for poultry in the central markets is no longer as strong as it was in the past. This, he said, is mainly due to the advent of large hypermarket and air-conditioned commercial complexes, making it the preferred choice for many consumers. Sadiq explained that each trader offers a total of 100 to 200 chickens during the beginning of the holy month, noting that demand exceeds the supply in the first week of Ramadan, and returns to normality by the middle of the holy month. Sadiq confirmed the stability of poultry prices of all brands and sources, where the price of a kilo of is 1.200 dinars. Sadiq also confirmed the availability of eggs from Kuwait, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, the Netherlands and Ukraine. Bahraini eggs, however, are expensive because of the high demand for it. 3500 tons of vegetables per day A vegetable and fruit dealer at the Manama Central Market, Reda Al-Bustani, said that 3500 tons of all kinds of vegetables, fruits have been put on a daily basis since last Tuesday, and is expected to put 4500 tons on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. He said the demand for vegetables and fruits will decline gradually from the fifth day of the holy month, and return again with the payment of salaries later this month. He said that the production of vegetables and fruits in the summer season is slow in the GCC countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, where they all depend on Jordan, as well as Egypt, India, Pakistan and other European countries. Mint, coriander, cucumbers On the most important commodities required during Ramadan, Al-Bustani confirmed that they include weeds such as parsley, mint, coriander, vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins and lettuce, fruits such as red watermelon, melons, grapes, mangoes, cherries, apricots, plums and nectarines. Al-Bustani noted that 70pc of the imported vegetables and fruits are transported through the King Fahd Causeway, 20pc through the Bahrain International Airport and the remaining 10pc by sea via Khalifa Port. He also called on the public not to resort to excessive purchases or storage of Ramadan goods with all products available. Brussels : Investment opportunities in the Kingdom were in focus during a high-level Bahrain-Belgium Business Forum held in Brussels. The forum shed light on the investment opportunities in Bahrain and evolution of the Kingdom towards a diversified competitive economy. Embassy of Bahrain, in cooperation with the Bahrain Economic Development Board and the Arab-Belgium-Luxemburg Chamber of Commerce (ABLCC), organised the forum. Speaking at the event, the Ambassador of Bahrain to Belgium, Dr Bahia Jawad Al Jishi, stressed that Bahrain attaches great importance to its relations with Belgium, which have been steadily growing over the years. While reviewing the economic developments, she pointed out the Kingdoms efforts to diversify its economy, relying on its strategic location, competent national cadres, regulatory frameworks and legislation. She also pointed out the recent discovery of large reserves of oil and gas in the Kingdom, which will be an opportunity for international oil companies to invest in the country, stressing that the harmony between the national advantages, visions and policies provide solid ground for investors. On his part, Dr Simon Galpin, Managing Director of the Economic Development Board, highlighted the investment opportunities available to the private sector. He reviewed the opportunities in the fields of infrastructure, industrial sector and real estate as well as opportunities in the field of finance. Dr Simon announced EDBs intention to render services to new investing companies and hailed its role in attracting international companies to the Kingdom of Bahrain, including Amazon Internet Services and Mondelez International Group. Qaiser Hijazin, Secretary-General of the Arab-Belgian Chamber of Commerce (ABLCC), highlighted the importance of intensifying trade relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Belgium. Cairo : Yesterday, the Arab League called for an international investigation into Israels killing of dozens of protesters on the Gaza border as its foreign ministers met in Cairo to discuss their response. Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said that "We call for a credible international investigation into the crimes committed by the occupation". He was at an extraordinary meeting held to discuss the violence, called at the request of Saudi Arabia. Nearly 60 Palestinians were shot dead on Monday during protests coinciding with the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. We are facing a state of blatant aggression against international law and legitimacy which was embodied by the US embassys transfer in the occupying state to Jerusalem, Abul Gheit said. Altogether Israeli forces have killed some 116 Palestinians since protests along Gazas border with Israel began six weeks ago. Bahrain backs demand Cairo : The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, yesterday condemned the killings of the Palestinian civilians by Israel last Monday and warned of serious repercussions in the aftermath of the escalation of violence in Occupied Palestine posing a threat to the entire region. Addressing the extraordinary meeting of the Arab League, Shaikh Khalid said that the Kingdom extended full support for the demand for a probe into these terrible crimes and called on the international community to provide protection to the Palestinian people. He said the Palestinian issue is the issue of every Arab and every Muslim and denounced the killing of Palestinians. Shaikh Khalid said that the Israeli action violated all international laws and norms. The Palestinian plight requires swift and firm action by the international community and the Security Council, which both have to shoulder their responsibilities to stop this Israeli aggression, he said. The minister reiterated Bahrains steadfast position in support of the Palestinian cause and the aspirations of the brotherly Palestinian people, affirming their right to establish an independent and sovereign state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Shaikh Khalid called on the international community to work hard to achieve a just and comprehensive peace and enforce international resolutions on the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem : Guatemala inaugurated its Israel embassy in Jerusalem yesterday, becoming the first country to follow in the footsteps of the United States deeply controversial move that was accompanied by deadly violence on the Gaza border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales were among officials who attended a ceremony inaugurating the new embassy at an office park in the disputed city, which is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The US and Guatemalan moves break with decades of international consensus. US ambassador to Israel David Friedman also attended yesterdays ceremony. So far the only other nation with immediate plans to open an Israel embassy in Jerusalem is Paraguay, expected to do so before the end of the month. Netanyahu profusely praised Guatemala for making the move and noted it came only two days after the United States opened its embassy in Jerusalem. The Israeli prime minister spoke of Guatemalas early recognition of the state of Israel after its creation in 1948 and said he would visit the country of 16 million on his next visit to Latin America. I look forward to assessing with you the practical ways... that we can advance this friendship and this alliance, Netanyahu said. But today, I just want to say how delighted we are to have you. Morales called it a transcendental moment for future generations who will remember that friendly countries took courageous decisions in favour of Israel and we do this because you have a special place in our hearts. Japanese actor Ken Watanabe, who has appeared in a number of American films including the 2003 period drama "The Last Samurai," has split with his actress wife Kaho Minami, their agencies said Thursday. The couple's divorce came about a year after a magazine report that the 58-year-old Watanabe had been cheating on the 54-year-old Minami, an allegation later admitted to by the actor. In 2004, Watanabe was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in "The Last Samurai." He also made his Broadway debut in 2015 when he starred in "The King and I." Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 33-year-old man over the alleged molestation of a school girl in Itabashi Ward in which he threatened her before, reports TBS News In February, Ayumu Igata, a company employee thrust a key before the girl, an elementary school student, at a stairwell of a building. He then reached up her skirt and fondled her lower body. Igata admits to the allegations, according to police. aAfter I saw her, I got turned on,a the suspect was quoted by police. Igata became a person of interest after an examination of security camera footage showed a man following the girl over a distance of 100 meters. Prior to committing the crime, Igata threatened the victim. aIf you show me your underwear, Iall let you go,a the suspect reportedly said. The mid-tier smartphone market heats up Oppo launched its F7 series priced at VND8-10 million and nearly 19,000 were sold just the first day. In late April, Xiaomi broke its record when selling 20,000 Redmi 5 Plus on the launch day. About 5,000 Nova 3e of Huawei, priced at VND7 million, were sold on the launch day April 8. The manufacturer hopes it can sell 20,000-30,000 products a month, from now to August. The smartphone market was boiling in March and April when manufacturers rushed to sell mid-end products and apply attractive sale policies. Also in April 2018, HMD Global launched Nokia 6 and Nokia 7 with the selling prices of VND7 million and VND9 million, respectively. Equipped with new technologies and beautiful design, the two models have caught the attention of Vietnamese who were loyal to the once-famous brand. Nokia plans to sell 500,000 products this year. Observers said the mid-end models with fingerprint sensor, dual camera, Always-on display with beautiful design, high configuration and many features are the favorite in Vietnam now. According to GfK, a market analysis firm, smartphones priced at VND5-10 million amount to 34 percent of the smartphone market. Dang Thanh Phong of The Gioi Di Dong, the largest mobile phone distribution chain, said the best sellers are models from VND5-6 million to less than VND10 million. Most manufacturers target the market segment and introduce models targeting youth and office workers. Samsung has J7+ and J7 Pro, while Apple has iPhone 6 and Oppo has six models in the market segment. Sony, HTC, Vivo, Huawei and Nokia also have products available in the market. Do Quang Kha, CEO of Oppo Vietnam, said artificial intelligence (AI) is an important feature to buy smartphone products. They may not understand what AI means, but they will choose products which best understand them and serve as clever assistants, he said, adding that the phones which can turn off unused functions, thus helping prolong battery life, or phones with cameras which know users habits and can take beautiful selfies will be the most popular choices. Upon its return, Nokia decided to cooperate with The Gioi Di Dong, Google, Qualcomm and Home Credit to offer Nokia 6 and Nokia 7 Plus, the phones made with the most advanced technology. The two products of Nokia are now available at 1,800 The Gioi Di Dong shops. It is estimated that 500,000 products will be sold in 2018. US$1=VND22,000 RELATED NEWS The unequal struggle in the smartphone market Made-in-China smartphones becoming more popular in Vietnam Thanh Lich The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has taken over Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd. and other assets belonging to Senator Stella ... The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has taken over Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd. and other assets belonging to Senator Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi over a debt of about N20bn.AMCON said the takeover followed an injunction granted by Justice M.S. Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos, against the Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd.The corporation, in a statement by its Head, Corporate Communications, Jude Nwauzor, on Friday said that Oduah-Ogiemwonyi had been having a running battle with AMCON over her inability to settle her huge debt of nearly N20bn.The statement said that AMCON purchased the Eligible Bank Assets of Sea Petroleum & Gas from Union Bank Plc sometime in 2012.It said that in spite of overtures and genuine efforts made by AMCON to reach an amicable settlement, the senator and her co-promoters had been uncooperative.Having exhausted all avenues of peaceful resolution of the humongous debt, AMCON had no other choice than to refer the matter to court, the statement said.It said that the order also affected the senators other business interests, for which AMCON had since appointed Moyosore Jubril Onigbanjo (SAN) as receiver over the assets of Oduah-Ogiemwonyi; Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas; Sea Petroleum and Gas FZE as well as Star Tourism and Hotels Ltd.The statement said that the court also ordered the freezing of the funds of Sea Petroleum & Gas and its affiliated companies and principal promoters, held anywhere by any entity or persons in Nigeria.It also authorised AMCON and its receiver, Onigbanjo, to take over all assets pledged as collateral for the facility by Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd.In compliance with the order of the court, AMCON through its receiver, Moyosore Jubril Onigbanjo, SAN, today (May 18), simultaneously took possession of the assets of Sea Petroleum & Gas Ltd. and its affiliated companies.Justice Hassan specifically, ordered Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd. and its affiliated companies to hand over the companys business, which sits on over 9000 square kilometres of land in the fastest developing area of Lagos State along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, it said.Other affected assets, according to AMCON, are two tank farms of 500 metric tonnes capacity; a property at Maiyegun Tourism Zone, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 11, Lagos Island and a filling station complex at kilometre 14, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Ikota, Lagos.The court order also listed a host of other assets across the country, including Plot 2, Block 12C, Babafemi Osapa Crescent Lekki; Block 5, House 4A Mobolaji Johnson Estate, Lekki, and office/filling station at Jakande in Lekki, Lagos, among others.(NAN) Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of connivance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the July 14 governorship election in the State by using students of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) as INEC ad-hoc staff for the election, instead of youth corps members.The governor, who made this known while addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti, on Friday, described President Muhammadu Buharis comment that the Ekiti 2014 governorship election was characterized by hanky panky, as unfortunate, saying he was not surprised because the President was no longer in touch with realities and also not in charge of his own government.He said that the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE, Prof Kayode Soremekun, was a card-carrying member of the APC and a close ally of the partys candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, accusing him of rigging elections for the APC in the past.Governor Fayose said the idea behind this plot is to recruit APC members from neighbouring States, arm them with FUOYE students Identity Cards and use them as INEC Presiding and Returning Officers to perfect the planned rigging of the election. This will fail.The statement reads; Recall that the President said categorically that Ekiti State must be taken by the APC at all cost. Instead of his empty boast that his party must capture the State by whatever means, the President should rather tell Ekiti people what he has done for them in the last three and half years.Today, we are beginning to receive signals to the effect that clandestine moves are being made to subvert the will of Ekiti people. With the failure of their Ondo Option, other evil means are now being devised.Despite that we have over 9,000 Youth Corps members in Ekiti State and it has been the general practice to engage the NYSC members in elections across the country, the APC in collusion with INEC has asked that students of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) be recruited as INEC ad-hoc staff for the election, instead of youth corps members.We are in possession of an Internal Memorandum from the office of the Dean of Students Affairs, FUOYE seeking registration of students of the University as INEC Presiding and Returning Officers for the Election.As I speak, over 2,000 supposed FUOYE students have been registered; with a curious condition that they should provide Bank Account details of their close relations, apparently to avoid tracing any payment into their own accounts.The question is; with over 9,000 Youth Corps members in Ekiti State, what is the need for FUOYE students in an election that is holding in less than 2,200 polling units?Our counsel is that parents, guardians and families of FUOYE students should prevail on their wards to shun this Greek gift and avoid being used by desperate politicians.INEC, too, must come clean on this. The electoral umpire must tell the public the rationale behind the plot to jettison Youth Corps members for supposed FUOYE students.On President Buharis reported comment that the Ekiti 2014 governorship election was characterized by hanky panky, I am not surprised at all because he is no longer in touch with realities. The president is not even in charge of his own government.Therefore, I am not surprised that such a statement came from the president. That was the same President who said Nigerian youths are lazy and that Nigerians living abroad are criminals. He can also afford to indict his own country by saying that agencies of the federal government were involved in electoral fraud, even when the United States Government commended them.The president runs to the United States of America at all times and believe in the US government even more than himself. This same US government said clearly that the election was free, fair and transparent.However, let me tell the President and his men that they will be disgraced here in Ekiti because the power of the people is greater than the power of those in power.We hereby call on all men of good conscience to stand up and be counted in the fight against dictatorship, election rigging and the plot to subvert democracy in Nigeria. 2019 general elections is close by and Ekiti as well as Osun elections are prelude to what to expect in 2019.The international community must prevail on INEC and the Buhari administration to allow free, fair and credible election in Ekiti State. President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the last governorship election that produced the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, was cha... He, therefore, called on the leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress to do everything possible to ensure that they did not allow any subversion of the will of the people again.Buhari said this while hosting the members of the APC South-West caucus to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.All aspirants that contested the party ticket in Ekiti State with the winner, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, were also present at the dinner.Buhari said it was not in his character to interfere in the internal workings of the APC because it was the responsibility of the party to conduct primaries for elective positions.He said now that the party had completed that assignment and a candidate had emerged, the job of party leaders was to build a united front that could propel the party to victory in the election that he described as all important.Buhari said, This is crucial because I remember the hanky-panky that attended the last gubernatorial election in Ekiti State in 2014. I recall the firsthand account I received from some of the dramatis personae in that unfortunate saga.We must do everything to ensure that we do not allow any subversion of the will of the people this time round.Now that the primary is over and we have a candidate, all hands must be on deck to achieve a positive result.Buhari expressed delight that Fayemi had started reaching out to his co-contestants with a view to working together.He appealed to all the aspirants to see the election as a collective mission to rescue Ekiti and promote development, adding that it was important for the APC to win the July 14 election because it would serve as a pointer to subsequent elections in the country.The President said forthrightness, candour and integrity that hitherto characterised the people of the state appeared to have been lost in the state currently being governed by the Peoples Democratic Party.He said it was time for the APC to restore those lost values and return the state to the comity of states.Buhari added, I know Ekiti fairly well and Ekiti people are well known for their forthrightness, candour and integrity. All of these values seem to have been lost and we must restore these values and return Ekiti to its pride of place in the comity of states.As we approach the 2019 elections, the return of Ekiti into the fold of progressive states is important as the election of July 2014 is going to be a key pointer to subsequent elections.On my part, let me reassure you that you can count on my support. But charity must begin at home. I urge Ekiti leaders and the leaders from the South-West to take this assignment seriously so that the APC can laugh last in the July election. It is only then that we will all be beneficiaries of victory.Let us return to the field to work hard and deliver victory to our great party.A former interim national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, told State House correspondents at the end of the meeting that all party chiefs in the South-West would work for Fayemis success.Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, were present at the dinner.Governors at the meeting included Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and the Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, who was the chairman of the APC Ekiti Gubernatorial Primary Committee.Some members of the National Assembly, ministers and stakeholders from the zone also attended the dinner. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, on Thursday disclosed how the Federal Government, states and private organisations allegedly diverted N320bn from the Natural Resources Fund over the years.Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had, through an Executive Order, created the fund in 2002 for the purpose of developing the countrys natural resources.But, the Speaker said as much as N320bn was diverted from the fund to projects that were totally unconnected with the objective of setting it up.Dogara spoke during the opening of a public hearing by the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Utilisation of N350bn Natural Resources Fund and Federal Government Investments, Proceeds and Leakages in Solid Minerals at the National Assembly.The committee was chaired by a member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State, Mr. Adamu Kamale.The Speaker, who was represented by the Chief Whip of the House, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, alleged that the Federal Government, states and private firms resorted to borrowing from the fund for other reasons, thereby defeating the aim of creating it.He noted, I understand that most of the invitees seated here today are directly or indirectly involved in the utilisation of the Natural Resources Fund.Available records show that over N320bn of the Natural Resources Fund was utilised as loans to the Federal Government of Nigeria; states; Ministries, Departments and Agencies; and in some cases, private firms, most times for matters unrelated to natural resources.This practice is unacceptable and must be corrected. I charge this ad hoc committee to use all available legislative powers to recover the funds that are utilised illegally.In addition, the committee, in line with the resolution of the House, should come up with recommendations to safeguard further misappropriation of the Natural Resources Fund, and also recommend an appropriate legal framework.Dogara told the session that worse still, withdrawals from the fund were made without appropriation by the National Assembly.The Speaker argued that such illegality did not only encourage corruption but was also responsible for the rapid drop in revenue from the solid minerals and steel sector.He added that common practices in the sector included illegal mining, institutional failure, diversion of funds, connivance of public/political office holders with private developers, as well as non-remittance of taxes, fees and royalties by the operators, among others.Dogara stated, It is a common impression of the citizens of Nigeria that solid minerals alone can solve the problems of unemployment in Nigeria.Countries less endowed with solid minerals, such as South Africa, have successfully sustained their economy through proceeds from the sector. Nigeria, therefore, cannot afford to continue the neglect of the sector.Speaking earlier, Kamale informed the session that the investigation was not a witch-hunt, but to hold government agencies and all those who abused the fund accountable.To carry out a thorough investigation, Kamale stated that the committee would look into projects the funds were spent on by visiting the sites for physical assessment.I want to assure you of the committees determination to work in line with the extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he added.Up to 31 agencies have been invited so far by the committee, but Kamale said the list was not exhaustive. Zimbabwes Deputy Finance Minister, Terrence Mukupe, stunned guests during a round-table discussion in Harare, that nations capital, when... Zimbabwes Deputy Finance Minister, Terrence Mukupe, stunned guests during a round-table discussion in Harare, that nations capital, when he said corruption could be positive for the country. The Deputy Finance Minister referenced an article which he read highlighting that the scourge of corruption would benefit the country. I read an article to the effect that corruption can be also positive for the country. After going through that article, I can actually give you some life lessons I had. I remember when I was advisor to ESSAR (An Indian company that wanted to invest in Ziscosteel) and ESSAR wanted to come into Zimbabwe, someone approached me and said the fundamental mistake you are making with ESSAR is that you dont have a local partner. Make sure that you have a local partner if your things are going to work well. And I remember the Indian investor said to me; but the government is my partner and I would like to believe that everything would work well. And the response that this guy made was that government is not a person and it does not eat, it does not breath, it is not motivated to make the transaction work well. So by you giving away part of your transaction to someone else, that person is going to make sure that they wake up every day because they are motivated to make sure that the transaction works. So that is a case of positive corruption, New Zimbabwe quoted him as saying. Mukupe said at one point, a minister in former President Robert Mugabes cabinet, who was accused of massive corruption, turned out to be the one who contributed more than any other person to the national purse. So how do you then explain that? So I guess its an issue that if we were to assume that he was corrupt, then I guess his goals were aligned with the goals of government and everything else was moving on well and it became positive corruption for the country, he said. Mukupe said legislation could only do so much to address the issue of corruption as it was deep-rooted in the society whose moral fibre had decayed so much that people were now normalizing the abnormal. Its the moral fibre of our society and what I always say is that as Zimbabweans we are generally corrupt people and the reason why I say we are generally a corrupt people is that if we were to do a quick survey privately, anonymously in this room here probably over 90 percent of the people here have bribed some police officer sometime, he said. At least four people were killed in northeast Nigeria on Thursday in a suicide blast at an open-air mosque, militia and refugee camp off... At least four people were killed in northeast Nigeria on Thursday in a suicide blast at an open-air mosque, militia and refugee camp officials told AFP.The suspected Boko Haram bomber, who requested anonymity, was disguised as a worshipper, detonated his explosives at a camp for people displaced by the insurgency in Dikwa, a town 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. Early this morning a suicide bomber killed four people and injured 15 others when he detonated his explosives as people gathered to pray at the 1,000 camp in Dikwa, militia leader Babakura Kolo told AFP. An official at the camp, who , said that the attack by a male suicide bomber happened at 5:17 am (0415 GMT).We lost four people in the attack and 15 others sustained injuries and are in hospital receiving medical care, he said. Dikwa is home to more than 70,000 displaced people from the war-torn region who live in several camps scattered across the town, relying on food handouts from aid agencies to survive.The attack came two days after a suicide bomber killed five militia members fighting Boko Haram jihadists in the town of Konduga, which lies 35 kilometres southeast of Maiduguri. Boko Harams nine-year quest to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has led to the deaths of 20,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.The militant group has been weakened since it controlled swathes of territory in 2014 but attacks still persist. The jihadists frequently use suicide bombers, many of them women and young girls, to target military checkpoints, mosques, markets and other crowded places. On May 1, an estimated 86 people were killed in twin suicide blasts targeting a mosque and a nearby market in the town of Mubi in neighbouring Adamawa state. Deep Kamra, the Indian manager of the cement plant owned by Nigerias Dangote Industries Limited in Ethiopia was killed on Wednesday afte... Deep Kamra, the Indian manager of the cement plant owned by Nigerias Dangote Industries Limited in Ethiopia was killed on Wednesday after he was attacked in the restive Oromiya region while returning to Addis Ababa from the factory.Both the secretary and driver of Kamra, who is the Dangote Cement country manager, were also shot by the assailants.The Dangote plant, one of the ten established in Africa and outside Nigeria, was commissioned in May 2015.The 2.5Mta plant, less than 90km from Addis Ababa, is the largest cement plant in Ethiopia capable of producing high-quality 32.5 and 42.5-grade cements to meet market needs, and at competitive costs. It has rich limestone reserves of about 223 million tonnes.Oromiya, which surrounds Addis Ababa, was plagued by violence for over two years, largely fuelled by a sense of political and economic marginalisation among its young population.Hundreds died in the violence that was triggered in 2015 by demonstrations over land rights, before they broadened into rallies over freedoms that spread to other regions.During the unrest, some vehicles belonging to the firm were torched by protesters.The companys director died following an attack by unknown gunmen that took place while returning from the factory alongside two company employees, a government statement said.Security forces are currently pursuing the assailants, it added.The statement called on residents in the area to help gather details.The country remains under a state of emergency imposed in February, a day after prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned.Former army officer Abiy Ahmed has since replaced him.Since taking over amid the unrest that threatened the ruling coalitions tight grip, Abiy has vowed a new political beginning including more democratic rights.Thousands have been released since January, including journalists and dissidents who have been jailed for a variety of charges including terrorism(Reuters/NAN) Security has been beefed up around the All Progressives Congress secretariat in Lagos, ahead of the chapters state congress on Saturday.The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who was at the ACME Road, Ikeja, secretariat of the party reports that scores of armed security officials were stationed around the secretariat, where the congress would be held.Just opposite the secretariat, some armed policemen were seen standing by an Armoured Personnel Carrier stationed there.The others were in three patrol vans watching around the secretariat to prevent any threats to security.Private security guards manning the secretariat gate were also seen screening visitors to the party office.However, the heavy security did not prevent some party members from staging a protest at the secretariat.No fewer than 100 protesters, all female, from the Odi-Olowo area of the state, protested the candidature of one Mrs Adeyemi Idera for an executive position in Saturdays congress.The women, all carrying placards rejecting Idera, said the chieftain no longer enjoyed the support of members in Odi-Olowo.We dont want her. She should not represent us. She does not enjoy our support, Alhaja Mulikat Adeola, who led the protest said.Vice Chairman of the party in the state, Mr Funsho Ologunde, who addressed the protesters urged them to remain calm.He said the protest was not necessary as the chieftains name was not on the list of candidates.We are in the month of Ramadan, so we should not embark on things that will wear us out.The protest is not necessary, the name of Idera is not on the candidates list. That I can assure you, he said.The protesters, thereafter, erupted in singing and dancing following Ologundes assurance.Speaking on preparations for the congress, Assistant Publicity of the party in the state, Mr Abiodun Salami, said all arrangements had been concluded.He said no fewer than 2500 delegates would elect 27 executive members at the congress.Salami said one of the executive positions would be reserved for a member living with disability in line with the partys policy of inclusiveness.He said the security in place at the secretariat on Friday was a measure of the watertight security that would be in place at the congress proper on Saturday.We are set for the congress on Saturday. The candidates have obtained forms and submitted.All arrangements have been perfected including security; you can see the atmosphere, it is going to be watertight tomorrow.We are set for our state congress and I can assure, it is going to be successful, he said. Activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) said there was nothing wrong with the listing of looters by the Federal Government, contrary to the cla... Activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) said there was nothing wrong with the listing of looters by the Federal Government, contrary to the claim by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some of its leaders.PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus and another top member, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, have sued Minisster of Information Lai Mohammed and others over the inclusion of their names on the list.Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), one of those who defended the action, said: I still insist that anyone who has a good reason to include a name should put the name.He said a court ordered the government to publish the names of those who looted the nations resources and the list was released in accordance with the courts directive and in public interest.Sagay added that he would not be surprised if more names surfaced, stressing that there is a very large number of these people who presided over the looting of the assets of this country.On Tuesday, at the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu said the agency had recovered over N500 billion since Nivember 2015 when he was appointed.Some of the people from whose hands assets and cash were recovered are on the looters lists released in two instalments b y the federal government.Falana said if the police could parade common men for petty crimes, treasury looters should be named.He said: Recently, the names of looters were published in the newspapers and I read a lot of publications in the media. Media men and women were challenging the violation of the rights of the looters. They are saying how can you do that? How can you publish the names of looters? You have violated their rights to fair hearing. I say wow, beautiful, but please we must not join such hallelujah people.Please, let us begin to interrogate the literature of corruption. In this country, common people are paraded daily for committing petty offences by the Police and the media men and women attend such media parade. They even interrogate the suspects, particularly armed robbery and kidnapping suspects.With blood gushing out of their faces, the police will tell you that they have made confessional statements. The media would then ask, why did you rob? Somebody who has not been taken to any court, you force them to make incriminating statements regularly in our country. Nobody talks about human rights. Nobody talks about the presumption of innocence.It is only when you are talking of the rich that we are sounding so eloquent and singing about human rights. Human rights are for all of us.So please, let us stop the practice of talking about police brutality when a senator is involved because the police brutalise Nigerians daily.We dont talk of human rights when we are dealing with the poor but even all of us, I am sure you know when a rich man is fat and you are obsessed and you want to lose some weight, you go around our cities, jogging and that is normal. The police will even cheer you, well done sir, well done ma, but if a poor man does that, that is wandering and you are arrested. How can you be running around? A poor man running around the city, you want to steal in the neighbourhood. So please, we must begin to look at the language of the law. I am happy with the use of the word looters; it is better than just saying corrupt people, money launderer.Falana also said the resuscitation of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP) as legal.He asked the federal lawmakeers seeking the disbandment of the panel to go to court.He added: Let me talk about the law establishing the panel; those who are opposed to the law are advised to go to court to challenge its constitutional validity. You cannot sit down in Parliament and say the law is illegal. Only a court of law can do that.You can amend the law, you can even repeal the law, but you cannot sit down and say this law is illegal. When you do that, you are entertaining yourself jurisprudentially.Let me tell you why they are criticising it. I have been fighting the anti-graft agencies since 2003, why this law is not being used and I am happy now that they have stumbled on the law.The maximum punishment under that law is life imprisonment. If you fail to declare more than N1million, you go for life imprisonment under that law.In some areas; 21 years imprisonment and that is the fear of corrupt elements in our society. It is not about the legality of the law; it is the stringent penalty that can land people in prison for life.To Falana, the panel is necessary because the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission have been castrated.He said: The Code of Conduct Bureau has been castrated. ICPC has been castrated; the EFCC is managing.The names of the chair and the board members of the Code of Conduct Bureau as well as the ICPC have not been looked at by the National Assembly not to talk of whether considering to confirm them. You can talk of the Acting EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu, who has been rejected but those ones that have been presented to the Parliament since last year have not been confirmed. The Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Mr. Okoi Obono-Obla, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Eugene Efere, said more than N4billion had been recovered.This panel was first mandated to do discreet investigation on all Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), devoid of media conviction. The panel does not announce those to be investigated.We do a thorough job and until we get to the court for interim and final forfeiture, we do not make any disclosure.The panel has recovered N1billion and $800,000 in NEXIM and more than N3billion in some other quarters.The panel was inaugurated in August 2017 and by August; we will be one year old.The Coordinator of HEDA, Comrade Olanrewaju Suraj, said: As we go into 2019 polls, it is very crucial to engage leaders in accountability.We should question the wealth of characters that will be throwing money around. The suspected killers paraded by the Kwara State Police Command in Ilorin last week have named the Senate President, Mr. Bukola Saraki, Kw... The suspected killers paraded by the Kwara State Police Command in Ilorin last week have named the Senate President, Mr. Bukola Saraki, Kwara State governor, Mr. Abdulfattah Ahmed, as two of the men who ordered them to kill many Kwara State indigenes in Nigeria and abroad. The suspects, who have been transferred to Abuja for further investigation, SaharaRepoters learned, named the Senate President and Mr. Ahmed in the confessional statements made to the Police. According to the statements made to the Police, the suspects said they have been on the payroll of the Kwara State Government and Mandate Office of Mr. Saraki. The leader of the killer squad, the son of Salihu Woru the self-appointed spokesman of Magajis in Ilorin Emirate, is placed on salary Grade Level 16, while his colleagues are on Levels 10 to 15. The suspects, SaharaReporters gathered, also admitted that they were being paid from the Office of the Senate President. Mr. Saraki, the suspects told the Police, gave them Toyota Corolla cars a few months ago as a way of securing the loyalty ahead of the 2019 elections. On the list of people marked for execution before the election, they said, are two men, both named Mustapha; Kayode Oyin, Yinka Aluko, Baba Rex, and one Ogunlowo. A Police source told SaharaReporters that bank statements retrieved from the suspects indicated that they received money on a monthly basis from Mr. Saraki and the Kwara State government. This, added the source, has ensured that most of them have healthy bank balances running into millions of naira. Following their confession, the Senate President and Mr. Ahmed attempted to pressure the Kwara State Police Commissioner, Mr. Aminu Pai Saleh, using Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Jimoh Mumini, who is said to be very corrupt. Mr. Pai Saleh was said to have been offered money, which he rejected. Mr. Mumini has been critical of the transfer of the suspects to Abuja, saying that the state government has successfully prosecuted cultists and killers at the State High Court under the penal code. Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi has called for attitudinal change towards education among Nigerians. He decried the subsisting situation of, the lack of treating education with the seriousness it deserves by classifying money spent on it as expenditure rather than investment.Making this observation on a visit to Good Shepherd Anglican Academy, Lokoja, Kogi State, Obi urged Nigerians interested in the meaningful development of the country not to leave the task of improving education to government alone. He appealed to wealthy Nigerians to deny themselves the pleasure of the huge expenditure on the things and habits they do not necessarily need, and commit some of that money to support schools across the country.Elaborating on his mission to Lokoja, Obi revealed that some years ago, I joined in the advocacy for the policy of adopting schools; where you take it upon yourself to provide necessary epistemic infrastructure to the school adopted laboratories, computers & Internet connectivity, power-generators, sick bay, among others. For the WASC and NECO examinations, one could also undertake to pay the registration fees for a number of candidates.Obi, who commended the Anglican Archbishop of Lokoja, Most Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Sokowanju Egbunu for his effort to promote education, demonstrated his support for his school with the sum of N2 million for its infrastructural improvements. He further advised the students to remain focused on their school work as education is the most potent currency for competition in the world. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Nigerias President Muhamadu Buhari and reaffirmed the longstanding relationship between the U.S. and Nigeria, U.S. Department of State, said.Spokesperson for the Department, Ms Heather Nauert, said Pompeo, during the call, also underscored Buharis visit to the U.S. on April 30, and recognised Nigerias leadership in Africa.Nauert said: On May 17, Secretary Pompeo called Nigerian President Buhari.The Secretary noted the longstanding relationship between the Nigerian and American people and underscored the themes of the April 30 official working visit of President Buhari to the White House.He recognized Nigerian leadership across the African continent on priorities we share: countering terrorism and other threats to peace and security, creating economic opportunity, fighting corruption, and advancing democracy and stability.The Secretary welcomed continued cooperation in advancing our nations mutual prosperity.The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Buhari visited the U.S. on April 30 at the invitation of President Donald Trump, and held bilateral meetings with the U.S. counterpart at the White House.The meetings, which also had cabinet members from both sides, focused on security, economy and the fight against corruption. Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, has called President Muhamadu Buhari and reaffirmed the longstanding relationship between his country ... Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, has called President Muhamadu Buhari and reaffirmed the longstanding relationship between his country and Nigeria. Heather Nauert, spokeswoman the Department of State, said during the call, Pompeo also underscored Buharis visit to the US on April 30, and recognised Nigerias leadership in Africa. On May 17, Secretary Pompeo called Nigerian President Buhari, Nauert said. The secretary noted the longstanding relationship between the Nigerian and American people and underscored the themes of the April 30 official working visit of President Buhari to the White House. He recognised Nigerian leadership across the African continent on priorities we share: countering terrorism and other threats to peace and security, creating economic opportunity, fighting corruption, and advancing democracy and stability. The secretary welcomed continued cooperation in advancing our nations mutual prosperity. Buhari visited the US on April 30 on the invitation of President Donald Trump, and held bilateral meetings with the US counterpart at the White House. The Federal Government has said the countrys military manpower is not enough to secure every village in the Middle Belt region in order to stop incessant killings occasioned by herders and farmers clashes in the area.It has, however, mandated the National Emergency Management Authority to rebuild villages in Benue State and ensure they are not far from one another.The Federal Government also said that the farmers and herdsmens clashes which had led to loss of lives and property were caused by the influx of weapons into the country through the trans-Saharan routes.The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, and the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, stated this on Thursday at a town hall meeting in Abuja on the farmers and herders clashes.The meeting was convened by the Ministry of Information and Culture.Ogbeh said as was the case in Argentina, Pakistan and Namibia, there were ongoing plans to generate electricity from cow dung when the government finally put the reserves in operation.Speaking on the N10bn to be given to troubled states, the agriculture minister said the money would be used to rebuild the devastated villages as all the Internally Displaced Persons in Benue State wanted to return home as quickly as possible.Ogbeh added, I was with the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, in Benue State on Tuesday and the money announced is not only for Benue, which is apparently facing this crisis.The crisis in the IDP camps is very severe. Lots of women and children want to return home, but there are no homes. So, the idea is to rehabilitate the homes as quickly as possible to let them return home.Two, NEMA is redesigning the settlements in the villages to bring more communities together so that people dont live too far apart. Otherwise, we dont have enough security to guard every settlement. Unless you have units of 10 or 11 soldiers to guard each village, there is no way that the current security network can cover the needs of villagers who may be attacked in the afternoon or night. That was one of the things we studied on Tuesday.Three, we have to do everything we can to end these pastoral movements, slowly and in the large scale later. We have 415 reserves. Some have been encroached upon while others are still there. We have to provide water and grass, and protect the herdsmen from cattle rustlers, who are also Fulani.The Minister of Interior and I are working on agro-rangers being trained by the military to guard these places so that there can be peace within those communities.We can also then do what has been done in Pakistan, Argentina, and even Namibia here, by using the cow dung to generate electricity. These things we have designed and we are raising funds to start them.The convener of the meeting and the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the clashes between farmers and herdsmen were connected with demographic, environmental, social and economic dynamics and it will be a distortion to attribute the clashes to ethnic and religious reasons.Mohammed said, In 1963, Nigerias population was 52 million. Today, it is about 200 million, yet the land space has remained the same. Against this background, the contest for land and other natural resources is bound to be keener, and the friction, more.There are various measures that have been taken by the Federal Government to stop these senseless killings and curtail the criminality that has fuelled the clashes. The Nigerian Air Force has deployed its Special Forces to the newly-established 23 Quick Response Wing in Nguroje, Taraba State. The NAF also has a 1,000-man Special Intervention Force deployed in Makurdi to degrade bandits and criminals in Benue and Nasarawa states.In the last two weeks, the Police Intelligence Response Team and the Police Special Forces, whose work cut across Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, arrested 11 suspects and recovered 10 AK-47 rifles and other firearms from them. These are just some of the arrests made by the security forces in recent days.The Defence Minister, Dan-Ali, said President Muhammadu Buharis reference to the herdsmen being trained in Libya was in relation to the infiltration of weapons into the country through the trans-Saharan routes.He said, There are no foreigners such as Chadians and Libyans coming into Nigeria. What we mean is that the crises in Libya motivated the coming in of arms and ammunition into the country through the trans-Saharan routes. This is the situation. To handle this, the Federal Government has set up a committee whereby a commission to tackle small arms is being looked into.Also, the Minister of Interior, Dambazau, said, As a result of the crises in Libya, quite a huge number of weapons have found themselves into the country. It is not just in Nigeria, but the whole of the sub-region of the Economic Community of West African States.We have organised, in conjunction with ECOWAS, a conference on the movement of people and services. The whole idea is to control the movement of weapons. There is also the concept of biometrics to screen those people who enter Nigeria.Some of the delegates at the meeting, including the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Miyetti Allah Breeders Association, advised the government to work on establishing ranches, noting that that was the 21st-century practice, and would guarantee lasting peace and security. A lady who paid a N5,000 bribe via money transfer to an officer of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad has put the suspect in trouble ... I am glad to inform you that account owner has been identified - Inspector Charles Omotosho, FSARS Ikorodu, Lagos. He is under custody, preliminary investigation ongoing. PCRRU will inform you on next line of action. Sorry for the experience.https://t.co/wBQgaXkUTT My Dearest @ife_luv12 I am glad to inform you that account owner has been identified - Inspector Charles Omotosho, FSARS Ikorodu, Lagos.He is under custody, preliminary investigation ongoing.PCRRU will inform you on next line of action.Sorry for the experience. #PCRRU316356 May 17, 2018 The lady, Adegoke Ifeoluwa, narrated how, on Wednesday, Inspector Olushola Charles Omotosho, attached to FSARS, Ikorodu, Lagos, had harassed her and some people with her, asking for money and threatening to waste everyone should she fail to give the money as required.Ifeoluwa said she told Omotosho that she had no cash and that she would do a transfer.Omotosho agreed and provided his bank account details, Ifeoluwa said.She did the transfer, Omotosho confirmed receipt and Ifeoluwa went her way.Later, Ifeoluwa (@ife_luv12) tweeted her unpalatable experience with the SARS men and hashtagged the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Yomi Shogunle, who also heads the Public Complaints Rapid Response Unit of the Nigeria Police.Immediately he received notification for the tag, Shogunle responded, assuring Ife that they would track down the offender.The Nigeria Police on Thursday arrested Omotosho for allegedly harassing and collecting bribe from Ifeoluwa.Shogunle later provided details of the arrest of the suspected Police officer on Thursday on Twitter. A Wildwood establishment with an XXX sign above the building removed it Thursday at the request of the city. A sign that hung above the building which housed establishments such as the Fairview Club -- a former nightclub -- and the Fairview Cafe located at 3613 Pacific Ave., had an XXX sign hanging above the building. While XXX may be used to signify the building houses items or activities of a sexual nature, or even alcohol, it also has an entirely different meaning. Turns out, an eatery that will be selling crabs -- not sex toys or lap dances -- is entering the building, which was first reported by the WatchTheTramCarPlease blog in Wildwood. Crabs can be measurements in 1, 2 or 3 in size but, according to The Boiling Crab restaurant in Los Angeles, California, can also be measured in X, XX, or XXX for the spice level. "A couple of people had an opportunity to talk to the owner of the property," said Wildwood Mayor Ernie Toriano Jr. "There is a lot of misinformation going around. We asked them that until we get everything straightened out, to take the signs down which he agreed to do." Toriano Jr. said the owner took the sign down and wanted to clear the air about what is going on. People on social media commented, guessing as to what was going into the building. One commenter suggested the owner might have put up the sign from an adult toy store as a joke. "This was going to be a strip club or was a strip club?" another commenter asked. Wildwood officials will be meeting with the owner next week to discuss the matter. According to tax records, the property was sold to Crazy Leprechaun LLC. Contact information for the new owner could not immediately be found. Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips An off-duty Newark police officer trying to get a bite to eat at a Burger King in Newark Thursday ended up foiling a carjacking and shooting his gun at several suspects, who remain at large. Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly said there is no evidence that any of the males were hit by the gunfire, and no one was injured in the incident. Newark police, who are investigating the incident, said in a statement Saturday that Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose praised the officer "for thwarting the carjacking attempt and saving the victim from harm." Ambrose said the name of the officer, who remains on active duty, is not being released for his safety. Fennelly said the officer was waiting in the drive-through line at the Burger King at the intersection of Broadway, Broad and Clay streets just after 10 p.m. when he observed what he believed was an attempted carjacking in the parking lot. He got out of his vehicle, identified himself as a police officer and tried to intervene, Fennelly said. "In the course of trying to stop the carjacking and apprehend the suspects, he discharged his firearm," Fennelly said. The males fled on foot and despite a police search of the area, they were not found. There were at least three involved, he said. Fennelly said that among the things that remain under investigation is whether the suspects were armed and if there was any kind of struggle with the officer. Under the Attorney General's Office's guidelines on use of force, officers can fire at a suspect to protect others or themselves from "imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm." Deadly force can be used on a fleeing suspect when it won't endanger bystanders and when the officer believes the person attempted to or did cause bodily harm, or would if he or she escaped. Also in accordance with that policy, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the officer's use of deadly force, even though no one was harmed. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips JERSEY CITY Jersey City may say "ta ta" to its ban on women going topless in public. The City Council next week is expected to hear a revision of the city's 36-year-old obscenity law, which bans women from exposing their breasts in public spaces. Supporters say the new version of the law, which was sparked by the city's attempt to shut down a show by a local burlesque performer, is more in step with the 21st Century. In the new version, female breasts are dropped from the definition of "state of nudity," which now includes only areas below the waist. The new version retains a ban on appearing in any public place in Jersey City while naked, and that includes "any street, avenue, highway, road or waterway." So no skinny dipping in the Morris Canal Basin, people. The ordinance also removes all references to "obscene devices," which is legalese for sex toys. Anyone who possesses six or more is presumed to have the intent to distribute them under the current law. The word "obscene" also gets a revamp. The 1982 law defines it as something the average person "applying contemporary community standards would find taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest in sex." The revision says obscene material appeals "only to the prurient interest in sex" and cites a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision widely considered the final word on what is and is not obscene. Lillian Bustle is the burlesque performer whose show led to renewed attention on the nearly four-decade-old obscenity law. The city's law department in March threatened FM with a revocation of its restaurant license if Bustle went ahead with a performance there, saying her show Bustle often performs in pasties and a G-string might be considered obscene. The city has backtracked, citing an exemption in the law for material with artistic or political merit. Bustle praised the obscenity law re-write as "very simple and very progressive." "I hope that the more conservative members of the City Council will recognize that this isn't some kind of slippery slope into the depths of degradation," she told The Jersey Journal. "Rather, it will open up a whole new chapter of artistic and personal freedom for the citizens of Jersey City." Bustle said she did not request, but supports, the elimination of the topless ban. Gerry McCann, who was mayor when the obscenity law was first adopted, told The Jersey Journal it was an attempt to keep strip clubs out of the city. Eliminating female breasts from the definition of naked concerns McCann, who drew a straight line from the ordinance up for council approval on Wednesday to the presidential election of 2020. "The public needs standards and when you relax the standards to the point where you are legalizing everything that was previously not proper, you're guaranteeing the re-election of Donald Trump," McCann said. New Jersey law appears vague on the matter of women going topless in public. A state appellate court in 2001 upheld a Lower Township topless ban, ruling that covering female breasts in public is important to safeguard the "public's moral sensibilities." It has been legal for women in New York City to go topless in public since 1992. Svetlana Mintcheva, with the National Coalition Against Censorship, called Jersey City's current obscenity law "confusing and strange." It could be used to charge someone who shows an R-rated movie with a nude scene in it, she said. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY Oh, did you think the kerfuffle over the Katyn monument was over? Nope. The City Council next week is scheduled to hear competing resolutions, one supporting its relocation to a "new and improved" site at the foot of York Street, and a second that supports keeping it at its longtime home at Exchange Place. Jersey City is in week three of its fight with members of the Polish community who oppose the city's push to move the monument which commemorates the 1940 massacre of over 20,000 Polish people by the Soviet Union in the Katyn forest to make way for a new Exchange Place park. Mayor Steve Fulop, who wants the statue moved, faced initial resistance from the Polish consul general in New York, the Polish ambassador and the committee that funded the creation of the statue in the first place, but they all now support the statue moving one block south. There remains a group of vocal supporters who oppose the move. It's not clear how most of the council members will vote. Only two, Rich Boggiano and Michael Yun, have said they want the statue to remain. Most of the others told The Jersey Journal last week they are undecided. Yun said he doesn't care about the Polish officials' support for moving the statue, saying he would not follow their lead on any other city issue. Both the city and the Exchange Place plaza are city property. "I have constituents waiting for repairs to our streets and yet the mayor chooses to prioritize the creation of a new park that no one asked for, that really isn't needed and that my constituent will have to pay for (while) waiting on the services that they need," Yun said in an email. "It's time for the mayor to 'get real!'" The mayor's solution for the Katyn statue was to create a city park at the foot of York Street, with the monument as its centerpiece. Groups affiliated with the Polish government have agreed to fund the creation of the park, the mayor said Monday. City spokeswoman Hannah Peterson declined to respond to Yun's comments. Poland's president, Andrzej Duda, visited the statue on Wednesday during a pre-planned trip for United Nations business. He made no public remarks. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- A 24-year-old Ridgefield man has been charged with aggravated assault for allegedly striking a police officer with his vehicle after being pulled over in Weehawken on Tuesday, authorities said. The officer said he stopped Christian Valdes-Diaz's Cadillac on the Marginal Highway at Pleasant Avenue and was attempting to check his registration when Valdes-Diaz accelerated, according to the criminal complaint charging the man. The officer said he was struck in the leg by the vehicle, had pain in his knee and was taken for medical attention. Valdes-Diaz was also charged with attempting to elude police and possession of marijuana, the complaint says. The Oak Street man made his first appearance on the charges Thursday in Criminal Justice Reform Court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny. At the hearing, he was ordered released with conditions of supervision pending trial. His next court appearance in scheduled for June 13 before Hudson County Superior Court judge Paul DePascale in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City. JERSEY CITY -- Today's sentencing of a New York man who left the scene of a fatal crash in North Bergen in September was postponed, officials said, but a new date has not yet been set. In March 12, Olvy Torres pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crash resulting in a death for the Sept. 26 wreck that killed Luisa Valdez, 59. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering. Investigators said Torres, 36, was driving an SUV that jumped the curb on River Road near Palisades Medical Center and plowed through a bus stop, striking Valdez, who worked at a nearby nursing home for 27 years. Police say Torres left his vehicle at the scene and took off on foot. He was arrested a few days later after an "enormous amount of pressure" from the public resulted in his surrender to authorities. During the investigation, police recovered $1 million in cash, bags of diamonds, a motorcycle, and other valuables inside a Bergen County apartment used by Torres. The probe also led to the arrest of a Brooklyn woman and a Teaneck woman, as well as the seizure of two kilos of gold, diamond rings, a Mercedes and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional cash. The state is expected to ask that Torres to be sentenced to seven years for leaving the scene of the crash and five years for money laundering, with the sentences to run simultaneously. "Quite frankly, there is no residence attributed to him," Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Lynne Seborowski said during a court hearing in October. "He is literally like a ghost." The prosecutor said during that hearing that multiple IDs were found including a Florida driver's license with Torres' picture and another man's name. A medical marijuana ID card was found with Torres' information and the address of a gas station/car wash in California, authorities said. A TD Bank card, Social Security card, and a title for a motorcycle, all in other people's names, were also found in the home. Investigators additionally found plane tickets for travel all over the world including Cuba, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and the Seychelles, officials said. Today's sentencing was scheduled before Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City. A new date for the sentencing has not yet been entered into the system, and the reason for the adjournment was no immediately available. A Union City school district security officer has been charged with criminal sexual contact after he was accused of a lewd act at a campaign rally in the city last month. Miguel Machado, 51, appeared in Criminal Justice Reform Court Thursday via video link from Hudson County jail. At the hearing, which was conducted through a Spanish translator, Machado was released pending trial with conditions that included having no contact with any alleged victims. He is due in court again on June 13. It could not be determined if Machado was working privately as a security officer at the time. Calls to the Union City schools Superintendent Silvia Abbato and a city spokesman were not immediately returned. Machado also could not be reached. According to the criminal complaint, Machado exposed himself and rubbed against a woman's leg at an April 26 event at the Park Theater that drew roughly 3,000 people. The event was in support of Union City Mayor Brian Stack and his slate of commissioners, who swept the May 8 non-partisan municipal election unopposed. The criminal complaint said the contact was reported by the alleged victim, who does not know Machado. According to online records, Machado has worked for the school district since 2012. Machado's arrest is the third recent incident involving a Union City schools employee. Union City teachers' union president Kathleen Valencia was suspended earlier this month after an undercover video in which she flaunted how teachers can get away with bad, and possibly criminal, behavior was released by the conservative activist group Project Veritas. On Sunday, a Union City teacher was arrested in Ridgefield Park and charged with resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, obstruction, and multiple drug offenses. The 40-year-old Jean-Claude Santini was with an 18-year-old girl at the time, police said. Journal staff writer Michaelangelo Conte contributed to this report. JERSEY CITY -- A 34-year-old West New York man will go on trial Monday for the death of a man police say he admitted dragging down a flight of stairs on Christmas Day 2016. Wilmer G. Ruiz-Martinez, of Bergenline Avenue, was initially charged with aggravated assault against Leny Antonio Lainez-Hernandez in connection to an incident that occurred in a building on Hudson Avenue in West New York. Lainez-Hernandez, 39, died two days later at a hospital and Ruiz-Martinez was then indicted on the charge of manslaughter. A criminal complaint for the original charge of aggravated assault states that police recovered video of the attack. The attorney representing Ruiz-Martinez said at a hearing that Lainez-Hernandez appeared to have been extremely intoxicated at the time of the incident, with a blood alcohol level at a nearly lethal level. The attorney said a self-defense defense was likely. The criminal complaint said that Ruiz-Martinez told police he he grabbed and pulled the victim down the stairwell, but the trial apparently will hinge of whether it was a violent killing or an act or self-defense. Jury selection for the trial is slated to begin on Monday before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City. Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Pinales is prosecuting the case. Attorneys Chris Orriss and Claude Heffron are representing Ruiz-Martinez. Lainez-Hernandez's age was not available. Manslaughter is a second-degree crime and carries a possible prison sentence of five to 10 years in prison upon conviction. Given my preference for hard-copy reading material, I tend to miss a lot of digital comics. Every once in a while, though, I find one worth reading, but if that doesn't happen, there is always the chance a series will garner enough attention that a publishing company will pick it up for physical release. This past Free Comic Day saw the release of the first printed issue of just such a book, and the week after that, Image re-released the first issue of Brian K. Vaughn, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vincente's "Barrier" in a special hard-copy edition. Those of you, like me, who were unfamiliar with the original digital version of "Barrier," still available at www.panelsyndicate.com, will find the first issue a shock. From its hefty page count to its landscape orientation to the bilingual nature of the story, there is very little about "Barrier" that is mundane. All of it is lovingly presented, though, in a beautiful package. The story follows two people -- Liddy and Oscar -- whose lives have an unlikely crossing by the end of the first issue. Liddy is a Texas rancher whose home sits right on the border, making it prime territory for illegal crossings. Jumping the border ourselves, readers land in Honduras following the story of Oscar as he makes the dangerous trek to America with the help of coyotes. The whole thing starts off and moves us along with the assumption and presentation of a story about the border and the world we live in. Then, the last page comes and the team behind "Barrier" throws us a curve ball like none other. Altogether the series is only five issues long and Image is planning on releasing the series on a weekly basis so the out-of-this world ending of the first issue will be resolved soon enough. WILLIAM KULESA can be reached at jjournalcomicbox@gmail.com. Polish President Andrzej Duda stopped at Exchange Place yesterday as Jersey City and the region's Polish community remained locked in a fight over the city's plan to relocate the Katyn monument. Duda and his entourage met with Mayor Steve Fulop and his entourage under a tent set up near the statue, which commemorates the massacre of over 20,000 Polish people during World War II. The visit lasted a few minutes. Duda arrived by car, chatted with Fulop, placed a wreath on the monument and left. The Polish president did not speak to the press, but Fulop described his conversation with Duda as "fairly straight-forward" and "spontaneous." "He said, 'I'd prefer for it to stay here but if it's not possible it needs to be in a place that's respected and dignified,'" Fulop said. Duda is on a pre-planned visit to the region on United Nations business. He visited the statue in 2016. A Jersey City official who saw the president and mayor's interaction described it as awkward. Fulop, 41, gave Duda a small replica of the Katyn statue and a Jersey City flag. Duda, 46, gave Fulop a book with some history of the massacre that inspired the monument, which was unveiled at Exchange Place in 1991. The city sparked the trans-Atlantic row when it revealed it wanted to move the 34-foot monument to make way for a $5 million new park at Exchange Place. The Polish ambassador to the United States and the country's consul general in New York initially resisted any effort to move the statue but announced a compromise with Fulop on Monday: the city will move the statue to the foot of York Street, one block south of its current location, and create a new park with the monument as its centerpiece. The resolution has not pleased everyone. Councilman Rich Boggiano, who wants the statue to remain, called the ambassador a "piece of s***" for agreeing with the city's plan to move it. Two groups of protesters gathered at Exchange Place for Duda's visit. They were kept by barriers from getting more than about 20 feet from the tent where the Jersey City and Polish officials were gathered to avoid the rain. Some chanted "Shame" when Duda left the area. A police officer ordered a protester holding a banner addressed to Duda -- it read in part, "Where is your honor and dignity?" -- to move farther away from the crowd. "If he doesn't move, lock him up," another officer yelled. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, D-West New York, announced yesterday that he introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives to recognize memorials and monuments to the Katyn massacre. "It is my hope that these memorials and monuments dedicated to this atrocity continue to stand for generations to come in New Jersey and across the globe," said Sires, who is feuding with Fulop over plans to unseat County Executive Tom DeGise. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. Having celebrated women's voices in Hudson County and beyond for 16 years, the founding artistic director of the Cantigas Women's Choir will be retiring after tomorrow's annual spring concert. "Everything has come full circle," Joan Isaacs Litman said as she prepares to lead the choir in her final concert, "Of Heaven and Earth, Land and Sea." A Jersey City resident, Litman started the Cantigas Women's Choir in Hoboken in 2002. "When I was teaching a school choir in Hoboken in the late '70s, I would watch the parents, the mothers in particular, at the concerts we would have," Litman told The Jersey Journal. "I thought to myself that they wanted to be singing and they needed to sing." While doing graduate studies in Eastern Europe, she saw Finnish, Hungarian and Swedish women's choir's and realized a movement was underway, a movement she could bring to Hudson. "I just thought to myself, 'Let's go for it,' and we did,'' she said. "We figured if we (had) 15 women by the end of the year, we could have a respectable concert. We ended up with 30 by the end of year. It was an idea that was in the right place at the right time." Now, Litman said, the time is right to turn over leadership of the choir and pursue other interests, including her involvement with multicultural music education. From teaching in schools in Hoboken and Manhattan to working with teachers around the world, Litman has specialized in international traditional music. In recent years, she has taught and guest-conducted in Syria, throughout the Middle East and in Argentina, Mexico, Qatar and Poland. For many years, she served on the music faculty of the United Nations International School in Manhattan and is currently artist-in-residence at the Mustard Seed School in Hoboken, where she is also a founder and music director emerita. As for Cantigas, "it's in a very strong place right now,'' Litman said. "The interest continues,'' she added. "Cantigas will get a new director and we've narrowed it down to a few final choices and it will be someone who can continue the unique mission of this group." For her final concert, Litman has prepared a program featuring Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sheep May Softly Graze," Johann Strauss II's "Gentle Breezes Softly Blow" and Imant Raminish's "Daybreak Song," among others. Choir members range in age from 13 to 75. They have performed locally and internationally as well as charitably for groups such as the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton and Bayonne Cancer Survivors. The choir has traveled to Buenos Aires to perform with composer and director Leonardo San Juan as well as to Philadelphia; Hartford, Connecticut; Brooklyn; and Manhattan. Rachel Chang, a Hoboken resident who has been singing Alto 2 with the choir for 14 years, praised Litman. "Joany has an infectious way of not just inviting you into the choir, but into her life,'' Chang said. "She makes every single person feel like they are an essential part of the group at every moment, through her eye contact and winks during rehearsal and inside jokes and conversations during breaks." Assistant director and pianist Erasmia Voukelatos, who has performed with Litman for 25 years, will conduct Saturday's concert and provide strings, flute and percussion alongside the choir. The Joan Isaacs Litman Legacy Fund has been started to continue Litman's vision. After uniting women with diverse backgrounds through world music, Litman sought to bring that music to communities in need. The fund will help keep the choir going and also help it keep to those values. Reflecting on the past 16 years, Litman looked back on her own growth as well as the choir's. "I've had a lot of musical growth personally,'' she said. "I was already very seasoned when staring this choir. I was over 50 and now I'm approaching 70. I've come to believe, more than ever, that one must work at one's strengths and one needs to consult and take the help from those who could help them in areas of need. Don't shy away from it. I learned that better with Cantigas than I did in my first 30 years of teaching." if you go WHAT: The Cantigas Choir Spring Concert WHEN: 7:30 p.m., tomorrow WHERE: St. Matthew Trinity Church, 57 Eighth St., Hoboken. DETAILS: Suggested donation is $20 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. For information, go to www.cantigas.net. Legacy Watkins' family has no doubt she would have graduated this weekend from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. She was pulling a 3.4 grade point average in her junior year, but more than that, she loved everything about college: the academics, the social life and connecting to the local community near Dickinson's campus in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. While studying abroad in the African nation of Cameroon last February, the 20-year-old from Trenton died suddenly. On campus, and in Trenton days later, mourners described her as a "shining light" who "burned bright." Her death, believed to be natural or medical, but still not fully explained to her family, has left a gaping hole they'll likely never fill. "This is just heart wrenching," her mother Koffie Watkins-Merrick said this week. She's still deeply in mourning and any conversation about her daughter soon turns to tears and anguish. She'd like to see her daughter honored with her degree from Dickinson, a private liberal arts school where Watkins was majoring in Africana studies. Watkins-Merrick and family and friends say it does not have to be a real degree conferral, an honorary one would be just fine. It would help. But it's not on the list of how the college will honor her. Dickinson spokeswoman Christine Baksi said the college community will again remember Watkins with a remembrance at the baccalaureate ceremony, and her family members will be presented a special certificate citing her many contributions to Dickinson and the community. Following that ceremony, a tree planted earlier this year will be dedicated with a plaque commissioned by the college's student senate, and at the commencement - this coming Sunday - Dickison's president will speak about her. Flowers on the stage will honor her. This, Baski said, "has been our tradition in the past on those sad occasions when students have died before they were able to graduate." "But unfortunately, the college cannot grant an honorary degree," she said. The college did not fully explain why, and Watkins-Merrick and family friend Derrick Dix - who helped raise Watkins - sees no real reason, and haven't received one in several conversations with Dickinson officials. "I know how hard my daughter worked, and it's like they don't want me to have anything," Watkins-Merrick said. She said several times, she sees no cost or other issue. Her daughter wanted that degree so bad. Watkins-Merrick will not be at the graduation. It's too painful, she said. She will, however, never stop in working to keep Watkins memory alive, she said. She's created a hashtag for it, she said. #LegacysLEGACY. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook. It wasn't the answer they were hoping for, but at least it was an answer. Jason Grabert's family hadn't heard from him since January 2010. He was 37 years old and recently diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he went missing, but his disappearance didn't raise the alarm at first because he was known to wander. Jason Grabert His sister, Tammy Csaszar, said the former Howell resident would often go on "walkabouts" where he would hitchhike or hop a train across the country. But this time it was different. Csaszar told NJ Advance Media that Grabert became convinced the government was targeting him, and she last heard her brother's voice after he tried to go "off the grid" in Mexico, later turning up at an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "We just landed," she recalled him telling her in a voicemail. "I want you to take care of yourself. I love you." She never saw spoke to him again, but she eventually brought him home. Grabert's body was identified six months after New Jersey State Police hosted their first "Missing in New Jersey" event at Rutgers University last year. Authorities say the case showed how new technology and public awareness can bring closure to families who have gone years -- or even decades -- without answers. "If we identify one person, it was a success," Det. Sgt. Joseph Trella of the State Police missing persons unit told NJ Advance Media in an interview. Csaszar said she spent years combing websites and online communities devoted to missing persons cases, "just looking for any trace of him." Last year, she came across an advertisement for the State Police missing persons event. By this point, she was willing to try anything. She and her mother, Christina Generoso, arrived hoping to find someone who could connect the dots. The annual event, now in its second year, is scheduled for Saturday, May 19 at Rowan University in Glassboro. Trella said Grabert's family was among the relatives of 18 missing persons who gave DNA samples at last year. Trella said the event is unique because it streamlines the process for building a missing person's case that may have slipped through the cracks. Family members are first interviewed by detectives who gather the facts of the case, then speak with a representative from the National Unidentified Persons Data System, known as NamUs. Finally, they give a DNA sample that is cross-referenced with a national database of unidentified bodies. Trella said there are hurdles to overcome. For one, family members might be hesitant to give up DNA for a variety of reasons. They might have their own unrelated criminal histories, they could be undocumented, or they could just be distrustful of the government, he said. "Most missing persons cases, the families are very willing to cooperate," Trella said. "But sometimes, they're a little suspicious of the intent of the DNA." In Grabert's case, his mother and sister gave DNA cheek swabs, which were sent to the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas, which serves as a clearinghouse for missing persons cases. Six months later, authorities connected it to an unidentified body that was discovered in Florida shortly after Grabert had gone missing. Csaszar said he was found in an abandoned house just two miles from the airport, where he took his own life. She said it was bad news she had long expected. "I had a sixth sense," Csaszar said. "I knew he wasn't alive, so it wasn't that much of a shock to me. I was a little broken at the time because I wasn't expecting it, but I always knew, even though I didn't give up hope." Each year, there are about 1,000 unsolved missing persons cases in New Jersey, and authorities currently have more than 300 unidentified bodies. The family members who arrive at the State Police missing persons event hold out hope that their loved ones are somewhere safe, but in the end, they are really seeking answers. "We brought him home," Csaszar said of her brother. "I had him cremated, but we brought him home. He's with his family. There's no more looking. There's always going to be wondering why he did it, but there's no more wondering what happened to him." Missing in NJ is scheduled for Saturday, May 19 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Rowan University's Chamberlain Student Center. S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook. The husband of the Paramus middle school teacher killed in Thursday's horrific bus crash on Route 80 is "devastated and totally crushed" over the loss of his wife in the crash that also killed a student on a class trip. Kevin Kennedy released a statement Friday to NJ Advance Media mourning the loss of his wife, Jennifer Williamson, a 51-year-old East Brook Middle School teacher. "My beautiful bride and I have been in total love every day of our lives since the day our eyes met on May 5th, 1994," Kennedy said. "I am in shock, devastated and totally crushed by today's tragedy to both sides of the Williamson-Kennedy families, the community she taught and the thousands of students and their families she was very proud to serve." Jennifer Williamson and her husband Kevin Kennedy appear in an undated photo provided by her family. Williamson, a fifth grade teacher at East Brook Middle School in Paramus, and a student at the school were killed in a bus crash in Route 80 Thursday morning. (photo courtesy Kennedy family) Williamson and a fifth-grade student were killed, and 43 others were injured when the bus they were aboard collided with a dump truck on I-80 in Mount Olive. The students and teachers were en route to a field trip at Waterloo Village in Byram. Williamson's brother-in-law said the two families are a tight-knit group in Bergen County, and many live within blocks of each other in Paramus. The beloved teacher lived next door to her older brother with only an ivy-covered fence that ends just above your waist separating the two backyards. Williamson and her family had already overcome the loss of both her father and other brother in two separate tragic accidents, according to the brother-in-law, who asked that his name not be published. Williamson and Kennedy did not have children and her students were her life, the brother-in-law said. "She was a life-long, dedicated educator," he said. The couple had recently purchased an old dairy farm in upstate New York and were working on restorations. Kevin Kennedy had recently retired and they planned to move there when Williamson stopped teaching. At East Brook Middle School on Friday morning, students resumed classes and recalled Williamson as a special teacher. "I feel really sad and devastated," sixth-grade student Savannah Clark, who was taught by Williamson last year, said as she arrived at school Friday morning. "She made things really, really fun for us kids, but now she can't anymore." Paramus Mayor Rich LaBarbiera said he has known Williamson and her family his whole life. "It's just as horrific event as you'll experience," LaBarbiera said. "Paramus will miss her. She was an amazing person." The mayor said Williamson spent her entire career in Paramus. Public records show that Williamson has been a teacher since 1997. Nick Daurio, another of Williamson's former students, said on Twitter that he heard she had died in the "horrific accident" and wanted to "pray for everyone." Craig McCarthy may be reached at 732-372-2078 or at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Gov. Phil Murphy is taking a page out of former Gov. Chris Christie's book to try and plug holes in New Jersey's budget. Murphy plans to use $125 million of the $225 million collected in a pollution settlement with ExxonMobil to fund programs throughout the state government, according to a state official. Another $50 million of the money will go to covering legal fees, leaving $50 million of the funds to actually fund cleaning up contaminated areas. It is similar to the Christie plan for the Exxon money. Last summer, the former governor vetoed an effort to dedicate half of the settlement to environmental cleanup. Christie also was criticized for using settlement from the Passaic River cleanup for the general budget. In response to Christie's actions, New Jersey voters passed an amendment to the state constitution last November that specifically requires funds from this type of settlement only be used for environmental cleanup. The lawmakers who pushed for the constitutional amendment and the environmental groups that supported say Murphy's plan does not comply with the law. "The Murphy Administration stealing the Exxon money is inexcusable," said Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "He's doing just what Christie planned to do to divert the money away from environmental clean-up to plug budget holes." But according to Jennifer Sciortino, a spokeswoman for the state treasurer, the constitutional amendment does not apply to the Exxon settlement. "The administration is committed to holding polluters accountable and fully supports the constitutional amendment approved by voters," Sciortino said in an email to NJ Advance Media. "To that end, $50 million from the settlement is designated for site remediation cleanup and another $50 million will cover attorney fees related to the protracted litigation." Sciortino confirmed that the remaining $125 million of the settlement will be designated for the state's General Fund to help address "the fiscal challenges we inherited." "I don't know that I agree with the administration's view on this," said state Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex,) who sponsored the constitutional amendment last year. "I think that [the amendment] does apply." Smith said he had reached out to the Office of Legislative Services for guidance on the issue. He hopes to hear back next week; if the OLS agrees with Smith then he said he wouldn't hesitate to push back against Murphy. "I don't mean to be a boat rocker, but the truth of the matter is that if you use the money for the wrong purpose, you can be sued," Smith said. The settlement by the state, which was finalized in 2015, was already controversial because $225 million is a fraction of the $8.9 billion that the state at one point was seeking from Exxon. Former state Sen. Ray Lesniak, joined by environmental groups, appealed the settlement amount but lost when a panel of judges upheld the 2015 agreement in February. Lesniak is currently appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not yet agreed to hear the case. For his part, Lesniak said he is disappointed in Murphy's plan to spend the Exxon money. He stressed that the money is needed to clean up contaminated wetlands in the affected areas. "It does tremendous harm to the resident of Bayonne and Linden and the surrounding areas," Lesniak said. Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Emergency workers called for 20 ambulances and a helicopter following the aftermath of a crash involving a school bus and dump truck on Route 80 on Thursday that killed a teacher and a student from a Paramus middle school. "I'm going to need about 20 ambulances, I have a full school bus and I have victims on the ground," an emergency responder said. The school bus was carrying 38 students and seven adults, including the driver, from East Brook Middle School for a field trip to Waterloo Village. Forty-three of them were injured and taken to local hospitals, Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday afternoon during a news conference. The initial response to the accident came from Mt. Olive emergency workers who said there was an accident involving a school bus and dump truck on Route 80 west "with possible entrapment and unknown injuries," at 10:25 a.m. A Morris County first responder called for three advanced life support units and stated that "CPR was in progress on a child" and that were two "unresponsive" victims. Another first responder made multiple calls for a helicopter to medevac injured passengers, but was told it could not fly "due to the weather." At 10:47 a.m., the a dispatcher told the first responder was told helicopter could not be sent. "And I'm asking to ask again," a first responder said in response. Videos from the scene showed the seating area of the bus torn from its chassis, and on its side in the center median. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. A popular middle school teacher from Paramus has been identified as the chaperone who died Thursday along with a fifth grader when the school bus in which they were passengers crashed on Route 80 while on a class field trip. A family member told The New York Times that Jennifer M. Williamson, 51, a teacher for more than 20 years, died in the crash. Williamson's cousin, who declined to give her name, said Williamson grew up in Paramus "on a tree-lined block not far from the school where she taught fifth-grade social studies." Officials have not yet released Williamson's name or the name of the student who died. A source who was at the scene, however, said the dead student was a girl who apparently died from blunt force trauma. Michelle Park, a 16-year-old former student of Williamson told The New York Times that she "was really nice and so into teaching." People had begun leaving flowers at East Brook Middle School on Thursday night as part of a memorial for the two crash victims. Tribute outside East Brook Middle School In Paramus after a deadly school bus crash in Mount Olive. A teacher and 5th grader killed on a field trip. Dozens sent to the hospital. Please keep them in your prayers. #ParamusStrong @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/1KAGuQ4LS2 Jessica Layton (@JLaytonTV) May 18, 2018 A person who answered the phone at Williamson's home Thursday night said the family did not want to comment. Paramus Mayor Rich LaBarbiera said he has known Williamson and her family his whole life. "It's just as horrific event as you'll experience," LaBarbiera said. "Paramus will miss her. She was an amazing person." The mayor said Williamson spent her entire career in Paramus. Public records show that Williamson has been a teacher since 1997. Nick Daurio, another one of Williamson's former students, said on Twitter that he heard she had died in the "horrific accident" and wanted to "pray for everyone." A commenter on ratemyteachers.com said today that Williamson was "kind to everyone, sweet to everyone, she truly loved what she did. RIP" The school bus was carrying 38 students and seven adults, including the driver, from East Brook Middle School for a field trip to Waterloo Village. Forty-three of them were injured and taken to local hospitals. Several remained critical and were undergoing surgery, Gov. Phil Murphy said during an afternoon press conference. Officials had not commented on any of the patients' conditions as of 9:30 p.m. Authorities have not yet said what caused the accident. Paramus School Superintendent Michele Robinson said Thursday that classes would resume Friday for students and crisis counselors would be on hand. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. By Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media What was supposed to be a day of learning for Paramus fifth graders on a field trip to a 19th-century canal town ended in tragedy on Thursday when a dump truck and school bus collided -- leaving one student and a teacher dead. Harrowing images from the site of the wreck on Route 80 showed a yellow school bus sheared off its undercarriage and its chassis ripped from the rest of vehicle's body. The Paramus School District bus was headed toward Waterloo Village in Stanhope carrying 38 students and 7 adults. Of the 45 people on board, two died and 43 were taken to area hospitals. NJ Advance Media compiled a timeline based on officials' statements and dispatch audio recordings to piece together what we know. Don't Edit Jackie Hutschnider, a 5th grader who was on one of the two buses that didn't crash is kissed by her mother outside the school. One of the three buses was in the accident. Parents flocked to East Brook Middle school to retrieve their children after 5th grade students there were involved in a fatal bus crash on Route 80 in the morning while headed to Waterloo Village for a field trip. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) They came to learn Early on Thursday. three school buses carrying fifth graders departed East Brook Middle School in Paramus en route to Waterloo Village in Sussex County, officials said. "It was something that they were looking forward to," school principal Thomas LoBue told reporters at a press conference. It was the second year the school had arranged the outdoor education field trip, he said. "They came this morning to educate and learn," Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said of the teachers and students on the bus. Don't Edit 10:21 a.m. Gov. Phil Murphy said one of the three buses collided with a dump truck near exit 25 on Route 80 at 10:21 a.m. Additional details of the crash were not immediately released. It's not clear where the other two buses were in relation to the one that crashed but Murphy said they reached Waterloo Village and then returned to the school. The bus was equipped with seatbelts, school officials said. Exit 25 in Mount Olive is the exit for Waterloo Village but it appears the driver missed the exit. The driver of the bus is an employee with the school district's transportation department and was also taken to the hospital. Don't Edit Google Map image of Route 80 along exit 25. (Courtesy: Google Maps) Pulling the kids out A driver who was on Route 80 said he arrived on the scene minutes after the crash happened, before police. Frank Iossa said drivers were rushing out of their cars to help the screaming children out of the overturned bus. "There were people pulling kids out of the rooftops, windows and doors. A few of them used my phone to call their parents," Iossa said. "One kid was asking me, 'Where's my friend?' It was pretty heart-wrenching." "Some of the kids were pretty beat up, some were cut and bruised. I saw a few taken away on gurneys," he said. "Some could walk, some couldn't. One girl was complaining about her leg hurting," he added. Don't Edit "I have victims on the ground" At 10:25 a.m., the Mt. Olive first responders were dispatched to the scene for an accident involving a school bus, according to an archived recording of dispatch audio by Broadcastify. Shortly after 10:29 a.m. a Morris County first responder is heard saying, "I'm going to need about 20 ambulances. I have a full school bus and I have victims on the ground." "I got possible two unresponsives," he later adds. "One CPR child in progress." Don't Edit Don't Edit 43 injured Once first responders arrived on the scene, students and adults were rushed to area hospitals. 21 victims to Morristown Medical Center, which is a Level 1 trauma center. 10 victims to Hackettstown Medical Center 3 victims to Saint Clare's Hospital Dover 4 victims to Saint Clare's Hospital Denville 3 victims to UMDNJ Newark 2 victims to St. Joseph's Health Murphy said some patients are in critical condition. Don't Edit There were patients laying all over the median and obviously all over the interstate. - Morris Co. Dir of Emergency Management was on scene of the tragic NJ school bus crash that left two dead pic.twitter.com/tWhvNV3Rth Alexis Johnson (@alexisjreports) May 17, 2018 The children were all over Family members of the 21 victims sent to Morristown Medical Center rushed into the emergency room entrance to check on the status of their loved ones injuries. Dozens of reporters awaited across the street around 1:30 p.m. as police denied them entrance into the hospital. The Paramus Police Chief Robert Guidetti made a visit, and although the accident happened out of his jurisdiction, he told the media he was here in support of the families. Morris County Director of Emergency Management Jeff Paul also came to the hospital and said there was every type of injury on the scene. "The children were all over. Some were strapped to their seatbelts, some were out. But ultimately obviously all were rescued to be brought out. And then, we had patients laying all over the median and obviously on the interstate," he said. Just before 3 PM families of the NJ school bus accident victims rushed into Morristown Medical Center but chose not to comment to the media pic.twitter.com/vCGOFSgGYc Alexis Johnson (@alexisjreports) May 17, 2018 Don't Edit A boy is hugged outside the school. Parents flock to East Brook Middle School to retrieve their children after 5th grade students there were involved in a fatal bus crash on Route 80 in the morning while headed to Waterloo Village for a field trip. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Reunited at school The students who were on the two buses that were not involved in the crash reunited with their parents at East Brook, Tedesco said. The parents of the injured students were transported to the hospitals by law enforcement or rode in their own cars, he added. "Make sure that when you leave here today, for those of you who have loved ones, you go home and say how much you love them and give them a kiss because there are people that tonight are struggling to be able to do that and in some cases not able to," Tedesco said. Afterschool care was continued Thursday but all night activities were canceled. Don't Edit Back to school Paramus School Superintendent Michele Robinson said classes would resume Friday for students and crisis counselors would be on hand for those who need it. "We are devastated by todays events, we are coming together as a community. We will assure that students coming to school tomorrow are greeted with a crisis team," she said. Robinson said, however, all field trips were cancelled for the rest of the school year. Don't Edit Read more N.J. school bus accident: Truck company involved in crash has hundreds of violations N.J. school bus accident: Paramus student, teacher killed in field trip crash School bus ripped apart in horrific collision with truck on Route 80 Don't Edit Don't Edit Staff writers Rebecca Everett, Erin Petenko and Alexis Johnson contributed to this report. Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. By Olivia Rizzo | NJ Advance Media Some of New Jerseys public officials have been giving the states residents a clear example of what not to do at a traffic stop. Last month, South Orange School Board member Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad was caught on dashcam footage tossing out her title, threatening to call the mayor and calling the chief a skinhead after being pulled over for speeding while taking her children to school. In April, former Port Authority commissioner Caren Z. Turner tried to use her clout flashing her badge, demanding to be called commissioner and belittling the two officers to get information on why a car her daughter had been riding in was being towed. No one wants to be involved in a traffic stop but both drivers give good examples of how not to handle the situation. Don't Edit 1. Playing the 'Do you know who I am' card Lawson-Muhammad barely lets the officer introduce himself before she identifies herself and tells him that she is a South Orange School Board member and that she is a member of the community. Similarly, when Turner arrives at the scene she approaches the officers and demands to know what is going on, and hands them her Port Authority business cards, which list her credentials. She later shows the officers her badge and tells them she is a commissioner at Port Authority and oversees 4,000 police officers. She says 'Don't call me miss. I'm commissioner." Don't Edit 2. Getting emotional As Lawson-Muhammad begins to get her insurance, license and registration together she audibly begins to cry and tells the officer her daughter is going to be late to school. She continues cry throughout the stop, seemingly turning the tears on and off, even after shes had a few moments to collect herself when the officer returns to his patrol car to run her paperwork. When the officer offers to call an ambulance for her "It looks like yu might be having a panic attack" he says she stops crying and tells him bluntly, "no" and says that's a "f------- insult." Turner becomes increasingly frustrated as she talks with officers on the side of the road, asking why the car was pulled over. Police explain to her that stop isnt any of her concern because the driver and all of the passengers are adults, and tell her the driver will be able to give her that information. Turner becomes more agitated and insists she needs to know why the stop occurred. "You may not tell me when to take my child," she says. "You may shut the f--- up." Don't Edit 3. Dropping names Lawson-Muhammad mentions South Orange Village President Sheena Collum by her first name multiple times. When she is ultimately given a summons for speeding and being unable to produce a valid insurance card the school board member says she will be calling the village president, and Police Chief Kyle Kroll. Turner seems to say every name she can think of that will get the officers to give her the details she wants to hear. She says she is a friend of the mayor, Peter Rustin, who has confirmed that he is a personal friend of Turner. She later says she is going to set up a meeting with the Tenafly police commissioner and says she knows Tenafly police traffic officer Louis Smaragdakis, although she was unable to properly recall his last name. Don't Edit 4. Insulting police Both drivers become confrontational with the officers within moments of the stop. Lawson-Muhammad calls the chief a 'skinhead.' The cop simply responded, "OK" and finished instructing her on the ticket and court appearance. Turner insulted the officers she interacted with multiple times, telling them that they are a disappointment and pathetic, before berating the officers with list of profanity. Don't Edit Don't Edit 5. Using the kids as leverage As the officer who stopped Lawson-Muhammad begins to ask for her paperwork, the school board member changes the topic of conversation to her children. Through tears, she says she needs to get her child to school. The officer assures her that he will get her on her way as soon as possible. Lawson-Muhamad asks if she can let her daughter out of the car so she can walk to school, he says yes, and a child exits the car and walks up the sidewalk away from the car. She then asks the officer to call her other child's school to let them know she's going to be late for testing. Turner shows up at the scene of a traffic stop after her daughter calls her for a ride home. Turner insist to the officers that she is involved in the stop because her daughter was in the car. The officers point out that her daughter is an adult, was a backseat passenger in the car and was not issued any kind of summons. Toward the end of the video when the officers tell Turner she can take her daughter and her friends away from the road she berates the officers further. "You may not tell me when to take my child," said Turner. "You may shut the f--- up and not tell me when I may take my kid, and her friends, who are PhD students at MIT and Yale. You may tell me nothing." Don't Edit 6. Making racial remarks As Lawson-Muhammad begins to get upset she tells the officer, "I'm scared of cops, you guys hurt black people." The officer officer doesn't respond to this comment. She later calls the chief a skinhead. Don't Edit Caren Turner and Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad Lessons learned? Both public officials have come under criticism for their behavior. Lawson-Muhammad on Thursday said she issued a formal apology to Chief Kroll both publicly and privately. She said she had an irrational response to being stopped. Walter Fields, chairman of the Black Parents Workshop that filed a federal lawsuit against the district for segregating students, has called for Lawson-Muhammad's resignation. Turner has since resigned from her position as a commissioner from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Port Authority. In her letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, she said she was resigning, effective immediately, saying she was "pleased to have played a role in the Port Authority's vital mission." Don't Edit RELATED STORIES Another N.J. public official goes off on a cop at traffic stop, calls chief a 'skinhead' Cop was patient, I was irrational. Board member apologizes for 'skinhead' insult Did cops have legal authority to pull over car in Caren Turner scandal? Yes, but... After Caren Turner video, gold badges for officials may be banned Don't Edit Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Don't Edit The scene at the site of Thursday's school bus crash on Interstate 80 was horrendous. A teacher and a student were dead. There are still unanswered questions about what happened and why. But in this case, the National Transportation Safety Board--which has a hearing scheduled next week on school bus safety--will not be involved in the investigation. The agency, whose teams head to the scene of every major civil aviation accident, as well as significant incidents in other modes of transportation--including railroad, highway, marine and pipeline accidents--does not investigate every school bus crash, even when there is a loss of life, officials said. NTSB not investigating the school bus crash in New Jersey. NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) May 17, 2018 "Any loss of life is tragic," said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway. But he said their role in highway accidents is to investigate a cause if there are issues involved that the board hasn't seen before, and then to make safety recommendations to prevent accidents from reoccurring. The NTSB typically will not launch an investigation if the circumstances involved in a crash involve issues that have been seen in the past, or have already been the subject of recommendations by the board, he noted. "Preliminary information on the accident came to the board and based on that information, a decision was made not to send a team to investigate," Holloway said of the deadly crash in New Jersey. The board said despite the overall safety of school buses, it continues to investigate school bus crashes in which fatalities and injuries occur. Next Tuesday, the NTSB will meet in Washington to discuss safety issues identified in a special investigation report based on its ongoing inquiry into two fatal 2016 school bus crashes in Tennessee and Maryland. Officials said the report will issue a finding of probable cause for each crash, but will also focus on specific areas of concern found in both crashes, which they said allows the agency to highlight where recommendations are needed to continue to improve school bus transportation safety. Those two accidents included the Nov. 1, 2016 crash involving a Baltimore public school bus that hit a transit bus, and the November 21, 2016 crash of a school bus in Chattanooga. The two crashes injured 37 people and killed 12. According to a preliminary NTSB report, the school bus driver in the Baltimore crash had a history of hypertension, diabetes, and seizures. Over the past 5 years, he had been involved in at least 12 crashes or incidents while operating a school bus or personal vehicle, the report said. That history of seizures, as well as of diabetes and hypertension, should have disqualified him from operating a commercial vehicle under state and federal law, federal investigators have said. Four passengers on the transit bus and both drivers were killed. In Chattanooga, a school bus ran off a winding road, collided with a utility pole, and then overturned and collided with a tree. Prosecutors later charged the driver with criminally negligent homicide, accusing him of driving too fast to navigate a tight curve safely. They said he drifted into the oncoming lane, over-corrected, and lost control of the vehicle. Six students were killed. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook. If you had "called unauthorized immigrants animals" in this week's racist presidential statement office pool, you win. Donald Trump -- arguably one of the worst people on Earth -- saw fit to characterize people, many of whom are fleeing from violence and poverty from their home countries, as animals. The president continues to share the type of racism and xenophobia usually displayed by powerful white men behind closed doors, in full view of television cameras without a whiff of shame. He was born without shame. It's congenital, like webbed toes or a peanut allergy, except webbed toes and peanut allergies don't consistently embarrass the nation as a whole. At this point, the president considers his regular racist/xenophobic beliefs part of his brand. Like scam real estate seminars and tacky hotels, racism is now something we've all come to expect from the Trump name. His vile, hateful statements, whether uttered during a froth-mouthed rally or via Twitter, are actually on-brand and continue to play well to his base. Speaking of that base, they are feeling especially emboldened lately. The past few weeks have seen our Twitter and Facebook feeds flooded with newly empowered white folks calling the authorities on Native American kids trying to take a college tour, black folks napping or having a cookout at the park and workers at an NYC eatery for the crime of speaking Spanish. Awful white folks who used to keep their hideous views to themselves, or just save them all up for when they got drunk at Thanksgiving, have been emboldened by the commander in chief to open their big mouths, which they had previously been breathing through, and share their perceived wisdom with the rest of us godless liberals. Racists are comfortable being racist again, and we have the president to thank for that. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Native Americans were called "savages" before they were slaughtered in the name of Christian civilization. Before the Holocaust, Nazi propaganda films referred to Jews as "rats." The Hutus called the Tutsis "cockroaches" before the Rwandan genocide. Before the massacre in Myanmar, its consul general called the Rohingya "ugly as ogres." The language of dehumanization is often used as a license to kill. Separate people from their humanity, Martin Luther King once said, and it gives you justification to destroy them. This is why Donald Trump's latest condemnation of immigrants cannot be dismissed as his usual vile nonsense, because history is filled with examples of human beings being compared to lesser species, often before and during their extermination. So language like this matters: "We're taking people out of the country -- you wouldn't believe how bad these people are," the president said Wednesday at a roundtable attended by the only Republicans from California. "These aren't people. These are animals." The White House believes words are trivial unless it's something Michelle Wolf says in bad taste, but let's be clear: "Choosing words like these is part of a wider policy approach that is discriminatory and nativist and cruel," Sarah Margon of Human Rights Watch pointed out yesterday. In other words, debasing immigrants justifies whatever measure is needed to eradicate them. There has been debate about context, as the White House took a day to suggest that Trump was talking about the vicious MS-13 gang. Except his remarks were part of a broader discussion about cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE, he never mentioned MS-13 during or after his rant, and from the day he descended that escalator he has conflated immigration with criminality. He fails to grasp that immigrants, legal or not, commit crimes at a far lower rate than native-born Americans. He has even confused Dreamers with gang members. So there is no way to salvage that remark, and it's surprising that Trump's supporters even try, because this is the same vernacular that made him a folk hero to those good people who carry tiki torches. Certainly, presidents have used fear-mongering for a century with great success: Woodrow Wilson's propaganda machine, known as the Creel Committee, might have been the first to master crowd psychology. But Trump also has an acute understanding that people are moved not by fact or reason, but by the manipulation of emotion. So he will blithely create a caricature of a dangerous immigrant population for as long as people defend him. Trumps disgusting & bigoted rhetoric is contrary to American values. It has has no place in the White House, no place in America. https://t.co/2Bc3cqqxtW Rep. Frank Pallone (@FrankPallone) May 17, 2018 Dr. Gary Woodward, the professor of Rhetorical Theory at TCNJ, is actually surprised someone so incoherent can pull it off. "Scapegoating is an ancient and dark rhetorical tradition, paying off because it shifts guilt and responsibility to others," he said. "We are used to the condemnation of ideas in terms of traditional enemies - socialist, McCarthyism, welfare recipients, and so on. Trump does this as well. "But because he is rhetorically so enfeebled, he sometimes resorts to the kind of name-calling that fits better in a schoolyard than the White House. It's true: There is something horribly dehumanizing and demeaning by naming any group 'downward' to being subhuman. It has the effect of legitimizing racism and fantasized grievances." It is unclear whether Trump can recite any part of his administration's immigration policy, other than the new edict to tear children away from their parents and put them in camps or military bases Otherwise, he talks about a wall that will never be built, slanders migrants as criminals or worse, uses the actions of a few to deport as many as possible, and accuses opponents of siding with bad hombres. It only reveals a contempt for humanity in a spiteful political era that bears his name. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez earned just a fraction of what his Republican challenger made last year. Menendez, D-N.J., reported federal income of $170,985 last year, including his Senate salary and rents from property he owns in Union City. He made his tax returns available to reporters for a limited time on Friday. While senators are paid $174,000 a year, Menendez's taxable income was reduced by deductions to his retirement fund and a flexible savings account. Excluding those deductions, Menendez made $193,371 last year, according to his state income tax returns. GOP opponent Bob Hugin, a former Celgene Corp. executive, reported taking in $48.4 million, including salary, bonuses and stock options, from Jan. 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018, according to his personal financial disclosure statement filed with the Senate. Menendez on Friday released six years of tax returns. Hugin earlier had released his 2015 and 2016 returns, reporting income of $19.5 million in 2015 and $14.3 million in 2016. "Senator Menendez is meeting the highest standards for access and accountability," Menendez campaign chairman Mike Soliman said. "Just as he has previously, Senator Menendez released all of his tax returns dating back to his last election. Unlike his opponent, Senator Menendez has no fear of letting the public and reporters see his complete tax returns and how he made his money -- which is from public service rather than ripping off cancer patients." In his financial disclosure form, Hugin reported a net worth of at least $84.4 million, which would make him the richest member of the New Jersey congressional delegation. More than $50 million of that was in Celgene stock. While Menendez's latest financial disclosure form was due Tuesday, the Senate won't release the information until next month. Last year, Menendez reported a net worth of at least $300,000, making him the fifth poorest member of the state's 14-member congressional delegation. Menendez was ordered by the Senate Ethics Committee to update his earlier disclosure forms to reflect the gifts he received from a friend and campaign donor, Dr. Salomon Melgen. The ethics panel "severely admonished" Menendez for taking gifts from Melgen while intervening with federal agencies on his behalf. The Hugin campaign seized on this Friday. "Bob Menendez's 'best friend' and biggest campaign donor took him on trips with money he made by falsely diagnosing people, performing horrific procedures on them, and stealing money from Medicare through over billing," spokeswoman Megan Piwowar said. "When will he disclose the amended returns that failed to disclose the nearly $1 million gifts?" Menendez's tax returns showed that he will lose several tax breaks under the Republican tax law, including tax preparation fees and unreimbursed business expenses in excess of a predetermined threshold. He has paid the costs of traveling between New York and Washington and written some of those expenses off of his income taxes. In 2015, he claimed $6,735, though could only deduct those in excess of $3,411. He deducted $9,800 in state income taxes, just below the new limit of $10,000 for the state and local tax break. In 2014, however, he deducted $10,294. Menendez paid $36,898 in taxes on his reported federal income for an effective rate of 22 percent. He diverted $3 of his federal taxes to the account that provides matching funds for presidential candidates who limit their spending in primaries, though did not divert any of his state income taxes into New Jersey's public financing gubernatorial election fund. He reported only $240 in charitable contributions during those six years, all in 2017. With Senate pay frozen for years, Menendez's income during the past six years, since he released his tax returns during his 2012 re-election campaign, has remained fairly steady, ranging from $168,634 to $175,966. The fluctuations are due to the income he received from his rental property, which changes from year to year depending on his expenses. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. New Jersey's lieutenant governor this week defended the Murphy administration's multi-million-dollar raid of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund as one of the "impossible choices" it confronted in shaping its first state budget. Sheila Oliver, who serves both as Gov. Phil Murphy's second-in-command and commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, said the $46 million yanked from from the affordable housing trust fund in the governor's proposed budget will instead fund housing of vulnerable populations through the Department of Human Services. "With the election of Governor Murphy, there was widespread anticipation that funding for construction and rehabilitation would return to pre-Christie era levels," she said. "It was certainly a priority for the incoming administration. However, the magnitude of the budget mess that has been left behind by the previous administration was not previously known. We have a fiscal disaster that must be repaired." Housing advocates have expressed concern that the diversion will exacerbate the state's already dire affordable housing shortage. "New Jersey is number one in foreclosures, the top state for millennials still living at home and the seventh most expensive place in the nation to rent a home. This is not a coincidence. Our economy cannot thrive when people cannot afford to live here," said Staci Berger, president of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. The trust fund receives funding through a state tax on home sales, the realty transfer fee. The administration proposes to divert $46 million from that pot of money to the Department of Human Services, which Oliver told the Assembly Budget Committee on Wednesday is both permissible and will meet the housing needs of people with developmental disabilities, veterans and other people at risk of becoming homeless. Oliver said the department still has $9 million to develop housing for low- and moderate-income residents and she anticipates it will be able to build 5,500 new housing units next year. "This first budget is a downpayment and a promise of a higher economic forecast that will enable us to support the new affordable development that is so badly needed around the state," she said. The Legislature is in the process of reviewing Murphy's $37.4 billion budget, an ambitious spending plan dependent on sales and income tax increases. The governor wants $50 million for a tuition-free community college program, $284 million in new money for schools, $58 million for pre-K, $98 million to raise the property tax deduction cap from $10,000 to $15,000, and $12 million to create a child and dependent care tax credit. Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday signed a bill strengthening the rights of public worker unions, which could face a big threat from a looming decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill (A3686), the Workplace Democracy Enhancement Act, gives public labor unions in New Jersey greater access to their members and penalizes public employers that encourage people to resign their union membership. "As a strong advocate for organized labor, I recognize the myriad benefits of employee unionization, as well as the continued challenges unions face in maintaining and growing their membership," Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement. In the Janus v. AFSCME case before the Supreme Court, Janus, public labor unions nationwide stand to lose the right to collect agency fees workers pay in lieu of compulsory dues if they don't want to pay the full freight, which includes money for political activities. Agency fees for non-members cannot exceed 85 percent of the full membership fee and are meant to support the unions' nonpartisan activities, like contract negotiations. The plaintiff in Janus, an employee with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Human Services, argues that it's impossible to distinguish between unions' political and nonpartisan activities and being forced to pay agency fees violates the First Amendment. The court deadlocked on a nearly identical case in 2016 following the death of Antonin Scalia, but the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch is expected to tip the court for Mark Janus. A ruling against agency fees would make it ever more important for labor unions to recruit and retain members, who will have a choice between paying full member dues or none at all. "When Janus is decided, not only will the fair-share fees ... be declared unconstitutional, but the court may indeed also declare that 100 percent of dues could now be considered unconstitutional in regard to far-share union dues payers," Eric Richard of the state AFL-CIO told lawmakers earlier this year. "What this would do would basically allow union members to have the benefits of union representation but opt out of paying dues." New Jersey has about 344,000 public union members. The bill allows labor representatives to meet with members in their workplace and during work hours to investigate workplace complaints, to conduct on-site meetings with members during breaks, and to meet with newly hired employees. Public employers, in turn, are required to furnish the organizations with contact information for all covered employees and to allow the group to use the employers' email to reach out to members. And under the bill, if a public employer is found to have encourage employees to shed their union membership or discouraged them from joining or forming a union, it must reimburse the union for those lost dues. It also extends union membership to the majority of part-time government employees. "This bill promotes labor stability in the public sector by ensuring that employee organizations that are the exclusive representatives of public employees in collective negotiations are able to carry out their statutory duties by having access to, and being able to communicate with, the employees they represent," Murphy said. In April, the state Assembly passed the bill 50-22, with one abstention, and it went 26-9 in the state Senate. Both houses are controlled by Democrats. Supporters say the the law codifies what are already common practices in some places, while opponents have called it premature, unnecessary and overreaching. "This legislation goes beyond what's already in statute, and we think what's there protects the collective bargaining process," Michael Vrancik, governmental relations director of the New Jersey School Boards Association, told the Assembly Labor Committee in March. "The idea of expanding the access and creating almost unfettered access to school facilities ... this creates a potentially disruptive process." John Donnadio, director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, warned that the legislation stepped on items that are typically handled through negotiations, and the bill "diminishes the collective bargaining process ... enhancing it in favor of labor at the expense of management." Murphy campaigned on promises to stand up for workers' collective bargaining rights and to work against any state or federal right-to-work legislation. Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. An anniversary post on Facebook may have led to one Union County family getting a dog. John Pearce, a manager at Route 23 Honda in Pompton Plains, wrote a message on Facebook at his wife Rosemarie's request, to celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary this week. "I told her happy anniversary, and my wife told me just to leave a nice Facebook post," Pearce said. "That was all she needed." Pearce posted the following message into it into a closed local Facebook group that deals with Scotch Plains and Fanwood: "Happy Anniversary to the rock in our family. We may laugh, cry or argue at times, but hey what happy couple does not and it is what makes us as strong as we are! Together we achieve more and all though I may not say it often or at all, I appreciate all you do for our family and I would not choose anyone else to make this journey with. I love you with all my heart and if this post does not get me the dog I have always wanted, I do not know what else will! Cheers to you and I and here is to 100 more!!" Pearce said his wife saw the post on her lunch break and upped the ante. She said to finally get the dog he's wanted, he'd have to get 10,000 likes in the group by Friday at 8 a.m. without any help outside of the group. The Facebook group has 12,401 members, some of which Pearce say include people who are not active. While it was a tall task to obtain 10,000 likes, the dog-loving Pearce did garner a significant amount of engagement for his quest to get a dog. "People from all over the state have messaged me privately saying they liked my post. It's out of control. I cannot believe it." Unfortunately, his quest to 10,000 likes came up short. John says the post received almost 1,200 likes and 300 comments. However, all may not be lost. There may still be a chance of the family getting a dog after all. He is hoping his family will rescue a dog from one of the local shelters in the area. "Every kid should grow up with a dog," he said. "My three sons John, Devon, and Bradley are between the ages of 10 and 12. They agree to have a whole schedule made on who walks the dog, who will feed the dog, and other things required when owning a pet. Dogs make people responsible." Will Rosemarie allow a four-legged member to join their home? Coming from a person who has a dog, here's hoping she does. Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Christopher Lee, one of two brothers accused in a deadly home invasion in Gentilly, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday (May 17), avoiding a retrial on a murder charge, according to the Orleans Parish DA's office. The 27-year-old Lee and his brother, Joshua Lee, both of Algiers, shot two men inside of a Cameron Avenue home during an April 22, 2010, attempted burglary, prosecutors said. The shooting killed 24-year-old Chad Huth, who was struck in the back, and wounded another man in his arm and side at Huth's home in the 5300 block of Cameron. Joshua Lee, now 26, was convicted in May 2015 of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated burglary. He received a mandatory life sentence. Christopher Lee was tried for the same charges in March 2016, but the jury deadlocked following more than six hours of deliberations, the DA's office said. On Thursday, Christopher Lee pleaded guilty to an amended charge of manslaughter as part of a plea agreement. He also pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and aggravated burglary. Under the plea agreement, Lee was sentenced to 25 years in prison on the conspiracy count and to a total of 13 years on each other count, with all sentences to run concurrently and with credit for time served. The agreement was approved by Huth's family and Orleans Parish Criminal District Judge Arthur Hunter, according to a DA's office news release. "We are pleased to have brought this case to a conclusion that satisfies the victims and their families," Orleans Parish DA Leon Cannizzaro said in the release. "We hope bringing both these defendants to justice gives some sense of peace to the survivors." A woman New Orleans police say was robbed at gunpoint last month while waiting at a bus stop claims the gunman pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger -- but the gun didn't fire, an arrest warrant for a man accused in the crime states. The robbery occurred about 10:40 a.m. April 23 at the bus stop near the corner of Lake Forest and Mayo boulevards in New Orleans East's West Lake Forest neighborhood, according to the man's warrant and NOPD records. Joquian Foster, 19, was booked Tuesday (May 15) on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery with a firearm, armed robbery and illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection to the bus-stop hold-up, court records show. The woman told police an unknown man approached her, pointed a gun at her head and demanded her property, the warrant states. She started screaming, she told police, at which point he allegedly told her, "Stop f------ screaming or I'll kill you," then demanded her property again, according to the warrant. As she tried to comply, the warrant states, he "snatched" her property from her hands. After taking her property, the woman said, according to the warrant, the man placed the handgun "to her forehead and pulled the trigger, at which time she heard a clicking sound but the gun did not fire." Foster entered the radar of Detective Alden Moton, the investigator on the case, after he was arrested May 1 on a gun charge in connection with an investigation into a different armed robbery in another part of the city, the warrant states. In that armed robbery in the Bywater, a woman was forced to take off her clothes and was hit twice over the head with a gun, police have said. Foster was booked with illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection to the May 1 Bywater robbery, according to NOPD and court records. Foster has not been charged with being the perpetrator of the Bywater hold-up, NOPD spokesman Aaron Looney noted, but his arrest on the gun charge was related to the investigation of that case. Another man, Devonte Fields, 22, faces armed robbery and other charges in connection to the Bywater armed robbery. The warrant sworn by Moton claims the woman robbed at the bus stop noted her attacker got out of a black four-door vehicle before robbing her and later got into the passenger seat of the same car when he fled. Moton writes that the earlier armed robbery in the Bywater, as well as others across the city, also involved a four-door black vehicle. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The woman robbed at the bus stop was shown a photographic line-up that included Foster. She positively identified Foster as the man who robbed her, Moton wrote. Because of her positive identification of Foster and because Foster's address was listed in the 6800 block of Mayo Boulevard, which is about a block from the location of the robbery, Moton requested the arrest warrant. Orleans Parish Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell found probable cause to hold Foster on the charges in the bus stop case during a hearing on Wednesday. He set his bond at $515,000, court records show. Foster was represented in court by private attorney James Williams, who could not be immediately reached on Thursday. Arrests made in Bywater case The arrest in the May 1 Bywater hold up came after NOPD's Tactical Intelligence Gathering and Enforcement Response unit - or TIGER unit - used GPS to trace that victim's stolen cellphone to the 2800 block of Conti Street, a warrant for Foster on the gun charge in that case states. A Lexus with a temporary license plate parked there matched the description of a vehicle caught on surveillance video from a previous armed robbery, the warrant states. While observing the vehicle and location, the warrant states, detectives saw Foster get out of the right rear passenger seat and "toss a handgun back into the vehicle." Foster, whose previous conviction stems from a 2015 arrest for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, was booked with the weapon possession charge based on investigators viewing him handling the gun. Fields was inside the home in the 2800 block of Conti, his warrant states, before detectives emptied the residence and searched people. Detectives found a "ring appraisal card" related to the diamond ring stolen from the Bywater victim, the warrant states. A search of the vehicle then turned up the victim's diamond ring inside the car's door compartment, the warrant says, as well as an assault rifle like the one used in a string of armed robberies. The Orleans Public Defender's Office was appointed to represent Fields at his first appearance hearing on May 2. Blackburn set his bond at $205,000. A man known for founding the Cajun Navy 2016 to respond to the tragic floods that year is accused of committing contractor fraud during a project to rebuild a flood-damaged home, WAFB-9 reports. Jon Bridgers, 47, of Walker was arrested Wednesday (May 16) after he reportedly failed to complete work on the flood victim's home, according to the news station. In April of this year, authorities discovered that Bridgers does not hold the proper contracting license to perform the work. Bridgers claims he did not realize he needed the license--and that "there were many communication issues between him and the victim," according to the WAFB-9 report. Two months ago, Bridgers was among several Cajun Navy leaders and members to receive in-person praise from President Donald Trump during a March 13 ceremony at the White House. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The Cajun Navy gained famed in the Louisiana Flood of 2016 and also sent members to Texas to aid in 2017 Hurricane Harvey rescue efforts. Bridgers was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish jail and was released later Wednesday on $10,000 bond, jail records show. For the full report click here. NOLA.com|The Times-Picayune's Drew Broach contributed to this report. The Orleans Parish Coroner has identified the man killed in an Algiers double shooting Wednesday night (May 16) as 21-year-old Walter Scott. The double shooting was reported at 11:06 p.m. in the 2900 block of General De Gaulle Drive (map). Police said two vehicles were stopped at the corner near Sandra Drive when multiple gunshots were fired into a gold vehicle. Scott was driving near General De Gaulle Drive and Life Center Boulevard, when he got out and collapsed on the neutral ground, police said. He was suffering from a gunshot wound to the back. He was taken via EMS to a hospital, where police say he later died. It was not clear which car he was driving. Another man arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds from the same shooting that took Scott's life. The deadly shooting was one of four shootings reported Wednesday night in the greater New Orleans area. Reporter Laura McKnight contributed to this story. A Houma man pleaded guilty Thursday (May 17) to three counts of distribution of heroin following a sting operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Terrebone Parish Sheriff's Office, according to the office of United States Attorney Duane Evans. In the sting, Michael Crawford Jr., 42, distributed approximately 72 grams of heroin in a series of exchanges with a confidential source, court documents show. The first incident occurred on Jan. 17, when Crawford asked the source to sell heroin for him. The source agreed. Three days later, Crawford returned with 7 grams of heroin and requested a future payment of $500. On Jan. 24, DEA agents provided the source with the money and an audio/video recorder to document future interactions. Crawford arrived later in the day to collect the money and offer the source an additional 21 grams of heroin, which the source accepted, the documents continue. On Jan. 30, Crawford returned to collect a $1,500 payment and give the source another 15 grams of the narcotic. A similar transaction occurred on Feb. 5, when Crawford collected $1,000 and doled out another 29 grams to the confidential source, the documents conclude. Investigators used audio recordings of these transactions to indict Crawford. Having pled guilty, Crawford now faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $1 million fine for each of the three charges. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 20. The New Orleans Police Department arrested a 44-year-old man, accusing him of shooting his girlfriend's brother in New Orleans East Wednesday night (May 16) after a dispute over a cellphone. The man, Saba Sabue Butler, was spending time with his 27-year-old girlfriend in her apartment in Little Woods when Butler became angry that she was texting on her phone, the girlfriend told NOPD. The two argued briefly and he left, but then came back and saw her on the phone, according to court documents for Butler's arrest. He punched her, took the phone and left the apartment, the documents said. Following the altercation, the girlfriend took a walk outside "to clear her head," according to the warrant for Butler's arrest. Her 31-year-old brother saw her as he was driving past, and she told him what happened and hopped in his truck. Her brother arranged to meet Butler at his house, to get the cellphone back. Around the same time, Butler called his mother and told her "to open the door and grab the gun" and said "people are following me, trying to kill me." Butler retrieved the gun from her on his arrival, the warrant says. When the brother arrived, Butler went outside with the gun to confront him. They argued briefly, the warrant says, before Butler fired seven shots at the brother. The brother collapsed and Butler fled the scene. Nearby strangers helped load the brother into the bed of his truck and his sister drove him to a nearby hospital. As of Thursday, he was listed in critical condition. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Butler told detectives "he was just defending himself." Butler was booked into Orleans Justice Center on Thursday night. He is being held on a total of $170,000 bond for one count of attempted first degree murder, simple robbery, domestic abuse battery and aggravated criminal damage to property and three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. According to Times-Picayune archives, Butler previously faced a murder charge in the November 2001 shooting death of 34-year-old Jamie Clark. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, court records show. He also pleaded guilty to simple battery charges in 2012. Private attorney Nandi Campbell is representing Butler for bond purposes, but not on the general case. She declined to comment further. Louisiana State Police arrested seven people in connection with a slew of gang activity involving reckless ATV riders and burglaries. Law enforcement officials have spent the last few months investigating gang activity related to reckless ATV riding that has caused fatal crashes and endangered "hundreds of motorists," according to a news release from state police. The investigation eventually led to arrest of seven New Orleans residents on Friday (May 18). They are Jarrell Maxon, 21; Byron Blunt, 20; Jyron Ahkeem Robinson, 21; Jonathan Gonzalez, 19; Tim Lee Jackson Jr., 23; Xavier Okoronkwo, 22; and Christopher Esteen, 27. All seven are indicted on criminal street gang/racketeering charges. A search of each of their residences yielded evidence that suggests involvement in attempted simple burglary, simple burglary and the theft of motor vehicles, as well as manufacturing, distribution and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, state police said. This investigation remains active and ongoing, and additional charges and arrests are forthcoming, state police said. Esteen is currently incarcerated in Orleans Justice Center jail for a probation violation. As of Friday afternoon, photos and booking information for the other six men indicted were not yet listed in the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office's online records. She was a teenage girl - only 16 - when a man took her at gunpoint from a bus stop in Bywater, beat her and raped her behind a shed in July 1986. New Orleans police collected physical evidence from her. But a year passed, then 10, and eventually more than three decades without an arrest - in part because her rape kit sat untested, one among a large backlog of NOPD cases. All the while, prosecutors said the woman told them, she remembered every detail about what happened that awful day: her attacker's face, his voice, his Hawaiian shirt. That man, prosecutors said, is finally facing charges thanks to a new unit using grant money to prosecute those long-neglected rape kits. Members of New Orleans' Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit, or SAKI Unit, said DNA from previously untested kits helped link Alfred Berry to the woman's attack -- plus five other cold case sexual assaults. The unit, part of District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's Office, was formed in October, and so far has secured indictments in 11 cases that stemmed from SAKI investigations. The cases date back to the 1980s and 1990s, and were part of a national backlog of untested sexual assault kits that in recent years has received national attention. "DNA empowers women in rape cases," said Assistant District Attorney Laura Rodrigue. "It gives them strength in numbers and it's people all coming together behind them." Rodrigue and Mary Glass are the two prosecutors assigned to the SAKI Unit, which also includes an investigator and a victim-witness coordinator. Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the initiative awards competitive grants so cities, police departments and prosecutors can reduce the backlog of untested rape kits, and hopefully provide resolution to the cases. Angela Williamson, senior policy advisor for forensics at the Bureau of Justice Assistance who oversees the national SAKI program, said generally, sites must spend half of their money on testing, and the other half on initiatives or programs that work toward a solution or resolution to prevent another backlog. In New Orleans, that includes committees including victim's advocates, medical professionals, law enforcement and prosecutors, said Pam Jenkins, a research professor of sociology at the University of New Orleans who helped both NOPD and the DA's office write proposals to receive SAKI funds. Cannizzaro's office received a three-year, $1 million grant in October. NOPD received a $1 million grant in 2015, and an additional $700,000 last year. NOPD's grant, which is used to pay for kit testing and case investigation, runs through 2020. When the DA's office received its grant, Glass said the Bureau of Justice Assistance told them they shouldn't be discouraged if nothing happened in the first few months. Williamson said it takes some sites that long simply to locate kits and ready them for testing. The New Orleans unit got its first indictment in a month. In addition to 11 cases under way in Criminal District Court, the unit has another 57 cases open, and it is looking into hundreds of CODIS hits. Reducing a national backlog Glass started working on cold case sexual assaults in 2015, because NOPD asked the DA's office for assistance from a prosecutor who could act as a liaison between the departments. Glass was assigned to that position, even though at the time her office wasn't receiving federal funds. "As I started to get more and more involved with it, I realized the prosecution is the caboose of the grant," she said. "The grant is all about testing for NOPD, but then what do you do? What are you testing these kits for?" According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, there is no reliable estimate for the number of sexual assault kits that have not been submitted to a crime lab for testing. Its Sexual Assault Kit Initiative website, which lists information about each of the 41 sites that have received funding, shows some cities and police departments had untested rape kits that numbered in the hundreds, some in the thousands. When NOPD received its grant in 2015, the department said it had a backlog of 179 untested kits. Through the grant, those kits were going to be sent to a private lab for testing, which officials said could be completed faster than if they sent the kits to the State Police lab. It's unclear how many of those kits have been tested -- NOPD said through a spokesperson that Cmdr. Doug Eckert, who heads their SAKI unit, was unavailable. Tania Tetlow, chairwoman of the city's Sexual Violence Response Advisory Committee, said the federal grants have been a "huge help." She said additional funding for the district attorney's office means added resources and a stronger partnership between that agency and NOPD. "I think the hope is that there will be lessons learned from intensely investigating and prosecuting cold cases," she said. "Victims of sexual assault deserve justice and the community needs to understand there are consequences to rape." Williamson said one of the goals of SAKI is for sites to address what caused the backlog and how they can prevent it from happening again. "It's one thing to test, but how do we stop this from happening again?" she said. "The whole point of the initiative and approving funding is to test kits and to drive change." Nationally, she said a lack of resources was the biggest contributor to the backlog of sexual assault kits. In some cases, she said blood-type testing was done on kits, but no database existed to store that info. When DNA technology became more advanced, Williamson said most police departments didn't have the staff, time or funds to have someone enter results from old tested kits into the new database. Law enforcement bias also contributed to the backlog. In the past, Williamson said there was a lot of "misunderstanding" of the way victims responded to sexual assault, and their cases weren't prioritized. It's not unusual for a victim to seem incoherent or to have trouble remembering details, she said. Understanding sexual assault victims' response has helped police better handle reported rapes, and contributed to an increase in victims coming forward in some cities, according to Williamson. Jenkins said locally she's noticed a change, too. "We're fortunate to be part of something that nationally will change the view of sexual assault and the reactions to it," she said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up 'She got her closure' When someone is arrested, a DNA sample is taken and entered into the national CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) database. That wasn't the case in the '80s and '90s, when many of the cold case sexual assaults now being solved took place. "A lot of these focus on women who just seem to have never gotten justice before, which is heartbreaking," Rodrigue said. DNA samples taken from the previously untested sexual assault kits are now being entered into the same database. The kits and DNA samples are then processed at the State Police Crime Lab in Baton Rouge. NOPD and the district attorneys wait to find out about any potential hits or matches. A "hit" identifies a potential suspect whose DNA is already in the system. A "match" alerts authorities if that person's DNA was found at another crime scene or in another rape kit. In the cases they've investigated so far, Glass and Rodrigue said DNA matches for many of the perpetrators link them to multiple sexual assaults. That's not uncommon or unexpected, they said. A grand jury in December indicted Dennis Whitsett on one count each of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape. He is accused in a 2006 rape in Central City, and prosecutors said he was linked to the sexual assault by DNA. Whitsett, 42, has been called a "serial rapist," and currently is serving time in Michigan for 18 rape and five kidnapping convictions. In the Central City case, Whitsett is accused of raping a woman April 29, 2006. According to an arrest warrant, Whitsett and another man pulled her into a car while she was walking on Carondelet Street toward Jackson Avenue. They drove her to an unknown location, and Whitsett raped her while the other man held her down, according to the warrant. Investigators were notified on May 1, 2012 -- just over six years after the rape -- that Whitsett was a match for DNA found in the woman's sexual assault kit. The kit was sent to the Louisiana State Police crime lab in 2011, Glass said. At the time the hit came back, Whitsett was incarcerated at the Muskegon Correctional Facility in Michigan where he was serving time for eight rape and kidnapping convictions in the Detroit area between 2005 and 2006. Michigan authorities sent a follow-up DNA swab to the Louisiana State Police crime lab in May of 2016 for confirmation, and Glass said he was indicted in 2017. Williamson said Detroit had a backlog of more than 11,000 rape kits when the Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney's Office received its SAKI grant in 2015. It since has identified more than 800 serial rapists, she said, and the offenders they've located have been connected to cases in 40 different states. Many grant sites have realized the repercussions of the sexual assault kit backlog, Williamson said, as many of the perpetrators arrested in these cold case rapes have multiple victims. In New Orleans, many of the offenders the SAKI unit has identified through DNA qualify as "serial rapists," prosecutors said. "In our experience, rapists don't rape once," Rodrigue said. "If they've done it before, the question is do all the women report? If enough have reported then we're going to have women who can come together against the same perpetrator." That only makes the state's case stronger, she said, adding that rape cases are some of the hardest to take to trial. If there's no DNA in a rape case, Rodrigue said the defense usually argues the state has the wrong suspect. If there is DNA, she said the defense usually blames the victim. With multiple DNA matches, "you can take a he-said, she-said and make it a he-said, she-said, she-said, she-said," Glass said. In the seven months they've been working with the grant, Glass and Rodrigue have had a few success stories. Both said they've been able to offer closure to victims who thought their sexual assaults were long forgotten. In one previously unsolved case from 1989, Glass said she found out the perpetrator, Leonard Compton, died in 2009. A CODIS hit linked Compton to the sexual assault in 2016. The SAKI Unit's investigator found the victim almost three months ago. Glass said she spoke with the woman, told her the perpetrator was dead, and that her case was solved through DNA. Glass said she also offered the woman assistance from the district attorney's office to help cope with what happened to her. "It will never see a courtroom, but she got her closure," Glass said. Berry, accused of kidnapping and raping the 16-year-old in 1986, was indicted last month on six counts of rape and six counts of kidnapping in connection with separate attacks on women in 1986 and 1987. He had gone to trial for two other rapes that occurred in New Orleans in 1987, and a jury acquitted him on both of those charges in 1988. Glass said new DNA results linking Berry to one of those attacks prove he was wrongfully acquitted in that case. Berry can't be prosecuted again in that case because of double jeopardy laws, but Glass said the state hopes to introduce evidence from those trials in some of the new cases. At the time of his indictment, Berry, 51, was serving a 99-year prison sentence for a 1988 armed robbery conviction. He was tried on another rape charge in connection with that armed robbery, and Glass said the jury failed to reach a verdict. The DA's office now has DNA evidence that links Berry to the rape charge that resulted in a mistrial, she said. Ultimately, Glass and Rodrigue said they hope the SAKI Unit expands. DNA analysis is only going to improve, Rodrigue said, and they hopefully soon will be able to make matches using even less DNA. "There's nowhere to go but to grow," Glass said. "Louisiana has no statute of limitations on rape cases, so we're going to keep finding cases." Angeline, the restaurant from chef Alex Harrell, will relocate from its current French Quarter location. The last day of service will be June 3. A new location has not been announced. After careful consideration of the proposed terms of our new lease, we have decided to move operations to a new location in order to maintain the integrity of our business operations and staff culture, said Harrell in a release. Harrell was the opening chef at Sylvain. He left in 2015 to open Angeline, which celebrates and updates the Southern cooking he grew up eating in Alabama. Angeline: 1032 Chartres St., New Orleans, 504.308.3106 Check back to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune for updates. *** Got a tip? Know some restaurant news? Email Todd A. Price at TPrice@NOLA.com or call 504.826.3445. Follow him on Twitter (@TPrice504) or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/wherenolaeats. The next Todd Price Taste Club, presented by French Market Coffee, took 300 years to plan. On June 23, a dozen of New Orleans' top chefs and bartenders -- four of them James Beard Award winners -- will join forces at Antoine's, the city's oldest restaurant, to celebrate our city's deep culinary history. The dinner, an official Tricentennial event, begins with hors d'ouevres and cocktails from Neal Bodenheimer of Cure, Nick Detrich from the French Quarter Cuban bar Manolito and Antoine's Stephen Whitmire. Eight chefs will collaborate on four savory courses that explore our city's culinary history: Kevin Belton (WYES' "New Orleans Kitchen"), Frank Brigtsen (Brigtsen's), Nina Compton (Compere Lapin), Adolfo Garcia (La Boca), Nick Lama (Avo), Mike Regua (Antoine's), Carl Schaubhut (DTB) and Susan Spicer (Bayona). Tariq Hanna of Sucre will handle dessert. Tickets to the Tricentennial Todd Price Taste Club are $175, which includes cocktails, wine pairings, tax and tip. To buy tickets, see www.ToddPriceTasteClub.com. The evening starts at 6:30 p.m. For the Taste Club, I work with my favorite local chefs to put together a unique dinner. But I can safely say we'll never pull together an evening with this much culinary star power again. I hope to see you there. *** Got a tip? Know some restaurant news? Email Todd A. Price at TPrice@NOLA.com or call 504.826.3445. Follow him on Twitter (@TPrice504) or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/wherenolaeats. The Orleans Parish School Board postponed a vote on a resolution that would institute a three-year moratorium on industrial property tax exemptions during its meeting Thursday (May 17). Instead, resolution sponsor Ben Kleban asked that the board shelve the measure until it meets with New Orleans' newly inaugurated Mayor Latoya Cantrell and her administrators. "We need to hear the voice of our new mayor on this issue because it does cross multiple governmental issues," Kleban said. "That conversation will happen before our next board meeting, so I want to pause and allow for that to happen so that we can try to develop a shared vision on this." A 2016 executive order signed by Gov. John Bel Edwards allows local taxing agencies, such as school boards and sheriff's, to reject property tax exemptions requested by industries. Prior to Edwards' order, the state commerce board made the decision and most of the time the requests were granted without input from local agencies that were missing out on tax revenues. Kleban's resolution is being supported by an advocacy group called Together New Orleans and Together Louisiana which is questioning whether the property tax exemptions are working the way they were intended - as a driver for economic development. The resolution noted, that since 2000, companies that received tax exemptions in Orleans Parish promised to create over 4,500 jobs but the actual change in jobs "was a net decline of 76 jobs." Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Because of those outcomes Kleban said he feels the school system's resources could be "better used for kids." Several members of Together New Orleans attended Thursday's meeting and spoke in favor of Kleban's resolution. "In 2017 this board lost $3 million, along with 20 plus years of losing that money," said Rev. Joe Connelly pastor of Bethany United Methodist Church and a member of Together New Orleans. " It's time that the board, all of you, change how you do community economic development and investing in our children. The deferral, please take that time to look at the numbers. Make a change." A state district court judge signed an order Thursday (May 17) that's expected to halt construction of the controversial Bayou Bridge Pipeline through parts of Assumption and St. James parishes. Judge Alvin Turner Jr., of the 23rd Judicial District Court in Ascension Parish, had ruled last month that the state Department of Natural Resources violated a law designed to protect the public and environment when it issued a coastal use permit for the pipeline. The order effectively halts the work underway on the 162-mile pipeline, said Elizabeth Livingston de Calderon, an attorney representing environmental and community groups that filed suit challenging the permit. "We expect (the pipeline company) to immediately stop construction and to start working on an emergency and evacuation plan that will resolve the dangerous situation this community is in," she said in a statement. The Gulf Restoration Network, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and other environmental groups say the pipeline will permanently harm ancient cypress forests and disrupt water flows through the Atchafalaya River Basin. The groups also claim that the potential for oil spills is significant. Bayou Bridge Pipeline is jointly owned by Energy Transfer Partners and Phillips 66. Its route runs from Lake Charles to St. James Parish, including a long segment that crosses the Atchafalaya Basin. Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Turner's ruling pertains to a small section of the pipeline that run through the state's Coastal Zone-classified areas in Assumption and St. James parishes. Energy Transfer did respond to a request for comment Thursday. DNR has said its staff believed they were following the rules correctly under state law. Patrick Courreges, a DNR spokesman, said his agency has made 11 pipeline construction site visits since work began in January. DNR has noted three violations involving improper construction of workspaces. The pipeline company took the structures down, Courreges said. Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the section of the pipeline route affected by the ruling. President Donald Trump said Friday (May 18) he will nominate Robert Wilkie, a Loyola Law School graduate with family ties to Gambino's Bakery, to be secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Wilkie is a Defense Department official who has been acting Veterans Affairs secretary since the president fired David Shulkin on March 28. Wilkie's grandmother came from the Gambino family, and his late cousins, Warren and Joe Gambino, founded the bakery at 3609 Toledano St. in New Orleans' Hoffman Triangle neighborhood. It closed in 1999. His mother, Joy Somerville, attended St. Mary's Dominican High School and graduated from Dominican College, now part of Loyola University. His father graduated from St. Aloysius High School, which merged with Cor Jesu High in 1969 to become Brother Martin High, and from Loyola. Wilkie, 56, was raised in Fayetteville, N.C., where his father spent years in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. His grandmother still lives in Metairie. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee that will vet Wilkie for the Cabinet position, expressed no opinion on Trump's selection. "I look forward to the Senate considering his nomination," Cassidy said. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre, a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, praised Wilkie -- and took at shot at Senate Democrats: "Acting Secretary Wilkie has performed beyond expectations, embracing the monumental task of assuming control of the nation's largest bureaucracy. I support President Trump's decision, and I urge my Senate colleagues to quickly perform their constitutional duty to move his confirmation process forward. "I'm particularly concerned about Democratic Party obstructionist designs, which have clearly injured America. I've come to the conclusion that my Democrat colleagues hate President Trump more than they love America. Their 'not my President' behavior at the Senate level has greatly restricted the executive branch. "We, the people, elected Donald Trump as president of the United States. Madame Secretary [Hillary] Clinton lost the election. Get over it. Let the man have his executive team. Honor your oath of office. Move Mr. Wilkie's confirmation process forward without partisan delay." Trump announced the Wilkie selection during a prison reform event at the White House -- and said it was a surprise to Wilkie. "He doesn't know this yet, that we're going to be putting his name up for nomination to be secretary of the Veterans Administration," Trump said. Before taking over as interim chief of Veterans Affairs, Wilkie was the Defense Department's undersecretary for personnel and readiness. He oversaw a new Pentagon policy aimed at stemming harassment in the military, after an online nude-photo sharing scandal rocked the Marine Corps. In seven weeks at Veterans Affairs, he has tried to rebuild morale among employees beset with inner turmoil and rebellion over Trump's push to expand private medical care. On Thursday, he announced a $10 billion contract with Cerner Corp. to overhaul electronic health records for millions of veterans, a 10-year project that aims to improve mental health care and ease access to private providers. Wilkie's selection reflects Trump's desire to have a steady hand leading the government's second-largest department. At the Pentagon, Wilkie worked in the largest department, with more than 700,000 employees. Veterans groups expressed support for Wilkie's nomination. "We're optimistic that we'll be able to work with him and his staff," said Garry Augustine, executive director of Disabled American Veterans' Washington headquarters. "He seems to be a quick learner. He's doing what he needs to do to get up to speed." Dan Caldwell, executive director of the conservative Concerned Veterans for America, praised Wilkie as an "outstanding choice." "He is somebody who has shown that he can manage the department in a time of immense change," Caldwell said. "He unequivocally supports the president's agenda for reforming the VA, and we think that he will be on the same page as the White House." Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said he enjoyed working with Wilkie. He said he wants details on how the secretary-designate would implement legislation to expand private medical care for veterans as well as his "long-term views for the VA." Trump has been seeking an aggressive expansion of the Choice private-sector program to make it easier for veterans to see private doctors outside the VA system at government expense. A proposal is nearing passage in Congress, but its scope will be determined in part on how the next VA secretary implements provisions that loosen restrictions on when a veteran can see a private doctor if they feel dissatisfied with VA health care. The VA faces numerous problems demanding immediate attention, including a multibillion-dollar revamp of electronic medical records, now in limbo, that lawmakers fear will prove too costly and wasteful, and a pending budget shortfall in the Choice program. The Senate is set to vote next week on a wide-ranging bill that would give veterans more freedom to see doctors outside the VA health system and fill the budget shortfall, a major step toward fulfilling Trump's promise to expand private care for veterans. An Air Force and Navy veteran, Wilkie had the strong backing of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly. He was seen as a skilled manager with defense expertise, over other candidates who had more political experience, such as former Rep. Jeff Miller, who had chaired the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Wilkie served under President George W. Bush as an assistant secretary of defense. He was the youngest senior leader in the department. He also served as senior adviser to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., before being named a Pentagon undersecretary in 2017. Trump's first pick to succeed Shulkin was Ronny Jackson, a career military doctor who lacked significant management experience. After Jackson withdrew from the confirmation process, White House officials said Trump planned to interview and vet his next nominee more thoroughly. Wilkie was among several candidates whom White House staff interviewed. The president had indicated he intended to pick someone with a more political background for the role, hoping such a person would better navigate the turbulent confirmation process in a narrowly divided Senate. Wilkie has experience shepherding two defense secretaries through Senate confirmation. . . . . . . . The Associated Press contributed to this report. Before a big crowd Thursday night (May 17), the St. Tammany Parish School Board signed off on a measure to spend $4 million to hire additional police officers and mental health providers for its schools. But what it didn't do will likely draw more attention. After hearing from numerous parents and students, the board backed off a measure to require all students to wear uniforms. Instead, the board decided to have parents at the six schools where students currently do not wear uniforms - Mandeville High, Fontainebleau High, Lakeshore High, Covington High, Pearl River High and Lee Road Jr. High - vote during the upcoming school year on whether their children should wear uniforms. The board's current policy, which dates to 1998, is to allow parents to vote at the district's various schools, typically every four years. The majority of the district's 55 schools - and the majority of its more than 38,000 students - have uniforms, as voted in by those parents. The measures that came before the board are an outgrowth of a group of teachers, principals, board members, administrators and parents that was formed in the wake of the deadly shooting in February at a Florida high school. The group has studied numerous security issues, ranging from the locks on classroom doors to perimeter fencing on campuses. The group probing school security procedures said school uniforms would bring an additional measure of safety to campuses because it will let school personnel quickly see when someone is on campus who should not be. The School Board's Business Affairs and Administrative Committee last week had voted to support the additional officers and mental health providers, as the uniforms for all students, and sent those recommendations to the board. But a spate of parents and students strode the mic during the board's meeting in Covington Thursday to urge board members to back off the uniform policy change. They told the board a vote against what the parents had voted on at their individual schools would be a breach of trust. Don't break the "contract'' between parents and the school district, Kayla Pagel, a Mandeville High School parent, told the board. A vote requiring uniforms, she said, "leads to the perception that what we have to say does not count.'' Others said students express their freedom and individuality through their clothes. Olivia Christopher, a junior at Mandeville High School, said mandating uniforms would sap student morale and school spirit. Another Mandeville High student, junior Caleb McKay, said he researched the subject and found little substantive evidence that uniforms made schools safer. His mother, Martha McKay, told the board she loves the school district and complimented the system for helping shape the students who came before the board to voice their opposition. But she said student uniforms is small potatoes in the larger conversation of school safety. "We need to prepare for the more dangerous situations,'' she said. "Not the least dangerous.'' St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up So civil was the discourse that board member Neal Hennegan, who had not supported the uniforms, said it should serve as a model for other public debates. But while the tone was genteel, it was clear there was little support in the audience for the uniforms. After hearing the comments from the audience, board member Michael Nation offered the substitute motion to bring the uniform issue to a vote at the six schools. "You feel like your voice has been taken out of the process - I get it,'' Nation said. Nation's substitute motion passed 8-6. Voting for the substitute motion was Nation and board members Elizabeth Heintz, Michael Dirmann, Jack Loup, Willie Jeter, Peggy Seeley, Sharon Lo Drucker and Robin Mullett. Hennegan, Mary K. Bellisario, Charles Harrell, Ronald Bettencourtt, Bob Womack, Richard Hursey voted against it. Some of those board members who voted against it likely did so because they said they think the district should simply leave the current policy as it is, in other words, let the individual schools vote when their four-year cycles come up. Why deviate from the current policy, which "has served us quite well,'' Bellisario asked. The measure to hire additional police officers for schools, called school resource officers, and mental health providers was much less controversial. The district currently has resource officers at 14 of its campuses. But it wants to have one at each school. The anticipated cost of the officers, who are formally employed by the parish's various law enforcement agencies but have 10 months of their salaries paid by the school district, is $2 million annually. Having mental health providers for each school is also expected to cost $2 million annually. Administrators told School Board members the district can cover the first year with some untapped funds from BP settlement money and a post-Hurricane Katrina loan that the federal government forgave. But administrators have warned board members that while the money is there for the first year, the additional personnel will be a recurring cost. And it's likely the board could come to taxpayers in the future to help cover the recurring costs, perhaps in the form of a tax increase or a rededication of existing millages. Take Em Down NOLA's Malcolm Suber said at a Wednesday morning press conference that he thought the battle over white supremacist monuments had been won when they were pried from their pedestals and carted off in 2017. He thought, he said from the steps of New Orleans City Hall, that we wouldn't hear any more talk about those monuments going back up in the city. Isn't that what all of us who aren't Lost Causers thought? But newly installed Mayor LaToya Cantrell has given a secret committee reason to believe that she's going to consider their recommendations for where the toppled monuments should go, and that committee, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune found out through a public records request, has recommended that monuments to Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard be re-erected in the city. The Monument Relocation Committee wants those monuments to be put in Greenwood Cemetery, near City Park Avenue and Interstate 10. Because we can see the cemetery from the interstate, we might assume that monuments relocated to the cemetery would be visible even to people not visiting that cemetery. "The South shall rise again!" the Civil War's sore losers have always said. Re-erected Confederate monuments would give them an incredible symbolic victory. Putting the monuments back up would also give a symbolic middle finger to all those people who wanted those monuments to come down. Speaking of Cantrell, Suber said, "We are sorely disappointed that she would insult not only Take 'Em Down NOLA, but the entire black community and progressive community of this city by fraternizing with people who we know are about maintaining and possibly re-erecting these racist monuments in our city." Thanks to the public records request mentioned above, we now know that the Monument Relocation Committee is made up of Frank Stewart, Geary Mason, Mimi Owens, Richard Marksbury, Charles Marsala, Pierre McGraw and Sally Reeves. Frank Stewart is the businessman former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu called out last year for not using his wealth to help make sure the monuments were replaced with something non-offensive. Mimi Owens is "Mikas Eaux," the administrator of the Facebook page "Forever Lee Circle" and the person we have to blame for this year's Robert E. Lee throws during Mardi Gras. From the minutes of one of the committee's meeting: "We represent the following: Monumental Task Committee, Louisiana Landmarks Society, SaveNOLAHeritage.com, Beauregard Monument Association, Lee Monument Association and two of us were plaintiffs in legal procedures hoping to prevent the city from removing the monuments." We should expect those members to do everything they can to return those monuments to a place of prominence -- a place where they will remain visible. It didn't work well for black people when the people who'd lost the Civil War were allowed to regain control after Reconstruction. Nor will it work out well for us now if the people deciding what to do with the monuments are the same people who refuse to acknowledge their offense. And how sad it will be if these modern-day Redeemers succeed simply by waiting out a white mayor for a black one. Cantrell wiffled and waffled, hemmed and hawed, flipped and flopped in 2015 when the members of the New Orleans City Council were trying to decide how to respond to Landrieu's push to take down the monuments. At first she supported the monuments' removal. Then she announced that she was bothered by the process. Then, after members of the public implored her to do the right thing, she came back on board and voted with five other members of the council to have the monuments taken down. In the same way that Suber thought this particular battle had been won when the monuments came down, we all had reason to believe that Cantrell had finally settled on a side in this debate. Who'd have predicted that between getting elected mayor and getting sworn in she would give her blessing to a committee made up of pro-monument partisans? Beau Tidwell, a spokesman for the mayor, said in a statement earlier this month that Cantrell "believes the future of the monuments belongs in the hands of those who care about them." The people who care about them are the people who don't care about the offense they've caused. And Cantrell needs to reject both the committee and their recommendations. On Monday, I spoke with Dixon Irene, who represents Showing Up for Racial Justice in Nashville, Tenn. I was hoping she could tell me how Nashville activists have protested an equestrian statue of Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest that's on private property but visible from Interstate 65. Irene explained that her group is still fighting to get a bust of Forrest removed from the Tennessee Capitol; her group hasn't even addressed the statue on private property. That's a reason for these monuments not to be put where the committee wants them. Once they're on highly visible private property, the battle's over, and even motivated activists shrug in defeat. Jarvis DeBerry is deputy opinions editor for NOLA.COM | The Times-Picayune. He can be reached at jdeberry@nola.com or at twitter.com/jarvisdeberry. Up to 150,000 households who otherwise wouldnt qualify including some with six-figure salaries are expected to apply for food stamps as qualifications are relaxed to help in the recovery from Hurricane Ida. #Seoul city Seoul city gov't bans labor group's planned street rallies this month The Seoul city government has prohibited South Korea's major umbrella labor group from staging street rallies this month in accordance with a law on preventing the spread of infect... #MLB Rays' Choi Ji-man homers in ALDS loss to Red Sox Tampa Bay Rays' first baseman Choi Ji-man has hit his fourth career postseason home run, though it came in a crushing loss to the Boston Red Sox at home. Choi blasted a solo hom... Ronn Torossian The wedding of Prince Harry, the sixth person in line to the British throne, to former actress Meghan Markle, is almost here. On May 19, all eyes will go to the bride and groom, turning our attention away from Kate and William, who in April announced the arrival of another baby boy. The question is, will the media change its tune about Meghan Markle once rings and vows are exchanged? Until now, both the press and the UK overall have had a somewhat divided attitude towards the royal union. While there are plenty of magazines and media outlets that seem thrilled by the idea of another royal to report on, other voices suggest the wedding might not be as much of a fairytale as people assume. For instance, Germaine Greer announced that she thought the princess-to-be would "bolt" before the wedding was over. At the same time, Ann Widdecombe a former conservative MP for Britain announced that she was uncertain about the Markle union, claiming that the new royal had a background and an attitude that was cause for concern. Problems with the press Meghan, the former star of legal drama Suits, isnt the only one whos had a few issues with the press in the run-up to the royal wedding. Harrys attitude towards the media has always been difficult. In fact, hes been doing his best to remove as many journalists from the big day as possible. Theres a chance that the source of this tension comes down to the fact that Harry blames the death of his mother, Princess Diana, on the press. Combine those feelings of anger and distrust with the fact that Meghan Markle has been subject to a serious amount of media harassment and distrust, its easy to see how the press might need to change its tune in the coming months. While most of the coverage for Meghan has been relatively good throughout the last few months, the tabloids have also jumped on any chance to circulate stories about Meghans relatives, as well as postulate theories on the many things that could go wrong on the big day. One of the most recent stories has focused on the fact that Meghans father wont be able to attend to the wedding due to heart problems. Will attitudes change? No matter how the press seems to feel about the royal union at this point, well have to wait and see how attitudes change in the months ahead. While some predict that the news will take a more positive spin after they exchange vows, others are less optimistic. Some tabloids are sure to keep their focus on scandal wherever they can find it, particularly because of Markles American background. Of course, if Will and Kate are any indicator, theres a good chance that interest and love for Meghan and Harry will only grow after theyve wed. Were sure to see plenty of photos of Meghan grocery shopping, alongside any potential stories that might come out of the woodwork. *** Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, one of Americas leading PR firms. Double Forte has added Comedy Central and Superfly, the co-creator of music festivals Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, to its client roster. The agency will work to promote Comedy Central Presents Clusterfest, a collaboration between the two companies. Headlined by Jon Stewart and Amy Schumer, the event is a three-day comedy and music festival that will return to San Francisco for its second year. Double Forte will service the account from its New York and San Francisco offices. The agencys other clients include Silver Spring Foods, Hess Family Wine Estate and NLF Media. RED PR has been named agency of record for Love Sun Body, a new reef-safe, natural mineral sunscreen. The agencys program will include social media, influencer relations, traditional publicity and direct to consumer activations. Love Sun Body, which will launch by June 1 through retailers including Neiman Marcus, Amazon, Birchbox and Credo, is the first American sunscreen certified by international Ecocert COSMOS (cosmetic organic standard) Natural. RED has also promoted Delilah Owens from senior account executive to account manager. The Brandon Agency has been selected to deliver a brand messaging strategy and develop a website platform for Security Finance, a Spartansburg, SC-based company that offers traditional installment loans and ancillary services. Brandon will conduct market research to help Security Finance identify opportunities within current and potential market segments. The new website, which will migrate two other sites to the Security Finance platform, is to be built upon an improved content management system. The Brandon Agency represents brands in such industries as banking and finance, e-commerce, food service, healthcare, real estate, technology and tourism. In wake of a recent prom cheongsam dust up, it remains to be seen whether Doc Martens special edition Eastern Art shoes and boots will be regarded as a misstep. Dr. Martens Artist Series paid tribute to Western heavy hitters like Hieronymus Bosch, William Hogarth, JMW Turner, and William Blake. Those eye-catching kicks may have inspired more than a few fashion-conscious punks to delve into art history, but what will consumersand more importantly activists on the alert for cultural appropriationmake of the Eastern Art line? The company website describes the inaugural design as: a new homage to traditional Japanese art with a fresh, contemporary spin. Featuring detailed hand-drawn paintings, the art is digitally printed on a textured leather designed to emulate traditional Japanese parchment, while gold-tone eyelets and studding complete the look. One wonders what led the footwear giant to go with a mishmash inspired by approach, when there are so many wonderful Edo period artists who merit a boot of their own? Katsushika Hokusais The Dream of the Fishermans Wife (see here) would make for an unforgettable toe cap Kitagawa Utamaro could shod heels and ankles with the floating world. Tawaraya Sotatsus work would easily transfer from screen to shoe. Thus far, the lone complaints have centered on the pain of breaking in the new boots, a badge of honor among longtime wearers of the companys best-selling 1460 Pascal style. Asia Trend reports that Doc Martens has two shops in Japan, with plans to open more. If youre inclined to stomp around in a pair of Dr. Martens 1460 Pascal Eastern Art boots or 1461 Oxfords, best place your order soon, as these special editions have a way of selling out quickly. via MyModernMet Related Content: Doc Martens Now Come Adorned with William Blakes Art, Thanks to a Partnership with Tate Britain Doc Martens Boots Adorned with Hieronymus Boschs Garden of Earthly Delights Download 2,500 Beautiful Woodblock Prints and Drawings by Japanese Masters (1600-1915) Ayun Halliday is an author, illustrator, theater maker and Chief Primatologist of the East Village Inky zine. Follow her @AyunHalliday. The Oregon Department of Agriculture has given up faith that the state's second-largest dairy can comply with its permits -- just two months after settling with the owner. Agriculture officials said Thursday they plan to work with the Department of Justice to pursue "every legal option to stop violations to the confined animal feeding operation permit that may threaten the environment." That could include suing to shut down the dairy. Lost Valley Farms, which is allowed 30,000 animals, started violating its environmental and agricultural permits within months of opening. The violations have come nearly nonstop since then, including six since an April settlement with the state when it promised to do better. The Department of Agriculture's statement comes days after environmental, food safety, animal rights and some agricultural groups renewed calls for the dairy to be shut down. They say that the dairy, which has been mired in controversy since it applied for permits, has shown that it cannot abide by strict rules from the departments of agriculture and environmental quality. "We request that ODA and DEQ rise above the powerful agribusiness interests and elected officials that advocated for a facility of this magnitude," the letter said. "Lost Valley failed to deliver on a promise to comply with the law and deliver an economic boon to rural Oregon." Spokeswoman Andrea Cantu-Schomus noted recent testing shows that Lost Valley's frequent wastewater and manure overruns have not impacted groundwater. The Boardman area where the dairy is located is already overloaded with nitrate. Lost Valley Farms was already in trouble before this week's backlash. Dairy owner Greg te Velde, a California dairyman who had three operations going, has declared bankruptcy in California for three mega-dairies. He claims he owes more than $162 million between his two dairies in California and one in Boardman. "ODA will continue to enforce the (dairy's) permit, issue violations and work with DOJ to ensure the health of the environment and natural resources. The bankruptcy filing is a separate legal proceeding that does not prevent ODA from enforcing the CAFO permit," said Cantu-Schomus. In February, Oregon agriculture officials sued to stop te Velde's 7,288-acre Boardman operation. Lost Valley had been issued citations nearly every month it was open, and officials said te Velde and his general manager repeatedly flouted the corrective measures they were told to take. Documents in the case said that Lost Valley stored waste and wastewater in areas not permitted for it; never completed building all the required lagoons and other facilities to store it; the existing facilities regularly overflowed when it rained; the operation removed parts from a storage tank after agreeing not to; and the container that held dead animals leaked. Photographs taken by an inspector showed cows standing hoof-deep in their own excrement. The Oregon Department of Agriculture agreed in March to let Lost Valley Farms continue operating. Under the new agreement, Lost Valley is allowed to generate up to 65,000 gallons of wastewater per day well below what the 514,000 the dairy estimated it would need. It also must comply with other terms of its permit, such as notifying the state if there is a wastewater or manure spill. And the dairy was told to remove 24.4 million gallons of liquid manure from its overloaded storage facilities by summer, so that it can avoid polluting local water sources during a heavy rainstorm. If the dairy stays in line for a year, it would be allowed to resume operating with only the restrictions laid out in its permit. If it fails, the Department of Agriculture could take away its license to operate or temporarily stop its operations. The groups that signed on to the letter said that there is no need to wait that long. The letter was signed by Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Columbia Riverkeeper, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Friends of Family Farmers, Humane Oregon, Humane Society of the United States, Oregon Rural Action, the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project. Prior to declaring bankruptcy, Te Velde was sued at least four times, which are now pending. At least seven companies in Oregon, Washington and Idaho have sued him because they were never paid for their work, which includes construction of the ranch, managing the harvest of the farm and providing equipment. He also claims to owe $96,000 in federal, state and local taxes, including to Oregon and Morrow County. Te Velde's Tipton, California, dairy had about 11,000 animals at the time of his bankruptcy filing, his Corcoran, California, dairy had 25,000 and his Boardman one has about 13,000. That number has fallen from what was listed on previous public statements and documents. The state said the dairy would likely only have 16,500 cows in its first year. In court filings, the dairy was listed as having at least 17,000. Te Velde also claimed he would hire about 150 people from the Morrow County area. He has 70 employees as of a year later, according to te Velde's court filings in the case. Te Velde made $110 million in revenue last year from the three dairies -- a significant jump from the $32 million in 2017. So far in 2018, he has made $24 million. However, some businesses suing him say they have gotten only a few small payments from te Velde in the years he owed them tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Te Velde was arrested in August in Washington on charges of patronizing a prostitute and possession of methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine in December and the other charge was dropped. -- Molly Harbarger mharbarger@oregonian.com 503-294-5923 @MollyHarbarger The Portland restaurant community has rallied behind Kelly Myers, the chef at Southeast Portland's Xico who suffered a "severe" stroke last month due to complications from surgery to remove a brain aneurysm. Myers began experiencing pain while on a research trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, according to Xico co-owner Liz Davis. That day, Myers and about 12 other colleagues had climbed to altitude to help plant 400 agave plants as part of a reforestation project connected with the region's mezcal industry. When they got back down, Myers laid down for "about nine hours in a girl's room at the mezcal palenque," Davis said. Friends assumed the chef had altitude sickness, a misdiagnosis reinforced after the chef recovered enough to visit markets and go out to dinner. But after returning to Portland on April 18, Myers woke up feeling worse than ever. A trip to the emergency room led to an MRI, which revealed the aneurysm. Xico in Portland 22 Gallery: Xico in Portland In the weeks since, dozens of Portland restaurants including Ox, Kachka and Tusk have offered special drinks or dishes with a portion of proceeds going to a crowd-funding page set up in her name. Tonight, Thursday, May 17, Xico, Nostrana and its sister wine bar Enoteca Nostrana are serving drinks specials and dishes made from beef donated by Laney Family Farms, with 100 percent proceeds going to Myers and her family. Yesterday, Myers was moved from her bed in the ICU to a skilled nursing facility, a major step in her recovery process. According to a post from Ann Myers, Kelly's mother, Myers had regained her speech functions, and expressed some concern "about how her family is going to handle her loss of income." "What she hadn't taken into account was the generosity of her friends and colleagues," Ann Myers wrote "I know we shared some of the comments and contributions with her from time to time, but the scope and depth of it hadn't registered. And when she began to take it in, she was overcome with emotion. Understanding and accepting how much she is loved and respected will be another step to take in her recovery journey." So far, friends, Xico regulars and other Portland restaurants have raised almost $25,000 for Myers and her family. To donate, visit here. -- Michael Russell Police fatally shot a man who threatened them with a weapon early Friday in Gresham, authorities say. Gresham police said two officers fired at the unidentified man, who died at the scene. The agency didn't specify the kind of weapon he allegedly used to threaten officers. The police shooting -- which is the second in the Portland area this week -- happened after officers responded to the report of a suspicious vehicle in southwest Gresham, police said in a news release. Officers found the vehicle, police said, but its driver fled. Police didn't give chase, but they found the vehicle moments later. It was crashed on Southwest Pleasant View Drive north of Highland Drive. Officers contacted the driver, according to police, and he threatened them with a weapon. Two officers shot at him, police said, and he died at the scene. The case is under investigation. Police didn't release any additional information. They ask anyone who has information to call 503-618-2707. -- Jim Ryan Federal prosecutors will target the illicit marijuana market, organized crime, outlaw grows and operations that "pose a substantial risk of violence" under new guidelines for cannabis enforcement in Oregon made public Friday. Billy Williams, the U.S. attorney for Oregon, issued the guidelines in response to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision earlier this year to scrap an Obama-era policy that largely tolerated marijuana in states where the drug is legal. The memo represents the first marijuana policy announcement by a U.S. attorney in a state that's home to a legal market since the Sessions' move. Williams' enforcement priorities in some ways represent a continuation of the approach under President Obama, such an emphasis on overproduction and trafficking, protecting minors and going after organized crime. After hearing from property owners across the state upset about the cannabis industry's drain on natural resources, Williams also singled out pesticide use on illegal growing operations and consumption of large amounts of water without "proper authorization" as additional priorities. Gov. Kate Brown has pressed Williams to pledge he won't go after legal marijuana businesses, but he said, "I will not make broad proclamations of blanket immunity from prosecution to those who violate federal law." Marijuana, though legal in Oregon, remains prohibited under federal law. Representatives of the marijuana industry said Williams' guidelines don't represent a sharp departure from the past. "I am not going to advise clients to shutter their businesses and I frankly don't think this will change anyone's view on investment," said Dave Kopilak, a Portland lawyer who advises cannabis businesses. "I don't think this will have a chilling effect on the investment side of things. "It could have been worse," he added. "It could have been better, but this is definitely down the middle of the road and a continuation of what we have done for years." Williams makes clear that he remains frustrated with the state's failure to contain production. He called for state regulators to collect "comprehensive and accurate data" on the scope of marijuana production and distribution and chided officials for not devoting enough resources to oversee and enforce their own regulations. A state audit earlier this year found that the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency charged with regulating legal marijuana, lacks "robust" monitoring and enforcement controls to track the $480 million industry, making illegal sales difficult to detect. An analysis done last year concluded that the state remains a top source for black market marijuana. That report, which the Oregon State Police and the governor later discredited as outdated, also found marijuana production in Oregon far outpaces demand. Williams said he has pressed state officials ever since about the status of that report. "I have asked repeatedly, 'Will we see a final report?' and I have never gotten an answer," he said. "I had been told a year ago that there were multiple drafts of that report and then I just stopped hearing about it." On Friday, State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton told The Oregonian/OregonLive that his agency does not plan to issue any analysis of marijuana data or trends. He said he expects that work to be completed by the federally funded regional High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. Williams said he also has told the governor's senior policy adviser on marijuana, Jeff Rhoades, that he'd like to see limits on licenses for marijuana producers and retailers. He said Rhoades has told him that officials want to encourage black market operators to enter the legal arena. "I don't understand that thinking," Williams said, "because that is not occurring." Williams called the flood of cannabis out of state a top priority, saying large amounts of Oregon-grown marijuana have been seized in 30 states. "There can be no doubt that there is significant overproduction of marijuana in Oregon," Williams said in his memo. "As a result, a thriving black market is exporting marijuana across the country, including to states that have not legalized marijuana under their state laws." Williams said in addition to criminal prosecution, his office will use asset forfeiture, civil litigation and administrative enforcement to carry out his priorities. Dwight Holton, former U.S. attorney for Oregon who attended a recent marijuana summit Williams organized, said the new guidelines strike a balance between "divergent interests ranging from respect for the state law and the desires of the community he represents and very different and powerful forces he faces from Washington." -- Noelle Crombie 503-276-7184 @noellecrombie A man in apparent mental health crisis was taken into police custody Friday after he barricaded himself inside a Milwaukie apartment for hours, threatening to kill himself, other residents at his complex and police officers. Jarrett Anderson, 21, surrendered around 7:15 p.m. as members of a Clackamas County SWAT team and mental health workers were at his apartment complex trying to get him to come out, according to Milwaukie police spokesman Officer Greg Elkins. Anderson was taken to a hospital for an evaluation and will later be booked into the county jail on suspicion of disorderly conduct and menacing, Elkins said. No injuries have been reported. Police received a 911 call around 12:30 p.m. to check on Anderson's welfare at the Crystal Lake Apartments, 10500 S.E. 26th Ave. Officers called him and he repeatedly threatened harm to himself and others, Elkins said. Emergency responders later went to the apartment complex to try to coax Anderson out of the apartment. Several people were temporarily evacuated from the apartment complex when police arrived. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com 503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey Tuesday's primary was a test not just of candidates, but of voters: Could Oregon Republicans detach themselves from social-issue litmus tests and support the one Republican candidate for governor who stands a chance of winning in November? The answer is yes. In a decisive victory, Republican voters chose Bend legislator Knute Buehler, a pro-choice doctor who favors reasonable gun control measures and has openly criticized President Donald Trump as their nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. Voters wisely set aside any differences they may have with his moderate social stances and selected him over opponents toeing hyper-partisan positions that are out-of-touch with most Oregonians and sunk their chances of statewide office in recent years. While hardcore Democrats might disagree, Buehler's win benefits Oregonians as a whole. His legislative background and understanding of Oregon's most pressing problems gives him the credibility and fluency to force Brown into a higher-level discussion of issues than other candidates could have. And Oregonians deserve substantive, informed debate between our gubernatorial candidates on how to prop up Oregon's K-12 educational system, pay down its daunting public pension debt, reform its foster-care system, identify long-term health-care funding and any number of such issues that need attention now. Specifically, Buehler is bringing forward game-changing ideas that warrant greater discussion, even if they may not ultimately be the right solution. Among them: negotiating a statewide teachers contract instead of district-by-district agreements; limiting public pension payouts to future recipients to $150,000 a year and transitioning new public employees to a 401(k) type program; pushing greater innovation in Oregon's Medicaid networks and pressing for more fully integrated physical and mental health services. And voters should hear what visionary strategies Brown is proposing on those fronts as well. Facing only nominal competition in the Democratic primary, Brown hasn't had to defend her record or articulate a clear vision for what she could do in another term as governor. Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and John Maher. To respond to this editorial, post your comment below, submit an OpEd or a letter to the editor. If you have questions about the opinion section, email Laura Gunderson, editorial pages editor, or call 503-221-8378. Buehler, like Brown, isn't immune to attention grabbing stunts, however, such as his call for Brown to use next week's special session to address teachers contract provisions that make it easier for employees with misconduct allegations to escape detection. He's correct that legislators must fix state laws to shore up student safety - and addressing a ridiculous law that can prevent districts from alerting other districts of substantiated misconduct by a teacher should be at the top of the list. But using Brown's already unnecessary special session to address issues beyond the governor's proposed tax break legislation, only threatens to turn this special-session sideshow into an all-out circus. While both campaigns will likely have their share of such diversions, Oregonians should feel hopeful that Buehler and Brown will use these next few months to engage in real debate that reveals vision, ideas, priorities and character. They should listen for how each would address the precariousness of our fiscal, education, revenue, health care and housing systems. And they, like Republican voters in their primary, should recognize all a candidate has to offer rather than base support on only one issue or another. True competition forces everyone to be better. Oregonians need Brown and Buehler to show them their best. - The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board By Elizabeth Nye Students deserve to be safe in their schools. They deserve a learning environment that values equity, consent and healthy relationships -- and educators who do, too. When I found out about the results of the investigation into decades-long sexual misconduct allegations against Portland Public Schools teachers, I thought about all of the Girls Inc. participants who attend school in the district. I want to ensure they are supported and believed. But after the results of the investigation, I fear that hasn't always been the case. One of the key tenets of our Girls' Bill of Rights, which serves as the foundation for all of Girls Inc.'s advocacy efforts, is that girls have the right to have confidence in themselves and be safe in their world. These rights shape our responses to the difficult social issues facing girls and serve as a powerful platform for empowering girls. The #MeToo movement galvanized the country around issues that Girls Inc. has long cared deeply about: gender inequality, discrimination and misogyny. One in four girls will experience sexual abuse or assault before she turns 17. Girls in poverty are especially vulnerable and at an ever greater risk for sexual violence. That's why girls' voices and perspectives must be represented in the current movement. And that's why we must ensure girls in Portland Public Schools are believed and have the resources they need to feel safe. The reality is that the majority of students are aware. They know bullying, harassment and violence of any kind has no place in school and in society. For sustainable change we need to reform our systems. And that is on us. We need systems that hold sexual predators accountable to ensure girls are safe in every place they inhabit, especially at school. We need to model for youth and be able to talk about healthy relationships, power dynamics, boundaries and consent. We must provide them comprehensive, medically-accurate, non-shaming and LGBT-inclusive sexuality information. If we as adults struggle in our own understanding, how can we expect young people to make healthy decisions and advocate for themselves and others? In Oregon, we have some of the most comprehensive school policies to address bullying, sexual harassment, dating violence and sexual violence. We also have comprehensive health standards supporting consent, healthy relationships and sexual health education in school. But we are not implementing these policies in ways that adequately protect students. We cannot overestimate the role that we as educators, leaders and administrators play to change the culture that fosters gender-based violence. I call on Portland Public Schools and the teachers' union, Portland Association of Teachers, to prioritize the protection of students, allowing them to be safe in all schools. We must come together as educators, parents, administrators and advocates to agree on a fair understanding of how best to ensure our youth are safe from sexual harassment and sexual violence at school. Elizabeth Nye is executive director of Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest. Share your opinion By Billy J. Williams After U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued his memorandum on marijuana in January, I committed to taking a methodical and thoughtful approach to developing an enforcement strategy for Oregon. In early February, our marijuana summit brought together more than 130 people from 70 organizations representing a wide range of interests, values, and perspectives. Among those in attendance were Gov, Kate Brown, representatives from 14 U.S. Attorney's offices, Oregon congressional delegation staff, and members of the Oregon Legislature. The summit featured presentations by state officials, policymakers, federal and state law enforcement agencies, industry representatives, adversely affected landowners, public health organizations, banking executives and tribal leaders. Although participants offered diverse views, the summit also revealed agreement on a number of important issues. First, there is an urgent need for transparency and regularly-reported data from the state. We must have comprehensive and accurate data analyzing Oregon's legal and illegal marijuana markets and their impact on public safety, health, youth, land use, and livability. Second, the state has not devoted sufficient resources to regulatory enforcement and oversight. And finally, too much surplus marijuana is being produced and exported out of state. Many summit participants, including officials from our office and the marijuana industry, expressed concern with the state's current ability to regulate the market. Industry representatives continue to decry the state's failure to limit the amount of marijuana grown. This overproduction encourages illegal black-market sales. Producing and sharing comprehensive industry data will help stakeholders collectively address all of these issues. Tax revenue and job creation statistics make headlines, but those advantages fail to account for the collateral consequences imposed on communities affected by this largely under-regulated industry. As the primary federal law enforcement official in Oregon, I will not make broad proclamations of blanket immunity from prosecution to those who violate federal law. At the same time, our office's resources are not infinite. In light of these facts, and using the lessons learned from the summit and our partnerships with all affected stakeholders, the following will be the marijuana enforcement priorities for the District of Oregon. First, we will prioritize federal marijuana violations involving overproduction and interstate trafficking. This priority will be of particular importance to us as long as data continues to show that Oregon suffers from a formidable overproduction problem. Second, we will prioritize violations that threaten public health, with a particular emphasis on access or exposure to minors. I would note that this priority fully aligns with state law, which strictly prohibits marijuana use by individuals under 21 years old. Third, we will prioritize violations that involve a substantial risk of violence or other threats to public safety, especially those involving firearms. Threats of violence or the improper use of firearms in conjunction with the use, production, or sale of marijuana will not be tolerated. Fourth, we will prioritize violations that fuel other criminal activity such as racketeering, organized crime, federal income tax evasion or money laundering. And finally, we will prioritize violations that adversely affect federal public land or other natural resources, including water, air, and listed species. Oregon's livability transcends the interests of any one industry. I'm sharing our strategy so Oregonians know the types of marijuana cases we will prioritize for both civil enforcement and criminal prosecution. Rest assured, marijuana-related federal prosecutions will be assessed using the same sound judgment and discretion we use when deciding to charge any other case. Our marijuana enforcement strategy will evolve over time based largely on two critical factors: the resources the state is able and willing to commit to monitor and enforce its regulatory scheme and the availability of data that can be used to measure the state's progress in addressing regulatory gaps. Put simply, our strategy will be flexible based upon data and the need to address public safety. As always, we will continue building on the long tradition in Oregon of carrying out law enforcement in close coordination with our federal, state, local, and tribal partners. Billy J. Williams is the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. Sen. Ron Wyden's forthright rejection of Gina Haspel as unsuitable to be CIA director is undeniably suitable to the U.S. Senate's role in providing advice and consent on presidential appointments. Wyden and his colleagues should also reject President Donald Trump administration's increased pressure on Ecuador to revoke Julian Assange's asylum; it is he, after all, who has been the world's leader in exposing the various crimes that involved Haspel and her colleagues. Laird Wheeler Hastay, Forest Grove Updated: 3 students arrested after passing around stolen gun inside Lebanon High School, police say Lebanon High School was put under lockdown Friday, and all other schools in the Linn County town were on lockout, according to the local school district. The high school was put into lockdown at 9:40 a.m. because of "a credible report about a firearm on campus," the district said. The suspect was in custody later Friday morning, according to the district, and high school students were to be released to their parents "as soon as possible." The other schools' lockouts were lifted Friday morning, the district said. Lebanon Mayor Paul Aziz said on Facebook that there had been "a report of a gun seen by a student." The suspect has been located outside of the school. The High School has been cleared at this time and we will start... Posted by Mayor Paul Aziz - Lebanon Oregon on Friday, May 18, 2018 Jim Ryan SALEM Oregon's agency that hires and oversees lawyers for foster children is considering proposals to increase accountability, after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported last month that the state has no system to monitor the quality of legal work. Some lawyers do not meet with their child clients, despite an Oregon State Bar rule that requires lawyers to communicate with clients even if they are young children, The Oregonian/OregonLive found. Others rely on staff to meet visitation and communication requirements in their state contracts. Even when officials concluded a lawyer denied a child appropriate legal help, the contractor rarely faced consequences. "One of the things that happened right after the first article came out is we were called over to (House Speaker Tina Kotek's) office to ask about, 'what can you do about this?'" Lane Borg, director of the state legal agency since January, told members of the Public Defense Services Commission during a meeting in Salem Thursday. Borg and his staff want to ask the Legislature to add funding in the next budget for employees who can begin tracking caseloads, if lawyers are visiting clients and other metrics tied to quality of representation. They have yet to determine the price tag. The state does not currently collect that data in most of the state, outside of a small pilot project. Lawmakers approved funding earlier this year to add two more counties to the pilot project, in which caseloads are capped and the state tracks how much time lawyers spend with child clients. But the Legislature has declined to make the investment necessary to expand the model statewide. "We need to be out there," Borg said. "We need to have more prescriptiveness about how we enforce the contracts we make and expectations of contractors." Borg said he disagrees with lawyers such as Klamath Falls attorney Richard Garbutt who has questioned the necessity of visiting a young child client. "I personally believe you should go see the kid at some point, even if that child is an infant," Borg said. Some lawyers say that personally meeting with child clients is the only way to gain their trust, learn their true wishes and consult with them about decisions that will have a huge impact on the child's life. Home visits are also an opportunity for lawyers to gain knowledge and context to advocate for the child, advocates say. Still, the Oregon State Bar and the Office of Public Defense Services allow lawyers to rely on staff to make the visits and the state agency is now considering asking lawmakers for more resources to support that model. "Within the current public defense system, juvenile attorneys carry high caseloads, some exceeding 100 cases or more, that greatly limit their ability to maintain ongoing contact with child clients," the agency wrote in its proposal. Elizabeth Welch, a retired family court judge and vice chair of the commission, said the proposals to increase oversight and add a state employee to help recruit more social workers to meet with child and parent clients do not resolve a central question in the legal community. "The issue is whose job is it to have a relationship with the client," Welch said. "Is it the lawyer's job, or someone else's job? Until that's addressed in concrete terms, I think we're getting ahead of ourselves." There was no definitive answer at the meeting Thursday. Another commissioner questioned whether it would be appropriate for the state to track the contract attorneys' client visits and other performance standards. Thomas Christ, a Portland attorney and part-time circuit court judge, said it could be dangerous if the state acts as a supervisor to the contract lawyers. Agency officials have also said they must not treat the contractors as employees. Paul Levy, a lawyer with the state agency, said it is within its rights to assess contractors' performance. "What we are looking at is, is the entity fulfilling its contract?" Levy said. Christ also questioned whether it is necessary for lawyers to meet with young child clients. He questioned the capacity of a 5-year-old to express his or her wishes to a lawyer. "Is it really essential in representing a child in court that you have to meet them personally?" he asked. Amy Baggio, a commissioner and criminal defense attorney from Portland, said it is incumbent upon lawyers to communicate with all clients to ensure they are making conscious decisions about the direction they want to take and the benefits and risks of proceeding in different ways. Borg said news coverage was important in bringing attention to problems in the system. "I hope this stays enough in the mind of the public that people stay concerned about trying to remedy this," he said. The public defense commission, which oversees the Office of Public Defense Services, must decide by June whether to ask lawmakers to fund added oversight and the social worker manager in the next state budget. -- Hillary Borrud 503-294-4034; @hborrud WASHINGTON The Trump administration acted Friday to bar taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions, energizing its conservative political base ahead of crucial midterm elections while setting the stage for new legal battles. The Health and Human Services Department sent its proposal to rewrite the rules to the White House, setting in motion a regulatory process that could take months. Scant on details, an administration overview of the plan said it would echo a Reagan-era rule by banning abortion referrals by federally funded clinics and forbidding them from locating in facilities that also provide abortions. Planned Parenthood, a principal provider of family planning, abortion services, and basic preventive care for women, said the plan appears designed to target the organization. "The end result would make it impossible for women to come to Planned Parenthood, who are counting on us every day," said executive vice president Dawn Laguens. But presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News that the administration is simply recognizing "that abortion is not family planning. This is family planning money." Sen. Ron Wyden said the move was as "big brother as it gets." "The bottom line is a woman's ability to access the health care she deserves and to make informed decisions about her body should be an unimpeachable right," the Oregon Democrat said in a prepared statement Friday. "Telling women what kind of care and information they can and can't receive is Trump's agenda of health care discrimination on full display." The policy was derided as a "gag rule" by abortion rights supporters, a point challenged by the administration, which said counseling about abortion would be OK, but not referrals. It's likely to trigger lawsuits from opponents, and certain to galvanize activists on both sides of the abortion debate going into November's congressional elections. Social and religious conservatives have remained steadfastly loyal to President Donald Trump despite issues like his reimbursements to attorney Michael Cohen, who paid hush money to a porn star alleging an affair, and Trump's past boasts of sexually aggressive behavior. Trump has not wavered from advancing the agenda of the religious right. Tuesday night, Trump is scheduled to speak at the Susan B. Anthony List's "campaign for life" gala. The group works to elect candidates who want to reduce and ultimately end abortion. It says it spent more than $18 million in the 2016 election cycle to defeat Hillary Rodham Clinton and promote a "pro-life Senate." The original Reagan-era rule family planning rule barred clinics from discussing abortion with women. It never went into effect as written, although the Supreme Court ruled it was an appropriate use of executive power. The policy was rescinded under President Bill Clinton, and a new rule took effect requiring "nondirective" counseling to include a full range of options for women. The Trump administration said its proposal will roll back the Clinton requirement that abortion be discussed as an option along with prenatal care and adoption. Known as Title X, the family-planning program serves about 4 million women a year through clinics, costing taxpayers about $260 million. Although abortion is politically divisive, the U.S. abortion rate has dropped significantly, from about 29 per 1,000 women of reproductive age in 1980 to about 15 in 2014. Better contraception, fewer unintended pregnancies and state restrictions may have played a role, according to a recent scientific report . Abortion remains legal, but federal family planning funds cannot be used to pay for the procedure. Planned Parenthood clinics now qualify for Title X family planning grants, but they keep that money separate from funds that pay for abortions. Abortion opponents say a taxpayer-funded program should have no connection to abortion. Doctors' groups and abortion rights supporters say a ban on counseling women trespasses on the doctor-patient relationship. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said the administration action amounts to an "egregious intrusion" in the doctor-patient relationship and could force doctors to omit "essential, medically accurate information" from counseling sessions with patients. Planned Parenthood's Laguens hinted at legal action, saying, "we will not stand by while our basic health care and rights are stripped away." Jessica Marcella of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, which represents clinics, said requiring physical separation from abortion facilities is impractical, and would disrupt services for women. "I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged," Marcella said. But abortion opponents said Trump is merely reaffirming the core mission of the family planning program. "The new regulations will draw a bright line between abortion centers and family planning programs, just as...federal law requires and the Supreme Court has upheld," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a key voice for religious conservatives. Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said, "Abortion is not health care or birth control and many women want natural health care choices, rather than hormone-induced changes." Abortion opponents allege the federal family planning program in effect cross-subsidizes abortions provided by Planned Parenthood, whose clinics are also major recipients of grants for family planning and basic preventive care. Hawkins' group is circulating a petition to urge lawmakers to support the Trump administration's proposal. Abortion opponents say the administration plan is not a "gag rule." It "will not prohibit counseling for clients about abortion...but neither will it include the current mandate that (clinics) must counsel and refer for abortion," said the administration's own summary. -- The Associated Pres A state police policy committee Thursday reversed course, voting to recommend that former Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea's lose his police certification for 10 years for dishonesty. The committee also recommended a three-year suspension of O'Dea's certification for gross misconduct. The vote followed the state Board of Public Safety Standards and Training's refusal last month to accept the committee's earlier recommendation to leave O'Dea's police certification alone. The board's chair, Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers, in April convinced the board to send the matter back to the committee for further review, saying, "In good conscience, I cannot pass this forward.'' That review came Thursday morning, with O'Dea and his lawyer Derek Ashton attending. LISTEN: AUDIO OF MEETING Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett, Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton, Portland Assistant Chief Chris Davis and civilian member Patricia Patrick-Joling were among committee members who pushed for action against O'Dea's certification. "It was pretty clear to me that there were some very serious things wrong,'' Patrick-Joling said. "It was just really clear to me there was a pattern of behavior, and it's not becoming of a member who's supposed to be a police chief.'' The committee chair, Jeffrey Hering, a Tigard detective, and John Teague, Keizer police chief and vice chair of the committee, didn't support restricting O'Dea's certification. In February, the committee voted 13-2 that O'Dea's handling of the off-duty shooting of his friend and an employee's discrimination complaint against a co-worker showed a "failure of leadership'' but didn't warrant taking away his certification. "To have the committee reverse itself today -- with no new evidence -- is beyond belief,'' Ashton said Thursday afternoon. "Some members seemed to focus on facts that supported their preconceived conclusion. The result appears manipulated. Going forward, persons should be hesitant to place much faith in this system.'' O'Dea retired in June 2016 while he was under criminal investigation for shooting Robert Dempsey with his .22-caliber rifle during an off-duty camping trip in Harney County two months earlier. O'Dea and his friends were on lawn chairs, shooting at ground squirrels. A hollow-point bullet from O'Dea's rifle hit Dempsey in the lower back and fragmented. Dempsey was released from the hospital the next day, the bullet still in his body. The day of the shooting, O'Dea told a Harney County deputy that he thought Dempsey had shot himself. A subsequent administrative investigation by Portland's Independent Review office found that O'Dea delayed reporting the shooting and then lied to investigators about the shooting while he was still chief. Committee members noted Thursday that O'Dea's rifle was pointed at his friend, which it should never have been. A separate investigation by city human resources officials found that O'Dea failed to follow reporting requirements when an administrative assistant in his office came to him with allegations that the Police Bureau's diversity manager, Elle Weatheroy, had made racist remarks to her. Investigators found that O'Dea lied about what he knew when they interviewed him. "There was a pattern of behavior of just not wanting to deal with it, of sidestepping the issue,'' said Patrick-Joling, who has served as a Newport councilwoman. Her father is a former Los Angeles police officer and former Fresno County sheriff's deputy. A grand jury indicted O'Dea on a negligent wounding charge, but a Harney County judge agreed to a civil compromise and dismissed the charge. The committee's recommendation will now go before the full Board of Public Safety Standards and Training at its next meeting July 26. -- Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian The pre-flight address started like any other on Mother's Day morning. "I'd like to introduce myself and my crew," Captain Tara Wright said as she stood at the front of her Alaska Airlines plane, shoulder-to-shoulder with First Officer Mallory Cave. But flight 361 from San Francisco to Portland was not like any other in the airline's 86-year history. Wright and Cave were the first all African American women crew to pilot an Alaska Airlines flight. "You're sharing a pretty interesting piece of Alaska Airlines history this morning," Wright said to the passengers in a viral video posted Sunday. The video drew millions of views on Facebook and Twitter. Making Alaska Airlines history this morning! First Officer Mallory Cave and I serve as the very first all African-American female crew on Alaska Flt #361, San Francisco to Portland, OR. Posted by Tara Dillon Wright on Sunday, May 13, 2018 Some passengers clapped or whistled after the brief announcement, but Wright soon got into the particulars of the one-hour and 26-minute flight. Her employer, Alaska Airlines, shared the news on its Facebook page, and gave a nod to the nation's first licensed black woman pilot. "What Bessie Coleman started in 1921, we continue here," the company wrote. According to 2017 data from the Federal Aviation Administration, 6.5 percent of the nation's active pilots or flight instructors are women. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen With anticipation building for the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday, May 19, everyone's getting in on the coverage. Today, YouTube announced that the ceremony will be streamed on the royal family's official YouTube channel. According to the press release, the live stream will include the wedding procession, the ceremony at Windsor Castle, and other events that are part of the day. The footage will be shown again later, so it can be viewed, no matter what time zone you live in. If nothing else, the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is definitely demonstrating that the royal family is taking pains to keep up with technology. In addition to the royal family YouTube channel, details of the royal wedding are being shared on the royal family website; the "Kensington Palace" Twitter account (@KensingtonRoyal); and "The Royal Family" Twitter account (@RoyalFamily). Prince Harry was joined by his Best Man The Duke of Cambridge as they met some of those waiting in the crowds on Castle Hill #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/aeqw1vmrbO The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 18, 2018 Wondering when the royal wedding starts in the time zone you live in? Here's our handy guide. And if you prefer to watch the spectacle unfold on the big TV screen, here's what you need to know about TV specials and live coverage of the royal wedding. -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Ottawa Citizen Headline News will soon be in your inbox. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Total U.S. Printing-Writing Paper Shipments Decreased 4 Percent in April U.S. uncoated free sheet (UFS) paper shipments in April 2018 increased year-over-year, the third increase in four months. May 18, 2018 - The American Forest & Paper Association has released its April 2018 Printing-Writing Paper report. According to the report, total printing-writing paper shipments decreased four percent in April compared to April 2017. Total printing-writing paper inventory levels decreased less than one-half of one percent from March. Uncoated free sheet (UFS) paper shipments in April 2018 increased year-over-year, the third increase in four months. Imports of UFS decreased 22 percent year-over-year in March the tenth consecutive decrease of 12 percent or more. Exports of UFS papers increased 25 percent in March compared to March 2017. Shipments of uncoated mechanical (UM) papers decreased year-over-year in April 2018 by more than 20 percent. Imports of UM decreased one percent year-over-year in March. Exports of UM decreased 45 percent year-over-year in March. Shipments of coated free sheet (CFS) paper and coated mechanical (CM) papers in April both declined year-over-year for the eleventh consecutive month. Imports of CM papers increased 33 percent compared to March 2017, partly on the strength of a 47 percent year-over-year increase in CM imports from Canada. The complete report with detailed tables, charts, and historical data can be purchased by contacting Kory Bockman at Statistics_Publications@afandpa.org or 202-463-4716. The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance a sustainable U.S. pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and wood products manufacturing industry through fact-based public policy and marketplace advocacy. AF&PA member companies make products essential for everyday life from renewable and recyclable resources and are committed to continuous improvement through the industry's sustainability initiative Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 . The forest products industry accounts for approximately 4 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufactures approximately $200 billion in products annually, and employs nearly 900,000 men and women. The industry meets a payroll of approximately $50 billion annually and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 45 states. Visit AF&PA online at www.afandpa.org or follow us on Twitter @ForestandPaper . SOURCE: AF&PA SOFIA: The EU said Thursday it will begin moves to block the effect of US sanctions on Iran as efforts to preserve the nuclear deal with Tehran deepened a transatlantic rift. The decision came as Russia and China took some of their most concrete moves yet to extend their economic influence in Iran, in the face of renewed US efforts to choke off Tehran. US President Donald Trump last week controversially pulled Washington out of the 2015 international deal with Iran that placed limits on its nuclear programme in return for easing economic sanctions. European companies that invested in Iran after the deal are already taking fright, with French energy giant Total warning it could pull out, and Danish shipping giant Maersk and German insurer Allianz also saying they plan to wind down activities there. After EU leaders discussed Iran at a meeting in Bulgaria, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the bloc would start measures on Friday to ease the effect of the US sanctions on European companies. We will begin the blocking statute process, which aims to neutralise the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions in the EU. We must do it and we will do it tomorrow morning at 10:30, Juncker said at the summit in Sofia. The blocking statute is a 1996 regulation originally created to get around Washingtons trade embargo on Cuba, which prohibits EU companies and courts from complying with specific foreign sanction laws, and says no foreign court judgments based on these laws have any effect in the European Union. However, the Cuba row was settled politically, so the blocking regulations effectiveness was never put to the test, and its value may lie more as a bargaining chip with Washington. Its not a joke French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that one reason for the efforts to prop up the Iran deal is so that our businesses can remain in Iran. The EU leaders pledged at the meeting to keep a united front against Trump, whose decisions to pull out of the Iran deal and to impose trade tariffs on Europe have triggered the worst transatlantic crisis since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. EU President Donald Tusk renewed attacks on Trump at the summit Thursday, suggesting that the US administration was now as unpredictable as Irans regime. The real geopolitical problem is not when you have an unpredictable opponent or enemy, the problem is if your closest friend is unpredictable. Its not a joke now, Tusk told a news conference with Juncker. Tusk on Wednesday had slammed Trumps capricious assertiveness, comparing him to Europes traditional adversaries Russia and China, and saying Trumps approach had left the EU with no illusions that it could rely on anyone else. China, Russia and EU members Britain, France and Germany were also signatories of the Iran nuclear accord, and have said they will stick to the deal if Tehran respects its terms. Beijing and Moscow have also stepped up efforts to save the deal. On Thursday, a Russian-led trade bloc signed an interim trade deal with Iran and signalled plans to negotiate a free trade zone. In the Kazakh capital Astana, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union trade bloc signed an interim trade deal with Iran that lowers tariffs on hundreds of goods. Russian firms have less to lose from bucking US sanctions. Many major Russian companies are already operating under tightening US sanctions over Moscows seizure of Crimea and its role in the Ukraine crisis. Reinforce China Meanwhile, Irans oil minister said that Chinese state-owned oil company CNPC was ready to replace Total on a major gas field project in Iran. Beijing also signalled that it intends to continue normal and transparent practical cooperation with Iran. The US says its sanctions apply to any transactions that are conducted in dollars, which are used in most international transactions, in particular in trading of crude oil. But China has for years been working to increase trade using its currency and in March a yuan-denominated oil contract was launched in Shanghai. Trumps withdrawal from the deal is now likely to boost Chinas influence in the region, a European diplomatic source warned. The Iran issue will probably reinforce China in the region, because the European businesses that cant take on the cost of difficulties on their American markets will leave an important gap for a power that seems to have no problem with taking their place, the source said.AFP There are very few artists that elicit the kind of extreme, excited response as the Backstreet Boys. They've been tacked onto countless bedroom walls, inspired gut-busting parodies, performed in musicians' most-coveted arenas and ushered in a kind of boy-band fan hysteria that now seems commonplace in pop culture today. Related | Backstreet Boys Are Bigger and Better Than Ever More than 25 years since the Backstreet Boys' debut, not much has changed. The posters may have been removed (and archived), and world tours have become residencies, but even the Backstreet Boys successors (the likes of NSYNC, One Direction, and BTS) cannot be credited with eclipsing their success. While the band's members Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell and their disciples may no longer be in their teens and twenties, only a few bars of "Larger Than Life" is enough to induce feverish fan-demonium. Back with a new single, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," Howie D. explains that the Backstreet Boys aren't back they never left. I feel like everyone in my generation grew up with you. What's it been like to watch your fans age with you? Honestly, looking at our audience now and the residency we've been doing this past year and almost two years, I'm out there seeing two or three, sometimes four generations out there. That's awesome to know we transcended that many generations. It's very cool to see fans that came with their parents or grandparents when they were maybe in their young teens and now the three of them are coming with the youngest members of their family, their newest addition. Is there still the same sense of pandemonium like the 1990s? Yeah, it's kind of crazy to think that it is, I don't know what it is about our music I'm going to be honest but I don't understand how music can touch people to the point where they want to cry or scream, sometimes, jumping back into their teenage bodies. How was navigating that way back in the early days? Navigating the fans? I mean it was, I don't know the right word for this, but what guy wouldn't want a bunch of screaming ladies after him? It's flattering. We're just five guys from American middle class families, to all of a sudden be thrown into this spotlight where people are being affected by you and your music it's kind of overwhelming. I always knew watching other big celebrities like Michael Jackson and Madonna and seeing how they would stop the streets and cause pandemonium at airports, to actually see that happen to us it's like, Is this for real? Do I need to pinch myself? It's one of those things you learn how to embrace and how to cherish. Sometimes people are like, "Oh my god, I'm sure you're tired of taking pictures and giving your autograph" and I say, "The day that I stop getting asked for pictures or my autograph is the day that I need to work." So I've learned appreciate the fans that I am able to touch like that. It's really amazing you guys were able to stay grounded through that. I think it's just the fact that we realized success can be here today and gone tomorrow. Don't take it for granted. And don't take your fans for granted. Always push yourself to be better and know if you're not, and you just get at that one level and never push the envelope, someone else is going to come behind you and grab it. That's why I think having a great support system around you and having each other to keep each other in check and also our family our loved ones and friends. I'm just blessed I have a great support system. The Backstreet Boys in London, 1996 (Photo via Getty) This morning Meghan Markle released a statement confirming that her father will not be attending the wedding. "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding," she said. "I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday." Miss Markle's father, as well as her half-brother and sister, have been an unending source of tabloid fodder since the royal engagement was announced. Her half-siblings have regularly spoken to the British press, complaining of not being invited to the wedding with her half-brother going so far as begging for an invitation. Thomas Markle, Jr, whom Meghan hasn't spoken to since 2011, wrote Prince Harry a letter accusing his sister of being "jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the Royal Family heritage." Related | The New Royals Later in a letter that was published in In Touch Magazine he said, "Meg I know that I'm not perfect, nor is anyone else in our family, as I'm sure you have read by now. But good, bad, or perfect, we're the only family that you have. It does hurt my feelings not getting invited to your wedding, along with the rest of the family. But it's not too late to send me an invite along with your entire family. We should all be there to show our love and support on your wedding day, because that's what families do." Neither approach resulted in an invitation. At first Mr. Markle, Sr. seemed to be above the fray and plans were announced for him to walk Meghan down the aisle on Saturday. He was allegedly caught cooperating with paparrazzi for posed photos of himself being measured for a wedding suit and admiring an engagement photo of his daughter and her fiance. The New York Post reports that Mr. Markle only agreed to pose for the photos when photographers approached him threatening to publish photos of Mr. Markle drinking and hanging around a ratty flophouse hotel. Mr. Markle, Sr. claims the heart attack he had earlier this week was brought on by the open letter his son sent to the British press. He now says he won't be able to attend the wedding as he needed to have an operation yesterday and won't be able to travel. Meghan's mother will be in attendance and some suspect she'll be walking her down the aisle. Hopefully the weeks of family drama won't put a damper on the happy day. Photo via Getty Ross Butler is a name that's about to be everywhere. Though the 28-year-old actor often plays seemingly extroverted jocks on TV, he is laid back and careful with his words when I chat with him. He's had quite a journey to get to where he is now, acting in student films and in Disney Channel shows before landing roles on Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why, and is passionate about bringing as much nuance and humanity to his characters as possible, deeply considering what motivates them and how they navigate through their emotionally fraught high school environments. Butler began acting at the age of 21 when his friend bought him his first official acting class as a gift. But, he says the deep-seeded love of performance at the heart of being an actor displayed through the fantastical stories he would tell his classmates was evident much earlier. "When I was growing up, I gravitated more towards performance than acting," he said. "I feel like I was a pathological liar as a kid. I told my classmates that I was a professional snowboarder at one point. I got a kick out of trying to convince people of things that were absolutely absurd. I always felt compelled to have somebody else's life, but I never looked into it, nor did I consider acting as a career." After that initial class, he acted in student films and low budget projects. For a few years, there was a lot of financial insecurity and familial stress surrounding his career choice. His mother wanted him to be an engineer, which he had studied for a year at Ohio State, and didn't support his decision to move to California. Though they are on good terms now, there were a few years when the two didn't speak because she saw acting as, "as insecure and frivolous and not a way [he] could support [himself.]" Butler and I, both Asian-American children to parents and communities that emphasize academic excellence in science and engineering, also recognize that our families' aversion to financially insecure jobs like acting or writing is deeply cultural and, to an extent, practical. Butler said that while pursuing his dreams as an actor, he grappled with the question, "How do I make my dreams fit into the Asian cultural dream? How do I make these two worlds meet?" It's a question a lot of us grapple with, knowing our parents want the best for us and often worked hard so that we have the privilege of choosing a career path different from theirs, while still wishing they were more supportive of our decisions. He added that he wished he had found ways to pursue creative endeavors earlier in life, saying, "I think the problem isn't necessarily the decision to go into the arts. The problem is allowing Asian American kids to be creative at a younger age so that a choice down this path doesn't seem so radical or out of the ordinary. Because if I had started earlier, I can't speak to how history would have changed, but the transition may have been earlier. " The general lack of representation of Asian American narratives also makes it harder to see ourselves thriving as anything other than doctors, lawyers, or engineers. Butler was born in Singapore and raised in America, and feels that narratives like his are central to the fabric of American life, but are often overlooked, telling me, "I moved to America when I was 4 and I went to American public school. I grew up around American kids and I'm an American. I was raised in this culture. Telling that story isn't that hard. My mom brought her background of academic strictness, but that didn't define who I was. It's an attribute just like all white Americans have their own unique attributes. Growing up, I wish I had seen the stories I saw, just with Asian characters. I wish there was an Asian version of Tom Hanks, or an Asian American version of Ryan Gosling." But, despite the hurdles he faced early on, Butler's decision to stick with acting ultimately paid off. He landed roles in Disney Channel shows like KC Undercover and Teen Beach 2. Working with 17-year-old Disney Channel stars "who had been working their whole lives" at the age of 23 was intimidating at first for Butler, but ultimately led to an important turning point in his career. Around that the time he began working with Disney, he felt more confident and "started talking about acting less as a hobby and more as a business." Related | Beautiful People: Kimberly Drew Is the Future of the Art World The switch from hobby to career was an exciting but at times daunting one. As most people working in creative field know, it's thrilling to make a living off your art, but also disheartening realization that art must necessarily be commodified in the process you have to ultimately view your work in terms of money in order to make a living. Ross tells me that the business side of being an actor or a creative i "not something you want to be conscious of as a creative, but it is our job. It's the price you pay for wanting to do what you love as a job." It's discouraging at first, he continues, but "ultimately in the end, we all have to become adults. We can still play in some areas." More recently, Butler has worked on dramas like Riverdale, the Archie Comic-meets-Twin Peaks cult favorite, and 13 Reasons Why, the Selena Gomez-produced Netflix drama that tells the story of high school student Hannah Baker's decision to commit suicide. Both shows have been massive successes, and 13 Reasons Why 's second season just premiered today. Butler has played jocks on both shows and says he worked hard to show what made Zach Dempsey, his character on 13 Reasons Why, special, finding that as a "social chameleon" who "didn't really fit 100% into any of the cliques," he was able to relate to the person Zach is at his core. "Zach is this lonely kid who is seen as one of the popular jocks," he said. "That feeling of not fitting and feeling isolated is something that I'm not unfamiliar with. Growing up, I felt like I never really fit in anywhere, so that wasn't too hard to connect to. Zach is at odds with trying to find out if he wants to follow what his morals say, or if he wants to stay popular." That tension between fitting in and following one's moral compass is central to the show's storyline, which implicates 13 people in Hannah's decision to commit suicide via 13 audio tapes she left behind. The severity of each person's crime varies, but everyone nonetheless contributed to the emotional pain and isolation she felt as a young woman who had recently moved to a new school. Zach is one of the people Hannah mentions in her tapes. She blames him for throwing away notes she received from a secret admirer and for eventually throwing away a note she wrote to him. In reality, Zach didn't actually throw away her note, but he also never tried to reach out and help her despite knowing his friends were bullying her. Some viewers felt that, since he didn't explicitly do anything wrong, Zach shouldn't have been on the tapes, but Butler tells me he feels Zach deserved to be criticized "because what he did contributed. It wasn't as harsh as some of the other tapes, but it definitely was a contribution because of the relationship that Hannah and Zach had," adding that, "A big secret is revealed about that in Season 2 and it makes a lot more sense." Related | Beautiful People: Kali Uchis Is a Self-Made Pop Star As a viewer, it felt like tapes like Zach's were crucial because they showed that trauma is inflicted in varying scales, sometimes in seemingly inconsequential ways, and that someone's personal struggles are always deeper and more complicated than they seem at a cursory glance. Zach's tape is also interesting because it is the first to introduce multiple perspectives to the narrative. Hannah was certain she saw Zach throw away a note she wrote him, but in reality, he kept it. It was the first episode that introduced the concept of subjectivity and that reminded the viewer that we were learning about the narrative from Hannah's perspective. Butler says the episode "shows that someone can see things or feel like they know things that aren't true," even if they're not "lying or trying to deceive people." The second season, which tells multiple characters' stories, tries to fill in some of the narrative gaps caused by hearing only Hannah's side of the story. The writers meticulously combed through the first season while writing the second to make sure all the newly-revealed secrets aligned with the original storyline. In this season, we learn a lot more about Zach and Hannah's relationship, too. We see that they had a deeper bond than we were initially led to believe and watch his difficult road to emotional recovery in the wake of Hannah's suicide, which Butler says is rife with guilt and anxiety. "You get to see Zach unfettered," he says, adding that Zach "starts to lose control of his psyche. He has moments where it's hard for him to come to terms with what happened, but as time goes on, because of the stress he's going through, he becomes more galvanized in wanting the truth to come out, and takes a stronger stance. He makes a decision to go with an unpopular opinion and he does what he can to help reveal the truth. Zach decides to take the route that will ultimately make him stronger and a better person." The first season of the show faced criticism for its graphic portrayal of Hannah's suicide, which many people felt could be triggering to viewers or could glamorize the act. The episode in which Hannah commits suicide is in fact incredibly dark and difficult to watch, and much of the criticism came from psychologists or therapists. When asked about the conversation surrounding the show and its portrayal of suicide, Butler said he feels that showing how and why suicide happens and how it affects a community sparks necessary conversations about mental health. Selena Gomez and her mother, Mandy, pitched the show to many networks, he says, but refused to put it out with any that prevented them from showing the suicide because they felt "portraying the suicide is what makes it real, what makes it feel like it has stakes, and makes it so that it isn't glamorized." He adds that since the show premiered, most of the people who reach out to him tell him the show gave them language to talk about their struggles. He says, "a lot of people telling me that they were able to talk to their parents about it. It's very inspiring and very motivating. It felt special to feel like I've had an impact on people's lives beyond just telling a story. I've gotten them to open up to their parents more." With two major shows and countless other projects under his belt, Butler is already making his mark on Hollywood. But with his newfound clout and confidence, he hasn't lost any nuance or thoughtfulness. He represents so many different communities and narratives, and the second season of13 Reasons Why allows him to pry apart those overlapping identities. He is, ultimately, grateful for the platform 13 Reasons Why has given him, and is constantly considering ways to give his job and his characters meaning. Earlier this month Patently Apple posted a statistical report about Apple maintaining their lead in tablets globally. In that report we pointed out Amazon's tablet shipments dropped a whopping 49.5% Q1 2018. In a new analytical report published today by Strategy Analytics we're able to see that Amazon's Echo shipments doubled year-over-year while their market share has plunged from 81.8% in Q1 2017 to 43.6% in Q1 2018. Google took the biggest bite out of Amazon's market share as they added new models this year. Apple and Alibaba are new to this sector and they were able to grab 13.6% together. Apple is shown to have shipped 600,000 units of HomePod. Like Google, Apple may add a new tier of HomePod this year to encourage home owners to place them throughout their homes. A rumor posted in March claimed that Apple was going to launch a cheaper HomePod model this year. However with Apple you never know. They may add a higher end unit and drop the price on the current model. With Apple supporting a "stereo" feature to HomePod, Apple may want to push selling the HomePod in pairs at a reduced combination price. Though as always, we'll just have to be patient to see how Apple alters their strategy to gain more traction for this smart home accessory. David Watkins, Director at Strategy Analytics stated for the report that "Amazon and Google accounted for a dominant 70% share of global smart speaker shipments in Q1 2018 although their combined share has fallen from 84% in Q4 2017 and 94% in the year ago quarter. This is partly as a result of strong growth in the Chinese market for smart speakers where both Amazon and Google are currently absent. Alibaba and Xiaomi are leading the way in China and their strength in the domestic market alone is proving enough to propel them into the global top five." David Mercer, Vice President at Strategy Analytics added that "Further strong growth in smart speaker sales confirms our view that this new market is far more than just a flash in the pan. Today's smart speakers are by no means the finished article but they have captured the consumer imagination and we will see rapid evolution in design, functionality and associated use cases over the coming years. We are clearly heading towards to a time in the not too distant future when voice becomes a standard mode of technology interaction alongside established approaches like keyboard, mouse and touchscreen." Samsung's Smart Speaker Coming in H2 Amazon's market share is likely to further get hit this year as Samsung releases their first smart speaker by August using Bixby 2.0. It was reported in Korea today that "Gray G. Lee, head of the AI Center under Samsung Research said that the upcoming flagship Galaxy Note 9 will adopt an upgraded artificial intelligence platform, Bixby 2.0. In a brief interview with Kim Hyun-seok, the chief of Samsung Electronics' home appliance division, he was asked when they planned to launch an AI speaker? Kim responded by stating that he couldn't reveal the exact schedule, but that it would be launched in the second half of this year. Kim further noted that the AI-based functions of the speaker wouldn't be different from those featured in other home appliances, including refrigerators. With Samsung being the number one volume seller of smartphones, Samsung may be able to take another big bite out of Amazon's lead in the smart speaker sector for the 2018 holiday quarter. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. A report by posted by Bloomberg yesterday titled "Apple and Its Rivals Bet Their Futures on These Men's Dreams," is an oral history of artificial intelligence, as told by its godfathers, gadflies, and Justin Trudeau, Canada's current Prime Minister. The author of the report noted that "This is the peculiar storypieced together from my interviews with themof why it took so long for neural nets to work, how these scientists stuck together, and why Canada, of all places, ended up as the staging ground for the rise of the machines." While a little arrogantly stated, the report overall is an interesting read. The Bloomberg report noted that "Over the past five years, artificial intelligence has gone from perennial vaporware to one of the technology industry's brightest hopes. Computers have learned to recognize faces and objects, understand the spoken word, and translate scores of languages. The world's biggest companiesAlphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Facebook, and Microsofthave bet their futures largely on AI, racing to see who's fastest at building smarter machines. That's fueled the perception that AI has come out of nowhere, what with Tesla's self-driving cars and Alexa chatting up your child. But this was no overnight hit, nor was it the brainchild of a single Silicon Valley entrepreneur. The ideas behind modern AIneural networks and machine learninghave roots you can trace to the last stages of World War II. Back then, academics were beginning to build computing systems meant to store and process information in ways similar to the human brain. Over the decades, the technology had its ups and downs, but it failed to capture the attention of computer scientists broadly until around 2012, thanks to a handful of stubborn researchers who weren't afraid to look foolish. They remained convinced that neural nets would light up the world and alter humanity's destiny. While these pioneers were scattered around the globe, there happened to be an unusually large concentration of neural net devotees in Canada. The government-backed Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (Cifar) attracted a small group of academics to the country by funding neural net research when it was anything but fashionable. Canada backed computer scientists such as Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun at the University of Toronto, Yoshua Bengio at the University of Montreal, and the University of Alberta's Richard Sutton, encouraging them to share ideas and stick to their beliefs. They came up with many of the concepts that fueled the AI revolution, and all are now considered godfathers of the technology. Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau: "Learning that Canada had quietly built the foundations of modern AI during this most recent winter (2006), when people had given up and moved on, is sort of a validation for me of something Canada's always done well, which is support pure science. We give really smart people the capacity to do smart things that may or may not end up somewhere commercial or concrete." For more on the foundation of Artificial Intelligent computing, read the full Bloomberg report here. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Forbid Them Not, pp. 9-14 The Noga Hilton International Geneva may have been a five-star hotel, but the carpet in Nora Stoddards room was still garishly orange. Nora is jetlagged. She has graveled to Geneva, after all. As she heads to her meeting with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Farris drops a few notes that are, I assume, supposed to help flesh out Noras character. Nora, remember, is the National Commission on Children official who visited Laura Frasiers Sunday school class back in Virginia. Unfortunately, Farriss asides do more to confuse Noras character than to clarify it. Two taxis were waiting in linea newer Mercedes and a ten-year-old full-size American-made Chevrolet. Nora got the Chevy, which was first in line. Why? Why did Nora take the Chevy? I need to know! Was it because it was American-made? Did she feel the Mercedes was too ostentatious? Or did she literally just get in the first one in line? In which case, what did knowing that the other car was a Mercedes add to this story? Why did you pick the Chevy, Nora?? Next, the good-old travel narratives that weve all missed: After a series of lefts and rights through back streets, the taxi headed along Lake GenevaLac Leman, in Frenchfor a few blocks. The top of Mont Blac was obscured in the distance by some high thin clouds, but the view was spectacular nonetheless. But Nora is not in Geneva to sight-see. The taxi delivers her to an eight-story building with the UN symbol in the atrium lobby. Oh and by the wayFarris has now mentioned that Nora does not speak French two times in as many placesthe first time when the taxi driver tried to speak to her, and the second time when the security guard addressed her. We got it, Farris! She doesnt speak French. Nora heads to the conference room that is her destination, but first she pauses at a the open door of the receiving room: A display of breakfast pastries and a selection of rich, dark breads, together with three kinds of cheese, were arrayed on a table agains the right wall. Another table with coffee and tea was immediately adjacent. Three women holding china cups and saucers were chatting quietly in what sounded like a Slavic language. They nodded at Nora, but she did not recognize any of them. She hesitated in the outer doorway for a moment. Finally, she marched ahead into the conference room through a door on the left side of the entry area. She glanced nervously around the large conference table. The view of Lac Leman a few blocks away was beautiful, but a familiar face was what Nora wanted to see more than anything. WTF was that? Im trying to figure out whether Nora is merely nervous about not knowing people, or whether were to think she has food issues or body image issues. Why else the description of the food, with no explanation as to why she looks at it but doesnt take any? And yetand I checkedthere is no previous mention of her weight or even her physical appearance. She has merely been described as a woman in her early forties. Maybe were only to see her as nervous? But why is she nervous? Sure, she wants to see a familiar facedont we all?but shes a seasoned government official. She should know how to network, and be ok being in a room with strangers. Instead, to hear Farris write, youd think she was scared of something. But what? Nora recognizes Erzabet Kadar, who holds the chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Childits Noras first time meeting herbefore finally seeing a familiar face. Check out this description: Kadar moved to the side, revealing the first truly familiar face. The long brown tresses and flawless skin of Jody Easler were as unusual in this room as her light tan, formfitting suit. Nearly everyone else in the room was dressed in black or charcoal. And it seemed that everyone else was at least ten or twenty years older than Norahs striking fellow American. Maybe its due to living in a diverse area, but I read the above and assumed for several chapters that Jody was African American. Shes not. Shes later identified as a brunette. But this disjuncture between Jody and those others involved in childrens rights comes up repeatedly throughout this book. Jody is young, sexy, gorgeous, and at least slightly hip. Everyone else is old and stodgy. Jody stands out. And did I mention that shes sexy? Nora herself had been involved in the movement, albeit on the state and national level, for a lot longer than Dr. Easler. But appointments to the U.S. delegation to the UN in Geneva demanded a level of electoral participation that had never been Noras forte. She had been a faithful in childrens rights politics for nearly two decades, but she was not a person to be noticed by elected officials. Nora was grateful to have day-to-day charge of the U.S. agency that had been created to enforce the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Even though she ultimately reported to this younger, less experienced woman, Norah could question neither the competence nor commitment of this Ph.D. who looked more like a local news anchor than an expert on the sociology of childrens rights. I think its time for some fact checking. There is a UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. According to the United Nations website: The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body of 18 Independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its State parties. More on that in a momentfirst, Jody introduces Nora to Erzabet Kadar as our director of the National Commission on Children. Nora, in other words, heads that agency. When Jody states that Nora holds an important national position, Erzabet Kadar cuts in to note that it is truly an international position. Jody responds with a smile: Jody smiled broadly and perfectly, revealing the skilled work of an orthodontist from Minneapolis. Of course, international. Our movement toward ratification of the Convention has lived with frustration so long that even our terminology began to adopt nuances of hopelessness. We have known for some time that the treaty was our only hope for true advancement of childrens rights, but we She shook her head as if to wipe away the cobwebs of a bad memory. But those days are gone now. We are here not just to consult but as full partners, finally. This is not how childrens rights advocates talk about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Childas though it is some holy grail that, if signed, would suddenly make everything perfect and wonderful. At this, the committee is seated. Their skin colors covered the entire range of humanity, but nearly all those at the table had gray hair, with the notable exception of the lead American. I told you this would keep coming up. I find it odd, too, given that this is the current picture of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: I dont see all that much gray. I also dont see a room full of black and charcoal suits. Of course, this book was published in 2005. I found a list of the members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for that year and looked up each member. I was able to find dates of birth for about two-thirds of them. The majority of these individuals were in their 50s and early 60s in 2005. The oldest was 71; the youngest was 35. Jody would definitely have been one of the youngest members of the committee, but she wouldnt be as out of place as Michael seems to suggest she would have. Still, out of place is how she wants herand there are reasons for this that become relevant to the plot later on. But now, lets move on to the committees session. Erzabet Kadar leaned forward in her chair. She sat, as always, in the center of the table, with her back to the wall. She apparently isnt want people staring out the windows at the view when they should be listening to her. She looked around the room solemnly, but Kadar said nothing as she stared down each person in turn, fixing an unblinking gaze until the other person averted his or her eyes. Who is she, the antichrist?? Shes from Hungaryis that enough Eastern European to make her a potential antichrist candidate? Because Im definitely getting vibes. Oh and later, when she speaks, her voice and passion give Nora a wowed tingling in her stomach. So. More evidence. My friends, this is a momentous morning in the history of our movement. For nearly thirty years we have awaited this day. The long spell of frustration, not just for our American friends but for all of us, has finally come to an end. Heres the problem with this: government agencies in the U.S. havent been waiting around for the Senate to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child already. The same is true of the disability rightsthe U.S. has not signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but the U.S. has already implemented the principles contained within it nonetheless. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the U.S. does not have child soldiers; fights child trafficking; removes children from abusive or neglectful parents; provides a system of public education; respects parents right to direct their childrens religious education; encourages the production of childrens books; protects children from pornographic materials; and so forth. Our failure to sign the Convention is primarily a problem in the message it sends abroad, and in forfeiting the positive message we could be sending to children about our national respect for them and their rights. The ratification of the Convention would not in any wise mean a full-fledged overturning of current U.S. law and practices vis a vis children. And yet, from Farris we get this: We are gathered here to plan the next stage of our international strategy for the well-being of children. The ratification of the Convention by the United States has brought us to the threshold of a new world of possibilitiesa world where children can be liberated from the superstitions and prejudices that have enslaved and abused both their bodies and minds. We must make decisions this morning that will have worldwide implications for decades to come. We need no longer believe that our vision should be achieved gradually. The day for bold action is upon us. This. Is. Not. How. This. Works. Im going to try to spend some time reading about how the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child functions between now and next week. My current understanding is that the Committee receives reports from states (i.e. countries) that have signed the treaty and makes recommendations, but does not act to directly enforce their recommendations or set individual state policy. Farris, in contrast, believes that if the U.S. signs the UN Commission on the Rights of the Child, this UN Committee, and not American officials, will be in the drivers seat in our national childrens policy. Tune in next week to hear the UN Committees devious plans to control and subvert U.S. domestic policy. Im sure youre on the edge of your seat! I have a Patreon! Please support my writing! 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. The clash between some military men and policemen in Tamale last Wednesday has incurred the displeasure of the public, Parliament, the Military and the Police High commands, the political parties and civil society organisations. Social media platforms were awash with comments from the public condemning the clash. Many of them said it was unfortunate that the police and the military who should protect the citizenry were rather creating fear and panic. Attack Armed soldiers reportedly attacked some policemen at various duty points in the Tamale metropolis last Wednesday. The armed soldiers, who were on board three branded military vehicles, according to eyewitnesses, first stormed the Northern Regional Police Headquarters and the Tamale Metro Police Command, both situated on the same compound, and fired warning shots, prompting the police to return fire. Afterwards, the soldiers attacked policemen stationed at various banks and other duty posts in and around the metropolis without any provocation. Parliament At the sitting of Parliament Thursday, both the Majority and the Minority condemned the clash, saying it was a recipe for insecurity and disaster. Minority The Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who is the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, said there was growing insecurity in Tamale following the clash. He said the people of Tamale were living in a state of insecurity and fear, stressing that the breakdown of law could be a recipe for disaster. He said the ministers of Defence and the Interior needed to be invited to the House to assure the public that the people of Tamale were secure and free from attacks. "Mr Speaker, I am inviting you, so that the Minister of Defence and the Minister of the Interior will be obliged to come before this House to assure the public that we are safe and secure and that the people of Tamale will not have any reason to live in fear and panic. "A breakdown of law and order can be a recipe for lawlessness. It will lead to the erosion of public and civic confidence in the security agencies to maintain law and order in the country and to safeguard our territorial integrity," he said. Majority Supporting the call for the Defence and the Interior ministers to appear before the House, the Deputy Majority Leader, Ms Adwoa Safo, said every citizen deserved to live in a state of security. Therefore, she said, it was a great disappointment that security men who were supposed to ensure law and order would engage in such a clash. "The appropriate ministers should come to the House to brief it on how to deal with the matter," she said. Speaker Following the request by the Minority Leader and the comments by the Deputy Majority Leader, the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Michael Aaron Oquaye, ordered the ministers of Defence and the Interior to appear before Parliament next Tuesday to apprise the House of the circumstances leading to the clash. The Defence Minister, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, and the Interior Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, will also be required to brief Parliament on measures being taken to arrest the situation and prevent its recurrence. More condemnations Similarly, the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Saeed, has condemned the clash, saying security personnel who are supposed to work together to ensure peace, law and order are rather creating tension and panic in the region. Describing the incident as unacceptable and unfortunate, he said the clash was as a result of the failure of the commands of the military and the police in the region and served notice that the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) would not sit aloof for such a thing to happen again. Addressing a durbar of military and police personnel at the Bawa Barracks in Tamale on Thursday, Mr Saeed, who is also the Chairman of the REGSEC, said: Those who will be found culpable in last Wednesdays incident will not be spared, irrespective of their rank or position. He also gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the commanders of the various units to immediately organise their troops to march through the principal streets of the Tamale metropolis as part of efforts to restore the confidence of the public in the two security agencies. The durbar was held as part of measures by the REGSEC to resolve the impasse between the police and the military in Tamale. Present at the durbar was a high-powered delegation from both the military and the police commands at the national level and representatives from the ministries of the Interior and Defence. Air Commodore Alfred Augustine Appiah represented the Chief of the Defence Staff, while Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr Prosper Agblor and COP Nathan Kofi Boakye represented the Inspector General of Police (IGP) at the durbar. Committee Mr Saeed said a committee had been set up to fully investigate the circumstances that led to last Wednesdays clash which resulted in the injury of eight policemen. Set up by the REGSEC, the committee, comprising representatives of the ministries of the Interior and Defence, is also to help bring the perpetrators of the clash to book to serve as a deterrent to others and also forestall a future occurrence of that incident which is a potential threat to national security. Togetherness Air Commodore Appiah, for his part, said the Military High Command would advise military personnel on the need to prevent the occurrence of such incidents and pledged that investigations would be conducted into the clash. Mr Agblor urged his men to maintain peace, saying if law and order breaks down in this country, we have nowhere to go, hence the need to work together. This is why we have to work with our fellow military personnel to ensure the safety of the country, he added. Later, a parade comprising the military and the police was held at the Jubilee Park in Tamale to demonstrate to the public that the two institutions are ready to work together and also assure members of the public that they can go about their daily activities without fear or panic. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Alhaji Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has received barrage of SMS with threats of harm over comments he allegedly passed regarding the Ashanti Kingdom. Mr Baako had said hell under no circumstance ever kneel before the revered Overlord of Asanteman, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. According to him, he is not a coward and therell be no justification for him to ever kneel before the Asantehene. Speaking on Kokrokoo with Kwami Sefa Kayi, he praised the progressive vision of the Asante monarch and how they are friends but insisted that when it comes to kneeling down before Otumfuo, he will not. Abdul Malik Kweku Baako made the comment after some top executives of the New Patriotic Party who trooped to the Manhyia Palace to have a word with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II last week, had no choice than to kneel and beg after the angry King asked them to leave his Palace. The NPP executives were led by acting General Secretary, John Boadu who was in the region to campaign Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, party Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, and Regional Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization, Kwabena Senkyire. The Asantehene was reportedly angry over concerns that some members within the NPP government are attempting to pitch him [Asantehene] against the Ohyehene and Akyems. Threats to harm Mr Baako I will come after you at Peace FM and deal with you. I will seize your bag of documents and burn them. The above is just one example of messages Mr Baako received over his remarks. MyNewsGh.com confirmed this information from Kwaku Baako himself who was speaking to Randy Abbey on Good Morning Ghana. He said some of the threat messages he received came from social media users who abused him based on ethnocentric pomposity. Out there I have seen mounting attacks and threats on social media. I have seen a lot of attacks. Social media, Mr Baako said. If you are a man come to Kumasi and say those things on Hello FM, another person baited him with a message. Mr Baako has said that he spoke positively of the Otumfuo on the set day, except when it came to the kneeling part, he said he begged to differ. That part, unfortunately, is what the media chose to highlight. Source: mynews Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video IMANI Africa President, Franklin Cudjoe, has said an $89 million contract between Ghana and a Haitian firm, GVG/Kelni is needless and a rip-off. Mr Cudjoe has petitioned the Vice-Presidents Office and also had conversations with the Chief of Staff with the aim of convincing them to cancel the contract for the design, development and implementation of a common platform for traffic monitoring, revenue assurance and mobile money monitoring, which, according to him, is superfluous. Mr Cudjoe argues that firms like Subah Infosolutions and Afriwave Telcom Ltd., were contracted to do exactly what GVG/Kelni has been tasked to do. The only additional responsibility spelt out in the new contract with GVG/Kelni, he said, is the task to monitor the Mobile Money Interoperability system, which, according to him, is already being done by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana, thus, needless, too. Per the GVG/Kelni deal signed in December 2017, the government of Ghana will dole out a monthly payment of $1.5 million to the Haitian firm over a five-year period, beginning 30 days after execution of the contract. To him, This contract is no different from the ones we signed in 2010 and 2015 under Subah and Afriwave. In fact, the two contracts were supposed to do the very things that this new contract is purportedly to do; revenue assurance and check fraud. The only thing that has been added this time around is mobile money monitoring for which we have given GhIPSS $4 million to do. First of all, we dont know what work Subah did. We dont know what work Afriwave has done. We dont know what value they have added to the whole telecom industry for us to warrant another entity to come and repeat the same thing for the hefty sum of 89 million dollars. It is a no no no, he told Accra-based Citi FM. Source: The Publisher/GHANA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Dutch Prime Minister Mr. Mark Rutte is in Accra for a two-day visit from 29-30 November, 2017. With this visit, the first of a Dutch Prime Minister to Ghana, Mr Rutte wants to reaffirm and further strengthen the excellent relations between the two countries. His visit coincides with that of the French President Emmanuel Macron to Ghana. The two leaders agreed to visit Ghana together, in the aftermath of the AU-EU summit in Abidjan. H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo will host a lunch for President Macron and Prime Minister Rutte. Both European leaders will also meet with young Ghanaian entrepreneurs, whom have benefitted from startup accelerator programs. The Dutch Prime Minister will have talks with President Nana Akufo-Addo, in which economic cooperation will be high on the agenda. Ghana and the Netherlands have longstanding relations. Recently the focus has been changing from development cooperation to trade and investments. Other areas of common interest are also on the table, including migration. Further elements of his tour in Ghana will be a visit to MDK Flowers and Greens, a Dutch company in Tema that produces flowers and plants for export to the Netherlands and the signing ceremony for a loan, issued by Fidelity bank to a hospital in Teshie, through the Dutch funded Water and Sanitation program. This program engages the private sector by offering a sustainable financial model for business in water and sanitation. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Vice President of the Republic, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated the Nana Akufo-Addo governments determination to transform Ghanas economy through the use of Information Communication Technology in all spheres of national life. Government is thus keen to provide opportunities for Ghanaians, especially students, to acquire cutting edge knowledge in ICT to drive the digitisation agenda and improve the life of the ordinary citizen. Vice President Bawumia assured of governments commitment to ICT education when he met the 2017 and 2018 batches of the Huawei Ghana Seeds for the Future Programme at the Jubilee House, Accra on Friday 18th May, 2018. Initiated in 2008, the Seeds for the Future Programme is Huaweis most heavily invested global corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity. The programme was launched in Ghana in 2015 and 45 Ghanaian students have participated so far. The programme seeks to develop local ICT talent, enhance knowledge transfer, promote a greater understanding of and interest in the ICT sector and improve, encourage regional building and participation in the digital community, according to officials of Huawei. The 10 students of the 2018 batch will undergo a 2 week programme in Beijing and the high-tech manufacturing hub, Shenzhen where they will study cutting-edge information and telecommunication technologies at Huawei HQ Training Centre. Huawei will share its ICT expertise and experience in managing a multinational corporation with the young ICT professionals and help fuel the development of local ICT industries. Outlining some ongoing ICT-based reforms being undertaken by Government, including the implementation of a paperless system at the ports, a National Digital Property Addressing System, Mobile Money Interoperability Payment System, the soon-to-be-issued National ID Card and plans to digitise all land records, Vice President Bawumia said it was important to also train the human resource to fully implement the digitisation agenda. Vice President Bawumia expressed Governments appreciation to Huawei and called on other companies to emulate their example of offering training to Ghanaian youth, who will make up the workforce in a few years. In brief remarks Hon Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP), Minister for Communications; H.E. Jiang Zhouteng, Acting Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Ghana; and Mr Tommy Zhou, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Ghana, urged the students to take advantage of the opportunity to not only acquire knowledge in ICT, but also imbibe the qualities that have made China a force to reckon with. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ankobeahene and acting President of the Nkoranza Traditional Council, Oheneba Adjei Baffo, has commended the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for implementing policies geared towards improving the quality of lives of the Ghanaian people over the last 16 months, the period of stay of his government in office. Your Excellency, I seize this opportunity to commend you and your government for the various interventional programmes, like Free SHS, Planting for Food and Jobs, and the Nations Builders Corps (NABCO), Oheneba Adjei Baffo. Additionally, the acting President of the Nkoranza Traditional Council thanked President Akufo-Addo for honouring his campaign promise of creating new regions. It is on this score that two new Regions will be carved out of Brong Ahafo Region. The Chief continued, Nkoranzaman, as well as all other paramouncies falling within the proposed Brong East Region are much grateful to you for such consideration, in fulfilment of your campaign promise of creating new regions. Oheneba Adjei Baffo stated that the Nkoranza Paramouncy has vast lands, minerals, rivers, gold deposits, human resources to boost effective administration of the new region. The Nkoranza Chief made this known on Friday, 18th May, 2018, at Busunya, in the Nkoranza North Constituency, when President Akufo-Addo met with the Coalition of Zone A Chiefs, on day one of the Presidents tour of the Brong Ahafo Region. Also present at the durbar was the Omanhene of the Techiman Traditional Council, Nana Oseadeayo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, who spoke on behalf of the Bono East Coalition, thanked President Akufo-Addo for fulfilling his campaign pledge of creating new regions. He stated that the proposed creation of the Bono East Region would be viable because of the presence of an abundance of human and natural resources needed to sustain the region. If you (President Akufo-Addo) help us create this region, it will be truly historic. Help us, so that it becomes your legacy. Indeed, it was during Kwame Nkrumahs time that the Brong Ahafo Region was created. Let it also be said that it was during President Akufo-Addo and the NPPs time that the Bono East Region was created, Nana Oseadeayo Akumfi Ameyaw IV. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Mr Salifu Saeed, Northern Regional Minister and Chairman of the Regional Security Council on Thursday said soldiers who assaulted police officers in Tamale on Wednesday would be punished. He said Officers who took the law into their hands to perpetrate violence yesterday would be punished to deter others from resorting to such acts in the future. He emphasised that those officers, who are not up to the task in the region, would be kicked out of the region adding the disciplinary action would affect commanders and other officers, who would be found culpable in this act. The Minister said this when briefing journalists in Tamale on Thursday after a joint Military and Police durbar at the Air Force Base in Tamale. A joint team of Military and Police Commanders from Accra attended the durbar to find out the causes of Yesterdays (May 16, 2018) confrontation between the soldiers and police in Tamale where soldiers assaulted eight police personnel in the Metropolis. Members of the joint team included; Commissioner of Police (CoP) Mr Kofi Boakye, CoP Mr Prosper Agblorh, Director General of Police Welfare, who represented the Inspector General of Police, and Air Commodore Augustine Alfred Appiah, Air Force Commander, who represented the Chief of Defence Staff. On Wednesday, May 16, 2018, a group of armed soldiers went on rampage in Tamale assaulting police officers leading to serious injuries to eight police officers. A soldier ran away from a police criminal investigations department in Tamale where a caution statement was being taken from him following an assault case against him, and he was later arrested at the Bank of Ghana area in Tamale main town. This did not go down well with other soldiers, who mobilised in their vehicles fully-armed and moved to the Regional Police Headquarters shooting and beating any police officer in sight. It took the intervention of the Regional Minister to calm down the situation. Mr Saeed said an investigative team comprising members of the Regional Security Council had been set up to find out the causes of the violence and to recommend appropriate sanctions to be taken against the culprits and condemned the act perpetrated by the soldiers saying it was highly unacceptable, attributing it to a command failure on the parts of the commanders of soldiers and police in the region. CoP Agblorh said what happened was unacceptable adding such things would only play into the hands of criminals assuring that efforts would be made to ensure that such acts did not occur again. Air Commodore Appiah said the Military abhorred such acts urging officers of the security agencies to respect the roles of one another in the discharge of their duties. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Communications Manager of the Ghana National Gas Company, Ernest Owusu Bempah has charged government to investigate the death of former President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills. To him, it will soon become a norm in this country that very important state officials will meet their untimely deaths and nothing will be done about it if this particular one is not well investigated and addressed. I believe the former President didnt die a natural death, therefore there must be a thorough investigations into his sudden death and proper sanctions given to the culprits involved before it becomes a norm in this country, he stated on UTVs Adekye Nsroma programme. Ernest Owusu Bempah made this comment after Sammy Gyamfi, NDC communication team member on the show tagged President Akufo-Addo as super-incompetent for not fighting for justice during his time as Foreign Affairs Minister when 44 Ghanaians were gruesomely murdered in Gambia. Also, he called on members of the previous government to get ready to face the Special Prosecutors office due to the corrupt practices they indulged in when in government. Members of the NDC claim we are painting them with corruption . . . yet they are still walking about freely, but I am promising each of them to get ready since they will soon not have time for anything else than escorting each other to court each day, he said. Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A former judge of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Emile Short, has stressed the need for an active political will in ensuring that justice is done in the gruesome murder of some 44 Ghanaians in The Gambia. He has, therefore, called on the government to summon the political will in ensuring that former President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia, who is accused of murdering 44 Ghanaians in The Gambia in 2005, is extradited to stand trial in Ghana since the current political and security situation in The Gambia will not be conducive for such a trial. Justice Shorts call comes at the heel of newly discovered evidence that point to complicity at the highest level of ex-Gambian President Jammehs government in the murder of some 44 Ghanaians who were on their way to seek greener pastures in Europe. Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International last Wednesday, said a paramilitary unit controlled by then Gambian President Jammeh summarily executed more than 50 Ghanaians, Nigerians and other West African migrants in July 2005. President Akufo-Addos assurance Addressing the event to formally announce a campaign by human rights groups, both locally and internationally, for the alleged perpetrator of those murders, former President Yahya Jammeh, to be brought to justice, Justice Short said the coalition of human rights groups involved in the matter had called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to apprise him of the recent developments. The President, he reported, had said it was a matter that was of importance to him and the entirety of Ghanaians. Justice Short recounted the story of a recent past President of Chad who was convicted for crimes that took place under his leadership; and stressed that Africa would showcase its independence when people who were responsible for crimes, no matter how influential, were subjected to justice administration. The legal basis Providing the legal basis under which ex-President Jammeh could be extradited to stand trial in Ghana, Justice Short said some had raised questions that Jammeh allegedly committed those crimes while he was in The Gambia, and that he was currently in Equatorial Guinea which was outside the jurisdiction of the courts of The Gambia and Ghana. Mr Short indicated that ultimately, if the government decided that it ought to go ahead with the prosecutions, then there were underlying issues for consideration. Per the facts of the case, Justice Short posited that the abductions, killings and unknown whereabouts of some of the persons constituted forced disappearances both under international and Ghanaian laws. The Criminal Offences Amendment Act 2012, he said, incorporated the crime of enforced disappearance and Section 12 of the amended act criminalised enforced disappearance. With that situation in Ghana, he questioned the applicability of the law to persons outside the borders of the countrys courts as was the case of Mr Jammeh whose actions took place outside of Ghanas jurisdiction, in The Gambia, and was currently in Equatorial Guinea on political asylum. He, however, added that Ghana, being a signatory to international conventions and treaties on such crimes, which enjoined member states to hold those involved in those crimes accountable, the countrys courts were jurisdictionally capable of prosecuting those crimes regardless of where they took place. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A property in Perry County that once was home to a trucking company that once employed around 90 people, will soon see new life that is expected to give the property a boost over the next several years. The property at 300 W. Juniata Parkway in Greenwood Township was once the long-time home of the H. F. Campbell & Son Inc. trucking company which also operated as Camel Express. Pictured is the former home of H.F. Campbell & Son Inc. The property is still owned by members of the Campbell family. An Ohio company will soon lease the property for its new terminal. Harry F. "Pop" Campbell founded the H. F. Campbell & Son Inc. trucking company with his son Benjamin Campbell at the Keystone Hotel back in 1933. And for decades the trucking company operated out of the location near Millerstown. The company started off hauling coal and lumber, and for years hauled refrigerated food and produce especially lots of bananas in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and other states. H.F. Campbell & Sons hauled products for companies like Del Monte Foods, the Dole Food Company and Chiquita. Five generations of the Campbell family worked in the business including Benjamin's son, Frank Campbell. In 2014, York County-based S&H Express purchased the trucking operation (the company had 37 trucks and eight independent contractors at the time), but not the property, at first keeping the H.F. Campbell division in Perry County. But in 2015, S&H Express relocated the division to York County. The property which has six buildings that sit on more than five acres has had a number of tenants but, Campbell who still owns the property along with his son, Matthew Campbell and two of his nephews, says attracting a tenant for the entire property has not been possible. "We could never find anyone big enough to rent the whole property," he said. And so far they have not but, if all goes as planned it may happen within a few years. And that's where a fourth-generation Ohio trucking company that the Campbell family has known and worked with for years comes in. The Nagle Companies will roll into Perry County officially on June 1 as they begin to lease space at the former home of H.F. Campbell & Son. "We've had a long standing relationship with the Campbell family," Edwin Nagle III, president and CEO of the Nagle Companies in Walbridge, Ohio said. Edwin Nagle III And Nagle sees the Millerstown area as the perfect location to open a terminal. "The area between Harrisburg, Allentown and Philadelphia is really the heartbeat of the region," Nagle said. "We see Millerstown as just a perfect location." Nagle Companies' expansion into Perry County won't be at full speed but, rather they will hit the brakes a few times as they build up the business over the next few years. Nagle hopes to hire 15 drivers within the first year and 50 within three to four years. That would almost double the company's 55 drivers. Nagle says some of his drivers already live in Pennsylvania, and he hopes to hire drivers in Perry County and in the surrounding counties. And his first hire for the location is someone very familiar with not only the area but, the property. Frank Campbell's son, Matthew Campbell, who worked for H.F. Campbell & Son, will lead the local operation. The operation will start out very small and will include a couple of offices, parking and a lounge area. But, Nagle hopes to someday lease the entire property or purchase it altogether. Nagle Companies which is based near Toledo, Ohio, provides refrigerated delivery services not only in Ohio but, in other areas of the East Coast including the New England area. They haul everything from produce to meat and frozen products to dairy products including ice cream. The company was founded in 1984. The Nagle and Campbell families formally announced the plans in Perry County on Friday. --Business Buzz If you see a credit on your electric, gas or water bill beginning in July, it's not a mistake. That's right, you could end up getting some money back on your upcoming bills. However, how much you will receive is unclear. This week, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission issued an order requiring a "negative surcharge" or monthly credit on customer bills for 17 electric, natural gas, and water and wastewater utilities. The order was approved by a 5-0 vote and is subject to appeal. The refunds to customers combined are around $324 million and are the result of the decrease in federal corporate tax rates and other tax changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Since the companies' current rates were approved prior to the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the PUC says it is passing on those savings to consumers. "As economic regulators, it is the commission's responsibility to ensure that utility rates are just and reasonable. Further, it is necessary for utility rates to reflect relevant tax expenses," Chairman Gladys M Brown said in a statement at the PUC's meeting on Thursday. The PUC says this order follows an extensive investigation into the effects of federal tax reform on the rates charged by Commission-regulated utilities - which, among other things, reflect annual taxes owed both to the federal and state governments. Utility bills are broken down into two charges and Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary for the PUC, noted that consumers will see the decrease from the distribution charges. How much consumers will see varies based on usage as well as the company's current rates. The charges will decrease from .56 percent to 8.55 percent depending on the company. Consumers will continue to see the credit on their bill until the company comes back to the PUC to ask for a change in rates which in some cases could be multiple years, according to Hagen-Frederiksen. The 17 public utilities required to provide this credit to consumers include the following: PPL Electric Utilities Corporation, Metropolitan Edison Company, UGI Central Penn Gas Inc., UGI Penn Natural Gas Inc., UGI Utilities, Inc., Gas Division, Pennsylvania-American Water Company Pennsylvania-American Water Company - Wastewater, Citizens' Electric Company of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Electric Company, Pennsylvania Power Company, Pike County Light & Power Company, Wellsboro Electric Company, West Penn Power Company, PECO Energy Company (Gas Division), National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation, Peoples Gas Company LLC, Peoples Natural Gas Company LLC - Equitable Division The monthly credits begin on July 1. It's not exactly clear at this point how much customers will receive. Here is the percentage the charges will decrease for some companies as ordered by the PUC: Metropolitan Edison Co. -8.55 PPL Electric Utilities Corp. -0.56 UGI Utilities Inc. - Electric -1.04 UGI Utilities Inc. - Gas Division -5.78 Pennsylvania American Water Co. -6.79 Suez Water Pennsylvania Inc. -3.72 York Water Company -2.05 Spokespeople for Metropolitan Edison Company and UGI Utilities said the companies are reviewing the orders. PPL Electric Utilities Corporation said in a statement that it is reviewing the order and noted that this is a complex issue. Pennsylvania American Water said in a statement that it is reviewing the order and that the process of how the negative surcharge will be applied to customers' bills and how much is to be determined. The PUC has held off this requirement for seven companies whose rates are currently in front of the PUC or are expected to file by Aug. 1. In those situations, the PUC has asked the companies to address the impact of any tax savings as part of the overall rate design for each utility. Those companies include UGI Utilities Inc. (Electric), Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania Inc., Duquesne Light Company, PECO Energy Company (Electric), York Water Company, Suez Water Pennsylvania Inc. and Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. Columbia Water Company was directed to file a tariff or tariff supplement within 10 days, replacing their current rates, which were declared to be "temporary" by the PUC in March 2018. The rates for Peoples Natural Gas Company LLC and Newtown Artesian Water Company will continue. Trade Talk showcases the businesses in the midstate and the people who make them work. From companies who make iconic products to the small family businesses and everyone in between, we have a little bit of everything in the midstate. Midstate companies keep the economy moving, people working and communities thriving throughout the midstate. You can find business news from around the midstate at www.pennlive.com/business. All photos were provided unless otherwise noted. NEW HIRES Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle has added two members to its faculty: Matthew Donnell and Alana Neihoff. Donnell and Neihoff join will join the organization on Sept 1. Donnell also joins CPYB as a summer faculty member on June 23. Donnell joins Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet as a faculty member to teach intermediate and advanced dancers. He danced soloist and principal roles with the Kansas City Ballet for 10 years before joining the University of North Carolina as the director of the Preparatory Dance Program. Alana Neihoff, a former Radio City Rockette and native of Aurora, Colorado, joins the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet faculty and specializes in ballet training for beginner and intermediate dancers. Neihoff performed as a Radio City Rockette for 11 years. Since the Fall of 2014, Neihoff has been with University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she was the associate director of the Preparatory Dance Program. Chuck Domer and Andrew O'Gorman have joined River Wealth Advisors in Susquehanna Township. Domer will serve as chief compliance officer and director of operations. He previously served in the United Marine Corp. O'Gorman will serve as portfolio administrator with the firm. Lorraine Acuna has joined F&M Trust as senior credit analyst. Her experience includes more than 14 years in the financial services industry and she was most recently employed by Capital Bank in Knoxville, Tenn. as a commercial portfolio manager. Acuna will be based in the F&M Trust Community Office located at 214A Westminster Drive in South Middleton Township. Kayla Kressler of Cornwall Township has joined the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance as director of prevention programs. Kressler, is a former clinical supervisor and program site director at Blueprints for Addiction Recovery, a community-based outpatient dual-diagnosis treatment program in York County. Kressler has more than a decade of experience in the field of addiction treatment. She is an experiential therapist and is pursuing licensure to become a licensed professional counselor. Kressler has worked in transitional housing, intensive case management with women and children, the forensic treatment setting in county jail systems, inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, and within the community in direct-care clinical, education, and supervisory roles. PFSA provides education, community awareness, and mandated reporter training programs. Kristin Levering of Lititz was named administrator of Elderwood Senior Living at Lancaster, at 120 Rider Ave. in Lancaster. Levering's appointment is followed by nearly seven years as director of admissions and marketing. She will lead the 76 bed personal care home. Prior to her time at Elderwood, Levering worked as the practice manager for Lititz Family Medicine, LG Health Express Quick Care. She held several similar positions in the health care field in parts of Delaware and Maryland. Citadel Cadet Donovan Pflieger of Lebanon has secured a summer internship with Clark Associates. Pflieger is a junior majoring in business administration. The internship, which will take place in Lancaster County and will provide experience in logistics and supply chain. Clark Associates markets and distributes food service equipment and supplies through subsidiaries including Clark Food Services Equipment, The Restaurant Store, The Webstaurant Store and Calumet Enterprises. APPOINTMENTS The American Cancer Society announced the appointment of 11 volunteers to the newly created 2018 American Cancer Society Area Board of Directors in Greater Pittsburgh. The Greater Pittsburgh area includes the markets of Altoona, Erie, Harrisburg, Hershey, State College, and Pittsburgh. Dr. Niraj Gusani, an associate professor of surgery at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center has been appointed to the board. Alaina Koltash of Mechanicsburg, assistant counsel for the Governor's Office of General Counsel, Pennsylvania Department of Education, was elected chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Koltash is concluding a one-year term as PBA YLD incoming chair. She was the 2016-17 treasurer of the PBAYLD. Terry D. Weiler, an attorney with Huckabee, Weiler & Levengood PC in Berks County was elected treasurer of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. MOUNT OLIVE, N.J. -- A school bus taking children on a field trip to a New Jersey historic site collided with a dump truck Thursday, ripping the bus apart, knocking it on its side and killing multiple people, officials said. The front end of the school bus appeared to be ripped off as it sat on the median of Interstate 80 in Mount Olive. It was also sheared off its undercarriage and a piece of the front end of the bus with the steering wheel visible was lying on top of the guardrail separating the highway from the median. The Morris County prosecutor's office said that there were multiple fatalities in the crash, but it declined to say how many or reveal the victims' identities before their families are notified. A dump truck sits near the scene after a collision with a school bus in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. A red dump truck with a mangled front end was parked along the highway nearby, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of New York. The truck was registered to Mendez Trucking, of Belleville, and had "In God We Trust" emblazoned on the back of it. "It's a horrific scene," Mount Olive Mayor Rob Greenbaum told The Record. Police did not immediately comment on the cause of the crash. State police said that an unknown number of children were on the bus, but they didn't know how serious the injuries are. Hackettstown Police Sgt. Darren Tynan told The Record that multiple people were taken to a hospital. At least two canine units were searching the woods along the roadside Thursday afternoon, but it wasn't clear why. "Our hearts are broken by today's tragedy," Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a tweet. Paramus Public Schools said that the bus was taking students from East Brook Middle School to Waterloo Village, which is about five miles from the crash scene. Students on two other buses on the field trip returned to the school about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the crash site and were reunited with their parents, said Paramus police Commissioner Holly Tedesco. Zainab Qureshi, 11, told The Record she was on one of the two buses not involved in the crash. She said those two buses made it to Waterloo Village, but they were told by teachers and chaperones about a half hour later that they had to return to school because of bad weather. She said students didn't find out about the accident until they arrived back at school. This image taken from WABC-TV video shows an overturned school bus after it collided with a dump truck, injuring multiple people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2018. Thuy Nguyen, a nurse from Paramus was leaving the school with her eighth-grade son Victor Nguyen who was back at the school taking a standardized test and not in the bus. She said she rushed to the school after hearing the news. "My heart just dropped, You hear the name of the school," she said before trailing off. Seventh-grader Alejandro Garcia told The Record that students were told to return to homeroom on Thursday morning. As his classmates started searching online to see what had happened, they realized there had been an accident. "People who I'm close friends with, who have brothers and sisters on that bus, started crying, and everybody just started sympathizing," Garcia said. "It was just a time of need for everyone." Mendez Trucking has about 40 drivers and trucks, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. A message left with the company wasn't immediately returned. Its trucks have been in seven crashes in the last two years, none of them fatal, according to FMCSA. Mendez was fined $22,850 in 2016 for violating regulations on inspections, repairs and maintenance and post-crash drug and alcohol testing, according to the FMCSA. Mendez trucks have racked up more than 130 violations in the last two years, according to FMCSA, including 27 for excessive weight, 17 for leaking, spilling or falling cargo and four speeding violations -- three of them this year. Mendez has a higher than average vehicle out-of-service rate, which means inspections found violations which had to be corrected before the vehicle could be returned to service. Mendez's rate was 37.9 percent, according to FMCSA. The national average is 20.7. "From what I saw, the red truck was destroyed, but the bus appeared worse," Manuel Absalon, a tourist from Mexico driving by the crash site, told WNBC-TV. "It looked like it was broken in half." Victims of the crash were taken to Morristown Medical Center, St. Joseph's Health, St. Clare's Dover Hospital and St. Clare's Denville Hospital. Information on their exact condition wasn't released. Waterloo Village is a historic site depicting a Lenape Indian community and once-thriving port along the Morris Canal in northwestern New Jersey. It features several historic homes, a blacksmith shop, general store and more. It's a popular spot for school trips. ___ Seth Wenig and Michael R. Sisak of the Associated Press wrote the story. Sisak reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Shawn Marsh, in Trenton, Mike Catalini in Paramus, David Porter in Morristown, and Jeff McMillan, Alexandra Villarreal, and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, contributed to this story. WASHINGTON -- Veteran spy Gina Haspel will become the first female director of the CIA after six Democrats joined Republicans in a Senate confirmation vote on Thursday that overrode concerns about her role in the spy agency's harsh interrogation program after 9/11. The 54-45 vote split both parties, and the margin was the closest for a CIA nominee in the nearly seven decades that a nod from the Senate has been required. Haspel, who has spent nearly all of her 33-year CIA career in undercover positions, is the first career operations officer to be confirmed since William Colby in 1973. Haspel, 61, is a native of Kentucky but grew up around the world as the daughter of an Air Force serviceman. She worked in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe and was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year. She worked under former CIA director Mike Pompeo until President Donald Trump moved him to secretary of state. Haspel was backed by many in the CIA rank-and-file and was robustly supported by senior intelligence officials, including six former CIA directors and three former national intelligence directors, who said she earned the chance to take the helm of the nation's premier spy agency. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said Haspel has integrity and both frontline and executive intelligence expertise. "We salute Director Haspel, a trailblazer who today becomes the first woman to lead the CIA," he said. Her opponents argued that it wasn't right to promote someone who supervised a covert detention site in Thailand where terror suspects were waterboarded, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning. They said the U.S. needed to slam closed what was one of the CIA's darkest chapters that tainted America's image with allies abroad. Several senators said Haspel was not forthcoming in answering questions about her role in the torture program or the CIA's decision to destroy video-taped evidence of the sessions. They also had questions about her rejection of the now-banned techniques. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a floor speech that Haspel "offered up almost the classic Washington non-apology." He asked how the Senate could take seriously Haspel's "conversion on torture?" READ MORE: White House official mocks McCain over Haspel opposition: 'It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway' Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the world was watching the confirmation vote, which he called a "referendum on torture." He said the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" the CIA used at black sites, including slamming detainees against walls and confining them in coffin-shaped boxes, amounted to "government-sanctioned torture." Haspel has vowed never to restart such a program and says her "strong moral compass" would prevent her from carrying out any presidential order she found objectionable. That was enough to coax some senators into the "yes" column. But Leahy said he still questioned her judgment and lamented that she has never publicly condemned torture as "immoral." He wondered aloud what Haspel would do if she's asked to do something that goes against America's core values. "Should we trust that she will have the moral compass to stand up and say 'No?'" he asked. "Based on what we've seen, I do not." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the nomination was not just about Haspel, but the U.S. grappling with its past mistakes. "The bottom line is this: No one has ever been held accountable for the torture program and I do not believe those who were intimately involved in it deserve to lead the agency," Feinstein said before casting her vote against Haspel. Since Trump nominated Haspel, her confirmation has been clouded by debate over the CIA's former interrogation program. A protester in the Senate visitor gallery briefly disrupted speeches ahead of the vote with shouts against the CIA. Three Republicans opposed her: Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is battling cancer and did not vote; Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky; and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona. Six Democrats, however, were heartened by her pledge to never restart harsh interrogation programs, even if Trump requested. They said they voted for Haspel because they thought her experience was essential in confronting today's threats from U.S. adversaries like Russia, North Korea, China and Iran. Among Democrats supporting Haspel were several up for re-election this fall in states where Trump is popular, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida. Also voting yes were Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking member of the intelligence committee. "This has not been an easy decision," Warner said, adding that he'd met and talked with Haspel many times in the past several weeks. He said he's convinced that Haspel could and would stand up to Trump, who has voiced support for waterboarding and has said "torture works." After the vote, human rights groups quickly issued statements denouncing the confirmation and the now-defunct program. "The Senate has now rewarded that atrocious conduct by promoting someone that reportedly administered it to lead one of the government's most powerful agencies," said Daphne Eviatar at Amnesty International USA. -- Lisa Mascaro and Deb Riechmann of the Associated Press wrote this story. Teaching students is a lot like painting a room. "If you only have so much paint, the larger the area you have to cover, you do the best you can, but it's not getting that strong base," said Dr. Christine Royce, professor of teacher education at Shippensburg University. And a strong base is what young learners need, she said. It's been long argued that students, especially at the elementary school level, will be better learners and will more likely have longer-term success when they are educated in classrooms with a smaller student-to-teacher ratio. "Larger class sizes require teachers to spread themselves out across more students," Royce said. "It reduces individualized attention and reduces a teacher's ability to engage each student every day." The problem is that more teachers costs money. The Harrisburg School District is facing an $8 million budget shortfall, and as it struggles to make ends meet, officials are looking at cutting 31 staff members, which includes 14 teachers, saving roughly $1.4 million. This would result in some classroom sizes growing to 25 to 30 students in first through eighth grades and 30 to 35 in high school, according to district officials. It may be a balancing act between money and teaching, but Harrisburg is already a struggling school district, and many agree with Royce that small classroom sizes are better for students. Niche.com recently analyzed the key statistics among some of the state's top private schools, and a low student-to-teacher ratio was an ongoing theme. Most of these successful schools had ratios of nine students to one teacher. Some were as low as five to one. Pennsylvania's average student-to-teacher ratio is 14.43 students to one teacher, while the nationwide average is one teacher per 15.96 students, according to the National Education Association. Locally, Cumberland Valley High School has a ration of 17 students to one teacher, according to the school's website. Hershey High School has a 14 to one ratio, and Red Lion High School has 16 to one, according to U.S. News and World Report. "Our view has always been that small classroom sizes are better," said David Broderic, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Based on what teachers represented by the association have observed over the years, he said it all comes down to numbers. "It's easier to give personalized instruction to a student when there are only 20 kids in a classroom as opposed to individual attention when there are 35 total kids," he said. "When you have more kids in a classroom, teachers are spreading themselves thinner." Royce said in the younger grade levels, 18 to 20 students would be the ideal upper limit. That number still allows for that individual attention, which isn't so true as the class sizes grow. "Any class size that is more than 30 starts to decrease the ability of the teachers to meet their needs," she said. Beyond individualized attention, behavioral issues and safety concerns increase, as well, as a teacher has to maintain control over a larger number of students. The Center for Public Education says most research shows there is a link between smaller classroom sizes and student success, particularly in the early years of education between kindergarten and third grade. Smaller classes boost academic achievement with the greatest benefits coming from classrooms capped at 18 students, according to the report. Minority and low-income students, which make up much of Harrisburg's student body, show greater gains in small classrooms in those early grades. While small classrooms have their benefits, they can be costly. Brookings.edu says in the U.S., increasing the student-teacher ratio by just one student would save $12 billion in teacher salary costs nationwide. Though there is much literature on the link between classroom size and success, Brookings says only a few of these studies are credible. But those credible studies show classroom-size reductions have significant positive long-term effects on achievement and outcomes. It comes down to a question of what is the most productive use of education dollars. And that's where no one is ever happy with the answer, Royce said. "We know we have limited funds that come in from the tax base, and we know that education funding has been significantly reduced," she said. "But they have to balance where the money goes for the students." Focusing spending in the classroom, even if it means cutting extracurricular activities and sports, will benefit students in the long run, she said. Roshaye Johnson, who is a second-grade teacher at Foose Elementary, said at Monday's school board meeting that classrooms with more students and less assistance are already having an impact. "We're just going to be overwhelmed as teachers," she said. "We already are." That will only get worse with fewer teachers and staff, she said. Cutting the district's staff by 31 people was the most recent recommendation as the school district struggles to form a budget, which must be approved by June. The district also expects to impose a tax increase of 3.6 percent, which is the maximum allowable without voter approval or permission from the state. Rising costs and flat revenue are in part to blame for the financial challenges expected to deplete the district's $30 million fund balance within three years. So are recent reports of the hiring of 37 teachers who were not properly budgeted. The grandmother of 5-year-old Preston Hasselberger, who died Tuesday after falling down the stairs, has issued a statement through her attorneys. Stacy Cianciulli, maternal grandmother of Hasselberger, released the following statement via her attorneys at Cuomo Law Firm in Baltimore to FOX43: "This firm was retained to represent Ms. Stacy Cianciulli in connection with a contested custody matter filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County and styled as Stacy Cianciulli v. Jeridan Harris, et al., Case No.: 03-C-17-000011. The litigation remained pending at the time of Preston's death. In response to numerous press inquiries, I have been asked and authorized to release the following on Ms. Cianciulli's behalf. Stacy Cianciulli is Preston's maternal grandmother and served as his primary caretaker both prior to and following the death of his biological mother, Tiffany Hasselberger. Throughout that time frame, Preston remained domiciled in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was loved and well cared for by Ms. Cianciullo and remained closely bonded with his maternal relatives. In 2017, Ms. Cianciulli initiated a custody action against Preston's biological father, Mr. Jeridan Harris, in order to confirm and formalize her role as Preston's legal caregiver. Prior to this filing, Mr. Harris had not been involved in any aspect of Preston's care or upbringing. In late February of 2018, Mr. Harris removed Preston from Ms. Cianciulli's care without her consent. The change was abrupt and not otherwise approved by the court. Mr. Harris had provided several Baltimore addressed to the court in the custody case - there was nothing, however, filed to confirm his apparent change in residency to York County, Pa. Notably, Mr. Harris' shelter was the subject of an active home study by the Court's Office of Family Services. An interim consent order had been entered pending the outcome of the investigation. Ms. Cianciulli remains devastated over the tragic circumstances underlying Preston's death. She is being comforted and supported by family and friends and has asked that I express her sincere thanks to the York Area Regional Police, EMTs and health providers at York Hospital who attempted to save Preston's life. This is obviously a sensitive matter and, in light of the ongoing nature of this investigation, Ms. Cianciulli is asking for privacy at this time." York Area Regional Police said they were called at 5:12 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a child in cardiac arrest. Officers performed "life saving measures," police said, and an ambulance rushed the boy to the York Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 5:51 p.m. The coroner was called at 6:07 p.m. to the hospital's trauma bay. Police are investigating the circumstances of the death. The initial report from caregivers was that Preston had fallen down the stairs in his York Township townhome in the 200 block of Dade Court in the Dallastown area. York County Coroner Pam Gay announced Wednesday night that her office determined the death of Preston Hasselberger to be from "multiple injuries, suspicious." The manner of death was listed as "pending," meaning that Gay needs more test results and information before she can make the ruling. The head of the Diocese of Harrisburg on Friday signaled that he might have concerns with aspects of the grand jury investigation into six dioceses in Pennsylvania, including his. Bishop Ronald Gainer stressed that the diocese was cooperating with the investigation, however, the diocese is "also concerned about due process rights," he said in a statement released to PennLive. That marks the first time since the 18-month-long state investigation was launched into potential clergy sex abuse of children that any diocese has suggested that it may have concerns about the process. Gainer's statement comes one day after three dioceses issued statements indicating they would not launch any legal challenges to the investigation by the state Office of Attorney General. Generally, challenges to state grand jury investigations are based on constitutional law or matters of due process. For instance, an entity being investigated could challenge an investigation if it felt that the names of individuals should not be published because those individuals were denied due process. A challenge would ostensibly be launched under the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Act. Such filings would be under seal and remain - as has the investigation - secret until otherwise ordered by a court. In his statement, Gainer said: "The Diocese of Harrisburg is, and has been, fully cooperating with the Office of the Attorney General. Each Dioceses is separate and faces a different situation. We continue to consider all of our options in law as we move forward. "The Diocese of Harrisburg wants to be clear that we strongly support the release of the Grand Jury report. However, we are also concerned about due process rights. "It's important that we get this report right." On Wednesday, Bishop Lawrence Perisco of the Diocese of Erie became the first bishop whose diocese is a target of the investigation to announce he would not challenge the findings or stall the publication of the report. Officials in the Diocese of Allentown followed almost immediately; and on Friday officials at the Diocese of Scranton did the same. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office is wrapping up the report of the investigation, which started in 2016 and has looked into allegations of clergy sex abuse and potential cover-up across six Catholic dioceses: Allentown, Harrisburg, Scranton, Erie, Greensburg and Pittsburgh. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown have already been the subject of similar investigations. Sources close to the investigation indicate that release of the report is imminent. Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Thursday applauded the decision taken by the bishops. "The position of Bishop Alfred Schlert of Allentown and Bishop Lawrence Persico of Erie to not mount any legal challenge that would silence the voices of victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is the right decision," Shapiro said in the written statement. Persico's decision comes just a week after Shapiro's office arrested an Erie priest on charges of child sexual abuse. Father David Poulson has been charged with at least three felonies related to the abuse of minors. By Pari Kasotia and R. Brent Alderfer Pennsylvanians embrace America's entrepreneurial spirit, and few know better than Pennsylvanians the potential of a thriving energy sector. Pennsylvania oil and coal powered the country through the industrial revolution. Now, we're ready to harness another major energy opportunity - solar, specifically Community Solar, which offers consumer choice, economic growth, job creation, and improved environmental quality. Community solar is a simple concept. For the 75 percent of Pennsylvanians who can't install solar on their property - regardless of whether it's because they rent their home, have a roof incompatible with solar, find long-term financing unappealing, or any other reason - community solar offers them the same benefits on their utility bill as traditional panel-on-your-roof solar but from an efficient solar farm located nearby in the community. Community solar is a way to deliver the economic benefits of solar to everyone regardless of where they live. It allows families and businesses to lower and stabilize their electricity bills, control and forecast their energy bills, and contribute to climate-safe energy. Beyond bill savings, simply having the option to choose is something most people want. Solar energy holds tremendous opportunities for rural communities in Pennsylvania. Many farms such as Spring Hills Farm in Lackawanna County have installed a 10 kW of ground mount solar that allow the farm owners to offset their energy consumption. Farmers can lease their land to host community solar projects. Solar farms are now being constructed to enhance soil quality over the life of the solar farm and return it to farming at the end of its useful life. Farmers across the nation are pairing compatible uses with solar production--such as bee-friendly pollinator plants--preserving farmland and contributing to farm economy as well as producing clean energy. So, instead of gravel, pavement, or turf grass, farmers are providing ground cover beneath the solar PV arrays with pollinator plants. Community solar is not restricted to farmland. All communities can benefit. Solar can be sited on brown-fields, capped landfills, parking lots, and warehouse rooftops to optimize solar production for any community. With thousands of local solar jobs, solar is a rising star in Pennsylvania. In 2017, solar jobs grew 20 times faster than the overall state economy. Community solar projects result in bigger tax revenues, increased job opportunities, more consumer choices, and a cleaner environment. As economic development professionals look for innovative solutions to spur local growth, allowing community solar investment is a win-win. Pennsylvania businesses such as Crayola, IKEA, Johnson & Johnson, and many others are already recognizing the triple line benefits that solar offers. The Commonwealth is ready for community solar. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is currently exploring community solar potential in its Finding Pennsylvania Solar Future project. A group of clean energy advocates are also working to enable community solar. And Pennsylvania is not starting from scratch. Pennsylvania has 361 MW of solar power, enough to power more than 40,000 homes, featuring projects that span agricultural, university, and urban communities alike. Pennsylvania-based Community Energy Solar developed the 5 MW Keystone Solar Project in agricultural Lancaster County, the 2 MW Elizabethtown Solar on Elizabethtown College's campus, and the rooftop Temple Solar Project, located in urban North Philadelphia. Community solar projects like these can make solar power directly available to customers in their respective communities, and at the same time create local jobs and strengthen local economies. That's why we're calling for lawmakers in Harrisburg to unlock energy choices through community solar. Commonsense legislation to enable community solar will give more Pennsylvania families - rural, urban, and in-between - that energy freedom. We are ready for the freedom to choose solar energy. On behalf of our members in Pennsylvania, Vote Solar will be working in Harrisburg to make it a reality. We invite you to join us. Pari Kasotia is the Mid-Atlantic Director for Vote Solar working to promote solar friendly policies in Pennsylvania. R. Brent Alderfer is the CEO of Community Energy Solar, LLC based in Radnor, Pa. By William Peduto, Rich Fitzgerald and Jim Kenney On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is expected to give second consideration to a measure that should be of concern to every municipality in the Commonwealth -- particularly cities and towns that try to find solutions to their own challenges, without seeking help from Harrisburg. Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto (PennLive file) Legislation (HB2241) sponsored by Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny, seeks to bar local communities across Pennsylvania from implementing local fees or taxes on the distribution of food and beverages. Specifically, the bill would kill the Philadelphia Beverage Tax -- a program that was enacted to fund free, quality preschool education for children; expand community schools in high-needs neighborhoods; and a capital improvement program for the City's parks, recreation centers, and libraries. The needs of the residents of Philadelphia and Allegheny County may not always be aligned: neither Allegheny County nor the City of Pittsburgh are seeking a beverage tax, for instance. But all three operate under Home Rule, a key principle of which is local control and the independence to make important decisions that affect citizens right where they live. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald (PennLive file) This legislation is an unprecedented attack on the authority of local governments, and its passage would cast aside Pennsylvania's the long history of vesting decision-making authority in local governments. There is no small irony in this effort, because for decades, the General Assembly has empowered local governments to elect leaders, pass legislation, and make important decisions that respond to the needs of their constituents through Home Rule. The irony is greater when you consider that the Commonwealth's own financial challenges make local solutions all the more crucial. Preemption by the General Assembly should chill all legislators who espouse support for limited state government. We are not alone in our opposition to efforts to preempt the decision-making authority of local governments, nor is this a party-line issue. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (PennLive file) Susquehanna Polling and Research has found that 71 percent of likely voters believe that government closest to the people governs best, including 74 percent of Republicans and 77 percent of independent voters. This same firm found that 64 percent of likely voters oppose the General Assembly passing legislation like this which takes specific authority away from local government. Consider as well the dozens of smaller municipalities that could -- at a time of need or even crisis -- seek to enact innovative solutions to fund local initiatives. This bill would tie the hands of local officials who were elected by their constituents to solve local problems. It could stop cities and towns in Pennsylvania from charting their own future. We urge the Legislature to turn away from this ill-conceived effort. Removing the ability of local governments to be responsive to their residents is wrong, and is an action that is not supported by the citizens of the Commonwealth. Bill Peduto is the mayor of the city of Pittsburgh. Rich Fitzgerald is the elected County Executive of Allegheny County. Jim Kenney is the mayor of Philadelphia. All three are Democrats. Four grams of marijuana purchased this week from Okanagan Cannaboid Therapy. The shop cut a deal with the city last year that required it to stop selling the drug. Edwin Montoya, left, and Abe Pedro, load a solar panel removed from the Montoya family's property onto a truck, Friday, May 18, 2018, near Pahoa, Hawaii. Montoya family owns a farm near Pohoiki Road and lava crossed the road near his property, Friday, blocking off access. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2018 file grab taken from CCTV video provided by ITN, former spy Sergei Skripal shops at a store in Salisbury, England. A UK hospital has announced on Friday, May 18, 2018 that ex-spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged, more than 2 months after poisoning with nerve agent. (ITN via AP, file) This undated selfie taken from Facebook shows Ildiko Krajnyak. Prosecutors say federal agents found two improvised explosive devices while searching a home owned by the former boyfriend of Krajnyak, who was killed in an explosion at a Southern California office building. Stephen Beal was charged Thursday, May 17, 2018, with possessing an unregistered destructive device and was awaiting a court appearance in federal court. Beal's son, Nathan Beal, told The Associated Press that his father had been in a relationship with Krajnyak and that they had recently broken up. (Ildiko Krajnyk/Facebook via AP) FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks to participants of the annual March for Life event, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. The Trump administration will resurrect a Reagan-era rule that would ban federally-funded family planning clinics from discussing abortion with women, or sharing space with abortion providers, a senior White House official said Thursday, May 17, 2018. The Department of Health and Human Services will be announcing its proposal Friday, the official said on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to confirm the plans before the announcement. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) The newly married Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, leave Windsor Castle in a convertible car after their wedding in Windsor, England, to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales, Saturday, May 19, 2018. (Steve Parsons/PA via AP) Oil prices firm Friday on OPEC cuts, strong demand and looming Iran sanctions By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 Oil prices held firm on Friday on strong demand, ongoing supply cuts led by producer cartel OPEC and looming U.S. sanctions against major crude exporter Iran. But markets remained below multi-year highs from the previous day as surging output from the United States is expected to offset at least some of the shortfalls. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $79.55 per barrel at 0651 GMT, up 25 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. Brent broke through $80 for the first time since November 2014 on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $71.65 a barrel, up 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last settlement. Crude prices have received broad support from voluntary supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) aimed at tightening the market. Global inventories are approaching long-run averages, suggesting that the coordinated OPEC/non-OPEC supply cuts have been successful, said Jack Allardyce, oil and gas research analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. Beyond OPEC's cuts, strong demand as well as falling output from Venezuela and a U.S. announcement earlier this month to renew sanctions against OPEC-member Iran helped push up Brent by 20 percent since the start of the year. U.S. investment bank Jefferies said sanctions against Iran could remove more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from the market. Britain's Barclays bank said on Friday that it expected average prices of $70 per barrel Brent for this year and of $65 a barrel for 2019, up from estimates of $63 and $60 per barrel previously. With crude prices at levels not seen since late 2014, Allardyce warned the high fuel costs could start crimping consumption. At $80 per barrel, Asia's thirst for oil costs the region a whopping $1 trillion a year, more than twice what it was in 2015/2016, the two years prior to the OPEC-cuts which started in 2017. Higher oil prices due to tighter physical markets and geopolitical tensions could weigh significantly on the macro outlook for emerging market Asia countries, Barclays said. LONGER-TERM The crude forward curve <0#LCO:> is in firm backwardation, a structure that suggests a tight market as prices for immediate delivery are higher than those for later dispatch. Front-month Brent prices are now almost $2.60 per barrel more expensive than those for delivery in December. Longer-dated (crude) futures ... remain in backwardation, driven by confidence in indefatigable U.S. shale producers, U.S. firm Height Securities said in a note, although it warned that strong demand as well as looming disruptions due to renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran and falling output in Venezuela could soon start lifting the crude forward curve too. U.S. crude oil production C-OUT-T-EIA has soared by more than a quarter in the last two years, to a record 10.72 million bpd. As a result of its surging production, U.S. crude is increasingly appearing on global markets as exports. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Trinidad & Tobago Energy Minister shares plans to revamp extractive sector By TT Guardian PORT SPAIN Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 Over the last few months, the Government has been making efforts to have open and frank discussions regarding T&T's extractive sector through initiatives such the Natural Gas Master Plan and Spotlight on Energy Forum. Minister of Energy, Franklin Khan, at the launch of the Extractive Industries Initiative (TTEITI) steering committee's fifth T&T EITI Report for fiscal year 2016, reiterated the Government's support of the EITI's focus on transparency and accountability in the country's extractive sector. Minister Khan, during his feature address at the launch gave an overview of the current state of country's extractive sector and shared some of the Government's plans to combat some of the issues currently impacting the sector. Below is an excerpt of the address given by the Energy Minister at the launch ceremony of the T&T EITI Report 2016, on Friday, May 11, 2018: The EITI's key words are extractive and transparency as the name suggests focuses on transparency and accountability in how a country manages its oil, gas or mineral resources. As a government, we subscribe to the principles of transparency and accountability and therefore the EITI has our full support. Recent events in the form of the Gas Master Plan and the Spotlight on Energy are testimony to our commitment to transparency and accountable. We also laid the Gas Master Plan in Parliament and for the first time citizens had access to that level of detail into our energy sector policy. Through the Spotlight on Energy Conference, we highlighted the country's energy sector challenges and gave a lucid overview of how this Government plans to deal with these setbacks decisively. It is the first time in the history of T&T that such a fundamental issue for the sector was discussed with the people. The energy sector has been a sector always in secrecy. The EITI process is relatively straightforward, but its importance cannot be understated. For a particular year, companies submit data on their tax payments. The Government submits information on its tax receipts, while an independent auditor verifies the information, reconciles the differences and explains the reason for the differences between the figures submitted by both government and companies. Companies, government agencies and ministries must provide supporting data to the independent auditor to support their claims as well, whether actual receipts or audited financial statements. Over seven years of EITI implementation, the difference between government and companies' revenue have been reconciled and the independent administrator/auditor has confirmed that all revenue has been accounted for. This independent verification is very important, as it provides an impartial account of the payments made by companies and revenue received by the Government. The records will show that there has been full reconciliation of the payments made by companies with Government's receipts from the extractive industries from the inception of this report. FINDINGS This latest EITI Report confirms the decline in government revenue from the energy sector, a downward trend that has impacted us all. For 2016, the report shows that we received total receipts of $8.8Bn, compare this to the $28.6Bn for 2014. This is a 70 per cent decline. This is not only due to lower prices and lower production but also very generous tax concessions. In 2014, the then government agreed to the grant of accelerated allowances which entitled companies to write off development costs against revenue in three years: 50 per cent in year 1; 30 per cent in year 2, and 20 per cent in year 3, as compared to a period of five years. Companies were also allowed to write off 100 per cent of exploration costs in the year incurred. The combination of these allowances and the loss relief of 100 per cent of losses, contributed to the substantial reduction in government's take from the sector. As a consequence, the government is in discussions with two of the major gas producersbpTT and Shell to ensure a more equitable sharing of revenue earned from the monetisation of our hydrocarbon resources is attained. The State has a sovereign right to an equitable share of the economic rents derived from its wasting resources. This Government intends to ensure that this right is respected and honoured. For 2016, these totals were reconciled against the payments disclosed by 43 reporting companies. There were minor differences amounting to $26 million, which were due to foreign exchange differences; timing differences and insurance premium tax payments on foreign policies paid by insurance brokers. For the third year running, the NGC is the largest taxpayer contributing $5.7 billion to government revenue, followed by EOG Resources with payments of $1.3 billion and bpTT with payments of $480 million. This statistic is most revealing. The obvious question is how can EOG with a production of 400 to 450 Mmcf/d contribute $1.3 billion in taxes and other receipts to government whereas bpTT with five times the production in the amount of 2.2 Bcf per day contributed a mere $480 million or one-third of EOG's contribution. In the extractive industry, there cannot be taxation based on profits only. This wide disparity in revenue has indicated, among other matters, a lack of consistency in royalty regime and is the justification for the introduction of 12.5 per cent royalty rate across the board for gas. The positive impact on revenue has already been realised as royalty receipts from gas for first quarter calendar 2018 amounted to $534 million, which was substantially higher than quarterly payments in the previous year. This gives credence to the conclusion drawn by Poten and Partners in the Gas Master Plan Report that T&T was systematically being denied of its revenue entitlements. They estimated that the country lost up to US$6 billion annually from transfer pricing practices for the period 2010 to 2014 and continues to lose US$1.5 billion annually. They deduced that the revenue leakage was sustained primarily through the LNG business. In the Spotlight of Energy Conference held by the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) in March 2018, the revenue challenges faced by the Government and the findings of Poten and Partners were brought to the attention of citizens of T&T. In the face of such disclosure, it was disappointing that agencies charged with overseeing the public's interest such as EITI did not see it fit to interrogate the matter and to assume a position on Poten's assertions. It is my expectation that as the EITI develops it would take a more active position on such matters. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Trinidad & Tobago is not afraid of BP, Shell or BHP - Minister Khan By Julien Neaves PORT SPAIN Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 ENERGY Minister Franklin Khan said this country is not afraid of international energy companies. He said the Government had laid bare the issue of transfer pricing and, at current prices, TT was estimated to be haemorrhaging US $1.5 billion per year. We laid it out bare because we eh fraid nobody you know. We seek the interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. I will say here, without fear of contradiction, we not fraid of no BP, no Shell, no BHP (Billiton) you know. We will be fair, we will be respectable because they are investors. He was contributing to debate on Tuesday night on the Variation of Appropriation bill in the Senate. Khan said the country was hurting the worst with transfer pricing and the real value of cargo was not being returned. He said TT only taxed at the well head so energy companies could be getting $8 per MMBTU in Japan or in South Korea and declaring $1.80 back to the government. This is obscene and this government would not sit idly by and allow this to happen. Khan stressed the Government was not in any war with the energy companies as is shown by their investment profile in this country. He also spoke about the Dragon gas field deal with Venezuela, to develop the cross-border fields of Loran-Manatee and Manikin-Cocuina. Let me just make the point that this is a commercial deal between the government of Venezuela and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. It has absolutely nothing to do with the politics of Venezuela. It matters not to us who holds the rein of power in Venezuela. The deal is supposed to stand commercial scrutiny so that any administration installed in Venezuela could see the veracity of a deal like this. So we feel confident when the deal is signed that within a month it will stand the test of any administration who holds power and authority in Venezuela. He also spoke about Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley's meetings with the heads of BP and Shell in London last month. He said Rowley informed the heads that as private and multinational companies, they have a right of a fair return on investment. But as a sovereign state and owners of resources, this country has a sovereign right to extract fair economic rent for the resources. He said Rowley also pointed out that the two things were not mutually exclusive and could be worked out. And despite all the naysayers and all the prophets of doom, both BP and Shell had agreed. Khan reported, from the London meetings the parties would appoint empowered teams to proceed post-haste with these negotiations. He said the Government's team, headed by him, and included Ministry in the Ministry of Legal Affairs Stuart Young, National Gas Company president Mark Loquan, former finance minister Wendell Mottley, attorney Richard Beckles, energy advisers Richard Jeremie and Leroy Mayers and representatives from the law firm of White and Case. Khan said for far too long this country has signed agreements without international advice and we are not going to that any more. He said the Opposition was calling for property tax to be abandoned with increased oil revenue and he described this view as symptomatic of the United National Congress. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Rosneft Vietnam BV fears Beijing backlash over South China Sea drilling By James Pearson HANOI Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of Russian state oil firm Rosneft, is concerned that its recent drilling in an area of the South China Sea that is claimed by China could upset Beijing, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Wednesday. Rosneft said on Tuesday its Vietnamese unit had started drilling at the LD-3P well, part of the Lan Do Red Orchid offshore gas field in Block 06.1, 370 kms (230 miles) southeast of Vietnam. The block is within the area outlined by China's nine-dash line, according to energy consultancy and research firm Wood Mackenzie. China's U-shaped nine-dash line marks a vast expanses of the South China Sea that it claims, including large swathes of Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone. Maps of the area indicate the block is around 85 kms (53 miles) inside the contested area. A series of dashes, the line is not continuous making China's claims often ambiguous. In recent years, though, China has increasingly patrolled and enforced the area, claiming historic rights to the resources and features within it. In March, Vietnam halted an oil drilling project in the nearby Red Emperor block following pressure from China, sources told Reuters. That block is licensed to Spanish energy firm Repsol , which has asked Vietnam to pay compensation over the issue. The Vietnamese foreign ministry did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment. China's foreign ministry did not respond to a faxed request for comment late on Wednesday. Russia's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Rosneft declined to comment. Fearing repercussions and pressure from China, Rosneft Vietnam had wanted to begin drilling with as little attention as possible, despite the statement by its parent company on Tuesday, the sources said. PETROVIETNAM WARNED OVER PRODUCTION The drilling in the Red Orchid gas field within the block will be undertaken using the Hakuryu-5 equipment made by Japanese company Japan Drilling Co., Ltd, Rosneft said in that statement. The Hakuryu-5 arrived in the disputed area on May 6, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon ship tracking data and was still recorded as being inside the block late on Wednesday. The drilling is significant for Vietnam, which has been struggling to maintain its crude oil and gas output amid already declining production from its key fields and the continuing pressure from China in the disputed waters. In April, Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam said that maritime tensions with China will hurt its offshore exploration and production activities this year. Hanoi and Beijing have long been embroiled in disputes over the maritime boundary, which is a politically sensitive issue in Vietnam. Police in the central province of Khanh Hoa have launched an investigation into a group of Chinese tourists who were pictured in a local airport wearing T-shirts printed with a map showing the nine-dash line, state media reported on Wednesday. Airport authorities asked the tourists, who arrived at Cam Ranh Airport on Sunday, to take off their T-shirts after going through customs, the Van Hoa (Culture) newspaper reported. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Macron says EU firms will make their own call on Iran business By Gabriela Baczynska SOFIA Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday Europe would try to protect its companies doing business with Iran from U.S. sanctions, reimposed over Tehran's nuclear programme, but said giants like Total would make their own choices. Macron's spoke as the world's largest container shipping firm, A.P. Moller-Maersk, followed the French oil major in saying it would quit Iran, denting EU efforts to save the nuclear accord with Tehran and protect European companies doing business with the Islamic Republic. International companies with interests in many countries make their own choices according to their own interests. They should continue to have this freedom, he said on arriving for a second day of EU leaders' talks in the Bulgarian capital. But what is important is that companies, and especially medium-sized companies which are perhaps less exposed to other markets, American or others, can make this choice freely. The EU wants to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, which offers the Islamic Republic relief from economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme and Europe sees as an important element of international security. However, EU officials say there is no easy way to protect EU firms from U.S. sanctions and that it will take time for the bloc to devise what will likely be a complex mix of national and EU-level measures. Ignoring European support for the nuclear pact, U.S. President Donald Trump branded the agreement as the worst deal ever and announced on May 8 the United States was pulling out. SHIPPING FIRM TO WEIGH ANCHOR IN IRAN Total on Wednesday said it might quit a multi-billion-dollar gas project unless it secured a waiver from U.S. sanctions. Tehran had repeatedly hailed the project as a symbol of the nuclear accord's success. CEO Soren Skou told Reuters on Thursday that A.P. Moller-Maersk was following suit. With the sanctions the Americans are to impose, you can't do business in Iran if you also have business in the U.S., and we have that on a large scale, Skou told Reuters in an interview following the firm's first-quarter report. I don't know the exact timing details, but I am certain that we're also going to shut down (in Iran), Skou said. Finnish mining technology company Outotec said U.S. sanctions would slow down and complicate its ties with Iran but it was too early to say if it would leave. Macron, voicing understanding for big companies anxious to protect their U.S. sales, said France backed proposals by the European Commission to protect and compensate European companies that might be hit by U.S. sanctions for trading with Iran. They are all but certain to fall short of the type of firm guarantees that the Iranian authorities have been seeking. President Hassan Rouhani has said Iran would remain committed to the deal, which China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany also signed, provided those powers ensured Iran was protected from sanctions. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Mexico making little progress on landmark energy reforms due to regulatory delays By David Alire Garcia MEXICO CITY Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 Oil firms that have won drilling rights during Mexico's landmark energy reforms have made little progress on developing about two-thirds of the projects because of the nation's tangled regulatory regime, according to company executives and government data. Mexico has auctioned off more than 100 contracts to foreign and local companies since President Enrique Pena Nieto started opening the nation's oil fields to foreign investment in 2013. A new oil regulatory framework, much of it adapted from existing rules, has kept most of that oil in the ground, the data show. That's delaying potential benefits to Mexico and could make the reforms that much easier to unwind if voters elect an anti-reform candidate for president when Pena Nieto leaves office at the end of November. Securing approvals is a cumbersome and arduous process resulting in a significant choke point for drilling wells, said Craig Steinke, chief executive of Renaissance Oil Corp, which has five projects in Mexico, three of them stalled in permitting. It takes three days to get needed drilling permits for a well in Alberta, Canada, compared to the more than a year in Mexico, Steinke said. Through the life of a project, oil firms are required to submit more than 250 separate documents to about a dozen government agencies overseeing offshore and onshore developments. Before Mexico's energy reforms, state-owned oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos, known as Pemex, was the sole operator and largely regulated itself. The opening of development rights to private firms ushered in a new regulator, known as ASEA, operating under a presidential appointee with sweeping powers - but also a legacy of bureaucratic constraints. ASEA, Mexico's safety, energy and environment regulator, must decide on about 100 permits for each project, according to Marco Cota, a former head of exploration and production for the energy ministry who now advises oil companies on regulatory compliance. Many of the agency's industrial safety regulations were inherited from the environment ministry and duplicate paperwork required by other agencies, he said. ASEA Director Carlos de Regules, a former Pemex official, conceded in an interview that the agency's decision-making has been too slow. He said he is working to cut permit reviews to 120 days by September - compared to the current process that can stretch nearly a year-and-a-half. The regulatory framework is very complicated, and it forces us to take more time than in principle should be necessary to evaluate a project, he said of rules in place since the energy reform laws were enacted. We are obligated to ask seven times for the same paperwork. WAITING FOR MONTHS Evaluations can take about six months for environmental impacts and three months for a final drilling permit, just two of the approvals required before work can begin on a new well. Companies also must show they have insurance policies and industrial safety and environmental protection plans approved and in place for each project. The latter requires companies to submit reams of supplemental documents such as safety manuals. The delays stem in large part from the fact that ASEA is adapting and interpreting laws originally written for general environmental protections and were not specific to the energy industry, said Layla Vargas, who works with oil companies to meet government regulations. What they've had to do is half-improvise to fit the energy sector, said Cota. Staffing shortages are another major bottleneck. The regulator has 465 employees who handle approvals for more than 25,000 project applications since the 2015 oil-market opening, ranging from retail gas stations to multi-million dollar drilling projects. Permits for a service station can take as much as seven months to approve, according to the agency. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which promotes economic development, last fall called for ASEA to have more institutional agility and autonomy in its evaluation of Mexico's energy regulators. PROJECTS STUCK IN THE PIPELINE ASEA's administrative complexity is the biggest challenge to getting oil and gas projects underway, said Renaissance Oil's Steinke and other oil company executives. So far, ASEA has signed off on insurance policies for 37 of 107 oil and gas contracts awarded. The companies' management system, a custom plan for mitigating risks in 18 environmental, health and safety areas, has been authorized for 51 projects. Approvals for both are needed before drilling can begin. To date, 107 exploration and production projects won at auction by international oil firms including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell are in various stages of regulatory process. The numbers of approvals are not great, said a senior executive at an oil major who oversees contracts in Mexico, speaking on condition of anonymity. At least one oil company said it has not had problems with unreasonable delays. We've had a good experience in Mexico, said Felipe Arbalaez, BP plc's president for Latin America. The regulators have given us approvals at the appropriate time, he added, referring to the British company's shallow water Hokchi project, which is run by its Argentine unit Pan American Energy. But John Padilla, a Bogota-based oil consultant with IPD Latin America, said oil companies who bet big on the Mexican opening are increasingly concerned about the political and regulatory risks. No one's jumping ship, he said. But when you have billions of dollars of investment at stake, you can be damn sure that every board out there around the globe that has investments in Mexico is going to be paying close attention to this. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Brazil transfer-of-rights deal to Petrobras should be reached next week - minister By Reuters RIO DE JANEIRO Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 A deal to close a long-running dispute between Brazil's government and state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA over the transfer-of-rights area should be forged next week, presidential chief of staff Eliseu Padilha said on Thursday. Officials had previously said they expected to reach an agreement over the value of the contract by Thursday, May 17. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; Editing by Bernadette Baum from Reuters. reuters.com / 05 17 2018 Copyright 1999-2018 Petroleumworld or respective author or news agency. All rights reserved. We welcome the use of Petroleumworld (PW) stories by anyone provided it mentions Petroleumworld.com as the source. Other stories you have to get authorization by its authors. Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated. Petroleumworld welcomes your feedback and comments, share your thoughts on this article, your feedback is important to us! We invite all our readers to share with us their views and comments about this article. Write to editor@petroleumworld.com By using this link, you agree to allow PW to publish your comments on our letters page. Any question or suggestions, please write to: editor@petroleumworld.com Best Viewed with IE 5.01+ Windows NT 4.0, '95, '98,ME,XP, Vista, Windows 7,8,10 +/ 800x600 pixels November 13 - 15, 2018. Gubkin University, Moscow SPE Student Chapter Ecopetrol's colombian Transandino pipeline damaged in guerrilla attack By Reuters BOGOTA Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 Colombia's southern Transandino oil pipeline has been halted after a bomb attack, state-run oil company Ecopetrol said on Thursday. The attack, which took place overnight in the municipality of Pupiales, in Narino province, destroyed a piece of the pipeline's tubing, the company said in a statement. The 306-kilometer (190-mile) pipeline, which has the capacity to transport 85,000 barrels of crude per day, was not operating at the time of the explosion, Ecopetrol said. The company did not say which group was responsible for the bombing, but National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have frequently been behind attacks on oil infrastructure and are active in Narino. Dissident former members of the FARC rebels, who signed a peace deal in 2016, also have presence there. The ELN recently restarted peace talks with the government in Cuba, after original host Ecuador pulled its backing for the negotiations. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Oil above $80 stokes fears that demand will suffer Oil could hit $100 in coming months,' Total's CEO says. OPEC giants shrug off concerns, say supply remains ample. - Play Video - Oil Returns to $80 a Barrel in Londn for the first since 2014 By Stephen Cunningham NEW YORK Petroleumworld 05 18 2018 Oil's rise to $80 a barrel is stoking concerns that the price rally will erode demand, but OPEC's giants so far aren't worried. Crude surged above $80 a barrel in London for the first time since 2014, as global supply tightens and the U.S. moves to restrict oil exports from Iran. At $80 per barrel, there will be some impact on demand," warned Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive officer of French oil explorer Total SA. The problem could worsen if Iran's exports are curbed later this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see $100 per barrel in the coming months, he said in Washington Thursday. Demand Concerns Pouyanne's comments echoed concerns raised by both the International Energy Agency and India's petroleum minister this week. The IEA on Wednesday warned that demand is at risk of being eroded in the second half of this year thanks to the price rally that's been orchestrated by Saudi Arabia and allied oil producing nations including Russia. Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan relayed similar concerns during a phone conversation with his Saudi counterpart, according to Pradhan's tweets. India, the third-largest consumer of oil after the U.S. and China, would be especially hard-hit if prices keep rising. Pradhan said Khalid Al-Falih assured him that Saudi Arabia and other producers will ensure supplies are sufficient to offset any shortfalls and maintain reasonable prices. Separately, Al-Falih and United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said recent moves in oil prices have been driven by geopolitics and that global supply remains ample, according to a statement released by the Saudi energy ministry. Iran Effect U.S. President's Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on Iran, now a major exporter of crude, has roiled markets. We are back to the situation where we were before the 2016 agreement and in the meantime Iran has grown its exports by 1 million barrels a day, Pouyanne said. It's why you see the oil price going up and up and up." A day earlier, Total said it wouldn't commit any more funds to Iran's South Pars 11 natural gas project, in which it took a controlling stake last year. The French company won't risk investing in Iran following the return of U.S. sanctions unless it can obtain a waiver. I'm not sure it would easy to obtain, to be honest, Pouyanne said. Petroleumworld.com Hit your target - Advertise with Us Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison, who retired abrupty Friday, spoke during a meeting between President Donald Trump and manufacturing executives at the White House in Washington last year. Read more Campbell Soup Co. president and chief executive Denise Morrison retired effective Friday in an abrupt move less than two months after the Camden-based company completed its biggest acquisition ever, paying $6.1 billion for snack maker Snyder's-Lance Inc. It appears that Campbell, which employs about 1,200 people at its headquarters, is back to the drawing board. Replacing Morrison on an interim basis will be Keith R. McLoughlin, 61, a member of Campbell's board of directors since 2016. McLoughlin was president and CEO of Electrolux AB, a global manufacturer of major household appliances from 2011 through early 2016. McLoughlin told analysts during a conference call on yet another disappointing quarterly earnings report that board and management would undertake over the next few months a complete review of Campbell's businesses, which run from fresh carrots grown in California to chocolate-draped Tim Tam cookies that are popular in Australia. >> READ MORE: Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison's resignation: 5 things to know Despite a deeply troubled recent performance history, Campbell has "products and brands, market positions, margins, and cash flow that would be the envy of many, many companies," plus a "deep keel" developed over a nearly 150-year history that will enable it to successfully navigate the current turmoil, McLoughlin told investors. For analysts, the review must address the question, raised Friday by David Palmer, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, and so far left unsolved by a series of CEOs, of whether Campbell has the "ability to meaningfully drive profitable growth." On the New York Stock Exchange, Campbell's shares closed down $4.85, or 12 percent, to $34.37, their lowest level in more than five years. Friday's drop left the company's share price only 4 percent above its close of $33.05 the day before Morrison became CEO in August 2011. Descendants of John T. Dorrance, the inventor of condensed soup, own 41 percent of Campbell's shares and are on track to collect $175 million in dividends this year. That family control has long insulated the company from takeover bids. Morrison's sudden retirement comes as Campbell, like many major packaged-food companies, has struggled to find a way to increase its sales amid changing consumer tastes, despite the continued strong profitability of the company's staple canned soups. Les C. Vinney, chairman of Campbell's board, praised the job Morrison, 64, did in preparing the company for the future. "Denise has been a passionate advocate and leader over her 15 years with the company," Vinney said in a news release. "She has made many important contributions over the past seven years as chief executive officer to reposition Campbell in the rapidly changing food industry." Under Morrison, Campbell spent billions buying companies, including Bolthouse Farms for $1.55 billion in 2015, in a bid to get into faster-growing areas of the food industry, but struggled to successfully run the new businesses. Investors were concerned about that track record as Campbell borrowed $6 billion to buy Snyder's-Lance this year. The company now has $9.8 billion in debt, up from $3.08 billion when Morrison took over as CEO. During her tenure, sales climbed 2.2 percent, to $7.89 billion from $7.72 billion, as Morrison sold legacy operations, such as its remaining European soup businesses, and bought Bolthouse, Plum Organics baby food, and Garden Fresh Gourmet to spur faster sales growth. Including revenue from the recently acquired Pacific Foods, an organic soup and broth manufacturer, and Snyder's-Lance, whose brands include Cape Cod potato chips and Emerald nuts, Campbell's revenue would have been $10.3 billion in fiscal 2017. It is far too soon to know if the Snyder's-Lance acquisition will lead to faster revenue growth, but the centerpiece of Morrison's effort to diversify Campbell, a unit called Campbell Fresh, has had a string of troubled quarters stretching back to the fall of 2015. In addition to Bolthouse Farms, which sells fresh carrots, salad dressings, and beverages, the division also includes Garden Fresh Gourmet, which Campbell bought for $231 million in 2015, and a legacy refrigerated soup business. On Friday, Campbell announced a $619 million write-down on that division, recognizing for the third time since September 2016 that it was not meeting expectations. That brought total impairment charges on the unit to $972 million. "It didn't work, and it wasn't a right fit," said Mitchell B. Pinheiro, a stock analyst who has followed Campbell for decades. "I give her credit for trying something, but packaged food is a lot different than fresh different distribution systems, manufacturing, different supply chain issues. That was tough." On the conference call with analysts, McLoughlin and the company's chief financial officer, Anthony DiSilvestro, said they would not speculate about the results of the strategic review, which are to be shared with investors in late August. "Everything is on the table. There are no sacred cows." McLoughlin said. The winning bidder to redevelop the former Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. property in West Philadelphia once seen as a future headquarters for the city Police Department will now have less to work with. City officials told the three finalists seeking to revamp the campus at 4601 Market St. that two parking lots on the property, now used by an adjacent juvenile jail, cannot be included in their plans. The lots, to the immediate east and south of the Juvenile Justice Services Center (JJSC) at 48th Street and Haverford Avenue, cover two acres of the 15-acre site, according to Jessica Calter, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., which is overseeing the property's sale. The lots were placed off limits after officials preparing for the property's eventual sale learned that they had been built using tax-exempt bonds as part of the JJSC's construction, which places "significant limitations" on their redevelopment, Calter said. The change came just weeks before a May 24 deadline for finalists to submit redevelopment proposals for the 92-year-old Provident Mutual building and surrounding land. It could reduce how much the city earns from the sale of the site, on which it had spent tens of millions of dollars before abandoning the property in favor of the former Inquirer Building at 400 N. Broad St. for the new Police Headquarters. Finalists were selected in February from among six candidates who responded to an August 2017 solicitation on the Provident Mutual project that included the lots as part of the property's developable land. The finalists were first told last week that the lots had to be cut. Ismail Abdul-Hamid, a vice president with one of the finalists, KBK Enterprises, said his company had to rethink its approach after getting the news. "We put everything on hold," said Abdul-Hamid, whose company has headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh. The city's plan calls for the Police Department to move from the cramped and dated four-story concrete building at 750 Race St., popularly known as the Roundhouse, to the former newspaper building on North Broad Street by spring 2020 at an expense of $280.3 million. That plan, approved by City Council about a year ago, reversed an earlier deal to move police to the 325,000-square-foot former Provident Mutual building. To date, the city has paid $52.3 million to buy and renovate the West Philadelphia property, including funds spent to finish exterior improvements and make the building watertight after deciding not to put Police Headquarters there, city spokesman Paul Chrystie said. Money for the abandoned West Philadelphia headquarters plan came from a $65.2 million bond issue in 2014 that will cost the city $117 million, including interest, if repaid through the debt's final maturity date in 2044, according to the deal's documentation on the city's investor relations website. Officials are determining how to apply unspent funds from the bond issue to other capital projects while still conforming to the deal's legal requirements, Chrystie said. Philadelphia planning and development director Anne Fadullon has said the city hopes to recoup some if its investment in the insurance company site through the property's sale. But the developers under consideration to buy the site now may change how much they're willing to pay for it because the lots are no longer part of the package, said City Councilman Allan Domb, who works as a real estate broker and investor alongside his public role. "I'm sure the bidders will use that as leverage," he said. Alan Greenberger, the city's former deputy mayor for economic development, said the lot to the justice center's east may be particularly problematic, since it nearly separates the southern half of the Provident Mutual property where the historic insurance company building is from its undeveloped northern half. Developers also may have been counting on using one or both of the lots as parking for tenants of their planned projects, said Greenberger, now a fellow with the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation at Drexel University. "Those lots or the lack of their availability may be instrumental in their thinking," he said. In addition to KBK, finalists to develop the site are Boston's WinnCompanies LLC and a partnership between Ironstone Real Estate Partners and the Public Health Management Corp. nonprofit health institute, both of Philadelphia, according to representatives of the companies. Ironstone's past projects have included the redevelopment of the Medical College of Pennsylvania's former campus in East Falls into a mixed-use educational and commercial complex. It recently acquired the Girard Medical Center at Eighth Street and Girard Avenue. WinnCompanies' area holdings include affordable-housing properties such as the Breslyn House rental building in West Philadelphia and the Venango House apartments in North Philadelphia's Tioga-Nicetown neighborhood. KBK has a deal to acquire and redevelop the historic Germantown YWCA building. The company is on track to finish purchasing the property and to begin work there in September, Abdul-Hamid said. All three finalists declined to discuss their plans for the Provident Mutual site before submitting proposals. Calter said the PIDC has not estimated how the lots' exclusion may alter the land's value to the developers. "Any impact on revenue has yet to be determined," she said. "We will have a better idea when [developer proposals] are received. My new favorite bar snack is a dish of hot cancha. This ancient Andean popping corn is fried to order at Vista Peru, where the warm, salt-dusted kernels remind me of an airy, irresistible corn nut. The cancha were also the perfect munchie to occupy me while I took in one of the most inspired new dining spaces in town, a cozy conversion of the narrow old Serrano space (and Tin Angel upstairs) reimagined to evoke Peru with a deft modern touch by the family behind Northeast Philly's El Balconcito restaurants and their architect, Christopher Tantillo. Woven oak staves undulate across the ceiling like an inverted Andes mountain range. Folded stacks of colorful fabrics line the vestibule walls between tribal dancers' masks and the lustrous sculpture of an ancient tumi ax used in the sacrificial ceremonies. If I looked closely, I could even see subtle shapes printed across the fabric walls in back that recall the ancient "Nazca line" geoglyphs that trace giant primitive animal forms across the Peruvian desert. One of those the condor is a fittingly regal logo for this project, which has grand ambitions to bring Peruvian cuisine into Center City's prime-time spotlight. Such a welcome concept. So much potential for one of the world's great cuisines to have its moment. But a hungry man let alone Philadelphia's Peruvian aspirations cannot survive on corn nuts alone. And that's exactly what happened as I ate nothing but cancha for nearly an hour on two separate visits while Vista Peru's staff floundered with elemental aspects of running an upscale restaurant, like seating guests on time, taking orders promptly, and delivering food before anyone at the table threatens to fall asleep, or worse. "I need water," rasped one guest, whose salty cancha habit had become a curse as her empty water glass sat unreplenished for nearly 20 minutes. The water pitcher came. We were still half an hour from our first nibble of food. At my first visit it took even longer (an hour and a half!) before we saw our first plate of ceviche, partly because an unexpected party of six bullied its way into the dining room and commandeered our reserved table without asking the host. Welcome to Old City! The Second Street corridor may be having a welcome dining revival (see Royal Boucherie and Tuna Bar), but pushy old martini bar habits die hard. When those starters finally began to arrive, I was reminded why I was excited about Vista Peru to begin with. I've always enjoyed my meals at the El Balconcito restaurants in Northeast Philly, where manager Patricia Alegria and her family mother Rayda Dianderas, chef and stepfather Rene Arroyo, and her brothers Miguel and Rodolfo Toro produce fine renditions of classic dishes in far less chic neighborhood restaurant settings. And I tasted that culinary pride in the electric zing of fresh ceviches of white flounder, of mixed seafood, and of tender octopus laced with crunchy red onions that bathed in a citrusy leche de tigre marinade that was equal turns tart with lime, spicy with chilies, and lit with ginger a legacy of Japan's influence on Peru. The traditional garnishes of giant choclo corn kernels and a hunk of sweet potato were the perfect counterpoints to balance those bright flavors. I also loved that fish ceviche draped atop the pretty causa encebichada, a layered pedestal of mashed potatoes yellow with aji amarillo chile peppers and a layer of avocado. A more subtle variation of the causa topped with sweet crab disappeared within moments. And two other seemingly simple but classic appetizers one of boiled potatoes, the other of fried yucca were irresistible beside huancaina sauce. This creamy yellow cheese sauce thickened with crackers and aji amarillo peppers had the perfect combo of zing and cream, and, at least in Philly, seems destined one day to become a Whiz-upgrade for a Peruvian cheesesteak. Not that Vista Peru has gone there yet (nor should it). But Peruvian food has always adapted as one of the world's most thrillingly natural fusion cuisines, drawing on the bounty of 90 microclimates touching its coasts, mountains, and jungle and an organic amalgam of influences from Inca traditions, Spanish conquistadors, Caribbean flavors and African slaves, immigrants from Japan (Nikkei), China (those chaufa stir-fries), Italy, and France. Even Arabic influences appear on dishes like anticuchos, the grilled beef heart skewers that are among this restaurant's must-order dishes. Frustratingly, persistent service issues sputtered over the beef heart, too, with our first rendition of anticuchos already cool and far too chewy the time they arrived. We asked for a redo, and they were simply delicious, the sizzling hot morsels of perfectly pink meat not so much gamy as they were like a very dense pieces of lean steak, infused with a garlicky chile marinade that paired with sweet buffers of grilled choclo corn and purple potatoes on the side. Of course, this is not Philadelphia's first exposure to Peruvian cuisine in an upscale setting. At Jose Garces' short-lived Chifa, the food was delicious, but far more liberally translated for an American audience. Vista Peru, and the new Chalaco's pisco bar, which opened in Northern Liberties just a few week later, are hewing more closely to traditional templates. I have no problem with elevating classic dishes by using better core ingredients and more refined presentations. But with menu entree prices that soar from the mid $20s into the $50s for lobster tail indulgences, the service issues are inexcusable. Inconsistency in the kitchen, especially after the starters, also held Vista Peru back. The grilled octopus entree was impressive to behold as it arrived atop what looked like a mini-plancha hibachi. But there was no flame to keep it warm, and we were left to ponder the sad spears of shriveled asparagus that accompanied huge, unadorned arms of octo still sheathed in slippery skin and noticeably salty that were underwhelming for $25. The big metal casserole of paella, served in the Portuguese style Arroyo learned when he bought the bi-menu El Balconcito in 2005, was both bland and overly wet. (Apparently, paellas can be requested wet or dry here, but we were never asked.) I far preferred the big pot of seafood soup, which was rustic and full of oceanic savor in a rich red seafood broth that brimmed with hunks of lobster clams, squid, and shrimp. A creamy shrimp stew chupe de camarones brought equal gusto, including some big head-on shrimp, and a fried egg to garnish. If only the gambas al ajillo didn't resort to smaller crustaceans that were not seem worthy of an entree showcase. The Jalea medley of seafood with salsa criolla that I've loved at El Balconcito's East Godfrey original also was a mixed bag in Old City. The fillet of fish was citrusy and tasty, but the smaller bits of seafood were chewily overdone. Ditto for the seafood "picante" that came in an otherwise delicious cream sauce spiked with rocoto chilies. We stepped up to the lobster tail stuffed with crabmeat for $55, and it was just ho-hum, a seemingly small tail completely buried beneath a tumble of crab in a rusty-colored dressing. It was fine, but not at that price. It also skewed our lasting impressions of a menu that had a number greater successes with more affordable options. The lomo saltado, for example, was a great value for $18 that brought a perfect saute of garlicky sirloin strips and french fries in a zesty gravy savory with ginger and soy, an example of Chinese influence on traditional Peruvian cuisine. The Seco Norteno featured hunks of amazingly tender bone-in goat stewed with peppers and served beside creamy white Peruvian canary beans. A buttery risotto-like preparation for quinoa was an inventive approach for one of Peru's signature superfoods. And then there was Vista Peru's take on the famous pollo a la brasa, a chicken marinated for a day with cumin, oregano and Peruvian Cusquena beer before slow-roasting in a special rotisserie for over three hours. It was deliciously moist and flavorful. But, like so much else here, it would have been far better if the staff had managed to serve it hot. They didn't. A creamy flan and ice creams infused with exotic Peruvian fruits like pumpkin orange lucuma fruit were sweet reminders that this restaurant has all the ingredients to become something special. But, aside from those fabulous cancha corn nuts and frosty glasses of pisco sour, there is so much work still to be done before this condor of a restaurant dream really takes flight. Linda Dennin paints Maryann Lutringer at the senior program of St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Merchantville. Dennin, a student at Philadelphias Studio Incamminati, is painting more than 50 portraits as part of a thesis project. Read more Maryann Lutringer walked to the easel and took a good look at herself. "You're beautiful," said the painter Linda Dennin, brush in hand. "Well, I don't know about that," Lutringer, 74, said wryly. "But this is very nice." Having finished portraits of 45 South Jersey seniors so far, Dennin is accustomed to candid reactions to her work and candid accounts of the lives her subjects have led. "As an artist, I want to see character, and you can see the content of people's character when they're sharing their stories," said the former journalist, who's doing the oil portraits as a senior thesis project for Philadelphia's Studio Incamminati art school. "You can't be thin-skinned," said Dennin, a Merchantville resident. "These seniors are no-nonsense. One lady I thought hers was one of my best portraits told me: 'Oh, that's terrible. It's horrible.' "Others say: 'I'm ugly. You don't want to paint my picture.' And one lady said she wants to put the portrait on her casket. On top of it." Since September, Dennin has been painting portraits of seniors who attend a daytime activities program in the former convent at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Merchantville. Plans call for a gallery show of the completed pictures, perhaps to help raise money for the St. Peter Senior Ministry Program, which serves about 300 people ages 63 to 98. "I'm pleased that Linda is using her artistic skills to fulfill part of the mission of the school, to give back to the community," said Jay Pennie, president of Studio Incamminati. Dennin's subjects have volunteered to sit for several hours under bright lights on a platform in a makeshift studio, where the artist uses a technique called alla prima (first attempt) to capture "a likeness, and an inner likeness" in a single session. Like most people, including me, her subjects have never had their portrait painted. The whole notion seems posh, something associated with celebrities, statesmen, or royalty rather than, say, retired teachers, Korean War veterans, or merchants from South Jersey. "Most people are never going to have this opportunity," said Bobbie Bradley, a registered nurse who is director of the Senior Ministry. "These seniors have such a wealth of experience to share. They deserve to have this done." The models often are flattered, but nervous. Most are eager to talk, and a lively conversation can render them a "moving target," said Dennin. "They want somebody to listen," said Carla Hughes, who's in charge of the kitchen at the Senior Ministry. "We all have a story to tell. And Linda's heard them all." Many of Dennin's subjects were originally from Camden, or from South Jersey farm towns that have long since developed into suburbs. "A lot of the stories are about growing up," said Dennin, a mother of two and grandmother of three. The faces she renders on 16-by-20-inch canvas belong to retired professionals, blue-collar folks, grandparents, and the children of immigrants. Some are immigrants themselves. Many are widows or widowers. And a few have found new partners (shhh). "They talk about their loneliness," Dennin said. "They say things like, 'I don't want to get married again, because then who would I live with in heaven?' " Lutringer, a retired clerical worker who lives in Cherry Hill, said she and the artist "talked only about the good things" in her life. Otherwise, "Linda could probably blackmail us all," said Lutringer, adding: "I'm smiling, not crying. Linda made [the session] easy." Dennin does have a knack for putting people at ease. She's still got an appealing bit of bluegrass in her voice from a childhood in Kentucky, where she wrote features for newspapers. Later she worked at South Jersey weeklies, professional experience that can come in handy when trying to capture a person on canvas. "I have a tendency to interview people," Dennin said. Professions other than journalism also can be an apt way to describe the process involved in making a painting. "Sitting for a portrait is like going to a bar and telling the bartender your stories. Or going to confession," said Dennin. "I want to convey their essence, whatever that soul is within them. It's a labor of love for me." I watched for a while last Tuesday as Dennin worked with Soora Dehoon, 82, of Maple Shade. An ardent environmentalist, Dehoon grew up in Russia, lived in Iran and France, and has worked as a draftsman, secretary, seamstress, beautician, and aide for youngsters with special needs. She also speaks five languages, has two grown daughters, and had never sat for a portrait. There's a memoir-in-progress, too. "I've had a very unusual life, a very difficult life," Dehoon said. Dennin put a highlight here, a bit of shadow there, adding final touches to the portrait. The face on the canvas really seemed to express, or personify, what the woman sitting under the bright light was saying or perhaps, the way she said it. "With fine art portraiture the idea is to capture something you're not going to get in a photograph," Pennie said. "We're always hoping that inner beauty comes out in the painting." I'd suggest the painting of Dehoon could be called Resiliency Is Beautiful. It would be a good name for all of Dennin's portraits of the seniors at St. Peter's. Digital resource specialist Omelio Alexander, left, helps Carl Haines apply to a job online at the Paschalville Library in Southwest Philadelphia on Friday, May 18, 2018. The branch is the only Free Library of Philadelphia location with a Job Readiness Lab, which helps community members find and apply to jobs. Read more In a 103-year-old library in Southwest Philadelphia, where the roof is leaky, the windows are drafty, and the heating and cooling system is as finicky as an old crank, three men sat under dull lights at a bank of computers, trying to land a job. Omelio Alexander peered over their shoulders, adjusting a resume line here, helping navigate a jobs website there. His title at the Paschalville branch is "digital resource specialist," which, here, means that his job is to help people find work in a community that desperately needs it. In Paschall, the surrounding neighborhood, the unemployment rate is 17.3 percent. In the entirety of the city of Philadelphia, it's 5.8. If the role of the library is to meet the needs of the community, Alexander can sum up the needs of this one in three words: "Jobs, jobs, jobs." He runs the Job Readiness Lab there, the only one in the Free Library's 55 branches. Under his charge are three computers, set apart from the others, reserved for people looking for work. Men and women looking for a better opportunity. Residents of the homeless shelter down the street. People returning from prison, trying to overcome the gaps in their resumes and the conviction on their records. Alexander maintains a cache of neckties for job applicants to borrow for interviews. For some people who come in, the hardest part of the job search is filling out an application. "Some of it's just physical using a mouse, navigating the keys, how to look for what you're supposed to be looking for on a screen," Alexander said. Sometimes he helps with typing and capitalization. "If [employers] see any reason not to look at your stuff," he emphasizes, "they're not going to read it." The jobs lab is one of the frontline programs in Philadelphia that are expanding the notion of what a library is and what it means to the community it serves. "We need a redefinition of the word library" as something beyond just books, said Siobhan Reardon, the Free Library's president and director. "Because we happen to be in most cases the singular civic entity in a lot of communities." The debate boils down to this: "What is a city library?" Reardon asked. In Philadelphia, it's becoming increasingly clear that they are not just repositories they're dynamically responding to the needs of the people they serve. We saw that plainly perhaps more visibly than anywhere else in the country a year ago this week, when Chera Kowalski, a librarian at the historic McPherson Square branch in Kensington, began saving the lives of overdose victims on the library lawn. The need among people in the heart of the city's opioid crisis was simply to stay alive. What happened at McPherson was dramatic, but not an outlier. It's part of a philosophical shift playing out across the country. It's a conversation I'll be writing about this summer, as I visit the libraries that lend much more than books to their communities. It's a conversation that's becoming increasingly urgent in a dynamic city still marked by some of the worst poverty in the country. And then there's this stunning statistic: Half of working-age Philadelphians, about 550,000 people, lack "workforce literacy skills," and struggle to fill out job applications or follow written instructions. It's a conversation that's happening inside crumbling buildings across the city that desperately need the repairs that the city's Rebuild initiative is promising. Paschalville is at the top of the list; the branch was closed for a month in 2016 for a broken heater. It needs work "from top to bottom," said Jim Pecora, the Free Library's vice president of property management. But that initiative is in danger of becoming mired in Philly politics. City Council members have rightly raised the alarm over the need to enforce minority inclusion in the building trade unions, whose members will be repairing those struggling libraries and rec centers and it's refusing to give the go-ahead for the construction until they're satisfied. Mayor Kenney has vowed to plow ahead with the funds he has, saying the deal that he and union boss Johnny Dougherty have worked out is final. He's rightly argued that we need to act before the libraries become uninhabitable. If one thing is clear, it's that both sides both of which are raising legitimate concerns need to get to the table. Now. It's not that we should be sacrificing minority jobs for library repairs, or vice versa. It's that we need to come to compromise before we further endanger programs that are helping some of the city's most vulnerable. On Wednesday, Sonkarley Duo, a Liberian immigrant with a degree in business administration, sat at one of Alexander's computers at the Paschalville branch. The 54-year-old father of two got weary of his last job, on the graveyard shift at a T-shirt printing company that he had to take four buses to reach. He was looking for something better. And he had come to the library to do it. Alexander peered over his shoulder. "He's my teacher," Duo said, smiling. In this Monday, May 14, 2018 file photo, Palestinian medics and protesters evacuate a wounded youth during a protest at the Gaza Strips border with Israel, east of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. Read more The knee-jerk reaction in the White House and Israel to the recent violence in Gaza is to blame Hamas and be done with it. The radical Hamas organization that controls Gaza drove thousands of Palestinians toward the fence, the argument goes, so it is wholly to blame for the 62 killed by Israeli snipers, the bulk of them Hamas members. But this PR blame game obscures the bigger picture. Two million Gazans, imprisoned in a tiny strip of land with a collapsed economy, see no political and economic future. They are trapped between a reckless Hamas, a feckless Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, and an Israeli government that ignores them except for military action. Add to that a blinkered White House that pours fuel on dry tinder. Rather than face facts and address Gaza's economic ills Jerusalem and Washington promote convenient myths that absolve themselves from responsibility. If both governments continue down that blind path, the violence in Gaza will explode again with huge costs to Israel as well. >> READ MORE: U.S. Embassy moved to Jerusalem, Gaza exploded. Do Trump or Bibi have a Plan B? | Trudy Rubin The myths go as follows: First, Israel ended its occupation of Gaza when it withdrew its troops and Jewish settlers from the 5-by-28 mile strip in 2005. So Jerusalem has no more responsibility for the strip's internal affairs. Especially since, Myth Two, the Palestinians chose Hamas in 2005 legislative elections because its charter envisions the end of Israel and endorses violent resistance; ergo, they caused their own misery. In reality, Israel has retained control of Gaza's border, air space, and sea coast, except for one outlet into a remote area of Egypt. Thus Israel entirely controls Gazan imports and exports, its coastal fishing, along with its supply of electricity. It also controls all movement in and out of Gaza. Since Hamas took control, Israel has mostly bottled up Gaza's population while border closures strangle its industry and agriculture. As for the 2006 elections, which the Bush administration urged on a reluctant Palestinian leadership, polls showed that the main reasons a plurality of Palestinians voted for Hamas were not its ideology. Rather, they were frustrated that the then-ruling Fatah party was corrupt and hadn't delivered a promised two-state diplomatic solution. Moreover, in 2007, the Bush administration encouraged Fatah to retake control of Gaza by force, but Fatah lost the battle to Hamas. Thus Washington shares the blame for Hamas' total control of the strip. But the most pernicious Myth, number Three, posits that Palestinians are sole authors of their economic misery. The prime example given is the case of greenhouses turned over by Israeli settlers when they quit Gaza in 2005 (they demolished half of the greenhouses and stripped the rest before leaving). The remaining greenhouses were refurbished with $14 million by Jewish American donors, but were supposedly destroyed by Palestinians immediately upon the settlers' exit. >> READ MORE: Why Trump's Jerusalem stance rules out his 'ultimate' Mideast deal Yes, there was looting, but the Palestinian Authority quickly refurbished the greenhouses, which were soon brimming with crops of sweet peppers, tomatoes, and herbs worth $20 million. The Palestinians' then-finance minister Salam Fayyad even gave Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a gift of peppers on her birthday in mid-November 2005, and the greenhouses exported 8 tons of them in mid-December. What actually destroyed the greenhouse initiative were Israel's restrictions on Gazan exports at the Karni border crossing. You can read about this in the memoir of Australian Jewish businessman James Wolfensohn, a former World Bank head and special envoy for Gaza disengagement, who contributed $500,000 to the greenhouse project. "In early December [2005]," he wrote, "the much-awaited first harvest began but their success relied on the Karni crossing which was closed more often than not. "Everything was rotting. If you went to the border and saw tomatoes and fruit just being dumped on the side of the road, you would have to say that if you were a Palestinian farmer you'd be pretty upset." Fast-forward to now. For more than a dozen years, border crossings have opened only sporadically. Industry and agriculture in Gaza has collapsed. Unemployment of 15- to 29-year-olds is 60 percent. Electricity is sporadic (Gazans can't pay), water polluted, medicines scarce. To make matters worse, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which still pays many salaries in Gaza, cut back the money when an effort at reconciliation with Hamas failed. >> READ MORE: I traveled to Jerusalem to see impact of Trump | Trudy Rubin Yes, Hamas is a threat and has in the past lobbed rockets and built tunnels into Israel. But that doesn't obviate one blinding fact, which the Israeli military has warned about, over and over: Deteriorating economic conditions in Gaza raise the risk of uncontrollable flareups especially when young people lose all hope. There have been many suggestions for rejuvenating Gaza's economy, but they all require Israel's cooperation. They include various proposals for a port but Jerusalem hasn't pursued them, choosing to focus purely on military action. The Trump White House hasn't challenged that thinking. James Wolfensohn put it best in a 2007 interview: "Just pretending that 1.4 [now 2] million people can live in a sort of prison is not a solution at all." In other words, it's time to abandon the Gaza myths and focus on hard facts. Patience, 21, talks of fleeing Boko Haram. She now studies at Dickinson College. Read more CARLISLE, Pa. After becoming president of Dickinson College last summer, Margee Ensign got a call from a philanthropic organization in Africa: Four young women who had been traumatized in a highly publicized kidnapping needed an education. They were among more than 270 girls who had been taken in 2014 by the radical militant organization Boko Haram from their boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria. The four women had escaped early on and were among 10 who had come to the United States in the aftermath, but hadn't yet had their educational aspirations fulfilled, Ensign was told. She knew their stories well, having spent seven years as the head of the American University of Nigeria, where she took in other students who fled the ruthless group. Now, Ensign's old world and new worlds were about to collide. The Murtala Muhammed Foundation, based in Nigeria, and the Nigerian government, offered to pay for the women's education at Dickinson. Could these young women find educational refuge at the 2,400-student liberal arts college, a 144-acre enclave of natural limestone buildings in south central Pennsylvania, half a world away from the strife they once fled? Do you know where we are going? One of the girls kidnapped that April 2014 night was a petite, soft-spoken 17-year-old. Her name was Patience. Patience came from a family of farmers in Nigeria, a populous country about twice the size of California. The country had long been ravaged by religious and ethnic tensions. Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group, was founded there in 2002 and has terrorized swaths of the country, kidnapping and killing citizens. She was attending a different school in 2013 when Boko Haram struck there. Her mother wouldn't let her return and instead sent Patience to the Chibok school for her senior year. But then the terror group came to Chibok, ransacking the school, burning buildings and imposing strict Islamic law on the village. They ordered the girls into a truck, threatening to kill them if they refused. As it rumbled along, the captives wondered whether they would survive. "Do you know where we're going?" Patience's friend asked her. She didn't. "But just have faith," Patience urged. "Don't be scared. Just pray in your heart." Then, before reaching their destination, a moment of opportunity came: Patience and her friend leaped off the moving truck. While many of the other women taken that night would remain captives of Boko Haram for years, Patience made it home to her family. But her education abruptly stopped: She feared if she returned to school in Nigeria, Boko Haram would find her. A plea for help The American University of Nigeria is about 160 miles south of Chibok, in a midsize city called Yola. But news of the attack on the village had traveled swiftly, and ultimately drew an international spotlight. A female security guard at the university approached the school's president. The guard told Ensign that her sister was among the kidnapped girls who had escaped the clutches of Boko Haram. Still, their future was in doubt. "She's traumatized and she wants an education," the guard said. "Can we educate her?" By that time, Ensign had been the university president for about four years. A California native, she had traveled the world growing up, the daughter of Pan Am employees. She graduated from New College in Florida and completed her doctorate at the University of Maryland. She started her career at Columbia University as an assistant professor of politics and economics and over time became intensely interested in Africa, doing much of her research in Rwanda. While working in 2010 at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., she was recruited for the job in Nigeria. The development university offers American-style education and enrolls some of the country's elite, as well as refugees. For Ensign, it was a chance to work full time in Africa. "You've always wanted to," her daughter told her. "Go for it." After she arrived, Ensign helped the school draft a strategic plan, raised $160 million, created programs in law and engineering, and chaired a peace initiative. But one of her greatest challenges was keeping the school safe from Boko Haram, which ardently opposed Western style education. To protect students and staff, the university dispatched drones and employed 650 guards. Every night, Ensign would send an email to parents to explain safety precautions and frequently had to decide whether to evacuate. She was determined to stay. If you shut down this university, she thought, they will win. Millions were paying attention to Boko Haram's terror reign after the Chibok kidnapping, including Michelle Obama, Pope Francis, Angelina Jolie and Alicia Keys. A Twitter campaign, #BringBackOurGirls, caught fire. Ensign wanted to help. She sent a team to find out how many of the girls mentioned by the guard wanted to come to her university. There were 11. Ensign and three employees, including a former U.S. Marine, made the hourslong journey to retrieve them and their parents. It was deeper into the country's remote and volatile corners than she had ventured since arriving at the university. Returning with the teenage girls proved challenging. Boko Haram didn't intervene. But the girls didn't talk. Neither did their parents, Ensign said. They hadn't been in a vehicle since the kidnapping and were throwing up from trauma, she said. She wondered whether she could really help. The university assessed their skill levels and gave them a highly structured program. Ensign took the girls shopping and introduced them to swimming. Over time, more girls who had escaped came. By the time she considered returning to the U.S. last year, there were 48. After seven years in Nigeria, Ensign took the job at Dickinson, intrigued by its 235-year history and commitment to civic engagement. Shortly after arriving in Carlisle, another call to help the Chibok girls came, this time from her new perch at the helm of an American college. A New Home Earlier this month, Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob, a Dickinson professor, sat with the four young Nigerian women in a class called "Learning to Learn." It's one of two they have been taking since arriving April 1 part of a new "bridge" program to work on such basic skills as math, reading and writing to ready them possibly for a spot in fall 2019's freshman class. "The mission really for me was clear, get them prepared for college," said Jacob, a Nigerian native and visiting international scholar who had worked with Ensign at American University. On the anniversary of the abduction last month, the women, all now in their early 20s, gathered with Ensign in her Dickinson office. They prayed and talked about friends still in captivity. "They're so determined," Ensign said. "They're going to work as hard as they can to be successful. This is it, the big opportunity, and they're very aware of it." Among the group was Patience, now 21. (For security reasons, the college asked that her last name be withheld.) She came to the United States several months after she had escaped Boko Haram. Her mother had died of a heart attack one month after she arrived, and her father died the following year. Once here, she studied at a private Christian school and attended a community college in the Bronx. But the experience had not been trauma free. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the women contend the Nigerian lawyer who helped resettle them had exploited them, forcing them to relive their trauma in a bid to raise money, threatening to have them shipped back if they refused. The lawyer denied the accusations, according to the Journal. Patience, meanwhile, ached for the education she had been promised. She had long dreamed of becoming a counselor or nurse practitioner and one day returning to Africa to help others. The Murtala Muhammed Foundation told her about the opportunity at Dickinson. Patience had seen Ensign on a video and knew of her ties to Nigeria. She was eager to go. And the fiery, 5-foot university president was eager again to help. "I'm furious that they came to America to get a better education and they haven't had it, but they'll get it here," Ensign said. Ensign hopes to enroll other students in the college's new bridge program, which aims to provide educational opportunity to students from regions of the world experiencing conflict and natural disasters and for whom higher education would otherwise be impossible. This spring, the Nigerian women are living together in a residence hall and finding comfort in Ensign. "She talks like your mom," Patience said. During one of Jacob's classes in May, he gave them an assignment about a book they had read, Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman: Write what a central character wants and needs, is good at, and must work on. Finally, he told them, write what the character has survived. Next, he asked the women to answer the same questions about themselves. In a long green dress and black head wrap, Patience busily wrote her answers. When they finished the professor asked them to describe what they survived. "Survived?" one asked. "I don't understand." None mentioned Boko Haram. But Patience's answer was bigger than that, about what had helped her move on: "Trusting in God. Correcting my mistakes. Trying to be happy." FILE In this March 20, 2018 file photo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos waits to testify before a House Committee on Appropriation subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Read more Reports that the U.S. Department of Education is quietly shutting down investigations into possible fraud committed by for-profit colleges caught the attention of New Jersey's new Democratic attorney general, who offered to finish the probes himself if the agency won't. Gurbir Grewal, confirmed in January as the state's top law-enforcement officer, said in a May 17 letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that he'd be willing to take over investigations the agency "shuts down prematurely" and asked for access to the department's files. The letter, a copy of which was posted online, cites recent reports that the department has "effectively killed" investigations into possible fraud at several large for-profit colleges and restricted communications about the probes between the agency's staff and state attorneys general. Grewal was appointed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who took office in January after eight years of Republican control. The letter is the latest indication that Grewal has joined a group of Democratic attorneys general who are challenging President Donald Trump's agenda on multiple fronts, including immigration and environmental policies. The Department of Education didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Michael Dakduk, an executive director at Career Education Colleges and Universities, an industry trade group, didn't immediately return a call. Under DeVos' leadership, the department has hired a former DeVry University dean to handle the probes into fraud at for-profit colleges, the New York Times reported this week. That didn't sit well with critics who noted that DeVry Education Group Inc., now called Adtalem Global Education Inc., agreed to pay $100 million in 2016 to settle a Federal Trade Commission case alleging false job-placement claims. The Obama administration probed whether some for-profit universities, which depend largely on government funds in the form of federal student loans, Pell grants and the G.I. bill., used false job-placement claims to lure in students. That left thousands of graduates with often-useless degrees and steep debt on student loans. Separately, the company controlled by then-President-elect Donald Trump agreed in November 2016 to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits alleging that Trump University, a for-profit education venture, used high-pressure sales tactics and unqualified instructors. That probe was led by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who clashed bitterly with the president over an investigation started in 2013. Schneiderman resigned this month amid allegations he assaulted women. New Jersey and the Education Department previously collaborated to get relief for students who enrolled in programs run by Corinthian Colleges Inc., which misrepresented job placement rates to enrolled and prospective students, according to Grewal. In a statement, he said he "holds out hope for the Department of Education to counter any perception it has abdicated its anti-fraud role." Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center. The ensembles 2018 tour of Europe and Israel starts May 24, continuing through June 5. (Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Orchestra) Read more Never in recent memory has the Philadelphia Orchestra embarked on its spring tour with such a seemingly fraught final destination a week of concerts and ancillary activities in Israel, amid renewed hostilities with Gaza. The May 24-June 5 tour of Europe and Israel has the usual ports of call, from Luxembourg to Vienna, before a long-planned June 3-5 leg in Israel infrequently visited by outside orchestras and only once before by the Philadelphians, in 1992. There is, of course, the matter of security. At the moment, orchestra members plan a school visit less than 10 miles from Gaza though tour coordinators say everything is up for revision pending security concerns for the 120 musicians and crew, 20 friends and family members, and roughly 50 patrons who are part of the tour. And then there is the reputational risk of appearing to take sides by visiting Israel so soon after the anguished last week, with at least 60 Palestinian deaths and hundreds of injuries Monday, and the controversial opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Even before that, pro-Palestinian activists had been protesting outside nearly all of the orchestra's Kimmel Center concerts for the last several weeks. Susan Abulhawa, a Bucks County author and human rights activist leading the protests, wrote in an op-ed for the Inquirer that the orchestra tour was being used "to divert attention from Israeli crimes." >> Read an opposing viewpoint here by Nancy K. Baron-Baer, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League In an official statement, the orchestra said, "We understand and acknowledge the sensitive nature of certain current events. Through the universal language of music, we hope that we can speak out against violence and bigotry and express our hope for unity and tranquility in the region." The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, which helped to raise money for the tour and which is helping to coordinate a travel itinerary for patrons, remains deeply invested in the success of what is one of the largest missions in its recent history. "Almost every day, we hear about people who don't want Israel to exist," said federation CEO Naomi Adler. "The more people can bring to the experience of Israel in all of its layers and diversity the better." As of now, the orchestra is full steam ahead on its entire 12-day 2018 tour, which opens with six stops in Europe before playing three cities in Israel. Musically speaking The Israel leg of the tour includes concerts in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem, plus master classes and school visits in a country that has one of the largest classical music audiences per capita in the world. Often, such tours come with numerous "residency activities," in the form of master classes, pop-up concerts, and side-by-side performances with local musicians. In Israel, those activities include working with any number of young musicians, both Israeli and Palestinian. One planned visit to Netivot, home of the Tanenbaum Conservatory of Music, will be within miles of the Gaza border. The European leg is too tightly scheduled for much of that, with concerts in another city each night the orchestra will be in Paris all of 18 hours until reaching the May 28 and 29 programs at Hamburg's much-discussed Elbphilharmonie. That venue was finished in 2016 for $944 million, with what looks like a snow-capped mountain peak of glass on top of a repurposed industrial complex. Concerts sell out simply because they're there and the Philadelphia Orchestra's are no exception. Meat, potatoes, pianos Tours often have portable, meat-and-potatoes programs. This one is similarly accommodating except when not. Many of the dates end with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, which the orchestra could play well even when jet-lagged. "There's nothing more dangerous than to reproduce what happened the night before, because it can only go down from there," said star pianist Helene Grimaud, who plays the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 on tour. "You have to approach it as a new adventure every time." Just to make sure it's the right kind of adventure, Grimaud will travel with her own piano for the European dates; the close spacing allows no time for her to choose a piano for each performance. Plans to tour with an orchestral suite from the Thomas Ades opera Powder Her Face were cut because of extra instrumentation demands. In its place is the Oquin organ concerto, which was possible because several European halls have well-regarded organs and soloist Paul Jacobs was available. More Bernstein in store Bernstein is of particular interest in Israel, not just because this is the composer's 100th anniversary year, but because he was a strong presence from the 1940s on. The country is small enough that the orchestra will be centrally based in Tel Aviv and make runs from there to Haifa and Jerusalem without changing hotels. Grimaud's European piano won't make the trip. But the schedule allows time among the orchestra members for two to three residency activities each day. The patrons traveling along will stay on in Israel a few days later than the musicians for what's called an "immersive exploration of music, food, history, and Israeli modern-day life" led by celebrated Israeli-born chef Michael Solomonov, known among Philadelphians for his restaurant Zahav. Those activities are said to be well outside the range of conflicts. "We've told people to be flexible. That's what happens when you go to Israel. We say your itinerary is only confirmed on the day you get back," Adler said. Should we go? Should we cancel? A post-9/11 American sensibility might ask how anybody can concentrate on music in the midst of geopolitical turmoil. Grimaud, a French pianist of Jewish descent, confronted similar circumstances before a 2016 Istanbul concert with the Basel Chamber Orchestra: "We wondered, 'Should we go? Should we cancel?' We all ended up going. You just have to show up and make music. That's our mission. We have to do it." Of the Israel situation, she sadly added, "I don't know if there will ever be a solution for that part of the world." Two outreach activities to the Arab community that were typical of what the orchestra members have done on past tours have fallen through for the 2018 tour of Europe and Israel: visits to Syrian migrant camps outside Vienna and, in Israel, to Beit Almusica, which promotes the Palestinian minority. The Vienna event went wanting for sponsorship support. Beit Almusica reportedly didn't want to enter the political fray. Does any of this explain why the Philadelphia Orchestra hasn't been to Israel since 1992? Or why no major American orchestra has played there since 1996? More significant is Israel's lack of philanthropic culture that brings in touring orchestras, said Ryan Fleur, the orchestra's interim co-president. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia's fund-raising contacts enabled the tour, with support from the Neubauer Family Foundation and Constance Smukler. Another factor: Israel has a plethora of locally produced concerts for its eager classical music fan base. "We repeat every program at least five times, if not seven, eight, or nine," newly appointed Israel Philharmonic music director Lahav Shani said during a recent engagement in Philadelphia. "Almost every concert is sold out. People are still curious and want to consume this [music]." David Patrick Stearns will report from the orchestra's tour beginning June 1 from Vienna and continuing through June 7 in Israel. New Jersey-based social media personality Young King Dave, who recently rose to viral fame online through "smoking doinks" on Instagram, has died. He was 19. The social media star, real name David James Nixon, died Thursday in a New Jersey hospital due to complications stemming from a collapsed lung, Motherboard reports. Nixon had reportedly been in the hospital for several weeks prior to his death, which was confirmed via his Instagram account. A Middletown native, Nixon was known for his popular Instagram videos, which typically featured him smoking marijuana or "loud," as he called it and encouraging followers to enjoy their day. He also coined the phrase "smoking doinks" to describe smoking joints or blunts, which has since become a popular reference online. At the time of his death, Nixon had about 256,000 followers on his Instagram page. He first gained popularity online in Jan. 2017 with an Instagram video in which he asked who among his viewers was "trying to chill, smoke some loud" because "it's f nice out." In September last year, he stopped by Lancaster, where videos showed him "smoking big Doinks in Amish," as Nixon said online. The video was later featured on Comedy Central's Tosh.O. In addition to his social media presence, Nixon was an aspiring rapper who published songs to Soundcloud and YouTube. A video for his song "Taking Dabs," a reference to marijuana concentrates like hash oil, was released in March, and currently has about 34,000 views. As Nixon told Mass Appeal in a video profile last year, he began smoking marijuana at age 12, and acknowledged that he "invented doinks, bro." In his final Instagram post from March this year, Nixon complained of breathing problems. "Yo, I be smoking so much loud I get out of breath, my guy," Nixon said in the video. Following his death, Nixon's family set up a GoFundMe page to cover funeral costs and arrange a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So far, the fund has raised about $7,000 of its $10,000 goal. "We are deeply saddened by this loss and he will be greatly missed," Nixon's family wrote on the GoFundMe page. "He was a very special person with a big heart and a great sense of humor. We remember all the good times and how he made us smile and are very grateful for all the prayers and well wishes of friends and family." As news of Nixon's death spread online, fans responded with tributes to the late social media star: In the fall of 2013, Stephen Schroeder noticed a small, purplish pimple on his groin. "I was pretty sure it was an ingrown hair, so I ignored it for six months," figuring it would go away on its own, he recalled. The pimple disappeared, replaced by a dime-size red, scaly rash on his scrotum. Schroeder, now 58, said he assumed it was jock itch vernacular for a common fungal infection of the groin and did nothing for several more months. "I'm a guy," said Schroeder, who lived in the Philadelphia suburbs at the time. "It didn't faze me much." The director of membership development for a purchasing cooperative had been successfully treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, in 1989. He had not had a recurrence and was always vigilant about annual checkups. In the spring of 2014, as his primary-care doctor was on her way out the door after a routine appointment, Schroeder said he remembered the red patch "almost as an afterthought" and mentioned it. She examined the spot, agreed it looked like jock itch and suggested he try the standard treatment: an over-the-counter antifungal cream. Several weeks later, when the problem remained, Schroeder returned. His physician and one of her partners took a look and prescribed a stronger antifungal medicine. "They both agreed it was nothing to worry about," Schroeder recalled. "It wasn't painful, just annoying" and itchy. The second medicine was no more effective than the first. Schroeder then consulted his dermatologist. He, too, initially agreed it was a stubborn fungal infection, which thrives in moist, dark areas of the body. Later, the dermatologist changed his mind and suspected eczema, a skin inflammation that causes redness and itching. Another possibility, he told Schroeder, was that he had developed contact dermatitis, a common allergic reaction to the shampoo, soap or fabric softener he used. Schroeder thought that was odd, but he changed his shampoo and soap brands and stopped using fabric softener. "I think he was winging it as he went," Schroeder said of his dermatologist. The rash didn't improve. Fifteen months after the first symptom, Schroeder returned to the dermatologist and asked him to perform a biopsy to determine the cause of the red patch. Then, late on the afternoon of Dec. 4, 2014, as Schroeder was waiting to board a flight to Las Vegas for a much anticipated long weekend with his son, his cellphone rang. On the line was his doctor, reporting test results sooner than Schroeder had expected. "Steve, this is kind of weird," he remembers the dermatologist saying when he answered his phone. Solution The doctor told Schroeder that his "jock itch" was actually an extremely rare, invasive cancer called extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD), a malignancy that involves the apocrine glands that produce sweat; it most often affects the vulva, scrotum or penis. The cause of the cancer is unknown, though some EMPD patients have close relatives with breast cancer. Schroeder's mother had the disease. EMPD is slow-growing, and mimics eczema and other benign conditions. A two-year delay between the appearance of the first symptoms and a definitive diagnosis is not uncommon, studies have found. In some cases, EMPD reflects an underlying cancer elsewhere in the body, but in others, including Schroeder's, no other cancer can be detected. If left untreated, EMPD can spread and become lethal. Only a few hundred cases have been reported worldwide, most of them in women over 50. As Schroeder tried to absorb the news, the dermatologist told him that he knew nothing about EMPD. He recommended that Schroeder consult a plastic surgeon. Once in-flight and doing research online, Schroeder was aghast at what he read. "It said things like, 'This is a death sentence,'" he recalled. "I was just freaking out. I spent a lot of time praying and a lot of time crying" as surreptitiously as possible. The plastic surgeon Schroeder saw told Schroeder he had never heard of EMPD. Schroeder called his dermatologist for help finding a doctor and was referred to Bradley D. Figler, then the director of reconstructive urology at Thomas Jefferson University. He was reassured when he learned that Figler was treating another man recently diagnosed with EMPD. In fact, Schroeder was the fourth EMPD patient Figler had seen in his 10-year career. "The cases were all pretty similar," said Figler, who is now an assistant professor of urology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. "They're all middle-aged white guys." In January 2015, Schroeder underwent about eight hours of surgery at Jefferson to remove the cancer, which had grown to encompass an area two inches by three inches, and to rebuild his scrotum, using skin grafted from his left leg. Figler said that the operation, which he performed with other specialists, involved Mohs surgery, in which thin layers of skin are progressively removed and examined under a microscope by a pathologist until there is no detectable malignancy. The goal is to remove all cancer while minimizing damage to surrounding tissue. That is particularly tricky in EMPD cases, Figler said, because the cancerous cells often are not clumped together. "He dealt with pretty radical surgery and a very significant recovery well and took it all in stride," Figler said. "It's really difficult to find expertise in this disease. He really sought it out." After Schroeder's six-week recovery, the waiting began. Recurrence is the rule, not the exception. In October 2015, Schroeder discovered another red patch, not far from the location of the first. He underwent a second surgery in Spokane, Wash., where he and his wife had relocated to be closer to relatives. One of his doctors pointed him to a study underway at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York involving a noninvasive imaging technique using confocal microscopy, which may be able to detect some cancers earlier than usual and with more precision. Schroeder enrolled in the study. In early 2016, doctors there found three suspicious areas near the site of his original surgery, including on his leg; biopsies revealed EMPD. Then in August 2016, Schroeder underwent a third operation at the University of Washington in Seattle. He has returned to work and periodically flies to New York for testing as part of the study. "I'm going to use whatever tools I can find at my disposal to try to keep this thing at bay," he said. In this April 23, 2014 file photo, e-cigarettes appear on display at Vape store in Chicago. Read more A 38-year-old man in Florida was killed when his vape pen exploded, sending projectiles into his head and causing a small fire in his house, in what is believed to be one of the first deaths from an e-cigarette explosion. Tallmadge D'Elia was found May 5 in the burning bedroom of his family's home in St. Petersburg, according to the Tampa Bay Times. An autopsy report released this week blamed a vape pen explosion for his death, according to local news media outlets. The cause of death was listed as "projectile wound of head" the pen exploded into pieces, at least two of which were sent into his head, the report said and he suffered burns on about 80 percent of his body. The "mod"-type pen, distributed by Smok-E Mountain, is manufactured in the Philippines, according to a company Facebook page, the Times reported. The Facebook page is not currently publicly accessible. According to a report from the U.S. Fire Administration (part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency), there were at least 195 incidents in which an electronic cigarette exploded or caught fire from 2009 through 2016, resulting in 133 injuries, 38 of which were severe. But there were no recorded deaths in the study's period. The explosions usually occur suddenly, the report found, "and are accompanied by loud noise, a flash of light, smoke, flames, and often vigorous ejection of the battery and other parts." More than half of the total incidents, 128, included fires started on nearby objects. The report blamed the incidents on the prevalence of lithium-ion batteries in the products. "No other consumer product places a battery with a known explosion hazard such as this in such close proximity to the human body," it said. "It is this intimate contact between the body and the battery that is most responsible for the severity of the injuries that have been seen. While the failure rate of the lithium-ion batteries is very small, the consequences of a failure, as we have seen, can be severe and life-altering for the consumer." A representative from Smok-E Mountain told Tampa TV station WFTS that it believed the problem to be an issue with the device's atomizer or battery, and not the device itself. The health effects related to the ingestion of e-cigarette vapor are still being studied by government agencies. There are no regulations that apply to the safety of the electronic mechanics or batteries of e-cigarettes, the U.S. Fire Administration report noted, though they are being considered by the Food and Drug Administration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for e-cigarette use include: not carrying loose e-cig batteries in a pocket, where they could come into contact with other metal objects; not charging with a phone charger; not charging while unattended; and not mixing and matching different brands or old and new batteries. FILE Pro-choice advocates hold signs outside the U.S. Supreme Court before rulings in Washington on June 27, 2016. Read more WASHINGTON The Trump administration is proposing a far-reaching change in the distribution of Title X family-planning funds that would make clinics that provide abortion services or referrals ineligible for the federal funding. The move would potentially defund Planned Parenthood by millions of dollars. Under the proposal filed Thursday and announced Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services, the $260 million program would require a "bright line" of physical and financial separation between Title X services and providers that perform or support abortion services or refer to abortion as a method of family planning. These requirements are similar to those that were in place, although not enforced, during Ronald Reagan's presidency. Unlike the Reagan regulation, the proposal will not prohibit counseling for clients about abortion. It does, however, take away the requirement that providers must offer pregnant women the opportunity for "neutral" and fact-based counseling regarding pregnancy termination unless she indicates she does not wish to receive such information. Neither the White House nor HHS would comment publicly on the proposal, which was sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for an interagency review. But antiabortion activists received a briefing by phone from administration officials on Friday and were quick to praise the measure as evidence of President Donald Trump's commitment to their cause. Jeanne Mancini, president of the antiabortion group March for Life, praised the administration in a statement Friday for taking action to direct taxpayer dollars to centers that do not promote or perform abortions. "This money will now be redirected to comprehensive family health and planning centers that don't perform abortions and understand that abortion is not health care," she said. "The pro-life grass roots will be pleased to see President Trump deliver on yet another pro-life promise, and we look forward to continued progress is restoring a culture of life here in the United States." Trump has delivered on several top priorities for abortion foes since taking office. He has appointed several judges with a history of opposition to abortion to federal appellate courts, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. He reimposed a provision that bars federal funds from going to groups overseas that provide abortion referrals, which is known as the Mexico City policy. He signed legislation that allows states to withhold federal Title X funds from facilities that provide abortion services. And his administration has attempted to curtail the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, which funds comprehensive sex education programs that can include information about abortion. Many family planning experts, by contrast, said the plan could deprive Americans of access to the services they need to prevent unintended pregnancies. Title X-funded health centers provide several basic services such as cancer screenings, birth control, sexually-transmitted-infection screenings, pregnancy testing and well-woman exams. While the changes do not affect the level of funding the government is providing, there has been a lot of alarm about how difficult it would be for smaller, community-based providers to absorb the vast number of patients served by Planned Parenthood. The organization which receives $50 million to $60 million in Title X funds and serves an estimated 41 percent of the 4 million patients who receive care through the program is by far the largest recipient of the grants. The policy would have ripple effects far beyond Planned Parenthood. Susan Buchanan, chief executive of the Boulder Valley Women's Health Center, said in an interview Friday that it "puts us in the position of having to make a Hobbesian choice" of having to choose between the 90 percent of the clinic's patients that get a range of services from the clinic and the 10 percent that receive abortions. The center is the only Title X recipient in Colorado that provides abortions, and the funding accounts for $550,000, or roughly 20 percent, of its annual budget. Buchanan noted that the state had made major strides between 2009 and 2014 through the privately-funded Colorado Family Planning Initiative, which focused on providing women with long-acting reversible contraceptives. The state's teen birthrate dropped 50 percent during that five-year period, she said, avoiding at least $66 million in spending on entitlement programs such as food stamps. The center uses its federal funding to operate a free clinic for teenagers, which allows young women to obtain contraception without telling their parents or having to file insurance claims. "They're shooting themselves in the foot, really," she said. This week, more than 200 members of Congress including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., expressed their opposition to the change in a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. "The move would disproportionately impact communities of color, the uninsured, and low-income individuals, and could reverse progress made in critical areas," they wrote. Planned Parenthood as well as other proponents, such as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, D, said Friday they were prepared to challenge the proposed rule in court. It will take several months before the rule will take effect, because HHS must first subject it to public comment, respond to that feedback, and issue a final version of the proposal. "Washington has been, and will continue to be, a state that stands with women and their right to safe and legal abortion and reproductive care," Inslee said in a statement. "Attorney General Bob Ferguson is exploring our legal options, and if this administration insists on weaponizing the Title X program, I will work our legislative leaders to make sure that no matter what happens in DC, every woman in Washington state has access to all the family planning and health care services she needs." Conservatives are confident that the new rules will withstand a legal challenge because similar Reagan-era requirements overcame a Supreme Court challenge. David Christensen, vice president of government affairs for the Family Research Council, said in an interview that those standards required operations receiving Title X funds to be physically and financially separate from those performing abortions. "Under Reagan, they could not be co-located, they couldn't refer for abortion," Christensen said. In a conference call with reporters Friday, Planned Parenthood's leaders characterized the new rules as "draconian" and "an attack" on women's basic rights and safe, legal abortion. "It's completely outrageous that a small group of people's ideological views are being pressed through these government agencies onto women's health care across the country," said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the organization. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists expressed deep concern about the anticipated changes, which the group says go far beyond the abortion debate. "Anticipated changes to Title X pose an egregious intrusion in the patient-provider relationship and may force physicians to omit essential, medically accurate information from their patient counseling," Hal Lawrence III, the group's executive vice president and chief executive, said in a statement. An administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the rule had not been issued yet, said that the changes would not necessarily result in the defunding of Planned Parenthood as long as the group is willing to "disentangle" their abortion-related services from family-planning services. However, Planned Parenthood officials have argued that informing women of all their choices including abortion is an integral part of the family-planning discussion, and on Friday, its leaders reiterated that they would not waver from that commitment. Buchanan noted that eight years ago, it separated its family planning and abortion provider operations to comply with requirements imposed by then-Gov. Bill Owens, R, but was disqualified from receiving state family planning funds anyway. "We separated into two different corporate structures. We had separate books, insurance, separate boards, separate everything," she said. "It doesn't matter what you do, they'll figure out a way to disqualify you. Mike Smith rides Justify to victory during the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs. Evidently it wasnt memorable for everyone. Read more HARRISBURG The Preakness is happening this weekend, providing yet another opportunity for celebrities to see and be seen as thoroughbred horses jockey for a chance at an elite racing title. It's Round Two in a three-race series that also includes the Kentucky Derby (held earlier this month) and the Belmont Stakes (next month). They're memorable races unless, maybe, if you're Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson). State senators and some of their staffers had to file financial disclosure forms earlier this month. When they did, Scarnati, his chief of staff Drew Crompton, and senator-turned-GOP-gubernatorial-nominee Scott Wagner (R., York) each disclosed that he received roughly $4,000 in travel, hospitality and lodging last year from Churchill Downs, Inc., the company famous for running the Kentucky Derby. The state doesn't require them to list the date of the trip or details about it. Asked about the trip earlier this month and whether it overlapped with the Derby, Scarnati said, "I don't have the dates in hand here, so I really can't tell you." But surely, Clout asked, you would remember if you went to the Derby? "I would think I would but I, quite frankly, am not a horse-racing man in many ways. I care about the industry here in Pennsylvania," he said. Churchill Downs remembers the trip. The company, which announced earlier this year that it hopes to acquire a venue in Erie, disclosed the trip in a separate filing with the Department of State. Wagner also remembers the trip. His spokesman, Andrew Romeo, said, "Churchill Downs reached out to invite Scott to the Derby last year, and he politely accepted their invite and attended." Crompton, also the Senate's top attorney, said Scarnati spoke to "several senior racing officials, some associated with Churchill, about a variety of horse racing issues in Pennsylvania and outside it during the visit. No taxpayer money was spent." Tamira Brown and Jalil Frazier on the front porch, where steep stairs leading to the sidewalk pose a major obstacle for Jalil. Read more "Today is a bad day," Tamira Brown says, showing me inside the rowhouse she shares with her fiance, Jalil Frazier, and their children. She leads me to the dining room, which has been turned into a hospital room of sorts, and turns on the lights. Frazier, lying on a metal bed, faces the wall. He is propped up on his right side by a hard blue pillow to help heal a painful bedsore. A pair of black medical boots stabilize his feet. When he turns over, a large scar peeks out from underneath his white tank top. His multiple tattoos, in memory of friends who died, are barely noticeable compared with the scars left from when Temple University Hospital doctors fought to keep him alive. He was shot and left paralyzed while protecting a group of kids in a North Philadelphia barbershop. "When he lays around, I don't bother him too much because I know it's one of those days," Brown says. She reminds him it's a blessing he's still there. Days like this, Frazier can't get out of bed, or out of his head. "Some days are better than others," he says, his voice sometimes raspy. They are quiet for a moment, and sitting between them, I see it a wave of emotions left unsaid. They are shell-shocked, struggling with the fear and exhaustion and uncertainty of several lives shattered by gunfire. Before the shooting, Brown said, Frazier, 28, was unstoppable, working two jobs, one at a meat factory and another, cleaning at night. He wanted to open his own business. Brown, also 28, worked as a home health aide before taking a break to care for him. They have two sons ages 9 and 3, the younger of whom has Hirschsprung's disease, a chronic bowel condition. Brown had taken the boys to the Harris Hair Styling Barbershop the day before he was shot, but the boy's colostomy bag leaked and he had to go back the next night, Jan. 11, to get a trim. Two men walked in with guns and tried to rob the place. Some kids were in the shop, and Frazier tried to thwart the robbery. He began fighting one of the men. He doesn't remember any of it. Not being on life support for about a month. Not his heart stopping four times. Not even the boys whose lives he saved. Police arrested a man shortly after the shooting, but a judge threw out the case for lack of evidence. The investigation continues. Frazier was in the hospital for three months and rehab for another after being shot repeatedly in his right leg and chest. News reports hailed him as a hero, a Good Samaritan. Then he faded from the headlines. That's where the story usually ends for us, just as the reality is setting in for gunshot victims who are mostly left to fend for themselves, often without the basics. In Frazier's case, he doesn't have a ramp to get in and out of the Olney home he was finally able to return to last month. Or a chair lift to get up the stairs and into his own bed without scooting and risking more injuries. There are five steps between their porch and the sidewalk in front of their narrow street, five steep steps between him and the independence he craves when he's lying on that bed, stuck in his thoughts. A couple of weeks ago, in an attempt at some normalcy, the couple decided they would go around the corner to pick up their son from school. Brown called some friends to carry the wheelchair down the stairs. They hadn't predicted the hill, a challenge for Frazier on the way there, nearly impossible on the way home. The couple can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. What isn't amusing in the least is how victims of gun violence are so often left to fend for themselves, fortunate if someone sets up a GoFundMe page or a community rallies around them. Anyone interested in helping can donate through this fundraising page or by emailing the couple directly at Jaymere2008@gmail.com. A nurse comes a couple of times a week, and Frazier gets some physical and occupational therapy, though not as much as Brown thinks he needs. His blood pressure is still a problem. He has trouble sitting up on his own. He needs to be rotated every couple of hours. "It's basically just us," Brown said. What about work? he wonders. What about his legs? They are applying for up to $35,000 through the Victims Compensation Assistance Program, but even if they get the full amount, that takes a while and it won't cover the expenses of gunshot wounds that on average, experts say, cost $50,000 to $60,000 and that's just for in-hospital costs. "Unfortunately, there are so many victims that lives are changed and they're scrambling," said Melany Nelson, executive director of Northwest Victim Services. Nelson helped get Frazier a mechanical wheelchair, donated through the Teddy and Joan Pendergrass Foundation, which aids people with injured spinal cords. But without a ramp, it's just another piece of medical equipment. Now, he waits. And wonders. What if he hadn't been there that night, if he hadn't stood between the kids and the bullets that tore through his body? What if he never walks again? "I don't want to think that this is where I'm going to be for the rest of my life," he says. For now, everything is uncertain including the young couple's plans to get married, to buy a home. Frazier looks at Brown, and the couple share another overwhelming silence. "That's still the plan," he says softly. Low Cut Connie, left to right: Larry Scotton, Adam Weiner, Saundra Williams, Lucas Rinz, Will Donnelly and James Everhart. The band played Union Transfer on Thursday night in support of its new album 'Dirty Pictures (part 2).' Read more Adam Weiner stood on his piano bench, took a good look at the packed house at Union Transfer on a sticky Thursday night and sniffed. "It's getting pungent in here," the sweat-soaked bandleader proclaimed. "You know it's a good Low Cut Connie show when it stinks." This one was particularly smelly. The six-person Philadelphia band who now include vocalist Saundra Williams, formerly with the late Sharon Jones' soul revival group the Dap-Kings, as a full-time member were playing a hometown record release show for Dirty Pictures (Part 2). That album, which, like its (Part 1) predecessor, was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, shows the barroom boogie band's continued evolution into deeper rock and soul territory. "We're giving you first dibs, Philly," the Cherry Hill-reared Weiner announced. "New York City" where the band was set to play the following evening at the Bowery Ballroom "gets sloppy seconds." Low Cut Connie have been around for five albums now, having first come to old-school rock-and-roll enthusiasts' attention with Get Out the Lotion in 2011. Back then, the band was led by Weiner with guitarist Dan Finnemore of Birmingham, England. The transatlantic marriage didn't work out in the end, and beginning with the first Dirty Pictures, Weiner has impressively shouldered the songwriting load on his own though Thursday night's show did make room for one scorcher penned and sung by guitarist James Everhart that recalled the '60s British Invasion band the Animals. As a showman, Weiner will stop at nothing to connect with his audience, whether that means striking gymnastic poses atop the battered upright piano he's named Shondra (who got her own ovation when loaded on the stage before the show started) or pulling out chest hairs and presenting them to audience members. And as a bandleader, he's fronting a unit that's rocking and rumbling at its peak. Weiner is a student of such Southern piano greats as Mose Vinson, James Booker, and Jerry Lee Lewis. And though his instrument is at the center of nearly every loud and louche LCC song no wonder Elton John loves the band the unit as whole brings a joyful swagger to the stage. That goes from the rhythm section of powerhouse drummer Larry Scotton and always smiling bassist Lucas Rinz to the twin guitar attack of Everhart and Will Donnelly, who may have been regretting on Friday morning that he smashed his guitar on the stage in an expression of passion after the band climaxed with their cover of Prince's "Controversy." While proving himself as the band's sole frontman, Weiner aims to create a community in which everybody's invited to the party. Before a take on "Shake It Little Tina" from 2015's Hi Honey, he engaged in a call-and-response exchange with Williams, issuing an invitation to one and all. "I don't care what color you are, I don't care what religion you are," he announced. "I don't care who you love, as long as you love Low Cut Connie." On Thursday, the band gave the crowd plenty of reason to, particularly during a five-song, leave-it-all-on-the-floor encore that began with Weiner standing atop Shondra with a towel wrapped around his head, singing "Me N Annie" while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Weiner then paid tribute to Charles Bradley with his own take on the late soul man's cover of Black Sabbath's "Changes," showing that he's now accomplished enough as a vocalist to do justice to Bradley's take and going into the crowd to press the flesh while he was at it. And along with the closing mantra of the Dionysian "Controversy" "People call me rude, I wish we all were nude / I wish there was no black or white, I wish there were no rules" perhaps the most satisfying development of the evening was Williams' star turn in the spotlight. The stellar backup vocalist has been getting increasingly involved in the LCC stage show since joining last year, and she stepped out with a rousing gospel celebration of Claude Ely's death-defying standard "Ain't No Grave," that turned the crowded barroom into a holy rolling sanctified space. Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school on Friday. Read more A student is in police custody following a shooting at a Texas high school Friday morning that left 10 people dead and another 10 wounded, making it one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Here are the key things to know about the shooting at Santa Fe High School outside Houston: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that 10 people are dead following the shooting, and that another 10 had been wounded. The majority of fatalities were students, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. Multiple news outlets have identified the shooting suspect as Dimitrios Pagourtzis. Two additional people are also being questioned. The shooter used two weapons, according to Abbott a shotgun and a .38 revolver. Abbott said both were legally owned by the suspect's father. The identities of those killed have not been released. Here other developments from the day about the deadly shooting: Suspect identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, held on capital murder charges Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old student at the school, has been arrested and is being held on capital murder charges in connection with the shooting, according to the Galveston County Sheriff's Office. According to the AP, Pagourtzis is a football player on the school's junior varsity team and is a member of a dance squad with a local Greek Orthodox church. "I played football with him for three years," Rey Montemayor III, a senior at the school, told the Daily Beast. "He was cool to me. I lifted with him a couple of times." "I talked to him once or twice," 15-year-old student Mateo Twilley told CNN. "He was really quiet and wore a trench coat almost every day." The suspect was hiding a shotgun under his trench coat on Friday when he waked into school and opened fire, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Governor outlines latest details on shooting investigation On Friday afternoon, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott offered new details about the investigation into the deadly shooting as part of a press conference that included Sen. Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. Patrick. Among the new information Abbott provided: Police are interviewing two other people of interest, though Abbott said he couldn't say if either was suspected of having any involvement in the attack. Officials have identified various different types of explosives, including one CO2 device and at least one Molotov cocktail, which Abbott said was located in the suspect's vehicle. The guns used in the shooting belonged to the suspect's father, Abbott said. Officials are aware of information on the suspect's computer and cell phone that revealed he wanted to commit suicide after the school shooting. "This is not acceptable in the state of Texas or in this country. This must end, and we must do everything we can," Lt. Gov. Patrick said. "We can't protect every parking lot and every stadium and every building, but we can sure do better." Stories from the scene Leila Butler, a sophomore at the school, told ABC13 fire alarms at the school went off around 7:45 a.m. local time. She said some students heard shots before sheltering off campus. "I heard four shots," student Paige Curry told ABC13. "'It was real this time. It wasn't real last time." In February, the school was placed on lockdown after popping sounds were heard; no threat was identified. Student Dakota Shrader told reporters she heard the fire alarm, but didn't think anything of it as she exited the classroom. But then she heard three gunshots, and said she was immediately told to run by teachers. Shrader ran with a classmate and found shelter, where she called her mother. "I shouldn't be going through this. It's my school. This is my daily life. I shouldn't have to feel like that," Shrader said. "I feel scared to even go back." Senior Logan Roberds told the Associated Press he was near the school's art room when he heard a fire alarm and left the building with other students. Once outside, Roberds said, he heard two loud bangs. He initially thought somebody was loudly hitting a trash can. Then came three more bangs. "That's when the teachers told us to run," Roberds said, who said he suddenly realized, "Oh my God, this is not fake. This is actually happening." Where the shooting happened Sante Fe is about 30 miles outside Houston. A chilling prediction This shooting comes just more than three months after 17 people, including 14 students, were killed following a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.. Since that shooting, several of the students have become high-profile activists, calling on elected officials to enact tougher gun-control legislation. On Thursday morning, at a conference in Los Angeles for education writers, shooting survivor and gun-control advocate David Hogg offered a chilling prediction in light of Friday's deadly shooting. "There is someone alive right now that will not be alive at this time tomorrow and has never even thought about gun violence, but everyone around them will have to for the rest of their lives," Hogg said, according to Houston Chronicle education reporter Lindsay Ellis, who was in attendance. Hogg weighed in on Twitter Friday morning after seeing reports of the shooting in Texas, blasting politicians for "acting" like they cared "when in reality they just want to boost their approval ratings before midterms." Delaney Tarr, one of Hogg's classmates, also weighed in on Twitter. Santa Fe students protested gun violence last month On April 20, students from Santa Fe High School participated in a walk-out to protest gun violence as part of the national #NeverAgain movement led by the teenage Florida shooting survivors. President Trump weighs in When news of the shooting first broke, President Trump noted on Twitter, "Early reports not looking good." Later Friday morning, during an event in the East Room at the White House, the president offered support to those affected by the attack. "This has been going on to long in our country. Too many years, too many decades now," Trump said. "My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others." Reaction from politicians in Philly area Several local politicians posted on social media about the shooting, some offering condolences and others calling for gun-law reform. This is a breaking news report. Check back for updates. Building at 12th and Morris Streets in South Philadelphia that is the future home of Separatist Beer Project. Read more Separatist Beer Project, the onetime gypsy brewer from Easton known until recently as Sole Artisan Ales, says it has signed a lease for what it calls "a concept bar and beer experience" in South Philadelphia. Joe Fay, who owns Separatist with his wife, Laura, said the location is a new mixed-use building at 12th and Morris Streets, on the doorstep of the East Passyunk strip. The bar could open as soon as August. Separatist, which collaborates with Free Will Brewing for much of its production, opened a bar in Easton last year. Fay said the new bar would serve its beer plus wines and coffee. He described the look as "modern Scandinavian." The basement, with 10-foot ceilings, will be a kind of rathskeller, with barrel- and bottle-aging and a large table to be used for special events. The site once was the home of Artisan Boulanger Patissier, whose building was razed after it moved in 2013 to 1218 Mifflin St. Restaurateur Chris Scarduzio initially planned to open a restaurant in the new building, owned by Steve and Tamar Olitsky. Police are trying to identify the suspect shown in a video spraying a red substance onto the Israeli flag that flies over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Read more The District Attorney's Office on Friday released video of an unidentified suspect who can be seen defacing the Israeli flag on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway earlier this week. Prosecutors also were preparing an affidavit to rearrest a 25-year-old man who was photographed under the flag, located near 16th Street, holding a water gun used to spray the flag with a red substance. Antoine Guyton was arrested at the scene and charged, but those charges were dropped as the investigation pointed to an additional suspect, said Ben Waxman, spokesman for District Attorney Larry Krasner. In the video, the suspect is wearing an orange shirt, tan pants, and sunglasses with his face partly covered by a keffiyeh, a scarf sometimes worn by Palestinians and their supporters. The suspect, who appears to be a white male, uses the pump-action water gun to repeatedly spray the flag. A man in the background appears to be video recording the vandalism. Anyone with information about the unidentified suspect is being asked to contact Central Detectives at 215-686-3093 or -3094. "There is very much an active and ongoing investigation," Waxman said. "To protect the integrity of that investigation, we have no further comment at this time." Police had no known address for Guyton. A police spokesman on Friday had no comment on the matter, referring the case to the DA's Office. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia thanked Krasner and his office "for their swift investigation into the desecration of the Israeli flag on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The Jewish Federation has communicated with the DA's Office and Central Detectives, and we are grateful that the investigation has led to a reissue of the affidavit for the arrest of Guyton and that the public is now involved in the search for the additional suspect in this crime." "This year, thousands of people across the region have joined with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia to commemorate Israel's 70th anniversary. We look forward to continuing to honor Israel and our local Jewish communities safely and respectfully," the federation said in a statement. "We urge the public to assist the District Attorney's Office in identifying the additional suspect, and we look forward to a fair and just conclusion to this troubling episode." The incident followed protests Monday in Center City over the deaths of Palestinians in confrontations with Israeli forces, the same day a ceremony was held in Jerusalem on the controversial relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv. In November, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement in London. Read more Good heavens, hide the china! A clamorous clutch of dreadfully gauche Yanks has been making a mockery of the royal wedding, set to occur on Saturday in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Can the aristocracy survive? That's hard to tell, judging from the class-based ruckus churning around Meghan Markle, the American actress (Rachel Zane on Suits) and California gal who's marrying His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales (a.k.a. Harry), 33. He descends from Charles and Diana, as well as Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her Other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith (a.k.a. Grandma). It appears that Markle, 36, has the temerity to actually have a family herself. A nutty American one. And therein lies the problem. "It's like The Dukes of Hazzard and The Simpsons vs. the royal family," said Markle's 51-year-old half-brother, Thomas Jr., a window fitter in Oregon. He would know. The guy was arrested for allegedly shoving a gun against his girlfriend's head in a drunken argument. He also hand-penned a note to Harry (complete with misspellings) warning him not to marry Markle, calling her a "below C average actress" who's "jaded, shallow, conceited" and will "make a joke of you and the royal family heritage." He also called his half-sibling a "phoney," which in the United Kingdom, America, and anywhere else they speak English is spelled "phony." Then there's dad, Thomas, 73, who lives bankrupt in Mexico and has been accused of working with a British tabloid photographer to stage phony (phoney?) wedding-related photos, for which he may or may not have been paid. Also, Markle's half-sister, Samantha, 52, has been overheard telling all and sundry that little Meghan (whom she hasn't seen in more than 10 years) "would be busing tables and babysitting" if it weren't for her father. Samantha is also writing a book titled The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister not a tell-all, she insists, but an enchanting account of "the beautiful nuances of our lives." Not to be outdone, out of the Markle woodwork is assembling another Oregon contingent of the family, including former sister-in-law Tracy Dooley Markle and her sons (Markle's nephews) Tyler and Thomas Dooley. Tyler, 25, is a cannabis farmer who's apparently unveiling a potent strain of weed known as "Markle Sparkle." He has said he'd be happy to offer Meghan and Harry a sample. The Dooleys showed up this week in Heathrow Airport, with one of the nephews rocking a diverting tank top in what may have been his homage to The Beverly Hillbillies or Jersey Shore or something. In a stunning display of what observers are hailing as good taste, none of the relatives is invited to the wedding, save Thomas Sr., who had surgery this week and isn't expected to attend, and Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, 60, a social worker and yoga instructor. Undaunted, the Dooleys promised they would appear as TV commentators during the wedding for Good Morning Britain, eager to dish on a relative they have not seen in two decades. And to put the cherry on the Bakewell tart, so to speak, Markle's ex-husband (yes, O shocked Britannia, she's divorced), Trevor Engelson, has been shopping a sitcom about a divorced American mother who moves to London to marry a British royal. "All in good fun," the British might say, if they weren't British. Instead, U.K. TV interviewer Piers Morgan uttered this: Markle's family has "behaved like the worst kind of vile, dysfunctional, money-grabbing misfits. " Other commentators shared that unvarnished thought. Similarly, the queen is said to be piqued, although no one has confirmed that. While they haven't acquitted themselves all that well, the Americans may never have stood a chance with the English upper crust because of social-class differences, according to historian Stephanie Coontz, an expert on marriage and the family, at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. "The Brits have a more historical notion of class that has to do with breeding and bloodlines," Coontz said. "One is judged by the extent to which one has been socialized into aristocratic manners." And manners may be in short supply among the Markles and other Americans, in the eyes of the British. No less a British intellect than George Orwell, who penned Animal Farm in 1945, wrote disparagingly about how the lower classes smell and how the upper classes are disgusted by the working class. "That's been going on for a long time," said sociologist Allison Hurst, an expert on class from Oregon State University. For example, the middle and upper classes in England (and the United States for that matter) will see photos of Markle's overweight father holding a bag of Kentucky Fried Chicken and mock him, Hurst said. They won't directly make fun of his class, which is taboo, at least in public. But they'll disparage his eating habits, Hurst said, as a code for saying he's less than. "Therefore, people can mock him without sounding like they're being class snobs," she concluded. In the end, it seems, this wedding is placing Markle and her fellow Americans in the worst possible light. But there are a few factors to consider before we bow our heads and succumb to British superiority: Markle herself, whose mother is African American, said that she is descended from slaves, 3.4 million of whom were taken to the Americas by British ships, according to historian David Richardson of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. While British weddings are long on pomp, some were short on substance. King Henry VIII, for example, beheaded two of his six wives. Americans kicked the Brits out of America twice (the Revolution, the War of 1812), then bailed them out in World War II. The British press may be hounding the Markles, but they're also famous for tapping the phones of their fellow Englanders. And, let's face it, Harry's dad, Prince Charles, was somewhat less than discreet in his marriage to Harry's mother, Diana. And if all that weren't enough, the British gave the world the Spice Girls. So, chin up, Meghan Markle. It's your day. Ignore your relatives. And let England see you smile. Protesters organized by the interfaith group POWER pass the Starbucks in the 1200 Block of Market Street, heading toward City Hall on April 19, 2018. Read more His name is Pedro. That was the name he gave when he walked into a Starbucks in La Canada Flintridge, California, and ordered a venti white mocha and a venti iced caramel macchiato. But "Beaner" a racial slur for Latinos was the name printed on his drinks. "It's a way racists refer to us Latinos. It was bad. Anyone who is Latino would be offended too," Pedro told Telemundo 52, a sister station of a Los Angeles NBC affiliate. (Pedro declined to give his last name to the station.) >>READ MORE: Black men's arrests at Philadelphia Starbucks prompt city probes amid national outcry And so, at 8:44 a.m. on Tuesday, Pedro became yet another person who was racially profiled and discriminated against in a commercial space. The incident came one month after two black men left a Starbucks 2,700 miles away in handcuffs after they arrived 10 minutes early for a business meeting. Twelve days from now, Starbucks will close 8,000 stores for an afternoon to give racial-bias training to 175,000 employees. Starbucks has since apologized for Pedro's experience, and a spokesman told The Post that the company's "leadership team" met with him Thursday morning. "He accepted our apology," the spokesman, Nate Nesbitt, said. "This kind of mistake is unacceptable, and we will take additional steps to assess what happened here and how our partners can be better." Another spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a question about whether the incident would affect Starbucks's approach to its May 29 racial-bias training. Pedro told the station that he was initially offered a $50 gift card to make up for the incident, which he declined. Pedro said he was sure the employee knew his name, since he called out "Pedro" when the order was ready. "It's like an insult overall," he said. Starbucks has drawn a lot of criticism since April 12, when Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson arrived 10 minutes early for a business meeting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia and a white manager called the police. >>READ MORE: Black men arrested at Philadelphia Starbucks reach agreements with city, coffee company Starbucks' executive chairman Howard Schultz and chief executive Kevin Johnson met with Nelson and Robinson personally to apologize. The men will also take part in the company's racial-bias training and work with former Attorney General Eric Holder, who is involved in shaping the May 29 curriculum and other long-term initiatives. Earlier this month, Nelson and Robinson agreed to a symbolic payment of $1 each from the city of Philadelphia and asked the city to put $200,000 in a grant program for high school students who are aspiring entrepreneurs. Nelson and Robinson also reached an undisclosed financial settlement with Starbucks, "as well as continued listening and dialogue between the parties." And last week, Schulz said Starbucks would open its bathrooms to everyone, whether they buy something or not. Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Schultz said the company's afternoon of racial-bias training would kick-start an "entire transformation" of how Starbucks employees are trained. "I think it's fair to say that most people have some level of unconscious bias based on our own life experience," he said. "So there's going to be a lot of education about how we all grew up, how we see the world and how we can be better." For nine long years, Christina Generoso anxiously waited, hoping to hear news that her missing son, Jason Grabert, had finally been found. When he left their Howell, N.J., home, he was 37 and had recently been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After he vanished, his sister, Tammy Csaszar, kept in constant contact with police and missing-persons organizations to see whether there were any clues as to where he might have gone. "I will never give up on searching for you. Jason, I am pleading with you to come home or call me or Mom," she wrote on her Facebook page last year on his birthday. But Grabert was dead, and his remains had gone unidentified for seven years. His family didn't learn the truth until this year, when a database matched their DNA with his remains and led them to the coroner's office in Broward County, Fla. Grabert's remains were shipped to New Jersey, and last month, the family held a memorial service that drew 100 mourners. "We brought him home," Generoso said. Grabert's case is the single "success story" to come out of a first-of-its kind event that the New Jersey State Police held last year to help families where loved ones have gone missing, said Detective Sgt. Joel Trella, an organizer. "The family was hopeful he was still alive, but they were happy to have a conclusion to the case," he said. The second annual event, which includes a candlelight ceremony, will be held Saturday at Rowan University's Chamberlain Student Center in Glassboro from 1 to 5 p.m. Families searching for missing relatives are welcome, organizers say. No registration is required. (For more information, contact njmissing@gw.njsp.org.) The Grabert case was solved after his mother and sister provided DNA samples to state police during the event last May. "It was only a matter of minutes for them to swab our mouths and put the DNA into a test tube," Generoso said this week. "I wish someone had told us about the DNA years ago." Generoso, 67, said she was heartbroken to learn her son had died at age 39, but relieved to know what happened to him. The uncertainty of not knowing his fate had been difficult, she said. Trella said a 2010 state law requires police in New Jersey to attempt to obtain DNA in missing-persons cases. But in practice, he said, that is not always done. He urged relatives of missing persons to submit DNA samples. The DNA is processed and the information is entered into a secure database that is used only to match cases involving missing persons and unidentified deceased, he said. More than 15,000 cases appeared in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System's (NamUs) databases in 2011, according to its website. "Finally bringing my brother home gave me a sense of closure, but also broke my heart. He will forever be missed," Csaszar said. Generoso said her family wanted to share the story of its search for Grabert to encourage others. "We want to help other people bring their loved ones home, because we know what we went through," she said. Before Grabert left home, Generoso said, he told her that people were looking for him and he wanted to "go off the grid." He said he couldn't tell her where he was going "for her own protection." She hired a private detective to find him, and the family had posters with his picture circulated on websites for missing persons. Then, Generoso said, her daughter learned of the state police event last year and they submitted their DNA. The search ultimately led them to a sad truth: Grabert had taken his own life. His body was discovered in an abandoned home, she said. Finding no identification, the Florida coroner consulted a missing persons website and saw a listing that said the missing New Jersey man often wore a rope chain necklace with an onyx charm that contained his grandmother's ashes, she said. The coroner recalled the charm, but could not make a positive identification without more proof, Trella said. The DNA match enabled positive identification, and the family's quest for closure was complete. A 21-year-old Camden County man was killed when his car was struck by a NJ Transit train in Lindenwold late Thursday morning, the state agency said. About 11:45 a.m., an Atlantic City Line train was heading west to Philadelphia when it hit a car that was on the tracks at the Maple Avenue crossing, NJ Transit reported. Namier Al-Uqdah, of Berlin, was killed in the accident. Three crew members and no passengers were on the train at the time, and they were not injured. The train service was briefly suspended. Mary Jane Fonder (center) was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 after being found guilty of killing fellow churchgoer Rhonda Smith. Read more Edward Fonder III walked out his front door and into history in August 1993. The home he left behind, built with his own hands, came down this month after weathering a tortured legacy as a place where dark thoughts form and violence takes root among a thick canopy of trees. Its most recent resident, Mary Jane Fonder, now lives 140 miles away, occupying a cell in the state correctional institution at Muncy. She won't be leaving: Fonder was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 for slaying a church secretary in a bizarre, brazen murder that thrust Bucks County's rural Springfield Township into national headlines. After clearing decades' worth of trash and clutter, all that's left of the Fonder house on the aptly named Winding Road is its foundation, cinder blocks jutting out of the earth like so many jagged teeth. As empty as the property is, investigators still hold hope that it bears some hidden knowledge, shreds of information that may finally determine the fate of the family's patriarch, who vanished a month after his 80th birthday. John Brunner is eager to help find those clues, should they lie somewhere on the 12 acres of dense forest that he purchased from Fonder's children last year. He granted county detectives full rein of the house and the woods around it when they caught wind that the property had changed hands. It was, as he put it last week, an obvious decision. "Someone out there is guilty, and they need to be held responsible," Brunner, 75, said from his kitchen table, a few dozen yards from the ruins of the Fonder house. "Make no mistake, he was murdered. He didn't walk away, and he ain't missing. No one deserves that." Officially, Brunner's theory about Fonder's fate is just that. As far as police are concerned, the older man is still considered missing. This week, investigators plan to examine the property with ground-penetrating radar before giving Brunner the go-ahead to finish clearing the skeleton of the home. Sources close to the investigation said detectives wanted to take "one last shot" at the cold case, closing up any loose ends left after being barred from the property by the previous owners. Edward Fonder wasn't what Brunner would describe as a friend, but they were friendly. Brunner would strike up conversations with the older man when he'd see him, learning about his years working as a master tool and die maker in Philadelphia, about his passion and skill as a pianist. When his daughter, Mary Jane, called Brunner's wife early on Aug. 26, 1993, to say that she couldn't find him, Brunner immediately knew something was wrong. The 80-year-old could barely walk, he said, relying on a cane after undergoing two hip replacements. And he needed daily doses of his heart medication. Brunner, an avid outdoorsman, grabbed the yellow Labrador he used as his hunting dog and scoured the Fonder property that morning the first in what would become a parade of people looking for the missing man. "I walked over the whole 12 acres," Brunner recalled. "He wasn't there." Days later, when a search party of about 40 volunteers met in Brunner's driveway to march, arm-in-arm, through the woods, he didn't join them. After a few hours, they reached the same conclusion he had on that first day. Police ramped up their search, sweeping the ground with bloodhounds and a helicopter. Eight months after he disappeared, Fonder's wallet was found in a mailbox in Allentown, Lehigh County, its contents intact. At the time, police identified Mary Jane as a person of interest in the case, since she was the last person to see her father alive. She bristled at the questioning by police, saying it was "harassment of the highest order." Meanwhile, friends and family described her relationship with her father as strained and contentious, prone to bickering. "I had a doozy of a father," she told investigators years later, describing him as an "always mad, raging man." Her brother, Edward Fonder IV, said his father told him "he couldn't take it anymore." "They were similar in personality," he told the Inquirer in 1994. "It's hard to have a relationship with just one person. They were two needy people living together." No charges were ever filed in Fonder's disappearance. He was legally declared dead in 2000, under a Pennsylvania law that makes such rulings automatic after seven years. The case was reopened in 2008, when prosecutors discovered that Fonder had never reported her father's disappearance to federal authorities and had collected nearly $33,000 in payments from his pension. That issue was settled in U.S. District Court, but it was the least of Fonder's worries at the time. Rhonda Smith, a volunteer secretary at the nearby Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, was found mortally wounded in the church office on Jan. 23, 2008. Fonder, a fellow churchgoer, initially threw herself at Smith's family, sending sympathy cards, baking pies, and sitting near them at the woman's funeral. "That should have been me in the ground instead of Rhonda," Fonder wrote in a card revealed during the investigation. "This never should have happened. Anyone could have been there that day." It was, apparently, a calculated act. A .38-caliber revolver registered to Fonder was found in nearby Lake Nockamixon by a father and son out fishing. Ballistics matched it to Smith's wounds. While on trial for the murder, Fonder was characterized as being infatuated with Pastor Gregory Shreaves, the church's spiritual leader, who she believed was having an affair with Smith. Prosecutors said Fonder showed obsessive behavior, sneaking food into the priest's home while he was away and leaving long, rambling messages for him on his answering machine at all hours of the night. She later admitted to investigators she had "very sexual [and] warm feelings about" Shreaves. Fonder was sentenced to life in prison in December 2008. Late last year, Patricia Nemetch, to whom Mary Jane Fonder and her brother granted power of attorney, contacted Brunner to see if he'd be interested in buying the property. Nemetch declined to comment for this story, saying her dealings with the Fonder children are confidential. In September, Brunner closed on the land, paying $175,000, property records show. "I bought it simply for privacy, and it was a good investment," Brunner said. With the land from the Fonder property, he now owns about 60 acres along Winding Road in Springfield Township. But his latest acquisition came with a few headaches, even beyond its association with a missing-person case. The Fonders' house was so densely packed with clutter that Brunner could barely open the door. He and a crew he hired needed to use pitchforks for the first two days of work, making piles that investigators later sorted through. Weeks later, the county paid for the home's demolition. Once their work is done, Brunner plans to fill in the foundation and clear another nearby building. "I hope they solve this case, I really do," he said. "This has bothered me for some time." A firefighter spreads ice melt to prevent water from freezing on the street after battling a multi-alarm fire that damaged apartments in the 4900 block of Walnut Street in West Philadelphia on Friday, Dec. 29, 2017. Read more Philadelphia officials on Thursday announced a new three-year contract with the firefighters' union that offers wage increases to members and requires them to increase their pension contributions. The new agreement will cost the city an estimated $150 million over six years, including the current fiscal year that ends in June, said Mike Dunn, a spokesman for Mayor Kenney. The administration is still examining options for funding the contract, which is in effect from July 2017 through June 2020. Members of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22, which represents firefighters and paramedics, will receive 3.25 percent raises in the current fiscal year retroactive to July 1, 2017 and raises of 3.5 percent and 3.75 percent in the following two years, respectively. Employees will also increase their pension contributions under the new contract, which the city said will bring more than $57 million into the pension fund in the next 13 years. The union signed the agreement with the city after a panel of arbitrators awarded the contract. Ed Marks, president of Local 22, said in a statement that the union was generally pleased with the contract, because it includes higher wages and better life insurance policies. "The rise in our pension contributions, however, is not sitting well with our members," he said. "The fact is that the city's pension fund is mismanaged, underfunded, and in trouble. But the city shouldn't be trying to fix the pension problems off the backs of our members." Marks said he was disappointed that the city did not accept a counter-proposal and pushed the pension changes that also were in a police contract awarded last year. The city has said it has a goal of having its pension fund 80 percent funded by 2030, and called this contract as well as the agreement signed with the Fraternal Order of Police in August and a 2016 agreement with municipal workers an important step toward that goal. The city said that it would also pursue pension changes with AFSCME District Council 47, its white-collar union. Still, much of the money needed to stabilize the pension fund will come from taxpayers. Democrat Malcolm Kenyatta won the primary for a state House seat in North Philadelphia. Kenyatta, who is gay, was targeted by homophobic fliers on Tuesday. Read more To be involved in politics in this town, you need an iron stomach. Just look at what happened to Malcolm Kenyatta, a 27-year-old who had the gall to run for public office for the first time this year. In the wee hours of the morning on election day, his campaign workers affixed door hangers in North Philadelphia encouraging voters to cast a ballot for him for the state House. That's when they spotted the homophobic fliers. "They were everywhere," he said. On cars, on doorsteps. On the fliers was an old Facebook image of Kenyatta and his former husband, which was crossed out in red. Under the photo, there was a past message from Kenyatta to his ex: "Thank you for saying 'yes.' Thank you for this 1st year of marriage." Alongside that, in caps, were the words "MALCOM KENYATTA" and "NORTH PHILLY SAY NO!!!!!" (Homophobes apparently can't spell.) Asked for comment, Kenyatta said voters "chose vision over vicious politics" on Primary Day. He defeated four other Democratic candidates to capture his party's nomination for the 181st District. In this Stalinist one-party city, that is tantamount to being elected. "There are big issues to address: poverty, schools, and housing," Kenyatta said. "People have no patience for the bigoted political games, and our resounding victory on Tuesday makes that clear." He declined to speculate about who might be behind the fliers. Whoever they are, the joke's on them. If Kenyatta goes to Harrisburg, he'll make history: He'd be the first out person of color in the state House. Judge orders Lawrences misleading sample ballots off the streets That wasn't the only shenanigan on Primary Day. This is Philly, after all. Campaign workers for Democrat Michele Lawrence, a former area president for Wells Fargo, passed out sample ballots Tuesday. "Official Democratic Ballot," they read, listing Lawrence's and Gov. Tom Wolf's names. There was just one problem: Lawrence wasn't endorsed by the city's Democratic Party. Her opponent U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, who won Tuesday's Second District primary, had received the party's support. Philly Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina ordered the Sheriff's Office to yank the ballots from the streets. The ballots "purport to be an 'Official Democratic Ballot' but are in fact unauthorized," the ruling read. Dan Gross, a spokesman for the Lawrence campaign, said that "these sample ballots made up a small portion of the Michele for Congress Election Day outreach." He added, "The campaign immediately complied with the order and ceased distribution of the literature in question." Clout will let the judge have the last line here. "Said ballots have been located at the following Wards and Divisions," her ruling said. "Wards 41 (all divisions) and 65 (multiple divisions); Ward 5 Divisions 15 and 17, Ward 18 Divisions 3, 10 and 13; Ward 31 Divisions 3, 10 and 13." Pink Puppy Love signs pop up at Taubenbergers polling place Remember back in 2016, when Councilman Al Taubenberger defended the fact that Philadelphia Parking Authority executive director Vince Fenerty got to keep his job after an investigator found he sexually harassed a coworker? "A high-school puppy-love situation" is how Taubenberger described Fenerty's advances. "Can it be interpreted as harassment?" Taubenberger, a PPA board member, said at the time. "Absolutely, because she felt uncomfortable. She brought it to the proper authorities, but always saying very clearly very, very, very clearly 'All I want is this to end. I want to work with the people I work with.' And that included Fenerty." In the "Year of the Woman," Taubenberger's comment came back to bite him. Several pink signs, which read "Puppy Love," popped up outside Taubenberger's polling place in Northeast Philly on Primary Day. Frank Keel, a spokesman for Taubenberger, said the signs were taken down before the polls opened. "The perpetrator needs to re-read 'A Dummy's Guide to Dirty Political Tricks,' " said Keel. Taubenberger, a Republican, later said his comment was "wrong and regrettable." Fenerty was ousted from his job. And almost two years later, eight female candidates in Pennsylvania won their party's nominations for Congress, virtually guaranteeing that women will break into the state's all-male delegation. Staff writer Jeremy Roebuck contributed to this article. Fred Morrison, executive director of the Crossmen drum corps of San Antonio, Texas, talks to the horn line early Monday July 24, 2017 at Forney High School in Forney, Texas. Read more The chairman of Drum Corps International's board of directors has resigned, just days after he came under scrutiny for employing a man who lost his teaching license in Florida because he sent sexually explicit text messages to a student. Fred Morrison, who remains executive director of the Crossmen drum corps of San Antonio, Texas, had served on the board since 2010. "Although done with a very heavy heart, I believe this is the appropriate course of action rather than have my decisions within my own corps continue to be a distraction to the DCI family," Morrison said in a statement released by Drum Corps International. Kathy Black, a New Mexico lawyer and a former drum corps member, who has served on the board since 2016, was named chairwoman after Morrison's resignation Thursday. >> Sexual abuse in drum and bugle corps: Do you have a story? Last month, nine women told the Inquirer and Daily News they had been sexually harassed or assaulted by George Hopkins, the longtime director of Allentown's Cadets drum corps and among the most distinguished of the youth activity's leaders. Two additional women have since said Hopkins raped them. The story sparked widespread calls for change to better protect participants and staff in the activity, which combines marching, music, theatrics, and color guard. The DCI board of directors, led by Morrison, this month drafted a new code of conduct and ethics guidelines for its four dozen member organizations. At the same time, Morrison was facing increased pressure at his own corps over his 2012 decision to hire former Florida teacher Joel Moody. On Tuesday, the Inquirer and Daily News reported that Moody had sent a number of sexually charged messages to a student in 2010, while he was the band director at Winter Park High School. One read: "I just want to grab you. Hike up your dress. Well you know the rest." Moody, then 31, resigned and in 2011 had his teaching certificate revoked for five years. In 2012, Morrison hired him to work for the Crossmen, where he later was promoted to assistant director. Two former Crossmen employees this month told a reporter Moody often made them uncomfortable while they were on staff. One said he often gave her lingering hugs, placed his hand on her shoulder or back, or sat too close to her. He also, she said, regularly commented on her looks. The second woman said she had a brief consensual sexual relationship with Moody a few months after she finished performing with the Crossmen. She said Moody singled her out for criticism the following summer after she had joined the corps' staff and started dating another employee. She saw the criticism as retaliation triggered by jealousy. Both women said they never considered complaining about the treatment to Morrison, believing he would side with Moody. Morrison, in an email to parents on Tuesday, said Moody had resigned his position on May 1. The director of a nearby drum corps, however, said Moody told him last week he planned to be on tour with the Crossmen this summer. Morrison, who has declined repeated interview requests, did not respond to questions about the discrepancy. Dan Acheson, the executive director of Drum Corps International, on Thursday declined to answer questions about when he first learned of Moody's past and whether he ever spoke with Morrison about Moody's employment by the Crossmen. In a statement he said it was inappropriate for him to "comment on any allegations of past misconduct" because it pertained to "personnel matters." Chris Komnick, vice chairman of DCI's board and executive director of the Madison Scouts drum corps of Madison, Wis., in the statement released by DCI praised Morrison for serving with "incredible passion always with a focus on the best interests of DCI." "We are grateful for his service," he said. Rapper Meek Mill smiles before the Sixers play the Boston Celtics in game two of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday, May 3, 2018 in Boston. Read more Meek Mill has pulled out of a planned visit to the White House today, where he was scheduled take part in a talk about prison reform. Mill, 31, was initially set to visit the White House for a "Prison Reform Summit" hosted by President Donald Trump today, according to TMZ. Despite Mill's absence, the event is still on, and began at 10:45. Other guests reportedly include activists and members of Congress. The Philly native explained his decision to back out of the summit via a statement, saying that the focus of the event was on him and President Trump, rather than prison reform itself. "I was originally scheduled to be part of a panel on Prison Reform at the White House to help shed light on the issues within the system," Mill said in statement. "Unfortunately, the focus turned to the President and myself which concerned me that it might take away from creating a positive result from today's discussions." The rapper added that he decided to skip the summit "so that the focus would be solely on fixing our prison system." TMZ, meanwhile, reports that fellow rapper Jay-Z convinced him to drop the meting. >> Read more: Meek Mill, freed from prison, has his biggest audience ever Mill became a significant figure in the prison reform movement after Judge Genice Brinkley sentenced him to two to four years in prison last year due to probation violations stemming from a 2008 drug and gun case. He was released from Chester State Correctional Institution on bail last month by order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Since his release, Mill has continued to be a voice for prison reform. Most recently, he partnered with Amazon Studios for a six-part docuseries that will highlight his experience with the criminal justice system. It is scheduled for release in 2019. The rapper is also working to get his initial 2008 conviction overturned. An evidentiary hearing in his case is scheduled in June. Charles Shambelan, 88, of Glen Mills, a DuPont Co. chemist who was instrumental in the development of Kevlar, a synthetic fiber used in bulletproof vests and other products, died Sunday, May 13, of heart failure at Maris Grove Retirement Community, Glen Mills. From 1957 until 1989, when he retired, Dr. Shambelan was a chemist and then a senior research fellow at a company experimental laboratory in Wilmington. Although Kevlar was invented by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, it fell to Dr. Shambelan and others at the research lab to make it commercially viable. Dr. Shambelan was responsible for taking the synthetic fiber from the test-tube stage and making it in large enough quantities to test its reinforcement capabilities in various products, said his longtime friend and colleague Al Goodman. Stronger than steel and lighter than fiberglass, Kevlar is best known for being the lifesaving liner of bulletproof vests and body armor, although it is also used in helmets, brake pads, tires, and other rubber products. "All I know about it is what Charlie told me," Goodman said. "He was instrumental in making the arrangements and working with the U.S. government. Kevlar was the material that had to go into anti-ballistic gear to prevent gunshot wounds. It was the barrier put into the jackets that soldiers wore." Kevlar also went into the bulletproof vests worn by police officers here and across the nation. John Hoyt, recording secretary for Lodge 5, Fraternal Order of Police, called the Kevlar-lined vests "one of the greatest advancements in officer safety in law-enforcement history." "Thousands of police officers' lives have been saved because of them," he said in an email. "Here in Philadelphia, you have to look no further than Sept. 16, 2016, when Philadelphia Police Sgt. Sylvia Young was working in the 18th District and was ambushed while sitting in her patrol car. "The gunman fired 18 rounds into her patrol car; striking Sgt. Young eight times in the chest, arm and torso." Hoyt said stories like hers make Lodge 5 members "grateful" for Dr. Shambelan's contribution to the development of the protective gear. Dr. Shambelan also worked on a second synthetic fiber, Sontara. It can be made into a nonwoven wipe that is strong and absorbent without leaving lint. Sontara has applications in the aerospace, automotive refinishing, window cleaning, pharmaceutical, and food-preparation industries. "It was a game-changer for cleaning circuit boards, airplane windows, and other uses," said Dr. Shambelan's son-in-law, Paul Nathanson. Dr. Shambelan and Franklin James Evan were granted a patent for Sontara in 1971. Later, the patent was sold to a Japanese company, Goodman said. Dr. Shambelan received recognition from DuPont for his achievements in the development of Kevlar and Sontara, Nathanson said. Born in Philadelphia, Dr. Shambelan grew up in the city during the Great Depression and worked odd jobs to pay his way through school. He graduated from Overbrook High School. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in science from Temple University and his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. He had a home in Wilmington before moving to Maris Grove 11 years ago. "Charlie was a very unusual person," Goodman said of his colleague's temperament. "He loved to talk to people. He was always pleasant. He never got angry no matter what people said." A tinkerer, Dr. Shambelan could take something that was broken and make it work. He was known at Maris Grove for his photography and watch-fixing ability. In addition to his son-in-law, he is survived by his wife of 61 years, Kay Promish Shambelan; daughters Adele Diener and Michele Nathanson; three grandchildren; and a sister. A memorial service will be held at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, at Maris Grove Chapel, 200 Maris Grove Way, Glen Mills, Pa. 19342. Interment is private. Donations in his name may be made to the Maris Grove Resident Care Fund at the address above. On May 11, collegiate athletes from around the nation gathered at Boathouse Row in Philadelphia to participate in the 80th Dad Vail Regatta. The event attracted nearly 3,500 students from more than 100 schools for two days of competitive rowing. While the Dad Vail Regatta stands on its own as a historically significant sporting event, it is part of a larger legacy surrounding Boathouse Row that stretches back centuries. From the earliest years of the United States, Philadelphia has boasted a vibrant rowing culture. The Schuylkill became a favorite destination for recreational boating in the early 19th century. When the Fairmount Waterworks dam went up in 1821, the conditions on the river became favorable for boat racing, which quickly became the city's favorite spectator sport. Rowing's popularity increased across the country, in no small part due to Philadelphia's cultural influence. >> READ MORE: Groundbreaking Philly science museum was not always beloved by city residents | Philly History By the 1850s, clubs began to form and build permanent structures to replace the temporary boathouses that had been used to protect equipment. In 1858, nine clubs organized the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia to govern competitions among members, coordinate regattas, and oversee the administration of Boathouse Row. Philadelphia's Thomas Eakins may very well have attended one of the Schuylkill Navy's early regattas as a boy, sparking his lifelong passion for rowing. The sport factored heavily into the famous artist's work, inspiring a number of paintings depicting rowers honing their craft against scenic Schuylkill backdrops. The 1870s ushered in a new cultural era for Boathouse Row. The University of Pennsylvania's College Boat Club renovated its boathouse to include a parlor space for socializing. Other clubs soon followed suit, and activities once prohibitedincluding drinking and smokingbecame commonplace. The Malta Boat Club purportedly spent thousands of dollars annually on cigars for its members. The leadership of the West Philadelphia Boatclub disciplined several rowers for inviting prostitutes to a soiree at the club's boathouse. >> READ MORE: Pa.'s storied past as the home of public libraries | Philly History Despite incidents of debauchery, Boathouse Row accommodated an increasing number of world-class competitions as the landmark's renown grew. In honor of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the city helped refurbish the boathouses, which serviced teams hailing from England, Ireland, and Canada that traveled to Philadelphia to compete in the first international rowing event in the United States. In 1887, officials built the Turtle Rock lighthouse to help direct river traffic. After receiving permission from the city, the Sedgeley Club built a clubhouse of its own in 1902. Designed by architect Arthur H. Brockie, the clubhouse integrated the lighthouse into the architecture. The composite structure stands to this day. While Boathouse Row may have originally been the reserve of wealthy hobbyists, the demographics attracted to rowing on the Schuylkill diversified over the years. A growing number of rowers from working-class backgrounds began participating in the 20th century, including rowing legend Jack Kelly. The son of a millworker who had immigrated from Ireland, Kelly first rowed with the Chamounix Club as a young man. He saved his earnings as a bricklayer to join the Vesper Boat Club. His training and dedication paid off. After a stint in the military during World War I, Kelly went on to compete in the Olympics, winning gold medals in Antwerp in 1920 and Paris in 1924. >> READ MORE: From bridge to blackjack: Philly's love for card games has deep roots | Philly History In the 1930s, the Boathouse Row further diversified when Ernestine Bat, Ruth Adams Robinhold, Gladys Hauser Lux, and Lovey Farrell founded the Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club. Operating to this day, the club is the oldest women's rowing club in the world. Many of the boathouses fell into disrepair throughout the 20th century. Renewed interest in them, however, surged after lighting architect Ray Grenald first installed Boathouse Row's signature lights in 1979. The illuminated structures lining the row have since become a trademark image of nighttime Philadelphia. In 1987, Boathouse Row officially became a National Historic Landmark. Patrick Glennon is a communications officer at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. pglennon@hsp.org Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, left, was in Philadelphia in September to help cut the ribbon to open Vaux Big Picture High School. Read more America can't afford to have Ben Carson continue as head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; least of all Philadelphia, whose shortage of affordable housing is intolerable. Carson is yet another Trump appointee whose main job is to undermine the very Cabinet department he was selected by the president to lead. Since his appointment last year, Carson has proposed tripling rents paid by the poorest families in government-subsidized housing and suspended an Obama administration rule imposed to improve enforcement of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Carson is the wrong person to be in charge of HUD, especially when Philadelphia is starving for more affordable housing units. A review by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed the city actually lost 23,628 units with rents below $750 a month between 2000 and 2014. "The shrinking number of low-cost housing in Philadelphia leaves lower-income renters saddled with higher rent burdens, greater financial stress, and insecure housing arrangements," said the Fed report. "At the community level, the loss of affordable units contributes to residents being segregated by income and socioeconomic status." The report said the loss of affordable housing is most acute in gentrifying neighborhoods like University City and Graduate Hospital, where the loss of low-cost units is occurring at more than five times the rate in nongentrifying neighborhoods. That assessment shows it is largely a myth that gentrification leads to greater diversity, given that those least likely to afford high rents are typically poor African Americans and Latinos. Philadelphia isn't alone. HUD's own Worst Case Housing Needs report says severe housing problems nationally have grown 41 percent since the Great Recession. "Modest gains in household income were met with rising rents, shrinking the supply of affordable rental housing stock," said the HUD report. Yet HUD's leader seems on a mission to make it even harder for lower-income families to find a place to live. Carson wants to raise the rent for subsidized housing from 30 percent to 35 percent of a family's gross income, which would affect 4.7 million households, and raise the cap on rent charged to the poorest families from $50 a month to $150 monthly, which would affect 712,000 households. He also wants to stop allowing deductions for medical and child care costs when calculating rent, saying, "We really want to level the playing field and make it much even for everyone." HUD was created to give poorer families with housing needs an advocate in the president's Cabinet. Carson instead prefers to play the role of an unsympathetic enforcer. The changes he would make will hurt people, not help them. And this comes from a man who until a ruckus was raised thought nothing of buying a $31,000 furniture set for his office suite. Carson is doing the president's bidding, so he has little to fear from the Oval Office. But if he has a shred of the moral fiber that led him to become a physician, a healer, Carson would admit he isn't the right person to carry out HUD's core mission and step aside. IMAGE CROPPED TO ONLY SHOW BACK OF OFFICER. March/2017 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 248 foreign nationals in an operation aimed at criminal aliens, immigration fugitives, and repeat border crossers .ICE Officers make extraordinary efforts to keep our communities safe, and this operation is just a small example of what they do every day. ERO officers took oaths to protect the Homeland and to arrest individuals in violation of immigration laws, said ERO Philadelphia Acting Field Office Director Jennifer Ritchey. This operation resulted in multiple arrests of individuals with violent criminal arrests or convictions in the three state region. . .In the Philadelphia area, ICE arrested several at large criminal aliens in which the agency had issued detainers but the City of Philadelphia failed to honor them and released the individuals from custody a situation that puts the public at unnecessary risk. ICE will continue to conduct targeted enforcement operations, whether local jurisdictions intend to cooperate with ICE or not. . .These regional operations may result in arrests of individuals other than those initially targeted. Many of these individuals were criminals, who had illegally re-entered the United States, which is a crime under federal law. One of the most egregious individuals encountered during this operation that had not initially been targeted had been deported from the United States on two prior occasions and had a conviction for sexual abuse of a minor, said Ritchey. . Read more It's a testament to President Trump's capacity for malice that his deportation policy has terrified more while deporting less. Arrests by his administration's Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2017 were about half what they were during President Barack Obama's peak years, 2010 and 2011, according to a new report by the Migration Policy Institute. During Obama's first term, when he was laying the groundwork for what he hoped would be a comprehensive bargain on immigration, his administration aggressively enforced immigration law. ICE arrests peaked at more than 300,000 annually in 2010 and 2011. Deportations from the American interior in other words, not of people apprehended near the border surpassed 200,000 in both those years, also about twice the number reached in 2017. Pro-immigrant groups took to calling Obama the "deporter in chief." The effort severely strained Obama's relations with immigration activists while getting him nowhere with Republican legislators, most of whom stayed true to a policy of bad faith. After the House GOP killed the immigration deal that had passed the Senate in 2013 with a super-majority, Obama gave up. His final years were marked by a more lenient disposition toward immigrants and minimal appetite for enforcement against non-criminals. Trump, scourge of Mexico, lambaster of Muslims, avenger of white pride, promised a harsh new day in which every undocumented immigrant would be a target. ICE acting director Thomas Homan said in 2017: "If you're in this country illegally, and you committed a crime by entering this country, you should be uncomfortable. You should look over your shoulder." The fear spread. "I've never seen anything like it in my 30-plus years of practice," said David Leopold, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, via email. "Trump has created a police state for immigrants legal and unauthorized." I asked Leopold why Obama's peak years of enforcement hadn't spread as much fear or more given the higher rates of arrest and deportation. "Even during the worst days of the Obama crackdown," he said, "ICE used its discretion and applied common sense." Today, he said, the agency refuses to use either while seeming to revel in "tearing apart families." Why are Trump's deportation numbers so far below Obama's peak? Credit resistance at the state and local level. California saw its share of total ICE arrests drop from 23 percent in 2013 to 14 percent in 2017. Local jurisdictions were more inclined to reject ICE requests for detainers, which seek to hold a particular subject for up to 48 hours, enabling ICE to take custody. Nationwide, detainer requests in 2017 were rejected at four times the rate of 2016. The Migration Policy Institute report, the product of a yearlong study informed by numerous interviews, stated: Amid growing pushback in some locations, ICE has adjusted some of its enforcement activities, conducting more operations in limited-cooperation jurisdictions, arresting people in courthouses and near sensitive locations such as schools, carrying out more arrests in the community and bringing in immigrants who were not targets, and taking in a growing share of noncriminals. In effect, Trump's policies are achieving his goals, frightening undocumented immigrants and heightening risks of deportation even if he can't match Obama's peak. Fear of arrest and deportation also appears to be discouraging some immigrants from reporting crime. Meanwhile, local and state officials who resist federal immigration policy are having success blunting Trump's attack on undocumented residents. Immigration policy in the United States is heading in two diametrically opposed directions, with different outcomes in different geographies. Still, Trump has both time and a vast federal police force on his side; he can win a war of attrition if he remains in power. The federal government may have lost interest in carefully selecting its targets. But it still has the biggest guns. This was written for Bloomberg News. Despite production of pig meat declining during March, reported exports rose by 13% year-on-year. UK reported fresh/frozen pork exports totalled 21,600 tonnes, according to data from HMRC. However, the average per tonne value declined by 12%, to 1,250 meaning that the total value of the exports fell by 1% on-the-year, to 27 million. The growth in volume was in part driven by a 16% (1,900 tonnes) increase year-on-year to other EU member states. Shipments to the Netherlands and Poland both performed strongly, reaching 1,700 and 1,300 tonnes respectively. Conversely shipments to Ireland and Denmark declined over the same period, by 2% (50 tonnes) and 11% (300 tonnes) respectively. Total exports to Europe may have been supported by the then narrowing between UK and EU pig prices, although into April the gap began to widen again. Exports to the key international markets largely recorded increases, with fresh/frozen exports to China rising by 4% (150 tonnes) compared to March 2017, to 4,000 tonnes. Exports to the US increased by almost a third (+250 tonnes), while trade to Japan (+90 tonnes) and South Korea (+50 tonnes) recorded modest increases. Shipments to the Philippines declined by 43% (150 tonnes). Offal exports recorded a modest year-on-year increase (+2%), to 6,600 tonnes during March. Exports to China increased by 6% (150 tonnes), to 2,800 tonnes. Balancing this, exports to Hong Kong declined by 13% (150 tonnes), to 1,000 tonnes. While fresh/frozen exports to the Philippines may have declined, offal exports recorded a sharp increase year-on-year (+273%), to 850 tonnes. The unit value of offal followed the same trend recorded in fresh/frozen pork, falling to 912 per tonne, which meant the total value of offal exports was down by 6%, to 6 million. According to HMRC, the UK imported 17% less fresh/frozen pork than last year during March. Recorded shipments fell from the three largest suppliers: Denmark (-37%), Germany (-1%) and the Netherlands (-6%). Doubts persist over the accuracy of the data, especially relating to the Danish import figure, due to strong production during the first quarter in Denmark making the sharp decline surprising. The total value of UK reported imports of fresh/frozen pork declined by 17% on year earlier levels, as the average value per tonne remained steady. Imports of bacon declined by 24% on-the-year, to 16,200 tonnes in March, which is less surprising considering the long term trend towards processing more bacon within the UK. Although, imports from Denmark and Germany were reported to have declined by 36% and 50% respectively which may be somewhat overstated. Get Our E-Newsletter - Pig World's best stories in your in-box twice a week See e-newsletter example Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy David Griffith (Photo: Kelly Bracken) I've often heard people speculate about the worst places to work as a law enforcement officer in America. The criteria for determining this dubious honor usually involves crime rates. But police officers get into this profession to help people and fight crime. So maybe the criteria for worst places to work should be based on other factors such as lack of community support. If that's true then Portland, OR, has to be one of the worst places to wear a badge. The Rose City has its pluses as a place to live and work. It's beautiful, but it's also a hotbed of anarchist activism and anti-police sentiment. God help you if you are a sworn officer working in the Portland Police Bureau and you get involved in some controversial use of force. You personally and the entire force will be condemned in protests and possibly full-fledged riots on the streets of downtown. To work Portland as a cop is to be more hated than the criminals. Case in point, the backlash over the April 7 officer-involved fatal shooting of John Elifritz. Here's the story, according to official and media reports: Elifritz reportedly called 911 and told the dispatcher he or someone else had murdered his family. When officers arrived on the scene, they didn't find a dead family, but they did find Elifritz holding a knife to his own throat. He then fled. Officers told the press they wanted to de-escalate so they backed off and called the department's behavioral health unit. Elifritz reportedly then went on a spree. He allegedly carjacked a Honda and spurred numerous 911 calls over what can only be described as bizarre behavior. That night police caught up with Elifritz at a homeless shelter called Cityteam Ministries. Witnesses say he entered a room where an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was about to begin and started slashing at himself with a knife. Multiple Portland officers and a Multnomah County Sheriff's deputy followed Elifritz into that room. Video taken on a phone at the scene captured the shooting, spurring Portland's anti-police activists to accuse the officers of "murdering" Elifritz. They slam the officers for not using a K-9 to take the man down or using a TASER to subdue him or "de-escalating" the situation. And the family is of course planning to sue. They say John Elifritz was a gentle soul who wouldn't hesitate to give a stranger the shirt off his back. I don't know about giving a stranger the shirt off his back, but there is strong evidence Elifritz would steal a stranger's car. In 1994 he was arrested in a stolen vehicle after police say he participated in a robbery gang. He was charged with possession of a stolen car and "unauthorized use of a vehicle." He reportedly did a year on that charge. Then there is the little matter of the alleged carjacking the day of his death. None of that matters to the anti-police folks in Portland. They've made Elifritz a martyr in their cause to de-police the city. But if they want to know what really happened in that room at the homeless shelter, they should talk to the witnesses who praised the officers. Morgan Thomas Pickering told the Oregonian newspaper that he was in that room and scared for his life. He said the officers were "absolutely 100% justified." Pickering and other witnesses said officers ordered Elifritz to drop the knife and tried to shoot the man with a less-lethal impact munition before they used deadly force. "I applaud their actions," Pickering said. "They actually saved lives." No one in the anti-police movement in Portland wants to hear that. They just want the officers punished for doing their job, as difficult as their job can be. And there are few places where the job is more difficult than in Portland. It's so bad in Portland that people are protesting hiring more officers to fill the department's depleted ranks. Is it little wonder that the Portland Police Bureau is facing what the police union calls a "catastrophic" shortage of officers? There are dedicated police officers working in dangerous and difficult places all over the United States. They stay on the job because they are called to it. The officers who work in Portland must be extremely dedicated to their calling. Otherwise, why would they put up with this mess? The National Law Enforcement Museum at the Motorola Solutions Foundation Building the nation's only museum that explores nearly every facet of American law enforcement announced it will hold a grand opening ceremony on Thursday, October 11, and will open its doors to the public on Saturday, October 13, including a community celebration hosted by the Museum. Details for the grand opening and community celebration will be announced this summer. Image: NLEOMF The National Law Enforcement Museum is located in Judiciary Square across from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and tells the story of American law enforcement by providing visitors with a "walk in the shoes" experience. It is dedicated to expanding and enriching the relationship shared by law enforcement and the community through educational journeys, immersive exhibitions and insightful programs and community partnerships. The Museum's collection includes more than 21,000 artifacts from every era of American law enforcement and will showcase a number of immersive, interactive exhibits designed to tell the real-life stories of officers and the citizens they serve, allowing visitors to experience the real-life world of law enforcement. These exhibits include Take the Case, which invites visitors to use actual law enforcement techniques to help solve simulated criminal cases and 911 Emergency Ops where visitors hear scripted incoming 911 calls and dispatch first responders to intercede. Similarly, an exhibition called To Serve and Protect describes a specific event from the perspectives of law enforcement officers, victims, and bystanders. Real-life events, such as the law enforcement response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, help tell the stories of officers who relied on training, instinct, and courage to protect citizens. This exhibit also includes the Web of Law Enforcement, a large multi-touch screen interactive experience which illustrates how the complex web of some 18,000 agencies work together to solve crimes. "Over the last decade, the National Law Enforcement Museum has worked with dozens of law enforcement experts, historians, academics and community leaders to develop the core of the Museum's exhibitions and programming to ensure an accurate, unbiased portrayal of American law enforcement," said David L. Brant, Museum executive director. "We have built a Museum that encourages everyone to learn about, share and even debate every facet of the profession. This Museum is not just about the men and women of law enforcement, but about the citizens and communities they serve as well." To convey its mission to advance and strengthen community relations, the National Law Enforcement Museum has announced a partnership with the Illumination Project to develop programming and events to foster a stronger relationship between law enforcement and communities across the nation with the common goal to promote safer communities. Originated in Charleston, South Carolina, the Illumination Project began as a heartfelt response to the shocking murders that occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston in the summer of 2015. This horrible act created a desire within the Charleston (SC) Police Department to "illuminate," or shine a light on, the corners of the community needing improved relationships between citizens and police. "We at The Illumination Project are delighted with this unique opportunity to partner with the National Law Enforcement Museum to build safer and healthier communities," said Illumination Project President Robert "Jake" Jacobs. "This partnership allows us to build on our work in Charleston, while supporting the Museum's mission to expand and enrich law enforcement and citizen relationships. Today, the Illumination Project, comprised of law enforcement and community leaders, works to create healthy communities through all interested and affected people, groups and organizations partnering together in ways that illuminate current realities and achieve preferred futures. "We are honored to partner with the Illumination Project and hope this community partnership will be one of many that our Museum will engage in to address difficult law enforcement issues with the common goal of safer, more peaceful communities," Brant said. For more information about the National Law Enforcement Museum and updates on grand opening events, please visit www.LawEnforcementMuseum.org. A Raleigh, MS, police officer has died in a wreck in Smith County. Officer E.P. Morris died around noon Thursday. Mississippi Highway Patrol Sgt. Andy West told WTOK the wreck happened Thursday morning. It took place on Highway 18 near Highway 35 in the city limits of Raleigh. Officials say it appears Morris lost control of his police vehicle, which left the road and hit a tree and caught fire. Police say Jonathan Oddi got into a firefight and chase with officers while ranting about Donald Trump, Barack Obama and bizarrely, rap mogul P. Diddy. (Photo: Twitter) Less than a year ago, South Africa native Jonathan Oddi proudly posed behind a backdrop of an American flag, touting his new citizenship. "God bless the USA finally an American!" he wrote on Instagram. On Friday morning, police say he unfurled the American flag inside the South Florida hotel owned by the nation's president, then got into a firefight and chase with officers while ranting about Donald Trump, Barack Obama and bizarrely, rap mogul P. Diddy. Investigators late Friday were still trying to unravel the motivations of Oddi, a 42-year-old fitness junkie and businessman who appeared to become unhinged while attacking the Trump National Doral Miami resort. Oddi suffered police gunshots to the legs, and faces charges of attempted murder. Agents raided his nearby apartment to recover phones, electronics and other evidence that might reveal what led to the bizarre incident, the Miami Herald reports. Miami-Dade Police Department director Juan Perez said it appears Oddi was trying to lure police officers into an ambush or an attack. "If not for the heroic efforts of the police officers that responded today, this individual would've caused a lot of harm," Perez told WTSP. A veteran Hartford, CT, was stabbed in the neck and critically wounded during a struggle with a woman being evicted from a downtown apartment Thursday morning, authorities said. The suspect is in custody. The officer was reportedly out of surgery and recovering Thursday evening. Her name was not released. The suspect, identified as Chevoughn Augustin, 39, has been charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, assault on a police officer and third-degree criminal mischief. The stabbing happened while the female officer was trying to handcuff the woman, Deputy Chief Brian Foley told the Hartford Courant. Two officers were dispatched, he said. [The victim] just happened to be on scene first. Remember, this is a landlord tenant dispute, there was no report of a weapon at first. This was protocol. Police said the woman who was being evicted was inside with a couple of maintenance workers, and the officer began to try to talk the person out of the apartment. Unfortunately, a struggle ensued, Foley said. At this point, we believe the suspect produced a knife, grabbed the officer in a headlock, and stabbed her in the throat, likely multiple times. Maintenance workers managed to pull the woman off the officer. A Hartford Police officer responding to the incident is a trained EMT and administered medical attention on scene to his injured comrade before rushing her to the hospital. Chinese company offering new Hungarian immigration scheme deletes ads A new Hungarian immigration programme is being advertised in China by a company whose owner previously participated in the residence bond programme, Direkt36 reported on Wednesday. Following the publication of the article, the ads were deleted from the popular Chinese social media platform on which they had been posted originally. Since 21 April, Hong Kongs LSP International has been offering a Hungarian residence permit in exchange for a real estate investment of at least HUF 25 million in Hungary and a one-time handling fee of EUR 50,000 (HUF 15.7 million).According to the companys announcement, the programme is based on an existing legal rule and its operability is guaranteed by the the negotiations between immigration lawyers and the Immigration Office about the specific application".The programme, however, did not seem to be as well elaborated as suggested by the ads. For example, the Immigration Office has stated that it has not signed an agreement with LSP International or with any other company: [the office] did not and will not give any guarantee. It does not have any legal basis to do that. The Government Information Office issued a clear-cut announcement following the publication of the article by Direkt36. According to the Office, the program is simply a lie, the Foreign Ministry will take the necessary steps against the company in question."The ministry also confirmed that the state supports no such programme, and those that seek to obtain Hungarian papers via real estate investment will not automatically receive neither temporary nor permanent residence permit.The ministry said: the Embassy of Hungary in Beijing has published a notification on the consular information website stating that news in Chinese and Hungarian media according to which Hungary launched a real estate-based resettlement program are untrue. Our Embassy has sent the official Hungarian position to all websites and social media platforms that published the fake news. We requested to end the spreading of fake news and the publication of official information. On Thursday afternoon, the company promising Hungarian papers in return for investments replied to the questions Direkt36 had sent them prior to the publication of its article. LSP International claimed that it had stopped this activity weeks ago". The investigative journalism centre asked when exactly the programme was closed and why this was not indicated in the ads until its article was published, but it has not yet received a reply.LSP International also stated that [the company] has not developed any real estate-linked immigration scheme in collaboration with the Hungarian government. The article itself quotes the LSPs own advertisement according to which the scheme is not an official Hungarian government program. In fact, LSP - with not enough circumspection - followed other companies existing marketing practices that are based on the immigration laws in force. It is important to note that LSP has terminated this activity weeks ago.LSP primarily provides assistance to Chinese private investors in searching for and investing in real estate, in applying for residence permits and in other matters. Its activities are carried out in compliance with the Hungarian laws and regulations in force," Direkt36 cited LSP International as saying. The family of McKenna Hovenga, the 7-week-old baby who was hit in the head with a softball earlier this month in Iowa, may be recovering. According to the Hovengas "Healing for McKenna" Facebook pageat the end of last week, McKenna was showing signs of improvement she was awake for longer periods of time, demonstrated movement in both legs, and tolerated weans well, according to her mothers Facebook post. Hovenga was struck in the head by a ball at her fathers softball game May 2 in Shell Rock. After McKenna was transferred to Mayo Clinic HospitalSaint Marys, she received treatment for skull fractures and two brain bleeds. The Hovengas have updated the public about McKennas recovery through Facebook. They also started a YouCaring pageto raise funds for her treatment. The Hovengas released a statement to those following McKennas recovery, copied below: "The kindness and love shown to our family this past week is greatly appreciated as we continue to hope and pray for healing for McKenna. We are so thankful and deeply moved by the generous support and the uplifting messages that we are receiving from friends, family and those we do not know, but now consider our friends. "At this time, we are uncertain what the outcome of this will be. We have to take everything that is happening hour by hour. Her status is constantly changing. Our little McKenna is a fighter, and we are hopeful she will continue to fight to overcome this. We look forward to sharing her smiling face as soon as she will give it to us! "Thank you, again, for the outpouring of support and prayers that have carried us through this past week. We will continue to update the blog and Facebook account with periodic updates." Williams, then 29, played a resident of the planet Ork, confounded by the ways, means and hang-ups of earthlings. In this episode, he also played himself. The show was like a therapy session. Williams as Williams spoke of the appeal of pretending to be someone else; "characters could say and do things," he said, regarding his younger self, "that I was afraid to do myself." Williams as Mork closed the show with a report back to his home planet. He puzzled over how "everybody wants a piece of you" if youre famous and marveled pityingly at the "responsibilities, anxieties" and the "very heavy price" paid by everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Jimi Hendrix to John Lennon, a recent casualty. He didnt add "Robin Williams" to that list, but the episode, in effect, wrote the stars name in invisible ink. Williams went from mad, whirling stand-up comic to TV star to movie star in what seemed like a flash. Stardom, its rises and falls and demands, intertwined with Williams struggles with alcohol and drug addiction. His family lives and marriages were overlapping, fairly complicated, often difficult matters. His interior life remained a partially closed door to even his closest friends and relations. And then, in Tiburon, Calif., in 2014, at age 63, he hanged himself. The brain disorder plaguing Williams at the end went misdiagnosed for years. His life was one of compulsive creativity and genuine kindness and perpetual insecurity and frequent infidelity and uniquely electric imagination. A planet unto himself Dave Itzkoffs biography "Robin" gets its hands around as much of that life as possible. Its an incisive, comprehensive, very fine book. Itzkoff, a longtime New York Times culture reporter, profiled Williams for the Times in 2009, after Williams underwent heart surgery and launched his "Weapons of Self Destruction" comedy tour. Out of that piece, Itzkoff pitched and sold a full-length assessment of a star who was a planet, an Ork, unto himself, forever orbiting his own complicated fame. Born in Chicago, Robin McLaurin Williams spent a childhood zigzagging around Illinois and Michigan. His father, Rob, worked for Ford; his mother, Laurie, met Rob when she was modeling for the Marshall Fields department store. Rob had sons from a previous marriage. Laurie had a son from her own, brief first union. Later, his half-brothers became part of young Robins life, inconsistently but fondly. He spent a lot of time alone. Itzkoff writes cogently and well about young Robins years in the posh northern Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, in a mansion with the Brontesque name of Stonycroft. The attic was his playground. He played with battalions of toy soldiers; he practiced his TV idols stand-up routines. If Jonathan Winters came on "The Tonight Show," then hosted by Jack Paar, Rob and Robin stayed up late to watch. "Seeing my father laugh like that," Williams later said, "made me think, Who is this guy, and whats he on? " He spent the rest of his life trying to answer those questions, by way of his own blinding talent and in the grip of his own compulsions. Relocating to the Bay Area, the Williams family adjusted to Tiburon, Calif. Robin attended Redwood High, and for an awkward time, among the tie-dye and hippie holdovers, he dressed the same way he did back at tony, stuffy Detroit Country Day. At Claremont Mens College east of Los Angeles, Williams took an improv class taught by Dale Morse, formerly of San Franciscos influential comedy troupe The Committee. His first troupe was called Karma Pie. He did summer theater here and there, from Shakespeare to "The Music Man" (he played Marcellus, the "Shipoopi" guy). He also did Brecht and Ionesco. Rocket to fame Williams was accepted into Juilliard in 1973 in New York City, where he met Christopher Reeve, who became a good friend. He did mime in Central Park, and anyone who did needed all the friends he could get. An early performance partner, Todd Oppenheimer, is quoted in Itzkoffs book as appreciating the eager, malleable Williams: "(W)e could at least commiserate with each other when people walked away," he says. Then, after honing his stand-up and ingesting a lot of cocaine in San Francisco, Williams hit Los Angeles in 1976. It didnt take long for word to get around. Stand-up led to "Mork & Mindy" (though creator Garry Marshall initially envisioned John Byner or Dom DeLuise or Williams idol, Jonathan Winters, in the Mork role). Fame and its discontents pulled him along. "Popeye," that bizarre folly (a key film in young Itzkoffs life, we learn), gave Williams his first starring role on screen, though he really didnt pop until seven years later, when director Barry Levinson shaped "Good Morning, Vietnam" around his prodigious skill set. Between his best-selling comedy albums and his biggest early film successes, Williams fans grew to expect a certain kind of funny, the kind nobody can sustain or grow older doing without becoming a Robin Williams impersonator. He scored three Oscar nominations, prior to his supporting actor win for "Good Will Hunting," with material that allowed him some interpretive leeway: "Good Morning, Vietnam," followed by "Dead Poets Society," followed by the more manic Terry Gilliam fantasy "The Fisher King." He had his most popular top-line showcase in "Mrs. Doubtfire" and killed as the voice of the genie in "Aladdin." Nothing is permanent But he had a well-known and oft-derided treacle problem. Mechanical heartwarmers, such as "Jakob the Liar" and "Patch Adams" and, much later, miserable comic vehicles such as "Old Dogs" and "License to Wed," were just asking for it. He lived with various demons; when Jim Carrey burst on the scene, he found himself thinking about him a little too much, and too competitively. He fell off the wagon after nearly two decades of sobriety. He reconfigured his domestic life frequently. "It was how Robin had been taught to live since childhood," Itzkoff writes: "nothing is permanent, transition is constant. Anywhere can be home and anyone can be family, and you can always start over again in new places, with new people." Its a fascinating life, and the author captures it with grace and evenhanded perception. Through the lens of the post-Weinstein #MeToo era, some of Williams antics look pretty sleazy; without rancor, Williams "Mork & Mindy" co-star Pam Dawber recalls putting up with a fair amount of butt-grabbing for laughs. Already, these hit-and-run harassments have stolen some attention away from everything else in the book. The end, of course, is crushingly sad. Misdiagnosed with Parkinsons, Williams was in fact suffering from Lewy body dementia. The symptoms include Parkinsons-like tremors, depression and hallucinations. When Williams was finishing up work as Teddy Roosevelt in the third and final "Night at the Museum" picture in Vancouver, a colleague suggested he stop in at a comedy club and try some stand-up. "I dont know how to be funny," he answered. "Think of it this way," his Comic Relief cohort and longtime friend Billy Crystal tells Itzkoff, "the speed at which the comedy came (to him) is the speed at which the terrors came. I cant imagine living like that." And neither could Williams. Itzkoffs previous books include a coming-of-age memoir "Lads" (2004); a book about his fathers addictions ("Cocaines Son," 2011); and "Mad as Hell" (2014), on the making and meaning of "Network." "Robin" reads smoothly and eloquently, though you wouldnt mind a few more passages where Itzkoffs critical intelligence takes off and leaves the organized, orderly reporter behind for a while. Biographies of famous funny people are funny that way: They require both kinds of writers. At his best, Itzkoff is both, and "Robin" is all the better for it. As if New Orleans needed to give visitors another reason to party, the city celebrates its 300th birthday this year. That means non-stop tricentennial events, parades, exhibits and more on top of the Big Easys already packed calendar. Americas most unique city draws tourists for its culture, food, cocktails and festivals and keeps them coming back by embracing its rich history while continuing to evolve. Perhaps no Nola neighborhood is changing more than Bywater, home to pretty pastel-painted Creole cottages and a thriving arts scene. Its known for quirky spots like The Country Club (634 Louisa St., thecountryclubneworleans.com), a pool clubhouse and restaurant famous for its Saturday "Drag Brunch." Bywater started exploding in the years after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, when the floodwaters that devastated other parts of New Orleans did not reach the slightly elevated nabe. Locals have mixed feelings about the influx of newbies and businesses, since its led to exciting new restaurants and projects, but has also changed the feel of the area and priced out some longtime residents. For now, charming Bywater still maintains its edge. Wine hangout After taking a stroll through scenic Crescent Park which stretches along the Mississippi River walk over the arched rust colored Piety St. footbridge to Chartres St., then head east till you hit Bacchanal Wine (600 Poland Ave., bacchanalwine.com). Its a wine shop with a massive backyard and stage for live music and a great place to hang out, day or night. Theres a bar upstairs that offers scheduled wine tastings. Or just pop into the shop, select your favorite bottle of wine, order food, then grab a table in the back and enjoy some tunes. The short but tasty menu includes everything from bacon-wrapped dates ($10) to braised pork shoulder ($12). But locals know they can also just pick their choice of cheese and charcuterie from the fridge, and staff will plate it with some bread, olives and jams for you. Another Bywater hotspot to grab a drink is Parleaux Beer Lab (634 Lesseps St., parleauxbeerlab.com), a taproom and microbrewery with a yard thats dog- and kid-friendly. Its worth spending at least one whole day exploring Bywater, but dont skip Nolas crown jewel the French Quarter. First, tackle some basics: a walk through Jackson Square and photos in front of St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest in the country; beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe Du Monde (800 Decatur St.); grab gator jerky and nearly anything else at French Market ( frenchmarket.org); sit at the bar at Carousel Bar & Lounge, which slowly spins like a merry-go-round. Get culture Then, its time to get weird. Walk around and discover oddities like the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum (724 Dumaine St., $7 admission, cheaper for kids, students, seniors), a tiny two-room collection of voodoo relics, sculptures, religious statues and other artifacts related to rituals, zombies and more. Many are draped with dollar bills, an offering guests serve up while making a wish. They dont call this Louisiana city the Birthplace of Jazz for nothing. Originating here in the late 19th century, the genre can be appreciated at several spots today. Attend a performance at The Jazz Playhouse (300 Bourbon St.), an upscale lounge in the Royal Sonesta New Orleans. Guests can reserve preferred seating for $20, plus a one drink minimum, but walk-ins are also welcome if theres room. The live musics the real draw, but the menus also worth applause. Bites include Jumbo Shrimp Remoulade with Fried Green Tomatoes ($12), and Crab Mac & Cheese ($13). The endless drink list include a special cocktail this year, the French 300, celebrating the citys tricentennial. Its Belvedere Peach, honey water, prosecco and lime juice for $13. To brush up on history, head to the New Orleans Jazz Museum (400 Esplanade Ave.), which boasts the worlds largest collection of instruments owned and played by jazz legends. Housed in the Old U.S. Mint the only building to have produced American and Confederate money youll find relics like Louis Armstrongs first cornet. The Nola-born trumpeter played the Champion Silver Piston as an adolescent at the Municipal Waifs Home for Boys, where he was sent after shooting a pistol on New Years Eve. The museums also home to sheet music, thousands of recordings, and best of all, it continues to celebrate music by hosting festivals and hundreds of concerts a year in its Performing Arts Center and on its grounds. Where to stay A good home base for your trip is The Jung Hotel & Residences, which reopened in December after extensive renovations. It first debuted in 1908, was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1982, and was bought by the New Orleans Hotel Collection after Katrina. Situated on upper Canal St., a Central Business District strip being revitalized with new developments, the Jung puts guests just west of the French Quarter and away from the bustle. The chic, vast lobby area is dotted with living-room like nooks for relaxing and has a bar. Take a dip in the rooftop pool heated in winter and chilled in summer before heading out for the day. Or grab a meal in the lobby restaurant, where lunch options include Pontchartrain Shrimp and Grits, a mix of grits, fresh Gulf shrimp, andouille sausage, and Cajun gravy for $15. If youre soon headed to the Crescent City, a good starting point is The Historic New Orleans Collection (hnoc.org). There, "New Orleans, the Founding Era," an exhibit running through May 27 at the 533 Royal St. building in the French Quarter, helps explain the citys fusion of European, African, Caribbean and Native American influences evident everywhere from the citys architecture to its cuisine. It does this with artifacts, maps, archaeological finds and art that belong to the museum or are on loan from institutions across the country and Europe. Theres a watercolor of the French Quarter from 1726, 18th century bear paw moccasins recovered in Louisiana that belong to a Paris museum, propaganda posters that were designed to lure French and German immigrants to move to and invest money in New Orleans, and logs of ships carrying slaves from Africa with details like the ages of all who embarked and who survived the rough journey, including young children. Interactive elements are even more moving, with touch screens that let you listen to the stories of different slaves and reveal their fate. This fall, the museum will open its third French Quarter campus, 12,000 square feet of new exhibition space, a cafe, and a shop in the 19th-century Seignouret-Brulatour building (520 Royal St.). One of the exhibits on deck for autumn is "Art of the City: Postmodern to Post-Katrina." Warehouse District The Warehouse District is another area worth exploring, as industrial brick buildings have been converted into galleries, hip restaurants and hotels. Among the best of the bunch is Compere Lapin (535 Tchoupitoulas St.), an eatery opened in 2015 by "Top Chef" runner-up Nina Compton. The name is French for "brother rabbit," and the animal is evident on the menu, which combines Caribbean and New Orleans flavors. Playful cocktails include The Copper Bunny served in, yes, a copper bunny a $20 mix of Absolut Elyx, pineapple jalapeno tequila, ginger, lime and Mumm champagne; and the Andromeda ($12), which has a foam pink bunny sprayed through a stencil atop a blend of pisco, green chile vodka, lime, grapefruit and rose. Apps and entrees range from Cold Smoked Tuna Tartare ($16) to Curried Goat with sweet potato gnocchi and cashews ($28). But the seemingly simple Brussels Sprouts Caesar ($8) will blow your mind with its intense flavors. Over at Flamingo-A-Go-Go (869 Magazine St.), which debuted in December, everything screams laid-back and fun. Colorful drawings of the wading bird deck the front of the building. Dishes range from a Grilled Chicken Cuban ($10) to Marinated Blue Crab Claws ($12), and bright drinks include the Prickly Pear, $8 and filled sweet cactus juice, Patron Silver, agave nectar and ginger beer. But the real attraction is the sprawling backyard space, filled with seating one table sits on the flatbed of an army truck and pink faux flamingos perched on trees and drinking from fountains. The worse than worthless United National Human Rights Council delivered its ritual condemnation of Israel today in a special session on Gaza. Before the vote was taken, Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow Colonel Richard Kemp spoke on behalf United Nations Watch. In light of the recent NBC News hit piece on Gatestone, I should add that Colonel Kemps statement is more informative than everything NBC News has on offer today. This was his statement: I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of United Nations Watch. I commanded British troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans and Northern Ireland, and served with NATO and the United Nations. I have come straight from the Gaza front line to share my assessment. Based on what I observed, I can say that everything we just heard here is a complete distortion of the truth. The truth is that Hamas, a terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel and murder of Jews everywhere, deliberately caused over 60 of its own people to get killed. They sent thousands of civilians to the front line as human shields for terrorists trying to break through the border. Hamass goal, in their own words, was blood in the path of Jihad. I ask every country in this Council: You have all been telling us that Israel should have reacted differently. But how would you respond if a Jihadist terror group sent thousands to flood your borders, and gunmen to massacre your communities? Your failure to admit that Hamas is responsible for every drop of blood spilt on the Gaza border encourages their violence and use of human shields. It makes you complicit in further bloodshed. If Israel had allowed these mobs to break through the fence, the IDF would then have been forced to defend their own civilians from slaughter and many more Palestinians would have been killed. Israels actions therefore saved lives of Gazans; and if this Council really cared about human rights, it should commend the Israel Defence Force for that, not condemn them on the basis of lies. FOOTNOTE: The American press tried to sell the idea that Hamass suicide tactics were somehow related to the Trump administrations shifting our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Why? Reporters and editors dont much care about Gaza or Israel, but are determined to make every news story reflect badly on the president. If this Rasmussen survey is any guide, that attempt has failed. Rasmussen finds 51% of likely voters in favor of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, with only 29% opposed. That contrasts with a survey by the same pollster in December, shortly after the move was announced. At that time, 40% supported the move, with 36% opposed. Some of the shift from December to May may result from people getting used to the idea or becoming familiar with the arguments in favor of the move. Some may be a reaction against Hamass repellent tactics. In any event, it appears clear the the American presss implicit support for Hamas has not swayed American voters. STEVE addsthis cartoon leftover from the inventory for tomorrows Week in Pictures, which gets the matter just right: Mollie Hemingway meticulously documents the outing of the top secret informant on the Trump campaign by the friendly if anonymous sources of the New York Times and Washington Post. The sources decry the danger in which the informant has been placed by the effort of Rep. Nunes to obtain documents related to the source, although they are the ones supplying the identifying information. I think Rep. Nunes is still waiting, but Chuck Ross follows the crumbs dropped by those crummy sources. Speaking of crummy sources, former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper celebrates the work of his colleagues over at CNN: Its A Good Thing FBI Was Spying On Trump Campaign. What were once vices There are a number of ways. Heres one: If people living in the country want to be on a governments enemies list, the government is not authoritarian. No one within the jurisdiction of an authoritarian government wants to be on its enemies list. Being on such a list isnt healthy. One can easily end up in jail, go missing, or even be assassinated. Under non-authoritarian governments, being on an enemies list can be a source of status. It enables one to preen to virtue-signal without paying a price. Richard Nixon had an enemies list. Washington liberals wanted to be on it. Prominent liberals not on the list were peeved. Richard Nixon had his faults, but his administrative was not authoritarian. The Washington Post reports that a pro-government newspaper in Hungary published an enemies list. Political opponents of prime minister Viktor Orban promptly expressed outrage at not being on the list. One of them launched a petition demanding to be on the list. He invited others to join in that demand. Nearly 8,000 did. This tells me that Orbans government is not authoritarian. The Post eventually concedes as much. Deep into the story, it acknowledges that in Hungary there is free expression, with opponents speaking out on television, newspapers, and on the streets. Earlier this month, when the new, elected parliament was sworn in, thousands of opponents rallied against Orban just outside the building. It turns out, moreover, that the list in question isnt really an enemies list. The document lists 200 individuals who received money from an organization funded by George Soros. Change the name from Soros to, say, the Koch Brothers, and one can easily imagine such a list appearing in the Washington Post. The Post is invested in portraying Viktor Orban as an authoritarian. Doing so serves its purposes. Why? Because the Post wants to treat Trumpism as part of a dangerous populist wave that threatens democracy as we know it. Orban is typically cited as Exhibit A of the danger posed by this wave. The more authoritarian anti-Trumpers can make Orban out to be, the scarier the populist wave can be made to appears. Orban is problematic in some ways. Its not an accident that the left makes him the poster boy for dangerous populism. Hes not an authoritarian, though not now. In any event, its ridiculous to try to associate Trump with whatever sins Orban might commit. Yet, this attempt has a lot to do with the anti-Orban drumbeat in organs like the Washington Post. Remember all the excitement after it was revealed that Donald Trump Jr. and a few others in the Trump campaign met with that Russian lawyer at Trump Tower? The mainstream media treated this news as if it were a tipping point in the search for collusion between Team Trump and the Russian government. The notion was always absurd. News flash: A presidential campaign, when offered dirt on the opponent, will hear out the person offering it, even if that person happens to be Russian. Thats what happened at Trump Tower. Except that the Russian had no dirt to offer. She used the promise of dirt as a pretext to moan about sanctions and the meeting disintegrated. No one colluded with anyone. No one came close. Now, almost a year after this story broke, the Senate Judiciary Committee has released 2500 pages of hearing transcripts and related material about the Trump Tower meeting. The documents confirm what I just stated about the meeting. The Washington Post acknowledges as much and tries to divert attention by discussing earlier events pertaining to Rob Goldstone who organized the Trump Tower meeting. But there is something new thats relevant to the Trump Tower meeting. We now know that the Clinton campaign used Russian sources to develop (or manufacture) dirt on Donald Trump. In other words, the Clinton campaign actually did what Donald Trump Jr merely contemplated doing, and probably hoped to do obtain damaging information about the opposition candidate from Russians. The Clinton campaign did this through agents. The campaigns law firm, Perkins Coie, paid GPS Fusion, which paid Christopher Steele, who obtained dirt on Trump from Russian sources. That dirt became the infamous dossier. Steele then tried to inject the dossier into the campaign. He failed to get anywhere with the media, but was able to feed it to the FBI where Hillary Clinton supporters in the Bureau made effective use of it. In addition, it appears that Sidney Blumenthal, Hillary Clintons close ally, worked with pro-Clinton operative Cody Shearer to develop dirt on Trump via Russians. Shearer wrote a own dossier containing information that must have been provided by Russians. Blumenthal reportedly gave it to a pro-Clintn operative at the State Department, who passed it to Steele, who passed it to the FBI. Compare all of this to a brief, one-off meeting between Trump Jr. and a few Russians a meeting at which, essentially, nothing happened. As Ed Rogers summarizes it, the Democrats were the ones who solicited and utilized Russian-supplied, damning information about Trump, instead of Trump using Russian-supplied, damning information about Clinton. No wonder we have heard so little about the Trump Tower meeting recently. No wonder even the Washington Post treated the release of the Senate Judiciary Committee transcript as ho-hum. Ammo Grrrll reconsiders A LUNATIC IN THE LIFT. She writes: By now, as frequently happens with a weekly column, this is pretty old news. But its in my wheelhouse, so I thought I would weigh in. Besides, Im still mad. Regular readers may think they have seen me mad before, but that was just warm-up. The Safe Space Dwellers want to talk about triggers? Consider me triggered. As my hero Mark Steyn says, Stand well back! Straw meet camels back. For far too long, we have caved like cheap card tables in the war against the Productive by the Pretend Oppressed, often for good reasons. We have been threatened with lawsuits, boycotts, loss of employment, and subjected to vicious ginned-up Twitter and Facebook attacks. First, the Professionally Offended always demand some kind of groveling apology. As I hope Kanye has learned, NEVER EVER APOLOGIZE. First, you have done nothing wrong. Second, it doesnt ever work. Groveling apologies have the same effect on left-wing bullies as liquor did revving up lynch mobs. We need a new name for Social Justice Warriors, for sure. There is not one thing just about shouting down speakers, running around with masks breaking windows, or driving cake bakers out of business. The psycho ninnies attracted to such actions are also not very social. And they are the opposite of warriors. They are generally cowards and babies. And so here are the facts: a gentleman named Richard Ned Lebow of Kings College, London was in a crowded elevator (Lift in Brit talk) at the San Francisco Hilton at an academic conference a couple of months ago. As buttons were being pushed for floors, from the back of the elevator, Mr. Lebow joked, Ladies lingerie, please. And a woman named Simona Sharoni said nothing in the elevator, but freaked out when she returned to her coven. And she did what any miserable, rage-aholic looking for attention would do under the circumstances she consulted the Manual of Unauthorized Behavior and then fired off a letter to the associations director, claiming to be shaken, though apparently not stirred. Mr. Lebow certainly didnt touch her, God forbid. He didnt ask her to watch him shower. He didnt carry a replica of her bloody severed head, which we were assured by our betters was a laugh riot. He didnt ask a buddy to snap a photo of him pretending to grab her breasts. Nobody in the elevator was advised to put some ice on that. All he did was make a mild, completely harmless little joke to break the usual tension that almost everyone who isnt insane experiences in a crowded elevator. In the long forgotten Victorian Era, one had to refer to a chair or piano leg as a limb. The word leg was so triggering to Victorian ladies that they would have to lie down on a fainting couch. Todays strong, independent feminists have brought us full circle to where hearing ladies lingerie is an occasion for virtual fainting. And then A Grievously and Perpetually Offended Woman has to run right off and tattle to Big Daddy Executive Director. Thats one tough cookie of a feminist! In the event of trouble, I want nobody on my team who is rendered limp and shaken by the words ladies lingerie. Or by any mere words. This great feminist hero, possibly angling for a job on MSNBC, declared AFTER the first round of apologies by Mr. Lebow which, of course, were inadequate and unacceptable I have dedicated my life to confronting sexism and I cannot and will not remain silent when misogyny is in play. To which I, a not insane woman, would say: Bite me. I would add: you are a humorless, wretched, petty, vindictive twit, looking for an occasion for self-aggrandizement and a leg up in whatever airless space you occupy. You are nothing more than an adult-like version of the same prissy little grade school tattletales who told Teacher of petty infractions that occurred while she was out of the room. Your ilk were the reason I spent a lot of time clapping erasers and sitting in the hall. You were always girls why was that? Boys could be many annoying things, but they were rarely tattletales. Ms. Sharoni: You get a lot of money to teach not one, but two, frivolous, unserious subjects that make my Sociology major look positively dignified Womens and now Gender Studies. My advice would be to go quietly about peddling your unscholarly, indoctrinating crap under the radar in the hopes that nobody really notices how useless you are and continues to give you a paycheck. But wheres the fun in that when you can torture a white man who mentions ladies lingerie in an elevator? Theres a better than even chance that you can take away his livelihood by pretending in the most disgustingly dishonest way that you were harmed somehow. And wouldnt THAT be a feather in your tinfoil hat?! Where were the other women in this tempest in a thimble? Did not even one defend Mr. Lebow? If not, you cowardly, bleating sheeple, we have nothing in common but lady bits. For example, I am generally a happy person, looking for ways to amuse or uplift others. I enjoy every single part of my day, starting with my morning walk with the Paranoid Texan who makes many, many jokes, not one of which do I parse for sexism or misogyny. I laugh and see if I can top his joke or riff on it. Men who enjoy my company, without exception, LIKE women. Later, Mr. AG comes out of his man cave for a little brunch and we eat and joke together although, sometimes, I must confess, he does touch me. Oh, icky poo. Boy cooties! No, waitI remember now: I LIKE both joking AND being touched. Because I am not insane. Then I go into my office and write for a bit and surf the Net, hoping to stay upbeat and not read about people like Ms. Sharoni. I might read a mystery or go to the Tactical Range, or do some laundry or call my elderly Papa. Later, I might go out to a local diner with Mr. AG. If we find ourselves in an elevator, we always arrive at our floor without a nervous breakdown. Because we are not insane. In the evening, we might watch a Jason Statham action movie or an old sitcom episode or have a few friends in for drinks or go watch the Diamondbacks win. Then we read and snuggle in bed and rest up for the next day which we expect to enjoy just as much as the one we just spent. If its Tuesday, theres poker! See how that works? Happy! Just live and let live. As the Psalmist advises: This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be GLAD in it. The Psalmist said that because finding occasion to be glad, rather than professionally and perpetually offended, makes even a difficult life bearable. Also, he was not insane. You likely are already aware of one of todays dustups, the presss false claim that President Trump described illegal immigrants as animals. This lie has cropped up in so many places that there is no point in trying to catalog them all, but the New York Times, as usual, was one of the malefactors: Trump lashed out at undocumented immigrants during a White House meeting, calling those trying to breach the countrys borders animals https://t.co/aQNeu29T6e pic.twitter.com/ogrFKaWyDZ The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2018 That is a flat-out lie, as we will see momentarily. It was repeated by many others, including USA Today and the Washington Post. The Associated Press at least had the decency to delete its false tweet: AP has deleted a tweet from late Wednesday on Trumps animals comment about immigrants because it wasnt made clear that he was speaking after a comment about gang members. The Associated Press (@AP) May 17, 2018 The New York Times, on the other hand, is sticking to its story. As the AP ultimately admitted, President Trump referred to members of the vicious MS-13 gang as animals. The context was a White House round table on Californias sanctuary law and its impact on the federal governments ability to deport violent criminals who are illegally present in the U.S. At the beginning of the discussion, President Trump framed it this way: Each of you has bravely resisted Californias deadly and unconstitutional sanctuary state laws. Youve gone through a lot, too, although its becoming quite popular what youre doing. A law that forces the release of illegal immigrant criminals, drug dealers, gang members, and violent predators into your communities. Californias law provides safe harbor to some of the most vicious and violent offenders on Earth, like MS-13 gang members putting innocent men, women, and children at the mercy of these sadistic criminals. But were moving them out of this country by the thousands. MS-13, were grabbing them by the thousands and were getting them out, Kevin. The round table had nothing to do with illegal immigrants in general, or those trying to breach the countrys borders (the caravaners, I take it). This was the presidents reference to animals; again, he obviously was referring to MS-13 gang members: SHERIFF MIMS: Thank you. There could be an MS-13 member I know about if they dont reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it. THE PRESIDENT: We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in and were stopping a lot of them but were taking people out of the country. You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people. These are animals. And were taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate thats never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. Its crazy. Scarcely a day goes by without the news media lying about the president and his administration. No wonder trust in the press is at an all-time low. It should be. On Friday a ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of the World War II battle that Polish troops won took place at Monte Cassino, in Italy. In a letter to the participants President Andrzej Duda wrote that today's free and sovereign Poland was proof that the Monte Cassino soldiers had not died in vain. "Today we can rest assured that the Monte Cassino heroes did not make their sacrifice in vain, but that it has borne fruit - a free, sovereign and strong Poland. I can give my assurance about this as the President of the Republic, a country that is proudly celebrating its independence centenary this year," Andrzej Duda wrote. The Monte Cassino hill, along with the Benedictine abbey, represented the military fortifications at the Gustav Line which prevented the Allies from seizing Rome during the later stages of the Second World War. Polish units on the Allied force played a major role in the 1944 battle, seizing Monte Cassino under heavy German shellfire on May 18. In all, 923 Polish soldiers were killed in the fighting, with 2,931 wounded and 345 reported missing. See also: Ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino The Polish War Cemetery was established on the hillsides of Monte Cassino at the turn of 1945. It contains the graves of 1,072 soldiers. In 1970, the cemetery became the burial site of General Wadysaw Anders, the commander of the Polish 2nd Corps which captured the monastery hill in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. (PAP, MK) John James, a candidate for the GOP nomination for Senate wants to debate his opponent prior to the primary election. His opponent is Sandy Pensler. The winner of the August primary will move on to the genral election in an attempt to unseat long-time Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. James is calling for three debates in June and July. The proposed debates would be set for June 5 in Lansing and hosted by the Michigan Republican Party, July 10 in Ottawa County and hosted by the Ottawa County Republican Party and July 19 in Macomb County and hosted by the Macomb County Republican Party. James, 36, is a combat veteran who served eight years in the Army before coming back to Michigan to run his families business. He currently lives in Farmington Hills. Pensler, 61, is a Detroit native who has taught at Yale and Harvard and now calls himself an entrepreneur. He currently lives in Grosse Pointe. Neither man has held public office in the past. ( Read 9065 Times) Source : With the playoff matches around the corner, a unique and delightful experience awaits Vodafone customers in Delhi & NCR. Vodafone pre-paid and post paid customers in Delhi & NCR stand a chance to win match tickets and free rides to Ferozshah Kotla stadium. All it takes is - to download the MyVodafoneApp and participate in the Vodafone Unofficial Sponsor of Fans contest by answering a few simple questions.There are 80 match tickets which can be won by Delhi & NCR Vodafone customers. These winners will also be eligible for a free ride to the stadium in cabs.Said Siddharth Banerjee, EVP-Marketing, Vodafone India, Vodafones continued association with different sporting platforms, allows us to create innovative and rewarding experiences for our customers. As the stage gets set for the playoff matches, we are inviting our customers in Delhi & NCR to have fun playing the Vodafone - Unofficial Sponsor of Fanscontest and stand a chance to win free tickets for the upcoming games at Ferozshah Kotla. Do join in the excitement on MyVodafoneApp and win your way to the stadium to cheer your favourite teams.Easy to navigate with options suggesting next steps, the MyVodafoneApps in-built smart analytics provide a detailed understanding to each customer about his/her usage of the pack/plan on real time basis, manage multiple accounts, track bill payments and recharges, subscribe to new products and services and make MNP requests. Users are also prompted a choice of best pack and plan options basis their past usage trend. NEW DELHI, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Adobe Enables Designer and Developer Innovation With $10M Design Investment Fund Adobe today announced the XD CC Starter plan, a free offering of the all-in-one UX/UI design platform. The XD CC Starter plan includes Adobe XD for Mac and Windows, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and services to empower users to design, prototype and share user experiences with colleagues. With this announcement and the release of new features and enhancements, Adobe XD is the only cross-platform experience design platform to combine both design and prototyping with industrial-grade performance. And, as part of Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe XD tightly integrates with designers' existing workflows and top tools such as Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC. Underscoring the importance of this burgeoning category, Adobe also announced a $10 million design investment fund to advance innovation in experience design. "UX design is one of the fastest growing segments in design," said Scott Belsky, Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President, Creative Cloud at Adobe. "The new Starter plan for Adobe XD supports Adobe's vision to give everyone-from emerging artists to enterprise brands-everything they need to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences and explore the rapidly expanding field of UX design with no financial commitment." Introducing the Starter Plan for Adobe XD According to data from Adobe, 87 percent of managers believe hiring more user experience (UX) designers is a top priority for their organizations, as they play a crucial role in developing world-class customer experiences. A milestone for the global design community, the Starter plan for Adobe XD provides free access to Adobe XD, enabling professional and aspiring designers, teams and students to learn, cultivate and apply their design skills. The XD CC Starter plan also includes Typekit and integration with Creative Cloud Libraries, making it easy to share and manage assets across devices. $10 Million Fund to Empower Creative Innovation To enable the vibrant ecosystem of partners, developers and startups, Adobe today announced the Adobe Fund for Design, a $10 million fund, distributed in the form of grants and equity investments. The fund will help designers and developers innovate in the world of experience design and leverage Adobe XD as a platform supporting tooling plug-ins and integrations with third-party tools and services. An expansion of Adobe's ongoing investment in and collaboration with the design community, this fund will allow developers and designers to take full advantage of Adobe XD and integrate with the Creative Cloud workflows used by millions of creative professionals and top brands around the world. Workflow Enhancements in Adobe XD These announcements align with the release of new features and enhancements in Adobe XD, including time-saving workflow updates that enable designers to go from concept to prototype faster. New Adobe XD features and capabilities are prioritized and introduced based on feedback from the design community and user requests. Recent marquee updates include support for opening Sketch and Photoshop CC documents in Adobe XD, the ability to publish and share Design Specs (Beta) and integration with third-party tools such as Dropbox, Zeplin, Avocode and Sympli. This month's updates include: Sketch and Photoshop CC integration improvements: First announced earlier this year, Adobe released improvements to opening Sketch and Photoshop CC files directly in Adobe XD. The release allows users to import stroke and image effects, and import Photoshop files more quickly to Adobe XD, as well as several conversion fidelity improvements when importing Sketch files. First announced earlier this year, Adobe released improvements to opening Sketch and Photoshop CC files directly in Adobe XD. The release allows users to import stroke and image effects, and import Photoshop files more quickly to Adobe XD, as well as several conversion fidelity improvements when importing Sketch files. Password-protected Design Specs (Beta): Users can enable password protection for design specs to restrict access. The user inputs a password in the Share popup window, before passing the links out, to ensure the security of proprietary designs. Users can enable password protection for design specs to restrict access. The user inputs a password in the Share popup window, before passing the links out, to ensure the security of proprietary designs. Simple drag-and-drop options to swap symbols: Drag a symbol from the assets panel and drop it over another symbol to an artboard to update all copies of that symbol. Drag a symbol from the assets panel and drop it over another symbol to an artboard to update all copies of that symbol. Paste to multiple artboards: Copy one element and then select multiple artboards and paste the element to each artboard. Adobe is also facilitating learning and growth opportunities through an ongoing series of Creative Jams, where designers and design luminaries can share their unique design processes with each other. As part of this month's updates, Adobe is releasing a series of free UI kits and resources for the design community, created by prominent designers around the globe, such as Daniel White, Ana Miminoshvili, Zhenya Rynzhuk, Steve Wolf and Mike, the designer behind Creative Mints. Pricing and Availability The Starter plan for Adobe XD is free and available immediately for all; users in an active trial of Adobe XD will need to update their version of the platform from the Creative Cloud desktop app or from xd.adobe.com to activate it. The free plan complements existing Adobe XD plans, including for individuals, teams and enterprises. The $9.99 Adobe XD Single App plan gives Creative Cloud members unlimited shared prototypes and design specs. Additional details on plan options and pricing for each tier are available on Adobe's website. Helpful Links About Adobe Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com. 2018 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Media Contact: Tanvi Maheshwary [email protected] +91-120-444-4711 Adobe SOURCE Adobe India SHENZHEN, China, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 11, 2018, the 14th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Expo (ICIF) Grandland Venue was launched. On the opening ceremony of ICIF Grandland Branch, Consensus on Strengthening China-ASEAN Architectural Decoration Industry Win-Win Cooperation is officially announced and "China-ASEAN Architectural Decoration Industry Cooperation Committee" is officially established, which indicates that there will be a close link in the architectural decoration industry between China and ASEAN countries, and will certainly play a positive role in promoting the in-depth exchanges and long-term development of both sides.The Chinese Chairman of the Committee is chaired by Xu Ningning, Executive President of the China-ASEAN Business Council, and Chinese Executive Chairman is chaired by both Fan Zhiquan, Chairman of Shenzhen Grandland Group Co., Ltd. and Gao Gang, President of Shenzhen Decoration Industry Association. BANGALORE, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Becomes the only fresh chicken, meat and seafood brand in India to get UKAS accreditation certified by Bureau Veritas Licious, one of India's leading gourmet meat and seafood brands, has been recognised with FSSC22000 Ver 4.1 UKAS accreditation for adherence to global standards in quality, hygiene and food safety in its fresh chicken, meat and seafood products. Backed by technology and innovation, Licious has become the only fresh chicken, meat and seafood brand in the country to be certified with a UKAS accreditation. All thanks to its 150 stringent quality checks, enforced by a strong team of meat scientists and microbiologists. Run under the aegis of Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd., Licious is one of the pioneers among food-tech start-ups in the country who have truly disrupted the fresh meat and seafood industry and has grown at an exponential rate. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693087/Licious_Logo.jpg ) The certification is a stamp of authority that testifies the brand's commitment to quality. Keeping food safety and transparency at the helm of its operations, the brand takes serious steps to offer its consumers the very best quality of delicious and fresh chicken, meat and seafood. Striving to solve for accountability in the fresh meat space in India, Licious has consistently built a state-of-the-art end-to-end system to ensure that the average meat-lover in the country is exposed to a global meat experience. The FSSC22000 UKAS accreditation provides a framework for effectively managing food safety and quality responsibilities. FSSC 22000 demonstrates that a company has a robust and effective food safety management system in place to meet the requirements of consumers. On this recognition, Licious Founders, Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, said: Vivek: "Quality and food safety has always been a way of life for all of us at Licious. Getting this stamp of authority from the world's highest certification body is a definite shot in the arm. It is a validation of our commitment to the highest standards of product and quality assurance to our consumers. We had a dream of creating an ecosystem where the average meat-lover would indulge in premium meats and seafood with complete confidence in its quality. We sure have come a long way to make that dream come true." Abhay: "We will continue to invest in food safety and quality in the future as well. This certification sets the right foundation for a product-first and consumer-obsessed brand like us. It helps us further cement trust with our consumers. And that is precisely what we set out to do - To be accountable; To create a relationship with our consumers; To create a community of proud and informed meat-lovers; To curate a world-class meat experience." Rajesh Kumaramenon, VP - Quality and Food Safety at Licious said, "A certificate will give you a nice, big bang but the whole point of a management system is that it needs to go on forever. At Licious, we do have a multidisciplinary FSMS team that strives to position Licious as synonymous with the best quality & the safest meat, poultry & seafood in India. There is no second thought for us when it comes to choosing the certification scheme which is the highest & the latest in food safety management system standards. i.e. FSSC 22K. We are the organization which faced the audit against the latest versions (4.1) of this GFSI benchmarked global standard for which one of the surveillance audit is to be unannounced in nature by mandate. Our journey continues, and we aim at product specific GFSI certifications in coming years and to the ultimate - LQFSMS- Licious Quality & Food Safety Management System Standard - that we envision as the world's reference for Safe & Best quality fresh meat & meat-based gourmet products." About Licious Licious is India's leading gourmet meat brand founded by Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta in September 2015. Licious is headquartered in Bengaluru and is operated by Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd. Licious currently carries out business operations in five markets; Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The company was founded in order to leverage a huge business opportunity that Abhay and Vivek identified in the meat market, where there was a dire requirement for the supply of quality and hygienic fresh meat and seafood. Licious endeavours to satisfy customers with the finest and freshest meat and seafood processed using globally-accepted scientific techniques and by creating an organized fresh meat category in an industry dominated by the frozen meat market. Licious follows an end-to-end business model that starts from procuring the fresh produce to processing, storage and delivery. This allows Licious to control the supply chain and strictly maintain the freshness and quality of the product till the delivery at the doorstep of the consumer. For more information, visit: https://www.licious.in/ . Media Contact: Komal Seth [email protected] +91-9971008538 Head Of Public Relations Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd. SOURCE Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd. MUMBAI, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MRSS (Majestic Research Services and Solutions Limited) India, signed up Dr. Mridula Savitri Mishra as Research Director, Social Research Practices; Ms. Geeta Sachar as Senior Vice President, MRSS India (Head South Region) and Ms. Ruma Sengupta as Senior Vice President. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/665481/MRSS_INDIA_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693555/Geeta_Sachar_Ruma_Sengupta_Mridula_Mishra_MRSS.jpg ) Dr. Mridula Savitri Mishra has over 15 years of experience in research and academics. She is a PhD, from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, (BITS), Pilani. She has also done a ME in Internet Technology and e-Business from the same institution. She has carried out extensive field-based research in Retail Management, Social Media and CRM. She has published a number of papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals of repute. Ruma Sengupta comes with 18 years of experience across various sectors like FMCG, Pharma, OTC and Films. She has worked in Marketing as well as MR hence is familiar with both sides. Ability to draw actionable insights is her core strength. She has worked with UB, Ranbaxy in Marketing and in MR managed big international accounts such as ULL, SAB-Miller, PEPSI, GSK to name a few. Ms. Geeta Sachar is an astute marketing professional with over 24 years of rich experience in consumer insights, branding strategies and operations across all consumer categories and across geographies worldwide. Working in Strategic advisory positions in Boards has devised strategies to maintain brand leadership, brand positioning, brand sustainability. Her multilingual capabilities have helped penetrate to the grassroots in obtaining ground level realistic consumer insights to create effective and pragmatic consumer centric mitigation strategies. Welcoming all 3 to the MRSS family, Raj Sharma, Chairman of MRSS India expressed "I am thrilled to have these 3 incredibly talented women in our team. Dr. Mridula will jump start our foray into CSR Market Research whereas Ruma will be handling western India, while Geeta will lead the South." About MRSS India : MRSS India relies exhaustively on usage of technology for data acquisition offering reliability, validity and faster turnaround times to its clients. The company has wide range of offerings such as Eye Tracking, Mobile Analytics, Video Analysis, Facial Recognition, Digital Tracking, Online Communities, Neuroscience, Emotional Analysis, Automated Audience Measurement, Sensory Sciences, etc. It is India's 1st and only listed Market Research Company, also a member of MRSI and DIN (Digital Insight Network - Global). It is the subsidiary of Majestic Market Research Support Services Limited, - one of Asia's largest full service market research firm. MMRSS is a member of ESOMAR, QRCA, MRA, etc. with presence in 18 countries across Middle East and Asia Pacific region. Media Contact: Sukanya Mandal [email protected] +91-8369257175 MRSS INDIA SOURCE MRSS India Ltd. TORONTO, May 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TSX Venture: KBLT FRA: 27O Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. ("Cobalt 27" or the "Company") (TSXV: KBLT)(FRA: 27O), announced today that the Company has entered into a US$80 million revolving term credit facility (the "Credit Facility") led by National Bank of Canada with a syndicate of financial institutions including Bank of Montreal and The Bank of Nova Scotia (the "Lenders"). The Credit Facility is to be used for general corporate purposes and investments in the mineral industry, including the acquisition of streams, royalties, and other interests. The Company intends to increase the size of the Credit Facility as it builds its cobalt-focused investment portfolio. "Adding a revolver to our balance sheet is an important step towards becoming a cash flow positive streaming company. This US$80 million Credit Facility, combined with our recently completed CAD$200 million equity financing, significantly strengthens Cobalt 27's liquidity and provides the financial capacity to accelerate our plans to close streaming transactions," stated Anthony Milewski, Chairman and CEO of Cobalt 27. "The positive response we have received from our banking syndicate reflects confidence in Cobalt 27's strong asset base and business model." The Credit Facility is secured by the Company's assets and has an initial term of two years, which is extendable by mutual consent of all Lenders and Cobalt 27. The initial drawdown under the Credit Facility is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions precedent customary for a financing of this type. About Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. is a minerals company that offers direct exposure to cobalt, an integral element in key technologies of the electric vehicle and battery energy storage markets. The Company owns over 2,980 Mt of physical cobalt and manages a portfolio of ten royalties. The Company intends to continue investing in a cobalt-focused portfolio of streams, royalties and direct interests in mineral properties containing cobalt, while potentially adding to its cobalt physical holdings when opportunities arise. For further information please visit the Company website at http://www.co27.com or contact: Betty Joy LeBlanc, BA, MBA Director, Corporate Communications +1-604-828-0999 info@co27.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. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. Forward-Looking Information: This press release contains certain information which constitutes 'forward-looking statements' and 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation: statements pertaining to the Credit Facility; and statements pertaining to the timing and amounts to be drawn under the Credit Facility. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the Company's control. For more details on these and other risk factors see the Company's most recent Annual Information Form on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com under the heading "Risk Factors". Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties underlying these forward-looking statements materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this release and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. SOURCE Cobalt 27 Capital Corp German Stock Exchange Borse Stuttgart Welcomes Cryptocurrencies Soon enough, maybe this fall, German stock exchange Borse Stuttgart is going to start working with cryptocurrencies. For that purpose, the exchange is expected to use its branch. Trading cryptocurrencies will be implemented through the Bison app. The expected trading turnover is around 100 billion dollars. Borse Stuttgarts official website reads that Bison is expected to simplify the process of trading cryptocurrencies for consumers. The platform is ready and is currently being tested. Users can get familiar with it in trial mode. For now, the exchange is planning to launch Bison this fall if everything is OK. At this point, the user interface is available in German only. This fall, they are planning to introduce the English version of Bison to make the platform available to international traders. At first, the exchange is planning to offer 4 major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple (XRP). Later on, some other digital currencies will be added to the list. The good news is that trading cryptocurrencies through Bison will be free of commissions and fees. Also, they are planning to launch a news channel providing users with the most essential and crucial news data after analyzing 250 000 online sources on a daily basis. Bitcoin 8311 USD/BTC, Ethereum 701 USD/ETH, Ripple 0,69 USD/XRP, In the meantime, the global market of cryptocurrencies has been following a downtrend. Bitcoin has been moving down to the $7,9-8,1K USD/BTC area of support over the last few trading days. For now, CoinMarketCap names the following exchange rates.Bitcoin 8311 USD/BTC, Ethereum 701 USD/ETH, Ripple 0,69 USD/XRP, Bitcoin Cash 1280 USD/BCH, Litecoin 138 USD/LTC. All of them have lost a bit of their value. The total crypto market cap is now $382 billion. You are free to discuss this article here: forum for traders and investors 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 Some people may argue that they are healthy or their medical conditions are under control, but the reality is, anything can happen. While having fun, you could get into accidents or catch cold by simply sitting next to a sick person. Diabetes and high blood pressure are universal problems that most India Network Foundation, a non-profit community organization based in the United States is a sponsor of visitors health insurance for travelers, tourists, H1-Workers, and anyone visiting the United States. This year thousands of Indian parents and grandparents will travel to the United States to spend quality time with their children and grandchildren. It is essential for all visitors from India travel with an excellent visitor health insurance plan that will have them covered in case of an emergency or an accident. With more than 30 years of delivering award winning visitor insurance, India Network visitors insurance coverage offers the most comprehensive plans to visitors traveling USA. India Network advises every traveler visiting United States to plan their trip cautiously and with safety in mind. Travelers can purchase the India Network health insurance program of their choice from their home in India or using a mobile phone while in the United States. The free online quote tool helps members see all the available options and choose the right coverage. India Network strongly urges anyone above 60 years of age to obtain the full pre-existing coverage. Visit visitor health insurance web site. It's extremely important to get a proper coverage for Visitor Health Insurance. Medical bills in the US can be thousands of dollars. Planning a vacation or visiting grandchildren in the United States is always exciting. Nevertheless, having a good visitor health insurance is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones in case of an emergency. Travelers may think that they are healthy or their medical conditions are under control, but the reality is a medical emergency can happen at any time. Diabetes and high blood pressure are universal problems that most elderly visitors from India and other countries are facing, and they are all pre-existing conditions that could lead to other health complications. - said Dr. KV Rao, Founder President of India Network Foundation, USA. India Network sponsored visitor health insurance plans are always underwritten by trusted and highly rated American Insurance Companies that follow USA insurance regulations & guidelines in claims processing and claims paying. Excellent customer service provided by third party claim administrators located in Pennsylvania and Texas offer timely responses to coverage questions or to co-ordinate benefits with providers and hospitals. About India Network Foundation India Network Foundation, established as a US non-profit organization, helps the Indian American community in North America with programs and travels grants for academic researchers from India for over two decades. India Network Foundation sponsors visitor health insurance for tourists, students, temporary workers (H1 visa holders) and their families. All insurance products are administered by India Network Services. For more information please visit http://www.indianetwork.org About India Network Health Insurance India Network Services is a US-based company that administers visitor health insurance to tourists, students, temporary workers and their families. Visitor medical plans are offered for all age groups with both fixed coverage, comprehensive coverage and with pre-existing condition coverage. For more information please visit https://www.kvrao.org Evas Village will host a dinner for New Jersey lawyers and accountants on Thursday, May 31, at The Madison Hotel in Morristown, NJ. This new event will raise awareness and vital funding for more than 20 programs at Eva's that serve thousands of men, women and children struggling with poverty, homelessness, and addiction each year. According to Gregory Floyd, Evas Executive Vice-President of Mission, this dinner gives us the opportunity to introduce the life-saving work of Evas Village to many new people. By recognizing three individuals who are deeply committed to supporting our mission, we hope to shine a light not only on new services addressing the opioid crisis, but on the programs that have been providing hope and help for our neighbors in need for 36 years. Patricia Barbarito, Esq. of Einhorn, Harris, Ascher, Barbarito and Frost, PC; John Cromie, Esq. of Connell Foley LLP; and Marqus White, CPA of Sax LLP, will be honored for their dedication and service to Evas Village and the local community. Having grown up in Paterson, I understand the shame and hardship that is associated with poverty, homelessness, and addiction; the work that Evas does immediately pulled at my heartstrings. I'm proud and fortunate to now be part of their community, noted honoree Barbarito. Tickets, tables and digital ads are still available. Visit the event webpage for more information. The event will highlight how Evas addiction recovery program can change lives by building supportive bonds between counselors and clients. Angela Terry, a staff member at Evas, and Howard Yerger, her former client, will speak about the connection they forged with each other. Ms. Terry, an alumna of Eva's before she became a counselor, is now Eva's Criminal Justice Services Coordinator. Funds raised will support the overall operations of Evas Village as well as several programs - Evas Community Kitchen, Medical and Dental Clinics and Childcare and Education - that depend entirely on private donations. Last year, Evas Community Kitchen served more than 500,000 meals; the Medical and Dental Clinic handled almost 6,000 patient visits; together, the treatment programs and Evas Recovery Community Center engaged nearly 2,300 individuals in various stages of recovery, and Evas shelter and housing programs provided a safe haven to over 600 adults and children. More about Evas Village The mission of Evas Village is to provide care and support for people who are struggling with poverty, hunger, homelessness, and addiction. Founded as a soup kitchen in 1982, Evas Village began by serving 30 meals a day to feed the hungry in Paterson. Over the years, Evas Village grew as programs and services were added to address the root causes of homelessness and poverty. Today, Evas Village offers a range of integrated programs to help those in need move toward recovery, stability, and independence. Dear Hillary: an examination of what the American People actually wanted when they voted in the 2016 Presidential Election. Dear Hillary is the creation of published author, Misty USA LLC. Misty lives in rural Pennsylvania. She was born and raised in a small town with a population of just over five thousand. She graduated from Edinboro University with an interest in politics, legislation, and writing. She likes to advocate for people living in poverty and children who need representation. She enjoys watching MSNBC and sharing her political views with friends and family. She also enjoys encouraging others to vote and to be more involved in choosing the people who are sent to State and Federal government. Many of her friends cannot believe how many books Misty owns and has read. Misty has always gone to the same local United Methodist Church. She often calls on her church family for support and prayer. She loves to cook, crochet, cross stitch, and read. When her mother was battling cancer, she signed herself and her mother up for a quilting class. They learned how to quilt and each made a quilt. Since her mother passed away, she has taken great comfort in having her mothers quilt. Misty cannot imagine having gone through some of the most tragic times in her life without the love, support, and patience of her daughter Mariah. Her love for her daughter has grown each day of her life. They are more than mother and daughter: they are best friends. They both have a goal of continuing to write and are currently writing a book together. You talked about your mother during your acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination. I was already getting tears in my eyes because it was such a phenomenal moment, that you were the first woman to be the nominee for president of a major party! Your mother did well, raising you to care about your fellow human beings and also how to stand up for yourself. Everyone could feel the love and respect that you had for your mother. I am positive that she was watching and cheering you on! I am absolutely sure that she is extremely proud of you. --Misty USA LLC Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Misty USA LLCs new book explores what the American People actually wanted from the 2016 Presidential Election. November 8, 2016 was Election Day. It is the day Donald Trump was elected to become the President of the United States of America. It is an event that left the world questioning the judgement of the American People. The world was left wondering how Americans could have voted for a self-determined demigod and childish liar to represent them in the world. The answer is that American voters did not elect Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes. Quite frankly, the vast majority of Americans are embarrassed to have this chauvinistic, sexist jerk representing the United States of America. Dear Hillary was written for all the people who were shocked and devastated by the loss of the most qualified person to have ever run for US President, Hillary Clinton. It is also for Barack Obama, who the world needs now more than ever. View a synopsis of Dear Hillary on YouTube. Consumers can purchase Dear Hillary at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Dear Hillary, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Its not too late for Americans to wake up and fight these inequalities. More than 40 million Americans live in poverty, according to the 2016 US Census. Put in perspective, the collective wealth of 50% of the US population isnt as much as that of just three men - Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Inequality on such a vast scale leads to devastating realities for lower and middle-class Americans. A recent Institute for Policy Studies report found that while the median American family has a net worth of $80,000, over 19 percent of households have zero or negative net worth. That inequality is disproportionate among households of color, as over 30 percent of black households and 27 percent of Latino households have zero or negative net worth to fall back on. The case can be made that the American Dream has turned into a nightmare. Still, its not too late for Americans to wake up and fight these inequalities. Restoring the American Dream In a recent video release from 2020 presidential candidate Hart Cunningham, the candidate railed against the .1%, who are doing whatever they can to remove jobs from American citizens. They have no care about whats happening to our planet, to our society, to middle-income wages. Cunningham committed himself to ending economic inequality through a new deal. Specifically, Cunningham called for budgetary initiatives for the lowest economic class, lowering tax brackets that would allow for and empower lower and middle-class Americans to provide for their children and family, so that they can have stronger family values and spend more than 30 minutes of the day with their child. With the proper leadership in place, the basics of the American Dream could be restored. Re-making a Great America The current president, elected on a campaign promise to Make America Great Again, instead called for a tax plan through which over 60 percent would flow to the richest 1 percent after 10 years nearly 40 percent to the top 0.1 percent. The same tax plans cuts trillions of dollars from services for working-class families, reported The Hill. Harkening back to his own youth, Cunningham recalled a time when American citizens had a dream, the middle class had savings, and they looked at opportunities for their children. To truly make America great again, preferential treatment to the uber rich will need to end. Thankfully, there are now more ways than ever before for lower and middle-class citizens to take matters into their own hands, re-making America into a country where wealth inequality is decreasing, and the quality of life is great for everyone. About Hart Cunningham - #Hart2020 Hart Cunningham is running for the presidency in 2020 in the hopes of helping the world overcome struggles due to capitalism, unsustainable economic and environmental practices, and a lack of equality. After being a successful businessman for many years, Cunningham turned his attention to humanitarian work and to bringing awareness to these issues. Originally from the south, hes made his roots in California and has a deep understanding of democratic and republican politics and ideals. True to his name, Hart Cunningham wants to bring the heart back into politics in America and believes that poverty and climate change must be solved for the greater good of our world. Volunteer or contribute to his campaign by visiting, http://hart2020.org. Follow Hart Cunningham on Social Media Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/HCfor2020 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HartCunningham2020 Its great to see continued recognition for performance at our brokerages in the western states. Were also excited to see whats unfolding at our franchises along the East Coast. Theyll definitely be on this list soon. - Matt Widdows, CEO and Founder of HomeSmart HomeSmart was represented multiple times in the 2018 Real Trends Market Leaders report released earlier this month, including the No. 1, 2 and 3 rank in Phoenix, Denver and Palm Springs respectively for sides and sales volume. The report ranks the top residential real estate firms in more than 125 markets based on last years sides and sales volume. HomeSmarts comprehensive business system enables efficiency and productivity due to its software, tools, processes and training, said Wendy Forsythe, HomeSmart chief operating officer. Collectively, these components enable our agents to grow their individual sales in each of our markets that results in recognition like this from Real Trends. HomeSmarts three company-owned brokerages in Phoenix, Denver and Palm Springs, Calif, were in the top 5 in their respective markets for sides and sales volume. Franchises were also recognized among the top 10 companies in Tucson, Ariz., Colorado Springs, Colo., Salem, Ore., San Diego, Calif., and Orange County/Riverside, Calif. Its great to see continued recognition for performance at our brokerages in the western states, said HomeSmart CEO and Founder Matt Widdows. Were also excited to see whats unfolding at our franchises along the East Coast. Theyll definitely be on this list soon. In Metro Phoenix, where HomeSmart is headquartered, the brokerage was ranked No. 1 in sides and sales volume for the seventh consecutive year. The Phoenix brokerage alone sold nearly $6.5 billion in 22,040 sides in that market last year. HomeSmarts brokerage in Denver was No. 2 and 3 with 7,885 sides and nearly $3 billion in sales volume, respectively. In Palm Springs, HomeSmart had 1,836 sides and nearly $543 million in volume, landing it in the No. 3 spot for both criteria. About HomeSmart International Founded in 2000, HomeSmart International quickly became the fastest growing real estate brokerage firm in Arizona. HomeSmart International is ranked in the top 5 real estate brokerages in the United States and the number one brokerage firm in the Phoenix market. From its international franchising headquarters based in Scottsdale, HomeSmart International offers franchisees efficiency and innovation coupled with the systems and technologies necessary to succeed in todays evolving real estate industry. Today, the brand has 133 offices in 20 states and nearly 15,000 agents nationwide. For more information on HomeSmart International and its franchise opportunities, visit http://www.homesmart.com. ### PathPartner Technology, a product R&D and engineering specialist, today announced that it will demonstrate its latest innovations in facial analysis, automotive vision and machine vision camera modules at booth 100 in Embedded Vision Summit that will be held on May 21-24, 2018 at Santa Clara, California. These innovations coupled with PathPartners technology service offerings enable device makers to embed computer vision in a cost efficient, flexible and accelerated manner. PathPartners demonstrations at Embedded Vision Summit 2018 include: A low complexity CNN architecture based face recognition system on multiple embedded and PC based platforms Advanced facial landmark detection and tracking algorithms that form building blocks for solutions such as driver drowsiness detection, audience classification in retail and eye gaze tracking in gaming/AR/VR Automotive vision solutions such as traffic sign recognition and obstacle detection on leading automotive grade SoCs and vision processors Plug-n-play Machine vision camera modules designed to work under challenging environmental conditions such as low light scenarios Embedded Vision Systems carry the potential to open up new applications and shape the future of innovations companies bring out in their next-gen products, said Ramkishor Korada, Co-Founder & EVP at PathPartner. At PathPartner, we continuously evolve our technical competencies built on real-time embedded systems, imaging, multi-layer convolutional neural networks and computer vision, and work with leading companies to help them unlock infinite possibilities with embedded vision. To experience these innovations, visit PathPartner at Booth 100 in Embedded Vision Summit 2018, that will be held on May 21-24, 2018 at Santa Clara, California. To setup a meeting or an online demonstration, write to marcom(at)pathpartnertech.com About PathPartner Technology PathPartner is product R&D and engineering specialist. We help our clients develop, productize, and maintain advanced technology products. With our full stack engineering services, re-usable solution accelerators, and an unparalleled experience in transforming innovative ideas into full-fledged products, PathPartner provides its clients the advantage of top-of-the-line technologies, superior performance and faster time-to-market. With extensive expertise in embedded systems, computer vision, deep learning, multimedia and imaging technologies, PathPartner provides next-gen technology solutions to customers in automotive, internet of things, intelligent devices and digital media products domain. PathPartners catalog of products and services continues to expand. To know more details and collaborate on next-gen products, please visit http://www.pathpartnertech.com or write to us at marcom(at)pathpartnertech(dot)com Contact: Sushmita Sharma Director of Marketing PathPartner Technology sushmita(dot)s(at)pathpartnertech.com Crux Strategies is pleased to welcome David Adams to the firm as Vice President of Business Intelligence & Revenue Cycle Management. We are thrilled to welcome David to our growing team at Crux Strategies. As a former Divisional Chief Information Officer for HCA, and a lifelong technology entrepreneur specializing in healthcare, David brings a wealth of technology experience and expertise, as well as the ability to innovate, said C. Timothy Gary, CEO of Crux Strategies. Davids previous positions highlight his innovative solutions. While at HCA, a Fortune 25 company, he improved employee productivity by 50% and reduced recurring expenses by over $20 million annually by creating efficiencies in workforce process management and workforce quality. David also led budget creation and execution of a one-half billion-dollar PACS project, the largest technology project in company history, at the request of the HCA board. During his time at HCA, David held the position of Chief Information Officer for a division and oversaw over 20 hospitals. He led the integration of major clinical systems for those hospitals and directed supply chain integration with an internal GPO, saving over $120 million dollars in two years. In addition, while at HCA, David also served as President of Carolina Health Group, where he established successful physician practice management software and grew the business to over 150 locations within three years. David also served as the Chief Operations and Technology Officer for a start-up portfolio company of a $4 billion dollar private equity group. David used technology to improve medication therapy and risk management through analytics and telephonic intervention. These techniques drove improvement of Medicare Part D STAR quality ratings for clients like Humana, United Health, and Optum, and resulted in over $200 million in incremental revenue for clients. David holds an MBA from the Vanderbilt University Owen School of Management. About Crux Strategies Crux Strategies is a leading global strategy firm specializing in government relations, healthcare consulting, business and legal expertise, helping organizations and corporations to navigate and avoid crisis, influence public policy discussions and resolve disputes. Backed by a depth of healthcare, government relations and legal experience, the team at Crux Strategies provides unmatched knowledge and insights to craft solutions, transform operations, and solve complex issues. To learn more, please visit http://www.cruxstrategies.com. About Dickinson Wright PLLC Affiliated with Crux Strategies, Dickinson Wright PLLC is a general practice business law firm with more than 450 attorneys among more than 40 practice areas. Headquartered in Detroit and founded in 1878, the firm has nineteen offices, including Nashville, Tennessee (2); six in Michigan (Detroit, Troy, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw) and ten in other domestic offices in Silicon Valley; Austin and El Paso, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Lexington, Kentucky; Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; and Washington, D.C. The firms Canada office is located in Toronto. "Weve seen site visitors increase by 102 percent and that means more people than ever are learning about our mission to bring improved healthcare to women and children living in extreme poverty." - Bruce Wilkinson, CEO and President, CMMB On May 9, 2018, the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts announced the winners of the 24th Annual Communicator Awards. We are proud to announce that CMMB's website - cmmb.org - was recognized with distinction and awarded a silver medal among entries from across the United States and the world, under the category of General Charitable Organizations. "This award is the result of passion and teamwork. Passion for the work we do, bringing a voice to the voiceless - sharing the stories of women and children living in extreme poverty. And teamwork and collaboration from the dedicated group of people, mostly women on my team, that working together are unstoppable." - Lara Villar, SVP, Strategy, Marketing and Communications Steve Rio, founder of Briteweb, the company that developed and built the website says, "Awards like this are only possible when two teams come together as one and create something truly special. Beyond being beautiful, the website has been highly effective in raising awareness and support for the incredible work that CMMB does around the world. We're proud and grateful for our partnership with CMMB, which has grown deeper over two+ years and multiple collaborations. Congratulations to Bruce Wilkinson, Lara Villar and her team, and to the entire CMMB community on the much-deserved recognition." The Communicator Awards is recognized as the largest and most competitive awards program of its kind. The awards honor creative excellence for communication professionals. All entrants are judged and overseen by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, a 600+ member organization of leading professionals from a variety of visual arts disciplines, including Disney, MTV, Starbucks, Time Inc., and Yahoo. CMMB CEO and President, Bruce Wilkinson responded to the news of the award saying,"The launch of our new website in September 2016 was just the beginning of a new, digital journey for CMMB. Weve seen site visitors increase by 102 percent and that means more people than ever are learning about our mission to bring improved healthcare to women and children living in extreme poverty." "On behalf of the academy members, I'd like to applaud the entrants this season for their dedication to producing outstanding content as they continue to push the envelope of creativity." - Derek Howard, director of the AIVA. About CMMB Healthier Lives Worldwide CMMB (Catholic Medical Mission Board) is a global humanitarian organization with more than 100 years of experience delivering the best possible health solutions to women, children, and communities living in poverty. To learn more, visit cmmb.org. About The Communicator Awards The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for marketing and communications professionals. Founded by passionate communications professionals over two decades ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best digital, mobile, audio, video, and social content the industry has to offer. The Communicator Awards is widely recognized as one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. Please visit http://www.communicatorawards.com for more information. The 2018 RadWaste Summit will explore the theme, The Path Forward for Safety, Security and Storage of Radioactive Waste at the 12th annual Summit this September in Henderson, NV. As the radioactive waste industry continues to dynamically change, its imperative for industry leaders to come together and discuss challenges and solutions to the management and disposition of radioactive waste. Agenda topics have been announced and include: Budget, Regulations, New Initiatives and Reorganization New Decommissioning Rules, Part 61 and New Initiatives Pursuing a New Approach to Ultimate Disposition of DOEs Radioactive Waste Corporate Outlook on Mergers and Financials Continuing Role of DOE National Labs from Research to Innovation Legislative and Congressional Updates State and Local Involvement in Waste Management Consolidated Interim Storage and Transportation DOE Office of Nuclear Energy Update Innovations in Tank Waste Management Workforce Safety Culture: Severe Accident Safety Equipment Oak Ridge Case Study on Workforce Training, Retention and Recruitment And more! The advisory committee that has been helping to shape the 2018 agenda includes: Nancy Berlin, Program Manager, Decommissioning Strategy Forum Larry Camper, USNRC Retired and Senior Nuclear Safety Consultant, Talisman International, LLC Renee Echols, President, Firewater, LLC Eugene Gleason, President and Managing Director, Nuclear Management Associates LLC Tammy Monday, Vice President, Waste Services Sales and Business Development, Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. Eric K. Knox, Senior Project Director, Nuclear and Environment, Management Services Group, AECOM Chris Schneidmiller, Editor-in-Chief, ExchangeMonitor Publications I am honored to announce the agenda topics and the members of the RadWaste Summits advisory committee, said Nancy Berlin, Program Director, ExchangeMonitor Forums. This event continues to provide the insights and strategies that move this sector forward. Check out the new topics added this year such as the role of the national laboratories, state and local involvement and innovations in tank waste management. Of the course of three days, more than 350 industry and government attendees will come together to discuss the challenges and solutions to the management and disposition of radioactive waste. Its the must-attend event for waste managers, program managers, environmental specialists, the c-suite, scientists and more to network, get high-level updates and connect on business opportunities. The 2018 RadWaste Summit will take place September 4-6 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, NV. Attendees from the following organizations have already secured their spot: Bragg Nuclear Group, Camfil, EnergySolutions, Huntington Ingalls Industries, ICE Service Group, Idaho National Laboratory, Jacobs, Leidos, Navarro, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nye County, PacTec, Perma-Fix Environmental Services, SECUR, Southwestern Low Level Radioactive Waste Compact, TechSource, Transco Products Inc., UniTech Services Group, and more. The early bird registration rate has been extended to May 31st; simply use the VIP code EARLYBIRD during registration online to receive the discounted rate. To learn more and to register, visit http://www.radwastesummit.com. About ExchangeMonitor, a division of Access Intelligence, LLC ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums publishes professional newsletters and creates, manages and sponsors forums, colloquiums and workshops to facilitate an exchange of views and information on critical programs and policies. Areas of focus include: the Department of Energys Office of Environmental Management and the cleanup of the nuclear legacy of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War; the National Nuclear Security Administrative and the current U.S. nuclear weapons complex; and the commercial radioactive waste industry. Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group is proud to announce that its founding attorney, Jennifer Gore-Cuthbert, is the recipient of the Best Social Mediator Award. The Daily Report, a daily legal newspaper based in Atlanta, presented Jennifer with this award as part of its annual Georgia Legal Awards. Jennifer is one of only two Georgia attorneys to receive this tremendous honor. When seeking nominees, Daily Report called on lawyers whose social media educated and responsibly entertained their followers. Jennifer was an ideal candidate as she and her law firm are active across many social media platforms including Facebook, Google My Business, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. She engages her audience by posting a minimum of four to five times a week on issues related to personal injury law, such as vehicle safety, driver safety, as well as updates on Georgia legislation and roadway laws. Jennifer also shares other useful information such as breaking news on traffic and weather conditions. All of Jennifers educational material is visual, entertaining, and easy to understand. Through social media, she frequently discusses what clients can expect during the legal process and how her firm can help them navigate the personal injury process. Jennifer also uses her social media accounts to celebrate the accomplishments of her firm and its employees as well as to serve the legal community by sharing professional mentoring opportunities and advice. Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group employs a number of weekly social media campaigns, including #MotivationalMondays, #LegalPointers, #EmpoweringTheInjured, #FAQFridays, and #FacebookLiveFridays. Several traffic safety awareness campaigns are also incorporated into Jennifers monthly social media plans. Previous monthly themes include: distracted driving awareness, motorcycle safety awareness, DUI prevention, back to school safety awareness, teen driver safety awareness and other personal injury issues specific to the metro Atlanta area. Daily Report announced its two winners of the Georgia Legal Award for Best Social Mediator on May 1, 2018. Additionally, Daily Report will recognize Jennifer at its 2018 Georgia Legal Awards, taking place June 28, 2018 at The Georgian Terrace. The winners will also be featured in a special section of the Daily Report that same week. About Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group: Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group believes that the victims of serious collisions deserve compensation for their injuries. They should not have to deal with uncooperative insurance companies or get the runaround while trying to recover physically, financially, and emotionally. Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group represents victims of auto collisions, motorcycle collisions, truck collisions, victims hit by drunk drivers, those injured in a slip-and-fall, as well as wrongful death cases. The United States Mexico Chamber of Commerce has always been a bastion that stands up for the principles of free trade and bilateral cooperation between both countries, commented Pena, who is a member of Greenberg Traurigs Latin American and Iberian Practice. Antonio Pena, a Shareholder in Greenberg Traurig'sMiami office, has been appointed President of the Inter-American Chapter (the Chapter), and member of the Board of Directors, of the United States Mexico Chamber of Commerce(the Chamber). In this role, Pena will serve as President of the Chapter and member of the Bi-National Board of Directors of the Chamber. Antonios experience and intimate familiarity with Mexicos opportunities and challenges will further strengthen our network, contributing to our regional success as we seek to promote more trade and investment in the Americas, said Alejandro Ramos, Regional Vice President of the United States Mexico Chamber of Commerce. We welcome Antonio, and look forward to the ways in which we will continue to grow business relations between the U.S. and Mexico under his direction. The Chamber will host a series of events to introduce and welcome the new management committee and President of the Chapter. The first event will gather participants for a private roundtable discussion May 22 at Llorente & Cuencas Miami office. The panel titled, Elections in Mexico: Uncertainty at the Polls, will analyze Mexicos fast-approaching general election and its impact on companies doing business in Mexico and Latin America. Pena will be joined in the discussion by a panel of thought leaders, including: Horacio Saavedra, Consul General of Mexico at the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami; Gavin Strong, Associate Director for Global Risk Analysis at Control Risks; and Alejandro Romero, Partner & CEO Americas at Llorente & Cuenca. The roundtable will be followed by a cocktail reception May 30 at the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami. During the reception, participants will enjoy an exhibition titled, Diego, Frida and their passions in Oaxaca, a private collection of 42 sketches by Diego Rivera, one of the most important Mexican painters and muralists of the 20th century in Latin America. The event series will culminate with the NAFTA Conference May 31 at the Miami office of Greenberg Traurig, P.A. The panel titled, The Future of NAFTA and its Implications for the Florida Business Community, will address new developments regarding NAFTAs negotiation, including potential business implications of a revised NAFTA agreement. Pena will be joined in the discussion by a panel of speakers, including: Francis Suarez, Mayor of The City of Miami; Horacio Saavedra, Consul General of Mexico at the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami; Axel Christensen, Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist for Latin America & Iberia at BlackRock; Yosbel Ibarra, Co-Managing Shareholder and Co-Chair of the Latin American and Iberian Practice at Greenberg Traurig; and Sabrina Rodriguez, Journalist at Politico. The United States Mexico Chamber of Commerce has always been a bastion that stands up for the principles of free trade and bilateral cooperation between both countries, commented Pena, who is a member of Greenberg Traurigs Latin American and Iberian Practice. I am honored and excited by the opportunity to serve in this role, and look forward to working with the Chambers members and staff to build on our achievements and advance our commitment to developing a strong network that is focused not only on transactional success but on the value of dynamic relationships. Pena is an attorney with four law degrees from the United States, Mexico and Spain. Licensed in Florida and Mexico, Pena consistently represents multinational companies, strategic investors, and private equity funds in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, restructurings, and other corporate matters throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including across the United States, Mexico and Spain. Additionally, Pena is a member of the team that received the 2017 Corporate/M&A (Florida-based) International Counsel in Latin America award from Chambers & Partners. He also has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Spain U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, he was selected to The Legal 500s Private Practice Power list. The publication recognizes the leading U.S.-based lawyers with a specialist focus on Mexico. About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2017 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. Sales of limited-edition furnishings support unique mentorships for promising design students Eric Brand unveiled limited-edition furnishings in rare materials, created in an innovative program funding a new MASTERS & MENTORS program for young design students. Brands initial partner in the mentorship program is Roger Thomas, Executive Vice President of Design and Development at Wynn Resorts. Thomas and Brand together selected a design student to work across the entire process of design and manufacturing, spending time both in Brands studio and workshops in the Bay Area and in Thomas offices at Wynn Design & Development headquarters in Las Vegas. The program offers an integral view of what designers and craftsmen can accomplish in close partnership, Brand says. That kind of collaboration has benefited my own career greatly, and Im privileged to be able to share this approach with the rising generation of talent. The California luxury residential and hospitality furniture designer, during a career spanning more than twenty years, has become known for offering furnishings crafted from unusual, rare materials. For this program, a new line of four designs is exploring the aesthetic and functional qualities of selenite, a spectacular and rare kind of crystal that Brand has worked to turn into a material practical enough to use for furnishings. Im delighted that Roger agreed to take up the challenge and help me launch this program, Brand says. Roger brings a keen sense of history and how just the right material creates just the right effect in a design, and I think the market will be enthusiastic about what hes created. Thomas has been named to the Architectural Digests AD100 list five times, and in 2015 was inducted into Interior Design magazines Hall of Fame. Best known for the colorful, grandly opulent interiors of Wynns resorts in the US and China, he also offers a range of furnishings made by leading manufacturers through The Roger Thomas Collection. Eric offered me the chance to do something really different, and I couldnt resist, Thomas said. Its a privilege to work with him, and his vision for the mentorship program promises to be inspiring for the industry. Thomas designs for the Masters & Mentors Limited Edition Series will be made available to the design trade in coming weeks at the New York showroom of Walters. The products will be showcased at the ICFF in New York in May. Brand and Thomas will discuss their unique collaboration, and Marcus Ferreira will talk about his experience, at a panel discussion on May 20 hosted by Luxe Interiors + Design. Brand and Thomas selected the first mentee in the series in 2016, Marcus Ferreira, then a California College of Arts student. Born and raised on Maui, Hawaii, says the mentorship opened his mind to the potential to create pieces that change standard ideas of furniture. Profits from the program will fund future mentorships with Brand, the partnering designer, or both. For more information visit http://www.mastersandmentor.com Press enquiries: Caroline Sheek at Eric Brand, csheek(at)ericbrand.com About Eric Brand Eric Brands firm recently celebrated its 22nd year in business, and during this time has had the luxury of working with some of the most esteemed architects and interior designers supplying and designing for high-end homes and hotels, both within the USA and internationally. Whether executing these designers' visions to exact specifications, or collaborating with them, the resulting designs have emerged as an incomparable blending of concepts with manufacturing expertise. These designs have been installed in some of the most luxurious residential and hospitality projects worldwide. Eric Brands designs have been featured in hundreds of magazines and publications worldwide. For more visit http://ericbrand.com About Roger Thomas Roger Thomas is principal of The Roger Thomas Collection Inc., which offers products by the five-time member of the AD100 list of leading designers published by Architectural Digest magazine. Thomas is executive vice president of design for Wynn Design and Development, overseeing design for Wynn Hotels and Resorts in the United States and China. The Collections home furnishings, textiles, accessories, jewelry and other items are made under license by seventeen leading manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe. For details visit http://TheRogerThomasCollection.com. About Walters For the past 84 years, Walters has had the privilege of partnering with leaders of the design industry. A longstanding relationship with Roger Thomas has led to vanguard design solutions for award-winning residential and hospitality projects around the world. As a fourth-generation furniture showroom, Walters innately understands the importance of mentorship. Walters flagship NYC showroom will showcase the Masters & Mentors Limited Edition Series as a testament to providing remarkable design solutions, facilitating the creative process and remaining at the forefront of the design industry. Showroom: 979 Third Avenue, Suite 538, New York, NY 10022. Phone: (212) 758-0472. http://waltersnyc.com. Tampa-based Creative Advertising Agency, EraserFarm When it came to selecting an agency partner, EraserFarms experience in food, restaurant, franchising and history of challenging the status quo was exactly what I was looking for... EraserFarm, a creative and strategy-based agency, has been selected as agency of record for two notable brands and strategic campaign manager for a third, including both regional and national organizations. As a boutique agency, EraserFarms newly-named partnerships are evidence of the agencys continued growth, direction, and best-in-class reputation that far exceeds its size. Corbett Preparatory School and Butchers Mark have both selected EraserFarm as the agency of record, while Moes Southwest Grill Tampa Bay Advertising Cooperative have chosen the agency for its campaign management expertise. While each of the three clients represents specific industries with unique goals and objectives, all are unified with a common purpose of leveraging a highly-skilled agency to help tell their story and elevate their offering within the marketplace. Founded in 1968 as an independent, nonsectarian school, Corbett Prep now serves more than 500 college-bound students in PreK3 through eighth grade. By weaving together multiple best practices in education, Corbett Prep produces students who are creative, innovative thinkers who collaborate and lead. Like Corbett Prep, Butchers Mark was born on the idea of community. Drawing inspiration from the small butcher shops of New England, this brand new concept will be launched in Sarasota later this summer. Butcher Marks passion for providing only the freshest, finest, and most tender, savory meats drove them to create a product unlike anything else available today. The results are marinated meats that face a strict seal of approval known as The Butchers Mark, guaranteeing exceptional quality and flavor. When it came to selecting an agency partner, EraserFarms experience in food, restaurant, franchising and history of challenging the status quo was exactly what I was looking for, said ABL Brands president Charlie Haney. They possess the branding and creative prowess we need in order to launch this new concept. But, most importantly, their ability to find that human connection between brands and their customers sets them apart from any other group I'd met with. EraserFarm will bring its strategic brand management and full creative production services to the partnerships with Corbett Prep and Butchers Mark. Moes Southwest Grill Tampa Bay Advertising Cooperative, which oversees the 23 stores in the Tampa cooperative, will look to EraserFarm for their restaurant industry expertise, campaign management and execution. A widely-known and recognized national brand, Moes serves Southwest fare at more than 700 locations in the U.S. and abroad. About EraserFarm EraserFarm is a Tampa-based advertising agency whose mission is to cultivate breakthrough solutions by pinpointing true, human emotions that powerfully connect with consumers. With a media-agnostic philosophy, the agency specializes in developing big ideas grounded in solid strategy and neuromarketing techniques that work across todays evolving channels. The agency is proud to have client partnerships with organizations such as OttLite Technologies, Intrepid Powerboats, Mango Tree Coffee, Kinney Fernandez & Boire P.A. and The Homefront Foundation. The bipartisan coalition Dental Care for Arizona led the effort to bring dental therapy to Arizona We worked hard to bring all stakeholders to the table and the result is a bill that serves as model legislation for the rest of the country. - State Senator Nancy Barto On Wednesday, May 16th, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed HB2235 into law, creating the licensing and regulatory structure to allow dental therapists to practice in Arizona. The law is considered the most expansive of any state in the union, and the first of its kind in the Southwest. The law goes into effect on August 3rd, 2018. Dental therapists are highly trained allied health professionals who can play a critical role in expanding the dental team, similar to the role nurse practitioners and physician assistants play in medicine. Bipartisan Support for a Proven Workforce Model Legislators on both sides of the political aisle came together, enthusiastically backing dental therapy as a way to address Arizonas urgent need for dental providers. Especially in light of the critical need facing so many rural, Tribal and underserved communities. Dental therapists are a proven workforce model that will increase affordable care options without creating new, burdensome regulations, said Senator Nancy Barto, the bills original sponsor. We worked hard to bring all stakeholders to the table and the result is a bill that serves as model legislation for the rest of the country. Representative Pamela Powers Hannley, a Tucson-area Democrat who played a key role in the dental therapy effort, shared her excitement for the new workforce model in Arizona: This law will create new, high quality jobs while increasing access to safe, quality and affordable oral healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Arizonans who lack access today. Preventing dental disease is critical to healthy populations and a healthy economy. Momentum Builds for Dental Therapy Nationwide to Address Access Crisis Arizona joins six states that have authorized dental therapists in some capacity, and the dozen or so more who are exploring this commonsense, free market approach to addressing the oral health crisis facing more than 125 million Americans. These include Alaska, Minnesota and on tribal lands in Oregon and Washington State. Maine and Vermont have passed authorizing legislation and are developing the educational programs to train dental therapists. Having dental therapists as an option in Arizona will help meet the need in underserved populations, both rural and urban. They will help create healthy communities and a healthy workforce, said Senator Juan Mendez, co-chair of the Arizona Latino Caucus. Mendez emphasized that Latino and Native American populations, especially children and the elderly, suffer from lack of access to care at higher rates compared to the rest of Arizona. Training and Supervision The new dental therapy law dictates strict standards for the training, licensure and regulation of dental therapists. Dental therapists will have a narrow scope of practice to work under indirect supervision, under a collaborative agreement with a dentist, after completing the rigorous degree requirements. In practice, dental therapists become experts in the small number of procedures for which they are allowed to perform. Because their scope is limited, training takes less time and is less expensive, dental therapists salaries are lower than dentists, giving dentists a more cost-effective way to see more patients including those on Medicaid. The dental therapy model requires that these practitioners be as highly skilled in their limited scope of practice as dentists are, said Deb Kappes, RDH, MPH and Vice President of the Arizona Dental Hygienists Association. They will take the same clinical exams required for licensure that our dentists take, for the procedures within their scope of practice. They will be trained in programs accredited by the same entity that accredits our dental schools in Arizona and across the nation. This is an innovative, cost-effective free market solution to the oral health crisis that exists in rural and underserved communities across or great state. For more information on dental therapist licensing efforts in Arizona, please visit the http://www.dentaltherapyforarizona.org/ About Dental Care for Arizona Dental Care for Arizona is a coalition of 21-member organizations working together to enhance access to high quality oral healthcare for all Arizonans. These organizations support licensing dental therapists as an innovative way to expand access to high quality and affordable care. Join Dickinson Wright PLLC, KPMG LLP, The CFO Leadership Council and the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber as we host our 1st Annual Federal Enforcement Update in the Age of Cybersecurity, a complementary two-hour forum, on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. Inside the Cauldron: Government, Criminal & Civil Enforcement, Compliance & Cybersecurity Hot Topics 2018 features our Districts Former Acting United States Attorney as moderator, engaging the Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorneys Office and our panel of national experts on a range of topics that are front of mind for business leaders. The topics include federal and international enforcement policies, priorities, trends and interpretations, their direct impact on public and privately held Michigan companies, individual culpability, compliance and cybersecurity and data privacy. Corporate leaders frequently find themselves facing regulatory and criminal investigations and charges because they do not appreciate fully the complex and ever-changing enforcement landscape. We created this event for Michigan companies to hear first-hand what are the Justice Departments, SECs and other regulators current enforcement priorities impacting C-suites and gain insight into fast-moving issues in the age of cybersecurity, said Jacob Frenkel, Chair of Dickinson Wrights Government Investigations and Securities Enforcement Practice. We have assembled a panel of distinguished experts to engage a candid dialogue examining these issues from the government, defense and in-house compliance perspectives and to share strategies for cybersecurity and data privacy breach responses and protocols. Inside the Cauldron: Government, Criminal & Civil Enforcement, Compliance & Cybersecurity Hot Topics 2018 Date: Thursday, May 24, 2018 Time: 8:00 11:00 a.m. Location: The Townsend Hotel 100 Townsend Street Birmingham, MI 48009 Speakers: Dan Lemisch General Counsel, Lakeview Capital and former Acting U.S. Attorney (Moderator) Mark Chutkow Criminal Division Chief, U.S. Attorneys Office, Eastern District of Michigan Jacob Frenkel Chair, Government Investigations & Securities Enforcement Practice, Dickinson Wright PLLC Daniel Click Managing Director, Risk Strategy & Compliance, KPMG Seth Edgar Chief Information Security Officer, Michigan State University Chris Miller Regional Compliance Officer, Global Ethics & Compliance Center, General Motors Legal Staff To learn more about this event or to register, please click here. About Dickinson Wright PLLC Dickinson Wright PLLC is a general practice business law firm with more than 450 attorneys among more than 40 practice areas and 16 industry groups. Headquartered in Detroit and founded in 1878, the firm has 19 offices, including six in Michigan (Detroit, Troy, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw) and 12 other domestic offices in Austin and El Paso, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Lexington, Ky.; Nashville and Music Row, Tenn.; Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Silicon Valley, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. The firms Canadian office is located in Toronto. Dickinson Wright offers our clients a distinctive combination of superb client service, exceptional quality, value for fees, industry expertise and business acumen. As one of the few law firms with ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification, Dickinson Wright has built state-of-the-art, independently-verified risk management controls and security processes for our commercial transactions. Dickinson Wright lawyers are known for delivering commercially-oriented advice on sophisticated transactions and have a remarkable record of wins in high-stakes litigation. Dickinson Wright lawyers are regularly cited for their expertise and experience by Chambers, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and other leading independent law firm evaluating organizations. Linius Technologies Limited (ASX:LNU), internet video virtualization technology pioneer, today announced the publication of a research report by RB Milestone Group, LLC (RBMG) has issued a research report on the company. The report offers an in-depth overview of the company's patented Video Virtualization Engine (VVE). The report details VVE as a software product that transforms video into flexible data and offers unprecedented business opportunities across the internet video industry. The report also provides investment rationale, SWOT analysis and an outlook on internet video traffic trends as well as video virtualization market opportunities. The report delves into: four key revenue growth areas; growth opportunities with video blockchain; use cases for Linius proprietary technology. A copy of the research report can be accessed here or by contacting Trevor Brucato (tbrucato(at)rbmilestone.com), Managing Director at RBMG. About RB Milestone Group, LLC: RB Milestone Group (RBMG) is a U.S.-based consulting firm that specializes in assisting small and venture-stage companies with enhancing: corporate strategy, business development, investor awareness, market intelligence and research. RBMG partners with clients internationally and across a wide range of industry segments, including: technology, mining, energy, oil & gas, cleantech, healthcare, consumer goods, and professional services. Staff specialists have diverse sector knowledge centered on capital markets. About Linius Technologies Limited: Linius Technologies Limited (ASX:LNU) has invented and patented the Video Virtualization Engine (VVE), which is available on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud. Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are investing billions in virtualizing video services (technologies) and artificial intelligence in the cloud. It is arguably the biggest battle on the internet, given that video accounts for over 80 percent of internet traffic. Only Linius can expose the data that makes up the video file, making cumbersome video as flexible as all other forms of data. Accessing the data within the video file is the missing link for video cloud service providers, creating unparalleled value across the internet video industry. Linius has the potential to transform many multi-billion dollar markets, and is initially focused on: Anti-Piracy: Applying proven data protection methods to video to solve piracy Search: Search within videos and compile new videos on the fly Security and Defense: Intelligent search and immediate distribution of security footage Personalized Advertising: Hyper personalized to individuals, timeslots and content For more information please contact: Chris Richardson, Chief Executive Officer Linius Technologies Limited http://www.linius.com / T: +61 3 8680 2317 Press and Media: pr(at)linius.com Investor Inquires: ir(at)linius.com General: info(at)linius.com Media Contact: Ashley Ray (310) 824-9000 aray(at)olmsteadwilliams.com RB Milestone Contact: Trevor Brucato tbrucato(at)rbmilestone.com With new menus in Huckleberrys Restaurant and Tavern, newly renovated guest rooms and guest baths, new larger gazebos with additional seating around the duck and koi pond, guests are sure to appreciate the service and hospitality that the Fulton Steamboat Inn is known for. The Fulton Steamboat Inn is pleased to welcome new General Manager, John Esbenshade. Having served in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years, Esbenshade brings his expertise to The Fulton Steamboat Inn with the promise of exceptional service and outstanding accommodations all picturesquely located in the heart of the Amish countryside. Esbenshade knows what vacationers and business travelers expect from an award-winning full-service hotel and his goal is to see that The Fulton Steamboat Inn continues to meet and exceed the expectations of its guests. John Esbenshade joined The Fulton Steamboat Inn in January of 2018, after serving successfully for eight years as General Manger of the Comfort Suites. Esbenshade has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Lancaster Hotel Motel Association as well as with the Bird-In-Hand Corporation. The Fulton Steamboat Inn is conveniently located in beautiful Lancaster County and promises guests the convenience and benefits of a full-service hotel, complete with Huckleberrys Restaurant and Tavern, an indoor, heated pool with whirlpool, a childrens playground, and a lovely duck and koi pond surrounded with gazebos for idyllic relaxation. Huckleberrys Restaurant and Tavern offers new menu selections featuring fresh local ingredients in a charming atmosphere. In addition, recent renovations offer lavish accommodations with roomier living spaces, brand new high-quality bedding and luxurious bathrooms. The pool area also experienced an extensive makeover that is sure to please everyone. The Fulton Steamboat Inn promises a central location at the junction of Routes 896 and 30 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania delivering easy access to the areas many attractions. "The Fulton Steamboat Inn has never looked better and has never been more ready to welcome visitors to the area than it is now. With new menus in Huckleberrys Restaurant and Tavern, newly renovated guest rooms and guest baths, new larger gazebos with additional seating around the duck and koi pond, guests are sure to appreciate the service and hospitality that the Fulton Steamboat Inn is known for. - John Esbenshade, General Manager. Visit the Fulton Steamboat Inn and Huckleberrys Restaurant and Tavern today at http://www.FultonSteamboatInn.com and discover the luxury of onsite amenities, lavish accommodations, unmatched hospitality, and delicious dining in the heart of scenic and charming Lancaster County. Bio: The Fulton Steamboat Inn is designed to simulate a 19th century steamboat complete with decks featuring nautical and Victorian themes as a tribute to Robert Fulton. The onsite Huckleberrys Restaurant and Tavern carries on the charming theme serving up signature dishes made with fresh local ingredients. The award-winning Inn and Restaurant strives to deliver unmatched hospitality conveyed by a friendly and accommodating staff to each and every guest. Brottier Hall COCM is excited to team with Radnor Property Group and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital for the management of Brottier Hall. Our Student Housing Professionals look forward to serving this team and the Duquesne University student residents for many years to come. - Alton Irwin, CMO, COCM COCM (Capstone On-Campus Management) is pleased to announce its recent selection to serve as the manager of Brottier Hall, an apartment-style campus residence hall at Duquesne University. This comes as part of a larger partnership between Duquesne University, Radnor Property Group (Radnor) and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital (Harrison Street) to modernize and renovate the property. The Duquesne project marks the first COCM on-campus partnership with Radnor and the fourth with Harrison Street. Located on the corner of Boyd and Locust Street, Brottier Hall, a 20-story building on Duquesne Universitys campus, houses approximately 660 juniors, seniors and graduate students in studio, 1- and 2- bedroom apartments, with retail on the street level. The redevelopment that is expected to be finished over four summers (beginning in 2018), will include new flooring and finishes, bathroom plumbing and electrical fixtures, vanities and bathtubs, kitchen cabinets, countertops and appliances, and new windows throughout the building, among other improvements. The addition of Brottier Hall extends COCMs reach into Pittsburgh, a new city for the company. COCMs Student Housing Professionals are honored by this selection and dedicated to enhancing the living and learning experience for the students of Duquesne University. About COCM COCM is a company of talented Student Housing Professionals focused on leveraging on-campus housing to enhance recruitment and retention as well as student satisfaction and success. Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, COCM currently provides management services for 33,498 beds at 38 campuses. They also offer Fresh Eyes Consulting for helping campuses with strategic housing planning. For more information, visit http://www.cocm.com About Radnor Property Group Radnor Property Group of Wayne, PA is a leading real estate development company which specializes in complexed urban development projects in Educational and Medical corridors, involving nonprofit institutions in public-private partnerships. Over the past 10 years, Radnor has undertaken development projects involving 25 institutions of higher education, all in the Northeast. For more information, please visit http://www.radnorproperty.com. About Harrison Street Real Estate Capital Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC is one of the leading real estate investment management firms exclusively focused on the Education, Healthcare and Storage sectors. The firm has created a series of differentiated investment products across multiple risk/return strategies. Headquartered in Chicago with an office in London, the firm employs a 115person team and has approximately $14.6 billion in assets under management. For more information, please visit http://www.harrisonst.com. Media Contacts Leigh Anne Gilbert Capstone On-Campue Management (COCM) 255.414.6462 (o) 205.240.3378 (m) lgilbert(at)cocm.com the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) announced today the slate of new officers for one of the worlds largest PR agency networks. The appointments were announced during the consortiums recent bi-annual meeting in Toronto, Canada. The three-day event, where the groups leadership teams discuss best practices and find new ways to collaborate and develop business partnerships globally, included key break-out sessions on the #metoo movement, promoting news literacy in the age of fake news and creating a safe workplace for employees. At the Toronto meeting, attended by members from more than 31 regions from around the globe, PRGN members elected C.L. Conroy, president and CEO of Miami, Florida-based The Conroy Martinez Group as its 26th president to lead the worldwide network of 51 independently owned firms for the next 12 months. Christina Rytter, managing director and founder of Copenhagen, Denmark-based Scandinavian Communications, assumes the role of immediate past president and chair of the Advisory Board. Other officers named include: President-elect Aaron Blank, president/CEO of Seattle-based The Fearey Group, Secretary Leeza Hoyt, president of Los Angeles-based The Hoyt Organization and Sean Dowdall, General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer of San Francisco-based Landis Communications, Inc., who will serve as Treasurer. With 51 agencies on six continents, the network is as strong as ever, said Conroy. We are excited to offer multi-disciplinary firms in practically every corner of the world helping our clients have a global footprint where ever they need it. Our partner agencies meet twice a year and we have close, personal relationships with our independent agency partners around the world that allows us to serve clients however they need. Founded in 1992 by a group of visionary public relations leaders, with more than $101 million in revenues and approximately 1,000 professionals in 51 locations, PRGN is one of the worlds largest international public relations networks. PRGN partners meet twice a year in cities around the world. The next meeting will be held in October 2018 in Bucharest, Romania. Agency members are independent, local, owner-operated public relations and marketing communications firms that share expertise and resources, while providing broad-based comprehensive communications strategies to clients worldwide. Companies or organizations interested in the services of PRGNs local agency network can visit http://www.prgn.com for more information. Independent agencies interested in joining the network can visit the member recruitment section of the PRGN website for more information or email its membership chair, Lynn Erasmus, General Manager, HWB Communications at info@hwb.co.za. About Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) Clients across six continents depend on the combined resources of the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) to deliver targeted public relations campaigns in markets around the world. With revenues of more than $101 million (US), PRGN is one of the worlds largest international public relations networks. PRGN harnesses the resources of 51 independent public relations firms and more than 1,000 communications professionals to connect international companies and organizations with individual and culturally diverse markets globally. Visit PRGN online at http://www.prgn.com or on twitter at @PRGN. # # # Dr. Srini Pillay Acclaimed Harvard Medical School Professor, Author, Psychiatrist, and Brain Researcher suggests that if worry is alien to you then you should check your pulse. Studies show that worry extends across our entire lifespans- with popular topics including finances, relationships, families, health, and work. A small amount of worry that does not disrupt your day is normal, expected and sometimes even productive, Pillay explains. After all, it can help you assess risks, detect and attend to threats, and focus on potential solutions to the problems you face. Pillay further contends that when a negative thought enters your mind, people have two options allow worry to have a life of its own, or control it with attention. 3 Tips for Overcoming Worry 1. Find some good news Switch off the bad news and turn on the good news. Set aside time in the morning to affirm the positive in your life. When worry starts setting in, watch a great movie, listen to a favorite song, play an online game, have a conversation with a loved one these are all great ways to ground your worrisome, overactive mind. 2. Be what you can be Overcome and accept the things you cannot control. Make a list of them, and when you think of them, drop them. Practice being what you want to be, rather than waiting for yourself to magically become it. Examples may include hiring a fitness trainer or finding an accountability partner. Also, forgive yourself for past mistakes and set up small wins for your future. 3. Create an anti-worry day Take control of your day. First thing in the morning, spend five minutes writing down three things you appreciate about yourself and your life. Set small, achievable goals throughout the day. Its inhuman to feel no worry, so instead of searching to eliminate it from your brain altogether, use it to identify what makes you happy, what your goals are, and how you can become the greatest possible version of yourself, Pillay respectfully concludes. http://www.drsrinipillay.com Balluff's new IP69-rated inline universal connector was designed to withstand exposure to corrosive chemicals and pressure wash-down, making it ideal for the harsh environments found in food processing and pharmaceutical applications. This universal connector module consolidates up to eight channels of digital inputs or outputs to a single four-wire sensor cable, offering lean connectivity to the devices in corrosive environments. This active I/O distribution module offers on-board diagnostics for per channel short circuit protection and over-current to help debug problems on the line. With its IP69 protection rating and ECOLAB certification, it can be exposed to harsh conditions without the need for cabinet space to host the module. "Signal lights, pushbuttons, pumps, and valve terminals are often located away from the main control cabinet and in harsh environments. Routing more wires or adding cabinet islands are both costly solutions. This inline connector module, which does not require housing or cabinet space, brings data and power over a four-wire sensor cable to simplify the connectivity to the remote devices", said Shishir Rege, marketing manager for networking and IO-Link products at Balluff. This universal I/O connector features: M18 barrel style, stainless steel V4A housing IP69 protection rating and ECOLAB certification Up to 8 channels of fully configurable inputs and outputs (200mA per channel) via cable gland Per channel diagnostics for short circuit and open current About Balluff Inc.: Balluff Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Balluff GmbH, Neuhausen, Germany. Balluff is a leading supplier of networked IO-Link control system architectures that unlock the potential of the IIoT and Industry 4.0. Balluff offers a wide range of intelligent IO-Link and industrial Ethernet sensors in a variety of technologies including inductive, photoelectric, capacitive, and magnetic as well as magnetostrictive linear position sensors, magnetic tape linear encoders, industrial RFID systems, and industrial vision systems. Balluff provides cost-saving, process-enhancing solutions to machine builders and manufacturers to control, regulate, automate, assemble, position, and monitor manufacturing, assembly, and packaging sequences. Industries served include: automotive, packaging, food processing, beverages, tire, primary metals, conventional and alternative energy, semiconductor, plastics, and fluid power. The National Ground Water Association will be a participant when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hosts a summit discussing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) with the nations governors. The National Leadership Summit will take place May 22-23 in Washington, D.C. During the summit, participants will work together to: Share information on ongoing efforts to characterize risks from PFAS and develop monitoring and treatment/clean-up techniques Identify specific near-term actions, beyond those already underway, that are needed to address challenges currently facing states and local communities Develop risk communication strategies to address public concerns regarding PFAS. PFAS is a category of man-made chemicals now viewed as emerging contaminants that have been widely used to make products stain-resistant, waterproof, and/or nonstick. The chemicals were also widely used in aqueous film-forming foams on military bases. The National Ground Water Association is encouraged by the U.S. EPAs announcement on March 19 to convene a Leadership Summit on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances," said Terry Morse, CEO of NGWA. Engaging key federal, state and local government stakeholders will be critical in ensuring options for long- and short-term actions, as well as tools for risk communication, are understood across all levels of government. We look forward to working with the EPA on the challenge of addressing PFAS contamination. Late in 2017, NGWA published Groundwater and PFAS: State of Knowledge and Practice to address current concerns. This guidance document, divided into eight sections, details how the potentially hazardous compounds interact with groundwater and soil. Among the topics covered are human and ecological impact, fate and transport, field sampling and analysis, legal and regulatory issues, risk communication, and remediation and treatment. NGWA felt this particular group of compounds were so unique, persistent, and pervasive, 36 volunteers, 14 of whom have Ph.D.s, dedicated 1100 hours over a 12-month period to research, then develop, this document, said Seth Kellogg, senior geologist at Geosyntec and NGWA Scientists and Engineers Board of Directors member, who served as an author of the document. As the Association dedicated to the responsible development of groundwater, we felt it was necessary to explore these emerging contaminants so our members and the public have the tools necessary to protect the resource of groundwater and to minimize health threats. Following the summit, the EPA says it will travel to states with communities impacted by PFAS and that information from the summit and community engagement will help it develop a PFAS Management Plan for release later this year. NGWA will be represented at the event by government affairs director Lauren Schapker and Kellogg. PFAS contamination is a growing concern not only for individuals, but for all levels of government, which is why NGWA has dedicated so many resources to understanding the compounds and the impact on groundwater, said Schapker. The EPAs Leadership Summit is an important event and we look forward to working with the agency to further the conversation and advance knowledge on PFAS. The National Ground Water Association is a not-for-profit professional society and trade association for the global groundwater industry. Our members around the world include leading public and private sector groundwater scientists, engineers, water well system professionals, manufacturers, and suppliers of groundwater-related products and services. The Associations vision is to be the leading groundwater association advocating for responsible development, management, and use of water. The latest Pennsylvania edition of Super Lawyers magazine recognized 14 attorneys from global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, with five earning the honor for the first time. The publication spotlighted excellence in a range of practices employment and labor, government finance, environmental law and immigration and honors a third of Greenberg Traurigs Philadelphia office. The total listings for the office is nearly a 50 percent increase from last year. The 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars include: Joshua D. Cohen, real estate Sarah R. Goodman, employment defense litigation Jennifer Hermansky, business immigration Samantha E. Hirsch, employment defense litigation Caleb J. Holmes, environmental Jillian C. Kirn, environmental Kaitlyn R. Maxwell, environmental litigation Ana C. Montalban, government finance Nataliya Rymer, business immigration Christiana L. Signs, employment defense litigation Cohen, Goodman, Hirsch, Montalban and Rymer made their debut this year. Super Lawyers has recognized Hermansky as a Rising Star since 2013 and Holmes since 2014, while Kirn, Maxwell and Signs have been listed since 2017. The 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers include: James N. Boudreau, employee defense litigation Robert M. Goldich, employment and labor David G. Mandelbaum, environmental Alexander L. Scarola, government finance Goldich and Mandelbaum have been listed since 2004, while Boudreau has been listed since 2012 and Scarola since 2015. Super Lawyers rates approximately 70 practice areas nationwide, using a process of independent research, peer nominations and evaluation. It seeks to bring visibility to attorneys who exhibit excellence in practice. About Greenberg Traurigs Philadelphia Office Founded in 1997, Greenberg Traurigs Philadelphia office is home to 38 attorneys and 12 practices including Restructuring & Bankruptcy, Corporate & Securities, Emerging Technology, Environmental, Business Immigration & Compliance, Investment Regulation, Labor & Employment, Litigation, Public Finance, Government Law & Policy, Real Estate, and Tax. The Philadelphia office represents clients in the manufacturing, health care, real estate, energy, financial, and insurance industries, state and local governments, professional service, and energy firms, and individuals. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2017 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. Under Chelle Daviss active leadership, our relationship with Dollar Tree has grown into a model of collaboration that allows us to make a real difference in the lives of our military families," said Brig. Gen. (ret.) John I. Pray Jr., President and CEO of Operation Homefront. Operation Homefront, the national nonprofit serving Americas military families, has presented its Cornerstone Award to Chelle Davis, Dollar Tree, Inc. Operation Homefront presents the Cornerstone Award for outstanding contributions to the organizations mission to build strong, stable, and secure military families. The award is reserved for those individuals who have helped Operation Homefront transform how it serves military families and delivers impact. Dollar Tree and its generous customers have provided millions of dollars and in-kind support to recurring programs through Operation Homefront since 2006. Moreover, Dollar Tree has provided more than $830,000 over 11 years to support Operation Homefronts Critical Financial Assistance program for military families in need. Davis has served on the organizations regional advisory board on a voluntary basis and been the point person for Dollar Trees partnership with Operation Homefront to support military families. The company is the leading partner in two of Operation Homefronts signature programs: Back-to-School Brigade and Holiday Toy Drive. For each of these programs, Dollar Trees patrons have generously supported our military families by purchasing critical items at each of the companys more than 6,000 stores nationwide. Thanks to Daviss efforts, Operation Homefronts Back-To-School Brigade has provided more than 300,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to military children. Additionally, Davis has led Dollar Trees Joy of Giving program for the companys employees. Under Chelle Daviss active leadership, our relationship with Dollar Tree has grown into a model of collaboration that allows us to make a real difference in the lives of our military families," said Brig. Gen. (ret.) John I. Pray Jr., President and CEO of Operation Homefront. Since 2006, Dollar Tree and their caring customers have made the back-to-school and holiday seasons better for tens of thousands of military kids, and made those times significantly less stressful for their parents. Chelle can take great pride in knowing she has played a significant and enduring role in helping us accomplish our mission to help military families have the opportunity to thrive, not simply struggle to get by, in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. The Back-to-School Brigade provides military children with backpacks filled with school supplies, helping to relieve families of this cost and enabling them to use their income for other household expenses. In 2017, on average, families spent $500 per student for school supplies, a significant increase from $488 per student in 2016. The Back-to-School Brigade program is important because it helps to alleviate some of these financial costs for military families by providing backpacks with a variety of needed supplies, like pens, pencils, paper, scissors, and binders. The Holiday Toy Drive brings the joy of the holiday season to military kids across the country. With its customer-driven campaigns, Dollar Tree has been a committed partner for more than a decade. With extended deployments and frequent relocations, many service members and their families face financial hardships and must forgo spending money on gifts. About Operation Homefront: Founded in 2002, Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive not simply struggle to get by in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year. Operation Homefront provides critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support from thousands of volunteers, Operation Homefront proudly serves Americas military families. For more information, visit OperationHomefront.org. Harrison College, a nationally accredited, career-focused higher education institution serving more than 2,000 students, is offering a reduced rate on its popular RN to BSN program. For qualifying students from Indiana and Ohio, enrolling for the term starting June 25, 2018, the cost of the program, regardless of how long it takes the student to finish*, will be reduced to $8,000 from approximately $15,000, a 47% savings for students. For students with robust prerequisite qualifications the Harrison College RN to BSN online program could be completed in as quickly as 15 months this would result in approximately $111 per credit hour. In this online program, qualified, existing RNs will have specialized mentors who are MSN-prepared instructors and will be taught to: Use clinical reasoning and sound clinical judgment Promote safety and quality when providing care to patients Develop and support personal professionalism within the realm of management and leadership opportunities Seek opportunities to promote excellent care and develop a spirit of inquiry to be continually learning. The field of nursing is growing briskly, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reporting that the number of jobs is expected to grow 16% from 2014 to 2024. According to the BLS, there are 2,751,000 licensed registered nurses in the U.S. today, while 3,190,300 are expected to be in practice by 2024, said Karen Tieman, MSN Ed, RN, and Harrison Colleges Director for the RN to BSN program. More and more employers are looking for nurses with BSN degrees, and we want to offer our students the ability to earn a BSN as cost-effectively and conveniently as possible. According to an analysis of nursing positions posted for hire in Indianas major cities by http://www.bsnedu.org, many of the job postings for nurses in Indiana require that applicants complete a BSN program within several years of being hired. The average salaries for RNs with a BSN in Indiana were 86% higher than those with only associates degrees (Associate - $41,205, BSN - $76,690) according to the states Department of Workforce Development. The RN-BSN Bachelor of Science program at Harrison College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.aacnnursing.org/CCNE). The online bachelors degree in nursing is designed to meet the needs of professional registered nurses who are currently employed and is compatible with many health care employer education reimbursement programs. The online-only, RN-BSN course gives working students the flexibility to learn and study around their own busy work and home schedules. And Harrison Colleges mentors for the online learning nursing program will provide the personal support they need. About Harrison College Harrison College is a nationally accredited institution dedicated to excellence in higher learning. With a concentration on career-focused education, the college grants Associate and Bachelor Degrees, as well as Certificates and Diplomas. Harrison operates campuses throughout Indiana and Ohio. Students may also earn degrees by taking classes 100% online, or through a combination of online and classroom learning. Students may choose degrees in Business, Health Sciences, Information Technology, and Veterinary Technology as well as the colleges culinary division, The Chefs Academy, in North Carolina. Harrison College was founded in 1902. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2018 4:40 pm At the corner of Taylor and Water streets in downtown Port Townsend, there sits a bench. Today the bench is decorated with flowers and a sculpture in honor of Alyssa Reed, who frequently slept there. A few years ago, there was a picture in the Leader of a homeless individual sleeping on this same bench. That was Alyssa. A local artist made a sculpture of drift wood and a small wrapped cocoon that captured Alyssa's vulnerable self against the tides of life. It's also on the bench as part of the memorial. Alyssa was one of our own. She grew up in the community and was a Boiler Room youth. She was a musician who loved to sing and play guitar. And she was good at it. When she was a teenager, she was in a fire in an RV that burned her hands; and the smoke she inhaled almost destroyed her voice. But she kept on playing and singing in spite of the pain and trauma. She was also a client of Discovery Behavioral Health since way back when it was still known as Jefferson Mental Health. She was served at various times by DSHS, OlyCAP, the Justice System, the Fairgrounds Campground, and Jefferson Healthcare. They all were supposed to be her "support network." But she fell through the cracks. On Friday, the Kitsap County courts released her to her family. She went to stay with some "friends" for the weekend. She was all set to enter an inpatient drug treatment program on Monday. May 10, her body is at Harrison Hospital where they will be withdrawing life support and transplanting her vital organs to other patients. Her strong heart. Her lungs. Her very physical being... How many times have we, good citizens of Port Townsend, walked past or ignored homeless individuals sitting on the benches or gathering at the Park and Ride. How many times have our various agencies said, "Not our job"? The city and county declared a "Housing Emergency" in order to pass a levy. The levy failed, but the emergency still exists. The Comprehensive Plan adopted the concept of "Housing First" in which it has been proven again and again that once individuals with mental illnesses or drug addiction or physical frailties have access to stable supportive housing, they can recover and become fully participating citizens in our community, rather than costing thousands of dollars for ER, jail, or court costs at the public expense. We have money for roads and improvements that will bring tourists to town and to our vacation rentals. But the development/infrastructure costs of building affordable housing units for our workforce, seniors, young adults, and Section 8 subsidized families is so exorbitant that we can't afford to build neighborhoods of tiny homes or multi-family units that serve these members of our community. Workers turn down good jobs teachers, pharmacists, mental health social workers because they can't find affordable housing. Our social service agencies are unable to place those most needing housing into affordable or subsidized units because they simply don't exist in Jefferson County. Even those with housing vouchers, including Vets, are unable to find affordable housing units here. So some of our own youth and young adults, like Alyssa, sleep on our park benches or tents or old RV's parked on the streets until they are rousted out. Rest in Peace, Alyssa. But for those of us serving, governing, living and working in Jefferson County, may we know no peace until all of our people are housed and we have truly addressed the Housing Emergency in our home town. Barbara Morey Housing Advocate, Port Townsend There have been reports about Bisa Kdeis arrest in the United States went viral early in the week on May 16. He was allegedly arrested for trespassing on the property of the American government without permission. But Bisa Kdei has debunked the arrest reports, saying he has never been arrested in the United States of America (USA). READ MORE: Highlife singer shows off new girlfriend According to the reports, Bisa Kdei was apprehended by the police for shooting a video for his newly released single Asew at an unauthorized location. On GHone TV, it has been established that Bisa Kdei was not arrested as widely reported. Rather, he had permit issues with the security authorities about the location for his music video, but that never resulted in an arrest as was reported. The 'My Own' hitmaker, has disclosed that Sewdru-based young artist has become his favourite artiste. Speaking to Abeiku Santana on UTV, Samini stated that he decided to have a photo shoot with Patapaa at the recently held VGMAs because he is a big fan of Patapaa. When asked, why he likes Patapaa, he answered; I love surprise stories like that, and it proves that theres a living God who blesses his children when they are not even aware because nobody expected Patapaa to blow and now hes going places. Mt. Morris Township police said when officers arrived at the scene, they found Donald Stokes in the stairwell to the basement and observed that the deceased must have suffered trauma from a hammer and a stabbing. Apparently attempting to explain the possible circumstances that led to the bloody incident, Ameera Corena Stokes mother, Gretchen Brasher is quoted as saying her husband "was very verbally abusive. She added that her daughter had a belly, so he would tease her about being fat. He would like to let her have an apple for dessert, while everybody else was having something better." READ MORE: Woman kills pregnant neighbour and cuts the baby out of her womb No amount of explanation can justify murder, but if Gretchen Brashers words are anything to go by, her daughter must have run out of endurance for the alleged mistreatment, hence the extreme action. The disturbed mother said: "She was talking in the last couple of months about how when things were going down, how she wishes she could just go to prison and that would ensure she had a roof over her head and she wouldn't have to worry about anything, it would be so much less stress and she wouldn't be a burden to anybody. He asked the girl to split her legs and stimulate her genital. During the unthinkable act, the shameless headmaster was mo aning and asking the girl if she was enjoying the act and whether she had ejaculated. A section of the public who have had the chance to listen to the audio have condemned the conduct of the headmaster and called for his dismissal in line with the code of conduct of the Ghana Education Service. However, speaking in an interview with Accra-based Class FM, Lawrence Kwasi Korley boastfully said: I am a man, there is no law on morality, other than that I should be behind bars. No one has come to arrest me, radio stations are saying I have been arrested but I am still in school. It is unclear why the man is still at post considering the fact that former headmaster of Breman Eduman D/A Basic School in the Central Region, Robert Sepey who was dismissed after a video of him having sex with his student became public is still fresh in the memories of Ghanaians. The scandalous development comes even as the Ghana education service is yet to take action against some nine teachers of Ejisuman Senior High School (SHS) in the Ashanti region who have been indicted by a committee that investigated allegations of sexual exploitation of their students. In the devastating video, the lady is seen lying in a pool of blood obviously struggling for survival. Some residents of Ashaley botwe, a suburb of Accra where the incident is purported to have happened are seen attempting to help the victim, while others could be heard saying the perpetrator must be brought to book. It is not clear whether the incident was reported to the police and what has become of both the victim and her supposed assailant. It is also not clear yet what the guy attacked the victim with and how. READ MORE: Polygamous man stabbed to death while trying to calm fighting wives A Facebook user who identified herself as Sexy Queen said the victim and her assailant were lovers and cohabiting in the area, but he accused the lady of having cheated on him with his best friend. Please, viewer discretion advised! Sexy Queen posted the video with the caption: *Man brutalizes girlfriend for cheating with best friend* Captured and reported by a tenant yesterday afternoon, a young man by name Acheiva who is staying with his girlfriend in Ashaley botwe brutalized her for cheating with his best friend. Both the lady and the tenant who tried to video for evidence have been admitted in the hospital. This heartless man must be brought to justice! Please help find him!!! The event expected to happen at the Power of Worship International church at Spintex Road aside Pascal Amanfo will have the three Amoateng brothers who are men of God also speaking at the week-long event. Pastor Brian Amoateng together with his elder brothers, Pastor Daniel Amoateng, Prophet Sampson Amoateng will minister to patrons who will attend the Next Level Conference. Abena Brigidi is also named as the only female speaker for the Christian event starting on May 27. The conference will witness performances from several top Ghanaian gospel musicians. The Sunday, May 27 to Thursday, May 31 shows start from 6 pm and Friday, June 1 to June 3 events also commences from 9 pm each day. He said the deal is a drain on Ghana's resources and completely unnecesary. According to him, Subah and Afriwave were awarded similar contracts under the NDC administration to perform similar jobs, even though both contracts were needless. What kind of duplication, profligacy and outright waste is this? he asked. The Imani co-founder also described the deal as hypocrisy on the part of government as it criticised a similar one by the erstwhile NDC administration as "create, loot and share." He charged the government to the scrap the new deal and provide a progress report on the Subah and Afriwave deals. They argue that the policy is ill-planned and will only worsen the unemployment rate in the country adding that more than 7,000 people will lose their jobs if the government goes ahead with its Cylinder Recirculation Module (CRM). President of the Ghana LPG Operators association, Torgbui Adaklu V said they are left with no option than to strike since all efforts to get the government to halt the process have been futile. On October 12, 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo, on the advice of Cabinet directed that the model is implemented as part of measures to ensure that the nation does not experience any more gas explosions after public outcry greeted the massive explosion of an LPG filling station at Atomic Junction in Accra. If the policy is implemented, it will ensure that LPG Bottling Plants are sited away from congested commercial and populated centres. The plants will also procure, brand, maintain and fill empty cylinders to be distributed to consumers and households through retail outlets. However, the group argues that this policy is inconsistent with the governments policy to help the private sector create jobs. The suspect, Mensah Lare, was arrested at Buya, near Kpandai based on a tip-off by residents of the area who suspected him of engaging in a nefarious activity. The District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Francis Akwasi Asante who confirmed the arrest, said the police received information that, a young man on an unregistered motorbike was offering a rifle for sale at Buya and quickly dispatched personnel to the community. According to reports by Daily Graphic, after thorough search in the community the personnel accosted the suspect who was carrying an AK 47 rifle in a fertilizer suck. He said police preliminary investigations revealed that, one Yaw, a native of Balai, near Kpandai sent the suspect to find a prospective buyer at Buya but upon realizing that the buyer was no longer interested he decided to offer the gun to any interested person in the community. The accused, whose address is unknown, is charged with stealing. He said the items belonged to the complainant, Mrs Tolani Adenugba. The back door of the shop was open; so, he sneaked in and carried the packs of drinks, but was caught while trying to board a bike, Ikem said. He said the offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. Adeyanju, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Chief Magistrate, Mr Jimoh Adefioye, granted the accused a bail of N50,000 and a surety in like sum. In an interview with Accra-based Starr FM, the Regional Commander DCOP Otchere Boapea said this happened after a SWAT patrol team arrested them for smoking wee. DCOP Otchere Boapea said the deceased, Kanwei Hanidu, 21, was part of a wee-smoking gang escaping arrest on Thursday, May 17, 2018, at the bank of a dam. READ ALSO: NYA trainees steal 25 laptops In an attempt to escape arrest some of them dived into the dam and one got drown, DCOP Boapea said. This led to the angry youth besieging the police station of the area. My men managed to disperse the crowd at about 7 pm Thursday, the commander said. After the body of the deceased was retrieved from the dam, the angry town folks attacked the police station on Friday, 18 May 2018 accusing the police of killing Hanidu. READ ALSO: IOM says over 60k Ghanaians are still trapped in Libya According to the police commander, the residents vandalized a police vehicle in the midst of the chaos and destroyed some properties. This has led to the injury of some residents who are being treated at nearby health facilities. Malam Garba Shehu, the Presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said the President spoke on the issue when he received a telephone call from the U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo on Thursday. President Buhari recalled his past meeting with Mr Pompeo, then as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and thanked him for the enormous support the U.S. had extended to the Nigerian security and intelligence services. The President requested the Secretary of State to extend his appreciation to President Donald Trump for the warm reception he was given during his recent visit to the White House. Secretary Pompeo assured President Buhari that with him in the Department of State, relations between both countries would get even better. Whenever I hear former President John Dramani Mahama is coming for 2020, I become happy. I pray every day that the NDC brings former President Mahama, he said. Wontumi touted his record of being the only regional chairman in the Ashanti Region that's won two terms. According to him, since 1992 when democratic rule started in Ghana, four people have been elected to lead Ashanti Region NPP and I am the fourth one and the only one who retained the seat as a regional chairman. In Geneva, 29 of the council's 47 members voted for a resolution calling on the body to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry" -- its highest-level of investigation. Only two members, the United States and Australia, voted against the resolution, while 29 voted in favour and 14 abstained, including Britain, Switzerland and Germany. The resolution came after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border on Monday as the US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem. In its statement, the Israeli foreign ministry said the results of the inquiry were a "foregone conclusion inherent in the wording of the resolution". "There was an uprising resulting in 11 deaths, including two guards and nine prisoners," Carlos Nieto, the director of prisoners' rights group A Window on Freedom, told AFP. Inmates snatched a gun from a guard, sparking a 20-minute shootout, the group said, quoting family members of the victims. The dead and wounded were apparently either shot or stabbed. Venezuela's prisons suffer from dire overcrowding and a shortage of basic supplies, struggling under the deepening economic crisis that is gripping the once-wealthy oil-producing country. Nearly 400 people have died in the country's prisons since 2011, according to official figures and rights groups. In March, 68 people died in a fire in a police station's jail in the northern city of Valencia. The blaze was started by detainees who wanted to force the guards to unlock the cells in a bid to escape. Last month, five police officials were charged with homicide over the fire, one of the deadliest in Venezuela's long history of prison disasters and which triggered national outrage and UN condemnation. A Window on Freedom has blamed the government for overcrowding at provisional detention centers, where prisoners are not supposed to spend more than 24 hours but can remain many months awaiting trial. The group estimates the prison system to be 400 percent overpopulated. Maduro is seeking a second six-year term in a controversial election on Sunday that is being boycotted by the opposition. As the world sets aside Saturday, May 19, 2018, for the wedding ceremony between British prince, Harry, and Meghan Markle, financial experts say the countrys economy will be boosted to the tune of 1.05 billion, or $1.43 billion. According to Richard Haigh, managing director at a UK consulting firm, Brand Finance, the star power of Prince Harry and the American actress will see their wedding at par with Prince William and Kate Middletons wedding in 2011. Analysing the sectors of the economy that will get a boost, the consulting firm says tourism will get an uplift of 300 million while public relations value and retail/restaurants will rise to 300 million and 250 million respectively. The UK fashion industry, as well as the merchandising sectors, will get a boost of 150 million and 50 million respectively as a result of the Royal Wedding. Tourism boosts (300 million) Brand Finance says 2011 saw a rise of more than 3% for U.K. tourism over the month of its royal wedding, hence, its no doubt that the 2018 royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who is a celebrated actress will definitely spike the tourism world. Haigh said the tourism impact would most likely come from hospitality outfits describing the impact on hotel operators such as InterContinental IHG, +0.78% IHG, -0.03% and other travel-industry players. ALSO READ: Prince Harry and Meghan might visit 2 African countries for honeymoon Public relations (300 million) Responding to how the public relations will boost the Uks economy through the royal wedding, Haigh said: Its essentially advertising value equivalency to the U.K. as Brand Britain, as a result of all the additional coverage related to the royal wedding. Retail/restaurants (250 million) MarketWatch reported that a recent survey in the UK showed that about 40% of Britons were interested in the royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan. The survey amounts to roughly 25 million people and if each person is inspired to somehow spend an extra 10, that works out to 250 million or more. Fashion industry (150 million) Already, Meghans dress sense has been getting cool commendations from people around the world and in the UK. Haigh said people seem to go crazy as soon as Meghan is seen wearing absolutely anything. The finance expert stressed that a case study was a green dress that Meghan wore in April 2018 and the dress reportedly sold out within hours. Merchandise (50 million boost) Nigeria's vice president, Yemi Osinbajo received the final report at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, May 17, 2018, during the monthly National Economic Council meeting. According to the government, the report indicted generating agencies over non-remittance of N526 billion and $21 billion which is about N8 trillion into the nation's treasury between 2010 and June 2015. Ibrahim Dankwambo, governor of a north-eastern state, Gombe, explained at the end of the meeting that the shortcoming was detected by the audit firm, KPMG, which was contracted by the NEC to carry out a forensic audit of revenue remittances to the government account by the NEC. Some of the government agencies indicted over underpayment by the audit report include: The government said the defaulted agencies will refund the money and those found to be criminal in nature would be handed over to the Attorney General of the Federation for action. Last month, the Nigerian parliament also indicted the State oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for illegally paying 216 billion naira ($707.4 million) in fuel subsidies in 2017. The deal is the largest acquisition in PayPal's history. The companies said on Thursday, May 17, 2018, that the deal will strengthen their platform to help millions of small businesses around the world grow and thrive in an omni-channel retail environment. Based in Stockholm, iZettle was founded in 2010 by Jacob de Geer and Magnus Nilsson with a mission to help small businesses succeed in a world of giants by levelling the playing field against bigger retailers. Jacob de Geer, CEO & co-founder, iZettle, said: By joining the PayPal family well become iZettle with superpowers and jump on a fast track to realise our vision. The opportunity to become part of PayPal was too good to pass up. Not only because of what it means for iZettle and for iZettles employees but because of what we can offer to our merchants. Thats why were so excited to join PayPal. Well continue to work in much the same way we always have, just as a member of a global family with great expansion opportunities. Well continue pursuing our mission of helping small businesses succeed in a world of giants and our teams and culture will remain our key strengths. iZettle revolutionised mobile payments with the worlds first mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices. Today, the companys commerce solutions empower nearly half a million merchants across 12 countries and two continents to get paid, sell smarter and grow their businesses. Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal said: We expect to close the deal in the third quarter of 2018, at which time we will begin our integration efforts. Once the acquisition closes, Jacob de Geer will continue to lead iZettle, reporting to PayPal COO . Jacob and his team bring best-in-class capabilities and talent that will expand our tremendous market opportunity. Upon closing, we will gain in-store capabilities in 11 markets, near-term in-store expansion opportunities into other existing PayPal markets, and the acceleration of omni-channel commerce solutions in Australia, U.K. and U.S. The combination of PayPal and iZettle brings together iZettles in-store expertise, digital marketing strength and mobile point-of-sale technology with PayPals global scale, online and mobile payments leadership and trusted brand reputation to support merchants and consumers in more ways. On Thursday, Ghana's vice president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, said the country will plunge into the Paypal system by the first half of 2020. Bawumia made this known at the launch of the first phase of the first Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) Payments System in Accra. According to TMZ, he was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries. Cardi B, who is expecting a child with Offset reportedly rushed to the hospital to be by her man when she heard the news. A source who also spoke to TMZ said that the rapper was allowed to go home afterwards. Sex tape A sex tape involving Offset and an unidentified lady was leaked recently. Offset was clearly seen having sex with an unidentified lady, whose face wasn't captured in the video. This is different from the sex tape of the rapper, also with another girl leaked on Twitter earlier in January 1. What is "Deadpool 2" about? "Deadpool 2" is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of same name. In the sequel, the wisecracking mercenary, Deadpool, joins forces with three mutants - Bedlam, Shatterstar and Domino - to protect a boy from the all-powerful Cable. 2. Cast and Crew of "Deadpool 2" In the sequel, Ryan Reynolds reprises his role as the titular foul-mouthed hero. Other returning cast include Morena Baccarin, who plays Wade Wilsons love interest, Vanessa, and T.J. Miller as Wades friend, Weasel. "Deadpool 2" also stars Josh Brolin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, Brianna Hildebrand and Jack Kesy. Tim Miller, the director, who helmed the first film was initially signed on to helm the sequel. However, he quit the project after reportedly having creative differences with Reynolds. "Deadpool 2" is directed by David Leitch, who is popular for helming "John Wick" and "Atomic Blonde." 3. Who is Cable? In "Deadpool 2," Wilson is up against the time-travelling Nathan Summers, aka Cable; a warrior infected with the techno-organic virus that renders him cybernetic. In the sequel, Cable battles Deadpool over the life of a young mutant named Russell. 4. Who is Domino? Neena Thurman a.k.a. Domino is a new character in "Deadpool" played by Played by Zazie Beetz. She is a mercenary who possesses a mutant power that is able to manipulate probability. In the movie, fans also get to see her stylish combat skills including marksmanship. In the sequel, Deadpool assembles his own team of mutants which he calls X-Force. The members of the team include Domino, Bedlam, Shatterstar, Zeigeist and Pete Wisdom. 6. What critics are saying about the film The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, who have praised its humor, performances and action sequences. 7. Release date The lyricist who has been quiet longer than a minute after the release of his last album, Insulin in 2016 and vowed not to release an album in Nigeria again has however dropped a new EP, which he says is dedicated to his legion of fans. But don't expect anything new or different from the project, Modenine may have dropped a project unannounced but the 5 track EP is a collection of songs that had been written and recorded 11 years ago according to a post shared by the rapper on his Instagram page. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! PSFU Public Relations Officer, Lawal Audu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that luck ran out on the pastor when he visited the U.S. Embassy with the fake documents for visa. Similarly, Audu said that a newly-married couple (names withheld) was also arrested at the Italian Embassy for processing their visas with fake documents. According to him, the couple have valid Egyptian, Malaysian and Chinese visas but was arrested for using fake documents in processing their Italian visas. He advised prospective visa applicants to desist from patronising agents using fake documents to procure visas. Those who parade themselves as agents or visa procurement officers are criminals and should be avoided at all times. An applicant stands to be prosecuted for any fraudulent act associated with visa procurement no matter how highly placed such a person is, Audu said. He noted that applicants using fake traveling documents were damaging the image of Nigeria. As we've mentioned in the recent past, most of these stereotypes exist to enable us to consider and respect cultural and tribal sensitivities. Yet, sometimes they are excessively simplistic, and they fail to offer a full view of a tribe's origins, practices and biases, cultural and otherwise. Perhaps no tribe is more affected by this than the Yoruba. ALSO READ: Five popular stereotypes about Igbo people Among the many you must have heard, here are five popular stereotypes about the Yoruba people. 1. Yoruba women are loud and rude: The conventional view of a Yoruba woman is that of a plump female, dressed in colourful iro and Buba fashioned out of Dutch wax prints aka Ankara, sitting in front of her compound and doing real-time reviews of just about anyone or thing that passes by. As with most popular stereotypes, this perception has been helped by the depiction of Yoruba women in pop culture, particularly in television and Nollywood. In the inverse, however, what is interpreted as loudness is actually a readiness to express themselves as necessary. This is so because, unlike many excessively patriarchal societies, Yoruba women in older times would command power and influence. And while they could not attain certain privileges and role, their voices were often heard, from the home to the seat of power where the Iyalode commands a fair amount of respect. 2. Yoruba people are dirty: No one knows the origin of this stereotype but for some reason, some believe that being Yoruba comes with a factory installed lack of hygiene. I'll stick my neck out and say much of it is down to the one place the most Nigerians associate with the Yoruba; Lagos. As a commercial hub and an overcrowded megacity, Lagos is fairly dirty and has struggled with the problem of waste disposal for decades. Most residents, individuals and families often face the inevitable shrapnel from living in such a city, a reality that is heightened by the absence of basic amenities. 3. Nobody parties like a Yoruba man: To be fair, until quite recently, it was not unusual to come across a Lagos street blocked off by a row of canopies with the music of King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall blaring in the background. The trend still continues outside the city of excellence. To be fair, the Yoruba love merriment and that comes from a history of elaborate celebrations from older times. In this regard, they love a good time no more than any other tribe out there. What is different is that why the Hausa/Fulani enjoy celebrations like Durbars and the Igbo have ceremonies heavy with traditional rites, it is the Yoruba man's party that most closely fits the typical celebration of a party. 4. The Yoruba are miserly: I want to blame Ijebu people for this, but how do you question a person for an opinion that is not true but has spread so much that even people within the tribe would swear that Ijebus are stingy. ALSO READ: Five quotes that reflect what the world thinks about Nigeria For one, this stereotype contradicts the belief that Yoruba people love parties because if I'm stingy, you can be certain we'll celebrate every event with Whatsapp broadcast messages and love and kindness. When a person doesn't give, it is usually they don't have or they don't want to, not because they're Yoruba. 5. Yoruba men are promiscuous: Terms like "Yoruba Demon" have crystallised what many believed about the sexual habits of Yoruba men. Many are of the opinion that men from the South-West of Nigeria are naturally licentious, and often have relationships on the side, within or outside wedlock. As proof, people often refer to individuals who fit the Yoruba demon tag such as musicians like Wizkid and Davido. Yet, to say promiscuity is a tribal trait is very hypocritical. Who doesn't cheat? Or do women prefer to cheat with the Yorubas? To obtain the ruling, the state government argued before the court that it is the legal right of the registries in the Local Government and Local Council Development Areas to carry out the function, and not that of a federal-government-owned registry like the one in Ikoyi. The ruling that bars the Ikoyi registry from holding weddings is said to have taken effect on April 30, 2018 but as at today, May 19, when Pulse visited, activities at the registry were in full swing with couples getting married. Youd find it difficult to believe that any ruling had been passed against the federal establishment as activities have not even slowed down a tiny bit. Newly married couples and excited families posed for photos, others were seated in the waiting space with eagerness in their eyes to be hitched to their sweethearts and a full house of guests were milling around the registry compound like every other business day. Two couples we approached were absolutely, blissfully unaware that any ruling has been passed. This is understandable, given that the ruling has just been announced yesterday, May 17, by the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami, and the sensitization planned for the populace by the state government has not yet begun. We are going to use the five divisions across the state to sensitize our people and inform them about this latest development. From Epe to Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja and Lagos Island. The sensitization walk which we embarked on today is also a way of creating awareness and letting the people know of this latest development, Folami says. Will anything change at the Ikoyi registry soon? This is not the first time that Lagos state has gotten this kind of order against the Federal marriage registry. The President of Marriage Registrars in all LGs/LCDAs in Lagos state, Deji Sokeye confirms this yesterday, March 17, that a similar judgement was indeed given by a court in 2004, but it was ignored by the Federal Government. And if what we saw and heard at the registry today is anything to go by, it appears nothing will change even now. One of the officials there who agreed to speak to Pulse anonymously says the state government of Lagos is just being greedy and that there was no way activities at the Ikoyi registry would slow down or stop until a directive is sent to them from their ogas. Asked if any of such directives has been sent to them as at the time of asking [few hours before this publication], her answer was an emphatic No. This official obviously belongs to the group of people who believe that the state government is trying to bar the federal registry from registering marriages simply because they want all the revenues generated from weddings in the state to come into their Purse, and not to the federal governments. Another worker at the registry who also spoke to Pulse anonymously says that what the Lagos state government is asking is impossible, and not even the court ruling can change how things are right now. How does a state government try to supersede the authority of the Federal government? she asks in a bid to prove her point. State marriage certificates v Federal marriage certificates Away from the turf war involving both governments, what exactly does this mean to the people who intend to get married? Whats the difference between these certificates? Whats special about one that's absent in the other? Apparently people prefer the Federal marriage certificates to the state-issued ones. According to Mr. Benson, a married man in Lagos who spoke to Pulse, the federal governments marriage certificate is more useful than the one issued by the state. If you want to travel abroad for example, no one is going to accept a state-issued marriage certificate from you. This rings true, and explains why Commissioner Muslim Folami said at the press-conference yesterday that the judgement of the court is binding on every organization and institution in the state, including the embassies. The first official at the registry who spoke to us also believes this, saying that the marriage certificate they issue is "superior" to the one given at the local governments because of the importance attached to them at the embassies and other places where the tender of marriage certificates is required. Lagos state may have gotten a court ruling against the Federal governments marriage-registering operations in the state, but that seems the easy part. There would be a need to effectively inform the populace, institutions and embassies of this development and to also enforce the ruling against the federal government. The late Abebe, who died on March 22 at the age of 99, was the father of a former First Lady, Mrs Stella Obasanjo. The late Abebe served as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Councils of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Calabar, and University of Benin. He joined the United African Company Nigeria Limited as a young clerk and rose to become the first Nigerian Chairman and Managing Director of the company. Abebe on his retirement became the first Nigerian chairman of the Nigerian Breweries. The deceased was also a Papal Knight of the St. Gregorys and Supreme Knight of St. Mulumba. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that tears flowed on Friday as his body was interred at about 3:30 pm in a mausoleum where his late father, Chief Abebe Ogbekhiulu, who died on Oct. 26, 1956, was buried in his compound. Earlier, family and friends had gathered at the Stella Maris Catholic Church where a funeral Mass was held in his honour and presided over by the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria and Archbishop of Benin, Most Rev. Augustine Akubeze. Present at the ceremony were Obasanjo, Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo and his Oyo State counterpart, Abiola Ajimobi, who was accompanied by his wife, Florence. Others included the senator representing Edo Central, Clifford Ordia; the member representing Esan North-East/Esan South-East in the House of Representatives, Sergius Ogun; former Edo governor, Sen. Oserheimen Osunbor; and a former chairman of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Dr Felix Ohiwerei. In his tribute, the eldest son of the deceased and President of St. Gregorys College Old Boys Association, John, described his late father as his hero who instilled discipline in his children. He said that he never found fault in his late father who lived a humble life. I am approaching 70 years (of age) now. In all my life, I have never found fault in my father, he said. He commended Obasanjo for honouring his father-in-law and the family in spite of the death of their sister, late Stella. The younger Abebe also thanked the states governor for his support toward the burial rites of his later father. He said his father left a legacy of being honest, of being totally above board, of being humble and of doing things at the right time always. He did bring us all up from day one to be like him. If you ask my friends who know me will tell you that I will never accept things not done properly or being swept under the carpet. I will never, for instance, think of accepting bribe for anything I do. So, his legacy will be sustained because we also have brought up our children in a similar manner, he added. On his part, Obasanjo said that his late father-in-law would be fondly remembered for his courage and submission to Gods will in many strange circumstances. I recall how he bore with equanimity the death of my wife, Stella, his daughter, and that of four other of her siblings. For anyone at the twilight of his life, these irreparable and calamitous losses would have shattered anybody. But papa faced life and soldiered on till he was almost 100 years, remaining focused, patently honest, forthright and down-to-earth and as a great Christian. I believe that the Almighty destined my amiable father-in-law to impact generations the way he did, he said. Earlier in his sermon, the Bishop of Uromi Diocese, Most Rev. Donatus Ogun, said that the late Abebe lived an exemplary life, adding that his humility stood him out as he remained respectful in spite of his old age. DSP Emeka Iheanacho, the Zonal Public Relation Officer (ZPPRO), disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Friday Iheanacho said that the AIGs order followed a petition by the father of the deceased, Mr Anthony Omonuwa on May 14, alleging that his son was killed in a police station in Warri. He gave the assurance that the police authority would conduct a thorough investigation into the matter. The ZPPRO quoted the AIG as vowing that those indicted in the investigation would be made to face the full wrath of the law. The AIG has appealed to the family of the deceased and the general public to be calm as the zone will ensure that justice prevails in the matter. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, Deputy Director Public RelationsTheatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, disclosed this in a statement released in Maiduguri. Nwachukwu said the operation was conducted in conjunction with Cameroonian Defence Forces and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CDFJTF). The gallant troops overpowered the insurgents, killing two of them and capturing 11 men after a fierce fire fight, during an operation to clear the surrounding villages of fleeing Boko Haram terrorists,he said. He added that the troops recovered two Multi Purpose Rocket Grenade Launcher Police Tear Gas Gun, one Rocket Propelled Gun Charger, two AK 47 Rifle magazines with 20 Rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and one magazine vest. Also three motorcycles, one power generating set, a tool box, a pair of camouflage, one military-type belt and one Boko Haram flag were also captured from the routed insurgents by the troops. In a related operation, Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) of Operation Lafiya Dole yesterday successfully uncovered three Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) planted by Boko Haram terrorists in Doro Naira village. Jaha gathered over 5,000 youths in his Gwoza, Borno constituency and handed them shoe shining kits which came fully equipped with polish and brushes. Jahas gift to members of his constituency should worry us, not because the governance bar in Nigeria just got badly lowered once more, but because the recipients were over the moon when they received their gifts--a sad reminder of the poverty and jobless rates in our country and why governments should be doing more to reduce the jobless numbers. Yet Jaha is not alone. One northern Governor handed out chocolate beverages and milk to Mishai (tea and bread sellers) as his own empowerment initiative. Another Governor from a north central State handed out wheelbarrows to his peopleas a way of empowering them. Before elections, politicians seeking one more term in office, storm villages with motor-bikes, tricycles and cutlasses and call all of that empowerment and "job creation". This tokenism speaks of how unimaginative political leaders have become. It speaks of the lack of a rigorous thought process among the ruling elite--the kind of thought process that will deliver real democracy dividends to the people. Governance in our part of the world has been reduced to tokenism and hand-outs in an age when the rest of the world is arming folks with the kind of vocational skills and education that will alter their lives in more remarkable and permanent ways. The shoe-shining-kit lawmaker is receiving praise in certain quarters because that is what his people really need. But these defenders forget that the people have been so pulverized and brow beaten that anything handed to them would suffice. These defenders of highly incompetent public officials are a part of the problem. When followership doesnt hold leadership to account or demand better from leadership, leadership becomes docile, arrogant and insensitive. We have to do better as followers and leaders. Democracy works a lot better when citizens demand better of government and engage elected officials rigorously. Citizens who have been shortchanged by corrupt leaders would of course consider shoe shining kits major gifts. They don't have too much of a choice, do they? Shoe shining kits isnt exactly what a lawmaker should be calling the press to come cover, let's be real here. How many people in Jaha's constituency have received scholarships in his name? How many schools in his constituency has Jaha renovated? How many books has Jaha bought for school kids? Are there ICT labs Jaha is opening in his villages any time soon? How many have learnt trades like tailoring, mechanics, carpentry or other better paying artisanal jobs thanks to Jaha's foresightedness? Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who visited some government owned hospitals in Lagos metropolis report that doctors were the only ones offering full medical services to patients. At the General Hospital, Marina, Lagos, only doctors were on call duty there were no health workers on ground to attend to patients. Mrs Lilian Okere, a patient at the hospital, told NAN that it was family members that were helping to clean patients and the environment. According to her, she cannot be properly admitted into any ward because there is no health worker to take charge of that, hence her still being at the corridors in the Accident and Emergency Unit. She appealed to JOHESU and Federal Government to speedily resolve the ongoing standoff, as her life and those of other patients were at stake. NAN also reports that only personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were seen at the hospital gates. At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, only doctors and senior nurses were seen working. Mr Bayo Okunade, a patient, told NAN that the consistency of strikes in Nigerias health sector had become embarrassing. This shows the inefficiency and lack of seriousness in a sector that has to do with human lives. I urge both parties to please resolve the issues, he said. A check at the Amuwo Odofin Maternal and Child Care Centre also showed that health workers were not on ground. However, a staff told NAN that skeletal services were being provided for emergency cases. At the Maternal and Child Care Centre, Gbaja, Surulere, doctors were seen attending to patients; a few health workers were also seen offering skeletal services to emergency situations. Mrs Funmi Gbadebo , a new mother, told NAN that she had registered at the facility but when she went into labour on Sunday, the institution was not open to take her delivery. I went into labour around 12 midnight on Saturday and was rushed to Gbaja, where I had registered for ante-natal. But the security did not even allow me to enter the facility. We drove to the General Hospital, Surulere, and also got the same treatment; that was how we started driving round Surulere early on Sunday morning. The private hospitals were rejecting me because either they did not have midwives on ground or they were not aware of my history; I almost gave birth in the car. We finally got a hospital at Aguda that accepted me and within 15 minutes of arriving there, my baby came, she said. Everyday, we are told to use government hospitals, yet most times the workers are either on strike or having one face-off or the other, thereby putting us at risk in times of emergencies. The federal government should look into the health sector and look for ways to make it more functional, as well as make the staff comfortable and dedicated. On their part, doctors and other medical and health workers should be dedicated and reasonable in their demands, she said. Mr Olatunji Tajudeen, the state JOHESU Chairman, debunked claims that the health workers strike had been called off. Tajudeen told NAN that the Lagos State Government was currently in an ongoing negotiation with the union, which was yet to be concluded. The strike is still on; we are having meeting with the state government and hopefully it may come to a conclusion. We will know if the strike will be called off or of it will continue, depending on the outcome of the meeting, he said. NAN reports that JOHESU commenced strike on April 17, to demand for improved facilities, and adjustment of CONHESS as done for CONMESS since 2014. Other demands include the abolition of scale to scale promotion, payment of outstanding arrears of promotion, skipping and relativity, as well as employment of additional health professionals. Speaker Dogara said this at a dinner held on Thursday night in honour of Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro, the former executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Fund (TETfund), on his induction as a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science. Dogara urged members of the academy to lay emphasis on research as the country would only attain its full potentials through science and technology. Our nation cannot compete favourably without innovation, Dogara said. We have also seen that it is innovation in the area of science that drives communities, even nations to thrive. They are exporting their intellect; we have seen that. "That is why the ten most advanced nations, or richest nations on the earth, some of them do not have the kind of resources that we have. It is in this area: advancement in science and technology that the true potential of this nation will emerge. That is the challenge before the Nigerian Academy of Science, some of us are not scientists, we read Law and I guess we are doing very well in the field of Law. We have different eminent live vessels in different fields in this country affecting lives and defining the destiny of this nation, but I know that it is in science that the excellency of this nation shall truly emerge. The Speaker lauded Prof. Bogoros virtues, describing him as an inspiration and one who is fully committed in anything he does. Rt. Hon. Obasa also called on Nigerians not to relent in their prayers for the unity of the country and for peace to reign in the nation. ALSO READ: APC member shot dead at Local Government congress The Lagos Assembly Speaker's message was contained in his Ramadan message released on Thursday, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Rasak. "Ramadan is a period that calls for sober reflection. Therefore, it's a time for us to share love among ourselves, maintain peace and continue to pray for the unity of the country and its peaceful co-existence," Rt. Hon. Obasa said. The Lagos Assembly Speaker also called on Nigerians to eschew violence and refrain from actions and utterances that can lead to violence or chaos. "We should remain vigilant all the time and refrain from doing things and making utterances that can lead to violence or chaos. Let us all imbibe the spirit of love and peace which are the major symbols of Ramadan," Rt. Hon. Obasa said. The Lagos Assembly Speaker stated further that, "we must also continue to support and pray for government at all levels. We are grateful for your support all this while but like Oliver Twist, we will continue to seek for your support, cooperation and prayers becuase these are the ingredients we need to succeed. "I want to assure you that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government at all levels will not relent in putting in place measures, policies and programmes that will enhance the welfare of our people as well as improve their standard of living". Melaye who was granted bail by the Court on Wednesday, made the disclosure via Instagram on Friday, May 18, 2018. The lawmaker accused the Police of illegally arresting and harassing Nigerians for a long time. Police illegal arrest and harassment did not start now, Melaye said. This was four years ago. Where Court awarded 10-million -damage to me that Police is yet to pay. Fear not him that can destroy or damage the body, fear only Him that can destroy both the body and the Spirit. My Spirit and resolve is unshakable, he added. Melayes troubles Melaye was arrested in April by the Police over the case of alleged gunrunning and conspiracy. The lawmaker however jumped off a moving Police vehicleenroute Lokoja, the Kogi state capital. He landed at the hospital following injuries during the incident. He was under arrestduring his stay at the medical facility. Melaye was denied bail by the court in Kogi state and remanded in prison. Speaking at a town hall meeting on the crisis in Abuja on Thursday, May 17, 2018, the general secretary of Miyetti Allah, Baba Othman Ngelezarma, wondered why the chairman of the governors forum, Abdullaziz Yari and Governor Kashim Shettima were not at the event. He maintained that as chief executives of their states, the governors are custodians of the lands in their terrotories. He accused governors of not putting in place the enabling environment for the herders to go about their business before enacting laws prohibiting livestock movement. Ngelezarma noted that the group was not opposed to Federal Governments plan to introduce ranching. We are not opposed to ranching, all that we are saying let us begin to identify grazing reserves, he said. Let us know their current status in the view of developing them and making them attractive to the pastoralist. The cow to them is a thing of prestige, a means of livelihood. You have to put something in place for them to see before you accept. A lot has been said about this issue. Up till now nobody is looking at the root cause of the crisis and the people responsible are the state governors. How I wish through chairman of the governors forum or northern governors forum is here. He is supposed to be here. All the grazing reserves we have in the country are located in the northern part of the country. The state governors have more responsibility than the federal government because this is their primary assignment. They are custodians of the land. They are the custodians of security and education in their states. The federal government's hands are tied we know that, he added. The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, noted that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is taking steps towards ending the crisis. He urged Nigerians not to give religious colouration to the killings. Akingbola is a former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc. Justice Tanko Muhammad, leading a five-man panel, affirmed the Feb. 20, 2015 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Lagos which overturned the Federal High Courts decision striking out the charges against Akingbola. Justice Sidi Bage, who read the lead judgment of the apex court, held that Akingbolas appeal challenging the Court of Appeals judgment lacked merit. He ordered that the case file be remitted to the Federal High Court, Lagos, for expeditious trial and to be handled by another judge. Justice Kumai Akaahs, a member of the panel, in addition to agreeing with the lead judgment, said that he was worried by the stand of the trial judge in the matter. Akaahs said that Justice Archibong acted like a military dictator when he descended into the arena and chided the prosecution for their inability to prosecute and therefore removed his toga of impartiality. He constituted himself into a military dictator and this is regarded as judicial tyranny and a case of bias was established against the judge. According to Akaahs, while we have immunity, we do not have absolute powers to do and undo. It will be recalled that Akingbola s trial was prematurely terminated in April 2012 by Justice Charles Archibong, whose decision in the case later culminated in his compulsory retirement from the bench. Archibong, in a judgment he delivered on April 2, 2012, struck out the 26 counts contained in a charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), against Akingbola. He said this was on the grounds that the prosecution was not diligent in handling the case. If an officer wants to search you in your house/ car, he must first surrender himself for searching. This is the procedure. Ask politely, the police force tweeted on its handle. Nigerians have been citing instances of police officers seizing their phones or laptops on street corners and dark alleys, instructing that the phone be unlocked and skimming through the device for something near incriminating. However, the police high command has announced that any officer who does this is way out of line. It is not ideal for Officers to search your phones without a complaint. It is not professional. Officers have been lectured not to unnecessarily search people's phones without any case or complaint against the person, the police shared in another tweet. SARS extortion The police engagement on social media with the hashtag #AskThePolice comes after Twitter user Adegoke Ifeoluwa reported that operatives of the Police Special Ant-Robbery Squad (SARS) extorted her while she was out on a video shoot. With my encounter today, its safe to say SARS are armed robbers. Was going for a shoot in Ikorodu today and armed members of SARS pulled us over and made us pay for no reason. Threatening they were gonna waste our lives. I made a transfer so they can be traced, Ifeoluwa tweeted. Moments later, the police announced that the erring officer had been arrested and was now in police custody. I am glad to inform you that account owner has been identified - Inspector FSARS Ikorodu, Lagos. He is under custody, preliminary investigation ongoing. PCRRU will inform you on next line of action. Sorry for the experience, Abayomi Shogunle, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, tweeted. Bittrick made the disclosure in a transcript of a teleconference on UN Peacekeeping Course for African Partners, with Journalists across Africa. The U.S. recognizes that the African Union and regional economic communities and, yes, national states, are responding and supporting these security requirements. We have helped 20 African countries build their peacekeeping institutional capabilities to train, deploy, and sustain peacekeepers through the Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance Programme, and as noted by my colleague, the Global Peace Operations Initiative. Last year, such efforts supported the training of more than 27,000 African peacekeepers, going to UN and AU missions. This support, we see, has produced results. Africa today provides more special representatives, more force commanders, and more deployed peacekeepers than ever before, he said. Bittrick said that the number of peacekeepers had after ten years increased from 40 per cent to as high as 70 per cent currently. He described the development as a true sign of African ownership, adding that the U.S. was pleased to be working with India and other partners in supporting African responses. The U.S. official, however, said that the human rights record of Nigerian forces was being examined before providing them any support in counter-terrorism or peacekeeping training. The security engagement by the U.S. is meant to ensure better responsiveness from Nigerian troops and the Police. This is in regard to their engagement with local civilian communities and ensure that they have the best training, tactics, techniques, and procedures, so that the possibilities of abuse are mitigated or minimised, he said. Peacekeeping is the activity of preventing war, violence, or potential conflict, especially using armed forces, Police and civillian personnel not involved in a disagreement to prevent fighting. Former Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi, is the APC flagbearer for the election. In a statement on Thursday, Fayose accused the APC of recruiting members of the party from neighbouring states to use them as INEC presiding and returning officers to perfect the rigging plan. The governor, however, maintained that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Kolapo Olusola, will win the election. Let me tell the president and his men that they will be disgraced here in Ekiti because the power of the people is greater than the power of those in power, Fayose said. The question is, with over 9000 Youth Corps members in Ekiti state, what is the need for FUOYE students in an election that is holding in less than 2,200 polling units? INEC must come clean on this. The electoral umpire must tell the public the rationale behind the plot to jettison Youth Corps members for supposed FUOYE students, he said. We hereby call on all men of good conscience to stand up and be counted in the fight against dictatorship, election rigging and plot to subvert democracy in Nigeria. 2019 general election is close by and Ekiti as well as Osun elections are prelude to what to expect in 2019. The international community must prevail on INEC and the Buhari administration to allow free, fair and credible election in Ekiti state, he added. Fayose, a critic of the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government maintained that the APC has failed to deliver on its campaign promises. The governors spoke on Friday in an interview with journalists in Benin after attending the funeral mass for late Dr Christopher Abebe at Iruekpen, Esan West Local Government Area of the state. Obaseki said that the APC had laid a solid foundation in the reorganisation of the party in the state and pledged a hitch-free state congress. Our local government council election went smoothly and our APC ward congress went hitch- free. The LGA congress held last week was also successful except for one or two issues which have been practically resolved. We dont expect any issues tomorrow, Obaseki said. He said that the party was committed to ensuring internal democracy, promising that delegates would vote for any candidate they feel would best represent their interests. Ajimobi, his Oyo State counterpart, said the foundation for development in his state was peace and security. The governor gave an assurance that the party in Oyo State was ready to conduct a peaceful state congress. The rumours assumed lives of their own after Otedola opened a Twitter account and hopped on a Molue bus in suburban Lagosall in the space of three months. Video footage of Otedola in a Molue immediately went viral, fueling speculations that it was a carefully orchestrated populist stunt from the billionaire ahead of the 2019 electioneering season. Fake Twitter accounts have also been opened in Otedola's name. It was from one of those cloned and parody accounts that it was announced he will be running for political office. But Otedola has come out to pour cold water on the rumour mill. My attention has been drawn to a news piece where false information from a parody account was posted. I am a man of the people and I will always be on the side of the masses but I am stating clearly via this medium that I am not running for office, he tweeted. The Governor of Lagos State is doing a commendable job and Lagosians should be proud of him. Otedola endorses Ambode In March, Otedola endorsedserving Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for a second term in office. He is building roads and bridges, schools and hospitals, water treatment plants, sewage and storm water drainages, solid waste management plants and mass transport infrastructure, Otedola said of Ambode at the time. He recently got approval for the electricity power infrastructure for Lagos, which when fully executed, will make Lagos State almost energy independent in Nigeria. You are all aware of the newly-acquired mass transit buses that are going to be natural gas powered in order for us in Lagos to be the first to comply with the global climate agenda of de-carbonisation, Otedola had added. "We want to ask forgiveness for the pain caused to the victims, to the Pope, to God's people and to our country for the serious errors and omissions we have committed," the statement continued. The striking announcement came after the pontiff summoned the bishops over the scandal. Several members of the Chilean church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s. On Thursday evening, Francis promised "changes" to the Chilean church to "restore justice" in a short declaration to the bishops, made public. But in a confidential 10-page document leaked Friday by Chilean TV channel T13, the Argentine pope goes much further in his indictment of the Chilean Church. The letter -- handed to the bishops at the start of their meetings with Francis -- evokes "crimes" and "painful and shameful sexual abuse of minors, abuses of power and conscience by ministers of the Church". It qualifies the removal of certain prelates from their roles as necessary but "insufficient," calling for "the roots" that allowed for such abuse within an "elitist and authoritarian" Chilean Church to be examined. Evidence destroyed The damning letter also outlines findings of an investigation, ordered by Pope Francis, into the abuse allegations. It says the probe found senior Church officials had destroyed proof in cases of sex abuse and that certain members of the clergy who had displayed immoral behaviour had been transferred to other dioceses after attempts to "minimise" the gravity of their actions. Grave accusations "were superficially qualified as improbable", the letter says, denouncing bishops for their "terrible negligence in protecting children". Pope Francis bids to repair some of the damage done during his visit to Chile in January, when his defence of controversial Chilean bishop Juan Barros -- accused of covering up Karadima's abuses -- caused a public outcry. The pontiff at the time said he was convinced that Barros was innocent and demanded "proof" before he would speak out against him. Francis later apologised to the victims, three of whom he recently received at the Vatican, and admitted he had made "grave mistakes" after reading the 2,300-page report on the abuse in Chile. The mass resignation of an entire delegation of bishops is almost unheard of, having last happened two centuries ago. Bishops have, however, previously been summoned to the Vatican over abuse scandals. In April 2002, Pope John Paul II summoned 13 American cardinals and bishops to Rome after a huge paedophilia scandal within the clergy. Following another abuse scandal in Ireland in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI also organised a meeting of Irish prelates at the Vatican in February 2010. 'Their day has come' Speaking at the Vatican Friday morning, the Chilean bishops said: "We thank the victims for their perseverance and courage, despite the enormous personal, spiritual, social and family difficulties they had to face, to which were often added the incomprehension and attacks of the Church community." Two of Karadima's victims tweeted their relief on Twitter in response to the resignations. "Those who caused so much pain, sometimes worse than the abuse, are now all quitting. The Pope heard what we asked of him in our conversations with survivors from all over the world. For those who did so much damage, their day has come today," wrote Juan Carlos Cruz. No details were offered on what form such a mission might take, or whether they would be made up of UN peacekeepers or observers. The draft calls on the UN secretary-general to submit a report within 30 days of any adoption of the resolution on his recommendations "on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection and well-being" of Palestinian civilians. Kuwait, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, circulated the draft after Israel killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border Monday as the US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The text risks being vetoed by the United States. Earlier this week, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, vigorously defended Israel's "restraint" in responding to the protests. A first meeting to discuss the text has been set for Monday afternoon, said one diplomatic source on condition of anonymity, predicting there was "no chance" the text would be passed and that Washington would refuse even to discuss it. The draft condemns Israel's use of live ammunition against protesters, reaffirms the right to peaceful protest and calls for "independent, impartial and transparent investigations" into the deadly violence. The draft also calls for "the full lifting of the blockade and the restrictions imposed by Israel" on access in and out of Gaza and for unhindered flow of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, slammed the resolution as "shameful" and said it was designed to assist Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas, whom the Jewish state considers a terrorist organization. "We have several times offered our British partners any necessary assistance in the investigation (of the poisoning). So far we have received no response. Our offer remains open," he said. Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was visiting from Moscow, collapsed on March 4 on a bench in Salisbury, the city in southwestern England where the former double agent lives. The poisoning sparked a diplomatic crisis that saw Russia and the West expelling dozens of diplomats in tit-for-tat moves. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning, saying it was caused by a type of nerve agent known as Novichok which was developed in the Soviet Union. There is roughly one school shooting a week in the United States, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that is pushing to limit the proliferation of firearms in the country. US schools have become less and less a safe havens for children, as the country grapples with an epidemic of gun violence that claims around 33,000 lives each year, and many Americans appear fatalistic. Unless there is a high body count, most school shootings don't even make the national press. According to a database compiled by the Washington Post, more than 214,000 primary and secondary school students have experienced a school shooting in the United States since 1999. At least 139 students, teachers and others have been killed over the same period. The familiar television images of students fleeing for their lives across playing fields, or tearfully recounting their near-death experiences, prompt the inevitable same questions: Should all schools have security gates? Should teachers be armed? Just three months ago, in February, a young man armed with a semi-automatic, assault-style weapons killed 17 people at his old high school in Florida. That particular rampage, in a school whose surviving students spoke out movingly and articulately against gun violence, prompted a fresh movement to demand legislation that would impose stricter controls on firearms. That led to a wave of marches across the country and overseas on March 24 that brought as many as two million people on to the streets to demand action. The hundreds of thousands of school kids were portrayed as the "school shooting generation" or the "Columbine generation," named for the school where two students in Colorado gunned down 12 of their schoolmates and a teacher in 1999. Yet there has been no progress towards legislation that would dent the rampant gun violence, aside from a few minor measures introduced in a handful of states. President Donald Trump himself has proposed arming teachers. Disturbing trends The actual definition of what constitutes a school shooting varies, hence the difference in the reported numbers of such incidents. But the simple fact remains that there are far more of them in the United States than in the rest of the developed world, and the long-term trends are disturbing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation carried out a study of "active shooters" between 2000 and 2013 and found that the numbers of mass shootings are on the rise nationwide. In 70 percent of cases, the killings and injuries occur within five minutes or less, giving law enforcement a very short time to react. And 24.4 percent of all gun rampages take place in schools or other educational establishments. Shooters who open fire in schools or colleges are, for the most part, students or former students, as was the case in Santa Fe on Friday. And the FBI also notes that school shootings are becoming deadlier. Some of the more prominent attacks have had a lasting impact on the national psyche, such as Columbine in 1999, Virginia Tech in 2007 or the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, when 20 kids aged between six and seven were shot dead by a gunman. Middle-Eastern tourists from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain were also told that the restaurant was fully booked, Buzzfeed said in its investigation, based on testimony from four former waitresses. "If a veiled woman showed up to the restaurant, they had to be told that the restaurant was full, even if it was not," the report said, adding that the former waitresses charged that the system was still in place. Buzzfeed printed screenshots of text messages between staff that appeared to support the allegations, as well as a list of telephone country codes kept at the front desk, allegedly to help staff decline reservation requests from citizens of the four Gulf countries. French rights chief Jacques Toubon, announcing an investigation, said in a statement that the restaurant was also accused of "discrimination in terms of physical appearance". The former serving staff told Buzzfeed they were ordered to sit the "good-looking and presentable" customers on the ground floor and terrace where they would be the most visible. The restaurant was unreachable for comment on Friday afternoon. But its manager Alexandre Denis denied the allegations in comments to Buzzfeed, telling the website: "All cultures, all nationalities come here... What is certain is that I never gave instructions to refuse customers." Bloodbath Hours before the embassy's controversial opening Monday, tens of thousands of protesters gather at the Gaza-Israel border, defying Israeli warnings to keep away. The border had been a flashpoint for deadly demonstrations that began on March 30, with some protesters attempting to breach the fence as part of demands that Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homes now inside Israel. Clashes quickly flare and Israeli soldiers positioned on the other side of the barrier open fire. By the end of Monday, 59 Palestinians have been killed, most of them by Israeli snipers. At least 2,400 are wounded. A top official from Gaza's ruling Islamist movement Hamas says most of those killed are its members. 'Massacre' An eight-month-old baby dies overnight after inhaling teargas, marking the deadliest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the 2014 Gaza war. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority condemns the "terrible massacre" and calls for "immediate international intervention". European nations call for calm and Amnesty International condemns the "abhorrent violation" of human rights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends the use of force. "Every country has the obligation to defend its borders," he says on Twitter, accusing Hamas of inciting the protesters. "Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response," US President Donald Trump's administration adds. The embassy opens The embassy is officially opened when Trump's daughter Ivanka unveils a plaque and a seal. Trump hails it as a "great day for Israel" and says in a video message: "Our greatest hope is for peace." For Israel, the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv formally recognises all of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a crushing blow to Palestinians who see the city's east as their capital. Investigations demanded Protests continue on the Gaza border with less intensity on Tuesday, with another two Palestinians killed. Calls mount for an enquiry into the violence, with the Arab League urging the International Criminal Court to investigate "the crimes of the Israeli occupation". Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused Israel of "state terror" and "genocide", tells the Israeli ambassador to leave temporarily. Israel responds by expelling the Turkish consul, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Hamas of deliberately putting children in the line of fire. US support US ambassador Nikki Haley defends Israel at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, saying its forces had acted with restraint in the face of provocation by Hamas. The US State Department says Hamas is using the unveiling of the American embassy as an "excuse" to encourage violence. On Wednesday, Guatemala also inaugurates its Israel embassy in Jerusalem. The next day the Israeli army carries out strikes against Hamas, saying it is responding to gunfire against soldiers stationed along the border and the town of Sderot, near Gaza. UN probe The Arab League on Thursday calls for an international probe into alleged crimes by Israeli forces. On Friday Kuwait submits a draft UN resolution| calling for an "international protection mission". In Geneva the UN Human Rights Council votes to send an a team of international war crimes investigators to Gaza. Israel condemns its "hypocrisy". In a statement, police said that the cult with three gods - true god, false god and random god is sweeping majorly campus students and warned parents and general Kenyans at large. Here is the full statement from the Police: There is an emergence of a cult operating within Nairobi that targets youths especially students in the University. The cult believes that there are three gods namely: true god, false god and random god. They also believe that the random god is the one who fails them because he is not firm with his decisions and that his answers are not straight. Members are expected to sacrifice what they love most to prove loyalty to the organization. Therefore, the Director of Criminal Investigations takes this time to caution members of the public and urge parents to keep a keen eye on their children to deter them from being recruited to such evil organizations. In a post that has since gone viral, the husband-to-be - Nimrod Thande - tagged KOT asking them to participate in the fundraiser. As per a response Thande gave to a tweep, it seems the lovebirds will be headed to Maldives for their luxurious honeymoon. A section of the public expressed outrage in the crowdfunding efforts noting that a honeymoon is an affair that ought not to involve the public. BBC journalist Larry Madowo was also quick to comment on the now viral post noting: "Kenyan couple crowdfunding their honeymoon because 2018. Here are the reactions: Red Cross teams have been dispatched to the area and are currently helping with rescue efforts after families were left marooned due to the ongoing floods. Water is overflowing to nearby villages. KCRS Kisumu is assisting in evacuating affected residents, an alert from humanitarian agency said. No casualties According to Nyakach Deputy County Commissioner Cornellius Sangura, no casualties have been reported yet. He confirmed the worst hit areas were Thurdibuoro, Nyakwere, Nyadina, Sangoro, Nyadina and Obwage. The Sondu Miriu River, one of the six major rivers in the Lake Victoria basin, drains a total area of 3470 square kilometres in the Western part of Kenya. 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! GERMANY: On May 17 the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion requesting that Germany fully comply with Directive 2004/49/EC. This requires EU member states to establish an independent safety authority, an independent accident investigation body and coherently allocate safety responsibilities. Russian investigators open two criminal cases over U.S. publication on bridge to Crimea RIA Novosti, Alexander Polegenko 14:13 18/05/2018 MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI) Russian investigators had initiated two criminal cases against Hugo Gurdon, the Editorial Director of Washington Examiner, and journalist Tom Rogan over a publication calling for blowing up the newly opened bridge to Crimea, Svetlana Petrenko, the Investigative Committees spokeswoman, said on Friday. According to Petrenko, Gurdon and Rogan are accused of spreading terrorist propaganda, i.e. conducting efforts to disseminate materials and information aimed to make a person embrace terrorist ideology and accept permissibility of carrying out terrorist attacks. Investigators could establish that Gurdon published an article by Tom Rogan under the headline Ukraine Should Blow Up Putin's Crimea Bridge, in which, law enforcement officials believe, the author urges Ukraine to blow up the bridge by bombing it. Investigation is currently underway, according to Petrenko. Ex-Russian Deputy Culture Minister detained in $7.3 mln embezzlement case RIA Novosti, Kirill Kallinikov 15:59 18/05/2018 MOSCOW, May 18 (RAPSI, Nikita Shiryayev) Moscows Basmanny District Court on Friday ruled to put ex-Deputy Culture Minister Grigory Pirumov, who had been earlier convicted of embezzling public funds allocated for restoration of cultural heritage objects, in detention until July 16 as part of a new embezzlement case opened against him, RAPSI reported from the courtroom. Investigators asked the court to detain Pirumov charged with stealing 450 million rubles ($7.3 million) allocated for construction of the Hermitage Museums facilities as they alleged that he was going to flee to UK. Defense in turn sought to place the former deputy minister under house arrest. Pirumov pleaded not guilty to the charges. Two other defendants in the case are businessman Nikita Kolesnikov, who earlier received a 5-year suspended sentence in the so-called case of restorers involving Pirumov, and ex-director of the Culture Ministrys department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo. According to investigators, they have stolen money allocated for construction of the Hermitage Museums buildings. Suspects have organized conclusion of a state contract without intent to execute it. Funds received as a down payment were transferred to firms under their control, investigators claimed. In October 2017, the Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Pirumov to 1.5 years in a penal colony. The court took into consideration the time Pirumov spent in detention and freed him in the courtroom. On December 19, the Moscow City Court toughened punishment for Pirumov. The court imposed a 1-million-ruble fine ($17,000) on ex-official and deprived him of the second-class medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherland. However, prosecutors again filed an appeal against Pirumovs sentence demanding a 5-year prison term for him. The appeal has been set for May 25. As part of the case for other defendants including Mazo, received prison sentence from 1 to 1.5 years and were released as Pirumov. Three more defendants, BaltStroy manager Alexander Kochenov, businessman Andrey Kokushkin and ex-director of the State Center of Contemporary Art Mikhail Mindlin, received suspended sentence ranging from 1 year to 1 year and 5 months. Investigators claimed that between 2012 and 2016 the defendants embezzled over 160 million rubles allocated on restoration of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Ivanovsky Convent in Moscow and other objects across Russia. In December 2016, Chairman of the Russian Government Dmitry Medvedev relieved Pirumov of his post. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate ABSTRACT Background: In Nigeria, childhood tuberculosis (TB), a debilitating and deadly disease, is highly prevalent and case reporting is poor due to weak health systems. Globally, children account for at least 10 percent of the TB burden, yet they remain neglected in TB prevention and control efforts. Research studies integrating family and community-centered strategies have been recommended by stakeholders to address the paucity of current local prevention and management strategies for childhood TB. Study Design: Observational study. Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study explored the relationship between caregivers quality of life (QOL) and the reporting of TB in their children aged 0 - 14 years. Using the abbreviated version of World Health Organizations (WHO) QOL tool, the WHOQOL-BREF, data were collected individually in a face-to-face setting from caregivers (n = 47) whose children had been diagnosed with TB in Bauchi State, Northeastern Nigeria, over a 5-year period. Data were collected in the same manner from another set of caregivers of children without TB (n = 47) within the same period and setting. Results: Logistic regression indicated a statistically significant relationship (p < 0.001) between the caregivers QOL and the reporting of childhood TB. Conclusion: This finding underscores the need to identify the factors that positively impact the QOL of caregivers of childhood TB cases. It also reflects the importance of integrating QOL interventions as part of TB control programs seeking to improve childhood TB reporting. This can mitigate the disease burden in vulnerable age-groups living in resource limited settings, thereby contributing to positive social change in the society. Subject Areas: Public Health Keywords: Tuberculosis, World Health Organization, Bauchi, Childhood TB, National TB Control Programme, Caregivers, Quality of Life, Northeastern Nigeria 1. Introduction Children accounted for 10% of the global tuberculosis (TB) burden in 2016 (World Health Organization) [1] , yet they remained neglected relative to preventive responses to control TB. In addition, it is well documented that TB research, prevention, and control worldwide have predominantly focused on adults, neglecting children 0 - 14 years old [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . However, children can no longer be ignored in TB research, prevention and control, as they accounted for 10% of the total global burden in 2016 [1] , 15% in South Africa [7] , 25% in Afghanistan [8] , 3.4% in India [9] , 7.9% in Peru [10] , 13.7% in Nigeria [1] and 6% in the United States [11] . TB is a public health burden in Nigeria, estimated at 407,000 cases in 2016, ranked seventh among the 30 highest TB burdened countries in the World and second in Africa [1] . Furthermore, this burden is further fueled by co-infection with HIV/AIDS as well as the emergence of drug resistant TB [12] [13] . Although curable and preventable, TB is a highly infectious disease caused by a bacterium known as mycobacterium tuberculosis which can affect any part of the body, even though the lungs remain the organs mostly affected, giving rise to pulmonary TB. Extra-pulmonary TB is that which affects any organ other than the lungs [6] . This study, however, focused on pulmonary TB in children aged 0 - 14 years. The infection is spread from person to person through the air as a result of coughing, sneezing, spitting, speaking or even singing by people with pulmonary TB [6] . A healthy person needs to inhale only a few of these bacteria to become infected. An infected person can transmit the bacteria to about 10 to 12 healthy individuals per year, although being infected with the bacteria is not synonymous with having the disease [6] [14] . Childhood TB (CTB or pediatric TB) refers to TB in children aged 0 - 14 years old [15] [16] . According to the WHO [1] , children accounted for 10% of the total global burden in 2016, which translates to an estimated 1 million CTB cases and 210,000 deaths. Once infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis, children tend to progress more quickly with the disease than adults [16] . The presence of CTB in a community reflects recent and current transmission of the infection in that community, and the burden of the disease provides a clue to the level of TB prevention and control efforts being achieved in that particular setting [4] . Additionally, the presence of infected children in a particular community is an indication of having a reservoir of the bacteria as well as the possibility of having future cases of infections if preventive measures are not taken [5] . However, extensive literature review has shown that there is a paucity of research studies examining the relationship between CTB and caregivers quality of life (QOL). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between CTB reporting and caregivers QOL in Bauchi State, Northeastern Nigeria. 2. Methods Bauchi state, nicknamed Pearl of Tourism, is one of the six states in the northeastern region of the country, divided into 20 local government areas (LGAs) with a projected population of 6,056,519 million people comprising of 51% males and 49% females [17] . It occupies a total land area of 49,119 km2, representing about 5.3% of the countrys total land mass and is located between latitudes 93' and 123' north and longitudes 850' and 11 east. It is multiethnic and multilingual in nature with an estimated 55 tribal groups, with Hausa Language being the most widely spoken across all parts of the state. The economy is driven essentially by agriculture and tourism apart from few manufacturing industries in iron, steel, water, ceramics, food and beverages. The vast fertile soil and water resources available in the state makes crops production and animal husbandry the main stay of its economy, coupled with the presence of the famous Yankari Game Reserve, which is said to be the biggest game reserve in West Africa [18] . The study was a cross-sectional survey of caregivers whose children had been diagnosed with CTB in Bauchi State, Northeastern Nigeria from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015 as recorded in the State Ministry of Health CTB database. The QOL was measured through face-to-face interviews with a sample of caregivers, using an internationally recognized tool developed and used by the WHO, the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire [19] . It comprises of 26 questions, 24 of which are spread in four domains: physical, psychological, social relations, and environment. These domains consisted of seven, six, three, and eight questions respectively. The questions were measured on a five-point scale ranging from 1 to 5. The domain scores were scaled in a positive direction. The overall well-being of the respondents was dichotomized into poor or good based on WHO standard procedures. The remaining two questions are general: One linked to the self-perceived QOL and the other to contentment with health. Summed scale scores for all the items within the QOL measure were created. Additionally, transformed scale scores were also created as per the scoring instructions provided on the WHO-QOL BREF questionnaire. These were the scores used in the analysis. All respondents had signed consent forms before being interviewed. The questions ascertained information on the caregivers QOL and excluded all personal identifiers such as names, street addresses, and telephone numbers so as to ensure that the collected data remains confidential, in accordance with the general conduct of ethical biomedical studies as defined by the WMA Declaration of Helsinki in 1964 and revised in 2013 [20] . Information on CTB was extracted and reviewed retrospectively by the researchers, from the Bauchi State CTB database for the 5-year period, taking care to avoid double reporting. The inclusion criteria included 1) only children aged 0 - 14 years old diagnosed by a physician with CTB, 2) all cases would have to meet WHO/National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) case definition for CTB [15] [16] , 3) all cases diagnosed and treated in any of the eight selected DOTS treatment centers, and, 4) all CTB cases diagnosed and treated between January 01, 2011 to December 31, 2015. Conversely, the exclusion criteria included: a) all children outside the 0 - 14 year age range, b) all cases that have not met the WHO/NTP case definition for CTB, c) all CTB cases diagnosed and treated outside the NTP and/or within facilities that are not designated as DOTS treatment centers by the NTP, and, d) all CTB cases diagnosed before January 1, 2011 or after December 31, 2015. The sample size for the study was determined using the formula, n = z 2 p q d 2 [21] . The formula was utilized in a similar cross-sectional study conducted by [22] in order to assess the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria, towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the AIDS attitude scale. Similarly, [23] used the formula to determine the sample size in an experimental study of HIV positive patients on care and treatment in Kisumu District, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Assuming a non-response rate of 20%, the minimum required sample size was 53, where, 6% = proportion of Nigerian children aged 0 - 14 years diagnosed with TB in 2014 [24] . Therefore, the sample size for the study was 53 caregivers of CTB cases. Bearing in mind that Bauchi State has a total population of 6,056,519 people, 3 geopolitical zones, 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs), and 196 directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) treatment centers, a representative sample of these 53 caregivers of CTB cases were obtained using the multi-staged sampling technique. These were proportionally contributed by each of the 8 randomly selected DOTS centers through systematic random sampling technique [25] . 3. Statistical Analysis Data generated for this study was analyzed using SPSS version 21 [26] . Demographic characteristics of the respondents such as gender, age, and marital status were analyzed. The relationships between caregivers QOL and the reporting of CTB were determined by MLR model. The reporting of CTB was measured as a dichotomous variable where 0 = no TB and 1 = TB present. Therefore, based on the sample size calculation above, 53 caregivers of CTB cases and 53 caregivers of children without CTB (controls) were randomly selected and interviewed face to face with the help of the WHO-QOL BREF questionnaire. The assumptions for this test include the fact that the dependent variable is dichotomous, and has been coded as such; all the variables in the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire would be included in the analyses; and the fact that an adequate sample size would be calculated. All these assumptions were met. 4. Ethical Clearance Permission to conduct this research was sought and obtained from Bauchi State Ministry of Healths Research Ethics Committee (HREC), after providing written assurances that the study would be strictly for academic research purposes and that its outcomes would be meted with utmost confidentiality. The ministry was further assured that identifiers such as the name of CTB patients, their parents and/or caregivers, addresses were coded to safeguard against identification by people outside the research community. Secondly, each of the potential participants was adequately informed about the study to enable him/her decide whether to participate or not. For those who agreed to participate, a written consent was obtained from each one of them in line with ethical standards [20] . 5. Results Out of the 53 invited caregivers of CTB cases, a total of 47 (88.7%) agreed to participate and were interviewed by the researchers face to face in their communities of residence after signing an informed consent form. Similarly, the same number of caregivers without TB were interviewed in the same manner and setting as control population. Thus, the data obtained from the 94 interviewed caregivers was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics using the SPSS version 21. As shown in Table 1, majority of the respondents in both groups were males (63.8% and 57.4%), young within the reproductive age group of 18 - 49 years (76.6% and 80.8%) and married (80.9% and 83.9%). However, respondents whose children had no TB appear to be more educated, as 34 of them (72.4%) either attended high school or college, than those whose children had TB, where less than half of them (23% or 49%) attended either high school or college. Furthermore, the mean and standard deviation (SD) for overall QOL rating as well as for those of the other four QOL domains for the respondents (each of the two groups separately and then combined) have been determined with the help of SPSS. For instance, the overall QOL rating for respondents whose children do not have TB appears to be higher (mean 7.87 and SD 1.84) as compared with that of respondents whose children have TB (mean 6.85 and SD 1.37). This difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01) as shown in Table 2. Likewise, the scores for each of the four QOL domains were higher in respondents whose children do not have TB than in respondents whose children have TB and these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that respondents whose children do not have TB have higher QOL than those whose children have TB. Table 1. Demographic characteristics of respondents. Table 2. WHO QOL scale table of means for children with and without TB. 6. Discussion The purpose of the study was met through face to face interviews with both caregivers of children with TB and caregivers of children without TB, administered using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Majority of the caregivers in both groups were males (63.8% and 57.4%). This finding contrasts with similar studies that showed a majority of the caregivers of children with chronic diseases to be females [27] [28] . Furthermore, majority of the caregivers in both groups were young within the 18 - 49 age group (76.6% and 80.8%) and married (80.9% and 83.9%). However, caregivers of CTB cases had a lower literacy level (as only 49% of them attended either high school or college) compared with the control group, where 72.4% of them attended either high school or college. These findings were similar to those discovered in India and Egypt that also found low literacy levels among caregivers of CTB cases [29] [30] . The overall QOL for respondents whose children do not have TB appears to be higher (mean 7.87 and SD 1.84) compared with respondents whose children have TB (mean 6.85 and SD 1.37). This difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01). Likewise, the scores for each of the four QOL domains were higher in respondents whose children do not have TB than in respondents whose children have TB and these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that respondents whose children have TB have impaired QOL compared with those whose children do not have TB. This is consistent with the findings of several studies that measured the QOL of adult caregivers whose children suffered from chronic diseases such as osteogenesis imperfecta [27] , sickle cell disease [31] , cancer [32] [33] , disabilities, Downs syndrome [34] , speech and language disorders [35] , COPD [28] , and schizophrenia [36] . All these studies revealed that the caregivers of the diseased children had impaired QOL compared with control populations. Thus, the QOL of women of child bearing age, parents and other caregivers should be improved, since this would have a direct relationship to the well-being of their children. This is even more expedient given the patriarchal nature of our society, where men tend to dominate over women in all aspects of life [37] . Improving the QOL of women in a patriarchal society entails giving them proper atmosphere where they can voice their opinions against inequalities and the gender-gap they are going through as well as improving their status in every aspect [37] . Moreover, improvement in the QOL of caregivers would involve multiple sectors other than health such as food security, housing, security of lives and property, provision of clean drinking water, qualitative education, and creation of jobs. Clearly, these are responsibilities of policy makers holding political offices. For the health sector, public health authorities should give priority attention to health promotion activities, preventative and curative health care services. 7. Study Limitations Limitations of this study are those inherent in cross sectional designs such as selection and information (interviewer) biases as well as confounding [38] . The former was controlled through randomization of the study participants while the latter was controlled because the author personally interviewed all the study participants face to face using a standard valid tool, the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, thereby reducing differential misclassification to the barest minimum [38] . Confounding was controlled by matching the age and gender of each child with TB with another child without TB [39] . This ensured that the study participants do not differ significantly with respect to possible confounders of age and gender. 8. Conclusion This study found a statistically significant relationship between the caregivers QOL and reporting of TB in their children there by establishing a vital evidence for all stakeholders to put all hands on deck towards improving the QOL of caregivers, including empowering them socio-economically as a panacea for the prevention and control of TB in their children. This research study should, however, be replicated in other parts of the country in order to determine if findings would significantly differ between one region/state to the other, in view of the multiethnic and multicultural nature of Nigeria. Acknowledgements The authors wish to acknowledge that approval to conduct this research as well as to access and use the five-year CTB dataset was obtained from Bauchi State Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) under the Ministry of Health. Conflicts of Interest The authors wish to declare that there is no any conflict of interest or royalty attached to this study. Cite this paper Adamu, H.I., Osoba, T.A., White, C.R. and Abdullahi, Y.G. (2018) Relationship between Caregivers Quality of Life and Childhood Tuberculosis in Bauchi State, Northeastern Nigeria. Open Access Library Journal, 5: e4602. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1104602 References 'NiMo having skipped, the next best bet is a high-profile banker.' 'Ms Usha happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.' Ms Usha's crime? That's as thin as it gets,' says S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com Billions have been defalcated, salted away, and the perpetrators have removed themselves from the reach of the rather short, incompetent and extremely ineffective arm of Indian Law. The story thus shifts to blame allocation. The Clown Prince makes a connection based on a shared last name. The ruling dispensation weakly and reluctantly tries to pin it on the previous and notoriously kleptocratic regime presided over by someone well past his sell-by date. It seems as if the present dispensation can't decide if they themselves were or were not responsible! The breathless excitement of the hyperventilating visual media has run out of steam. Almost as an afterthought a bank CEO and couple of EDs have been 'stripped of their powers'. Announcing the developments, the financial services secretary alluded to 'a set process'; for doing such things. What he meant was that this time it is going to be done by the book. There was a time when a doyen of Indian banking was peremptorily and summarily sacked, allegedly for his refusal to lend to a businessman. He had refused to resign and dared the government to sack him. They did, although they had to amend an Act to do so. Ah, those were the days of defiant bankers and decisive leaders. In these politically correct times 'set process' has replaced defiance and decisiveness. It is a given that when officials take shelter behind 'processes', they are preparing the ground for lack of results. I am not suggesting that the impugned lady be paid a midnight visit by the investigators; in fact, I am glad that despite the media and political frenzy she was shown the courtesy due to a woman; I am merely reminded of the delightful world of Yes Minister in which non-result was guaranteed when Sir Humphrey went into verbal overdrive. Ms Usha's crime? That's as thin as it gets: 'Failing to comply with RBI instructions concerning SWIFT and Core Banking System'. That is government speak for failing to implement the RBI's circular on integrating SWIFT system with the Bank's Banking Platform (aka the Core Banking System). It is certainly a management failure. But is it a crime? SWIFT is the acronym for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Based in Belgium it comprises of 11,000 financial institution members and handles 15 million messages a day between them. It does not perform clearing and settlement functions, but merely speedily transmits standardised financial messages in a secured environment. As such, it is not a money-transfer mechanism, although messages it carries may result in payments /transfers and receipts. It can also be used to communicate promises to pay such as letters of credit/guarantees/undertakings etc. The CBS is a financial accounting system which maintains customer accounts and banks' own internal accounts -- think of it as a vast system of old-style ledgers except you don't get muscular handling it. The astute reader may already have identified the nub of the issue: How do you integrate the CBS, which is an accounting system, with SWIFT which is a messaging system? It is a bit like filing all customer correspondence of old in the ledgers of those times. The RBI's relationship with the banks used to be interesting: They thought we were a bunch of cowboys and lazy lubbers who were loath to implement their words of wisdom and we thought they were a bunch of desk jockeys who got their daily dose of jollies by drafting impractical, unimplementable and often incomprehensible circulars. They were like a former boss in my PSU bank days: When the backlog in books-balancing kept mounting he would sagely declaim 'Something Must be Done', trying to look decisive but was clueless as to what exactly we could/should do. Lack of front-line banking expertise or experience compounded the RBI's problem. Most of the time we considered the RBI circulars as an expression of the desire to cover their rear ends should things go wrong. That their instructions were hardly ever blueprints for doing something is not an overstatement. Despite their successful deflection of the blame for the famous Harshad Mehta scam, it was in a great measure facilitated, according to those in the know, by their public debt office not reconciling/settling interbank transactions in government securities. Computerising and speeding up reconciliation of G-Sec transactions has eliminated scope for that type of fraud -- we have remained free of scams in that area for 25 years now. It is thus likely that some old-timer in RBI realised the dangers of the gap between SWIFT and CBS and caused a circular to be issued in 2016. Not complying with the aforesaid circular is the reason cited for Ms Usha being stripped of her powers. The question is, what did the RBI do after issuing a circular? Did they realise how serious it could be? Did they have a clue as to how a bank employee/customer working alone or in cahoots could exploit the loophole to commit a financial fraud? If the matter was serious enough to warrant a circular -- it certainly was -- should they have done more? Like 'inspecting' the banks to monitor the progress and/or reviewing it with the CEOs until compliance was complete? If there was no progress, should they not have alerted the secretary of financial services? Was s/he advised of this glaring weakness in PSU banks' systems, with the RBI's views on the ramifications of not minding this gap? Given that the 21 PSU banks generally use one or the other CBS, it should not have been impossible to implement SWIFT integration despite its nature differing from that of CBS. It is a bit of a technical issue, but is more of a managerial/supervisory failure. What of the owners of the PSU banks? Do they bear any responsibilities at all? Or is it their job merely to make inane statements, after the fact, about 'set processes'? This raises a general question about how the PSU banks' 'internal controls' are structured, acted upon and periodically reviewed and upgraded. Things could have changed since I was last there, but I do not think any Indian PSU bank has a systematic 'Internal Control System' that drills down to the lowest active unit. In European banks, this control system is written by each manager for the area under her/his care so that it takes a microscopic view of the day to day activities and lists them according to their importance in terms of likelihood of occurrence and impact if they did occur. This process makes the managers explicitly think about risks in their area of responsibility. It also alerts the manager's supervisor to the critical areas that s/he in turn should keep an eye on, and so on right up to the very top. One cannot repeat and recycle the previous year's list the next year. One dimension of managerial assessment each year is awareness of risks and devising and implementing control measures. One can hardly overemphasise that the best place to control risks is at the individual employee level by fostering and nurturing a very high ethical standards, by helping them develop a fine sense of risk and assisting them practice their own control measures. And, of course, zero tolerance of unethical behaviour. In the PNB case, it could be said that two managers colluding could send out messages communicating unauthorised credit facilities. Firstly, I would argue that it would take more than two. Secondly, had there been a practice of post facto scrutiny, by a different department/person of SWIFT messages sent out, these fraudulent messages would have come to light. Had they been referred to the department that approved credit facilities, it would have turned up the fraud a lot earlier and when it was still small. It is very likely that the PNB branch where this happened had a so-called 'concurrent audit', or an audit on a continuous basis, every day of the year, every year. Did they not audit the SWIFT activities and controls thereof? Ronald Reagan put it succinctly: 'Trust, but Verify'. Coming back to the hapless Ms Usha, is she a villain, victim, or a scapegoat? Her achievements appear to be long and varied -- CEO of a couple of PSU banks, head of the team to set up 'women-centric' banking, the first chairwoman of the Indian Banks Association, etc etc. Could she have been naive enough to be persuaded into some hare-brained scheme to send unauthorised financial messages? I don't think so. The very fact that even the ministry hasn't come up with anything other than 'non compliance with RBI instructions' shows that a case of conspiracy to defraud will not stick. If not a villain, could she be a victim? She did not have a varied and successful career over three-and-a-half decades by being a victim. Mind you, she climbed a pole that is greased twice as much for a woman as for a man. She couldn't have met with the success she has if she was merely a victim. A scapegoat then? Very likely. There's no percentage to the government in catching and incarcerating a few deputy managers at PNB. However, NiMo having skipped, the next best bet is a high-profile banker. Ms Usha happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing personal; it's strictly business. The government appointed her so they have every right to sack her so long as they are the majority owners of the bank. One could easily make out a case for poor management of a grave risk. The ministry is fooling itself if it thinks that RBI instructions are implicitly and immediately obeyed. For one, as I have already noted, unless things have changed recently, they are issued by desk jockeys woefully out of touch with the ground realities and intent on covering their own tails, unmindful of the practicability. I cannot escape the thought that Indian regulations are made with the cynical mindset of escaping accountability if things go wrong. This needs to change. Regulations need to take into account ground realities and specificities of the business they regulate. What is disquieting is the total silence on how exactly was the fraud carried out. It is as if our easily-outraged media are only interested in corruption in high places, but not in simple and effective frauds. If it was a question of NiMo having obtained undeserved credit lines, then why would he resort to a plain and simple fraud at the sharp end? He could easily have got his friends in high places to order that more credit be given -- that is how Mallya did it as did a host of other names whose businesses are now up for grabs. That brings us to the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about. What is the connection between the high profile bankruptcy cases, failed large businesses, bank NPAs and fugitive tycoons? Government control of banks. We argue in favour of ejecting failed or fraudulent businessmen from the businesses they used to own; yet we turn a blind eye to the biggest owner of them all: Government. I would argue that the rash of poor loan decisions, systemic failures, management failures etc are all traceable to two factors: 1. Government ownership and control of banks, and 2. Political interference in banks. The latter will not stop so long as the former remains in place. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Nationalisation of banks. Let us also make it the beginning of the end for government control of banks. S Muralidharan retired as the managing director of BNP Paribas after serving the bank for 20 years. Samsonite's factory in Nasik currently makes around 80,000 units a month and plans to go up to 100,000 units The Indian subsidiary of Samsonite, one of the world's largest makers of luggage, is catching up with market leader VIP Industries, with accessories, brisk e-commerce sales and the introduction of a value brand for the mass markets. Anushree Tainwala, executive director with Samsonite, says growth has been in line with projections. In calendar 2008 the company's revenue in India was Rs 220 crore compared to VIP's Rs 500 crore. Today, it's around Rs 1,200 crore. VIP's revenue for the year ended 2017 was around Rs 1,300 crore. E-commerce, which now accounts for 10 per cent of Samsonite's India sales, the same as VIP's, according to analysts has been one driver. While Samsonite has always been the more premium brand catering to higher-income shoppers with edgier designs and new age materials, VIP had the advantage of better distribution with price points that make its products widely affordable. Samsonite's product prices range from Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000 while VIP goes from Rs 2,500 to Rs 8,000. That's slowly changing, as Samsonite takes cues from the competition. Skybags, which analysts cite as the reason for VIP's top positioning, accounting for 35-40 per cent of the company's top line, is the main engine to power growth, along with its backpacks. Following suit, Samsonite pushed sales of lower-priced labels such as American Tourister, basically Samsonite's answer to Skybags, and in 2016 even launched Kamiliant, a brand conceived to cater to the sub-Rs 3,500 segment. Kamiliant generated Rs one billion in revenue 18 months after its launch, say officials with Samsonite who indicate that its price point targets unbranded segments in smaller cities and towns across the country. The product is distributed across 2,000 points of sale that include hypermarkets, distribution outlets and canteens. Overall, Samsonite has also increased its points of sales by over 50 per cent in the last three years to over 5,000 locations. Samsonite's factory in Nasik currently makes around 80,000 units a month with plans to go to 100,000 units in a month and then double to 200,000 units in a couple years or so, Tainwala says, adding that 70 per cent of that is exported. Even so, India remains a top-five market for the global player with Japan, Korea, China and the US being ahead of it in terms of sales. Even as Samsonite, VIP and Safari are the foremost players that come to mind when talking luggage, analysts say that the sector is largely unorganised with lots of headroom for growth. Dhaval Dama equity analyst with Reliance Securities estimates the size of the industry at between Rs 8,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore, growing at around 12 per cent a year. Interestingly, niche brands like Tommy Hilfiger are drumming up revenues of Rs 700 million just on sales of backpacks. The takeaway: youth brands are growing faster than anything else, says Dama. Photograph: Reuters Investors remained on the sidelines amid doubts whether the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka will be able to prove its majority in the house on Saturday, brokers said. The benchmark Sensex slumped 300 points to end at 34,848.30 on Friday on across-the-board selling amid political uncertainty in Karnataka and negative global cues. The broader NSE Nifty too cracked below the 10,600-level. No let-up in selling by foreign funds and surging crude oil prices in global markets dragged down the key indices. Investors remained on the sidelines amid doubts whether the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka will be able to prove its majority in the house on Saturday, brokers said. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 PM on Saturday, reducing the 15-day window given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove majority. Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister on Thursday. Falling for the fourth straight session, the 30-share Sensex opened lower and stayed in the negative terrain for the major part of the session, hitting a low of 34,821.62 before ending at 34,848.30 -- down by 300.82 points, or 0.86 per cent. The barometer had lost 407.59 points in the previous three sessions. The 50-share NSE Nifty settled 86.30 points, or 0.81 per cent, lower at 10,596.40. During the session, it moved between 10,589.10 and 10,674.95. During the week, the Sensex lost 687.49 points, or 1.93 per cent, while the Nifty dropped 210.10 points, or 1.94 per cent. State-run banks remained under selling pressure on disappointing quarterly results due to a jump in provisions for bad loans. Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters Kardassis, who quit the airline in 2013, will advise Goyal and senior management on cost-saving and productivity improvement Nikos Kardassis, the two-time chief executive officer of Jet Airways, has returned to the airline in an advisory role. Chairman Naresh Goyal announced Kardassis' joining at an event to celebrate airline's silver jubilee earlier this month. Kardassis, who quit the airline in 2013, will advise Goyal and senior management on cost-saving and productivity improvements. Cost remains a concern for the airline with the rise in jet fuel price (up 13.7 per cent) and depreciation in rupee (5.6 per cent) from January till date. On its part Jet is targeting 12-15 per cent reduction in non-fuel expenses through renegotiation of maintenance contracts, reduction in distribution costs and induction of fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max planes. The airline has 150 planes on order and will be inducting its first 737 Max aircraft in July. Kardassis served two terms as CEO in Jet, his first stint being between 1994-1999. He joined the airline a second time in 2008, first as head of North America and advisor to the board before taking over the top post once again in 2009. He left the airline four years later when Etihad invested in Jet and joined global investment company BNY Mellon. Kardassis return comes at a time when Jet is preparing for international expansion. The airline is exploring service between Mumbai-Sydney and Mumbai-Manchester - both routes without a non-stop flight at present. Air India flies from Delhi to Sydney and Melbourne and this is only non stop service between two countries. Jet Airways did not respond to an email query on the topic. Over 300,000 Indians visited Australia last year making the country eighth largest source market. Around half of all leisure tourists from India visit Sydney and the city is also among top ten long-haul markets from India. Similarly, Manchester is among top ten European routes from India with over 270,000 two way passengers and is a key airport for Jet's commercial partner - Virgin Atlantic. Jet has code shares with Qantas on India-Australia routes and the Australian airline has been its first ever code share partner since 2006. An aviation source said Jet's direct flight would pit it against Singapore Airlines which carries the largest traffic between India and Australia and it will need support from Qantas to make its direct flight successful. Photograph: Via Twitter All the details of the biggest wedding of the year. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images It's not everyday that a commoner marries a royal or has a fairytale wedding. When Prince William married Kate Middleton, the ceremony was viewed by millions across the globe, making it one of the most talked about events of the year. On May 19, 2018, Prince Harry, sixth in line to the royal throne will marry Suits actor Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle. We bring you all the details of the royal wedding: How and where they met Photograph: Mike Hutchings/Reuters In their first interview as a couple to BBC, Prince Harry revealed he met Meghan Markle on a blind date that was set up by a female friend. "I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly... All the stars were aligned -- everything was just perfect. It was this beautiful woman just sort of literally tripped and fell into my life - I fell into her life," Harry said. Four weeks after they met, Harry persuaded Markle to join him on a five-day break in Botswana. He said: "We camped out with each other under the stars... which was absolutely fantastic." The invitation Photograph: Victoria Jones/Pool/Reuters The wedding invitations were produced by London-based Barnard and Westwood, a printer known for its bespoke stationery. They have held the 'Royal Warrant for Printing & Bookbinding by Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen' since 1985. Nearly 600 guests have been invited to attend the wedding. Each wedding invitation was printed by Lottie Small, who had recently completed her apprenticeship, on a machine from the 1930s that she affectionately nicknamed 'Maude'. Now for one American touch to a British royal wedding: The printers used American ink on English cardstock. According to Kensington Palace's press release, "The invitation is die-stamped in gold and then burnished. The text on the invitation is also die-stamped. The edges of the invitation are bevelled then gilded." It also carries the Three Feather Badge of The Prince of Wales. The venue Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/Reuters Harry-Meghan will marry at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 at 12 noon. The 800-seat venue within Windsor Castle, is a short walk from Eton College where Prince Harry studied. Interestingly, Prince Harry was baptised in the same chapel in 1984. The guests Considering the size and capacity of the venue and that Prince Harry is sixth down in accession to the throne, the palace has taken a departure from its protocol and chosen not to have an official list of political leaders as guests. It is confirmed that there will be 2,640 members of public attending the wedding including 1,200 people who have demonstrated leadership skills in the community. This includes a 12-year-old girl injured in the terrorist attack during an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in May last year. Amelia Thompson had damaged her vocal chords from screaming in horror in the aftermath of the suicide bombing. The couple have also requested guests to consider donating to seven charities instead of wedding gifts. The choir Photograph: Rick Findler/Pool/Reuters According to the palace, "Both Prince Harry and Ms Markle have taken a great deal of interest and care in choosing the music for their service, which will include a number of well-known hymns and choral works." The music will be directed by James Vivian, director of music, St Georges Chapel. Among the performers will be acclaimed cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, winner of BBC Young Musician 2016, Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir (pictured above). The cake Photograph: Kind courtesy Ptak The couple have opted for "a lemon elderflower cake that will incorporate the bright flavours of spring" and "will be covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers" according to Marie Claire, instead of the traditional British fruit cake. Chef Claire Ptak who runs the bakery Violet in London, has designed the cake. Her Instagram feed shows boxes of lemon that have arrived and the caption reads: "And so it begins" Bridesmaids and pageboys Photograph: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Prince Harry served as William's best man at his wedding in 2011. The palace announced on April 26 that Prince William will be the best man on his brother's big day. Meghan will not have a maid of honour. Instead, there will be six bridesmaids and four pageboys including Princess Charlotte and Prince George, William and Kate's second and first born respectively. The other bridesmaids include Prince Harry's goddaughters -- Zalie Warren and Florence van Cutsem; Markle's goddaughters, Remi and Rylan Litt; and Ivy Mulroney. The pageboys will be Harry's godson, Jasper Dyer, Brian and John Mulroney -- both children of Markle's close friends -- the Canadian stylist Jessica Mulroney and her TV host husband Ben, whose father is former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney. The wedding outfits Photograph: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images There may be a lot of speculation right now regarding who will design Meghan Markle's wedding gown and how much it costs. But we know the details won't be revealed until May 19. Meanwhile, Prince Harry is likely to wear the ceremonial uniform of the Royal Marines as a mark of respect and tradition. Who will walk the bride? Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Getty Images Now for the big question:, Kensington Palace released a statement from Meghan Markle that her father Thomas Markle will be unable to attend the ceremony. "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health." So we know Thomas Markle won't be walking her down the aisle. In his absence who will? According to Harper's Bazaar, it could be Prince Charles (Harry's father); Prince William (Harry's elder brother, Duke of Cambridge), Doria Ragland (Meghan's mother) or Prince Harry himself. If you ask us, it would be inspiring to see Ms Markle walk the aisle as the independent, strong woman she has shown herself to be. If the judiciary loses this fight, it will suffer irreparable damage and all of us citizens will be the losers. Whether the CJI likes it or not, he is now pitchforked in a situation where he has to dig his heels in and fight back for the Supreme Court and his collegium, says Shekhar Gupta. Is there a metaphor for the perilous juncture to which events and actions have brought India's judiciary? How severe is the crisis India's top judges face? Judges are arguing among themselves, popular confidence in the institution is frayed, and the executive is poised to bury the hatchet: In its back. If that sounds a bit dramatic, let me explain. Where does a poor citizen go, if not to the courts, when she is denied her rights by the government? What happens to her confidence when she sees the highest court needing protection by the same government? Just last month the government came out, with self-righteous indignation, in defence of the Chief Justice of India. And if you think his role reversal isn't dramatic enough, in the same week, the law minister wrote to the CJI, clearing one of his collegium's two long-delayed Supreme Court appointments and returning the other for reconsideration. The government's objections that there are too many judges from Kerala, or seniority, do not wash. The government is merely reminding the judiciary that, with a clear majority, it is the final boss. Effectively, politicians know that judges have lost much political capital and vacated some of their right moral space. They are moving in to encroach and occupy it. It is by no means confined to the ruling party. It is this exhausted state of the judiciary that encouraged a party with less than 10 per cent MPs in the Lok Sabha to dare it with an impeachment motion, thoughtless and imprudent as it was. The motion achieved no political purpose. It only weakened the Supreme Court, and especially the CJI, further. The last thing he needed at this juncture was a spirited defence by the government he is supposed to call to account. Much as the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress detest each other, they are united in wanting to show the judiciary its place. Remember the one law even this broken Parliament passed with supersonic speed, almost unanimously, was to curtail the powers of the higher judiciary to appoint judges and to call them to account through the formation of the National Judicial Appointments Commission. The Supreme Court, equally, showed alacrity in striking it down as unconstitutional, and the political class was chafing about it. Now, even while fighting each other, both are pushing back a common adversary, the judiciary. Remember, the five-judge bench in a 4-1 ruling that set aside the NJAC, presciently reasoned that the judiciary could not risk being caught in 'a web of indebtedness' to the executive. This is precisely what is coming to pass now, without the NJAC. The CJI -- under questioning by the remaining four members of the collegium, under attacks by activist lawyers over the Loya judgement and medical colleges case -- is on the defensive. Can he be expected to fight back for his institution in this mess? Especially when he is unwilling to engage with his discontented brother judges? Politicians have been probing the judiciary's new weaknesses. Delay in appointments cleared by the collegium had become routine. Now, in one case, the government has changed the tenure the collegium granted a high court judge and the collegium lumped it. Emboldened, it sent back Justice K M Joseph's appointment for reconsideration. If the Supreme Court continues to be on its knees, somebody could be encouraged to think of what looks improbable today: The government defying the seniority principle, breaking the line of succession, and not clearing the next most senior judge, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, as the next CJI. The government believes the judiciary has lost much public sympathy of late. Its penchant for headline hunting through public interest litigation while other cases languish has not gone unnoticed. The quick rejection of the NJAC confirmed the notion that the judges only act firmly and quickly to protect their own interests. This impression will now be cemented if the CJI persists with the PIL demanding action against critics of the Loya judgment. Once again the judiciary, instead of being broad shouldered, will be seen as fighting for itself. This, and the continuing public discord between judges, has done serious damage to the judiciary's social contract with the people of India. The time for the fightback for the judiciary, therefore, is now. It is time for judges and legal luminaries to close ranks and fight to protect the institution rather than among themselves. The search for a metaphor for the judiciary's current crisis takes me back to a chapter from the earliest history of our freedom movement. In 1906-1907 the British brought their hated Colonisation Bill, which gave them sweeping powers over land-owners' properties. Its most draconian clause empowered them to acquire the lands of any land-owning farmer (or Jatt, as he'd be called in Punjab) who died without leaving an heir. Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhagat Singh's uncle Ajit Singh led a popular uprising against it. Its anthem was a song written by Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) editor Banke Dayal: Pagdi sambhal jatta, pagdi sambhal oye/tera lut na jaaye maal jatta (hang on to your turban brother peasant, you could be robbed of your wealth and self-respect). That movement came to be documented in history as the 'Pagdi Sambhal Jatta Movement'. Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh were exiled to Mandalay, but the lines endured to Bhagat Singh's times. Several subsequent generations of Indians therefore identify the anthem with Bhagat Singh. I write this with utmost care and a great deal of thought and circumspection. This is the Indian judiciary's 'Pagdi Sambhal Jatta' moment. The institution faces its biggest danger after Indira Gandhi's quest for a committed judiciary and supersessions of 1973 onwards. It has come more than two decades after the judiciary thought it had secured itself forever by sanctifying a cast-iron collegium. It has done much wrong in the intervening years to weaken it to this extent, from making poor appointments, avoiding rapid reform, failing to appreciate the rising impatience with delays among a more empowered and connected population, and its scepticism over what is seen as judges' weakness for publicity. We have been criticising and cautioning the judges over all of these. But this is not the juncture to belabour the same points again. If the judiciary loses this fight, it will suffer irreparable damage and all of us citizens will be the losers. Whether the CJI likes it or not, he is now pitchforked in a situation where he has to dig his heels in and fight back for the Supreme Court and his collegium. A more cynical view could be that he has to choose between fighting for himself or his institution and I would rather avoid even debating it. As for his brother judges, a reminder from the 1973-1977 history would suffice. Nobody remembers the name of the judge who benefited from Indira Gandhi's supersessions. But the superseded ones who resigned in protest belong in Indian judiciary's hall of fame. Some of today's judges may likely be headed for such a test yet again. By Special Arrangement with The Print '... in the form of possible payments to MLAs and horse-trading for the BJP to win.' IMAGE: BJP workers celebrate the Karnataka election verdict. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo With the governor's invitation to Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yeddyurappa coming under Supreme Court scrutiny, and the grant of 15 days to prove his majority reduced to 24 hours by the apex court, uncertainty prevails over Karnataka's politics. On Saturday, May 19, when he is scheduled to seek a trust vote on the floor of the House, will Yeddyurappa get the support of 8 more MLAs and prove his majority? Or, will the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular combine with its avowed support of 117 MLAs trump him? Either way, Dr V Suresh, national general secretary, People's Union of Civil Liberties, feels it was undemocratic on the Karnataka governor's part to invite Yeddyurappa to form the government. Also,"there is nothing immoral about the fact that the Congress is supporting the JD-S to form the government," Suresh, below, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier. How do you view the governor asking Yeddyurappa as leader of the single largest party to form the government in Karnataka and swearing him in? The Constitution does not have specific provisions on this point. There are equal number of examples when the largest number of body and the largest alliance were called. But if you go by the recent Supreme Court case law which authorised calling the largest set of people who have crossed the majority mark and not the largest party that does not have the majority, then the governor should have called both sections for proof. If you have to prove your majority in the assembly, you have to elect the speaker. So, calling the BJP that has the minority of members to form the government is a travesty of the Constitution. The BJP has no moral authority to talk about Constitutional propriety. They have not followed it in the last couple of years; in Goa, in Manipur and in Meghalaya. Even notionally, the BJP has not got the support of 111 members. The rule is to call whoever has the majority. The BJP cites the S R Bommai judgment in defence of the BJP being asked to form the government... They may quote the Bommai judgment. You also have the Goa judgment by the Supreme Court where it upheld the Goa ruling that the post-poll group which crossed the 50% mark be given the chance to form a government. In Karnataka, where is the majority that the BJP is showing? The fact is, they have only 104 MLAs and 112 is the mark. They are 8 short and there are no 8 'Others'. It is very unfortunate that the Constitutional spirit, ethos and principles are treaded upon. This is going to lead to a very ugly assault on the Constitutional spirit in the form of possible payments to MLAs and horse-trading for the BJP to win. The Constitution also says the decision is left to the governor's discretion. Public probity and public interest weigh at this time than political expediency. The governor of Karnataka is a BJP appointee who was also a finance minister and a deputy of Narendra Modi in Gujarat. You can't escape the background. Whatever it is, he is holding the Constitutional role of the governor. He should have been guided by recent convention which was upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of Goa. It is extremely improper on his part to call the BJP to form the government and give them 15 days' time. Anything can happen in 15 days' time and they are destroying the very spirit of democracy. If you look at the recent instances of Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya, there was the Congress as the single largest party and then there were post-poll alliances. When the post-poll alliances staked their claim, the governors of these states who are all BJP appointed, chose the post-poll alliances as they should be given the first opportunity to form the government. In Goa, the Congress did not stake a claim... That cannot be the basis. The question is: Did they (the BJP) have the highest number of people? No. You can't have examples to suit you at different places. The Goa incident went up to the Supreme Court and it was upheld. So, it had the sanction of the Supreme Court as a legal principle. The Congress ruled Karnataka and was voted out by the people. Does the party have a moral right to form the government again? The Congress did not say it was going to form the government. They only said they would support the JD-S. The chief minister will be H D Kumaraswamy. The BJP has absolutely no moral basis to talk morality to others as we saw election propriety descending to the level you would have never thought of. The Congress did not go down to this extent. The Congress might not have had an alliance with the JD-S, but our system is first beyond the post. To say that the Congress was voted out and therefore they should not take a stand is meaningless. The fact is, they have 78 MLAs, not 20 or 30. There is no validity in the argument that they can't take a political stand. So, there is nothing immoral about the fact that the Congress is supporting the JD-S to form the government. Do you feel there has to be some correction somewhere so that this kind of a situation won't arise again after elections? I think very broad-ranging election reforms are badly needed. PUCL has been asking for it for a long time. For example, we have been talking about the Right to Recall for some time. Also, who should be permitted to stand and who should not be. PUCL was the one that brought in NOTA. PUCL feels it is the fundamental right of citizens to know the candidates. Another thing is, political funding of elections. PUCL has been against the current corporate funding of parties. We are against election bonds. The very process of floating election bonds is a process by which the ruling party can get all the funding and they don't have to present the accounts. There are many election reforms that are required. Like, all the political parties should be brought under the income tax ambit and RTI ambit and they should declare their source of funding. Corporate funding of all political parties should stop, and the activities of all the political parties should be monitored by the Election Commission through an independent mechanism, which includes citizens. If you can bring these three things as electoral reforms, a great check can be brought about. 'Why is the entire Cabinet running around in Bangalore?' 'Why are they making arrangements for horse-trading?' 'Is this not the BJP's greed for power?' 'They have won the entire country. Why are they so desperate for Karnataka?' IMAGE: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress with the Janata Dal-Secular's H D Kumaraswamy. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo "This (alliance between the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular) is not greed (for power); it is necessary for the state. It is necessary for protecting secularism in Karnataka and India," D Kupendra Reddy, the Janata Dal-Secular's Rajya Sabha member, tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore. A former Congressman who switched sides to the JD-S four years ago and is a regular who attends all meetings to sew together a united opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 general election, Reddy insists not a single JD-S MLA will help the BJP reach the magical number of 111. As we speak, newly-elected legislators from the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular are protesting outside the Vidhana Soudha (state assembly) in Bengaluru. Obviously, there is anger. We have 117 MLAs (37 from the JD-S, 78 from the Congress and two Independents) and they (the BJP) are just 104. The governor has called (B S Yeddyurappa to form the government) quoting the 1986 S R Bommai judgment or something like that. We are quoting the recent (Supreme Court) judgment on Goa (upholding Governor Mridula Sinha's act of inviting the BJP with just 11 MLAs to form the government after it cobbled together a post-poll alliance with the Goa Forward Party and Independents to reach the half way mark of 20 in the 40-member House). But the governor ignored our plea. We also gave him (Governor Vajubhai Vala) the letters (of support of 117 MLAs) within 15 minutes after the assembly results became clear (on May 15). There are media reports that a couple of Congress and JD-S MLAs are missing from the protest at the Vidhana Soudha... If you were to come here I would have shown all our MLAs to you. The entire group of our legislators is intact. About the Congress, only one person is missing. In the morning they came (for the protest). What kind of measures will you be adopting to keep all your MLAs intact? All our MLAs belong to the rural parts of the state. They will never ever yield for money or under any pressure. We are protecting them. But there is no serious threat to our MLAs because nobody will bow to pressure or inducements. If you are so confident of keeping your flock together, then why take them to resorts? Aren't you doing that out of fear of your MLAs being poached? Horse-trading is the reason, but remember, all our MLAs come from the rural belt. They will not yield. Many of them have been approached (by the BJP). They (BJP leaders) have met every MLA before reaching Bangalore and they (JD-S MLAs) were offered many things including what our leader (H D Kumaraswamy) has said (he alleged that the BJP had offered Rs 100 crores each to MLAs willing to switch sides). Despite such inducements, not a single MLA fell for their bait. There is no problem of keeping our flock together. How ethical is it for the JD-S to enter into a post-poll alliance with the Congress, against which your party fought bitterly in the assembly election? We (the JD-S and Congress) are secular. We have to go with like-minded people only. Didn't you remember that you were secular when you fought against the Congress? Now that both the Congress and JD-S need each other to keep the BJP from forming a government, you have suddenly remembered secularism being a common ground to form a post-poll alliance. There is no option. We have to go with secular (people) only. Our national leader (former prime minister H D Deve Gowda) is the biggest secular man. Where was your love for secular people before the election? Isn't your secularism convenient now that the Congress has offered the chief ministership to H D Kumaraswamy? It doesn't make any difference if either they (the Congress) have a chief minister or we have our chief minister. They (the Congress) were in power for five years and they said (this time) we will support you. They will also be part of our government. How do you react to accusations that the JD-S is more interested in the chief ministership and so it has formed a post-poll partnership with the Congress? We are not thinking like the BJP. We are not greedy for any posts. Why is Yeddyurappa running after the post (of chief minister)? Why is the entire (Union) Cabinet running around in Bangalore? And why are they making arrangements for horse-trading? Is this not the BJP's greed for power? They have won the entire country. Why are they so desperate for Karnataka? Do you agree that everybody is greedy for power, including the JD-S and Congress? Politics is (about) that (power) only. Politics is about greed for power? No, no. What the BJP is doing (in Karnataka) shows their greed for power. That is greed for power. And what the JD-S and Congress are doing is not greed for power? No. This (alliance between the Congress and JD-S) is not greed (for power); it is necessary for the (betterment) of the state. It is necessary for protecting secularism in Karnataka and India. See how the BJP is ruling the country and how it ruled Karnataka (from 2008 to 2013). Their chief minister went to jail. Is there any other party whose incumbent chief minister was jailed? The same person is now the chief minister. How many of their ministers went to jail? That is greed for power. Why do you think the BJP wants to form a government in Karnataka? The BJP is scared that if the JDS-Congress government comes to power in Karnataka then they will be wiped out in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state. I am 100 per cent sure that the BJP will lose Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh; in Andhra too they will be defeated. They have no standing in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The BJP fears they will be wiped off in South India (if they don't form a government in Karnataka). All the secular forces in the country are uniting (against the BJP). Given the bonhomie between the JD-S and Congress in Karnataka, and given your claim that your two parties are coming together to save secularism in Karnataka, will you form a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the 2019 general election? That I don't know; it is yet to be decided. We are still not married, just engagement is over. We will see if we have to get married. Does that mean there are chances of the engagement being broken before 2019? I am not saying that. Nobody will break the engagement. We have come together now; we will decide what we have to do at the Centre; we will do everything step by step. This is just our first step. What are the chances that the JD-S and Congress will actually succeed in forming the next government in Karnataka? Why should anyone have any doubt about that? We have the majority (of MLAs) with us. But Yeddyurappa is also confident of proving his majority in the House. Let him prove it then. Every time he is saying he will prove it. Let him do it first. He gives a letter to the governor at 9 pm (on May 16) and at 9.30 am the next morning, he is taking the oath. Where is his confidence? The people have given the mandate to secular parties to come together. If you see the percentage of votes (polled by the Congress and JD-S together) given by the people of my state, and not how many elected members which party won, then we have got 58 per cent of the votes. Why didn't this realisation dawn upon the JD-S and Congress before the election? Why didn't you enter a pre-poll alliance? We have our own workers and they have their own workers. Everybody has their ambitions. IMAGE: Border Security Force officers and jawans carry the coffin of Sitaram Upadhyay during his wreath-laying ceremony, at BSF HQ Campus Paloura, in Jammu. Upadhyay was killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistani army along the international border. Photograph: PTI Photo Four civilians and a Border Security Force jawan were killed while 12 others were injured as the Pakistan Rangers rained mortars on villages and border outposts in Jammu on Friday, escalating border skirmishes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops targeted the areas along the International Border for the fourth day on the trot, triggering fear and panic among the border residents. Inspector General of the BSF, Jammu Frontier, Ram Awtar said the situation was "tense" and that the paramilitary force was responding to Pakistan appropriately, causing them huge damage. "The firing and shelling was expected as the harvesting season is over. We have taken suitable action," the IG said. He said that the BSF had struck back at Pakistani posts, avenging the death of Indian jawans. Awtar said this can be seen from the coverage on Pakistani television channels. The Pakistan Rangers lobbed mortars and opened fire at areas in the R S Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors of Jammu from 0100 hours, a senior BSF officer told PTI. BSF troops guarding the borderline retaliated, he said. IMAGE: Family members of Tarsem Lal and his wife Manjeet Kaur who were killed in firing, wail during their funeral, at Chandu Chak village, in RS Pura Sector of Jammu. Photograph: PTI Photo The slain jawan was identified as 28-year-old Constable Sitaram Upadhyaya of the 192 Battalion. He was critically injured at the Jabowal border outpost around 0130 hours and died en route to GMC Hospital in Jammu. Upadhyay hailed from Giridih in Jharkhand and joined the force in 2011. He is survived by a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter, officials said. An Assistant Sub-Inspector of the BSF also suffered a splinter injury at the Pittal border outpost, the officer said adding that he had been hospitalised. In the heavy Pakistan shelling in the R S Pura and Arnia sectors, four civilians, including a couple, were killed and 12 others injured, Additional District Development Commissioner Arun Manhas told PTI. SDPO, R S Pura, Sahil Prashur said the police were using bullet-proof vehicles to evacuate the injured to hospital and was reaching out to the people in affected zones. In view of the shelling, the administration has activated the shelter set up. However, there was a lull in the shelling in Kathua and Samba districts. "There was no firing and shelling from across the border in Kathua and Samba districts since yesterday," the officer said. IMAGE: A BSF jawan injured in ceasefire violation is being shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu. Photograph: PTI Photo A BSF officer said the paramilitary force targeted a Pakistan post opposite the R S Pura sector and caused huge damage to rival forces. Meanwhile, the BSF and the J&K Police paid tributes to Upadhyaya. A wreath-laying ceremony organised at the BSF headquarters to honour him was attended by minister Sat Sharma and senior security officials. On Thursday, a BSF jawan was among two persons injured when the Pakistan Rangers opened fire and lobbed mortars at over 15 border outposts and civilian areas along the IB in Samba and Kathua districts. On May 15, a 28-year-old BSF jawan was killed as Pakistan troops violated the ceasefire by opening fire at forward posts to help infiltrators cross the IB in the Samba sector. Heres how Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders reacted after the Supreme Court ordered for a floor test in Karnataka on Saturday. IMAGE: Reacting to the court's order, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the decision was a vindication of the party's stand. Photograph: PTI Photo The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, both, welcomed the Supreme Court order on the floor test, with each side stating that they would prove their majority in the assembly. Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday asserted he was 100 per cent confident that he would prove the majority in the state assembly. We will abide by the Supreme Court verdict... we have got100 per cent support and cooperation to prove the majority, Yeddyurappa told reporters soon after the apex courts order. Amidst all these political games, we will prove our majority tomorrow. We will obey the Supreme Court order, said Yeddyurappa, who faces an uphill task rustling up the 112 MLAs required to cross the floor test hurdle. Yeddyurappa said he would discuss with the chief secretary and call the assembly session, and other procedures will follow. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was also the BJPs Karnataka poll in-charge also expressed confidence that the B S Yeddyurappa government will prove its majority in the state assembly. BJP is ready and confident of winning trust vote in Karnataka. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House, he tweeted. The Supreme Court has ordered to prove majority in the assembly tomorrow at 4 pm. BJP welcomes this. We are confident that tomorrow at 4 pm BJP legislators and those supporting it will prove majority, Karnataka BJP General Secretary Shobha Karandlaje told reporters. She said, The BJP under the leadership of Yeddyurappa has worked enough to prove the majority. With confidence tomorrow at 4 pm we will prove our majority. Responding to a question as to how the BJP would prove majority, Karandlaje said, Already many people are in touch with us, more than 120 MLAs are supporting us. BJP will prove its majority tomorrow. The Congress, too, were elated with the Supreme Courts order with them saying the Constitution has won and democracy restored. Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the Supreme Court order on floor test in Karnataka was a vindication of the partys stand that the governor acted unconstitutionally. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said the court has called out BJPs bluff of forming a government even without the numbers and alleged that the party will now resort to using money and muscle power to steal the mandate. Todays Supreme Court order, vindicates our stand that Governor Vajubhai Vala acted unconstitutionally, he said on Twitter. He also said that the party has been stopped legally from forming their government as they do not have the numbers. The BJPs bluff that it will form the government, even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money and muscle, to steal the mandate, he said. Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Constitution has rejected the unconstitutional decision of the Karnataka Governor. Constitution wins, Democracy restored! B S Yeddyurappa does remain a 1 day CM - Constitution rejects an illegitimate CM as also the unconstitutional decision of Governor of Karnataka (sic), he said on Twitter. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress-Janata Dal-Secular combine in the apex court, termed the Supreme Courts decision historic, and said, Interim Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has been restrained from taking policy decisions till tomorrow. Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister yesterday. Governor Vajubhai Vala had given 15 days to Yeddyurappa prove his majority in the assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House. The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD-S was victorious in 37 constituencies. Is it even an official disaster if you dont document it on social media? That seems to be the problem in Hawaii as officials are frustrated with people risking their lives all for a selfie. Hawaiis Kilauea volcano has been spewing lava ever since it started erupting on May 3. More than 1,700 local residents have been evacuated from the volcanos East Rift Zone on the Big Island of Hawaii, where lava from 20 fissure vents has destroyed 26 homes. And even now, people cant stop taking selfies with the dangerous volcano and posting them on social media. Hawaii fire department officials are frustrated as people are flocking the dangerous sites all for a selfie. Weve had no injuries, which is the good news, Richmond said. Everybody is on standby. Its a dicey situation and no one knows how long it will last and how it will end, just dealing with Mother Nature," said Alan Richmond, spokesman for the Hawaii Police Department. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Dangerous? Who cares! This woman takes the time out to pose on her car before taking a selfie with the volcani ash spewing out in the background. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Authorities say the volcano, which has been erupting for 11 days, has produced nearly 20 active lava fissures. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Despite people tempting fate for the selfies, Hawaiis tourism is suffering currently because of the eruption. According to Ross Birch, executive director of the islands tourism board, cancellations between May and July have already reached $5 million. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images These golfers seem unaffected by the volcanic ash. Getty Photographer Mario Tama said of the photo, "I walked over to the left and they started to tee up and that's when I shot those photos. I still can't understand it. They seemed to be completely nonplussed. I don't even recall them even looking at [the volcano]. They were completely focused on their game." Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Kilauea is the youngest and most active of the five volcanoes on the Big Island. It's been erupting continuously since 1983. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images The flowing lava from the volcano has caused killed off patches of land, with once green areas turned brown or black, and the houses built on the land appearing a similar colour. . Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images IMAGE: Law enforcement officers respond to Santa Fe High School following a shooting incident. Photograph: Kind courtesy @HCSOTexas/Twitter A student opened fire at a high school in the US state of Texas on Friday, killing at least 10 people, mostly students, in the latest such incident in the country. The incident took place at Santa Fe High School in the city of the same name, located about 50 kilometres southeast of Houston. An unidentified law enforcement officer was shot, but sources said he was "clipped" and was not seriously injured. At least 10 people were killed in the gunfire, Houston Chronicle quoted federal and county law enforcement officials have confirmed. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said a majority of those that were killed in the shooting were students. He said that the two people who were taken into custody, including the person believed to be the gunman, are students at the school. A search of the school is ongoing, Gonzalez said. He said he has no information about explosives being found at the scene. Several other students were injured in the shooting. This is the third school shooting in the past seven days, and the 22nd since the beginning of the year in the US. Friday's bloodshed is the worst mass shooting in America since February, when 17 people were gunned down at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Witnesses described students running from the school as they heard gunshots; they also described hearing an alarm at the school. Junior Liberty Wheeler, 14, was in class when she heard five shots ring out near the art room. Her teacher told them to run toward the theatre department's storage room, where they hid for 45 minutes before being escorted outside by the SWAT team. "You could small the gunpowder that came from the gun," Wheeler recalled as she was escorted out of the building. "We were all scared because it was near us." The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is treating two patients, their conditions not yet being disclosed, said spokesman Raul Reyes. He said more patients are expected, including one currently being transported from the branch's League City hospital. He said a helicopter with at least one patient is on the way and more ambulances are expected. President Donald Trump expressed concern over the incident. "School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!," he tweeted. He expressed "sadness and heartbreak" over the incident, describing it as "absolutely horrific". "This has been going on too long in our country." "My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves, and to others," he said. Trump has previously favoured arming teachers instead of gun control measures. Friday's shooting was the third at a US school in recent days. On Wednesday, an Illinois school resource officer shot and wounded a former student who fired a weapon near a graduation rehearsal at Dixon High School, authorities said. The suspected gunman faces three charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm. On May 11, a 14-year-old boy in In Palmdale, California, went to Highland High, his former school, and began shooting a semiautomatic rifle shortly before classes began. He was taken into custody and is accused of attempted murder. One person was wounded. IMAGE: A police official stands outside the residence of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent two months ago, leading to a major diplomatic standoff with Russia, was on Friday discharged from a Salisbury hospital and taken to an undisclosed location. The 66-year-old former Russian double agent and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a shopping centre bench in the Salisbury town on March 4. They were hospitalised in critical condition after he was found poisoned and spent weeks in critical condition. Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month and also taken to an undisclosed location. This is an important stage in his (Skripals) recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital, said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at Salisbury District Hospital, where the Skripals were treated since being admitted on March 4. While these patients have now been discharged, their right to patient confidentiality remains and limits us from giving detailed accounts of the treatment these individuals received, a hospital statement said. However, treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned, it added. The poisoning incident had triggered a major diplomatic crisis after the British government accused the Kremlin of organising the attack Skirpal and his daughter with a Soviet-era deadly nerve agent called Novichok. Russia has staunchly denied the allegations, which also led to other Western countries joining the United Kingdom in expelling Russian diplomats from their countries. British security officials continue to question the former spy and reportedly want to know more about his frequent train journeys to London and his alleged monthly meetings with a former MI6 handler in a Salisbury restaurant. Russia, meanwhile, has accused the UK of forcefully containing the Skripals as the Kremlin maintains it was not behind the attack and that Britain has invented a fake story. Nick Bailey, the police officer who first attended the Skripals on the day of the poisoning, was also treated for exposure to the nerve agent and was the first to be discharged. Salisbury District Hospital Chief Executive, Cara Charles-Barks, said it was fantastic news that Skripal was well enough to be discharged. That he (Sergei), Yulia and Detective Sergeant Bailey have been able to leave us so soon after coming into contact with this nerve agent is thanks to the hard work, skill and professionalism of our clinicians, who provide outstanding care to all our patients, day in and day out, she said. This has been a difficult time for those caught up in this incident the patients, our staff and the people of Salisbury. I want to thank the public for their support, and I want to pay a special tribute to both the clinical staff here at the trust and those who work so hard behind the scenes, she said. International chemicals weapons inspectors had confirmed that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. IMAGE: Trinamool Congress supporters celebrate party's victory in panchayat polls. Photograph: Kind courtesy @AITCofficial/Twitter The ruling Trinamool Congress has scripted a resounding victory in the West Bengal rural polls bagging more than 85 per cent of the seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party came a distant second, emerging as the main opposition in the state. Results of the panchayat polls have not only reaffirmed the TMC's hold over rural Bengal, which accounts for 40 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats of the state, ahead of next year's Lok Sabha poll, but also indicated a paradigm shift in state politics with the baton of main opposition party passing from the Left to the BJP. State Election Commission sources said of the 622 zilla parishad seats, for which elections were held, the TMC won 544 and is leading in 37 seats. The BJP won 22 zilla parishad seats and is leading in two seats, they said. The saffron party bagged zilla parishad seats in Purulia (9), Malda (6), Jhargram (3), Nadia (2), Alipurduar (1) and North Dinajpur (1) districts. The Congress has won two zilla parishad seats in Malda district and is leading in three others. The Communist Party of India-Marxist is yet to open its account in zilla parishad but is leading in one. Independents have won two seats, the SEC sources said. The TMC continued to maintain its dominance in zilla parishads with a complete sweep in 12 out of 20 districts in which election was held. The ruling party had a clean sweep in zilla parishad in Jalpaiguri, South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Bankura, East Burdwan and West Burdwan districts. In Birbhum, the TMC won all the zilla parishad seats uncontested. Counting of votes which began at 8 am yesterday is still underway. A jubilant TMC said the result would boost the party as rural polls are the last major election in the state before the 2019 LS polls. The TMC bagged nearly 67 per cent of the total contested seats in gram panchayat, 87 per cent in zilla parishad and 80 per cent in panchayat samitis. The BJP said the panchayat poll result would act as a morale booster for the party's rank and file. The saffron party has put up a "commendable" pan-Bengal performance in the elections. Be it tribal-dominated districts like Purulia, Jhargram, West Midnapore, Bankura or districts in North Bengal such as Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur or Muslim dominated Malda, the BJP has cemented its position as the main opposition in the state by relegating the CPI(M) and the Congress to distant third and fourth position respectively. The BJP secured 18 per cent of the contested seats in gram panchayat, 12 per cent of the seats in panchayat samitis and 3.5 per cent seats in zilla parishads. According to a senior state BJP leader, it was the first time in the last 15 years that the party had won so many seats at various levels in every districts of the state. "Don't go by the percentage of seats we have won but you have look into the environment in which polls were held and we had started from zero. What is significant is despite so much of violence we have managed to win so many seats whereas the Congress and the CPI-M have failed to put up a fight," said a senior state BJP leader. The Trinamool Congress outdid others in panchayat samiti too winning 4,888 of them so far and leading in another 30 seats. The BJP won 756 seats and is leading in eight. The CPI-M won 111 panchayat samiti seats, while the Congress won 131 seats, the SEC sources said, adding Independents have won 114 panchayat samiti seats. The TMC also continued to maintain its dominance in gram panchayats, the lowest level of the three-tier panchayat system, by winning 21,110 seats and is ahead in another 29 seats, for which counting was in progress. The BJP has won 5,747 seats and is leading in 12 seats, the State Election Commission sources said. The CPI-M slipped to the third position from the second place it had occupied in the last panchayat polls in 2013. It won 1,477 gram panchayat seats and is ahead in another four, the sources said. It is just 4.5 per cent of the total seats contested. The Congress is at fourth position by winning 1,062 seats and leading in four -- a score lower than that of Independents, who won 1,827 gram panchayat seats and are leading in 18 seats. The Congress has won just 3.3 per cent of the total seats contested. The CPI-M and the Congress dubbed the elections a "farce". "Although the results were on expected lines, we need to introspect how come BJP got more seats than us," said a senior CPI-M leader. The panchayat poll was held in 622 zilla parishad, 6,123 panchayat samiti and 31,802 gram panchayat seats in 20 West Bengal districts on May 14. Of the total 48,650 seats in gram panchayats, 16,814 went uncontested. There was also no contest on 3,059 of the 9,217 panchayat samiti seats and in 203 of the 825 zilla parishad seats. "Despite so much violence, we have won so many seats. Had the elections been free and fair, we would have won 50 per cent seats at all the three levels of the panchayat. Now our target is next Lok Sabha polls. We will try to capitalize on our performance in rural polls," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. Widespread violence during the polls claimed at least 12 lives and left 43 injured. The ruling TMC, on the other hand, said the people of West Bengal had voted in favour of development ushered in by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "People have voted in favour of development and have defeated the forces who were spreading canards against our state," TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said. 29 years ago, Karnataka was hurled into a huge political crisis after MLAs withdrew support to S R Bommai's Janata Dal ministry. As the governor recommended that the chief minister be dismissed and President's Rule imposed in the state, then President R Venkataraman disagreed with Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet and argued that 'the question whether a ministry commanded the confidence of the assembly should be tested in the House and not by the governor.' A fascinating excerpt from President Venkataraman's My Presidential Years, published with the kind permission of the publishers HarperCollins India. IMAGE: President Ramaswamy Venkataraman seen here conferring the Bharat Ratna on the late Rajiv Gandhi at Rashtrapati Bhavan in a special investiture ceremony. Photograph: Kind courtesy Rashtrapati Bhavan The Janata Party under Ramakrishna Hegde had formed the government in Karnataka in March 1985. Later, Hegde resigned as chief minister following allegations that he had authorised illegal tapping of telephones of various leaders. S R Bommai was elected leader by the Janata Legislature Party in place of Hegde, and formed the ministry in August 1988. When the Janata Party split into the Janata Dal and Janata Party, Bommai continued as leader of the Janata Dal. The position in the Karnataka assembly of 221 members was that the Janata Dal had 111 members and was supported by seven Independents, while the Congress-I had 65 members and the Janata Party, 27. Bommai was expanding his cabinet from time to time, the last being an addition of 10 ministers on April 15, 1989. It is well known that a single appointment creates a dozen disappointments. On April 19, 19 members of the assembly wrote to Governor Venkatasubbiah that they were withdrawing their support to the Janata Dal ministry. The governor, after getting the signatures verified by secretary to the legislature, came to the conclusion that the council of ministers headed by Bommai did not command a majority in the assembly. On April 20, Minister Rachaiah presented to the governor letters from seven members withdrawing their earlier communication. The governor reached the conclusion that there was a lot of horse-trading going on in the Janata Dal and recommended imposition of President's Rule and dissolution of the assembly under Article 356 of the Constitution. IMAGE: Somappa Rayappa Bommai, then chief minister of Karnataka. Photograph: Kind courtesy: Wikipedia Commons During all this period I was on a tour of Tamil Nadu and was in Ootacamund on April 19. The Tamil Nadu Governor, Dr P C Alexander, hosted a reception for me that evening and about seventy guests attended it. At the end of the reception I was told that Home Minister Buta Singh wanted to speak to me urgently on the secret phone. The secret phone, however, did not function -- not an unusual occurrence -- and we talked on the regular one. The home minister gave an account of the happenings in Karnataka and of the recommendation of the governor for imposition of President's Rule and dissolution of the assembly. He said that horse-trading was going on and lakhs of rupees were being passed to purchase support. I told Buta Singh that the proper course for the governor was to ask the ministry to take a vote of confidence in the assembly and that the drastic action of dissolution would recoil on the central government. But Buta Singh said the Cabinet had met and decided to accept the advice of the governor. I said if the Cabinet had taken a decision I would abide by it. Buta Singh then conveyed to me that the file would be sent to me by a special courier for signature. I thought that my views should be made known to the prime minister and so I rang up Delhi to say that I was cutting short my tour and returning by lunch time on April 20 and that the file need not be sent to me. I returned to Delhi at 2 pm on April 20. There was a request from Opposition leaders for an appointment with me and I instructed Secretary Prem Kumar to give one at 3.30 pm. R K Dhawan rang up and wanted to see me before I met the Opposition leaders. Since he was now being used as a channel of communication with the prime minister, I readily agreed so that my views could reach the prime minister. I told Dhawan that the question whether a ministry commanded the confidence of the assembly should be tested in the House and not by the governor and that under the Constitution, the ministry should command a majority of the members present in the assembly and not a majority of its total membership. I pointed out that Indira Gandhi, after the Congress split, did not have a majority of the Lok Sabha membership but still had the support of other parties to command a majority and carried on her government till 1971. For all these reasons I asked Dhawan to convey to the prime minister that no action need be taken on the governor's recommendation till April 27 when the Karnataka assembly would meet and decide the issue. Dhawan said I should have been consulted before and that the situation had become awkward as the Cabinet had already endorsed the governor's recommendation. Dhawan promised to convey my views to the prime minister. IMAGE: Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah, left, then governor of Karnataka. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikipedia Commons At 3.30 pm Opposition leaders V P Singh, Devi Lal, Madhu Dandavate, Biju Patnaik, V C Shukla, N T Rama Rao and others called on me and presented a memorandum. They urged that the issue of majority for the government should be tested in the assembly and quoted the Sarkaria Commission recommendations (on Centre-State relations) in support. They also asked what I would do if a number of members of Parliament submitted a memorandum to me withdrawing support to the prime minister. I merely smiled. They also requested that as President I send back the recommendation for reconsideration by the council of ministers. I pointed out to them that I was bound by the advice of the Cabinet. The Opposition leaders raised another important issue. They said that 19 members of the party who presented the memorandum to the governor formed less than one-third of the party strength of 111 and were defectors according to the anti-defection law and the governor should not have accepted the memorandum from them nor acted on it. I felt there was some substance in this contention and so, after the delegation left, I rang up Dhawan and asked him to convey this to the prime minister. Home Minister Buta Singh called on me at 6.30 pm and explained that the Cabinet had accepted the governor's recommendation and that it would embarrass the governor if his decision was not implemented. He also said that the Cabinet had examined all aspects and taken the decision to impose President's Rule. He wanted the proclamation to be issued the same day to put an end to uncertainty and unfair practices. I pondered over the situation. The President is not an appellate or supervisory authority over the government. The responsibility for acts of omission and commission is that of the government and the public criticism sometimes voiced against the President is based on a lack of understanding of his Constitutional limitations. The formalities envisaged in Article 356 having been complied with, and the government having stood by its decision after knowing my views, I had no option but to comply with Article 74. I signed the proclamation a little before 8 pm. The Lok Sabha sitting was extended twice up to 8.30 pm and the home minister made the announcement of imposition of President's Rule in Karnataka at 8.15 pm amidst protests. Challenging the proclamation of President's Rule in Karnataka, the erstwhile chief minister, S R Bommai, moved the Karnataka high court for redress. The high court, while dismissing the writ petition, ruled that recourse to a floor test of the government's strength in the assembly was neither compulsory nor obligatory on the part of the governor under the Constitution or other law. The high court said, 'Likewise, we were not shown nor were we able to find any provision in the Constitution or elsewhere which makes it obligatory or compulsory for the governor to test the veracity of support to the ruling party by having recourse to the floor test....' This opinion ran counter to the advice I gave to the government on the Karnataka case and therefore I felt I should explain the rationale of my view. The Constitution does not require the council of ministers to have an absolute majority of the total membership of the House. It requires that the council of ministers 'shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.' Therefore, even if the council of ministers does not have a majority of the membership of the House, it can continue to function as long as it has the majority of members present and voting in the House. There have been several instances both in India and abroad where the council of ministers did not have a majority of the total membership of the House and yet continued in office since it enjoyed a majority of those present. Whether the council of ministers enjoys the majority in the House cannot be tested by counting heads on the lawns of Raj Bhavan but only by a floor test. Apparently this aspect had not been presented to the Karnataka high court. If you thought Vajubhai Vala's invitation to BSY was a one-off, think again :)) Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala -- Narendra D Modi's two-term finance minister when NaMo was Gujarat chief minister -- is not the only Bharatiya Janata Party leader-appointed-governor who has plunged into the murky waters of controversy. Syed Firdaus Ashraf surveys the Raj Bhavans landscape. Keshari Nath Tripathi, West Bengal Previously president of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit, thrice speaker of the UP assembly before taking charge of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata. Controversy: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Tripathi of speaking to her rudely after communal unrest erupted in the state. Jagdish Mukhi, Assam Former Delhi minister, he earlier served as lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Controversy: Mukhi was sworn in as Assam's governor in a lavish ceremony. 200 guests arrived from Haryana, drawing flak. Anandiben Patel, Madhya Pradesh Dethroned as Gujarat CM because the Modi-Shah combine felt the BJP would be hurt by her non performance in Gandhinagar, the PM located a sinecure for his old associate in Bhopal's Raj Bhavan. Controversy: A video recently appeared on social media where Anandiben is purportedly shown to be 'advising' BJP workers 'how to get votes' in the coming assembly election. Banwarilal Purohit, Tamil Nadu The media baron from Nagpur was twice elected to the Lok Sabha (1984 and 1989) on a Congress ticket, but joined the BJP in 1991, apparently enamoured by the Ram Janambhoomi movement. Elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996, he quit the BJP three years later, rejoined the Congress, left the Congress, rejoined the BJP... After losing every Lok Sabha election since 1998, he was appointed Tamil Nadu governor last September and is seen to be Modi-Shah's ears and eyes in the state. Controversy: Purohit patted a lady journalist's cheek at a press conference and was promptly condemned for what the gov described as a grandfather-like gesture. He later tendered an 'unconditional apology'. Mridula Sinha, Goa Leader of the BJP Mahila Morcha during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, the poet and writer was appointed Goa's governor in August 2014. Controversy: The Congress was the largest party in Goa after last year's assembly election. It was 4 seats short of the halfway mark in the 40-member House. Governor Sinha did not invite the Congress to form a government. Instead, she called the BJP which had 14 MLAs. In its defence, the BJP said the Congress did not approach the governor to stake its claim to form a government so it did so. Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Maharashtra A minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, twice BJP MP from Karimnagar, Rao was appointed Maharashtra's governor in August 2014. Controversy: When he held additional charge as Tamil Nadu's governor, Rao refused to call V K Sasikala to form a government after J Jayalalithaa's death. He preferred the more BJP-friendly Edappadi K Palaniswami. Padmanabha Acharya, Nagaland Long-time BJP activist in the north east before he was appointed Nagaland governor. Controversy: When holding additional charge as Assam's governor he declared that 'Hindustan is only for Hindus'. Acharya later claimed he had been misquoted. Balram Das Tandon, Chhattisgarh BJP leader from Punjab before occupying Raipur's Raj Bhavan. Controversy: The state Congress accused Tandon of siding with Dr Raman Singh's BJP government. Congress leaders said the governor must stay neutral. In an interview, Tandon quipped: 'It's the job of the Opposition to oppose'. Tathagata Roy, Tripura BJP leader from West Bengal before being appointed Tripura's governor. Controversy: Too many to mention here. On his Twitter handle (which does not have a blue tick), he calls himself 'Right-Wing Hindu socio-political thinker, writer ideologue'. Ganga Prasad, Meghalaya Bihar politician before being assigned to Shillong's Raj Bhavan. Controversy: Like Mridula Sinha in Panaji, Prasad did not invite the Congress to form a government in spite of it being the largest party after this year's assembly election. Instead, Prasad called Conrad Sangma's National People's Party to form the government with the BJP's help. The BJP, by the way, had won just 2 seats. Hampstead, NH -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/18/2018 --Barbara Finch, local entrepreneur and celebrated chocolatier, has unveiled exciting new plans to expand production at her present chocolate company - My Favorite Chocolate. By Summer 2018, with the aid of a crowdfunding campaign which is currently running on Kickstarter, she is set to bring her game-changing chocolate to the masses by building a cooling tunnel for her business. This will allow My Favorite Chocolate to ramp up production of beloved New Hampshire confection, Chocoffy - a rich, sumptuous, decadent treat that combines premium coffee with award winning chocolate. Game-changing Chocolate? Yes, it's true! According to government statistics, Americans drink, on average, 2.6 cups of coffee a day. We also consume half an ounce or more of chocolate per day. So what happens when an ingenious chocolatier combines the nation's favorite beverage with the nation's favorite confection? You get Chocoffy, that's what. "It wasn't long after I introduced Chocoffy that I realized I had something special. People who tried it absolutely loved it, and now, the equipment I have can barely keep up with demand. To make Chocoffy in higher volume, I need to modernize My Favorite Chocolate's cooling process so that I can deliver this exciting new chocolate experience to the masses without sacrificing quality and consistency." Finch has developed her own exclusive method of blending, roasting and grinding select, premium coffee beans. She then adds the right amount of this mixture to her own chocolate to create the Chocoffy taste sensation. About My Favorite Chocolate My Favorite Chocolate is the brainchild of local entrepreneur, Barbara Finch who had her first experience in the chocolate business in Utica, New York in the 1980s. After a stellar 30-year long career in sales and marketing, Finch decided it was time to go into business for herself. With profound business acumen and a passion for luxury confectionary, My Favorite Chocolate was born. For several years, Finch offered the people of New Hampshire the chance to enjoy premium chocolate bars in three different sizes in white, milk and dark chocolate. Chocoffy is now Finch's latest creation, with a variety of bar sizes and novelty shapes available. Already supplying local businesses and packaging her chocolate bars in custom wrapping for marketing and events, Finch is set to change the way Americans enjoy chocolate with help from her Kickstarter campaign. Articles Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles. Images Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. : , ? : - , , . - ? : , . , , , , - . , , . , , , , . : - ? : , . , , , , . - . : , , ? : , , , . . : , , . , - . ? : , , . , , , , , , . . : ? : , . - . . , . , , . , . Chris Jackson/Getty Images(LONDON) -- When Meghan Markle walks down the aisle Saturday to meet Prince Harry at the altar, she will be escorted by her soon-to-be father-in-law, Prince Charles. "Ms. Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," Kensington Palace said Friday in a statement. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to The Royal Family in this way." Prince Charles will walk Markle from the quire, the area of St. Georges Chapel where the clergy and choir sit, to Harry. The procession in the nave, the central part of the church, will include Markle, the Dean of Windsor and Markles bridesmaids and page boys, as was previously planned. The confirmation that it will be Charles who does the honor on Markle's wedding day put an end to speculation about whether Markle would walk down the aisle alone or be escorted by her mom, Doria Ragland, in her father's absence. Ragland will also play an important role on her daughter's wedding day, escorting her Saturday from the local hotel where they will both stay tonight to St. Georges Chapel. Markle, 36, confirmed in a statement Thursday that her dad, Thomas Markle Sr., who lives in Mexico, will not attend her wedding due to health concerns. Markle originally asked her dad to walk her down the aisle in front of an expected 600 guests. Markle has been told by her father -- who faced accusations this week that he staged paparazzi photos -- that he is unable to travel because of medical advice from his doctors, royal sources told ABC News. Markle's choice of Charles to walk her down the aisle signifies the warm welcome Britain's royal family has extended to Markle, a California native. Markle and Harry, 33, introduced Ragland to Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, for the first time over tea Wednesday at Clarence House, Charles and Camilla's London residence. Ragland, a Los Angeles-based yoga instructor and social worker, also met Harry's older brother and best man, Prince William, and his wife, Princess Kate, and their two older children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, Thursday at Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth, Harry's grandmother, will meet Ragland for the first time at Windsor Castle today. Harry and Markle will join them, according to a Buckingham Palace spokesperson. In addition to introducing Ragland to Harry's relatives and their close friends in the United Kingdom, Harry and Markle have been busy with preparations and celebrations ahead of their wedding day. They traveled to Windsor Thursday to oversee final preparations for the wedding. Friday night, Markle and Harry will stay at separate hotels on the eve of their wedding. Harry will be joined by his best man, William, at the Dorchester Collection's Coworth Park. Markle and her mother will stay at Cliveden House Hotel, on the National Trust's Cliveden Estate, according to Kensington Palace. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. ECOSOC confirmed CIBJO's special consultative status for four more years 18 may 2018 News The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) confirmed the special consultative status held by CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, for the coming four years. The decision follows CIBJO's successful submission and the acceptance of its Quadrennial report, covering the period 2014 through 2017. One of the six main organs of the United Nations, ECOSOC serves as the principal body in the international organisation for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the UN's internationally agreed development goals. In so doing it engages a wide variety of stakeholders - policymakers, parliamentarians, academics, major groups, foundations, business sector representatives and registered non-governmental organizations, of which CIBJO is the sole representative from the jewellery and gemstone industries. CIBJO became the first and only organisation in the diamond, gemstone and jewellery sectors ever to receive official consultative status within ECOSOC in 2006, and thus associated the industry with the mission to fulfil the UN's Millennium Development Goals, which in 2015 were replaced by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In December 2008, CIBJO established the World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), whose purpose it is to establish programmes that will educate members of the diamond, gemstone and jewellery industries about the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability. This was achieved with the support of the United Nations, which assigned a team of CSR experts to work on the project. During the 12-year period following its recognition by the United Nations, CIBJO has run numerous programmes and projects around the world, dedicated to instilling the principle that, while jewellery is a non-essential luxury product, the greater jewellery industry is an essential business sector, with the potential of creating sustainable economic and social opportunities in many of the world's underdeveloped regions. Among these have been the organisation of special workshops at the UN headquarters in New York and Geneva, and running a two-day workshop in the United Nations pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. More recently, in 2017, CIBJO joined the prime minister of Fiji promoting a sustainable pearl industry at the Ocean's Day Summit in New York. " For a long time we had focused almost entirely on the defensive measures that were needed to be taken to mitigate any negative impacts our activities may have. These remain essential, but in joining ECOSOC and committing to be part of the UN's development programme, we argued that the jewellery industry strives to achieve more than simply not being as part of the problem, and that is also being part of the solution. It has been a long journey, but we can see that perceptions are changing," said CIBJO Gaetano Cavalieri, who over the past 12 years has been invited to address the ECOSOC High Level Segment on three separate occasions. In 2006 CIBJO also became a member of the United Nations' Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative, which was launched in 1999 by the then-UN Secretary General Kofi Anan and commits its participants from the private sector to operate according to four fundamental pillars: respect of human rights, adherence to fair labour principles, environmental sustainability, and the battle against corruption. Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels ZCDC to discuss security concerns with Marange community 18 may 2018 News The state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) has called for an Indaba (meeting) to discuss the security situation in Marange as raised by the Marange community in a petition jointly submitted with the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) early March. CNRG said the proposed June 2 meeting would also include key government ministries, especially in the security sector, which had a role in providing security in Marange. ZCDC chief executive Moris Mpofu was said to have acknowledged three key demands made by CNRG, which comprise the removal of Marange from its placement under Protected Places and Areas Act, an end to the use of violence and torture as punishment to artisanal miners as well as tangible development in Marange. ZCDC officials said whilst item one falls within the purview of the government, the company is seriously looking into the items two and three, adding that ZCDC has put out a tender for private investigator to look into allegations of violence and torture by ZCDC security guards, said CNRG. They also asked CNRG to come up with a proposal for improving security in Marange CNRG said it was hoping the meeting would deliver the much needed relief to the people of Marange and provide a lasting solution to the security challenges in the area. ZCDC produced 1-million carats of diamonds in the first four months of the year and was set to achieve its annual target of 3-million carats. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished Steinhoff International Holdings expects that the Group's Retail Operations will deliver revenue of 9.4 billion euros in first half of the 2018 financial year, compared to a preliminary restated 9.3 billion euros for the first half of the 2017 financial year, representing a 1% increase. The Group said it is in the process of completing its reporting for the first half of the 2018 financial year and will publish the unaudited consolidated interim results of the Group for the period on 29 June 2018. The EBITDA margin for the Group's Retail Operations for the period is estimated, before taking into account central costs, foreign exchange losses on cross currency loans and advisory fees, to be between 4% and 5%. This compares to a preliminary restated H1 2017 EBITDA retail margin of between 5% and 6% calculated on an equivalent basis. It is estimated that the Group's Retail Operations will be profitable as a whole for the period at an operating profit level notwithstanding that the estimated EBITDA retail margin confirms the Company's previously announced expectation that the Group's historical profits were materially over-stated. It should be noted that, after taking into account central costs, depreciation, advisory fees, foreign exchange losses on cross-currency loans, impairments, capital losses suffered on asset disposals to generate liquidity and increased interest costs , the Company estimates that it will post a loss after taxation on a consolidated basis for the first-half of 2018. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Raden has become the second smart luggage company to shut down this month after major U.S. airlines banned smart luggage with non-removable batteries earlier this year. In a statement on its website, Raden said that it is no longer in operation and that all existing shipments have been processed for delivery. The company is shuttering after three years of operation and follows Bluesmart, which shut down on May 1. "You can still travel with your Raden cases, with the batteries simply removed as directed by each airline. Our companion app will continue to pair to your bags. Unfortunately, we can no longer process returns, exchanges or repairs," the company said. Raden noted that the changes in policies concerning batteries in luggage in December by all major airlines severely impacted the usefulness of its products, and ultimately the company's ability to continue operating. According to Raden, its intent was to add ease and simplicity to the travel experience and the unforeseen policy change has made it impossible. The batteries inside Raden's bags enabled people to charge their smartphones and also track the location of the suitcase if it was lost. In December, American Airlines became the first U.S. carrier to impose restrictions on the smart bags by announcing a new policy that requires its passengers to check smart bags to remove the lithium ion batteries. Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines also announced similar policies that went into effect from January 15. The airline industry considers smart bags as a potential fire risk, especially in the cargo hold as it is powered by lithium ion batteries. Smart bags contain GPS tracking devices and USB ports to charge smartphones and other devices. Although most of the airlines allow passengers to travel with the smart bags if the battery is removed, many of the bags already on the market have batteries that cannot be removed. Another smart luggage brand, Away's older design bags had batteries that were removable, but only with a screwdriver. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The western U.S. State of Colorado has proposed rules to allow political candidates to accept donations for campaigns in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. A working draft of proposed rules concerning the "Campaign and Political Finance" was put up for feedback until May 23 by the Office of the Colorado Secretary of State. The Secretary of State Wayne Williams will issue a formal notice of rulemaking after considering the feedbacks. The new rule 10.7 proposed concerning contributions says, "A committee may accept contributions in cryptocurrency, up to the acceptable limit for a cash or coin contribution. The amount of the contribution is the value of the cryptocurrency at the time of the contribution. The committee must report any gain or loss after the contribution as other income or receipts." Cryptocurrencies have played a significant role in funding political campaigns in the United States after the Federal Election Commission gave individuals the go-ahead to contribute to electoral campaigns via virtual currency in 2014. Candidates have already started accepting contributions to their election campaign fund in cryptocurrency. Libertarian-turned-Republican Senate candidate Austin Petersen announced in mid-February that he received a total of 24 cryptocurrency donations. The donations were worth $9,700, the largest of which was for 0.284 Bitcoin, or $4,500. Coloradan Democrat Jared Polis in 2014 and Republican Senator Rand Paul during his 2016 presidential run had accepted bitcoin donations for their campaign. New Hampshire was reportedly the first U.S. State to start allowing candidates to accept donations of cryptocurrency in 2014. Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Jared Polis received about $2,000 worth of bitcoin for his 2014 re-election campaign. He is now a candidate for governor, and is said to be the first member of Congress to accept bitcoin. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has reiterated his belief that the FBI agents who raided the offices and home of President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen were equivalent to "stormtroopers." "They are," Giuliani said when asked about his remarks from earlier this month in an interview on CNN's "New Day" on Friday. "You don't go into a man's house in the morning for a case that's 10 years old," Giuliani said. "I know to say it, they are, and stick with it and accept it and own it. You are stormtroopers. The men and women were off base in what they did." Giuliani, who is currently serving as one of Trump's lawyers in the investigation of Russian meddling it the 2016 election, originally compared the FBI agents to "stormtroopers" in an interview on Fox News earlier this month. The term "stormtrooper" initially referred to German specialist soldiers in World War I but has also been applied to members of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. Following Giuliani's original remarks, former FBI Director James Comey came to the defense of agents at the bureau. "I know the New York FBI. There are no 'stormtroopers' there; just a group of people devoted to the rule of law and the truth," Comey said in a post on Twitter. He added, "Our country would be better off if our leaders tried to be like them, rather than comparing them to Nazis." (Photo: Gage Skidmore) For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the media but has latched on to reports suggesting a government informant was implanted within his presidential campaign. In a post on Twitter on Friday, Trump argued that it would be the "all time biggest political scandal" if the reports about the informant are true. "Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president," Trump tweeted. "It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a 'hot' Fake News story," he added. "If true - all time biggest political scandal!" The tweet from the president comes two days after a report from the New York Times citing current and former officials said at least one government informant met several times with Trump campaign aides Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. In an earlier tweet, Trump quoted Fox Business Network anchor David Asman, who claimed the Justice Department put a spy in the president's campaign in order to frame him for crimes he did not commit. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is currently serving as one of Trump's lawyers in the investigation of Russian meddling it the 2016 election, also mentioned the reports in an interview on CNN's "New Day" on Friday. "Here's the issue that I really feel strongly about with this informant, if there is one. First of all, I don't know for sure, nor does the President, if there really was. We're told that," Giuliani said. Giuliani added that Trump's lawyers "were told there were two embedded people in the campaign" and that the Times report "corroborates what people told us off the record." (Photo: Michael Vadon) For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News Starbucks is again facing racism allegations after a Latino customer accused the coffee chain for writing a racial slur on his coffee order. According to reports, a customer name Pedro ordered drinks at a Starbucks in La Canada Flintridge and noticed that "beaner" was written on the drink instead of Pedro. "Beaner" is a derogatory term for Mexicans in the United States. Starbucks, which is preparing to close its stores later this month for mandatory racial-bias training, reportedly said that the company officials met with the customer at one of the local stores and that he accepted their apology. "This kind of mistake is unacceptable and we will take additional steps to assess what happened here and how our partners can be better," Starbucks said. Starbucks is schedule to close all of its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the US on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct a racial-bias education for its employees. The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 employees across the country. In April, Starbucks came under scathing criticism after two black men were arrested from a Philadelphia Starbucks outlet. The arrests sparked accusations of racial profiling by the coffee chain. The two men were waiting at the store for a friend to show up. However, a store manager asked the men, who had not made any purchases, to leave the store after they attempted to use the restroom despite being told it was only for paying customers. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine did not disappoint the Argentinian crowd that gathered outside the Park Hyatt hotel in Mendoza last week, as he played a surprise selection of acoustic tracks on the steps of the hotel. Megadeth, who performed at Mexico's Heaven and Hell Metal Fest on May 5, surprised his Argentina fans ahead of a European tour that starts on June 5 in support of 2016's Dystopia. Mustaine was in town for a few days on a /relaxation trip that also took him to local wineries. Megadeth is planning to reissue their debut album Killing Is My Business And Business Is Good as a deluxe package on June 8 in North America via Century Media, and in Europe through Legacy Recordings. The album will be released in Japan via Sony on June 6. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Entertainment News File Photo A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper was killed and six others, including a BSF officer and five civilians, were injured in Pakistan firing on the international border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. The Pakistani Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling on the IB in Jammu's R.S.Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors, sources in the BSF said. "Constable Sitaram Upadhya posted at the Jabowal border outpost was injured. He was being shifted to hospital but succumbed to his injuries en route," the BSF sources said. "An assistant sub-inspector also sustained splinter injuries in Pakistan shelling on the Pittal border outpost," they added. "Five civilians have been injured in R.S.Pura and Arnia sectors in Jammu district. The injured have b een shifted to hospital," a police officer said. The BSF retaliated strongly and effectively at all these places as the internittent firing exchanges between the two sides continued. The police also said bullet proof vehicles were being used to evacuate civilians from areas close to the IB in the R.S.Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors. Ceasefire violation by Pakistan continued for the third consecutive day on Friday. During the last two days, Pakistan rangers violated ceasefire in Kathua and Samba districts. Escalation of tensions on the IB in the state comes a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts his daylong visit to the state on Saturday. A woman who claims to have been unlawfully detained by the Ministry of Police in April last year is suing the Government for an undisclosed amount. The law firm acting on behalf of Katerinauatalia Lesatele, Lui and Chang, has officially informed the Attorney General, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, about the lawsuit. It has done this in a letter titled Notice of Proposed Proceeding, dated 2 May 2018 addressed to the Attorney General. The lawsuit is in connection to the Government led hunt for an online blogger known as Ole Palemia. The Police had arrested the woman as part of the hunt. But the woman from Leone has returned to sue the Government. Take Notice that the Prospective Plaintiff intends to file in the Supreme Court Justice a lawsuit against the Prospective defendant, the Commissioner of Police, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil, Ministry of Police, along with Police officer Susirita Tufuga, Police officer Hanaia Lene and Police Officer Perry Isopo, the letter reads. The Government is being accused of being negligence, false imprisonment and/or unlawful detention, breach of constitutional rights, abuse of power/abuse of process/ misfeasance in public officer, breach of statute and malicious prosecution. According to the notice on 12 April, 2017, Ms. Lesatele was arrested and charged with harassment under section 219 of the Crimes Act 2013. She was then taken in Police Custody until 17 April, 2017. On the hearing date of the matter, the prosecution withdrew all charges. The Ministry of Police and/or Commissioner of Police will be sued in their capacity as employer of the Police Officers involved in this case. Therefore, vicarious liability will be pleaded, the notice said. Acting Attorney General Sefo Ainuu confirmed with the Samoa Observer they have received the said notice by letter from the law firm of Lui & Chang acting on behalf of Katerinauatalia Lesatele. In terms of the comment you seek, unfortunately we cannot comment at this time until we receive instructions regarding this matter. Emails to Commissioner of Police and Police Superintendent and Media Spokesperson, Auapaau Logoitino Filipo, have not been answered as of press time. A simple belief in somebody can be a catalyst for greatness. After disrupting the way things are done in the realm of commercial farming in Samoa, Peter Tulaga Eliesa, went from being a nobody to being a somebody in a span of four years. Today the 37-year-old is Samoas largest commercial taro farmer as well as a respected and reliable authority on taro farming in the industry despite some resistance in the beginning. I struggled big time when I started, Mr. Eliesa said I came from nothing - nobody knows who my family are and we are from the middle of nowhere village. I started off with five acres and then I applied to lease land from S.L.A.C and they rejected me five times. They said there was no land, lots of areas and a long waiting list but I also think they didnt believe in me and thought I was too young to ask for bigger land like 50 or 100 acres. The then 33-year-old decided to be bolder and approached the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in 2014 and was given a promise that was never followed through. Down but not out, the ambitious farmer instead turned to the Minister of Samoa Land Corporation, Lautafi Fio Purcell who gave him the chance he needed to achieve his goals and show his critics that he meant business. I admire him Lautafi didnt even know who I was. He didnt judge me on my age or my lack of experience in the farming industry he just wanted to know how I was going to do it. He listened to my plan and I said to him that I just only needed one opportunity - he approved the 50 acres, Lautafi said to me Peter, dont let me down. Lautafi approved Mr. Eliesas application, giving him fifty acres to begin work on his taro farming ambitions. Asked for a response about what he saw in the aspiring farmer those three years ago and Lautafi responded to the Samoa Observer saying, I saw someone who was talking my language when I was that age, full of honesty, enthusiasm and determination to do something positive with his life and all he needed was a chance to put all his feelings and plans into reality. I gave him 50 acres of un-used government land thinking that should keep him happy and I wont see him for a year or two. Within three months he was at my office again asking for more land - I couldnt believe it. I went to inspect his farm and sure enough there was not a square foot of the 50 acres, unused. He deserved more opportunities so I gave him more land which other people had leased but hadnt bothered to cultivate. Perhaps lending to the disbelief of those gate keepers from old farming circles as well as government departments who stood in the way of Mr Eliesas dreams was the fact that Peter did not fit the profile of a farmer from Aleisa. When the work began and people were laughing asking, what is this boy doing? Eliesa laughs In my area, its all rich farmers they own 50 to 100 acres and theyre business people. When I first started I was the only taro farm there and everyone thought I was crazy, some laughed at me because they know that there are a lot of issues like the thieves, the pigs and cattle who trod on your taro. And how did the determined taro farmer solve those issues? I made a bigger and better farm. He smiles. I plant 100,00 taro for the pigs to eat and the thief to steal because everybody has to eat but just leave the other acres for me. Of course everyone is laughing at me but it works. Thats my attitude, bigger and better. These days, the only person laughing is Eliesa as he makes his way to the bank and affords his family a comfortable lifestyle. Meanwhile the taro farmer turns his attention to the horizon and sees where Samoas taro farming industry could be and how he can contribute to lifting the industry with his time, skills and resources. Motivating other taro farmers is at the top of his priority list, giving advice and free tiapula to farmers who cannot afford to buy in bulk as well supply taro and food stuffs to Mapuifagalele and a school for children with disabilities in Moamoa. On top of that he is also assisting the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries with their efforts to breed a taro variety that will be resistant to the latest virus to hit our crops. I used to enter a lot of competitions but this year I pulled myself out, I dont want to compete with them because I have to be fair and give opportunities to other farmers to help them up because this industry needs to grow and theres no point in competing with them. Looking back on Peters short but well lived journey to becoming the countrys leading commercial taro farm, Minister Lautafi had this to say about that enthusiastic young would-be farmer who bowled him over those three years ago with his dreams and wild plans, Peter hasnt looked back since, good on him and I wish we had more young people who see farming as a career. He has a great attitude about his business and he shares his with other farmers his skills to help them, he gives freely to the needy ,he has a good heart and he will succeed. I am just happy I was there to give him that initial chance. And on the topic of the leased but unused government land that Peter received, the Minister had this to say My message to those leasing government land is Use it or lose it. Eliesa has dreams to expand and intends to collaborate with the necessary partners to continue lifting the taro industry. The multi talented taro tycoon also has plans to tap into his mechanical engineering and building skills to make his next move but ultimately this rags to riches taro farmer has one umbrella dream that he would like think his work is helping to make a reality, I want people to have equal opportunities like I had because I came from nothing thats my dream. Thats why I want the government to generate planting and grow this industry and for people to have opportunities. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi will co-chair the 8th Pacific Island Leaders Meeting (P.A.L.M.) in Iwaki City, Fukushima, Japan, starting today. The two-day event presents leaders and representatives of Pacific Island countries an opportunity to meet in Japan every three years to talk about issues pertinent to them. The dialogue also aims to strengthen the traditional partnership between Japan and the Pacific Islands through promotion of cooperation regarding various issues facing the Pacific Island region, such as the climate change and the environment. There are 19 different countries participating, which include new members New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, acknowledged Prime Minister Tuilaepa in a joint press statement for not missing any of the P.A.L.M. It is indeed a great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Tuilaepa from the Independent State of Samoa to Japan. It is a great pleasure that I welcome him as the co-chair of the 8th Pacific Island Leader Meeting, Mr. Abe said. Prime Minister Tuilaepa is the only person among the participating government leaders who has attended all the P.A.L.M. from P.A.L.M. 1 back in 1997 to P.A.L.M. 8 that will be held soon. From the 18th of this month, the P.A.L.M. 8 will be held in the Iwaki City Fukushima. In the meeting we had prior to this event, we agreed to closely cooperate with Prime Minister Tuilaepa for the success of the summit meeting. I would like to go forward hand in hand with Prime Minister Tuilaepa so that we can enhance the friendship and the cooperative relationship of Japan and Samoa. Mr. Abe said one of the important issues that will be discussed in the meeting is North Korea. So it is very important that we must ensure the concrete action to bring about the settlement of the North Korea issue, including the ship to ship transfer of goods as well as the abduction issue. We have come to an agreement that we will cooperate between the two countries on the North Korea issue, he said. There are four objectives of the P.A.L.M. this year. The first is strengthening of cooperation toward implementation of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy such as sharing a vision including the rule of law at sea, promotion of maritime cooperation, including maritime safety. Secondly, to support the self-sufficient and sustainable development of Pacific Island countries, including climate change, environment and disaster risk reduction. Thirdly, revitalising and building of multi-layered partnership between Japan and Pacific Island countries. Fourthly, is strengthening of cooperation in the international arena such as affirming cooperation on the issue of North Korea. According to Tuilaepa, his week-long visit will provide an opportunity to dialogue and discuss areas of mutual interest with Prime Minister Abe. Samoa has a long standing durable relationship with Japan spanning more than four decades. We do anticipate the great deepening partnership in the years ahead. We also discussed the importance of the collaboration in the areas of climate change, biodiversity fisheries, ocean management and others. I also would like to thank the people of Japan for their continued assistance to Samoa in the key sectors that addresses the pillars of sustainable development. Samoa celebrated the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (I.D.A.H.O.T.B.) 2018 at Hotel Tanoa Tusitala on Wednesday. The Theme of the day was Alliances for Solidarity. The local celebration was spearheaded by the Samoa Faafafine Association (S.F.A.). On the day, the S.F.A. alliances joined them to push for improved access to primary and specialized care for faafafine and faatama in Samoa. In an opinion piece, Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of U.N.F.P.A, highlighted the importance of the occasion. Every person, without any distinction on any grounds, has an equal right to live free from violence, persecution, discrimination and stigma of any kind. Human rights are universal. Cultural, religious and moral practices and beliefs, and social attitudes must not be invoked to justify human rights violations against any group, including L.G.B.T.I. persons, she said. While welcoming increasing efforts in many countries to protect the rights of L.G.B.T.I. people, U.N.F.P.A. remains seriously concerned that around the world, millions of L.G.B.T.I. individuals, those perceived as L.G.B.T.I., and their families face widespread human rights abuse and violence. This is cause for alarm and action. As an employer, U.N.F.P.A. commits to fostering a workplace where L.G.B.T.I. employees can be themselves and work productively, with the full support and respect of all their colleagues. U.N.F.P.A. stands ready to support United Nations Member States and other stakeholders as they work to tackle head-on the many challenges facing L.G.B.T.I. citizens. As a global community, we must respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of every L.G.B.T.I. person. In Samoa, S.F.A. is grateful to the support from the Asia Pacific Trans Network (A.P.T.N.) and the Asia Pacific Forum through the Samoa National Human Rights Institute for making, the local commemoration possible. Months, weeks, days and now hours. This afternoon, a group called Prayer for Israel Samoa (P.F.I.S.) will welcome to Samoa and American Samoa a historical visit by Messianic Jewish leader, Pastor Benjamin Berger. The Chairman of the Group, Reverend Nuuausala and his wife Malu Siaosi, of the Apia Protestant Church, are accompanying Pastor Berger from New Caledonia. Pastor Berger was one of the guest speakers at the Pacific Arise Conference, which Rev. Nuuausala attended with other church leaders from around the Pacific region. Pastor Berger, who will speak to Samoa about the glory of the Lord, the revelations and what recent events regarding Israel mean for Samoa, has a full schedule during his week-long visit. But it is one P.F.I.S. is sure will be a blessing to the nation. It starts tomorrow at the Apia Protestant Church at 9.30am where he will speak. The service will be recorded and televised by TV1 for the nation. He will speak at a combined Ecumenical Service At Peace Chapel at 7pm later that day. Members of the public are welcome. A prayer breakfast with Church and Government leaders will begin this Monday in Samoa at Taumeasina Island Resort. A number of senior Government leaders including Cabinet Ministers have confirmed their attendance. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi is out of the country for the P.A.L.M. Meeting in Japan. Later that morning, Pastor Berger is scheduled to pay the Head of State, His Highness Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, a courtesy call at Motootua. For the rest of his time in Samoa, Pastor Berger has meetings with different denominations set up. It begins with the Methodist Church at Piula Theological College on Tuesday morning and the annual E.F.K.S. Fono Tele that evening. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet with the Assemblies of God in Samoa during their annual conference at Lotopa. Thursday is allocated for the One in Christ group at Pastor Tuluas Church at Vaitele. And to ensure Pastor Berger speaks to people of all ages in Samoa, a youth rally is being scheduled for 6.30pm Friday at the T.A.T.T.E. Convention Centre where all the young people of Samoa regardless of denominations are invited to attend. Pastor Berger is then scheduled to continue his mission to American Samoa on Saturday the 26th May 2018. Known as a father figure, Pastor Berger is well-respected figure in the Messianic community. Speaking ahead of his visit, he said this is a historical time not just for Israel but the world. This has been a very historic year in the history of Israel, he said. The existence of Israel as a nation in the land of Israel is a great miracle of God and what the Prophets prophesied is literally being fulfilled in our time, if we consider that the nation has been in exile for nearly 2000 years. Last year, Israel celebrated 50 years since the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967. Jerusalem is the historic capital of Israel since the time of king David. It is the city of the great king and God is restoring this city in preparation for the second coming of the Lord. Last week we had the great national celebration of 70 years since the birth of the state of Israel that took place in 1948. The P.F.I.S. membership consists of members from different denominations throughout Samoa. They have all been to Israel at one time or another, with most of them having attended a conference organised by a group of Messianic Jews in October 2017. Samoa was part of a large Pacific delegation, which included a group from American Samoa. So why it is this visit important to Samoa? It is very important for the church in Samoa to get a deeper understanding of the significance, the prophetic significance of Israel since the church, so many have forgotten it, was joined to the original Jewish church in the very beginning some years after the great event of Pentecost that we read about in the first chapter of the book of Acts. As the Church worldwide once again properly relates to the church in Israel and her Jewish brethren, she will become more and more united. ABOUT PASTOR BERGER Benjamin Berger is the son of Orthodox Jews. He is an architect by profession. Today Benjamin and his brother Reuven lead Kehilat hashe al Har Zion (The Congregation of the Lamb on Mt. Zion). The congregation meets at Christ Church Jerusalem (completed in 1849) which was established by Messianic Rabbi Michael Solomon Alexander. The church, located at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City, is a simple Gothic building which, on the inside, is more similar to a synagogue. Jews, Arabs and Gentile Christians worship together in Hebrew. Social Services programme by the Salvation Army Church has arrived in Samoa. The Salvation Army Church will commence its mission this Sunday at their Worship and Community Centre, Salenesa Road, Motootua. The Salvation Army operates in 128 countries around the world, including Fiji and Tonga. At the invitation of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, Samoa will be the 129th and latest country to welcome the Salvation Armys mission of caring for people, transforming lives and reforming society, said Lt Colonel Rod Carey to the Weekend Observer. The Salvation Armys first social service programme will be helping the growing number of people struggling with Drug and Alcohol problems. They will be partnering with the Samoa Drug and Alcohol Court to help people overcome alcohol abuse and addiction. Two qualified and experienced Pacifica Drug and Alcohol clinicians from New Zealand will be arriving in June to commence this much needed treatment programme. Lt. Colonels Rod and Jenny Carey, regional officers and Pastors, are excited about the work starting on Pentecost Sunday. What a great day to start our work, the day we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. Lt. Colonel Rod says the people may not be aware that the Salvation Army is a Church as well as one of the largest providers of social services in New Zealand and Australia. We are an international movement and an evangelical part of the universal Christian church. Our message is based on the Bible. Our ministry is motivated by love for God. Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination. They are also partnering with the Goshen Trust Samoa Mental Health Services to help people struggling with mental health issues and assist in the development and growth of Goshen Trust. Our vision statement is, The Army that brings Life, says Colonel Rod Carey. Life in all its fullness, we are an army that cares for the least, the last and the lost. There are no guns in Gods Army. We fight with love, prayer, Gods Word, and serving people so they can be free from addiction, poverty, brokenness and despair. Lt. Colonels Rod and Jenny, assisted by Captain Miriama Simanu, plan to commence other programmes to help people in need after assessing the gaps in the community. They are looking at opening a family store, a shop that sells donated clothing and furniture like the many the Salvation Army runs in New Zealand. We are looking for more volunteers to help us in our work, says Colonel Carey. They are extending the invitation to members of the public who are interested in finding out more about serving in the Salvation Army, to come along to their first Church service this Sunday. China has again come to the rescue to help alleviate the chronic shortage of doctors at the national hospital. Through an agreement called the Chinese Medical Team (C.M.T.) Agreement signed yesterday, Chinese doctors will be brought in to work at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital and other places in Samoa where they are needed. The agreement was signed by Minister for Health, Tuitama Dr. Leao Talalelei Tuitama and Chinas Ambassador to Samoa, Wang Xuefeng. Tuitama hailed the agreement as a step in the right direction. He also quashed fears about language barriers assuring the Government would ensure the issue is addressed through the use of translators. This is a significant contribution provided by the Government of China to complement the efforts by the Government of Samoa to address the shortage of medical doctors in a number of specialisations, increase opportunities for capacity building and to equip the hospitals for services delivery throughout the country, Tuitama said (read his remarks on page 12). China continues to make significant contributions to developments in the health sector. The construction of the new hospital, office premises and facilities reflects Chinas responsiveness to address Samoas needs for a healthy population. Tuitama expressed gratitude for Chinas generous support since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Samoa 42 years ago. Ambassador Wang said the medical team from Jilin Province, North China, will send in four batches in the course of two years, with each batch comprising six medical professionals. The Chinese medical team will provide professional medical services in the department of neurosurgery, urology, traumatic orthopedics, cardiology, ophthalmology, endocrinology dermatology, otolaryngology, pathology, nephrology, internal medicine and acute care and other departments respectively, he said. Mr. Wang said besides medical services, they will also provide clinical training, lectures and seminars for both staff members of the hospitals and medical students in Samoa. The cooperation in the medical field between China and Samoa has a long history and achieved fruitful results over the years. Since 1980s, the Chinese Government has started sending medical teams to Samoa to provide voluntary medical services to Samoan people. Up to now, about 100 medical professionals of 14 medical teams have worked in various hospitals in Samoa. In recent years, the ophthalmologists from Zhongshan Ophthalmologic Center of Sun Yat-sen University of Guangdong Province came to Samoa each year to perform free cataract surgeries on local patients and help them regain their sights. They also aided in building Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital. Last year, Huizhou Municipal government of Guangdong Province of China donated some large-scale advanced medical equipment worth $3.2 million to Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital. Meanwhile, dozens of Samoan doctors and nurses were invited to attend medical training programmes held in China, he added. Mr. Wang hopes the signing will bring about more fruitful results in terms of cooperation to benefit the Samoan people. Tuitama added: It is part of the conditions for them (Chinese medical team) to speak English. A hero in the eyes of many, the humble and hardworking, Ilia Iri Luafau Likou, was laid to rest yesterday. Samoa Observers Senior Journalist, Ilia died at the Motootua Hospital last week. She was 36. Her final service was held at the C.C.C.S. Vaitele-uta. It was well attended by her family, friends and colleagues. Daughter of Ielu and Felolini Luafau, Ilia is the eldest of her siblings that include Julie, Siave, Olivera and Nomeneta. Ilia of Vaitele Uta and Tiavea, was raised by her aunt, Numera Likou, whom she calls mum. According to her mum, Ilia was unique in so many ways. She said Ilias love in caring for her cannot be described. She is one bold woman, said Numera. Ilia attended Vaigaga Primary School and later Leifiifi College. She went on to work at the National Bank of Samoa and the Samoa Land Corporation before the Samoa Observer. When she was about to reach college level, she didnt want to attend and so we got into a bit of a disagreement, Numera said. She moved out and it wasnt until she passed her entry level exam to attend Leifiifi College, she came back home, knowing this is what I wanted for her to be educated and committed in church. After school, Ilia was employed at the National Bank of Samoa and Samoa Land Corporation and then to the Samoa Observer, which is dear to her heart. Ilia, was a devoted Christian who was highly involved in fashioning spiritual lives of the youth and was also the Sunday school teacher, said Numera. According to her mother, Ilia did not shy away from challenging herself to do better. I remember the first time Ilia hinted that our family should make a commitment for church obligations, I flatly denied her request telling her that she cannot afford it. But Ilia is one determined girl, she went ahead and made the pledge to the church, said her mother. Reverend Muao Fagasua of C.C.C.S. Vaitele-Uta also testified and spoke fondly of Ilia who was committed to the Church. A very talented young woman who did everything and anything for the church that is dear to her. This one has multitasking skills. She is also the choreographer for the youth, Sunday schoolteacher, a member of the choir, and she was supposedly to be in the Womens fellowship, even though shes single but that is how devoted Ilia is to her calling in the church. According to the Reverend, Ilia made a commitment to sweep their church every Saturday. Up until now, this was Ilias bidding every Saturday, to make sure the Church is clean for our Sunday services, said Reverend Muao. Speaking on behalf of the Samoa Observer Group, Editor Mataafa Keni Lesa paid tribute to Ilias hard work. He spoke about her strong work ethic, bravery and commitment to her role. Mataafa said the media in Samoa has lost a real journalist, someone who knew that journalism is not an 8am to 4.3opm kind of job. Question: The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced San Diego would participate in its drone integration program, which may include things such as food delivery. Will it be economically feasible to deliver things by drones? Phil Blair, Manpower YES: I'm thinking some day babies might be delivered by drones! Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research YES: Besides usage in media, filmmaking or marketing, and by emergency responders, product delivery is among multiple applications for drones. Costs to deliver products will be included in prices. Advancing smart technologies, like driverless cars, may ensure safer, securer, more efficient, and non-intrusive drone operations, with benefit of helping alleviate congested roads. Commercial viabilities are seemingly limited only by our imagination. Relaxing restrictions requiring permits and allowing flights beyond-line-of-sight and at night makes this more accessible. David Ely, San Diego State University YES: There are still significant technical and regulatory obstacles to overcome before drone deliveries to retail customers become commonplace. However, companies like Amazon and UPS are working to develop the needed technology and infrastructure; thus, they must believe that drones can lower delivery costs for at least some products in some geographic markets. Customers are demanding speedier delivery, which creates economic incentives for companies to explore making drones part of their distribution systems. Gina Champion-Cain, American National Investments YES: The concept of drone delivery is born from a never ending quest to reduce labor costs. Technological research once intended to increase productivity and worker safety has now solidly focused on removing the worker all together. Where the nexus of current delivery labor cost meets drone delivery cost, senders will find economic value. For now, that niche would include replacement parts or vaccine delivery, but not necessarily your next pizza. Alan Gin, University of San Diego YES: It might not be feasible at the moment, but drone technology is improving rapidly. As the technology improves, the cost to make deliveries will drop dramatically, making it economically viable to deliver products by drone. After the cost barrier is resolved, other obstacles that need to be dealt with include consumer acceptance and government regulations. The former will likely be more easily achieved, as consumers will enjoy the increased speed of delivery. It may take a while before the appropriate regulatory framework is developed. James Hamilton, UC San Diego YES, in certain cases. Zipline, a San Francisco based startup, is already using drones to deliver medical supplies in Africa, where costs of other methods can be prohibitive. And using drones for last-leg delivery of lightweight packages from central depots may provide faster delivery than some U.S. customers are willing to pay for. But there are still significant regulatory and safety issues to be resolved. Well see how opinion reacts when these start crashing into people or vehicles. Gary London, London Group of Realty Advisors YES: Drones will be a loss leader as a delivery system until an economy of scale is achieved. That will happen when they work out the technological and practical bugs, which I assume is the basis for the drone integration program. A good way to look at this I think is how Amazon built their delivery platform, through time, consumer comfort and technology. It took them over a decade to stabilize that platform which they now profit through. Expect a similar path with drone systems. But it is great that San Diegans will get to be early adapters. Norm Miller, University of San Diego YES: But if we have too many some will shout, lookout above, how extremely annoying. But with deliveries to make, theyre not toying. Next the drone thieves will appear, grabbing all your pizza and all your gear. That will put a wrench in the economics. Rethink the logistics and put down those comics. Try a new system combining trucks and drones. Fly only when close enough to see your phones. Jamie Moraga, IntelliSolutions YES: Its great news that San Diego was selected as one of the test sites for the FAAs Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program. This helps put San Diego in the forefront of this emerging and disruptive technology. If drone delivery can reduce costs, improve efficiency, while still maintaining public safety, then it should be an economically feasible alternative. Drone delivery is expected to bring billions of dollars of economic benefit and create thousands of new jobs in the next decade. Austin Neudecker, Rev YES: The cost to build and operate drones continues to decrease while the cost of labor increases. Whether it is driverless vehicles or drones, these technologies will become a more efficient (cost and speed) means of delivering goods. The question is really by when? I applaud San Diego's willingness to experiment and learn what works. Regardless, the trend toward automation is inevitable. We must face difficult decisions that balance safety, employment and profits. Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates NO: Drone deliveries of pizza would be very coolbut not financially feasible. Privacy concerns, coupled with cyber liability due to information captured by the drone and stored in the clouds add to these concerns. Potential accidents are a real issue and drop locations, particularly in dense downtown areas are a challenge for drones. The big problem is the last mile and nobody wants to drive a mile to pick up their pizza delivery. Lynn Reaser, Point Loma Nazarene University YES: It could be if technological and regulatory hurdles can be overcome. A new drone air traffic control system will need to be developed to coordinate large numbers of drones and other airborne items. Noise reduction will need to be achieved and consumer privacy concerns assuaged. Line-of-sign requirements now required for operators by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) may need to be eased to make drones competitive with traditional delivery systems. Still, the upside potential exists. John Sarkisian, Motion Ventures YES: Unmanned vehicle systems will make economic sense as one solution to the last mile dilemma facing operators in urban areas. We need to think in three dimensions when considering movement of people and goods in densely populated areas. In the near future, we will have various ground level transportations systems supplemented by below ground and aerial delivery systems. Eventually all of these systems will be unmanned. Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health YES: But not in the near future because there is so much to be done first. As with autonomous cars, the first step for drones would be perfecting the technology, then establishing regulations and safeguards to allow for their safe operation, and finally developing business models to translate the science to practical applications that will generate a profit. I do believe our scientists and engineers will eventually overcome the obstacles and will create effective drones and processes. Have an idea for an EconoMeter question? Email me at phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com. Follow me on Twitter: @PhillipMolnar Employers in San Diego County added 32,100 jobs in the 12 months ended in April as the unemployment rate neared a record low, state labor data released Friday showed. The big picture: San Diego Countys unemployment rate was 2.9 percent in April, the state said. That is down from a revised 3.2 percent in March. The San Diego region added 32,100 nonfarm jobs in a year. When seasonally adjusted, the countys jobless rate was 2.8 percent, said Lynn Reaser, chief economist for the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University. Aprils unemployment rate is the lowest since December 1999 when the rate hit 2.6 percent, she said. Californias seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in April a new record low and the nationwide rate was 3.9 percent. Advertisement The California wave: In the past year, the state added 356,800 nonfarm jobs, and San Diego made up 9 percent of that. Alan Gin, economist at University of San Diego, said the region is mirroring a strong economy at the national level. Aprils growth in California was widespread: Employers added jobs in 10 of the 11 industry sectors. Gin said what is particularily encouraging about the San Diego job numbers is growth in the high-paying professional and business services sector. Waiting for higher wages: With unemployment so low, some economists have reasoned wages should start to rise. But, it isnt always a guarantee. Gin, of USD, said the areas where wage growth will be most evident are in technical jobs where companies are already working hard to recruit workers. It varies from job to job, he said. In those areas where the market is tight, people are going to have more options. Pay should improve considerably. What the numbers mean for job seekers and employers: Reaser said the tight labor market is great for employees but could present challenges for employers as they compete for talent. Last week, the San Diego Economic Development Corp. launched a website and educational campaign to help assist companies find workers in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields. With an unemployment rate below 3 percent, said Sean Karafin, a vice president at the San Diego Regional Chamber, in a statement, its no wonder why firms are having trouble finding qualified employees in the job market. Growth areas: The professional and business services sector has seen the biggest year-over-year growth of any industry in San Diego County, adding 14,100 jobs. Positions in that category include legal services, engineering, scientific research and development and architecture. The other top industry is education and health services, adding 6,500 jobs in a year. Where companies are hiring: UC San Diego had the most job advertisements in April with 2,079 posts. It was followed by Robert Half International with 765 ads, Marriott with 672 ads, and General Atomics with 621 ads. Whats in demand: The occupation with the most job advertisements was software developers, which had 1,425 posts. It was followed by registered nurses (1,344) and retail salespersons (1,123). How we compare: State labor officials do not seasonally adjust jobless rates for individual counties, but the unadjusted numbers show San Diego County had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region in April at 2.9 percent. The jobless rate in Los Angeles County was 4 percent, 3.6 percent in San Bernardino County, 2.6 percent in Orange County and 3.8 percent in Riverside County. Business phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar ALSO San Diegos new single-family homes are pricey, modern and in short supply Tijuana condo craze continues in to 2018 Last years housing market broke records And you thought Little Italy was busy now. The San Diego hot spot is scheduled to add 559 new apartments by the end of the year, further transforming what is already a vibrant downtown neighborhood into a residential hub. Most of Little Italys evolution in the last decade has, understandably, centered on food famous chefs, ambitious restaurants and unique cuisine. But the latest chapter in the neighborhood makes it a center of residential living, rivaled only by East Villages boom, needed for the citys growing population. While residential development in Little Italy is nothing new, it does represent a major chunk of this years housing supply. There are about 2,000 new apartments coming out in the entire county this year, and Little Italy represents about a quarter of all new units for the region. Advertisement Once completed, the new developments will increase Little Italys current housing stock of roughly 3,000 units by nearly 20 percent. The new apartments have several things in common they command higher rents than the city average, have maximized space with small unit sizes and feature amenities that can rival high-end condos. Amid the smells of coffee, clanking of dishes and the crowds of loud tourists, the new ultra-modern buildings stand out from the Old World feel of the neighborhood although the developments make nods to the neighboorhoods past. Towering over the iconic Little Italy sign is Vici, one of the most luxurious new apartment buildings in San Diego County. Amenities at the seven-story building include a rooftop terrace, hot tub, gym, private courtyards, a breakfast-inspired restaurant on the second floor and a washer and dryer in every unit. Vicis average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment will be around $2,900 a month when it opens July 1. The building was developed by San Diegos H.G. Fenton Company and designed by Orange County-based Architects Orange, known for their work at Westfields University Town Center, The Point in El Segundo and Urbana East Village. We wanted the building to have class, character and a timelessness, said H.G. Fenton CEO Mike Neal during a recent tour of the building. H.G. Fenton is going big in Little Italy, developing most of the north and south sides of Date Street between India and Columbia streets. In addition to Vici, it also developed Piazza Della Famiglia, a public plaza complete with chairs and tables, a fountain with multi-color lights and a coffee shop, Frost Me Cafe and Bakery. The piazza is now the new location of the Little Italy Mercato Farmers Market, held every Saturday. The piazza has tables and chairs that are already being used by visitors sipping coffee or for people watching. Even though everything is brand new, it co-exists with mainstays of the past, Filippis Pizza Grotto and wood-frame single-family homes. H.G. Fenton also constructed another smaller apartment building, with 28 apartments, called Amo, on the other side of the piazza where the average asking rent is $2,513 a month, according to CoStar. The company said it staggered the two buildings heights to avoid a canyon-like feel to the piazza. Like Vici, Amo has plenty of amenities, including a sundeck overlooking the piazza, free wireless Internet hotspots, dual-paned windows and a private patio or balcony in many units. The Little Italy Food Hall, on the first floor of Vici, will have historic photos on display of Little Italys beginnings decades ago as a tuna industry center. A nearby fountain features sculptures of tuna. Neal said while the units are top notch, the big drawis the experience of living in Little Italy. For instance, included in the Piazza Della Famiglia is the Little Italy Food Hall, a foodie paradise with six vendors that will have everything from New England seafood to Milan-inspired pizza.It is expected to open early this summer. Were renting a lifestyle, Neal said. I would say it is a great value. Higher prices dont seem to be stopping renters. Amo opened up March 9 and only has two units left. Amo, left, and Vici are two new towers with 125 apartment homes in Little Italy. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Living in luxury Other new apartments are expected to have similar amenities and prices. AV8 on Kettner Boulevard will have 129 apartments that come with a parking spot, free wireless Internet in parts of the building, a gym, bike storage, patios and waterfront views in many units. A major draw will likely be its sky lounge. Turning what some might see as a downside to living in Little Italy into an amenity, residents can sit on rocking chairs on a patch of grass and watch planes fly overhead and land at San Diego International Airport. The lounge also includes an indoor area with a TV, pool table and couches for lounging, as well as the outside area with gas fireplaces, cabanas with speakers, and barbecue pits. Monthly rents at AV8 start at $2,210 a month for a studio, $2,620 for a one-bedroom apartment, and $3,455 for a two-bedroom unit. There are six penthouses that start at $4,719 a month. The two other apartment projects in Little Italy have less information available, such as future rent prices, but are expected to be completed by the end of the year. The Luma complex at the corner of Ash and Columbia streets will be at the southern end of Little Italy and is slated to open by October. Luma will have 220 units and 323 parking spaces, according to CoStar. Alexan Little Italy at Columbia and Hawthorn streets will have 85 apartments and also should be completed by the end of the year. An apartment building that opened at the end of last year, Eighteen Ten, has 99 units and an average asking rent of $2,895. But it is offering six weeks of free rent if prospective tenants tour the property. Not everyone is ready to shell out so much for rent. Katie Smith, 37, of Bankers Hill, walking through the piazza between Amo and Vici with two coffees, said the rent just seemed too high for her. She said the new apartments location could have drawbacks. (The apartments) are walking distance to bars and restaurants, she said. But they arent by a supermarket. Developer Michael Neal, left, and project manager John LaRaia, stand on the rooftop deck of Amo with the Vici building to the right in Little Italy. The area in San Diego has undergone a residential boom in the last few years. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Parking growing pains Parking is scarce in Little Italy and it is often easier to use a ride-hailing service or ride a dockless bike (even though the Little Italy Association isnt a huge fan of the bikes blocking sidewalks) to get to a restaurant. It should be a big relief then to renters that the new buildings have parking spots. Amo and Vici will have 125 apartments, but also 225 parking spots. The three-level underground parking lot guarantees at least one spot for all renters and will have 52 new spots of paid public parking. AV8 will have 170 parking spots for 129 apartments. Even with the parking for residents, some of Little Italys old guard arent happy as more people move into the area. Roberto Assenti, owner of Assentis Pasta on India Street, said he was worried that when friends or family visit people who live in the new apartments they will take parking spots that should be used by his customers. I dont think this kind of density is good for any neighborhood, he said. The fresh pasta store has been in Little Italy since 1981, which Assenti said was nothing when his family started. The first Italians arrived in the neighborhood in the 1880s and it grew as a hub for San Diegos booming tuna industry starting in the 1920s. By the 1960s, the neighborhood was in decline as the fishing industry waned and the construction of Interstate 5 forced the relocation of hundreds of families. AV8 is located on the site of a former aviation factory that was built in 1927. Its lobby features an old planes fuel tank, a coffee table built out of pieces of a planes engine and a propeller by the elevators. Developer CityView decided to keep the facade of the building that used to feature a sign advertising an airplane and engine mechanic school. Now it is painted a bright white with a blue tower of apartments rising behind it. Marco LiMandri, administrator of the Little Italy Association, says the changes are part of the evolution of what is one of the first neighborhoods in the city, which already includes an elementary school and public spaces. LiMandri said downtown shoulders a lot of the burden for the regions density needs, so it makes sense an area where a lot of people want to live is a prime target. Also, Little Italy had a lot of empty lots and available spots to build, starting with the Village Walk condos in 2002, so its not like people were being displaced. As far as parking goes, LiMandri said its valet parking program ($9 a vehicle) in the evening alleviates some traffic (about 1,000 car owners a month use the service), and the adoption of ride-hailing services make it possible to go there without a car. The easiest places to park are the places you dont want to go, he said. If parking was an issue, no one would ever go to San Francisco, never go to New York City, never go to the better places in Los Angeles. Parking is just something you deal with. Not all shop owners are worried about all the new residents, which should at least mean more than 600 new permanent residents. Daniel Moceri, general manager of Filippis Pizza Grotto and one of the founders of the Little Italy Association, said there is no stopping progress in the neighborhood. He said more residents means more shoppers, something owners should be pleased about. Also, he noted there are extra parking spots at the 10-story garage on the corner of Cedar Street and Kettner Boulevard. It is a county parking lot during the day, but is available for use after 5 p.m. and on the weekends. Its a thriving community, Moceri said, and people find a way to get there. Staff writers Michele Parente and Lori Weisberg contributed to this article * * * New Little Italy apartments Amo, 28 units, opened Average size and rents: Studio (373 sq. ft.), $1,834 a month; One-bedroom (637 sq. ft.), $2,802; Two-bedroom (940 sq. ft.), $3,680. Location: 555 W. Date St. Vici, 97 units, opens July 1 Average size and rents: Studio (554 sq. ft.), $2,200 a month; One-bedroom (830 sq. ft.), $2,925; Two-bedroom (1,136 sq. ft.), $4,550. Location: 550 Date St. AV8, 129 units, opened Average size and rents: Studio (612 sq. ft.), $2,210 a month; One-bedroom (713 sq. ft.), $2,620; Two-bedroom (1,206 sq. ft.), $3,455; Penthouses (1,260 sq. ft.), $4,719. Location: 2155 Kettner Blvd Luma, 220 units, delivers October Average size and rents: Studios (579 sq. ft.), one-bedroom (822 sq. ft.), two-bedroom (1,215 sq. ft.) and three-bedroom (1,459 square feet). Rent not yet set. Location: Ash and Columbia streets Eighteen Ten, 99 units, opened Average size and rents: Studio (656 sq. ft.), $2,548 a month; One-bedroom (785 sq. ft.), $2,998 a month; Two-bedroom (977 sq. ft.), $3,198. Location: 1810 State St. Source: CoStar, CityView phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar ALSO San Diegos new single-family homes are pricey, modern and in short supply Tijuana condo craze continues in to 2018 Last years housing market broke records A San Diego businessman who has been trying to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Lemon Grove has sued the city and Councilman David Arambula, alleging he was assaulted at Arambulas home last year while discussing city business. In a lawsuit filed March 11 in Superior Court, Christopher Williams claims Arambula attacked him with a beer bottle, cutting his eyebrow and bruising his forehead. The suit also claims Arambula fractured Williams rib and bit his forearm. Williams, 37, is seeking unspecified damages for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence, plus court costs and other legal expenses. He is being represented by attorney Cory Briggs. Arambula declined Wednesday to comment on the lawsuit. Advertisement City Manager Lydia Romero said Lemon Grove had not yet seen a copy of the suit. (The complaint) contains allegations that conflict with the citys investigation performed to date, Romero said in a statement. The complaint involves a simple allegation of assault and, despite previous claims to the contrary, does not contain a Civil Rights violation by the city or city officer. The city has engaged outside counsel to investigate the matter and, now, to defend the claim. Due to the active litigation, the city will not make any further comments. The city is conducting an internal investigation of the matter. Williams suffered the injuries while at Arambulas house on the evening of July 14 and into the early hours of July 15, 2017. The details surrounding the alleged assault first came to light in February, when the Lemon Grove City Council rejected a claim filed in January by Williams. Williams was seeking damages and costs for medical care arising from his injuries. In the lawsuit, Williams says the first-term councilman invited him to his home to discuss opening at least two medical marijuana dispensaries in Lemon Grove. Williams said Arambula started drinking alcohol and took off his clothes to go skinny-dipping in the pool in Arambulas back yard. When it became apparent that Arambula no longer wanted to discuss his applications to open a dispensary, the suit says, Williams tried to leave. But as he was heading out, Williams alleges in the suit, Arambula attacked him from behind. San Diego businessman Christopher Williams says this photo was taken by his wife after he was attacked by Lemon Grove City Councilman David Arambula last summer. (Courtesy photo ) Arambula gave The San Diego Union-Tribune a different account in March. Arambula said that both Lemon Grove Mayor Racquel Vasquez and local Democratic Party leader Taisha Brown were present that night on a social basis, not to discuss business, but left before the altercation began. He said Williams was frustrated that Arambula would not discuss his planned dispensaries and that Williams said to him, Youre going to do what I need you to do. Arambulas account has Williams grabbing his shirt with both hands and not releasing his grip. Arambula said the two traded punches and wrestled and that Williams tried to choke him. Arambula said he bit Williams to break his hold. After that, he basically got subdued, so I grabbed the back of his belt loop and dragged him outside to the sidewalk and locked the gate, Arambula told the Union-Tribune. Arambula said he did not contact authorities because he didnt feel he was in imminent danger and was trying to protect the mayor and the citys best interests. Williams in the court document claims Lemon Grove officials were aware Arambula conducted city business at his home and other locations outside City Hall and never tried to prevent it. Williams said he didnt press charges at the time because he didnt want to hurt his chances of opening up a dispensary in Lemon Grove. A Sheriffs Department report taken at the hospital the night of the incident characterized it as an assault with a deadly weapon, not a firearm. Deputies were called by hospital staff. Briggs says he has not yet met with the District Attorney to file charges, but he is not ruling that possibility out. karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com In the shadow of Windsor Castles fairy-tale turrets, the majestic clip-clop of hooves and a brass bands soaring notes rang out Thursday as throngs alternately cheered, clapped and sighed. All that was missing was the bride and groom. It was just a dry run, but an elaborate rehearsal of the stately carriage procession planned for Saturday offered the crowds lining the streets of this ancient city a close-up view of the pomp and pageantry to come when American actress Meghan Markle marries Prince Henry, sixth in line to the British throne. Thursdays faux festivities took place under the watchful eyes of a vast security force a preview of the grim need to tightly guard against threats two days hence with police using facial recognition technology to scan the crowds and spotters lining rooftops as helicopter blades thudded overhead. Advertisement Even mere commoners nuptials are subject to last-minute familial drama, and this globally watched royal union is no different, at least in that respect. Markle, in a carefully worded statement, announced Thursday that her father would not attend the wedding, alluding to, but not detailing or specifically blaming, his health problems. Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding, the royal bride-to-be said in her statement, issued by Kensington Palace, which oversees media relations for the couple. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. The palace did not disclose details about Thomas Markles health issues, but the celebrity website TMZ said the 73-year-old, a former Hollywood lighting director who now lives in Mexico, was hospitalized in California after a procedure to clear blocked coronary arteries. That followed days of sometimes confusing and contradictory reports about staged paparazzi-style photos of the senior Markle making preparations to travel to Britain. British media reports speculated that Markles mother, Doria Ragland, could replace her father in walking her down the aisle at St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle, but no announcement has been made. With plentiful bunting and all manner of memorabilia on sale, Windsor looked every inch the regal backdrop although a few locals grumbled about the bother of blocked-off roadways and shut-down parking garages. But even some of those inconvenienced by the crush were good-natured. I feel like Im cheating a bit; I only meant to pop round to the opticians to pick up my new spectacles, joked Rob Faulkner, a 33-year-old Windsor resident who ambled up to police barricades to watch the rehearsal procession. Uncharacteristically for Britain in this changeable season, the weather for Thursdays run-through was decisively bright and sunny. The forecast for Saturday was clear as well -- hailed by some royal fans as a happy portent in a country that lately hasnt seen a surfeit of feel-good news. Police officers patrol outside Windsor Castle on May 17, 2018, ahead of a dress rehearsal of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. (Jack Taylor / Getty Images ) The last two years have seen Britain buffeted by Brexit the shocking June 2016 vote to exit the European Union together with high-profile terrorist attacks in London and Manchester. About 800 friends, relatives and VIPs will be inside the chapel for the service, with about 1,000 members of the public invited to the palace grounds. The latter list included Amelia Thompson, a survivor of the 2017 bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. And rather than bring a family member as her plus-one, the 12-year-old girl designated the grandmother of a victim who died, British media reported. Even many who profess to care little about the royals have embraced the unlikely love story of Markle, whose status as a divorcee once would have rendered her an unsuitable bride, and the prince, whose antics as a younger man clad as a Nazi for Halloween, seen wearing far less in surreptitious cellphone video taken of a party night in Las Vegas were prime tabloid fodder. Instead, the biracial, California-raised Markle and her prince are widely seen as a breath of fresh air in a royal family whose millennium-old history contains an abundance of scandal not least involving the parents of the groom, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and her since-remarried husband, Prince Charles but only a nascent sense of truly reflecting a younger, more modern Britain. Well, theyre in love, arent they? said Firaz Rajabdeen, who scooted out of his Windsor doughnut shop for a quick glimpse of the procession. Thats what matters, really. People await the rehearsal of the carriage procession for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 17, 2018, in Windsor, England. (Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images ) Naturally, the crowd on the streets of Windsor on Thursday tilted heavily and self-selectedly toward royal fandom. But there were heartfelt-seeming expressions of goodwill and good wishes for Harry, vividly remembered by many Britons as the stoic, red-haired child walking in Dianas funeral cortege after her shocking 1997 death in a Paris car crash. Harry has recently spoken of his struggles to deal with publicly suppressed grief, a candor that endeared him to many compatriots. And despite some ugly online attacks on Markles parentage her father is white and her mother black an Americans imminent entry into the royal family seemed to faze few. Well, my sister-in-law married a GI back in 46, said Joan Amsell, 85, who traveled from nearby Slough to take in the days events in Windsor. Were really quite used to an American in the mix! Its commonplace for some members of the brides and grooms families to meet up for the first time shortly before the wedding, but in this instance, royal protocol turns these encounters into elaborately choreographed events. Markles mother has arrived in the United Kingdom and was meeting the grooms grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, 92, along with her 96-year-old husband, Prince Philip, before the ceremonies. A show of family drama in advance of the nuptials isnt uncommon either, but the glare of publicity has encompassed some estranged members of Markles extended family who were not invited to the wedding. Avid tabloid coverage of the tension has drawn criticism even from the Daily Mail, itself no stranger to royal-themed sensationalism. Columnist Sarah Vine wrote Thursday that Kensington Palaces press office should have done more to get ahead of the tales told by figures such as Markles older stepsister, Samantha, who has offered opinions about her sisters early life ambitions and talked about who should be on the guest list. Even the most cursory internet search would have thrown up a few red flags, Vine wrote. Could they not have taken at least a few steps to get them on-side? After Saturdays hourlong ceremony, beginning at 4 a.m. Pacific time, the newlyweds are to travel through the longtime royal seat of Windsor in a 19th century carriage pulled by four prized Windsor Grey horses. It wont be their first glimpse of the procession route, though; the BBC reported Thursday that they had made a quick and largely unnoticed circuit, driven in a royal Range Rover rather than the Ascot Landau carriage they will use on Saturday. More than 100,000 people were expected Saturday to cram the narrow sidewalks surrounding Windsor Castle, which dates to the 11th century and is described by royal historians as the worlds oldest and largest inhabited fortress. Harry is a veteran of the Afghanistan war, and in addition to those deployed for security reasons, hundreds of other troops were to play a part in the ceremony. Tourists walk past a shop selling royal souvenirs opposite Windsor Castle. (Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA/Shutterstock ) Those marching the procession route and flanking the entrance to the chapel were reported by British media to include regiments and units with a special significance for Harry. They include members of the Household Cavalry regiment, the Royal Gurkha Rifles and the Army Air Corps, with whom Harry served two tours in Afghanistan. Many polls have pointed to a blase attitude on the part of Britons over the wedding. A YouGov poll albeit one commissioned by an anti-monarchist group suggested that 6 in 10 were looking forward to a normal weekend, with little interest in the pageantry unfolding in Windsor. Even so, the British monarchy maintains a hold on the global imagination, with millions expected to tune in for Saturdays spectacle, the biggest piece of public monarchy-themed ceremony since the 2011 wedding of Harrys elder brother, Prince William, and Kate Middleton, now known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. And as to the other young royals, there is also a large reservoir of goodwill toward the likely heir to the throne, William, and his wife, who last month gave birth to a prince, Louis. That much-celebrated event pushed Harry one spot back in the royal line of succession. He didnt seem to mind. Staff writer King reported from Windsor. Special correspondent Christina Boyle contributed to this report from London. laura.king@latimes.com @laurakingLAT UPDATES: 2:41 p.m.: This article has been updated throughout with the scene in Windsor, quotes and background. This article was originally posted at 7:25 a.m. The Marine Corps will join forces with the Los Angeles Fire Department to conduct a controlled burn over 170 acres of Camp Pendleton grassland on Saturday morning. Officials said that 30 firefighters from Camp Pendleton and another 60 from Los Angeles will spark the blaze at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. The fire is expected to consume a portion of the November training area. Thats near the bases southern border with Oceanside so residents and drivers between Douglas Road and Interstate 5 might see plumes of smoke. Officials say that six fire engines and two hand crews will stand ready to prevent the blaze spreading. They hope that burning dry vegetation will slash the amount of brush that could fuel future fires and help maintain native species of grass. Advertisement The Los Angeles firefighters are taking advantage of the burn so that they can train in wildland firefighting techniques. We have a number of controlled burns tentatively scheduled throughout the year, Carl Redding, a base spokesman, said by email. The schedule may fluctuate depending on real world conditions like weather and actual fires in those areas. Camp Pendleton averages less than an inch of rainfall during the dry season from June through October. In extreme droughts, the base can go 150 days without rain, making the training terrain vulnerable to sudden conflagrations. The November training area harbors two endangered species of wild birds, plus another thats threatened. The Least Bells Vireo and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher thrive in the areas bottomlands and creeks while the California Gnatcatcher prefers its coastal sagebrush. Whenever the Camp Pendleton Fire Department plans to conduct a prescribed burn, they submit a detailed plan to the base Environmental Security office, said base spokesman Capt. Luke Dream Weaver by email. Environmental Security conducts a thorough review checking to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and any other applicable environmental policies and regulations. As part of that review, a survey of the impacted area is conducted by a biologist from Environmental Security to check for the presence of threatened species and to ensure any impacts to wildlife will comply with existing regulations. Finally, a burn permit is secured from the San Diego Air Quality Management District to ensure that atmospheric conditions are appropriate to minimize the impact of a prescribed burn on air quality. Base officials also warn nearby residents that on May 25th they might hear the echoes of high explosive shells detonating in training areas on the eastern side of the base. The mortar fire is slated to begin around 6 a.m. and continue until midnight. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com Los Angeles County transportation officials have identified five properties, including parking lots in the San Fernando Valley and a former bus yard in Venice Beach, that could be used to provide services or temporary housing for Los Angeles Countys growing homeless population. The properties, owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are either vacant or underused, officials said. It is unclear what services would be provided at the sites or how Metro would address public health, safety and liability concerns. The list of proposed properties was assembled for Metros directors, who have pushed to expand the agencys role in addressing the countys homelessness crisis. Riders negative perceptions of safety and cleanliness on the system are leading reasons behind a decline in ridership, officials have said. This is an unprecedented crisis in Los Angeles, and we all all levels of government, all neighborhoods need to be treating this as if it were a natural disaster, said Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin, the chair of Metros customer experience committee, during a downtown meeting Thursday. Advertisement Similar efforts are underway in the city of Los Angeles, where Mayor Eric Garcetti is pursuing a $20-million initiative to build temporary homeless shelters on city-owned parking lots. The first proposed facility, a 65-bed shelter near Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, has sparked an outcry from Koreatown residents. Metro is a major county landowner, with a portfolio that includes dozens of train stations, parking lots and bus yards, as well as parcels adjacent to rail lines that were acquired during construction. The agencys real estate staff identified 40 possible properties, then eliminated sites slated for construction or development within 18 months. The agency also ruled out heavily used park-and-ride lots as well as sites that are isolated and removed from transit and social services, Metro Deputy Executive Officer John Potts said. Commuters rarely fill the park-and-ride lots at the Orange Line busway stations in Van Nuys, Tarzana and Canoga Park, which would be prime candidates for homeless services, Metro said. The lots are adjacent to the Orange Line bike path, where Valley residents have frequently complained of homeless encampments. A former bus yard in Venice Beach that closed in 2015 is also on the list. The 3.15-acre lot on Sunset Avenue is three blocks from the Pacific Ocean and a short walk from Abbot Kinney Boulevard, where homes sell for more than $3 million. Metro closed the bus facility after fielding multiple offers from buyers who wanted to develop the site, but no deal is expected within a year and a half. The building that formerly housed the bus yards facilities would require some environmental remediation before people could work inside, Potts said. Sources: Google Earth, OpenStreetMap, Nextzen (Kyle Kim/Los Angeles Times ) The final site runs along San Fernando Road in northeast Los Angeles, sandwiched between the street and Metrolink tracks. A trucking company recently terminated its lease there for cab parking, freeing up 34,000 square feet that could be used for overnight parking for people living in cars and camper vans. Metros directors took no steps Thursday to move forward with the homeless services plan, and they raised a number of questions about how Metro would provide and fund the programs. They also questioned how long services that are described as temporary could be provided. The hope, Potts said, is that Metro will hire an outside service provider and draft a contract with a firewall that protects the agency from any public safety, security and liability concerns. All five sites are in the city of Los Angeles, and elected officials and their constituents should be notified, said Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. She also raised questions about how a safe overnight parking program would work. Directors did not mention mobile showers or bathrooms, a service that Garcetti previously described as very appropriate for land near Metro stations. The vast majority of the rail and bus system has no bathroom access, because officials have traditionally said the facilities could be magnets for drug use and prostitution. The city of L.A. operates a hygiene trailer with showers and laundry machines in a city-owned parking lot on skid row. Security officers and a maintenance crew monitor the facility, and people who come in can speak with a homeless outreach worker. Metro directors also supported a proposal to expand Metros homeless outreach program, which began a year ago. Currently, two teams of outreach workers walk through subway stations and ride trains on weekday mornings and afternoons, helping people find housing and other services. The expanded program would provide six more outreach teams, including workers who would ride the system on Saturdays, Sundays and overnight. One team of outreach workers would be assigned exclusively to L.A.s all-night buses, which carry so many sleeping homeless people that riders sometimes call them rolling motels. The expansion, which still needs a full Metro board vote, would increase the annual cost of the program from $1.2 million to $4.2 million. laura.nelson@latimes.com For more transportation news, follow @laura_nelson on Twitter. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has been trying to carve out a middle ground on illegal immigration. It hasnt been easy. The politics of the long-combustible issue increasingly demand people choose sides, with space in between shrinking. The Republican mayor is a strong advocate for bolstering relations and commerce with Tijuana and Mexico, and making legal border crossings smoother and quicker. This week he was focused on the upbeat task of determining what to do with higher-than-expected revenues, while preparing to address a new report about what the city and county did right and wrong during the hepatitis crisis. But the recent dispute over state sanctuary laws, like the debates over the border wall and refugee bans, forced him to divert to other matters, if only briefly. Advertisement The San Diego region has had a smorgasbord of sanctuary law activity over the past month. In April, the Republican-dominated county Board of Supervisors voted to support the Trump administration lawsuit seeking to overturn Californias sanctuary laws that give further protections to unauthorized immigrants. That followed a decision by the Escondido City Council to file an amicus brief backing the suit. On Tuesday, the Democratic majority of the San Diego City Council directed the city attorney to join a legal brief by Santa Clara County in support of the states sanctuary laws. And that came the day before Escondido Mayor Sam Abed and Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, the regions two leading anti-sanctuary voices, joined other like-minded California officials at a White House meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss the issue. Faulconer cant veto this particular council action but he expressed his opposition in a nuanced way, seemingly suggesting the pragmatic thing to do would be to stay away from the matter altogether. San Diego is not a sanctuary city. I oppose the vote to join an amicus brief in the lawsuit over Californias sanctuary state laws, he said in a statement. San Diego is one of the safest big cities in the country, with public safety policies that have worked under both Republican and Democratic administrations. We have no plans to change them. Exactly what a sanctuary city is, and who determines that, is unclear. The state sanctuary laws cities must follow further muddy that. Some local jurisdictions in California have declared themselves sanctuaries or something similar, while others have joined the Trump lawsuit. Faulconer has built an image of a fiscally responsible, socially moderate politician largely focused on trying to make the city run right. He rarely injects himself into polarizing state or national debates. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf warned her city of an impending immigration sweep; Escondidos Abed initiated his citys insurrection against the sanctuary laws. Any such moves would seem out of character for Faulconer. He supports a safe, workable border region and advocates for a comprehensive approach to immigration. Hes not a hardcore partisan warrior, perhaps partly because of his political makeup and because it probably wouldnt help with his tasks at hand. Hes a Republican mayor in a major U.S. city where Democrats control the council and have a large advantage in voter registration. That has made Faulconer an attractive potential candidate for governor to GOP leaders since he was first elected mayor in 2014. Pragmatism, not ideology, also was central to Faulconers opposition to a council resolution in September opposing Trumps proposed extended border wall. His stated concern wasnt with the council majoritys position, but that the resolution called for disclosing businesses involved in constructing or financing the project. Mayor Faulconer has been clear in his opposition to a border wall across the entirety of the U.S. southern border, but will not join on to this resolution because it also includes language that could blacklist businesses based on the political leanings of the City Council majority, a spokeswoman for the mayor said at the time. Faulconer had veto power over that vote, but chose not to exercise it. An earlier version of the resolution required the city to divest itself from any financial connection to companies involved with the wall. That language was softened over legal concerns. Even when taking a stronger stand, the Faulconer way is a measured approach. The mayor again did not have a vote in or authority to veto a February 2017 council decision to join a lawsuit against Trumps executive order prohibiting refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. In this case, he thought it was the right thing to do. Americans deserve an immigration policy that keeps us safe without needlessly separating families and shutting our doors on innocent people seeking the American Dream, he said after the vote. Legal immigration contributes greatly to San Diegos economy and culture, and our region has taken in more refugees than any other in California. This executive order has a direct effect on San Diegans, and I believe it is appropriate in this case for our city to weigh in. More than a few critics asked why he didnt take, in their view, the moral high ground on defending sanctuary laws. Not my mayor-doesnt represent me. No spine-no heart, teacher Lisa Renay Burgess said on Twitter after Faulconer posted his statement Tuesday. The statute at the heart of the Trump lawsuit is SB 54, which limits how state and local law enforcement interacts with federal immigration authorities. It mostly affects the kind of access local jails allow immigration authorities to prisoners and when the jails can turn over those who are incarcerated upon release. The law still allows coordinating the release with immigration agents, but only if those unauthorized immigrants have committed one of 800 specific crimes. With the recent action by the council and supervisors and the White House visit, San Diegos red-blue split seemed on full display. But it may not be as stark as it seems. The county board voted 3-1 to back the Trump suit, with one member who was opposed absent. The council voted 5-2 to join the fight against it, with two Republican members not present. Somewhere in that slim middle is Mayor Faulconer. A man who admitted shooting at four San Diego police officers atop a Bankers Hill condominium building in 2015 was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison. I apologize for my actions and I thank you for treating me so well, Titus Colbert, Jr., 35, said to Superior Court Judge Louis Hanoian, after the sentence was imposed. Colbert had been removed from courtrooms more than once because of outbursts, including singing and comments about the Illuminati, an 18th Century secret society. He underwent a psychiatric evaluation but was found competent to stand trial. Advertisement Defense and prosecuting attorneys agreed to the 20-year term as part of a plea bargain made in late April, several weeks into Colberts trial. Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon said Colbert will serve 85 percent of that term, minus the roughly three years he has already spent in custody. Colbert was arrested on Nov. 4, 2015, after a five-hour SWAT standoff at a condominium building on Brant Street. Armed with two rifles and a pistol, he exchanged gunfire with police, prompting schools to lock down and airport officials to cancel landings at nearby San Diego International Airport for a time. No one was injured in the shootings. Authorities said Colbert took the weapons from his roommate in Las Vegas and drove to San Diego, then broke into his ex-girlfriends condo while she was elsewhere. She called police to report his intrusion. Two officers went into the penthouse condo, but Colbert fired at them from behind a closed bedroom door, Runyon said. Those officers retreated and called for backup. Runyon said Colbert shot at SWAT officers later in the standoff. He finally surrendered after his ex-girlfriend reached him by cellphone and told him to throw his guns out a window. He tossed out two, but a second rifle was found in the condo after his arrest. Colbert was charged with premeditated attempted murder on four police officers, with firearm allegations, and would have faced multiple life terms if convicted of those charges. Deputy Public Defender Melissa Tralla told jurors that Colbert has a long history of mental illness, being diagnosed as schizophrenic and bipolar by age 16. She said he suffered a psychotic break the day of the shooting. His trial opened on March 7 and was entering its eighth week of prosecution witnesses when Colbert abruptly changed his plea. He pleaded guilty to four counts of assault with a firearm on peace officers and allegations he used a firearm against each officer. In return, prosecutors dismissed the most serious charges and several other firearms allegations. Colbert is the brother of Tecumseh Colbert, who is on Death Row for fatally shooting Robert Anthony McCamey and Richard Hammes during a 22-day crime spree in 2004. pauline.repard@sduniontribune Twitter: @pdrepard The parents of a well-known San Diego musician who died after a giant tree fell on her car in Pacific Beach settled their lawsuit against the city for $700,000, officials confirmed Thursday. The tree, estimated to be 100 feet tall, 6 feet wide and more than 50 years old, fell across Ingraham Street near Fortuna Avenue during a powerful storm on Jan. 31, 2016. It crushed three parked vehicles and a passing car driven by Nicki Lyn Carano. She died before she could be taken to a hospital. Her parents, Anthony and Carole Ann Carano, filed a wrongful death lawsuit later that year alleging city authorities had actual and/or constructive knowledge that there was a defect in the tree that caused their daughters death. Advertisement They also claimed the city had a duty to inspect trees near the roadway for flaws and to have a hazardous tree management plan in place. They contended the city failed in its duties to keep the area safe and warn the public of any hidden danger. The county and the state are also named as defendants in the suit. Initially, the homeowners association that owns the property nearest the tree was named as well, but it was later determined the city was responsible for the trees maintenance. The City Council will be asked to approve the settlement on May 22. Carano was a drummer and a member of a prominent San Diego music family. On the day she was killed, she was on her way to Ocean Beach to perform with her band Spider Tree. She also played in an all-woman band called Nectarine, as well as the band Donna Cristy & The Camel Tones. She taught drums at Nightingale Music School. According to the lawsuit, the tree was a large Torrey Pine that was designated as a Landmark Tree under the citys policy providing for preservation and protection of public trees. It was also located within a dedicated public right-of-way. Authorities said at the time of the incident that it took firefighters about two hours to cut away enough of the tree to get to Caranos car. It took city workers four more hours to clear enough of the tree to open a lane of traffic. They cleared the rest overnight. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com Lawmakers on Thursday sought to convince Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey to come testify to Congress as part of their probe into the privacy practices of the countrys largest tech companies. Dorsey, in his first-ever visit to the U.S. Capitol, met with members like Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., the leader of the tech-focused House Energy and Commerce Committee. Walden, who helped orchestrate a high-profile hearing last month featuring Twitters larger rival, Facebook, reiterated his request that all top tech executives should answer public questions about their data collection practices on the Hill, according to a committee spokeswoman. Trust me, its much easier to testify at a congressional hearing before your company gets caught up in a scandal, Walden wrote in an op-ed published by the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday, referring to the appearance by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg weeks after the company suffered a data privacy scandal. In response, Dorsey conveyed to Walden on Thursday an interest in telling Twitters story in response to the opportunity, a spokeswoman for the House committee said. Advertisement Separately, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, similarly suggested to Dorsey that it would be wise for him to appear - on his own accord - in front of members of Congress, according to an aide to the GOP lawmaker. Thune did not officially extend a formal invite to Dorsey, the aide said. Twitter confirmed Dorseys meetings. As part of Twitters regular outreach to Capitol Hill, Jack is meeting with several members of Congress on a wide range of issues, including our work to promote the public health of conversations online and to protect data privacy, a company spokeswoman said. The early requests reflect the growing unease in Congress with the internets most powerful, popular web platforms. The heightened scrutiny is the consequence of Facebook and its entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that had improperly accessed names, likes and other personal information from 87 million of the social sites users. In April, the controversy brought Facebooks Zuckerberg face-to-face with lawmakers for two hearings spanning 10 hours. But some Democrats and Republicans have been spoiling to hear from other tech giants. They had initially invited Twitter and Google to participate in those hearings, before refocusing their attention on Facebook. And since then, some lawmakers have pushed for new legislation that would restrict the kind of data companies collect in the first place. For Dorsey - as the leader of Twitter as well as payments company Square - his political agenda spanned more than just privacy on Thursday. The chief executive also met with Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to a source familiar with the lawmakers plans and not authorized to speak on the record. The panel has investigated the extent to which Russian agents spread propaganda on Twitter and other platforms during the 2016 election. Warners office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A quartet of Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee, including Sens. Edward Markey, Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, Conn., also pressed Dorsey to ensure the misinformation that surfaced and spread over Twitter during the 2016 race doesnt wreak havoc ahead of the 2018 congressional midterms, according to an aide with knowledge of the meeting who was not authorized to speak on record. Previously, Dorsey has said he would be absolutely willing to testify to Congress. He made the comment in November as lawmakers investigated Russias meddling in the 2016 election. Congressional sources, however, told a different story. They said that Twitter had declined an invite to a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, opting - much like its peers, Facebook and Google - to send a lower-level executive in Dorseys place. Welcome to followthemedia.com The article or material you have chosen... Michael Hedges May 18, 2018 - After a prominent investigative reporter agreed to meet with police officers looking into the murder of another investigative reporter, the meeting turned into an eight-hour interrogation. The police demanded a mobile phone with SIM card, under pressure of judicial consequence. They also wanted source information unrelated to the murder investigation. Publishers Furious, Suspicious As Police Grill ReporterMichael Hedges May 18, 2018 - Follow on Twitter After a prominent investigative reporter agreed to meet with police officers looking into the murder of another investigative reporter, the meeting turned into an eight-hour interrogation. The police demanded a mobile phone with SIM card, under pressure of judicial consequence. They also wanted source information unrelated to the murder investigation. ...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. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from a British hospital more than two months after he was poisoned with a nerve agent and left fighting for his life, health officials said Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the news gave him joy but used the occasion to denounce the British claim that Russia had poisoned the ex-spy with a military-grade nerve agent. If a military-grade agent had been used as our British colleagues claimed, the man would have died on the spot, Putin said, speaking after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the southern Russian city of Sochi. Thank God he has recovered, has walked out of the hospital and I hope will stay safe and healthy. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury on March 4, and spent weeks in critical condition. Advertisement Yulia, 33, recovered more quickly than her father and was discharged last month. Salisbury District Hospital said Friday that all three people hospitalized in the attack the Skripals and a police officer who came to their assistance had now been released. The Skripals have been taken to an undisclosed location for their safety. We have been able to discharge Sergei Skripal, said Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at the hospital. This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital. Sergei Skripal is a former Russian intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain before coming to the U.K. as part of a 2010 prisoner swap. He had been living quietly in the cathedral city of Salisbury, 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of London, when he was struck down. Britain said Russia poisoned the Skripals with a Soviet-designed nerve agent dubbed Novichok was behind the attack. Moscow has vehemently denied the claim and criticized Britain for failing to provide any evidence and stonewalling Russian requests for information. Putin reaffirmed Friday that Russias offer to jointly investigate the poisoning case stands. The poisoning has sparked a Cold War-style diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West, including the expulsion of hundreds of diplomats from both sides. The international chemical weapons watchdog has backed up Britains conclusions about the poisoning agent used in the attack on the Skripals. British police say they believe the toxin was smeared on the door handle of Skripals suburban house. Hundreds of counterterrorism officers and support staff have been assigned to the case but police have not yet named any suspects. Frank Jordans in Sochi contributed to this report. The year was winding down. Prom came and went, and on Tuesday seniors got their caps and gowns for graduation in two weeks. It was almost time to say farewell, not just to their teachers and friends, but to a world and a year of active-shooter drills, lockdowns and classroom dread. But on Friday morning, before they could cross that finish line, the deepest fears of every American teacher, parent and student once again came true. This time, the school is named Santa Fe High School. Around 7:30 a.m., authorities said, a 17-year-old junior named Dimitrios Pagourtzis, armed with a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver hed taken from his father, opened fire, killing 10 people mostly students and wounding 10 others at the school, which is about 35 miles southeast of downtown Houston. Santa Fe Mayor-elect Jason Tabor an alumnus of the school, where his stepson is a senior helped officials notify the families of students killed. I was in the hallway as they took them into rooms to notify them, he said. To hear the screams theres a lot of healing to do. Advertisement One of the wounded was a school police officer, John Barnes, who had retired from big-city police work at the Houston Police Department for a job that would let him spend more time with his family. Santa Fe High School was just the place for that, until now. After running inside the school to engage the shooter, Barnes was shot in both arms and lost so much blood that his heart stopped twice once on the way to the hospital and once in surgery before doctors revived him, according to Houston Police Department Capt. James Dale, a close friend. Some students heard a fire alarm before they heard the gunshots. They were able to flee to safety, where reporters soon arrived to ask the same question reporters have been asking at school shootings around the country. Was there a part of you that thought this isnt real, this wouldnt happen in my school? one Houston-area TV reporter asked Paige Curry, 17. No, there wasnt, Curry replied with the world-weariness many American high school students have experienced living in the post-Columbine era. Its been happening everywhere. Ive always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too. Shooting suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis. (Galveston County Sheriffs Office ) President Trump ordered flags to be flown half-staff as Texas reels from its latest disaster, less than a year after the region was barraged by Hurricane Harvey and after a separate mass shooting left 26 people dead at a San Antonio-area church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which left 17 people dead, had left its mark on Santa Fe High School, too. Four weeks ago, a small group of students took part in a nationwide student walkout scheduled on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in protest of gun violence in schools. Some wore orange ribbons and one held a sign that read Santa Fe High School says #NeverAgain. After reading a poem by a survivor of the Parkland shooting, they handed out gun violence fact sheets, discussed how to raise awareness on gun violence, and observed a moment of silence for each of the victims at Stoneman Douglas High School. This act of solidarity would, tragically, be returned. After word spread of Fridays massacre in Texas, the Parkland students lent their support. Santa Fe High, you didnt deserve this, tweeted Stoneman Douglas student Emma Gonzalez, who has emerged as a vocal gun-control advocate since the shooting at her school. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices. The teen accused of opening fire survived and was arrested. Pagourtzis had kept a journal in which authorities said he wrote about his desire to carry out such a campus attack and then end it all by taking his own life, said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Instead, he didnt have the courage to commit suicide, Abbott said. Pagourtzis surrendered and was arrested on suspicion of capital murder and held without bond. If charged, he could face the death penalty. Pagourtzis deliberately did not shoot students he liked so he could have his story told, according to a probable cause affidavit. Pagourtzis had also apparently brought homemade explosives to the school, including a CO2 device, a Molotov cocktail and various other devices, Abbott said. Pagourtzis was set to graduate in 2019 and played junior varsity football as a defensive tackle. Frank Cole, 16, said he seemed respectful and nice. He didnt seem bullied at all, especially because he was a football player, Cole said, adding that he saw coaches encouraging Pagourtzis. Its a surprise to see him do this, Cole added. He didnt really seem the threatening type. He was a big old teddy bear to us. Pagourtzis had one widely noticed quirk at school: He always wore his trench coat, even in the recent heat, which climbed to the high 90s. Cole didnt find it odd; he thought that was just his style. Others were a little more unnerved. All I have to say is dimitri wore a trench coat to school every day from the beginning of the year and its no wonder he was capable of getting guns in the school, Santa Fe High junior Candi Thurman, 17, wrote to The Times in a private message on Twitter on Friday. That should have been a red flag. A woman prays outside the Santa Fe Independent School District Alamo Gym, where students and faculty gathered after the shooting. (Jennifer Reynolds / Associated Press ) On Facebook, Pagourtzis expressed interest in joining the Marine Corps. He had no criminal record, but his social media presence was familiarly dark, with an emphasis on guns and the occult. On April 30, in a Facebook profile that since has been removed, a user under Pagourtzis name posted an image of a T-shirt bearing the phrase BORN TO KILL. Another posting the same day showed a dark trench coat with a variety of occult and World War II pins on it. Hammer and Sickle=Rebellion, Rising Sun=Kamikaze Tactics, Iron Cross=Bravery, Baphomet=Evil, Cthulu=Power, the caption said. In the Facebook profile, which prominently featured a pentagram, the user described himself as an atheist and declared, I hate politics. An Instagram profile under Pagourtzis name shows a posting from April 24 with a photo of a handgun, a knife and what appears to be a flashlight. (The handgun appeared to be a magazine-fed pistol different from the revolver used at the school.) Another post from the same day showed an arcade game featuring a toy rifle pointing at a screen. The Instagram account followed only a handful of other accounts, mostly geared toward gun users, along with Instagram accounts for President Trump, Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump and the White House. On Friday from Washington, the president described the shooting as a horrific attack and offered his condolences. This has been going on too long in our country too many years, too many decades now, Trump said. We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack to the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High. Abbott called for a roundtable of experts so we can put together laws that will protect 2nd Amendment rights and prevent future shootings from happening ever again. The Republican governor mentioned stronger background checks, tougher rules to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and more resources for schools and the treatment of mental health issues. Abbott, however, suggested that Pagourtzis had easily slipped through the cracks: The red-flag warnings were either non-existent or imperceptible.... There were simply not the warning signs we saw with so many other shooters. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggested that part of the problem was that the school had too many doors and that a single door could make it tougher for shooters to enter a campus. We may need to harden our schools and make them safer, Patrick said. As a nation, we should look at the design of these schools. Terry Lummus, 46, a KBR project manager, said his daughter Pressley was in chemistry class near the shooting and knew a substitute teacher, Ms. Perkins, who was killed. She came out in the hall and could hear the gunshots, Lummus said. Their family knows a student who was hit in the neck with buckshot from the shooters shotgun. Fortunately, he has been treated and released from the hospital, Lummus said. Others were not so lucky. After Lummus and his wife rushed to the school to find their daughter, they watched from a distance as paramedics performed CPR on someone who they later learned was the wounded police officer, still hospitalized late Friday. It was a scene Lummus never thought hed see when he moved to the small town 18 years ago from another Houston suburb. We moved here to get away from this stuff, Lummus said. But once again, it seemed like there was nowhere to hide. Hennessy-Fiske reported from Santa Fe, Texas, special correspondent Jarvie contributed from Atlanta and Pearce from Los Angeles. UPDATES: 6:50 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Jason Tabor. 5:05 p.m: This article was updated with additional details. 2:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details, including comments from the governor. 12:05 p.m.: This article was updated with information on the suspected gunman and additional reaction. 8:15 a.m.: This article was updated with local media reporting fatalities from the shooting. 7:45 a.m.: This article was updated with a school official the suspects arrest and with more details from the school district. 7 a.m.: This article was updated with more details about the scene and information on a lockdown in February at the school. This article was originally published at 6:30 a.m. Three progressive Democrats with long histories of community involvement are battling to replace Democrat David Alvarez as the City Council representative for District 8, which includes Barrio Logan, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro. Alvarez staffer Vivian Moreno, San Ysidro school board member Antonio Martinez and border activist Christian Ramirez dont differ much ideologically, but they would bring different kinds of experience and contrasting approaches to the job. The two candidates who get the most votes in the June 5 primary will face each other in a November runoff. Alvarez, who has represented the district since 2010, cant run for re-election because of term limits. No Republicans are running in the race for District 8, where Democrats top Republicans in voter registration 32,000 to 9,000 as of May 1. Advertisement Moreno, 35, says shes the best candidate because of her experience handling neighborhood issues and binational affairs for Alvarez. Some of these issues are hard to pick up one day and figure out the nuances, said Moreno, who lives in San Ysidro. You have a learning curve when you become a council member you wont get that pause with me. Martinez, 33, said it would be better to elect an outsider whos more in touch with the residents and what they really want: more streetlights, sidewalks and parks for the historically underserved area. We dont want city bureaucrats, said Martinez, a San Ysidro resident who has worked at a community health clinic in Nestor for the last 10 years. We want somebody from the community who will go in and focus on the priorities. Ramirez, 41, said someone focused on social justice makes the most sense, contending past representatives of District 8 have been too focused on what job they will get next. District 8 has always been used as a stepping stone for political careers and that has put our community at a disadvantage because of the political compromises they need to make, said Ramirez, a Sherman Heights resident and human rights director at the Alliance San Diego border coalition. Ramirez also focuses more on big picture issues than his opponents. In addition to border controversies, hes been a community leader on environmental issues and racial profiling by police. We need to close the gap between communities of color and law enforcement, he said. Ive been fighting for the past 20 years to ensure that communities in District 8 are treated with dignity and respect. He said his border experience would also be crucial, especially with a recent focus on the border by the federal government. We need to have someone representing the border district who understands the importance of strengthening binational relationships with our neighbors to the south, Ramirez said. Martinez and Ramirez also said they would focus on bolstering the districts commercial corridors, which include Palm Avenue, Commercial Street, San Ysidro Boulevard and Imperial Avenue. All these look the same economic development is pretty much dead, Martinez said. Our buildings are dilapidated and we have homeless on the streets. Both men said the city is missing a major opportunity to make San Ysidro Boulevard a thriving tourist destination. Moreno said she plans to focus on Otay Mesa, which has the most available industrial acreage of any community in the city by far. This is where were going to put our future Qualcomms and Illuminas, said Moreno, promising to fight for state and federal grants that could provide the infrastructure to spur development and job growth there. Moreno said visiting residents on the campaign trail has convinced her they care mostly about the small things that affect neighborhood quality of life. She said shes been proud to help get San Ysidro a new library branch and to help bring the district its first new park in more than 30 years. If elected, she plans to focus on adding more of such amenities and a museum for Chicano Park. Moreno has a big fundraising lead in the race, with $120,000 through the last reporting period in April, compared to $79,000 for Martinez and $49,000 for Ramirez. Martinez, however, has arguably the most impressive list of endorsements. He has support from Rep. Juan Vargas, state Sen. Ben Hueso, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and labor unions representing the citys police officers and deputy city attorneys. Moreno has been endorsed by Alvarez as his successor. The San Diego County Democratic Party rated all three candidates as qualified, but chose not to make an endorsement until the runoff. A fourth candidate in the race is Democrat Zach Lazarus, a marijuana entrepreneur living in Otay Mesa. He has reported raising less than the $5,000 and has not attended candidate forums. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick The last day to register to vote in the June 5 primary election is quickly approaching, although a new law means that latecomers will be offered a second chance to join the electorate and cast a ballot. May 21 is the official deadline to register to vote in time to be eligible to participate, but a rule that took effect last year allows people to go to the county registrars office after that day to sign up to vote and then vote, while theyre there. Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said that traditional registration paperwork must be received or postmarked by May 21, or it must be time stamped before May 22 if submitted online. After that, would-be voters can go to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters office at 5600 Overland Ave. in Kearny Mesa to sign up to vote and then cast a ballot. They must do it at the registrar, and can do so up until June 5. They will be casting a provisional ballot, which is counted only after officials are able to verify that the voter was, in fact, eligible to vote. Advertisement I must stress that the opportunity only occurs if they come to our office to register and vote between May 22 thru 8 pm Election Day, Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said in an email. One will not be able to do this at the polling place on Election Day. He also recommended that people, if possible, sign up to vote online or by mail ahead of the May 21 deadline. People can register online at RegisterToVote.ca.gov. Registration forms can also be obtained at the county election office, libraries, post offices and Department of Motor Vehicle offices. Registration applications can also be requested by calling the California secretary of states voter hotline at (800) 345-8683. People who miss the deadline and do not sign up at the registrars office will be added to voter rolls in order to participate in the Nov. 6 general election and subsequent contests. In Californias top-two primary system, the top two candidates generally advance to a runoff election in November, regardless of party. Voters, regardless of their party registration, can vote for any candidate on the ballot regardless of their partisan affiliation. At the county level, three races are expected to be decided in June. There are only two candidates running for district attorney, sheriff and assessor/recorder/county clerk. Barring the extremely improbable chance of a tie, one of those candidates will receive more than 50 percent of the vote and be elected without the runoff. May 29 is the last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot. Similar to absentee ballots used in every state, voters across California can always vote from home and mail-in their ballot. The Registrar of Voters must receive mail-in ballots by June 8. Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 President Donald Trump has endorsed Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Cox for governor. California finally deserves a great Governor, one who understands borders, crime and lowering taxes, Trump said in a 3 p.m. tweet. John Cox is the man - hell be the best Governor youve ever had. I fully endorse John Cox for Governor and look forward to working with him to Make California Great Again! Cox, a Republican, said he appreciated the support. I am honored and deeply grateful to my President and I am looking forward to working with him to make California great again, Cox said in a news release from his campaign. Like the President, Im a businessman who knows how to get things done. Were going to secure the border, empower California small businesses, lower taxes, and make our state affordable for everyone. Advertisement Matt Shupe, a spokesman for Cox, said that the campaign first met with the White House in April and has been in contact ever since. The impact of the presidents tweet was immediate and sparked a fundraising blitz and a slew of press queries. Ive never seen my phone blow up like this before, Shupe said over the phone. Were thrilled, and I think the Republican Party is thrilled. The endorsement could have a mixed impact across the state. In the 2016 election, Trump lost in California to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by 3.44 million votes, a nearly 2-to-1 margin. But Trump also received 4.48 million votes about 95,000 more than Gov. Jerry Brown got in his 2014 re-election campaign. Shupe said this shows that voters want a different type of executive. People are unhappy and they are looking for a change, and I think that this will be change that is welcomed by Californians by both parties and decline-to-states, he said, referring to those who do not state a party preference on their voter registration. The state Democratic Party said that Trumps blessing marks the end of Coxs campaign and that centrist and left-of-center voters are energized and are supporting Democrats up and down the state. John Cox has already disqualified himself with his out-of-touch, extremist views, and Trumps endorsement is the kiss of death for his campaign, California Democratic Party spokesman John Vigna said by phone. The endorsement comes even as Coxs primary Republican opponent Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach has cast himself as an acolyte of the president. "CALIFORNIANS DESERVE A GREAT GOVERNOR One who actually VOTED for President @realDonaldTrump, Allen tweeted after the endorsement was announced. Allens campaign said he was aboard an airplane and not immediately available for comment but would release a statement later on Friday. Cox has portrayed himself as a Republican in the mold of Jack Kemp a House member from New York, Republican Bob Doles presidential running mate in 1996 and secretary of the the Department of Housing and Urban Development under former President George W. Bush. During the 2016 campaign Trump was portrayed as the antithesis of Kemp-brand conservatism that included outreach to minorities and the poor and, as a personal style, an even temperament. Shupe said that Cox isnt an anti-Trump Republican, as Allen claimed. Thats a false statement obviously, Matt Shupe said. Theyre both businessman and they both have the same approach to government. They both want to secure the borders and they want to drain the swamp and make life affordable again, Shupe said. But Cox would be less bombastic than the president, Shupe said. John has said all long that they have different styles, he said. Voters have already received mail-in ballots ahead of the June 5 primary. The top two candidates regardless of their party afficiation will advance to the November general election. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has placed in first in polls with about twice as much support as the runner up. Cox and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have jockeyed back and forth for second. President Donald Trump speaks during an event on prison reform in the East Room of the White House, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Washington. (Evan Vucci / AP ) Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 UPDATES: This is a breaking story and will be updated. Three suspects were behind bars in other states Thursday in connection with a nearly 18-year-old homicide in a neighborhood just north of Balboa Park, police said. Earlier this week, authorities arrested the trio for their alleged roles in the death of 71-year-old LeRay Parkins. The three suspects are Lester Bell and Edward Jamar Brooks, both 38, and 36-year-old Terrence Maurice Brown, according to the San Diego Police Department. On Aug. 23, 2000, Parkins was found mortally wounded in an alley off the 3700 block of 28th Street in North Park, where he resided. He died three days later. The cause of Parkins death was ruled a homicide, but has not been made public. Advertisement During the initial investigation, detectives identified Bell, Brooks and Brown as potential suspects but lacked sufficient evidence to arrest them, SDPD Lt. Matt Dobbs said. All three eventually relocated to other parts of the country. Recently, aided by advances in forensic technology, cold-case investigators were able to solidify the case against the three suspects enough to warrant charging them for the killing, Dobbs said. The lieutenant declined to specify what type of evidence led to the arrests and would not comment on a possible motive for the homicide. Bell was taken into custody in Longmont, Colo., Brown was arrested in Tucson, Ariz., and Brooks was in arrested in Charlotte, N.C. They were being held in those cities pending extradition to San Diego. Another alleged victim of Sheriffs Deputy Richard Fischer has agreed to a six-figure settlement of her lawsuit against San Diego County. The County Counsels Office offered $254,000 to a woman identified in court papers only as D.N., a resident of Vista who claimed that Fischer repeatedly groped her against her will after responding to a routine call for help. The settlement comes about two weeks after two other women reached monetary arrangements with the county to settle similar lawsuits. So far, the county has paid $666,000 to resolve three cases, while 12 other lawsuits are pending in Superior Court. D.N. wants to move on with her life, said attorney Dan Gilleon, who represents all 15 alleged victims. She remains committed as a material witness in the criminal case against Richard Fischer, but once that is completed, she is looking forward to a life free of litigation so that she can recover. Advertisement Fischer, 32, was charged with 14 criminal counts earlier this year after a spate of women accused him of groping, exposing himself or other sexual misconduct while working as a sheriffs deputy. He pleaded not guilty on all counts and a trial is upcoming. He remains on unpaid leave from the San Diego Sheriffs Department. According to the lawsuit filed by D.N. an apartment manager in Vista Fischer responded to a call of an unknown man at the complex in October 2016. Fischer spoke with the man, who promised to leave, and the deputy then left. The woman contacted the department a week or 10 days later and told Fischer the man had returned, and she suspected he was responsible for her car tires being slashed and outdoor furniture being tossed into the pool. Fischer turned up at her apartment and hugged the woman once she let him into her apartment, the lawsuit said. Fischer embraced plaintiff very tightly and rubbed her back and buttocks with his hands, the lawsuit stated. Plaintiff told him you better go and walked away from him. The story laid out in the complaint filed by D.N. is similar to allegations in the other civil cases, and with the criminal complaint filed by the District Attorneys Office in February. Negotiations aimed at resolving the other civil cases are ongoing. Fischer remains free on bail. A hearing in the criminal case is scheduled May 30. Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35 jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald Victoria, a southern white rhino at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, is pregnant. Its an event of vital importance for a program to bring back her nearly extinct kin, the northern white rhino. The developing baby is also a southern white rhino, conceived on March 22 through artificial insemination. The pregnancy is a dress rehearsal for the ultimate goal of creating more northern white rhinos, grown from embryos made from stem cells. The lengthy rhino gestation period means the baby isnt due until the summer of 2019. A failure would mean more work needs to be done, or that the female is infertile. Only two northern white rhinos are alive today, both females. The last male, Sudan, died in March in a Kenya preserve. Another white rhino, Nola, died in November 2015 at the Safari Park. She was one of four alive at that time. Advertisement Victoria and five other female southern white rhinos at the Safari Parks Nikita Khan Rhino Rescue Center have been conditioned for years to willingly accept the most intimate handling, such as ultrasound examination of their reproductive tracts. Jeanne Loring, a stem cell scientist at The Scripps Research Institute, has worked on this project with the zoo for years. She expressed delight in the news. Thats awesome, Loring said from Germany. Its an amazing feat. This is a milestone. Much of the rhino reproductive system hasnt been studied before, she said. So the zoo and allied researchers like Loring have had to invent the technology as they go along. The projects roots go back decades to a dream inspired by Oliver Ryder, a geneticist at San Diego Zoo Global, the zoos conservation arm. Ryder suggested deep-freezing tissue from endangered animals, in the hope that future technology could recreate whole animals from these cells. He established a cryobanked collection of tissue from these animals, known as the Frozen Zoo. The technology to put these cells to use finally arrived in 2007. Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka demonstrated that adult mammalian cells can be turned into artificial embryonic stem cells. He shared a Nobel Prize in 2012 for his discovery. Loring is leading a separate project to use the cells to treat Parkinsons disease. These induced pluripotent stem cells, as they are called, are to be created from the patients themselves. They will be matured into brain cells of the type destroyed in Parkinsons, then implanted into the patients brains. The rhino project is even more complicated. Thawed cryopreserved tissue will be converted into the artificial embryonic stem cells, then matured into egg and sperm cells. These will be united by in vitro fertilization to create an embryo. This is what will be implanted into the southern white rhino surrogate mothers. Loring and Ryder are co-authors of a recent study describing how stem cells were produced from four northern white rhinos with a method they say is superior. Unlike earlier methods, it doesnt use viruses to deliver genes that help convert the cells. So the cells created have a healthier genetic profile. The study, which has yet to be published, can be found at j.mp/rhinostem. The Safari Park says the work may be applicable for other rhino species, including the critically endangered Sumatran and Javan rhinos. For news and updates, visit endextinction.org/victoria. Related reading Can scientists clone a rhinoceros? From stem cells, new hope for species on extinctions brink Could stem cells rescue an endangered species? After her death, Nolas legacy lives on The 49th Congressional District stretches from La Jolla to Dana Point and is one of the most-watched races in the country this election season. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, announced in January that he would not seek re-election. Sixteen candidates are seeking to replace him. The San Diego Union-Tribune asked eight of the candidates to respond to several questions. Here are the responses. Why should voters choose you over your opponents this election? I served 28 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, then served in local government and the State Legislature. I also served on the Governors Military Council and led the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Im ready to take on Congress so we can rebuild Americas military, honor veterans and their families, fight reckless spending and restore honor. Meet the other candidates: Advertisement 49th Congressional District candidate Doug Applegate on the issues San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar on the issues in the 49th Congressional District State tax official Diane Harkey on the issues in the 49th Congressional District 49th Congressional District candidate Sara Jacobs on the issues 49th Congressional District candidate Paul Kerr on the issues 49th Congressional District candidate Mike Levin on the issues San Juan Capistrano Mayor Pro Tem Brian Maryott on the issues in the 49th Congressional District What will be your top domestic and international priority? National security should be the top priority for Congress. I will use my military experience to make sure we have a strong military to meet any foreign challenge, and will push for a smart, strategic approach to international relations with our friends, as well as potential adversaries. Facing threats from nuclear weapons, terrorists, cyberattacks, and assaults on our economic system, America must be strong, vigilant, and united. In Congress, I will help lead the way. To ensure we can protect ourselves from foreign adversaries, we need a strong economy, one that creates high paying jobs and generates the resources needed safeguard our country and ensure that America and Americans can thrive. I will fight against wasteful spending that does not do what is promised. I will fight for policies that help businesses create jobs for a changing 21st century economy. What California issue deserves more attention? The housing crisis is a real problem for California, one that makes our state unaffordable for young people, who are forced to move elsewhere for better paying jobs and cheaper cost of living. Government policies meant to help people are in reality hurting potential homeowners. We need to work together to reach a bi-partisan solution to this problem. How specifically would you try to improve the economy and create more jobs? We start by supporting the emerging industries and economies in America. We have some of the best economic clusters right here in California. San Diego is emerging in the biotech field, and Silicon Valley is creating solutions to problems we never knew we had. We are developing new ways to create energy and to move people, and we should not shun the evolution of these industries. In addition, I have been a strong advocate for Career Technical Education in our public schools and community colleges, so we can train students for high paying, in-demand technical jobs in the new economy What do you see as the No. 1 threat to America over the next couple of years? Threats to our national security will always be the number one challenge we must address. America must be more vigilant in our negotiations with other countries to make sure they are fair and balanced. We need to pass full budgets not continuing resolutions that offer certainty to our troops and to taxpayers. We must have sound and consistent policies regarding countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. And we must continue our strong support of Israel and our other allies around the world. As someone who served his country for 28 years at home and overseas, I understand different cultures and how to deal with foreign friends and adversaries. At this time in our countrys history, Congress should not be an entry-level job. I have the skills and qualifications to make a difference. What do you like the most and least about President Trump? President Trump has re-energized a group of Americans who have been ignored by the political establishment. This has forced government to confront some of the issues of concern to these Americans and to help create solutions. At the same time, political polarization in this country which became bad under President Obama has now grown. Our national leaders, from the President to the Democratic congressional leaders and their allied groups, should tone down the hostile rhetoric and work to solve problems. Attacks and counter attacks are sapping our energy and destroying our unity. Its time to pull together and do whats right for America. And both parties can do a better job of that. There's been a flurry of shit against the PCs this week, it's hard to keep up.Ontario PC candidate suggested government job available if nomination rival dropped out: secret recordingA Progressive Conservative candidate in the Ontario election asked a fellow Tory not to challenge him for their ridings nomination, at one point suggesting the other candidate could receive a well-paying job in a likely Conservative government if he dropped out of the race.The comments can be heard on a secretly made recording of the 2016 conversation obtained by the National Post between Parm Gill, the PC candidate in Milton constituency, and businessman Rashid Qadri.The opportunities are limitless, Gill, a former federal Conservative MP, tells Qadri at one point. Lets assume we form a government and you become a chief of staff.The party said Thursday it considered a complaint that Gill had exerted inappropriate pressure, but received three expert opinions including a letter from former police chief and federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino that he did nothing wrong.Gill said Thursday he only suggested to Qadri what sort of career opportunities might be available if the party won the June 7 election, and says any suggestion otherwise is desperation politics.Qadri eventually dropped out of the race for the nomination and endorsed Gill, who won the candidacy over Halton Region Coun. Mike Cluett a year ago.The emergence of the tape just three weeks before the election, though, underlines the internal squabbling and controversy that continues to plague the Tories.I would be honoured if I could have your support and If we can form a team, Gill says in the conversation at Qadris home. You tell me, what is it that interests you moving forward? How can I be helpful and I will do everything I can.The opportunities are limitless, but its what interests you, he says a moment later.When Qadri says that he is busy enough with his own company, Gill suggests he run for Milton council, then raises the prospect of a job at the Ontario legislature.Lets assume we form a government and you become a chief of staff, he says, to which Qadri replies only OK. For one of the ministers, right? So thats one way of really quickly picking everything up And the chief of staffs are actually paid very decently, believe it or not. Almost at the same pay grade as the MPPs or MPs. The 49th Congressional District stretches from La Jolla to Dana Point and is one of the most-watched races in the country this election season. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, announced in January that he would not seek re-election. Sixteen candidates are seeking to replace him. The San Diego Union-Tribune asked eight of the candidates to respond to several questions. Here are the responses. Why should voters choose you over your opponents in this election? I am the only Democrat in the race with considerable experience passing legislation at the state and federal levels. As a clean energy advocate and environmental attorney, I have worked on several successful efforts to combat climate change, reduce emissions from power generation, improve the energy efficiency of buildings, and deploy more electric vehicles and clean transportation solutions. I am also running a true grassroots campaign, having received over 16,000 individual contributions without reliance on self-funding or corporate PACs. I am proud that our endorsements in this race far outweigh those of the other Democrats this includes the National Organization for Women, Sierra Club, California League of Conservation Voters, Congressmember Adam Schiff (and seven other members of Congress), and the California Teachers Association, among many more. These organizations and individuals know that I am running the strongest campaign this year to defeat any potential challenger in November. Advertisement Meet the other candidates: 49th Congressional District candidate Doug Applegate on the issues Assemblyman Rocky Chavez on the issues in the 49th Congressional District San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar on the issues in the 49th Congressional District State tax official Diane Harkey on the issues in the 49th Congressional District 49th Congressional District candidate Sara Jacobs on the issues 49th Congressional District candidate Paul Kerr on the issues San Juan Capistrano Mayor Pro Tem Brian Maryott on the issues in the 49th Congressional District What will be your top domestic and international priority in Congress? My top domestic priority will be to accelerate sustainable energy and fight for environmental protection. For the last decade, I have been involved in the clean energy industry as an attorney and non-profit founder and director, and I will be a champion in Washington on issues of sustainability and climate change and their impact on our economy, health, and security. I want to put our district at the forefront of clean energy economic growth. My top international priority will be to advocate for a new Authorization for Use of Military Force(AUMF). The current AUMF is too broad and we cannot give President Trump a blank check to get us into unnecessary conflict without Congressional authorization. I strongly believe that war must be a last resort, not the first resort, and that we must exhaust diplomatic solutions before resorting to military engagement. I will oppose unnecessary military intervention overseas and believe we should prioritize the use of force where our own national security is at stake. I will support efforts to fight international and domestic terrorism without sacrificing our privacy rights or human rights. What California issue deserves more attention? We must ensure a long-term solution to securely move and store hazardous waste at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. I believe that we must address the short-term issues related to canister safety and explore federal legislation to allow states like California to set stricter nuclear waste safety standards than those mandated by the federal government. We must also get nuclear waste off the California coast as quickly and safely as possible, which means exploration of interim and permanent storage sites. I will work with community leaders to help solve this problem and wont need on-the-job training to make it happen. How specifically would you try to improve the economy and create more jobs? Our district has vibrant biotechnology, information technology, and clean energy industries and we must advocate for federal policies that support their continued growth. I will be a vocal advocate for increasing funding for basic scientific research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). President Trumps budget outline would have cut $6 billion from the NIH, a direct hit to our district that undermines a longstanding commitment to biomedical science. Because no full-time American worker should ever live in poverty, I support a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage to $15, implemented at a pace that allows employers to adapt their business plans. Exhaustive research over the past few decades suggests raising the minimum wage produces better outcomes not only for workers, but also for their children and families. Finally, I believe we must fight for additional Wall Street reform and prevent corporations from sending jobs and profits overseas. We also must guard against the sort of risky business and lending practices that led to our last financial collapse. What do you see as the No. 1 threat to America over the next couple years? I believe that the greatest threat facing the United States is from terrorists and other extremists getting their hands on nuclear weapons and nuclear materials. These groups cannot be deterred. If they acquire nuclear weapons, we must assume they will use them. We dont need more bluster about our nuclear capability what we need is a comprehensive approach to nonproliferation and arms control, combining U.S. action, stronger international rules, and cooperation with our friends and partners around the world. We also need to abide by our international agreements, and I disagreed with Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. What do you like most and least about President Donald Trump? I am no fan of Donald Trump. When President Trump tweets about fake news or his staff talks about alternative facts, I believe that its more important than ever to hold Washington accountable, protect the truth, and put country over party. We are living in unprecedented times that require accountability, transparency, and a free press. I believe Trump is the least qualified and most dishonest president in our nations history. I do give Trump credit for reawakening a level of civic activism, particularly among young people, that we have not seen for several decades. The San Diego County Sheriffs Department has had its share of problems under current leadership. Writing in San Diego CityBeat and The San Diego Union-Tribune, journalist Kelly Davis has detailed dozens of deaths in county jails between 2007 and 2012 that led to a fatality rate that was the highest of the states 10 largest jails and department explanations have never been persuasive. More recently, the departments high tolerance level for illegal cannabis dispensaries in unincorporated communities seems to go against the wishes of the county Board of Supervisors, whose members voted to ban even legal dispensaries. It also badly undercuts the city of San Diegos efforts to comply with Proposition 64 and set up legal, taxed, regulated pot shops. And this year alone, a sheriffs deputy has been charged with 14 sexual misconduct allegations, an assistant sheriff has been accused of repeated sexual harassment and a Superior Court jury rejected the conclusions of a Sheriffs Department investigation into a lurid, high-profile 2011 case, disagreeing with the departments view that Rebecca Zahaus bizarre death at a Coronado mansion was a suicide. Nonetheless, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board endorses Sheriff Bill Gore for a third term. While crime is broadly declining nationwide, its still fitting to credit local agencies in communities with low crime rates, such as San Diego County. And contrary to his Democratic opponents view that Gore, a Republican, is resistant to change, the sheriff made a plausible case in an interview with us that he is open to criticism and ready to embrace new approaches. His department appears to have an appropriate appreciation of suspects mental health issues, reflected in its hiring of mental health clinicians and arguably in the decline of jail suicides. He has embraced body-worn cameras and the public safety data revolution, hiring dozens of criminal analysts. And he touted a constant need for de-escalation training after the Stephon Clark shooting in Sacramento. Advertisement How law enforcement agents interact with minorities is one of Americas most sensitive issues. Just this month, an incident caught on video showing a Latino father and son being roughed up by sheriffs deputies in Vista led to Gores promise of a full investigation and to all charges, including resisting arrest, being dropped against the father. Theres no question that the Sheriffs Department and other agencies can improve on this front, but theres also no sign that Gores department has an extreme problem with this or that Gore wouldnt respond aggressively if told about it. More broadly, he stressed with us the importance of diversity in management, explained how he worked to improve Californias sanctuary state legislation by talking to Gov. Jerry Brown at length to strike a better balance in the bill, and emphasized how unauthorized immigrants wouldnt be arrested for reporting crimes. All those points short-circuit the campaign assertions of his challenger, sheriffs Commander Dave Myers, that Gores approach is outdated and reactive. Gores record could be better, but Myers hasnt made the case that Gore is resistant to change and criticism. A stronger challenger may succeed in 2022, but for now, we recommend Gores re-election. Read and listen to all of our candidate interviews & questionnaires. Bill Gore: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Dave Myers: Click to read the interview | Listen to the interview Share both interviews at once. Related: How The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board will make its 2018 election endorsements You will find all of our endorsements here. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion In November 2016, the last time California voters had to review state ballot measures, they faced a whopping 17 proposals of varying complexity. This June 5, thankfully, there are only five measures, and three are no-brainers deserving of voters support. Proposition 69 would write into the California Constitution a ban on using the new vehicle fee and diesel taxes approved by the Legislature last year for anything but transportation needs. Given past diversions of fuel taxes, this is an excellent idea. That it is being pushed to help blunt the Republican attempt to repeal the overall fuel tax hike enacted in 2017 isnt a good reason to oppose it. Proposition 71 would fix a glitch in state law that lets ballot measures that seem to have won approval take effect the day after an election before all votes are counted and voting tallies are official. This measure would require the secretary of state to certify passage before any proposition takes effect. Proposition 72 would allow homeowners to add rainwater capture systems without facing a property tax reassessment and higher levies. A case can be made that simple tax codes without such carve-outs are best, but a far stronger argument is that drought-plagued California should incentivize water conservation however it can. Advertisement These three measures deserve every voters support. Vote yes on state Propositions 69, 71 and 72. Read and listen to all of our candidate interviews & questionnaires. Related: How The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board will make its 2018 election endorsements You will find all of our endorsements here. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Liberals say Ford's star London candidate 'has to go' after racist and sexist comments surface from 2016The Ontario Liberals are suggesting Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford replace Andrew Lawton, Ford's hand-picked candidate in London West, after the Liberals revealed more recent racist and sexist comments made by the former media personality during his time with Rebel Media.This fresh round of controversy follows a number of other questionable comments made by Lawton on social media about women, Islam and the LGBTQ community, which he blames on his struggle with mental illness."We can go line-by-line through these things, but the fact of the matter is these do not represent who I am today," the former radio host told CBC London in an exclusive sit-down interview last week.On Wednesday, the Ontario Liberals published yet more controversial remarks made by the PC candidate for London West during his time as a contributor for Rebel Media, a right-wing political and social commentary website, made as recently as 2016.The party provided a link to a YouTube video that is an edited compilation of comments Lawton made with Rebel Media, against a backdrop of sinister music. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. OpposingDigit said: I am not ready to think that it is in the bag for Doug Ford. Perhaps more confident of my predictions or hopes by May 28th. We need to be careful with the knowledge that the media is "Corporate Media" and thus the polls and trends might well be slow in real time. Click to expand... I am a "soft" Conservative, middle of the spectrum ... what we used to know as Progressive-Conservative (No, you Neocons who have grown up watching Yankee politics ... "Progressive" comes from the historic merger of to right-of-centre parties ... the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party)Damned if I know how I'm going to vote, this time. The Liberals are as corrupt as the Borgias and should all be swinging from lamp posts. The NDP are just plain flaky and will leave the place fairly trashed (as they did back during Rae Days). Doug Ford is a crack head, dope-dealing criminal thug who can't pass up another opportunity to set up another Ford Nation Tammany Hall feeding trough for himself.None of the above, man. I first voted about a week after I turned 18, I am about to turn 62 and this is the first time that NOT ONE CHOICE has been acceptable. From my standpoint, the Conservative Party skipped over two exceptional leadership candidates and instead settled on the low, low, lowest common denominator. Bill Davis must be appalled. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2018 -- The worldwide contraceptives market is foreseen to experience exceptional competition with the emergence of a huge number of companies that work globally. Nevertheless, Bayer AG sustained as the victorious business in year 2016 ascribed to its several solid worldwide presence and item portfolio. This has supported other key players to create effective and affordable contraception products in coming years. Some other major firms in the contraceptives market are Cipla Inc., Mankind Pharma, Mithra Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceutical Company, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Allergan plc, Merck Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc., HLL Lifecare Limited, Reckitt Benckiser plc among the rest of them. Moreover, Pharmaceutical organizations ViiV Healthcare a worldwide expert HIV organization framed in 2009 through an extraordinary association amongst GSK and Pfizer and Belgium-based Janssen, have additionally grabbed the nanoparticles and are utilizing them to form a warehouse infusion into the muscle, which means one infusion could give HIV prescriptions to up to 3 months. Though the pediatric and oral plans are still years from making it on to the market, the main injections are in stage II and III clinical trials and may be accessible. Request Sample of Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=344 North America to Emerge Dominant Region among Others in Contraceptives Market According to Transparency Market Research (TMR) the global contraceptives market is anticipated to grow at a steady CAGR of 6.1% within the forecast period. This figure was evaluated to be worth US$ 22,050 mn in year 2016. This worth is expected to be around US$ 37,242.7 mn by year 2025. On the basis of the key product type, preventative gadgets holds importance with the fragment holding around 53.2% market share in year 2016. Healthcare medical store dominates among the major conveyance channels by through several great elements. Based on geography, North America accounts for interesting development prospects as compared with other major regions for contraceptives. Be that as it may, Asia Pacific is prepared to project the key development pace over the conjecture time frame. Progressiveness in Couples to Bring the Change in Usage of Contraceptives Within the key elements supporting the contraceptives market is the increasing awareness battles that engender contraceptives to act as an innovative technique to anticipate unintended or unplanned pregnancies that is contributing to their expanded reception within youthful and juvenile masses in both developing and developed nations. The movement that are by and large attempted by NGOs and government offices are run by celebrities that is favoring the use of contraceptives within the young crowd who possess the outlook to copy popular people. Read Report Overview: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/contraceptives-market.html In developing areas, mostly within the urban people, sexual desires and current instruction are significant elements for the increased usage of contraceptives. Rise in number of females in the nuclear family setups and worksapce are prompting expanding usage of contraceptives to abort the pregnancies. Moreover, couples are looking for the innovation for prevention to be received and directed with respect to family plans that are convenient for them. Moreover, the growing number of cases suffering from sexually transmitted infections is likewise encouraging the usage of contraceptives in global market. This is because of the fact that contraceptives, such as, topical prophylactic fix and condoms are successful to avoid or prevent sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS times of diseased sexual contacts with different accomplices. Download Brochure of Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=344 Awareness About Postponing the pregnancies to Act as an Advantage Further, the awareness crusades likewise offer master direction about selection of best strategy for contraception relying upon singular need. Overall health of women, frequency of sexual action, age, will to have kids in future, and family history are a portion of the components that gynecologists investigate before informing the strategy with respect to contraception. Finally, improvement of novel prophylactic items by encouraging reigning players is additionally working in favor for the contraceptives market. The study presented here is based on a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), titled, "Contraceptives Market (Product - Contraceptive Drugs (Oral Contraceptives (Combined Contraceptives and Mini-pills), Contraceptive Injectable, and Topical Contraceptive Patch) and Contraceptive Devices (Male Contraceptive Devices and Female Contraceptive Devices (Female Condoms, Contraceptive Diaphragms, Contraceptive Sponges, Contraceptive Vaginal Rings, Intrauterine Devices, Sub-dermal Contraceptive Implants, Non-surgical Permanent Contraception Devices)); Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacy (Public and Private), Independent Pharmacy, Online Platform, and Clinics) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 2025." About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMR's 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: Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2018 -- According to a new market research report "Data Wrangling Market by Business Function (Marketing and Sales, Finance, Operations, HR, and Legal), Component (Tools and Services), Deployment Model, Organization Size, Industry Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the data wrangling market size is expected to grow from USD 1.29 Billion in 2018 to USD 3.18 Billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.7% during the forecast period. The key growth factors for the global data wrangling market are the emergence of big data across industry verticals and the increasing need to incorporate AI and ML technologies to gain ultra-competitiveness and sustainability to stay afloat in the dynamic world. Browse 78 market data Tables and 43 Figures spread through 164 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Data Wrangling Market by Business Function (Marketing and Sales, Finance, Operations, HR, and Legal), Component (Tools and Services), Deployment Model, Organization Size, Industry Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/data-wrangling-market-7833295.html Healthcare and life sciences vertical is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period Data wrangling in healthcare is gaining traction. Various types of data related to patients, such as personal information; disease, treatment, and medical history; and payment data are generated, which need to cleaned, prepared and set in a proper format to do analysis. Data wrangling tools would be adopted exponentially with the rise of digitalization in the healthcare and life sciences vertical. A complete end-to-end digitalization in healthcare would only be possible if right tools are adopted to clean, de-duplicate, and format the data to investigate and analyze such datasets. The Operations business function is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period Enterprises are deploying comprehensive analytical solutions to recognize the log pattern, identify the root cause, and analyze the user behavior. Data wrangling tools are thus expected to be aggressively used toward cleaning, profiling, and standardizing data. It would help operations team to have a wider control over their systems. With edge analytics gaining widespread adoption, data wrangling tools are expected to be adopted across verticals. These tools would enable to filter out unwanted data and systemize the data that would be efficiently used by AI and ML algorithms to analyze and provide due insights. Operations being a core function is expected to adopt data wrangling tools significantly in near future. North America is expected to hold the largest market size; and APAC to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period North America is expected to continue to dominate the market during the forecast period. The region remains the single largest contributor when it comes to the adoption of data wrangling tools and services. This region houses some of the major vendors of data analytics and data wrangling tools, such as Trifacta, IBM, Hitchi Vantara, SAS, and Oracle that have their headquarters as well as direct sales offices over there. Moreover, growing partnerships, agreements, and strategic alliances also testify that the region will be at the forefront in the adoption of digital technologies. APAC is expected to grow at the highest rate in the global data wrangling market during the forecast period. Major APAC countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, China, Singapore, and Japan, are witnessing growth in big data and analytics startups. This would create numerous growth opportunities especially in China, India, and Bangladesh. With an increasing number of smart cities and proliferation of IoT devices, the region is expected to witness huge growth in the coming years. Inquiry before Buying @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=7833295 The major vendors offering data wrangling tools and services include Trifacta (US), Datawatch (US), Dataiku (France), IBM (US), SAS Institute (US), Oracle (US), Talend (US), Alteryx (US), TIBCO (US), Paxata (US), Informatica (US), Hitachi Vantara (US), Teradata (US), Datameer (US), Cooladata (US), Unifi (US), Rapid Insight (US), Infogix (US), Zaloni (US), Impetus (US), Ideata Analytics (India), Onedot (Switzerland), IRI (US), Brillio (US), and TMMData (US). These players have incorporated various strategies to expand their global presence to increase their market shares. The strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, product upgrades, and expansions are some of the major strategies embraced by these players. 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, "Knowledgestore" 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: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2018 -- In a highly consolidated business landscape, top five companies in the Iraq edible oils & fats market hold 70% of the overall market, states Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a new report. Marsan Gida San Ve Tic A.S. the holding company which owns five brands in the edible oil and fats category is a key factor for its high market share. Heavy investments for research & development, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions have been key competitive strategies adopted by key players in this market. Expanding production facility in cost-effective regions has also been on the growth chart of leading players in the Iraq edible oils & fats market. According to a market study by Transparency Market Research, the Iraq edible oils & fats market is predicted to be worth US$2.3 bn by the end of 2025, rising at 6.0% CAGR between 2017 and 2025. The demand in the market was valued at US$1.4 bn in 2017. Vis-a-vis revenue, vegetable & seed oil product segment holds prominence in the Iraq edible oils & fats market. The segment is anticipated to hold the leading 51.3% of the overall market by 2025. Among the key regions, Baghdad is predicted to retain its dominance in the overall market through 2025. Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14888 Substantial R&D to Develop High Quality Products to Benefit Market Primarily fuelling the Iraq edible oils & fats market is increasing demand for high quality edible oil. High quality edible oils are rich in vitamin E, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and omega-3. They have a high smoking point which helps retain nutritional value at higher temperatures. To cater to this demand, large companies involved in the production of edible oils in the country are engaged in research and development to manufacture high quality products. These companies are also making efforts to develop edible oils & fats for health savvy consumers. The increasing consumption of processed food which are mainly oil based has also been a key factor behind the growth of Iraq edible oils & fats market. Changing lifestyle and changing eating habits are fuelling demand for ready-to-eat packaged food. This is favoring the growth of Iraq edible oils & fats market. The growth of the tourism sector holds potential for the growth of Iraq edible oils & fats market. Due to decades of war, closed regimes, and recurrent political instability the Iraqi tourism sector is currently underdeveloped and neglected. However, as political stability and economic development gains momentum, Iraq has the potential to emerge as a global tourist destination. Long considered a destination for pilgrims, leisure tourism is pacing up albeit in low numbers. This is likely to indirectly benefit the edible oils & fats market. Apart from this, rising population leading to the increase in per capita consumption of edible oils is spiking the growth of Iraq edible oils & fats market. This, along with increasing disposable income of consumers which has led to increased spending on dining out and purchase of ready-to-eat foods. Obtain Report Details @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/edible-oils-fats-market.html Political Instability and Weak Economic Growth Challenges Market On the downside, political disturbances and economic upheavals are a key restraint to the growth of Iraq edible oils & fats market. Weak economic condition of large population along with rising population living below the poverty line due to the ongoing conflict have been the reasons International Monetary Fund has provided grant. Moreover, high costs of extraction of various types of cooking oils is restricting the entry of new players. This is slowing the growth of Iraq edible oils & fats market. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2018 -- The global ophthalmology surgical devices market was valued at approximately US$ 7,000.0 Mn in 2016 and is projected to register a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 4.0% from 2017 to 2025, according to a new report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR) titled "Ophthalmology Surgical Devices Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20172025". The report suggests that technological advancements and presence of leading players is projected to augment the demand for ophthalmology surgical devices in the next few years (from 2017 to 2025). North America dominates the global ophthalmology surgical devices market, due to high preference for surgical procedures for eye treatment in the region. Emerging markets such as China, India, Argentina, and Brazil are likely to promote growth of the market in Asia Pacific and Latin America from 2017 to 2025. Request for Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=41633 Strategic Collaborations and High Unmet Needs for Refractive Surgeries to drive Global Ophthalmology Surgical Devices Market Globally, disorders such as cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are the leading causes of blindness and visual impairment. The burden of eye diseases across the globe is expected to increase significantly in the next few years. According to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2010, cataract was responsible for causing blindness in 20 million people, which represented around 51% of the world blindness. Glaucoma was estimated to cause blindness in 4.5 million people, which was around 12% of the global blindness. The continuing worldwide demographic trend of people developing myopia is expected to augment the demand for refractive surgeries required to treat the disorder in the next few years. The rate of prevalence of myopia is as high as 70% or more in countries in East Asia. Companies in the ophthalmology surgical devices market are increasingly collaborating with one another as well as with research institutes in order to develop new technologies to address the current unmet needs for eye care. In May 2016, Bausch + Lomb and HOYA Surgical Optics entered into an exclusive agreement, which helped the former to market and commercialize the latter's wide portfolio of injectors and intraocular lenses (IOLs) in the U.S. Glaucoma Surgery Devices Segment to expand at a High Rate The cataract surgery devices segment dominates the global ophthalmology surgical devices market in terms of revenue. Factors such as launch of new and innovative products, large number of patients with cataract, and government initiatives for promotion of cataract surgeries are likely to fuel the segment during the forecast period. The glaucoma surgery devices segment is estimated to expand at a CAGR of more than 4.0% during the forecast period. Factors such as rising adoption of minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries, increasing elderly population, and growing awareness among people are driving the glaucoma surgery devices segment. According to a study published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the prevalence of glaucoma in people aged 4080 years in the U.S. was 64.3 million in 2013 and is set to increase to 76.0 million by 2020 and 111.8 million by 2040. Hospitals Segment dominates in terms of Market Share Based on end-user, the market has been classified into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and ophthalmic clinics. The hospitals segment holds a major market share. The segment is estimated to expand at a CAGR of more than 4.0% during the forecast period. High preference for hospitals by patients with cataract and diabetic retinopathy, presence of a large number of hospitals with highly equipped technologies, and favorable health care insurance coverage are key factors driving the hospitals segment. The segment is likely to be followed by the ophthalmic clinics segment in the next few years. Increase in the number of ophthalmologists and independent optometrists is a key fueling factor for the ophthalmic clinics segment. Enquiry for discount on this report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=41633 Asia Pacific to offer High Incremental Opportunity In terms of value, North America led the global ophthalmology surgical devices market in 2016. Rapid adoption for newer technologies and large pool of patients with eye diseases are factors responsible for the major share held by North America in the global market. However, various governments in the region are offering funds for R&D, encouraging pioneering research in the field of ophthalmic laser. Europe is the second-largest market for ophthalmology surgical devices. Increasing baby boomer population and rising incidence of eye disorders in the region are likely to propel the Europe ophthalmology surgical devices market during the forecast period. Increased participation of governments in the development of health care infrastructure and increasing disposable income of people in the region fuel the Asia Pacific ophthalmology surgical devices market. The market in Middle East & Africa was valued at approximately US$ 190.0 Mn in 2016 and is likely to expand at a CAGR of more than 3.0% from 2017 to 2025. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are likely to offer immense growth opportunities to the ophthalmology surgical devices market during the forecast period. Large number of cataract surgeries performed in countries such as Argentina and Bolivia, significant improvements, and initiatives by governments in these regions are factors that fuel the ophthalmology surgical devices market in Latin America and Middle East & Africa. Key Players such as Alcon, Johnson & Johnson, Vision Care, Inc., and Carl Zeiss Meditec AG to continue to lead Global Ophthalmology Surgical Devices Market The report also provides profiles of leading players operating in the global ophthalmology surgical devices market such as Alcon, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., Bausch & Lomb, Inc., IRIDEX Corporation, Lumenis Ltd., NIDEK CO., LTD., STAAR Surgical Company, HOYA Corporation, and Glaukos Corporation. Launch of new products and strengthening of product distribution channels across different geographies are key strategies adopted by several major players. Carl Zeiss Meditec AG aims to maintain balanced distribution of revenues across individual markets. The company currently generates around 33% of its revenues from the market in EMEA, the Americas, and APAC. Request for the TOC of the Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/41633 About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals. Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories. TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision. valley cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2018 -- Pipe Insulation Products Market: Introduction Global pipes industry is largely driven by industrial, construction and agriculture sectors. Recent years these above mentioned sectors witnessed exponential growth globally. Pipe insulation is the process of insulating pipes with foam wraps, flexible films, some coatings or any other rigid insulation products to protect them from heat, water or moisture, chemical interactions, corrosion, breakage or damages during shipping etc. In recent few years, the global pipe insulation products market witnessed many technological and economic developments and improvements. The global pipe insulation products market is much diversified with many applications and wide variety of products. Pipe insulation products are used in chemical industry, energy and power transmission industry, paper industry, agriculture, building and construction, automotive, electronics and electrical industry, food and beverage industry, etc. Pipe insulation products can be rigid as well as flexible. They use raw materials like stone wool, polyethylene, glass fiber, chemical coatings, rubber, aluminum foil, wood etc. Recent trends in global pipe insulation products market shows a lucrative growth in recent years. Request For TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4794 Pipe Insulation Products: Market Dynamics Globally, pipe insulation products market is witnessing a healthy growth due to increased demand for pipes in chemicals, building and construction, energy production, automotive, electronics and semiconductor, paper and plastic, oil & gas industries. Extreme temperatures both heat and cold conditions, chemical and gas interactions, contact with water and moisture cause many defects in pipes and the contents flowing through the pipes. These defects can cause catastrophe or calamities. To prevent these one needs to insulate these pipes very well both internally and externally. Pipes has to be insulated well during shipping and transportation from manufacturer's locations to end users location, to protect them from breakages or damages. Growing environmental safety awareness is influencing the global pipe insulation products market. Workers health safety is a high priority in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy and power and other manufacturing industries. Pipe insulation products serves requirement of efficient and long life sustainable production and manufacturing plants. This factor is also true for automotive. Continuously growing applications of pipe insulation products in different end use industries is driving the demand of global pipe insulation products market. Pipe Insulation Products: Market Segmentation The pipe insulation products market is segmented on the basis of product type, material and end use industries. On the basis of product type, the global pipe insulation products market is segmented into thin films, foils, wraps, rigid insulation products (wood covers, fiber glass covers, rigid foam, and others), stone wool insulation covers, coating materials and others. On the basis of material type, the global pipe insulation products market is segmented into plastic (PP, PE, PA, PVC and others), paper and paperboard, foam, stone wool, fiber glass, wood, rubber, chemical coatings and others. On the basis of end use industries, the global pipe insulation products market is segmented into chemicals industries, energy and power sector, automotive industry, building and construction sector, paper production, plastic industry, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and others. Pipe Insulation Products Market: Regional outlook Pipe Insulation Products market has been segmented on the basis of region into North America, Latin America Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Japan. China, India and Bangladesh are major contributors for the growth of APEJ pipe insulation products market. The growing modern agriculture methods and manufacturing activities in these countries is driving the pipe insulation products market. North America and Western Europe collectively dominates the global pipe insulation products market. The matured industrial and agriculture industries in U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, and France are the major contributors. Request For Sample @https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4794 Pipe Insulation Products Market: Key players Some of the players in the global pipe insulation products market are Cellofoam GmbH & Co. KG, Great Lakes Textiles., ?ZOCAM TIC. ve SAN. A.S., Kuwait Insulating Material Manufacturing Co. (KIMMCO), Armacell UK Ltd, SYNAVAX, DUNMORE, OWENS CORNING, Johns Manville, Knauf Insulation, Paroc Group, L'ISOLANTE K-FLEX S.p.A., ODE YALITIM, Kaimann GmbH, GILSULATE INTERNATIONAL, INC. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2018 -- Private healthcare is referred as privately funded healthcare facility. Private healthcare has various sectors such as acute medical care, private medical insurance, long term care, psychiatric care and primary care. Private healthcare is funded by private medical insurance policies and by out of pocket expenditure. Long term care healthcare sector is the largest sector in the private healthcare market. The private healthcare sector varies with size and responsibilities in various countries. In many countries, private healthcare sector is extremely fragmented. Private healthcare sector has many small practices owned by healthcare professionals. In addition, private healthcare sector is becoming corporate. North America dominates the global market for private healthcare due to large number of aging population and increasing lifestyle associated diseases. Asia followed by the Europe are expected to show high growth rates in the next five years in the global private healthcare market. China and India are expected to be the fastest growing private healthcare markets in Asia-Pacific region. Some of the key driving forces for private healthcare market in emerging countries are large pool of patients, increasing healthcare awareness and increasing healthcare expenditure. In addition, in the emerging countries due to lack of resources the government is not able to meet healthcare needs. Request for Table of Contents @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/3393 In recent times there is increased use of private healthcare due to increasing demand of healthcare services. Increasing geriatric population, improved reimbursement policies and increasing incidence of chronic diseases are some of the key factors driving the growth for the global private healthcare market. In addition, high amount of National Health Services (NHS) outsourcing and emergence of advance medical technologies and treatment are also fuelling the growth of the global private healthcare market. However, high cost involvement and economic slowdown are some of the major factors restraining the growth for global private healthcare market. Increasing medical tourism and less waiting time for treatments would develop opportunity for the global private healthcare market. The trend for the global private healthcare market is increasing demand for diagnostic treatment and care. Some of the major companies operating in the global private healthcare market are Bupa Care Homes Plc, Bupa Insurance Ltd., Capita Health and Wellbeing Ltd., Four Seasons Healthcare Ltd., Colombia Asia, MedLife and Hca International. Get Sample Copy of this Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3393 Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/18/2018 -- Drilling fluids are the backbone of drilling operations and serve various purposes. These fluids are mainly utilized in the drilling of subterranean wells. Drilling fluids provide primary well control of subsurface pressure by a combination of density and additional pressure acting on the fluid column (surface imposed or annular). Drilling fluids are also known as drilling muds. The various principal functions of drilling fluids include maintaining well control, controlling subsurface pressure, maintaining wellbore stability chemically and mechanically and transmitting hydraulic energy to the drill bit and down hole tools. Various types of drilling fluids are utilized in offshore and onshore oil and gas applications, such as oil-based fluids, water-based fluids, non-aqueous fluids and synthetic fluids, among others. Water-based drilling fluids are one of the most widely utilized drilling fluids among all and are expected to hold a significant market share. These fluids are extensively utilized for offshore drilling and also have minimum toxicity among all. Oil-based drilling fluids operate efficiently but carry a high risk of environmental hazards, due to which the trend is shifting towards synthetic fluids. Global Drilling Fluids Market: Segmentation The global drilling fluids market can be segmented on the basis of product type and application. Based on the product type, the global drilling fluids market can be segmented into: Oil-based fluid Water-based fluids Synthetic fluids Others (non-aqueous fluid, reservoir drilling fluid, etc.) Based on the application, the global drilling fluid market can be segmented into: Onshore Offshore Request Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/21379 Global Drilling Fluids Market: Dynamics Growing investments across the value chain of the oil & gas industry are among the key factors likely to support the demand for drilling fluids in the near future. Recently, Exxon Mobil Corporation announced an investment of US$ 20.0 Bn through 2022 to expand its oil refining plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast, which in turn will boost the demand for drilling fluids in the coming years. Further, initiatives towards the development of the oil and gas industry in developing economies are supporting the demand for drilling fluids in the APAC region. The government of India has allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in upstream and private sector refining projects. Further, surging investments in Mexican oil & gas exploration, production and drilling activities are expected to create a demand for drilling fluids in the near future. However, stringent government and environmental regulations regarding the utilization and disposal of drilling fluids along with the geopolitical issues in major oil producing regions are anticipated to restrain the market growth over the forecast period. Global Drilling Fluids Market: Regional Outlook Globally, the drilling fluids market is expected to be dominated by North America, owing to the rising exploration of shale gas in Canada and the U.S. Latin America is anticipated to grow with a significant rate in the near future. Increasing drilling activities in the offshore Venezuela and Brazil are anticipated to boost the demand for drilling fluids in the region. Government support and subsidies for exploration and production companies to enhance oil and gas production in developing economies, such as India and China, are anticipated to boost the demand for drilling fluids in the Asia Pacific region. Visit For TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/21379 Global Drilling Fluids Market: Market Participants Examples of some of the market participants identified across the value chain of the global drilling fluids market include Schlumberger Limited, Baker Hughes Incorporated, Anchor Drilling Fluids USA, LLC, National Oilwell Varco, and Gumpro Drilling Fluids Pvt. Ltd. Implementation of nanotechnology in various industries has prompted the market participants to apply the nanotechnology in the oil and gas industry. Prominent manufacturers of drilling fluids are involved in the heavy investments in the development of drilling fluids technology using nanotechnology. The global drilling fluids market is one of the most consolidated market as there are limited number of players available in the market and most of the market is hold by the top global players. Annual lead emissions in Europe closely varied with historical events, including imperial expansion, wars, and major plagues, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Thousands of years ago, during the height of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, lead emissions from sources such as the mining and smelting of lead-silver ores in Europe drifted with the winds over the ocean to Greenland a distance of more than 2,800 miles (4,600 km) and settled onto the ice, explained Desert Research Institutes Professor Joe McConnell and co-authors. Year after year, as fallen snow added layers to the ice sheet, lead emissions were captured along with dust and other airborne particles and became part of the ice-core record that scientists use today to learn about conditions of the past. Professor McConnell and colleagues used ice samples from the North Greenland Ice Core Project to measure, date and analyze European lead emissions that were captured in Greenland ice between 1100 BC and 800 CE. Our record of sub-annually resolved, accurately dated measurements in the ice core starts in 1100 BC during the late Iron Age and extends through antiquity and late antiquity to the early Middle Ages in Europe a period that included the rise and fall of the Greek and Roman civilizations, Professor McConnell said. We found that lead pollution in Greenland very closely tracked known plagues, wars, social unrest and imperial expansions during European antiquity. The researchers made more than 21,000 precise lead and other chemical measurements to develop an accurately dated, continuous record for the 1900-year period. To determine the magnitude of European emissions from the lead pollution levels measured in the Greenland ice, they used state-of-the-art atmospheric transport model simulations. Most of the lead emissions from this time period are believed to have been linked to the production of silver, which was a key component of currency. Because most of the emissions during these periods resulted from mining and smelting of lead-silver ores, lead emissions can be seen as a proxy or indicator of overall economic activity, Professor McConnell said. Using their detailed ice-core chronology, the team looked for linkages between lead emissions and significant historical events. Their results show that lead pollution emissions began to rise as early as 900 BC, as Phoenicians expanded their trading routes into the western Mediterranean. Lead emissions accelerated during a period of increased mining activity by the Carthaginians and Romans primarily in the Iberian Peninsula and reached a maximum under the Roman Empire. The highest sustained levels of lead pollution emissions coincided with the height of the Roman Empire during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, a period of economic prosperity known as the Pax Romana. The record also shows that lead emissions were very low during the last 80 years of the Roman Republic, a period known as the Crisis of the Roman Republic. The nearly four-fold higher lead emissions during the first two centuries of the Roman Empire compared to the last decades of the Roman Republic indicate substantial economic growth under Imperial rule, said Professor Andrew Wilson, from the University of Oxford. The scientists also found that lead emissions rose and fell along with wars and political instability, particularly during the Roman Republic, and took sharp dives when two major plagues struck the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The first, called the Antonine Plague, was probably smallpox. The second, called the Plague of Cyprian, struck during a period of political instability called the third-century crisis. The great Antonine Plague struck the Roman Empire in CE 165 and lasted at least 15 years. The high lead emissions of the Pax Romana ended exactly at that time and didnt recover until the early Middle Ages more than 500 years later, Professor Wilson said. _____ Joseph R. McConnell et al. Lead pollution recorded in Greenland ice indicates European emissions tracked plagues, wars, and imperial expansion during antiquity. PNAS, published online May 14, 2018; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1721818115 Migraine is a severe neurologic disease that profoundly impacts millions of patients in the United States Aimovig is the first and only FDA-approved treatment to block the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor (CGRP-R), which plays an important role in migraine Aimovig was consistently shown to reduce monthly migraine days, including in more difficult to treat populations, with many patients achieving at least a 50% reduction The digital press release with multimedia content can be accessed here: Basel, May 17, 2018 - Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AimovigTM (erenumab) for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. Aimovig is a novel therapeutic approach as the first and only FDA-approved treatment specifically developed to prevent migraine by blocking the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor (CGRP-R), which is believed to play a critical role in migraine. Aimovig 70 mg is self-administered once monthly via Amgen's device, the SureClick autoinjector and does not require a loading dose. Some patients may benefit from a dosage of 140 mg once monthly. "The FDA approval of Aimovig demonstrates Novartis commitment to bringing meaningful new medicines to patients with complex neurologic diseases, like migraine," said Paul Hudson, CEO Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "Aimovig is the first therapy of its kind targeting the CGRP receptor, and has demonstrated robust efficacy across the spectrum of migraine. We look forward to working closely with Amgen in the U.S. to bring this treatment to physicians and their patients, who could now gain days of their lives back each month." In Phase II and III studies in chronic and episodic migraine, Aimovig resulted in significant reductions in monthly migraine days and use of acute migraine medications compared to placebo. These effects on monthly migraine days have been shown to be sustained for up to 15 months in an ongoing open-label extension study in episodic migraine (four to 14 headache days per month). The efficacy, tolerability and safety of Aimovig has been assessed in more than 3,000 patients, including in a Phase IIIb study (LIBERTY) and an ongoing open-label extension of up to five years in duration. In LIBERTY, a dedicated study in difficult-to-treat populations - those with episodic migraine who have failed two to four prior treatments - patients taking Aimovig 140 mg had nearly three-fold higher odds of having their migraine days cut by half or more compared to placebo[1]. In clinical studies of Aimovig, the most common adverse reactions were injection site reactions and constipation. "Having a treatment designed to specifically address the complex nature of migraine is an important and welcome step forward in headache medicine. Aimovig offers self-administration with proven efficacy across a spectrum of patients, including in those who have previously tried other preventive therapies without success," said Stewart J. Tepper, MD, Professor of Neurology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. "Importantly, in clinical trials, Aimovig patients were able to start and stay on therapy - with a discontinuation rate of two percent due to adverse events - and experienced sustained migraine prevention." Amgen and Novartis are committed to supporting the migraine community and to helping appropriate patients with affordable access to Aimovig. The Aimovig AllyTM product support program has been created to help patients navigate insurance coverage and identify potential access resources for those who are uninsured or underinsured. The U.S. list price of Aimovig is $575 for once monthly 70 or 140 mg single-use prefilled SureClick autoinjectors, or $6,900 annually. The price of Aimovig reflects the value it brings to patients and society, including the financial impact on sufferers, caregivers and employers, while also factoring in critical issues such as patient affordability, and fair and timely access. Aimovig is expected to be available to patients in the U.S. within one week. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for Aimovig is under review. Novartis expects approval in the EU in the coming months. About AimovigTM (erenumab) Aimovig is the only FDA-approved treatment specifically developed to prevent migraine by blocking the calcitonin gene related peptide receptor (CGRP-R), which is believed to play a critical role in migraine. AimovigTM has been studied in several large, global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to assess its safety and efficacy in migraine prevention. More than 3,000 patients have participated in our overall clinical trial program across the four placebo-controlled Phase II and Phase III clinical studies and their open-label extensions. About LIBERTY LIBERTY (NCT03096834) is a Phase IIIb, multicenter, randomized 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety and efficacy of Aimovig in patients with episodic migraine (defined in the trial as four to 14 migraine days per month at baseline) who have failed up to four prior preventive treatments for migraine[1]. In the study, 246 participants with episodic migraine who had two to four previous treatment failures were randomized to receive Aimovig 140 mg or placebo during the 12-week double-blind treatment phase. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients with at least a 50% reduction of monthly migraine days from baseline over the last four weeks of the double-blind treatment phase of the study (weeks 9-12). The study includes an ongoing 52-week open-label extension study. About Migraine Migraine is a distinct neurological disease[2]. It involves recurrent attacks of moderate to severe head pain that is typically pulsating, often unilateral and associated with nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, sound and odors[3]. Migraine is associated with personal pain, disability and reduced quality of life, and financial cost to society[4]. It has a profound and limiting impact on an individual's abilities to carry out everyday tasks and was reported by the World Health Organization to be one of the top 10 causes of years lived with disability for men and women[5]. It remains under-recognized and under-treated[4],[6]. Existing preventive therapies have been repurposed from other indications and are often associated with poor tolerability and lack of efficacy, with high discontinuation rates among patients[7]. About Novartis and Amgen Neuroscience Collaboration In August 2015, Novartis entered into a global collaboration with Amgen to develop and commercialize pioneering treatments in the field of migraine and Alzheimer's disease. The collaboration focuses on investigational Amgen drugs in the migraine field, including Aimovig (approved by the FDA in May 2018 for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults) and AMG 301 (currently in Phase II development). In April 2017, the collaboration was expanded to include co-commercialization of Aimovig in the U.S. For the migraine program, Amgen retains exclusive commercialization rights in Japan, and Novartis has exclusive commercialization rights in Europe, Canada and rest of world. Also, the companies are collaborating in the development and commercialization of a beta-secretase 1 (BACE) inhibitor program in Alzheimer's disease. The oral therapy CNP520 (currently in Phase III for Alzheimer's disease) is the lead molecule and further compounds from both companies' pre-clinical BACE inhibitor programs may be considered as follow-on molecules. Novartis in Neuroscience Novartis has a strong ongoing commitment to neuroscience and to bringing innovative treatments to patients suffering from neurological conditions where there is a high unmet need. We are committed to supporting patients and physicians in multiple disease areas, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Epilepsy and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and have a promising pipeline in MS, Alzheimer's disease, migraine and specialty neurology (e.g., neuropathic pain). Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "could," "expected," "expects," "look forward," "believed," "ongoing," "commitment," "committed," "step forward," "investigational," "promising," "pipeline," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for Aimovig or the other investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products or the collaboration with Amgen. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Aimovig or the other investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that the collaboration with Amgen will achieve any or all of its intended goals and objectives, or be commercially successful. Nor can there be any guarantee that Aimovig or the other investigational or approved products described in this press release will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products, and the collaboration with Amgen, could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political and economic conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.1 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 124,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com References [1] Reuter, U et al. Efficacy and safety of erenumab in episodic migraine patients with 2-4 prior preventive treatment failures: Results from the Phase 3b LIBERTY study. Emerging science abstract presented at AAN, 24 April 2018, Los Angeles. [2] Migraine Research Foundation. Migraine Fact Sheet. 2015. http://www.migraineresearchfoundation.org/fact-sheet.html. Accessed March 2018 [3] National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Migraine-Information-Page (link is external). Accessed March 2018 [4] World Health Organization. Headache disorders. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/ (link is external). Accessed March 2018 [5] Global Health Estimates 2015: Disease burden by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region, 2000-2015. Geneva, World Health Organization; 2016. [6] Diamond S et al. Patterns of Diagnosis and Acute and Preventive Treatment for Migraine in the United States: Results from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study. Headache. 2007;47(3):355-63. [7] Blumenfeld AM et al. Patterns of use and reasons for discontinuation of prophylactic medications for episodic migraine and chronic migraine: results from the second international burden of migraine study (IBMS-II). Headache. 2013 Apr;53(4):644-55. # # # Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 7999 (direct) +41 79 593 4202 (mobile) eric.althoff@novartis.com Angela Fiorin Novartis Global Pharma Communications +41 61 324 8631 (direct) +41 79 752 6955 (mobile) angela.fiorin@novartis.com Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com The tugs will be operated by Corpetrolsa subsidiary DLEN to support its bunkering operation. Corpetrolsa Group operates its own fleet of tankers in the 2,000 to 7,000 dwt range and the three new tugs will be used to assist them in the Ecuadorean ports of Esmeraldas and La Libertad. The vessels were already in stock at Damen Shipyards Gorinchem and will be supplied in their standard format without modifications. In all, the time from first contact to the signing of contract was no more than two months, with the delivery of the vessels to just an additional two months. Ecuador is modernising rapidly as a country, added Vicente Bustos. In order to do this we need the best technology to the highest standards available. These new tugs will be in tune with that drive to achieve our goals. More on Damen in Latin America Damen Shiprepair Curacao increases capacity with two floating docks Damen delivers five tugs to Empresa de Navegacion Caribe, Cuba These are the first tugs that we have owned, and we chose Damen as our supplier based on their strong reputation in the world of tugs, said Vicente Bustos of Corpetrolsa Group. Also the quality is good, the price is right, and they will provide a safe operating environment for our employees. As we previously hired tug service providers to manoeuvre our tankers this deal will actually save us money in the long term. This has been a very quick and amiable process that began with an online enquiry and it has been a pleasure to work with Corpetrolsa Group and to be able to meet their needs in such a timely fashion. We look forward to supporting them in the development of their business in the future, said Marnix Brouwer, sales manager Latin America at Damen Shipyards Group. Key points in the process include a move towards cleaner fuels with less polluting emissions and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions through lower or even zero carbon fuels. This however raises the question of how the industry gets to the former objective while also having the latter one in mind as the ultimate goal. Fresh from seeing the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reach agreement on cutting carbon emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared with 2008 levels, Poulsson noted that the much touted use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) does have its limitations. LNG is for sure an interim solution and a good one but I dont think its a very long term solution, he suggested. While LNG does not emit sulphur dioxide when it is combusted and as such has been seen as a cleaner burning fuel which is a good solution to the upcoming sulphur emissions cap in 2020, it does however still create carbon dioxide in the combustion process. On suggestions about the lack of availability of low sulphur fuel Poulsson said: Everything that I hear from oil companies in Singapore, which is one the worlds top refining centres, and elsewhere, is that they will have it available when the time comes. Read More: Scrubbers not the best solution for sulphur emisssions He noted that while the companies are remaining relatively vague about their plans, there is a confidence that they will deliver when necessary. Its hard to pin them down but you get the very strong impression that they know whats happening and come the time they will have it available, Poulsson said. Meanwhile reiterating the ICS stand on market-based mechanisms Poulsson said: We are very much against market-based measures but we accept it may well not go off the agenda and in the end if it is implemented then the bunker levy scheme could be the only way that will work. He highlighted the fact however that implementation will be tough where the devil will be in the details. For example, he asked: How do you administer this, and the funds really do go to the purpose we would want it, for research and so on? The project has developed a dry bulk carrier vessel that features an unprecedented high level of energy efficiency. The carriers design is based on LNG fuelled propulsion. Arista Shipping has also previously signed a Letter of Intent with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding to build a series of up to 20 bulk carriers to the new design. Read More: Project Forward inks LOI with Yangzijiang to build 20 LNG-powered bulkers The selection of Eniram to participate was based on its strong track record and in-house competences in the utilisation of ship data and modelling to provide accurate recommendations for improving efficiency, the company said in a press release. The vessel design will enable compliance with all known, applicable, and anticipated regulations proposed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). These include the Energy Efficiency Design Index 2025, SOx post 2020, and NOx Tier III without any after-treatment. We are delighted to be a part of this exciting project, which will create a vessel with the levels of performance and sustainability needed as the marine industry enters a new era. Our input will help ensure that operational visibility will be maximised, and that the new ships can operate at optimal efficiency, said Giannis Moraitakis, E&A business and sales development manager, Wartsila Marine Solutions. Project Forward represents a milestone for the shipping industry, since it brings a substantial discontinuity to traditional ship design and performance. The project establishes LNG as a global marine fuel, and we welcome Enirams involvement. They have proven expertise in energy management technology, and this know-how will be of great importance. The aim of the project is to arrive at a fully elaborated decision support tool, which will be extremely valuable in enabling us to predict, monitor, optimise, and also demonstrate the actual performance of the vessels, said Arista Shipping technical manager Antonis Trakakis. Read MoreL LNG fuelled vessels go big with Project Forward: ABS Wartsila is also a part of the project team because of its experience and leading technologies in LNG propulsion. The propulsion design concept is to be based on a novel arrangement featuring just two highly efficient Wartsila 31DF dual-fuel engines without additional gensets. Other parties involved include Finnish ship designer Deltamarin, classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and GTT, the French LNG membrane containment system designer. CALGARY, Alberta, May 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Razor Energy Corp. (Razor or the Company) (TSXV:RZE) is pleased to announce its first quarter 2018 financial and operating results. Selected financial and operational information is outlined below and should be read in conjunction with Razors unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and managements discussion and analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the Companys website www.razor-energy.com . Q1 2018 HIGHLIGHTS OPERATING Generated adjusted funds flow of $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2018 compared to $0.4 million in the first quarter of 2017. Reported $0.3 million after tax net income in the first quarter of 2018 compared to a $1.8 million net loss in the same period last year. Achieved average production of 4,353 boe/d in the first quarter of 2018, a 42% increase from the same period in 2017 due to Kaybob acquisitions, Kaybob area drilling, and general reactivation and optimization activities. Net revenues increased 164% in the first quarter of 2018 from the same period in 2017, due to three months of production in 2018 compared to two months in 2017, coupled with increased production and a 18% increase in realized prices. ACQUISITIONS Acquired additional non-operated working interest positions to consolidate Razor's existing Kaybob Triassic Units 1 and 2 for $4.7 million cash consideration. CAPITAL Invested $14.4 million in its capital program in the first quarter of 2018, comprising mainly of a four well drilling program and the continuation of the well reactivation program. Reactivated 7 gross (6.4 net) wells during the first quarter of 2018, resulting in 259 boe/d of additional production. FINANCING Obtained additional $15.0 million in debt financing from Alberta Investment Management Corporation ("AIMCo") for a total amended term loan facility of $45.0 million due January 31, 2021. NEAR AND MEDIUM-TERM OBJECTIVES Reducing operating costs; Reactivating suspended wells; Improving production efficiency through recompletions, workovers, stimulations, and waterflood optimizations; and Acquiring and consolidating complementary assets. SELECT QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS The following tables summarizes key financial and operating highlights associated with the Companys financial performance. Three Months Ended March 31, ($000's unless otherwise stated) 2018 2017 Production 1 Oil (bbl/d) 3,032 2,032 Gas (mcf/d) 3,286 1,932 NGL (bbl/d) 774 721 Total (boe/d) 4,353 3,075 Oil and natural gas revenue Oil and NGL sales 21,529 8,456 Natural gas sales 705 278 Blending and processing income 2,375 371 Other revenue 233 447 Total revenue 24,842 9,552 Cash flows from (used in) operating activities 5,457 (3,229 ) Funds flow 2 5,318 161 Per share -basic and diluted 0.34 0.02 Adjusted funds flow 2 5,530 372 Per share - basic and diluted 0.35 0.04 Net income (loss) 267 (1,829 ) Per share - basic and diluted 0.02 (0.18 ) Weighted average number of shares outstanding (basic and diluted) 15,724,934 10,048,376 Capital expenditures 14,402 979 Net assets acquired 3 4,641 17,089 Netback ($/boe) Oil and gas sales 56.76 48.14 Royalty (12.70 ) (9.04 ) Operating expenses (27.51 ) (30.83 ) Operating netback 2 16.55 8.27 Net blending and processing income 2 3.89 1.95 Other revenues 0.59 0.42 General and administrative (2.99 ) (3.20 ) Acquisition and transaction costs (0.04 ) (5.38 ) Interest (2.69 ) (2.68 ) Corporate Netback 2 15.31 (0.62 ) 1) Production for the three months ended March 31, 2017 represents the daily average production from February 1 to March 31, 2017. 2) Refer to "Non-IFRS measures". 3) Net acquisitions exclude non-cash items and is net of post-closing adjustments. March 31, December 31, ($000's) 2018 2017 Total assets 160,887 133,904 Cash 13,105 7,487 Long-term debt (principal) 45,000 30,000 Net debt 1 42,872 27,215 Number of shares outstanding 15,767,534 15,511,934 1) Refer to "Non-IFRS measures". OPERATIONAL UPDATE Razor's production during the first quarter of 2018 averaged 4,353 boe/d, of which approximately 87% was light oil and NGLs. Production for the first quarter of 2018 increased 42% from the same period in 2017 due to the acquisitions of the Kaybob assets, along with well reactivations. Swan Hills production is down 11% from 3,425 boe/d in Q4 2017 mostly due to pipeline issues in the first quarter of 2018, which have since been addressed. In the second quarter of 2018, Swan Hills production is expected to be fully back online however, Kaybob production will be curtailed by planned area gas plant turnarounds. Guidance of 5,000 boe/d average in 2018 remains unaffected. During the first quarter of 2018, the Company realized an average operating netback of $16.55/boe up 100% from the same quarter last year, on higher realized prices and lower operating costs. Royalty rates averaged 22% in the first quarter of 2018, compared to 19% for the same period in 2017. The increase in royalty is due to increased commodity prices. Operating expenses decreased 11% in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, mostly due to operational efficiencies that were offset by increased workover activity. Workovers and facility and pipeline integrity expenses averaged $3.43/boe in the first quarter of 2018 compared to $1.91/boe in 2017. The top cost drivers, fuel and electricity, labour, property taxes, and repairs and workovers, accounted for 68% of total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2018 (Q1 2017 - 64%), electricity and fuel accounted for 31% of operating expenses in Q1 2018 compared to 22% in Q1 2017, mostly due to a 53% increase in electricity average pool prices in Q1 2018 vs Q1 2017. Pipeline and facility repairs and workovers account for 19% of operating expenses in the quarter up from 13% in the same period last year, mostly due to increased pipeline integrity work. Management is focused on continuous improvement of operational efficiencies to drive down key cost drivers. Specifically, the Company is working to reduce reliance on grid-based electricity through natural gas power generation along with electrical contract buydowns to align with current demand and anticipates electricity costs to decrease beginning in the third quarter of 2018. Management is also executing various well reactivation projects to increase production which reduces the per boe impact of fixed operating costs. Net blending and processing income for the first quarter of 2018 increased significantly by 330% to $1.5 million compared to $0.4 million in the same period in 2017, mostly due to increased volumes and the optimization of the company's blending facility. CAPITAL PROGRAM During the three months ended March 31, 2018, Razor invested $14.4 million on a combination of reactivations and drilling activities. In the first quarter of 2018, the Company reactivated 7 gross (6.4 net) wells, resulting in 259 boe/d of net additional production. Razors Q1 2018 four well development program in the Kaybob area has been completed. Early oil and gas production is under performing to expectation, however fluid flow rate and pressure is relatively strong. Evaluation of these wells has resumed in recent days after testing was curtailed in April and May due to the aforementioned Kaybob area gas plant turnarounds. Management will continue to evaluate these wells, however until the results are better understood the capital allocated to drilling the remaining 4 well in the 2018 budget has been reallocated to the well reactivation program. ABANDONMENT, RECLAMATION, AND REMEDIATION EXPENDITURES Razor inherited decommissioning liabilities included in its Swan Hills and Kaybob acquisitions. In Q1 2018 the Company spent $0.2 million on abandonment, reclamation, and remediation expenditures. The Company continues to invest in end-of-life well and facility operations and has 39 wells remaining in the Inactive Well Compliance Program it needs to address over the next two years. INVESTOR RELATIONS We are pleased to announce the retention of Alliance Capital Partners (Alliance) and principal Gordon Aldcorn to provide investor relation services to Razor. Alliances involvement will enhance the visibility of Razor and reinforce the Company's profile in the capital markets community. We chose Alliance as its values, standards and breadth of knowledge and reach into the financial networks is exceptional. In consideration of the services to be provided, the monthly fees incurred by Razor will be a cash consideration of up to $7,000 CDN, starting May 1, 2018 for a period of six months ending on October 31, 2018 and on a month to month basis thereafter. Alliance does not have any interest, directly or indirectly, in Razor or its securities, or any right or intent to acquire such an interest. ABOUT RAZOR Razor is a publicly-traded junior oil and gas development and production company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, concentrated on acquiring, and subsequently enhancing, producing oil and gas properties primarily in Alberta. The Company is led by experienced management and a strong, committed Board of Directors, with a long-term vision of growth focused on efficiency and cost control in all areas of the business. Razor started operations in the first quarter of 2017, through an acquisition of producing assets in the Swan Hills area. In the second quarter of 2017, Razor added to its base with the acquisition of complementary assets in the Kaybob area. These predominantly light oil assets provide a foundation for strong shareholder return through abundant low risk operations. Razor plans to concurrently grow Swan Hills and Kaybob, and execute on similar acquisitions, using its experience to extract upside value. Razor is a pivotal leading-edge enterprise, balancing creativity and discipline, focused on growing an enduring energy company. Razor currently trades on TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker RZE. For additional information please contact: Doug Bailey President and Chief Executive Officer OR Kevin Braun Chief Financial Officer Razor Energy Corp. 800, 500-5th Ave SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 3L5 Telephone: (403) 262-0242 www.razor-energy.com Alliance Capital Partners Gordon Aldcorn www.alliancecapitalpartners.ca 403-618-6507 READER ADVISORIES FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release may contain certain statements that may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Such statements relate to possible future events, including, but not limited to, the Companys objectives, reductions in operating costs, the Companys capital program and proposed drilling, reactivation, workover, stimulation, water and other activities, future rates of production, capital investments relating to the installation of natural gas power generation units, potential future land and other acquisitions, anticipated abandonment, reclamation and remediation costs for 2018. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as anticipate, believe, "expect", plan, estimate, potential, will, should, continue, may, objective and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including but not limited to expectations and assumptions concerning the availability of capital, current legislation, receipt of required regulatory approval, the success of future drilling and development activities, the performance of existing wells, the performance of new wells, the Companys growth strategy, general economic conditions, availability of required equipment and services and prevailing commodity prices. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; as the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, changes in legislation affecting the oil and gas industry and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. Please refer to the risk factors identified in the annual information form and management discussion and analysis of the Company which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company 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 so required by applicable securities laws. NON-IFRS MEASURES: This press release contains the terms "funds flow", "adjusted funds flow", "net blending and processing income", "net debt", "operating netback" and "corporate netback", which do not have standardized meanings prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and therefore may not be comparable with the calculation of similar measures by other companies. Funds flow represents cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital. Adjusted funds flow represents cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital and decommissioning obligation expenditures incurred. Management uses adjusted funds flow to analyze operating performance and leverage, and considers adjusted funds flow from operating activities to be a key measure as it demonstrates the Company's ability to generate cash necessary to fund future capital investments and repay debt. Net blending and processing income is calculated by adding blending and processing income blending and processing expense. Net blending and processing income may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. Net debt is calculated as as the principal amount of long-term debt less working capital (or plus working capital deficiency), with working capital excluding mark-to-market risk management contracts. Management believes net debt is a useful supplemental measure of the total amount of current and long-term debt of the Company. Operating netback equals total petroleum and natural gas sales less royalties and operating costs calculated on a boe basis. Razor considers operating netback as an important measure to evaluate its operational performance as it demonstrates its field level profitability relative to current commodity prices. Corporate netback is calculated by deducting general & administration, acquisition and transaction costs, and interest from operating netback. Razor considers corporate netback as an important measure to evaluate its overall corporate performance. ADVISORY PRODUCTION INFORMATION: Unless otherwise indicated herein, all production information presented herein is presented on a gross basis, which is the Company's working interest prior to deduction of royalties and without including any royalty interests. BARRELS OF OIL EQUIVALENT: The term "boe" or barrels of oil equivalent may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil equivalent (6 Mcf: 1 bbl) is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Additionally, given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil, as compared to natural gas, is significantly different from the energy equivalency of 6:1; utilizing a conversion ratio of 6:1 may be misleading as an indication of value. 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 news release. Superyachts owned by some of the world's wealthiest billionaires are likely to provide the biggest boost to Auckland's economy at the 2021 America's Cup, an event CBRE says could generate between $403 million and $892 million for the city. Scores of superyachts are expected to flock to the event in early 2021, pumping money into the hotel, marine, retail and residential property sectors, the commercial property firm said in a report. Their passengers and crew may provide the largest overall boost to the city's economy and drive sales for retailers, bars and restaurants, it says. The global superyacht fleet is expected to keep growing through 2021 when forecasts indicate the total will be approaching 6,000 vessels, approximately twice the number in 2000. Larry Ellison, founder of US software maker Oracle, may not be a starter for Auckland with his superyacht Musashi after reports he had pulled support for Oracle Team USA but other tech billionaires may show up. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are both owners, as is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with world's richest person with a fortune of about US$131 billion, was reported last year to be in the market for a suitable vessel. Superyachts are also popular among Russian industrialists. "Coupled with extensive media, sponsor and spectator activity, the America's Cup offers a boost to the economy and also presents the opportunity for longer-term urban regeneration and infrastructure improvements," the Auckland-based CBRE analysts and valuers say in the report. The 2003 Auckland America's Cup generated a net spending of $523 million, of which the racing teams accounted for 55 percent. In 2021 there will be fewer teams but spending by the superyachts and from general tourism is expected to more than make up any shortfall, CBRE said. While each of the previous Cups was held over a five-month period, the upcoming event is expected to be held over a three-month span. While this means that superyachts will be berthed in Auckland for a shorter period, their numbers are expected to be higher, CBRE said. The 2021 event is expected in total to capture up to $250 million in core retail expenditure including food and beverages. Retail spending during the 2003 event was $136 million, 27 percent of the total at that event. Accommodation made up 9 percent of total expenditure during the 2003 event, around $47 million. An extra 214,569 hotel room nights were sold during the 2003 Americas Cup period. Even with an additional 2,580 rooms estimated to be completed in Auckland in time for the regatta, there will be a shortage of hotel rooms, which will need to be filled through Airbnb and serviced apartments. Thursday's budget allocated a $100 million support package for the Americas Cup, for development of infrastructure and the running of America's Cup events. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: 8th October 2021 Morning Report Briscoe Group Limited (NZX: BGP) Interim Report for Period Ended 1 August 2021 Good Spirits Hospitality Limited (NZX: GSH) Completion of Lease of Viaduct Venue 7th October 2021 Morning Report Just Life Group Limited (NZX: JLG) Acquisition of Intenza New Zealand and Market Update Experience Comvita's Story of Innovation and Connection at World Expo 2020 Dubai National Day of Vaccination Backed by Business The a2 Milk Company Limited (NZX: ATM) The a2 Milk Company to Defend Class Action 6th October 2021 Morning Report NZME Limited (NZX: NZM) Market Update - COVID-19 Impacts New Zealand shares rose as Goodman Property Trust's joint venture with GIC sold seven buildings in downtown Auckland, and as Ryman Healthcare chalked up another record profit. A2 Milk Co and Comvita fell. The S&P/NZX 50 index gained 53.95 points, or 0.6 percent, to 8,657.33. Within the index, 37 stocks rose, six fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $128 million. Goodman Property rose 2.2 percent to $1.41. The real estate investor's joint venture with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC sold seven Auckland CBD buildings to US private equity firm Blackstone for $635 million, meaning the NZX-listed property trust will reap $323.9 million. "They had an unsolicited approach from an offshore buyer, sold at a passing yield of 6.6 percent, which given the office property is on leasehold land, and one would certainly expect another round land rental increases to come through, appears to be a great sale for Goodmans," said Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management. "The market hasn't missed that." Ryman gained 2.5 percent to $11.52. The Christchurch-based retirement home operator and developer lifted annual underlying earnings 14 percent to $203.5 million and said it anticipates more growth with 16 villages in the pipeline. Goodson said Ryman always reports a "very steady solid degree of underlying profit growth" and while new sales fell short of expectations, resales were "a little bit stronger". Rival operator Summerset Group rose 2.9 percent to $7.22, while Metlifecare declined 0.3 percent to $5.94. Heartland Bank led the benchmark index higher, rising 2.9 percent to $1.78. The lender said it expects annual earnings to be at the top of guidance after its third-quarter profit rose 11 percent on continued lending growth. A2 dropped 4 percent to $11.30, rounding out a 13 percent slump for the week. The milk marketer missed expectations, prompting some analysts to reassess what have been optimistic assumptions for the company's outlook. "For the first time you're starting to see a mixture of views on A2," Goodson said. Still, the inclusion of A2 in a key MSCI index at the end of the month creates buying pressure, potentially limiting its decline, he said. Honey products exporter Comvita fell 1.9 percent to $6.77. Z Energy dropped 0.7 percent to $7.50 after rival ExxonMobil NZ reported a 57 percent in annual profit for 2017 on a 22 percent gain in revenue. Among the blue chip stocks, Auckland International Airport rose 2.4 percent to $6.75, Fletcher Building gained 0.8 percent to $6.49, Meridian Energy increased 1.3 percent to $3.04 and Spark New Zealand advanced 1.4 percent to $3.54. Outside the benchmark index, ERoad climbed 5.9 percent to $3.80 after beating annual earnings guidance and reporting a small profit. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: 8th October 2021 Morning Report Briscoe Group Limited (NZX: BGP) Interim Report for Period Ended 1 August 2021 Good Spirits Hospitality Limited (NZX: GSH) Completion of Lease of Viaduct Venue 7th October 2021 Morning Report Just Life Group Limited (NZX: JLG) Acquisition of Intenza New Zealand and Market Update Experience Comvita's Story of Innovation and Connection at World Expo 2020 Dubai National Day of Vaccination Backed by Business The a2 Milk Company Limited (NZX: ATM) The a2 Milk Company to Defend Class Action 6th October 2021 Morning Report NZME Limited (NZX: NZM) Market Update - COVID-19 Impacts Over a dozen volunteers gathered to make Mothers Day gift bags for local mothers in need at St. Agnes Catholic Churchs Parish Office on May 9. The gift bags, which included everything from deodorant to soap to food, were given to mothers at Shenandoah Womens Center, Bethany House and the Young Lives Teen Mothers Support Group in Martinsburg. Some of them arent homeless, but theyre pretty poor, said event coordinator Michelle Kwiatkowski, owner of the Wild Rose Soap Company. For a lot of the teen mothers group, its their first Mothers Day, so theyll be getting perfume and nail polish. Kwiatkowski, who organized the event for the fourth year, said she donated washcloths and soap for the gift bags. Abby Landon, of Shepherdstown, brought her sister, Brenna Malone, to help out. Im a mother myself, so I thought it was really neat to help other young mothers this way, said Landon, who donated deoderants last year. Niki Postuka, who is here for three weeks while her husband teaches at the Customs Border Patrol Academy, met Kwiatkowski at the motel where they were both staying. When Kwiatkowski mentioned the event, Postuka volunteered to help. My father was in the military, and Ive been around the world and seen the poverty, Postuka, who is from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, said. It kind of makes you appreciate life. Kwiatkowski shared similar thoughts about the event. For me, helping with events like this puts things into perspective, she said, referring to the electrical fire that destroyed the majority of her familys belongings and required her homes interior to be completely renovated over the past few months. Mountaineer Popcorn Company owner Erin Valasek, who brought her three girls ages 7, 8 and 11 to help stuff the gift bags, said the event was a good way to teach them about volunteering. Our kids are homeschooled, so I think this is good for community service and reaching out, said Valasek. We are very fortunate, and I wanted to teach them that. They have no idea what it would be like to have no shampoo or cookies, she added. Valasek donated the bags for the event, and said her German Street store was also a donation drop-off. Kwiatkowski said her family will be moving back into the renovated house this week, but the donation event was a good way to distract herself in the meantime. We have a house, even though its been destroyed. It makes us realize, even though weve gone through this, how wonderful it is to be alive, she said. Helping other people helps take your mind off of yourself. The Friends of Shepherdstown Library hosted its annual book sale at the War Memorial Building on Saturday and Sunday. Between 5,000 and 10,000 community-donated books were for sale at the event, which raises about $4,000 for the Shepherdstown Library annually. Although previous sales have benefited the librarys programs, this years proceeds were designated for the librarys building fund, which is short about $150,000. We try to raise extra money for the library, because there is no dedicated millage to the library in Jefferson County, said FOSL President Larry Blash. Blash, who has held the position for five years, said the sale is one of FOSLs three fundraisers, which also include Rumsey Radio Hour and Left of the Bank music and poetry event. Blash said FOSL stored the books in a storage container as community members donated them over the past year. To help its aging volunteers this year, FOSL hired a group of five Shepherd University students to handle heavy lifting and book transportation. Weve had a lot of people today, Blash said Saturday afternoon as he manned a cash drawer at the event. Our donations were a little bit down this year, because last year, two people who were moving into assisted living-one a retired professor from Shepherd-donated their entire libraries to us, which totaled about 3,000 good-quality books. Judy Sopenski, of Sharpsburg, Maryland, attended the fundraiser Saturday. I went to this book sale because it has a wide selection of books. I bought $7 worth-seven books, said Sopenski. One of them was my favorite book that Ive taken out of the library multiple times, and decided I might as well go ahead and buy it. FOSL treasurer Sidney Lewis, whos held the position for four years, said he joined FOSL because he felt he could use his experience to help the community. I had retired, I had worked all of my life in accounting and budgeting, and I felt I still had a lot to offer, said Lewis. I did not know anyone here at all, so FOSL was a great way to get involved its been a wonderful experience. Stan Mopsik, of Frederick, Maryland, went to the event with his wife, Wendy, a former FOSL vice president. We come back every year to help out at the sale. We feel responsible for it, because I used to run this sale, said Mopsik, as Wendy sorted through stacks of books on the self-improvement table. FOSL is very special to us. We come back all the time, and we are friends of the Shepherdstown Library, Wendy Mopsik said. You can move, but its hard to leave Shepherdstown. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Sidney Lewis as she. Sidney Lewis should have been referred to using male pronouns. The article has been updated to reflect this. CALGARY, Alberta, May 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prairie Provident Resources Inc. ("Prairie Provident" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of shareholder voting at its annual meeting held May 17, 2018, at which resolutions re-electing the board of directors and appointing the Company's auditors were approved. Approximately 68.9% of the common shares outstanding were represented in person or by proxy at the meeting. The detailed voting results are set out below. Election of Directors Each of the following six nominees was elected as a director of Prairie Provident for the ensuing year, to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders. Director Nominee Votes For Percent Votes Withheld Percent Patrick McDonald (Chair) 70,997,996 93.7% 4,747,217 6.3% Terence (Tad) Flynn 70,998,449 93.7% 4,746,764 6.3% Tim Granger 70,996,747 93.7% 4,748,466 6.3% Derek Petrie 71,001,248 93.7% 4,743,965 6.3% Ajay Sabherwal 70,999,978 93.7% 4,745,235 6.3% Rob Wonnacott 71,000,326 93.7% 4,744,887 6.3% Appointment of Auditors Ernst & Young LLP were appointed as auditors of the Company for the ensuing year, to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders. Votes For Percent Votes Withheld Percent 79,801,426 99.9 % 57,752 0.1 % About Prairie Provident Prairie Provident is a Calgary-based company engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties in Alberta. The Companys strategy is to grow organically in combination with accretive acquisitions of conventional oil prospects, which can be efficiently developed. Prairie Providents operations are primarily focused at Wheatland and Princess in Southern Alberta targeting the Ellerslie and the Lithic Glauc formations, along with an early stage waterflood project at Evi in the Peace River Arch. Prairie Provident protects its balance sheet through an active hedging program and manages risk by allocating capital to opportunities offering maximum shareholder returns. For further information, please contact: Prairie Provident Resources Inc. Tim Granger President and Chief Executive Officer Tel: (403) 292-8110 Email: tgranger@ppr.ca website: www.ppr.ca SHEPHERDSTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY 100 E. German St. The Shepherdstown Library has an online calendar on our website, http://www.lib.shepherdstown.wv.us/>www.lib.shepherdstown.wv.us/. The Librarys popular weekly childrens programs will run through May 23; no registration is required. Lap Babies, for children birth through 18 months, is on Tuesdays from 10:15 to 11 a.m. Time for Twos, for children 19 months to 3 years, meets from 11:15 a.m. to noon, also on Tuesdays. The Three to Five Year Olds program is on Wednesdays from 11:15 a.m. to noon. Register for our Summer Reading Program starting June 11. For more information call 304-876-2783, email splchild@martin.lib.wv.us, or visit the library. WEDNESDAY The Board of the Shepherdstown Public Library will hold its monthly meeting, starting at 7 p.m. in the library. This meeting is open to the public. For more information, call 304-876-2783. THURSDAY Homeschool students ages five and older are invited to a STEAM makerspace in the Shepherdstown Librarys Childrens Department at 1 p.m. LEGOs, littleBits and craft supplies will be provided. No registration is needed. MAY 25 The FOSL Book Club will meet in the Shepherdstown Library at 5 p.m. to discuss the novel An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro. MAY 26 Children ages three and older are encouraged to visit the Shepherdstown Librarys Childrens Department at 11 a.m., where there will be a Doggie storytime program with songs and a craft. No registration is needed; call 304-876-2783 or email splchild@martin.lib.wv.us for more information. MAY 26 A LEGO Club for ages four and older will meet in the Shepherdstown Library at 1 p.m. No registration is needed. For more information call 304-876-2783, email splchild@martin.lib.wv.us or visit the library. MAY 28 The Shepherdstown Library will be closed to observe Memorial Day. ONGOING Community Wellness Days Everyone deserves access to restorative and nourishing self care, regardless of income. Through the grassroots efforts of Sacred Roots and Herbalists Without Borders, this is now a reality. Your first visit is free, and follow-up visits are pay what you can. No proof of income necessary. Come if youre in need. First come, first serve. Hours are 2 to 7 p.m., May through September, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. Text 301-452-2075 if youd like to attend. Visit us online at sacredrootswv.com. The Thursday Market at Town Run Tap House and Community Pub will run through Sept. 28 and will provide residents of Shepherdstown with fresh, naturally grown food and products from local farmers and artisans. More information can be found on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thethursdaymarket/ or via email at thethursdaymarketwv@gmail.com. Warmer weathers around the corner! Now is the perfect time to get your cat or dog spayed or neutered. Spay Today is our areas nonprofit, reduced-priced spay and neuter program. Choose from many vets throughout the area. At the time of surgery, initial shots and tests can also be obtained at lower rates. Contact Spay Today: spay-today.org or call 304-728-8330. The Shepherdstown Community Club First Weekend Handmade Market returns for its eighth season! The Handmade Market is a unique pop-up boutique-like arts and crafts market featuring local artists and makers. Join us in celebrating our local talent, meet the artists and shop for fine handcrafted art, jewelry, home decor, accessories, gifts and a whole lot more. Open Apr 7 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and April 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; May 5 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and May 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; June 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and June 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. War Memorial Building, 102 E. German St., Shepherdstown. For more info, see our Facebook page: facebook.com/SCCHandmadeMarket. Womens March Huddle for Shepherdstown will take place every 4th Tuesday of the month. Meet at Town Run. 202 E Washington St., Shepherdstown. 6:30 to 8 p.m. Intermediate Bridge players are invited to join an informal group meeting every Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Trinity Episcopal Chapel. All are welcome and walk-ins are encouraged. For more information, contact 304-876-6244. Knitting interest group meets in room 164 of the Byrd Center on Mondays, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. All are welcome. Free and open to the public. Glory Days Grill Dining for Dollars Fundraiser to Benefit Animal Welfare Society: The Animal Welfare Society of Jefferson County is proud to announce their participation in the Dining for Dollars fundraiser at Glory Days Grill in Ranson which began Jan.1 and continues through the end of the year. Keep your copy of your guest check (not credit card receipt), and either mail it to: AWS P.O. Box 147, Charles Town, WV, 25414 or place it in the collection box at Petco. The Animal Welfare Society of Jefferson County is participating in Applebees Dining to Donate program. Dine at Applebees in Charles Town the first Thursday of each month from 11 a.m. until closing and Applebees will donate 20 percent of your bill to the Anima Welfare Society. Bring in the flyer printed from the AWS website, www.awsjc.org, or mention Animal Welfare Society to your server. Enjoy an evening of delicious food and help the shelter dogs and cats that are waiting for new homes. The Trinity Thrift Shop is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Stop by for some cool finds clothing for all, jewelry, books, movies, toys, kitchen and other house wares, prints, knick knacks, and holiday items! The Shop accept accepts donations of clothing, books, jewelry, and many other items. It also collects used eye glasses on behalf of the Lions Club. The Thrift Shop cannot accept furniture, other large items and electronics due to limited space. Contributions may be delivered to the screened-in back porch at any time. Tax receipts are available during business hours. Questions? Call 304-876-6990. Sarahs Tuesday Group Calling all knitters, quilters, rugmakers and more! We meet in the Trinity Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall, corner of German and Church streets, every Tuesday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. Work on your own projects while socializing with other crafters. Questions? call 304-876-6990. Christ Reformed United Church of Christ is inaugurating a new speaker series called First Tuesdays at CRUCC. There will be a speaker the first Tuesday of every month. Coffee, tea and refreshments will be provided. These are free events. FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY The Friday Painters Art Group of Shepherdstown will be exhibiting at the Community Club on German Street. The opening reception is Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., and the exhibit will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please stop in when visiting the Back Alley Tour and Tea. SATURDAY The 40-member Jefferson County Community Chorus will present a concert, 100 Years of Broadway, along with a raffle on 10 themed baskets. Where: The Old Opera House When: 2:30 p.m. What: Benefits four community organizations: Safe Haven, Community Ministries, Jefferson County Animal Shelter and the Jefferson Arts Council. Come enjoy the music you love and support these organizations and the services they provide for our community. Cost: There is a suggested $5 donation at the door. SUNDAY Four Seasons book signing for Wise Guyde Bill OBrien Four Seasons Book Store will host a reading and book signing for Bill OBriens book, Wise Guyde: The First Forty-Five Columns, on May 20 at 1 p.m. The columns are from Bills first four years as Wise Guyde, a monthly column in The Shepherdstown Chronicle exploring contemporary issues in spiritual development and consciousness. JUNE 2 New Street United Methodist Church will host an indoor yardsale and an All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast in its dining hall from 7 to 11 a.m. The breakfast will feature pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, sausage gravy, applesauce, juice, coffee and tea. The church is located on the corner of New and Church streets. The cost is $8 for adults and $5 for children 4 to 12 years old. Carry-out is available. FORM 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY AN EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER WITHOUT RECOGNISED INTERMEDIARY ("RI") STATUS (OR WHERE RI STATUS IS NOT APPLICABLE) Rule 8.5 of the Takeover Code (the "Code") 1. KEY INFORMATION (a) Name of exempt principal trader: HSBC Securities (South Africa) (Pty) Limited (b) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Sibanye Gold Ltd (c) Name of the party to the offer with which exempt principal trader is connected: Sibanye Gold Ltd (d) Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 17-May-2018 (e) In addition to the company in 1(b) above, is the exempt principal trader making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" YES - Lonmin plc. 2. POSITIONS OF THE EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(b), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security. (a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any) Class of relevant security: Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: (2) Cash-settled derivatives: 2,735,610 0.121 6,354,331 0.280 (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell: TOTAL: 2,735,610 0.121 6,354,331 0.280 All interests and all short positions should be disclosed. Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions). (b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options) Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages: 3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(b), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in. The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated. (a) Purchases and sales Class of relevant security Purchases/ sales Total number of securities Highest price per unit paid/received (ZAR) Lowest price per unit paid/received (ZAR) (b) Cash-settled derivative transactions Class of relevant security Product description e.g. CFD Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit (ZAR) Ordinary Shares Swap Increasing a Short Position 9,589 886.050 c Ordinary Shares Swap Increasing a Short Position 227,621 881.550 c (c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options) (i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit (ii) Exercise Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit (d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities) Class of relevant security Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) 4. OTHER INFORMATION (a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the exempt principal trader making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer: Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" (b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the exempt principal trader making the disclosure and any other person relating to: (i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or (ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced: If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" (c) Attachments Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? No Date of disclosure: 18-May-2018 Contact name: Sukant Roy Telephone number: 0207 088 2000 Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129. The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk. Company Announcement no. 07/2018 Q1 2018 highlights: Q1 2018 reported revenue was EUR 89.9m, an increase of 23.0% when compared with Q1 2017, and an increase of 28.8% when measured in local currencies. The acquisition of SimCorp Italiana accounted for 10.8%-points of the increase, with underlying organic revenue growth of 18.0%. EBIT was EUR 23.3m compared with EUR 10.2m in Q1 2017. EBIT stemming from SimCorp Italiana, acquired in August 2017, accounted for EUR 4.7m, Q1 being the most profitable quarter for SimCorp Italiana. Currency fluctuations impacted EBIT negatively by EUR 2.1m compared with Q1 2017. EBIT margin was 26.0% compared with 14.0% in Q1 2017, driven by strong revenue growth, SimCorp Italiana contribution and cost focus. Measured in local currencies, the EBIT margin was 27.0%. Net profit was EUR 16.3m compared with EUR 7.5m in Q1 2017. Total order intake from new and add-on licenses was EUR 9.9m, an increase of EUR 4.1m compared with same period last year. This includes the signing of a new French client. At March 31, 2018, the order book amounted to EUR 18.6m, an increase of EUR 5.1m when compared with order book at March 31, 2017. Compared with December 31, 2017, the order book was reduced by EUR 6.2m, as the conditions for revenue recognition for two significant contracts signed in Q4 2017 were met in Q1 2018. In February, the first of this years regular new SimCorp Dimension updates, Version 6.3, was released to the market, introducing the new Alternative Investments Manager. With this addition, SimCorp now offers management of all asset types, including alternatives, in one system. The new solution has received positive initial interest from clients. Financial guidance SimCorp maintains its expectations for revenue growth and EBIT margin measured in local currencies for 2018. Revenue growth measured in local currencies is expected to be between 10% and 15%, whilst the expectation for EBIT margin measured in local currencies remains between 24.5% and 27.5%. SimCorp CEO, Klaus Holse, comments: The results for Q1 set us on the right track for the year. We have signed several large new contracts with existing clients, continue to see our services business develop positively and maintain a lower growth in overall cost relative to revenue. Increasing license revenue from new clients remains a priority for us, and we are pleased that our new client in France, Metropole Gestion, will implement SimCorp Dimension applying our new strategically important Standard Platforms approach. Investor presentation SimCorps Executive Management Board will present the report at a conference call today Friday, May 18, 2018 at 3.30 pm (CEST). Please use any of the following phone numbers to dial in to the conference call: From Denmark: +45 3515 8049 From USA: +1 646 828 8193 From other countries: +44 (0)330 336 9105 Pin code to access the call: 8160315 At the end of the presentation there will be a Q&A session. It will also be possible to follow the presentation via this link: https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/egyh6nef. The presentation will be available prior to the conference call via SimCorps website www.simcorp.com. Enquiries regarding this announcement should be addressed to: Investor contacts: Klaus Holse, Chief Executive Officer, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8800, +45 2326 0000) Michael Rosenvold, Chief Financial Officer, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8800, +45 5235 0000) Anders Hjort, Head of Investor Relations, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8822, +45 2892 8881) Media contact: Anders Crillesen, Group Communications Director, (+45 3544 6474, +45 2779 1286) Download the full report Attachment STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Soon Staten Island's waterfront will be transformed along Richmond Terrace. The sprawling brick warehouse, until this year home to Gerardi's Farmers Market, is slated for demolition. "Yes, it is coming down in next few months," confirmed Joe McNamee, a rep for Atlantic Salt Company, the Lowell, Massachusetts-based business which occupies a portion of the property. As of January, 2005, City Buildings Department records show that Regal Estates LLC is the owner of the buildings and land. "Atlantic Salt will remain on the dock level of property," McNamee said via email. In the meantime, Enzo and his son Vinny Gerardi have moved their 30-plus year old operation across the street to 654 Richmond Terrace. Enzo says that Gerardi's will sell only nursery products such as sod, plants and potted flowers. In mid-July, he's optimistic that the Jersey fruits and vegetables for which the market is known will return to his family's roadside stand. Will Gerardi's former home be developed? "We hope to be able to develop a market space like the one Gerardi's has had in past years," McNamee said. He said that the company has "worked hard on planning the demolition and have communicated with Enzo and Vinny regularly for past few years" helping in the planned move across the street. McNamee also said discussions have begun for Gerardi's to move back to its old spot at 561 Richmond Terrace sometime in the future. In the meantime, Buildings Department records show that a demolition permits were issued in late March for a three-story structure and separate five-story structure. Other than permits for a sidewalk shed and pipe scaffold, there have been no further building plans filed since April. A PIECE OF WATERFRONT HISTORY The waterfront location has a firm place in Staten Island's manufacturing history. It was former home to J.B. King's Windsor Plaster Mills and subsequently U.S. Gypsum, the latter which fabricated fireproof sheet rock, plaster and paint. U.S. Gyspum stayed on Staten Island until 1976 when it moved to New Jersey. Atlantic Salt Company took over the property in 1978 where it still receives and distributes rock salt for New York City roads. Atlantic Salt, like Gerardi's, has become part of the fabric of North Shore culture as well as a mainstay on Richmond Terrace in New Brighton. The warehouse and salt piles have set the stage for numerous community events over the years including maritime festivals and the biannual Staten Island Arts' LUMEN, a sprawling video arts and performance project. "They've been very good benefactors to the local arts scene," said Ken Tirado, owner of Killmeyer's Old Bavaria Inn and a board member of Staten Island Arts. The company takes a strong interest in The Noble Maritime Collection, for instance, fueling a new education program at the museum, "Maritime Careers of New York Harbor," offered in the fall, and a Cultural Afterschool Adventures (CASA) program with special ed students from P.S. 373, New Brighton. The company underwrote funding for Kate's Home in the Harbor, published by the Noble Maritime Collection last year. The workbook is an educational tool that focuses on the Robbins Reef Lighthouse. Dawn Daniels, Director of Programs at the Noble Collection called out two Atlantic Salt staffers, Brian DeForest and Diana Banjany, for their hospitality and overall relationship with the nearby museum. "They opened their doors to us and allowed us to bring school groups down into the yard to photograph and sketch the mountain of salt and get a close-up view of the waterfront," said Ms. Daniels. Subsequently a mural will be established at PS 373 reflecting that experience. "Not only did the students have the experience of seeing tugboats right in front of them, Brian let them look inside the digger, and he gave each of the kids shirts to bring home," said Ms. Daniels. Gerardi's also shows his appreciation for the company. He says, "We've been blessed and thankful to the salt company for giving us the opportunity to grow now thirty years." He adds, "If it wasn't for the salt company giving us the opportunity, we weren't be in the position we're in, as such a part of the community." -- Tracey Porpora, Advance business reporter, contributed to this article. She can be reached at porpora@siadvance.com. SANTA FE, TEXAS -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says 10 people are dead and 10 more wounded after a shooting at a high school in the town of Santa Fe. Abbott called Friday's shooting "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." He says explosive devices including a molotov cocktail that had been found in the suspected shooter's home and a vehicle as well as around the school and nearby. The governor says the suspect said he originally intended to commit suicide but gave himself up and told authorities that he didn't have the courage to take his own life. Abbott said there are "one or two" other people of interest being interviewed about the shooting. A law enforcement official has identified a person in custody in the Houston-area school shooting as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis. The official was not authorized to discuss the shooting by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. A 16-year-old boy who says he considers Pagourtzis a friend says the Texas high school shooting suspect is interested in guns and war simulation video games, but that he has never about talked about killing people. STATEN ISLAND -- South Shore Councilman Joe Borelli is being considered "very seriously" to run with presumptive Republican candidate for governor Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro on the GOP ticket, the chairman of the Conservative Party of New York confirmed to the Advance Thursday. "He's highly qualified,'' Michael Long said of Borelli. "He's highly articulate; he has been a Fox [News] contributor for a long time, and he's clearly outspoken on the issues, and there are some people that feel he would be an asset to the ticket." Borelli declined to confirm the rumors, but told the Advance he was interviewed by Molinaro's team last week in New York City to talk about the possibility of running with the Dutchess County executive. Borelli, the minority whip of the City Council and former state assemblyman for the 62nd District, would appear to be a natural fit. He has city and state experience and is a surrogate for the Republican National Committee who regularly appears on talk shows. He also has a conservative voting record that could resonate with more conservative voters upstate. He also went to Marist College in Molinaro's Dutchess County. "I'm not going to comment on the rumors, other than that I'm happy to do whatever Marc and the party needs, even if that means just canvassing a subway station," Borelli said in a statement. "For me, the race is about Andrew Cuomo and not Joe Borelli." Borelli also noted that his wife is due to give birth to their second son at the end of June. Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) told the Advance Molinaro's team reached out to her about being interviewed for the position but she informed his team she was not interested in moving forward. Molinaro's campaign could not immediately be reached for comment. This fall, Molinaro will likely face off against Gov. Andrew Cuomo or Cynthia Nixon. The clock is ticking for Molinaro to choose a running mate. The Republican Party's nominating convention starts Wednesday and the Reform Party, a minor party line the Dutchess County executive is seeking, will hold its convention Sunday, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. Borelli does not appear to be the only top contender. The Democrat & Chronicle reported Thursday that Molinaro praised Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo as a potential running mate during a radio interview. Another potential candidate is Nassau County Legislator Laura Schaefer, the paper reported. Additionally, Hempstead Town Board member Erin King Sweeney interviewed for the position, but withdrew her name from consideration, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. The paper reported that Molinaro said he has held had a number of interviews for the position and is looking for someone to "challenge me to be a better governor." Staten Island Advance Staff Writer Clifford Michel contributed to this report STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Community members will gather in Graniteville Sunday, May 20, to pay tribute to fallen heroes of the New York Police Department -- and to honor those still serving. The fourth-annual "Staten Island Remembers" pays homage to 46 NYPD officers who died in the line of duty -- and from 9/11-related illnesses. The rain-or-shine event begins at 9 a.m., outside the 121 Precinct's state house at 970 Richmond Ave One of the most recent officers lost was Officer Kelly Korcha. "She was only 38 years old and died of a 9/11-related illness," said Sal Sottile, one of the event's organizers. "She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and decided to go through with treatment while pregnant, she died only a few months after giving birth." Other officers to be honored range from John Kennedy, who was killed in the line of the duty for the 123 Precinct in 1922, to Russel Timoshenko, who was gunned down while on duty in Brooklyn in 2007. "Those are some of the most touching stories," Sottile said. "The event also honors those serving now in specialized units and all of the four precincts." Along with Sottile, the event will be hosted by borough community leaders Jerry Amerosi, Bob Cutrona, and Marlene Markoe-Boyd. "We organize this annual event to allow the families of the fallen to get together, and know they're not alone." Sottile said. "It's also our way of saying people haven't forgotten the sacrifices their loved ones made when putting on the uniform." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police searched New Sprinville Thursday night for a purse snatching duo. Radio emergency transmissions a man and a woman driving a dark-colored sedan were responsible for at least one robbery in the area around the 100 block of Richmond Hill Road, which is the location of the Staten Island Mall. An NYPD helicopter was called to the area to help search for the sedan. A police spokesman could not provide information on the incident. This is the second day in a row the West Shore was struck with a series of purse snatches. Police investigated a series of purse-snatching incidents Wednesday outside large retailers on the West Shore. Three incidents were reported to police -- each occurring at about 2 p.m. and each involving a similar description of both a suspect and a vehicle, according to an NYPD spokesman. It was unclear if all incidents were related. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Community activist Dee Vandenburg was presented the Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award by Borough President James S. Oddo on Thursday during a ceremony in Borough Hall. Vandenburg, a Huguenot resident, is president of the Staten Island Taxpayers' Association, which assists local civic associations and acts as a liaison to government on behalf of Staten Islanders. "Simply stated, Dee Vandenburg is someone who gives a damn about our community,'' Oddo said. "She has toiled for many years, calling out instances of when government can and must do better. I know it's cliche, but she truly is a fighter for our community. She takes on these fights, not because of any promise of a reward, but solely to improve Staten Island. She is a worthy recipient of the Maniscalco Award." Born on Long Island, Vandenburg moved to Staten Island in 1969. She began her community involvement with a battle to save her previous home, the former Spanish Camp in Annadale, from destruction. It was there that she met Lorraine Sorge, then-president of the Staten Island Taxpayers' Association, and Alice Ruch, its general vice president. Vandenburg joined the association in 1996 and was elected president in 2001. Vandenburg regularly attends community meetings and has written hundreds of letters supporting or opposing various projects. She works closely with members of various governmental agencies and elected officials on issues relating to the environment, zoning, transportation, overdevelopment, and parks and recreation. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, she focused on issues relating to the shoreline, serving on committees for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NY Rising, USDA Wetlands Restoration Buyout, Build It Back and the Department of City Planning. In addition to her volunteer work, Vandenburg worked as a general mechanic for the MTA on the Staten Island Railway from 1989 to 2013. She previously worked in various positions at several Wall Street firms and currently serves as a community construction liaison for SI Engineering. In 2008, Vandenburg received the Natural Resources Protective Association's Civic Leadership Award, and state Sen. Andrew Lanza awarded her the New York State Woman of Distinction Award in 2010. "I don't have to like the answer,'' Vandenberg said of her goals when tackling an issue. "I just have to get an answer from the never-ending levels of government." Thursday's ceremony, which was rescheduled due to a snowstorm earlier this year, was followed by a reception in the main hall with fare provided by the Port Richmond High School Culinary Arts Program and music by the Tottenville High School Saxophone Quartet. The Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award was established in 1986 in honor of the ninth borough president. Maniscalco's tenure from 1955 to 1965 saw the creation of the Greenbelt and the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The award celebrates the civic-mindedness and tireless energy of individuals or organizations that work to help community members in need and to make Staten Island a better place. By MAURA GRUNLUND and MIRA WASSEF STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A teenager was injured when he was shot with a BB gun in Port Richmond on Friday morning, according to sources. The 17-year-old boy is a student at Port Richmond High School, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. The boy went into the high school and reported his injury to school safety and the administration, according to the source. The FDNY was called at 9:22 to Trantor Place and Innis Street and one person was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, according to a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS. Emergency radio communications indicated that a police "level-one" mobilization has been called. The boy was shot at a location near the school, according to emergency radio communications. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A justice on Friday said he has no tolerance for those who drink and drive, sentencing a New Springville man to three years in prison for drunkenly slamming into a utility pole in Annadale last year, injuring two passengers, one seriously. "I still don't understand how people can drink as much as Mr. Daleasandro did that night and still get behind the wheel," Justice Mario F. Mattei said, referring to the defendant, Anthony Daleasandro. "There is a responsibility that people have to other people in this community when they drink. You simply should not drive. "It just presents a danger to each and every person who crosses his path." Moments earlier, Daleasandro told the court he had made a "dreadful mistake" getting behind the wheel on May 20, 2017, and was "deeply sorry" for causing the near-deadly wreck. "My intention was to get them home safely," said bespectacled Daleasandro who was garbed in a black jacket and dark pants. "My decision to get behind the wheel was unacceptable. From this day forward in my life, I'll be an advocate against drunk driving." Despite that assurance, Mattei sentenced the defendant to three years behind bars, the maximum under a plea agreement reached in March. Daleasandro had pleaded guilty then in state Supreme Court, St. George, to two felony counts of second-degree assault. Under the agreement, he was to be sentenced to no more than three years behind bars and no less than two years. The wreck occurred at 3:38 a.m. at Hylan Boulevard and Arden Avenue, said a criminal complaint. Police said Daleasandro was headed southbound on Hylan. Arriving officers found the defendant near the car he was driving, a black 2017 Jaguar. The car's front end was crumpled and bent around the pole, which was "splintered," the complaint said. Daleasandro's breath smelled of alcohol, his eyes were watery and bloodshot, his face was flushed, and his speech was slurred, the complaint said. The defendant and his two passengers were hospitalized after the crash. A 55-year-old woman who was riding in the front passenger seat suffered a punctured lung, according to the complaint and police. In addition, she suffered brain injuries and had to be resuscitated, according to statements made in court. The other passenger, a 60-year-old woman, suffered a broken wrist and back injuries, police said. Daleasandro suffered neck and back pain. Daleasandro initially told cops he was trying to prevent a collision. "I was driving, and a car cut me off. I hit into the pole," a criminal complaint quotes him as telling officers. At Daleasandro's plea hearing, Assistant District Attorney Frank Prospero said the defendant's blood alcohol content was .17 percent, slightly more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent. On Friday, Prospero said the defendant's initial blood-alcohol content reading actually was .26 percent based on the first sample taken at the hospital. That sample was re-tested months later and it was .17 percent. Defense lawyer Mark J. Fonte contended the .26 percent figure "was not provable" had the case gone to trial. Prospero also said Daleasandro's minimum speed, based on crash analysis, was 45 mph, which exceeded the speed limit. "This defendant's actions were both selfish and reckless" and caused the victims' "devastating, life-changing" injuries, said Prospero, who sought a three-year sentence. Fonte asked for the minimum, even going so far as to advocate a non-jail sentence. "This is probably the most remorseful client I've ever represented. He's torn apart. To put him in jail with violent criminals is not warranted," said Fonte. "Mr. Daleasandro is an extremely decent gentleman, humble. ... He's led a pretty stellar life," Fonte also said, while acknowledging his client was convicted more than three decades ago of grand larceny while a much younger man. Fonte said Daleasandro was trying to help the women by driving them home to avoid a potentially "dangerous" situation with the ex-boyfriend of one. Fonte said the man had harassed the woman in a bar where Daleasandro and they were drinking and dancing. That man followed the group to a second bar where he repeated his actions, said Fonte. Regardless, Mattei said, Daleasandro had no business driving. In a pre-sentencing interview, the defendant told the city Probation Department he had basically "blacked out" behind the wheel, said the judge. "There are consequences to other people when somebody chooses to drink and thinks they're going to drive," said the judge. "I think three years in appropriate." Besides prison, Mattei sentenced the defendant to 18 months' post-release supervision and revoked his driver's license. China stops anti-dumping probe into US sorghum: commerce ministry Beijing, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2018 China has dropped its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe into US sorghum imports, its commerce ministry said Friday, extending a possible olive branch as the two countries hold fraught trade talks. Imposing punitive measures would "affect the cost of living of large numbers of (Chinese) consumers and would not be in the public interest", the ministry said in a statement. An investigation team found that such measures would also particularly hit livestock breeders struggling to make ends meet as domestic pork prices fall, it added. The move was announced hours after a delegation headed by Vice Premier Liu He met President Donald Trump. The trade talks, which aim to prevent a damaging trade war, will continue on Friday. China announced last month that it was slapping provisional anti-dumping duties on US sorghum imports, ordering importers to pay Chinese customs a deposit amounting to 178.6 percent of the value of sorghum brought in. A final ruling on whether to impose tariffs was to be made after a further investigation. Instating tariffs on sorghum would have hurt farmers in states such as Kansas, Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma, which are also major Republican-leaning states that make up President Donald Trump's base. The US shipped 4.8 million tonnes of sorghum to China last year, compared with 317,000 tonnes in 2013, according to Wang Hejun, director of the commerce ministry's trade remedy and investigation bureau. Yet the average price per tonne dropped 31 percent during the same period, which "caused a fall in prices of Chinese sorghum", Wang said. The Washington talks follow tit-for-tat levies and threats of more duties, with the US mulling 25 percent punitive duties on up to $150 billion in Chinese goods and Beijing targeting $50 billion in US exports. The dispute centres on US complaints about investment restrictions, theft of American intellectual property and overproduction of metals. In Beijing, the commerce ministry said Thursday that China hoped the two sides could resolve the trade frictions during the latest talks. But in Washington, President Donald Trump expressed doubt they would be successful, stating: "China has become very spoiled... because they always got 100 percent of whatever they wanted from the United States." ROSEVILLE, Calif., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- Hearing Technologies InnerScopeInc. (OTCQB:INND) announced today the complete integration of www.Klarna.com for a simple and easy one-click payment solutions for its online customers who shop at www.hearingbenefit.com and www.nohasslehearing.com websites. Using www.Klarna.com and its checkout platform for all payment methods gives InnerScope the ability to offer instant affordable on-line payment and financing options which is risk-free for both the Company and its customers. Klarna, not only assumes 100% all customers risk so that the Company always gets paid immediately, but also assumes all risk for the Company through its Buyers Protection Policy. InnerScope and Klarna have teamed up to offer a frictionless one-click checkout solution which gives customers a choice of 2 simple no-hassle payment options, Pay Now, or Slice It options. - The Pay Now option is for customers who want to pay in full at checkout can do it quickly and securely with a credit/debit card. - The Slice it option with its instant financing and a quick and simple credit application process allowing the customers to spread the cost of their purchases over a 6 to 24-month period at 0% annual percent rate ("APR"), depending on transaction value, giving them flexibility and increased purchasing power. "Klarna Bank is exactly what we were looking for to offer our eCommerce customers" said Matthew Moore, CEO of InnerScope Hearing Technologies. "We knew that nearly 50% of consumers want the option to pay over time when shopping online and that over 75% of consumers would choose to shop with a merchant that offers online financing over one that didn't. However, with only 14% of of the 48 million people in the U.S alone that suffer from hearing loss is using any assistive hearing product, mainly due to high cost and access to affordable hearing assistive devices, we knew that we had to make it simple, easy and affordable for the hearing-impaired community to purchase our hearing products." "Since we have launched our eCommerce stores, we have literally talked to hundreds of our online shoppers and found the number one request was a flexible easy payment and financing programs. We believe adding a hassle-free online consumer financing program like Klarna will increase sales and in-turn we get to help more people to hear better. With Klarna, InnerScope now can offer hearing solutions starting as low as $27 dollars a month with no interest. In addition, both InnerScope and Klarna developers are currently working on a custom integrated checkout system for greater ease of simplicity and accessibility specifically geared to the older hearing-impaired population. InnerScope is continuing to offer the hearing-impaired community more affordable options and access to a variety of different hearing assistive and hearing aid device products through www.hearingbenefit.com and www.nohasslehearing.com online stores", Mr. Moore concluded. About Klarna Inc: Klarna Bank AB Inc. is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with offices in New York City. Klarna provides e-commerce payment solutions for merchants and shoppers and is one of Europe's largest banks and is providing payment solutions for 60 million consumers across 89.000 merchants in 14 countries. Klarna offers direct payments, pay after delivery options and instalment plans in a smooth one-click purchase experience that lets consumers pay when and how they prefer to. Klarna's business model relies on only charging for approved purchases, which means that Klarna always work towards increasing stores' sales. Klarna, with its millions of customers, is data-driven and a leading company within decision science. Klarna's vision is to enable trust and to offer a frictionless buying experience to buyers and sellers across the world. For more information, please visit https://www.klarna.com/us/ About InnerScope Hearing Technologies (INND): InnerScope Hearing Technologies (INND) is a technology driven company with highly scalable B2B and B2C solutions. The Company plans on offering a B2B SaaS based Patient Management System (PMS) software program, designed to improve operations and communication with patients. INND also offers a Buying Group experience for audiology practice, enabling owners to lower product costs and increase their margins. INND will also compete in the DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) markets with its own line of "Hearable", and "Wearable" Personal Sound Amplifier Products (PSAPs) and revolutionary APPs on the iOS and Android markets. INND has plans on opening, operating and expanding a chain of audiological and retail hearing device clinics. INND's seasoned team of professionals, with collectively over 200+ years of experience in the hearing aid industry, including successful operations in hearing aid manufacturing and retail store management. Our team has the knowledge, relationships, and the experience to quickly deploy new products and software to serve approximately 1.2 billion people around the globe that are suffering with 25 db or greater hearing loss. For more information, please visit www.innd.com Safe Harbor This presentation contains forward-looking statements which relate to future events or InnerScope Hearing Technologies future performance or financial condition. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "should," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates" and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in InnerScope Hearing Technologies filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. InnerScope Hearing Technologies undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made herein. Contact: Investor Relations Contact Andrew Barwicki 516-662-9461 Andrew@barwicki.com InnerScope Hearing Technologies, Inc. Matthew Moore Matthew@innd.com 916-218-4100 www.innd.com https://www.klarna.com/us/ www.hearingbenefit.com www.nohasslehearing.com www.innd.com China stands to gain in Iran after US quits nuclear deal Beijing, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2018 The US decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran could scare off European investors but oil-thirsty China may step into the void and ramp up business links with the country. China, which is already Iran's top trade partner and one of its biggest buyers of crude, has signalled that it intends to keep working with the Islamic regime despite the US move. Beijing is a signatory of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that had eased sanctions on Tehran, but President Donald Trump quit the accord earlier this month and said Washington would reinstate punitive measures. "By driving away American, European and Japanese companies, the sanctions could increase opportunities for Chinese businesses," Hu Xingdou, an economist at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told AFP. The Iran deal has been highly profitable for the Asian giant. Chinese businesses involved in Iranian developments are worth at least $33 billion as of June 2017 according to Beijing's Commerce Ministry -- part of the country's ambitious Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. In September, China provided a $10 billion credit line to five Iranian banks financing water, energy and transport projects, and in March the two countries inked a $700 million deal allowing China to build a train line that links the port of Bushehr to the rest of Iran's railway network. Beijing now has its sights on the expansion of a major Iranian gas field, with state-owned oil company CNPC set to replace Total if the French energy behemoth withdraws from the project over US sanctions. Trump's move to reimpose sanctions will affect all firms that operate in US dollars or do business on American soil, hitting European companies especially hard. But the lure of fresh hydrocarbons could prove irresistible for China, the world's largest crude oil importer. Iran is currently China's fifth top oil supplier, with more than a quarter of its output going to Beijing. Bolstered by the flow of black gold, Chinese-Iranian trade leaped by 20 percent in 2017 to $37 billion. - Trade skirmishes - European companies could be hit hard by US sanctions. Total started the huge $4.8-billion gas field project known as South Pars 11 in July 2017, two years after the nuclear deal between Tehran and Western powers prompted the return of many businesses to Iran. But the French company said Wednesday that unless it is exempt from US sanctions, it would "not be in a position to continue" the project, leaving the door open for CNPC to take its place. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that if Total pulls out, its share of the project -- slightly over half -- will be handed to the Chinese firm. China "needs the oil", Victor Shum, vice president of energy group at IHS Markit, told CNBC. "With trade skirmishes between the US and China and all kinds of political issues, I see the resistance from Chinese crude buyers to comply" with US sanctions, he said. The price of Iranian oil is likely to fall as its pool of buyers shrinks, Shum said, making it "more attractive" to the Chinese. And with Washington targeting transactions made in dollars, the yuan could be used to skirt around the new rules. "In 2012-2013, Iran opened accounts in local currencies in buying countries that it then used to finance imports," said Barclays analyst Michael Cohen in a note. "If China, India, Japan and South Korea do not impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran, these countries would be unlikely to stop taking Iranian oil," he added. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made clear last week that Beijing would keep doing business with Tehran: "We will continue with our normal and transparent practical cooperation with Iran on the basis of not violating our international obligations." - Oil money - Yuan-denominated oil futures contracts were launched in Shanghai in March, an attempt to one day challenge the entrenched position of New York- and London-based dollar futures. The volume of trading of Shanghai contracts doubled the day after the US decision on Iran, and the average daily exchanges tripled month-on-month this week. Beijing, keen to "further internationalise the use of its currency", could make Tehran trade in yuan, according to analysts at BMI Research. But the impact of this would be modest, they warned, as "trade between Iran and China represents only a small fraction of the crude oil market". Iranian oil "is not irreplaceable" to China, which could import more from Russia and Saudi Arabia, said the economist Hu. Chinese firms will also be careful not compromise activity in the US or other western countries, he said, noting that CNPC has several American trade partners. Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE, for instance, had to cease major operations after it was hit with a ban on acquiring crucial American technology for allegedly violating US sanctions against North Korea and Iran. In the end, political uncertainty in Tehran could deter Chinese investment, Hu said "China needs to learn from the past: it invested heavily in Libya and Venezuela, and lost a lot." jug/ehl/nas/kaf/jta BARCLAYS ZTE TOTAL Page Content The deadline for the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) Within the Dark, art, writing and video competition is Friday, May 18. The competition was created to raise mental health awareness within the community. Submissions can be emailed to: jalcin@mhf-sxm.com and the criteria for writing, art and video are: Writing: Create a poem, story, letter, song lyrics, or essay. The written material should be minimum 250 words and maximum 600 words sent in as a Word Document. Art: Create a drawing, painting, digital art, photo, etc. Art pieces should be sized 9 12 or smaller and formatted in JPEG or PNG with a signature. Video: The video can be a song, dance, spoken word, or simply information shown in a creative way. You can also decide to do this project as a group of maximum five people or as an individual. Video should be a maximum of five minutes long. Participants in the competition can only send one submission per category/categories of choice; a maximum of five submissions can be sent in for the anthology. Persons can choose to remain anonymous or use their artist name. When submitting, they must clarify whether the work being sent is for the competition, anthology, or both. MHF says to make sure to fact check before submitting material; be creative and original no plagiarism, however referencing is allowed. Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department within the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, encourages members of the community to share their thoughts via this competition from your viewpoint about mental illness. Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including: Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry; life experiences, such as trauma or abuse; and family history of mental health problems. For information about public health matters, call CPS at 542-1122, 542-1222, 542-1322 and 542-1570; or email surveillance@sintmaartengov.org Page Content Acting Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Cornelius de Weever extends congratulations to all telecommunication-sector workers on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), which will be internationally observed on Thursday, May 17. The theme for WTISD is Enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for All. This is the first WTISD day post-Irma. The most powerful hurricane in the Atlantic caused severe damage to our telecommunications infrastructure. Despite the limitations and obstacles, our telecommunication providers were still able to get systems back online within a short period of time. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the people, and the Government of Sint Maarten, to congratulate our telecommunication workers and management for their dedication and resilience in overcoming the obstacles that presented themselves right after the passing of hurricane Irma and Maria. The telecommunication workers and management worked diligently to get us back connected with the outside world allowing for families and friends to be able to communicate with each other near and abroad. Having said the aforementioned, the 2018 WTISD day theme presents opportunities for us which should be explored. As we build back better, we have to see where we can use AI as we move forward in building resilience in our telecommunications and information technology infrastructure, Minister Cornelius de Weever said on Wednesday. May 17th has been identified as a day to help raise awareness of about the potential of AI to accelerate the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. In recent years there has been significant progress in AI technology, made possible by tremendous advances in contributing fields, such as Big Data, machine learning, computing power, storage capacity and cloud computing, among others. AI-based technologies are already emerging as a key component of proactive tools and applications being used to help people lead better lives by improving healthcare, education, finance, agriculture, transportation, and a wide range of other services. May 17th marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865 and the creation of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Page Content On May 16th, a simulation exercise was organized for ESF 6 by the Ministry of VSA and the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), with support of IHE Delft. The 6th Emergency Support Function (ESF) is in charge of the health sector during disasters and crises. ESF6 was confronted with a computer based scenario of a tsunami developed by IHE Delft within the European Commission funded PEARL project and were given insight in the consequences and dilemmas that need to be addressed in the situation of a crisis. Step by step the participants were taken in the different phases of the scenario in order to clarify the different roles and responsibilities. The table top focused on decision-making and communication processes and the strategic management of healthcare institutions during crisis situations and with chain partners. The table top (a simulation-workshop) was a follow-up to the workshop of March 28th. The input gathered by the first workshop in March and the specific material developed afterwards were tested in this table top. Besides giving insights in the roles and responsibilities, Lianne van Driel, disaster coordinator of the Ambulance Service of Brabant in the Netherlands and attached to the recovery project of VNG International, developed a concrete task chart for ESF 6; a checklist to support analysing the required incident information and to define action. Following this table top, the information that has been gathered by testing in this table top will be further used to improve the specific material developed and strengthen the processes of disaster management preparedness. ESF6 is made up of health agencies that all aid in the achievement of the roles and responsibilities of the group, as listed in the Landsbesluit Rampenplan St. Maarten. These supporting agencies consist of Sint Maarten Medical Centre, White Yellow Cross Foundation, Pharmacist Association, WIMA, General Practitioners, SLS Laboratory, Red Cross Foundation, WIEMS (Windward Islands Emergency Medical Services), Ambulance Services, Mental Health Foundation, VSA, Preventive health department. For more information please contact VNG International: vng-international@vng.nl; +31703738401 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES ( Note : All dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars except as otherwise noted.) TORONTO, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation ("Fairfax Africa") (TSX:FAH.U) announces that it has agreed to invest ZAR300 million (approximately $24 million at current exchange rates) in Consolidated Infrastructure Group Limited ("CIG") (JSE:CIL), a leading pan-African diversified infrastructure group, by way of a secured convertible loan (the Convertible) and has agreed to underwrite a ZAR800 million (approximately $64 million at current exchange rates) rights issue to current shareholders to be undertaken by CIG (the Rights Offering). The aggregate proceeds from the Convertible and Rights Offering will strongly position CIG to grow its pan-African infrastructure business by providing the company with sufficient liquidity to support its construction business (Conco) and by providing additional capital for other growth initiatives. The key terms of Fairfax Africas commitment are as follows: Convertible: The initial term of the Convertible will be for a period of 12 months and the Convertible will bear interest at a rate of South African Prime plus 4% (currently 14%). Upon approval of the conversion features by CIG shareholders at an upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting (the EGM), the term of the Convertible will increase to 60 months and the interest rate will reduce to South African Prime plus 2% (currently 12%). The conversion features will enable Fairfax Africa to convert the Convertible at any time during the 60-month term into 57,692,308 CIG ordinary shares at a price of ZAR5.20 per ordinary share, representing 29.4% of the current outstanding CIG ordinary shares and 14.6% of the outstanding shares after the Rights Offering. CIG will also have the option after the third anniversary of the Convertible to force conversion of the Convertible into CIG ordinary shares at a price of ZAR5.20 per ordinary share provided that the CIG ordinary shares have, at the time of such conversion, traded at more than ZAR6.24 per ordinary share for no less than 90 consecutive calendar days, representing a 20% premium to the conversion price. Fairfax Africa will receive a non-refundable debt origination fee of ZAR7.5 million (approximately $600,000 at current exchange rates) upon the drawdown of the Convertible. Rights Offering: Qualifying existing CIG shareholders will be invited to participate on a pro-rata basis in the non-renounceable Rights Offering for 200 million CIG ordinary shares at a price of R4.00 per ordinary share (the Issue Price), representing a 2% premium to CIGs 30-day volume weighted average share price. Fairfax Africa will serve as the committed underwriter of the Rights Offering, and any shares not taking up by qualifying existing CIG shareholders will be subscribed for by Fairfax Africa. Fairfax Africa will earn an underwriting fee of 2.5% of the aggregate proceeds of ZAR20 million (approximately $1.6 million at current exchange rates). Implementation of the Rights Offering will require CIG shareholder approval at the EGM. The Issue Price of R4.00 represents implied purchase price multiples of approximately 0.31x estimated book value per share and 0.48x estimated tangible book value per share as at February 28, 2018. Upon closing of the Convertible, Fairfax Africa will receive rights to nominate one director (out of a total of nine) to the board of CIG. Following closing of the Rights Offering, Fairfax Africa will be entitled to nominate a number of directors in proportion to its shareholding in CIG. In connection with the investment in CIG, Fairfax Africa has entered into a secured lending arrangement with PGR 2 Investments Proprietary Limited (PGR 2) (the largest shareholder of CIG) of up to ZAR260 million (approximately $20.8 million) (the PGR 2 Loan). The PGR 2 Loan is secured by CIG ordinary shares held by PGR 2 and associated parties and will bear interest at a rate of 15% per annum and, assuming the approval by CIG shareholders at the EGM of the necessary resolutions to authorize the Rights Offer, will have a maximum term of 3 years, subject to early repayment if the CIG ordinary shares trade above ZAR6.50 per share for 30 consecutive days. We are delighted to announce Fairfax Africas strategic platform investment in CIG, a pan-African diversified infrastructure group with a focus on electrical infrastructure and a presence in 21 countries in Africa, stated Michael Wilkerson, Chief Executive Officer. Infrastructure represents a tremendous growth opportunity in Africa, and we are confident this attractive investment will create substantial value for Fairfax Africas shareholders. We look forward to working closely with CEO Raoul Gamsu and the CIG management team over the long-term as they continue to build their leadership position in electrical infrastructure development in Africa. We are very pleased to have CIG as a partner and look forward to supporting its strategy of acquiring, building and operating infrastructure assets that are shaping Africas energy future, said Paul Rivett, Vice Chairman of Fairfax Africa. About Fairfax Africa Fairfax Africa is an investment holding company. Its investment objective is to achieve long-term capital appreciation, while preserving capital, by investing in public and private equity securities and debt instruments in Africa and African businesses or other businesses with customers, suppliers or business primarily conducted in, or dependent on, Africa. About Consolidated Infrastructure Group Consolidated Infrastructure Group Ltd. engages in the establishment of electrical infrastructure and the supply of heavy building materials to the construction industry. It operates through the following segments: Building Materials, Power, Oil and Gas, and Rail. The Building Materials segment includes heavy building materials to the construction industry. The Power segment supplies high voltage turnkey electrical substations, overhead power lines, renewable energy, and wind and solar products, and designs, develops, manufacturers, markets and distributes prepaid and smart electronic metering devices and solutions. The Oil and Gas segment provides waste management services for the industrial and natural resources exploration sectors. The Rail segment offers power maintenance solutions and railway electrification. CIGs subsidiary, Conlog, is the worlds leading metering solutions provider to utilities, municipalities, and property management companies in South Africa, South America, the Middle East and Africa at large. Forward Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects Fairfax Africa's current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Fairfax Africa's control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Fairfax Africa does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. For further information, contact: Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation Guy Bentinck Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary Tel +1 (416) 646-4181 PHILIPSBURG:---Minister of Social Development, Labour and Well-being hosted the Children Rights Kingdom Conference titled Samen Komen, Samen Bliiven, Samen Werken on May 14th, 15th and 16th on Curacao with the special theme of Participation as a shared responsibility. This reoccurring conference is organized by the Childrens Rights Kingdom Taskforce to which Sint Maarten is represented by Mrs. Shermina Powell-Richardson, Acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport/Head of Youth Affairs. Sint Maartens delegation consisted of Erick van Arneman (Opvoedambassadeur, Senior Policy Execution Officer at the Ministry of VSA), Ms. Kamila Gumbs (President of the St. Maarten Youth Parliament), Ms. Connie Francis-Gumbs (President of the St. Maarten Youth Council) Mrs. Shermina Powell-Richardson and the Minister of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport drs Jorien Wuite and support staff as delegation leader. Erik Arneman, the appointed Opvoed Ambassadeur for Children Rights on Sint Maarten highlights that, we have to continue to be active parents and encourage teachers to listen to the students allowing them to express their feelings and involve them in problem solving. The conference encouraged us as caregivers to show more love and compassion to our youngsters. The Sint Maarten team committed to a renewed action plan with a revised Active Parenting Program, encouragement to other schools to implement these programs and the possibility to make it mandatory to all schools upon registration of students. Minister Wuite participated in the special session for Ministers and other official representatives of public entities with the objective to intensify (political) commitment of Kingdom countries. As Minister I participated, encouraged and supported the development of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the aim to improve Childrens Rights within the Kingdom as the UNICEF reports of 2013 highlighted various sensitive conclusions and urgent recommendations that justified the institution of the Children Rights Taskforce in 2014. I congratulate colleague Minister Hensley Koeiman for the successful conference and thank Mrs. Shermina Powell-Richardson & the other members of the delegation for their active participation and collaboration. On the last day of the conference, Wednesday, May 16th, the Declaration of Intent was signed by the Secretary of State for Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands, Paul Blokhuis (on his behalf him, Job Tanis), the Minister for Social Affairs and Labour of Aruba, Glenbert Croes, the Minister for Social Development, Labour and Well-being of Curacao, Hensley Koeiman, the Minister for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of St. Maarten, Jorien Wuite, the Deputy of Society and Care of Bonaire, Edsel Cecillia, Saba Lieutenant Governor, Jonathan Johnson and the Government Commissioner of St. Eustatius, Marcolino (Mike) Franco (on behalf of him, Carol Jack) with the aim to conclude the MOU in 2 months. Members of the Kingdom Taskforce as well as the various Opvoed Ambassadeurs met with the organization team for a debriefing session the day after to give a quick reflection regarding the 3 day conference. There was an overall consensus that the Taskforce had accomplished a major milestone with the Ministers charged with children rights having signed a document of intent outlining key areas of shared responsibilities. Mrs. Shermina Powell-Richardson said that it was agreed that each country would further develop their action plans presented at the Conference and that these plans should clearly outline the budget of the individual country but also more specific the cost related to common activities under the umbrella of the Taskforce. Regarding the way forward it was decided that further discussions where necessary before concluding which country would take up the chairmanship and secretariat for the coming year as well as which country would host the next conference Mrs. Powell concluded. The next video conference of the Kingdom Taskforce Children Rights is scheduled for May 31st, 2018 POND ISLAND:--- On Tuesday, May 15, staff from the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) visited the St. Maarten Vocation Training School group 4 Business Administration class, where they received a presentation from STB. STB is continuing with its efforts of bringing greater awareness about the countrys Tourism Industry to the school population. STB Lisa Noel gave the presentation to the students. The presentation was a very interactive one that sought to test the students knowledge about the industry while at the same time teaching them about how they too play a role in helping to shape the countrys main industry. Acting Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Cornelius de Weever, said on Thursday that the local population is an asset in a countrys tourism product. The population overall and in particular, those at an elementary and secondary school level must be aware of the importance of tourism to the national economy, and have a positive attitude towards tourism, because its everybodys business. The income earned from our single-pillar tourism economy trickles down into everything. The values of our tourism economy need to be instilled into our education system and the approach by STB at this stage is a great start, Minister Cornelius de Weever said on Thursday. STB will continue working with the elementary and secondary schools with regarding to enhancing their knowledge about the tourism industry. The students were presented with St. Maarten Tourist Bureaus tees and tourism and hospitality pamphlets for their participation. NEW YORK, NY:--- Caribbean colours will decorate the New York City skyline on Wednesday, 6 June when the Empire State Building honours the region by lighting its world-famous tower in purple, blue, green, orange, red and magenta (pictured from 2017) in celebration of the Caribbean Tourism Organizations (CTO) Caribbean Week New York 2018 (#CaribbeanWeekNewYork2018, #CWNY18). It is an honour that the famous New York City skyline will be colourfully adorned in celebration of Caribbean Week, Sylma Brown, the director of CTO-US, said. We appreciate the on-going support of this annual series of events by lighting the iconic building in the Caribbeans traditional colours, she added. New Yorkers and visitors to the city can share their photos of the Caribbean-themed Empire State Building with CTO via social media using the hashtag #CWNY18 and tagging CTOs accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as the Empire State Buildings pages across Facebook , Instagram and Twitter. Caribbean Week New York 2018 will have a special feel this year as the Big Apples 8.5 million residents get a taste of the reenergizing and rejuvenating power of Caribbean wellness. During the week-long event (June 3 8), the wellness theme will be incorporated into many activities, including a trade show and educational forum for travel agents on how to sell the Caribbean as a wellness destination. Registration details for all events can be found at http://www.onecaribbean.org/events-calendar/cwny-2018/. About Caribbean Week New York Caribbean Week New York is the largest regional tourism activity in the New York area. Artists, performers, celebrity chefs, the Diaspora community, investors and other strategic partners join government officials, tourism stakeholders and the media for a week of festivities, raising awareness for the Caribbeans diverse tourism industry and provide opportunities. Member destinations will have the opportunity to promote their individual products and services, participate in meetings, seminars and other business development activities to further enhance the Caribbean brand, and provide updates and critical support to the travel agents and media who influence key travel demographics in the regions #1 source market. Caribbean Week is supported by: Academy Engraving, American Express, Anguilla, Anse Chastanet & Jade Mountain, Antigua & Barbuda, Arrivalist, Islands of the Bahamas, Barbados, Caribbean Airlines, Cayman Islands, Cholula Food Company, Cititech Solutions, Club Med, Delta Air Lines, Doctors Cave, Dominica, Empire State Building, GoGo Vacations, Grace Foods, Grenada, Haiti, Half Moon, Jamaica, JetBlue, Kaana Resort and Spa, Manhattan Beer Distributors, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Seaborne Airlines, Sheraton-Puerto Rico, Sugarcane Restaurant, Travel + Leisure, Travel Impressions, TripAdvisor, Unique Vacations/Sandals, West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA), and William Sonoma. Media Sponsors: Meredith Travel Group, UBC Network, and Zee TV. MARIGOT:---The French Army will be in Saint-Martin for recruitment sessions from Tuesday 29th of May to the 1st June, 2018. A collective information meeting will take place on the premises of the AIO Service of the Collectivite, on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 from 10:30 to 12:30. The collective meeting will be followed by selection tests. Service AIO is located in the annex of the Collectivite, former Evelyna Halley school in Marigot. The Collectivite of Saint-Martin invites all young people (18-25 years) interested with this opportunity to come and inform themselves and to prepare a file of candidacy. TORONTO, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), today announced the May 2018 cash distributions for the iShares ETFs listed on the monthly basis as well as XIU. Unitholders of record of a fund on May 28, 2018 will receive cash distributions payable in respect of that fund on May 31, 2018. Details regarding the per unit distribution amounts are as follows: Fund Name Fund Ticker Cash Distribution Per Unit ($) iShares Balanced Income CorePortfolioTM Index ETF CBD 0.059 iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBH 0.057 iShares Balanced Growth CorePortfolioTM Index ETF CBN 0.034 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBO 0.041 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index ETF CDZ 0.094 iShares Equal Weight Banc & Lifeco ETF CEW 0.027 iShares U.S. High Yield Fixed Income Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CHB 0.089 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLF 0.040 iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLG 0.047 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Preferred Share Index ETF CPD 0.049 iShares Short Duration High Income ETF (CAD-Hedged) CSD 0.078 iShares US Dividend Growers Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CUD 0.065 iShares Convertible Bond Index ETF CVD 0.072 iShares Global Monthly Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CYH 0.051 Dynamic iShares Active Tactical Bond ETF DXB 0.042 Dynamic iShares Active Canadian Dividend ETF DXC 0.040 Dynamic iShares Active Crossover Bond ETF DXO 0.057 Dynamic iShares Active Preferred Shares ETF DXP 0.072 Dynamic iShares Active Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF DXV 0.039 iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF FIE 0.040 iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF XBB 0.075 iShares Canadian Corporate Bond Index ETF XCB 0.053 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF XDG 0.053 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDGH 0.051 iShares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend Index ETF XDIV 0.080 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF XDU 0.041 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDUH 0.050 iShares Canadian Select Dividend Index ETF XDV 0.079 iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XEB 0.056 iShares S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index ETF XEI 0.085 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Financials Index ETF XFN 0.093 iShares Floating Rate Index ETF XFR 0.026 iShares Canadian Government Bond Index ETF XGB 0.043 iShares Canadian HYBrid Corporate Bond Index ETF XHB 0.068 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHD 0.070 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF XHU 0.058 iShares U.S. High Yield Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHY 0.088 iShares U.S. IG Corporate Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XIG 0.054 iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF XIU 0.171 iShares Core Canadian Long Term Bond Index ETF XLB 0.069 iShares S&P/TSX North American Preferred Stock Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XPF 0.065 iShares High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XQB 0.043 iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index ETF XRE 0.066 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF XSB 0.054 iShares Conservative Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSC 0.045 iShares Conservative Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSE 0.046 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Corporate + Maple Bond Index ETF XSH 0.046 iShares Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSI 0.050 iShares Short Term High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XSQ 0.034 iShares Diversified Monthly Income ETF XTR 0.050 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Utilities Index ETF XUT 0.073 Estimated May Cash Distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF The May cash distributions per unit for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF are estimated to be as follows: Fund Name Fund Ticker Estimated Cash Distribution Per Unit ($) iShares Premium Money Market ETF CMR 0.055 BlackRock Canada expects to issue a press release on or about May 25, 2018, which will provide the final amounts for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF. Further information on the iShares Funds can be found at http://www.blackrock.com/ca . About BlackRock BlackRock helps investors build better financial futures. As a fiduciary to our clients, we provide the investment and technology solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. As of March 31, 2018, the firm manages approximately US$6.317 trillion in assets on behalf of investors worldwide. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/ca | Twitter: @BlackRockCA | Blog: www.blackrockblog.com/can About iShares ETFs iShares is a global leader in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with more than a decade of expertise and commitment to individual and institutional investors of all sizes. With over 800 funds globally across multiple asset classes and strategies and more than US$1.7 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2018, iShares helps clients around the world build the core of their portfolios, meet specific investment goals and implement market views. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock, trusted to manage more money than any other investment firm1. 1 Based on US$6.317 trillion in AUM as of 3/31/18 iShares ETFs are managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in iShares ETFs. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing. The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. Contact for Media: Julia Koene T 416-643-4010 Email: Julia.Koene@blackrock.com LITTLE RIVER, S.C., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PCT LTD (OTC Pink:BGHM), a leader in environmentally safe technologies and products, recently announced that it has successfully installed the PCT Annihilyzer Infection Control System at Johnston UNC Health Care Hospital, in Smithfield, North Carolina. Johnston, a member of the UNC Health Care System, is the first hospital to fully employ the Annihilyzer Infection Control System in its routine hospital operations. Johnston has fully committed to the Annihilyzer Infection Control System which is being expanded to include a second Annihilyzer Station to expand the Annihilyzer Services to their nearby outpatient and clinical services facility, the Johnston Health Medical Mall. The management and staff at Johnston worked actively with PCT to establish operational requirements and protocols, evaluate the performance of the system and contribute to the development of solutions to improve operational efficiency. Darryl Patterson, PCTs Director of Hospital and Healthcare, acknowledges, The support and cooperation of the management and staff of Johnston was invaluable to our company as we worked through the process of perfecting on-site systems, protocols and practices. We can now replicate these with future hospital clients. PCT is now accelerating its marketing, placement and deployment program with a major focus on hospital and healthcare systems in the eastern United States. That effort was launched at a daylong exposition and seminar on Infectious Disease Control presented at Johnston UNC Health. Mr. Patterson and Ronnie Syverson, RN, BSN, BS, CIC, PCTs Director of Infection Control, made well-received presentations and demonstrations of the Annihilyzer Infection Control System to an audience of infection control professionals from approximately thirty North Carolina hospitals at the 2018 APIC (Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology) NC Spring Conference. The Annihilyzer System was well received and the event resulted in requests for individual follow-up meetings from many of the hospitals infection control professionals in attendance. In the coming months PCT expects to install the Annihilyzer Infection Control Systems in multiple hospitals each month and anticipates over one hundred Annihilyzer installations under multi-year contracts during the next twelve months, generating a steady and growing long-term revenue stream. For more information about the Annihilyzer Infection Control System go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0hx1d5IbNk&t=3s About PCT PCT LTD has focused its business on sustainable, environmentally safe technologies and products. The company acquires and holds rights to innovative products and technologies, which are commercialized through operating subsidiaries. Paradigm Convergence Technologies Corporation (PCT Corp) is the wholly owned operating subsidiary of PCT LTD. The business mission of PCT Corp. is in the prevention, and control of infectious disease and the pre-harvest prevention, control and suppression of microbial contamination of some commercial crops. PCT Corp designs, develops, integrates, assembles and commercializes technologies, products and systems targeted at the prevention and control of infectious disease and crop pathogens. Its unique and patented systems and human-safe products provide next-generation cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting fluid solutions to the ever-present problems of microbial infection and infestation. Forward Looking Statements: This release contains or may contain forward-looking statements and information that are based upon beliefs of, and information currently available to, management; as well as estimates and assumptions made by management. Such statements reflect the current view of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors relating to the Companys industry, operations and results of operations and any businesses that may be acquired by the Company. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned. Contact: Brokers and Analysts Chesapeake Group 410-825-3930 info@chesapeakegp.com Gary Grieco CEO Paradigm Convergence Technologies 843-390-7900 ggrieco@para-con.com DETROIT, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute announced today it will expand its Lawrence and Idell Weisberg Cancer Treatment Center in Farmington Hills into a full-service, outpatient oncology center by 2021. Karmanos Cancer Institute is embarking on this exciting project because of the greater convenience this will provide to our patients and their families, said Gerold Bepler, M.D., Ph.D., Karmanos President and CEO. As the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in metropolitan Detroit, we at Karmanos are committed to providing this advanced level of care to our patients at our main campus in Detroit, as well as our patients throughout the region. The first phase of this two-phase renovation and expansion project is expected to begin this month. The total project cost is estimated at $47.5 million and will be financed with internal funds and philanthropy. Karmanos established a presence in Oakland County with the opening of the Weisberg Cancer Treatment Center in 2001 and quickly outgrew its capacity, limiting future service offerings. With the expansion, Weisberg will become nearly four times as large, increasing its current footprint from 17,700 to 69,100 square feet. The first phase of the project will expand the radiation area to offer the latest advancements in radiation oncology, imaging bays and additional services, including research. Procedure rooms and an interventional radiology suite will also be added. The second phase of the project, expected to begin in April 2019, will renovate the infusion, laboratory and pharmacy areas, clinic care space and areas where support services and survivorship programming are held. Karmanos Farmington Hills location will continue seeing patients during renovations, as well as offer various programs to patients and their families. We anticipate keeping any inconvenience to our patients at a minimum. All renovation and expansion activities have been planned with patient care as our highest priority, said Dr. Bepler. The Weisberg expansion will serve Karmanos patients throughout their cancer journey, according to Justin Klamerus, M.D., MMM, president of Karmanos Cancer Hospital and Network. With so many advancements in the treatment of cancer, there are more cancer survivors every year, said Dr. Klamerus. A larger facility will enhance the experience for our cancer patients and their families on a continuum, making services more accessible during their cancer journey, as well as maintaining follow-up after their cancer treatment has ended. Architectural firm Ghafari Associates and construction firm Roncelli, Inc. have been retained. Approximately 30 to 40 construction jobs will be created. Karmanos Cancer Institute is headquartered in Detroit where it offers its patients a full array of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services. About the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Karmanos Cancer Institute is headquartered in Detroit, with 14 locations throughout Michigan. As part of McLaren, Karmanos is the largest cancer care and research network in the state. It is among the nations best cancer centers as one of the National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States and the only one located in metro Detroit. Karmanos cancer experts focus solely on cancer to prevent, detect and treat as well as eradicate all forms of cancer. Its long-term partnership with the Wayne State University School of Medicine enhances the collaboration of critical research and academics related to cancer care. For more information, call 1-800-KARMANOS (800-527-6266) or visit www.karmanos.org. Follow Karmanos on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. MEDIA CONTACT: Patricia A. Ellis, 313-576-8629 or ellisp@karmanos.org A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ccf21d46-bc3a-407a-aab4-38ffc4fb82bd English French PRESS RELEASE Clermont-Ferrand - May 18, 2018 COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN 2018 Annual Shareholders Meeting The Annual Meeting of Michelin shareholders was held today in Clermont-Ferrand under the chairmanship of Chief Executive Officer Jean-Dominique Senard. Shareholders adopted all of the resolutions submitted for their approval. These concerned, in particular: The payment of a dividend of 3.55 per share, payable in cash as from May 24, 2018. The advisory vote on the components of Jean-Dominique Senard and Michel Rollier's compensation for 2017. The renewal of financial authorizations. The renewal of the authorization to carry out a share buyback program at a maximum purchase price per share of 180 and the authorization to reduce the share capital by canceling the shares purchased under the program. Election of Florent Menegaux as General Managing Partner and Yves Chapot as Non-General Managing Partner. Shareholders re-elected Monique Leroux and Cyrille Poughon and elected Thierry Le Henaff to the Supervisory Board, each for a four-year term expiring at the close of the Annual Shareholders Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2021. Marc Henry, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Committee, noted that Michelin performed very well in 2017, another year of growth, with net income rising to 1.7 billion and structural free cash flow exceeding 1.5 billion. Given first-quarter growth in net sales of 1.4% at constant exchange rates, he confirmed the Group's annual targets to achieve volume growth in line with global market trends, operating income from recurring activities exceeding the 2017 figure at constant exchange rates, and structural free cash flow of more than 1.1 billion. After congratulating Michelin's teams around the world for their hard work and highlighting the Group's long-standing corporate mission of "offering everyone a better way forward", Jean-Dominique Senard went over the advances made in the Group's strategic model as well as in its human and employee relations model. With a view to improving and enhancing customer mobility, he noted the importance of sustainable product performance, the Group's leading position in connected tires, its strides in enhancing market access, the launch of fleet services and solutions and the development of gastronomy-focused travel experiences. He went on to emphasize the importance of high-tech materials as a growth driver, based on the Group's seasoned expertise in the physics and chemistry of reinforced polymers. He also took the opportunity, in follow-up to the recommended cash offer for Fenner, to praise employees for their professionalism and highlight the complementary attributes of the two companies. He then talked about the changes in the Group's human and employee relations model, pointing out the progress made in terms of diversity and the roll-out of a new organization. More agile and digitally-enabled, this organization empowers employees to get more involved in steering both the business and their own personal development. In his closing remarks, Jean Dominique Senard noted that he would be succeeded in May 2019 by Florent Menegaux and Yves Chapot, both appointed as Managing Partners at the meeting, and expressed his full confidence in them. The presentations to shareholders, vote totals on the resolutions and a webcast of the entire Annual Meeting will be posted on May 19, 2018 on the corporate website (www.michelin.com/eng). Investor Relations Edouard de Peufeilhoux +33 (0) 4 73 32 74 47 +33 (0) 6 89 71 93 73 (cell) edouard.de-peufeilhoux@michelin.com Matthieu Dewavrin +33 (0) 4 73 32 18 02 +33 (0) 6 71 14 17 05 (cell) matthieu.dewavrin@michelin.com Humbert de Feydeau +33 (0) 4 73 32 68 39 +33 (0) 6 82 22 39 78 (cell) humbert.de-feydeau@michelin.com Media Relations Corinne Meutey +33 (0) 1 78 76 45 27 +33 (0) 6 08 00 13 85 (cell) corinne.meutey@michelin.com Individual Shareholders Jacques Engasser +33 (0) 4 73 98 59 08 jacques.engasser@michelin.com DISCLAIMER Cambridge Analytica files for voluntary bankruptcy in US: court filing New York, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2018 British political consulting group Cambridge Analytica filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York, court documents showed. The firm, whose attorney filed late Wednesday, announced early May that it would close and file for bankruptcy in Britain and the United States after failing to recover from the Facebook data scandal. The documents, seen by AFP, listed Cambridge Analytica LLC's estimated assets in the range of $100,001 and $500,000, with estimated liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Earlier this month, the company -- -- which worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign -- claimed its business had been ruined by "numerous unfounded accusations" which rendered operating the business "no longer viable." The firm became embroiled in scandal in March when former analyst, 28-year-old Canadian Christopher Wylie, revealed it had used a Facebook personality prediction app to hijack up to 87 million Facebook users' data -- claims it denies. "Despite Cambridge Analytica's unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully... the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company's customers and suppliers," the company said in a statement upon announcing its closure. Soon after the leak, CA chief executive Alexander Nix was suspended after he was filmed by undercover reporters bragging about ways to win political campaigns, including through blackmail and honey traps. Meanwhile, another whistleblower said Britons' personal data may have been misused by a pro-Brexit campaign ahead of the 2016 referendum in which Britain voted to leave the European Union. Wylie has also since told a Senate panel on interference in the 2016 US election that CA had used Russian researchers and shared data with companies linked to Russian intelligence. This week, the New York Times reported the US Justice Department and the FBI are investigating CA -- although it was unclear if the probe was linked to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's into Trump campaign collusion with Russia. ska/dcr Facebook France to host 'red list' endangered species congress Paris, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2018 Keepers of the planet's "Red List" of endangered species will meet in the southern French city of Marseille next year, where they will try to rally support for efforts to stem climate change and biodiversity loss. Delegates from the International Union for Conservation of Nature meet every four years for a thorough review of world flora and fauna at risk, which currently stands at thousands of species. "We want this congress to be the event that brings together solutions for biodiversity," French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot said in a statement released by the IUCN. Hulot was also in Marseille on Friday to outline his own plans for preserving France's environmental diversity and "raise consciousness" about the stakes for the planet. "We have become a weapon of mass destruction" for the planet, Hulot said during his visit, saying the "moment of truth" was at hand. Scientists have given a dire prognostic about the fate of thousands of species in the coming years, victims of climate change and human encroachment on their natural habitats. Some say the planet is already undergoing a "mass extinction event", the first since the dinosaurs disappeared about 65 million years ago, and only the sixth in the last half-billion years. An update of the Red List last year found that of the 91,523 species assessed, nearly 26,000 were classified as "threatened" -- of which roughly 5,500 were "critically" imperilled. Next year's IUCN congress coincides with the formal implementation of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, which aims to cap global warming at "well under" 2 Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and 1.5 C if possible. That goal has been thrown into doubt after US President Donald Trump said he would pull out of the deal signed by nearly 200 nations. Company Sheds Organic Cosmetics Venture; To Be Renamed KPOC Mining, Inc And Will Retain KPOC Trading Symbol Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kimberly Parry Organics, Corp. ("KPOC" or the "Company") (OTCPINK:KPOC), today announced that it is acquiring multiple significant revenue producing copper mining sites in Chile. The Company will be changing its name to KPOC Mining, Inc. to better reflect the public Companys exit from the organic cosmetics marketplace. The Company will be acquiring the assets in Chile through its majority owned subsidiary, KPOC Mining Chile, Inc. KPOC Chile will also oversee all aspects of the day-to-day operations in South America. The Companys transformation to copper mining is a wise one, says Company President, Theodore Collas. If you want to mine copper, Chile is the worlds most desirable location. The country is rich in untapped deposits. In an article on The World's 20 Largest Copper Mines (the mines that produce about 40 percent of the world's copper) 7 of the top 14 mines are all located in Chile. https://www.thebalance.com/the-world-s-20-largest-copper-mines-2014-2339745 Copper Investing News says: If one were to ask where the homestead of copper production is located, all fingers would point to Chile. The top copper producer in the world, the country hosts many notable copper miners We believe that for copper, Chile is the number-one spot on the planet to explore and develop a copper mine, says Chilean Metals Chairman Terry Lynch. The country has a historical track record of being the best spot to explore copper in the world. (emphasis added) Chile is the most favorable jurisdiction in South America. It has a long history of strong mining laws and is mining friendly, especially to foreign companies. https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/base-metals-investing/copper-investing/copper-mining-chile-top-producer/ Company President, Theodore Collas said: We have wonderful relationships with the key players in the industry, both public & private. Now that we have fully evolved into a copper mining company, Management will be continually providing more details and updates on a regular basis. About KCOP Mining USA, Inc. KPOC Mining has entered into agreements to purchase 23 copper mining sites in the Republic of Chile. Our geologists have determined that each of mining properties will be highly commercially productive. We believe that development of the first mining site will commence in the first half of 2018, and the remaining sites will be developed over a three- year period. All mining operations will be conducted by KPOC Mining Chile, our Chilean subsidiary. If you have specific questions about the Company, please email us at admin@kpocmining.com &/or visit our website at https://www.kpocmining.com. Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including those with respect to the Company's mission statement and growth strategy, are "forward-looking statements." Although management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's filings with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release. Navy captain accused in deadly Tunisia migrant boat sinking Tunis, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2018 A Tunisian military probe into the sinking of a migrant boat in October that killed 46 people has blamed the captain of a naval vessel which struck it, the presidency said Friday. The deaths of the Tunisian migrants trying to reach Europe was at the time called a "national catastrophe" by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed. "The captain of the military ship and the captain of the (migrant) boat are accused, after their responsibility has been proven in this incident," the presidency said in a statement, after being informed of the results of an inquiry led by the military prosecutor's office. The defence ministry and the prosecutor, contacted by AFP, were unable to confirm whether the two men had been formally charged or detained. The tragedy took place on 8 October off the city of Sfax, with some of the 38 survivors accusing the military of deliberately ramming their boat after insulting them. A defence ministry spokesman said the military vessel had followed the migrant boat for three and a half hours in an effort to convince it to turn back. EU launches steps to fight US sanctions on Iran Brussels, May 18 (AFP) May 18, 2018 The European Union took steps Friday to avoid reimposed US sanctions on Iran and save the international nuclear deal as a rift with Washington widened. The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, moved to help EU firms skirt US penalties and have member governments directly pay Iran's central bank for oil. The commission, which took two other steps, said it was acting on a "green light" EU leaders gave at a meeting in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on Thursday. The commission "launched the formal process to activate the blocking statute by updating the list of US sanctions on Iran falling within its scope," it said. The executive said it hopes the statute will be in force before August 6 when the first batch of reimposed US sanctions take effect. President Donald Trump last week pulled Washington out of the 2015 international deal with Iran to curb its nuclear programme in return for easing sanctions. The statute, which the 28 EU member states and the European Parliament must endorse, is aimed at reassuring European firms that invested in Iran after the deal. "The blocking statute forbids EU companies from complying with the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions," the commission said. It also "allows companies to recover damages arising from such sanctions from the person causing them, and nullifies the effect in the EU of any foreign court judgements based on them," the executive added. The "blocking statute" is a 1996 regulation originally created to circumvent Washington's trade embargo on Cuba, which prohibits EU companies and courts from complying with specific foreign sanction laws. However, the Cuba row was settled politically, so the blocking regulation's effectiveness was never put to the test, and its value may lie more in becoming a bargaining chip with Washington. Since the US withdrawal, the remaining parties have all pledged to stick to the deal if Tehran respects its terms. - 'Confidence-building measures' - Tehran has warned it is ready to resume no-holds-barred "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment unless Europe can provide solid guarantees to preserve Iran's economic benefits under the deal. During talks in Brussels on Tuesday, Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said efforts to save the deal were on the "right track". The commission said the political directors or deputy foreign ministers from the EU, Britain, France and Germany will meet on May 25 in Vienna with their counterparts from China and Russia. EU officials said it will be their first such meeting with envoys from Beijing and Moscow -- which are also trying to save the deal --since Washington pulled out. On a second front, the commission said it is encouraging EU member states to explore the idea of "one-off bank transfers" to the Central Bank of Iran. The approach, it said, could ensure Tehran receives its oil-related revenues if US sanctions target EU firms active in oil transactions with Iran. The commission also moved Friday to remove hurdles for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance activities outside the EU, such as in Iran. It said the move will "allow the EIB to support EU investment in Iran," particularly involving small and medium-sized companies. On a fourth front, the commission called for doing more to help Iran's energy sector and small and medium-sized companies, as part of "confidence-building measures." It added that EU energy and climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will travel to Tehran at the weekend. In pulling out, Trump complained the nuclear deal does nothing to stop Iran's ballistic missile programme or its interference in conflicts across the Middle East from Syria to Yemen. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement BURLINGTON, Mass., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sophos (LSE:SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, announced today that CRN , a brand of The Channel Company, has named 10 women from Sophos' channel and marketing teams to its prestigious 2018 Women of the Channel list. The annual list includes women from vendors, distributors, solution providers, and other organizations that figure prominently in the IT channel ecosystem. For the second year in a row, Sophos has the most women included on CRNs Women of the Channel list from any dedicated IT security company. The following women from Sophos were selected by the editors of CRN due to their professional accomplishments, demonstrated expertise and ongoing dedication to the IT channel: Kendra Krause, vice president, global channels Justine Lewis, vice president, worldwide field and channel marketing Erin Malone, vice president, North America channel sales Caralyn Stern, senior marketing director, global channel and Americas Allison Clarke, director, global channel programs Regina Vignone, director of channel sales, North America, East Andrea Carter, director of marketing and global field programs, UKI Nicki Dewhurst, marketing director, Asia Pacific and Japan Maria Claudia Ardila, channel program manager, Latin America Claudia Vizcarra, regional sales manager, Latin America CRN has also included Kendra Krause, Erin Malone, and Caralyn Stern in the 2018 Power 100, an elite subset of the Women of the Channel list which recognizes women leaders whose vision and influence are key drivers of their company's success. Having ten women from our worldwide team being recognized on CRNs Women of the Channel list is an incredible achievement. These awards not only demonstrate our global channel strength and commitment to be channel best, but also the quality of talent we bring to support our partners, said Michael Valentine, senior vice president of worldwide sales for Sophos. We support initiatives such as CRNs Women of the Channel to encourage more women to enter the cybersecurity industry. Sophos is a global leader in a market that is growing worldwide and doesnt show any signs of decelerating. I am proud to be part of the winning team at Sophos. Many of the women CRN awarded played a key role in accelerating Sophos Cloud Security Provider (CSP) Program, which enables partners worldwide to better serve their customers as they migrate to the cloud and capitalize on revenue opportunities the cloud brings to the channel. These accolades also follow the inclusion of six Sophos executives on the 2018 CRN Channel Chiefs list and Sophos recent 5-star rating in CRNs 2018 Partner Program Guide, further demonstrating the companys dedication to its partners success. The Sophos Partner program has grown to serve more than 39,000 registered channel partners globally, with more than 7,000 blue chip partners transacting in the last six months. This accomplished group of leaders is steadily guiding the IT channel into a prosperous new era of services-led business models and deep, strategic partnerships, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs 2018 Women of the Channel list honors executives who are driving channel progress through a number of achievementsexemplary partner programs, innovative product development and marketing, effective team-building, visionary leadership and accelerated sales growthas well as advocacy for the next generation of women channel executives. The 2018 Women of the Channel list will be featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/wotc. Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook Tweet This: @TheChannelCo names ten @Sophos executives to @CRN 2018 Women of the Channel list #WOTC18 www.CRN.com/wotc. About Sophos Sophos is a leader in next-generation endpoint and network security. As the pioneer of synchronized security Sophos develops its innovative portfolio of endpoint, network, encryption, web, email, and mobile security solutions to work better together. More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos solutions as the best protection against sophisticated threats and data loss. Sophos products are exclusively available through a global channel of more than 26,000 registered partners. Headquartered in Oxford, UK, Sophos is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "SOPH." More information is available at www.sophos.com. 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. Sophos Media Contacts: Sara Eberle, senior public relations manager, Americas Sara.eberle@sophos.com Cell: 339-223-9265 Stephanie Jackman, account director, March Communications stephanie@marchcomms.com Office: 617-960-9882 Cell: 413-374-7264 The Channel Company Contact: Kim Sparks The Channel Company (508) 416-1193 ksparks@thechannelco.com Optimization Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should? Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom 'We Won't Allow Ourselves to Be Blackmailed' In an interview with DER SPIEGEL, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, 50, says the EU won't negotiate "until Trump stops pointing the gun at our chest." But, she adds, Europe would much prefer compromise over aggression. Iran Crisis Trump Drives Wedge Between Germany and France Donald Trump's move to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran should have pulled the European Union together, but Angela Merkel has instead chosen to appease the U.S. president. Criticism of her stance is mounting in Brussels and Berlin. By SPIEGEL Staff English17/05/2018 SRNA News Roundup /III/ - May 17, 2018 REPUBLIKA SRPSKA BANJALUKA - Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik tomorrow in Bratunac will separately meet with Bratunac Mayor Nedeljko Mladjenovic and businessmen from this municipality. KOSTAJNICA - Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik spoke today in Kostajnica with the president of the SNSD Municipal Board, Nikola Janjetovic, who thanked the Government for projects it approved to this local community. BANJALUKA - Republika Srpska Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic has said in Sofia at the summit of the Western Balkan countries that the countries of the region are facing numerous political, economic and security challenges and that unresolved political issues to a large degree make it difficult to undertake joint activities in the field of economic cooperation. BANJALUKA - The Republika Srpska Parliaments Inquiry Committee, which was formed to review all relevant facts in connection with the death of David Dragicevic, received documents it requested from various institutions and will tomorrow hold its first meeting, say a press release from the Republika Srpska Parliament. BANJALUKA - The Republika Srpska Minister of Internal Affairs, Dragan Lukac, will attend today a medal presentation ceremony for the UN police in Cyprus /UNPOL Medal Parade/, where one member of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs will also get a medal. SAMAC - Wreaths were laid and a memorial service was held at the central monument to fallen Republika Srpska Army soldiers in Samac to mark the 26th anniversary of the founding of the 2nd Posavina Brigade. BANJALUKA - Academic Vasilije Krestic said today in Banjaluka that his scientific study on the name of language in Croatias past shows that Croatia imposes language to Serbs with the aim of creating a greater and ethnically pure Croatia which recognizes only the Croatian people. BANJALUKA - From April 7 to April 13, 726 persons with acute respiratory infections and 234 persons with influenza-like symptoms reported to health centers in Republika Srpska, which is far less than a week before, says the Republika Srpska Public Health Institute. ISTOCNO SARAJEVO - Istocno Sarajevo Mayor Ljubisa Cosic has said that this local community is among the five most developed local communities in Srpska and that it will continue to develop and create better living conditions for all citizens. SREBRENICA - His Eminence the Bishop of Zvornik and Tuzla, Fotije, has consecrated the newly-built parish home near the Church of Ascension of the Lord in Dugo Polje near Srebrenica and conducted a Slava ceremony in that church which today celebrates its Patron St.s Day /Slava/. NOVI GRAD - The former Prime Minister of the Republic of the Serbian Krajina, Borislav Mikelic, was buried today at the local cemetery in Dobrljin near Novi Grad. TREBINJE - Gacko police have arrested 12 migrants from Syria, the spokeswoman for the Trebinje Police Administration, Jovana Cvijetic, told SRNA today. BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA SARAJEVO - The BiH House of Representatives has postponed a debate on measures that should be taken in connection with the migrant crisis and tasked the Council of Ministers with preparing a thorough and updated report on the state of security in BiH in the context of migrant crisis by the next session of the House, that is, by the end of May. SARAJEVO - The head of the HDZ Caucus in the BiH House of Representatives, Nikola Lovrinovic, says that BiH is unprepared for the migrant crisis. SERBIA BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed today in Sofia that it is necessary to accelerate activities on improving the dialogue with Pristina, says a press release from the Serbian Presidents press office. BELGRADE - The first task of the commission which will investigate the human health and environmental impact of the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia will be to update the map of locations hit by bombs and to review data from health institutions, said Darko Lukic, a candidate for commission president. REGION SOFIA/BELGRADE - The leaders of the EU and EU member states, in consultations with partners from the Western Balkans, adopted at the summit in Sofia a declaration with 17 items in which they reiterated their unequivocal support to the European prospects of the region and specified principles and tasks that the parties should accomplish during the European integration process. /end/sg The event, An evening with' organised by accountancy firm PKF Francis Clark, law firm Stephens Scown LLP and property consultants Savills attracted more than 70 people to Healey's Cyder Farm, near Truro on Friday 11 May. Mr Eustice, during his speech at the event, stated: "The end state we seek is support, not based on the amount of land that they own, but to reward them for helping the environment, water quality and to changes in husbandry to deliver for the environment and research and development into more productive working practices." He laid out the timetable for actions going forward and re-iterated the importance of getting the Agricultural Bill through parliament this autumn. He expressed his fear that this would be a "dangerous time to let things slip", and by "October 2018, we would need to have a clear idea for arrangements in the future". The consultation document The future for food, farming and the environment' which will form the basis of the Bill, has been out to consultation since February and closed on 8 May. It has received over 44,000 responses and the Minister commented that he is "looking forward" to reviewing them. The Camborne, Redruth and Hayle MP spoke of the need for early adopters' of any new scheme and that the reduction in single farm payment to the very largest farmers, as suggested in the consultation document, should be seen as a gradual migration, rather than penalising those larger farmers. George Eustice also pointed out the importance of stress testing the scheme to ensure that the mechanisms put in place work effectively and efficiently. This would be much easier to achieve with a smaller cohort moving through the system first, whilst also giving those smaller, family farms enough time to make the changes necessary. He also said that government does not want to "Dictate people's businesses" and therefore will not be telling farmers how to run their businesses - it will be up to them to decide at what level, if any, they would like to engage. Latvian English Notice of convening of the ordinary shareholders` meeting of JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica Under sections 269 and 273 of the Commercial Law and subsections 54 (2)1 and 541 of the Financial Instruments Market Law of the Republic of Latvia, pursuant to Company`s Articles, Regulations on the convening and course of shareholders meeting, the Management Board of JSC DITTON pievadkezu rupnica (reg. No.40003030187) is pleased to invite shareholders to the ordinary shareholders` meeting that will take place at the Company's registered office (at Visku St. 17, Daugavpils), on 1 June 2018, at 9 a.m. Agenda: Approval of the annual report for 2017. Profit distribution of year 2017. Registration of shareholders will take place on the meeting day on 1 June 2018 from 8 a.m. until 9 a.m. at the venue of meeting. Only those shareholders, who on 24 May 2018 - the record date for participation in the ordinary shareholders` meeting of JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica - are registered with the number of shares by the Commercial Register Office in the registration file of the Company, have the right to participate in the ordinary shareholders` meeting of the JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica on 1 June 2018. Each shareholder may exercise the rights: to the extent that an order under sections 274 (2) and 276 (3) of the Commercial Law, subsection 54 2 (1) and 54 2 (2) of the Financial Instrument Market Law provides within seven days from the day of publication of the notice and on the day of shareholders` meeting; in pursuance of an order under sections 276 (4) and 283 (1) of the Commercial Law at least seven days before the shareholders` meeting and on the meeting day. Additional information on shareholders` rights mentioned above is available on the website of the JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica www.dpr.lv . The total number of voting shares is 7 400 000. All shares are of the same category. Each share is entitled to one vote. The shareholders may participate at the meeting in a person or by delegating an authorized representative or a proxy. Authorized representative of the shareholder, registered as a legal entity in Latvia, should provide a document justifying the identity and an original of the notary decision on the appointment as a legal representative or a statement on the granting of rights to represent the interests of this legal entity issued by the Enterprise Register not earlier than 5 days prior to the day of meeting (printouts from data bases of Lursoft or Firmas.lv shall be accepted as well). Authorized representative of the shareholder, registered as a legal entity in a foreign country, should provide a document justifying the identity and a power of attorney granting authority to represent this legal entity, issued and certified under the law of the corresponding state. Proxies should provide a document justifying the identity and the power of attorney certified according to the Laws of the Republic of Latvia, Articles and Regulations on the convening and course of shareholders meeting of the Company. Form of the power of attorney is available in the attachment. Other pro forma procedures on the convening and course of shareholders meeting of the Company can be found on the Companys website www.dpr.lv . In case, on 1 June 2018, the ordinary shareholders` meeting of JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica will fail due to lack of quorum pursuant to Company`s Articles regardless of the reasons, the shareholders may postpone decision-making process on issues of the agenda announced in accordance with Company`s Articles. The reconvened meeting with the agenda mentioned before shall be held on 2 July 2018 at 9 a.m. in the administrative rooms of JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica at Visku St.17, in Daugavpils. The registration of shareholders will take place on the meeting day when the meeting is continued from 8 a.m. until 9 a.m. due to order mentioned before. The shareholders can become acquainted with the draft decisions on the considered issues and fulfil other procedure formalities starting from 16 May until 31 May 2018 including, and additionally, in case shareholders` meeting is adjourned - from 16 May until 1 July 2018 including, on working days from 9 a.m. until 16 p.m. in the secretariat of the Company at Visku St.17, in Daugavpils. Draft decisions will be available also on the website of JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica www.dpr.lv. For more information, please contact by (+371) 65402333. Management Board JSC Ditton pievadkezu rupnica New York, NY., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Weyland Tech, Inc. (OTCQX: WEYL) ("Weyland" or "Company"), a provider of mobile business applications, announced today that its CEO Brent Suen purchased 10,000 shares of the Company's common stock from the public market. The purchases were made during the open window period and in compliance with company and legal guidelines. Additional details regarding the purchase can be found in Mr. Suen's disclosure on Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 17, 2018 About Weyland Tech Inc. Weyland Tech's CreateApp platform is focused on the Asia markets. Our CreateApp platform offered in 14 languages, enables small and medium sized businesses ("SMB's") to create native mobile applications ("APP") for Apple's iOS and Google Android without technical knowledge or background. Empowering SMB's to increase sales, reach more customers and promote their products and services via simple easy to build mobile APPs in an affordable and cost-effective manner. Follow Weyland Tech online at: Weyland Tech Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/weylandtech) Weyland Tech Twitter Feed (https://twitter.com/weylandtechinc) Weyland Tech LinkedIn Page (https://linkedin.com/company/weylandtech) Brent Suen, CEO Public Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/BrentSuenWEYL) Brent Suen, CEO Public Twitter Feed (https://www.twitter.com/BrentSuenWEYL) Safe Harbor Statement This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" relating to the business of the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are "forward-looking statements" including statements regarding: the continued growth of the e-commerce segment and the ability of the Company to continue its expansion into that segment; the ability of the Company to attract customers and partners and generate revenues; the ability of the Company to successfully execute its business plan; the business strategy, plans, and objectives of the Company; and any other statements of non-historical information. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Company's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume any duty to update these forward-looking statements. DUBLIN - May 18, 2018 - Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) announced today that the company will host its biennial Institutional Investor and Analyst Meeting on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, in New York City from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The meeting will include remarks from the Medtronic executive management team on the company's strategies for creating long-term value for its shareholders. Omar Ishrak, Medtronic chairman & chief executive officer, and Karen Parkhill, Medtronic executive vice president & chief financial officer, will give presentations on the company. In addition, Medtronic executives from all four of the company's business groups and all four of the company's global regions are expected to present or participate in the event. Medtronic will host a webcast of the meeting to provide access to all interested stakeholders. The webcast can be accessed by clicking on the Investor Events link at http://investorrelations.medtronic.com on June 5, 2018. Slides from the meeting will be available to those viewing the webcast. Within 24 hours of the webcast, a replay including presentation slides will be available by clicking on the Investor Events link at http://investorrelations.medtronic.com. About Medtronic Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies - alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 84,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in approximately 160 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together. Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. -end- English Norwegian Orkla ASA has today bought 580,000 Orkla shares through broker at an average price of NOK 74.2473 per share. Orkla's total holding of treasury shares after this transaction is 6,481,933 shares. Orkla ASA Oslo, 18 May 2018 Ref.: IR & Communications Manager Elise Heidenreich Tel.: +47 951 41 147 English French Combined shareholders' meeting of May 18, 2018 Saint Cloud, May 18, 2018 The Combined Shareholders' Meeting of Elis, chaired by Thierry Morin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, was held on Friday, May 18, 2018, at the Conferences Center Capital 8, 32 rue de Monceau in Paris (75008) in the presence of the members of the Supervisory Board and the members of the Management Board. The quorum was 75.26% and the shareholders approved all the resolutions that were submitted. The Shareholders' Meeting approved the 2017 financial statements and the payout of a special dividend of 0.37 per share. The ex-date is May 29, 2018 and the payment date is May 31, 2018. The Shareholders approved the renewal of the term of office of Mrs. Agnes Pannier-Runacher and Mr. Maxime de Bentzmann as Supervisory Board members, each for a term of four years expiring at the end of the Shareholders' Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2021. The Shareholders also ratified the co-optation of Mrs. Joy Verle, decided by the Supervisory Board on 6 March 2018; this appointment is effective until the end of the Shareholders' Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, corresponding to the remainder of the term of her predecessor, Philippe Audouin, who resigned. Joy Verle is Principal, Relationship Investments at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The Supervisory Board is now composed of 9 members, including 5 women. The current composition of the Supervisory Board offers a complementary mix of experience and reflects the Group's diversity policy. The part of independent members reaches 55.55%. The Shareholders also approved the principles and criteria for determining the compensation of the Company's executive officers for 2018 (i.e. the Chairman and members of the Management Board and the Chairman and members of the Supervisory Board), and approved the fixed, variable and exceptional elements of total compensation and benefits of any kind paid or awarded for financial year 2017 to the members of the Management Board and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, in accordance with Article L.225-100-II of the French Commercial Code. The Shareholders approved the renewal of the authorization granted to the Management Board for the implementation of a share buyback program. The shareholders also adopted new authorizations and delegations granted to the Management Board with regards to the issue of shares and/or securities giving access to the share capital, as well as the renewal of the authorization to reduce the share capital by cancellation of shares repurchased within the framework of the share buyback program. The results of voting on all resolutions submitted to Shareholders will be available on the Company's website, www.corporate-elis.com, in the coming days. Contact Nicolas Buron, Investor Relations Director - Phone: +33 1 75 49 98 30 - nicolas.buron@elis.com Audrey Bourgeois, Investor Relations - Phone: +33 1 75 49 96 25 - audrey.bourgeois@elis.com BATON ROUGE, La., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Despite a downward trend in the number of home security customers victimized by fraudulent door-to-door security sales representatives, the Better Business Bureau is continuing to team with leading organizations to educate consumers. During a news conference hosted today by Louisianas State Fire Marshal, H. Butch Browning, BBB helped sound the alarm about deceptive sales practices. We applaud the industry for continuing to root out the few bad apples who practice deceptive sales and con consumers, said Carmen Million of the Better Business Bureaus Serving Baton Rouge. Through todays outreach we hope to prevent more front-door fraud. In 2017, over 700,000 consumers across North America used BBB resources to research information about home security companies. But thousands also complained about dishonest and misleading sales pitches, or reported door-to-door scams. Two of those victims spoke out today and shared how unscrupulous sales reps tried to con them out of their contracts with ADT (NYSE:ADT), an A+, BBB Accredited Business and National Partner. I was misled into signing a contract with a salesman whom I thought was representing ADT, said 62-year-old James Bourg of Greismar, LA. After he quickly installed a new security panel, I did my homework and found out I was duped. I cancelled the next day. In 2016, nearly 3,400 customers complained to ADT about deceptive sales from competitors. There were 800 less last year. While complaints are declining, ADT vows to keep fighting. Whether we are bringing offenders to justice in a court of law or educating consumers in the court of public opinion, ADT will continue trying to stop deceptive sales in our industry, said P. Gray Finney, ADT Chief Legal Officer. At todays event, BBB shared tips for consumers who are considering a home security system (bbb.org/homesecurity), and also released advice to potential employees who are being recruited to spend their summers knocking on doors (bbb.org/alarmsales). We urge those who are selling security systems to abide by the BBB Standards for Trust, said Million. Tell the truth, honor promises, and embody integrity. Quotes from Other Speakers: Chief H. Butch Browning, Louisiana State Fire Marshal Were talking about deceptive door-to-door sales reps who try to mislead and swindle homeowners in switching their home security service. It is an ALARMING problem. And as the leader of the state agency responsible for the licensing and regulation of security companies, I am committed to stopping this fraudulent activity. Merlin Guilbeau, Executive Director and CEO, Electronic Security Association When an alarm company deceives a customer by lying and misrepresenting itself, those actions reflect poorly on the over 500,000 security industry professionals who work hard to service millions of residential and commercial accounts ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2016, people turned to BBB more than 167 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as home to its national and international programs on dispute resolution, advertising review, and industry self-regulation. MEDIA CONTACTS: BBB spokespersons are available across North America. Check out www.bbb.org/bbb-locator to find a spokesperson in your area. National media, contact Katherine Hutt (212-705-0131) or khutt@council.bbb.org. Trade media, contact Bob Tucker (561-289-0436) or btucker@adt.com. Louisiana media, contact Ashley Rodrigue (225-620-5115) or ashley.rodrigue@la.gov. English French HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At an event in Montreal, QC, this morning, Irving Shipbuilding announced that L3 MAPPS has successfully completed the First Article Acceptance Testing of the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) for the Royal Canadian Navys (RCN) new class of Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) under construction at Halifax Shipyard. Irving Shipbuilding contracted L3 MAPPS to provide the IPMS for each AOPS it is constructing as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). The L3 MAPPS IPMS provides comprehensive monitoring and control of the ships propulsion, electrical, ancillary, auxiliary and damage control machinery systems. With advanced functionality, such as the Battle Damage Control System, Onboard Team Training System, Equipment Health Monitoring System and CCTV, as well as integration with the ships combat management and navigation systems, the IPMS allows the crew to safely and effectively operate the ship for all mission requirements. As Canadas national shipbuilder, our 1,800 shipbuilders are hard at work building the Royal Canadian Navys Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships at Halifax Shipyard, said Kevin McCoy, President, Irving Shipbuilding. The completion of IPMS First Article Acceptance Testing is an important construction milestone toward launching the first AOPS, the future HMCS Harry DeWolf, in fall 2018. Further to our successful implementation of the Halifax-class frigates IPMS upgrade, we are very pleased to achieve this critical milestone in the AOPS program, said Rangesh Kasturi, President for L3 MAPPS. Together with the RCN, we pioneered the concept of the IPMS 35 years ago and became a global leader with this Canadian technology. We look forward to the upcoming shipboard integration and test activity to support the delivery of the Royal Canadian Navys newest class of ships by Irving Shipbuilding. The AOPS are the first ships to be constructed at Halifax Shipyard under the NSS, a competitive, open and transparent process used to select the prime contractor for the Royal Canadian Navys future combatant fleet. The project will equip the Canadian Forces with naval ice-capable offshore patrol ships able to assert and enforce sovereignty in Canadas waters where and when necessary, including the Arctic. Canadians across the country are benefiting from our work as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. We are proud that the IPMS, a Canadian developed system, will be deployed aboard a Canadian built vessel for the Royal Canadian Navy to serve and protect the country at home and abroad, said McCoy. As of March 31, 2018, Halifax Shipyard and its Tier 1 suppliers have over $2 billion in spending commitments throughout Canada, including more than $270 million in Quebec. Congratulations to L3 MAPPS for their significant contribution to the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) program. This project is a prime example of how the National Shipbuilding Strategy is providing meaningful economic opportunities for Canadas marine sector and related industries, said the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada. The Conference Board of Canada estimates that the modernization of Halifax Shipyard, AOPS shipbuilding activity, supplier contracts and the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy obligations throughout Canada will generate an estimated $3.17 billion in spending between 2013 and 2022. This is estimated to lift jobs by an average of 4,230 per year during the core AOPS build phase, 2016-2020. With about 250 employees in Montreal, Quebec, L3 MAPPS has delivered IPMS technology to 22 navies worldwide including installation on most of the RCNs warships and submarines. The company has an experienced supply chain comprising local subcontractors, including small and medium businesses for both our marine and power plant controls and simulator product lines. To learn more about L3 MAPPS, please visit the companys website at www.L3T.com/MAPPS. About Irving Shipbuilding Inc. Irving Shipbuilding Inc., Canadas National Shipbuilder, is the most modern shipbuilder and in-service ship support provider in North America. Headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, our skilled team and innovative facilities provide efficient building, fabrication, conversion and servicing of vessels and offshore platforms. As Canadas chosen shipbuilder, Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is working with the Royal Canadian Navy on the next class of Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) and Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) vessels under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). We are proud to continue our long history as a trusted partner in Canadian shipbuilding. Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is a member of the J.D. Irving, Limited group of companies, a diverse family owned company with operations in Canada and the United States. Learn more at www.IrvingShipbuilding.com or www.ShipsforCanada.ca. About L3 Technologies Inc. Headquartered in New York City, L3 Technologies employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide and is a leading provider of a broad range of communication, electronic and sensor systems used on military, homeland security and commercial platforms. L3 is also a prime contractor in aerospace systems, security and detection systems, and pilot training. The company reported 2017 sales of $9.6 billion. To learn more about L3, please visit the companys website at www.L3T.com. Media Contact: Sean Lewis Irving Shipbuilding Email: Lewis.Sean@IrvingShipbuilding.com Office: 902-484-4595 Mobile: 902-240-6964 Sean Bradley L3 MAPPS Bureau : 514-787-4953 Photos accompanying this announcement are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b37ef155-f8c2-4aa2-b350-2b62ab31d344 http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d18bad43-6f7b-4417-997a-c4896ada72d1 /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ CALGARY, Alberta, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bayshore Petroleum Corp. (Bayshore or the Company) (TSX Venture:BSH) announces that it has filed, under its issuer company profile on www.sedar.com its December 31, 2017, annual audited financial statements, its Managements Discussion and Analysis, Certification of Annual Filings and its annual disclosure forms (F1-F3) under National Instrument 51-101, Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities, section 2.1. Please refer to these documents for full details on Company operations and results in fiscal 2017. Bayshore securities are currently ceased trading due to the late annual filing. The delay in the filing was due to accounting technical issue which has since been rectified. Formal application to ASC and Exchange to resume trading is in progress. On behalf of the Board of Directors BAYSHORE PETROLEUM CORP. "Peter Ho" Chairman and CEO Bayshore Head Office: PHONE +1403 265 8820 FAX +1403 290 6565 ccc@bayshorepetroleum.com #340-600 Crowfoot Crescent NW Calgary, Alberta, T3G 0B4 Canada This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities of the Company in the United States. The Company's securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Cautionary Statements Statements in this press release may contain forward-looking information including expectations of future production, operating costs, commodity prices, administrative costs, commodity price risk management activity, acquisitions and dispositions, capital spending, access to credit facilities, income taxes, regulatory changes, and other components of cash flow and earnings. This press release may also contain forward-looking or subjective information regarding technology, processes, and the oil and gas industry. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. These risks include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the mining and oil and gas industry, commodity prices and exchange rate changes. Industry related risks could include, but are not limited to, operational risks in exploration, development and production, delays or changes in plans, risks associated to the uncertainty of reserve estimates, technology and technology implementation, health and safety risks and the uncertainty of estimates and projections of production, costs and expenses. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Completion of a transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including Exchange acceptance and disinterested Shareholder approval. The transaction cannot close until the required Shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Management Information Circular to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Bayshore should be considered highly speculative. PHOENIX, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EPCOR USA (EPCOR) was recognized by the AZ Water Association with 15 awards for operational excellence and safety. The 15 honors from its industry colleagues join 92 previous awards EPCOR has received from the AZ Water Association. EPCOR was also recognized by the keynote speaker, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates, for stepping up to build a water hauling station to help out a North Phoenix community that has had significant groundwater decline and many well failures. Construction on the station began late April 2018 and is expected to be complete July 2018. Receiving recognition like this, from professionals who know what it takes every day to deliver high-quality, reliable water service, is the ultimate compliment, said Joe Gysel, president of EPCOR USA. From Bullhead City to Anthem, Tubac to Sun City, were honored to have received 107 awards since 2012, underscoring the hard work and dedication our teams devote to their communities, 24 hours a day. EPCOR was recognized for water treatment, wastewater treatment, water distribution system management and wastewater collection system management. Additionally, Harrison Whitman, EPCORs manager of health, safety and risk, was honored as the associations Health & Safety Professional of the Year. The AZ Water Association announced winners after evaluating criteria including operations, experience, adherence to regulatory standards and more. Arizonas largest regulated water utility, EPCOR provides water and wastewater service to approximately 360,000 customers across 37 communities and 15 counties in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. EPCOR also provides natural gas service in Texas. The AZ Water Association is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1928 whose mission is preserving as well as enhancing Arizonas water environment. More than 2,200 water and wastewater professionals throughout the state belong to the association. Annual awards were presented in a ceremony during the annual AZ Water Conference in Phoenix on May 3, 2018. In detail, EPCORs 2018 awards from the AZ Water Association include: Wastewater Treatment Anthem Water Treatment Anthem Wastewater Treatment Bullhead City Water Distribution System Bullhead City Water Distribution System Fountain Hills Water Treatment Fountain Hills Water Distribution System Havasu Water Treatment Paradise Valley Water Distribution System Sun City Wastewater Collection System Sun City Water Treatment Sun City Water Distribution System Tubac Water Treatment White Tanks Regional Water Treatment Plant Wastewater Treatment Northwest Valley Water Reclamation Facility For further information, please contact: Rebecca Stenholm Director, Public & Government Affairs EPCOR USA Inc. O 623.445.2424 C 602.390.5662 rstenholm@epcor.com About EPCOR USA Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, EPCOR USAs wholly owned subsidiaries build, own and operate water and wastewater and natural gas facilities and infrastructure in the southwestern United States. EPCOR USA provides water, wastewater and natural gas service to approximately 360,000 customers across 37 communities and 15 counties in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. About EPCOR Utilities Inc. EPCOR, through its subsidiaries, builds, owns and operates electrical, natural gas and water transmission and distribution networks, water and wastewater treatment facilities, sanitary and stormwater systems, and infrastructure in Canada and the United States. The company also provides electricity, natural gas and water products and services to residential and commercial customers. EPCOR, headquartered in Edmonton, is an Alberta Top 70 employer. EPCORs website address is www.epcor.com. Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. As we have since July 2006, each Friday well post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 579th in the series. 1) On Tuesday, we learned the unfortunate news that cigars had been dealt a major legal blow. Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision, siding not with the cigar industry groups who were challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) regulation of premium cigars and other tobacco products, but with the FDA. If youre looking for someone to blame for yesterdays ruling, dont focus on the judge, but on the Congress that authorized the FDAs regulation of cigars in the first place, we wrote on Wednesday. And dont forget: Todays Congress still has the power to repeal it. Little did we know, later that same day, the industry would be rewarded with a glimmer of hope. The fiscal year 2019 budget, as approved by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, includes some positive language. The language as adopted by the committee blends past efforts, by not only providing an exemption for defined premium and large cigars, but changing the predicate date for cigars and pipe tobacco from burdensome pre-market approval procedures to the time of the deeming rule issuance, from February 15, 2007 to April 25, 2014, reads a statement from Cigar Rights of America (CRA). This amendment once again sends a clear message that the regulations advanced by the FDA go well beyond the congressional intent of the Tobacco Control Act, said Glynn Loope, executive director of CRA. Mind you, this isnt the first time such language has made it out of committee only to be eliminated from the final spending bill. But the inclusion of the language at this juncture is a bit of welcome news in an otherwise dreary week. 2) The latest release from Davidoffs Vault program that offers rare and vintage cigars is the Wagner, which went on sale today. It was originally issued in Europe in 2004 to honor Swiss tobacconist Wagner TabakLadeli. Davidoff said it was its first tailor-made cigar. The Vault has been a consumer hit, with most offerings selling out in a few hours. 3) Random Read: Why Burger King is blasting Bach. 4) Inside the Industry: Villiger recently announced the opening of a new factory, Villiger do Brasil, located in the Brazilian state of Bahia. The factory will be devoted solely to Brazilian puros, including the Villiger SanDoro Maduro, which is available in the U.S. market. 5) From the Archives: Its a versatile rye thats plenty good enough to be sipped straight (as I recommend), but you wouldnt be heart-broken if your buddy throws a bunch of ice cubes in it or decides to mix it in a Manhattan. If youre a rye fan who hasnt tried Sazerac Rye, youre missing out. 6) Deal of the Week: StogieGuys.com recommends Bespoke Post, a monthly collection of awesome items (think fine bar accessories, shaving kits, workout gear, and more) delivered for just $45. Of note is the Churchill box, which features four exclusive cigars, an ashtray made of reclaimed wood, an odor-eating candle, cedar spills, and a cutter. Once you are signed up, there is no obligation; you can skip or purchase each month. Sign up soon to be eligible for the June box. The Stogie Guys photo credit: Stogie Guys In April 2018 the Chinese Air Force 15th Airborne Corps completed a yearlong reorganization effort that involved disbanding the three airborne divisions (the 43rd, 44th and 45th) and reassigning divisional headquarters and support troops as well as the units of the airborne regiments to six independent airborne infantry brigades (127th, 128th, 130th, 131st, 133rd, and 134th) which now report directly to the headquarters of the 15th Airborne Corps. While the new airborne brigades have some support troops they now also receive logistics, maintenance, engineer and signal support from the 15th Corps Strategic Support Brigade, as well as the Aviation Brigade (over a hundred helicopters and large UAVs) and Special Operations Brigade (airborne commandos and recon troops). After the reorganization, the Chinese airborne force still has about 35,000 personnel who still serve in the Air Force 15th Airborne Corps. The airborne units no longer operate as three airborne divisions and an aviation brigade. The airborne divisions no longer exist as the brigades can operate independently and report directly to corps headquarters. This brigade organization makes it easier to rapidly deploy airborne forces and copies a practice that many other nations have adopted over the last few decades. The Chinese have had some airborne units since the 1950s and these belonged to the air force from the beginning. The 15th Airborne Corps was created in the 1960s and was always considered a strategic reserve unit. By the late 1980s, China had enough air transports to move an entire division (about 10,000 troops) anywhere in China. At the time such a movement took weeks to organize and monopolized most of the air transport aircraft the military had. Moving a division anywhere by air on short notice was first done in 2008 when one division was sent to Sichuan province to assist in earthquake relief. The early large scale movements by air movements were experimental. A lot of mistakes were made but they were fixed and by 2010 battalions and brigades could be moved reliably by air on a regular basis. Since 2006 as the air force acquired more, and larger, transports so that more troops, as well as vehicles (some armored) could quickly be delivered by air. Since 2009 the 15th Airborne Corps has been receiving more helicopters and practicing tactical movements via helicopter for units as large as brigades. These exercises are becoming more frequent, as more of the 15th Airborne Corps paratroops battalions were trained to undertake these helicopter movements and assaults. These operations would be a major feature of an attempt to take Taiwan by force or quickly reinforcing remote Tibet in case there was a local rebellion. Another threat is the newly created Indian Mountain Corps that is based on the border and could cross the border unexpectedly in the 2020s when this new Indian unit reaches full strength of 80,000 troops. And then there are the new islands in the South China Sea that might be in need of rapid reinforcement. Since the Cold War ended in 1991 most nations have converted all or part of their ground forces to a "brigade-centric" organization. This approach makes the brigades, not the divisions, the primary combat unit. The new brigades have more support units permanently attached, and can be more easily sent off to fight by themselves. In the past, doing this involved quickly adding a lot of support units to the brigade. But the new organization makes small support units part of the brigade, and, more importantly, the brigade train using these support units and learns to work well with them. In some nations, the divisions still exist but operate as a headquarters unit that can quickly take control of several separate brigades and coordinate their activities. This makes division headquarters more like the corps headquarters which have, since the early 18th century; been coordinating the actions of a few divisions and only having a few support units under its command. With a brigade centric force, the slightly larger brigades are treated like the original 18th-century divisions. This makes sense because modern brigades have access to a lot more firepower than divisions of a few decades ago. As far back as World War II, it was noted that technology was making it practical to form brigades that were capable of independent operations. Adoption of the new approach speeded up greatly in the 1990s as most armed forces reduced the number of personnel they had at the same time a lot of new technology became available that aided independent operations of smaller units. The U.S. Army began this reorganization in 2005, despite the fact that most of its ground forces were committed to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Marine Corps had already been successfully using a brigade-centric organization for decades. After the U.S. Army adopted brigades, Russia followed as did most Western armies and now China is doing the same, starting with its best trained and equipped infantry units. Currently, the 15th Airborne Corps is a major component in the new rapid reaction forces. China now has enough air transports (Il-76s, Yu-8s, Yu-7s) to move three or four airborne brigades to anywhere in China within 24 hours. Since 2009 the 15th Airborne Corps has also been training a growing percentage (currently about two-thirds) of its paratroopers to carry out one or more specialized operations. This involves things like operating from helicopters as airmobile troops or learning how to jump in the thin air of Tibet and quickly get used to strenuous activity at high altitudes. Operating in Tibet is a particular challenge because most of Tibet is a unique high altitude (4,000 meters/14,000 feet) plateau. That means parachutists have to jump from a higher altitude on account of the thinner air and the longer time it takes for the parachute to open. The reduced air pressure also causes altitude sickness for many troops, especially after something as strenuous as a parachute jump, and the frantic activity following the landing. The Chinese Army wanted to find out how well prepared it was to deal with these high-altitude operations problems and the Air Force paratroopers provided a lot of useful information. Since the late 1990s, the Chinese Army has adapted. This process accelerated after 2008. Back then there was an uprising in Tibet and many of the troops sent in soon fell ill from altitude sickness. Since then acclimatization training detects those troops who would get ill quickly, and the worst of these are kept closer to sea level. Rapid reaction troops were given priority if going through the high altitude acclimatization process. Rapid reaction forces like the 15th Airborne Corps are undergoing training for a lot of new situations. This is essential because the new Chinese military is being equipped for a wider variety of situations than ever before. As part of this new Chinese military there are much higher recruiting standards and while corruption in the military is still a problem there are serious efforts to suppress the debilitating impact of that corruption. This is particularly evident in the special operations units. Items About Areas That Could Break Out Into War May 17, 2018: Indonesia had another Islamic terrorism outbreak, with the local branch of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) taking credit for a series of attacks against Christian churches and other targets in East Java over several days (May 13-14) followed by another attack on the 16th. These attacked triggered a massive police and public backlash that quickly led to numerous arrests of known or suspected ISIL supporters. ISIL leaders had apparently deluded themselves into believing that they could gain a lot of local support by carrying out several horrific attacks during a short period of time. Al Qaeda had tried this over a decade earlier in Indonesia and failed spectacularly. ISIL failed to note how the al Qaeda Indonesia fail developed because ISIL, as a more radical offshoot of al Qaeda, believed they were immune to past realities. They were not and that may provide other Moslem nations with another example of how a Moslem nation can tolerate Islamic conservatives while also being able to crush Islamic terrorism. Most of the recent Indonesian attackers were known supporters of ISIL who had traveled to Syria to live in (and fight for) the caliphate and then returned when the caliphate collapsed. Most of the Indonesians who went to Syria did not come back. Even many of those who were not killed believed they were safer outside of Indonesia. The 500 or so known returnees underwent screening and extensive warnings to not support Islamic terrorist activity while back in Indonesia. Even before these attacks, the government was trying to get the counter-terrorism laws changed to deal with the way ISIL operated (indoctrinating entire families and advising them to conceal their religious fanaticism). In 2017 the government admitted that the popularity of ISIL had led to counter-terrorism forces detecting small groups of ISIL supporters in all but a few of the 33 Indonesian provinces. The May 13-14 attackers belonged to JAD (Jemaah Ansharut Daulah), an Indonesian Islamic terror group that had affiliated itself with ISIL. JAD had ordered its members to make attacks like these after a May 8th incident at a high-security prison for convicted Islamic terrorists, including some senior JAD leaders. Five prison guards died while preventing 156 prisoners from breaking out. After that the failed prison break there was an incident on the 10th where a policeman, standing guard in front of a West Java police hospital was stabbed by a man who turned out to be an Islamic terrorist. The attacker was shot dead by other police but was identified. Police have intercepted and arrested or shot dead (if resistance was encountered) several armed men intercepted as they sought to get close to the prison where the escape attempt was being suppressed. This did not indicate that ISIL was planning a larger series of attacks. So the JAD attacks came as a surprise. The first five attacks were carried out over two days and began with three separate attacks against churches in Surabaya, in East Java. All three attacks were carried out by six members of a Moslem family that had returned from Syria and pretended to be no longer radicalized. In reality, the parents managed to obtain or build explosive vests and vehicle bombs and carried out a plan to make simultaneous bomb attacks on the three churches. The mother and her two daughters (nine and twelve years old) wore explosive vests while the father and the two sons (16 and 18 years old) use a car and two motorcycles carrying larger bombs. All six attackers died along with seven people at the churches. More than 40 were wounded. Late on the 13th in the nearby city of Sidoarjo police, alerted by neighbors, raided an apartment and the three adults detonated the bombs they were preparing, killing themselves. Three children in the apartment survived. After the May 13th incidents there was another attack against a police compound in Surabaya. The two days of Islamic terrorist violence left 26 dead, including 13 suicide bombers. There were over 60 people wounded. When police raided the home of the many who attacked the police compound they found a bomb building workshop and 54 completed pipe bombs. There was one last attack on the 16th when five men attacked a police compound in eastern Sumatra (Riau province). The attackers were in a van that crashed through the front gate. Four of the men got out and, using long swords, attempted to attack policemen. These four were quickly shot the swordsmen but the driver of the van backed up the vehicle, running over and a killing a policeman and injuring two reporters. The van then drove away and the driver later abandoned the vehicle and escaped on foot. One of the swordsmen apparently survived his gunshot wounds and is being questioned. Within a few days police, especially Detachment 88 were allowed to arrest dozens of people they had been watching but could not touch because ISIL had not been violent. Now the entire country is on high alert and the government is probably going to get the new anti-terrorism law it has been seeking. The new law gives the police and military the power to arrest potential terrorists. This kind of power is unpopular with many Indonesians who remember the decades of military dictatorship that used similar powers to suppress any critics. The military leaders insist they will not abuse the new law and that may well be true if the military is constantly watched for misuse of the new arrest powers. Meanwhile, the government called for all Indonesians, especially those active on the Internet, to report any suspicious activity. That has worked in the past after a major attack (like the one in 2002) and is working again. Police are getting tips and detailed information about what turns out to be ISIL members trying to hide in plain sight. The problem is this ISIL stealth mode does not stand up to a lot of scrutiny, especially by neighbors. The counter-terrorism intelligence experts quickly reconstructed the how to manual Indonesian ISIL supporters created to avoid police attention. Suddenly the local ISIL threat was a lot larger than believed. On the plus side, many of these ISIL members were still going through training and preparations for major attacks. What had the most impact on Indonesians was the use of children as suicide bombers. During the first attack, there were survivors who saw the mother trigger the vest her nine year old daughter was wearing before setting off her own. Indonesian Moslems knew this sort of thing took place elsewhere, like in Syria, Iraq and Nigeria. But to have it happen in Indonesia, the most populous (264 million people) Moslem (87 percent of the population) nation had always practiced a less strict form of Islam. But that made it easier for more conservative clerics to attract some Indonesian Moslems who were willing to defend Islam against the heresy rampant throughout Indonesia plus large non-Moslem minorities. The government tried to placate the Islamic radicals and that seemed to work for a while until it didnt. Now is another of those they have gone too far moments for the Islamic radicals. This major outbreak of ISIL violence was not unexpected, but ISIL did manage to gain the element of surprise. There had not been much Islamic terrorist violence this year. In February there was an attack on a church in Java. The attack consisted of an attacker armed with a sword. He was subdued but not before he wounded several people. That attack did not set off calls for a major crackdown because it apparently was a lone wolf operation. It was the high security prison breakout attempt on May 8th that did get the attention of counter-terrorism experts. The prison contained dozens of key Islamic terrorist leaders and technical experts. Such an effort to get them out of a heavily guarded prison indicated that many of the returned ISIL members had been busy, and discreet. Four days later the attacks on Christians showed that the local ISIL activists were desperate, determined but not prepared for a major effort. Indonesia has established a remarkable record of suppressing Islamic terrorist violence within its own borders but that has resulted in most Indonesian Islamic terrorists fleeing the country and showing up elsewhere. This approach to suppressing Islamic terrorist activity required continuous and active measures to detect and arrest Islamic terrorists. But ISIL was different, even though most Indonesian ISIL recruits also fled the country. Until recently there was no indication that something big was coming. While the war against ISIL in Syria and Iraq was raging during 2016 Indonesian counter-terrorism forces ended a busy year by raiding two Islamic terrorist hideouts near the capital, killing three Islamic terrorists at one location and capturing several bombs. The other raid led to the arrest of four Islamic terrorists, including a female suicide bomber and the bomb was apparently set to use in an effort to bomb the presidential palace. That round of raids was part of the annual pre-Christmas effort to prevent attacks on the thousands of Christian churches during the holiday season. This danger had become a familiar part of the Indonesian counter-terrorism landscape. Security forces encountered Islamic terrorists 170 times in 2016, versus 85 in 2015. These actions included Islamic terrorist attacks or, most frequently security forces raids or other encounters with Islamic terrorists. In 2016 that led to 33 Islamic terrorists killed. There were more killed in 2017 and that growing activity was behind proposals to allow counter-terror forces to imprison potential Islamic terrorists rather than wait until they carried out a suicide attack that left the terrorist dead as well as others. The victims were usually other Moslems, local Christians or, worst of all foreigners. In addition to the crippling ISIL efforts to expand into Indonesia, counter-terror forces managed to cripple MIT (Mujahadeen Indonesia Timur, or Mujahadeen of Eastern Indonesia), the last of the older Islamic terrorist organizations still active in the country. MIT was long led by Santoso (single names are common in this region), who openly allied MIT with ISIL in 2014. In 2016 a series of raids and arrests left Santoso dead and MIT reduced to fewer than ten active members. MIT carried out some attacks before 2017 but suffered heavy losses in the process. Since 2014 MIT concentrated most of its efforts on recruiting and setting up trained cells of terrorists in other parts of the country. MIT failed because Indonesian counter-terror forces are among the best in the region, most Indonesians are hostile to groups like ISIL and many MIT members left the country to join ISIL in areas like Syria and Libya where ISIL was a less of a disadvantage than in Indonesia. There was only one known MIT attack in Indonesia during 2017 and MIT had never recovered from the loss of its senior leaders and had quietly been displaced by other new ISIL groups like JAD. After late 2014, with the Islamic state established in eastern Syria and western Iraq Indonesia cooperated in identifying its citizens suspected of going overseas to work with Islamic terrorist organizations. Thus over a hundred Indonesians were arrested overseas (usually in Turkey) and deported to Indonesia to face prosecution or, at the very least, constant surveillance. This is because many Indonesians remember what happened when several dozen Indonesians who went to fight in with al Qaeda in Afghanistan during the 1980s. Many of these men returned to Indonesia and formed Islamic terrorist groups that, after 2001, carried out several spectacular attacks, including one in 2002 that killed nearly 200 foreign tourists. This resulted in a major counter-terrorism campaign that eventually killed or drove into exile nearly all the active Indonesian Islamic terrorists. There was a real fear that some of those ISIL members returning from Syria will try to emulate what the Afghan veterans did. In 2015 police revealed that they were monitoring returning ISIL men and would act against any suspected of engaging in terrorist activities in Indonesia. Many arrests since then are apparently a result of that surveillance program. ISIL responded by urging members to conceal their Islamic radicalism as much as possible. There were some forms of Islamic terrorism that were more acceptable to Indonesians and ISIL became active there. This also led to increased counter-terror activity each year on Java and Sumatra before Christmas. Police make numerous arrests and seized bombs or bomb components intended for attacks on Shia and Christian communities. Christians are ten percent of the population while Shia are less than a half percent of Indonesian Moslems. These minorities are not evenly distributed so there are areas that are all Moslem and easier for Islamic terrorist groups to recruit and survive. The Christian islands used to be almost entirely Christian, but since the 1980s the government has encouraged (with laws, money and land) Moslems from overpopulated areas to move to less populated Christian territories. This has created frictions on islands like Sulawesi that are not entirely religious. Islamic terrorist groups began forming in the late 1990s and concentrated their attacks on non-Moslems, both local and foreign (tourists). Since 2013 small ISIL type (or affiliated) groups have been appearing and single out Shia Moslems as well as Christians and other non-Moslems (or Moslem sects ISIL does not approve of). Islamic conservatives in the government (especially parliament and the judicial system) deliberately target Christians by accusing them of anti-Islamic acts. These accusations are almost always false but because of the way politics works in democracies with a Moslem majority, such accusations mobilize many Moslems who are willing to demonstrate, often violently, in support of defending Islam. Despite all this, since 2004 Indonesia has been pretty successful in preventing most Islamic terrorist violence, especially compared to other nations in the region and beyond. But there are still attempts. Few of these succeed because counter-terror efforts have kept the most competent Islamic terrorist leaders, planners and bomb-builders unable to function. These men are constantly hunted, often caught (and killed or jailed) and many prefer to flee the country and operate elsewhere. Police keep a close watch on Islamic radicals and the increased use of security cameras provides clues not available before. It has become very difficult to be an Islamic terrorist in Indonesia. This was evident during the current outbreak of ISIL inspired attacks. Many of the bombs were poorly built and there were not a lot of other weapons available. Thus you had one attack on a police station where the four Islamic terrorists were armed with swords while the police had pistols and rifles. Since 2013 Detachment 88 (the primary counter-terror unit) has had a lot of success detecting and arresting Islamic terrorists all over Indonesia. These Islamic radicals are not popular with most Indonesians and the police get plenty of useful tips, especially after an attack. Islamic terrorist groups help make themselves targets by carrying out armed robberies and other criminal acts to support their operations. When counter-terrorism efforts wiped out or drove away Jemaah Islamiah (JI, the largest Indonesian terror group) new Islamic radical groups formed, especially in places like Sulawesi Island. The Indonesian ISIL affiliates that appeared after 2014 were largely JI splinter groups composed of Islamic radicals who wanted a stronger effort and thats what ISIL offered. Since 2004 the police have been working their way down an increasingly threadbare list of terrorist suspects. Moreover, it's been years since JI has been able to launch a major attack. This is because counter-terrorism forces have created a good intelligence network. Thus threats are quickly detected. Since 2007 attacks against non-Moslems have resulted in a stronger and stronger backlash from the police, and Christians. After 2007 the vigilantes switched tactics and began concentrating on driving Christians into ghettos and reducing the number of Moslems converting to Christianity. Anti-infidel (non-Moslem) violence remains a growing problem, as Islamic radicals seek an outlet for their aggression that won't land them in prison. All this Islamic radical activity keeps producing new recruits for Islamic terror groups. With little support from mosques or the larger Islamic organizations, these new Islamic terrorists have to resort to crime to fund their operations. Since the 1990s Sulawesi has been the scene of growing Islamic radicalism and terrorism. Thats because over half the population on the island of Sulawesi is non-Moslem (mostly Christian). In the late 1990s, Islamic militants came along, preaching violence against infidels (non-Moslems). Over a thousand people died before additional police and soldiers eliminated most of the violence. Hundreds of Islamic radicals are still on the island and nearby West Java and are still preaching violence. Christians are a minority nationwide while most of the population is Moslem. The tensions in Sulawesi are not entirely religious. The Christian areas used to be almost entirely Christian, but over the last three decades the government encouraged (with laws, money, and land) Moslems from overpopulated areas to move to less populated Christian areas. This has created friction. Theres another major reason why Islamic terrorism continues. Thats because the government does not want to offend the many Islamic conservatives out there. The Islamic conservative politicians use religion as a tool to get what they want, which often has nothing to do with religion or the infidel (non-Moslem) threat. Islamic political parties are unable to gain wide popularity but together they have gained control over 10-20 percent of the seats in parliament. The percentage varies depending on how active Islamic terrorists have been. The recent ISIL attacks, especially those using young children, will put the Islamic politicians on the defensive for a while. The major Islamic party, the PKS (Prosperous Justice Party) has seven percent of the seats in parliament and attracted 8.5 million votes in the last elections. The will change for the worse in the next elections but parties like PKS wont disappear. Thats because Islamic scripture approves of and encourages violence against non-Moslems and Moslem heretics. Islam is the only major religion to be burdened by that and it is a persistent problem that no one has found a permanent fix for. Over the last decade the American military has been upgrading the security of their communications. These upgrades are especially critical for weapons and aircraft that are controlled via wireless signals. A recent example was the U.S. Army decision to upgrade all its older Switchblade UAVs to the Block 10C standard. This involves upgrading the communications (between operator and UAV) to use an encrypted digital link. This makes it nearly impossible for enemy forces to eavesdrop or hijack Switchblade communications. Block 10C Switchblade was introduced in 2016 but there were still older models without the encrypted data link and with Russian EW (Electronic Warfare) forces so active in Syria and elsewhere it became important to use only Block 10C Switchblades. Moreover, Switchblade is frequently used by special operations troops where secure communications and reliability are particularly important Since 2014, when most American and NATO forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan, most of the U.S. troops in combat are SOCOM (Special Operations Command) commandos and Special Forces in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere. These troops require some special equipment and one of the most used items is Switchblade, which is a one kilogram (2.2 pound) expendable (used only once) UAV that can be equipped with explosives and also used as a weapon. The Switchblade is launched from its shipping and storage tube, at which point wings flip out, a battery powered propeller starts spinning and a vidcam begins broadcasting images to the controller. The Switchblade is operated using the same controller as the larger (two kg/4.4 pound) Raven UAV. A complete Switchblade system (missile, container, and controller) weighs 5.5 kg (12.1 pounds). Switchblade was very popular with troops in Afghanistan, where it was first tested, and with SOCOM in all sorts of places, they wont discuss in detail. Switchblade is still widely used with over 5,000 produced so far. Switchblade first saw combat in 2009 and each one costs about $80,000. For SOCOM forces, who often travel light into enemy territory, hauling along a Switchblade or two can be crucial for completing a mission not to mention a lifesaver in emergencies. Users regarded Switchblade as a micro-UAV/cruise missile. It was both aerial surveillance and a weapon. More importantly, it could be carried and used by individual troops. Moving at up to a kilometer a minute, the Switchblade can stay in the air for 10-15 minutes (depending on whether or not it is armed with explosives) and remain under operator control up to ten kilometers away. The armed version can be flown to a target and detonated, having about the same explosive effect as a hand grenade. Thus, Switchblade enables ground troops to get at an enemy taking cover in a hard to see location. Technically a guided missile, the use of Switchblade as a reconnaissance tool encouraged developers to refer to it as a UAV. But because of the warhead option, and its slow speed, Switchblade also functions like a rather small cruise missile and be flown by its controller or autonomously via GPS coordinates. The troops were particularly enthusiastic about the armed version because it allowed them to easily take out snipers or a few bad guys in a compound full of civilians. The United States sent some Switchblade UAV systems to Afghanistan in 2009 for secret field testing. This was very successful and the troops demanded more, and more, and more. That was unexpected because initially, Switchblade was mainly used largely by Special Forces and other special operations troops. In 2011, after more than a year of successful field testing, the army ordered over a hundred Switchblades for troop use and every year since more had to be ordered because regular infantry units in combat got their hands on it and demanded more. By 2012 the U.S. Marine Corps was using Switchblade as well. Others noticed Switchblade. In 2015 An Israeli firm has introduced a new loitering UAV, portable enough (weighing 3 kg/6.6 pounds) for the infantry to carry and use. The Hero 30 has 30 minutes endurance and has a small warhead that can use used to turn it into a weapon if the onboard vidcam indicates a target that has to be taken care of immediately. Otherwise, it can be landed and reused. Hero 30 is based on the older Hero 400 which weighs 40 kg and has an 8 kg (18 pound) warhead. This UAV has a four hour endurance and can operate up to 150 kilometers from the operator. But Israel noticed that the United States was having lot of success (and demand from SOCOM and infantry units) for the similar (to Hero 30) Switchblade. Increased American support (airstrikes, Special Forces, less restrictive rules of engagement and more intel) has boosted the morale and effectiveness of the Afghan security forces. This makes it more difficult for the Taliban to claim control of more of the 407 districts because the Afghan forces can more quickly respond to Taliban efforts to occupy distract capitals (often small towns in areas with few roads). In addition to more airstrikes, the Americans have also brought in more UAVs for reconnaissance and surveillance as well as more access to the high-resolution photo satellites. The Taliban are responsible for security over large areas (farms where poppies are grown, roads and border areas where drugs are smuggled out and chemicals for turning opium into heroin are smuggled in) and that provides more targets for the increased air support. Casualties are up for the security forces but are up even more for the Taliban and by Afghan custom, thats a win. Afghanistan is a violent place in the best of times and last four decades have not been good for Afghanistan in general. Afghan security forces lost about five percent of their strength in the last year but if the successes against the Taliban continue desertions will decline and more recruits will join. The parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for October 2016 were delayed by Taliban violence to July 2018 and now to October 2018. The Taliban and the drug gangs oppose the elections while most Afghans want to vote. Taliban attacks on the voter registration effort are reducing the number of people who will be able to vote but is not changing minds about wanting to vote. For the Taliban democracy is heresy and allowing women to vote makes it worse. Given the widespread hatred of opium and heroin (for all the addicts it creates in Afghanistan) the drug gangs dont want people able to express that attitude via elections. Three years ago a national opinion poll showed that 92 percent of Afghans wanted the election process reformed to reduce corruption. Back then only about twenty percent of Afghans trusted the way elections were handled. Nothing kills democracy faster than a loss of faith in the reliability of the voting process. At the same time, 85 percent of Afghans supported the then new (post Karzai) national government and 91 percent trusted the newly elected president Ghani. At the same time, 81 percent believed the country was moving in the right direction and 71 percent believed public support for the Taliban continued to decline. Despite the growing opposition to the Taliban, these religious fanatics will remain a problem as long as they are allied with the drug gangs who have the cash and determination to keep the corruption and Islamic terrorism going because it is good for their business. A growing number of prominent religious leaders are openly opposing the Taliban and the Taliban are encountering more local opposition in tribes long considered pro-Taliban. While the drug gangs provide more and more cash the Taliban are getting more and more young men killed, or turned into addicts. The Taliban have been at it for 25 years and have a track record of death, destruction and inability to accomplish anything useful. Concentrating attacks on the national police kills a lot of policemen, who tend to be local guys and eliminate the police presence in an area. That reduces local security and allows the Taliban, and any bandits in the area, to do whatever they want. Local tribes are trying to organize militias to oppose this but in many rural areas, the population is too sparse and too poor to match the more numerous and better armed Taliban. As Taliban and drug gang control increases legitimate economic activity declines. Since foreign troops left in 2014, the Afghan security forces became the main foe of the Taliban and drug gangs and the government forces have been unable to go after the Taliban and drug gangs while also providing local security that is necessary for economic activity and growth. As a result, the poverty rates have gone up. In 2012 a third of Afghans were considered very poor. By 2017 nearly 60 percent of Afghans were considered very poor and many were going hungry and lacked access to food or other aid. The unemployment rate was nearly 25 percent and for young men in the countryside (half the population is now under 15) taking a job with the Taliban seems the only option. The Taliban blocked the roads or simply demanded bribes too large for truckers to pay (and stay in business). Despite the economic harm, they were doing the Taliban insisted they were on a Mission From God and could not be criticized. But a growing number of local, and now national, religious leaders were forced, by the Moslems they regularly worked with, to speak up about the bad things the Taliban were doing. This has led to more open dissension in Taliban factions, with the Taliban clerics (who serve as spiritual advisors and judges) calling to making peace. This is an extension of the larger Taliban civil war that broke out in 2015 as a result of disagreements over who should take over as Taliban leader after founder Mullah Omar was revealed in 2015 to have died in 2013 (in a Pakistani hospital). The information was kept to a few key Omar associates who were then accused of lying as part of a plot to install an Omar successor who was second-rate. The civil war began in late November 2015 when Mullah Mansour, leader of the OT (Original Taliban) ordered attacks against the forces of rival Taliban leader Mullah Rasool. This marked a major defeat for the Taliban as they have now lost a major asset; unity. Similar fighting has also occurred in Zabul province. By 2017 the Taliban infighting had diminished but not disappeared. The Pakistani ISI (intelligence service) intervened by having Haqqani Network leaders with Taliban ties take sides and eventually take over the senior Taliban leadership. This reduced but did not eliminate the feuding. As a result the Taliban sought to regain territory they had lost to government forces in 2017, especially near the Iran and northern borders. This was important because these border areas were used for smuggling heroin and opium into Iran. ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is moving more of its operations to cities, like Kabul, where they are less likely to be hit by airstrikes. This is an admission of defeat because in urban areas ISIL cannot train large numbers of new recruits or build up stockpiles of weapons and ammo. ISIL also cannot earn money from the drug smuggling business and must get by on a lot less cash. Iran is financing a resettlement operation in Syria that brings in Shia families from Lebanon, Afghanistan and elsewhere to replace the third of the Syrian population that fled the country during the civil war. Nearly all these refugees were Sunni Arabs and the Assads (who are Shia) dont want them back. The Lebanese Hezbollah are supervising the resettlement program by bringing in Shia Arab Lebanese attracted by the offer of free land and housing. Actually, the buildings may have suffered some war damage but are repairable. Hezbollah fighters are actively preventing Syrian Sunnis from returning and reoccupying their land and homes. Most of the Afghan settlers are illegal residents in Iran who do not want to return to Afghanistan. Many of those Afghans who are Shia are already serving as Iranian mercenaries in Syria and are inclined to bring their families to Syria. May 15, 2018: In the west (Farah province) Afghan and American airpower assisted local troops and defeated a major Taliban attack against the provincial capital. The Taliban suffered many dead and wounded as they were forced to retreat. This attack was considered a desperate move by local Taliban forces. The Afghan Air Force released video of their new A-29 ground attack using smart bombs against targets in Farah province as well as other targets in southern Afghanistan. The A-29s have been in action using smart bombs since March 22nd. The video was released, in part, to demoralize the Taliban in places like Farah province. Meanwhile, Taliban forces near Farah city are unable to organize another attack because of the constant UAV surveillance. Over the next few days, there were incidents where the Taliban appeared to be organizing another attack and were then hit with airstrikes. Afghan intel believes that Iran is providing support for some of the Taliban factions in Farah. This support appears to be weapons, ammo and some cash. In return, the Taliban provide Iran with help in controlling the border and especially the Afghan opium and heroin getting into Iran (which now has several million addicts). May 14, 2018: In the west (Herat province) rival Taliban factions fought each other leaving at least eight of the Islamic terrorists dead. Since 2016 western Afghanistan (Farah, Herat and Badghis provinces) has been the scene of much fighting between rival Taliban factions. This has left hundreds of Taliban dead and even as this infighting continued the army moved to oust the Taliban from areas the Islamic terrorists long controlled directly or indirectly. May 12, 2018: The first four weeks of voter registration have left 86 dead and twice as many wounded. May 11, 2018: The government has extended, by one month, the voter registration period, which was supposed to be completed by mid-June. May 9, 2018: In Kabul, five Taliban attacked a police station. One attacker used an explosive vest at the entrance which allowed four gunmen to get inside where the remaining four Taliban were killed. At the same time, another police station was also attacked, apparently by ISIL forces. Total deaths from both attacks were about 25. May 8, 2018: In Kabul police identified Haqqani Network as the ones who carried out two suicide bomber attacks on police stations in the city today. May 7, 2018: The Afghan Taliban refuse to take part in an international Afghanistan peace conference organized by regional Islamic leaders and hosted by Indonesia. Some Taliban factions are interested in a peace deal but majority of the Afghan Taliban is now controlled by the Haqqani Network, which answers only to the Pakistani military. May 6, 2018: In the east (Khost province) a time bomb hidden in a mosque went off and killed over fifty and wounded more than thirty. The mosque was also being used as a voter registration site and that appears to have been the target of the time bomb. May 1, 2018: Nearly 1,200 died from Taliban and drug gang related violence during April. About 200 of the dead were civilians, killed in many of the 173 different incidents involving explosives or gunfire. The rest of the dead were Islamic terrorists and other criminals along with security forces. That is up about 15 percent in March. April 25, 2018: The Taliban announced the start of the Spring Offensive. This is largely a propaganda announcement because the Taliban operate year round to protect drug operations, a service that provides the cash to keep the Taliban going. April 23, 2018: In the east (Nangarhar Province) the top leader of AQIS (Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) was killed by an American airstrike. Technically Afghanistan is not part of AQIS territory but it has become a more reliable base area (for training camps) than Pakistan or anywhere else in South Asia. AQIS was created in 2014 and initially tried to establish its headquarters in Karachi (Pakistan), long a haven for all sorts of criminal activity and forged alliances with the major Islamic terrorist organizations there. Yet AQIS has been responsible for very few terror attacks in Pakistan or anywhere else. AQIS was created to manage and support operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Burma. Islamic terrorism experts believe this was largely a publicity stunt by al Qaeda to counter the growing popularity of the more radical ISIL. Indian Moslems have produced some recruits for Islamic terrorism, but not enough to produce the level of mayhem Islamic terrorists wanted. Lacking a lot of radical clergy and religious schools India has simply not produced a lot of radicalized young men willing to kill and be killed. Similar recruiting problems were encountered elsewhere but other Al Qaeda groups have continued to provide enough cash and other assistance to keep AQIS going and barely visible. Afghan training camps, destroyed at the end of 2017, were a major AQIS asset and that loss was one reason AQIS agreed to work with the Pakistani Taliban. April 22, 2018: For the first time since October 2017 ISIL issued an official statement via the Internet. This one informed members and supporters about the new ISIL strategy. No surprises in that as the message repeated the call for ISIL members to return home, if possible, and organize terror attacks there. The primary ISIL targets are the apostate governments of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Gaza (Hamas) and the West Bank (Fatah). In addition, the Taliban of Afghanistan are the main target in Afghanistan because the local ISIL branch competes with the Taliban to control drug smuggling routes that provide large amounts of cash that ISIL in Afghanistan needs to survive. April 18, 2018: In the east (Paktia province) Pakistani troops agreed to move back from the disputed territory on the Afghan border. South of Paktia, in Khost province there was a similar withdrawal of Pakistani forces in North Waziristan. This is a temporary fix for the continued disputes over where the Afghan border actually is. Eve Parnell and actress Niamh Cusack. IRISH actress Niamh Cusack opened a new exhibition by fellow countrywoman Eve Parnell earlier this mont. Eves latest collection, Truth hath a quiet breast, includes pencil-on-tissue-paper drawings inspired by the surroundings of Halls Croft, the elegant home of Shakespeares daughter Susanna, where the exhibition will run until autumn. The precise detailed monochrome drawings are in the north European tradition of realism rooted in Netherlandish art, from the 15th to 17th centuries. Talking about her work, Eve tells Herald arts: In this exhibition I will be showing framed drawings which are a variety of sizes, inspired by domestic scenes and more monumental observations, this is a reflection of the location, Halls Croft, full of history with tangible love. I choose pencil on tissue paper because I believe art should be for everyone, and this media represents a type of equality and the fragility of life. Eve was also delighted with the turn out at the exhibition launch, she says: It was a great success! There was a huge turn out from local people, filling the room with good cheer and happy conversation, guests also attended from all over England. And Niamh Cusack was amazing! The exhibition was made possible through the support of Culture Ireland as part of its GB18 programme, promoting Irish arts in Britain, and exhibition hosts, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which cares for Halls Croft and four other historic Shakespeare houses in and around Stratford. Zurich, Switzerland, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Zurich Marriott Hotel announces the opening of its brand-new M Club Lounge, boasting a sophisticated design and flexible spaces to work, connect and recharge. Guests are invited to upgrade their stay with elite, 24/7 access that includes daily complimentary breakfast every morning, upscale all-day food and drink options, plus high-speed internet access. A dedicated staff is on hand daily at the new, modern hotel lounge, including a helpful concierge to provide assistance and local recommendations for exploring the Zurich city center. Maintaining a bold presence in Zurich, along the banks of the Limmat River, the hotel's city center location near the train station makes it an ideal destination for blending work and play. The M Club Lounge is a wholly contemporary concept, bringing the hotels former executive lounge space to the forefront of modern travel and hospitality. Located on the lobby level, the new sophisticated design, by architectural firm Joi Design in Hamburg, brings with it a host of extra perks for travelers to the iconic Zurich hotel . Featuring a hosted entrance and concierge services, the lounge is accessible 24/7 with a guest keycard, with included access for Marriott Rewards Gold and Platinum members. The lounge hosts a breakfast daily, from 6am to 10am and until noon on weekends, and offers up snacks and light bites 24/7. In the evenings from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, guests can enjoy upscale hors doeuvres including house charcuterie, artisanal cheeses and pickled vegetables. Wi-Fi keeps guests connected at all times, and our concierge is on hand for any assistance or local recommendations. Following the opening of M Club Lounge, Zurich Marriotts renamed premium rooms offer the best way to experience everything the new lounge has to offer. A stay in the hotels premium rooms, such as our Club rooms and suites, Business suites and Panorama suites, includes incredible views of Zurich and beyond, as well as exclusive access to the M Club Lounge. For more information, or to book a stay at the hotel, guests can call 41-44-360-7070. About the Zurich Marriott Hotel The Zurich Marriott Hotel, an international business hotel, is known for ranking among the best hotels in Zurich. Its distinct location along the banks of the Limmat River allows guests to seamlessly blend work and play, as they can easily access the downtown business district. Smartly designed to ensure travelers have everything needed for a remarkable, eco-friendly stay, all rooms and suites feature unlimited comfort including 24-hour room service, complimentary wireless Internet access and great views of the city, the river or the lake of Zurich. Guests experience intuitive service and extraordinary facilities such as the modern M Club Lounge, the well-known Thai restaurant White Elephant, the Swiss eCHo restaurant, and a 24-hour fitness center. With innovative applications - the Marriott Mobile App, the Meeting Services App and Mobile Chat - the hotel exceeds the needs of the next generation traveler. An ideal setting for hosting inspirational corporate and social events, the hotel's event space includes natural lighting, professional catering and event management services. Comprehensively renovated and extraordinarily versatile, 16 meeting rooms offer cutting-edge technology and the Meetings Imagined concept. # # # Attachments GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GL Communications Inc., a global leader in telecom test and measurement solutions, today announced its enhanced Location Services (LCS) architecture in LTE network briefly, and its latest MAPS SLs Emulator solution to meet the requirements in location services testing on LTE networks. Speaking to the press, the CEO of GL Communications Mr. Vijay Kulkarni said, LTE is similar to GSM/UMTS network and follows a client/server model with the positioning functionality distributed across LTE radio nodes, eNodeBs (eNB), Mobile Management Entity (MME), Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC) and Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC). Mr. Vijay Kulkarni explained, LPP protocol supports hybrid positioning method, in which two or more position methods are used simultaneously to provide accurate measurements. The LTE Positioning Protocols (LPP and LPPa) are carried in LCS-AP PDUs over established SCTP session between an E-SMLC and MME. Location estimation uses hybrid positioning methodologies from the list of positioning methods given below. These positioning methods may be UE-based, network-based, UE-assisted, network-assisted and/or combination of these methods. The main difference is that the network-based measurements do their calculations at the infrastructure, while the UE based measurements do their calculations at the device. The standard positioning methods used in LTE network are: Enhanced Cell-ID (network based, handset assisted) OTDOA positioning method (network based, handset assisted) UTDOA positioning method (network based) A-GNSS based positioning methods (handset based, network-assisted) About GL Communications Inc. GL Communications Inc. is a global provider of test and measurement solutions and has over the years worked with major telecom equipment vendors, service providers, and system integrators to meet the testing requirements arising at various stages of telecom products development life cycle. GL offers a broad set of test solutions that help perform all types of testing on networks, from initial system design, to fine-tuning, troubleshooting, live deployment, and monitoring. The products are widely used to verify and ensure 'quality and reliability' of Wireless (4G LTE, 3G, 2G), SONET/SDH, IP, TDM, and PSTN networks. GL core product development is backed by a strong team of R&D experts to match evolving market and technical challenges in a most cost-effective and innovative way. Contact: Shelley Sharma Phone: 301-670-4784 E-mail: info@gl.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/97475715-109a-45b8-a608-1d9d56f385a2 NORTH CANTON, Ohio, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To support future growth, dlhBOWLES adds to their existing footprint in North America by opening a new facility in North Canton, Ohio. The new facility will house support teams for the company including Information Technology, Customer Service and Sales Administration. As the recognized leader in the design, development and manufacture of automotive fluid management and systems components, they supply to virtually every major auto manufacturer around the globe. dlhBOWLES employs over 2,500 people at multiple manufacturing and distribution locations in North America with Sales and Technical Centers in Michigan, Maryland and Ohio, USA. The addition of this new facility allows them to better align with the needs of the Customer while supporting future growth. dlhBOWLES prides themselves on having a spirit of constant innovation. This drive towards technical and operational excellence is fueled by our most important asset our people. To join a team that offers an engaging work environment and fosters personal and career growth, check out the current openings at www.dlhbowles.com/jobs and apply today. Media contact: Russell Hester Director of Business Development Phone: (410) 381-0400 x371 Email: rhester@dlhbowles.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac040899-71c8-47cc-8dc5-ba596e3c8b70 BETHLEHEM, Pa., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- B. Braun Medical Inc.s Clinical Services and Scientific Affairs Teams have conducted an exploratory study to establish benchmark hospital alarm data. The preliminary findings will be presented during the poster presentations at the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) Annual Meeting, May 19-22, at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Data from B. Brauns Outlook 400ES, large volume infusion pump, with its accompanying DoseTrac Infusion Management Software were analyzed from 32 U.S.-based hospitals between April 2014 and February 2017. B. Brauns Clinical Services and Scientific Affairs Teams evaluated the Outlook 400ES alarm frequency as it pertained to duration and alarm type. The issue of alarm fatigue is becoming a major concern for healthcare providers as more devices are implemented in the healthcare environment.1 The number of medical devices emitting alarms in a hospital setting that require intervention has significantly increased over the past 30 years, said Wes Cetnarowski, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs at B. Braun. The overall clinical impact of our data will highlight specific incidences and characteristics of infusion pump alarms which may help improve patient care. B. Braun also has conducted an additional exploratory study to understand nurses perception of pump alarms in the hospital setting. The findings of this study will be published later this year. About B. Braun B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative medical products and services to the healthcare industry. Other key product areas include ostomy and wound care, dialysis, nutrition, pharmacy admixture and compounding. The company is committed to eliminating preventable treatment errors and enhancing patient, clinician and environmental safety. B. Braun Medical is headquartered in Bethlehem, Pa., and is part of the B. Braun Group of Companies in the U.S., which includes B. Braun Interventional Systems, Aesculap and CAPS. Globally, the B. Braun Group of Companies employs more than 61,000 employees in 64 countries. Guided by its Sharing Expertise philosophy, B. Braun continuously exchanges knowledge with customers, partners and clinicians to address the critical issues of improving care and lowering costs. To learn more about B. Braun Medical, visit www.BBraunUSA.com. 1Cho OM et al. Clinical alarms in intensive care units: Perceived obstacles of alarm management and alarm fatigue in nurses. Healthc Inform Res. 2016; 22(1): 46-53 NEW YORK, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) executives Marc Huestis, senior vice president, Gas Operations Consolidated Edison Company of New York, and Yukari Saegusa, vice president and treasurer, will provide a company update at the 2018 AGA Financial Forum on Monday, May 21 at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time). A live audio webcast and a replay of the presentation will be available at http://wsw.com/webcast/aga18/ed/. The link also will be posted at the Con Edison Investor Relations website at: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=61493&p=irol-presentations Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy-delivery companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $49 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through the following subsidiaries: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., a regulated utility providing electric, gas and steam service in New York City and Westchester County, New York; Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., a regulated utility serving customers in a 1,300-square-mile-area in southeastern New York State and northern New Jersey; Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, Inc., which through its subsidiaries develops, owns and operates renewable and energy infrastructure projects and provides energy-related products and services to wholesale and retail customers; and Con Edison Transmission, Inc., which through its subsidiaries invests in electric and natural gas transmission projects. Contact: Media Relations 212-460-4111 A cross-party group of UK parliamentarians arrived in Gibraltar on Wednesday for a two-day working visit to discuss Brexit and the negotiations regarding Britain's withdrawl from the European Union. The delegates were Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP, who is a former Minister for Transport, Minister of State for Immigration and Minister of State in the Department of Education; Liz McInnes MP, who serves as Shadow Foreign Minister in Labour's Foreign Affairs team; Tom Brake MP, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Exiting the European Union and International Trade; Mike Gapes, a Labour MP and member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; and William Humphrey MLA, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who is chair of the Infrastructure Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The visitors received a detailed briefing on Brexit issues from the deputy chief minister Dr Joseph Garcia, and were given a tour of the frontier area and the air terminal. They also met Environment Minister Dr John Cortes and his team and were briefed on financial services issues by the Finance Centre Director. They were also able to meet members of the Brexit Select Committee of the Gibraltar Parliament and paid a courtesy call to the Governor, Lt. General Edward Davis. Meetings were also arranged with the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses before the delegation were due to fly back to the UK. Throughout the 400 years of Spanish presence in the Americas and the Philippines, interactions between settlers and natives threw up complications that Castilian law was not equipped to deal with. As a result, a new legal solution needed to be found. Through the 'Leyes de Indias' (the Laws of the Indies), a series of decrees issued by the Spanish crown, an attempt to regulate social, political and economic life across the empire was made. The Laws of Burgos (1512) and the New Laws (1542) established norms for the early colonies, including forbidding the maltreatment of the indigenous people and endorsing their conversion to Catholicism. The system of 'encomiendas' was also created, where the native people were grouped together to work under a colonial head of the estate for a salary. However, a series of abuses and a problem with levels of compliance led to the so-called Valladolid debate which took place during 1550 and 1551. This was the first moral discussion over the rights and treatment of a colonised people ever to take place in Europe. A number of views about the way natives should be integrated into colonial life, their conversion to Christianity and their rights and obligations were exchanged by some of the great theologians of the time, including Bartolome de Las Casas, the most persistent defender of the Indians during the early years of the Spanish conquest . The ideas that Las Casas presented during the great debate influenced the development of the Laws of the Indies and the rights of Indian peoples over the next 300 years. French historian, Jean Dumont, described the Valladolid debate as a major turning point in world history, the dawn of human rights. Ultimately, however, abuses continued, even after indigenous people were placed officially under the protection of the Crown. Further laws were passed in 1573. These were considered the first wide-ranging guidelines towards design and development of communities and included 148 ordinances to aid in locating, building, and populating settlements. Heavily influenced by Vitruvius' Ten Books of Architecture and the theories of Leon Battista Alberti, they codified the city planning process and established a blueprint which would be taken around the world. It was decided, for example, that towns should be built in an elevated position, around a central Plaza Mayor (main square), from which twelve straight streets are built in a rectilinear grid. The style of buildings, the ordinance said, should be all of one type for the sake of the beauty of the town. However, due to the vast quantity of laws which had been passed over more than a hundred years of colonisation, on 18 May 1680 under Charles II, the 'Recopilacion de las Leyes' (Compilation of the Laws) was published. This became considered the classic collection of the laws and was a major milestone in colonial history. While on the one hand it was criticised for depriving indigenous people a responsible role in government, its inconsistencies, excessive attention to ceremonial matters and virtually unenforceable commercial regulations, it was nonetheless the most comprehensive law code ever instituted for a colonial empire and established progressive and humane principles, even if they were ignored. When you try to escape from your problems, they are the first things you pack, claims a new book by British author, Gus Duffy. The Estepona-based writer has just released his first novel, A Little Bit of the Moon, a book set in Fuengirola that focuses on the social issues of a group of five expats from very different backgrounds. Gus, who came to live in Spain in 2014, set the book in Fuengirola because it was where he first set up home on the coast. No two expats are alike and the only thing they do have in common is the fact that they are expats Born in Harrow, NW London, in 1982, Gus came to Spain with his wife (a former teacher) in search of a stress-free life, having tired of trying to make ends meet in London. They both quickly adapted to the quality of life they could afford on the coast, but Gus, like so many before him, struggled with the language and found it difficult integrating into Spanish society. I wasn't very good at languages at school and I haven't grasped the language here, even though I know that I should have, but I will persevere and try to become more integrated, the 36-year-old writer says with conviction. His association with the expat society in Fuengirola fuelled his drive to write the novel, as the characters are loosely based on some of the people he had met. However, the story is inspired by the songs of British Ska band, Missing Andy. The title of the novel is a line from one of the group's hits. The band's songs focus on working class issues, like domestic violence, an issue that plays a large part in the novel. Gus, who is a big fan of the band, felt compelled to write about the normal everyday issues of expat life on the coast, rather than the falsified stereotypical image. The author is keen to point out that something like domestic abuse happens to all sorts of people, not just the typecast victims we see on television. The book is set around the fictitious Gloria's Bar and focuses on the frustrations of five different people who must learn from their past mistakes to confront their futures. The characters are based on the diverse groups of people that one finds in Spain. At home we tend to mix with people in our own circle, but here, as expats, we mix with people that we would probably not have mixed with before, Gus says. This is his first published work. He originally tried his hand at play writing and even though he had his work considered by the Finborough Theatre in London, a career as a playwright did not materialise. I hit that point in my life where I had been doing a job to just to pay the rent and survive, and I wanted to make a change. When I was small I loved to write stories, which was the only thing I was confident with, and so I started writing scripts. After I had been knocked back a couple of times, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel, which my wife thought was a good idea, Gus explains. Gus's wife used her teaching skills to edit and proofread the book and although she was critical, she encouraged her husband because she believed he had unveiled the true identity of the foreign community on the coast. Being an expat is more than moving abroad, it is like an identity. No two expats are alike and the only thing they do have in common is the fact that they are expats, he says. He feels that the expat residents of the Costa del Sol have never been truly depicted in a novel and he believes that his new book tackles subjects that are not normally explored. I might have got a little close to the truth for some expats, but it is something I feel strongly about. We all think that people who suffer from domestic abuse are a particular type of person, but this affects people from all walks of life, even the ones we least expect, Gus concludes. Little Bit of the Moon is available from Amazon. The minister of the Interior, Juan Ignacio Zoido, has reassured Costa residents that the recent spate of serious violent crimes are just isolated incidents. Speaking on a visit to Marbella to unveil plans for a new local headquarters for the National Police in the town, he called for people to stay calm and not create a sense of panic. In the past three weeks a wave of violence has swept along the coast in six separate incidents, culminating in the latest, last Saturday, May 12, when a father was shot dead in broad daylight in San Pedro after the first communion service of his son. The outbreak began on 30 April, with the discovery of the body of local man Francisco Jose Lopez in his car in the Guadalhorce valley. Then on 4 May, two Moroccan men reported that they had been shot at in a bar in Fuengirola's marina and this was followed three days later by the grim discovery of a man's body dumped by the side of the A-7 near the Costa del Sol Hospital. His wounded partner was found nearby flagging down traffic and claiming the couple had been kidnapped. Further to this an eastern European man walked into a health centre in Fuengirola on 11 May with gunshot wounds. After treatment he fled but was tracked down by the police shortly afterwards. And finally, on the same day that the man in San Pedro was killed, a north African man was freed from behind the La Canada shopping centre in Marbella, where he had been tied up for 24 hours. Investigators say that none of the crimes appear to be linked and are related to the settling of scores between criminal and drugs gangs. Gangs stealing others' drugs Malaga province, including the Costa del Sol, enjoyed a fall in overall crime in the first three months to the end of March this year: good news that is now threatened by May's violent outbreak. Experts say the sudden surge is due to gangs stealing each others' hauls. Buying and bringing the drug has costs. If you steal it here it's all profit, said an expert. The Interior minister on his visit to Marbella said that he did not expect the tenser situation between gangs and security forces in the Campo de Gibraltar and Algeciras areas, where the drugs are brought ashore from north Africa, to spread along the Costa del Sol and denied there was a security problem. Marbella's new National Police station will be twice the size of the current one and will be built on council land near the bus station. He loves coming to Spain. That was the first thing he made clear to the press after arriving in Marbella from London. He has been visiting the Costa del Sol for years, but now Robert De Niro has become a local businessman, opening a hotel and restaurant on the Golden Mile with Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Hollywood producer Meir Teper. He said he loves fine cuisine, too. He has experience in the business and also made it clear he wouldn't tolerate the US president in any of his restaurants. Asked by a journalist, What would you serve President Trump in your restaurant? he responded, I don't care what Donald Trump likes. If he walked into any of my restaurants, I'd get up and leave, to applause from many of those present. It was Nobu's fame and people's admiration of his cooking, that made De Niro decide go into business with him, first in restaurants and then with Nobu Hotels. However, he made his debut in the field of gastronomy 30 years ago, with the Tribeca Grill restaurant in New York. About ten or fifteen years ago we were in the Hard Rock Cafe in San Diego and I thought: why am I doing this? And so we opened our own line of restaurants and I started working with Trevor [Horwell] and Nobu. And we have continued to grow ever since, he explained. He describes Nobu as a magnificent chef. I love his food and that is also something I took into account, he added. At his side, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa thanked him for the compliment and paid his own to another master of cuisine in Marbella, Dani Garcia, praising the way he uses local produce. It is important to have good products to make the best dishes and to offer the best service. That quality is what I have found in Marbella, he said. Sake ceremony In accordance with the Nobu tradition, the owners of the brand took part in the sake ceremony with which they inaugurate all their establishments. There were Japanese lanterns, taiko drums and, of course, the traditional Japanese drink. A barrel had been filled with special sake and Nobu, De Niro and Teper, wooden mallets in hand, complied with the ritual and broke the lid. That marked the start of the opening party, with a toast to good luck. The ritual seems to have paid off so far, because the brand continues to grow. Meier Teper announced that the hotel chain, which already has a presence in Ibiza and London, will be opening a hotel in Barcelona next year, and intends to set up in Madrid and expand into Portugal in the future. We are more than good friends; we are almost a family, and together we are very strong, said Teper. The Nobu family is certainly growing in the town, where the Nobu Hotel Marbella, in the Puente Romano complex, opened its doors at Easter as a luxury establishment for adults. It has 49 rooms and suites and there are plans to increase these to 81 by mid-2019. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercury Marine, the world leader in marine propulsion and technology, is pleased to introduce multiple new 4.6L V-8 outboard engine models the 250 and 300hp Verado, 250 and 300hp FourStroke, and 200, 225, 250 and 300hp Pro XS plus the Pro XS 175hp 3.4L V-6. These next-generation outboard engines are part of the largest single new-product development program Mercury has undertaken in its nearly 80-year-history, which has prompted a major investment in expanding its manufacturing footprint. In Miami, we said the V-6 was step one of our 2018 introductions and we are thrilled to officially announce step two, said John Pfeifer, Mercury Marine president. These new V-8 engines, like the V-6, will set a new benchmark in the marine industry in the eyes of the consumer. Mercurys new V-6 and V-8 outboard engines are highly configurable to meet the needs of a wide variety of boating segments, from Verados refined performance, to the FourStrokes fuel efficiency and rigging versatility, to the competitive edge that Pro XS provides serious sport fishermen. Along with the 3.4L V-6 family released in Miami, the new V-8 engines fill out Mercurys industry leading portfolio in the 175-300hp range. These engines are naturally aspirated, durable, powerful and provide options for the consumer that theyve never had before, said Pfeifer. This new lineup aligns with what consumers are asking for and we are delighted to deliver it to them. New 250 & 300hp Verado The new 250hp and 300hp V-8 Verado outboard engines raise the bar for the marine industry again. Continuing Verados legacy as the most refined outboard engine on the water, the new V-8 plaform provides exhilarating performance across the rpm range. Sea trials have shown the 300hp Verado is up to 20 percent quicker and two mph faster than the closest competitor, while still providing up to eight percent better fuel economy. The V-8 Verados are compatible with Mercury Joystick Piloting for Outboards for maximum maneuverability and control, and feature Mercury-engineered digital controls and electro-hydraulic power steering for smooth operation. Equipped with Adaptive Speed Control, they deliver increased throttle response and a sportier feel. The Verado driving experience is further enhanced by class-leading NVH reduction for an ultra-quiet ride. The new V-8 models next-generation Advanced Mid-Section (AMS) incorporates perimeter mounts that deliver the lowest vibration in the industry, while sound barriers make it the quietest outboard in its segment. Exclusive Advanced Sound Control technology allows users to toggle between ultra-quiet operation and a throatier-sounding sport mode. New 250 & 300hp FourStroke The new 250hp and 300hp V-8 FourStroke outboard engines are high-tech without being high-stress, delivering powerful performance while remaining quiet, efficient, reliable and strong. The high-displacement, quad-cam design of the new V-8 powerhead generates plenty of torque, especially at mid-range. The 300hp FourStroke delivers up to 9% more torque than the nearest competitor at 3500-4500 rpm. It boasts class-leading 4.6L displacement yet is the lightest in the 300hp class by more than 10 pounds. Combine ample power with lightest-in-class weight, and the result is exhilarating FourStroke performance from a highly reliable engine. These new FourStrokes are also exceptionally versatile, offering consumers choices between mechanical or digital (DTS) controls and hydraulic or power steering. This versatility makes them the ideal outboard engine choice for repowering a wide range of different hulls. The new V8 FourStroke engines are also available in multiple colors and can be further customized with the addition of an accent panel, as detailed below. Color Options Mercurys Warm Fusion, Cold Fusion and Pearl Fusion white cowl color options plus the popular Phantom Black, combined with five factory accent color panels and paint-ready panels, let owners mix and match or paint their own panels to further personalize their engine. These colors are available for both the V-8 FourStroke and the V-8 Verado outboard engines. New 175-300hp Pro XS The new 175hp V-6 and 200, 225, 250 and for the first time ever, 300hp V-8 Pro XS outboard engines are quite simply the next generation of tournament-winning performance. Featuring Mercurys new compact cowl, these engines deliver everything the serious fisherman needs to stay competitive on the water, including ample torque from their high-displacement powerheads and superior acceleration due to their quad-cam design and Transient Spark technology. The 250hp V-8 Pro XS bested the leading competitor in both acceleration and top end in sea trials and delivered up to 16 percent better fuel economy at cruise. All V-6 and V-8 Pro XS engines feature Adaptive Speed Control, which maintains the drivers desired rpm regardless of load or condition, and 200-300hp Pro XS models are available with either mechanical or digital controls. The Pro XS performance-tuned exhaust tone is engineered to deliver a brawny sound quality that is guaranteed to turn heads, yet is quieter than the competition at cruise and top speed. Dial in the new Pro XS models with a wide selection of Mercury propellers, and the fish had better watch out. All-New Sea Pro Commercial lineup Mercurys new 225-300hp SeaPro FourStroke engines are designed to offer higher displacement at a lighter weight than competitor models; in fact, each of the Conventional MidSection (CMS) SeaPro V-8 models is the lightest in its class. Mercury has calibrated the new V8 SeaPro models to produce plenty of torque at lower rpm levels, enabling users to work their outboards hard without placing excess stress on the engine, while their exceptionally compact, lightweight design and Advanced Range Optimization (ARO) maximize fuel economy at cruise. New 250R and 300R Racing outboard engines Designed, developed and manufactured in-house, the naturally aspirated, 4.6L V-8 four-stroke engines share Mercury Racings venerable Quad Cam Four Valve (QC4) sterndrive DNA complete with aluminum four-valve cylinder heads and dual overhead camshaft (DOHC) valve train. The four valve heads and DOHC valve train is integrated with Mercurys proprietary V-8 cylinder block, packed with high performance hardware. The new platform replaces the two-stroke V-6 250XS and 300XS models. Watch as our dealers and boatbuilders experience the new V-8 engines for the first time: https://youtu.be/G1orFiYQYIs Additional information on these engines can be found at MercuryMarine.com Members of the media can access high-resolution images of these engines at https://mercurymarine.widencollective.com/ About Mercury Marine Headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wis., Mercury Marine is the worlds leading manufacturer of recreational marine propulsion engines. A $2.6 billion division of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC), Mercury provides engines, boats, services and parts for recreational, commercial and government marine applications, empowering boaters with products that are easy to use, extremely reliable and backed by the most dedicated customer support in the world. Mercurys industry-leading brand portfolio includes Mercury outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrive and inboard packages; MotorGuide trolling motors; Mercury propellers; Mercury inflatable boats; Mercury SmartCraft electronics; Attwood marine parts; Land N Sea marine parts distribution; and Mercury and Quicksilver parts and oils. More information is available at mercurymarine.com. The British tabloid press is in hot water this week with the tourist industry in Tenerife for alleging that its famous Mount Teide is about to erupt. Britons make up a big part of the annual visitor numbers and people fear that it will have a negative effect on their business at the start of the summer season. The Sunday Express website headline earlier this month read, Tenerife volcano alert: Shock as 270 earthquakes hit Brit holiday favourite Canary Islands and The Sun has been among other contributors fuelling the story with a Volcano fear hits Tenerife headline. Jorge Marichal, head of the hoteliers' association that includes Tenerife pleaded with local politicians to do more to stop the unsubstantiated reports. We're tired of how, at the start of every season, they come up with a story like this that doesn't just sow seeds of doubt among the British that are thinking about visiting the island, but also among the people of the Canary Islands themselves, he said. They know full well that they are publishing something fake, which makes us think that there are definite interests behind it all. The regional minister for tourism in the Canaries, Alberto Bernabe, was more measured. It's perfectly natural to imagine some sort of judeo-masonic conspiracy led by competitor markets. But we think it's down to something much simpler: they know [in the UK] that any Canaries' news is of interest and they have no problem manipulating the truth if it helps them sell more, he explained. At one time there were doubts about whether the Marbella music festival would take place this year. However, the organisation has been name-dropping its 2018 lineup on an almost weekly basis. The list is characterised by its size (with 33 more DJ sets) and by the noticeable number of Latino artists among the list of main acts. Still, big international names like Sting, Jamiroquai, Charles Aznavour and Pet Shop Boys come together with the Spanish offering to form a lineup that caters for everyone. KEY PERFORMANCES 11 July: Luis Miguel 13 July: Rosario y Rosana 14 July: Charles Aznavour 18 July: Pet Shop Boys 19 July: Sting 20 July: David Bisbal 22 July: Jamiroquai 25 July: Mana 27 July: Miguel Poveda 28 July: Il Divo 31 July: Romeo Santos 1 August: Pablo Alboran 2 August: Steven Tyler 3 August: James Blunt 4 August: Pablo Lopez 10 August: Juanes 14 August: Texas 15 August: Taburete Although deciding on a headline act proved difficult, Luis Miguel, one of the most famous names in Latin music, will open the festival on Wednesday 11 July. The Mexican artist has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he's won six Grammies and four Latin Grammies. Among the Latin stars performing at the festival will be Mana (25 July); Luis Fonsi (26 July); Romeo Santos (31 July) and Juanes (10 August). English-speaking artists will also arrive in force on the costa during July and August. Heading up the list is Sting (19 July), who returns to the Costa del Sol after playing at Fuengirola's Mare Nostrum Festival in 2017. Composer, performer, actor and activist, Sting has 16 Grammy awards and a Golden Globe. Jamiroquai (22 July) is another of the groups that will delight audiences in the Nagueles Quarry. Formed in 1992 by Jay Kay, the pioneers of 'future funk' have revolutionised the world of sound, establishing themselves as one of the most successful groups on the planet. With more than 50 million albums sold, four Grammy awards, four Billboard awards and one Emmy, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith will also take to the stage on 2 August. To add, James Blunt will perform on 3 August and crowds can expect to hear his world-famous single, 'You're Beautiful'. Spain is top in sales If the festival has learnt anything since it started, it's that it does not necessarily need international artists in order to achieve commercial success. In fact, the Spanish performers are those that have sold the most tickets. So far, the only sold-out date is that of the Fuengirola-born Pablo Lopez (4 August). The artist is returning home after his Santa Libertad tour to sing songs from his latest album, 'Camino, fuego y libertad' ('Road, fire and freedom'). In this recording I go through everything, he says. My life, my story, even my home. Lopez describes song writing as a journey through emotions. Another local artist, Pablo Alboran, will play his third concert in the province since the year began. Tickets for his performance can be found on the Starlite web page, but few remain. The artist returns to the stage with his fourth studio album 'Prometo' ('I promise'). Alboran is one of Spain's most prominent artists, at just 28 years old he's had 42 Platinum records. Hailing from Madrid, Taburete (15 August) is one of the artists with most tickets sold, together with Rozalen, Estopa, Melendi, Rosario, Miguel Poveda and surprising addition C. Tangana, a 'trap' artist who will perform on the Lounge stage. There's something for everyone here and only 45 days to go. Washington, D.C., May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), the largest nonprofit dedicated to the brain tumor community in the United States, held a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C. for members of Congress and their staff, titled, Defeating Brain Tumors: Advancing Discoveries for Glioblastoma (GBM). The event, which took place on Capitol Hill, was hosted by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), with co-host Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA), and in cooperation with Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), and honorary co-hosts, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME). The event was the first of its kind to educate policymakers on brain cancer, particularly the most common and aggressive form of the disease, glioblastoma (GBM), the tumor type that led to the passing of Senator Edward Ted Kennedy and Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, and now affects Senator John McCain of Arizona. It was a privilege to host this congressional briefing on glioblastoma for my colleagues, said Senator Lindsey Graham. Many of us have family and friends affected by it. When it comes to this kind of brain tumor, its very real to me. John, Ted and Beau Bidens stories are going to shine some light on how so many families have been devastated by this disease. Senator Graham continued, Im not a scientist and Im not a doctor, but I am willing to take public dollars to get a good return on investment, when referring to medical research funding through the National Cancer Institute (NCI), adding that the NCI is a national treasure. Finally, the Senator assured the brain tumor community that, Youre being listened to and are in the fight in Washington. The event featured an opening speech from Senator Graham, followed by: Remarks from Elyssa Malin, an aide to Congressman Langevin; A primer on brain tumors and the unique challenges of particular in glioblastoma by NBTS Chief Executive Officer, David Arons; An overview of what we know about these tumors and emerging new discoveries about how we may be able to more effectively treat them, by Dr. W.K. Alfred Yung, from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; An account of what its like to live with this tumor by glioblastoma survivor, Bill Barone of South Carolina; Examples of policies Congress could support to advance glioblastoma research from Mr. Arons; and A closing speech on the importance of cancer research funding from Congresswoman Comstock. This event was a major step in the National Brain Tumor Societys efforts to raise critical awareness for brain tumors, and glioblastoma in particular a truly devastating disease which impacts thousands of Americans every year, has few treatment options, and truly unacceptably low survival rates, said Mr. Arons. We are tremendously thankful to Senator Graham and his staff for helping us put this event on, and hosting us at the Capitol, as well as those members of Congress that joined Senator Graham in supporting todays briefing: Congresswoman Comstock, Congressman Langevin and Senators Markey and Collins and their staffs. Its a true testament to their commitment to helping advance progress against glioblastoma. There are a number of different pieces of legislation out there that relate to healthcare and science, and not everyone in this room agrees with each other on every piece of policy or bill. But the one thing that everyone that came here today can agree on is that we need to maintain robust funding for medical research, particularly cancer research. Finally, we thank our panelists, Dr. Yung and Bill Baron, two amazing representatives of the glioblastoma and brain tumor community. Mr. Arons added, It is imperative that policymakers understand the burden brain tumors inflict on patients, their loved ones, society and the economy. While we greatly appreciate the significant increases in appropriations for cancer research Congress has provided in recent years, opportunities remain to build on this funding and develop and enact critical legislation that can do more to equip Americas talented scientific and medical workforces with the resources and tools they need to help end suffering from debilitating illnesses like glioblastoma. Ultimately, the medical research ecosystem including research institutions, funders, government programs, and industry must embrace the daunting and unique challenge presented by a cancer like GBM. We urge that Americans, join in support, get-to-know, honor, remember and resolve to fight for the brain tumor community this May, during National Brain Tumor Awareness Month. Glioblastoma forms in the glial tissue of the brain the supportive gluey tissue that keeps neurons in place and functioning correctly. As such, glioblastoma is part of a group of tumors referred to as gliomas. Glioblastoma is the most common glioma, accounting for 55 percent of all these tumors, 47 percent of all primary malignant brain tumors, and 15 percent of all primary brain tumors, in general. Glioblastoma can also be classified as a WHO grade IV astrocytoma, as they originate in astrocyte cells. Despite first being identified in the scientific literature in the 1920s, there have only been four drugs and one device ever approved by the FDA for the treatment of glioblastoma. None of these treatments have succeeded in significantly extending patient lives beyond a few extra months. Currently, mean survival after diagnosis is only estimated at around 16 months with a five-year survival rate of less than six percent. More than 12,000 estimated new cases of GBM will be diagnosed in 2018, and though a mean age at diagnosis is 64, this tumor type can affect anyone at any age, including children. Including glioblastoma, nearly 80,000 Americans will receive a brain tumor diagnosis in 2018, and with only a 35 percent five-year survival rate for primary malignant brain tumors, an estimated 17,000 people will die because of brain cancer this year. Brain tumors are now the leading cause of cancer-related death in children 19-years old and younger, accounting for three out of every 10 cancer deaths. There are no known prevention or early detection methods, few available treatments, and there is no cure. About National Brain Tumor Society National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) is the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. dedicated to the brain tumor community. We are fiercely committed to finding better treatments and driving rapid progress toward a cure for brain tumors. We drive a multi-faceted and thoughtful approach to aggressively influence and fund strategic research, as well as advocate for public policy changes, in order to achieve the greatest impact, results, and progress for brain tumor patients. Money raised by the generous donations of our supporters has directly funded groundbreaking discoveries, programs, clinical trials and policy initiatives. To learn more visit www.braintumor.org. Attachments CAYUGA NATION -- The Cayuga Nation has hired a former New York State Police troop commander to serve as Cayuga Nation's first superintendent of police. Col. Mark L. Lincoln worked for the state police for 30 years, according to a news release issued Friday by the Cayuga Nation. In addition to his position as a troop commander, Lincoln held roles as a staff inspector, criminal investigator and instructor. Clint Halftown, the nation's federally recognized representative, called Lincoln's appointment a "historic moment" for the Cayuga Nation. The nation is "taking steps to restore law and order on its native lands through its authority as a sovereign Indian nation," Halftown said in the news release. Lincoln, who was raised in Port Byron and lives in Auburn, will be responsible for recruiting and training nation police officers. He will also be reaching out to local, state and federal law enforcement to establish a relationship with these agencies, Halftown said in a news release. "Mark's deep expertise in law enforcement will be invaluable to our citizens and the community at large," Halftown said. Halftown did not immediately respond for further comment. Lawyer Joe Heath, who represents traditional Cayuga Nation leaders, said the creation of a police department is another controversial move in a longstanding leadership dispute between Halftown, who was named the Cayuga Nation's representative by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the traditional leadership of the nation. "This is all about consolidating power and throwing out tradition," Heath said. A police department run by a non-community member on sovereign Indian territory is not supported in a traditional Haudenosaunee nation, Heath said. Haudenosaunee nations also do not have a positive working relationship with the state police. "There is a history of tension and racism," Heath said. Heath said the creation of a police department run by a former state trooper is moving the Cayuga Nation "further away from its traditional culture." AUBURN, N.Y. -- A former West Genesee school board member could serve time in prison after admitting he drove to a mall intending to sexually abuse a child. James M. Soper pleaded guilty this week in Cayuga County Court to attempted second-degree criminal sexual act, a felony. He admitted he went to the Fingerlakes Mall last October to meet up -- and eventually have sexual contact -- with a 12-year-old girl, said District Attorney Jon Budelmann. Instead of meeting up with a child, Soper was arrested by the New York State Police. He was serving on West Genesee's school board at the time. Soper faces serving no less than six months in jail and 10 years on probation, Budelmann said, and no more than two years in prison and 10 years on parole. He will have to register as a sex offender for at least 20 years. The investigation was launched last fall when Soper, then 45, started talking to "Hannah," a person he believed was a child, Budelmann said. Hannah was actually a trooper, he said. "We're very thankful that the state police have been able to do this," Budelmann said. "Thank God it wasn't a 12 year old." Soper, of the Town of Onondaga, is set to be sentenced on Aug. 9. He resigned from the school board the day after his arrest. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man posted child pornography while he was working at a Syracuse center that serves people with disabilities, state police said. Darryl L. Tansy, 55, of 400 Hillsdale Ave., Syracuse, was arrested Thursday by the New York State Police and charged with uploading child porn onto the Internet. He was arrested after a year-long investigation by Troop D and state police's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Tansy was at work when he uploaded the video, troopers said. At the time, he worked at Transitional Living Services -- now known as AccessCNY -- on East Genesee Street, troopers said. Tansy was charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child, a felony. He was released from the Onondaga County Justice Center on Friday afternoon, records show. Onondaga County Child Protective Services and the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office's Special Victims Unit assisted state police, troopers said. Geraldo Rivera and his iconic mustache passed through Central New York on Thursday. The Fox News TV personality and his brother are riding the full length of the Erie Canal in Upstate New York this week. They were first spotted among boaters Tuesday at Lock E-2 in Waterford, waiting for the canal to open for the 194th navigation season along the path leading to Utica. On Thursday morning, they stopped for breakfast at the B'ville Diner in Baldwinsville. "#ErieCanal cuts thru lovely country heart of #NYS #Baldwinsville especially charming town #B'villeSDiner sweet & authentic," he wrote on Twitter Thursday, along with a photo of himself in his boat. The B'ville Diner also posted a photo of Rivera posing for a photo inside the longtime Syracuse-area restaurant. "Look who stopped at the Diner this morning... Geraldo!" the diner's official Facebook page said Thursday. Look who stopped at the Diner this morning...Geraldo! Posted by B'Ville Diner on Thursday, May 17, 2018 Rivera said he started his trip in Edgewater, New Jersey, and went up the Hudson River to Waterford in the Albany area. He plans to go to Buffalo, then across Lake Erie and end the trip in Cleveland. The 74-year-old television star is a New York native who was a member of the rowing team while attending State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College. He hosted his own talk show, "Geraldo," from 1987 to 1998, appeared on "The Celebrity Apprentice" (hosted by Donald Trump) and "Dancing with the Stars," and now contributes regularly to Fox News Channel. In other tweets this week, Rivera said he also had "the best pastry ever" at Villa Italia Pasticceria in Schenectady, spotted the Voyager sailboat on Seneca Lake, and enjoyed "flashbacks to the 19th Century when they built this engineering marvel." Had the best pastry ever just now thanks to #VillaItaliaPasticceria in Schenectady on #ErieCanal pic.twitter.com/BjVobnsaWw Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) May 16, 2018 Going thru historic #ErieCanal almost to #Schenectady Brother Craig & I are having flashbacks to the 19th Century when they built this engineering marvel pic.twitter.com/Pw7Zip8aMI Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) May 15, 2018 Look who I found in #SenecaLakeNY on #ErieCanal its #Voyager the trusty old sailboat we owned for almost 20 years, sailed around the world & 1,400 miles up the #AmazonRiver Now owned by Doug Hazlitt great guy who owns #HazlittVineyards Hes totally restoring 46 year old beauty. pic.twitter.com/usKFW1IC7z Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) May 17, 2018 Hey, fellow Niagara County residents...if, in a few days, you see someone boating on the Canal who looks like @GeraldoRivera -- it is Geraldo. He and his brother Craig are making their way along the Erie Canal. Great to see this recreational asset get some national publicity. pic.twitter.com/RSXnHyqEhx Bob Confer (@bobconfer) May 15, 2018 CALGARY, Alberta, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crown Point Energy Inc. (TSX-V:CWV) ("Crown Point" or the "Company") today provided an update regarding its previously announced acquisition (the "Acquisition") of all of the outstanding shares of Apco Austral S.A. ("Apco Austral") from a subsidiary of Pluspetrol S.A. ("Pluspetrol"). Apco Austral holds a 25.7796% participating interest in the Rio Cullen, Las Violetas and La Angostura hydrocarbon exploitation concessions located in the Tierra del Fuego region of the Austral basin in Southern Argentina (collectively, the "TDF Concessions"). Crown Point currently holds a 25.7804% interest in the TDF Concessions. As previously disclosed, pursuant to the joint venture agreement governing the TDF Concessions (the "JV Agreement"), Crown Point's and Apco Austral's partners in the TDF Concessions (each a "JV Partner") had a right of first refusal ("ROFR") that allowed them to participate in the Acquisition at a level that was equivalent to their participating interest in the TDF Concessions. Roch S.A. ("Roch"), one of the JV Partners, disputed the validity of the ROFR notices issued by Pluspetrol to the JV Partners and obtained an injunction (the "Injunction") from an Argentine court prohibiting Pluspetrol from selling the shares of Apco Austral to the Company until Pluspetrol complied with the provisions of the JV Agreement relating to the provision to Roch of complete information in order to allow Roch to evaluate whether or not to exercise its ROFR under the JV Agreement. Roch has also taken steps to commence arbitration proceedings against Pluspetrol under the JV Agreement in order to have an arbitration panel consider and rule on the dispute, although the Company's current understanding is that the arbitration panel would not have the authority to prevent the Acquisition from proceeding. Pluspetrol successfully challenged the Injunction and the Argentine court ordered that the Injunction be revoked and that Roch's claim be recorded in Apco Austral's share registers to give notice of the claim to potential purchasers (a legal remedy known as "lis pendens" or "Anotacion de Litis" in Argentina) (the "Lis Pendens Remedy"). The Lis Pendens Remedy would not have prevented the Acquisition from proceeding. However, Roch immediately appealed this decision to an Argentine Court of Appeal, which had the effect of reinstating the lower court's initial decision (which kept the Injunction in place). The Company was informed today that the Argentine Court of Appeal has now rejected Roch's appeal, with the result that the lower court's decision to revoke the Injunction and impose the Lis Pendens Remedy has been restored. The Company has been advised that Roch has until June 4, 2018 to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of Argentina. In light of this development, the Company is preparing to close the Acquisition and is targeting a closing date by the end of June 2018. In this regard, the Company is in negotiations with Pluspetrol to extend the outside date for closing the Acquisition past the current outside date of May 30, 2018. Crown Point will provide further updates regarding any material developments relating to the Acquisition as they arise. About Crown Point Crown Point Energy Inc. is an international oil and gas exploration and development company headquartered in Calgary, Canada, incorporated in Canada, trading on the TSX Venture Exchange and operating in South America. Crown Points exploration and development activities are focused in two of the largest producing basins in Argentina, the Austral basin in the province of Tierra del Fuego and the Neuquen basin, in the province of Mendoza. Crown Point has a strategy that focuses on establishing a portfolio of producing properties, plus production enhancement and exploration opportunities to provide a basis for future growth. Forward looking information: Certain information set forth in this news release, including: the Company's expectation that the Acquisition will proceed notwithstanding the ongoing arbitration proceedings and the imposition of the Lis Pendens Remedy; the Company's expectation that Pluspetrol and the Company will extend the outside date for closing the Acquisition beyond May 30, 2018; and the Company's expectation that the Acquisition will close by the end of June 2018; is considered forward-looking information, and necessarily involve risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Crown Points control. Such risks include but are not limited to: the possibility that Roch will successfully appeal the Court of Appeal's decision to the Supreme Court and that the Acquisition will not proceed, the risk that an arbitration panel prevents the Acquisition from closing, the risk that Roch is permitted to exercise is ROFR and that the Acquisition does not proceed at all or on the terms and conditions previously disclosed, the risk that the Company is not able to secure financing whether due to the delay caused by the Injunction or otherwise and that as a result the Acquisition does not close, and the risk that the Company may forfeit its deposit if the Acquisition does not close. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking information and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that Crown Point will derive therefrom. With respect to forward-looking information contained herein, the Company has made certain assumptions, including that Roch will not appeal (or will not be successful in appealing) the Court of Appeal's decision, that the Company and Pluspetrol will extend the outside date to close the Acquisition beyond May 30, 2018, that the Company will be able to secure the financing necessary to fund the balance of the purchase price for the Acquisition, and that the Acquisition can be closed by the end of June 2018. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Crown Point are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including under the heading Risk Factors in the Company's (final) short form prospectus dated April 17, 2018 and in the Companys most recent annual information form, and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com). Furthermore, the forward-looking information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this document, and Crown Point does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities law. 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 news release. Urban drama Vince Sgambati came to Syracuse in 1972 to finish his undergraduate work and earn his masters at Syracuse University. Sgambati then stayed in the area, working at the Syracuse Developmental Center for five years and for the Syracuse City School District for 25 years. He spent his final years in staff development with a primary interest in supporting teachers with writing instruction, calling on the experience he had studying several summers at Columbia University. When he retired at 55, Sgambati was ready to spend more time focusing on is own writing. Sgambati shares that he was in his late 50s when his first short stories and creative nonfiction were published, and this past March, Sgambati published his debut novel, "Most Precious Blood." Set in present day Queens, the story focuses on an Italian-American family where a father hopes that his son can escape the cycle of violence in their community. Loyalties and minor mob connections mean that vengeance is often motivating the sons of this New York world. Full of explorations on tradition and family, one reviewer calls it an "...homage to fathers and sons; men, boys, and how masculinity is constructed." Sgambati says that local readers may find some familiarity in the story: "Though the setting of the story is an urban neighborhood in NYC, it could easily be the North Side of Syracuse. In fact many Syracuse friends have spoken of how familiar it feels to them. "Most Precious Blood" is available from Amazon. Majestic history Richard Timberlake, owner and operator of Timberlake Photos in Saratoga Springs, and Philip Terrie, former Asst. Curator at the Adirondack Museum and proud Forty-Sixer, have edited a new book that captures the history of one of the important Adirondack photographers. Published through Syracuse University press, "J.S. Wooley: Adirondack Photographer" tells the story of a young rural boy's journey from poverty to artistic success. The book hails Wooley as "an artist who illuminated twentieth-century bourgeois American culture through his photography." At the turn of the twentieth century images became one of the preferred souvenirs and Wooley was one of the commercial photographers who embraced the production of photo postcards. Author David Tatham says of the book, "I can think of no other book about a single photographer in these regions that has quite the same breadth and depth as this work. The many faceted account of Wooley, his work, and even his late career lecture tours, adds much to the larger history of American photography in its formative years." Included in the 168 pages are 19 color, 100 duotone, and 18 black and white images, spanning panoramas of the Adirondacks, architectural studies, and documentation of events of the time. The book will be published on May 30 and is currently available for pre-order from Amazon and Syracuse University Press. Book event The Liverpool Public Library will be hosting a "The Great American Book Tasting" event as part of the nationwide, PBS event, "The Great American Read." Seeking to find the best loved novel from a selection of 100 novels, the television series kicks off on May 22 with the show serving as just part of the experience. "The series is the centerpiece of an ambitious multi-platform digital, educational and community outreach campaign, designed to get the country reading and passionately talking about books." The Liverpool Public library is one of 50 libraries in the country to receive a grant for the program from the ALA and PBS. "The Great American Book Tasting" will take place on May 29 from 6:30 to 8 pm at The Hope Cafe. Every 15 minutes, participants will rotate between tables to discuss the books located on that table. Books will be grouped by theme and participants can select a book to take home. Light refreshments will be provided and the kitchen will be open if guests wish to purchase additional food on their own. The event is free and open to the public. Author update Readers who enjoyed Philip Mazza's 2014 novel "From Under A Tree" can revisit the fantasy world with a new special edition of the book. An additional 100 pages of material have been added to the original content, including an introduction from the author, added scenes and characters, and a map of the Harrow. There are also four appendices containing historical events that serve as the background of the Harrow that would have been difficult to introduce to the main narrative that can enhance the reader's experience. Special Edition: From Under a Tree" is available through Amazon. You can learn more about Mazza's work, including his plans for the next two books in The Harrow Trilogy, due in 2020 and 2022, by visiting his website. Have a book to share? Are you a local author or have you come across a book set in Central New York? Tell us about it. Send a brief description of the book and the author and we'll add it as a candidate for coverage. Write us at features@syracuse.com. The state has purchased 147 acres in the Skaneateles Lake watershed which will be added to the Bear Swamp State Forest in Cayuga County, state officials announced Thursday. The state paid $214,800 for the land known as the Tucker Parcel in the town of Sempronius in Cayuga County, according to a news release by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The land is along the northern edge of the Bear Swamp State Forest. It includes more than 1,600 feet of the eastern shore of Bear Swamp Creek, which includes portions of a state-regulated wetland. The land is home to several threatened plant species and is recognized by the National Audubon Society as an important bird area, officials said. Other sections of the land will become a "working forest" and will provide sustainably managed forest products, they said. The purchase was made in partnership with the Finger Lakes Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that helps protect forests, farmlands, gorges and shorelines in the Finger Lakes regions. DEC Regional Director Matthew Marko said buying the land protects if from development and "promotes the conservation of water quality, wildlife habitat and ecosystem functions." It also opens up more land for public outdoor recreation, he said. Finger Lakes Land Trust Executive Director Andrew Zepp thanked the state for preserving the parcel. "This is a terrific acquisition that will help maintain water quality within Skaneateles Lake while also conserving critical habitat for fish and wildlife and enhancing opportunities for outdoor recreation," he said. The purchase was funded through the state Environmental Protection Fund. The purchase was made possible through the Southern Skaneateles Lake Forest and Shoreline Conservation Project, which is part of 2016 New York State Open Space Conservation Plan. WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives failed to pass a massive farm bill on Friday after 30 Republicans including Rep. John Katko broke with the party just before the vote. Katko, R-Camillus, said in an interview that he couldn't support the bill because it would cut thousands of people off food stamps by raising income eligibility requirements. "We have some of the highest concentrations of poverty in the country in Syracuse," Katko said. "About 1,500 families in my district would have immediately lost eligibility for food stamps. I just think with the high poverty rates we have in our district, that just wasn't right." The bill failed to pass, 198-213, with a unanimous block of 183 Democrats joining the 30 Republicans who voted against the measure. Those 30 Republicans included a mix of moderates and conservatives who opposed the bill for different reasons. The legislation would have reduced eligibility for food stamps, changing gross monthly income requirements that currently allow New Yorkers at or below 200 percent of the poverty line to collect aid under the program. Katko said he negotiated with Republican leaders to include a two-year delay in the change, but ultimately decided he couldn't support the bill. He said almost 18 percent of households in the 24th Congressional District depend on food stamps. Republicans also had included language in the bill to add stricter work requirements for some of those receiving food stamps, officially the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The GOP bill would have required able-bodied adults to spend 20 hours per week working or taking part in state-run training programs. "I'm good with the work requirements," Katko said, adding the requirements have been in place since Bill Clinton's administration. "It's just not enforced." Katko said he liked other legislative parts of the farm bill, which House leaders said they could revise and bring back to a vote. He said the bill would include relief he supports for dairy farmers and prevent cuts in crop insurance programs crucial for Central New York farmers. Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 After more than two months, 66-year old former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from the hospital after being poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent, British authorities said Friday. The former Russian double agent and his daughter were attacked in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4 and found slumped over on a park bench. Two month after the attack, British officials said that Skripal was no longer in critical condition, having joined his daughter in a recovery that could lead to the pair helping investigators solve the mystery of exactly how, where and by whom they were poisoned. "It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital," Cara Charles-Barks, the hospital's chief executive, said in a statement Friday. Malcolm Sperrin, a medical physicist, had cautioned in April that a long-term prognosis for the Skripals remained somewhat uncertain. Referring to Yulia, he said: "She might talk and converse, but what we don't know is if she will go back to where she was before the event, not just about cognition, but there's other aspects that could be affected, like mobility, problems with mental state, anxiety, depression. There are so many unknowns." In response to the March attack, British Prime Minister Theresa May had condemned the poisoning as a reckless and hostile act by Russia on British soil. She and her government say that in addition to forensic evidence, Russia is suspect because it has assassinated critics abroad before. Skripal was a double agent who sold secrets to Britain. He was convicted and jailed in Russia but released in a swap of intelligence agents in 2010. Britain's Foreign Ministry issued a statement in April saying, "let us be clear, this was attempted murder using an illegal chemical weapon that we know Russia possesses." But Russia has denied having anything to do with the attack, with top Russian diplomats insisting that Britain either rushed or bungled the investigation - or that British agents themselves may have poisoned the father and daughter to smear Russia, justify increases in military spending or distract residents from the failures of Brexit negotiations. NEW YORK CITY -- A Buffalo business executive is expected to plead guilty this afternoon, weeks before his corruption trial is scheduled to begin in Manhattan. Kevin Schuler, the former vice president of the Buffalo development firm LPCiminelli, is to appear in court for a "change of plea" hearing today before U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni. Schuler and five other men, including Louis Ciminelli and Michael Laipple from his former firm, and two Syracuse developers, are slated to stand trial before Caproni on June 11. The men are accused of rigging bids for state contracts on Upstate New York economic development projects. LPCiminelli was chosen by the state as the "preferred developer" for the projects that came to be known as the "Buffalo Billion." The firm won more than $750 million in contracts. Syracuse-based Cor Development executives Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi face similar charges relating to their firm's award of a "preferred developer" contract. At the center of both alleged schemes are former SUNY Polytechnic Institute head Alain Kaloyeros and lobbyist Todd Howe. Howe has already pleaded guilty to eight felonies in connection with the case and is cooperating with prosecutors. Kaloyeros, a nano-scientist known as "Dr. K." is among the co-defendants scheduled for trial in June. The court announced a hearing for 3:30 p.m. this afternoon. According to filings, Schuler plans to plead guilty at the hearing. He has signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. A lawyer for Ciminelli, who was chairman and chief executive officer for the Buffalo construction company, indicated in a statement that his client had no plans to plead guilty ahead of the trial. "Kevin Schuler is a good man, but he's not the first person to plead guilty under the pressure of a federal criminal indictment," attorney Paul Schechtman said. "I remain confident that at trial Kevin's testimony will prove favorable to Louis Ciminelli and Michael Laipple, who I know he respects greatly." Read our continuing coverage of the corruption trials Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992 May 18--Trey Borzillieri was packing up his late mother's belongings at her downtown Buffalo waterfront home in 2003 when the obsession that sparked a new Netflix documentary series came alive. "When I finally finished that evening, I saw the news report out of Erie (Pa.) that a bank robber used a live bomb in the process and had died," recalled the 1993 graduate of the Nichols School in a telephone interview. "I thought, 'How desperate must that man have been to use a live bomb?'" "I began contemplating, 'What is this all about?' It was the first great sort of mystery. A few days later, it started trickling out that there was evidence at the scene that suggested he was put up to this. At that point, the mystery was growing." Fifteen years later, Borzillieri's obsession with finding the answer of what the bizarre crime story was all about led to the Netflix docu-series "Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist." Borzillieri is credited with being a co-director and one of the executive producers of the four-part series, which involves the bomb going off, a murdered man hidden in a freezer, drugs and prostitution. "Evil Genius" began streaming last week and immediately drew praise from critics and some celebrities. The riveting, three-hour documentary attempts to resolve who was responsible for the death of the man with the bomb strapped to his neck, pizza deliveryman Brian Wells, and whether he was involved in the bank robbery that led to his death. Borzillieri also narrates his telephone relationship with the lead player in the story, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, an intelligent bipolar woman with other mental health issues who had boyfriends who somehow ended up suspiciously dead. She is one of several strange and extremely messy characters in the series. The cast of characters includes: * Her former boyfriend, Bill Rothstein, who told police that Diehl-Armstrong had him put the body of a boyfriend she had killed into a freezer at his house. * Floyd Stockton, a friend of Rothstein's who was a drifter and convicted sex offender. * Ken Barnes, who operated an extremely filthy crack house and was friends with Wells. Borzillieri was inspired to do a documentary series after taking a screenwriting course at his alma mater, the University of Miami, and watching a famous 1996 documentary "Paradise Lost," which dealt with injustice. "After seeing that movie, I was absolutely blown away," he explained. "I didn't know as an audience member you could feel a part of the film. I had almost a participatory reaction to the movie. In the wake of that, I thought it would be incredible to find a story where I could do that. That was a big motivator for me." He instantly saw the possibility of doing something similar as he packed up his mother's belongings on that Aug. 28, 2003, day. "It's easy for one to become obsessed when seeking answers to a great whodunit mystery," he explained. "Once we learn who's responsible we want more information. "To further understand a crime we begin chasing the 'why did a crime like this occur?' This case was so utterly shocking I couldn't help succumbing to it." He worked on Off-Broadway productions, commercials and soap operas and earned an Emmy nomination for a MTV military documentary while researching "Evil Genius." "It took 10 years to really gather the story," he explained. When the authorities concluded the robbery and the man found dead in a freezer weren't connected, Borzillieri became more intrigued. "That was what compelled me to get off my couch in Brooklyn and drive to Erie," he said. Over a decade, he drove to Erie numerous times to follow the events of what had become a cold case story. Since Rothstein died in 2004, another pizza deliveryman believed to be possibly involved was dead and Stockton was extradited to the state of Washington for another crime, Borzillieri focused on establishing a connection with Diehl-Armstrong via letters. That evolved into her frequently calling him from prison. "I assured her we could talk and I wasn't necessarily going to pass judgment on her in these conversations even though I obviously had my opinion," he said. "I had to be careful when was the right time to share. As the years went by and I was final able to get more and more detailed information about the case, my questions and my opinions evolve. "Like many other people, there was a time I did believe Brian Wells was a part of this and he very well could have been a co-conspirator. But because I was able to track it for so long and to get so much information that many people haven't seen or heard, that was how my opinions evolved about Wells, which led me to have to question her specifically on his involvement." In 2013, he enlisted writer Barbara Schroeder, who had done a 2010 documentary and been part of a subsequent movie, "Talhotblond," about an internet love triangle murder in Clarence in 2006, to join him in the project. With the success of the 2015 documentary "Making a Murderer" on Netflix, the streaming service made a deal with him. "Once 'Making a Murderer' happened, I no longer looked like a crazy person with this huge project," Borzillieri said. He and Schroeder started working on the series at the end of 2016 and delivered it to the streaming service in March. The title comes from a line delivered by Diehl-Armstrong, who claimed she was innocent and added, "I am not some evil genius." By removing the first four words and keeping evil genius in the title, Borzillieri's takeaway about Diehl-Armstrong's involvement is clear. "Diehl-Armstrong was the leader of this group," he added. "She was the one linchpin that tied together all of the co-conspirators." As in "Making a Murderer," "Evil Genius" has a different conclusion than the official view of law enforcement officials. They concluded that Wells was part of the bank robbery plans before he was blown up. You don't need to be a genius to guess the authorities aren't buying Borzillieri's conclusion and are reluctant to admit they may have made a mistake. "They haven't yet," he said. He added some retired law enforcement people who have seen the documentary are "becoming open to the possibility." "But the collective opinion from federal investigators was he was involved," said Borzillieri. "I believe that to be wrong." One thing is beyond dispute: Borzillieri's mother would have been proud of what her son's packing up her belongings inspired. - By Alan Pergament, The Buffalo News, N.Y. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Africa Hydrocarbons Inc. (NFK.H:NEX) (KNPRF:PNK) (KRL1:STU) (the Company) is pleased to announced that it has received conditional approval from the TSX Venture Exchange in relation to the Companys proposed Change of Business transaction (COB Transaction). As previously disclosed, the Company is undertaking the COB Transaction to pursuant to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange), with the result that the Company (which will be renamed BlockchainK2 Corp.) will become a blockchain technology company, listed on the Exchange, with its initial business being cryptocurrency mining. The Company has reserved the stock symbol BITK in connection with such proposed name change. The Company is working to fulfill those conditions for receipt of final approval from the TSXV and to close the COB Transaction. The Company will continue to issue additional press releases related to the COB Transaction and other material information as it becomes available. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF AFRICA HYDROCARBONS INC. Douglas Wu Director For further information, please telephone: (604) 283-1722 Completion of the COB Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to acceptance by the Exchange and if applicable pursuant to the Exchange requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the COB Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the COB Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the COB Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the acquisition may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. The Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the COB Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements Candidates named in city and school elections With the passing of the filing deadline for the upcoming city and school election, several area governing bodies including the City of Tama and ... Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 The London Independent Film Awards awarded Best Documentary for April 2018 to the feature documentary, South Texas Gentle Men of SteelLos Padres, written, produced and directed by Texas A&M University-Kingsville Assistant Professor Armando P. Ibanez, director of radio, television and digital film in the art, communication and theatre (ACT) department. London Independent Film Awards is a monthly competition with annual screenings, recognizing and awarding the work of independent filmmakers worldwide, according to a description posted on Filmfreeway.com. A selection of best films will be shortlisted to compete in our Grand Jury competition and screened at our annual festival held March 30, 2019 at The Roxy Bar & Screen, London. In addition, the Jakarta International Humanitarian and Culture Awards awarded the documentary two Platinum Awards in the Documentary and Directing categories and a Gold Award in Editing. The Festivals mission is to promote humanitarian issues and inspire others through filmmaking and events, states the JIHCAs website. The festival is currently underway in Jakarta, Indonesia. The feature documentary, produced by Pluma Pictures, Inc., a nonprofit, has garnered more than 20 film awards so far. We are very excited, said Ibanez. The wins are a testament to the talented crew and the documentarys voice. Students here at Texas A&M-Kingsville are most interested in filmmaking, he said. They have the talent, the vision and drive to become successful filmmakers. The documentary focuses on the departure of the last two friars, Fathers Epifanio Epi Rodriguez and Benito Retortillo, who left the country in 2013. The Dominican friars, headquartered in San Diego, had a powerful and lasting impact on the history and development of central South Texas, especially assisting Mexican-Americans in their struggle against racism. A licensing agreement for the distribution of the documentary was signed with Content Farm, ALLCAST Media, an international distributor, who will distribute the film via both streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime, Vudu, Amazon and Apple iTunes, and conventional venues. "It's truly an honor to help bring this film to audiences," said Michael Holstein, chief content officer and president, ALLCAST Media. The other awards won by documentary include Accolade Global Film Competition, 2015: Award of Merit, Documentary-Feature Competition Impact Docs Awards, 2017: Award of Merit Special Mention, Editing Impact Docs Awards, 2016: Award of Excellence, History/Biographical, Award of Merit Special Mention, Documentary, Religion/Ethics, Editing, Contemporary Issues/Awareness Raising, and Direction Docs without Borders, 2016: Award of Exceptional Merit; Documentary-Feature Length Mexico International Film Festival, 2016: Silver Palm Award, Documentary International Independent Film Awards, 2015: Gold Award, Documentary Feature, Directing and Animated Visuals The IndieFest Film Awards, 2015: Award of Excellence; History/Biographical, Award of Merit Special Mention, Christian iHolly Next Generation, Best Documentary WorldFest Houston, 2015: Gold Remi Award, Religion/Ethic/Spirituality The film's production crew is comprised of Todd Schmidt of Slidell, LA, producer, editor and special effects artist; Emmy Award Nominee, Joe O. Barrera of Los Angeles and native of San Diego, music composer; Neil de la Pena of Los Angeles, director of photography; and Alan Jouet of New Orleans, audio engineer. The board of directors includes: Dr. Thomas Hedberg; Dr. Erlinda Grey; and Ned Greene, all of whom are from Los Angeles; Christopher Renz, O.P., Berkeley; Bruce Schultz, O.P., Atlanta; Dr. James Moises, New Orleans; and Michael Paz, Destrehan, Louisiana. -TAMUK- Ecochlor wins large tanker contract US-based ballast water treatment system (BWTS) manufacturer, Ecochlor has signed a contract to retrofit 36 vessels owned by companies attached to the Angelicoussis Shipping Group (ASGL). The vessels include Suezmaxes, Aframaxes, VLCCs and drybulk carriers. Installations are scheduled for between 2018 2020 in Singapore, Dubai, Qatar and China, the BWTS manufacturer said. After a thorough review conduced by ASGL, the features and benefits of the Ecochlor BWTS, along with a commitment to customer service and ensuring the compliance of Anangel vessels were important factors in the choice, the company claimed. We look forward to working with both Maran and Anangel to retrofit their fleet of vessels and continuing to support their efforts in satisfying regulatory compliance. Our BWTS are setting the standard in the ballast water treatment industry for operational performance and reliability, said Tom Perlich, Ecochlor president. Ecochlor CEO, Steve Candito, added, Having both IMO and USCG type approval were very important factors in the selection process by ASGL. Our expertise, as well as the systems ease of use and reliability, are critical issues to shipowners as they look for manufacturers that are absolutely committed to making sure their vessels are in compliance with BWT regulations now, and for the life of the vessel. Over the past two years, the patented Ecochlor BWTS has been installed on dozens of tankers with ballast water flow rates ranging from 750 to 6,000 cu m per hour. These installations were carried out on product tankers, Aframaxes and Suezmaxes at shipyards in China, Croatia, Romania, Portugal and Turkey. Currently, there are two drybulk newbuilding installations underway in China and four tanker retrofits scheduled over the next few months. At this years Posidonia exhibition, Perlich will be presenting a workshop entitled Ballast Water Treatment: Knowledge is Compliance. The event kicks off on 6th June at 16.30 and is free to attend. Tankers hull damaged in collision The Aframax Tofteviken suffered a 30 ft gash along her port side hull in a collision with a commercial fishing vessel on 12th May. The ship, owned by Norways Viken Shipping, collided with the fishing vessel around 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, New York, the US Coast Guard said. At the time, the 2005-built Tofteviken was sailing to New York, while the fishing vessel was returning to her homeport in Massachusetts. There were no reports of injuries on board the ships following the incident. The tanker was due to remain anchored until the USCG allows her to continue into port after an investigation and a review of class reports. Teekay losses lessen Teekay Corp has reported a consolidated GAAP net loss of $20.6 mill and a consolidated adjusted net loss of $18.3 mill for the first quarter of 2018, compared with a consolidated adjusted net loss of $35.7 mill for 1Q17. The group generated GAAP consolidated income from vessel operations of $18.5 mill, compared with $81.6 mill in 1Q17 and consolidated total cash flow from vessel operations of $168.4 mill in 1Q18, compared with $275 mill in the corresponding quarter of 2017. As of 31st March, 2018, Teekay consolidateds and Teekay Parents total liquidity was about $1 bill and $480 mill, respectively. Total revenues fell in 1Q18 to $394 mill from $543.5 mill reported in 1Q17. Kenneth Hvid, President and CEO, said; On a consolidated basis, Teekays financial results improved in the first quarter of 2018, compared to the same period of the prior year, primarily driven by higher cash flows from Teekay Parents directly-owned FPSO units that have upside exposure to oil prices and production, and the delivery and contract start-up of several growth projects across the group, partially offset by weaker crude tanker rates. Having focused on the execution and financing of our sizeable Teekay Group project portfolio over the past two years, we are now starting to see these projects deliver and generate cash flow. We believe that our LNG and offshore businesses are at a positive inflection point and we remain encouraged by the improving fundamentals in our tanker business as we approach 2019. In Teekay LNG, over the past seven months, we have taken delivery of seven LNG carriers, all on long-term charters. We believe Teekay LNG is in the early innings of a multi-year cash flow ramp-up with an additional 11 LNG carriers and a regasification facility scheduled to start-up through early-2020, which we expect will also allow us to naturally delever our balance sheet. From a macro perspective, the long-term LNG fundamentals continue to be very strong, with anticipated LNG demand growth of approximately 25% by 2020 and approximately 70% by 2030. In Teekay Offshore, with the recent start-up of the Petrojarl I FPSO and the third East Coast Canada shuttle tanker newbuilding, we have now completed all our near-term offshore growth projects, which we expect will also allow Teekay Offshore to naturally delever its balance sheet. Looking ahead, Teekay Offshore has ordered four innovative LNG-powered shuttle tankers as part of its fleet renewal programme to meet the needs of its North Sea customer base. From a macro perspective, global deepwater oil production is expected to grow by approximately 25% by 2025. Teekay Tankers continues to take prudent steps to further strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity position, most recently signing a term sheet for a sale-leaseback financing, which is expected to increase its liquidity by approximately $36 mill. In addition, Teekay Tankers eliminated its minimum quarterly dividend to preserve liquidity in this weak tanker market but maintained the variable portion of its dividend policy linked to earnings. While tanker rates are expected to remain weak in the near-term, we are anticipating a gradual improvement in fleet utilisation and tanker rates from late-2018. With significant operating leverage, we believe Teekay Tankers has considerable upside from a cash flow and valuation perspective as the tanker market strengthens. At Teekay Parent, we are experiencing growing adjusted cash flow from vessel operations driven by recently renewed contracts on the Banff and Hummingbird Spirit FPSO units and the redelivery of our last in-chartered LNG carriers and conventional tankers. Teekay Parent continues to strengthen its balance sheet with the equity and convertible bond offerings completed earlier this year and our remaining FPSO units now on better contracts, which opens up strategic options for these assets, he said. As for the daughter companies, Teekay LNGs results increased during 1Q18, compared to the same quarter of 2017, primarily due to the delivery of 10 LNG and mid-sized LPG newbuilding carriers between February, 2017 and February, 2018 and the commencement of short-term charter contracts for some of the vessels in Teekay LNG's 52%-owned joint venture with Marubeni Corp. These increases were partially offset by the sale of a conventional tanker and an LPG carrier in 1Q18, lower rates earned in 2018 on two conventional tankers upon the expiration of their fixed-rate charter contracts in 2017, and lower rates earned in 2018 on six LPG carriers upon the termination of their previous charter contracts. Meanwhile, Teekay Tankers' results decreased during the quarter, compared to the same period of 2017, primarily due to lower average spot tanker rates and the expiry of timecharter out contracts for various vessels, which have subsequently traded on spot voyages at lower average realised rates in 1Q18, compared to the same period of the previous year. Teekay Offshores results increased during the quarter, primarily due to the contract start-up of the Randgrid FSO, the Pioneiro de Libra FPSO and the Beothuk Spirit and Norse Spirit shuttle tankers in 4Q17 and 1Q18. These increases were offset by lower earnings from the Teekay Offshore's towage fleet reflecting the challenging towage markets and non-recurring repair and maintenance expenses in 1Q18 relating to two redelivered shuttle tankers. In April, 2018, Teekay Tankers signed a term sheet for a sale-leaseback financing transaction relating to seven conventional tankers, including three Suezmaxes, two Aframaxes and two LR2s (see separate story). In the first quarter of 2018, Teekay Tankers secured timecharter-in contracts for two Aframaxes, with an average rate of around $11,900 per day for firm periods of 45 days to six months. One of the contracts includes a 50/50 profit sharing agreement with the option to extend for six months at a higher rate and the other contract has a maximum period of about four months and will be used to support Teekay Tankers' full service lightering operations. In a subsequent conference call, Teekay Tankers president and CEO, Kevin Mackay explained that the daughter company had generated total cash flow from vessel operations of $22.3 mill during 1Q18, compared to $32.1 mill in the previous quarter. Teekay Tankers suffered an adjusted net loss of $22 mill in 1Q18, compared to an adjusted net loss of $5.9 mill in 4Q17, he said. While tanker rates remain at cyclically low levels, the lightering business helped mitigate some of the impacts, as the combined Aframax spot TCE rates were $15,100 per day, which was significantly above the market average rates. Finally, Brooklyn will not be the only borough with an avocado bar. Avocaderia, which opened a year ago as the "world's first avocado bar," has brought its fruit-forward menu to Manhattan. The new outpost is in the Terminal Stores building, in that part of town where Chelsea is turning into Hudson Yards (or so real estate agents say). Avocaderia told us shortly after its Brooklyn opening that it was going through 650 to 1,000 avocados a week. Now the business boasts that it has sold "over 40 thousand avocado toasts, 30 thousand salads and about 10 thousand avo-smoothies since opening last year." Their spring menu includes "influences from many different cuisines, such as the use of Za'atar from Jordan, Duqqa from Egypt and a special Italian-style Burrata toast served in limited quantities." They've also got a Burrata Dream Toast, if you want to up your avo-game. In February, Shark Tank aired an episode with co-founder Francesco Biggi asking for a $300,000 investment for a 10% stake of the business in order to open 20 locations. He left with a $400,000 investment from Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran for a 20% stake. Because everyone wants a piece of those sweet #avocadotoast hashtags: "Our mission is to build a healthier and happier lifestyle by providing customers with simple, healthy and delicious food that is good for your body and will put a smile on your face," Biggi said in a statement. Avocaderia's Manhattan is inside the Terminal Stores Building at 271 11th Avenue; its hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Friday. The release of Google's wireless Pixel Buds its answer to the Apple AirPods was met with lukewarm reception. While critics praised the attempt, they ultimately called the pair of headphones underwhelming, citing its odd construction and sound quality as two of its major flaws. "The Pixel Buds are full of little flaws that make life with them a frustration. Yes, this is first generation hardware. But it's also coming from Google, which hasn't been shy about raising expectations for its new hardware division. For the Pixel Buds, at least, it's better to lower them," said The Verge in its review. Google didn't give up on them. The Pixel Buds have gotten some new features lately, including Assistant-powered gesture controls, and just a few days ago, Google added the ability to customize which apps send spoken notifications. Now, Google is amping up the Pixel Buds' feature set even further. New Gestures On Pixel Buds The company is adding two new tap-based gestures, which are rolling out today and should arrive on all devices by early next week. First is the ability to turn the Pixel Buds on or off just by triple-tapping the right earbud, which, according to Google, is a much-requested feature. The second is the ability to skip tracks while playing music by double-tapping. This feature, however, needs to be set up within the Pixel Buds settings in the Google Assistant app. The double-tap-to-skip feature is only optional. Users may still be able to skip tracks by voice commands, even when the gesture enabled. Switching Audio Sources On Pixel Buds Bluetooth pairing is also another area that gets a major improvement. Now, it'll be a lot easier to jump from one audio source to another. Simply select them from the menu of any paired Bluetooth device, and the Pixel Buds will drop the current connection and switch to the new one. This is how most Bluetooth system works, so it's not clear why Google didn't have it in place with the Pixel Buds from day one. In any case, it's here now. Again, all these updates should be rolling out now. They're not exactly Earth-shattering improvements, but they should make the Pixel Buds experience slightly better for those who already forked out $160 for a pair. Do you have a pair of Google Pixel Buds? Do you think the new gestures make it more useful? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound off in the comments section below! 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The proposed plan of the Trump administration to hand over the International Space Station to the private sector by 2025 will probably not happen, according to a NASA inspector general. The NASA official made that claim in front of Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democrat Senator Bill Nelson, who shared the sentiment that the U.S. government should continue funding the ISS beyond 2025. Should The ISS Be Privatized? In January, the Trump administration revealed its desire to cut the U.S. government's International Space Station funding by 2025. A month later, the proposal shifted to ISS privatization, with the administration said to be working on a transition plan that will turn the ISS over to the private sector after 2025. If this pushes through, it may provide a significant boost to the growth of the space tourism industry. The reason behind the plan to cut ISS funding is to free up some of the budget allocated for NASA. President Trump previously said that he wanted NASA to send astronauts back to the moon, followed by a mission to fly humans to Mars. ISS Privatization Will Likely Not Happen By 2025 The U.S. government, through NASA, is currently spending $3 billion to $4 billion a year to maintain the operations of the International Space Station. The Trump administration wants to move that cost to private companies by 2025, a plan that will likely not materialize, according to NASA inspector general Paul Martin. In his statement that was delivered to Senators Cruz and Nelson during a hearing of the Senate's Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, Martin expressed doubt that private companies will be interested in using the ISS for their respective businesses. "Candidly, the scant commercial interest shown in the station over its nearly 20 years of operation gives us pause about the agency's current plan," Martin said in his statement. According to Martin, the industries that may benefit from running the ISS, including space tourism and space research, have not yet panned out. In addition, handing over the ISS to private companies might not save NASA that much money, as the agency will still need to send astronauts and cargo to the space station. Martin cited the obvious alternative, which is for the U.S. government to continue funding the ISS beyond 2025. Boeing, which built most of the International Space Station, said that it will be able to last up to 2028 without any required major maintenance. Martin's views echoes the many criticisms against the proposal for International Space Station privatization. The question now is whether President Donald Trump will listen and roll back the plan to privatize the ISS by 2025. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Hippopotamus excrement could be lethal for river fish, a new study says. In fact, it might be the reason why fish are dying in Kenya's Mara River. A common belief among ecologists is that agricultural and sewage pollution can damage marine life. A study published May 16 in the Nature Communications journal expands upon this, claiming the waste from hippos can have a similar effect in the Mara River, which passes through the Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve, home to over 4,000 hippos. Hippos Might Be Indirectly Killing Fish Hippos spend their nights in the savanna grazing and return to the river during the day to keep cool. As they wade in the waters, they excrete wastes. The study found that these hippos excrete 9.3 tons of waste into the Mara River every day according to the researchers, this volume of waste can trigger fish kills since hippo waste depletes oxygen from the water during decomposition. In addition, microbial activity creates chemicals such as ammonium and sulfide, which are known to be harmful to fish. "During dry periods, oxygen-poor water accumulates in hippo pools. Periodic intense rains eventually flush the water downstream," said Emma Rosi coauthor and a freshwater ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. "This sudden pulse of deoxygenated water can cause temporary hypoxia and fish kills." Two Major Factors Of Dissolved Oxygen Decline The researchers monitored water chemistry and flow downstream from 171 hippo pools. Out of the 55 documented flushing flows which happens when rain doubles river flow dissolved oxygen concentrations declined during 49 of the events, dipping low enough to cause fish kills as much as 13 times. The team linked dissolved oxygen decline to two major factors: low-oxygen water from hippo pools and hippo pool sediments. When low-oxygen water mixes with upstream river water, the river's overall dissolved oxygen concentration is reduced. Simultaneously, hippo pool sediments washed out during flushing flows continue to use up oxygen as decomposition continues. While the findings definitely sound negative, dead fish offers scavenging opportunities for birds and crocodiles that frequent the Mara River. There's a popular idea that asserts rivers aren't supposed to have dissolved oxygen crashes, but according to Yale University researcher Christopher Dutton, this comes from scientists studying places that no longer have intact large wildlife populations. The Mara River, on the other hand, does. "This system offers a window into the past and illustrates how ecosystems might have functioned before human impacts." 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. More incidents of a potentially deadly canine influenza have been reported in Brooklyn. Vinegar Hill Veterinary Group has treated 15 confirmed cases of canine influenza; Joanna Guandolo, the owner of Waggin Tails BKLYN confirmed that one of the dogs that she walks has had the flu; and Happy Dogs at McCarren Park, a dog daycare and boarding facility, confirmed that it had two dogs who have had the flu. We have also received unconfirmed reports that dogs boarded at Buddys Dog Den, a boarding facility that is half a mile away from Happy Dogs, may have been exposed to the flu. Buddys Dog Den has not responded to multiple requests for comment. We will update this post if we receive any new information. There is no centralized database of the number of dogs with the flu, and it is likely that the number of cases is underreported, in part because the test costs $300, and it takes several days for the results to come back. Many owners prefer to start treatment immediately, even if the flu virus has not been confirmed. At Blue Pearl Emergency Pet Hospital, 30 dogs exhibiting symptoms went untested. Some dog owners are also reluctant to disclose if their dog has the flu, out of fear they could be blacklisted from their preferred boarding facilities and dog walkers. Ien Cheng, the owner of Happy Dogs, said his members are freaking out about being outed. Parents do not want to be known in the community as having a dog with the flu. Dog care businesses are also reluctant to talk about the flu, since it is so contagious. It can be very difficult to prevent the spread of the disease if someone who works with multiple dogs comes in contact with a sick dog. The flu can be carried on human hands for up to 12 hours, and on clothes for up to 24 hours. Guandolo said that after she discovered that one of her clients has a dog with the flu, she began dousing [herself] with Lysol after I see each dog. She has also had to clean her car and her house extensively. And although she knows the best way to minimize risk is to wear protective clothing and dispose of it after every dog walk, she decided this wasn't feasible. She walks dogs everywhere from Williamsburg to Windsor Terrace and many neighborhoods in between. On May 7th, Dr. Natasa Loose from The Neighborhood Vet in Bushwick posted on Instagram about the spread of a contagious respiratory disease. "Alert!!!!! Two clients alone today have needed transfer to the emergency hospital for coughing, lethargy and fever," she wrote. "One doggy day Care has had to shut down temporarily while decontaminating the facility" On the same day as Loose's Instagram alert, Cheng said a Happy Dogs client contacted the service to say their dog had the flu. The dog in question was last at Happy Dogs on April 17th, and Cheng said he called every other client whose dog was there the same day and found that no other dog had exhibited flu symptoms. Since 3 weeks had passed from the sick dogs visit to Happy Dogs, Cheng believes the dog was infected elsewhere. Happy Dogs sent an email to their members explaining the situation and encouraging them to vaccinate their dogs. Happy Dogs co-owner Jennifer Cheng sent an email to clients on Tuesday, writing that multiple vets have told her that dogs that contracted the flu had been to Buddy's Dog Den recently, and that this was the dog daycare that had been closed for a day for decontamination. She urged clients to "not bring your dog to Happy Dogs if either (1) your dog has been to Buddys in the last 4 weeks or (2) your dog has regular interaction with a dog that has been to Buddys in the last 4 weeks. This request will be in effect until we know more about what is going on with the spread of canine flu." Buddy's, however, strongly disputes Cheng's claim. In an email sent Wednesday, they informed clients, We have learned that another local facility (Happy Dogs) has sent out a blatantly misrepresented and misdirected email communication to their community making mention of Buddys Dog Den. Happy Dogs appears to be using this recent outbreak of canine flu as a ploy to promote themselves, while disparaging Buddys Dog Den instead of building a bridge across the community during this difficult time for many pet owners whos [sic] dogs may be suffering from illness. Ien Cheng said that he was frustrated by this email, saying If they wanted to build bridges, they should have confirmed why they were closing [for decontamination]. Late last night, Jennifer Cheng emailed all the Happy Dogs members to say two dogs from Happy Dogs had contracted the flu that very day. Both dogs had also recently been to Buddys. There is no way of knowing exactly where these dogs actually contracted the flu, since it is highly contagious, but any area with a high number of dogs put them at risk. Vets are highly recommending that that dog owners keep their dogs away from places where dogs congregate, for the time being, and to vaccinate their dogs for the flu. More information can be found at the American Veterinary Medical Foundations page on Canine Influenza. Apple is reportedly exploring Northern Virginia and North Carolina as possible locations for its new campus, which will offer 20,000 jobs. There is certainly something about Northern Virginia that is catching the eye of tech companies, as the area is also among the 20 finalists for the location of the second Amazon headquarters. However, that does not necessarily mean that North Carolina is the underdog in the bid to attract Apple. New Apple Campus Location: Northern Virginia Or North Carolina? In January, Apple pledged a $350 billion investment into the U.S. economy over the next five years, and part of that plan is the opening of a new Apple headquarters. Apple has since been scouting for the location of the new Apple campus, which it said will be announced this year. According to multiple reports, Northern Virginia and North Carolina are under consideration, as the new Apple campus location. Apple has reportedly told economic development officials in Northern Virginia that it will need 4 million square feet of space to accommodate about 20,000 jobs. The officials have proposed several possible locations for the new Apple headquarters, with two of the locations also offered to Amazon. Meanwhile, North Carolina is still in the running, specifically the Research Triangle Park. The Research Triangle Park is a 22-million-square-foot research park that is close to NC State, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is said to be negotiating an incentive package to attract Apple, though it has not yet been presented to the General Assembly of the state. Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed the matter with state officials when he visited Duke University to give a commencement speech at this year's graduation ceremonies. Apple And Amazon In Northern Virginia? There are reports that Apple is actually really close to announcing a deal that it will be bringing up to 10,000 new jobs to North Carolina. Apple is said to be thinking about leasing office space and hiring 1,000 employees to start with, before it moves into a 300-acre campus in Research Triangle Park once the structure is completed. If the report is true, it would mean that a scenario where Apple and Amazon will be building headquarters in Northern Virginia will be avoided. The region is already suffering from traffic congestion and overcrowding, and so the establishment of new headquarters by two major tech companies might present a host of problems for everybody involved. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. RED's Hydrogen One smartphone will be available on AT&T and Verizon this summer but no release date has announced. No pricing information was given with the announcement about the availability either. RED's Hydrogen One is one of the more mysterious phones given that not much is known about the phone. AT&T And Verizon Carrying The RED Hydrogen One AT&T announced that it would be carrying the RED Hydrogen One. In its announcement of carrying the phone, AT&T describes it as a holographic display device. Kevin Petersen, a senior vice president at AT&T calls the RED Hydrogen One a revolutionary smartphone and says that it will change the way that people create and consume content. AT&T doesn't give a release date for the phone but it says that it will give consumers a demo of the Hydrogen One at AT&T SHAPE at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles on June 2-3. They will be previewing the phone to the public showing games, movies, and other content that will be available on it. It put up a link to register for the event. Simultaneously Verizon announced that it would also be carrying the RED Hydrogen One. In its press release for the announcement, Verizon also plays up the phone's ability to have a holographic display. Verizon also doesn't give a release date for the phone. In the press release, Verizon says that the Hydrogen One will be available later this year. It gives users a link to a page where they can sign up to receive email updates about the Hydrogen One. It calls the phone cutting-edge technology that can't be described. RED Hydrogen One Details Not much is known about the RED Hydrogen One beside the specs. Its holographic 3D without glasses screen has never been previewed before. One person made a video about the phone, showing off that it is real but that person didn't show off its screen capabilities. When it was announced in 2017 two prices were listed on the pre-order website. For the titanium model it would cost $1,595, and for the aluminum model, it would cost $1,295. RED is no longer accepting pre-orders for the phone. The Hydrogen One was previously delayed because it was waiting for carrier certification which it just received. In a forum post from January regarding the phone. RED said that they didn't have an official shipping date yet because they were at the mercy of the certification process. The pre-ordered phones are expected to arrive before the AT&T and Verizon models for consumers. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Android P public beta may have leaked the fact that the Google Pixel 3 will have a notch, a feature that was popularized by rival Apple's iPhone X. Google reportedly overhauled Android P so that the upcoming version of the mobile operating system will support the notch. It does make sense that the Pixel 3 will take advantage of these changes, but will Google really do it? Google Pixel 3 Notch Supposedly Leaks As fans wait for Google Pixel 3 leaks and rumors, one of the most intriguing questions revolves around the smartphone's design. Will the Pixel 3 have a notch? The Android P public beta apparently points to the likelihood that the Pixel 3 will indeed have a notch. As Android Police pointed out, Android P only shows four notification icons in the status bar at the top of the screen. Notifications beyond the fourth one will be represented by dots, and users can only see what they are by opening the notification shade. In Android Oreo, smartphones will show up to about seven notifications. The way notifications are shown on the Android P public beta is said to hint that the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL will have notches. This is because with the clock and notifications taking up the left side of the status bar and the status icons such as the ones for battery and Wi-Fi occupying the right side, there is space for a notch in the display. The space left behind by the limit of four notifications on the Android P public beta does not fit existing Android phones with notch features. According to Forbes' Gordon Kelly, this is Google testing the Pixel 3 design with Android P, and not just tweaking the mobile operating system to work well with all Android smartphones with the notch. Google Pixel 3 Notch Not Yet Confirmed However, without official confirmation from Google, or at least renders from trusted sources, there remain doubts that the Pixel 3 will really have a notch. Adam Ismail of Tom's Guide is one of the people who are not yet convinced that the Pixel 3 notch is happening. While the display feature on the Pixel 3 is not a bad guess on why notifications have been limited to four, Ismail said that the reorganization, including the move to shift the clock to the left side of the status bar, may have been done for the sake of balance. Google may simply want a cleaner look of the same space being taken up from either side of the status bar. Google needs to make sure that Android P will run properly on smartphones, whether they have the notch or not. This does not mean that the Pixel 3 notch is confirmed, though. It remains a possibility, but further evidence or an official announcement may be required before all skepticism fades away. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Microsoft and 343 Industries have unveiled the next Halo game, but unfortunately, it is not the highly anticipated Halo 6. Fans of the Halo franchise can instead look forward to Halo: Fireteam Raven, a Halo arcade game that will be rolled out this summer in North America. What Is 'Halo: Fireteam Raven'? There does not seem to be clamor for a Halo arcade game, but that is apparently the next Halo project for Microsoft and 343 Industries. Halo: Fireteam Raven is an arcade version for the popular first-person shooter franchise. The cooperative game will be housed within a massive, 11-foot-cubed coin-operated arcade machine that will fit four players. There will be a 130-inch 4K display and four turret-mounted machine guns for the players to use. In addition, players will be able to use their smartphone to scan a QRC code, which will connect their playthrough with their Halo Waypoint profile to tally high scores. Halo: Fireteam Raven is set during the timeframe of Halo: Combat Evolved, which was initially released in 2001. Players will take on roles of the members of Fireteam Raven, which is a group of elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. They will be fighting alongside the United Nations Space Command and Master Chief against the alien Covenant alliance, in an attempt to prevent them from taking over the Alpha Halo superweapon. The Halo arcade game, which was created in partnership with Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix, had been in development for years. Halo: Fireteam Raven will be released this summer at Dave & Buster's across the United States and Canada, with more arcade locations to receive the Halo arcade game by fall. Halo 6: E3 2018 Announcement? Fans of the Halo franchise may have been expecting Halo 6 as the next Halo game release, but the announcement of Halo: Fireteam Raven does not necessarily mean that Halo 6 is not happening soon. It was reported that 343 Industries was already working on Halo 6 in late 2015, the year that Halo 5: Guardians was released. This means that the next Halo game is already about three years in the making. The question now is whether Microsoft is preparing to unveil Halo 6 at the upcoming E3 2018, which will run from June 12 to June 14. The stage is definitely set for such a major announcement, with Microsoft promising its "biggest showing ever" at the annual event. The arrival of Halo 6, an Xbox exclusive, may also boost sales for the Xbox One and Xbox One X. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The swift, mounting backlash to a Manhattan attorney's hateful meltdown at a midtown Fresh Kitchen is now entering the restorative justice phasethough it remains unclear whether the targets of his verbal attack will seek disciplinary action over the incident. On Friday afternoon, members of the NYC Commission on Human Rights' Bias Response Team went to the site of Aaron Schlossberg's now infamous rant, in which he threatened to call ICE on a group of people, including some employees, who were speaking Spanish in his vicinity. As customers ordered salads and conversed in Spanish, the Bias Response Team attempted to inform the employees of their rights under the city's anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, and explain how they might go about filing a complaint with the Commission. David Schreier, an attorney, speaking Spanish to the Fresh Kitchen employees pic.twitter.com/gSHfU5MnDu Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) May 18, 2018 For their part, employees of the Madison Avenue lunch chain seemed uninterested in filing a complaint against Schlossberg. "We don't want any more trouble at this point," Hyunsik Kong, the manager who confronted Schlossberg in the video, told Gothamist. "We just want to get back to normal." Another employee, who asked to remain anonymous, added, "We deal with crazy people all the time, and don't pay them any mind. We're okay, really." After interviewing a few employees, the Commission members quickly departed, leaving behind flyers and contact info. "Clearly discrimination is very personal, so people may not want to initially come forward," said Seth Hoy, the Commission's spokesperson. "But when they do know their rights under the law, it's much easier for them to do so, and that's why we're here today." Under the city's Human Rights Law, victims can report claims of harassment and discrimination to the Commission's Law Enforcement Bureau, which is made up of more than 50 attorneys. Those attorneys will then investigate the claim, and can prosecute cases which appear to violate the city's civil rights statutes. A wide range of disciplinary actions are then available to the Commission: A cab driver who refuses to pick up a person of color may be compelled to issue a written apology, for example, or an employer who discriminates against a worker may be entered into conciliatory agreement requiring them to pay emotional distress damages to the victim. While the Commission has been around since 1955, the Bias Response Teamwhich headed up Friday's drop-inis only two years old. Created in response to an uptick in hate incidents, the unit serves as the outreach arm of the Commission, with the goal of streamlining the process of filing a complaint. Reports of discrimination have jumped 80 percent throughout the city, and this year alone, the Bias Response Team has reached out to victims of 108 potential hate incidents, according to Hoy. "In this day and age, I feel like there's more people like [Schlossberg], and it's becoming more blatant," said Yetty Ade, a regular at Fresh Kitchen. "It's just disgusting, coming from a lawyer especially: Who are you to tell someone they can't speak their native language?" Schlossberg, who has still not spoken publicly about the incident, was last seen sprinting away from reporters outside his Upper West Side residence. (Revisit that video again, below.) A Latin Party has been planned for tonight outside his homedetails here. The lawyer who threatened to call immigration enforcement on workers at a Manhattan cafe earlier this week sprinted away from an NBC News reporter earlier today https://t.co/BCsW1WSWDG pic.twitter.com/rb5A6XZBXF NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) May 17, 2018 Update: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Human Rights Commission did not interview any employees of Fresh Kitchen. Some employees were in fact interviewed about the incident. A spokesperson for the Commission could not confirm whether any of those employees will be filing a complaint. The stars have very much collided both on and off screen in BBC1 drama A Very English Scandal. Starring Hugh Grant and Ben Wishaw, the three-part biopic of Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, is written by Russell T Davies and directed by Stephen Frears. Talent is sprinkled throughout the project; for example, the cinematographer is Danny Cohen (The Kings Speech), while it is produced by Dan Winch (Broadchurch). Fittingly for a production which melds talent from the big and small screen, its also the first drama from Blueprint Television, the new TV arm of film producer Blueprint Pictures (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). The genesis of the project dates back to 2016, when Blueprint acquired the rights to John Prestons well reviewed book about Thorpe. Former EastEnders boss Dominic Treadwell-Collins had just arrived as the new head of Blueprint Television. He sent a copy to Russell T Davies, who says he had always been interested in the Thorpe story. It was, says Davies, a big gay story when I was a young lad, which was rare, so I had always had it in mind. Intitially, though, he thought he was too busy to take it on. But when the book arrived from Blueprint, he says it sat like a radioactive tablet on his desk. I started to read it and Im not kidding, within about three pages, I knew I was going to do it. With Russell T Davies on board, Treadwell-Collins pitched the project to BBC senior drama commissioning editor Lucy Richer, who quickly said yes to the project. Amazon later took US rights. Meanwhile, Blueprints film contacts led to Stephen Frears. The combination of Frears and Davies in turn attracted more talent. Frears, for example, had recently worked with Hugh Grant on comedy drama Florence Foster Jenkins. Treadwell-Collins says he knew the combination of Frears and Davies wouldnt necessarily make for an easy ride during production. Youve got two geniuses two men who are utter perfectionists. He recalls turning on his phone at 7am in the morning, and seeing a stream of late night emails between Frears and Davies. You would see a very clever, very passionate argument raging through the night. And eventually they would both find a way of agreeing on the way forward. That, he adds, was the attraction of working with them although he and producer Dan Winch have a few more grey hairs as a result. Brilliant people arent always going to lie back and agree with each other. You want the argument because you want the best possible result at the end. In an age when so much TV is being made, you want to be A*, not B+. Treadwell-Collins said a key early appointment was a producer who could handle all this and be practical on the ground. Winch boarded A Very English Scandal last June, ahead of a 10 week shoot which wrapped in early December. One of Winchs first jobs was to lock in key heads of departments such as production designer Helen Scott, costume designer Suzanne Cave and make up artist Daniel Phillips. Then it was about making sure that everyone was clear on the ambition of Russells scripts and Stephens vision. Costumes and make up were key. Hugh Grant spent hours in make-up tests to create a likeness of Thorpe. Plenty of research went into costumes too. Its very easy to research costumes, but a whole other level of achievement to make the artists feel like they belong in the costumes, and are not caricatures, says Winch. Treadwell-Collins credits Hugh Grant with forensic levels of research when approaching the part of Thorpe. He doesnt just imitate him, but embodies him. Based at Ealing Studios, the production which had a cast and crew of around 100 also filmed in Devon, Wales, the outskirts of London and Manchester, where the Town Hall doubled for Parliament. DoP Danny Cohen filmed with a Red camera. He sought to bring out the vibrancy and colour of the period, rather than the browns and dark oaks of so many political dramas. This was also emphasised in the grade at Goldcrest, which handled post production. The Flying Colour Company looked after visual effects. The vibrant look in many ways mirrors the dramas tone. But, because its a true story, the drama needed one foot on the ground, says Treadwell-Collins. Stephen very much brings that to it it is lavish and real and true. Russells writing is also lavish and true, but Russell has the tone of John Prestons book which is more rambunctious. As such, he reckons A Very English Scandal captures the essence of the writer and director. Its as if Russell motors along and Stephen, the slightly older man, just goes, Slow down there DETAILS A Very English Scandal (360-mins) is the true story of the first British politician to stand trial for conspiracy to murder. It is the late 1960s, homosexuality has only just been decriminalised, and Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant), the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret hes desperate to hide. As long as his ex-lover Norman Scott (Ben Wishaw) is around, Thorpes brilliant career is at risk. Writer Russell T Davies Director Stephen Frears Exec producers Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin for Blueprint Television and Lucy Richer for the BBC Producer Dan Winch DP Danny Cohen First assistant director Chris Stoaling Production designer Helen Scott Costume designer Suzanne Cave Make up & hair Daniel Phillips Production sound mixer Alistair Crocker Editor Pia Di Caula Casting Leo Davis, Lissy Holm Location managers Alex Gladstone, Matt Winter Original music Murray Gold Camera Red Weapon Helium S35 Post production Goldcrest VFX The Flying Colour Company Share this story The hate-fueled xenophobic lawyer who had a meltdown in a midtown Fresh Kitchen on Tuesday, and subsequently became the most reviled man in New York City, was booted from his Manhattan office space and spent much of Thursday on the run from reporters. [The NYC Commission on Human Rights' Bias Response Team visited Fresh Kitchen today. Read our report.] Aaron Schlossbergwidely believed to be the man caught on video threatening to call ICE on a group of people for speaking Spanishis no longer permitted to use his office space at 275 Madison Avenue, according to Hayim Grant, the president of Corporate Suites, which operates the co-working center. "His actions were inconsistent with our community and rules, so we terminated the agreement," Grant told Gothamist. Schlossberg apparently used the space for meetings and as a mailing address for his private law firm, which specializes in commercial and insurance law. "If he comes here, we're going to kick him out," one of the building's security guards told the Daily News. Ill throw my shoes at him," another security guard told the Post. "Were all hungry for him." Around the same time Schlossberg got the boot from his office, Congressman Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. filed a formal grievance against him with the state's court system. "We watched Aaron's video and we were disgusted," their letter read. "We are filing this formal grievance to the State Grievance Committee because to affirm that such misconduct and behavior will not, and must never be tolerated." The Bronx Borough President told Gothamist that his personal feeling is that Schlossberg should be disbarred. "Someone who has the privilege to be a member of the bar should not conduct themselves this way," he said. According to some legal experts, it's unlikely that Schlossberg will be disbarred because of the incident, but it is possible that he could face some sanctions. "There's a balance the court has to draw between protecting the public from an unfit lawyer on the one hand and honoring the lawyer's free speech rights on the other," Stephen Gillers, a professor of legal ethics at NYU's School of Law, told WNYC. Schlossberg has not responded to repeated phone calls and emails from Gothamist. Multiple reporters have confronted him at his home and in a Queens court house since the incident, but has still not publicly acknowledged the video. He has, however, sprinted from the media while wearing a ski hat on at least two occasions. Here he is outside his West 60th Street home: The man who racially accosted two women speaking Spanish in New York City yesterday Aaron Schlossberg doesnt seem to like all the attention hes receiving. Thats the thing about bigots. Theyre all self-absorbed cowards. pic.twitter.com/tA51HkM4Ky Simran Jeet Singh (@SikhProf) May 17, 2018 And here he is walking casually in front of an NBC News reporter, than suddenly dashing away. The lawyer who threatened to call immigration enforcement on workers at a Manhattan cafe earlier this week sprinted away from an NBC News reporter earlier today https://t.co/BCsW1WSWDG pic.twitter.com/rb5A6XZBXF NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) May 17, 2018 A GoFundMe Campaign to send a Mariachi Band to play La Cucaracha for Schlossberg's law firm has raised $1,094. Now that he's been ousted from his office, there's a Latin Party planned for early this evening outside his Upper West Side residence, details here. Hawaii volcano summit erupts, residents urged to take shelter Los Angeles, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2018 Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted from its summit early Thursday, shooting a huge plume of ash miles into the sky and prompting authorities to urge area residents to take cover. The Hawaii Volcano Observatory said the explosion within Kilauea's Halemaumau crater had produced a volcanic cloud that reached as high as 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) and was drifting downwind to the northeast. The observatory said residents living along the path of the ash plume should take shelter, and maintained a code red aviation alert signaled on Tuesday, meaning no air traffic was permitted in the area. "At any time, activity may again become more explosive, increasing the intensity of ash production and producing ballistic projectiles near the vent," it said in a statement. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and one of five on Hawaii's Big Island. It started erupting on May 3, prompting some 2,000 people to flee from their mountainside homes. The latest steam-driven burst on Thursday comes two days after Halemaumau crater sent "ballistic blocks" of rock and another massive plume of volcanic ash shooting into the sky. Kevin Kushel, a resident of the island, told AFP that Thursday's plume of smoke could be seen miles away. "I just went to Pahoa and it's a smoke-filled nightmare, the likes of which I've only imagined from reading about Pompeii," he said. - Precursor to major eruption - Scientists believe the volcanic activity may be a precursor to a major eruption similar to the one that took place in the mid 1920s. But they say they expect no loss of life given that the most exposed residential areas have been evacuated and the region where the volcano is located -- on the southeastern part of the island -- is not densely populated. Geologists say the latest eruptions are being caused by lava levels substantially draining at the summit. "The magma is something like 300 or 400 meters below the surface, and when that happens, ground water can get that close to the volcano where the magma is and it can heat up steam ... and issue out of the ground explosively," Ken Rubin, who heads the department of geology and geophysics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, told AFP. He added that earthquakes caused by the movement of magma usually take place before such eruptions, as has been the case at Kilauea. "The last time the volcano near the summit was in the same condition as now was in 1924 and in that year, we had about a two-week period of large explosive eruptions out of the summit," he said. So far, some 40 homes and other buildings have been destroyed by the red-hot lava that has been flowing from the volcano since early this month. Authorities have warned residents to stay away from the neighborhoods evacuated, warning that toxic sulfur dioxide seeping out of nearly two dozen fissures -- cracks in the ground -- caused by the volcano could prove deadly. "Severe conditions may exist such as choking and inability to breathe," the county's civil defense agency said earlier this week."This is a serious situation that affects the entire exposed population." An elderly man died from injuries sustained during a robbery at an Upper West Side bank on Sunday. The suspected mugger reportedly claimed he has amnesia and "bad spirits." Young Kun Kim, 87, had been in the ATM vestibule of the Citibank on Broadway near 96th Street on the afternoon of May 13th when he was approached from behind by a man who punched him in the head. Police say that the suspect then took money from Kim and fled on foot. WANTED: Male, Black, 45-50 yr old, wearing blue cap with headphones for assaulting an 87 yr old male victim inside Citibank at 2650 Broadway on Sunday May 13th at approx. 4:50pm. Please help us ID him. Call 24 Pct's Detective Squad at (212) 678-1863 with any information. pic.twitter.com/KXmpqioBfC NYPD 24th Precinct (@NYPD24Pct) May 15, 2018 Kim was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he was put on life support. According to WABC 7, "Kim was known to eat at the same Upper West Side diner every morning before heading to work as a political science and Asian studies professor who has taught at Columbia University, Hunter College and CUNY." Former student Ariana Collado told the NY Post Kim was even teaching in his 80s, "He was definitely sweet. I would say toward the end, it would honestly take him like five minutes to walk down the hall [because of his age]. But he came in, he did what he loved every single day... He was very understanding and willing to meet with any of the students if they needed too." "This is the most vulnerable person on the planet. And you're attacking him for what? For money. It's just beyond. So I hope they find somebody," a neighbor lamented. On Wednesday, Matthew Lee, 50, was arrested and charged with robbery and assault. When he was being escorted by police, Lee told reporters, "You have to talk to my lawyer. Something is not right. Bad spirits or something." Now it's likely that Lee will face murder charges as well. GONZALES Ascension Parish voters will be asked at the end of the year to consider a 1-mill property tax to finance animal shelter and animal control services for the next 10 years. If approved by voters on Dec. 8, the new tax would generate $1.2 million annually, fund all shelter and animal control operations and finance new debt for a new $2.5 million shelter to replace the parishs nearly 20-year-old facility near Sorrento, backers said Thursday. The new building for the shelter, now known as CARAs House, would bring both sides of Ascensions animal control and shelter program under one new roof, supporters said. The volunteer leaders of Companion Animal Rescue of Ascension, the nonprofit that runs CARAs House animal shelter under contract with the parish, came to the Parish Council meeting Thursday to ask the council to put the tax measure on the ballot. Committee approves CARA's House request for additional $150,000 for Ascension Parish animal shelter GONZALES With the tie-breaking vote cast by a committee chairwoman Tuesday night, the volunteers who manage CARAs House, the Ascension Pari In October, the council had agreed to a $150,000, or 75 percent, funding increase from the general fund to continue operations at the shelter just two years into nonprofits initial deal with Ascension to run the shelter. The parish also funds and operates animal control separately. While the shelter has drastically lowered the euthanization rate at the shelter, CARAs Houses dedicated force of volunteers wasnt enough to cover all the costs of the operation with its original $200,00 budget or meet the groups long-term goals for expanded vaccination and spay and neutering services, as well as expected increases in animal populations, backers have said. Virginia Kelly-Smith, a CARA board member and attorney, read out the results of the shelters most recent state inspection from October. She noted the state gave the shelter high marks for its operations and care for the animals but found the shelter in violation of some state laws due to shortcomings in the parish shelter building, which has no central heat or air-conditioning. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Ill just tell you, we failed some pretty critical areas, Kelly-Smith said. The Parish Council agreed, 9-1, to put the property tax proposal on the Dec. 8 ballot, the first of at least three procedural votes on the issue in the coming months. The proposed tax, which would also alleviate pressure on the parishs primarily sales tax-funded general fund, drew support from Councilman Daniel Doc Satterlee, who has opposed several other taxes in Ascension but been an ardent support of the shelter volunteers, and Councilman Aaron Lawler. Lawler said neither he nor constituents in his Prairieville district are fans of taxes. Some of his voters often oppose them on principle, he said. But he said he would support this new tax, crediting the CARAs work, efficiency and transparency. I think yall have done a great job, so this is one of those situations that, principle is one thing, but, to do the right thing, thats the key, and Im wholeheartedly in support of this, Lawler said. Yet to be worked out for the proposal is where the future shelter would be built. Also, Council Chairman Bill Dawson said a special board would have to be created to accept the future tax money that would be applied to a future CARA contract. Councilman Todd Lambert was the sole vote against putting the measure on the ballot. He said he had a problem with spending that kind of money on a shelter run by contract. He suggested the parish might be able to run it as well for that price. Councilman Benny Johnson was absent. The alleged shooter at Sante Fe High Shool in Texas has been identified, according to several news outlets citing law enforcement. 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis was named in the shooting that killed up to 10 people Friday morning. He is currently in custody. Pagourtzis is a resident of the area along with his parents, according to CBS News. NEW: Santa Fe shooting suspect has been identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, law enforcement sources tell CBS News https://t.co/oqRZUFvJK4 pic.twitter.com/LNUDlIk1sA CBS News (@CBSNews) May 18, 2018 A Facebook page belonging to Pagourtzis had been deactivated as of noon Friday, but screenshots from the page showed multiple posts, including one image of a black t-shirt emblazoned with the words "born to kill." As many as 10 people, a majority of whom were students, were killed in the shooting. Authorities were also responding to possible explosives that were located at and adjacent to the school, according to reports. A woman who answered a phone at the number associated with the Pagourtzis family declined to answer questions from an AP reporter. "Give us our time right now, thank you," she said. Can't see video below? Click here. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Additional details about Pagourtzis: A member on the Santa Fe High School junior varsity football team, and is a member of a dance squad with a local Greek Orthodox church. Described as quiet and unassuming, an avid video game player who routinely wore a black trench coat and black boots to class. Pagourtzis was into video games that simulated war, a friend said, and he sometimes talked about guns firearms that he liked or wanted to get. "But he never talked about killing people or anything like that," Pagourtzis would sometimes enter the room "acting a little bit down or sad. A little bit sluggish," a friend said, "but he never talked about why." Pagourtzis admitted to authorities that when he opened fire at Santa Fe High School, "he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told." Can't see video below? Click here. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Check back for updates. +30 Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas: 10 killed; explosives found at, around school SANTA FE, Texas (AP) A 17-year-old armed with a shotgun and a pistol opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday, killing 10 people, mo Are you relatively new to this bustling metropolis? Don't be shy about it, everyone was new to New York once upon a time, except, of course, those battle-hardened residents who've lived here their whole lives and Know It All. One of these lifers works among us at Gothamistpublisher Jake Dobkin grew up in Park Slope and still resides there. He is now fielding questionsask him anything by sending an email here, but be advised that Dobkin is "not sure you guys will be able to handle my realness." We can keep you anonymous if you prefer; just let us know what neighborhood you live in. This week's question comes from an Upper West Side resident whose neighborhood is in the midst of an intense public school diversity battle. Dear Native New Yorker, I live on the Upper West Side and my fourth grader attends P.S. 199you know, the school where new Schools Chancellor retweeted the Raw Story headline, Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schools. Im upset that everyone thinks all the parents at our school are racist (and white), and Im also frustrated that my and other parents concerns about our childrens education are now a misunderstood soundbite. Most P.S. 199 middle-schoolers go to three middle schools which are predominantly white and the majority of students are testing at a statewide level in English and Math. The Department of Education wants to increase diversity by increasing the number of students who score lower on the statewide tests, from about 10% or 20% lower-performing students to 20% to 30%. With fewer seats available for higher-performing kids, that means that almost all of the other choices are middle schools where only ~10-30% are performing at statewide level for English and Math. Im worried that if my child doesnt get into our first-choice school, it means going to one where teachers will be focused on getting kids to grade level, versus pushing them further. Yes, my child has been fortunate to attend a great public school with a strong PTA to support its programs. Is it wrong for me to continue to want my child to go to a better school, even if it means a less diverse one? Signed, Worried UWS Parent A native New Yorker responds. Its natural to want to protect your kids, but try to do it thoughtfully, calmly, and with an ear to how what you say might be received by other people in the community. Screaming that life sucks, as the lady in that video did, because her child might not get her first choice middle school (potentially), is unhinged, and suggests an achievement obsession that could drive a child crazy. Her kids life is actually pretty good no matter where they go to junior high, what with living in one of the richest neighborhoods in the richest city in the richest country in the history of the world, having highly involved parents who care enough to show up at a community board meeting, and already doing well enough in school that theyre getting top grades on the state tests. So chill outtake a deep breath, step back, and consider the bigger picture. If this policy were actually to be implemented in its current form, which it certainly wont be with this much community opposition and press attention, there will not be a huge impact. In fact, based on 1,815 applications last year, the DOE estimates that, if the diversity plan was in effect, 118 families would get into a school higher on their wish list, while 56 would get a less-desired placement. Thats about 3% of the 5th graders in the districta small number who could easily be accommodated with some sensible policies well discuss below, and whose inconvenience is certainly outweighed by the communitys interest in seeing its terrible, stubborn segregation improved. Lets talk about that segregation for a minute. Its not hyperbole to say that its approaching levels seen in South Africa under apartheid, or Alabama under Jim Crow. Youve got a few elementary and middle schools that are upwards of 85% white and Asian, middle-class or wealthier, doing 3s and 4s (the best score) on the tests. Then youve got the vast majority of other schools in the district, with 90% minority kids, nearly 100% poor, and 90% doing 1s and 2s on the test. This is not a small problem, and its not getting better over time. In fact, as charter schools expand (drawing off the kids of families together-enough to navigate that system), and property values skyrocket (leaving better-off families with less money for private school, and more motivated to get their kids into the high performing public schools), the inequality has gotten worse. (Gothamist) One thing thats terrible about our country is that we attempt to solve all of our social problems in schools. Maybe because its much easier than fixing the really hard underlying topics of generational wealth or housing inequality, which might require passing real progressive tax reform or strong fair housing laws. Instead, we just put all the weight on the teachers and families with school age-childrenthats very unfair, and as one of the first districts in the city to attempt to solve this problem, the blowback is even more intense than usual. You have my sympathies! There are no simple solutions here. Everyone on both sides of the fight seems to agree diversity is goodthat is not something you could say in most cities facing this issuebut thats about all they agree on. It doesnt even divide neatly on racial and class lines as it usually does in these fights; because the proposed policy is based on test scores, there is some unusual complexity. For instance, a white family with a kid who performs badly on tests might actually support this policy, and a black family with a kid who performs well might oppose it. Its even possible that the parents at the poorer performing schools dont want the wealthier familiesfor cultural reasons, or because it could endanger Title 1 funding, or just because they don't like the condescending attitude of the potential new arrivals. The proponents of the integration policy have done themselves no favors by attempting to get this passed by June, and scheduling this change over a single school year, beginning next September. If, instead, they had proposed a phase-in over five years, the families who had gotten used to the current system (and the families who had recently bought apartments with the current zoning in mind) would have realized their kids would almost certainly not be affected, and that would have lowered the volume here. Theres still time to make that change. Yes, its unjust that a segregated system persists for even one more year, but forcing change faster than a gradual pace invites ferocious response, and can actually make segregation worse: witness the white flight in many school districts in the South in the 1960s, or the reaction to busing in Boston in the 1970s. When my parents and grandparents were going to public school in New York, it wasnt uncommon for large middle and high schools to draw-in diverse populations from a whole district, and then set up specialized (or magnet) programs for the more educationally advanced children, and remedial programs for the others. This kind of tracking is no longer as popular, because it simply replicates the communitys inequality within the school, as opposed to between schools, as all the privileged kids get funneled into the honors classes. On the other hand, many neighborhoods have found that without magnet programs you get almost no better-off kids at all. Inclusion classes, where higher performing kids are mixed with lower performing ones, in even ratios, are a middle ground. Adding a couple of these each year at the poorer schools might help. When its your own children involved, it can be very difficult for even a well-intentioned, politically progressive person to live their values. Some neighborhoods, like the Upper West Side, or Park Slope, or the Village, have attracted generations of residents who wanted to live a left-leaning, make-the-world-a-better-place, send-the-kids-to-public-school kind of life. But these neighborhoods have always existed in the real world, with all of its redlining and racial discrimination in housing, and its a lot easier to vote, volunteer, and give money to progressive politicians than it is to solve integration by volunteering your child to be the first to join a low-performing school where they might be one of a very small number of students of a different race. No change will ever start without a few caring (and brave) parents stepping up, but Im not going to tell another person how they should raise their offspring, or condemn them if they decide thats not the right move for them. Family must always come before politicseven if that means going against your ideals, even if it means making a decision that people not standing in your shoes might find hard to justify or understand. There are many positives for a child about going to a more diverse school: building resiliency, gaining cultural intelligence, learning how to relate to people from different backgrounds, and these are all very important skills for surviving in the 21st century. But if, after considering the situation from all angles, you decide it is simply the wrong move for your kid, go with Godfind another way to make the world a better place. That could start by telling your neighbors not to behave like jerks at these meetings. Maybe set an example by staying calm and positive, and speaking in favor of some of the solutions outlined above, instead of focusing so much on the problems. Or tell your friends that screaming like a crazy person is really demeaning to the students at the other schools and just gets you, your school, and your neighborhood on the news looking racist, and who wants that? To equality, Jake Ask a Native New Yorker anything via email. Anonymity is assured. Authorities say possible explosive devices have been found at and adjacent to the Texas high school where a shooting left as many as 10 people dead. The Santa Fe Independent School District said in a statement Friday that authorities are in the process of rendering the devices safe. There's no indication how many devices have been found. Police asked the public to "remain vigilant" and to call 911 if they see any suspicious items in the area. The school outside Houston went on lockdown around 8 a.m. after an active shooting was reported. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says there "could be 8 to 10 fatalities" from the shooting. Gonzalez says the majority of the dead are students. The sheriff says one person is in custody and a second person has been detained. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Santa Fe is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. +30 Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas: 10 killed; explosives found at, around school SANTA FE, Texas (AP) A 17-year-old armed with a shotgun and a pistol opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday, killing 10 people, mo Can't see video below? Click here. The wife of French Settlement's police chief may not drive his patrol car, the state attorney general has opined. Chief Harry Brignac had been in a stand-off with other village leaders over whether his wife could use his taxpayer-funded police unit. Brignac has argued that he has the authority to allow anyone to use his cruiser, while aldermen worried it would pose an insurance liability. Tammy Brignac was arrested for driving while intoxicated in February, though she was not driving a police unit. Wife of French Settlement police chief pulled up drunk at station before arrest, police say The wife of the French Settlement police chief, who was arrested for allegedly driving drunk Saturday night, first attracted law enforcement a French settlement officials contacted the AG's office for guidance on the issue of her driving the chief's patrol car. Whether Tammy Brignac could be included on an insurance policy is immaterial because she isn't allowed to drive the squad car at all, wrote Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wale. Police vehicles may not be used for personal use unless authorized by the mayor and board of aldermen, Wale wrote. The AG's office warns against such a decision to avoid violating laws preventing the donation or loan of government property to private citizens and entities. Mayor Toni Guitrau said she and the board have not given permission to allow police vehicles for personal use. She said she's pleased by the AG's opinion, which confirmed what she already believed to be true. French Settlement officials seek legal opinion on police chief's wife's use of patrol car When the wife of French Settlements chief of police was seen driving his patrol car in the villages annual Christmas parade last month, it r The village is currently drafting a policy that will formally clarify the rules for using police vehicles. Guitrau hopes to have a version ready by the June board of aldermen meeting. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Harry Brignac said its immaterial whether his wife is permitted to use his cruiser, because she doesnt. Guitrau and several aldermen have said theyve seen Tammy Brignac using the chiefs cruiser, including in the villages Christmas parade. The Brignacs have conceded that shes driven it in the past, but Harry Brignac said Friday the only reason his wife would use his police vehicle is if he were to have a medical emergency and she needed to take him to the hospital. The chief was heartened by another part of the opinion, though. He called attention to a portion which says an elected police chief like himself has the inherent power and authority to supervise and control his office, equipment and personnel. Brignac said he would be bringing that part of the opinion before the aldermen next time he sees them. Tammy Brignac has said that the whole reason her driving has become an issue is because her husband has proposed that the village stop allowing its two other police officers to take their patrol units home. Other village leaders have resisted, saying the allowance is written into their hiring agreements and could help officers respond to an emergency scene faster. Harry Brignac said Friday hes just looking out for the taxpayers of French Settlement. Its not punishing (the officers), its to save the town money, he said. He added that there is no way to tell where officers will go in their cruisers while theyre off-duty. The chief said the decision was born of a desire to save money on gas and vehicle wear and tear. He said he plans to use the recent opinion to back up his case. Seven employees at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola six correctional officers and a nurse have resigned from their corrections p Legislation aimed at improving access to affordable early childhood education and care from birth to age 4 won final legislative approval Friday. The measure, House Bill 676, would pave the way for pilot projects overseen by the state that could serve as models. Those pilots would include local providers and others who would assess needs that could be aided with public and private funds overseen by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. However, state budget problems mean any such assistance will likely be modest initially. In addition, the legislation would set up a 38-member commission, including 26 voting members, that would make recommendations on how much it would cost to offer affordable care from birth to age 4. That panel would operate for about two years and update the Legislature on the status of improvement efforts. The bill is the latest effort to improve student achievement in Louisiana, this time by focusing on the state's youngest. "The problem in Louisiana is we have so many kids who enter school so far behind we never catch them up," Gov. John Bel Edwards told supporters of the legislation on March 14. 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. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up About half of children in Louisiana are ill-prepared for kindergarten, state officials say. Others have noted the move would take advantage of the rapid brain development children undergo during their earliest years. The bill is part of a nationwide trend to emphasize early childhood education as a way of improving public school performance. Louisiana since 2012 has been working to coordinate and streamline services and repair what used to be a fractured system marked by confusion and overlap. "But as far as moving forward with a plan on how we enact a larger scale of early childhood education across the state that is what has been lacking," state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-Metairie and sponsor of the bill said after the House vote. Hilferty said the pilot can allow local officials to study best practices, governance structures and how to increase the number of slots for the state's youngest citizens. The bill breezed through the House and Senate. It required a House-Senate negotiating committee only to iron out a technical issue. The House on Friday approved the final version 89-0 and the Senate did so 33-1. LIVINGSTON A sales tax proposal that would put a law enforcement officer at every school in Livingston Parish will go to the voters in Novem It was called Happys Irish Pub, though this CBD bar was more aligned with the breastaurant trend than any sense of Erin go bragh. The uniforms for the female bartenders were short plaid skirts and midriff tops for a schoolgirl-gone-bad look. To Kyle Brechtel, who took over Happys when he bought the interconnected location of Walk-Ons Bistreaux & Bar, the bar never felt like a good fit for this historic space. For more than a century, from 1876 to 1986, the Poydras Street address had been home to Maylies, a restaurant for old Creole flavors. Later, it became part of a Smith & Wollensky's steakhouse here. Now Happys days are done (though it will reopen for one more special event, see below). Brechtel recently closed it, and in its place hes now developing a bar and eatery called Copper Vine Winepub (1009 Poydras St.). Nola.com reported the change first. Copper Vine Winepub is slated to open in August. Brechtel confirmed his plans for the New Orleans location and told the Advocate they do not affect the original Baton Rouge location of Happys, which is owned separately. Brechtel is a New Orleans businessman who also developed the nearby bowling lounge Fulton Alley. He also has a new catering company, Bonfire Catering and Events. In 2016, he bought the franchises for Walk-Ons in Metairie and in the CBD, which came with Happys. Theres been a plan all along to phase it out, he said of the bar. It certainly didnt feel like the highest and best use of that space. Happys and Walk-Ons both opened in 2011 as expansions of Baton Rouge-based brands. They arrived when redevelopment was just beginning to ratchet up in downtown New Orleans, especially near the Superdome. Since then though, the CBD has seen a surge in residents as more apartment and condo building open. Brechtel, who lives downtown, said he wants Copper Vine Winepub to reflect the changing neighborhood. Were trying to develop the concept for the people who live downtown in the neighborhood, he said. There such a great history with the building, we want to make this really special. The design will stay casual, and emphasize the buildings corner patio. A centerpiece will be wines on tap, which have grown from a curiosity to a commonplace in recent years. The keg wine format typically allows bars to serve more wine varieties by the glass and at lower prices. Copper Vine will have up to 30 taps, along with beer and cocktails. The kitchen is led by local chef Michael Brewer, who is still remembered for his original offbeat po-boy shop the Sammich (it closed in 2015). Hes part of a chef-run barbecue team at Hogs for the Cause (team Silence of da Hams, also a fixture at the Po-boy Festival), and in 2015 he won the King of Louisiana Seafood cook-off. We want this to be the neighborhood pub, that kind of feel, but with wine instead of beer, said Brewer. We dont want anything on the menu where people have to Google the names. Some dishes in the works are crabmeat deviled eggs, smoked salmon with leek and dill sauce, charcuterie boards and flat breads, sandwiches, like blackened redfish and a smoked pork belly Cuban, and plates, like ratatouille and braised short rib. Brewer is also overseeing Bonfire Catering and will eventually revamp the menu at Fulton Alley. Though Happys ended normal business, it has been reopening for special events (without the schoolgirl outfits). The old bar will reopen one last time on May 25 for a benefit for Hogs for the Cause. Brewers barbecue team will prepare a whole Ossabaw hog (said to be comparable to Spains famous black-footed Iberico hogs). It will be stuffed with boudin and jambalaya and smoked, and served along with sides. The event is from 5:30-8:30 p.m., with plates for sale on site. After the event, renovations for Copper Vine will begin. Its one last hurrah before we start swinging hammers, Brechtel said. Copper Vine Winepub 1009 Poydras St., New Orleans Projected to open August 2018 Kim Son, pioneering Vietnamese restaurant in Gretna, to close after 30 years The menu at Kim Son is so vast, it feels like you could eat here for years and still find something new. Now, however, the clock is ticking on For millions of Americans, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been the tank that knocked down many walls blocking access to health care. For many people in the transgender community, it has meant coming one step closer to achieving the life that their hearts and minds have desired for decades. Teo Drake, a 50-year-old transgender man in Western Massachusetts, has greatly benefited from Medicaid expansion. "Medicaid expansion has definitely helped a great deal. There was more help with copays. There was a time when I was covered by my partner's insurance and my copays for my medications were under $400 a month. And there were times it was impossible to come up with that kind of money." Teo says he frequently lamented the financial burden. "I would often find myself in the Medicaid gap. That would cause all kinds of problems." Being HIV positive and trans means that Teo needs select medications to keep his viral load low while helping with his transition. Some of the meds, such as testosterone, help with both. "Testosterone can be used in HIV, so it wasn't purely seen as a transitional drug. That's a big one for trans men that often gets denied." Teo has been fortunate since transitioning 15 years ago. But others across the country remain locked out of the transition and HIV care they need because of stigma. Now, a campaign designed with trans people in mind is working to break down more barriers. Related: Amida Care's Health Plan for Transgender New Yorkers Offers a National Model #ACApositive On the heels of the Trump administration's announcement that it will rewrite the regulations barring health care discrimination based on gender identity, the Transgender Law Center's Positively Trans Project has launched the #ACApositive campaign. The campaign is an awareness drive aimed at spotlighting the perils of transgender people with HIV disconnecting from ACA health care coverage. The campaign uses the voices of transgender men and women sharing their experiences with health care. "This is the first time that trans people with HIV are coming together to organize and really tell their stories about why it's important to protect the Affordable Care Act. And also, for those who are living in states that have not expanded Medicaid, [the campaign seeks] to really put some pressure on those states to expand," says Cecilia Chung, senior director of strategic projects at Transgender Law Center and founder of Positively Trans. "The goal of the campaign is to bring awareness about the importance of the Affordable Care Act, in particular section 1557 [preventing discrimination]. It really helped save lives, especially transgender people with HIV. Hopefully it will start a broader conversation about HIV." Kiara St. James, executive director of New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG) and a Positively Trans National Advisory Board member, says that #ACApositive uplifts the voices of the trans community and helps push the conversation further along on their behalf: If you don't know a community, you tend to put them in a box like "those people do this" and "those people do that." We want to make sure that our issues are always prioritized, and in order to do so, we have to make sure that we are at the table to get it right. Too often, people have visions of community that are not what we would want. Reversal of Fortune In 2016, President Obama issued regulations implementing section 1557, a major civil rights provision of the Affordable Care Act, which prevents discrimination in the delivery of health care access and coverage, including against transgender people. The rule applies to hospitals and medical providers who accept Medicare and Medicaid. It also applies to health insurers who participate in marketplaces. The regulations were a major victory for thousands of transgender people who rely on government-subsidized health care. Advocates were pushing for more outreach to sign transgender people up for health care -- not just for sexual heath. Regular checkups and screenings were not easily accessed. This triumph came with visions of stigma-free care for all. But the issue of receiving gender-affirmative health care as a medically recognized condition, and how the costs of that care would be covered, continued to exist in the proverbial gray area. Some states cherry-picked this condition as one to exempt from Medicaid coverage. And although banning treatments for gender dysphoria appears to violate ACA section 1557, that has not stopped states from imposing the ban. Just recently in Wisconsin, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of two transgender people challenging a state regulation that prohibits low-income Medicaid beneficiaries from obtaining medically necessary treatments for gender dysphoria. According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, one in four respondents reported having been denied coverage for gender transition services or denied routine care because of their transgender status. One-third of those who saw a health care provider within the past year reported verbal harassment, sexual or physical assault, or refusal of treatment. This kind of conduct interferes with not only basic health care but also HIV care and treatment. Research has repeatedly proven that regular doctor visits increase HIV treatment adherence and lower viral loads. Preventing the Worst-Case Scenario Repercussions from reversing the ban on discrimination against trans people under section 1557 could be catastrophic. Avoiding health care visits can not only lead to high HIV viral loads but also to missing signs of other health issues, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or depression. The #ACApositive campaign aims to stop this from happening. Chung says it is important to get people into care before they reach the worst-case scenario: Transgender people, especially transgender people of color, will often not find out about their HIV status until they're in the emergency room setting. That's when they get an AIDS diagnosis. We're trying to make sure that providers and policymakers know that it's not just about transgender people: It's about creating a welcoming environment so people can be more proactive about their health care. St. James adds that support for policies that prevent discrimination also deters transgender folks from turning to the "black market" for help. "My greatest fear is that you will see trans folks begin overmedicating, going on the black market to get what they need, such as estrogen and testosterone and also silicone. It's our responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen." For more information about the #ACApositive campaign, click here. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting the public that serious cases of neural tube birth defects involving the brain, spine, and spinal cord have been reported in babies born to women treated with dolutegravir used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Preliminary results from an ongoing observational study in Botswana found that women who received dolutegravir at the time of becoming pregnant or early in the first trimester appear to be at higher risk for these defects. Neural tube defects are birth defects that can occur early in pregnancy when the spinal cord, brain, and related structures do not form properly. To date, in this observational study there are no reported cases of babies born with neural tube defects to women starting dolutegravir later in pregnancy. We are investigating this new safety issue and will update the public when we have more information. Dolutegravir is an FDA-approved antiretroviral medicine used in combination with other antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV, the virus that can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Dolutegravir works by blocking integrase, an HIV enzyme, to prevent the virus from multiplying and can reduce the amount of HIV in the body. Stopping dolutegravir without first talking to a prescriber can cause the HIV infection to become worse. Approved in 2013, dolutegravir has been on the market for 5 years, and is available as a single ingredient product under the brand name Tivicay and as a fixed dose combination tablet with other HIV medicines under the brand names Juluca and Triumeq. Related: Studies on Dolutegravir and Sleep, Cardiovascular and CNS Side Effects, and Risk of IRIS Patients should not stop taking dolutegravir without first talking to your health care professional because stopping your medicine can cause the HIV infection to worsen. In addition: If you are already pregnant, stopping your dolutegravir-containing regimen without switching to alternative HIV medicines could cause the amount of virus to increase and spread HIV to your baby. If you take a dolutegravir-containing regimen at the time of becoming pregnant and during the first trimester of pregnancy, there is a risk that your baby may develop neural tube defects. Neural tube defects happen early in pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant. For this reason, women of childbearing age should talk to their health care professional about other non-dolutegravir-containing antiretroviral medicines. You should tell your health care professional if you are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant before you start a dolutegravir-containing regimen. Your health care professional may discuss other treatment options with you. Women of childbearing age who decide to take a dolutegravir-containing regimen should consistently use effective birth control (contraception) while on HIV treatment. Women should talk to their health care professionals about an effective birth control method to use while taking a dolutegravir-containing regimen. Before you start a dolutegravir-containing regimen you will need a pregnancy test to determine if you are already pregnant. Health care professionals should inform women of childbearing age about the potential risk of neural tube defects when a dolutegravir-containing regimen is used at the time of conception and early in pregnancy. In addition: Health care professionals should weigh the benefits and the risks of dolutegravir when prescribing antiretroviral medicines to women of childbearing age. Alternative antiretroviral medicines should be considered. Discuss the relative risks and benefits of appropriate alternative antiretroviral therapies. If the decision is made to use dolutegravir in women of childbearing age, health care professionals should reinforce the consistent use of effective birth control. Perform pregnancy testing before initiating a dolutegravir-containing regimen in women of childbearing age to exclude pregnancy. Ongoing monitoring will continue as part of the observational study in Botswana. Additional birth outcomes are projected from pregnant women who were exposed to dolutegravir at the time of becoming pregnant. We will conduct a comprehensive review of the results and any other data that becomes available. We will update the public with any new information. To monitor birth outcomes of pregnant women, report pregnancy exposures to the Antiretroviral Pregnancy Registry at 1-800-258-4263. We urge health care professionals and patients to report side effects involving dolutegravir or other medicines to the FDA MedWatch program, using the information in the "Contact FDA" box at the bottom of the page. [Note from TheBodyPRO: This article was originally published by the FDA on May 18, 2018. We have cross-posted it with their permission.] Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 08:01 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4a6bbb 4 Editorial #Editorial,counterterrorism,terrorism-law-amandment,human-rights,security,Indonesian-Military,National-Police Free A series of terror acts in the Jakarta suburb of Depok, East Javas Surabaya and in Pekanbaru, Riau, within the past week have shocked the nation. The attacks have put the country on high alert. The terror acts, which killed dozens of people, including police officers and the terrorists themselves, stunned the nation, whose majority Muslim population was preparing for Ramadhan the holy fasting month for Muslims worldwide. The attacks were devastating not only for the victims and their families, but also for the people in general. Worse, the police who are solely responsible for domestic security looked unconfident while dealing with such sudden attacks, prompting calls for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to provide support in the fight against terror. In line with hopes for the TNI to become involved in counterterrorism activities at home, there have been demands for a legal umbrella should the TNI join the fight against terror in the country. Greater TNI involvement in counterterrorism activities has stirred debate among experts and human rights activists, particularly on measures to prevent human rights abuse in the security campaign. Calls for a legal umbrella for the TNIs involvement in counterterrorism activities have come from a variety of circles, with President Joko Jokowi Widodo being the first to ask the House of Representatives to expedite the deliberation of a draft revision to the 2003 Terrorism Law. The amendment has been in limbo ever since the draft revision was submitted two years ago. The President has even threatened to issue a regulation in lieu of law on the Terrorism Law if the House fails to conclude deliberations on the amendment by June. Besides the necessary constitutional guidelines for the TNIs participation in counterterrorism activities, the planned amendment to the Terrorism Law is also expected to include the reinstatement of the TNIs Joint Special Operations Command (Koopsusgab), tasked with countering terrorism. The initiative originally came from Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, who set up the special command in 2015 when he was the TNI chief. The team, however, was suspended by his successor, Gatot Nurmantyo. Moeldoko said further tasks of the special command would be discussed between TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, with the latter having the final say on whether the police force needs the assistance of the TNIs special team or not. If agreed, the joint team will include well-trained elite personnel of the Armys Special Forces (Kopassus) Gultor Unit, the Navys Denjaka specialized squad and the Air Forces Bravo 90 special force. The amendment of the Terrorism Law, which will justify and provide a framework for the TNIs involvement in counterterrorism, promises to help us cope better with the rise in terror acts. Deliberation is important to ensure that no human rights are violated or compromised in the name of national security. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at her glittering wedding to his son Prince Harry on Saturday after her own father had to pull out because of ill health. "Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," Harry's office Kensington Palace said in a statement. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to The Royal Family in this way," the palace said. Kensington Palace said that The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to The Royal Family in this way. (JP/File) Her father, Thomas, pulled out of the wedding and was reported to have undergone heart surgery this week in a family drama that was played out under the glare of global media attention. Markle said in a statement on Thursday she was sad he could not make it. Read also: Meghan Markle's father will not attend royal wedding Her mother was due to take tea with Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Harry's grandmother, on the eve of the sumptuous wedding that will be watched by millions across the world. Outside the ancient stone walls of Windsor Castle, home to the English royal family for nearly 1,000 years, well-wishers mingled with tourists and swarms of television crews under swathes of British and American flags. Harry will marry Markle, a star of the TV drama "Suits", in Windsor Castle's 15th-century St George's Chapel at a ceremony that begins about 1100 GMT on Saturday. The newly weds will then be driven around Windsor in a horse-drawn carriage. Markle's African-American mother, Doria Ragland, was due to meet the 92-year-old monarch on Friday after the yoga instructor charmed her daughter's future father-in-law when they met on Wednesday, a source close to the royal family said. After the schism of Brexit divided the United Kingdom and triggered a wave of doubt about its future place in the world, the glittering union of one of the most popular royals and an elegant U.S. divorcee may offer some distraction. The British remain broadly supportive of the monarchy albeit with a sense of mild irony about the pomp and pageantry that accompanies it, though many have deep respect for the current monarch, Elizabeth, after her decades of dutiful service. For some black Britons, the prospect of a mixed-race royal princess has increased interest in the monarchy, which has so far been all white. A black American bishop is to give the address at the wedding. But for some other Britons, the event has as much relevance as the union of two distant super stars. Many will not even bother to watch the wedding despite massive media interest. After the hour-long ceremony, the couple will take part in a procession through the town's ancient streets on a 19th century Ascot Landau carriage pulled by four Windsor Grey horses. Police are expecting more than 100,000 people to throng the streets outside the castle, the queen's home west of London and the oldest and largest inhabited fortress in the world, and have said there would be tight security for the event. Harry, 33, the younger son of the late Princess Diana, has always been a popular member of the royal family. A cheeky child who stuck his tongue out at photographers, he left a lasting memory in the minds of many when aged just 12, he walked solemnly behind his mother's coffin as her funeral cortege made its way through London after her death in a car crash in 1997. International humanitarian NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, is holding a public photography exhibition, which aims to highlight the efforts of its medical personnel in tending to the casualties of war around the world. The exhibition, titled Medicines Not Bombs, showcases photographs from MSFs primary operational zones. The exhibition hall has been turned into emergency rooms to give visitors an immersive experience. Prop beds, stretchers and medicine cabinets have been installed and the walls are adorned with photographs taken in hospitals, refugee camps or the streets of affected countries such as Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Sudan. One wing of the exhibition, held on Grand Indonesia Malls fifth floor exhibition hall until Sunday, is dedicated solely to the 2015 bombing of an MSF-run hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, by United State forces, which resulted in 42 deaths. Photographs from the aftermath of the air strike adorn this section, which in itself is designed to look like a bombed out emergency room, with girders and soot-covered walls. The air strike, which the US has since apologized for, was severely condemned by MSF as it directly violated international law, specifically UN Security Council Resolution 2286 that is supposed to protect medical personnel in conflict zones. One of the points made by the exhibition is to also show that the resolution seems to only be valid on paper as aid workers and medical personnel continue to become casualties of war. MSF claims that it has recorded 103 attacks on MSF-related personnel or facilities last year, 36 of which involved firearms. Attacks on hospitals disrupt the capacity to treat patients and it is part of a broader assault on civilians in conflict, said MSF Indonesia country director Daniel von Rege. [This exhibition] invites visitors for an immersive experience into an MSF emergency room, presenting frontline realities to the Indonesian public, to humanize the issue, to understand the problem from a humanitarian perspective and to gain their support. Aside from MSFs overall perspective, the exhibition also welcomes several individuals from the frontlines to share their experiences. The guests include AFP war photographer Adek Barry and two Indonesian doctors currently working for MSF. One of these is Semarang-based doctor Damayanti Zahar, a specialist in fistula and in OB/GYN, who has been with MSF since 2005 and has since been stationed in various hot spots such as Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Angola and Nigeria. While she has not been caught in any hospital attacks, Damayanti admits that she has not been too far from it while working in hospitals in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Ive seen these events and I hear them. I have taken care of the casualties at the hospitals I work in, she said at the exhibition. But the constant, lingering threat of danger in conflict zones for her is a line that, while frightening, is something that someone in the field must get used to if they want to carry out their job properly. Especially in a conflict zone, where living, economic and health conditions are not up to standard, the probability and danger of being wounded or witnessing people getting injured are just an unfortunate part of the everyday landscape. You have to understand how things are in the field. People can die and you have to deal with that reality every time you treat the patient in front of your eyes, Damayanti said. It doesnt work if you keep holding on to your sensitivities because in that environment, itll only prove to hold you back. Indonesian indigo batik went on display for the Swedish and Latvian public recently in a string of events held by the Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia on May 14 in Stockholm and May 17 in Riga, Latvia. The events themed The Colors of Indonesia: From Nature to Fashion consist of exhibitions, workshops and fashion shows of naturally-colored batik. Communications, social and cultural counselor of the Indonesian embassy in Stockholm, Ernest Hadinoto, said to Antara News Agency on Thursday that the collection belonged to Galeri Batik Jawa (Javanese Batik Gallery), Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Indonesian ambassador to Sweden and Latvia, Bagas Hapsoro, said batik was a part of Indonesias culture and tradition, which is passed along from generation to generation. He also added that the batik displayed in the exhibition was different because it was colored with eco-friendly natural coloring from the Indigofera tinctoria plant. Read also: Semarang State University pushes naturally colored batik development The batik-making process also supports the women's empowerment movement, as it involves several Yogyakarta women and also opens up job opportunities. Other activities included batik workshops, in which participants were encouraged to practice the basic techniques of batik-making, which involve applying wax to batik patterns on cloth. The fashion show was attended by representatives of the Swedish king and queen, fashion and textile industry players in Sweden, dignitaries and foreign diplomats, partners of the Indonesian embassy, business people, Sahabat Indonesia, as well as representatives from the Indonesian diaspora in Sweden and Latvia. A performance of Javanese dance sesonderan from the Stockholm KBRI Womens Association (Dharma Wanita KBRI) and an Indonesian culinary and coffee presentation were also featured as part of the events in both locations. (asw) A fresh examination of Chinese ceramics and other cargo from an important Java Sea shipwreck has led researchers to conclude that the vessel sank a century earlier than previously thought, providing insight into Asias maritime trade more than 800 years ago. Inscriptions akin to a Made in China label found on two of the thousands of recovered ceramics provided crucial evidence that the 92-foot (28-meter) long wooden ship went down, perhaps in a storm, in the second half of the 12th century, not the mid- to late 13th century, researchers said on Thursday. The shipwreck was discovered in the 1980s west of Indonesias island of Sumatra. Florida-based salvage company Pacific Sea Resources later worked at the site and donated half of the artifacts it recovered, more than 7,500 items, to the Field Museum in Chicago and the rest to Indonesias government in the 1990s. The Java Sea Shipwreck is informative in many ways. It demonstrates not only the scale of maritime trade at the time but also its complexity, said Field Museum archaeologist Lisa Niziolek, lead author of the research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Read also: Made-in-China jet takes maiden flight The ship, likely built in Indonesia, carried nearly 200 tons of wrought iron bars and cast iron woks and cooking pans, as well as about 100,000 pieces of ceramic from China. The cargo also included resin perhaps from India, elephant tusks possibly from East Africa and a collection of ritual vessels probably from Thailand. The ship likely was headed to Indonesias island Java from China. The name of a specific Chinese locale, Jianning Fu, on the two ceramics inscriptions permitted a more accurate shipwreck time estimate. After the 1270s invasion of the Mongols that toppled the Song dynasty, that area was reclassified as Jianning Lu. The Jianning Fu reference meant the sinking may have occurred as early as 1162, Niziolek said. A carbon-dating technique used on ivory and resin supported the idea that the shipwreck was older than previously thought, Field Museum archaeologist Gary Feinman said. The earlier date shifted the shipwrecks historical context away from the period right before or after the Mongols established Chinas Yuan dynasty in the 1270s to the earlier part of the Southern Song dynasty. This dynasty encouraged Chinese traders to go abroad instead of relying on foreign missions traveling to China, Niziolek said. This was also a time of heightened competition between Southeast Asias maritime societies, Niziolek added. State-owned postal service firm PT Pos Indonesia is encouraging the public to donate books through its postal service as part of celebrations for National Book Day, which coincides with the first anniversary of its book donation program, on Thursday. National Book Day falls on May 17, while the program is held on the 17th day of every month. "Last year, Indonesia's literacy rate out of 68 countries was far from satisfying as we were ranked 64th. Hopefully, this program will help increase reading interest and the literacy rate of Indonesians living in remote places and, hence, boost the country's literacy rate," said Pos Indonesia president director Gilarsi W. Setijono in Jakarta on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co. Read also: Donate your books through these local communities The firm is cooperating with members of community libraries all over Indonesia to ensure the donated books are given to the right people. Up to 25,580 books have been distributed through post offices to taman baca masyarakat (community libraries) across the country as of April this year. The donation program itself was officially launched on June 17, 2017, at the East Java Post Office, in an event attended by Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara and the National Library's Najwa Shihab, whose mission is to develop reading habits and boost literacy. (kes) Thousands of Semarang citizens in Central Java flocked to Jl. Pemuda on Tuesday afternoon, crowding the road from Town Hall to Kauman mosque to witness the Dhugdheran carnival, a tradition to welcome the holy month of Ramadhan. The carnivals signature feature is the warak sculpture carried by groups of revelers. It is a sculpture depicting a mythical animal with a dragons head, a camels neck, the body of a goat and scaly skin. A symbol of greed and anger, the statue is said to originate in Semarang. It also represents the diversity of Semarang citizens, who are have Arabic, Javanese and Chinese ancestors. The carnival brings the message that in the holy month of Ramadhan, citizens of Semarang are expected to refrain from worldly desires, greed and anger. They are to purify themselves. There is also a carnival scene where the warak lays warak ngendhog (white eggs) as a symbol of purification. The warak ngendhog dance is performed at Town Hall at the opening of the carnival. The event used to end at Kauman mosque, where the beginning of fasting month is announced. However, now that the city has the Grand Mosque of Central Java on Jl. Gajah Raya, that is where the announcement takes place. Semarang citizens wearing costumes participate in the Dugderan carnival held annually to celebrate the coming of Ramadhan. (JP/Suherdjoko) A tradition since 1881 when Semarang was under the leadership of regent Kanjeng Mas Tumenggung Arya Purbaningrat, Dhugdheran always features the current leader of Semarang playing the role of Arya Purbaningrat. This year, Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi plays that role. Dhugdheran is the legacy of our ancestors. It is an expression of unity, harmony and sense of belonging, Hendrar said in Javanese. He went on to ask the audience to pray for the victims of recent terror attacks in Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java. This year, Dhugdheran was held twice in Semarang. Earlier on Monday, the carnival was carried out by students, starting from Simpang Lima square to Bunderan Air Mancur (fountain roundabout) on Jl. Pahlawan. The theme of this years carnival is building togetherness and harmony toward a greater Semarang. Around 2,300 people participated in the event. High-ranking municipal administrators traveled from Town Hall to Kauman mosque in horse carriages. They were escorted by the cavalry unit of the Semarang Police, led by Semarang Police chief Sr. Comr. Abiyoso Seno Aji. Read also: Welcoming Ramadhan with sadranan ritual The announcement of the beginning of the fasting was then carried out at the grand mosque, where the Suhuf Halaqoh manuscript is handed over by the clerics who had decided when Ramadhan would start. Reading the manuscript, the Tumenggung (district head) would then announce the first day of the fasting month, followed by the sound of bedug (mosque drum) and then the cannon. To the locals, the sound they make is dug, dug, dug, der, which is where the carnival gets its name, Dhugdheran. (mut) Meghan Markle's father was diagnosed with heart problems in Mexico but refused to undergo surgery, the health ministry in Baja California state, where he lives, said Thursday. Thomas Markle, who has already confirmed he will not attend his daughter's wedding to Britain's Prince Harry on Saturday, went to Rosarito's Hospital de Playas early in the morning on May 3 complaining of "heart pain," the ministry said. Markle, 73, underwent emergency surgery on Wednesday at a different hospital, according to the celebrity website TMZ. According to the health ministry statement, days earlier he arrived at the Mexican hospital having experienced hours of discomfort "without any physical exertion." Read also: Markle's father says heart procedure puts him out of British royal wedding He underwent testing and received pain medication, before being diagnosed with heart disease, the statement added. However, Markle rejected any treatment following the diagnosis and declined to be transported to his Rosarito home. "The patient decided to voluntarily leave on the afternoon of Friday May 4, to continue his care at a private medical facility," the ministry said. Markle, an Emmy award-winning television lighting director, has been at the center of a media storm over whether he would walk his daughter down the aisle, before finally pulling out for good due to health reasons. We Got Rhythm, a brass, woodwind and percussion concert, was organized to raise funds for wind musicians in Indonesia. Held by Yayasan Musik Amadeus Indonesia, the concert took place at Goethe Haus, Central Jakarta on Thursday. Four ensembles comprising students and teachers from the institute performed that night, namely Amadeus Brass, Amadeus Grenadilla Clarinet Community, Amadeus Percussion Ensemble (AMPERE) and Amadeus Wind & Percussion. They also collaborated with Daren Robbins, chair of the Brass and Percussion Department at Mahidol University, Thailand, and member of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the pieces that were played last night were "Allegro Rococo" by Paul Koepke, "I Got Rhythm" by George Gershwin and "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel. Darren Robbins (right) and Lilian O. Lenggono, a piano teacher from Amadeus Indonesia Music Institute, perform 'Three Preludes' at 'We Got Rhythm' brass, woodwind and percussion concert at Goethe Haus, Central Jakarta on Thursday, May 17, 2018. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Also performing as the conductor for two songs, Robbins shared his experience teaching students for several days prior to the concert. I came from America and the reason I like teaching in Southeast Asia is the students are hungrier, Robbins told the Post before the show. They dont take the opportunity for granted, so theyre very serious, eager and curious to know. [] They want to learn, ask you so many questions and are really satisfying to teach. Thats the same in Thailand and Indonesia. Read also: London Symphony Orchestra plans first South America tour However, despite the successful performance that night, wind instruments in Indonesia do not enjoy great popularity. Besides the lack of musicians, the musical instruments are relatively expensive. The least expensive one, the oboe, costs between Rp 30 million (US$2,121) and 40 million [] but children don't always like it, Grace Soedargo, founder of Amadeus Indonesia Music Institute said. Also, the price of a violin can increase as it gets older, but that is not the case for wind instruments. Grace said 90 percent of the students who performed that night had received a scholarship from the music institute, meaning they did not have to pay for tuition or instruments. It is one way to attract more wind musicians. We cannot do it alone, the government cannot help and we cannot rely on sponsors, said Grace. Amadeus Percussion Ensemble (AMPERE) from Amadeus Indonesia Music Institute perform at 'We Got Rhythm' brass, woodwind and percussion concert at Goethe Haus, Central Jakarta on Thursday, May 17, 2018. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) That is why they also launched Adopt a Musician, a program in which people can adopt students from the institutes wind department. Types of adoption vary depending on the instrument, starting from Rp 200,000 per month for a minimum of one year for clarinet. Established in 1992, Amadeus Indonesia Music Institute has educated students from 2 to 50 years old. The institute currently has nearly 300 students and 21 teachers. It is the only music school in Southeast Asia that is affiliated with Johann Sebastian Bach Musikschule in Vienna, Austria. Both schools still conduct a teacher exchange program. Those who are interested in joining Adopt a Musician program can contact +62 21-725-6557. (mut) Britains armed forces will on Thursday rehearse the carriage procession that Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle are to make through the crowded streets of Windsor after their wedding this weekend. Harry, sixth-in-line to the throne, and Markle, a star in TV drama Suits, will tie the knot at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle, home to the British royal family for nearly 1,000 years. After the hour-long ceremony which will be attended by Harrys grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the couple will make a procession through the towns ancient streets on a 19th Century Ascot Landau carriage pulled by four Windsor Grey horses. The sumptuous show of British pageantry is likely to attract a huge world audience while supporters hope the union of one of the most popular royals and a glamorous American actress, a divorcee with a white father and an African-American mother, will reinvigorate the monarchy. However, much of the carefully-planned and choreographed build-up to the ceremony has been overshadowed in recent days by confusion over whether Markles father would attend and intensive media focus on other members of her family in the run up to the wedding. Thomas Markle, a former lighting director for TV soaps and sitcoms, has given a series of contradictory statements about whether he will walk his daughter down the aisle. The Los Angeles-based celebrity website TMZ.com said he underwent heart surgery on Wednesday. The website said it had spoken to him and that he seemed alert and coherent, telling us doctors implanted stents in his blood vessels. It was not known when he would be out of the hospital. Police are expecting more than 100,000 people to throng the streets outside Windsor Castle, the queens home west of London and the oldest and largest inhabited fortress in the world, and have said there would be tight security for the event. A large number of officers were present as large crowds gathered to watch the troops in colourful uniforms who will accompany the newlyweds in a carriage procession after the ceremony perform a practice run on Thursday. Beside the British royal family, which blends sometimes stuffy European traditions with the global popularity of modern superstars, Markle has brought some Hollywood glamour and modernity to the House of Windsor. She is due to arrive at the chapel in a car with her mother, Doria Ragland, though it is now unclear who will walk her down the aisle. Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, has arrived in Britain and is due to meet the 92-year-old monarch and her husband Prince Philip, 96, on Thursday. Read also: Meghan Markle's father will not attend royal wedding Global spectacle More than 5,000 media and support staff have registered for official positions in Windsor for the wedding, along with more than 160 photographers and 79 international TV networks, Kensington Palace said. Britains monarchy continues to be a source of fascination around the world and few other countries can emulate the pageantry which surrounds the royals. A global audience will be watching but how polls have suggested that most Britons are not as enthralled by the nuptials as the media. A YouGov poll, commissioned by anti-monarchist pressure group Republic, found that 66 percent of Britons were not interested in the event, with 60 percent of Britons planning to have a normal weekend. The poll also showed that 57 percent of respondents believed the royal family should pay not only for the wedding but also for the costs of police, which are expected to surpass the 6 million pound ($8 million) price tag for the 2011 wedding of Harrys brother Prince William to wife Kate. However, other surveys show most Britons are in favour of the monarchy continuing in Britain and that the wedding and the birth last month of William and Kates third child, Prince Louis, were events of which Britain could be proud. The YouGov survey suggested that the popularity of the royal family is contingent on the personalities of its members. While the queen and younger royals such as Harry score highly, heir-to-the-throne Charles is far less popular. This YouGov poll shows a very clear picture of a nation disinterested and apathetic about the royal family, Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said. Were not a nation of republicans yet - but weve stopped being a nation of royalists. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 06:33 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4a54b6 1 Business self-isolation,investment,Trade,seminar,CastleAsia,CSIS Free Despite its intensifying effort to attract foreign investment, Indonesia has hardly gotten away from its classical problem of self-isolation, Jakarta-based consultancy CastleAsia managing director James Castle said in Jakarta on Thursday. He gave the example that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was now aggressively pursuing free trade agreements (FTAs), yet the government allowed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to dominate in government projects. Castle also questioned the requirement for foreign workers to speak Indonesian within six months from entering the country. "The government simplifies the bureaucracy, but the manpower minister requires you [foreign workers] to speak Indonesian within six months," said Castle, who was the three-time chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia. He said that since the Reform Era, Indonesia had not significantly expanded its trade base because the country did not actively seek new trading partners nor pursue FTAs. "This self-imposed isolation from the international economy prevents Indonesia from growing faster. Five percent economic growth is the best Indonesia can do," he said at a Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club seminar in Jakarta. Meanwhile, Centre for Strategic and International Studies cofounder Jusuf Wanandi told The Jakarta Post that the government allocated more infrastructure projects to SOEs to ensure that the projects could be completed within a certain period of time. "When they [government officials] realize that they cannot move further with SOE schemes, they will give more opportunities to the private sector," he said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Fri, May 18, 2018 06:30 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4a52fe 1 National EU,European-Union,Mata-Kail,NTT,East-Nusa-Tenggara,sustainable-fishing,food-security,SWITCH-Asia-II Free Plan International Indonesia, an NGO concerned about childrens welfare, together with the European Union, has launched Mata Kail, a program aimed at supporting the continuity of fish consumption and production in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Mata Kail, an abbreviation of Mari Kita Kreatif dan Arif agar Ikan Lestari (Lets be creative and wise for the sustainability of fish), was launched in three NTT regencies, namely Sikka, Nagekeo and Lembata. The program will run for three years from 2018 to 2021. It aims to increase the capacity of 160 micro, small and medium entrepreneurs by training them in fish management, food security and entrepreneurship, said Plan International Indonesia Foundation executive director Dini Widiastuti during the launch of the Mata Kail program in Kupang on Wednesday. The partnership formed part of Plan International Indonesias commitment to support the NTT administration to give opportunities to young people to get decent jobs, she added. Warm welcome: Hans Farnhammer, the European Unions head of cooperation in Indonesia (right), gets traditional hand woven fabric from Buraen subdistrict head Jhon Nomeni during a visit to Buraen subdistrict, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday. (JP/Djemi Amnifu) Dini hoped the program could synergize with other fishery programs run by various parties to increase both saltwater and freshwater fishery yields in the province. Locals will have a greater chance to obtain high quality fish so that the nutritional status of NTTs people can get better by cultivating a culture to eat healthy and safe fish only, Dini said. Hans Farnhammer, the EUs head of cooperation in Indonesia, said the group was really supporting sustainable production and consumption in Indonesia, one of which was through the Mata Kail project that was funded by the SWITCH Asia II program. This EU program aims to improve economic welfare, reducing poverty in Asia and tackling climate impacts. According to 2016 data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), fisheries are among the dominating sectors in the NTT. Unfortunately, the industrial capabilities of fishery actors across the province are considered not yet enough. (ebf/kuk) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 08:03 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4a7ac8 1 City bantar-gebang-waste-treatment,Bantar-Gebang,landfill-facility,compensation,residents Free Dozens of residents living near the Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java, have threatened to forcefully close down the facility -- owned by the Jakarta administration -- should they not be paid compensation as promised by the facilitys management by next week. The residents, who visited the landfills management office on Wednesday, said they had yet to receive compensation called uang bau (literally meaning smelly money) from the management, which should be paid every three months to residents. Each household living near the landfill was promised Rp 200,000 (US$14) in monthly compensation for living with the smell of garbage. We will see by Monday. Today we are only giving a warning [to the management], said a local resident, Tajiri, as quoted by tempo.co. He added that tens of thousands Bantar Gebang residents only wanted what was rightfully theirs. We dont care how they disburse the money. We only want to receive the money on time. Nearly 18,000 people in three villages around Bantar Gebang (TPST Bantar Gebang) have been living amid the lingering stench of trash since the landfill was established three decades ago to receive waste from Jakarta. Separately, a senior official at the Bekasi administration, Dadang Hidayat, said the delay in payment was caused by technical and administrative problems. Therefore, to meet the residents demands, the administration plans to use the Bekasi city budget to pay the uang bau allocations. Hopefully, the compensation can be channeled to the residents next Friday, Dadang said. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 15:33 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4cc899 1 Business rupiah-against-dollar,weakening,bank-indonesia,rate-increase Free Bank Indonesia's (BI) decision to raise its reference rate by 25 basis points on Thursday has had almost no effect on either the rupiah exchange rate or the stock market. On Friday morning, the rupiah weakened by 0.63 percent to Rp 14,134 against the US dollar, according to Bloomberg. Other regional currencies also weakened against the US dollar but not as much as the rupiah, with the Singaporean dollar and the Thai baht weakening by 0.03 percent and 0.19 percent, respectively. The rupiah was relatively weaker against all major and regional currencies, even weakening by 0.80 percent to Rp 16,696 against the euro. The stock market was green during Friday morning trading, but not by much. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) increased by 0.29 percent to 5,832.35, while major stocks in the LQ45 index saw a 0.35 percent increase. The central bank raised its 7-day reverse repo rate (7DRRR) on Thursday as it sought to maintain stability amid lingering external pressures. BI raised its 7DRRR by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.50 percent, while it also raised the lending and deposit facility rates by 25 bps to 5.25 and 3.75 percent, respectively. Earlier, many analysts, including Ashmore Asset Management Indonesia director Arief Wana and CIMB Niaga chief economist Adrian Panggabean, had suggested a hike of 50 bps. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 11:47 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4ba8d2 1 City Aman-Abdurrahman,Islamic-State,terrorism,Court Free Prosecutors have demanded that pro-Islamic State (IS) cleric Aman Abdurrahman be sentenced to death for allegedly inspiring a series of terror attacks on Indonesian soil. We demand that the panel of judges [] find Oman Rochman, alias Aman Abdurrahman, alias Abu Sulaiman, guilty of committing an act of terrorism [] and sentence him to death, said prosecutor Anita Dewayani. The prosecution team made the sentence demand at the South Jakarta District Court during Friday's hearing, when they also read out the indictment against Aman. Aman, widely known as the influential jihadi ideologue among Islamist militants grouped under the local Jamaah Ansharud Daulah (JAD) terror group, has been accused of inspiring at least three major terror attacks in 2016 and 2017. The attacks include the Jan. 14, 2016 Thamrin bombing and shootout that killed four people, the Nov. 13, 2016 Samarinda church bombing that killed a toddler, and the May 25, 2017 Kampung Melayu twin bombings that killed three policemen. A JAD member testified in court that Aman had inspired the establishment of the radical group, which is said to be the largest pro-IS group in the country. The JAD has been blamed for the recent string of terror attacks in the past several days, including the deadly riot at the National Polices Mobile Brigade headquarters (Mako Brimob) in Depok, West Java, and a series of bombings that killed at least 13 people in Surabaya and Sidoarjo, East Java. Aman, who was being held in a separate block at the Mako Brimob detention center from the instigators of the riot, reportedly played a role in ending the 36-hour standoff between terror inmates and police. The standoff on May 8-9 ensued after 10 terror inmates linked to JAD killed five members of the polices Densus 88 elite counterterrorism squad and took one other member hostage following the initial riot, which then escalated. The hearing was originally scheduled for Friday a week ago, but prosecutors were unable to gain access to the detention center to transport Aman to the courthouse, as the police had locked down the facility in the aftermath of the incident. (ahw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jo He-rim (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network) Seoul Fri, May 18, 2018 14:18 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4c86be 2 World dog-meat,Korea,South-Korea,animal-rights,pets,Seoul Free Dog meat farmers staged a protest near the National Assembly on Wednesday, calling for equal treatment as other animal farms and demanding survival rights. Some 200 members of Korea Dog Farm Council members took to the streets in front of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, and demanded the lawmakers introduce a grace period for dog farms to install excreta treatment facilities. In February, the National Assembly passed a revision to the Act on the Management and Use of Livestock Excreta, mandating animal farms operating without permits to install excreta treatment facilities. While all farms were given a grace period of six months, dog meat farms were subjected to the law immediately when it went into effect in March. At the rally, the meat farmers also brought five dogs in cages, as they intended to show the differences between pet dogs and dogs for meat. They also strongly denounced Rep. Han Jeoung-ae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who is the head of the parliamentary environment and labor committee that reviewed the livestock bill. Animal rights activists were also present at the scene, and they clashed with the farmers as they sought to rescue the five caged dogs. Two farmers were arrested at the scene. One was caught after throwing filth toward the animal rights activists, while another was arrested for throwing the police line. The police said it dispatched 400 officers around the protest. Topics : This article appeared on The Korea Herald newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fulya Ozerkan and Ezzedine Said (Agence France-Presse) Istanbul Sat, May 19, 2018 02:28 1240 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4dcd6b 2 World Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan,Turkey,Palestine,Gaza,Israel,pan-Islamic,summit,OIC,Organization-of-Islamic-Cooperation Free Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday hosts for the second time in half a year a summit of the main pan-Islamic bloc to show solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israel after the killing of dozens of Gaza protesters. Erdogan has reacted with unbridled fury to the killing by Israeli forces on Monday of 60 Palestinians on the Gaza border, accusing Israel of "genocide" and being run as an "apartheid state". He has also called a mass demonstration in Istanbul expected to rally hundreds of thousands from 1300 GMT ahead of the summit's start at 1600 GMT. Erdogan has already staged an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in December last year to denounce US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. "We must give the toughest response ... to the crime against humanity committed by Israel," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a meeting of OIC foreign ministers ahead of the summit. Speaking in Geneva, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein slammed Israel's reaction to the Gaza protests as "wholly disproportionate", backing calls for an international investigation. 'OIC disunity upsetting' However, as in 2017, disputes between the OIC's key players -- notably between Sunni kingpin Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran -- may prevent the adoption of any measures going beyond harsh rhetoric. Riyadh -- which appears to have softened its stance on Israel as the influence of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has grown -- and its allies fear alienating the United States with tough measures against Tel Aviv. Saudi's chief foreign policy preoccupation, shared with Israel, is ensuring US backing to contain Iran which both Riyadh and the Jewish state see as the main threat to regional peace. Egypt and Saudi Arabia distrust Turkey's support for Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, complicating any effort to take concrete measures against Israel. Cavusoglu also said some OIC member states' failure to show enough support for the Palestinian cause "upsets us". 'Dragged into chaos' After declaring his intention to hold the event only on Monday, Erdogan has managed to build up an impressive guest list at short notice. Jordanian King Abdullah II will be present although the Palestinians will be represented by prime minister Rami Hamdallah and not president Mahmud Abbas who this week had surgery on his ear. From the Gulf, Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is expected as is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar, Turkey's main regional ally. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir will be at the Istanbul summit. The Saudi level of representation is higher than at the November meeting. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will attend, state media said, and overcoming the enmity between Tehran and Riyadh will be crucial for the Turkish hosts. As in the November 2017 meeting, a controversial guest will be Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on charges of genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Erdogan has long craved a role as a Muslim leader within the entire Islamic world, rarely holding back with tirades against Israel even though Ankara has diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. "If the silence on Israel's tyranny continues, the world will rapidly be dragged into a chaos where banditry prevails," Erdogan said Wednesday. 'Curse the oppression' Tensions with Israel and hosting such a meeting also does Erdogan no harm with his core supporters as Turkey heads to presidential and parliamentary polls on June 24. In a diplomatic crisis threatening a 2016 deal that allowed the resumption of full ties, Turkey has ordered the Israeli ambassador to leave for an unspecified period of time over the killings. Turkey had already withdrawn its Tel Aviv ambassador for consultations while Israel ordered the Turkish consul in Jerusalem to leave, also for an unspecified period of time. The rally expected just before the summit is set to take place at the Yenikapi meeting area favoured by Erdogan for election rallies and which has capacity for a million people. Erdogan is himself expected to address the rally organised under the slogan "curse the oppression, support Jerusalem". Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Veeramalla Anjaiah (The Jakarta Post) Fri, May 18 2018 Congratulations: Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Vittoria Sandalli (center) poses with Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly (left) and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan during the Italian National Day reception at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta on May 8. (Courtesy of Embassy of Italy) Italy and its close friend Indonesia have been intensifying efforts to upgrade their strategic relations through high-level visits and enhanced economic cooperation, a top Italian envoy has said. The intensified dialogue has broadened the scope of our cooperation to further fields, laying the foundations for an enhanced cross-sectorial partnership, Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Vittorio Sandalli said during the colorful Italian National Day celebration at Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta recently. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 14:11 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4c868b 1 Business Freeport-McMoRan,Richard-C-Adkerson,Ignatius-Jonan,meeting Free Freeport McMoRan president and CEO Richard C. Adkerson arrived at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on Friday at 11:20 a.m. for a meeting with the minister, although details on the meeting were not disclosed. Freeport McMoRan is the parent company of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), and has long been in talks with the government over its Grasberg copper mine in Papua and divesting 51 percent of PTFI shares as part of the terms of a new mining license. The ministrys mineral and coal director general Bambang Gatot Ariyono claimed to have no information on the purpose of the meeting. "I don't know yet, I was just called to come [to the meeting]," he said, when he was asked about the meeting between Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan and Adkerson upon his arrival at the ministry. Adkerson, who was accompanied by PTFI executive vice president Tony Wenas did not make any comments on the meeting. Recently, the ministry issued a ministerial regulation that extended the divestment deadline to 2019 for foreign companies holding a special mining permit (IUPK), which included Freeport. The extension of the deadline for divestment was stipulated in the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Regulation No. 25/2018. The regulation stipulates that a holder of a special mining permit (IUPK) and which formerly had a working contract (KK) and has been in production for at least five years since the issuance of Government Regulation No 1/2017 is obliged to divest 51 percent of its stake no later than 2019. Divestment talks between the government and Freeport have been taking place since early 2017 and the government initially targeted concluding negotiations by the end of 2017. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 09:35 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4ac4d5 1 World homophobia,campaign,social-media,LGBT,LGBT-persecution,Instagram,Twitter,Southeast-Asia Free Netizens showed their support for Indonesias lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community in a hugging campaign to commemorate International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which falls on Thursday, by sharing pictures with encouraging messages through social media. Through the #HugsNotHate campaign, cross-border organization for LGBT rights ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC) encourages participants to upload pictures of themselves hugging LGBT friends and a caption with supportive comments to their social media accounts to spread positivity. The organization urged, however, for participants to take the picture at an angle that would still respect their friends privacy and safety should they wish to remain anonymous. Increasingly frequent verbal attacks against Indonesias LGBT people by both public figures and government officials have forced the community into hiding. But some have been brave enough to step out into the open and share their messages of love and acceptance. Twitter user Neyna Rahmadani, through her personal account @neynarahma, asked her friend permission before posting a picture of them together as part of the #HugsNotHate movement. She was surprised and motivated to receive his enthusiastic reply. Last night when I asked @hr_nrw to post our photos ... he replied, Sikat!! - and to all of you guys out there he said, Dont be ashamed to celebrate who you truly are. #HugNotHate #IDAHOTB2018 #IDAHOT2018ID #IDAHOBIT2018id pic.twitter.com/IhvFhMwhDn Neyna Rahmadani (@neynarahma) May 17, 2018 Instagram user @yurimuktia was moved by the campaign to hug an LGBT activist at an event in Jakarta, as shown in a picture uploaded by the ASCs Twitter account. One Instagram user arranged a group hug to celebrate the day. A post shared by nyr (@caca_marica_oyoy) on May 17, 2018 at 7:17am PDT The campaign was also used by some to ask for hugs from his or her followers or friends, as user Prabagas did through his Twitter account @Agastha4, to which some responded by giving him a virtual hug. Some users from Malaysia, including @zhukl, said he was unhappy to see none of the campaign participants came from Malaysia. Looking at #HugNotHate & #IDAHOBIT2018 - none of them come from MY. Thank God for IN else we won't have a rep from this region. Remind me again why I am annoyed at people empathising w Najib but God forbid they ever spare a thought for queer ppl living in homophobic environments. sren (artwork by riharu harun). (@zhukl) May 17, 2018 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 09:48 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4acd01 1 Business IMF,Conference,#SurabayaBombings,IMF-WB-meeting,preparation Free International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokesman Gerry Rice has extended his condolences to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in East Javas capital of Surabaya, saying that the organization was ready to work closely with Indonesia to ensure the safety of the participants of the 2018 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bali in October. We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims who've died under these terrible terrorist attacks in Indonesia, Rice said during a press briefing in Washington on Thursday as seen on his Twitter account. At least 28 people were killed and dozens of others injured when suicide bombers attacked three churches and one police headquarters in Surabaya on Sunday and Monday. The police continue to search for terrorist suspects behind the incidents, some of whom have been arrested or killed. Rice said he was confidence that the meeting would take place successfully as the Indonesian government had made extraordinary efforts to assure the security of the island during the meeting. We look forward to having a successful meeting, and, you know, the Indonesian authorities, I can tell you, are making extraordinary efforts to make sure that is the case, and we're working closely with them on that, he added. The cooperation is excellent and we're confident that we will have a successful annual meeting in October. Previously, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the bombings would not affect the governments preparations for the meeting. She said the government, Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police were closely working together to ensure the resort islands security during the meeting, which is expected to be attended by about 15,000 participants. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 21:19 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4daaa2 1 World UN-Security-Council,UNSC,Security-Council,Foreign-Affairs-Ministry,Foreign-Ministry,Retno-Marsudi Free Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called for the enforcement of international law in her speech at the UN Security Council (UNSC) open debate in New York on Thursday local time. The law protects the weak and, more importantly, prevents the mighty takes all approach, she said at the UN headquarters. Speaking in front of 15 UNSC member states, Retno said it was important to uphold and implement international laws and resolutions. Take resolutions on Palestine, for example. Many security council resolutions on Palestine have not been implemented, the minister said. The open debate was attended by 12 ministerial officials and representatives from 74 UN member countries. It was held under the rotating presidency of the UNSC, which is currently chaired by Poland. Retno held a bilateral meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius on the sidelines of the event. She also met with Finnish Representative to the UN Kai Sauer to discuss bilateral preparations in co-hosting the UN Secretary-Generals High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation meeting in Helsinki this June. Retno is scheduled to travel to Georgetown, Guyana, for a bilateral meeting with Guyanese Foreign Minister Carl B. Greenidge and pay a courtesy visit to Guyana President David A. Granger. She will also meet with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secretary-general Irwin LaRocque. From Guyana, Retno will head to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for G20 and MIKTA Foreign Ministers meetings. She is also scheduled to visit Lima, Peru, for a bilateral meeting with Peruvian Foreign Minister Victor Ricardo Luna Mendoza. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 21:02 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4d9fed 2 Business India,Kadin,committee,Trade,economic-relations Free In an effort to boost economic cooperation between Indonesia and India, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), in collaboration with the Indian Embassy in Jakarta, launched on Friday the India Bilateral Committee of Kadin. Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Kadin deputy chairwoman for international relations, said the committee would have several roles to play to enhance business and economic cooperation between India and Indonesia and help the two countries reach their trade and investment target. We strongly believe there are still sectors with huge potential and that we can optimize further to reach our ambitious trade and investment target of US$50 billion by 2025, said Shinta in her remarks during the launch event. To propel cooperation beween the two countries, the committee will have several tasks, including facilitating discussions on business cooperation, business matchmaking, and assisting local and Indian businessplayers who are interested in establishing or expanding businesses in indonesia. This committee is also expected to identify more promising sectors in trade that we could maximize to reach our investment and trade traget, she added. Currently, Indonesian-Indian business and economic cooperation covers at least six sectors: mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, the digital economy and services. In manufacturing, the two countries have been cooperating in investment and trade in the textile and automotive industries. Indonesia is the biggest trade partner of India within the ASEAN region, while India is the biggest palm oil importer and one of Indonesias main export destinations for coal. Meanwhile, Indias investment in Indonesia has reached $286.6 million, up significantly from $55 million in 2016. Moreover, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, Indonesian-Indian trade reached a value of $12.9 billion in 2016, with Indonesian exports of $10.2 billion and Indonesian imports of $2.1 billion. The trade volume has increased by 28.7 percent in 2017, with Indonesian exports of $14.08 billion and imports of $4.05 billion. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Vela Andapita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 14:09 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4c817f 1 City coffee,City-Hall,civil-servants Free A room on the 19th floor at City Hall in Central Jakarta has been turned into a cafe where officials can enjoy home-brewed coffee. No piles of papers or stationary, but all kinds of coffee makers and a variety of coffee beans can be found in the office of Jakarta Mental and Spiritual Education Bureau head Hendra Hidayat. I have an espresso machine, Vietnam drip, French press, aeropress, chiffon, coffee grinder, milk frother and both a regular and capsule coffee maker, Hendra told kompas.com on Wednesday. The surface of his work table -- and another table nearby -- is covered in coffee machines. As a coffee enthusiast, Hendra went on to name his coffee bean collection that originated from many regions throughout the country: Gayo in Aceh, Bali, Lampung and Wamena in Papua to name a few. Read also: Crazy about Indonesian coffee? Here are the basics of java Hendra proudly said his private coffee shop had gained popularity among his fellow civil servants. His friends often visit his office after attending meetings to have cups of coffee and to relax. He mentioned several famous names like former Jakarta governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat and the Home Ministrys regional autonomy director general, Sumarsono, who once was an acting Jakarta governor during the citys gubernatorial election last year. Most of them were surprised. Even Djarot asked, Wow, youve got a lot of tools here, to which I replied with simple, Yes, sir, Hendra said. While having coffee here, [my friends and I] never talk about work. They come in, I make them coffee, we chat and joke around, and then we go home, he added, noting that Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno had also enjoyed his coffee after lunch a couple days ago. According to Ottencoffee.co.id, a popular e-commerce platform that sells everything any coffee enthusiast needs, the tools and equipment in Hendras office cost millions of rupiah. A French press costs about Rp 350,000 (US$24.90) to Rp 810,000. A regular coffee maker, meanwhile, costs approximately Rp 1 million. One of the most expensive equipment that Hendra has is his espresso machine, which ranges from Rp 5 million to hundreds of millions of rupiah. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 10:28 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4b522d 1 City Islamic-State,Aman-Abdurrahman,South-Jakarta,Court,security,SurabayaBombings,JAD Free The South Jakarta District Court beefed up security on Friday for the trial of pro-Islamic State (IS) cleric and ideologue Aman Abdurrahman. Aman is known as the spiritual leader of Jamaah Ansharud Daulah (JAD), the nation's largest pro-IS terrorist group blamed for a string of terrorist attacks across Indonesia in recent years, including the Surabaya bombings that killed at least 13 people. Aman is standing trial for his alleged role in masterminding the Jan. 14, 2016, Thamrin attacks in Central Jakarta. The prosecutors are expected to read their sentence demand on Fridays hearing. The Jakarta Police deployed 152 officers to secure the court. They were backed up by some 30 military personnel. All court visitors are required show their identity cards and undergo security screenings before entering the court. South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Indra Jafar said the police had deployed armed officers to monitor activities inside and outside the court. Police bomb squad Gegana has cleared the court room in which the hearing will be conducted, he said. Other hearings have been postponed to optimize the security measures. "The court will only hold one hearing [Aman's court hearing] until Friday's prayer. After that, the court will hold about two other hearings," Indra said. (ahw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 19:57 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4d7fd8 1 National koopsusgab,Jokowi,counterterrorism Free President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has agreed to reinstate the suspended militarys Joint Special Operations Command (Koopsusgab) to assist the National Police in antiterrorism operations under certain conditions. The joint force comprises of special forces of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) three armed forces, namely the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), the Navy's Denjaka specialized squad and the Air Force's Bravo 90 unit. "The government is in the process of establishing a joint special operations command [...] in order to create a safe and secure environment for the public," Jokowi said in Jakarta on Friday. The announcement was made in the wake of a string of terrorist attacks on Indonesian soil, which has thrown the nation into a state of paranoia. Jokowi emphasized that the special force would be deployed only when the National Police's capacity was deemed inadequate to respond to an emergency. "That means preventive measures are much more important than repressive measures," he added. Jokowi's statement came days after Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said that the President had expressed his agreement to a proposal to revive the special force, which was first established when Moeldoko was the TNI commander in 2015. The special command's operation was later suspended under the leadership of Moeldoko's successor Gatot Nurmantyo. (swd) Attorney General Office spokesman Tony Spontana (fourth right) shakes hands with Bank Mandiri vice president director Sulaiman A. Arianto at the Mandiri Plaza, in Jakarta, on Thursday, while handing over a pack of banknotes in a symbolic gesture of compensation for the losses caused in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) embezzlement scandal. Former president commissioner of the now-defunct Bank Modern Samadikun Hartono was found guilty of embezzling BLBI funds many years ago, forcing him to serve four years in prison and return the money worth Rp 169 billion (US$12 million) in installments. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)(fourth right) shakes hands with Bank Mandiri vice president director Sulaiman A. Arianto at the Mandiri Plaza, in Jakarta, on Thursday, while handing over a pack of banknotes in a symbolic gesture of compensation for the losses caused in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) embezzlement scandal. Former president commissioner of the now-defunct Bank Modern Samadikun Hartono was found guilty of embezzling BLBI funds many years ago, forcing him to serve four years in prison and return the money worth Rp 169 billion (US$12 million) in installments. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Vela Andapita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18, 2018 09:34 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4ac007 1 National reformasi,1998-tragedy,trisakti-shootings,May-1998-tragedy,kamisan,human-rights-abuse,human-rights-activists,history Free Twelve years have passed since Maria Catarina Sumarsih, 66, initiated the first Kamisan rally following the death of her son, Benardinus Realino Norma Irawan, also known as Wawan. Wawan was among four Trisakti University students who were gunned down in the 1998 Trisakti Shooting. Every 4 p.m. on a Thursday, or Kamis in Indonesian, Sumarsih, along with dozens of human rights abuse victims, activists and civilians, gather in front of Merdeka Palace without fail to protest the governments slow response in handling human rights abuse cases. On Thursday, during the 538th Kamisan rally to commemorate 20 years of Reformasi, Sumarsih said in a resigned tone that the so-called reform era had failed her. Seeing that the government failed to meet the six points of the reform agenda, its safe to say that the [reform era] failed, she said. The six points of the reform agenda, Sumarsih said, demanded that the government try former president Soeharto and his cronies for abuse of power and other violations committed during his regime; revise the 1945 Constitution; remove the Indonesian Militarys (TNI) dual function; eradicate corrupt practices; uphold the supremacy of law and expand regional autonomy. None of these were realized. Sumarsih is not only protesting in front of the palace, after every Kamisan rally she writes a letter to whoever is president. She has sent approximately 508 letters. Read also: 10th anniversary of Kamisan silent protest in pictures All these years of organizing the Kamisan rallies and sending letters, never once did the government [representatives] come down [from their offices] to see us, she said. Despite her disappointment at the governments lack of attention, Sumarsih still feels upbeat that her movement will be successful and believes that the role of younger people is important to maintain the Kamisan spirit. There has been a major change at Kamisan rallies. Previously, only the older generation participated. Nowadays, I see a lot of young people taking part in the movement, she said. When asked what kept her going despite the governments lack of response, Sumarsih responded with a smile. It is my duty to finish what Wawan started. Amid the gloomy mood of the 538th Kamisan rally, private university students Mulyani Citra and Rini Oktaviani seemed lost among the hundreds of Kamisan protesters holding up black umbrellas. With high-end cameras hanging around their necks and heavy backpacks, they asked the protesters what event it was. I was only two months old when the [1998] riots in Jakarta took place, said Citra. I knew about the four students who were killed from history books. As I was growing up, my mother told me stories of people raiding malls and burning stuff. But I didnt know that the victims parents are still fighting for justice, until today, she told The Jakarta Post. Its sad to realize that there were students who were the same age as me who died for such an important cause, Rini added. Both Citra and Rini, who were born and raised in Tangerang, Banten, and West Jakarta, respectively, admitted that not only did they not know about Kamisan, but they also had very little idea about the human rights issues raised by the protesters at Kamisan rallies. Its an eye-opening experience for me. I have become more aware about tragedies that happened in the country along with the injustices that still prevail today, Rini added, emphasizing that she would join other Kamisan rallies in the future. (dpk) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 18 2018 The city administration is planning to build a sky bridge over Jl. Jatibaru Raya, located in front of Tanah Abang train station in Central Jakarta, with a fund of Rp 50 billion (US$3.5 million). The sky bridge is set to connect the train station and all the blocks of Tanah Abang market, the largest textile center in Southeast Asia. The bridge is also expected to accommodate hundreds of street vendors who sell their goods on Jl. Jatibaru Raya, with the intention of restoring the road to its original function once the facility is completed. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Fri, May 18, 2018 10:41 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4b6d69 2 World Iran,Washington,USA,Tehran,global-politics Free Washington wants to build a global "coalition" against the Tehran regime and its "destabilizing activities," the State Department said on Thursday, after pulling out from the Iran nuclear accord to the anger of US allies. The plan is to be detailed on Monday by the top United States diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his first major foreign policy address since taking office in April. "The US will be working hard to put together a coalition," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. The aim is to "bring together a lot of countries from around the world with the specific goal of looking at the Iranian regime through a more realistic lens" which would include "all of its destabilizing activities that aren't just a threat to the region but are a threat to the broader world," she said. Nauert added that the coalition will not be "anti-Iran" because the US stands "firmly behind" the country's people, in contrast to the regime and its "bad actions." She evoked a comparison with the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Begun in 2014, that coalition now counts as members 75 countries or institutions and intervened militarily against the jihadists, although only a minority of coalition members have conducted most of that military action, which has left the extremists nearly defeated on that battlefield. Nauert did not say whether the proposed coalition against Iran's regime would have a military component. She said the State Department received on Monday about 200 foreign diplomats to explain to them President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear accord, and the next steps. In a breakthrough that ended a 12-year standoff over Western fears that Iran was developing a nuclear bomb, the administration of former president Barack Obama and other major powers reached the accord with Iran in 2015. It lifted punishing international sanctions in return for Iran's agreement to freeze its nuclear effort. Withdrawing from the deal last week, Trump called for a new agreement with deeper restrictions on Iran's nuclear program as well as curbs on its ballistic missiles and its backing for militant groups across the Middle East. Along with Iran the other signatories of the 2015 deal -- France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia -- strongly criticized the US withdrawal. On Thursday the European Union said it will begin moves to block the effect of reimposed US sanctions on Iran as efforts to preserve the nuclear deal deepened a transatlantic rift. Asked about the potential willingness of European nations to join the proposed new coalition, Nauert said many US allies "fully understand" and are "not turning a blind eye" to Iran's actions. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya (Agence France-Presse) Kinshasha, DR Congo Fri, May 18, 2018 20:17 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4d9383 2 World ebola,DR-Congo,health,outbreak,WHO,Africa,virus Free World agencies and neighbouring countries on Friday hiked their response to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the toll from the notorious disease mounted. A World Health Organization (WHO) emergency panel met to determine whether the outbreak was "a public health event of international concern" -- a move that would step up global action. The death toll rose by two to 25 out of 45 cases, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva on Friday. Fourteen of the cases have been confirmed in laboratory tests. Alarm bells sounded on Thursday after the outbreak, previously reported in a remote rural area, notched up its first confirmed case in a city -- the bustling transport hub Mbandaka. That amounts to bad news for containing and rolling back the haemorrhagic fever virus, experts warned. "The confirmed case in Mbandaka, a large urban centre located on major national and international river, road and domestic air routes increases the risk of spread within the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to neighbouring countries," the WHO said. "WHO has therefore revised the assessment of public health risk to very high at the national level and high at the regional level," it said. "At the global level the risk is currently low. As further information becomes available, the risk assessment will be reviewed." Separately, the UN's migration agency said it was helping DRC's health ministry to send disease-tracking experts and medical staff to monitor travellers at 16 border points. The operation was enabled by funding of $75,000 (almost 64,000 euros) from Japan and $100,000 of internal funds, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. A regional bloc, the East African Community -- five of whose six members of the DRC -- said it was on "high alert" over the outbreak and had put in place measures to screen travellers arriving from that country. The fresh Ebola outbreak, publicly declared on May 8, was first reported in a rural part of Equateur Province in the vast country's northwest. Many challenges Ebola is both lethal and highly contagious, which makes it difficult to contain -- especially in urban environments where people are mobile and come into more contact with others. Lacking an arsenal of drugs to treat the virus, doctors isolate patients and trace people who have been in contact with them. This is a major task even for medical services in rich countries, but the DRC is one of the world's poorest countries. A country four times the size of France, the DRC has been chronically unstable and episodically racked by violence since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Hospitals, roads, electricity are all major problems, especially in remote areas. In Mbandaka, whose population is estimated at up to 1.2 million, the mood among many people changed from insouciance to worry on Thursday. Bars, restaurants and public offices set up basins of water and soap dispensers for people to wash their hands, while at the city's airport, health ministry workers were taking travellers' temperatures with pistol thermometers, an AFP reporter saw. Worst outbreak Ebola is notorious for its high fatality rate and extreme symptoms, which can include internal and external bleeding. The virus has a reservoir in tropical African wildlife, being carried by species of bats, which do not themselves fall ill but can pass the pathogen on to humans who hunt for food. Chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines can also become infected with Ebola, which makes them potential vectors for transmission if they are hunted and butchered. Among humans, the commonest form of infection is through close contact with the blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of someone who is sick with Ebola or has recently died. This presents a major risk in African cultures where relatives typically touch the body of the deceased at funerals. The current outbreak involves the same strain of the virus that hit three West African countries in 2013-15 and sparked an international panic. It went on to kill more than 11,300 people, in the deadliest ever Ebola epidemic. The WHO was fiercely criticised over its handling of the epidemic and has pledged to improve its emergency response. There is no licensed drug to treat or prevent Ebola, although an experimental vaccine arrived in the DRC on Wednesday and has been cleared for use by the Kinshasa government. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Richard Sargent (Agence France-Presse) Danai, Myanmar Fri, May 18, 2018 14:05 1241 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4c7453 2 SE Asia Kachin,Myanmar,Myanmar-military,SEA,Southeast-Asia,rebel,rebel-groups,Christians,minority-groups Free Seng Moon grabbed her day-old baby and fled into the thick jungle, joining thousands of villagers escaping fighting between ethnic Kachin rebels and Myanmar's army, now reinforced by a unit notorious for its brutal "clearance" operations. The insurgency in Myanmar's remote northeast has festered for six decades, but unlike the Rohingya crisis in the far west of the country, it has garnered few global headlines. Fighting has surged dramatically this year, displacing 20,000 people since January, adding to the legions already uprooted by one of the world's longest-running civil wars. Often called the "forgotten war", the Kachin conflict is a messy struggle over autonomy, ethnic identity, drugs, jade and other natural resources between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar state. On April 11, with the sound of gunfire and fighter jets closing in, the villagers of Danai township sought refuge in their paddy fields. Three days later shells started falling on their village and leaders took the decision for the 2,000 inhabitants to flee. Seng Moon, 22, had given birth to her daughter only the day before. "I was still bleeding (from the birth) and I felt like I was dying," she told AFP at a camp in Danai town. "It was so difficult and we had to cross a river." For the group that included many young children, as well as the sick and elderly, progress through the arduous jungle terrain was slow. But they were lucky to encounter local elephant handlers -- known as mahouts -- who helped ferry the most vulnerable across a chest-deep river to a displacement camp in the grounds of a small, wooden church. Ethnic Kachin are mainly Christians in a nation that is overwhelmingly Buddhist. 33rd Light Infantry International focus has been on the crisis in Rakhine state, from where some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have been driven into Bangladesh by a relentless military campaign the UN says amounted to "ethnic cleansing". An army unit accused of atrocities against the Rohingya -- the 33rd Light Infantry Division -- has now been redeployed to Kachin. While the scale of violence in Kachin does not match operations against the Rohingya, experts say the deployment of the unit is an ominous sign for civilians. "Yes, they are here," Kachin state minister for security and border affairs, Colonel Thura Myo Tin, told AFP without giving any further details about their mission. Human Rights Watch accuses the unit of "multiple massacres" in northern Rakhine while Amnesty International has recorded "violations" against civilians on previous missions to Kachin. "Kachin civilians... have little hope of divisions like these changing their behaviour," HRW Myanmar researcher Rich Weir said. Surge in fighting The insurgency in the northeast is one of two dozen ethnic minority rebellions that have plagued Myanmar since independence from British colonial rule in 1948. Civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi said forging nationwide peace was her main priority after her government assumed power two years ago, ending decades of military domination. But the army still retains control over security issues. The Kachin conflict reignited in 2011 after a 17-year ceasefire collapsed. Clashes have intensified since 2016, displacing more than 100,000 in Kachin and the north of neighbouring Shan state. Independent analyst David Mathieson said the military appears to be taking advantage of the focus on the Rohingya to attack the KIA and bring it "to the peace negotiation table". The military is also "targeting the KIA's sources of income" in amber and jade mining areas, he added. Myanmar's army accuses the KIA of involvement in an attack at the weekend on security posts and a casino in Shan that left at least 19 dead. The military says it is protecting the country's sovereignty and borders. But the KIA's political wing has a different view. "They are invaders. We are defenders," said Dau Hka, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). "The fighting will stop immediately" once the military halts its offensive, he added. Peace protest crackdown The Kachin conflict is a powerful rallying cry in a country whose citizens suffered under decades of junta repression. Youth groups have led peace protests that spread from Kachin's capital Myitkyina across the country. In Myanmar's largest city Yangon, riot police on Saturday arrested several demonstrators at a large rally. Three protest leaders in Kachin have also fallen foul of the law after an army officier filed a defamation case against them -- a charge that carries up to two years in jail. For now church grounds around Myitkyina are providing sanctuary to those able to escape remote villages. Sin Na Khawn Bu's family says she is over 100 years old and was carried some 30 kilometres (19 miles) by her grandson to safety. "I have not been able to eat well for 12 days because I'm so afraid," the centenarian told AFP, stuttering and rocking back and forth as she spoke. "We are suffering a lot. Please help us." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mai Nguyen and Jonathan Weber (Reuters) Hanoi/Singapore Sat, May 19, 2018 05:04 1240 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9e4decf1 2 SE Asia #Vietnam,#Internet,#facebook,#Google,#regulations Free A struggle over internet laws in Vietnam is pitting a government keen on maintaining tight control against US technology companies trying to fight off onerous new rules -- with the country's online dissidents among the biggest losers. The latest conflict centers on new cybersecurity legislation set for a vote by Vietnamese lawmakers later this month. It aims to impose new legal requirements on internet companies, and hardens policing of online dissent. Facebook, Google and other global companies are pushing back hard against provisions that would require them to store data on Vietnamese users locally and open offices in the country. But they have not taken the same tough stance on parts of the proposed law that would bolster the government's crackdown on online political activism. Vietnam offers a case study in the conflicting pressures the likes of Facebook and Google confront when operating in countries with repressive governments. It also shows how authoritarian regimes try to walk a line in controlling online information and suppressing political activism without crippling the digital economy. Such tensions are playing out across Southeast Asia, where the enormous popularity of Facebook and Google has created lucrative business opportunities and outlets for political dissent. With that, though, has come both government censorship and a way to get propaganda to large audiences efficiently. The region is particularly important for Facebook and Google because most Internet users in China are blocked from accessing them. An industry group called the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) is leading efforts to soften the proposed cyber law in Vietnam. Jeff Paine, managing director of the AIC, said he and others were able to raise concerns about the law directly with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other top government officials when they visited Singapore last month. The discussions took place as part of a seminar about internet issues that included academics, industry officials and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, according to Paine. He said there was "a healthy dialogue" that focused mostly on how Vietnam can leverage the next stages of the digital revolution. But he said there was no discussion of content restrictions. The Vietnamese government did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment for this article. Political activists in Vietnam rely on social media to rally support, and the new cyber law comes on the heels of an April letter from more than 50 rights groups and activists to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg accusing the company of working too closely with the Vietnamese government to stifle dissent. Facebook and Google say they have to abide by local laws in the countries where they operate. Facebook's latest "transparency report," released Tuesday, shows that in the second half of last year, the company began blocking content in Vietnam for violations of local law for the first time. The company reported 22 such instances -- though it said they were prompted by "private reports of defamation" rather than direct government requests. Google last year also blocked YouTube videos at the request of the government for the first time. Updated figures released Friday show the company was asked to remove more than 6500 videos in 2017, mostly for criticizing the government, and that it complied with a majority of the requests. The transparency reports do show that the companies don't automatically do the bidding of the government. Facebook said it had received 12 government requests for Facebook user account data in 2017 and complied with only 4 of them, all of which were "emergency" requests. The company defines an emergency as involving "imminent risk of serious physical injury or death." In cases where content is alleged to violate local law, both companies say takedown requests are subject to legal review, and when they comply the material is only blocked locally. Direct government censorship requests don't tell the whole story though. Facebook also removes content and blocks accounts for violating its own global "community standards," which bar material and behaviours ranging from posting pornography to hate speech and inciting violence. "The first thing we do when a government tells us about content that violates laws is we look at whether it violates our standards," said Monika Bickert, Facebook's vice president of global policy management. The company this week began providing data on community standards violations but does not break it down by country. "My account was blocked for 8 months," said Le Van Dung, an independent journalist in Vietnam who signed the letter to Zuckerberg. "I sent letters to Facebook management for months but there's only an automatic reply saying they have completed your request." His account was restored last month, the day after the appeal to Zuckerberg was sent, he said. Facebook said Dung's account was correctly removed for violating community standards provisions barring "spam" activities and was restored by mistake. Dung denies engaging in spam. He did, though, have more than one account. Multiple accounts are not allowed on Facebook and fall within the company's definition of spam behaviour. This file photo taken on November 20, 2017 shows shows logos of US technology company Google displayed on computer screens. (AFP/Loic Venance ) Tightening the screws Vietnam has had tough internet regulations in place since 2013. They ban any postings that are anti-government, harm national security, cause "hatred and conflicts" or "hurt the prestige of organizations and individuals." The rules also ban social media users who "spread fake or untruthful information." New rules implemented in 2017 tightened the screws further. One turning point, according to Yee Chung Seck, an attorney in the Ho Chi Minh City office of the international law firm Baker McKenzie, was an April 2017 meeting convened by the government to discuss a range of Internet ills including disinformation, hate speech and bullying. That came just after the government called on all companies doing business in the country to stop advertising on YouTube, Facebook and other social media until they found a way to halt the publication of "toxic" anti-government information. Yet another decree implemented last month stated that social media platforms had to remove illegal content within three hours of it being reported by the government, though Paine said the rule applies only to domestic companies. Still, Facebook and Google dont seem to be under any imminent threat given how deeply they have penetrated into Vietnam society. About 55 million of Vietnam's 96 million people are regular social media users, according to research by Simon Kemp, a digital media consultant based in Singapore. Facebook, YouTube and Google Search are far and away the most popular internet destinations, Kemp's data shows. Facebook is also the most popular platform for online shopping in Vietnam. And the government is eager to nurture the countrys digital economy: smartphones and all that they enable, especially e-commerce and online banking, are transforming economies across Asia, and no one wants to be left behind. "They love that part of the story," said Chung. But the government also wants more control, including local data storage and local corporate offices -- a provision company officials privately fear is designed to allow the government to intimidate companies by exposing individuals to arrest. Both Facebook and Google serve Vietnam from their regional headquarters in Singapore. The new law also gives more power to Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, which is tasked with crushing dissent in the communist-ruled country. Facebook said it expected the new rules would require it to restrict more content. Google declined to comment. Long jail terms For the rights activists, there appears to be little hope of relief. For example, just this month, a Facebook user in Vietnam was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for posts which "distorted the political situation," according to a statement posted on an official Communist Party website. Still, Facebook remains an important tool for activists in Vietnam -- a country where government criticism is rarely tolerated and the battle between the authorities and dissidents is a game of cat-and-mouse. "Sometimes we use Facebook to distract authorities, like we pretend to discuss an important meeting, which obviously won't happen," activist Nguyen Lan Thang said. "Then we watch from afar and laugh as they surround our fake meeting spot," Thang added. Tourism regulation in Antarctica has become an urgent matter due to environmental threats, officials from the 53 member countries of the Antarctic Treaty warned at their annual meeting, held this week in Buenos Aires. In the absence of rules, travel agencies offer trips to the region on boats sometimes equipped with helicopters or submarines, according to Segolene Royal, French ambassador for the Arctic and Antarctic poles. "This activity creates considerable disturbance ... we are witnessing a race toward large-scale tourism that is dangerous for ecosystems," she said at the assembly on Wednesday. During the austral summer of 2016/2017, around 44,000 tourists set off for Antarctica, compared with just 9,000 in 1995/1996, according to French authorities. Read also: China to release do's and don'ts as more Chinese tourists visit Antarctica However, the push for regulation is not about banning tourism, former environmental minister Royal said, but rather about ensuring it is managed in compliance with the treaty and its environmental protection protocol. In Buenos Aires, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting -- whose mission is to regulate human activity on the continent -- also sought to encourage scientific cooperation between countries that have collectively set up around 100 research bases across the ice. Also up for analysis is China's proposed fifth permanent scientific station in Antarctica, which would be located in the Ross Sea area south of New Zealand. Amsterdam is seeking to contain the flood of tourists swamping the city, with the incoming council proposing a series of tough measures and plans to hike tourism taxes. Some 18 million tourists visit Amsterdam every year -- more than the entire population of the Netherlands -- and local residents have become increasingly fed-up at the deluge. The city's picturesque narrow streets and canals now sag year round under the weight of all the visitors, including increasing numbers of raucous and unruly stag and hen parties. Under a plan "to seek a new balance" put forward by the four parties forming the city's next coalition council, popular activities like beer-bikes and boozy boat trips will be sharply curtailed. Read also: KLM to relocate to Terminal 3 on May 15 "Tourism is part of the international culture of Amsterdam, which we should continue to cherish," the plan says, a copy of which was obtained Thursday by AFP. But due to "nuisance, crowds and rubbish, some neighborhoods are under extreme pressure." Amsterdam is first and foremost "a city to live in and to do business," the plan says, adding "it is only secondly a tourist destination." From 2019 tourist taxes will be hiked to 7.0 percent, while the city will also look at ways to cut back on the number of hotel rooms. In some swamped neighborhoods a total ban on holiday rentals may be introduced, and plans for a new passenger terminal for large cruise ships will be scrapped. "We are looking for an alternative location outside of Amsterdam," the plan says. The city already announced in January that it would impose a new 30-day curb on the renting of private homes via websites like online booking giant Airbnb from next year. And this will be strictly enforced, the parties pledged. The marriage of US actress Meghan Markle to Britains Prince Harry has prompted more US visitors to fly to the UK, with data showing that bookings from the US for this week are 12 percent ahead of last year. Americans will be among the royal fans convening on the town of Windsor before Saturdays wedding, suggested data provided by Travelport website on Thursday. It showed that before the wedding date was announced last December, bookings for arrival into Britain from the US for this week were down around 7 percent, but following the news of the wedding date, they are now up 12 percent compared to the same week in 2017. Read also: Harry, Meghan and Megan to crew British Airways royal wedding flight We know that important events like a Royal Wedding encourage people to travel and its great to see were welcoming so many visitors from the U.S. this week, said Paul Broughton, Travelports country manager for the UK and Ireland. One of those Americans to have made the journey across the pond is self-confessed royal super-fan Donna Werner, who is planning to camp out on the streets in the hope of catching a glimpse of the couple. Travelport data also showed that once the royal wedding date had been announced, more people chose to stay in the UK for that week than travel abroad. Before the date was known, bookings for Brits to travel abroad on the week of the wedding were up 10 percent. After the date was announced, the rate of bookings for foreign trips slowed, meaning that now, trips abroad for the week are up only 4 percent compared with last year. A sleepy Mexican resort town has found itself swept up in the frenzy swirling around Britain's royal wedding thanks to the antics of the once-anonymous American retiree who is now its most famous resident: Meghan Markle's dad. Thomas Markle, Prince Harry's future father-in-law, has lit up gossip pages with his on-again, off-again plans to walk his daughter down the aisle Saturday and the emergency heart surgery that, as Meghan confirmed Thursday, will prevent him from being at Windsor Castle for the ceremony. The scene of Markle's painful misadventures with the rabid tabloid press is Rosarito, his adopted Mexican hometown. The town, with a population of 70,000, sits on Mexico's Pacific coast about a half hour's drive south of the US border. Its pretty beaches and sunny climate have made it a popular retirement destination for Americans, who make up an estimated 15 to 30 percent of its population. Markle, 73, was just another aging "gringo" soaking up the sun until his daughter got engaged to Harry. And that is when the royal shenanigans erupted. Hounded by the paparazzi -- his complicated relationship with his family suddenly hot news to tabloids around the world -- Markle apparently decided to try to reclaim control of his image by staging a series of photos with a celebrity photographer. What at first seemed candid, heart-warming pictures of Markle getting fitted for a suit, reading up on England in a coffee shop and browsing pictures of the happy couple in an internet cafe were in fact pre-arranged, according to Britain's Daily Mail. Read also: Markle's father says heart procedure puts him out of British royal wedding 'Wedding suit' In Rosarito -- where Markle lives in a gated community in an upscale neighborhood -- the strange story has thrust those who happened to cross his path along the way into a most unexpected spotlight. Such is the case of Yadira Martinez, the owner of Tuxedos Martinez, where Markle and Los Angeles-based celebrity photographer Jeff Rayner arrived on April 7 to take photos of the father of the bride supposedly getting fitted for a suit. "He came here looking for our business. But it was like 9:30 in the morning on a Saturday, and we were closed," she told AFP. So Markle and Rayner went to another business next door, a party supply shop, and picked a young student employee to "measure" Markle for his wedding finery, according to those who were there. That student was 17-year-old David Flores, who recalls awkwardly telling Markle: "But I don't know how to take measurements." It didn't matter. Markle had his own measuring tape with him. "I measured him as best I could, as the other guy (Rayner) stood back to take pictures. I feel like they came more for the photos than anything else, because he never came back," Flores said. "I never could have imagined who he was. After the news came out in the papers, word got around fast. Now everyone is talking about it on my social networks." Read also: Half-brother accuses 'phoney' Meghan Markle of 'forgetting' family Change of heart... heart attack Outside view of 'Omega' cyber-cafe, where Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan Markle, admitted to set up staged photos with a paparazzi, in Rosarito, Baja California state, Mexico on May 16, 2018. (AFP/Guillermo Arias) Before retiring, Markle had a glamorous Hollywood career as an Emmy-winning lighting director -- something his TV star daughter has cited as an influence in her own acting career. But in Rosarito, he reportedly lived a quiet, solitary life, until unwittingly getting swept into the tumultuous universe of royals and royal-watchers. Even now, in this breezy beach town far removed from often dreary England, many have only a vague idea what the fuss is about. "I remember Princess Diana, but I don't know the slightest thing about her children, least of all this one you're asking me about," said Carolina Solis, a vendor who sells handicrafts near the Omega internet cafe, where Rayner took more staged photos of Markle. "I heard on the American news that Princess Diana's son's father-in-law lived here," said Andrea Jimenez, a receptionist in a doctor's office. "I think it's a good thing for Rosarito. It shows it's not dangerous like they say, and that famous people come here to relax. It might bring us more tourism." Markle appears to have suffered for what he later called the "stupid and hammy" staged photos, which Meghan's estranged half-sister, Samantha, said were her idea, aimed at polishing his image. After the embarrassing story broke, Markle pulled out of the wedding, then changed his mind again -- only to suffer a reported heart attack last week, forcing him to have heart surgery Wednesday. Celebrity news website TMZ reported that the procedure went well -- but with a lengthy recovery ahead of him, Markle will no longer be able to walk his daughter down the aisle. The big day is almost here and in only a few more hours, well know which designer Meghan Markle has chosen to create the wedding dress which will be seen by people all across the planet within seconds. A post shared by Spy.com (@spy_dot) on May 15, 2018 at 10:28am PDT Whats going to be especially fascinating to see is whether shes taken any influences from past royal brides in a nod towards the family shes soon to join. To refresh your memory and get you in the mood, heres some of the most iconic British Royal Wedding dresses of the past: Princess Elizabeth (Norman Hartnell, 1947) A post shared by missmeganmarkle_style (@miss.meganmarkle) on May 15, 2018 at 10:45am PDT We start with the matriarch of the family, the Queen, who was then simply 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth. With rationing still in force, she had to purchase the gown using coupons, although well-wishers all over the country also sent her theirs. Hartnell, the Court Designer at the time, was inspired by Botticellis painting of Primavera, whilst the dress was covered in crystals and ten thousand seed pearls. Its a classic design, which has been said to inspire later royal brides, in honour of the woman and Queen she was to become. Princess Anne (Maureen Baker, 1973) A post shared by Bridal Illustration By Julie (@bridal_illustration_by_julie) on May 9, 2018 at 12:36pm PDT Whilst the marriage might not have lasted the Princess and Mark Phillips divorced in 1992 this dress has gone down in history for both its simplicity and the way it reflected contemporary wedding dresses. With its high collar and medieval sleeves, its certainly dramatic and very Seventies. Lady Diana Spencer (1982, David and Elizabeth Emmanuel) A post shared by KarFashionista (@karfashionista) on May 15, 2018 at 9:08am PDT No list of wedding dresses could ever be complete without a nod to this, often considered to be THE dress of the century. In contrast with the Queens ration-book gown, this one cost 9,000 at the time, and it set the trend for wedding dresses throughout the decade. With its enormous train and puffed sleeves, its not necessarily a look wed want to recreate today, and caused difficulties on the day itself: the designers hadnt considered how the dress would travel, and the creasing is one of the things the dress is most remembered for today. Camilla Parker-Bowles (2005, Antonia Robinson and Anna Valentine) A post shared by Couture And Royal Outfits (@coutureandroyals) on Apr 17, 2018 at 5:30am PDT It was a wedding many thought could never happen, but when Prince Charles' long-time partner finally became a member of The Firm, she celebrated with not one, but two wedding dresses. This pale blue and gold coat and chiffon gown was her choice for the blessing in St Georges Chapel where Harry and Meghan will tie the knot following the Windsor Registry Office wedding that morning. As the oldest royal bride on this list, and with it being the second time for both bride and groom, the Duchess chose wisely, eschewing the virginal white and going instead for this elegant and classy ensemble. Catherine Middleton (2011, Sarah Burton) A post shared by European Royal Families (@europeroyals) on May 11, 2018 at 12:16pm PDT Perhaps the most famous dress of recent years, Prince William's bride joined the family in a dress which many felt owed a debt to the Queens 64 years earlier. The gown was symbolic, incorporating the floral emblems of the four kingdoms of the UK in the lace patterning. For many, the maid-of-honour, Pippa Middleton stole the show with that dress, but the brides outfit had its own legion of fans; when it was put on display at Buckingham Palace that summer, a record number of visitors flooded through the gates to see this piece of modern history. So now we wait with baited breath to see how Meghan will add to this history of fashion! Weve all noticed our local cafe or bar getting rid of their plastic straws and offering permanent metal straws or the soggier, less durable cardboard equivalent. Eurostar This effort forms part of a much wider initiative to reduce plastic use, given its detrimental consequences on the ocean and aquatic species. Now, the travel top dog that offers high-speed railway connection across Europe, has jumped aboard the bandwagon with its Tread Lightly Ten Point Plan. The Tread Lightly plan builds upon a previous 2008 programme, and aims to further reduce carbon emissions and waste. The plan was unveiled in February in support of the Paris Climate Agreement and includes a commitment to cut plastics by 50% by 2020. With only two years to achieve their aim, Eurostar has already started by banning plastic straws on-board and in lounges and has ensured that only metal cutlery is used on first class services. Eurostar has also announced it will work with its catering partners to reduce waste and find alternative materials for packaging. With over 10 million passengers per year using Eurostars services, the companys commitment to reducing its plastic use by half is no small feat. Whats more, its not just plastics. The new environmentally-conscious plan also vows to cut paper use by half by 2020. Eurostar representatives have explained this would mean a heavier reliance on digital technology. Other efforts to improve their green footprint include investing in renewable energy and exchanging all Eurostar vehicles for electric alternatives. All these projects come from the company that markets itself as the greenest option for anyone wishing to travel from the UK to France. Whether Eurostar can uphold this reputation and deliver on these optimistic goals is yet to be seen. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: Home Page When it comes to creating a sustainable future, chemistry will play a major role. That was the message Greg Pflum delivered May 9 when he met with business leaders, members of academia and local government officials at the Sustainable Brands 2019 Detroit Networking reception to discuss sustainability efforts in the metropolitan Detroit area. Pflum, who is vice president and general manager of BASFs Midwest Hub in Wyandotte, talked about how BASF creates chemistry for a sustainable future by developing technology to provide proper nutrition, access to water and an acceptable standard of living for an ever-growing population. He said the needs of our society require solutions that consume less natural resources through the smart use of chemistry. Pflum explained how BASF relentlessly pursues solutions for its customers. As the world grows to a population of 10 billion people by 2050, he said urbanization will increase tremendously in Detroit and most population centers. Chemistry will allow us to produce effective nutrition, including water, and consume less energy for living and mobility, Pflum said. Sandra awkwardly explained: "Well, you push in whatever the facialist would like to insert into your pores. It is an extraction from a piece of skin that came from a young person far, far away and they somehow figured out how to extract..." Ellen saw through Sandra's bullshit, and asked WHAT exactly is extracted. Only instead of getting embarrassed by this cooked beauty treatment that sounds like it's come straight from the mouth of a villain in a Brothers Grimm fairytale, Sandra advocated the shit out of it. Telling the crowd: "I think when you see how good it is to your face, you too will run to your local facialist and say, 'Give me the penis'." You know what Sandra, I think you're wrong. Very, very wrong. I don't care how good you look for 53. If your injecting baby foreskin cells into your face, you need help. READ MORE: Rich, famous chicks are spending $650 a pop on "penis facials" Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Cloudy with occasional light rain...mainly in the morning. High near 18C. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low near 13C. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Syrian President Bashar Assad made a surprise visit to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at his summer residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. A transcript of Thursdays meeting released by the Kremlin quoted Assad as saying that Syria is making progress in fighting terrorism, which opens the door to the political process. Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Assad informed the Russian leader of his decision to send a delegation to the U.N. to discuss reforming the countrys constitution. The U.N. has hosted several rounds of peace talks in Geneva that have made no progress toward ending the conflict. A posting on the Syrian presidencys Facebook page said the two leaders consulted on various issues of mutual interest and the latest political and military developments in Syria. It said Assad confirmed he will send a list of candidate names as soon as possible to the United Nations, for membership in a committee that would discuss the constitution. It said that Russia welcomes and supports this decision based on agreements reached in national dialogue meetings in Sochi. It said the two also discussed economic cooperation and growing investments by Russian companies in Syria. Russia has been a key ally of Assad throughout the seven-year Syrian civil war. Moscow launched an air campaign on behalf of Assads forces in 2015 that tipped the conflict in his favor. Assad previously visited Russia and met with Putin in November 2017 and October 2015, and Putin traveled to the Russian air base in Syria last December to announce a scale-back of the Russian military presence there. Russian state television on Thursday aired footage of the two leaders meeting. Putin told Assad that a lot has been done at Russia-sponsored talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Kazakhstan. Now we can take the next steps together with you, Putin told Assad. Assad said he is committed to political reform, without elaborating. Syrias conflict began with mass protests against the Assad familys decades-long rule. A brutal government crackdown and the rise of an armed insurgency eventually tipped the country into civil war. More than 450,000 people have been killed and 11 million have been displaced from their homes. Assads future has been a key sticking point in years of failed peace efforts. The opposition and its Western backers have demanded he step aside as part of a political transition, something the Syrian government has adamantly rejected. (AP) Information released on Tuesday, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, shows housing prices in Israel continue to drop as they have been over the last six months. While the price drop is marginal, there is a downward trend, and this is significant. Even more significant is the fact that over the past year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the housing index reflects a 0.1% decline. This marks the first time in over a decade, since 2007, that the housing index portrays a negative figure. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon explains, They say the marketplace is on fire and it is impossible, yet we did it. They said there is simply no way to influence pricing, yet we accomplished this. This is not my success, or that of another, but of the young couples who after years and years of waiting can think of purchasing a home. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Thursday, 17 May 2018), released the following video on his Facebook page: Ready for a real shocker? I completely agree with the leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization whove said this over the past few days. Mahmoud al Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, said that calling the actions of Palestinians on the Gaza border peaceful is a clear deception. His words. This is not peaceful resistance, he said. I agree. Shooting guns and lobbing explosives at Israelis isnt peaceful at all. Or take Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. He said that the aim of the riots is to, quote, tear down their border and tear out their hearts. I agree that destroying Israel and killing innocent Israelis is his true goal. Well, how about senior Hamas official Salah Bardawil? He said that 50 out of the 60 Palestinians killed Monday, thats over 80%, were members of Hamasin other words, members of a terrorist organization. The same Hamas that has called for genocide of every single Jew. I agree that Israel targets terrorists. Now if you dont believe me, or if you dont believe the leaders of Hamas, just take a look at this video. Palestinians break through Israels security fencesome of them waving meat-cleavers. O Jews! they shout. Were coming to slaughter you! This is what we are defending our families against. And you would do exactly the same. How Brussels and Remain factions at Westminster have managed to bamboozle the Government (and, for that matter, Labour) into thinking that a customs union, or something like it, is the be-all and end-all of Brexit negotiations is astonishing. It is no more than a strawman, focused on the Irish border-crossing and diverting policymakers from real prizes. As exciting as it is that the UK once again has a vibrant car design and making sector, there is no escaping the fact that when it comes to exports we are a disappointment. The most important thing which Theresa May should be shouting from the roof tops is services Britains huge strength in Europe, the US and across the globe is in services. This does not refer to haircuts and celebrity chefs, as terrific as Toni & Guy and Heston Blumenthal may be. The most important thing which the Prime Minister and Chancellor should be shouting from the roof tops is services. As the 2017 report from financial services industry body, The City UK, points out, financial services earned Britain a surplus of 57billion last year 69.3billion when related services such as legal and consulting are counted. Thats before creative services, ranging from Star Wars movies to Ed Sheeran, are added. A fat, forensic dossier on financial services has been passed by the Bank of England to the Government detailing areas of competitive advantage and potential regulatory solutions. The favoured approach is mutual recognition (or equivalence). This works for the UK at present because many of the rules originated in London. As innovation comes along, some kind of adjudication process will be required to sort out divergences. At recent Washington financial gatherings, Philip Hammond talked up the need for more open and global services deals. But no one in Westminster appears to be listening. Unless the Government takes it forward with urgency and willpower, Britains most embedded competitive advantage could be placed at risk. Bully boy This brings us to New York corporate raider Edward Bramson and his assault on Barclays. Investors in the bank will be aware that it has been an underwhelming performer, plagued by ethical problems which has slowed turnaround. Far bigger shareholders, such as long-term owners Capital Group, Qatar Holdings and Blackrock, should not allow themselves to be bullied into reshaping the enterprise by a 5pc holder focused on making himself and cohorts richer in the immediate term and not worrying about the dead bodies left behind. Edward Bramson Bramsons declared goal, unhelpfully outlined in New York, is to rip Barclays investment banking operation apart. He kindly consents to leaving mergers and acquisitions teams in place and allowing the bank to do high value public offerings and bond sales but thinks cash equities, currency and fixed trading desks can be axed. Even sceptics about the social good to be derived from casino banking have to recognise that it is part of the package if you are to be a functioning investment bank. Barclays is the last UK institution standing in this space, and for all its faults has a strong franchise having acquired (on the cheap) most of Lehmans US corporate clients. If it stops being a full-service investment bank it shrivels into territory better occupied by Lazard, Greenhill, Rothschild and the rest. Thats not good for Barclays or London as a global financial centre. Family affairs The economics of todays royal wedding are, like the monarchy, bathed in mystique. Generally speaking, the taxpayer seems to get a good deal from the 85 per cent it receives of the 328million profit derived from the 12.4billion Crown Estates. The Queens 15 per cent share, and income from the Duchy of Lancaster, are also subject to taxes since they were negotiated by John Majors government during a rare burst of republican fervour. In comparison, the cost of the nuptials held on state property at Windsor is 32million. As Britain moves to toward a European farewell, rekindling the pomp of the UK monarchy can be no bad thing. An American bride should (as International Trade Secretary Liam Fox says) underpin the transatlantic relationship. Last year 1.56m American tourists, taking advantage of a depreciated pound, travelled to the UK and spent 1.4billion. If global publicity for Harry and Meghan were to lift US tourism by just a couple of per cent, then the wedding would be paid for. Imagine the uplift if a future royal were to find a Chinese partner. Lidl is planning an online delivery service in yet another assault against the UKs biggest supermarket chains. The German discounter has created a holding company with Companies House called Lidl Digital Logistics as it gears up to enter the grocery delivery market, the Mail can reveal. Lidl chief executive Christian Hartnagel and chief financial officer Dirk Kahl have been registered as directors of the new company. Online move: It is the first time Lidl has expressed an interest in moving online Lidls move represents the latest attack on the likes of Tesco and Sainsburys, which have thriving web businesses. And just this week, online grocer Ocado secured a tie-up with US supermarket giant Kroger. Aldis German rival Aldi also has a delivery service where customers can buy wine and general merchandise such as clothing, childrens toys and DIY tools. Shoppers still have to go in store for fresh food, and its online offering is limited. Although Lidl has 700 stores in the UK and pulled in revenues of 6.1billion last year, this is the first time it has expressed an interest in moving online. The company filing comes as Sainsburys and Asda prepare to join forces to create a 14.1billion supermarket. The competition regulator has begun its investigation into the merged company which would have 2,800 stores with combined revenues of 51billion. The grocery powerhouse is likely to be viewed as a major threat to rivals as it becomes the UKs biggest supermarket. Sainsburys and Asda have vowed to slash prices if the merger goes ahead. Aldi and Lidl have already hit back and vowed to remain the cheapest option for shoppers. But experts say Lidl needs to do more to protect its competitive advantage. Natalie Berg, retail analyst at NBK Retail, said supermarkets can no longer ignore the importance of having an online business. Competition: Aldi and Lidl have hit back at Sainsbury's and Asda merger by vowing to remain the cheapest option for shoppers Discounters like Lidl have traditionally shunned ecommerce because it was incompatible with their low-cost business model, she said. Once you factored in the cost of picking, packing and delivering, theres no way Lidl could have offered the same low prices you find in store. However, the rise in third-party delivery services is opening doors for supermarkets, allowing them to cater to the growing demand for online grocery without the hefty investment in infrastructure or systems. Farida Gibbs, chief executive of technology consultancy Gibbs Hybrid, said: Without technology, no business can create and deliver its products or services while engaging with customers efficiently. Marks & Spencer is trialling a delivery service with courier firm Gophr in Camden, north-west London, and Reading as a cheaper way of getting food and drink from stores to customers. A postcode finder on its website hints it could soon be ready to launch a larger roll out. Marks & Spencer is trialling a delivery service with courier firm Gophr in a couple of locations Lidl has soared in popularity with customers since it opened its first supermarket in Britain in 1994. The German firm traces its roots back to the 1930s when it started out as an independent grocery wholesaler. It has been a hit with shoppers hunting for a bargain as an alternative to the Big Four of Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons. The growth of the budget supermarket chains, which account for more than one in eight sales, were one of the motivators for Sainsburys bid for Asda. Last year Lidl revealed a 1.5billion expansion plan which will see it open 60 shops a year. A spokesman for Lidl said last night: We have a digital department already established within the business and, of course, online is something were looking at, but we have no immediate plans at the moment. More than 2.5bn was wiped off the value of Glencore yesterday amid reports it faces a bribery probe by the Serious Fraud Office. Shares in the commodities giant fell 4.4 per cent, or 17.5p, to 380.35p. The SFO is believed to be looking into Glencores ties to Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler in Democratic Republic of Congo. Gertler, who once owned stakes in two of Glencores projects in DRC, was sanctioned by the US last year for opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals in the country. Glencore and the SFO declined to comment. The share slump came as the FTSE 100 eased off from its all-time high to finish the day down 0.12 per cent, or 9.18 points, at 7778.79. Troubled Carpetright has turned to shareholders in a bid to raise 60m. It has been little over a month since the struggling retailer revealed it would shut 92 of its stores and axe 300 jobs as it battles to stay alive. Shares in the group, which has 2,700 staff and 409 UK shops, are down an eye-watering 76 per cent since the start of the year. Carpetright will use 10 per cent of the money it raises to cover additional costs involved with its CVA, 12.5m to repay a short-term unsecured loan and 33m to fund its spending plans. Chief executive Wilf Walsh said the placing would provide the cash needed to refurbish and modernise its stores and upgrade its digital platform. There was a scramble for shares yesterday, which should serve as evidence that investors believe the placing will help Carpetright execute its turnaround. Certainly that must be the case for any newbie buyers, as only those who owned shares prior to the market close on Thursday are eligible for the new tranche. Shareholders are being offered 88 shares for every 27 existing shares they hold, which will be issued at 28p each a chunky 15.8pc discount from their closing price on Thursday. Walsh was delighted at the strong demand for the shares, but investors may not feel they are in much of a position to say no. Carpetrights market cap is 23.6m it means the issue of 232m shares would dilute the stake of an existing investor who chose not to participate in the issue by more than 75 per cent. A shareholder who had a 1 per cent stake in the business will see that stake drop to 0.235 per cent if they do not participate, according to analysis by Hargreaves Lansdown. And Paul Hickman, analyst at Edison Investment Research, said: This does look like a serious and comprehensive effort to lift Carpetright out of the cycle of decline that has hit other legacy retailers. Shares soared 11.3 per cent, or 3.75p, to 37p. Live Company Group is expanding into South Korea. The events business runs Brick Live exhibitions of popular brick-building toy Lego across the world. Next month the group will launch a Brick Live Kids Cafe in Seoul, displaying Lego animals and attractions such as a brick pit, race tracks and interactive graffiti wall. The company also plans to launch 100 such cafes across China by 2022. Shares leapt 5.2 per cent, or 2p, to 40.5p. The biggest shareholder in retirement firm Just Group has sold its 18 per cent stake for 237m. Private equity firm Permira offloaded its stock for 143p per share 5 per cent below market prices. Analysts said the disposal is good for investors as it means more shares are freely changing hands on the market. Earlier this week, Just unveiled a 41 per cent rise in business in the first three months of 2018 and hailed it as a strong start to the year. Shares in the group dipped 2.2 per cent, or 3.3p, to 147.1p. Savers are being treated to a game of best-buy leapfrog by the burgeoning number of so-called challenger banks and savings providers. In a move that could be considered either competitive, or somewhat tedious, the Bank of Cyprus UK has become the latest to make sure it squeezes to the top of the best-buy tables by the slimmest possible margin with two new accounts. The bank has nudged up the rate on its Online Easy Access account to 1.32 per cent, overtaking Paragon Bank by a 0.01 percentage point margin. Its new one-year fixed-rate cash Isa deal again only pushes up rates by a minuscule amount to 1.51 per cent - leapfrogging the likes of Al Rayan Bank and Paragon Bank, which both paying 1.50 per cent over the same term. Top savings deals: The new Bank of Cyprus UK accounts beat rivals by a tiny margin But such are the straitened times for savers, both accounts will probably soon reach the intake limit set by the provider and be closed to new business. And the new Online Easy Access deal comes with a 0.47 per cent fixed bonus for the first 12 months, meaning savers will want to move their cash to a better rate after a year. Paragons Limited Edition Easy Access 6 account in comparison pays just 0.01 percentage points less, but it comes with no temporary bonus. Other alternatives without a one-year rate bonus include Kent Reliance Easy Access Issue 26 and French-owned RCI Banks Freedom Savings, both paying 1.3 per cent. The easy access account from Bank of Cyprus UK requires 1 to open and can be accessed online. Deposits with Bank of Cyprus UK are covered by the Financial Services Compensation scheme up to the usual 85,000 limit. The new market-beating One-year fixed Isa allows transfers in and can be opened with 500. Alongside the provider has released a Fixed Rate Isa lasting two years paying 1.55 per cent and a three-year option offering 1.6 per cent interest. Both of these deals sit in the middle of This is Moneys Best Buy Cash Isa tables, and are competitive but not the top rates on offer. The top deal on a two-year fixed rate Isa currently comes from Al Rayan Bank at 1.7 per cent, while the best three-year rate is paid by Aldermore at 1.8 per cent. The bank has also added to its taxable Fixed Rate Bond savings deals. It now pays 1.45 per cent to lock cash away for one year, 1.65 per cent over a two year term and 1.7 per cent for three years. These are less competitive than its Isa and easy-access offerings, sitting much further down the tables. Currently savers can earn close to 2 per cent on a one-year term, more than any of the new Bank of Cyprus UK Fixed Rate Bonds offer, even the longer term accounts. Both Investec Bank (it requires a 25,000 deposit to open) and Milestone Savings (1,000 initial deposit required) offer the table-topping rate of 1.9 per cent. Milestone Savings is a Sharia compliant bank, therefore it offers estimated profit rather than guaranteed interest. The next best deal comes from challenger Paragon at 1.86 per cent. MBABANE Senior lawyer Siboniso Clement Dlamini, who has been debarred from appearing in all courts in the country, has reported the chief justice to the Human Rights Commission. Chief Justice (CJ) Bheki Maphalala stopped Dlamini from making court appearances anywhere in Eswatini, until he complied with an order compelling him to contribute E8 000 towards the maintenance of a widow. This happened on April 9, 2018. The widow, Phindile Ndzinisa, took him to court regarding the alleged mismanagement of her late husbands estate valued at nearly E900 000. After being banned by the CJ, Dlamini filed an urgent application in the High Court challenging his debarment. This application, in which he instructed Advocate Lucas Maziya to represent him, is yet to see the light of day. In a letter dated April 25, 2018, the senior lawyer informed the Human Rights Commission that it was allegedly illegal for the CJ to ban him from appearing in the courts and that he had no authority to do so. He said Maphalala allegedly abused his authority and office, resulting in the violation of his (Dlamini) right to appear before the courts. Dlamini informed the commission that Maphalalas act of debarring him was allegedly unenforceable because he had no power to do so. When Chief Justice Maphalala made the pronouncement last month, he cited Sections 139 (5) and 142 of the Constitution and said; In exercise of my powers as Chief Justice vested in me in terms of Sections 139 (5) and 142 of the Constitution, I direct that you be barred and consequently shall not appear in all the courts of Swaziland until such time that you have purged your contempt. The Law Society of Swaziland, in a subsequent meeting, mentioned that the sections of the Constitution cited by the chief justice had nothing to do with the debarring of guilty lawyers but the administration of justice. In his letter to the Human Rights Commission, Dlamini alleged that the CJ issued an instruction that the urgent application he filed challenging the decision to ban him from the courts, should be removed from the registry and the roll. Dlamini narrated that he cited the CJ as a respondent in that application and when his attorney issued the process, he was allegedly advised at the registry that he was not permitted to issue any process and to challenge the CJ. He stated that he then approached the Law Society of Swaziland (LSS) in order to obtain a case number. He alleged that one of the members of the LSS assisted him to obtain the case number and that the member was allegedly advised at the registry that he was not permitted to open the file on his behalf. He alleged that the instruction came from the chief justice. NKHABA A police warning shot was not enough to stop a furious mob from heavily assaulting an alleged rapist. The incident happened on Tuesday at Nkhaba where a mob pounced on *Musa for allegedly raping a seven-year-old girl. About 50 people, mostly related to the mother of the child, attacked *Musa. The rape suspect was beaten for over three hours by the angry mob and it was the arrival of the police that saved him from their wrath. However, the police had to first fire a warning shot to try and disperse the mob who did not budge. They eventually decided to leave him when they were satisfied after a thorough beating. The suspect was busted after the child eventually confided to some women in the community who had to beg her to tell them who had raped her. This was after the survivor refused to speak out to her mother and the nurses at Nkhaba Clinic. grabbed However, the child eventually spoke out to the community women, that Musa had allegedly grabbed her by the hand while they were playing at his homestead and placed her on the bed, before allegedly raping her. Musa is a neighbour of the allegedly raped child. According to the mother of the survivor *Busisiwe, she noticed her daughter walking strangely and when she checked her private parts, they had sores, blood and a whitish substance. The mother said she reported the matter to the childs grandmother, who advised that she should take her to the clinic. We visited the Nkhaba Clinic on Wednesday morning, where the nurses confirmed that my daughter had been sexually assaulted, said Busisiwe. She said they were given a letter by nurses at the clinic, who referred them to the Mbabane Government Hospital. However, she said Thursday fell on a holiday and they found out that there was no doctor and had to come back on Friday. attended She said when they arrived at the hospital on Friday, the doctor said they should get a police report before they could be attended to. I went to report the matter to the police who prepared the police report for us which we also presented to the doctor, said Busisiwe. She said blood and urine tests were conducted. The doctor found out that she had contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI), she said. The mother said her daughter was given tablets and they went back home. However, she said they still have not received counselling services and were expected to go back to the Mbabane Government Hospital on May 25, 2018. A community member, gogo Simangele Masilela said they were left dumbfounded as they trusted the alleged rapist. Gogo Masilela said they would even dish food for Musa who was very useful in the community and would come handy in so many ways, which included cutting wood. We are still shocked by the incident and this shows that we were not safe at all, said Masilela. She said Musa came at a very tender age with his father who was a Mozambican national and grew up before their eyes. He was more like a son to me, Masilela said. Chief Police Information and Officer Superintendent Khulani Mamba, confirmed that a statutory rape case was reported. Meanwhile, Mamba said the suspect has not been arrested yet as the matter was still being investigated by the police. However, he said the alleged rapist would eventually be charged as the case was valid. Newly elected Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today hosted U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills. At the meeting, according to the prime ministers website, Pashinyan stressed the importance of continually strengthening Armenia-U.S. relations and welcomed the readiness of the White House to intensify cooperation in several sectors, including the promotion of democracy, the defense of human rights, and the fight against corruption. We are full of energy, to reach our goals and achieve specific results, especially considering the positive atmosphere in the country today, Pashinyan said. Ambassador Mills congratulated Pashinyan for his election as prime minister and said that the United States government was ready to assist Armenia in achieving these objectives, and that this would make Armenia more attractive to American investors. European Parliament parties and journalist organizations are outraged over the Slovak police treatment of investigative journalist Pavla Holcova and urge them to return her phone. The Czech reporter was ostensibly invited for a friendly meeting in Slovakia to talk about the murder of her colleague Jan Kuciak but she was met with hostility instead. Police seized her phone which may contain sensitive information about Holcovas sources and colleagues. According to Holcova, there is nothing about Kuciak in it that she has not already voluntarily shared with investigators. While Slovakias media has been vocal in the condemnation, its politicians remain reserved. On Friday, Slovakias Prime Minister, Peter Pellegrini, said the prosecutor-general will look into how Holcovas phone was taken. He also said he had not been informed about any details. A spokeswoman for the prosecutors office said that the phone was taken to gather evidence in Kuciaks murder and that Holcova handed it over voluntarily. Holcova said that the officers told her they had a warrant from the prosecutors office and that they threatened to fine her. The European Peoples Party of the European Parliament issued a statement on Thursday condemning the treatment of Holcova. Chairman Manfred Weber said it is unacceptable that police threatened financial penalty to get access to private and business conversations not related to the investigation. The principle of protection of her sources and confidentiality is a key prerequisite for the free exercise of Pavla Holcova's profession as a journalist," he said. The Green Party sent an open letter to the UN and the Council of Europe on Wednesday requesting them to ensure that any intimidation of journalists is closely monitored, denounced and prevented. The Organized Crime and Corruption Project stated this behavior resembles police in captured states and autocratic regimes and does not belong in Europe. Its directors demand the police return the phone to Holcova. The International Press Institute expressed alarm as well, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen called on Slovak authorities to clarify the incident. The seizure of a journalists phone is a highly serious matter that endangers journalists fundamental right and duty to protect their sources, he said. Slovak authorities must clarify the reason behind this disturbing interrogation and confiscation and immediately return Ms. Holcovas device. IPI, OCCRP and all major newspapers and television stations in Slovakia request an explanation of what happened. In 2013, the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg ruled that Latvia had violated the rights of investigative journalist Ilzy Nagla when police had seized a computer and storage devices from her home to find out who had leaked their financial report. Nagla told OCCRP that she took her case to court after police had searched her home in 2010. Police too often seem to be under a false impression that press freedom and the right of journalists to protect their sources are just a fairy tale and as such can be easily disregarded, she said. But it is not. Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees freedom of expression and reporters rights to protect their sources. occrp.org Cherrytree Volunteer Fire Department is one of three VFDs that will benefit from an appreciation lunch planned by four local women, set to take place in June. LEAWOOD, Kan. -- Police are investigating a shooting Thursday night at a Leawood church, officials say. Johnson County Med Act said one person was shot around the 8:25 p.m. in the parking lot of the Church of the Resurrection. The extent of the victim's injuries is unknown at this time. An important milestone at the Courthouse and a major opponent of Exec Frank White's Administration decides against keeping up the fight.Here's the story:Background:Waits, a Democrat, had filed seven weeks ago to run for a ninth term in a district that includes most of Independence. But he withdrew Thursday. For the moment at least, that leaves one person Democrat Paul J. Wrabec of Sugar Creek running for that seat. Democrat Jessica J. Berry of Independence withdrew earlier this month.Waits said hes had a good run and will miss the people hes worked with. He said the decision of fellow Legislator Greg Grounds of Blue Springs not to run again nudged him toward retiring too.Over the years, he has pushed hard for such things as getting the countys Regional Animal Shelter built in Independence. At his insistence, officials stuck with their original goal of having a no-kill shelter. Waits, who is passionate about the welfare of animals, said thats important.Weve moved our community into a no-kill situation where animals have another chance, he said.#########Developing . . . KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The man who told police he was the suspect in three Northland shootings and who is in the country illegally could soon be deported once again. According to a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials placed an immigration detainer and federal warrant of removal on 41-year-old Arnoldo Pompa-Rascon on Tuesday. In interviews with more than two dozen senior Republican strategists, donors, lawmakers and local officials, Hawley was depicted as a lackadaisical candidate who has posted sluggish fundraising numbers, turned down interviews with conservative radio show hosts, and spurned traditional GOP events considered a rite of passage for a potential U.S. senator. "I am personally baffled and disappointed that the guy I've had on my show numerous times over the last four years and have been supportive of has been MIA," Mark Reardon, a veteran conservative radio show host in St. Louis whose program Hawley has shunned in recent months, said in an interview. "I'm pissed. I'm frustrated." Sent by one of the smarter denizens of our blog community . . .However . . . Let's be fair and objective . . . For so many voters, the only thing AG Josh Hawley has to do to win their vote is NOT be Sen. Claire McCaskill. That's a job he can do from home, the gym or at the office.Nevertheless, this criticism is coming from Republicans whilst Democratic Party denizens are more than happy to cater to the guy's (alleged) sense of entitlement.Checkit:Deets:You decide . . . Greitens blames low-income housing program backers for legal, political troubles Standing in a light rain in the shadow of the state Capitol, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens blamed "rip-off artists" in the state's low-income housing program "who thought they ran Missouri" for many of his legal troubles and the threat of his impeachment. As with all politicos and denizens of the Internets discourse . . . Everyone's problems can be blamed on everybody else. And so Missouri's leader confronts a vast network of players who plot against his admitted adulterous activities. Read more: Congressman Cleaver Introduces Resolution Calling On President Trump to Apologize to Senator McCain Cleaver, in a bipartisan effort with Congressman Walter Jones, Encourages White House To Show Civility Whereas, on May 10, 2018 in response to Senator John McCains call for fellow senators to oppose the nomination of Gina Haspel to lead the Central Intelligence Agency because she oversaw the agencys use of torture, White House Communications Aide Kelly Sadler was widely reported to have stated, It doesnt matter, hes dying anyway. (May 17, 2018 - Washington, D.C.) Congressmen Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) and Walter Jones (R-NC) introduced H. Res. 901 calling on and encouraging the White House to issue a public apology to Senator John McCain for comments made by White House Communications Aide Kelly Sadler. The resolution, of which a draft can be found here, states;Congressmen Cleaver and Jones believe Senator McCain served honorably in the United States Navy and deserves dignity and respect.The President, perhaps more so than any elected official in this great country, should practice the politics of decency, said Congressman Cleaver.These comments are outrageous and unacceptable, said Congressman Jones. Its a sad day in this country when White House officials are mocking a man who, while serving his country, was tortured as a prisoner of war. Hes more than earned the right to speak out on these matters. A public apology should be issued immediately.Congressman Cleaver recently made an appearance on MSNBC Live with Alex Witt in which he was asked about the climate of racially motivated incidents by police and others. The Congressman was referencing bigotry and hatred but be believes the same rules of decency apply when it comes to apologizing for ones mistakes. He responded to Alex Witt by saying, it starts from the top referring to the actions and reactions from our leader-in-chief.The mean-spiritedness coming out of the White house is giving rise to what we are seeing because I think many people are thinking, well if the President can make these comments then right wing protestors, hate groups, and the President refusing to apologizetheres not a parent in America who would teach their children not to apologize after they have done something wrong.Congressman Cleaver is the co-chair of the Civility Caucus and has joined other Members in a movement to revive civility on Capitol Hill.##########Developing . . . Transylvania County is one of 10 North Carolina local governments chosen to work to address the opioid crisis in their communities through an intensive two-year program. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and the UNC School of Government made the announcement Thursday. The School of Government and Blue Cross N.C. will provide the following to each participating community: five regional forums at which teams will form goals, set plans for implementation, collaborate across fields and jurisdictions, and learn from experts on opioid-related issues; School of Government support throughout the process; $10,000 to assist with the costs of hiring a community project manager; and $10,000 in implementation funding for the project. At Blue Cross N.C., we know that the opioid epidemic is damaging our communities and hurting people and families across the state, and were eager to address a major crisis of our lifetime through preventive health care and cross-sector collaboration, said Patrick Conway, president and CEO of Blue Cross N.C. We must turn the tide against opioids in our communities. This project, coordinated by the School of Governments ncIMPACT initiative, will complement health and policy efforts at the state and local levels by working with communities that are ready to implement best practices. Local governments are the front lines of policy implementation, and the School assists them through training, advising, and research. These teams seem extremely committed and well-positioned to address this difficult issue. Were grateful that Blue Cross N.C. has enabled all of us to learn from each other, said Mike Smith, dean of the UNC School of Government. The other nine selected teams are: Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Tyrell and Washington counties, Office of the District Attorney and Chief District Court Judge in the N.C. Second Judicial District, and human services and law enforcement agencies from all five counties; Cabarrus County, including the city of Concord and the city of Kannapolis; Cumberland County and the city of Fayetteville; Durham County; Forsyth County, including the city of Winston-Salem and the town of Kernersville; Greene, Lenoir and Wayne Counties, including the N.C. Eighth Judicial District; Mecklenburg County; Onslow County, including the city of Jacksonville; and Wilkes County, including the town of Wilkesboro. Thirty-nine teams applied for the program. Selection criteria included regional, economic, and demographic diversity; severity of opioid-related issues in the applicant communities; and adequate team structure. Those not selected will still have access to content and reports from the program, and the final forum will be open to all communities who want to participate. A public website will be updated with resources, including a free guide based on lessons learned and other assets collected over the two-year program. Visit sog.unc.edu/resources/microsites/responding-opioid-crisis/program-basics for more information on the program. Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : BOOK A COMFORTABLE AIRPORT LIMO SERVICE FROM WE LIMOS Industry: Car Rental WE LIMOS is a locally owned and operated transportation company happily serving airport transportation needs of clients in Monmouth County. The ground transport service from We Limos offers all the latest model luxury limo vehicles including black car limos driven by best polite chauffeurs ensuring high level comfort and customer satisfaction. (TRAVPR.COM) USA - May 18th, 2018 - Comfortable Airport car transportation is choice to many local and international travellers in Monmouth County. 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Share Release : CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Wal Jankojc Company: We Limos Phone: (732) 829-4429 Email: contact@welimos.com Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 17 The Panjab University (PU) Senate will consider giving exemplary punishment to Assistant Professor Komal Singh by considering all cases of sexual harassment against him. The Senate is meeting on May 27. The Panjab University Committee against Sexual Harassment (PUCASH) has held him guilty twice for sexually harassing women students. In the third case, he apologised to women students for his behaviour and matter ended in compromise. In another case, he wrongfully facilitated an outsider girl in getting a hostel room in 2014. He called her outside her hostel and allegedly misbehaved with her and asked her to sit in the car. She had to make a police complaint. Komal Singh submitted an apology to the police, but he had to leave his chairpersonship because of this complaint. Cases dealt by PUCASH As many as 17 students of MA-I of the Department of Public Administration complained that on August 29, 2017, he introduced students to an acronym KISS, which according to him stands for Knowledge, Information and Society. But then he added, Ae Tuhade vale kiss di gall ni mai kar reha (I am not talking about your version of kiss). He was calling girls individually to his office. He crossed his limits saying I love you. This all was very offensive and wasnt bearable, said the students. Komal Singh had to apologise for his conduct in this case and issue was settled on January 23. On September 10, 2015, an MA student lodged a complaint against him as he indulged in sexual talks with her. PUCASH had held him guilty in this case. In another proved case of sexual harassment of a third-year student, as per PUCASH, he used sexually coloured abusive language and pulled victims hair. He was allegedly drunk. His issue had earlier come for discussion in the Senate on April 1 where a total of 51 senators were present at the time of voting on his dismissal. While 32 voted for his removal from the service, 18 voted for demotion in grade. One vote was invalid. But the rules say that two-third votes are needed for removing a teacher from service. After the debate in the Senate, PUCASH had then written a letter to the Vice-Chancellor dated April 5, calling for strict punishment against Komal Singh. Vishavjeet Chaudhary Vishavjeet Chaudhary OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat The past few days have been of great uncertainty. No single party has crossed the half-way mark to form the government on its own in the state. This was followed by a very swift post-poll alliance between the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) parties. With their combined numbers, they crossed the half-way mark and staked claim to form the government. Their choice of Chief Minister was also made public. Very speedily, the BJP announced that it was going to form the government. The BJP also announced that its Chief Minister Yeddyurappa would take oath the following morning. In an unprecedented move, the representatives of Congress and JD(S) requested for an urgent hearing on the matter by the Supreme Court. Way past midnight, the judges and lawyers stayed up to argue the case. The prime contention was if the Chief Minister could be allowed to swear in. While the justices allowed swearing-in the following morning, they requested further documents, including a copy of the letter sent to the Governor by Yeddyurappa. The order stated that the oath ceremony would not be stayed. However, the court noted that the oath "shall be subject to further orders of this Court and final outcome of the writ petition." BJP's Yeddyurappa took oath of office, forming a minority government and was given 15 days by the Governor to prove majority. On Friday, in the second hearing of the matter, the Supreme Court made a few observations and orders. First, the justices said that the floor test must be done by 4 pm on Saturday, May 19. Second, the floor test shall be conducted by pro tem speaker. Third, secret ballots are not to be allowed in the test. Fourth, the government has been stopped from nominating an Anglo-Indian member. Crucial questions raised The last few days have raised some crucial and interesting questions. 1 The first is if the Governor discharged his constitutional duty properly by inviting the BJP to form the government? The Governor, under the Constitution is the nominal head of state and has executive, judicial and legislative functions to perform. The Sarkaria Commission had recommended that the Governor should "be eminent in some walk of life and from outside the state. He should be a detached figure without intense political links or should not have taken part in politics in the recent past. Besides, he should not be a member of the ruling party." This recommendation, which has blatantly been ignored, is to ensure a balanced, non-partisan head in the states. As nominal head of state, it falls on the Governor to appoint the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers under Article 164 of the Constitution. Whilst there is no official clause to this extent, the Sarkaria Commission report discusses hung assemblies. The first option in such a case is to call the largest pre-poll alliance to form the government. If there is no such arrangement, the second right is that of the largest party. The third right is that of a post-poll alliance. And the fourth option is to allow a coalition with 'external support.' If this is to be abided by, the Governor was right in inviting the BJP (the largest ruling party) to stake claim. This is contrary to what happened in Goa and Manipur. Whilst the Congress was the single largest party, it was not invited to form the government in either of these states and the BJP is the ruling party there. The SR Bommai case, which has been quoted by various sources has little relevance on the current scenario. In the judgment, the justices expressly excluded circumstances like the current one. However, in the case of Rameshwar Prasad in 2006, the Supreme Court had noted, "If a political party with the support of other political party or other MLAs stake claim to form a Government and satisfies the Governor about its majority to form a stable Government, the Governor cannot refuse formation of the Government and override the majority claim because of subjective assessment that the majority was cobbled by illegal and unethical means. No such power has been vested on the Governor. Such a power would be against the democratic principles of majority rule." 2 In Karnataka, following the oath by the Chief Minister, the Governor gave the BJP more than two weeks to come up with majority. This is an undesirable situation. History tells us that 'horse-trading' is a distinct possibility in this scenario. Not only does horse-trading encourage malpractice, it also severely diminishes the image of a democracy and tramples on the mandate of the people. The reasonably quick deadline for the floor test, set by the court decreases the chances of such tactics. 3 Added to this already complicated rubric is law against defection. Members in the state can join the BJP in this case, thereby giving it a majority. However, unless 2/3rd of the members jointly decide to defect, this is not allowed. In the first hearing, it was argued that the anti-defection law did not apply to legislators in Karnataka because technically they had not been sworn in yet. The Supreme Court said such a proposition was preposterous. Yesterday the court also reduced the number of days to prove majority in the House. This is a time that demands pensive reflection. Democracies, like any other system of governance, need to be nourished and cared for. Boundaries have to be established drawn and redrawn. The role of constitutional functionaries needs to be assessed against democratic, constitutional values. The paradigm of possibilities needs to be expanded to meet new challenges. Later today, the elected representatives of Karnataka will decide on which party or parties are to remain in power during the floor test. Perhaps, equally importantly, this entire saga has tested the provisions as well as the safeguards that are required in a democracy. We are left with questions that demand answers which combine politics, ethics and constitutionalism. rchopra@tribunemail.com Amir Karim Tantray Tribune News Service Jammu, May 18 A BSF constable and four civilians were killed when Pakistan Rangers pounded villages along the International Border in Arnia and RS Pura sectors of Jammu on the first Friday of the holy month of Ramzan. Eleven civilians were also injured, mostly in Treva village in Arnia sector. A spokesperson for the Border Security Force said Constable Sitaram Upadhyay of Giridih in Jharkhand suffered splinter injuries at the Jabbowal border outpost. He was shifted to GMC, Jammu, where he was declared brought dead, he said. Upadhyay (28) of the 192 Battalion is survived by a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. The four civilians killed in the shelling were identified as Tarsem Lal (52), his wife Manjeet Kaur (45) of Chanduchak in RS Pura sector; Sat Paul (60) and Jag Mohan (45) of Treva village in Arnia sector. Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling and firing around 1 am on Friday, said sources. The troops retaliated, killing four members of a family at Khanoor village along the IB on the Pakistan side. According to media reports, those killed were identified as Kalsoom and her three children. Shelling was expected as the harvest season is over. Their fire is being reciprocated and they are facing heavy damage, said Ram Awatar, IG BSF, Jammu Frontier. The troops have foiled four infiltration bids along the IB since May 12. CM Mehbooba Mufti expressed grief over the killings at a time when the Centre had announced a conditional ceasefire. The shelling triggered panic among border residents as people in the affected villages left homes for safer places. One of the villages hit was Jeda Farm, where members of the Gujjar community were preparing for fasting. Farooq Din of the village was injured. In the absence of an ambulance, injured Tarsem Lal and his wife were shifted to the hospital on a tractor-trailer but they died on the way, claimed son Aman. Angry villagers kept their bodies on the road in RS Pura to protest the failure in protecting the lives of border residents. rchopra@tribunemail.com Srinagar, May 18 An army patrol was attacked on Friday by militants in Jammu and Kashmirs Bandipora district. No casualties were reported. The patrol party of the army was fired at by militants in Hajin area, army sources said. There was a brief exchange of fire, following which the militants escaped. There was no casualty on our side. The area was cordoned off for searches, sources added. This is the first incident of an attack on the security forces by militants after the Union Home Ministry announced non-initiation of combat operations during the holy month of Ramadan. The security forces have been advised not to initiate operations against militants and use weapons only in self-defence. The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfit has rejected the ceasefire announced by the central government. IANS gspannu7@gmail.com Cannes, May 18 Veteran Bollywood actor Sridevi was honoured with the TITAN Reginald F Lewis Film Icon Award at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. The award traditionally celebrates women of the film industry all over the world and also salute the multi-cultural impact on the world of cinema. Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai and producer Namrata Goyal received the award on behalf of Sridevi's family . "Janhvi, Khushi and I are overwhelmed with the recognition and tributes and love of millions of her fans being showered on her. Her work and life has touched so many hearts across the world and she has been an inspiration to millions. She will live forever, thanks to her body of work," the actor's husband, producer Boney Kapoor, said in a statement. Recently, the late actor was also posthumously honoured with the Best Actress award for her performance in "Mom" at the 65th National Film Awards. Sridevi passed away on February 24 in Dubai. PTI. rchopra@tribunemail.com Tribune News Service Hyderabad, May 18 Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumarswamy said on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party had hijacked two of its lawmakers. As the alliance of JD (S) and Congress tries to keep their flock together before BJPs BS Yeddyurappa takes to the floor of the House to prove his majority, Kumaraswamy, the leader who will head Congress-JD (S) government should Yeddyurappa fail, said: Two MLAs have been hijacked by our BJP friends. But, I am certain that they will come back to us. JD (S) and Congress have jointly given list of 118 MLAs to Governor. We've sufficient strength to form a government in Karnataka. This morning Supreme Court have its judgement on Governor Vajubhai Valas decision. For the past two days, the BJP is trying to get opposition MLAs, Kumaraswamy as he left Hyderabad on Friday evening. Both parties piled their lawmakers into buses to Hyderabad amid the unfolding drama in Bengaluru to prevent the BJP from poaching them. The Congress contingent stayed at hotel Taj Krishna while their JD (S) counterparts checked into Novotel at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre near the Hi-Tec City. In the evening, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah flew down by a special flight for an informal Congress Legislature Party meeting held at Taj Krishna. The meeting was aimed at chalking out a strategy to be adopted during the floor test tomorrow, the party sources said. It is learnt that 76 of the 78 Congress members were present. The JD (S) joined them later for informal consultations. Meanwhile, the Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana volunteered to host their Karnataka counterparts. The first choice for the guests was Park Hyatt, owned by Congress MP T Subbarami Reddy. However, the hotel was fully booked as the IPL Sunrisers Hyderabad team and their entire support staff were contracted to stay here. The team is staying here ahead of their game with Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) made arrangement for JD (S) leaders stay at Novotel hotel. Let them offer Rs 100 crore or Rs 200 crore each. But, we are all united. None of us is ready to take the bait. We are leaving for Bengaluru today evening or tomorrow morning, the JD (S) MLA-elect GT Deve Gowda told reporters earlier in the evening. Congress MLA-elect DK Shiva Kumar alleged that the Centre had prevented them from flying to Kochi. The MLAs reached here by road in the wee hours after the JD (S) claimed on Thursday that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation denied the party permission to charter flights from Bengaluru to Keralas Kochi were denied permission at the last minute. The BJP, which has 104 lawmakers, would require help from a few lawmakers from JD (S) and the Congress if it must prove its majority in the House. The halfway mark in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly is 112. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 18 Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday hailed the Supreme Court verdict on the Karnataka matter saying the Congress stand had been vindicated. Todays Supreme Court order, vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money & muscle, to steal the mandate. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 18, 2018 Gandhi said Todays Supreme Court order vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the government, even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. He said Stopped legally, the BJP will now try money and muscle, to steal the mandate. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vala to form the government. pardeepdhull@gmail.com New Delhi, May 18 The Delhi Police on Friday questioned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for over three hours in connection with the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February, a senior officer said. Emerging from the questioning by a six-member police team, Kejriwal said it is the first time a Chief Minister was questioned in such a fake case. He also termed the presence of the team a raid on his camp office-cum-residence at Civil Lines here. It is the first time that questioning of a chief minister was done in such a fake case and a police raid was conducted, he said in a tweet minutes after the Delhi Police team left his office. He also alleged that the only aim of the Centre and the Delhi Lt Governor (L-G) was to trouble and bother us. Kejriwal, however, said the questioning took place in a very congenial atmosphere. The team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Harendra Singh began questioning the Chief Minister at his camp office at 5.10 pm and finished around 8.20 pm, police said. While some members of the team arrived at the Chief Ministers office around 4.40 pm to set up the recording equipment, Singh arrived at 5 pm. During the questioning that took place in the drawing room, two lawyers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo were also present. We questioned him for three hours. He was cooperative during the investigation, but at the same time he evaded many of the questions. The replies to some of the questions were not satisfactory. If required, we will again question him in the case, said the officer. The proceedings of the questioning were video-recorded by the police, but a copy of the recording will not be provided to Kejriwal because the law does not allow it, Singh said. The officer said that they may also question Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, if required. Police sources said some questions put to Kejriwal included the decision to convene the late night meeting with Prakash, the sequence of events that led to the assault and the trigger for the incident. During investigation, police had found that the assault was pre-planned and Kejriwals private secretary Bibhav Kumar had directed a party volunteer to call the MLAs. The Chief Minister was also questioned about whether he had any idea about it. AAP leader Ashish Khetan slammed the police for questioning Kejriwal for such a long duration. A 5 member Delhi Police team has been questioning @ArvindKejriwal for the last 3 hours. What is his crime? Has he done a scam? Did he steal public money? Did he order fake encounters? Did he orchestrate riots? Did he give bank loans to his cronies? (sic) he posted on Twitter. Prakash was allegedly assaulted during a meeting at Kejriwals official residence on February 19. Police said the chief minister was present when the alleged assault took place. Kejriwal had agreed to join the probe yesterday following a notice by the Delhi Police on May 16. He had demanded he be allowed to video record the proceedings. However, the police had said the proceedings will be video recorded, but the chief minister would not be allowed to do so. The police have already questioned 11 AAP MLAs present at the chief ministers residence for the meeting. Two of the party MLAsAmantullah Khan and Prakash Jarwalwere arrested in the case. Last month, Kejriwals private secretary Bibhav Kumar and a party volunteer Vivek Kumar were also questioned in connection with the case. Kejriwal, his former advisor V K Jain and Sisodia were also present in the meeting. Jain was also questioned in the case. On February 23, a police team had examined the CCTV system installed at the chief ministers residence in the Civil Lines area and seized the hard disk. The forensic report on the hard disk is still awaited. The alleged assault on the Chief Secretary had triggered a bitter tussle between the Delhi government and its bureaucrats. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, May 18 The Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Courts order of holding a floor test in Karnataka Assembly on Saturday, saying the Constitution had won and democracy restored. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had given BJP Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa 15 days time to prove its majority. Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Constitution had rejected the unconstitutional decision of the Karnataka Governor. Constitution wins, Democracy restored! B S Yeddyurappa does remain a 1 day CM - Constitution rejects an illegitimate CM as also the unconstitutional decision of Governor of Karnataka (sic), he said on Twitter. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress-JD (S) combine in the apex court, termed the Supreme Courts decision historic, saying, Interim Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has been restrained from taking policy decisions till Saturday. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vala to form the government despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark is 112. In a historic pre-dawn hearing, the top court on Thursday had cleared the last-minute hurdle created by the Congress-JD(S) combine for the BJPs ambitious surge in southern India by paving the way for Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka. During the high-voltage hearing, which lasted from 2.11 am to 5.28 am, the top court had made it clear that the swearing-in and government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case. On Saturday, a three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said, Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test. The apex court also directed the Karnataka government and the Governor not to nominate any MLA from the Anglo-Indian community to participate in the floor test. PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 18 Having secured an order advancing the floor test in Karnataka to Saturday, the Congress-JD(S) combine moved the Supreme Court on Friday evening against Governor Vajubhai Valas decision to appoint BJP MLA KG Bopaiah as pro tem Speaker of the Assembly. The petition, also sought certain modifications in the order passed by a special Bench headed by Justice AK Sikri this morning for a floor test on Saturday at 4 pm. In the peculiar facts and circumstances, it is submitted that videography of the floor test may be absolutely necessary for a free and fair floor test, the petition stated and demanded urgent listing and hearing of the matter. Till late evening, lawyers representing the Congress-JD(S) combine were seen trying to convince officials in the Supreme Court Registry to list it tonight itself. But the Registry told them that it will be heard on Saturday at 10.30 am. The Congress-JD(S) combine also demanded that voting to be done by a division of persons into separate and segregated lobbies so that the persons in the different lobbies can be counted in a transparent manner as the atmosphere was vitiated. No other power to be exercised by the pro tem Speaker except administering oath and conduct of the floor test, the petitioners demanded, apprehending that the pro tem Speaker could resort to powers of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. Seeking setting aside the appointment of Bopaiah, an old RSS hand, as the pro tem Speaker, the petition urged the top court to issue order appointing the senior-most MLA of Karnataka Legislative Assembly as the pro tem Speaker. It also demanded that the proceedings be videographed and a copy of the video recording be submitted to the top court. Pro tem is a Latin phrase which best translates to for the time being or temporary. BJP welcomes SCs decision to hold floor test Welcoming the Supreme Court order for a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly tomorrow, the BJP on Friday condemned the Congress party for rejoicing over rejection and murdering the peoples mandate. Party spokesman Sambit Patra, in fact, questioned Congress claims of a victory given that both prayers in the petition (given on the night intervening May 16-17) had been rejected by the Supreme Court today. Shri KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. The Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations. @BJP4India @BJP4Karnataka Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) May 18, 2018 When Shri Rameshwar Thakur Ji as Governor had appointed Shri Bhopaiah as Protem Speaker of Karnataka in 2008 Congress didn't object. In Jharkhand when a junior MLA was appointed, Cong leader @DrAMSinghvi defended it in Court. Now they are objecting. This is Congress hypocrisy. Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) May 18, 2018 They (Congress) prayed the order of Karnataka Governor (Vajubhai Vala) inviting (BJP leader) BS Yeddyurappa be declared unconstitutional, arbitrary and illegal and quashed and an appropriate order inviting JD(S) and Congress to form the government under the leadership of HD Kumarswamy be passed, Did either of the two happen, Patra questioned. It is a classic case of rejoicing over rejection, first from the people of Karnataka and now the Supreme Court, he said, reacting to celebrations in the Congress camp following the apex court order. While the Congress claimed victory of Constitution and democracy, Patra accused the Opposition party of murdering the mandate of people of Karnataka. Nothing is bigger in a democracy than the peoples mandate. The way Congress attempted to create an atmosphere in Karnataka and across the country, it has been exposed. This is the real face of the Congress, he said. gspannu7@gmail.com Washington, May 18 Availability of freshwater has declined in the northern and eastern parts of India, says a new study that combined an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth with data on human activities to map locations where freshwater is changing around the globe. The study, published in the journal Nature, found that Earth's wetland areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water management, climate change and natural cycles. Areas in northern and eastern India, the Middle East, California and Australia are among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater, and without corrective actions by the governments to preserve water, the situation is likely to worsen in these areas, the Guardian reported this week citing the study. The first-of-its-kind study used 14 years of observations from the US/German-led Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft mission to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions around the world. "This is the first time that we've used observations from multiple satellites in a thorough assessment of how freshwater availability is changing, everywhere on Earth," said Matt Rodell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, "A key goal was to distinguish shifts in terrestrial water storage caused by natural variability - wet periods and dry periods associated with El Nino and La Nina, for example - from trends related to climate change or human impacts, like pumping groundwater out of an aquifer faster than it is replenished," Rodell added. Freshwater is found in lakes, rivers, soil, snow, groundwater and ice. Freshwater loss from the ice sheets at the poles - attributed to climate change - has implications for sea level rise. On land, freshwater is one of the most essential of Earth's resources, for drinking water and agriculture. The researchers found that while some regions' water supplies are relatively stable, others experienced increases or decreases. "What we are witnessing is major hydrologic change," said co-author Jay Famiglietti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "We see a distinctive pattern of the wet land areas of the world getting wetter - those are the high latitudes and the tropics - and the dry areas in between getting dryer. Embedded within the dry areas we see multiple hotspots resulting from groundwater depletion," Famiglietti warned. Famiglietti noted that while water loss in some regions, like the melting ice sheets and alpine glaciers, is clearly driven by warming climate, it will require more time and data to determine the driving forces behind other patterns of freshwater change. However, the GRACE satellite observations alone couldn't tell the researchers what was causing the apparent trends. "We examined information on precipitation, agriculture and groundwater pumping to find a possible explanation for the trends estimated from GRACE," said co-author Hiroko Beaudoing of Goddard and the University of Maryland in College Park. IANS. gspannu7@gmail.com United Nations, May 18 UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak has lauded India's contribution and "commitment" to UN peacekeeping operations during his meeting with Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar in Slovakia. Lajcak and Akbar met on Thursday on the sidelines of GLOBSEC 2018 Bratislava Forum, a gathering that brings together international government officials, academics and civil society, including the private sector in Slovakia's capital Bratislava. "Kicked off Day 1 at #GLOBSEC2018 with a discussion on migration, sustaining peace and sustainable development, as well as regional issues, with MJ Akbar, Minister of State of #India," Lajcak, President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, tweeted. "I also commended him on India's commitment to @UNPeacekeeping," Lajcak said. Lajcak's spokesperson Brenden Varma told reporters at the daily briefing on Thursday that Lajcak and Akbar discussed issues like migration, sustaining peace, sustainable development, regional issues and India's commitment to United Nations peacekeeping. He "commended" Akbar on "India's contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations", he said. "We have never needed multilateralism more. Yet, calls for unilateralism and isolation seem to be louder than ever," Lajcak said in his opening remarks to the forum and during his keynote address at a panel on 'Multilateralism in the 'Me-First World'. Calling for a "multilateral renaissance", he said that the multilateral system nations created can produce solutions "but only if we use it the right way". He called for a recommitment to dialogue, which he described as "the most basic but most powerful tool in our toolbox". India is the largest cumulative troop contributor, having provided almost 200,000 troops in nearly 50 of the 71 UN peacekeeping missions over the past six decades, including 13 of the current 16 missions. India provided the first ever Female Formed Police Unit to UN peace operations in Liberia. The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is celebrated world over on May 29 to honour the fallen peacekeepers and to pay tribute to those who served or are still serving in UN peacekeeping missions. PTI. rchopra@tribunemail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 18 Amid allegations of horse-trading, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the BS Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka to take the floor test to prove its majority in the House at 4 pm on Saturday. A three-judge Bench headed by Justice AK Sikriwhich had refused to stop swearing-in of Yeddyurappa on Thursday after a three-and-a-half-hour hearing past midnight on Thursdaysaid that ultimately an early floor test was the solution. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 members, while the Congress secured 78, the JD(S) 37 and others three in the 224-member House. Since polls were held only for 222 seats, 112 is the magic figure and the BJP is eight short of it. Governor Vajubhai Vala had given 15 days to Yeddyurappa to take the floor test. But the Congress-JD-S combine alleged that the BJP was using such a long time to poach on their MLAs. The Bench said the floor test would be conducted as per rules of the House and a pro tem Speaker would preside over the proceedings. It made it clear that voting would not be through secret ballot. Within hours, the Governor appointed three-time BJP MLA and former speaker KG Bopaiah as pro-tem Speaker to conduct the floor test. But Congress and JD-S both said they would challenge it before the Supreme Court. The top court also directed the state Director-General of Police to make adequate security arrangements for security of MLAs and smooth conduct of the floor test. The Bench was informed by the Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the state of Karnataka that there was no move to nominate any Anglo-Indian members to the Karnataka assembly. The newly inducted Chief Minister has been asked not to take any major policy decisions. At the outset, the Bench was given copies of the letter Yeddyurappa had sent to the Governor to stake claim to form the government in Karnataka and the Governors letter inviting him for swearing-in. The order came on a petition filed by the Congress-JD(S) combine challenging the Governors decision to invite the BJP to form the government. The Bench, which also included Justice SA Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan, said it would examine after 10 weeks if the Karnataka Governors decision to invite Yeddyurappa to form government was valid. The hearing took place in a completely jam-packed Court No. 6 where Attorney General KK Venugopal and other senior advocates, including Ram Jethmalani and Shanti Bhushan, were seen struggling to get in. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday, told the Bench that being the single largest party the BJP had the mandate of people of the state, who voted out the Congress. On behalf of Yeddyurappa, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that there was no pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JD(S) and they had formed an unholy alliance after the elections. At first, the Bench said the floor test would be at 10.30 am on Saturday but then made it 2 pm and finally 4 pm after Rohatgi said this was too short. No, not tomorrow... Its not fair... I have also to get my flock... Even the other sides MLAs are not there, Rohatgi told the Bench. As the Bench made it clear that it would order floor test tomorrow, lawyers representing the BJP were seen going out of the court to inform their clients and to seek further instructions. Apart from senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, senior advocate Kapil Sibal also appeared for the Congress-JD(S) combine. Both the senior lawyers demanded immediate floor test. Mehta told the Bench that the letter given to the Governor by the Congress was not signed. The Governor never received this signed letter the list was downloaded online that these are the 78 Congress MLAs, he said. | By Patricia Fanning Supporters from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and beyond recently marked the accomplishments of 80 middle school students whose participation in the UMB CURE Scholars Program at such an early age has made them national pioneers. UMB CURE was the first to start with students as young as middle school. Part of the National Cancer Institutes CURE (Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences), the initiative is supported by NCIs Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD). The center now encourages others nationwide to emulate UMBs program, and CRCHD Director Sanya Springfield, PhD, was in Baltimore to encourage students whom she has come to know personally. Sanya Springfield, PhD, director of the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities, in the second row, left, stands with eighth-graders in the UMB CURE Scholars Program who are anticipating their selective high school placements. They were among 80 scholars honored for 2017-18 accomplishments on May 5 by leaders including executive director Robin Saunders, EdD, MS, back row, far left. UMB CURE draws children from three public schools in West Baltimore: Franklin Square Elementary Middle School (FSEMS), Green Street Academy (GSA), and Southwest Baltimore Charter School (SBCS). When UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, launched the initiative in October 2015, sixth-graders who were 11 or 12 years old lined up onstage, accepted white lab coats and entered a pipeline to science, research, and health care careers. On May 5, during the UMB CURE Scholars Program end-of-year celebration, these same students had become poised adolescents, beaming as they accepted honors for their work as eighth-graders and for gaining placements in selective high schools. They are known as Cohort 1, referring to the outcomes research that distinguishes UMBs program. (View a photo gallery of the end-of-year event.) Meanwhile, one week earlier, the eighth-grade scholars joined with their seventh-grade and sixth-grade fellow scholars at the April 28 UMB CURE STEM Expo. The topic of this years culminating research was Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The expo provided the platform for all 80 scholars from all three cohorts to showcase their individually selected research projects through poster presentations and research articles included in the inaugural edition of the UMB CURE Journal of STEM. At the expo, the keynote speech was given by the winner of the 2018 leadership award, Shereen Farquharson, a seventh-grader at GSA. On May 5, the award for CURE Scholar of the Year went to Samiatu Yussuf, a sixth-grader at SBCS. At both events, held at the UM School of Pharmacy, a group from FSEMS was honored for completing the Saturday Science Academy, nine weeks of instruction at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The group consisted of seventh-graders Zoe Fisher and Janiya Andrews and sixth-grader Lynijah Russell. This is a longtime dream of mine, to take the children of our community and give them the opportunity to get excited about science and health care, and most importantly, about becoming successes, Perman said. He spoke at the expo during welcoming remarks to the dozens of parents, teachers, supporters, and mentors. The ratio of mentors to scholars is 5:1, and most of the 250 mentors are from the UMB community. Your children, our children, he continued, are well on their way to fulfilling that dream. The scholars have become accustomed to delving into science on Saturdays and during after-school activities held twice weekly. They competed at the expo in categories based on their chosen topics, ranging from artificial intelligence to nano-robotics, which were depicted on posters. The scholar who gave the keynote speech had researched osteosarcoma, for example. She and her partner, GSA sixth-grader Najah Johnson, learned that this bone cancer afflicts children and young adults. The girls answered queries from judges, who were mostly UMB volunteers, and from guests, including Perman. The scholars also have used multimedia to spread their health knowledge, collaborating by Skype with a nonprofit organization, Health Disparity of Scarsdale, N.Y., to produce several videos that were shown at the expo. The scholars portrayed doctor, patient, and parent in scenarios such as a prenatal health check and an anti-smoking intervention. The scholars in Cohorts 2 and 3 are anticipating three weeks of summer programming at UMB from June 25 to July 13 at sites such as the UM School of Dentistry, the UM School of Nursing, the UMSOP, and the URecFit pool at the Southern Management Corporation Campus Center. A field trip is planned to NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Throughout, the scholars are being motivated to aspire to careers in health care and research, surrounded by accomplished mentors and supporters. During the UMB events, scholars were cheered on by Springfield, Alison Lin, PhD, of CRCHD, and Kevin Cullen, MD, the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Distinguished Professor of Oncology at the UM School of Medicine and director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCC). CRCHD and UMGCC are funders of the program. Lin, who is CURE program director at CRCHD, gave advice to scholars in all three grades but directed her concluding remarks to those about to enter high school. For all, she spoke of overcoming adversity, describing a man who had fulfilled a childhood dream of becoming a surgeon. One day he discovered he has a rare type of eye disease, she said. He lost an eye and his sense of depth perception. Does he understand struggles and obstacles? she asked the youngsters, who come from some of Baltimores poorest neighborhoods and continue to face adversity. Did he give up? No, she said. The physician changed course and became a successful researcher. Addressing the eighth-graders, whom she and other CURE leaders have been shaping since 2015, Lin urged them to make wise choices in high school. If its too big to think about What am I going to be? think about What am I going to do? Those things that you do will also make you who you are, she said. A majority of Cohort 1 will go to high school at one of three UMB CURE partners. Twelve chose GSA, a charter school for grades 6 through 12 that has been a UMB CURE partner since the outset. Two will go to Western High School, a college-preparatory high school serving young women. Seven will attend Dunbar High School, including five scholars who will enroll in Dunbar P-TECH, a six-year program that integrates high school and college coursework leading to an industry-recognized postsecondary degree in a health care field. One scholar will get a similar head start by attending Bard High School Early College Baltimore. Five will go to prominent college-preparatory high schools, with four enrolling in Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and one in Baltimore City College. One will go to Edmondson High School in West Baltimore. UMB CURE executive director Robin Saunders, EdD, MS, invited the eighth-graders to the front of the auditorium, congratulating them for their perseverance in overcoming tremendous challenges to achieve amazing results. Saunders went on to acknowledge each of the scholars by announcing their stellar high school placements and to thank their families for entrusting them to the UMB CURE Scholars Program. She went on to posit: This proves to everyone that when you were presented with this rigorous educational opportunity, you far surpassed our greatest expectations. Im honored and proud to work with each one of you, and I know youll achieve continued success in high school. Evening descends on the makeshift fishing village of Kpakpo, which shelters 800 Central African refugees on the Congolese side of the Ubangi river. November 2017. UNHCR/John Wessels UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed at new displacement in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 7,000 Central African Republic refugees have arrived in under a week into a situation of little help and desperate need. The refugees, most of them women and children, are concentrated in the remote village of Kanzawi in DRCs northern Bas-Uele Province. They fled violence in south-eastern Central African Republic. The speed of arrivals and the very limited humanitarian presence in the area mean that people urgently need increased support. Critically, UNHCRs own capacity for an emergency response is severely stretched, with our DRC operation funded at US$1.6 for every US$10 needed. The refugees have reported fleeing fighting between two Anti-Balaka groups in the area of Kouango, just across the border. It is the latest in a series of refugee movements into northern DRC. In less than a year, the number of CAR refugees in DRC has grown from around 102,000 to more than 182,000, not including the latest arrivals. UNHCR is particularly worried about the situation of elderly people, pregnant women and others with specific needs. There is only one water source in Kanzawi village, forcing people to drink from the river. Most of the refugees are sleeping in the open, others in public buildings. One of our partners is providing medical support to the new arrivals, and we are assessing possibilities for further support, should the group not be able to return soon. We have improved vital community infrastructure in some of the villages and towns that have taken in a large number of refugees, including the drilling of wells, supporting local schools and health centres and providing shelter to some extremely vulnerable CAR refugees, while ensuring refugees receive documents and are registered. UNHCR commends the Democratic Republic of the Congo for keeping its borders open to refugees. We are appealing for urgent support to the communities hosting refugees and the refugees themselves, to ensure basic needs including water, shelter and healthcare can be met in villages near the border. Many of these villages now house more refugees than local Congolese people. For more information on this topic, please contact: Sixteen UW Students Honored at Nursing Convocation Sixteen recently graduated University of Wyoming Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing students were honored with awards during the schools annual Nursing Convocation ceremony. This years convocation took place May 11 in the UW College of Arts and Sciences auditorium. Nursing faculty selected the award recipients. Awards were given in 14 categories, with two categories each honoring two students. Hometowns, winners, their majors and awards are: -- Baggs: Sonia Klein, an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduate in the Bachelors Reach for Accelerated Nursing Degree (BRAND) Program, Dorothy Tupper Senior Award. The award is given for demonstrating caring, compassion and interpersonal communication skills. Tupper joined the UW nursing faculty in 1952, serving as dean for several years. The award has been maintained with funds given by the class of 1962, in memory of Judy Oglivie, a public health nurse. -- Cheyenne: Tamara Mason, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program graduate, Dr. Patsy Hesen Haslam Leadership Award. DNP faculty member Ann Marie Haslam Hart created the award in memory of her mother, Patsy Hesen Haslam. Haslam was a nursing and public health advocate in southern West Virginia. Her community leadership inspired educational and public health initiatives across Appalachia. The award recognizes a graduating DNP student who displayed both leadership and grace in the DNP Program. -- Cheyenne: Joleen Watson, an online RN-BSN (registered nurse-BSN) Completion graduate, Professional Nurse Award. The award is for excellence in practice and in community and professional service. The award is given to a RN-BSN program graduate, where registered nurses can earn a baccalaureate degree in nursing. A former faculty member sponsors the award. -- Colorado Springs, Colo.: Lauren Mochowski, an on-campus basic BSN graduate, Amelia Leino Memorial Award. The award recognizes an on-campus basic BSN graduate for demonstrating academic excellence and a strong aptitude for family nursing. Leino was appointed the first dean of the nursing program when it was established in 1951. She provided the leadership necessary to establish a Bachelor of Science degree program at the university. The funds for the award are provided from School of Nursing friends and alumni. -- Denver, Colo.: Laura VanBrocklin, a DNP Program graduate, Change Agent Award. The award recognizes a graduating DNP student who has demonstrated a commitment to improving and changing health. -- Douglas: Sarah Boyer, an on-campus basic BSN graduate, Rudolph Rudy and Louise Anselmi and Jeri Kirk Family Trust Nursing Scholarship. The scholarship, for demonstrating leadership and responsibility, was established by Anselmi who was instrumental in sponsoring legislation that authorized establishment of the School of Nursing in 1951. The leadership award is one of the many ways he supported the school and is presented in memory of his wife, Louise. -- Fruita, Colo.: Jeremy Franklin, an on-campus basic BSN graduate, Lina Kennedy White Memorial Award. The award is given for interest in and aptitude for gerontology. The award honors White, who was active in nursing in the Laramie community for many years. Following her death in 1980, her daughters established a memorial fund. -- Gillette: Nichole Taylor, a DNP Program graduate, Susan McCabe Psychiatric Mental Health Graduate Award. The award recognizes a graduate in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program for demonstrating academic excellence, passion for knowledge and superior clinical practice. The School of Nursing faculty and staff established the award to remember McCabe for her passion in psychiatric mental health nursing. McCabe died in a car accident in 2008. -- Gillette: Hayley Wasserburger, an accelerated BSN graduate in the BRAND Program, received the Rudolph Rudy and Louise Anselmi and Jeri Kirk Family Trust Nursing Scholarship. -- Highlands Ranch, Colo.: Sara Pepper, an on-campus basic BSN graduate, Beverly McDermott Award. The award is presented to a student demonstrating leadership and political activism. McDermott was a member of the UW nursing faculty for 25 years, was counselor for the Student Nurses Association and was active in the American Nurses Association. -- Murietta, Calif.: Ryan Russi, an on-campus basic BSN graduate, School of Nursing Spirit Award. The award is given to a basic BSN graduate for demonstrating exceptional spirit and enthusiasm. The award is funded by faculty and staff to show appreciation for a student who cheered everyone up, who was a pleasure to have in class, who is a pleasure to be around and who makes us proud to be known as a graduate of our program. -- Pinedale: Nicole McConnell, an on-campus BSN graduate, received the Dorothy Tupper Senior Award. -- Sheridan: Morgan Jacobs, an on-campus basic BSN graduate, Gertrude Gould Memorial Award. The award is for excellence in public health nursing. Gould was a member of the planning committee to establish a nursing program at UW. The award in her name was established by funds donated by the Laramie Medical Group. -- Spearfish, S.D.: Rebecca Thiel, a basic BSN graduate, Carol Macnee Scholarship Award. The award is for demonstrating excellence in scholarship and/or research. The School of Nursing faculty and staff established the award to remember Macnee for her commitment to research and scholarship. Macnee died in a car accident in 2008. -- Torrington: Monica Teichert, a DNP Program graduate, Alpha Pi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau Award for Exemplary Rural Practice in Nursing. The award recognizes a graduate student who exemplifies advanced nursing practice in a rural context through research and/or clinical practice. -- Wellington, Colo.: Nichole Valloric, an accelerated BSN in the BRAND Program, Passion for Nursing Award. The award is granted to an accelerated BSN BRAND Program graduate for demonstrating passion in nursing. A former faculty member sponsors the award. UW Presidential Scholarships Now Available for Wyomings Top Students The effort to recruit Wyomings best and brightest students to attend the University of Wyoming has received a big boost, thanks to a $500,000 gift from the Joe and Arlene Watt Foundation. To be able to go out and approach these academically top-rated students and offer them a little better financial incentive -- its good for the university, says Watt Foundation Director Bob Eberhart. We thought that it might be an opportunity for the Watt Foundation to continue its support and help with that. We certainly want to invest in Wyoming students, and we want to show our support of the university. The university identified a weakness based on what they could support, and so it looks like its going to be a win for them, a win for us and a win for the students. This generous gift will create the Joe and Arlene Watt UW Presidential Scholarship, the first presidential-level scholarship of its kind at UW. The scholarship will award $2,000 each year for up to four years. The most important asset Wyoming has, as we build toward a diverse economic future, is its young people and their capacity to both contribute and take risks, says UW Trustee Michelle Sullivan, from Sheridan. Those students who have been academically successful are heavily recruited by other colleges in the region and beyond. We know that when these young people leave, they often have a great deal of difficulty returning to the state, or if they stay -- especially if they have college debt. We believe this is an investment not only in the student but in the long-term vitality of the state of Wyoming. Twenty students have been selected as winners of the inaugural Watt UW Presidential Scholarship. The Watt scholarship is for Wyoming residents who score a 30 or higher on the ACT and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher. We are so very thankful to the Watt Foundation for this leadership gift, says UW President Laurie Nichols. Their support of Wyomings university has spanned more than 50 years. This new gift will help us to continue our momentum toward a better tomorrow by helping us to recruit and retain some of Wyomings most promising students. The current initiative to grow UWs enrollment is the result of the universitys ambitious new strategic plan, Breaking Through: 2017-2022. Implementing a student-centric enrollment management strategy to grow enrollment and enhance recruitment and retention of students is featured prominently in the plan, as UW looks to reach a target enrollment of 13,500 students by 2022. The consumer lending market in Vietnam, driven by a rise in consumption and favorable demographics, offers huge growth opportunities for investors. Consumer lending grew by 65 percent in 2017, compared to 50.2 percent in 2016. The market is predicted to grow from the current VND 600 trillion (US$26.45 billion) to VND 1 quadrillion (US$44 billion) by 2019. The major growth factor has been the rise in household final consumption expenditure, which as a percentage of GDP in 2016 was 64.4 percent, higher than the global average of 58.3 percent and much higher than the average for middle-income countries, at 54.3 percent. Sector analysis In 2017, the consumer lending market grew by 65 percent compared to 50.2 percent in 2016, according to the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC). The share of consumer credit in total outstanding loans increased from 12.3 percent in 2016 to 18 percent in 2017. Home loans accounted for the majority at 52.9 percent, while loans for home appliances and vehicles were 15.3 percent and 8.3 percent respectively. The total consumer credit market share of commercial banks, who have mostly stayed away from consumer finances, increased from 39 percent in 2016 to 45.7 percent in 2017. However, the share of joint stock commercial banks and financial companies decreased from 47 percent in 2016 to 42 percent last year. The countrys credit growth was around 18.7 to 19.3 percent in 2017, with medium and long-term loans accounting for 53.7 percent of the total lending. As for the major economic sectors, loans for industry, commerce, and services increased by 21.8 percent, while for agriculture, it grew by 18.7 percent. Real estate and construction loans witnessed a drop in 2017. Major lenders in the Vietnamese market include FE Credit, which has a market share of 48.4 percent, followed by Home Credit, HS Saison, Prudential Finance, at 15.7 percent, 12.3 percent, and 8.1 percent respectively. Entry of banks and foreign investors With the market expected to grow 29 percent annually to VND 1 quadrillion (US$ 44 billion) by 2020, Vietnamese banks are planning to set up consumer finance divisions to increase their market share in the sector. Orient Commercial Bank is planning to set up a subsidiary with a capital of around VND 500 billion (US$22 million) or acquire an existing finance company in the market. Similarly, the Axis Commercial Bank is also setting up a consumer finance division with a capital of VND 500 billion (US$22 million), while the Southeast Asia Commercial Bank acquired Posts and Telecommunications Finance Company for VND 710 billion (US$31.3 million). In addition to the Vietnamese banks, foreign investors have also started to invest in the consumer finance market since last year. For example, HDBank sold 49 percent of HDFinance to Japans Credit Saison, while Techcombank sold an earlier acquired consumer finance firm to Lotte Card for VND 1.7 trillion (US$ 74.9 million). In January 2018, Koreas Shinhan Financial Group bought Prudentials consumer finance unit for US$151 million. The consumer finance sector will continue to witness a double-digit growth in the next few years, largely driven by an increase in consumer spending, rise in urbanization, and the strict lending rules of domestic banks. This growth can lead to an increase in domestic consumption, which can have a positive effect on the overall economy. However, the government needs to encourage banks to increase consumer lending, while maintaining tighter controls on consumer finance firms, to reduce systemic risks. By: Dezan Shira & Associates Editor: Koushan Das The Vietnamese government has issued Decree 63/2018 (Decree 63) to replace Decree 15/2015 specifying the areas, investment conditions, and procedures for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in Vietnam. The major change is in the investor equity ratio for PPP projects, which has been increased to 20 percent. PPP is a form of investment that includes a project contract between a government agency and an investor for projects in construction, renovation, operation, business, management of infrastructure works, and provision of public services. Decree 63 will be in effect from June 19th, 2018. RELATED: Pre-Investment Advisory Services from Dezan Shira & Associates Increase in the equity ratio The investor equity ratio for PPP projects with a total investment of up to VND 1,500 billion (US$66 million), must not be lower than 20 percent of the total investment capital. Earlier the limit was 15 percent. For PPP projects with a total investment of more than VND 1,500 billion (US$66 million), the investor equity ratio is split into two: for capital up to VND 1,500 billion (US$66 million), the ratio must be at least 20 percent; and for the remaining capital which is more than VND 1,500 billion (US$66 million), the ratio must be at least 10 percent of the remaining capital. The investor equity ratio does not include the State capital, which is part of the PPP project. The States participation includes the capital contribution, investor payments, transfer of land and office space, transfer of business rights in case of BT projects, infrastructure, capital for construction of supporting work, compensation, site clearance, and resettlement. For BT projects, additional requirements must be met as per Vietnamese laws on investment, construction, housing, and real estate business. RELATED: Port Infrastructure in Vietnam Approval Authority For projects of national significance, the National Assembly is the sole approval authority, while the Prime Minister can authorize investments in certain types of Group A projects, which receive capital from the State budget, including Build-Transfer (BT) projects. In addition, the ministerial-level agencies can authorize projects that do not fall under the aforementioned cases. PPP Projects Vietnamese government encourages PPP investments in projects such as: Transportation; Power plants, and power transmission lines; Public lighting, water supply, drainage, wastewater treatment and waste collection; Parks; houses, yards for cars, vehicles, machinery and equipment, cemetery; Offices of state agencies, public housing, social housing, and resettlement housing; Health, education, training, vocational training, sport; travel, science and technology, hydro-meteorology, IT applications; Commercial infrastructure, urban areas, economic zones, industrial parks, industrial clusters, information technology parks, high-tech technical infrastructure, incubator facilities, technical facilities, and working areas to support small and medium enterprises; Agriculture and Rural Development, services associated with production, processing, and consumption of agricultural products; Other areas as decided by the Prime Minister. RELATED: Market Entry Modes for Vietnam Transferring projects Earlier, an investor could transfer a project during project implementation or completion. Under the new decree, an investor can transfer partial or entire rights and duties of a project to a lender or another investor only when the construction is complete or the project is operational. Projects being transferred should not change in scale, objectives, or technical standards and should continue to satisfy the investment conditions. Incentives Investors in PPP projects will receive incentives such as preferential corporate income tax, and reduced or exempted land use fees during project implementation. In addition, the goods imported for the project will get preferential treatment with respect to import/export taxes. Contractors will also receive benefits in the form of tax incentives. Private participation in infrastructure According to the World Banks Private Participation in Infrastructure data, Vietnam had 96 projects worth US$ 14.7 billion with private participation as of 2017. Majority of the projects were in the electricity sector, which accounted for 76 projects worth US$ 10.74 billion. RELATED: Vietnams Real Estate Industry: Poised for a Major Structural Funding Shift Investment demand According to the 2017 G20 Global Infrastructure Outlook report, if Vietnam continues to maintain its current investment trend, it will be able to meet 83 percent of its infrastructure needs by 2040. Vietnam will require a total of US$605 billion for infrastructure projects across all sectors, while according to current trends, investments will reach only US$503 billion leading to an investment gap of US$102 billion. Most of the demand is in the energy sector followed by roads, telecommunications, and water-based projects. Roads and water-based infrastructure projects will face the highest investment gaps by 2040, at US$55 billion and US$23 billion respectively. In addition to the infrastructure demand, the easing of business and investment conditions in the last two years through numerous investor-friendly reforms provides huge opportunities for investors and enterprises. Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam. Compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist foreign direct investment practice, this guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, payroll, and social insurance in this dynamic country. Managing Contracts and Severance in Vietnam In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the prevailing state of labor pools in Vietnam and outline key considerations for those seeking to staff and retain workers in the country. We highlight the increasing demand for skilled labor, provide in depth coverage of existing contract options, and showcase severance liabilities that may arise if workers or employers choose to terminate their contracts. An aerial view of Halong Bay, the UNESCO World Heritage site in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh.- VNA/VNS Photo Trung Nguyen The factory, which specialises in cleaning agents is planned to produce an annual output of 20,000 tonnes of abrasive lye (sodium hydroxide) in addition to several other agents such as bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and industrial wastewater treatment agent Polyaluminum Chloride (PAC), is based at the Viet Hung Industrial Park. The position of the 300ha industrial park is already a controversial issue as it lies near the head of Cua Luc River, which runs directly into the waters of Ha Long Bay. Pham Dinh Huynh, deputy head of the bay management board, said caution must be exercised. Should the factory run into leakage issues, the Halong Bay area will be directly effected, which aside from environmental damage, will affect the tourism and service sectors in the province, he said. Huynh cited the case of Ninh Binh Provinces authorities relocating a cement manufacturer out of the Trang An heritage landscape complex as a good lesson for any local government to follow for better protection of the environment and sustainable development. In late 2006, Quang Ninh Provinces economic zone management board and the Tan Tien Production and Trade JSC, headquartered in Hanoi, invested in a lye factory. Previously, Tan Tien received certification from the local authorities to produce alum as its main product (4,800 tonnes a year), with lye on the side (nearly 1,000 tonnes a year). The company has since met the requirements of environmental protection, land planning and workshop construction, and put the project into operation in 2013, authorities said. Two years later, the company requested to expand its production and wanted to build another factory dedicated to producing 20,000 tonnes of lye per year in another land slot within the Viet Hung IP. Based on opinions from the local authorities and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the expansion was accepted and the new cleaning agent factory was included by the Vietnamese Government into its national chemical development plan towards 2020. In May 2016, the Quang Ninh EZ management board granted a new certificate for Tan Tien JSC to begin the construction of the new factory. Then in March 2017, the environmental ministry approved the projects environmental impact assessment, which already included its recommendations in case of chlorine leakage incidents. Last month, Quang Ninh held a meeting with all stakeholders the investor, environment ministry, industry and trade ministry, as well as scientists to review whether the investors proposals conflicted with the socio-economic development of the local community. At present, Hoang Trung Kien, deputy head of the Quang Ninh EZ management board, said the new project has been suspended and the board is still considering the case and will deliver a final answer to the investor by the end of this month. Industrial projects can only be started when their environmental impact assessment documents, including requirements to ensure the quality of discharged water, are approved by authorities, Tran Dong A, a retired senior expert on planning and environment residing in Halong City, said. That is on paper. Once the project is up and running, however, investors might actually cut out the whole waste treatment system or operate the system sporadically to save budget, putting the environment at severe risk, he added. In case of incidents, Halong Bay would be poisoned and its ecology devastated, the senior expert said, urging the provincial authorities to make an informed and prudent judgement. David Stone, chairman of AES Vietnam, and Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue At the meeting with Deputy PM Hue on May 17, chairman of AES Vietnam David Stone stated that the firm is carrying out research for its investment in the Son My 2 BOT gas-fired thermal power project. The project consists of three power plants using liquefied natural gas, with the designed capacity of 750MW each. Built at the Son My industry-services-gas complex in the central coastal province of Binh Thuan, the facilities are set to become operational in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. In the framework of the meeting, Stone also mentioned AES co-operation with PetroVietnam Gas JSC (PV Gas) to implement the Son My liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project in the central province of Binh Thuan. The two parties inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the project in November 2017. The Deputy PM urged both sides to speed up the signing of a partnership contract to implement the LNG project as soon as possible. Regarding the Son My 2 project, Hue requested AES to work with PV Gas to identify the most suitable investment model, adding that the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade will directly address difficulties arising during cooperation. Son My 2 is one of the nine gas-fuelled power projects that the government has assigned PetroVietnam to invest in and one of the three Son My thermal power projects with a total capacity of 4,000MW in the Son My Petroleum Industry Service complex in Son My commune. Previously, in March, EDF Group from France was granted the investment certificate for the Son My 1 gas-fired thermal power plant. The project includes three units with a total capacity of 2,000MW. The project was approved in the Power Development Planning-VII (adjusted) with the expectation of entering into operation in 2027. A Jetstar Pacific airplane lands at Da Nang Airport. A pregnant Czech woman was rushed to a hospital from a flight of Jetstar Pacific from Da Nang to HCM City when airplane was running on taxi way on May 16th. - Photo courtesy Jetstar Pacific The pilot took the decision to halt the plane which was heading to HCM City after a passenger, a Czech woman, feared she was suffering a miscarriage moments before take-off. She was flying on Wednesday morning onboard Jetstar Pacific flight BL581 along with 150 other passengers. Around 8am she suffered a colporrhagia, a form of bleeding, and was worried she may have miscarried. After the plane came to a halt, the woman, who has not been named, was rushed to the Hoan My-Da Nang Hospital nearby for treatment. Although she is likely to remain in hospital for several days, the woman and her unborn child are both in a healthy condition. The flight eventually took off around 9.45am. Its not the first time a Jetstar passenger has got into medical difficulties on one of their planes. Two years ago, while on a flight from HCM City to Da Nang, a woman went into labour at 10,000 metres. Thankfully English doctor Fiona Sutton was onboard and helped deliver the baby who was nicknamed Jetstar. In 2011 an airhostess helped a woman give birth while on a flight from HCM City to Vinh City in Nghe An Province. And in 2015, a Canadian national on a flight from Hanoi to HCM City was saved after suffering a stroke 20 minutes after the aircraft left Noi Bai Airport. Also in 2015, an airhostess of the airline saved a child who had a candy stuck in her throat. The outstanding loans in the property sector have continuously increased since 2016. - Photo nld.com.vn This was revealed by the Department of Housing, Development and Real Estate Market under the Ministry of Construction. According to the department, the loans increased by 5.5 per cent from the previous quarter. Most of the loans were for projects in urban zone construction and housing development (VND102.4 trillion, increasing by 21 per cent) as well as for house repairing and business activities (VND100 trillion, increasing by 9.3 per cent). Outstanding loans in the property sector have continuously increased since 2016, accounting for eight per cent of the total and still at a safe level, the department said. However, some experts have warned that commercial banks will still increase their lending to the real estate sector despite State Bank of Viet Nam tightening short-term capital mobilisation as property projects often have mortgaged assets and high capital demand. They said real estate prices would surge when too much money was poured into the sector. The ministry proposed the central bank to redefine consumption lending as this was a property investment. Only loans for house repair and rental should be considered consumption lending, it said. French police moved in to evict protesters from around a dozen makeshift shelters with Interior Minister Gerard Collomb saying occupants were there illegally. (Photo: AFP/GUILLAUME SOUVANT) An initial operation last month to clear the demonstrators from Notre-Dames-des-Landes in western France prompted days of furious clashes between the two sides in clouds of tear gas. The government had vowed to clear the rural camp, which activists bill as a utopian leftist farming community, after scrapping plans for the airport in January. Thursday's operation targeted around a dozen makeshift shelters still left after police began demolishing them last month. AFP journalists on the scene said they could hear tear gas canisters being thrown and a helicopter whirring overhead after the operation began at 6am (0400 GMT). From the police perimeter, several of the protesters' barricades could be seen to be on fire as activists lobbed molotov cocktails from a field in the direction of the police. Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said none of the shelters being destroyed was part of a bid by protesters to register their agricultural projects with the authorities. "Their occupants refuse all discussion and reject the idea of occupying the land in a legal fashion," he said in a statement. "This situation is not acceptable under the rule of law, no more than the climate of insecurity, acts of vandalism and obstruction still seen on the site over recent weeks." Richard Lizurey, head of the French gendarmerie, said 19 units of the military police force had been mobilised, involving 1,500 to 1,700 officers. Camp residents have filed around 15 applications to authorise farming projects they have been running on the massive squat, including livestock and beekeeping. Activists first began occupying the farmland near the city of Nantes in 2008 in protest at the airport plan, and it had since grown into a sprawling 1,600-hectare (4,000-acre) settlement. US President Donald Trump (right) meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, DC. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP) US President Donald Trump tried to put his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un back on track on Thursday (May 17), offering the North Korean leader guarantees of staying in power if he abandons nuclear weapons. As prospects for a historic summit next month between the two leaders dimmed, Trump told reporters that if the meeting were to go ahead successfully, Kim "will get protections that will be very strong." "He'd be in his country and running his country. His country would be very rich." But the pledge came barbed with a warning that if diplomacy fails, Kim could suffer the same fate as Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown and killed by rebels. Trump's comments came as Pyongyang appeared to cool to the idea of the sit-down in Singapore on Jun 12, blaming US demands for "unilateral nuclear abandonment." Trump suggested Kim's about-face may have been at the behest of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. "It could very well be that he's influencing Kim Jong Un," Trump said, citing a recent meeting between the pair, their second in a month's time. "We'll see what happens." For decades, Washington has watched in horror as North Korea - propped up by trade with China - has made a series of technological leaps toward building a missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon to US cities. That grim achievement is now within reach, prompting Trump to launch a campaign of "maximum pressure" on the regime, coupled with the offer of talks. A series of landmark meetings between Kim and his South Korean counterpart and between North Korean and US officials had made diplomacy look like the more likely avenue. LIBYA MODEL After months of photo-ops and diplomatic backslapping, a North Korean official was quoted as saying the summit may not go ahead. The official also groused about Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton, who referred to Libya as a model for denuclearisation. In 2003, Gaddafi agreed to the elimination of his country's nuclear programme and chemical weapons arsenal to gain sanctions relief. But Trump, and Pyongyang, appeared to zero in on what happened a decade later following the Libyan revolution, when NATO-backed rebels ousted the government and killed Gaddafi. "The Libyan model isn't a model that we have (in mind) at all when we're thinking of North Korea," Trump said while sitting at arm's length from Bolton in the Oval Office. "If you look at that model with Gaddafi, that was a total decimation. We went in there to beat him," Trump said. "Now, that model would take place if we don't make a deal, most likely," he warned Pyongyang. "But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong Un is going to be very, very happy." Although the Kim-Trump summit remains up in the air, preparations are continuing. "North Korea is actually talking to us about times and everything else as though nothing happened," said Trump. "We are continuing to negotiate in terms of location ... where to meet, how to meet, rooms, everything else and negotiating like nothing happened." Top 5 winners of the Miss Tourism Queen International 2018. Photo Miss Tourism Queen International Facebook The 27-year-old also won the Miss Global Tourism title at the contest. Camila Reis (28), Miss TQI Brazil, was crowned Miss Tourism Queen International 2018. She will serve as the tourism ambassador to Thailand during her reign. Reis is the first woman from Brazil to hold this title, leaving behind 54 other contestants. She claimed the glittering new crown and a cash prize of US$10,000. Victoria Nomarova from Tatarstan, Russia, finished second while Rachel Nimegeers from Belgium came third. The fourth and fifth positions were won by Sinziana Sirghi from Romania and Chatrthira Michas from Thailand, respectively. The remaining contestants in the top 10 were from Russia, Viet Nam, Indonesia, South Africa and Costa Rica. Vietnam among top 10 in international beauty pageant The organisers also gave out special awards: Best National Costume (Bali), Best Swimsuit (Tatarstan), Best Smile (Japan), Best Talent (Russia), Miss Friendship (Denmark), Miss Charity (South Africa), Miss Charm (Finland), Miss Personality (Guinea), Miss Elegant (Bolivia), Best Evening Gown (the Philippines), Miss Popularity (Thailand), Miss Photogenic (Singapore), Miss Le Skin (China), Miss Skin Beauty (Laos), Miss Tourism Queen of Africa (Ethiopia), Miss Tourism Queen of Oceania (New Zealand), Miss Tourism Queen of Europe (Poland), Miss Tourism Queen of America (Mexico) and Miss Tourism Queen of Asia (Malaysia). Miss Tourism Queen International was founded by Charlie See. Since 1949, more than 80 countries have been occasionally holding this competition for their Miss Tourism National Queen. Mogolian beauty Namshir Anu was crowned Miss Tourism Queen International last year. The contest this year saw 55 beauties making it to the final round. The competition was held from May 7-16. Vietnam among top 10 in international beauty pageant Before her name was announced in the top 10, Linh revealed she felt nervous as she among the oldest contestants in the competition. But according to her, she gave her best. Her dress for the National Costume round was inspired by the Mong ethnic costume and was designed by Ngo Manh Dong Dong. The costume was made from the wedding dress of women from the ethnic group in the northern province of Ha Giang. The fabric was hand-embroidered with decorative patterns and was paired with silver accessories. The costume weighed 30kg. Linh, who is from the northern city of Hai Phong, stands 1.74m tall, measures 86cm-63cm-91cm and weighs 52kg. She was among the top 10 in the Super Model Vietnam contest in 2010. She has been a professional model ever since. At the Miss Tourism Queen International 2014 in China, she was among the top 10 and had won Miss Southeast Asia and Best National Costume titles. In 2016, Dang Pham Phuong Chi also made it to the top 10 at the contest. The stock includes several types of very toxic products.Photo thanhnien.vn This was done by the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with Lang Son Province Market Surveillance. According to Hoang Trung, the department head, the entire stock of smuggled plant protection products was transported by a carriage for hazardous waste to a cement kiln in Hai Duong Province and disposed of by being burnt at a high temperature. The entire process will be strictly managed by the department. The stock of disposed plant protection products includes fruit ripening substances, plant growth stimulators and other hazardous substances such as mouse poison, snail poison and herbicides. Trung told Thanh nien (Young People) newspaper that the products were prohibited from being used in Vietnam. Meanwhile, mouse poison, snail poison and herbicides feature on the list of group 1 substances, which are also known as very toxic. Hoang Van Son, deputy head of Lang Son Province Market Surveillance, said that the smuggling of plant protection products was getting complicated. Traders usually divide the stock into smaller packs and hire porters to traffic products into Vietnam. These products are then illegally distributed and sold in small markets to avoid the glare of State agencies. Three tonnes of disposed plant protection products had been seized in more than 520 smuggling cases. Therein, the provincial market surveillance handled 105 cases with a collected fine of nearly VN240 million (US$10,500). Upon being approached, smugglers usually run carrying their goods so it is difficult for us to capture them and investigate the case, said Son. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung At the conference on Special Economic ZonesInstitution, Policy, and Expectations for Success held this morning, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung emphasised two major targets in SAEZs development. First, the establishment of the three high-growth zones will affect and spill over to the region and the entire economy, lure investment into high-tech and competitive sectors, which match global development trends. These zones will become good places to live and work and prosperous areas featuring sustainable development. Second, they will provide new playing fields with special mechanisms and policies for startups, as well as promote innovation, research and development, and sectors applying high-tech or 4.0 technology. Additionally, high-quality education and healthcare, premium hotels and resorts, logistics and airport, and international seaports capable of trade exchanges will also be developed at all three zones. The legal framework plays an extremely important role in developing and luring investment into SAEZs. Thereby, the Law on Special Administrative-Economic Zones is built on the principle that enterprises are free to act with the exception of specifically prohibited actions. The law not only prescribes incentives on tax and land, but also determines the commitments of the government on maintaining a stable and long-term policy, emphasised Minister Dung. The SAEZs are expected to be equipped with synchronous and modern infrastructure, easily connecting to domestic and international regions, along with a favourable and transparent business climate. The SAEZ model has been under development since 1960 over the world under other names, such as economic zones, free zones or special economic zones in numerous countries. The quantity of SAEZs has also increased from nine zones across nine countries in the 1960s to 4,500 zones across 140 countries and territories now. They are continuing establishing new and perfecting older SAEZ models with more favourable and attractive policies. According to The Economist in 2016, the development of SAEZs has made a significant contribution to global trade and international economic integration, as well as created 66 million jobs. Sebastian Eckardt, the World Bank's lead economist In Vietnam, after 30 years of FDI attraction, the country already has a large number of industrial zones (IZs). According to Sebastian Eckardt, lead economist of the World Bank, IZs have been playing an important role in the industrialisation process. IZs received 52 per cent of the total FDI capital arriving to Vietnam and have contributed 42 per cent of industrial output and 52 per cent of exports. Many zones are developed by the private sector, creating value chains in some key sectors, such as electronics and automobile, among others. Industrial zones have provided a relatively conducive business environment, by simplifying procedures, providing efficient port/customs clearance, and one-stop-shop (OSS) solutions. However, the World Banks lead economist has pointed out some of the challenges IZs face in Vietnam, such as the lack of a nationwide industrial strategy. The zone planning process is fragmented, current zone capacity exceeds industrial demand as the average occupancy rate of existing zones is only about 56 per cent. IZs have been heavily relying on outdated fiscal incentives, are weakly linked to domestic economy, run mostly on imported inputs (70-80 per cent), and develop local linkages mostly in low value-added areas. Therefore, Eckardt gave some good practical examples of SAEZs, such as Shenzhen SEZ (China), Incheon Free Zone (South Korea), Penang FTZ (Malaysia), and Jebel Ali Free Zone (Dubai). Success depends mostly on the investment climate and the location of SAEZs, focuses on good connectivity and strong linkages with local clusters, environmental and social excellence, and smart incentives with a focus on strategic investment, he emphasised. The success of each SAEZ depends on various factors, but we could affirm that this model has created opportunities for countries and territories to attract FDI capital, approach new technology and knowledge, modernise management methods, strengthen trade exchange, open the domestic economy and integrate deeper into the international economy, added Minister Dung. The Law on SAEZs will be put to vote at the fifth session of the National Assembly, which is expected to take place between May 21 and June 18. The resolution on establishing the three SAEZs in Van Don, North Van Phong, and Phu Quoc is expected to be approved at the sixth session in late 2018. Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. (UPDATED INFORMATION) An infant taken by her non-custodial parents is located in Iowa and is safely in protective custody. South Carolina authorities say little Dakota Ray was taken on April 15th by William and Jessica Ray, who are believed to be heavy meth users. The three were recently captured on surveillance video on Monday at an Iowa hospital. They were also spotted in Marshall, Minnesota. The parents are in custody on unrelated charges. (EARLIER REPORT) May 17, 3018 The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children along with the Camden Police Department in South Carolina are asking for the public's assistance to locate a missing 2 year-old child. Dakota Ray was taken on April 15, 2018 by her parents William and Jessica Ray. According to law enforcement both William and Jessica are believed to be heavy methamphetamine users and law enforcement is concerned for the childs well being. The child and her parents were captured in surveillance images on Monday, May 14, 2018 at a hospital in Iowa. Law enforcement then received information that they may now be in Minnesota. The child and companions are traveling in a 1996 gold Ford Aerostar van and may be frequently changing the license plate on the vehicle. According to Camden Police Department It is possible that they may be begging or asking strangers for money. The child and companions are also believed to be sleeping in their vehicle. Dakota is 2 years old. She is 2 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 25 pounds and has blonde hair and blue eyes Jessica is 36 years old. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 112 pounds and has long light brown hair and blue eyes. William is 44 years old. He is 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs 340 pounds and has light brown hair and brown eyes. If anyone has seen Dakota, William or Jessica Ray contact the Camden Police Department at 1-888-CRIMESC (1-888-274-6372) or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). Sofia Declaration We, the leaders of the European Union (EU) and of its Member States, in consultation with our Western Balkans partners, and in the presence of relevant regional stakeholders, today concluded the following: 1. The EU welcomes the shared commitment of the Western Balkans partners to European values and principles, and to the vision of a strong, stable and united Europe, underpinned by our historic, cultural and geographic ties and by our mutual political, security and economic interests. 2. Recalling the Thessaloniki Summit of 2003, the EU reaffirms its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans. Building on the progress achieved so far, the Western Balkans partners have recommitted to the European perspective as their firm strategic choice, to reinforcing their efforts and mutual support. The credibility of these efforts depends on clear public communication. 3. The EU is determined to strengthen and intensify its engagement at all levels to support the regions political, economic and social transformation, including through increased assistance based on tangible progress in the rule of law, as well as in socio-economic reforms, by the Western Balkans partners. 4. The EU welcomes the Western Balkans partners commitment to the primacy of democracy and the rule of law, especially the fight against corruption and organised crime, good governance, as well as respect for human rights and rights of persons belonging to minorities. Their effective implementation of reforms rests on these foundations. Civil society and independent media play a crucial role in the process of democratisation. 5. The EU supports the Western Balkans partners pledge to continue strengthening good neighbourly relations, regional stability and mutual cooperation. This includes in particular finding and implementing definitive, inclusive and binding solutions for their bilateral disputes rooted in the legacy of the past and devoting additional efforts to reconciliation. 6. Constructing a dense web of connections and opportunities within the region and with the EU is vital for bringing our citizens and economies closer together, and for enhancing political stability, economic prosperity, cultural and social development. Building on progress made, including through regional initiatives, we pledge to enhance substantially connectivity in all its dimensions: transport, energy, digital, economic and human. 7. The EU agrees to promote a market- and investment-friendly environment in the Western Balkans to move faster towards a digital economy and to sustainable and climate-friendly societies in line with the Paris agreement. Energy security will be prioritised, including through improved energy efficiency, better cross-border inter-connections, diversification of sources and routes, as well as a balanced energy mix better integrating renewable energy. 8. Special emphasis will be put toward creating further opportunities for the youth, while ensuring that this contributes to the socio-economic development of the Western Balkans. 9. To that end, the EU welcomes the Western Balkans partners commitment, inter alia, to accelerate the implementation of the acquis under the Energy Community and Transport Community Treaties, to remove all administrative barriers at borders, to complete the Regional Electricity Market and to urgently implement the July 2017 Multiannual Action Plan for the Development of a Regional Economic Area. The EU will continue to support these efforts. 10. The EU and the Western Balkans partners share many security challenges that demand coordinated individual and collective action. When we work together, we are able to address these challenges effectively. Our cooperation in stemming illegal migration flows has demonstrated its value and will be developed further. 11. Countering terrorism and extremism, including financing, radicalisation and the return of foreign terrorist fighters require our increased cooperation. 12. The EU and the Western Balkans partners acknowledge that results in fighting corruption and organised crime are essential for the regions political and socio-economic transformation and also for regional stability and security, which are in the best interest of their citizens. The EU welcomes their commitment to take resolute action, in cooperation with the EU and with each other, against human trafficking, drug cultivation, and smuggling of human beings, drugs and arms. 13. The EU welcomes the contribution of the Western Balkans partners to its Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) in all its aspects and expects a progressive deepening of cooperation in this area, especially an enhanced level of alignment, notably on issues where major common interests are at stake. 14. Disinformation and other hybrid activities will be fought together through greater collaboration in resilience, cyber security and strategic communication. 15. To accelerate improvement in the lives of our citizens in the areas of connectivity and security in view of the European perspective of the Western Balkans, today, drawing on the relevant aspects of the Commissions Communication adopted on 6 February 2018, the EU launched a Sofia Priority Agenda for the EU and the Western Balkans, which is annexed to this Declaration. 16. The EU welcomes the intention of Croatia to host an EU-Western Balkans Summit during its Presidency in 2020. 17. We note that our Western Balkans Partners align themselves with the above points. Annex to the Declaration Sofia Priority Agenda Strengthening support to the rule of law and good governance Enhance support for judicial reform and efforts to fight corruption and organised crime, including capacity building for corruption prevention Extend rule of law advisory missions with increased support from Member States and from the EU Enhance monitoring of reforms through more systematic, case-based peer-review missions Introduce trial monitoring in the field of serious corruption and organised crime Work towards better measurement of results in justice reform Roll out support for the Western Balkans through the European Endowment for Democracy in the area of independent and pluralistic media and civil society Reinforcing engagement on security and migration Step up joint work on counter-terrorism and preventing radicalisation and violent extremism, in coherence with the Western Balkans Counter-Terrorism initiative Enhance significantly operational cooperation in the fight against international organised crime in priority areas such as firearms, drugs, migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings Prepare a renewed action plan for cooperation on firearms to address more effectively illicit firearms and the large stockpile of weapons Increase support to capacity-building in the area of cyber-security and fight against cyber-crime Enhance cooperation on migration and border management Further enhance cooperation between the liaison officers deployed by the EU (European Commission and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency), Member States and competent authorities of the Western Balkans Create an EU JHA inter-agency Task Force coordinated by the Commission Deepen and expand substantial cooperation and dialogue on Common Foreign and Security Policy/Common Security and Defence Policy Further develop cooperation in activities related to hybrid threats, including by enhancing strategic communication Supporting socio-economic development and putting a special focus on youth Expand the Western Balkans Investment Framework to further attract and coordinate bilateral donors and International Financing Institutions investment Significantly boost the Western Balkans Investment Frameworks provision of guarantees to crowd in private investment Enhance support to education, in particular launch a pilot project for mobility in vocational education and training Double Erasmus+ funding for the region, including establishment of a Western Balkans Youth Lab in 2018, providing space for innovative policy-making addressing the needs of young people, and tackling brain drain Expand the scope and reach of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office, and introduce an intra-regional mobility scheme Ensure progress in the implementation of the Regional Economic Area, including stepping up work on recognition of qualifications, and progress on trade facilitation within the Western Balkans Progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia in their World Trade Organisation accession processes Increasing connectivity Launch a new package of connectivity projects (with significant EU grants as leverage) through the Western Balkans Investment Framework, including support to the Blue Highway and the Peace Highway (Nis-Pristina) Support increased take-up of opportunities under the current provisions of the Connecting Europe Facility in the Western Balkans Expand the EU Energy Union to the Western Balkans, focusing on energy security and diversification of sources and suppliers, including a strategy at regional level to benefit from renewables, notably hydropower Work to complete the Regional Electricity Market in the Western Balkans, and ensure that it is integrated into the EU Internal Electricity Market, including though the Central and South-Eastern European Connectivity (CESEC) initiative Further support the creation of a single regulatory space and effective energy market reform process under the Energy Community Treaty Sign a commitment/Memorandum of Understanding on the Bulgaria/Serbia gas interconnector Start the implementation of the Transport Community Treaty and full operation of its secretariat Sign the agreement on the Transport Community Treaty Headquarters (Belgrade) Endorse the Transport Ministerial Declaration from Ljubljana TEN-T Days, including the action plan for the priority border crossings list Endorse the Transport Ministerial Declaration on road safety from Ljubljana TEN-T Days and its Action Plan Support a new rail strategy to bring the Western Balkans into the main EU network and market A Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans Launch a Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans, including a roadmap to facilitate lowering the cost of roaming Launch a substantial technical assistance package for the identification of potential digital investments (including broadband) through Western Balkans Investment Framework/Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance Supporting reconciliation and good neighbourly relations in the Western Balkans Support the fight against impunity through support to the Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunals and to the Kosovo* Specialist Chambers, through EULEX Open a window in the EUs Creative Europe Programme Promote deepening of links among civil societies of the Western Balkans, including through the support for the Western Balkans Fund projects This Priority Agenda will be implemented in a status-neutral manner and without prejudice to discussions on the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Gibraltar Will Not Cede an Inch on Sovereignty The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia has told the visiting cross-party group of UK parliamentarians that Gibraltar will not cede an inch of our sovereignty, jurisdiction and control. He addressed directly the recent press reports about Gibraltar Airport at an official dinner hosted by the Government for the group of MPs. The Deputy Chief Minister said that it was important to understand that this was about more than just actual sovereignty. The symbols and the ingredients of power are just as important. You cannot separate one from the other, particularly against the background of a continuing territorial claim by Spain. In other words, it is a contradiction in terms to put sovereignty to one side and then seek to advance the symbols of sovereignty in the same breath. He made clear that the red lines of the Gibraltar Government and of the Spanish Government are well known. However, he argued that there was space between those sets of red lines to seek positive cooperation with practical, modern solutions which do not cross any of them. The cross-party group comprised Conservative Robert Goodwill MP, Labour Shadow Foreign Minister Liz McInnes MP, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesman Tom Brake MP, Labour Foreign Affairs Committee Member Mike Gapes MP and DUP Northern Ireland Assembly Member William Humphreys MLA. The Deputy Chief Minister said that the Gibraltar Government remains ready to engage with Spain, as our next door neighbour, in a positive and constructive manner as we prepare to leave the European Union. He said that there was already a degree of shared prosperity between Gibraltar and the neighbouring region of Spain, pointing to 13,000 frontier workers, the 90 million a year spent by Gibraltar residents in Spain and the 400 million a year purchased from Spanish companies by Gibraltar businesses. There was scope for even greater shared prosperity through a fluid border which was in everybodys interests. He made the point that this fluidity should be extended to residents and to citizens in general, not only to workers. Dr Garcia urged the MPs to ensure that the position of Gibraltar was protected as we leave the European Union. He said that Gibraltar has been British for more than 300 years, which is longer than the United States, Germany or Italy have existed. In that time, we have come of age under the broad umbrella of British values, traditions and way of life. There are some lessons that we have learnt extremely well. One such lesson is never to give in to bullies. And you can rest assured that we never will. In response on behalf of the guests, Labour MP Mike Gapes thanked the Government for the organisation of the visit to Gibraltar and made it clear that the group had well understood the concerns that had been expressed, which they would now take back to Westminster. He reiterated the cross-party support for Gibraltar that existed in the United Kingdom. Photo: Paramount Pictures This post originally ran after the author had seen Book Club. It has been updated to reflect her experience seeing Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Every summer gets the heartthrob it deserves. Last year we had Tom Holland, Ansel Elgort, and Timothee Chalamet, bless all of their sweet, tender 20-something hearts. But now were living in a postNice for What reality. Were like three tweets away from nuclear war and/or a presidential indictment. Kanye is dropping basically a dozen albums at once. Rihanna isnt dropping Fenty highlighter and Fenty lingerie so we could have a crush on someone born in 1996! This summer is going to require somebody with a little more finesse. (And someone who can legally drink!) Between the blockbusters and the tentpoles, two romantic comedies have presented a summer crush for the grown and sexy set. In the words of Drake, Andy Garcia should probably sign to Hit-Boy cause hes got all the hits, boy: Thanks to supporting roles in Book Club and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, it is the summer of thirsting after Andy Garcia! In Book Club, Garcia plays Mitchell, a 60-something smooth-talking pilot sweeping Diane Keaton off her feet. But its a very respectful, affable sort of sweeping: Diane is a widow trying to appease her helicopter kids by flying back and forth between her home in Santa Monica and their houses in Arizona. (Theyre in the process of begging her to move.) She happens to sit next to Mitchell on a plane, where he indulges in her flying anxiety, and laughs it off when she accidentally jumps at a loud noise and her hand ends up on his crotch. He dresses like a hip, single Big Little Lies dad, if such a thing existed: an open shirt collar, with a necklace peeking out; a few beaded bracelets just shy of Eat, Pray, Love pretension. Hes a hottie, and Diane is flush! When theyre exiting the plane, he sneaks a peek at her copy of Fifty Shades of Grey, the book club pick shes reading with all of her friends. When he asks about it, she blushes and stammers. Uh its Moby Dick? Diane is jumpy and funny, and has that Diane Keaton way of talking over herself and interrupting her own sentences, which makes their eventual date extremely fun to watch. Its just a super-lush, Nancy Meyers-y time, with wine and green-screened views of the ocean. Mitchell sips his wine as Diane rambles about her first kiss, until she finally asks, How about I tell you about my best kiss? He grins. I gulped. Maybe that hasnt happened yet, Mitchell says demurely. My editor, sitting next to me during a press screening, leaned over to ask me if Andy Garcia could actually be this hot. Forget peaches, web-slingers, and the 13 Riverdales Why boys Andy Garcia has aged like vintage Levis, Diane Keatons long gray bob, or Candy by Cameo (a.k.a. very well). Here are things I would like to do with Andy Garciaas-Mitchell, in no particular order: Read a trashy YA romance on a lawn chair next to his pool (thats not an innuendo for something I dont have access to a pool in New York, so that would be really cool and fun). Drink white wine on his pools inflatable swan. Speed walk through his (no doubt cavernous homes) hallways, holding a Nokia 511, and flipping through leather folder full of important papers, like Andy Garcia-asTerry Benedict did in the Oceans movies. This is not an exhaustive list. In the Mamma Mia sequel, Garcia plays Fernando Cienfuegos. The trailer shows him (1) dancing with Cher, and (2) lighting a tiki torch. Garcias daughters Instagram shows him at the beach and posing in front of a scenic view. Hes a hotel employee with a mysterious past, and lots of neck scarves. (If you learn one thing from Diane Keaton, it is the art of the neck scarf!) My tickets have been purchased, and Ive already made plans to smuggle a full bottle of Chardonnay into a movie theater downtown. Andy Garcia gets at whats best about Book Club, a movie about having fun and getting laid: He was hot back in the 80s and then in the 90s and then again in the 2000s, but hes even hotter now in a more casual, Yes, I actually cant wait to turn 60 and drink wine with you way. Im tired of group chats about young, beautiful crushes or Bachelor-style romances full of globe-trotting date nights. The best and thirstiest years of our lives arent behind us, Book Club suggests, theyre ahead of us and couple goals can be a white-turtleneck-wearing widow and her hottie pilot boyfriend. Update: Book Club gave us Andy Garcia as the hot Diane Keatondating jetsetter. It was an Andy Garcia snack. The Mamma Mia sequel in which Garcia plays Senor Cienfuegos, a dapper albeit mysterious hotel manager is the full Andy Garcia menu. Hes running the Hotel Bella Donna, Sophies (Amanda Seyfried) hotel, revamped in her dead mothers (Meryl Streep) memory. He putters around the grounds. He puts fresh soil in the flower pots. He lights tiki torches. He says things like, The pleasure and privilege will be mine. (Christine Baranski utters the only logical answer to the prospect of Andy Garcia saying the word pleasure and mine: Be still my beating vagina.) Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is the story of a mother and daughter that works as a Godfather IIstye prequel and sequel. In one truly breathtaking sequence that really makes no sense at all, Cher Meryl Streeps mother, Amanda Seyfrieds grandmother is suddenly revealed to be Andy Garcias ex-lover. Grandma Cher (her characters name is Ruby, but, honestly, whatever) locks eyes with the hotelier. Time stops. Suddenly Trump isnt president, winter is not coming, my phone isnt dying. Mexico! 1959! Garcia shouts, alluding to the time of their love. (Take note: Their love story is the only suitable prequel to round out this Mamma Mia trilogy.) Cue Fernando, fireworks, and the audiences applause. Reader: Cher has not one wrinkle on her face in this movie, and I can only assume it is because when you are loved by Andy Garcia, you remain untouched by time! According to the Bible, God created men so Cher would have someone to sing Fernando to in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. (I know this is true because I tweeted it.) Anyway, the point remains: This is indeed the summer of thirsting after Andy Garcia, and Mamma Mia 2 knows it. Photo: Boo Pictures/Mooz Films This review originally ran during the Cannes Film Festival. Nadine Labakis Capernaum never mentions abortion by name, but its one of the most forcefully pro-choice films Ive ever seen. It starts with the audacious, hooky premise of a young boy who sues his parents for having him, and over the course of its two hours, it makes its case relentlessly, devastatingly, and uncompromisingly. Movies almost inherently celebrate life life-giving, the moments of vitality in otherwise difficult situations. In following her young protagonist and his infant sidekick, Labaki does none of that, only articulating the impossibility of the lives that were bestowed upon them. Its a deeply assured piece of direction, and though it only plays a few emotional notes, they are ones that wont soon leave your memory. The film takes place in Beirut, but the title takes its name from the ancient Israeli fishing town of Capernaum, which in turn became the namesake for a word meaning disorderly accumulation of objects. In the slums that Labakis characters inhabit, people, especially children, come to be a part of that disorderly accumulation as well. When the film opens, Zain (Zain Alrafeea), who guesses hes 12 but whose stunted body looks much younger, is being taken out of prison to face his parents in court. He has a lawyer, and even though hes already stood trial for a stabbing (the details of which well come to learn) he is now the plaintiff: He is here to make the case that his very birth was a crime of neglect. Alrafeea is a startling, unforgettable presence, and his preternaturally soulful, unsmiling face is our guide through the chaos of Zains life. From the courtroom, we flash back to the series of unfortunate events that landed Zain in prison, starting with the brutal heartbreak of seeing his 11-year-old sister Sahar (Cedra Izam) sold off to be the bride of a grown man for a few chickens. Its a devastating sequence, and 15 minutes into the film, youre already agitated enough to wish for a life sentence for Zains parents. Their home is hellish and chaotic, they earn their living smuggling drugs into the local prison, and the only thing keeping their youngest infant from getting into their cooking supplies is a length of chain cuffed to her ankle. Image after image of squalor and dysfunction fill the frame, and when Zain escapes, full of rage and sadness at the loss of Sahar, its hard to think of a better course of action. Perhaps thats whats missing from Labakis film: It gives us course after course of heart-wrenching scenarios and is so tied to the POV of its child protagonist that its hard to get a sense of any course of action than the one chosen. Zain soon meets an Ethiopian immigrant named Rahil (Yordanos Shifera, a shining, openhearted screen presence) and her infant son Yonas, both of them undocumented. She takes Zain in and feeds him, and he looks after the baby while she goes to work. Rahils tender mothering of Yonas played by tiny Treasure Bankole, the most strikingly emotive and talented toddler Ive ever seen onscreen is a balm after the hostility of Zains home. But her situation is heartbreaking in its own way: Rahil smuggles Yonas along with her to work in a shopping cart before Zain comes along to be the nanny. She needs to get new papers forged, but she doesnt have the money, and one day while out trying to find the money, she never comes home. Zain and Yonass situation in Rahils absence goes from dire to almost unwatchable. Theres no doubt at all that Labaki is a filmmaker of extreme empathy, with a real intuition for how to capture the dynamics between children in particular. Capernaum sometimes feels at risk of buckling under the weight of its own suffering, yet somehow Zains heavy-handed Spartacus moment feels unearned. You want some measure of peace for these characters, but Labaki also wants to make them emblems, which feels unnecessarily manipulative. Shes done so much, after all: pulled impossible-feeling performances from her young leads, and turned Beiruts slums into a kind of unrelenting, absolutely memorable choral dysfunction. Its not as if were not crying our eyes out already. Capernaum was nominated for a 2019 Oscar in Best Foreign Language Film. Saoirse Ronan in On Chesil Beach. Photo: Bleecker Street Media This post contains spoilers for On Chesil Beach, both the book and the movie. As both the book and the film versions of On Chesil Beach remind us, the pair of doomed lovers at the center of the tale are each a product of their times. Its Britain in the early 60s, which means that, as Ian McEwans opening puts it, Florence (played in the movie by Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Dunkirks Billy Howle) were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible. Edwards unreconstructed ideas about sex mean he cannot conceive of a world in which hes not entitled to his wifes body; Florences strangled emotions mean she cannot express her lack of desire until its far too late. The movie mostly sticks faithfully to the books omniscient narrative, as faithfully as a movie can without resorting to voice-over narration. (McEwan wrote the script.) Instead, its told in a series of flashbacks, often in long scenes detailing the early days of Florence and Edwards relationship. But there are shorter ones too, which come in brief flashes, and theres one near the end that sticks out. As the couple is embarking on their pivotal, terrible wedding-night sex, we flash back to one of Florences childhood trips on her fathers boat, which weve seen before. Except this time, theres something new her father undressing behind her, as young Florence cowers in the foreground. Suddenly, her total aversion to sex has a clear explanation. At the moment, this struck me as a dramatic departure from the novel, which to my memory had no sexual-abuse subplot. I wasnt quite sure what to make of it. It seemed a bit psychologically overdetermined to me; I preferred the books ambiguity, or the possibility that Florence was simply asexual. But it had been years since I read the book, and when I read, I tend to read more for speed than for detail. (Like The Hobbit, On Chesil Beach is the rare film adaptation that takes longer to watch than the book does to read; I devoured it in a single afternoon.) So, true to the movies vibe, I had my own moment of minor embarrassment when a few minutes research revealed that what seemed like a new addition to Florences backstory had in fact been part of the narrative the whole time. Savvier readers than I, like Dave at the Reading Bug, picked up the clues. Throughout the book, Florences memories often flash back to solo trips with her father when she was young, just the two of them, hiking in the Alps, Sierra Nevada and Pyrenees, and the special treats, the one-night business trips to European cities where she and Geoffrey always stayed in the grandest hotels. (Note the odd use of his first name, and the absence of Florences mother.) These memories get particularly sharp when Florence and Edward are about to have sex. Her brain conjures up memories her fathers yacht flashes of images floating toward the surface, and then pushed back down again: Here came the past, anyway, the indistinct past. It was the smell of the sea that summoned it. She was twelve years old, lying still like this, waiting, shivering in the narrow bunk with polished mahogany sides. Her mind was blank, she felt she was in disgrace. After a two-day crossing, they were once more in the calm of Carteret harbour, south of Cherbourg. It was late in the evening, and her father was moving about the dim cramped cabin, undressing, like Edward now. She remembered the rustle of the clothes, the clink of a belt unfastened or of keys and or loose change. Her only task was to keep her eyes closed and to think of a tune she liked. Or any tune. She remembered the sweet scent of almost rotten food in the closed air of a boat after a rough trip. She was usually sick many times on the crossing, and of no use to her father as a sailor, and that surely was the source of her shame. Assembled together in this form, all the hints seem quite clear, though they are of course easier to miss when theyre scattered throughout even a short book. Its an interesting illustration of the differences between page and screen: The movies flashback doesnt give us any information that we didnt also get in the book version, but for me at least, theres something about seeing it that spells it out much more plainly. But if you completely missed it too, dont be too hard on yourself. McEwans early drafts reportedly included much more about Florences fathers true nature, but he cut almost all of it. In the final draft, its there as a shadowy fact for readers to make of it what they will, hes said. Many readers will miss it altogether, which is fine. Lin-Manuel Miranda. Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images After escaping the clutches of Harvey Weinstein, the movie rights for Lin-Manuel Mirandas 2008 musical In the Heights have been won by Warner Bros. The win comes after a bidding war with several studios, according to Variety. Miranda is producing, and John Chu of Crazy Rich Asians will direct the film. The script will be written by the original writer of the musicals book, Quiara Alegria Hudes, who advocated on Twitter last year for the Weinstein Company to give up their rights to the film. In the Heights won Lin-Manuel Miranda his first Tony Award in 2008 for best original score, but in 2011 plans to make the musical into a film at Universal fell through. Then in 2015, Miranda debuted his Broadway smash hit Hamilton and now he can no longer be stopped by normal means. In the Heights is a story about a bodega owner in New York Citys Washington Heights neighborhood who is planning to retire to the Dominican Republic. After stints as a writer on Late Night With Seth Meyers and correspondent on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, Michelle Wolf is finally getting a late-night show of her own with The Break, and Netflix just released a brand-new trailer. Announced earlier this year, the weekly half-hour series is described by Wolf as a break from the seriousness of late-night comedy, and Dan Powell (Inside Amy Schumer) and Christine Nangle (The President Show) serve as showrunners, with Nangle also serving as head writer. Wolf teased in February that you can expect the types of jokes my former bosses would tell me we couldnt do on TV, and judging by her performance at this years White House Correspondents Dinner, you can count on her keeping that promise. Check out the new trailer featuring Wolf and an appearance by her Late Night pal Amber Ruffin above, then catch the rest when The Break With Michelle Wolf makes its Netflix debut on Sunday, May 27. WASHINGTON (AP) A West Wing aides morbid remark about gravely ill Sen. John McCain has not yielded widespread White House soul searching. Instead it has produced a push to fire those responsible for leaking that story and others that have bedeviled President Donald Trumps administration. Nearly a week after Kelly Sadler dismissed McCains opinion on Trumps CIA nominee during a closed-door meeting by saying hes dying anyway, a torrent of criticism has rained down upon the White House. The administration has repeatedly declined to publicly apologize, but the fallout has shaken the West Wing, where the focus remains on who leaked to the media. Trump is demanding that whoever let the story go public be fired, according to a White House official and an outside Trump adviser. Neither was authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Leaks have long been a problem for Trumps White House, but this one has drawn particular scrutiny within the building due to the staying power of the damaging story. Several senior officials, including chief of staff John Kelly and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, have called closed-door meetings to warn junior staffers that a shake-up could be in the offing. The mood has grown increasingly tense. Its an honor and a privilege to work for the president and to be part of his administration. And anybody who betrays that I think is a total and complete coward and they should be fired, said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders this week. Weve fired people over leaking before. Rumors have been circulating over who is responsible for the leak, and chatter about aides looking for the exits has picked up, though previous declarations of crackdowns did not yield shake-ups or end the leaks. Trump has claimed the reports of leaking are exaggerated, but he also suggested in a provocative tweet this week that those who do so are traitors. National Security Adviser John Bolton said that some leakers were national security risks and said Kelly was organizing an effort to cut them down. The president has to have advisers around him who can have open candid discussions and then not read about him the next day in the newspapers or watch them on television, Bolton told Fox News Radio. Conway said Thursday she knew the identity of some of the leakers but did not say what repercussions might be forthcoming. She told Fox News that there is 99.8 percent of the information some of us know in this place that never gets leaked. Leaks are nothing new to any White House, but they have been far more pervasive in the Trump administration. In the presidents eyes, the number of unflattering leaks has been evidence that a Deep State of career officials scattered throughout the government is conspiring against him. But Trump who has been known to leak himself has had a love-hate relationship with the practice long before he came to Washington. When I worked for Mr. Trump, I worked under the maxim that he liked leaks. I never cleared them ahead of time, but I would tell him later so hed have deniability, said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign official. Sometimes he loved them, sometimes he screamed about them. But he never told me to stop. He loves the media, loves being talked about, he loves how a leak gets his name in the news. Campaign infighting and West Wing rivalries have led to nasty leaks about fellow staffers, while other revelations to the press appeared to be motivated by attempts to influence or undermine the president. Sanders called a heated communications staff meeting last week to discuss the Sadler incident, during which Sadler received the support of several staffers, including Mercedes Schlapp, the White Houses director of strategic communication. Schlapp has been a candidate to become communications director, a post that has been open since the resignation of Hope Hicks, a departure that some White House staffers believe has further eroded morale. Schlapps husband, Matt, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, says that a senior staff must have honest conversations without worrying that the information is going to be made public. Leaks, he said, can be used as a weapon to take out people you dont like, rivals on the staff. And at the end, it really destroys the ability of the president to push hard on his agenda because everything is distracted. Ari Fleischer, press secretary for President George W. Bush, said the current tone has been set by Trump, both on leaks and the lack of apologies. If the president created an inclusive environment where everyone was sure theyd be heard, there would be few leaks. But if the president creates an environment where the staff will infight and wrestle, the staff will leak, said Fleischer. And if the White House apologized now, theyd immediately be asked about every other time they havent apologized. A number of White House aides believe it was a mistake not to publicly apologize to McCain and believe doing so would have cut into the shelf-life of a story that, despite Stormy Daniels and the Russia investigation, has managed to carve out a consistent share of cable news coverage. But they privately acknowledge that it would have unleashed the presidents wrath. Trump has long prided himself on never apologizing, believing it shows weakness, and has often displayed enmity for McCain. During the election campaign, he declared that McCain, who was a prisoner of war for more than five years, was not a war hero, and he has publicly and privately blamed the Arizona senator, who is battling cancer, for submarining the Republican health care bill last year. Trumps White House has followed that lead, avoiding apologies while defending some of Trumps most incendiary remarks like his comments about Mexican immigrants. One time a White House staffer did acknowledge a mistake was in February, when deputy press secretary Raj Shah admitted that we all could have done better when discussing the White Houses handling of Rob Porter, the staff secretary who was accused of abusing two ex-wives. Trump, who watched the briefing that day from his private dining room just off the Oval Office, was incensed by the remark and later chewed out Shah for making it, according to two White House officials. (CNN) -- Meghan Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, was meeting Queen Elizabeth for tea at Windsor Castle Friday, as final preparations are made for the royal wedding on Saturday. Ragland met several other members of the British royal family Thursday, Kensington Palace said, ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry, the Queen's grandchild and sixth in line to the throne. She had tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall -- father and step-mother -- at Clarence House in London. Later, she met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their two older children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, during wedding rehearsals in Windsor. Ragland will spend Friday night with her daughter at the five-star Cliveden House Hotel, around 30 minutes drive from Windsor. They will travel to the castle together Saturday morning, driving up the Long Walk where members of the public will get their first glimpse of the bride. The car will stop at the castle to let Ragland out and pick up some of the bridal party before continuing to the chapel. CNN learned Friday that Markle will walk the first section of the chapel aisle unescorted, accompanied only by her bridesmaids and page boys. A senior member of the Church of England clergy will process ahead. Prince Charles -- her future father-in-law -- will escort her down the final section of the aisle, a role originally intended for Markle's father, Thomas, who has been unable to travel to the UK due to ill health. A 'free spirit' Ragland, 61, is a yoga instructor and social worker in Los Angeles. She met Markle's father, Thomas Markle, at a Hollywood studio in the late '70s. The pair divorced when Meghan Markle was a young child, but she told Vanity Fair last year that they are still on good terms. Markle has spoken publicly about her close relationship with her mother many times, describing her as a "free spirit" and someone she can rely on. "We can just have so much fun together, and yet, I'll still find so much solace in her support. That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend," Markle wrote of her mother in Glamour magazine last year. Ragland has apparently also found a huge fan in Prince Harry, who described her as "amazing" in a BBC interview. Final preparations Meanwhile, the final wedding preparations are underway. British troops took part in a military rehearsal Thursday, lining the processional route and escorting the carriage that will carry Prince Harry and his new wife through Windsor after the ceremony. On Friday morning, Kensington Palace tweeted a picture of baker Claire Ptak working on the wedding cake, which is flavored with lemon and elderflower and will feature buttercream and fresh flowers as decoration. The-CNN-Wire & 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A pain specialist faults prescriptions by an Alabama physician accused of federal crimes in the 2016 drug overdose death of a former guitarist for rock band 3 Doors Down. Dr. Richard Snellgrove is accused of unlawful distribution of drugs and health care fraud in a case tied to the death of Matthew Roberts. Al.com reports that Dr. Rahul Vohra testified Wednesday in the trial in Mobile that Snellgrove's records don't justify the painkillers he was prescribing, especially because he knew Roberts struggled with addiction. Defense lawyers suggest Roberts was getting drugs from elsewhere. Vohra also said under defense questioning that Roberts might have had lasting pain from earlier injuries. Snellgrove faces up to 240 years in prison if convicted. Roberts' family is suing Snellgrove and others in a civil lawsuit. ___ Information from: Press-Register, http://www.al.com/press-register/ (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 5/17/2018 1:45:08 PM (GMT -5:00) FARGO, N.D. (AP) - A Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting two boys in North Dakota in the 1990s has pleaded guilty to two counts of felony gross sexual imposition. Court documents show that Fernando Sayasaya entered the pleas Thursday during a scheduling conference. He's accused of abusing two underage siblings from 1995 to 1998, while he was assigned to the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and St. Mary's Cathedral in the Fargo area. Sayasaya was returned to the United States in December from the Philippines, where he had been since 1998. Sentencing is scheduled for July 30. Sayasaya faces up to 20 years in prison. A Philippines court ordered Sayasaya's extradition in 2010. He appealed, lost and was ultimately arrested in November. Pat O'Day, Sayasaya's attorney, did not return a phone message seeking comment. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 5/17/2018 7:16:55 PM (GMT -5:00) Unfortunately, I dont. Our world is not ideal. There are wars. There are nations ruled by tyrants and despots. There are famine and disease. There are people who care very little for their fellow man. There is evil. We dont live in an ideal world, but rather the real world. As such, we rely on our leaders to guide our nation on a path toward the ideal world while always being prepared for the pitfalls and inequities of the real world. I wish that I lived in an ideal world. I wish that I lived in a world where all nations lived together in harmony, in a world where the term human rights violations did not exist, in a world where wars and famine and evil did not exist, in a world where I weighed 30 pounds less and my hair didnt start graying when I was 17 years old. Congressman Foster has stated, I strongly condemn President Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. He further declares, President Trumps announcement shows his diplomatic incompetence and his technical ignorance of the scientific safeguards needed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon." About the only point that a rational American can agree with Congressman Foster on is, I believe, the thought that Iran should NEVER possess a nuclear weapon. The Congressman states that the Presidents decision shows his diplomatic incompetence. That must be the same incompetence displayed in bringing Kim Jung-un to the negotiating table. This is a feat that no US president has been able to accomplish since the Armistice was signed 65 years ago in 1953. Our previous leaders failed in their diplomatic solutions with regard to North Korea, and as a consequence, it was up to President Trump to deal with an unpredictable ruler who not only possesses nuclear weapons but also, arguably, the means to deliver those weapons to our homeland. And although at this time the President has not resolved this debacle, because of President Trumps diplomatic incompetence we are closer than we ever have been to approach a solution. Kin Jung-un has even claimed to be interested in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Although, in my opinion, it is far too early to be talking about a Nobel Peace Prize for President Trump, one wonders where we might be if previous Presidents also displayed such diplomatic incompetence. When President Obama signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, (the Iran Nuclear Deal), many members of Congress, even some prominent Democrats, voiced their opposition. The previous Administrations hope that the JCPOA would lead Iran to join the civilized world and moderate its action has not materialized. Instead of using the billions of dollars that Iran received at the onset of the agreement to bring relief to its citizens who were suffering due to years of economic sanctions, the leadership of Iran has chosen to spend those funds to expand their proxy wars and their sponsorship of terrorist organizations. Congressman Foster, however, obviously believes that this failure is acceptable assuming that the JCPOA prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Here, again, the Congressman is misguided. The JCPOA does not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Assuming Iran abides by the agreement, and this is a huge assumption, the agreement merely delays the development. In addition, the JCPOA does nothing to retard Irans development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Therefore, if Iran were to actually abide by the agreement, (which information from Israel already suggests that the Iranians are not), once the JCPOA terminates, Iran would be able to pursue nuclear weapons and will probably have already developed the ability to deliver them. This should concern all Americans, especially given repeated scenes from the Iranian Parliament of Iranian leaders chanting Death to America and burning American flags. Does Congressman Foster really believe that this militant government will moderate if we continue to coddle it? Isnt that what too many believed would happen with North Korea? It's time to live in the real world and not the ideal world. Its time for Congressman Foster to represent the citizens of his district and help to lead this country. If, however, he prefers to live in the ideal world, its time for him to relieved of his duties so that the district can have true representation and leadership. I wish that I lived in an ideal world. I wish that I lived in a world where all nations lived together in harmony, in a world where the term human rights violations did not exist, in a world where wars and famine and evil did not exist, in a world where I weighed 30 pounds less and my hair didnt start graying when I was 17 years old. Unfortunately, I dont. Our world is not ideal. There are wars. There are nations ruled by tyrants and despots. There are famine and disease. There are people who care very little for their fellow man. There is evil. We dont live in an ideal world, but rather the real world. As such, we rely on our leaders to guide our nation on a path toward the ideal world while always being prepared for the pitfalls and inequities of the real world. Congressman Foster has stated, I strongly condemn President Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. He further declares, President Trumps announcement shows his diplomatic incompetence and his technical ignorance of the scientific safeguards needed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. About the only point that a rational American can agree with Congressman Foster on is, I believe, the thought that Iran should NEVER possess a nuclear weapon. The Congressman states that the Presidents decision shows his diplomatic incompetence. That must be the same incompetence displayed in bringing Kim Jung-un to the negotiating table. This is a feat that no US president has been able to accomplish since the Armistice was signed 65 years ago in 1953. Our previous leaders failed in their diplomatic solutions with regard to North Korea, and as a consequence, it was up to President Trump to deal with an unpredictable ruler who not only possesses nuclear weapons but also, arguably, the means to deliver those weapons to our homeland. And although at this time the President has not resolved this debacle, because of President Trumps diplomatic incompetence we are closer than we ever have been to approach a solution. Kin Jung-un has even claimed to be interested in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Although, in my opinion, it is far too early to be talking about a Nobel Peace Prize for President Trump, one wonders where we might be if previous Presidents also displayed such diplomatic incompetence. When President Obama signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, (the Iran Nuclear Deal), many members of Congress, even some prominent Democrats, voiced their opposition. The previous Administrations hope that the JCPOA would lead Iran to join the civilized world and moderate its action has not materialized. Instead of using the billions of dollars that Iran received at the onset of the agreement to bring relief to its citizens who were suffering due to years of economic sanctions, the leadership of Iran has chosen to spend those funds to expand their proxy wars and their sponsorship of terrorist organizations. Congressman Foster, however, obviously believes that this failure is acceptable assuming that the JCPOA prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Here, again, the Congressman is misguided. The JCPOA does not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Assuming Iran abides by the agreement, and this is a huge assumption, the agreement merely delays the development. In addition, the JCPOA does nothing to retard Irans development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Therefore, if Iran were to actually abide by the agreement, (which information from Israel already suggests that the Iranians are not), once the JCPOA terminates, Iran would be able to pursue nuclear weapons and will probably have already developed the ability to deliver them. This should concern all Americans, especially given repeated scenes from the Iranian Parliament of Iranian leaders chanting Death to America and burning American flags. Does Congressman Foster really believe that this militant government will moderate if we continue to coddle it? Isnt that what too many believed would happen with North Korea? It's time to live in the real world and not the ideal world. Its time for Congressman Foster to represent the citizens of his district and help to lead this country. If, however, he prefers to live in the ideal world, its time for him to relieved of his duties so that the district can have true representation and leadership. At the invitation of Mr. Visvanath Das, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority (FRCA), WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the 19th Asia/Pacific Regional Heads of Customs Administrations Conference held in Nadi, Fiji from 15 to 17 May 2018. CEO Das extended a warm welcome to delegates from 24 Members of the Region, and to Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) and Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) representatives. He stressed the need for robust discussions and the definition of a regional position on critical issues for presentation to the wider WCO Membership. He expressed his appreciation for the positive contributions from Members over the two years during which Fiji had held the post of Vice-Chair for the Region. Secretary General Mikuriya congratulated CEO Das on Fijis excellent and effective management as Vice-Chair and on the Regions achievements during that time. Dr. Mikuriya then updated Members on developments in the six priority areas as identified by the WCO Council. As regards e-commerce, a draft high-level Framework of Standards will be presented to the Council in June. The latter will be invited to extend the mandate of the Working Group on E-Commerce in order to draw up the technical specifications. The WCO Secretariat will be invited to attend meetings of the WTO Trade Facilitation Committee, and will be involved in the process of WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) implementation. The WCO will, in the coming year, focus on how island economies can engage in and facilitate international trade. The Secretary General also referred to the many security initiatives underway, including reporting on the WCOs work to Members of the United Nations Security Council. The outcomes of research into illicit financial flows (IFFs) will be presented to a special conference on 23 May 2018, with a view to reporting back to the G20 later in the year. Work continues to overcome the remaining objections to the signing of a WCO-IMF Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MoU would strengthen the WCOs role in the development of IMF policies pertaining to Customs competence. Finally, as regards performance measurement, Secretary General Mikuriya reported on recent contact with the World Bank during which concerns were raised about the methodology of the Doing Business Report. Secretary General Mikuriya referred to a possible seventh priority, namely a review of the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) should the Council endorse a recommendation by the RKC Management Committee to that end. A longer-term objective could also entail revision of the Harmonized System. Turning to the recent discussions on accessions to the WCO, Dr. Mikuriya also expressed the view that it is essential for the Council to concentrate on core Customs issues. It is therefore hoped that the Council will set up a working group focusing on accessions. The Conference listened to a summary of the results of the 2016-2018 Strategic Plan, and a presentation on the 2018-2020 Strategic Plan. The meeting also heard and discussed reports from the Vice-Chair, ROCB and RILO on the Terms of Reference for Regional Customs Laboratories, use of additional languages in the WCO, cruise ships and border security, and implementation of a passenger assessment unit. Secretary General Mikuriya joined with delegates to thank CEO Das and the Fiji authorities for the warm welcome extended to participants. The Regional Heads of Customs Administrations Conference was preceded by a Private Sector Engagement Conference held on 14 May. The main theme of this Conference, attended by over 200 delegates from approximately 30 countries representing Customs and the private sector, was Border Management Solutions- the Way Forward. Issues addressed included the future-proofing of business and the workforce, managing risks, and balancing trade facilitation and risks. This Conference was opened by the CEO of FRCA, Mr. Visvanath Das, and was addressed by WCO Secretary General Mikuriya. The WCO in collaboration with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF) organized a 5-day Time Release Study (TRS) planning workshop to support KRAs preparations towards conducting TRS. The workshop was held in Mombasa from 07th to 11th May 2018 and was co-funded by the GATF and the WCO ESA Project II (funded by the Finnish government). In his opening remarks, the Commissioner Customs & Border Control representative of the KRA, stressed that KRA and in particular customs was very grateful for being availed an opportunity to gauge their service delivery against global best practice benchmarks. He committed to work closely with stakeholders to find a remedy to the various challenges affecting business processes. He added that KRA has progressively implemented various recommendations out of the previous studies and has reaped maximum benefits out of modernization and reforms. KRA is in the process of implementing Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) and the Integrated Scanner Management Solution (ISMS) to further facilitate the trade. Representatives of various organizations participated in the workshop, like Customs, Kenya Maritime Authority, Port Authority, KENTRADE; Ministry of Industry, Trade & Cooperatives; Agriculture & Food Authority; Kenya Investment Authority; Kenya Railways; Plant Health Inspectorate; Cooperative Bank of Kenya; Kenya Ships Agents Association; Kenya Airports Authority; Kenya International Freight & Warehousing Association; Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Central Bank of Kenya; Northern Corridor Transit & Transport Coordination Authority; Maersk etc. The WCO Experts presented the various instruments, tools and best practices developed by the WCO to assist its members in implementing trade facilitation measures. They explained the TRS concept and the TRS exercise from the stage of setting up a working group, the processes involved and the outcome of the study; this was supported by case studies from different countries, highlighting identified bottlenecks and trade facilitation initiatives that were taken up and were based on TRS recommendations. In addition, the WCO experts facilitated workshop participants to learn the techniques of Business Process Mapping and Analysis through theoretical sessions and through a practical walkthrough of clearance operations at the Mombasa sea port and the associated Container Freight Stations (CFS). The participants recommended conducting TRS in 2018 at 17 Customs Stations at Mombasa seaport, Nairobi airport and major Land border posts in Kenya with involvement of all stakeholders concerned from all government agencies, private sector, trade partners, commercial operators, logistics operators etc. To carry forward this recommendation, the participants also prepared the necessary documents, like the TRS Working Group ToRs, the business process maps, the Work Plan, the Survey Questionnaires etc. All stakeholders noted that the planned TRS is timely, since iCMS is almost being rolled out and the study will establish a comparative base for future TRSs. The active contributions in the workshop from all participants reflected their appreciation for the WCO TRS tool and its role in stakeholder engagement, coordinated border management and the implementation of mechanisms like pre-arrival processing and risk management. The workshop significantly enhanced the capacity of the participants from government agencies and private stakeholders to use TRS as a tool to rationalize border operations and to strengthen data analysis capacities for informed decision-making at policy, technical and operational levels. The need for collaboration among all relevant stakeholders was reiterated so that the TRS outcome can be utilized by all concerned. The participants from all stakeholders appreciated the involvement in the TRS planning workshop, expressed commitment for the proposed TRS and were looking forward to come together for the validation and analysis of the TRS data and the development of recommendations, for further improvements in release and clearance processes in Kenya. iStock/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- While President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump won't be attending Saturdays highly-anticipated royal wedding in the United Kingdom, the White House confirms they will be sending a wedding gift instead. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will be making a contribution to one of the seven charities the royal couple has designated in lieu of gifts, White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said in a statement. The White House did not disclose the amount of the donation. American actress Meghan Markle and Prince Harry requested wedding guests and well-wishers make donations to charities they care about including the Childrens HIV Association, Crisis a charity for homeless people, Scottys Little Soldiers a charity for bereaved Armed Forces children, Street Games, the Myna Mahila Foundation, which works to empower women in Mumbais urban slums, and the Wilderness Foundation UK, which introduces vulnerable youth to the outdoors. The Trumps donation will follow in the tradition of American presidents who have sent gifts to Royal couples in 1947, President Harry Truman sent Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth a glass bowl and President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan also sent a glass bowl to Prince Charles and Diana for their wedding in 1981. The Trumps wont be alone in their exclusion from one of the most exclusive events in the world this Saturday Prince Harry requested that no political officials be invited to the wedding. It has been decided that an official list of political leaders - both UK and international - is not required for Prince Harrys and Ms. Markles wedding. Her Majesty's Government was consulted on this decision which was taken by the Royal Household, said Kensington Palace in a statement. Even the Obamas who have had a friendly relationship with Prince Harry will not be attending the wedding, although a spokesman noted: The couples look forward to seeing each other soon. Trump told Piers Morgan he wasnt aware of any invitation to the Royal Wedding but said of the couple in an interview, I want them to be happy. I really want them to be happy. The White House has not said whether or not the president and first lady plan to watch the wedding ceremony, which will be broadcast live in the early morning hours Saturday. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 18, 2018 | 04:50 AM | MAYFIELD, KY The Mayfield-Graves County Food Pantry board recently welcomed a major contribution that will help feed local needy families in the coming months. Proceeds in the amount of $16,008.38 from the 5th annual Empty Bowls event were donated to the non-profit organization, which provides emergency food to about 350 families each month. The big gala was held April 28 at the Trace Creek Baptist Churchs Family Life Center. Next years event is scheduled for May 4. WiGBits Headline News Would you like to receive our WiGBits? Signup today! WiG Entertainment News Would you like to receive our WiG Entertainment News? Signup today! Digital Issue Would you like to receive our Digital Issue? Signup today! Close Get email notifications on Mike Holloway daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. Whenever Mike Holloway posts new content, you'll get an email delivered to your inbox with a link. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Parched Cape Town, Johannesburg drowning Water security is a complex challenge. Rain both alleviates drought but causes floods. David Olivier and Paulose Mvulane seek the silver lining. The irony of storms in the 'Cape of Drought' By David Olivier Two meagre millimetres of rain predicted. But in February, Cape Towns driest month, we were grateful for anything. Sophie, eight months pregnant, was waiting as I pulled up. We usually go for a short walk on the way home from work. The clouds were gathering, like the past two evenings each time only to clear again as night fell. But this time a few fat drops plopped onto the clay hiking trail. A mysterious crackling began emanating from the surrounding scrub. It rose to a low rumble, and a hailstorm began drumming the dusty ground. Sophie squealed as a stone the size of an ice block stung her neck. One cracked me on the head. With a roar the full force of the storm unleashed. In seconds, the dry narrow path became a churning chocolate river. Sophie sloshed on ahead of me. She had her arms over her head, but the hail mercilessly thrashed her bare calves. A blazing pillar of light impaled the path ahead. Thunder rocked the atmosphere. We were victims of an extreme weather event. One moment the earth is parched, then suddenly your world is awash. We can expect to see more of this in future. Extreme, unpredictable weather is characteristic of climate change. Experts at the Western Cape Winter Rainfall Outlook Summit in May 2017 concluded that weather in Cape Town for that year would probably be, drier ... or normal ... or wetter than normal. Talk about hedging your bets. The City of Cape Town municipality has been lambasted for not preparing for their drought. But how does any city prepare for unpredictable weather events? Cities have a hard enough time procuring funds for vital programmes such as providing decent housing. How would they justify the eye-watering cost of a reverse-osmosis plant for the desalination of sea water that is not needed in the long run, but may be required to get the City through a few dry years sometime in future, maybe? Water security is not a technological problem but one as multifaceted as a crystal chandelier. The ironic beauty of this problem, however, is that it crushes disciplinary silos and forces academics, governments and civil society to work together something that is bitterly needed, if we are going to adapt to a changing world. Sophie and I made it to the car. The seats sucked the rainwater from our clothes and smelt musty for days. Driving home, flotsam smeared the steaming roads and the parting clouds revealed a cobalt evening sky. Within minutes, the storm was over. The parched earth had swallowed the shower thirstily. The drought was not nearly broken, but the rain had pushed Day Zero a little further back. Dr David Olivier is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Global Change Institute. He is currently researching the narratives around the water crisis in Cape Town and how these shape public perception. He earned a PhD in Sociology in 2015, having researched the physical and social benefits of urban agriculture in Cape Town. Settling yet (d)raining By Paulose Mvulane On November 9, 2016, torrential rains washed over Gauteng and led to flash floods that caused large-scale damage, and even deaths, in parts of the Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane metropolitan areas. This storm was not only a sign of things to come, but also unveiled a host of underlying vulnerabilities within the City of Johannesburg and its surrounding areas. Urban floods are a major threat globally. These deluges lead to disrupted economies, personal injury and the loss of life and it is often the most impoverished who are most vulnerable. The City of Johannesburg Disaster Management reported that 862 people in some 373 households were severely impacted by the storm that flooded the Setswetla informal settlement in Alexandra, north of the CBD last November. News24 reported that some people never managed to return home. Johannesburg has the highest rate of urbanisation in South Africa. Rapid urbanisation and population growth leads to profound changes in the Citys natural landscape. These alterations affect ground surface permeability and interfere with natural water flow and infiltration. As large numbers of people flood the City of Gold in pursuit of a livelihood, they often end up settling on marginal land (such as flood plains and river banks) so they can be near sources of income and avoid paying high rental rates. These settlements are characterised by extreme poverty and almost non-existent basic services. There is nowhere to go to escape hazardous onslaughts like floods. Often these people lose everything they have sometimes even their lives. Flooding is not just the result of a heavy downpour or the failure to maintain and clean storm water drains. It is much more than a technical problem to be solved through engineering and top-down interventions such as adherence to by-laws. These tend only to provide solutions for formal developments and do not adequately cover informal settlements. Flooding results from failing to plan, design and maintain our settlements whether they are formal, or informal. Effective interventions that address prevailing urban realities are urgently needed. It is important to identify and profile Johannesburgs urban hot spots to mitigate urban flood impact. This will help proactively minimise the risk of different communities within their unique contexts. Local researchers, NGOs, government, community leaders and committees all have a role to play in enabling vulnerable urban communities to adapt and mitigate flood impact. We need to acknowledge that urban informal settlements are an integral part of this City and plan accordingly. Paulose Mvulane is a Masters candidate in the Global Change Institute. His research interest is in environmental management and issues of urbanisation, urban governance, food security, and ways to create sustainable resilient cities. His Masters explores the vulnerability of urban informal settlements to flood risk under climate change. Read more about the research conducted across faculties, disciplines and entities to help secure humanitys most important resource for survival: water, in the fourth issue of Wits' new research magazine, Curiosity. From 'crisis' to opportunity Lessons from Cape Towns water shortage. South Africa has always been a country with problems of water scarcity. The ominous Day Zero narrative in Cape Town has brought water security into our daily lives and has made us pay closer attention to issues of water demand and availability. Additional challenges, including pollution, poor management and infrastructure maintenance, wastage and excessive consumption, burden our resources. Schalk Mouton explores how we can learn from the current crisis and turn South Africa into a water-secure country for all its citizens. Weve heard it so many times before. Every time a government official speaks about water issues in South Africa, they mention that South Africa is a water-scarce country. However, until the current water crisis fully developed in Cape Town, and the ominous-sounding phrase Day Zero became a daily headline in newspapers, few were actively mobilised around water as a valuable resource. Water has always been cheap and, for the middle-class South African at least, there has always been a constant, reliable supply of water. But will such a situation continue without careful risk management and planning? The current water situation in Cape Town can teach us a number of lessons that could assist us in working towards a more water secure Gauteng and the country as a whole. What is going on in Cape Town, scientists argue, is the new normal with climate variability and climate change, says Professor Coleen Vogel, Distinguished Professor in Climate change, Vulnerability and Adaptability at the Global Change Institute. Although we cannot say with certainty when droughts will occur, projected outlooks are that we could experience more frequent events, such as drought occurring with greater magnitude. South Africa is a dry country. It has an annual surface water runoff (from rain) of 49 billion cubic metres. With an annual rainfall average of 490mm, South Africa has just over half the annual rainfall of the global average of 814mm. Of the water that we do have, 98% is already allocated for use, which means we have only 2% left over as a useable resource. Various provinces, including Limpopo and the North West Province, have struggled with serious droughts in the past 10 years, and the Eastern Cape and parts of KwaZulu-Natal are suffering from water shortages. Gauteng was saved from a serious drought in 2016 (some would argue not necessarily by careful water planning) when good rains fell. South Africa is also struggling to manage water effectively. According to the Department of Water and Sanitations (DWS) National Water and Sanitation Master Plan, A call to action, the country is facing a water crisis driven by a massive backlog in water infrastructure maintenance and investment, recurrent droughts driven by climatic variation, glaring inequalities in access to water and deteriorating water quality. This crisis is already having significant impact on economic growth and on the well-being on everyone in South Africa, which will be exacerbated if it is not addressed, the DWS says. The DWS Master Plan estimates that: by 2030 we will have a water deficit of 5%, yet 35% of our municipal water is lost through leakage. 41% of our municipal water does not generate revenue, which, at a unit cost of R6/m, amounts to R9.9 billion each year. 5.3 million households do not have access to safe household drinking water, while 14.1 million people do not have access to reliable sanitation. 56% of the countrys 1 150 municipal waste water treatment works and 44% of the 962 water treatment works in the country are in a poor or critical condition and in need of urgent rehabilitation, while 11% of this critical infrastructure is dysfunctional. The countrys rivers are not faring any better. Between 1999 and 2011, the extent of SAs rivers classified as having a poor ecological condition increased by 500% with many rivers pushed beyond the point of recovery. To achieve water security, the DWS says, an estimated capital funding gap of around R33 billion per year is needed for the next 10 years. In order to find sustainable solutions to South Africas water problems, all role-players in the water sector should start to work together, says Professor Craig Sheridan of the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering and Director of the Centre in Water Research and Development at Wits. We need a democracy of discipline-values, where policy, economics, engineering, science, social science, law and politics are all treated equally. This can only happen if we can embrace humility as the tool to understanding the other, he says. Even with rainfall figures declining since 2015 (in 2014, Cape Town got 511mm of rain. In 2015, this went down to 321mm and in 2016 and 2017, the region got only 221mm and 153mm of rain respectively) the Cape Town drought was hard to predict. Although the water storage graphs for Cape Towns two main water sources (Berg River Dam and Theewaterskloof Dam) show that both have dropped below very low levels since 2015, Professor Barend Erasmus, Director of the Global Change Institute, says that declining surface water levels do not serve as a clear early warning. The likelihood of a prolonged drought such as the one in Cape Town is extremely low, so the more years with low rainfall, the less likely it is that a drought will persist, says Erasmus. The magnitude of the crisis was too big for a business as usual incremental response. This is a typical example of how a system shift in terms of a different attitude towards water is required. Gillian Maree, Senior Researcher at the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, says a more proactive approach towards droughts should be implemented throughout the country. You cannot solve a major drought quickly. There are no short-term interventions three years into a major drought, she says. The concern is that were still reacting to a crisis, says Vogel. We need to change the focus of the country. Cities need drought plans and, as far as I know, Johannesburg does not have a focussed drought plan. Maree believes Gauteng can expect to run into water shortages in the near future, with high levels of urbanisation and growth leading to increased demand pressures on the limited water supply. In the past 20 years, Gauteng has experienced such rapid growth that we just havent been able to keep pace with it, she says. Johannesburg is expected to become a mega-city by 2030, housing a population of over 10 million people. By that time, over 60% (5.05 billion people) of the worlds population is expected to live in urban areas. A 10-point plan to make Gauteng water-secure: Build cities water-wise (incorporate green infrastructure with current water infrastructure) Start to value our water catchment areas Ensure we look after our rivers and wetlands Look at innovative ideas around grey water use Improve and maintain our storm water management systems Become more water aware and water sensitive about how we build the Gauteng City-Region Decrease consumption in Gauteng Advance to the LHWP phase 2 as soon as possible to augment our water sources While taking the basic water needs of all our citizens into account, we have to make water more expensive and place a higher value on it in society Urgently deal with the backlog of maintaining water-treatment plants. Compiled from recommendations that Gillian Maree made in a presentation to the Gauteng Department of Economic Development and the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Some of the earlier Water Balance models from the DWS showed that there would be a water deficit in Gauteng by 2025, says Maree. The idea was to have the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) operational by that point. Phase 2 of the LHWP is scheduled to increase the current supply rate of 780 million cubic metres of water per year to 1 260 million cubic metres per year. The construction on the project has been delayed. The LHWP2 is way behind schedule. Theres no way were going to have large augmentation by 2025. This means that the current and future water demands will have to be accommodated for within the current water availability. Data on water consumption are very limited and vary greatly across different types of households, but the studies we do have have shown that Johannesburg households consume around 330 litres of water per person per day. This is double the global average of around 170 litres per day. The consumption here is very high. For those households who have reliable access to potable water, we use nearly double the global average in a water scarce part of the world, says Maree. We live in a region far from our water supply, we live on top of a watershed, and we spend great expense piping water here (from the Katse Dam via the LHWP). We have to deal with the consumption and wastage issue. What must also be addressed is the unacceptably high levels of non-revenue water (particularly water losses from poorly maintained and leaking infrastructure) and ensuring that consumers are billed fairly for water, and the revenue collected. A second aspect of water security is making sure that that the water that we do have is safe enough to use. We are a heavy polluter, says Maree. Johannesburg lies on top of the watershed, so we pump a lot of fresh water up the catchment to use, and then we release return flows that are often very polluted. We dont see the cost of our pollution downstream, and how we waste water. While industrial wastewater contributes to the problem, Sheridan says the two main sources that pollute our rivers are Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and broken sewage treatment plants. We have to fix AMD and sewage plants, he says. AMD is a massive problem, but if youve got political will behind it not difficult to fix. The problem, however, is that AMD is usually just neutralised for pH levels, and many sulphates stay behind in the water. This is not good for rivers. Sewage is a disaster, says Sheridan, pointing out that a lot of research is now going into making water treatment plants on a local level resilient and easy to operate and maintain. However, there is no single solution to fix the problem. You need to engage with each locality in a different way. You need to consult with local communities and establish their own needs, before you can start to search for a solution, says Sheridan. How do you design a resilient system for a specific community? In order to solve our water crisis, we need to change the way we think about and treat water from a government perspective right down to consumer level. Water must be managed in such a way that consumers value it more. Effective water management has to be carefully considered, says Vogel. We need to find socially just ways of ensuring effective water management. Maree agrees: We have to deal with the consumption and water wastage issue, which is a technical issue as well as a political issue and leadership issue, around changing behaviour. We have to see water in a different light and start to respect it as the valuable resource it is. If we put our minds to it, all South Africans should be able to have a sustainable, water-secure future. As a friend of Sheridans said: With political will, everything is possible. We (the human race) put people on the moon because of political will. Read more about the research conducted across faculties, disciplines and entities to help secure humanitys most important resource for survival: water, in the fourth issue of Wits' new research magazine, Curiosity. Former CALS Director appointed NRF SARChI Chair Prof Cathi Albertyn has been awarded the NRF SARChI Research Chair in Equality, Law and Social Justice CALS is proud to announce that Prof Cathi Albertyn has been awarded a Research Chair by the National Reseach Foundation / South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI). Prof Albertyn holds the Research Chair in Equality, Law and Social Justice. This prestigious honour is awarded to established researchers that are recognized internationally in their field and/or have received substantial international recognition for their research contributions" according to the National Research Foundation. Prof Albertyn was Director of CALS from 2001 - 2007 and prior to that headed our Gender Research Programme for ten years from 1992 - 2001. We would like to wish her our warmest congratulations on this honour. Is there a perfect price for oil? When it's too high, consumers start freaking out and using less. When it's too low, oil companies cut back operations and lay off thousands of workers. Opinions on where the sweet spot currently lies differ widely, but analysts and strategists say it's probably somewhere between $60 and $70 per barrel. "If you are asking what price is high enough to sustain supply and low enough to sustain demand and perpetuate today's largely balanced global market, it is probably in the neighborhood of $65," said Sarah Emerson, a leading energy strategist at ESAI Energy. Emerson added that the "perfect or ideal oil price" would depend on whether you're a producer, consumer or regulator. Still, some analysts believe that oil markets can achieve a delicate balance that works for most. Oil market specialists at EY noted last month that oil markets in the first three months of this year "converged to a sustainable equilibrium." During that period, prices moved in the $59 to $71 range. US crude oil futures traded between $59 and $67. Global benchmark Brent crude oil stayed between $62 and $71. Recently, things have been thrown out of whack. Since early April, US crude prices have surged by about 15% to trade around $72 per barrel. Brent prices have shot up 20% to trade around $80. Related: 'Sell in May and go away' is bad advice The recent price rise was driven by President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran, which could slash its oil supply to the world market. The collapse of Venezuela, a major oil producer, has made matters worse. "Recent political events [have helped drive] crude oil prices towards the higher end of a range that we view as 'normal' somewhat quicker than we have been forecasting," noted UBS analysts this month. The spike is starting to bite. India, the world's third largest oil buyer, told Saudi Arabia on Thursday that it is worried about the impact on consumers and its economy, drawing a reassurance from OPEC's biggest producer that it would "guarantee the stability of the market." Saudi Arabia knows it has a delicate balance to strike. Higher prices help finance its government programs (and are good for its plans to privatize its state oil company, Saudi Aramco.) But these higher prices can constrain global economic growth as individuals and companies feel compelled to cut their spending. A slower world economy ultimately leads to lower oil demand, creating a lose-lose situation for the kingdom. But any move by Saudi Arabia to rein in crude prices would be unwelcome news for many producers with high production costs, including those in Canada. It's very expensive to extract oil from Canadian oil sands, so these producers require especially high prices to justify production. Some US shale producers also require a high price to make any significant profits. Related: Venezuela's once-proud oil industry is collapsing Environmentalists have yet another view. "Many strongly believe energy consumption must migrate towards renewable fuels and alternative technology vehicles in order to mitigate climate change and air pollution more generally. That objective is easier to reach with higher oil prices," said Emerson from ESAI Energy. Ultimately, a fair price is "in the eye of the beholder," said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets strategy at BNP Paribas. "Achieving a price that both incentivizes [oil] investment without having adverse effects on consumption and economic growth is not easy to achieve and may not necessarily follow an orderly process," he told CNNMoney. -- Rishi Iyengar contributed to this report. UPDATE: A Verona man was arrested following a dispute and standoff in Verona Thursday night that lasted more than 10 hours. Brian Hinton, 52, is charged with misdemeanor second-degree menacing, according to New York State Police. Around 6:30 p.m., police were called for a reported dispute at 5333 Broad St. in Durhamville, within the town of Verona, involving one person menacing another with a BB gun pistol. Police say when troopers arrived at the home, Hinton would only talk through a window and he refused to come out of his house. He told police that prior to that he had a verbal argument with a neighbor about him shooting his BB gun. The neighbor told police that more arguing ensued and Hinton then pointed the loaded BB gun at him, making him fear for his and his familys safety. At approximately 4:54 a.m. Friday, Hinton was taken into custody without incident. ________________________________________ (Previous coverage) VERONA - We're following a situation that required heavy police presence in Verona well into the night on Thursday. We received several calls from concerned bystanders in the area. Around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, several New York State Police cars were dispatched to a "neighbor problem" on Broad Sreet in Verona, according to the Oneida County 911 Center. The situation escalated over the course of several hours. Our crews arrived on-scene around midnight and found several state police cars and what appeared to be a SWAT team. Our crews were not allowed near the home and no one was allowed on the street. A woman was seen in handcuffs being escorted by police. Police were also heard speaking through a loud speaker, trying to convince someone to come out of the residence. We've been checking in with police through the morning and they tell us they expect to release more information in the form of a press release. We will update you as soon as information becomes available. FRANKFORT Hundreds of students, parents and faculty spent the day outside at Frankfort-Schuyler High School on Friday for a serious message ahead of prom this weekend. The mock DWI crash was organized by a few senior students, Frankfort police, Frankfort and Schuyler fire departments, Mercy Flight, MOVAC and a local funeral home. I think if we didn't do it exactly how it would look, people wouldn't get the hint, said Caitlin Adams, a senior student and organizer of the event. We wanted it to hit hard at home. Having parents and closest friends, destroying friendships and families. We wanted to prove that this is really what it looks like and this is really what could happen if you make a mistake as to drink. Several proms will be held this weekend for high schools throughout the local area. WKTV Back to Work Job Orders for May 21 May 25, 2018 Monday, May 21, 2018 Job Title: Line Cook City: New Hartford, NY Summary: Prepare and cook to order foods that require only a short preparation time. Grill/cook authentic Lebanese cuisine in addition to steaks, and fry fish. Must have some experience, especially with steaks, fish fry, etc, but will accept a trainee. Pay is dependent on experience. 30+ hours per week, which will include night and day shifts. References needed. Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1256794 ___________________________________________________________________________________ Monday, May 21, 2018 Job Title: Marketing Intern City: New York Mills, NY Manufacturer in New York Mills is seeking Marketing Intern for the summer. Qualified candidates must have excellent written and verbal skills, be knowledgeable in using social media, have a strong attention to detail and organizational skills, be creative, be proficient in Microsoft Office and have excellent interpersonal and follow-up skills. Preferred candidate will have completed minimum of two years in a marketing curriculum. Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1257283 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Job Title: Buffing Machine Operators City: Sherrill, NY Summary: Determine specifications using work orders, set up and operate machines that buff and polish, complete work pieces by grinding/polishing, ensure finished work-pieces meet specifications, and make adjustments to correct any problems. Operator will set up and operate machine and tools that remove excess material from product, and inspect finished pieces. Overtime, benefits, trainees accepted. Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1257275 _________________________________________________________________________ Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Job Title: Auto Mechanic City: Utica, NY Summary: Perform all major and minor drive train repairs with diagnostics. Requirements: Five years of verifiable work experience as an auto mechanic or technician. ASE Certification preferred, but not required. Must have own tools. Reference/Security check. Pay is negotiable based on experience. Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1257303 ______________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, May 23, 2018 Job Title: Landscape Laborers City: Utica, NY Full time, year-round positions. Duties: Maintain grass, shrubbery, flower beds, seasonal plantings and trees. During winter, remove snow from sidewalks, entrances. Requirements: Clean, valid New York State driver's license and ability to frequently lift and carry objects up to 75 lbs. Willing to train a dependable worker with a good attitude. Recent high school or BOCES graduates seeking an entry-level long term career opportunity. Pay: $11-$15/hour Job Order # NY1257035 ___________________________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, May 23, 2018 Job Title: General Laborer City: Utica, NY Part time 30-35 hours per week. The job requires a valid New York State driver's license, clean driving record and safe driving habits. You will have to be able to lift heavy boxes weighing up to 100lbs with the help of a cart (1 to 2 times a week) maximum of less than 1 hour of this a week. Pre-employment physical required. Any experience with fast food cooking or delivery will be considered. Trainees accepted. Pay: $10.70-$12.00/hour Job Order # NY1257228 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday, May 24, 2018 Job Title: Part Time HR Coordinator City: Utica, NY Summary: provide administrative support to the Human Resources Department with a wide variety of functions. Assist with HR audits to ensure Mission is in compliance. Assist with the maintenance of employee records.Update and coordinate HR forms/processes utilized throughout the agency. Coordinate packets for new hires, interns, benefit eligible and separated employees. Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1256305 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday, May 24, 2018 Job Title: Facilities Technician II City: New Hartford, NY Openings on both 2nd and 3rd shift. Summary: Perform maintenance on HVAC, electrical and plumbing, preventative maintenance and repair services on HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems. Will perform all duties as assigned an electrician, may require some supervision. Education: High School diploma with 2 year degree in Building Operations trade related field and a valid drivers license. Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1257086 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Friday, May 25, 2018 Job Title: Servers City: New Hartford, NY Full or Part-time position for a restaurant in New Hartford. Responsible for serving customers, taking orders, assisting with preparation as needed. High School diploma or GED required. Hours and days may vary. Hours will be between the following hours: Sunday - Noon to 9:00pm; Monday to Thursday - 10:45am-10:00pm; and Friday to Saturday - 10:45am-11:00pm. Flexible scheduling. Pay: Not specified Job Order # NY1254534 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Friday, May 25, 2018 Job Title: CDLB Driver/Yard Worker City: Ilion, NY Mainly outdoor work. Includes loading and unloading trucks with forklift, driving CDL truck and non-CDL truck to make deliveries, restocking units of product in yard by hand and/or by forklift, snow removal, sweeping/cleaning, etc. Must be able to perform heavy lifting and train to use forklift and boom hoist. Requirements: High School Diploma, CDL B drivers license and one year of related experience. Pay: $15.00/hour Job Order # NY1257199 MARYLAND, N.Y.--The Town of Maryland's comprehensive plan is more than ten years old, and officials are hoping to update their goals and objectives for the small Otsego County municipality. Thursday night, town officials and a planning consultant sat down at a workshop geared towards business owners to discuss issues facing their local economy. Town officials asked questions ranging in topic, from the quality of the labor force to the strength of area infrastructure. Business owners highlighted water issues, and the perceived lack of desirability for new companies to want to invest in Maryland. Two people expressed the belief that attracting a distribution center for a large online retailer would be the best way to reinvigorate the town's economy. A common theme among the business owners was reconciling the changing workforce with the town's farming roots. "Our local labor force doesn't really match the jobs our county has," Danny Lapin, an environmental planner said. "The internet is exploding, people are buying the majority of their products via the internet," William Dorvillier, a business owner said. "You don't have to go anywhere. You go to school, you do your thing, you don't have to go work on the farm and break your back like my grandpa did and his dad did." The town's Steering Committee and the Otsego County Conservation Association are planning a fall meeting for residents. The comprehensive plan, which will help make Maryland eligible for more grant opportunities, is set to be completed in 2019. WHITESBORO -- Hundreds gathered at Harts Hill Inn to celebrate nine local women for their service, and impact on the local area. The YWCA Mohawk Valley held their 30th annual Salute to Outstanding Women Awards on Thursday. The annual event serves as both a celebration and a fundraiser. This year, the organization raised $76,000. The YWCA is a local organization that aims to empower women, eliminate racism, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. Guests enjoyed dinner before the awards ceremony. Two new categories were added this year; most outstanding youth and entrepreneur. The Salute to Outstanding Women is one of the organization's biggest events of the year. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) Columbian Park Zoo in Lafayette is saying goodbye to one of its oldest and beloved animals. Boxie the Galapagos Tortoise has been greeting guests at the zoo since 2009. Boxie, who zookeepers believe is in her early 70's and weighs a little more than 200 pounds, will be moving to the Akron Zoo in Ohio. Friday, the zoo will host a Bon Voyage party for Boxie. It will take place from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. in The Americas area. All activities will be free and open to the public. The Zoo will also be celebrating National Endangered Species Day during this time. To commemorate the occasion and support the cause, Columbian Park Zoo will provide special family-friendly activities in The Bill and Donna DeFouw Education Center. Boxie came to the zoo in September 2009, on loan from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. The Galapagos tortoise Species Survival Plan has recommended that Boxie move on to the Akron Zoo in Akron, Ohio to become a companion animal to another lone female Galapagos tortoise residing at that facility. Zoos share a common mission regarding wildlife conservation and animal welfare and this recommendation by the Species Survival Plan is a great demonstration of the cooperativeness working towards those goals, says Noah Shields, Assistant Zoo Director. It is sometimes difficult for individual zoos and aquariums to have enough available resources to help save all of the animal species that we want. By sharing our resources across facilities and supporting each other, we can make a larger impact for more species. Columbian Park Zoo Head Zookeeper, Heather Woody, adds, Boxie has been a personal favorite of mine since I started working here eight years ago. Her favorite activities include playing in the sprinkler and receiving scratches on the neck. The staff at Columbian Park Zoo will miss her greatly, but we are excited to meet and care for the new Galapagos tortoises. I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work with such a remarkable endangered species right here in Lafayette. Columbian Park Zoo will be welcoming two new Galapagos tortoises on loan from Gladys Porter Zoo. Each weighs around 30 pounds and is approximately nine years old. These animals are currently undergoing a routine quarantine period and Zoo staff hopes to have them out on display by early summer. CASS COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)-- Drivers crossing over a bridge reconstruction in Cass County are concerned for their safety. They said the lack of signs to warn drivers of the stop ahead could cause a serious accident. It all started with a Facebook post warning people in the area of the construction. The bridge replacement project now has traffic east and west bound narrowed to one lane. Drivers said the number of signs Indiana Department of Transportation has up isn't enough. Drivers flying down US 24 aren't prepared for what stop is ahead. The lane closure over Crooked Creek bridge in Cass County has drivers speaking up on Facebook. They said the lack of warning signs on both sides of the construction is concerning, especially in an area where many remember a tragic incident happening back in 2008. Almost ten years ago, four students died in a bus accident on US 24, now residents said they're nervous that a similar situation could happen, due to the lack of signs warning drivers to slow down. INDOT Media Relations Director Adam Parkhouse said the number of signs is all dependent on the project's location. But after recent complaints, INDOT is expected to add more signs. "Citizens or motorists that are passing through, they notice issues," said Parkhouse. "We do have a process for handling complaints." Driver Dawn Wild said she hopes INDOT comes through with putting up more warnings, but she's also staying cautious. "This is Lake Cicott and you're supposed to slow down even in this stretch of 45, and they don't," said Wild. "They fly by, you can see that right now that they fly by." Other drivers, we spoke to say they are planning to take an alternate route. For them, this route isn't worth a potential accident. INDOT said because of the number of reports, starting next Wednesday the signs will be moved forward 1,000 feet on each side of the closure. In addition, more signs will be placed on each side including a message board on the east side to warn drivers coming around the corners. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) The Lafayette Fire Department said part of the school safety bill passed Monday could actually endanger students. "We've spent 100 years trying to tell people evacuate," said Lafayette Fire Chief Richard Doyle. And now lawmakers are saying you can wait when the fire alarm goes off in a school. The bill says school employees may block a door for no longer than three minutes in the event of an unplanned fire alarm activation in order to determine whether an active shooter was the cause. "By far the dangerous situation is kids being shot in a school anymore," said Mike Whited, Vice President of the Professional Firefighters Union of Indiana. "Right now, with today's technology, they can determine if there is a fire in the school or if it was a pulled alarm intentionally." The union doesn't think administrators will use the full three minutes allowed in the bill. "That can be done within seconds or a minute or so," said Whited. But Lafayette Fire Chief Richard Doyle said that could mean life or death. "Every minute that we wait, a fire can multiply in its size and intensity," said Doyle. "One trash can fire can produce enough smoke to fill a hallway with toxic smoke." Doyle also thinks it sends the wrong message to kids learning fire safety. For years, kids have been told to get out immediately when the fire alarm sounds. "Now, we are going to teach them that they need to stay in their room and not leave," said Doyle. "I think that's something that hasn't been researched at the state level to mitigate," said Lafayette Fire inspector Brian Alkire. Alkire said there is another solution to this problem. If the state were to fund sprinkler systems in every school, we wouldn't need pull fire alarms. "Cause those are the big problem that I think everybody is worried about is the pull stations that are near an exit," explained Doyle. "The intruder is coming in finds the first pull station, pulls it." The 3-minute hold up is optional. That's why LFD plans to meet with Lafayette schools and police to come up with a safer solution. MULBERRY, Ind. (WLFI) - Controversy is brewing in Mulberry over a water tower that could be exposing residents to lead. In a special report, News 18 uncovers what is being done to ensure neighbors are safe and how some say they wish the town was more transparent about the issue. For Chip Stoops, heavy chemicals and toxins are just part of the job at his taxidermy shop in Mulberry. He always takes the right precautions. However, when it comes to the land around his business, the toxins flaking off the town water tower are out his control. "I didn't realize that we had problems with the water tank and stuff. It's all new news to me," said Stoops. The town's water tower was built back in the 1940s. Lately, it's become a controversial topic. "I know that the paint chips come back from the lab, stating that there was lead material in it," said Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Randy Cooper. It all started back in January, when cold temperatures caused the water inside the tower to freeze, forcing the structure to expand. The expansion then caused paint chips to start flaking off rapidly. "Like I said, I've seen some, but you never know where it's coming from," said Stoops. The paint chips became a concern for one neighbor. He refused to go on camera but said he had a gut feeling that the chips contained lead. Cooper firmly said the lead paint chips haven't affected the water inside of the tower, as it's coated with an epoxy. "I know that the paint was tested by a state lab. I've seen the results of that and it came back positive. That does not mean that the inside is contaminated," said Cooper. "That should not affect any water whatsoever as far as having any lead coming from the paint on the outside." According to the town's water records, the drinking water is safe. However, the town hasn't performed a lead test on the water since November, which was before the chips started to flake off. News 18 reached out to IDEM to see if the paint chips that were falling off the water tower were a danger to the town. After News 18's inquiry, IDEM is now sending out an inspector. An IDEM representative said in order for the paint chips to be a hazard, more than 220 pounds of chips would have to be collected in one month. "I think they should have informed us with some kind of letter," said Stoops. Town leaders never informed neighbors about the issue. "Not telling people is allowing imaginations to go crazy," said Michael Edmondson, a resident. "Telling people arms them with information. The more information you have, the better off you're going to be." So what was the thought behind not telling the town? "Uh, I don't know if there was any thought about it -- just no," said Town Board Member Jerry Stillings. Stillings said he felt there was never a need to inform residents. "It wasn't thought that there was necessity to put out any sort of warning of anything," said Stillings. Even though the chips haven't affected the water, the Indiana State Department of Health said there are serious health risks if the chips were to be ingested. In an e-mail, ISDH said they encourage parents to make sure their children do not pick up any of the chips around the water tower. "I wouldn't want my kids running around up here now that I got my kids here in town," said Stoops. News 18 asked Stillings if he would be willing to put out an announcement about the chips, at least so parents could be aware. "Yes, in an announcement we would make, we could mention that within the next week or so," said Stillings. "But at this point, there is no announcement about it?" asked News 18's Alexis Moberger. "Uh no," said Stillings. Strong efforts have been made to clean up the chips and stormwater drains have been protected. "I think Mulberry hides a lot of little things," said Stoops. "I wouldn't necessarily say hiding it. It's just that they leave it out of the public's view. If it's not brought up, it just kind of seems like it just goes away." Town leaders said the water tower will be drained on June 4 and then inspected on June 5. Cooper said that's when an engineering group will inspect the inside and the town will then test the water for lead. From there, the town will have to sandblast the structure to remove the paint. The process will be costly and if the town can't receive a grant for the process, water rates could increase. Thursday evening at the Kentucky Horse Park once again welcomed the $35,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic CSI3*, the second event in the seven-part series, sponsored by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. The audience of the Rolex Stadium watched 61 starters over Guilherme Jorge's (BRA) 16-effort course as an impressive 16 horse-and-rider combinations delivered clear rounds, but once again Andy Kocher (USA) and Kahlua could not be caught and the pair captured their second consecutive win of the Kentucky Spring Classic. Kocher and Top Line Sporthorse International, LLC's Kahlua are on a roll after just claiming Wednesday's highlight event, the $35,000 Welcome Speed CSI3*. The dynamic duo was second to enter the ring in the jump-off and they put forth a speedy, clear round in 42.72 seconds that would be closely challenged by the 12 remaining entries, but could never be caught. With the 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood in top form, Kocher now aims for Saturday's $131,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI3*. Last week's Hagyard Classic winner, Darragh Kenny (IRL), claimed the second place finish, this time with Ann Thompson's Balou Du Reventon. Kenny and the 12-year-old Oldenburg stallion challenged Kocher's quick time, but just fell short as they completed a clear round in 43.31 seconds. Jessica Springsteen (USA) and Volage Du Val Henry, the 9-year-old Selle Francais mare owned by BTR LLC, finished in a close third with a time of 43.61 seconds and a clear round. "[Kahlua] jumped a really easy clear. I looked and saw that there was a lot in the jump off, so I knew I'd have to run and move. As I was going to the first jump, I was thinking I don't want to use her too much because I want to jump her in the grand prix on Saturday. The only place I thought maybe I could have been a bit faster was the first jump if you caught that at a total dead run. I let her totally out there [to the last line]. Darragh [Kenny] was close - he almost had it. I was chopping for the seven [strides] to the last fence and the seven was a leave out. She's just jumping really well. I'll let her just keep rolling and try to win again. She's on form so I guess I'll keep going," said Kocher after his win. The Hagyard Challenge Series consists of seven show-jumping events held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington throughout the 2018 show season with the following four shows to include the Kentucky Summer Horse Show, the Kentucky Summer Classic, the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show and the KHJA Horse Show. The series will culminate during the Kentucky National Horse Show at the end of September, where the rider who accumulates the most points in the series will receive a $50,000 Leading Rider Award, presented upon completion of the seventh event, the $65,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic. Dennis Radstrom left it late to snatch the lead of the FIA Junior WRC category at Vodafone Rally de Portugal following a daylong battle with fellow Swede Emil Bergkvist on Friday. Bergkvist set the pace in Thursday nights curtain-raising speed test at Lousada rallycross circuit and a string of five speed test victories put him almost 12sec clear of Radstrom by the midpoint of Fridays first full day. Radstrom fought back with two fastest times of his own to narrow the gap before moving to the front in the second pass through the final asphalt street stage in Porto city centre. His advantage over fellow Ford Fiesta R2 driver Bergkvist was 5.0sec with Estonias Ken Torn a further 12.7sec behind in third. Torn ended the day on a high with victory in both Porto tests. Callum Devine was fourth, almost half a minute further back, with New Zealands David Holder more than 3min 30sec adrift in fifth. Britains Tom Williams completed the top six. The rough gravel stages close to the Spanish border brought an early end for four drivers. Emilio Fernandez stopped with a broken driveshaft, Corsica winner Jean-Baptiste Franceschi went out in SS3 and Julius Tannert exited after ripping a wheel from his Fiesta a stage later. Engine problems sidelined Terry Folb and the Frenchman will not be able to restart tomorrow, while Turkeys Bugra Banaz lost time with a double puncture. Head to WRC+ to watch All Live from Vodafone Rally de Portugal, including every stage broadcast live, breaking service park news and expert studio analysis. Video More News Though this school year is winding down, with the $100 per-child tax rebate eligibility period in full swing, many Wisconsin families are already looking to the upcoming academic year ahead. Since Tuesday, tens of thousands of families have been applying online for the rebate. Gov. Scott Walker proposed the idea, which was eventually passed by the state legislature. Walker says the rebate is intended to help with the cost of school supplies for Wisconsin families. Just how far $100 can go for each of your kids can vary, like what their school requires on their supply list, where you shop, and what specific items you buy. But Athens Elementary principal Joy Redmann says even the little things like notebooks and paper can add up quickly -- especially if there are multiple kids living under your roof. "It's a big cost at the beginning of the year for families," Redmann said. As a former teacher and parent of multiple kids, Redmann understands the stress that can come from buying school supplies. "Folders, crayons, markers, colored pencils, notebooks, things like that. That's a big chunk of that monthly income." Gov. Walker is hoping the state child tax rebate will help with that burden. In a stop to promote the rebate at the Fleet Farm Wausau location, Walker explained that roughly 200,000 people had applied for the rebate through the state's newly launched website, childtaxrebate.wi.gov. Qualified taxpayers will receive $100 for each child claimed as a dependent living at home through the end of last year. "Back to school time is often a challenge for families in this state, trying to come up with that little bit of extra cash for expenses," Walker said. "For all the clothes, for all the supplies, for all the fees, and this is one way that we're helping." NewsChannel 7 took a look at the Athens Elementary School supply list from this past school year, and shopped on Amazon for items on the list for 5th graders. Some of the items on the list include headphones, pens, glue sticks, markers, notebooks, pencils, a backpack, and pens. While costs likely be different if you shop for different items and at different places, after selecting most of the items on the Athens 5th grade school supply list, the Amazon total came to just more than $100. "I think it could go a long way, especially if you have multi-student families," Redmann said. "Parents are trying to purchase for all students at the same time." Redmann explained the school has tried to revise their supply lists to ease the financial burden on parents. But even if a child tax rebate isn't enough for families to get all items on their school lists, the school will try to help parents to make things work. "If parents can't bring these, we figure out another way," Redmann said. Gov. Walker said there will also be a five-day sales tax holiday from August 1 through August 5. Democrats have criticized the sales tax holiday and the child tax rebate as nothing more than election year bribes. The period to seek the rebate is open from Tuesday through July 2. Rebates will be made either through direct deposit or a mailed check. The Socialist Equality Party (UK) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality are holding a series of meetings titled: War, lies and censorshipFree Julian Assange! In the wake of the US-British-French missile strikes on Syria, a campaign is growing in the political and military/intelligence establishments in the UK and US for a wider war that would threaten a nuclear conflict with Russia and Chinawith Israel playing the role of chief provocateur through its bloody repression of the Palestinians and threats against Iran. These war preparations are propelled by more than soldiers and missiles: they are powered by lies. All the major news outlets are working overtime to sell the public a re-hash of the weapons of mass destruction narrative used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This is the reason for the turn to censorship of the Internet, targeting the World Socialist Web Site and other anti-imperialist and anti-war voices on the fraudulent pretext of fighting fake news and Russian meddling. This also accounts for the stepped-up persecution of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who remains in the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has been confined for the past six years. The Ecuadorian government has cut Assange off from communicating with the outside world, blocking his access to the Internet, phone communications and visitors. If he leaves the embassy, he faces arrest and extradition to the US, where he faces likely charges of espionage and even the death penalty for the crime of exposing American war crimes. The World Socialist Web Site has called for the formation of an International Coalition of Socialist, Anti-War and Progressive Websites to fight against this attack. The ruling elite knows there is mass opposition to their criminal designs. But the drive to war and dictatorship can only be stopped by merging working class opposition to social inequality with the struggle against imperialism. Make plans to attend a meeting in your area. Full details below. Bradford Saturday May 19, 2 p.m. Kala Sangam Art Centre, St. Peters House 1 Forster Square, BD1 4TY London Sunday May 20, 1:30 p.m. London Irish Centre, 50-52 Camden Square, NW1 9XB, (nearest tube: Camden Town) Manchester Tuesday May 22, 7 p.m. Friends Meeting House, Room G1 6 Mount St, M2 5NS (behind Manchester Central Library) Sheffield Wednesday May 23, 7 p.m. Central URC Church, 60 Norfolk Street, S1 2JB Oxford Saturday May 26, 2 p.m. Fusion Arts, 44b Princes Street Cowley Road, OX4 1DD Liverpool Wednesday May 30, 7 p.m. Liverpool Quaker Meeting House 22 School Lane, L1 3BT Cambridge Saturday, June 2, 2 p.m. Anglia Ruskin University Lord Ashcroft building, Room 214 (second floor) Dublin Wednesday, June 6, 8 p.m. The Graduate, Killiney Shopping Centre Rochestown Ave, Killiney, Co. Dublin Three prominent technology scholars published an open letter Monday, which has now received over 900 signatures, condemning Googles collaboration with the Pentagons illegal targeted killing program. The academics published their letter in support of over 3,100 Google employees who issued their own open letter last month protesting the companys participation in a Pentagon program called Project Maven, designed to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to analyze footage collected by US military drones. The starting point of the letter, said Lucy Suchman, a professor of anthropology of science and technology in the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University, and one of the co-authors of the statement, is the essential illegality of the US governments targeted killing program. The US drone murder program is based on extrajudicial killing that is not accountable either to US or international law, Suchman told the World Socialist Web Site Thursday. Its clear that the people killed through this program are targeted through profiling and guilt by association. She noted that, according to one study by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, only 1.6 percent of those killed in drone strikes in Pakistan between 2001 and 2013 were specifically identified individually. This is summary execution of people who have received no due process whatsoever, said Dr. Suchman. This is not in combat zones, this is in peoples homes and communities. In areas targeted by US drone strikes, she said, people are living in a state of constant threat of death from the sky. The researchers made clear that Googles claims that its partnership with the Pentagon was nonviolent in nature are highly questionable. It is clear that the Pentagon aims to build out Project Maven to armed drones, and its functionality does not need much adjustment to become a target recognition system, carried out by an armed drone, that could function without meaningful human control, said Peter Asaro, an Associate Professor at the School of Media Studies at The New School and a co-author of the letter. The letters authors told the World Socialist Web Site that they drafted their letter in response to a request by a technology employee for support within the academic community. It was the Google workers who really inspired my co-authors and myself to write this letter, Dr. Asaro said. We thought that IT researchers and academics could really add their voice to this issue. IT workers do not often organize against their employers in this way, so we realized it was an issue that really touched a nerve, he added. This statement makes clear that we stand behind the thousands of workers who have stuck their necks out to sign that letter by Google employees, said Lilly Irani, an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego and one of the letters authors. Google collects data on a global base of users, including people in the Middle East, Dr. Irani said, and then aligns that power with a single nations military. These massive companies that mediate and track our everyday lives are not accountable to the democratic process. Google has a user base that is international, and it has a responsibility to the global constituency of its users, added Dr. Suchman. They are the custodians of the data of billions of people. We need to call them to account for that responsibility. Suchman emphasized that while Googles management has sought to integrate itself into the military-intelligence apparatus, many of its employees remain committed to the defense of freedom of expression, the open Internet, and opposition to war. Google management is attempting to slide out of this commitment that a lot of their employees have, and their employees have very rightly called them to account on that, said Dr. Suchman. Earlier this week, Gizmodo reported that over a dozen Google employees have resigned over the companys partnership with the Pentagon. The open letter authored by Irani, Suchman, and Asaro notes that Google has long sought to organize and enhance the usefulness of the worlds information. Beyond searching for relevant webpages on the Internet, Google has become responsible for compiling our email, videos, calendars, and photographs, and guiding us to physical destinations. Like many other digital technology companies, Google has collected vast amounts of data on the behaviors, activities and interests of their users. The letter concludes, We are also deeply concerned about the possible integration of Googles data on peoples everyday lives with military surveillance data, and its combined application to targeted killing. Google has moved into military work without subjecting itself to public debate or deliberation, either domestically or internationally. While Google regularly decides the future of technology without democratic public engagement, its entry into military technologies casts the problems of private control of information infrastructure into high relief. Dr. Irani, who supported the World Socialist Web Sites open letter opposing Googles censorship of the Internet, said that the issue of Googles integration into the military-intelligence apparatus was closely linked to the companys role in muting political opposition through its search quality policies. Last year, Google, under pressure from the major US intelligence agencies, implemented a change in its search algorithm that slashed search traffic to left-wing, anti-war, and progressive web sites by nearly 50 percent, and to the World Socialist Web Site by 75 percent. The WSWSs open letter to Googlewhich was never answeredraises the question: Is Google coordinating its censorship program with the American government, or sections of its military and intelligence apparatus? The involvement of Google with the militarys drone assassination program makes clear that its support for the US military and its censorship of left-wing sites are two sides of the same process. Im very supportive of the fight against Internet censorship, said Dr. Irani. For the average person, Internet censorship is invisible: you dont know it unless your favorite YouTube channel gets taken down, she said, citing the need to raise public awareness of the issue. She also linked the growing willingness of technology workers to speak out against censorship and militarism to mounting struggles of the working class, including educators who are engaged in a wave of strikes throughout the country. At least one section of the tech workers," said Irani, are beginning to "understand themselves as workers with different interests than their employers." The WSWS urges all Google workers and all those opposed to the companys integration into the military-intelligence apparatus to support the fight against Internet censorship. Sign up here. Dame Judith Hackitts Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety has evoked widespread outrage for failing to recommend that the type of highly flammable cladding installed on Grenfell Towerand many other public and private buildings around the UKshould be banned. The report was commissioned by Prime Minister Theresa May to run alongside and feed into the Moore-Bick inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, scheduled to begin next week. The 156-page report, published more than 11 months after last Junes fire that killed at least 72 people, was denounced by the Grenfell families and other campaigners. In its assessment of Hackitts interim findings, the WSWS noted that she favours only minor tinkering with regulations that are being ignored with impunity by big business to facilitate their rampant profiteering. This appraisal has been confirmed. This is a warning of what to expect from the official public inquiry now that it is due to finally begin its main evidence sessions. These will take place around two weeks later, after relatives and friends of those who perished memorialise their loved ones with individual portraits and tributes. In the weeks leading up to the opening of the inquiry, Mays Conservative government has mounted a sustained effort to dissipate anger and minimise any political fallout. With not a single person or organisation having been brought to justice and some former Grenfell residents still living in hotel rooms, local election results this month saw the Tories hold onto Kensington and Chelsea Council but suffer dramatic reversals. The Labour Party vote went up by 27 percent, with the highest result in Notting Dale, where Grenfell Tower is located. More than 156,000 people signed a petition demanding that the government and the inquirys judge, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, allow representatives from the local community to serve on a decision-making panel and other measures to prevent a whitewash. The petition exceeded the 100,000 figure required, forcing the government to hold a debate this week, 11 months to the day since the fire. Three days prior to the debate, on May 11, Speakers House was opened up, with survivors and bereaved allowed to meet 100 MPs from all parties. They were told by the Conservative Speaker John Bercow to show your strength by turning up on Monday and making sure that every last inch of legitimate seating space is taken up by people who are passionate for justice. That same day, May said she had authorised the inquiry to have two panel members to serve alongside Moore-Bick. The identities of the two were not revealed. May posed with London artist Damel Carayol, who presented her with a print of his artwork, which is of the burnt-out tower with the caption Grenfell Tower Eyesore!! Final Straw. A clearly uncomfortable May described it as powerful, with Downing Street stating that it would be hung there once space was found. The debate on the petition began with MPs holding a 72-second silence for those who died in the fire, with Tory MP Paul Scully then reading out the names of all 72. Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, after a nauseating, self-serving tribute to the Grenfell families for their determination, their composure and their steadfast approach to getting answers and finding solutions, made clear the real reasons for the governments pose of concern. There is a clear need for additional panel members so that those affected have confidence in the system. ... We absolutely need confidence in the inquiry, he said. Another Tory, Kwasi Kwarteng, said, From my point of view, Grenfell is the biggest challenge that the government facesforget Brexit and all the rest of it. I say to the government and to other Conservative Members: We have to be very sensitive. We have to not just give the impression but feel that we are batting on the side of the people who have been affected. The eyes of the world and certainly of people in London are watching us carefully, he warned. On Wednesday, the government continued its PR offensive by announcing that central government will cover, at a cost estimated at 400 million, the removal of unsafe cladding in high-rise public housing blocks run by councils and housing associations. This comes after a year in which thousands of social housing tenants in over 300 blocks have been forced to live in dangerous, unsafe accommodation that the government refused to fund to make safe. Just seven blocks have had their cladding replaced. No action was taken over residents living in privately owned towers, with Mays spokesman saying only that building owners should take responsibility for removing and replacing and to not pass the cost on to leaseholders. The days of crocodile tears shed by the political representatives of the ruling elite were exposed by the publication of Hackitts review. Housing Secretary James Brokenshire again moved to placate anger at the report by stating, Having listened carefully to concerns, the government will consult on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings. The claim by the government, backed by Labour, that adding two panel members to the Grenfell fire inquiry will prevent a whitewash is false. The inquiry can only produce a cover-up as it has no powers of prosecution, with Moore-Bick specifically ruling out any evaluation of issues of a social, economic and political nature leading to the fire. It is a fraud because it has been convened and will be overseen and directed by the same political representatives of big business responsible for turning Grenfell Tower into a death trap. The inquiry is to be held in two stages, with the first purely on technical issues relating to how the fire began and spread. Its second stage, the first time the two additional panel members will participate, is not set to begin until December at the earliest. Nine of the 13 issues the inquiry will cover are to be taken during the second stage, which is set to last well into 2020with the possibility of a final report not emerging until three years after the fire. The Grenfell Fire Forum, initiated by the Socialist Equality Party, will be holding the next of its regular meetings on Saturday, May 26, at the Maxilla Social Club in North Kensington, London. All are welcome to attend. Grenfell Fire Forum meeting Saturday May 26, 2 p.m. Maxilla Social Club, 2 Maxilla Walk London, W10 6SW (nearest tube: Latimer Road) For further details visit facebook.com/Grenfellforum US authorities are surveying American military bases for sites for concentration camps to house thousands of children that the government intends to seize from their parents at the US border under a draconian new policy announced by the Trump administration. The plans for the mass detention of child refugeesin some cases infants ripped from the arms of their mothersat sites secured by armed troops have emerged amid a steady escalation of anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric that has assumed an increasingly fascistic character. The conceptions driving immigration policy were spelled out by Donald Trump during a right-wing propaganda event staged at the White House Wednesday in which the US president met with roughly a dozen Republican mayors, sheriffs and other officials from California who are opposed to the states so-called sanctuary law. The Trump administration and the Republican right have cast the legislation passed last year as an unconstitutional challenge to federal control over immigration policy. In reality, far from protecting immigrants, California merely demands that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a thuggish national police agency accustomed to carrying out warrantless searches and riding roughshod over constitutional rights, follows due process in order to obtain cooperation of local and state police. Fulminating over a non-existent crime wave supposedly caused by the law preventing the round-up of criminal aliens, Trump declared: We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in, and were stopping a lot of them, but were taking people out of the country. You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people. These are animals. The comment drew widespread protests from immigrant rights advocates within the United States as well as from the government of Mexico, whose Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said that the remark was absolutely unacceptable and that the Mexican government would file a formal complaint with the US State Department. Videgaray was no doubt particularly disturbed by Trumps statements accusing Mexico of having done nothing for us, especially at the border. In reality, Mexicowith US assistancehas carried out a repressive crackdown on its own southern border, detaining and deporting tens of thousands of Central Americans seeking to escape the intolerable conditions of violence and poverty in their countries. Trumps branding of immigrants as animals follows a statement made the week before by John Kelly, the White House chief of staff and former secretary of Homeland Security, who commented in an interview that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants entering the US are not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society. This literal dehumanization and continuous demonization of refugees and other undocumented immigrants is directed not only at whipping up support among Trumps extreme right base, but at justifying a policy that essentially criminalizes immigration. The US Homeland Security and Justice Departments have unveiled a ferocious new anti-immigrant policy that calls for the criminal prosecution of every immigrant detained crossing the border without documents and separating children from them as they are sent to jail awaiting trial. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently referred to immigrant families entering the US as smuggling their own children. That child will be separated from you as required by law, he declared. If you dont like that, then dont smuggle children over our border. This savage policy will inevitably result in tens of thousands more children being separated from their parents by the US government. To prepare for this criminal outcome of a fascistic immigration policy, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun making site visits to four US military installationsFort Bliss, Goodfellow Air Force Base and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, and Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansasto assess their suitability for housing child detention centers. The turn to the military to handle the imprisonment of migrant children was first reported by the Washington Post, based on emails from HHS to the Pentagon. HHS is already running a network of 100 shelters spread across 14 states with a capacity to incarcerate 10,571 immigrant children. According to the agency, that system is already filled up to 91 percent capacity. The arrests of parents and the seizing of their children are policies developed by the Trump administration to serve as a deterrent against refugees and immigrants seeking to enter the US. Defending this brutal initiative in an interview with National Public Radio, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stated: Thats no different than what we do every day in every part of the United States when an adult of a family commits a crime. If you as a parent break into a house, you will be incarcerated by police and thereby separated from your family. Were doing the same thing at the border. This logic is breathtaking. Every immigrant is, by definition, a criminal, no different than a burglar. Summarily dismissed are the rights of refugees, guaranteed under international law. Many of the families arriving at the US border are fleeing Central America, where real crimes were committed by US imperialism in the form of support for military dictatorships, genocidal civil wars and terrorist armies, shattering entire societies. The use of American military bases to imprison immigrant children is not without precedent. In 2014 under the Obama administration, bases in Oklahoma, Texas and California were used to hold 7,000 children for months. Others were incarcerated under inhuman conditions in converted warehouses and other makeshift prisons without adequate sanitation, medical care or bed space. These appalling conditions resulted in legal challenges and Federal court rulings mandating that the government avoid detaining minors whenever possible and rejecting the deterrence of immigration as a valid justification for detaining immigrant families and children seeking asylum. The Trump administration is now attempting to evade these rulings. The logic of US immigration policies was spelled out in a typically vicious fashion by the far-right media provocateur Ann Coulter, who tweeted earlier this week in response to a New York Times article reporting on Israeli snipers shooting down unarmed Palestinian demonstrators on the Gaza border, Can we do that? This was no mere jest. The US-Mexican border is already one of the most heavily militarized frontiers on the planet. The Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, has mobilized thousands of National Guard troops to augment the forces of the Border Patrol, which recently asked for additional military reinforcements backed by helicopters and other military equipment. Having given its unqualified support to the Israeli massacre of the Palestinian protesters in Gaza, it is hardly a stretch of the imagination to foresee the US government employing similar deadly force against undocumented immigrants and refugees on the US-Mexican border and, indeed, against opposition from the American working class itself. Thursdays edition of the New York Times carries an extraordinary, 4,000-word report on the role of the FBI in the 2016 US presidential election. Whatever the intentions of those who produced, edited and approved this lengthy account, it gives a glimpse of an American political system in which the security services, and particularly the FBI and CIA, play a critical and even decisive role. Headlined Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation, the article purports to provide a behind-the-scenes account of how the FBI probe into alleged Russian intervention in the US presidential election began. It is based on accounts provided from within the bureau itself, including top officials who have since been fired or pushed out by the Trump White House. The Times claims that the FBI investigation was triggered by the Australian ambassador to Great Britain, Alexander Downer, who, after consulting with his government in Canberra, contacted US authorities to discuss his conversation with George Papadopoulos, a Trump foreign policy adviser, about efforts to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton from Russian sources. It is worth noting that the newspaper has a very different attitude to such Australian meddling than to the alleged efforts by Russia. There was no hyperventilating over an attack on American democracy, or suggestions that Australia was instigating an FBI investigation into Trump to rig the election on behalf of its preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton. In any case, this single tip about Papadopoulos, described by the Times as the young and inexperienced campaign aide whose wine-fueled conversation with the Australian ambassador set off the investigation, became the basis for the mobilization of massive resources, sending a team of FBI agents to London, reassigning the same core of agents and analysts who had investigated Mrs. Clinton to probe the supposed connection between Russia and the Trump campaign. The team issued national security letters to obtain documents and get a wiretap on a former Trump adviser. Giving a boost to this initial FBI probe was the intervention by the CIA. As the Times reports it, The F.B.I.s thinking crystallized by mid-August, after the C.I.A. director at the time, John O. Brennan, shared intelligence with Mr. Comey showing that the Russian government was behind an attack on the 2016 presidential election. Intelligence agencies began collaborating to investigate that operation. What was later to become the Mueller investigation was already in place and operating at full blast before the election. The probe was extended to include Paul Manafort, Trumps former campaign manager, and Michael Flynn, the retired general who had headed the Defense Intelligence Agency and was then a senior Trump adviser. But as far as the Times is concerned, the main objection to the FBIs role is not that the political police intervened so massively in the 2016 election, but that the FBIs intervention tended to favor Trump and not Clinton, because the investigation into Trump and Russia was not made public before Election Day. The Times account states regretfully, The facts, had they surfaced, might have devastated the Trump campaign: Mr. Trumps future national security adviser was under investigation, as was his campaign chairman. One adviser appeared to have Russian intelligence contacts. Another was suspected of being a Russian agent himself. The FBI was engulfed in something of a political faction fight, in which agency officials and agents were lined up in opposing camps. In response to internal pressure, FBI Director James Comey made two highly publicized interventions: in July 2016, when he berated Clintons conduct at a press briefing where he announced that no criminal charges would be brought against her; and in late October 2016, only ten days before the vote, when he revealed that the FBI had reopened the investigation. As far as the Trump investigation goes, for all the subsequent noise and screaming headlines about Russian connections, not a shred of evidence has been provided that Russian activities in the 2016 campaign played any role in determining the outcome. Russian efforts on social media, such as the purchasing of $100,000 worth of Facebook ads, were a drop in the bucket for a $4 billion presidential campaign. The exposure with the greatest impact on the Clinton campaignthe leaking of emails and memos showing the effort by Democratic Party officials to block the campaign of Bernie Sanders in the primaries, and the texts of Clintons fawning speeches to Wall Street audienceswas devastating because it was true. It was not fake news or Russian propaganda, and it was provided via WikiLeaks, which has earned Julian Assange the lasting enmity of all sections of the American ruling elite. Extracting the essential content from the lengthy Times narrative, one gets a glimpse of a political system in which both major parties, the Democrats and Republicans, are completely in thrall to the permanent state apparatus, agencies like the FBI, the CIA and the NSA, as well as the Pentagon, which wield vast and virtually unaccountable power, and effectively give the orders to their nominal civilian masters. In fact, as the 2016 campaign demonstrates, the military-intelligence apparatus actually chooses the politicians who will exercise oversight. Hillary Clinton focused her campaign on winning the support of what is called the deep state. She enlisted hundreds of generals and admirals, former CIA and NSA directors, all to testify that she was the better choice for commander-in-chief and that Trump was incorrigibly reckless and incompetent. The Trump campaign sought to do the same, but they were outgunned in such a competition. If the FBI had done what the Times now advocates, the result would have been a massive political destabilization campaign, on the scale of the Mueller investigation, but launched before rather than after the election. Both parties were hoping that such investigations would help them and cripple their opponent. The Times account gives the lie to all the media pretensions about democracy and freedom in America. The United States is a deeply class-divided society, in which two political parties of the financial aristocracy do the bidding of a state apparatus of coercion and violence of almost unimaginable dimensions. The WSWS has received the following letter from the editorial staff of Wadza Rad (The Soviet Power) describing repressive actions against the web site of the publication, as well as against the Communist Party of Poland and a recent scientific conference on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx. The International Committee of the Fourth International and the editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site condemn the authoritarian actions of the reactionary Polish government of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. We demand the immediate end to the persecution of left-wing and socialist publications and organizations in Poland. *** Polands reactionary government is undertaking new attempts to suppress free speech and democratic pluralism in Poland. After the persecutions of the legally registered Communist Party of Poland, whose members were put on trial for the popularization of communism, the repressions reached the editors of communist website Wadza Rad (The Soviet Power, www.1917.net.pl ), and several days later police raided a Marxist conference organized by scientists from the University of Szczecin in northwestern Poland. On Monday, April 30, police entered the flat of one of the Wadza Rad editors and took his notebook, two hard drives and cellphone. This action was done despite the fact that the popularization of communism is legal in Poland, and so was completely unlawful. It was another outrageous act of repression against the left-wing opposition. The promotion of communism is, according to Polish law, legal. Ignoring this fact, the prosecution is trying to charge the Wadza Rad editor for a non-existing crime. Polish penal code forbids only totalitarian and fascist propaganda. It does not, however, forbid communism, which was confirmed by the ruling of the Constitutional Court in 2011. In January this year the internal affairs minister, Mr. Brudzinski, denied the existence of the neo-fascist threat in Poland and tried to use a red herring of an alleged neo-communist threat against the democracy. In the aftermath, police and prosecution offices carried out an aggressive campaign against communists and any left-wing opposition in Poland. The legally registered Komunistyczna Partia Polski (KPP, Communist Party of Poland) faced harsh repressions. The KPP activists have been sentenced in the prescriptive mode, but they appealed, and their trials are continuing today. Even the social-democratic and aggressively anti-communist party Razem (Together, presenting itself as a Polish version of the Spanish Podemos) faced repressions some members of the pro-government youth organizations demanded it be outlawed for the promotion of communism. While even the center-right European politicians like Jean Claude Juncker acknowledge Karl Marxs place in history, Polish state television recently broadcasted a segment on the murderous ideas of Karl Marx (using fabricated quotes from the founder of scientific socialism), and the Polish government punishes any left-wing opposition activity, while neo-fascist demonstrations of ONR (National Radical Camp, a far-right organization which took its name from an anti-Semitic and fascist organization from the 1930s) are protected by the police. The states drift towards authoritarianism now involves even the violation of university autonomy. On Saturday, May 12, the police entered a scientific conference celebrating the 200th anniversary of Marxs birth, breaking the law on university autonomy. We, the editing staff of Polish Communist website Wadza Rad, always stand for the unconditional defense of freedom of speech and other human rights guaranteed by the United Nations Charter. We are opposed to any human rights violation. We call for international solidarity against the policy of the Polish government! The Polish state is violating the fundamental rules of democracy and free speech. The only aim of the reactionary government is to destroy any left-wing opposition to the rule of the nationalist and bourgeois party PiS, to ensure the stability of the rule of capital and to maintain the system of capitalist exploitation of the working class. Defence of the democratic laws for the working class and Marxist political organizations is now absolutely necessary! We appeal for organizing protests at the Polish embassies all around the globe and for sending letters against the persecutions of Polish communists to the ambassadors. Editorial board of Wadza Rad 15 May 2018 The Trump administration has continued its attack on climate science, quietly defunding a NASA research program aimed at monitoring greenhouse gas emissions. The Carbon Monitoring System, or CMS, has provided funding since 2010 for a series of projects to help researchers develop a more comprehensive understanding of the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases internationally and to verify the effectiveness of efforts to reduce carbon pollution. Congress declined to explicitly fund the program in the March budget deal, allowing the Trump administration to cancel it unilaterally. The rescission of the CMS program comes amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to curtail climate change research. Trumps budget plans have repeatedly targeted NASAs earth science program, proposing hundreds of millions in cuts to the nearly $2 billion effort. Several satellites were to be canceled, including the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractory Observatory, and the Deep Space Climate Observatory, among others. These projects, which are critical to advance an understanding of how the earth responds to global change, have survived thus far in budgets enacted by Congress, but remain on the hit list for the fiscal year 2019 budget. It is not only at NASA where the Trump administrations attack on science is moving forward. At the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior, the dismantling of climate-related science is even further along. EPA removed climate from the portfolio of its Office of Research and Development. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has taken steps to curtail the agencys ability to assess climate change in its land management practices and has reassigned climate scientists to other work. These steps to curtail scientific research are closely linked to changes in environmental policy. Under the cynical principle of you cant regulate what you dont measure, EPA has moved to weaken methane reporting requirements for the oil and gas industry. The federal government has also proposed drastic changes to its accounting of the benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions for use in rulemaking. EPA is in the process of rolling back Obama-era climate rules for the countrys two largest contributors of carbon pollution, power plants and cars. The connection between the regulatory rollbacks and attacks on climate science is embodied throughout the government by a host of political appointees with close ties to the energy industry who downplay or outright deny the scientific consensus on climate change. NASAs new chief, Jim Bridenstine, was confirmed by the Senate last month despite having no scientific credentials. While Bridenstine moderated his stance during confirmation hearings, he has previously parroted discredited arguments of climate deniers and called funding climate change research a gross misallocation of resources. Bridenstine is a former congressman from Oklahoma where, like his fellow Oklahoman, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, he developed close ties with the drilling interests that dominate state politics. Rounding out a cabinet of climate change deniers and drilling cheerleaders are Interiors Zinke and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. NASAs ending of the CMS program is relevant in particular to the Paris climate accord, from which Trump initiated the US withdrawal last year. The agreement required each national government to set targets for reducing greenhouse gases. Tools developed via CMS can help assess whether these targets are achieved. Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of the Tufts University Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, told Science magazine, If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement. The value of CMS is not limited to verifying national commitments. One of the most important functions of the program is to further an understanding of carbon fluxes and other processes in remote areas of the globe. Ongoing projects include assessments of forests in Mozambique and Indonesia, fires in the interior of Alaska, and the water cycle in the shrublands of Mexico. At just $10 million in annual funding, the cost of the program is a mere rounding error compared to the increases in military spending passed in the recent bipartisan budget deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Thursday that "foreign armed forces" would leave Syria, according to Syria's state-run news agency, SANA. Assad was on a surprise visit to Russia. He and his counterpart hailed the beginning of the "political process" in Syria amid an ongoing "fight against terrorism." "We presume that, in connection with the significant victories and success of the Syrian army in the fight against terrorism, with the onset of a more active part, with the onset of the political process in its more active phase, foreign armed forces will be withdrawn from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin said after Thursday's meeting. The US, Iran, Turkey, Russia and some other countries have troops in Syria. Russia emerged as Assad's most powerful backer, helping to put down a rebellion against the Syrian President when it intervened on his behalf in 2015. Iran is another important Assad ally. Along with Hezbollah and other Iran-backed armed groups, Iran has helped to prop up the embattled President. Assad's visit comes just over a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Moscow. After meeting with Putin, Netanyahu said Russia was unlikely to interfere in Israel's actions in Syria, despite Russia's condemnation of Israel's latest airstrikes on May 9. "Given what is happening in Syria at this very moment, there is a need to ensure the continuation of military coordination between the Russian military and the Israel Defence Forces," Netanyahu told reporters. "In previous meetings, given statements that were putatively attributed to -- or were made by -- the Russian side, it was meant to have limited our freedom of action or harm other interests and that didn't happen, and I have no basis to think that this time will be different," said Netanyahu. Israel has long argued that Iran's presence in Syria has grown. It has conducted multiple airstrikes against military bases it alleged were Iranian targets in recent years. Tensions between the two regional archrivals came to a head last week after missiles were launched from Syria targeted Israeli positions in the Golan Heights. Israel claimed Iran fired the missiles in the most direct confrontation between the countries to date, and said it struck almost all of Iran's military capabilities in response. CLARK COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - Clark County is proposing to create a gun sanctuary county. It's the norm for several counties in Illinois already, like Jasper, Jefferson, Effingham, and more, as many have already passed resolutions. "It is simply a statement that we are not interested in unconstitutional laws that are affecting our right and keep and bear arms," said William Smoot, Clark County resident. Clark County leaders held a meeting Friday to vote on the gun sanctuary resolution, but the proposal was tabled to next month. The resolution would make Clark County a sanctuary county for all firearms. Right now, Illinois is considering legislation that would limit some gun ownership. A sanctuary means current gun owners would be protected. "It's not going to help us at all to fight crime and solve the problems from the areas in Chicago," said Smoot. However, small business owner William Behnke Sr. is worried. He owns Lost Creek Trading Post in Marshall, IL. He says he could lose money and may have to make some tough decisions. "If it gets too cumbersome or burdensome, I'd reconsider and possibly just close this location and re-open in Indiana where they don't have these laws," said Behnke. Some are blaming Chicago for the problems. They say state legislators are trying to pass more restrictive laws. These sanctuary counties feel they need to protect themselves from those laws. "People are leaving Southern Illinois in groves because of the policies up North. That is a statistical fact and the census proves it," said Warren LeFever, Clark County resident. Behnke says he feels guns shouldn't be to blame for violence, but instead, laws should be stricter. "The laws are not being enforced as far as the penalties that are imposed for those violations," said Behnke. Smoot is a part-time employee for Behnke. He hopes the shop will continue to be in Illinois. "I want to see the shop prosper, and grow and grow. To affect a small business owner is not a good thing. Not only in firearms but any small business," said Smoot. Clark County will make their final decision in June at their next meeting. Health officials remain hopeful that an experimental Ebola vaccine will help control the outbreak sweeping the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. Since April 4, 45 hemorrhagic fever cases have been reported, including 25 deaths, the health ministry said Thursday. Fourteen of those cases are confirmed to be Ebola virus disease, 10 are suspected and 21 are probable. As an Ebola outbreak in Congo spreads, an experimental vaccine could be key in controlling it This is the first time a vaccine is being used to control an Ebola outbreak, one expert says The WHO has deployed doses of the experimental vaccine along with emergency teams and equipment Congo. There are more than 5,000 doses of vaccine in Kinshasa, the country's capital, and health officials are expecting another batch of about 4,000 doses, said James Fulker, a spokesman for the international organization Gavi: the Vaccine Alliance. "Most of the time, Ebola is contained purely by public health measures. So this is the first time that a vaccine that has been shown to have efficacy is being employed in the control of Ebola. So in that respect it's unique," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States, who oversees an extensive research portfolio that includes studies on the Ebola virus. Between 2015 and 2016, the experimental vaccine was given to people in Guinea who were in contact with patients who had recently confirmed cases of Ebola, according to a study on that trial published in the journal The Lancet. The estimated vaccine efficacy in that study was 100%. Now, for the vaccine, it's showtime once again -- and because the vaccine is experimental, meaning it's still being studied, it is administered with strict protocols hinging on informed consent. How the vaccine works The vaccine -- called rVSV-ZEBOV -- must be kept between minus 60 and minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 76 to minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit) and are believed to last two weeks under basic refrigeration. Cold storage in Mbandaka -- a city of nearly 1.2 million people in Equateur Province in northwestern Congo -- is in the process of being set up. The latest case of Ebola virus disease was confirmed Thursday in Wangata, one of the three health zones of Mbandaka. There are multiple strains of the Ebola virus. For instance, the three species Zaire ebolavirus, Bundibugyo ebolavirus and Sudan ebolavirus are responsible for the larger Ebola outbreaks in Africa. This vaccine covers those in the Zaire group. "It works by inducing in the body a response that can protect against the Ebola virus. It's usually an antibody response, namely a protein that the body induces to be able to protect against Ebola," Fauci said. "Right now, there are still vaccine trials that are going on. Originally, the vaccine was shown to have some efficacy when it was used in a ring vaccination in Guinea, but the trials that went on in Sierra Leone and Liberia were merely to prove safety and whether or not it induced an immune response that you might predict would be protective," he said. The vaccine, from the pharmaceutical company Merck, is used in a ring vaccinations strategy: vaccinating the close contacts of Ebola cases and the contacts of those contacts, such as family members; a buffer or "ring" of immune people around those who are sick can keep the disease from spreading. In addition to the rings, Ebola health care workers and front line works are vaccinated, said Ira Longini, a biostatistician at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who was part of the research team leading the Ebola vaccine trials. Anyone receiving the vaccine will then be checked three, 14, 21, 42, 63 and 84 days later. "The estimated efficacy during the trial was 100%, and it's pretty much that simple. It protects you against illness if you're vaccinated before you're infected," Longini said. "There's no effective treatment against Ebola. It has about a 50% death rate for those who become ill, so there's very little we can do except vaccinate, and so the vaccine is very important," he said. "In addition, the vaccine not only protects those who are vaccinated but also those around those who are vaccinated. It affects them indirectly, so it can be quite effective in stopping an outbreak or preventing the outbreak from getting large." 'This particular vaccine ... does look hopeful' The ring vaccination strategy was used against smallpox in the 1970s, until it was officially declared eradicated in 1980. "So the strategy's been used before, and it's been used successfully," said Dr. Daniel Lucey, a senior scholar with the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and adjunct professor of medicine-infectious disease at Georgetown Law, who is a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Regarding the Ebola vaccine, "as I understand from comments from the World Health Organization and Democratic Republic of Congo this week, it will be used not surprisingly in the same way that it was first studied during the West African Ebola outbreak initially in Guinea," said Lucey, who has treated Ebola patients during outbreaks in Sierra Leone and Liberia. "This particular vaccine, although it's still experimental, does look hopeful from past experience in Guinea and Sierra Leone, but we don't know for sure," he said. "If in fact it is safe and effective, it really will be a game-changer in terms of being able to more quickly stop future Ebola epidemics." This vaccine isn't the only Ebola vaccine out there. There are multiple Ebola vaccine candidates in development, including the cAd3-EBOZ vaccine, which was found to be well-tolerated and induced an immune response, according to findings presented in February 2016. Ebola virus disease, formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from the disease. "It never spreads through the air, thankfully," Lucey said. "So the idea is to vaccinate people who come into contact or are in contact of people who come into contact with people who have Ebola virus infection," he said. "And importantly, this vaccine can never cause Ebola disease, because it contains only one small part of the Ebola virus, so it could never cause the disease itself." West Africa experienced the largest recorded outbreak of Ebola over a two-year period beginning in March 2014. A total of 28,616 confirmed, probable and suspected cases were reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with 11,310 deaths, according to the WHO. Last week, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo declared the current Ebola outbreak, its ninth since the discovery of the virus near the country's Ebola River in 1976. "Right now, it is impossible to tell what's going to happen with this. Is it going to be a big outbreak? Is it going to be a medium outbreak or a small outbreak? ... We don't know at this point. That's why we're treating it as a very serious situation," Fauci said. "I think the important takeaway message is that in the outbreak that took place in western Africa, we were able to be able to develop a vaccine and show that it works," he said. "So right now, this is a good example that you can and should be able to do research that tests the efficacy of products during an outbreak, the way it was done in West Africa." BOONEVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) - A man from Kentucky will be sent back to Booneville to face burglary charges. According to the Booneville Police Department, officers have been investigating a series of auto burglaries since April. An arrest warrant was issued for 25-year-old Tonnie Lee Strange of Murray, Ky. for several counts of burglary. He was arrested by law enforcement in Murray where is also facing burglary charges. Booneville police say some of the stolen property has been recovered. His case will be presented to the next Prentiss County grand jury. TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - The Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo has welcomed several new animals. On Friday, May 18, the park announced the new additions of Artic fox, Old Dutch Capuchine pigeons, South American coati and caviidae. You can see pictures in the attached photo gallery. (WTXL) - A blind 8-year-old boy is traveling from Ocala, Florida all the way to Los Angeles, California. He's headed to compete in the National Braille Challenge with 50-other kids from across the country. Ayden Morgan is not only blind, but he also has a rare form of brain cancer that will leave him with the disease for the rest of his life. With no reliable prognosis, Ayden fights cancer one day at a time. But for now he's spreading his wings for LA to do his very best in the Braille challenge with a supportive family by his side. "Even if I don't win, I'm still a winner," he says. "To be able to say that he's 8 and he's top 10 in the nation and going to Braille challenge in California, and gets to go over and put his feet on the California beaches, and stuff like that is so awesome!" said Tiffany Henke, Aydens mother. Whether or not he wins the Braille competition, it's the journey that matters most. MIDWAY, Fla. (WTXL) - Thanks to a grant new homes are will be built for seniors and low-income families in Midway. On Thursday, the city voted to approve construction. Five homes are being completely re-built and one is being renovated. Residents of Midway came to out to get the ball rolling on a new community project. Franzetta Mathis' mom is one of the lucky recipients. "She is excited," Mathis said. "She really is and I think she will benefit well because she's the only one home now by herself." Mathis says the new house will be smaller and easier for her mom to get around. It's all thanks to a statewide program. The Florida Small Cities Community Development Block Grant funds the rebuilding of homes for low-income families and seniors. To qualify for the grant, residents must own a property and house considered unlivable. In addition, they must meet the income requirement. The Midway commission unanimously voted to approve construction of the new homes. The next step is getting started on the six homes. Midway received $700,000 for the project. Part of the grant helps pay for recipients to live somewhere while their new home is built. "This is the first time that we've had an opportunity to give our less fortunate affordable homes and not have to pay one dime for them," said Midway Mayor Wanda Range. "To me, that's just a blessing all by itself." It is a life-changing opportunity for the families who will soon be living in a brand new home. (WTXL) - According to the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, one in 10 children will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18. It happens everywhere, including in Southwest Georgia. The Mitchell Advisory Council has implemented a training initiative called Stewards of Children training. It's led by a national company called Darkness to Light. Folks in Camilla, Newton and Pelham will be able to learn the facts of sexual abuse, how to minimize it and how to recognize the signs of a child being abused. "It's our jobs as adults to protect children and to advocate for these children," said Katherine Jones, the coordinator. "If we're not being these trusted adults that these children can come to, to keep them safe then the abuse is just going to keep happening. The cycle is just going to be perpetuated. It's just going to keep going." The next training will be held in Pelham on Monday at the Pelham Police Department at 9 a.m. with registration beginning at 8:30. The first 20 people to RSVP will receive the training for free. Others must pay $15 for the session. WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Paper or plastic? It's a question you might hear before you leave a store, but a Wakulla County Commissioner doesn't want there to be a choice at all. "Right now, if it's made out of plastic, it never goes away, and every piece of plastic we've ever made is still in our environment," said Wakulla County Commissioner Chuck Hess. Hess is pushing for the county to ditch single-use plastic bags for good. On Crawfordville Highway, we found a few wet bags on the side of the road. Some residents say the issue is where the bags come from. "It troubles me when I sit outside of a retail store and see the number of plastic bags that are going out of the store and people that are not taking the initiative to bring a reusable bag in," said Crawfordville resident Shelley Swenson. Some local businesses don't use plastic bags at all. Bay Leaf Market has other ways to pack purchases. "Many of our customers bring their own bags in the store already and it has not been a problem for us at all," said Mary Katherine Westmark, Co-owner of Bay Leaf Market. While the county is considering putting a ban on plastic bags, local government can't really do anything about it. That's because a state statute prohibits county regulation. The county would need to ask the Florida Legislature to remove those restrictions, but Wakulla County Commission Chair, Ralph Thomas, says that would lead to a slippery slope. "The next thing we want to do is ban straws or ban cups at a McDonald's drive-thru, you know? There's always something else that could potentially be the culprit and really, the problem is the person," said Thomas. Next week, commissioners will consider scheduling a public hearing about new penalties for littering. And last week, the county held a workshop about the bag ban. "It's going to be good for Wakulla County. This would be good for the whole state," said Hess. The county commission will vote on approving a public hearing for the littering ordinance at its next meeting on May 21 at 5 p.m. TAMPA, FL (RNN) There was plenty of love to go around after a U.S. soldier and the dog she rescued and adopted in Iraq reunited after seven long months of being without each other. The reunion between U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Tracy McKithern and her dog Erby happened Wednesday at the Tampa International Airport. The airport posted video of the emotional event to its Facebook page. McKithern, a combat photographer from Tampa, FL, loves dogs, so when she found a stray sniffing around the Iraqi base she was stationed at, she fell in love immediately, the U.S. Army reports. The little dog, later named Erby, and her mom had been wandering around the base for weeks. I think the reason were born with two hands is so that we can pet two dogs at once. ???? Erby Kasima McKithern arrives in the U.S.... March 2!!!#battlebuddy #erbyofiraq #rescuedog #dogsofiraq #puppyrescuemission ???? ?? ???? pic.twitter.com/QnJbkXBRTr Tracy McKithern (@TracyMcKithern) February 23, 2018 Strays are common in the country, and the culture is not kind to them. The dogs were starving, and they were kicked and hit with rocks daily, according to the U.S. Army. But Erby, covered in scratches and dirt, ran up to McKithern the first time she held out her hand. "She loved everyone," McKithern said. "She is the sweetest little soul. She came up to me immediately, probably hungry, but gentle. I think she was looking for love more than anything else." Soldiers from the Italian and German armies her unit was partnered with helped McKithern care for the dogs. They named the little one Erby Kasima after the nearby city Erbil and Kasima meaning beauty and elegance in Arabic. Every time the soldiers returned to base, Erby was waiting for them. "She ran up to our convoy every day, McKithern said. "She was so tiny she would fall and trip all over herself to get to us." As the weeks went by, the dogs wounds began to heal, and they started putting on healthy weight. Eventually, Erby took to sleeping on the step outside McKitherns quarters, and the soldier says she couldnt leave her behind. With help from the non-profit Puppy Rescue Mission and crowdfunding, McKithern quickly raised enough money to bring Erby home with her, the U.S. Army reports. When McKithern finally returned home, the pup was set to follow her several weeks later. But the soldier had only been home for about a month when she received orders for a 67-day mission that left March 11, the very same day Erby was scheduled to arrive in the United States. And so the journey begins #Erby of Iraq made it to Paris!! ???? I havent been able to hug her since November, when her adoption began. That first hug is going to be #epic #icantwait #battlebuddy #erbyofiraq #puppyrescuemission ???? ?? ???? pic.twitter.com/NYMWhxWEPB Tracy McKithern (@TracyMcKithern) March 8, 2018 "I couldn't believe it!" McKithern said. "But I'm a soldier first It killed me that it was going to keep me away from Erby for another two months, but it's an important mission. It will all be worth it in the end." McKithern's husband met Erby at the airport and drove her home to Tampa, where she patiently waited until she was reunited with her rescuer. McKithern says they are still hoping someone adopts Erbys mother. Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved. The news last week that a temporary Clackamas County elections worker got caught filling in votes for Republican candidates has put a cloud over the voting results in Oregon's third-largest county. But people who have watched the elections office under Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall weren't surprised. "There have been so many problems in the elections office during Sherry Hall's leadership, it's impossible for me to think about this instance outside of that context," says Clackamas County Commissioner Ann Lininger, who has clashed with Hall in the past. "I think it's part of an overall issue of job performance." The investigation centers on Deanna Swenson, who investigators believe penciled in a straight Republican ticket on ballots where voters left their preferences blank. Swenson, 55, told WW this week the investigation involves only two ballots. Secretary of State Kate Brown said Nov. 6, however, six ballots are involved. Clackamas County elects its clerk, unlike Multnomah and Washington counties, where the position is appointed. Hall graduated from Milwaukie's Rex Putnam High School and attended Eastern Oregon University. She was a legal secretary in the Clackamas County district attorney's office when she first ran for clerk in 2002, listing her government experience as serving on a DUII impact panel and the Oregon Trail Pageant Board. After Hall took office, things quickly went wrong. In a 2004 election in Sandy, voters received incorrect ballots and the election had to be repeated. In 2008, Democrat Toby Forsberg and Republican Bill Kennemer were deadlocked in an Oregon House race in Clackamas County. Rep. Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) says Hall excluded only Democratic observers, then had her staff continue processing ballots. Kennemer won by 487 votes out of more than 28,000 cast. "Kennemer got something like 65 percent of the late votes," Hunt says. "If there'd been Democratic observers there, you'd have more confidence in the result." In 2010, Hall included the race for Position 3 on the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners on the May ballot, even though it was not supposed to be contested until November. The state Elections Division ordered all county ballots to be reprinted at a cost of $118,000. Voters' pamphlets also contained wrong information. In 2011, state Elections Director Steve Trout had to monitor the county's process for verifying petition signatures after he concluded Hall's office had accepted invalid signatures for a measure to require voter approval of county funding for light rail. The issue now is how thoroughly Hall's office screens temporary elections workers. Assistant county counsel Scot Sideras told commissioners Nov. 5 the process for hiring temporary elections workers appears to be ad hoc. Rather than go through a rigorous process, Sideras told commissioners, Hall's office hires the same people year after year, and "those who've done it before recommend others.a Former Secretary of State Phil Keisling says ballot processing ought to be standardized, secure and performed by people selected for their competence. aIt appears,a Keisling says of Clackamas County, athere were breakdowns in some very basic processes.a WWeek 2015 TUNIS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- "It is called 'Nian Nian You Yu' in Chinese," Nassaem Mabrouk, a 19-year-old Tunisian college student, was taking photos of a blue-and-white porcelain vase at an ongoing Chinese porcelain art exhibition in Tunis, capital of Tunisia. "In China, fish decorations always represent prosperity of the year. I am fascinated with Chinese culture, and this is my first time to closely view Chinese porcelain arts," said the girl, who majors in Chinese, excitedly. "I love these artworks. They are so beautiful." The Chinese Porcelain Art Exhibition in Tunis, with the theme of "Chinese Porcelain, Chinese dream," mainly displays the porcelain culture of Jingdezhen, a town famous for porcelain art in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. Jingdezhen has a long history of producing porcelain. In the Song Dynasty (960-1,279), potters in Jingdezhen created true porcelain by adding the mineral kaolin to China-stone and cranking the kiln temperature above 1,300 degrees Celsius. Jingdezhen became famous for its production of blue-and-white porcelain wares, among the most precious and desirable objects in the world. Porcelain made there is praised as "white as jade, thin as paper, with the sound of a bell and bright as a mirror." Surrounded by the music performed by porcelain instruments, Tunisian visitors can closely enjoy the 46 pieces of porcelain works created by traditional and contemporary artists. "This exhibition stresses typical Chinese features. Chinese profound culture, vivid folk stories, beautiful landscape, are all shaped in this fine porcelain art," said Tahar Dhaoui, a 43-year-old Tunisian artist. "No matter traditional or modern, they depict different porcelain production techniques, so attractive." said Dhaoui. Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin said Chinese porcelain possesses high aesthetic and cultural value. "This exhibition helps Tunisian people better understand Chinese culture." The six-day exhibition, organized by China Federation of Literary and Art circles, Tunisian Culture Ministry and Chinese Embassy in Tunisia, will be held until May 21. Tunisian Culture Minister Mohamed Zine El-Abidine highly praised Chinese porcelain art. "It has vivid forms and profound connotation," said El-Abidine. "This exhibition will help deepen and promote cultural exchanges between China and Tunisia." Li Yi, the vice president of China Federation of Literary and Art circles, said porcelain art is considered as one important symbol of Chinese culture. "This porcelain exhibition will strengthen the cooperation between Chinese and Tunisian artists." "Each year, craftsmen from all over the world gather in Jingdezhen, communicate and learn from each other in porcelain art," Li said. "Chinese porcelain witnesses the cultural friendship between China and the world." "Porcelain was once an important commodity along the ancient silk road," said Li. "Nowadays, it still plays a positive role in promoting cultural exchanges, help develop bilateral friendship between different peoples." UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok on Thursday demanded Israel carry out a thorough investigation into Monday's violent incidents in Gaza between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Blok, who is in New York to attend a high-level Security Council debate, said he was shocked by the enormous violence near the border fence in Gaza, where at least 60 people were killed. It is extremely important that if a nation uses violence -- there can be a need to use violence -- the country should investigate thoroughly and publish the findings openly, he told reporters. If any faults have been made, the country should make them known and punish those responsible, he added. "I'm waiting for a thorough investigation by the Israeli government." Blok said both the Israeli and Palestinian sides should stop rhetoric and return to negotiations. On U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, Blok said his country and the European Union regret the decision. He said he will meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday to discuss ways to protect Dutch and European companies from the consequences of Trump's decision to pull out of the deal and to reinstate sanctions against Iran. Blok said he will also meet Trump's new National Security Advisor John Bolton. The Netherlands is the third-largest investor in the United States, contributing more than 700,000 jobs to the country, said Blok. He expressed the hope that the long-standing relationship between his country and the United States will bring about positive results. The best option is an exception for Dutch and European companies from U.S. sanctions, he said. LUSAKA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A female police officer on Wednesday earned promotion from her superiors after a picture of her controlling traffic during heavy rains was posted on social media. The picture of the police officer controlling traffic during heavy rains in Lusaka, the country's capital, went viral on Wednesday, winning her praise from members of the public for her commitment to duty who called on her superiors to promote her. The female police officer braved the heavy downpour and was able to control heavy traffic despite not having any rain safety gear and a raincoat. Esther Mwaata-Katongo, the police spokesperson, who named the police officer as Charity Nanyangwe, said she has been promoted from constable to the rank of sergeant. The female police officer was conferred with her new rank by Police Commissioner in Charge of Administration Lombe Kamukoshi during a ceremony held at the police headquarters. ADDIS ABABA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) on Thursday kicked off a two-day meeting on infrastructure at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The meeting dubbed Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) Reference Group on Infrastructure (RGI) deliberates among others on infrastructure cooperation and the way forward. The two-day meeting also discusses implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), within a challenging infrastructure context, its progress and way forward. The participants further dwell upon ways of scaling-up investment for infrastructure in areas such as energy, transport, water, digitalization, as well as the potential for synergies between the European External Investment Plan (EIP) and PIDA. In his opening remarks, the AU Director for Infrastructure and Energy, Cheikh Bedda, hailed the work done so far by the pan-African bloc on infrastructure development. He recalled that the meeting is happening in special context as issues of sustainable development are of concerns to Africa's citizen as well as Europe. Reiterating the success in the first phase of PIDA, Bedda has noted the support from EU to the programme. He noted that AU needs to draw lessons learned from the first phase to assist in the implementation of the second phase. The RGI is mandated to steer the strategic Infrastructure Roadmap in the framework of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. During the two-day meeting, the Group will address the 2018-2020 Africa-EU infrastructure agenda across sectors (energy, water, transport, and digitalization). BERLIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- BMW chief executive officer Harald Krueger and board chairman Norbert Reithofer admitted Thursday that the Munich-based company made a mistake in the development of exhaust clearing systems for diesel vehicles. Speaking during BMW's annual general meeting, Krueger said the firm "made a mistake some years ago", which resulted in the accidental installation of inappropriate motor software in 11,700 BMW vehicles. The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) subsequently ordered a recall of affected BMW diesel cars affected in 2018. Reithofer emphasized, however, that it was a "manual, human mistake" which had not led to a false depiction of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission levels. "It had nothing to do with a purposeful manipulation of motor use and exhaust clearing systems," he told investors. BMW is currently awaiting permission from regulatory authorities to correct the software flaw. Krueger criticized the behavior of a few car makers which were found guilty of purposeful emission cheating practices and had damaged the reputation of the German automotive industry as a whole. While BMW offered customers software upgrades for diesel vehicles with the motor type "Euro 5" from 2011 onwards, the company does not believe that more costly hardware upgrades demanded in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal are a technically sensible solution. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has recently sided with local car makers on the subject of hardware upgrades, arguing that time and financial resources would be better spent on the development of the mobility technologies of the future. Krueger said BMW was already the leading producer of electric vehicles in Europe and planned to sell 140,000 battery-powered and hybrid models in the course of 2018. Additionally, BMW will release an electric car for its British Mini brand in 2019 and an electric BMW "X3" by 2020. The CEO urged Europe to assume a pioneering role in e-mobility to prevent it being left behind in the production of new technologies by competitors in the United States and China. BMW hopes to lead by example in structural reforms of the German automotive industry and will present an "iNext vision vehicle" in the course of the year. Krueger said the iNext combined "all key technologies of future mobility" as a fully electric and partially self-driving car with high safety standards. The iNext is scheduled to become available for sale to customers in 2021. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 03:54:48|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks to journalists during a press encounter at the UN headquarters in New York, May 17, 2018. Polish President Andrzej Duda said here Thursday that his country wanted to see sound relations between the European Union and the United States despite tension over the Iran nuclear deal and trade frictions. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Polish President Andrzej Duda said here Thursday that his country wanted to see sound relations between the European Union and the United States despite tension over the Iran nuclear deal and trade frictions. Asked for comments on European Council President Donald Tusk's critical tweet against U.S. President Donald Trump, Duda said: "Mr. Donald Tusk is now not a Polish politician, but a European politician. But for me, as president of the Republic of Poland, the most important (thing) is to keep Euro-Atlantic bonds in good condition." Duda, who was at UN Headquarters in New York to preside over a Security Council high-level debate, declined to comment on the status quo of the Euro-Atlantic relations. Trump angered his country's European allies with his decision to pull the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran. Trump announced his decision on May 8, despite strong opposition from Europe and European diplomacy at the highest level in a bid to save the July 2015 nuclear deal. Tusk, who served as Polish prime minister before he became European Council president in 2014, tweeted sarcastically on Wednesday against Trump. "Looking at latest decisions of @realDonaldTrump, someone could even think: with friends like that who needs enemies?" Tusk tweeted. "But frankly, EU should be grateful. Thanks to him we got rid of all illusions. We realize that if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm." LONDON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- British International Trade Secretary Liam Fox launched a global investment drive Thursday aimed at attracting more than 40 billion U.S. dollars to 68 major projects across Britain. Fox announced the drive at a meeting of the government's Board of Trade in Stirling, the first time the board has ever held a meeting in Scotland. Fox, International Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade, said: "This is a bold and ambitious program, building on the UK's position as the leading destination for foreign investment in Europe through the government's modern Industrial Strategy, helping to build a Britain fit for the future. "With more than 30 billion pounds worth of new opportunities, my international economic department's overseas network is working hard to attract top investors to the UK." The 68 projects, with more to be added over the coming months, will also be promoted through a revamped online one-stop for potential investors, said Fox's spokesperson. Fox also announced an extension of the highly successful High Potential Opportunities scheme, being piloted in Doncaster's rail industry, Telford's agri-tech sector, and Greater Manchester's innovative Graphene-based lightweight materials sector. The Department for International Trade (DIT) works directly with companies in 177 cities in 108 countries around the world. Last year, DIT helped attract 2,265 investment projects which created or safeguarded 108,000 jobs in Britain. Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry said: "The International Trade Department's drive to attract billions of dollars worth of investment to projects in each corner of the country is warmly welcomed by firms." Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 04:14:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Russia's city of Sochi on Thursday, saying it's an opportunity for future peace talks, the Syrian presidential media office said. Assad said the meeting at the opening of the Sochi Summit is an "opportunity to put forward a mutual vision for the next stage for the peace talks either in Astana or Sochi." According to the report, Putin has congratulated Assad on the "big achievements" made by the Syrian army in the war against terrorism, noting that the military successes have created suitable conditions for the resumption of the political process. Putin said the mutual goal is the rebuilding of the Syrian economy and providing humanitarian help, noting that his administration is in contact with all concerned sides for the political "complicated process," including the UN. For his side, Assad said that many positive changes have taken place as the terrorists' arena in Syria has become much smaller and hundreds of thousands of Syrians have returned to their homes and millions of others are on their way back. "This stability is a wide door opened for the political process," Assad told Putin, according to the report. The visit of Assad to Sochi is his second, as last November the president met with Putin in Sochi and hailed the Russian support to Syria. by Apollinaire Niyirora BUJUMBURA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- About 4.8 million Burundian citizens Thursday went to polling stations in a constitutional referendum vote. The draft constitution does not ban current President Pierre Nkurunziza to run again in 2020. It extends the presidential term from five years provided in the 2005 constitution to seven years and allows the president to serve two consecutive terms. Nkurunziza was elected the president of Burundi by the parliament in 2005, was re-elected in a universal suffrage in 2010 and in 2015. The draft constitution will be passed if it is approved by over 50 percent of voters. Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 4 p.m. local time. Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza cast his ballot at Buye polling station at his native village in the province of Ngozi, northern Burundi. After casting his vote, Nkurunziza said that participating in the constitutional referendum vote proves patriotism. "Attending the vote of the constitutional referendum proves that we, Burundian citizens, have become real patriots. Participating in this constitutional referendum is one of the signs proving that Burundian citizens now understand that the country must be governed by laws," said Nkurunziza. He thanked Burundian citizens who woke up early in the morning in order to cast their ballot for or against the amended constitution. Local media that deployed special envoys to the country's 119 districts reported that most polling stations opened on time. They however reported that a grenade was blasted around 11 p.m. on Wednesday night in Bururi province, southern Burundi, without causing casualties. In Rumonge province, southwestern Burundi, a mandatory of the opposition coalition Burundians' Hope was arrested on duty at a polling station as he had been facing an arrest warrant without knowing it, according to the reports. No international monitors were deployed to observe the constitutional referendum vote at polling stations. Voters in the municipality of Bujumbura have different views on the amended constitution. "I agree with the content of the new constitution that will allow Burundians to be in freedom, but also to be more independent economically and politically. We need changes as many articles in the 2005 constitution are old," said Felix Harabagabo. According to him, new articles are good, adding that the constitution needed to be updated. "For example, the term of the Burundian president was only five years. Now it will be seven years, which is good," he said. Meanwhile, a woman at a polling station at Kabondo fundamental school in Mukaza district told Xinhua that she is against the amended constitution. "The matter is to have a good constitution. I have heard that this new constitution, once adopted, will allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to stay in power until 2034. Yet, he has been in power since 2005. Being a president of a country for about 30 years is not a good," said Amissa Barahinduka. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 05:10:11|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday said he will send a list of his government's nominees to the United Nations for the membership of the constitutional committee, state news agency SANA reported. SANA cited Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that Assad will send the list of nomination, which was agreed upon in the last Sochi talks on Syria earlier this year, to the UN as soon as possible. Putin made the comments after meeting with Assad in Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Thursday, adding that Russia has welcomed the decision of Assad to send the list. Meanwhile, Putin has said that with the notable military achievements in Syria and the activation of the political process, "all foreign forces must withdraw from Syria," according to SANA. Assad also stressed to Putin his readiness for a political settlement in Syria and the need to intensify delivering humanitarian aid to Syrian people in need as well as rebuilding his country. In January of this year, the Sochi talks on Syria reached an agreement about the formation of a constitutional committee supervised by the UN to discuss amendments to the current constitution. Ahmad Al-Kuzbari, a Syrian parliamentarian and a participant in the conference in Sochi, noted then that any constitutional amendments or additions will be subject to a referendum in Syria. "Nothing will happen unless under the provisions of the current constitution, which the people voted on in 2012," he said. NEW YORK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday expressed his confidence that Canada, the United States and Mexico could reach a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Speaking at an event organized by the Economic Club of New York, Trudeau said the three countries are close to strike a renegotiated NAFTA and there is "a good deal on the table" right now. "I'm confident in saying that we have found a proposal that is broadly acceptable to the three partners and our industries on the auto side of things," he said. Trudeau said the three countries have not signed off on a new agreement because of one significant sticking point: the Americans' demand for a sunset clause that would allow the deal to automatically expire every five years, pending renewal. "We don't feel a deal with a sunset clause is much of a deal at all," Trudeau said. The prime minister explained Canada's opposition in real estate terms. "To put it in a frame that maybe someone who ... did a lot of real estate deals might understand," he said. "If you agree to build a building on a particular parcel of land, but only hold the lease for five years, and after five years you actually lose the lease, you might not be interested in investing in the building that's going on that land." "We remain confident that we can achieve an agreement that is a win-win-win," said Trudeau at a press conference after his luncheon Q&A. Canada, the United States and Mexico have been carrying out intense negotiations to redraft the NAFTA since August 2017 after U.S. President Donald Trump said the deal has been unfair to the United States. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan had said he needed the written agreement by Thursday if the Congress was to approve NAFTA this year. Palestinian mourners carry the body of 51-year-old Nasser Ghorab during his funeral in al-Nusirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 16, 2018, who was killed the day before during clashes along the border with Israel. (AFP Photo) UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory on Thursday called for urgent support to meet the humanitarian needs of victims of violence in Gaza. "The situation in Gaza is devastating and the crisis is far from over," said Jamie McGoldrick in a statement, referring to weeks of clashes between Palestinians and Israel's security forces near the border fence in Gaza. "For every person killed and injured this week and those before, there is a family and a network of friends affected," he said. "For many, especially those who lost a loved one, who will now suffer a permanent disability or who will need intensive rehabilitation, the impacts of recent violence will be felt for months and years to come." In Monday's clashes alone, at least 60 Palestinians were killed, as Palestinians protested the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. According to UN figures, more than 100 have died since March 30, when the massive protests began. In this context, the humanitarian response in Gaza is focused on providing immediate life-saving health care, mental health and psycho-social support for affected people, especially children, and monitoring, verifying and documenting possible protection violations, said McGoldrick. These new needs are in addition to a pre-existing humanitarian and human rights catastrophe caused by nearly 11 years of Israeli blockade on Gaza, alongside internal Palestinian political divide and a chronic energy crisis that leaves Gaza's 2 million inhabitants with power cuts of up to 22 hours per day on average, and severely disrupts the provision of essential services, he noted. In a welcome development, despite the damage inflicted on Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for goods between Israel and Gaza, it has been partially re-opened, with 15 truckloads of medical supplies entering Gaza on Sunday and Tuesday, he said. "Medical teams in Gaza have exerted heroic efforts, working tirelessly and often at personal risk, to save lives," said McGoldrick. "But stocks of medicines and supplies are being depleted, with few resources to replenish them. Our ability to reach affected families, including children, and provide assistance is extremely limited due to funding shortfalls." Health partners have indicated that despite recent contributions to the health sector, 1.2 million U.S. dollars is needed immediately for drugs and disposables and a further 3.9 million dollars for medical supply needs and emergency medical technicians. A further 19.5 million dollars, he said, is required for medium-term, chronic needs till August. The 2018 humanitarian response plan, which requests 400 million dollars in assistance for the Gaza Strip, is significantly underfunded, with only 16 percent of the appeal supported, he noted. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 07:21:35|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close Pakistani Muslims pray before breaking their fast at a mosque on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Pakistan's Peshawar on May 17, 2018. Muslims around the world celebrate Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, in which they abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset. (Xinhua/Umar Qayyum) NEW YORK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices traded slightly higher on Thursday as U.S. oil prices ended flat and Brent crude settled with a modest increase. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June delivery ended the day unchanged from the previous session at 71.49 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the international benchmark for oil prices, eased back in afternoon trading after hitting a session high of 80.5 U.S. dollars a barrel. Brent crude for July delivery closed at 79.30 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Analysts pointed out that the oil market remained relatively calm as there was no new catalyst on Thursday, but uncertainties remain due to U.S. sanctions on Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump announced last week that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a landmark international agreement signed in 2015. In a televised speech, Trump announced the exit, adding he would not sign the waiver of nuke-related sanctions against Iran. The oil market retained support from the concerns over U.S. sanctions on Iran as traders bet it would reduce global crude supplies. Some analysts said sanctions could wipe 1 million barrels per day of Iranian crude off the market, while others said the impact would be limited to fewer than 500,000 barrels a day. Geopolitical concerns, tightening product inventories and robust demand would continue to provide support for prices, experts noted. WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury announced on Thursday that it has imposed sanctions on Hezbollah financier, its representative to Iran and five related entities. The Treasury said in a statement it has designated the financier Mohammad Ibrahim, Bazzi and the group's representative to Iran Abdallah Safi-Al-Din, naming them Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Five companies, located in Europe, West Africa and the Middle East, were also under the Treasury's blacklist as they were allegedly owned or controlled by Mohammad Bazzi and another SDGT. "Hizballah (Hezbollah) uses financiers like Bazzi who are tied to drug dealers, and who launder money to fund terrorism," said Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin in the statement. As a result of the actions, all property and interests in property of those designated subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. "This Administration will expose and disrupt Hizballah and Iranian terror networks at every turn, including those with ties to the Central Bank of Iran," Mnuchin added. It was the latest in a string of actions to curb Iran and its overseas connections by Washington following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of withdrawing from the landmark Iran nuclear deal last week. On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury, together with its Gulf allies, designated Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, its Deputy Secretary General Naim Qasim and four other individuals and one group. On Tuesday, the Treasury named Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, and another senior official in Iran's Central Bank as "specially designated global terrorists" for allegedly assisting Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi later on Wednesday condemned Washington's move, describing it as "the continuation of the U.S. government's inappropriate behavior and hostile policies, which have targeted the Iranian nation over the past decades in various forms." Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 07:35:51|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Rosana Ellis, chief operating officer at Houston-based PhDsoft, receives an exclusive interview by Xinhua in Houston, Texas, the United States, May 15, 2018. PhDsoft is an energy service company that has expanded some of its operations to China. (Xinhua/Liu Liwei) HOUSTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Rosana Ellis banks on the time-honored principles of honesty, hard work and cultivating relationships, and her formula for success is paying off in China. Ellis is chief operating officer at Houston-based PhDsoft, an energy service company that has expanded some of its operations to China. The company's software monitors the structural integrity of oil platforms, bridges and other structures for corrosion and degradation, reducing the risk of accidents and extending the life of clients' assets. PhDsoft's entry into the Chinese market began with casual introductions at the U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit (UCIS) in Houston last year. With the opportunity provided by the summit, Ellis went to China for the first time in 2017, which lead to her three other visits later that year. In one year alone, she has traveled to several cities in China and later, the company opened an office in Beijing. "I'm always excited when I go to China," she told Xinhua. "It's worth it for us to invest the time in developing that market because our company has long-term projections and goals. We are not there for one or two years. We want to establish our PhDsoft brand in China." Ellis said she has realistic expectations when it comes to entering the Chinese market. That's why she took the time to visit multiple times, soaking in the sights and sounds of Chinese culture and business. "What happens is that very few companies will go to China one time and establish a connection," she said. "That is very unrealistic. You have to keep in mind that a company has to go to China to start developing a relationship and that's what we did. My first trip was just to observe. The second trip, I could better understand the infrastructure that China has to offer." It's important to have a strong partner that can help to navigate the cultural divide and is willing to put in the work to forge a successful business relationship, she noted. "One, you have to be very sensitive and adapt to the needs of the market, and secondly you have to find a good partner," Ellis said. "You have to make sure that you share the pie. You have to give a chance for them to profit with your technology. It creates a win-win situation where everybody's happy and everybody's going to be successful." But more than just establishing the PhDsoft brand in China, Ellis said she would like to work with her Chinese counterparts to tailor-make a software solution for the Chinese market. "Personally, I have the goal to expand my business into several countries and continents," she said. "My approach is that you have to understand that your have to fit your product to the culture, and not the other way around. It's not what you sell, it's how what I sell fits the Chinese market." The more she traveled to China, the more she likes and understands the Asian country. Living in Houston, Ellis sometimes brings family to Chinatown, or cooks Chinese food at home. She said building trust with Chinese partners really needs to understand their culture and value. "You have to develop the trust," Ellis said. "They have to trust that our company will deliver what we are promising because they're going to invest in our company, and vice versa. They will represent us in our standards in China." Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 07:50:55|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A San Francisco-based cyber security firm Thursday revealed a report showing how hackers attacked an Amazon DNS server and stole users' crypto currency last month. RiskIQ, a global leader in digital threat management, profiled in the report a phishing automated transfer system (ATS) dubbed MEWKit, which targeted users of the crypto currency Ethereum exchange MyEtherWallet, and stole their virtual currency. The report said the newly discovered attack presents an entirely new threat to the crypto currency landscape, which exceeded "the capabilities of a typical phishing kit by leveraging characteristics of ATS malware to access and steal victims' Ethereum funds directly from the exchange." The attackers set up a phishing page mimicking the MyEtherWallet site and cheated users to log in, said the report. MEWKit simply abused MyEtherWallet's unique access to the Ethereum network to make the transactions in the background. Once a user logs in, MEWKit checks their wallet's balance and requests a receiver address from the server side, and then leverages the standard MyEtherWallet functionality by setting the attacker-owned wallet as the receiving address and transferring out the victim's entire fund, said the report. RiskIQ researchers discovered a link to the infamous attack on April 24, when hackers rerouted a significant portion of traffic intended for IP addresses operated by Amazon Web Services' DNS service, known as Route 53. Hackers made off with about 152,000 U.S. dollars worth of Ether in the attack that exploited weaknesses in DNS servers serving MyEtherWallet, earlier media reports said. DNS is a service that connects domain names of a website to whatever IP address it's hosted on. PYONGYANG, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday urged South Korea to stop its joint military drills with the United States and stop using northern defectors to attack Pyongyang, so that inter-Korean talks could be resumed. Pyongyang suspended inter-Korean talks on Wednesday to protest a two-week-long large-scale U.S.-South Korean air drill which will last until May 25. Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country of the DPRK, was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying that South Korean authorities launched "the extremely adventurous 2018 Max Thunder joint air combat exercises with the U.S. which was aimed at precision strike on key strategic objects of the DPRK and the seizure of the air control." "On the other hand, they let human scum hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK and its social system and speak ill of the historic Panmunjom Declaration at the 'National Assembly,'" he said, in reference to the appearance of northern defectors at the South Korean parliament. The DPRK took "a resolute step" to postpone the north-south high-level talks indefinitely until the South Korean authorities "take a responsible measure, and notified it to them and made this public through a KCNA report," he said. Holding South Korea completely responsible for the suspension of inter-Korean talks, he also blamed Seoul for expressing regret over Pyongyang's decision to suspend the talks, "far from thinking over the meaning of the step taken by the DPRK and taking necessary follow-up measures." "All the confrontation rackets kicked up by them have had something in common with the nature of the conservative regime which had been engaged in inciting hostility and division in the past," said the DPRK official in charge of several rounds of inter-korean talks at Panmunjom. Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met on April 27 for a historic summit at Panmunjom and issued a joint declaration calling for improving inter-Korean relations and working for complete denuclearization of the peninsula. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 09:21:07|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy and Vice Premier Liu He to discuss bilateral ties here at the White House. Liu arrived in Washington on Tuesday afternoon for economic and trade consultations with the U.S. side at the invitation of the U.S. government. Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, leads a delegation whose members come from major economic sectors of the Chinese government. Liu extended the warm wishes of Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan to Trump and U.S. first lady Melania. Trump expressed his gratitude for the wishes, asking Liu to extend their wishes to Xi and Peng. Liu said that guided by Xi and Trump, the bilateral ties have achieved important and positive progresses. He added that the two nations, whose relations are at an important stage, need to implement the significant consensus reached by their heads of state, meet each other halfway, respect each other, and work together to push forward bilateral ties in a healthy and stable manner. For his part, Trump said he values the good working relations and personal friendship with Xi. He added that he is willing to continue to keep close contact with Xi so as to ensure that the bilateral relationships could continue to move forward. The two sides engaged in deep-going exchanges of ideas on China-U.S. economic and trade ties in the meeting. Liu said that his ongoing visit aims to continue the in-depth communication with the U.S. side on bilateral economic and trade issues in accordance with the consensus of the two presidents. China is willing to work with the United States to appropriately handle and settle economic and trade issues of mutual concern on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, in a bid to make sure that the bilateral economic and trade cooperation remains to serve as the ballast and propeller of bilateral ties, said the senior Chinese official. Trump said that it is very important for the two nations to keep a sound cooperative relationship in economy and trade. He added that the two nations are enjoying sound development momentum, huge market potential and wide room for furthering economic and trade collaboration. The White House host urged economic teams of the two sides to work together to proactively settle the problems existing in bilateral economic and trade relations. The two nations should prioritize trade and investment cooperation in such areas as energy and manufacturing, expand agricultural product trade and market access, and deepen bilateral cooperation on intellectual property rights protection, so as to create more tangible benefits for the two peoples, Trump said. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also attended the meeting. TRIPOLI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Humanitarian coordinator of the UN Support Mission in Libya on Thursday called on the eastern-based Libyan army to allow humanitarian aid to enter the besieged eastern city of Darna. "Some 300 to 500 families have reportedly been displaced from Al Fatayih area (east of Darna city), to Darna city as a result of the renewed conflict," Maria Ribeiro said in a report issued later on Thursday. "Humanitarian access to Darna is severely limited and humanitarian supplies are awaiting approval to enter. The most urgent needs are in the health sector. If closures remain, humanitarian needs will increase," the report said. Since the escalation of the armed conflict between the army and extremists in Darna in mid-May, at least six civilians have been killed and 14 injured, the report revealed. The army is launching a military operation to take over Darna from the militants who control the coastal city. Since 2015, Darna has been besieged by the army, which demands the Shura Council of the Mujahideen in Darna, a coalition of Islamist militias seeking to implement Sharia law in the city, leave. The army accuses the armed group of being loyal to al-Qaida. CHICAGO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Presidents from 10 Midwest states' farm bureaus have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, urging the government to end its trade disputes with China, according to a news release by Nebraska Farm Bureau on Wednesday. In the letter, the presidents said they collectively represented over 1.3 million member families, and they understood that international market was critical to their economic survival. Noting that agricultural trade between China and the 10 states amounted to 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, the letter said that these farm states "are worried about the potential consequences of a trade war with China." In response to U.S. trade offensives against China earlier this year, China announced a list of U.S. imports that could face hefty tariffs should Washington proceed with its unilateral trade moves against China. Agricultural products such as soybeans, fruits, and nuts are among the items targeted by China. The letter also directly addressed the proposed plan by U.S. government to provide monetary compensation to farmers and ranchers who may be hurt by retaliatory tariffs, saying "our farm and ranch families prefer access to markets, not checks from the federal government in lieu of trade opportunities." The letter was signed by state farm bureau presidents from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 10:26:35|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The China-Africa cooperation plans announced during the FOCAC summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, are yielding tangible results, said a senior Chinese diplomat. A series of important cooperation plans proposed by China during each Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit has been effectively implemented, which has given a great boost to the economic and social development in Africa and has been highly praised by African people and the international community, Director General of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Dai Bing told Xinhua in a recent interview. In December 2015, at the FOCAC summit in Johannesburg, China announced 10 major cooperation plans to promote industrialization and agricultural modernization in Africa, with a fund of 60 billion U.S. dollars to implement them. The FOCAC summit in Johannesburg developed a blueprint for cooperation between the two sides, and opened a new era of China-Africa cooperation featuring win-win results and common development. Political exchanges at various levels between China and Africa have been more frequent than ever and political mutual trust between the two sides has been deepened, boosting China-Africa relations and the implementation of the cooperation plans. Since 2015, China has successively developed different types of partnership with more than 10 African nations. Africa-China trade and cooperation have blossomed. A number of major Chinese-assisted infrastructure projects have been completed, including the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, Kenya's standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Nairobi, and Cote d'Ivoire's Soubre hydropower plant. These projects provide transport and energy to develop local industries. The past few years have witnessed an increase in cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two sides. There are more than 130 pairs of sister cities between China and Africa. Africa has become a tourist destination that attracts millions of Chinese travellers every year. China has also closely cooperated with Africa in international affairs related to peace and security. African countries expect China's involvement in affairs related to Africa's peace and security, while China is willing to playing a constructive role in this cause, offering "Chinese Wisdom" and contributing "Chinese strength." China will continue to join hands with Africa to strengthen cooperation, focus on important projects, and ensure that the cooperation plans will be fully implemented as scheduled, said Dai. WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ruled out the use of the so-called "Libya model" in efforts to pursue denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, saying that was not the model for the talks with Pyongyang. Trump was responding to a suggestion by his national security adviser John Bolton. "The Libyan model isn't a model that we have at all, when we're thinking of North Korea (DPRK)," Trump told reporters at the White House before meeting with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "The Libyan model that was mentioned was a much different deal. This would be with Kim Jong Un -- something where he'd be there, he'd be in his country, he'd be running his country," added Trump who was scheduled to meet the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on June 12. Trump also cautioned that the Libya model could take place if "we don't make a deal, most likely." Bolton put Pyongyang on alert recently with remarks suggesting the country's denuclearization should follow the Libya model obeyed by its leader Muammar Gaddafi who had given up atomic weapons and was later killed in a U.S.-backed uprising. Pyongyang responded strongly on Wednesday, saying that the country may reconsider the scheduled U.S.-DPRK summit because of extremely provocative remarks made by American officials. DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said in a statement that Bolton had even urged the DPRK to abandon its nuclear arsenal first in order to receive benefits on trade, a stance similar to that taken with Libya. "This is not about solving problems through dialogue, but is intended to replay the tragedy of Libya on the DPRK," he said, adding that Libya "has totally collapsed after handing over its fate to big powers." However, the White House remains somewhat upbeat about the upcoming Trump-Kim summit in Singapore. "Nothing has changed on our end," said White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders at a daily briefing on Thursday. "The president is fully prepared to have the meeting. But if not, that's okay too. And we'll see what happens beyond that," Sanders added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 11:36:50|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close HAVANA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday that the central government will make greater efforts to resolve Havana's social and economic problems, after he wrapped up a two-day inspection tour of the capital city. Diaz-Canel visited establishments that have recently been repaired in Havana such as cafeterias, restaurants, nursing homes, polyclinics, a high school, a dairy farm and an asphalt plant, among others. During his inspection tour, the Cuban leader called on local officials to keep up the restoration work for the sake of Havana's residents who are in need of better services. As the biggest and most populated city in the island country, Havana has accumulated many problems in its development and the local government does not have sufficient resources to resolve such issues, said Diaz-Canel. The central government is now devising "a strategy led by the first vice president to have a greater link between the central government and provinces which allows for better work flows and efficiency," he said. "Havana must be addressed as a priority ... The problems of Havana have to be tackled by the central government," he added. SYDNEY, May 18 (Xinhua) -- After more than two years of detailed research, the Australian government has decided on a location for a new permanent runway near the country's Davis Research Station in East Antarctica. In a joint statement on Friday, foreign minister Julie Bishop and environment minister Josh Frydenberg said the new runway will give year round flight access to the important research base. "Access to Antarctica in winter is difficult and rare, with temperatures dropping to minus 40 degrees celsius at Davis Station," the statement said. "This new runway will complement Australia's existing summer-only ice runway at Wilkins Aerodrome, and will provide more reliable access to Antarctica throughout the year, improving our ability to conduct year-round, world-class scientific research and respond to emergencies." As well as being a major boost for the icy continent, the Australian government is also hoping its 10 million Australian (7.5 million U.S.) dollar investment will have far reaching benefits to the country itself. "The establishment of the permanent link between Hobart and Antarctica will enhance Hobart's role as a gateway to East Antarctica, making it a more attractive destination for Antarctic nations to base their operations in Tasmania," the statement said. Built as a multidisciplinary research base, the Davis Station facilitates many different scientific projects including the study of viruses and bacteria, marine programs, atmospheric research and the examination of climate change. Nations with similar stations nearby like China, Russian and India have also expressed interest in using the runway when it becomes operational, the official said. At this stage however, no timeline of completion has been finalised. TRIPOLI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Heavy clashes broke out in the eastern Libyan city of Darna on Thursday between the eastern-based army forces and militants in the city, killing five soldiers and six militants, according to medical and military sources. "The hospital received six bodies of members of the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Darna, while an unknown number of others were wounded and could not be counted because they were taken to private hospitals," a medical source from Al-Wahda hospital in Darna told Xinhua later Thursday. The source added that the casualties were the result of Thursday's clashes. "Five soldiers were killed in clashes with terrorists and landmines they (militants) left before fleeing," an official of the army's Darna operations chamber said. "The eastern town of Shiha in Darna witnessed violent clashes. The army made limited progress, waiting for clearing the planted mines that prevent the progress of the army forces," the source told Xinhua. The army is launching a military operation to take over Darna from the militants who control the coastal city. Since 2015, Darna has been besieged by the army, which demands the Shura Council members to leave. Humanitarian coordinator of the UN Support Mission in Libya Maria Ribeiro on Thursday called on the army to allow humanitarian aid to enter Darna. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 12:52:06|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close KINSHASA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed Ebola cases of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has added up to 14 after the Health Ministry announced 11 new confirmed cases and one new related death in the country's northwest as the lethal infectious disease spreads. A ministry statement late Thursday said the 11 new confirmed cases and one new related death were reported in the town of Bikoro in Equateur Province, where the first death took place. It said the new death has epidemiologic ties to another case. Another lethal case in Wangata on Thursday was a suspected one. The statement said the total number of Ebola cases is now 45, including 10 suspected cases, 21 probable cases and 14 confirmed cases. Health Minister Oly Ilunga said of the current 25 deaths, only one has been confirmed as Ebola, adding that no new health professionals have been contaminated. On Wednesday, the minister said the Ebola outbreak in the DRC entered a "new phase" following the first reported case of the deadly virus in the northwestern city of Mbandaka, with a population of some 1 million. Mbandaka is a major transportation hub with routes to the capital Kinshasa. Located on the banks of the Congo River, the Republic of Congo is on the other side of the river. The city is about 150 km from Bikoro, the rural area where the Ebola outbreak was officially announced on May 8 by authorities. "We are entering a new phase of the Ebola outbreak that is now affecting three health zones, including an urban health zone," Ilunga said. The first 4,000 doses of experimental vaccine from the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat the Ebola outbreak arrived Wednesday in Kinshasa, the country's capital. Senior WHO official Peter Salama said another 4000-vaccine batch will arrive soon. The vaccine, developed by Merck and Co Inc, is still not licensed but has proved effective during limited trials in West Africa during the biggest-ever outbreak of Ebola, which killed 11,300 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2016. The Ebola vaccination campaign will first target health workers. The DRC is at its ninth Ebola outbreak since 1976. Ebola is a highly infectious disease spread through contact with even small amounts of bodily fluid of an infected person. Its early flu-like symptoms are not always easy to detect. by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Thursday marked the one-year anniversary into the investigation of alleged collusion between Team Trump and Russia during the U.S. presidential elections. While the White House continues to dismiss these claims, the investigation is not going away, experts say. "Trump likes to hope that the probe will go away or find nothing disturbing about his past conduct, but that already has been disproved. There are lots of negative things that have come out and will continue to come out," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. Over the past year, the probe has uncovered bits and pieces of information. One major highlight occurred last month, when FBI agents raided the New York office of Trump's personal attorney. The agents confiscated emails, documents related to business records, as well as documents allegedly connected to a payment to a woman who was formerly a porn actress. The raid was the latest among FBI's investigations against the president, as the FBI has been seeking to find a connection between Trump and Russia. "The Mueller probe has been one of the most important forces shaping views about Trump," West said. "The indictments and convictions coming out of that investigation has weakened Trump's key claims that his team had little contact with Russians and that he has drained the swamp," West said. So far, several individuals have been indicted as a result of the investigation. However, none of the charges relating to U.S. citizens or Team Trump has directly accused anyone of working with Moscow to meddle in the presidential campaign. The probe has led to discussion about whether Trump might be impeached, although experts said that there must be very clear and direct evidence that an actual crime has taken place. Currently, no such smoking gun has been uncovered, and experts say that it's highly unlikely that impeachment will be pursued. Historically, impeachment is rare. Only three U.S. presidents faced impeachment proceedings. Anyway, the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller will continue to "cast a cloud" over Trump's administration, Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua. Trump has repeatedly criticized the probe. To coincide with the one-year anniversary of the probe, he took to social media to label the probe as the "greatest witch hunt in American history." "I won't speak for the legal approach being taken by the White House or the culpability of those investigated and already indicted, but it is apparent from his statements that the president takes personal umbrage at the idea that his victory was due to foreign interference and assistance," Mahaffee said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 13:12:08|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close China's second aircraft carrier returns to dock at Dalian Shipyard in northeast China's Liaoning Province, on May 18, 2018 after its first sea trials. The aircraft carrier, the country's first domestically-built one, was launched in April last year and began the sea trials on May 13. (Xinhua) DALIAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's second aircraft carrier returned to dock at Dalian Shipyard in northeast China's Liaoning Province, Friday noon after its first sea trials. The aircraft carrier, the country's first domestically-built one, was launched in April last year and began the sea trials on May 13. CANBERRA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Ancient DNA has proved to archaeologists that the first farmers in Southeast Asia were migrants from South China. Researchers extracted DNA from the bones of 18 human bodies found in modern-day Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar to estimate when new genes started flowing into the indigenous hunter-gatherer populations of the time. They found an influx of genes from South China coincided with the appearance of agriculture in Southeast Asia around 4,100 to 4,500 years ago, alongside pottery and tools made in the southern Chinese style. Marc Oxenham, a bioarchaeologist at the Australian National University, is a co-author of the study, which was published in Science journal on Friday. Oxenham said the genetic analysis gave scientists the "smoking gun" they needed to understand the human dispersal in the region. "Whether it be piecing together the lifeways of ancient peoples through their pottery ... or exploring their deeper genealogies by way of ancient DNA, [each] provides a series of independent threads that form a greater weave of what it was like to be an ancient Southeast Asian," he said on Friday. Southeast Asia has a rich and complex history of human occupation, stretching back 1.6 million years ago. Modern Homo sapiens, that is, those that looked like us, showed up much later, moving in at least 70,000 years ago. Oxenham said these hunter-gatherer colonists diversified and evolved over tens of thousands of years. "Today we still see their presence, or descendants, as Indigenous Australians, Papuans ... and so forth," he said. Around 4,500 years ago, farming appeared, along with tools and pottery made in the style of South China populations. To establish a definite link, Oxenham and his colleagues examined DNA harvested from human remains found at five ancient Southeast Asian sites, ranging from 4,100 to 1,700 years ago. And when they compared the ancient South-East Asian DNA with that from surrounding areas, they found the distinct genetic signature of Southern China. So it's likely that farmers from China slowly spread through Southeast Asia between 4,100 to 4,500 years ago, bringing their languages and agricultural, tool-making and pottery technology with them. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 13:17:10|Editor: ZD Video Player Close A villager checks shell holes on the wall in Arnia sector of Jammu, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, on May 18, 2018. An Indian border guard belonging to Border Security Force (BSF) and four civilians were killed and 12 others wounded Friday in skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops on the International Border (IB) in Kashmir, officials said. (Xinhua) NEW DELHI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- An Indian border guard belonging to Border Security Force (BSF) was killed and two civilians were wounded Friday in skirmishes between India and Pakistani troops on International Border (IB) in Kashmir, officials said. The exchange of small arms and artillery was reported in Arnia and R S Pora sectors of Jammu, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Pakistani troops early today at around 1:00 a.m. (local time) violated cease-fire by resorting to firing, targeting BSF posts and civilian areas, which resulted in wounding a BSF trooper and two civilians," a police official said. "Though the injured were immediately removed to hospital, the BSF trooper succumbed there and two civilians are undergoing treatment." Officials said Indian troops also retaliated to the firing from Pakistan and intermittent exchange was going on until last reports poured in. A similar exchange was reported in adjoining Sambha sectors, officials said. India's official broadcaster- All India Radio (AIR) quoting officials said around a dozen border outposts and an equal number of villages were said to be affected by the shelling. On Thursday, a BSF trooper and a civilian were injured in Sambha and Hiranagar sectors, while as on Tuesday a BSF trooper was killed in Sambha in the similar exchanges. Both New Delhi and Islamabad accuse each other of resorting to unprovoked firings and violating cease-fire agreements. And both sides maintain that their troops give befitting reply. The troops of India and Pakistan intermittently exchange fire on 720 km-long LoC and 198 km IB in Kashmir, despite an agreement in 2003 to observe a cease-fire. However, the cease-fire remains in effect. LoC is a de facto border that divides Kashmir into India and Pakistan controlled parts. SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Suspected militants barged inside a police post in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir and took away three service rifles from policemen deployed there, police said Friday. The police post set up outside a hotel was stormed Thursday late evening at Dalgate locality of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. Initially police said the weapons have gone missing and they were investigating the case. However, later on it turned out militants have snatched them. "Policemen are being questioned in this regard and there is strong possibility militants might have decamped with the rifles," a police official said. Following the incident, contingents of police were rushed to the spot and an alert sounded in the entire city. On Wednesday a service rifle was snatched from a policeman at university gate in Srinagar. Reports said he was overpowered by militants in the broad day light. Last month militants barged inside a police post set up to guard a Hindu temple and took away four service rifles of policemen. Police officials say militants in the region have been targeting policemen guarding houses of politicians and other protected places to snatch rifles, in wake of weapons shortage within the militant ranks. Last year militants carried out several incidents of weapon snatching in the region. Militant groups opposing New Delhi's rule are engaged in a guerilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. Gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 13:27:11|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close SHENZHEN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Over the past months, many new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers in China have found themselves in an unfamiliar situation: sales continue to increase, but profits are significantly declining. In the first quarter of 2018, 143,000 NEVs were sold in China, up 154 percent compared with the same period last year, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. However, BYD, a leading NEV carmaker in China, posted a profit of 102 million yuan (16.2 million U.S. dollars), down 83 percent compared with the same period last year. Yutong Bus and Zhongtong Bus, China's top new energy bus makers, also reported a 22 and 67 percent decline in profit, respectively, in 2017. These companies attributed the profit drop to the phasing out of subsidies, which the government started to offer in 2010 to stimulate the popularity of NEVs. Driven in part by the favorable policies, as well as growing demand from environmentally-conscious customers, annual production and sales of NEVs in China topped the world from 2015 to 2017. By the end of 2017, cumulative sales exceeded 1.8 million, accounting for more than half of the global total. At the same time, however, some NEV makers began making fraudulent applications in order to receive subsidies, which hurt the interests of the customers and created chaos in the market. In December 2016, a number of Chinese ministries jointly issued a policy to reduce purchase subsidies for buyers of NEVs, except fuel cell electronic vehicles, by 20 percent in 2019 and 2020. This February, they announced a further subsidy cut of 30 percent for electricity vehicles during the February-June period. The policy change has prompted some new energy automakers to take actions to minimize the negative impacts. BAIC BJEV, another leading NEV company in China, initiated a program in November last year that allowed customers to swap or recycle batteries, in a bid to enhance their utility rate. "To boost our competitiveness, BAIC will also unveil a new marketing model this year to cut the purchase cost of cars and enhance battery efficiency," said Li Yixiu, vice general-manager of the company. For its part, BYD has put a lot of efforts into developing models that meet the new criteria for government subsidies, as well as ones with enhanced energy density and better battery efficiency. Despite significant decline in profit, many executives of Chinese automakers said they remain positive about their companies' prospects as well as the NEV market in the country. "Market pressure has forced us to enhance our competitiveness. We are very confident about our technology, production chain, and strategies," said Hu Enping, chief brand officer of BAIC BJEV. CANBERRA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Senior ministers in the Australian government have joined a chorus of criticism for rogue union leader John Setka who admitted this week that breaking the law was the reason for his union's success. In a television interview on Thursday, Setka, the head of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), said "if you played by the laws you will never win". "We get fantastic pay rises and good conditions for our members because we fight it outside the law," the CFMEU Victorian secretary said in an interview with Sky News. "Our members pay us, they are our bosses. They expect to be serviced and looked after and that's our job. And if that sometimes brings us on the wrong side of a bad law - and there [are] bad laws - then so be it." The comments provoked a strong response from senior government figures. Attorney-General Christian Porter slammed Setka's idea that unions "can and should break laws" as "outrageous." "This notion that comes from Setka that if somehow he in his own mind thinks this is a good law to break he should be allowed to break the law with impunity is nothing short of an outrage," Porter said on Friday. Workplace Relations Minister Craig Laundy called on Labor Party leader, Bill Shorten, to "come clean on his power-sharing deal with the CFMEU." "The real worry is the movement's most renegade bunch of lawbreakers now stand to potentially have a puppet as prime minister," Laundy said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the union leader's comment "just underlines the way in which the Labor Party is parting company from the rule of law that is the fundamental foundation of our democracy." Setka, however, received a spirited defence from Labors rural affairs spokesperson, Joel Fitzgibbon, who said that "the history of mankind and all our progress has been built on civil disobedience." "When you've got a government in power that makes it impossible for our trade union movement to represent workers, we've got a problem," Fitzgibbon said on Friday. Shorten, however, has said he will "not protect" lawbreakers within the union movement. The Opposition Leader said on Thursday in response to Setka's comments: "I don't think you need to break the law full stop." "I haven't seen what he said but I'm not going to protect anyone breaking the law." Setka was the subject of a criminal trial which collapsed on Wednesday when Victorian state prosecutors dropped blackmail charges against him over the union's boycott of concrete company, Boral. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 13:37:13|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China Charity Federation (CCF), one of the country's most influential charity organizations, received 21.8 billion yuan (3.42 billion U.S. dollars) in donations, both money and goods, in 2017, the federation said Friday. This was the first time that the CCF's annual donations exceeded 20 billion yuan, Li Bengong, federation chairman, said when delivering a work report at a meeting in Beijing. The federation spent or distributed money and goods worth 19.2 billion yuan in 2017, said Li. It carried out more than 50 charity projects last year in areas including medical care, education, and poverty relief amongst others. Founded in 1994, the CCF is a non-profit public welfare institution with 385 member units nationwide. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 13:37:13|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close by Victoria Arguello BUENOS AIRES, May 17 (Xinhua) -- As China and Latin America bolster bilateral ties, Argentina's agricultural sector sees the Chinese market's potential in boosting the South American country's value-added exports, according to a leading soy producer. Martin Coarasa, a soy exporter from Zarate, a town located 90 km north of the capital Buenos Aires, spoke with Xinhua about his experience of exporting to China for years and the Asian giant's impact on his country's productive sector. As the world's "leading importer" of soy, China, to a large degree, sets the pace of production in countries like Argentina, said Coarasa. At the same time, a closer look at China's productive sectors reveals the degree of autonomy it has achieved in many areas by optimizing its industrial capacity, he noted. So, "the idea is to export them (as) differentiated products, like wine, which is of a very good quality here in Argentina, or foods. For us it would mark a giant step towards improving our exports, and I think it's possible," said Coarasa. Chinese demand, in any area, is decisive to promoting production in Latin America, especially in places like Argentina, he added. The soy industry is a clear example of that, he said. Growing Chinese demand, coupled with technological advances, led local farmers to turn their attention to soybeans. "Exports to China began hand in hand with soybeans. Argentina always exported wheat and corn until soybeans were included, with China being one of the main destinations of the exports," said Coarasa. In Argentina, soybean exports in grain form are shipped from two ports that are close to each other: the Lima and Palmas ports, both situated on the banks of the Parana River, which leads to the Atlantic via Rio de la Plata River. Aside from raw materials, Argentina has enormous potential in wading into the Chinese market with other value-added products, but it must first study its target consumers, he said. China also aims to expand ties with the region beyond the import of raw materials, and is investing in infrastructure, energy projects and other areas, he noted. Stronger ties between China and Latin America are an important development for the region, as they "signify a relationship with the world's second-largest economy," said Coarasa. SAN FRANCISCO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. west coastal state of Oregon witnessed a strong growth and record revenues from tourism in 2017, the state's tourism promotion agency said Thursday. Travel-related revenues throughout the state increased by 500 million U.S. dollars last year to reach a record 11.8 billion dollars, making 2017 the travel industry's eighth consecutive year with strong growth and economic impact, Travel Oregon said. Oregon received 28.8 million overnight visitors in 2017, and statewide revenues from hotel rooms grew 8 percent, said the agency. The number of local jobs directly generated for the tourism industry has risen to 112,200, up 2.2 percent year-on-year, the agency said, quoting independent findings by the Dean Runyan Associates, a market research organization focusing on tourism, recreation, education and economic development. The travel industry has become one of the top three export-oriented industries in rural Oregon counties. The Dean Runyan Associates highlighted the travel industry's economic significance for Oregon. "This report affirms the impact of our mission to drive economic development, enhance communities and create jobs through tourism in every corner of the state," said Travel Oregon CEO Todd Davidson. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 13:52:16|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close People look at an underwater robot during an intelligence science and technology exhibition in north China's Tianjin, May 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Ran) By Xinhua writers Lou Chen, Liu Yuanxu, Liu Kai & Li Kun TIANJIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Machines that can impeccably synthesize the human voice, assist judges in sentencing, and tell customers whether a dress is a good fit, have been displayed at the second World Intelligence Congress in Tianjin. Riding the global waves of artificial intelligence (AI), China aims to improve the productivity and inject new momentum into its economy by encouraging more players to tap the fledging industry. By June 2017, about one-fourth of the world's 2,542 AI companies were in China, where around 15,700 AI patents were filed, ranking second after the United States, according to the China Internet Network Information Center. "China should seize opportunities to boost innovation in deep learning, smart algorithms and chips, and modernize industries with AI technologies," Lin Nianxiu, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a room of entrepreneurs, researchers and policy-makers at the congress, which was held from May 16 to 18. NDRC is China's top economic planning agency. In July last year, the State Council issued a plan for new generation AI, pledging to make the industry a major new growth engine and improve people's life by 2020 and make the country the world's center and leader for AI innovation by 2030. China's AI industry output last year was 18 billion yuan (about 2.85 billion U.S. dollars) and value of related industries reached 220 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. "The development of intelligent technologies is not only the endogenous driving force for China's economic upgrade, but contributes to the prosperity of the world as well," according to a survey of 408 intelligent companies by the Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategies (CINGAIDS). PHENOMENAL PROGRESS China's high-tech big names are investing heavily in AI innovation, with Baidu in automated driving, Alibaba in AI cities, Tencent in medicine and health, and iFlytek in intelligent voices, according to the survey. Still, China lags behind developed countries in AI theory, algorithm, materials, core components, and even talent. Most existing Chinese AI companies were founded between 2010 and 2016 amid intense policy incentives, the survey said. To catch up with the global AI leaders, 18 provinces, regions and municipalities in China have introduced new policies to promote AI-related industries, while 27 provincial-level regions have announced plans to build AI industrial parks. Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology and former Minister of Science and Technology, said Chinese companies are quite competitive in image recognition, voice translation and behavioral analysis, with remarkable achievements in intelligent robotics, automated shops, machine translation, shared and driverless vehicles. AI technologies are now widely applied in China in the fields of city planning, smart transportation, social governance, health, agriculture and national security. China has created local AI champions such as Tencent, Baidu, Sensetime, Face++ and Cambricon, said Ludovic Bodin, a French entrepreneur who plans to set up a one-billion-dollar fund to finance AI joint ventures between France and China. He also seeks to directly invest in firms either in France or China, particularly in areas of health care, transportation and environment. "Artificial intelligence was a big priority when French President Emmanuel Macron visited China in January. China has critical competitive advantage in AI. Its largest datasets, policy push and education reform are key advantages. While France harbors top-ranked talent in AI, and aims to boost the sector and lead European development in AI," Bodin said. The ambitions are shared by Chian's domestic players, as Liu Qiangdong, founder of e-commerce giant JD.com, announced at the congress that the company would renovate 800 logistics centers in China with AI technologies in the next five years. "We look to establish an intelligent system covering storage, delivery vehicles, distribution stations and customers. In the future, courier boys will become white-collars who sit in office and monitor machines that do the jobs for them," Liu said. Meanwhile, iFlytek said its machine translation capabilities by 2019 were expected to match a college graduate majoring in English. "The latest machine can translate Chinese to 33 other languages. It also works well for different Chinese dialects," said Liu Qingfeng, chairman of iFlytek. By 2030, AI is expected to generate 16 trillion U.S. dollars for the world economy, said Indrajit Banerjee, director of the knowledge societies division of the Communication and Information Sector in UNESCO. "Chinese companies are very active in developing AI technology and application. They have achieved phenomenal progress in a very short span of time. Their contribution to AI will be tremendous," he said. TALENT FOR THE FUTURE To boost the development of intelligent technologies, experts and entrepreneurs agree that it is critical for countries to nurture more talent. "China has advantages in the speed of AI development and its wide application, but its weak points are the depth of basic research and originality," Wan said. "Demand of AI talent is extremely high now, and that happens to be our weak point as well. Talent is a key element in developing the industry," he said. Gong Ke, executive president of CINGAIDS, said about one-fourth of AI technologies used in China came from abroad. "Software and hardware are developed by firms such as Nvidia and IBM. I hope Chinese companies will also be suppliers in the future," he said. "The evolution of new technology is unstoppable. Innovation is going faster and faster. If education cannot keep up, we will not have the next generation AI ready for the new skills that are needed. AI started at the top universities and now it has to go down," he said. In April, AI coursebooks were introduced to the curriculum in 40 high schools in China. Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba, also directed attention to AI education. "Humans will never win if they compete with machines on who recites books fast and gets calculations right. We should focus more on kindergarten and elementary education, and raise our kids to be responsible and visionary beings," he said. "The age of AI will come, and it is important that we get prepared." (Video editors: Zhu Cong, Mu Xuyao) KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 (Xinhua) -- BMI Research is revising its 2018 fiscal deficit forecast for Malaysia to 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), from 2.8 percent previously, to reflect the impacts of the abolishment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Malaysian economy. The Fitch group unit said in a report issued Friday it had also adjusted its average deficit forecast for Malaysia for the period between 2018 and 2027, from 2.8 percent to 3.1 percent. "This reflects the negative impact to government revenues from the decision to stop collecting GST from June 1," it added. Not too long after a shock victory, Malaysian new Prime Minister Mohamad has announced the countrys fiscal reform already underway. To fulfill his pre-election promises, he had on Wednesday indicated he would lower the countrys GST to zero next month, and might replace it by a Sales and Services Tax (SST). Although we expect the government to iron out the details of the SST over the coming months, implementation is likely to take place only after 2018. This means that the government will forgo about half of GST revenues without any replacement for the remainder of 2018, said BMI. The research house also highlighted its revised deficit forecast had taken into account its bullish outlook for oil prices, but it believed higher oil revenues are only able to slightly offset the negative impact on overall revenues from the loss of GST intake. In 2017, GST accounted for about 20 percent of Malaysian government total revenues, but oil revenues only made up 7.3 percent of the total revenue. BMI projected an average Brent price of 73 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2018, which is an upward revision from 67 U.S. dollars per barrel in May. Even if the SST is brought back as announced by the Mahathir administration, and assuming that revenue collection under it remains the same as it was before the replacement by GST in the Q2 2015, the fiscal deficit will likely widen over the next decade, BMI commented on Malaysias long-term fiscal position. It also noted that SST accounted for just 7.8 percent of Malaysias total revenues in 2014. The 6-percent GST was implemented on April 1, 2015. Prior to that, Malaysia adopted SST, which was between 5 percent to 10 percent. BMI Research also warned that Malaysian new government's other promised populist measures which could be implemented over the coming months, such as the reintroduction of petrol subsidies, could further widen the fiscal deficit. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 14:47:28|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states who have not met their financial obligations regarding defense will be "dealt with," and specifically called upon Germany to fulfill its obligation. Trump made the remarks during his meeting with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House. Listing the countries which have "paid the number that they're supposed to be paying," Trump said that there were some who have not yet paid the amount expected of them. "We have some that don't -- and, well, they'll be dealt with," the U.S. president said. NATO's European allies have spent more on defense for a second consecutive year in 2017 but the majority of them still failed to meet the target of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. "We're still waiting on 20 member states to meet their NATO commitments," Trump said. Trump specifically mentioned Germany, urging it to demonstrate leadership in the alliance by "addressing its longstanding shortfall in defense contributions." "Germany has not contributed what it should be contributing, and it's a very big beneficiary -- far bigger than the United States," Trump said. Trump also grumbled about Germany "buying massive amounts of gas from Russia and paying billions and billions of dollars." Germany is set to continue to fall significantly short of the NATO defense spending target, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Germany's commitment to responsibilities it shoulders as part of the military alliance remained a priority for Berlin. Noting that all NATO members were increasing their defense budgets, Stoltenberg recognized that NATO needed to invest more in security as "we live in a more unpredictable world." "On defense spending ... we have to do more," the NATO chief said. Eight NATO allies will reach the 2 percent benchmark by the end of this year, and 15 are on track to spend 2 percent by 2024, according to a statement released by the White House on Thursday. SAN FRANCISCO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- An Alaska state trade delegation will leave for China this weekend to promote shared business interests between the northwestern U.S. state and China, a local media network reported Thursday. The delegation, which will have over 40 members, will consist of representatives from more than 20 businesses, as well as state officials and politicians. The trade mission, headed by Alaska Governor Bill Walker, aims to sell not only Alaska's seafood and gas, but also beer to Chinese consumers during the upcoming 10-day trip to China, the world's second-largest economy, said the online edition of the Alaska Public Media (APM), a non-profit TV and radio network serving the south-central Alaska region. David McCarthy, a member of the trade delegation and also the co-owner of Denali Visions 3000 company that owns the 49th State Brewing Co., hopes to expand the brewery's reach and get Alaska beer into Chinese hands, said the APM. "They've been working hand-in-hand actually to get our beer over to China to have there available for people to try as part of these events over there," McCarthy said. Apart from the seafood and beer, the group will also promote the state's baby food, tourism and energy such as oil and gas in China. The Alaska delegation will visit the major Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province in southwest China. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 14:52:30|Editor: ZD Video Player Close WUHAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- In a 30-sqm studio, Zhao Xiaolong carefully brushes adhesive paste onto a paper fan dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to try to restore it to its original glory. Zhao, 30, is a cultural relics repairer at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. The museum was established in 1953 and boasts more than 260,000 cultural relics. "Most of the relics that need to be repaired face problems like microbe erosion and stains," Zhao said. Zhao's story is representative of China's many cultural relics repairers as China observes the International Museum Day on Friday. Zhao became obsessed with restoring cultural relics when he was a child. "I did not have much money when I was young, but I would always sift through the items at flea markets to find what I thought was precious," he said. "After that, I brought the items home and desperately wanted to repair them." Zhao recalled when a porcelain bowl in his house broke. As his grandmother was about to throw the shattered pieces away, he picked them up and put them back together with glue. In 2009, when Zhao was still in college, he started to learn the art of repairing pottery ware from Master Chen Zhongtao at the Palace Museum in Beijing during his summer holiday. "I also learned about repairing bronzeware and wood artifacts," Zhao recalled. "It was the best time of my life!" In the studio, Zhao works with his wife Zhang Xiaolong. The couple are the same age and share the same given name. While Zhao is in charge of repairs, his wife researches the relic's chemical components and what chemical reagents are needed for the repair work. The two met in 2010 when they both started working at Hubei Provincial Museum. "He teaches me about the craftsmanship and the meanings behind each item," Zhang said. "He is my history teacher." Repair work is not easy and can take a long time. Sometimes the process takes a year or even longer for one item. "We try to restore the items to their original state," Zhao said. "The items should be intact, clean, and there should be no deformities." Zhao said that when he encounters pictures that have been stained, he asks his wife for help. "She majored in material science and can analyze the chemical components of the stains with high-precision equipment," Zhao said. In the eyes of Fu Minghua, Zhao's teacher, he is a "very gifted" person when it comes to the art of repairing relics. "He loves this profession and he has very good skills," Fu said. "But repairing cultural relics in China is a huge task and mastering the sills will take many years." In recent years, China has placed increasing attention on the restoration of cultural relics, but given the number of items, the workload is overwhelming. In the provincial museum alone, for example, more than 6,000 items are waiting to be restored. "Zhao and I can repair up to 30 items a year at most, and it seems to be an endless job," Fu said. The hardship one has to endure when restoring the relics has made some young apprentices leave. "In 2015, we had 22 people on our team, but now only 15 remain," Fu said. Zhao said he is committed to the job. "I don't think I will change my profession. In the future, I will try to find good apprentices to pass on my skills." "China's relics need people like us to pass on our culture and history," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 15:07:32|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Indonesian armed police escort Indonesian radical cleric Aman Abdurrahman (C), also known as Oman Rohman, into courtroom at a district court in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 18, 2018. Indonesian prosecutors demanded Friday death sentence for a radical cleric, also the leader of a militant group involved recently in a series of suicide assaults in the country that had left 31 dead. (Xinhua/Zulkarnain) JAKARTA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian prosecutors demanded Friday death sentence for a radical cleric, also the leader of a militant group involved recently in a series of suicide assaults in the country that had left 31 dead. Aman Abdurrahman, also known as Oman Rahman, is considered de facto leader of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) whose members were the assailants in a police prison riot as well as in suicide bombings in churches and police headquarters in the country since last Friday, according to the police. Abdurrahman, a key ideologue for IS militants in Indonesia, also ordered a suicide attack in the country's capital on Jan. 24, 2016 that killed 4 civilians and 4 bombers, the court session said. "(The prosecutors) demand the judge panel hand down a death sentence to defendant Oman alias Aman Abdurrahman or Abu Sulaiman," said a prosecutor. Police have dispatched over 100 personnel from anti-terror squad and paramilitary units to guard the court session. Suicide bombers blew themselves up in a series of attacks on three churches Sunday in Surabaya city, the provincial capital of East Java and a suicide bombing in the police headquarters in the city on Monday. The suicide attacks were followed by a sword-wielding assault in the police headquarters in Riau province on Wednesday. All the terrorist strikes were linked to one family including women and children. National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian revealed that members of the JAD, a splinter cell of Jemaah Islamiyah militant group, had staged the assaults. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 15:22:35|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China plans to launch a relay satellite into space next Monday, May 21, for the Chang'e-4 lunar probe scheduled later this year. The Chang'e-4 lunar probe will undertake the first ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon. However, direct communication with the far side of the Moon is not possible, which is one of the many challenges of the Chang'e-4 lunar probe mission. The relay satellite, named Queqiao, will be responsible for transmitting signals between the Earth station and the Chang'e-4 lander and rover. Relay satellites are communication satellites that can provide data relay and monitoring services for spacecraft, improving the efficiency and emergency capability of various satellites. They also enable data from earth resource and environmental satellites to be transmitted in real time. The Chang'e-4 probe will also carry scientific payloads for four countries, including the Netherlands and Germany. SEOUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to visit Washington next week to hold a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in a bid to help the upcoming summit between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States become a success. Nam Gwan-pyo, a deputy director of the presidential National Security Office, told reporters that Moon will make an official visit to the United States at the invitation of Trump to hold a summit with the U.S. president in Washington on Tuesday (Washington time). He said the Moon-Trump summit is anticipated to serve as a bridge to lead to a successful DPRK-U.S. summit. Moon and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un met on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom, agreeing to complete denuclearization and the alteration of the current armistice agreement into a peace treaty by the end of this year. The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with armistice. Kim and Trump are scheduled to meet in Singapore on June 12 for the first-ever DPRK-U.S. summit. During the Washington summit, Moon will have a one-on-one meeting with Trump to make an in-depth discussion on detailed ways to completely denuclearize the peninsula and build a permanent peace. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 16:02:43|Editor: ZD Video Player Close The booth of the Bangladesh Embassy is seen in the 2018 Embassy Chef Challenge, in Washington D.C., the United States, May 17, 2018. Chefs from over 25 different embassies across the U.S. capital gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in downtown Washington D.C. Thursday evening for the 10th annual Embassy Chef Challenge. (Xinhua/Yang Chenglin) WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chefs from over 25 different embassies across the U.S. capital gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in downtown Washington D.C. Thursday evening for the 10th annual Embassy Chef Challenge. Battling for the title of best dish, each chef prepared a dish representing his or her own country and competed in a number of categories. A panel of culinary experts judged the dishes based on presentation, taste and how well the chefs represent their countries. Guests who attended the event also participated in the selection of a people's choice award. The Philippine Embassy represented by veteran chef Abie Sincioco-Mateo won first place in both the Judge's and People's Choice awards categories. The chef took advantage of Washington's newfound love for Filipino cuisine and presented her country's traditional food, pork sisig, to food lovers in the United States. Sisig, a chopped-pork dish, takes all the good parts from a pig's head, including the cheeks, snout, and ears, together with the liver and belly, and then chops them into small pieces, which are then fried after simmering them in water. The mixture is spiced with chili peppers and calamansi, and finally mixed with egg, onion, and sometimes mayo. "Being a part of this annual gastro-diplomacy extravaganza allows us to not only promote our nation's unique dishes, but also contribute to the multi-cultural heritage of Washington D.C.," Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel G. Romualdez told reporters before the event. The event offered a rare opportunity for guests to sample the food and drinks prepared by embassy chefs who normally work behind closed doors. Visitors can sample authentic cuisine from over 25 countries in a single night. One minute they can enjoy coconut and shrimp creole from Colombia and the next minute, they can taste chicken with spices from Morocco. Other countries, such as Barbados and Canada, showcased their unique wines and beers as well. In addition to cuisine, the event also featured art and music from different countries. The event, presented annually by the Trade Center Management Associates, has provided a setting for culinary diplomacy to thrive since 2009 with a diverse group of highly regarded chefs from around the world delighting guests with dishes and drinks from their homelands. SALT LAKE CITY, the United States, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Over 20 percent of American students who are learning Chinese live in the state of Utah, a local official said here Thursday. The state still needs to do more to enhance Chinese language education, Utah State Governor Gary Herbert said at the opening ceremony of the 11th National Chinese Language Conference in Salt Lake City. Chinese language and culture learning is an important way to build trust between the two countries, Herbert told more than 1,300 attendees at the largest annual gathering of Chinese language education practitioners in the United States. State National Education Coordinator Howard A. Stephenson concurred. Stephenson said that it is necessary for American students to be bilingual "in order to compete and cooperate with China." "Never in the history of the U.S. has it been more important to communicate clearly with China," said Stephenson, a veteran Senator. "At this time we should be making every effort to increase access to Chinese language learning for all U.S. students," he said. Stephenson shared his son's story. His son has studied Chinese for 10 years, saying Chinese language not only increased his intellect, confidence and employability, but also his compassion and empathy. Stephenson paid respect to local teachers' dedication and assistance from the Confucius Institute, saying the teachers provided by Han Ban are crucial to the success of immersion language programs in the state. He told Xinhua that the immersion programs are a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages, both English and Chinese, are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. "I have complete confidence in Han Ban teachers, and am impressed with how committed they are to teaching Utah's math and science curriculum with full fidelity," he said. Zhao Guocheng, deputy chief executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Han Ban) and executive deputy director-general of Han Ban, said Utah is a leading state in English-Chinese language immersion with over 10,000 students taking part in the program at present. "The Chinese language teaching has gained great momentum from the increasing demand across the U.S. during the past decade," he said. "My colleagues and I are so happy and proud to be able to work together with communities across the U.S. to increase access to learning Chinese language and culture." The three-day annual meeting is centered around the theme "From Classroom to Careers," showing how a strong foundation in Chinese language can translate into academic and professional success. MOSCOW, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia will strengthen the security of its eastern maritime border with the help of Tu-160 supersonic strategic bombers, a military official said Friday. Russia this year plans to fly Tu-160s to Anadyr, the country's easternmost Arctic town, Sergei Kobylash, the Aerospace Forces' long-range aviation commander, told Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, adding that "the Arctic is strategically important to us." He said that Russia has been exploring new airfields and other ways to ensure security on the eastern maritime border. Last year, Russian Tu-22M strategic strike bombers flew for the first time to Anadyr and the town of Vorkuta in Russia's northwest, said Kobylash. The Tu-160 or the White Swan, is a long-range, supersonic strategic bomber which can be equipped with nuclear warheads. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 16:47:51|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China is becoming an emerging source market for Dubai's tourism sector and the Middle East city has stepped up partnerships with Chinese firms to tap the world's largest outbound tourism market, according to Dubai's tourism authority. China became Dubai's fifth largest source market in 2017 and is one of its fastest growing. Over 760,000 Chinese tourists visited Dubai last year, while about 258,000 Chinese visited Dubai in the first quarter of 2018, up 12 percent year on year, according to Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM). "Based on the latest statistics, we are truly confident that Chinese visitors will play a huge role in helping us realize Dubai's Tourism Vision, which aims to welcome 20 million visitors per year by 2020," he said. Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has stepped up efforts to further increase the number of tourist arrivals from China with a major marketing and promotional campaign run in collaboration with top Chinese players in the travel, ICT, and internet sectors. During the past week, Dubai Tourism inked partnerships with Alibaba's tourism branch Fliggy, Huawei Consumer Business Group, and Tencent to roll out digital, social, and mobile-led promotional services to attract more Chinese travelers. Dubai Tourism carried out a campaign in collaboration with leading Chinese online travel agency Ctrip to increase visitors to Dubai during the first quarter for 2018 and are currently running a similar campaign on Ctrip for Q2. The number of independent travelers is increasing thanks to the emirate's visa-free policy for Chinese visitors, according to Kazim. To cater to the growing number of Chinese tourists, Dubai has been promoting its China Ready program with measures such as introducing popular mobile payment service Alipay in major shopping destinations. "Dubai continues to draw Chinese visitors in even bigger numbers and our aim is to sustain this momentum. This makes it imperative on our part to reach out in every way possible to ensure further growth from this massive market," said Kazim. | 2018-05-18 17:26:31|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close LANGFANG, May 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The Seventh China India Forum was held on Thursday in Langfang, Hebei Province. Over two hundred representatives from governments and enterprises of China and India attended this forum. During the forum, Yang Zhe, president of China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) International, said that the company will actively promote the construction and operation of the industrial parks in India and make a contribution to the China-India economic and trade cooperation. Yang stressed the industrial parks will facilitate win-win development between China and India. They will mainly function as comprehensive service platforms for the overseas business of Chinese companies, Yang said. CFLD can provide various services for Chinese companies, including site selection, information sharing, supportive facilities and investment promotion, he added. The industrial parks can also increase local employment and promote construction of local infrastructure and modern industrial clusters, Yang said. CFLD has currently launched several industrial park projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Egypt, Brunei and Philippines. LUANDA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Angolan parliament on Thursday approved a draft law on the repatriation of money abroad, an initiative of the government. In the same session, the parliamentarians voted against the draft law on the Extraordinary Regime of Asset Regulation, proposed by UNITA, the largest opposition party. In the draft proposal submitted to the plenary, Angolans with undeclared deposits of more than 100,000 U.S. dollars abroad will have six months to repatriate the money to Angola without being subject to any criminal, tax or foreign exchange investigation. The UNITA project, on the other hand, states that property assets transferred or maintained abroad or in the interior of the country which are undeclared and originated in the national territory, must be duly declared to the Angolan State and followed by payment of due taxes. The Angolan government is not aware, however, of the amount of money that exists abroad or how much it can recover, said Marcy Lopes, secretary of the President of the Republic for Political, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs. In December 2017, Angolan President Joao Lourenco urged government officials to repatriate money illegally held overseas by the beginning of this year or risk prosecution. The president warned that at the end of the grace period, the state will confiscate the money and bring it back to the country to benefit all Angolans and spur domestic investment. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 17:18:00|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close KUNMING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province have caught one suspect and seized 47.446 kilograms of drugs, local police said Friday. Earlier this month, police in Dehong prefecture received information that someone was planning to transport a large amount of drugs across the border into China. On May 11, police caught a man allegedly carrying over 45 kilograms of opium and more than two kilograms of methamphetamine on a motorcycle in the city of Ruili. The case is under further investigation. Yunnan is a major front in China's battle against drug crime, as it borders the Golden Triangle known for its rampant drug production and trafficking. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 17:18:00|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Wang Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, meets with Carole Bureau-Bonnard, deputy head of the French National Assembly, in Beijing, capital of China, May 18, 2018. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Wang Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Carole Bureau-Bonnard, deputy head of the French National Assembly on Friday. Wang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said the NPC is willing to press ahead with the established legislative exchange mechanisms between China and France to cement mutual trust and cooperation. Bonnard said the French National Assembly stands ready to play an active role in promoting cooperation between the two sides in various areas. ULAN BATOR, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar will pay an official visit to the United States on May 18-22 to boost bilateral ties, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. During his visit, Tsogtbaatar is expected to hold talks with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo and other senior officials, and the two sides will exchange views on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest, it said in a statement. "The two countries will mainly focus on expanding economic relations and developing a roadmap to strengthen cooperation," it said. In addition, he will meet with businessmen and visit major U.S. universities and research institutes. JUBA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- About 210 child soldiers were released by rebel groups in South Sudan's Pibor area on Thursday, the UN children's agency, UNICEF confirmed on Friday. "Every time a child is released and able to return to their family, it's a source of great hope - hope for their future and for the future of the country," Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF's Representative in South Sudan said in a statement issued in Juba. "We also hope there will be many more of these events until there are no longer any children in the ranks of armed groups," Mdoe added. It said 806 child soldiers have now been released across South Sudan since the start of 2018, adding that more children are expected to be freed in the coming months. UNICEF said the freed children will be reunited with their families and provided with three months' worth of food assistance and provided with vocational training aimed at improving household income and food security to support their initial reintegration. According to the children's agency, an estimated 19,000 children continue to serve in the ranks of armed forces and groups in South Sudan. The UN agency called on all parties to the conflict to end the recruitment of children and to release all children in their ranks. HARARE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwe government has signed a 5.2 billion U.S. dollars deal with a South Africa firm for the production of over 8 million liters of liquid fuels per day from coal in Hwange. The deal, signed Thursday between South African firm Nkosikhona Holdings and Verify Engineering Pvt Ltd, an agent of the Zimbabwe's government, will see the beneficiation of coal for production of liquid fuels, fertilizers and chemicals, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Friday. The deal also involves coal production and the setting up of the beneficiation plant. A ground breaking ceremony for the plant is scheduled for June 1, 2018 while mining operations will start in September, it reported. It will take at least three and a half years before the country starts benefiting from the value addition and beneficiation. The project will operate under the joint venture company Vectol Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd. Zimbabwe holds vast coal reserves, particularly in the northwestern and southern regions. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the liquid project was a good example of commodity-based industrialization in value addition. "My government fully endorses this project and has granted it national project status. I am confident that it will contribute to our energy, security and self-sufficiency in terms of liquid fuels, fertilizers and a range of other chemicals," he was quoted by the newspaper report as saying. JUBA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has criticized police and other law enforcement agents over rampant insecurity that has escalated in the strife-torn East African nation. Speaking at a forum in the capital Juba Thursday, Kiir accused the entire disciplined forces for their complacency as a wave of crime hit many parts of the world's youngest republic, hence disrupting economic activities and cohesion. "It is you the senior officers who are responsible for the escalating insecurity in the capital Juba and other towns. There is ample evidence that reveal your collusion in these crimes," said Kiir. Last month, Kiir instructed security forces to intensify the fight against crime in the country with dedication and consistency in line with their professional mandate. "The good example was set a few days ago when a pastor was killed together with his wife. And the criminals who did this are men in the disciplined forces. This is a blot on your profession yet you are supposed to be custodians of the law," Kiir remarked. "To kill civilians and rob whatever they have, then other people can decide to run away so that they go and live as refugees if they cannot be protected by their own security agents. This is not good for the country," Kiir said. South Sudan's conflict has now entered its fifth year after it broke out in late 2013 as forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar engaged in combat. The 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital, Juba, forcing Machar to flee into exile. Millions of South Sudanese civilians have sought refuge in neighboring countries as the conflict rages on despite attempts by international players to end it. MOGADISHU, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The African Union top envoy for Somalia has called for a cautious implementation of the recently endorsed transition plan to help protect gains made in stabilizing the country. Francisco Madeira, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, also voiced support for the transition plan which represents a significant change in the planning and delivery of security in the Horn of Africa nation. "All our commanders have said yes to the transition. All of them without exception; the sector commanders who bear the brunt of this war despite all the challenges said yes to the transition," he said in a statement released on Thursday evening. The AU envoy who was presiding at a medal awards ceremony for 21 staff officers, who will be rotating out of the Mission after completing their tour of duty, noted that the transition is a necessity, driven by a number of factors but should be implemented cautiously, so as not to erode the gains made in Somalia over the last decade. "We need to transition because the Somalis want us to transition, because the partners feel that we should transition and we are going to transition, but, frankly, and in all honesty, we would not want to see the things that we won with so much sacrifice to go down the drain," said Madeira. Madeira noted that the transition plan must involve the people of Somalia. "We need to straighten up this place but we cannot do it without the Somalis. We have to hand over to people who are prepared to receive it and hold it and keep it and even improve it further, and that is the challenge," said Madeira. AMISOM has developed conditions-based transition plan, to transfer the national security responsibility from the AU troops to the Somali security forces guided by the rule of law and respect for human rights. In 2017, the UN Security Council authorized a gradual troop reduction amid transition of security responsibility to Somali National Security Forces. PARIS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A new attack has been foiled, and two brothers of Egyptian origin, who were suspected of committing the attack, were arrested, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said Friday. "There were two young people of Egyptian origin who were preparing to carry out an attack, with either explosives or ricin, which is a very strong poison. They had tutorials that showed how to make poisons from ricin," he said on the French television channel BFMTV. "We follow a certain number of people on social media, in this case it was on (encrypted messaging app) Telegram. We were able to detect this project of attack and we were able to stop them," he added. The announcement comes the day after the arrest of a close friend of Khamzat Azimov, who committed the knife attack on May 12 in the Opera district in Paris, killing one and wounding five. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:03:33|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The filing of a lawsuit by the European Union (EU) against Germany for failing to comply with clean air regulations has reignited a conflict in the federal government on Friday over the handling of the ongoing diesel emissions scandal. Responding to the EU charges, senior politicians from the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) urged transport minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) to surrender his previous resistance against technical upgrades of older diesel vehicles as a means to lower their nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions levels. Svenja Schulze (SPD), the minister for the environment, appealed to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/ Christian Social Union (CSU) to back her earlier demands for technical upgrades, paid for by the carmakers themselves, "as fast as possible." Schulze warned that simply hoping for the problem to solve itself was "no longer an option." Similarly, SPD deputy parliamentary faction leader Matthias Miersch told press that the transport ministry was "following the wrong path by trying to convince people that the problem can be solved with software upgrades alone." German carmakers have already committed to widespread software upgrades for vehicles in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal but have so far argued that more effective technical upgrades would be too costly- and time-consuming to merit serious consideration. The EU commission filed charges against Germany and five other countries at the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) on Thursday for repeatedly breaching binding limits on urban air pollution caused by diesel emissions. Miersch criticized that Scheuer and his predecessor Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) should have never let it become a formal lawsuit after being made aware of the threat of legal action on behalf of the EU as early as 2015. The SPD politician said that German citizens "rightfully expected" the government to ensure clean air, as well as to prevent the need for more radical measures like outright driving bans on diesel vehicles. However, the potential compromise offered by technical upgrades in this context was being prevented by the "sitting-it-out tactic" of transport minister Scheuer. Germany's ruling "grand coalition" has debated for months whether technical upgrades constitute a suitable alternative diesel driving bans, the specter of which was first raised by a widely-publicized landmark ruling of the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has publicly sided with Scheuer and argued that the time and financial resources of the automotive industry would be better spent developing the mobility technologies of the future. The opposition Green party (Gruene) joined SPD politicians on Friday in their criticism of CDU and CSU politicians' behavior in the diesel emissions scandal. Greens deputy parliamentary faction leader Oliver Krischer complained that "taxpayers were at risk" of having to shoulder hefty EU fines because Merkel and Scheuer did not want to hold highly-profitable carmakers responsible for their diesel cheating. According to the Federal Environmental Office (UBA), driving bans in German cities can only be averted if older diesel vehicles undergo comprehensive retro-fitting efforts. "(The air) will only get cleaner in densely-populated areas if producers start taking upgrades of vehicles with Euro 4 and especially Euro 5 diesel motor type more seriously," UBA director Maria Krautzberger told the newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" (SZ). LONDON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The British government is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported Friday. The British military had written to Prime Minister Theresa May recommending the country boost its military presence in Afghanistan, but no decision has been made yet, the BBC said. Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would send an additional 3,500 troops to Afghanistan, while urging other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to fulfil their own commitments. Britain currently has more than 600 troops in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, who are helping train Afghan security forces. The NATO and U.S. forces completed their combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014 after 13 years of military presence in the country, but currently keep around 16,000 troops in Afghanistan to help train and assist Afghan forces. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:18:39|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Ministers of the Hungarian new government take their oaths of office in Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Hungary on May 18, 2018. Hungarian President Janos Ader appointed the ministers of Viktor Orban's fourth government here on Friday, thus officially forming the new government. (Xinhua/Szilard Voros) BUDAPEST, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian President Janos Ader appointed the ministers of Viktor Orban's fourth government here on Friday, thus officially forming the new government. Ader gave the 13 ministers their credentials at the appointment ceremony that took place at Sandor Palace, the official residence of Hungary's president. Peter Szijjarto and Laszlo Trocsanyi will continue in their respective posts as minister of foreign affairs and trade, and minister of justice, while Mihaly Varga was nominated minister of finance. Sandor Pinter will continue his duties as the head of the ministry of interior. Ader's appointment of the new government, which took place in the presence of Orban, is effective from Friday. According to the Hungarian Constitution, the president of the republic appoints the ministers based on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, and the government is automatically formed with the appointment. Later in the day, the new ministers took their oath in the parliament. "The new government received a big opportunity and we must receive it with humility," Orban told the parliament. "In 1990, Europe was the future for us, now we are Europe's future," he announced, hinting at the fact that Central Europe is the fastest growing economic region of the European Union, of which Hungary is a member since 2004. Orban also spoke of the necessity of protecting Hungary's borders, which has been at the center of his electoral campaign: "International migration will still menace Europe for long years. That is why the strict defense of the borders and the cold management of security threats are needed." He added the country also had to brace for the battle of ideologies, hinting at the liberals in the European Union, who criticized Orban since 2010 for his concentration of power and alleged weakening of democratic institutions. He said that values of the Christian culture were on the front page of his cabinet: "We defend human dignity, family, religious communities and the nation." Orban has been in power continuously since 2010, and has served as prime minister between 1998 and 2002. With his junior coalition partner KDNP (Christian-democrat), Orban's political party the Fidesz obtained 133 seats of the 199 of the Hungarian parliament in the general elections of April 8. Because of the particularity of the Hungarian electoral system that favors the winner, Orban gained a so-called supermajority in the parliament -- more than two-third of the seats -- although he received less than 50 percent of the votes. NEW DELHI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 Hindu pilgrims were killed and 19 others injured on Friday after a speeding dumper truck ran into a huge group of pilgrims marching toward a shrine in northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, officials said. The accident took place outside Bichai-Tanakpur in Champawat district, about 312 km southeast of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand. "Today in a horrifying incident here, a rashly driven dumper truck rammed into a group of pilgrims walking towards Purnagiri shrine," Hemant Kumar Verma, additional district magistrate in Champawat told Xinhua over telephone. "Eleven pilgrims were killed in the accident and 19 others injured are undergoing treatment at different hospitals." According to officials, the group comprising of around 250 pilgrims were walking barefoot as part of the pilgrimage when the vehicle hit them. The victims were identified as residents from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district. Reports said the driver of the vehicle fled the spot. However, police said they were trying to ascertain his details and would arrest him soon. Eyewitnesses said following the accident shrieks and cries of injured triggered a chaos in the locality. Police have registered a case and ordered investigations to ascertain the actual reason behind the accident. Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving. Source: Xinhuanet| 2018-05-18 19:39:16|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close Photo taken on May 9, 2018 shows former head of the Yumai Township government Zhuoga. (Xinhuanet/Ma Yimeng) BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhuanet) As a CPC member for more than 20 years, taking part in this years Two Sessions helps me gain great knowledge. I will devote myself to playing a leading role in Yumai, said Zhuoga, former head of the Yumai Township government in Longzi County in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Yumai is China's smallest town in terms of population, which sits at the southern foot of the Himalayas. Before 1996, the only residents in the township were Zhuoga and her two family members. They have been guardians of the country's border area for half a century. As a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC)Zhuoga went to Beijing in March to attend the annual Two Sessions. Beijing is great, said Zhuoga, I have learned a lot during the trip to Beijing, she told the reporters, while preparing to feed her cows during the busiest time of her day. Zhuoga has three daughters. The oldest is currently in Jiangxi, east China, for her undergraduate study. The other two daughters are high school students. I hope my daughters will be well educated and become knowledgeable, said Zhuoga. In the past, winter lasted for months in Yumai, with the township being completely isolated from the outside world starting from November every year. With the help of the Party and the government, last year Yumai finally became accessible all year round. Hu Xuemin, head of the Yumai Township government, came to Yumai in June 2016. He has witnessed the dramatic changes of Yumai in the past two years. In the past, villagers relied on electricity generated by water which was very unstable, said Hu, This February, a new power line was successfully connected from the state grid. Villagers in Yumai can finally enjoy stable electricity. In order to improve residents' living environment, the whole township is under renovation. Villagers are looking forward to moving into the government-funded two-story buildings with independent yards. BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The German Federal Office for Migration and Asylum (Bamf) is reviewing around 18,000 successful asylum applications in response to serious irregularities at its Bremen branch, the organization's director Jutta Cordt told the press on Friday. Speaking in Berlin, Cordt explained that the comprehensive assessment would take three months in total and involve 70 Bamf employees. The objective of the investigation was to review every case in which asylum status had been granted to refugees by the Bremen office since the year 2000. "We are in the process of clarifying the matter and this effort is still ongoing," the Bamf director said. A senior Bamf employee in Bremen stands accused of incorrectly granting humanitarian residency in Germany in thousands of applications asylum seekers between 2013 and 2017. The Bremen State Prosecution Office confirmed that it was investigating the Bamf employee in question, as well as three attorneys and one translator who are believed to have cooperated systematically in subverting the course of justice. The suspects face criminal charges of corruption and organized incitement of filing fraudulent asylum applications. A spokesperson for the interior ministry subsequently emphasized that the accusations only concerned an "isolated case." According to Cordt, so far, around 600 reviewed cases handled by the suspected lawyers were found to have severe procedural flaws. Where necessary steps would be taken to revoke incorrect asylum decisions, although this would involve a lengthy and complicated judicial process. In an address to parliamentary delegates, interior minister and Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Horst Seehofer said that he remained convinced that the Nuremberg-based Bamf did its job well as a whole and consequently did not deserve to be placed under collective suspicion. However, the minister has also come under heavy attack himself in the affair for allegedly withholding information from the public. Josefa Schmid, a civil servant who was posted to the Bamf Bremen office as an interim director following the first revelations of the scandal, told the press that she personally informed the minster in March about 3,332 asylum decisions which she believed to be incorrect. By contrast, Seehofer insists that he was not made aware of the findings by Schmid until April. Earlier reports put the total number of potentially manipulated cases lower at between 1,200 and 2,000 in total. In the meanwhile, Schmid has been reordered from the Bremen Bamf office back to her home state of Bavaria, a decision which she is attempting to appeal. PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces, after launching counter-offensive and fierce gun battle, evicted Taliban militants from the strategically important Tala-o-Barfak district in the northern Baghlan province on Thursday, an army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai said Friday. Taliban militants, in a surprise move, overrun Tala-o-Barfak district last week, putting the government forces in defensive positions, besides cutting the road linking Baghlan to the central Bamyan province. "After fighting back we were able to evict the enemies from Tala-o-Barfak district and regain its control on Thursday evening," Rezai told Xinhua. Only three security personnel sustained injuries, the official asserted. However, he said that dozens of militants had been killed and injured in the fight for control of the restive district. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:23:44|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, China's cabinet, has issued a circular detailing a pilot reform program for cutting the approval time for starting construction projects to improve the business environment and cut red tape. The pilot plan will cover the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenyang, Dalian, Nanjing, Xiamen, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Guiyang, Weinan, and Yan'an, as well as Zhejiang province. In 2018, the approval time for starting construction projects will be cut by half. The reform will be expanded nationwide in 2019 with the approval time to be reduced to 120 working days. By 2020, a national approval and management system for construction projects will be basically completed. The plan asked authorities to cancel illegal, unreasonable, and unnecessary approval procedures and give departments at lower levels more decision-making power. The pace of the reform to cut red tape in China has been fast during the past five years. World Bank data have seen China's ranking improve 18 places for "ease of doing business" in the past five years, and 65 places for "ease of setting up a business." Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:28:45|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, shakes hands with Namibian President Hage Geingob in Windhoek, Namibia, May 16, 2018. Li paid an official friendly visit to Namibia on May 15 to 17 at the invitation of Speaker of the Namibian National Assembly Peter Katjavivi. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) WINDHOEK, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Li Zhanshu paid an official friendly visit to Namibia on May 15 to 17 at the invitation of Speaker of the Namibian National Assembly Peter Katjavivi, calling for closer cooperation between the two countries. In the capital city of Windhoek, Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), met with Namibian President Hage Geingob and former President Sam Nujoma, and held talks with Katjavivi and Chair of the Namibian National Council Magreth Mensah-Williams, respectively. During the meeting with President Geingob, Li conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's sincere greetings and briefed on China's historic achievements since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as well as the formation, content and significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Reviewing Geingob's visit to China in March, Li said it has opened a new era for China-Namibia relationship that the two heads of state decided to elevate the bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation. Li voiced China's hope that the two sides will work together to step up communication on policy and alignment of development plans within the frameworks of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and boost cooperation on infrastructure construction and industrial capacity to better benefit the people of the two countries. The top legislator said the Chinese side appreciates Namibia's push to safeguard the unity of Africa and stands ready to enhance communication and coordination with Namibia in international and regional affairs. Li expounded China's principles and stance on some of today's hot-spot issues in the world, and introduced in detail, as requested, President Xi's efforts to alleviate the tensions on and to help realize denuclearization of the Korean Peninsular. Referring to the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity, Li said all the countries in the world are inter-dependent against the backdrop of globalization, and that they should treat each other equally and work together to safeguard peace and development, and address various challenges that all human beings are faced with. China is willing to work with Namibia to continuously release new vigor of the friendship forged by the elder generation of leaders of the two countries, and the Chinese side will support and assist Namibia and other African countries in their push for developing economy and improving people's livelihood along a path suitable for their own national conditions, with a view to realizing the rise of Africa, a development miracle in history, according to Li. President Geingob said Namibia and China not only enjoy deep traditional friendship, but also treat each other equally as partners. The Namibian people are very clear that China is a true friend and good partner, Geingob said, noting that the Namibian side looks forward to maintaining close high-level interactions and boosting practical cooperation on trade and investment, infrastructure construction and exploitation of energy resources to ensure the road of comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation will get broader and broader. When meeting with Nujoma, Li extended President Xi's greetings to the founding father of Namibia. The top legislator spoke highly of Nujoma's consistent commitment to Namibia-China friendship as a senior statesman in Africa. Recalling his friendly interactions with Chinese leaders, Nujoma said the brotherly friendship has remained unshakable and become even firmer as time goes by. During the talks with Speaker Katjavivi and Chairperson Mensah-Williams, Li briefed them on the people's congress system in China. Li said the system, combining upholding the CPC's leadership, ensuring that the people are the master of the country and ruling the country by law, fits well China's national conditions. He advocated cooperation between the legislatures of the two countries should be first and foremost focused on implementing the important consensus reached by the heads of state, creating favorable legal environments for practical cooperation including trade and investment, increasing experience sharing on governance, and advancing sub-national cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, especially those among the youth and women between the two countries to lay a solid social foundation for the bilateral friendship. Speaker Katjavivi and Chairperson Mensah-Williams expressed gratitude for China's precious support for Namibia's independence. They told Li that the Namibian side is willing to further enhance friendly interactions with the NPC at various levels in line with the memorandum of understanding inked between the two countries' legislatures to help advance the bilateral relationship. During his stay in Windhoek, Li visited the local patients that have undergone cataract surgeries in Brightness Journey campaigns, as well as the Chinese and Namibian medical workers. He said the removal of medical gauze pieces from the patients' eyes embodies the deeply-rooted friendship between the two nations and epitomizes China's medical assistance to Africa. The top legislator encouraged the Chinese medical team to work and contribute to make the local people benefit substantially from medical cooperation between the two countries. Li also witnessed the delivery of aid materials on wildlife protection to the Namibian side and visited the control and command center of Telecom Namibia. Namibia was the last stop of Li's three-nation trip to Africa. The top Chinese legislator previously visited Ethiopia and Mozambique. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:33:46|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the leading group for promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, presides over a high-level meeting on developing the Yangtze River Economic Belt in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Thursday called for developing the Yangtze River Economic Belt to achieve high-quality growth. Local governments and related departments should prioritize ecological conservation and green development, Han, also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the leading group for promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, said at a high-level meeting. Han urged them to handle the five major relationships pointed out by Chinese President Xi Jinping in late April. "In developing the economic belt, the key lies in properly dealing with the relationship between pressing ahead on the whole and making breakthroughs in key areas, between environmental protection and economic development, between making an overall plan and making unremitting efforts, between getting rid of old growth engines and cultivating new ones, and between developing individually and developing in a coordinated way," Xi said at a symposium on the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in central Chinese city of Wuhan on April 26. Restoring the environment of the Yangtze River should be put in the dominant position, and all-out efforts should be made to protect the region while forbidding large-scale development, Han said. Han called for more efforts to prevent and control pollution along the river such as introducing a negative-list management mechanism. The river should be turned into a comprehensive and multimodal transport corridor with uniform shipping and ports management standards and cooperation with other means of transport, Han added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:33:47|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay an official visit to China next Thursday to Friday at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced on Friday. This is Merkel's first visit to China after re-election as German chancellor and the 11th as German chancellor, Lu said. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and other senior leaders will hold talks and meetings with Merkel and exchange views on China-Germany and China-Europe relations and cooperation, as well as other major international and regional issues, Lu said, adding that the China-German Economic Advisory Committee will also hold meetings during Merkel's stay. Merkel will also visit Shenzhen during her upcoming visit, according to the spokesperson. Lu said China-Germany ties have developed well in recent years. The two countries have frequent high-level exchanges, fruitful pragmatic cooperation and remarkable people-to-people exchanges. Coordination and cooperation between the two countries in international and regional affairs have become closer. China attaches great importance to developing ties with Germany, and is ready to push forward bilateral relations and pragmatic cooperation in various fields to achieve new development at a high level based on mutual respect, mutual trust and mutually benefitial cooperation, he said. "We hope this visit will boost political mutual trust, push forward bilateral cooperation in various fields, and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral ties in the new era," Lu said. Photo taken on April 2, 2018 shows a mega dam in Guba, Ethiopia. The 6,450 Mega Watts hydro-dam named Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is the largest hydro-project in Africa. GERD is currently at 65 percent completion and will require about five billion U.S. dollars to be complete. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) ADDIS ABABA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China sees energy as a key priority area in its Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership with Ethiopia, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Tan Jian said in a recent interview with Xinhua. "Energy is needed for poverty alleviation and for economic development, as Ethiopia embarks on a massive industrialization drive with the assistance of China," Tan said. He said China has been encouraging its companies to invest in Ethiopia's energy sector, particularly in wind and hydro energy and assist in improving Ethiopia's electricity grid. Chinese companies have been prominent in large energy projects in Ethiopia, including a high voltage electric transmission line to a 6,450 MW hydro dam currently under construction on Blue Nile river, the 51 MW Adama I and 153 MW Adama II wind farm projects and the 300 MW Tekeze hydro project. Ethiopia is currently undertaking massive energy projects which it hopes will increase the electricity generation capacity of the country from the current 4,300 MW to 17,300 MW by 2020. It hopes the energy projects will power the east african country's goal of becoming a light industry manufacturing hub and middle-income economy by 2025. With the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit scheduled for September in Beijing approaching, Tan said deepening energy partnership between Ethiopia and China is expected to take center stage in discussion between the two countries. FOCAC, launched in 2000, is a forum held every three years, discussing a structured cooperation mechanism between China and African countries on different areas. "We're discussing the energy theme with our Ethiopian brothers and sisters, how to align the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with that of Ethiopia's massive poverty reduction program Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) II, which runs from 2015 to 2020," said Tan. Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at achieving policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity, building a new platform for international cooperation, and creating new drivers of shared development to benefit more countries and people. Tan noted China has also assisted Ethiopia with finance and construction expertise on other infrastructure projects such as the 752km Ethiopia- Djibouti electrified rail line. The rail line which recently started commercial operations has cut transportation time for Ethiopian goods to reach Djibouti ports from two days to 10 hours boosting landlocked Ethiopia's foreign trade. While the results of China's assistance to Ethiopia's infrastructure drive is there for everyone to see, Tan said the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia has been helping the East African country in human development activities as well. "My embassy is collaborating with Chinese firms to undertake human resource development of local staff, to equip them with the skills and knowledge to manage mega projects," said Tan. "Ethiopia is a country of more than 100 million people, with abundant human resource potential. China will work with Ethiopia to train engineers, technicians, experts, so when Chinese firms invest in Ethiopia they can employ skilled Ethiopians and when Chinese companies finish projects, there's a trained Ethiopian workforce that can take over and manage the projects," he added. KIEV, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least two civilians were killed and two others wounded early Friday during a shelling in the village of Troitske in Ukraine's conflict-hit eastern Lugansk region, authorities said. Yuriy Garbuz, head of the Lugansk regional military-civilian administration, said on Facebook that Troitske was attacked by 122-millimeter-caliber artillery shortly after midnight, with at least 15 shells landing in the village. He said one rocket shell hit a private residence, killing a 13-year-old teenager and his father on the spot. His mother and elder brother were wounded and hospitalized. The incident was among the worst civilian casualties in the conflict in eastern Ukraine in recent months. According to the latest United Nations estimates, over 2,500 civilians, including more than 100 children, were killed, and about 9,000 others injured in eastern Ukraine since the start of the violence in April 2014. Troitske village, which lies near the contact line of fighting in eastern Ukraine, is controlled by Ukrainian government troops. Passengers queue to be screened at Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on May 15, 2018. Medical officers have been deployed at the airport to screen all passengers coming into the country, especially those from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where there is an Ebola outbreak. (Xinhua/Joseph Kiggundu) KINSHASA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The risk of spread of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever epidemic in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is very high across the country, according to authorities and analysts interviewed by Xinhua. Since the official announcement of the epidemic on May 8 by the Minister of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the high risk of spread of the virus following high numbers of suspected cases registered in the Bikoro area in the northwest of the country. "We are very concerned and we are preparing for all scenarios including worst-case scenarios," said Peter Salama, director of the WHO Emergency Management Program during his visit accompanied by Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Kinshasa earlier this week. GEOGRAPHICAL CONCERNS The DRC is at its ninth Ebola outbreak since 1976. The latest outbreak reported in May 2017 officially killed four people. The virus takes its name from the river that runs along the village of Yambuku where it raged for the first time in 1976. "We did not know this disease, it was mysterious," says Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who was the first researcher to go to the field at the time. Congolese Minister of Health Orly Ilunga also expressed concern over the spread of the epidemic for the ninth time. "So we are entering a new phase of the Ebola outbreak that is now affecting three health zones, including an urban health zone," the minister said on Wednesday. Among the concerns of the DRC authorities, the Ebola epidemic this time in the northwest of the country has one of the particularities of the contamination of health professionals, the reaching of two health zones, to namely Bikoro and Iboko. It is also in the proximity to the densely populated city of Mbandaka, which is a crossroads in the province of Equateur and to neighboring provinces. The concern is also justified by the fact that the Equateur province affected by the epidemic shares several points of contact with other regions of the country including the capital Kinshasa. "We will intensify the monitoring and tracing of the population to all air, sea and road access routes. The other cities in the province as well as the cities upstream and downstream of Mbandaka on the river are also placed under health surveillance," added Orly Ilunga. RISKS FOR THE REGION Over the past week, several countries in the region, some of which surround the DRC, have announced response measures to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in their territories. Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville, which share maritime borders with Equateur province of DRC, have also announced surveillance to prevent the spread of the epidemic on its territory. Uganda, Gabon also announced their contingency measures against the spread. Since 1976, the date of the first outbreak of Ebola in the country, at least 700 people have died across the country, according to statistics from the laboratory of the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) of Kinshasa. "Thanks to our expertise in the DRC in epidemiological surveillance, we have always taken control of the Ebola virus, and even now I think that the virus is already under control," said Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, medical director of the INRB. For the first time, the DRC has received Wednesday thousands of doses of vaccine against the Ebola virus disease sent by the WHO. The vaccination campaign will be targeted at exposed health professionals, those who have been in contact with confirmed cases. According to Serge Kabamba, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Kinshasa, like the other previous epidemics, the current Ebola epidemic in the Bikoro area should remain limited to certain geographical areas of the province without leading to a health catastrophe, if the responses are well coordinated as usual. A statement from DR Congo's health ministry late Thursday said the total number of confirmed Ebola cases now stands at 14. Meanwhile, there are also 10 suspected cases and 21 probable cases. Source: China Daily| 2018-05-18 19:53:13|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close Cultural ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states join hands at the meeting in Sanya, Hainan province, on Thursday. [Photo by Sha Xiaofeng/For China Daily] The 15th Meeting of Cultural Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States was held in Sanya, Hainan province, on Wednesday and Thursday. Key discussions focused on achieving more in-depth and creative multilateral cultural cooperation. In a keynote speech at the gathering, Luo Shugang, China's minister of culture and tourism, expressed the goodwill of the Chinese government and people in seeking to build a shared community with other countries. He spoke highly of the cultural ministers meeting mechanism of SCO member states in promoting regional cultural cooperation and mutual understanding of the people. Luo proposed further building up the "Shanghai spirit" through deepening cultural exchanges and the cooperation of member states. He suggested developing creative models to create cultural brands and suggested that local forces should be encouraged to join in cultural exchanges and cooperation. He said China will continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation to enhance understanding and friendship with SCO member states, based on principles of mutual respect and mutual benefits, to provide ethical and cultural support for the healthy and sustainable development of the organization. All participants agreed that cultural cooperation between SCO member states made remarkable progress in the past year, and reports presented at the meeting about diversified exchanges and cooperation clearly showed that bilateral and multilateral cooperation is growing deeper and wider. The two-day meeting concluded on Thursday with the issuance of the 2018-20 Executive Plan. The representatives also joined in a news release welcoming India and Pakistan into the SCO and encouraging more direct contacts and practical exchanges of cultural organizations within SCO member states, as well as joint creation of cultural products and works. "India has a long history of cultural exchanges with China and other SCO member states," said Mahesh Sharma, India's minister of culture. "Joining the SCO has provided a new platform, greater space and opportunities for exchanges and cooperation." "Culture brings people together. It is a binding force in the development of peaceful coexistence for humanity. It will be a win-win situation for China and India - both of which have a rich and diversified culture - to further explore and develop wider cultural exchanges and cooperation that could include tourism, education, science, archaeology, music, drama and even yoga." Vladimir Aristarhov, the Russian Federation's first vice-minister of culture, said at the meeting: "More multilateral cooperation among smaller cities in SCO member states should be developed, and more diversified cooperation programs including education, cultural contests, art festivals and exchanges of students should be cultivated to produce cultural cohesion." At a welcome dinner on Tuesday, Shen Xiaoming, the governor of Hainan, said SCO member states are important tourist resources for the province, which is developing an international tourism and consumption center under the new development strategy laid down by the central government. Hainan attaches great importance to the SCO tourism market and will build more platforms to promote cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation with SCO member states, Shen said. (Source: China Daily ) BUCHAREST, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Romania and Croatia on Friday signed a declaration of intent on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the areas of defense and security. The statement between the two governments "will help to boost the defense of our states," visiting Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told a joint press conference with his Romanian counterpart Viorica Dancila. "We have reviewed bilateral relations and agreed that there is excellent cooperation potential in areas such as education, domestic affairs, minorities, defense, and agriculture," Dancila said in her turn, adding that bilateral trade increased by 25 percent last year, "which is not accidental given the efforts made last year to intensify the trade relations." Talks between the two prime ministers also involved European Union issues, as the two member states are to assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in 2019 and 2020, respectively, for the first time since their joining the EU. "Together with Plenkovic, I agreed that the cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy remain the main investment priorities in the future budget," Dancila said regarding the multiannual financial framework. She also emphasized that Romania is attaching "priority attention" to the relationship with Moldova, the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) and the EU strategy for the Western Balkans. Plenkovic, accompanied by Defense Minister Damir Krsticevic, arrived in Bucharest on Thursday evening for an official visit in Romania. He was received by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis soon after meeting with her Romanian counterpart. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:53:53|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Palestinian ambassador to the UN Ibrahim Khraishi attends a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2018. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Friday warned that the violence in Gaza has reached a peak in the past week, with 60 people had been killed by the Israeli forces in just one day of May 14, a highest figure of one-day death toll in Gaza since the 2014 hostilities. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) GENEVA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Friday warned that the violence in Gaza has reached a peak in the past week, with 60 people had been killed by the Israeli forces in just one day of May 14, a highest figure of one-day death toll in Gaza since the 2014 hostilities. He told a UN Human Rights Council Special Session that the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory continues to deteriorate, saying that nobody has been made safer by the "horrific events" of the past week in Gaza. According to the UN rights chief, on May 14 this week a total of 43 Palestinian demonstrators were killed by Israeli forces, and Israeli forces also killed a further 17 Palestinians outside the context of the five demonstration hot spots. Another 1,360 demonstrators were injured with live ammunition that day. May 14 was the day when the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem officially opened despite international criticism. According to the UN rights chief, on that day 43 demonstrators were killed by Israeli forces, and Israeli forces also killed a further 17 Palestinians outside the context of the five demonstration hot spots. Another 1,360 demonstrators were injured with live ammunition that day. "These people, many of whom were completely unarmed, were shot in the back, in the chest, in the head and limbs with live ammunition, as well as rubber-coated steel bullets and tear-gas canisters," Zeid told the UN Human Rights Council Special Session on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which opened on Friday morning. Zeid also told the Special Session that since the protests began on March 30, 87 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli security forces in the context of the demonstrations, including 12 children. What's more, 29 others, including three children, were killed in other circumstances, and over 12,000 people have been injured, more than 3,500 of them by live ammunition. "Palestinians have exactly the same human rights as Israelis do. They have the same rights to live safely in their homes, in freedom, with adequate and essential services and opportunities," Zeid noted. "All of the 1.9 million people who live in Gaza have been penned in behind fences and have suffered progressively more restrictions and greater poverty. After 11 years of blockade by Israel they have little hope of employment, and their infrastructure is crumbling," he warned. The UN rights chief called for an investigation that is international, independent and impartial, in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice. "The occupation must end, so the people of Palestine can be liberated, and the people of Israel liberated from it," he concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:58:55|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BRUSSELS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- As major members of the WTO and comprehensive strategic partners for each other, China and the European Union (EU) have a joint responsibility to stand for the rules-based multilateral trade order, reject unilateralism and protectionism, and keep the world economy on the right course, Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, has said. Addressing a luncheon hosted Thursday evening by the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC), Zhang told the audience, including former president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, that "it is important for China and the EU to jointly uphold the multilateral trading system." "Faced with international uncertainties, a stable China-EU relationship is a valuable asset for all," he noted. The EU has remained China's top one trading partner for 14 years, and China is the second largest trading partner of the EU. According to Chinese statistics, bilateral trade reached 616.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up by 12.7 percent year on year. By March 2018, the EU has made nearly 122-billion-dollar investment in China in accumulative terms, and Chinese stock investment in the EU is over 80 billion dollars. Economically, China and the EU are complementary and inter-dependent. Against this backdrop, "it is important (for the two sides) to focus on common ground and deliver more tangible outcomes," he noted. "We need to ensure good implementation of the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, further synergize our development strategies, and advance cooperation in connectivity, digital economy, legal affairs, travel facilitation, among other areas," said the ambassador. He further called on the two sides to take the negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty as a priority. "We both want to reach an ambitious and balanced outcome as quickly as we can. So far, we have made good progress. A new round of talks is scheduled for next week in Beijing. Hopefully, more progress could be made before the China-EU summit in July," said Zhang, calling for efforts to work toward an early conclusion of the treaty. As to differences on trade issues including EU's use of a surrogate country approach in probes against Chinese products, Zhang reaffirmed that "it is important to properly handle differences in a smart way." "Given the scale and intensity of our cooperation, it is natural for us to have competition and some frictions. But we must approach these 'growing pains' with an open mind. After all, our interests converge much more than they diverge," said the ambassador. "We have effective mechanisms for dialogue and consultation, and we can rely on them to manage our differences," he said, adding Beijing welcomes more European investment in China while calling on the EU side to "keep its market open to Chinese investors as well and treat them fairly." "We are fortunate to live in an age of great change. Change always means opportunities. People with vision are ready to seize them. I look forward to the continued efforts of BCECC and its members to build bridges between China and Europe, and contribute even more to the China-Belgium and China-EU relations," he concluded. The BCECC is a Belgian business association for companies engaged in doing business in or with China. Base in Brussels, it is a non-profit organization established in the 1980s following the beginning of China's reform and opening-up policy. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 19:58:56|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force sent a group of bombers to conduct a drill in its "southern waters," a military source said Friday. The bombers took off from a base in south China "recently" and struck a training target in the area, before conducting a take-off and landing drill on an islet, the source said. The drill was aimed at enhancing combat capacity to handle security threats from the sea. GAZA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The politburo chief of Islamic Hamas movement Ismail Haniyeh denied Friday reports that Egypt had exerted pressure on his movement to stop the rallies called the "Great March of Return" in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh's remarks were made before hundreds of worshipers during Friday prayers at one of the main mosques in Gaza. The rallies and protests had been organized in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel since March 30. "Egypt has never sent us threatening messages, and during our last visit to Cairo, we held with the Egyptian officials in-depth consultations on the general situation, mainly the siege, the march of return and the Palestinian unity," Haniyeh said. He said that Israel has spread rumors "to influence the march of return and blind eyes to the massacre committed against our people," which has killed 111 Palestinians and wounded 12,000 others since March 30. "These untrue rumors included that Israel has conveyed to Hamas leadership a threatening message through Egypt that if the march continues and if the crowds continue, Israel will assassinate Hamas leadership," said Haniyeh, adding that "we didn't receive these messages and it will never frighten us." On Friday, the National Commission of the Great March of Return called on Gaza people to gather on the eighth Friday in eastern Gaza Strip to commemorate the victims killed and wounded over the past seven weeks. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 20:03:59|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close by Abdul Haleem, Jawed Omid KABUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- "Luckily more than half a million people visited Afghan artifacts in the exhibition held in Chengdu city of China over the past three months, it is huge number," Director of Afghan National Museum Mohammad Fahim Rahimi told Xinhua with happy tone on the eve of the International Museum Day. Expressing satisfaction over the outcome of his country's cultural exhibition held in China, head of Afghan National Museum pointed out that since 2006, Afghan cultural treasures have also been exhibited in several other countries including Canada, the United States, Japan, South Korea and several European countries. Last year, the Afghan artifacts had been displayed for a few months in Palace Museum in Beijing and thousands of people including Chinese and foreigners visited the artifacts, which proved significant for the introduction of Afghan civilizations. "Afghanistan has served as the cross road of civilizations in the course of history that connects South Asia to Central Asia and as well as the East to the West," said the official, adding that displaying Afghan cultural treasures in China, a peaceful and most populous country, is vital for the introduction of Afghanistan's civilizations. In Kabul, usually around 300 people visit the national museum every day, said the Afghan national museum chief. However, he noted that "unfortunately the number of foreign visitors are few and of course the reason is security concerns." Expressing satisfaction over holding exhibitions in Beijing and Chengdu, the head of Afghan National Museum was hopeful that the Afghan artifacts would be exhibited in other Chinese cities, too. Thanking China for providing opportunities to the Afghan National Museum to put on display Afghan cultural treasures, Rahimi maintained that holding exhibitions in China on the one hand had introduced Afghan civilizations and on the other hand, it has earned fund to support and develop museums inside the country. "We are satisfied with the outcome of holding exhibitions in China, we have achieved our goal," said the Afghan museum chief with joy. Afghan National Museum had been badly damaged during 1990s and 2001 wars and conflicts. Even the Taliban outfit during its reign dynamited and destroyed the giant Buddha statue in central Bamyan province months before its collapse in late 2001. However, Rahimi said that the national artifacts had been recovered and all the relics are in safe hands. He also said that only 231 relics out of some 70,000 items belonging to the national museum are housed in the national museum building currently, adding that the existing building is not big enough to preserve all the items and work for construction of the new building would begin next year. Rahimi described museum and holding cultural treasures exhibitions as important means for introducing civilizations and enhancing understanding and cooperation among peoples of different regions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 20:09:02|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close by Julia Pierrepont III, Gao Shan LOS ANGELES, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. expert on eco-civilization urged world leaders to plan responsibly for the sustained welfare of mankind during an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday. "What we need is a world where people, nature and animals can flourish together. It's the only sustainable model for the future that doesn't lead to our own extinction," said John B. Cobb Jr., a 93-year-old member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Cobb is known for applying "process philosophy" that identifies metaphysical reality with change and development to the field of ecology and sustainability to propose solutions to the grave environmental crisis the world faces. Much of his life's work has been devoted to redirecting humanity's efforts toward the creation of a thriving planet with as many people as possible living happy and healthy lives in harmony with the world around them. "People think increasing the gross domestic product is always a good thing. They forget it includes any economic advancement, whether it's good or bad (for us and the planet)," said Cobb. He warns against the prevailing dualism that leads people to think that humans and the environment are separate, independent things, when in fact they are inextricably intertwined and interdependent. Only together can both thrive. Cobb's ideas coincide with China's pursuit of a sustainable ecological civilization. The Chinese government has stressed that striving for a sustainable ecological civilization would greatly benefit today's world and lead to "gains for millennia." Cobb, who has visited China seven times, spoke of his recent visit to a rural Chinese farm community in eastern Zhejiang Province to share his ideas for sustainable eco-villages. "I greatly admired the excitement and real commitment of the people from all the villages. It will take millions of Chinese capable of intense commitment to say, 'We are going to do this,'" said the expert. "Surprisingly, my greatest legacy is shaping up to be the contribution my work has made in enabling China to adopt a sounder ecological future," he added. China has a unique opportunity to lead the world in creating a sustainable ecological civilization, he said, hoping that China would continue to develop its own agrarian villages in ecologically-sound economic ways that would make whole villages more prosperous and healthy. When asked about the mistakes China has made in the past that led to serious environmental pollution, Cobb said, "These are issues that the government of China is committed to solving and they've made enormous progress." "When I point out areas for improvement in China, it is because I believe it can achieve them," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 20:14:03|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close SHANGHAI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's cultural department said Friday that its "Artificial Intelligence Museum" project with the search engine Baidu had brought 2,894 museums onto a digital museum map, giving easier public access to museums. Guan Qiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), said Friday that after the administration signed the cooperation agreement with Baidu in December 2017, some 2,894 of China's 5,000 museums had joined. Clicking a museum on the AI museum map on the Baidu search engine, people can find its real-time map, introduction and museum tour tips. Baidu Senior Vice President Xiang Hailong said three museums would take the lead in AI museum solutions: Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, built on the original site of the Terracotta Warriors, as well as Suzhou Museum and Shanghai History Museum. In the coming three years, the museums will provide visitors smart maps for searching for exhibits, AI technology-aided exhibitions and education. Li Yanhong, chair and CEO of Baidu, said that once you take a photo of the world-renowned Terracotta Warriors using the Baidu App, image recognition and AR technology would bring the Terracotta Warriors "back to life," as the app can automatically match the photo with the exhibit and send you a video showing how the grey terracotta warriors transformed to their original colors as they were more than 2,000 years ago. The International Council of Museums chose "Hyperconnected museums: New approaches, new publics" as the theme for this year's International Museum Day, which falls Friday. SACH and Baidu co-sponsored the official launch of the project Friday with the theme "Inheriting Culture civilization with technology: The AI Museum Project." There are more than 80,000 museums in the world. Nearly 70 percent are less than 40 years old. Digital technology is becoming one of the important driving forces for the development of museums. Technology such as the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing and AI give visitors a "time traveling" experience in museum tours, according to Guan. Earlier this year, the Hubei Provincial Museum introduced a robot tour guide to tell visitors the cultural background of one of the museum's top treasures -- "Blue and white bottle of Lin Hejing, Yuan Dynasty." In three days, the robot answered more than 7,000 questions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 20:34:10|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close KAMPALA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday donated emergency food aid worth 5 million U.S. dollars to Uganda to support World Food Program (WFP) projects in the semi-arid northeastern region also known as Karamoja. Handing over the food aid to Uganda at the WFP warehouse, Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda said the money was got from the South-South Cooperation Fund and will benefit vulnerable women, children below the age of two years and school going children. He said the emergency food aid project is also an important part of the implementation of the cooperation initiatives announced in the Forum on China Africa Cooperation summit held in 2015 in South Africa. El Khidir Daloum, WFP Country Director said the relief food which will last 10 months will enable over 130,000 children have two meals a day at school instead of one and they will be encouraged to attend and concentrate better in their classes. Daloum said over 96,000 women and children will receive nutritional fortified food that will cure acute malnutrition or prevent stunting, a damaging condition that affects more than a third of young children in Karamoja. "This contribution is very timely and critical for WFP, as we were facing funding shortages for nutrition and school feeding activities in Karamoja. Last year we had to reduce the number of school meals from two to one," he said. Musa Ecweru, minister of state for disaster preparedness and refugees, said that over the last six decades, Karamoja which has faced long dry spells has depended on food aid. He said government is working with partners to ensure that the region is food secure. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 21:04:19|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The constant widening of opening up in China's manufacturing sector will not only help domestic industrial upgrading but benefit all foreign companies, industry experts say. "The manufacturing sector has consistently expanded the fields and raised the level of opening up," said Huang Qunhui, head of the industrial economics institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Among 609 sub-categories of the manufacturing sector, 96.1 percent were completely open to foreign investment, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). In 2017, the manufacturing sector attracted total foreign direct investment of 33.5 billion U.S. dollars, while outbound investment by domestic companies in the sector totaled 120.1 billion dollars. The MIIT data also showed that 4,986 foreign-invested manufacturing firms were set up last year, up 24.3 percent year on year. The main fields of foreign investment covered computers, integrated circuits, smart manufacturing and other high-tech sectors. The sector's open attitude towards foreign investment "not only raised the country's own strength, but also provided handsome returns for foreign companies and institutions," Huang said. Last month, China announced plans to open the automobile sector wider to foreign investment, with a timetable to phase out the shareholding limits for foreign investors. Shareholding limits for special-purpose vehicles and new energy vehicles will be scrapped for foreign investors in 2018, while those for commercial vehicles will be lifted in 2020, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner. MIIT chief engineer Chen Yin said the ministry has been working with other departments on reducing automobile import tariffs "by a considerable amount," and would make the cuts public as soon as possible. Opening up the automobile sector to foreign firms put an end to a "protection period" for domestic brands, said Dong Yang, vice director of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. "Instead of having huge impact on domestic automakers, wider opening up will be conducive to encouraging competition and pushing the industry to raise quality and efficiency," Dong said. Industrial development depends hugely on global economic integration, said MIIT chief engineer Chen Yin. "The Chinese manufacturing sector will further expand opening up to stimulate the innovation of advanced technology, realize compliance with international economic and trade rules, and offer more and better investment opportunities to foreign firms," Chen said. Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei said that while continuing to uphold its stance on introducing foreign investment, the government also encouraged Chinese manufacturers to invest overseas. By the end of last year, Chinese companies had invested more than 30 billion dollars in overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, creating 258,000 local jobs. "A pattern of all-round opening up of the manufacturing sector has come into being," Miao said. "The fundamental principle for China's manufacturing development was, is and will always be pursuing mutual benefits through open cooperation." "China will continue to raise policy transparency and stability, optimize government services and improve the business environment for investors from all around the globe," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 21:04:20|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BRUSSELS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Friday proposed activation of a dormant statute to shield European firms doing business with Iran from renewed U.S. sanctions. The 1996 Blocking Statute forbids EU companies from complying with the U.S. sanctions. The statute was originally introduced in response to U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and sanctions against Iran and Libya. It was never enacted as the transatlantic disagreements were ironed out politically. The Commission also proposed to "remove obstacles for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to decide under the EU budget guarantee to finance activities outside the European Union, in Iran." In other words, the EIB will be allowed to support EU investment in Iran. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU will decide to approve or reject the proposals within two months, ahead of the first batch of U.S. sanctions taking effect on Aug. 6. The two proposals are the core parts of the Commission's decision to act on four fronts in the face of looming U.S. sanctions. The Commission vowed to "continue and strengthen the ongoing sectoral cooperation with, and assistance to, Iran, including in the energy sector," which is essential to the Iranian economy. It remains to be seen whether the words will dispel concerns haunting European energy giants like Total, which on Wednesday said it might not be able to continue its gas development project in Iran unless it gets a waiver from the U.S. to protect it from re-imposed sanctions. To weave through the U.S.-dominated international banking system, the Commission said it is encouraging member states to explore the possibility of one-off bank transfers to the Central Bank of Iran. This approach "could help Iranian authorities to receive their oil-related revenues, particularly in case of U.S. sanctions which could target EU entities active in oil transactions with Iran," the Commission noted. The moves came on the heels of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, during which leaders of member states thrashed out a united front against Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump declared last week that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, claiming that it had failed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or supporting terrorism in the region. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an announcement that "sanctions will be re-imposed subject to certain 90-day and 180-day wind-down periods." Much to Europe's displeasure, foreign companies doing business with Iran are also in the crosshairs of the U.S. sanctions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 21:04:20|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes the merger of two communist parties in Nepal, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang on Friday. The ruling Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) announced their unification as the new Nepal Communist Party at a press conference at City Hall in Kathmandu Thursday evening. "As a good neighbor and good friend of Nepal, China supports the country in choosing the social system and development path that suits its national realities," Lu said at a daily press briefing, adding that the Chinese side hopes Nepal will achieve an early realization of national development goals. China stands ready to work with Nepal to continue deepening mutually beneficial cooperation for the benefit of the two countries and peoples, said Lu. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 21:19:23|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Yu Jianhua (C), head of the Chinese Mission to the UN at Geneva, attends a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2018. Yu on Friday said that China is gravely concerned over the numerous casualties in the Gaza Strip, and called on both sides, especially Israel, to exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tension. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) GENEVA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese diplomat on Friday said that China is gravely concerned over the numerous casualties in the Gaza Strip, and called on both sides, especially Israel, to exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tension. Yu Jianhua, head of the Chinese Mission to the UN at Geneva, told a UN Human Rights Council Special Session that China opposes indiscriminate use of force, and urges relevant parties to immediately stop violence against civilians. Speaking at the the Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Yu said that China supports an early resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, and a solution to the final status of Jerusalem through dialogue. "As one of the core issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the status and sovereign position of Jerusalem touches upon national and religious sentiments, and is highly complex and sensitive," he noted. The senior Chinese diplomat told the Special Session that China has always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, and supported the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state, through Palestinian-Israeli talks, based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. "China is willing to maintain communication with relevant parties of the international community on the issue of Palestine and work jointly to bring about a comprehensive, fair and lasting solution at an early date," Yu said. Over 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed and some 12,000 wounded by the Israeli forces since the new round of anti-occupation protests in Gaza began on March 30, among which at least 60 Palestinians were killed in just one day of May 14 when the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem officially opened despite international criticism. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 21:24:27|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close A driver makes preparation before the departure of Kunming-Qinzhou port freight train loaded with fertilizer and coffee beans in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 18, 2018. A regular sea-and-rail transit route linking Kunming and Singapore started operation on Friday. Meanwhile, a freight train carrying corn, sorghum, soybeans and stone left Qinzhou port for Kunming, inaugurating a two-way freight train route with greatly increased transport capacity and lower costs that will promote cross-border logistics and trade, according to the city's rail authority. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) KUNMING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A regular sea-and-rail transit route linking Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, and Singapore started operation on Friday. A freight train loaded with fertilizer and coffee beans left Kunming for Qinzhou port in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where the cargo will depart by ship to Singapore. The total travel time will be slashed to about seven days from the previous half a month, saving several hundred yuan (1 USD equals about 6.4 RMB yuan) per container of goods. Meanwhile, a freight train carrying corn, sorghum, soybeans and stone left Qinzhou port for Kunming, inaugurating a two-way freight train route with greatly increased transport capacity and lower costs that will promote cross-border logistics and trade, according to the city's rail authority. TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranians held rallies nationwide on Friday to condemn Israel's recent killing of Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip. The demonstrators chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans and vowed solidarity with the Palestinians and their cause. They also protested against the U.S. relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Also, the ralliers urged the unity of Muslim world to liberate Jerusalem and to end the suffrage of Palestinians. Israel launched deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip on Monday when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians who were protesting against the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, killing dozens of Palestinians and injuring many others. BELGRADE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Serbia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could conclude a new arrangement this summer, according to an official statement released here after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's meeting with an IMF delegation on Friday. Vucic met the IMF mission led by James Roaf to talk about the previous three-year arrangement that ended this February, as well as the details of the new arrangement and the increase of salaries in the public sector and pensions. According to the release, Vucic expressed his expectation that the new agreement between Serbia and IMF will be concluded "during the summer", without revealing details. "Serbia remains dedicated to the path of economic reforms in cooperation with the IMF," he said at the meeting. Vucic stressed that the growth this year will be based on investments, export and spending, and expressed his readiness to talk with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic about ways to increase pensions and means for capital investments. IMF mission confirmed its expectation that Serbia will this year reach the predicted growth rate of 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), or even more, as well as that country will have a significant surplus. Roaf told Vucic that after the successful three-year precautionary agreement that ended recently, Serbian economy will continue to grow on healthy foundations. The two sides have agreed to work together on the privatization of large state enterprises, and that all of them should get new strategic partners by the end of the year. KAMPALA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Ongoing heavy rains in mountainous eastern Uganda have left over 150,000 people homeless, a top government official said on Friday. Musa Ecweru, minister of state for disaster preparedness and refugees, told Xinhua in an interview that the people are now staying in schools and churches in the low lands in fear of landslides that have already occurred in some areas. "They are displaced because while the landslide has happened, the crack that has been witnessed over the years on Mountain Elgon seems to be widening and that presents a very big worry to the community," Ecweru said. Landslides on Wednesday evening occurred in Manafwa district, ravaging five villages, and leaving crops, livestock and houses destroyed. A similar landslide occurred in neighboring Bududa district also destroying crops and property about two weeks ago. "The community has to be removed from all possible danger on the slopes and taken to areas which are relatively safe even if it means putting them in some kind of a camp for a time being as we plan how to resettle them," Ecweru added. He said government is working with humanitarian agencies to provide relief aid to the displaced families. "We are also conscious of the fact that putting people together can compromise sanitation and present a possibility of cholera," he said. "We are working with Directors of District Health Services to ensure that communities which are displaced if it is possible are absorbed within the host families and then we support them from there." According to the meteorological department, the torrential rains will subside mid next month. The Mountain Elgon ranges have experienced a spate of landslides. In March 2010, a major landslide occurred in Bududa, killing at least 200 people and leaving thousands of others homeless. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 22:09:39|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close By Xinhua Writer Luan Xiang HANGZHOU, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The ancient past was brought to life at the China Jiangnan Water Town Culture Museum in Hangzhou in celebration of the 42nd International Museum Day on Friday. Visitors to the museum in east China's Zhejiang Province sang and danced to centuries-old melodies, while characters dressed in old robes and gowns talked about floods and harvests, kings and princesses, and shopping at the town fair hundreds or thousands of years ago. "We intend to recreate scenes of day-to-day life in old times with accuracy in every detail, and we have excellent actors to impersonate diverse characters that would typically be displayed using mannequins," said Yu Qiuna, vice curator of the Museum. LIVING HISTORY The theme of this year's International Museum Day is "Hyperconnected Museums: New Approaches, New Publics." China Jiangnan Water Town Culture Museum aimed to let the audience "live" the exhibition, rather than the usual walk-and-glance experience. Members of the public were encouraged to play along in reenactments, savor traditional pastries, and watch artisans make crafts. "We hope the public can actually have fun during this encounter with living ancient culture," she said. Passing on and developing culture is necessary for the nation to strengthen its cultural confidence, Yu said. "I loved the 'Night at the Museum' movie trilogy! When the dark falls, magic happens and brings every exhibit inside the museum to life," said Shelly Lau, a British fashion designer visiting Hangzhou. "But never had I ever imagined that it would be possible to experience in real life!" She said the costumes of the Jiangnan ladies and the elegant wedding dress were inspiring. "The world today is hyperconnected. The development of the worldwide web and the evolution it brings have pushed museums to broaden their functions. Museums are playing an increasingly crucial part in connecting societies and the public," said Liu He, director of Zhejiang's Provincial Administration of Cultural Relics. LIANGZHU CULTURE AT YUHANG One of the major attractions at the exhibition was the gallery of the Liangzhu Culture, said Yu. Earlier this year, the Liangzhu relic site of Neolithic ruins in Hangzhou's Yuhang District was officially recommended by the National Commission of China for UNESCO as a candidate for World Heritage status in 2019. The site, a complex with an ancient city, tombs and a dam, dates to 3300-2300 BC, roughly contemporaneous with the Old Kingdom period in ancient Egypt and the Sumer civilization in Mesopotamia. The dam is considered the earliest known Chinese water conservancy project and has drawn huge attention, both from China and abroad, according to Yu. Other important relics of the Liangzhu Culture were also on display at the Museum. Archaeological work began in Liangzhu in the 1930s, and it has grown into a comprehensive large-scale heritage site, according to Wang Ningyuan, a researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Research Institute for Cultural Relics and Archaeology. In the new edition of a high school textbook on China released in September last year, Liangzhu is presented as an important origin of Chinese civilization. "A Marvelous Night at the Museum" was also meant to commemorate archaeologists' efforts to study ancient civilizations along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, according to Yu. "Our event was held in honor of the archaeologists who have worked in Yuhang, origin of the Liangzhu Culture, and the extraordinary achievements they have made," she added. In 2015, the discovery of the Liangzhu dam was listed among China's top 10 archaeological discoveries. "Museums are temples to preserve and carry on human civilization, and bridges to connect our past, present and future," said Liu, adding that they play a special part in promoting cultural exchange. NAIROBI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The cost of dry maize, a major staple in Kenya, has declined to a six-month low following increased imports in the past weeks. The decline comes as a big relief to households in the East African nation, who for months had grappled with high prices. The government ended a seven-month maize subsidy last December and during the period, Kenyans bought a 2 kg packet of maize flour at 0.90 U.S. dollars. Prices then shot up gradually to hit 1.1 dollars per packet in April for most of the brands. But in the last week, they have declined to be below 0.90 dollars for a 2 kg packet. The drop in prices of the staple is attributed to increased imports from Uganda and Tanzania in the past weeks. This followed the government's decision to allow importation of the grain in a bid to lower prices. The Kenya government in March signed a deal with Uganda to buy 6.6 million bags of maize to plug a deficit that had led to rise in flour prices. Data from the East African Grain Council showed cross-border maize imports currently stand at some 1,500 tonnes a day. With rise in imports, Kenyan farmers and traders who had hoarded maize hoping prices would go up, therefore, have been forced sell the grain boosting supply in the market. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 22:37:46|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on May 18, 2018 shows the photovoltaic (PV) power station in Longxi Township of Changzhi City, north China's Shanxi Province. As one of the poverty-alleviation measures, local government plan to build more PV power stations in rural villages to help villagers increase their income. More than 10,000 villagers will benefit from the establishment of the PV power stations this year. (Xinhua/Zhan Yan) STOCKHOLM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- In Sweden, the price of gasoline has for the first time gone above 16 Swedish krona (1.83 U.S. dollars) per liter, Swedish Television reported on Friday. There are no signs of an impending price drop, meaning car journeys look set to be costly during the summer's high season. "Those wishing for lower gasoline prices face poor odds judging by the current state of the market," said Ulf Svahn, CEO of the Swedish Petroleum and Biofuel Institute. On Friday morning, the leading gas giants in Sweden raised the price of 95-octane gas by 0.20 krona at manned gas stations, thereby passing the "psychological 16 krona barrier", as Swedish newspaper Expressen was the first to report. "It's the first time we pass 16 and it's the highest price ever so of course this is notable," Svahn told Swedish Television. One factor affecting the price is the rising cost of crude oil, but the primary reasons behind the price hike, according to Svahn, are higher taxes on fuel coupled with the Swedish krona dropping against the U.S. dollar. Svahn does not believe there will be any immediate effects on Swedes' driving habits. However, fuel-efficient cars are becoming more popular and the high price of gas could also affect the debate around diesel vs. gas. The only chance of a price drop is if the cost of crude oil goes down or if the Swedish currency is strengthened, said Svahn. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 22:29:50|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close STOCKHOLM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A 45-year-old Syrian man living in Sweden has been arrested at Denmark's Kastrup airport on suspicion of financing terrorism by smuggling refugees into Europe, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported on Friday. The man is a Syrian citizen and has been living in Sweden with his family since 2012. He was arrested during a layover in Copenhagen on the request of Italian police, who had been tracking him. The man is suspected of having run a refugee-smuggling operation out of his apartment in the town of Finspang in southeast Sweden. He apparently charged people fleeing Syria to arrange their smuggling into Europe. The money was then allegedly used to fund terrorist activity in Syria. According to criminal investigators, the man was part of a network that sent a total 20 million SEK (2.2 million U.S. dollars) from Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Germany to extremist groups such as the Al-Nusra Front. (1 U.S. dollar=8.74 SEK) Police respond to shooting at Texas high school, suspect in custody Source: Xinhua 2018-05-18 22:29:50 HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Police responded to an active shooting in a high school in southeastern Houston, Texas, the United States Friday morning. Editor: Shi Yinglun LUSAKA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Ministers of Justice and Attorney-Generals from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on Friday adopted an agreement for accession of Somalia to the regional bloc's treaty. The adoption of the Agreement for Accession of Somalia to the COMESA Treaty was done during a one-day meeting of ministers held in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, and paves the way for the country's admission to the regional bloc at the next Summit this year. The adoption of the agreement follows the successful conclusion of negotiations between Somalia and the COMESA Bureau of the Council of Ministers that took place early this week in the Zambian capital, according to a statement from the COMESA secretariat. The admission of Somalia will increase the number of members of Africa's largest trading bloc to 20. According to the statement, the ministers also adopted the COMESA Airspace Agreement aimed at achieving a seamless airspace for the region which will lead to enhanced competition in air travel and efficiency. This is in addition to reducing costs of regional air travel and providing value for money in air services, it added. Given Lubinda, Zambia's Minister of Justice, who opened the meeting, said the high cost of doing business in the regional bloc was largely due to high transport costs, adding that the COMESA seamless airspace program will continue bringing down the cost of air transport in the region. LUSAKA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Friday announced revised penalties meant to curtail usage of government vehicles. Recently, the Ministry of Works and Supply, announced measures to control the usage of government vehicles as government was spending huge sums of money on fuel and repairs. The announcement was followed by weekend patrols in which a number of government vehicles were impounded for operating outside normal working hours or without valid documents. In a statement, the ministry said a recent country-wide operation to monitor the utilization of government vehicles revealed instances of misuse hence the decision to stiffen the penalties. Among the measures include that only officers in possession of a valid government certificate of competence will be allowed to drive government vehicles, authorized drivers will be at all time required to have a valid drivers' license, and a pass from controlling officers will be required for pool vehicles required to operate during the weekend. According to the revised penalties, any person who is not a government employee found driving a government vehicle will be made to pay 5,000 Zambian Kwacha (about 500 U.S. dollars) from 1,000 Kwacha while driving a government vehicle without a valid certificate of competence will attract a penalty of 1,000 Kwacha from 500 Kwacha. "In this regard, it has become necessary to remind all ministries, provinces and spending agencies on the need to strictly adhere to the regulations on the management of government motor vehicles," the statement said. Field workers excavate ancient human remains at Man Bac, Vietnam, in 2007. DNA from skeletons at this site was included in the current study. (Credit: Lorna Tilley, Australian National University) WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The first whole-genome analyses of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia revealed that there were at least three major waves of human migration into the region over the last 50,000 years. The research, published on Thursday in the journal Science, complements what is known from archaeological, historical and linguistic studies of Southeast Asia, defined as the area east of India and south of China. "A very important part of the world is now accessible for ancient DNA analysis," said Mark Lipson, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of ancient-DNA specialist David Reich at Harvard Medical School and first author of the study. "It opens a window into the genetic origins of the people who lived there in the past and those who live there now." An international team led by researchers at Harvard and the University of Vienna extracted and analyzed DNA from the remains of 18 people who lived between about 4,100 and 1,700 years ago in what are now Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. The team found that the first migration took place about 45,000 years ago, bringing in people who became hunter-gatherers. Then, during the Neolithic Period, around 4,500 years ago, there was a large-scale influx of people from China who introduced farming practices to Southeast Asia and mixed with the local hunter-gatherers. People today with this ancestry mix tend to speak Austroasiatic languages, leading the researchers to propose that the farmers who came from the north were early Austroasiatic speakers. The research also revealed that subsequent waves of migration during the Bronze Age, again from China, arrived in Myanmar by about 3,000 years ago, in Vietnam by 2,000 years ago and in Thailand within the last 1,000 years. These movements introduced ancestry types that are today associated with speakers of different languages. The identification of three ancestral populations, which are hunter-gatherers, first farmers and Bronze Age migrants, echoes a pattern first uncovered in ancient DNA studies of Europeans, but with at least one major difference: Much of the ancestral diversity in Europe has faded over time as populations mingled, while Southeast Asian populations have retained far more variation. David Reich, professor of genetics at Harvard, hypothesized that the high diversity of Southeast Asia today could be partly explained by the fact that farmers arrived much more recently than in Europe, around 4,500 years ago compared with 8,000 years ago, leaving less time for populations to mix and genetic variation to even out. The new findings make it clear that the multiple waves of migration, each of which occurred during a key transition period of Southeast Asian history, shaped the genetics of the region to a remarkable extent. "The major population turnover that came with the arrival of farmers is unsurprising, but the magnitudes of replacement during the Bronze Age are much higher than many people would have guessed," said Reich. TOKYO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its consideration of retaliatory measures against the U.S. imposition of higher tariffs on steel imports, Japan's foreign ministry said in a press release on Friday. The envisioned move, if taken, would raise tariffs of U.S. products by some 50 billion yen (455 million U.S. dollars), equivalent to additional tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Japan, according to the release. Whether the "rebalancing" measures would be actually taken will depend on future moves of the United States and their impacts on Japanese enterprises, said the press release. It did not specify the U.S. products targeted by Japan's envisioned measures. U.S. President Donald Trump signed proclamations in March to impose a 25-percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, which took effect on March 23. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 23:05:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOSUL, Iraq, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 763 bodies have been retrieved during the past three days, buried under debris of the devastated buildings in the western side of Mosul city, a civil defense police source said on Friday. A team from the Iraqi civil defense police retrieved 200 decomposed corpses on the first day, 457 bodies on the second day, and 106 others on the third day, Lieutenant Colonel Rabie Ibrahim, head of the team, told Xinhua. Most of the bodies were discovered near the bank of the Tigris River, which bisects the city of Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Ibrahim said. The bodies were badly decomposed for being left for about eight months since the last battles against Islamic State (IS) militants in the city, Ibrahim said. The bodies were said to be IS militants, their family members or civilians who were prevented by IS militants from leaving their homes during the fierce battles and heavy bombardment of the city, he added. The campaign to retrieve the bodies was ordered by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, who formed a committee from the civil defense and Nineveh's provincial police to clean up the devastated areas in the old city center of western side of Mosul, Ibrahim said. In July 2017, Abadi formally declared that Mosul, the country's second largest city, was liberated from IS after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq. Large part of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, including its capital Mosul, came under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 23:10:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CHENGDU, May 18 (Xinhua) -- An investment fund aggregating more than 1 billion yuan (157 million U.S. dollars) has been signed to promote China-EU cooperation at the first EU-China Tech Scale-up Summit, which opened in southwest China's Chengdu City Friday. Nearly 70 representatives of investment organizations and tech scale-up companies from 21 European countries attended the summit to meet with 40 investors and 70-plus tech companies in China. The fund, co-launched by the management committee of Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone and China Taiping Investment Holdings Company, is aimed at promoting technology transfer and achievement transformation between China and the EU. Agreements on establishing a China center of the International Venture Club and a local branch of the China-EU technology trading center were also announced at the opening ceremony. The summit is the first event held in China by Tech Tour, an investor-oriented community in Europe that connects entrepreneurs, investors and corporate partners across the world. Chengdu is also the host city of the EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair, which has attracted more than 3,000 European companies to participate during the past 12 sessions. Chengdu has eight regular direct flight routes to Europe, and the most China-Europe freight trains in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 23:20:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HONG KONG, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The University of Hong Kong (HKU) Friday conferred honorary degrees on three outstanding individuals, including e-commerce giant Alibaba's Chairman Ma Yun. HKU held the 199th Congregation on Friday to confer honorary degrees on Ma and two other outstanding individuals, in recognition of their distinguished service and commitment to the university, the community, and to academia. Ma was awarded Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa. After revolutionizing e-commerce in China and around the world, Ma has committed himself to improving the state of the world through culture, entrepreneurship and education, according to HKU's citation. Delivering a speech on behalf of the honorary graduates, Ma said that Hong Kong used to be the hub for trade and only by changing, Hong Kong could be the new hub of trade of the world and it should capitalize on its own advantage and become the pioneer of fin-tech. Ma said in the next 30 years, the new technology is going to change every aspect of the world and bring challenges to education. "I think we have to change from now the education system," he said, adding that in the future, it is not about the competition of knowledge, but the competition of creativity, imagination, learning, and independent thinking. In the ceremony, Mong Tak Yeung and Tang Ching Wan were awarded Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa and Doctor of Science honoris causa respectively. Yeung is chairman and chief executive officer of the Shun Hing Group. He is an active philanthropic entrepreneur and has contributed substantially to improving the well-being of diverse sectors of society in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and overseas. Tang, a professor of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, is best known for his work on organic optoelectronics and has been recognized for the invention of the Organic Light Emitting Diode. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 23:20:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A Dutch manufacturer of flexible composite pipes has announced that it is in final talks with Iran to develop a "flowline project" in the country's South Azadegan oil field, Tasnim news agency reported on Friday. "We are currently in the final negotiations for a project that should be a significant project," the managing director of the SoluForce Flexible Composite Pipe manufacturing company told Tasnim. Robert Jan Berg preferred not to disclose the details about the venture, but said that "we will likely to sign the contract in the next two or three weeks. It is a flowline for South Azadegan oil field," Jan Berg was quoted as saying. "We have been active in Iran for more than ten years. Iran's market is certainly very attractive for us," he said. Iran is a very important country for their products, Jan Berg said, adding that there are many good projects but it normally takes quite long time to negotiate and to establish. Tasnim also did not provide information about the name of the company. SoluForce flexible composite pipe is completely non-metallic system that can be used for various oil and gas field applications both onshore and offshore. It is an application used when corrosion or scaling is the problem. HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Police responded to an active shooting in a high school in southeastern Houston, Texas, the United States Friday morning. The incident happened at Santa Fe High School, Galveston County, about 54 km southeast of downtown Houston. Santa Fe is a city with a population of about 13,000. According to local police, a suspect was detained and an unspecified number of people had been injured. Multiple deaths have also been reported. The school was on lockdown, and students were being relocated to another location to meet their families as law enforcement personnel were working to secure the school building, said a statement issued by the district. The county is about 360 km east of Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a gunman barged into a church last November and killed 26 people. HELSINKI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Finnish centrist politician and long time economic policy decision-maker Olli Rehn was appointed on Friday as the governor of the Bank of Finland. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto made the appointment following the suggestion by cabinet. The term of office of the governor is seven years. Talking to the media, Rehn expressed concern with the increase in Finnish household debt and said a comprehensive credit rating system should be introduced in Finland. Currently, Finland has a "negative" system where the credit rating of a person remains positive if payments do not remain unpaid. A comprehensive system, used in most European countries and known also as a "positive" system, lists all the loans of a person and the payment behavior. Rehn also said young people need better knowledge about handling personal finances. As governor of the Bank of Finland, Rehn will be on the council of the European Central Bank. Asked about future monetary policies, Rehn said there would be no return to the way things were handled prior to the financial crisis that began in 2008. In the future, focus will be on financial stability and prevention of build-ups of systemic risks. "The tools used by the central banks will be more versatile. Macroprudential policies will carry a much higher weight in the arsenals of central banks than before the crisis," Rehn said. Macroprudential policies are understood to comprise measures that make the financial sector more resilient. Olli Rehn became a board member and one of the directors of the Bank of Finland in 2016. He served as European Union's Commissioner for enlargement from 2004 and as Commissioner for economic affairs and the euro from 2009 to 2014. He was the Finnish minister for economic and business development until 2016. Outgoing governor of the Bank of Finland Erkki Liikanen will retire in July when he completes his second seven-year term. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 23:40:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Chinese ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Ma Zhaoxu (1st R, front) speaks at the UN Security Council high-level open debate on upholding international law for world peace and security, at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 17, 2018. While concerns about the authority and mandated duties of the UN Security Council were raised at a high-level open debate on Thursday, China threw its considerable weight behind it, one of the six UN principal organs for maintaining international peace and security. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) by Xinhua writer Wang Jiangang UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua)-- While concerns about the authority and mandated duties of the UN Security Council were raised at a high-level open debate on Thursday, China threw its considerable weight behind it, one of the six UN principal organs for maintaining international peace and security. BREACH OF RULE As the "gate-keeper" and upholder of international law for the UN 193 member states, the Security Council must quickly rectify failures in prohibiting the use of force and maintaining global peace and security, speakers said at the Security Council open debate on upholding international law for world peace and security. Representatives from more than 70 member states participated in the day-long discussion about a wide range of issues, from escalating humanitarian crises to conflicts, and debated ways to take action. "Our credibility depends on it," said Sweden's delegate Olof Skoog. At a time when international law was being challenged, the Council must hold perpetrators accountable and bring justice to the peoples whom the UN Charter had been promulgated to protect. "We don't need to reinvent the wheel," said Ethiopia's delegate Tekeda Alemu, emphasizing that the rules-based global order was the foundation for the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security as well as for fostering friendly relations and cooperation among states. USE OF FORCE A large segment of the debate touched on the use of force and states' expansive interpretation of the Charter and international law. Brazil's representative Frederico Salomao Duque Estrada Meyer noted that even though 2018 marked the 90th anniversary of the Briand-Kellogg Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris, which prohibits the use of force as national policy, the current world pockmarked with war, humanitarian crises and lingering conflicts calls for alarm and swift action. Worried about the trend of states invoking the use of force for protecting human rights or forestalling international crimes, he said that if subjective, unilateral criteria continued informing such decisions, sustained peace would be a distant objective. "Our collective resolve to stop human rights violations or to defeat terrorism cannot make us turn a blind eye on international law," he said, warning that new self-defense narratives were based on conceptual uncertainties, with the international community even lacking a common definition of terrorism. Authorizing the use of force must be limited and the Council must demand adequate reporting because "those troops might not be wearing blue helmets, but they act on the authority and legitimacy of a blue text." SEEKING WAY OUT The Council must become the driving force to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law, human rights law, the UN Charter and other relevant rules, said Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Chef de Cabinet, delivering a statement on behalf of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Against a backdrop of grave threats and growing turmoil in many regions, the unity of this body and the serious commitment of the entire international community will be crucial in preventing human suffering and defending our common humanity," she said, highlighting the links between the Council and the International Court of Justice in leading the way. Elaborating on how to strengthen that relationship, Hisashi Owada, Senior Judge and President Emeritus of the International Court of Justice, suggested the Council pay more attention to its discretionary power to refer a legal dispute to the Court and to consider making use of the Court's advisory opinion under the Charter. Theodor Meron, president of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, said that in many respects, the Council had been a gate-keeper, deciding whether one situation should be subject to accountability measures. He suggested it was time for a paradigm shift whereby the Council would refer possible violations of international law to appropriate judicial actors for further action, rather than risk becoming stymied in debates about whether atrocities occurred. Doing so would enhance accountability and increase confidence in the courts' ability to assess evidence fairly. Other delegates also drew upon similar examples, with many calling for the strict application of Charter provisions and suggesting ways to boost the Council's credibility and effectiveness. Polish President Andrzej Duda said where peaceful dispute settlement was not applied, the Council, to protect international law in its darkest hour, could introduce targeted sanctions, as coercive measures were often crucial in defending international legal principles. If and when the Council makes itself irrelevant by inaction, other avenues will have to be explored to ensure fundamental international norms were upheld, said Dutch Foreign Minister Stephanus Abraham Blok. Ahead of the next General Assembly, the Netherlands would consult and explore such options with the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group, which comprises 27 small- and medium-sized states that aimed at improving Council functions. CHINA: STRONG SUPPORTER Amid worries, concerns and proposals as well, China again displayed its determination and enthusiasm of safeguarding the authority and mandatory duties of the Council. Chinese ambassador to the UN Ma Zhaoxu said that amid spreading local conflicts and rising security threats, efforts must be strengthened to overcome those challenges. To do so, he made several suggestions, including that member states must adhere to all UN Charter provisions and safeguard the Council's mission and authority. The Council represented the will of all member states and its role should be supported, Ma said. Further, all states must adhere to the peaceful resolution of international disputes, he said, adding that actions not authorized by the Council violated the Charter and international law. Moving forward, the international community must renounce the cold war mentality and facilitate global governance, ensuring that international law was applied equally, without double standards and that sanctions outside the Council's authority were abandoned. Win-win cooperation was a general trend and the common aspiration of the people must be respected alongside the rights of states. Dialogue must replace confrontation, he said, emphasizing that a new philosophy must shape a sustainable security system to address threats and ensure a shared future of peace and stability, he said. The Security Council, as the core of the UN collective security mechanism, shoulders a major responsibility in tackling international security threats and challenges, which is a herculean task, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 23:40:15|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Delegates attend a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2018. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Friday warned that the violence in Gaza has reached a peak in the past week, with 60 people had been killed by the Israeli forces in just one day of May 14, a highest figure of one-day death toll in Gaza since the 2014 hostilities. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) GENEVA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN Human Rights Council on Friday during a special session adopted a resolution deciding to "urgently" dispatch a commission of inquiry to investigate all violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip. The draft resolution was adopted by 29 votes in favor, two against with 14 abstentions. The two states that voted against were Australia and the United States. According to the adopted resolution, the investigation should be done in the context of the military assaults on the large-scale civilian protests that began on March 30 and to establish the facts and circumstances of the violations, including those that may amount to war crimes. The inquiry group should also identify those responsible, make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations. The resolution decided that the inquiry group should present an oral update to the UN Human Rights Council this September and a final, written report next March. The resolution stipulates Israel should immediately and fully end its illegal closure of the occupied Gaza Strip, which amounts to collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population. It condemned the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians, including in the context of peaceful protests, particularly in the Gaza Strip. As requested by Palestine and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of the Arab Group of States, the UN Human Rights Council on Friday opened a special session to discuss on "the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem". Over 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed and some 12,000 wounded by Israeli forces since the new round of anti-occupation protests in Gaza began on March 30. At least 60 Palestinians were killed on May 14 when the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem officially opened despite international criticism. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-18 23:45:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Senior legislator Wang Dongming has called for more efforts on effective implementation of the Statistics Law. Wang, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, made the remarks during a trip to north China's Hebei Province and northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region this week. "More attention should be paid to solving problems that hinder the implementation of the law, restrict statistics work and compromise data quality," Wang said. Wang's trip was a part of a round of inspections on the implementation of multiple laws conducted by the NPC Standing Committee earlier this year. The NPC Standing Committee also inspected the implementation of the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and southwest China's Sichuan Province, as well as the Law on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution in east China's Anhui Province. Arken Imirbaki, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, underlined the importance of preventing and controlling infectious diseases to safeguarding health and safety, during his tour to Xinjiang and Sichuan. Ding Zhongli, also vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said it was still an uphill battle to combat air pollutions, which required governments at all levels to take solid action, during his visit to Anhui. WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to narrow the scope of a potential interview with the president from five topics to two. Giuliani told CNN that Mueller is not considering to ask Trump about his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who is facing a separate criminal investigation in New York. The "main focus we want is Russia," Giuliani said. Giuliani's comments came as Trump tried Friday morning to undercut the ongoing Russia probe led by Mueller, which started a year ago. The special counsel is mandated to investigate the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and any potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, among other matters that may arise from the investigation. Over the past year, Mueller's team has brought charges against 19 individuals, including several Trump campaign associates, and three Russian entities, notched five guilty pleas and seen one person sentenced. A number of those charges were related to Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election, but none of them has been extended to collusion allegations. Russia has denied interference in the election campaign. Trump, who has repeatedly called the Russia probe "hoax" or "witch hunt," has ratcheted up pressure on it in the past months, amid a reshuffling of his legal team. Giuliani said earlier this week that Mueller has informed the president's lawyers that the investigation would follow Justice Department guidance and not seek an indictment against Trump, a claim that the special counsel's team declined to comment. MADRID, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A Spanish solider died and two others were injured following a road accident in Mali, the Spanish Ministry of Defense confirmed on Friday. The solider, who was named as 27-year-old Antonio Carrero Jimenez, died when the vehicle he was traveling in together with three other people went off the road shortly before 9 a.m. Spanish time, at a place called Somadougou, 40 kilometers from Sevare in central Mali. The body of Carrero Jimenez and the two injured soldiers were taken to Koulikoro, where the majority of Spanish troops currently serving in the country are based. Spanish Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal also published a tweet in which she expressed "pain and sadness" for the death and sent "condolences and affection to his family and companions." Spanish currently has 292 troops stationed in Mali as part of the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) in Mali, which aims to train and advise the Mali armed forces. The first mandate for this mission opened in February 2013 and the current (third) mandate is due to conclude at the end of the current month. 11 killed, 19 injured as speeding truck hits Hindu pilgrims in India As many as 11 persons died and 19 others were injured when a speeding truck hit a group of Hindu pilgrims in Champawat district of Uttarkhand in India on Friday. The pilgrims were heading towards Purnagiri Temple to offer worship, according to The Times of India. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 00:20:27|Editor: ZD Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia has said the Chinese and Pakistani militaries should implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two counties and enhance strategic communication and pragmatic cooperation. Zhang made the remarks during his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday, appreciating that the Pakistani side firmly supports China over issues related to China's core interests. He said the two militaries should also promote their defense relations comprehensively in the new era, maintain the common interests of the two countries and peace and stability of the region as well as the world. For his part, Abbasi said Pakistan and China have been seeing close relationships and have carried out broad and deep defense cooperation, adding that Pakistan firmly sticks to the one-China policy. The prime minister said Pakistan is willing to enhance strategic cooperation and pragmatic exchanges in all sectors with China, and ensure the smooth development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and contribute to the regional development and prosperity. During his visit, Zhang also met with Pakistan's Acting President Sadiq Sanjrani and top military leaders. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 00:25:28|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- BRICS environment ministers on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement in dealing with climate change. In a joint statement issued after a two-day meeting in Durban, the ministers urged developed countries to continue taking the lead and support developing countries, including the transfer of needed technology, in combating climate change. This "is one of the most critical enablers for climate action," the statement said. With respect to climate change, BRICS countries welcome the progress towards finalizing the Work Program under the Paris Agreement and express their willingness to continue working constructively with other parties to conclude its related negotiations at the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in Katowice, Poland in December 2018, said the statement. The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance starting in the year 2020. The ministers also reiterated the call to enhance cooperation and collaboration among BRICS countries in the field of biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and equitable access and benefit sharing of biological resources, and also undertake to promote cooperation in biodiversity-related international conventions and fora, particularly endangered species. The ministers pledged to continue collaboration on these issues to ensure the success of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP14) to be held in Egypt in November 2018, and the 70th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), scheduled for October 2018 in Russia. The meeting, part of preparations for the forthcoming BRICS Summit scheduled for July 25-27 in Johannesburg, was themed: "Strengthening cooperation amongst BRICS on circular economy in the context of the sustainable consumption and production (SCP)." The promotion of circular approach to waste management contributes significantly to the achievement of the SCP goal as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, the statement said. "We acknowledge that the circular economy approach in the context of SCP aims to keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life," the statement said. At the meeting, the ministers also discussed ways to tap the vast potentials in cooperation in advancing the oceans economy among BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. "We will explore enhancing our cooperation on marine protection and ocean governance taking into account that the scope for cooperation may be limited to the programs of environmental ministries, although the BRICS ocean economy cooperation will seek to influence and cooperate with all sectors of the oceans economy," the statement said. The BRICS environment ministers have formed a forum to focus on key strategic global issues such as the global economy, trade, peace and security and reform of multi-lateral institutions. This is the fourth time that they have met to discuss environmental issues. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 00:30:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Eight to ten people have been killed after a shooter opened fire inside Santa Fe High School Friday morning in the southeast of Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, local police said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters that the death toll "could be anywhere between 8 to 10" with the majority of students. He also confirmed there were multiple injuries but didn't give the exact number. The officer said the suspect shooter was in custody and another person was detained and questioned. "Both of them are students," he said. Gonzalez said the shooting happened before school started, around 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. Several ambulances, including a mass casualty ambulance, along with multiple Life Flight helicopters were seen. Multiple victims have been transported to a nearby hospital, some of them in critical condition. Santa Fe High School in Galveston County is about 54 km southeast of downtown Houston. Santa Fe is a city with a population about 13,000. According to local police, a person has been in custody at the scene of active shooting at the school. According to law enforcement agencies, it appears the shooter is a student. The school was on lockdown Friday. The county is about 360 km east of Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a gunman barged into a church last November and murdered 26 people. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 00:30:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday called for international probe into Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip, according to Press TV. Zarif urged "transparent and independent" international probe into the "crimes" in the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel. Zarif made the remarks in an address to a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers on Palestine in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday. "In light of the massacre in Gaza, the international community is entitled to demand an end to the impunity of this brutal and rogue apartheid regime" of Israel, he was quoted as saying. "We need to take concrete action in the United Nations system ... and the OIC should reinforce the call for bringing the perpetrators to justice," said the Iranian foreign minister. The foreign ministers of the OIC member states met on Friday in Istanbul over a roadmap that seeks to end Israel's violence policy. The U.S. relocation of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday sparked protests and clashes with Israeli forces at the Gaza border in which more than 60 Palestinians were killed. ABUJA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A windstorm in Nigeria's northwestern state of Katsina has wreaked havoc, killing six and injuring five others, according to local officials on Friday. At least 500 houses were destroyed following the windstorm late Thursday, Aminu Waziri, head of the Katsina State Emergency Management Agency, said. An Army Barracks and Air Force Base in the Katsina metropolis were also affected by the disaster, Waziri said. At least 53 houses and an elementary school were destroyed in the Army Barracks, while about 100 houses were also affected at the air force base, he added. The local government in Katsina has described the incident as a "natural disaster beyond human control," saying officials had been sent to the affected areas to assess the extent of damage with a view to providing relief to the victims. Last month, at least 444 houses were destroyed in three local government areas of Katsina resulting from a windstorm. WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The bus driver in the deadly school bus crash in U.S. New Jersey made an illegal turn before colliding with a dump truck on Thursday morning, local reports said Friday. The collision occurred on Interstate 80 near Mount Olive Township when the school bus, full of fifth-graders, was on its way to historic Waterloo Village for a field trip. A student and a teacher were killed, and 43 others on the East Brook Middle School bus were hospitalized. The dump truck driver was also hospitalized. The bus missed an exit and tried to make an illegal U-turn before it crashed, according to CBS News, citing local authorities. The bus was torn apart by the violent force of crash, and ended up on its side. The New Jersey state police and the Morris County prosecutor's office were leading the investigation into the crash, local reports said. It is unclear if the driver of the bus will face any charges. Paramus school district is canceling all field trips for the rest of the year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 01:00:43|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Spain's King Felipe VI (L) shakes hands with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Madrid, Spain, on May 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda) by Xinhua writers Chen Yao, Feng Junwei BEIJING/MADRID, May 18 (Xinhua) -- After a day's work at the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's, Guillermo Ruiz records a Spanish audio lesson for his 60,000 Chinese followers online. A few kilometers away at the airport of Madrid, Chinese tourist Liu Jie receives the tax refund of purchases through a Chinese mobile application. Nothing exceptional. The interconnection between the Spanish and Chinese societies has undoubtedly gone beyond what Diego de Pantoja could imagine four centuries ago -- the Spanish Jesuit had dedicated his life to exchanges between the two cultures through the Silk Road. Today, that ancient trade route is renewed with the Belt and Road Initiative, which strengthens ties between China and Spain in new areas. INCREASED COOPERATION Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on May 16 started a 9-day trip for official visits to France, Spain, Portugal and Argentina. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain as well as the 13th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership. In the Spanish capital Madrid, Wang held talks with King Felipe VI of Spain, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his Spanish counterpart Alfonso Dastis. They discussed issues such as strengthening cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013. Tian Delong, researcher of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the two countries have strengthened mutual political trust in recent years and promoted economic, trade and tourism cooperation, as well as cultural exchanges. "Spain has become an important investment destination for China in Europe," Tian added. China has become Spain's largest non-EU trading partner. Bilateral trade volume rose from 12 million U.S. dollars in 1973 to a record 30.9 billion dollars in 2017. Tian believed that Wang's visit to Spain will boost cooperation in more areas and through new modes. NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in May 2017. He spoke highly of the Initiative, saying it has a significant impact on regional economy and cultural exchanges along its routes by promoting cooperation. He noted it is important especially for businesses "because this is about building land and maritime infrastructures that help unite the different peoples of the world and improve trade." In this sense, Spain is among the first beneficiaries. In November 2014, after a 20-hour trip, the first Yixin'ou cargo train arrived in Madrid from Yiwu in East China, passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France. Data from the foundation for Yiwu-Spain exchanges FIYE showed Spanish exports to Yiwu have increased by more than 300 percent thanks to the cargo train service. Chang Shiru, director of the Foundation of the Confucius Institute of Barcelona, thought that increased cultural exchanges helped consolidate the basis for Spain-China cooperation. He cited the fact that a large number of the Chinese language learners in Spain choose to take related linguistic exams, adding that "some of them learn Chinese in order to know more about China, but many people especially the young learn it for a better future in their careers." NEW COOPERATION MODEL Alberto Carnero, Spain's ambassador to China, said the Belt and Road Initiative represents a great opportunity for Europe that is concerned about a rise in trade protectionism. The initiative "has renewed Europe's interest in China, and is seen as an opportunity to have more connectivity, more access to markets in one direction and another, more openness, and also to have a more balanced relationship," the diplomat said. Chinese researcher Tian also expected competition in some areas between China and Spain since the two are less economically complementary due to similar industrial structures. However, "the Belt and Road Initiative can help turn competition into opportunities for cooperation if they explore new models of collaboration," he said. Tian suggested they work together to find third-party markets and build in Spain logistics centers and e-commerce platforms. He believed that their efforts "could provide a good example for other European countries in cooperation with China." BRUSSELS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) foreign policy chief on Friday gave full marks to the bloc's quick response to Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear deal. In a statement following the European Commission's proposal to activate a dormant statute, EU top diplomat Federica Mogherini said the steps "are a strong confirmation" of the EU commitments to uphold the deal. "The EU is acting in unity and swiftly to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)," she said, citing a flurry of diplomatic activities this week, including the meeting between European foreign ministers and their Iranian counterpart on Tuesday, and an informal summit of EU leaders on Thursday. "In the meantime, intensive expert discussions have been launched to arrive at practical solutions in order to maintain and deepen economic relations with Iran," she added. The European Commission on Friday proposed to activate a dormant statute to shield European firms doing business with Iran from renewed U.S. sanctions. The 1996 Blocking Statute forbids EU companies from complying with the U.S. sanctions. The statute was originally introduced in response to a U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and sanctions against Iran and Libya. It was never enacted as the transatlantic disagreements were ironed out politically. The Commission also proposed removing "obstacles for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to decide under the EU budget guarantee to finance activities outside the European Union, in Iran." In other words, the EIB will be allowed to support EU investment in Iran. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU will decide to approve or reject the proposals within two months, ahead of the first batch of U.S. sanctions that will take effect on Aug. 6. The two proposals are the core parts of the Commission's decision to act on four fronts in the face of looming U.S. sanctions. The commission vowed to "continue and strengthen the ongoing sectoral cooperation with, and assistance to, Iran, including in the energy sector," which is essential to the Iranian economy. It remains to be seen whether this promise will dispel concerns haunting European energy giants like Total, which on Wednesday said it might not be able to continue its gas development project in Iran unless it gets a waiver from the United States to protect it from reimposed sanctions. To weave through the U.S.-dominated international banking system, the Commission said it is encouraging member states to explore the possibility of one-off bank transfers to the Central Bank of Iran. This approach "could help the Iranian authorities receive their oil-related revenues, particularly in case of U.S. sanctions which could target EU entities active in oil transactions with Iran," the Commission noted. U.S. President Donald Trump declared last week that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, claiming it had failed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or supporting terrorism in the region. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an announcement that "sanctions will be reimposed subject to certain 90-day and 180-day wind-down periods." Much to Europe's displeasure, foreign companies doing business with Iran are also at the crosshairs of the U.S. sanctions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 01:15:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close GENEVA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said Friday it was alarmed at new displacements in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) where 7,000 Central African Republic (CAR) refugees in desperate need have arrived in under a week. UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler said at a UN briefing here that the refugees, most of them women and children, are concentrated in the remote village of Kanzawi in DR Congo's northern Bas-Uele Province. They fled violence in southeastern Central African Republic. "The speed of arrivals and the very limited humanitarian presence in the area mean that people urgently need increased support," said Spindler. UNHCR said its own capacity for an emergency response was severely stretched, with its DR Congo operation funded at 1.6 U.S. dollars for every 10 dollars needed. "The refugees have reported fleeing fighting between two Anti-balaka groups in the area of Kouango, just across the border," said Spindler. It is the latest in a series of refugee movements into northern DR Congo. In less than a year, the number of CAR refugees in DR Congo has grown from around 102,000 to more than 182,000, not including the latest arrivals. UNHCR said it was particularly worried about the situation of elderly people, pregnant women, and others with specific needs. "There is only one water source in Kanzawi village, forcing people to drink from the river. Most of the refugees are sleeping in the open, others in public buildings," said Spindler. UNHCR also praised the DR Congo for keeping its borders open to refugees. KIEV, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said Friday it has signed a technical agreement with the Canadian Ministry of National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces on military training for personnel. According to the statement on the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's website, the deal covers areas such as explosive ordnance disposal training, medical training, as well as professional development and education of troops. Under the pact, the two sides have agreed to cooperate in the field of strategic communications and logistics modernization. The deal was signed in Kiev by Yury Allerov, commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, and William Seymour, deputy commander of Canadian Joint Operation Command. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the agreement will boost the interaction between the officers of the two countries, allowing them to exchange their experience. 33kg gold smuggling case: Defence lawyers argue their case The trial on 33 kg gold smuggling case and the subsequent murder of alleged smuggler Sanam Shakya continued at Morang District Court, in Biratnagar on Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 01:30:57|Editor: ZD Video Player Close People wave flags of Turkey and Palestine during a rally in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 18, 2018. Over 200,000 Turks poured into the streets in Istanbul on Friday for a massive rally denouncing the killings of more than 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during demonstrations against the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem early this week. (Xinhua/He Canling) ISTANBUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Over 200,000 Turks poured into the streets in Istanbul on Friday for a massive rally denouncing the killings of more than 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during demonstrations against the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem early this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some delegates to an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) joined the rally at Yenikapi Square, where Turkish and Palestinian flags were waved by the crowd. Addressing the rally, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged the world and Islamic countries to protect Jerusalem, whose status is a thorny issue in the long-running conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. "We should keep going on our way by preserving Jerusalem's own identity," said Hamdallah. In his speech, Erdogan said that not only the Islamic world but the entire world has failed in the Jerusalem cause. "Being a mere onlooker to Israel's all unfair, unlawful actions, the United Nations has tacitly become a party to this oppression," the president remarked, blaming the world body for not taking a resolute stance against Washington's embassy move. "Jerusalem is not just a city. Jerusalem is a symbol, a test, a qibla," he stressed, calling on Israeli people to take action against "the disaster" that their government is dragging them into. Turkey has, among others, recalled its ambassadors from Tel Aviv and Washington and called for an urgent OIC meeting in response to the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and the killings of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces on Monday. During the rally in Istanbul, the crowd chanted slogans like "Palestine is not alone" and "We stand for Jerusalem," carrying banners that read, "The world is blind, the world is deaf." "We came here to show our solidarity with our Palestinian brothers," said Kadir Akkaya. "We want to be the voice of Palestinians and make them heard by the world." Abdullah Ozkan, another demonstrator, urged the world to condemn Israel in the strongest way possible. "They should do whatever necessary to stop the violence of Israel and apply the international rules," he told Xinhua. Another mass rally is slated for Sunday in Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. Turkey is hoping for the OIC meeting to produce a joint action against Israel's use of deadly force against unarmed Palestinians. by Zheng Shibo JAKARTA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Suicide bombings on Sunday and Monday in Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya killed more than 20 people, while a police headquarters in Sumatra Island's Riau province was also attacked on Wednesday, with five people dead. These attacks have made the passing week as a bloody one for the largest country in Southeast Asia. The Surabaya attacks, which used children and women as suicide bombers, were linked to Indonesia's loosely organized Islamic State (IS) affiliates Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), and the Wednesday attack was related to JAD, according to Indonesia's Police Chief Tito Karnavian. The IS claimed responsibility for attacks in Surabaya and Riau, and police said the IS possibly instructed the Surabaya bombing and one of the suspects had been inspired by radicals returning from Syria. The Indonesian government estimated that up to 700 Indonesians have joined the war in Syria and Iraq and some have traveled back. Analysts said the returning IS fighters from war zones and Philippines' Marawi, are posing a growing new threat in Indonesia as they may become a source of ideological inspiration as well as bring operational know-how to poorly-organized and poorly-equipped local networks. Tia Mariatul Kibtiah, an expert on the Middle East and Arabic studies in Indonesia's private Binus University, told Xinhua that since the IS is losing territory in the Middle East, the group may choose Indonesia, the country with world's largest Muslim population. "As a result, the individual, lone wolf and small group IS-style attacks will be widely popular in the future terrorism development in Indonesia," she said. The United Nations Security Council released a report earlier this year, which said the IS's losses in Iraq and Syria may intensify the threat to Southeast Asia, as funds and fighters disperse from the two war-torn countries. Analysts said these IS-linked attacks also exposed the lingering threat from resurgence of homegrown militants group after the collapse of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which were convicted in relation to the 2002 Bali bombing. Michael Hart, a researcher on terrorism in Southeast Asia, posted an article on news website Asia Sentinel, which said that in the years since (the collapse of JI), several newly-formed groups like JAD, JAT, Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT) along with JI's offshoots have remained active beneath the radar, posing only a latent threat to the country. In January 2016, four suicide bombers and gunmen from little-known JAD attacked a shopping area in the capital city of Jakarta, which killed eight people. JAD bombers also launched an attack at a bus station in East Jakarta in May 2017, killing the suspects and three police offices. Indonesian police also blamed last week's deadly prison riot in Jakarta's outskirts of Depok, in which five policemen were killed by terror detainees, was instigated by JAD members. Experts warned that JAD, who targets police, religious places instead of foreigners, embassies, hotels and nightclubs, may well become a more dangerous version of JI. Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT), a well-established group who has strongholds in rural regions, got international attention in October 2012 after its members shot down two policemen and killed three Mobile Brigade officers two month later. In addition, three civilians were killed by an MIT member in the beginning of 2015. There have been only a few large-scale attacks in recent years due to a sustained and successful crackdown on militants following the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people. However, in 2017, Indonesian police's anti-terror unit apprehended 172 suspects, of whom 16 were shot dead during arrest attempts. The authorities linked the militants involved to either JAD, JAT or MIT. Despite that the IS adds an extra dimension to the threat of Indonesia security, experts said the local political and religious dynamics are the central issues to cleaning up Indonesia's terrorism landscape. Kibtiah told Xinhua that radicalism in Indonesia has been flourishing and pluralism and tolerance significantly reduced since 1998 which marked the fall of long-time former president Muhammad Suharto and the dawn of the reform era. Radical groups began to advocate their mission of either implementing the Sharia law or establishing a caliphate. Extreme clerics attempt to influence ordinary Indonesians though sermons, according to Kibtiah. Based on a Pew Research study in 2015, four percent of Indonesians, or around 10 million, have favorable opinions of militant groups. Analysts said since the Indonesian society has become more conservative in recent years, this support is bound to rise. Indonesian President Joko Widodo is now demanding a revision of the 2003 Anti-Terrorism Law to give police more power to detain suspects pre-emptively and to prohibit Indonesians from joining overseas militant organizations. Experts argued that given the prison riot by terror detainees last week, Indonesia's efforts at rehabilitating the homegrown militants are off target. Kibtiah insisted that the government should intensify the international cooperation with Australia and other Western countries. Besides, the current Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) security cooperation mechanism should be immediately utilized. Indonesia's homegrown militants roughly posed a limited threat a decade after the Bali bombing under the country's intensive crackdown. However, as the infiltration of IS ideology to the region, Indonesia's terrorist movement has reached a critical point. Evan A. Laksmana, A senior researcher at Indonesia think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an article published on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's website that Indonesia can and should do more to address the growing and increasingly lethal IS-linked threats. "One should not rush into abandoning the current criminal justice model of counter terrorism in return for a more repressive, or 'war-fighting' one. As Indonesia's own long history tells us, repressive measures often lead to prolonged and more deadly conflicts in the future," he said. THE HAGUE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The criminal appeal proceedings against Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders have been temporarily halted after a special court commission ruled Friday that the judges should be replaced. Wilders objected to the three judges on Thursday after his requests for extra investigation were rejected. The court in The Hague did not want to investigate the prosecutor's decision not to prosecute liberal democrats D66 leader Alexander Pechtold for what Wilders says were similar comments Wilders was convicted for. "The statement (by the judges) on the principle of equality is so brief and incomprehensible that the fear of bias on this issue is objectively justified," the special court objection commission declared on Friday at a court room near Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, where the trial is located for security reasons. The court refused to grant the request by Wilders to stall the proceedings on Thursday, after which Wilders objected to the three judges for being "biased". Three new judges now have to be appointed and these new judges have to become informed about the case, which will cause a temporarily delay. In December 2016, Wilders was found guilty in a so-called "hate speech trial" for insulting Moroccans as a group and inciting discrimination. He was convicted for statements made in 2014. In his speech after the municipal elections campaign that year, Wilders asked his supporters whether they wanted "more or fewer" Moroccans, with the attendees cheering "fewer, fewer" as their answer. "Good, we're going to arrange that," Wilders concluded. In February this year, Pechtold had said: "I have yet to meet the first Russian who corrects his mistakes himself." According to the public prosecutor, this comment was incomparable to Wilders' comments. The court followed the prosecutor and ruled on Thursday that no parties or documents from the Pechtold case need to be heard or added to the Wilders case. Pechtold made his remark earlier this year after then foreign minister Halbe Zijlstra had apologized for having lied about a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Seven people filed a complaint against Pechtold because of his comment, but the public prosecutor said the politician had not insulted an entire group of people and should not be prosecuted. Wilders stressed on Thursday that he did not think Pechtold should be prosecuted, but that the same should apply to himself. "I think I should not be here," Wilders said. by Stefania Fumo ROME, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Italy's populist Five Star Movement on Friday posted online a final version of its so-called "contract" with the rightwing League, outlining how the two forces plan to govern Italy. The two parties are the relative winners of Italy's March 4 general election, and have been in power-sharing talks. The final document watered down more radical proposals contained in earlier versions, which suggested Italy should leave the eurozone and asked the European Central Bank (ECB) for a debt haircut of 250 billion euros to pay for generous public spending and drastic tax cuts. The 57-page, 30-point final version calls for "inducing the European Commission to separate public investments from the current account deficit" and "re-discussing EU treaties" on deficit reduction. It introduces a 15-20 percent flat tax for individuals and businesses and scraps an unpopular pension reform introduced as a cost-cutting measure in 2012. It introduces basic income of 780 euros (about 918 U.S. dollars) a month, to be paid for with European Social Fund (ESF) funding, according to the contract. On the foreign policy front, the document opposes international trade treaties such as the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and calls for scrapping sanctions against Russia, calling it "a strategic talking partner in solving regional crises (Syria, Libya, Yemen)." As well, the "contract" calls for deporting 500,000 undocumented migrants, hiring more police and prison guards, introducing the right to self-defense at home and on the job, tougher prison sentences for rapists and white-collar criminals, and building more prisons. Five Star supporters have been called on to vote on the contract online through 10 p.m. local time on Friday, while the League is submitting it to its own voters at stands set up in public places throughout Italy on Saturday. Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio and League chief Matteo Salvini have said they would not go ahead without approval from their respective grassroots. If the votes are positive, the next step would be for the two leaders to report back to President Sergio Mattarella, paving the way for the head of state to appoint a new prime minister. That meeting could take place on Monday, local media report. This means a full government could be sworn in sometime next week, to be followed by a vote of confidence in parliament. Meanwhile, Italy's borrowing costs continued rising Friday, because a Five Star-League government would have to borrow large amounts of money to carry out its program. This would drive up Italy's public debt, which is the second-highest in the eurozone after that of Greece, and which topped 2.302 trillion euros in March, according to the Bank of Italy. The spread between Italy's 10-year government bonds and their German counterparts, a key measure of borrowing costs, rose to 160 basis points in afternoon trading (up from 130 points earlier in the week). The higher the spread, the lower the investor confidence. Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 131.8 percent at the end of 2017, compared to 64.1 percent in Germany and 97 percent in France, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. Demonstrators wave flags during a protest against the recent killings of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza-Israel border and the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem, in Istanbul, Turkey May 18, 2018. (Reuters photo) ISTANBUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Over 200,000 Turks poured into the streets in Istanbul on Friday for a massive rally denouncing the killings of more than 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during demonstrations against the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem early this week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some delegates to an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) joined the rally at Yenikapi Square, where Turkish and Palestinian flags were waved by the crowd. Addressing the rally, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged the world and Islamic countries to protect Jerusalem, whose status is a thorny issue in the long-running conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. "We should keep going on our way by preserving Jerusalem's own identity," said Hamdallah. In his speech, Erdogan said that not only the Islamic world but the entire world has failed in the Jerusalem cause. "Being a mere onlooker to Israel's all unfair, unlawful actions, the United Nations has tacitly become a party to this oppression," the president remarked, blaming the world body for not taking a resolute stance against Washington's embassy move. "Jerusalem is not just a city. Jerusalem is a symbol, a test, a qibla," he stressed, calling on Israeli people to take action against "the disaster" that their government is dragging them into. Turkey has, among others, recalled its ambassadors from Tel Aviv and Washington and called for an urgent OIC meeting in response to the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and the killings of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces on Monday. During the rally in Istanbul, the crowd chanted slogans like "Palestine is not alone" and "We stand for Jerusalem," carrying banners that read, "The world is blind, the world is deaf." "We came here to show our solidarity with our Palestinian brothers," said Kadir Akkaya. "We want to be the voice of Palestinians and make them heard by the world." Abdullah Ozkan, another demonstrator, urged the world to condemn Israel in the strongest way possible. "They should do whatever necessary to stop the violence of Israel and apply the international rules," he told Xinhua. Another mass rally is slated for Sunday in Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. Turkey is hoping for the OIC meeting to produce a joint action against Israel's use of deadly force against unarmed Palestinians. Palestinian worshippers pray in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on May 18, 2018. (AFP photo) JERSUALEM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli police said Friday that the first Friday prayer services of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended peacefully at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli police said about 90,000 attended prayers at the holy site on the second day and the first Friday of Ramadan. Israeli security forces are on high alert for the Muslim fasting month this year at a time when tensions are heightened along the Israel-Gaza Strip border. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said approximately 40,000 Palestinians went through different crossings from Judea and Samaria to Jerusalem as part of the Ramadan prayers. Another 6,000 Palestinians prayed at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on Friday, said the Israeli army. The IDF added that the head of the central command, Nadav Padan, and other senior commanders in the West Bank tour the Rachel and Qalandiya crossings. "There have been no unusual events," said the IDF. IDF troops are prepared and reinforced, along with the Israel Security Authority, civil administration, border police and Israeli police forces in order to "enable the Ramadan prayers alongside protecting the communities and routes and maintaining order and security," said the Israeli army. Israeli fire killed about 60 Palestinians at a mass rally along the Gaza Strip border on Monday, as the inauguration ceremony of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem was held. HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed when a shooter opened fire inside Santa Fe High School in the southeast of Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, Friday morning, local police said. An unnamed Santa Fe police officer told reporters the death toll of the shooting is believed to be "fewer than ten". He also confirmed that explosives were found at the high school campus. He said the suspect shooter was in custody and another person was detained and questioned. "Both of them are students," he said. The officer urged local resident to stay alarmed and call 911 when seeing something suspicious. Earlier, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters that the death toll "could be anywhere between 8 to 10" with the majority of students. He also confirmed there were multiple injuries, but didn't give an exact number. Gonzalez said the shooting happened before school started, around 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. It is confirmed by local police that a Santa Fe Independent School District (ISD) officer was also injured in the shooting and is under surgery with critical condition. Several ambulances, including a mass casualty ambulance, along with multiple Life Flight helicopters, were seen at the site. Multiple victims have been transported to a nearby hospital, some of them in critical condition. Interviewed by media, several students said they had been trained what to do when a shooting happens, but never thought a real shooting would happen. Santa Fe High School is located in Galveston County, about 54 km southeast of downtown Houston. There are about 1,400 students in the high school. Santa Fe is a city with a population about 13,000. The school was on lockdown Friday. The county is about 360 km east of Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a gunman barged into a church last November and murdered 26 people. ACCRA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's telecom giant Huawei has offered to train 10 Ghanaian students in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) through its "Seeds for the Future Program," the presidency said in a release on Friday. Initiated in 2008, the "Seeds for the Future Program" is Huawei's most heavily-invested global corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity. The program seeks to develop local ICT talent, enhance knowledge transfer, promote a greater understanding of and interest in the telecoms sector and improve and encourage regional building and participation in the digital community. It was launched in Ghana in 2015 and 45 Ghanaian students have so far participated. The 10 students of the 2018 batch will undergo a two-week course in Beijing and Shenzhen, the high-tech manufacturing hub of China, where they will study cutting-edge information and telecommunication technologies at the Huawei headquarters. Huawei will share its ICT expertise and experience in managing a multinational corporation with the young ICT professionals and help fuel the development of local ICT industries. Speaking to the beneficiaries of the program at the Jubilee House in Accra, Ghana's Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia expressed the government's appreciation to Huawei for offering training to the Ghanaian youth. He said the trainees would make up the workforce of Ghana in a few years, calling on other companies to emulate Huawei's example. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 02:36:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIRUT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun called Friday on the international community to respect the Lebanese will to stay away from the turmoil in the Middle East region, a statement by the president's media office said. Aoun made the remarks when meeting French Foreign Ministry Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Jerome Bonnafon in Beirut. The president expressed optimism that a new national unity government will be formed soon. He said "the post-elections stage will witness the formation of a national unity government that will kick start reforms, combat corruption and implement an economic plan to help advancement." On May 6, Lebanon organized the parliamentary elections for the first time in nine years in accordance with a new proportional law. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 02:41:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NICOSIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Crusaders conquered Cyprus just over 800 years ago and their rule over the eastern Mediterranean island ended in the late 15th century, but they left behind a horrific disease that still haunts many Cypriots. It is appropriately known as the crusaders' disease, which strikes the liver and leads to the degeneration of the nervous system, causing pain and discomfort in the lower gastrointestinal system, fatigue, poor coordination, paralysis of the legs which leads patients to wheel chairs, and finally death. The issue came to prominence again after the parliamentary health committee was told that the disease reappeared in people who had undergone liver transplants 10 to 15 years ago. Andreas Savva, community leader of Pachna, a village northwest of Limassol and one of the communities with a high concentration of people with the disease, pleaded with deputies to approve and allocate DNA tests for all inhabitants. "It is important to diagnose the disease at an early stage so that those who have it start early treatment, which will prevent its progress," Savva told Xinhua in a telephone statement on Friday. Theodoros Kyriakides, head of the neurology clinic at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, also confirmed the re-emergence of the disease among people who have had a liver transplant. The re-emergence causes various complications that are treated symptomatically, as there is no definitive cure yet, he said. It is up to people get a DNA test so that the disease can be diagnosed early, Kyriakides added. But DNA tests cost around 200 euros (235 U.S. dollars) which many people in the village cannot afford. "Treatment of the disease to stop its progress is even costlier. The drug taken by patients can cost them up to 18,000 euros a month," said Savva. DNA tests, he said, are also important, as carriers can avoid marriage with other carriers, which passes the disease to the children. The disease is treated with the drug Tafamidis. The medicine slows the progression of the disease until a liver transplant can be performed. Deputies were told, however, that up to 20 percent of people who were carriers and who had a liver transplant, exhibit symptoms of the disease 10 to 15 years post-surgery. Deputy Andreas Kyprianou said almost all Cypriots diagnosed with Crusaders' disease have undergone a liver transplant abroad, with the state covering the expenses. But given this latest information regarding the resurgence of the disease, it was important to stay abreast of medical research, he said. The disease is believed to have been brought to Cyprus by Portuguese crusaders who established themselves in fiefs in the hills northwest of the city port of Limassol, not far from their command center at the Colossi Castle. Intermarriage with local people helped spread the disease, which became even more concentrated in the area as people used to marry within their communities. The disease affects two in every 100,000 people worldwide, but it is estimated that in Cyprus its frequency is more than double. Five people in every 100,000 have the disease. The official name of the disease is Friedreich's ataxia, after the German physician Nikolaus Friedreich, who first described it in the 1860s. It results from a genetic mutation that leads to reduced expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin. Over time, this deficiency causes damage to the nervous tissues in the spinal cord, which becomes thinner and nerve cells lose some of their myelin sheath. Kyriakides said the Institute of Neurology and Genetics was trying to follow international developments in the treatment of the disease. "We are doing everything possible, in association with foreign medical centers, to be able to offer the best to these patients. When the disease is diagnosed early, treatment can be very effective," he said. Apex court show cause over law on wildlife organs Responding to a writ petition the Supreme Court has issued a show cause notice to the government for not taking action against the illegal use of wildlife parts in the country. TBILISI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria Friday announced the launch of Georgia's Defence Readiness Program (GDRP), which will be carried out with the United States over the course of three years to boost the country's self-defense capabilities. "I can announce a new era in Georgia-US relations, which, in the long-term perspective, will boost Georgia' s defence capacities and provide higher security for each citizen of the country," Izoria said at the opening ceremony at the NATO standards Combat Training Center located in Vaziani, on the outskirts of Tbilisi. According to the Defense Ministry of Georgia, the GDRP is a joint military project of Georgia and U.S., aiming to increase the combat readiness of the Georgian Armed Forces. Within the program, nine battalions of Georgia will be trained and equipped. Each battalion will be trained for three months and the trainings will last until 2021. The first phase of the trainings will be carried out under the supervision of American instructors. From 2020 only Georgian instructors will lead the exercises. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 03:26:31|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close People visit exhibits at OTE Telecommunications Museum, in Athens, Greece, on May 18, 2018. Greece celebrated the International Museum Day on Friday by providing free admission to visitors and hosting several special events at museums nationwide. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Greece celebrated the International Museum Day on Friday by providing free admission to visitors and several special events hosted at museums nationwide. Thousands of Greeks and foreign tourists who flocked to Greek museums and cultural centers were offered guided tours, art workshops, educational programs and enjoyed concerts and theatrical performances, according to the Greek culture ministry. The Telecommunications Museum of OTE Group, Greece's top telecommunications operator, which was designated by the Greek chapter of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) as the honored Greek museum for 2018, was at the heart of celebrations in Athens. Officials and citizens interested in technological advancements visited the newly renovated premises of the Telecommunications Museum to take a trip to the history of telecommunications in Greece. The museum's collection includes more than 3,400 items and rich archival material with more than 25,000 photos, documents, telegrams and maps, as well as audiovisual material, OTE's CEO Michael Tsamaz noted addressing the event. "It was our duty to preserve this part of our heritage for future generations," he said, according to Greek national news agency AMNA. Established in 1977 by ICOM to increase public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society, the International Museum Day has been steadily gaining momentum ever since. In 2017, it garnered record-breaking participation, with more than 36,000 museums hosting events in some 156 countries, according to ICOM. The theme of this year's celebration was "Hyperconnected museums: New Approaches, New Publics". "Hyperconnectivity is a term invented in 2001 to describe the multiple means of communication we have today, such as face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging, telephone or the Internet. This global network of connections becomes each day more complex, diverse and integrated. In the hyperconnected world of today, museums join the trend," an ICOM press statement explained. MOSCOW, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has no intention to abandon the Iran nuclear deal after the U.S. withdrawal from it, visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday. "Although this agreement is not perfect, it is better than no agreement," Merkel said at a televised press conference after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. "Germany, Britain, France and all our colleagues in the EU support this deal and we intend to stick to it in the future," she said. Merkel said the Iran nuclear deal was one of the main topics she discussed with Putin and that they were "united" in supporting continued talks with Iran on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The German leader also said the EU is discussing measures aimed at cushioning the effects of possible U.S. sanctions against European entities cooperating with Iran. "But no one has to nurture illusions that the compensations will be huge. These are economic decisions and the companies have to make their own choice," she said. The Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed in 2015 by Iran, Russia, the United States, Britain, China, France and Germany. On May 8, U.S. President Donald Trump said his country would withdraw from the deal alleging that it has failed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or supporting terrorism in the region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 03:51:39|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Photo taken on March 23, 2018 shows employees milking cows through automatic milking equipment at Fair Oaks Farms in Fair Oaks, Indiana, the United States. Mike McCloskey, board chairman of Fair Oaks Farms, a collection of 12 farms in Indiana, harbors an ambition in heart: sell his dairy products to China and let Chinese people have access to quality milk. For this aim, McCloskey has visited China many times and got in touch with some Chinese dairy farms. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) by Xinhua writers Xu Jing, Miao Zhuang and Wang Ping CHICAGO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Sitting in the Fair Oaks Farms Cafe, with a cup of coffee and a plate of sandwich on the table in front of him, Mike McCloskey harbors an ambition in heart: sell his dairy products to China and let Chinese people have access to quality milk. For this aim, McCloskey has visited China many times and got in touch with some Chinese dairy farms. "I've tried to look at different ways that we could work together." "I believe that (there) would be a wonderful opportunity for us to have some contribution to the nutrition and China," McCloskey told Xinhua. All foods served here in the Fair Oaks Farms Cafe, also called Cowfe, are products fresh from the farm, such as cheese, ice cream, meat, beef and pork. The cafe was the first place winner of the American Cheese Society in 2013 for its Smoked Sweet Swiss. The dairy farm also serves as a tourist attraction. It has an exhibition room and farm tour programs. About 500,000 people visit the farm every year to enjoy the fresh sandwiches, salads, delicious sweet treats made from local milk. McCloskey is board chairman of Fair Oaks Farms, a collection of 12 farms in the vast northwest plain of the state of Indiana, more than 70 miles south of Chicago. Proud and confident in his dairy products, McCloskey is eager to share them with Chinese consumers. "Chinese people are always seeking quality milk. I believe that in some type of a relationship between our company and other companies in China and dairy farmers in China, we're going to figure out over the next year, maybe two, I hope not that long," McCloskey said. McCloskey is especially enthusiastic about bringing his FairLife milk, a specialty milk product with protein concentrate vitamins and minerals, to China, saying it may end up having a contribution to China. McCloskey is particular with the production process. "If we take FairLife to China, I want to work with dairy farmers there of who I would purchase milk from, and I would want to be involved directly at the farm level all the way to the processing plant level and to what we're going to communicate to the consumer." "FairLife (in China should) be a company that owns its land, owns its cows, owns its processing plants, owns its brand and talks directly to the consumer," McCloskey envisioned his FairLife milk production in China. It is also what McCloskey is doing here in the Fair Oaks Farms. The farms have built a huge agro-business around growing and harvesting the forage crops, preparing the feed, taking care of cows and keeping them healthy, converting farm waste into fertilizer that can be returned to the land, and transporting milk products directly to supermarkets. In more than 50 years of his dairy farming life, quality of the products has always been the top priority for McCloskey. "Feeding dairy cows is all about understanding high quality forage first," he told Xinhua while stopped his pick-up in front of high forage piles. There is a professor team in the Fair Oaks Farms to make the forage for dairy cows. McCloskey also builds freestyle barns to protect cows from changing climate: spreading sand bedding for cows to lie down, dispatching well-trained employees to milk cows, and introducing advanced quick freezing equipment to keep milk fresh and sterile. "We know some babies going to drink this (milk), and we want to make sure that we never hurt someone but give them nutrition and make them healthier," McCloskey told Xinhua. Sustainable development is also what McCloskey has been after. "There is a very simple approach to the thought process of our business: you have to care and take care of your cow," McCloskey said. "The better you treat them, the better they produce." Taking care of the waste and converting them into fertilizer for the land is another accountability the farms have undertaken in maintaining sustainable development. "You have to be perfect with the environment, you have to care about the environment, and you have to take care of the environment," McCloskey said. As China's economy grows and people's life improves, the dairy and infant formula market has grown substantially over the past decade and is expected to continue expanding. According to projections of China's Ministry of Agriculture in the National Dairy Industry Development Plan for 2016-2020, 75 percent of all dairy consumed in China will continue to be produced domestically, and the remaining demand will be satisfied by imports. The European Union (EU) surpassed New Zealand in 2015 and 2016 to be the leading dairy exporter to China, with close to 50 percent of the market value. The United States moved from the third-largest exporter to China to the fourth place in 2014, with almost 10 percent of the market. Dairy markets in the world today have been very competitive, as farmers in New Zealand, the United States and Europe who have produced milk for centuries are doing it efficiently, McCloskey said. "You need to have the right people, the right frame of mind, the right transfer of knowledge." "It is not an easy process... and China's in that process." Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 03:56:40|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close ISTANBUL, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Friday reaffirmed a call for a multi-sided international mechanism to be set up to help resolve the conflict with Israel, as the Islamic world is mulling over how to respond to Israeli violence against Palestinians and the U.S. relocation of its Israel embassy to Jerusalem. Addressing an extraordinary meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, the Palestinian premier asked the United Nations for an international protection of Palestinians and a probe into the killings of more than 60 Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces on Monday at the Gaza border during demonstrations against the U.S. embassy move. "We have to take practical steps and mobilize resources for Jerusalem to help Palestinians to stand up," he said. "We have already mentioned the importance of the creation of a multi-sided international mechanism that would help the resolution of the conflict." The Palestinian side has rejected any U.S. role as a mediator in the peace process with Israel after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December last year, as Palestinians want an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called for the special OIC meeting to forge a united front against Israel, demanded action for Palestinians "massacred by Israeli bandits" to show the whole world that "humanity is not dead." "Israel must be held accountable for the innocent people it slaughtered before international law," he said. Turkey has recalled its ambassadors from Tel Aviv and Washington and asked Israeli ambassador to Ankara and consul general in Istanbul to leave for a while, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim urging Muslim countries to review their ties with Israel following Monday's violence against unarmed Palestinians. "The cause of Al-Quds is the cause of all Muslims," Erdogan told the OIC meeting, using the Arabic name for Jerusalem. "Al-Quds is too sacred to be abandoned to the mercy of a terror state which has on its hands the blood of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians." "What Israel did is a state terror, thuggery and atrocity. We will follow this issue in the United Nations General Assembly as well," he added. For his part, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani voiced support for the UN General Assembly to hold a special session to "make a judgment about the United States' illegal decision and the Zionist regime's crimes." "We want to prevent new illegal actions to be taken," he said. "We also want proper political and economic measures to be taken. We propose to impose sanctions on the products of Zionist companies. We want to set up a mechanism to provide aid to Palestinians." Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, the OIC secretary general, called it an "urgent and fair demand" for an international probe into the killings by Israel, saying "the aggressor should be sanctioned and held accountable." He deemed it necessary for an international protection of the Palestinian people, adding that "Muslim people everywhere await real action that puts an end to the Israeli open aggression against Palestinian people." BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that the Middle East situation had been complicated by the United States' withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. According to a statement issued by the German federal government, Merkel made the remarks during her meeting with Putin in Russia's Black Sea city of Sochi. Merkel told Putin that Germany, like the rest of Europe, did not want to leave the agreement and wanted to continue to support it. With regard to the Iranian nuclear program, the agreement gives "more security, more control and, above all, more transparency". But there are also topics "that have to be talked about with Iran", Merkel said, referring to the concerns of the Iranian ballistic missile program, and the question of how to proceed after the expiration of each element of the nuclear agreement. Merkel stressed after her talks with Putin how important it was to have an open exchange of ideas, especially if the two countries have different views, adding that the German-Russian cooperation had endured serious differences. "But if you want to solve problems, you have to talk to each other," Merkel was quoted as saying. With regard to the situation in Ukraine, Merkel said the Minsk accord was the "only basis" to achieve peace in east Ukraine, and agreed with Putin that it was important to station a UN peacekeeping troop in the area. With regard to Syria, Merkel said that Germany would continue to support UN's mediation efforts with full force, saying it was important the already-agreed upon process of constitutional reform really got going. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 04:31:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BRASILIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian economy created 115,898 jobs in April, the best result for that month since 2013, the Ministry of Labor and Employment said on Friday. This was the result of 1,305,225 new hires and 1,189,327 people being fired. President Michel Temer, via social media, celebrated the upbeat result as part of the country's economic recovery, saying that "optimism has returned." The official data showed that in the first four months of the year combined, Brazil has created 336,855 jobs. Additionally, April saw job creation spread out over the eight sectors of the formal economy. The largest job creation came from the services sector with 64,237 jobs, followed by the transformation industry with 24,108 jobs and civil construction with 14,394 jobs. From 2015 to 2017, the largest recession in the country's history, Brazil lost a total of 2.88 million jobs. HARARE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday held an interactive meeting with Zimbabwean women from various backgrounds to hear their concerns. The first of its kind in the country's history, the interactive dialogue was organized by the Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe to discuss various issues that affect women. Among other issues, the women lamented the prevalence of child marriages, child prostitution, women sexual abuse, lack of resources and marginalization in accessing bank loans and participation in the economy. A representative for the disabled said disabled women and girls in the country also face various challenges including stigma and discrimination. She urged the government to recognize their rights. In response, President Mnangagwa said his government would try its best to improve the welfare of women and girls in the country, including enacting and tightening legislation to enhance the protection of women's rights. He also said his government would encourage women participation in politics, noting that very few women had won the ticket to represent the ruling ZANU-PF party in the forthcoming national elections set for mid-year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 04:46:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ANKARA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will take steps against the U.S. decision to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminium following Ankara's attempt to seek exemption failed, state-run Anadolu Agency reported Friday. Tariffs will be imposed on a total of 1.8 billion-U.S. dollar imports from the United States by the Turkish government, said the report, citing Turkish Economy Ministry sources. The tariff will be applied on coal, paper, walnuts, almonds, tobacco, unprocessed rice, whisky, automobiles, cosmetics, machinery and equipment, and petrochemical products. The countermeasures will bring around 266.5 million dollars in tariffs, the ministry said. In March, the United States announced to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported iron and steel, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum, triggering criticism and outrage from its trading partners around the world. Turkey, as the sixth largest steel exporter to the United States, called the decision "unacceptable," and sought Washington for exemption from the tariff list. However, Ankara's attempt to obtain an exemption remained "inconclusive due to Washington's current stance," the source said. Earlier, Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci threatened to take countermeasures at various platforms in the wake of Washington's move. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 04:51:54|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Namibia's Deputy Health Minister Juliet Kavetuna (L, Center) and Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming (R, Center) attend a handover ceremony of medical supplies in Windhoek, Namibia on May 18, 2018. Namibia's health ministry on Friday received medical supplies worth 279,000 U.S. dollars from the Chinese government to help with eye surgeries in the southern African country. (Xinhua/Musa C Kaseke) WINDHOEK, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's health ministry on Friday received medical supplies worth 279,000 U.S. dollars from the Chinese government to help with eye surgeries in the southern African country. The donation that took place on Friday in Windhoek is set to complement the Brightness Action program (or Brightness Journey) that aims to provide free cataract surgeries to 200 patients in Namibia's capital Windhoek and the rural area of Rundu. Namibia's deputy health minister Juliet Kavetuna at the handover ceremony said the donation was another milestone in enhancing China-Namibia relations. "The donation we received is most needed and it came at a very opportune tine. It is set to enhance our health capabilities and we will use the equipment accordingly and assist those communities in need," she said. At the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming praised the program for enhancing the friendship between the two countries and for gaining precious experience for future China-Africa medical ties. The program featuring Chinese doctors and nurses providing free surgeries is expected to assist the cataract fight in Namibia, which has suffered from a shortage of eye specialists. Dangerous skies Nepal should particularly strive for exceptional air safety standards given the tough terrain BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Germany's manufacturing sector experienced a surprising increase in new orders in March, official figures by the Federal Statistical Office showed on Friday. According to the Wiesbaden-based government officials, the price-adjusted stock of manufacturing orders rose by 0.2 percent in March 2018 compared to the previous month. Outstanding orders from domestic customers were up by 0.3 percent on a monthly basis, while the volume of international orders grew by 0.1 percent during the same period. Whilst only marking a modest increase, the positive findings from the Federal Statistical Office come in spite of growing concerns over a recent cooling of economic momentum. Experts warned that many firms are already operating at the limits of their productive capacities due to skilled labor shortages on the one hand, and highlighted external risks posed by swelling trade conflicts on the other. The biggest monthly rise in orders was measured for manufacturers of intermediate goods with 0.7 percent, while consumer goods manufacturers witnessed their stock of orders decline by 0.7 percent. Orders received by capital goods manufacturers held steady at the level of the previous month. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 04:56:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Security forces are deployed around Santa Fe High School in Texas, the United States, on May 18, 2018. Eight to ten people have been killed after a shooter opened fire inside Santa Fe High School Friday morning in the southeast of Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, local police said. (Xinhua/Steven Song) HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Ten people were killed and another ten wounded when a shooter opened fire inside Santa Fe High School in the southeast of Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, Friday morning, Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed. During a press briefing near the high school, Abbott said, "It is with a very heavy heart that I can confirm that as of this time, there have been 10 lives that have been lost and another 10 that have been wounded." "We grieve for the victims who lost their lives at Santa Fe High School and we pray for the families who are suffering and will continue to suffer in the days to come," he added. The governor described the shooting as "one of the hideous attacks" that has ever happened in the histories of Texas schools, a place of learning where parents should be able to send their children without fear for their children's safety. Earlier, law enforcement identified the suspect as 17-year-old Santa Fe student Dimitrios Pagourtzis. Abbott said Pagourtzis gave himself up to the police without the courage of committing suicide which he planned to do. In his journals and computer, the suspect said he wanted to commit the shooting and then suicide. The suspect is currently at the Santa Fe Police Department, police said. The governor also confirmed that two weapons were used in the attack, a shotgun and a .38 revolver. Both weapons are legally owned by the suspect's father. There is no information whether the father is aware that the son took the weapons. Abbott said different kinds of explosive devices were detected in a home and in a vehicle of the shooter. Several law enforcement agencies are working together to analyze the explosives. Earlier in the day, an unnamed Santa Fe police officer told reporters the suspect shooter was in custody and another person was detained and questioned. "Both of them are students," he said. The officer urged local residents to stay alarmed and call 911 when seeing something suspicious. Local police also confirmed that a Santa Fe Independent School District (ISD) officer was injured in the shooting and is under surgery with critical condition. Several ambulances, including a mass casualty ambulance, along with multiple Life Flight helicopters, were seen at the site. Multiple victims were transported to a nearby hospital, some of them in critical condition. Interviewed by media, several students said they had been trained what to do when a shooting happens, but never thought a real shooting would happen. Santa Fe High School is located in Galveston County, about 54 km southeast of downtown Houston. There are about 1,400 students in the high school. Santa Fe is a city with a population of about 13,000. The school was on lockdown Friday. The county is about 360 km east of Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a gunman barged into a church last November and murdered 26 people. TIRANA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Albania will continue the high-level dialogues with the European Union (EU) and remains optimistic on the opening of EU accession negotiations, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Friday. Rama made the statement at a press conference after attending the EU-Western Balkans summit in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. According to Rama, Sofia summit did not focus on the EU opening accession negotiations for Western Balkans where Albania is especially interested in, but on connectivity, road and digital infrastructure. "We couldn't avoid the topic of our concern and took the opportunity of the meeting of the leaders and the dinner to discuss on this topic," said Rama. "EU is at the peak of an internal debate, but this was a good possibility and we used it maximally. I remain optimistic," emphasized Rama. On the sidelines of Sofia summit, in regard to Albania, Greek Prime Minister Tsipras expressed that he is optimistic that there will be a positive result in June. "If Albania receives green light for the EU accession, this will be a wider matter," Tsipras said. The European Commission gave a positive recommendation for Albania to open EU accession negotiations in April 18. In November 2016, Albania received the EU recommendation to open EU accession negotiations conditioned primarily upon the implementation of a judicial reform package passed earlier the same year. TIRANA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Albanians spend longer time at work compared to other European citizens, up to 48 hours a week, a poll conducted by the European Commission (EC) showed. According to the Chairman of the Albanian Syndicates Kole Nikolla, there is a connection between productivity and pay. "Albanians work longer hours, but the productivity is lower. Of course, payments are lower. It's a vicious circle," Nikolla said. Albanian state institutions, said Nikolla, must inspect the market and verify syndicates and their roles, since workers in Albania are still unrepresented, "We don't have basic laws, such as collective contracts, which are basic for discussing working hours, better conditions, productivity, etc," added Nikolla. According to the EC study, Albanians are followed by Serbs and Turks, who work 47 hours a week. In developed countries such as Germany and Netherlands, citizens work on average 40 hours. Meanwhile, according to Albanian National Institute of Statistics, in Albania, a citizen works on an average of 409 hours a year more than developed European countries. KIEV, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Education and Science Minister Liliya Grynevych on Friday spoke highly of Ukraine's cooperation with China in science and education sector. In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Grynevych said that the visit of Chinese Minister of Education Chen Baosheng to Ukraine in June 2017 has opened a new chapter in the bilateral cooperation. "We have greatly expanded cooperation between our universities thanks to the agreements that were signed during this visit. Also, our cooperation is now accompanied by an increase in the number of joint research projects -- we are conducting nine major research projects," Grynevych told Xinhua after a solemn ceremony to celebrate the Day of Science in Ukraine. At the ceremony, Grynevych has awarded Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei with an appreciation award of the Ukrainian Education and Science Ministry for his contribution in the development of scientific cooperation between the two countries. One of the key milestones of that cooperation was the China-Ukraine Science, Technology and Innovation Exhibition held in Kiev in November 2017, Grynevych said. "It was a very interesting joint Ukrainian-Chinese innovation exhibition. For us, China is a very interesting country as it is developing rapidly in the field of innovations. Our scientific and technical cooperation with China has great prospects," she added. Commenting on the educational cooperation between the two countries, Grynevych spoke highly of China's contribution to the development of school education in Ukraine. "It is important and noteworthy that China has provided a significant humanitarian assistance in the form of 23,000 computers for the schools in Ukraine," the minister said. Ukraine, for its part, is opening its doors for more and more Chinese students, who are willing to study in the Ukrainian universities, she said. While speaking on the plans for the future, Grynevych stressed that China and Ukraine have an array of promising projects in science and education sector. "We have a large list of joint projects, which covers several pages. First of all, we are striving to work at the level of universities, institutes, and research institutes," Grynevych said. Besides, Ukraine is interested in working with Chinese partners within the international scientific and educational projects, she added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 05:52:15|Editor: ZD Video Player Close A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel on May 18, 2018. Dozens of Palestinian demonstrators were shot and injured Friday by Israeli army gunfire and tear gas during the clashes, medics said. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar) GAZA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinian demonstrators were shot and injured Friday by Israeli army gunfire and tear gas during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, medics said. Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the health ministry in Gaza told reporters that 56 protestors were injured by Israeli soldiers' gunfire and tear gas, including five photographers and cameramen. The protests were organized for the eighth consecutive Friday by the national commission of the "Great March of Return" that began on March 30. The rallies took place in eastern Gaza Strip on Friday afternoon, as the Palestinians welcomed the decision of the United Nations Council for Human Rights to form an international investigation committee to probe Israeli violations in the Palestinian territories, mainly in the Gaza Strip. On the second day of the Muslims' holy fasting month of Ramadan, dozens of gathered late on Friday afternoon and clashed with the soldiers stationed at the borderline area with Israel. Young Palestinian demonstrators flew several kites carrying fire bombs into Israel, which landed at agricultural planted fields and caused large fires, according to Palestinian eyewitnesses and Israeli media. Top Hamas leaders arrived late on Friday afternoon to eastern Gaza Strip and stated that the marches of return will go on until it achieves its goals. Gaza Hamas chief Yehya Sinwar announced during his participation on Friday in the rallies in Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip that the "Great March of Return" will go on every Friday. Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh also stressed that the marches had made lots of achievements and will not stop until it achieves its goals and ends more than 11 years of Israeli blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders stressed that the marches will continue to be peaceful and they are not intending to turn it into military. The leaders of the national commission also stressed that they will keep the marches popular and peaceful. Since March 30, the Palestinians have been calling for their right of return and for lifting the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. The health ministry said that the Israeli army have since then killed 111 Palestinians and wounded 12,000 others. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) welcomed the decision of the UN Human Rights Council that called for forming an investigation committee to investigate the Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. PA minister of foreign affairs Reyad al-Maliki said in a press statement that "it is a step towards being fair to the Palestinian people." WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury announced on Friday that it has imposed sanctions on an influential Venezuelan political figure, three persons related to him and his alleged "corruption network." The Treasury said in a statement that it has designated Diosdado Cabello, the first-vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, the party of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and Cabello's wife and brother. A businessman, Rafael Alfredo Sarria Diaz, who has been accused of acting on behalf of Cabello, was also on the blacklist. The statement referred to Cabello as "the second most powerful man in Venezuela" after Maduro, accusing him of money laundering and involvement in trafficking drugs from Venezuela to Europe. Meanwhile, the Treasury also blocked three companies and 14 properties in the United States, which were believed to be owned or controlled by Sarria. "We are imposing costs on figures like Diosdado Cabello who exploit their official positions to engage in narcotics trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement of state funds, and other corrupt activities," said U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin in the statement. The sanctions would freeze any assets that a blacklisted person holds under U.S. jurisdiction and ban any U.S. individuals or companies from making business deals with them. The United States has been stepping up pressure on the South American country by imposing a string of sanctions on its senior officials. Venezuela does not recognize any sanctions imposed on the country without UN authorization, president of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) Delcy Rodriguez said on Wednesday. The latest sanctions came ahead of Sunday's presidential election in Venezuela, in which Maduro is up for reelection. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 06:47:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (R) meets with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Madrid, Spain, May 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda) MADRID, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said that Spain and China should have more high-level visits, plan for the future and strengthen cooperation in trade, tourism, culture and sports. Rajoy made the remarks during his meeting on Thursday with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain as well as the 13th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership. Rajoy said the Spanish-Sino relations enjoy sound development momentum. "I have visited China three times. And I was impressed last year when I attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing," he told Wang. Rajoy added that Spain and China should also play their respective advantages and enhance cooperation in the third-party market in Latin America and Africa. The prime minister said both Spain and China stand for the maintenance of multilateralism and the multilateral system, and both nations should strengthen communication and coordination, so as to play positive roles in contributing to world and regional peace. For his part, Wang said China supports the Spanish government in its efforts to protect national unity and believes that the Spanish side will continue supporting China in protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Wang said both nations should make use of the upcoming high-level visits this year so as to push the Sino-Spanish comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level. China, Wang said, appreciated Spain's support in the Belt and Road Initiative. Both sides should strengthen the alignment of respective national development strategies and look for new cooperation potential and expand cooperation fields, Wang said. Wang said China is opening more to the outside world, and both nations look to have brighter cooperation future in various fields. Source: Xinhua| 2018-05-19 06:52:25|Editor: Liu Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian surfer Filipe Toledo claimed his second career Rio Pro victory on Friday by defeating Australian Wade Carmichael in the final of the event in Saquarema, near Rio de Janeiro. The 23-year-old scored 17.10 with his best two waves - including a superb 9.93 - while Carmichael could only manage 8.0. "This is Brazil, that's our energy, that's our feeling, it's emotional and amazing coming back home," Toledo told reporters. "It's the last heat, your last chance, that's what I put in my mind. It's the big show and it's my time." Toledo, who also won the Rio Pro in 2015, is now second in the world tour standings with 18,075 points after four rounds. Australian Julian Wilson, whom Toledo defeated in the semifinals here, leads with 19,415 points. The next stop on the tour will be the Bali Pro at Keramas beach from May 27 to June 9. Emergency crews gather in the parking lot of Santa Fe High School where at least eight people were killed on May 18, 2018 in Santa Fe, Texas. (Xinhua/AFP PHOTO) HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A high school student at Santa Fe, the U.S. state of Texas, killed 10 people, most of them fellow students, on Friday before being arrested, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. The following is a chronology of the bloodiest and most notable mass shootings recorded in the United States in the past decade: -- PARKLAND, Florida, Feb. 14, 2018: A former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, opened fire with an assault-style rifle, killing 17 students and educators. -- SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas, Nov. 5, 2017: A gunman with an AR-15-style rifle barged into the First Baptist Church and killed 26 people, more than half of whom were children. -- LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Oct. 1, 2017: At least 59 people, including the alleged gunman himself, were killed and more than 500 others wounded when the attacker opened fire, sniper-style, on an open-air music festival in Las Vegas. It was the worst mass shooting attack in U.S. history. -- FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, Jan. 6, 2017: Five people died and six others were injured in the shooting inside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The gunman, Esteban Santiago, then laid down his weapons and surrendered to police. -- ORLANDO, Florida, June 12, 2016: A security guard wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando before he was shot dead by police. -- SAN BERNARDINO, California, Dec. 2, 2015: A couple declaring allegiance to the Islamic State killed 14 people and wounded 17 others at a social services center in San Bernardino City, southern California. Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik were pursued by police and died in the ensuing shootout. -- OREGON, Oct. 2, 2015: A gunman killed nine people at a community college in the state of Oregon before committing suicide after being wounded by police. The gunman, identified by U.S. media as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, about 290 km south of Portland, Oregon's largest city. -- CHARLESTON, South Carolina, June 17, 2015: A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime. Subsequently, the assailant, Dylann Roof, was sentenced to death in January 2017. -- CHICAGO, May 26, 2015: Twelve people were killed and more than 40 more wounded in shootings in Chicago during Memorial Day. -- WACO, Texas, May 17, 2015: Nine people were killed and several wounded after a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas, with more gangs threatening to descend on the town after the violence. -- WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2013: A 34-year-old navy contractor employee opened fire inside the building at the Washington Navy Yard that serves as the headquarters of the Naval Sea System Command, killing 12 people before he was shot dead by police. -- NEWTOWN, Connecticut, Dec. 14, 2012: The Sandy Hook elementary school shooting stunned the nation after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults. The attacker, who killed his mother prior to the rampage, also died in the massacre. -- OAK CREEK, Wisconsin, Aug. 5, 2012: A white supremacist killed six people in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek before he was wounded by police and turned the gun on himself. -- AURORA, Colorado, July 20, 2012: Twelve people were killed and 59 others injured at a Batman movie premier, where a lone, heavily armed gunman burst into a packed theater in a suburb 10 miles (16 km) east of Denver. Local police identified the perpetrator as James Holmes, 24, who was given 12 life sentences for each victim, and an additional 3,318 years for those he tried to kill. -- TUCSON, Arizona, Jan. 9, 2011: A gunman opened fire at a public gathering outside a grocery in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people including a nine-year-old girl and wounding at least 12 others. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot point blank in the head, leaving her critically injured, but she recovered miraculously. The 22-year-old shooter, who was reported to be fixated on Giffords, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012. -- FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 6, 2009: U.S. army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan opened fire at a military base in Fort Hood, leaving 13 dead and 42 others wounded. He was sentenced to death in 2013. -- BINGHAMTON, New York, April 4, 2009: A man shot dead 13 people at a civic center in Binghamton, where he had enrolled earlier to study English, before killing himself. -- CARTHAGE, North Carolina, March 30, 2009: A heavily-armed gunman shot dead seven patients and a nurse in a privately-owned nursing home in North Carolina, intending to kill his estranged wife who worked there. He was given multiple sentences, totalling over 179 years. -- DEKALB, Illinois, Feb. 15, 2008: A former student opened fire in a lecture hall of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, killing five students, mostly women, and wounding 16 others before fatally shooting himself. World Hypertension Day: Docs advise public on disease prevention and treatment As the world marks Hypertension Day on Thursday, cardiologists have called for more awareness and a healthy living habits to minimise hypertensionone of the leading health risks in the country. Ten people were killed and another 10 wounded when a shooter opened fire inside Santa Fe High School in the southeast of Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, Friday morning, Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed in a press conference. (Xinhua/Steven Song) WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Sorrow and anger were pouring after an armed student killed 10 people, mostly fellow students, in the state of Texas on Friday, in the latest bloody school shooting to hit the United States. A 17-year-old shooter was taken into custody after opening fire inside Santa Fe High School in the southeast of Houston, local police said. President Donald Trump addressed the shooting shortly after the news broke, vowing to take actions to protect students and secure schools. "This has been going on for too long in our country," Trump said during an event at the White House. "We grieve and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrible attack." However, Trump did not say what actions his administration will take to protect students. The shooting at the Texas school came just over three months after a shooting killed 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, state of Florida. Several students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High reached out social media to voice their sadness and outrage. "Our children are being MURDERED and you're treating this like a game," student Jaclyn Corin wrote in response to the president's Twitter comments about the Texas shooting. "This is the 22nd school shooting just this year. DO SOMETHING." A woman prays outside the Santa Fe ISD Alamo Gym where students and faculty are being brought after a shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Jennifer Reynolds /The Galveston County Daily News via AP) Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas expressed his prayers on social media to students and faculty at the school as well as first responders at the scene. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia noted that there have been 22 school shootings in the United States in 2018 and three of them occurred in the past week alone. "How many times must our hearts break hearing news like this," Kaine tweeted. "This has to stop." "More tragic bloodshed & heartbreak caused by cruel gun violence," said Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. "Congress is complicit." The February shooting in Parkland has rekindled the country's debate and movement over gun control but no major federal gun controls have been imposed since then. "Santa Fe High, you didn't deserve this," wrote Stoneman Douglas student Emma Gonzalez, a vocal survivor of the Parkland shooting. "You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you," added Gonzalez, also an organizer of the "March for Our Lives" rally in Washington D.C. in March. "My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School," wrote fellow Parkland student Corin. "It's an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town - Parkland will stand with you now and forever," Corin said. An unnamed police also confirmed that explosives were found at the campus of Santa Fe High School. The gunman, who was taken into custody on murder charges, was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old junior at the school. He was using a shotgun and a .38 revolver belonging to his father to carry out the attack, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Those weapons were legally owned. Abbott described the shooting as "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." "Nothing can prepare a parent for the loss of a child," Abbott told reporters. Interviewed by media, several students said they had been trained what to do when a shooting happens, but never thought a real shooting would happen. "My friend got shot in the art hall," Santa Fe student Dakota Shrader, told reporters. "I shouldn't be going through this," Shrader said. "It's my school. This is my daily life. I feel scared to even go back. Santa Fe High School is located in Galveston County, about 54 km southeast of downtown Houston. There are about 1,400 students in the high school. Santa Fe is a city with a population about 13,000. The school was on lockdown Friday. The county is about 360 km east of Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a gunman barged into a church in November and murdered 26 people. Germany has clearly turned its migration policy around and the difference between the positions of the Hungarian and German governments is not as big as it was before, the minister-elect to head the Prime Ministers Office said in Berlin. The only thing we now have to find common ground on is that our rejection of all types of mandatory redistribution schemes is ethically and-because of the observance of the Schengen rules and the Lisbon Treatylegally warranted, Gergely Gulyas told public media. We disagree in terms of the mandatory redistribution [of migrants], but this is not a disagreement based on principle but rather one that stems from the differences in our circumstances, Gulyas said. He said Germany had acted quite irresponsibly in 2015 by taking in more than one million migrants. Now it wants to share the consequences of that decision with others, he said. Hungary disagrees with this goal, but the two countries do agree, however, that the European Unions external borders must be protected, Gulyas said. Unfortunately we cannot yet see if any sanctions would be imposed on countries that fail to fulfil this duty, he added. Gulyas said Hungary refuses to accept any policy that approaches the issue of migration from the idea of the mandatory redistribution of migrants. Hungary believes that the starting point on this issue should be the protection of the blocs external borders, because this is the guarantee that the trouble that came out of the decisions made in 2015 cannot escalate, he said. MTI Photo: Mathe Zoltan Share your story We're interested in your stories, and photos, related to expat life in Hungary. Your contributions, and Press Releases, are invited for review before publication in the loop. Hungarian president Janos Ader on Friday formally appointed the ministers of Prime Minister Viktor Orbans fourth government. Zsolt Semjen (pictured below, left) is deputy prime minister and minister without portfolio in charge of Hungarian communities abroad, church affairs and national minorities. Sandor Pinter continues as interior minister while Mihaly Varga will head the new finance ministry. Both have been appointed as deputy prime ministers. Gergely Gulyas has been appointed minister heading the Prime Ministers Office. Laszlo Trocsanyi stays on as justice minister as does Antal Rogan as head of the Cabinet Office. Peter Szijjarto remains in charge of the foreign affairs and trade ministry and Janos Suli continues as minister without portfolio in charge of the upgrade of the Paks nuclear power plant. Tibor Benko is the new defence minister and Andrea Bartfai-Mager the minister without portfolio in charge of national assets. Laszlo Palkovics will head the new innovation and technology ministry. Istvan Nagy is the new minister of agriculture and rural development and Miklos Kasler will head the human resources ministry. MTI Photo: Szigetvary Zsolt / Kovacs Tamas DoTM Director General Bhattarai called to ministry Department of Transport Management (DoTM) Director General Rup Narayan Bhattarai has been called to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] Ironwood Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson explained Monday how the city plans to use a $469,000 Clean Water grant. It was recently announced the city will receive the grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Erickson said its a pilot project and other communities in Michigan will be watching how Ironwood uses the grant. There are three facets to the citys plans for the grant. First, the funds will be used to update water distribution system material inventories and computerize information that will then be able to be easily accessed in the future. The other two phases involve assessment management and replacing service lines, Erickson said. The replacement of lines will probably involve only a block or two, Erickson told the commission. While there is little lead in the citys lines that needs to be replaced, some galvanized lines need replacement, he said. Erickson said the fact the city was ready to go ahead with the project application this year was important in obtaining the grant. City commissioners agreed the grant will be administered by Coleman Engineering for $211,897. Coleman Engineering prepared the grant application and will perform much of the work. The grant will not require a city match. Paul Anderson, of Coleman, wrote in a letter to the commission that per the MDEQ, activities performed back to February are grant-eligible and may be put on his companys first pay request. This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company. As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism. We hope you are equally as excited as us. This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers. Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited. In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy. Happy shootin' my friends! Buying Guides: Firearms Firearm Accessories Ammunition Gun Safes Scopes & Optics Hunting Air Rifles Best AR-15 Best AR 15 Scope Best Hunting Rifle Best Gun Safe Best AK 47 Best AR 10 Best Glock Triggers Best Glock Best Home Defense Shotgun Govt to scrap fees unfairly levied on Malaysia-bound Nepali workers In a major move likely to provide much-needed relief for Nepali migrants choosing to work in Malaysia, the government has decided to scrap additional fees being charged under various headings. 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... U.S. President Donald Trump (L, front) greets Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev (R, front) at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Yang Chenglin) WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump met with visiting Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the White House on Wednesday and the two discussed Afghanistan and bilateral trade cooperation. During their talks, Trump and Mirziyoyev compared notes on regional security issues, including the stability in Afghanistan, said the White House in a statement released after their meeting. Mirziyoyev, who was on his first trip to Washington since he came to power in 2016, pledged his support for the Afghan government, with which Uzbekistan has signed agreements last year to boost trade and infrastructure development. Trump recognized the important role that Uzbekistan plays in the region, offered political support and planning consultations regarding Uzbekistan's railroad and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, said the White House. Uzbekistan, sharing border with war-torn Afghanistan, offers a vital supply route for the U.S. troops remaining in the country. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and U.S. forces completed their combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014 after 13 years of military presence in the country. However, around 16,000 foreign troops remain to train and assist Afghan forces. Trump and Mirziyoyev also vowed to strengthen cooperation against the threats of international terrorism. During Mirziyoyev's visit, Uzbekistan signed over 20 major business deals with U.S. companies, which, the White House said, will be worth more than 4.8 billion U.S. dollars when fully implemented and could sustain more than 10,000 U.S. jobs. Washington: A bipartisan group of 130 US lawmakers led by influential Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has urged the Trump administration to continue granting work authorisation to certain dependent spouses of non-immigrant workers holding H-1B visas, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals. The Trump administration is planning to end the Obama-era rule allowing spouses of H1-B visa holders to work legally in the US, a move that could have a devastating impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visa holders, who have work permits. H-4 visas are issued to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India. The letter by US lawmakers to the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen comes weeks ahead of the Trump administration's formal move to rescind the rule granting these spouses work authorisation in June. "The opportunity for H-4 visa holders to work has made our economy stronger, while providing relief and economic support to thousands of spouses, mostly women, who have resided in the United States for years," the letter said. "Many are on the path to permanent residency and would already be permanent residents if not for the decades-long employment backlogs. Rescinding the rule will hurt the competitiveness of US employers and the US economy, as well as H-4 accompanying spouses and their families. We strongly urge you to reconsider this action," said the lawmakers. Signed by 130 lawmakers from both the Republican and the Democratic Party, a copy of the letter dated May 16 was released to the press. "We write to urge you to maintain the current regulation granting work authorisation to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B non-immigrant workers," the letter said. According to a recent Congressional report, a staggering 93 per cent of the total H-4 visa holders in the US having work authorisation are from India. Providing work authorisation for accompanying spouses helps US employers recruit and retain highly-qualified employees, putting US policy on par with other countries, such as Canada and Australia, competing to attract talented foreign nationals, the lawmakers argued. "A second income can help provide for children's basic needs and offer such children, many of them American-born citizens or future US citizens, increased opportunities for success. This additional income also contributes to our economy by raising the families' disposable and taxable income," the lawmakers said. The Congressmen said H-1B workers and their families are most successful when their spouses have the ability to contribute to their household income and economy, and the freedom to use their skills and pursue their goals. "It is an American value that everyone, regardless of gender, deserves to be able to use and enhance their skills, be financially self-sufficient, thrive mentally and physically, and pursue their dreams," they said, adding that the majority of H-4 spouses are women, and their inability to work widens an already existing gender inequality gap. For some, the inability to work, pursue one's goals, or contribute to one's family can lead to a loss of self-worth and depression, which greatly impacts the H-1B holders as well as their family members. "While our immigration system certainly needs reforms?including fixes to the employment and family backlogs that keep H-4 spouses from transitioning to permanent residency depriving spouses who live in the US for decades of work authorisation is not the way forward. We urge you to maintain the rule allowing certain H-4 spouses work authorisation," the lawmakers wrote. As of December 25, 2017, US Citizenship and Immigration Services had approved 126,853 applications for employment authorisation for H-4 visa holders. These count all approvals since May 2015 when the rule was implemented. This number includes 90,946 initial approvals, 35,219 renewals, and 688 replacements for lost cards. H-4 visa holders had obtained work permits under a special order issued by the previous Obama administration. Indian-Americans were a major beneficiary of this provision. More than 100,000 H-4 visa holders have been beneficiary of this rule. A 2015 rule issued by the Obama administration allows work permits for spouses who otherwise could not be employed while H-1B visa holders seek permanent resident status -- a process that can take a decade or longer. New Delhi: Ravi Kishan is one of the biggest name in the Bhojpuri film industry. The actor has worked in a number of films in Bollywood as well and is quite popular among Bhojpuri movie buffs. He enjoys a massive fan following as well. He has time and again enthralled his audiences with blockbuster films in Hindi and Bhojpuri. And now, he will launch Radio Citys web station called Radio City Love Guru Bhojpuri. Ravi Kishan is currently busy with Ekta Kapoor's AltBalaji web-series where he will be playing a pivotal part in the show titled 'The Family'. Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi too will be seen on the show. The top-notch Bhojpuri superstar was recently honoured with the Bhojpuri Ratna Samman at the Screen and Cine Bhojpuri Awards held at Kolkata. ICJ calls to end criminalisation of LGBTI persons The International Commission of Jurists has appealed to the South Asian states to repeal laws that discriminate against LGBTI persons, and to respect, protect and fulfil their human rights. Doctors and interns of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are walking on foot from Bhopal to Delhi as a mark of protest seeking an appointment of a permanent director. There has been a lacuna of permanent director since the past three years which has caused administerial deficiencies. The doctors are claiming that unavailability of a permanent director has also affected the curriculum and has resulted in inadequate redressal of the demands of the students. The foot march was started by two students from the AIIMS MBBS 2013 batch, namely Dr Sant Guru Prasad and Chandan Kumar Aryan. They began the march on May 3 from AIIMS Bhopal to Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Nirman Bhawan in Delhi. They plan to reach Delhi and meet Health Minister JP Nadda and officials from the Prime Ministers Office. On Friday, the doctors completed 200 km of march in this scorching heat. However, they are appalled over the fact that there has been no call from the authorities or any assurance whatsoever. On May 3, the doctors walked for 23 kilometers and on the second day, they walked 57 kilometres before resting in Ranchi. On the third day, they travelled 85 kms and took a halt at Dev Khajuri On the fourth day of their march on May 6, they walked for 100 kms and took a night halt at Ambanagar. They have covered over 400 kms on foot so far. In May 2015, Dr Sandip Kumar had left the institution over purchase anomalies. Ever since, AIIMS Bhopal has been operating without a director even in a situation when the day to day proceedings also rest on a nod from the chief. Dr VK Sharma had been appointed by the central government as the director in 2016 but he has refused to join. AIIMS Bhopal is one of the seven AIIMS apex healthcare institutes being established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna. A quick glance at the top news of the day: 1. At least eight dead after student open fires inside Texas high school: US media A gunman - reportedly a student - opened fire inside a high school in Texas' Santa Fe, killing at least eight people and injuring several others. While the main suspect has since been arrested, local law enforcement agencies are hunting for a possible second suspect. Read full report 2. Congress challenges appointment of BJP's Bopaiah as Karnataka Protem Speaker, all eyes on CJI Amid the high-pitched political drama going on in Karnataka following a hung verdict in the assembly polls, the Congress on Friday has challenged Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision of appointing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA KG Bopaiah as the Protem Speaker. Read full report 3. Siddaramaiah meets Congress MLAs in Hyderabad before crucial trust vote on Saturday Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is in Hyderabad on Friday to meet Congress MLAs ahead of the crucial trust vote that is to be held on Saturday. To avoid poaching by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress has taken a busload of MLAs to Hyderabad. Read full report 4. Chief secretary assault case: Kejriwal evaded some questions, says Delhi Police Amid the ongoing fight between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Lt Governor, a team of Delhi Police on Friday evening reached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence to question him about in connection with the alleged assault case of chief secretary. Read full report 5. IMD predicts monsoon to hit Kerala on May 29, three days ahead of schedule Monsoon rains are set to arrive in India, with Kerala receiving the first showers on May 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday. India is set to get a normal monsoon this year, with average rainfall likely to be 97 per cent - essential for the economy. Read full report NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing fight between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Lt Governor, a team of Delhi Police on Friday evening reached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence to question him about in connection with the alleged assault case of chief secretary Anshu Prakash. Shortly after the interrogation that went on for three hours, AD DCP Harinder Singh said even though the Chief Minister evaded some of the questions, he was cooperative. "We questioned the Delhi CM for three hours. He has been cooperative, but he evaded some questions." During the questioning, the AAP chief had requested a copy of the video clip which was denied by the police. "He (Arvind Kejriwal) had requested a copy of the video recording but we have denied his request," Singh added. The CM's private secretary Bibhav Kumar along with 11 MLAs have already been questioned in connection with the alleged assault of Prakash during a meeting on February 19 at Kejriwal's residence. Kejriwal, his former advisor VK Jain and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were also present there. The Delhi CS had alleged that he was beaten up by AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan and another AAP MLA in the presence of Kejriwal at the CM's residence, where he had been called for a meeting. The incident had led to the filing of an FIR by the CS and the 'March for Dignity', led by Prakash from the Delhi Secretariat to Raj Ghat. It had seen the participation of around 800 officers and employees holding candles in their hands. On February 23, a police team had examined the CCTV system installed at the chief minister's residence in the Civil Lines area and seized the hard disk. The forensic report on the hard disk is still awaited. Hearing the plea of Prakash challenging a breach of privilege notice issued to him for allegedly skipping a meeting called by the panel, the Delhi High Court had said that the Arvind Kejriwal government should calm their tempers. The court also sought response of the Centre, AAP government, Lieutenant Governor (LG) and others on Prakash's plea. A single-judge bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher had issued notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Privilege Committee, the Question and Reference Committee, apart from the city government and the LG, while seeking their reply in two weeks. UNITED NATIONS: Delhi is projected to become the most populous city in the world around 2028, according to new United Nations estimates released here today, which said India is expected to add the largest number of urban dwellers by 2050. The 2018 Revision of World Urbanisation Prospects produced by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and released here on Wednesday said that 68 per cent of the world population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050. Currently, 55 per cent of the world's population lives in urban areas. The report notes that future increases in the size of the world's urban population are expected to be highly concentrated in just a few countries. Together, India, China and Nigeria will account for 35 per cent of the projected growth of the world's urban population between 2018 and 2050. By 2050, it is projected that India will have added 416 million urban dwellers, China 255 million and Nigeria 189 million. Tokyo is the world's largest city with an agglomeration of 37 million inhabitants, followed by New Delhi with 29 million, Shanghai with 26 million, and Mexico City and S?o Paulo, each with around 22 million inhabitants. Cairo, Mumbai, Beijing and Dhaka all have close to 20 million inhabitants. "By 2020, Tokyo's population is projected to begin to decline, while Delhi is projected to continue growing and to become the most populous city in the world around 2028," the report said. The projected population size of New Delhi in 2028 is about 37.2 million, surpassing Tokyo's 36.8 million, it added. By 2030, the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants, most of them in developing regions. However, some of the fastest-growing urban agglomerations are cities with fewer than a million inhabitants, many of them located in Asia and Africa. Projections show that urbanisation, the gradual shift in residence of the human population from rural to urban areas, combined with the overall growth of the world's population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90 per cent of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa, according to the new United Nations data set launched on Wednesday. The urban population of the world has grown rapidly from 751 million in 1950 to 4.2 billion in 2018. Asia, despite its relatively lower level of urbanization, is home to 54 per cent of the world's urban population, followed by Europe and Africa with 13 per cent each. Today, the most urbanized regions include Northern America (with 82 per cent of its population living in urban areas in 2018), Latin America and the Caribbean (81 per cent), Europe (74 per cent) and Oceania (68 per cent). The level of urbanization in Asia is now approximating 50 per cent. In contrast, Africa remains mostly rural, with 43 per cent of its population living in urban areas. Some cities have experienced population decline in recent years. Most of these are located in the low-fertility countries of Asia and Europe where overall population sizes are stagnant or declining. "Economic contraction and natural disasters have also contributed to population losses in some cities," the report said. Globally, fewer cities are projected to see their populations decline from today until 2030, compared to what has occurred during the last two decades. The rural population of the world has grown slowly since 1950 and is expected to reach its peak in a few years. The global rural population is now close to 3.4 billion and is expected to rise slightly and then decline to 3.1 billion by 2050. Africa and Asia are home to nearly 90 per cent of the world's rural population in 2018. India has the largest rural population (893 million), followed by China (578 million). The report added that understanding the key trends in urbanization likely to unfold over the coming years is crucial to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including efforts to forge a new framework of urban development. As the world continues to urbanize, sustainable development depends increasingly on the successful management of urban growth, especially in low-income and lower-middle-income countries where the pace of urbanization is projected to be the fastest. "Many countries will face challenges in meeting the needs of their growing urban populations, including for housing, transportation, energy systems and other infrastructure, as well as for employment and basic services such as education and health care. Integrated policies to improve the lives of both urban and rural dwellers are needed, while strengthening the linkages between urban and rural areas, building on their existing economic, social and environmental ties," it said. Chandigarh: The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) will announce HBSE Class 12 results 2018 at 3 am on today on its official website bseh.org.in. Students can also access their results at indiaresults.com, examresults.net and on SMS. The Board has made all necessary arrangements to declare the results. Earlier today, candidates were unable to access the official website bseh.org.in. Later, it reports suggested that a technical glitch caused the server error. How to check the HBSE Haryana Board Class 12 result 2018 - Visit bseh.org.in or indiaresults.com or examresults.net - Look for SSCE or Class 12 results - Enter the required details and click on submit. - Download your result or keep a printout for future reference. The Haryana Board SSCE exam was held from March 7 to April 3, 2018, with more than 2 lakh candidates appearing for it. The Board of School Education Haryana or BSEH is the chief authority which conducts public examinations at middle, matric (secondary or high school level), and senior secondary school (academic & vocational) levels twice a year across the state. It was founded on 3 November, 1969 in Chandigarh. The board supervises, organises, controls, regulates and looks after the matters associated with school education in the state of Haryana. The BSEH is unique from other educational boards in India in the terms of the way it conducts the examinations. It was the first educational board in India to adopt the semester system and also the first board to introduce relative grading. The integral part of the BSEH, Haryana Open School (HOS) conducts on demand examination, annual and supplementary examinations at secondary and senior secondary levels. The main aim of HOS is to provide education to all those who cant afford formal education due to social, financial and other reasons. HBSE Class 12 result 2018: The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) is all set to release the HBSE Class 12 result 2018 on its official website bseh.org.in. Students can also access their results at indiaresults.com and examresults.net. The Haryana Board SSCE exam was held from March 7 to April 3, 2018, with more than 2 lakh candidates appearing for it. Last year, nearly 2.1 lakh students registered for the exam. The overall pass percentage stood at 64.49, with girls outperforming boys. According to latest reports, the Board has made all the necessary arrangements to declare the results. Earlier today, candidates were unable to access the official website bseh.org.in. Later, it reports suggested that a technical glitch caused the server error. How to check the HBSE Haryana Board Class 12 result 2018 - Visit bseh.org.in or indiaresults.com or examresults.net - Look for SSCE or Class 12 results - Enter the required details and click on submit. - Download your result or keep a printout for future reference. The Board of School Education Haryana or BSEH is the chief authority which conducts public examinations at middle, matric (secondary or high school level), and senior secondary school (academic & vocational) levels twice a year across the state. It was founded on 3 November, 1969 in Chandigarh. The board supervises, organises, controls, regulates and looks after the matters associated with school education in the state of Haryana. The BSEH is unique from other educational boards in India in the terms of the way it conducts the examinations. It was the first educational board in India to adopt the semester system and also the first board to introduce relative grading. The integral part of the BSEH, Haryana Open School (HOS) conducts on demand examination, annual and supplementary examinations at secondary and senior secondary levels. The main aim of HOS is to provide education to all those who cant afford formal education due to social, financial and other reasons. HBSE Class 12 result 2018: The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) is all set to announce the HBSE Haryana Board Class 12 result 2018 on Friday on the official website bseh.org.in. Candidates can also access their Haryana Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) results on indiaresults.com, examresults.net and on SMS. The Haryana Board SSCE exam was held from March 7 to April 3, 2018. Last year, nearly 2.1 lakh students registered for the exam. The overal pass percentage stood at 64.49, with girls outperforming boys. How to check the HBSE Haryana Board Class 12 result 2018 - Visit bseh.org.in or indiaresults.com or examresults.net - Look for SSCE or Class 12 results - Enter the required details and click on submit. - Download your result or keep a printout for future reference. The Board of School Education Haryana or BSEH is the chief authority which conducts public examinations at middle, matric (secondary or high school level), and senior secondary school (academic & vocational) levels twice a year across the state. It was founded on 3 November, 1969 in Chandigarh. The board supervises, organises, controls, regulates and looks after the matters associated with school education in the state of Haryana. The BSEH is unique from other educational boards in India in the terms of the way it conducts the examinations. It was the first educational board in India to adopt the semester system and also the first board to introduce relative grading. The integral part of the BSEH, Haryana Open School (HOS) conducts on demand examination, annual and supplementary examinations at secondary and senior secondary levels. The main aim of HOS is to provide education to all those who cant afford formal education due to social, financial and other reasons. New Delhi: The Indian Army on Friday evening foiled an infiltration bid after an exchange of fire between security personnel and terrorirsts in Handwara area of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army, according to news agency ANI, has confirmed that the terrorists were trying to cross into Indian territory when they were fired upon by security personnel. The encounter lasted for close to an hour. No reports of any casualties have been received so far. The latest incident comes just days after the Indian government had declared a unilateral ceasefire due to the holy month of Ramzan. The Ministry of Home Affairs had said that the decision had been taken to help "peace-loving Muslims observe Ramzan in a peaceful environment". However, the Centre had also said that the security forces "reserve the right to retaliate if attacked or if essential to protect the lives of innocent people". Pakistan has since continued with unprovoked firing from across the LoC. On Friday, four civilians and one Border Security Force (BSF) constable died and 12 others injured after Pakistan troopers once again resorted to ceasefire violation in RS Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors. The attack comes days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's impending visit in the state. NEW DELHI: Possibly inspired by the fast-paced political developments in Karnataka, the opposition leaders in Goa, Bihar and Manipur on Friday met the Governor of their respective states and demanded a change of guard. According to reports, a delegation of Congress leaders met the Governor of Goa and staked claim to form a government in the state. 13 Congress leaders, led by Goa in-charge Chella Kumar, met Governor Mridula Sinha and staked claim to form the government. In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, the delegation claimed that Congress is the single largest party in the state. The Congress Goa in-charge had earlier claimed that if given a chance they can prove their majority in the assembly within seven-day. "We request the Governor to give us seven-day and we will prove the majority on the floor. We are meeting governor to stake claim to form a government in Goa as the Congress is single largest party hence we should get an opportunity to form a government like in Karnataka," Chella Kumar said. Goa Congress spokesperson, Yatish Naik, confirmed the same and asserted that being the single largest party in the state, they would request the Goa Governor to give them a chance. "We are going to tell her that since her counterpart in Karnataka has called the single largest party, she should also call us now. We are the single largest party, will prove majority on the floor of the House," Naik said. Similarly, a delegation led by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and comprising members from Congress and CPI-ML meet Governor Satyapal Malik and staked claim to form government in Bihar. Patna: Tejashwi Yadav and other alliance leaders met Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik, hand over letters stating that RJD is the single largest party and hence should be invited to form Government pic.twitter.com/K24yHxu3nH ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 RJD and other alliance parties also submitted letters to Governor Satyapal Malik stating that the RJD is the single largest party hence it should be invited to form Government in the state. RJD and other alliance parties-Congress and CPI(ML) hand over letters to Governor Satyapal Malik stating that RJD is the single largest party hence should be invited to form Government pic.twitter.com/NdTSuvBsB0 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 Speaking to media later, Tejashwi Yadav said that people of Bihar are fed up with Nitish (Kumar) uncle who has formed the government from the backdoor. He claimed that if given a chance by the Governor, his party will comfortably prove majority on the floor of the House. ''If we are given a chance, we can easily clear the floor test. We have a total of 111 MLAs and some unhappy JD(U) MLAs are in contact with us. We don't have MLAs in our party or alliance who will take u-turn like Nitish Kumar,'' Tejashwi Yadav, RJD, told reporters. If we are given a chance, we can easily clear the floor test. We have a total of 111 MLAs and some unhappy JD(U) MLAs are in contact with us. We don't have MLAs in our party or alliance who will take u-turn like Nitish Kumar: Tejashwi Yadav, RJD pic.twitter.com/0kihMawxz8 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 In a related development, a Congress party delegation met Manipur Acting Governor Jagdish Mukhi and staked claim to form government in the state. The delegation claimed that Congress was the single largest party in this northeastern state, so it should be given a chance to prove majority in the state assembly. The developments came after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R Vala invited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the single-largest party, to form a government in the state. Amid high drama, Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had invited the BJP (104 seats) leader BS Yeddyurappa to form government in the state following a fractured verdict thrown by the state's electorate after the May 12 polls. The Congress-Janata Dal-Secular combine challenged the Governor's decision in the top court, which on Friday ordered a floor test at 4 pm on Saturday (May 19). (With ANI inputs) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day-long visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday where he will inaugurate the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower Station in Srinagar. PM Modi is expected to dedicate the power project to the nation at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), reported news agency ANI. NHPC in a statement in April had said that the third unit (110MW) of the project was successfully synchronised with the grid and that it has achieved its rated full load successfully. Expected to generate 1,713 million units per annum by diverting water from Kishanganaga river to an underground powerhouse, the project is expected to benefit several north Indian states. Security heightened in #Srinagar ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's day-long visit to #JammuAndKashmir tomorrow. PM will attend the closing ceremony of the birth centenary celebration of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in Leh pic.twitter.com/O2cgKngQnd ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 Pakistan has raised several objections in the past but India has maintained the project would not have any impact on rivers flowing into the neighbouring country. PM Modi though is likely to elaborate on the benefits to several states in India when he inaugurates the project on a day when he is also scheduled to lay the foundation stone of Srinagar Ring Road and attend the closing ceremony of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in Leh. Indian farmers grow crops illegally in Saptari district A group of five families from India are planting crops on more than 50 bighas of public land at Gobargadha and Lalapati in Saptari without taking permission from the Nepali authority, according to Shailesh Kumar Sah, the mayor of Hanumannagar Kankalini Municipality. NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday assured help to Indians stranded at the Bishkek airport in Kyrgyzstan after their flight was cancelled. A man named Ajay Gupta said on Twitter that he along with 50 others was on group tour in Bishkek and while departing from the airport, their flight was cancelled allegedly without any prior intimation. "And now they are not cooperating with us at all. Need your help asap," he said, requesting Swaraj's intervention. Taking note, Swaraj asked the India Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan to send embassy officials to the Bishkek airport to help the stranded Indians. Meanwhile, the minister also assured all assistance to the family of an Indian who had died in Ethiopia. JAMMU: Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen has released photos of the three service weapons looted from the Jammu and Kashmir policemen from Srinagar on Thursday evening. According to reports, the terror outfit has released the photos on its Facebook account named ''Hamzah Hizbi''. Two J&K policemen were detained for questioning after they reported to the authority that a group of armed terrorists had attacked their guard post and took away their rifles. The incident took place a guard post of a hotel in the Srinagar city on Thursday evening. The policemen reported to the police headquarters that a group of terrorists had barged into their post and snatched their rifles. Preliminary investigation, however, revealed that there was no eyewitness to the incident that took place at a crowded place and there was no resistance from the policemen. The two policemen, attached with the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, were immediately taken into custody and a hunt was launched for the third cop. The incident set alarm bells ringing within the security establishment as Prime Minister Narendra will be visiting Kashmir Valley on May 19. In a related development, a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was killed and two civilians were injured during a ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura Sector early on Friday. New agency ANI reported that the Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the RS Pura. 1991 born, constable Sitaram Upadhyay was inducted into the BSF in 2011. He hailed from Giridih, Jharkhand. He sustained serious injuries during unprovoked firing from Pakistan in in the Arnia Sector. He is survived by a 3-year-old daughter and one-year-old son. Meanwhile, two civilians were injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector, reports said. Schools within the 3-km radius of the International border, which often come under the cross-border firing, have been declared closed by the state administration. A soldier of the Border Security Force (BSF) was martyred on Tuesday after Pakistan violated ceasefire yet again in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba sector. Pakistan has repeatedly violated ceasefire agreement with India, with more than 650 such incidents this year alone - till April. While security forces have suffered losses, civilian casualties too have mounted prompting authorities to recently build several bunkers. Last month, Pakistan-based Dawn reported that the country is now planning an ambitious space programme during the next fiscal year (2018-19) at a cost of Rs 4.7 billion in a possible bid to keep an eye on the Indian side. India too has been looking to use hi-tech surveillance equipment to ensure Pakistani forces are unable to provide mortar-fire cover to terrorists attempting to sneak into India. While details have not been made known due to secrecy-related issues - the BSF did install a high-tech fence in a border area with Bangladesh which would ensure no illegal entry takes place from the other side. BSF has not ruled out installing similar fences along the LoC in the times to come. SRINAGAR: Four civilians and one Border Security Force (BSF) constable died and 12 others injured after Pakistan troopers once again resorted to ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir's n RS Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors on Friday. The attack comes days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's impending visit in the state. Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled villages and Border out Posts (BoPs) since 0100 hours in R S Pura, Bishnah sectors, a senior BSF officer told PTI. This is the third day of shelling and firing by the troops of neighbour nation along the International Border in Jammu frontier. Sitaram Upadhyay, the 28-year-old martyred jawan, was critically injured at Jabowal BoP around 0130 hours. He died en-route to GMC Hospital in Jammu. Photo of BSF Constable Sitaram Upadhyay, who lost his life in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector of #JammuAndKashmir. He hails from Jharkhand & is survived by a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. pic.twitter.com/ViHqGi5Rzc ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 Upadhyay was inducted into the BSF in 2011. He hailed from Giridih, Jharkhand. He is survived by a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter, officials said. 'The shelling is still underway. The administration will provide best possible help to civilians, said RC Kotwal, Superintendent of Police. Schools within the 3-km radius of the International border, which often come under the cross-border firing, have been declared closed by the state administration. A soldier of the Border Security Force (BSF) was martyred on Tuesday after Pakistan violated ceasefire yet again in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba sector. The incident reportedly happened in the early hours of Tuesday when Pakistani forces began unprovoked firing from across the LoC in the Samba sector. While Indian forces retaliated strongly, a BSF constable - Devender Kumar - lost his life. Pakistan has repeatedly violated ceasefire agreement with India, with more than 650 such incidents this year alone - till April. While security forces have suffered losses, civilian casualties oo have mounted prompting authorities to recently build several bunkers. With agency inputs RS Pura: A Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was killed and two civilians were injured during a ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura Sector early on Friday. The fresh violation of ceasefire by Pakistan reportedly comes days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's J&K visit. News Agency reported that the Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the RS Pura. One #BorderSecurityForce (BSF) soldier was killed during a ceasefire violation from across the border in #JammuAndKashmir 's R S Pura Sector ANI Digital (@ani_digital) May 18, 2018 1991 born, constable Sitaram Upadhyay was inducted into the BSF in 2011. He hailed from Giridih, Jharkhand. He sustained serious injuries during unprovoked firing from Pakistan in in the Arnia Sector. He is survived by a 3-year-old daughter and one-year-old son. Photo of BSF Constable Sitaram Upadhyay, who lost his life in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector of #JammuAndKashmir. He hails from Jharkhand & is survived by a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. pic.twitter.com/ViHqGi5Rzc ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 Meanwhile, two civilians were injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector, reports said. Two civilians injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector are undergoing treatment at a hospital. RC Kotwal, Superintendent of Police, said, ''shelling is still underway. The administration will provide best possible help to civilians.'' Two civilians injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector undergoing treatment at a hospital. RC Kotwal, Superintendent of Police, says, 'shelling is underway. Administration will provide best possible help to civilians' #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/F5eQ2w260q ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 Schools within the 3-km radius of the International border, which often come under the cross-border firing, have been declared closed by the state administration. A soldier of the Border Security Force (BSF) was martyred on Tuesday after Pakistan violated ceasefire yet again in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba sector. The incident reportedly happened in the early hours of Tuesday when Pakistani forces began unprovoked firing from across the LoC in the Samba sector. While Indian forces retaliated strongly, a BSF constable - Devender Kumar - lost his life. Pakistan has repeatedly violated ceasefire agreement with India, with more than 650 such incidents this year alone - till April. While security forces have suffered losses, civilian casualties too have mounted prompting authorities to recently build several bunkers. Last month, Pakistan-based Dawn reported that the country is now planning an ambitious space programme during the next fiscal year (2018-19) at a cost of Rs 4.7 billion in a possible bid to keep an eye on the Indian side. India too has been looking to use hi-tech surveillance equipment to ensure Pakistani forces are unable to provide mortar-fire cover to terrorists attempting to sneak into India. While details have not been made known due to secrecy-related issues - the BSF did install a high-tech fence in a border area with Bangladesh which would ensure no illegal entry takes place from the other side. BSF has not ruled out installing similar fences along the LoC in the times to come. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called former PM HD Deve Gowda to wish him on his birthday. The phone call comes at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is fighting against the Congress- Janata Dal Secular combine to form the government in Karnataka. In the run-up to the elections, Modi had begun by applauding Deve Gowda and criticising the Congress for 'insulting' the former PM. Deve Gowda however, termed Modi's appreciation as a way to garner sympathy votes for the BJP. Soon after, Modi took an apparent U-turn and asked people not to waste their votes on the JDS. "JD(S) stands at third place and people should not waste their vote on them," he had said. He had also added that the JDS had joined hands with communal forces of different states who support Naxalites. On Thursday, BJP's BS Yeddyurappa took oath as the CM and was given 15 days to form the government and prove majority on the floor of the House. The Congress and the JDS are in no mood to let the BJP have it easy. With the BJP bagging 104 seats and falling short of the half-way mark of 112, the Congress and the JDS have taken their MLAs to a hotel in Hyderabad. The Congress and JDS have also filed a petition against the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa in the Supreme Court. While refusing to stay the oath ceremony, the top court had asked Yeddyurappa to produce before it the letters he wrote to the state's Governor claiming support of MLAs for forming the government. The matter will be taken up by a top court bench on Friday. The three-judge wants to vet the contents of the letters - basically to check whether the Governors decision to invite Yeddyurappa was an informed one. Bengaluru: Amid an ongoing power struggle in Karnataka, state's newly-elected Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had transferred several IAS and IPS officers in a top-level reshuffle soon after he took charge. According to reports, the Karnataka CM's office also appointed a new Advocate General. CM Yeddyurappa appointed senior advocate Prabhuling K Navadagi as the Advocate General of Karnataka, in place of Madhusudan R Naik, who has since resigned. Governor Vajubhai Vala appointed Navadagi to the post with immediate effect, a Karnataka government notification said. Effecting changes in the bureaucracy, the BSY government appointed M Lakshminarayana, additional chief secretary, public works department, as the additional chief secretary to the Chief Minister. It also notified that his position would be equivalent to the additional chief secretary in the Home department. Senior IPS officer Amar Kumar Pandey, serving as Additional Director General of Police, Railways, has been made ADGP, Intelligence, according to a government notification. Deputy Inspector General of Police, Karnataka State Reserve Police Sandeep Patil will be the DIG, Intelligence. Bidar Superintendent of Police D Devaraja has been transferred to Bengaluru Central division as the deputy commissioner of police. Superintendent of police in the Anti-Corruption Bureau S Girish has been transferred as DCP of Bengaluru North East Division. The bureaucratic reshuffle in Karnataka comes at a time when the Supreme Court is set to resume hearing on Congress petition challenging the government formation in the state. Amid high drama, BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa was on Thursday morning sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka following an overnight high-voltage legal battle in the Supreme Court. The 75-year-old Lingayat strongman was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan amid loud cheering by his supporters. Yeddyurappa was administered the oath alone, hours after the Supreme Court refused to stay his swearing-in. Yeddyurappa has been given 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House, eight short of the magic figure of 112. The Congress (78) and the JD(S) (38) had joined hands after the election and staked claim to form the government. Meanwhile, the Congress said that it would observe 'Save Democracy Day' across the country on Friday in protest against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to "illegally" invite BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in the state. The party late on Thursday shifted all its MLAs lodged in a resort outside Bengaluru to a safe location in Hyderabad. New Delhi: Galloping forward on its horse-trading allegation on Friday evening, the Congress party released an audio clip which purportedly reveals how BJP's Janardhana Reddy attempted to lure Basanagouda Daddal to break ranks with Congress. A day before BJP's BS Yeddyurappa attempts to pass a floor test to show he has the numbers needed to continue as CM, Congress released the clip and alleged that BJP is repeatedly offering money to its MLAs in Karnataka in order for it to make up its deficit - a charge BJP has vehemently denied. The audio clip though has still been brandished as a weapon by Congress. In it, a man suspected to be Reddy is heard telling another man believed to be Daddal that the national president of BJP will speak to him personally and that Daddal should put past animosity aside. Transcript of the conversation - which Zee News cannot independently verify or vouch for - is as follows: Man 1: Is it Basanagouda? Are you free? Man 2: Yes it is me. Man 1: Forget all that has happened before, forget all the bad things. I am telling you, that my good time has begun. And I will arrange a meeting with the national president and you can speak to hijm one-to-one and we can take the enxt step. Man 2: No sir, when I was on my last leg they made me MLA. Man 1: I will tell you one thing. BSR time we had very bad time when we formed the party, where there was a lot of opposition. There is no doubting that you have lost a lot by believing in us. But I am telling you, you will grow a 100 times more. Shivanagouda nayak became a minister because of me. Today he is strong and able to look after himself. It all happened because of me. Raju Gowda also benefitted because of me. Man 2: Yes. Man 1: It was your misfortune that it was our bad time. Today Shivanagouda winning is not useful. You will become minister. Did you understand? Directly we will make you meet the big man. I will make you speak to him... you will make 100 times the wealth you made so far. Man 2: I am sorry sir. I was on my last leg when they gave me a ticket and made me win. In such a situation I cannot betray him. I respect you. BJP has come out all guns blazing to deny any wrongdoing. "This audio CD is one of the handiworks of Congress' dirty tricks department. This is a fake CD," Prakash Javadekar told mediapersons. While denying the authenticity of the clip, Yeddyurappa - who took oath as CM on Thursday - also expressed confidence about the floor test scheduled for a day later. "Of course they are with us, if the MLAs from Congress and JD(S) don't support us, how can we prove majority? We will win the floor test 101%," he told news agency ANI. That did not stop Congress from filing a complaint against Reddy. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) filed complained & demanded action against BJP's Janardhan Reddy for offering hundreds of crore rupees & a minister portfolio to Raichur rural MLA Basvanagowda Daddal through telephone ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 Meanwhile, on a day when Congress claimed victory after Supreme Court reduced time given to Yeddyurappa to prove majority from 15 days to 24 hours, the party had to go back knocking on the doors of the apex court because Governor Vajubhai Vala nominated three-time BJP MLA KG Bopaiah as the Protem Speaker for Saturday's floor-test. Congress said the Governor did not follow the norm of nominating the senior-most MLA and said 'he is continuing to assault democracy.' It is Vala who had invited Yeddyurappa to take oath despite Congress-JDS combine having together crossed the majority mark. Supreme Court will hear the Congress' plea at 1030hrs on Saturday. Yeddyurappa will have to prove majority just hours later - at 1600hrs. Bengaluru: Ahead of the hearing on its petition challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R Vala's decisions with regards to the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018, Congress party has expressed full faith in the judiciary and said that nothing will go wrong. Speaking on the issue, senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the party has full faith in the Supreme Court that it will not repeat the Karnataka Governor's mistake. "We have full faith in the Supreme Court. It will not repeat the same mistake the Governor did," Azad told reporters here. Responding to reports of Congress MLAs being shifted from Bengaluru over the fear of defection, Azad said that all MLAs were presently in Bengaluru. He also rebuffed BJP's accusation of forgery and said, "They are the ones who are committing forgery. It is as the saying goes- 'chor machaye shor', the one who commits the offence shouts the loudest and blames others." With 15 days left for the newly elected Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to prove majority in the state assembly, the Congress-JD(S) alliance alleged that the BJP was resorting to horse-trading to achieve the required number. On Wednesday, the Karnataka Governor had invited Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) BS Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove majority on the floor of the House in 15 days. Following this Congress and JD(S) filed a petition against this decision in top court. The Congress filed a petition before the Supreme Court to postpone the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, which in an unprecedented overnight hearing on Thursday, refused to put a stay. The top court sealed the deal in favour of the BJP, following which Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka. It also asked BSY to produce before it the letters he wrote to the state's Governor claiming support of MLAs for forming the government. The matter will be taken up by a top court bench on Friday. The three-judge wants to vet the contents of the letters - basically to check whether the Governors decision to invite Yeddyurappa was an informed one. The top court bench is also likely to get into the issue of the 15 days time given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the house. The Congress-JD(S) combine has argued that the long window will be misused by BJP to trigger defections from rival parties and engineer a majority in the assembly. Results of the Karnataka Assembly polls announced on May 15 showed that the BJP had won 104 seats, emerging as the single largest party, while the Congress and JD(S) bagged 78 and 38 seats, respectively. In a turn of events, the JD(S) and Congress forge a post-poll alliance and got the support of one Independent MLA, taking their collective number to 117. While the BJP argued that they were the single largest party to be invited first by the Governor, the JD(S) and Congress said that 112 is the majority and Congress-JD(S) combined is at 117. (With ANI inputs) NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the BS Yeddyurappa government to prove its majority on the floor of the house and directed that a floor test be held in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday, May 19. The apex court bench, while ordering the floor test, said that 'It is just a number game, one who enjoys the majority should be invited to form the Government. Congress-JD(S) plea against #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt: Supreme Court says, 'It is just a number game, one who enjoys the majority should be invited to form the Govt.' ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 The court further said that the floor test should be held according to laid procedures and under the supervision of a Protem Speaker. The also directed the appointment of a Protem Speaker by 4 pm this evening. The top court also categorically said that there will be no secret ballot during the floor test. It is to be noted that a Protem Speaker can only vote in case of a tie. The court also restricted BS Yeddyurappa from making any major policy announcement till the results of the floor test come. The apex court passed the order while responding to a plea moved by the Congress-JD(S) against Karnataka Governor inviting BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in Karnataka. It said that there could be two probabilities - whether Governor's decision has to be tested or a floor test be held on Saturday. Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri of the three-member bench then said, ''floor test seems to be the best option.'' However, the Attorney General, Mukul Rohatgi sought time till Monday for the floor test in Karnataka Assembly, which was rejected by the top court. As the hearing began in the apex court, BS Yeddyurappa placed before it the letters he had written to the Governor in which he had staked claim to form govt in Karnataka. The apex court bench then directed Yeddyurappa's counsel Mukul Rohatgi to give copies of letters to the lawyers representing the Congress-JD(S) combine. During the hearing, Yeddyurappa told the top court that the Congress-JD(S) combine is an "unholy" alliance. The single largest party is the mandate of the people of Karnataka who have thrown out the ruling party Congress, Yeddyurappa told the top court. BSY said this while referring to his May 16 letter to Governor in which he had said that the BJP will give "stable government" and has the support of others. Amid high drama, BJP legislative party leader BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday at a plain ceremony at the Raj Bhavan. The top court had earlier asked BS Yeddyurappa to show the letters of support given by him to the state's Governor ahead of his swearing-in ceremony. The apex court bench of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan had given the Attorney General 48 hours to produce the two letters written by the newly sworn-in Karnataka Chief Minister to the Governor staking his claim to form a government. Attorney General, the top law officer of the country, was given time to procure the documents from the Governor and produce them before the court by 10.30 am on May 18. The letters, dated May 15 and May 16, were the main centre points of the Governors invitation on May 16 evening to Yeddyurappa to form a government the next morning itself. The three-judge, which conducted an unprecedented overnight haring on Congress and Janata Dal-Secular petition on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, wanted to vet the contents of the letters - basically to check whether the Governors decision to invite Yeddyurappa was an informed one. The top court bench was also expected to get into the issue of the 15 days time given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the house. The Congress-JD(S) combine has been arguing that the long window will be misused by BJP to trigger defections from rival parties and engineer a majority in the assembly. Interestingly, former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for BJP in the midnight hearing, was open to the idea of the deadline being reduced to a week or so. Amid high drama, BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa was on Thursday morning sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka following an overnight high-voltage legal battle in the Supreme Court. The 75-year-old Lingayat strongman was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan amid loud cheering by his supporters. Yeddyurappa was administered the oath alone, hours after the Supreme Court refused to stay his swearing-in. Yeddyurappa has been given 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House, eight short of the magic figure of 112. The Congress (78) and the JD(S) (38) had joined hands after the election and staked claim to form the government. Meanwhile, the Congress has said that it would observe 'Save Democracy Day' across the country on Friday in protest against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to "illegally" invite BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in the state. The party late on Thursday put all its MLAs lodged in a resort outside Bengaluru en route an undisclosed location. Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, whose fate still hangs in the balance, on Friday asserted that he was "100 percent" confident that he would prove the majority in the state Assembly. "We will abide by the Supreme Court verdict...We have got 100 percent support and cooperation to prove the majority," Yeddyurappa told reporters soon after the apex court ordered a floor test in the state assembly at 4 pm on Saturday. As per the directions of Supreme Court, we are expected to prove our majority tomorrow. We are sending our file to Karnataka governor to call an assembly session at 11 am tomorrow. We are going to prove majority: BS Yeddyurappa, CM of Karnataka. pic.twitter.com/I03TguRAV7 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 "Amidst all these political games, we will prove our majority tomorrow. We will obey the Supreme Court order," said Yeddyurappa, who faces an uphill task of rustling up the 112 MLAs required to cross the floor test hurdle. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House with an effective strength of 222 and hopes some newly elected lawmakers of the Congress and JD(S) would break ranks with their respective parties and back the Yeddyurappa government. Yeddyurappa said that he would discuss with the Chief Secretary and call the Assembly session, and other procedures will follow. Meanwhile, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was also the BJP's Karnataka poll in-charge, expressed confidence that the BS Yeddyurappa government will survive the floor tests in the state Assembly on Saturday. "BJP is ready and confident of winning trust vote in Karnataka. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House," he tweeted. His tweet came after the Supreme Court ordered that a floor test be held in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow to ascertain whether newly appointed BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa enjoys a majority in the state. Attacking BSY, former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah said, ''Yeddyurappa who has 104 MLAs including himself, in the letter requested for 7 days, he had no other name, yet Governor invited him. It was unconstitutional, Governor even gave him 15 days time.'' Mr.Yeddyurappa who has 104 MLAs including himself, in the letter requested for 7 days, he had no other name, yet Governor invited him. It was unconstitutional, Governor even gave him 15 days time: Siddaramaiah #KarnatakaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/m1mTVPnyNJ ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 The top court bench, while ordering a floor test, also barred BSY from taking any policy decisions till then. Directing the floor test at 4 pm, a bench of Justice AK Sikri, Justice SA Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan said the Protem Speaker, the senior-most member of the Assembly, would administer the newly-elected members their oath and then conduct the floor test. The court also rejected Yeddyurappa's plea, made through senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, asking for a week's time to face the floor test. The court also junked Attorney General KK Venugopal`s suggestion that the floor test be conducted through secret ballot. Bharatiya Janata Party legislative party leader BS Yeddyurappa was on Thursday sworn in as the Chief Minister after the May 12 elections threw up a hung assembly. The BJP had won 104 seats in the Assembly elections held in 222 segments, falling eight short of the 112 halfway mark. The Congress won 78 seats and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) 37. The Congress later said it would support a JD-S led government. The court also restrained the nomination of an Anglo-Indian member as it took on record statement by Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that there was no move to nominate an Anglo-Indian member in the State Assembly. The election to one seat was countermanded after the death of a candidate. The court also directed the Karnataka Director General of Police to personally ensure the security of the newly-elected lawmakers. (With Agency inputs) Indian medical drug runners held Narcotics Control Bureau of Nepal Police on Thursday made public two Indians arrested for smuggling banned pharmaceutical drugs. NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Though BJP legislative party leader BS Yeddyurappa has been sworn in as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka, his fate still hangs in the balance. The three-judge special bench of the Supreme Court will on Friday decide the fate of BS Yeddyurappa who has been asked to show the letters of support given by him to the state's Governor ahead of his swearing-in ceremony. The apex court bench of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, which gave the Attorney General 48 hours to produce the two letters written by the newly sworn-in Karnataka Chief Minister to the Governor staking his claim to form a government, will resume hearing on a petition filed by the Congress seeking a stay on Yeddyurappa's swearing-in. The top law officer of the country has been given time to procure the documents from the Governor and produce them before the court on May 18 at 10.30 am. The letters, dated May 15 and May 16, are the major focus of the Governors invitation on May 16 evening to Yeddyurappa to form a government the next morning itself. The three-judge, which conducted an unprecedented overnight haring on Congress and Janata Dal-Secular petition on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, wants to vet the contents of the letters - basically to check whether the Governors decision to invite Yeddyurappa was an informed one. The top court bench is also likely to get into the issue of the 15 days time given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the house. The Congress-JD(S) combine has argued that the long window will be misused by BJP to trigger defections from rival parties and engineer a majority in the assembly. Interestingly, former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for BJP in the midnight hearing, was open to the idea of the deadline being reduced to a week or so. Amid high drama, BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa was on Thursday morning sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka following an overnight high-voltage legal battle in the Supreme Court. The 75-year-old Lingayat strongman was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan amid loud cheering by his supporters. Yeddyurappa was administered the oath alone, hours after the Supreme Court refused to stay his swearing-in. Yeddyurappa has been given 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House, eight short of the magic figure of 112. The Congress (78) and the JD(S) (38) had joined hands after the election and staked claim to form the government. Meanwhile, the Congress has said that it would observe 'Save Democracy Day' across the country on Friday in protest against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to "illegally" invite BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in the state. The party late on Thursday put all its MLAs lodged in a resort outside Bengaluru en route an undisclosed location. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a floor test to be held in the Karnataka Assembly to prove which party holds the majority in the House. Bharatiya Janata Party's BS Yeddyurappa who took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday will have to prove whether he has enough numbers on his side or not. If he loses the floor test, he will have to step down as the CM. Karnataka had thrown a hung assembly with BJP winning 104 seats, Congress with 78 and JDS with 38 seats (37 JDS plus 1 BSP seat). As none of the parties reached the magic number of 112 of the 222 seats on which counting was held, it was the discretion of Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite a party to form government. The BJP staked claim on the argument that it is the single largest party while the Congress joined hands with the JDS and claimed that they have the majority in the House. After BS Yeddyurappa took the oath of office on Thursday, the Congress and JDS knocked the door of the Supreme Court challenging the Governor's invitation to the BJP. The trust vote will now be held on Saturday as per the SC order. Can the non-BJP MLAs switch parties or abstain from trust vote? Here is what action can be taken against the MLAs under the 10th Schedule of Constitution or the Anti-defection law: 1. An elected member of a House shall be deemed to belong to the political party, if any, by which he was set up as a candidate for election as such member; (b) a nominated member of a House shall, (i) where he is a member of any political party on the date of his nomination as such member, be deemed to belong to such political party; (ii) in any other case, be deemed to belong to the political party of which he becomes, or, as the case may be, first becomes, a member before the expiry of six months from the date on which he takes his seat after complying with the requirements of article 99 or, as the case may be, article 188. 2. An elected member of a House who has been elected as such otherwise than as a candidate set up by any political party shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if he joins any political party after such election. 3. A nominated member of a House shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if he joins any political party after the expiry of six months from the date on which he takes his seat after complying with the requirements of article 99 or, as the case may be, article 188. 4. Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, a person who, on the commencement of the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985, is a member of a House (whether elected or nominated as such) shall, (i) where he was a member of political party immediately before such commencement, be deemed, to have been elected as a member of such House as a candidate set up by such political party; (ii) in any other case, be deemed to be an elected member of the House who has been elected as such otherwise than as a candidate set up by any political party, be deemed to be a nominated member of the House. A disqualification on ground of defection will not to apply in case of merger. (1) A member of a House shall not be disqualified where his original political party merges with another political party and he claims that he and any other members of his original political party - (a) have become members of such other political party or, as the case may be, of a new political party formed by such merger; or (b) have not accepted the merger and opted to function as a separate group, and from the time of such merger, such other political party or new political party or group, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the political party to which he belongs and to be his original political party. (2) The merger of the original political party of a member of a House shall be deemed to have taken place if, and only if, not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger. Exemption: Notwithstanding anything contained in this Schedule, a person who has been elected to the office, shall not be disqualified (a) if he, by reason of his election to such office, voluntarily gives up the membership of the political party to which he belonged immediately before such election and does not, so long as he continues to hold such office thereafter, rejoin that political party or become a member of another political party; or (b) if he, having given up by reason of his election to such office his membership of the political party to which he belonged immediately before such election, rejoins such political party after he ceases to hold such office. NEW DELHI: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday welcomed Supreme Court's order calling it a vindication of the party's stand. Minutes after the Supreme Court ordered the BJP's Yeddyurappa to prove majority in floor test in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday, the Gandhi tweeted: Todays Supreme Court order, vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money & muscle, to steal the mandate. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 18, 2018 Todays Supreme Court order, vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money & muscle, to steal the mandate, he wrote on the micro-blogging site. A bench of three Justices - AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan - resumed hearing on Congress-Janata Dal Secular (JDS) petition on Friday morning, challenging Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite the BJP to form government in the state. In a fast-paced development, the top court directed Yeddyurappa to prove majority under the supervision of a Protem Speaker. The bench also ordered the appointment of a Protem Speaker by 4 pm this evening. Catch the live updates here. New Delhi: Shortly after Supreme Court ordered that the floor test in Karnataka assembly to prove majority have to be conducted at 1600hrs on Saturday, every single competing party displayed confidence beyond measure. While the onus is on BJP under a rather positive BS Yeddyurappa to prove he has the required numbers, leaders from the Congress-JDS combine said they are sure of him failing. (Also read: When SC judge Sikri cited a WhatsApp joke during trust-vote hearing) The political drama in the state of Karnataka has been riveting since counting of votes last Tuesday. No single party got majority but BJP - because it was the single-largest - was invited by Governor Vajubhai Vala to form government. This despite Congress and JDS claiming that together, they had the numbers required. The matter was taken to Supreme Court but Yeddyurappa still took oath in what was a subdued ceremony at Raj Bhawan. He got 15 days to prove majority even as Congress and JDS shielded their MLAs at different locations to prevent chances of horse-trading. Now, both Congress and JDS are celebrating that Yeddyurappa gets only till Saturday - and not 15 days, to prove the numbers they suspect he does not have. "I am hundred percent sure BJP won't be able to show the numbers and their sham would be exposed," said former CM Siddaramaiah. Yeddyruppa too echoed almost similar thoughts but in his own favour. "We will abide by the Supreme Court verdict...We have got 100 percent support and cooperation to prove the majority," he told reporters. (Read full report here) Meanwhile, the verbal duel continued unabated in the national capital with party spokespersons brandishing the 'V' sign unabashed. "This (Congress) is a party that is celebrating Supreme Court's order, the same Supreme Court whose CJI they want to remove. I have no idea about who is advising them what. (However) We will surely come out on top tomorrow," said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra. Congress though fired back with similar intensity. "Their tactics of luring our MLAs won't work. BJP is trying hard to buy but it won't work," said Ghulam Nabi Azad. Former Delhi CM and senior Congress leader Sheila Dixit too told Zee News that her party and JDS together will emerge triumphant. While Congress MLAs were moved from a resort outside Bengaluru to Hyderabad in the wee hours of Friday, JDS MLAs too were taken from a five-star in the city to the Telangana capital. Local media has reported the MLAs would be back in Bengaluru either late Friday night or early Saturday. KOHIMA: The Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) released the results of HSLC Class 10 on May 18, Friday. Once declared, the students will be able to check their results by visiting the board's official website at nbsenagaland.com. Vivotsonuo Sorhie has topped the HSLC Class 10 examination scoring 98.33 percent. While Sherry Jindal and Raj Paul stood jointly second securing 97.83 per cent, Leishembi Ng Lyting bagged the third position with 97.50 per cent. The results will also be available on two other websites - examresults.net and indiaresults.com. A total number of 21715 students appeared in the examination out of which 11,278 were girls and 10869 were boys. Around 14335 students have passed the examination and the pass percentage is 66.01. Steps to check your NBSE Class 10th results 2018: 1. Go to the official website - nbsenagaland.com 2. Go to the Results section 3. Enter your exam roll number and date of birth (DOB) 5. Click on Submit The NBSE was set up through an Act by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly and received the assent of the Governor on the 15th of November 1973. It started functioning from the 1st October 1974, and in March 1975, the Board held its first High School Leaving Certificate Examination at 6 (six) centres, for 2008 (two thousand and eight) candidates. In trying to emerge with her own identity, a series of workshops, seminars, trainings, study tour were organized. Subsequently, the state level curriculum committee held its first meeting on the 30th March 1978 which led to a series of workshops to bring out our independent curriculum. The new curriculum, shaped after the needs of the state, was approved by the Government on the 12th April 1979. Text books written or selected in accordance with the newly framed curriculum were put into use for classes 9 and 10 from 1981 and 1982 respectively. London: Britain's Prince Charles will step into the role of Meghan Markle's father and walk her down the aisle at her royal wedding with Prince Harry tomorrow, Kensington Palace announced today. The 36-year-old former American actress asked her father-in-law-to-be to walk by her side at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after it was confirmed that her father Thomas Markle Sr would not be attending the wedding ceremony for health reasons. "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire at St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," the Palace said in a statement. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the Royal Family in this way," it said. The 69-year-old heir to the British throne has some practice of this role, having previously escorted Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, down the aisle at her high society wedding to Thomas Hooper in 2016. After days of speculation, Markle finally confirmed yesterday that "sadly" her own father will not be walking her down the aisle, adding that she cares for him and hopes that "he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health". It had been expected that her mother Doria Ragland might step into the role as she is accompanying her daughter in the wedding car when she arrives at the chapel. However, there was no royal protocol preventing Markle from choosing a member of the royal family or a close friend from escorting her, or decide to walk alone. Ragland, the 61-year-old yoga instructor and social worker who divorced Thomas Markle when Meghan was a little girl, flew into London earlier this week and met Prince Charles and Camilla and Prince William and Kate along with their kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Clarence House here. She will meet Queen Elizabeth II, Harry's grandmother, in Windsor Castle today. Other members of the royal family are also in Windsor ahead of the wedding, including William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; and Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. There had been widespread speculation over Thomas Markle's attendance at the wedding ceremony after allegedly staged paparazzi photographs of him emerged in the media. The former Hollywood lighting director was quoted as saying that he hated the idea of missing "one of the greatest moments in history and walking my daughter down the aisle" after it emerged that he was to undergo a heart procedure. The wedding day "order of service", printed long before, still has his name on the list. Meanwhile, the finishing touches are being added to the royal wedding preparations in Windsor, about 42 kms from here. Further details on the wedding cake have been revealed by its baker Claire Ptak who said it would be presented in a "non-traditional" way, displayed in a special "installation". The layered lemon and elderflower cake will be served to 600 guests at the afternoon reception after the wedding ceremony at Windsor Castle. So-called royal "super fans" have already begun camping out in Windsor to secure the best spots of the wedding procession tomorrow. They will also be hoping to see 33-year-old Prince Harry before he spends his final night of bachelorhood at the Dorchester Collection's Coworth Park in nearby Ascot. The bride will stay at the Cliveden House Hotel, set in a historic estate in Taplow, Berkshire, with her mother. As per tradition, the bride and groom are expected to spend time apart from each other on the night before their wedding. According to weather forecasts, Windsor is expected to see "ideal" wedding conditions tomorrow, with balmy temperatures and clear skies accompanied by a light breeze. The newly-wed royal couple will be doing a tour of the city centre of Windsor in a traditional horse-driven Ascot Landau carriage after they tie the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The palace had revealed earlier that Prince Harry's niece, three-year-old Princess Charlotte, will be one of the six young girls chosen as bridesmaids at the wedding. Her elder brother, Prince George, aged four, will be a pageboy among a total of 10 children chosen for the roles. So far, all details of the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses and the pageboys' uniforms remain under wraps. Local Thames Valley Police have said the wedding is expected to attract thousands of people from around the world to Windsor and that their planning is well under way, with security barriers and CCTV cameras. MOHALI: In a shocking case, a man carried his newborn daughter inside a polythene bag for hours, trying to sell the baby to various persons. The incident took place in Punjab's Mohali on Monday night. The incident came to light after the accused, Jaspal Singh, approached a doctor on duty in Mohali's Civil Hospital, trying to sell the infant. Singh, who hails from Amritsar and lives with his family in a rented accommodation on Chandigarh-Kharar road, claimed that he wanted to sell his newborn male child. On inquiring about the child, he presented a polythene bag and handed over the newborn girl child. The child was sick and vomiting. She was admitted in the ICU and is now doing fine. The accused, who works as a loader in a mall, was later handed over to the police. During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused and his wife already have two sons a ten-year-old and a five-year-old. Singh has claimed that his wife was sick and he needed the money for her treatment. He further claimed that his wife suggested selling the baby since they could not afford a third child. Singh reportedly spent hours searching for a prospective buyer for the child. He visited a few more hospitals before landing at the Civil Hospital in Mohali. A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered. New Delhi: 1,333 projects worth Rs 50,626 crores completed or under implementation/tendering under government's ambitious Smart Cities Mission, the government has clarified. Overall projects worth Rs 2,03,979 crores have been identified for all 99 smart cities across the country. The clarification came after a newspaper report indicated that only 22 percent funds were utilised in six housing ministry schemes. This is a misinterpretation of the statistics relating to funds released/utilisation regarding schemes/missions being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, resulting in incorrect inferences, a government release said. While funds released/utilisation is part of the normal government financial procedures to ensure proper accounting systems, it is not a true barometer of the physical progress and speed of the implementation of the mission targets/objectives. Most of the schemes have large capital intensive projects with a completion time range of 1-3 years for the project, it added. Government said that during the year 2017-18, while the total cumulative grants released was Rs 46,663 crores, utilization certificates were due only for the grants released upto March 2016, i.e. for approximately Rs 10,365 crores. The utilization figures, given to the Standing Committee pertained mostly to funds released upto 2015-16 as only this was due in 2017-18. In fact, at the closure of the year 2017-18, as against the due amount of Rs.10,365 crores for utilisation certificates (UCs), actual UCs for an amount of Rs.15,403 crores were received in the Ministry.This figure also included some UCs which were due in the next financial year i.e. 2018-19. Government said that under AMRUT, out of State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) size of Rs 77,640 crores, projects worth Rs 65,075 crores (84 percent) are under various stages of implementation including projects tendered and where DPRs have been approved. Close to 400 projects worth Rs 325 crores have already been completed and for 2,188 projects worth Rs 40,074 crores, contracts have been awarded and are at various stages of implementation. Mumbai: The teaser for a Tamil song titled Munnaale Ponaale from the Malayalam film Oru Adaar Love directed by Omar Lulu is out! The song featuring Priya Prakash Varrier, Roshan Abdul Rahoof and the rest of the cast, depicts high-school romance in the cutest way possible. Munnaale Ponaale is penned and composed by Pearle Maaney and Shaan Rahman respectively. Check out the teaser for the song here: For the uninitiated, Priya became a household name soon after a video clip from the Malayalam song Manikya Malaraya Poovi from the aforementioned film went viral on social media a couple of months back. She made social media users go gaga over her captivating expressions and killer wink! Priya who has over 6 million followers on Instagram has become a hot favourite of big brands that look forward to having her as their brand ambassador. She recently appeared in a TVC for a chocolate bar brand. Priya had been signed for the film to play a small role. But ever since a clip featuring Priya went viral, the makers decided to extend her role, reports suggest. They have made her role in the film meatier to make the most of her popularity. The script and climax have reportedly been changed to give her more prominence. The film which also stars Noorin Shereef, Michelle Ann Daniel, Mathew, Siyadh Shajahan, Dilrupa Aswad Alqamar, Yami Sona among others, is slated to release on June 14 this year. The Malayalam film will now release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages too. LUCKNOW: Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has issued notices to six former state chief ministers to vacate official bungalows in compliance with the Supreme Court orders. According to ANI, the six chief ministers includes Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The notices have been sent by the Estate Department, which asked the former chief ministers to vacate the bungalows in 15 days. Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav and Kalyan Singh are among those who have been served with the notice. Interestingly, Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh had recently met CM and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman Yogi Adityanath triggering speculations of new political equations. However, reports said that the veteran politician met Adityanath over recent Supreme Court ruling denying official bungalows to former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party leader had met the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on Wednesday at the latters official residence in Lucknow and the meeting went on for almost half-an-hour, reported Prabhat Khabar. Earlier this month, the apex court had said that former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh cannot retain government accommodation after demitting office, observing that a chief minister was at par with a common man once his or her term ends. The Supreme Court quashed the law passed by the Uttar Pradesh government granting permanent residential accommodation to former chief ministers of the state. While striking down the law, the apex court said that Section 4(3) of Uttar Pradesh ministers (salaries, allowances and miscellaneous provisions) Act, 2016 was unconstitutional. The law was passed in August 2016, by the then Akhilesh Yadav-led state government. (With ANI inputs) Naxalbari to Lhasa, via Kathmandu China, after its war with India, lent support to several insurgent groups in India. The Naxalites were one of them Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is once again headed for a sweeping victory in the ongoing West Bengal Panchayat Poll results. The party has already bagged 29,585 seats in the Gram Panchayat elections and 3315 seats in Panchayat samiti. It is also won 203 seats in Zilla Parishads. WATCH the Live streaming of West Bengal Panchayat Election Results here Catch West Bengal Panchayat Election Results 2018 LIVE Coverage As per State Election Commission (SEC), the TMC is well ahead in many seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the second largest party winning 3744 Gram Panchayat seats so far. According to a senior state BJP leader, it was the first time in last 10 years that the party had been elected to the gram panchayat level in every district of the state. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) slipped to the third position from the second place it had occupied in the last panchayat polls in 2013. It won 1,118 gram panchayat seats and was ahead in another 10, the sources said. The Congress is at the fourth position by winning 634 gram panchayat seats. A jubilant TMC said the result would boost the party ahead of next year's Lok Sabha election as the rural poll was the last major electoral event in the state before it. The BJP said the result in the panchayat polls, which saw its emergence as the main challenger to the ruling TMC in Bengal, would act as a morale booster for the party's rank and file. TMC leader Arabul Islam, who was arrested on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's directive last week after the murder of an Independent candidate at Bhangar of South 24-Parganas and is presently in jail, has won the panchayat samiti seat from the area, reported PTI. A gunman - reportedly a student - opened fire inside a high school in Texas' Santa Fe, killing at least eight people and injuring several others. While the main suspect has since been arrested, local law enforcement agencies are hunting for a possible second suspect. CNN reported that the armed student entered an art class on Friday morning (US time) and open fired with a shotgun. Several fellow students received bullet injuries even as alarm bells began ringing immediately after. Quoting eyewitnesses, the report also said that absolute chaos erupted moments after the shots were fired with students emerging from inside other classrooms and attempting to leave the building. While the injured have been rushed to local hospitals, hunt is on for a second possible suspect. "There is one person, a suspect, in custody and a second possible person of interest that was detained and being questioned," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump tweeted about the incident. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 Trump has been facing flak for not strengthening gun control laws. It has been alleged that organisations like National Rifle Association (NRA) make big political donations to ensure gun control laws remain lenient. Shockingly, some reports say there have been at least one school shooting in the United States every week in 2018 so far. The Friday shooting itself is the third school shooting in the country in just seven days. Reuters adds: At least nine people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, hospital officials said. The conditions of those people was not immediately clear. Gonzalez said a police officer was also being treated for injuries. Sophomore Leila Butler told the local ABC affiliate that fire alarms went off at about 7:45 a.m. local time (1245 GMT) and students left their classrooms. She said some students believe they heard shots fired, and that she was sheltering with other students and teachers near campus. A male student, who did not identify himself, described fleeing the scene in an interview with CBS affiliate KHOU. "Three shots that I heard, so we all took off in the back and I tried to get into the trees, I didn`t want to be in sight. I heard four more shots, and then we jumped the fence to somebody`s house," the student said. Another sophomore, Dakota Shrader, told Fox 26 TV her 17-year-old girlfriend told her by phone that she was wounded but was recovering in a hospital. "My friend got injured," said an emotional Shrader. "Her leg, she got shot in the leg." Dr. David Marshall, chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said that the hospital was treating at least three patients - two adults and one person under 18. He said it was not immediately clear if that child was a student. This is not fake news. Japan's major embarrassment has come as a major surprise to many across the world after the country's rail network issued a heartfelt apology for one of its trains departing from a station 25 seconds ahead of schedule. The incident reportedly occurred on May 11 when a train left Notogawa station at 0711 hours instead of 0712 hours - full 25 seconds before the stipulated time. The country's Japan Today reported that the train doors shut one minute before scheduled departure and when the conductor realised the folly, he decided to double check if there were any passengers at the station. When he did not see anyone on the platform, he decided to flag off the train with 25 seconds still remaining - a decision that has been termed by the country's rail operator as 'inexcusable.' The report also said that the conductor had failed to spot a few passengers who would eventually lodge a complaint forcing the national rail operator to apologise. "We are extremely sorry for the great inconvenience we placed upon our customers and it was truly inexcusable," a statement read. That this is the second such incident when a train departed from a platform seconds before scheduled time has caused further embarrassment. In November of last year, a train had departed 20 seconds early. At the time too, the national operator had issued its sincere apology. Social media though has had a field day flaying rail networks in other countries - urging them to take a cue from Japan. While some do feel the apology from the Japanese rail operator was quite unnecessary because it was only a matter of seconds, others have said it points to the Japanese culture and respect towards time. The government of Pakistan's Punjab province has restored the security of Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed citing threats to his life, almost a month after it was withdrawn on the order of the Supreme Court. "The policemen have been deployed again for the security of Hafiz Saeed on the order of (chief minister) Shahbaz Sharif's Punjab government," a senior official of the provincial government told PTI today. He said the decision was taken in the light of the light of threats to the life of Saeed. As the government restored Saeed's security, he has withdrawn a petition he had filed in the Lahore High Court to challenge the Punjab government's earlier decision to withdraw his security. The Punjab government last month had withdrawn policemen deployed for the security of Saeed after the Supreme Court directed inspector-generals of Islamabad and all four provinces to take back security escorts from people who are not entitled to it. The chief justice, however, later directed the top provincial police officials to ensure the provision of security to all those who face genuine security threats. In the light of the Supreme Court order, the Punjab police have withdrawn as many as 4,610 personnel deployed for the security of influential persons not entitled to official security in the province. In a petition filed through his counsel Advocate A K Dogar, Saeed said the Punjab government on the pretext of the apex court order has withdrawn his security. He said the Supreme Court had ordered that the security of those facing life threats should not be withdrawn. "But the government made a wrong interpretation of the Supreme Court order in my case and has withdrawn my security despite threats to my life," Saeed said. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, who carries a USD 10 million American bounty for his role in terror activities, accused the government of discrimination in his case. The JuD usually makes elaborate arrangements for the security of Saeed wherever he goes. Even at home, the JuD special squad has been given the task of his security. Saeed is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed. JuD was declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June, 2014. The document is planned to be put into effect from January 1, 2019 Read the original text at 112.ua. Open source The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a Law No. 2386a-1 on the transplantation of anatomical materials to a person. 255 people's deputies voted for. The bill stipulates that every person has a right to agree or refuse from the post-mortem donation. The positive answer is a written statement, a special mark in the passport or driver's license, and data entry to the Uniform State Information System of Transplantation. The "alternative" option is to name a trustee who, after the death of a person, will disclose her consent or prohibition on the transplantation of her anatomical materials. If a person has not expressed his/her will in life, his/her relatives - spouses, children, parents, siblings will be asked. If the person did not allow his/her relatives during his/her lifetime to use his/her body after the death, it will not be done. In addition, the use of anatomical materials is prohibited if there is nobody to ask for permission, if the court, law enforcement or a forensic examiner are against. Antiterrorist operation veterans and Joint Forces Operation participants, orphans, recognized as incapacitated, as well as those whose identity is not established, cannot be postmortem donors. It is planned to create the Unified State Information Transplantation Information System (before October 2018), and a special entity responsible for it, which would the central state executive body implementing the state policy in the field of the provision of medical care using transplantation. The information system will consist of several registers: expression of will on post-mortem donation; "trusted" persons who agree to the posthumous donation of those whom they represent; human anatomical materials intended for the transplantation and/or production of bioimplants, living donors; living donors of hematopoietic stem cells; recipients; persons with the transplanted anatomical material; medical institutions authorized for transplantation; transplant coordinators. All these registries are provided for confidential data, so access to them will be limited. The exception is a list of medical facilities where transplants can be performed, as well as a transplant coordinator register. They will be posted on the website of the executive body responsible for transplantation. Confidential information in the register can be obtained by the transplant coordinator, the official responsible for transplantation of the executive body, and forensic experts. So, if a person writes a statement of consent to his post-mortem donation, one of these categories of persons, including the one who will enter the data in the register, will know about it. A fuse is also foreseen: the transplantation information system will record not only the data entered into it but also the history of the views. The Cabinet will determine the organizational issues, as well as MOH, and the special executive body on transplantation. However, people will be directly involved in this area with medical institutions that will receive a license for transplantation, a bureau of forensic medicine and other business entities that will carry out activities related to transplantation. A donor-recipients match would be determined by a single transplant system. Priority will be given to underage recipients and living donors who previously provided their anatomical materials. If there are no recipients for anatomical materials in Ukraine, the patients will be able to find them in other states, with which relevant international agreements have been concluded. Once a couple of recipient recipients are identified, the data cannot be changed (except when the doctors acknowledge that transplantation is impossible or the recipient has declined). People who have donated their anatomical materials to one of their relatives during their lives might receive some state support. The classes were cancelled and the school is being examined by the experts Militants of the illegal armed groups in Donbas shelled a school in Svitlodarsk, Donetsk region. The attack was carried out at around 09:30 on Thursday. The head of Donetsk regional state administration Pavlo Zhebrivsky reported this on Facebook. It came flying and exploded right in the schoolyard. One civilian was injured. He was driving past the school at the moment of an explosion. There were no casualties among teachers and pupils. The classes were suspended. Children were let go home, Zhebrivsky wrote. According to him, windows of the school were damaged and the building is now being examined by the experts. The prosecutors office later reported that around 30 windows were damaged. A criminal case on terrorist attack was opened. As it was reported earlier, over the past day and night of May 17, illegal armed groups opened fire in Donbas area 66 times. Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed, and four others were injured. It is noted that due to the active defense Ukrainian units eliminated five militants, and another eight were wounded. The occupants shelled in Novozvanivka and Troitske (Luhansk region), Luhanske, Svitlodarsk, Novoluhansk, Majorske, Avdiivka, Opytne, Vodyane, Lebedinske and Shyrokyno areas (Donetsk region) from mortars and Grads, as the statement said. According to Iryna Gerashchenko, President's Humanitarian Envoy at the Minsk peace talks regarding the War in Donbas, the hostages' issue requires the entire world to put pressure on Russia Iryna Gerashchenko, President's Humanitarian Envoy at the Minsk peace talks regarding the War in Donbas, states the absence of the progress in Ukrainian hostages release and search for missing, as she wrote on Facebook. If we talk about the humanitarian group, Russia did not give any response concerning 23 Russian citizens convicted of the crimes against Ukrainian state, who we are ready to pass to Russian Federation to release political prisoners and hostages. Russia does not really care about forgotten ikhtamnet (a Russian neologism for Russian military soldiers who participate in an undeclared war with Ukraine, - ed.) in Donetsk steppethere is no progress concerning the hostages release and search for missing, she wrote. According to Gerashchenko, the hostages' issue requires the international community to put pressure on Russia. This causes enormous concern, especially amid recent distressing news on the deterioration of the health of our political prisoners and hostages, on Sentsovs hunger strike, as well as prolonged fasting of Volodymyr Balukh. The hostages' issue requires the entire world to put pressure on Russia, Herashchenko stressed. The hostages' exchange between Ukraine and ORDLO took place on December 27, 2017. 73 Ukrainian prisoners came back home. 233 people were transferred to the occupied territory. Earlier, Bogdan Mertsonya and Igor Dziubak, Ukrainian border guards came back home on March 2. Russian special services kidnapped them near the state border in Sumy region in October 2017. Ukraine transferred to Russia Vladimir Kuznetsov and Askar Kulub, servicemen of the Russian Federal Security Border Service, arrested in Kherson region in summer of 2017. It remains unknown when the next hostage exchange takes place. As it was reported, at the session of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk Ukraine claimed its readiness to exchange 23 Russians for its political prisoners kept in Russia. Meanwhile, the militants demand to pass them 80 convicted in exchange for 15 Ukrainian prisoners. Ukraine news on 112.international According to the updated data, two civilians died and two more injured There is no threat to the life of a young man injured in the result of the shelling of the residential district in Troitske by the pro-Russian militants. Yury Klymenko, the Chairman of Luhansk Military State Administration claimed this as 112 Ukraine broadcasted. 'We will not leave this family alone with this trouble. Now, we hold the events to provide them support', he added. According to Klymenko, the damages were insignificant during then night shelling of Troitske. 'Other houses were not damaged besides this one. The attack took place and 15 mines aimed around this house', he emphasized. Later Yury Harbuz, the Head of Luhansk Military State Administration specified that the injured young man is 18 years old, his legs got hurt. Now he is served psychological assistance. Harbuz added that the mother of a guy is a woman that was listed as a dead in the result of the shelling by Pavlo Zhebryvsky but she is alive. 'As at 10:30, 36-year-old woman suffered in the result of the night shelling of Troitske is at the intensive care unit of Lysychansk Central City Hospital named after Titov. The doctors estimate her state as serious but stable', he reported on Facebook. In 17 minutes, Zhebryvsky has also corrected the information. 'We have received the information from Lysychansk hospital (where the suffered were sent) that a woman is alive and in the serious condition, she got artificial respiration. The doctors have not lost hope and fight for her life', he wrote. The law enforcers has opened a criminal proceeding due to the shelling and qualified it as terrorist action. As we reported pro-Kremlin mercenaries in Donbas launched another attack, using heavy artillery. In the small hours of May 18, they shelled Troitske, Luhansk region. The 122-mm artillery strike resulted in three civilian fatalities. One house was damages, one family suffered: two persons died and other two were injured. Nepal a land of opportunity Senior Partner and Global Vice-President of Research, Shekar Gopalan at Frost and Sullivan. The Parliament of Ukraine supported a bill #6578 on the prohibition of freezing the funds of international financial organizations allocated for investment projects in the areas of heat and water supply. 259 members of parliament voted in favor of the bill, broadcast live by the Rada TV channel. The bill was presented by a member of parliament from the Samopomich faction, the deputy head of the parliamentary committee on construction, city planning and public utilities Olena Babak. Let us consider these conceptual changes to the second reading. The bill was enhanced with definitions of the terms special accounts for credit funds, and also with sources of income that will be found in such accounts it is set that, apart from funds from international financial organizations, it could be funds from overseas financial and credit institutions or funds attracted in accordance with intergovernmental treaties, or credit loans, or funds attracted by the state or the subjects of management within the identified sectors, under government or local securities. According to her, the document includes a provision for the owner of a special account for credit funds secures the control and is responsible for the intended use of credit. During the discussion, representatives of the Batkivshina faction opposed the application of the bill to foreign financial and credit institutions, even if the money is intended for investment programs for the enhancement of public infrastructure. The Batkivshinas version was voiced by Serhiy Sobolev: Our suggestion is all of the amendments to the text so that we wouldnt have to approve articles one by one, to stick to the general version. International institutions, government institutions should be left in the edition, international should be left and it is the final edition that we are going to vote for while leaving local government guarantees in place. The Ukrainian parliament voted in support of the bill as a basis in March of the current year by 238 votes of lawmakers. Volkers "shuttle diplomacy" in Ukraine lasts for more than six months but there not results of these visits Read the original text at 112.ua. Perhaps every new visit of U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker is getting more and more impressing, I mean, not as part of the move forward in resolving Donbas conflict, but as evidence of the absurdity of the work. Volkers "shuttle diplomacy" in Ukraine lasts for more than six months, including visits to our country and talks with Ukrainian officials, mandatory words of support from the United States, and everything else that is dictated by the rules of a good diplomatic tone. However, there not results of these visits. Common Ukrainian sees the main task of Kurt Volker is to persuade the Russian Federation to agree to the Ukrainian version of the introduction of a peacekeeping contingent in Donbas, which, after the statements of President Poroshenko and Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, is almost perceived as a guarantee to give Donbas back to Ukraine. Already the first talks between Kurt Volker and Vladislav Surkov, the top advisor to Russian President Putin on Ukrainian affairs, gave the result: Russian Federation agreed only 3 points out of 29 of the US plan. Actually, almost from the moment of the first negotiations and their failure, the course and results of this diplomacy actually went into the category of secrets. The parties followed the best diplomatic traditions claim some progress but there were no visible signs of progress, rather, on the contrary. Another Volkers visit to Ukraine on May 14 was accompanied by two opposite and interesting statements. Thus, the head of the Ukrainian Voice of America service, Myroslava Gongadze, with reference to her own sources, reported some extension of the powers for Kurt Volker, who now "would have not only authority over Donbas situation, he would receive wider powers regarding Ukraine as such." It is curious that on the same day, the State Secretary, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Grigory Karasin, in an interview with TASS, said that in the negotiations between Moscow and Washington, a certain pause was taken, and there is no approximate timing for their next meeting. Earlier, Russian media reported on a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which they discussed the introduction of peacekeepers. The report emphasized that special attention was paid to their functions of "protecting observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)". Thus, the Russians stressed that they did not intend to abandon their own option of using a limited number of peacekeepers exclusively for the protection of OSCE staff and that at least Germany was not against it. After this "signal", it is not surprising that "a pause in negotiations between Moscow and Washington" took place. Moreover, the very fact of talks between Volker and Surkov appears to be a dubious idea, as both sides continue to insist on their positions, which are directly opposite to the positions of the opponent. Actually, if you listen to Volker's theses, voiced during his press conference in Slovyansk, you can find multiple confirmations that the negotiations in the format of "Volker-Surkov" have become deadlocked. First of all, he said so precious to the heart of every Ukrainian patriot words that this was not a conflict among the Ukrainians in Donbas, rather it was provoked by Russia's direct intervention in Ukrainian territories. It is curious that such a clearly undiplomatic statement will, in general, impede future negotiations with the party that denies its participation in the conflict in every possible way, but on the other hand, it confirms that the negotiation process has reached a deadlock. Kurt Volker also veiledly accused Russia of unwillingness to find a compromise, proposed by the US, and to introduce peacekeepers, which he considers very useful for solving Donbas conflict. "I think that the UN mechanism (on the introduction of a peacekeeping mission in Donbas - Ed.) will be useful if Russia really wants to resolve this conflict, which means that it must withdraw from this conflict, withdraw its troops from Donbas and give the local residents a chance to resume a normal life. If Russia takes such a decision for itself, this will indicate that it is interested in ending the conflict, and if it vetoes the decision of the UN Security Council, it will mean that it is interested in continuing of this war," Volker claimed. The conclusion voiced by Kurt Volker as an alternative to the peacekeepers is at least very interesting. The residents of Donbas territories, which are occupied by the terrorists, will turn away from Russia and will want to reunite with Ukraine when it becomes a strong, rich, and successful state. According to him, the United States is working every day to make Ukraine a strong and successful state. This is already in some way a signal of the US powerlessness to negotiate with the Russian Federation at the negotiating table, after which Washington can change the tactics. However, optimists can remember that the negotiations concerning "Javelins" for Ukraine, which lasted for 3 years, and the Volker-Surkov talks have lasted less than a year. Pessimists can also recall that the deliveries of the "Javelins" with their terms of use will not help Ukrainian Armed Forces in their military operations in Donbas, and thus made the delivery of ATGMs meaningless for Donbas liberation. And the delivery of weapons to a certain extent looks like a recognition of the inability to resolve the conflict by the diplomatic means. I am afraid something similar might have happened with the mission of Volker. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or 112.International and its owners. The MP emphasized that the Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians are under constant pressure of occupation authorities As for today, 67 citizens of Crimea are illegally detained in the Russian jails. Refat Chubarov, the MP claimed this at the rally-requiem in the memory of the victims of Crimean Tatars genocide in Kyiv as 112 Ukraine reported. According to Chubarov, the prosecution with the help of the rigged criminal proceedings threatens everyone in occupied Crimea. 'For today, 67 citizens of Crimea, Ukraine are illegally detained. 105 little children wait for their illegally convicted parents', he reported. 'The ban for the activity of Mejlis, arrests, oppression, constant searches, intimidations, physical and psychological pressure, complete disappearance of people is the modern life of the Crimean Tatars and the ethnic Ukrainians in temporarily occupied Crimea', the MP noted. As we reported Ukraine marks the 74th anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet government. It has been the day of memory for Crimean Tatars and some Ukrainians ever since. Naturally, the problems of the Crimean Tatar population have received the second round after the Crimea occupation by Russia. Open source Former GRU-officer Sergey Skripal was released from Salisbury hospital as BBC reported citing the National Health Service of the UK. At the beginning of April, the doctors claimed that the state of the health of Skripal is not critical anymore. As we reported on March 29, Yulia Skripal recovers rapidly and her health state is not critical anymore. Later Sky News reported that she can feed and drink herself. The authorities expect that the affected will be able to testify soon. Yulia Skripal was discharged from the hospital on April 9. Ex-colonel of Russias GRU, Chief Intelligence Department, Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia, poisoned in the center of Salisbury town in the evening of March 4, are still struggling for life in the intensive care unit of the local hospital. The British special services suppose that Skripals were poisoned by his ex-colleague Andrey Lugovoy, who acted on orders from Moscow. As it was reported earlier, British Prime Minister Theresa May decided to expel 23 Russian diplomats due to the incident in Salisbury. Russian diplomats had a week to leave Great Britain. Besides, the law enforcers will tighten control at the customs and check of private planes for the same reason. In return, Russia said it would expel 23 British diplomats as a reaction to Britains actions. Russian Foreign Ministry informed in its announcement. As we reported earlier, more than 20 states have expelled Russian diplomats due to Skripals poisoning in Salisbury. Ukraine expelled 13 Russian diplomats, and Russia as a reaction has declared 13 Ukrainian diplomats personae non-gratae. The Security Council reaction to the grave violations of the international law is slow and inconsistent The Ukrainian delegation to the UN has called the reaction of the Security Council to the conflicts, escalations and violations of the international law 'slow and inconsistent due to the abuse of the veto right by some permanent members, particularly Russia. Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to UN claimed this at the open debates at the Security Council as Ukrinform reported. 'The reaction of the Security Council to the grave violations of the international law is slow and inconsistent', he emphasized. He exemplified this with the situation with the disregard for the international norms by Russia, its aggression against Ukraine and abuse of the veto right at the UN Security Council. 'The temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, and territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine clearly demonstrates that the violation of the key principles of the international law by the permanent members of the Security Council is one of the most serious threats to the peace and security', Yelchenko emphasized. He reminded that Moscow uses 'revanchist policy' and uses military force against other countries since 1990-s, including against Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. 'The list of the violations and unlawful actions of Russia continues to be updated through the consistent support (by Russia) of the despotic government in Syria, secret operations against the UK and undercover killing in my countries that tied to Kremlin', the diplomat said. According to him, these violations took place 'amid the systematic abuse of the veto right and the disregard' of this Security Council permanent member of its obligations to support peace and security. 'Taking this into account, we think that any potential scenario of the re-forming of the Security Council without the restriction of the veto right for the permanent members will be incomplete and will not bring the expected and necessary results', Ukraine's representative said. He made a number of the offers for the UN Security Council. Particularly, Yelchenko said that it is necessary to strengthen the function of the council on the conflicts' prevention. Moreover, he offered to work out the 'test algorithm' that will allow to perform the council's functions 'in time, in a proper way and transparently' in the conflict and the respond to the aggression of some states and governments. Russia permanently uses the veto right to block the resolutions of the UN Security Council. Particularly, Russia imposed the veto at the U.S. draft resolution at the session of the UN Security Council dedicated to the recent chemical attack in Syria. Russia is ready to conduct talks with the Ukrainian side on this issue Russian gas transit through Ukraine will be continued after the establishment of the Nord Stream 2, if it is economically reasonable, as Vladimir Putin, Russias President, stated at the meeting with Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, Interfax reports. I would like to emphasize that the transit will be continued if it is economically reasonable for the parties of the economic activity, Putin noted. According to him, Russia has always considered the Nord Stream 2 as an economic project and Moscow is ready to conduct talks with the Ukrainian side on this issue. At the same time, Angela Merkel stated that after the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Ukraines role as a transit state should be preserved. It has a strategic importance and Germany is ready to contribute into this and influence this. We need to consider the guarantees for Ukraine as well, she said. Earlier, Sigmar Gabriel, Germanys Foreign Minister, stated that the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project will be challenging unless the gas transit through Ukraine to Europe is preserved. Petro Poroshenko, Ukraines President, offered Germany an alternative to the Nord Stream 2, stating that the project is economically unreasonable. He offered gas transit through Ukraine. Earlier, Poroshenko described Russia as an extremely non-reliable partner, adding that the implementation of Nord Stream II would lead to the economic and power isolation of Ukraine. As we reported the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has begun in Germany on May 3. Not all countries have given the permission for it; at the same time, Ukraine and Poland protest against the construction as it can strengthen Russias positions as the gas monopolist in Europe. Earlier it was reported that all necessary permits needed for the project have also been received in Germany. The national permitting procedures in the other three countries along the route Russia, Sweden and Denmark are proceeding as planned. Russias leading energy enterprise Gazprom and its partners intend to start implementing the Nord Stream-2 project worth almost 10 billion euros in April 2018. The 1,200-kilometers-long pipeline is to be laid through the Baltic Sea, linking Russia and Germany bypassing Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic States. The capacity will be twice larger than that of Nord Stream-1. The construction is to be complete by late 2019. Earlier, the presidential term was extended from four to six years in 2008 The Parliament of Chechnya made amendments to Russias Constitution on the extension of the mandate of Russian President to three terms in a row. The relevant bill was made available in the database of the lower chamber of Russian Parliament. The Chechen MPs explained the necessity of the amendments with an achieved social and political stability. It is important to preserve the succession of the states authority amid the existing tricky situation concerning the internal political background, the authors of the bill state. According to them, this amendment does not deprecate the democratic principles of the state and gives the nation an opportunity to define Russias future. As it is known, for now, Russias Constitution forbids the President to hold a position for more than two terms in a row. The incumbent head of the state Vladimir Putin was elected president in 2000. His second term ended in 2008, when Dmitry Medvedev, Putins long-time collaborator, was elected the President of Russia. Putin was elected the PM. At the end of his term, Medvedev offered Putin to run for the presidential post again and he was elected president in March 2012. Then Putin made Medvedev PM. In March this year, Putin ran for president for the fourth time and won again. Medvedev remained on the PM post with his inauguration. It is noteworthy that earlier in Russia there were some amendments to the Constitution concerning the presidential powers made. In particular, the presidential term was extended from four to six years in 2008. Olena Zaitseva, the driver who caused the road accident in Kharkiv in October 2017 ran the red light; this is confirmed by the video record from surveillance cameras, set on the crime scene. Prosecutor Ihor Omelchenko said this as Kyiv district court in Kharkiv (northeastern Ukraine) held another session in the high-profile case. 'The video record proved that both defendants in the case, Olena Zaitseva and Hennadiy Dronov, violated the road traffic. Both had an opportunity to see each other and avoid the collision. The record shows that Zaitseva began to move when the red light was on; Dronov started to move when it was yellow', Omelchenko said. The high-profile event occurred in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, in October 2017. Olena Zaitseva, the adopted daughter of the famous businessman Vasyl Zaitsev, crossed the street on the red light. She rain into Dronov's Volkswagen, which resulted in the actual crash that killed five and injured another six people. The new Ukrainian low-cost company SkyUp has gotten the certificate that allows it to perform the flights as avianews.com reported. The company tentatively will begin the flights next week. At the first stage, SkyUp will use two Boeing 737-800 2013 with 189 seats that earlier were used by Malaysia Airlines. Now, these planes are repainted in Bratislava and Istanbul. They have been already issued the Ukrainian registration numbers UR-SQA and UR-SQB. Later Boeing 737-700 with 140 seats will be added to the fleet. Firstly, SkyUp will perform the charter international flights for Join UP! tour operator as the owners of this company are ultimate beneficiaries of the low coster. Later the low-cost company will perform the inner flights Kyiv-Odesa and Kharkiv-Odesa within the low-cost conception. Earlier it was supposed that the company will get the operator certificate in April but it did not happen. 'The offset is connected to the execution of the final procedures on the getting of the airworthiness of the planes and certification checks of the company', Director-General of SkyUP Yevhen Khainatsky explained. Earlier we reported that the newly created SkyUp air company will begin to operate in April 2018. The charter flights of the Ukrainian air carrier will depart from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa and other Ukrainian cities. The international flights will be departing from Kyiv to Barcelona, Dubai and Larnaka. On May 18, Ukraine marks the 74th anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet government. It has been the day of memory for Crimean Tatars and some Ukrainians ever since. Naturally, the problems of the Crimean Tatar population have received the second round after the Crimea occupation by Russia. Tatars are the indigenous people of Crimea, their settlements appeared on the peninsula in the 13th century. In the early 18th century, there were an absolute majority of Crimean Tatars on the peninsula - 444 thousand, and two decades later, Crimean Tatars were the second largest population after the Slavs of the peninsula (in 1926 - 25.1% of the total population). In 1922 the Soviet government officially recognized Crimean Tatars as the indigenous population of the Crimean Autonomous Republic. They were allowed to develop their culture: newspapers, magazines were issued in their language, educational institutions, museums, libraries and theaters used the native language too. Crimean Tatar language, along with the Russian was the official language of autonomy. In 1944, the Crimean Tatar people were accused of treason and collaboration with Nazi occupiers. The deportation began at dawn on May 18, 1944. The employees of the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) came to the Tatar houses and announced that they are being evicted from Crimea. They had to quickly pack up and go. 70 trains overflowing with people were sent to Central Asia. Many children and elderly people deceased during the relocation. All the assets remaining after the Tatars in Crimea, the state arrogated to itself. 238 500 people were deported from Crimea. A new challenge for the Crimean Tatars started after Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Some of them left the peninsula because of persecution, others suffering from raids, trials, and detentions. Some received a ban to the entry to Crimea, including the leaders of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov. The struggle of the Tatar people for their land and their rights continues to this day. Province 2 defends CM Rauts remarks The Province 2 government on Thursday defended Chief Minister Mohammad Lal Babu Rauts controversial remarks during the civic reception hosted in Janakpur to honour Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Russian government must explain what was done in order to create proper conditions for activity of Mejlis of Crimean Tatars, - Ukraine's foreign ministry The UN International Court demands that Russia show how it complies with the court's decision about the restoration of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar people in the annexed Crimea. Olena Zerkal, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration posted this on Facebook on Friday. 'According to the request of the Court, Russia now has to explain, which steps were made to create the proper conditions for activity of Mejlis of Crimean Tatars in Crimea. The court also asked Ukraine to do the same. We'll inform the court on all efforts that we made to implement the court's decision - by the Ukrainian government and the Mejlis member alike', she wrote. Zerkal pointed out this is necessary so that the court can estimate the actual state of affairs in Crimea. Previously, Ukraine turned to the UN International Court, asking to explain the decision, due to the fact that Russia did nothing in this area over the last year. As is known, the UN International Court in the Hague announced the decision, which partially upheld the motion of Ukraine. Kyiv insisted that Russia stop putting pressure and limiting the activity of institutes of Crimean Tatars, specifically the Mejlis. The Minister denied the statement of the article's author that Ukraine supports the scenario Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraines Foreign Minister, called journalist Tom Rogans statement another Russia-led provocation. His article, which called for exploding the Kerch Bridge, was published in Washington Examiner on May 15. Yesterday, Rogan wrote on Twitter that he talked to Klimkin and he supported the proposed scenario. Today, on May 18, Klimkin replied on this statement on Twitter. He stated that he has never spoken to that person and his statement is a Russian provocation. Earlier, in his article Rogan stated that this bridge is an outrageous affront to Ukraine's very credibility as a nation and called for blowing it up. Russias Investigative Committee has already opened the criminal proceeding on the journalist. The Kerch Bridge was opened for traffic in the morning of May 16. Open source Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, stated that she will discuss the situation of RIA News Director Kyrylo Vyshynsky arrest with Petro Poroshenko, Ukraines President. She said it at the press conference after the meeting with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, as Interfax reports. Regarding the journalist, I certainly will discuss my todays visit with Ukraines President and I will mention this incident, Merkel stated. In his turn, Putin called the arrest of Vyshynsky unprecedented. As we reported the workers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has exposed the network of the media entities controlled by the Russian Federation. The law enforcement bodies held the investigative actions at the office of RIA News-Ukraine. On May 15, the SBU considered the detention of the head of RIA News Ukraine agencys office. Kremlin has already responded to the incident and called the actions of the SBU outrageous. Also, Russia promised to assume reciprocal measures. Then, the state sent a protest note over searches at the mass media office. Later it was reported that the actions of Vyshynsky were preliminarily qualified as the state treason. The same day the SBU reported that Kyrylo Vyshynsky is now officially suspected of state treason. On May 16, the advocates of Vyshynsky claimed that their client is transferred to Kherson for choosing of the restrictive measure. It was noted that the enterprise was allocating $8-9 thousand for the militants per month Open source SBU officers detained the owner of the pharmaceutical manufacturer under suspicion of funding the ORDLO (Separated Districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions) militants, as the SBU press office reports. It was noted that the enterprise, which is located in Luhansk region, delivered medicines for ORDLO militants in particular. According to SBU information, the enterprise was allocating $8-9 thousand for the militants per month. During the authorized search SBU seized the documentation and bank cards from the companys management team, which confirm the illegal activity, the message says. The SBU representatives added that the owner of the enterprise was detained under the article of Ukraines Criminal Procedure Code. The perpetrator was served with charges papers on the commission of a crime provided by the article of the Criminal Code on violation of territorial integrity of Ukraine. The immediate investigation is being conducted to bring to responsibility the individuals involved in the activity of the enterprise and funding of the terrorist organizations. Venture-backed crop insurance startup Crop Pro Insurance has canceled nearly 200 crop hail insurance policies just a few weeks into the companys first planting season in operation. Hail insurance is additional insurance that farmers purchase to cover damage due to hail and/or fire. Crop Pro president Joe Young confirmed to AgFunderNews that cancellations affected 182 Nebraska farmers. According to Young, the company had not acquired enough reinsurance to back the policies it wrote for the 2018 growing season. The market demand and interest in Crop Pro crop hail policies was more than we anticipated, and the policies of 182 farmers and seven agencies had to be canceled due to a lack of reinsurance. The timing was due to a late change by reinsurance underwriters given the state premium load balance, said Young. The agencies he references are independent actors that represent multiple crop insurance companies. Young said that affected agents were notified within 48 hours of Crop Pros knowledge that reinsurance would be an issue and letters were sent to policyholders within three days, in accordance with state codes. Crop Pro appointed agents are actively moving these policyholders to other insurance carriers that they represent. Crop Pro has encouraged those affected to work with their agents to find similar coverage, and appointed agents are actively assisting their customers with like alternatives, said Young. Bruce Ramge, director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance told AgFunderNews that his department is reviewing the situation and could not comment on any forthcoming consequences since the inquiry is ongoing. He recommends that any affected farms work closely with their insurance agent. This type of occurrence does not happen frequently, said Ramge. The Department of Insurance considers these cancellations to be a very serious matter and has an open review of the situation. One affected Nebraska farmer, James Duffek told the Lincoln Journal Star, I think its pretty irresponsible. (The report in the Lincoln Star Journal put the number of farmers affected at 400, which Ramge confirmed to AgFunderNews was the number Crop Pro gave him late last week. Crop Pro confirmed the number of affected farmers to be 182 to AgFunderNews yesterday.) As well as offering typical crop insurance coverage for weather, pests, flooding, and price fluctuations, Crop Pro, which claims to be the first VC-backed insurer to be approved to offer federally-backed policies, aims to promote agtech adoption through unique private, agtech insurance products. So, if a farmer decides to try a new biological yield enhancement product, for example, and purchases a policy on it from Crop Pro, the farmer can make a claim and recoup some of the investment if the product doesnt work as the manufacturer forecasts. As we continue to grow our reach on farms throughout the United States, we are going to continue helping farmers get income assurance they can rely on, as well as improving their profits and maximizing their returns by taking the risk out of using new agtech innovations. To make sure this does not happen again, we have rebalanced our state-level reinsurance premium protocols, said Young. Crop Pro Insurance raised an $8 million Series A round in August led by ag-focused venture firms Finistere Ventures and S2G Ventures. Crop Pro Insurance, which is based in Des Moines, Iowa, received approval from the USDA to sell crop insurance on June 30, making it the newest player in a very small club of only 16 approved providers. Established insurance provider GuideOne Insurance also joined the round. Barents-2018, a Russian-Norwegian exercise for rescuing seafarers in distress and mitigating oil-related spills, will take place at the end of May, the Northern Fleet press service told journalists on Wednesday. "Northern Fleet search-and-rescue teams are completing preparations for the Barents annual joint Russia-Norway exercise that will take place in the Barents Sea at the end of May," the report reads. The Northern Fleet's contribution includes the Nikolay Chiker rescue tug, an Il-38 ASW aircraft, which is equipped for search-and rescue missions, a Ka-27 PC helicopter and a new Ilya Muromets multifunctional icebreaker, which passed an ice test last month. The Barents exercise is held annually by Russia and Norway in the Arctic region. An intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Norway on cooperation in searching for missing people and rescuing stranded people in the Barents Sea was signed on October 4, 1995. Russia and Norway supervise the exercise in turns. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Defense minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan on May 17 received Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the ministry told Armenpress. Ambassador Kasprzyk congratulated Davit Tonoyan on his appointment as defense minister and wished success in his future activities. During the meeting the defense minister introduced the Ambassador on the current situation in the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border and the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact, the frequency and nature of the ceasefire violation. In particular, minister Tonoyan expressed his concerns over the recent activeness attempts of the Azerbaijani forces in some parts of the state border and the line of contact, as a result of which Artsakhs Defense Army solder Shamkhal Petrosyan received a gunshot wound. In this regard the defense minister attached importance to the strict adherence to the ceasefire regime in order to prevent provocations and not to destabilize the situation. Ambassador Kasprzyk wished speedy recovery to the soldier and expressed readiness to make maximum efforts within his mediation mission. The officials also discussed other issues relating to the cooperation between the Ambassadors office and the Armenian defense ministry, as well as issues of bilateral interest. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Bringing the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide to the agenda of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) is a political step against Turkey, Noyemi Nalbandian member of the Armenian National Committee of Jerusalem, told ARMENPRESS, stating that the Armenian community is not excited in this regard. The relations between Israel and Turkey have escalated recently in connection with the ongoing events in Gaza. As Turkey opposes Israels actions and strictly criticizes them, Israel, as a political step, put into circulation the bill on recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This doesnt make us happy, the issue of the Armenian Genocide has become a playing card, we want for the Genocide to be recognized since Turkey has committed a crime against humanity, we oppose that this issue is brought to agenda for this or that political interest, Noyemi Nalbandian said, reminding that three months ago one of the Knesset lawmakers brought this issue to the parliaments agenda, but it didnt pass. She couldnt say for sure when the Armenian Genocide recognition issue will be put up to voting at the parliament, adding that it can be on any day depending on the development of the political situation. At the moment its even difficult to say what kind of result can be expected from the voting since various signals are coming from the MPs and the government. The Israeli president said that in connection with the political issue the relations with Turkey have deteriorated, but they continue working in economic and other sectors. Therefore, at this stage we cannot say whether the issue will be adopted or not. In any case the government has a great influence, if it wants, it can contribute to the issue to be passed, Noyemi Nalbandian said. Several dozens of people have been killed in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops in Gaza. The clashes launched on the opening day of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. The Embassy was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by US President Donald Trumps decision. The Turkish authorities called on the international community to strictly criticize the Israeli actions in Palestine. Earlier the Turkish foreign ministry urged the Israeli Ambassador to leave the country, after which the Ambassador left Ankara. In the background of tense relations between Turkey and Israel, the issue of adopting an Armenian Genocide recognition bill has again appeared in the Knesset agenda. MPs Itzik Shmuly and Amir Ohan said that they will submit a bill recognizing the massacre of nearly 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. The lawmakers stated that time has come for Israel to recognize the Armenian Genocide committed by Turks. Interview by Anna Gziryan English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The new government of Armenia has expressed complete support to the organization of the 2019 Yerevan World Congress on Information Technologies-WCIT. Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) executive director Karen Vardanyan told ARMENPRESS that the preparation is underway as expected. WITSA (World Information Technology and Services Alliance) Chairman Yvonne Chiu and Secretary General James Poisant were recently here. They had meetings with the President and Prime Minister. This meeting was highlighted with the fact that it was the first meeting with the new government of Armenia. It was a rather productive discussion, a detailed conversation took place about the format and issues of the event. The leaders of the country expressed full support to the holding of the congress in Yerevan, Vardanyan said. Vardanyan mentioned that right now the marketing program is under discussion, which is an important phase of the preparation process. Vardanyan says he sees readiness from the government to boost the IT sector. He attached importance to Hakob Arshakyans appointment as first deputy minister of transportation, communication and IT. We are very pleased from this appointment. Hakob Arshakyan has great experience in the high tech sector in both engineering and business development directions. He is a very high class professional, he said. On May 16, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with WITSA (World Information Technology and Services Alliance) Chairman Yvonne Chiu and Secretary General James Poisant. The meeting focused on issues relating to the organization of the upcoming 2019 Yerevan World Congress on Information Technologies-WCIT, the press service of the government said. The Prime Minister attached importance to hosting the conference and noted that the government will make all efforts to organize and hold it on a high level. PM Nikol Pashinyan mentioned that the IT branch will be among the governments priorities and he expressed confidence that this sector will become one of the moving forces of the economy. Pashinyan and Yvonne Chiu agreed to form a joint working group which will begin the preparation works. Mrs. Chiu stressed that the WITSA is interested in close cooperation with the Armenian government and presented Taiwans practice in organizing the conference. Estimates regarding visitors and participants vary but experts say between 2500-4000 delegates from nearly 80 countries are expected to participate in the conference. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Turkish-American economist Daron Acemoglu, the acclaimed ethnic Armenian economist who was personally contacted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shortly after his election for assisting in restoring the countrys economy, says he is certain that "a public transformation is needed in Armenia which will open a road to a more competitive and dynamic economy." Speaking to Istanbuls Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper about his phone call with the news Armenian Prime Minister, Acemoglu argued that the Armenian economy has suffered from corruption. Only the Armenian society can lead such a change, he argues. According to Acemoglu, the Armenian Prime Minister called him and asked whether he would like to help. As someone being outside of that country I dont know how and to what extent Ill be able to help, however I told him that I would be happy to make efforts in that direction. I would like to visit Yerevan at a convenient time but the date is still unclear due to personal reasons, he said. We must all be hopeful in the issue of Armenias future. Acemoglu claims that Armenias political system is based on bribery and it wont be easy to eradicate the corrupt system. Earlier on May 13, five days after being elected Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan said that he has phoned Daron Acemoglu, the acclaimed ethnic Armenian economist. Acemoglu was born to Armenian parents in Turkey and holds dual Turkish/US citizenship. According to Pashinyan, the economist had said that he is ready to assist Armenia in restoring and developing the economy. Mr. Acemoglu accepted my invitation to visit Armenia, the PM had said. Acemoglu has been teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for many years. He is considered a global authority in modern economics. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan introduced newly-appointed secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan to the Council staff, the government told Armenpress. In his remarks PM Pashinyan said the Security Council is a body where main directions of the defense policy are being determined. The formulation of this sentence describes, defines and makes clear the importance of the Security Council, the staff of which must be the brain center that gives signals on defense policy directions, Nikol Pashinyan said, adding that this structure accumulates information about the threats and proposes solutions in calm working conditions. The PM expressed hope that the Security Council led by Armen Grigoryan will completely and effectively conduct its function in line with contemporary demands and challenges, will propose solutions for the security challenges facing Armenia. In his turn Armen Grigoryan thanked the PM for the trust. I am convinced that the process of development of security policy will be put on a new level. Armenia faces challenges that require solutions of political mind. I am confident that the team will be able to fulfill its tasks, increase Armenias security level by proposing solutions for the existing challenges and problems, the new secretary of the Security Council said. The Prime Minister tasked to prepare a session of the Security Council to discuss the defense policy and to implement different agenda decisions. The security field, the normal development of Armed Forces is a priority for us, and we must do everything to ensure the normal development of the Armed Forces, to correctly assess the existing challenges and have effective countermeasures for them. The Armenian citizens must be confident that the government has tools to completely ensure the countrys security. At the moment we have all necessary measures to develop effective policy for the field, the PM said, adding that there is no need to afraid of shortcomings, since in case of hiding them the problems will only deepen. Its necessary to diagnose the existing issues and reach quick and effective solutions. The role of the Security Council is very important in this sense. I wish you success in successfully fulfilling your functions, PM Pashinyan said. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Protesters are rallying outside the Prosecutor Generals Office in downtown Yerevan. The demonstrators claim that there are political prisoners in Armenia and are demanding their release. The protesters are suggesting the government to create a new body which will include reputable lawyers who will deal with this issue. Protesters are also seen holding photos of the former minister of defense of Artsakh Samvel Babayan, who has been sentenced to six years in prison for arms trafficking. Some of the protesters are demanding the resignation of Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan. The demonstrators marched towards a courthouse demanding to launch proceedings on the complaint of Babayans lawyer. Babayan was imprisoned for smuggling and possessing a shoulder launched missile system. Earlier in April, the country and particularly the city of Yerevan saw massive anti-governmental protests which eventually forced PM Serzh Sargsyan to resign. But even after the opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister, various unrelated demonstrations still take place. Photos by Eduard Sepetchyan ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The souvenirs created with the support of Business Armenia and under the Tag (translated as crown) brand are already in the market presented in 20 sales outlets. Batches of the souvenirs have also been exported to Russia and the United States. In Armenia those are presented in the National Gallery, museums, and souvenir shops, Business Armenia told Armenpress. In the near future the number of outlets will increase and will include souvenir galleries by the churches. Besides, the export market will expand reaching Canada, Ukraine and France, Business Armenia Businessmen Support team leader Mr. Hayk Mirzoyan said. We currently produce 15 types of souvenirs, and the highest demand among those have hats, shirts, teas and bookmarks. We simultaneously work on providing e-commerce, CEO of 47 design company, Mr. Arsen Meliksetyan stated. Tag has been created to produce souvenirs with the images of Tigran the Great, Queen Parandzem Hayk Nahapet, Paruyr Skayordi, and goddess Anahit. The project is being implemented with the public-private partnership. The 47 Design company implements the production. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The likely cause of the mass poisoning in Armavir province is thought to be lunch-time snacks containing chicken, cheese and potatoes which the victims have consumed, a doctor of the Armavir medical center told ARMENPRESS. Earlier it was unclear if the poisoning was food-related. The incident happened in a viticulture company on May 17 in a local village in Armavir province. The doctor said that some patients might already be discharged today. We have 18 hospitalized now. But many others have sought medical attention in the same case. One has been discharged today, the doctor said. The remaining victims are hospitalized in another local hospital. Doctors are yet to confirm that the poisoning is food-related. Earlier it was reported that 80 people have been hospitalized in the province of Armavir, Armenia in what is believed to be a mass food poisoning. All 80 victims are employees of a viticulture company in a local village. The healthcare ministry told ARMENPRESS that the victims are being treated in two local hospitals of the province. The patients are in satisfactory state, the ministry said. Some of the patients will be discharged today, doctors said. The employees sought medical attention earlier on May 17 with symptoms of food poisoning. Shortly before midday May 18, the investigative committee said it has launched criminal proceedings into the incident. The criminal case was lunached on a suspected violation of sanitary and anti-epidemiological rules and regulations, according to Sona Truzyan, advisor to the president of the investigative committee. An investigation is underway. No foul play has been indicated so far. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has visited the headquarters of the state revenue committee (SRC) in Yerevan where he introduced the new president of the agency, Davit Ananyan, to the staff, the governments press service said. PM Pashinyan thanked Vardan Harutyunyan, the former president of the SRC, for his work and wished good luck to the new president. The SRC, and the tax and customs systems have always been under the attention of the society, the press and the government. We are always talking about the reforms of these systems, but we also record that they arent sufficient and the reforms are required to be continued with a new impetus, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister pointed out two problems of the branch which must be solved soon. First, not bother businesses and businessmen, second ensure the continuous cut of the shadow economy and the steady implementation of the budgets revenue part, and enlargement of the budgets revenue part. It is in between these two boundaries, Mr. Ananyan, where I expect efficient activities. I believe that it depends on the activities of the state revenue committee, customs and tax bodies themselves whether or not we will be able to transform the positive energy which was built-up as a result of the latest political events into concrete economic results, the PM said. The PM said he expects speedy and serious results from the new SRC president, results which will be visible and tangible for citizens. Prime Minister Pashinyan once again mentioned the fight against corruption and noted that corruption must be eradicated. We are in a time when the impossible becomes reality, therefore we must transform the issue into reality in all directions, and namely in terms of the anti-corruption struggle, and do doubts should exist in this regard, he said. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) William Lacy Swing sent a congratulatory letter to Nikol Pashinyan on being elected Prime Minister of Armenia, the PMs office told Armenpress. The letter says: Your Excellency, Its a pleasure and honor for me to sincerely congratulate you on your election as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia on behalf of the International Organization for Migration and personally myself. The International Organization for Migration is interested in continuing to deepen the excellent partnership with Armenia and expand together with the leadership of the State Service for Migration the migration management reforms in the Republic. The IOM is committed to assist the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement signed with the European Union, as well as the launch of talks on EU visa liberalization for the citizens of Armenia, including the representatives of the Armenian Diaspora, aimed at Armenias socio-economic development and assisting migrants who need support. The International Organization for Migration considers it honor to continue the current significant cooperation directing the achievements in the migration field for the sustainable development of your perfect country. Nikol Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister of Armenia by the Parliament on May 8. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Twenty-eight people remain hospitalized in the province of Armavir after a mass food poisoning incident sent 80 people to hospitals. All patients are in satisfactory states, doctors say. The likely cause of the mass poisoning in Armavir province is thought to be lunch-time snacks containing chicken, cheese and potatoes which the victims have consumed, a doctor of the Armavir medical center told ARMENPRESS. Earlier it was unclear if the poisoning was food-related. The incident happened in the Arevadasht village of Armavir province, in Tierras de Armenia a viticulture and winemaker known for its Karas wines. Tierras de Armenia is owned by Argentine-Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian. The doctor said that some patients might already be discharged today. Earlier it was reported that 80 people have been hospitalized in the province of Armavir, Armenia in what is believed to be a mass food poisoning. All victims are employees of the viticulture winemaking company in of the village. The healthcare ministry told ARMENPRESS that the victims are being treated in two local hospitals of the province. The patients are in satisfactory state, the ministry said. The employees sought medical attention earlier on May 17 with symptoms of food poisoning. Shortly before midday May 18, the investigative committee said it has launched criminal proceedings into the incident. The criminal case was launched on a suspected violation of sanitary and anti-epidemiological rules and regulations, according to Sona Truzyan, advisor to the president of the investigative committee. An investigation is underway. No foul play has been indicated so far. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan participated today in an anti-corruption workshop on the sidelines of the Commitment to Constructive Dialogued program, the justice ministry told ARMENPRESS. The meeting was also attended by Tevan Poghosyan, advisor of President Armen Sarkissian, who also serves as chairman of the governing council of the anti corruption coalition of Armenias CSOs, an Karen Zadoyan, program leader and president of the Armenian Association of Lawyers NGO and others. Minister Zeynalyan emphasized that the Armenian government is well aware of the dangerousness of corruption and its irreversible impact of the rule of law, protection of human rights and economic developments. Therefore, I consider it necessary to signal that from now on the fight against corruption is entering a new, more targeted, determined phase, he said, adding that uniting the efforts of all parties government, civil society, business sector, international organization, news media for realizing a common goal is equally highlighted. The minister said that everyone must display zero tolerance for corruption occurrences, just like theyve been intolerant for other negative occurrences. The change which happened in the country should be implemented and displayed in the conduct of each of us, he said. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation Serzhik Avetisyan has exited the courthouse to personally meet with protesters who are demanding a revision of the sentencing of former military commander Samvel Babayan. Babayan, a former defense minister of Artsakh, was sentenced to six years in prison for smuggling a shoulder-launched missile system. Samvel Babayans case has been submitted to the Court of Cassation one month ago, seeking an overruling of the verdict. As you know, there is a three-months period for the Court of Cassation to either launch or not launch proceedings over the complaint. Our demand is for the proceedings to be launched as soon as possible and for an overruling to happen, analyst Andranik Tevanyan, who was among the protesters, told reporters. Avetisyan on the other hand said that they cant set specific dates because it depends on the complexity of the case. He said that this given case was submitted on April 17 and a decision will be made within the three-month period. The response of any given case will be made within the framework of the current legislation, he said. Avetisyan said that nobody has pressured him, and that no one even can. Earlier the protesters were rallying outside the Prosecutor Generals Office in downtown Yerevan. Babayans lawyer has applied to the Court of Cassation seeking an overruling of the sentencing of his client. The lawyers complaint was earlier rejected by the Court of Appeals. In the early 2000s Babayan was also convicted for an attempted assassination of Arkady Ghoukasyan, then-President of Nagorno Karabakh. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The Supreme Judicial Council has a lot of works to do, justice minister Artak Zeynalyan told reporters, Armenpress reports. The minister said the legislative body will adopt laws that should guarantee the independence of judiciary. For instance, courts should be unloaded in order to be able to conduct effective justice and ensure the reasonable investigation of cases, the guarantee of social and institutional independence. Courts should conduct justice on behalf of the people of the Republic of Armenia, Minister Zeynalyan said. He added that the members of the Supreme Judicial Council have been elected by the Parliament, and the Council is working. The Supreme Judicial Council has been elected as a result of the yes and no voting in the Parliament. This is a decision adopted by all MPs of the Parliament, he said. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan Thapa orders list of rogue contractors Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa on Thursday directed the district administration offices (DAOs) across the country to despatch, within a week, lists of companies and contractors involved in fraudulent practices while constructing public buildings, roads and bridges. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The state service for food safety has dispatched agents to Armavir province to probe the suspected food poisoning incident in the plant of Tierras de Armenia a viticulture and winemaker known for its Karas wines. Earlier doctors said they suspected the cause of the poisoning to be a lunchtime snack which all of the employees consumed in the cafeteria of the plant. Agents have taken samples from the facility and sent them for laboratory analysis. Food safety agents also ceased the operation of a businesswomans food supply business in relation to the incident as a precaution. The businesswoman, Alvina Melkonyan, supplied Tierras de Armenia with lunch-time food on the day when the incident happened. A company who in turn is supplying Melkonyan is also under investigation. Twenty-eight people, workers of the factory, remain hospitalized in the province of Armavir after the mass food poisoning incident sent 80 people to hospitals. All patients are in satisfactory states, doctors say. The likely cause of the mass poisoning in Armavir province is thought to be lunch-time snacks containing chicken, cheese and potatoes which the victims have consumed in the cafeteria of the plant, a doctor of the Armavir medical center told ARMENPRESS. Earlier it was unclear if the poisoning was food-related. The incident happened in the Arevadasht village of Armavir province, in Tierras de Armenia a viticulture and winemaker known for its Karas wines. Tierras de Armenia is owned by Argentine-Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian. The doctor said that some patients might already be discharged today. Earlier it was reported that 80 people have been hospitalized in the province of Armavir, Armenia in what is believed to be a mass food poisoning. All victims are employees of the viticulture winemaking company of the village. The healthcare ministry told ARMENPRESS that the victims are being treated in two local hospitals of the province. The patients are in satisfactory state, the ministry said. The employees sought medical attention earlier on May 17 with symptoms of food poisoning. Shortly before midday May 18, the investigative committee said it has launched criminal proceedings into the incident. The criminal case was launched on a suspected violation of sanitary and anti-epidemiological rules and regulations, according to Sona Truzyan, advisor to the president of the investigative committee. An investigation is underway. No foul play has been indicated so far. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The Police of Armenia has responded to media reports claiming that law enforcement agencies have detained more than 10 thieves-in-law(vory v zakone) and more than 30 other high ranking criminals. Asked by ARMENPRESS to comment on the media reports, Police HQ Press and PR director Ashot Aharonyan said: Police are always carrying out preventive actions. Aharonyan refused to give other details neither confirming nor denying the media reports. According to online reports, Armenian law enforcement agencies have detained more than 10 thieves-in-law and more than 30 other high ranking criminals in a nationwide crackdown. The report claimed that agents apprehended a 43-year-old man on May 17 who is considered to be a thief-in-law. The 43-year-old is said to have arrived from Ukraine recently. Earlier the same news website, shamshyan.com, reported Armenian law enforcement agencies have launched a nationwide crackdown on organized crime. This phenomenon, known as thief-in-law, emerged in the infamous Soviet gulags and became a prison culture in most of post-Soviet states. Thief-in-law is a specifically granted formal status of a professional criminal who enjoys an elite position within the organized crime environment and employs informal authority over its lower-status members. Criminals are crowned as thieves-in-law by senior members of the organized crime syndicates for many years of contributions to the criminal business or long record behind bars. Thieves-in-law are known for their distinctive tattoos and code of conduct. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on May 18 received US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, the government told Armenpress. The PM attached importance to the constant development of the Armenian-American ties and welcomed official Washingtons commitment and readiness to give new impetus to the bilateral cooperation in different sectors. The Armenian government is interested and attaches great importance to the mutual partnership with the American side in the process of reforms in democracy development, anti-corruption fight, human rights and other spheres. We are full of energy to reach our goals and concrete results also taking into account the positive atmosphere existing today in the country, PM Pashinyan said, stating that the government is committed to moving forward the activities at these directions. In his turn US Ambassador Richard Mills congratulated PM Pashinyan on assuming office and conveyed the readiness of the US government to assist Armenia in implementation of the aforementioned goals. The US government is committed to assisting the goals on democracy, human rights, transparency and accountability that will improve Armenias business environment and will make the country more attractive for American investors. We see a number of opportunities for dialogue and cooperation, including within the format of the Armenian-American inter-governmental works, the Ambassador said. During the meeting a number of other issues relating to the increase of trade turnover volumes between the two countries, the ongoing regional affairs, holding parliamentary elections in Armenia, the reforms of the Electoral Code and issues of bilateral interest were discussed. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Minister of transport, communication and information technologies Ashot Hakobyan on May 18 received the delegation led by Shane Rosenthal, Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Country Director for Armenia, the ministry told Armenpress. The ADB official congratulated the minister on his appointment and introduced the Banks activity in the road construction field in Armenia. The meeting touched upon the North-South road corridor investment project, the construction of Vanadzor-Alaverdi-Georgia border inter-state highway. Minister Ashot Hakobyan said after assuming office he managed within this short period of time to some extent get acquainted with the process of ongoing works. He said the construction of North-South highway is very important for Armenia, therefore its necessary to make maximum efforts to successfully move forward the project. During the meeting a number of other details relating to the ongoing projects and future programs were discussed. The sides expressed hope that the future cooperation will be continuous and more effective. English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, 18 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 18 May, USD exchange rate is down by 0.10 drams to 483.26 drams. EUR exchange rate is down by 1.23 drams to 569.28 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate is down by 0.05 drams to 7.76 drams. GBP exchange rate is down by 0.81 drams to 651.77 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price is down by 31.34 drams to 20035.18 drams. Silver price is up by 1.97 drams to 254.58 drams. Platinum price is down by 65.02 drams to 13828.08 drams. YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The 128th session of the the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe took place on May 17-18 in Denmark where Armenias permanent representative Paruyr Hovhannisyan represented Armenia, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia. In his speech Paruyr Hovahnnisyan said that there should be no so-called gray zones in Europe in terms of protection of human rights. The rights and freedoms of people living in conflict zones should be respected and protected. For that purpose its necessary to ensure the free access of the CoE Human Rights Commissioner, as well as the relevant monitoring bodies to these areas, he said. In this context the Ambassador of Armenia drew the attention of the Committee of Ministers on the fact that Artsakh has unilaterally joint a number of international fundamental documents, including the European Convention of Human Rights. He also emphasized the inalienable right of Artsakhs people to self determination, adding that its also one of the basic principles of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. Referring to the report on exposures of Azerbaijani corruption deals in PACE, Armenias permanent representative, quoting the German Deutsche Welle periodical, said, Azerbaijan was more successful in exporting its values, than the contrary. Paruyr Hovhannisyan emphasized that the discoveries in the report must not remain unanswered at the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly. ENGLISH: Editor/Translator Tigran Sirekanyan Ecuador announced Thursday it would withdraw additional security measures at its London embassy after an investigation found it plunged $5 million into a spy operation to protect WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The move, ordered by President Lenin Moreno, came after The Guardian newspaper and Focus Ecuador revealed the previous administration of Rafael Correa funded the operation that involved monitoring Assange's visitors, embassy personnel and the British police. In March, Ecuador cut off Assange's ability to communicate with the outside world after he broke a 2017 promise to not interfere in other countries' affairs while in the mission. Assange, 46, sought refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, which he denies. Assange claims the accusations were politically motivated and could lead to his being extradited to the United States to face imprisonment over WikiLeaks' publication of secret US military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010. Swedish authorities dropped their investigations last year, but British authorities still want to arrest him for breaching bail conditions. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London in 2017 Some call it "little Syria" since it is impossible to walk down the main shopping streets in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep without hearing traders and passers-by speaking Arabic. The city of two million lies close to the Syrian border and has welcomed nearly 500,000 of the 3.5 million Syrian refugees who have fled to Turkey since the civil war broke out in 2011. But it is a cohabitation that is not without tensions, despite reassurances by the authorities. "Here, we can consider that it is the capital of Syria, because there is more of them than us," says Turkish shopkeeper Adil Bayraz. Bayraz who has run a grocery store for 30 years, estimates that 80 percent of traders on the street where he is now are Syrian, though another trader a little down the road says the number is 90 percent. In any case, Arabic resonates louder than Turkish in this shopping street. Spice shops, hookah waterpipe sellers and Syrian bakeries as well as restaurants with Arabic-only menus follow one another along the street. "Our customers from Gaziantep no longer come here to shop. It has mostly become the market for Syrians," Bayraz adds, emphasising he gets along well with his neighbours, eats Syrian food and has even learned a smattering of Arabic. According to Hasan Amanakh, a grocer down the road from Bayraz, shop rents have increased while his revenues have declined. "Since you let them come, do not let them open a shop, they come shop at ours," he says angrily, addressing the authorities. Gaziantep mayor Fatma Sahin says the city is a model of integrating the Syrian refugees into Turkish life without causing social tensions. "We have managed to be one of the cities that has managed these difficult times successfully with the least damage for those people who live here," she tells AFP. - Ransacked Syrian shops - Many Syrians in Gaziantep are grateful to their "Turkish brothers" and say they feel welcome here. It is the case for Mohammad Al-Hamaoui, owner of a small coffee and spice house. "It has been seven years since I am here so I am known on the street," he says. "Relations are normal and there is no problem... We go about our business with the Turks and Syrians without any stress." But others, who asked not to be named, tell a different story: Syrian shops ransacked, homeowners refusing to rent apartments to Syrians, difficulties obtaining loans or even simply to open a bank account as well as daily anti-Syrian comments. In a January 2018 report entitled "Turkey's Syrian Refugees: Defusing Metropolitan Tensions", the International Crisis Group said incidents of intercommunal violence increased threefold in the second half of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. "At least 35 people died in these incidents during 2017, including 24 Syrians," the report authors said, adding the potential for anti-refugee violence was highest in Turkey's three big cities: Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Officials and pro-government media reports usually "downplay tensions", the authors said, adding that this "stifles potentially salutary public debate". - Return to Syria? - Seeking to address this discontent, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan often offers Turks reassurances that Syrian refugees are expected to return home. Since 2016, Turkey has launched two military operations in northern Syria to fight Kurdish militia and the Islamic State extremist group but also to create "safe zones" for the return of refugees. According to Erdogan, over 160,000 Syrians have already returned to these areas. "Ultimately when the security conditions are fulfilled, each will return home, to his own territory," says Sahin. Asked about the tensions, Sahin replies: "We tell (residents) to be patient, we tell them that Syrians are beginning to leave and we are making big investments to meet their needs so that their quality of life does not deteriorate. And they understand us." Yet this is not enough to convince everyone. "It's impossible for them to leave because Syria, it's finished, there is nothing left... it's a ruin," says Sinem, a housewife. She says she will "inevitably" have this question in mind when voting in the parliamentary and presidential polls on June 24. Amanakh also says this will influence his vote. "There is a feeling of despair against the government," he says. "Even those who supported them feel this revulsion." A Syrian coffee seller pours the black liquid in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, home to around half a million Syrians who fled the civil war south of the border Flags flutter over the Turkish city of Gaziantep, home to around half a million Syrians who fled the civil war south of the border Syrian men work in a restaurant in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, home to around half a million Syrians who fled the civil war south of the border A packed shopping street in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, home to half a million Syrians who fled the civil war south of the border. Some call it "little Syria" since it is impossible to walk down the main streets without hearing Arabic spoken Tourist arrivals grow 11 percent in April Nepal received 98,650 foreign visitors in the month of April, up 11.4 percent as compared to the same period last year, according to the Department of Immigration statistics. The circus surrounding Meghan Markle's family has caught Prince Harry and the palace on the hop, with precious little time left to get a grip ahead of Saturday's wedding, experts said. It is a nightmare situation for the British royal and the former US TV star in the final hours before they tie the knot at Windsor Castle -- but one that many quarters say could have been prevented. Markle's reclusive father Thomas is in hospital recovering from a heart operation, having been caught in a fiasco of his own making posing for staged paparazzi photos. Her uninvited half-brother Tom Junior is hanging around outside the castle walls, while his ex-wife and children have also flown into London for their own merry-making reasons. Markle's half-sister Samantha Grant -- also persona non grata, and also reportedly hospitalised after a paparazzi-dodging car crash -- has been venting forthrightly on numerous television stations. The Daily Mirror quoted palace staff calling the marriage preparations the "Markle Debacle". The entire scenario has left Harry's Kensington Palace operation under fire from all corners for failing to see it coming. "Kensington Palace has missed a trick with the whole family," veteran royal biographer Penny Junor told AFP. "The relatives have become a bigger story than the event itself, which is tragic," said the author of "Prince Harry: Brother. Soldier. Son. Husband." "Kensington Palace could have despatched someone across the Atlantic to help them, give a bit of advice and moral support and prepare them." She added: "I also suspect that Meghan missed a trick in not inviting her half-brother and half-sister to the wedding. Much safer to have them inside the tent than outside." Newspapers have been piling into Kensington Palace for naively leaving Thomas Markle floundering. - 'Shambolic' attitude - The Times columnist Jenni Russell said the palace "can't continue with this slightly disdainful, shambolic, cope-as-you-can attitude to those they co-opt into a circle of stratospheric fame". She quoted a courtier as saying Kensington Palace "know they've dropped the ball on this. They're acutely embarrassed about it, and they're desperately playing catch-up. "They're kicking themselves now." Jane Moore, The Sun's former royal correspondent, suggested the palace should have read "media management for dummies" and stepped in months ago. "It chose to ignore the speeding train heading towards the broken track," she wrote. Moore said Thomas Markle should have been flown first class to Britain, put up in one of the crown's private cottages and talked through what to expect, with a photograph released of him with his daughter and Harry. "The palace's failure to be pro-active has now necessitated a too little, too late reaction," Moore wrote. Kensington Palace has been tight-lipped over the Markle crisis, refusing to go beyond its brief statements. It is unlikely to admit any mistakes publicly. Royal biographer Andrew Morton said the palace was a tighter circle than in the past, with fewer trusted staff in the loop due to the exceptionally cautious nature of Prince William, Harry's older brother. "Kensington Palace like Buckingham Palace, is a place of rumour, hearsay and gossip. Essentially, what happens inside stays inside," he told AFP. - 'He has changed' - Reports suggested Harry, 33, who is deeply sensitive to press intrusion, is very upset about what has happened to the father-in-law he has yet to meet. Harry struggled to find lasting love, with previous girlfriends such as Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas feeling the scrutiny all too much. Markle, 36, a self-made star and humanitarian advocate, is a polished performer who embraces the limelight. But not so her family. Her father's absence on her big day has saddened her, according to her own statement announcing his non-attendance. "He'll absolutely be hating it. He will be feeling guilty that all of this is happening to the woman he loves because of who he is," said Junor. For years a reluctant royal, and thrown by his mother Diana's death in 1997, he has finally straightened himself out and embraced his position, realising through his Invictus Games for wounded veterans that he can use his status for a greater good. Finding, at long last, the right partner to share his life and work with should have been the bookend to his turbulent youth. "He has changed, he's grown up, he's matured," said Junor. "Harry is in a really good place and heading in a very good direction at the moment. It would be terrible if this knocked him off that course." A woman selling flags featuring Britain's Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle near Windsor Castle in Windsor on May 18, 2018, the day before the Royal wedding A couple wearing masks of Britain's Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle pose with Union flags near Windsor Castle on May 18, 2018, the day before the Royal wedding The circus surrounding Meghan Markle's family has caught Prince Harry and the palace on the hop, with precious little time left to get a grip ahead of Saturday's wedding The circus surrounding Meghan Markle's family has caught Prince Harry and the palace on the hop, with precious little time left to get a grip ahead of Saturday's wedding Guy the beagle is living a fairytale. The 25-pound (11-kilogram) dog was a few days from being euthanized in 2015 after being found abandoned in the Kentucky backwoods. After a massive effort to bring the pooch to Canada, where by happenstance it cast its "big, sad eyes" on Meghan Markle, Guy will officially be welcomed into the British royal family when she marries Prince Harry on Saturday. "Guy was living in a shelter after being found lost in a Kentucky forest, and now he's living in a palace," said Dolores Doherty, who runs A Dog's Dream Rescue and arranged to have Guy driven 500 miles (805 kilometers) to Canada by a relay of volunteer drivers, for adoption. "It's a fairytale, a real rags to riches story," she told AFP. The beagle had been in Canada only one day when Markle, who was living in Toronto and filming her television series "Suits," spotted him at an adoption event. Markle had been looking for a companion for her other dog Bogart, a German shepherd mix, Doherty explained. "He's so adorable with his long brown ears and big eyes and little round beagle body. We'd shown Meghan another dog that we thought might be a good match, but she saw Guy and immediately she wanted to take him home," she said. Guy would go on to become a minor Instagram star with photographs showing the dog strolling with Markle along Toronto streets and curled up next to her and Bogart at home. But that celebrity pales in comparison to its new role as a royal pet. Guy moved to Britain last November to live with the soon-to-be-newlyweds. Unfortunately Bogart was too old and frail to make the trip and so is staying with friends of Markle in Canada. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (L) looks at a Corgi dog during a visit to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in London in 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Thursday and said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country. A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi. "After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists" the condition are in place for "the start of a political process on a major scale," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "there were detailed discussions" between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia. "With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory," Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces. Russia has been involved in Syria's civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Assad's regime but also changed the course of the war. Putin also congratulated Assad on the "successes of the Syrian government's army in the fight against terrorist groups". "The next task, of course, is the economic recovery and humanitarian aid for those people in a difficult situation," Putin added. - 'Stability is improving' - The latest round of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana wrapped up on Tuesday, but did not however make any concrete progress towards ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives. Russia, Iran and Turkey have been attempting to resolve the conflict in the talks that started last year in Astana in competition with a US and UN-backed Geneva initiative. In a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad added on Thursday "we have evaluated the political process" and will select candidates for a constitutional committee, a suggestion proposed in January at a summit in Sochi, that will work with the United Nations. According to the Kremlin statement, Assad said "stability is improving" in Syria, "opening the door to the political process we started some time ago". "We know it will not be easy because some countries do not want stability to return to Syria. But with you and other partners and friends, we will continue to make strong progress in the peace process," Assad was quoted as saying in the statement. "Thanks to military successes, we are managing to normalise the situation in the country, opening the way for the return of many of our compatriots." Russian television broadcast short clips from the two men's discussion. Regime forces recaptured Ghouta from rebels last month after a ferocious offensive that displaced tens of thousands, both to government-controlled zones around Damascus and to opposition-held parts of northern Syria. De Mistura, speaking Wednesday to the UN Security Council's monthly meeting on the Syria conflict, described what he called the classic Syrian regime tactic of a bombardment of a rebel territory followed by negotiations and then mass evacuations from the defeated area. But the special envoy noted that half of the people in the northern rebel province of Idlib had already fled from other parts of Syria, "and will have nowhere else to go because there is no other place to go." Putin and Assad met on the eve of a meeting in Sochi between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first face-to-face talk of the year between the veteran leaders. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during their meeting in Sochi The United States is the only developed country in the world that suffers from a relentless cycle of school shootings, such as the rampage that took yet more lives at a Texas high school on Friday. Ten people were killed and another 10 injured when a student armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire just as classes were starting at the school in Santa Fe. There is roughly one school shooting a week in the United States, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that is pushing to limit the proliferation of firearms in the country. US schools have become less and less a safe havens for children, as the country grapples with an epidemic of gun violence that claims around 33,000 lives each year, and many Americans appear fatalistic. Unless there is a high body count, most school shootings don't even make the national press. According to a database compiled by the Washington Post, more than 214,000 primary and secondary school students have experienced a school shooting in the United States since 1999. At least 139 students, teachers and others have been killed over the same period. The familiar television images of students fleeing for their lives across playing fields, or tearfully recounting their near-death experiences, prompt the inevitable same questions: Should all schools have security gates? Should teachers be armed? Just three months ago, in February, a young man armed with a semi-automatic, assault-style weapons killed 17 people at his old high school in Florida. That particular rampage, in a school whose surviving students spoke out movingly and articulately against gun violence, prompted a fresh movement to demand legislation that would impose stricter controls on firearms. That led to a wave of marches across the country and overseas on March 24 that brought as many as two million people on to the streets to demand action. The hundreds of thousands of school kids were portrayed as the "school shooting generation" or the "Columbine generation," named for the school where two students in Colorado gunned down 12 of their schoolmates and a teacher in 1999. Yet there has been no progress towards legislation that would dent the rampant gun violence, aside from a few minor measures introduced in a handful of states. President Donald Trump himself has proposed arming teachers. - Disturbing trends - The actual definition of what constitutes a school shooting varies, hence the difference in the reported numbers of such incidents. But the simple fact remains that there are far more of them in the United States than in the rest of the developed world, and the long-term trends are disturbing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation carried out a study of "active shooters" between 2000 and 2013 and found that the numbers of mass shootings are on the rise nationwide. In 70 percent of cases, the killings and injuries occur within five minutes or less, giving law enforcement a very short time to react. And 24.4 percent of all gun rampages take place in schools or other educational establishments. Shooters who open fire in schools or colleges are, for the most part, students or former students, as was the case in Santa Fe on Friday. And the FBI also notes that school shootings are becoming deadlier. Some of the more prominent attacks have had a lasting impact on the national psyche, such as Columbine in 1999, Virginia Tech in 2007 or the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, when 20 kids aged between six and seven were shot dead by a gunman. Since that slaughter, emergency "active shooter" drills have been stepped up in schools to prepare students to react when a gunman attacks their classroom. Emergency crews in the parking lot of Santa Fe High School where a a student opened fire Friday, killing at least eight people dead Meghan Markle will begin her walk down the aisle on her own when she marries Prince Harry before being joined by his father Prince Charles, officials said Friday after a last-minute upset when her own dad pulled out. Despite sadness at her father Thomas Markle's absence, the US former actress said she felt "wonderful" as she and her mother Doria Ragland arrived at the plush Cliveden House Hotel to spend the night before the wedding. Meanwhile Harry and his best man, brother Prince William, went to greet the crowds outside Windsor Castle, where many will spend the night to secure a good spot for Saturday's events. Thomas Markle will not be escorting his daughter at St. George's Chapel as planned, after he underwent a heart operation and became mired in a row over staged press photos. Despite speculation that Ragland could step in, the palace said the bride had asked her future father-in-law to do so. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the royal family in this way," a spokesman for Kensington Palace added. It later emerged that Markle will start walking down the aisle on her own, followed by six bridesmaids and four pageboys, before being joined by Charles, the heir to the throne. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who will marry the couple, said Friday they were "very sensible" and "self-possessed". "There's profound affection between them which is wonderful and a deep understanding and mutual support," he said. "You see (it) in the way they respond to each other, caring for each other." - Father 'honoured and grateful' - In the wedding build-up, Kensington Palace appears to have been caught off guard by the chaos surrounding the Markle family. Thomas Markle complained about paparazzi hounding at his home in Mexico before staging his own photos. The apparent bid to control his own image backfired badly. Two of his children -- Meghan's half-siblings, who have not been invited -- have also caused a stir by repeatedly speaking out about her in the media, and not always in the most flattering terms. "Kensington Palace has missed a trick with the whole family," royal biographer Penny Junor told AFP, saying it might have been prudent to invite them. "They are very ordinary people, the Markles, leading very ordinary lives -- and totally ill-prepared for what has hit them." A recovering Thomas Markle told US celebrity news website TMZ that he was "honoured and grateful" that Charles would give his daughter away. He said he would "proudly" watch the wedding on television "in a secluded place with friends". The 73-year-old said he had spoken with his daughter and Harry and hoped to visit them soon. - Impromptu walkabout - The bride and groom went to Windsor Castle on Friday to join Queen Elizabeth II for tea with Ragland. Harry and William later delighted crowds of well-wishers outside the castle. The brothers walked along a line of flag-waving spectators, shaking hands and chatting. When asked how he was feeling, Harry, sixth in line to the throne, replied: "Great." The 33-year-old told a woman who had travelled from Toronto: "Thank you so much for coming all this way." Harry sported a neatly-trimmed beard, triggering suggestions that he would not be wearing army uniform for his wedding. Meanwhile Markle, wearing a black dress, said she was feeling "wonderful", as she arrived at her overnight hotel. Harry and William are staying at the Coworth Park hotel. Harry's close friend Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, with whom he established a charity helping the country's AIDS orphans, said the African kingdom wanted the newlyweds to visit. "Harry's Harry. He doesn?t fit any mould," he told ITV television. "That inner child in him is visible. "For us, Harry is one of us. His taking a person who has African roots again cements our love for Harry and his respect for the African continent." - 'Ethereal' cake - In east London, the Violet Bakery was on Friday applying finishing touches to the wedding cake, an "ethereal" lemon and elderflower creation. Security measures in Windsor, meanwhile, have transformed the picturesque town into a fortress, with snipers posted on building roofs. Around 100,000 spectators are expected to turn out. Diehard royalists have been camping out along the carriage route to secure the best viewing spots. "I came here on Wednesday with all my friends," Sam Perez, 50, from New York, told AFP outside the castle gates where he had set up camp. "We're going to party tonight," he added. "The people from the town, they're really, really good, they bring coffee, cookies, hot tea." The US former actress Meghan Markle said she felt "wonderful" as she and her mother Doria Ragland arrived at the plush Cliveden House Hotel Prince Harry and his best man, brother Prince William, went to greet the crowds outside Windsor Castle, where many will spend the night to secure a good spot for Saturday's events Prince Harry greeted the crowds outside Windsor Castle, where many will spend the night to secure a good spot for Saturday's events Britain's Prince Charles will be the one to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle on Saturday when she marries his son Harry, palace officials say Profiles of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, with photos and details of wedding on May 19 Diehard royalists are already camping out in Windsor to secure the best viewing spots along the route which will be taken by the royal carriage With just a day left until the royal wedding, London's Violet Bakery was putting finishing touches on the cake, an "ethereal" lemon and elderflower creation made with 200 Amalfi lemons Russian President Vladimir Putin wished "good health" to former agent Sergei Skripal as he was released from a British hospital Friday, after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning alleged to have been orchestrated by the Kremlin. "God grant him good health," Putin said in a Sochi press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "If a military-grade poison had been used, the man would have died on the spot. Thank God he recovered and that he left (hospital)." Russia has rejected British accusations of involvement in the poisoning, which sparked a diplomatic crisis that saw Russia and the West expelling dozens of diplomats in tit-for-tat moves. Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was visiting from Moscow, collapsed on March 4 on a bench in Salisbury, the city in southwestern England where the former double agent lives. Police officer Nick Bailey who came to help was also taken to hospital. He was discharged several weeks after the attack, while Yulia Skripal was treated in hospital for just over a month. Salisbury District Hospital nursing director Lorna Wilkinson said looking after Skripal and the two others poisoned by the same nerve agent had been "a huge and unprecedented challenge". "This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital," she said. - Souring relations - Britain has said the poisoning was carried out with a type of nerve agent known as Novichok which was developed in the Soviet Union. UN experts have confirmed that a high-purity nerve agent was used without specifying whether it was Novichok or saying who might be behind the poisoning. Following Skripal's release, the Metropolitan Police said it was making "good progress" in the case. "This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack," it said in a statement. Russia has challenged Britain to provide evidence in the case. "We have several times offered our British partners any necessary assistance in the investigation (of the poisoning)," Putin said Friday. "So far we have received no response. Our offer remains open." - Protective custody? - The Russian embassy in London accused Britain of blocking access to the pair in defiance of diplomatic convention, airing the claims in a set of sensational social media posts. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said their offer of consular assistance had been passed to Yulia Skripal but that she had turned it down. Both she and her father are now likely to be in protective custody. "In the interests of Sergei and Yulia's safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place," the Metropolitan Police said. Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence officer who passed information on Russia's agents in Europe to British security services, resulting in imprisonment in his homeland. He moved to Britain as part of a spy swap in 2010 and has lived there ever since. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with a nerve agent in Britain, triggering a diplomatic crisis with Russia, has been discharged from hospital File photo taken February 27, 2018 from CCTV footage showing former Russian spy Sergei Skripal buying groceries in Salisbury With the much-anticipated royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle happening on Saturday May 19, heres everything you need to know about what time proceedings kick off in Australia. Seven will provide a comprehensive coverage that kicks off from 4pm (AEST) on Saturday (7am London time) as the festivities get underway. A live stream will also be available on 7Plus and here. Prince Harry and Meghan Markles wedding ceremony will kick off at 9pm AEST : Getty Images First guest arrivals 6:30pm Saturday (AEST) Between 6:30 and 8pm, ceremony guests will begin to arrive at the Round Tower at Windsor Castle and then walk to St. Georges Chapel. Royals begin arriving 8:20pm (AEST) The royals will be the last guests to show up, some on foot, others by car from 8:20pm. Prince Harry and the Duke of Cambridge will likely walk to St. Georges Chapel on foot. When they enter, theyll likely acknowledge everyone gathered within the castle walls around 8:45pm. The Queen, who is tipped to arrive at 8.55pm, will be one of the last people to take her place. The Queen will be one of the last guests to arrive. Source: Getty Meanwhile, cameras will be fixed on Markle as she leaves Cliveden House Hotel likely alongside her mother, Doria Ragland. Their journey will take them along part of the Long Walk leading up to the Castle (the promenade where the public will be gathered and can catch a glimpse), where Ragland will likely enter the chapel. Markle will meet up with her bridesmaids and page boys, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte, before entering the church. She is expected to make her way into the chapel just minutes before the service begins at 9pm. The wedding ceremony 9pm (AEST) The ceremony kicks off in St Georges Chapel in Windsor Palace around 9pm AEST. Kensington Palace has kept details of the hour-long service, starting at 9pm, mostly secret so far, undoubtedly saving it all for the big reveal on Saturday morning. At which point, the order of service will be published on the royal family website, so viewers can follow along at home. Story continues The procession 10:05pm (AEST) The newlyweds will make their way out fo the church for a 25 minute-long-procession through the streets of Windsor. Source: Getty After the service has concluded, the newlyweds will head out of the church and greet the 200 charity representatives who were invited to the big day and will be gathered at the Horseshoe Cloister, a nearby building on the property. The couple will then step into their carriage as family members wave them off for the 25-minute-long procession through the streets of Windsor, starting around 10:05pm AEST. Once the carriage has passed, the congregation will walk to a reception at St. Georges Hall, where Prince Harry and Markle will eventually join them. Sevens coverage of the event will come to a close at 11pm. The private evening reception 4am Sunday (AEST) A little later on, we might spy the bride and groom depart for an exclusive evening reception at Frogmore House, to which theyve invited 200 close friends and family. A group of Venezuelan opposition prisoners on Friday ended their takeover of part of a prison run by the feared intelligence services, where an American accused of espionage is also being held, one of the inmates said. The incidents came ahead of Sunday's presidential election in which Socialist incumbent Nicolas Maduro, who has been accused of using the detention facility to crack down on opponents, is seeking a second six-year term in the crisis-hit nation whose economy is crippled. "We want to inform the country that as of now the installations are under the control" of the authorities, opposition figure Villca Fernandez said in an audio message sent by internet from his cell in the Sebin intelligence service's Helicoide center in Caracas. Dozens of opposition prisoners launched the protest late on Wednesday, demanding the immediate release of 20 inmates who have been ordered free on bail, speedier court processes and medical care. Fernandez said that following negotiations with the prosecutor's office, dozens of inmates are to be transferred from Sebin to other facilities. "We achieved freedom for the four minors... and the transfer elsewhere of 68 common prisoners to their respective detention centers," he said. Venezuela's state prosecutor Tarek William Saab on Thursday said 72 prisoners were being transfered following talks with the protesters. A total of 256 prisoners are being held at the facility, including 54 for "political reasons", according to the prisoners' rights group Foro Penal. The United States on Thursday expressed "serious concerns" over the standoff with Venezuelan authorities after an American man among the prisoners, Joshua Holt, pleaded for help in a video sent via Twitter. "I'm calling on the people of America. I need your help to get me out of this place," said Holt, who was detained in 2016. Holt was arrested by Sebin and accused of possessing weapons and plotting to destabilize the Maduro regime. Top officials in the Socialist government have labelled him a US spy. On his Twitter account, Daniel Ceballos, a former opposition mayor of the city of San Cristobal, published a photo of a group of prisoners, including Holt, gathered inside the center. Saab said the protest began after one prisoner beat Gregory Sanabria, one of the imprisoned opposition figures, who then took over a "small corridor" at the entrance of the prison. It remains unclear how the inmates took control of the space as they were not armed, nor how they could send videos and photos of what happened. "We got out of a situation that could have been very dangerous," Saab told state television, indicating he believed the takeover was intended to tarnish Sunday's election. In audio and video messages, the opposition prisoners appealed for a boycott of the vote in line with a call by the coalition of opposition parties, which has labeled the election as a "farce" to maintain Maduro in office. Venezuelan security forces are seen at the entrance of the intelligence service's Helicoide center in Caracas after opposition figures took control of a part of it The sister of a prisoner at the Sebin intelligence service's Helicoide center in Caracas appeals for his release Dozens of Venezuelan opposition prisoners have taken over part of a prison run by the feared intelligence services days ahead of elections, a rights group said Thursday. The United States expressed "serious concerns" over the standoff with Venezuelan authorities after an American man among the prisoners, Joshua Holt, pleaded for help in a video sent via Twitter. About 54 opposition prisoners have been taking part in the protest since Wednesday at the Sebin intelligence service's Helicoide center in Caracas, prisoners rights group Foro Penal said. "We continue to have serious concerns about the safety and welfare of US citizens who are being held there," said US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, citing Holt's video. "I'm calling on the people of America. I need your help to get me out of this place," said Holt, who was detained in 2016. Holt was arrested by Sebin and accused of possessing weapons and plotting to destabilize the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Top officials in the socialist government have labelled him a US spy. The US head of mission in Caracas, Todd Robinson, went to the foreign ministry late Wednesday "and made repeated requests to the highest levels of Venezuelan government for information about the situation at that prison," Nauert said. Venezuelan authorities refused to meet with him, she said. On his Twitter account, Daniel Ceballos, a former opposition mayor of the city of San Cristobal, published a photo of a group of prisoners, including Holt, gathered inside the center. The prisoners are demanding the immediate release of 20 inmates who have been ordered free on bail, speedier court processes and medical care. - Situation calm - Venezuela's state prosecutor Tarek William Saab played down the situation inside the prison, saying it was calm and that the men were in their cells. Saab told CNN's Spanish-language service that negotiations were underway between his office, the ministry for penitentiary affairs and Sebin "to evaluate the cases that may have experienced a procedural delay." Relatives have gathered outside the jail waiting for news. "The protest is peaceful. They do not have weapons," said Jorge Fernandez, father of one of the prisoners detained since 2016. "What we demand is that justice be done." Ceballos' wife Patricia accused Saab of lying about the situation being calm inside the center. "The situation is the same. The only information that we have is unofficial, from audios that come from inside. We know that the internal protest is being maintained but we have no information about the detained," said Alfredo Romero, head of Foro Penal. The incidents come ahead of Sunday's presidential election in which socialist incumbent Maduro, who has been accused of using the Sebin to crack down on opponents, is seeking a second six-year term in the crisis-hit nation whose economy is crippled. Security forces are seen at the entrance of El Helicoide, the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), in Caracas, on May 17, 2018, where Venezuelan opponents and a US citizen are protesting their detention AUBURN Democratic congressional candidate Dana Balter has long criticized U.S. Rep. John Katko for not holding town hall meetings. On Thursday, she held one of her own. Balter, D-Syracuse, launched a listening tour of the 24th Congressional District with an hour-long forum at the Phoenix Building in Auburn. She answered questions on a range of topics and revealed her positions on a few hot-button issues. The opening question focused on prescription drug prices. Balter supports allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices. The Department of Veterans Affairs negotiates drug prices for veterans and the agency pays 40 percent less for prescription medications. "That kind of savings should be available to all of us," she said. Balter addressed other topics over the next hour. She supports universal background checks for gun purchases and wants the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study gun violence. She also criticized those who use Chicago as an example of a city with strong gun control measures and high violent crime rates. The guns used in many of those crimes, Balter noted, come from outside the city. A state Supreme Court judge in Albany has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the validity of Dana Balter's petitions for the Working Families Party ballot line in the 24th Congressional District race. The litigation was brought by two 24th district residents, Ravi Raman and Cheri Scicchitano. Raman has donated to incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. John Katko's campaign and Scicchitano is a GOP voter. Balter, a Democrat, was cross-endorsed by the Working Families Party and submitted petitions to run for Congress on the minor party's ballot line. She was required to collect 95 signatures to appear on the Working Families line. The state Board of Election determined her campaign submitted 101 valid signatures. Because Balter had enough signatures, the state Board of Elections ruled the petition was valid and approved her to run on the Working Families line. However, Raman and Scicchitano pursued legal action in a last-ditch attempt to get Balter kicked off the line. They argued that a petition with eight signatures should be invalidated because the witness, Mary Vanouse, failed to indicate her official title. Q: If you could visit any place in the world, where would that be? A: Well, I believe I would like to visit the famous Topanga Canyon! I am named after this very beautiful place, which is in California, and that is very fitting since I am as beautiful as the canyon. I would love to visit there one day. Maybe my new family will take me there and we can hike! That would be such fun. Q: Do you have an interesting fact to share? A: I do, but it's one that I really don't care for. Did you know that there have been various attempts to rename pit bulls to something that doesn't carry negative connotations? (Should we be known as the candy kiss breed?) Yes, sadly, that's a fact. However, no other name has caught on in a big way. I really like my breed name and hope it never changes! Q: Do you have any advice for our good Citizen readers? A: I do! My shelter people are working on a lot of fun events that will be coming up this summer. Back by popular demand will be Hogs for Dogs 2018 (Jed's Ride) on July 31, a big garage sale and a new one called Hot Dog Saturday! Check out my shelter's Facebook page (@fingerlakes.spca.1) and keep reading right here for all the latest updates. And, please stop by to check me out I really need to go home. Thank you and love, Topanga and friends. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 An Auburn man who has worked for three decades with the New York State Police has been named the Cayuga Nation's first superintendent of police. The Cayugas announced Friday that Mark Lincoln has been hired to serve as superintendent of police. He will be responsible for recruiting and training the nation's police officers. Clint Halftown, the nation's federally recognized representative, said Lincoln will also establish relationships with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. "This is an historic moment for the Cayuga Nation, which is taking steps to restore law and order on its native lands through its authority as a sovereign Indian nation," Halftown said. "Mark's deep expertise in law enforcement will be invaluable to our citizens and the community at large." Lincoln graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a member of the New York State Police for 30 years. During his time with the state police, Lincoln was a criminal investigator and staff inspector. He also served as a troop commander. As troop commander, he supervised 480 employees at 24 locations. Lincoln grew up in Port Byron and now lives in Auburn. NYPD officials said they had not received any complaints, but would investigate thoroughly should anyone come forward. The state's Solicitor General, Barbara Underwood, will serve as acting Attorney General. She has a long history of legal work including serving in the Eastern District of New York and in the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens district attorney offices. Schneiderman capitulated quickly after fellow Democrats in New York, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, called for his resignation. "In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me," he said in a statement late Monday. "While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office's work at this critical time." He said he would resign at the close of business on Tuesday. Two women who spoke to The New Yorker on the record, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, both said the physical abuse escalated over time. The Associated Press is identifying the women because they agreed to tell their stories publicly. City Danielle E. Hamilton, 30, 20 Washington St., Auburn, was charged May 15 with one count of resisting arrest and second-degree harassment. Clinton C. Allwood, 29, 46 Orchard St., Apt. 1, Auburn, was charged May 14 with first-degree falsification of business records, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree solicitation and a false written statement. Drew S. L. Strong, 26, 101 Quill Ave., Apt. 147, Auburn, was charged May 14 with one count of obstructing breathing. Noah Oakes, 19, 64 Grant Ave., Apt. 3, Auburn, was charged May 15 with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Alec T. Reagin, 24, 118 Wall St., Auburn, was charged May 14 with petit larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Patrick E. Jackson, 32, 135 Olympia Terrace, Auburn, was charged May 14 with petit larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Raymond V. Walter Jr., 26, 7430 North St., Apt. 12, Auburn, was picked up May 15 on a bench warrant. HAVANA (AP) A 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a cassava field just after taking off from the Havana airport Friday, leaving three survivors in Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials said. The Boeing 737 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport while on a short-hop flight to the eastern city of Holguin. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the field of debris left where Cubana Flight 972 hit the ground. "There is a high number of people who appear to have died," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said from the scene. "Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified." Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. State TV said the jet veered sharply to the right after takeoff, and Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to investigate the cause of the crash. LOS ANGELESJasmin, the live-cam heavyweight, on Friday said this week it welcomed more than 160 of its partners to Budapest, hometown and birthplace of the website for the first-ever Jasmin Academy. The event was dedicated to strengthening the ties between the group and their worldwide partners. Studio owners, managers, trainers, and models from Romania, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Russia, Manila, Ukraine, and Hungary received an invitation to attend the Academy. Thanks to our huge experience with making webcam models millionaires since 2001, we have decided to 'level up' our business expertise and invite our most prestigious partners to Hungary for a seminar," said Zsolt Theiss-Balazs, Jasmin.com CPO. "After realizing that conventional methods are not enough anymore, we have developed a modern structure where people can share what the best practices are in their opinion, helping them to better understand how they can maximize their own potential on Jasmin.com." The company, headquartered in Luxembourg since 2013 but originally based in Budapest since 2001, employs more than 650 people from 30 different nationalities, and out of which many are highly skilled experts specializing in technical business analysis, quality management, development and project management. The group is currently expanding globally and two new studios have officially joined Jasmin.coms Certified Program. Were very happy to welcome CSM Studio from Colombia and Flirt Studio from Russia on board," said Karoly Papp, co-founder and CEO of Jasmin.com. "Being certified enables studios to grow bigger and faster by having a stronger connection with Jasmin.coms staff and a team of people dedicated exclusively to them." The group is establishing an important pool of talent and gained strong connections within these two countries. Jasmin.com is home to more than 200,000 active models, with 2000 of them online at any given time. For more information, visit modelcenter.jasmin.com. Now that it is fully apparent, to all who have the ability to pay some modicum of attention, that Imposter President Biden has extreme cognitive issues, in addition to being an inveterate liar: Can OUR Republic continue with this Executive Office that has completely failed, so many times, on far too many issues here at this early date in this abysmal presidency? No, Joseph R. Biden is completely unqualified, morally and cognitively, to represent real Americans, and lead this Republic of disparate peoples. Yes, Joseph R. Biden has started whispering again, even softer now than before; so, I know he still cares, plus, OUR media will soon stop reporting on Afghanistan in favor of OUR Socialist ideals. On Mother's Day, employees at a Cheesecake Factory in Miami, Florida, verbally attacked and made threatening gestures toward a black man who dined with his girlfriend's family simply because he was wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, according to multiple witnesses interviewed by The Daily Wire.The Sunday incident allegedly began at the Cheesecake Factory located inside Dadeland Mall when 22-year-old Eugenior Joseph was seated while wearing his MAGA hat.According to multiple witnesses and Joseph's own account, a woman who worked at the restaurant walked up to him and started pointing at his hat, signaling for the other employees to come over."Her finger was literally on top of his head, we were all looking at her like 'what is happening?'" one witness told The Daily Wire. "She was pointing at him, calling her other coworkers, telling them to look at this guy wearing a Make America Great Again hat."At that point, approximately a dozen or so employees approached the table and began making comments about the hat, with some saying they wanted to punch Joseph in the face. Witnesses also allege that some of the employees also referred to him as a "n**ger" in their conversations among each other."So then all the employees started standing there, saying things out loud, like, 'I'm going to knock his head in so hard his hat's going to come off," the witness continued.One of the employees gave Joseph intimidating looks, clenching his fists and making hand gestures that appeared to indicate that he was ready to engage in a fistfight."He got behind me and another coworker came by and they were staring at each other and he fist bumped him and then he started looking at me, balling his fists, smacking his fists, trying to scare me," Joseph told The Daily Wire.Another witness told The Daily Wire that the group of employees looked like a lynch mob and they couldn't stand to see a black man wearing a hat that showed support for the president.Employees at the restaurant continued to mock and intimidate Joseph after he got up to use the restroom."I got up and went to the restroom, my girlfriend followed me, and as we were walking back, a group of [the employees] came out from the back and they just started clapping and yelling, and just screaming things at me," Joseph says.Another witness verified the claims, saying that the employees in the kitchen were booing Joseph loudly as he walked by.One of the witnesses said that the event was so traumatic and threatening that an elderly woman who was present had to take medication to calm herself down.Multiple witnesses said that as the family exited the restaurant the manager followed them out and told them that some of the employees admitted to their actions and that one of the employees had been sent home.As the family left the restaurant they ran into police that had been called to the scene who documented the incident in the police report but supposedly did not file any charges, according to multiple witnesses.The Daily Wire contacted the Cheesecake Factory where the alleged incident took place and spoke to a manager who refused to answer any questions and instead recorded this reporter's contact information and had a public relations firm representing the Cheesecake Factory reach out to this reporter. When this reporter brought up the incident and asked whether or not he could confirm that it took place in the restaurant, the manager's tone became slightly hostile as he reiterated: "I'm going to have someone get in touch with you."The Daily Wire viewed multiple video clips and photos that validate the claims made by the witnesses about the number of employees appearing to stand around the table. One of the photos showed one of the men described by the witnesses as being the one who made the threatening hand gestures, making the fist bump with another employee, which was described by at least three witnesses. Contact: White House White House Press Office President Donald J. Trump hosted President Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan today, marking President Mirziyoyev's historic first visit to the White House and ushering in a new era of strategic partnership between the United States and Uzbekistan. During the meeting, President Trump reaffirmed the enduring commitment of the United States to the independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Uzbekistan. President Trump also recognized Uzbekistan's tremendous progress on important political, economic, and social reforms under the leadership of President Mirziyoyev. The leaders resolved to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the United States and Uzbekistan with a new dialogue to reinvigorate the 2002 Declaration of Strategic Partnership, building on a broad range of mutual priorities.President Mirziyoyev declared that progress in Uzbekistan is irreversible, underscoring that the government must always place the Uzbek people's interests first. President Mirziyoyev's "Five Year Strategy of Action" promotes good governance, judicial reform and rule of law, economic liberalization, social development, and an open and constructive foreign policy.President Trump noted the historic partnership of the United States with Uzbekistan in the fight against terrorism. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Uzbekistan provided critical access and support to drive al-Qa'ida terrorists from Afghanistan. During his visit, President Mirziyoyev reaffirmed his full support for President Trump's South Asia strategy and discussed Uzbekistan's initiatives to strengthen bilateral cooperation, share burdens, and address regional security issues, including stability in Afghanistan.President Trump highlighted the importance of a strong and independent Central Asia and applauded President Mirziyoyev's efforts to convene Central Asian leaders for a cooperative dialogue, as discussed during the November 2017 Samarkand Conference. President Mirziyoyev joined other Central Asian leaders in March in Astana, Kazakhstan, opening new possibilities for intraregional commerce and cooperative approaches to address security challenges. President Trump recognized Uzbekistan's key role in this important dialogue and pledged the United States' support to cooperation and development through the C5+1 regional format. Both presidents expressed support for including Afghanistan in multilateral cooperation formats in Central Asia.President Trump congratulated President Mirziyoyev on the success of the 2018 Tashkent International Conference on "Peace Process, Security Cooperation and Regional Connectivity in Afghanistan," which reaffirmed that the international community is united in its position that the Taliban immediately agree to peace talks with the Afghanistan government. Both President Trump and President Mirziyoyev condemned cowardly terrorist attacks against Afghanistan security forces and innocent civilians, and committed to expanding dialogue to overcome the challenges facing Afghanistan. President Mirziyoyev pledged steadfast political support to the Government of Afghanistan and discussed the December 2017 visit of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where the two leaders signed a series of landmark agreements to increase trade and develop critical infrastructure. President Trump recognized the important role that Uzbekistan plays in regional economic development and praised Uzbekistan's efforts to expand the development of trade and commercial ties with Afghanistan. He offered political support and planning consultations regarding Uzbekistan's railroad and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.President Mirziyoyev assured continued support for the Northern Distribution Network and its contribution to achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan. The United States and Uzbekistan cooperate closely to secure the border with Afghanistan and to interdict the illicit movement of narcotics. The two leaders condemned extremism and international terrorism, and vowed to strengthen cooperation against these common threats. They also committed to pursue agreements that will enhance interoperability and improve regional security, and noted the importance of strengthening the defense relationship by implementing the first-ever Five-Year Plan of Military Cooperation.President Trump applauded President Mirziyoyev's ambitious reform program to improve the human rights situation in Uzbekistan, noting the release of prisoners of conscience, elimination of systematic child labor, and significant progress in reducing forced labor. These accomplishments have created the conditions for increased economic, political, and security cooperation. President Trump encouraged President Mirziyoyev's initiative to increase government transparency and accountability to the people of Uzbekistan as a fundamental aspect of good governance and domestic stability. Both leaders vowed to intensify constructive cooperation to protect fundamental human freedoms, including the promotion of religious freedom. President Mirziyoyev committed to implement a comprehensive roadmap to advance religious freedom.The presidents welcomed the pending accreditation of the American Councils for International Education in Uzbekistan, which will contribute to educational cooperation between the two countries. President Trump pledged United States assistance to promote English language education programs in Uzbekistan and commended Uzbekistan's accreditation of Voice of America activities and the opportunities it creates for American media in the country.Both President Trump and President Mirziyoyev committed to explore deeper economic cooperation that will increase trade and create jobs in both countries. President Mirziyoyev pledged to create favorable conditions for businesses in Uzbekistan and open its markets for United States companies and investors by introducing international standards of transparency, accountability, and rule of law. The leaders vowed to explore greater economic cooperation, including in the fields of agriculture, energy, finance, chemicals, tourism, textiles, health, and digital innovation. During the visit, Uzbekistan signed over 20 major business deals with United States companies, which, if fully implemented, will be worth more than $4.8 billion and could sustain more than 10,000 U.S. jobs and open opportunities for billions of dollars in future U.S. contracts.President Trump commended President Mirziyoyev's reform program and recognized Uzbekistan's emerging role as an economic leader, as demonstrated by its offers to host the meetings of the Central Asia Trade Forum and the United States-Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council this year. President Mirziyoyev announced that Uzbekistan seeks accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and President Trump pledged United States technical assistance as Uzbekistan undertakes a reform agenda to liberalize its trade regime in line with WTO agreements. Uzbekistan committed to protecting intellectual property by acceding to the Geneva Phonograms Convention and the World Intellectual Property Organization Internet Treaties. The realization of these initiatives will provide a solid foundation to explore future opportunities for improved bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation. The beauty of bobcats and their spotted fur makes them a target for trappers. They are typically killed by bludgeoning, drowning or strangulation, because bullets or arrows might damage the value of the pelts. Photo by Allison Gibson/The HSUS 4.4K shares Bobcat advocates have two victories to celebrate this week. On Tuesday, the Indiana Natural Resources Commission voted to withdraw a contentious proposal to open a trophy hunting and trapping season on the states only native wild cat, for the first time in nearly 50 years. And on Thursday evening the Ohio Wildlife Council voted to indefinitely postpone a similar proposal. This means that bobcats in Ohio will continue to enjoy their protections until the council considers the proposed rules again. Thousands of residents in both states spoke out against these misguided and unscientific proposals. In fact, comments from Indiana residents opposed to bobcat hunting and trapping outnumbered those in favor by a nearly 11 to 1 ratio. In Ohio, comments opposed to bobcat trapping outnumbered those in favor by a whopping 77 to 1 ratio. Both the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Division of Wildlife were forced to acknowledge that they didnt even have a current population estimate for bobcats in their respective states. In fact, the Division of Wildlifes own research proposal stated that it would advise against a trapping season until further studies had been completed. At the Natural Resources Commission meeting, Indianas director of the DNR acknowledged that this was clearly a sensitive issue to many and pledged to work with more constituencies on these kinds of rules in the future. Killing bobcats does not make sense. Nobody eats them, and theyre not overpopulated or causing significant issues with livestock and pets in Indiana and Ohio. These animals weigh only slightly more than the average house cat and do not pose a public safety risk. The hunting seasons would have benefited just a few people looking to sell bobcat pelts to overseas fur markets or to kill bobcats for trophies. The beauty of bobcats is their greatest downfall. Trappers target them to make a quick buck off their spotted fur and often resort to crude methods of killing the cats, like bludgeoning, drowning or strangulation, because bullets or arrows might damage the value of the pelts. This commercialization of wildlife benefits just a small group of individuals, while robbing the rest of the public of the joy of seeing these striking, mysterious and somewhat elusive creatures alive in the wild. Its high time that state wildlife agencies stop catering to the wishes of trophy hunters and trappers and acknowledge the wishes of the general public that values wildlife alive and flourishing. Indianas and Ohios bobcats and all wildlife, for that matter are held in the public trust and belong to everyone not just those who seek to exploit them for their fur or a trophy. In addition to its action on bobcats, the Indiana NRC also withdrew a similarly contentious proposal mandating that nuisance wildlife control officers kill all coyotes, opossums and raccoons they catch. Lets take a moment today to celebrate the win for the bobcats, while not forgetting that there are many more battles ahead that we need to fight to protect wildlife, and all animals. P.S. As many advocates are aware, one group of American carnivores is now in grave peril: grizzly bears, just removed from the Endangered Species List, face potential trophy hunting seasons in Wyoming and Idaho this year, unless we can stop them. Idaho has already approved its season, and Wyomings Game and Fish Commission will vote on the grizzlies fate on May 23rd. Please contact Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and ask him to stop the proposed trophy hunting season. Last week, 12 Udacity students got the opportunity of a lifetime. Google flew them out to Google I/O in California as recognition for their amazing work in the Grow with Google initiatives Developer Scholarship Challenge! This massive three-day event is Googles flagship annual developer conference, famous for its announcements of incredible new technology, and a unique chance to network with the tech industrys movers and shakers. The Grow with Google initiative springs from Google and Udacitys long-running partnership, and shared commitment to supporting a global community of deserving learners. Successful applicants from around the world are sponsored by Google to start learning transformational tech skills with Udacity, and top performers receive full Nanodegree program scholarships. The 12 students Google brought to I/O were selected for their truly impressive commitment and performance on their programs. One of those students, Sara Blevins, was even recently featured on Googles blog. In addition to experiencing everything that I/O had to offer, these 12 Google Scholars were invited to join us at Udacity HQ for an informal mixer. There, they had the opportunity to meet fellow Udacity learners and alumni, many of whom were also still excitedly debriefing after making their own journeys to be part of I/O. I was honored to attend the event, and to experience the excitement firsthand. 4:25 pm The event hasnt even started, but Im already enjoying the opportunity to speak to some of the Google Scholars. Theyve come from all over the world, and its clear their backgrounds vary widely, but one common theme quickly emergestheir amazement that Google offered to fly them to I/O! One person tells me they nearly deleted the invitation as spam, while another says he had to confirm the email was real with his mentor before accepting it was really going to happen. I feel like Im still seeing that initial excitement in their faces, and its wonderful! Balazs Borzovan is here on his first trip to the US, and says his colleagues back in Hungary were incredibly jealous when he told them he was going. He tells me the range of new technologies he has seen has been astounding. One of the highlights for me was seeing Googles new learning technology. They were showing how you could do a biology degree entirely online via a VR setlooking at microscopes, manipulating things virtually with your hands! It was really amazing! 4:40 pm Background music starts playing, and there are at least 25 students here already. People look remarkably fresh despite three days of conference sessions and networking. Many people still have I/O badges hanging around their necks, and they wear them with justifiable pride. People talk easily with one another, and its hard to believe so many of these people have never met in person. 5:10 pm Doors have officially opened, and the crowd continues to swell. People are greeting mentors like old friends. The volume of chatter is increasing, and Ive already overheard numerous groups discussing Googles Duplex announcement. The number of different accents I can hear is incredible. People have literally come from around the world for this. All united by a passion for learning. Krzysztof okaj has flown from Poland to be here, and the experience has clearly been an inspiring one: At work, Ill be working on web development. But after everything I saw in the last few days, Im convinced I want to learn more about AI, machine learning, and computer vision. Im also planning to create my own company, to make progressive web applications because its a really new subject. 5:25 pm I spy one student who has brought his parents with him. They sit watching proudly from the sidelines as he goes off to mingle. Across the room, I see a child no more than 18 months old sporting a Google t-shirt. Even the infants here are very on-brand! 5:35 pm Karen Baker, Udacitys Alumni Community Manager, officially welcomes the lively mass of assembled students. On behalf of all of us, welcome to Udacity. Welcome home! I want to applaud all of you for coming. YOU are Udacity. So tonight is about celebrating you all. Everybody rushes to be part of a huge group photo, taken with a huge Udacity! cheer. 6:05 pm I retreat to a quiet corner for a few moments, and marvel at the serious networking taking place across the event. Within minutes, two people sit down nearby, so that one can demonstrate his new apps functionality. I count at least three other tables where similar things are happening. I meet Apoorva Tiwari from India, who gives me a chance to hear about her app project. Her work is focused on promoting womens safety, and Apoorvas app features articles and YouTube videos on self defense and psychiatry. She is aiming to launch it in the next few weeks. I/O is really heaven for developers. Im so thankful for Google for bringing me here. And Im so thankful for Udacitys platform, which has really helped me build the skills to develop my app and become the developer I am today. 6:30 pm The room clears suddenly, as a majority of attendees heads off on a tour around Udacity HQ. The silence left behind makes me aware of just how full of conversation the room had been. I use the opportunity to catch up with Rose Dillon from the US, who has just experienced her second I/O. If you thought a sequel would dull her excitement, youd be dead wrong. This year has surpassed everything. Before, I didnt know what to expect. This time, I made more contacts, built my network, and really took the time to appreciate that all these incredible people are in one place to understand these amazing technologies! Rose is currently enrolled in the Android Developer Nanodegree program, and is an enthusiastic advocate for the Udacity approach to learning. In traditional classrooms theres a disconnect between what you learn and how you apply it. With Udacity, youre learning from anywhere in the world and applying the knowledge immediately. It feels like the future. You just need the passion, you dont need to go to an Ivy League school. You can build something and prove yourself. 7:10 pm I overhear one group sharing recruitment experiences. One person describes leaping straight from college to an amazing new role; another reports skipping the degree path entirely and using his Nanodegree program to land a new developer job. In the process of sharing stories, connections are being made. Contact details are swapped. Future meetings are arranged. Aisha El-Badrawy is about to celebrate two milestone achievementsshes earning her Computer Science degree and graduating from her Android Developer Nanodegree program. The atmosphere around I/O has helped focus her mind on what she wants to do next. Its really inspired me to push myself further and try to learn more about machine learning. Its definitely the trend now. Im not sure exactly where Ill go with my career, but Im sure machine learning and natural language processing will play a role! 7:45 pm Empty pizza boxes are all that remain of the evenings culinary offerings (much to this hungry writers disappointment!). People clutching Google bags and wheeling suitcases start making their goodbyes. Hugs are exchanged. New friends are sent off to catch flights. As I leave for my train, I see the Google Scholars congregating near the elevators, saying their own farewells. This global group has experienced something very special together over the past few days. Though theyre flying off to far-flung places and different futures, its clear theyll always share this incredible I/O experience as a foundational part of their career stories. Judge Invalidates California Life-Ending Drug Law Whether it's euthanasia, abortion, or the death penalty, life-and-death issues are highly controversial and hotly debated. Talking heads rankle over the issues and politicians use them as rallying devices. In an ongoing debate out of California, an end-of-life law seems to be meeting its own end as a judge has ruled it was unconstitutionally approved by lawmakers. The End of Life Option Act In 2015, state legislators passed -- and Governor Jerry Brown signed -- the End of Life Option Act, making California the fifth state to enact an "aid-in-dying" law. Under the law, an adult diagnosed with a terminal illness by his or her attending physician can request drugs to end their life as long as they meet certain criteria, including: The adult must have the capacity to make medical decisions; The terminal illness will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in death within six months; The individual is a resident of California; and The individual has voluntarily expressed a wish to receive the life-ending drug The controversial law went into effect in June of 2016, and 111 people reportedly took their own lives using the drugs in the first six months. Unconstitutionally Approved Lawyers for both sides were quick to point out that the judge did not rule on the constitutionality of physician-assisted suicide itself. Rather, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia ruled that the law was unconstitutionally approved by the legislature since lawmakers passed it during a special session devoted to medical care. Opponents of the law said, "Access to health care has no relationship to assisted suicide." They also argued that this law would put terminally ill patients at risk for coercion. Meanwhile, proponents said the law was properly considered and lets people die on their own terms. For now, Judge Ottolia has allowed the law to remain in place while proponents file an appeal. Related Resources: By Janet Geddis We only got to visit my grandparents and cousins in Pittsburgh once a year, and I was stuck in bed on the third floorfar away from the funwith what I first thought of as a really bad headache. I was 13 years oldfor a young teen, fear of missing out (FOMO) is an acute force, and I would have pushed myself to ignore the head pain in order to join my cousins downstairs for a game of Uno if I hadnt become so incredibly dizzy every time I tried to get out of bed. I heard my grandmother slowly come up the stairs to the hot attic room where I lay. I dont recall what she brought to me that day, but I remember the scent of one of her signature disheschicken and noodleswafting alongside her, working in harmony with the smell of her perfume that was suddenly revolting to me after years of its being comforting and homey. When my grandmother left the room, assuring me that Id feel better soon, intense hunger took over my thoughts. The more I thought about the dinner everyone else would soon be enjoying downstairs, the more my head pounded. I tried to redirect my thoughts, choosing instead to fixate on one of my favorite foods at the time: a footlong hot dog from the 50s-style diner we used to go to. Within seconds of imagining these meals, I got violently sick to my stomach. The head pain intensified, throbbing as if my heart were in my temples instead of my chest. The voices of my many relatives downstairs, usually comforting and joyous, felt like sharpened swords that were poking at my brain. My nausea relented for a couple of minutes after the first time I vomited, but it resurfaced a few minutes later. By the time I woke up the next day, I was wiped out and felt a keen sense of having lost track of time. Happily, I was no longer nauseated or in pain. What's a little harsh interrogation between friends? President Donald Trump's pick Gina Haspel was today voted in by the Senate as the new head of the CIA, despite playing a key part in post-9/11 torture programs under President George W. Bush. Her role in destroying the CIA's damning torture tapes in earlier years makes her the perfect spy boss for Trump, the President for whom force, secrecy, and lies are solutions to every problem. The big concern with Haspel isn't a return to torture as an openly discussed thing that our government does to terrorists. They don't need that. They're surely already continuing it, anyway, out of sight and under a better euphemism. The bigger concern is that just as she helped her superiors at CIA destroy those waterboarding tapes, and seems content to defend that even now, she'll dutifully carry out new human rights violations under Trump. And Trump has promised his base so very many of them. Haspel will succeed Mike Pompeo, who was confirmed as Trump's secretary of state last month. Hey, so remember how we told you the CIA was psyopsing America, and its lawmakers, to make Haspel happen? We weren't kidding. Here's the New York Times today: Behind the scenes, former high-level officials from the agency pressed senators to get behind her nomination. Their efforts worked. Aw yeah! Thanks, Democrats! ABC News: Six Democrats helped Republicans in confirming Haspel: Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia most of whom are up for re-election this November in states Trump won handily in 2016. Remember their names. Several senators who are Democrats and should know better "were persuaded to support her despite lingering concerns about her role in the brutal interrogation of suspected terrorists captured after 9/11," reports WaPo: Lawmakers approved her nomination 54 to 45, with six Democrats voting yes and two Republicans voting no, after the agency launched an unprecedented public relations campaign to bolster Haspel's chances. She appears to have been helped by some last-minute arm-twisting by former CIA directors John Brennan and Leon Panetta, who contacted at least five of the six Democrats who voted to endorse her bid to join President Trump's Cabinet, according to people with knowledge of the interactions. She isn't known to be as close to Trump as Mike Pompeo, the previous director of CIA, now said to be one of the president's closest advisers "according to people with knowledge of Haspel and Trump's interactions." Haspel will be the first woman to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. Aaron Schlossberg is the triggered snowflake who became internet famous when he went on an unhinged racist rant against some customers and servers at a restaurant near his law office, who had been speaking Spanish. Schlossberg was quickly identified, and much note was taken of the fact that he was a Trump campaign donor, that he had lied on his website about being a member of the New York Bar Association, and that the same website boasted about his Spanish fluency. As Schlossberg's rant raced around the internet, other New Yorkers came forward with their own videos of Schlossberg being grossly, racially insulting to them without provocation on the streets of New York. First came Willie Morris, who was bumped into on the street by Schlossberg, who then called him an "ugly fucking foreigner" (Morris was born and raised in the USA), and then came Isaac Saul, who recorded Schlossberg screaming at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man who had expressed solidarity with Palestinians, calling him a "fake Jew" (Schlossberg is also Jewish). To many, the existence of these two videos suggests that Schlossberg has many more such incidents in his past, in which his victims did not have the presence of mind to make a recording. Morris said he was walking down the street when a man coming from the opposite direction made eye contact, walked faster toward him and shoved him with his briefcase. "He immediately starts yelling mostly racist and xenophobic stuff," Morris said. "I was so shocked, I've lived in NYC for five years and have never had anything like this happen. I was waiting for someone to jump out and scream, 'Gotcha!' " Morris posted video of the incident, along with his own commentary, to YouTube the next day. In the video, a man can be seen asking Morris, "What country are you from?" and then saying: "I'm going to call the police. You don't run into me. I'm a citizen here, you're not. You're an ugly f***ing foreigner. F*** you." In commentary afterward, Morris said he was born in Massachusetts, and he held up his US passport. "It was so surreal," he told CNN. "Thankfully, I had started vlogging a few months before, so I had turned my camera on and caught it all. He was threatening to call the cops, but he eventually walked away, and we realized it wasn't just a weird stunt." New York attorney in racist rant has history of confrontations [Eric Levenson, Paul P. Murphy and Gianluca Mezzofiore/CNN] Here where I live in Alameda, California, there's a Chinese restaurant where they hand-pull noodles behind a window in the back of the room. The atmosphere at Ark feels dated but the food's pretty good and watching the guy swinging around noodle dough makes it worth the trip. However, there's no opportunity to talk to the noodle maker and learn his story. So, I was thrilled to see this Tasty video show up today. It gives insight on the artistry of hand-pulling noodles by two noodle masters, Peter Song of Kung Fu Kitchen in New York City and Shuichi Kotani, the CEO of Worldwide-Soba. Come for their stories but stay for the awesome footage of two pros making noodles dance (or vice versa). News / National by Staff reporter The death of businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei's father dealt a major blow on government business this week as virtually all ministers abandoned their workstations to attend his burial - in a development that also paralysed Parliament's business.There was a virtual government business shut-down in Parliament on Wednesday as President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his deputy Constantino Chiwenga and all but three of his ministers made a beeline to Shurugwi to attend the burial of Phineas Tagwirei, father to Kudakwashe, an influential businessman who has made millions in the fuel supply and energy industries through his company, Sakunda Holdings. News / National by Staff reporter Vice President Kembo Mohadi is back in office after spending nearly a month in South Africa, undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ailment.The 68-year-old missed Independence Day celebrations in Harare, the Zanu-PF manifesto launch at a top hotel in the capital city, a parliamentary portfolio committee appearance and other government meeting.His trip to South Africa had sparked outrage as it came at a time government was under attack for aggravating the dire situation in the health sector by dismissing nurses who had downed their tools on April 16 over poor working conditions. News / National by Simbarashe Sithole Four armed robbers reportedly pounced on Rama Wholesale in Karoi yesterday and ordered all employees to lie down before shooting the owner after demanding the safe keys.Sources close to investigations allege the armed robbers who were using a blue Toyota Wish, stormed the wholesale around 1745 hours and shot Ashwin Rama on the leg before ransacking his office."Four armed robbers pounced at Rama wholesale at around 1745 hours and ordered all workers to lie down, during the scuffle they managed to strike the owner (Ashwin Rama) with an iron bar and finally shot his leg after he resisted to surrender his safe keys," revealed the source."Eventually they blew the safe and robbed an undisclosed amount; Rama was rushed to Chinhoyi hospital and eventually transferred to Harare Hospital where he died on the way."Efforts to contact Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara were futile. Opinion / Columnist Six months ago, the Zimbabwean people with the military keeping peace intervened to replace Robert Mugabe - the country's long-time leader - with the former vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa.The opposition had paddled the propaganda that Mnangagwa is the old wine in the new container. Looking at the short relay Zimbabwe ran from November 2017 when Mnangagwa was inaugurated to date a lot of things have taken place. The achievements which Mnangagwa has presided over are un-believable. The first thing he did he opened the country to business.People across the political spectrum, believe that the more of the same' narrative is too simplistic to capture what has really happened in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is now alive with optimism about the prospects of badly needed economic reforms and re-engagement with western donors after elections that are expected to take place in July. Zimbabweans from across the political divide even long-time Zanu-PF antagonists indicated their willingness to give the new president a chance to turn the country's economic fortunes around. And investors, already flocking to the country in search of opportunities at bargain prices, are keen to enter the market; the former enemies have turned into friends and are effectively seeking partnership with Zimbabwe in investing and moving the country upwards.Zimbabwe is now out of the woods thanks to brave stand the President took in repealing laws which affected development and allowing freedom of expression. The election preparations so far have shown that the new government is committed to legitimising its rule at the ballot box in a free and credible fashion. The MDC Alliance has ventured into areas which were no go arears and Chamisa had been allowed to mislead the electorate at will. This is not because ED is a weak person, but it is because ED has brought in a new dispensation and is committed to free and fair elections and to the respect of the Rule of Law. Politically motivated arrests are now the thing of the past and ED has shown that any he can transform the party to a pro democratic outfit. Western governments have strongly and rightly signalled that there will be no significant re-engagement until this happens and in this way the re engagement has started, Zimbabwe has received high profile ministers from UK through ED's diplomatic offensive UK has given Zimbabwe ONE HUNDRED MILLION to boost our economy. This shows the great shift and trust and confidence we now as a country command. In addition, the government has made mountains of economic reforms. This has restored investor confidence and really getting the economy moving. The degree to which business people, politicians and external investors are confident that these steps has happen is striking, particularly for a country that has seen little optimism in the past two decades.ED's statements were not just a matter of wishful thinking or blind utterances of the government's reformist rhetoric, although its promises of economic reform in some cases radical are certainly welcomed by the business community. The talk of change and the real change Zimbabwe has experienced in six months is indeed impressive, and in some cases quite radical. With ED in the office Zimbabwe will be Dubai of Africa. The ideas ED was banding about are structurally significant: special economic zones, low taxes for early entrants, a true one-stop shop for international investors, and many others. On top of that, there are promises from all quarters that property rights and the rule of law would be respected in regard to both local and foreign investment. There is a willing acknowledgement that the government had built up trust, given events of the past 20 years.Words are good; deeds are better ED has gone beyond words, he has performed. And on this front, the government has already taken several steps to show investors and the Zimbabwean people more broadly those things have changed. The streets of Harare have been disinfected of the police who brought in UN abetted corruption. It should be noted that immediately after Mnangagwa took over, the police were ordered to stand down. Such a move was hardly radical or controversial, but it was tangible proof that the government was taking steps to differentiate itself from its predecessor.The government is also making moves to institute fiscal discipline and institute reforms to improve the investor climate. Since November, the government has: made changes to the Indigenisation Act that now leaves only platinum and diamond mining subject to 51% stakes being reserved for Zimbabweans. Revised the terms of 99-year leases to do away with provisions that allowed the government to push leaseholders off the land with 90 days' notice, a move to make them bankable and transferable; and fired 500 civil servants without correct qualifications, while announcing the mandatory retirement of civil servants over 65.Obviously there is much more to do, but in six months, these are impressive accomplishments. Also, beyond policy reforms, you can see how the business environment has improved. Long-contested tax penalties are being settled. Civil servants, under pressure from the top, are now answering phones and dealing with outstanding issues. And local businessmen and international investors alike are getting access to ministers, and even the president, to air their grievances and in several instances getting changes they asked for. Put together, both words and deeds are fuelling the optimism so rampant on the ground.: "It does not matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice." Mnangagwa is a pragmatist at heart. Given the still perilous state of Zimbabwe's economy, he knows that an investor-friendly environment is the only path to meaningful growth.A diplomat had this to say about Zimbabwe "So what does this all mean for investors? We have worked on Zimbabwean political issues for several years, both as analysts and diplomats. The changes we saw in Zimbabwe truly were astounding compared to past years. The mood was different; people were legitimately upbeat. Government ministers and bureaucrats who would not give Westerners the time of day six months ago were going out of their way to speak to anyone even hinting at investment opportunities. As noted earlier, both rhetoric and action were moving in a positive direction. Optimism, therefore, is justified.Zimbabwe, however, does not have a great track record of keeping its promises in recent years. Assurances to protect property rights are one thing, but following through on them is quite another."The world now sees Zimbabwe as the proper place to invest in.We will not say much about the MDC alliance, Zimbabweans must remember that MDC alliance is an alliance which just want to be in power. They actually admitted that they joined in the restore legacy with the hope of being called into a unity government. When that failed they started crying for sanctions against the dispensation. Zimbabweans must reject these economic terrorists who lie to us and hold us at ransom.ED has shown his bravery and that he is a man of his word. Corruption is being dealt with and as much as the justice system is so slow very soon we will see the prosecutions of many corrupt people.We must put our trust in ED. #ED MUST HAVE YOUR VOTEVAZET2000@YAHOO.CO.UK FILE PHOTO: Cars of the Iranian delegation are seen parked outside a building of the Diaoyutai state guesthouse as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meets Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing FILE PHOTO: Cars of the Iranian delegation are seen parked outside a building of the Diaoyutai state guesthouse as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meets Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, China, May 13, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo By Chen Aizhu BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior official at Iran's state-owned oil supplier met Chinese buyers this week to ask them to maintain imports after U.S. sanctions kick in, three people familiar with the matter said, but failed to secure guarantees from the world's biggest consumer of Iranian oil. The sources told Reuters Saeed Khoshrou, director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), held separate meetings in Beijing on Monday with top executives at Chinese oil giant Sinopec's trading unit and state oil trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp to discuss oil supplies and seek assurances from the Chinese buyers. Khoshrou was accompanying Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif in the first stop of a tour of world powers before travelling on to Europe. Tehran is mounting a last-ditch effort to save a 2015 nuclear deal that Washington has abandoned, with plans to impose unilateral sanctions including strict curbs on Iran's oil exports. "During the meeting, Mr. Khoshrou conveyed Mr. Zarif's message that Iran hopes China will maintain the levels of imports," said one person briefed on the meetings. China, the world's top crude oil buyer, imported around 655,000 barrels a day on average from Iran in the first quarter of this year, according to official Chinese customs data - equivalent to more than a quarter of Iran's total exports. Chinese executives did not make firm commitments but said as state oil companies they will fall in line with Beijing's wishes, the person said. The visit was the NIOC marketing chief's second to Beijing this year - he also met with Chinese customers about a month ago. A second person with direct knowledge of the discussion, said Chinese firms "shared the same hope to maintain purchases", adding companies are still assessing the possible impact of the new sanctions. The people familiar with the matter declined to be identified because they are not authorised to speak to media. Story continues Sinopec and Zhuhai Zhenrong declined to comment. NIOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. BEIJING REGRETS Buyers in Asia - including China - and Europe have said they will seek waivers from sanctions during a six-month grace period now in force. During a visit by Zarif to Brussels on Tuesday, European powers vowed to keep the 2015 nuclear deal alive without the United States by trying to keep Iran's oil and investment flowing, but admitted they would struggle to provide the guarantees Tehran seeks. China's foreign ministry said last week it regretted the U.S. decision and called for parties involved to stick to diplomatic approaches to stay on track for full implementation of the 2015 accord. Between 2012 and 2015, under European Union and U.S. sanctions to curb Iran's nuclear program, Chinese companies took up nearly half of Iran's oil exports, which were slashed by more than half and cost Tehran as much as $80 billion in lost revenue. Sinopec, Asia's top refiner, and state-oil trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp together account for close to 90 percent of China's total Iranian oil purchases. State oil group CNPC buys the rest. Apart from supplies under annual contracts, CNPC and Sinopec have been lifting Iranian crude as part of their billions of dollars of investment at Iranian oil fields. https://reut.rs/2KpL4XE China has less of a banking issue in trading with Iran than some international peers. During previous sanctions Beijing used a domestic bank, Bank of Kunlun Co Ltd, to settle tens of billions dollars worth of oil transactions with Iran. Most of the transactions were settled in euros and Chinese renminbi. (Additional reporting by Florecen Tan in Singapore; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) A British citizen working in Canada says he spent $25 shipping his visa renewal documents in a cardboard envelope using guaranteed Xpress Post, and he never imagined there would be any problem. Chris Smith, 33, has worked for the past year as a communications co-ordinator for a hydro construction company and was requesting an extension to his Canadian temporary work visa. But on March 19, he says, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada called him to say the documents showed up damaged. In his mind, he pictured a smudge on a page or a minor rip that didn't meet stringent government requirements; instead, he was shocked by what was returned to him in the mail. "This is not damaged, this is what can only be described as destroyed," he said, pointing to the torn, water-damaged pages inside a clear plastic envelope. "It's illegible. Pages are missing. There's nothing that could even be regarded as an application." Smith's horror story with Canada Post is one of several CBC Toronto has received from readers frustrated by mail delivery problems that they say resulted in disastrous consequences. People reached out following CBC's story about a young woman who lost her job opportunity with WestJet after her citizenship documents got lost in the mail twice, then delayed after a third attempt (keep reading for a surprise update on what's happened to her). Post office: 'We apologize' Canada Post responded to CBC Toronto about Smith's case. "Unfortunately, this item became damaged along at some point in transit. We apologize," a media relations person said in an email. "We've talked to the customer and have provided a refund." Smith was given a second chance by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. He says he was asked to fax his application, which he did. By that time, he had just days left before his visa was set to expire. "In a panic, I accidentally forgot to sign it," he said in an interview at his home in Ajax, Ont. "They rejected it." Story continues He said he received a letter from the government on April 30 noting he had not signed his application, and that he had to resubmit the entire application and also reapply for a visitor visa. Smith said he took the letter to an immigration consultant, who advised him to stop working immediately. The letter states Smith has 90 days to apply for a visitor visa or leave the country. The company he worked for urgently needs to fill his position, Smith said, and he worries the job won't be available once his paperwork comes through. An embarrassment for Canada Smith lives with his Canadian girlfriend and would like eventually like to become a permanent resident of Canada. "My desire to live in Canada is really being squandered by a silly and stupid mistake by Canada Post." His partner, Elaina Eibich, was appalled by what happened. "It's shocking," she said. "It's very embarrassing" that this is what happened in the federal mail system. Smith is in the process of applying for a visitor visa. He also recently visited his local member of Parliament, asking for assistance. Canada Post did offer to refund the postage he spent on the package, he said, and then a day after CBC Toronto inquired about his case, he received a call offering a further $100 in compensation. The amount doesn't come close to what this has cost him, he said. Smith has been out of work for weeks and had to borrow money from his parents. "I don't like to ask for money from people to help like that, but I don't really have any other choice to live here in Canada." A surprise new start after postal pain In another case of postal difficulties, Aleksandra Mielczarek says things are looking up, weeks after CBC Toronto told her story about the troubles she had receiving her Canadian citizenship card, which was required for a job at WestJet. She received a phone call from another airline, Porter, which had noticed her story and invited her to come in for a job interview. She got the job and has her first day of training as a customer services representative next Tuesday. "It's very exciting," she said. "I'm very much looking forward to the opportunity and definitely grateful for them even reaching out to me. It's been awesome." But at the same time, she still feels annoyed with Canada Post and that its staff didn't take her issue seriously enough. "It's unfortunate," she said of her ordeal that went on for months. "I lost a couple months in salary and in position and possibly in advancement. I can't necessarily put a dollar value on that." Edmonton police project that roadside saliva testing when pot is legalized will cost $300,000 annually, though the actual testing devices have not yet been approved for use in Canada. "It's a high cost but it's necessary if you want to test that specific enough to differentiate between different drugs," said Supt. Al Murphy from the police service's legalization of cannabis committee. "It's an unfortunate necessity of this, but I think it would be expected of us to have tests that are appropriate and acceptable by the courts." Murphy shared that figure with the Edmonton Police Commission on Thursday as part of a presentation that puts the total cost of policing pot in Edmonton at $1.4 million in 2018. EPS's request for funding was approved by city council during a supplementary operating budget adjustment on April 10, Murphy said. The proposed budget comes two years after the committee first began its work to prepare for the legalization of cannabis, which was initially expected in July but now faces delays. Murphy said saliva tests, which identity the active ingredient in pot known as tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, could cost between $75 and $100 each. EPS expects to conduct about 4,000 tests a year, based on a similar number of roadside alcohol tests conducted annually, at a cost of 15 cents each. "We wanted to inform the City of Edmonton of the potential of the high end for costs, so that everybody was properly informed of what that could be, although it could be less," said Murphy. If cannabis is legalized before the tests are approved, Murphy said officers will rely on members trained to conduct specialized field sobriety tests and on drug recognition experts whose expertise is accepted by the courts. Currently, urine tests confirm those results. But under new legislation suspects will be expected to provide blood samples instead. Murphy said the roadside tests will be "an additional tool for police" to "increase the efficiency of those investigations," because the results are immediate. Story continues Clandestine laboratory team The 2018 cannabis budget also pays for the training of officers, which is already underway. According to federal guidelines, one-third of all frontline field officers are trained to conduct specialized field sobriety tests, and six drug recognition experts for every 100,000 residents are required, said Murphy. Police forces have until 2022 to comply with those guidelines. Money will be invested in training for members of the service's already existing "clandestine laboratory team" as well. The team investigates operations that extract oils from cannabis plants using "a chemical process that can be quite dangerous" because of potential explosions or exposure to chemicals," Murphy said. "Our police officers will be going into homes that they're called to and they won't know when these things exist," he said. "So it's important that they're trained to recognize the risks and understand how to deal with those." By Terray Sylvester PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Hawaii's Kilauea volcano spewed ash nearly six miles (30,000 feet/9 km) into the air on Thursday and scientists warned this could be the first of a string of explosive eruptions in the crater. "This has relieved pressure temporarily," U.S. Geological Survey geologist Michelle Coombs told a news conference in Hilo. "We may have additional larger, powerful events." Residents of the Big Island were warned to take shelter from the ash as toxic gas levels spiked in a small southeast area where lava has burst from the ground during the two-week eruption, authorities said. The wind could carry Kilauea's ash plume as far as Hilo, the Big Island's largest city and a major tourism center, the County of Hawaii Civil Defense warned in an alert. "Protect yourself from ash fallout," it said. Geologists said the 4:15 a.m. (10:15 a.m. EDT) explosion was likely the first in a series of steam-driven blasts last seen in 1924, rather than "the big one" that nervous residents had feared as Kilauea was rocked by earthquakes in recent days. A spike in toxic sulfur dioxide gas closed schools around the village of Pahoa, 25 miles (40 km) east of the volcano, where lava from fissures has destroyed 37 homes and other structures and forced about 2,000 residents to evacuate. National guard troops were forced to don gas masks at a nearby road intersection, according to a Reuters reporter. Civil defense workers handed out one ash mask per family member in communities close to Kilauea, such as the village of Volcano, which was expected to receive a 1/32 of an inch (0.8 millimeters) dusting of ash, according to USGS estimates. USGS geologists and staff were evacuated from the Kilauea summit shortly before the explosion. 'TALL BUT SMALL' Thursday's eruption lasted only a few minutes, said Coombs who called it "a big event that got people's attention, but did not have widespread impact". "Tall but small," she said of Thursday's plume. An aviation red alert was in effect due to risks ash could be carried into aircraft routes and damage jet engines, USGS said. Passenger jets generally cruise at around 30,000 feet, the height of Thursday's plume. Pahoa fire station on Thursday morning recorded a "red level" of sulfur dioxide, meaning it would cause choking and an inability to breathe, Fenix Grange of the Hawaii Department of Health told a news conference in Hilo. "If it's red, it's get out of Dodge," She said. "We're trying to create a ring around sulfur dioxide so we can protect people." AVOID DRIVING Across the Big Island, home to 200,000 residents, people were encouraged to avoid driving in ashfall areas, as the powdered rock makes roads slippery, and not go outdoors unless necessary. Geologists had warned that a chain of explosive eruptions could begin once Kilauea's falling lava lake descended below the water table, allowing water to run on to the top of the lava column and create steam-driven blasts. "I don't think there is a big one that's coming," said University of Hawaii volcanologist Scott Rowland. "I think it's going to be a series of explosions similar to the one that happened this morning, and that's based on what happened in 1924, which is really our only analog." In the 1924 eruption, which lasted 2-1/2 weeks, one person was killed by debris shot from the crater and areas as far as 35 miles (56 km) to the southwest and 30 miles (48 km) to the east were dusted with ash, according to the USGS. There have been no deaths or serious injuries reported during the current eruption. (Additional reporting by Jolyn Rosa in Honolulu; Writing by Andrew Hay; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Sandra Maler) The federal court judge who approved an $875-million deal for Sixties Scoop survivors is facing accusations of bias because of his involvement in other aspects of the agreement. The settlement reached last week is aimed at compensating an estimated 20,000 Indigenous people who were taken from their families as children and adopted out to non-Indigenous parents between the 1950s and the 1980s, stripping them of their cultural heritage. Justice Michel Shore approved the deal as it was proposed on Friday, roughly 60 minutes after two days of emotional testimony concluded in Saskatoon. It will see $750 million go to survivors, $75 million to lawyers, and $50 million set aside for an Indigenous healing foundation. But critics are arguing Shore should not have been allowed to preside over last week's hearings, as he was involved in the creation of the proposed settlement last year and sits on the board of a $50-million healing foundation being established as part of the deal. "The judge's role is to be dispassionate not to be an advocate or cheerleader for the class-action settlement," said Jasminka Kalajdzic, a law professor at the University of Windsor and one of the country's leading experts on class-action lawsuits. Some survivors, who travelled from across North America to attend the hearing, said they were outraged by Shore's comments in support of the settlement at the hearings, before it had formally been approved. Others were upset by the three-minute time limit they were given to share their stories. "It seems like this decision was already made up, and this whole court case was an opportunity to sell the package," said survivor Mary Longman, who testified at the hearings and asked the court to also consider abuses suffered when determining compensation. But Raven Sinclair, a social work professor in Saskatoon, cautions against leaping to conclusions of bias and conflict of interest based on Shore's role with the healing foundation. Story continues She said it's a necessary connection, and only on paper. "It's a temporary unit and it's not a decision making board, and so the people that are named on the non-profit incorporation papers are not decision makers, they're not the board, they're the temporary sort of figureheads," she said in an interview. She says that survivors will have a say in the composition of the final board. 'It raises eyebrows' Like Kalajdzic, Craig Jones, a law professor at Thompson Rivers University and author of the book Theory of Class Actions, says survivors are right to be concerned. This case is complex, he said, and carries enormous financial, political and societal implications, similar to the residential school or tainted blood settlements. Jones stopped short of accusing Shore of bias but said he "can see why it raises eyebrows." Kalajdzic was more direct. "There should be a judge with fresh eyes, who doesn't have a history with the parties, a judge who can exercise rigorous oversight and take a hard look at the case. That, in my view, would have been the more appropriate procedure," she said. The deal has created a divide among survivors of the Sixties Scoop. Some were elated, saying it is long-awaited recognition of their suffering and a move that will avoid years of costly court battles, with no guarantee of victory. But others say the settlement is flawed because it excludes non-status and Metis people, caps individual compensation at $50,000 and gives too much money to the lawyers. No rules broken, says Federal Court official Andrew Baumberg, a spokesperson for the Federal Court of Canada, declined to comment when asked about the concerns around Shore's objectivity, Instead, he pointed to Federal Court Rule 391, which allows a judge to oversee multiple elements of a case, provided that no parties object. The law firms representing the class members OK'd Shore overseeing the settlement hearing. Kalajdzic says Rule 391 should only be used in absolutely necessary and exceptional circumstances and argues that wasn't the case here. Precedents have made it extremely difficult to appeal an approved class-action settlement, she said, but those unhappy with the agreement have other options. She said survivors who feel strongly can "vote with their feet" and opt out of the settlement. The agreement gives them 90 days to do so. Further, if more than 2,000 members reject the offer, the government can kill the deal and some opponents are pushing for just that. Meanwhile, some of the survivors, including Longman, are considering filing a complaint with the body that oversees federal court judges. And one last step remains before any money is disbursed: an Ontario judge overseeing a smaller, similar lawsuit for claimants in that province must give his or her approval later this month. Shore has said he will issue the reasons for his ruling in several weeks' time. Kenney criticized for insulting prime minister while insisting on decorum United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney is standing by insults he made in a newspaper column about the intelligence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a column by the Calgary Sun's Rick Bell published Wednesday, Kenney said Trudeau doesn't have "the foggiest idea" about how to resolve the dispute over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through British Columbia. - Jason Kenney ready to 'raise the bar' of decorum in Alberta legislature "I know Justin. He doesn't have a clue what he's doing," Kenney said. "This guy is an empty trust-fund millionaire who has the political depth of a finger bowl. "He can't read a briefing note longer than a cocktail napkin." The comments were published one day after Kenney remarked on what he considers a lack of decorum inside the Alberta legislature, a frequent complaint of his since becoming an MLA earlier this year. "So now I see we're back to the NDP attacking their opponents," Kenney said in the house Tuesday. "But that's all right, Mr. Speaker. When they go low, we'll go high. Can you hear them heckling? It never stops. "The anger machine never turns off." Kenney was challenged by reporters at the legislature about the apparent contradiction between his words and actions. Initially, Kenney resorted to his usual talking points on how the prime minister was not standing up for Alberta. Then he claimed he was simply answering a question. "I was asked about whether I thought the prime minister understands the complexity of the pipeline issue and frankly, based on my first-hand experience, I don't think he does," Kenney said. Premier Rachel Notley said she found it ironic Kenney could express such "a tremendous amount of personal hostility toward the prime minister" on the same day he used Michelle Obama's "when they go low, we go high" quote. She suggested Kenney's remarks were unseemly for someone who aspires to be premier of Alberta. Story continues "Anyone who is presenting themselves as being equipped to lead the province needs to learn very quickly to rise above his personal hostilities," she said. Kenney insisted he was standing up to a prime minister who has put the future Trans Mountain expansion in jeopardy. "I was using colourful language to respond to a question about his understanding of this issue," Kenney said. A lost dog that had thousands of people in the St. John's area searching and sharing social media posts has been found 10 days after running away while the family was away on vacation. Mary Margaret, a one-year-old Boston terrier owned by the Whitton family, was being looked after by a dog sitter while the family was in Jamaica for a wedding. Lost in 3,400 acre urban park On May 6, Mary Margaret managed to get off her leash while walking in the Three Pond Barrens area of Pippy Park, kicking off an online campaign to find the little dog, which Cindy Whitton then saw while she was using the internet down south. "We hoped that it wasn't her but then someone tweeted that 'We have to find Mary Margaret,'" the mother of two told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show. "Everything went into a tailspin then, basically." Companion animal The news was especially devastating for the family to hear given that Mary Margaret is actually a companion dog to Whitton's 11-year-old son Liam, who has Asperger's Syndrome, and his younger brother Keith, who adores her too. "She's an amazing dog. She was recommended by several people who have children with autism. She's so quiet, she doesn't bark much and is a low-key dog," Whitton said. Whitton's husband Scott left the wedding celebrations early to go back home to St. John's to help with the search. Meanwhile Whitton couldn't believe how widely shared the posts about the missing dog were on social media. "It was kind of crazy the attention it got. There were 12,000 people on the Facebook page in a matter of a week that joined this. That's the power of social media," she said. "I don't think a dog has ever been prayed for as much as this little Mary Margaret, a good Catholic name by the way." Little dog, big reunion After 10 days and dozens of phone calls from people who claimed to have seen Mary Margaret, the family was really starting to worry about the Boston terrier, who weighs just 15 pounds. Story continues Callers reported seeing the dog in virtually every area of the city, but ultimately the moment they were all waiting for happened not far from where Mary Margaret first got off her leash near Mount Scio Road and Pippy Park. The family had just gotten out of their vehicle to start another afternoon of searching, when Whitton called out to the dog like she always did only this time it was followed by the pitter patter sound of little doggy feet getting louder and louder through the bushes and trees. "When we went into the woods, mom called out 'Mary Margaret'. All of the people who were looking for her, she wouldn't come out for them. She would only come out for us," said Whitton's son Keith. "She was far away but she heard us and she was going like a bullet. I was really happy and I thought I was going to cry." That's when the big reunion happened, and Mary Margaret was once again in the arms of the family who missed her dearly. She was brought to the vet to get treated for a small cut on her chest, and Whitton said she is ravenously hungry after more than a week alone in the woods. But Mary Margaret is OK for the most part, back under a safe roof with the people who love her getting treats and snuggling up in bed instead of shivering out in the woods. "It's incredible. She's a 15 pound little dog that was out without any protection. We sometimes call her Little Princess because she is so spoiled, and she survived for 10 days out in the wild during Newfoundland spring," Whitton said. "We took her home and within two minutes she went to find her ball, wanted to play, and last night she was back in bed next to Scott and I on the pillows under the covers." For most people, the sight of lava making its way toward them means stay well away. But for a select few, the reaction is the complete opposite. These are so-called "lava chasers," people who actually seek out active volcanoes, stand precipitously on the edge and some who even head inside craters. With the increased activity of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii these past few weeks, you can find Demian Barrios somewhere near one of the fissures spouting lava. Normally lava flows in predictable routes in Hawaii, but with this new eruption, Barrios said he's been forced to chase it. But's all worth it. "It's very intense out there. Obviously the lava is very hot," Barrios told CBC News. "There is a very small danger getting within that proximity to the lava itself, and it's a mix of emotions. It's very exciting to see the volcano creating new land." Kilauea is an effusive volcano. Instead of shooting lava violently into the sky, it erupts in fissures, openings in cracks in the ground where the magma bubbles up to the surface and is then called lava and moves slowly along the ground. It's this ongoing activity that created the islands themselves. Hawaii is known for its volcanoes and lakes of lava, but every so often as now, the first time since 1955 new areas of lava are being formed. That's not to say that Kilauea doesn't have explosions: Since the new activity began three weeks ago, authorities have warned of increasing danger from something called a phreatomagmatic explosion. In these violent events, magma interacts with water below the surface, building pressure and then sending ash and rock skyward. Kilauea has been sending up small phreatomagmatic explosions for about a week now, with larger explosions over the past few days. "We did have a few explosions within the past couple of days that had some huge lava bombs, basically huge molten rock being ejected out of the fissure vents and they fly several hundred feet in the air," Barrios said. "When those start falling on the ground, you don't want to be anywhere around those." Story continues But Barrios doesn't stay away. He says he has respect for Pele, the fire goddess of Hawaii. He ensures that he takes precautions. Among his other tools, he wears a respirator to protect against the noxious sulphur dioxide gases as well as a helmet. Chasing volcanoes worldwide George Kourounis, from Toronto, is another such adventure chaser: He was married at the side of an active volcano in Vanuatu and spent his honeymoon at Kilauea during an eruption. Kourounis, originally a sound engineer, experienced his first volcano encounter with Erta Ale in Ethiopia in 2005. He was hooked. "They're so much like visiting another planet," Kourounis said. "Very few things live on these volcanoes, and they have this lunar kind of landscape. And to see liquid rock and to feel the heat is the kind of thing that I'm just curious about. I've always been fascinated by extremes of nature." He photographs and records his close encounters, as seen below. Since then, he's lost count of the volcanoes he's visited, but he says it's likely in the realm of 25: in Hawaii, Iceland, Ethiopia, Vanuatu, Italy, New Zealand, Indonesia and Guatemala, to name but a few. Now he chases full-time, and not just volcanoes: Also tornadoes, hurricanes, fires and other extreme events. And though he loves it all, volcanoes have held a particular fascination. "Civilization and humans in general, we have this relationship with volcanoes," Kourounis said. "They give us fertile soil; they give us some of the best real estate on Earth. But all of the gifts that are given can be revocable with almost no notice. Pele's gifts are fickle." While Kourounis isn't in Hawaii now he doesn't want to waste a trip if he can't get close enough since authorities are warning people away in June he's headed to Vanuatu again as a guide to some other thrill-seekers. Dire consequences Both chasers understand the risks and take their safety seriously. Still, volcanoes aren't exactly predictable. In one of the most famous instances, Maurice and Katia Krafft, two seasoned French volcanologists, were killed in a pyroclastic flow a fast-moving flow of gas and volcanic debris on Mount Unzen in Japan in 1991. Forty-one other people were also killed, including volcanologist Harry Glicken and several journalists covering the eruption. "You can do everything right and still get into trouble," said Kourounis, who once found himself in a crater with a gas-powered lift whose starter came off in his hand Fortunately for him, it broke after it started. Of course, he was equipped with backups. Chasing lava, descending into craters, standing on the edge of lava lakes it all sounds like a unnecessarily foolish risk. But for Barrios and Kourounis, it's the love of nature that fuels the chase. "I know it's not for everybody," Barrios said. "A lot of people are running the opposite way, and we're running into ground zero." President Donald Trump reiterated his disdain for Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation Wednesday, labeling it the $10,000,000 Russian Witch Hunt, and again claimed there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia to snatch the White House in 2016. Indeed, Muellers probe of Russias interference in one of the most contentious and controversial elections in the countrys history has not expressly unearthed agreed upon and direct collusion. But, as Muellers team celebrates its formation one year ago Thursday, the special counsel has made significant strides and produced results since former FBI director James Comeys dismissal by Trump led to Muellers appointment. Heres a breakdown of just what Mueller and his team of investigators have accomplished in the last 365 days, and with no apparent end in sight. All told, Muellers team has handed down numerous indictments and even flipped several former Trump campaign officials as the probe enters its second year. Trending: What Will Donald, Melania Trump Get Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for Royal Wedding Gift? White House Reveals Present 13 Russians and three Russian entities Like the U.S. intelligence communitys report in January 2017, Muellers charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies conclude there was a vast conspiracy dating as far back as 2014 to meddle with the U.S.s election and political processes. The indictment, filed in February, accused the Russians of stealing American identities, staging protests and employing social media to stoke American political divides on issues like race, religion and immigration. And they did it in support of Trump. ..Defendants operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton, the charges read. Paul Manafort Don't miss: India Gets New Nuclear Submarine Missiles, Joining Only Russia, China, U.S. and France Of the four former Trump campaign aides to face charges from Mueller, Manafort is the only one contesting the allegations in court. Hes accused of conducting a conspiracy against the United States, money laundering, failure to disclose himself as a foreign agent, income tax evasion and bank fraud. Story continues Manafort was dealt a blow Tuesday when a federal judge shot down his attempt to dismiss one case against him. Manafort claimed that Muellers charges were outside the scope of his powers and investigation. Former Campaign Aides Flip The three other Trump campaign aides entangled by Mueller were Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Each admitted to lying to investigators and reached a plea agreement with Mueller. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for years, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy, foreign agent and tax evasion charges. And like Flynn and Papadopoulos, he has agreed to cooperate with the investigation. Papadopoulos admitted to lying about his contact with a professor known to have ties to the Kremlin. He had indeed talked with the professor, Joseph Mifsud, after he had joined the campaign, and the professor also told Papadopoulos that the Russians had dirt on Clinton. Papadopoulos also admitted to making contact with a female Russian national, while working for the campaign in an attempt to set up a meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials. Most popular: Will LeBron James Leave Cleveland? Speculation In Overdrive With Cavs Down 2-0 to Celtics Flynn fessed up to his contacts with former Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, and how they discussed not escalating the situation regarding Russian sanctions put in place by President Barack Obama in response to Russias meddling. GettyImages-699394226 Getty Images/Alex Wong Cohen Could Be Involved Formerly the presidents personal attorney, Michael Cohen could also find himself ensnared in the Mueller probe. The special counsel reportedly issued a referral to federal prosecutors in New York. Cohens office, residence and hotel were raided by the FBI, and records and documents were seized. A Ukrainian politician who interacted with Cohen about a potential peace plan for Ukraine and Russia is scheduled to face a grand jury tied to Mueller on Friday. Andrii Artemenko had given Cohen the plan and Cohen said hed pass it along to the White House. Cohen reportedly left the plan with Flynn. Alexander van der Zwaan A Dutch lawyer, Van der Zwaan also made false statements to the special counsel and FBI about his interactions with Gates. He wound up being the first person to receive jail time, 30 days, in the scandal. Van der Zwaan was not truthful about his last contact with Gates, his work on a report on a report Manafort requested be made in order to prop up former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and even deleting emails the special counsel had requested when speaking with investigators. Richard Pinedo Perhaps a forgotten character in a saga thats involved so many, Pinedo pleaded guilty to identity fraud in February. He admitted to selling bank account numbers online between 2014 and December 2017, and the special counsels team found that some of the account numbers landed in the hands of the Russian nationals trying to interfere in the 2016 election, according to The New York Times. However, Pinedos attorney said at the time that his client did not know any of the people he sold numbers to and he was not part of Russias plot. This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Northwestel says some people's internet bills will drop from $200 to $80, after federal funding People in eight N.W.T. communities and one in the Yukon will get cheaper internet, thanks to new federal funding announced Wednesday. MP Michael McLeod announced more than $4.6 million from the federal government that will lower people's bills with Northwestel, the North's largest telecommunications service provider. The money will be used to build fibre optic infrastructure in Jean Marie River, N.W.T., according to the announcement. These communities will also see better service thanks to an extended satellite connection, which should bring people's bills down: - Colville Lake - Gameti - Lutselk'e - Paulatuk - Sachs Harbour - Sambaa K'e - Ulukhaktuk - Wekweeti - Old Crow, Yukon Paul Gillard, vice-president of business markets for Northwestel, said the new money will help subsidize the high cost of internet. "The highest speed package currently costs $200," said Gillard. "This announcement is going to allow us to reduce that price to $80." Gillard said the long term goal is to have easier internet access in all Northern communities, especially for other communities in the territory that are dealing with low quality access to internet. "The CRTC has set this goal of 50 megabits per second down, 10 megabits per second up for all residents of Canada," said Gillard. "This announcement today is a step toward that goal. More steps obviously need to be taken, but we're going to work with our government partners and the CRTC to pursue that long term goal." Gillard said people's bills should go down by April 1, 2019. Correction : An earlier version of this story quoted Paul Gillard as saying the discount was 85 per cent. In fact, it's 60 per cent. The story also previously stated that 9 N.W.T. communities, including Jean Marie River, would receive cheaper internet. In fact, 8 N.W.T. communities will receive cheaper internet.(May 17, 2018 2:45 PM) By Ali Kucukgocmen and Tulay Karadeniz ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Muslim leaders called on Friday for an international force to be deployed to protect Palestinians after dozens of protesters were shot dead by Israeli forces on the Gaza border this week. At a special summit in Turkey convened by President Tayyip Erdogan, they also pledged to take "appropriate political (and) economic measures" against countries that followed the United States in moving their Israel embassies to contested Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Erdogan, who is campaigning for re-election next month, used the summit to verbally attack Israel, comparing the actions of its forces to Nazi Germany's treatment of Jews in World War Two, when millions were killed in concentration camps. He also castigated the United States, saying its decision to move its embassy had emboldened Israel to put down the protests at the border with Gaza with excessive force. Most countries say the status of Jerusalem - a sacred city to Jews, Muslims and Christians - should be determined in a final peace settlement between Israel and Palestinians and that moving their embassies now would prejudge any such deal. U.S. President Donald Trump's step to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the embassy there reversed decades of U.S. policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies. Guatemala this week became the second country to move its embassy to Jerusalem, and Paraguay said it would follow suit this month. The final declaration of the meeting of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation described the killing of 60 Palestinians, protesting the embassy move on Monday, as "savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the U.S. administration". It said the violence should be put on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly, and called on the United Nations to investigate the killings. The summit was attended by Jordan's King Abdullah, a U.S. ally whose Hashemite dynasty is custodian of Muslim sites in Jerusalem. Abdullah said the U.S. decision five months ago to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital had "weakened the pillars of peace ... and deepened the despair that leads to violence." Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called on Muslim countries "to totally cut their relations with the Zionist regime (Israel) and also to revise their trade and economic ties with America". A populist with roots in political Islam, Erdogan has described Israel as "terrorist state". "The children of those being subject to all sorts of torture in concentration camps during World War Two are now attacking Palestinians with methods that would put Nazis to shame," Erdogan said on Friday shortly after addressing a rally of thousands of people in support of Palestinians. The United Nations must send "an international peace force to the people of Palestine, who are losing their young children to Israeli terror every day," Erdogan said, comparing the proposed deployment to peacekeeping forces sent to Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. The violence in Gaza led to Turkey and Israel expelling each other's senior diplomats this week. Erdogan has also traded barbs on Twitter with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel, however, was the 10th-largest market for Turkish exports in 2017, buying some $3.4 billion of goods, according to IMF statistics. "We have excellent economic ties with Turkey. And these relations are very important for both sides," Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon told Israel Radio on Friday when asked if Israel should break ties with Turkey. The plight of Palestinians resonates with many Turks, particularly the nationalist and religious voters who form the base of support for Erdogan, who has been in power for 15 years. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen and Tulay Karadeniz in Istanbul; additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul, Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Parisa Hafezi and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Writing by David Dolan and Dominic Evans; editing by Grant McCool) (This May 16 story corrects figure on evacuations to northern Syria in paragraph 5) BEIRUT (Reuters) - The remaining fighters started to withdraw from the last rebel-held enclave in central Syria on Wednesday, state television reported, sealing the government's control over the area and opening a major stretch of the country's most important highway. It further cements President Bashar al-Assad's dominant position over the most populated parts of Syria after years of fighting, but means any new military campaign might risk direct conflict with foreign powers. The withdrawal may also be the last in a series of agreed evacuations used by the government to defeat besieged insurgents by forcing them to surrender territory in return for safe passage to opposition areas in the north. Often brokered by Assad's Russian allies, such agreements have in recent years become a defining characteristic of Syria's seven-year war. In the last two months alone, the United Nations says 110,000 people have been evacuated to northwestern Syria and rebel-held areas north of Aleppo. The opposition has called it a policy of forced displacement amounting to demographic change to force out Assad's opponents. The Syrian government has said nobody is forced to leave and those who stay must accept state rule. The last besieged rebel area, being fully evacuated on Wednesday, is the large enclave located between the cities of Hama and Homs around the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh and Houla. Rebels still hold large swathes of northwest and southwest Syria that are not besieged because they border Turkey and Jordan, which have at times backed the insurgents and are guarantors of limited truces in those areas. The only other area still surrounded by the Syrian army, in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus, is held by Islamic State fighters who look unlikely to agree to withdraw to the patch of desert they still hold in east Syria. More than a quarter of Syria is held by an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias that the United States helped in the fight against Islamic State. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to pull American troops from Syria, but the Pentagon has said they are staying for now. SIEGE Assad focused on the remaining besieged rebel pockets last month after taking back Eastern Ghouta, the biggest insurgent enclave near Damascus, in a ferocious, weeks-long offensive. Having held the area being evacuated on Wednesday for years, rebels agreed earlier this month to withdraw along with their families and other civilians who did not want to come back under Assad's rule. Since the enclave straddled Syria's main north-south highway in the stretch between Hama and Homs, recapturing it will significantly ease communication lines in government areas. Some 27,000 people have left the enclave already since the evacuations began earlier this month, a local government official said. The last convoy of buses began to leave on Wednesday, according to state media. Last month, 66,000 people left Eastern Ghouta under similar agreements, the U.N. has said. Other major evacuations have included from east Aleppo in late 2016, when more than 30,000 people left. Tens of thousands of other people have left smaller pockets in recent years. It has added to a humanitarian crisis in northwestern Idlib province, where the pre-war population of about 1 million people has been doubled by those fleeing other parts of the country. (Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Thousands of people living downstream from a dam in northwestern Colombia were evacuated from their homes as of Thursday, May 17, following fears that construction problems at the Hidroituango hydroelectric dam could trigger massive floods. The evacuation notice was issued on Wednesday after new technical problems sparked flooding at the dam in Antioquia province with further rain forecast. Over the weekend a sudden release of water from the dam flooded a village, destroying schools, bridges and a health clinic, according to The Guardian. Reuters reported the Hidroituango dam was expected to be the largest in Colombia when completed and would provide 17 percent of the South American countrys electrical supply. This footage, posted by the Ministry of National Defense, shows the Colombian Air Force monitoring the dam. Credit: Ministry of National Defense via Storyful Throughout Israeli society, the educational and moral welfare of children as well as the continuity of the family remains at the center of parents (and grandparents) lives, not only emotionally but as a matter of almost day-to-day practice. This peculiarly strong culture draws sustenance from and in turn informs the equally strong sense of national solidarity. Thanks to that strongly shared national identity, Israeli Jews are unusually willing to make personal sacrifices when it comes to welcoming new Jewish immigrants into the state and into their homesand also when it comes to stoically enduring protracted periods of violence and bloodshed perpetrated by intractable enemies. As traditional communities of origin have receded in importance elsewhere in the world, the shared sense of an Israeli nation-family underlies the habitual instinct of most Israeli Jews to regard other Jews, and especially those in Israel itself, primarily as family members rather than merely as fellow citizens. Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. . ..Abu Yehuda..18 May '18..I attended a lecture on Monday by Moti Toledo, who participated in Operation Solomon, the 36-hour airlift of about 15,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel while Ethiopia was in the throes of revolution.Religious people can be excused for believing that miracles occurred during the operation. An El Al 747 with all its seats removed set the world record for number of people on a commercial aircraft , carrying 1088 passengers (two or three of them were babies born on the flight to Israel). According to the secular Toledo, the runway at that time was not considered long enough for even a normally-loaded 747, and the plane struggled to get airborne before it ran out of runway. An unexpected gust of wind came along from precisely the right direction, just in time. Make of this what you will.This was after several covert operations had brought thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, including the fascinating Operation Brothers, a Mossad-operated diving resort in Sudan (a country as hostile to Israel as any you can think of) which operated during 1981-5, and succeeded in rescuing some 12,000 Jews The efforts to get the Ethiopian Jews to Israel began after then Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef wrote a letter to Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Supposedly, Begin then called the head of the Mossad, and told him Bring me my brothers, the Jews of Ethiopia.Toledo said that the story of the Ethiopian Jews illustrates the connection between the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Israel is and will always be a place of refuge and a protector of Jews everywhere. I cant think of another country that has this kind of relationship with its people (and I am using people in its tribal sense). Perhaps if there will be an independent Kurdistan, there could be one more.He also mentioned that when he gave a presentation in Europe, a non-Jewish person said to him that they too wished they had a place of refuge, the way Jews did. It reminded me of what an African-American Muslim said to my wife and I when we were about to make aliyah in 1979: I wishknew where our home was.Israel today is experiencing what Ofir Haivry called a demographic miracle. Everyone knows that when economic well-being and educational level increase, fertility goes down. This is true in Europe, North America, East and Southwest Asia, and the Middle East, including Palestinian and Israeli Arabs. But not among Jewish Israelis, where each woman has an average of 3.1 children (and this number is rising, despite Israels economic success). Haivry notes that this ismostly because of a high birthrate among Haredim, but because the majority of secular and non-Haredi observant Jews are having more children. I can attest to this anecdotally the streets and parks here are full of Jewish children and pregnant women.Haivry attributes this to the strong family orientation of Jewish Israelis. He writes,But this is only part of it and I think it is a small part, because close family ties characterize many countries in which there is nevertheless an inverse correlation between development and birthrate. He continues and here I think he hits the nail on its head:In a word, the secret is Zionism.This is precisely why Menachem Begin asked the Mossad to bring him his Ethiopian. This is why, when my own son told me that his wife was going to have a fourth child, he said only half-jokingly I did it for the demographic struggle of the Jewish people.Having children is a joy, especially when one gets older. But in the beginning it means that parents have to sacrifice some of their own well-being for the sake of the children. There are adventures that they will not have, and pleasures that they will have to forgo. In highly self-centered societies, people often prefer not to make such sacrifices. They choose travel, extended education or careers over children. If they do have children, they have them later in life, so they have fewer of them.This is why the highly developed native cultures of Europe, for example, are phasing themselves out of history with fertility rates far below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman. And worries about their shrinking work force which must support an increasingly aged population have led them to welcome the immigration that will ultimately put an end to those cultures.And this is why liberal Jews will soon be disappearing as a distinct group in American society: their affluence together with a lack of national feeling which is also the reason they are attracted to anti-Israel politics leads them to put their personal gratification before any Jewish consciousness that they may have. They have fewer children, and dont see a downside to intermarriage.This also applies to the bitter anti-Zionist Left in Israel, the ones that advise their (few) children to refuse to be serve in the IDF. But for this very reason they too will be gone soon I dont see them as a major threat to Israels national consciousness.Someone said to me at Toledos lecture that while the immigration of the Ethiopians was a big success, their absorption has been less so. I disagree. We are just beginning to see the first generation of Ethiopian Jews born in Israel, and they are Israeli in every way. The usual problems of immigrants prejudice, crime, poverty are fading away, and in another generation or two will be gone. Jews from Ethiopia are finding their places in our society, including having plenty of children of their own.Today Israel is militarily the most powerful nation in the region weve just demonstrated that to the Iranian regime and an economic powerhouse, but we are also vulnerable due to our small size. Begin realized that we need more than military strength to survive we need to care about each other and our nation.And despite the sometimes deafening disagreements, we do. United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jason P. STINSON, Defendant-Appellant. No. 17-11412 Decided: May 01, 2018 Before ED CARNES, Chief Judge, and NEWSOM and SILER,* Circuit Judges. Randolph Lyons Hutter, Arthur Thomas Catterall, Gilbert Steven Rothenberg, U.S. Department of Justice, Chief Appellate Section Tax Division, Washington, DC, Daniel A. Applegate, Sean Green, Joshua Y. Levine, Jared S. Wiesner, Steven Christopher Woodliff, Alison Austen Yewdell, U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff-Appellee John J. Pappas, Peter C. Pappas, The Pappas Group, Orlando, FL, for Defendant-Appellant Defendant Jason Stinson appeals the district courts judgment of a permanent injunction enjoining him from preparing federal tax returns and a $949,952.47 disgorgement order. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Stinson began his tax preparation career in 2010 as a manager for LBS Tax Services (LBS), a storefront tax preparation business based in Orlando, Florida. Without prior experience or training in tax return preparation, in 2011 and 2012, he personally prepared individual tax returns for hundreds of customers. By 2013, Stinson had become a franchise owner of ten LBS stores with locations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. Situated in low-income areas, Stinsons stores engaged in aggressive, guerrilla marketing and directly targeted underprivileged, undereducated poor people. The practice at Stinsons stores was to not charge an upfront fee for each tax return prepared for a customer but to extract the fee from the customers tax refunds. He often charged in excess of $600 per return, sometimes as much as $999, usually without informing the taxpayer of the fee amount. The goal was to secure the maximum refund to satisfy the customer and deduct a larger fee. To this end, Stinson and his tax preparers would falsify customers information to claim the maximum earned income tax credit (EITC) by: claiming fictitious dependents, fabricating unreimbursed employee business expenses and charitable contributions, and falsifying business income or expenses. The Government filed a complaint in 2014 seeking, under 7402, 7407, and 7408 of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.), to enjoin Stinson, individually and doing business as LBS Tax Services and Nation Tax Services, LLC, from acting as a federal tax return preparer or requesting, assisting in, or directing the preparation or filing of federal tax returns, amended returns, or other related documents or forms for any person or entity other than himself. Specifically, the Government alleged that Stinson: 1. falsified deductions on Form 1040 Schedule A to reduce customers taxable income by reporting personal expenses as business expenses and falsified unreimbursed employee expenses and charitable contributions; 2. falsified Form 1040 Schedule C deductions by fabricating businesses and reporting profits or losses from a false business or inflating profits and losses from an actual business; 3. claimed false education credits; 4. falsified customers earned income tax credits; 5. failed to conduct proper due diligence; and 6. failed to disclose fees and provide customers complete copies of their tax returns. These practices allowed Stinson to manipulate a customers income to ensure that it fell within the sweet spot necessary to qualify for the EITC. The Government proffered deposition testimony and customer tax returns that exhibited fabricated numbers. This evidence revealed that Stinson had contrived expenses and falsely claimed other credits for customers, such as Household Help Income and the American Opportunity Education Credit. For example, Stinson prepared a tax return claiming qualified education expenses of $2,000 for a customer who never graduated from high school. One taxpayer testified that I know I never claimed any charity on my income tax, never, yet his tax return prepared by Stinsons firm claimed $1,500 in charitable giving. In 2015, the Government asked the district court to preliminarily enjoin Stinson from employing his tax return preparation business in order [t]o prevent Stinsons continued and repeated fraud during the pending trial proceedings. The district court granted this motion, and Stinson filed an interlocutory appeal. In September 2016, we affirmed the preliminary injunction. United States v. Stinson, 661 Fed.Appx. 945, 946 (11th Cir. 2016). In 2016, the district court held a six-day bench trial and heard testimony from dozens of taxpayer witnessesformer clients of Stinsons tax preparation storesall of whom testified that Stinson prepared inaccurate tax returns. The evidence at trial fully supported the Governments allegations. The Government proved that Stinsons business model involved falsifying his clients tax returns by fabricating expenses and deductions in order to produce tax refunds from which he would first subtract a hefty fee. Stinson failed to rebut the Governments evidence, and he now appeals the district courts permanent injunction and disgorgement order. DISCUSSION We review a judgment of a permanent injunction and disgorgement for abuse of discretion. S.E.C. v. Levin, 849 F.3d 995, 1001 (11th Cir. 2017); Garrido v. Dudek, 731 F.3d 1152, 1158 (11th Cir. 2013). We also review the denial of a motion for sanctions for abuse of discretion. Eagle Hosp. Physicians, LLC v. SRG Consulting, Inc., 561 F.3d 1298, 1303 (11th Cir. 2009). I. Injunctive Relief The district court granted a permanent injunction enjoining Stinson from his tax return preparation activities pursuant to I.R.C. 7407, 7408, and 7402. For the following reasons, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the injunction. Count IPermanent Injunction Pursuant to I.R.C. 7407 Internal Revenue Code 7407 reflects a congressional intent to prevent abuses by tax preparers in the reporting of client income tax liabilities. United States v. Ernst & Whinney, 735 F.2d 1296, 1302 (11th Cir. 1984). [I]n order to issue an injunction pursuant to 7407, three prerequisites must be met: first, the defendant must be a tax preparer; second, the conduct complained of must fall within one of the four areas of proscribed conduct, 7407(b)(1); and third, the court must find that an injunction is appropriate to prevent the recurrence of the proscribed conduct, 7407(b)(2). Id. at 1303. Here, the district court first determined that Stinson was a tax preparer under I.R.C. 7701(a)(36) because he owned and operated the tax preparation stores, hired employees, trained employees, and profited from the business. Second, with respect to the proscribed conduct, I.R.C. 7407(b)(1) states that such conduct includes violating 6694 or 6695 or engaging in fraudulent or deceptive conduct that substantially interferes with the administration of the internal revenue laws. Section 6694(a) is implicated where an individual negligently understates tax liability. Judisch v. United States, 755 F.2d 823, 830 (11th Cir. 1985). By contrast, 6694(b) imposes penalties on tax preparers who prepare any return or claim for refund in a manner that violates 6694(a) and does so willfully or recklessly. The district court found that Stinson not only claimed non-deductible expenses as deductible ones, but the amounts claimed were largely inflated. Stinsons conduct was repeated, continuous, and willful, occurring over multiple years and in multiple stores. Stinson targeted low-income taxpayers and took advantage of their lack of tax knowledge and their desire to obtain a high refund. As the district court held, Stinson caused great harm to his low-income customers who have been audited and now owe relatively significant sums to the IRS. The Government presented evidence showing that Stinson inflated and falsified expenses and charitable contributions on his clients Schedule A forms, fabricated income, expenses, and entire businesses on their Schedule C forms, and improperly claimed deductions for expenses that were not deductible. Stinson acted both willfully and recklessly by wholly fabricating this information on his clients returns and reporting amounts of income and expenses different from those provided by the customer. Despite holding himself out as a tax professional, Stinson made no attempt to familiarize himself (or his staff) with federal tax law. Additionally, several customers testified that they were never provided a copy of their tax return or were not provided a complete copy. At the same time, Stinson regularly created records showing he had complied with EITC due diligence and had requested the necessary documentation when, in fact, he had never requested any such information. In other words, Stinsons entire business model was fraudulent and deceitful, and he sought to interfere[ ] with the proper administration of the Internal Revenue laws. I.R.C. 7407(b)(1)(D). Third, the Government was required to demonstrate that injunctive relief is appropriate to prevent the recurrence of such conduct, and that an injunction prohibiting specific conduct would not be sufficient. I.R.C. 7407(b)(2); Ernst & Whinney, 735 F.2d at 1303. In resolving this question, other courts have considered the following factors: (1) the gravity of the harm caused by the offense; (2) the extent of the defendants participation; (3) the defendants degree of scienter; (4) the isolated or recurrent nature of the infraction; (5) the defendants recognition (or non-recognition) of his own culpability; and (6) the likelihood that the defendants occupation would place him in a position where future violations could be anticipated. See United States v. Stover, 650 F.3d 1099, 1112 (8th Cir. 2011); United States v. Gleason, 432 F.3d 678, 683 (6th Cir. 2005); United States v. Estate Pres. Servs., 202 F.3d 1093, 1105 (9th Cir. 2000). Here, the district court thoroughly examined all of these factors and found each one in favor of the Government. Based on this totality of the circumstances approach, the district court concluded that an injunction under 7407 was appropriate and necessary to prevent future interference with the Internal Revenue laws. Because Stinson was responsible for the fraudulent conduct, which was likely to recur, we affirm the district courts permanent injunction under 7407. Count IIPermanent Injunction Pursuant to I.R.C. 7408 Pursuant to I.R.C. 7408, a court may enjoin an individual from engaging in conduct subject to a penalty under I.R.C. 6700 or 6701, if the court determines that the individual has engaged in the proscribed conduct and injunctive relief is appropriate to prevent recurrence of the conduct. Section 6701 imposes a penalty upon any person who (1) aids or assists in, procures, or advises with respect to, the preparation of any portion of a return with (2) the knowledge that the return will be used in connection with any material matter arising under the internal revenue laws and, if so used, (3) would result in an understatement of the liability for tax of another person. The Government must prove a violation of 6701 by clear and convincing evidence of fraud. Carlson v. United States, 754 F.3d 1223, 1226-27 (11th Cir. 2014). In Carlson, we held that an inaccurate tax return, standing alone, is insufficient circumstantial evidence to prove fraud because a mere inaccuracy in a return does not suggest the tax return preparer knew that the returns understated the correct tax. Id. at 1230. However, as the district court properly held, Stinsons case differed from Carlson in two significant ways: First, this is not a case addressing tax preparer penalties for a violation of 6701. Rather, the Government seeks injunctive relief, pursuant to three separate provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, each of which independently provide[s] for injunctive relief Second, the Government has not relied on inaccurate tax returns standing alone, but has provided other circumstantial evidence of Stinsons wrongdoing. Furthermore, in the first appeal we expressly rejected this argument and held that Stinsons contention misapprehends the holding in Carlson and its application to the evidence in this case. Stinson, 661 Fed.Appx. at 952. Moreover, the district court held the badges of fraud were abundant. During the course of the trial, the Government presented significant circumstantial evidence, beyond mere inaccuracies in tax returns, sufficient to show that Stinson knowingly and deliberately stated inaccurate amounts on tax returns in order to maximize customers tax refunds. The evidence was overwhelming that Stinson knew he was preparing and filing federal tax returns designed to understate his customers tax liabilities. Tellingly, on appeal Stinson did not challenge the badges of fraud found by the district court but instead attacked the admissibility of such evidence. Those attacks fail because Stinson has not shown that the district courts evidentiary rulings amounted to a clear abuse of discretion. See Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Co. v. Cedar Shipping Co., Ltd., 320 F.3d 1213, 1216 (11th Cir. 2003) (noting that we review evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion and that the standard of deference is even greater when the objected-to evidentiary ruling is made during a bench trial because it is presumed that the district judge will rely only upon properly admitted and relevant evidence). Accordingly, we hold the district court did not abuse its discretion in enjoining Stinson under I.R.C. 7408. Count IIIPermanent Injunction Pursuant to I.R.C. 7402(a) Lastly, I.R.C. 7402(a) grants district courts broad authority to issue injunctions as may be necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of the internal revenue laws. This authority is in addition to and not exclusive of any and all other remedies available to enforce the internal revenue laws. I.R.C. 7402(a). [T]he decision to issue an injunction under 7402(a) is governed by the traditional factors shaping the district courts use of the equitable remedy. Ernst & Whinney, 735 F.2d at 1301. The party seeking a permanent injunction must prove: (1) irreparable harm; (2) inadequate remedies at law; (3) balancing hardships between the plaintiff and the defendant to show that a remedy in equity is warranted; and (4) the public interest would not be disserved by a permanent injunction. Angel Flight of Georgia, Inc. v. Angel Flight Am., Inc., 522 F.3d 1200, 1208 (11th Cir. 2008). 1. Irreparable Harm Stinsons stores caused millions of dollars of harm to the United States Treasury and to the taxpayer victims. As the Government correctly observed: Stinson preyed on individuals who knew little or nothing about tax return preparation and who needed assistance. He lured them into his stores with the promise of high refunds and low fees. He got them high refunds, but he did so by preparing and filing false returns [and charging] the customers excessively high fees. Notably, many of Stinsons customers have been audited by the IRS and, consequently, now owe money on their modest incomes as a result. Through his fraudulent actions, Stinson has undermined public trust in the tax system. Additionally, absent an injunction, the Government would be forced to continue expending resources to monitor Stinson. 2. Inadequate Remedies at Law Because 7402(a) provides for remedies in addition to and not exclusive of any and all other remedies, the district court correctly held that the Government need not prove that there is an inadequate remedy at law in order to qualify for injunctive relief. Nonetheless, the Government satisfied this factor as, absent an injunction, it had no civil means of stopping Stinson. 3. Balance of Hardships The balance of hardships also tips in favor of the Government. Although Stinson had to borrow money and was forced to abandon his business, the greater risk is to vulnerable taxpayers who would otherwise continue to be harmed by Stinsons fraudulent tax preparation. Moreover, the injunction does not prohibit Stinson from pursuing other ventures, such as his real estate rental business. 4. The Public Interest Finally, a permanent injunction would also advance the public interest. As the district court held, By defrauding the IRS, a tax return preparer is in reality defrauding every law-abiding American, who, at not insubstantial effort, pays their due fund to the programs of the nation. Consequently, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion by entering a permanent injunction against Stinson under I.R.C. 7402. II. Disgorgement Stinson also challenges the district courts order of disgorgement in the amount of $949,952.47a sum it found fairly encompasses the other proposed categories of fees, without duplication, and represents a reasonable approximation of Stinsons ill-gotten gains. Stinson argues that disgorgement was improper because he never engaged in, assisted in, or encouraged fraud. However, the district court held that [b]ecause 7402(a) encompasses a broad range of powers necessary to compel compliance with the tax laws disgorgement is an available remedy in this case. Disgorgement is an equitable remedy intended to prevent unjust enrichment. S.E.C. v. Levin, 849 F.3d 995, 1006 (11th Cir. 2017) (quoting S.E.C. v. Monterosso, 756 F.3d 1326, 1337 (11th Cir. 2014) ). To be entitled to disgorgement, the Government need only produce a reasonable approximation of the defendants ill-gotten gains. See S.E.C. v. Calvo, 378 F.3d 1211, 1217 (11th Cir. 2004). Exactitude is not a requirement; so long as the measure of disgorgement is reasonable, any risk of uncertainty should fall on the wrongdoer whose illegal conduct created that uncertainty. Id. (quotation marks omitted and alterations adopted). Nonetheless, a courts power to order disgorgement is not unlimited. It extends only to the amount the defendant profited from his wrongdoing. S.E.C. v. ETS Payphones, Inc., 408 F.3d 727, 735 (11th Cir. 2005). Yet in cases involving the operation of a fraudulent business, courts accept gross receipts obtained by the defendant as a reasonable measure of disgorgement. See, e.g., F.T.C. v. Direct Mktg. Concepts, 624 F.3d 1, 14 (1st Cir. 2010); F.T.C. v. Febre, 128 F.3d 530, 536 (7th Cir. 1997). Disgorgement of gross revenues is appropriate because wrongdoers are not entitled to deduct costs associated with committing their illegal acts. S.E.C. v. Cavanagh, 445 F.3d 105, 116-17 (2d Cir. 2006); see also S.E.C. v. JT Wallenbrock & Assocs., 440 F.3d 1109, 1114 (9th Cir. 2006). Additionally, once the plaintiff presents a reasonable approximation, the burden shifts to the defendantStinsonto disprove this amount. Calvo, 378 F.3d at 1217. At trial, the Government sought disgorgement of $1,584,481.79 against Stinson and submitted several calculations to support its request. Ultimately, the district court awarded $949,952.47. First, the court accepted the Governments (Category (1)) calculation of $800,101.47 based on a showing that for tax years 2012-2014, Stinsons stores filed 1,965 tax returns with a Form Schedule A, and 1,861 of those tax returns claim[ed] unreimbursed business expenses. Second, the court accepted the Governments (Category (2)) calculation of $149,851 based on returns that Stinson himself prepared in 2011. Category 2 encompassed tax returns that identify Stinson [individually] as the paid preparer and that included a Schedule A, Schedule C, or reported education credits with no supporting documentation or corroborating evidence. Because the district courts disgorgement calculation was reasonable and supported by the record, we will not disturb it. Similarly, we reject Stinsons argument that the Government was only entitled to fees from returns specifically identified as falsely prepared returns. Although this was a civil matter, in the analogous criminal context, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines do not require that the sentencing court calculate the amount of loss with certainty or precision [but only] a reasonable estimate based on the available facts. United States v. Bryant, 128 F.3d 74, 75-76 (2d Cir. 1997). As we have held, a trial court may extrapolate from available evidence, and such extrapolation may occur without interviewing every customer and preparer for every allegedly false or fraudulent return. See United States v. Barber, 591 Fed.Appx. 809, 823-24 (11th Cir. 2014). III. Sanctions Lastly, Stinson argues that the district court committed reversible error by refusing his request for sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 and 28 U.S.C. 1927. In the final sentence of its opinion, the district court decline[d] to entertain Stinsons absurd request for sanctions against the Government. We agree with the district court. Sanctions are wholly inappropriate in this case. AFFIRMED. FOOTNOTES . Stinson subsequently renamed his business Nation Tax Services. . According to the Government, the national average fee for preparing and filing a basic Form 1040 is $159. . For simplicity, we will refer to Stinson and his tax preparers collectively as Stinson. . The EITC is a refundable tax credit available to low-income workers and depends upon a multitude of factors, such as income, filing status, and number of dependents. See Sorenson v. Sec. of Treasury of U.S., 475 U.S. 851, 864, 106 S.Ct. 1600, 89 L.Ed.2d 855 (1986). . At trial, Stinson did not call a taxpayer witness of his own or present a single accurate tax return prepared by his stores. Instead, he called his employees who admitted to the incorrect tax returns but denied fault and blamed the customers for providing false information.Stinson argued that taxpayers were unreliable witnesses because they would never admit to their own wrongdoing. However, the district court found the taxpayers testimony was credible because in many of Stinsons cases the IRS had declined to impose a penalty against the taxpayer, finding the individual taxpayer showed no intentional disregard of tax laws. . Stinson argues that the government was also required to prove fraud under 7402(a) and 7407 because it pleaded and demanded relief under those provisions based on allegations of fraud and because the government failed to present expert testimony establishing a lower, negligent standard of care. We disagree. Neither section requires a showing of fraud. Even if it did, the government presented overwhelming evidence that Stinson acted fraudulently. . Stinson argues that the Government repeatedly made intentional misrepresentations of material fact and law. However, the Governments allegations were based on well-established law and facts. Furthermore, we have held that sanctions may not be imposed unless a particular allegation is utterly lacking in support.Rule 11 sanctions are proper: (1) when a party files a pleading that has no reasonable factual basis; (2) when the party files a pleading that is based on a legal theory that has no reasonable chance of success and that cannot be advanced as a reasonable argument to change existing law; or (3) when the party files a pleading in bad faith for an improper purpose.Lee v. Mid-State Land & Timber Co., 285 Fed.Appx. 601, 608 (11th Cir. 2008) (citing Worldwide Primates, Inc. v. McGreal, 87 F.3d 1252, 1254 (11th Cir. 1996) ). SILER, Circuit Judge: United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. STAFFCO OF BROOKLYN, LLC, Petitioner v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent New York State Nurses Association, Intervenor No. 16-1311 Decided: May 04, 2018 Before: Pillard and Wilkins, Circuit Judges, and Sentelle, Senior Circuit Judge. Nicholas M. Reiter, New York, NY, argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs was Benjamin E. Stockman, New York, NY. Moxila A. Upadhyaya, Washington, DC, entered an appearance. Jared D. Cantor, Attorney, National Labor Relations Board, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Richard F. Griffin, General Counsel at the time the brief was submitted, John H. Ferguson, Associate General Counsel, Linda Dreeben, Deputy Associate General Counsel, and Kira Dellinger Vol, Supervisory Attorney. Richard M. Seltzer, New York, NY, argued the cause for intervenor. With him on the brief was Kate M. Swearengen, New York, NY. StaffCo of Brooklyn, LLC (StaffCo), petitions for review of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) order finding that StaffCo violated section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(5) and (1), by unilaterally discontinuing contributions to a Union pension plan upon the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). StaffCo contends that: (1) the Union expressly waived its right to bargain as to pension contributions; (2) the Union impliedly waived its right to bargain by failing to diligently request bargaining; and (3) it was impossible for StaffCo to continue making contributions because the pension plan would not have accepted the payments. Because we reject these defenses and the Board's findings are supported by substantial evidence on the record, we deny StaffCo's petition for review and grant the Board's cross-application for enforcement. I. Background A. Factual Background The State University of New York Downstate Medical Center (SUNY Downstate) contracted with StaffCo to provide non-physician staff at Long Island College Hospital. StaffCo hired nurses and nurse practitioners to staff the Hospital and nearby school clinics run by the Hospital. Intervenor New York State Nurses Association represents the employees as collective bargaining agents and entered into a CBA effective May 29, 2011, through May 28, 2012. Under the CBA, StaffCo agreed to participate in the Union's pension plan and contribute to it. StaffCo and the Union also agreed to be bound by the terms and provisions of the plan as set out in its Agreement and Declaration of Trust. The admission requirements of the plan dictate that the CBA of an admitted employer must not be inconsistent with the plan itself or its trust agreement. The plan documents include a Policy for Continuation of Coverage Upon Expiration of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (the Policy). The Policy sets the conditions on which Plan coverage would continue if a CBA or interim agreement expired. The relevant portion of the Policy states: Upon expiration or termination of a collective bargaining agreement, if (i) the employer has not submitted to the Plan Office a new [CBA] which satisfies the requirements of (A) above [for new CBAs] and has not complied with the provisions of (B)(1) above [governing continuation of coverage], or (ii) the employer owes contributions to the Fund for more than two months (without regard to when such contributions are payable), the employer's participation in and status as an Employer under the Fund shall forthwith terminate, the service of such employer's employees shall no longer be credited under the Plan, the employer and the Association, shall be notified in writing, and the employees of the employer shall be notified in writing five business days thereafter, that the employer is no longer maintaining the Plan and that the covered employment of the employees of the employer terminated on the expiration/termination date of the [CBA]. After expiration of the initial CBA, the parties signed three extensions and two interim agreements ensuring continuation of pension coverage. The last extension was signed on March 13, 2014, and would expire on May 22, 2014. May 22 was significant because the Hospital was to shut down after that date. That date was also significant because StaffCo would face additional pension liability if it remained in the plan beyond May 22. SUNY Downstate faced serious financial difficulties as early as 2012. SUNY Downstate's trustees voted to close the Hospital in February 2013, but that closure was repeatedly delayed by litigation involving the Union and other community and labor groups. In February 2014 a settlement was reached that kept the Hospital open through at least May 22, 2014. However, StaffCo continued to employ Union unit members at the Hospital until October 31, 2014when it closedand continued to employ four unit employees beyond that date in school clinics. After May 22, 2014, StaffCo neither submitted pension contributions to the Plan nor otherwise made pension contributions for unit employees. B. Proceedings Below The Union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB on August 5, 2014, alleging that StaffCo failed to make payments to the pension plan. StaffCo did not deny that it had ceased making pension contributions. It raised a number of affirmative defenses, three of which form the basis for StaffCo's petition for review. StaffCo first asserted that the Union waived its right to bargain by accepting the adoption in the CBA of the Policy language quoted above. Second, StaffCo argued that the Union received notice of the unilateral change StaffCo planned to make but had failed to timely demand bargaining on the issue, waiving its right to bargain. Finally, StaffCo raised an impossibility defense, arguing that it could not continue to make pension contributions because the plan would not accept contributions absent a CBA or interim agreement. First an administrative law judge and then a panel of the Board resolved all issues against StaffCo. The administrative law judge found that the Union had not in the Policy clearly and unmistakably waived its right to bargain, made credibility determinations in favor of Union witnesses, found that StaffCo failed to give the Union notice of the impending unilateral change in pension contributions and that the Union had timely demanded bargaining, and found that StaffCo failed to carry its burden on its impossibility defense. A divided Board panel affirmed the ALJ's findings and conclusions. 364 NLRB No. 102 at 1 (2016). StaffCo petitioned this court for review; the Board cross-petitioned for enforcement; and the Union obtained leave to intervene on behalf of the Board. II. Discussion Under the Act, an employer has a duty to bargain collectively with a union representing employees. 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(5). Any unilateral change in an existing term or condition of employment that is a mandatory subject of bargaining is an unfair labor practice. NLRB v. Katz, 369 U.S. 736, 743, 747, 82 S.Ct. 1107, 8 L.Ed.2d 230 (1962). This rule continues to apply when a CBA expires. Litton Fin. Printing Div. v. NLRB, 501 U.S. 190, 198, 111 S.Ct. 2215, 115 L.Ed.2d 177 (1991). Thus, obligatory terms and conditions of employment must be maintained while a new agreement is negotiated, and this duty to maintain the status quo is statutory rather than contractual. Id. at 198, 20607, 111 S.Ct. 2215. Only a new CBA or a good-faith impasse in negotiations ends this duty, unless the union waives its right to bargain. Triple A Fire Prot., Inc., 315 NLRB 409, 414 (1994). A union may expressly waive its right to bargain by a waiver that is clear and unmistakable or may implicitly waive by failing to timely demand bargaining. Regal Cinemas, Inc. v. NLRB, 317 F.3d 300, 312, 314 (D.C. Cir. 2003). StaffCo does not deny that by failing to make pension contributions, it failed to meet its status quo obligations. Therefore, we address the three affirmative defenses raised. A. Express Waiver of the Right to Bargain We first consider whether the Union waived its right to bargain as to pension contributions by accepting the terms of the Policy. We do not defer to NLRB's legal conclusions interpreting labor agreements. NLRB v. U.S. Postal Serv., 8 F.3d 832, 837 (D.C. Cir. 1993). We do, however, defer to NLRB fact-finding if supported by substantial evidence. See Oak Harbor Freight Lines, Inc. v. NLRB, 855 F.3d 436, 440 (D.C. Cir. 2017). Our deference to NLRB fact-finding extends to findings related to the contract, including evidence of intent from bargaining history, Local Union No. 47, Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. NLRB, 927 F.2d 635, 640 (D.C. Cir. 1991), and other factual findings on matters bearing on the intent of the parties, Local Union 1395, Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. NLRB, 797 F.2d 1027, 1030 (D.C. Cir. 1986). The Board and courts have long held that to be effective, a union's express waiver of a statutory right must be clear and unmistakable. Metro. Edison Co. v. NLRB, 460 U.S. 693, 708, 103 S.Ct. 1467, 75 L.Ed.2d 387 (1983). In other words, we will not infer from a general contractual provision that the parties intended to waive a statutorily protected right unless the undertaking is explicitly stated. Id. Moreover, under our precedent the party claiming waiver ha[s] the burden of proof. Oak Harbor, 855 F.3d at 442. Although this circuit has held that in many cases an antecedent question of contract coverage must be answered before addressing whether clear and unmistakable waiver has occurred, see generally U.S. Postal Serv., 8 F.3d at 836-37, StaffCo does not contend that those precedents govern these facts. The Policy states that StaffCo's participation in and status as an Employer under the plan would terminate at CBA expiration, that StaffCo would no longer maintain[ ] the Plan, and that employees' service shall no longer be credited under the Plan. Therefore, StaffCo contends the Policy effects a waiver of the Union's right to bargain over pension contributions. StaffCo argues that we recently addressed similar language in a pension plan document in Oak Harbor Freight Lines v. NLRB and found a waiver of the right to bargain. 855 F.3d at 439, 441-42. However, the pension plan language in Oak Harbor is distinguishable. In Oak Harbor, the relevant pension fund document expressly gave the employer the right to unilaterally cease making payments to the pension plan: Upon expiration of the current or any subsequent bargaining agreement requiring contributions, the employer agrees to continue to contribute to the trust in the same manner and amount as required in the most recent expired bargaining agreement until such time as the [employer or union] either notifies the other party in writing of its intent to cancel such obligation five days after receipt of notice or enter[s] into a successor bargaining agreement. Id. at 439 (emphasis added). This language expressly grants the employer the right to cease making payments without violating its status quo obligations to the Union, and to do so unilaterallythe employer must continue making payments until either it or the union notifies the other party in writing of its intent to cancel such obligation. Id. In short, the employer in Oak Harbor could cancel [its] obligation. Id. The language in this case is not so clear and unmistakable. StaffCo points to no language in the Policy that expressly provides it with a unilateral right to cease making pension contributions. To conclude from the Policy language that StaffCo can unilaterally cease making contributions depends on an inference. That StaffCo's participation in and status as an Employer terminate[s], that employee service shall no longer be credited, and that StaffCo will no longer maintain[ ] the plan upon expiration of a CBA or interim agreement do not expressly grant a right to end contributionsall require a further inference. The end of StaffCo's participation in or maintenance of the plan does not necessarily require such an inference. Rather, as the Board found, the Policy language could be read to clarify StaffCo's position as to the pension plan, not with regard to the Union, and therefore the Policy lacks the clarity needed to waive the Union's right to bargain about the pension contributions. Under the clear and unmistakable waiver rule, which places the burden on StaffCo, the Policy language falls short of establishing waiver. StaffCo argues that the Board improperly distinguished its own precedent in Cauthorne Trucking, 256 NLRB 721 (1981), where the Board found waiver of the right to bargain. Like Oak Harbor, however, Cauthorne is distinguishable from this case. Cauthorne's pension document clearly stated that any [Employer's] obligation shall terminate at CBA expiration. 256 NLRB at 722. Moreover, the Board's finding of no waiver in this case accords with its practice of appl[ying] Cauthorne narrowly, only finding waiver where there is explicit contract language authorizing an employer to cancel its obligations. Oak Harbor, 855 F.3d at 441-42 (quoting The Finley Hosp., 359 NLRB 156, 159 n.5 (2012) ). The Board properly distinguished Cauthorne. StaffCo also attempts to rely on evidence of the parties' past practices to bolster its case that the Union waived its right to bargain. Specifically, StaffCo points to (1) the Union's quickly moving to have four different interim or extension agreements approved and (2) testimony by Union witnesses and other evidence that StaffCo claims show the Union understood an extension was necessary to ensure pension contributions continued. The portions of the record StaffCo relies upon do not unambiguously show that the Union understood that interim agreements were necessary for contributions to continue, much less that the Union understood the Policy to waive its right to bargain. That the Union moved quickly to ensure CBA extensions were in place shows at most that it had some concern that motivated it to act, not that ensuring pension contributions was its concern. One Union witness, Michelle Green, did state that the Union was anxious to get an extension of the CBA because we wanted to make sure that the Pension Fund contributions would continue from that the Pension Fund would accept contributions from the Employer. This statement itself is not crystalline, and in an email Green stated that the reason to pursue an interim agreement is to continue the pension benefit. The Board considered this evidence and resolved any conflict against StaffCo. Even though the record is not unambiguous, substantial evidence supports that finding. B. Implied Waiver By Failure to Timely Demand Bargaining We next consider petitioner's argument that the Board erred by never consider[ing] StaffCo's alternative argument that the Union's failure to diligently request bargaining about pension benefits waived the status quo obligation. As with the first argument, petitioner is able to find some support in the record and our precedents, but also as with the first argument, it is insufficient for us to upset the findings and conclusions of the Board. Substantively, petitioner relies on well-established principles of labor law. As we have held, [i]f an employer gives a union advance notice of its intention to make a change to a term or condition of employment, it is incumbent upon the [u]nion to act with due diligence in requesting bargaining. Regal Cinemas, 317 F.3d at 314 (quoting Golden Bay Freight Lines, 267 NLRB 1073, 1080 (1983) ). Failure to demand bargaining after receiving notice of a planned unilateral change waives the Union's right to bargain. See id. While [t]he burden is on the union to make its desires known, it need not explicitly demand bargaining. Prime Serv., Inc. v. NLRB, 266 F.3d 1233, 1238 (D.C. Cir. 2001). That is, [a] union need utter no particular words, and [t]he demand may be in writing or it may be oral, but some indicia of a demand must be provided. Id. StaffCo argues that unrebutted evidence in the record establishes that it provided notice to the Union and the Union then failed to timely demand bargaining. We address only whether the Union timely requested bargaining. Because the Board's determination that it did is supported by substantial evidence, we cannot find fault with the Board's ultimate finding that the Union did not impliedly waive its right to bargain. While StaffCo argues that the Board ignored this argument, and that the Board made no explicit findings as to which the deferential standard of review can be applied, we disagree. The ALJ made explicit findings and recited relevant evidence and specifically rejected the argument. The Board expressly affirm[ed] the judge's rulings, findings, and conclusions without excluding the portion of it dealing with this subject. We grant that the judge's findings were terse, but tolerably so. We further grant that the Board's performance on this issue may be the bare minimum warranting deference, but it does reach the bare minimum. Significant for our review, the ALJ found credible the testimony of Union witnesses that the Union was seeking an extension to the [CBA] since May 20 and repeatedly requested that [StaffCo] continue with its pension contributions. The testimony credited included evidence that Eric Smith, a Union official, at a May 20 labor-management meeting attended by StaffCo's CEO and an Assistant Vice President for Human Resources had requested that StaffCo remain current on its pension obligations and sign a new extension of the CBA to cover employees who would remain at LICH beyond the May 22 layoffs. The Board majority adopted this finding after carefully examin[ing] the record and find[ing] no basis for reversing the [credibility] findings. The court will not overturn the Board's acceptance of an ALJ's resolution of conflicting testimony unless the ALJ's determinations are hopelessly incredible or self-contradictory. Citizens Inv. Servs. Corp. v. NLRB, 430 F.3d 1195, 1198 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (quoting Teamsters Local Union No. 171 v. NLRB, 863 F.2d 946, 953 (D.C. Cir. 1988) ). The arguments offered by StaffCo do not reach this stringent standard. Substantial evidence on the record supports the Board's finding that the Union timely demanded bargaining. C. Impossibility StaffCo's final argument raises the affirmative defense of impossibility. StaffCo argues that the pension plan would have rejected any status quo payments made after expiration of the CBA. The Board rejected this argument, finding that StaffCo had failed to meet its burden of showing that the plan would have refused payment. We agree. StaffCo's arguments are not without convincing force. The gist of the relevant portion of the plan set out above is that employers with terminated CBAs should not expect to continue membership in the plan. However, the record still falls short of establishing factual impossibility on this issue where StaffCo bears the burden. There is no evidence that StaffCo tendered payments and was refused. There is no evidence that StaffCo attempted a substitute compliance by some means such as the establishment of an escrow. Cf. Clear Pine Mouldings, 238 NLRB 69, 80 (1978) (no violation where the employer had only deposited the money in a bank account for disposition upon bargaining [and] could do little else for the trust would not take it). Given the standard of review, we do not upset the Board's reasonably defensible interpretation of the facts. W & M Props. of Conn., Inc. v. NLRB, 514 F.3d 1341, 1348 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (quoting Traction Wholesale Ctr. Co. v. NLRB, 216 F.3d 92, 99 (D.C. Cir. 2000) ). III. Conclusion For the foregoing reasons, we deny StaffCo's petition for review and grant the Board's cross-application to enforce its order. Sentelle, Senior Circuit Judge: Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua in the Petite Lancero size. This is a cigar we previously assessed in the Toro size back in May 2017. Wrapper: Nicaraguan Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Country of Origin: Nicaragua (TABSA) Petite Lancero: 6 x 40 Late in 2016, Viaje Cigars introduced an offshoot to its Viaje Exclusivo line known as the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua. The Exclusivo blend is a Nicaraguan puro that started out as a personal blend for company founder Andre Farkas. Over the years, Farkas has done many different sizes of the Viaje Exclusivo blend in limited editions, small batches and shop exclusives. It was earlier in 2016, the company announced it would release several sizes of the Exclusivo as a regular on-going production. The original Viaje Exclusivo was a blend that originally was produced out of Honduras at Tabacos Raices Cubanas S. de R.L. (i.e Raices Cubanas). With the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua, this is a cigar made in Nicaragua at Tabacos Valle de Jalapa SA (Casa Fernandezs TABSA factory). While Viaje Exclusivo has regular production sizes, the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua has remained small batch. This past year, Viaje announced it was doing a limited run of a 6 x 40 Petite Lancero size of the Viaje Exclusivo and today we take a closer look at that line extension. At the time the Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Petite Lancero was launched, Viaje also announced 6 x 40 limited production line extensions to the classic Viaje Exclusivo and another offshoot known as the Viaje Exclusivo Leaded (a Nicaragua puro featuring high priming, low yield medio tiempo). The three cigars were packaged together in a 75-count cabinet each containing 25 cigars of the three Viaje Exclusivo blends. This was not the first time Viaje has packaged three lancero blends together. Back in 2014, Viaje used a similar strategy with its Trifecta lancero release where the Oro, Platino, and Plata blends were packaged together. The Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Petite Lancero started out with a mix of cocoa, cedar, citrus, and red pepper. Early on the cocoa notes emerge in the forefront with the red pepper and citrus varying in different degrees, and the cedar further back. The second third of the cigars saw notes of earth join the cocoa in the forefront. During this stage, the red pepper and cedar spies diminish; however by the final third they kick up in intensity. The last third saw the cocoa and citrus in a secondary role. I found the Petite Lancero to be on par with the experience I previously had with the Toro release, the flavors were full-bodied and complemented by medium to full strength. The draw was excellent and as for the burn, it delivered the best one I ever had on a Viaje Cigar earning the exceptional rating. The Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua blend really came together in the Petite Lancero format. The flavors were bold and rich and there was enough going on to keep me interested. The Toro size had delivered more of a twang from the citrus and red pepper, but not the case with the Petite Lancero. I found the 6 x 40 size allowed the nuances of the blend to show. This is home run for Andre Farkas. Given its a bolder cigar, Id recommend it to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. As for myself, Im gonna stock up on these as it is worthy of a fight with Chuck Norris. OVERALL ASSESSMENT Summary Key Flavors Cocoa, Citrus, Red Pepper, Cedar, Earth Burn: Exceptional Draw: Excellent Complexity: Medium Plus Strength: Medium to Full Body: Full Finish: Excellent Rating Value: Fight Chuck Norris for Them Score: 93 References Previous Assessment: Viaje Exclusivo Nicaragua Toro News: Viaje Petite Lanceros Coming to Exclusivo, Exclusivo Leaded, and Exclusivo Nicaragua Price: ~$8.15 Source: Purchased Brand Reference: Viaje Photo Credit: Cigar Coop, except where noted FRIDAY, May 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Chiropractic care can help ease low back pain when added to a comprehensive treatment plan, a new clinical trial has found. Active-duty military personnel reported having fewer back problems when they visited a chiropractor along with receiving usual medical care, the researchers said. "This study provides the strongest evidence to date that chiropractic is safe, that it's effective and that it can be integrated into a multidisciplinary health care setting," said lead researcher Christine Goertz. She is CEO of the nonprofit Spine Institute for Quality in Davenport, Iowa. Still, at least one pain specialist said more research may be needed to confirm chiropractic's value for lower back pain. The study comes in the context of the ongoing U.S. opioid crisis. This epidemic of addiction has created an urgent need for research into pain management that doesn't involve medications, such as chiropractic care, Goertz said. Chiropractic care focuses on the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, mainly as they relate to the spine, according to the American Chiropractic Association. Chiropractors aim to reduce low back pain by restoring joint mobility and proper alignment in the spine, through a process called spinal manipulation. Controlled force is applied hands-on to individual joints of the spine, to loosen them up and to stretch or break tight muscle tissue surrounding them. Between 8 percent and 14 percent of U.S. adults seek chiropractic care, but there has been little research into its safety and effectiveness, Goertz said. "Chiropractic has been controversial in the past, partially because chiropractic grew up outside the conventional medical care system," she said. "For a long time, we really didn't have a lot of evidence supporting the outcomes that both patients and doctors of chiropractic were reporting." To conduct a real-world test of chiropractic's usefulness, Goertz and her colleagues enrolled 750 back pain patients at three military hospitals across the nation. Low back pain is one of the most common reasons military personnel seek medical care, and a condition most likely to interrupt combat duty, according to the researchers. Study participants were randomly assigned to receive either usual medical care, or that same care along with chiropractic. Usual medical care involved seeing a doctor, taking pain medications, undergoing physical therapy and performing exercises, the study authors noted. Patients were treated for six weeks, then tracked for another six weeks. "We found that at every time point, those patients that received chiropractic care had better outcomes in terms of their level of pain intensity and pain-related disability," Goertz said. "In addition, we also found that patients who saw the chiropractor tended to be much more satisfied with the care they received, and more likely to have perceived benefit from the care they received," she added. However, more adverse events were associated with chiropractic care. The group receiving usual medical care reported 19 adverse effects, mostly muscle or joint stiffness attributed to physical therapy or exercise. But 43 adverse events were reported by those also receiving chiropractic care, with 38 of them described as muscle or joint stiffness related to chiropractic procedures. Dr. Karan Johar, medical director of NYC Pain Specialists and an attending physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, downplayed the study. Johar noted that the investigators did not make sure each patient received the exact same type of chiropractic or traditional medical care, making it tough to pinpoint what worked for each patient. The diagnosis of low back pain also is very broad, adding to the lack of clarity regarding how much chiropractic care contributed to patients' well-being, he said. "It's very hard to assess if that study proves that chiropractic care helps," Johar explained. Insurance coverage for chiropractic care varies widely, Goertz noted. For example, Medicare covers chiropractic for spinal manipulation only, and will not reimburse chiropractors for examining patients. "The majority of payers cover chiropractic in some way or another," she said, "but the copay can be larger than the amount of the office visit." Goertz hopes more studies will find medical benefit in chiropractic care and that insurance companies will "follow the evidence" and improve coverage of these services. The trial results were published online May 18 in JAMA Network Open. More information The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about spinal manipulation for low back pain. FRIDAY, May 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- The millions of Americans who suffer from migraine may have a new source of hope -- the first drug aimed at preventing the headaches gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval on Thursday. Researchers have found that the injected drug, called Aimovig (erenumab), can prevent migraines if other treatments have failed to do so. "Aimovig provides patients with a novel option for reducing the number of days with migraine," Dr. Eric Bastings, deputy director of the division of neurology products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release. "We need new treatments for this painful and often debilitating condition," he said. Millions of people suffer from the throbbing pain, light and sound sensitivity, and nausea that can come with migraines. Aimovig works by blocking a key brain "neurotransmitter" chemical that sends out pain signals, explained a team of researchers who presented their study findings last month at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in Los Angeles. Working with a group of people with tough-to-treat migraine, the "study found that [Aimovig] reduced the average number of monthly migraine headaches by more than 50 percent for nearly a third of study participants," lead researcher Dr. Uwe Reuter, of The Charite University Medicine Berlin in Germany, said in an AAN news release. The FDA's approval on Thursday was spurred by the results of studies just like that one. One study involved 955 people with episodic migraine who were given either Aimovig or a placebo for six months. In that trial, use of the drug was tied to one to two fewer migraine days per month. In the second study, 577 patients with episodic migraine were given Aimovig or a placebo for three months. Again, those on the drug had at least one less day of headache in a month. Similar results were found in a third, three-month study involving 667 patients -- this time, Aimovig users had 2.5 fewer migraine days per month, the FDA said. The most common side effects were some injection-site reactions and constipation. The estimated cost of the drug is $7,000 annually and may be covered by insurance, according to published reports. One U.S. migraine specialist was enthusiastic about Aimovig's potential. "We have a new class of drugs -- [Aimovig] likely to be the first to be on the market -- that are showing great promise in preventing migraine attacks," said Dr. Randall Berliner. He's an adjunct neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. As Berliner explained, it's been a long, tough road to find medicines that provide reliable relief to migraine sufferers. Twenty years ago, a group of drugs called triptans was introduced, and have since become the standard of care, he said. But they don't work for everyone. Aimovig, and meds like it, target "calcitonin gene-related peptide" (CGRP). Aimovig acts to stop this neurotransmitting chemical from binding to a nerve and sending out migraine pain signals. "Our bodies typically produce antibodies to fight off infections, cancers and other foreign agents that the immune system deems harmful. But physicians and scientists have learned to develop antibodies that can target agents that cause disease: tumors, abnormal immune cells, and now CGRP," Berliner explained. "In so doing, [Aimovig ] very safely blocks a good deal of the migraines from occurring in the first place," Berliner said. In the study by Reuter and colleagues, which was funded by drug maker Novartis, the investigators tested Aimovig on 246 people with treatment-resistant migraine. Of these participants, 39 percent had already failed to respond to two available migraine medications, 38 percent were treated with three other medications and 23 percent had tried four different medications to help control their migraines. On average, these migraine sufferers experienced nine migraine headaches each month and took an acute migraine drug to stop an attack five times each month. During the study, each person received injections of either 140 milligrams of Aimovig or a "dummy" placebo once per month for three months. After three months, those treated with Aimovig were almost three times as likely to have fewer days with migraine pain, compared to people who'd only gotten the placebo. Days with migraine headaches were reduced by at least 50 percent compared to those who were given the placebo. In addition to fewer days with headaches, these patients also took acute migraine drugs less often. Of all the participants, 30 percent treated with Aimovig said their migraine frequency dropped by half. The same was true for only 14 percent in the placebo group. The drug was also not associated with significant side effects. All of this "can greatly improve a person's quality of life," Reuter said. "Our results show that people who thought their migraines were difficult to prevent may actually have hope of finding pain relief." What's the next step? According to Reuter, "more research is now needed to understand who is most likely to benefit from this new treatment." The researchers added that larger studies are also needed to evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of the medication. Dr. Noah Rosen directs the Headache Center at Northwell Health's Neuroscience Institute in Great Neck, N.Y. He agreed that "too many people have suffered because a lack of good migraine-specific prevention and from the side effects of many of the currently available options. If we are able to figure out which migraine sufferers are most likely to benefit from this treatment, it will also let us provide care more effectively." More information The American Academy of Family Physicians has more on migraine. FRIDAY, May 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Boys who start smoking pot before they are 15 years old are more likely to have a drug problem when they're adults than those who don't start until they are a few years older. That's the assessment of new research from the University of Montreal. For the study, researchers led by doctoral student Charlie Rioux examined data on 1,030 boys included in a long-running project that began in the early 1980s. On a yearly basis, boys aged 13 to 17 were asked if they had ever smoked pot. Then, when they were 20 years old and again eight years later, those same study participants were asked again about their pot use or if they had used any other drugs, including cocaine, hallucinogens, amphetamines, barbiturates, tranquilizers, heroin and inhalants. The earlier the boys started smoking pot, the more likely they were to have a problem with drugs later on in life, the study authors said. And the boys who started at a young age were at higher risk regardless of how often they used the drug. "The odds of developing any drug abuse symptoms by age 28 were nonsignificant if cannabis use had its onset at ages 15 to 17, but were significant and almost doubled each year if onset was before age 15," the study authors wrote. The findings indicated that boys who started smoking marijuana as soon as they reached adolescence had a 68 percent risk of developing a drug abuse problem by the time they were 28. In comparison, the risk was 44 percent among boys who didn't use the drug until they are 15 or older. The study findings were published recently in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. "The odds of developing any drug abuse symptoms by age 28 were reduced by 31 percent for each year of delayed onset of cannabis use in adolescence," the researchers reported. In addition, the investigators noted a link between bad behavior and drug use. The earlier boys were involved in delinquent behaviors -- such as stealing, vandalizing property, drinking alcohol or getting into fights -- the earlier they started smoking pot and the higher their risk for a drug problem down the road. The findings underscore the importance of teaching elementary school-aged children early on about the risks associated with smoking pot, particularly since the drug is much stronger than it was decades ago, the researchers said. While the study found an association between earlier marijuana use and later drug abuse, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Still, the fact that public acceptance of the drug is growing as more U.S. states move to legalize it makes educating kids about the risks even more critical, the team concluded. "It may be important to implement these programs by the end of elementary school to prevent early onset of cannabis use," Rioux said in a university news release. "Since peer influence and delinquency were identified as early risk factors for earlier cannabis onset and adult drug abuse, targeting these risk factors in prevention programs may be important, especially since prevention strategies working on the motivators of substance use have been shown to be effective," Rioux explained. More information The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about marijuana. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, May 18, 2018The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayevs decision to drop defamation charges he pressed last year against independent news website Zanoza and its journalists Naryn Idinov and Dina Maslova, and urged the countrys new administration to release Azimjon Askarov, a Kyrgyz journalist jailed since 2010. Former President Almazbek Atambayev was right to drop defamation charges against Zanoza and its journalists Dina Maslova and Naryn Idinov, who should not have been prosecuted in the first place, CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. We call on the new Kyrgyz leadership to build on this progress for press freedom in the country by finally righting the grave injustice of Azimjon Askarovs continued imprisonment. Atambayev said he based his decision on the positive changes in Kyrgyzstans media environment, according to an official statement published on the website of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, which Atambayev currently heads. A CPJ International Press Freedom Award recipient, Askarov was sentenced to life in prison on retaliatory charges for his reporting on human rights violations during the 2010 deadly ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan. The U.N. Human Rights Committee has called for his release. CPJ has been advocating for Askarovs release for years, most recently through the global #FreeThePress campaign. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Nairobi, May 18, 2018Authorities in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in Somalia, should immediately release journalist Ibrahim Obo Daud, also known as Suldan Godogodo, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ibrahim was arrested on May 4 in Garowe, the administrative capital of Puntland, according to Media Association of Puntland (MAP) chairman Mohamed Dahir and Bashir Mohamed, Ibrahims Norway-based cousin. Ibrahim, who runs Shacabka Media, a news website that covers Somalia but focuses on Puntland politics, is being held at Garowe Prison, where he was denied medical treatment for a preexisting condition, according to Mohamed Dahir. Ibrahim is a Norwegian citizen and was visiting his family in Puntland at the time of the arrest, Mohamed Dahir and Bashir Mohamed told CPJ. CPJ spoke to officials at the Norwegian embassy in Nairobiwhich handles diplomatic relations with Somaliaand at the foreign ministry in Oslo, but neither was immediately able to confirm his citizenship. Authorities have not charged the journalist or made clear the reason for the arrest. However, his arrest followed posts on Shacabka Media that were critical of the leadership of Puntland, Mohamed Dahir and Mohamed Bashir told CPJ. In the latest post on the website, Ibrahim criticized the composition of a government delegation to Brussels. Authorities should immediately state their case against Ibrahim Obo Daud or release him unconditionally, said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal from New York. Holding a journalist without charge for more than a week is not only an infringement of his rights but sends a chilling message to all of Puntlands media. Mohamed Dahir told CPJ that Ibrahim was brought to court in Garowe on May 16, and during the court appearance authorities asked for more time to carry out an investigation, arguing that Article 47 of the Somali Criminal Procedure Code empowers the state to hold him for up to 60 days before going to trial. However, the judge stated that he would be willing to free Ibrahim during the investigation if a family member could provide a guarantee that he would appear when needed by authorities, Mohamed Dahir told CPJ. Puntlands state information minister, Abdifatah Nur Ashkir, said May 11 that he had no answers to CPJs questions about Ibrahim and asked for two days to gather information. On May 14, the minister said he could not make any statements while the case was under investigation, and he did not respond to CPJs phone call and a text message on May 17. Puntlands deputy attorney general, Mohamed Hared Farah, did not respond to phone calls and a text message from CPJ. This is not the first time that Puntland has held journalists without charge. In 2017, Omar Saeed Mohammed was detained for six days and Ahmed Ali Kilwe was detained for 12 days without charge, according to CPJ research. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Assailants on May 13, 2018, attacked Hu Xiaoli and Yu Tao, the host and cameraperson, respectively, of a local television show, Xiaolis Here to Help, as they were filming for a story about a real estate dispute in Henan provinces Kaifeng City, according to the state-owned news website China News Service and the Weibo account of the Jinyao police station in Kaifeng City. According to news reports, Hu and Yu, whose show appears on the government-owned Minsheng Channel, were in the foyer of an apartment building when a bare-chested man rushed at them. The man started grabbing Yus camera and then pushed Hu out of the building, the same reports stated. According to the news service China Youth and information on the television shows WeChat account, other men attacked Yu, repeatedly kicking and punching him in the head and body until his right eardrum perforated and his face was severely bruised. Hu sustained multiple bruises on her body and a bloody right arm from the assailants scratches. In a video of the attack that Hu shot on her phone and that was later broadcast on their television show and reposted on the official WeChat account, Yu was lying on the floor with his eyes closed after the attack. According to the television shows report on WeChat, Hu called the police soon after the attack. Officers arrived to the scene an hour after the call was made and arrested three of the alleged assailants, who were later identified by their last names, Wang, Wang, and Zhu, according to the report and the Jinyao police stations Weibo account. According to reports, Yus video camera was shattered in the attack. News reports stated that the two journalists had gone to the apartment building to speak with the complexs developer and were accompanied by a woman, identified only by her last name, Wang, who said she paid the down payment for an apartment in the building, but was later told to pay double the price for the same unit. Xiaolis Here to Help, broadcasts on the government-owned Henan Broadcasting Systems subordinate channel Minsheng Channel, and covers local problems including housing grievances and finding missing relatives, according to the state-owned online news website China News Service and the Jinyao polices Weibo account. CPJs multiple calls to Henan TV requesting comment went unanswered. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a coalition of 25 other international press freedom organizations to call on Kazakh authorities to drop criminal defamation cases against media outlets Forbes Kazakhstan and Ratel and revise the law on dissemination of false information often used to silence critical media outlets and journalists. CPJ has documented how authorities used these repressive laws to raid the newsrooms of Forbes Kazakhstan and Ratel, confiscate equipment, detain and question journalists, and block news websites and Facebook pages. The action against Forbes Kazakhstan and Ratel came after the outlets reported in 2016 allegations of corruption against a former government minister. The former minister, Zeinulla Kakimzhanov, and his son, Ilkhalid, filed a defamation complaint claiming the outlets spread false information. Four separate cases are being heard against the outlets. In April 2017, an Almaty court ordered the two outlets and four journalists to pay 50 million Kazakh tenge (US$160,000) in damages, according to local media reports. The three other cases are ongoing. The joint IFEX letter to Kazakhstans prosecutor general, Supreme Court, Parliament, and Minister of Information and Communications, called for the law, which levies disproportionate penalties against journalists and media outlets, to be revised and highlighted the threat that such legislation poses to critical reporting and press freedom. To read the letter, click here. Punjab: Molasses leak from sugar factory kills thousands of fish in Beas by Yudhvir Rana May 18,2018 | Source: The Times of India In a massive ecological disaster, a large number of fish were killed in the Beas on Thursday after molasses from a sugar factory leaked into the river. The presence of molasses, a byproduct in sugar factories used for alcohol production, has affected over 30 km of the river. Amritsar deputy commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said that molasses stored in a factory at Kiri Afghana village of Punjabs Gurdaspur district had accidentally leaked into the river, resulting in a massive dip in the oxygen levels of the river, killing thousands of fish. Punjab minister OP Soni, who visited the affected area along with Amritsar Lok Sabha member Gurjit Aujla ordered a probe into the incident and issued an order to shut down the sugar mill. I have marked an inquiry into the incident, said Soni, adding that water samples were being collected from various places in the river to check the impact of the disaster. Sangha, who has been camping on the banks of the Beas since getting news about leakage of molasses into the river, said he also got water released from Pong and Ranjit Sagar Dams. The release of fresh water into the Beas will also help contain the problem. Water sample reports are better after the release of water from the dams, said Sangha. The administrations of various Punjab districts including Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur have issued advisory warning people against eating and selling dead fish from the Beas after some residents of the villages along the river were seen picking up dead fish. Soni said teams from wildlife department, Punjab Pollution Control Board, Guru Nanak Dev University and other concerned departments were immediately informed about the disaster, but they didnt find any toxin in the river water. Lack of oxygen in the water has been determined as the cause of death of the fish, said the minister. Sangha said the water samples had been sent to the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Ludhiana for complete chemical analysis. Disturbing the ecological balance is a serious offense which attracts strict action, warned Aujla. Defendant claims firefighters didn't try hard enough to extinguish blaze The nanny responsible for killing 4 members of a family in an arson appeared in court in eastern China on Thursday to appeal her death sentence. Mo Huanjing, nanny of the family of Lin Shengbin, pleaded guilty to starting the fire. But she said during the appeal at Zhejiang High People's Court that "the penalty in the original ruling was extremely heavy". "The tragedy wasn't the result I wanted to see," she added. She said the efforts of firefighters were flawed. And she confessed to her offense during the initial interrogation, which could be regarded as a reason to earn a more lenient sentence. Wu Pengbin, her lawyer, told China Daily that some firefighters and employees of the property management department of Lin's apartment attended the hearing as witnesses at his urging. "I wanted them to show what they were doing at the time to the court, as I, with my client, thought their rescue attempt lacked urgency and there was also something wrong with the water pressure in the apartment," he said. Mo, 35, expressed deep remorse for her actions and apologized to Lin's family at the end of the hearing. She requested a lenient sentence in court, but added that she would accept the result if the original verdict is upheld. The court said the judgment would be announced at a later date. Mo was sentenced to death on Feb 9 at the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court after intentionally setting the fire in Lin's apartment in the city on June 22, 2017, killing Lin's wife Zhu Xiaochen and their three children, ages 6, 9 and 11. She was also convicted of theft and fined 10,000 yuan ($1,570) at the same time. The original verdict ruled that the defendant, who was burdened with heavy gambling debts, sought nanny positions in 2015 to pay her debtors. In September 2016, she obtained a live-in nanny job at Lin's home in Hangzhou. She stole gold jewelry and watches from the family and then pawned them for over 180,000 yuan between March and June last year, it said. On June 22, she decided to win Zhu's gratitude by lighting a fire and then extinguishing it to get more money, after having lost 60,000 yuan from bad bets. But the fire spread quickly and she escaped from the home. Zhu and her 3 children died of carbon monoxide poisoning, it said. In a statement posted by the high court on Thursday, Mo said she tried to extinguish the fire at the time, and had prepared buckets of water in advance. She said she knocked on windows of the children's rooms to wake them up and called police and security guards for help. But she added that she failed to extinguish the blaze amid a bout of anxiety, it added. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde ecns.cn, May 18, 2018 Indonesian prosecutors today demanded the death penalty for a radical Islamic cleric who is accused of ordering attacks across the country. Aman Abdurrahman, who police believe is a key ideologue for Islamic State militants in Indonesia, is accused of orchestrating a January 2016 suicide bombing and gun attack in the capital Jakarta that killed four civilians and four attackers. He sat silently as the prosecution announced the sentencing demand today before a panel of five judges. It is also believed that Abdurrahman - who also goes by the name Oman Rochman - is the de facto leader of Islamic State-inspired militant group Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), according to a Fairfax report. Police have blamed the JAD for a series of suicide bombing attacks on churches in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, last weekend that killed at least 13 people and injured 40 others. In that attack, members of one family - including children as young as nine - rode motorcycles into church compounds that then exploded. Prosecution lawyer Anita Dewayani said Abdurrahman's acts had resulted in deaths and injuries and there was no reason for lenience. It is believed Abdurrahman's instructions from prison - where he has been serving a terrorism-related sentence - also resulted in multiple other attacks, including the January 2016 attack on a Starbucks in Jakarta, an attack on a bus terminal in the capital that killed three police officers and an attack on a church in Kalimantan that killed a 2-year-old girl. Reflecting a lack of supervision of militants in Indonesia's overcrowded prisons, Abdurrahman spread radicalism and communicated with his supporters on the outside through visitors and video calls, prosecutors said. Abdurrahman's next hearing is set for May 25 where he and his lawyer, appointed by the court after the cleric refused to be represented, will respond to the prosecution. In court today, police deployed dozens of elite counter-terrorism and paramilitary officers to guard the hearing at the South Jakarta District Court following the recent wave of attacks by IS-inspired militants. Following the initial Surabaya attack on three churches on Sunday, an Indonesian police headquarters was also attacked the following day by suicide bombers from a different family. Twelve innocent civilians were killed in the incident in which two motorbikes rode by children as young as eight were blown up outside the police building. On Wednesday this week, a third attack occurred in Sumatra where four sword-wielding men drove a car into another police building before being shot dead. Surabaya bombings: Indonesian prosecutors seek death penalty for alleged spiritual leader Aman Abdurrahman Indonesian prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for the alleged spiritual leader of the group said to be responsible for the Surabaya bombings. Aman Abdurrahman allegedly set up Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) in 2014 to bring together the Indonesian supporters of the Islamic State group. Authorities have blamed JAD for a string of suicide bombings in the city of Surabaya this week, which killed about 30 people, including 13 of the suspected bombers. Aman was already on trial when the bombings happened. He is also said to be responsible for the 2016 Jakarta bombings, when eight people were killed in attacks on a Starbucks cafe and a police post nearby. The defendant was previously sentenced to nine years in prison for training militants in Aceh and seven years behind bars for a bombing in Cimanggis, in East Java in 2004. Prosecutor Anita Dewayani asked for the death penalty, the first time it has been requested for a terrorist case since the bombing of the Australian embassy in 2004. "Aman Abdurrahman is not in the structure of JAD as the leader, but he was being positioned as a reference point above the Amir [ruler] of JAD" she told the court. "We demand the south Jakarta District Court determine that Aman Abdurrahman has been legally and convincingly proven to be guilty of terrorism [and] to hand down the punishment of death to the defendant." Aman spent time in the same prison as Rois, the Australian Embassy bomber on death row. He has also given regular sermons to inmates and visitors during his time behind bars. He is being held at the high-security Jakarta prison, where last week more than 150 inmates rioted, killing five elite Indonesian police. During the standoff, inmates demanded to speak to Aman, and negotiators allowed the meeting. The prison riot delayed today's court hearing. Aman's lawyers will read his plea and defence next week. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Mauritania has long been one of the worst countries in the world for freethinkers. Those guilty of blasphemy have been threatened with the death penalty, which is disturbing on its own but even more so when you realize how blasphemy is always in the eye of the beholder. But now that punishment will become mandatory. The International Humanist and Ethical Union reports: The National Assembly passed a law on April 27, 2018 that replaces article 306 of the Criminal Code and makes death penalty mandatory for anyone convicted of blasphemous speech and acts deemed sacrilegious. The new law eliminates the possibility under article 306 of substituting prison terms for the death penalty for certain apostasy-related crimes if the offender promptly repents. The law also extends the scope of application of the death penalty to renegade acts. The law also provides for a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 600,000 Ouguiyas (approximately EUR 13,804) for offending public indecency and Islamic values and for breaching Allahs prohibitions or assisting in their breach. That law has prompted a coalition of groups to urge officials there to reverse the law immediately. They also referenced a blogger accused of blasphemy who has been sentenced to death, had his conviction overturned, but still remains in police custody. Mauritanian authorities should reverse the recent adoption of a law on apostasy related crimes making the death penalty mandatory for blasphemous speech and sacrilegious acts, 21 national and international non-governmental organizations said today. The authorities should also end the arbitrary detention and guarantee the safety of a blogger, Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir, whose case appears to be related to the timing of the law. Mkhaitir was convicted of apostasy and sentenced to death in December 2014 before a court reduced his punishment to two years imprisonment. Although his sentence has expired, the authorities continue to detain him. Theres no reason to believe Mauritania will flip on this issue. But their passage of this bill sends an important message to tourists or non-Muslims who may want to visit the western African nation: Dont go. Its not safe. Visiting Mauritania is now a death trap for anyone with a single critical thought about Islam. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Organizers of an anti-death penalty coalition say they have delivered over 56,000 petition signatures to New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, urging him to sign a bill to repeal the states capital punishment law. Sununu has vowed to veto the bill, saying he stands with crime victims and members of the law enforcement community. Before presenting the signatures, the New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty held a news conference Thursday where family members of murder victims spoke in favor of repealing the death penalty. The bill was passed by the House and Senate. It is unclear whether they have a two-thirds majority of votes in both chambers, which is needed to override vetoes. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde The Associated Press, May 17, 2018 A Sufi bus driver who was sentenced to death in Iran for running over 3 policeman says he was forced to confess after being tortured while under interrogations, one of his lawyers informed the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on May 15, 2018. "Mr. [Mohammad] Salas told me he was so stunned by the blows during interrogation that he was not aware of what was happening," said attorney Zeinab Taheri after meeting Salas at Rajaee Shahr Prison near Tehran on May 14. "Extracting confessions like this has no legal validity." After the meeting on May 14 Taheri had tweeted, "Today Mohammad Salas revealed he was almost tortured to death by agents to the point that he suffered 17 skull fractures, nearly lost his sight and suffered serious hearing loss. He was forced to make confessions under these conditions." She added: "Mohammad Salas was convicted in an unlawful show trial without any regard for criminal procedures or his right to defend himself. A preliminary court convicted him of 3 unproven deliberate murders, which was then upheld by the Supreme Court as a formality without giving us a chance to collect evidence and present our arguments while the suspect was being held under the worst conditions in solitary confinement." Taheri also told CHRI that the legal battle to overturn his sentence is ongoing and she has filed a petition to the Supreme Court for a new trial. On May 9, Salas' other lawyer, Saeed Ashrafzadeh, said the order to carry out the execution had been issued and feared his client could be hanged within days. On April 24, Iran's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence against the 51-year-old bus driver for allegedly driving a public bus through a narrow street during clashes between security forces and members of the Sufi Gonabadi Order in Tehran on February 19. 3 policemen died as a result of their injuries after they were run over by the bus. Salas pled not guilty to the charge of "disturbing public order" and argued that the policemen's deaths were accidental. "I got into the bus to drive it toward the police station," he said in his last defense on March 19. "I drove slowly so that the police could move aside. I flashed my headlights and honked the horn as I went forward. My foot was on the accelerator." Media outlets affiliated with the state, including the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), have only reported portions of his defense. Some 170 dervishes were hospitalized after police forces tried to shut down a demonstration in Tehran by members of the Sufi order on February 19 and 20. At least one dervish died after being arrested. Mohammad Raji, a former IRGC commander and Iran-Iraq war veteran, passed away sometime between February 20 when he was detained, and March 4 when his body was identified by a relative. The clashes broke out on February 19 after the police opened fire on a group of dervishes who were demanding the release of one of their fellow faith members from a police station in the Pasdaran neighborhood of Tehran near the home of the dervishes' leader, Nour Ali Tabandeh. The Gonabadi Dervishes' interpretation of Islam differs from that of Iran's ruling Muslim Shia establishment. The Islamic Republic views any alternative belief system, especially those seeking converts, as a threat to the Shia majority population in Iran and has imprisoned dervishes and expelled them from universities as part of an ongoing persecution campaign. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde How much does the public have a right to know about how the state of Indiana executes people? It is a question that, effectively, strikes at the heart of capital punishment. And it's the issue in a 4-year-old case in Marion Circuit Court that started with a public records request by Washington attorney A. Katherine Toomey to the Indiana Department of Corrections (DOC). "If we win ... the Indiana public will know more about one of the most consequential areas of decision making that the state of Indiana engages in," attorney Peter Racher said in an interview. The state, however, sees it as contrary to a state law limiting what the public can see pertaining to executions. The law was controversial because of how it passed. After midnight on the final day of the 2017 legislative session, it was added to a budget bill, two pages out of 175. "The budget is now a death penalty bill," Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said at the time. "There's been no public debate. There's been no public scrutiny. Everyone knows once it's in the budget, it's going to be law." But Indiana is hardly alone in its desire for secrecy around what it, and 30 other states, have decided is just punishment for heinous crimes. An American Bar Association publication last year listed at least 10 other states that conceal how they procure execution drugs and whether those drugs are "legitimate and effective." The Indiana attorney general, in a court filing this week defending the DOC, said of the public records case, "What (Toomey) truly craves ... is information identifying the entities which provide execution drugs to the DOC." That could be tantamount to ending or impeding capital punishment in Indiana. Nationally, 55 percent of Americans favor the death penalty, according to a 2017 Gallup poll. The DOC and House Speaker Brian Bosma said last year, in the wake of the new secrecy law, that anything less than anonymity would prevent companies from selling lethal drugs for executions. American companies want to be known for life-saving, not life-ending, drugs. Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. said in a statement, "We don't make or distribute any drugs used in lethal injections." The American maker of the drug sodium thiopental, used to render a person unconscious before other lethal drugs are administered, stopped producing it in 2009. A federal court later banned imports of the drug. States had to change their cocktail for executions. Last year, Indiana lost an appeal to use a mix of drugs that had never been used before in an execution in the United States. As states try new mixes of lethal drugs, there have been botched executions, one of which took 43 minutes. Transparency in government? Toomey's biography on the website for her law firm described her in part as representing "groups opposing the death penalty" Her 2014 public records request to the Indiana DOC asked for detailed information, including how the state carries out executions, the drugs used, the inventory of drugs intended for executions and where the drugs came from. She also asked for certain correspondence by public officials that would provide a window into how they arrived at their policy decisions on carrying out executions. After initial setbacks, she won a non-binding decision by the Public Access Counselor and summary judgment in the Circuit Court in October 2016. The state appealed, and lost. The state asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, and was denied. But that wasn't the end. The state passed the secrecy law tacked onto the budget bill. Then state attorneys went back to the judge, asking her to change the previous summary judgment ruling in favor of Toomey. The secrecy law contains a provision that it is retroactive. Racher said the legislature's action was a thinly veiled attempt to thwart Toomey specifically. "You can't enact a statute directed specifically at Kate Toomey," Racher said. "You can't say, 'This law is to affect her.' We contend that's exactly what happened here. The state had no other request other than the one our client made." In its court filing this week, the state said that argument "is entirely without merit and unsupported by prior decisions of our appellate courts." The case will ultimately focus on the state's retroactive confidentiality law, which Racher said is more narrow than it seems when read closely. But within that battle, the court heard arguments Tuesday on another secrecy issue whether sealed evidence in the lethal injection case, obtained during discovery, should be made public. Again, the state fought for secrecy. Deputy attorney general David Dickmeyer said the material is "deliberative" and an exception to public records law. He also said the records could identify "individuals who are involved in crafting public policy as it relates to the death penalty. Revealing the identity of these individuals could subject them to harassment, public shaming and even violence from those who oppose the death penalty." In depositions, Racher said, DOC officials said no member has received threats regarding implementation of the death penalty. Names in the sealed documents are also redacted. The material, he told the court, involves "high government officials. The notion that those individuals are unwilling to carry out Indiana public policy for fear that their titles might become publicly accessible strikes me as speculation." Racher said the documents are not deliberative debates but "largely transmittals of materials." The state contends it has provided Toomey with all the records she requested within the law. In a late motion last week, the state wanted Tuesday's public hearing cancelled, saying it should not have been scheduled based on an administrative rule. The judge denied the request. There were five people in the audience at Tuesday's hearing. Racher said in an interview the request symbolized the state's position throughout the case. "That's when we realized," he said in an interview, "this is insult upon insult to anyone who cares about transparency in government and openness in representative government." | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Texas currently has eight executions scheduled through October, but records obtained on Monday showed that most of the drugs the state had in stock were set expire in July. When Texas officials put one man to death and announced the upcoming executions of two more men Wednesday, a prison spokesman said the department was in possession of enough lethal injection drugs to carry out the remaining eight executions scheduled through October. But records obtained by The Texas Tribune on Monday indicated that the states supply of drugs was insufficient. Unless the state were to push back the expiration dates of its current supply or track down more of the hard-to-find drugs, at least three of the condemned men would be set to die after available drugs expire. The spokesman, Jeremy Desel, refused to say on Thursday if "beyond-use dates," similar to expiration dates, were changed on the current supply or if new drugs were purchased, telling a Tribune reporter that a new records request would need to be filed for any updated information. But he repeatedly said that the department was "confident that we are adequately prepared for all scheduled executions." According to records provided to the Tribune on Monday, the department had 10 doses of pentobarbital, the single drug used in Texas executions. Eight of those doses had a beyond-use date of July 20, and the other two were labeled for use until Nov. 9. At least one of those was used in Juan Castillos execution Wednesday, meaning there are likely now nine doses available. Recent executions have used the drugs set to expire in November, but the department did not immediately say Thursday morning which batch of drugs was used in Castillos execution. Regardless, only three of the eight upcoming executions are scheduled before July 20. Even if the state switched tactics from recent executions and used the batch with a use date of July on Castillo, the November drugs would only cover two of the five executions set in September and October. Across the country, death penalty states have struggled to get enough drugs to carry out executions. In 2011, large manufacturers began blocking their drugs from being used in lethal injections, and several states have since switched to using a controversial drug, midazolam, which has been involved in botched executions in Oklahoma and Arizona. When Texas struggled to find execution drugs years ago, it turned to compounding pharmacies, which are state-regulated agencies that mix their own drugs without federal regulation. Since 2013, it has only used pentobarbital created in these types of pharmacies in its executions. But that supply might be running dry as well. Recent records obtained by the Tribune showed the state hadnt received a new batch of drugs since February 2017, and the state recently battled with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over its attempted import of another execution drug, sodium thiopental, from India. The current beyond-use dates, however, dont necessarily mean the state wont carry out the executions. Both batches of pentobarbital the state has now have seemingly had their beyond-use date extended in the past. According to TDCJ records received by the Tribune last year, drugs set to expire in July 2017 were removed from stock, and, on the same day, the same number of vials were added back to the inventory with an expiration date set for exactly one year in the future. Those are now set to be used before this July. And an equal number of drugs said to expire in January were later reported with the current beyond-use date of November, with no recorded purchase of additional drugs. The expiration dates were apparently changed after the department retested the drugs potency levels, records show. The apparent extension of expiration dates produced outcry from some defense attorneys, one of whom said in a recent death penalty appeal that recent Texas executions were botched because of the old drugs, causing pain and making the punishment cruel and unusual. The thinking is theyre only getting older; its only going to get worse, Maurie Levin told the Tribune earlier this year. Levin is involved in multiple lawsuits against the state regarding execution drugs. I'd bet good money that they will simply be extending the [beyond-use date] of the drugs that expire in July, she added Thursday afternoon. Multiple men in Texas executions this year have mentioned a burning sensation when on the gurney in the death chamber, according to reporters witnessing the execution. The Houston Chronicle reported in January that Houston serial killer Anthony Shore said, It does burn. In Castillos execution Wednesday, he reportedly said, Shit does burn. Another man, William Rayford, reportedly jerked on the gurney, according to witnesses. A previous spokesman for the department denied that Shore or Rayfords executions were botched, saying the men quickly lost consciousness and were both pronounced dead 13 minutes after lethal drugs were injected. Castillos execution took 23 minutes. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it would make sure the world is adequately supplied with oil to support global economic growth just as top consumer India expressed frustration with oil prices hitting USD 80 per barrel for the first time since 2014. New Delhi: Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it would make sure the world is adequately supplied with oil to support global economic growth just as top consumer India expressed frustration with oil prices hitting USD 80 per barrel for the first time since 2014. OPECs most influential energy minister, Saudi Arabias Khalid al Falih, called Indias Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to assure him that supporting global economic growth was one of the kingdoms key goals, the Saudi ministry said in a statement. He (Falih) reiterated his commitment towards market stability and that the Kingdom together with other producers will ensure availability of adequate supplies to offset any potential shortfalls, the statement said. The statement came as oil prices rose back to USD 80 per barrel for the first time since 2014 due to rising concerns over disruptions to Iranian oil exports because of new US sanctions and due to plummeting output in Venezuela. Both the Saudi and Indian ministries said Pradhan expressed concern about escalating prices and the impact it has on consumers and especially on the Indian economy, the worlds third largest oil consumer. I expressed my concern about rising prices of crude oil and its negative impact on consumers and the Indian economy and reiterated the need for stable and moderate crude oil prices, Pradhan said in a statement. The statements said Falih briefed Pradhan on his consultations with major producing countries both in and outside of OPEC, including Russia. India is one of the worlds fastest growing energy consumers and its oil use only lags behind the United States and China. OPEC and its ally Russia have cut their output since January 2017 to help reduce excessive global stockpiles. So far OPEC has said it saw no need to ease output restrictions despite global stocks falling to its desired levels and despite consuming nations voicing concerns the price rally might have gone too far and could lead to demand destruction. OPEC member the United Arab Emirates said on Thursday OPEC had bigger issues to consider than the impact of the US decision to withdraw from the international nuclear deal with Iran such as Venezuelas collapsing output. US President Donald Trump has also called on OPEC to help cool oil prices saying they were artificially high and that it was unacceptable. Mumbai: Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor will be teaming up on-screen for the first time with Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra. It is speculated that the Brahmastra co-stars Alia and Ranbir are secretly dating. In an interview to NDTV, Ranbir said that he has a boy crush on her, and complimented her on her latest film 'Raazi'. A few weeks ago, Alia didnt hesitate when she was asked by leading tabloid who her biggest crush of all time is. Ranbir Kapoor", came her quick reply. Ranbir and Alia recently attended Sonam Kapoors wedding reception in Mumbai together, after which Alia had shared a picture of the two of them on Instagram. Both Ranbir and Alia will soon be back to Bulgaria to resume work on the action flick. Meanwhile, Alia recently finished 'Gully Boy', starring Ranveer Singh. And she is currently enjoying super success of her latest release 'Raazi'. 'Brahmastra' is touted to be a trilogy with the first part of the franchise also starring Amitabh Bachchan and Mouni Roy in significant roles. The film is set to hit the screens on August 15, 2019. The police and BSF officials in Jammu said a BSF jawan and four civilians including a couple were killed in what they alleged was unprovoked firing by Pakistan Rangers in R.S.Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors of Jammu district along the International Border (IB). One BSF trooper and 12 civilians were injured, they said. (Representational Image) Srinagar: Nine people including three children and a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan were killed on Friday as Indian and Pakistani border guards traded mortar and small and medium arms fire along Jammu-Sialkot border. The police and BSF officials in Jammu said a BSF jawan and four civilians including a couple were killed in what they alleged was unprovoked firing by Pakistan Rangers in R.S.Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors of Jammu district along the International Border (IB). One BSF trooper and 12 civilians were injured, they said. The police said this was the third day of shelling and firing along the IB in Jammu district and comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir beginning on Saturday. Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti condemned the Pakistani firing and said that Islamabad is showing no respect for the holy month of Ramzan. Continued firing on the border in Jammu is cause of pain & worry. Sad that while our country took the lead in starting peace initiatives with cessation of operations during Ramzan, Pakistan has shown no respect whatsoever for this holy month, she tweeted. Meanwhile, the Army on Friday shot dead three militants after it was reportedly attacked by them in Jammu and Kashmirs frontier district of Kupwara. The incident came close on the heels of conditional unilateral ceasefire announced by the Home Ministry during Ramzan. Local news agency GNS quoting an Army official said a clash between militants believed to be infiltrators and 15 Rashtriya Rifles took place in Brinjal woods close to the Line of Control. Imagine spending almost 30 years in the jails of one of the most murderous and inhumane political regimes in history, and then choosing not vengeance but reconciliation after finally tasting freedom. Nelson Mandela did it, and spent the rest of his life urging black South Africans to forgive the white supremacists that had killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of ordinary blacks under the guise of the barbaric system called apartheid. For Mandela, healing the wounds of white rule would only be possible if black (and other coloured) South Africans could pardon those functionaries of the apartheid regime that had brutalised the black majority. This meant first and foremost that that truth be uncovered, that the perpetrators acknowledge the crimes they had committed. Only truth could make reconciliation possible. Twenty-five years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is still burdened by its past. Black majority rule has been institutionalised but the white minority is still effectively the ruling class while cultural assimilation has been hard to come by. But truth and reconciliation, as painful as it was, allowed South Africans of all colours and creeds to collectively set into motion a process of change that was unthinkable when Mandela exited an apartheid jail for the last time in 1990. Truth and reconciliation would appear an urgent imperative in many parts of the world today. As Gaza burns yet again, it is tempting to bay for Israeli blood, but as Edward Said recognised many years ago, ultimately the Israelis and the Palestinians will have to learn how to live together. One day, whenever that may be, the truth of Israeli crimes against humanity will have to be acknowledged so that reconciliation becomes possible. Could Bosnians forgive the Serbs? Will there come a day when Kashmiris are able to move on from the violence that has been visited upon them by the Indian state? Will the Rohingyas living out their lives as refugees ever be able to reconcile with the Burmese that pushed them into the abyss of statelessness? Have indigenous people everywhere moved on from the horrors of colonialism? Reconciling with centuries-old oppressors is an extremely difficult thing to do. It requires political leadership that is courageous and far-sighted; it is often far easier to react to hate with hate. In recent times a popular movement of young Pakhtuns has started calling for a truth and reconciliation commission in Pakistan, particularly in the war-torn regions of the northwest. On the one hand, the rhetoric of these young upstarts sounds incendiary, but in demanding truth and reconciliation, they are actively displacing the politics of hate. Pakistan is still essentially a colonial apparatus and its essential impulse to control has reinforced deep divisions in society. Yet a politics of transformation requires the bare truths of our history to be acknowledged so that we can eventually move on. Excavating the truth in a country where, to borrow the words of K.K. Aziz, history has been murdered, is itself a profoundly political matter. Look at the reaction to Nawaz Sharifs rather blunt comments about the Mumbai attacks we can debate whether or not the former PMs comments were sagacious, but were they seditious? Nawaz Sharifs problem is that he hasnt spoken enough truth; he claims to have changed but he has yet to acknowledge openly his chequered past as the blue-eyed boy of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq. He has invoked the fate of Mujibur Rehman, but stopped short of uncovering the truth of what the Yahya regime did in erstwhile East Pakistan. Nawaz Sharifs person is, in any case, irrelevant. Uncovering the truth about Pakistan and the social forces that have visited untold violence upon innocents is something we must do collectively. It is not only for Pakhtuns from Fata to demand the truth about the war on terror, just as the rest of us must all call attention to what has happened to the Hazaras and Baloch in Balochistan. We must all return to the roots of Pakistan and establish which of them have been based on oppression and hate. There is no way around this process, if we are serious about building a viable state and a social peace. The real question is whether we actually want reconciliation. If those who are the biggest victims of an oppressive political order can be big enough to want to say they are ready to move forward together, so long as the truth is established, why are we still being kept in the dark? Why insist that Pakistan is always under siege from the other, when in fact the calls for reconciliation are coming from within? Who fears the truth? By arrangement with Dawn IMF wants gas prices in Ukraine to be determined by the market The low income and vulnerable households should be fully protected from an increase in gas prices. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine loses to Russia in WTO dispute for the first time media The WTO has already sent the provisional text of the decision to the Ukrainian side. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Putin says gas transit via Ukraine to continue after Nord Stream 2 launch The president said that the supplies would continue "if they prove to be economically justified and feasible for economic actors." If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine, World Bank implement over 70 projects worth US$12 bln PM Groysman Ukraine needs further support of the financial institution amid fundamental changes in various spheres, the prime minister said. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Americas criminal justice system holds approximately 2.3 million people. On average, states spend $33,274 per prisoner, with a total estimated cost of $43 billion. However, animal training programs in prisons, such as the Wild Horse Inmate Program (WHIP), have the ability to reduce government costs. According to a National Institute for Justice study, nearly 68 percent of former prisoners were rearrested within 3 years of being released, and 77 percent were rearrested within 5 years of release. Most shocking, over half the prison population that is released each year is rearrested by the end of the first year out. Some states have been trying to reduce their recidivism rates through animal training programs. One such program, the WHIP program, is based in Florence, Arizona, a state that spends over $25,000 per inmate per year. Developed in the 1980s in Colorado, WHIP has expanded across the western United States. In Florence, Arizona, the WHIP program was established in 2013 as an alternative rehabilitation program to reduce recidivism. Arizona saw WHIP as opportunity for personal growth for the inmates as well as an opportunity to increase state revenues. Under the guidance and supervision of an experienced horse trainer, Randy Helm, approximately 30 inmates at one time may be approved to participate in WHIP. Through the program, inmates tame wild mustangs and burros (small donkeys). An animal is considered tamed when it is responsive to a trainers commands. Because the horses are used to living in the wild, they are typically skittish and strong-willed, as they had to be to survive, as well as terrified. By working with the horses and learning to tame them, inmates learn about patience and build self-esteem. In addition, inmates acquire practical skills that have the potential to be useful after prison, such as learning to care for and treat animals properly. Programs such as WHIP have been shown to reduce recidivism rates. According to an interview with Helm, of the 50 inmate graduates of the program, only two of them returned to prison, a desistance rate of 96 percent. In other areas, such as New Mexico, the recidivism rate in the past for prisons offering animal training programs was 25 percent as compared to the state average of 38 percent. In addition to benefits for inmates, the programs also benefit state, local, and federal governments and the national economy. Once the wild mustangs and burros have been tameda process that takes about 120 days they are sold in an auction, with the proceeds going to the state. Border patrol units will often purchase the trained mustangs. Horses typically cost the border patrol about $5,000, but the horses sold in prison auctions are priced lower, around $500. By buying the horses from these auctions, the border patrol is saving thousands of dollars. The government also saves money by reducing the number of wild mustangs for which it must care. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provides the wild mustangs to the prison programs. Currently, the mustangs and burros are overpopulating the western United States. The population is at 73,000, nearly three times greater than what the BLM believes is sustainable. To reduce the horse population and preserve the natural ecology, the BLM rounds up around 6,000 mustangs a year and houses them in pastures. This can cost the BLM nearly $49 billion per year. Luckily, WHIP utilizes these mustangs and makes them useful for others in the economy. WHIP also benefits the economy by decreasing the prison population and producing ex-convicts who are less likely to commit crimes and more likely to be productive members of society. Although start-up costs for these programs can be large Arizonas WHIP cost about $230,000 to establishthe long-term gains of the program outweigh the initial costs. WHIP and other animal-inmate training programs should be more closely studied. If the evidence is still suggestive of a significant decrease in recidivism, more programs across the country should be implemented. Emily Top is a research associate at Economics21. Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, E21 delivers a short email that includes E21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the E21 Morning Ebrief. The U.S. Mission to Nigeria will send 60 young Nigerians to participate in the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship, or MFW, program for six weeks from June 20 to August 2. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative, known as YALI. It is composed of academic coursework, leadership training, and networking. A total of five out of the 60 fellows will remain in the United States for an additional six weeks to participate in a professional development experience at select U.S. companies and organizations. Through the Mandela Washington Fellowship, 27 U.S. universities will host 700 young leaders from sub-Saharan Africa for Academic and Leadership Institutes focused on public management, business and entrepreneurship, and civic leadership. Nigerias Fellows represent the largest cohort from any one country. As part of the orientation, the U.S. Embassy invited three leading Nigerian professionals to participate in a mentoring workshop: Afolabi Imoukhuede, Senior Special Advisor to the Vice President on Job Creation; Serah Makka-Ugbabe, ONE Campaign Country Director; and Lawrence Afere, 2014 MWF alumnus and founder of Springboard Farms. All three of them shared unique perspectives on leadership and opportunity. In his remarks, the U.S. Embassy Counselor for Public Affairs Mr. Aruna Amirthanayagam explained that more than 11,000 Nigerians applied to participate in the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship program. After the review by our partner NGO, after a reading by members of the Mission Nigeria community, after an interview in either Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Akure, Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Calabar, a total of 60 young Nigerians were selected, he said. Mr. Amirthanayagam further explained that Nigeria has the largest single cohort from any country in Africa, and this is in recognition of the fact that the U.S.-Nigerian relationship is one of the most important, not only in Africa, but in the world. Speaking at the reception by the U.S. Embassy in their honor, Charge dAffaires David Young urged the Fellows to be generous with the unique opportunity they had been given. The United States is making an investment in you through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking; you will return to Nigeria later this summer with increased capital. Share that wealth with others. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has concluded a technical agreement with the Canadian Ministry of National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces, which will improve cooperation in the field of military training. The agreement was signed by commander of the National Guard of Ukraine Yuriy Alerov and deputy commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command - Chief of Staff Operations William Seymour, the press service of the Liaison Department of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine reported on Friday. The agreement, in particular, provides for the training of personnel, explosive technical training, medical training, modernization of logistics, professional development and education of officers, as well as language courses and cooperation in the field of strategic communications. "It's about assistance in police training and general training. And it's not about the money, but I figured that the Canadian side gave us $25 million of assistance, and the most important is close cooperation between our countries and departments. We take over your experience, but I think you too will learn a lot from us, our servicemen. We have experience in conducting a hybrid war," Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov said, who also attended the signing of the agreement. In turn, Seymour noted that Ukraine and Canada had achieved significant success in bilateral cooperation. Gas transit via Ukraine to continue after Nord Stream 2 launch - Putin following talks with Merkel Russia has always viewed Nord Stream 2 as a strictly economic project carried out on a corporate level, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Putin also said gas transit via Ukraine would continue after Nord Stream 2 has been launched, if this makes economic sense. "I want to underline that the supplies will continue if they prove to be economically justified and feasible for economic actors," Putin said. Merkel said Germany was convinced Ukraine's role as a transit nation must be preserved after Nord Stream 2 is launched. This is of strategic importance and Germany is ready to play its part and provider assistance. It is also necessary to think about guarantees for Ukraine, she said. Ukraine needs some unpopular, but necessary for survival steps - businessman Fuks Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Pavlo Fuks believes that in Ukraine it is necessary to make a number of unpopular, but necessary steps for the survival of the state: to lift a moratorium on the sale of land and to conduct privatization. Thus, Fuks quoted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative in Ukraine Goesta Ljungman: "Strong and efficient government institutions are a key factor in the economic growth of the state. Institutionally mature states demonstrate the highest rates of economic development." According to him, there are a number of important reforms that must be continued in Ukraine for the country's sustainable economic growth, namely: Restructuring of the National Bank; Cleaning up of the financial sector; Restructuring of the public finance management system and the tax administration; Pension reform; Reform of the energy sector; Privatization; Combating corruption; Opening of the land market. "I think that the requirements are absolutely adequate. It is necessary to remove the privileged persons who enjoy tax preferences and earn super profits on the state-constituting facilities. We need clear and unified conditions for everyone. Tax reform with the inevitable 'zero declaration.' It is necessary to make a number of unpopular but necessary for the survival of the state steps: to lift the moratorium on the sale of land and to conduct privatization," Fuks said. Earlier, Pavlo Fuks said that "it is necessary to drive away the crowds of inspectors," since the sole purpose of the inspections is to create a corrupt system. He also supports the government's position that "the foundation of a strong state is laid by the medium and small-sized enterprises." Early May, Pavlo Fuks wrote that the government's decision to give green light to small-scale privatization, as well as the approved list of large enterprises for privatization in 2018, is a huge positive prospect for the state. Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Pavlo Fuks also said that Ukraine's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating at "B-" with Stable Outlook, which was affirmed by Fitch Ratings, is a signal for investment. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree on putting into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on the application and cancellation of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to individuals and companies. "Enact the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated May 2, 2018 "On the application and cancellation of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)," the relevant decree of Poroshenko, posted on the presidential website in early hours of Friday, says. This decree comes into force from the date of its publication. The decision of the National Security and Defense Council, which is enforced by this presidential decree, also provides, among other things, that positions 975 and 993 are deleted in Annex 1 to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council dated April 28, 2017. As reported, on May 2, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine at its meeting supported the issue of the introduction of personal economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) against legal entities and individuals connected with Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as against which the U.S. and the EU governments imposed sanctions. "Sanctions are introduced on the initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Bank of Ukraine for three years or indefinitely with respect to individuals and legal entities involved in Russian aggression against Ukraine, preparing and conducting illegal voting in the occupied Crimea within the framework of presidential elections in the Russian Federation, representatives of the Russian occupation administration in Crimea, militants from Russian armed formations in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, etc.," the press service of the National Security Council of Ukraine reported. The information points out that sanctions have also been imposed on persons involved in the information and cyber aggression against Ukraine, to unlawful acts against Ukrainian citizens who are illegally detained in Russia, deputies of the State Duma and members of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the like. "In addition, the sanctions imposed previously have been extended," the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine added. However, the information does not indicate any surnames, names or even a number of persons who fall under sanctions. The operations of the Donetsk Filtration Station were once again suspended on Thursday evening after the facility came under fire, the press service of Ukraine's State Emergency Situations Service said. "The operations at the Donetsk Filtration Station, which supplies water to Avdiyivka (which has a population of around 22,000 people) were halted at around 9:40 p.m. on May 17 after a shelling attack damaged an electrical control room in the chemicals section's building," it said. Water will be supplied to local households from a reservoir by the hour. Water supplies from the Donetsk Filtration Station are expected to be restored on Friday. Russia's hybrid military forces have mounted 60 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, of which 26 with the use of mortars, as a result of shelling, seven Ukrainian servicemen reported as wounded in action (WIA) along with two civilians reported as wounded, two more civilians were killed, the operation's press center said. "About two o'clock in the morning, on May 18, the invaders opened fire from 122 mm guns along the Troyitske settlement, 15 artillery shells were detonated in the residential areas of the village. According to preliminary data, two civilians of Troyitske were killed and two wounded," the report as of 7:00 on Friday says, published by the JFO press center on Facebook. In addition, the enemy also was active in the areas of settlements Novoluhanske, Svitlodarsk, Zaitseve, Avdiyivka, Opytne, Vodiane. According to Ukrainian intelligence, six militants were killed and one wounded. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has already launched a large-scale campaign for de-occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Oleksiy Takhtay has said. The official announced this at a meeting with Deputy Chief of Ukraine's National Police Viacheslav Abroskin and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Croatia to Ukraine Tomislav Vidosevic. In particular, Takhtay noted that Avakov had already begun preparations for the de-occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He noted that the experience of different countries, in particular, Croatia could help implement the plan, the National Police Communications Department informed. "One of the global political decisions that is being considered today is 'victory in small steps.' According to this option, we will be returning our territory in stages," he said. In his words, the department is moving to the practical implementation of the plan. At the same time, it is very important to receive information from international partners and their support. He noted that all services subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs would participate in the implementation of the plan. However, the major work will be assigned to the National Police. First Deputy Head of the National Police - the Head of the Criminal Police Viacheslav Abroskin, who was also present at the meeting with the Ambassador of Croatia, noted that the National Police had already begun preparations for the implementation of the Interior Ministry's plan to return the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas. "We are ready to work on the implementation of this plan and look forward to the support of our international partners. Each unit will work in the temporarily occupied territory. They are waiting for our return and they need protection," he stressed. The Croatian Ambassador to Ukraine, in turn, noted that cooperation with the population is a very important factor in this process. Head of the Luhansk Regional Military Civil Administration Yuriy Harbuz clarifies that a woman, who was wounded as a result of the shelling of Troyitske village in the Popasniansky district of Luhansk region, has been placed in an intensive care unit. "As of 10:30, the 36-year-old woman, who was injured as a result of the night shelling of the village of Troyitske, is in intensive care at the Lysychansk central city hospital named after Titov. The doctors estimate her condition as difficult but stable," he wrote on Facebook on Friday. Harbuz also informed that the 18-year-old son of this woman was injured in the legs, but his life is not threatened. "At present he receives qualified psychological assistance," he said. As it was reported, in the early hours of Friday the militants shelled the private sector of Troyitske village of Popas niansky district of Luhansk region. One of the shells fell into a private house along Kuznechna Street, where there lived a family: a father, a mother and two sons. As a result of the shelling, a 13-year-old boy and his 39-year-old father were killed. The 36-year-old mother and 18-year-old son were hospitalized with mine-blasting injuries and heavy shrapnel wounds. Head of the Donetsk regional military-civil administration Pavlo Zhebrivsky mistakenly reported that the wounded woman had died in the hospital. The U.S. company AirTronic in 2018 and 2019 will continue supplying Ukraine's Armed Forces with 40mm anti-tank tank precision shoulder-fired rocket launchers (PSRLs). "Deliveries of 40-mm anti-tank grenade launchers will continue in 2018-2019," the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine reported on Thursday. The purchase of the upgraded U.S. analogue of the Soviet RPG-1 anti-tank grenade launchers in the interests of the country's security agencies was ensured by Spectechnoexport under an agreement signed with the U.S. company in 2016, on the basis of a special export license of the U.S. State Department and in agreement with the Ukrainian authorized state bodies. As reported, in November 2017, the U.S. Senate approved the bill on the "U.S. budget for 2018 on the needs of national defense," which contains permission to allocate $350 million to provide security assistance to Ukraine. In March 2018 the U.S. Department of State approved deliveries to Ukraine of the Javelin anti-tank missile system. We remember you, we will return you free life in your homeland - Parubiy to Crimea inhabitants Some 74 years after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, the Russian occupiers again launched repressions in Crimea, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy has said, and called on the Ukrainians to observe a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of the victims of the 1944 deportation. "Dear compatriots, dear Crimean residents, we remember about you. We will liberate Crimea. And we will return you a free and happy life in the Motherland," he said, opening the plenary session of the Ukrainian parliament on Friday. Parubiy reminded that 74 years ago the USSR began repressions against the whole people, and during a day hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars' families were forcibly evicted and deported from Crimea. "Only with the proclamation of the independence of Ukraine the Crimean Tatars got the right to live freely and dignifiedly in the land of their ancestors in Crimea. But today the Russian invaders again launched terror and repressions against the Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea," he said. At the same time, the speaker urged the Ukrainians to join the all-Ukrainian minute of silence at 12:00 on Friday to pay tribute to the victims of the 1944 genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. He added that the Verkhovna Rada would also honor the memory of the deportees. Opposition Bloc ready to take detained leader of RIA Novosti Ukraine Vyshynsky against their guarantees The Opposition Bloc party has announced its readiness to take leader of the RIA Novosti Ukraine Kyrylo Vyshynsky, who was detained in Kyiv, against their guarantees. "The authorities' decision to arrest journalists contradicts the principles of rights and freedoms laid down in the Constitution. Such actions inflict irreparable damage on the international reputation and image of Ukraine as a democratic, legal and simply civilized European state," a statement reads, posted on the party's website on Friday. The Opposition Bloc considers the task of the struggle for freedom of speech and journalists' rights a key task for all democratic forces in Ukraine. "We are ready to take the detained journalist against our guarantees and we will follow the progress of the trials," the Opposition Bloc said. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations has requested the Russian Federation to provide information on the implementation of the court's order regarding the resumption of activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in Crimea, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine for European Integration Olena Zerkal has said. "Now, according to the request, the Russian Federation should explain to the court what was done to create normal conditions for the activities of the Mejlis in Crimea. The court also invited Ukraine to provide information on this issue. We will inform the court of all efforts that have been made to implement the court order, both from the state, and representatives of the Mejlis," she wrote on her Facebook page on Friday. Zerkal clarified that these are procedural steps to enable the court to assess the real state of affairs. She recalled that Ukraine's appeal to the UN International Court with a request to clarify the order was due to the fact that during the year the Russian Federation did nothing to fulfill the court's order. "The only thing we heard is that "we are taking the necessary measures," although preliminary measures, determined by the court, required urgent reaction. This attitude of the Russian Federation means an actual disregard of the UN International Court of Justice," the deputy minister stressed. As reported, on April 19, 2017, the International Court of Justice (The Hague) within the framework of the lawsuit of Ukraine versus the Russian Federation announced the decision according to which the Russian Federation in Crimea is obliged to ensure the rights of the Crimean Tatars, to allow the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and to ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian language. On April 24, 2018 Ukraine asked the International Court of Justice in The Hague to provide explanations on the status of implementation of the preliminary court decision as part of Ukraine's proceedings against Russia in the case concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in particular, to restore the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. The Kharkiv court has found guilty a lieutenant colonel of the National Guard of Ukraine of high treason and sentenced him to 13 years in prison, the Security Service of Ukraine has reported. The counterintelligence operatives of the special services established that the National Guard serviceman was recruited by representatives of the FSB of the Russian Federation in Moscow in September 2014 during an unauthorized visit to Russia, the SBU press center reported on Facebook on Friday. "In accordance with the orders of the curators, he sent to Russia via one of the messengers and e-mail information containing state secrets, including data on the forces and means involved in conducting the anti-terrorist operation," it says. "One of the district courts of Kharkiv found the man guilty of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine [state treason] and appointed him a 13-year sentence with deprivation of military rank of Lieutenant-Colonel," the message reads. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said in his speech at the 128th meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) that the CoE, if it wants to come through difficult times, should be "equal" to Ukrainian political prisoners who are held by Russia, but are not succumbing to its pressure. "Klimkin, a little sensationally for the diplomatic community, said today that if the Council of Europe wants to come through difficult times, it should be equal to Sentsov, Balukh, Abdullayev and other political prisoners who do not surrender under the pressure of Russia and find the strength to withstand evil to protect justice," Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe Dmytro Kuleba wrote on his Facebook page on Friday. According to the text of the minister's statement at the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Klimkin quoted a Ukrainian film director: "I, Oleh Sentsov, a citizen of Ukraine illegally sentenced by a Russian court and staying in a penal colony in Labytnangi, declared an indefinite hunger strike on May 14, 2018. The only condition for its termination is the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners on the territory of the Russian Federation." Earlier it was reported that Klimkin would pay a visit to Denmark on May 17-18 to participate in the 128th meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers. Kuleba reported that the Ukrainian minister would raise the issue of Ukrainian political prisoners at the meeting. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Klimkin would raise the issue of Russia's continuing aggression against the Ukrainian state and the release of Ukrainian citizens illegally held by Russia. The world has not recognized the Russian presidential election in the occupied Crimea, and punishment for illegal actions against the sovereignty of the territorial integrity of Ukraine is only a matter of time, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said. "Thanks to solidarity with the Crimean Tatars, the world did not recognize the electoral farce, neither the G7, nor the United States, nor the European Union, nor many other countries. The sanctions imposed, including by Ukraine, are now in force against a number of persons responsible for illegal voting. Punishment for any illegal actions against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is inevitable, like the Last Judgment. This is obvious. The only thing is that we cannot know the time and terms, but I am sure that the aggressor will be held accountable for the construction of the Kerch bridge and for many other things," Poroshenko said in Kyiv on Friday at a rally requiem dedicated to the memory of the victims of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people genocide and the Day of Struggle for the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People. He noted that the boycott by the Crimean Tatars of the illegitimate election of the Russian president in the temporarily occupied Crimea had become an occasion for unfolding a new stage of repression. "The club of admirers of Stalin, which is now ruling behind the Kremlin walls, has restored the policy of resettlement of the Crimean Tatars. The 'Russian world' in Crimea has vivid signs of being xenophobic and anti-Crimean Tatar. Thousands of our compatriots the Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians - are forced to leave home homes due to the immediate threat to their lives," Poroshenko said. According to him, the invaders, violating international law, are changing the demographic situation in the occupied territory, displacing the Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians, flooding the peninsula with immigrants from distant Russian regions. "The right of the Crimean Tatars to live freely in their native land will certainly be restored. I am convinced of the inevitability of the triumph of historical justice," the president said. Merkel says one must give further thought to UN mission to Donbas, regards Minsk accords as foundation for settlement The Minsk agreements are the only foundation for the process of settlement in Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday. "The Minsk Agreements are existing and the Minsk Agreements are the only foundation on which we can proceed with our work [on Ukraine settlement]," Merkel said at a news conference that she attended together with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Some serious violations of the ceasefire regime took place overnight," Merkel said. "Therefore, the thought of a UN mission... We should keep on thinking about it. We are trying to coordinate our actions. Foreign ministers should work further in this regard and it would be a good achievement in terms of stabilizing the situation and making room for some political steps," Merkel said. Members of the working group developing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine have proposed in the part on the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to recognize the right of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination within an independent Ukrainian state as a source of the special status of the Crimean autonomy as an integral part of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said. "Over the past year, a working group set up by the Constitutional Commission has made important changes to Section 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine. These changes should secure the inalienable right of the Crimean Tatar people as the indigenous people of Ukraine to self-determination as part of an independent Ukrainian state. The group proposes recognizing this right as a source of the special status of the Crimean autonomy as an integral component of a single Ukraine," Poroshenko said in Kyiv on Friday at a rally requiem dedicated to the memory of the victims of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people and the Fay of Struggle for the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People. He also said that members of the working group suggest that in the event of a situation in Crimea that poses a real threat to the state sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine, the president is granted the right to "introduce in Crimea a special regime of governance by appointing a special state representative with simultaneous termination of the relevant powers of the authorities of the Crimean autonomy." "We will not repeat the mistakes of the past. I expect that in the near future the working group will finally approve these proposals (there is enough time for this) and will forward them for consideration by the Constitutional Commission," he said. Poroshenko also said that the suggestions of the working group also included the proposal to citizens residing in the Ukrainian Crimea, which will be freed from Russian occupation, to elect a representative body of the Crimean autonomy - the Crimean Council. According to the president, the group proposes to write out the specifics of the election of deputies representing the Crimean Tatar people in a separate law. According to the head of state, the discussion in parliament on this issue will not be easy. "But we must clearly formulate our position for the future, in which Crimea will certainly return to Ukraine. To achieve this goal, Ukraine will involve all political and legal diplomatic mechanisms," he said. Poroshenko stressed that the introduction of the above changes to the Constitution of Ukraine on the self-determination of the Crimean Tatar people would significantly strengthen the country's position on restoring state sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula. "We continue to work on the speedy return to Ukraine of all Ukrainian hostages from the occupied Donbas and Crimea, as well as political prisoners who are being held in Russian prisons," Poroshenko said. On Wednesday, May 23, at 12.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference titled "Presidential Elections 2019: Will "Black" Technologies Replace Real Nationally Significant Ideas?" Participants include Director of Ukraine's Institute for Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov, expert of the Gardarica Strategic Consulting Corporation Kostiantyn Matviyenko, and Director of the Ukrainian Barometer Sociological Service Viktor Nebozhenko (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. Facing renewed economic sanctions from the United States and the possible knock-on collapse of its business dealings with Europe, Iran is looking to Russia and China to expand trade. And Moscow and Beijing, embroiled in their own economic disputes with Washington, are well-positioned to oblige. U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to quit the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran bars U.S. firms from dealing with the Islamic republic and promises penalties against European companies that choose to continue to do business in Iran past a 90- to 180-day "wind down" period. But economists say that Moscow and Beijing are less exposed both to sanctions tied to Iran's contentious nuclear program and others linked to the country's human rights record, alleged support for terrorism, and ballistic-missile program. The departure of Western competition in a lucrative export market could essentially be viewed as a gift by Iran supporters Russia and China, UN Security Council members that helped negotiate the nuclear deal under which Tehran agreed to curtail nuclear activities in exchange for UN and U.S. sanctions relief. Read more here The surprising victory of an electoral bloc controlled by the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraqs parliamentary elections May 12 can help reduce Irans influence in Iraq. Iran-backed Shiite militia chief Hadi al-Amiris bloc came in second place, while Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, once seen as the front-runner, finished third. Even though, Sadr cannot become prime minister as he was not a candidate in the election himself, but by controlling 54 seats in the next parliament it is very likely that Sadr can influence the formation of the new government and the selection of a new prime minister. The victory of the young cleric means in fact that Iran will lose some of its influence in the neighboring country. Sadr, the son of an influential Iraqi ayatollah murdered in the 1990s because of his opposition to the former President Saddam Hussein, was a close ally of Iran in the past, however toward the end of Nuri al-Malikis era as prime minister, he distanced himself from Tehran. The Mahdi Army a militia group that he created in 2003 was one of the reasons for his dispute with Iran. He used his forces a few times to challenge Prime Minister Maleki who was a close ally of Iran. Additionally, in contrast to Iran that still supports the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Sadr has been for his removal from power. Sadr slowly has turned into a more complex figure. In the recent election, he presented himself as the supporter of the poor and dispossessed and entered into alliance with Communists, Kurds, and Arab Sunnis. In an interview with the London based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Sadr said last year that he was about to create a bloc with independent technocrats in order to serve his country. The young cleric did not leave any doubt about his political divorce from Iran when in 2017 he visited the Irans regional foe Saudi Arabia and met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. With the victory of Sadr in the parliamentary election in Iraq, now, the door has been opened for Saudis to increase their involvement in Iraqi politics at Tehrans expense. Iran has invested in multiple groups in Iraq. Shiite militia chief Hadi al-Amiri and the former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who respectively came second and fourth in the parliamentary elections. Certainly, they can still pose a challenge to Sadr. After the formation of the new Iraqi government, the foreign policy and relations with the United States, Iran and Saudi Arabia will be on the agenda. Considering the election results, it is very likely that Iraq which has been influenced by its neighbor Iran since the fall of Saddam Hussein, will move away from Tehran. The extent of this change will depend on many factors, including how far Irans regional rivals can influence the new Iraqi government. At the same time, after its withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, Washington will be focused on minimizing Tehrans influence in the region. Since Irans allies are not the winners of the recent election in Iraq, the United States might have the opportunity to play a more significant role in the country. The emergence of the Islamic State allowed Iran to increase its influence in Iraq, and now after its defeat, Tehrans role is fading fast. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of Radio Farda (Reuters) - A Christian party that made big gains in Lebanon's general election says it will use its stronger position to press for Hezbollah's weapons to be brought under government control and to root out corruption in the heavily indebted state. The Lebanese Forces (LF) party, which almost doubled its number of MPs in the May 6 election, expects to convert those gains into more power in a new coalition government that Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is expected to lead, LF leader Samir Geagea told Reuters in an interview. Geagea said it would "no doubt" be difficult to form the new government which - like the outgoing one - will share out ministries among Lebanon's rival parties, including the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah. But citing intentions expressed by Lebanese leaders and the pressing need for economic reform, Geagea held out hope the cabinet formation would not take too long. He confirmed his party was moving towards nominating Hariri as premier again. Lebanon was in dire need of a "truly new" government to tackle corruption, he said. "I believe everyone has realized now that the ship might sink with everyone aboard," said Geagea, referring to the economic risks facing the state with the world's third highest debt as a share of output. "I believe we are in a new phase." The LF is the second biggest Christian party after the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) established by President Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally who became head of state in 2016. While Aoun has expressed support for Hezbollah's possession of weapons as a deterrent to Israel, Geagea is the Shi'ite group's most significant Christian adversary in Lebanon and an opponent of its allies in Damascus and Tehran. Hezbollah also emerged a big winner from the election thanks to gains by allies who won seats at Hariri's expense. Including the FPM, Hezbollah and factions that back its possession of arms won more than 70 of parliament's 128 seats, a reversal from 2009 when anti-Hezbollah groups led by Hariri won a majority. Hezbollah has declared the result a victory. Hariri was always expected to lose out under a new proportional system but fared worse than officials in his party feared by losing more than a third of his seats. Yet he remains the leading Sunni figure in Lebanon's sectarian system. Geagea, however, disputed that Hezbollah had come out stronger, saying the FPM was no real ally of the group and its backing for its weapons was "just verbal". The LF, which won 15 seats, emerged from a Christian militia led by Geagea through the final phase of the 1975-90 civil war. Hezbollah, set up by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was the only Lebanese group to keep its weapons at the end of the war. It used them to fight Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon. Since Israel withdrew in 2000, the arms have been a point of contention. The group, which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, is more powerful than the state and has grown militarily stronger since joining the Syrian war in 2012. Noting that Hezbollah was part of the cabinet, Geagea said his party would propose - as a temporary measure - that its arsenal be put at the command of the government. "If we accept, for the sake of argument, that Hezbollah's weapons stay where they are temporarily ... why shouldn't the decision on their use be the Lebanese government's?" he said. LEBANON STABILITY A "RED LINE" "We will push with all our strength (towards this goal) though at the same time I see little hope in achieving anything because Hezbollah's position on this issue is almost ideological," he said. He said the issue must be addressed through negotiations, adding: "No escalation, stability is a red line." Geagea expressed concern about tensions in the wider region, where Hezbollah has been a big player in the power struggle between Shi'ite Iran on the one hand and Sunni-led Gulf Arab states that are allied to the United States on the other. Washington this week declared new sanctions on Hezbollah. "The least I can say is that the region is going towards more escalation and complication. Will it reach a comprehensive war, or remain as it is at present? I don't know," Geagea said. Lebanon has been spared the worst of the instability that has swept through the Arab world since 2011, though the Syrian war has exacerbated long-standing rivalries and contributed to years of paralysis in government. This has weighed on the economy of a country hosting some 1 million Syrian refugees, or one in four of its population. Growth has stagnated while levels of government debt have climbed, moving above 150 percent of GDP at the end of 2017. The IMF in February said fiscal policy must be "immediately anchored" in a plan to stabilize and reduce debt levels. Geagea said wiping out corruption in government was the most important step towards fixing Lebanon's finances. Reforming the heavily subsidized power sector alone would save the treasury $1.5 billion a year, he said. Another $1 billion could be saved through tackling waste and corruption elsewhere in the state. "I fear that if the situation continues as it is - financially and economically - matters will worsen," he said. A controversial proposal to divide the ancient city of Kazeroon into two separate entities has been shelved for the time being, Irans Interior Ministry announced May 17. Residents have been protesting for nearly a year against the planned split, which they say would unfairly divide scarce water resources among the two new cities and would have borders drawn in such a way as to leave all of Kazeroons historic sites to one of the successor cities and not the other. At least one person has died since the protests began, and dozens have been detained. The unrest culminated in a massive rally in front of the Intelligence Ministrys local office May 16. In its announcement the Interior Ministry said the plan would be taken under consideration by experts and that the peoples concerns would be taken into account in order to eliminate the plans deficiencies. The ministry has also warned, however, that whoever disturbs public peace and order will be firmly dealt with. The citys representative to the parliament, Hossein Rezazadeh, was the one who initially proposed dividing the city. Based on his motion, two of the citys districts would be separated from Kazeroon, creating a new city named Koohchinar. The proposal placed the citys two main historic sites, including the ancient city of Bishapur founded 226 AD, inside the boundaries of the new city. At the same time, the proposed plan would also deprive Kazeroon of its main water resources, as they would fall inside the new city. Bahram Parseinejad, a reformist MP from Shiraz, the capital of the Fars province where Kazroon is located, says the real cause behind the recent rallies is peoples dissatisfaction with the management of the country. People of Kazeroon are using the controversial proposal as an excuse to protest poverty, hardship, corruption, and unemployment said Parsaeinejad after the May 16 bloody protests adding, like many other Iranians across the country, citizens of Kazeroon are also trying to force authorities to listen to their concerns and demands. Former Crown Prince and exiled heir to the throne of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, praised the noble and brave people of Kazeroon for their courage and resolve in a tweet, and described police violence against unarmed people of the city as another crime committed by the occupiers of Iran. The proposal for dividing Kazeroon has led to divisions between Rezazadeh and the citys Friday Prayer leader, mid-ranking cleric Mohammad Khorsand. Khorsand, a de-facto representative of the Supreme Leader in Kazeroon, has described the plan as dubious, saying, Sadly, the plan to divide Kazeroon suffers from a lack of transparency and does not take into account the opinions of experts, and adding that the authorities are trying to sow seeds of discord in the city. Encouraged by Khorsands opposition to the plan, protesters stormed the citys Friday prayer venue April 20 chanting angry slogans against the citys MP as well as the state-run radio and TV, which aired developments in Gaza instead of covering the protests. Iranians have increasingly gathered in front of Friday prayer venues to air a variety of grievances, including economic hardships and lack of freedom. Protestors in front of the Friday Prayer site in Kazeroon turned the four-decades-old Islamic Republic slogan Death to America on its head by chanting Our enemys right here; they lie and say its America! Reportedly, many protesters in Kazeroon have warned that if the plan is not permanently cancelled, they will invite their Friday prayer leader to join them in a protest march towards the provinces capital, Shiraz, and from there, if necessary, towards the capital, Tehran, 1000 km (640 miles) to the north. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: A conference marking the 80th birth anniversary of Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General from 1999 to 2009 has been held at UNESCO headquarters. First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva attended the conference. First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva made a speech at the event. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Leman Zeynalova - Trend: The EU participation in peacefully solving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be enhanced, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) said. In their recommendation on the negotiations on the EU-Azerbaijan Comprehensive Agreement, MEPs underlined that new deals between the EU and each of the parties to this conflict must be made conditional on meaningful commitments to and substantial progress towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict. Parliaments rapporteur Norica Nicolai said: "We face today the reality of seeing the EU borders more and more insecure, therefore a good dialogue and cooperation within the Eastern Partnership including Azerbaijan becomes essential. An honest and trustful relationship between the representatives of EU and Azerbaijan will bring economic benefits to both sides and can assure the consolidation of the democracy in this area." The full house is expected to vote on the final text at its July 2018 plenary session in Strasbourg. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the inauguration of a new administrative building of the New Azerbaijan Party. The president cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the new administrative building and viewed conditions created there. President Aliyev put flowers at national leader, founder of the New Azerbaijan Party Heydar Aliyev's bust in the foyer of the building. Deputy Chairman-Executive Secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party Ali Ahmadov informed the president of the conditions created in the building. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: When Azerbaijan brings its fair position to the attention of the world community, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) resorts to sanctions, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee for International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov said. He made the remarks at a session of the Azerbaijani Parliament May 18 commenting on PACEs application of sanctions against him. He noted that the PACE decision on application of sanctions is unfair. When people who hold high positions in the PACE violate the law, no sanctions are applied against them, he said. This means double standards, and such a decision of PACE can be described as exerting pressure on Azerbaijan. We are on the right path. This is not a shortcoming, but an honor for me, because I defend the interests of Azerbaijan. Following the hearings in Paris on May 15, the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure decided that sanctions should apply to four PACE members - Pedro Agramunt (Spain) for a period of 10 years, Cezar Florin Preda (Romania), Samad Seyidov (Azerbaijan) and Jordi Xucla (Spain) for a period of two years. All four, while remaining members of the Assembly with the right to speak, will be banned during these periods from acting as rapporteurs or election observers, and cannot be chairs or vice-chairs of any committees or sub-committees, or stand for election as president of the Assembly. They will be unable to represent the Assembly or its committees at any third-party events. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Azerbaijan should suppress unjust actions of international organizations directed against the country, Azerbaijani MP Siyavush Novruzov said. He made the remarks at the session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on May 18 while commenting on sanctions imposed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) against Azerbaijani MP. "The PACE decision is not about Samad Seyidov, but in general about Azerbaijan. Similar steps are taken at the PACE against our country and the economic development of Azerbaijan. Those who dislike Azerbaijan seek to form a negative image of the country," Novruzov said. He stressed that members of Azerbaijani delegations at international organizations should act in a coordinated manner. "In the future, we should build our work in such a way that to suppress such attempts against our country. Each person wants to protect interests of his country. We must continue our work and protect the interests of Azerbaijan everywhere," said Novruzov. Following the hearings in Paris on May 15, the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure decided that sanctions should apply to four PACE members - Pedro Agramunt (Spain) for a period of 10 years, Cezar Florin Preda (Romania), Samad Seyidov (Azerbaijan) and Jordi Xucla (Spain) for a period of two years. All four, while remaining members of the Assembly with the right to speak, will be banned during these periods from acting as rapporteurs or election observers, and cannot be chairs or vice-chairs of any committees or sub-committees, or stand for election as president of the Assembly. They will be unable to represent the Assembly or its committees at any third-party events. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: Sputnik-Abkhazia reported that Raul Khadjimba, who presents himself as the "president" of Abkhazia, and Director of the Fourth CIS States Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexei Pavlovsky met with representatives of the illegal regime established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as Dnepr and South Ossetian regimes. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry assessed this as a serious blow to peace and security in the region. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev, commenting on this issue, told Trend that protests and serious concerns will be conveyed to Russian Foreign Ministry through diplomatic channels. "This, in no case, is not a step towards building a trust in the region to ensure a lasting peace and security. Instead, this serves to further aggravation of the situation in the region," he said, commenting on the meeting of the Russian Foreign Ministry's official with the "representative" of the illegal regime. 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, May 18 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Azerbaijan is committed to enhancing and developing its bilateral relations with all its partners, said Azerbaijani ambassador to South Korea Ramzi Teymurov. He made the remarks during the event organized by Azerbaijani embassy in South Korea on the occasion of the centenary anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, The Korea Herald newspaper reported. This year, Azerbaijan celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic all over the world. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republics declaration of independence on May 28, 1918, was a historic event and one of the glorious pages of our history, Teymurov said. The democratic republics short-lived existence was clear evidence that oppressive colonial regimes that occupied Azerbaijan could not eradicate our desires for liberty, sovereignty and freedom. It was the first parliamentary republic in our history modeled on the democratic secular state and rule of law. Following our independence, Azerbaijan emerged as a pearl of Caucasus with the regions highest rate of economic growth, a multifaceted society with rich cultures, abundant natural resources and human capital, the envoy said. Enjoying friendly relations with almost all countries of the world, including the Republic of Korea, Azerbaijan is committed to enhancing and developing its bilateral relations with all its partners. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov made a phone call to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the press service of the Azerbaijani president said in a statement. During the conversation, the two presidents discussed topical issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. The sides also exchanged views on the practical implementation of the agreements achieved earlier and the prospects of development of bilateral cooperation. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva has met with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay at the organizations headquarters in Paris. UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay thanked the Azerbaijani First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva for attending the event organized on the occasion of the 80th birth anniversary of Koichiro Matsuura. She noted that apart from marking the 80th jubilee of Koichiro Matsuura, the event promotes UNESCOs mission, objectives and activities. Director General Audrey Azoulay pointed out that after being elected to this position she learned more about the rich history of Azerbaijan-UNESCO relations, and hailed the high-level of bilateral relations between the country and the organization. She noted that she will contribute to the development of bilateral ties during her tenure. Azerbaijans First Vice-President, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva pointed to the Baku Process, the initiative of the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, saying this year marks the first decade of the process. The First Vice-President noted that another World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue will be held in Baku next year. Azerbaijans First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva thanked Audrey Azoulay for including Azerbaijans cultural samples in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva pointed out that this year also marks the centenary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, saying Azerbaijan has made great strides over the past 100 years. The most important of these is granting voting rights to women, which corresponds to UNESCOs objectives, mission and mandate, she said. The sides reviewed joint organization of the events within the year in this regard. First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva invited the Director General Audrey Azoulay to pay a visit to Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: Azerbaijan, as a country located at the junction of civilizations, cultures and religions, has much to offer to the world community in terms of intercultural dialogue, tolerance and respect for others, First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva said. She was speaking May 18 in Paris at a conference marking the 80th birth anniversary of Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO director-general from 1999 to 2009. First of all, I want to express my gratitude for the invitation and I am very happy to be here among my friends and colleagues at UNESCO. Let me to congratulate you, dear Mr. Matsuura, on the occasion of the 80th jubilee and wish you good health and success. We highly appreciate the work you have done in the capacity of the Director General of UNESCO. The reforms that you carried out during your office enabled to strengthen UNESCO's reputation in the world. Your name is always mentioned when it comes to a number of successful humanitarian projects, for example, the international project "Education for All" and many others. Under your leadership, relations between UNESCO and our country have become even stronger. We recall with a deep gratitude your visit to Baku, your personal participation in joint forums and conferences, Mehriban Aliyeva said. Multiculturalism is a national policy in Azerbaijan and we cooperate with the international community, including UNESCO in promoting the values of multiculturalism,said First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva. I would like to mention here the Baku process, initiated by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which became a truly global platform for promotion of the intercultural and interfaithdialogue. It was initially put forward as a platform for cooperation between member countries of the Council of Europe and members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It was in 2008 that Azerbaijan as a member of both these international organizationsinitiated a meeting of the Ministers of Culture of OIC and Council of Europe in Baku. And this process continues up to date. This year, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Baku Process. In close partnership with UNESCO, we have successfully organized foureditions of World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue within the Baku Process and we are ready to continue this work in the future, she said. Located in the center of ancient Silk Road, Azerbaijan has a long history as a place where ideals can be shared and people came together in the friendly environment. As a country situated on the crossroads of civilizations, cultures, and religions, Azerbaijan has a lot to offer to international community in terms of cultural dialogue, tolerance and respect toward others. Today, multiculturalism is a national policy in Azerbaijan and we cooperate with the international community, including UNESCO in promoting the values of multiculturalism, First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva added. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 19 Trend: The decision of the President of the United States of America to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer there the US embassy raised concerns as it runs counter to international law and the UN Security Council resolution 478 (1980), Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said during his speech at OIC Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference. "First of all, let me underline that this Extraordinary Islamic Summit of the Heads of State and Government, organized by the initiative of President of Turkey, is yet another example of Turkeys contribution to the Islamic solidarity and the cause of justice. Killing of more than 60 and injuring of 2000 Palestinians is beyond comprehension. We, Member States and OIC, should spare no effort to condemn and stop this bloodshed. Azerbaijan, as always, remains ready to contribute to this end and we reaffirm our full solidarity and support for the just and comprehensive solution of the Palestinian issue. The peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be based on the two-state principle with East Jerusalem being the capital of the State of Palestine. The decision of the President of the United States of America to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer there the US embassy raised concerns as it runs counter to international law and the UN Security Council resolution 478 (1980). As became evident despite multiple warnings, this act deteriorated the prospects for achieving a just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and, moreover, had all the dangerous implications. In 2013, with the aim of helping the State of Palestine, Azerbaijan hosted a constituent conference of the Islamic Financial Safety Network and a donor conference in support of the development of the city of Jerusalem. In 2017, the Year of Islamic solidarity in Azerbaijan, we hosted the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem in Baku under the auspices of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and with the support of the OIC, which has been concluded with the introduction of a communique on behalf of its organizers condemning the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and restrictions on worshippers therein. As You know, last month, in the capacity of the Non Alignment Movement (NAM) Troika, Azerbaijan hosted the 18th Mid-term Ministerial Meeting of the NAM, titled Promotion International Peace and Security for Sustainable Development. Within the framework of this event the meeting of NAM Ministerial Committee on Palestine was organized. In the Final Baku Declaration were reiterated urgent calls for serious, collective efforts to bring a complete end to the violations. Azerbaijan, upon the request of the Palestinian authorities, is also planning to assist in the organization of the Annual Meeting of the State of Palestine Ambassadors accredited in the Asian countries by the end of 2018. As representative of Azerbaijan, I cant escape this opportunity to express gratitude of my country to the OIC and its member-states for their full support of Azerbaijan in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Despite multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and decisions by number of international organizations, including the OIC, for more than 25 years, Armenia has been holding 20 per cent of our lands under illegal military occupation with dire humanitarian consequences for the indigenous Muslim population and the Islamic culture", Mammadyarov said. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: The final stage of the II UNEC Science Slam contest was held. The Ministry of Education, ANAS, the Science Development Fund, Youth Foundation, Knowledge Foundation officials, the Members of Parliament, the heads of higher education institutions, the prominent scientists, well-known education experts, the public representatives and, as well as, the academic teaching staff and the students of the university participated at the final stage of the contest organized at UNEC. The UNEC, which has written the name of Azerbaijan to the history of the most popular scientific platform Science Slam after such countries as Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, has introduced innovations in the contest this year. So that, along with other faculties, the students of the Distant, correspondence and additional professional education center also participated in the II UNEC Science Slam competition. According to the format of the contest, the winners of the faculties presented their research in the creative way within 10 minutes. The researches of the students on such topics as the successful marketing research in social media, the artificial intelligence, costs, the product certification, communication tools, returning the disable people to the society, the effects of advertising on human consciousness, positive psycology, static electricity- driven transport and behaviorial economics were met with interest. After the presentations, the performances of the winners were assessed with the applauses in accordance with the Science Slam rules. The winner was identified by the sound diapason of applauses measured with the special device. Amal Veysalov, the I year student of the Business and Management faculty, gained the applauses in 90.2 decibels (dB) sound frequency, and won the I place at the II UNEC Science Slam competition with the topic Not everything is as same as it seems. In the presentation A.Veysalov conducted the research on the effect of advertising broadcasted on the TV on the human consciousness. The presentaton on the topic Lets return the people with disabilites to the society made by Ramiz Shukurov, the II year student of the Economics faculty was awarded the II place with the 89.8 dB, and the presentation of Vusal Ismayilov, the I year student of the Turkish World Business School on the topic The static electrically driven bus was awarded with the III place with the 87.6 dB. The winners were presented the certificates. At the same time, they were dismissed the Final State Attestation Exam. The goal of the contest, organized by the UNEC Student Scientific Society is to increase the interest of young people to scientific research and to ensure their flexible integration into the world science. About the II UNEC Science Slam contest: in 2017 UNEC introduced for the first time in Azerbaijan, the event on the international level, and organized world famous Science Slam scientific contest. Great Britain, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey have joined the competition, held for the first time in Darmstadt, Germany in 2006, and the idea belonged to german author Grigor Benin. Those, who are interested in science, want to communicate with the resaerchers, learn the latest innovations and expand the environment join this contest. The representatives of leading companies also participate at many Science Slam contests held in the western countries and make the investment proposals for the interest-based researches, as well. The young researchers motivated with this, believe that their researches are interesting for the community and it is worth to continue the research. Baku, Azerbaijan, Ma 18 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) may allocate about 48 million euros for projects in Azerbaijan in 2018, a source in the bank told Trend. The BSTDB doesnt allocate specific amounts of financing to its member countries, the source said. Rather, the bank seeks to be demand-oriented and to maintain an adequate presence in every member country, according to the source. "The adequate presence is laid out the Banks four-year Medium Term Strategy and Business Plan for the 2015-2018 period and the attendant Country Strategies," the source noted. "In case of Azerbaijan, we target a range of Board approvals on the order of 141 million euros plus/minus 20 percent, and a level of commitments (signed operations) on the order of 123 million euros plus/minus 20 percent." Through the end of 2017, BSTDBs Board approvals in 2015-2017 stood at 93.1 million euros and signed operations were at 91.1 million euros, meaning that the bank is currently on track to meet these operating targets for Azerbaijan, the source said. BSTDB has enjoyed great success over the years operating in Azerbaijan, with banks cumulative amount of disbursed financing (since 1999) exceeding 330 million euros, according to the source. "We are confident that as the banking crisis of the last couple of years recedes and economic activity picks up, we will be well placed to continue the excellent cooperation [with Azerbaijan] we have had," the source noted. "We are open for business in all sectors, but we are especially keen to work with municipal authorities to help meet local/regional infrastructure needs and to work with up and coming firms in the non-energy sectors of the economy that require access to financing in order to meet their full potential," the source added. The BSTDB was established by Azerbaijan, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Armenia, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia. The banks authorized capital is 3.45 billion euros. Subscribers of Trend News Agency can read this and other exclusive materials before they are published in open access. More information on Trends news products can be found here. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Draft project on introduction of compulsory insurance of doctors' professional responsibility in Azerbaijan will be prepared within a month, Azerbaijan Insurers Association (AIA) Chairman Mustafa Abbasbayli said in an interview with Trend. "We have studied experience of many countries, and we already have draft laws and terms. Our proposals are almost ready for submission to the supervisory authority and the Azerbaijani government. I think that within a month we will complete all work and submit our proposals to the relevant structures," Abbasbeyli said. He emphasized that this project is aimed not only at developing the insurance market of Azerbaijan, but also has a significant social component. "Our main goal is not so much to ensure growth of the insurance market, but the social component. Even in the most developed countries, a large number of victims of a medical mistakes can be recorded every year. Therefore, through the introduction of compulsory insurance of doctors' professional responsibility, we want to expand the market, as well as to ensure payment of compensation for victims," he said. The Association intends to turns the insurance of medical workers' professional responsibility in Azerbaijan into mandatory. The application of this mechanism is planned to be launched in private clinics. Commenting on this, Abbasbeyli noted that the phased introduction of compulsory insurance is linked with the fact that state medical institutions are funded from the state budget. "If we begin the process in a month, then we will not be able to work with the state institutions before early 2019 as no funds are stipulated in the state budget for this insurance. Therefore, today we are discussing the introduction of this type of insurance in private clinics, and then in state institutions, " he noted. Presently, insurance of professional responsibility in Azerbaijan is carried out on a voluntary basis. According to the data of Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA), fees for this type of insurance amounted to 847,600 manats in the first quarter of 2018. No payment for this type of insurance was carried out in the first quarter of 2018. ($1 = 1.7 AZN on May 11). -- Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov Subscribers of Trend News Agency can read this and other exclusive materials before they are published in open access. More information on Trends news products can be found here. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to discuss Uzbekistans social and economic transformation and to reaffirm the World Bank Groups support for reforms to accelerate economic growth and boost shared prosperity, the press service of the World Bank said in a statement. The meeting in Washington, DC took place on the margins of Mirziyovevs first official visit to the United States on May 17. Im very impressed with Uzbekistans wide ranging and ambitious reforms. The World Bank Group will continue to provide expertise and financing to support the countrys ambitious development agenda and advance the governments efforts to build a brighter future for all the people of Uzbekistan, Kim said. At the meeting, loan agreements were signed, providing $940 million in financing for four new projects in Uzbekistan, focusing on energy efficiency, horticulture, and emergency medical services. They are part of $2.8 billion in World Bank projects under implementation supporting transportation, education, agriculture, irrigation and water supply and sanitation services aimed at boosting economic growth and improving living standards. A memorandum of understanding between the World Bank and Uzbekistan was also signed, reinforcing collaboration. One International Finance Corporation advisory services agreement was also signed. The Transaction Advisory will structure a public-private partnership (PPP), to attract private investors to finance, design, build and operate solar plants in Uzbekistan and help mobilize up to $1 billion of investment. Uzbekistans social and economic transformation has also generated new momentum among Central Asian countries for greater regional cooperation in energy, transport, water, and economic connectivity. The World Bank Group is re-aligning its country partnership framework to respond to the governments reforms. The goal is to help Uzbekistan develop market economy, reform state institutions, broaden citizen engagement and invest in human capital through education, health and social protection systems. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Ali Mustafayev Trend: Head of Kazakhstans Akmola region Malik Murzalin discussed issues of further cooperation regarding livestock development, plant growing with the representative of the largest state investment corporation of China - CITIC, the press service of the regions executive body said in a message. "The representative of CITIC Gay Kaihua and the head of the Akmola region also considered opportunities to increase the production of oil seeds and other products. Following the meeting, Gay Kaihua expressed high interest in direct investments in the region's economy," the message said. In November 2017, the delegation of Akmola region led by Murzalin held a number of business meetings with representatives of Chinese investment and industrial structures in Beijing. Attraction of investments is one of the priorities of Kazakhstan's present foreign policy. Akmola region, which produces 25 percent of all Kazakh grain, continues to closely cooperate with leading Chinese companies. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Ali_Mustafayev Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to help the government of Azerbaijan boost the competitiveness of the agribusiness sector, Jan van Bilsen, IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus, said in an interview with Trend. He said the agriculture sector, which provides jobs and income for about 40 percent of the population in rural areas, can become more productive and profitable through increased access to finance. "One way to help this is through agri-insurance, which mitigates the risks involved in agriculture production, such as weather and price volatility. Europe and Central Asia Agri-Finance Advisory Project has worked with Azerbaijans authorities to conduct various field surveys with the farmers, to draft a law on agricultural insurance and to develop an agricultural insurance system concept," he said. Presently, the International Finance Corporation, together with Azerbaijans Ministry of Agriculture and the Financial Markets Supervisory Authority, is working on a project to introduce an agricultural insurance system in the country. The government of Azerbaijan is inclined to use Turkeys TARSIM model of agricultural insurance. As part of the work on the project, the IFC is looking for the most appropriate options to introduce this model in Azerbaijan. In addition, the Azerbaijani Agriculture Ministry continues work on a bill on stimulation of the agricultural insurance. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Azad Hasanli Trend: Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development (ICD) is looking for new partners among microfinance organizations of Azerbaijan, a source in the financial market told Trend. The source noted that the ICD is interested in supporting the microfinance market of Azerbaijan through consulting services. One of the last such projects was cooperation with non-bank credit organization FINCA Azerbaijan. "Today ICD is not ready to lend to microfinance organizations of Azerbaijan because of some nuances. Thus, the minimum amount of credit that the Islamic Corporation can issue within its mandate is $5 million. In turn, the NBCOs in Azerbaijan want loans in smaller amounts - $1 or $2 million," the source said. As a result, at this stage it is appropriate to talk only about the provision of consulting services, the source noted. In addition, the Islamic Corporation is ready to help local companies in the development of new products in accordance with Sharia law and in the creation of new companies for Islamic microfinance, the source added. In 2016, Azerbaijan, along with Kazakhstan, was selected as one of the pilot countries where ICD started working with microfinance organizations. Previously, the Islamic Corporation worked only with the banking sector. The Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development has been operating in Azerbaijan since 2003. In the country, ICD mainly finances small and medium-sized enterprises. The Corporation is also the founder of leasing company Ansar Leasing and co-founder of the Caspian International Investment Company in Azerbaijan. ICD, founded in 1999, is based in Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia. Its main task is to finance the private sector of the member countries of the organization. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend: Azerbaijans Textile Producers and Exporters Association plans to attract well-known foreign companies to establish clothing production in the country in the future, Mehriban Akhundova, chairperson of the Association, told Trend May 18. She said this can be done after solving the issue of reducing the cost of production. Presently, reducing the cost of textile production in Azerbaijan, bringing the price of finished products to the average level are the topical issues, she said. This can be done by lowering customs duties on imports of such materials as glue, locks, buttons, etc. Lowering customs duties will lead to the development of garment production, which basically fulfills state orders. At the same time, clothing more affordable in price is imported to the Azerbaijani market from Pakistan, Turkey and China. This clothing is manufactured using synthetic materials. She added that the Association prepares an appeal to the government of Azerbaijan in order to resolve this issue. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev The reappointment of Alexander Novak to the office of the Russian Energy Minister is particularly an acknowledgment of his role in structuring the OPEC and non-OPEC oil production capping agreement, Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammed Barkindo told TASS on Friday. "The reappointment of Mr. Alexander Novak as Russian Energy Minister by President Vladimir Putin is an acknowledgment of his sterling qualities and exemplary leadership he continued to display in the OPEC and Non-OPEC strategic partnership," Barkindo said in the comment for TASS. Novak has earned the respect and admiration in the global oil industry, Barkindo said. "He remains that strong, reliable and dependable bridge between OPEC and Non-OPEC participating countries in the Declaration of Cooperation," the OPEC Secretary General added. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev suggested reappointing Novak as the Russian Energy Minister earlier today at the meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Unlimited calls are now available not only on hourly, but on daily and monthly basis Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, has extended the customers favorite ElaCIN tariff. Thus, the Daily Ela and Monthly Ela plans, will allow the subscribers to enjoy unlimited phone conversations with any Bakcell customer. The most popular ElaCIN tariff, which the majority of Bakcell subscribers used to choose, now becomes Hourly Ela. With this tariff plan, the subscribers are able to continuously talk on-net by paying only 0.07 AZN for each hour of call with no subscription fee. From now on, the subscribers do not have to limit themselves with 1 hour conversation but enjoy have unlimited phone calls the entire day and even entire month. With new Daily Ela tariff they will talk unlimited on-net the whole day for only 0.70 AZN per day. Moreover, the customers will receive 50 countrywide SMS each day as a bonus. And with Monthly Ela tariff, which will be of particular interest to heavy talkers, the customers will enjoy unlimited on-net calls the whole month for only 17 AZN per month. In addition to that, Monthly Ela offers generous monthly bonuses of 500 countrywide SMS and 500 Mb of Internet. To benefit from the new tariffs just dial *307#YES to join Hourly Ela, *370#YES to join Daily Ela or *317#YES to join Monthly Ela. Note that fair usage policy applies to Daily Ela and Monthly Ela tariffs. By introducing new unlimited CIN tariffs, Bakcell offers the customers a convenient opportunity to enjoy the freedom of having unlimited conversations with their friends, family members and close ones, without counting minutes or worrying about any per minute charges. Being the known leader in innovation, Bakcell will continue bringing renewed, convenient and exciting tariffs, products and services to the modern users of mobile communication. Visit www.bakcell.com for more detailed information about the new hourly, daily and monthly Ela tariffs, and other advantageous and innovative offers of Bakcell. *** About Bakcell Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, offers a wide range of products and Services to users of modern mobile communications Services. The company provides its customers with the best-in-class 3G and 4G mobile internet. With more than 6500 base stations, Bakcell network covers 99% of the population and 93% of the land area of the country (except for the occupied territories). After proving itself to provide the best 3G mobile internet service in the country, Bakcell has announced the commercial launch of 4G LTE services on 5th of May 2015. 4G ensures a significant increase of mobile internet speed and is especially useful for those users who wish to stay mobile at all times, having an access to high-speed mobile internet at all locations. Currently, in addition to Baku and Absheron peninsula, residents of Ganja, Quba, Qusar, Khachmaz, Shabran and Siyazan regions are able to benefit from the high-speed 4G internet of Bakcell. In the year 2018, Bakcell continues to expand its LTE network to other regions of Azerbaijan. Bakcell became the first mobile operator in the country to launch 4G service in Baku subway. In the year 2017, Bakcell network has been recognized as the Best in Test in Azerbaijan by P3 Communications, being the international leader and most trusted independent authority in mobile benchmarking. According to tests, implemented in August 2017, Bakcell has the best score overall network experience in Azerbaijan and the best mobile internet network in test in Baku and other big cities. For more information about Bakcell products and services, please visit www.bakcell.com or call 555. For press releases please see www.bakcell.com/az/news (or www.bakcell.com/en/news for press releases in English). If you are not a Bakcell subscriber, but wish to find out about Bakcell and its products and services, please call 012 498 89 89 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 18 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmenistan marks Constitution Day on May 18. This day is declared a holiday. The ceremony of laying flowers to the monument of the Constitution is held, and the concert of masters of art and poetry will take place in the capital city. "We treat the Constitution Day and the Day of State Flag with special respect as one of the significant dates that unite the people and increase their creative energy," President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said. The head of state noted that, large-scale programs and reforms aimed at bringing the country to the level of highly developed countries are being successfully implemented. The current version of the Constitution was adopted in September 2016. Article 12 of the Constitution states that Turkmenistan recognizes the right of private ownership of the means of production, land, and other material and intellectual property. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held talks with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis at the Pentagon on May 17, the press service the Uzbek president stated. The head of state thanked the American side for the long-term and fruitful cooperation and noted that as a result of talks with President Donald Trump, relations between the countries have risen to a new level. The president touched upon the qualitative update of the defense doctrine of Uzbekistan, as well as upon the cardinal revision of the structure and tasks of the military districts and the reform of military schools. Uzbekistan is interested in exchanging experience, military and technical cooperation, interaction in defense and security spheres with the US, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said. The US Secretary of Defense, in his turn, noted that Uzbekistan is an important geostrategic state in the region. As a result of Uzbekistan's open and constructive foreign policy in Central Asia, an atmosphere of good-neighborliness has been established. Your dialogue with President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, the appointment of a special representative for Afghanistan are of great importance. The five-year plan of military cooperation, adopted within the framework of your official visit, will serve to strengthen peace and security in the region, James Mattis said. The meeting discussed strengthening cooperation in the defense and security spheres. The President also visited the US Capitol, where he met with a group of congressmen headed by member of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Trent Kelly. The sides discussed issues of legal support for Uzbek-American relations, strengthening of inter-parliamentary relations. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Ali Mustafayev - Trend: The delegation of Uzbekistan headed by the Chairman of the Supreme court Kasimjan Komilov will participate in the 13th meeting of Chairpersons of the Supreme courts of the member States of the SCO, reported Uzbek media on May 18. During the meeting, which will be held on May 25 in Beijing, it is planned to discuss the implementation of information technologies in judicial activities, cooperation in the field of law in the fight against terrorism, extremism, separatism, drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering. Moreover, it is planned to discuss topical issues of justice of mutual interest, as well as prospects for further cooperation of the judiciary of the SCO member States. A joint statement will be adopted at the end of the meeting. Additionally, the 12th Meeting of Chairmen of the Supreme Courts of the SCO member states was held in October last year in Tashkent. During the meeting, the issues of improving the legislation on investment disputes, further improving the efficiency of cooperation between the SCO member States in the field of legal assistance in civil and criminal cases, the practice of combating recruitment and recruitment of the younger generation in the activities of various terrorist and radical structures in the SCO member States were discussed. __ Follow the author on Twitter: @Ali_Mustafayev Tehran, Iran, May 18 By Kamyar Eghbalnejad, Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: Dutch as well as other European companies are interested in working with Iranian businesses and transferring technology to them, Siavoush Shojaee, director for Regional Sales at Control Seal, a Netherlands-based valve manufacturer, told NIPNA. "We are planning to take steps in the long run to bring technology forward through formation of a joint venture with Iranian companies," Shojaee said. Talking about the company's activities, he said Control Seal is active in the production of special valves, such as high temperature valves for downstream and petrochemical industries. "Jam Co., Arak, Kermanshah and some other Iranian petrochemical companies are among consumers of our products. Our valves are also used in phases 1-24 of South Pars," he said. Shojaee noted that Control Seal's office in Iran is currently fully operating. "Our continuing cooperation with Iranian customers, even during the sanctions period is an honor. Despite the reluctance of many European companies to participate in the Iranian market because of the sanctions, our approach and policy is based on maintaining the presence in the market," Shojaee said. He concluded saying that the European Union as well as the Netherlands have announced their willingness to remain committed to Irans nuclear deal, therefore Control Seal will try to do the best to maintain the relations with Iranian businesses. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Umid Niayesh - Trend: Irans Bank of Industry and Mine signed a finance contract with Russian Vnesheconombank(VEB) bank for financing a major project for electrifying Irans northern railway system. The contract was signed between officials of the two banks in Russia May 16, the Iranian bank said on its website. Electrifying of the 450-kilometer-long Garmsar-Incheh Boroun Railroad in northern Iran with a credit line worth 1.2 billion euros will be implemented in cooperation with Russia in 2018. The initial agreement for the big project was signed in 2015. Based on the agreement, the project will take three years to complete. Irans northern rail network starts from Garmsar Station in Semnan Province and passes through Mazanadaran Province to end at Gorgan Station. The contract covers design, sourcing of materials and equipment and construction of stations and tunnels, traction substations, section pillars, duty posts of the contact station and the power supply administration building. The Russians have also announced readiness to electrify the 600 km railway route between Tehran and the northwestern city of Tabriz, which is also eyed by the Germans and Italians. Irans Bank of Industry and Mine has already signed a contract with Chinas Exim Bank (the Export-Import Bank of China) to finance $1.5 billion for electrifying of Tehran-Mashhad railroad. The bank has also managed to attract a $400-million credit line from Indias Exim Bank and a $100-million credit line from South Korea. Indias Exim Bank also extended a credit line worth $150 million to Iran in February 2016 for supplying 150,000 tons of rail tracks. The Iranian bank has also signed a finance deal for a project, worth $1.8 billion for the electrification of a high-speed rail link between the cities of Tehran, Qom and Isfahan, which will be carried out by China Railway Group Limited (CREC). Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: Germany will work on complementary mechanisms to protect its economic operators in Iran, German embassy in Baku told Trend on May 18 commenting on the recent withdrawal of the US from the Iranian nuclear deal. Germany will work together with the United Kingdom and France but also other Member States and the EU bodies on complementary mechanisms and measures on national as well as on the European Union level to protect her economic operators in Iran or otherwise affected by the developments, said the embassy. Earlier, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Germany remains committed to the nuclear agreement and will keep working to ensure that the agreement can remain in place. It is the successful outcome of many years of long and tough diplomatic negotiations. And above all, the agreement is working, Maas said. On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced Washingtons decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal as it, he said, leaves Tehran a possibility to create a nuclear bomb bypassing all the restrictions. He noted another agreement with Iran should be signed. The US President also pledged to reinstate the sanctions against Iran, which were lifted as part of the agreement. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the deal on Irans nuclear program, was signed between Iran and six international mediators (the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, and France) on July 14, 2015. On January 16, 2016, the parties to the deal announced beginning of its implementation. Under the deal, Iran undertakes to curb its nuclear activities and place them under total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for removal of the sanctions imposed previously by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: Leaving the JCPOA, the United States has opted for a risky and potentially costly strategy, Gianluca Pastori, expert in US-Europe political relations, said in an interview with Azernews. He was commenting on the consequences for the US-European relations following US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal. In the long term, the Iranian deal aimed at promoting the emergence of a new Middle Eastern balance, reducing US political dependence from its allies and allowing them to minimize their involvement in the region, according to the expert. Now, this project seems abandoned. Rather, Donald Trump seems sticking to an old vision of US role in the Middle East, based on a special relationship with Israel and Saudi Arabia and on the containment of Iran, he said. From a practical point of view, it means that the US will be increasingly involved (both directly and indirectly) in supporting their Middle Eastern allies and in preserving what they perceive as the best balance of power, thus being less able to allocate resources to other, maybe more important areas, such as the Asia-Pacific region, according to Pastori. He went on to say that the EU has repeatedly expressed disagreement with Washington and its will to remain engaged with Iran despite Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA. From a European perspective, the JCPOA has been a major diplomatic success and many European companies look to Iran as a potential partner to sell their goods or delocalize their production. Russia and China too have reaffirmed their commitment to the JCPOA. The question is whether Iran is still interested in the agreement now that the US has left, he noted. By remaining committed, Tehran sends an important political message, according to the expert. On the other hand, neither the EU nor Russia or China can affect Irans international status as the US can do or transform Iran into a part of a new Middle Eastern order, he added. Commenting on the possibility of signing new accord, the expert said that a new deal is difficult to envisage, at least in the short term. Donald Trump repeatedly affirmed that he is not interested in sacking the deal in itself; rather, his position is (officially) rejecting the agreement to negotiate a better one. Within the administration, there are some supporters of the JCPOA, such as the Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, who once defined it unsatisfactory but the best possible option, he said. In the past, Iran clearly stated that it would not enter new negotiations, according to Pastori. Moreover, a new deal would go against the Trumps apparent Middle Eastern strategy. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia refuse any dialogue with Iran and Washington seems unwilling to antagonize its traditional allies, he added. The forthcoming U.S. midterm election is another factor pulling in this direction, with the Republican Party traditionally opposing the JCPOA forced to reaffirm this negative attitude to defend its current Congressional majority, said the expert. On May 8, President Donald Trump announced that the United States walks away from the accord reached in 2015 between Tehran and the six world powers. Trump also announced that the U.S. will re-impose the nuclear-related sanctions on Irans economy and oil exports, which were waived under the JCPOA. Whilst the sanctions are effective immediately, there is a wind-down period of 90- or 180-days to allow firms to exit any existing agreements they have with Iran. Trump has also hinted that he might impose additional sanctions on top of those which were waived. Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia plus Germany signed the landmark nuclear deal on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016. The agreement limits Irans nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: About a hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the General Prosecutor's office in Yerevan on May 18 in the morning, demanding the resignation of the body's head Artur Davtyan, TASS reported. "We demand that the Prosecutor General Davtyan came down to us and answered why for all these years his agency fabricated cases against many innocent people who fought against the former regime. He must resign," said one of the initiators of the picket, a civil activist and human rights activist Vardges Gaspsari. The supporters of the paramilitary group "Sasna tsrer" ("the Sassoun Braves"), which in July 2016, attacked a police regiment of Yerevan and former General Samvel Babayan also gathered near the building of the Prosecutor's office. Babayan was arrested in 2017 due to suspicion of planning an assassination attempt on ex-President Serzh Sargsyan. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinian said May 17 that he will consider the requirement of resignation of the General Prosecutor Arthur Davtyan. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: Dozens of protesters in Armenia blocked a road to the country's largest gold deposit near the Sotq town, TASS reported on May 18 referring to GeoProMining Gold company, which is engaged in mining of precious metals in the republic. "From May 17 to 18, illegal gold miners blocked the road to the Sotq gold deposit and paralyzed the whole production process. They motivating their actions with political demands, claiming that they participate in civil rights movement and fight for their rights," the company said. According to the company, the protesters, who are engaged in private illegal mining of precious metals in this area, demand resignation of leadership of the Sotq gold deposit. The company worries that protests could lead to a complete stoppage of works at its enterprises. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who held talks in Sochi on Thursday, discussed engagement of Russian companies in the rebuilding of the Syrian Arab Republic. Assad said about it after completion of the talks, TASS reported. Assads words were quoted in a transcript the Kremlin uploaded at its official homepage. "As regards economic cooperation, wed like to point out a recent increase of Russian investment, the investments the Russian companies are making in various sectors of Syrian economy," Assad said. "We also discussed possible steps that would stimulate further interest of the Russian companies towards investing in our country and engaging in the process of its rehabilitation," he said. Putin said on his part that it was important to take the necessary steps towards restoration of Syrian economy and for settling the long-overdue knotty problems, solution of which was essential for the untangling of humanitarian issues. "We hope for support on the part of the UN and all the countries that have interest in resolving the Syrian crisis," he said. Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih on Thursday called peers from Russia, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea to discuss volatility in the oil market, Sputnik reported. "To coordinate global action to ease oil market anxiety, I telephoned a number of my Ministerial counterparts today. Energy Ministers contacted recently include those from UAE, USA, Russia, India and Korea," he tweeted. The Saudi energy chief said he had also talked with the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and planned to bring up the issue at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia next week. "I also talked to the Executive Director of IEA to reassure him of our commitment to the stability of oil markets and the global economy. I will contact others over the next few days before attending SPIEF May 24-26 and continuing our discussions there," he went on to say. A Chinese bank said on Friday it was tightening up its management after some staff were caught offering elite clients the chance to attend a dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump, and get their pictures snapped with him, for $150,000, Reuters reports. An invitation emblazoned with the logo of the China Construction Bank Corp circulating on the Weibo social media platform, offered high-net-worth clients the opportunity to attend a May 31 dinner in Dallas to mingle with U.S. tycoons. Among the highlights for VIP attendees would be having dinner with the president; taking photos with the president and getting the presidents autograph, the advertisement said. Trump is scheduled to host a $50,000-a-head fund-raising dinner with the Republican National Committee in Dallas that night. The CCB branch in the technology hub of Shenzhen said it had not organized the offer but that after an investigation it found that the dinner had been promoted by some employees. As a result, it would strengthen internal management and standardize marketing activities, the bank said in a statement. The invitation was circulating online as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who is leading a trade delegation in Washington, met Trump to ease escalating trade tensions. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese goods worth up to $150 billion to combat what he says is its misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies. Heavy clashes broke out in the eastern Libyan city of Darna on Thursday between the eastern-based army forces and militants in the city, killing five soldiers and six militants, according to medical and military sources, Xinhua rpeorted. "The hospital received six bodies of members of the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Darna, while an unknown number of others were wounded and could not be counted because they were taken to private hospitals," a medical source from Al-Wahda hospital in Darna told Xinhua later Thursday. The source added that the casualties were the result of Thursday's clashes. "Five soldiers were killed in clashes with terrorists and landmines they (militants) left before fleeing," an official of the army's Darna operations chamber said. "The eastern town of Shiha in Darna witnessed violent clashes. The army made limited progress, waiting for clearing the planted mines that prevent the progress of the army forces," the source told Xinhua. The army is launching a military operation to take over Darna from the militants who control the coastal city. Since 2015, Darna has been besieged by the army, which demands the Shura Council members to leave. Humanitarian coordinator of the UN Support Mission in Libya Maria Ribeiro on Thursday called on the army to allow humanitarian aid to enter Darna. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram of condolences to Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, over a deadly crash of a passenger jet in Havana airport, the Kremlin said in a statement Friday, Sputnik reports. "The Russian head of state conveyed words of sympathy and support to the families and friends of those killed, as well as wishes of a speedy recovery to those who survived the crash," the telegram says. Boeing 737 carrying 104 passengers and crew crashed shortly after a takeoff from the Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba. It was reported shortly after the crash that three people on the plane had survived, however, worker at Havanas Calixto Garcia hospital told Reute Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to Russia on May 24-27, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Friday, TASS reports. "The prime ministers visit to Russia will take place on May 24-27. The talks with President Putin are scheduled for May 26," Suga said. On May 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and also Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde will take part in the plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. In late April, Russias Federation Council (upper house) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said that Abe would take part in the opening ceremony of the Year of Japan in Russia and the Year of Russia in Japan, which will be held in Moscows Bolshoi Theater on May 26. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will be held on May 24-26. SPIEF has been held since 1997, and since 2006, it has been held under the auspices of the Russian president, who has also attended each event. Over the past 20 years, the Forum has become a leading global platform for members of the business community to meet and discuss the key economic issues facing Russia, emerging markets, and the world as a whole. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: The summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which will be held in Istanbul and will focus on the situation in Palestine, will be attended by representatives of more than 40 countries, Turkish media reported May 18. The conference on the situation in Palestine will be attended by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and the presidents of Afghanistan, Sudan, and Mauritania. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an emergency meeting in Istanbul regarding Palestine on May 18. Protests are underway in the Gaza Strip amid the 70th anniversary of establishment of Israel and the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On May 13, Israeli soldiers opened fire at the protesters. According to the latest information, 100 Palestinians were killed in the clashes, more than 2,700 were injured. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: One of the main priorities for Turkey is the fight against the PKK terrorist organization, Turkish president's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Friday, Turkish media reports. The PKK poses a serious threat to Turkey, and despite the calls of a number of countries to weaken the fight against the PKK, this is not acceptable for Ankara, according to the press secretary. He noted that the Turkish government has no new program in its plans to continue the process of democratic solution of the Kurdish problem. The process of democratic solution of the Kurdish problem in Turkey began in 2009, after which a part of the PKK militants left Turkey, moving into Iraq. On July 28, 2015, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the process of democratic solution of the Kurdish problem can no longer be continued. According to the head of state, the government cannot conduct a dialogue with those who support terrorists. The democratic solution of the Kurdish problem was important for Turkey, but unfortunately, some terrorist groups took advantage of this process, according to the president. The democratic solution of the Kurdish problem included the process of withdrawal of PKK militants from Turkey. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has lasted for more than 25 years, claiming more than 40,000 lives. The UN and the EU list the PKK as a terrorist organization. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: The US, by moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, once again demonstrated that it does not recognize the will of international community, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Turkish media reported on May 18. Cavusoglu, addressing the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on May 18, noted that the US actions also greatly harm the peace process. "All Muslim countries should support Palestine and condemn the actions of the US and Israel," Cavusoglu said. Istanbul has today hosted the OIC emergency meeting regarding Palestine. Protests are underway in the Gaza Strip amid the 70th anniversary of establishment of Israel and the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On May 13, Israeli soldiers opened fire at the protesters. According to the latest information, 100 Palestinians were killed in the clashes, more than 2,700 were injured. -- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Veteran spy Gina Haspel will become the first female director of the CIA on Thursday after six Democrats joined Republicans in a Senate confirmation vote that overrode concerns about her role in the spy agency's harsh interrogation program after 9/11, Fox News reported. The 54-45 vote split both parties, and the margin was the closest for a CIA nominee in the nearly seven decades that a nod from the Senate has been required. Haspel, who has spent nearly all of her 33-year CIA career in undercover positions, is the first career operations officer to be confirmed since William Colby in 1973. Haspel, 61, is a native of Kentucky but grew up around the world as the daughter of an Air Force serviceman. She worked in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe and was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year. She worked under former CIA director Mike Pompeo until President Donald Trump moved him to secretary of state. Haspel was backed by many in the CIA rank-and-file and was robustly supported by senior intelligence officials, including six former CIA directors and three former national intelligence directors, who said she earned the chance to take the helm of the nation's premier spy agency. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said Haspel has integrity and both frontline and executive intelligence expertise. "We salute Director Haspel, a trailblazer who today becomes the first woman to lead the CIA," he said. Her opponents argued that it wasn't right to promote someone who supervised a covert detention site in Thailand where terror suspects were waterboarded, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning. They said the U.S. needed to slam closed what was one of the CIA's darkest chapters that tainted America's image with allies abroad. Several senators said Haspel was not forthcoming in answering questions about her role in the torture program or the CIA's decision to destroy video-taped evidence of the sessions. They also had questions about her rejection of the now-banned techniques. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a floor speech that Haspel "offered up almost the classic Washington non-apology." He asked how the Senate could take seriously Haspel's "conversion on torture?" Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the world was watching the confirmation vote, which he called a "referendum on torture." He said the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" the CIA used at black sites, including slamming detainees against walls and confining them in coffin-shaped boxes, amounted to "government-sanctioned torture." Haspel has vowed never to restart such a program and says her "strong moral compass" would prevent her from carrying out any presidential order she found objectionable. That was enough to coax some senators into the "yes" column. But Leahy said he still questioned her judgment and lamented that she has never publicly condemned torture as "immoral." He wondered aloud what Haspel would do if she's asked to do something that goes against America's core values. "Should we trust that she will have the moral compass to stand up and say 'No?'" he asked. "Based on what we've seen, I do not." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the nomination was not just about Haspel, but the U.S. grappling with its past mistakes. "The bottom line is this: No one has ever been held accountable for the torture program and I do not believe those who were intimately involved in it deserve to lead the agency," Feinstein said before casting her vote against Haspel. Since Trump nominated Haspel, her confirmation has been clouded by debate over the CIA's former interrogation program. A protester in the Senate visitor gallery briefly disrupted speeches ahead of the vote with shouts against the CIA. Three Republicans opposed her: Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is battling cancer and did not vote; Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky; and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona. Six Democrats, however, were heartened by her pledge to never restart harsh interrogation programs, even if Trump requested. They said they voted for Haspel because they thought her experience was essential in confronting today's threats from U.S. adversaries like Russia, North Korea, China and Iran. Among Democrats supporting Haspel were several up for re-election this fall in states where Trump is popular, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida. Also voting yes were Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking member of the intelligence committee. "This has not been an easy decision," Warner said, adding that he'd met and talked with Haspel many times in the past several weeks. He said he's convinced that Haspel could and would stand up to Trump, who has voiced support for waterboarding and has said "torture works." After the vote, human rights groups quickly issued statements denouncing the confirmation and the now-defunct program. "The Senate has now rewarded that atrocious conduct by promoting someone that reportedly administered it to lead one of the government's most powerful agencies," said Daphne Eviatar at Amnesty International USA. China dismissed US President Trump's assertion Friday that President Xi Jinping might be behind North Korea's sudden shift to a recalcitrant attitude. Following a weeks-long peace offensive, the North has changed its tack. It called off scheduled high-level talks with South Korea earlier this week and threatened to reconsider the plan to hold summit talks with the US in Singapore next month. Pyongyang cited the ongoing South Korea-US joint air combat drills and denuclearization-related comments, especially by Trump's national security advisor John Bolton. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Xi "could be influencing" the North's leader, Kim Jong-un. Xi and Kim have met twice recently, a show of improved ties between the communist allies that share a border. The US has long stressed the importance of China's role in coaxing Pyongyang into changing its course. Asked about Trump's view, Lu Kang, spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said his country has maintained a consistent position in connection with its role in dealing with the Korea Peninsula issue. "Although other countries change their stances in a zigzag, that of China remains unchanged," he said at a press briefing. China has maintained supportive efforts for the denuclearization of Korea via dialogue and to establish peace and stability in the region, he added. He said the Chinese government welcomes Trump's promise to distance himself from the so-called Libya model for the denuclearization of North Korea. "(We) are paying attention to the US attitude to respect North Korea's security concern and desire a solution," the official said. "The essence of the Korean Peninsula issue is security." Dupa inscrierea pe site-ul HotNews.ro, poti deschide sectiunea MyHotNews ca sa completezi sau sa schimbi profilul de utilizator. Atentie! Logarea pe site se face cu adresa de email, nu cu nickname-ul. Adresa ta de email va ramane confidentiala si nu va fi niciodata data unor terte persoane sau institutii. Inainte de a te inscrie pe site te rugam sa parcurgi termenii si conditiile atasate unui cont HotNews.ro. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2018 - 13:57 | All, Japan A record-high 98.0 percent of newly minted university graduates in Japan have landed jobs at the beginning of this fiscal year in April, government data showed Friday, reflecting the nation's recovering economy. The employment rate of job-seeking graduates rose 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier, up for the seventh consecutive year, in an annual survey conducted since 1997 by the labor and education ministries. Aided by firms' increasing appetite for recruitment, the rate of university students seeking jobs also increased to 75.3 percent, the highest on record. A labor ministry official attributed the rises to an economic turnaround that has provided students with bigger opportunities to apply for positions that matched their preferences. The employment rate among new high school graduates who sought jobs as of the end of March gained 0.1 percentage point to 98.1 percent, up for the eighth straight year. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, told a press conference, "Enhanced collaboration between Hello Work (public job placement offices) and universities or high schools as well as improved career education have contributed to the strong figures." (University students at a job seminar in Chiba, near Tokyo, on March 1, 2017.) The employment rate of university graduates who majored in humanities climbed 0.9 percentage point to 98.2 percent while that of those who majored in science-related studies fell 1.5 percentage point to 97.2 percent. It was the first time the figure for science majors came below that for humanities majors. The labor ministry official said there may have been more science graduates who sought to land jobs at companies of their first choices even if that meant they have to spend one more year to obtain qualifications demanded by some firms. With around 8,200 new university graduates estimated to remain jobless, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said it will continue to support their efforts to secure employment. Twenty-four national and public universities and 38 private universities were picked for the survey that covered some 4,800 students. Each university interviewed students to track their employment situation. The new university graduates' employment rate recovered from a record low of 91.0 percent in the spring of 2011, weeks after the March earthquake and tsunami disaster struck northeastern Japan. (University students at a job seminar in Chiba, near Tokyo, on March 1, 2017.) In a separate survey that covered all high school students in Japan, around 188,000 students sought jobs out of around 1,061,000 students. The seller's market is expected to continue this fiscal year on the back of labor shortages except for some industries such as major banks, which have decided to slash new hires, experts said. According to Recruit Career Co., the proportion of students who secured informal job offers for the next fiscal year stood at around 43 percent as of May 1, up 7.7 percentage points from the previous year. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2018 - 08:22 | All, World U.S. President Donald Trump indicated Thursday he will provide North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with security assurances in return for denuclearization in an apparent effort to allay Pyongyang's concern about striking a deal with Washington. "I think we'll actually have a good relationship, assuming we have the meeting and assuming something comes out of it," Trump told reporters, in reference to a Trump-Kim meeting slated for June 12 in Singapore. "And he'll get protections that will be very strong." At the same time, Trump threatened Kim with the same fate as former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi if the North's leader does not make a deal on his nuclear weapons program. [Pool photo, Getty/Kyodo] Referring to the toppling of Gaddafi's regime and his death in 2011, Trump said, "That model would take place if we don't make a deal." "We cannot let that country have nukes," he said of North Korea. "We just can't do it." Trump, however, said that if he and Kim made a deal, "I think Kim Jong Un is going to be very, very happy." "He'd be in his country. He'd be running his country. His country would be very rich," the U.S. leader said. "We're going to say that he will have very adequate protection." Trump said he is not considering a so-called Libya model for dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But he appeared to interpret the model to mean the 2011 North Atlantic Treaty Organization intervention in the northern African country in support of an uprising that led to Gaddafi's overthrow and killing. "The Libyan model isn't a model that we have at all when we're thinking of North Korea," Trump said. "In Libya, we decimated that country...We never said to Gaddafi, 'Oh, we're going to give you protection.'" (Muammar Gaddafi) Trump made the remarks a day after a senior North Korean official threatened to cancel the Trump-Kim meeting and condemned U.S. national security adviser John Bolton for citing Gaddafi's agreement to surrender his nascent nuclear weapons program in the early 2000s as a basis for talks with Kim. First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan rebuked Bolton for advocating "the Libya model of 2003-2004" that precludes any concessions such as sanctions relief before full denuclearization. Pyongyang has blamed the Libya deal for Gaddafi's eventual downfall. North Korea, whose formal name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has opted for "phased and synchronous measures" so Pyongyang can win rewards for every step it takes in the denuclearization process. "If the U.S. is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue and cannot but reconsider our proceeding to the DPRK-U.S. summit," Kim Kye Gwan was quoted by the North's state media as saying Wednesday. [Korea Summit Press Pool] Despite such threats, Trump said Thursday nothing has changed with regard to what will be the first U.S.-North Korea summit. U.S. and North Korean officials are discussing logistical details such as where to meet and how to meet "like nothing happened," according to the president. Trump said he will not discuss U.S. troop levels in South Korea during his meeting with Kim Jong Un. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2018 - 18:55 | World, All South Korea's unification minister said Friday that Japan would become an "important partner" to achieve President Moon Jae In's economic cooperation initiative with the North if denuclearization of the divided Korean Peninsula is realized. Cho Myoung Gyon, a key minister engaged in talks with Pyongyang, also said in an interview with Kyodo News that normalization of North Korea's diplomatic ties with Japan and the United States would provide a "stable footing" for denuclearization to proceed. It was the first time for Cho to grant an interview to foreign media since the April 27 summit between South Korean President Moon Jae In and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the truce village of Panmunjeom. Cho, who has led South Korea's negotiations with the North, attended the historic summit, in which Moon and Kim agreed to pursue "complete denuclearization" of the peninsula and strive to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War. The economic cooperation initiative includes three economic belts: an energy and resource belt connecting the east coast of the Korean Peninsula to the Russian Far East, a transportation and logistics belt between the west coast of the peninsula and China, and a cross-border tourism belt. Before taking office in May 2017, Moon had included the initiative in his campaign platform. It has yet to be implemented, however, as the South has imposed economic sanctions against the North for continuing to develop nuclear weapons in defiance of international condemnation and sanctions. According to Cho, Moon attempted to explain his economic initiative to Kim at the summit using Powerpoint slides, but due to lack of time, Moon gave him a USB drive that contained data on it. Pyongyang showed interest in the connectivity of trains and roads between the two Koreas, Cho said. As for the North's sudden cancellation of inter-Korean ministerial talks on Wednesday, Cho said the South will start trying to arrange their resumption after joint U.S.-South Korean military drills that began May 11 end on May 25. Criticizing the military exercises for undermining a recent thaw on the Korean Peninsula, the North has suspend talks with the South. "The denuclearization issue and South-North relations are like the two wheels of a cart and a cart will not move forward with only one wheel," Cho said, "I believe North Korea will make a right judgment." If inter-Korean talks resume, issues unaffected by economic sanctions "will be promoted soon," Cho said, citing reunions between war-separated families, compilation of a dictionary to clarify differences of the two Korean languages and the implementation of measures to ease tensions in the 4 kilometer wide, 250 km long Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas. Cho, meanwhile, emphasized that he recognizes Japan is an "important neighboring country," with which South Korea should continue to work together not only in the economic area but also in the security, peace and social fields. "It is a common goal of Japan, South Korea and surrounding countries to eliminate the situation where North Korea's missiles fly over Japan," Cho said. "The process of cooperating to resolve problems is important" in consideration of North Korea's stance, instead of unilaterally putting pressure on Pyongyang, the minister added. Regarding North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, Cho said Moon raised the issue at the summit with Kim, but declined to comment on how North Korea responded to it. By Ko Hirano, KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2018 - 18:02 | All, World Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, there is deep skepticism in Washington as to whether Pyongyang will seriously commit to ridding itself of nuclear weapons through a robust verification process. In a meeting Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang, Kim said the summit, set for June 12 in Singapore, will be "a historic meeting for the excellent first step toward promotion of the positive situation development in the Korean Peninsula." But as in the cases of previous nuclear negotiations that ended with broken promises by North Korea, more than a few analysts suspect Kim's engagement with Trump may be yet another tactical attempt to buy time and win concessions without actually eliminating his hard-won nuclear arsenal. Citing Kim's remark last month that no nuclear tests or test-launches of intermediate-range or intercontinental ballistic missiles were necessary because the work for mounting nuclear warheads had already been finished, Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation said, "That's far different from abandoning testing as a prelude to ridding itself of nuclear weapons or ICBMs." "By adopting a stance of mutual arms control rather than unilateral North Korean denuclearization, Kim may attempt to put the onus on U.S. possession of nuclear weapons," said Klingner, the senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Washington think tank. "For Kim, this has the added benefit of helping North Korea gain formal recognition as a nuclear weapons state." (U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, L, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un) [KCNA-UPI] While U.S.-led sanctions have apparently bitten, Kim seems to believe he has leverage to negotiate due to the progress he has made in developing a nuclear-tipped ICBM capable of hitting the United States, according to some analysts. Additionally, North Korea, believing that nuclear weapons are essential for regime survival, proclaimed itself a "nuclear state" in a revision of its Constitution in April 2012, only four months after Kim came to power following the death of his father, longtime ruler Kim Jong Il. In a meeting on April 20, Kim's Workers' Party of Korea decided to suspend nuclear tests and ICBM launches and shut down the North's only known underground nuclear test site, a move critics see as an attempt to win an easing of sanctions. North Korea has announced nuclear and missile moratoriums before, only to rescind them. The latest moratorium also falls far short of demands from the international community that Pyongyang dismantle all its weapons of mass destruction, missiles and related facilities in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way. Trump has said on numerous occasions that he will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations, asserting they gave North Korea too many concessions despite the country not abandoning its nuclear ambitions. He vowed to maintain maximum pressure and sanctions until the North denuclearizes. Underscoring a gap between Washington and Pyongyang over a process and pace for denuclearization, Kim told Chinese President Xi Jinping this week that he wants "phased and synchronous measures" and hopes to "eventually achieve denuclearization and lasting peace on the peninsula," according to China's official Xinhua News Agency. In contrast, the Trump administration has been advocating a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, and is reportedly eyeing a timeline of six months to a year for completion. "We're not going to relieve sanctions until such time as we achieved our objectives," Pompeo told reporters Tuesday. "We are not going to do this in small increments, where the world is essentially coerced into relieving economic pressure." Kim was also quoted by Xinhua as telling Xi during talks Monday and Tuesday in Dalian, northeastern China, that North Korea would give up its arsenal if "relevant parties," in an apparent reference to the United States and its allies, drop "hostile policies" and remove "security threats" against the country. North Korea has linked its pursuit of nuclear weapons to what it calls "hostile" U.S. policy, referring to the 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea and the provision of "nuclear umbrella" defense to Seoul in line with their bilateral alliance. North Korea has traditionally called for removing the U.S. military presence and nuclear deterrence from South Korea as part of its definition of "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," while the United States, South Korea and Japan define denuclearization as Kim giving up his nuclear weapons. Experts say they find it difficult to imagine Kim would bargain away the arsenal Pyongyang has developed for decades and which he calls a "treasured sword" for its role as a necessary deterrent against what the North perceives to be U.S. nuclear threats. "From my perspective, the North Koreans are not going to denuclearize within a sixth-month, one-year time frame, and there is still too huge a gap between our definition of denuclearization and theirs," said Jung Pak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "So I think that's going to be something hopefully that they can work out before the meeting actually happens," Pak said. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2018 - 09:55 | World, All A senior North Korean official indicated Thursday that the country will not resume inter-Korean talks as long as the United States and South Korea continue their ongoing joint military drills, according to state-run media. "Unless the serious situation which led to the suspension of the north-south high-level talks is settled, it will never be easy to sit face to face again with the present regime of south Korea," Ri Son Gwon, head of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency. On Wednesday, North Korea suddenly cancelled a ministerial-level meeting with the South planned for that day, criticizing the joint military drills carried out by Seoul and Washington for undermining a recent inter-Korean thaw. [Korea Summit Press Pool] Pyongyang also threatened to cancel an upcoming summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, in an apparent attempt to test Washington, which has called on the North to abandon all of its nuclear weapons. At the planned summit, Kim is expected to demand a pledge by Trump that the United States will accept the continuation of North Korea's hereditary regime, in return for Pyongyang vowing to achieve denuclearization in a "phased" and "synchronized" manner. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2018 - 19:37 | World, All North Korea has disregarded South Korea's roster of journalists planning to attend a ceremony for dismantling the Punggye-ri nuclear test site next week, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Friday, in another possible setback to the recent thaw between the two Koreas. The move comes just days after North Korea suddenly canceled a ministerial-level meeting with the South planned for Wednesday, criticizing joint military drills carried out by Seoul and Washington for undermining the recent inter-Korean reconciliation. North Korea said last Saturday that it will hold a ceremony for dismantling the nuclear test site between May 23 and May 25, depending on weather conditions, and let journalists from China, Russia, United States, Britain and the South to conduct on-the-spot coverage. Pyongyang apparently aims to pressure Seoul to stop the joint military drills and test Washington's mettle ahead of the scheduled June 12 summit in Singapore between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, foreign affairs experts say. Relations between the two Koreas drastically improved after Kim extended an olive branch, saying in his New Year's address on Jan. 1 that he would prepare for his country's participation in the Feb. 9-25 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics hosted by the South. (Punggye-ri Nuclear test site) [DigitalGlobe/38 North via Getty/Kyodo] At the historic inter-Korean summit on April 27 at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae In agreed to pursue "complete denuclearization" of the peninsula and strive to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War. But a senior North Korean official indicated Thursday that the country will not resume inter-Korean talks so long as the United States and South Korea continue their joint military drills, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. While suspending high-level meeting with the South, North Korea has also threatened to cancel the Kim-Trump summit, lambasting Washington's unilateral call for Pyongyang to give up all its nuclear weapons. At the planned summit, Kim is expected to demand a pledge by Trump that the United States will accept the continuation of North Korea's hereditary regime, in return for Pyongyang vowing to achieve denuclearization in a "phased" and "synchronized" manner. KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2018 - 10:19 | All, World U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is likely to visit Japan in late June for talks with his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera on North Korea, sources close to bilateral ties said Thursday. During the talks, which will follow the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit on June 12, the defense chiefs are expected to reaffirm the two countries' commitment to continuing to apply pressure on North Korea until its complete denuclearization, the sources said. To underscore the closeness of the allies, U.S. President Donald Trump could also visit Japan to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after the summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. According to the sources, Mattis' trip to Japan is being arranged at the strong request of the Japanese government. Before visiting Japan, Mattis plans to travel to China for the first time since becoming Pentagon chief in January 2017. The Japanese government believes close cooperation with the United States is needed more than ever to ensure it is not left behind in the diplomatic developments related to North Korea. (Mattis and Onodera meet in the Philippines in October 2017.) Tokyo views the Trump-Kim summit as an opportunity for making progress on the long-stalled issue of Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals decades ago. It also wants the United States to press North Korea to eliminate not only its nuclear weapons but all ballistic missiles, including those that put Japan within range. Mattis is also likely to meet Onodera in Hawaii later in May when the Pentagon chief is expected to attend a ceremony to mark the change of the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. The two defense chiefs are also considering holding bilateral talks on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Singapore in early June, according to the sources. KPCC President K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan have held talks with the party high command, including AICC General Secretary in-charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar, in New Delhi. Repeating seismic events--events that have the same frequency content and waveform shapes--may offer a glimpse at the movement of magma and volcanic gases underneath Turrialba and Poas, two well-known active volcanoes in Costa Rica. At the 2018 SSA Annual Meeting, Rebecca Salvage of the Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica presented an analysis of these repeating signals from the volcanoes since July 2016. When these repeating events are identified at a seismic station, researchers assume that these "events are all produced by a single mechanism and at a similar location at depth ... and by a source which is either non-destructive or able to quickly renew itself," Salvage noted. "Therefore, the identification and an understanding of repeating seismicity may allow us some insight into which parts of the volcanic system at depth are active, and the frequency content of the repeating seismicity may be indicative of processes occurring at depth." At Turrialba, for instance, Salvage and her colleagues identified a type of repeating event called "drumbeat seismicity," characterized by a very short time interval between events. In January 2017, drumbeat seismicity at the volcano lasted less than three hours but contained hundreds of events. Eight hours later, there was a small eruption at Turrialba. In this case, the drumbeat seismicity may have been a "precursor signal" of the eruption, related to magma moving toward the surface, Salvage said. "However, not all eruptions are preceded by these types of earthquakes, and often these earthquakes occur with no identifiable eruptive activity," she added. "A better understanding of drumbeats in terms of the conditions under which they do occur, and statistical analysis on inter-event times and occurrence rates will allow us to better assess whether these can actually be used as a warning tool." At Poas, the researchers noted another interesting halt in six families of repeating seismic events, just two hours after a swarm of magnitude 2.7 and higher earthquakes was recorded very near the volcano. In this case, Salvage and her colleagues think that the earthquakes may have influenced the stress field around the volcano in a way that halted the repeating events. The stress field may have changed when the earthquakes generated small displacements on local faults that created similar small diversions in magmatic gas and ash rising to the surface. ### The 2018 Annual Meeting, held May 14-17 in Miami, Florida, is a joint conference between the Seismological Society of America and the Latin American and Caribbean Seismological Commission (LACSC). A message from the USA TODAY NETWORK It appears that youre attempting to visit this site from a location in the European Union. At this point in time we regret to say we cannot make this site available to you. Please visit our home page eu.usatoday.com for other content that may be of interest to you. The AES Corporation AES is set to release first-quarter 2018 results, before the opening bell on May 8. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 34.38%. Moreover, it surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters, the average earnings surprise being a positive 5.30%. Lets see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement. The AES Corporation Price and EPS Surprise The AES Corporation Price and EPS Surprise | The AES Corporation Quote Why a Likely Positive Surprise Our proven model conclusively shows that AES Corp. is likely to beat earnings this quarter. Notably, a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. Impressively, the company has these attributes, as mentioned below: Zacks ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of +4.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: AES Corp. currently carries a Zacks Rank #3, which along with a positive Earnings ESP indicates at possible earnings beat. Please note that we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Factors at Play Lower corporate tax rate arising from the latest U.S. tax reform, along with the favorable impact of deferred tax remeasurement, are expected to benefit AES Corp.s first-quarter results. In March 2018, the company completed the sale of its entire equity interest in its Philippines businesses for $1.05 billion in proceeds, which it plans to use to retire its long-term debt due 2024 and 2025 along with some parent debt outstanding. We expect the effect of this debt reduction to get reflected in the companys first-quarter results, in the form of lower interest expenses, which in turn, is likely to boost its bottom line. The acquisition of sPower was a key growth driver for the company in 2017. In fact, AES Corp. gained higher equity earnings last year on account of new solar projects at sPower. We expect the upcoming results to reflect similar trends. For the to-be-reported quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings of 25 cents projects a rise of 47.1% while the same for revenues of $3.45 billion shows a drop of 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Other Stocks to Consider You can also consider stocks from the Zacks Utility Electric-Power industry that are expected to deliver a positive surprise this earnings season. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. HE is expected to report first-quarter earnings on May 4. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.91% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Ameren Corporation AEE is expected to report first-quarter earnings on May 9. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.45% and a Zacks Rank #3. Duke Energy Corporation DUK is expected to report first-quarter earnings on May 10. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.66% and a Zacks Rank #3. 5 Medical Stocks to Buy Now Zacks names 5 companies poised to ride a medical breakthrough that is targeting cures for leukemia, AIDS, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, and other conditions. New products in this field are already generating substantial revenue and even more wondrous treatments are in the pipeline. Early investors could realize exceptional profits. Click here to see the 5 stocks >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ameren Corporation (AEE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) : Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research DG vs. TJX: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now? DG vs. TJX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option? Applied Materials Inc. AMAT reported robust fiscal second-quarter 2018 results, with both the top and bottom lines surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The companys pro-forma earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22 beat the consensus mark by 9 cents and came in above the guided range of $1.10-$1.18 per share. Earnings were up 15% sequentially and 55% year over year. Revenues of $4.57 billion beat the consensus mark by $115 million and were above the guided range of $4.35-$4.55 billion, increasing 8.6% sequentially and 28.8% year over year. The revenue growth was backed by higher demand in most of the regions. Despite the strong fiscal second-quarter results, the companys share price declined 4.48% due to weaker-than-expected guidance for the fiscal third quarter. Also, shares have increased 16.9% in the past 12 months, underperforming the industrys gain of 36.3%. Inflection-focused innovation strategy was the primary growth driver. The company continues to witness technological advancements in semiconductor and flat-panel display areas. 3D NAND, DRAM and patterning have led to significant market share gains. Applied Materials has well-differentiated products, and high market share in foundry and logic. It is significantly improving on its memory market share as well. Management expects robust double-digit growth in semiconductor, display and service businesses in 2018. Applied Materials remains strongly positioned in China, where it continues to witness robust growth in semiconductor and display. Growing investments from Chinese domestic manufacturers have been the main catalysts. Notably, the company has gained considerable success in expanding beyond semiconductors, particularly in display. Mobile OLEDs and large screen televisions are opening new market opportunities for Applied Materials. Applied Materials sees significant opportunities from emerging trends on the semiconductor and display fronts such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality and smart vehicles. Story continues We believe that Applied Materials is in a great position to grow sustainably and profitably based on its strong pipeline of enabling technologies, supported by expanding opportunities on the semiconductor, service and display fronts. Lets delve deeper into the numbers. Revenues by Segment The Semiconductor Systems Group (SSG) contributed 65.7% of the revenues, reflecting an increase of 5.3% sequentially and 24.8% year over year. Applied Global Services (AGS) was the second-largest contributor with 20.7% revenue share. Segment revenues increased 7.2% sequentially and 30.2% from the prior-year quarter. The Display segment was up 31.9% from fiscal first-quarter and 53.5% from the year-ago level, contributing 13.1% to the revenues. Revenues by Geography Korea contributed 27% to the revenues, China 25%, Taiwan 16%, Japan 11%, United States 9%, Europe 7% while Southeast Asia 5%. On a sequential basis, Taiwan was the weakest, declining 3.8%. All the other regions improved sequentially. Similarly, on a year-over-year basis, only Taiwan decreased 15.8%. All the other regions showed improvement. Margins Pro-forma gross margin was 46.7%, flat sequentially but up 40 basis points (bps) from the year-ago quarter. Applied Materials operating expenses of $724 million increased 5% sequentially and 14% from the year-ago quarter. Operating margin of 30.2% increased 60 bps sequentially and 240 bps year over year. Net Profit On a pro-forma basis, Applied Materials reported net income of $1.27 billion or $1.22 per share compared with $861 million (79 cents per share) a year ago. Our pro-forma calculation excludes restructuring, acquisition-related, impairment and other charges, as well as tax adjustments in the reported quarter. On a GAAP basis, the company registered a net profit of $1.13 billion ($1.09 per share) compared with $824 million (76 cents per share) a year ago. Balance Sheet At the end of fiscal second quarter, inventories increased to $3.49 billion from $3.13 billion in the previous quarter. Accounts receivables increased to $2.67 billion from $2.18billion in the prior quarter. Cash and cash equivalent balance was $5.35 billion compared with $6.8 billion in the prior quarter. The company generated $611 million in cash from operations. The company spent $121 million on capex, and returned $2.5 billion and $105 million through stock repurchases and cash dividends, respectively. Guidance Applied Materials provided guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2018. Revenues are expected between $4.33 billion and $4.53 billion, up 18% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $4.50 billion. Non-GAAP EPS is expected to come in the range of $1.13-$1.21 per share, up 36% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $1.14 per share. Applied Materials, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Applied Materials, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Applied Materials, Inc. Quote Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider Applied Materials carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks in the technology sector are Littelfuse, Inc. LFUS, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while SMC Corporation SMCAY and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Long-term earnings per share growth rate for Littelfuse, SMC and Amazon is projected at 12%, 13.7% and 30.2%, respectively. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Littelfuse, Inc. (LFUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Smc Corporation (SMCAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Semiconductor stocks have been on fire over the past few years, but recently, investors have grown concerned that the industrys run might be nearing its end. With concerns that the semiconductor cycle is wrapping up, it is prudent to avoid those that are already strugglingincluding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM). Taiwan Semiconductor is the world's largest dedicated integrated circuit foundry. The company manufactures ICs for its customers based on their proprietary IC designs using its advanced production processes. Most leading fabless semiconductor companies, including Qualcomm (QCOM), AMD (AMD), and more, are customers of TSMC. After a sluggish earnings report last month, TSMC is sporting a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and looks a bit pricey for what you are getting. Latest Earnings and Outlook Taiwan Semiconductor most recently reported earnings on April 19. The company posted adjusted profits of $0.59 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and moving just about 9% higher year over year. Revenue of $8.46 billion just edged out our consensus estimate of $8.45 billion. TSMCs outlook for the remainder of the year was not particularly encouraging, and since its report, analysts have adjusted their own estimates downward to match that. In fact, the company has seen two negative revisions to its full-year EPS estimates within the past 30 days, moving our consensus projection 15 cents lower in that time. Stretched Valuation? Shares of TSMC have fallen about 5% in the month since its latest earnings report, but the stock still looks overvalued in many ways. For instance, it is trading at about 16x forward 12-month earnings, which is a noticeable premium to the average of 13x seen in the broader semiconductor market. Meanwhile, its P/S of 6.2, as well as its P/B of 3.8 and P/CF of 10.3, add credence to the idea that the stock is a bit pricy right now. Bottom Line Semiconductor investors are worried about the cycle coming to an end, so why pay a premium for a chip supplier with a sluggish earnings outlook? Story continues Want more market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter! Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars? Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge. With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research. It's not the one you think. See This Ticker Free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Bill Gates Says President Trump Is Very Confused About the Difference Between HIV and HPV founder Bill Gates has been talking about his surreal encounters with President Donald Trump again, and this time hes revealed some worrying details about the presidents lack of medical savvy. In a video shot earlier this week at a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation meeting, and published Thursday by MSNBC, Gates regaled his audience with the tidbit that, on both occasions when he met with Trump after the election--in December 2016 and March 2017--the president expressed confusion about the difference between HIV and HPV. He also highlighted Trumps well-known obsession with vaccines, which the president believes are linked to autism--a venerable and thoroughly debunked theory. Both times [Trump] wanted to know if there was a difference between HIV and HPV. So, I was able to explain that those are rarely confused with each other, said Gates. Although both viruses are often spread sexually, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can lead to AIDS, while the less-serious human papillomavirus (HPV) sometimes causes genital warts and lesions that can become cancerous. Never before seen footage obtained exclusively by All In shows Bill Gates discussing meetings with Donald Trump #inners pic.twitter.com/GouJwYKghi All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) May 18, 2018 In both of those two meetings, he asked me if vaccines werent a bad thing, because he was considering a commission to look into the ill effects of vaccinesRobert Kennedy Jr. was advising him that vaccines were causing bad things, Gates said. And I said no, thats a dead end, that would be a bad thing, dont do that. Kennedy, the scion of assassinated U.S. attorney general and Senator Bobby Kennedy, is an outspoken proponent of the idea that mercury-based thimerosal--a compound that stops germs from growing in vaccines--causes autistic spectrum disorders. However, there is no proven link between the vaccine preservative and autism. Story continues Trump has many times indicated that he sides with the anti-vaccine cause, regularly tweeting about his concerns, bringing up the issue in a Republican primary debate, and even meeting with anti-vaxxer heroes such as Andrew Wakefield, the former British gastroenterologist who was struck off the U.K. medical register over his fraudulent 1998 research paper that sparked the anti-vaccine debate. The anti-vaccine conspiracy theory is far from harmless, as skepticism over vaccines threatens the herd immunity against devastating diseases that communities enjoy when everyone is vaccinated. When parents shun vaccines, the results can, for example, be seen in deadly measles outbreaks. Gates, who used his meetings with Trump to push the idea of a flu vaccine, disclosed a few weeks ago that Trump had offered him the vacant post of White House science advisor. Unsure if the offer was genuine, Gates told Trump it was not a good use of my time. With that, the vaccine and HPV/HIV revelations, and an anecdote in the new video about Trumps comments on the appearance of Gatess daughter (to the displeasure of Melinda Gates), it seems unlikely that the two will be chatting again anytime soon. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com (Rewrites with White House adviser comments, details on $200 billion target) * White House adviser says China in Washington "to trade" * China ends anti-dumping duties on sorghum * U.S. agencies ask industry for views on potential deals By Steve Holland and Michael Martina WASHINGTON/BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - China is "meeting many" Trump administration demands to cut its trade surplus with the United States, but a definitive deal to resolve deep trade differences could take a while to develop, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday. "China has come to trade," Kudlow told reporters at the White House as U.S. officials met with a Chinese trade delegation for a second day in Washington. "They are meeting many of our demands. There is no deal yet to be sure, and it's probably going to take a while to process, but they're coming to play." Kudlow said the Chinese had offered a package of U.S. goods purchases and other steps to cut China's annual U.S. trade surplus by some $200 billion, contradicting a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman who denied that such a reduction had been offered. "This rumour is not true. This I can confirm to you," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news briefing on Friday, adding that consultations in Washington "are constructive." Kudlow said the Chinese offer included energy and farm commodities purchases, adding "the number is a good number," adding that China would also need to lower non-tariff barriers and agree to a "verifiable process whereby the technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property stops." U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on up to $150 billion of Chinese goods to combat what he says is Beijing's misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies. Beijing has threatened equal retaliation, including tariffs on some of its largest U.S. imports, including aircraft, soybeans and autos. Story continues CHINA DROPS SORGHUM DUTIES China took a surprise conciliatory step to end an anti-dumping probe that had heaped hefty duties onto U.S. sorghum grain, effectively halting $1.1 billion in U.S. exports, causing turmoil in grain markets and sparking concerns about rising costs in China. As the talks continued, Trump administration officials have been contacting groups in the agriculture, technology and energy sectors to vet the Chinese proposals and determine whether increasing exports was feasible, people familiar with the talks said. Two sources involved in the negotiations said that the Treasury has been contacting American technology firms to test their support for liberalizing export control laws to allow more high-tech exports to China. Chinese officials had proposed a list of goods covered by U.S. export controls that are not restricted by other countries, implying that these could be purchased from the United States, the sources said. China has long sought to increase purchases of U.S. high-technology goods. Achieving a $200 billion reduction of the U.S.-China trade deficit on a sustainable basis would require a massive change in the composition of commerce between the two countries, prompting skepticism from economists. The $200 billion figure is larger than all of the United States' global annual agricultural and oil exports. ZTE FATE UNCLEAR It was unclear whether any agreements that could emerge from the talks later on Friday would include a relaxation of paralyzing restrictions on Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp imposed last month by the U.S. Commerce Department. The sanctions-related move banned U.S. firms from selling semiconductors and other components to ZTE, causing the Shenzhen-based firm to cease operations. Earlier this week, Trump tweeted that he directed Commerce to put ZTE back in business and said the company's situation was part of an overall trade deal with China. But Kudlow distanced the ZTE issue from the current trade talks and said the company's punishment may or may not be changed. "The Chinese government has asked for a bit of relief on the remedy. It doesnt mean there wont be a remedy. There will be very strong remedies," he said. Trump, speaking at a White House event on prison reform, said he was determined to negotiate "great trade deals" with China and other countries. "Were changing a lot of those horrible trade deals. They take our jobs, they take our money, we end up with no money, no taxes, no employment. Not a good combination." (Reporting by Tony Munroe and Michael Martina in BEIJING and Steve Holland, David Lawder and John Walcott in WASHINGTON Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu in WASHINGTON, Hallie Gu in BEIJING, and Naveen Thukral in SINGAPORE Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish) A population of 741 million people makes Europe a huge market for drugmakers, yet most investors avoid European healthcare stocks in their portfolios. Is that a mistake? It could be, especially when it comes to Sanofi SA (NYSE: SNY), a French biopharma giant that's trading at a reasonable valuation and offers a market-trouncing dividend yield. In this episode of The Motley Fool's Industry Focus: Healthcare, analyst Kristine Harjes and Motley Fool contributor Todd Campbell explain how drug approvals work in Europe and why Sanofi ought to be a stock that's on your radar. A full transcript follows the video. More From The Motley Fool This video was recorded on May 16, 2018. Kristine Harjes: Welcome to Industry Focus, the podcast that dives into a different sector of the stock market every day. I'm your Healthcare host, Kristine Harjes, and I have my usual sidekick, Todd Campbell, calling in. It's May 16th, and we're smack in the middle of an International Theme Week here on Industry Focus. Because we're a U.S.-based podcast talking about the U.S. stock market, we spend most of our time talking about domestic companies. But there's a whole world of stocks out there, and no portfolio is truly diversified without international exposure. So, this week, we decided to change things up by focusing on international stories. We'll start our show today with a high-level overview of how the drug approval process works in Europe, noting the key ways in which it's different from the U.S. system and why it matters to your portfolio. Then we'll turn to Sanofi, France's largest drug maker. Story continues But, first things first, what do our listeners need to know about drug approval in Europe? Todd Campbell: Well, it's a little bit different than it is in the U.S. There's some nuances that people ought to be aware of. I think, Kristine, one of the things that might be helpful to listeners, just to put things into context and to add on to what you've already said, is just how big the market is for medicine in Europe. I think, in the U.S., as U.S. investors, we tend to look at the U.S. market and recognize that, yeah, the U.S. market in dollar terms is the biggest market on the planet. But the European market is still incredibly significant. There are 741 million people who live in Europe, Kristine. Harjes: Yeah, it's not insignificant. It's something that, even if you are looking at domestic companies, U.S.-based companies, they're still probably going to have some European exposure. If you can get a drug approved in the United States, a lot of people consider our standards the strictest, then you might as well go ahead and look to get it approved internationally, as well. Campbell: Right. In the olden times, European approval was done on a decentralized basis -- so, you had to go to each individual country. You can imagine what a pain in the butt that would be. I have to get approved in Switzerland, I have to get approved in the U.K., I have to get approved in Germany, I have to get approved in Sweden, Finland, etc. Obviously, that wasn't the most efficient system. However, since the European Union was formed, they've set up a regulatory process over in the E.U. in the 90s that's a little bit similar to the Food and Drug Administration here in the United States in that it provides a centralized review process. Again, we talked about the nuances that people have to be aware of between the two approaches to approval. But, I think what's helpful, maybe, is to know that on in clinical trial basis, in the U.S., you have to get approval to begin clinical trials with the FDA. In Europe, it's still done on a decentralized country-by-country basis. Once those trials are complete, however, the new drug application would get submitted to the EMA, which is the centralized body that will consider the approval of any drugs for member countries in Europe. Similarly, in the U.S., you would submit it to the FDA for approval. Once it's submitted, both agencies have their own independent review mechanisms. In the U.S., maybe they convene a group of experts and have an advisory committee meeting. Similarly, in the E.U., they would convene a group of experts there to offer up an opinion. Then, again, in both of those systems, the regulatory body doesn't have to listen to the advisors, but usually they do. Harjes: Exactly. In many ways, there are parallels between the FDA and the EMA, the European Medicines Agency. But where the system really starts to differentiate itself is what happens after that central agency says, "Yes, this drug can be approved." In the United States, after that, you're pretty much good to go. You can get on the market and start selling it. But in Europe, the key difference to note is that the drug makers must then go nation by nation to get reimbursement approval. And that's because, in these countries, since there is a centralized universal health insurance program, it's the government itself that's going to wind up paying for these drugs, so they want to be able to negotiate a price. And if the price isn't deemed worth it, or if, for whatever reason, they don't want to cover this drug, they don't have to. And that's a conversation that the drug maker must have country by country. Campbell: Right. If you look at the studies of the review times that it takes for drugs that are filed for approval in the U.S. to win an OK versus in Europe to win an OK, the U.S. typically comes in a little bit faster. But, they're not too much different, as far as how long it takes to get a drug approval. But, I think what you're talking about with the individual obtaining reimbursement, that's maybe what shifts more companies to say, "I'm going to focus on the U.S. first." Because you're right, winning approval for reimbursement in each one of these member states can be a time-consuming and arduous process. Probably the best example of that, Kristine, is what happens in the United Kingdom, right? Harjes: Yep! Campbell: The United Kingdom has NICE, which is a regulatory body whose sole function is to look at the value that's created by drugs that have been approved for use in the European Union. Then, based upon determining value, and they use statistical formulas to determine that, they'll decide whether or not they agree to reimburse for it. Oftentimes, you end up with situations where, yeah, we've crossed all our T's and dotted all our I's, jumped over all of our hurdles, overcome all our obstacles and won approval in Europe, but NICE says, "Nope, your drug is priced too high for the value that we believe it adds to our population." Harjes: There's an interesting philosophical rabbit hole you can go down here regarding how exactly you do come up with that calculation. Like you said, Todd, it's completely statistical. It's based on the quality-adjusted life year metric, or the QALY. It then affixes a price to that to say how much a life year is worth; how much, as a government, do we want to pay for a drug that gives somebody one more year. Or, the quality-adjusted is, maybe it's multiple years, but they're not quite at full health, so then you adjust for that. I don't know, there's a lot to think about there. I don't want to unpack that too much, because I think we could probably do an entire episode on that. But, it's an interesting differentiation between how things work in the United States, where you do sometimes see private payer pushback on prices, but it's completely different than seeing it in a centralized location. Campbell: Yeah. I think that's kind of the hiccup. If you're looking at it and saying, what's the biggest difference between these two marketplaces, that would be it, is the fact that in the U.S., it's fully centralized. And then, of course, it goes to the private payers or Medicare or whatever to negotiate pricing. But, the drugs are typically available, and those conversations usually happen relatively quickly. But, in Europe, because you have all of these different cooks in the kitchen, it becomes a much longer process and sometimes a little bit more difficult process. So, I think that, from an investing standpoint, what investors want to know is, if I hear that a drug has been approved in the European Union by the EMA, I guess I probably shouldn't jump to think that we're going to start seeing meaningful revenue in Europe right away. It'll probably be best to model a benefit from European sales as occurring over a course of maybe one to three years. Harjes: Yeah, absolutely. But, it can still be interesting for some of the drugs that are approved first in the E.U., which is not as common, but it can sometimes be an indicator of how a drug might fare over in the U.S. One place in particular where we get that sort of perspective is with biosimilars. Listeners who are familiar with the show will know, these are a more complex form of generic drugs for biologic drugs, which are more complex treatments. Biosimilars are not like your traditional generics because they're not identical, so it's a little bit trickier to evaluate whether or not it actually is a perfect or close-enough-to-perfect substitute for the original therapy. The biosimilar approval process has been in place for a lot longer in Europe than it has in the United States. In the U.S., the framework was first enacted in 2009, and the first approval of a biosimilar didn't come until 2015. Meanwhile, across the pond, the first approval was granted in 2006, which is one year after a framework was created for this. So, there are many more biosimilars approved in the E.U. than in the U.S. So, while domestically we're still kind of looking at these first few that have been approved and seeing what the trends are in pricing discounts -- because a non-branded drug is going to be cheaper, but the question is, how much cheaper, since it's still a very complex drug -- and, just looking at adoption rates and all the other questions around biosimilars, it can be helpful to look at how things have fared in Europe first. Campbell: Absolutely. And perhaps their adoption of biosimilars, and that pace of adoption being so much faster than here in the U.S., is due to the fact that they approach medicine with more of a budget focus. I have a fixed pool of money in my country that I can spend on care, therefore if I can decrease the amount I spend on this expensive biologic by instead recommending the use of this biosimilar that's cheaper, that frees up more money for me then to spend on these other new drugs that are coming through and winning approval by the EMA. So, I think there's definitely some differences on that front. I believe that biosimilars will eventually gain a foothold here, similar here to what we saw with small molecule drugs. I think we're in the 1990s, if you compare the two, where we are timeline-wise, in biosimilars. And my expectation would be that you'll see biosimilars demand ramp up relatively rapidly over the course of the next five or ten years. But, again, still trailing what we've seen so far in the European Union for sales. That's obviously the most attractive market for the manufacturers of biosimilars to win an OK in right now. Harjes: Yeah, for sure. Transitioning to the back half of the show, we're going to be digging into the French drug maker, Sanofi, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SNY. They're a $94 billion market cap company. They pay a heck of a dividend, yielding about 4.6%. And the share price has been beaten pretty badly by the market over the last year or so. They're down 25%. 2017 was widely recognized as a transition year for the company. We'll cover their future plans and weigh in on our opinion of the company's prospects, but first, let's do a little bit of history and get a sense of why they need a transition to begin with. Campbell: What's interesting, Kristine, about talking about Sanofi and doing the background to prepare for this show, is thinking about how few investors probably own this company in their portfolio. You just reeled off some pretty crazy numbers, $95 billion market cap company with nearly a 5% dividend yield, 35 billion in annual sales, yet not very widely owned relative to some of these other biopharma stocks that we tend to talk about on the show. And perhaps the reason for that is, there's been a lot of concern over the last couple years of how Sanofi would navigate patent expiration, specifically the expiration of patents that protect Lantus, their top-selling diabetes drug, that, prior to losing patent exclusivity, was raking in about $7 billion a year in sales. Harjes: Yeah. That was a ginormous drug, so there was a lot of concern when it went off patent in 2015. But that wasn't all. They also had Plavix, which was the second-best-selling drug in the world for years, and that lost protection back in 2012. There was also Lovenox, which is a slightly smaller drug, but still, when they lost the patent for that in the late 2000s, it ended up costing them a couple billion dollars in sales annually. So, management looks at all of these roadblocks up ahead, and they decided that they were going to bring in a new CEO in 2014. Come 2017, they're like, "OK, this is the year we're going to turn things around." They ended up solidifying their focus into five different business units effective January 1st of 2017. Now it's 2018, and we get to look back and see, well, how did that transition year go? Campbell: I think that most investors would look at it and yawn over the results. If you back out the effects of currency -- and currency, it's a global show today, right? We're talking international stocks today. Probably, Sanofi is one of the most diversified in terms of where it gets its revenue from. It gets more sales in the U.S. than anywhere else, about 34% of its revenue comes from the U.S. But it still gets 27% of its sales in Europe and 29% of its sales in emerging markets. And converting all of that currency back into euros can get kind of expensive. Right now, that's creating some headwinds to the company's progress in improving its revenue. Year over year last year, when all the puts and takes were considered, we're talking about relatively flat growth when you back out the effects of that currency conversion. If you look at each of the five business units, some are performing better than others. The way that they broke it out is, they have one group which they refer to as Sanofi Genzyme, that's their oncology and immunology business. Last year, that did about 6.7 billion for sales. That has drugs like multiple sclerosis drugs and rare disease drugs like Pompe disease, hemophilia drugs, which we'll get to in a little bit, that they added with their acquisition of Bioverativ. Their second group is Sanofi Pasteur. That did about 5.1 billion in sales last year. The third group is the diabetes and cardiovascular drug business, that did 6.9 billion last year. The consumer business that they have, they're actually in the top three globally in consumer medicine, that did about 4.8 billion in 2017. Then, if you look at the emerging markets business, and what they call general medicines, that's a $14 billion business, with about 10 billion coming from emerging markets. Harjes: When you look at where this company stands right now, it's pretty clear that they're trying to ignite some growth. And you can tell what their priorities are particularly by looking at how they've spent money on acquisitions recently. They acquired Bioverativ for $11.6 billion in cash. We covered this back in January, on the 24th, if anybody wants to go back and find that episode. This was a very splashy acquisition for a number of reasons. First of all, it was a 64% premium to the prior close. Meanwhile, Bioverativ had just been spun off from Biogen. Something that we questioned on our show was, why didn't Sanofi just go buy it directly from Biogen before the spin-off? Anyway, more of our thoughts on that on the January episode. The point here is that it really solidifies that they are focusing on hemophilia. Campbell: Yeah. In this big growth market, billions of dollars in sales spent every year on trying to help these people with these bleeding disorders. What Bioverativ has done is created new treatments that reduce patient burden by reducing the number of injections that they have to take per month. Obviously, that's a win for patients, and sales of Alprolix and Eloctate, which are the two drugs that are approved for hemophilia A and B, sales of those drugs have really taken off. If you look at 2017 alone, Bioverativ generated about $1.17 billion in sales, and that was up 32% year over year. But that's not the only way that they're trying to refocus and spark some growth back into the company. They also have some intriguing relationships with other companies. Regeneron jumps to mind. The two companies have been collaborating together to create new drugs. They've brought a few to market now. They've brought Praluent, which is a cholesterol-lowering drug, to market. They've also won approval for a drug for eczema and another drug for rheumatoid arthritis. I think that those kinds of collaborations they view as being, for the most part, a win, because it injects some of that growth that can offset some of the headwinds associated with Lantus. They're also increasing the spending on R&D. I think they increased spending on R&D, I want to say, by 9%, in the high single digits, something like that, to about $5.5 billion last year. Again, that's a good sign, as well, because if you don't have a whole pipeline of drugs, we know that a lot of drugs in pipelines are going to fail, you're going to have to spend more to have that pipeline nice and full so that a few wins come out on the bottom. Harjes: And they do have a fairly full pipeline. They have 28 different projects that are in Phase III or submitted for approval, and that's across a huge range of different indications. You mentioned partnerships. I want to call out one more, probably just because I have a bias of liking this company, Alnylam. They are an RNAi platform company. They have had a partnership with Sanofi since 2014. Sanofi has full rights now to a drug called Fitusiran, which is a drug for hemophilia, again, and rare bleeding disorders. It had a bit of a hiccup previously with the FDA putting it on hold temporarily, but now it's back and starting up in Phase III. This drug could be a fairly sizable one, at least a billion-dollar blockbuster, many people are anticipating, when and if it gets approved. Alnylam will get royalties on it, but they're in the 15-30% range, so not a huge chunk. Really, a potential win here for Sanofi primarily. They're also doing some interesting things in digital health. They have a partnership with Verily on something called Onduo, which is a virtual diabetes clinic that's focused on education and disease management. As we know about diabetes, it's a disease that, when not managed well, can really escalate and have a lot of complications. So, the better you can educate patients with the disease and make comprehensive treatment plans for them, the better the outcomes are. They're also an investor in Science 37, which is attempting to bring clinical trials into people's homes through telemedicine so you don't have to travel far and wide to get to a clinical trial location. Of course, this is particularly an opportunity in rare diseases, where, as a company running a clinical trial, you might need to be recruiting from far and wide because there just aren't a lot of patients with the disease to study. So, if you can bring that directly to people in their homes, I can see how that would be a really interesting innovation. Campbell: Yeah. The vast majority of people don't live in those medical clusters, places like Boston, Massachusetts, or wherever, where a lot of these trials are conducted. So, you're right, bringing the trial to the patient, where the patient lives, and letting them continue to receive care by their primary care doctor, is interesting approach that could speed along development for their rare disease business. Harjes: Yeah. Todd, I know you pulled guidance numbers for 2018. Can you share those? Campbell: In the first quarter of 2018, they put out their guidance. This is the year they say that they will return to X currency business income growth. That's a mouthful. 2-5%. Whoopee, right? So, this is the year, if you back out all the currency, they think they're going to start earning more money. Then, hopefully from here on out, they'll be able to grow year after year after year using some of these platforms and relationships and acquisitions, leveraging them for sales growth. I mean, I think the devil will be in the details. You talked about the Alnylam trial. That was halted for four months because of a patient death. They restarted it after making some concessions in the way that they were monitoring patients. We'll see data from that trial in the second half of 2019. And you're right, that could reshape hemophilia treatment, because again, it reduces patient burden further because that drug is only dosed once per month. The company also recently bought a Belgian company called Ablynx for about $4 billion that has a nanobody drug platform. An approval is expected for one of its drugs for rare blood disorder at some point in the near future, too, so we'll have to see how that goes. Then, of course, looking at label expansions, they think that Dupixent, which is their eczema drug, maybe that wins approval in asthma, it could be effective in some other disease indications as well, in autoimmunity. They're also hoping to get the FDA to add some long-term cardiovascular outcome data for their Praluent, which is the cholesterol-busting drug. As a refresher, that drug did demonstrate the ability to reduce heart attacks and stroke within its long-term study. So, that could also provide a catalyst. Those are probably more 2019 issues, though. Harjes: Yeah. I think, if I were an investor in this company, I would be a lot more optimistic about the label expansions than necessarily the strategy of acquiring other companies. I was fairly surprised to hear about the Ablynx acquisition earlier this year. It seemed like a pretty large amount of pay. I think it was almost $5 billion U.S. dollars for this drug that has an experimental treatment for rare blood disorders. And that was after their very expensive acquisition of Bioverativ. Now, this is a company that has about 15 billion in debt and about 10 billion in cash. So, I don't know, I think I would rather see them focus on their currently owned assets and see what they can do there to generate a little bit more cash before spending even further. But, I also like what they're doing with the partnerships. I do think that's a smart strategy. Campbell: Yeah. And Kristine, debt is never a good thing, but they were able to get that debt pretty cheap, and they generate enough cash flow, where I'm not really concerned about that, necessarily. But you're right, a lot of times people question whether or not these acquisitions really pay off. Only time will tell on these. Harjes: Yeah, absolutely. Any final thoughts before we sign off? Campbell: I think Sanofi is -- I use this word a lot -- an intriguing stock to consider owning. The reason I say that is, because it's a global company, it has big exposure -- it's actually the market share leader in China -- because it has exposure all across the world and it generates a lot of cash flow, I'm not really concerned about its debt. And that dividend, Kristine, that's a pretty nice dividend yield. If they do indeed -- 2017 was the transition year -- in the back half of the year, they deliver on their goal to return to business income growth, I could see putting this into an income portfolio. Harjes: Yeah. It's kind of a value play. It's been beaten up, which is why that dividend looks so juicy right now. So, yeah, for all the reasons that you just listed, the international exposure and that really solid dividend -- which, by the way, has been increasing for 24 years, so it's a dependable dividend -- I can see those being reasons to be interested in this stock. One housekeeping note before we sign off, if you're going to be in the Washington DC area on Wednesday, May 30th, we're having a listener meetup happy hour. Shoot me an email at industryfocus@fool.com for more details. As always, people on the program may have interests in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. This show is produced by Austin Morgan. I'm Kristine Harjes, and on behalf of myself, Austin, and Todd Campbell. Thanks for listening and Fool on! Kristine Harjes has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Todd Campbell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Biogen. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. By Huw Jones LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Using European Union powers to ban banks in the bloc from complying with U.S. sanctions on Iran would be of "limited" use given the global reach of finance, the EU's financial services chief said on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump decided on May 8 to revive Iran-related sanctions, including sanctions aimed at Iran's oil sector and transactions with its central bank. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU executive was assessing the economic impact and potential effect of U.S. sanctions on Iran, including their effect on EU companies and the financial sector. The EU wants to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, which offers the Islamic Republic relief from economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme and Europe sees as an important element of international security. The EU's so-called blocking statute bans any EU company from complying with U.S. sanctions and does not recognise any court rulings that enforce American penalties. But it has never been used and is seen by European governments more as a political weapon than a regulation because its rules are vague and difficult to enforce, serving mainly as a warning to the United States. "Indeed the EU blocking regulation could be of limited effectiveness there, given the international nature of banking system and especially the exposure of large systemic banks to U.S. financial system and U.S. dollar transactions," Dombrovskis told the European Parliament. "There are some difficult issues which we will need to address. We are working on how to exactly address those issues," Dombrovskis said. He also told parliament it was important to have a "credible and coordinated" anti-money laundering system at the EU level without waiting for action from the United States, Dombrovskis added. Earlier this year, the United States accused Latvia's third biggest bank, ABLV, of money laundering and breaking sanctions on North Korea, prompting its closure and triggering the Baltic state's worst financial crisis in a decade. It raised questions about Europe's ability to monitor money laundering on its own turf. (Reporting by Huw Jones Editing by Alison Williams) Kilauea volcano has erupted from its summit, shooting a dusty plume of ash about 30,000 feet into the sky The volcano has destroyed 37 homes and other structures in a small southeast area of the island Hawaii 's Kilauea volcano has erupted from its summit, shooting a dusty plume of ash about 30,000 feet into the sky. Mike Poland, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, confirmed the explosion on Thursday. "The wind may carry the ash plume north toward Kau, Volcano, Mt. View, Kea'au and as far as Hilo. Protect yourself from ash fallout," the County of Hawaii Civil Defense said in a phone alert. Residents of the Big Island were warned to shelter in place as the plume engulfed a wide area, authorities said. The crater sits within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which has been closed since May 11. Officials have said they didn't expect the explosion to be deadly as long as people remained out of the park. The powerful, steam-driven blast was expected to spew large amounts of volcanic ash and smoke from Kilauea's crater. The volcano has destroyed 37 homes and other structures in a small southeast area of the island and forced around 2,000 people to evacuate their homes. Geologists had warned explosive eruptions could begin once Kilauea's falling lava lake descended below the water table, allowing water to run on to the top of the lava column and create a steam-driven blasts. The powerful explosions could hurl "ballistic blocks" the size of small cars across a distance of more than half a mile (1 km) and shoot pebble-sized projectiles and debris up to a dozen miles, the USGS has warned. Such an eruption could not only shroud large areas of the Big Island in volcanic ash and smog but also other Hawaiian Islands and potentially distant areas if the plume reaches up into the stratosphere and ash is carried by winds. The eruption comes after more than a dozen fissures recently opened miles to the east of the crater and spewed lava into neighborhoods.Those areas were evacuated as lava destroyed at least 26 homes and 10 other structures Story continues Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes. An eruption in 1924 killed one person and sent rocks, ash and dust into the air for 17 days. Reuters contributed to this report. More From CNBC High-end grocery store Whole Foods, nicknamed Whole Paycheck for its lofty prices, is testing a new discount strategy exclusively for Amazon (AMZN) Prime members. Currently, Whole Foods in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida is offering deals for Prime members on select items that will rotate on a weekly basis plus an additional 10% of sale items. Analysts at Oppenheimer visited a Fort Lauderdale location and found that the savings on this weeks six weekly specials are meaningful, with Prime members saving about 50% on each of the six weekly special items. Oppenheimer analysts visited Whole Foods in Ft. Lauderdale to see the Prime member discounts. This weeks special offers include sustainably-sourced, wild-caught halibut steaks for $9.99 per lb., a discount of $10 per lb.; organic strawberries for $2.99 per 1 lb., a cut of $2; KIND granola 2 for $6 for an 11-ounce bag; buy one, get one free for 365 Every Day Value sparkling water; and 50% off Magic Mushroom Powder. Oppenheimer analysts visit a Whole Foods store in Florida testing a new discount strategy for Prime members. Of course, theres speculation about what the broader strategy is for the discounts. I think at the end of the day they want their Prime members to shop more at Whole Foods, and theres also the second element to convert more people to Prime, Oppenheimer senior equity research analyst Rupesh Parikh told Yahoo Finance. Last month, CEO Jeff Bezos revealed that Amazon now has 100 million Prime members globally. Currently, the popular subscription service is priced at $99 but will climb to $119 beginning June 16. While the new discounts could be another way to add more value for Prime subscribers amid those membership price increases, the other risk is that it could turn off Whole Foods regulars who arent members of Prime. When you see strawberries at $4.99 and $2.99 as a Prime member, if I dont want to join Prime, if they want to charge me extra, I think thats the other risk, Parikh explained. The analysts at Oppenheimer dont view the latest price reductions as a threat to the grocery sector. We all expected a new Prime benefit from [Amazon] but this narrower form of discounting is less than feared from our perspective (Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM), Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC), and other names rallied yesterday). We continue to watch AMZN grocery developments closely to see whether the improving value proposition can draw new customers into the AMZN/WFM grocery ecosystem, the note said. Story continues Following the Amazon acquisition last summer, Whole Foods, which had earned the nickname Whole Paycheck, slashed prices on some of its best-selling staple items, including avocados, bananas, organic brown eggs, Fuji and Gala apples, almond butter, and farm-raised salmon and tilapia. Earlier this year, Amazon launched free two-hour delivery on Whole Foods Market groceries through Prime Now in 10 cities. They also rolled out a program for Prime members to get 5% back on Whole Foods purchases while using the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card. Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. Read more: India looks to enhance ties with North Korea with ministerial visit Indian Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh arrived in Pyongyang this week in the first high-level visit from the Asian giant to the rogue state in nearly two decades. "Now that the environment around North Korea is changing, India may feel like it's an opportune moment to reach out, perhaps in potential anticipation of the country opening up," said Harsh Pant of the Observer Research Foundation. India , bolstered by recent peace signals from North Korea , is moving to strengthen ties with the reclusive regime. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh arrived in Pyongyang with a delegation of officials on Tuesday for a two-day stay, meeting with a host of senior officials such as Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and Culture Minister Pak Chun Nam. It was the first high-level visit by an Indian minister to the rogue state in nearly two decades. "Now that the environment around North Korea is changing, India may feel like it's an opportune moment to reach out, perhaps in potential anticipation of the country opening up," said Harsh Pant, distinguished fellow and head of strategic studies at New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation. Despite some hiccups in international efforts to restrict North Korea's nuclear weapons Kim Jong Un administration on Wednesday threatened to withdraw from a June 12 meeting with President Donald Trump tensions on the Korean Peninsula have greatly subsided from last year's regular missile launches. And now that the White House is reaching out to Kim Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the weekend mentioned the potential for private investment in the underdeveloped state New Delhi likely wants to follow suit. "The visit may have been spurred by the recent developments in U.S.-North Korea relations," said Amit Cowshish, a former advisor at the Indian Ministry of Defense and current partner with law firm Dua Associates. But that isn't to say India is looking to inject itself into nuclear negotiations. Story continues Rather, "the purpose of the visit seems to be to explore the possibility of resetting mutual relations in the context of India's Act East policy," Cowshish stated, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi foreign policy initiative of warming up to Asian neighbors. New Delhi may see this visit as a means to position itself out front should North Korea stabilize and join the international community, said Pant. Resuming an old relationship Before Modi suspended the bulk of bilateral trade with North Korea in 2017 amid international sanctions on the isolated nation, the two enjoyed friendly diplomatic, commercial and economic ties for decades. "There were even reports in late 2016 and early 2017 that India was the third largest trade partner of North Korea, although these figures did not consider the substantial illicit or undeclared commerce involving China and Russia ," said Dhruva Jaishankar, foreign policy fellow at Brookings India. India also maintains an embassy in Pyongyang, resisting pressure from Washington last year to sever all links with Kim's government. For Asia's third-largest economy, North Korea is inextricably linked to security and terror concerns around rival Pakistan , Pant explained. Islamabad has long provided Pyongyang with nuclear technology under the network of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program who has admitted to sharing designs with countries such as Libya , Iran and North Korea. More From CNBC By Mai Nguyen and Jonathan Weber HANOI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A struggle over internet laws in Vietnam is pitting a government keen on maintaining tight control against U.S. technology companies trying to fight off onerous new rules - with the country's online dissidents among the biggest losers. The latest conflict centres on new cybersecurity legislation set for a vote by Vietnamese lawmakers later this month. It aims to impose new legal requirements on internet companies, and hardens policing of online dissent. Facebook, Google and other global companies are pushing back hard against provisions that would require them to store data on Vietnamese users locally and open offices in the country. But they have not taken the same tough stance on parts of the proposed law that would bolster the government's crackdown on online political activism. Vietnam offers a case study in the conflicting pressures the likes of Facebook and Google confront when operating in countries with repressive governments. It also shows how authoritarian regimes try to walk a line in controlling online information and suppressing political activism without crippling the digital economy. Such tensions are playing out across Southeast Asia, where the enormous popularity of Facebook and Google has created lucrative business opportunities and outlets for political dissent. With that, though, has come both government censorship and a way to get propaganda to large audiences efficiently. The region is particularly important for Facebook and Google because most Internet users in China are blocked from accessing them. An industry group called the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) is leading efforts to soften the proposed cyber law in Vietnam. Jeff Paine, managing director of the AIC, said he and others were able to raise concerns about the law directly with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other top government officials when they visited Singapore last month. Story continues The discussions took place as part of a seminar about internet issues that included academics, industry officials and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, according to Paine. He said there was "a healthy dialogue" that focused mostly on how Vietnam can leverage the next stages of the digital revolution. But he said there was no discussion of content restrictions. The Vietnamese government did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment for this article. Political activists in Vietnam rely on social media to rally support, and the new cyber law comes on the heels of an April letter from more than 50 rights groups and activists to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg accusing the company of working too closely with the Vietnamese government to stifle dissent. Facebook and Google say they have to abide by local laws in the countries where they operate. Facebook's latest "transparency report," released Tuesday, shows that in the second half of last year, the company began blocking content in Vietnam for violations of local law for the first time. The company reported 22 such instances - though it said they were prompted by "private reports of defamation" rather than direct government requests. Google last year also blocked YouTube videos at the request of the government for the first time. Updated figures released Friday show the company was asked to remove more than 6500 videos in 2017, mostly for criticizing the government, and that it complied with a majority of the requests. The transparency reports do show that the companies don't automatically do the bidding of the government. Facebook said it had received 12 government requests for Facebook user account data in 2017 and complied with only 4 of them, all of which were "emergency" requests. The company defines an emergency as involving "imminent risk of serious physical injury or death." In cases where content is alleged to violate local law, both companies say takedown requests are subject to legal review, and when they comply the material is only blocked locally. Direct government censorship requests don't tell the whole story though. Facebook also removes content and blocks accounts for violating its own global "community standards," which bar material and behaviours ranging from posting pornography to hate speech and inciting violence. "The first thing we do when a government tells us about content that violates laws is we look at whether it violates our standards," said Monika Bickert, Facebook's vice president of global policy management. The company this week began providing data on community standards violations but does not break it down by country. "My account was blocked for 8 months," said Le Van Dung, an independent journalist in Vietnam who signed the letter to Zuckerberg. "I sent letters to Facebook management for months but there's only an automatic reply saying they have completed your request." His account was restored last month, the day after the appeal to Zuckerberg was sent, he said. Facebook said Dung's account was correctly removed for violating community standards provisions barring "spam" activities and was restored by mistake. Dung denies engaging in spam. He did, though, have more than one account. Multiple accounts are not allowed on Facebook and fall within the company's definition of spam behaviour. TIGHTENING THE SCREWS Vietnam has had tough internet regulations in place since 2013. They ban any postings that are anti-government, harm national security, cause "hatred and conflicts" or "hurt the prestige of organizations and individuals." The rules also ban social media users who "spread fake or untruthful information." New rules implemented in 2017 tightened the screws further. One turning point, according to Yee Chung Seck, an attorney in the Ho Chi Minh City office of the international law firm Baker McKenzie, was an April 2017 meeting convened by the government to discuss a range of Internet ills including disinformation, hate speech and bullying. That came just after the government called on all companies doing business in the country to stop advertising on YouTube, Facebook and other social media until they found a way to halt the publication of "toxic" anti-government information. Yet another decree implemented last month stated that social media platforms had to remove illegal content within three hours of it being reported by the government, though Paine said the rule applies only to domestic companies. Still, Facebook and Google dont seem to be under any imminent threat given how deeply they have penetrated into Vietnam society. About 55 million of Vietnam's 96 million people are regular social media users, according to research by Simon Kemp, a digital media consultant based in Singapore. Facebook, YouTube and Google Search are far and away the most popular internet destinations, Kemp's data shows. Facebook is also the most popular platform for online shopping in Vietnam. And the government is eager to nurture the countrys digital economy: smartphones and all that they enable, especially e-commerce and online banking, are transforming economies across Asia, and no one wants to be left behind. "They love that part of the story," said Chung. But the government also wants more control, including local data storage and local corporate offices - a provision company officials privately fear is designed to allow the government to intimidate companies by exposing individuals to arrest. Both Facebook and Google serve Vietnam from their regional headquarters in Singapore. The new law also gives more power to Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, which is tasked with crushing dissent in the communist-ruled country. Facebook said it expected the new rules would require it to restrict more content. Google declined to comment. LONG JAIL TERMS For the rights activists, there appears to be little hope of relief. For example, just this month, a Facebook user in Vietnam was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for posts which "distorted the political situation," according to a statement posted on an official Communist Party website. Still, Facebook remains an important tool for activists in Vietnam - a country where government criticism is rarely tolerated and the battle between the authorities and dissidents is a game of cat-and-mouse. "Sometimes we use Facebook to distract authorities, like we pretend to discuss an important meeting, which obviously won't happen," activist Nguyen Lan Thang said. "Then we watch from afar and laugh as they surround our fake meeting spot," Thang added. (Additional reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Martin Howell) * Weeks of torrential rain in East Africa * Dam walls give way, villages swept away * Survivor describes "sea of water" * Rescue workers searching for survivors (Adds number of missing, decision to discharge water) By Thomas Mukoya SOLAI, Kenya, May 10 (Reuters) - A dam on a commercial flower farm in Kenya's Rift Valley burst after weeks of torrential rain, unleashing a "sea of water" that careered down a hillside and smashed into two villages, killing at least 47 people. The walls of the reservoir, on top of a hill in Nakuru county, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Nairobi, gave way late on Wednesday as nearby residents were sitting down to evening meals. Kenya is one of the largest suppliers of cut flowers to Europe, and roses from the 3,500-acre Solai farm are exported to the Netherlands and Germany, according to Optimal Connection, its Netherlands-based handling agent. The floodwaters carved out a dark brown chasm in the hillside and swept away everything in their path - powerlines, homes and buildings, including a primary school. The bodies of two women were found several km (miles) away as excavators and rescue workers armed with shovels picked through rubble and mud searching for survivors and victims. Local police chief Japheth Kioko said the death toll could climb. "So far it is 47 dead. We are still on the ground," he told Reuters. Nakuru governor Lee Kinyanjui said on Twitter that another 40 people were reported missing and a decision had been made to discharge water from another nearby dam as a precaution. After a severe drought last year, East Africa has been hit by two months of heavy rain, affecting nearly a million people in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda. Bridges have been swept away and roads turned into rivers of mud. In Solai, Veronica Wanjiku Ngigi, 67, said she was at home brewing tea with her son at about 8 pm (1700 GMT) when his wife rushed in to say the dam had burst and they needed to get to higher ground immediately. Story continues "It was a sea of water. My neighbour was killed when the water smashed through the wall of his house. He was blind, so he could not run. They found his body in the morning," she said. "My other neighbours also died. All our houses have been ruined." BOULDERS, ROOTS Nakuru lies in the heart of Kenya's fertile Rift Valley, home to thousands of commercial farms that grow everything from French beans to macadamia nuts to cut flowers, nearly all of which are exported to Europe. The region is dotted with irrigation reservoirs built in the last two decades to meet the demands of the rapidly expanding agricultural sector, the biggest foreign exchange earner for East Africa's largest economy and a major source of jobs. Vinoj Kumar, general manager of the Solai farm, blamed the disaster on massive rainfall in a forest above the dam. "In the past two days the intensity of the rain was high and the water started coming down carrying boulders and roots which damaged the wall," he told Reuters. "The dam wall cracked and the water escaped." Governor Kinyanjui said 450 homes had been hit by the floodwaters and safety engineers had been sent to inspect three other dams to check for cracks or breaches. Wanjiku, the survivor, said at least one looked like it was ready to burst. "There is another dam which is also overflowing which is looking risky," she said. "We are scared." One primary school had been closed as a precaution, education officials said. Arriving at the scene, Interior Minister Fred Matiangi pledged central government assistance to those affected. To date, heavy rains have caused havoc in Kenya, killing at least 158 people and displacing 299,859, according to the government and Kenya Red Cross. Roads and bridges have been destroyed, causing millions of dollars of damage. The U.N. disaster agency UNOCHA said 580,000 people had been affected by torrential rain and flooding in neighbouring Somalia, while the Somali region of eastern Ethiopia had also taken a hammering, with 160,000 people affected. The flooding could yet get worse, with heavy rains forecast to continue in the Rift Valley and the Lake Victoria basin over the next few weeks. (Reporting by Thomas Mukoya, George Obulutsa, Duncan Miriri, Humphrey Malalo and Maggie Fick; Writing by Ed Cropley, Editing by Editing by William Maclean) With the announcement of three separate master limited partnership simplification transactions on May 17 alone, we must revisit our thesis that the business structure may not be in it for the long haul. By Kris Rosemann At Valuentum, we continue to believe the master limited partnership (MLP) business model is at risk over the long haul, and recent news from the space only seems to support the notion that the MLP model we once knew may be fading more quickly than some had expected. If there is nothing inherently wrong with the structure of MLPs, then the rate at which simplification transactions are occurring would certainly be an alarming development, but we continue to point to factors such as the need for robust levels of outside capital financing for growth and an industry-wide preference for selective cash flow measures that do not properly account for capital needed for growth but prop up lofty yields and distribution-based valuation as key causes for concern. The detachment of fundamentals and analysis in the space may finally be coming to an end, but the acceleration of simplification transactions, which we had originally highlighted as a long-term concern, is due in part to the FERC ruling that MLPs are no longer allowed to receive credit for income taxes they do not pay. Nevertheless, the core of our thesis is based on the idea that MLPs should not be treated, valued, or analyzed differently than typical corporates, which is supported by the FERCs ruling to eliminate the MLP tax allowance, in our opinion. Three different simplification transactions were announced May 17, which we will address later in this note, but they are only a fraction of the restructuring activity we have seen thus far in 2018. Lets take a quick look at some of those deals. Terra Nitrogen was swallowed by its general partner, Terra Nitrogen GP, which is a subsidiary of CF Industries (CF). Legacy Reserves (LGCY) announced that it is working to transition to a C-Corp with the goals of attaining a less complicated balance sheet and enhanced ability to raise capital. Story continues NuStar (NS) announced its merger plans with general partner NuStar GP Holdings (NSH), along with the elimination of its incentive distribution rights and a cut in its quarterly distribution. Tallgrass Energy Partners (TEP) will be acquired by its general partner Tallgrass Energy GP (TEGP) and eliminated its incentive distribution rights, which is aimed at reducing its cost of capital. Archrock (AROC) will acquire the remaining units it does not already own in Archrock Partners LP (APLP) in a deal designed to increase dividend coverage, improve its credit profile, simplify its capital structure, and lower its cost of capital. Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) and Alliance Holdings GP (AHGP) announced a series of simplification transactions intended to simplify the organizations structure and increase investor transparency while attracting a broader investor base. EQT Midstream Partners (EQM), EQT GP Holdings (EQGP), and Rice Midstream Partners LP (RMP) announced a midstream streamlining transaction that includes the purchase of Rice Midstreams incentive distribution rights by EQT GP Holdings and efficiency gains that should offset the need for a not immaterial amount of incremental capital. Though no official announcement has been made, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP) CEO Stanley Horton has suggested general partner Loews (L) may take the MLP private. We are not here to dissect the strategic rationale of these transactions. We continue to be of the opinion that the majority of the businesses underlying master limited partnerships are sound and core to our economy (US energy production is strong and organic growth projects are prevalent), but their complex organization structures and industry-specific manner of operating and valuation are not sustainable over the long haul, in our view. The proliferation of simplification transactions across the MLP space seems to support this notion as organizations continue to work to reduce their cost of capital, a factor that is extremely important to entities that are dependent on outside funding. With that in mind, lets dig in to the three freshest simplification announcements. A little more than a year after the Williams familys double equity raise and distribution cut, MLPs: Williams Double Equity Raise, general partner Williams Companies (WMB) has agreed to acquire the remaining units of Williams Partners (WPZ) it does not already own, which is ~26% of the limited partner, for a premium of just over 6% of Williams Partners May 16 close price. Williams Companies will issue 382.5 million shares in the proposed transaction, and Williams Partners unithodlers will receive 1.494 shares of the general partner for each unit owned, assuming the deal closes before Williams Companies third quarter dividend record date. If the transaction closes as scheduled, Williams Partners unithodlers will receive five payouts in calendar 2018, which management estimates equates to a ~15% increase over its previously expected distributions in the year. The 2018 payout projection was near the top of a list of highlights for Williams Partners unitholders provided by management, but the team made no effort in explaining what the dividend will look like in 2019 and beyond compared to the limited partners current distribution. Williams Companies current annualized dividend of $1.36 per share implies an annual payout of ~$2.03 for Williams Partners unitholders after considering the exchange ratio (1.494 x 1.36). It appears as though there will be a meaningful reset of the payout for the MLPs unitholders following the unique case of 2018. A 15% increase (management expects 10%-15% annual dividend growth in 2019 after the ~13% increase in 2018) from $1.36 reveals an annualized dividend of ~$1.56 per share for 2019. Assuming the proposed transaction closes as scheduled, this implies a payout of ~$2.34 per share for Williams Partners unitholders in 2019, which compares unfavorably to its current distribution of $2.46 per unit. Enbridge (ENB), the largest energy infrastructure company in North America, announced that it will acquire all of the outstanding equity securities of Spectra Energy Partners (SEP), Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP), Enbridge Energy Management (EEQ) and Enbridge Income Fund Holdings (TSX: ENF). Enbridge announced in December 2017 that it was assessing a potential streamlining and simplification of its organizational structure, and management points to the recent reversal in FERC policy as a cause of its decision as the ruling would weakened Enbridge Energy Partners and Enbridge Energy Managements credit profiles and viability as financing vehicles for Enbridges growth. Direct ownership in Enbridge and an enhanced dividend growth profile were also offered as key rationales for the simplification from the point of view of the to-be-acquired entities. Enbridge also notes that in order for Enbridge Energy Partners to retain its investment grade credit ratings, the MLP would have to raise a significant amount of equity at an unattractive cost of capital and materially cut its distribution in early 2019, which would come on top of its previous distribution cut in 2017. However, the announced simplification transaction includes an implied dividend cut for unitholders. Enbridge Energy Partners will receive 0.3083 share of Enbridge for each unit owned, and the two entities most recent quarterly payouts were $0.35 (EEP) and $0.671 (ENB). The exchange ratio implies a reset of its quarterly payout to ~$0.21 (0.3083 x 0.671), which is not immaterial even if dividend growth prospects are enhanced as a result of the transaction. The third simplification transaction announced May 17 comes from Cheniere Energy (LNG) and Cheniere Energy Partners (CQH). Cheniere Energy is offering 0.45 of its share per share of Cheniere Energy Partners in a tax-free exchange. The proposal offered no guidance regarding future dividend payments, but Cheniere Energy does not currently pay a dividend. Shares of Cheniere Energy Partners currently yield more than 7%. Cheniere Energy already owns ~92% of Cheniere Energy Partners. Recent actions taken by master limited partnerships only seem to reaffirm our thesis that the complex business structure is not sustainable over the long haul. The need for access to outside capital may never totally go away, but if the typical structure of MLPs is an attractive one, then why must so many simplification transactions be pursued? This will not be the end of the simplification movement either, and while some who prefer to champion the business model over objective analysis may point to smaller operators simplifying as not representative of the attractiveness of the structure, Williams and Enbridge will not be the last of the high-profile names to consolidate. For example, the Energy Transfer (ETE, ETP) family is evaluating its organizational structure and points to late 2019 as a potential timeline for an internal restructuring transaction. Valuentum members should not be surprised by any of the recent developments in the MLP space, and the recent regulatory change (FERC ruling) has only accelerated what we had originally pointed to as a long-term concern. Pipelines - Oil & Gas: BPL, BWP, DPM, ENB, EPD, ETP, HEP, KMI, MMP, NS, OKS, PAA, SE, SEP, WES Valuentum members have access to our 16-page stock reports, Valuentum Buying Index ratings, Dividend Cushion ratios, fair value estimates and ranges, dividend reports and more. Not a member? Subscribe today. The first 14 days are free. Kris Rosemann does not own shares in any of the securities mentioned above. Some of the companies written about in this article may be included in Valuentums simulated newsletter portfolios. Contact Valuentum for more information about its editorial policies. The High Yield Dividend Newsletter, Best Ideas Newsletter, Dividend Growth Newsletter, Nelson Exclusive publication, and any reports and content found on this website are for information purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Valuentum is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of its newsletters, reports, commentary, or publications and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content. Valuentum is not a money manager, is not a registered investment advisor, and does not offer brokerage or investment banking services. The sources of the data used on this website and reports are believed by Valuentum to be reliable, but the datas accuracy, completeness or interpretation cannot be guaranteed. Valuentum, its employees, independent contractors and affiliates may have long, short or derivative positions in the securities mentioned on this website. The High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio are not real money portfolios. Performance, including that in the Nelson Exclusive publication, is hypothetical and does not represent actual trading. Actual results may differ from simulated information, results, or performance being presented. For more information about Valuentum and the products and services it offers, please contact us at info@valuentum.com . MEXICO CITY, May 17 (Reuters) - Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Thursday that recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump describing some unauthorized immigrants as "animals" were absolutely unacceptable, and that a formal complaint would be filed with the State Department. "President Trump referred to some immigrants, perhaps he had criminal gangs in mind, I don't know, as animals, not as persons," Videgaray said in an interview with local TV station Televisa. "In the opinion of the Mexican government this is absolutely unacceptable and we are going to formally communicate this to the U.S. State Department today," he said. Trump made the remarks during a White House meeting on Wednesday, according to several media reports. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Bernadette Baum) By David Lawder and Jonathan Spicer WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The top U.S. trade official on Thursday poured cold water on the prospect of an imminent breakthrough in talks to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hours after Canada's prime minister struck a positive note. "The NAFTA countries are nowhere near close to a deal," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement, pointing to "gaping differences" on a host of issues, including intellectual property, agricultural access, labor and energy. Lighthizer said he would continue to work toward "the best possible deal for American farmers, ranchers, workers, and businesses." The future of trade talks between the United States, Mexico and Canada was in limbo as a Thursday deadline passed to present U.S. lawmakers with a revamped NAFTA after a push to conclude a deal in the past few weeks. There was no immediate reaction to Lighthizer's comments from the offices of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. U.S. officials say the negotiations need to wrap up very soon to give the current Congress time to vote on a final text. Earlier on Thursday, Trudeau said he felt "positive" about talks to rework NAFTA, while a top Mexican official noted a deal might be possible by the end of May. "To be honest, we are down to a point where there is a good deal on the table," Trudeau told the Economic Club of New York. "It's right down to the last conversations. ... I'm feeling positive about this, but it won't be done until it's done." Freeland traveled to Washington on Thursday for internal meetings with labor officials and representatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a spokesman for her said. A Mexican technical negotiating team is in Washington, but there is no date set for the next NAFTA ministerial meeting with the United States and Canada. Story continues Mexico's economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, said a deal could be reached by the end of May, but added that if no agreement is reached the talks could extend beyond the July 1 Mexican presidential election. For that to happen, though, the United States and Mexico would have to end what officials say is deadlock over U.S. demands to raise wages in the auto sector and boost the North American content of cars made in the three NAFTA nations. Critics complain the move is a clear swipe at Mexico, which U.S. President Donald Trump says added low-wage manufacturing jobs at Americans' expense after NAFTA was signed in 1994. "Any renegotiated NAFTA that implies losses of existing Mexican jobs is unacceptable," Guajardo said in a tweet. Under the Trade Promotion Authority statute that would allow a simple yes or no vote on NAFTA, Trump must notify Congress 90 days before he can sign the agreement. The U.S. International Trade Commission then has up to 105 days after the signing to produce a study on the effects of the agreement. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan has said that the Republican-controlled Congress would need to be notified of a new deal by Thursday to give lawmakers a chance to approve it before a newly elected Congress takes over in January. Ryan, asked on Thursday whether there was any wiggle room in the NAFTA approval timeline for Congress, said, "The wiggle room would be at the ITC." "My guess," he added, "is there is probably some wiggle room at the ITC for what it takes for their part of the process but not an indefinite amount and that means time is really of the essence." (Reporting by David Lawder and Jonathan Spicer; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker in Washington, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Sharay Angulo in Mexico City; Writing by Anthony Esposito, David Ljunggren and Dave Graham; Editing by James Dalgleish and Leslie Adler) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted his close and multilayered relationship with President Donald Trump, saying he felt positive about a potential deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Its right down to sort of the last conversations, he told Susan Li of FOX Business in an interview Thursday at the Economic Club of New York. And we know those last conversations in any deal are extremely important. So Im feeling positive about this. Top Canadian officials are currently in Washington for negotiations with U.S. officials on NAFTA. While theres a good deal on the table, Trudeau said one of the sticking points is the inclusion of a five-year sunset clause. Trumps insistence on that drew a swift rebuke from Canada and Mexico. In that kind of uncertainty around investing, its hard to imagine a lot of folks being willing to make a five-year investment in Canada, Trudeau said. We dont really feel that a deal with a sunset clause is much of a deal at all. The decades-old trade agreement has been a frequent target of Trump, who has criticized large trade deficits the U.S. with Mexico and Canada, as well as the relocation of American jobs and companies. U.S. goods and services traded with Mexico totaled an estimated $616.6 billion in 2017, with a deficit of $64.1 billion. Washington has a $2.77 billion surplus in trade in goods and services with Canada. Trudeau declined to say whether he thought a deal could be reached by the end of the year. We feel there is a good deal that actually achieves the things the president certainly made very clear he wanted to see out of an improved NAFTA, he said. Weve put a number of things on the table. And I think theres reason to feel positive about the work weve done and what the coming days could bring. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has said it will be hard for the current Congress to vote on NAFTA changes if its not notified of a deal by May 17. Related Articles Cuban plane Andrea Rodriguez/AP Photo Cuba's state-run media reported that a Cubana Airlines Boeing 737 has crashed shortly after takeoff. The flight was headed from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana to the city of Holguin in the eastern part of Cuba. Reports indicated there were 104 passengers on board. A passenger jet crashed after taking off from Jose Martii International Airport in Havana, Cuba. According to CNN, Cuba's state-run television reported that the aircraft involved was a Boeing 737 operated by the country's state-owned carrier, Cubana Airlines. Witnesses told the AFP that they saw a large column of smoke appear near the airport. The flight was believed to be Cubana Flight 972 from Havana to the city of Holguin in the eastern part of the country. There were 104 passengers on board. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said there was a high number of victims. The AP reports, citing a military officer, that there were only three survivors of the crash and all were in critical conditions. Other officials declined to confirm the survivor totals for the AP. The aircraft involved in the incident was reportedly a Boeing 737 wet-leased by Cubana Airlines from Mexican airline Global Air. (According to aviation-tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft involved in the incident was initially believed to be a 26-year-old Boeing 737-400 operated by Blue Panorama Airlines for Cubana Airlines. But Blue Panorama has since told Flightradar24 that its plane was not involved.) In a statement to Business Insider, Boeing said it was "aware of news reports out of Cuba and closely monitoring the situation." According to CBS News, this was Cuba's third major fatal crash since 2010. Cubana's director general told state media that the US embargo has made it difficult to acquire new-generation aircraft and parts for its existing fleet, CBS News reported. The airline has flown 11,700 more passengers than expected from January to April 2018. Story continues Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/997538145427222528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw UPDATE: A Boeing 737 operated by state airline Cubana crashed on takeoff from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with 104 people on board https://t.co/eLTumRHSKR pic.twitter.com/sGb7F5z1JN Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/997537231182155776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Cuba president says 'high number' of victims after plane crashed on takeoff in Havana. The 737 went down in a field adjoining the airport. Cuban media say 104 people were on board; the plane was en route to Holguin, 800 km east of Havana. (Photo courtesy https://t.co/ZGiMRGueqo) pic.twitter.com/fmxUAmODql Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/997538931230076929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw .@CNN has obtained video that appears to show smoke rising from the plane crash site, near Jose Marti International Airport in Havana Cuba. pic.twitter.com/oObs4WKvXU Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/997547400838381568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw CONFIRMAN TRES SOBREVIVIENTES TRAS DESASTRE AEREO EN CUBA. IMAGENES DE LA TELEVISION EN LA ISLA. EN EL VUELO IBAN 104 PASAJEROS Y NUEVE TRIPULANTES #news #tv #world #Havana #plane #crash #airport #Cuba #USA #Florida #Mexico pic.twitter.com/mCLZzJYJjF An earlier version of this story, based in part on a CNN report, misstated that the plane was headed to Guyana. This story is developing. Check back for updates. See Also: Has Prospect Capital (PSEC) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year? Is (PSEC) Outperforming Other Finance Stocks This Year? Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras PBR recently announced its overall equivalent production of 2.68 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMBoed), for the month of April. The Brazilian state-run companys domestic production during this period was 2.59 MMBoed, while international production totaled 95 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. Notably, the companys crude oil production for April surged 1.1% on a monthly basis, ending a six-month long cold streak. Crude output in Brazil averaged 2.09 MMBoed. In the month of April, natural gas production except liquids averaged 79 million cubic meters per day (MMcm/d), surging 1.2% month over month. The rise in output can be attributed to the completion of maintenance work on Cidade de Angra dos Reis named floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, which is currently located in the Lula Field. Moreover, production commencement in the Buzios Field through FPSO P-74 added to the output rise. However, production in April was marginally down from 2.10 MMBoed in the year-ago period. Additionally, crude production from abroad averaged 58 thousand barrels per day (MBPD), down 5% from March. Similarly, natural gas output was 6.3 MMcm/d, 1.6% below March level. The fall was due to maintenance works in the Saint Malo and Lucius fields, in the United States. Full-Year Expectations The company pumped first oil from the Buzios Field during April-end, operating on a single well. FPSO P-74 installed at the site has a production capacity of 150 MBPD, while processing natural gas of 6 MMcm/d. Buzios is anticipated to hold recoverable reserves of around 3.1 billion barrels. Naturally, production ramp up from the field will largely help the company reach its 2018 production target of 2.1 million barrels per day. It is expected to have a significant positive effect on the companys 2018 revenues. For the full year of 2018, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $100.5 billion, higher than 2017s top line of $88.8 billion. Story continues However, Petrobras planned divestment (2017-18) program of assets can offset the production boost. The company has listed more than 100 blocks, both onshore and offshore, under its $21 billion divestment program. Price Performance Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras has gained 92.8% in the past year compared with 15.1% growth of its industry. Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider Petrobras has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the Energy sector can opt for some better-ranked stocks in the same space like Nine Energy Service, Inc. NINE, CNOOC Limited CEO and BP p.l.c. BP, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Houston, TX-based Nine Energy Service is an onshore service provider. For 2018, the bottom line is likely to be up 180.1%. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 28.6%. Hong Kong-based CNOOC is an integrated energy company. The companys top line for 2018 is anticipated to improve 49% year over year, while its bottom line is expected to increase 83.3%. London-based BP is an integrated oil major. For 2018, its bottom line is likely to be up 67.6%. In the last four reported quarters, the company delivered a positive average earnings surprise of 29.6%. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CNOOC Limited (CEO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (PBR) : Free Stock Analysis Report BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nine Energy Service, Inc. (NINE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Will the Cowboy State become the Blockchain State? Wyoming has passed legislation to attract the blockchain and cryptocurrency businesses to a state dominated by mining and tourism. In March, Wyoming enacted five bills that relax the states regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and revised its corporate code. The legislation led Entoro Capital to start a new operation in the state centered on blockchain a secure database, or ledger, spread across multiple computers that allows cryptocurrency to be sold. Wyoming has become a very pro-business state, James Row, managing partner at Entoro Capital, told FOX Business Ashley Webster during a Varney & Co. interview. We are obviously in a number of areas where we use utility coins and security tokens, and [Blockchain] will help us in the aftermarket products we are trying to create. The main drivers of Wyomings economy are mining, including oil gas and coal, and tourism. It has the smallest population in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Row attributes the low overall cost of living to a high-quality environment. It has very much an entrepreneurial spirit, Row added. Its a great place to recruit people to. Related Articles RED Hydrogen 3 Marques Brownlee/YouTube Last summer, the professional camera company RED announced it would release the "world's first holographic media machine" in 2018. The Hydrogen One phone, starting at $1,195, was immediately available to preorder, but the launch date has been pushed a few times; most recently to August, due to reasons including carrier deals, as outlined in a post on the RED forum. But pre-order customers will be happy to know that the Hydrogen One will officially be available for Verizon and AT&T when it rolls out this summer. RED initially teased an image of the Hydrogen One and gave the popular YouTube tech reviewer Marques Brownlee (known as MKBHD) a nonfunctional prototype, but didn't share much else for several months. In a January update, RED's founder Jim Jannard shared details about the phone, which both he and the company's president, Jarred Land, already own. "I can proudly say that my current phone (and Jarred's) is a working HYDROGEN One... serial numbers EVT1- 0001 and 0002," Jannard wrote on a RED message board. "While there are still a few things to add, it does everything we need from a cell phone... plus display 4-view content. It is awesome. If we never sell one phone... I am totally happy. We both have exactly what we wanted." Here's a closer look at the Hydrogen One smartphone: See the rest of the story at Business Insider See Also: SEE ALSO: Lenovo has a concept tablet can be folded into a smartphone with two displays The cryptocurrency market continued its rough week on Thursday, with most major currencies trading down more than 1 percent on the day. Heres a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market today, and which currencies were on the move. Headlines The big news from the CoinDesk Consensus conference on Wednesday was the talk by Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) and Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey said there will ultimately be a native internet currency, and the adoption of bitcoin or another crypto as a global currency would help Square expand its services into new markets. Dorsey said he is a huge fan of bitcoin and hopes it ends up as the universal digital currency. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that, after reviewing 1,450 digital currencies, it found 271 cryptocurrencies that had evidence of fraudulent activity. Nearly one out of every five currencies the Journal investigated utilized fake executive information, plagiarized documents, fabricated development team credentials or other misleading information in an attempt to raise money from unsuspecting investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has completed an ICO of a satirical cryptocurrency called HoweyCoin as part of an effort to warn investors about the dangers of investing in cryptos. The HoweyCoin website was set up to demonstrate to investors how easy it is to get duped into the many scam currencies that have popped up in recent months, and the site links to an educational page about how to avoid crypto scams. Price Action The Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC (OTC: GBTC) traded at $13.62, down 0.9 percent. Heres how several top crypto investments fared Thursday. Prices are as of 3:45 p.m. ET and reflect the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin declined 1.4 percent to $8,200; Ethereum declined 1.8 percent to $686; Ripple declined 1.9 percent to 67 cents; Bitcoin Cash declined 3.9 percent to $1,225; EOS gained 3.4 percent to $12.79. The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past 24 hours are: Story continues Global Cryptocurrency: $5.7-million market cap, 64.7-percent gain. BuzzCoin: $4.8-million market cap, 47.7-percent gain. Dero: $6.9-million market cap, 47.0-percent gain. The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past 24 hours were: Nullex: $3.0-million market cap, 49.4-percent decline. Vsync: $2.5-million market cap, 22.7-percent decline. MaxCoin: $3.6-million market cap, 22.4-percent decline. Related Links: Today In Cryptocurrency: Circle Raises 0 Million, Blockchain ETF Launches Cantor's CoinDesk Consensus Conference Takeaways See more from Benzinga 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. China cast doubt on reports that it had offered to reduce its annual trade surplus with the U.S. by $200 billion through increased imports of American products. The offer was made during talks in Washington this week as Vice Premier Liu He visited to try to resolve a trade dispute, according to a Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. On Friday, two posts on Chinese state social media disputed the report, and a foreign ministry official said no such offer had been made, to his knowledge. In a sign that the Chinese government is seeking a conciliatory stance, on Friday it announced that it would end its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into imports of U.S. sorghum, citing "public interest." That move comes days after the restarting of a review of Qualcomm's application to acquire NXP Semiconductors . "If Trump can cut a deal with China for a $200 billion reduction in the bilateral trade deficit, then he'll have won the trade deal of the century, said Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia-Pacific economist at IHS Markit in Singapore. The devil will be in the details, with key factors being the timeframe over which China is offering to achieve this reduction. List of Demands A $200 billion reduction in the U.S. trade gap with China by 2020 was on a list of demands the Trump administration made earlier this month as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin led a delegation to Beijing. That mission left with little common ground with China and reports emerging of infighting among the U.S. officials. The U.S. merchandise trade deficit with China hit a record $375 billion last year. The Chinese social media posts, made on accounts operated by the Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily, sought to reassure readers that no "unilateral concessions" would be made, and that China will "never negotiate" under conditions set by the U.S. The U.S. had earlier made additional demands, including a halt to subsidies and other government support for the Made in China 2025 plan that targets strategic industries from robotics to new-energy vehicles. China had made its own demands, including giving equal treatment to its investment, and warned U.S. companies may be excluded from measures to open its economy. Story continues The Trump administration has threatened to impose tariffs on as much as $150 billion of Chinese imports to the U.S. as tensions over trade have escalated. Trump expressed doubt before his meeting with Liu that China and the U.S. would come to an agreement to avoid a damaging trade war. "Will that be successful? I tend to doubt it," Trump said during a press briefing on Thursday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "The reason I doubt it is because China's become very spoiled." 'Positive Sign' Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney, said the reports of the Chinese proposal are "a positive sign that a full-on trade war may be averted." "By making a significant offer to the U.S. it indicates that China is taking the negotiations very seriously," Oliver said. "Much will depend on the details and time period and later in terms of the implementation." The U.S. and China were expected to exchange new trade proposals during the Washington talks, Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow said earlier Thursday. Mnuchin is leading the talks with Liu, along with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, according to the White House. Victor Shih, a professor at the University of California in San Diego who studies China's politics and finance, said he finds an agreement to cut the U.S. deficit by $200 billion difficult to contemplate. Even with a drastic reallocation of Chinese imports of energy, raw materials and airplanes in favor of the U.S., the bilateral trade deficit may reduce by $100 billion, he said. A $200 billion reduction would mean a drastic reduction in Chinese exports to the U.S. and a dramatic restructuring of the supply chain. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com (Adds details on rival terminal, broader LNG flows) By Sabina Zawadzki LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Britain's busiest liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, South Hook, is seeking to broaden its sources of supply as robust Asian demand diverts cargoes from Qatar - the world's biggest exporter and the terminal's majority shareholder. Volumes to the terminal, in which Qatar Petroleum owns a controlling stake, have halved so far this year from a year ago to 1.2 million cubic metres (mcm) and amount to just 15 percent of 2016 volumes for the same period. South Hook, in Wales, has been seeking to broaden the specification of its gas since January, a proposal that was approved late on Thursday by the Joint Office of Gas Transporters (JOGT), which administers the rules for transporting gas in Britain. The terminal received approval to raise oxygen limits within the gas it delivers to Britain's network, "allowing greater diversity of gas composition of future cargoes at South Hook LNG Terminal", according to its proposal document to the JOGT. "The UKCS (UK continental shelf) decline, Groningen production cuts and the closure of Rough long-range storage facility are all resulting in an increase in GBs (Britain's) gas import dependency," it wrote, referring to falling regional supplies. "This modification supports this enhanced gas security of supply requirement." The Dutch government said in March it will phase out gas production at the Groningen field, once Europe's largest, by 2030 as part of efforts to reduce the danger caused by small but damaging earthquakes. The terminal, with ExxonMobil and Total as minor shareholders, has been importing LNG from Qatar since it was fully commissioned in 2010. With capacity of 15.6 million tonnes a year, it is one of the biggest in Europe. South Hook declined to comment beyond its public documents on the issue, which did not specify from which other countries it planned to source its LNG. However, analysts have noted the rapid expansion of U.S. LNG exports thanks to the launch of two liquefaction plants in the past two years, Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Cove Point in Maryland, to take advantage of domestic shale gas production. Story continues Surprisingly strong demand in the past year from China, South Korea and India has up-ended past predictions from industry watchers that there would be a glut of supply due to rising output from the United States, Russia and Australia. Broadly speaking, this meant Qatari LNG has been much in demand in Asia while Atlantic-based cargos have come to Europe. In Britain, South Hook's quieter rival, Dragon LNG, has seen an uptick in its deliveries from a variety of sources. The joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia's Petronas received almost as much LNG so far this year as all of last year, including one of the first cargoes from Novatek's Yamal LNG project in northern Russia and the maiden cargo from Dominion Energy's Cove Point. Dragon, which shares the Milford Haven port with South Hook, received four cargoes last year, all of them from Qatar, compared to six this year from Egypt, Trinidad, Russia and both U.S. terminals, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data. (Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Mark Potter and Adrian Croft) Shares of Chinese internet giant Baidu BIDU were down more than 7.5% in early morning trading Friday after the company announced that Lu Qi, who oversaw the firms shift to artificial intelligence, is leaving his role as chief operating officer. Lu is a former Microsoft MSFT employee who joined Baidu in late 2016. He is widely considered a top figure in the global AI industry and is currently responsible for the day-to-day operations of the companys AI unit. AI has become Baidus primary focus in the past year. The Chinese search engine hired Lu to help with this transition, which came shortly after strict new regulations gutted the companys ad revenue. The rebound from this scandal has been integral in Baidus effort to regain public and investor confidence. Lu is reportedly stepping down due to personal and family reasons. He will remain vice chairman of the company, and current VP Wang Haifeng will take over his AI duties. Lu noted that he would continue to firmly support Baidu and will pay attention to China-U.S. research and investment. The AI executives departure marks the latest in a series of high-profile exits from the internet firm over the past year. In early 2017, Baidu lost its chief scientist, Andrew Ng, and not long after, the head of its self-driving car unit, Wang Jing, left to launch his own company. Nevertheless, Baidu shares have started to generate significant momentum over the past month or so as the companys earnings outlook as improved. Just a few weeks ago, Baidu posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.60 per share, crushing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.73. A large reason for the firms better-than-expected profits was its ability to cut down on research and development costs, which had skyrocketed in recent years. Baidus upbeat view also led to significant earnings estimate revisions, lifting consensus per-share profit projections for 2018 and 2019 by $1.34 and $1.44, respectively, in the wake of its latest report. Story continues This positive revision activity has earned the stock a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Investors are understandably concerned about the departure of a key executive who has been an integral piece of the companys recent success, but if Baidu can transition to new leadership without any major hiccups, todays selling might present a discounted buying opportunity. Want more market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter! More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research To the eternal question as to why women are so lousy at developing business, a top litigator offered this simple explanation: "They lack the hustle," he said over gulps of Evian at lunch. "They don't know how to do it, and they don't enjoy it." I know, I know. There are exceptions, plenty of them, and, ladies, I salute you. But he's onto something. Which brings me to my favorite guy, Michael Cohen. I know I should stop writing articles singing his wonders, but I find him to be a bottomless font of ideas and inspiration. All lawyers can learn from him, but let me give a big shoutout to you ladies, who often take rejection so personally. So what can Cohen teach us about the art of the hustle? First, never give up. Instead of going into a funk that his mentor Donald Trump left him in the cold after being elected president, Cohen hit the ground running. I don't know if Cohen has always been such a talented rainmaker, but he didn't waste time. In the months following Trump's election, he hit up AT&T, Novartis, Ford Motor Co., Uber, the government of Qatar, Columbus Nova and Korea Aerospace Industriesthough I'm sure that's far from a complete list. And his second virtueand here's where you ladies need to listen up: He was shameless in overselling himself. Vanity Fair sums up his sales pitch this way: "I dont know whos been representing you, but you should fire them all. Im the guy you should hire. Im closest to the president. Im his personal lawyer." Did you catch that? Tell 'em, "I'm the gal you should hire!" Now say it with a straight face. I know, you're horrified at the idea of such a hard sell. But that's what Cohen did. Not only that, but he was pitching things about which he knew squatlike helping AT&T with its proposed merger with Time Warner or facilitating relations for Qatar with Washington. Most of the time, he didn't seem to know what he was selling, except that he was selling and asking prospective clients to cough up a million bucks or so for his services. And what's the upshot to Cohen's techniques? Well, he did pretty well. Some didn't buy his spiel (among them, Ford, Uber and Qatar) but several bought it hook, line and sinker (Novartis, AT&T, Columbus Nova, Korea Aerospace), netting Cohen over $4 million. But unlike Cohen, most of you have an actual expertise, so stop underestimating yourself! What's more, you've got to go for clients, cases, deals and promotions even if you're not completely, absolutely qualified. (Remember, a 2014 Hewlett Packard report finds that women won't apply for a job unless they think they are 100 percent qualified, whereas men will gun for it when they meet only 60 percent of the criteria.) The bottom line is: You are way smarter and infinitely more qualified than some bozo like Cohen. Just think how successful you could be if you displayed a fraction of Cohen's bluster. So what are the chances that women will adopt more of a Cohen business-making mode? And what are the chances they'll succeed if they do? Not good on either count, says the handful of female lawyers I polled. "Women cannot even promote themselves when they have something to offer, let alone bullshit for millions," says a senior counsel at a top 10 bank. Sad but true. But you've got to give it a try, ladies. What do you have to lose? For Immediate Release Chicago, IL May 18, 2018 Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. KTOS, The Boeing Company BA, Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc. WAIR, ManTech International Corporation MANT and CPI Aerostructures, Inc. CVU. Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free. Here are highlights from Thursdays Analyst Blog: U.S.-North Korea Talks on Shaky Ground: 5 Defense Stock Picks On May 16, North Korea canceled a meeting with its southern counterpart and even threatened to cancel a planned meeting with President Donald Trump. In fact, North Korea's vice-foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan said that the United States together with South Korea harbor sinister intentions toward Pyongyang. North Korea's latest move raised a new set of geo-political concerns. Additionally, Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton's latest statement also grabbed investor attention. In this context, defense stocks seem to be a lucrative investment choice. North Korea to Cancel Jun 12 Meeting North Korea's vice-foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan said on May 16 that if the United States was "genuinely committed" to move toward a better relationship with North Korea, it should have given encouraging response. This came after in an interview on Apr 29, Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the United States will go with the "Libya model" for North Korea. Clearly, during 2003-04, the denuclearization program in Libya ended with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's death. Citing U.S.'s Libya model, Kye-gwan said that following Bolton's statement, North Korea is no mood to negotiate with the former, when the Trump administration is focused on all "about driving North Korea into a corner." Kye-gwan also slammed the United States for "making a one-sided demand" and now thinking whether to "accept the North Korea-U.S. summit meeting" or not. Story continues Bolton Raises Questions, South Korea to Mediate On May 16, in an interview, Security Advisor Bolton said that he found "nothing new" in North Korea's statement and wondered whether North Korea is at all taking the U.S. "objective of denuclearization seriously." Bolton added that in case the Kim Jong-un administration refuses to agree with the United States' denuclearization program in Singapore, the meeting will be "pretty short." He even called North Korea's decision to cancel the meeting with its southern counterpart "discouraging." After North Korea's warning to skip the Singapore meeting, the South Korean government has wished to act as "a mediator" between South Korea, North Korea, and the U.S. However, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha agreed that North Korea and the U.S. have different opinions "on methods to accomplish denuclearization." 5 Best Defense Stocks Renewed tensions between North Korea and the U.S. have brought the spotlight back on companies that are involved in the defense industry. In this context, we can say that companies involved in the manufacture, processing, and delivery of defense equipment and services would be good investments. Here, we have selected five stocks that are expected to gain following these developments. These five stocks flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. is a provider of mission-critical products, solutions, and services in the United States. This California-based company has a Zacks Rank #1. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 53.33%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 5.9% over the last 30 days. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has gained 11.4% in the last one year. The Boeing Company is a manufacturer of commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems and services. This Illinois-based company has a Zacks Rank #2. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 21.32%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 4% over the last 30 days. Boeing has gained 92.2% in the last one year. Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc. is a provider of aerospace products and supply chain management services to the aerospace industry. This California-based company has a Zacks Rank #2. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 29.94%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 10% over the last 30 days. Wesco Aircraft Holdings has gained 14.9% in the last one year. ManTech International Corporation is a provider of technologies and solutions for mission-critical national security programs. This Virginia-based company has a Zacks Rank #2. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 26.54%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 2% over the last 30 days. ManTech International has gained 39.2% in the last one year. CPI Aerostructures, Inc. is engaged in the contract production of structural aircraft parts and sub-assemblies for the commercial and military sectors of the aircraft industry. This New York-based company has a Zacks Rank #2. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 31.54%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 8.9% over the last 30 days. CPI Aerostructures has gained 35.6% in the last one year. Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars? Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge. With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research. It's not the one you think. See This Ticker Free >> Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1 Stock of the Day pick for free. About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term. Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons. Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year.See these high-potential stocks free >>. 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Click to get this free report The Boeing Company (BA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc. (WAIR) : Free Stock Analysis Report CPI Aerostructures, Inc. (CVU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (KTOS) : Free Stock Analysis Report ManTech International Corporation (MANT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. WASHINGTON Pakistan is the one country in the region that has done the most against terrorism, and no country can accuse Pakistan of not doing enough against terrorism and extremism, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Pakistan's outgoing ambassador to the U.S., told VOA. Al-Qaida, if you dont hear about it today, it is because Pakistan and the U.S. were cooperating. Al-Qaida is the organization that caused 9/11, and therefore we think that no country can tell us that Pakistan has not done enough. In fact, Pakistan has done the most, Chaudhry said. Last year, while announcing his new South Asia strategy, U.S. President Donald Trump put Pakistan on notice for failing to do more against terror safe havens in the county. The very first tweet this year from the U.S. president was about Pakistan. The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!, Trump tweeted. Allegations Unfounded But Chaudhry says the allegations that there are safe havens in Pakistan or that the leadership of the Afghan Taliban is based there are myths. It is a myth to say that there are any Shuras in Pakistan, Karachi Shura, Quetta Shura and all these things, Chaudhry said. Weve said time and again that there are no safe havens in Pakistan. Forty-four percent of the territory of Afghanistan is available, according to U.S. reports, and 70 percent, according to a BBC report, is available to militants of that huge country. However, General Joseph Votel, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that Pakistan has yet to take any decisive action against the militants, including the Haqqani network. Ongoing national counterterrorism efforts against anti-Pakistan militants throughout the country have not yet translated into the definitive actions we require Pakistan to take against Afghan Taliban or Haqqani leaders, Votel said. U.S. and Afghan officials have long accused Pakistan of being selective in its campaign against militant groups operating in the country. Pakistani officials deny the charges and maintain the country has equally targeted all militant groups. Pakistan is squeezing space on Haqqanis and the Taliban. Our message to them is very clear, 'youre Afghans and you should give up violence and go to Afghanistan to join the political mainstream,' Chaudhry said. But to hold Pakistan responsible for a lack of success in Afghanistan is not a fair treatment, he added. Tribal Region Militants reportedly are using Pakistan's tribal region for training purposes and planning attacks across the border in Afghanistan against U.S. and Afghan forces. Chaudhry asserted that following several military operations, the region has been cleared of militants. Violence and terrorism under any pretext is not acceptable. Thats where our military forces moved into the tribal areas, especially North Waziristan where these people had created hideouts, safe havens, IED [improvised explosive devices] factories, training camps and whatever else, and two, three years later, we were able to clean up the whole place and secure every inch of that territory, he said. Despite the governments claim, voices raised by a recent movement initiated by ethnic Pashtuns belonging to the Tribal belt tells a different story. Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement, or PTM, charges there is no peace in the volatile tribal region. Chaudhry downplayed those accusations and seemed to suggest the PTM movement has been hijacked by outsiders. I think people are exaggerating because they have their own axe to grind, otherwise there are talks going on with them [PTM] by the authorities and the matter is also in the courts, he said. Within Pakistan, Pashtuns are very committed Pakistanis, and they have made enormous contributions to the people of Pakistan, he added. PTM members deny links to any foreign government and charge that their demands are within the countrys constitution. Hafiz Saeed Islamist cleric Hafiz Saeed, a U.S.-designated terrorist, who allegedly was the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 160 people, is allegedly living a free life in Pakistans Lahore. The U.S. has criticized Pakistan for not doing enough to hold Saeed accountable. U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said at a press briefing in February that Pakistan had been called out several times for its inadequate actions against Saeed. How many times have we talked about the person [Saeed] who Pakistan let out of house arrest, who was responsible for the Mumbai attacks back in 2008 that killed so many people, including Americans, too? Nauert said. Chaudhry said Saeeds case is legal and India has failed to present evidence against him. We tried several times in 2012, when I think the first judicial commission went, but they could not interrogate the prosecution witnesses except then a year later they went again, but the full range of evidence was not made available that can stand the legal scrutiny, Chaudhry said. Future Relations Pakistans relations with the U.S. have deteriorated in recent years, and just recently, relations between the two countries plummeted to a new low when Washington issued a directive requiring Pakistani diplomats to seek permission five days in advance before traveling more than 40 kilometers outside their posts in the U.S. In retaliation, Pakistan reciprocated with its own restrictions on U.S. diplomats. Nonetheless, Chaudhry seems optimistic about relations between the two nations. The point that Im making is - its a resilient relationship and if it is passing through a bad patch today, it will come right back to normal just like it has come back in the past, he said. -- Reporter by Madeeha Anwar For The Voice Of America LONDON and CALGARY, Alberta, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mkango Resources Ltd. (AIM:MKA) (TSX-V:MKA) (the "Company" or "Mkango") is pleased to announce that Mkango and Talaxis Ltd (Talaxis), a subsidiary of Noble Group Ltd, have signed the definitive agreements (the Agreements) in relation to the transaction announced on November 16, 2017, whereby Talaxis will acquire up to a 75% interest in Lancaster Exploration Ltd (Lancaster), the holder of the licence for the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project (Songwe) in Malawi, and up to 49% of Maginito Ltd (Maginito): Songwe Joint Venture In January 2018, Talaxis invested 5 million (C$8.8 million) in return for a 20% interest in Lancaster. Mkango will shortly commence a major drilling programme at Songwe and is targeting the completion of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate by the end of 2018. On Mkango publishing an NI 43-101 technical report in relation to the updated Mineral Resource Estimate, Talaxis will invest an additional 7 million (C$12.1 million) to fund the completion of a feasibility study for a further 29% interest, increasing its total interest in Lancaster to 49%. On Mkango completing a feasibility study for Songwe, Talaxis will have the option to acquire a further 26% interest in Lancaster, increasing its aggregate interest to 75%, by arranging funding for 100% of remaining project development costs, including funding the equity component thereof. If Talaxis exercises its option, Mkango will retain a 25% interest, free carried to production. Mkango is targeting completion of a feasibility study for Songwe by the end of 2019. Maginito Investment In January 2018, Talaxis invested 1 million (C$1.7 million) in return for a 24.5% interest in Maginito. Maginito is focused on downstream opportunities relating to the rare earths supply chain, in particular neodymium alloy powders, magnet and other technologies geared to accelerating growth in the electric vehicle market. This includes the collaboration with Metalysis Ltd announced in September 2017, which is focused on advanced alloys using neodymium or praseodymium with other elements for permanent magnet manufacturing. On successful completion of the second phase of the research and development programme with Metalysis, Talaxis will invest an additional 1 million (C$1.7 million) into Maginito for a further 24.5% interest, increasing its total interest in Maginito to 49%. Talaxis and Mkango will be each others preferred partner for all rare earths projects worldwide and for all activities in Malawi. William Dawes, Chief Executive Officer of Mkango, said: "Following the signing of the definitive agreements, Mkango has a clearly defined pathway to production against the backdrop of a strong outlook for rare earths geared to the electric vehicle market. We look forward to working with Talaxis to develop Songwe as a long term, sustainable producer of rare earths and complementary downstream technologies through Maginito. The next major milestone is an updated resource for Songwe, which triggers the next 7 million investment from Talaxis. Daniel Mamadou, Executive Director of Talaxis said: As the market for permanent magnet technology continues to grow rapidly, access to reliable sources of neodymium becomes key. As such, we are pleased to sign the definitive agreements with Mkango. Our focus is to ensure that our clients can benefit from a supply chain specialized in technology metals that is reliable and resilient to external shocks. About Mkango Resources Limited Mkango's primary business is the exploration for rare earth elements and associated minerals in the Republic of Malawi, a country whose hospitable people have earned it a reputation as the warm heart of Africa. The Company holds interests in three exclusive prospecting licenses in Malawi, the Phalombe licence, the Thambani licence and the Chimimbe Hill licence. The main exploration target in the 80% held Phalombe licence is the Songwe Hill rare earths deposit, which features carbonatite hosted rare earth mineralisation and was subject to previous exploration in the late 1980s. Mkango completed an updated Pre-feasibility Study for the project in November 2015 and is currently commencing a Feasibility Study, the initial phases of which include a major drilling programme. The main exploration targets in Mkangos remaining two 100% held licences are, in the Thambani licence, uranium, niobium, tantalum and zircon and, in the Chimimbe Hill licence, nickel and cobalt. For more information, please visit www.mkango.ca. About Talaxis Limited Talaxis Limited is a company owned by Noble Group that is involved in the investment and trading of metals and raw materials which are critical to green technology supply chains, including cobalt, lithium, and rare earths. Talaxis is also involved in the research and development of industrial applications for energy solutions providers and permanent magnets manufacturers. With the support of its parent company, Talaxis has access to physical commodities logistics and to a global marketing network. Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure Certain information contained in this announcement may have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of that term under applicable securities laws) with respect to Mkango, its business and the Project. Generally, forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or is expected, scheduled, estimates intends, anticipates, believes, or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results can, may, could, would, should, might or will, occur or be achieved, or the negative connotations thereof. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements with respect to the global market for products using the rare earth metals the Company is exploring for, completion of the feasibility study and of the transactions contemplated in the Agreement, as well as the use of proceeds from the investments into the Company by Talaxis and the timing of such expenditures. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, without limiting the foregoing, market demand for the metals and associated downstream products for which Mkango is exploring, researching and developing, the positive results of a feasibility study on the Project, delays in obtaining financing or governmental or stock exchange approvals. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. For further information on Mkango, please contact: Mkango Resources Limited William Dawes Alexander Lemon Chief Executive Officer President will@mkango.ca alex@mkango.ca UK: +44 207 3722 744 Canada: +1 403 444 5979 www.mkango.ca @MkangoResources Blytheweigh Financial Public Relations Tim Blythe, Camilla Horsfall, Nick Elwes UK: +44 207 138 3204 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Jeff Keating, Caroline Rowe UK: +44 20 3470 0470 Alternative Resource Capital Joint Broker Alex Wood, Rob Collins UK: +44 20 7186 9004; +44 20 7186 9001 The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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 press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any equity or other securities of the Company in the United States. The securities of the Company will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) and may not be offered or sold within the United States to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. 1. Yes. The medical data shows it will be beneficial to get one. The sooner the better. 2. Yes. Theres no rush, but I plan to get one sometime in the next few months. 3. No. Im not sold on the need for a booster. Besides, the case numbers are falliing. 4. No. I havent been vaccinated for COVID-19, and I dont plan to get the booster, either. 5. Unsure. It may be smart to wait and see how beneficial the booster shots prove to be. 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High 92F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low near 60F. S winds shifting to WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ UN Photo/Catianne Tijerina New York, May 18 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Thursday condemned an attack against UN peacekeeping troops in southeastern Central African Republic (CAR) that claimed the life of one peacekeeper, and wounded eight others all from Mauritania. In a statement released by spokesperson, The UN chief reiterated that attacks against UN peacekeepers could amount to a war crime. He called on the government of CAR to investigate the incident and swiftly bring those responsible to justice. Guterres also expressed his condolences to the family of the bereaved, as well as to the Government of Mauritania. The attack, targeting a convoy escorted by troops from the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MINUSCA), took place on Thursday morning near the town of Alindao, which is located along the restive Bambari-Bangassou road corridor. The attack is believed to have been carried out by so-called anti-Balaka elements, who are operating in the area. Fighting between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia and the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition has plunged the CAR into civil conflict since 2012. A peace agreement was reached in January 2013, but rebels seized the capital, Bangui, in March of that year, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee. Concerned with the security, humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in the CAR and its regional implications, the Security Council authorized the deployment of MINUSCA in 2014 with the protection of civilians as its utmost priority. Washington, May 18 (IBNS): In the wake of a trade row between the United States of America and China, US President Donald Trump on Thursday met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House, reports said on Friday. The two discussed trade. Sharing an image from the meeting, the President Of The United States (POTUS) tweeted, "Talking trade with the Vice Premier of the Peoples Republic of China, Liu He." According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Liu lead a delegation 'whose members come from major economic sectors of the Chinese government'. "Liu said that guided by Xi and Trump, the bilateral ties have achieved important and positive progresses. He added that the two nations, whose relations are at an important stage, need to implement the significant consensus reached by their heads of state, meet each other halfway, respect each other, and work together to push forward bilateral ties in a healthy and stable manner," Xinhua reported. In a past tweet, which was posted on May 15, the US President had said, "Trade negotiations are continuing with China. They have been making hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the U.S., for many years. Stay tuned!" Speaking about US-China ties, Trump also tweeted about his special bond with his Chinese counter Xi Jinping. "ZTE, the large Chinese phone company, buys a big percentage of individual parts from U.S. companies. This is also reflective of the larger trade deal we are negotiating with China and my personal relationship with President Xi," a tweet read. Image: twitter.com/realDonaldTrump Gerard Collomb Official Twitter Handle Paris, May 18 (IBNS): The French authorities have foiled a new attack by two Egyptian nationals in their country this week, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb informed on Friday. Collomb said that the forces' operation was based on a home visit. "An attack involving two nationals of Egyptian nationality was foiled this week in Paris. Our services were based in particular on a home visit: A provision included in the #LoiAntiterrorisme adopted in the fall of 2017 by Parliament," Collomb tweeted. According to reports, the two Egyptians were preparing to carry out an attack with either explosives or ricin. Kabul, May 18 (IBNS): In an attack by Taliban terrorists at a check-post in southeastern Paktika province of Afghanistan, at least three policemen have been killed, media reports said on Friday. The Taliban stormed the police checkpoint in the Hasti area of Janikhel district late Wednesday night, a relative of one of the victims told Pajhwok Afghan News. The incident left three policemen injured. Malik Sardar Khan, a tribal elder from the area, has confirmed the incident to the Afghanistan based news agency. Bodies of the killed policemen have been handed over to their relatives. The Taliban has not commented on the issue so far. Image: Wikimedia Commons They wanted a deal at any cost and thats what they got. Was Obama at fault? Like many Western politicians before him, Obama believed in appeasing the Iranian Regime, whilst recognising that they were not a friendly state. He appeared to believe that if he offered an olive branch, the Iranian Regime would reform into a democratic state. This is an incredible leap of faith as there was no evidence in the Regimes history that they were even capable of moderation. In fact, the theological regime is set of spreading its malign revolution and expanding its power across the Middle East. Unsurprisingly, the Iranian Regime showed its true colours as soon as the agreement was signed. The billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, which was released shortly after, was spent on the Iranian Regimes expansionist agenda rather than improving the Iranian peoples lives. Then, the mullahs began to brag about controlling four Arab capitals. Trumps position Its no secret that Donald Trump opposed the Iran Deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He made his opposition clear on the campaign trail, when he called it the worst deal ever and told his supporters that it did not protect the US and its allies. He has remained firm on this stance ever since, especially after Iran tested its ballistic missiles. While many politicians in the US and other countries (especially the other signatories to the deal) doubted his ability to pull out of the nuclear deal, Trump has since done so, even shaking up his cabinet in order to do (Mike Pompeo replaced Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and John Bolton replaced H.R. McMaster as national security advisor). Dr. Ahmad al-Farraj, a Saudi writer with al-Jazirah daily, wrote on Al Arabiya: [The doubters] missed the fact that his credibility was on the line and that he cannot be defeated in the face of Iran and his greatest opponents, Obama, Kerry and Angela Merkel. The doubters also missed the fact that putting pressure on the Iranian Regime is the only way to stop it destroying the world. These sanctions, which are being reimposed following Trump withdrawal from the nuclear deal earlier this month, are some of the strictest in US history. In fact, theyre the ones that were in place between 2012 and 2016 to force Iran to come to the negotiating table over its nuclear weapons programme. Consequences The sanctions will allow current Iranian oil customers to withdraw slowly a reduction every six months set by the US government so that they can find a new source without dramatic rises in the cost of oil Companies now have until November 4 to begin implementing this strategy. If any bank, company or country violates these sanctions, the US will impose stiff fines on them. Therefore, it effectively cuts Iran off from the global financial market; a failure for the Iranian Regime. Even China and India who bought Iranian oil under the previous rounds of sanctions using their own currency so as not to attract the USs attention seem reluctant to do so this time. ome Asian customers who had seen Trumps constant promises about the Iran deal actually began reducing their Iranian oil supplies in January, way before Trumps announcement. Why sanctions are right Sanctions are the best way to deal with the Iranian Regime as it cuts off their main source of cash. This money has not gone to help the Iranian people by providing government-funded healthcare or reducing unemployment. Instead, it has been used to fund the Iranian Regime malign expansionism, which takes on many different forms from funding terrorist cells to interfering in the elections of neighbouring states to propping up the Bashar Assad dictatorship in Syria. The Iranian Regime has also used this money to fund their suppressive security forces, including the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who routinely target the Iranian people for real or perceived opposition to the Regime. By cutting off this money, the US can reduce the amount that Iran will spend or wars and suppression and increase the chance that the Regime will be overthrown by the people. Nuclear Deal Shortly before issuing this executive order, Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), citing its inability to keep the US and its allies safe as well as its failure to address other pressing problems with the Iranian Regime, like its regional aggression. Hezbollah, who is aligned to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Quds Force, shares its radical ideology, and has the same goals in Mexico and South America to use their links to the area to make vast sums of money through the drugs trade. This money allows these groups to fund military projects, and to export Iranian revolutionary ideology across the globe. As well, with a home base in Mexico, they are also at the door to the US. According to an article by Tony Duheaume, Hezbollah is now well-established in Mexico, and has aligned with the Los Zetas drugs cartel, considered the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico. It is believed that Hezbollah has been useful to the Los Zetas, in helping to find inventive ways to smuggle their product into the US, as well as being on the lookout for mercenaries to train them in the art of urban warfare. Smuggling opportunities abound for the Lebanese terror group. The Sonoran and the Chihuahuan deserts straddle both countries, and two rivers, the Colorado and the Rio Bravo, allows for numerous entry points, along a border that is impossible to police. Duheaum writes, Hezbollah cadres stepped in to train drug cartel street soldiers in the construction of sophisticated explosive devices, urban warfare, ambushing techniques, sniping, and the creation of sophisticated tunnels for which to enter the US, of the type it had perfected in Gaza, and along the Lebanon-Israel border to thwart Israeli patrols. He explains, Through its smuggling programs to outwit the Israeli army back in Lebanon, Hezbollah has developed a great expertise in evading border patrols, which it shares with the Los Zetas, giving the Mexican crime group a massive edge on law enforcement officers. With the Mexican border running adjacent to the US, plus the fact that Hezbollah was already heavily involved in the South American drug trade, it was inevitable that the terror group would eventually become involved with the kingpins of the Mexican cartels. Now that Trump has pulled the US out of the Iran deal, Iran will be billions of dollars poorer, once sanctions go into effect. Hezbollah has prepared for this by setting up of its crime empire in order to become more self-sufficient. The Mexican mafia are its allies. Drug dealing can bring in multi-millions for Hezbollah. The group is believed to have over 100 sleeper cells throughout Latin America alone. George Tenet, the CIA director in 2003, testified before Congress that 12 Hezbollah cells had been identified operating in the US and were conducting surveillance operations. Additionally, the 2011 Congressional Research report stated that Hezbollah cells were known to be present in 15 US cities, including Huston and Nashville, with Hezbollah having become even more entrenched since that time. This should come as no surprise, as Mexico spans four US states, and has forty-five Mexico/US crossings, 330 ports of entry, and a border that is nearly 2,000 miles long. Every active Chilean bishop in the Roman Catholic Church offered to resign Friday. The offer came after Pope Francis accused the bishops of failing to investigate sex abuse cases and protect children. All 31 Chilean church officials made the offer to resign at the end of an emergency meeting at the Vatican. The pope can accept their resignations, reject them, or delay a decision. But their offer is a historic step in the Catholic Churchs long struggle with sex abuse and cover-ups by religious workers. It reportedly is the first time that an entire group of bishops has offered to step down after a scandal. Mea culpa Calls for their resignation came after the media learned of a 2,300-page Vatican report about the sex abuse scandal in Chile. Pope Francis had noted information from the report in a document that he gave each Chilean bishop at the start of the meeting. In the document, he accused the bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring investigators to minimize abuse claims, and failing to protect children from pedophile priests. In a statement, the bishops asked forgiveness for their mistakes. They said they hoped to help repair the damage they caused. One of the victims said the bishops exposed helpless people to abuse and then tried to stop justice. For this, he said, they deserve only to go. I'm Kelly Jean Kelly. The Associated Press reported this story. Kelly Jean Kelly adapted the report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in this Story bishop - n. an official in some Christian religions who is ranked higher than a priest and who is usually in charge of church matters in a specific geographical area church - n. a particular Christian group entire - adj. complete or full scandal - n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong pedophile - adj. a person who has a sexual interest in children expose - v. to cause (someone) to experience something or to be influenced or affected by something deserve - v. used to say that someone or something should or should not have or be given something The western American city of San Francisco, California suffered a huge earthquake on April 18th, 1906. More than three thousand people are known to have died. The true number of dead will never be known. Two hundred fifty thousand people lost their homes. Just a few hours after the terrible earthquake, a magazine named Colliers sent a telegraph message to the famous American writer Jack London. They asked Mr. London to go to San Francisco and report about what he saw. He arrived in the city only a few hours after the earthquake. The report he wrote is called, The Story of an Eyewitness. Not in history has a modern city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories and a few homes that were near the edge of the city. Its industrial area is gone. Its business area is gone. Its social and living areas are gone. The factories, great stores and newspaper buildings, the hotels and the huge homes of the very rich, are all gone. Within minutes of the earthquake the fires began. Within an hour a huge tower of smoke caused by the fires could be seen a hundred miles away. And for three days and nights this huge fire moved in the sky, reddening the sun, darkening the day and filling the land with smoke. There was no opposing the flames. There was no organization, no communication. The earthquake had smashed all of the modern inventions of a twentieth century city. The streets were broken and filled with pieces of fallen walls. The telephone and telegraph systems were broken. And the great water pipes had burst. All inventions and safety plans of man had been destroyed by thirty seconds of movement by the earth. By Wednesday afternoon, only twelve hours after the earthquake, half the heart of the city was gone. I watched the huge fire. It was very calm. There was no wind. Yet from every side, wind was pouring in upon the city. East, west, north and south, strong winds were blowing upon the dying city. The heated air made a huge wind that pulled air into the fire, rising into the atmosphere. Day and night the calm continued, and yet, near the flames, the wind was often as strong as a storm. There was no water to fight the fire. Fire fighters decided to use explosives to destroy buildings in its path. They hoped this would create a block to slow or stop the fire. Building after building was destroyed. And still the great fires continued. Jack London told how people tried to save some of their possessions from the fire. Wednesday night the whole city crashed and roared into ruin, yet the city was quiet. There were no crowds. There was no shouting and yelling. There was no disorder. I passed Wednesday night in the path of the fire and in all those terrible hours I saw not one woman who cried, not one man who was excited, not one person who caused trouble. Throughout the night, tens of thousands of homeless ones fled the fire. Some were wrapped in blankets. Others carried bedding and dear household treasures. Many of the poor left their homes with everything they could carry. Many of their loads were extremely heavy. Throughout the night they dropped items they could no longer hold. They left on the street clothing and treasures they had carried for miles. Many carried large boxes called trunks. They held onto these the longest. It was a hard night and the hills of San Francisco are steep. And up these hills, mile after mile, were the trunks dragged. Many a strong man broke his heart that night. Before the march of the fire were soldiers. Their job was to keep the people moving away from the fire. The extremely tired people would arise and struggle up the steep hills, pausing from weakness every five or ten feet. Often, after reaching the top of a heart-breaking hill, they would find the fire was moving at them from a different direction. After working hour after hour through the night to save part of their lives, thousands were forced to leave their trunks and flee. At night I walked down through the very heart of the city. I walked through mile after mile of beautiful buildings. Here was no fire. All was in perfect order. The police patrolled the streets. And yet it was all doomed, all of it. There was no water. The explosives were almost used up. And two huge fires were coming toward this part of the city from different directions. Four hours later I walked through this same part of the city. Everything still stood as before. And yet there was a change. A rain of ashes was falling. The police had been withdrawn. There were no firemen, no fire engines, and no men using explosives. I stood at the corner of Kearney and Market Streets in the very heart of San Francisco. Nothing could be done. Nothing could be saved. The surrender was complete. It was impossible to guess where the fire would move next. In the early evening I passed through Union Square. It was packed with refugees. Thousands of them had gone to bed on the grass. Government tents had been set up, food was being cooked and the refugees were lining up for free meals. Late that night I passed Union Square again. Three sides of the Square were in flames. The Square, with mountains of trunks, was deserted. The troops, refugees and all had retreated. The next morning I sat in front of a home on San Franciscos famous Nob Hill. With me sat Japanese, Italians, Chinese and Negroes. All about were the huge homes of the very rich. To the east and south of us were advancing two huge walls of fire. I went inside one house and talked to the owner. He smiled and said the earthquake had destroyed everything he owned. All he had left was his beautiful house. He looked at me and said, The fire will be here in fifteen minutes. Outside the house the troops were falling back and forcing the refugees ahead of them. From every side came the roaring of flames, the crashing of walls and the sound of explosives. Day was trying to dawn through the heavy smoke. A sickly light was creeping over the face of things. When the sun broke through the smoke it was blood-red and small. The smoke changed color from red to rose to purple. I walked past the broken dome of the City Hall building. This part of the city was already a waste of smoking ruins. Here and there through the smoke came a few men and women. It was like the meeting of a few survivors the day after the world ended. The huge fires continued to burn on. Nothing could stop them. Mister London walked from place to place in the city, watching the huge fires destroy the city. Nothing could be done to halt the firestorm. In the end, the fire went out by itself because there was nothing left to burn. Jack London finishes his story: All day Thursday and all Thursday night, all day Friday and Friday night, the flames raged on. Friday night saw the huge fires finally conquered, but not before the fires had swept three-quarters of a mile of docks and store houses at the waterfront. San Francisco at the present time is like the center of a volcano. Around this volcano are tens of thousands of refugees. All the surrounding cities and towns are jammed with the homeless ones. The refugees were carried free by the railroads to any place they wished to go. It is said that more than one hundred thousand people have left the peninsula on which San Francisco stood. The government has control of the situation, and thanks to the immediate relief given by the whole United States, there is no lack of food. The bankers and businessmen have already begun making the necessary plans to rebuild this once beautiful city of San Francisco. "The Story of an Eyewitness" was written by Jack London and adapted by Paul Thompson. It was published in Colliers Magazine, May 5, 1906. Your narrator was Doug Johnson. _______________________________________________________________ Try this Listening Quiz to check your understanding. Quiz - The Story of an Eyewitness Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story smash - v. to break into many pieces; to shatter or destroy atmosphere - n. the whole mass of air that surrounds the Earth surrender - v. to agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc., because you know that you will not win or succeed retreat - v. to move or go away from a place or situation especially because it is dangerous, unpleasant, etc. survivor - n. a member of a group who continues to live after other members have died firestorm - n. a very large fire that destroys everything in its path and produces powerful winds jammed - v. to fill (a place) completely A passenger airplane crashed Friday, shortly after taking off from Havanas airport in Cuba. The plane carried 104 passengers and nine crew members. The number of deaths is not yet known. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the site of the crash, and told Agence France Presse, It appears there is a high number of victims. Cubas state broadcaster reported the plane crashed in Boyeros, a rural area about 20 kilometers south of Havana. The plane, operated by Cuban national airline Cubana, was heading to Holguin in eastern Cuba. A witness told Reuters the planes wreckage spread over the rural area, and that emergency vehicles and firefighters were there. A worker at Havanas Calixto Garcia hospital told Reuters three victims of the accident had arrived so far. One died from burns, and the other two were in a serious condition. Fridays crash was Cubas third major airline accident since 2010. Last year, a Cuban military plane crashed into a hill in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers. In November 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana crashed in bad weather over central Cuba. The accident killed all 68 people, including 28 foreigners. On Sept. 4, 1989, a charter flight leaving Havana for Italy crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board. I'm Mario Ritter. Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on AP and Reuters news reports. Caty Weaver was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story charter adj. hired for temporary use We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, coninuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Read More The first standalone virtual reality headset to support Googles Daydream platform is now shipping. The Lenovo Mirage Solo is a $400 headset that doesnt require a phone or a PC to work. Just put it on, pick up a wireless controller, and you can start playing games, watching videos, and interacting with VR apps. So whats next? If a report from WinFuture is correct, Google has its sights set on augmented reality. The company is said to be developing a standalone AR headset that would basically be the companys answer to Microsofts HoloLens: a device that doesnt block out the world and replace it with virtual scenery, but which superimposes virtual objects on your real-world view. According to WinFuture, Google is working with Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta on a headset. Right now its known by its model number, the Google A65, but tll likely have a different name if and when it comes to market. Its also possible that this is a prototype or reference design, much like Googles new Android TV dongle which is aimed at developers. Its unclear if Google plans to sell its own headset or offer a design that companies like Lenovo can adopt. Given that Lenovo is the only company to launch a standalone headset so far (HTC dropped plans to launch a similar device), I wouldnt be surprised to see Google take matters into its own hands though. WinFuture says the Google A65 features a Qualcomm QSC603 quad-core processor with two Kryo 300 Gold ARM Cortex-A75 CPU cores and two Kryo 300 Silver ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores. Its also said to feature cameras and microphones for voice controls, and since were talking about an augmented reality device, there will probably be some sort of display technology that allows you to see the world around you as well as digital content thats painted on top of that view. The report also notes that the QSC603 chip supports 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1, and GPS, but not 4G LTE. So its likely that youll either need a WiFi signal to get the most out of the headset or that youll have to pair it with a smartphone for connectivity on the go. Of course, this wouldnt be Googles first attempt at augmented reality. The companys Google Glass headset was either a massive flop, or ahead of its time when the first units hit the streets in 2013, depending on how you look at it. These days Glass isnt exactly dead, but its turned into a niche product aimed at enterprise customers. If Google really does plan to take another swipe at consumer-oriented augmented reality hardware, itll be interesting to see what the company does differently this time. Share this article: Share this: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pocket Tumblr Pinterest LinkedIn Email WHO sits where? Whats on the agenda? Will they eat together? Whats the security plan? President Donald Trump and his team have a daunting to-do list to work through as they prepare for next months expected summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trumps plan to meet with Kim may have come as a surprise decision, but his team hopes to leave nothing to chance when they come together in Singapore. Theyre gaming out policy plans, negotiating tactics, even menu items. Were working on the details, the actual blocking and tackling at the meeting, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last Sunday on CBS Face the Nation. We have been working on them for weeks. With two unpredictable leaders, its hard to anticipate every possibility. But White House aides are expecting hard-ball negotiating tactics already in evidence this week as the North Koreans cast fresh doubt on the sit-down. Leader summits on this level are a massive undertaking. Much like icebergs, only a small fraction of the work is visible above the waterline. And when the meeting involves the heads of two technically still-warring states, the list of logistical concerns expands, including sensitive items like the number and deployment of security officers. Officials on both sides are still determining the format for the meeting or meetings, whether Trump and Kim will share a meal, and the extent of any one- on-one interactions. All of that comes as the U.S. formulates its strategies for the talks, including what the U.S. is prepared to give up and how precisely to define denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula Trumps stated goal. I would say there are hundreds if not thousands of hours put into summit preparations, said Patrick McEachern, a public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and a former State Department official. Scott Mulhauser, a former chief of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said that in the leadup to summit meetings, staffs try to anticipate the various negotiating positions their counterparts might take, adding that if youre not gaming that out, youre not preparing adequately. Trump is relying heavily on his top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, in preparing for the summit. Pompeo has met with Kim twice in Pyongyang, once as secretary of state and once as CIA chief, and has spent more time with the reclusive leader than any other American official. The amount of face time Pompeo has had with Kim rivals even that of most Asian leaders, apart from the Chinese. Pompeo assembled a working group to handle negotiations with North Korea led by a retired senior CIA official with deep experience in the region. That team, based at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, remains the center of the administrations North Korea expertise. Planning for the summit started quickly after Trump announced on Twitter his plans to meet with Kim, but kicked into higher gear after John Bolton became Trumps national security adviser last month. In addition to Pompeos two trips to Pyongyang, U.S. officials have also been coordinating with the North Koreans through whats known as the New York channel North Korean diplomats posted to their countrys mission to the United Nations. A key question is the format for the meeting if the two countries are able to proceed to full-fledged nuclear negotiations, U.S. officials have said. That includes decisions about whether to keep the talks limited to the U.S. and North Korea or whether to bring other governments into the process, such as South Korea, China, Russia and Japan. Also key is what the U.S. will negotiate away. One thing that is unclear to us is what the U.S. is willing to negotiate in exchange for North Koreas promises on denuclearization, said Jean Lee, director of the North Korea program at the Woodrow Wilson Center and a former Associated Press bureau chief in Pyongyang. The North Koreans are going to be armed and very ready to negotiate. The Trump administration needs to be ready as well. One initial hurdle that Pompeo managed to clear during his second visit to Pyongyang was the venue for the summit. North Korea was adamant that Kim not be put in any kind of situation where his security could be at risk, U.S. officials said. North Korean officials pushed very hard for the meeting to be in Pyongyang, so Kim would not have to leave the country and they could have 100 percent control over access and communications, according to the officials. When North Korea objected to Trumps preferred choice of the demilitarized zone on the border between North and South Korea, the U.S. countered with Singapore. Some White House officials also opposed the DMZ choice, believing the optics on Korean rapprochement would distract from the focus on denuclearization. U.S. officials said they believed one reason the North Koreans agreed to Singapore was that Kim had just returned from a successful trip to China the day before Pompeo arrived for his second visit. Many analysts, including U.S. officials, believe that Kims flight to the Chinese port of Dalian the first trip abroad by aircraft by a North Korean leader in decades was likely a test of the countrys ability to safely transport Kim by air. Kims previous trips to China had all been by train, as was the custom of his father. The North formally signed off on Singapore while Pompeo was in Pyongyang. Even before Trump announced the summit site by tweet a day after Pompeos return, White House officials who traveled with Pompeo to Pyongyang were already on the ground in Singapore to begin working out summit logistics. Very few people have had much direct contact with the North Koreans, so there are few people for the Trump administration to check with for guidance. Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor and U.N. ambassador who has negotiated with the North Koreans, had one suggestion. He said that in the meeting setting, the North Koreans will be very formal, so building a rapport between the two will be vital. His main advice: Try to find some private time between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. Catherine Lucey, Zeke Miller &Matthew Lee, Washington, AP A Chinese-backed plan for Cambodia to build the Mekong Rivers biggest dam would destroy fisheries that feed millions and worsen tensions with Vietnam, the downstream country with most to lose from dams on the waterway, according to a three-year study commissioned by the Cambodian government. The report, posted this month on the website of the U.S.-based organization that conducted the study, said the Sambor dam would generate large power benefits to Cambodia, but at the probable cost of the destruction of the Mekong fishery, and the certain enmity of Vietnam. It said the dam designed by China Southern Power Grid Co. would have a 620 square kilometer reservoir and dwarf the biggest dam currently being built on the Mekong, the Xayaburi dam in Laos, which was bitterly opposed by environmentalists for years. The experts at the Natural Heritage Institute who authored the report, submitted to the Cambodian government late last year, recommended it defer the project while studying better alternatives such as using solar power to augment existing hydroelectric dams. Alternative sites upstream where the Mekong separates into several channels are possible but either financially unfeasible or only marginally less destructive than the site currently envisaged for the 2,600 megawatt dam, the study said. Possible mitigation measures are either unproven or have a poor track record, it said. The dam would block fish migration from the giant Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia which is crucial for reproduction and replenishing what scientists say is the worlds most productive fresh-water fishery. It would also prevent riverbed sediment that fertilizes the Mekong Delta rice bowl from moving down river, a particular problem for Vietnam where delta farmlands are being destroyed by saltwater incursion from the sea. The dam and the reservoir would create a barrier that would be devastating for the migratory fish stocks, the study said. It also warned that a population of about 80 critically endangered Irrawaddy river dolphins would likely be wiped out because the deep river pools they use as a dry season refuge would become filled with sediment blocked by the dam. Cambodias government, closely allied with China, its northern neighbor, and the recipient of substantial Chinese aid and investment, has not publicly commented on the report. Seven dams that China built on the Mekong headwaters in its territory are already a headache for Southeast Asian countries, reducing the amount of sediment floating downstream by as much as half, according to researchers. The Chinese dams were blamed for exacerbating a Southeast Asian drought in 2016, but countries in the region are pressing ahead with plans for Chinese companies to build a slew of other Mekong dams to meet growing demand for energy. Laos, one of the poorest countries in Asia, is pinning development hopes on becoming a source of power for its neighbors. Stephen Wright, Bangkok, AP Day after day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western Chinas new indoctrination camps had to disavow their Islamic beliefs, criticize themselves and their loved ones and give thanks to the ruling Communist Party. When Bekali, a Kazakh Muslim, refused, he was forced to stand at a wall for five hours at a time. A week later, he was sent to solitary confinement and deprived of food for 24 hours. After 20 days, he wanted to kill himself. The psychological pressure is enormous, when you have to criticize yourself, denounce your thinking your own ethnic group, said Bekali, 42, who broke down in tears while describing the camp. I still think about it every night, until the sun rises. Since last spring, Chinese authorities in the heavily Muslim region of Xinjiang have ensnared tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of Muslim Chinese and even foreign citizens in mass internment camps. This detention campaign has swept across Xinjiang, a territory half the area of India, leading to what a U.S. commission on China last month said is the largest mass incarceration of a minority population in the world today. The internment program tries to rewire the political thinking of detainees, erase their Islamic beliefs and reshape their very identities. Chinese officials have largely avoided comment, but some have said in state media that ideological changes are needed to fight separatism and Islamic extremism. Radical Muslim Uighurs killed hundreds in China in years past. Three other former internees and a former instructor in different centers corroborated Bekalis depiction. Taken together, the recollections offer the most detailed account yet of life inside so-called re-education. The program is a hallmark of Chinas emboldened state security apparatus under the deeply nationalistic, hard-line rule of President Xi Jinping. It is partly rooted in the ancient Chinese belief in transformation through education taken once before to terrifying extremes during the mass thought reform campaigns of Mao Zedong, the Chinese leader sometimes channeled by Xi. Cultural cleansing is Beijings attempt to find a final solution to the Xinjiang problem, said James Millward, a China historian at Georgetown University. The internment system is shrouded in secrecy, with no publicly available data. The U.S. State Department estimates those being held are at the very least in the tens of thousands. A Turkey-based TV station run by Xinjiang exiles said almost 900,000 were detained, citing leaked government documents. Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the European School of Culture and Theology, puts the number between several hundreds of thousands and just over 1 million, and government bids suggest construction is ongoing. Asked to comment on the camps, Chinas foreign ministry said it had not heard of the situation. Chinese officials in Xinjiang did not respond to requests for comment. However, Chinas top prosecutor, Zhang Jun, urged Xinjiangs authorities this month to extensively expand what the government calls transformation through education in an all-out effort to fight extremism. China-born Bekali moved to Kazakhstan in 2006 and received citizenship three years later. On March 25 last year, Bekali visited his parents in Xinjiang. The next day, police took him away. They strapped him into a tiger chair that clamped down his wrists and ankles. They hung him by his wrists against a barred wall. They interrogated him about his work inviting Chinese to apply for Kazakh tourist visas. I havent committed any crimes! Bekali yelled. Seven months later, Bekali was taken out of his cell and handed a release paper. But he was not free. Bekali was driven to a fenced compound in Karamay, where three buildings held more than 1,000 internees. They would wake up together before dawn, sing the Chinese national anthem, and raise the Chinese flag at 7:30 am. They sang songs praising the party and studied Chinese language and history. They were told that the indigenous sheep-herding Central Asian people of Xinjiang were backward before they were liberated by the Communist Party in the 1950s. When they ate meals of vegetable soup and buns, they first had to chant: Thank the Party! Thank the Motherland! Thank President Xi! Bekali was kept in a locked room almost around the clock with eight other internees, who shared beds and a wretched toilet. Cameras were installed in toilets and outhouses. Baths were rare, as was washing of hands and feet, equated with Islamic ablution. In 4-hour sessions, instructors lectured about the dangers of Islam and drilled internees with quizzes that they had to answer correctly or be sent to stand near a wall for hours on end. Do you obey Chinese law or Sharia? instructors asked. Do you understand why religion is dangerous? The detainees had to criticize and be criticized by their peers. One by one, they would also stand up before 60 classmates to present self-criticisms of their religious history. I was taught the Holy Quran by my father and I learned it because I didnt know better, Bekali heard one say. I traveled outside China without knowing that I could be exposed to extremist thoughts abroad, another said. Now I know. After a week, Bekali went to his first stint in solitary confinement. He yelled out to a visiting official. Take me in the back and kill me, or send me back to prison, he shouted. I cant be here anymore. He was again hauled off to solitary confinement. It lasted 24 hours, ending late afternoon on Nov. 24, when Bekali was suddenly released. At first, Bekali did not want the AP to publish his account for fear his sister and mother in China would be detained. But on March 10, the police took his sister, Adila Bekali. A week later, they took his mother, Amina Sadik. And on April 24, his father, Ebrayem. Bekali changed his mind and said he wanted to tell his story. Things have already come this far, he said. I have nothing left to lose. Gerry Shih, Almaty, AP Worldwide expansion of the two invasive mosquito species a) Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and b) yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) and studied areas. Copyright: photos from Dorian D. Dorge. Credit: Goethe University Due to global trade and tourism, mosquitoestransmitters of dangerous infectious diseaseshave spread to almost every part of the world. Moreover, climate change promotes the spread of species that thrive under warmer temperatures even further. Scientists at the Goethe University and the Senckenberg Gesellschaft fur Naturforschung have now compared the ecological niches of the Asian tiger mosquito and the yellow fever mosquito on various continents with the following result: "Due to its longer invasion time span of 300 to 400 years, the yellow fever mosquito has almost completely filled its niches in non-native areas, whereas the Asian tiger mosquito, with a shorter invasion time span of 30 to 40 years, has not yet arrived in all regions where they would find a suitable environment," says Prof. Sven Klimpel. "Over the next one to five decades, infectious diseases transmitted through vectors will increase" concludes Sven Klimpel's team at the Goethe University and the Senckenberg Gesellschaft fur Naturforschung. Vectors transmit agents that cause infectious diseases from a host to another organism without contracting the disease themselves. Many known vector species are native to tropical and subtropical regions. If vector species are established in a new area together with a disease agent, the area of risk for the associated disease will expand correspondingly. Two prominent examples of vectors are the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti). The yellow fever mosquito is the main vector of the yellow fever virus, the dengue virus, the Zika virus and several other viral diseases. The tiger mosquito can also transmit the Zika virus and the dengue virus, but transmits other disease agents as well, such as the West Nile virus and the Chikungunya virus. These two medically relevant vectors are the focus of the current study in Scientific Reports. Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) caught in Rovinj (Croatia). Copyright: photos from Dorian D. Dorge. Credit: Goethe University The yellow fever mosquito, originally native to Africa, began to spread throughout the world 300 to 400 years ago presumably with the expansion of sugar cane plantations and slave trade. The tiger mosquito, which today is considered one of the 100 worst invasive species, originally comes from South and Southeast Asia. Over the past several decades, it has been introduced and spread by trade and tourism, especially by the trade of automobile tires and lucky bamboo (Dracaena spp.). For example, tiger mosquito eggs, larva and pupae were transported great distances by sea, surviving in small water puddles inside used automobile tires, or in water containers for lucky bamboo. In their study, the scientists investigated the ecological niches of both species in their native and non-native range, i.e., the totality of environmental conditions in which a species can occur. In their new ranges of distribution, mosquitoes can encounter different environmental conditions than in their native ranges. Invasive mosquito species are said to be especially quick to adapt to new climatic conditions. The scientists, however, found no evidence to support this. Both species occupy a broad niche and occur in a large number of different environmental conditions in their native ranges. Since similar climatic conditions prevail in the new distribution ranges, worldwide expansion cannot be explained by a niche expansion through adaptation, although local adaptation and genetic changes in species' traits cannot be ruled out. The scientists were, however, able to identify a difference between the two species: that time plays an important role in the expansion or invasion of a species. With its longer time span of invasion, the yellow fever mosquito almost completely fills its niche in the new, non-native distribution ranges; i.e. it occurs under many climatic conditions that also exist in its native distribution range. Habitus of a female Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). Copyright: photos from Dorian D. Dorge. Credit: Goethe University The Asian tiger mosquito is a different case. In the new distribution ranges, it does not (yet) occur in all habitats that offer suitable climatic conditions. The researchers therefore predict a further expansion potential for this species in the future. Klimpel sums up: "The Asian tiger mosquito can already be found in nearly all southern European countries, and due to its broad niche, it will inevitably spread and establish itself in northern Europe as well. Further exotic mosquito species such as Aedes japoniucs (East Asian bush mosquito), Aedes koreicus or Aedes atropalpus will followor have already arrivedin Central Europe." Explore further Traces of Zika Found in Asian tiger mosquito in Brazil More information: Sarah Cunze et al. Niche conservatism of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti - two mosquito species with different invasion histories, Scientific Reports (2018). Journal information: Scientific Reports Sarah Cunze et al. Niche conservatism of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti - two mosquito species with different invasion histories,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26092-2 Credit: CC0 Public Domain The transition to modernity, largely driven by the Industrial Revolution, provided us with easier access to food and clean water, with antibiotics, vaccines, and modern medicine. Yet modernity did not just bring fewer infectious diseases and longer life: it also created an environment radically different from the one we evolved in. Genes helpful in our evolutionary past may now predispose us to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer in old age. In a paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Genetics, an international team of five scientists collate the evidence for this mismatch between past evolutionary adaptation and our modern lives. They also ask whether natural selection linked to modernization might reduce globally the burden of some chronic diseases. Over the last four centuries, human ecology, life styles and life histories have dramatically changed. The transition to modernity also altered the major causes of human death. Infectious diseases prevalent in childhood have given way to chronic diseases associated with aging. Naturally, as everyone dies, if some causes of death decrease, others must increase in proportion. However, the increasing differences between the circumstances our genes have adapted to and our new environment also plays an important role. Aging is, in part, caused by the combined effect of many genes that are beneficial when young, but have adverse effects at older ages. Genes can influence a variety of traits and can also express themselves differently as we age (pleiotropy). The term antagonistic pleiotropy describes genes that can carry both beneficial and detrimental effects. Somewhat counterintuitively, evolution by natural selection can lead to antagonistic pleiotropy spreading in populations: The benefits received when young can outweigh the evolutionary disadvantages in old age. Some variants of the gene BRCA1 are, for example, beneficial to fertility. However, women who carry one variant of BRCA1 will, more likely than not, develop breast cancer by the age of 90. "Angelina Jolie's decision to opt for a preventive double mastectomy instead of risking breast cancer was based on her carrying a high-risk BRCA1 variant," says Virpi Lummaa, professor at the University of Turku in Finland. "This gene variant hasn't been eliminated by natural selection in the past, precisely because it also has a great benefit for female fertility. Nowadays, the situation is much worse. Due to our much lower fertility levels and longer lifespans the early benefits of such genes no longer play out." "It is clear that some mutations that benefit fertility have been favoured by natural selection despite heavy costs in old age. It seems likely that these genes have contributed to the rise in chronic disease in modern societies, but it's still uncertain if these genes are the main cause of that increase or just a minor contributing factor," says Jacob Moorad, from the University of Edinburgh. In contrast, the evolutionary impact of contemporary life on human health is difficult to establish: evolutionary change often requires many generations to leave an unambiguous trace in our genome. The review found "suggestive but not yet overwhelming" evidence that natural selection, the engine of evolution, is changing course in our modern times. Several studies in pre- and post-industrial populations point, for example, to a selection toward an extended fertility period in women. "We have to be cautious here, though," says Stephen Stearns, professor at Yale University in the USA. "Changes in human biology are driven by two non-exclusive processes. The environment directly impacts how our genes are expressed: Bad nutrition in childhood can cause, for example, stunted growth. But the environment also shapes natural selection. Natural selection can make some genes more and others less frequent in the population over time: Lactose-intolerance in adults, for example. It's tempting to point to natural selection when we observe a particular change. However, particularly when the changes occurred recently, it is more likely that gene expression has changed, rather than that the genes themselves have adapted to a new environment." "Future studies and methodological development can help us clarify the extent to which chronic disease and genetic expression are linked and whether natural selection begins to counteract the increased burden of chronic disease. It is absolutely essential to establishlarge multigenerational cohort studies to create clear evidence", explains Stephen Corbett,Director of the Centre for Population Health at the Western Sydney Local Health District in Australia. Alexandre Courtiol, scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin Germany, and co-author of this study adds: "Yes, genes are guilty but waiting for natural selection to adapt our great-great-great-grandchildren to our modern environment is inefficient. It may also not work since the modern environment changes at very high pace. The more rational response to the increase in chronic disease is to change our social environment and our lifestyles in ways that better suit us. We all know the recipe: sleep more, eat less junk, be regularly active and pollute less. True, this is difficult to implement but hopefully not impossible." Explore further Natural selection still at work in humans More information: Stephen Corbett et al. The transition to modernity and chronic disease: mismatch and natural selection, Nature Reviews Genetics (2018). Journal information: Nature Reviews Genetics Stephen Corbett et al. The transition to modernity and chronic disease: mismatch and natural selection,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41576-018-0012-3 Things dont always go according to plan. Credit: shutterstock.com Mental health issues, alcohol and drug abuse, a high incidence of stress and suicide, excessive staff turnover rates, and a failure to adapt to the increasing demographic dominance of women. These are all serious challenges facing the veterinary profession in the UK. And they require urgent attention. Yet veterinary medicine often obscures the messy, complex, ambiguous and uncertain reality of practice. The large scale 2015 survey of vet students and graduates by the British Veterinary Association and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons sheds light on the levels of dissatisfaction. Despite their considerable financial, emotional and intellectual investment, 10% of vet graduates leave the profession every year. More than half consider a change of job. Only 46% say they would choose vetting as a career again. Many suffer considerable anxiety, depression, doubt, and tragically in some cases, suicide. Much has been written about the potential causes of this. A lot of analysis points to the "types" of people who are recruited into vet school (over-achieving perfectionists). But the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon's code of conduct places the onus on vets to "take reasonable steps to address adverse physical or mental health" issues. Certainly, the struggle to manage the complex problems that come with being a vet relates to individual characteristics or "private troubles". But these are too pervasive not to be treated as public matters. Our three-year study involving 75 interviews and numerous observations of equine, small, and large animal vets, suggests that these problems cannot be resolved through individual resilience and coping mechanisms alone. Rather, there are wider issues at play, starting with training. This is shown by the fact that just 34% of vets that had graduated five or more years ago, think their degree had prepared them very well. Unrealistic expectations In our interviews, we found that people's insecurities and anxieties get tangled up with extremely high expectations of the perfect self and their expertise, that are embedded within the culture of the profession. Vets, and their clients, tend to attach themselves to an unrealistic world view of rational science and medicine as a panacea for all ills. Based on certainty, predictability and control, these ideals may be partly understood by the way scientific knowledge is portrayed in the media and taught in schools as simply "objective", with a clear separation between right and wrong answers. Despite attempts to broaden their curriculum, veterinary colleges reinforce this attachment to science with a heavy focus on clinical skills. Expertise gets viewed largely as a technical accomplishment. One consequence of this is to encourage vets to accept impossible demands placed on them, by their practice, clients, the media (such as programmes about "super vets") and their own idealism. While the allure and comfort drawn from faith in scientific and objective knowledge is understandable, it creates an illusion of control that is routinely contradicted in practice. When the people we spoke to experienced the inevitable uncertainty and failure that comes with practising medicine, many were shocked and struggled to reconcile these contradictions. Practising imperfection The limitations of science particularly in relation to certainty and predictability tend to go unacknowledged in veterinary practice. This leaves many vets pained by the occurrence of what they see as failures. Rather than acknowledging the limitations of medicine that can never fully deliver on its promise, vets will tend to blame themselves. Of course, we are not suggesting that vets do not make mistakes, or shouldn't be concerned about them. But this tendency to translate anything that has not gone to plan into their own incompetence, creates a set of circumstances that are ripe for constant rumination, doubt and potentially destructive narratives of self-blame. In considering whether practice ever makes vets perfect, some discovered that their anxieties reduced with experience. Others did not. Many outside our study will already have left the profession due to issues such as a lack of support and confidence. One necessary way of dealing with these problems is for individual veterinary practices and educators to address, or at least minimise, the tendency for vets to interpret failings as their own lack of perfection, or inadequate knowledge. Instead, it would make sense to be more explicit about the limitations and uncertainties surrounding the job that vets do. Once these are acknowledged and accepted, anxiety and doubts about failure would inevitably recede. This, however, demands humility and courage from the profession as a whole and individuals within it, to debunk some of the myths surrounding certainty and expertise. This is no easy task. All too often expertise is conflated with ideas of strength, infallibility and an invulnerability that pervade our culture in general, and veterinary practice in particular. It is not enough simply to teach young veterinary surgeons about resilience and coping. This merely disguises these public matters by transferring the responsibility for failure from the profession back onto the individual. And this will only intensify the doubts and anxieties that vets seem already to have in abundance. Explore further Study helps veterinarian mental health This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Ebola virus. Credit: NIAID A new Ebola outbreak has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 44 cases reported so far. Previous outbreaks in that country have been confined to remote areas, but today the World Heath Organization (WHO) confirmed the first case in Mbandaka, a city of 1.2 million people comparable to the urban centers in West Africa where Ebola rabidly spread in 2014. If the right lessons have not been learned from the last epidemic, the threat of a global pandemic still looms. The WHO says they are more prepared for this outbreak, with "better tools than ever before." They are putting teams on the ground to trace everyone who may have come into contact with confirmed and suspected Ebola patients, a strategy known as contact tracing. An experimental vaccine is also being deployed. As the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) reported during the last Ebola outbreak, there are limits to the effectiveness of contact tracing. Public health organizations are already monitoring at least 514 contacts. Initial symptoms of the disease are mild, so there are likely to be several unidentified infections for each confirmed case. In an urban center, the number of possible contacts can quickly become unmanageable. The WHO plans to start distributing 4,000 doses of a recently developed Ebola vaccine. These doses will largely go to identified contacts and health care workers. With limited supply for an area this densely populated, it cannot by itself stop the spread. Furthermore, the vaccine must be transported at a temperature below -60 degrees C, a difficult prospect without reliable refrigeration. According to NECSI's past research, community monitoring is a more reliable containment strategy than contact tracing. Rather than tracking down every contact, entire neighborhoods should be identified as exposed or unexposed. In regions with current or recent infections, door-to-door screening for early symptoms like fever can identify and isolate new cases before they have a chance to spread the infection. Community monitoring is exactly the strategy that stopped the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in Liberia and Sierra Leone. If this approach can be adopted sooner in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, far fewer lives may be lost. In NECSI's simulations, travel restrictions or effective screening also contribute to rapid declines in infections and to preventing larger outbreaks. The risk of an Ebola pandemic spreading to Asia, Europe, and the Americas remains a real possibility. The world is more connected than ever before. Mbandaka is located on the Congo river, a major trade route connecting it to the capital city of Kinshasa, home to 11 million people and N'Djili International Airport. The most important factor in stopping an outbreak from becoming an exponentially growing epidemic is staying ahead of it. If the public health response is not swift, infections can quickly spread past the ability of any medical system to manage or control. The WHO and other responders should focus on community monitoring combined with effective travel policies rather than ultimately ineffective contact tracing, if this outbreak is to be contained and pandemic prevented. Explore further Congo's Ebola outbreak reports first confirmed urban case More information: NECSI's research on Ebola and preventing pandemics is available at NECSI's research on Ebola and preventing pandemics is available at necsi.edu/research/social/pandemics/DRC2018.html and necsi.edu/research/social/pand s/beyondcontact.html Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of cells infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Credit: NIAID Enrollment has begun in an early-stage clinical trial testing the safety of two human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) designed to treat people infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The trial is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is funded in part by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Department Health and Human Services. The first recognized case of MERS was reported in Jordan in 2012. Since then, MERS-CoV has spread to 27 countries. As of May, 2,206 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported to the World Health Organization. Those cases include 787 deaths, a fatality rate of about 36 percent. "Currently, we lack specific treatments for MERS," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "Having targeted therapeutics available to treat this unpredictable and frequently fatal respiratory disease would help us reduce MERS-associated deaths and control future outbreaks." The mAbs, REGN3048 and REGN3051, were discovered and developed by scientists at the biotechnology company Regeneron, headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. Subsequently, researchers at Regeneron and the University of Maryland School of Medicine demonstrated the ability of the antibodies to neutralize MERS-CoV in a mouse model of MERS. The new NIAID trial is the first to test these mAbs in people. The study will enroll 48 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 45 years at WCCT Global, a clinic in Cypress, California. Participants will be divided into six groups of eight, with two people in each group receiving an inactive placebo and the remaining six receiving both experimental mAbs delivered intravenously. The study is blinded, meaning neither the study staff nor the participants will know whether a placebo or the mAb is being administered. Participants in the initial cohort will receive the lowest dosage of the experimental antibodies, 1.5 milligrams (mgs) of each mAb per kilogram (kg) of the volunteer's weight. Participants in successive cohorts will receive increasing dosages until the highest dosage (75 mg/kg of each mAb) is reached in the sixth group. Decisions to continue the trial and to administer the escalating doses of mAbs will be made by an independent safety review committee (SRC) whose members will have access to safety and tolerability data throughout the trial. The SRC will meet at regularly scheduled intervals to determine if any pre-established criteria have been met that would require the trial to be halted. If there are no safety concerns, the trial will proceed to enroll participants into the next higher dosage cohort. The study is expected to be completed by June 2019. MERS is a viral infectious disease caused by a coronavirus and results in pneumonia and respiratory distress syndrome. The disease has been localized in Middle Eastern countries, most notably, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, mainly transmitted from dromedary camels to humans. Human-to-human transmission is rare, but can occur in close contact. Coronaviruses have a protective protein capsule and what appears to be a "crown" of projections from the surface of the virus, visible in this image. Credit: Public domain Explore further Monoclonal antibodies crucial to fighting emerging infectious diseases More information: Additional information about the trial is available at Additional information about the trial is available at ClinicalTrials.gov , using the identifier NCT03301090 . The trial is funded through contract HHSN272201500005I. France will forbid the use of a widely used food additive by the end of this year, after studies pointed to potential health risks for consumers, a government official told French daily Le Parisien on Friday. Brune Poirson, a junior minister in environmental ministry, said the move would remove titanium dioxide nanoparticles from candy, prepared meals and other food products. "France has already asked the European Commission to take similar measures," Poirson told Le Parisien. The additive, used mainly as a whitening and brightening agent in candies, chewing gum, white sauces and cake icing, is known as the artificial colour E171 on food labels. It is also used in sunscreens because of the molecule's ability to reflect ultra-violet rays. But critics say it offers no nutritional value nor extended shelf life, and could pose a risk to humans since the minuscule particles may be able to pass through protective walls of organs such as the liver, lungs or intestines. France ordered an inquiry last year after scientists reported that titanium dioxide could cause precancerous lesions in rats. Researchers from France and Luxembourg found a 40 percent increase in precancerous growths in lab rats who had the molecule added to their drinking water for 100 days. The additive also inhibited the immune systems of the rats and "accelerated" the growth of lesions induced for the experiment, according to France's INRA agricultural research institute, which took part in the study. The study's authors said that titanium dioxide was approved in the US in 1966 at levels of no more than one percent of a food product's weight, but that there were no limits regulating daily intake in Europe. Acting for the Environment, a French association, welcomed the decision while also urging the government to ban E171 from cosmetics and medicines, citing a risk it could be absorbed through the skin. Many French candy makers have already stopped using the food colorant ahead of expected restrictions on its use. Carambar and Co. said in February that it had removed E171 from its Malabar chewing gumsbeloved by generations of French childrensince late last year. The company was not among nine food and cosmetic groups targeted in a lawsuit by the French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir in January, accusing them of not disclosing the presence of nanoparticles on labels. Explore further France to investigate food additive that harmed rats 2018 AFP Hospitalized patients who experience acute kidney injury face a 44 percent greater risk of heart failure during their first year after leaving the hospital, according to new Kaiser Permanente research published today in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Acute kidney injury is a sudden decline in the ability of the kidneys to perform their normal function of filtering waste products from blood. People who are hospitalized for a wide variety of conditions, from major surgery to severe infection, are at risk for acute kidney injury, which can increase a patient's long-term risk of death even after they are successfully treated and sent home. "While Kaiser Permanente has had success in lowering rates of acute kidney injury in hospitalized patients, rates are rising nationwide, and even minor injury is linked to a higher risk of death," said Alan S. Go, MD, director of the Comprehensive Clinical Research Unit within the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and lead author of the new study. Earlier research by Dr. Go and colleagues linked hospitalized acute kidney injury to elevated risk of high blood pressure. In this new study, which adds to that body of work, the research team examined electronic health records of patients who were admitted to one of Kaiser Permanente's 21 hospitals in Northern California at some point between 2006 and 2013. They investigated whether the risk of various cardiovascular events within one year of leaving the hospital differed between patients who experienced acute kidney injury while hospitalized and those who did not. Out of 146,931 hospitalized patients included in the analysis, 31,245 experienced acute kidney injury. To help ensure an accurate comparison, patients with acute kidney injury were statistically matched to patients without acute kidney injury, according to similar demographics, length of hospital stay, medications they took, how acutely ill they were and other characteristics. Roughly 1 in 25 people who are hospitalized for any reason will experience heart failure within a year. The analysis found that even after accounting for remaining differences, patients who have an acute kidney injury during hospitalization experienced a 44 percent higher relative risk of heart failure within one year of discharge, compared to those without acute kidney injury. Rates of other cardiovascular events linked to atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries) did not differ significantly between the two groups. "The number of atherosclerotic events in patients with acute kidney injury was lower than we expected," Dr. Go said. "Overall, our results highlight heart failure as a key risk for patients who experienced acute kidney injury in the hospital." According to senior author Kathleen D. Liu, MD, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, the new findings suggest the need for doctors to be more vigilant in looking for signs of heart failure in patients who experienced acute kidney injury during hospitalization. "Earlier detection of heart failure symptoms in these patients could potentially save lives." Meanwhile, Dr. Go and others are examining the mechanisms underlying the increased risk. "Kidney damage affects a number of biological pathways, including inflammation and mineral metabolism," Dr. Go said. "If we could understand how these changes increase risk of heart failure, we may be able to develop new strategies for prevention." Explore further Model predicts development of chronic kidney disease Credit: CC0 Public Domain Polygenic risk scores could be useful to stratify the risk of several cancers among patients in medical centers, allowing for the potential discovery of new associations between genes, disease and secondary effects, according to a University of Michigan study. Researchers at U-M's School of Public Health conducted a phenome-wide association study in 28,260 unrelated, genotyped patients of recent European ancestry to evaluate whether polygenic risk scores for common cancers are associated with multiple phenotypes. The study used data from participants' electronic health records. The results demonstrate that polygenic risk scores, a summary score constructed based on results obtained from large population-based genome-wide association studies, can be potentially useful for cancer risk stratification among patients in an academic medical center. "This is just the tip of the iceberg. It shows the potential and the challenges with using phenome-wide associations," said Bhramar Mukherjee, the John D. Kalbfleisch Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics and professor of epidemiology at U-M's School of Public Health and associate director for Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the Rogel Cancer Center. "Looking at the data, it was surprising to me how logical the secondary diagnosis associations with the risk score were. When you look at the association plots of the risk scores against the phenome, I expected it to be a lot more noisy. I thought that there would be many spurious associations with random disease codes on the phenome level. It was also striking how results from population-based studies were reproduced using data from electronic health records, a database not ideally designed for specific research questions and is certainly not a population-based sample." Lead author Lars Fritsche, assistant research scientist in the Department of Biostatistics at U-M's School of Public Health, agreed. For example, he said, a polygenic risk score for squamous cell carcinomaa common skin cancer formshowed a strong association for various forms of skin cancer, but also with actinic keratosis, a potentially precancerous skin lesion. Studying the sequence of diagnoses of the available patients' electronic health records can help to understand relationships like these. Mukherjee said investigators will expand the analytic model to other lab tests and biomarkers to see if new associations with diseases across the phenome can be found there. "What we are trying to do is to understand the pattern of concurrent diagnosis for a patient and determine if a cluster of diagnoses in the past is predictive of a disease state in the future," she said. "The temporal sequence of disease diagnoses and lab results along with genetic data are key to this scientific quest." Researchers also plan to re-contact the initial subjects to collect data on their behavioral and environmental risk factors. "There's enormous potential in terms of collecting behavioral data and integrating with molecular data," Mukherjee said. "Family history, stress data, anxiety data, sleep quality data, mental health data, so that you have a much more integrated vision of what is happening in a person's life." "For future precision health applications," Fritsche said, "it will be important to understand the challenges of such complex big data and to provide reliable approaches that can efficiently explore them, especially because we expect the amount of data to steadily increase over time." The study, "Association of Polygenic Risk Scores for Multiple Cancers in a Phenome-wide Study: Results from the Michigan Genomics Initiative," will be published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Explore further The genetic architecture of risk for autism spectrum disorder More information: Lars G. Fritsche et al. Association of Polygenic Risk Scores for Multiple Cancers in a Phenome-wide Study: Results from The Michigan Genomics Initiative, American Journal of Human Genetics (2017). Journal information: American Journal of Human Genetics Lars G. Fritsche et al. Association of Polygenic Risk Scores for Multiple Cancers in a Phenome-wide Study: Results from The Michigan Genomics Initiative,(2017). DOI: 10.1101/205021 Surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing colorectal operations were reduced by 61 percent in less than two years in Hawaiian hospitals participating in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Safety Program for Surgery, according to new study findings published as an "article in press" on the website of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons ahead of print. Despite widespread efforts to rein in SSIs, this postoperative complication remains common, accounting for about 20 percent of hospital-acquired infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infection of the surgical site prolongs hospital stays, raises health care costs, and increases risk of serious illness and death. "It's a major problem because half of the patients in our hospitals have an operation, putting them at risk for infection afterwards," said study coauthor Julius Cuong Pham, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and a patient safety officer at The Queens Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. "And a colorectal operation is a procedure with one of the highest rates of surgical site infection." To help address this issue, researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Baltimore; University of Hawaii, Honolulu; and University of California, San Francisco evaluated the effectiveness of AHRQ's Safety Program for Surgery in all hospitals across Hawaii, the first time the program has been implemented at a state level. This 15-hospital collaborative was part of a larger AHRQ-funded effort to improve surgical care nationwide. Between January 2013 and June 2015, health care teams in hospitals across Hawaii implemented AHRQ's Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP), as well as their own customized interventions. CUSP is an innovative program that uses feedback from frontline providers to improve surgical teamwork and patient safety. The study's aim was to reduce colorectal SSIs and improve hospital safety culture. Multiple clinical interventions were implemented, specifically chlorhexidine wash before procedures, proper use of appropriate antibiotics, and standardized post-surgical debriefing. Non-technical skills for improving the safety culture involved better communication, teamwork, and decision-making strategies. Two years after the start of the project, researchers found that the colorectal SSI rate for the collaborative decreased from 12.08 percent to 4.63 percent. The 61.7 percent reduction in colorectal SSIs seen is the greatest state-level reduction reported, the study authors noted. "With this collaborative, we created a platform that allowed diverse types of hospitals to come together and accelerate learning and change," said lead study author Della M. Lin, MD, MS, an anesthesiologist in the department of surgery, University of Hawaii. "By not working in silos, we were able to accelerate the reduction in surgical site infections faster and perhaps more effectively than hospitals could do by themselves." At the same time, safety culture improved in 10 of 12 categories, as measured by the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Areas of improvement included teamwork across units, communication-openness, and overall perception of patient safety. Nationally, AHRQ's survey tool showed (in 359 hospitals) the average change across these 12 patient safety culture domains was one percentage point between 2012 and 2014. In this collaborative, however, the average score across the 12 categories improved by more than five percentage points. This outcome is significant because changes in safety culture, especially using AHRQ's survey tool, are not common, and especially in the perioperative area, according to Dr. Pham. The research is important for several reasons. This study highlights the fact that this program can be scaled up to a state level and likely to a health system level, according to Dr. Pham. "We already know that one or two hospitals can succeed at changing their safety culture. But it has never been done on a state level before." Additionally, the results are durable. "Since the Hawaii collaborative has ended, the infection rates are continuing to stay at these low rates, so that gives us some satisfaction knowing that there is sustainability in these remarkable results," Dr. Lin said. "Instead of working in isolation, we are creating a space for all hospitals within the state to leverage not just the national work but also each other for more powerful results," Dr. Lin said. "This study is unique because it demonstrates how teams actually can get better ideas and results by synthesizing and harvesting the work together. The Hawaii collaborative continues as Hawaii Safer Care, applying what we've learned to future projects such as enhanced recovery after surgery protocols." Explore further A multimodal intervention to reduce one of the most common healthcare-acquired infections More information: Della M. Lin et al. Statewide Collaborative to Reduce Surgical Site Infection: Results of the Hawaii Surgical Unit-based Safety Program, Journal of the American College of Surgeons (2018). Journal information: Journal of the American College of Surgeons Della M. Lin et al. Statewide Collaborative to Reduce Surgical Site Infection: Results of the Hawaii Surgical Unit-based Safety Program,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2018.04.031 In a prelude to an easing of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, Chinese officials ended a monthslong delay by approving Toshibas sale of a majority stake in its lucrative microchip unit to an American-led group. A lack of approval by Chinese regulators had held up the deal in what was widely seen as a signal from Beijing about how it might punish American businesses if the Trump administration acted on threats to impose tariffs on $150 billion in Chinese-made goods. In a statement on Thursday, Toshiba said it had received all required antitrust approvals for the deal with a consortium led by the United States investment firm Bain Capital. Bain confirmed in its own statement that Chinese authorities had approved the deal. Chinese officials could not be reached for comment late Thursday, and the countrys official media and websites were silent on the matter. The reasons for the approval after the lengthy delay were not immediately clear. Ford will resume building its biggest moneymaker, the F-150 pickup, two weeks after a fire at a suppliers factory halted production of trucks at three plants. Production of F-Series pickups will restart first at Fords Dearborn, Michigan, factory on Friday, then at plants in Kentucky and Missouri on Monday. The automaker said all three factories will be at full production by Monday and rebuilt its supply chain for key magnesium parts used in the trucks and sport utility vehicles including the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Explorer. The situation is still changing hour-by-hour and we could still encounter some obstacles, but Im confident the team will continue to charge ahead and find ways to deliver, Joe Hinrichs, Fords president of global operations, said on a conference call with reporters. Returning our plants to production ahead of our initial estimated timing means less of an adverse effect on the companys near-term results. Ford expects the loss of F-Series production will lower second-quarter earnings by as much as 14 cents a share, but didnt reduce its full-year adjusted profit forecast of $1.45 to $1.70 a share. Theres evidence this week, though, that the Chinese are more hopeful about a thaw. After the presidents surprise tweet indicating he wants to ease restrictions on ZTE, the Chinese government appeared to change its posture toward Qualcomms bid to acquire chipmaker NXP. A few hours after the presidents tweet, people started calling back, and we made progress understanding their issues over the weekend, says Chris DeMuth, a partner at Rangeley Capital, which holds a stake in NXP, though DeMuth doesnt speak for it. Over the last few days, theres been a back and forth. The Chinese on Thursday ended a months-long holdup of regulatory approval for another deala sale by Toshiba of its chip unit to a group led by Bain Capital. And the government is ending an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe into U.S. sorghum imports. In Washington, meanwhile, an understaffed Trump trade team is showing the stresses of trying to process multiple, high-stakes negotiations at once. Sunday, May 20 at 10 a.m., we will have guest speaker Joel Richards. The main church building is under repairs and we are meeting at 1920 Finnell Road in Yountville while we are under construction. We will continue to have all of our Sunday school classes, services, and bible studies. Sunday School is at 9 a.m. for all ages. We have an Adult Bible class, Youth Group (fifth-eighth grades and high school students),and Childrens classes Jesus and Me, (Birth-Kindergarten) and first through fifth grades are offered. 944-2179. The Napa Valley Unified School District Board of Education announced Thursday night that Rosanna Mucetti has been offered the position of superintendent. Mucetti, 43, who will replace the retiring Patrick Sweeney, would be the first woman and Hispanic to lead the school district, which has a majority of Latino students. She is currently deputy superintendent of educational services for San Leandro Unified School District in the South Bay. San Leandro has 8,638 students, compared to the NVUSD's more than 17,000 students. The school board plans to officially welcome Mucetti at its next meeting scheduled for May 31, according to board President Joe Schunk. She will officially take over as superintendent on July 1. We are excited and pleased to have verbally offered Dr. Rosanna Mucetti the position as superintendent, Schunk said during Thursdays meeting. Reached by phone Friday morning, Mucetti said she is excited and honored for the chance to serve the students and families in the district. Im looking forward to collaborating with the school board and the community to meet the goals of the district, said Mucetti. Im very, very impressed with the districts focus on educating the whole child. Fortnight on Maxwell Street, a novel by Napa author and Napa Valley Register columnist David Kerns, has won the Eric Hoffer Award for the Best General Fiction Book of 2018. The Hoffer Awards, founded a decade ago in honor of the philosopher and prolific writer, honor literary excellence from small and independent presses. Fortnight on Maxwell Street is a reluctant heros journey of fear and courage set in Chicago in the spring of 1968 where 24-year-old medical student Nick Weissman spends two weeks delivering babies in the kitchens and bedrooms of the inner-citys slum tenements. Over his head medically, and unprotected in one of Americas most dangerous neighborhoods, his character and resourcefulness are tested in the extreme when a national tragedy intervenes. Physician/author Robert Reece writes, Kerns masterfully stitches his young and reluctant medical heros story together with the fascinating and dark journey of James Earl Ray as he stalks and murders Martin Luther King Jr. This realistic tapestry of life and racism in America in 1968 is profound and timely. Of course, in this new era of #MeToo focus on sexual behavior and harassment, no one can be sure whether Newsom and Villaraigosa, both former participants in well-publicized extra-marital affairs, can maintain their current status with the women who cast the majority of Democratic votes. Both apologize profusely whenever they discuss those affairs. Both also purport to be better men today than before. The bottom line is that because Newsom and Villaraigosa have far outstripped their competition in the vital area of fundraising, they could face off in the fall. Both are liberals, Newsom somewhat to the left of Villaraigosa, a onetime labor union organizer who refused to cave in to public employee unions while he was mayor, one reason Newsom is Big Labors favorite in this contest. If they do match up, Newsom and Villaraigosa will test the basic premise of the top two system. When it was proposed, sponsors like then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his appointed lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado argued the new system would assure the election of more moderates from each major party. They figured that in one-party races like this years gubernatorial contest might become, members of the other party would choose the more moderate available candidate. One of the most important things to remember about Mueller's critics is that, like all of us, they have only a general sense of what Mueller has been doing. His investigation has been leakproof; whenever we learn something about it, it's via someone who has testified to the grand jury or the substance of court filings. There's zero indication that Mueller has been anything but thorough and professional, which is exactly why he, a lifelong Republican and widely respected law enforcement official, was picked for the job. Now let's do a quick rundown of what Mueller has so far produced: --An indictment of 13 individuals and 3 companies in connection with Russian efforts to infiltrate and manipulate the 2016 election. --Indictments on multiple charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. --Guilty pleas from former Trump aides Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, and George Papadopoulos, offered in exchange for their cooperation. --Guilty pleas from two other figures, Alex van der Zwaan and Richard Pinedo, tangentially connected to the original investigation. There is obviously much more on its way. The Napa County Green Party is affiliated with the Green Party of California and the Green Party of the United States-- the largest anti-capitalist and eco-socialist political party in the country. Our positions are based firmly on the Green Partys Ten Key Values: ecological wisdom, nonviolence, social justice, grassroots democracy, decentralization, community-based economics, feminism, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and sustainability. Below are our endorsements for the June 5 primary election. We support the following candidates: Governor: Write-in candidate, Veronika Fimbres; Lieutenant Governor: Gayle McLaughlin; Secretary of State: Mike Feinstein and Eric Rydberg; U.S. Representative (District 5): Jason Kishineff; and Napa County Supervisor (District 3): Cio Perez. We encourage a Yes vote on the following Napa County ballot measures: Measure C and Measure D. We encourage a No vote on the following regional ballot measure: Regional Measure 3. On the state level, we support a Yes vote on propositions 69, 71, and 72 and encourage people to vote No on propositions 68 and 70. Although there are many similarities between the worlds of wine and cannabis, there are also important differences. Due to federal restrictions, sales of cannabis are typically in cash, and the transportation of the product cannot be by FedEx, UPS or other such carriers. Another difference is that cannabis has no calories. Overcoming challenges Crafton and his team have overcome the cash-only requirement of cannabis transactions by partnering with a bank that allows customers to order directly through their website using credit cards. They also have drivers to deliver products directly to a customers front door. We want to make it easy, friendly and seamless for our customers to enjoy a range of product options when and how they want, Crafton said. Because weve taken cash out of the system, that makes the process safer and much more convenient. We deliver statewide, and like ordering an Uber ride, clients get texts to alert them when the delivery is arriving so that they can be there to sign for the package. Finding a common language According to Crafton, there is confusion as to the range of cannabis products available and the language used to describe them. And then there are the three enormous copper stills, which were custom built in Germany by a company named CARL exactly to the specifications in Bakers own designs. Having three stills enables them to be making whiskey, gin and brandy all at once, without having to switch back and forth, which can mess with the consistency of the product. These are something that you really wont see anywhere else in the country, and really, anywhere else in the world, a set of stills like this, said Baker, a self-identified control freak. A big goal with this distillery is not to just make product, but to be responsible with it. In the long term, it makes sense to make things as efficient as possible. Yes, it does cost a lot more money to have systems like this. But at every point, we had these decisions where we could spend a little more money and do it the right way, or not do it the right way and it wouldnt be as efficient and the product would suffer too. The legislators of the United States has taken a unique initiative towards formulating new laws that would make Myanmars military accountable and target their economic interests. This came in the wake of the Myanmar militarys alleged widespread and systematic abuses against the Rohingyas. This was stated BY Mizzima News quoting a Global Witness report. Global Witness is an international NGO established in 1993 that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs voted to approve H R 5819, the Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2018 (BURMA Act of 2018). The bill imposes targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on senior Myanmar military officials allegedly responsible for human rights abuses against the Rohingyas. The bill also puts sanction on military cooperation between the United States and Myanmar, supports economic and security sector reform, and encourages the continued transition of power to a civilian government. In addition to that, the bill includes a section intended to empower the civilian government in Myanmar by encouraging reform in the gemstone industry. The bill also seeks to create transparency and due diligence screening criteria for Myanmar companies producing or selling gemstone for the US market and for companies importing Myanmar gemstones to the US. These criteria, however, exclude companies connected to the Myanmar military. Armenia President to visit Holy See with Mrs. Nouneh Sarkissian, to hold personal talks with Pope Francis Armenia Shirak Province governor appoints acting heads of communities Ex-member of Portugal national team elected Benfica president Cross-stone commemorating 14 martyrs of 44-day war unveiled at school in Armenia's Abovyan "Ribbon of Eternity" monument in Armenia vandalized again Russia's Putin to meet with Armenia PM on Oct. 12 Azerbaijani Navy to hold military exercises in Caspian Sea AS Roma intend to purchase Borussia Monchengladbach's midfielder Karabakh Central Electoral Commission reports 36.1 % voter turnout in elections as of 2 p.m. Iran declares presence of Israelis on border with Azerbaijan again Karabakh Central Electoral Commission reports 15.1% voter turnout in elections as of 11 a.m. 4 Armenian families displaced from Karabakh already provided with dwellings in Armenia L-410 plane crashes in Tatarstan, leaving 16 dead Karabakh MP: Azerbaijanis took villager's car and then returned it, they are obstructing harvest 20 new cases of coronavirus reported in Karabakh, 6 patients are in severe condition Armenian human rights activist: Opposition truly believes Armenia is legal state and it can restrain authorities Armenia MOD leaves for Moscow Armenia President attends Aurora Prize Ceremony at St. Lazar's Island 1,151 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President sends condolence telegram to Georgian counterpart Selena Gomez and Chris Evans suspected of having a love affair Iraq holding snap parliamentary elections Portugal's victory and Ronaldo's goal (VIDEO) Armenia national football team is in Bucharest (PHOTOS) 2021 World Wrestling Championships: Armenia team to bring home one gold medal Armenia territorial administration and infrastructure minister, India ambassador discuss opportunities for collaboration President visits Armenia honorary consulate in Veneto region of Italy Burned body of man, 65, found in Armenia rural community Armenia MOD: Serviceman wounded at Yeraskh village section of border with Azerbaijan is contract soldier Turkey detains 6 foreigners on suspicion of espionage Hraparak.am: Armenia soldier wounded at Yeraskh village section of border with Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Armenia Constitutional Court finds bill tabled by parliament speaker to be in accordance with Constitution Opposition MP: Armenia authorities obsessed with false ideas of building dialogue with Turkey, Azerbaijan Britney Spears' lawyer to compel her father to testify in court Messi: We are one step behind other Champions League favorites Ukrainian tourist, 64, dies suddenly near Armenias Temple of Garni Adele speaks about new boyfriend (PHOTOS) Artsakh civilian, 55, killed by Azerbaijan sniper (PHOTOS) UK House of Lords member thanks opposition Armenia Faction in parliament Modernas Spikevax vaccine against coronavirus is distributed to Armenia polyclinics, mobile points Madonna regrets turning down role in The Matrix (VIDEO) India FM to visit Armenia for first time in history Armenia PM condoles with Georgia counterpart Spain man, 40, found dead in Armenia October 11 declared a day of mourning in Georgia Armenian priest continues his religious service at Dadivank Monastery of Artsakh (PHOTOS) China, US discuss lifting customs duties, sanctions 4 people killed in single-engine plane crash in US 1,331 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia President awarded with highest medal of University of Bologna Messi announces who he would vote for among Ballon d'Or candidates Vanetsyan: Armenias Pashinyan, by me, Azerbaijans Aliyev, by his NSS head, had exchanged closed envelopes Armenia premier, his staff conceal fact of 'operative link' with Azerbaijans Aliyev Residential building collapses in Georgias Batumi Chile court considering case against president based on Pandora Papers leaks Newspaper: Selective investigation being conducted into Armenia criminal case on arms supply Newspaper: Armenia PM worries about delay in actual 'process' of illegal property confiscation 2022 World Cup qualifiers: Match results of the day 2022 World Cup qualifiers: Armenia manager holds post-match press conference in Iceland 2022 World Cup qualifiers: Armenia play draw with Iceland (PHOTOS, VIDEO) OSCE Minsk Group: Co-Chairs discussed possible de-escalatory and humanitarian measures Sergey Markedonov: What axis between Yerevan and Tehran? 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification: Armenia winning Iceland (first half) Armenia Parliament Speaker: It's very important to be able to turn the page over and establish peace in the region World champion Malkhas Amoyan awarded in Oslo (PHOTOS) Legendary Armenian gymnast Albert Azaryan's daughter, teacher Zhanna Azaryan dies from COVID-19 Georgia citizens to hold rally in support of Saakashvili in central Tbilisi on Sunday Armenia sets up governmental commission for funeral of Ambassador Vigen Chitechyan Armenia opposition MP: Yerevan, Baku are synchronously working to destroy Armenian statehood Slovenia Ambassador to Armenia: Armenian-Slovenian economic relations not adequate to existing potential Malkhas Amoyan declared world champion (PHOTOS) Cavusoglu: Ukraine has applied to obtain observer status in Turkic Council Turkey building a wall on border with Iran Basque Country Parliament, affirming European Parliament's stance, adopts resolution on Armenian POWs Turkish FM touches upon Armenia-Azerbaijan relations Armenia FM receives Apostolic Nuncio of Holy See Jose Avelino Bettencourt Saakashvili's father calls on son to stop hunger strike Armenian and Belarusian MFAs hold political consultations Digest: Russia offers 3+3 Caucasus regional platform, more on COVID-19 vaccination in Armenia Armenia MOD receives Diaspora Armenian benefactors Armenia Ambassador presents credentials to Turkmenistan President Armenia Parliament Deputy Speaker and Russia Ambassador: We are interested in expansion of cooperation Armenia finance ministry-European Investment Bank cooperation development directions discussed One dollar drops below AMD 480 in Armenia Hague court announces dates for considering petition for Armenian captives return, urgent measures against Azerbaijan Armenia minister, Rosatom representative discuss cooperation in new sectors for infrastructure development Eden Hazard receives injury Armenia PM underscores need for effective investigation of criminal cases on 44-day war circumstances Armenia MFA: Servants, followers of Armenian Church should have unimpeded access to cathedral in Artsakhs Shushi Armenia opposition With Honor Faction lawmaker: MPs can be part of any parliamentary delegation Turkish Armed Forces' 3rd army corps commander visits Nakhchivan Sergey Markedonov: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not over Opposition 'Armenia' faction: There is always a threat of war, but it is less likely in the near future Armenian and Greek competition protection authorities sign Memorandum of Cooperation Georgia FM comments on possibility of his country joining 3 + 3 format proposal including Armenia Ruling power MP: Armenia needs to consider, grasp opportunities of 3 + 3 negotiation format 12 new cases of coronavirus reported in Karabakh FM meets with Sweden ambassador, stresses need for return of all Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan Ukraine MP who penned Armenian Genocide recognition draft decision dies Eurovision 2022 to be held in Turin, Italy YEREVAN. A demonstration for the rights Armenias political prisoners was held Friday morning outside the General Prosecutors Office. The protesters were holding banners with the picture of Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) former Defense Minister and Defense Army Commander Samvel Babayan, and a demand for the resignation of General Prosecutor Artur Davtyan. Subsequently, they marched to the Court of Cassation building where they continued their protest. One of Babayans supporters said the Court of Cassation does not accept proceedings on Babayans case and that this demonstration is also a demand for accepting the proceedings. I have no doubt that this [new] government wishes to free all political prisoners, he added. But we have a non-standard situation. We have a government that has a head [i.e. PM Nikol Pashinyan], but it has no body in the sense that the situation in the National Assembly is not changed yet. The judicial system is entirely under the influence of the former regime. The prosecutors office has become the intermediary tool that influences the courts. We support the Prime Minister that he keep his word to set political prisoners free. [But] snap [parliamentary] elections without setting political prisoners free cant be considered legitimate. Another civil activist lied in front of the Court of Cassation building. He noted that his protest is against Armenias judicial and prosecutorial systems which, in his words, are still led by the former authorities. YEREVAN. The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, on Friday introduced newly appointed Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan to the governing board of this council. In Pashinyans words, the Security Council is an agency where the main directions of Armenias defense policy are determined, press office of the government informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. Also, the PM instructed to prepare a Security Council meeting. The security domain, the normal development of the armed forces is a priority for us, he stressed, in particular. And we have to do everything to ensure the normal development of the armed forces, to accurately assess existing challenges, and to have effective countermeasures to them. YEREVAN. The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, on Friday visited the State Revenue Committee (SRC) and introduced newly appointed SRC Chairman Davit Ananyan to the committee staff. First, Pashinyan thanked outgoing SRC Chairman Vardan Harutyunyan for his work, and he wished Ananyan success in this new capacity, press office of the government informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. In the PMs view, there are two main issues in this domain that need to be resolved in the near future. First, not to hamper the economy and businessmen, Nikol Pashinyan said. Second, to ensure the continued reduction of shadow economy. As per the new PM of Armenia, what the Armenian people have today was absent for many years. Its the optimism toward, the confidence in the future [of Armenia], Pashinyan stressed, in particular. Its the confidence that we will have a major economic development and will raise our country and state to a new qualitative level. He added, however, that the implementing of these tasks largely depends on the tax and customs authorities of Armenia. The PM said he expects from the new SRC chief speedy and major results in this domain, and which need to be visible and tangible for the people of Armenia. Also, Nikol Pashinyan yet again underscored the fight against corruption and noted that it needs to be uprooted in Armenia. New times shall bring new rules with them, he added, in particular. And I hope that we have the needed will, consistency, and skill to respond to those challenges. Famous European magazine Emerging Europe published an article about Yerevan, describing the tourist attractions of the Armenian capital, which marks the 2800th anniversary this year. The article says that Yerevan is one of the most ancient cities in the world, as it was established in 782 BC by king Argishti I. As to the most interesting topic for tourists, where to go and what to see in Yerevan, Emerging Europe suggests including museums and historical places in the program of the visit. The article also mentions over 60 sport and cultural events to be held in the capital city this summer, and points out the Yerevan festivals. YEREVAN.- Armenian PM Nikol PAshinyan received on Friday Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director for Armenia Mr. Shane Rosenthal. The Prime Minister highly assessed the involvement of the bank in the development of infrastructures and state management system of Armenia. We hope that during our future cooperation we will be able to raise with joint efforts the public confidence in the efficiency of loan spending. I know that the Asian Development Bank is a supporter of transparency, which means that there are no obstacles for our future cooperation, Pashinyan said. The Prime Minister emphasized that the Government of Armenia will remain committed to its international obligations. Shane Rosenthal, congratulating Nikol Pashinyan on the occasion of being elected Prime Minister of Armenia, noted that the DAB will continue supporting Armenias development. The country director presented to Nikol Pashinyan the course of the programs implemented in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The interlocutors referred to the construction process of North-South road, fight against monopolies and other priorities of the Government. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday slammed the whole world for failing to stand up to Israeli violence against unarmed Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, Anadolu reported. Speaking at a mass rally in Istanbul's Yenikapi fairgrounds that was held to show support for Palestinians, Erdogan said: "To be fair, the Islamic world failed in the Jerusalem test. Not only the Islamic world but the entire world failed in the Jerusalem test." Do you know that Jerusalem is not just a city. Jerusalem is a symbol, a test, a qiblah. If we cant protect our first qiblah, we cant be confident about the future of last qiblah, Erdogan added. Highlighting the significance of the holy city, the president equated Jerusalem with Canakkale (Gallipoli), saying: Jerusalem is same as Canakkale for us. We are facing struggle against Zionist and Zionism. Even such a catastrophe, unfortunately, was not enough for Muslims to come through, Erdogan said as he criticized the Israeli violence on Palestinians. I separate Zionists from Jews. The main struggle is against Zionism and Zionists, he said, adding: Their hostility to Muslims is not at all forgiven. "Israel has been doing whatever it wishes since 1947, and continues its way in the same reckless way today. We cannot unsee these facts. With the latest decision the U.S. took, once again the privacy of Jerusalem was attacked." Erdogan said while Al-Aqsa Mosque was increasingly becoming polluted by radical Zionist schemes, the Al-Khalil mosque remains occupied and all Muslims can do is condemn. "The only language a persecutor with no morality understands is power. If the whole world, Muslims unite against this cruelty, believe me, the support of the lobbies that Israel rests its back on would not be enough to sustain its recklessness. Erdogan urged both Israeli and American people to stand up against the cruelty, and warned that the terror state Israel may hit back at the U.S. one day. He said: I am therefore calling on the American people to raise their voices against the wrongs of the [U.S.] administration. "We also call on the Israeli people to take action against the disaster that their own government is dragging them into. At just 22 years old, Charmel Maynard hadnt faced much adversity in his life. Not quite a year removed from Amherst College, he was just starting to get his career off the ground, working as an analyst at J.P. Morgans investment bank in New York City. Then came the crisis that would test his mettle. As the Great Recession of 2008 picked up steam, job losses across the nation mounted, and J.P. Morgan awas not immune to the attrition. In the span of just a few months, Maynards team at the company had dwindled from 300 professionals to just 75. Essentially, everyone around me on my desk was gone, he recalls. It was scary. But a confident and ambitious Maynard rose to the challenge. I saw the glass as half full rather than half empty, he says, and I actually learned the most about my profession during those times. He did so through the power of observation, learning what senior-level leaders at the global investment bank focused on and how they managed during times of crisis. Because of all of the layoffs, instead of going through three different layers, they had to come straight to me. So at a young age I got the chance to work with some of the top people at the firm. And as I was promoted from an analyst to an associate and finally to a vice president, I had this incredible direct access to people you see on CNBC and other business news outlets. Today, Maynard serves a different client base. As associate vice president and treasurer at the University of Miami, he is part of a team dedicated to the cultivation and education of college students. And thats been truly inspiring and motivating for me, he says. If I do my partand thats mainly through making sure the U has a stable balance sheet and that we continue to grow our growth pool assets and opportunistically access capital for projectsI know I can help make a difference. And that he has. After arriving at UM in 2016 as an assistant treasurer and quickly rising through the ranks to his current post, Maynard has played a major role in UMs outperformance for fiscal year 2017, helping to spearhead efforts to safeguard the institutions assets, increase efficiencies, and update asset allocations. Investment banking definitely provided me with a rock solid set of technical skills that directly led to my role here, says Maynard. The biggest thing that I took from [working at J.P. Morgan] is it taught me a good work ethic and how to hustle. That no is not an answertheres always a solution. Despite the pressures and demands that come with his job, Maynard still finds time to connect with UM students and alumni. Hes given both groups advice on navigating the job recruiting process of Wall Street. Its my job as an administrator to go above and beyond to help our students and alums when they reach out, he says, noting that he mentors students in the UM Business Schools Bermont/Carlin Scholars program. One piece of advice he often gives students: Experience and explore your educational path. If anyone would know, it is Maynard, a former Wall Street wiz kid who didnt major in finance or economics at Amherst, but political science. Political science taught me how to synthesize large amounts of information, Maynard explains. I read Platos Republic and the works of Aristotle, and I learned to distill it down to a clear and concise message. Thats applicable to any field, and its especially useful in finance, where were required to look at large datasets, make decisions, and explain results to various groups of people in laymans terms. While at Amherst, Maynard supplemented his political science courses with finance- and accounting-related classes, always knowing that he wanted to work in the business field. What I tell a lot of aspiring finance people is, you may not be as fast out of the gate as the kid who went to Wharton, but the analysis and the reasoning behind your answers are what people really care about, says Maynard. Its not simply a matter of calculating a number as quickly as you can, but being able to tell what the number means. Applying those values has helped me tremendously from a long-term career perspective. Maynard is a finalist for one of South Florida Business and Wealth magazines Up & Comer Awards, which honor young professionals who have achieved excellence in their careers, shown a commitment to their community, and demonstrated leadership. Winners for the awards, which are given in a variety of categories, will be announced June 6 at the 2018 Up & Comer Awards Celebration at Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale. After facing a US ban, Russia-based Kaspersky Lab on Thursday announced to move its core customer data storage and processing processes for most regions to Zurich, Switzerland, by 2019 -- at a time when the European Union (EU) gets ready to introduce a new data privacy law. The transfer of core processes, including software assembly and threat detection updates, will be supervised by an independent third party, also based in Switzerland, Kaspersky said in a statement. "By the end of 2019, Kaspersky Lab will have established a data centre in Zurich and in this facility will store and process all information for users in Europe, North America, Singapore, Australia, Japan and South Korea, with more countries to follow," the cyber-security firm said. This information is shared voluntarily by users with the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) an advanced, cloud-based system that automatically processes cyberthreat-related data. The announcement is part of the company's "Global Transparency Initiative" announced in October 2017. "Trust is essential in cybersecurity, and Kaspersky Lab understands that trust is not a given; it must be repeatedly earned through transparency and accountability," the firm said. Kaspersky Lab will relocate to Zurich its 'software build conveyer' -- a set of programming tools used to assemble ready to use software out of source code. Before the end of 2018, Kaspersky Lab products and threat detection rule databases (AV databases) will start to be assembled and signed with a digital signature in Switzerland, before being distributed to the endpoints of customers worldwide. "The relocation will ensure that all newly assembled software can be verified by an independent organisation, and show that software builds and updates received by customers match the source code provided for audit," said the company. Kaspersky Lab has sued the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over its decision to ban the Kaspersky products in federal agencies over data security. The DHS was concerned about ties between Kaspersky Lab officials and the Russian intelligence services, directing federal departments and agencies to remove Kaspersky Lab products from their information systems. Kaspersky Lab later denied that it has ties to the Kremlin and filed an appeal in a federal court under the Administrative Procedure Act to enforce its constitutional due process rights. Twitter recently banned Kaspersky Lab from advertising on its platform, stating that the company "operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices." The EU is all set to introduce the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25 to harmonise data privacy laws. Read more news: Facebook India to help smartphone brands connect better with consumers Home | News | General | Okorocha is now politically irrelevant - APC stakeholders in Imo declare - The APC stakeholders in Imo spoke through Theo Elechi - The stakeholders say they have overwhelming evidences against Okorocha - They claim that there is jubilation in Imo because they have rescued the state The stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo have declared that they have made Governor Rochas Okorocha politically irrelevant in their determination to rescue the party from imminent collapse in the state. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Theo Ekechi, who spoke to newsmen after a closed-door meeting with the APC national leadership on Thursday, May 17, in Abuja, said the stakeholders had overwhelming evidences against Okorocha. Ekechi said he had made it impossible for the governor to get attention from any quarter in the state and in the South-East region. READ ALSO: Former president's son sentenced to 8 months in jail for stealing mobile phone There have been wide jubilation in Imo because we have rescued the party from Governor Okorocha, we have made it impossible for him to get help from anywhere. He cannot run to any political figure in the state because none is with him, he cannot approach any clergyman in the state. In his desperation, he ran to Sokoto, Daura and even to the vice president, but help has refused to come, he said. Ekechi further said Rochass inaction was responsible for the problems facing the party in the state and the South-East generally. In a petition submitted to the partys national leadership, the stakeholders detailed what they described as the governors sins and appealed for state of emergency in the state. Ekechi called on the partys national chairman to bring to the notice of President Muhammadu Buhari the crisis in Imo before it completely gets out of hand. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app He alleged that the state was being mis- managed under Okorocha, adding that the governor was running the state like a personal estate. He also alleged that the governor was harassing and intimidating perceived opponents in the state. NAIJ.com earlier reported that the metropolitan archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Diocese, Imo state, Reverend Anthony JV Obinna, condemned Governor Rochas Okorochas endorsement of his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to succeed him in 2019. This Day reports that the cleric at the weekend during his speech on the celebration of the Easter at the Maria Assumpta Cathedral, Owerri, said Okorocha was planning to extend his tenure to third term by trying to impose his son in-law as governor of Imo state. NAIJ.com also reported that Reverend Geoffrey Okorafor, the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Egbu, Imo, said that Governor Rochas Okorocha had not only failed God, but has also disappointed the people of the state. Nigeria is practicing Oligarchy (Nigerian Street Interview) | NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Dagote visits Babangida, hold closed-door meeting with former president - Aliko Dangote was in Minna for an event - Dangote visited Ibrahim Babangida and held a meeting with the former president - The richest man in Africa was accompanied by his daughter Africas richest man and president of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on Thursday, May 17, visited former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, at his Hilltop Mansion in Minna, the state capital and both of them held a closed-door meeting. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dangote was accompanied by his daughter, Halima Dangote and her husband, Suleiman Bello and some members of Dangote group. READ ALSO: Former president's son sentenced to 8 months in jail for stealing mobile phone According to the report, Dangote was in Minna to attend the launching and disbursement of Aliko Dangote Foundation N250 million micro grant to 25,000 vulnerable women. After attending the event at Justice Legbo Idris Conference Hall, he was accompanied by Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger state, Senator Bala Ibn NaAllah, the deputy majority leader and Mikail Bmitosahi, the chief of staff to Governor Bello. The report said the closed-door meeting held by the duo lasted for more than one hour and that Dangote did not disclosed to journalists the outcome. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app NAIJ.com earlier reported that the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, along with members of the PDP National Working Committee met with former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida in Minna on Monday, April 16. The team arrived at the Minna airport with a chartered flight and was driven in a motorcade to the uphill residence of Babangida. The meeting was held behind closed doors in the presence of members of the Niger state working committee of the party led by the chairman, Barrister Tanko Beji. Nigeria is practicing Oligarchy (Nigerian Street Interview) | NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Aspiring neurosurgeon calls on South Africans to help him make a difference - Prince Chikezie has called upon South Africans to help him gather the funds he need to realise his dream of becoming a neurosurgeon - Chikezie obtained his Bachelor of Science from the University of Stellenbosch two years ago and he has since been selected for a prestigious program at Wits - However, it would set him back R200 000, an amount he can not afford without some help After graduating with a Bachelor of Science at Stellenbosch University in 2016, Chikezie was selected to study medicine at the highly competitive Graduate Entry Medical Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand. However, the studies would cost him south of R200 000 which is roughly N5.7m, something he cant afford. On the fundraising site, BackABuddy, the aspiring neurosurgeon talked about his ambitions. He said,"My career ambition is to become an academic neurosurgeon and to contribute to the advancement of neurosurgery/neurology across Africa." READ ALSO: Meet Themba Gwejela: The Media Studies and Honours graduate who started his own successful business The Nigerian born graduate had been residing in South Africa since he was only 10-years-old. However, 13-years after arriving in South Africa, the young man experiences constant financial and immigration difficulties. Prince Chikezie at his graduation. Photo credit: Prince Chikezie/Facebook. "I am charged at double local tuition as I am still not officially a citizen of SA. It is a difficult reality to accept and has inevitably left me in despair. Despite the odds I am hoping to raise funds for half of the duration of the programme (two years) whilst resolving my immigration complexities, he said. Chikezie added he firmly believes with the help of South Africans, he can contribute largely to the health science and medicine industry. Thus far, the hopeful young man received just over R19 000 towards his studies, and although he still has a long way to go, he is grateful for those who already opened their hearts, and wallets, to help him realise his dream. SA is the only home I have known for over a decade, and it is here, where I will be blessed to fulfil my potential. I thank everyone for their sympathy and kind generosity. If you want to contribute to Chikezie, visit his BackABuddy page and help him make his dream come true. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on NAIJ.com News App Get the hottest gist on Naija Uncensored Facebook Group Faces of Nigeria: My Friends Mocked me When I Started Making Hair | Naij.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | President Buhari attends first Tafsir at Aso Rock mosque - chief Imam, Abdulwaheed Abubakar, expresses gratitude to Allah for freeing Muhammadu Buhari of the ailment that kept him away from the country - He wishes the president full health and more energy to discharge the requirements of his office. President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, May 17, joined the Muslim faithful all over the world who thronged neighbourhood mosques for the Ramadan Tafsir - the translation and explanation of the Holy Quran. At the mosque in the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, the chief Imam, Abdulwaheed Abubakar, opened the exercise with gratitude to Allah for freeing the president of the ailment that kept him away from the country throughout this period last year, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. READ ALSO: Video of IGP Idris was doctored - Nigerian police insists He wished President Buhari full health and more energy to discharge the requirements of his office. The chief Imam thanked Nigerians for their prayers for the president and the nation, urging them to submit to the will of their creator. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Abdulwaheed also prayed to Allah for peaceful elections in the coming year. NAIJ.com had reported that Saudi Arabia said the Ramadan fasting will begin on Thursday, May 17, across the globe, the official Saudi news agency SPA reported on Tuesday, May 15. The new moon of Ramadan was not spotted on Tuesday evening and Wednesday will mark the last day of the Islamic month of Shaaban, SPA said, citing religious authorities in the kingdom. The beginning and end of Islamic months are determined by the sighting of the new moon. Egypts Mufti, the countrys top religious authority, said in a televised speech that the holy month will start on Thursday in the most populous Arab country. Eid-el-Kabir: Why the ram killed must not exceed three days in your house - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | 2019: Saraki, Atiku, Mark, Tambuwal others allegedly battle to get SDP presidential ticket - A chieftain of SDP, Vincent Obi, has said that former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki and other leaders of APC are eyeing presidential ticket of the party - He said the party has bounced back with a bang to take over the leadership of the country - Obi also noted that about sixty senators have indicated their interest to run under SDP The acting chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Anambra state, Vincent Obi, has said that at least seven presidential aspirants and sixty other senators are eyeing to contest the 2019 elections under the party. Nigerian Tribune reports that Obi revealed this to newsmen in Awka, the Anambra state capital, during the flag off of the registration exercise in the 21 local government areas of the state. READ ALSO: Boko Haram: Maiduguri residents turn spent bullet shells into rings (photos) NAIJ.com gathered that he said the party has bounced back with a bang to take over the leadership of the country. Obi, who vowed to challenge the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the forthcoming general elections in the state, said the party is targeting to register at least 2 million eligible voters before the election proper. He told contact party chieftains at the meeting that the National Working Committee of the party has directed members to embark on aggressive registration and mobilization drive. He also assured them that the party has no room for urban town gorillas who are jostling from one political party to another pointing out that Social Democratic Party (SDP), has a long-standing culture and philosophy and should not derail from it. He said: Information reaching us says that about seven presidential aspirants have indicated interest to run for the presidential election under the platform of SDP but as it is now nobody has been anointed by the party or earmarked for the post of number one citizen position under the party. He also noted that about sixty senators have also indicated their interest to run under SDP. It was gathered that he named some of the presidential hopeful eyeing the position to include the Senate president Bukola Saraki, former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former speaker of the House of Representative and the serving Sokoto state sovernor, Barrister Aminu Tambuwal, former Senate president senator David Mark and the governor of Gombe state, Ibrahim Dankwambo among others. He, however, didnt mention some of the senators but said that some senators representing Anambra state are carefully studying the political revolution going on in the party with great interest. The state acting chairman, however, said that shortly after the registration and mobilization, the party would hold its congress and elect their ward, local government area, state leaders. He said the party has bounced back to take what belongs to it and lead the people of Nigeria to the promise land because the PDP and APC have failed Nigeria and it is time to sack them out of governance in Nigeria, he concluded. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that John Dara, a 2019 presidential aspirant under the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said that any politician above the age of 65 years should not be allowed to contest for political office or voted for in Nigeria. President Buhari on 2019 presidential election: will you vote for him? | - on NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Shittu/Aides faceoff: MUSWEN intervention commendable, but no peace without justice Embattled aides Penultimate week, we published Muslim Ummah of South West of Nigeria, MUSWENs, intervention in the dispute between the Honourable Minister of Communication, Barrister Adebayo Shittu and his erstwhile aides, particularly, the erstwhile Special Assistant, Special Duties to the Minister, Alhaji Tajudeen Imam, occasioned by the non-payment of their emoluments of between 23 and 28 months. When we thought MUSWEN had quenched the raging fire between the warring parties but two of his former aides have said justice was not done and vowed to return to the trenches. They specifically said they were not part of the settlement and that Tajudeen Imam could not have represented them at the peace parley. The two gentlemen are Victor Oluwadamilare, who was the Special Assistant, Media to the Hon. Minister of Communications and Hon. Razaq Olubodun, former Personal Assistant to the Hon. Minister of Communications. The duo in a rejoinder sent to Vanguard said: The process of settling the dispute only considered Sheikh Tajudeen Imam, the erstwhile Special Assistant, Special Duties to the Minister, as a major contender in the dispute as he was the only one invited to the Abeokuta peace parley. There was nothing to suggest at the meeting that Sheikh Tajudeen Imam represented other aggrieved former aides of the Minister, as their grievances and bone of contention were not part of the agenda and nothing in that regard was discussed, talk less of arriving at a settlement. In accordance with Allahs directive in Quran 49:9-10 and in conformity with the principle of fair hearing, the Elders Forum failed to factor the interests and demands of other aggrieved former aides of the Minister in the resolution of the brewing crisis. One would have thought that the cause of disagreement would have been adequately and amicably addressed by such a powerful assemblage of most distinguished Nigerians. This is pertinent against the unfortunate situation that the conduct of the Minister, who himself is a Muslim, is badly embarrassing to the body of Islam in Nigeria. Though, the former SA Media, Victor Oluwadamilare is a Christian, it is on record that he is someone who has great value of respect for Islam and its adherents based on his long and fruitful years of excellent relationships with notable Muslim clerics and personalities across the country. Our contention is that nothing should deprive him of getting justice, granted that he is a Christian, under the Elders Forum as constituted by MUSWENs 10 member mediation team. Its quite disheartening that his grievance on the non-payment of his full entitlements having served the Minister for 28 months was of little or no importance to the meeting of MUSWEN in Abeokuta. In the same vein, the ordeals of the former Personal Assistant to the Minister, Hon. Razaq Olubodun, a staunch Muslim incidentally, was not also discussed by the Elders Forum. The Minister owed him salaries and allowances for 23 months before he resigned last year when he could no longer cope with the hardship. It is regrettable that the Elders Forum only succeeded in arm-twisting Sheikh Tajudeen Imam to forgo his entitlements of 25 months service to the Minister. We wonder where lies fairness in the overall adjudication of the matter when the issue of non-payment of emoluments was the crux of the disagreement. So, if truly the Minister and Sheikh Tajudeen Imam agreed to a truce, it will be short-lived, as the cause of justice has not been served and it will, no doubt, be a peace of the grave yard. In fact, Sheikh Tajudeen Imams interest will be in jeopardy and hell suffer untold hardship. It is against this background that the Elders Forum appeal to other former aides of the Minister to act in similar manner cannot be sustained for obvious reasons. It is also a matter of regret that the purpose of the Abeokuta meeting seems to have been compromised, as we will have no other choice than to resume hostilities in the media space to further press for our unpaid emoluments from the Minister.It will be strange for anyone to expect us to be quiet in the face of tyranny of the Minister whos sitting on Victor Oluwadamilares 28 months emolument. And, all appeals, no doubt, will fall on the deaf ears of Hon. Razak Olubodun, whose 23 months salaries and allowances paid by the Federal Government with the Ministers own were eaten up by him for 23 months before Olubodun resigned last year. It is our humble submission that the only way out of the present quagmire is for well meaning Nigerians and leaders of thought to impress it on the Minister to pay our outstanding emoluments. That is the only acceptable condition for peace, as there cannot be peace without justice. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | FG moves to criminalize breach of Executive Orders By Emmanuel Elebeke The Federal Government has vowed to enact a law to criminalise breach of the Executive Orders 003 and 005 on local content in Information Technology. Shittu Adebayo The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu disclosed this Thursday at a press conference to commemorate the 2018 World Telecommunications and Information Society Day (WTISD-18) in Abuja. He said the law, when passed, would give teeth to the executive orders which were design to give local software industry and the practitioners the needed opportunity to improve their skills and products. He added that it would also allow local products and services to face minimal stifling competition from foreign firms. Shittu also stated that FG would include artificial intelligence and coding in the future plans of the nations education plans. He said: Federal government is going to enact a holistic law to criminalise breach of the Executive Orders 003 and 005 on local content in Information Technology. Government will extend the focus on science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) to Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Engineering and Mathematics (AISTEM). With this, our youth would be put to the right path as ICT and AI would have deeply affected the ways we labour and relate with one another in the fourth industrial revolution era. I urge parents to allow their children and wards to take coding classes and buy them educational toys that can contribute to the spirit of invention and creativity. The private sector should also take the lead in the field of artificial intelligence by sponsoring research activities. On our part, government would encourage and provide stakeholders with differing perspectives, facts and opinions on Artificial Intelligence. Government will collaborate with private sector to resolve issues around AI. Government will collaborate to ensure that infrastructure and sources of funding are developed for young tech savvy people. We will evolve policies to facilitate investment and innovation in AI he added. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Understand marriage, avoid divorce, Anglican Primate admonishes Christians The Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), has admonished Christians to understand marriage before going into it, so as to avoid the high rate of divorce in the society. wedding ring Okoh said this in an interview with journalists on the sideline of the opening service of the Second Session of the Tenth Synod of the Diocese of Abuja, at Basilica of Grace, Gudu, Abuja, on Thursday. The theme of the four-day event is: The Christian Family taken from the Book of 2 Timothy Chapter 1 Verse 5. Okoh, who is also the Archbishop and Bishop of the diocese, stressed that marriage is a lifetime commitment. He, therefore, advised would-be couples understand the dos and donts of marriage instead of making children to be produced from their unions to suffer what they know nothing about. If you notice, there is an increase in divorce; people rush to marry but soon afterward, they are going to court to file for divorce. We want to be sure that people understand what they are entering into when they say they are getting married. The primate urged parents to discharge their duties very well at home so that their children would have good foundation and the society would be a better place. We discovered that the problems we find in our society, schools, colleges and universities actually have their foundations in the home. If the homes do their work very well, if children are properly taken care of, if fathers know their jobs and mothers know their jobs, I think the society will be a better place. That is why we decided to concentrate on the family, Okoh said. In his sermon, Rt. Rev. Akintunde Popoola, Bishop of Offa Diocese, stressed that the duty of parents was to train the children in the Christian way as the Holy Bible teaches. Popoola expressed regret that technological development had almost taken over childrens thinking and way of doing things, adding that it would not help the society. He said parents should not always leave the training of their children to different gadgets, stressing that such gadgets would affect their development negatively. Sadly, due to technological development, we leave the training of our children to different gadgets, which become little gods to them. These have not helped the society. Train the children in the way of the Lord and every child should be led to have a personal relationship with God. By so doing, they will be responsible in future, Popoola said. NAN CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | NCC presents N54.7m grant to 9 varsities By Emmanuel Elebeke ABUJAThe Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, on Wednesday presented grants worth N54,755,846 to the winners of the 2016 and 2017 Research Proposals from nine universities for research and development in relation to telecommunication industry. Umaru Garba Danbatta, New NCC boss The nine successful research awardees include Covenant University, Ota N9.3 million for development of low-cost GSM system for rural areas; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi N5.9 million for design and construction of customer identification system by their voices in telecom industry; Enugu State University of Science and Technology N1.4 million for development of a home-grown electrical power charger for cellphones from cooking heat; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife -N12.3 million for design, fabrication, experimental characterization of plastic optical fiber cable and the exploitation of its potentials in Nigeria telecom industry and University of Port Harcourt N5.3 million for design and construction 1 to 10GHz Anechoic chamber for 3G, 4G and 5G Antenna measurement. Others are: Nigeria Air Force Institute of Tech. Zaria N5 million for design and construction of a power line communication modern for domestic LAN; ELizade University, Ondo- N5million for GSM-Based Smart Energy Meter and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria N7 million for Development of wearable e-band tracking system. Presenting the awards, the Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta said the Commission instituted the Research and Proposals Grant project in recognition of the role of the academia in the development of the telecom sector. Prof. Danbatta explained that the scheme is focused on commercially viable prototypes of research and innovative use of telecoms to solve national problems. The relevance of the academia in the growth, sustainability and continuity of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria cannot be emphasized. The academia provides the research results that govern growth, transformation and facilitate innovations in the industry. The academia impacts knowledge to the growth, turning them into thinking and transformational citizens, with innovative ideas capable of revolutionalizing the industry and reshaping our world. The presentation of this award is to underscore the critical role, expectations from, and the confidence we have in the academia, in working towards national reengineering and transformation. WE are aware that most of these projects are collaborative efforts with other academics in your universities. NCC welcomes and demands collaboration in all you do. It is for this reason that we have insisted on the involvement of your graduate and undergraduate students in the research projects. We have set out clear terms and conditions for the Grant. We expect you to abide by all the terms of the award. You are not under any circumstance to showcase the work or the prototype to any bodies, organization at any exhibition until the Commission has received the final prototype an sign off on it. We will always show concern for the quality, relevance and efficiency of the product we want to push into the industry On extension of the collaboration to the telecom operators, Prof. Danbatta said: We will advise the telecommunication companies to key into this important initiative of collaborating with the commission in the area of research and development. We will leverage our influence asking them to equally put resources that will drive research and development in the telecommunications industry. Earlier, the Chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee of the NCC for the Research Proposals from the academia, Prof. Junaidu Muazu said one of the major focuses of the research proposals is to consider the relevance of those proposals to telecom industry and how they leverage on the existing infrastructure of the telecom industry. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Holy Crime: Lagos Prophet Exposed For Allegedly Instructing Church Member To Kidnap A Child A Lagos-based prophet has been exposed at a High Court sitting in the states capital, Ikeja today for reportedly instructing a former church member to kidnap a child. The General Overseer of Holy Family, Happy Family Ministry, Prophet Ernest, allegedly made an apparition in a dream to instruct a former church member, Mrs Rosemary Chukwu, to kidnap a child, an Ikeja High Court heard on Thursday. According to a report by The Nation, a witness identified as John Okoroafor, narrated how Mrs Chukwu made the revelation while giving statements to the police at the Panti Police Station before Justice Josephine Oyefeso. It was gathethere that Chukwu allegedly kidnapped the 6-year-old boy on June 25, 2014, from the premises of the Holy Family, Holy Family Ministry in Ikorodu, Lagos. Chukwu, a housewife who resides in the Majidun area of Ikorodu, is now standing trial on a charge of kidnapping contrary to Section 257 of Criminal Law of Lagos 2011. Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Ms Abike Oluwasanmi, Okoroafor, told the court that Chukwu said she was instructed by the prophet to kidnap the boy. The police questioned her and she told us that, Prophet Ernest asked her to kidnap a child. She said that Prophet Ernest used to appear in her dreams to give her the instructions to kidnap the child. At that point, all the policemen looked at themselves, they asked her to go and they also asked me to go, Okoroafor said. Earlier in his testimony, Okoroafor told the court that on July 25, 2014 while heading to the church, he was warned by a member of the church about an irate mob attacking the church. He said the mob allegedly attacked the church after Chukwu was caught with the kidnapped child and allegedly confessed that the crime was committed with the pastors instructions. A lot of people came into the Ministry and they started beating people, burning things and beating the General Overseer , he said. Okoroafor said he asked where Prophet Ernest was, he was told he was in Ikorodu Police Station to make a statement. I went there with some of our members and when we got there, Prophet Ernest was taken to a clinic for treatment. Some members of the Ministry and I went to Prophet Ernests house at Ikorodu to pray about the matter and while there, I was called to Panti, Yaba to give a statement, he said. Okoroafor added that he was briefly acquainted with Chukwu in 2012 when she used to attend the church. He said Mrs Chukwu told him that she had opened her Ministry and that I should come and pray with her. He said he went to see her and prayed with her and her two children after which he left her, adding that it was the last time he saw her. Justice Oyefeso has adjourned the matter till June 1 for continuation of trial. DON'T MISS: Download Edujandon.com Android app and earn unlimited free Airtime! CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Police IG, Ibrahim Idris Might Be Sick Neurologist Gives Reveals Why He Couldnt Read His Speech A neurologist with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Dr. Nura Alkali, has opined that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris struggle during his infamous speech at an event in Kano could be as a result of brain block.It would be recalled that in the footage trending online, the IGP, who visited Kano on Monday to commission the Police Technical Intelligence unit in the state, struggled consistently to pronounce some of the words in his text. The clip stirred up reactions online as some Nigerians described the development as embarrassing and a shame to the Nigeria Police Force. However, reacting Dr. Nura Alkali, in a Facebook post explained that contrary to opinions that the IG may be dyslexic, the police boss might be suffering from Severe emotional stress, a non-motor seizure, or transient global amnesia. He wrote: Having watched the IGP Idris speech video, I can only conclude that he had a brain block. What caused it I cannot tell, since I lack his medical history. But I suspect one of three possibilities: Severe emotional stress, a non-motor seizure, or transient global amnesia. He is certainly not dyslexic, after all, he has read public speeches flawlessly in the past. And from available evidence, the video was not doctored. I advise the IGP to see an experienced neurologist or psychiatrist, who should also watch the video. Some of us find it hard to believe that a medical condition can make a speech sound like a broken record. Well, one of such causes is transient global amnesia (TGA) The main sign of TGA is being temporarily unable to form new memories. This is called prominent anterograde amnesia. During the episode of TGA, the person will seem disoriented in time and often ask questions about the date or their environment over and over again. This may be described as the person sounding like a broken record. Meanwhile, the force is yet to issue a statement regarding the controversial video. When GISTMANIA contacted the Force Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, on the authenticity of the video, he simply said, Yes we have seen it , but you can call back later. DON'T MISS: Download Edujandon.com Android app and earn unlimited free Airtime! CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | If the Police can parade common men for petty crimes, names of looters can also be made public - Falana defends looters list, chides critics - Femi Falana and Itse Sagay have defended the looters list published by the federal government - Falana said there is nothing wrong with the looters list, since common people are also paraded daily for committing petty offences - Sagay also opined that the list was released in the interest of the public and in accordance with the courts directive Some stakeholders at the Second Forum of the Anti-Corruption Situation Room, on Thursday, May 17, chided those criticizing the federal government for listing names of treasury looters. Femi Falana (SAN), was one of the attendees at the forum which was organized by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), The Nation reports. READ ALSO: There will be crisis if Ekiti governorship election is rigged - Secondus NAIJ.com gathers that Falana said that contrary to the claim by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some of its leaders, there was nothing wrong with the listing of looters by the federal government. The legal luminary pointed out that there was nothing wrong with naming treasury looters, if the Police could parade common men for petty crimes. He stated: Recently, the names of looters were published in the newspapers and I read a lot of publications in the media. Media men and women were challenging the violation of the rights of the looters. They are saying how can you do that? How can you publish the names of looters? You have violated their rights to fair hearing. I say wow, beautiful, but please we must not join such hallelujah people. Please, let us begin to interrogate the literature of corruption. In this country, common people are paraded daily for committing petty offences by the Police; and the media men and women attend such media parade. They even interrogate the suspects, particularly armed robbery and kidnapping suspects. With blood gushing out of their faces, the Police will tell you that they have made confessional statements. The media would then ask, why did you rob? Somebody who has not been taken to any court, you force them to make incriminating statements regularly in our country. Nobody talks about human rights. Nobody talks about the presumption of innocence. It is only when you are talking of the rich that we are sounding so eloquent and singing about human rights. Human rights are for all of us. So please, let us stop the practice of talking about police brutality when a senator is involved because the police brutalise Nigerians daily. We dont talk of human rights when we are dealing with the poor; but even all of us, I am sure you know when a rich man is fat and you are obsessed and you want to lose some weight, you go around our cities, jogging, and that is normal. The police will even cheer you, well done sir, well done ma. But if a poor man does that, that is wandering; and you are arrested. How can you be running around? A poor man running around the city, you want to steal in the neighbourhood. So please, we must begin to look at the language of the law. I am happy with the use of the word looters; it is better than just saying corrupt people, money launderer. The list was also defended by Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC). He said: I still insist that anyone who has a good reason to include a name should put the name. Sagay pointed out that the federal government had been ordered by a court, to publish the names of those who looted the nations resources; and that the list was released in the interest of the public and in accordance with the courts directive. He further said he wont be surprised if more names are added n the list, adding: There is a very large number of these people who presided over the looting of the assets of this country. The minister for information, Lai Mohammed has been sued by the national chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus and Dr Raymond Dokpesi, over the inclusion of their names on the list. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) expressed concern over the alleged silence on the federal governments much-awaited third and comprehensive batch of the list of suspected looters in Nigeria as promised recently. The government had reportedly promised that a more comprehensive list of alleged looters under the government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be expected. FG releases list of looters, Nigerians blow hot - on NAIJ.com Street Gist: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Ekiti governorship polls: PDP warns against rigging; says there would be dire consequences - The PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus, has warned against rigging at the forthcoming Ekiti governorship election - He said if such occurs, there would be crisis; and stated that the election would be a litmus test - Secondus cautioned security agencies and INEC, not be deceived into rigging elections Prince Uche Secondus, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that if the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Ekiti state is rigged, there will be crisis, Daily Trust reports. He made the statement at the flag-off of the partys local government election campaign in Port-Harcourt, Rivers state. READ ALSO: Killings: There are not enough soldiers to guard every village in MBelt - FG NAIJ.com gathers that Secondus made reference to the Kaduna local government elections, and said the Ekiti poll will be a litmus test. In his words: "The forthcoming Ekiti state election is going to be a litmus test. We saw all that happened in Kaduna last Saturday. PDP won in all local government areas, but they over-turned the results. "If you attempt to rig in Ekiti State, there will be crisis. Our security agencies and INEC should not be deceived into rigging elections. Secondus added that with the help of Nigerians, the opposition party is united to reclaim power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari challenged the south-west caucus of the APC to bring back Ekiti into the fold of progressive states. The president gave the charge during a dinner meeting with the caucus on Wednesday, May 16 in Abuja. He said that the people could achieve the target by ensuring electoral victory for the APC gubernatorial candidate, Kayode Fayemi, in the July 14 governorship election in the state. Governor Fayose warns Nigerian youths ahead of 2019, tells them what to do - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Killings: There are not enough soldiers to guard every village in the Middle Belt - FG reveals The federal government has stated that there is not enough military manpower available to be deployed to secure every village in the Middle Belt in order to stop incessant killings in the region, occasioned by the clashes between herdsmen and farmers. The government made the disclosure on Thursday, May 17, at a town hall meeting in Abuja on the farmers and herders clashes, which was attended by the minister of defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, the minister of agriculture and rural development, Audu Ogbeh, and the minister of interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, Punch reports. READ ALSO: Prominent APC members in Jigawa decamp to SDP NAIJ.com gathers that the government further disclosed that the rampant killings were caused by the inflow of weapons into the country, via the trans-Saharan routes. The government, however, mandated that villages in Benue state be rebuilt by the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA); and charged the agency to ensure they are not far from one another. At the meeting, which was organized by the Ministry of Information and Culture, Ogben stated: I was with the vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, in Benue State on Tuesday (May 15), and the money announced is not only for Benue, which is apparently facing this crisis. The crisis in the IDP camps is very severe. Lots of women and children want to return home, but there are no homes. So, the idea is to rehabilitate the homes as quickly as possible to let them return home. Two, NEMA is redesigning the settlements in the villages to bring more communities together so that people dont live too far apart. Otherwise, we dont have enough security to guard every settlement. Unless you have units of 10 or 11 soldiers to guard each village, there is no way that the current security network can cover the needs of villagers who may be attacked in the afternoon or night. That was one of the things we studied on Tuesday. Three, we have to do everything we can to end these pastoral movements, slowly and in the large scale later. We have 415 reserves. Some have been encroached upon, while others are still there. We have to provide water and grass, and protect the herdsmen from cattle rustlers, who are also Fulani. The minister of interior and I are working on agro-rangers being trained by the military to guard these places so that there can be peace within those communities. We can also then do what has been done in Pakistan, Argentina, and even Namibia here, by using the cow dung to generate electricity. These things we have designed and we are raising funds to start them. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the convener of the meeting, also spoke. He said the clashes between farmers and herdsmen were connected with demographic, environmental, social and economic dynamics; and it will be a distortion to attribute the clashes to ethnic and religious reasons. He continued: In 1963, Nigerias population was 52 million. Today, it is about 200 million, yet the land space has remained the same. Against this background, the contest for land and other natural resources is bound to be keener, and the friction, more. There are various measures that have been taken by the federal government to stop these senseless killings and curtail the criminality that has fuelled the clashes. The Nigerian Air Force has deployed its Special Forces to the newly-established 23 Quick Response Wing in Nguroje, Taraba state. The NAF also has a 1,000-man Special Intervention Force deployed in Makurdi to degrade bandits and criminals in Benue and Nasarawa states. In the last two weeks, the Police Intelligence Response Team and the Police Special Forces, whose work cut across Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, arrested 11 suspects and recovered 10 AK-47 rifles and other firearms from them. These are just some of the arrests made by the security forces in recent days. On his part, Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defense, said President Muhammadu Buharis reference to the herdsmen being trained in Libya was in relation to the infiltration of weapons into the country through the trans-Saharan routes. He stated: There are no foreigners such as Chadians and Libyans coming into Nigeria. What we mean is that the crises in Libya motivated the coming in of arms and ammunition into the country through the trans-Saharan routes. This is the situation. To handle this, the federal government has set up a committee whereby a commission to tackle small arms is being looked into. Abdulrahman Dambazau, the minister of interior, Dambazau, said: As a result of the crises in Libya, quite a huge number of weapons have found themselves into the country. It is not just in Nigeria, but the whole of the sub-region of the Economic Community of West African States. We have organised, in conjunction with ECOWAS, a conference on the movement of people and services. The whole idea is to control the movement of weapons. There is also the concept of biometrics to screen those people who enter Nigeria. The conference was also attended by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and the Christian Association of Nigeria. The delegates noted that the establishment of ranches would guarantee lasting peace and security; and urged the government to do so. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app This development follows a previous report by NAIJ.com that President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, May 17, met behind closed doors with Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting, which was held inside the presidents office, centered on efforts being made by Army authorities to restore peace to troubled parts of the country. The president said his administrations commitment to peace and security of the country was total. Time to take up arms against herdsmen attacks? - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Confusion in Jigawa APC as prominent members defect to Third Force, just days after Buharis visit - Ahead of 2019, several top members of the APC in Jigawa state have defected to the SDP - They said their decision was a way of protesting against the way the partys wards and local government congresses in the state were conducted - The decampees were received by the new SDP chairman, who stated that APC would soon be history in the state Some prominent members of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Jigawa state chapter, on Thursday, May 17, announced that they had quit the ruling party for the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The decampees include the longest-serving federal lawmaker, Hon Bashir Adamu; former Jigawa speaker, Hon Abdu Dauda; members of the state and national assemblies; and some local government chairmen. READ ALSO: We have rendered Governor Okorocha politically irrelevant - APC stakeholders in Imo declare NAIJ.com gathers that Hon Abba Anas Adamu who emerged as the party chairman in the state, while speaking in behalf of the decampees, stated that their decision was a way of protesting against the way the partys wards and local government congresses in the state were conducted. He said they were full of irregularities. Abbas, a former member of the House of Representatives, also alleged that the APC leadership in the state had failed to carry everyone along. Hence, he stated: With this and other reasons, we have parked our belongings to SDP as an alternative to us ahead of 2019. Abbas stated that the just concluded ward and local government congresses had only favoured those loyal to the governor and the party; and called on all thinking and progressive Jigawa citizens to come together and salvage the state from imminent collapse. He further said that a lot of prominent politicians were not satisfied with Governor Badarus style of governance; and that they would soon join the SDP. He expressed optimism that the new party would take over the state in 2019. The decampees were received by the new SDP chairman, who stated: Members of the APC at both states and national level are willing to join us; very soon you will agree with my statement, time will tell, APC will be a history. When contacted, the governors special adviser on media and pyblicity, Bello M. Zaki, described the decampees as Buffalo soldiers who expected to be given juicy appointments and contracts when they joined the APC. He said the reason they gave for moving over to the SDP, was the same one they gave when they abandoned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling party. He added: Government has wished them well where ever they are going. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari received a rousing welcome from residents when he arrived Jigawa state for his scheduled two-day working visit. The president arrived the state on Monday, May 14, and was received by a large crowd of supporters who chanted his name. Can SDP end Nigeria's woes? - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | I mourn, not because I am Palestinian By Owei Lakemfa I AM in mourning, especially since the Monday, May 14, 2018 massacres when well trained soldiers and snippers deliberately picked out youths and children, and sent them to early graves. Ezz el-din Musa Mohamed Alsamaak was 14, Wisaal Fadl Ezzat Alsheikh Khalil, 15, Ahmed Adel Musa Alshaer and Saeed Mohamed Abu Alkheir were 16 years old when the Israelis murdered them. President Abbas of Palestine On that Monday alone, 59 youngsters, who like the Biblical David, were armed with nothing more lethal than a sling, were gunned down by the Goliaths of the Israeli Army. In almost all cases, the victims did not even have slings, they were armed only with their voices and their conviction that as Palestinians and human beings; just like you and I and the Israelis, they have a right to their homeland. On that day alone, aside those murdered, 2,771 were injured, including 12 journalists and 17 paramedics; two groups with their profession boldly emblazoned on their jackets. I have read some comments on the social media, blaming the victims for provoking Israel by protesting and I say, if the Palestinians had crossed into Israel to protest, it could be termed provocative, but they were on their own soil just as the Biblical Israelis under King Saul were on their own soil when the Philistines of Gath led by Goliath came to fight them. Today, the golden rule in the lands Jesus and the Disciples once trod, is not Love Thy Neigbour but Kill Thy Neigbour. I mourn, not because I am Palestinian, no, I am far from that theatre of madness; I am African living in Nigeria. I mourn because a dozen African countries were dining and wining in the new American Embassy in Jerusalem while their Israeli hosts were murdering dozens of defenceless Palestinians. Never mind that Nigeria is still trying to fish out the ghost that represented it. The logic of our presence in the nest of killers, baffle me; none of the African countries dining and clapping at the new American embassy voted in the United Nations for the United States in December 2017 when it decided to move its embassy to Jerusalem, the Holy City indigenous to Jews and Palestinians. Is it that we are not aware that until 1967, the world, including Israel knew and accepted the fact that East Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians? I mourn because I pity us Africans who might be unaware that the original Homeland designated for Israel by colonial Britain and which the World Jewish Congress accepted, was Uganda. In fact, Jewish delegations were already on ground when some of the European Jews who were to resettle in that beautiful part of our continent which Europeans called The Pearl of Africa pointed out that Uganda was landlocked and that the new Jewish nation, would be surrounded by black faces. If that plan had been fully executed, the state of Israel would have been in todays Uganda and those being massacred would not have been Palestinians, but Africans. Some may argue that the Nigerian state has no historical memory hence its attitude can be explained by its new romance with the Trump Presidency, but what do we say of an ancient civilisation like Ethiopia and its rich history of interaction with the Jews, Palestinians and Arabs? South Sudan can be excused as a confused young country where its leaders daily murder the people in the name of a criminally idiotic Civil War, but how do we explain the presence of Rwanda, a country that knows what massacres and genocide mean? As for Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda would be quite disappointed while Tanzania would make Mwalimu Julius Nyerere turn in his grave that his heirs would be clinking glasses and smiling sheepishly while Israel massacred Palestinians. The main redeeming feature for me as an African, is that South Africa, a country with memory and consciousness came out boldly on the side of justice. It stated unambiguously: The victims were taking part in a peaceful protest against the provocative inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem Given the indiscriminate and grave manner of the latest Israeli attack, the South African government has taken a decision to recall Ambassador Sisa Ngombane with immediate effect until further notice. South Africa, as a country that experienced the tragedy of Apartheid and the endless massacres of Africans by that regime, knows too well the iniquities of systems and movements like Nazism and Zionism which preach and practice racial superiority and cleansing. I mourn because as the Bible says in Hosea 4:6 My people perish for lack of knowledge. Many Africans sheepishly and ignorantly support and rationalise the crimes against humanity perpetuated by Israel because they have the false belief that it is a religious conflict. It might have appeared so if the Palestinians were only Muslims and were tied to a particular religion. But they are not; the Palestinians are Christians and Muslims, and highly secular. Israel is not even a Christian nation; its grassroots are Judaists, but most of its leadership right from its founding in 1948, are atheists! In his 1977 book, The Jews Chaim Bermant, one of the most famous and prolific Israeli writers made allusion to this fact. He wrote: Not all Jews believe in God, but most like to think that God believes in themthe Jews are, as Zangwill once said, the choosing people rather than the chosen people. Bermant narrated an historical story during the founding of Israel in May, 1948: The Declaration of Independence was before them (leaders of Israel) and the Rabbis demanded an affirmation of belief in God. Others protested that God had done too little to deserve such credit, and the term of Rock of Israel was suggested instead. And Rock of Israel it remained, for as Ben-Gurion (former Polish, David Green who headed the first Israeli government) said, everyone, right, left and centre, believed in the Rock of Israel in his own way. I mourn because the deaths were avoidable, especially when the lives of the Israelis including those of their soldiers, were not endangered. After seventy years of sustained bloodshed, the Palestine deserves peace despite the provocation of war mongers like President Donald Trump. All that is needed for peace to reign is to negotiate the Two-State Solution; the existence of the Israeli and Palestinian states within secured borders, and the return of East Jerusalem which was seized by Israel in 1967 to its indigenous Palestinian people. As a first step, Israel needs to withdraw from Palestinian territories like Gaza which it has put under lock preventing the people access to basic needs like food, medicine and fuel. I mourn, not because I am a Palestinian, I mourn because I am a human being. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Contempt: Court to hear preliminary objection by First Bank today By Innocent Anaba A Federal High Court, Lagos, will today, hear the preliminary objection by First Bank of Nigeria Plc, in the contempt proceedings brought against the bank and its Chairman, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, by Ejama community in Rivers State. court Trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba adjourned at the last hearing, following the absence of key counsel to the alleged contemnors in the matter. The comptempt proceedings against First Bank Plc, and its chairman, emanated from the refusal of First Bank to release the N17 billion it guaranteed to pay on behalf of Shell Petroleum Development Company, of Nigeria Limited, SPDC. In the substantive suit, 10 indigenes of Ejama Community in Ogoniland had sued Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, United Kingdom, and SPDC over alleged oil spills that occurred when Shell operated in the community, at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. Justice Buba had in his judgment in 2010, awarded N17 billion to the representatives of the Ogoni people. The court equally granted the Ogoni chiefs 25 per cent interest charge on the principal sum of about N17 billion. SPDC then appealed against the judgment and applied for a stay of execution of the judgment pending the appeal. As a condition for granting the stay of execution, the court required Shells bankers, First Bank Plc, to provide a guarantee of the judgment sum. This condition was complied with. But Shells appeal failed at the Court of Appeal on technical grounds, ostensibly because it filed its processes out of time and without regularising them. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Cross-border crimes pose problems to ECOWAS Buhari By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJAPRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday said cross-border crimes posed more challenges to the people and governments of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, sub-region. President Muhammadu Buhari President Buhari who stated this when he received letter of credence from the Ambassador of Guinea-Bissau, Mr. Henrique Andriano Da Silva at the State House Abuja, said his administration will continue to work with ECOWAS countries to ensure stability in the sub-region. According to him, ECOWAS is doing its best, and as you know, Nigeria is fully involved in the process of restoring stability in Guinea-Bissau. The President said the relationship between Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau had always been healthy, noting that as the country regains its stability there would be more room for improvement. President Buhari, who also received the Letter of Credence from the Ambassador of Thailand, Mr Wattana Kunwongse, said Nigeria and Thailand had a lot to share in the ongoing effort to diversify the economy, with focus on the agricultural sector. He said, Our relationship has been very long and very commendable. We appreciate the help we get in agriculture from Thailand and we will keep working together. In his remarks, the Ambassador of Guinea-Bissau said his country remained grateful for all the support it received from Nigeria during the prolonged political crisis. We are very grateful for your commitment to ensure peace in Guinea-Bissau and your soldiers have been in our country to ensure stability. Under your leadership and guidance, we believe the economy will recover and the entire country will be strengthened, he said. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Osun Govt. versus OAU: Untold story of tax brouhaha By Gbenga Olarinoye OSOGBOWHAT would have been a perfect denouement in the face-off between the Osun State Government and the authorities of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile Ife, over unremitted taxes by the institution, has set a stage for a fresh round of controversies. tax Recall that the institutions campus was sealed by officials of the Osun Internal Revenue Service, OIRS, because OAUs management failed to remit tax deductions running to over N1. billion from staff salaries. At the time the institution was sealed, OAU campus that was just returning to life, following resumption for a new academic session of freshmen, was immediately thrown into a panic, as its entrance, and later the Senate Building was sealed by officials of the state. Few days before the institution was to come under the hammer, the Special Adviser on Tax Matters to Osun State governor, Mr. Gbenga Akano, said the government had decided to prosecute in seven days, if organisations owing it unpaid taxes, failed to regularise their taxes. Before dragging the defaulters to court, Akano said several notices had been issued and meetings held to ensure that the matter does not result to litigation. His words: Several meetings have been held with affected organisations, but it has been a continuous imperviousness and indebtedness. We are left with no option than to openly mention some tax defaulters who failed to perform their civic responsibilities. We are serious about getting every kobo owed Osun state. The government is doing its best to meet the yawnings of the people. We need money to do more. We are not asking for extra. But what is legitimately due to us in taxes must be given to us. A week after the ultimatum, OIRS officials stormed the entrance of the university, sealed the institution, and prevented workers from accessing the Senate Building of the institution. VC denies tax default The OAU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, when contacted, on the day the institution was sealed, disclosed that the university had not defaulted in tax remittance, adding that the issue had to do with the backlog of 2015 and 2016, which the university had already negotiated with the state on how to settle. Ogunbodede said: It is true they sealed the place. The truth is that there was a backlog of 2015 and 2016 and we have agreed to pay N5m monthly. We paid N500million. But despite the assurance, the institution was under lock for about seven days, until the OIRS unsealed it and normal activities returned to the campus. This was after the institution had paid a sum of N25million in its outstanding tax liabilities to the government. While for now, Osun government and OAU are both staying in their corners in the ring, the tango between the two over the matter is far from being over. This is because the parties have not arrived at a uniform figure as tax liabilities owed by the institution. Allegations and counter allegations OAU management, in its reaction when the campus was sealed, claimed, it owed a sum of N287 million in unremitted taxes of workers. Deflating this claim, Osun state government, through the office of Special Adviser, Tax Matters, Mr. Akano, dismissed OAUs claim. Prior to the unsealing of the institution, Akano disclosed that several influential Nigerians, including Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, intervened in the matter. He also insisted the institution owed N1.8 billion outstanding unremitted withholding taxes. Akano said: Once again we are here to set the record straight and maintain our earlier position on tax issues involving Obafemi Awolowo University. The figure of N384m as being claimed by the authority of OAU as their outstanding tax liability for 2015 and 2016 is misleading. As of 4th May 2018. the amount of N287,815,947.07 has been their outstanding in respect of 2006-2014 contrary to OAU rejoinder of N384,000,000.00. The sum of 1.8bn claimed by the Osun state government s a painstaking audit of the books supplied by the institution themselves to our crack team of auditors, meanwhile relevant tax laws allows anybody or any institution to raise objections or appeal against an audit report within a limited time frame which the university failed to do so. With the different positions held by the two parties, for how long will the imbroglio continue? Time will tell. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Saraki vs IGP: Kwara reps, Lai Mohammed, youths in verbal exchange By Emman Ovuakporie & Demola Akinyemi ABUJAThe controversy arising from the arrest of some alleged cultists in Kwara State and warning of blackmail against Senate President, Bukola Saraki, deepened yesterday as the Kwara State caucus in the House of Representatives and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, joined the fray. The Kwara State Caucus in the House of Representatives in a statement yesterday cautioned the Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, to stop misleading Nigerians over the allegations raised on the floor of the Senate, just as Kwara State South All Progressives Congress, APC, Youth Caucus accused the Federal Government of intimidation through the arrests of some of their leaders. They specifically accused Lai Mohammed of having a role in the arrest of the youth leaders, including the chairman of the councillors forum in the state, Habeeb Abdulkadir. Saraki and Idris Mohammed in a swift reaction, denied any role in the arrest of the youths, saying whatever issues he had with the organisation of the recent ward and local government area congresses had been channelled to the appropriate authorities. The Kwara caucus in a statement issued and signed by the caucus spokesman, Razaq Atunwa, stated that the IGP should stop playing politics with the issue as raised by the Senate President. Atunwa explained: We have also reviewed the response from the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, where he tried to present it as a normal routine for police to move suspects arrested from a state command to the Police Headquarters in Abuja and further said the statement by the Senate President could obstruct investigation. As key stakeholders in Kwara State who are also familiar with the developments in our constituencies, it is necessary for us to let Nigerians know our view on the matter. It seems to us that the IGP is standing facts on the head. We hereby state the facts of the matter and we invite everyone to independently verify them. We are aware that the suspects listed by the IGP, all of whom are now in Abuja, were arrested on 5 May 2018 for the offences of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide. After the completion of investigations, the police addressed a press conference on 10 May 2018. During the press conference, the police emphasized the fact that it was ready to arraign the suspects in court. Any attempt by the Police to falsely incriminate the Senate President in order to settle scores will be reprehensible conduct which would be resisted by all legal and lawful means, Atunwa added. Meanwhile, the youths leader, Kwara South Senatorial District, Mr Tomiwa Kolawole, speaking at a press conference in Ilorin, said the youths in police custody and taken to Nigeria Police Force headquarters in Abuja for interrogation included the youths leader of the Irepodun Local Government Council of the state, Samson Bada, speaker of the local government who is also chairman, councillors forum in the state, Habeeb Abdulkadir, among others. He accused the minister of culpability in the arrest. Mohammed in a reaction articulated by his special assistant, Segun Adeyemi, said: The Minister vehemently rejects this accusation. He has nothing to do with the arrest of the youths in Kwara South, and believes contrary to the allegation by the stakeholders that the arrest has nothing to do with the Ward Congress in his hometown of Oro. After all, suspected cultists were also recently arrested and paraded by the police in Ilorin. The Minister wishes to state that the police, in the exercise of its constitutional responsibility, does not need to be goaded by anyone to carry out arrests where necessary. Concerning the outcome of the election in his Oro Ward 2, the Minister has made his observations on the conduct of the election known to the appropriate party authorities, in line with his strong belief in the rule of law. Suffice it to say, however, that the only credible Ward election was the one held by the genuine party members in Oro Ward 2. That explains why, after the election, there was a rally around Oro Town that eventually terminated in the country home of the Minister. He does not believe there is any linkage between the election and the arrests. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Amosun installs journalist as 20th Olota Obasanjo, Ooni, Alaafin, others hail monarch By Daud Olatunji EMINENT Nigerians including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and other dignitaries converged in Ogun State to witness the presentation of staff of office to the new Olota of Ota, Oba Abdukabir Adeyemi Obalanlege. Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State presenting the staff of office to the new Olota of Ota, Oba Abdukabir Adeyemi Obalanlege. Oba Obalanlege, a journalist and a teacher of mass Communication, emerged the 20th Olota of Ota following his selection by the kingmakers from the 22 contestants. Amidst glamour and glitz, the new Olota officially received the staff and instrument of office from Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State. The ceremony was held at the open field of Ansar-Ud-Deen Comprehensive College, Iganmode, Ota. Prior to the ceremony, the new Olota had made solidarity visits to the Ooni, Alaafin and the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo who all felt excited with his emergence and pledged support for his reign. On May 31, 2016, the state government announced the demise of Olota of Ota, in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government, Oba Moshood Alani Oyede, who reportedly passed on Thursday, May 26. On 16th November 2017, the Ogun state government gave December as a deadline for the selection process of Olota of Ota in Ado/Ota Local Government Area among bonafide candidates of Ijemo/Isolosi Ruling House. The monarch is a UK based Journalist and was a Senior Lecturer at the Crescent University, Abeokuta emerged the 20th Olota of Ota. Dr. Yemi Obalanlege, ywas born in Mushin, Lagos State on August 28, 1966. His parents were Prince Hassan Taiwo Obalanlege of Ijemo Compound and Mrs. Mutiat Afolake Obalanlege (Nee Anjorin) of Isoloshi Compound, Ota. He was elected by an open ballot system held at the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Secretariat by five kingmakers led by the Ekerin of Ota, High Chief Bamgboye Osunlabu. It was gathered that Oba polled five votes out of the possible five to emerge against Prince Gbolagade Akinboyede of Isoloshi ruling house, his brother, Barrister Abiodun Akinboyede and Barrister Oluwatoyin Adeyanju. The election was supervised by the Secretary to the Local Government, Mr. Adewale Dada with heavy security presence. Beware of sycophants, Obasanjo urges monarch Obasanjo in his remarks advised the monarch to beware of sycophants and not to engage in discrimination between indigenes and non-indigenes of Ota. He also charged him to use his experience to further the development of the town. While presenting the staff of office, Governor Amosun, told the monarch to regard his appointment as a call to serve. He also urged him to concentrate on the task of accelerating the pace of socio-economic development in Aworiland. Be sure to extend hands of love and fellowship to all those who contested the stool with you and deploy your vast managerial experience to effect speedy reconciliation amongst the people, Amosun said. My plans for OtaOba Obalanlege In his acceptance speech, the monarch promised to work to consolidate on the gains made by the past rulers of the town. Oba Obalanlege said: One of the main reasons I joined the Olota race is to liberate my people. Despite Ota being an industrial hub of Nigeria, youths in Ota are yet to benefit from it. Other people come from outside Ota and get the jobs in these industries. We do not quarrel with this. I have started taking steps by talking to the Chief Executive Officers of these companies on the need for them to employ Ota youths. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Ohanaeze youths warn IPOB against disrupting Igbo summit By Clifford Ndujihe, Anayo Okoii & Chimaobi Nwaiwu UMUAHIATHE newly inaugurated leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing, OYW, has called on the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, not to go ahead with their threat to disrupt the Igbo Summit being planned by the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, urging them to give peace and dialogue a chance. Nnia Nwodo, President-General of Ohanaeze Ohanaeze youths warned that they would not succumb to the intimidation and threat by members of IPOB. Rising from its maiden meeting held Monday, in Owerri, Imo State, OYW reminded IPOB that though all of them are pursuing the same good cause for Ndigbo, we are still bound by the extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, Ohanaeze youths said that still being part of Nigeria, we are ever willing to partake in any political or constitutional reform that would advance the cause of our people and strengthen the viability of the federating units. The communique which was signed by the deputy national president of OYW, Dr. Kingsley Dozie and 11 other leaders said, we join hands with other patriotic and well meaning Nigerians/zones who subscribe to restructuring because it is sincerely for our common good as a nation. According to them, in as much as we condemn the unjust killings of our people and the proscription of IPOB, we will not succumb to the intimidation and threats of truncating the Igbo Summit holding in Awka on 21st of May 2018, which undermines our fundamental human rights of speech, association and assembly. We advise our brothers in IPOB to embrace peace, dialogue and constructive reasoning as the best medium for achieving our common goals and objectives. The group therefore assured all those invited for the summit not to fear, saying it would be hitch free. Ohanaeze officials planning May 21st summit arebetrayersIPOB But in a reaction, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday alleged that the planners of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Summit on May 21st in Awka, Anambra State are betrayers of the Biafra struggle and corrupt people with long history of treachery and sabotage in their blood, whose parents and grandparents collaborated with the British conquerors in the 19th century to swindle Nigerians. IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, said: Anybody seen delivering a speech at the Awka summit will be deemed to have collaborated in the death of hundreds of IPOB members as a result of Operation Python Dance activities and will be marked enemy of Biafrans. Before the British colonized Nigeria, they first conquered the country and the fathers of the modern collaborators were made servants and warrant chiefs in the homes of British colonial masters to serve their interest against our people. Careful observation reveals that the few corrupt people organizing the Federal Government sponsored Ohanaeze Ndigbo Summit are those whose parents and grandparents collaborated with the British conquerors when they came into our land in the late 19th century to swindle us. The fathers of these modern collaborators were made servants in the homes of British colonial masters and warrant chiefs to serve white mans interest and enslave our people, contrary to the traditions and culture that sustained our civilization for over 5,000 years and these same group of inbred agents of the oppressor are at work in Ohanaeze Ndigbo today. When Arochukwu fell, the forebearers of these modern day collaborators benefited and hurriedly attached themselves to white missionaries in order to help complete the subjugation of their own people. They became agents and informants for Nwa-DC or District Commissioner and in return, were made clerks or Kotuma to the colonial courts. Therefore, only those born into these families with long history of treachery and sabotage in their blood will attend the Aso Rock sponsored Ohanaeze summit in Awka on Monday and they will pay a terrible price for it in the weeks and months ahead. We shall compile the names of all keynote speakers at the event to add to the register of all those that have over the years been betraying our people, especially the individuals that packaged and executed Operation Python Dance. Lagos Ohanaeze backs Igbo summit Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo has thrown its weight behind the Chief John Nnia Nwodo-led National Executive Committee, NEC, on restructuring and the May 21 Igbo Summit. On May 21, Ndigbo, a host of Southern Nigeria and Middle-Belt leaders will assemble at Dr Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka for the Igbo Summit on restructuring. Rising from the state executive committee meeting, the President of Ohanaeze Lagos State, Chief Solomon Ogbonna said there is no better solution to Nigerias problems than restructuring. His words: It is only in a restructured Nigeria that everyone will have a true sense of belonging as that will bring to an end the unitary constitution that was forced down on us by the military. We in Lagos are strongly behind the national executive council of Ohanaeze Ndigbo s stand on restructuring. It is only restructuring that can address most of the social and economic vices confronting Nigeria. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Of Hisbah, state Police and the trouble with supermen in power By Kabiru Muhammad Gwangwazo On an email based platform of some very eminent Arewa elite, a post on some atrocity generated comments, top of which said, it was horribly evil !. Contributing, one of the members announced he had passed the report and film clip to the Kano Hisbah Board for necessary action. Though he was quick to add, it wasnt because the evil was perpetrated in Kano, because he had doubts that such evil would be perpetrated in my beloved state of Kano. He is from Zaria, even if he first went to university in the very late 70s in Kano before returning to complete his university education and graduate back in Zaria, his home town. It was pleasing to hear such good thoughts of Kano. Malam Mouftah Baba-Ahmed, the Bazazzagi under reference above, had more kind words for the Kano innovation of Hisbah. The Hisbah, generally referred to as the Muslim religious police, is more than a Police service. It is more a community based platform whose core mandate is morals managemant and alternative dispute resolution. Because of its integral relationship with the beliefs and value systems of the Muslim community of Kano it commands more authority and respect than both the Police and conventional courts, including Sharia courts. As an institution it has been around for less than two decades, effectively only since the Shekarau Government of Kano in 2003. Our kindly Zazzau person commenting on the Hisbah wrote: The Kano Hisbah seems to be fairly competent in community policing*** His passionate epistle went on thus: ***[This is NOT a vote for state police, at all. In fact, I am totally against state police, under our current circumstances]. And that was my cue. To key in, I wrote back on the same mailing list, arguing vehemently against such a tyrannical force that a state police is, was and will sure be on these shores. Troubling as is the conduct of our Federal Police, the Nigeria Police (Force), it is still a lot more universally acceptable than the crude state governors vigilantes a state police force would be. My Comments: State police will be evil, no doubt. It was so, in the First Republic. Even in Kano where, at a time Ado Bayero (who was to ascend the throne of Emir of Kano and die a most reverred monarch in 2014 after more than 50 years as Sarkin Kano) was Chief of NA (Native Authority) Police (Wakilin Doka). Late Ado Bayero as Wakilin Doka of Kano NA was believed to be a NEPU (opposition Talakawa-based political party) sympathizer. On the Kano Hisbah that Malam Mouftah wrote, the model is truly working and accepted by the community. It complements the Emirate traditional institution community/Islamic dispute resolution mechanism we have in place. Even while we run a federal police, our emperor state governors are known to use the Police against perceived opponents, especially in states that are on the same page with the Federal Government or where elements of the Federal security establishment are so disposed. These past three weeks we have seen how the Police establishment is exhibiting the utmost contempt for the National Assembly. What is going on needs to be looked at beyond the faces of those occupying any institutional post. We should have a system that recognises procedure. The Executive Arm of Government which has direct control of the security agencies shouldnt allow the face of a person at the head of an institution of state to dictate how that institution is related to. Such dealings undermine not only the particular institution but the whole of the system. Isnt it reasonable for us to ponder what could happen if tomorrow, the same Police IG or the Attorney-General ends up in the Senate? In fact, the Senate today is populated by many who may have misused their status in previous posts, sustaining a tradition of impunity they may have met. Such misguided misuse of transient power reaffirms the foolishness of our elite, who have thus far failed to establish strong institutions. We are left to rely on strong men in government. We are left with our perpetual search for a Superman, the Superman Dream that dumped Obasanjo as President on us, an Obasanjo who is a consummate Machiavellian politician. The same Superman Dream gave us General Buhari as elected President, who is today effectively cornered by smart power choreographers, making a mannequin of our Superman, a Superman whose integrity is not in doubt. Yet ironically a Superman with obvious age, health and political capacity issues, a Superman who is still pushing those who are not happy with him to look for another Superman rather than a SuperSystem. What we need is a Superb System, a Super System, a strengthened set of institutions that can withstand any individual tyrant. Yes, our men of power, and women where we have them in power are all tyrants, and no more. For some of us so used to our GMB Superman, warts and all, he is still our choice for now. Yet, we feel shortchanged and are indeed shortchanged by him and his (current crop of) close associates who deride the efforts of politicians and other elites deliberately cut off from the power loop. They deride and make light of the efforts such politicians and elites made to get him to power the 14 years, since he started gunning for the Presidency in 2002. Such a pattern of ill-advised behaviour is what has now brought APC, the Presidents party to the verge of ruin despite the very many laudable initiatives he has started in these three troubled years as President. Now, with elections literally, ominously, around the corner again we are running helter-skelter for another Superman to soon make a Supervillain of again, should he upstage our General and get to power. All the while our Superman, GMB is also seeking Supermen in states and regions to help him back to power. He has tamely, sensibly returned to Asiwaju Tinubu, the rejected stone for the three years of the GMB APC Presidency to corral Yoruba votes. I wonder if he (GMB) recognizes that Asiwaju is but a product and chief manager of the Yoruba Political Machine. Asiwaju is but a key part an institution that works to deliver in the best interest of Yoruba land. As I rounded off my comments reproduced here laced with a few expansions, I apologise to the email group for my veering off the main issue Mouftah raised. I mused that the prompt seemed such an opportuned peg for a wake-up call to all of us, before it is too late, especially those of us of Arewa, the North of Nigeria. Even if 2019 is too late for the Change we rooted for in 2003, 2007, 2011 & 2015, we need to work towards perfecting a set of workable processes to support our institutions, to make for predictable proactive Change of the kind that recognizes institutions, systems, superb systems, not assumed superb men and/or Supermen. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | NUPENG expresses concerns over non-passage of remaining parts of PIB The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) is worried about the delay in the passage of the remaining parts of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, and called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage. NASS NUPENG in a statement by its President, Comrade Williams Akporeha, contended that the delay in passing the three other components of the bill, namely; the fiscal framework, host communities issues and the Petroleum Industry Administration bill gives cause for concern. The nation has lost billions of naira in foreign investment which should have come into the oil and gas industry but for the uncertainties and prolonged delay in the passage of the bill into law. NUPENG believes that the passage of the PIB will go a long way to ensure transparency and honesty in the oil and gas industry. It is our opinion that the passage of the remaining three components will restore investors confidence and generate employment opportunities (direct and indirect employment) and reduce the tension in the Niger Delta. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Dont link me or Saraki with suspected cultists Gov Ahmed By Demola Akinyemi IlorinGOVERNOR Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has described as false and misleading, insinuations linking him and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, with the suspected cultists arrested in Ilorin, the state capital. Gov-Abdulfatah-Ahmed The suspects have already been transferred by the Police to Abuja. Governor Ahmed in a statement, yesterday, by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, insisted that neither him nor the Senate President or any of their aides had any link with the suspected cultists or their alleged activities. His words: There is no link between the case in question with me and even the state government, the same with the Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki.The case was very clear from the onset. So, no one should link us. We should be very careful not to turn our dear country to a banana republic by just looking for anything to politicise. For us, and indeed any sane society, cultism is a very serious security challenge that no one should politicise. The statement referred the general public to the parade of the suspects by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aminu Pai Saleh, on May 10, 2018 in Ilorin, during which he announced that the suspects were arrested for alleged murder and membership of cult groups but made no mention of any confessional statement linking their activities with any sponsors. Governor Ahmed described the alleged killings as the outcome of clashes between rival cults in the state as most victims had been identified by security agencies as members of cult groups. According to him, the state government sees cultism as a serious security issue requiring urgent attention and has accordingly amended the State Cultism Law to prescribe stiffer penalties for convicts and those who aid and abet them, besides providing operational support to all security agencies in the state in their fight against all forms of criminalities, including cultism. He urged well-meaning Nigerians to disregard any attempt to politicise the menace of cultism but focus, instead on joining hands with the government and security agencies to bring the menace to an end in the interest of public safety while allowing the rule of law and justice to prevail in the matter. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Maritime insecurity: Navy acquires 179 high speed boats By Joseph Erunke ABUJATHE Nigerian Navy, yesterday, said it had acquired 179 high speed boats in the last one year to tackle insecurity in the Nigerian maritime environment. File Photo: Nigerian Navy Six of the boats, which are ocean fast patrol brands, recently acquired from France, are billed to be launched in Nigerian waters after formal commissioning that is expected soon. The Navy, which briefed the media in Abuja, through Chief of Naval Transformation, Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Begroy Ibe-Enwo, also disclosed that a total of 42 vessels were arrested in connection with oil theft and other unwholesome practices in the Nigerian maritime domain. The briefing, he explained, was to acquaint the public with the focus of the Nigerian Navy and its activities, especially those programmed to mark the 62nd anniversary celebration of the Nigerian Navy expected to take place between May 23 and June 1. Rear Admiral Ibe-Enwo said: The Nigerian Navy recently acquired six OCEA Fast Patrol Boats from France, which will be commissioned soon. It is my great pleasure to inform you that concomitantly, the Nigerian Navy also acquired a total of 173 assorted boats, including Epenal Boats, Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats, and Hydrographic Survey Boats in the last one year. These boats have gone a long way in bolstering Nigerian Navy capacity to police and carry out survey of Nigerias maritime environment. On the arrested vessels, he said: Available records show that in the last one year, the NN has sustained aggressive patrol within the nations maritime environment covering over 22,000 hours. In the process, at least 42 vessels have been arrested for involvement in various illegalities in Nigerias maritime domain and undergoing various stages of investigations and prosecutions. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Saraki Vs IGP: Kwara judiciary steps in, wants suspects returned to Ilorin IlorinThe Chief registrar of the Kwara State Judiciary yesterday asked the police to bring back some criminal suspects that were transferred to Abuja on Wednesday. Saraki and Idris Police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said the suspects were transferred to Abuja for further investigation in the allegations of murder and criminal conspiracy slammed against them. But Senate President Bukola Saraki, who is from Kwara State, said the move was part of a grand plot by Inspector General Ibrahim Idris to frame him. Saraki drew the attention of the nation to the alleged plot at the senate plenary on Wednesday. He subsequently proceeded to the State House with nine either other senators to report Idris to President Muhammadu Buhari. Investigation into the roles of the suspects has been completed and they were about to be under prosecution under the state law on the advice of DPP (Department of Public Prosecution) and the (state) ministry of justice, Saraki said Wednesday. All of a sudden, he added, the suspects were ordered to be transferred to Abuja Wednesday morning. The police denied trying to frame Saraki in a statement Wednesday night, warning the lawmaker to desist from interfering in an ongoing criminal probe. Kwara governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, also claimed the police was seeking ways of incriminating the state government, and denied any links to the arrested cultists and thugs. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Billionaire Femi Otedola denies declaring intention to run for Lagos Governorship election in 2019 Nigerian Billionaire, Femi Otedola, has countered claims that he declared his intention to run for the Governor of Lagos State in the 2019 elections.This is coming after a parody account claimed that the billionaire businessman declared his interest in the election, with his Lagos deserves better tweet. The Parody accounts post reads; However in new tweets, Femi Otedola who noted that he is a man of the people and will always be on the side of the masses, countered claims of contesting in the 2019 Lagos State Governorship polls. His tweets reads; My attention has been drawn to a news piece where false information from a parody account was posted. I am a man of the people and I will always be on the side of the masses but I am stating clearly via this medium that I am not running for office. The Governor of Lagos State is doing a commendable job and Lagosians should be proud of him. Fake accounts in my name have to have the word parody in their bio/profile to exist. @verified has recently paused verifications so, until I get the blue tick, please always ensure to read the bio/profile section of accounts that appear to be mine. DON'T MISS: Download Edujandon.com Android app and earn unlimited free Airtime! CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | How APC rival factions in Cross Rivers turned congress bloody, shot 11, stalled poll - There was a shoot out by rival factions of the APC during a congress in Cross River on Wednesday, May 17 - The gun-fire engagement between both groups precisely in Ugep, headquarters of Yakurr region of the state led to about eleven persons been injured - Due to the ensuing mayhem in the area the polls was stalled The recently rescheduled local government congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River went bloody when a woman returning from farm and ten others were reportedly shot in Ugep, headquarters of Yakurr region of the state on Wednesday, May 17. It all began when alleged rival factions loyal to Usani Usani, the minister of Niger Delta Affairs and Clement Ebri, the former governor of the state respectively, both from the area, engaged each other in a gorygun battle, Vanguard reports. READ ALSO: NDLEA seizes 4000kgs of tramadol at Lagos airport Reporting the incident to newsmen, a source who wished to remain unnamed said: The two sides were arguing over the delegates list. This degenerated into a confrontation and subsequently a gun battle. Many people were shot and a woman who was returning from farm was hit by a stray bullet. The source further said that the congress was stalled as people including some security officials took to their heels while those shot were hurried to the Ugep General Hospital. Meanwhile, in Abi area of the state, one Egbona was alleged to have escaped with the election materials leading to the opposing faction conducting a parallel congress and subsequently two executives emerged in the area, one led by Ekpe Elele and the other by Oche Ernest. Chief Ernest Irek, a stalwart of APC in Obubra said: There was a misapplication of the delegates list because some people wanted to play games by injecting some names and this led to disagreement. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! What we have agreed upon now is that like it was done in local governments in the northern part of the state, we are going to rely on the list with the police and INEC for those elected during the ward congresses last week. Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that the special congress of the APC in Cross River state to elect a chairman had continued to generate controversy as one of the candidates Matthew Achigbe had described the exercise as a sham. NAIJ.com that Achigbe, who made this known in Calabar on Monday, February 26, rejected the outcome of the Congress, which saw Godwin Etim John, emerge winner with 56 votes. APC is the worst party in Nigeria, I regret being a member - On NAIJ.com. TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Malaysian police seize 284 boxes of designer bags from former PM's property - The property of the former Malaysian prime minister has been raided - The raid was carried out by the police in Kuala Lumpur - Police said that 284 boxes containing designer bags have been removed from the property The Malaysian police have seized boxes of luxury items and handbag full of foreign currencies from building linked to the country's former prime minister, Najib Razak. BBC reports that the items were seized after a raid on Najib's property in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city following investigations into the corruption claims on misappropriation of state funds. It was gathered that billions of dollar were unaccounted for from state development fund, IMDB set up by Razak who was alleged to have diverted $700 million for his personal use. READ ALSO: Check out burial photos of late actress Aisha Abimbola aka Omoge Campus, she was buried in Toronto Also, the raid on Razak's property has been going on for days as items are seen to be carried out of his buildings by the police. The Malaysian police raided the property of the former prime minister. Photo credit: BBC The head of police commercial crime investigation unit, Amar Singh, told journalists that 284 boxes containing designer bags have been removed from the property. Singh said: "Our personnel checked these bags and discovered various currencies including Malaysian Ringgit, US dollars, watches and jewellery in 72 bags. READ ALSO: Saraki vs IGP: Judiciary tells Police to return suspects to Kwara "Exactly how much jewellery, I would not be able to say, because we know that we confiscated bags containing jewellery and the amount of jewellery is rather big," Singh said. 284 designer bags were recovered from the raid. Photo credit: BBC NAIJ.com earlier reported that a gang of heavily armed robbers blew up an armoured vehicle carrying cash in Johannesburg, South Africa. The robbery incident was said to have taken place in broad daylight. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! A cellphone footage of the incident revealed how the robbers sealed off a block in the suburb of Boksburg area of Johannesburgs commercial centre before calmly detonating explosives under the cash vans. The action by the gang caused load explosions followed by series of gunfire coming from unknown location. The EFCC stage a walk against corruption - on NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | ADP governorship candidate Adewale blows hot, cautions Fayose against treating Ekiti people like destitute - The governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party, Otunba Segun Adewale, has alleged that Governor Ayodele Fayose, is treating the people of the state like destitute - Adewale, who condemned the governor, said that owing workers and pensioners arrears of benefits is an act of wickedness - He said the state does not need a government that will treat people like they are destitute by giving them handouts and Christmas clothes Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state has been condemned by the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Otunba Segun Adewale, for allegedly treating the people of the state like destitute. Adewale, while on a campaign tour to Omuo-Ekiti in Ekiti East local government, said it was wicked for Fayose to be owing workers and pensioners arrears of benefits while he (Fayose) and his aides collect their allowances up to date., Vanguard reports. NAIJ.com notes that the governorship candidate promised to invest in human capital development by training 15,000 youths every year in skills acquisition and vocations and give them soft loans to establish their businesses. READ ALSO: Trump asked me twice the difference between HIV and HPV - Bill Gates He also promised to tackle electricity, noting that some communities in the state have been in total darkness for four years without any effort by the government to solve the problem. Adewale said: Ekiti does not need a government that will treat people like they are destitute by giving them handouts and Christmas clothes but a government that will help the people achieve their God given potentials by giving them the opportunity." Describing himself as the best man to fix Ekiti state and bring it out of the economic doldrums, Adewale stressed that what the state needs is the urgent intervention of a visionary leader in so many areas. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ekiti on Wednesday, April 4, said that 218,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were yet to be collected in the state. The commission said this just as it formally issued a Notice of Election, which stated that the governorship election would hold in the state on July 14. It said that this was in line with the provisions of the 1999 constitution and the electoral law. Stop mistreating Ekiti people, Adewale tells Fayose - on NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Why northern governors will sack teachers after winning 2019 election - El Rufai - Governor El Rufai says northern state governors are hesitant to sack incompetent teachers for the fear of losing the next governorship election scheduled for 2019 - He says lot of educational reforms will be implemented in northern states after 2019 election - Kaduna state government justifies sack of 22,000 teachers Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna state has said many northern governors will implement educational reform to sack incompetent teachers after the 2019 elections. The Punch reports that the governor made the statement when speaking as a guest lecturer at the 4th distinguished guest lecture of the University of Medical Science, Ondo state. READ ALSO: Saraki vs IGP: Return suspects to Kwara - Judiciary to Police He said northern state governors were hesitant to sack incompetent teachers for fear of losing the next governorship election scheduled for 2019. He said: We have different governors fora in the country. We also have the Northern Governors Forum where we share experiences. I can tell you that many of my colleagues from the northern states told me that what I was doing was right. They told me that they had more serious cases in their states, but they couldnt do anything about the problems. So I think after the next election, you will see a lot of the reforms happening because many of the governors will decide to do the same thing. It is just that they are not as reckless as I am. We took a collective decision because it was the right thing to do. If you dont do this, why not walk away from the governors seat? What is more important to me is education. Many of my colleagues have talked to me in private that they would do the same thing (sack teachers) after the election. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app NAIJ.com had reported that the Kaduna state government dismissed claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it disengaged more than 36,000 workers without commensurate employment for others. Alhaji Saidu Adamu, counsellor on information and communication to Governor Nasiru El-Rufai dismissed the claim in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, January 12, in Kaduna. According to him, the claims of the PDP was baseless as the state government has embarked on massive employment ever seen in the history of the state since independence. NAN reports that the PDP on Wednesday, January 10, in a statement accused the state government of insensitivity over the sack of about 22,000 teachers, 4,000 local government employees, 3000 state workers and traditional rulers. What is working well and what needs improvement in Nigeria? - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | President Buhari express confidence in Nigerian Armys commitment to end killings President Muhammadu Buhari has once again expressed his administrations commitment to end every act of killing in the country. Muhammadu Buhari The globallly recognized first President in Africa who earned the sobriquet from the United States President, Donald Trump re-affirmed his commitment to the safety of lives and properties in Nigeria after receiving briefing from the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General TY Buratai at the state house Thursday evening. President Buhari who commended the efforts of the Chief of Army Staff in aligning with his vision on security, took to his official Facebook page to express his position of the efforts of the Nigerian Army. The Chief of Army Staff on his part said that the Nigerian Army will continue to collaborate with other security agencies to carry out all the directives of the Commander -in- Chief to achieve strategic objectives of the Nigerian government. So, that is essentially why we had to deploy a battalion of soldiers to Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State in line with the Armys guidelines. On the war against terrorism, the Chief of Army Staff hinted that the Nigerian Army has activated the last onslaught against Boko Haram. The Nigerian Army is progressing very well and Nigerians should be rest assured that our Operation Last Halt will further consolidate on the achievements so far made and we hope the Internally Displaced Persons in that area will go back to their communities and pick up their lives again, he also added. I received a briefing from the Chief of Army Staff this afternoon. The Army recently established a new battalion in Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State, in addition to other deployments in troubled parts of the country. As Ive assured again and again, our commitment to the peace and security of Nigeria is total. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | MAKOKO MURDER: Residents recount ordeal one week after By Monsuru Olowoopejo LAGOSWALKING through the Acts of the Apostle Church auditorium barely four days after the religious center was chartered, Ms. Orowole Iwalokun, gazed at the wreckage facilities within the premises and could not imagine she would not be able to attend Sunday services again with his brother and cousin. Orowole As usual, Iwalokun was already nursing the hope that her brother, Kolawole, would foot her fathers medical bill after sustaining severe injury recently. But that would not happen as the policemen attached to Lagos State Taskforce on Land grabbing, allegedly, killed him and their cousin, Seyi Akintimehin, last Thursday, April 10, while trying to pull down the community church building and 15 other structures. It was learned that the 40-year-old was raised in Ori-Oke Community in Makoko axis, Lagos State with his cousin and brother but their death in the community where they were born is forcing Orowole and others relatives to seek public assistance on justice Vanguard gathered that though residents, during the exercise, claimed the land accommodating the structures was under litigation, the law enforcement officers and government officials violated the existing order, demolishing some sections of the structures within the premises and set their appliances and a tricycle ablaze. While narrating the last moment with her brother, Orowole, who still wept profusely, lamented that she was waiting for him to send money for their fathers medical bill before news of his death filtered in. Hear her: My late brother lives in Ajah axis. I called him on that fateful day that my father sustained a fatal injury and couldnt engage in his normal activities. And how do we raise money to ensure his upkeep? And in his usual style, he assured me that he will visit and provide the money needed. While waiting for him, I never knew he had arrived when I heard gunshot within the premises and everyone started running. I cannot say this was how we took my father away from the house because the law enforcement officers were shooting indiscriminately. A few minutes later, I was informed that my brother had sustained gunshot wound on his hand and later, the person came back to inform me that my brother couldnt survive the injury. I was informed that immediately the policemen started shooting sporadically, he and other residents ran for safety but during the process, he sustained gunshot wound and later died.If the father gets wind of his death, we dont know what will happen. That is why we have not told him. The father asked why Kolawole has not come to visit him. All we could tell him was that he travelled. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Denuclearise or risk overthrow, Trump tells N/Koreas Kim U.S. President, Donald Trump, has told North Koreas Kim Jong-Un to abandon nuclear weapons and be rewarded with protections or risk being overthrown and possible death if the arsenal remains. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump The U.S. leader laid out the stark choice for North Koreas leader ahead of their planned summit in Singapore on June 12, according to media reports. Trump maintained that the scheduled June 12 meeting in Singapore was on track, in spite of the Norths threat on Wednesday to cancel over concerns about the U.S. push to see the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea had argued it needed its nuclear weapons to preserve its security, and had expressed concerns about giving up on its nuclear weapon. The country cited the example of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who had given up his nuclear programme in the 2000s but died at the hands of rebel forces amid a popular uprising in October 2011. National Security Adviser, John Bolton explicitly cited, the Libya model of 2003 to 2004 as a basis for the North Korea talks in May, which drew personal rebuke from the North Korean government on Wednesday. Trump, while trying to address the North Korean concerns, said if Kim were to agree to denuclearise, hell get protections that would be very strong. Trump, however, warned that failure to make a deal could have grave consequences for Kim. On the Libya model, Trump said: That model would take place if we dont make a deal. The Libyan model isnt the model we have at all. In Libya, we decimated that country. There was no deal to keep Gaddafi, Trump added. The U.S. leader said he was willing to do a lot to provide security guarantees to Kim, adding that the best thing he could do is make a deal. Trump also suggested China was influencing North Koreas thinking regarding the summit, pointing to Kims visit to China immediately before U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang last week to finalise the summit date and location. Trump, however, said nothing had changed with respect to North Korea after the warning from Pyongyang. He said North Korean officials were discussing logistical details about the meeting with the U.S. as if nothing happened. In addition to threatening to pull out of the meeting with Trump, North Korea abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with South Korean officials over joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise. Pentagon Spokeswoman, Dana White, said the schedule of military exercises had not changed. White added that the annual exercises were long-planned, defensive in nature and meant to ensure the readiness of U.S. and South Korean forces. Exercise Max Thunder, which began on Monday and concludes on May 25, includes aircraft from across the U.S. military services. The 2017 exercise included roughly 1,200 U.S. personnel and about 640 South Koreans, and the 2018 drill is similar. Speaking at an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, Trump also said he would not discuss U.S. troop levels in South Korea during his meeting with Kim. North Korea had said it would not return to talks with South Korea due to the exercises. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Man kidnaps ex-employers wife over death of child By Onozure Dania LagosA Lagos State prosecution witness, Inspector Gbenga Faguiro, in the ongoing trial of five suspected kidnappers, yesterday, told an Igbosere High Court, sitting in Lagos how one of the defendants kidnapped his boss wife, Mrs Glory Emole, and demanded $ 70,000 as ransom. The defendants, facing a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery and kidnapping preferred against them by Lagos State, are Chukwunonso Victor, Ifeanyi Maduako, Obinna Nwanko and Chidiebere Nwoye. Kidnap-syndicate Inspector Gbenga Faguiro informed the court that the first defendant, Chukwunonso Victor, was an employee of the victims husband before he was sacked over misconduct. Inspector Gbenga Faguiro said during investigation, the first defendant told him that the victims husband was his boss before he was sacked for fighting in the office. He said: The first defendant said he travelled to China and spent four years there and on his return, he met a lady with whom they were friends before he travelled and they got married, and then she gave birth but after some time, the baby died. So the first defendant got angry and said it was his boss that killed his child because he had warned him not to get married to her. The first defendant called the other defendants and one Azeez, who is at large, were caught with offensive weapons with which they kidnapped the victim. He said that the victim on November 19 ,2012, at about 8:30 am, was about leaving her house at 7, Unity Street, Ogudu GRA, Lagos, when she gave key to her security guard to open the gate and as she was about getting into the car, six gunmen accosted her and immediately held her hostage. The witness, who was testifying before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, said the Mallam started shouting Allah, Allah, dont kill me. The witness said the victim was eventually driven to an isolated place at Ikorodu. When they got to Ikorodu, the hotel they wanted to use was an abandoned hotel, they brought her out hooded, put her inside the booth and drove off. When they got inside, they asked her to call her husband and they started demanding a ransom of $300,000. Faguiro, who was led in evidence by the Lagos State Prosecutor, Dr Babajide Martins, said the victims brother eventually paid $70,000 to one of the suspects, who is at large, at Ojodu Berger area of Lagos. He said: Chukwunonso and the other defendants, after collecting the money, also took one of the victims phones from her bag. They also used her Automated Teller Machine, ATM, card to withdraw money from her account. While this was going on, her husband, Chika Emole, reported the case at Ogudu Police Station, where the case was transferred to Special Investigation Bureau, SIB, Ikeja. When the woman came to give statement, she said the defendants were still with one of her phones. The SIB then collected the phone number and tracked it. That was how the first defendant, Chukwunonso, was arrested, which led to the arrest of the other defendants. Justice Lawal-Akapo adjourned the case till today for cross examination. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | NDLEA intercepts 4,000kgs of tramadol at Lagos airport By Lawani Mikairu The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday, seized about 4000 kilogrammes of tramadol that was recently banned by the Federal Government at the Muritala Muhammed Airport , Lagos. NDLEA operative The seized tramadol was displayed before newsmen by the NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Garba Ahmadu, who said that the interception was made through intelligence information received by the agency. He said the banned drug was imported into the country through Etihad cargo and intercepted at the cargo shed of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company, SAHCOL, adding that for about one month, no cargo agent showed up to claim the consignments, prompting the agency to take possession of the items. The NDLEA boss also said the tramadol consists of capsules and tablets of 225 and 125 milligrams respectively far above the 50-100 milligrams of dosage approved by the government.. According to him, the interception goes to show that tramadol consumption is becoming a serious problem in the country. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Save us from land grabbers, residents urge Ambode, Lagos CP By Bose Adelaja Residents of Mowonla in Ikorodu area of Lagos State have appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and the State Commissioner of Police Edgal Imohimi, to rescue them from the hand of some suspected land grabbers, who have been terrorizing the town since 2013. Akinwunmi Ambode The residents claimed the suspected land grabbers struck in 2013 leaving scores of people, including women and children, injured. The land grabers also allegedly demolished several structures while two Policemen were declared missing. The aftermath of the violence left the community deserted for few years until the youths of the community took the bull by the horn by brokering peace. Vanguard had reported in 2013 the invasion of some suspected land grabbers which resulted into people deserting the community as some of the landlords sold their properties while those who could not, ran for their dear lives. According to the report, an octogenarian Madam Suwebat Manmeke was brutalized when she stumbled into the group of suspected land grabbers as she was trying to sneak her way out of the community. For the sake of peace, the Nigeria Police situated a Police post in the community, yet, this could not end oppression of the land grabbers. Vanguard gathered that despite the Police presence, the suspected land grabbers have illegally possessed the land thereby imposing various levies on prospective buyers. However, some youths of the community who were in exile, recently came together on the pronouncement of Lagos State Government Land Grabbing Law, seeking for government intervention on their situation by bringing succour to them. A resident Mr Godwin Anozie said the suspected land grabbers have been threatening people through telephone calls. Anozie lamented: My sister, many of us can no longer sleep with our eyes closed because the suspected land grabbers have been threatening people with phone calls and they may strike any moment from now. Another resident, Mr Odumade Razak said the land grabbers have imposed various levies on innocent residents. He said, they impose levy such as N100,000 for foundation levy, N100,000 for roofing levy, N100,000 for abandoned project and N100,000 for lintel levy, to mention but a few. Vanguard findings revealed that before the 2013 mayhem, the suspected land grabbers capitalized on the disunity amongst the elders of the land, to forcefully terrorise residents, chased them out of the community and illegally took possession of the land and have been in control of the land since then. Sequel to the Land Grabbing Law of the state government, the youths who realized their parents mistakes, came together to broker peace. The Olootu of Mowonla, Chief Olatunji Ogundimu lamented that land grabbers have taken over our community since 2013 but we dont want to take the law into our hands again. The government should help us. As at the time of this report, residents are still living in the fear of being victimized or terrorized further. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Fayemi faces Fayoses man: The battle of the eggheads Dr. Kayode Fayemi who last Saturday emerged as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the July 14 governorship candidate was quick to make profuse apologies to the people of the state over perceived errors committed during his first term. Dr. Fayemis apology was in the wake of perceptions that he could be on a vengeance mission if he wins the election and becomes governor. The outgoing governor of the state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose is, however, taking joy in the emergence of Fayemi as the candidate of the APC affirming that Fayemi is a known commodity for him. Even though Fayose is not a candidate in the election, his name, image and person is going to reign supreme in the forthcoming election. Prof. Kolapo Eleka who days earlier emerged as the candidate of Fayoses Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was the anointed candidate of the governor. It is thus not surprising that the election is being seen as a duel between the outgoing governor, Fayose, and his predecessor. Fayose has boasted that it is going to be a repeat of the 16-0 slap he handed on Fayemi in 2014. However, only few would forget that Fayemi was during that election under some restraints including the weight of the military and police that were reportedly deployed to the advantage of Fayose. Now those circumstances have changed. Kayode Fayemi- Kolapo Olusola Eleka: STRENGTH Fayose Olusola major strength lies in Fayose, and it is noteworthy that his loyalty to his principal, earned him the ticket. Fayose has been single-minded about his support for his deputy, and this has made him lose many of his political allies who were not happy about his decision. Diligence Apart from age being on the side of Olusola, he is known to be very diligent, hardworking and principled. As an epitome of humility, he radiates love and affection towards people around him. Loyalty Again, his unflinching loyalty to his boss, the Executive Governor of Ekiti State is notable and has made both the young and old people of Ekiti adjudge him as Stabilizing Factor, which has also earned him the anointed status as the next governor. Record in Governance Olusola is also coming into the contest with the alluring credential of having successfully coordinated the states significant jump in the educational sector. His impact was visible as the state moved from 34th position under the preceding regime to 11th position in the WASC examinations in 2016. The state also came 1st in the National Examination Council, NECO examination for secondary schools in 2017. Under his supervision, the state also came top in the JETS (Junior Engineers, Technologists, and Scientists) Interstate Quiz Competition in 2017. The state also was first in the STAN (Science Teachers Association of Nigeria) organized Science written and quiz competitions WEAKNESSES Divided Party Eleka is entering the election with his party divided following the assertions from some that Fayose imposed him. Prince Dayo Adeyeye despite his assertions of a free and fair primary conducted by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has been unforgiving of the governor. Political neophyte Olusola is seen by many in the state as a political liability, a neophyte, and greenhorn whose administration as governor of the state would be remotely controlled from the Afao-Ekiti country home of Fayose. Political watchers and analysts told Vanguard that his learning period of states craft would be too long that by the time hes learning to have a grasp, his tenure would have expired. Elitist He is also seen as too much of an elitist. An example of this was how he relocated his aged father from Ikere-Ekiti to Government House, over complains of people coming to seek help from his old man. Mr. Aradite It is no surprise that he has been tagged as Mr. Aradite, to wit, that he is not a cheerful giver who does not believe in the stomach infrastructure philosophy of his present principal and political mentor, Fayose. He is also said to be uncomfortable with crowds and without capacity to mobilise crowds like Fayose. Civil servants salary arrears Eleka is also going to be dragged back by arrears of salaries of civil servants in the state as he is going to be seen in the image of the governor. Fayemi: STRENGTH Big War Chest Fayemi is believed to command enormous war chest and goodwill, which he could bring to bear on his ambition at will. When it comes to his convictions, he does not relent, and he is known for being frontal in any attack. A typical Ekiti man, he is stubborn and rugged and bold. Fighter A resilient fighter who never gives up, from 2007 to 2010, he consistently engaged Segun Oni in a battle of attrition, which eventually led to his installation as the governor of Ekiti State. Perhaps, this explains why Governor Ayo Fayose has been consistently coming on him with series of stumbling blocks to stop him from contesting for the governorship seat of the state. He saw him as a major threat. Record In Governance While in the saddle as governor, Fayemi to his credit made some achievements many of which were novel to the state. Aside from completing projects he inherited from Oni, he initiated so many other programmes and projects which made the state to be a model in open governance. Bottom to top approach budgeting was introduced, whereby he would tour all the 133 communities in Ekiti to ask for their needs, and he ensured that those felt needs were included in the budget. Youths were engaged in so many programmes like the Youth Volunteers, Ekiti Traffic Management, Youth in Agriculture to mention a few. Also 25,000 elderly were enrolled in social security scheme, where they were being paid N5,000 each. Development Programmes There is also the compulsory five kilometres of tarred roads in each of the 16 Local government areas of the state. Development partners flooded the state, offering assistance in many areas of need. He built legacy structures like the new government house In Oke Ayaba, Civic Centre, pavilion and remodeling of Ikogosi which became a pride of place and the state signature in Tourism. Industries, like Ire burn bricks, roar back to life. WEAKNESSES Divided House Dr. Fayemi is coming into this election with a divided house as was manifested during the botched primary penultimate weekend. Senator Babafemi Ojodu so much believed that Fayemi had compromised the primary process that he withdrew few days to the primary. Bad Record with Civil Servants One of the problems that keep digging Fayemi is his relationship with the workforce in the state, some have even gone to the extent of saying that his second coming might be mainly for vengeance, which hes been denied repeatedly. Teachers have not forgotten the Needs Assessment Test he wanted to force down their throats. Civil servants would also remember his introduction of examination as condition for promotion, which according to some of the workers in the state was meant to favour some of his own. Over Zealous Aides Political watchers also pointed to his inability to rein in his overzealous lieutenants, who were given a free hand to operate with reckless abandon. They said Fayemi has a way of delegating politicking to his lieutenants which may not serve his best interest. Elite Politics People are also concerned that he plays elitist politics and rarely speaks the language people want to hear. But whether he has changed will determine how far he can go in dislodging the incumbent who is bent on making his deputy his successor. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | JKF Centre wants CAC to sanction Olusola for lying By Rotimi Ojomoyela The JKF Centre, a leadership training and development platform based in Ado-Ekiti, has asked the Christ Apostolic Church to sanction the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola for lying and association with what it described as a rogue regime. Kolapo Olusola The centre said it took exception to Olusolas demand that Fayemi make restitution over alleged misconduct while in office between 2010 and 2014. It also lampooned Olusola for alleging in an interview programme on Channels Television that Fayemi owed three months arrears of workers salaries at the time he left office in October 2014. In a statement on Thursday signed by its director, Mr. Biodun Omoleye, the centre said the people of the state were shocked that Olusola, it described as a pastor in CAC could resort to lies when he knew that Fayemi only owed workers one month at the time he left office. Olusola had made the demand in a statement issued by his campaign outfit, Kolapo Olusola Campaign Organisation (KOCO) on Monday. Omoleye said Fayemi could not pay September, 2014 salary because Governor Ayo Fayose blocked the pre-arranged bank facility to pay the workers by issuing threats to the bank to stop the facility. Omoleye urged the authorities of CAC to sanction Olusola for allegedly telling lies recklessly and shamelessly which is not expected of somebody who is a member of the clergy. He said Olusola resorted to deceiving unsuspecting members of the public and the global television audience because the administration in which he is serving. Omoleye said: This shameless accusation and lies from the supposed man of God, a pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) is not a surprise considering the character that nurtured him as a politician. We can understand the moral pedigree of a supposed man of God in an administration battling with accusations of serial murders, salary padding, contract scams, over-invoicing over which several permanent secretaries that refused to cooperate had been sacked. We can only pity a man of God dining with a rogue administration that secretly took N56 billion loans to pay salary and for development projects but criminally diverted all to cronies companies for personal benefit but still shamelessly insisted that it didnt borrow one kobo. Omoleye, said it is an insult and affront on the good people of Ekiti State for Olusola, who is the number two in a cloudy and fraudulent administration that has left the state in ruins and states work-force devastated over 10 months unpaid salaries, including N56b debts overhang, to accuse Fayemi of misconduct in government for which he must make restitution. He added: The CAC ought to punish Eleka for his brazen and shameless lie on an international television station that Fayemi owed three months salary when the fact available to all Nigerians is that Fayemi did not pay just September salary because Fayose blocked the pre-arranged bank facility to pay workers by issuing threats to the bank to stop the facility. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has asked its members to carry on with the strike despite a court order directing health workers to resume work within 24 hours. On Thursday, the National Industrial Court in Abuja ordered the health workers who have been on strike since April 17 to suspend the industrial action and resume work within 24 hours. Babatunde Adejumo, the judge who gave the order, did so following an ex-parte motion filed by Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International, a non governmental organisation (NGO). The court had also ordered the health workers and the federal government to arrive at an acceptable and amicable solution in the interest of Nigerians. But the union denied knowledge of the ruling in a statement issued Friday by Biobelemoye Josiah its national chairman. The statement read: It has come to the notice that some propagandists are circulating this false information in order to mislead members. Part of the health workers demands are improved facilities, upward adjustment of CONHESS salary scale, and employment of additional health professionals. Others are implementation of court judgments, upward review of retirement age from 60 to 65 years, and harmonisation of salaries of all healthcare workers in the country. Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, says many teachers will be sacked across northern states after the 2019 elections. According to PUNCH, el-Rufai said this while speaking at the 4th distinguished guest lecture of the University of Medical Science, Ondo state. Earlier in the year, the governor embarked on reforms in the educational sector which led to over 21,000 teacher being displaced. El-Rufai said after he took the action, many of his colleagues in the north told him that what he did was right. He said they did not summon the courage to do the same before the election. We have different governors fora in the country. We also have the Northern Governors Forum, where we share experiences. I can tell you that many of my colleagues from the northern states told me that what I was doing was right, he said. They told me that they had more serious cases in their states, but they couldnt do anything about the problems. So I think after the next election, you will see a lot of the reforms happening because many of the governors will decide to do the same thing. It is just that they are not as reckless as I am. We took a collective decision because it was the right thing to do. If you dont do this, why not walk away from the governors seat? What is more important to me is education. Many of my colleagues have talked to me in private that they would do the same thing (sack teachers) after the election. El-Rufai said he knew his administration was making the right decision when they started receiving support from top Nigerians. I am very grateful to Mr President. He came out clearly and supported what we did in Kaduna. No professor of education supported us, he said. We had to ask ourselves questions repeatedly, if we were doing the right thing or not. But the moment we started receiving support from top Nigerians, we were convinced that we were on the right track. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, two-time minister of finance, has revealed why she did not resign from Goodluck Jonathans administration, despite calls for her to resign. Speaking about her recent book Fighting Corruption is Dangerous at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Okonjo-Iweala said resigning was the easiest way out, and she was not willing to take that route. Advising young professionals on how to work in a system like Nigeria, the former World Bank managing director, said courage, focus, family support, and the skill to deliver for the people kept her going. I knew elsewhere in the system things were not going right, I had to focus; Nigeria is a large country, we are talking of the federal level, we havent even spoken of the decentralised level, she said. You choose the things, and you know what you are doing, and you are resilient and focused in doing them. Holding your head high, and knowing in spite of everything being said, you know you have not done anything wrong. I often joke with people, if you want to know how much I have, you can go to the Bank-Fund Credit Union and the World Bank, that is where you will see all my transactions. There is nothing to hide. Above all, I had the support of family and friends, and my family was just fantastic. Addressing issues around the call for resignation, the 63-year-old said it was a dilemma for her, seeing she could not solve all the problems, but she knew she would do all the good she can. I also understood that I could not solve everything, and it was that dilemma that was difficult to deal with sometimes and many Nigerians will say to me, why didnt you leave and resign? That was the easiest solution. I could have just gotten up and walked away, I resigned the first time. When I saw there was such intense desire for me to leave and resign, I decided that I must be doing something. You know when people kidnap your mother so you can resign, they told me to go announce my resignation on TV. When they want to disable you so you would no longer be able to work and leave the country. When everyday everyone is asking you why you havent resigned, yes, I decided that there must be something Okonjo-Iweala is doing, so that is why I stayed. On how much impact she had on the nation in her second coming, Okonjo-Iweala said: for those who want to know if you totalled up the amount [saved], if you want to quantify it, it actually could amount to about $9 billion. That is no small change. THERE IS A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET IN FUNDING ELECTION She added that it was not enough to fight the symptoms of corruption, while the root causes fester on. As Nigerias longest-serving finance minister, she said the country has to deal with political corruption, which rides on the back of election campaigns. People are happy to see the symptoms being taken care of, punitive measure, you know it makes big headlines when people are hauled off to jail and the media blasts the story, which is good, there ought to be consequences and punitive actions but its not enough. If you dont fix some of the root causes, the next set of people will come in, and with those opportunities, they might do the same thing. The type of democracy weve adopted is costly, you have to campaign, you have to have money to campaign and it is a dirty little secret nobody talks about, how do you finance this campaigns? Part of the monies for the treasury are diverted to finance political campaigns. Is this right? The answer is no. The minister who institutionalised Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for the elimination of ghost workers in Nigeria, said no one gets excited about institutional ways of fighting corruption, but this must be done. She called on the west, especially the UK and the US to stop taking cuts on looted funds kept in their countries, asking that they return such loot to the countries they were stolen from without a charge or with very little charge. President Donald Trump of the US has told Kim Jong-Un, leader of North Korea, to abandon nuclear weapons and be rewarded with protections or risk being overthrown if the arsenal remains. According to reports, Trump laid out the choice for Kim ahead of their planned summit in Singapore, on June 12. Trump maintained that the scheduled meeting in Singapore was on track, in spite of North Koreas threat to cancel it, over concerns about the US push to see the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. North Korea had argued that it needed its nuclear weapons to preserve its security, and also expressed concerns about giving up on its nuclear weapon. It cited the example of Muammar Gaddafi, former Libyan president, who had given up his nuclear programme in the 2000s but died at the hands of rebel forces amid a popular uprising in October 2011. John Bolton, national security adviser, cited, the Libya model of 2003 to 2004 as a basis for North Korea talks in May, which drew personal rebuke from the North Korean government on Wednesday. Trump, while addressing the North Korean concerns , said if Kim agree to denuclearise, he will get protections that would be very strong. However, he warned that failure to make a deal could have grave consequences for Kim. On Libya model, Trump said: That model would take place if we dont make a deal. The Libyan model isnt the model we have at all. In Libya, we decimated that country. There was no deal to keep Gaddafi, he said. He suggested China was influencing North Koreas thinking regarding the summit, pointing to Kims visit to China immediately before Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, visited Pyongyang to finalise the summit date and location. However, he said nothing has changed with respect to North Korea after the warning from Pyongyang. He added that North Korean officials were discussing logistical details about the meeting with the US as if nothing happened. In addition to threatening to pull out of the meeting with Trump, North Korea abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with South Korean officials over joint US-South Korean military exercise. Dana White, pentagon spokeswoman, said the schedule of military exercises had not changed. White said the annual exercises were long-planned, defensive in nature and meant to ensure the readiness of US and South Korean forces. Exercise Max Thunder, which began on Monday and ends on May 25, includes aircraft from across the US military services. The 2017 exercise included roughly 1,200 US personnel and about 640 South Koreans, and the 2018 drill is similar. Trump, speaking at an Oval Office meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said he would not discuss US troop levels in South Korea during his meeting with Kim. North Korea had said it would not return to talks with South Korea due to the exercises. The senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Senator Shehu Sani has listed fifteen challenges that endanger Nigerias democracy. In a post on his Facebook page, he stated that the nations democracy was not only being threatened, but could be truncated if government does not genuinely tackle those challenges. The Kaduna Central lawmaker listed the challenges as follows: Mass killings in the North Central and North West of Nigeria. Increasing spate of Insurgents guerrilla attacks in the North East; the abductions and the plight of the abducted. Violations of freedom of speech and increasing intolerance to contrary political views, peaceful dissent and peaceful protest. Onslaught against the parliament and parliamentarians perceived as opposition. Religious bigotry and rise of ethnic nationalism. Disobedience to Court orders and resistance to rule of law on the altar of political exigencies. Unaddressed perception of nepotism and favoritism. Timidity of the major opposition party and disorderliness of the ruling party. Public perception of credibility and moral problems of members of the parliament over corruption issues and patented as self serving. Public perception of a Tyrannical and autocratic President contemptuous of democratic values, surrounded by a vicious cabal. Arbitrariness and increasing lawlessness of security agencies. Docile and pliant civil society. A deodorant and Insecticide style anti-corruption crusade. Compromised and subservient states assemblies and emperor Governors operating above the laws. A dubious national objection to Hate speech that shields people in Position of power and targets ordinary Nigerians. The prominence of the rabid political and economic interest and ambitions of the political elites over the peace and unity of the country. Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission, on Thursday, confirmed the results for 18 chairmanship seats out of the 23 Local Governments in the just concluded May 12 local councils polls. The chairman of the Commission, Dr. Saratu Dikko who confirmed the results in Kaduna, said the All Progressives Congress (APC) won 14 local government chairmanship seats, while the PDP won four seats. Dikko said the commission would hold elections in the remaining five local government areas on June 2, 2018. According to her, the APC won in Birnin-Gwari, Giwa, Igabi, Ikara, Kaduna North, Sabon-Gari, Kagarko, Kubau, Kudan, Lere, Makarfi, Sanga, Soba and Zaria, while the PDP won in Jemaa, Kachia, Kauru and Zango-Kataf. According to her, Kaura, Jaba and Kajuru local governments would hold fresh elections on June 2. This concludes the confirmation of the result, she said, adding that the outstanding elections in four wards in Chikun and two wards in Kaduna South local governments would also hold on the same day. She said Certificates of Return would be issued to the winners on Saturday, May 19, 2018. Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of connivance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the July 14 governorship election in the State by using students of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) as INEC ad-hoc staff for the election, instead of youth corps members. The governor, who made this known while addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti, on Friday, described President Muhammadu Buharis comment that the Ekiti 2014 governorship election was characterized by hanky panky, as unfortunate, saying he was not surprised because the President was no longer in touch with realities and also not in charge of his own government. He said that the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE, Prof Kayode Soremekun, was a card-carrying member of the APC and a close ally of the partys candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, accusing him of rigging elections for the APC in the past. Governor Fayose said the idea behind this plot is to recruit APC members from neighbouring States, arm them with FUOYE students Identity Cards and use them as INEC Presiding and Returning Officers to perfect the planned rigging of the election. This will fail. The statement reads; Recall that the President said categorically that Ekiti State must be taken by the APC at all cost. Instead of his empty boast that his party must capture the State by whatever means, the President should rather tell Ekiti people what he has done for them in the last three and half years. Today, we are beginning to receive signals to the effect that clandestine moves are being made to subvert the will of Ekiti people. With the failure of their Ondo Option, other evil means are now being devised. Despite that we have over 9,000 Youth Corps members in Ekiti State and it has been the general practice to engage the NYSC members in elections across the country, the APC in collusion with INEC has asked that students of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) be recruited as INEC ad-hoc staff for the election, instead of youth corps members. We are in possession of an Internal Memorandum from the office of the Dean of Students Affairs, FUOYE seeking registration of students of the University as INEC Presiding and Returning Officers for the Election. As I speak, over 2,000 supposed FUOYE students have been registered; with a curious condition that they should provide Bank Account details of their close relations, apparently to avoid tracing any payment into their own accounts. The question is; with over 9,000 Youth Corps members in Ekiti State, what is the need for FUOYE students in an election that is holding in less than 2,200 polling units? Our counsel is that parents, guardians and families of FUOYE students should prevail on their wards to shun this Greek gift and avoid being used by desperate politicians. INEC, too, must come clean on this. The electoral umpire must tell the public the rationale behind the plot to jettison Youth Corps members for supposed FUOYE students. On President Buharis reported comment that the Ekiti 2014 governorship election was characterized by hanky panky, I am not surprised at all because he is no longer in touch with realities. The president is not even in charge of his own government. Therefore, I am not surprised that such a statement came from the president. That was the same President who said Nigerian youths are lazy and that Nigerians living abroad are criminals. He can also afford to indict his own country by saying that agencies of the federal government were involved in electoral fraud, even when the United States Government commended them. The president runs to the United States of America at all times and believe in the US government even more than himself. This same US government said clearly that the election was free, fair and transparent. However, let me tell the President and his men that they will be disgraced here in Ekiti because the power of the people is greater than the power of those in power. We hereby call on all men of good conscience to stand up and be counted in the fight against dictatorship, election rigging and the plot to subvert democracy in Nigeria. 2019 general elections is close by and Ekiti as well as Osun elections are prelude to what to expect in 2019. The international community must prevail on INEC and the Buhari administration to allow free, fair and credible election in Ekiti State. Home | News | General | Garba Shehu reveals what Buhari discussed with US secretary of state - President Buhari received a phone call from the US secretary of state on Thursday, May 17 - During the call, the president said he is happy with the Nigeria, US relations President Muhammadu Buhari, who recently met with US president, Donald Trump, has on Thursday, May 17, expressed satisfaction with the level of relationship between Nigeria and the United states. According to President's Buhari's senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the president made this known while receiving a telephone call from Michael Pompeo, the US secretary of state, The Sun reports. Shehu said: Buhari recalled his past meeting with Mr Pompeo, then as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and thanked him for the enormous support the US had extended to the Nigerian security and intelligence services. READ ALSO: Why I didn't resign from Jonathan's government despite threats - Okonjo-Iweala The president requested the Secretary of State to extend his appreciation to President Donald Trump for the warm reception he was given during his recent visit to the White House. Secretary Pompeo assured President Buhari that with him in the Department of State, relations between both countries would get even better. He reiterated the desire of the U.S to continue to pursue, side by side with Nigeria, matters of common interest on the African continent, including the fight against terrorism and corruption, trade and development. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app NAIJ.com earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari was assured by the United States president, Donald Trump, that his country will soon release fighter jets worth $496 million to Nigeria to aid the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. The US president gave the assurance on Monday, April 30 at a conference with President Buhari after their meeting in the White House. Street GIST: Buhari Says his 2nd Term Bid is People-Centered; Do You Agree? | Naij.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Trouble for Boko Haram as army develops counter IED capacity - The first set of 22 personnel from Operation Lafiya Dole were trained by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Component - The training program organised by the British Liaison and Support Team in Maiduguri - The program came following Boko Haram terrorists resorting to attack soft and vulnerable targets The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Component of Operation Lafiya Dole has concluded training for the first set of 22 personnel in an explosive detection and disposal training program organised by the British Liaison and Support Team in Maiduguri. A statement by Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, the deputy director public relations, Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, said the capacity development program came in the heels of Boko Haram terrorists resort to attacking soft and vulnerable targets in north eastern Nigeria. In response to the terrorists IED attacks, the British Liaison and Support Team in partnership with the Theatre Command organized instructional and practical training packages to shore up troops' Counter IED capacity in theatre of operation. The British team also made a donation of Explosive Ordnance Disposal kits to each of the trainees. READ ALSO: Nigerian troops overrun Boko Haram hideout again, 2 killed as IEDs are recovered In a symbolic presentation of one of the kits to the Theatre Commander Operation Lafiya Dole, the Commander of the British team Lt Col Alex Micheal said the training program was United Kingdom's support to Nigeria in the fight against terrorism and insurgency in the North East theatre. The Theatre Commander, Major General Rogers Nicholas expressed appreciation for the support and partnership, assuring that the EOD troops will now be better able to function efficiently. About 22 personnel of Operation Lafiya Dole took part in an explosive detection and disposal training program. Photo credit: Facebook, Nigerian Army The British team made a donation of Explosive Ordnance Disposal kits to each of the trainees. Photo credit: Facebook, Nigerian Army NAIJ.com previously reported that troops of 28 Brigade on Operation Lafiya Dole on Wednesday, April 11, while on clearance patrol in conjunction with hunters and vigilantes in Borno state had an encounter with some Boko Haram terrorists. According to a statement sent to NAIJ.com by the director army public relations, Brigadier-General Texas Chukwu, three members of the Boko Haram terrorists were neutralised during the exchange of fire. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app The troops also rescued 33 family members of Boko Haram terrorists comprising 15 women, 6 boys and 12 girls. However, their houses and property were also destroyed. Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram on NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Do not miss National Open University requirements! The National Open University of Nigeria is provided to be one of the best educational institutions in the country. This institution offers accessible, flexible, functional and cost-effective education to Nigerians. What are the primary requirements for the admission here? The National Open University of Nigeria This university has already provided admission application and registration form for 2018. Its necessary to notify all persons, candidates, friends, relatives, parents, guardians who are interested in the admission process of the university. If you are interested in studying there, then you must read the following information. READ ALSO: Factors affecting curriculum implementation in Nigeria If you dont know the full list of National Open University courses, then keep reading. All prospective candidates should be aware of the sales of forms for the National Open University Academic Session. Available programmes at the University of Nigeria Its almost impossible to get in one post the full list of available programmes for the National Open University, however the official website for the university may provide you with the following information: Undergraduate and Postgraduate available courses in 2018/2019 The full list of Accredited Programmes and Courses for the National Open University Your only chance of getting admitted to the National Open University of Nigeria is through the purchasing of the application and registration form.The sale date is announced by the school board. The same board provides the price for the courses. The full details of the available programmes for this institution will be provided on the official website. If you want to be admitted to the institution you will need to check the following steps: Notes about getting National Open University Admission Do not forget that the whole registration process is to be done exclusively online. There is no need of visiting the school or study centers. The NOUN Portal (National Open University Nigeria), may provide you the whole information about getting admission to the university. Please, take the whole admission course through the official website. Its open seven days a week and 24 hours a day. What should you do before filling the papers? Before getting to the application form, you are required to pay a registration fee, visit one of the following banks to pay your registration fee: Skye Bank Zenith Bank Ecobank First City Monument Bank. Steps to getting the National Open University Admission 1. Pay a fee According to the National Open University requirements, you ought to pay the following fees for admission: Doctors Programme N10,000 Postgraduate Programmes N7,500 Undergraduate Programmes N5,000 2. NOUN Teller When you pay, you need to make sure that your customer support is made specifically for NOUN Teller. Its required for NOUN registration. 3. Application PIN When you have gotten through the payment procedure, you will need to collect PIN Code. It equals the paid amount from your bank. 4. Main Registration When you have done the above-mentioned steps, you need to follow to the official website of the National Open University of Nigeria www.noun.edu.ng. You will click on the title Application Form. 5. Application of the webpage When the application from the official webpage gets to your computer, you will need to proceed using the application code. It will access your personalized account for the NOUN online application. 6. Fill the registration form Its a pretty easy task. You just need to look through the questions given in the application form. According to these questions, you will need to provide the personalized information about yourself. Do not forget that you need to fill in your information correctly. 7. Upon the successful registration When you have successfully registered for the application, take a note of how easy you can navigate through the process application. You can also edit your data whenever its necessary. Just do it before you apply. 8. Check everything When you have completed the registration form, you will need to double check it. Do not forget that you cant edit anything when you have submitted your file. When everything good, you just need to select the submit button. Its displayed on your screen. 9. Proceed and print When you have done the above-mentioned steps, you may print your provisional admission letter. The National Open University is one of the best educational institutions in Nigeria. You will never regret studying there. READ ALSO: Work and live in Canada from Nigeria: 10 important facts [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Breaking: Nigerian troops overrun Boko Haram hideout again, 2 killed as IEDs are recovered (photos) Troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole, in a joint-counter insurgency operation with Cameroonian Defence Forces and the Civilian Joint Task Force, on Thursday, May 18, over-ran a Boko Haram hideout in Bukar Maryam and Abaganaram villages of Borno state. The villages, according to the Nigerian Army, are in the northern hinterlands of Borno state. A statement by Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, the deputy director of public relations of the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole, said the gallant troops overpowered the insurgents, killing two of them and capturing 11 men after a fierce fire fight, during an operation to clear the surrounding villages of fleeing Boko Haram terrorists. READ ALSO: We have rendered Governor Okorocha politically irrelevant - APC stakeholders in Imo declare Some of the items recovered. Credit: Nigerian Army The troops recovered two multi-purpose rocket grenade launcher (police tear gas gun), one rocket propelled gun charger, two AK 47 rifle magazines with 20 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and one magazine vest. Other logistics, including three motorcycles, one power generating set, a tool box, a pair of camouflage, one military-type belt and one Boko Haram flag were also captured from the routed insurgents by the troops, the statement read. A soldier recovering an IED planted by the Boko Haram terrorists. Credit : Nigerian Army In another operation, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) of the Operation Lafiya Dole are said to have successfully uncovered three Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) planted by Boko Haram terrorists in Doro Naira village to wreak havoc on the community. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app The vigilant troops made the discovery during a counter-IED operation sweeping the general area of IEDs. The IEDs have been safely detonated by the EOD team, the statement said. NAIJ.com earlier reported that nn Monday, May 14, the Air Task Force commenced the conduct of Operation Thunder Strike. It was gathered that the operation is an independent air interdiction by the NAF to attack selected Boko Haram terrorists locations in the northeast, which are currently inaccessible to own troops on account of the onset of the rainy season. According to a statement sent to NAIJ.com by the NAF spokesman, Air Vice Marshal Olatokumbo Adesanya, several targets have already been successfully acquired with encouraging results. Lagos Police Commissioner parades suspected criminals (Nigeria News) | NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West has finally broken his silence after his bail application was granted by the court. Recall that the embattled lawmaker was on Wednesday granted bail by a Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja. The Kogi State Chief Judge, Justice Nasiru Ajana admitted Dino to bail with the sum of N10m with one surety. The bail was granted on health grounds. Speaking for the first time after his bail, Dino took to his Instagram page, stating that arrest and harassment by the police started four years ago . The Kogi lawmaker, however, reiterated that he is unshaken and cannot be destroyed. The Police illegal arrest and harassment did not start now. This was four years ago. Where Court awarded 10 million Naira damage to me that police is yet to pay. Fear not him that can destroy or damage the body, fear only Him that can destroy both the body and the Spirit. My Spirit and resolve is unshakeable, Dino said. Home | News | General | Abebe, Obasanjos father-in-law buried amid tributes - Former president Olusegun Obasanjo's father-in-law, Dr Christopher Abebe, has been buried in his hometown, Iruekpen - The late Abebe, who was the father of a former first lady, Mrs Stella Obasanjo died on March 22 at the age of 99 - Present at the ceremony were Obasanjo, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo and his Oyo state counterpart, Abiola Ajimobi The father-in-law of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr Christopher Abebe, was on Friday, May 18, buried in his hometown, Iruekpen, in Esan west local government area of Edo. The late Abebe, who died on March 22 at the age of 99, was the father of a former first lady, Mrs Stella Obasanjo. The late Abebe served as the pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing councils of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Calabar, and University of Benin. He joined the United African Company Nigeria Limited as a young clerk and rose to become the first Nigerian Chairman and Managing Director of the company. Abebe on his retirement became the first Nigerian chairman of the Nigerian Breweries. The deceased was also a Papal Knight of the St. Gregorys and Supreme Knight of St. Mulumba. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that tears flowed on Friday as his body was interred at about 3:30 pm in a mausoleum where his late father, Chief Abebe Ogbekhiulu, who died on October 26, 1956, was buried in his compound. Earlier, family and friends had gathered at the Stella Maris Catholic Church where a funeral Mass was held in his honour and presided over by the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria and Archbishop of Benin, Most Rev. Augustine Akubeze. Present at the ceremony were Obasanjo, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo and his Oyo state counterpart, Abiola Ajimobi, who was accompanied by his wife, Florence. Others included the senator representing Edo central, Clifford Ordia; the member representing Esan north-east/Esan south-east in the House of Representatives, Sergius Ogun; former Edo governor, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor; and a former chairman of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Dr Felix Ohiwerei. In his tribute, the eldest son of the deceased and president of St. Gregorys College Old Boys Association, John, described his late father as his hero who instilled discipline in his children. He said that he never found fault in his late father who lived a humble life. I am approaching 70 years (of age) now. In all my life, I have never found fault in my father, he said. He commended Obasanjo for honouring his father-in-law and the family in spite of the death of their sister, late Stella. The younger Abebe also thanked the states governor for his support toward the burial rites of his later father. He said his father: Left a legacy of being honest, of being totally above board, of being humble and of doing things at the right time always. He did bring us all up from day one to be like him. If you ask my friends who know me will tell you that I will never accept things not done properly or being swept under the carpet. I will never, for instance, think of accepting bribe for anything I do. So, his legacy will be sustained because we also have brought up our children in a similar manner, he added. On his part, Obasanjo said that his late father-in-law would be fondly remembered for his courage and submission to Gods will in many strange circumstances. I recall how he bore with equanimity the death of my wife, Stella, his daughter, and that of four other of her siblings. For anyone at the twilight of his life, these irreparable and calamitous losses would have shattered anybody. But papa faced life and soldiered on till he was almost 100 years, remaining focused, patently honest, forthright and down-to-earth and as a great Christian. I believe that the Almighty destined my amiable father-in-law to impact generations the way he did, he said. Earlier in his sermon, the Bishop of Uromi Diocese, Most Rev. Donatus Ogun, said that the late Abebe lived an exemplary life, adding that his humility stood him out as he remained respectful in spite of his old age. Ogun said that the late nonagenarian was a good community leader and a devout Christian. NAIJ.com had earlier reported that Christopher Abebe, the father of the late wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo died at the age of 99. John Abebe, the deceaseds son and president of St. Gregorys College Old Boys association, in a statement confirmed that Abebe died on Thursday, March 22. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo explains why Nigeria needs to be treated like love - On NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | How Nigerian crime reporters aid police brutality of suspects - Prominent journalist reveals Frontline Nigerian journalist and Editor-in-Chief of NAIJ.com, Bayo Olupohunda, has accused crime reporters of aiding brutality of crime suspects by the Nigerian police. Olupohunda stated this in a tweet via his Twitter handle, @BayoOlupohunda, on Friday, May 18. READ ALSO: Saraki vs IGP: Return suspects to Kwara - Judiciary to Police The prominent journalist stated that crime reporters aid brutality of suspects with the kind of implicating and prejudicial questions they ask crime suspects. He also condmned the practice of parading suspects at police command and pronouncing then guilty as unconstitutional. He said: "The practice of parading suspects at police command and pronouncing then guilty is totally unconstitutional. Suspects should be paraded only for the purpose of identification. Crime reporters encourage this practice by asking questions that suggest they are guilty of the crime" He charged Nigeria's crime reporters to always investigate beyond the claims made by police. He tweeted: "The job of the crime reporter is to look beyond claim by police who often arrest Nigerians indiscriminately. So many innocent Nigerians languish in jail or have died. Crime reporters have become part of the problem by deepening the concept guilty as charged without evidence." Suspects paraded by the Nigerian police. Olupohunda urged the Nigerian Crime Reporters Association to call on their members to report crimes with global best practices. "The Nigerian Crime Reporters Association must call on their members to adhere to journalism best practices. The life of Nigerians is far more sacred than pecuniary gains the police dish out to crime reporters to encourage brutality on Nigerians," he tweeted. Read the complete tweets below: PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Pope Francis denounced fake news as evil and urged journalists to make it their mission to search for the truth. The pope said the first case of fake news is in the Bible when Eve was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit based on disinformation from the serpent. Comparing fake news to the serpent's message of temptation in the Bible, Pope Francis said: "We need to unmask what could be called the 'snake tactics' used by those who disguise themselves in order to strike at any time and place." The pope called for a commitment to restoring the dignity of journalism" and urged reporters to speak the truth with a journalism that is "truthful and opposed to falsehoods, rhetorical slogans, and sensational headlines." Lagos Police Commissioner parades suspected criminals (Nigeria News) | NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Are you back? - Buhari asks IGP as they observe Jumaat prayer - President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, May 18, stepped out to join hundreds of Muslim faithful to perform the Jumaat prayer at the Aso Rock Mosque - The president was joined by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai - President Buhari while exchanging pleasantries with Idris, asked him if he was back The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris and Governor Nasir El-Rufai were among the hundreds of Muslim faithful that joined President Muhammadu Buhari to observe the 2-rakaat Friday prayer at the Aso Rock Mosque, Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) observed that the IG seized the opportunity to greet the president after the prayer session. While exchanging pleasantries, President Buhari simply asked the Inspector-General are you back? READ ALSO: N-Power trainees to receive N30,000 monthly - Osinbajo It would be recalled that the Senate had on May 9 passed vote of no confidence on the IGP, describing him as enemy of democracy over his failure to honour its invitations twice. Idris, however, asked the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations), Joseph Habila to represent at the senate. Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday also accused the IGP of trying to implicate him and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara in a criminal case involving some suspected cultists. The Senate on Thursday, May 17, raised a 10-man panel to meet with President Buhari over the allegation leveled against the IGP by Saraki. In a previous report by NAIJ.com, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, May 17, joined the Muslim faithful all over the world who thronged neighbourhood mosques for the Ramadan Tafsir - the translation and explanation of the Holy Quran. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app At the mosque in the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, the chief Imam, Abdulwaheed Abubakar, opened the exercise with gratitude to Allah for freeing the president of the ailment that kept him away from the country throughout this period last year, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. He wished President Buhari full health and more energy to discharge the requirements of his office. Eid-el-Kabir: Why the ram killed must not exceed three days in your house - on NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | FG to expand N-Power programme - Osinbajo - The federal government says the N-Power programme will be expanded to benefit more Nigerian youths - Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this on Friday, May 18, during a visit to Kiara De-Luke Multi-Skill and Entrepreneurship Centre, an N-Power training centre in Abia state - He said the N-Power programme was very important to the federal government Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the N-Power graduate skills acquisition programme will be expanded and made better to benefit more Nigerian youths. Osinbajo made the disclosure on Friday during a visit to Kiara De-Luke Multi-Skill and Entrepreneurship Centre, an N-Power training centre at Umuobiakwa in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia. Addressing the trainees, the vice president said the N-Power programme was very important to the Federal Government because of its focus on empowering the youths through capacity building. The programme will be expanded, enriched, made bigger and better and we will improve the welfare of those in the programme. The federal government wants to demonstrate through you that Nigerian young people are not only competent, but can with the best training become the best available anywhere in the world. You can be sure that we are going to see this programme through. We are going to continue the programme. We are not going to stop it. It is the largest of its kind anywhere in Africa. We want to prove that it is possible not only to keep young people employed and engaged but to train at the same time on a continuous basis and to train them using technology. We want to prove also that you do not need to know anybody to be able get a job. You do not have to go and speak to anybody. You get the job in a free and fair manner. So I want to ask you to be committed because sometimes there may be difficulties, he said. Osinbajo said that the project would be supported by the Federal Government to ensure the youths realised their aspirations. He said that the training centre was an ample demonstration of the Abia Governments willingness to empower young people and give them real opportunities in life. Also speaking, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said that the vice president was at the centre to see youths who had decided to learn skills and liberate themselves from poverty. I call on the federal government to add a bite to executive order number three which says that you must look inwards before you start importing. It is unfortunate to remark that some of our leaders are still living under the veil of sophistry that has no bearing with what we do and produce in Nigeria. The only way we can encourage entrepreneurship is to look inwards and patronise made-in- Nigeria goods, he said. He, however, said there was a power supply challenge at the Kiara /Logistics De-Luke Training Centre and solicited the Federal Governments assistance. Ikpeazu also thanked the Chinese government for giving Abia the grant to train about 100 youths in various skills. Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that the federal government had approved the training of 20, 000 youths in various vocations across the country. Osinbajo said this in Enugu on Friday during the inauguration of one of the facilities for the training located at the Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company complex, Emene. List President Buhari's achievements in two years - NAIJ.com TV: [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Court strikes out suit against 13 Anglican members By Davies Iheamnachor A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has struck out criminal charges against 13 Anglican Church members who were alleged to have diverted N1billion church fund. The accused persons, who are members of St. Matthews Anglican Church, Nkpogwu Port Harcourt, were standing trial on 22 counts charge bordering on conspiracy, embezzlement of church fund and assault on a cleric. The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had based on petitions from a respected cleric in Niger Delta North Dioceses of the Anglican Church arrested and charged the accused persons to court. However, it was gathered that one year after the IGP had charged the accused persons to court in May 2017, the prosecution was not ready to continue with the matter. The defendants in Suit are, Engr. Victor Amachree, Kingdom Amadi, Eric Obi, Sunny Ohimai, Uche Okechukwu, Samuel Umendi, Oyedele Ogundipe. Others are Oje Uduagele, Kingsley Onyekosor, Samuel Ade-yemi, Merrygold Harcourt, Veronica Johnson and Adeniyi Emmanuel. When the court resumed yesterday, the counsel for the accused persons, Chika Igbokwe, who was represented in court by Chris Kalio, prayed the court to strike out the matter on the ground that the complainant has never appeared in court since the matter came up. Kalio lamented that after many adjournments the prosecutor was still not ready to go on with the case, noting that the matter slated for definite hearing had not be heard on different dates. After listening to the submissions of the defence counsel, the trial Judge, Justice Dappa Ado, struck out the matter for want of diligent prosecution. Ado expressed regrets over the failure of the prosecution to appear in court with evidence on the allegations it levelled against the defendants, adding that the applicants were not ready for the matter. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | NigComSat partners FUT Minna on innovative technologies By Emmanuel Elebeke The Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Ltd. has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna to strengthen technology innovation in the country. (From L-R) Professor Bala Abdullahi, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna in a chat with the Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer, NIGCOMSAT Ltd, Abimbola Alale at the signing of the MoU Signing the MoU in Abuja, the Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer, NigComSat Ltd Abimbola Alale, disclosed that the MoU was meant to strengthen technological innovations in the country through centre of excellence. With the signing of the MoU, she said all technological products are expected to be duly registered in Nigeria and at the international level before it reaches the market following several breakthroughs the country has achieved in technological innovations. Alale, added that the collaboration would ensure that the two government agencies reached out to customers with their products. The NIgComSat boss, who stressed the importance of the MoU, said that all technology innovations should be registered through the relevant regulatory bodies believing that if scientific research and technological products are duly registered, the country can claim ownership of such products and make money from it. FUT Minna, has distinguished itself in research innovations having won many grants and recognitions at the global and national levels. I believes that NIGCOMSAT products and services like Staff Attendance And Control System (SAACS), Internet of thing, Internet Services, e-voting, etc are very much available to impact positively and place the country at par with other technology driven economy. The collaboration will further be opened to the academic community, she added. In his remark, the Vice Chancellor of FUT Minna, Prof. Bala Abdullahi expressed happiness on the collaboration between his institution and NigComSat, saying that FUT, Minna is doing its best to improve the quality of education in the country. The Vice Chancellor also described the MoU as an opportunity for the two government agencies to leverage on what they are doing, adding that NIGCOMSAT is the right outlet to market research products. In his contribution, the Executive Director, Technical Services, Engr. Kolawole Raji expressed optimism on the MoU and urged all parties to fully implement the terms and letters to encourage home grown technology in line with Executive order 003-005. Also contributing, the Executive Director, Marketing and Business Development, Hon. Samson Osagie, urged the two agencies to be agents of change and commended those who proposed federal universities of technologies all over the country. One of the highlights of the MoU is the establishment of an African Centre of Excellence mainly with the view for the academic exchange of post graduates. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Why I Didnt Resign From Jonathans Govt Ex Minister, Okonjo-Iweala Finally Opens Up The immediate past minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has finally opened up on why she refused to resign during the last administration. While speaking about her recent book titled Fighting Corruption is Dangerous , at the London School of Economics and Political Science, former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, revealed why she did not resign from Goodluck Jonathans administration, despite calls for her to resign. According to a report by TheCable, the two-time minister who said that resigning was the easiest way out, and she was not willing to take that route, advised young professionals on how to work in a system like Nigeria. The former World Bank managing director said that courage, focus, family support, and the skill to deliver for the people kept her going. She said; I knew elsewhere in the system things were not going right, I had to focus; Nigeria is a large country, we are talking of the federal level, we havent even spoken of the decentralised level. You choose the things, and you know what you are doing, and you are resilient and focused in doing them. Holding your head high, and knowing in spite of everything being said, you know you have not done anything wrong. I often joke with people, if you want to know how much I have, you can go to the Bank-Fund Credit Union and the World Bank, that is where you will see all my transactions. There is nothing to hide. Above all, I had the support of family and friends, and my family was just fantastic. Speaking further while addressing issues around the call for resignation, the 63-year-old said it was a dilemma for her, seeing she could not solve all the problems, but she knew she would do all the good she can. She said; I also understood that I could not solve everything, and it was that dilemma that was difficult to deal with sometimes and many Nigerians will say to me, why didnt you leave and resign? That was the easiest solution. I could have just gotten up and walked away, I resigned the first time. When I saw there was such intense desire for me to leave and resign, I decided that I must be doing something. You know when people kidnap your mother so you can resign, they told me to go announce my resignation on TV. When they want to disable you so you would no longer be able to work and leave the country. When everyday everyone is asking you why you havent resigned, yes, I decided that there must be something Okonjo-Iweala is doing, so that is why I stayed. DON'T MISS: Download Edujandon.com Android app and earn unlimited free Airtime! CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | EFCC Arraign Nigerian Man, Dr Isidore Ojukwu For Operating Illegal Polytechnic In Enugu State The Enugu zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday May 16, 2018 arraigned Dr. Isidore Ojukwu Nwankwo, before Justice A. M Liman of the Federal High Court Enugu, Enugu State on a six count charge of conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretences. Nwankwo defrauded prospective students of millions of naira, an offence which contravenes Section 1(1)(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and Punishable Under Section 1(3) of the Same Act. A case of fraud, conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretences was reported to the Commission by one Ezeh Emmanuel and Nineteen other students of Enugu Polytechnic Ndeaboh, Ani-Nri LGA of Enugu State against Dr. Isidore Ojukwu Nwankwo, saying they were deceived by Isidore who told him that the school belonged to the Senator representing Enugu East Senatorial Zone in collaboration with Enugu State Government. Investigation however revealed that some of the victims got to know about the school through some posters in strategic locations in town. The students were made to pay the sum of N5, 000 for admission form, N10, 000 for Acceptance Fee and N35, 000 for 1st Semester school fees each. Further investigations also revealed that the school was not recognized by government neither was it registered with National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Dr. Ojukwu pleaded not guilty to all the count charges preferred against him. In view of the accused persons plea, the prosecuting counsel Barr. Michael Ani, applied for a trial date and prayed his Lordship to remand the accused in prison custody but the defense counsel, Barr. C. C Agwu informs the court of a motion for bail of his client. The prosecuting counsel opposed the bail application on the ground that the accused had earlier jumped bail an administrative bail granted him by the commission. DON'T MISS: Download Edujandon.com Android app and earn unlimited free Airtime! CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | World | Africa | Zimbabwean mental health student commits suicide in UK A UK-based Zimbabwean mental health student reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday leaving behind two children. Nelson Ndlovu, 44, was discovered by his youngest son "hanging in the toilet," according to a GoFundMe campaign created by the deceased's friend. Another mental health student who studied with Ndlovu described him as part of their university family adding "For every step of the way you have supported us, telling us we will be brilliant nurses, to keep going and that we were all going to make it" Read the full GoFundMe message below: Nelson Ndlovu committed suicide on the 15/5/18 and left two kids. The youngest son discovered him hanging in the toilet. I have known Nelson for 23yrs and he just turned 44yrs on the 13/5/18. Few hours before his death I spoke to him on his mobile, and he was looking forward to complete his dissertation and graduate from York university. He never indicated or shown any sign of distress. He left no note or clue to why he decided to take his own life. My guess it is difficult to discuss what it is to be a men on this day and age. A mental health student on his last journey to contribute to society, a healthy man who loved to keep fit at the gym, a father who supported Asernal with his all heart, a family man who adored his own kids to come to such a decision is hard to comprehend. We desperately seeking your help to bury nelson in his country of birth Zimbabwe. Your donation will mean a lot to this family. Donation Link: https://www.gofundme.com/nelson-funeral-fund CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Home | World | Africa | 'Corruption is good for Zimbabwe,' Minister says Deputy Finance Minister Terrence Mukupe mersmised guests during a round table discussion in Harare when he highlighted that corruption could be positive for the country. The minister referenced an article which he read highlighting that the scourge of corruption would benefit the country. I read an article to the effect that corruption can be also positive for the country. After going through that article I can actually give you some life lessons I had. I remember when I was advisor to ESSAR (An Indian company that wanted to invest in Ziscosteel) and ESSAR wanted to come into Zimbabwe, someone approached me and said the fundamental mistake you are making with ESSAR is that you don't have a local partner. "Make sure that you have a local partner if your things are going to work well. And I remember the Indian investor said to me; but government is my partner and I would like to believe that everything would work well. "And the response that this guy made was that government is not a person and it does not eat, it does not breath, it is not motivated to make the transaction work well. So by you giving away part of your transaction to someone else, that person is going to make sure that they wake up every day because they are motivated to make sure that the transaction works. So that is a case of positive corruption," he said. Mukupe said at one point a minister in former President Robert Mugabe's cabinet, who was accused of massive corruption, turned out to be the one who contributed more than any other to the national fiscus. "So how do you then explain that? So I guess it's an issue that if we were to assume that he was corrupt, then I guess his goals were aligned with the goals of government and everything else was moving on well and it became positive corruption for the country," he said. Mukupe said legislation could only do so much to address the issue of corruption as it was deep rooted in society whose moral fibre had decayed so much that people were now normalizing the abnormal. "It's the moral fibre of our society and what I always say is that as Zimbabweans we are generally corrupt people and the reason why I say we are generally a corrupt people is that if we were to do a quick survey privately, anonymously in this room here probably over 90 percent of the people here have bribed some police officer sometime," he said. Mukupe was recently accused of assaulting a senior accounts officer in the ministry of finance for giving him what the thought was small travel allowance. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa MDC Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa has a serious problem, not just politically, but more importantly, personally and psychologically. His treatment of women as mere property and sexualised objects sadly continues. First, Chamisa offered his own sister in a "bet" to President Emmerson Mnangagwa. When there was a national outcry, rather than immediately apologise, he doubled down on his comments explaining why he felt he had the right to control his sister's future and offer her around. It is hard to imagine that both Chamisa and the people around him didn't understand the full extent of the outcry over his comments, which he subsequently claims were part of a "joke". I personally do not know a single woman who appreciated the joke of a man who sees us as property to be traded. So when Chamisa said "Is there anyone who can doubt that I am energetic? Just give me any woman here and see if I will fail to score," yesterday while addressing a rally at Maboleni Business Centre in Lower Gweru, it is clear there is a problem. A problem that can no longer be batted away by ignorance or innocence. Chamisa has only been under the public microscope for a few months and already he has continuously courted controversy for his attitudes towards and actions against women. Of course, it is well known that Chamisa used strong-handed tactics to oust his former co Vice President Dr. ThokozaniKhupe. Khupe was ruthlessly attacked, verbally and physically by Chamisa's thugs, in one case almost killing her at the funeral of MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai. The interminable abuse that Khupe has suffered has focused on the fact that she is a woman, and it is clear that the sexism and chauvinism directed against her has been, at the very least inspired, if not directed, from the very top. Now, incumbent MP for Harare West Jessie Majome has opened up about the abuse she was being subjected to that saw her withdraw from the party's primary elections. Ms Majome said she had been told that she was old and should retire to the countryside to herd donkeys. In our new Zimbabwe, it is perfectly acceptable to disagree with some on policy, politics and ideology, but specifically targeting someone because of their gender should have no place in Zimbabwe during the 21st Century. Those, like Chamisa, who think of women as lesser objects and property, aren't just contravening the law and our constitution; they are affront to our morality and the Bible. They are deeply un-Christian, and as a pastor, Chamisa, should be at the forefront of peace, unity and equality, not perpetrating sexism and gender politics. Everyone, especially in politics, should be allowed one mistake, one slip of the tongue'. However, when there is a pattern, it is no longer aberrant behaviour and is more like a deep-seated belief. Chamisa was warned repeatedly, especially from among his own people and supporters, about his comments and attitudes towards women. The fact that only days later he can speak that way in front of thousands of people, including many women, just shows how innate the problem really is. There has been lots of research of late that clearly demonstrates that those who play up their manliness and reject feminine preferences are trying to overcompensate for something they lack. This is a powerful and problematic psychosis. Many have suggested that Robert Mugabe's brutishness and use of violence was a result of a similar psychosis. Zimbabwe can ill afford another leader who uses aggression, especially against women and other minorities, to compensate for their feelings of inadequacy. Chamisa has a problem, and it is with the 52% of this country who are women. It is a problem with not just us, but also for men, their mothers, daughters, sisters and wives. It is a problem to all those who love and respect women. This means that Chamisa's problem is actually Zimbabwe's problem. Home | World | Africa | Armed robbers shoot, kill businessman Four armed robbers reportedly pounced on Rama Wholesale in Karoi yesterday and ordered all employees to lie down before shooting the owner after demanding the safe keys. Sources close to investigations allege the armed robbers who were using a blue Toyota Wish, stormed the wholesale around 1745 hours and shot Ashwin Rama on the leg before ransacking his office. "Four armed robbers pounced at Rama wholesale at around 1745 hours and ordered all workers to lie down, during the scuffle they managed to strike the owner (Ashwin Rama) with an iron bar and finally shot his leg after he resisted to surrender his safe keys," revealed the source. "Eventually they blew the safe and robbed an undisclosed amount; Rama was rushed to Chinhoyi hospital and eventually transferred to Harare Hospital where he died on the way." Efforts to contact Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara were futile. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Meghan Markle knew Prince Harry was "the one" almost instantly. The 'Suits' star fell for the flame-haired royal - who she will marry in a ceremony at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on Saturday May 19 - pretty quickly, according to her long time friend Janina Gavanka. Speaking on 'Inside the Royal Wedding: Harry & Meghan', she said: "She had just started dating Harry and it was quite clear that that was her guy, that was her one." And Janina has revealed it was seeing Harry get stuck in with charity work in Botswana that really sealed the deal for Meghan. She added: "They were staying in a tent with nothing and just had each other. I remember when Meghan told me about Botswana. I loved how she was ... pleasantly surprised. Like, this boy is actually just doing this for real. This is not some flouncy trip ... he really means it. They fell in love with nothing around them - no frills, no bells and whistles. All they had was each other, doing good work in a place where nobody was watching them." The sweet comments about the pair's bond comes after it was revealed that Sir Elton John is expected to perform at the wedding. Sources close to the 'Rocket Man' hitmaker told TMZ it is unclear whether he will perform at the church ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, or at their reception, which will be held at St George's Hall. Elton initially had Las Vegas shows booked for this weekend but he pulled out of them months ago due to a "scheduling conflict". I love his twitter lol, the photo of his doggo from yesterday was so cute Reply Parent Thread Link Why do yall say shit like doggo and toll and smoll? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I haven't read the story yet, but I will! I'm currently reading Goth by Otsuichi. Disturbing short stories. I'm finishing up the last story in the collection. It's one of the books I got my sister for her birthday, but it's been on my TBR shelf so I'm reading it before I wrap it, lol. Reply Thread Link ok, i just finished the book and man, that was disturbing. it's a collection of short stories ("Goth" is one of the stories in the book) about these two high school friends who are obsessed with murder. Reply Parent Thread Link I love Otsuichi! Zoo and Black Fairy Tale were my jam Reply Parent Thread Link I have got to read those bc i loved the stories in Goth!!! Reply Parent Thread Link Thanks for posting! Probably gonna read it before bed. I forget he has a new book coming out soon, so that's great news, too. Reply Thread Link man knowing he writes so much makes me feel so unaccomplished with my four chapters lol Reply Thread Link Girl you and me both lmao. I wish I had his brain Reply Parent Thread Link or his patience and commitment lmao Reply Parent Thread Expand Link He's so fucking commitment, while I have to start the habit every few fucking months again. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I don't understand where his drive comes from, I remember that interview that he did with the dude who writes Game of Thrones and he asked how Stephen deals with writer's block. Stephen King was like "I just write all the time, I write 6000 words a day" or something and my mind was boggled. I feel good if I write a few pages every few days lol. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao, same Reply Parent Thread Link He's amazing. I can't wait for the adaptation of The Long Walk. I'm still working on finishing IT (I'm 3/4 through) and then I think I'm going to start The Stand. Reply Thread Link Oh sis I've been reading IT for like a year almost lmao I read bits and pieces now and then. I already know the story so well from the movie adaptations I haven't been in a rush to finish. I've read a lot of books since I started that one. Reply Parent Thread Link it seemed to go by quickly, but the stand took a while. Reply Parent Thread Link Ugh, I love The Stand. I don't even have track anymore of how many times I've read it. Thanks for this post, OP! I'll check it out later! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I just finished The Stand after reading IT and The Dark Tower series. I loved it! I made the mistake of getting paperback copies from a used bookstore. I really think his books are best read on the Kindle because of how big they are lol. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Haha Im just ahead of you on IT. Hit 78% today according to my Kindle! Reply Parent Thread Link i've been gagging for a TLW movie for like 15 goddamn years I cannot wait!!! but also i know i will be furious about the casting of Garraty no matter who it is lmao :( i do hope the director goes the Dunkirk route and casts actual young men though and not Grown Adults Playing Boys Reply Parent Thread Link Hmmm, I've been considering rereading The Stand, although Misery is my favourite King novel. Reply Thread Link maybe i'll make that my next King book! I really haven't read much by him Reply Parent Thread Link it was the only book to ever scare me while reading it, but misery had me checking my closet before i went to sleep for like a week lol Reply Parent Thread Link I just read Laurie, but it didn't feel very Stephen King'esque. More like an true-life feature from a Florida newspaper Edited at 2018-05-17 11:51 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link oooo i'm interested in The Outsider. police procedural + supernatural is right up my alley. Reply Thread Link Ohh I forget, did you read The Broken Girls? It's a new release. Not a police procedural but it's part historical fiction + murder mystery + supernatural. I think you would like it! Reply Parent Thread Link no I haven't! I will add it to my tbr! Reply Parent Thread Link Ooh lemme get right on that. Reply Thread Link i have most of his ebooks on hand, but it's kind of overwhelming trying to figure out which one to pick. i read it and green mile in high school, but a refresher is probably needed. i also read another one of his books that featured an old man who saw things... creatures? it might've been insomnia. not entirely sure. it's been awhile. with all this talk about the long walk, i guess i should try reading that soon. Edited at 2018-05-18 12:19 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Edited at 2018-05-18 12:26 am (UTC) I'm going to use this as an excuse to plug this website with Dark Tower t-shirts . They have a few designs from other books as well. They have the blessing of Stephen King and their designs look awesome. They only release 19 designs at a time, and their sale prices are always $19. I just ordered myself one for my birthday that comes with 3 mystery tote bags and I'm super excited about it. Reply Thread Link I want that pet semetary shirt!!! Reply Parent Thread Link McGarrett who Reply Thread Link They probably rebooted this show because they know Hawaii Five-O is winding down but they want to keep filming there. I don't blame them though lol. Reply Parent Thread Link Why does this look like a film trailer Reply Thread Link Well, it looks like Justin Lin directed the pilot, so that might have something to with it. Its actually making me want to give this a shot, his Fast and Furious movies are the only ones that really matter. Also, I see him slipping Sung Kang in there to tempt me, lol. Reply Parent Thread Link I almost want to give this a shot, even though I swore off CBS after the Hawaii 5-0 bullshit. I appreciate the diversity of the cast, but being CBS I wonder how long itll be before they screw them over. Some of my earliest memories are watching the original with my dad. The main thing I remember is the Ferrari. I was obsessed with that car as a child. One of my favorite toys ever was the Barbie Ferrari my parents got me for Christmas one year. I still have it, somewhere, lol. Reply Thread Link This looks fun and the scenery looks beautiful (of course). Are they using the original Masters house? Reply Thread Link ngl this looks fun Reply Thread Link I hate this so much. It feels like an episode of Entourage. Im gonna go watch the original Magnum PI where he has to tread water for 2 days and hallucinates his dad Reply Thread Link He this looks cute enough so I'll at least try the pilot Reply Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link This post has 12 comments wtf. Reply Parent Thread Link looking like another Capital B Bland CBS series. shocked Reply Thread Link Looks generic but the production value looks good Reply Thread Link I'm torn. I like the original show, though never liked Selleck. go fig. and while i love seeing women kicking ass, I'm NHF Magnum trying to get Higgins into bed. cause you know that's going to be a thing. Reply Thread Link JAY HERNANDEZ <3333 Reply Thread Link Here for Jay. Reply Thread Link Haha yeah I'll watch it. How long to they start killing off poc, leaving Jay to be a sidekick to someone in his own show. Reply Thread Link Lol he's cute in a bland, white boy sense. But I can never take his music or him seriously. Reply Thread Link I was downloading some iTunes stuff the other day, including Shawn, and he's got a lot hit songs! Make that paper with those generic pop anthems! Also, Charlie Puth's "Attention" is a bop, too. Reply Thread Link but, we can rebuild him. we have the technology. but we don't want to spend a lot of money on vocal lessons. we'll autotune his vocals to hell and back and he can just serve face, body, and visuals for the "music." tbh, i'm ready for Tyler Hoechlin the pop music star. his acting is limited which leads me to believe he probably can't sing either.but, we can rebuild him. we have the technology. but we don't want to spend a lot of money on vocal lessons.we'll autotune his vocals to hell and back and he can just serve face, body, and visuals for the "music." Reply Parent Thread Link You know, you don't always have to bring up Tyler Hoechlin, the person, when you @ a reply to me. It's getting kind of tired tbh. Instead, let's talk about his hairy butt. I mean, left unkempt, its prolly pretty hairy, right? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Edited at 2018-05-18 06:20 am (UTC) And yes, I'll buy tix to Tyler Hoechlins world tour. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i picture him as a drummer. shirtless and going to town banging on them drums Reply Parent Thread Link bb download charlie puth's new album at once, it's a banger! most of the songs are in the style of attention, so you'll love it imo. ngl i only downloaded it because i liked attention and the new song he has with kehlani, and now i'm stanning! 100% recommend. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I Know What You Did Last Summer remains a summer bop Reply Thread Link but in the end Shawn Mendes was the breakout artist out of the two. talent wins! i low key prefer Jacob Whitesides (aka Great Value Shawn Mendes) and Kelly Rowland's version of the title to this memorable slasher book/film.but in the end Shawn Mendes was the breakout artist out of the two. talent wins! Reply Parent Thread Link I hate how much I like the Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello I know what you did Last summer. Reply Parent Thread Link i wonder how many sexual partners he's had! Reply Thread Link omg Sara, you can't just say these things out loud! Reply Parent Thread Link Let me know when you find out sis. Reply Parent Thread Link It's 2:20AM here where I am stewie!! What u mean??? Reply Thread Link I'm loling now but you just wait until sober me wakes up tomorrow... u don't even know!! Reply Parent Thread Link i hate that gif so much and i can't pinpoint why Reply Thread Link bc that lenny and larry cookie tastes gross! Reply Parent Thread Link Love it <3 My fav song from SM3 so far <33333 Reply Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link @ my beloved OP: i have somehow become a charlie puth stan sometime in the last week, ever since i almost accidentally downloaded his new album. is this ok? are we ok? idk the history here, i had been foolishly staying out of these posts D: also shawn mendes is a cutie. Reply Thread Link from the top of my head i think he said some sexist shit about Rihanna? but it was out of context? idk the full story there i could be wrong. also he's apparently a Trump supporter (via his real and personal Facebook). https://babe.net/2018/04/02/does-charlie-puth-support-trump-46093 i don't really follow Puth closely but honestly, he has a few catchy singles. but proceed with caution. lmao. <3 lol. of course we're ok bb.from the top of my head i think he said some sexist shit about Rihanna? but it was out of context? idk the full story there i could be wrong. also he's apparently a Trump supporter (via his real and personal Facebook).i don't really follow Puth closely but honestly, he has a few catchy singles. but proceed with caution. lmao. <3 Reply Parent Thread Link <3333 thank you bb! yeah i won't stan him as a person (nor was i planning to) but i will continue to bop to his songs because it's (almost) summer and this album is just what i needed in my life rn! Reply Parent Thread Link Ill be nice today!! Reply Thread Link lol 2011ney was a mess. Reply Parent Thread Link ooh i love this. im here for his sexified Justified era next i hate to say the name of that flops album but its the best i could come up with. Reply Thread Link im a bottom but i want to top him. Reply Thread Link has anyone seen him live? i'm bringing my 15yo cousin to see him next year, but idc about his whiny ass. Reply Thread Link He cute Reply Thread Link Jesus. What the hell is wrong with him and those parents?! omg. Reply Parent Thread Link Pressures leading to their split included their age difference (Tyler was 27 when they first met), a withdrawn proposal, a house fire, and a planned pregnancy that resulted in an abortion when Tyler was worried that the fire's smoke and drugs might lead to birth defects. Band member Ray Tabano wrote in Walk This Way that the abortion "really messed Steven up", because the child was a boy. I...don't know which part of all this is the worst. Reply Parent Thread Link Just when he couldn't get worse, that last sentence... Reply Parent Thread Link So does anyone know what her real age is? Wiki's article has a link to a quote of her saying she was 16, but then some other articles say 14 Reply Parent Thread Link I found a video of her saying she was 16 Not saying this makes it any less bad, because this whole situation sounds awful, but I think shaving off a couple of years of her age doesn't really accomplish anything. Lori Maddox actually never slept with Bowie, her friend Sable Starr did and she just inserted herself into the story for attention. Reply Parent Thread Link There were more underage groupies 15-17 back then, but the 13-14 year old ones still existed too. I'm just saying 16 can be as bad as 14, lol. And Sable was underage too, so everyone should be feeling sorry for her in the Bowie episode instead of Lori because Lori's been caught lying in the past Reply Parent Thread Link Jfc. Why did I watch that whole thing?? That poor woman. He is a complete pile of shit. Reply Parent Thread Link Steven says 14, she says 16 Reply Parent Thread Link Oh well, that's unfortunate, lol Reply Parent Thread Link Weeeeelp Reply Parent Thread Link He should be in prison Reply Parent Thread Link are those veneers? Reply Thread Link I'm sure his real teeth rotted away decades ago Reply Parent Thread Link LOL Bryan Adams walking out....it's light comedy ffs...I can sense being a bit miffed that he was going to be included only as a part of a "greatest hits" montage, but really.... Reply Thread Link This was funny Reply Thread Link I thought these would be fun but James very rarely plays along with dropping gossip Reply Thread Link If this is from the Law & Order team does that mean Connie Nielsen is her SVU character Dani in this? she deserved better. Reply Thread Link connie has left the show so they will either re-edit the pilot with a new actress or write her off in episode 2 Reply Parent Thread Link I'll watch this because Dallas Roberts is really good at playing creepy. Reply Parent Thread Link But tbh I won't watch it either. The Australian Harry Styles lol I know which show ONTD won't be watching for sure.But tbh I won't watch it either. Reply Thread Link Happy to see that two actors from "The Mayor" already got new gigs. Reply Thread Link God Friended Me hwhat Reply Thread Link Im gonna pretend Jeremy Sistos character on FBI is his L&O Cyrus Lupo getting a promotion to the FBI. Reply Thread Link My second favorite L&O detective. Reply Parent Thread Link lol Reply Parent Thread Link Forcing religion down the throat of pesky atheists? The people who watch CBS are going to eat this shit up. Reply Thread Link Trash all around. Reply Thread Link The Magnum PI one doesnt look horrible. Reply Thread Link Can't even believe Violett Beane went from a recurring guest star on The Flash to a CBS show about making atheists into believers through social media linkage miracles lmao. Reply Thread Link I love when new FBI shows come out because my dad was an agent and he always gets really critical about them lmfao. He actually spent most of his career at the New York office, so I'm SURE he'll have a lot to say about this new show ahaha Reply Thread Link all of these look so damn boring. god friended me looks like a worse version of kevin probably saves the world and happy together literally looks like it's gonna steal all of its plots from hannah montana episodes Reply Thread Link "god friended me" so...basically a version of "joan of arcadia"? Reply Thread Link So I admit to not having watched the trailer, but if God friended me somewhere, my first comment would be "Where were YOU during the transatlantic slave trade??????" Reply Thread Link hate to admit it but I'm pretty excited lmao Reply Thread Link I gotta say I am looking forward to seeing the dress and how she looks. She's absolutely gorgeous. I hope her genetics can save the children from Windsor Face. Diana's beauty couldn't prevent it. Reply Thread Link I don't think the Windsor genetics are especially strong in Harry, so their children might stand a chance. Reply Parent Thread Link I can't even imagine a mix of Harry and Meghan tbh. I feel like it could go either really well or really tragically. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah but they're starting to shine through in even Harry's face with every passing year Windsor genes are tenacious, they'll wait you out Reply Parent Thread Expand Link He looks just like his grandfather. Reply Parent Thread Link He looks just like Philip imo So Mountbatten are the genes to fight! Reply Parent Thread Link Dianas genes put up a good fight in Wills late teen years before the bloat and baldness kicked in. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Lmao. She is stunning. Reply Parent Thread Link I hope her genetics can save the children from Windsor Face. I mean, she and Harry have the exact same face tho. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Where are her high school pics? Because this is not her original face. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Lol they are either going to have gorgeous kids who favor Meghan or babies who look like Prince Charles circa 1980s. Theres no middle ground. Reply Parent Thread Link Windsor Face is like a genetic sleeper cell. Everything looks fine, and them BAM!, it all goes to shit. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link she's gorgeous Reply Parent Thread Link I wasnt going to watch this but Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon are doing a live broadcast on HBO thats piqued my interest lol Edited at 2018-05-18 08:16 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link That's so bizarre... I wish I had HBO Reply Parent Thread Link right? lol I think Im just interested in lulz Reply Parent Thread Expand Link That pairing reminds me of the commentating duo in Pitch Perfect Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This is what's getting me to watch that early in the morning. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i'm watching the lifetime movie rn and god it's so cheesy. i'll probably watch tomorrow, but only for her dress Reply Thread Link i watched a small piece of it and couldn't stop laughing. Reply Parent Thread Link Ive watch so many Meghan and harry specials in the last week, Im sorta lowkey jealous of Meghan and how she met the prince and etc, I dont know if I would be able to deal with the crowds , press and etc but I wish Meghan luck . I feel like she will be fine? Like every royal expert says she was born for this. Reply Thread Link i'm not. i'm shy and don't understand people who love and seek out the limelight? why the fuck would you want to be famous? why would you want strangers knowing so much about you? i couldn't handle having my trash family selling me out or having every aspect of my personal life being examined. i'd snap. i just want a rich af boyfriend. i wish her a lot of luck and i hope it works out and they live happily ever after, if only to spite racists. Reply Parent Thread Link I feel liek dating the prince of a country would be stressful and tiring Reply Parent Thread Expand Link people love to be adored. even though fame doesnt guarantee you're like, for many its associated with it because people always fawn and are in awe of celebs, they're socially programmed to be for some reason. like people go see beyonce on stage shes a great performer and whatnot but shes a regular girl like everyone else yet people wanna touch her hand for some reason . people as a whole are weird lol Reply Parent Thread Link it seems like a nightmare to me. if she's okay with this good for her tbh Reply Parent Thread Link this is a sweet comment <3 Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Police in Windsor are seizing homeless peoples belongings before the royal wedding https://t.co/oyuwnlmZeF TIME (@TIME) May 16, 2018 Reply Thread Link this is so fucked up. Reply Parent Thread Link I wanted to add that this is nothing new. They did it when the pope came to philadelphia. The irony of removing/arresting homeless people when the Pope visits is not lost on me. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Um excuse me, you don't understand true love!1! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link yet people are allowed to camp around dressed in union jack shit? smh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link But royal wedding! Cake! Dress! It's sf disgusting money is being shelled out for these leeches but these poor people can't even live. Reply Parent Thread Link But they are harmless!! They are just spending 45m of taxpayers money on this wedding! and royalty is so important for tourism!!!!!!1111 Reply Parent Thread Link Oh come on. Who gives a fuck about the plight of the homeless when people are so 'excited' about a wedding of the uber privileged. You're just being a debbie downer. These posts give me nausea. Reply Parent Thread Link The homeless issue has been bothering me for months because the intentions to clear out the homeless started making the news early in the year. The only thing that makes me feel even remotely better about the situation is that Harry and Meghan asked for donations to a homeless charity called Crisis. Still not entirely good enough tho Reply Parent Thread Link Holy shit, I'm exhausted but thank God this wedding is finally tomorrow. We're just hours away fro the titles, dress, and the tiara! Plus, Meghan and her mother look amazing. Reply Thread Link Doria is very pretty. Reply Thread Link is Harry going to shave? Reply Thread Link my guess is no Reply Parent Thread Link I can't wait for this lmao. Meghan already looks stunning. ETA: I just noticed the first person Harry went up to to greet was a little girl, so cute. Edited at 2018-05-18 08:22 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link I love a welfare wedding Reply Thread Link I give no fucks about this and had no intention of watching but then my mum just told me BBC have got Simon McCoy doing coverage which if that's true I'm there because I live for how much he hates reporting on shit like this. He's hilarious and bravo BBC. Reply Thread Link He's been on form today!!! Always remember! Reply Parent Thread Link LOL Simon was so annoyed Reply Parent Thread Expand Link LOL Reply Parent Thread Link Oh, also! The tinhats have already started to melt down. Some are giving up and admitting defeat but the usual suspects are still screaming that there won't be a wedding. I'm LOLing because a few months ago, they were absolutely convinced Harry and Meghan wouldn't attract crowds, which is why they had to invite people onto the grounds of Windsor Castle, and bloop - there's a shitload of people there already. Reply Thread Link lmao I can't believe they thought Phillip was going to die or whatever to prevent it Reply Parent Thread Link LOL, a few days ago, that one was still convinced Philip would die in time to prevent this wedding (even after he showed up at the Windsor Horse Show twice last weekend! And then they made a sex joke about him and the Queen, which didn't stop them from predicting his death in the very next sentence). Reply Parent Thread Link Are tinhats anti Meghan and harry tin hats is such a werid name Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I've left the 3 blind mice, and have moved on to the ones who think there's another woman for Harry that they all call the "future duchess". They use tarot and psychics and think Meghan stole this unknown lady's identity. It's lols. Edited at 2018-05-19 05:43 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Meghan must be exhausted from all the preparations. Reply Thread Link meghan and doria look beautiful saw so many nasty comments about her mother's hair, everyone is trash Reply Thread Link They can seriously go fuck themselves, that woman is stunning, she looks fucking fabulous and has remained classy through this entire fiasco. Reply Parent Thread Link My Mum said she has been shocked at how blatantly racist the Royal Correspondents for various British News channels have been. I was like really they're Royal Correspondents what do you expect?! This whole wedding has really shown how bloody racist we are as a country tbh :-/ Her Mum has handled her self with a lot of grace. She's been put through ALOT just think about the whirlwind of the last 3 days alone!! Edited at 2018-05-18 08:50 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link mfte Reply Parent Thread Link Mte Reply Parent Thread Link I wonder how many royals will try to touch it Edited at 2018-05-18 08:50 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link omg, her mother is lovely. Looking at the pics of them arriving today I'm just wondering what her hat will look like tomorrow. Feathers? A bow? A short veil? Whatever it is, judging by her classic white dress and black jacket, it will be gorgeous. Reply Parent Thread Link Senator Leila de Lima waves at supporters on her way to the court. MUNTINLUPA CITY, Philippines The court postponed anew Senator Leila de Limas arraignment for charges of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading. During the hearing Friday, May 18, the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court branch 205 and 206 decided to reset the arraignment to August 10 due to a pending motion. Meanwhile, the prosecution was given five days to answer De Limas petition for furlough to attend the graduation of her son in Bohol on June 3. De Lima is accused of conspiring with inmates to transact illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) while she was Justice secretary, from which she allegedly benefitted drug money for her senatorial campaign in 2016. UNTV News & Rescue The post De Lima arraignment deferred anew appeared first on UNTV News. French authorities launched an investigation Friday into accusations that a top Parisian restaurant, favoured by celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, systematically sought to decline reservations from Arab, African or veil-wearing customers. The Buzzfeed website reported on Thursday that L'Avenue, an ultra-chic brasserie near the famed Champs-Elysees boulevard, had "put in place a veritable system of discrimination", notably turning down reservations from diners with Arabic-sounding names. Middle-Eastern tourists from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain were also told that the restaurant was fully booked, Buzzfeed said in its investigation, based on testimony from four former waitresses. "If a veiled woman showed up to the restaurant, they had to be told that the restaurant was full, even if it was not," the report said, adding that the former waitresses charged that the system was still in place. Buzzfeed printed screenshots of text messages between staff that appeared to support the allegations, as well as a list of telephone country codes kept at the front desk, allegedly to help staff decline reservation requests from citizens of the four Gulf countries. French rights chief Jacques Toubon, announcing an investigation, said in a statement that the restaurant was also accused of "discrimination in terms of physical appearance". The former serving staff told Buzzfeed they were ordered to sit the "good-looking and presentable" customers on the ground floor and terrace where they would be the most visible. The restaurant was unreachable for comment on Friday afternoon. But its manager Alexandre Denis denied the allegations in comments to Buzzfeed, telling the website: "All cultures, all nationalities come here... What is certain is that I never gave instructions to refuse customers." L'Avenue announced in 2015 that it was set to open a New York branch in mid-2018 in partnership with department store Saks Fifth Avenue. In the controversy surrounding Cambridge Analyticathe political consulting firm that worked for Donald Trump's campaignand Facebook, concerns about foreign governments interfering in U.S. elections and privacy violations of Facebook users have been paramount. But there's little evidence that Cambridge Analytica was in fact able to sway the electorate in the 2016 presidential election through its use of Facebook data, Eitan Hersh, an associate professor of political science at Tufts, told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on May 16. "The idea that Cambridge Analytica could use Facebook likes to predict personalities and use those predictions to effectively target ads strikes me as implausible, given what we know about the significant challenges in persuasion in campaigns," he said. "No evidence has been produced publicly about the firm's profiling or targeting to suggest that its efforts were effective." Hersh testified alongside Christopher Wylie, a former Cambridge Analytica contractor, and Mark Jamison, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, at the Judiciary Committee hearing "Cambridge Analytica and the Future of Data Privacy." Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) countered by saying he thought it is "rubbish" to think that people in America are not persuaded by advertising. Hersh responded that "just because campaigns spend a lot of money on advertising doesn't mean it works. For a long time, campaigns were spending a lot of money on robocalls," he said. "Countless experiments have shown that robocalls do nothing. In an environment where there is a lot of stimulia lot going on in the campaigna lot of campaign ads don't really work." Political campaigns use data to mobilize people to get out and vote, and, separately, to persuade voters to adopt a point of view, Hersh noted. Campaigns already have access to public records that detail voters' party affiliation, race, gender, age, and geography, which "is very informative in identifying which voters will support Democrats or Republicans," Hersh said in written testimony, citing research from his 2015 book Hacking the Electorate: How Campaigns Perceive Voters (Cambridge University Press). That information is used to try and drive voter turnout. Still, predictions about the race or ethnicity of a voter, for example, are wrong about 25 percent of the time. "So when a campaign sends a message, a quarter of the people receiving the message will be mistargeted. Research suggests that voters penalize candidates who mistarget them," he said. Several senators at the hearing brought up the issue of how Cambridge Analytica might have sought to suppress voter turnout, especially among minorities. Would those efforts have been effective? "I don't think we know the answer," Hersh said. "As far as I know, all the experiments in this domain have been about increasing participation. But it might be easier to demobilize in the sense that encouraging a person not to take a time-consuming actionvotingmight be easier than encouraging them to take the action." And if mobilizationor demobilizationis difficult, then persuasion is even harder, Hersh said. "A person who was persuadable yesterday may not be persuadable today," he wrote. "Moreover, a persuasion effect is quick to decay." "Probably nobody in this room," he told the committee, "or nobody that anyone in this room knows, changed their mind as the result of any campaign ad in the election of 2016. . . . In a presidential election in particular, when there is so much going on, the effect of one ad, one kind of ad, one robocall, is usually zero." That said, he added, there is much that is not known about how campaigns are using social media to target voters. "This controversy gives us some anxiety, in part because we don't really know where the line is between ads attempting to persuade voters and ads attempting to manipulate or deceive voters," he said. That's all the more true because Facebook, he said, "hasn't really taken seriously its solemn civic role as a facilitator of news and political communications." Facebook has a lot of data, "and I think it's acted really inappropriately in terms of how it's conveyed news, sold ads to just about anyone who wants to, [such as] targeted hate groups," he said. Hersh said Facebook uses algorithms and then claims "'It's not our fault if it goes wrong.' I think it's a really terrible way to conduct a business." Hersh urged Americans to get their news not from Facebook and other social media, but from "news organizations led by editors who tale seriously their duty to inform the public about the range of news and commentary necessary for informed citizenship." Explore further Cambridge Analytica shared data with Russia: whistleblower British political consulting group Cambridge Analytica filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York, court documents showed British political consulting group Cambridge Analytica filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York, court documents showed. The firm, whose attorney filed late Wednesday, announced early May that it would close and file for bankruptcy in Britain and the United States after failing to recover from the Facebook data scandal. The documents, seen by AFP, listed Cambridge Analytica LLC's estimated assets in the range of $100,001 and $500,000, with estimated liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Earlier this month, the company which worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaignclaimed its business had been ruined by "numerous unfounded accusations" which rendered operating the business "no longer viable." The firm became embroiled in scandal in March when former analyst, 28-year-old Canadian Christopher Wylie, revealed it had used a Facebook personality prediction app to hijack up to 87 million Facebook users' dataclaims it denies. "Despite Cambridge Analytica's unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully... the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company's customers and suppliers," the company said in a statement upon announcing its closure. Soon after the leak, CA chief executive Alexander Nix was suspended after he was filmed by undercover reporters bragging about ways to win political campaigns, including through blackmail and honey traps. Meanwhile, another whistleblower said Britons' personal data may have been misused by a pro-Brexit campaign ahead of the 2016 referendum in which Britain voted to leave the European Union. Wylie has also since told a Senate panel on interference in the 2016 US election that CA had used Russian researchers and shared data with companies linked to Russian intelligence. This week, the New York Times reported the US Justice Department and the FBI are investigating CAalthough it was unclear if the probe was linked to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's into Trump campaign collusion with Russia. Explore further Cambridge Analytica shared data with Russia: whistleblower 2018 AFP A University of Washington-led study finds that a childs language skills in kindergarten predict his or her performance in other areas, including math and reading, throughout school. Credit: University of Washington Research shows that the more skills children bring with them to kindergartenin basic math, reading, even friendship and cooperationthe more likely they will succeed in those same areas in school. Hence, "kindergarten readiness" is the goal of many preschool programs, and a motivator for many parents. Now it's time to add language to that mix of skills, says a new University of Washington-led study. Not only does a child's use of vocabulary and grammar predict future proficiency with the spoken and written word, but it also affects performance in other subject areas. Language, in other words, supports academic and social success, says Amy Pace, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences. "A lot of other research focuses on math, science and literacy, and they don't even consider that language could be playing a role," she said. "But really, it emerges as a strong predictor across subject areas. Why do kids succeed in math, for example? Part of it could be having a strong math vocabulary." The study was the first to look at a comprehensive set of school readiness skills and to try to determine which, of all of them, is the most solid predictor of a child's later success. Languagethe ability to fluidly learn words and to string them together into sentenceswas the hands-down winner, said co-author Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University. For this study, published online April 30 in Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Pace and her colleagues from Temple University, the University of Delaware and the University of North Carolina examined longitudinal data from more than 1,200 children in the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. That study used several measures of academic and social skills at specific ages and grade levels, including evaluations upon entry to kindergarten and in grades 1, 3 and 5. While there is considerable research on how children develop specific skills over time, much of that research is focused on patterns of learning within a single subject area, like math or reading. Researchers in the UW study wanted to determine whether there are relationships between skills when considered in combination, and to think about how these combined abilities might predict gains, or growth, above what might be expected based on the skills the child demonstrates when they first enter a kindergarten classroom. The team analyzed academic and behavioral assessments, assigned standardized scores and looked at how scores correlated in grades 1, 3, and 5. Growth curve modeling allowed the team to look at children's levels of performance across time and investigate rates of change at specific times in elementary school. Researchers found that of the skills and milestones evaluatedsocial/emotional, attention, health, reading, math and languageonly language skills, when a child entered school, predicted his or her performance both within that subject area and most others (math, reading and social skills) from first through fifth grade. Reading ability in kindergarten predicted reading, math and language skills later on; and math proficiency correlated with math and reading performance over time. People often confuse language with literacy, Pace said. Reading skills include the ability to decode letter and sound combinations to pronounce words, and to comprehend word meanings and contexts. Language is the ability to deploy those words and use complex syntax and grammar to communicate in speech and writing. And that's why it has such potential to affect other areas of development, Pace said. At a time when so much focus is on math and science education, it is language that deserves attention, too. "It provides a foundation for social interaction. If you're stronger in language, you will be able to communicate with peers and teachers," she said. "Language also relates to executive functioning, the ability to understand and follow through on the four-step directions from the teacher. And it helps solve problems in math and science, because understanding terminology and abstract concepts relies on a knowledge of language." For example, language ability at school entry not only predicted language proficiency through fifth grade as expected, but it also predicted growth in literacy between grades 1 and 3, and a similar amount of growth between grades 3 and 5. In effect, language gave children a boost to help them learn more than researchers might have predicted based on the children's performance at school entry. Measuring the impact of one skill on another, in addition to measuring growth in the same skill, provides more of a "whole child" perspective, Pace said. A child who enters school with little exposure to number sense or spatial concepts but with strong social skills may benefit from that emotional buffer. "If we look at just a very narrow slice of a child's ability, it may be predictive of ability in that area, but it's not necessarily a good prognosticator of what's to come overall for that child," she said. Researchers expected to find that the effects of kindergarten readiness would wear off by third grade, the time when elementary school curriculum transitions from introducing foundational skills to helping students apply those skills as they delve deeper into content areas. But according to the study, children's performance in kindergarten continues to predict their performance in grades three through five. This was consistent for multiple skill areas, including language, math and reading, and suggests that bolstering children's development in those first five years is essential for long-term academic success. A few findings merit further study, Pace added, especially as they relate to educational policy. For example, children who entered kindergarten with higher levels of skills appeared to make fewer developmental and academic gains than those children who started at lower levels. That is consistent with other research, but, Pace said, it's worth examining how to better serve high-performing students. The study also represents an opportunity to rethink what skills are considered measures of kindergarten-readiness, she said. "Language ability at school entry consistently emerges as an important predictor of student outcomes. This may be why the first three to five years are so critical for future academic and social development," Pace said. "It is the child's earliest, high-quality interactions with parents, teachers and caregivers that promote a strong communication foundationand this foundation goes on to serve as the bedrock for future language and learning." Explore further Spatial, written language skills predict math competence More information: Amy Pace et al, Measuring success: Within and cross-domain predictors of academic and social trajectories in elementary school, Early Childhood Research Quarterly (2018). Amy Pace et al, Measuring success: Within and cross-domain predictors of academic and social trajectories in elementary school,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.04.001 Credit: Harvard University For decades, cognitive psychologists have sought to understand how the brain works and in recent years have outlined a number of theoriesfrom implicit biases to the psychology of scarcity and tribalismto explain how that influences our behavior. But some researchers now suggest that those theories, while providing valuable insight, only capture a portion of a more complex picture. In a study published recently in Nature Human Behavior, Michele Lamont, the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies, professor of sociology and of African and African American Studies, and director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, argues that to capture a fuller picture of human behavior, a new approach is needed, one that bridges the space between sociology and cognitive psychology. "Our idea was to try to create a dialogue between those two approaches," Lamont said. "The hope is that will be fruitful in encouraging people to think more broadly about what factors enable and influence human behavior." To do that, Lamont and graduate students Laura Adler, Bo Yun Park, and Xin Xiang examined three popular streams of research on human behaviorstudies using the implicit-association test, scarcity theory, and the dual-process model of moral decision-makingand attempted to show how cultural forces played a role in each. "What my collaborators and I did [in this paper] was to show that we make sense of the world using the cultural scripts we are exposed to at a much broader level," Lamont said. "When you think of the American dream, that is a framework or a narrative to interpret your reality which is quite different from the kinds of national myths that exist in other contexts. "For instance, in the U.S., the tools that are made available to us to think about what defines a good life or what defines the worth of people center far more on the notion of economic success," she added. "But when you compare the U.S. to another country like France, inductive research shows that conceptions of success and morality vary a lot These available scripts affect the likelihood that people interpret reality in one way or another." But measures like the implicit-association test, which uses the speed with which people connect images with things perceived as good or bad as a metric for hidden bias, fall short of capturing cultural backgrounds, Lamont said. "If you run this test using images of President Obama and President Reagan, it's not necessarily the case that I push the button faster because I like Obama more," she said. "The speed of the response is also influenced by the degree of familiarity I have with each. In fact, variations in speed might have nothing to do with my beliefs about Obama or Reagan, but instead result from the fact that images of Obama are far more salient than images of Reagan in my environment. So it might tell you about the salience of the image more than it tells you about your attitude toward the image." The difference between salience (something being familiar) and evaluation (something being viewed as good or bad) becomes essential when researchers try to draw a connection between response times in the implicit-association test and social outcomes such as discrimination. Whether or not response times indicate an increased likelihood that the person will discriminate depends on the cultural repertoires used to evaluate people of different races, genders, or other characteristics. That's not to suggest the tests have no place in understanding human behavior. "We're simply warning that the test does not distinguish between what is salient to the mind and what is culturally valued in the environment," Lamont said. "To better interpret the results, we believe researchers need to take into consideration the prevailing cultural landscape (or repertoires) in which people are functioning, and that goes beyond what is between people's ears." Lamont, who is past president of the American Sociological Association, found similar issues with theories about both scarcity and morality. "Scarcity theory is the idea that, because of a lack of resources, low-income people are tunneling (or focusing their attention exclusively on the scarce resource) which leads them to make errors of judgment that could be avoided," she said. "But how people make sense of their world should be empirically documented." To understand why someone who lacks money makes decisions that appear economically rational, researchers need to understand how the person values different resources (time, money, family connection, social status) and how the person prioritizes competing demands for attention and resources. A group of researchers studying moral judgment suggested that two competing cognitive processes produce sometimes conflicting moral judgments: The slower, more deliberative process produces utilitarian moral judgments, and is often viewed as preferable to the deontologicalor rule-basedmorality that results from fast, intuitive processes. Lamont and her colleagues suggested a need to re-examine the cultural assumptions baked into this model in order to understand how people come to make different moral decisions. "We think the way this frames how people make moral decisions is not in line with how people think about morality in everyday life," she said. "To capture the place of morality in people's lives, we should focus less on hypothetical scenarios such as 'trolley dilemmas' than on understanding the cultural ideas that undergird people's understandings of what it means to be a good mother or a good friend." Lamont said that the paper is not intended to impugn the work of cognitive psychology but to open a dialogue between two fields that often approach similar questions from different angles. "This is more about raising awareness of the aspects in the environment which they tend to put in the background, and which we think should be in the foreground," she said. "We want to factor in a broader causal chain that they have been thinking about, and that requires creating intellectual interfaces where we can discuss where their analysis stops and where other approaches begin." More information: Michele Lamont et al. Bridging cultural sociology and cognitive psychology in three contemporary research programmes, Nature Human Behaviour (2017). Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour Michele Lamont et al. Bridging cultural sociology and cognitive psychology in three contemporary research programmes,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-017-0242-y Behind the Moon the satellite revolves around a fixed point, the so-called second Lagrange point or L2 point of the Earth-Moon system. That point is about 65,000 kilometers from the Moon. Credit: Radboud Radio Lab On 21 May 2018, the Chinese space agency will launch the relay satellite Chang'e 4 to an orbit behind the Moon. On board will be a Dutch radio antenna, the Netherlands Chinese Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE). The radio antenna is the first Dutch-made scientific instrument to be sent on a Chinese space mission, and it will open up a new chapter in radio astronomy. The is instrument developed and built by engineers from ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy in Dwingeloo, the Radboud Radio Lab of Radboud University in Nijmegen, and the Delft-based company ISIS. With the instrument, astronomers want to measure radio waves originating from the period directly after the Big Bang, when the first stars and galaxies were formed. Why is it so important for the measuring instruments to be placed behind the Moon? Professor of Astrophysics from Radboud University and ASTRON Heino Falcke: "Radio astronomers study the universe using radio waves, light coming from stars and planets, for example, which are not visible with the naked eye. We can receive almost all celestial radio wave frequencies here on Earth. We cannot detect radio waves below 30 MHz, however, as these are blocked by our atmosphere. It is these frequencies in particular that contain information about the early universe, which is why we want to measure them." Special about the radio antenna is that it will receive low frequency radio waves with a large frequency range. "In the past this was not possible and therefore a receiver with a narrow frequency band was used, in order to avoid electromagnetic interference of the satellite itself," explains project leader Albert-Jan Boonstra of ASTRON. "We have now succeeded in avoiding the electromagnetic interference and making a broadband receiver. That is, of course, good news for subsequent missions and can, for example, be used for future nano-satellites." The radio antenna Netherlands Chinese Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE), developed by ASTRON, Radboud Radio Lab, ISIS and NAOC. Credit: Radboud Radio Lab / ASTRON / Albert-Jan Boonstra The instrument passed an important risk assessment review by the Chinese space agency at the end of April. Marc Klein Wolt, Managing Director of the Radboud Radio Lab, is looking back on the endeavour with a sense of accomplishment: "The last few months have been quite challenging for the Dutch team, who have put in a lot of effort to complete the instrument for the launch as the final phase of a two-year bi-lateral project with our Chinese counterparts. The Chinese lunar programme is like a bus we were trying to catch, mostly due to the hard work and enormous dedication from the teams on both sides". On April 30, the antenna successfully passed final pre-flight test. Heino Falcke reported: "Antennas were successfully deployed and retracted. Next step in this adventure is the L2-point behind the Moon." In 2016, the Netherlands Space Office and its Chinese counterpart CNSA signed an agreement to cooperate in this project, which was an elaboration of the Memorandum of Understanding the two space agencies signed the year before during a trade mission in presence of the Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Dutch King Willem Alexander. "NCLE does not only pave the way for new exciting science, but also provides new means for the two countries to expand their international collaboration," says Mr. Harry Forster of the NSO. The Netherlands Chinese Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) was built by a team of researchers and engineers from the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) in Dwingeloo, the Radboud Radio Lab of the Radboud University, and the Delft company ISIS in the Netherlands in collaboration with a team from the Chinese National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). Explore further Dutch radio antenna to depart for the moon on Chinese mission There are about 40 brown bears roaming the Pyrenees mountains in southern France, after being hunted close to extinction by the 1990s A furious debate is disturbing the peace in the French mountains: do plans to release two bears into the countryside represent a victory for biodiversity, or an intolerable threat to farmers? Back in the early 20th century around 150 brown bears roamed the French Pyrenees along the Spanish border, but by the 1990s they had been hunted close to extinction. The government released three Slovenian bears into the mountains from 1996 onwards, followed by five more after a hunter killed the last "native" French one, a female named Cannelle (Cinnamon). Their numbers are now back up to around 40, causing headaches for local farmers even before French environment minister Nicolas Hulot, a celebrity green activist, announced in March that he wanted to add two more females with the hope they would have cubs. "Farmers are ready to do everything, even if it's illegal. They will not let this go," warned Bernard Layre, head of the FDSEA farming union. Echoing the battle over the wolves which roam parts of the Pyrenees and other mountainous areas of France, animal rights activists have passionately defended efforts to increase bear numbers while farmers say they are the ones bearing the costs. According to an official count, livestock breeders lost 700 animals to bear attacks last year in the Ariege border area alone. Farmers put the figures at double this. Hundreds of people joined a protest in the southwestern French city of Pau on April 30 against the arrival of the two new animals, wielding banners reading "You will not have the skin of the shepherds!" A protest by livestock breeders in Pau, southern France, in April against the government's plan to introduce two new bears into the Pyrenees mountains 'Smoke and mirrors' But Hulot is under pressure to better protect the bears after a court ruling last September rapped the French state for not doing enough on the issue. In May he signed a ten-year "Bear Plan" that envisages bringing the numbers up to "around 50 sexually mature" bears. The goal is to ensure the long-term survival of the species, each of which can weigh up to 250 kilogrammes (550 pounds) and stand as tall as two metres (six feet five inches) when reared up on their hind legs. Hulot is set to meet shortly with both proponents and critics of the bid to introduce two more females, while the regional government is carrying out a local consultation until mid-June. Supporters argue the new arrivals would simply restore the status quono bears have been released by the authorities since Cinnamon and another were killed by hunters. Farmers are also compensated for livestock deaths from bear attacks. "Bear and shepherd have always lived side by side," said Jean-Francois Blanco, a regional lawmaker from the EELV environmentalist party. Part of the problem, he argued, is that farming methods have changed, with sheep increasingly left on the hillside unwatched for long periods of time. French farmers protest that bears are a menace for their sheep flocksand their livelihoods Posting more shepherds to guard the flocks, as per tradition, would "considerably limit the risk of attack", he said. But the farmers say the impact of a bear attack can be huge. In one particularly horrible case in 2016, more than 200 sheep died when they hurtled over a cliff while being chased by a bear. "We're simply saying that when there's a proliferation of bears, there is a danger," Layre said. He and other opponents have dismissed mooted measures to improve the farmers' lot, such as better compensation and dog training, as "smoke and mirrors". Some critics also point out that these Slovenian immigrant bears are not even native to the Pyrenees. But Blanco insisted that over the last 20 years "attitudes have changed". Several local villages have elected pro-bear mayors, he pointed out, adding that a poll in the Pyrenees in February found that 74 percent of residents were in favour of releasing the two new ones. "Biodiversity has gone up in priority," he said. Explore further Hundreds protest against release of bears in France 2018 AFP Nature offers many benefits to people. Credit: Shutterstock In 2010, 193 countries stepped up to halt the global decline of biodiversity by 2020 as part of their commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity. They agreed to take urgent action to make sure that we would continue to have resilient ecosystems that provide essential services, secure the myriad of life on the planet and contribute to human well-being. But vowing to save biodiversity is a large and unwieldy goal. To guide them on this endeavour, the countries established the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets. These targets range from addressing "the underlying causes of biodiversity loss (Targets 1-4)" to reducing "the direct pressures on biodiversity (Targets 5-10)," and more. A global assessment of resources Preserving biodiversity costs money. A 2014 estimate put the cost of achieving the Aichi Targets at US$150-440 billion per year. That seems like a lot, but it's the equivalent of spending US$20 to US$60 annually for each person in the world. In order to meet these conservation needs, the global investment in biodiversity would have to increase fourfold from today's level of only about 0.002 per cent of global GDP. Hence, the overall investment required is still relatively small given the many benefits of doing so. After extensive review, our team of international researchers came to the conclusion that meeting the Aichi Targets would have benefits far beyond biodiversity it will improve human health and well-being via economic and environmental stability. The dense roots of mangrove forests help stabilize coastlines and prevent erosion from waves and storms, reducing the costs of coastal damage. Credit: Shutterstock Focusing on the costs of implementing this plan makes it seem daunting, but our research suggests that failing to invest will have an even more frightening economic cost. Conservation and sustainable use Several studies suggest that failing to protect biodiversity leads to the loss of natural services, such as those provided by healthy habitats or mangroves. These are worth US$140 billion a year. In contrast, developing a global network of nature reserves on land and at sea would cost about US$45 billion a year to maintain. Similarly, other research found that failing to halt the loss of biodiversity could result in annual losses in ecosystem services worth US$14 trillion per year by 2050, equivalent to seven per cent of global GDP. It's important to note that many of the world's poor are directly dependent on biodiversity for not only food and nutrition, but also employment. Hence for the sake of the food, economic and social security of billions of people, we need to preserve biodiversity. For instance, water scarcity is a big issue, with an estimated 1.8 billion people expected to be living in regions with absolute water scarcity by 2025, and two-thirds of the world's population potentially living under water stress conditions. The world's fisheries employ as many as 260 million people and generate a landed value estimated at about US$150 billion annually. Competition among highly subsidized industrial fishing fleets coupled with poor regulation and weak enforcement of existing rules has led to over-exploitation of the most commercially valuable fish stocks. This reduces the [potential economic rent, which in simple terms means profit,] from global marine fisheries by at least US$50 billion annually. Many aspects of biodiversity support fish species and fisheries. Credit: Shutterstock Read more: Less money, more problems trying to get fisheries right What it comes down to is that the monetary and non-monetary benefits that come from biodiversity conservation and sustainable use frequently outweigh the costs. Raising resources Still, several measures need to be put in place before we can capitalize on this investment. In less developed countries, we need increased international investment through overseas development aid and philanthropic donations. But these same countries must also develop effective policies and instruments to support this increase in investment. For example, to meet Aichi Targets, it would be better to seek donations that support policies for the sustainable use of fishery resources over those that stimulate overfishing. If the world is to increase its chance of meeting the Aichi Targets and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, countries must find ways to bring biodiversity into the mainstream. They could, for example, integrate it into their national accounting systems. They must also enhance the links between climate change policies and biodiversity conservation, and its sustainable use. It's also crucial that we recognize the in-kind contributions of Indigenous peoples' and local communities' collective actions, efforts and knowledge on conservation and sustainable use. Investing in biodiversity would almost surely reduce the vulnerability of nations and communities to climate-related issues, while increasing their resilience and capacity to adapt. Explore further Nations need to get serious about biodiversity loss or risk missing global targets This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. People transporting gasoline by boat in Indonesias Kayan Mentarang National Park. Credit: ESCapade/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA In the 146 years since Yellowstone National Park in the northwestern United States became the world's first protected area, nations around the world have created more than 200,000 terrestrial nature reserves. Together they cover more than 20 million km, or almost 15% of the planet's land surface an area bigger than South America. Governments establish protected areas so that plants and animals can live without human pressures that might otherwise drive them towards extinction. These are special places, gifts to future generations and all non-human life on the planet. But in a study published today in Science, we show that roughly one-third of the global protected area estate (a staggering 6 million km) is under intense human pressure. Roads, mines, industrial logging, farms, townships and cities all threaten these supposedly protected places. It is well established that these types of human activities are causing the decline and extinction of species throughout the world. But our new research shows how widespread these activities are within areas that are designated to protect nature. We assessed the extent and intensity of human pressure inside the global protected area estate. Our measure of human pressure was based on the "human footprint" a measure that combines data on built environments, intensive agriculture, pasturelands, human population density, night-time lights, roads, railways, and navigable waterways. Satellite images reveal the human pressure within many national parks. A: Kamianets-Podilskyi, a city inside Podolskie Tovtry National Park, Ukraine; B: Major roads within Tanzanias Mikumi National Park; C: Agriculture and buildings within Dadohaehaesang National Park, South Korea. Credit: Google Earth, Author provided Astoundingly, almost three-quarters of countries have at least 50% of their protected land under intense human pressure that is, modified by mining, roads, townships, logging or agriculture. The problem is most acute in western Europe and southern Asia. Only 42% of protected land was found to be free of measurable human pressure. A growing footprint Across Earth, there is example after example of large-scale human infrastructure within the boundaries of protected areas. Major projects include railways through Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks in Kenya, which are home to the critically endangered eastern black rhinoceros and lions famous for their strange lack of manes. Plans to add a six-lane highway alongside the railway are well underway. Many protected areas across the Americas, including Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta in Colombia and Parque Estadual Rio Negro Setor Sul in Brazil, are straining under the pressure of densely populated nearby towns and rampant tourism. In the US, both Yosemite and Yellowstone are also suffering from the increasingly sophisticated tourism infrastructure being built inside their borders. In highly developed, megadiverse countries such as Australia, the story is bleak. A classic example is Barrow Island National Park in Western Australia, which is home to endangered mammals such as the spectacled hare-wallaby, burrowing bettong, golden bandicoot and black-flanked rock-wallaby, but which also houses major oil and gas projects. Construction of the standard gauge railway in Tsavo East and West National Parks, Kenya. Credit: Tsavo Trust, Author provided While government-sanctioned, internationally funded developments like those in Tsavo and Barrow Island are all too common, protected areas also face impacts from illegal activities. Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Sumatraa UNESCO world heritage site that is home to the critically endangered Sumatran tiger, orangutan and rhinoceros - is also now home to more than 100,000 people who have illegally settled and converted around 15% of the park area for coffee plantations. Fulfilling the promise of protected areas Protected areas underpin much of our efforts to conserve nature. Currently, 111 nations have reached the global standard 17% target for protected land outlined in the United Nations' Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. But if we discount the supposedly protected land that is actually under intense human pressure, 74 of these 111 nations would fall short of the target. Moreover, the protection of some specific habitat types such as mangroves and temperate forests would decrease by 70% after discounting these highly pressured areas. Governments around the world claim that their protected areas are set aside for nature, while at the same time approving huge developments inside their boundaries or failing to prevent illegal damage. This is likely a major reason why biodiversity continues to decline despite massive recent increases in the amount of protected land. Our results do not tell a happy story. But they do provide a timely chance to be honest about the true condition of the world's protected areas. If we cannot relieve the pressure on these places, the fate of nature will become increasingly reliant on a mix of nondescript, largely untested conservation strategies that are subject to political whims and difficult to implement on large enough scales. We can't afford to let them fail. But we know that protected areas can work. When well-funded, well-managed and well-placed, they are extremely effective in halting the threats that cause species to die out. It is time for the global conservation community to stand up and hold governments to account so they take conservation seriously. This means conducting a full, frank and honest assessment of the true condition of our protected areas. Explore further Study shows one third of world's protected areas degraded by human activities This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Busisiwe Mashiane. Credit: Wits University The slow sand filter method has been used for centuries to treat water. It's so effective that the World Health Organization has given it its stamp of approval: "Under suitable circumstances, slow sand filtration may be not only the cheapest and simplest but also the most efficient method of water treatment." However, this method has mostly been used on a large scale and isn't suitable for the thousands of South African households who battle daily to have clean drinking water in their homes. Busisiwe Mashiane, a fourth year chemical engineering student in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at Wits, is researching and developing a slow sand filter to meet the needs of South Africans. "Many South Africans living in disadvantaged communities across the country not only have difficulties accessing water but also face many health risks due to the lack of access to clean drinking water," explains Mashiane. "Our aim is to develop a low-cost but highly efficient water treatment system that can treat river water effectively and make it consumable. We want to ensure that, because people in these communities cannot afford elaborate water treatment methods, our system can assist in their basic human right of having access to clean potable water." How it works A continuous water flow from a 25 litre tank feeds into a reactor tank (the sand bed). From here the water flows into a 25 litre transparent sterlisation tank, after which the clean water can be dispensed into a storage container for use. The sand bed in the reactor tank is made up of layers of fine gravel, then activated carbon, and finally coarse gravel and fine sand. A layer of biological matter, called the schmutzdecke, forms on top of the sand and the schmutzdecke in the water is prevented from flowing through the sand. This layer of biological matter ensures that the filtered water is free of harmful bacteria and pathogens, while the sand bed strips the physical impurities out of the water. "Our research project is aimed at figuring out the mechanisms of the slow sand filter, to see how it functions under different conditions, and to find ways to optimise it," says Mashiane, adding that the plan in future is to take the project out of the lab and into homes where it can make a difference in people's lives. Slow sand filter. Credit: Wits University "We want to discover what its limitations are and eventually find the best way to replicate the design and easily cut down the set-up time currently between three to four months due to the need to wait for the biological layer to form." Researching the link between ecosystem and climate A high-tech scientific research installation, called the Eddy Covariance Flux Tower was erected in 2015 in Agincourt, Mpumalanga, which is home to the Medical Research Council/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit. "The Eddy Flux Tower is a piece of equipment which measures the exchange of energy and gases between the land surface and the atmosphere, and does so at landscape scale over a footprint of about a kilometre. The towers were set up to measure carbon dioxide exchange, but also measure water exchange," says Professor Bob Scholes, world-renowned scientist in systems ecology (regarding African savannahs) in the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences at Wits. The Agincourt tower is part of a network of towers in the Skukuza and Malopeni villages in the Lowveld. It was erected by a research consortium that includes Wits University, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and various South African and German universities. The project investigates the coupled carbon and water cycles of natural and disturbed savannah ecosystems in southern Africa. It aims to deepen the knowledge on how the natural environment functions in rural communities in southern Africa. This knowledge is crucial for understanding the link between ecosystems and climate, and how changes in land use may impact the climate in the future. "These towers provide powerful insights into one of the key processes in the hydrological cycle, which control the amount of water entering aquifers [an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock] and rivers for human use, and how it might change with a changing climate," says Scholes. The flux tower houses a range of sophisticated equipment used to measure how much carbon dioxide, water vapour, and energy move between the land surface and the atmosphere. Other measurements, including climate parameters (temperature, humidity, rainfall, atmospheric pressure), are made to get more information about processes of the savannah ecosystem. "The research would help us understand changes in greenhouse gas concentrations and how they influence agricultural and ecosystem productivity," says Scholes. The Skukuza tower, erected in 2000, was the first in Africa and today there are about eight scattered around the country. Another six towers will be erected through the Department of Science and Technology's South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap (SARIR), the first project of its kind in South Africa. SARIR is a strategic intervention to provide research infrastructure across the entire public research system that builds on existing capabilities and considers future needs. Explore further Eco-friendly water treatment works best with experienced bacterial flora A new energy storage system developed by University of Adelaide researchers and industry partners is now successfully supporting the electricity network for the country town of Cape Jervis, South Australia. The new, world-class system is part of a $3.65 million trial led by the University of Adelaide in collaboration with SA Power Networks and system supplier PowerTec. The project is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on behalf of the Australian Government with $1.44 million in grant funding. The mobile battery energy storage system and its specialised control system reduces peak load of the local substation, stabilises the electricity network in the area, and supports a number of nearby customers in the event of a power interruption all without manual intervention. The battery receives control signals from high-voltage electricity infrastructure more than 5km away at the main powerline to the town of Cape Jervis, and makes its own decisions about how best to support local electricity delivery. "This technology is novel because the mobile battery energy storage system's operations are now completely autonomous," said Associate Professor Nesimi Ertugrul, from the University of Adelaide's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. "If an outage occurs, our mobile battery system automatically runs a range of safety checks before providing back-up power to nearby houses until the main grid is restored. "This feature means that residents can also share residential solar power with neighbours during an outage. "This autonomous battery system has many unique and advanced features. We can monitor the system and intervene if necessary, but the system can operate safely in all kinds of situations without the need for any operator instructions," Associate Professor Ertugrul said. "It also allows us to understand the technology under real operating and weather conditions, and gives us the potential to create a knowledge base for industry and system developers." The South Australian Minister for Energy and Mining, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, welcomed the commissioning of the battery as an example of how energy storage can be help make our system more affordable and reliable. "The Marshall Government has committed to invest $50 million to establish a Grid Scale Storage Fund to secure more new storage technologies," Minister van Holst Pellekaan said. The University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Provost, Professor Mike Brooks, said: "This new technology is a world-leading example of how the University of Adelaide is matching its research strengths to business and community need, with real benefit for the people of South Australia. "Our research and development expertise in energy has risen to the challenge." Associate Professor Ertugrul said if an outage occurred because a tree had fallen on powerlines, the power would normally remain out at a regional community for longer, because there is a large area to check for debris. "Cape Jervis has been chosen as the trial location based on several criteria, including the high level of solar PV generation in the area and the large influx of people in the summer, which, when combined with very hot weather, results in high peak electricity demands," said Paul Roberts, Manager Corporate Affairs, SA Power Networks. "From SA Power Networks' perspective, the trial is an opportunity to look at alternative ways to meet peak demand requirements (which usually occur only on a few days a year), rather than more expensive investment in increased network capacity. Avoiding inefficient peak demand-related network investment will help contain long term network costs for customers. "We are keen to understand the benefits, reliability and cost of this kind of battery installation as an alternative option to direct investment in a network capacity upgrade," Mr Roberts said. As part of the trial in Cape Jervis, the system's performance will be monitored across multiple seasons to test performance under a range of conditions. The data generated from the Cape Jervis trials and all tests using the mobile test platform will be made publicly available on the Australian Energy Storage Knowledge Bank website: aeskb.com.au. A liberal intellectual who openly criticised Beijings decision to remove the term limit on President Xi Jinping has spoken out for the first time since his article was put up on the campus of Chinas top university earlier this month. While the article was censored on the mainland, it has been circulating on Chinese social media for the past two weeks. The controversial move to scrap the term limit and allow Xi to stay in power beyond 2023 a change that was made to the constitution in March sparked a huge backlash among Chinas liberal thinkers, even though the ruling Communist Party insisted it was widely supported by the public. Auctioneers of the world unite, Marx is worth more than loose change: philosophers notes now sell for vast sums in China Despite the heavy censorship, many of them have found ways to express their concerns and criticism. But few went as far as Fan Liqin, who was educated at prestigious Peking University. His article which was publicly displayed on the Beijing campus on May 4, a sensitive date marking a student-led political movement sent shock waves through intellectual circles after he questioned the decision and warned against the danger of a cult of personality around the president and an over-concentration of power. It was signed off by Fan, who is in his 70s and well known among intellectuals, and he confirmed for the first time to the South China Morning Post on Wednesday that he had written the piece. Thanks to everyone for their encouragement, I was making these points on behalf of some of us, he said. This is what people of my generation ought to do Im well, no one is troubling me. Im just tired and want to rest. In the 24-page article, Fan condemned the revision that ended term limits on the presidency and vice-presidency and added Xis name to the constitution. Removing the term limits is a fundamental denial of the 1982 constitution, Fan wrote. Its a challenge to the system and to the people. Story continues Chinas constitution, which took effect in 1982, was amended for the fifth time in March when the partys proposal to make the changes was passed almost unanimously by the largely ceremonial legislature. The presidents political theory, Xi Jinping Thought, was also written into the constitution as one of the guiding principles of the party and the state. He was the first leader in decades to enshrine his name in the constitution by naming his theory after himself. Deng Xiaopings eponymous theory was added to the constitution only two years after his death. Frankly speaking, Xi Jinping is building up a personality cult Hes the first leader to name a guiding principle after himself since Mao Zedong, Fan wrote. Citing events from the Mao era including the Cultural Revolution, a decade of violence and upheaval that began in 1966, Fan wrote that a personality cult around the leader would lead to great tragedy for China and the Chinese people. Im already over 70 Im a survivor of hardships, I never dreamed that Id see a leader building up a personality cult again in my lifetime, he wrote. Last month, Xi reportedly told foreign dignitaries and Chinese officials that he was personally opposed to lifelong rule, adding that critics had misinterpreted the constitutional amendment. Fan, who was a biology student at Peking University, was known for opposing the Red Guard leaders supported by Mao during the Cultural Revolution, for which he was tortured by student rebels. After the decade of mayhem, which only ended with Maos death in 1976, Fan worked for state-owned investment company Kanghua, and for the China Disabled Persons Federation, a semi-official organisation. His article was put up on campus on May 4, the anniversary day of Peking University known as Chinas Harvard. The date was set to commemorate the May 4 Movement in 1919, which was led by students and has become a symbol for patriotism and the pursuit of democracy and science. The university was a base for the student organisers of the movement. We are, after all, from Peking University not like others, Fan wrote. [Peking] should not be like other universities. It will sow the seeds of chaos for China: intellectuals urge lawmakers to vote down end to presidential term limit Although the constitutional amendment drew a backlash from the international community and some in China, such open criticism is rarely seen amid heavy censorship and fears of retribution. But a week before legislators passed the amendment, Li Datong, a former editor with state-run China Youth Daily, wrote an open letter calling for the proposal to be voted down. Li, 66, said his comments represented an unspecified group of like-minded people, which he described as professors, business executives and former officials. This article Chinese intellectual Fan Liqin who openly criticised move to scrap term limits speaks out first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. At least five people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside a newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday. The suspect -- who was being questioned in custody -- was described as a white adult male armed with a rifle or a shotgun, who appeared to have acted alone and whose motive remained unknown. Here are some of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States in the past three decades: - Vegas concert: 58 killed - A 64-year-old retired accountant shoots down from his hotel room at a crowd attending an outdoor country music concert on October 1, 2017, killing 58 people and wounding around 550 before committing suicide. It is the worst mass shooting in modern US history. - Florida club: 49 killed - A heavily-armed gunman opens fire inside a gay nightclub in the city of Orlando on June 12, 2016, killing 49 people. The attacker is killed in a shootout with police. He pledges allegiance to the Islamic State group, which later claims responsibility. - Virginia Tech: 32 killed - A 23-year-old student of Korean descent goes on a rampage at Virginia Tech University in the town of Blacksburg in April 2007. He kills 27 students and five teachers before committing suicide. - Sandy Hook: 26 killed - A 20-year-old man kills his mother in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 before blasting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and shooting dead 20 six- and seven-year old children and six adults. He commits suicide. - Texas church: 26 killed - A 26-year-old man who was court-martialed while in the Air Force shoots dead 26 worshippers during Sunday services and wounds at least 20 others at a Baptist church in the small rural community of Sutherland Springs outside San Antonio, Texas, on November 5, 2017. The shooter flees and is later found dead in his car with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. - Texas restaurant: 22 dead - In October 1991, a man shoots dead 22 people at a restaurant in the town of Killeen, Texas and then kills himself. Another wounded victim dies later. - Florida high school: 17 dead - A 19-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was expelled for disciplinary reasons returns to the school in Parkland, Florida, and opens fire on February 14, 2018, killing 14 students and three adult staff members. - California office party: 14 dead - A radicalized Muslim couple storm a Christmas office party at a social services center in San Bernardino in December 2015 and gun down 14 people, wounding 22 others. They are shot dead by police. - Fort Hood military base: 13 dead - In November 2009, a US army psychiatrist opens fire at his military base in Killeen, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 42, before being overpowered by police. - New York immigrant center: 13 dead - A Vietnamese immigrant shoots dead 13 people at a civic center in Binghamton, New York in April 2009, before killing himself. - Columbine High: 13 dead - Two teenage boys shoot and kill 12 classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in April 1999, before killing themselves. - Washington Navy Yard: 12 dead - A former serviceman shoots randomly at workers at the Washington Navy Yard headquarters in September 2013, killing 12 people before he is shot dead by officers. - Denver cinema: 12 dead - A young man wearing body armor opens fire in a movie theater showing a late-night premiere of a Batman film in Aurora, Colorado in July 2012. Twelve people are killed and 70 wounded. He is sentenced to life in prison. SMRT Train (Yahoo News Singapore file photo) Commuters travelling on the North-South Line (NSL) during rush hour on Thursday evening (17 May) were hit with delays due to a platform screen door fault. Rail operator SMRT first tweeted at 6.06pm on Thursday, alerting commuters to add 15 minutes to their travel time from Ang Mo Kio station to Dhoby Ghaut station towards Marina South Pier station due to the fault. About 40 minutes later, SMRT tweeted to alert commuters to add 35 minutes to their travel time. [NSL]UPDATE: Due to a platform screen door fault, pls add 35mins train travel time from #AngMoKio to #DhobyGhaut towards #MarinaSouthPier. SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) May 17, 2018 In its latest update at 6.46pm, SMRT added that free regular bus services were available between Novena and Marina South Pier stations with station staff on standby to assist. [NSL] UPDATE: Free regular bus svcs between #Novena and #MarinaSouthPier. Our station staff will assist. SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) May 17, 2018 At 7.12pm, SMRT again informed commuters to add 35 minutes to their travel time. Almost half an hour later, SMRT asked commuters to add 45 minutes to their travel time. At 8.08pm, SMRT said that the platform screen door fault was cleared and that train services are progressively being restored. It asked commuters to add 25minutes of travel time. Story continues SMRT had earlier on Thursday announced that five stations on the NSL will close earlier and open later on weekends from 1 June to 1 July to facilitate rail engineering and rectification work. The affected MRT stations from Admiralty to Yio Chu Kang will close earlier at around 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and open later at around 8am on Saturdays and Sundays. Related stories: Shorter service hours from Admiralty to Yio Chu Kang MRT stations on 1 June-1 July: SMRT Shorter weekend operating hours for 7 MRT stations along NSL in May Bukit Panjang LRT to close on Sundays from 15 April-24 June for maintenance East West Line early closures to continue through April: SMRT A former chairman of state-owned China Resources was stripped of his justice of the peace title by the Hong Kong government on Friday, months after the disgraced businessman was thrown behind bars for corruption. Charley Song Lin was sentenced to 14 years in jail and fined 4 million yuan (US$628,000) by a Guangzhou court last June after he was found guilty of embezzling public assets worth more than 9.74 million yuan, and receiving property, shares and benefits worth 23.3 million yuan between 2004 and 2013. A notice published in the government gazette said Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had revoked the appointment as of Friday. The title is given to those who have made a significant contribution to Hong Kong society. The main duties include visiting prisons and other detention centres as well as administering statutory declarations and serving on advisory panels. However, Article 6 of the Justices of the Peace Ordinance states the citys chief executive can withdraw the title in a number of circumstances, including when a recipient has been jailed. Song, who joined China Resources in 1985 and rose through the ranks to become chairman in 2008, was one of the most senior Hong Kong-based bosses of a state firm to be prosecuted by mainland Chinese authorities since 1997. He was detained in 2014 and held for more than two years without charge. He was finally charged in 2016 with abusing his position at China Resources between 2004 and 2013 to obtain 9.74 million yuan in illicit gains. Song once headed the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, which held 16 votes on the 1,200-member committee which picks the citys leader. In 2012 he endorsed Leung Chun-ying for the top job, and the following year was appointed by Leungs government to several top advisory positions. These included leading an ethics development advisory committee under the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kongs graft watchdog, and membership of the Economic Development Commission. He was made a justice of the peace in the same year. Story continues His titles on two official advisory boards have already been revoked. In February the government stripped former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan and property tycoon Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong both jailed for graft in 2014 of their civic honours. Hui had been given Hong Kongs highest honour the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2007, while Kwok, the former co-chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, had received the Silver Bauhinia Star that same year. This article Disgraced ex-chief of state-owned China Resources Charley Song Lin stripped of Hong Kong civic honour after corruption conviction by Guangzhou court first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. More from South China Morning Post: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping could be influencing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after Kims regime abruptly shifted to a sharp, negative tone this week, calling off a summit with South Korea and threatening to drop a planned June meeting between Trump and Kim. If you remember two weeks ago, all of a sudden out of nowhere Kim Jong-un went to China to say hello again second time to President Xi, Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, referring to a May 8 meeting between the leaders. It could very well be that hes influencing Kim Jong-un. Well see what happens. Meaning the President of China, President Xi, could be influencing, Trump said. Trumps remarks came the day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the US to remain calm over North Koreas about-face. During an official visit to Paris, Wang said that all parties, especially the United States, should cherish this opportunity for peace and should not work as a barrier. Measures that North Korea has taken to ease tension on the Korean peninsula should be acknowledged, he added. To solve this problem, its necessary for the two parties to work towards the same direction, not the opposite. What I would like to emphasise is that the current eased situation on the peninsula issue has been hard won. Pyongyang cited this weeks long-planned US-South Korea Max Thunder military exercises as the reason for its cancellation of talks with high-level South Korean officials, according to North Korean state media. This years edition of the annual drills, which began on Monday and will continue until the end of next week, was a plot to make a preemptive air strike at the DPRK and win the air, North Korea said. Pyongyang warned the US to call off the exercises or think twice about the fate of the Trump-Kim summit. Story continues North Korea continued its complaints on Thursday as it warned of a rupture in ties with South Korea, calling the countrys officials ignorant and incompetent. The White House said it had had no official notice from the North Korean government and it was continuing to plan the Trump-Kim meeting. The Pentagon said it had no plans to scale back the drills. Trump has said that if the talks dont happen, the US will move on. Kim visited Xi in the Chinese port city of Dalian on May 8 after a surprise two-day visit to Beijing in late March. The quick succession of meetings indicated that the strained ties between the two are improving rapidly as North Korea seeks talks over its nuclear programme. The neighbouring nations, which fought together during the Korean war, had grown apart last year after China backed United Nations sanctions crimping North Koreas energy imports and sources of foreign cash in a bid to pressure it to halt its nuclear and missile tests. Now China and North Koreas interests are becoming more aligned. North Korea relies on China to support its economy, while Xi could use closer ties with Kim as leverage in his talks with Trump over the trade dispute between the worlds two largest economies. Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He is in Washington this week for high-level talks to head off a potential trade war. He is expected to meet with Trump today. You have to have two parties that wanted to do it. He absolutely wanted to do it, Trump said, referring to Kim and the June summit meeting. Perhaps he doesnt want to do it. Perhaps they spoke with China, that could be right. President Xi friend of mine, great guy but hes for China and Im for the United States. This article Donald Trump says North Korea could have been influenced by Xi Jinping to turn on US ahead of talks with Kim Jong-un first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. More from South China Morning Post: France is to ban an additive, used mainly as a whitening and brightening agent in candies, chewing gum, white sauces and cake icing France will forbid the use of a widely used food additive by the end of this year, after studies pointed to potential health risks for consumers, a government official told French daily Le Parisien on Friday. Brune Poirson, a junior minister in environmental ministry, said the move would remove titanium dioxide nanoparticles from candy, prepared meals and other food products. "France has already asked the European Commission to take similar measures," Poirson told Le Parisien. The additive, used mainly as a whitening and brightening agent in candies, chewing gum, white sauces and cake icing, is known as the artificial colour E171 on food labels. It is also used in sunscreens because of the molecule's ability to reflect ultra-violet rays. But critics say it offers no nutritional value nor extended shelf life, and could pose a risk to humans since the minuscule particles may be able to pass through protective walls of organs such as the liver, lungs or intestines. France ordered an inquiry last year after scientists reported that titanium dioxide could cause precancerous lesions in rats. Researchers from France and Luxembourg found a 40 percent increase in precancerous growths in lab rats who had the molecule added to their drinking water for 100 days. The additive also inhibited the immune systems of the rats and "accelerated" the growth of lesions induced for the experiment, according to France's INRA agricultural research institute, which took part in the study. The study's authors said that titanium dioxide was approved in the US in 1966 at levels of no more than one percent of a food product's weight, but that there were no limits regulating daily intake in Europe. Acting for the Environment, a French association, welcomed the decision while also urging the government to ban E171 from cosmetics and medicines, citing a risk it could be absorbed through the skin. Many French candy makers have already stopped using the food colorant ahead of expected restrictions on its use. Carambar and Co. said in February that it had removed E171 from its Malabar chewing gums -- beloved by generations of French children -- since late last year. The company was not among nine food and cosmetic groups targeted in a lawsuit by the French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir in January, accusing them of not disclosing the presence of nanoparticles on labels. Ikea will open its first Ukrainian location next year Sweden's Ikea, which revolutionised affordable furnishing for households, is to expand its flat pack offers to South America for the first time. The group announced on Thursday that it aims to open at least nine stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru in the next decade along with online sales channels for the three nations. Inter Ikea Group's chief executive Torbjorn Loof said in a statement that partnering with the Chilean department store and retail company Falabella "will give us the speed we need to be more accessible to the many". The two companies on Thursday signed an agreement which secured Ikea franchise rights in all three countries. The Swedish giant is also exploring expansion opportunities in Mexico where it opened an office in April 2017. Founded in 1943, the brand currently operates 418 stores in 49 markets. Listed on the Santiago Stock Exchange, Falabella operates 494 stores, 42 shopping centres and employs more than 100,000 people in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Mexico. Anti-establishment and far-right parties began haggling over who will be Italy's next prime minister after publishing a joint policy programme on Friday that brought the eurozone's third largest economy a step closer to a populist government. The political deadlock brought about by March's inconclusive elections neared its end after the plan's unveiling by the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right League party. The programme promises the end of post-crisis austerity measures and seeks deep change in relations with the European Union. In a Facebook video, Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio said that the programme had received an approval rating of more than 94 percent after it was put to party members for a vote on M5S' online platform. "Of the 44,796 people who voted, 42,274 voted in favour of the programme, more that 94 percent," said a beaming Di Maio, who hailed the "outstanding result" as a show of "trust and enthusiasm" for the new programme. The League will also offer a vote to anyone who visits the party stands which are to be put up across the country over the weekend. With voter approval little more than a formality, all eyes were on who the two parties will choose as their candidate for prime minister. They need to announce a name in time for a meeting on Monday with President Sergio Mattarella. Mattarella must agree to the parties' nominee before they can seek parliament's approval for their nascent government. Both Five Star leader Di Maio and Salvini remained tight-lipped on who they want as the next prime minister, as they hashed out their 58-page "Contract for the Government of Change". On Friday Di Maio suggested that he could be one of the candidates. "I don't know if I will end up being prime minister, but our real leader, the programme, will govern this country," he said. Five Star became Italy's largest party at the March elections, gaining nearly 33 percent of the vote, while the League -- shorn of the rest of the rightwing coalition that won 37 percent -- will be the junior coalition partner with 17 percent. - No euro exit - While an exit from the single currency -- mooted in leaked drafts of the document -- is no longer proposed, the document announced the parties' intention to review "with European partners the economic governance framework" of the EU, including the euro. The parties want a monetary union that is "appropriate for the current geopolitical and economic imbalances and consistent with the objectives of the economic union", it said. The document featured a number of manifesto promises from the League. These included hardline immigration and security proposals, pension reform and a plan to have just two tax rates, of 15 and 20 percent. The programme proposed that Italy and the EU implement bilateral agreements with other countries in order to speed up the repatriation of illegal immigrants. The programme also pledges to close all "illegal" Roma camps, set up a register of imams and immediately shut down "radical Islamic associations". - Berlusconi - The proposals contained in the document have caused consternation at home and abroad. The key worry is how Italy, the eurozone's second most debt-laden country, can fund the coalition's proposals, such as drastic tax cuts and a monthly basic income for some nine million people. Some experts have estimated the cost of the document's proposals at 100 billion euros. The Grande Oriente freemasons lodge blasted as "fascist" and "unconstitutional" the parties' decision to ban any of their members from becoming a government minister. Meanwhile on Friday former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi clearly rejected the programme tweeting that his party would act as a "reasonable and scrutinising opposition" to an M5S-League government. The flamboyant media tycoon also took the opportunity to propose himself as the leader of a separate executive given "the lack of candidates with the qualities of trustworthiness, good sense and balance". Berlusconi campaigned alongside Salvini before the election as part of a right-wing coalition. The 81-year-old, recently ordered to stand trial for bribing witnesses in a sex scandal, said that he was "very worried" about the "sermonising" content of the programme. It proposes that no-one convicted of corruption or being investigated for serious crimes can become a minister. Conflict of interest criteria for parliamentarians would also be beefed up. The media mogul, in the Aosta Valley with his Forza Italia party for Sunday's regional elections, said: "I'm available, and I don't think that there's any candidate comparable to Silvio Berlusconi". Ousted Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak speaks during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 12, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer By Rozanna Latiff and Ebrahim Harris KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's former prime minister, Najib Razak, will give a statement at a corruption investigation looking into a transfer of millions of dollars from a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), three anti-graft agency sources told Reuters. Police have been searching Najib's home and other places linked to him as part of an investigation into scandal-plagued 1MDB, an extraordinary turn of events that few would have predicted before his shock defeat in a May 9 general election. The summons by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) comes as part of a widening investigation into Najib. The commission had found evidence that about $10.6 million was transferred from 1MDB's former subsidiary, SRC International, to an account belonging to Najib, said a member of a panel which reviewed the commission case files. A Reuters witness saw commission officials arriving at Najib's residence in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Friday. "They are there to serve notice to attend MACC on Tuesday next week to record a statement related to SRC," one of the sources said, adding the notice was just for Najib. Two other MACC sources confirmed the summons, saying it had already been served. A spokesman for Najib could not be immediately reached for comment. Najib has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer, Harpal Singh Grewal, declined to comment. Authorities in six countries, including the United States, are investigating the fund. Shortly after Najib and his long-ruling political coalition were defeated in the polls last week, new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad barred him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, from leaving the country. Mahathir has said there was sufficient evidence for further investigations into 1MDB. Police seized 284 boxes of designer handbags and dozens of bags filled with cash and jewellery on Friday from a luxury condominium in the city centre. (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Ebrahim Harris; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel) Blog Archive Oct 2021 (14) Sep 2021 (67) Aug 2021 (62) Jul 2021 (54) Jun 2021 (50) May 2021 (58) Apr 2021 (44) Mar 2021 (57) Feb 2021 (64) Jan 2021 (93) Dec 2020 (82) Nov 2020 (62) Oct 2020 (50) Sep 2020 (45) Aug 2020 (51) Jul 2020 (56) Jun 2020 (53) May 2020 (70) Apr 2020 (66) Mar 2020 (169) Feb 2020 (211) Jan 2020 (184) Dec 2019 (54) Nov 2019 (56) Oct 2019 (55) Sep 2019 (63) Aug 2019 (54) Jul 2019 (69) Jun 2019 (56) May 2019 (65) Apr 2019 (68) Mar 2019 (72) Feb 2019 (76) Jan 2019 (62) Dec 2018 (55) Nov 2018 (69) Oct 2018 (90) Sep 2018 (82) Aug 2018 (58) Jul 2018 (36) Jun 2018 (47) May 2018 (44) Apr 2018 (64) Mar 2018 (63) Feb 2018 (68) Jan 2018 (92) Dec 2017 (85) Nov 2017 (64) Oct 2017 (82) Sep 2017 (54) Aug 2017 (89) Jul 2017 (60) Jun 2017 (86) May 2017 (84) Apr 2017 (62) Mar 2017 (86) Feb 2017 (91) Jan 2017 (113) Dec 2016 (109) Nov 2016 (100) Oct 2016 (82) Sep 2016 (95) Aug 2016 (84) Jul 2016 (84) Jun 2016 (99) May 2016 (93) Apr 2016 (106) Mar 2016 (145) Feb 2016 (125) Jan 2016 (103) Dec 2015 (83) Nov 2015 (80) Oct 2015 (100) Sep 2015 (111) Aug 2015 (94) Jul 2015 (98) Jun 2015 (151) May 2015 (125) Apr 2015 (109) Mar 2015 (122) Feb 2015 (113) Jan 2015 (135) Dec 2014 (131) Nov 2014 (115) Oct 2014 (146) Sep 2014 (112) Aug 2014 (128) Jul 2014 (94) Jun 2014 (104) May 2014 (140) Apr 2014 (132) Mar 2014 (81) Feb 2014 (89) Jan 2014 (141) Dec 2013 (100) Nov 2013 (96) Oct 2013 (99) Sep 2013 (94) Aug 2013 (95) Jul 2013 (95) Jun 2013 (91) May 2013 (139) Apr 2013 (179) Mar 2013 (73) Feb 2013 (76) Jan 2013 (85) Dec 2012 (59) Nov 2012 (71) Oct 2012 (85) Sep 2012 (70) Aug 2012 (71) Jul 2012 (53) Jun 2012 (51) May 2012 (52) Apr 2012 (52) Mar 2012 (69) Feb 2012 (76) Jan 2012 (70) Dec 2011 (60) Nov 2011 (54) Oct 2011 (57) Sep 2011 (75) Aug 2011 (72) Jul 2011 (64) Jun 2011 (76) May 2011 (56) Apr 2011 (73) Mar 2011 (114) Feb 2011 (71) Jan 2011 (80) Dec 2010 (92) Nov 2010 (82) Oct 2010 (73) Sep 2010 (95) Aug 2010 (86) Jul 2010 (81) Jun 2010 (76) May 2010 (71) Apr 2010 (74) Mar 2010 (74) Feb 2010 (82) Jan 2010 (101) Dec 2009 (108) Nov 2009 (182) Oct 2009 (136) Sep 2009 (102) Aug 2009 (120) Jul 2009 (151) Jun 2009 (136) May 2009 (180) Apr 2009 (145) Mar 2009 (113) Feb 2009 (113) Jan 2009 (124) Dec 2008 (108) Nov 2008 (69) Oct 2008 (89) Sep 2008 (76) Aug 2008 (75) Jul 2008 (87) Jun 2008 (80) May 2008 (99) Apr 2008 (93) Mar 2008 (115) Feb 2008 (147) Jan 2008 (162) Dec 2007 (124) Nov 2007 (95) Oct 2007 (67) Sep 2007 (42) Aug 2007 (78) Jul 2007 (75) Jun 2007 (123) May 2007 (110) Apr 2007 (108) Mar 2007 (92) Feb 2007 (136) Jan 2007 (119) Dec 2006 (41) Nov 2006 (34) Oct 2006 (12) Sep 2006 (13) Aug 2006 (13) Jul 2006 (16) Jun 2006 (12) May 2006 (21) Apr 2006 (38) Mar 2006 (27) Feb 2006 (25) Jan 2006 (18) By Rozanna Latiff and Tom Westbrook KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police on Thursday searched ousted Prime Minister Najib Razak's home and other places linked to him in connection with an investigation into the scandal-plagued state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Police entered Najib's family home late on Wednesday, an extraordinary scene that thousands watched unfold as it was streamed live. Few would have predicted such a scenario before a May 9 general election that he was expected to win. Amar Singh, the director of police commercial crime investigations, told Reuters that searches were being carried out at the home, at the prime minister's office and a residence he had used, as well as two apartments owned by his family. "We are in the midst of collecting information, we will have more details once we have completed our search," he said, confirming that the searches were related to investigations into the 1MDB scandal that had dogged Najib since 2015. Authorities in at least six countries, including the United States, are investigating the multi-billion-dollar scandal over the fund that Najib founded. Najib has denied any wrongdoing. A lawyer for Najib, Harpal Singh Grewal, said on Thursday afternoon the police search had gone on for almost 18 hours and was "harassment". Najib had indicated he was "prepared and willing to extend his fullest cooperation" to authorities but their long presence and the drilling open of a long-unopened safe suggested "unwarranted harassment," Grewal said. Grewal had police had found "nothing incriminating" but took away some personal items, including handbags and clothing. "This harassment has now continued for almost 18 hours and nothing meaningful has come from the search and seizure of what would appear to be insignificant personal items," he said. Asked if police would arrest Najib, Grewal said: "There is no indication that they will do it." Story continues A police truck packed with big, blue boxes left the compound of the house on Thursday afternoon, a Reuters witness said. There was no immediate word on what was in the boxes. Days after Malaysia's long-ruling political coalition was defeated in the election, new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad barred Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, from leaving the country. Najib was once a protege of Mahathir, 92, who now says there is sufficient evidence to investigate the scandal at 1MDB. Asked about the searches at a news conference, Mahathir said it was a police matter, and he had little information. "I suppose the police have enough reasons to raid," he said. Mahathir has replaced the attorney-general and officials at the anti-graft agency, in what appears to be a purge of people seen as close to the former premier. SEA-CHANGE U.S. authorities allege that more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB in a fraud orchestrated by a financier known to be close to Najib and his family. U.S. Attorney-General Jeff Sessions has called the 1MDB scandal "kleptocracy at its worst". Filings by the U.S. Justice Department in a civil lawsuit indicated nearly $30 million of the money stolen was used to buy jewellery for the prime minister's wife, including a rare 22-carat pink diamond set in a necklace. A Malaysian government advisory panel set up by Mahathir announced on Thursday that it would form a committee to look into matters related to 1MDB. Malaysian politics has undergone a sea-change in the last eight days with the stunning defeat of Najib, his replacement by Mahathir and the pardon and release of jailed reformist Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday. Anwar teamed up with Mahathir, his ally-turned-foe-turned-ally, to oust Najib. The relationship between the two remains volatile, however, and will likely determine what course Malaysia will chart in the coming months. Central bank Governor Muhammad Ibrahim said on Thursday Malaysia was unlikely to be hit with any financial uncertainty because of the political upheaval, although there were some worries about the fiscal balance. "All data shows there is certainty and confidence," he said, after announcing that gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of 2018 was 5.4 percent, close to estimates. "What is less certain is the fiscal side." (Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi, Joseph Sipalan, Liz Lee, Fathin Ungku, Emily Chow; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by John Chalmers, Robert Birsel) Newly released Malaysian political heavyweight Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday he expects ex-premier Najib Razak to be jailed over multi-billion-dollar graft claims. In an interview with AFP a day after he walked free from custody -- where he had languished since 2015 on what supporters say were trumped-up charges levelled at Najib's behest -- Anwar also said he would be back in parliament very soon. "Give me a few months, I should be back as an MP. It is the correct thing to do," he said. Anwar's release on Wednesday capped an astonishing week in Malaysian politics that saw Najib's long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition booted from power in a revolution at the ballot box. The election dramatically reversed Anwar's fortunes, from prisoner to presumptive successor to 92-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. It also imperilled Najib, who Anwar said now faces an "arduous" legal battle -- without the protection of high office. Accused of overseeing the plundering of state fund 1MDB, Najib's position has looked increasingly precarious. Police carried out extensive searches of his home overnight. Anwar predicted that Najib would likely take up the spot he had just vacated in prison. "He will certainly be charged," he said. Anwar declined to say how he thought Najib's case would play out, as it depended on "how he can defend himself in court". But Anwar added: "It will be very difficult for him to escape (going to) prison." Mahathir, who came out of retirement to lead the revolt against Najib, has vowed to hand power to Anwar within two years. The younger man's return to politics has been the subject of much speculation and he confirmed he would be seeking to contest a by-election to return as an MP soon -- but would not seek a position on the front benches just yet. "I am not intending to join the cabinet," he said he had told Mahathir. Anwar Ibrahim said he expects to re-enter parliament soon, but would not take up a cabinet post or the prime ministership just yet Newly released Malaysian political heavyweight Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday he expects ex-premier Najib Razak to be jailed over multi-billion-dollar graft claims. In an interview with AFP a day after he walked free from custody -- where he had languished since 2015 on what supporters say were trumped-up charges levelled at Najib's behest -- Anwar also said he would be back in parliament very soon. "Give me a few months, I should be back as an MP. It is the correct thing to do," he said. Anwar's release on Wednesday capped an astonishing week in Malaysian politics that saw Najib's long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition booted from power in a revolution at the ballot box. The election dramatically reversed Anwar's fortunes, from prisoner to presumptive successor to 92-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. It also imperilled Najib, who Anwar said now faces an "arduous" legal battle -- without the protection of high office. Accused of overseeing the plundering of state fund 1MDB, Najib's position has looked increasingly precarious. Police carried out extensive searches of his home overnight. Anwar predicted that Najib would likely take up the spot he had just vacated in prison. "He will certainly be charged," he said. Anwar, 70, declined to say how he thought Najib's case would play out, as it depended on "how he can defend himself in court". But Anwar added: "It will be very difficult for him to escape (going to) prison." Najib and 1MDB deny any wrongdoing. Mahathir, who came out of retirement to lead the revolt against Najib, has signalled he will hand power to Anwar within two years. The younger man's return to politics has been the subject of much speculation and he confirmed he would be seeking to return as an MP soon -- but would not seek a position on the front benches just yet. "I am not intending to join the cabinet," he said he had told Mahathir. Story continues - Stormy relationship - Anwar and Mahathir, who previously led Malaysia as premier from 1981-2003, have a stormy relationship that has dominated Malaysian politics for decades. Anwar enjoyed a meteoric rise in the now-ousted Barisan Nasional and was heir-apparent to the premiership until he fell out with Mahathir in the 1990s and was sacked. He was subsequently jailed on widely-criticised charges of sodomy and corruption, in a case that gripped the country and triggered unprecedented mass protests. Anwar emerged from prison to unite a previously hapless opposition and lead them to historic electoral gains, before being thrown in jail again. But in a dramatic turnaround, Mahathir reconciled with Anwar when he was behind bars serving his second jail term, and joined forces with the opposition. Anwar conceded he had had "ups and downs" with Mahathir but added their relationship was now "very cordial, very friendly" and signalled he would let Mahathir take charge of running the country for now. "I've told Mahathir that he should feel free to continue to manage the affairs of this country. I will support him," he said. But Anwar added that he would "express my views strongly" if he felt it necessary. Mahathir ruled with an iron first during his first stint in office, and was accused of throwing political opponents in jail and undermining the country's democratic institutions. But Anwar said the elderly politician had pledged to make amends and is now committed to reform, adding: "I think we should welcome that." Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist from think-tank the Penang Institute, said he believed the rivals turned allies could work together for a peaceful transition of power. "The circumstances that the country is in now are very clear," he told AFP. "There is a managed transition that has been agreed upon and accepted by all parties since well before the elections." Members of the public (left) seen assisting a mall security officer in detaining the male teenager (right) who was seen wandering about Bedok Mall with a pair of scissors on Thursday (17 May) afternoon. (Photos courtesy of Andrea Heng) *This story was updated at 12.30am on 18 May 2018 to reflect the Singapore Police Forces response to queries from Yahoo News Singapore A male teenager was arrested at Bedok Mall on Thursday (17 May) afternoon after he was spotted wandering about the mall while carrying a pair of kitchen scissors. In a statement given to Yahoo News Singapore, the police said that they were alerted to an incident at Bedok Mall involving an 18-year-old male who had been seen holding on to a pair of scissors and causing trouble in the mall. The teenager was subsequently detained by the malls security guards and a member of the public, and no injuries were reported, the statement added. The man, who has a history of mental health problems has been arrested for public nuisance. Police investigations are ongoing, said the police. According to an eyewitness, 34-year-old freelance copywriter Andrea Heng, the incident took place at around 2pm on the malls ground floor. Heng had been at the malls Starbucks outlet when she heard shouting from the other end of the mall. Soon after, she saw the teenager walking slowly past the eatery while carrying a pair of kitchen scissors. She said the teenager was being followed from behind by three mall security officers who were trying to talk the teenager into dropping the scissors. The teenager, dressed in a blue T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, seemed to ignore the officers and continued on his way, said Heng, who noted that the teenager was not waving the scissors about in any threatening way. At one point, a male member of the public, distracted the teenager by stamping his foot and moving quickly to snatch the scissors out of his hand, said Heng. This is when the mall security officers stepped in to apprehend the teenager, bringing him to the ground in the process. He looked unstable and very tense, but spoke normally when (the mall security officers) asked if he was carrying anything else on him, Heng told Yahoo News Singapore. She noted that the teenager did not put up a fight when apprehended. Story continues The incident, which lasted about 10 to 15 minutes drew armed police quick response team officers to the scene and the teenager was later taken away in a police car. Last December, an 18-year-old teenager armed with a 10cm pair of scissors was arrested at Bedok Mall after he was spotted shouting aggressively and gesticulating wildly at passersby, causing some some to flee. The police did not confirm if the same teenager was involved in the incident on Thursday. Other Singapore stories: SCDF NSFs death: AGC looking into criminal proceedings New leader to certainly emerge before next General Election: PM Lee Hsien Loong 10 PMDs including 64kg e-scooter seized during enforcement operations: LTA A man who fled Malaysia after being sentenced to hang for the killing of a Mongolian model, in a scandal linked to his countrys ousted government, should face a new trial, political leader Anwar Ibrahim reportedly said Thursday. Former Malaysian police officer Sirul Azhar Umar, who is now in Australian custody, has claimed he was ordered by "important people" to murder Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006. Altantuya was the lover of Abdul Razak Baginda -- a former close associate of now deposed Malaysian premier Najib Razak -- who was accused of arranging kickbacks for the purchase of French submarines in 2002. Opponents of Najib's government have long alleged that Sirul and accomplice Azilah Hadri, members of an elite unit that guards top Malaysian ministers, were scapegoats in the killing to hide the involvement of their masters at the highest levels of government. Sirul has previously threatened to reveal who gave the order. Reformist politician Anwar, who was released from prison Wednesday after his sodomy conviction was quashed by the king following Najib being toppled, suggested Sirul should be brought back to Malaysia for a fresh trial. He told The Australian newspaper the original trial and the judges ruling was "compromised" and the reluctance of the judges to call relevant witnesses "made a mockery of the law". "The best way is to proffer a new charge and allow for a full hearing of the case," he said. Anwar is the presumptive successor to new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad following a stunning election upset last week, with his one-time nemesis turned ally vowing to step down in a year or two to make way for him. - 'Don't say anything' - Sirul was reportedly detained in Australia in 2015 and has been held in custody since, although Canberra has never officially confirmed this. A report in the Guardian last week said his bid for a protection visa would be heard within months. Authorities refused to confirm this to AFP or comment on other details of the case. According to the newspaper, Canberra has allowed Malaysian officials and their middlemen to meet with him regularly, including one from Najibs United Malays National Organisation partys youth wing a fortnight ago. It cited a source as saying the Malaysian visitor delivered a message to his countryman: "Dont say anything". The scandal is one of Malaysia's most sensitive topics, with suspicions swirling for years that Altantuya was murdered to keep her quiet about shenanigans in the submarine deal. Najib has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over the deal amid allegations that French submarine maker DCNS paid "commissions" of more than 114 million euros (US$142 million) for two Scorpene submarines, which Malaysian critics allege were kickbacks. Altantuya, 28, was shot dead and her body blown up with military-grade plastic explosives outside Kuala Lumpur. Sirul and Azilah were convicted in 2009 and sentenced to hang. They were later released when an appeals court overturned the conviction in 2013 after raising questions about how their trial was conducted. But Malaysia's highest court upheld their death sentences in 2015. Sirul fled the country ahead of that ruling. The US Treasury on Friday slapped sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's powerful deputy Diosdado Cabello, just two days before the crisis-hit country goes to the polls for an election Maduro is widely expected to win. Cabello, a Socialist party boss and former speaker of the National Assembly, was targeted along with his wife, brother and an associate deemed a front man acting on Cabello's behalf. "The Venezuelan people suffer under corrupt politicians who tighten their grip on power while lining their own pockets," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "We are imposing costs on figures like Diosdado Cabello who exploit their official positions to engage in narcotics trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement of state funds, and other corrupt activities." While Washington has imposed increasingly heavy pressure on Caracas, the US Treasury had left Cabello untouched until Friday, seemingly lagging behind the actions of other governments. Swiss and EU authorities had already blacklisted Cabello earlier this year, citing grave human rights abuses. The US sanctions, however, can be paralyzing, freezing their targets out of much of the global financial system in addition to blocking any access to US-based assets. The Treasury also accused Cabello of working with other blacklisted individuals to move narcotics from Venezuela to Europe via the Dominican Republic, while moving cash back in the opposite direction to that country, as well as to Panama and the Bahamas. In addition to blacklisting the individuals, the US Treasury also blocked access to three companies in Florida allegedly controlled by Cabello associate Rafael Alfredo Sarria Diaz. Treasury also blocked 14 Sarria-controlled properties in Florida and New York. * Investigation to take 180 days, could be extended by 120 days * Initial probe showed deal might have violated antitrust law * Deal to be blocked if market share found to be over 50 percent (Adds details and background) HANOI, May 18 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Friday it had launched an in-depth investigation into ride-hailing company Grab's takeover of Uber Technologies' Southeast Asia business after an initial probe found it might breach antitrust law. The investigation will take 180 days and could be extended by up to 120 days, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said earlier this week its initial probe suggested the deal might have violated antitrust law It warned last month the transaction could be blocked if Uber and Grab's combined market share in Vietnam exceeded 50 percent, the maximum allowed in the country. Uber and Grab announced a deal in March under which Uber would take a 27.5 percent stake in Grab in exchange for its Southeast Asian business. The U.S. company had previously sold operations in China and Russia to local rivals. Uber and Grab did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comments. (Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter) From your own perspective what is the cultural purpose of Concrete Girls? What story are you telling with this project and why? The project was a chance to make friends and give back to the one thing that has given me so much freedom and confidence throughout my whole life. I didnt feel the UK scene was getting much attention or that people even knew just how big it was in other parts of the world. I thought it would be a nice subject to capture. Also everything is digital now and so throwaway, you can put a image on Instagram or a video on YouTube but it will get forgotten about within minutes and also get lost in amongst the millions of other images and videos being uploaded even minute by other users. Producing a book to me, gave the girls some importance, it was my chance to add to skateboarding history, it is something you can keep forever and cant get deleted so it can take pride in your home. This is no small undertaking independently publishing anything, let alone a high quality coffee-table book like this one must be both expensive and time-consuming can you tell us about some of the logistics involved? Capturing the images was the easy part, however arranging trips and meeting up was difficult at times, as the good old British weather wasnt always on my side so I would waste a lot of money rearranging hotels or public transport. I dont drive either so the whole project was done through traveling on trains and mega buses! My step dad Roger would take me on the longer journey trips, he would use them as a mini break away for him and my mum, so it was a win-win for everyone! At the beginning of 2017 I thought the project was never going to happen, I had contacted every publisher in the UK and Europe who I thought would suit the content but I kept getting a no. Cindy Whitehead, an OG Vert Skater from the US brought out a book titled, Its Not About Pretty and I thought Id drop her a message explaining my situation to see if she could help. After a few emails back and forth she agreed to publish the book for me. A huge thank you needs to go to her for taking a chance on me and believing in the project. The project from start to finish took 5 years, I had to fit trips in around working a full-time job, fostering a dog for a year and dealing with health issues but Ive done it and Im so proud. I wanted to give something back to skateboarding: I call it my retirement piece. Lois Pendlebury and Helena Long. Zombie Surf Party. Photo: Charlotte Thomas Im assuming that you knew most of the skaters in the book before embarking on this project, right? How did you go about organizing who to shoot and where? Through Social Media I found a lot of girls but I mainly knew most of them. I just contacted them via Instagram and explained that I was aiming to produce a book and asked if they wanted to be in it and then if they did, we would discuss cities and spots and meet up. Simple really. Most of the female skaters that Ive spoken to about the recent growth in participation have pointed towards visibility as being a key factor in getting new women interested in skateboarding. What are your thoughts on that and how does that fit into what youre trying to achieve with this project? Yes I agree, seeing more and more girl skaters definitely has encouraged this boom and I think Social Media has had a huge part to play in this. The wonderful thing about Social Media and the Internet in general is that you can build a community like Girl Skate UK have done and see women skating at all levels. Its great that you can see women skating at a high level but its also great to see girls starting out and being able to follow their journey, seeing them develop and get better. Skateboarding is meant to be fun so I think thats how its portrayed these days. Its less about getting sponsored or becoming a pro for the women and more about making friends and trying something new. The current situation is definitely exciting though, which is why Ive decided to do a Volume 2 because everyone Ive met so far this year deserves a book of their very own too as they are also a part of this amazing scene! Photo: Charlotte Thomas How have you seen the womens skateboard scene develop over the years that youve been involved in it? What do you think are the most significant changes that have happened over that time frame? Mainly that when you turn up at a park now there will be more than one female skater, its just normal now, back in my time we were rare it was like being famous! Women are getting more acknowledgement now in the magazines and with brands within the industry too. The confidence in the sport has improved and there is a real community now. There are even crews now too, which is so 90s, Nefarious Crew are in the book, they are from London and are so cool! I think we can thank Social Media, people like Danni at Girl Skate UK and fashion for this. For putting the scene on a platform for people to see the incredible talents of these women. Its very exciting! Ive always thought that skateboarding as a whole benefits from having a strong female component to the culture what are your thoughts on that? Yes I think so, I guess being a female skater I dont really know it without a female component because Ive been part of it for well over decade. Having such a large scene now encourages women with less confidence to get involved which is a great thing. Stef Nurding boneless one, Tottenham. Photo: Charlotte Thomas Sally Ho WASHINGTON, US.- Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates saw an opportunity with a new federal education law that has widespread repercussions for American classrooms. His nonprofit Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given about $44 million to outside groups over the past two years to help shape new state education plans required under the 2015 law, according to an Associated Press analysis of its grants. The spending paid for research aligned with Gates' interests, led to friendly media coverage and had a role in helping write one state's new education system framework. The grants illustrate how strategic and immersive the Microsoft founder can be in pursuit of his education reform agenda, quietly wielding national influence over how schools operate. Gates' carefully curated web of influence is often invisible but allows his foundation to drive the conversation in support of its vision on how to reshape America's struggling school systems. Critics call it meddling by a foundation with vast wealth and resources. The Gates Foundation says it's simply helping states navigate a "tectonic" shift in responsibility for education from the federal government to more local control. "It was both an opportunity and also a concern that states and partners in those states needed support" "For 50 states with varying sets of capacities and capabilities and readiness, it was both an opportunity and also a concern that states and partners in those states needed support," said Allan Golston, president of the Gates Foundation's U.S. work. The Gates Foundation spent about $44 million focused on the 2015 federal education law called the Every Student Succeeds Act. The law gives states flexibility to create their own education system framework defining what a "good school" is and in turn states get federal dollars for complying with their own rules. DEB RIECHMANN Washington, US | May 16 Gina Haspel, President Donald Trumps nominee to head the CIA, won the backing of the Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday, paving the way for her expected confirmation to lead the spy agency. Gina Haspel is the most qualified person the president could choose to lead the CIA and the most prepared nominee in the 70 year history of the agency, The panel voted 10-5 to advise the full Senate to confirm Haspel, whose nomination has renewed debate over the harsh interrogation program the CIA conducted on terror suspects after 9/11. Haspel, who supervised a CIA detention site in Thailand in 2002, has told Congress that the agency shouldnt have used those harsh tactics and has vowed not to restart them. The committee released the result of the vote, conducted in closed session, without giving further details. However, all eight Republicans and two of the seven Democrats on the panel earlier expressed support for Haspel. The remaining five Democrats had announced their opposition. The confirmation vote by the full Senate could occur before the end of the week. Gina Haspel is the most qualified person the president could choose to lead the CIA and the most prepared nominee in the 70 year history of the agency, said Chairman Richard Burr, RN.C. She also had the support of the committees top-ranking Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. THE ASSOCIATEDD PRESS INTERNATIONAL.- Indonesian police on Wednesday shot dead four swordwielding men who attacked a police headquarters in Sumatra, killing one officer, the latest in a spate of militant attacks across the Muslim-majority country. National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said the men attacked officers after driving a minivan into Riau provinces police headquarters. He said a fifth man, who drove the vehicle, was arrested trying to escape. One officer, who was hit by the minivan, died and two were injured. Tambien te puede interesar: Hamas says most slain Gaza protesters were its members When the car broke through into the Riau police headquarters, it was blocked by policemen, Wasisto told a televised news conference. Then four of the men got out from the car and attacked police. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statements carried by its Aamaq news agency. Suicide bombings Sunday and Monday in Surabaya, Indonesias second-largest city, killed 26 people, including 13 attackers. Two families carried out the attacks, using children as young as 7. The Islamic State group also claimed responsibility for the Surabaya attacks. The key figure in the attacks was the head of the Surabaya cell of a network of Indonesian extremists who have aligned themselves with IS. Riau police said they were looking for a sixth man they believe was connected to Wednesdays police station attack. Wasisto identified the group as members of an IS-affiliated group of NII. He was referring to Negara Islam Indonesia, also known as Darul Islam, an Islamic group that aims to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia. SETH BORENSTEIN Washington, US | May 16 For some lizards its easy being green. Its in their blood. Six species of lizards in New Guinea bleed lime green thanks to evolution gone weird. Its unusual, but there are critters that bleed different colors of the rainbow besides red. The New Guinea lizards blood along with their tongues, muscles and bones appear green because of incredibly large doses of a green bile pigment. "Evolution can do amazing things given enough time The bile levels are higher than other animals, including people, could survive. Scientists still dont know why this happened, but evolution is providing some hints into this nearly 50-year mystery. By mapping the evolutionary family tree of New Guinea lizards, researchers found that green blood developed inside the amphibians at four independent points in history, likely from a red-blooded ancestor, according to a study in Wednesdays journal Science Advances. T his isnt a random accident of nature but suggests this trait of green blood gives the lizards an evolutionary advantage of some kind, said Christopher Austin of Louisiana State University. Evolution can do amazing things given enough time, Austin said. The natural world is a fascinating place. Austin first thought that maybe being green and full of bile would make New Guinea lizards taste bad to potential predators. I actually ate several lizards myself and they didnt taste bad, Austin said. He also fed plenty of them to a paradise kingfisher bird with no ill effects except maybe a fatter bird. Understanding bile is probably key. Blood cells dont last forever. After they break down, the iron is recycled for new red blood cells, but toxins are also produced, which is essentially bile. In the New Guinea lizards, levels of a green bile pigment are 40 times higher than what would be toxic in humans. Its green enough to overwhelm the color of the red blood cells and turn everything green, Austin said. UNITED STATES.- A southern white rhino has become pregnant through artificial insemination at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park giving hope for efforts to save a subspecies of one of the worlds most recognizable animals, researchers announced Thursday. Scientists will be watching closely to see if the rhino named Victoria can carry her calf to term over 16 to 18 months of gestation. If she does, researchers hope someday she could serve as a surrogate mother and could give birth to the related northern white rhino, whose population is down to two females after decades of decimation by poachers. The mother and daughter northern white rhinos live in a Kenya wildlife preserve but are not believed to be capable of bearing calves. News of Victorias pregnancy was confirmed two months after the death of the last northern white male rhino named Sudan, who was also at the Ken- ya preserve and was euthanized because of ailing health in old age. Victoria is the first of six female southern white rhinos the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Re- search is testing to determine if they are fit to be surrogate mothers before using the limited sperm and eggs of the northern white rhino that are in storage to impregnate them. The scientists want to use the frozen sperm and eggs that were taken from dead northern white rhinos to bring back a herd through artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. In a May 18 Moneybox, Felix Salmon misspelled the name of the app Qapital. In a May 18 Future Tense, Henry Grabar misspelled the name of Loudoun County, Virginia. Due a production error, a May 18 Future Tense mistakenly had the wrong art. The correct art has since been added. In a May 17 Better Life Lab, Leigh Stringer misidentified Roxanne Fequieres former job. She is a former corporate copy writer; she did not formerly work in corporate copyright. In a May 15 Brow Beat, Lena Wilson misstated Tom Wolfes age at the time of his death. He was 88, not 87. Advertisement In a May 15 Slatest, Elliot Hannon misstated that several lawsuits were not included in the class action settlement with Fox News. There are two outstanding suits that were not part of the settlement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a May 15 Slatest, Molly Olmstead mistakenly referred to Blake Farenthold as David Farenthold. In a May 14 Slatest, Joshua Keating misstated that hundreds of protesters have been killed at the Israel-Gaza border in recent weeks. It has been fewer than 100. In a May 14 Brow Beat, Aisha Harris misspelled Isiah Whitlocks first name. In a May 14 Brow Beat, Lena Wilson misstated that Redbone debuted at No. 12 on the Hot 100. It peaked at that position. In a May 14 Slatest, Osita Nwanevu misidentified U.S. Customs and Border Protection as Customs and Border Patrol. In a May 14 World, Ilan Goldenberg misstated that top congressional Democrats had attended a ceremony to mark the transfer of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. There were no Democrats in attendance. Slate strives to correct all errors of fact. If youve seen an error in our pages, let us know at corrections@slate.com. General comments should be posted in our Comments sections associated with each article. This post is part of Outward, Slates home for coverage of LGBTQ life, thought, and culture. Read more here. I dont think of myself as macho per se, but being at a gay leather party full of hairy guys with big biceps and guts, the air dripping with man-sweat, does something to me. Cruising under those circumstances brings out my more primitive self, heightening my senses and sexuality in a way thats uniquely exciting. I wouldnt be bothered if there were some women there, but to be honest, too many would be a buzzkill. I realize how that sounds, but for me, too much mixed company would interrupt this Tom of Finland fantasy world that Ive come to appreciate. However, in the current moment where masculinity is being called out as a cult on morning TV and where it has contributed to actual terror in the so-called incel rebellion running amok, it feels necessary to examine these temples of manhood with sober eyes. Is there something toxic about my man-fetish, and gay male leather sexuality at large? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At last years International Mr. Leather, one of the largest gay male leather events in the world, International Ms. Leather 2014 (who just goes by Patty) was verbally harassed with her wife as they were getting onto an elevator. One of the guys in the car said that she better not leak all over him and repeatedly told them to get off. They ultimately complied in the interest of safety, to the notable silence of all the other men present. Ironically, Patty was one of the judges for 2017 competition, so she actually belonged more so than most. The leather community is no different than any other community in terms of being affected by these larger social issues, Patty told me from her Toronto home. Advertisement There is an anti-femme sentiment thats prevalent not just in the leather scene, but in the larger gay community. Francisco J. Sanchez, an associate professor at the University of Missouri, lays out some theories for why this is in a paper titled, Masculinity Issues Among Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Men. It could be because some gay men were gender atypical as children and were rejected for it. They defeminized as adults to avoid teasing or bullying and to conceal their queer identity. It could also be because some gay men are attracted to masculinity due to conditioning by things like advertising and porn, affecting how they evaluate themselves and others with masculinity being seen as a more positive trait. They may emulate masculine behavior to protect their sexual self-esteem or to attract what they want: Namely other masculine men. Or this anti-femme bias could be internalized homophobia manifesting itself. Advertisement Advertisement The paper doesnt link anti-femme sentiments of gay men to the sort of outright misogyny that Patty experienced at last years IML; Sanchez tells me over an email that misogyny is not necessarily characteristic of these type of guys. However, he also mentions that it wouldnt be unreasonable to link the two for some gay men, which would seem to be the case with Pattys experience, as if her presence threatened the masculine vibe of the space. Advertisement Though the term toxic masculinity is tough to define, this sort of anti-femme behavior is no doubt toxic, as is the blatant misogyny that Patty experienced at IML. But does a love of the masculine always entail a hatred or distaste for femininity and women? Advertisement Inherently theres nothing wrong with [appreciating masculinity], says leather and kink columnist for the Bay Area Reporter, Race Bannon. Its about being an asshole about it. Its about judging others, its about elevating it as better than, its about discouraging others for being their true self, and its making sure that your own shit doesnt fall into other peoples shit and hurt them in some way. Advertisement In the leather scene, Bannon sees a difference between social and erotic/sexual spaces. He claims that few leather guys have a problem with women present in their well-defined social spaces. It gets a little more complicated with erotic and sexual spaces, since one persons space to get off is anothers place to be social. Leather bars are a good example: Its a public space, so everybody must be welcome; but if theres a backroom for sex or guys sucking each other off by the bar, things get a bit grey. That seems to be where the friction lies. Advertisement Although Bannon acknowledges that a lot of people think that every play space should be mixed, he believes that anyone, regardless of their sexuality, has the right to a space devoted to their demographic, since thats what gets them going. I think that we make a mistake when we try to assert that sexuality is democratic, he says, and that individual sexuality follows any kind of political norm or world view. It really doesnt. Advertisement Patty sometimes opts for play events without men, but she has issue with people who cant fuck in inclusive ones: Ive had some men say to me, Well, I need my separate play space because like if theres women around or effeminate things or high voices, I cant get it up. And Im like, If you cant get it up because Im standing in a corner you should seek medical attention. Not throw me out of the party. Advertisement Advertisement Speaking from experience, I can get it up in a mixed space if necessary, but Im not pansexuala play space with women just isnt my preference. Im not anti-femme or a masc 4 masc jerk. I just like venues where you can taste the testosterone in the air because of the mystical-sexual feeling I get. Though Im convinced that how I enjoy my fetish isnt toxic so long as Im not a jerk about it, is my attraction some brand of internalized homophobia or a neurosis in that vein? Maybe. But maybe not. I think our culture forms us And it forms our sexuality and it forms what we resonate with, and theres a bit of nature in there but theres an awful lot of nurture around our sexuality, Bannon explains. Im not talking specifically about our orientation but our sexuality generally and the internal mechanisms of why we like what we like sexually are not understood by anyone. Advertisement Its true: What we find attractive is determined by a myriad of factors and intricate calculations in the brain. In other words, we dont fully understand why we like what we like; for somebody to say that what we like isnt okay and we should like something different in order to be inclusive seems on par with policing sexuality. To me, thats as problematic as being anti-femme or excluding people because of their gender identity. And the gay leather scene is so deeply rooted in notions of masculinity that it would seem impossible to totally democratize it without castrating its soul. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Patty explains that she doesnt have a problem with men-only spaces as long as they include all men; sadly, many do exclude trans guys. She claims that most womens parties include trans women, woman identified people, and people with womens histories. As identity politics continues to play a crucial role in queer discourse, its not unreasonable to think that in the future public spaces exclusively geared towards gay leather sexuality will fade. According to Bannon, the scene is already balkanizing, with gay kinksters splitting off into their own kinky subsets, be it the rubber boys or pups who are doing their own thing, sometimes publicly but privately, too. Perhaps the natural evolution would be for the male-only spaces to go private as well, returning back to the underground. But maybe theres another way? Different gay men find different things erotic, Bannon says. That will always be the case, that will never change, and no amount of politics or cohesion will change that. What will change is how they talk about it and hopefully a little bit of empathy for the other side because empathy, you know, its the ultimate skill set as far as Im concerned. Bernie Sanders challenge to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary was ultimately unsuccessful, butespecially with timeit hasnt felt that way to his admirers. Not only did Sanders surpass expectations, he also instantly made himself one of the most visible and famous politicians in the country, and his economic populism may set the tone for the 2020 primary (whether or not he runs). Indeed, Jeff Weaver, who managed Sanders campaign, has titled his new book How Bernie Won: Inside the Revolution Thats Taking Back Our Countryand Where We Go From Here. In it, Weaver looks back on the sometimes-contentious Democratic primary and explains why and how he thinks the party needs to change. I suspect the book will also, inadvertently or not, remind a lot of Hillary Clinton admirers why they disliked Weaver during the campaign, which he wanted to see carried on to the end even as it became clear that the nomination was going to Clinton. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I recently spoke by phone with Weaver. During the course of our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, we discussed why Sanders has appeal with Trump voters, how to distinguish between neoliberalism and Trumpism, and why Sanders is still an independent. Isaac Chotiner: What did Bernie Sanders win? Jeff Weaver: Look, I think if you look at the campaign when he started at 3 percent in the polls, the issues that he was talking aboutMedicare for all, $15 minimum wage, free tuition at public colleges and universitiesthose were considered fringe issues. Now, if youll look at the Democratic Party, in the national debate, hundreds of candidates are running across the country on Medicare for all, and a $15 minimum wage is the accepted position of the Democratic Party. Advertisement Is that what you see as his political revolution? The political revolution is about creating a government and an economy that works for everybody. His campaign helped move that forward tremendously in this country. And, I think, woke up a lot of the establishment, frankly, that there is widespread grassroots support for these bold progressive initiatives. In addition to the policy advances, I would say that the level of grassroots activism in this country since 2016 has been overwhelming. It is not entirely because of his campaign, but certainly his campaign is partly responsible for the tremendous amount of grassroots energy you see around the country on issue after issue and in opposition to the Trump presidency. Advertisement Are you a registered Democrat? Advertisement I live in Virginia, where theres no party registration. Ive lived in Vermont, where there is no party registration also. Were I to live in a state with party registration, I would be registered as a Democrat, yes. Hows that? I guess thats as much as I can give you. Advertisement Is Bernie? Bernie also lives in a state that has no party registration, the state of Vermont. Right, but Vermont has had Democratic senators before. Has one [now]. Sen. Patrick Leahy is a long-serving and distinguished senator from Vermont. Bernie Sanders is part of the Democratic leadership in the United States Senate, has caucused with Democrats in the Congress since his arrival in the Congress in 1990. He has provided over $5 million, the last two years, in funding directly to down-ballot Democratic candidates. He campaigned for Democratic candidates around the country. He is the endorsed candidate of the Vermont Democratic Party. If you go to their website and look at their federal officials, he is listed as one of them. Does he have a card in his pocket that says hes a Democrat? No. Does he appear on the ballot as an Independent? Yes. Is he a Democrat? I think that grassroots Democrats consider him a Democrat. Advertisement Advertisement I think hes the longest-serving independent in the Senate, or in Congress, or something. In Congress, yes, in the history of Congress. But when I asked you originally about what Bernie won, it was about changing the Democratic Party. So why, exactly, doesnt he fully embrace the party itself? Look, parties have branding problems. Would joining the party and offering his imprimatur help the Democratic Party in some way? One of the great challenges that the Democratic Party faces, and this is true with the Republican Party too, lets be clear, is that increasingly young voters in overwhelming numbers, when theyre registered to vote, register to vote as independents or no party affiliation. Thats just a reality, and thats a function of the fact that the millennial generation relates to institutions, political institutions, religious institutions, economic institutions in a different way than those of us who are older do. I think that what he does, and I think you saw this in the primary process, is by running as he does as part of what I call a grand Democratic coalition, he generates a tremendous amount of credibility for Democratic candidates with nonaligned, or independent, voters who are an increasing share of the electorate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you look at his performance in the primaries and caucuses, the majority of [states] that allow not-aligned, or independent, voters to participate, he won those voters by 3-to-1 or 4-to-1, in some cases. Which is part of the reason why he would have been such a formidable general-election candidate against Trump. But, at the same time, Bernie Sanders could not have gotten as far as he did as a third-party candidate. The Democrats offered him a platform for the revolution. And the help was the other way around. For those few folks in the Democratic Party who were upset Bernie Sanders ran in their primary, can you imagine how upset they would have been if he had run outside the Democratic Party? That would have been a disaster. Something that he would not have wanted to do. As it turned out, Secretary Clinton did not win, unfortunately. Advertisement No, it would have guaranteed that. It would have guaranteed, yes, right. For anybody who wants Bernie Sanders not to run in the Democratic Party, I ask you to consider the alternative. The critique from Bernie Sanders and also left politicians in the U.K. and Europe is that the center-left parties have been too neoliberal, which they define as being too cozy with Wall Street, privatizing a lot of industries, lobbyists having too much power, and, in their view, watching working men and women get screwed. How do you distinguish Democratic neoliberalism from what we are seeing now? Advertisement Advertisement Theres nothing neoliberal about whats going on in Trumps White House. The Trump White House is a full-on right-wing assault on the country. It is a looting of America by the corporate interests. No, whats going on in the Trump White House is nothing like neoliberalism, no relationship to it. If you look at the tactics of the Trump White House: the intentional division of the country by race, by gender, by sexual orientation, identity, by country of origin. These are the far-right tactics that are often used around the world, but we have not seen them used, to this degree, in America. I mean, successfully by a sitting president ever. You compare George W. Bush, who was certainly conservative, and doesnt share any of the views that I share on most anything, but you cannot argue that he is anything like Donald Trump. Advertisement Advertisement I dont think he became president to enrich himself. How about that? No, thats right, and the tax bill the Trump forces passed in the Congress, George W. Bush would never have dreamed of anything that crazy. Its a very different thing. But the problem with neoliberalism is not just that the policies that it advocates dont benefit working-class people of any race. The problem is that it breaks faith with the people who have formed the foundation of the party and allows them to be picked off by people like Trump. Because they dont have faith that the Democratic Party is standing with them, and their families, in their day-to-day bread-and-butter struggles. That is the problem. That was the problem with the Clinton administration, the Bill Clinton administration, with things like NAFTA, which tore away the historical bonds between working-class people of all races. The African-American middle class in places like Detroit was hit, in some ways hardest, by the deindustrialization that followed the NAFTA agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Then once those bonds are broken, then what you see, in the Clinton administration, was they then had to resort to this very cynical triangulation against some of the most vulnerable members of the traditional Democratic coalition with things like the crime bill, and the so-called welfare reform bill, and DOMA, in order to try and maintain power. Because they had lost this historical connection the Democratic Party has always had with working-class Americans. That is what the progressive movement is trying to re-establish. People like Bernie Sanders are trying to re-establish faith with the working-class communities of all races across this country that the Democratic Party can, in fact, be an advocate for them. Advertisement I have been trying to understand, as the country is being looted by the Trump administration and Trump family, why isnt this registering more with average people? Because it seems like the type of thing that every single person, basically, should be enraged about. I do think part of the problem is that everyone already thinks Washington is full of crooks. Everyone thinks all politicians are crooks. Everyone thinks Wall Street has too much say. Everyone thinks lobbyists control government. The whole system is broken blah, blah, blah, blah. Bernie says that and a lot of politicians say that. Theyre not wrong and Bernies not wrong, but I do think that theres a certain cynicism that weve helped inculcate in people. Which means, when they see real looting, of a degree theyve never seen before, they dont recognize it. Do you think what Im saying has merit to it? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I do think that there is merit to what you are saying. I think there was a poll just out that ranked politician as the least trustworthy profession in the country. Youre right about that. That position is broadly held. But how you combat that is that you actually have a party that is unabashedly standing with everyday people in every zip code to try to make their lives better. As I point out in the book, the challenge for Democrats is greater. When you live in a culture where people widely believe that the government is either inept or corrupt, that is to the benefit of the Republicans, in general. How we remedy that is that Democrats have to stand for something different. They have to do it in a concrete way that people understand is meant to better their lives. Whether one can accomplish that in the short term or not is difficult. Bernie Sanders was often criticized for articulating a set of policy proposals that were not all going to be 100 percent passed by the Congress the day he became president. That criticism was leveled over and over again. I think they completely missed the mark. People want to hear about the vision you have for the country. They get that its not all going to happen overnight, or that maybe some of it may not happen at all. But they want to be convinced that you are actually going to fight for that. Advertisement Advertisement Im not going to ask you if Bernie is going to run again, because I know you will not give me an answer Well, I will. It wont be the answer you want, but Ill give you an answer. All right. Lets hear it. He hasnt decided yet. Hows that? Theres the answer. The answer you didnt want. There you go. That is an answer. Advertisement Do you have faith that there are other people whose names are being mentioned for the 2020 raceElizabeth Warren, someone like thatwho could carry on what you see as the revolution? Or do you feel like, right now, the state of the Democratic Party is such that Bernie is the only possible standard-bearer for the next presidential election? Advertisement I do think that Bernie Sanders is the best standard-bearer and the candidate who would most likely bring success for the Democrats in 2020. I do firmly believe that, and for a lot of the reasons we discussed: his support among independent voters. His support among young voters. His support among working-class voters of all races. That being said, if he were to decide not to run, I think Im not going to handicap another candidate, but let me say this. I think that the Democratic bench is full of a number of very talented, highly qualified people. Some are more progressive than others, but I am confident that the Democrats will be able to nominate a candidate who will be successful against Trump. That being said, I dont think that any of us, as much as we all despise what Trump is doing, I dont think any of us should put ourselves in the position of saying, Its obvious that hell be defeated and theres no problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You were often described as being willing to go further than Bernie when you were running the campaign, whether in terms of tactics or fighting on to the end. Was that a fair description of your dynamic? Im not really sure what that meant. Everybody has a role to play in a campaign. There is a candidate. Theres a campaign manager. Theres press spokespeople and everybody has a role to play. I considered myself a loyal lieutenant in the 2016 race. I certainly dont feel like I did anything, maybe with one exception, that was either unratified or unsupported. Advertisement What was the exception? Well, there was this one episode after the Iowa JeffersonJackson dinner, where I suggested that Hillary Clinton would be a good vice presidential candidate. I think people missed the point of what I was saying. I discuss that in the book. But it was attacked as a sexist comment. It was certainly not the intent of it to be a sexist comment. It was meant to highlight the fact that Obama had not chosen Secretary Clinton as his vice president, at a time when she was trying to position herself as being very close to President Obama. But anyway, that point was lost in the scrum of the campaign. The Clinton people ran with it, as did some in the media, so I would say that that was a statement that was not ratified or supported. But other than that one incident, I feel like I faithfully served as a loyal lieutenant and did the job that the campaign and the candidate wanted me to do. When it was announced that you would run Our Revolution, the political action organization Sanders backed, after the campaign, some staffers seemed to express disappointment or were angry that you were chosen, and resigned. Why was that? Look, campaigns are hard-fought things and, as I point out in the introduction of my book, I did not use my book or did not want to use it as a place to grind axes with people I had worked with on a historic campaign. I know, I was disappointed by that. I know. Everybody likes the bloodletting. But I think there was a difference of opinion about how to move our revolution forward. The senator, I think, supported my view of it and not theirs. And like any endeavor, sometimes people choose to go their own way. I think thats great. I wish everybody who worked on the campaign well, and I hope they are successful in the future in helping to move the revolution forward. This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy. The latest sideshow stemming from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian collusion is Congressmen Devin Nunes (RCalif.) and Mark Meadows (RN.C.) demand for classified documents from the Department of Justice. Nunes has requested that the DOJ reveal the identity of a key source in the Russia probe, despite the DOJs objection that providing this information would place the source in danger. Nunes nevertheless has issued subpoenas to the DOJ and is threatening Attorney General Jeff Sessions with contempt charges and impeachment if he doesnt comply. Meanwhile, the Washington Post has reported that Meadows plans to use a federal audit to access the DOJ memo expanding Muellers jurisdiction beyond his original appointment. Meadows and Nunes have grounded their aggressive requests in Congress constitutional oversight authority over the executive branch, and the Trump administration has endorsed their efforts. Though they may not realize it, in doing so they are undermining the core constitutional argument asserted by President Trump and his allies against the Russia investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps emerging legal defense for obstruction of justicefloated by Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz and othersrests on an extreme interpretation of the separation of powers known as the unitary executive theory. This interpretation asserts that the president has exclusive control to direct and fire anyone in the executive branch, unfettered by Congress. The unitary executive theory is based on a single clause of Article II, which states that The executive Power shall be vested in a President. Trump and his lawyers have stretched this theory to an absolutist extreme. Trump tweeted, paraphrasing former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova, [Muellers] questions are an intrusion into the Presidents Article 2 powers under the Constitution to fire any Executive Branch Employee[Asking] what the President was thinking is an outrageous..as to the Presidents unfettered power to fire anyone Similarly, his former lawyer John Dowd argued, [The] President cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitutions Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case. Advertisement Meanwhile, when Congress has debated a bill to protected Mueller from Trumps firing, Republican senators have invoked a similar theory of the presidents absolute removal power to explain their votes against it. A growing number of conservatives and academics have been fighting to revive Justice Scalias extreme interpretation of exclusive executive control over prosecution. Some also use this theory to argue that a president can never obstruct justice by firing officials. But as Republicans in Congress assert their power over the DOJ, these academics have been conspicuously silentmaybe because Scalia was wrong, and maybe because they actually do not have a consistent position. Advertisement The text of Article II or the rest of the Constitution does not support the unitary theory. Rather, proponents of the unitary executive look to Justice Scalias lone dissent in Morrison v. Olson, a 1988 Supreme Court case which challenged the law giving Congress authority to appoint an Independent Counsel as a violation of the separation of powers. In Morrison, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, writing for a 71 majority, upheld the constitutionality of Congress creation of an independent counsel, selected and supervised by judges. But Justice Scalia disagreed, stating, We should say here that the Presidents constitutionally assigned duties include complete control over investigation and prosecution of violations of the law, and that the inexorable command of Article II is clear and definite: the executive power must be vested in the President of the United States. (Thats Justice Scalias own original emphasis on the word complete.) Advertisement Advertisement One of us has argued previously that Scalia was wrong on his own originalist terms. Historically, most prosecution in England and America was private prosecution until the end of the 19th century. The first Congress also allowed some law enforcement officials to be removable by federal judges, and it contemplated giving the Supreme Court the power to appoint the attorney general and giving district judges the power to appoint district attorneys. Many early state constitutions also reflected that prosecutors had a mixed judicial role. Scalias dissent was contradicted by American history. Advertisement If supporters of the unitary executive really believe these powers are exclusively committed to the executive branch, why are they silent about such congressional overreach? But Scalia also overlooked Congress investigatory and prosecutorial powers, in some of the ways that Nunes and Meadows are illustrating now. Congressional committees can use subpoena power to investigate crimes. And Congress has the power to enforce these powers with its own legislative contempt proceedings. Historically, Congress has internally prosecuted contempt of Congress, defined as a criminal offense. Advertisement But there is a deeper problem with Scalias formalistic separation. Many people dont realize those words separation of powers dont appear in the Constitution. The concept is implicit in the structure of the Constitution, but not explicit. In fact, the Framers understood the structure of the new government to be a more mixed, practical, and functional system than a strictly formal separation. James Madisons essay titles in the Federalist Papers highlight this originalist point. For example, Federalist No.48 is titled, These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other. And the title of Federalist No. 51 is The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments. Checks and balances is actually a more accurate description of Constitutions structure. Advertisement Madisons vision of checks and balances is more accurately how the Constitution works in design and practice. For example, the presidential signature or veto of legislation is a lawmaking legislative act. The president nominates and the Senate confirms judges. If the founders wanted complete and formal separation, judges could have been popularly elected (which is what states adopted later for greater separation and for a twist on judicial independence: separation of powers). Congress has the power to create (and repeal) lower courts, to increase or decrease the number of Supreme Court justices, and to create regulations and exceptions for their jurisdiction. Some executive branch officials can have quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative power. (And Congress indeed can give them special job security, which gives independent agencies like the Fed an important degree of insulation from partisanship). This is a system of mixed and overlapping powers, and not strict separation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result of Madisons vision, the powers of each branch arent clearly defined silos but ones that overlap and sometimes clash. Nunes and Meadows current requests to DOJ seek to follow in that tradition. But if Congress can intervene in executive functions through its oversight authority, it can certainly do the same through its core legislative function, as well. Congress has the power to pass statutes criminalizing bribery or obstruction of justice. Those general laws apply to the president, just like everyone else, even when he or she uses official powers. Just as a president cannot sell pardons, the president can be guilty of obstruction if he uses pardons or removal powers to halt a lawful investigation, or to shield himself or his associates from criminal liability. Advertisement Despite his earlier denunciation of Congress ability to criminalize his personal actions, Trump himself has acquiesced to these recent congressional efforts by tweeting his support for Nunes and Meadows: [The DOJ lawyers] dont want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal justice? At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved! And even Scalias supporters have remained curiously quiet in the face of members of Congress asserting their power over the executives criminal investigation and prosecution functions. Advertisement Advertisement Even the proponents of unitary powers have now tolerated Congress intervention into the most sensitive details of a criminal investigation. If the supporters of the unitary executive really believe that these powers are exclusively committed to the executive branch, why are they now silent about such congressional overreach? By failing to object, they are implicitly conceding that Congress does have such powers. In law, there is a concept of estoppel, a rule against making contradictory arguments. So might they be metaphorically and morally estopped from their wrong-headed resurrection of Scalias theory of extreme executive power? Advertisement Advertisement Of course, the check-and-balances framework doesnt mean that Nunes and Meadows should be able to subpoena the DOJ for whatever documents they want. This is where the difference between these two interpretations matters. Scalia framed the separation of powers with hyperformalism, with the language of exclusivity and complete control. This kind of formalism is designed to set aside practical consequences and pragmatism. Meanwhile, checks and balances is generally understood to consider practicality and functionalism. The approach of checks and balances rests on the balance of the overall system and the public interest, as the most important consideration. Thus, the checks and balances approach tends to arrive at common sense results. Congress surely has the power of general oversight of the DOJ, and it can use the subpoena power in many cases. But those powers have limits if they interfere with or jeopardize ongoing and sensitive investigations. One lesson is that Congress has the power to give special counsels a degree of protection from presidential removal. Another take-away is that, just like Scalias Morrison dissent, too many of todays originalists engage in convenient cherry-picking and selective application of principles. Scalias formalism fails, while functionalism makes sense of our system. But the bottom line is that checks and balances are a better understanding of our Constitution than strict separationism, and Congress should be exercising its powers to protect the rule of law, not to undermine it. More from Just Security: The Missing Justice Department Memo on Whether a President Can Be Subpoenaed to Testify in a Criminal Case The Intel Communitys Annual Transparency Report Raises More Questions Than It Answers President Trump calls the Russia investigation a witch hunt. Democrats say just the opposite: They think the FBI tilted the 2016 election by smearing Hillary Clinton while hiding its investigation of Trumps campaign. But partisanship seldom explains an organization as complex as the FBI. This weeks New York Times report on Crossfire Hurricane, the FBIs investigation of Russian involvement in the election, explores the dynamics that drove the inquiry. The investigation wasnt a left-wing hoax or a right-wing cover-up. It was a mess of structural biases, idiosyncrasies, ulterior motives, misjudgments, and perverse effects. Advertisement Heres what the Times revealed: 1. Many factors relevant to the investigations fairness have been invisible. Trump says the investigation was out to get him. As evidence, he points to every step taken against him or his aides. He omits the steps that could have been taken but werent. The Times reports, for example, that FBI officials, to avoid influencing the election, delayed interviewing Trumps aides. They didnt inform the public that they were investigating Mike Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and Carter Page. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI also kept quiet about intelligence that indicated the Russian government was supporting Trump. Peter Strzok, an FBI agent whom Trump accuses of bias against him, recommended withholding information about the probe from Obama appointees at the Justice Department because he feared they might leak it. And when the Times wrote about the investigation shortly before the election, law enforcement officials talked the paper into downplaying Trumps links to Russia. When you take these factors into account, the degree of scrutiny and publicity Trump received looks pretty modest. Advertisement 2. Trump and his people brought the scrutiny on themselves. Trump expresses outrage that the FBI targeted his campaign. But the article explains how he and his advisers aroused suspicion. Papadopoulos blabbed that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton. Page dismissed FBI warnings that he was being courted for nefarious purposes by his Russian contacts. Trump called on Russia to release Clintons emails. And when FBI agents were nearly ready to close their investigation of Mr. Flynn, he rekindled the FBIs interest in November 2016 by signing an op-ed article that appeared to be written on behalf of the Turkish government, and then making phone calls to the Russian ambassador that December. The FBI investigation was a mess of structural biases, idiosyncrasies, ulterior motives, misjudgments, and perverse effects. 3. The FBIs secrecy helped Trump. Trump says the FBI conspired against him by investigating him surreptitiously. For example, it used clandestine subpoenas, known as national security letters. And when the bureau took other measures, such as interviewing the Australian ambassador to whom Papadopoulos had blabbed about Russian dirt, these steps were shrouded in secrecy, the Times reports. But when youre running for president while under investigation, keeping the investigation quiet is the best you can ask for. You cant accuse the FBI of leaks and political sabotage while complaining that it did its work in secret. Advertisement Advertisement 4. There were good reasons for the secrecy. Democrats accuse the FBI of bias for hiding the Trump investigation while publicizing the Clinton investigation. They also wonder why the FBI was slow to pursue investigative steps, such as interviewing Trumps advisers. But a former national security prosecutor told the Times, There is always a high degree of caution before taking overt steps in a counterintelligence investigation. The key word is counterintelligence. Exposing the Trump probe didnt just risk tipping the election. It risked alerting the Russians and anyone collaborating with them. 5. Investigators tried not to hurt Trump, in part to avoid helping him. According to the Times, some people at the bureauincluding former FBI attorney Lisa Page, whom Trump accuses of conspiring with Strzok against him advocated a slower, circumspect pace to the Trump investigation, especially because polls predicted Mr. Trumps defeat. The slow-it-down camp worried that anything the FBI did publicly would only give fodder to Mr. Trumps claims on the campaign trail that the election was rigged. That sounds like favorable treatment of Trump. But it was calculated to deprive him of a campaign issue. The rationale was tainted, even if the effects werent. Advertisement Advertisement 6. The insurance policy was an argument for propriety. In his now-infamous text message to Page, sent on Aug. 15, 2016, Strzok wrote, I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in [thenFBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabes] officethat theres no way [Trump] gets elected, but Im afraid we cant take that risk. Its like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before youre 40. Trump sees this message as proof of bias against him. But you have to read the message in the context of Pages contrary view, which was that the FBI could afford to go slow on Trump because he would lose the election. Strzok wasnt saying that the FBI should go out of its way to stop Trump. He was saying that the FBI shouldnt count on voters to get rid of whatever investigation-worthy problems Trump and his aides presented. Strzok was saying that the FBI should do its job. Advertisement Advertisement 7. One key factor was that thenFBI Director James Comey was kept out of the loop. In his book, his Senate testimony, and multiple interviews, Comey has explained that he wrote his fateful October 2016 letter to Congress, about reopening the Clinton investigation, because he thought that to remain silent about such a move would have been to conceal crucial information. This view was idiosyncratic. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, for instance, has agreed with Democrats that the FBI has no business making such statements about people under investigation. Advertisement Comeys idiosyncrasy was crucial, because it was brought into play only in the Clinton investigation. The Times reports: Comey was briefed regularly on the Russia investigation, but one official said those briefings focused mostly on hacking and election interference. The Crossfire Hurricane team did not present many crucial decisions for Mr. Comey to make. By keeping information away from Comey, the team bypassed his concealment complex. Comey couldnt feel a duty to disclose what he didnt know. The Times report is unsatisfying to people on all sides. Critics on the right say it whitewashes the FBIs efforts to frame Trump. Critics on the left say it excuses the FBI and the Times complicity in persecuting Clinton. Well probably hear these complaints again when the DOJ inspector generals report, which covers the investigation in more detail, comes out. But reports such as these arent wrong when they dont fit political narratives. Narratives are wrong when they dont fit the facts. The Trump administration is planning to instate a rule that will bar recipients of federal family planning funding from educating women about abortion options, making referrals to doctors that provide abortions, or providing abortion care. Conservatives have cheered the move as a way for the federal government to partially defund Planned Parenthood without requiring an act of Congress. Reproductive-rights advocates are calling the policy a domestic gag rulea U.S.-based version of the global gag rule that prevents U.S. aid dollars from going to any international organization that so much as acknowledges the existence of abortion. Every Republican president has instated the global gag rule since Ronald Reagan first implemented it; every Democratic president has rolled it back. Advertisement The domestic gag rule started with Reagan, too, in 1988. It affects money affiliated with Title X, the federal family planning grant program launched under Richard Nixon that provides subsidized contraception, gynecological care, and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections. In 2016, the program served more than 4 million patients, about two-thirds of whom were living at or below the poverty line. Planned Parenthood is a disproportionately important player in the Title X ecosystem: Its health centers make up just 13 percent of Title X family planning providers in the U.S., but they serve 41 percent of all Title X patients. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Title X money is already barred from funding abortion care; grant recipients that provide abortions keep the money separate in their accounting. But the domestic gag rule would additionally require Planned Parenthood clinics and other abortion providers to enforce a physical separation between its Title Xfunded services and its abortion work, with separate staff dedicated to each. Doctors providing family planning care to Title X patients would not be able to discuss abortion at all. Advertisement When Reagan first instituted the rule, Planned Parenthood and other reproductive-rights organizations immediately sued the federal government, claiming the rule violated caregivers rights to free speech and womens rights to a constitutionally protected medical procedure. The regulations willcensor communications between doctors and other health professionals and their patients on matters of vital medical significance, read a complaint Planned Parenthood filed against thenHealth and Human Services Secretary Otis Bowen. The failure to provide complete information about pregnancy management at the earliest possible point in the pregnancy, and the failure to make necessary or appropriate referrals as early as possible, will often result in delays in, or failure of, a patient to obtain proper care. A federal court granted a preliminary injunction, but the Supreme Court allowed the rule to go into effect in 1991. In a 54 vote in Rust v. Sullivan, the court held that the rule did not constitute censorship. This is not a case of the government suppressing a dangerous idea, but of a prohibition on a project grantee or its employees from engaging in activities outside of its scope, the opinion read. The regulations do not violate the First Amendment free speech rightssince the government may make a value judgment favoring childbirth over abortion, and implement that judgment by the allocation of public funds. In so doing, the government has not discriminated on the basis of viewpoint; it has merely chosen to fund one activity to the exclusion of another. The opinion also noted that the government has no constitutional duty to subsidize an activity merely because it is constitutionally protected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote the courts opinion in Roe v. Wade, wrote a dissent joined by three other justices. The Court, for the first time, upholds viewpoint-based suppression of speech solely because it is imposed on those dependent upon the government for economic support, he wrote, accusing the architects of the rule of deliberately manipulating [a womans] decision as to the continuance of her pregnancy. By the time the Supreme Court handed down its opinion on the domestic gag rule, George H.W. Bush was president. Large majorities of both the House and Senate voted to axe the rule, but Bush vetoed the bill. A vote to override the veto failed by 10 votes in the House. Still, the rule never fully went into effect, due to court challenges and the election of Bill Clinton, who suspended and then voided the rule. Advertisement Like the Hyde Amendmentthe law that keeps women on Medicaid from using their health insurance to cover abortion careboth the global and domestic gag rules place the burden of anti-abortion politics on poor womens health. Since Supreme Court precedent prevents conservatives from banning abortion outright, theyre exerting control over the only bodies they can: those that get their health care with the help of public-health funding. There is no way to cut Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers out of the Title X program, or force them to contort their buildings, staffing, and finances to accommodate this new rule, without interrupting the health care services of women most at risk for unplanned pregnancies and gynecological health crises. Advertisement Advertisement If Planned Parenthood loses or experiences a gap in its Title X funding, the 41 percent of Title X patients who get reproductive health services there will see lapses in their care. Some will miss months of contraception, while others will delay cancer and STI screenings. The federally qualified health clinics that will maintain their Title X funding are ill-equipped to take on a sudden load of new family-planning clients; quality of care will decline for their new and existing patients alike. Many people who rely on Planned Parenthood for Title Xfunded services live in rural areas and underserved communities where there are no other nearby options for low-cost health care services. The domestic gag rule could make medical care inconvenient or impossible to access for these hundreds of thousands of patients. Advertisement Advertisement The federal government should not be in the business of making health care more difficult to access for those who already experience worse health outcomes than their wealthier peers. The domestic gag rule furthers constrains low-income Americans to one set of health care options, while middle-class and wealthy Americans get another. If a poor womans Title X provider opts to continue receiving federal dollars, her doctor wont be able to give her the same information about her pregnancy options as a woman with privately-funded contraception. Alternatively, if her Title X provider opts out of federal dollars, it may be forced to close or limit services. In Chief Justice William Rehnquists opinion in Rust v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court described the reproductive health care plight of the low-income woman thus: The fact that most Title X clients may be effectively precluded by indigency from seeing a health care provider for abortion-related services does not affect the [courts decision] here, since the financial constraints on such a womans ability to enjoy the full range of constitutionally protected freedom of choice are the product not of governmental restrictions, but of her indigency. Advertisement Advertisement This is a chilling abdication of the social contract. Freedom of choice is no freedom at all if the law blocks certain women from getting comprehensive medical information from their doctors. And what is to blame, if not governmental restrictions, for the unplanned, unwanted pregnancies that will undoubtedly result from the lapses in contraceptive care this rule will create? It is my view that no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition, Nixon wrote in 1969, the year before he signed Title X into law. Republicans once saw subsidized contraception as a method of reducing incidences of abortion. Now, its a pawn in a political war where poor womens bodies bear the consequences. On Thursday, BuzzFeed News published an entertaining and scoop-tastic piece about Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohens extensive 201516 efforts to launch a Trump Tower project in Moscow. Muellerheads should read it in full, but Id like to talk about two lil sentences involving mob-linked felon and frequent Trump Organization partner Felix Sater, who worked closely with Cohen on the Moscow push: The following day, reporters for the Associated Press met with Trump on the campaign trail and asked him about Sater. Im not that familiar with him, Trump replied. Advertisement That day was in December 2015, and heres the relevant part of the AP story being referenced: Felix Sater, boy, I have to even think about it, Trump said, referring questions about Sater to his staff. Im not that familiar with him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This denial was not particularly plausible at the time given that Trump had worked with Sater for years, including on the high-profile Trump Soho project in New York, and been photographed with him on multiple occasions. But its particularly egregious in light of two details in the BuzzFeed story that I dont think have been reported elsewhere: Sater once worked out of a Trump Tower office three doors down from Trumps. Lest you think that maybe Trump didnt care who used the offices next to his, the spot was later taken over by Cohen, his personal lawyer. Trump signed a letter of intent making an initial commitment to the Moscow project that Sater had brokered on Oct. 28, 2015. Felix Sater? Doesnt ring a bell not sure hes a guy with any connection to me, Donald Trump. Definitely not someone who worked like fifty feet away from Donald Trump in something called Trump Tower as a senior advisor to Donald Trump and whose project Donald Trump personally approved 36 days ago. Nopedont think Ive ever heard of him. Come on! A 42-year-old man shouting anti-Trump rhetoric fired four shots shots into ceiling of a lobby at the Miami-area Trump National Doral resort hotel at 1:30 a.m. on Friday morning, police say. The man was shot by responding officers and was taken to a hospital while still conscious. A representative of the Miami-Dade Police said he is in stable condition. Little is yet known about the mans motives, but authorities seem to believe he fired shots in the lobby with the specific intent of luring police into a gunfight. He also draped a flag over the lobbys counter at one point. No bystanders were hurt; one officer sustained an injury to what varying reports describe as his arm or his wrist. This is part of Season 2 of Whos Afraid of Aymann Ismail?, a series featuring Slates Aymann Ismail investigating fears about Muslims in America. Watch the entire series. At a protest the night before Donald Trumps inauguration last year, a woman accused me of taqiyya on the street. I didnt know it at the time, but she was telling me Im a liar because Im Muslim. Ive since learned that the concept of taqiyya has taken hold in anti-Muslim circles to mean deceptionthat any Muslim can lie to non-Muslims if it means advancing some hypothetical Islamic global conquest. The term is often deployed to refute anything a Muslim tries to say. After that night, I wanted to know where this conspiracy theory came from, and whether anyone would even believe me if I tried to prove it wrong. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I turned to a young imam in Texas who runs a group that takes on myths about Muslims to explain the concepts real meaning in Islam, if any. Then I talked to a self-marketed Islam specialist whose work is often cited to back up these claims. Aymann Ismail This series is written and produced by Aymann Ismail and Jeffrey Bloomer, and edited by Aymann Ismail. Watch more episodes: What Happened When a Devout Muslim and Catholic Got Married in Small-Town Iowa Fox News Claimed a Sharia Law Court Is Enforcing Islamic Law in Texas. So I Went to See It. Wearing a Hijab Is Complicated. So Is Deciding to Take One Off. After weeks of applying legal pressure to Donald Trump and his attorney Michael Cohen, Michael Avenatti might soon see the tables turned. Stormy Daniels lawyer faces the possibility of a subpoena demanding that he name the source for a report he released earlier this month on potentially corrupt payments to Cohen. Avenatti does not appear to have a legal basis to maintain the confidentiality of his source, yet the public interest may well be served by allowing him to remain silent. Advertisement On Wednesday, the New Yorkers Ronan Farrow published a story about an unnamed law enforcement official who reportedly leaked the information contained in Avenattis report. The report detailed several deposits to the bank account of Essential Consultants LLC, the same shell company Cohen used to make a $130,000 hush money payment on Trumps behalf to Daniels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deposits came from companies including AT&T, pharmaceutical giant Novartis, and the U.S. investment arm of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, and appear to indicate that Cohen was selling access to his putative clients. All of this may also constitute evidence of other wrongdoing. The source told Farrow that he or she took the information from a database of suspicious activity reports, or SARs, that are submitted by financial institutions to the Treasury Department. The SARs database is highly confidential, in part because it contains financial information that is subject to stringent privacy protections and because disclosure of the data can tip off potential wrongdoers during investigations. Advertisement Improper disclosure of an SAR by a government employee can be a felony, and the official who leaked Cohens data is highly likely to be in the crosshairs of a potential prosecution. The Treasury Departments inspector general has reportedly commenced an investigation. Furthermore, there is good reason to question the sources judgment in choosing to break the law by disclosing the reports. Improper disclosure of an SAR by a government employee can be a felony. The source told the New Yorker that he or she leaked the information because of a concern that reports relating to millions of dollars in additional payments to Cohen appeared to have been removed from the SARs database, possibly as part of a cover-up. The Treasury Department, however, responded by explaining that, [u]nder longstanding procedures, [the department] will limit access to certain SARs when requested by law enforcement authorities in connection with an ongoing investigation. It therefore appears likely that, far from reflecting a cover-up, access to the missing reports was restricted at the request of prosecutors who are investigating Cohen and possibly others. Advertisement Advertisement If there is a criminal investigation of the leak, Avenatti could be among the first people investigators will look to for information. Therefore, Avenatti may soon find himself to be a witness against his own source. Advertisement Avenatti says that he will refuse to name his source. According to Avenatti, journalists dont have to disclose their sources, and attorneys dont have to disclose their sources either because they are covered by the work-product doctrine. Avenattis argument, however, has no apparent basis in law. The Supreme Court has declined to recognize that journalists have a constitutional right to maintain the secrecy of confidential sources, and Congress has not enacted a shield law to provide such protection. Accordingly, journalists can be compelled to name their sources. Furthermore, in past criminal investigations, prosecutors have subpoenaed journalists when they deemed it necessary to identify sources. Advertisement In any event, Avenatti does not claim to be a journalist and instead grounds his purported right to shield his source on the attorney work-product doctrine. That doctrine, however, offers no apparent protection for Avenatti here. The work-product doctrine protects against disclosure of material prepared by or at the direction of an attorney in anticipation of litigation. Some courts have allowed attorneys to keep the identities of witnesses confidential where disclosing them would reveal a lawyers trial strategy, but identifying the source of a purloined document would not expose any such strategy. Advertisement Even if Avenatti somehow established that the work-product doctrine applied here, the privilege is qualified, and where an adversary demonstrates a sufficient need to review work-product material in order to obtain probative factshere, facts that may relate to criminal activitya court may compel disclosure. Advertisement Some may be surprised, even outraged, that Avenatti could be judicially coerced to reveal the source of his report. That said, Avenatti is far from a whistleblower in any conventional sense of the word. His report did not appear to aid in bringing a potential wrongdoer to justice. Federal prosecutors have long been investigating Cohen. Indeed, it is possible that the leak of the SARs data might have interfered with their inquiry, even as it provided valuable information to the public. Advertisement Its also important to note that while Avenatti has declared that his goal is to seek the truth, he is an attorney advocating for the interests of his client, not a journalist. In a court filing, Avenatti cited Supreme Court cases providing that journalists generally cannot be penalized for publishing information that is illegally obtained by others. But as a leading legal-ethics expert has explained, attorneys are not allowed to use or disclose documents they know were illegally obtained in representing their clients, even if the attorneys played no role in purloining the documents. Indeed, Avenattis request for admission to intervene in the Cohen proceedings in the Southern District of New York could well be denied on ethical grounds. Yet in these extraordinary times, Avenatti does seem like something of a hero, even if he is acting outside the boundaries that normally govern the conduct of attorneys. Furthermore, its possible that, by shedding light on important information, he is furthering the public good. Even though Avenatti sometimes conducts himself more like a troll than a lawyer, a troll may be just what our republic needs in this moment. This week, Google announced that its pulling the plug on one of the worst-named internet products in recent memory. YouTube Red, the subscription-based music and video service that sounded a lot like a porn site, will be replaced by a pair of new services, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium. Youll pay a bit more each month for the privilege of not having to hide your credit card statements from your partner. The demise of YouTube Red comes the same week that Google rebranded part of Google Drive, its cloud storage service. Its paid storage plans for consumers will now be called Google One, and Drive customers who had those plans will become One customers. Neither Google Drive nor Google One is in the same league as YouTube Red when it comes to awful names, but theyre not exactly Dropbox, either. Google One sounds like it should be the name of Sundar Pichais private jet, and Google Drive sounds like it should be the name of Waymo, the self-driving car company under Google parent Alphabet. Waymo doesnt sound like it should be the name of anything. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then theres G Suite, which sounds like the winner of a contest to see if anyone could come up with an even worse name for a group of productivity apps than the one it replaced, which was Google Apps for Work (previously Google Apps for Your Domain). The beloved Gchat became the confusing Google Hangouts, in a rebranding so disastrous that it set back the companys entire messaging strategy. The company has been churning through new names for its various messaging services ever since, including Allo, Duo, Android Messages, and most recently, plain old Chat. The company is on its safest ground when it just prepends the name Google to whatever a product or service does: Google Docs, Google Reader, Google News. Yet even that formula can go awry. The corporate history ledger is littered with Google ____ names that failed to make clear their intentions: Google Keep, Google Wave, Google Buzz, to name a few. Advertisement Google Glass was a nomenclatural own-goal of historic proportions. The company could have embraced the inherent dweebiness of its augmented-reality glasses and called them something self-deprecating like Google Goggles. Instead it aimed for an air of sleek exclusivity by calling them Google Glass, which helped to fuel a righteous normie backlash that led to Glass wearers becoming popularly known as Glassholes. It was a nomenclatural own-goal of historic proportions. (I will grant that the alphabetical and dessert-themed naming scheme for versions of the Android operating system is delightful.) Advertisement Why is Googleer, Alphabetso hopeless at coming up with product names? Perhaps the question itself contains part of the answer. Google was an ingeniously playful and memorable name for a search startup, but the company grew so vast and bureaucratic that it couldnt even stick to the one great, universally recognized name that it started out with. Now Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet, which would be a fine name if it werent for the fact that no one uses it because everyone still thinks of the company as Google. Presumably, companies above a certain size default to naming things by committee and according to internal politics rather than in a flash of insight or whimsy. Thats why the best-named subsidiaries of tech behemothsInstagram, Skype, YouTube, Siriare usually former startups that kept their names when they were acquired. Advertisement Advertisement And yet no other big-five tech company is quite so consistently atrocious at naming things as Google. Apples product names are obvious, yet iconic: iPod, iPhone, iTunes, MacBook. And if its numbering system for iPhone versions is sometimes bafflingiPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4?at least its concise. Apple News, Apple Music, and Apple Watch may not be inspired, but they clearly say what they do and whos doing it. Lightning, Thunderbolt, and FireWire may be annoying to deal with, but at least theyre fun to say. Safari is a great name for a browser. The company has had some missteps, like the iPhone X, which no one knows how to pronounce. (And remember Ping? No?) But for the most part, it has managed to avoid the most grievous naming blunders, like calling its first smartphone Mobi instead of iPhone. Advertisement Advertisement Microsofts product names are hard to love, but hard to hate. Windows, Word, Office, Bing, Internet Explorer. Microsoft Edge is a forgettable browser, but that isnt its names fault. Its Windows versioning is even less coherent than Apples iPhone numbering: 98, 2000, ME, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10(?!?). But whatever. Amazon has kept things admirably simple. Theres Amazon, theres Amazon Prime, there are Amazon Fire devices, and there are Echo devices, and most of its new products get a variant on one of those three. Alexa rivals Apples Siri as a catchy name for a voice-based AI, and they both blow away the Google Assistant, which Ive almost never heard anyone say outside of an official Google event. Advertisement Facebook is the one Googleer, Alphabetfoe that routinely picks product and feature names that are even worse than Googles, I mean Alphabets. Like Google, the company started off strong when it was small: the Wall, friends, the like button, and Facebook itself were all snappy, evocative names that told you what they did while eschewing verbosity. Messenger and the news feed are fine. But the company lost its way a bit when it started trying to launch spinoff apps, like Paper (which already belonged to another popular app) and the egregious Poke. Advertisement The responses to an informal Twitter poll of the worst-named recent launches by a major tech company that I posted Thursday found Facebook an instant winner. Folks, it doesnt get much worse than Facebook Youth Portal. Advertisement Facebook Youth Portal Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) May 17, 2018 Still, Facebook cant touch Google/Alphabets sheer volume of bad names, nor can it match the industry-shaking impact of Alphagoogs incoherent branding across the spectrum of internet services. Facebooks product names may sometimes creep us out; Apples may lend themselves to parody; Microsofts might bore us to death. But only Googphabet launches so many poorly named products that it has to rebrand them on an almost yearly basis. So rest in peace, YouTube Red, and welcome to the world, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium and Google One. May you last longer than your unfortunate predecessorsbut well go ahead and reserve some space for you in the Google graveyard, just in case. Multiple Fatalities in Texas School Shooting Megan Gates 18 May 2018 what we know A shooter opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, at approximately 7:45 a.m. Friday morning. Ten people were killed and 10 were injured in the shooting. Police have a suspect in custody. He has been identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17. The shooter was armed with a shotgun and a .38 revolver. Explosive devices were found in the high school and the surrounding community. Local authorities are urging community members to report "suspicious packages" by calling 911. Death toll rises to 10, Texas Governor Abbott Confirms UPDATE 3:25 p.m. ET, May 18, 2018 Ten people were killed and ten more injured in the Santa Fe High School shooting on Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed in a press conference this afternoon. "We grieve for the victims who lost their lives at Santa Fe High School and we pray for the families that are suffering and the families that will continue to suffer in the days to come," Abbott said. He also confirmed more information about the suspected shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, including that authorities have discovered evidence on his computer, phone, and in a notebook that he intended to carry out a shooting and commit suicide. Before he was able to commit suicide, however, Pagourtzis allegedly turned himself over to the authorities and was taken into custody. To carry out the shooting, the gunman was armed with a shotgun and a .38 revolver. Abbott said the shooter took these firearms from his father, who had obtained them legally. There was no evidence at the time of the press conference that the father knew his son had taken the weapons. Abbott also said that authorities were interviewing two people of interest, but declined to release any additional identifying information about them. While those interviews are ongoing, authorities are continuing to sweep Santa Fe High School for explosive devices and are searching two residences and a vehicle associated with the gunman. Law enforcement is proceeding with caution, Abbott said, due to the risk of discovering additional explosive devices that could pose harm to investigators. In addition to conducting a full investigation into the shooting--with the goal of prosecuting the gunman--Abbott said he will be working with the Texas legislature and other state officials to set up roundtable discussions. They will discuss "swift solutions to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again," he explained. Future actions could include taking legal action to keep guns out of the hands of those that pose an immediate danger, enhancing background checks, increasing resources for school security, and funding initiatives to address mental illness and gun violence. Abbott said his goal is to work together to create laws that "protect Second Amendment rights but ensure that our communities, and our schools, are safer."Suspect in custody identified UPDATE 2:55 p.m. ET, May 18, 2018 An official briefed on the investigationtold USA TODAYthat the suspect in custody for the Santa Fe High School shooting is 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis. "The suspect was armed with at least one rifle or shotgun, but the first official cautioned that there could be other weapons related to the incident, though not yet recovered," according to USA TODAY. Authorities have detained another individual as they continue to investigate the shooting. However, more information about who that individual is has not been confirmed.explosive devices found near high school, surrounding area UPDATE 1:00 p.m. ET, May 18, 2018 The Santa Fe Independent School District announced that explosive devices were found in Santa Fe High School and the surrounding area. "Because of the threat of explsive items, community members should be on the look-out for suspicious packages and anything that looks out of place," the district said via a statement to Twitter. The district is urging anyone who sees something suspicious to call 911 and wait for authorities to respond. Multiple authorities, including the FBI, ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, and local law enforcement are on the ground responding to the situation.Trump Gives a statement on shooting UPDATE 12:20 p.m. ET, May 18, 2018 In an appearance at the White House this morning, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is monitoring the situation in Santa Fe, Texas, and reiterated that school safety is a top priority. "My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools, and keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselvs and to others," Trump said. "Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe."Multiple fatalities texas school shooting UPDATE 11:30 a.m. ET, May 18, 2018 A shooter at a Texas high school killed at least eight people and injured multiple others on Friday morning. Authorities have a suspect in custody, and said it is no longer an active shooter situation. Police responded to shots fired at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, after a gunman opened fire around 7:45 a.m. when the school day was beginning. Witnesses described students running from the school as they heard gunshots; they also described hearing an alarm at the school, though the sequence of events wasnt immediately clear,according to CNN. Authorities have not released the identity of the suspect in custody or of any of the victims. However, The New York Times reports that an officer working for the Santa Fe school district as a school resource officer wasinjured during the shooting. The shooting is the third school shooting in the past week, and the 22nd mass shooting in the United States since the beginning of 2018, CNN said. Both the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Harris County Sheriffs Office are on the scene to investigate the incident. Security Management will continue to update this post as more information is confirmed. In response to the incident, ASIS International has made soft target and active shooterresources available for security professionals. They include white papers, webinars, book excerpts, and recorded conference sessions designed to help deter, prevent, and minimize future attacks. African sand zoo under Tatras Adam Bakos and a team of carvers from the ice dome at Hrebienok made the statues. More than twenty large animals made out of sand appeared in Poprad. Enlarging the zoo and adding new animals is in the plans, wrote Spis Korzar. The park includes an elephant with a two metre long trunk, a crocodile that is seven metres long, rhinos, hippos, wildebeests, hyenas, buffalos, lions, meerkats and more, Spis Korzar reported. We also plan to put an old jeep in the compound and paint it safari colours. It will be a fun spot to take pictures for children and parents, said Adam Bakos, as quoted by Spis Korzar. Why African animals? In our experience, children like big animals the most. We wanted to make them happy so we choose an African theme. If the sand zoo is successful, we will also make some domestic animals or castles, noted Bakos, as cited by Spis Korzar. The sand statues were made by five sculptors from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. Statues like stone Special sand was imported to Poprad from Hungary on several trucks, Spis Korzar wrote. The sand has to contain lots of water and be thoroughly tamped down in boxes, where we pour it. Then we remove the box and the sand is sculptured into a statue. Then we made it waterproof with a special layer. There are small cracks in the surface and it looks like they are made out of sandstone, Bakos explained for Spis Korzar. Bakos is an experienced carver in woodcarving, ice carving and now sand carving. Working with sand is demanding mainly due to the physical condition required. Artists must pour several cubic metres of sand until they reach a specific shape and size, Spis Korzar reported. Each material is unique. Ice is hard but interesting. On the other side, it is fragile. Statics is important when it comes to sand because it can fall apart easily. Wood is the most universal material. It is a nice and resistant material, Bakos said, as quoted by Spis Korzar. There is also a zone for snacking in the compound. The sand zoo will be open until the end of October, when Bakos and the other carvers will go to Hrebienok to prepare the ice dome for the winter season, Spis Korzar reported. 18. May 2018 at 7:35 | Compiled by Spectator staff MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (Department of Commerce) (DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF ANTI-DUMPING AND ALLIED DUTIES) TERMINATION ORDER New Delhi, the 16th May, 2018 Case No. OI-40/2017 Subject : Anti-Dumping investigation on imports of Meta-Phenylene Diamene-4-Sulphonic Acid (MPDSA) originating in or exported from Peoples Republic of China. No. 6/35/2017-DGAD.Having regard to the Customs Tariff Act 1975 as amended from time to time (hereinafter also referred to as the Act) and the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti-Dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995, as amended from time to time (hereinafter also referred to as the Rules) thereof, M/s Chamunda Industries, M/s Matrushakti Industries and M/s Varahi Industries (hereinafter referred to as the petitioners) had filed an application before the Designated Authority (hereinafter also referred to as the Authority) in accordance with the Act and Rule supra for initiation of anti-dumping investigation and imposition of anti-dumping duties concerning imports of Meta-Phenylene Diamene-4-Sulphonic Acid (MPDSA) (hereinafter also referred to as the subject goods or product under consideration), originating in or exported from China PR, (hereinafter also referred to as the subject country) alleging dumping of subject goods from subject country and consequent injury to the domestic industry. 2. The Authority notified the Embassy of the subject country in India about the receipt of the antidumping application before proceeding to initiate the investigation in accordance with Sub-rule (5) of Rule 5 supra. 3. The Authority on the basis of prima facie evidence submitted by the petitioners, issued a public notice vide Notification No. 6/35/2017-DGAD dated 24.01.2018, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, initiating the subject anti-dumping investigation in accordance with the Rule 5 of the AD Rules, to determine the existence, degree and effect of the alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty, which, if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry. 4. The Authority considered April 2016 to June 2017 (15 months) as the POI (Period of Investigation) to undertake analysis. For the examination of trends, in the context of injury analysis, the periods covered included Apr13-Mar14, Apr14-Mar15, Apr15-Mar16 and the period of investigation. 5. And whereas, the Authority has relied upon the transaction wise import data obtained from DGCI&S, for determining the volume and value of import of subject goods for the POI and previous years. 6. The Authority post-initiation sent copies of the initiation notification to the Embassy of the subject country in India, known producers/exporters from the subject country, known importers/users and the domestic industry as per the addresses made available by the petitioners and requested them to make their views known in writing within 40 days of the initiation notification as per Rule 6(2) of the AD Rules. Necessary extensions to file such submissions wherever warranted was also granted by the Authority. 7. The Authority provided copies of the non-confidential version of the application to the known producers/ exporters and to the Embassy of the subject country in India in accordance with Rule 6(3) of the Rules supra. A copy of the application was also provided to other interested parties, wherever requested. The Embassy of the subject country in India was also requested to advise its domestic exporters/ producers to respond to the questionnaire within the prescribed time limit. 8. Subsequent to initiation and on 31.1.2018, it was communicated to all the producers/ exporters of the subject goods that the relevant information should be provided separately in exporters/ importers questionnaires. The Authority sent questionnaires to elicit relevant information to 3 known producers/ exporters in subject country in accordance with Rule 6(4) of the AD Rules; 9. In response to the initiation notification and intimation, 9 exporters/ producers from subject country responded to the Authority by filing Exporters Questionnaire Response. 10. Questionnaire links were also sent to 24 known importers/ users of subject goods in India calling for necessary information. 3 importers/ users responded by filing Importer Questionnaire responses. 11. The Authority made available non-confidential version of the evidences presented by various interested parties in the form of a public file kept open for inspection by the interested parties. 12. The Authority, in accordance with Rule 6(6) of the AD Rules, to provide opportunity to all interested parties to present their views orally, had also fixed a date of Oral hearing which was supposed to be held on 22.05.2018. 13. The request to terminate the present investigation has been made by the domestic industry under Rule 14(a) of the AD Rule vide its letter dated 07/05.2018 (delivered on 11/05/2018) citing the following reasons: a. Their customers are not happy with them and in fact are quite upset with their decision to seek anti-dumping duties and they do not wish to spoil relationships with their customers to such an extent where they might lose their customers in their effort to get duties imposed. b. They are quite a small sized company and are finding it difficult to meet the elaborate requirements of the government and find the entire process quite time consuming. In view of the time and process that was being taken, they are afraid of losing their customers. 14. The Authority notes that the Rule 14(a) of the Anti-Dumping Rules read as under: Rule 14. Termination of investigation. The designated authority shall, by issue of a public notice, terminate an investigation immediately if (a) it receives a request in writing for doing so from or on behalf of the domestic industry affected, at whose instance the investigation was initiated; 15. The Authority, however, notes that the reason cited by the domestic industry for termination of the petition appears to have little merit as the anti-dumping action does not seek to hurt the interests of the consumers in India. It only seeks to ensure that there is no unfair trade whereby the domestic industry is placed at a position of disadvantage in Indias domestic market. Further, the procedures followed are simple and designed to come to a factual conclusion relating to the various claims of the concerned interested parties, including the domestic industry. 16. Regarding the time taken, the effort of the Authority is to complete investigations in the shortest period taken by any national trade defence agency. In this specific case, the Authority has only fast-tracked the investigation process to complete it within eight months from the date of initiation, recognising that the petitioners are from the small scale sector and therefore more susceptible to any possible unfair trade. The Authority notes that the petitioners have requested the withdrawal of their petition at a stage where the Authority sought its convenience for a physical verification of the information/ data submitted by it, at its factory premises, it is not clear to the Authority why such a verification should be considered onerous by the petitioners. 17. However, the Authority notes that Rule 14(a) of the Anti-Dumping Rules does not grant any discretion to the Authority in the matter of termination of investigation, once the domestic industry files a written request for termination of the investigation. 18. Accordingly, in view of the request of the three petitioners and the provision in Rule 14(a) of the Anti-Dumping Rules, the Authority hereby terminates the present anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of Meta-Phenylene Diamene-4-Sulphonic Acid (MPDSA) originating in or exported from Peoples Republic of China initiated on 24/01/2018 vide Notification No.6/35/2017-DGAD. SUNIL KUMAR, Addl. Secy. & Designated Authority Times: Everton withdraw compensation offer in Silva dispute Friday, 18 May, 2018 The report corroborates suggestions that, following Watford's decision to lodge a formal complaint with the Premier League, the two clubs opened negotiations last month to try and reach a settlement. The Hornets' hierarchy contend that the Toffees approached Silva illegally when they sounded him out over the possibility of replacing Ronald Koeman as manager at Goodison Park in November. Everton made two official offers of compensation, the higher reported to have been between 12m and 15m, but both were rejected. Their offer of 1m in compensation tendered last month has since been taken off the table after that, too, was rebuffed. According to Matt Hughes in The Times, Everton claim to have evidence that Watford made a similar approach to Silva when he was still at Hull City in sending him a draft contract while he was still employed by the Tigers itself a breach of Premier League rules a claim they deny on the basis that the Portuguese had a six-month break-clause in his deal. If the clubs cannot come to any accord over the issue, it will prompt legal proceedings and a panel of arbitration which, some outlets have reported, could at its most extreme result in Everton starting next season with a points deduction. Most observers agree that it is unlikely it would get that far. Watford, meanwhile, are in the middle of a separate dispute with Silva himself over 750,000 he claims they owe him in unpaid wages following his sacking from his position at Vicarage Road in January. Source: The Times About these ads Rice prices in top exporter India fell this week to their lowest in five months as the rupee depreciated, while rates in Vietnam hit a four-year high amid stronger demand and limited supplies. Indias 5 percent broken parboiled variety prices dropped by $3 to $404-$408 per tonne. The continuous correction in the rupee has allowed exporters to reduce export prices in dollar terms, said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The rupee has fallen about 6 percent so far in 2018 to its lowest in 16 months, increasing exporters margins from overseas sales. Indian rice is becoming more competitive in the world market due to the falling rupee, said another exporter based at Kakinada. Rice exports in India surged 18 percent to a record 12.7 million tonnes in the 2017/18 financial year, which ended on March 31, on good demand for non-basmati rice from Bangladesh, Benin and Sri Lanka. An official at Bangladeshs food ministry, however, said the country would not require hefty rice imports this year. Bangladesh emerged as a major importer in 2017 after floods damaged its crops. The governments stock levels have improved significantly. I dont think Bangladesh would need to import a huge amount this year again, even if rice crops are affected by flooding. A labourer carries a sack filled with rice through an alley at a wholesale market in Kolkata March 14, 2014. Photo: Reuters Meanwhile, in Vietnam, prices of 5 percent broken rice rose to $460-$465 per tonne from $455-$460 a week earlier. It was the highest level since August 2014. News about Indonesias plan to buy another 500,000 tonnes gives an additional push to the price amid tight supplies and the recent offers from the Philippines, a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader said. Indonesia is expected to work directly with Vietnam Southern Food Corp and Vietnam Northern Food Corp to buy the grain in private placements, rather than opening a tender. In Thailand, prices of 5 percent broken rice eased slightly to $435-$440 a tonne, free on board (FOB) Bangkok, from $435-$445 last week, on a weaker baht. Demand was slow, Bangkok-based traders said, but they hoped lower prices would attract buyers. A worker unloads paddy rice in a government warehouse in Ayutthaya province, nearly 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok August 7, 2012. Photo: Reuters The market is still quiet, but with lower export prices now, there is more chance of sales, a trader in Bangkok said. Thailand, the worlds second-biggest rice exporter, will hold an auction for the last 43,700 tonnes of rice fit for human consumption from state stockpiles on Friday. A separate lot of 2 million tonnes, which is unfit for human consumption and for industrial use, will be auctioned next month. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! HANOI - Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Friday it had launched an in-depth investigation into ride-hailing company Grab's takeover of Uber Technologies' Southeast Asia business after an initial probe found it might breach antitrust law. The investigation will take 180 days and could be extended by up to 120 days, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said earlier this week its initial probe suggested the deal might have violated antitrust law. It warned last month the transaction could be blocked if Uber and Grab's combined market share in Vietnam exceeded 50 percent, the maximum allowed in the country. Uber [UBER.UL] and Grab announced a deal in March under which Uber would take a 27.5 percent stake in Grab in exchange for its Southeast Asian business. The U.S. company had previously sold operations in China and Russia to local rivals. Uber and Grab did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comments. Alumni from a school in the southern Vietnamese city of Can Tho made a splash on social media after posting a touching photo album celebrating 20 years since starting high school. The Bui Huu Nghia High School graduating class of 2001 was all smiles during a 17-year reunion celebration on May 13. The alumni, now in their mid-30s, donned white shirts and ao dai, mimicking the school uniforms from their adolescence, as they basked in the nostalgia of their teenage years. Even a pregnant alumna who could not wear ao dai managed to put on a white T-shirt to fit in with the group. After receiving permission from the school board, the group held a photoshoot reliving their funniest classroom moments passing notes, dozing off, celebrating in the same room they spent hours studying from 1998 to 2001. Photos from their shoot were quick to take over social media, garnering hundreds of thousands of likes, shares, and comments in just a few hours after being posted on Monday. Rising to social media fame was the easy part. It was getting the gang back together that made things tough. Weeks of planning went into guaranteeing that every member of the 2001 class 12A2 was back in Can Tho for the reunion, including several alumni who traveled hours from Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces, and others who only had a few hours to spend at the reunion before rushing back to work. We came up with the idea of getting everyone together for something special during a catch-up at a coffee shops, Ho Hong Xuan, one of the groups organizers, said. Although the school has been renovated and the class is not the same as it used to be, having everyone together made it a truly special day," Xuan added. In the past, the group would meet during the Lunar New Year, or Tet, but this is the first time that all 31 members have been able to be in one place at the same time. To keep the tradition going, they decided to adopt May 13 as an official annual reunion date. "Nowadays, social network sites make it easy to keep in touch with each other. Thats why we still maintain a Facebook group," said one of the alumni. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. An alumnus recreates a scene where he uses a trick to help his friend pass a verbal test. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. An alumnus recreates failing a verbal test and being forced to kneel by the teacher. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. The alumni re-enact the moments from the past in this photo provided by the group. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! During his visit to Vietnam, Simon McDonald, Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK, held an exclusive discussion with Tuoi Tre News on the two countries cooperative efforts in the context of Brexit, the nickname given to Britain leaving the European Union. The top British diplomat emphasized that Brexit has opened the UKs doors to the world and created an opportunity for an enhanced Vietnam UK relationship. The conversation below has been edited for cohesion, clarity, and concision. The CPTPP interest Weve heard that London has shown real interest in the TPP and may want to join this pact after Brexit. Does the United Kingdom see the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), now the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as a real opportunity? The United Kingdom has to reconsider its trade connections around the whole world. For the last 45 years our main focus has been on Europe. That will clearly change as we leave the European Union. But new relations and new connections are still under discussion, so the CPTPP is of very great interest and the ministers are actively looking at this, but we are not in the position to make any formal announcement yet. Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK Simon McDonald speaks about London's interest in CPTPP Not only the UK, other countries such as South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia are also exploring the deal. What makes CPTPP attractive without the United States? Of course the TPP with the U.S. was an enormous trading possibility. What interests me is that when the U.S. dropped out, the TPP did not fall apart because the eleven other countries are still a very big block. Encouraged particularly by the Japanese, the eleven have kept together and now have arranged the CPTPP. It is launched and is being ratified. We expect it to come into force at the end of this year or the beginning of 2019. There is still quite a lot to do before an announcement is made. What I can say to you today is that we are very interested in this. If not the CPTPP, is the UK going to boost trade with Southeast Asian countries? Absolutely, with both ASEAN and with individual countries so that we can have bilateral free trade agreements all over the world. We have a whole department, the Department of international trade, in London which was set up in 2016 and their whole focus is on new trade agreements. Smart city development This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-UK diplomatic relationship. Will the UK have a specific policy to support Vietnam during this year and in the future? Were building the relationship all the time. For the 45th anniversary, I think we can expect some high level contacts in the second part of the year, so we hope for some very senior visitors from Hanoi to London later in the year. Were also rolling out some of our prosperity programs between the UK and Vietnam in economic reform, healthcare, and smart city development. Ive just arrived in Ho Chi Minh City and one thing I know is that you are building enormous new buildings so I think they can have forty tower blocks all in one district in Ho Chi Minh City. How you integrate the huge new development into a wider city is the challenge for the infrastructure, services, water, electricity, and transport. The UK has good experience in managing big and growing cities, so this is one of the areas I hope that the UK can offer consultancies and advisors. Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon McDonald shares about Vietnam - UK relation One of the important parts of developing smart cities is renewable energy. Renewable energy is taking off all around the world. I know Vietnam already has a lot of renewable energy in its mix - thirty two percent is hydra - but this percentage can grow. Over the last two years in the United Kingdom we have moved from 40 percent coal power in 2012 to 7 percent currently. Vietnam still has a lot of coal in its mix, I think that is an area worth looking at as coal is a very polluting energy. The UK will absolutely share with Vietnam its experience of changing from coal to renewable energy. The whole point of a collaborative relation is each side can benefit from the lessons the other has learned. There are many Vietnamese students studying in The UK. Will the UK offer stronger assistance to Vietnamese students studying in the country? We already have many thousands of Vietnamese students in the UK and I heard that the number is growing very rapidly so we are very pleased about that. Were also pleased about the joint-degree programs, so a Vietnamese student does not need to travel to the UK to benefit from UK education. We now have forty five of these joint-degree programs. Also the British government directly sponsors scholarship for the very best Vietnamese students, including the Chevening scholarships, and the program has grown rapidly in recent years. UK Vietnam trade increases 250 percent Speaking at the EIC (Energy Industries Council) Connect - Energy Vietnam 2018 in Ho Chi Minh City on May 17, Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon McDonald said the two countries have collaborated fir a long time and upgraded their relations into strategic partnership since 2010. Trade between Vietnam and the UK has increased approximately 250 percent during the past eight years, he added. According to McDonald, the cooperation potential is still high, especially in the energy sector, which is considered as a big opportunity over the next 20 years. The EIC Connect - Energy Vietnam 2018, organized by the British Consulate General, EIC, Petrol Vietnam (PVN) and EVN, hosted 50 business companies with around 100 delegates from all around the UK. Vietnamese actress Nha Phuong plays a pregnant immigrant trying to survive in London in the debut of Infill & Full Set at the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival. Nha Phuong, a rising star in Vietnams film industry following her role in the 2014 horror flick Vengeful Heart, is promoting her latest project, Infill & Full Set, at Cannes. The 14-minute short, produced by Nha Phuong who also plays the female lead is being screened at the Cannes' Short Film Corner, but was not selected for competition. Infill & Full Set tells the story of a pregnant illegal Vietnamese immigrant woman in London who uses fake identification documents to find employment at a nail salon. Unfortunately, she gets in trouble on her first day and becomes trapped between the moral boundaries of honesty and survival. The official trailer for Infill & Full Set Ive always wanted to work on projects like Infill & Full Set because as a woman, I share and understand very well the conditions and pain that women suffer, Phuong said. The film was directed by Dao Duc Hai, a graduate and valedictorian from the school of cinematography at the Hanoi Academy of Theater and Cinema. After finishing school in 2001, Hai moved to England to attend the Middlesex University Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries, where he earned a Master of Art Film degree in 2016. The short film is his graduation project, which earned distinction at the university. Nha Phuong at the Cannes Film Festival 2018 Short Film Corner. Photo: Tuoi Tre Cannes is considered a stepping stone for young filmmakers, with thousands of masterpieces sent each year from all over the world. Having a work screed at the festival is considered a great honor. Previously, two Vietnamese short films 16:30 by young director Tran Dung Thanh Huy and Canh Ba Ba (Turtle Soup) by Saigons Yeti film crew were honored with screenings at the Cannes Short Film Corner in 2013 and 2012, respectively. The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival is currently being held from May 8 to 19 in France. An image from Infill & FullSet is featured on the Cannes website in this screenshot. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A United States Navy hospital ship has arrived in south-central Vietnam to commence a partnership program running from May 17 to June 2. The USNS Mercy docked at Nha Trang Port, located in the namesake city in Khanh Hoa Province, on Thursday afternoon to begin the Pacific Partnership Program 2018 (PP18). According to Duong Nam Khanh, director of the provincial Department of Foreign Affairs, local authorities will coordinate with the U.S. and Japan to organize the 15-day event, which is aimed at boosting cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The ties between Vietnam and the U.S. as well as other member nations in the program are also expected to be enhanced by the program, said Khanh. The US Navys hospital ship USNS Mercy is seen in Khanh Hoa Province on May 17, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre Apart from the U.S. and Japan, PP18 includes the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, Sri Lanka, Chile, and Peru. During the event, officers and crewmembers of the U.S. Navy ship and their Vietnamese partners will work with hospitals in Nha Trang to offer health check-ups and first-aid to locals along with repairing and upgrading medical facilities in nearby localities. The Pacific Partnership program is an annual deployment of United States Navy forces in cooperation with regional governments and military forces, along with humanitarian and non-government organizations. Captain Peter Roberts, commanding officer of the USNS Mercy. Photo: Tuoi Tre The deployment was initiated following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami as a way to improve the interoperability of the region's military forces, governments, and humanitarian organizations during relief operations. During Pacific Partnership 2018, mission personnel from the U.S. are conducting visits to nations throughout the Indo-Pacific region, including Vietnam, to enhance strategic partnerships and increase cooperation and readiness for manmade and natural disasters. Officials in Khanh Hoa Province take a photo with naval officers aboard the USNS Mercy. Photo: Tuoi Tre This mission demonstrates U.S. support for a strong, prosperous, and, independent Vietnam and our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, said U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J. Kritenbrink. Commissioned in 1986, the USNS Mercy is called the super hospital of the US Navy. The 27 meter long, 32 meter wide ship is equipped with modern medical equipment to conduct complicated surgeries on board. Here is a closer look at the hospital ship USNS Mercy: Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Check out the news you should not miss today, May 18: Politics -- The UK wants to contribute to the future Vietnam is preparing for, Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon McDonald, said as he attended the EIC (Energy Industries Council) Connect Energy Vietnam 2018 in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday. -- During their Thursday working session in Hanoi, Vietnamese Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha and Vice Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Somphan Phengkhammy agreed to speed up the construction of Lao National Assembly House, a US$100 million project Vietnam is building as a gift to Laos and a symbol of traditional friendship between the two countries. -- The US Navys hospital ship USNS Mercy on Thursday docked in Nha Trang port in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, beginning its 2018 Pacific Partnership Program from May 17 to June 2. Society -- The People's High Court of Ho Chi Minh City has suggested cancel the verdict on 78-year-old Nguyen Khac Thuy, who was last week sentenced to 18 months on probation by an appeal court for his lewd acts against two preteen girls, after the penalty triggered outrage from the public who have called for stricter punishment on Thuy for his acts. The appeal courts judge has also been temporarily suspended. -- More than 36 percent of 262 samples of dried chili and chili powder collected in 11 cities and provinces across Vietnam were found having excessive amount of aflatoxin, a cancer-causing substance. -- Police in Ho Chi Minh City have started legal proceedings against three suspects involving in the murder of two street guardians, who tried to catch a group of motorbike thieves on Sunday night. Business -- Trade between Vietnam and the UK has increased around 250 percent during the past eight years, Simon McDonald, Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said at an event in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday. Lifestyle -- Around 200 photo materials and documents are being exhibited at the Presidential Office in Hanoi, featuring the stilt houses associated with late President Ho Chi Minh as part of a series of activities to celebrate his birthday (May 19). A video of an unattended baby crawling across a major highway in north-central Vietnam was quick to make its round on social media earlier this week. Nguyen Trong Hai was driving on a rural portion of National Route 7 through Nghe An Province when he spotted a one-year-old crawling in the middle of the road. Hai immediately stopped his vehicle, picked up the child, and located the parents who were taking a nap in their nearby house. The driver published dash cam footage of the incident on his social media account on Tuesday, garnering much praise from viewers. A baby moves on National Route 7 in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, in a video posted on a social media channel by Nguyen Trong Hai on May 15, 2018. Several cases of unminded children have been reported in Vietnam recently, one of them ending in death. A three-year-old child in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, attempted to step over the low horizontal bar across the window of its room on the 11th story of a condominium in mid-March. Two men from an adjacent room rushed over as the toddler continued to climb through the window before a person in the babys room carried him inside. In another event the same month, a baby creeping to the median barrier on National Route 18 running through Cam Pha, a city in Quang Ninh Province, was filmed by a vehicle dash cam. Luckily, a driver halted his car before a tragic situation could occur. In early March, an unattendend three-year-old boy in the northern Vietnamese province of Nam Dinh took the elevator to the 21st floor of a kindergarten building and walked down the stairs to the 20th floor, where he climbed through the window, fell to the sixth floor, and died. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade has rebuffed a story published by a local news website that its minister owes a luxurious villa in Hanoi. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong on Friday morning sent an urgent dispatch to the Ministry of Information and Communications to complain about the wrongful information in a Thursday article of the Moi Truong va Do Thi Vietnam (Vietnamese environmental and urban) online newspaper. The news story, meant to introduce several beautiful villas in the capital, includes a photo showing a five-story building with the caption that reads the owner of this villa is currently Minister of Industry and Trade. The incumbent head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is Tran Tuan Anh. The information in the article is completely fabricated and untrue, aimed at slandering the minister, which also seriously affected the reputation and image of the industry and trade sector, Deputy Minister Vuong asserted. The Ministry of Information and Communications has been asked to determine suitable punishment upon the online newspaper. On Friday afternoon, the news outlet said it had rectified the information and also issued a public apology. The editorial board said that their reporter first heard the information from local residents but did not verify it before publishing. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The decision of an appellate court to reduce the sentence of a 78-year-old convicted pedophile from three years behind bars to 18 months of probation has been overturned while the judge of the appeals proceedings has been suspended. Nguyen Khac Thuy, born in 1940, was given a three-year jail term by the court of first instance in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, in November 2017 for molesting two girls aged six and 11. The sentence was then reduced to 18 months of probation following an appeals proceeding at the Peoples Court on May 11. The judge justified his leniency by citing that the defendant is a Party member. The decision has since stirred up fierce opposition from the public, with legal experts stating that being a Party member is not a factor for a sentence reduction. The Superior Peoples Court in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday announced that the ruling of the appellate court had been overturned, requesting that the court of second instance be conducted again. In Vietnams court system, the Supreme Peoples Court holds the highest power, followed by three Superior Peoples Courts based in Hanoi, the central city of Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City. According to Quang Duc Tuyen, deputy chief of justice of the Ho Chi Minh City Superior Peoples Court, the case has received a lot of attention from the public. The Ba Ria - Vung Tau Peoples Court has been ordered to temporarily suspend the judge who handled the appeal, Tuyen continued. The responsibility of both the judge and jury will be reviewed, he added. According to the indictment, Thuy was charged with committing lewd acts on two girls in separate instances in April and May 2014 at the Lakeside apartment complex in Vung Tau. In the first case, the elderly man touched the sensitive parts of the six-year-old girl and was later scolded and hit in the face by the victims father. In the second incident, the victim was with a friend in her apartment when Thuy arrived and reached his hand through the door to commit lewd acts on her. Thuy pleaded not guilty to both charges of child molestation, but the first court in Vung Tau City ruled that there was sufficient evidence to convict him. He was then condemned to three years in prison. However, the appeals court in Ba Ria - Vung Tau ruled that there was not enough evidence to charge him for the second incident, involving the 11-year-old girl, and found Thuy guilty in the first case only. His sentence was thus commuted to 18 months of probation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! If Royal Wedding fever is in the air many viewers appear to be over it already. Last night several specials and a telemovie struggled to generate interest, while London-based breakfast shows have been underperforming all week. Invitation to a Royal Wedding at 7:30 last night on Seven pulled 410,000, almost doubled by MasterChefs 792,000 and eclipsed by 7:30 on 476,000. The Harry & Meghan telemovie at 9:30 was unexcited at 235,000. All week London-based Sunrise and Today have been averaging lower than their usual performance in Sydney. While Sunrise has been winning that tussle each day, at around the 250,000 mark, yesterday it was Todays turn. The Front Bar won in Melbourne at 211,000 in a battle with The Footy Shows 176,000. Meanwhile Nine News, A Current Affair and The Chase won their slots. Nine led in primary share but Seven network won Thursday with 29.2% then Nine 27.8%, TEN 19.9%, ABC 15.6% and SBS 7.5%. Seven News (949,000 / 927,000) led for Nine then Home and Away (623,000), The Chase (565,000 / 351,000), Invitation to a Royal Wedding (410,000), The Front Bar (297,000) and Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance (235,000). A Harry & Meghan: Royal Rebels special was 195,000 in 2 cities. No doubt it will bounce back big time tomorrow night. Nine News was #1 with 971,000 / 910,000 followed by A Current Affair (790,000), Hot Seat (554,000 / 341,000), The Footy Show (416,000) and Thursday Night NRL (384,000 in 2 cities). RBT was 317,000 in 3 cities. MasterChef Australia (792,000) won its slot for TEN then The Project (523,000 / 338,000), TEN Eyewitness News (429,000), Law and Order: SVU (377,000) and Family Feud (294,00). An Instinct repeat was 220,000. ABC News (664,000), 7:30 (476,000), The Coronation (367,000), QI (236,000) and Think Tank (226,000) comprised ABCs night. Wentworth was just 114,000. On SBS it was Great British Railway Journeys (267,000), The Handmaids Tale (243,000), Luke Nguyens Food Trail (178,000), SBS World News (136,000) and Next of Kin (88,000). Peter Rabbit hopped to the top of multichannels with 203,000. OzTAM Overnights: Thursday 17 May 2018 In a series of early morning tweets that were riddled with spelling errors, US President Donald Trump has once against accuses his predecessor Barack Obama of spying on him, and once again, he has no evidence to back up these claims. First, he announced that Obama had tapped the wires in his office at Trump Tower, albeit without any evidence to back it up. Now, hes saying that Obama has imbedded (sic) an informant in his team, but again, he had no evidence. With nothing to back up his claims, Trump simply said that if this wild theory of an informant embedded into the Trump campaign by the FBI under Obamas Presidency turns out to be true, then it will be bigger than Watergate. Nothing could top Watergate it was the first instance where Americans realised they couldnt trust their government. It got Nixon impeached before he resigned and took off in a helicopter. Trump also calls Mueller investigation a witch hunt In addition to all of the accusations of espionage, Trump also called the investigation into the possible collusion between his 2016 Presidential election campaign and the Russian government (and the potential shady ties therein) by the FBIs Special Counsel Robert Mueller the greatest witch hunt in American history. But of course, it could just turn out to be the greatest federal investigation in American history if the steady string of arrests and confessions continues. NASA and the Europen Space Agency (ESA) will launch two vehicles - Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter to study the sun at the closest distance than any other space vehicle before it. This study will permit a better comprehension of the way in which the earth deals with the suns radiation, however, it will also help understand the way in which the suns energy triggers space weather events. The main objective of this project is to better understand the suns processes and how it affects space and our planet, including space technology, so as to predict future sun activity. Parker Solar Probe This space vehicle, which is scheduled to be launched this year, will fly within 6,400,000 km (4 million miles) - the closest a space vehicle has ever flown - at almost 720000 km/h (45000 miles/h), from the suns corona. The data this spacecraft will collect will offer new information about how the sun and earth are connected. Its believed that the mission will help open new theories of the way in which the suns corona gets hotter than the surface of the sun and the great speed at which the solar wind leaves our star. The imaging instruments will take shots of the sun from varied angles, including the poles and the equator. Solar Orbiter Scheduled to be launched in 2020, this vehicle will study the sun from within 42 million km (26 million miles) from its surface. In a circular orbit around the sun, this orbiter will fly in and out of the ecliptic plane to capture the first ever images of the suns poles. The orbiters first view of the poles may lead to a deeper understanding of the processes that originate from the suns magnetic field. This spacecraft will reach its scheduled orbit three years after launch with the assistance of gravitational manoeuvres from Venus and Earth. Scientific objectives Both of these missions will take a closer examination at the suns corona, which is not predictable, as its activity is not really understood. Information gathered from previous missions have provided clues that lead to thinking that the sun's corona may contribute to the processes that make the solar wind acquire great cosmic speeds. The probe will capture the solar wind as it is ejected from the corona, obtaining accurate measurements of it. The programs main goals include new insights into the way in which the solar system works, the origins of the universe, the processes that drive the suns activity and its impact on our planet. Mr Markle's attendance was a topic of discussion amongst many people even before the arranged photo shoot scandal, mostly due to the rocky relationship in the Markle family. With only days left until the Royal wedding which is on Saturday 19 May, Meghan Markle confirmed that Thomas Markle -her father- won't be attending her wedding. Mr Markle was supposed to walk Meghan down the aisle, however, after the events of the last few weeks, he decided not to come to the royal wedding. Meghan confirmed that her father will be absent due to his health problems through an official statement from Kensington Palace. Staged pictures Thomas Markle 73, who was living in Mexico had problems handling the fame that came with being the father of a new member of the Royal Family. It is claimed that Thomas Markle had staged some of his pictures taken by the "paparazzi" because he was upset with the images they already had. The staged picture scandal was uncovered by US celebrity news website TMZ, who also stated that they talked to Mr Markle after the photos emerged. Mr Markle stated that he wasn't aiming for money and that his intentions weren't bad, that he just wanted to portray a more positive image. He also stated that he wasn't going to attend the wedding because he doesnt want to embarrass the royal family or his daughter. Kensington Palace didn't comment on the incident other than confirming his absence with a letter from Ms Markle. A statement from Ms. Meghan Markle: pic.twitter.com/TjBNarmuBU Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) 17 Mays 2018 Samantha Markle, Meghan Markle's half-sister, commented on the situation shortly after. She stated that the staged pictures were her idea to improve her father's image because she knew how he didn't like the way he was portrayed in the media. Samantha also said that her father had a heart attack after seeing the media's reaction to the staged pictures. Consequently, he will be going through a heart surgery and he was medically advised against travelling to the UK. The father of the bride was supposed to meet Prince Harry, the Queen and the rest of the royal family for the first time before the wedding when he arrived in the UK. However, because of his decision to not to attend the wedding, he will not be able to meet his son-in-law before he married his daughter. Who will walk Meghan down the the aisle? Thomas Markle was supposed to walk his daughter down the aisle on Saturday 19 May, however, now it is unclear who will take his place. It is speculated that Doria Ragland, the mother of the bride, who arrived in London on Wednesday 16 May will take her ex-husband's place. Other speculations include Prince Charles, father of the groom, walking Meghan Markle down the aisle or Meghan walking by herself. US President Donald Trump signs off his decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal (Reuters) European businesses will be sheltered from the fallout of Donald Trumps decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal under a previously unused EU trade protection law. The European Commission announced it is enacting its so-called blocking statute which forbids EU companies from complying with sanctions re-imposed by the US President. It was introduced in 1996 to counter the effects of US sanctions on companies trading with Cuba but has not been implemented until now. The measure represents the first practical step towards saving the Iran nuclear deal taken by the EU. MORE: European leaders vow to stand-up to Trump bullying and save Iran deal As long as the Iranians respect their commitments, the EU will of course stick to the agreement of which it was an architect, said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. But the American sanctions will not be without effect. So we have the duty, the Commission and the European Union, to do what we can to protect our European businesses, especially SMEs. Under the blocking statute, companies hit by sanctions will also be able to seek compensation and wont have to comply with any US court orders against them. The measures come days after EU-Iran talks over how to take the nuclear deal out of intensive care, which were attended by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson took part in EU-Iran talks in Brussels this week (Getty) They will only into force if they are signed-off by the European Parliament and European Council within the next two months, but that is likely to happen before the US sanctions take effect on August 6. The Commission also urged national governments to make one-off transfers to Irans central bank to pay for oil before US sanctions on transactions take effect. And, in a bid to reassure the Iranian government of the EUs political commitment to saving the nuclear deal, Energy Commissioner Miguel Canete is visiting Tehran this weekend. MORE: EU hopes to take Iran deal out of intensive care within weeks Story continues Billions of Euros worth of trade depend on saving the 2013 nuclear deal, which opened trade with Iran in exchange for limits of the countrys nuclear programme. Iranian exports of oil and fuel to the EU were up by 344 per cent to 5.5bn in 2016. In the same year, EU investment in Iran was valued at 20bn. Boris Johnson said this week that it is right to protect legitimate UK and European businesses, who may want to trade with Iran, who do want to trade with Iran, and who have great plans to do that. By Michele Sinner LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Authorities in Luxembourg hope Malaysia's new government may offer new information on some $100 million (74.2 million) from investment fund 1MDB that Luxembourg froze two years ago in a money-laundering probe, judicial sources told Reuters. Confirming for the first time on Friday that such a sum had been blocked in the Grand Duchy after Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild was fined one year ago over money-laundering, the sources said that Luxembourg was keen to pursue inquiries now the new government is looking into troubles at the state fund. Days after the electoral downfall of Malaysia's long-time ruling coalition and of premier Najib Razak, new prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has pushed an investigation into scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad, amid accusations Najib benefited from money from a former entity of 1MDB. Najib denies wrongdoing. In June 2017, Edmond de Rothschild and Luxembourg officials said the bank was fined nearly 9 million euros (7.8 million)for shortcomings in money-laundering controls. On Friday, the Luxembourg sources said that authorities froze $100 million in the case a year earlier but had not until now been able to determine what to do with the funds due to a lack of information from Malaysia. (Reporting by Michele Sinner in Luxembourg, writing by Alastair Macdonald and Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels; @macdonaldrtr; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) * Brent rose above $80 on Thursday * Saudi Arabia makes assurances on supplies * BP sees oil prices falling to $50-$65 a barrel - Dudley * Coming up: Baker Hughes U.S. rig count data at 1 p.m. EDT (Updates prices, market activity, adds commentary; changes byline, dateline to NEW YORK, previously LONDON) By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - Brent oil prices were little changed on Friday but were on track for a sixth straight week of gains, boosted by strong demand, looming U.S. sanctions on Iran and plummeting Venezuelan production. Brent crude futures for July delivery fell 6 cents to $79.24 a barrel, a 0.1 percent loss, by 10:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT). The benchmark on Thursday broke through $80 for the first time since November 2014. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for June delivery fell 19 cents to $71.30 a barrel, a 0.3 percent loss. The contract was still set for its third straight week of gains. "Today is a bit of a pause and a retrenchment heading into the weekend with speculators trying to decide how close are we to the seasonal shift and do I take profits here," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Seattle. British bank Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) said it expected average prices of $70 per barrel for Brent this year and $65 a barrel for 2019, up from estimates of $63 and $60 previously. "Since last month, Venezuela's production decline, (U.S. President Donald) Trump's Iran sanctions decision, a new disruption in Nigeria, and anecdotal evidence from a new round of producer earnings require a price forecast revision," the bank said. Rising prices have already raised the alarm among big oil-consuming countries. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it would make sure the world is adequately supplied with oil just as major consumer India expressed frustration with rising prices. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih called India's Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to assure him that supporting global economic growth was "one of the kingdom's key goals," the Saudi Energy Ministry said. Story continues However, it will take time to assess whether oil prices remain volatile or not, Russia's energy minister, Alexander Novak, said. Crude prices have received broad support from voluntary supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Beyond OPEC's cuts, strong demand, falling output from Venezuela and the U.S. announcement this month that it would renew sanctions against OPEC member Iran have helped push up Brent by 20 percent since the start of the year. U.S. investment bank Jefferies said sanctions against Iran could remove more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from the market. Barclays said output from Venezuela could fall below 1 million bpd. The country, also an OPEC member, produced around 1.5 million bpd in April. (PRODN-VE) In the United States, crude production has continued to grow to record highs, rising 20,000 bpd to 10.72 million bpd last week, the Energy Information Administration said. The United States in February produced 10.3 million bpd, a record. Market participants awaited U.S. rig count data that was due later on Friday at 1 p.m. EDT. BP Plc, however, expects the rally to cool off. The oil major's chief executive, Bob Dudley, told Reuters he saw the price of oil falling to between $50 and $65 a barrel due to surging shale output and OPEC's capacity to boost production. (Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson and Jon Boyle) The Government is reportedly considering nearly doubling the number of British troops in Afghanistan (Picture: Getty) The Government is reportedly considering nearly doubling the number of British troops in Afghanistan following pressure from Donald Trump. According to reports, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has written to the Prime Minister recommending the increase, which could see 400-450 soldiers sent to the country to join around 600 already deployed in non-combat roles, although no decision has yet been made. The move reportedly follows pressure from Donald Trump, while Nato has also apparently asked Britain to send more troops to the country. Pressure the move apparently comes following pressure from US President Donald Trump (Picture: AP) The US has increased its presence in Afghanistan since Mr Trump unveiled his South Asia strategy in August last year, adding around 4,000 troops to the 8,400-strong US deployment in the country to bolster the Kabul government, train Afghan forces and fight militant groups. On Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had reinforced our enduring investment in Afghanistan in a conversation with the countrys president Ashraf Ghani. MORE: Police chiefs consider arming police officers in rural areas with handguns for the first time MORE: Donald Trump discloses payment made to lawyer who paid hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels The UKs combat operations ended in 2014 and remaining personnel are limited to training Afghan forces. It had been thought unlikely that the UK would increase its presence in the country. Request Defence secretary Gavin Williamson is reportedly writing to Theresa May to ask for more troops to be committed to Afghanistan (Picture: Reuters) Mr Trump has repeatedly called for Nato members to meet their defence spending commitment of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) and has threatened to walk away from the organisation if his demands are not met. Mrs May will join the US president at a summit of Nato leaders in Brussels in July. During a meeting with Mr Trump in Washington on Thursday, Nato general secretary Jens Stoltenberg said all members have increased their spending, in part due to Mr Trumps approach. Earlier UK Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood suggested that the UK should spend as much on defence as it does on the NHS, which is currently around 9.8%. The US spends around 3.5%. He told the Daily Telegraph: The Government often does what people call for. If people call for more money for schools and hospitals, that is often where the money then flows. It is important we raise the profile of the dangers of reducing our defence posture. Once you lose it, you will never get it back. Chilean bishop Luis Fernando Ramos Perez reads a statement during a news conference after a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican Chilean bishop Luis Fernando Ramos Perez reads a statement during a news conference after a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Max Rossi By Crispian Balmer and Aislinn Laing VATICAN CITY and SANTIAGO (Reuters) - In an unprecedented move, all of Chile's bishops offered to resign on Friday after attending a crisis meeting this week with Pope Francis about the cover-up of sexual abuse in the South American nation. Several victims invited by the pope to Rome earlier this month said they wanted all 34 bishops sacked and replaced by more moral candidates, and for the Vatican to extend punishment to others implicated in the scandal. The offer of mass resignations on Friday by the bishops summoned to Rome marks the first time that all the senior Roman Catholic prelates of a country have taken such a step, a Vatican official said. A Vatican official declined to speculate on the pope's response. "We have put our positions in the hands of the Holy Father and will leave it to him to decide freely for each of us," the bishops said in a joint statement read out by a spokesman for them, Bishop Fernando Ramos. The announcement followed four days of discussions in the Vatican, where the pope accused the bishops of "grave negligence" in investigating allegations that children had been abused and saying evidence of sex crimes had been destroyed. Apologising to the victims, the pope and to Chile for the failings of Chile's churchmen, Ramos said the bishops would all stay in their roles until Francis had decided what to do. The scandal that has swirled around the Chilean church for more than 20 years erupted four months ago when the pope visited Chile, prompting questions about his response to the serious claims of abuse. Chilean victims of abuse welcomed news the bishops were ready to stand down but insisted the Vatican should take further, punitive action against the bishops. Juan Carlos Cruz, one of three Chilean victims invited by the pope to Rome earlier this month, said the "corrupt" bishops should be replaced by those in the church who had helped abuse victims. Story continues "There are very good people within the Chilean Church who could take over the reigns and repair the damage done by these corrupt bishops," Cruz said in an interview. Eneas Espinoza, a Chilean man who claims to have been abused while at a school run by the Marist brothers, called on the pope to pursue a canonical prosecution that could see them stripped of all titles and benefits. "We want concrete, real action," he said in an interview. "I don't want my abuser to end up living in a plush retirement home." The scandal revolves around Father Fernando Karadima, who was found guilty in a 2011 Vatican investigation of abusing boys in Santiago in the 1970s and 1980s. Now 87 and living in a nursing home in Chile, he has always denied any wrongdoing. Victims accused Bishop Juan Barros of having witnessed the abuse but doing nothing to stop it. Barros, who was one of those who offered to stand down, has denied the allegations. Friday's resignations came just four months after the pope had visited Chile in a trip that raised questions over his response to abuse scandals that have rocked the church over the past 17 years and his willingness to deal with the crisis. During the visit, Pope Francis staunchly defended Barros, denouncing accusations against him as "slander." But days after returning to Rome, the pope, citing new information, sent sexual abuse investigator Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta to Chile to speak to victims, witnesses and other church members. Some of his findings were included in a damning 10-page document that was presented to the bishops this week, according to Chile's T13 television, which obtained a leaked copy. A source in the Vatican confirmed the report was genuine. In it, the pope said he felt "shame" over the pressure put on people not to carry out full investigations into what had happened, saying some churchmen had been afraid to face their responsibilities and confront "the ramifications of evil." "We are all involved, myself in first place, and no one can be exempted by looking to shift the problem onto the backs of others," the pope wrote. (Additional reporting by Antonio de la Jara and Aislinn Laing in Chile and Phil Pullella in Rome; editing by Andrew Roche and Richard Chang) Less than a month into his new job, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine spent an hour on Thursday addressing questions from his new employees, including many that touched on concerns raised publicly during his confirmation process. Included was a question tackling whether he believed that climate change is happening and being exacerbated by human activities, as scientific consensus states. After he addressed his background and qualifications for leading the agency, Thursday's town hall immediately turned to the issue. Bridenstine tried to assuage staffers' concerns, saying that he does believe in climate change. "Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas," he said during Thursday's town hall. "That greenhouse gas is warming the planetthat is absolutely happening, and we are responsible for it." Trending: What is Prince Harry's Last Name And Will Meghan Markle Take It? That's a break from Bridenstine's previous comments on the topic. In 2013, as a congressman, he referred to an alleged pause in temperature increases that began 10 years prior. (On Thursday, he said that claim was based on information provided on his new agency's website, though that may represent a misunderstanding of complicated science.) During his confirmation hearings, Bridenstine said that climate change is real and caused by humans, though he waffled on precisely how much responsibility humans shouldered. Bridenstine changed his tune on Thursday. "I also know that we human beings are contributing to it in a major way," he added. Bridenstine pointed to NASA's new budget as proof that earth science research would not be hindered and added that the agency needed to make sure it was using science "void and free" of political influence by following guidelines set by the National Academy of Sciences, a nonpartisan group of scientists. Precisely how that will play out has yet to be seen. President Trump's head of the Environmental Protection Agency has used similar types of rhetoric to try to slash the amount of science that the agency can use in its decision-making. Story continues Don't miss: Jason Reitman on 'Tully,' Motherhood and His Films Sharpest Critics: 'The Movie Is Not About Mental Health' 05_17_bridenstine_nasa_administrator Mark Wilson/Getty Images NASA employees also asked their new administrator about diversity and discrimination within the agency, prompted by previous comments in defense of "traditional marriage." Other questions addressed the agency's programs and research. In particular, a staffer asked about the WFIRST telescope. That project is meant to be NASA's next major scientific instrument, but Trump's 2019 budget request cut all funding for it. Congress reinstated it, and Bridenstine said he is 90 percent confident the telescope will be built. Most popular: Trump Loves Golfing But His Presidency Hasn't Helped His Golf Courses Another staffer asked if he would reconsider the risk levels considered acceptable during human spaceflight. Some people think NASA has become too cautious, nixing projects that might put astronauts at risk. Bridenstine's response focused more on the goal under consideration, rather than the means used to achieve it. "If we lose a single astronaut, the entire world stops," he said. "If we are going to be putting even a single human at risk we have to be doing something that is monumental." As examples of projects that qualified, he pointed to the agency's efforts to return to the moon and reach Mars. "We're doing both," he said, "and we're doing them at the same time." This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech government has postponed a decision on building new nuclear units, saying it needed more time to evaluate the impact on its budget and find out EU views on state aid for such a project. The Industry and Trade Ministry, which is in charge of energy policies, said on Thursday it wanted the government to make a decision based on new information by the end of the year, half a year later than the current deadline, which itself had been pushed back. "It is necessary to complete work on the impact on public budgets," minister Tomas Huener said in a statement after a meeting of the government's nuclear energy committee. The new units would replace existing ones expected to be shut down in the future. Majority state-owned power firm CEZ has refused to invest into new plants without some form of state support. It has proposed a plan to split itself up instead, creating a fully state-owned nuclear and coal generation unit that would build the nuclear plants, and a partly private distribution and renewable energy firm. Nuclear power has wide support among most Czech political parties but the high costs of new units have complicated the decision. The government has been working with three options. A CEZ subsidiary could build new nuclear plants, with some form of state backing, or the government could buy a small CEZ unit to build the plants. The third option is the CEZ split. The current government led by Andrej Babis is cool on the idea of splitting up CEZ. The ministry said a meeting with the European Commission should take place in June to discuss what the state could finance if a plant were to be built by CEZ as a firm partly owned by private shareholders. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; editing by Andrew Roche) KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police seized 284 boxes of designer handbags and dozens of bags filled with cash and jewellery on Friday from a luxury condominium in the centre of Kuala Lumpur linked to former prime minister Najib Razak. Police have been searching Najib's home and other places linked to him as part of an investigation into the scandal-plagued state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), an extraordinary turn of events that few would have predicted before a May 9 general election that he was expected to win. Items such as Birkin handbags from Hermes, jewellery, watches and other valuables were carted out of the condominium at the upmarket Pavilion Residences, in the pre-dawn hours, police said. "Exactly how much jewellery, I would not be able to say, because we know that we confiscated bags containing jewellery and the number of jewellery is rather big," Amar Singh, director of police commercial crime investigations, told reporters at the scene. Shortly after Najib and his long-ruling political coalition were defeated in the polls, new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad barred him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, from leaving the country. Mahathir, 92, who was once Najib's mentor, says there is sufficient evidence to investigate the multi-billion-dollar scandal at the 1MDB fund that Najib founded. Authorities in six countries, including the United States, are investigating the fund. Najib denies any wrongdoing. His lawyer on Thursday denounced the long search of Najib's home as "harassment". Critics of Najib have often accused his wife of lavish spending, which they say was done with public funds. Rosmah's alleged excesses included designer handbags, watches and jewellery, which she bought while travelling around the world, have been widely reported, although she has never spoken about it herself. SIMULTANEOUS SEARCHES The U.S. Justice Department said last year in a filing in a civil lawsuit that nearly $30 million of funds stolen from 1MDB was used to buy jewellery for Rosmah, including a rare 22-carat pink diamond set in a necklace. Story continues Singh said police carried out simultaneous searches at six premises linked to Najib, all in connection with their investigation into 1MDB. The premises include the prime minister's office and official residence in the administrative capital of Putrajaya, the family mansion in Kuala Lumpur where Najib lives, and three other private residences linked to him. "This is the result of the search in one of the six premises," Singh said, pointing to the hundreds of luxury items seized from the condominium. Singh said police had also seized documents linked to 1MDB. Stories of lavish spending by Najib's family have long been a sore point for Malaysians. A prime minister earns a fixed salary of 22,826.65 ringgit ($5,7500) a month and cannot invest in businesses or stocks while in office. Najib earned an additional monthly salary of 16,000 ringgit as a member of parliament. Police began their searches late on Wednesday, with officers seen entering Najib's private home some 20 minutes after he had asked, in a post on Twitter, for "forgiveness for past sins," shortly after he had attended prayers on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan. ($1 = 3.9755 ringgit) (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel) Since the dawn of history, human societies have ascribed sacred status to certain places. Areas such as ancestral burial grounds, temples and churchyards have been given protection through taboo and religious belief. As many of these places have been carefully managed for many years an interesting side effect has occurred the sites often retain more of their natural condition than surrounding areas used for farming or human habitation. As a result, they are often called sacred natural sites (SNS). Today, as many other natural habitats have become degraded, researchers worldwide are increasingly interested in the role of SNS in biodiversity conservation. Most of the worlds belief systems, including Christianity, give places sacred status. In Mediterranean Europe, for instance, the grounds of churches with their associated ancient trees have become important SNS. One of the best examples is in the mountainous region of Epirus in north-western Greece. In the municipalities of Zagori and Konitsa almost every village has one or more sacred grove. These places have been protected through religious belief systems for hundreds of years. The groves are either protective forests that lie uphill from the village, or groups of mature trees surrounding outlying churches, monuments or other works of religious art. Activities such as the cutting of trees or livestock grazing have been either prohibited or strictly regulated in these places (and disobeying these prohibitions sometimes led to excommunication). Greek investigation We have recently been studying these Greek SNS as part of our SAGE (SAcred Groves of Epirus) project. Our team wanted to find out, using a rigorous research approach, whether SNS are more biodiverse than other forest areas, and, if so, what lessons conservationists could learn from this. To do this, our international and multidisciplinary group has recently completed the worlds first replicated systematic investigation into the claims that areas conserved as SNS are more biodiverse for different types of plant and animal. Story continues For our recently published study, we selected eight SNS in Epirus that covered a wide range of environmental conditions. Each was closely matched with a nearby non-sacred control forest which had been managed conventionally sometimes through natural regeneration. We then conducted a detailed inventory in each site, of eight different groups of organisms. These ranged from fungi and lichens, through herbaceous and woody plants to nematodes, insects, bats and passerine birds. We found that SNS do indeed have a small but persistent biodiversity advantage. This is expressed in a number of ways, most clearly through the existence of more distinct communities of species among the sacred groves than in the control sites (this phenomenon is known as beta diversity). The group with the most notably higher biodiversity in the SNS than in control sites were the fungi. These often grow in dead wood or old trees, which usually get removed in conventionally managed forests. Of the species of passerine birds (a group that includes many songbirds) that are designated as having special conservation importance at a European level, we found twice as many species present in the SNS as in the control sites. Because these sacred sites are often quite small it is often said that their conservation benefits are marginal. But we found that the influence of size is relatively weak even small SNS can play a significant role in biodiversity conservation. Conserving sacred sites But Epiruss sacred sites are now in peril. The rules that linked belief and conservation that once protected the SNS have become difficult to enforce, due to changing population and land-use. The value of forests which protect from landslides and floods is no longer being recognised. The value of SNS is not just on the land that is sacred itself, these places can act as a nucleus, around which biodiversity can expand. In Epirus, forests have regenerated around many of the sites we studied over the past 70 years despite humans farming the land. It should be noted that this can increase risks such as fire, as dense young Mediterranean forest is very flammable. Evidently the already well-conserved SNS are of great environmental importance across the world. So the next step is to link these sites into conventional conservation schemes. But it is vital that such strategies are closely aligned with the cultural status of SNS. Local communities are often highly motivated to maintain their sacred sites and associated belief systems but lack the resources to do so. A fully collaborative approach between conservation professionals and local communities could offer a solution that conserves both biodiversity and local cultural values. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The Conversation John Healey receives funding from the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Education and Lifelong Learning of the National Strategic Framework (NRSF) (Code 379405) - Research Funding Program: THALIS. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund. John M Halley has received funding from the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Education and Lifelong Learning of the National Strategic Framework (NRSF) (Code 379405) - Research Funding Program: THALIS. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund. Kalliopi Stara has received funding from from the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Education and Lifelong Learning of the National Strategic Framework (NRSF) (Code 379405) - Research Funding Program: THALIS. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund. Trains in Japan are known for being extremely punctual (Rex/stock photo) Here in Britain, we are used to trains being late but in Japan, they simply wont tolerate it. In fact, trains are so punctual there that a Japanese train operator has apologised to commuters for departing 25 seconds too early. West Japan Railways (WJR) seemed mortified at their error. A spokesman for the company said: The great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable. Naturally, people saw the funny side and took to Twitter to mock the over-the-top apology: Headline: The West Japan Railway Company has apologised after a train in central Japan departed its platform 25 seconds early. pic.twitter.com/U18DKtko5d Peter J LeCody (@railadvo) May 16, 2018 Love it only in Japan does a train company apologise unreservedly for an inexcusable lapse of service . . . The train left 25 second early! #lovejapan Andrew Cruze (@AndrewCruzeUK) May 15, 2018 What a shame Japan!!? Early departure for 25 second? What if I only can catch the train 4 seconds before departure!?? Azhari Harris (@HarrisAzhari) May 16, 2018 Japanese train company after leaving 25 seconds early: the great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable Southern and South Eastern rail after being 25 minutes late: lol, oh well. Signal failure, yeah, that was it. Definitely signal failure Liam Drane (@LMD_5) May 17, 2018 Japanese train leaves 25 mins early, the company apologises unreservedly, Thameslink trains dont leave early, they dont turn up. L Foster (@leroy1305) May 17, 2018 The train conductor had actually realised his error but let the train depart when failed to see anyone standing on the platform, according to Japan Today. Story continues Sadly, he did not count on people turning up in those 30 seconds to see their train had already departed. MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO A Tsukuba Express train firm also apologised after a train left Tokyo 20 seconds early in November. Japanese railways are generally regarded as the most reliable in the world. The number of British troops in Afghanistan could be almost doubled, after the defence secretary wrote to the prime minister asking for more boots on the ground. Gavin Williamson wants to increase Britain's commitment to the country by an extra 450 soldiers - which would bring the total UK deployment to more than 1,000. If Theresa May agrees, the news is expected to be announced at the NATO summit in Brussels in July. US President Donald Trump is expected to be present at that meeting of alliance leaders. There are currently about 600 UK troops in the country, mostly in a training capacity. They are based in and around the capital Kabul, working with Afghan security forces. The enlarged presence would join that training role rather than engage in combat. Special forces troops are also operating in Afghanistan alongside US counterparts. Mr Williamson visited Afghanistan in March and met British troops working there. His request follows the decision by Mr Trump to send an extra 3,500 American troops on top of the 11,000 already deployed. There are a further 4,000 other NATO troops in the country and there is pressure to increase that by about 2,500. An MOD spokesman would not confirm the reports, but said: "The support the UK provides Afghanistan on security, development and governance is crucial to building a stable state and reducing the terrorist threat to the UK. "We remain committed to NATO's non-combat resolute support mission, in which we play an important role, and keep our contribution under constant review." Kabul has been hit by a number of bomb attacks in recent months. In April, nine journalists were among 36 who died after a suicide bomber riding a motorbike blew himself up. Hours later another suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Kandahar province, killing 11 children and wounding five Romanian soldiers. A BBC journalist was shot dead in an incident near the border with Pakistan. There are fears Islamic State is trying to establish a foothold in the country, although the Taliban remains the greatest threat to peace there. Story continues The Times has also reported fears in European capitals that Mr Trump will threaten to pull the US out of NATO when he attends the July summit. The US president has repeatedly expressed his frustration at some members not spending the required 2% of GDP on defence. Although overall NATO defence spending is rising, some diplomats fear it is not rising quickly enough for the president's liking. During a Thursday meeting that was supposed to be about using technology to address climate change, lawmakers on the House's Science, Space and Technology Committee sparred over the cause of rising sea levels. Some conservatives at the meeting shared their denial that climate change is, in fact, a real phenomenon. The nadir of the meeting arguably came when Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama said that falling rocks and moving dirt are to blame for oceans rising across the globe. Every time you have that soil or rock deposited into the seas, that causes the sea level to rise, because now youve got less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up," Brooks said, speaking over Philip Duffy, a climate scientist who previously served on the White House National Science and Technology Council. E&E News, a publication focused on environment and energy, was first to report the exchange. Trending: Will Meghan Markle Follow American Wedding Traditions When She Marries Prince Harry? GettyImages-182136335 Alex Wong/Getty Images What about the white cliffs of Dover, California, where time and time again youre having the waves crash against the shorelines, and time and time again, youre having the cliffs crash into the sea," Brooks pressed on. "All that displaces water, which forces it to rise, does it not? Duffy, who now leads the climate-focused Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts, told the lawmaker that, on the human time scale, falling rocks have minuscule effects. Thousands of studies have attributed rising sea levels to global climate change, several of which he mentioned during his testimony. Don't miss: Prince Harry and Prince William, Growing Up Without Princess Diana: A Newsweek Feature from 1997 Florida Representative Bill Posey also took a stab at the debate. Along with other conservatives, he has previously pushed back against climate science, arguing that a large chunk of the science and research is politically motivated. Story continues "What do you say to people who theorize that the Earth as it continues to warm is returning to its normal temperature?" Posey asked Duffy. "Look, if you want to characterize a temperature above today's temperature as normal, you're free to do that, but that doesn't mean that's a planet we want to live on," Duffy quipped in response. Most popular: Liga MX Final Live Stream: How to Watch Decider Between Toluca and Santos Laguna Based on 25 years of satellite data, a study published in February by NASA found that the rate of global sea level rise has been accelerating, mostly due to ice melting in Greeland and Antarctica. At its current pace, sea levels are expected to rise about 26 inches by 2100, an uptick that would cause "significant problems" for cities along the coast. There is more than a 95 percent chance that the change is caused by human activity since the mid 20th century, NASA reported. The full meeting can be viewed here: This article was first written by Newsweek More from Newsweek Rare earths explorer Mkango Resources has set itself up to offload a 75% stake in its Lancaster Exploration arm to Noble Group subsidiary Talaxis. Talaxis invested 5m into AIM-listed company in January for a 20% interest in Lancaster, the licence holder for the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi where Mkango will shortly commence a major drilling programme targeting the completion of an updated mineral resource estimate by the end of 2018. Upon the publication of Mkango's disclosure report for the Songwe project, Talaxis will invest an additional 7m to fund the completion of a feasibility study. When the study has been completed will have the option increase its aggregate interest in Lancaster to 75%, by arranging to fund 100% of remaining project development costs. Mkango will also give Talaxis the option to buy as much as 49% of its subsidiary Maginito. On successful completion of a second phase research and development programme with Metalysis, funded by a 1m investment from the Noble subsidiary, Talaxis will invest an additional 1m into Maginito for a further 24.5% interest. William Dawes, chief executive officer of Mkango, said, "Following the signing of the definitive agreements, Mkango has a clearly defined pathway to production against the backdrop of a strong outlook for rare earths geared to the electric vehicle market." "We look forward to working with Talaxis to develop Songwe as a long-term, sustainable producer of rare earths and complementary downstream technologies through Maginito. The next major milestone is an updated resource for Songwe, which triggers the next 7m investment from Talaxis," he added. As of 0850 BST, Mkango shares had picked up 9.85% to 9.20p. China has denied offering to reduce its annual trade surplus with the US by $200bn through increased imports of American products, rebuffing earlier reports in American media. After officials from both countries held talks in Washington on Thursday, US officials told CNN on Thursday that China proposed boosting Chinese purchases of US goods to reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries and avoid a commercial war. But the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that no such offer was made. These rumours are not true, a spokesman said. I do not know about the offers made by either party. As we know the consultations are still underway. I am not getting ahead of that. The consultations themselves are constructive, he added. In move to ease trade tensions, China instead said it would remove its recently implemented tariff on US exports of sorghum. The US administration already requested a $200bn reduction in the U.S. trade gap with China by 2020 in previous talks in Beijing. China bought $130bn in American exports last year. China has also been urging the United States to lift a ban on the sale of American parts to ZTE, a Chinese telecoms firm. US President Donald Trump contradicted his national security adviser John Bolton and said the 'Libya model' for denuclearisation is not the way forward with North Korea, but said it was a possibility if both countries dont strike a deal in the near future. Earlier in the week, North Korean officials said they might call-off the 12 June summit in Singapore with the US after American national security adviser, John Bolton, said the US might pursue the same path towards denuclearisation that it did with Libya in 2003. Although Bolton was referring to the deal struck in December 2003, where Libya agreed to dismantle and surrender its nuclear programme, when speaking about the 'Libya model' on Friday, Trump was referring to NATO's 2011 intervention in the country, which ended with the assassination of that country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi. President Trump clarified on Friday that "The Libyan model isn't a model that we have at all when we're thinking of North Korea." However, if the two countries fail to reach an agreement, then that model could be a possibility, Trump said. "The model, if you look at that model with Gaddafi, that was a total decimation. We went in there to beat him. Now that model would take place if we don't make a deal, most likely. But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy," the US President explained. We want for North Korea something where Kim Jong-Un would be there, he'd be in his country, he'd be running his country, his country would be very rich. "If you look at South Korea, this would be really a South Korean model in terms of their industry [] They're hard-working, incredible people." Markets in Asia finished mostly higher on Friday, with investors once again keeping an eye on trade talks between the US and China, and brushing off a disappointing session on Wall Street overnight. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was ahead 0.4% at 22,930.36, as the yen weakened 0.19% to JPY 110.98. Miners and oil plays led the risers on the broader Topix, with most carmakers and insurance firms also on the right side of the market. On the data front on Tokyo, fresh core consumer price index data missed expectations, though that did little to dissuade investors. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite surged 1.23% to 3,193.05, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite rose 0.33% to 1,828.79. South Koreas Kospi was up 0.5% at 2,460.65, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.34% higher at 31,047.91. Shipbuilders and steel producers were among the top performers in Seoul, while technology heavyweight Samsung Electronics held on to gains of 0.2%. Samsung Group sibling Samsung Biologics was up 2.64%, after the news US biotech company Biogen was preparing to exercise its call option to up its stake in Samsung Bioepis. Market watchers were keeping a keen eye on developments in the second round of trade talks between Beijing and Washington, with reports surfacing that China would end an anti-dumping investigation into US sorghum imports. Chinese officials had reportedly proposed a plan to reduce its trade deficit with the US by $200bn, although the countrys foreign ministry later stated that was untrue. US president Donald Trump said overnight that he doubted the likely success of the bilateral trade talks. [The] market took concerns over renewed trade tension and its potential disruption to the current equity rally seen over the last few days, noted analysts at OCBC Bank earlier. Oil prices were mixed, with Brent crude last up 0.5% at $79.70 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate off 0.13% at $71.40. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 went against the regional trend, slipping 0.11% to 6,087.40. Solid gains were seen in the energy and healthcare sectors, but those were offset by losses for the hefty financials and materials subindices. Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealands S&P/NZX 50 was up 0.6% at 8,657.33. Among the top risers in Wellington was Goodman Property Trust, whose joint venture subsidiary accepted an unsolicited offer from Blackstone for seven commercial properties in downtown Auckland - the countrys largest city - for NZD 635m. Goodmans shares were ahead 2.2%. It was a mixed day for the down under dollars, with the Aussie last 0.27% weaker at AUD 1.3348 against the greenback, while the Kiwi strengthened 0.335 to NZD 1.4493. Italian stocks and government bonds slumped with shares of the country's banks bearing the brunt of selling after Italy's main anti-establishment parties, the Five Star and League, threw down the gauntlet to Brussels on austerity and against the bloc's fiscal rules. The policy proposals of the two aspiring parties to lead a coalition government included a 780 (678) monthly 'citizens' income' for the unemployed, lower personal tax rates, a review of the EU's fiscal rules and rolling back the recent pensions reform. News of the agreement, which must still be approved by the country's president, Sergio Mattarella, likely on Monday, sent longer-term Italian government bond yields down again and weighed further on the country's benchmark equity index. "What will be certain on Monday is that, in the event of a failure to form a government (the two had yet to nominate a candidate for Prime Minister), the window of opportunity to hold an election at the end of July will probably be virtually closed," said analysts at UniCredit Against that backdrop, by the closing bell, Milan's FTSE Mibtel had slid 1.48% or 352.34 points to trade at 23,449.65, alongside a 0.28% or 36.89 point dip on the German Dax to 13,077.72, while the Cac-40 was 0.13% or 7.41 points lower to 5,614.51. The pan-European benchmkark Stoxx 600 meanwhile was off by 0.28% or 394.67 points to 394.67, alongside a fall of 1.02% or 104.0 points to 10,112.40 for the Spanish Ibex 35. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Italian government bond was 11 basis points higher at 2.23%, their session high and their loftiest level since October. That pushed the risk premium versus similarly-dated German bunds to 165 basis points, with some analysts, albeit not all, seeing scope for even further gains. The news out of Rome also weighed on Spanish bonds, with the 10-year government note yield up by four basis points to 1.44, with bunds the main beneficiary as investors sought out safe havens, pushing their yield down by six basis points to 0.58%. In the background, traders were scanning the headlines coming out of the ongoing trade talks between China and the US, in Washington. The most important of those was a denial by Chinese officials that the Asian giant had offered to slash its country's trade deficit by $200bn via increased imports of American goods. Both Accendo Markets's Mike van Dulken and IG's Joshua Mahony pointed to doubts about the success of those talks as another key factor that was dampening on investor sentiment on Friday. Elsewhere on the economic front, Eurostat reported a rise in the euro area's seasonally adjusted trade surplus from 20.9bn for February to 21.2bn in March. That came alongside a Eurozone current account surplus of 32.0bn for March. Shares of Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz were in the spotlight on Thursday, but trade lower, despite continued reports of share purchases by its chairman Stefan Persson, which at the last count were running at roughly 543m for the year-to-date. Fiat was also in the headlines after Bloomberg reported on company chief Sergio Marchionne's plans to unveil a strategic shift by the carmaker towards upscale models. Shares of the company fell however. To the north, in France, Airbus was little changed despite a Reuters reports of a potential massive order by Dubai Aerospace for Airbus and Boeing jets. Downing Street has handpicked a group of City veterans to launch a probe into the Financial Reporting Council just days after a report on recently collapsed facilities management and construction services company Carillion highlighted several failures in the market. The government's crack team of City investigators includes Anne Richards, head of fund group M&G, Nikhil Rathi, chief of the London Stock Exchange, Mark Burgess, deputy chief investment officer over at Columbia Threadneedle, and Simon Fraser, F&C Investment Trust's chairman. Others members of the 11-person panel include Peter Gershon, chairman of National Grid, Amelia Fawcett, a non-executive director at HM Treasury, and Mary Keegan. The group have been asked to rule as to whether or not the watchdog's governance, impact and powers are "fit for the future". Former Treasury head, and current chairman of Legal & General, John Kingman was tapped to lead the investigation into the FRC back in April following accusations by MPs that the industry body was "toothless" and "useless". The list of names comes only a matter of days after MPs went to town on the watchdog in a report into Carillion's downfall that claimed the UK audit market was a "cosy club incapable of providing the degree of independent challenge needed". The FRC is trying to toughen up after being criticised for letting major accountants off the hook. Last year it cleared KPMG over its work with HBOS just before it had to be rescued during the financial crisis. The report argued that KPMG, which was recently let off the hook by the FRC over its work with HBOS just before receiving a bailout during the crisis, was guilty of a "long and complacent" run of audits at Carillion and that its actions were not a one-off but more of emblematic of a "market which works for the members of the oligopoly but fails the wider economy". Kingman and his team are expected to complete their inquiry into the FRC by the end of 2018. Recently, the eyes of the American political world were focused on West Virginia. Pundits and other onlookers were eager to see if Don Blankenship, a former coal executive who went to prison after a tragic mining accident took the lives of 29 people, could pull the upset and secure the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Ultimately, Blankenship finished in a distant third place behind the state's Attorney General, Patrick Morrisey, and U.S. Representative Evan Jenkins. There are a number of other primary contests that have drawn attention, including: 1) June 5 - California Longtime Democratic incumbent Dianne Feinstein is facing a challenge from Kevin de Leon, the President pro tempore of the State Senate, the Boston Globe reported. Given California's unique election rules, it's highly possible the two could end up facing off again in November's general election. Feinstein has been favored to retain her seat, but de Leon's insurgency has been a bit of a shock to the party system and it has been speculated that it could be a sign of a troublesome future for other Democratic incumbents. 2) June 12 - Virginia In Virginia, Republicans are poised to choose a candidate to go up against the Democratic incumbent, former Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine. Three candidates have gotten the bulk of attention. State legislator Nick Freitas, a former Army Green Beret, has been favored by the libertarian wing of the party, according to Star Exponent. E. W. Jackson is an African-American (though he has famously preferred to be called an 'American of African descent') pastor and veteran of the Marine Corps who has drawn attention for, among other things, his criticisms of Barack Obama and the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Jackson previously ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2013. Corey Stewart, a Prince William County politician, has made headlines with his staunch views on immigration. In 2013, he lost the nomination for Lieutenant Governor to Jackson. 3) June 26 - Maryland and Utah Democratic incumbent Ben Cardin was first elected to the Senate in 2006 after being elected to 10 terms in the House of Representatives, the Baltimore Sun noted. He has been heavily favored to win his party's nomination once again, but the race has received a large amount of attention as one of his opponents in Chelsea Manning, the former Army soldier who was famously convicted after leaking a high volume of classified info to WikiLeaks. Jerome Segal, a member of the faculty of the University of Maryland, has also drawn significant media coverage. Meanwhile, in Utah, former Massachusetts Governor and two-time Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is heavily favored to win the Republican nomination and the general election in November. He faces off against State Representative Mike Kennedy. 4) August 14 - Minnesota and Wisconsin Tina Smith was the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota when she was appointed to the Senate after Al Franken's resignation. She is now running for the Democratic nomination to hold the seat, confirmed Livable World. Her most high-profile opposition is likely Richard Painter, a former Republican who was a White House Ethics Lawyer before joining the University of Minnesota Twin Cities faculty. In Wisconsin, Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin is running for re-election. On the Republican side, State Senator Leah Vukmir is favored to claim the nomination, but she faces stiff opposition from Kevin Nicholson, a former Democrat and retired Marine who served in Iraq. It made headlines after news broke the Nicholson's parents contributed money to Baldwin's re-election campaign. 5) August 28 - Arizona Martha McSally, a U.S. Representative and former Colonel in the Air Force, has emerged as the preferred choice of moderates to win the Republican nomination in Arizona. She faces opposition from two high-profile and controversial candidates. Joe Arpaio was the longtime Sheriff of Maricopa County who drew attention for his staunch immigration views and was convicted for defiance of a court order before being pardoned by President Trump. State Senator Kelli Ward previously ran against incumbent John McCain unsuccessfully in 2016. Aligned with the far-right wing of the party, she has since received criticism for her statements about McCain's battle with cancer. 6) November 6 - Mississippi On the day of the general election, Mississippi is voting for both of their Senate seats following the retirement of the longtime Senator Thad Cochran. Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner and a former Democrat, was appointed to the seat and is running to keep it, according to the NY Times. Her main opposition is State Senator Chris McDaniel, who unsuccessfully went up against Cochran in a combative race in 2014 and had been planning to challenge incumbent Roger Wicker before this seat opened up. During a roundtable discussion on immigration reform earlier this week, Donald Trump spoke about undocumented immigrants and was accused of labeling them "animals." After his son Donald Jr. came to his defense, critics of the administration wasted no time firing back. Weird what happenes when you take out the first sentence specifically talking about MS-13 gang members. Not surprising that you would conveniently ignore that but I would think your readers deserve the truth not your chosen narrative. How does this even pass for journalism? https://t.co/fb6MRzUAjW Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 17, 2018 Don Jr. on immigration When Donald Trump first kicked off his campaign for president back in the summer of 2015, he quickly came under fire after referring to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers." In the months and years that followed, Trump would go on to make immigration reform one of his top priorities, claiming he would force Mexico to cover the costs of the construction of a border wall, while not ruling out the idea of mass deportation. While no major legislation has been passed during his presidency, Trump's rhetoric has stayed the same. While speaking at a roundtable discussion at the White House on Wednesday, Trump used the word "animals" when describing illegal immigrants, though the president has since walked back his remarks to clarify that he was talking about the MS-13 street gang. Trump lashed out at undocumented immigrants during a White House meeting, calling those trying to breach the countrys borders animals https://t.co/aQNeu29T6e pic.twitter.com/ogrFKaWyDZ The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2018 As the story of Donald Trump's "animals" comment went viral after being reported by nearly all the major news outlets, Donald Trump Jr. decided to come to his father's defense during his own Twitter tirade on May 17. "Weird what happenes when you take out the first sentence specifically talking about MS-13 gang members," Donald Jr. tweeted out, while misspelling the word "happens." "Not surprising that you would conveniently ignore that but I would think your readers deserve the truth not your chosen narrative," he wrote, before asking, "How does this even pass for 'journalism,?'" As expected, those who oppose the Trump family made sure to chime in. Twitter reacts Following Donald Trump Jr. speaking out in defense of his father, social media reacted as expected. "What the hell do you and your family know about truth," one tweet read. Weird what *happens* when you sleep during English class. Not surprising that you would ignore the importance of commas for clarification. How does this even pass for "#EnglishLanguage"? Grace Jelsnik (@GraceJelsnik) May 17, 2018 Stop already, Fredo. Ivanka is always going to be the favorite. Philip Graeter (@graeter) May 17, 2018 What the hell do you and your family know about truth. Chris (@DrHook71) May 17, 2018 "Stop already, Fredo. Ivanka is always going to be the favorite," a Twitter user wrote. "So we just need context. And then its finethat you and your dad get to define which humans really are not humans?" another tweet stated. "How is meeting with a Russian operative then continuously LYING about it okay?" an additional tweet noted. If he could just improve his articulation skills, it would be a lot easier for people to find context in his words. His vocab is abominable Jav Durand (@JavDurand1) May 17, 2018 Weird that you Forgot a lot of things from your meeting in Trump Tower with Russians. Better get that early onset dementia checked out, Junior Lulu (@lizardhead61) May 17, 2018 So we just need context. And then its finethat you and your dad get to define which humans really are not humans? carole king (@carolekingnyc) May 17, 2018 "Weird that you 'Forgot' a lot of things from your meeting in Trump Tower with Russians. Better get that early onset dementia checked out, Junior," a social media user wrote. "If he could just improve his articulation skills, it would be a lot easier for people to find context in his words. His vocab is abominable," a follow-up tweet read. In yet another mass shooting in the United States, several deaths have been reported at a high school in Houston, Texas. In response, Donald Trump gave his thoughts but was quickly met with backlash from critics. School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 Trump on Texas shooting In what has become routine in the United States, another mass shooting has occurred. On Friday morning at Santa Fe High School in Houston, Texas, a suspect reportedly opened fire. According to CBS News, the suspect pulled the school fire alarm in the hallway before running outside. Shots reportedly began in an art class room, before spilling out in the hallway where "almost 20 shots" were fired according to one student in attendance. Local Houston station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are reporting multiple deaths and injuries, though the suspect, who has yet to be identified, has been "arrested and secured," according to school Assistant Principal Cris Richardson. UPDATE: A suspect is in custody after reports of an active shooter at a high school south of Houston, an assistant principal at Santa Fe High School says https://t.co/oqRZUFvJK4 pic.twitter.com/U5yR7Fwr6n CBS News (@CBSNews) May 18, 2018 As expected, Donald Trump responded to the news with a tweet on May 18. "School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good," Trump tweeted out, before adding, "God bless all!" Within minutes, Melania Trump also sent out her thoughts on Twitter, writing, "My heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today." As expected, those who oppose the commander in chief decided to sound off with their thoughts. My heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today. Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) May 18, 2018 Twitter reacts Following Donald Trump's tweet, critics wasted no time hitting back on social media. "Make sure to call your handlers at the NRA to find out what they want you to do to make sure nothing gets done," one tweet read. "Not looking good?" What a fuck! Why don't you do something about it? Not looking good? Jesus, lord Jesus. Kenneth Dreesen (@Dreesenkl) May 18, 2018 To hell with your thoughts and prayers. They aren't working. Better gun reform NOW. Johnny Krevens (@johnnykwuhhh) May 18, 2018 "To hell with your thoughts and prayers. They aren't working. Better gun reform NOW," a Twitter user wrote. ""Not looking good?" What a fu*k! Why don't you do something about it? Not looking good? Jesus, lord Jesus," another tweet added. "Do something!!!! This tweet is absolutely meaningless," an additional tweet noted. "You should have addresses this two hours ago when it started instead of complaining about the investigation that is bringing everybody around you down," a post added. You should have addresses this two hours ago when it started instead of complaining about the investigation that is bringing everybody around you down Jessica (@jessica_braden1) May 18, 2018 God bless all? How about some gun control? Universal medical so people can afford mental help? Im sure this shooting occupied abut 20 seconds of your time, just enough to write this tweet. #TrumpResign #useless Sue Eddins (@Catfreeek) May 18, 2018 Hope some of those students join the Parkland protesters and protest for stronger gun regulations. Aduro Tri (@AduroTri) May 18, 2018 "Hope some of those students join the Parkland protesters and protest for stronger gun regulations," a social media user wrote. "God bless all? How about some gun control? Universal medical so people can afford mental help? Im sure this shooting occupied abut 20 seconds of your time, just enough to write this tweet," a follow-up tweet read. The backlash continued to pour in as yet another school shooting rocks the nation. Archival recordings by both Bob Dylan and The Band are rumored to be released in the near future. Dylans October 1962 recordings at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village, the long-delayed box set of his 1974 Blood on the Tracks sessions in New York and Minneapolis, and a 50th-anniversary version of the Bands Music From Big Pink, are all reportedly being prepped for release later this year. 'Pristine sonic glory' Richard Alderson, Dylans former sound engineer, commented about the two Dylan releases in a recent Facebook post. According to Alderson, My original recordings of Bob from the Gaslight in October 1962 will be released on Sony in the near future very, very few have heard them in their pristine sonic glory. Soon (to) come with the correct provenance and my story about recording them. Separately, Alderson confirmed, Blood On The Tracks (is) being reissued soon with all the NYC recordings, as a box set. The Gaslight recordings have been heavily bootlegged, and a 10-song version was officially released by Sony in 2005, initially through an exclusive 18-month deal with Starbucks. The Blood on the Tracks box set was originally scheduled to be volume 10 of Dylans Bootleg Series in 2013, and an alternative, uncirculated take of Meet Me in the Morning (embedded below) was added as the b-side of a 7 version of Duquesne Whistle, as a promotional tool. Surprisingly, Another Self Portrait was released instead. The most recent Bootleg Series, Volume 13 - Trouble No More 1979-1981, was released last November. The original acetate of Blood on the Tracks featured 10 songs recorded in September 1974 at A&R Studios in New York City. That version was scrapped, and Dylan re-recorded half of the album at Sound 80 Studio in Minneapolis at the end of the year, using local musicians. Alternate takes have already been officially released on "Biograph," "Bootleg Series (Rare & Unreleased 1961-1991)," and the soundtrack to "Jerry Maguire." 'Music From Big Pink' The Bands guitarist and main songwriter, Robbie Robertson, has hinted on social media that a 50th-anniversary version of their 1968 masterpiece, Music From Big Pink, will be released later this year, probably in late summer. On March 1, Robertson tweeted, Been listening to multi tracks of big pink [sic]. When asked if a re-release was in the works, and if he was still in contact with keyboardist Garth Hudson, Robertson replied Yes to both questions. He also confirmed the original recordings were done on four-track tapes. Today, on Twitter, Robertson acknowledged, "this july music from big pink turns 50 [sic]." Additionally, last July, Robertson posted the following on Twitter, New album progressing nicely. On March 10, he shared the following on his Facebook page, Lovely day in the studio with Glen Hansard, along with a picture of the two of them together. Bear Brown of "Alaskan Bush People" ended up landing himself in the hospital after an injury in the woods that happened. In Touch Weekly shared the details about what happened to the reality star. It turns out that he is now sporting an eye patch. It doesn't surprise anyone that one of the Brown family ended up hurting themselves. This seems to be a trend for this family. What happened to Bear? Bear Brown was actually out in the woods when he ran into a tree. A source explained saying, "Bear was running outside, as always, and turned his head into a small tree branch. He sustained a minor eye injury and went to Spokane, Washington, to the hospital. Bear got out of the hospital on Monday and he is now wearing an eye patch after hurting himself. It sounds like he is going to be okay, though. It sounds like he may have been there overnight, but that isn't even clear. He did scare the fans by sharing a picture of himself in a hospital bracelet on Instagram, but not explaining what was going on at all. Of course, the speculation went on that something serious was really wrong with him. Luckily, it isn't a big deal and Bear is going to be okay. Last month, Noah Brown had to have his gallbladder removed. The new season The new season of "Alaskan Bush People" is coming soon and the fans can't wait to see it. The cameras have been rolling for a bit and should end up showing some of what is going on with Ami Brown and her health scare. It could also show these two boys dealing with their health issues. They aren't living in Alaska anymore, but the fans are going to get to see what the Browns are up to now. The Brown boys are actually known for hurting themselves. It is really not surprising to anyone that Bear Brown would run into a tree and end up with an eye patch. Now that they aren't in Brown Town, it will be interesting to see how they live their lives being more in a normal society. Things are really going to change, but it will also be the same Brown family that everyone knows and loves seeing on television. The fans are just happy to hear that they are coming back for another season. Don't miss "Alaskan Bush People" when it returns to Discovery. After they have been saying that the show was in its last season, it is back once again. It doesn't look like this show is going to ever go anywhere. It would really be surprising if they don't end up having even more seasons after this one. The fans love this show and want it around. After weeks of speculation and will-he-won't-he gossip, Kensington Palace confirmed earlier in the week that Meghan's father, Thomas, is too ill to attend the ceremony. It had been thought that Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, would be the first woman to give away her daughter at a royal wedding. Mrs. Ragland will instead escort her daughter to St George's Chapel in Windsor. Prince Charles to take a starring role when Meghan and Harry wed this Saturday Harry's father, Charles, who is first in line to the throne, will have the honor of walking Meghan down the aisle. Meghan Markle has asked Prince Charles to walk her down the aisle at the royal wedding. https://t.co/UmM4J1sR6b Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) May 18, 2018 In further announcements from the palace, the 96-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, will attend the ceremony despite being in recovery from a hip operation earlier in the year. Meghan Markle's mother is to meet the Queen today at Windsor Castle. Earlier in the week, she met Harry's father, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla at Clarence House in London. She also met Harry's brother, Prince William, and his wife Catherine, along with their two oldest children, four-year-old Prince George and three-year-old Princess Charlotte. The ceremony will begin on Saturday at 12.00pm BST and is to be held at St George's Chapel in Windsor. Earlier in the week, the list of page boys and bridesmaids was announced. The list includes Prince George and Princess Charlotte, Harry's nephew and niece, and also the children of Meghan Markle's best friend, Jessica Mulroney: four-year-old Ivy, and her seven-year-old twin brothers, Brian and John. Ms. M.arkle will also have the company of her goddaughters Remi List, who is six, and her sister Rylan, aged seven. In addition, Harry has asked his three godchildren, Florence van Custom, Zalie Warren, and Jasper Dyer aged between three and six years old to act as bridesmaids and page boys at his wedding. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's children, George and Charlotte, are the more experienced ceremonial assistants having taken on the role at the 2017 wedding of their aunt, Pippa Middleton to James Matthews. This image of Prince Louis was taken by The Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace on 26th April. The Duke and Duchess would like to thank members of the public for their kind messages following the birth of Prince Louis, and for Princess Charlottes third birthday. pic.twitter.com/bjxhZhvbXN Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 5, 2018 Will it be Princess Meghan? In short, no. Because Meghan Markle was not born into the royal family, she will not become Princess Meghan. Instead, it is possible that she will become Her Royal Highness, Princess Henry of Wales, or she could become a duchess as was the case when Kate Middleton married Prince William. Henry is, of course, Harry's official name: Henry Charles Albert David. Now that all the details are sorted, we can all focus on the BIG news of the day: What will Meghan be wearing?! Excited fans are starting to learn more and more about "Stranger Things" Season 3. One of those things is that Francesca Reale has been added to the shows cast as a series regular. Reports by Variety and IMDb provided a number of the details used in this article. Reale's recurring role will see the actor portray popular lifeguard Heather at Hawkins Community Pool. Netflix and the Duffer Brothers are keeping tight-lipped on specific details of her character and story arc, but Heather is set to become a key player in Season 3's mystery. Fans of Netflix original series "Haters Back Off" will have already seen Reale's acting chops. In "Haters Back Off," Reale portrays younger sister, Emily, of oddball Miranda Sings (Colleen Ballinger). Reale was also in the television movie "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." "Stranger Things" won five Emmys last year (total of 18 nominations) and was awarded Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the SAG awards. The series continues to draw critical acclaim and there are big expectations already for what Season 3 will bring to the series. Who is returning to Hawkins? Other characters that will be returning for Season 3 are Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), Billy (Dacre Montgomery), and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery). Of course, the whole gang of kids will be returning as well and they are Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Max (Sadie Sink), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Mike (Finn Wolfhard). In other exciting news Priah Ferguson ("Atlanta," "Mercy Street") has been promoted to a series regular. The scene stealing actor originally appeared in season 2 as Lucas's younger sister Erica. Season 3 will see Erica return with her own group of friends that are ready to head off on their own mission to save Hawkins. Maya Hawke ("Little Women") will also be added to the cast of Season 3. She'll be playing Robin, dubbed an "alternative girl." Seeking excitement Robin will find herself uncovering a dark secret in Hawkins. 'Stranger Things' release date Season 3 began filming in spring 2018, meaning fans will most likely have to wait until 2019 to see the latest season of "Stranger Things." Actor David Harbour told Variety that, "one of the things thats annoying for fans is that it takes us a long time to do them. Like, you probably wont get [Season 3] until sometime in 2019." Hopefully, Season 3 is well worth the wait. ''This Is Us'' isn't just one of those stories that aims to take you on a wild and intense ride. It has more things attached to its core without missing the major goal which is to simply stun you as a viewer. When it comes to applying a certain method to properly engage the audience, the show comes up with a special offer. Unlike any other shows, ''This Is Us'' chose to deliver a raw display of the American suburban life and the day to day challenges some families have to overcome. And the whole plot revolves around a single family, the Pearsons in this case. To get to the core, we have to acknowledge Jack Pearson's role in this show. Jack Pearson's role won't fade away When season 2 started, we all tried to anticipate the exact moment Jack Pearson's death would be displayed. Knowing how big its influence was on Pearsons, having a chance to learn the exact narrative might have offered a comforting feeling. Still, it was completely separated from the heartbreaking scenes we all had to witness, especially that moment in the hospital when Rebecca learned about her husband's sudden death. Rivers of tears may have flown by in the aftermath of Jack Pearson's death, but we all needed to understand how harsh the reset button was for Rebecca and her three children. Moreover, it was the moment to introduce Miguel, a character that despite his secondary role, ended up gaining some traction once he and Rebecca got together. Losing their beloved father in such a tragic manner shook up the three Pearson children. They found a way to move on with their lives, but the scar tissues never faded away. What we call ''the present timeline of the show,'' is placed two decades after that terrible event. In the meantime, life has been following its own course but the memory of Jack is still around and is guiding his family's actions and thinking processes. There could be more to the Jack Pearson puzzle Milo Ventimiglia embodies one of the most complex TV drama series seen in recent years. Jack Pearson is the vital part of the show and this fact is not subject to any upcoming chance. Kevin is being pictured traveling to Vietnam in order to cement his bond with his father while learning some first-hand things about the man he loves so much. Jack Pearson is still a mystery and all the attention he has received so far did little to solve the puzzle. One particular dark spot revolves around his relationship with his brother Nicky who he seems to have lost while fighting in the Vietnamese war. That and other parts of Jack's past are all parts of a special treat we could receive during season 3. The invention of tech gadgets like the Apple iPhone and iPad have both led to plenty of brilliant uses for the mobile technology. Recently, that technology became even more mobile thanks to a robot. Not only that, it sort of provided a way for an ill high school senior to still attend her graduation ceremony and receive the diploma on stage. Here's how the student was able to virtually attend her graduation ceremony despite being in the hospital. iPad robot subs for a sick student As the Daily Mail and other sources reported, Cynthia Pettway from Mobile, Alabama was hospitalized due to an illness. Due to that, she was unable to physically attend her high school's graduation ceremony. Nonetheless, LeFlore High School and the hospital still made it possible for Pettway to be a part of the on-stage reception of a diploma. LeFlore High Students Including a Student Graduating Remotely from USA Childrens & Womens Hospital via the Robotic Friend Seen on Stage at Right Are Ready for Graduation! pic.twitter.com/LXIvIlSmyG Martha L. Peek (@SuperPeek) May 14, 2018 Bring in a robot as a substitute for Pettway. The robot, which might be described as a Segway device, rolled across the stage wearing a cap and gown. Taking things a step further was the fact it had an Apple iPad tablet as it's head. In this way, Pettway's smiling face was able to be pictured on the display as she was live-streamed from the hospital onto the iPad tablet. That caused her fellow classmates from the Class of 2018 to erupt with cheers as it was certainly a unique situation to witness. Hospital helps make the ceremony special Pettway mentioned in comments to Daily Mail that she was "so sad" when she first learned she couldn't attend her graduation in person at the LeFlore High School. She called it a "once in a lifetime milestone" that she had worked hard to complete the requirements for. Pettway said she had done night classes to help her graduate. Helping to pull off the graduation feat was a partnership between MCPSS along with the USA Children's and Women's Hospital. Pettway sat behind a laptop in a hospital conference room where she wore the cap and gown for her graduation ceremony. Attending her ceremony at the hospital with her was about 40 family members watching and recording the situation with their own devices. Milestone achieved In other comments that Pettway made, she said she initially was hesitant to participate in the graduation ceremony using a robot. Pettway said that she didn't believe it would work, but that the end experience was worth it. She had wanted to be the first of her cousins to graduate from high school. She also said that her grandmother had wanted to see her cross the stage, and the use of the iPad robot helped with that. Pettway added that the way in which the ceremony was done really added to her overall graduation experience. She said once the robot with her face on it rolled across the stage and she heard all the cheers she became more emotional from it all. She was even seen wiping tears away on the screen of her robot stand-in. Will this trend continue? Steve Jobs may or may not have imagined this would be part of what his Apple products would be used for in the future. One has to think that there are plenty of opportunistic tech companies out there working to integrate a camera, and voice interactivity into a moving robot. In essence, there may be a real-life robot maid like in "The Jetsons" coming to households someday. There are already reports that Amazon is working on robots. They've already been a major force in one part of the household market with their Echo lineup which features the Alexa voice assistant. Amazon could potentially create a moving screen version of their Alexa to accompany residents from room to room, assisting them in some manner. Is Amazon Building The Jetsons' Rosie the Robot Maid? - https://t.co/mP2SVfBrjS pic.twitter.com/gBIjOplDf6 Cavalier Associates (@CavAssociates) May 10, 2018 It also raises up some possibilities for implementing more robotic participation at events in the future using clever live streaming and even virtual reality. Now individuals who aren't feeling well can attend a graduation or other big event in some capacity without feeling completely left out. However, for those students hoping to find a suitable robot to take their place in a class so they can "play hooky" or "skip," the convincing look of the technology probably isn't quite there yet. Visiting Chinese Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia has said the Chinese and Pakistani militaries should implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two counties and enhance strategic communication and pragmatic cooperation. Zhang made the remarks during his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday, appreciating that the Pakistani side firmly supports China over issues related to Chinas core interests, Xinhua news agency. He said the two militaries should also promote their defence relations comprehensively in the new era, maintain the common interests of the two countries and peace and stability of the region as well as the world. For his part, Abbasi said Pakistan and China have been seeing close relationships and have carried out broad and deep defence cooperation, adding that Pakistan firmly sticks to the one-China policy. The Prime Minister said Pakistan is willing to enhance strategic cooperation and pragmatic exchanges in all sectors with China, and ensure the smooth development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and contribute to the regional development and prosperity. Block.one, a global leader in blockchain and publisher of the EOSIO blockchain software, has made an initial $3 million commitment to the Department of Computer Science in Virginia Techs College of Engineering to help students build skills in blockchain. As part of the collaboration, Dan Larimer, Block.one chief technology officer and blockchain pioneer, will advise the university on curricula development, including participation in live classroom sessions, seminars, and symposia. Larimer is an alumnus of the Virginia Tech Department of Computer Science. Block.one is dedicated to creating a more prosperous society by improving the integrity of business interactions, and blockchain is the key driver of this vision, said Larimer. If we are to achieve this goal, it is important to work with a leading institution such as Virginia Tech to provide students with the tools to succeed as the technology is developed. As an alumnus of the university, I am delighted to be a part of this ground-breaking educational effort for the future of blockchain. The funds will be used primarily to update and develop blockchain courses and curricula and hire faculty and staff for the department. This will enable the university to deliver a full blockchain offering, including a variety of courses, an undergraduate minor or concentration in blockchain development, and a boot camp or short course. Program implementation will begin fall 2018. Blockchain has the potential to have a vast impact on humanity, said Julia M. Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Dean of Virginia Techs College of Engineering. We are extremely grateful to Block.one for its partnership and commitment to shaping the future of this technology. We will work closely with the company to provide students with the best-in-class education and research opportunities with global applications. Block.one is the developer of leading-edge, business-grade blockchain-based technology solutions and communities that make the world more open, transparent, secure, and connected. Its mission is to build the mainstream blockchain infrastructure of the future for communications and commerce through software innovation and entrepreneurial partnerships; and generate technologies that help secure life, liberty, and property rights through nonviolent means. Computer science education demands constant revitalization and reinvention, said Cal Ribbens, department head of computer science. This collaboration with Block.one will accelerate curricula initiatives at Virginia Tech, preparing our students to be leaders in developing and applying blockchain and equipping them to be a force for innovation and economic development in the commonwealth and beyond. In March, Larimer visited the Blacksburg campus and led a discussion with Virginia Tech students about the technical definition of blockchain, its uses, and impact on the world. He also talked about his career and engaged with students in an informal Q&A session. As we build the mainstream blockchain infrastructure for communications and commerce, we recognize the importance of working with educational institutions to develop talent and promote blockchain education, said Brendan Blumer, Block.one chief executive officer. Block.one is proud to collaborate with Virginia Tech as it provides future blockchain engineers with the tools to succeed in the industry. - | Contact Us on WeChat Mocca Gong Please scan and add Mocca Gongs WeChat if you have any queries and want to ask in Chinese. We are willing to help! Getty Images May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, to honor the rich history and accomplishments of AAPIs throughout the history of the United States. AARP is proud to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with articles that showcase AAPI accomplishments and culture. In this third installment of our series, we offer a list of the most influential and inspiring books both fiction and nonfiction that spotlight the AAPI experience. Lucky Henry Chang This is the latest of five novels featuring NYPD detective Jack Yu that involve crime and community in New York's Chinatown. Author Chang, who was born and raised and still lives in Chinatown, evokes his neighborhood with loving detail. Lucky is about his childhood friend, gangster Lucky Louie, who comes out of a coma after being shot and goes on a crime spree to get revenge. Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People Helen Zia Zia is a journalist who came to prominence covering the murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin in Detroit in 1982 by two autoworkers who blamed the decline of the U.S. industry on Japanese cars. The book follows the subsequent rise of the pan-Asian movement. The Making of Asian America Erika Lee This book by Lee, a professor of Asian American history, is a comprehensive yet conversationally written overview of the arrival of Asians in America, what brought them here and how their many communities have evolved. Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem Paula Williams Madison A former TV news journalist and network executive, Madison, who is African American, traced her family roots from the Chinese immigrant communities of Jamaica all the way to a village in China that welcomed Madison and her American family for a reunion. The Leavers Lisa Ko Lisa Ko's debut novel was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction. It's a complex portrait of a boy born to an undocumented Chinese immigrant mother, and their complicated family life. The plot revolves around the boy, Deming Guo, being left by and then reunited with his mother more than once. One mysterious disappearance leads to his adoption by a white couple. He then goes back to China to find his destiny. The Wangs vs. the World Jade Chang This best seller is about a Chinese American family's fall from riches to rags. Bright Lines Tanwi Nandini Islam This debut novel follows the lives of one Bangladeshi American family trying to hold their own in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn community. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane Lisa See This tale of a mother and daughter is set against the backdrop of tea farming. The Grace of Kings Ken Liu In a post-Game of Thrones and Lord of the Ringsworld, Ken Liu offers a fantasy that's not based on European sensibilities of dungeons and dragons. The book was showered with praise and awards when it was published in 2015 as the first in a series of "silkpunk" fantasy novels. A sequel was published in 2016. Two friends fight an evil emperor only to find themselves on opposing sides after the revolution. Private Citizens Tony Tulathimutte This satirical novel delves into the stories of millennials living in San Francisco. Night Sky with Exit Wounds Ocean Vuong This collection of poetry was included on the New York Times' list of the top 10 books of 2016. The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen Nguyen's debut novel was published in 2015 and received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It's an epic tale of a North Vietnamese spy in South Vietnam during the war who comes to the United States as a South Vietnamese refugee, and ends up advising a Hollywood movie about the Vietnam War. It's a seldom-told perspective on the conflict through a Vietnamese lens. Eighty Days of Sunlight Robert Yune This coming of age novel explores the lives of two brothers. Getty Images En espanol | Theres a new culprit to blame for financial illiteracy among some older Americans: the length of their marriage. A paper recently published by the Journal of Consumer Research finds that the longer a couple stay together, the greater the difference between the partners knowledge of finances and ability to make good money decisions. That difference, which results from couples tendency to have one partner take the lead handling financial affairs, can leave the other partner ill equipped to manage money in the case of divorce or widowhood, says Adrian Ward, a coauthor of the study and an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas at Austins McCombs School of Business. Youre left on your own, you dont know what to do, youre vulnerable, and you dont even know what you dont know, says Ward, who wrote the paper with John Lynch Jr., director of the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. Although studies assessing the roots of financial literacy and illiteracy usually focus on individuals, examining factors such as peoples wealth and education level, the researchers looked instead at how being in a committed relationship affects financial knowledge. The divergence in a couples knowledge, Ward says, is a natural outcome of a tendency to rely on the expertise of others. This is a way we solve this fundamental problem of being human, he says. Instead of knowing stuff, we have to know who knows this. Among couples, says Ward, this reliance commonly plays out in the kitchen, as one partner may, over time, assume the role of household chef. And it can happen in the financial arena, as well: One partner ends up as the household chief financial officer, paying bills, overseeing investments and getting the taxes done. And just as the household chef can become the better cook in the house, the designated CFO often ends up being more knowledgeable about money, with the financially uninvolved partner possibly even losing money management skills. There are a lot of reasons why you wouldnt learn about money, says Ward. Its hard to learn about it, you dont want to know about it, and if you do learn about it, it makes you unhappy. If you can rely on your partner, thats fine. But very few of us can rely on our partners forever. As a result of this division of labor, the researchers found, not only do non-CFOs have less financial knowledge, but they also are less likely to acquire new information when making a money-related decision. After being given a financial decision-making task along with learning materials to help complete that task, non-CFOs in the study stopped reviewing the aids more quickly than did the CFOs. People who have offloaded responsibility for more time read the least, says Ward. Theyre just not prepared to comprehend any of this stuff. On the bright side, non-CFOs lesser knowledge and skills about money can be remedied, says Ward, citing research by Federal Reserve economist Joanne Hsu indicating that most older wives, who tend to be the non-CFO, increase their financial literacy as they approach widowhood. When people think about this, they can get better over time, says Ward. But it takes time." Hill Street Studios En espanol | In an age where computers seem to run so much of peoples lives, experts say that when it comes to voting, its best to have a paper trail. This falls midterms will be the first national election since the intelligence community revealed that Russians attempted to hack into the nations voting systems. According to a new Senate Intelligence Committee report, in 2016 Russian operatives tried to access voter information, including registration data, in at least 21 states. The Senate report said the committee found ample evidence to conclude that the Russian government was developing capabilities to undermine confidence in our election infrastructure, including voter processes. A year later, the federal government deemed elections a critical infrastructure, alongside the nations electricity grid, water supply and many government facilities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) then created an elections task force that shares information and best practices with elections officials around the country. In March, Congress allocated $380 million to the states to beef up election security. Its the first time since 2010 that lawmakers put any federal money toward modernizing elections. I dont think thats enough, but its a good first step, says Lawrence Norden, deputy director of the Democracy Program at New York University School of Laws Brennan Center for Justice. Each state will get at least $3 million, says Thomas Hicks, chairman of the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC, an independent bipartisan commission, was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential elections that made hanging chads a household phrase. From the states Ive talked to, they look at this as a great down payment in improving the process, he says. States plan to use the money to help ensure that their voter registration systems are secure and accurate, pay for new voting equipment and hire technical staff to update their systems. There are more than 178,000 precincts across the country, and county officials are the ones typically responsible for running elections in their communities. Because the system is so decentralized, someone living in one state may vote on a machine that simultaneously records the ballots on paper. But just miles away, that voters brother may cast his ballot on a machine that doesnt generate a paper copy. Currently, 15 states have some machines that dont record votes on paper, and five states Delaware, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia and New Jersey have no paper backups on any of their voting machines. Several of those states are moving toward systems with paper trails. Even if there is a paper backup for voting machines, says Hicks, its still the computer counting the votes. In Colorado, once the machines spit out the totals, election officials hand count a representative sample of the paper ballots to double-check that the machine tally is accurate. Rhode Island is also planning to do similar auditing. Individual citizens also can help ensure the security of elections. For example, voters can check to make sure their registration is up-to-date and ask if their voting machine has a paper trail. Poll watchers typically volunteers from the community also help supervise the voting process. An EAC analysis found that nearly 65 percent of election sites recently reported difficulty getting enough poll workers. Every American must have confidence in the integrity of the system and that their votes will be counted and counted correctly, DHS Secretary Kristjen Nielsen said at a recent cybersecurity conference in San Francisco. So, to those who would try to attack our democracy, to affect our elections, to affect the elections of our allies, or to undermine national sovereignty, I have a simple word of warning: Dont. Baird Park recreation trail open, ready for visitors The Baird Park Recreation Trail is now open and ready for visitors. The modern Middle East has been plagued by ruinous wars: country versus country, civil wars with internecine and sectarian bloodletting, and numerous eruptions centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But never in the last 70 years have they seemed as interconnected as now with Iran and Saudi Arabia vying for regional control, while Israel also seeks to maintain a military supremacy of its own. Russia, the United States and Turkey make up the other powerbrokers in a region where not only wars but proxy battlefields within those wars are on a feverish and hostile footing. The ongoing wars in Syria, Yemen, this weeks mass killing of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza, Turkish-Kurdish hostilities, and the potential for an all-encompassing war sparked by an Iranian-Israeli conflagration in Syria or Lebanon, all have tentacles that reach across borders and back again. Suggestion in recent years of a Sunni/Shiite schism across the Middle East and Persian Gulf appears much less a factor than the jockeying of the key actors with the most military, financial and diplomatic muscle who are trying to shape the region in their image, or at least to the satisfaction of their national security and various leaders hubris. Heres a look at each of the main power players, whom they are aligned with, and what their ultimate goals are. ISRAEL WHATS AT STAKE: Direct conflict with Iran has been simmering and briefly looked like it might burst into full-blown conflagration after Israel launched a blistering bombardment of Iranian positions in Syria, killing Iranian fighters after an alleged Iranian rocket barrage toward its positions on the annexed Golan Heights. The exchange followed several earlier suspected Israeli strikes on Iranian positions in Syria. Israel sees Iran as its mortal enemy and existential threat. Conflict with Iran would likely drag in Tehrans ally, Hezbollah. An Israeli-Hezbollah conflict could play out in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, with each side warning it will strike across the opponents country. Israel is bolstered by unprecedented support from U.S. President Donald Trump. Israel is determined to suffocate the Iran nuclear deal; Trump withdrew from the accord and days later sent his daughter and son-in-law to preside over the U.S. Embassy move to disputed Jerusalem, a move that angered the Arab and Muslim worlds. Bloodshed at the Gaza border may have revived global opprobrium against Israel for use of disproportionate live fire against unarmed protesters, killing dozens; but Trumps backing gives it reason to feel emboldened. Behind the scenes, Israel is building relations with Gulf nations also opposed to Iran. WHAT IT WANTS: A much weakened Iran, the continuation of the Gaza blockade which is also imposed by Egypt with a ferociously controlled border, and no concessions to the Palestinians with regards to land for peace. IRAN WHATS AT STAKE: The rapprochement with America under President Barack Obama is now ashes. Sanctions relief, running to hundreds of billions of dollars, is at risk, as Washington targets Tehran again, though a nuclear deal may be salvaged with EU nations, Russia and China. Iran has built up alliances to counter Israel and Saudi Arabia. In Syria, the presence of its troops and allied Shiite militias has been critical to President Bashar Assads survival. In Yemen, it is allied to Shiite Houthi rebels battling Saudi-backed forces. Tehran strongly supports the Palestinian cause, though its ties with Hamas have weakened. WHAT IT WANTS: Iran has pretty much accomplished a goal its officials have often trumpeted, building a corridor of power from Iran across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean. In all those countries, it funds and arms powerful Shiite militias and has enormous political influence. It seeks a continuation of the nuclear deal with the other global signatories, hoping to bolster its financial coffers. There has already been discontent in Iran that sanctions relief was not flowing to the people. RUSSIA WHATS AT STAKE: President Vladimir Putin has ruthlessly filled the U.S. vacuum in Syria, waging an air campaign that has left a trail of dead in Aleppo and Ghouta among other locations. Moscows support of Assad turned the tide of war in his favor when defeat seemed imminent several years ago. Russia is also allied to Iran. But it also hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for its Victory Day celebrations hours before Israels attack on Iranian positions in Syria, raising speculation the two were quietly coordinating so that Israel kept well away from Moscows forces and planes in Syria. WHAT IT WANTS: Russias regional goal in is to sustain and build on the major foothold it now has in the Middle East, beyond Syria, notably where the U.S. might have once before. U.S. WHATS AT STAKE: Traditionally weve tried to play a role of fireman in the Middle East. Now were playing the role of arsonist, says Ilan Goldenberg, a former State Department and Pentagon official who runs the Mideast program at the Center for a New American Security. That seems to have plenty of currency in the region now, though some would also argue the U.S. has long played an incendiary role in the region, from reinstating the shah in Iran in the 1950s up to and including its wars in Iraq to the present day. The Palestinians have essentially cut off contacts and say the U.S. cannot be an honest broker. So Trumps promised deal of the century doesnt seem to be in the cards for now. Trump withdrew from the Iran deal. He has by his side hawks like National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has advocated for attacking Iran and regime change. Trump cant decide on Syria to keep the U.S. presence or not? He doesnt seem intent on ruffling Putin over Syria unless chemical weapons rear their head again, which prompted U.S.-led airstrikes last month. The administration is very closely allied to Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and seems set to continue following Riyadhs lead on Yemen. Washington may get an unpleasant surprise if a heavily pro-Iran government emerges in Iraq after last weeks elections. WHAT IT WANTS: The administration is in complete synch with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saber-rattling with Iran could escalate, and it shows no urgency in pushing for Israel-Palestinian negotiations. SAUDI ARABIA WHATS AT STAKE: Also emboldened by Trump, the Saudi crown prince is determined to make his mark. Riyadh is spending billions of dollars in the Yemen war, leading a Gulf Arab coalition against Iranian-allied Shiite Houthi rebels. Thousands of civilians have been killed by Saudi airstrikes and starvation in the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Prince Mohammed has made vague threats that the kingdom will build a nuclear bomb if Iran starts its program again. Saudi Arabia sees Iran as the single greatest threat to the region and its competition for the dominant role it wants for itself. The kingdom is closely tied to Trump, who chose it as the destination for his first overseas trip as president, and it has been back-channeling with Israel. At the same time, it has lost influence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon after placing bets on losing partners or failed gambits. WHAT IT WANTS: Emasculation regionally of Iran and to be the dominant power in the region. TURKEY WHATS AT STAKE: For President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, its almost exclusively about the Kurds, who in an alliance with the U.S. helped defeat the Islamic State group in Syria and in the process captured a quarter of the country. This has infuriated Turkey to the point it launched a military campaign seizing a pocket of northern Syria, and it threatens to attack Kurds all the way to the Iraqi border. The presence of U.S. forces among the Kurds is perhaps the only thing thats held Turkey back this long. Ankara views Kurdish fighters in Syria as an extension of the Turkish Kurdish PKK, which it considers a terrorist group. Turkey also gives vocal support to the Palestinians, while relations are at a nadir with Israel. Turkey has also offered to take in wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment. WHAT IT WANTS: To break Kurdish strength and, above all, prevent a Kurdish autonomous mini-state in Syria along its border. It also wants some say in post-war Syria where it has supported opposition fighters and Islamist groups opposed to Assad. ___ EDITORS NOTE Tamer Fakahany is AP Global News manager and has directed international coverage for The AP for 15 years. ___ Follow Tamer Fakahany on www.twitter.com/@TamerFakahany. Frontier Airlines announced Thursday it is adding a new flight between Albuquerque and San Antonio, Texas. The San Antonio service, the first nonstop service between the two cities, begins Aug. 15, according to a news release from the city. Frontier a month ago began service from Albuquerque to Austin, Texas and to Orlando, Fla. The flights announced Thursday will depart San Antonio Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7:30 a.m.; they will depart Albuquerque at 9:06 a.m. Name: Joseph Louis Sanchez Political Party: Democrat Democrat Occupation: Electrical Engineer Electrical Engineer City of Residence: Alcalde Alcalde Relevant Experience: I bring over 15 years of executive management and technical experience in the energy sector and in the construction and operation of nuclear facilities for waste and research operations. My professional work includes: e ngineering manager, Engineering Services Division at LANL; electrical engineer in support of LANL construction and operation programs; CEO of Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative, Inc. (JMEC). I have represented JMEC in state and local initiatives with other power providers for provision of power service under jurisdiction of the state Public Regulation Commission. I have been responsible for all aspects of the operation of JMEC, including but not limited to business services, member services, engineering services and line operations. I am a registered professional engineer in New Mexico. ngineering manager, Engineering Services Division at LANL; electrical engineer in support of LANL construction and operation programs; CEO of Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative, Inc. (JMEC). I have represented JMEC in state and local initiatives with other power providers for provision of power service under jurisdiction of the state Public Regulation Commission. I have been responsible for all aspects of the operation of JMEC, including but not limited to business services, member services, engineering services and line operations. I am a registered professional engineer in New Mexico. Education: Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico and two masters degrees, one in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico and one in Business Administration, from New Mexico State University. Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico and two masters degrees, one in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico and one in Business Administration, from New Mexico State University. Campaign Website: josephsanchezfornm.com Issue questions: Support the Office of the State Engineer/Interstate Stream Commission effort to help the 16 Regional Water Planning regions update their water plans. Without adequate water infrastructure, NM cant address the many other water needs. We need to expand broadband infrastructure to rural areas for both education purposes and economic development. 2. What are the top two things you would propose to address the states high crime rate? Prioritize funding for important public safety initiatives to improve safety and security, particularly in prevention, treatment and enforcement to end the drug cycle of the heroin and opioid issue, a massive driver for crime. We must ensure we take measures, like appropriate compensation, to attract law enforcement officers. 3. How would you address the states high DWI rate? Unfortunately, we havent had the resources, staff, training or logistical support to effectively prosecute these cases. Im concerned about the high percentage of DWI cases that get dismissed. The DWI problem is repeat offenders. We need to improve prevention and treatment. Need to investigate other approaches 4. New Mexico now spends about $270 million a year for early childhood programs, such as home visiting, pre-kindergarten and child care assistance. Do you support or oppose a constitutional amendment that would withdraw more money from the Land Grant Permanent Fund to increase funding for early childhood services? Quality Pre-K is one of the best investments we can make in our future by increasing distributions from our Permanent School Fund a sensible investment to help the economy now and ensure every child has the best opportunity. This investment should include a safeguard to ensure the viability of the fund. 5. Do you support or oppose legalizing recreational marijuana use in New Mexico and taxing its sales? I fully support medical use and am open to supporting recreational marijuana if the pros outweigh the cons. We can look at other states with similar demographics and their impact with recreational marijuana. 6. Do you support or oppose opening the states primary elections to voters who arent affiliated with either major political party? They have a constitutional right to vote. Unaffiliated voters are a large voting bloc, however should pick one primary to vote inthey cant vote in both. For transparency purposes the primary they choose should become public information, to bring more clarity to the voting patterns of these non-party people. 7. Do you support or oppose raising New Mexicos minimum wage, currently $7.50 per hour? If so, by how much? I support a raise for the minimum wage in New Mexico. The number determined should not have a negative impact on our small businesses. Basic economics tells us when money moves, the economy moves. 8. Do you support or oppose basing any percentage of a teachers performance evaluation on student test scores? Explain. The evaluation system is too flawed to be the basis of compensation. While there is no doubt an element of unfairness to the bonuses in that not every teacher for various reasons is rated as exemplary, its the evaluation system weve got to work on. 9. Do you support merit bonuses for teachers who do well on their evaluations? Do you believe unions should have the authority to block such bonuses? Every classroom should have a well-educated, professional teacher, and our school systems should recruit, prepare, and retain qualified teachers. They should be compensated adequately. The concept of merit pay could lead to subjective forms of evaluating teachers. I know over-testing, lack of funding, crowded classrooms and unfair evaluations strain students and teachers. 10. Do you think having 32 state institutions of higher education is too many? What would you propose to make higher education more efficient? Smaller schools give the individual boards independence to respond to their communitys specific needs and are important to their communities. A need to call for a review of the states higher education system could improve possibly by looking into partnership among institutions. 11. How should the states lottery scholarship program be kept solvent into the future? I support enacting reforms to generate more revenue by using money from other state funds, but it will require a good deal of political coordination. 12. Do you support or oppose making New Mexico a so-called right-to-work state, by changing state labor laws so that nonunion employees would not have to pay union fees as a condition of employment? I oppose. 13. Do you favor making New Mexico a sanctuary state? Yes. 14. If an Ethics Commission is approved by voters, at what point do you think ethics complaints should become public? I would support the creation of a state ethics commission that publicly releases complaints and holds open hearings if there were adequate processes in place to prevent abuses. 15. Do you believe the initial police incident reports and videos of arrests and crime scenes should be public? Claiming the incident report is part of an investigation shuts the public out of basic information and unless noticed and challenged can contribute to a culture of unnecessary police privacy. 16. The state faces balloon payments on its Rail Runner debt in 2025 and 2026, a federal requirement for tens of millions of dollars in safety upgrades for the train, and declining ridership. On the other hand, the train is popular with the commuters who rely on it, and the Rail Runner may seek federal funding for the safety changes. Do you support continuing operation of the Rail Runner? I currently support the continued operation, but down the road we need to look at the financial impact to our states budget. 17. Do you favor imposing a gross receipts tax on all internet sales? Yes. 18. New Mexico has more than 100 exemptions and deductions in its gross receipts tax system. Would you favor eliminating some or all of them as part of an attempt to lower the base rate? If so, which ones? If not, why? I would reform the gross receipts tax to encourage business growth and expansion. 19. What would you support to make New Mexico schools safer? Would that include changing New Mexico gun laws? If so, what specific changes to the gun laws would you support? We need to give schools the resources to identify red flags that may not easily be identified with students that have potential issues. Also limit gun access for people with permanent protective orders from domestic violence incidents. Personal Background N/A 2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No. 3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, explain. I failed to appear in connection with a citation for failing to wear a seat belt. I was subsequently charged with failing to appear. After appearing on this charge, the matter was resolved, and charges dismissed. I have a warm spot in my heart for down-home, hole-in-the-wall cafes that serve basic, satisfying food that can carry you through your day. That spot was tickled when I walked into Felipes Tacos, in a shopping plaza off Llano Street by St. Michaels Drive. Red-and-white checkered oilcloth covers the tables. A large red cooler holding drinks is decorated with Coca-Cola images. Calendars with the businesss name and old-fashioned images hang on the wall behind the register. In an adjoining space, T-shirts are for sale. Broad-brimmed sombreros hang on the walls. The whole place looks like a bodega that was crammed into your tias kitchen. And this retro vibe is no product of a hip designer. No, you get the feeling this place has looked that way ever since it was a hatchling. Its authentic and gets the job done, just like its food. The tacos headlined in the cafes name are small, so prepare to order at least three, maybe more, if youre looking for a full meal. I was in the market for a light meal when I put in my order, so I got one al pastor ($1.90) and another with fish ($2.75). You can order the tacos Mexican (with onions and cilantro) or American (with tomatoes and lettuce). I opted for Mexican, and the onions were a tad harsh, but the plentiful cilantro countered with a green freshness. I ordered the heaping tacos to go, which may have contributed to the limpness of the corn tortillas by the time I pulled them out of their wrapping. It was a complete mess to try to lift them and eat them by hand, but no matter. The pork, marinated in a red chile sauce, came in chunks just big enough to chew and with just enough heat to satisfy. The fish was breaded I prefer it grilled and just a little dry, but it was all right. With each order, you get a choice of salsas. With the tacos, I ordered tomatillo, which was bright and hot a little too hot for my taste. With other orders, I chose pico de gallo, which had just the right amount of heat and veggie freshness. On another visit, I tried the Burrito Grande with pork ($8.50). The hefty handful (I cut it in half and saved the rest for another meal) also contained beans, cheese, lettuce, rice and avocado. The rice was a surprise. While its often included on the plate in a Mexican-style meal, I havent before found it wrapped up in a tortilla as part of a burrito. It contributed to a somewhat mushy texture, which I usually dont like. In this case, though, it evoked a comfort food feel and flavor that filled my mouth and belly. Besides, rice and beans combined create a complete protein, so you can get the nutrition you need without even adding the meat. My final sampling at Felipes Tacos was a quesadilla con pollo ($6.95). Small chunks of chicken were spread generously throughout the plate-sized tortilla, held in place with an equally generous portion of mild melted cheese. A side of guacamole was available to top off each mouthful. I generally favor a somewhat toastier quesadilla, in which the tortilla is slightly crisp. And I would prefer a greater variety of ingredients, with some type of vegetables or onions scattered in with the meat and cheese. But it was satisfying, if a little salty. Again, I saved a portion for later consumption. This isnt the type of place you go for fine dining, but its a place where you can fill your belly for a decent price. It feels both timeless and authentic. And you can buy a T-shirt or calendar for a souvenir. Felipes Tacos also offers catering, in case you want to throw a party. In an effort to put a dent in the areas auto theft problem, officers from Albuquerque Police Department and New Mexico State Police joined deputies from Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office on Thursday to participate in an auto theft suppression initiative. According to Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales, more than 65 uniformed and non-uniformed officers participated in Thursdays operation, which focused on areas in the West Side and far northwest Albuquerque. We have intelligence and information and the focus is auto theft, Gonzales said during a news conference at the North Area Command Center. Were looking for vehicles. Were looking for offenders. Some of the people who are here (Thursday), auto theft personnel, will be looking at those individuals they are conducting investigations on. We have warrants out there and theres a lot of stolen vehicles out there, so well be looking for those also. The Sheriffs Office reported Thursday night there were 70 traffic stops, 25 citations, four felony arrests, eight felony warrant arrests, one misdemeanor warrant arrest, nine stolen vehicles recovered, one firearm seized and .25 ounces of methamphetamine seized. Gonzales said the agencies will continue to work together on such operations as long as auto theft is an issue. According to FBI data, New Mexicos auto thefts are concentrated in Albuquerque. In 2016, the city accounted for about 65 percent of the stolen vehicles in the state and about 30 percent of the population. That same year, the National Insurance Crime Bureau ranked the greater Albuquerque area as having the highest per-capita rate of auto thefts in the country, with 1,114 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people. Last year, the city recorded 7,684 auto thefts, down slightly from 2016, when 7,710 vehicles were reported stolen. Nexus Brewery is commemorating seven years not only with the food and beer its become famous for but also the opening of its Nexus Blue Smokehouse later this year. The smokehouse will soon offer its own style of barbecue when it opens in a few months at 1511 Broadway SE. It will also have a taproom with Nexus beers and guest taps. Im going to just say it should open the fall of this year, Nexus owner Ken Carson said. Id like it to open in September, but you know how that goes. Ill say September, and it will be December. Were way behind where we had anticipated, but at least finally were moving forward now and we are actually building and doing stuff and were putting in plumbing. Opening a smokehouse is Carsons dream realized. He once considered having a barbecue menu rather than Nexus signature Southern and soul cuisine. I wanted to do barbecue, but I was afraid because I had customers that were in the barbecue business and it just seems like its been really hard for them to survive in the business, Carson explained. The smokehouse will now give Carson an opportunity to branch out into the barbecue style of cooking he loves. He is hoping to offer various smoked meats, including bacon, ham, turkey and fish. We designed what we call a pit room and so the barbecue pits, its kind of a barbecue area that has the barbecue pits in them. But theyre open on each side of the pits. It will be fenced in and everything for security. Youll see these in Texas in a lot of places. Theyll have these open pit rooms and the barbecue pits. Youll see them cooking the meat. Youll see the fire, and you can see the smoke and the whole deal. Thats part of the ambiance that we have, and you will be able to sit on the patio and look over and see the guys possibly pulling meat off the barbecue pit. Carson will leave the cooking to his kitchen staff at the smokehouse, but patrons can get check out his barbecue skills during Nexus seventh anniversary events. He will be cooking Kens Famous Ribs on May 26 at Nexus Brewery. Ive done it seven years in a row, he said. Its kind of in appreciation of my customers to get out there and put on an apron. Taking the brewing reins is new head brewer Randy King, who recently came on board. King, who grew up in Belen, had been brewing in Montana, prior to joining the Nexus team. The beers might have changed here and there, but the changes are really subtle and the beer has improved in a lot of cases, Carson said. All of the new beers that hes done, theyve been excellent to me. As part of the anniversary events, Nexus will release the hop-forward Big Ugly Nasty IPA, aka the BUN, at Nexus Brewery and Nexus Silver West Side taproom on Thursday, May 24, and release Beam Me Up Scotty Scotch Ale at both locations on May 25. We were joking around, and I was telling (King) everybody in this town loves IPAs so much, and I said can you do a big, ugly IPA, and he laughed and he said, OK, I can do it and I said, What are you going to call that IPA? and he said, I think we should call it the Big Ugly IPA. So we came out with the Notorious BUN, and that is Big Ugly Nasty IPA. ABQ Beer Week is the ideal time to find out why New Mexico breweries have made a name for themselves. The festivities start Thursday, May 24, and run through June 3, with many events that showcase craft beers from Albuquerque and Santa Fe breweries, including food pairings, beer releases, beer collaborations, tap takeovers, a homebrewing contest, and discussions at various locations as well as the popular Blues & Brews craft beer festival on May 27 at Sandia Resort and Casino. One of the things that I always like about Beer Week is a lot of breweries do things together, and this year there is a ton of collaborative events like beers, but also breweries are getting together to do dinners and different tastings, founder and organizer Marne Gaston said. It just seems like in such a competitive field and Beer Week just kind of brings people together. I love that part of it. New to this years Beer Week, Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., Dialogue Brewing, Rio Bravo Brewing Co., and Tractor Brewing Co., are teaming up for the Beer Walk, Run or Crawl from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 24. Participants will receive a free commemorative T-shirt and $1 off all pints at each location. A concert at 7 p.m. at Rio Bravo also is part of the event. Proceeds benefit Behind the Badge, which raises funds to help first responders with problems related to on-the-job trauma, according to Gaston. Newcomers High and Dry Brewing will hold a food pairing with Malaguena Food Truck from noon to 10 p.m. on May 26. As part of the event, High and Dry will release its Thai Wheat, brewed with lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, Thai chili and sea salt. A shrimp cocktail skewer with curry cocktail sauce is a pairing option. Rye with essence-toasted oak and leather and a pairing option of barbecue brisket burned ends also will be available. Quarter Celtic Brewpubs Mini Cask-fest returns. It will be held from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 30 and features a variety of cask beers. Newbees Steel Bender Brewyard will hold its Wild & Sour Tap Takeover at MTuccis Market & Pizzeria from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 2. The event will feature some of Steel Benders sour and funky beers with meat and cheese pairing options. One of Beer Weeks largest events, Brews & Blues, will showcase 70 breweries. New to the event are Albuquerques Hops Brewery and Steel Bender Brewyard, Santa Fes Tumbleroot Brewing, Michigans Bells Brewery, Oregons 10 Barrel Brewery, and Texas Karbach Brewing Co. There will be four stages featuring local talent, and proceeds will benefit several charities, including El Ranchito de los Ninos, the Freedom in Music Project, Make-A-Wish NM, and the University of New Mexico Childrens Hospital. For eventgoers who prefer something other than beer, there will be a number of ciders as well as spirits at Imbibes cocktail lounge. We will be doing our cocktail lounge with Imbibe again, so thats another option with those people who dont drink beer, Gaston said. Thats always a fun and popular booth. Local advocates for police reform and the general public will get to pitch what they believe are the most important attributes of Albuquerques next police chief to a search committee put together to advise the mayor on his decision. APD Forward, a group comprised of several organizations, is hosting a listening session Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Mayor Tim Kellers office has announced that a national search for a permanent police chief is underway, and the city hired a firm called Avtec for $10,000 to consult on both the police chief and animal welfare director hires. Interim Police Chief Michael Geier has said hes applied for the position. Alicia Manzano, a spokeswoman for Keller, previously said that the mayors office will announce several finalists and seek consideration for the permanent hire from the City Council. A decision is expected in June. Several local organizations interested in police reform said ensuring the process is thoughtful, transparent and includes community input is more important than being timely, said Steven Robert Allen, the policy director for the ACLU in New Mexico and a spokesman for APD Forward. Its obviously a pivotal moment for the police department and, really, the city, he said. The Keller administration needs to be thoughtful to make sure they get the absolute best person for the job because its not going to be an easy job. On Saturday, APD Forward is hosting the meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Picuris, Sandia and Santa Ana rooms at the Convention Center. In the first half of the meeting, APD Forward members will pitch their thoughts on the chief selection process to the selection committee. The public will get a chance to make comments in the second half of the meeting. The city has also set up a tab on its website where the public can enter comments on the hiring process. The selection committee members are: Herb Crosby, recruitment coordinator. Bob Martinez, Fraternal Order of Police. James Lewis, senior adviser for public safety. Ed Perea, attorney and former APD commander. Carol Pierce, director of Family and Community Services. New Mexicos female prison population is on the increase, along with the percentage imprisoned for drug and property crimes, according to the New Mexico Sentencing Commission. The reason for the trend is unclear, said Linda Freeman, the executive director of the commission. But since 2001, there has been a 41 percent increase in the number of women prisoners. We have spent the last three or four years scratching our heads trying to figure out what is going on with the female population, Freeman said. It seems like theres a lot of potential for improvement. The topic of the states female prison population was one of several issues discussed Thursday during a Criminal Justice and Public Safety Task Force meeting. The task force was created by the Legislature this year to identify and address problems with the states criminal justice and public safety systems. Albuquerques rising crime rate was one of the reasons the group was created. Its members are supposed to create a report for the Legislature by October. Freeman, during a presentation on arrests in inmate populations, said the state hit the mark for the most women incarcerated in the states history with 797 female inmates in February of this year. The number then dropped to 755 this month. There are currently 6,599 male inmates throughout the state, which represents a 2 percent decrease since 2016. Nearly 40 percent of female inmates are being incarcerated on drug crime charges. But less than 20 percent of male prisoners are locked up because of drug crimes. More than 60 percent of males are in prison because of a violent crime conviction, according to the presentation. According to the sentencing commission, the number of women prisoners is expected to continue to increase through 2020. Also during the task force meeting on Thursday, members heard about Albuquerque crime data and the publics opinion on crime, which was gauged through surveys and polls. Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc., said more than 50 percent of Albuquerque residents feel they are likely to be the victim of a crime in the next year and nearly 60 percent of residents think that the criminal justice system is too lenient. He also said for 30 years voters, when polled, have said the most pressing issue facing the city changes between economic development, education and crime. Currently, were in a crime wave, he said. This is the mind set of voters in Bernalillo County, today, given the atmosphere, Sanderoff said. The Culture Ministry of Russia has banned the satiric film The Death of Stalin because it makes fun of certain revered historical figures and symbols and events of the mid-20th century. Russian officials described the film as blasphemous and vile, repugnant and insulting, according to news reports. Pavel Pozhigailo of the Culture Ministry said the film depicts our great war marshals as idiots. Well, yeah. Thats pretty much the point. Based on the graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, The Death of Stalin is a broad but pointed political satire in the tradition of Duck Soup, The Great Dictator, Dr. Strangelove, The Candidate and Wag the Dog, to name just a few, and by banning the film in 2018, the Russian Ministry of Culture couldnt have made a more convincing case for why the world needs to see it. From start to finish, director/co-writer Armando Iannucci (creator of HBOs brilliant Veep) delivers an audacious and insightful and ridiculous and hilarious send-up that reminded me of the classic Monty Python films of the 1970s and 1980s. (In fact, Python legend Michael Palin appears here in a relatively small but pivotal role.) Though the film is set in the Soviet Union of 1953 and nearly all of the main characters are historical Russian figures, the actors not only speak English, but they have accents ranging from upper-crust British to Cockney to American. Youd have to be an idiot and/or the member of an oppressive governments culture ministry to not get the joke. Adrian McLoughlin strikes just the right notes as Stalin, the megalomaniacal and barbaric ruler who enjoys making his associates grovel while terrorizing the populace. Simon Russell Beale delivers award-worthy work as Beria, the head of the secret police, who casually executes enemies, perceived and real. Stalins toadies are obsessed with staying on his good side. Jeffrey Tambors Malenkov freaks out when an anecdote he tells Stalin at dinner falls flat. When Steve Buscemis Nikita Khrushchev returns home from a night in Stalins company, he has his wife take copious notes on which jokes worked and which jokes fell flat. When Stalin takes ill and eventually dies, theres a mad grab for power that commences somewhere between the takes ill and dies part. Beria, Malenkov, Khrushchev and others jockey for position while scheming against one another, lying to one another and always professing party loyalty in case their conversations are being recorded. Slapstick justice ensues. Big laughs are scored at the expense of killer buffoons who have the tables turned on them. But as in the case of all satires that resonate, The Death of Stalin goes deeper than balloon-popping punch lines. Andrea Riseboroughs portrayal of Svetlana Stalin is grounded and real. Olga Kurylenkos work as the pianist Maria Yudina, whose note to Stalin is the catalyst for this tale, is serious stuff. All the best comedies contain serious messages. And all the best countries arent so insecure as to ban freedom of expression. The Death of Stalin 3 stars RATED: R (for language throughout, violence and some sexual references) WHEN: Now showing WHERE: The Guild, High Ridge In February 2010, just about a full year after Barack Obama took office, a series of billboards mysteriously popped up along Interstate 35 in a town called Wyoming, Minn. They showed a photo of a waving President George W. Bush, flashing a cheeky grin, above copy that said, Miss me yet? The meme quickly caught on and soon plastered car rear bumpers, T-shirts and posters. But despite the viral spread of Miss me yet? merchandise, it turned out that the answer was decidedly: No. America, by and large, did not miss President Bush yet. He left office with a 33 percent favorability rate, according to Gallup. By the time the billboards were up in 2010, it had only recovered to the mid-40s. But in the years since, Bush has nearly doubled his popularity. A CNN poll from January 2018 has his approval at 61 percent. In just the two years since Trump became the Republican nominee for president, that number has climbed six points. A new report by Roxanne Roberts in the Washington Post explores some of the reasons for the newfound admiration, including the simple benefit of time, a reconciling of the complexities of the Iraq War, and the fact Bush has remained fairly quiet in the years since leaving the White House. Time has done the reputation of President Bush a lot of good, says Fred Kempe, president of the Atlantic Council, which recently awarded Bush the Distinguished International Leadership Award. (T)he longer time goes on and his presidency is reassessed, the better he looks. Of course, it could be argued that the Miss me yet? meme could be revived in the wake of Trump, as more and more Democrats are discovering their untapped affection for their former enemy. According to a January 2018 CNN report, most of Bushs climb back to popularity came from Democrats and Independents. Among Democrats, his favorability in February of 2009 was a mere 11 percent. It is now at 54 percent. I know Ill be called an establishment cuck for this, but after almost a year and a half of Trumps antics his tweets, his bullying, his lies, his lack of intellectual curiosity, his brittle inability to withstand scrutiny, his angry, uninformed blurting, his hostility toward valued Democratic institutions its hard not to miss Bush. You can hold Bush accountable for his policy decisions and criticize his decision to invade Iraq while acknowledging that Americans didnt know just how good they had it at the time when many decided Bush was evil incarnate. And now, the differences stand in stark relief. There are the little things. Bush could laugh at himself. His self-deprecating sense of humor was famously disarming. He wasnt too proud to take a joke, nor was he punitive about jokes at his expense. And while he could be pointed, he was never mean. A universe away from berating a war hero or mocking a disabled journalist, the meanest Bush ever got was in his penchant for awarding nicknames to everyone in his orbit, from Hurricane Karen for adviser Karen Hughes, to Pootie Poot for Vladimir Putin. As Sen. Roy Blunt says of his friend, then as much as now, he is a person who doesnt have to be critical of everybody else, a person who understands how big these problems are, a person who just has a sense of the right way to conduct yourself as a former president. While W. could range from inartful to inarticulate at times his gaffes are infamous Trump makes a daily virtue of his own ignorance and insists anyone who points out his willful ignorance is establishment. When its clear Trump is wrong, rather than admit or correct it, he simply calls the correction fake news. That habit has trickled down to his communications shop and surrogates, and its an embarrassing display. Perhaps more importantly, Bush was America Best, not America First. He was hugely patriotic and optimistic about Americas role in the world, but not in service of denigrating other cultures or parts of the world. His tremendous commitment to the international AIDS crisis was, for him, an opportunity to help developing nations while elevating Americas leadership. Upon receiving an award last week, he said Id really like to dedicate it to the generosity of the American people and ask you to spread the word about what this great compassionate nation has done. I was long a Bush supporter, but 2007 me could hardly imagine a world in which he would be honored by a bipartisan think tank and receive three standing ovations. But in 2018, with Trump as a backdrop, its no wonder we are increasingly open to reimagining Bushs historic awfulness, and remembering how he wasnt so bad, after all. S.E. Cupp is the host of S.E. Cupp Unfiltered on HLN. (c) 2018 S.E. CUPP Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Beginning in the 1800s, trust lands were granted to states upon entrance into the union for the sole purpose of generating income for public institutions, particularly schools. The lands were managed, leased, or sold for a range of uses, including mining, grazing and agriculture, to satisfy their revenue-generating responsibility. However, antiquated perceptions and laws governing state trust lands can constrain the ability of trust managers, like N.M.s Commissioner of Public Lands, to adapt to new ideas and changing economies. These challenges create a critical need and a real opportunity to explore additional means of generating considerable trust revenues that continue to raise significant funds for our schools and hospitals, while aligning trust activities with a resilient and robust economic model, and at the same time conserving the environmental health of New Mexicos precious watersheds and landscapes. As a progressive trust land manager, I will respond to these challenges with visionary new strategies and approaches. Much work needs to be done to create a substantive framework that implements a land and natural resource management model that transitions from one of consumptive use to one of sustainability. We must build a 21st-century land and natural resources management vision that includes economic diversity, social justice, environmental resiliency and cultural frameworks. With specific policy and legislative initiatives, the potential for state trust lands is truly limitless! How we leverage this potential is only limited by our imagination, vision and political will. Every future generation of N.M.s children is counting on us. Heres how: n First, we must make massive, game-changing investments into clean energy production on state trust lands. Manufacturers of solar and wind energy must have equal opportunity as extractive industries to generate clean energy on trust lands. Additionally, I will work with the Legislature to create a dedicated clean energy funding stream for public schools. With renewables, we can break the boom-and-bust cycle of public education funding that has held our state back for too long. n New Mexico must also modernize our outdoors and ecotourism industries to take advantage of billions of dollars in international revenue and thousands of jobs that currently go to other states. Locations such as White Peak, the Luera Mountains, Sierra Grande and parts of the Bootheel should be managed and marketed specifically for their recreation and wildlife values. As commissioner, I will begin an aggressive program to restore these properties for their outdoor recreation wildlife, and cultural values. Along with restoration and infrastructure improvements, I will launch an international marketing campaign aimed at birding, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, horseback riding, hiking, geocaching and rock climbing communities, among others. n Finally, New Mexicos next land commissioner must be willing to stand up and fight against the devastating environmental policies of President Trump. I have made this a cornerstone of my effort from letting Trump know hell have to build his racist border wall over my dead body and to keep his hands off our public lands, to promising to use the bully pulpit of the Land Office to push back against eviscerations of protections for clean air, water and endangered species, and gutting of national treasures such as national monuments. If we dont fight now, we may lose for good. I have devoted my career to land, water, wildlife, natural resource planning, policy and advocating for the conservation of these precious public treasures. I have led conservation campaigns focused on water policy initiatives and protection, watershed restoration, threatened and endangered trout reintroduction and protection, and landscape-scale conservation. My unparalleled knowledge of state and federal natural resource policy and planning uniquely positions me to implement paradigm shifting changes in N.M.s land use at a historic moment in a national and global environmental crisis. I humbly ask for your vote in support of transforming New Mexicos public lands for the benefit of transformative funding for public education. Democratic Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero faces two primary challengers this year one of whom is questioning whether she lives in the district year-round. Roybal Caballero, in turn, says shes campaigning on her record as an experienced leader in an area that needs a strong advocate. She said she lives in the district all year, of course, though she acknowledged she jointly owns a home in El Paso. The race is unfolding in House District 13 a patch of Southwest Albuquerque near 98th and Central Avenue. Challenging Roybal Caballero are retired police officer Robert Atencio and Damion Cruzz, a hospice nurse and entrepreneur. Their disagreements go beyond just traditional issues, such as legalizing marijuana, opening up primary elections to all voters and raising the minimum wage. Cruzz alleges that Roybal Caballero lives in Texas. Roybal Caballero said the confusion may be a result of an El Paso home she inherited a family homestead, she said, that she shared ownership of. Her sons and their families use the home, she said, and she lives in a manufactured home she owns in Albuquerque. Roybal Caballero also used some El Paso-based vendors for campaign services, but she said thats just because the companies are run by longtime friends and associates who give her unmatched prices. Furthermore, she said, shes running on the issues and wont promote personal attacks. The district deserves a public servant with a proven record of dedicated and unwavering commitment to working hard and diligently on behalf of our constituents, said Roybal Caballero, who took office in 2013. Atencio, who retired from the Albuquerque Police Department and now works as director of stadium operations at Isotopes Park, said he, too, didnt want to run a negative campaign. His public safety background, he said, would help him promote community policing in the district and represent the area well. Crime right now is out of control, Atencio said. He and Roybal Caballero have different views on whether to open New Mexicos primary elections to all voters, not just members of the Democratic and Republican parties. He supports the idea; shes opposed. Cruzz didnt respond to a Journal questionnaire, though he said he opposes open primaries. In an interview, he said he didnt have time to answer the written questions and that it should be easier for candidates to run for office in New Mexico. Reached by telephone this week, he responded to some of the questions the Journal sent to all candidates. He said he has been arrested before, though only in connection with minor infractions, such as a parking offenses and lack of insurance. A search of New Mexico court records didnt turn up anything more serious than traffic offenses. Thats why people like me dont usually run because were arrested for dumb crap, he said. Cruzz added that he grew up so hungry that he would eat out of a restaurant trash can an experience that gave him tapeworms. He outlined the incident in a letter posted to his website and mailed to voters. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal The City of Albuquerque has served an eviction notice to Eclipse Aerospace and One Aviation Corp. claiming the companies owe the city more than $895,000 in rent and other obligations, as well as Local Economic Development Act funding. In the April 26 eviction notice obtained by the Journal, city attorney Esteban Aguilar said the city has been very patient with Eclipse in the hopes of maintaining a positive relationship and told the company to pay the city by May 8. The City must obtain prompt payment from Eclipse, or require Eclipse to surrender the premises so the City can lease it to a rent-paying tenant, wrote Aguilar in the notice. Aguilar declined to comment. Eclipse and One Aviation did not respond to a request for comment. Nyika Allen, the citys director of aviation, confirmed to the Journal that Eclipse had neither paid the city nor vacated all its leased properties as of Thursday. We are continuing the conversation with them, she said. Eclipse is the maker of a twin-engine light jet. In 2015, it merged with Superior, Wisc.-based Kestrel Aviation to form One Aviation Corp. Last year, Eclipse confirmed that it had laid off an unspecified number of employees at its Sunport manufacturing facility. Notices filed with the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions show that Eclipse terminated 76 employees. In 2013, the city and state announced Eclipse would receive up to $635,222 in Local Economic Development Act funding from both entities for an expansion that would create 100 new jobs. City officials did not say how much of that funding they are seeking to recoup. Additional documents obtained by the Journal show the companies responded to the eviction notice with a proposal to pay the city about $162,000 by May 8 and the remaining balance as we take the company through a restructuring process. The city rejected the proposal. In a May 17 letter, the companies offered to immediately pay about $790,000, vacate the Sunport facilities they currently occupy hangars and office spaces in the buildings known as Sunport 1, Sunport 2 and Sunport 3 and move into Sunport 4. We have acquired new investors who want to stabilize our core business, said One Aviation board Chairman Mike Wyse in the letter. Our goal is to remain at the Albuquerque International Sunport and be a long-term partner with the city. It was unclear whether the city has responded to the letter, which also states that the new investors wish to restart production of Eclipses twin-engine jet known as the EA550, as well as develop new models. New Mexico is considering $250,000 in economic development incentives for CSI Aviation to renovate Sunport 1, Eclipses former headquarters. Allen said the proposal involves renovating part of the building. The other part of the building is still technically occupied by Eclipse. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal Santa Fe County sheriff candidate Manny Anaya and his wife filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2014, but a trustee for the federal government said the couple was abusing the system because they made too much money, and were claiming excessive and unreasonable expenses, like a Harley Davidson motorcycle payment. It was the third time the couple had filed for bankruptcy in an 11-year span after twice filing for bankruptcy in 2003. When asked about the 2014 filing, and the claim that he and his wife were abusing the process, Anaya said he doesnt have any recollection of the case beyond that it was settled. He said he didnt think it was too much of a big deal that a sheriff candidate filed for bankruptcy. I really dont want to say anything to that because I dont remember the details, Anaya told the Journal. Donald Trump filed (for bankruptcy) 10 times. I dont understand the relevance of it. The sheriff doesnt handle money himself. (Trump companies actually filed for bankruptcy six times.) Federal Bankruptcy Judge Robert Jacobvitz dismissed the case in April 2015 because the Anayas agreed to drop it, according to court filings. It was discharged, Anaya told the Journal. We didnt go through with it. We sought a different way to handle our finances. The Anayas Chapter 7 petition filed in January 2014 says their debts were primarily consumer debts that were incurred by an individual for a personal, family, or household purpose. U. S. Trustee Leonard Martinez-Metzgar filed a motion in April 2014 that asked the judge to dismiss the case based on the presumption of abuse under the bankruptcy code. Debtors have listed various excessive and unreasonable expenses in their Schedule J, the motion states. The major expenses include a Harley Davidson motorcycle payment of $294; a trailer payment of $158.20; and the mobile home payment of $1,206.86. The elimination of these expenses will not affect the Debtors ability to provide for adequate food, clothing and other necessities . The Anayas petition says the mobile home is in Los Ojos and is not their primary residence, which is in Santa Fe. The Anayas also listed their median family income at $134,304 a year and $11,192 a month. This exceeds the applicable median family income for a family of six in New Mexico of $71,384, Martinez-Metzgar wrote. The trustee also cited case law saying that bankruptcy relief is not intended to remedy the consequences of extravagant spending. The motion to dismiss also says that the Anayas had been inconsistent in reporting how many people were living in their household. In their petition, the Anayas claimed they had a family of six, but on their 2012 tax return, they had claimed a household of four, the trustees motion stated. Either way, the trustee says they still made too much money. Under both scenarios, there is enough disposable income to create a presumption of abuse, the motion states. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy would allow a trustee to sell off assets to pay creditors. The Anayas filed a response that disputed much of Martinez-Metzgars motion, including the trustees assertion that their motorcycle, trailer and mobile home payments were excessive and unreasonable expenses. The Anayas also said they reported more household members in their bankruptcy filing because their dependent daughter was expecting a child, but they didnt explain why the number went up by two instead of one. During a recent interview, Anaya said he had never seen the motion that said he and his wife were abusing the process. This is news to me, he said. I dont remember those documents at all. He also said he sold the motorcycle two or three years ago. The Anayas were discharged from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy they filed in 2003 and were dismissed from a Chapter 13 bankruptcy the same year on their own motion, but none of the documents in those cases can be viewed online. Anaya told the Journal that the security business he was running at the time went under and caused the family financial hardship. I got into a jam because of my business, Anaya said. My vendors didnt pay me and raised my debt. An open judgeship in Santa Fe Magistrate Court has brought out two Democratic candidates with years of varying legal experience to seek election to the bench. Judge Donna Bevacqua-Young, appointed by the governor in 2013 and then elected in 2014, is vacating the courts Division 3 seat to run for state district court judge. Running in the June 5 primary to replace her are Deputy District Attorney John Rysanek and former state police officer Samuel Sena. Rysanek sees the judge position as the next logical step in his law career. He has worked in the Santa Fe District Attorneys Office since 2011, the same year he graduated from the University of New Mexicos Law School. I love work, and I love hard work, and I think I can do it more efficiently, he said. Ryansek served as an associate trial attorney and senior trial attorney until being promoted to Deputy DA in August 2015. He oversees the offices intake department, meaning he evaluates criminal complaints before they go to a grand jury to ensure arrests are constitutional, as well as determines what charges the DA should pursue. What I have to do has some aspects of what a magistrate does, Rysanek said. I review the search warrants and arrest warrants, and I review them for legal sufficiency, whereas a magistrate (judge) is reviewing them and determining whether theres probable cause. Before he was an attorney, the father of three and grandfather of one spent much of his twenties finishing an Information Technology degree while helping raise his two now-adult children. He has a six-year-old stepson with his wife Kerry and the couple just welcomed a new daughter this month. He said he was burnt out by I.T. after obtaining his degree in 2004, which led him to a new career path at what is now Easter Seals El Mirador, a local group home for adults with disabilities. Thats where I found what I wanted to do with my life, which was to help people, help the public, Rysanek said. He became El Miradors community services manager before leaving for law school in 2009. If elected, he said he wants to establish new programs that divert low-level offenders from prosecution, noting they are proven to reduce recidivism more than the status quo. Hes interested in a veterans court, modeled after the one in Albuquerque, and a restorative justice initiative whereby, if both parties consent, an offender makes amends to the victim of a crime as an alternative to traditional sentencing. Examples include mediation, restitution or community service. Restorative justice can be used whether or not there is a conviction, Rysanek said. Even if a victim doesnt want to see a perpetrator punished, The court should still be there to (say), OK, if you dont want that maybe theres still this thing we could try, he said. Ultimately, what you want in the justice system and in prosecuting is you want to resolve things and deliver justice, and sometimes justice is not a conviction. Serving the community According to Sena, his desire to run for judge is simple. He wants to continue serving following his 15 years as a New Mexico State Police patrolman. I wanted to continue to serve our community, the Santa Fe native said, adding that he spent much of his police career on cases presented in Magistrate Court and that he also served as law enforcement representative on the courts DWI/Drug Court program. I had a passion for it for many, many years, he said. Senas tenure with the State Police ended in controversy. Records show his July 2016 retirement followed a notice of possible termination during an investigation into his falsification of firearm qualification scores in 2015 when he was a state Law Enforcement Academy instructor. The academys board later suspended his police certification for one year, finding him guilty of dishonesty and displaying a lack of good moral character. Reports state Sena told officials that he had the shooting scores on his phone, but it malfunctioned and deleted the data. He admitted the scores he provided were fabricated, based on his recollection. When the Journal reported on the matter recently, Sena said his State Police career shouldnt be diminished because of a single event and that he had learned from the mistake to the point that it will make me a more effective judge. Since leaving the force, Sena has continued work with Magistrate Courts DWI/Drug Court. As a community liaison, Sena said he is on a panel including attorneys, judges and treatment providers to determine specialized plans for each participant, which can include job placement opportunities or specific addiction treatment. He said his work with the drug court comes from compassion, something he says he also needed as a patrolman. Sena added that as an officer, he received firsthand experience and training on issues he would deal with as a judge, including traffic and property crime cases, DWIs and domestic violence cases. That along with the compassion, fairness and consistency, those things and that experience, I do believe allows me to be effective and fair, he said. Sena and his wife, Gina, have been married since 2003. He has a 23-year-old son, two step-children and step-grandchildren. Santa Fe County Magistrate Judge Candidates DISTRICT 3 Samuel (Sam) Sena AGE: 42 EDUCATION: 1993 Santa Fe High School graduate; attended Santa Fe Community College; 2002 New Mexico State Police Academy. OCCUPATION: Retired New Mexico State Police patrolman RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: 15 years as a state Police officer; timing device lead instructor, drug recognition expert; State Police background investigations; breath alcohol instrument key operator; domestic violence law protocol & procedure training WHY IM RUNNING: As a New Mexico State Police Sr. patrolmen for 15 years, I was honored to protect and serve the citizens of New Mexico in District 1 (Santa Fe). During this time, I was witness to the tragedy associated with the struggles of crime and addiction in our community. I continue to share my experience and expertise with the court and its participants as a member of the Santa Fe Magistrate Drug Court team. In addition, I will continue to further my education and challenge myself to advocate for accountability and change. The citizens of Santa Fe County deserve a qualified, experienced and knowledgeable judge who can not only apply the law in a fair and just manner, but also treat everyone who appears before me with dignity and respect regardless of their background. I am committed to continuing my service to the residents of Santa Fe County. BACKGROUND QUESTIONS 1. Have you or your business if you are a business owner ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens? No. 2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No. 3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony? No. Santa Fe County Magistrate Judge Candidates DISTRICT 3 John Rysanek AGE: 46 EDUCATION: Juris Doctor, UNM School of Law (2011); Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, University of Phoenix, Albuquerque (2004). OCCUPATION: Deputy district attorney RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: I have nearly seven years experience as a practicing attorney, all of it working as a prosecutor for the 1st Judicial District Attorney. I started prosecuting DWIs in Magistrate Courts in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties. In 2013, I was promoted to senior trial attorney where, for a short time, I prosecuted felony probation violations in the First Judicial District Court. I was made the junior attorney for the Intake Department where I handled third- and fourth-degree general felonies. In 2015, I was promoted to deputy DA and tasked with running the Intake Department. As the senior intake attorney, first- and second-degree general felonies were added to my caseload. I have bench and jury trial experience ranging from a first DWI to second-degree murder. WHY IM RUNNING: Judges in the Magistrate Court have an incredible responsibility to their community. On a daily basis, they make decisions that directly affect public safety, which requires attention to the nuances of the law, the rules of criminal procedure, Santa Fe at large, and the circumstances of the case before them. In this context, I will, to the best of my ability, create positive change within the Magistrate Court system. I have dedicated my career to public service, and believe that service should be efficient and productive. I have worked within the Magistrate Court system for my entire legal career as an ADA and then later as a Deputy DA, and this gives me the unique ability to hit the ground running if elected with, in my opinion, a shorter learning curve. If elected, the inevitably difficult decisions presented by the office of Magistrate Judge will be made in a fair and impartial manner, informed by both my experience in the court and my dedication to honesty and integrity. My commitment to justice will result in a fair and impartial forum for any party before me. Regarding improvements to the current magistrate court system, I will advocate for a Veterans Court for Santa Fe County similar to the one in Albuquerque. Restorative justice, with the consent of all parties, will be an option in my courtroom. BACKGROUND QUESTIONS 1. Have you or your business if you are a business owner ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens? No. 2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? Yes, I declared bankruptcy not long after my divorce, so either 2001 or 2002. 3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony? No. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal In the Democratic primary for Santa Fe Magistrate Courts Division 1 bench, the presiding judge of the court will face a former bail bondsmen who says he wants to put a greater emphasis on public safety and accountability. David Segura is being challenged by Jerry Gonzales, his first opponent since his initial election as judge in 2006. In 2009, he became the courts presiding judge. Before taking the bench, Segura spent more than 20 years in law enforcement and retired from the Santa Fe Police Department as a captain in 2000, after work across several divisions, including the Special Weapons and Tactics team, Special Investigations and Internal Affairs. Post-retirement, he worked for New Mexico Association of Counties and operated a life skills training business and another business with which he helped law firms find individuals for serving legal papers. Segura said he retired from SFPD because of the dangers that SWAT operations presented for the father of two young sons, now 24 and 22. He and wife Carmela have been married 31 years. As a magistrate judge, Segura said, hes particularly proud of forming the DWI/Drug Court in 2008. He ran the program, a nine-month process during which participants are required to attend therapy, participate in community service, complete regular drug tests and are offered educational opportunities to combat recidivism, until fall 2017. Segura said he handed off the program to Judge George Anaya so he could work on establishing a similar court aimed specifically at addressing opioid abuse, which he said will be the focus of his next term if he is elected. Were trying to plead those down to misdemeanors, Segura said. Get (offenders) back re-engaged in education, get them re-engaged in the workplace, and that way weve addressed many of the underlying issues. Aside from the experience he gained as an officer and judge, he thinks educational opportunities hes pursued while serving on the bench clearly set him apart from his opponent. That includes training courses at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev. Specifically, he touted a certificate in judicial development-special court trial skills earned in 2011 from the NJC. At the time, he was only the second magistrate judge in the state to obtain the certification. Its a long time to gather this experience, he said. It doesnt come overnight. Segura is also interested in developing specific court programs for domestic violence offenders and veterans. However, he said resources arent currently available due to flat budgets from the Legislature, which allocates funding for DWI/Drug Court. Campaign finance reports show that Segura has raised only $800 for the race, compared with about $13,000 by challenger Gonzales. Segura said he didnt intend to raise funds at all, but decided to after signs went up for Gonzales and supporters wanted to know if he was still running. Enmeshed in community When it comes to facing a long-term incumbent, Gonzales said he isnt nervous, mainly because he feels he can relate to his fellow residents and the issues his hometown faces. I shop at Wal-Mart with everybody, Gonzales said. I eat at the same restaurants the majority of these people eat at. Im enmeshed within the community. Gonzales has recently been in search of a new career. He worked for his parents business, Jerry Gonzales Bail Bonding, for 26 years. He took over the business about 14 years ago. The nearly 40-year-old company closed last summer. Bail reform via a voter-passed constitutional amendment in late 2016 led to the closure, he said, citing the amendments stipulation that says non-dangerous people awaiting trial for lower-level offenses should be released on unsecured bonds. After considering other ideas over the past year, like opening up a barbershop or sandwich shop, he says, he decided he had the judicial system experience to be an effective magistrate judge. Ive been face-to-face with thousands of people, Gonzales said. Ive dealt with their families. I understand the issues here in the city. As someone who has sat in courtrooms for his bail bond business, Gonzales said, he doesnt believe the courts are playing a large enough role in holding people accountable, particularly those who dont comply with conditions of release. We have law enforcement that continues picking up the same people on a regular basis, Gonzales said. That means our court system gets clogged up with somebody who continues to pick up case after case. He said his former job as a bail bondsman would not influence the types of terms of release that he sets for defendants in criminal cases. My only agenda is to serve this community to the best of my ability, he said. Gonzales is a father of two, ages 23 and 20, and the grandfather of one. In 2011, three Edgewood residents sued Gonzales and his business, claiming two of his solicitors and a contracted fugitive recovery team raided the wrong home, threatened people there and held one while looking for the fugitive. Gonzales court response said residents of the home were harboring the fugitive, the Torrance County Sheriffs Office had been notified ahead of time and the homeowner gave the group permission to enter. It also says one resident was restrained because he threw a glass bottle at the group. The suit was settled out of court. Gonzales told the Journal recently that he couldnt discuss details of the settlement. But he noted the Sheriffs Office, the District Attorneys Office and State Police investigated the plaintiffs claims and cited no wrongdoing. I was found to have done my business, he said. SANTA FE COUNTY MAGISTRATE JUDGE CANDIDATES Division 1 David A. Segura AGE: 59 EDUCATION: Attended New Mexico State University, Criminal Justice (1976-1977); attended Santa Fe Community College, Education; Santa Fe High School, 1976 graduate. Course work through the National Judicial College and other nationally recognized judicial training institutions or programs on numerous subjects related to the law and the judiciary; University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management, Human Resource Management Certificate Program; Northwestern University, School of Police Staff and Command, completed June 1993; New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, graduated March 1981. OCCUPATION: Presiding judge, Santa Fe Magistrate Court, Division 1 RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: More than 20-year law enforcement career. I was promoted through a competitive process to the ranks of detective, sergeant, lieutenant and captain. I served as public information officer from 1987 to 1999. I served on and commanded the Special Weapons and Tactics team from 1984 to 1999. First elected magistrate judge in 2006 and have served three consecutive terms as Magistrate Judge for a total of 12 years. Presiding (managing) judge of the Santa Fe Magistrate Court for nine years. In 2008, implemented and presided over the first DWI Drug Court in the First Judicial District. WHY IM RUNNING: I am running for re-election to the Magistrate Court Bench to continue my commitment to service for the citizens of Santa Fe County. As a Police Officer and Commander for the Santa Fe Police Department for 20 years, I was called upon to exercise judgment in situations that were as simple as traffic offenses or as dangerous as barricaded subjects and crisis negotiations. These situations required competence, patience, experience and skill to be resolved in the best interests of the community. Upon taking the Bench for the first time in 2006, I recognized a series of policy and procedural shortcomings in our court processes that were in need of revision. I worked diligently with the Administrative Office of the Courts and the New Mexico Supreme Court to resolve these issues and improve the Santa Fe Magistrate Court, resulting in improved efficiency and outcomes for the court and those that we serve. I have worked in the area of addiction by implementing the first DWI Drug Court in the 1st Judicial District and continue to work closely with the 1st Judicial District Attorney as we develop a means to address the opioid crisis in our community. During a public service career of over 32 years, I have continued to pursue training and educational opportunities to ensure that I am fully prepared to take on the challenges presented in my court every day. I believe that I have the experience, qualifications and demonstrated commitment to continue my service to our community. BACKGROUND QUESTIONS 1. Have you or your business if you are a business owner ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens? No 2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No 3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony? No Jerry Gonzales Jr. AGE: 44 EDUCATION: High school OCCUPATION: Retired RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: Former owner of Jerry Gonzales Bail Bonding. In 1991, I became a licensed bail bondsman and began working in my familys business. In 2006, I purchased the business from my parents. I worked with residents of Santa Fe County to assist families who needed to bail family members or loved ones out of jail, and who also needed questions answered regarding the court system and pending litigation. During my years in bail bonding, I also acquired experience working within the court system, often being the first person to work with litigants, their family, friends, and also working with those impacted by ongoing cases,, such as the judges, counsel and victims. I gained quintessential knowledge of the court system, the laws and the day-to-day workings of the Magistrate Court process. WHY IM RUNNING: I decided to run for Magistrate Court judge because I want to make a difference in our community. I want to help make Santa Fe a safer place to live. Public safety and accountability are my focus, but also addressing underlying issues, such as drug addiction and mental illness. If elected, I would work closely with public safety agencies, electronic monitoring, mental illness health services, and drug and alcohol abuse centers to try and tackle these issues that our community is facing. Last but not least, I want to help restore faith in our judicial system. BACKGROUND QUESTIONS 1. Have you or your business if you are a business owner ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens? No. 2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No. 3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony? When I was 18, I was arrested, but not convicted of, minor in possession of alcohol. Data on historically low stream flow show the effects of a dry winter that could put a crimp on fishing New Mexicos rivers and streams, but projections for an early monsoon season could save the day. Data collected by the U.S. Geographical Survey indicate stream flows are way below normal throughout the state. For example, on Tuesday, the gauge station on the Pecos River near the town of Pecos registered the river flowing at 21.5 cubic feet per second. Thats nearly 16 times below the mean average of 339 cfs for that station on May 15. Whats worse, further downstream at the gauge station at Anton Chico, the flow was recorded at 0.00 cfs effectively no flow on Tuesday. The average there for May 15 is 351 cfs. Its not just the Pecos, but all around New Mexico, Eric Frey, sport fishing manager for New Mexico Game & Fish, said of the readings, which he added are the result of a poor snowpack from a dry winter. This is one of the worst snowpacks Ive seen. Weve gone through drought cycles before, but this is really bad compared to other years. That could affect the fish and consequently sport fishing. Game & Fish stocks rivers and streams with millions of fish produced at fish hatcheries each year. But Frey said of the fish, Those guys dont do well when the water is not in great shape. A lot of anglers depend on stock fish. They may need to be more flexible. Frey said those anglers may need to seek out other places to fish this summer if conditions dont improve. But he is encouraged by reports of a possible early onset of the monsoons. In the short term, if we get good monsoons, those streams and headwater springs will have a chance to recharge, he said. We have seen years with a low snowpack and an early monsoon. It can be a real game-changer. An early monsoon? Kerry Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said theres reason to be optimistic. We have climate models that have been consistent going back to January showing a robust onset of monsoons, he said. When we say early in the case of a monsoon, even a week early is a big deal. The earlier we get that pattern established, the better the likelihood for above-average precipitation. And since weve been seeing it since January, that gives us good confidence. Jones said the monsoon season in New Mexico ranges between June 15 and Sept. 30. Typically, the monsoon doesnt start until around the Fourth of July or the week after. The change from pre-monsoon season the driest time of year and the peak of the fire season to monsoons can happen quickly. Its almost like flipping a switch. Once it starts, were in it, he said. Jarrett Sasser, owner of High Desert Angler, a Santa Fe fly-fishing shop, is optimistic, too. Its odd to see (stream flows) this low. But Mother Nature has a way of coming around, he said. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed and pray for an early monsoon. Sasser said fishing is actually pretty good right now despite the low stream flows. But anglers may need to adjust. If the monsoons come, well be OK, he said. But if not, Youre going to have to change tactics and use your head a little bit. By that, he means anglers will have to be a bit stealthier, he said, and do their fishing earlier in the morning. They may need to concentrate on warmwater fish, like bass and pike, or maybe seek rivers, streams and lakes at higher elevations where water temperatures are cooler. Sasser says the biggest threat to fishing may be fire. Due to dry conditions, most national forests in New Mexico are currently under Stage II fire restrictions. If it remains dry as the weather warms up, officials could impose Stage III restrictions, which close the forest except for specifically designated areas or trails. Thats happened before, most recently in 2013 and 2011. Weve had closures before and weve gotten through that, said Sasser, who agrees that if conditions warrant it, closing the forest is the smart thing to do. Bruce Hill, a spokesman for Santa Fe National Forest, confirmed that the forest was closed to the public in mid-June 2013. Portions were opened a few weeks later and the entire forest was open to public access by the end of July. The forest was also closed for a time in 2011 due to the huge Las Conchas Fire. He said fire managers and district rangers regularly monitor conditions in their areas. Based on a number of factors, the forest supervisor ultimately decides whether to impose Stage III restrictions, triggering a closure of all of or parts of the forest. Stocking issues From his perspective, Frey said, the biggest impact of the current low stream flows is on stocking New Mexicos waters with fish. Last year, the department stocked 3.3 million rainbow trout and 400,000 Rio Grande cutthroat trout. During years like this, were actually having trouble placing fish. When water levels are really low, we cant stock them, he said. It may get to that point soon in some waterways around Taos, and on the Rio Grande and Chama River, he said. Frey said that on the Pecos River upstream from the village, the department starts stocking fish April 1 and continues to stock the river twice a month until the summer, when it stocks weekly. But because of the low water levels, the department has been stocking fewer fish on the river and diverting the surplus elsewhere. Stocking fish on top of whats already there stresses out all the fish and can make matters worse, he said. So some of the trout that would normally end up in northern New Mexico waterways are being diverted to the San Juan River, and Heron, Storrie, Eagle Nest and El Vado lakes. Some types of fish, such as brown trout, hold up pretty well under the current conditions, he said. Wild fish have evolved with drought conditions throughout New Mexico. They are pretty robust and drought-tolerant, and can survive drought conditions, he said. In the short term, the wild and native fish can usually survive the drought a lot better than stock fish. But if drought conditions dont improve, Next season we could start seeing impacts on those populations, he said. Frey said Game & Fish is taking steps to mitigate the drought and improve conditions long-term. In the past several years, weve done a ton of habitat work and stream restoration projects, he said. Those include restoring river banks with native vegetation and adding boulders in selected spots to create the pools fish need to reproduce. But for now, anglers should try to make the best of less-than-ideal conditions. The message were giving is to get out early, he said. The middle of summer may be tough. They may need to go to higher elevations where the water is cool enough. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE New Mexicos oft-maligned system for evaluating public school teachers could have an expiration date of early 2019. Thats because all three Democrats running for governor and the lone Republican candidate U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce have expressed misgivings about using students standardized test scores to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers, a key component of the current system imposed by the administration of outgoing Gov. Susana Martinez. In statements to the Journal, the gubernatorial candidates cited different concerns about the current system, but all described it as fundamentally flawed and said they would move quickly to overhaul it. One of the Democrats running for governor, state Sen. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces, said Thursday that he would revamp the system within 100 days of taking office by a combination of executive order and legislation. As governor, I would immediately reform the states teacher evaluation system to put an emphasis on overall classroom learning and student achievement, not test scores, Cervantes told the Journal. I will work with the Legislature on a long-term solution to reform our entire education system, including teacher compensation and evaluations. He also said he would push to eliminate another Martinez administration education initiative: the annual issuance of A-F grades for public schools. U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, another Democrat running for governor, told the Journal in response to a candidate questionnaire that the current evaluations punish educators working with vulnerable students and discourage high-quality teaching. A Lujan Grisham campaign spokesman said Thursday that the three-term congresswoman, who is forgoing a re-election bid to run for governor, would bring together lawmakers, education professionals and others to come up with a new system. Unlike previous reforms, this cannot be a top-down effort, Lujan Grisham spokesman Victor Reyes said. By following the schedule of mandatory hearings for this rule-making and working with these stakeholders, we can put in place a new evaluation system as quickly as is possible while ensuring quality. The third Democrat running for governor, former Albuquerque media executive Jeff Apodaca, said he would also immediately scrap the evaluation system and implement a new system involving principals, superintendents and community members. I feel theres enough support on both sides of the aisle in the Legislature to pass a bill doing so, but if there is not, I will do it through executive order, Apodaca told the Journal. Opposition Formally known as NM Teach, the teacher evaluation system was implemented administratively in 2012 by then-Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera after bills seeking to enact the system stalled in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Though Martinez and other backers of the evaluation system have described it as a way to hold teachers accountable, the system has been controversial from the start. Skeptics have long maintained that the evaluation system does not accurately reflect educators classroom performance, and more than three dozen Albuquerque school teachers publicly burned their evaluations in 2015 to protest what they described as the unfairness of the process. In addition, teachers unions have sought to have the evaluation system struck down in courts, arguing in separate lawsuits that the Martinez administration overstepped its authority in enacting the evaluation system and that its based on flawed methodology. Under the system, student test scores on state-issued standardized exams currently make up 35 percent of a teachers rating down from 50 percent when the evaluations were first implemented. Other factors included in the rating include teacher attendance, classroom observation by principals and student surveys. Based on the data, teachers are designated as falling into one of five categories exemplary, highly effective, effective, minimally effective and ineffective. Those categories are used to determine whether teachers qualify for $10,000 merit pay bonuses or whether they should be placed on performance improvement plans. Let teachers teach New Mexico will have a new governor next year, since Martinez, a Republican, is barred from seeking re-election to a third consecutive term and will step down at the years end. Pearce, who is giving up his southern-New Mexico-based congressional seat to run for governor, has joined Democrats in criticizing the Martinez administrations handling of public schools. He has specifically described it as a centralized approach that has taken authority away from local school boards. Along with making changes to the evaluation system, Pearce indicated Thursday that a cultural change is needed to improve New Mexicos public education system, which has one of the nations lowest high school graduation rates. The current testing system in New Mexico is not working, and its contributing to our teacher shortage crisis, Pearce told the Journal. Instead of giving our communities the support to address students needs, we are jamming all of societys problems into the classroom and telling teachers to fix them. Worse, we are then testing the students, not to evaluate and fix their deficiencies, but rather to judge our teachers, who barely stand a chance, he added. Thats backwards. We must let teachers teach. A PED spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about the candidates stances on the evaluation system and its fate under a new governor. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico is urging state prison officials to respect the rights of Muslim inmates during Ramadan amid complaints. ACLU of New Mexico this week sent letters to wardens of state prisons and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities to remind them of Muslim inmates constitutional rights to exercise their religious beliefs. The ACLU says in previous years it has received complaints during Ramadan from Muslim inmates who said correctional staff denied them access to communal prayer and halal meals. In a statement, the New Mexico Corrections Department says the agency is committed to ensuring the free exercise of religion by the inmates housed in each of its facilities. MINNEAPOLIS A New Mexico man accused of paying hackers to sabotage websites affiliated with his former employers and state agencies has been sentenced in Minnesota to 15 years in prison. John Kelsey Gammell earlier pleaded guilty to federal hacking conspiracy charges. The FBI says the case represents a growing form of cybercrime in which professional hackers are paid to inflict damage on individuals, businesses and others who rely on digital devices. Gammell admitted in federal court in St. Paul to engaging in a campaign of cyberattacks against at least three dozen websites from 2015 to 2017, including those of former employers, banks, Hennepin County in Minnesota and the Minnesota Judicial Branch. Gammells sentence Thursday also included charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Vandals have hit a memorial honoring those who served in the Vietnam War. Now, Las Cruces Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 to help nail the perpetrators. Las Cruces police learned Thursday morning that the Vietnam War Memorial at Veterans Park on 2651 N. Roadrunner Parkway had been damaged. Four letters on the memorial wall appear to have been removed and one of the downward vision windows of the Huey helicopter mounted high above the wall was shattered, according to a Las Cruces A cost estimate for the damage hadnt been determined. Police said anyone with information that can help identify the person or persons who caused the damage is asked to call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Tips can also be provided through the Las Cruces Crime Stoppers app. P3 TIPS. The app is available through the App Store on most devices. Those who provide tips through Crime Stoppers do not have to provide their own name and can remain completely anonymous, the news release reads. LG Electronics India launched an emotional yet inspirational campaign themed #CelebratingTheNew, revolving around how new innovations and new lifestyle aspirations make dreams come true, and more importantly how dreaming up is shaping a new India in 2018. The launch of the video coincides with LGs 21st anniversary celebrations in India, where it is further stepping up efforts to design and manufacture innovative products and solutions that satisfy the specific requirements of Indian customers. The heartwarming video is of a father and a teenage daughter wherein a father surpasses a challenge he had since his youth, through learning from her daughter. Celebrating the new is a fresh take on every lifestyle dynamics of parent-kid relationships in India. And, how one common thing in our lives passes from generation to generation. LG has captured this philosophy as journey of Innovation from one generation to another in the Video. The video begins with a teenage girl searching for something in the old boxes where she accidentally discovers a mathematics answer sheet with a score that reads 3 out of 100 marks. The answer sheet, as it turns out, belonged to her father. Were your math so bad? the daughter asks her father. The video takes you into a flash back where we see a boy was being scolded by his father, who also happens to be a mathematics school teacher, for scoring bad in his math exam. The 14-year boy, who is now a father, is embarrassed and is seen roaming around the streets. The scene cuts back to the present day where he regrets running away from school after flunking the test, and how that incident has changed his life forever. As the story moves on, we see the daughter putting her best efforts in teaching math to his father to an extent that she convinces him to appear for an exam. The girl then sends the answer sheet to her grandfather to check. In the end, we see a surprise planned for the father where the grandfather is holding his answer sheet wherein a score of 93/100 is seen. The music that accompanies the video depicts the journey and the motive of persuading ones dreams. Speaking of the campaign, Amit Gujral, Head Corporate Marketing, LG Electronics India, said: The emotionally charged campaign is a true reflection of LGs brand philosophy of making our customers dreams come true. The video effectively depicts the emotions and aspirations of a common man, and how following ones dreams can have a long-lasting impact on their own lives and of their loved ones. It reminds us in a unique way how dreams have and continue to come alive with LG. We have always been a companion along the journey of our consumers and this campaign dedicates a strong message - LG has been an integral part of every Indians dream. The video recalls LGs astronaut brand that was launched coinciding with its 20th anniversary celebrations last year. The video, which went viral with 104 million views, a delightful message that touched the hearts of millions of customers. We invite all Indians to be a part of the new journey via http://bit.ly/LG21yrs_P where we are sure everyone of us shall relate to. Our 21 years long journey in India is a remarkable milestone, and we are determined more than ever before to develop innovative products and solutions that act as catalyst in offering better lifestyle to all its consumers, concluded Mr. Gujral. The Weather Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM) today announced a strategic alliance with Times Bridge, the international investments and partnerships arm of The Times Group. With its varying climate regions, abundance of agriculture, and drastic seasonal weather shifts, creating a weather offering in India that is locally relevant and backed by scientifically validated raw data is of critical importance. The Weather Company is joining forces with the Times Group to tackle this challenge. Indian consumers will receive the most up-to-date weather information and localized forecasts on the digital edition of The Times of India from The Weather Company, the most accurate* forecaster in the world. In turn, the Times Group will provide curated content on The Weather Channel app in India as well as weather.com/in in English and Hindi (weather.com/en-IN and weather.com/hi-IN) to connect Indian residents with pertinent information, locally relevant articles, photos and video content. Click for related news. Commenting on the need of this alliance, India Sales & Alliances Leader for The Weather Company, Himanshu Goyal said, Indians across the peninsula are affected by varying and often extreme weather conditions, therefore its vital for audiences to have access to timely and dependable weather information when and where they need it to help them make more informed decisions for daily planning or to stay safe in severe weather. The relationship will also enable local marketers to access advanced data-driven advertising solutions from IBM Watson Advertising across both companies properties. By leveraging real-time weather data and helping to predict consumer behaviour, advertisers can better determine the optimal time and place to reach a consumer. Local audiences will have access to: Temperature and wind maps for the region, with satellite radar and alerts. Forecasts to help with lifestyle and health decisions such as air pollution, cricket forecasts, a sweat index and more. Daily planning recommendations based on weather conditions. Stories, images and videos about the top weather events of the day and weather news. At a macro level, the effect of climate change is perhaps one of the most pressing issues of our time. At a micro level, having an accurate forecast helps people plan their wardrobes, commutes, and crops. Building solid reporting institutions around this spectrum is critical, says Thane Richard, Times Bridges Senior Director of Publishing and Creative. Content from Times Bridge and The Weather Company are now available on The Times of India digital edition and on The Weather Channel App in India and weather.com/in. Mumbai-based leading non-profit organisation working on the issue of Child Sexual Abuse has engaged Bollywood star Vidya Balan as their goodwill ambassador. She had played the role of Durga Rani Singh a survivor of child sexual abuse, in the movie Kahaani 2, where she saved another child who was being sexually abused by her uncle. Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a startling everyday reality for as many as half of the countrys children (National Child Abuse Study 2007). With the ever-increasing reports of child sexual abuse, we know that the scenario is not too different even today. Yet it is still an issue that is barely addressed. There is a limited acceptance that CSA happens and that it has a significant impact on children. CSA can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, addictions, and suicidal thoughts and can continue to disrupt the childs life during adulthood if not healed. Based in Mumbai, Arpan is one of the largest NGOs in India with over 100 social workers and counsellors providing prevention and intervention services to children and adults to address the issue of CSA. Over the last 10 years, Arpan has reached out to over 188,000 children, adolescents and adults directly. Arpan has also trained over 3,500 professionals across India and impacted over 4,60,000 children and adults. Arpan works on prevention of CSA through the Personal Safety Education Programme conducted in schools and communities, Training Programmes for relevant stakeholders, Policy Advocacy to bring in systemic change and healing through their Counselling Services to survivors of CSA. Click here to read related stories. Talking about her association with Arpan, Vidya said "I first connected with Arpan during the filming of Kahaani 2 to understand the issue better and get into the skin of my role. I was amazed by the kind of work Arpan does on the issue especially working with children across age groups and their caregivers to prevent Child Sexual Abuse and heal survivors from the trauma of such an ordeal. As a society, it is critical that we look at how such a social evil can be prevented and how each of us can play a role in keeping children safe. Given the current scenario in our country, now more than ever there is a need for all us to step up and work towards preventing Child Sexual Abuse. Ms Pooja Taparia, Founder and CEO of Arpan said "It is an honour for Arpan to have a celebrated actor like Vidya Balan as our Goodwill ambassador. Vidyas roles have always been inspiring and action-oriented. It was a privilege working with her during the making of Kahaani 2. Her role in the movie as Durga Rani Singh, a survivor of child sexual abuse was a powerful one. She wasnt a silent bystander, but actually took action to protect a girl from Child Sexual Abuse and thats an inspiring message for all of us. Much like her role in the movie, over the years, Arpan has played a very important role in the lives of numerous children and adults in the prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. With Vidya Balan as our goodwill ambassador, we hope to influence many more people to speak up for prevention of child sexual abuse and to play an active role in creating a safe environment so that our children, the future of our nation, do not become victims of Child Sexual Abuse or have traumatic childhoods but have safe and happy childhoods. When asked what her message on the issue of Child Sexual Abuse is, Vidya said My message to everyone is that dont think that Child Sexual Abuse is something that happens to others children. The unfortunate truth is that it could happen to your child or it could be happening to your child. We all need to be vigilant. We all need to be aware and acknowledge when we see the signs. We need to educate our children so that when they experience an unsafe situation, they are empowered enough to get away and seek help from a trusted adult. Click here to read related stories. What started in 2008 as a nascent organisation that reached about 600 people in a year, has now grown to an organisation that reaches over 56,000 people annually with the vision of a World Free from Child Sexual Abuse. Arpan is supported by Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (India), Mr. Karl-Johan Persson (CEO, H&M Worldwide, Sweden), Goldman Sachs (India), Eros International Media (India), The Marshall Foundation (France), GMSP Foundation (UK), The Global Fund for Children (USA), Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (India), A.T.E and Chandra Philanthropic Foundation (India), British Asian Trust (UK), Reliance Foundation (India), Aditya Birla Finance Limited(India), Bajaj Auto Limited (India) amongst others. With Vidya Balan as a goodwill ambassador, heres hoping that Arpan grows manifold in being able to amplify conversations around the issue Child Sexual Abuse while working diligently on its prevention and healing at the grassroots and systemic level. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray challenged the BJP to hold elections through ballot papers to clear doubts over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs). As votes for the Karnataka elections were counted and the BJP seemed set to emerge the single largest party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray agreed with Uddhav Thackeray. This is a victory for the Electronic Voting Machine, he tweeted. Uddhav Thackeray pointed out that the BJP was losing bypolls but winning assembly elections. If you (BJP) trust yourself, hold elections through ballot papers once, Uddhav Thackeray said, reacting to the Karnataka election results. When so many people are asking for it, it will clear apprehensions (on the use of EVMs) once and for all, Uddhav Thackeray said. Elections come and go, he added when asked about the Karnataka elections being the first major poll battle after Rahul Gandhi became Congress president. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. One should keep working, he said. The Sena leader congratulated the BJP for its success in Karnataka polls and hoped that people of that state would now witness acchhe din. Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) could together form the next government in Karnataka. If statesmanship is shown, this can happen as we together have a majority in the Karnataka Assembly, the Congress leader told the media. I n such a fractured scenario prevailing in Karnataka, the Governor as the Constitutional head was expected to discuss with all parties and then decide on extending the invitation to BJP for forming a government. The BJP loyalist and RSS cadre gave unconditional support to BJP and asked its CM candidate to swear in. With BJP falling short of a majority and no alliance worked out, it is but obvious they will fail the floor test. Congress- JD(S) combine stands a definite chance of proving majority if their MLAs are still not compromised or sold. Interestingly, if you peep in time, in the overthrow of DMK government in 1977, it was made clear that the Governor should not remain a silent spectator but is expected to watch the probable. If Yeddyurappa fails floor test it is not only that Congress-JD(S) combine will be invited but also their government might have a strained relation with the Governor from the start, which is not acceptable. Hence, failure of BJP in the floor test means, it will be relegated to the opposition and the Governor has to go. BJP wants power in Karnataka by hook or crook. The partys enemies JD(S) and Congress joined hands to grab the opportunity post-polls because it is the question of Congresss survival. Karnataka Governor wants to please Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was generous enough to give Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his majority. When people have given a verdict of 104 seats to BJP, from where will they manage to bring remaining MLAs for attaining a majority of 112 seats? Now, with only a less number of seats JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy wants to become the CM. Without a majority, Yeddyurappa has already become the CM despite pending floor test decision. The big fish is eating small fishes. This seems to be the law of our Land. The justification for the 15 days period to prove majority, has now become a guess! Meanwhile, coming to the point about the presence of corrupt leaders in BJP, similar kind of members exist in other parties too. Let them take floor test, instead of that, they are hoarding their MLAs saying they will be poached. But, in reality they themselves lack confidence in their own people who have won the elections in their partys name. If Yeddyurappa does not withdraw from the demonstration of majority before the floor test and loses the battle, it will certainly damage the BJPs image irreparably, with a good chance that BJP would lose Karnataka forever for choosing a wrong candidate along with corrupt Reddy brothers. People will make fun of Prime Ministers claim of making Karnataka a Congress-free state, which he already flopped because the vote share of Congress is larger than the BJP. Modi could not create that wave of 2014 this time. BJP needs to understand that the Karnataka has not voted them whole-heartedly. And even Congress needs to get the facts correct that their CM candidate lost his seat from one of the constituency. JD(S) was anyway a middlemen party; they were just waiting for an opportunity to rule. So completely accusing BJP wont be fair. In the year 1996 similar incident had occurred as the Gujarat states BJP government had fallen thanks to Congress Governor Krishnapal Singh. Shankersinh Vaghela along with his deputy Dilip Parikh were the masterminds who had open support of Congress to split the BJP and bring the state BJP government down. They along with Congress resorted to violence inside the state assembly where a no-confidence motion was to be voted and which in all probability was certain to be defeated. Speaker suspended entire opposition for a day. Motion was tabled and the government proved its numbers. But here comes the twist. Congress Governor declares based on the pandemonium by Congress + Vaghela factions that the law and order machinery had collapsed in the entire state and that there was a constitutional crisis. After having surpassed his constitutional reach and jumping into the executives functioning, he sent a report to the central government. Within 15 minutes of the file reaching the then PMs table, the state government of Gujarat was dismissed and Presidents rule imposed. This was immediately after having proved majority on the floor of the house. Vaghela later became the CM for just a year and was succeeded by Parikh who remained CM for 2.5 months. Congress pulled out support from both. Fresh elections were held, and Vaghelas strength was reduced from 47 to 4, Congress was kicked out and Keshubhai was voted back as CM. See, how this story is relevant after 22 years in Karnataka, now those quoting verses of morality, constitutional ethics and conventions were perpetrators of murdering democracy and numerous elected governments. The Gujarat state BJP chief in 1996 was Vajubhai Vala who today is the Governor of Karnataka. And the PM who imposed Presidents rule was none other than HD Deve Gowda. Cong-JD(S) wants Vajubhai to be merciful reminding him of his duty. But then theres Karma- Catches all, spares none. If BJP is doing murder of democracy, then Congress had carried out several terrorist attacks in the name of democracy in the past like imposing Presidents rule and emergency. Let us discuss floor test, which so ever party secures a majority, the Governor needs to ensure that government formed is a stable one. The manner in which Congress is hiding their MLAs does not give anyone confidence that Congress-JD(S) is going to be a stable government. Neither does BJP have the numbers. However, the Congress-JD(S) who were opposing each other till few hours before the result, have jumped in together with the only motive of not allowing BJP to come into power. How are they going to ensure a stable government? Besides, there are MLAs in their ranks that are apparently not happy with this coalition. If this is true, they defect. Finally, BJP has a better chance of ensuring a stable government provided they prove majority in the floor test (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on [email protected]) The US decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran could scare off European investors but oil-thirsty China may step into the void and ramp up business links with the country. China, which is already Irans top trade partner and one of its biggest buyers of crude, has signalled that it intends to keep working with the Islamic regime despite the US move. Beijing is a signatory of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that had eased sanctions on Tehran, but President Donald Trump quit the accord earlier this month and said Washington would reinstate punitive measures. By driving away American, European and Japanese companies, the sanctions could increase opportunities for Chinese businesses, Hu Xingdou, an economist at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told AFP. The Iran deal has been highly profitable for the Asian giant. Chinese businesses involved in Iranian developments are worth at least $33 billion as of June 2017 according to Beijings Commerce Ministry part of the countrys ambitious Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. In September, China provided a $10 billion credit line to five Iranian banks financing water, energy and transport projects, and in March the two countries inked a $700 million deal allowing China to build a train line that links the port of Bushehr to the rest of Irans railway network. Beijing now has its sights on the expansion of a major Iranian gas field, with state-owned oil company CNPC set to replace Total if the French energy behemoth withdraws from the project over US sanctions. Trumps move to reimpose sanctions will affect all firms that operate in US dollars or do business on American soil, hitting European companies especially hard. But the lure of fresh hydrocarbons could prove irresistible for China, the worlds largest crude oil importer. Iran is currently Chinas fifth top oil supplier, with more than a quarter of its output going to Beijing. Bolstered by the flow of black gold, Chinese-Iranian trade leaped by 20 percent in 2017 to $37 billion. European companies could be hit hard by US sanctions. Total started the huge $4.8-billion gas field project known as South Pars 11 in July 2017, two years after the nuclear deal between Tehran and Western powers prompted the return of many businesses to Iran. But the French company said Wednesday that unless it is exempt from US sanctions, it would not be in a position to continue the project, leaving the door open for CNPC to take its place. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that if Total pulls out, its share of the project slightly over half will be handed to the Chinese firm. China needs the oil, Victor Shum, vice president of energy group at IHS Markit, told CNBC. With trade skirmishes between the US and China and all kinds of political issues, I see the resistance from Chinese crude buyers to comply with US sanctions, he said. The price of Iranian oil is likely to fall as its pool of buyers shrinks, Shum said, making it more attractive to the Chinese. And with Washington targeting transactions made in dollars, the yuan could be used to skirt around the new rules. In 2012-2013, Iran opened accounts in local currencies in buying countries that it then used to finance imports, said Barclays analyst Michael Cohen in a note. If China, India, Japan and South Korea do not impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran, these countries would be unlikely to stop taking Iranian oil, he added. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made clear last week that Beijing would keep doing business with Tehran: We will continue with our normal and transparent practical cooperation with Iran on the basis of not violating our international obligations. ALSO READ: Supreme Courts verdict of BJPs B S Yeddyurappa to go on a floor test on Saturday by 4 pm is termed as historic by the Congress in Karnataka, as the post-poll alliance between Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) received a shot in the arm on Friday with SC rejecting a plea by BJPs counsel Mukul Rohatgi to delay the floor test by at least a week. Here the question raised is, will BJP be able to prove its majority within a minimal time frame of 24 hours? KPCC President Dr. B L Shankar said, It is a good decision by the Supreme Court. As per SCs verdict Yeddyurappa have to prove a majority, if he is unable to do so, with no other option JD(S) and our party will form the government. The floor test decision is much awaited as our next move will be decided soon after that. Earlier, the BJP was given a time frame of 15 days by the Governor Vajubhai Vala to prove its majority in the House, after he was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday morning. A pro-tem Speaker will take decisions in accordance with the law on the issues of floor test. At the same time, the Supreme Court declined a request by attorney general K.K. Venugopal, to allow a secret ballot for the Karnataka floor test. Karnataka BJP Mahila Morcha President Bharathi Shetty stated, We respect the SCs verdict and BJP will prove its mandate in the floor test. But it was not morally correct for Congress to disrespect the Governors decision. Rahul Gandhi should not teach us about saving the constitution after Indira Gandhi breaking it long back by declaring an emergency. During the hearing, which went on for more than an hour, Yeddyurappa placed before the apex court letters he had sent to the Governor Vajubhai Vala, in which he had staked claim to form the government in Karnataka. Rohatgi put forth his argument to the bench that the alliance formed between the Congress and JD(S) is an unholy alliance after the elections. He also cited the principles laid down by the Sarkaria Commission that grants 30 days time to prove a majority. AAP leader Ravi Srivastava commented, The situation in Karnataka is very critical. This time Congress has played a smart game by forming an alliance with JD(S) unlike during the Goa and Manipur elections. This is a very dicey condition as BJP was given only 24 hours to prove a majority. According to me, there is a possibility of Congress and JD(S) to form a government. A three-judge bench comprising justices A.K. Sikri, B.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan stopped the BJP from appointing a member from the Anglo-Indian community to the assembly until the floor test is conducted. The bench has also asked the BJP government to not take any major policy decision till it proves its majority in the House. Since the majority mark stands at 112, the BJP either needs the support of eight legislators to increase its numbers as it managed to gain 104 seats or it will have to bring the effective strength of the Assembly down with some legislators quitting. According to reports, the party has reached out to some of the Congresss Lingayat legislators, while these legislators are upset with Congress for supporting H D Kumaraswamy, a Vokkaliga. The BJP has asked these Congress legislators to quit their respective seats, and that the party will either help them get re-elected from the same seats in the by-elections, or they will be sent to the legislative council. Sadananda Blore, a Karnataka resident expressed, BJP has a mandate and there are chances that they will prove a majority in the floor test. As a citizen, we support Modis vision for the development as after S M Krishnas government, there was no space for development in Karnataka. Hence, it is a wise choice to see BJP government in the state. It seems to be a crucial time for BJP and a perplexed situation for Karnataka. Although, now it comes across as the direction of SC to face a floor test by Yeddyurappa on Saturday in the evening was accepted with grace by him, as he has shown his 100 per cent confidence on proving the majority. After this reduced intimation period of 24 hours to prove the majority, time will only tell whether or not BJP will come into the power after the floor test. It is said that apart from the art of dance if the dancer is gifted with astonishing physical beauty then it is like Sone PeSuhaga or in simple words it cant get better than that. Today through the power of my pen I would like to bring alive one superbly talented and gorgeous dancer who was our family friend and who my grandmother called the goddess Mohini (the enchantress). As she had the beauty that was not just enchanting and captivating but also had the unbeatable talent of four various Indian classical dances. Let us all stand up and bow down to the most amazing and highly gifted Indrani Rahman. If it was not for the confidence of Indrani Rahman, we would not have had Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta receiving laurels at the Miss Universe pageant in the later years. I remember my grandmothertelling me that when Miss Universe held its maiden pageant on June 28, 1952, Indrani at the age 22became the first Indian woman to represent our countryin the international beauty contest, after being crowned as the first Miss India the same year. If you thought she could get away with the swimsuit round, well no. But hold your horses, because Indrani did manage to attract eyeballs among the 30 contestants. Courtesy her adorable bindi (dot of the forehead) and gajra (a string of flowers)!Thats called fashion with a twist. Indrani Rahmans family background was very interesting as she had both the Indian and American blood. Father of Indrani, Mr. RamalalBalramBajpai was a chemist and a close associate of my great grandfather Dr M.B Soparkar, who was the personal Doctor to Mahatma Gandhi, Morarji Desai and Vallabhbhai Patel. My great grandfather would often prescribe medicines which Indranis father would deliver. A relationship that was closeprofessionally as well as personally. Later, her father went to the USA for higher education, there he met and married Esther Luella Sherman, an American by birth.Indranis mother Esther embraced Hinduism after her wedding and took the name Ragini Devi.The couple moved to India in the 1920s. Indrani was born in Chennai, back then known as Madras, to this couple and grew up in a mixed-race household. She was brought up to be uninhibited and independent by her American mother, who encouraged her to participate in beauty pageants. When she was only 15-years-old, and still underage according to Indian law, she eloped with Habib Rahman, 30 a world renowned architect, andhad a son and a daughter.Going by their pictures which I recollect my grandmother showing me they both were quite a happening couple back then! Thats not all about the personality and beauty of Indrani, she was already a renowned classical dancer when she took part in the pageant. She was a gifted dancer well-versed in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi this all could happen as her training began at the age of 9 in her mothers company. Indrani was awarded the Padma Shri in 1969. She was also a recipient of the SangeetNatakAkademi Award and the Taraknath Das Award. She later settled in New York in 1976 along with her mother, she continued to popularise the Indian classical dances all over the world. Professionally, she first started with Bharatanatyam, having learnt the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam from Guru Chokkalingam Pillai in the 1940s. Later she went to Vijaywada andlearned Kuchipudi from KoradaNarsimha Rao with whom she later toured many parts of the world.In 1947, Indrani attracted the attention of Indias leading dance and art critic Dr. Charles Fabri, who later encouraged her to learn the little-known classical dance form of Odissi, making her the first professional dancer to learn Odissi. After learning Odissi for three years, from Guru Sri Deba Prasad Das, she went on to popularise it, through performance in various parts of India and the world. In 1961, she was the first dancer present on a national tour by the Asia Society, and also performed for US President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, during Nehrus official visit to Washington, D.C. Indrani also performed for Emperor Haile Selassie, Queen Elizabeth II, Mao Zedong, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro. She became a faculty member of the dance division at the Juilliard School at New Yorks Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1976. She even taught in various American universities, including Harvard, and She spent her later life in the United States, touring extensively, until her death in Manhattan in 1999. You must be wondering why am I talking about her today, well, I was going through some old photo albums of black and white pictures of my grandmother and happened to stumble up a picture of this legendary dancer and beauty queen with my family. So this article is a tribute to the legend and a way to say Thank you Indraniji for opening doors for dancers and beauty queens into the world that looks very simpletoday looking up at stars. Sandip Soparkar Britain could substantially boost its troop numbers in Afghanistan following demands from US President Donald Trump that NATO members pay their fair share, The Times reported. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is believed to have asked Prime Minister Theresa May for 400 more soldiers to be sent to help the fight against the Taliban, adding to the 600 already training Afghan forces. Trump announced last year that the US would send an additional 3,500 troops to secure areas that had fallen under Taliban control and has frequently warned that members need to fulfil their commitments to NATO spending. Twenty-three of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what theyre supposed to be paying for their defence, Trump said at NATOs headquarters in Brussels last year. May is due to make an announcement at a NATO summit in July, where it is anticipated Trump may turn the screw even further. Britains Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it remained committed to NATOs mission, in which we play an important role, and keep our contribution under constant review. Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, said Britain needed to acknowledge that challenges still remained in Afghanistan. When we left it was not the case that the Afghan national army and the air force were strong enough to tip the balance against the Taliban and that now has to be reset, he told agencies. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. +2 North Augusta City Council to consider overlay district amendment North Augusta residents could see a change in an overlay district that gradually transitions residential areas to commercial areas soon. +6 North Augusta City Council tables preservation ordinance as emotions run high Tension was thick and emotions were high in the North Augusta City Council chambers Monday night as citizens voiced concerns for about two hou North Augusta Planning Commission was met with a large crowd Thursday evening to listen or comment on an application from the City to rezone two land parcels for a Public Safety fire station from a residential zoning to public use zoning. After about two and a half hours of public input and consideration, the Commission voted unanimously on a motion to deny the application for rezoning. The motion is a recommendation to North Augusta City Council members, who will vote on the application, as well. The land, located at 1220 Georgia Ave., is inside the Neighborhood Preservation Overlay District and is in an area on the national historical register. The two parcels were purchased by the City of North Augusta, along with a third parcel, in March 2016 to be used to build a new North Augusta Public Safety headquarters and fire station. Thursdays meeting was to rezone the two parcels where the fire station would sit. North Augusta City Administrator Todd Glover spoke during the public hearing portion of the meeting on behalf of the City, and said that around 14 properties were considered for purchase by the City. Glover said the City because looking for a location around 2010. Glover showed a map of the three current fire stations, including the current one on Buena Vista Avenue and the proposed replacement location on Georgia Avenue, and a two-mile radius around each. Because of the current location there at Buena Vista, you dont get a 360 (degree) coverage for that fire station, you really get a 180 (degree); and a lot of your fire coverage radius actually goes into downtown Augusta. North Augusta Public Safety Chief John Thomas said the proposed property would give Public Safety a central location and improve response time. Were talking about lives of people, Thomas said. Thomas said having a fire station on the parcels could potentially impact ISO rating, which affects insurance rates, and would allow the City to house its ladder truck in that area. He said the current fire station, located on Buena Vista Avenue, covering most of that area is not large enough to house the ladder truck. The property is the location of the former Seven Gables, built by the founder of North Augusta. Glover said during the public hearing that the City knew the property was inside a historic district from the beginning and are very cognizant of that. North Augusta citizens spoke in opposition of the rezoning and locating Public Safety facilities on the property at all. Dave Leverett said it was the biggest attack on the vision of North Augusta that has ever been leveled against it. Dione Carroll, an attorney from Aiken, said the City was laying the foundation for potential lawsuits, warning the City dont let the tail wag the dog. Carroll said during the meeting that the application for rezoning was procedurally defective and incomplete. Before voting, Commissioners each gave remarks. Theres no way, regardless of how we vote, were going to please everybody, said commissioner Larry Watts. Watts also talked about the City waiting until after the property was purchased to try and rezone it. It puts us in a bad situation where we feel like were almost forced to agree to rezoning, because whats the City going to do now that theyve tied up, you know, almost a million dollars on a piece of property? The rezoning request will now move to North Augusta City Council for consideration at a future meeting. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi May 17. The brief visit comes amid escalations between Iran and Israel in Syria as well as further gains by the Syrian army in opposition-held areas. As Al-Monitor reported on May 10, following the May 9 visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow, a high-level visitor or two from Syria or Iran had been expected in Russia rather soon. On May 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Three days later, Assad, accompanied by his defense minister, Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, arrived in Sochi. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Lavrov were both present at the meeting with Putin. Assad and Putin had last met on Dec. 11, 2017, when the Russian leader visited the Khmeimim air base. A few weeks earlier, on Nov. 20, Assad had met with Putin in Sochi, where he was introduced to the senior leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry and chief of staff as well as other key military figures with decisive roles in Russias Syria campaign. The Syrian president's brief visit to Sochi this time was announced by the Kremlin after Assad had already returned to Damascus. Putin congratulated Assad on the start of the holy month of Ramadan and praised the major success of the Syrian Government Army in the struggle against terrorist units, describing recent military efforts as important steps toward the further consolidation of the legitimate government. Putin called the military gains instrumental in creating additional conditions for the resumption of the full political process. This is what Moscow is now pushing Damascus to focus on, and not without moderate success if the perception manifested at the talks is accurate. Arguably the most important outcome of the meeting is that Assad has finally embraced the need to form a committee tasked with drafting a Syrian Constitution. Assad had opposed the idea, for fear of eventually losing power or being traded off, ever since its adoption in January at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi. Moscow has advocated the idea as the best tool to navigate the conflict into the politico-diplomatic domain (and one that would allow it to maintain influence over the process). In a statement following yesterday's talks, Assad said, We assessed developments in the political process in recent months, by which I mean the outcome of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress and the latest rounds of talks in Astana, and we discussed steps that need to be taken to keep achieving progress in this area. We expect to start the corresponding work with the UN. I have confirmed to President Putin today that Syria will send the list of its delegates to the Constitutional Committee to discuss amendments to the current Constitution. It will be done as soon as possible. Other items on Moscows to-do list to be implemented in parallel with the political process include enlisting international support for rebuilding Syrias infrastructure and economy as well as addressing humanitarian issues, which Putin said are long overdue and complicated. We are counting on support from the United Nations and all countries interested in resolving the Syrian crisis, the Russian president stressed. In turn, Assad praised Russias efforts in this area, thanking Putin personally and his government for the humanitarian aid that Russia has always provided, at every stage of the Syrian crisis. The two presidents also discussed further means to encourage Russian companies to invest in the Syrian economy and increase participation in the reconstruction process. Assad noted growth in Russian investments in various areas of the Syrian economy in recent months. The results of the Putin-Assad talks have seemingly left both leaders happy. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's acting spokesman, called the talks considerable. He added, "[Putin and Assad] spoke of the need to create additional conditions to resume comprehensive negotiations. They noted successes of the Astana process and Sochi Congress and discussed next joint steps." The most intriguing takeaway from the meeting are perhaps Putins remarks about the foreign military presence in Syria: We proceed from the assumption that in view of the significant victories and success achieved by the Syrian army in its fight against terrorism, and the start of a more active phase of the political process, foreign armed forces will be withdrawing from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. All the interested players in the conflict picked up on the vaguely worded statement to interpret it through the lens of their own expectations and interests. In Russia, while some wondered whether Putin was alluding to yet another Russian withdrawal, others perceived it as a message to the United States to cease its illegal intervention in Syria. Iran did not issue an immediate response to the statement, but if the message was indeed aimed at Washington, Tehran could not have agreed more. In Israel, many took Putins remark to be a signal to the Iranians as part of Moscow's alleged efforts to mediate between Israel and Iran. A source in the Kremlin contacted by Al-Monitor declined to clarify to what or to whom Putin was referring with the remark about foreign armed forces. The source only offered, It is still a work in progress, diplomatically and on the ground. We are trying to make the situation there [in Syria] a less conflict-rich place for everybody, but it is no easy task. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry's regular qualification examinations to select new staff members next scheduled for July have sparked widespread debate on job prospects at the ministry for veiled women. Many Egyptians believe that veiled women are routinely disqualified no matter their qualifications and performance on the examination, which includes a two-hour written test in general culture and language proficiency. In March 2012, when the Muslim Brotherhood began to dominate the state institutions after taking control over the Peoples Assembly and the Shura Council, journalists were surprised to see a veiled woman among those accepted to take an introductory course at the Egyptian Foreign Ministrys Institute for Diplomatic Studies. Mohamed Kamel Amr, who was the foreign minister at the time, was present for the opening of the course. In response to questions from reporters, Amr responded that there was no law that bans veiled women from representing Egypt at the diplomatic level. Shortly after, Amr Roshdy, who was serving at the time as the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, stressed in a statement that the ministry had always included veiled women among its staff and that he had worked with some of them. He added that their low numbers do not mean that they are unwelcome in the ministry. Meanwhile, the last foreign minister under President Hosni Mubarak, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, used to boast that women working in his ministry did not wear the hijab. In her memoir "No Higher Honor," former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised this secular move. Rice described Aboul Gheit as the quintessential secular Egyptian, distrustful of the Islamists and proud of the fact that a significant number of women in his ministry did not wear the veil." Ironically, two months earlier, Mohammed Morsi, who was the head of the Freedom and Justice Party before assuming office as president, met with several diplomats in the Foreign Ministry. During the meeting and in response to a question about imposing the hijab on women working in the ministry, Morsi said the Muslim Brotherhood would respect personal freedoms and would not force anyone to wear any kind of uniform. Yet the Foreign Ministry's standards became more in line with Islamic standards once Morsi took office. During the first year under the Muslim Brotherhood, a veiled anchorwoman made an appearance on state television for the first time in the history of Egypt. This same anchorwoman was banned from television immediately after Morsi's departure. In October 2012, the training course's graduating class of new diplomatic attaches included only three veiled women. The images sparked public discussion of the underrepresentation of female veiled diplomats, which was met with the same usual tactful answers that the hijab is a personal choice and the "outfits of the candidates" do not affect the selection process, according to Amer. However, it seems that the Foreign Ministry has not been practicing what it preaches. There is rarely even a single veiled graduate at the graduation ceremonies, reinforcing the perception that the ministry is following the lead of state-owned Maspero television and radio in keeping veiled women off the Egyptian airwaves. A large majority of Egyptian women are religious and committed to wearing the veil in front of strangers. Eliminating veiled women from consideration for employment is discriminatory against a large segment of society. Arwa Rida is a 26-year-old graduate of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, the main starting point toward a diplomatic career. Rida told Al-Monitor that she always knew that she would never land a diplomatic position because of her veil. She recounted that during her university years, she heard shocking stories about veiled women who dared apply for positions at the Foreign Ministry. Rida said that some said that they were mocked by members of the interview panels because of their headscarves and some said they were actually kicked out of the testing room. She added that these stories may have been exaggerated, but her fellow students firmly believe that veiled women do not have any chance in landing a decent job at the ministry. None of the girls who graduated with me was able to find a job. This is frustrating. If political graduates cannot work in the political sphere, what else can they do? Rida asked. She added that she and many others have yet to find a job in the five years since they graduated, prompting many to put their degrees aside and look for an administrative job in any field. Shurooq Gamal, 21, is also a student at Cairo Universitys Faculty of Economics and Political Science. She concurred with Ridas view, saying that the facultys veiled students feel they have little chance of attaining a position at the ministry, but this did not stop them from seeking out further training in the hope that it could open doors for them. Whenever this subject comes up, I am surprised by people who claim that veiled women are commonly appointed to jobs in the ministry, while in reality it is not the case at all, Gamal told Al-Monitor. Masoum Marzouk, a former ambassador who worked for the ministry for 25 years and left in 2010, considers the claims of discrimination against veiled applicants in the ministry to be baseless rumors. He told Al-Monitor that it is not true that the first veiled woman to hold a diplomatic position was appointed under Morsi. Marzouk added that he had the opportunity to work alongside highly professional veiled women. Asked whether veiled women are underrepresented in the ministrys staff, Marzouk stressed that few veiled women apply for positions at the ministry. He added that the exams are very difficult, keeping acceptance numbers low in general. The Egyptian Foreign Ministrys media office categorically denied the claims of discrimination against veiled women. An official in the media office stressed that such claims are "mere lies that some groups try to promote to harm Egypts image. He said a veiled woman was recently appointed in the last batch of diplomats. According to the official, the pretext used by some applicants who failed to pass the difficult exams because of discrimination against veiled women is baseless. While having granted Europe a chance to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran is in parallel mulling an exit from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in response to the US withdrawal from the JCPOA. Such a move would be accompanied with many legal complications but is nonetheless among the most likely of Iranian responses should Europe fail to guarantee that its interests will be protected as outlined in the nuclear deal. US President Donald Trumps stepping up of his threats to pull out of the JCPOA in the months leading up to his May 8 withdrawal prompted Iranian officials to retort that the West and especially the United States would be surprised by their response were Trump to follow through with his threats. The clearest indication of what this surprise response would be came to light April 24 when Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said, The NPT acknowledges the right of all its member states to leave the treaty if their interests are endangered, adding that this was an option the Islamic Republic was considering. This is after Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated April 23, There are some people in Iran who are talking about that [leaving the NPT]. Thats not, certainly, the governments position. But how seriously should such a prospect be taken? Will Iran truly leave the NPT now that the United States has pulled out of the JCPOA? And does leaving the NPT mean Iranian abandonment of the JCPOA? To answer these questions, one first needs to consider whether Irans potential withdrawal from the NPT will be in violation of the JCPOA. Although the nuclear deal does not highlight Irans permanent presence in the NPT as a requirement, it does seem to presume it. For example, the initial section of the JCPOA states that the E3/EU+3 and Iran acknowledge that the NPT remains the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The document also points out that the full implementation of the JCPOA will ultimately lead to a normalization of Irans status as a signatory to the NPT. Furthermore, Iran, as part of its comprehensive safeguards agreement, commits in the nuclear deal to the ratification of the Additional Protocol, which is aimed at monitoring its nuclear activities within the limits of the NPT. Therefore, Irans exit from the NPT could be interpreted as a violation of the JCPOA, making the situation legally complicated. Reza Nasri, an Iranian international lawyer based in Switzerland, told Al-Monitor, In legal discussions a verb can be interpreted in many ways. For example, Irans exit from the NPT can be viewed as a countermeasure to the United States violation [of the JCPOA]. It is also a reversible measure that will be adopted merely with the aim of making the United States abide by its commitments as stated in the JCPOA. In other words, Irans intention to leave the NPT will not be to violate the JCPOA but to force the United States to return to it. Iranian officials have repeatedly maintained their commitment to the JCPOA, even with the absence of the United States. At the same time, as pointed out by President Hassan Rouhani on May 8, this continued commitment has been described as dependent on whether the European signatories can provide the necessary guarantees that Iran will enjoy the economic benefits outlined in the nuclear deal. Azizollah Hatamzadeh, a Tehran-based foreign policy analyst, told Al-Monitor, For now, Iran needs to showcase its relevance to the other side so that the other parties realize that any breach of commitment will have consequences. Basically, we need to change the equation to make the Europeans realize that if they do not take serious steps to save this agreement, it will have serious consequences. To achieve this goal, Irans threats need to be precise and credible. In my opinion, Iran can propose better measures than pulling out of the NPT. For example, it can make [implementation of] the JCPOA conditional through a legal amendment in its parliament." He added that there is the potential of a step-by-step increase in uranium enrichment. There are, of course, those in Iran who do not think that everything is dependent on US policy. In an April 22 interview with Al-Monitor, Zarif said, The Trump administration was never in the JCPOA. They made sure over the last 15 months that Iran would not benefit from the economic dividends of the JCPOA, and so whatever they do in three weeks would not be a major break from the past. Indeed, Zarifs approach reflects the current path favored by the Iranian government, which is to shape policy dependent on how Europe reacts to the US withdrawal. Nosratollah Tajik, a former senior Iranian diplomat, told Al-Monitor, We signed the JCPOA with the intention of engaging with the international community. Meanwhile, Trump came to power with the slogan of 'America First.' Considering that the international community was our priority from the start, we need to make sure our words do not create fear so as to prompt others to line up behind Trump instead of standing up to him. He added, At the same time, we signed the JCPOA to gain benefits; otherwise, it is a piece of paper with no value. If we feel those benefits no longer exist, naturally we will act in a different manner. For now, the European countries at least claim to be with Iran and not Trump in this path. Therefore, we have to try to keep Europe and countries other than the United States on our side as much as possible. As Iran and Europe engage in trying to find ways to guarantee that Tehran will receive its promised benefits, it is also worth noting that remarks made by Iranian officials in recent months indicate that they had anticipated Trumps decision. Indeed, Zarifs YouTube message May 3 showed that Tehran was still hopeful about the response of European signatories to the JCPOA to a US exit from the deal. For now, only time will tell whether Europe will manage to save the deal. While there has been some pushback from Europe, including steps to revise the Blocking Statute as well as tough rhetoric about not being vassals of the United States, it remains to be seen whether Irans interests will be guaranteed in practice. If not, there will likely be a repeat of the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the 2003-05 engagement between Iran and Europe to find a solution to the nuclear issue. Irans minister of communications and information technology is continuing to criticize unelected governmental bodies for their attempts to block social media and messaging services. Irans judiciary shut down Telegram, a popular messaging service with approximately 40 million users in Iran, after conservative officials complained that national security vulnerabilities had been introduced by the Telegram servers and that the user information of tens of millions of Iranians was being stored outside of the country. The communications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, who has championed a more open online environment, said Iranians will use virtual private networks to bypass the current blocks on Telegram, thus creating more serious security challenges. The blocking of Telegram is not the only obstacle hindering the efforts of the administration of President Hassan Rouhani. Following a parliamentary report on dual nationals working within government institutions, Irans Intelligence Ministry has written an open letter defending its monitoring of dual nationals. The issue has become a hot topic once again in conservative media outlets. The Final Report on the Investigation of the Status of Dual Nationals was issued by Irans influential and powerful National Security and Foreign Policy commission headed by Alaeddin Borujerdi. The Intelligence Ministry letter was addressed to Borujerdi and attempted to clear the air about the ministrys name in tracking and monitoring the 210 identified dual nationals working in various sectors of the government, including institutions run by the Rouhani administration. The letter addressed several points and requested that the report be corrected. The letter also addressed the politicization of the issue. The Intelligence Ministry, which vets those hired by the administration, is run by the administration. Borujerdi, a conservative politician, has long been a critic of the administration. He was also one of the first politicians to voice the need to block Telegram in the country, just days before the judicial decision, suggesting that he may have been informed of the decision in advance. Despite the possible collapse of his signature foreign policy achievement, Rouhani has attempted to put on a brave face. He has been on the defensive ever since President Donald Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the nuclear deal. Rouhani has sent Irans top nuclear negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, to Russia, China and Europe to see whether Iran can salvage the agreement. In his latest speech, Rouhani said Iran would not respond to pressure, sanctions, threats or even signs of war. He said Iran will still try to resolve the nuclear issue through negotiations and diplomacy. According to Rouhani, many of Irans goals were achieved through the 2015 nuclear deal, including the recognition of Irans right to nuclear enrichment. On the removal of sanctions, Rouhani said that while Iran was not 100% successful in removing them, an 80% success rate is worth preserving. Congressional efforts to update the presidents ability to battle terrorist groups are running into resistance from Democrats and anti-war groups worried about the Donald Trump administrations hawkish turn. While lawmakers of both parties have long sought to update the 2001 law that has served as the legal underpinning for war on terrorism operations around the globe, critics worry the latest effort inadvertently increases rather than limits the presidents military powers. Some even argue that the bill from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., could even be used to justify attacking Iran. At a hearing this week, the committees top Democrat, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, said the new authorization for the use of military force could allow Trump to start a war with Iran. The May 8 White House statement withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, Menendez pointed out, stated that the Taliban and al-Qaeda were proxies of Iran. If in fact [Trump] says that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are proxies of Iran and wants to pursue those or any other entities in another country, there is no provision that stops him from pursuing those entities in another country. The original 2001 law only authorizes the president to attack countries and organizations that planned, authorized, committed or aided the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Opponents of the new bill argue that by legally formalizing the presidents ability to expand counterterrorism operations into new countries, the Corker bill codifies legal arguments used to expand military action to other countries and other terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State in Syria. There is a real danger of the kind of creative executive branch lawyering that weve seen under the 2001 authorization for the use of military force, said Rita Siemion, an adjunct law professor at Georgetown University and legal counsel at Human Rights First. Responding to Menendezs concerns about an attack on Iran, Siemion said, I dont think that would be an appropriate reading, but I think there is reason to be concerned that the president might try to do so. During his speech announcing the US withdrawal from the Iran deal, Trump said the Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terror. It exports dangerous missiles, fuels conflicts across the Middle East and supports terrorist proxies and militias such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Iran has previously hosted and negotiated with al-Qaeda operatives and Osama bin Ladens family members. Last year, Mike Pompeo, when he was still CIA director, declassified documents appearing to partially confirm that relationship as the Trump administration sought to build a case to withdraw from the deal. Pompeo is now secretary of state. NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan have previously said theyve interdicted Iranian weapons shipments to the Taliban. The Afghan government alleges that Tehran continues to support the Taliban in order to halt the construction of hydroelectric dams that could inhibit the water flow to Iran, which suffers from an extreme water shortage. The Corker-Kaine bill authorizes the president to use military force against the Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and five other associated forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Libya. The president can also designate other associated forces and countries as legitimate targets to attack without an explicit authorization from Congress. Congress could then retroactively order the US military to disengage from hostilities, which in practice would likely require a veto-proof majority. Some critics argue the new bill cedes too much power to the president on the front end by allowing him to designate new terrorist groups and countries as military targets without congressional approval. What makes more sense hold the vote before the president is in the field with the forces in order to open the door? asked Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Or hold the vote afterward, at which point it not only is after the action, but it requires a super majority? Merkley has vowed to introduce an alternative bill soon and issued a list of principles that it would adhere to. These include requiring Congress to authorize new military action rather than delegating this power to the president as well as limiting the use of ground forces while having the authorization expire after three years. The bill would also require that the United States adhere to international law, including the proportional use of force and distinguishing between combatants and civilians. The Corker-Kaine bill includes none of these provisions. It does, however, provide Congress with the opportunity to repeal or modify the authorization for the use of military force every four years under expedited procedures, starting in 2022. Earlier this week, Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Walter Jones, R-N.C., led 50 predominantly Democratic House members in a letter to Corker and Menendez expressing opposition to the Senates authorization for the use of military force proposal. Like Merkley, they demanded more stringent requirements. Anti-war groups that have previously backed efforts to repeal the 2001 authorization for the use of military force have rallied around Merkleys alternative proposal. Though we believe the existing AUMF [authorization for the use of military force] should be repealed and not replaced, we know there are those in Congress that believe a new authorization is necessary, Kate Kizer, the policy director for Win Without War, a coalition of anti-war groups, told Al-Monitor. To that end, were glad Sen. Merkley is taking a principled and narrow approach to authorizing the use of force, compared to the endless war AUMF being offered by Sens. Corker and Kaine. The emerging opposition to the new authorization for the use of military force from anti-war groups, Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans has irritated Corker, who did not mince words while expressing his feelings at the hearing. We are exercising our constitutional rights if we pass this, said Corker. This is the biggest red herring Ive ever heard in my life. We would be authorizing the use of military force, and I just find some of these liberal groups and the way theyre attacking this as almost hilarious. Corker noted that had his proposal been adopted in 2001, Congress would have had the opportunity to hold at least 13 war authorization votes since then. Supporters of his bill also argue that it would require the White House to be more forthcoming in disclosing its overseas military operations to Congress, thereby allowing the legislative branch to claw back at least some of its war-making authority from the White House. For instance, Corker bill co-sponsor Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., expressed his preference for requiring Congress to vote before the president designates a new military target as well as adding an expiration date. However, he acknowledged the challenge inherent in mustering enough support for a rewrite of the 2001 law. We have to judge this product against the reality and not what is optimal, said Flake. Im also sensitive to the fact that this is a bipartisan institution. The Senate requires 60 votes and you take what you can get sometimes. The Sairoon (On the Move) Alliance formed by Muqtada al-Sadr and the Iraqi Communist Party is ahead in the preliminary results of the Iraqi elections. More than 90% of the votes in all of Iraq's provinces have been counted so far, with the exception of Dahuk and Kirkuk, where counting was postponed. Sairoon has so far secured 54 out of a total of 329 parliamentary seats, while the Al-Fatah Alliance, formed by the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units, has won 44 seats, followed by 39 seats for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's Al-Nasr Alliance. The State of Law Coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Malik has secured 25 seats, and the Al-Wataniya Alliance of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has obtained 22 seats. The results have raised the chances that the Sairoon Alliance will form the largest bloc in the next parliament, which will be tasked with appointing the prime minister and forming the next government. Sairoon leaders rushed to express their desire to put together the largest bloc and voiced their opinions on the next government's shape and inclination. The door is open for Sairoon to work with any of the rival blocs, said Dhia al-Asadi, head of the political bureau of the Sadrist Movement, on May 14 after the announcement of the preliminary results of the elections. Sairoon has the right to claim the post of prime minister, he said. On May 16, Sadr, the head of the Sadrist Movement, confirmed his wish to form a government of technocrats free of partisanship and sectarianism. In a May 14 tweet, Sadr hinted at the alliances and broad nature he hopes will characterize the new government. Using a play on words derived from the meaning of various political entities' names, he wrote: We are Sairoon (On the Move) with Hikma (Wisdom) and Al-Wataniya (Patriotism) to make the people's Iradah (Will) our demand, to build Jilan Jadidan (a New Generation), to witness Taghir (Change/Gorran) toward reform and for the Al-Qarar (Decision) to be Iraqi," continuing the puns with, "So we raise the Bayariq (Banners) of Al-Nasr (Victory), and to make Baghdad, the capital, our Hawiyatuna (Baghdad is Our Identity) and our Hirakuna (Democratic Movement) move toward the formation of a paternal government from among technocratic Kawadur (Cadres) free of partisanship. Sadr used parenthesis in his tweet to denote various Iraqi political entities, including Abadis Al-Nasr, Ammar al-Hakims Hikma and Allawis Al-Wataniya alliances, and others excluding the Iranian-supported militia Al-Fatah Alliance and Nouri al-Malikis State of Law Coalition. If Sadr can achieve an alliance that includes the aforementioned forces, he would form the largest bloc and isolate his rivals, the Al-Fatah Alliance and the State of Law Coalition. Arab powers opposing Iran, led by Saudi Arabia, welcomed Sadr's victory and expressed hope that it will undermine Irans influence in Iraq. Thamer al-Sabhan, the minister of state for Arabian Gulf affairs at the Foreign Ministry and a former Saudi ambassador to Iraq, commented on Sadrs tweet and retweeted, You are really Sairoon (on the move) with Hikma (wisdom), Wataniya (patriotism) and Tadhamon (solidarity). You have taken Al-Qarar (decision), toward Taghyir (change) to have Iraq raise the Bayariq (banners) of Al-Nasr (victory), to [secure] independence, Arabism and identity. I congratulate Iraq for having you." Some Sunni Arab forces, including the Al-Qarar Alliance led by Khamis al-Khanjar, also welcomed Sairoon's victory. Khanjar even voiced his desire to ally with it. Abadi congratulated Sadr on his victory, which could imply a desire to ally with him. But this does not prevent Sadr's rivals from seeking to sideline Sairoon by forming a larger bloc in a rival axis. State of Law Coalition spokesman Abbas al-Musawi expressed skepticism May 16 that some electoral lists (in reference to Sairoon) will be able to form a government, stressing that historic leaders will be the key drivers in this matter. State of Law Coalition parliament member Mohamed Sahyoud said May 15 that efforts are near completion to form an alliance between the State of Law, Al-Fatah and Al-Nasr coalitions, which would secure more than 100 seats and account for the largest bloc in parliament. If this occurs and the bloc gets support from some Kurdish and Sunni forces loyal to Iran, the next government could be formed by the axis opposing Sadr. Al-Monitor learned from sources who asked not to be named within the State of Law, Al-Fatah and Al-Nasr coalitions that the commander of Iran's Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, who has been in the Green Zone in Baghdad since May 14, is leading efforts to strike an alliance deal between the State of Law Coalition's Maliki and Al-Fatah Coalition leader Hadi al-Amiri, and then to encourage Al-Nasr's Abadi and Al-Hikma's Hakim to join this alliance. If Soleimani succeeds, this could prevent Sadr from forming the largest bloc. Soleimani was said to have proposed that these alliances refrain from nominating any of their leaders. Other names are being put forward as a consensus prime minister, including Muhammad Shayya al-Sudani, who is one of the Dawa Party leaders and the minister of labor and social affairs in Abadis government. An earlier report by Al-Monitor indicated that negotiations by Soleimani in Erbil led to an agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic Party not to support Abadi as prime minister. Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), revealed upcoming plans for a visit by a KRG delegation to Baghdad to participate in talks aimed at forming the next government. Hisham al-Rekabi, who heads Maliki's media office, said May 16 that all discussions to form the largest bloc will be completed within the next 48 hours. Dawa Party leader and parliament member Kamel al-Zaidi spoke of semifinal understandings between the State of Law and Al-Fatah coalitions, in addition to current attempts to include other [parliamentary] blocs in this larger bloc. Zaidi added, There are ongoing contacts with the National Union Front and Barham Salih's party, as well as with Sunni political authorities to form an alliance that guarantees a national political majority. On May 15, US State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert answered a question about Soleimanis interference in the ongoing consultations to form the Iraqi government. That is certainly always a concern of ours, but we have a great deal of trust and faith in the Iraqi people and whoever ends up governing, whatever the structure is, the governing of that country going forward, she said. Iran appears to be in a hurry to strike a deal between its loyalists for fear of Sadr's success in dominating the next government, which would curb its influence in Iraq. After 62 Palestinians were killed May 14 during demonstrations in Gaza along the Israel-Gaza border, students at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem decided to protest in their own way. The students, mostly Israeli Arabs, hung black posters in the schools corridors recording the names of the Palestinians killed. The exhibit also included signs with Gaza's shape that read, Not Your Toy, part of a refrain from the song by this years Eurovision winner, Israeli Netta Barzilai. Science Minister Ofir Akunis of Likud banned the students from participating in an international science conference scheduled for the end of the month in Jerusalem. His decision was obviously entirely political. When asked by Al-Monitor whether all Bezalel students would be prevented from exhibiting at the conference, Akunis answered, Yes. Bezalel, located on the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus, is considered one of the leading institutes of its kind in the world. The absence of works by its students at the upcoming conference, which will host 25 science ministers and delegations from around the world, is a disproportionate form of collective punishment that infringes on freedom of expression. The conference will include exhibits of works by students of design from art schools across the country. Akunis told Al-Monitor that he supports freedom of expression and creativity, but added, I will not permit the freedom to disparage. Even Hamas has already announced that the casualties along the border with Gaza were [mostly] its own people, or in other words, terrorists. Akunis was most likely shocked by the exhibit, as were most Jewish Israelis who watched as Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers defended the fence against allegedly desperate Gaza residents, with Hamas later claiming that most of the casualties were its people. That is exactly where the thin line runs between shock and government intervention against a legitimate political protest by Arab students. Like so many Israeli Arabs, the students were shocked by the bloody events and felt a sense of identification with their Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza. Contrary to right-wing allegations, the posters, which were taken down, were not incitement against the IDF, nor were they a call to commit treason. They were a form of protest through art, which a strong democracy like Israel should be able to tolerate and respect. Akunis does not understand this, nor does Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein of the Likud Party, who said, The artists protesting on behalf of themselves would do well to remember our troops along the Gaza border, who are protecting them, too. The same goes for Jerusalem's mayor, Nir Barkat of Likud, who was so shocked that he demanded that Bezalels administration remove the posters, which, he tweeted, contained the name of terrorists, who were injured, when they tried to break through the Gaza border fence in order to kill Jews. Barkat, who plans to run for election on Likuds Knesset list, added, There is a limit and a clear red line as to how far people can make cynical use of freedom of expression. Did anyone really cross that red line? It is not at all clear why the emotions of the students on such a day should be considered cynical. Why couldnt Akunis and others respect their feelings and their artistic expression? Obviously, banning their works from the conference wont suppress the events of May 14 or cause them to be forgotten. If anything, such a response will only exacerbate the simmering antagonism that the students feel. Furthermore, Bezalel also has right-wing students who identify with Im Tirtzu, an extreme right movement. They responded with an exhibit of their own, which includes the names of Jewish fatalities of terrorist attacks. The group also released a blunt response, stating, Once again we see a shocking case of posters calling for hatred and pride in terrorists being disseminated. Instead of sending a maintenance crew to clean up this incitement and instead of punishing the recalcitrant student responsible for the exhibit, we see a cloud of joy hovering above us. Fortunately, Bezalels administration was not intimidated by the blaring political rhetoric aimed at right-wing voters. The Bezalel Academy is a safe space for freedom of expression in Israel, enabling its students to engage in free, critical, and creative discourse on the wide range of topics that they deal with, Bezalel tweeted. The administration of Tel Aviv University also did the right thing when it refused to punish or even respond to the decision by an Arab lecturer in the Law Department that she would not hold class May 16 as a sign of her identification with the Palestinian struggle. Lena Salaymeh told her students that she was responding to the call for a general strike by the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel. Out of respect for the Palestinians being slaughtered in Gaza, I am honoring the call for a general strike. Wednesdays classes and office hours are canceled, she told them in an email. The university simply said that her decision does not represent its own views on the matter, and that Salaymeh was acting independently. In this case, too, it was the legitimate right of an Israeli Arab citizen to feel sorrow and identify with the people of Gaza, and any attempt to deny her that right is doomed to failure. In contrast, anyone who feels differently, and that includes most of Israels Jewish citizens, can and do express themselves in all sorts of ways. A democracy such as Israel's should be sufficiently generous and confident to allow young Israeli Arab artists to express themselves as long as their works dont incite, which is illegal. That should be the only red line. People can love the art or hate it. They can be shocked and disgusted by it, and they can denounce it. All of that is OK. Its even important. Protests, particularly political protests, are intended to shock and shake people up. That is the essence and source of their power. They cant all be nice. They must be provocative. Otherwise, they simply wouldnt exist. In a country such as Israel, which has been engaged in a bloody conflict with the Palestinians for many long years, it is reasonable to assume that there will be some very belligerent protest art. The best response would be to keep the countrys creative spaces open and inclusive. It would be better to confront the Arab members of Knesset, some of whom really do incite against the state and support acts of terror, instead of attacking young artists. In December 2015, Education Minister Naftali Bennett rejected the inclusion of the novel All the Rivers, by Dorit Rabinyan, in matriculation examinations because it depicts a romantic relationship between a Jewish woman and an Arab man. Bennett, in fact, did a disservice to his own right-wing nationalist agenda and contributed to increasing sales of the novelists works. A decision by politicians on the right to ignore the Bezalel exhibit would not have caused a national disaster. On the contrary, it would have bolstered and served as a glowing example of Israeli democracy and also of Israeli art. It took three years and a day from Moshe Kahlon's swearing in as Israels finance minister to his finally being able to breathe easily. The latter occurred on May 15, when the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported the first drop in housing prices in a decade. According to the data, there has been a steady decline in housing prices over the past year, totaling 0.1%. This is hardly a revolution the cost of apartments in Israel remains high but it could be cause for optimism as far as many young couples are concerned. For Kahlon, also chair of Kulanu, the decline is especially good news at this time, as it is obvious that the current government has started counting down to the next election. It would have been a major problem for the man who demanded the Finance Ministry, and gained unprecedented powers so he could fulfill his campaign promise to lower the cost of housing, if the real estate bubble continued to expand out of control. In fact, during Kahlon's first two years in office, housing prices steadily rose, causing him considerable damage in the polls. In some polls, Kulanu lost as many as half of the 10 seats it won in the 2015 election. That is why the new data is not only good financial news for those looking to buy a home, it is also important political news. In fact, the decline in housing prices is Kahlons entry ticket to the next election cycle as an important player. If Kahlon knows how to turn this into an effective election campaign issue and he has proven in the past that he knows how to operate in that manner Kulanu is here to stay, at least for another term. It was impossible to ignore Kahlons declarations of victory, whether through social networks or traditional media. While the finance minister tried to show restraint, it was hard not to hear the relief that accompanied his statements. In one press release from his office, Kahlon said, This is not a victory for me or anyone else. It is a victory for young couples who can finally get an apartment of their own after so many years. At first, everyone said it was impossible. The market was on fire, and there was no chance of impacting the cost of housing, but we did it. To all the skeptics who attacked us and said that it is impossible, it is time to come to terms with the new reality. This statement was directed at everyone who had mocked Kahlon, including economic pundits and political rivals, who were waiting behind the corner hoping to see him crash. Speaking to Al-Monitor on May 17, Kahlon said that he always knew he would be able to lower housing costs, with the same strategy he used to lower cellphone costs when serving as telecommunications minister (2009-11), by introducing an organized plan right after the election. I did it for young couples, he said. The good news that the CBS provided Kahlon came during a week in which diplomatic and security issues dominated the news cycle: Gaza, Turkey, the US Embassy's move to Jerusalem and the ongoing conflict with Iran. Despite all that, the finance minister made his way onto the media agenda and celebrated his victory with a series of happy interviews. When Kahlon gets stronger, it usually means that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on the lookout, watching carefully. Because a politically weak Kahlon would not be interested in early elections, as long as he trudged in place publicly and politically, Netanyahu considered him the strongest link in his government whenever a coalition crisis led to talk of early elections. That's what happened during the Israel Broadcasting Corporation crisis in spring 2017. One year later, in April, it was Kahlons tenacious insistence on the government remaining in power that prevented Netanyahu from breaking the coalition apart and holding elections at a time convenient for him. Given the current state of affairs with Netanyahu at the height of his political and public power and before the criminal investigations of him have come to an end Kahlon will no longer be the one to prevent early elections. On May 15, Kahlon became ready for the next election no matter when it happens. The predominant assessment in the political arena and in the finance ministers immediate circle is that the election will be moved up to early 2019. In other words, the Knesset will go on recess in about two months and then call for elections as soon as it returns. There are some people who think that under certain circumstances, Kahlon could lead the country, or that's what a very flattering article in Bloombergs Businessweek concluded in March. The headline read, The Arabic-Speaker Who Might One Day Lead Israel. This particular angle is based on the excellent relationship that Kahlon has with senior officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA), including Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, with whom he has met at least twice in the last year. Kahlon grew up speaking Arabic, and he makes use of his language skills whenever he meets with Palestinians. This is an important icebreaker and helps to foster a personal relationship between the parties. Add to this Kahlon's personal charm and his direct contact with people, without intermediaries, and one has the most popular Israeli minister among PA members during a complicated and tense period, in which the Palestinians are boycotting the Americans. The many meetings that Kahlon has had with senior Palestinian officials are his own achievement and evidence that they regard him as a major player in Israeli politics. In addition to all this, Kahlon has also been developing a warm relationship with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, with whom he met in his office May 14, after the embassy ceremony. It was their third meeting since President Donald Trump took office. The Bloomberg article appeared at a time when Netanyahu was up to his neck in criminal investigations. Kahlon was mentioned as one of the possible candidates to succeed Netanyahu as prime minister because of the governments instability and all the corruption scandals swirling around Netanyahu. Two months later, Netanyahu is still caught up in a series of corruption scandals, but his public, political and diplomatic standing is stronger than ever. It now looks like Kahlon will be a fascinating major player in every potential scenario. For now, he has a good working relationship with Netanyahu, even if that relationship is based on mutual distrust. Each man knows how politically adroit the other can be. The higher Kahlon rises in the polls, the more likely he is to become a key player in the next government, with or without Netanyahu. Hamas is awaiting developments. As far as it is concerned, the border operation it mounted this week against Israel with tens of thousands of Gaza residents storming the fence was successful; the eyes of the world are directed once again at the Gaza Strip after a long hiatus of disinterest. Hamas is seeking, obviously, to end the blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza in 2007, and it is operating in accordance with a familiar modus operandi honed over more than a decade. The first stage is to put out feelers to see whether Israel is willing to discuss a long-term cease-fire. When Israel turns them down, Hamas launches a second, violent stage, in a bid to bring Israel to the negotiating table to discuss a deal it failed to achieve with its initial, conciliatory moves. Following the 2007 coup by Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military arm, and its ousting of the Fatah movement that had ruled the Gaza Strip, Hamas was left with responsibility for the lives of Gazas residents, who currently number some 2 million. Then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected Hamas proposals for a cease-fire in return for an opening of the border crossings. At that point, Hamas began lobbing rockets at Israel in a bid to draw Israel into Egyptian-mediated negotiations, promising a truce in return for an easing of the blockade. This went on for 10 years. Each round of violence with Gaza, including three major military operations codenamed Cast Lead in December 2008, Pillar of Defense in November 2012 and Protective Edge in July 2014, ended in short negotiating sessions in Cairo. Hamas was not interested merely in a cessation of hostilities; it was offering a truce in return for a relaxation of the blockade. The organization wanted to present the Palestinians with a significant achievement justifying the heavy price paid by Gazans. Hamas succeeded only in expanding the variety of raw materials and foodstuffs Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip, but failed to achieve economic independence for Gaza. While Israel allowed 800 and even 1,000 supply trucks to cross into Gaza daily in 2015, the local purchasing power weakened to such an extent that supply outstripped demand. These days, only 300 supply trucks unload their wares at the Kerem Shalom border goods terminal every day. Hamas no longer talks about getting Israeli permission to bring additional raw materials and goods into Gaza; it is now focused on restoring local purchasing power through an opening of the border crossings that would allow the passage of goods and people. This is the top priority of the Hamas leadership. As it did in the past, Hamas is offering a long-term cease-fire known in Arabic as hudna in return for a lifting of the blockade. It conveyed such a proposal to Israel several weeks ago through Egyptian and Qatari channels, but Israel ignored it. Hamas felt it had no choice but to turn to violence in order to force Israel to the negotiating table. On May 14, after 62 Gazans were killed in clashes with Israel and thousands were wounded, it turned out that Israel and Egypt were willing to discuss an easing of the siege, after all. That same night, Israel decided to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing that it had closed after Palestinian rioters set fire and destroyed equipment and facilities there, and Egypt announced that it was opening the Rafah crossing with Gaza until further notice. Operation Fence had achieved Hamas goal. Israel and Egypt understood the severity of the situation and the threats it posed, and the Gaza crisis drew international attention. Hamas had planned additional mass protests for May 15, the date on which Palestinians mark Nakba Day commemorating their uprooting when Israel was established in 1948. Instead, Hamas was careful to limit the number of protesters along the fence. The small presence was intended nonetheless to signal Israel that while the mass protests were halted, they could be renewed at any moment. The Hamas leadership announced that the fence protest would continue in its current form until mid-June, hoping that by then Israel and Egypt would have clarified their intentions and Hamas may be able to present Gazans with an achievement of some sort. In a May 16 interview with Al Jazeeras Arabic network, Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar said his organization had reached an agreement with Egypt on preventing an escalation of the violence into an all-out military clash with Israel. He added, however, If Israel causes lots of bloodshed, we will be forced to undertake military resistance. In other words, a clash has been averted, for now, and would depend on results achieved by Hamas. A senior Hamas source speaking on condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor, "We have only one plan to end the Gaza siege. We are not interested in another war and are not threatening to launch one. But the time has come to end this blockade and enable people to live." The source claimed that the cease-fire agreement signed in 2014 after Operation Protective Edge and through Egyptian mediation included understandings designed to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip, like opening crossing points for the import of construction materials and engineering equipment. He also claims that Israel did not hold up its side of the agreement. The Hamas source added that now, understanding how risky the situation has become, the Egyptians are willing to deal with this issue seriously. In parallel, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Strip to be left open throughout the Ramadan month. By the time the month of Ramadan finishes, one might hope that Hamas, Egypt and Israel will reach larger understandings. However, an easing of Israeli and Egyptian restrictions and even foreign donor state allocations for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip are unlikely to bring about a significant improvement in the lives of Gazans. The humanitarian crisis is so severe that no ad hoc, temporary remedies such as an opening of the border crossings and additional supplies of food and raw materials can help. What Gaza needs is a comprehensive, significant rehabilitation plan. Still, such a plan is not feasible unless the Palestinian Authority (PA) returns to Gaza and assumes responsibility for its residents. This, in turn, cannot be achieved absent a reconciliation between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Sinwar has already conceded his organizations failure to administer life in Gaza, but he and the rest of the leadership are adamant in their refusal to disarm Hamas' military wing Abbas precondition for reconciliation. Hamas has not given up on the prospects of reconciliation with Fatah and the PA. The high number of Palestinian casualties this past week is yet another tool in its effort to convince Abbas that Hamas cannot give up its "weapons of resistance and must protect the Palestinians from the Zionist enemy. Adding another pressure point, Hamas Al-Aqsa TV station has been airing a campaign blaming Abbas, too, for the killing of his Palestinian people. Abbas, for those who have forgotten, was the one who imposed sanctions on Gaza that deeply exacerbated the plight of its residents. As far as Hamas is concerned, there is only one way for him to apologize and ask their forgiveness: Lift the sanctions, pay the salaries he withheld from local officials and act like the leader of all Palestinians, not just those under the PAs rule in the West Bank. In other words, he must quickly assume responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip, without preconditions. After a lengthy pause in the series of Syrian peace talks held in Astana, Kazakhstan, this weeks round the ninth wasnt expected to produce any breakthroughs. Yet the very fact that the talks happened at all can be seen as a success given that until the last moment no one knew if the Syrian opposition would even participate. The next round of talks, set for July, will take place in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi an idea vehemently opposed by the militant opposition. Opposition representative Yasser Abdul Raheem said he will not attend because Russian forces supporting the regime continue to kill Syrians. He said Russia must adjust its priorities in the civil war. Since the eighth meeting in Astana ended in December, the de-escalation zone in eastern Ghouta has basically ceased to function. After the regimes prolonged, devastating attacks on the opposition enclave, the largest opposition factions, Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman, were moved to northern Syria. After some tense negotiations with Russian military officers, another faction, Jaish al-Tawhid, was forced from another zone, the Rastan district of Homs. More factions are expected to follow the same fate under Russian pressure. During the May 14-15 Astana talks, the oppositions contingent, led by Ahmad Saleh Tumah, ex-prime minister of the Syrian Interim Government, was comprised of 24 people, including several representatives of the negotiations committee in northern Homs and southern Hama. Russia had signed a cease-fire agreement with them in 2017 and later discussed conditions for evacuating militant groups. According to opposition representative Ayman al-Assami, the agenda this week included discussions about a prisoner exchange and the comprehensive cease-fire agreement for the Idlib area. Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the ninth round of talks also focused on officially reopening the roadway between Damascus and Aleppo and restoring transport connections between Aleppo and Gaziantep, Turkey. All these discussions took place within the context of Ankaras intensive actions, which Russia and Iran cant overlook. First, Ankara is establishing observation posts designed to prevent Damascus from attacking Idlib. The first day of the summit was marked by the opening in Idlib of the 11th of 12 planned observation posts. After the last post opens, in the Jisr al-Shughur area, Turkey will start to monitor the inner side of the de-escalation zones borders and Russia will put its troops on the outer side. Second, Ankara is actively helping the Syrian opposition unite within Turkeys area of influence. According to numerous reports, Faylaq al-Sham, Soqour al-Sham and several other opposition groups are going to merge into the National Liberation Front, while the Syrian Liberation Front, created by a fusion of the Nureddin Zengi Brigade and Ahrar al-Sham factions, will probably join the Syrian National Army, which is now acting in the area where Turkeys Operation Euphrates Shield took place. The countries acting as guarantors of the Astana peace talks Turkey, Iran and Russia summarized the meeting in a final statement in which they noted that an action group on the issue of prisoners will assemble in Ankara in June. However, the documents general contents lack anything concrete. The only new and meaningful point is that the next round of talks will be in Sochi and the parties should consider the recommendations of the Sochi congress held in January to launch the Constitutional Committee in Geneva. The congress has a detailed plan for a political resolution of the Syrian conflict: Reach a cease-fire, create a transitional administration, draft a new constitution, and organize free and fair elections. At first glance, these seem to be the core objectives of the Astana talks, the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi in January and the upcoming high-level summit in Russia. However, in real life, establishing de-escalation zones the main political achievement of the Astana format allowed Damascus and its allies to move their troops eastward to fight the Islamic State and confront the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Simultaneously, Damascus was able to start dividing the opposition irreversibly, handing it over either to the protectorate controlled by Turkey (in the Idlib zone) or that of the United States and Jordan (in the southwest). After that, at the congress in Sochi, opposition groups and even parties loyal to Assad couldnt agree on much of anything. Members of the Baath Party deliberately called themselves the representatives of civil society, as opposed to admitting that they are government officials. As a result, the Constitutional Commission consisted mainly of the tamed dissidents. Next, Moscow apparently plans to put real and tamed opposition on equal footing one more time, at Sochi. Damascus approved the outcome of the ninth round of inter-Syrian negotiations. With the help of our brothers, our army liberated eastern Ghouta and Aleppo, [and] made southern Damascus a safer place, said Bashar Jaafari, the head of the Syrian governments delegation to the Astana summit and Syrias ambassador to the United Nations. We will continue our battle to free all of Syria from terrorism and from the countries attacking our sovereign nation. The United States decided to ignore the Astana format for the first time, which Moscow considered a refusal to support the international effort to find a peaceful resolution for the Syrian crisis. On May 15, officials of the American Embassy in Kazakhstan pointed out that the United States appreciates any true de-escalation in Syria but is also focused on the Geneva negotiations and their results. Moscow constantly emphasizes that no matter what the results of the Astana and Sochi talks may be, the legitimization of the political resolution is still based on the Geneva process, which is stalled. As American and Russian positions on the future of the SDF-controlled eastern territories arent compatible, as opposed to the issues of western Syrian de-escalation zones, the Geneva format remains an ideal but still unlikely mechanism for reaching a consensus. Apparently, Russia and its partners will continue to impose their opinion that the talks in Switzerland should be renewed based on the Astana and Sochi talks, with the Syrian regime dominating there, while the United States and its allies reject the peace proposal drawn up by the Astana guarantors. Moscow provided a draft of the constitution proposal at the Astana talks and announced the commission for constitutional reform via the Sochi congress actions that are formally under Genevas jurisdiction. So its likely that the sides will continue to frown on the absence of a coordinated decision while at the same time trying to realize their own plans. While the recent diplomatic rift between Israel and Turkey indicates a further deterioration in relations, the Turkish government has avoided taking concrete steps that could directly hurt Israel, whereas the Israeli response to Turkey's rhetoric was more detrimental and bitter. Israeli security forces have killed some 62 Palestinians and wounded scores of civilians by firing during demonstrations held on the Gaza border, which coincided with the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. The carnage drew a harsh denunciation from Turkeys sworn pro-Palestinian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Yet closer scrutiny suggests Erdogan wasn't framing his response for the international community, but rather to appeal to Turkish voters ahead of the June 24 snap elections. However, Israels response to Turkeys position was quite the other way around: It was aimed squarely at Turkeys president, not Israeli society. In his response to the carnage, Erdogan was not surprisingly quick to lash out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of murder. In extraordinarily strong wording, he referred to Israel as a terror state and said, The assault on the Gazan protesters exposed Israels ugly visage as one who carries out genocide in Gaza. Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Eitan Naeh wasn't directly declared a persona non grata, but he was asked to leave Turkey for a while. He was subjected to a search by Turkish security at the Istanbul airport as he was leaving. They didnt humiliate only me, but also the State of Israel and the order came from above, Naeh said, referring to Erdogan, as the ambassador spoke to journalists who reportedly had been called to the airport in advance to make sure they covered the brouhaha. Naeh has been Israel's ambassador to Ankara since 2016. Before his assignment, there had been no diplomatic representation at that level between the countries for some six years, after bilateral ties hit bottom in 2010 following the Gaza flotilla raid, in which nine Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli commandos. Israel retaliated Naeh's ejection by expelling Turkeys consul general in Jerusalem, veteran diplomat Gurcan Turkoglu. The Turkish Foreign Ministry fired back again by expelling the Israeli consul general in Istanbul. Israels response was more tangible and biting in this brief but potent tit-for-tat exchange. The Israelis canceled Turkish agricultural imports, a move that may add to Turkey's economic woes a bit. Moreover, they warned their citizens not to travel to Turkey. "I advise you not to visit Turkey," Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin told Ynet. "As long as Turkey treats us like it did, there is no reason to fly there." He added, Israel has no interest in severing trade relations with Turkey. However, visiting [there] benefits the Turks financially." Turkey was once a major tourism destination for Israelis. According to the Turkish press, more than 550,000 Israelis chose Turkey for their vacations in 2008. That figure dropped dramatically to 79,000 following the Gaza flotilla incident. Yet last year, the number rose to 380,000 after the countries normalized relations. After this latest rift, the figure is likely to drop once again. Like Erdogan, Netanyahu had his say on the matter. A man who sends thousands of soldiers to occupy northern Cyprus and invades Syria will not preach to us. A man whose hands are stained with the blood of countless Kurdish citizens in Turkey and Syria is the last one to preach to us about combat ethics, he wrote on Twitter. Turkeys seeming outrage, on the other hand, didn't go as far as Israel's. A motion in parliament presented by the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party to suspend economic and commercial relations with Israel was rejected by the ruling Justice and Development Party and lawmakers. The governments reluctance to take concrete actions that might actually hurt Israel confirms that the harsh rhetoric of Erdogan and other Turkish officials is mainly for domestic consumption. That is perhaps the main reason why the Turkish government didn't go so far as to condemn the Washington administration and President Donald Trump, who are, along with Israel, widely considered responsible for the bloody events in Gaza. Turkeys economy is so volatile and the looming economic crisis is feared so strongly that the Turkish government can't open a new front against Washington. Erdogans fiery anti-American rhetoric has been subdued for some time. Now, the government-controlled media is unleashing such rhetoric, but not Erdogan himself. Turkeys cautious position isn't limited to the American side. According to Ahval news, one reason for that is the ongoing oil tanker movement between Turkey and Israel. Last month, oil exports from Turkeys Ceyhan terminal to Israel's Ashkelon port stood at some 1.5 million barrels. The role of oil in preserving the two countries' relationship is well-observed in a Ynet opinion piece by columnist Shimon Shiffer titled "Why Israel shouldnt slam the door on its ties with Turkey. "Here are a few facts we should be aware of before we stop playing by the rules with Ankara, which will explain why we should sometimes grind our teeth and carry on instead of slamming the door shut, Shiffer wrote. A major portion of the oil supply to Israel from former Soviet countries arrives in Israel through pipes passing through Turkey. Shiffer also emphasized the unpublicized but functional intelligence cooperation between the two countries: Turkey complies with the Israeli intelligence communitys requests to prevent Hamas leaders and others from executing terror attacks against Israeli targets around the world." The bottom line is, given the nature of the domestic political landscapes in Turkey and Israel, they can never have a strong, reliable bond unless a drastic change occurs in their governments, or at least a game-changing development at the regional level. But even if their relationship continues to decline under harsh rhetoric, their mutual interests dictate that they maintain some level of rapport. Aimee Hall, an Alabama woman who's part of the cast of "Floribama Shore," was charged with battery after a bar fight in Panama City Beach, Fla., according to the Panama City News Herald. Hall, 25, allegedly punched a woman who told her the show makes Panama City Beach look "ratchet," the newspaper said. Both women were under the influence of alcohol, the newspaper said. Hall was issued a notice to appear on a misdemeanor charge of battery early Wednesday after the Bay County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a disturbance at Ms. Newby's, 8711 Thomas Drive, the newspaper said. She was not jailed. Newby's, a bar and package store, is known for signature drinks such as its "World Famous Hunch Punch." Hall, who lives in Perdido, appeared in the first season of "Floribama Shore," an MTV reality series that follows a group of rowdy 20somethings who live together in a beach house in Panama City. Like their predecessors on "Jersey Shore," the cast members drink and dance, squabble and bond, hook up and break up, and more. Hall, who was prominently featured during Season One, earned a reputation for being plainspoken, feisty and ready to brawl. The cast was involved in at least one bar fight during the first season, and during a 2017 interview with AL.com, Hall said she was good with her fists. "I'm known for the two-piece or the whole damn combo," Hall said. "For the two-piece, I only hit 'em twice. For the whole damn combo, I don't stop. There's some fighting for sure on the show, and I'm part of it." Now the "Floribama Shore" folks are back at the beach, filming Season Two, the Panama City News Herald said. Another cast member, Nilsa Anderson, was at Newby's with Hall when the altercation happened and backed up Hall's version of events, the newspaper said. Hall told officials she argued with a woman at the bar and thew a cup of water on her after the woman said "Floribama Shore" made Panama City Beach look "ratchet," the newspaper said. (The slang term, often used in hip-hop, is a pejorative meaning nasty, rude or uncouth.) The woman who argued with Hall, however, told officials that Hall punched her in the face after the "ratchet" comment, according to the Panama City News Herald. A witness and the head of security at Newby's backed up the woman's report, the newspaper said. "Deputies went with the latter version and detained Hall while issuing her a notice to appear, which is similar to an arrest except instead of being taken to jail, the defendant is allowed to sign paperwork promising to show up for court," the newspaper said, citing an incident report from the Bay County Sheriff's Office. Hall's court date is June 15, the newspaper said. The Rev. Nathaniel Brooks, pastor of Greater St. John Baptist Church in Powderly in west Birmingham, said today that he wants to welcome the predominantly white Church of the Highlands, which has announced a plan to start a new church in high-crime areas of Birmingham. Brooks is one of several black pastors that have announced support for Church of the Highlands in its plans, after other ministers publicly criticized the plan and took Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin to task for meeting with Church of the Highlands Pastor Chris Hodges. "The mayor's intentions, as well as the pastor of the Church of the Highlands' intentions, are pure," Brooks said in an interview with AL.com. "Them coming does not negate the work that we've done," said the Rev. Mike McClure, pastor of The Rock Church. "I want to commend Pastor Chris Hodges and Church of the Highlands for coming outside of the four walls to improve and empower our communities." A sign put up May 12 by the Rev. Michael Jordan, pastor of New Era Baptist Church in west Birmingham, inflamed the issue. One side said, "Black folks need to stay out of white churches," and the other side said, "White folks refused to be our neighbors." Jordan also criticized Hodges' motives in announcing the plan for a new urban church. "I had an issue with the sign," Brooks said. "The sign was racially inspired. It lacked sensitivity and lacked a biblical focus." The Rev. Van Moody, pastor of Worship Center Christian Church, warned that pastors should "not get saddled with turf wars" and called for dialogue. "We have got to bring people together as church leaders and as believers, not further separate them," Moody said. "We're definitely in an era of racism," Brooks said. "We must fight against it, whether it's coming from a white church or a black church." The Rev. Edward O. Jackson, pastor of Greater New Antioch Baptist Church in Ensley and president of the predominantly black Birmingham Ministers' Conference, said many members of his alliance were concerned by the plan announced by the Church of the Highlands. "One of the concerns pastors had was that the mayor had offered his support to one church," Jackson said in an interview with AL.com. Woodfin met with the group of about 55 ministers two weeks ago on May 4 at Jackson's church and assured them that was not the case, Jackson said. "The mayor heard about the church being planted the same time we did," when Hodges announced it in his sermon on April 29, Jackson said. "This whole controversy is blowing way out of proportion," Jackson said. "We left that meeting on a positive note." Though he's been in Birmingham less than a year, Brooks said he's already conducted two funerals for victims of violent crime. The resources of the Church of the Highlands are welcome to help combat the problem, he said. "The church plant will be very needed," Brooks said. "It should be carefully communicated for successful partnerships. They have an excellent opportunity to meet the needs of the community. They should support others who are working in the community. I was excited by the plan for Church of the Highlands to come in and support our community. We need more Christian organizations in the community. We need it. The mayor has to get the city more involved. Both sides must do that part. The Church of the Highlands should work with existing organizations and churches." Brooks posted his message of support for Church of the Highlands on Facebook. "I've gotten negative feedback from some of my colleagues who believe I'm too new to say anything," said Brooks, who came to Birmingham last year. "They are fighting a history and suspicions and not being able to trust whites all the way back to civil rights," he said. "They haven't got over what happened in the sixties. This is an excellent opportunity to show how successful church can happen. You can't fight evil separated. We have done many things for the community. I'm willing to work with them and willing to partner with them." If the Church of the Highlands is willing to work with black churches in the neighborhoods, it could be a successful plan, he said. "I hope this will bring an inspired vision to our area," Brooks said. When Mayor Randall Woodfin unveiled the city's proposed 2019 fiscal year budget, non-profit groups, including those designed to help the homeless and promote economic development, found out no money was coming their way. But they could still get all or part their annual funding under a new process, city officials say. REV Birmingham received perhaps the biggest hit in the proposed budget. The non-profit economic development organization was allocated $725,000 from the city for, at least, the last two fiscal years. David Fleming, REV's executive director, said he wasn't completely surprised the non-profit wasn't in the city's budget. The city's funding represents about 32 percent of REV's total budget. "We knew as soon as Mayor Woodfin got elected that there would be a different way of doing things," he said. Besides REV Birmingham, other agencies like the Birmingham Urban League and Birmingham Business Alliance that provides economic development were excluded from the proposed 2019 budget. This doesn't necessarily mean, though, that these agencies will get nothing, according to the mayor's office. "Last year as in previous years, the general fund allocated nearly $2 million to external agencies and entities to perform economic development or engage in activity that promoted an economic service," said Rick Journey, director of communications for the mayor's office. "Many of these agencies deliver valuable services to the city and our residents, but the process is neither sustainable nor a responsible stewardship of taxpayer money." This year, Woodfin has proposed launching a request for proposals (RFP) process to allocate funds to external organizations that perform services related to economic development. "This process promotes transparency and accountability," he said. Few details of this process have been released yet. "We look forward to sharing the details of this plan with the City Council as the budget process continues," Journey said. Fleming said he hasn't been told much about how the process will work. "We are not getting the message there is no role for REV anymore," he said. "We are still waiting for how that is going to play out." REV Birmingham partners with the city to provide revitalization efforts downtown and in various neighborhoods; services to help grow small businesses; and spurring development in target communities. "We know what we are and what we are trying to do," Fleming said. "We look forward to being a part of the city and its growth." The Birmingham Business Alliance promotes economic growth in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area by marketing the area to businesses and industry. For the last two fiscal years, the group has received $137,975. Brian Hilson, president and chief executive officer of the BBA, said the city's new budgeting process is a more logical way to determine how it invests in its community partners. "The Birmingham Business Alliance works closely with the city's leadership in economic development and looks forward to continuing that in the future as we highlight our performance in economic development, as well as our work in talent attraction, international trade, image enhancement, and innovation and technology for the city of Birmingham and how that drives growth in the region, he said." William Barnes, president of the Birmingham Urban League, is asking the city to fund the organization at the 2017 level of $181,249. In 2018, the non-profit was funded at $100,000. During a city council budget hearing on Monday, Barnes said the Urban League takes a "unique approach" and invests in people. He said the organization works with 1,200 to 1,500 families each year to provide financial literacy, job placement and job training, workforce development and education. "We do it, and we feel like we do it well," Barnes said. Some organizations who received money from Community Development Block Grants, which are funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in 2018 weren't budgeted this year. "There are various reasons why funding for some external agencies changed in this budget proposal, but remember we are still in the middle of the budget process and are committed to working closely with the city council to finalize this process," Journey said. Bridge Ministries, which provides services to the homeless and to keep people from becoming homeless, was cut from the department's budget. The non-profit received $74,747 in 2018 with the vast majority of that earmarked for emergency shelters. Mary Lynn Bates, vice president of Bridge Ministries, said the group served more than 300 people last year and provided referrals to other agencies. During Monday's budget hearing, Bates said the city's funding makes up 50 percent of the non-profit's budget. "You will lose a great resource here if Bridge doesn't continue to get funding," Bates said. Among the services that Bridge Ministries provides includes helping those who are in danger of losing their homes due to a medical emergency and helping residents in bad leases and with dealing with slumlords. The ministry gets referrals from homeless shelters, Children's of Alabama, the Veterans Administration among others, Bates said. The claims made by a late former student's parents against the Tuscaloosa Sheriff's Office and the University of Alabama have been dismissed by a federal judge. The parents of Megan Rondini, a University of Alabama student who killed herself after alleging she had been raped by a Tuscaloosa man from a prominent family, filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit in July 2017 against her alleged rapist, two university employees, the Tuscaloosa County sheriff, a sheriff's deputy, and a sheriff's office investigator. In March, the two defendants were dismissed from the case by U.S. District Judge David Proctor. Court documents show Rondini's parents asked that the deputy and investigator originally named in the suit be dismissed, and the judge granted that dismissal. The judge also had earlier this year dismissed the case against Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy, The only defendant remaining in the lawsuit is Rondini's alleged rapist, Terry Bunn Jr. Bunn is now asking that the stay be lifted in the case since that he is the only one remaining. Abernathy held a press conference this week and later released a statement Wednesday to AL.com. "As Sheriff, unwarranted attacks on my character and judgement come with the job, except for intentional, false, misleading and malicious conduct. We trust that the truth will ultimately prevail. After several months of unjust accusations against my office and other Tuscaloosa law enforcement agencies, the truth has indeed finally prevailed." Rondini was a UA student from Texas in July 2015. Bunn worked for ST Bunn Construction Company, located across the street from the Innisfree Pub. The two met at the bar, where they left together with another man. Rondini reportedly became drunk, or was drugged, before being raped by Bunn in his home that night. "This case and the investigation has undergone complete scrutiny, proving beyond any doubt that the accusations previously made against the Sheriff's Office and our community were completely false," Abernathy said. Joel Dillard represented Abernathy and an investigator from the sheriff's office. He said, "In this case I believe trying to get money through a lawsuit from three excellent law enforcement officers, who did nothing wrong, was way out of line. Suicides are always tragedies. There have been several in my own family." "I know from my own experience the temptation to look anywhere but in the mirror, for a reason, when someone you love takes his or her own life. With the benefit of this experience, and as an old man, I can state unequivocally that winning this lawsuit for these dedicated law enforcement officers, who deserved to be dismissed, was a highlight of my legal career," he said. After the incident on 2015, Rondini returned to Texas, where the trauma from the rape and law enforcement's response caused her to kill herself, the lawsuit claims. She died on February 26, 2016. Two days before, she sent a text that read: "When all is said and done, I wonder what I could've accomplished if one man didn't completely rip everything away from me." Rondini's story became public in a BuzzFeed story last year, when her parents and friends shared Rondini's story. They claimed the 20-year-old was mistreated by Tuscaloosa County investigators, the university and DCH Regional Medical Center. Abernathy said social media cannot "be the venue" for a case like Rondini's. "False allegations...have done damage to our community in that some victims have been reluctant to come forward to report cases, fearing that their information will be made known on social media." He also threatened a lawsuit. "For those who have facilitated these injustices on Facebook and other sites, civil litigation should be expected, if for no other reason than to prevent this from occurring in the future....Our message must be strong and clear, that libelous behavior will not be tolerated." The lawsuit claims that authorities sided with Bunn's version of events and did not thoroughly follow-up on Rondini's story, and that an investigating officer was more interested in finding out whether Rondini committed any crimes on the night of the alleged rape. The complaint in the suit also said the university did not accommodate or support Megan after the rape. UA reached a settlement with the Rondini family earlier this year, and while records did not disclose the settlement terms, the school and the Rondinis released a joint statement saying the university will commit $400,000 in funding to facilities, services and personnel dedicated to combating sexual misconduct. Authorities have released the name of a man who was found dead in his 18-wheeler at a Birmingham service station on Wednesday. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Derry S. Anderson. He was 55 and lived in Ohio. He had extended family in Birmingham. Anderson was a long-haul trucker who was driving a load from Georgia to Arkansas when he was found dead in Birmingham. He was last known by police to be alive early Tuesday morning. Authorities said he was found in the sleeper area of the truck after police received a tip and went to investigate. The cause of death has not been released. No arrests have been announced. West Precinct officers were dispatched just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to the Citgo on Bankhead Highway. Perry was pronounced dead on the scene, and authorities initially said his death was unclassified. On Thursday, however, they said the Jefferson County Coroner's Office ruled the death a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to call the Birmingham police department at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. A 22-year-old man has been convicted in the fatal shooting of a teen girl who was killed nearly five years ago over a cell phone. A Dallas County jury found Larry Hunter Jr., who was 18 at the time of his arrest in 2013, guilty in the death of Alexis Hunter, who was killed outside of Selma High School. The suspect and the victim were not related but knew each other. District Attorney Michael Jackson said the jury delivered its verdict about 11 p.m. Thursday after five hours of deliberation. The trial began on Monday. Hunter was one of two people charged in the killing. A second suspect - John Jones who was 16 at the time of his arrest - has not yet gone to trial. The shooting happened on Dec. 32, 2013 about 9:45 p.m. on Franklin Street near the intersection of Memorial Avenue. Police arrived on the scene to find Alexis lying on the side with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Alexis Hunter was killed in 2013 The investigation showed that Larry Hunter, Jones and one of Jones' relatives were standing on the front porch of a nearby abandoned home when Jones said that he needed money and was going to get it from the next person that walked by. When Alexis and two of her friends walked by. They had been walking on the nearby track. Jones reportedly said "cuz that's a big (expletive) phone. I got to get that." At that point, Jones and Hunter walked off the porch and approached the girls, despite the relative's pleas for them to come. According to witnesses, Hunter and Jones talked briefly with the girls and then Jones pulled a gun out of his waistband, cocked it and shot Alexis. Her friends testified that after Alexis had been shot, Hunter robbed one of them of a cell phone as well. Hunter and Jones were quickly taken into custody. Hunter named Jones in the shooter. Both teens were initially charged with capital murder. Dallas County Circuit Judge Donald McMillan has ordered a presentencing investigation and report for Hunter, who could face life in prison. The sentence will be held in about three months. "It is sad Alexis was killed over a cell phone and her friends were also robbed over a cell phone,'' Jackson said. "Alexis was an A student who had her bright future snuffed out by some cold-blooded, very young gunslingers. School is supposed to be a place to learn schoolwork, not a breeding ground for criminals." North Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks is making headlines again for blaming sea level rise on rocks falling into the ocean and silt washing from major rivers. Brooks was one of several Republican lawmakers sparring with a climate scientist at a Wednesday hearing of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Included in the arguing were Republicans Lamar Smith of Texas, the committee's chairman, and California's Dana Rohrabacher, but the websites for Science and Esquire used Brooks' picture to illustrate their coverage. "Republican lawmaker: Rocks tumbling into ocean causing sea level rise," read the Science site's headline. "Is the Human Race Too Dumb to Survive on This Planet?" asked Esquire also featuring Brooks. "Here's how big a rock you'd have to drop into the ocean to see the rise in sea level happening now," chimed in the Washington Post. Brooks was quoted saying, "Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up." He referred to erosion on the California coastline and England's White Cliffs of Dover and silt from the Mississippi and Nile rivers. Brooks also said Antarctic ice is growing, not shrinking, and that statement was challenged by Philip Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts and former senior adviser to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Duffy cited NASA as one of his sources, and Brooks replied that, "I've got a NASA base in my district and, apparently, they're telling you one thing and me a different thing." Brooks at length Brooks spoke at greater length Thursday afternoon between votes on the House floor. "You put it all together, erosion is the primary cause of sea level rise in the history of our planet," Brooks said, "and these people who say to the contrary may know something about climate but they don't know squat about geology." "Keep in mind I'm talking millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years, erosion is the primary cause of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of cubic miles of sea displacement that in turn forces the sea levels to rise," he said. "But if you're talking a shorter historical time span," Brooks said, "you're going to have great fluctuations up and down due to the quantities of ice that exist on a planet." In an ice age, sea levels drop significantly, he said. The oceans "are always rising," Brooks said, except during times of ice buildup that offset erosion. Look at the "huge alluvial planes that exist around the great rivers like the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Mekong, the Danube, the Yangtze and you'll see these huge alluvial planes made up entirely of erosion," he said. Brooks disagreed with Duffy during the hearing about whether Antarctic ice is growing or shrinking. Duffy said satellite records "clearly" show shrinkage and a speedup of that shrinkage. Brooks questioned Duffy's data, and Duffy said it came from the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration." That's when Brooks mentioned the NASA base in his district and said it was telling him something different. Wrong in the '60s "You've got to make sure you're careful in terminology," Brooks said later Thursday. "I'm talking ice quantity. He's talking about surface area. Two entirely different things." Brooks said the "total ice quantity, which is what affects sea levels, has been increasing. The Antarctica sea ice varies from year to year and from decade to decade." The ice is growing in quantity on the interior of Antarctica, he said. "I never said anything about Antarctic sea ice, but that's the comparison they make," Brooks said of the press. "I'm talking about Antarctica ice, which is both the sea ice and the interior of Antarctica. And the interior is where the vast majority of ice is." "I've never been skeptical of climate change," Brooks said. "The climate is always changing. The planet is always either heating up or cooling down. It is very rarely constant." Brooks was asked about the theory that current warming is a threat and human activity is part of its cause. "In the late '60s and early '70s, the climate scare was cooling, that we're going to enter into a new ice age...," Brooks said. "They turned out to be wrong." "What I'm trying to establish is that a lot of these climatologists have no idea what they're really talking about," Brooks said, "and it's because we have not had a long enough period time with exact scientific measurement to know what the climate's going to be like 50 years from now or 100 years from now." Brooks said studies and projections made in the 1990s by "these so-called climatologists" were almost all wrong "on the hot side as to where we would be in 2018." Over 90 percent were wrong, he said. The bottom line "The bottom line is nobody is smart enough to know with the evidence we have and the relatively small time frame we have - 50 years in the history of the planet. That's just not enough information with which to make accurate predictions." So what is motivating scientists to say the Earth is dangerously warming? "Money," Brooks said. "Money to invest in a certain kind of resources where you might have a financial interest. There's also politics as you're trying to cobble together the votes to win an election, that's probably part of it, too." The Alabama Supreme Court won't review the case of a convicted child-killer. In its weekly order list, the state's highest court announced they have denied Timothy Scott Boyle's writ of certiorari--or request for review. Boyle is currently on Alabama's Death Row at Holman Prison in Atmore, where he is awaiting execution. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter Savannah White in 2005. "On the early morning hours of her second birthday, Savannah White lay in a coma," said Carol Griffith, assistant district attorney, during the 2009 trial in Gadsden. "She couldn't hear anyone wish her happy birthday." The child had been struck and beaten on the head severely, but her skull was not fractured. A forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on the child testified that that there were cigarette burns on Savannah's body, along with bruises on her face, shoulders and legs. Savannah's sister also testified, and said she witnessed Boyle beat and burn her sister before she died. The sister also had scars from what she described as cigarette burns inflicted by Boyle. It was 55 years ago today on May 18, 1963 that President John F. Kennedy made two public appearances in north Alabama and talked about the federal government's role in American life. In Muscle Shoals to mark the 30th anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Kennedy talked about the government's power and responsibilities. After a brief helicopter ride to Huntsville, he toured the city's young NASA center with Dr. Wernher von Braun to see the progress on his pledge of an American astronaut on the moon within the decade. Kennedy didn't directly address the huge issue of civil rights - he'd done that earlier in the day in Nashville - and he shared a helicopter ride with segregationist Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace. "Our talk was friendly and courteous although we did not agree," Wallace told reporters. In Muscle Shoals, Kennedy spoke of things the federal government can and should do. President Franklin Roosevelt and U.S. Sen. George Norris, who pushed hardest for TVA on Capitol Hill, came from states a thousand miles from Alabama, Kennedy said. But they believed Alabama's problems were national problems. "They knew that the conquest of floods and poverty in this valley was not a local or regional issue of concern only to the people who lived here," Kennedy said. "It required the best efforts of the nation, and they were not afraid to direct the power and purpose of the nation toward a solution of the nation's problems." In Huntsville, he returned to the idea of what Americans can do together, this time in space. "In any case, all of us, whether we are doing one thing or the other, whether we are in Huntsville, or Washington, D.C., wherever we may be, all of us are committed to a great objective ..." Kennedy said. "We depend upon you...who are building these missiles which not only raised an American into space but raised the prestige and reputation of this country. I am proud to be here." The National Rifle Association on Thursday endorsed Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall for election to full terms. Both Ivey and Marshall ascended to their positions in 2017 as replacements to Robert Bentley and Luther Strange, respectively. "Based on their track record of proven support for the Second Amendment, Kay Ivey and Steve Marshall have each earned 'A' ratings from the NRA-PVF in the June 5, 2018 Republican primary election," the NRA said in its announcement Thursday. "An 'A' rating is reserved for a pro-gun lawmaker who has supported the NRA's position on issues of importance to gun owners." Both Ivey and Marshall face crowded fields to win the Republican nomination. Ivey is being challenged by Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Birmingham evangelist Scott Dawson and state Sen. Bill Hightower of Mobile. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall received the endorsement of the NRA on May 17, 2018. (AL.com file photo) Marshall is being challenged by Chess Bedsole, who led efforts to elect President Trump in Alabama, former Alabama AG Troy King and former deputy AG Alice Martin. As lieutenant governor, Ivey became governor when Bentley resigned in April 2017. Marshall, the district attorney in Marshall County, was named AG by Bentley in February 2017 after Bentley appointed Luther Strange to the U.S. Senate. "During her years in public service, Kay Ivey has unapologetically defended the Second Amendment," Chris W. Cox, NRA-PVF chairman, said in the announcement. "Alabamians can trust that Kay Ivey will fight to protect their constitutional right to to self-defense." "I'm honored to join the National Rifle Association in the fight to protect our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms," Ivey said in a statement Thursday night. The NRA cited Marshall's work as attorney general in working to "prevent local governments from imposing gun control laws. He also stood strong against efforts to ban commonly owned firearms and magazines. In addition, Marshall filed a strong amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Alabama and 25 states, arguing that a ban on carrying a handgun outside the home for self-defense is unconstitutional." Cynthia Pettway, a Mobile high-school student who's gotten international attention since attending her graduation via a robotic proxy, has a quick answer to the obvious question. "Yep," she said Thursday. "I felt like I was there." On Monday, John L. LeFlore Magnet High School held its 2018 graduation ceremony at the University of South Alabama Mitchell Center. A robot that has been described as "an iPad on a Segway" stood to the side, clad in cap and gown, and then rolled across the stage to cheers as Pettway's name was called. The screen atop the Double Robotics unit didn't just bear an image of Pettway's face. It was linked to another tablet that Pettway held in her hands, in a conference room across town at USA Children's and Women's Hospital where she was surrounded by family and friends. All of them could see the Mobile County Public School System's livestream of the ceremony. Pettway could also see and hear through her robot Double, as she steered it through the ceremony. , Pettway's name is called at about the 42:20 mark, and the robot rolls across the stage. It was a triumphant moment. Speaking several days later, still hospitalized, the shy 17-year-old said she's struggled for several years with an illness that she didn't name. It has caused her to miss out on a lot of school, as well as other things. "Every job I get, I lose it because of my illness," she said mentioning positions at some local restaurants. Back in November she'd begun attending night school in an effort to regain lost ground and make it to graduation. She completed her studies on March 22 and it seemed like she'd made it. Then her condition flared up and she was facing a three-week hospital stay that would keep her from making the walk. "It was a big problem," she said. "I was depressed." Fortunately a solution was within reach. USA Children's and Women's has some specialized resources. One is an in-house school program staffed by four Mobile County teachers and a paraprofessional. Stephanie Maddox, the teaching administrator who oversees the unit and teaches its high school-level lessons, said that its main goal is to keep hospitalized students from falling behind academically. "We start teaching children on Day One," she said, regardless of whether they'll be hospitalized for a few days or for months. Another is the Mapp Child and Family Life Program, often referred to as "Child Life." Named for donors Louis and Melinda Mapp of Point Clear, it provides a variety of programs and services to make hospital life more normal for young patients. "They've thrown a prom before," for patients, said Maddox, and added that they've also put on Mardi Gras parades for kids who couldn't make it downtown during Carnival season. Child Life owns two of Double Robotics' "Doubles," she said. One is dedicated to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Children can't visit the NICU, which means that when a newborn baby is placed there, its siblings can't come to them. A robotic double gives them a chance to get an up-close look at their baby brother or sister, without the chance of passing along harmful germs. Child Life lets the school program use the other Double, Maddox said, and they've found a variety of ways to do so. Earlier this year, a middle-schooler was hospitalized as End of Quarter Tests approached. Via the Double, he was able to attend a review session with his classmates. "It was wonderful," said Maddox. A few days after Pettway's graduation, the Double allowed a more famous patient to take part. Aubreigh Nicholas is a fifth-grader suffering from diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare and aggressive brain cancer. Her case has inspired a legion of supporters known as "Aubreigh's Army," and an awareness campaign called the Lemon Face Challenge. Via the Double, Aubreigh was able to attend Honors Day at Allentown Elementary School this week, according to a school system representative. "We see all kinds of possibilities to use it," said Maddox. Pettway expects to spend another week or so in the hospital, as doctors get her condition back under control. In the longer term, she's looking forward to college -- maybe at Alabama A&M or Southern University. Her mother Rachael Johnson, who she said was the first to suggest a robotic presence at graduation, has started a GoFundMe drive to help with college expenses. Without the robot, Pettway would still have memories of her graduation. Her hospital room still would be full of mementos. "I was in front of the graduating class, so I could see everybody," she said. "One of my friends started crying at the graduation," she said. "She was texting me, 'I saw you! I saw you!'" A fight between two women over a former sheriff's office investigator ended in a shooting that sent the man's wife to the hospital on Thursday, authorities said. The shooting happened inside McWhorter Cabinets, a Moulton business that's owned by former Lawrence County sheriff's investigator Tim McWhorter, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. McWhorter declined comment to AL.com, saying he wasn't at the shop on County Road 87 when the shooting happened. Analisa Gillespie, who told AL.com she married McWhorter a couple of weeks ago, was shot at the cabinet shop Thursday evening. Gillespie, 38, was treated for a gunshot wound to the chest at Huntsville Hospital, said Capt. Jonathan Winters, a spokesman for the State Bureau of Investigation. Winters said Gillespie was shot by Angel Sanders, a 34-year-old Decatur woman. Sanders has not been charged with a crime. She didn't respond to a request for comment from AL.com. The shooting happened after a physical altercation between the women, Winters said. He said Sanders suffered minor injuries, including scratches. Gillespie told AL.com the fight never turned physical. Gillespie said she and Sanders had been arguing about McWhorter when the shooting happened. "I don't understand why they haven't arrested her," Gillespie said. "I didn't lay my hands on her, but even if I had, how does that justify shooting somebody and getting away with it." Lawrence County District Attorney Errek Jett couldn't be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Sheriff Gene Mitchell said his office initially was called to investigate the shooting. The sheriff said he asked the state to take over because McWhorter is a former employee. McWhorter parted ways with the sheriff's officer earlier this year. He was arrested in February on a misdemeanor domestic-violence charge. A pet African cat that went missing from its home in Pelham more than three weeks ago has been captured and returned to its owner, according to Pelham police. The cat, an African Serval named Juno, went missing from it's home April 24, police said. The cat is around eight months old and weighs about 25 pounds, police said. A local business owner spotted the cat Thursday. A trap was set in the area, and police found the cat safe in the trap Thursday night, police said. The cat has been reunited with it's owner. Felicia Wilson first asked for helping finding Juno through social media May 1, asking for help locating her African serval. She said got out of the front door of her home on Chandalar Court as her daughter was leaving for school. Pelham police worked with Pelham and Shelby County Animal Control and the Birmingham Zoo to create a plan to safely catch the cat, police said. The Serval is a wild cat native to Africa. Owning this exotic breed is legal in the state of Alabama, police said. The cats can run at speeds up to 45 miles per hour and weigh up to 40 pounds when fully grown. A Mobile County sheriff's lieutenant facing rape and sex abuse charges has been fired, the sheriff's office announced Friday. Lt. Paul Stephen Bailey, 50, was arrested Tuesday and released on bond. He was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree rape, second-degree and second-degree sodomy of a minor over age 12 and two counts of second-degree sex abuse of a minor over age 12, according to information provided by the Mobile County Sheriff's Office and the Mobile County district attorney. According to information released by the MCSO on Friday, Bailey was terminated on Wednesday after being "afforded a pre-disciplinary hearing." According to the MCSO, the Alabama State Bureau of Investigations is handling the investigation. Court records indicated a hearing on Bailey's bond conditions has been set for Monday. State Rep. Patricia Todd, who was ensnared in controversy that led to her job offer at a Florida nonprofit being revoked on Thursday, is set to give her side of the story at 7 a.m. Friday when she's scheduled to appear on the "Matt and Aunie Show" on Talk 99.5 in Birmingham. Todd, Alabama's first openly gay lawmaker, faced heat after she strongly suggested Tuesday night that Gov. Kay Ivey is gay and that she deserved to be outed after Ivey said a Huntsville LGBT group did not share her views or values. Todd did not offer any evidence to back up her claim. Todd made the comments on social media in response to an AL.com story where one of Ivey's Republican rivals for governor, evangelist Scott Dawson, criticized Ivey for an ADECA grant that was given to the Huntsville nonprofit Free2Be, which abruptly closed its doors last week. Dawson is scheduled to follow Todd on "Matt and Aunie" at 8 a.m., co-host Matt Murphy tweeted Thursday. "Will someone out her for God's sake," Todd posted to Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday, referring to Ivey. "I have heard for years that she is gay and that she moved her girlfriend out of her house when she became Gov. I am sick of closeted elected officials." The One Orlando Alliance, an LGBTQ nonprofit formed after the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, hired Todd earlier this month to be its first executive director. Todd was supposed to start the job on June 1, but the group's board of directors decided to revoke the offer, saying that the comments went against its values. "After careful deliberation, the board of directors of One Orlando Alliance unanimously decided to retract the offer of employment made to Patricia Todd to serve as executive director of the organization," the chairwoman of the group's board, Jennifer Foster, said in a statement. "The board affirms that Ms. Todd's recent comments are not aligned with the values of One Orlando Alliance. We strongly believe that coming out is a personal choice and we do not support involuntarily outing." Sure, it was dirty politics. But did Tuesday's tweeting a suggestion that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is gay, and Ivey's fierce denials, rise to the level of the dirtiest gubernatorial campaign episode in state history? Not even close. That dubious distinction, according to most political historians and observers in the state, belongs with the 1970 Alabama governor's race between George Wallace and Albert Brewer. "It was the last openly racist campaign for a major office in America," said Kerwin Swint, a professor of politics at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta and author of the 2006 book, "Mudslingers: The 25 Dirtiest Political Campaigns of All Time." The book ranked the 1970 governor's race as the No. 1 dirtiest political campaign ever. Most of the other campaigns ranked within his book occurred during the Reconstruction era of the 1870s and 1880s. "It was just everything and Wallace did all of that," said Steve Flowers, author of the 2015 book "Of Goats & Governors: Six Decades of Colorful Political Stories." He added, "They pulled out all the stops. Race was the paramount issue." 'Dirty tricks' Indeed, race became the focal point in a runoff campaign between Brewer and his former ally, Wallace. Brewer, in fact, won that year's Democratic primary with the support of a coalition of blacks, upper-class whites, and educated middle-class whites. But Brewer's victory wasn't enough to avoid a runoff, which is when Wallace - a renowned segregationist who previously ran for president in 1964 and 1968 - got aggressive. Bumper stickers and a pin from the Albert Brewer-George Wallace race in 1970 (file photo) "He sent runners out to say that Brewer's wife was an alcoholic," said Flowers. "But the biggest thing he played was the race card and he had television ads that said 'do want the Black Vote Bloc electing your governor?'" Wallace's campaign attacked Brewer's family. One campaign advertisement included an altered image of Brewer's daughter next to a black man, said Swint. Another doctored photo had Brewer standing next to controversial black activists. There were bumper stickers: "I'm for B&B: Brewer and the Blacks" which Wallace's supporters blanketed throughout the state. Wallace also reportedly called Brewer "Sissy Britches." "There were open appeals to racism, but also dirty tricks," said Swint. "The Wallace campaign pulled a lot of shenanigans on Brewer, his wife and his daughter. It's a fascinating chapter in how to do dirty." Wayne Flynt, a historian and professor emeritus at Auburn University, recalled a conversation he once had with Brewer, who died in 2017. "One of the worst parts of the Brewer-Wallace race was that the state troopers who were loyal to Wallace would appear in the 'Hill Country,'" said Flynt. "Brewer told this to me himself is that they'd appear in country stores in Cleburne and Cherokee counties and Dekalb County and so forth and ask, 'Have you seen Mrs. Brewer?' If the owner of the store didn't know, they would say 'here is a picture of her and she has a drinking problem and wonders off.' That hurt (Brewer) as much as the girl dating black boys (advertisement)." Brewer had become governor in 1968 after Wallace's wife Lurleen died of cancer midway through her term. He gave Alabama a reform and progressive platform on improving education and ethics. Flowers, in his book, called Brewer one of the "most clean-cut politicians to grace the Capitol." Brewer also had the backing of business interests in 1970, and after his primary win, he did not counter Wallace's vicious attacks. "The rule in politics was back then that if you were ahead and someone attacked you, that you ignored them," said Flowers. "That's changed now. But the rule of thumb was if you were attacked, the voters disregarded the attack as mudslinging." Flowers added, "That's Kay Ivey's response now. She's playing the old type of game. Nowadays, if someone attacks you, you come back and respond. Brewer never responded. I think it was a mistake." Wallace, preying on fears of the voters, defeated Brewer by 34,000 votes. Brothels and bars Flynt, though, said there have been other, non-gubernatorial campaigns in Alabama that have brought about plenty of negativity including questions about affairs. And in the Roaring 20s, when brothels and bootlegging were a combined attraction, Alabama politicians in Montgomery often got in on the activity. Flynt, while doing research for one of his books, recalled a conversation he had with a Coca-Cola employee who once witnessed state politicians hanging around a north Montgomery brothel. "He decided to write down the names of politicians in the 1920s and 30s who visited the bar brothels. He said if you wanted to go in with me, we could make a lot of money blackmailing granddaddies." Said Flynt: "Moral hypocrisy is not a new thing and it didn't begin in the 70s and 80s, and it didn't begin with one politician or with one political party. It was more common with Democrats (in Alabama) because they won more of the elected offices." There are things that make sense in this crazy world. Like the Birmingham Water Works taking home the JD Power award for worst customer service in America. Sense. Like Newton's third law of motion. Or politics. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. And there are things that make no sense at all. Like Mo Brooks. Like the stuff that comes out of Mo Brooks' mouth. Like when and where the stuff flows. Think of it as Mo's First Law of Motion. When his lips go into action, there's gonna be a reaction. What really doesn't make sense, though, is Huntsville. Huntsville is one of the most science-smart places in America, but it keeps electing this guy to Congress despite all the bilge he pumps out. If JD Power gave an award for the nation's biggest puzzler, that one would win. Brooks - in case you've been under a falling pile of rocks and missed it -- said in a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing Thursday that ocean levels are rising across the globe because of rocks tumbling into the sea. Rocks. Into the sea. Like we just put too much ice in our tea. It would have been comical if it had come from a middle school science fair, but it didn't. It came from a guy on a committee making decisions for the most powerful country on earth about the future of the planet. Brooks made his comments while questioning climate scientist Philip Duffy, who had pointed out that seas across the world are rising four times faster than they did a century ago. Instead of dealing with the ways to protect the future, to consider the possibility climate scientists know what they are talking about, he just threw rocks. "Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up," he said. Mo's laws. Perplexing for a scientist. "I'm pretty sure that on human time scales, those are miniscule effects," Duffy responded. Which is science speak for - "if any more rocks tumble out of your head, New Orleans will disappear." Science. Come on, man. That's not even on Brooks anymore. Everybody in Alabama knows Mo's Laws. He's the one who said people with pre-existing conditions should pay more for insurance because "people who lead good lives, they're healthy, they've done the things to keep their bodies healthy." He dismissed climate change in an interview with Brian Lyman of the Montgomery Advertiser, saying more carbon dioxide in the air would mean "plant life does better because of the enriched environment on which they can live." Which is great if you're rooting for the plants. These are laws we know: Birmingham Water Works customer service stinks and stuff comes out of Mo Brooks' mouth. No, it's not on him. It's on his hometown. Huntsville, according to the Huntsville-Madison Co. Chamber of Commerce, has the highest per capita concentration of engineers in the country and is ranked third for computer, science and technology workers. But it just gives him a free pass to make up his own science. "I've got a NASA base in my district," Brooks told the scientist Thursday. "And apparently they're telling you one thing and me a different thing." Stuff came out of his mouth, and he blamed it on Huntsville. But then, so does the rest of the world. John Archibald's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com. Ashkan Bayatpour By Ashkan Bayatpour, a native of Mobile, a veteran of the United States Navy, and a Political Partner with Truman National Security Project. Views expressed are his own. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, I saw firsthand the dangerous consequences of Iran's foreign policy in the Middle East. We fought against militias backed and armed by the Iranians, and Iran's political influence played a big part in making post-war Iraq unstable. It was for this reason that I agree that Iran could not, under any circumstances, build or acquire a nuclear weapon. That's why I supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the 'Iran Deal': It was an imperfect agreement to be sure, but one that represented the power of strong, principled American diplomacy being used to stave off a conflict. Last week, President Trump withdrew the United States from that agreement, making us, rather than Iran, the first ones to break its terms. Now, we're on the outside as our allies and partners continue to participate, further abdicating our leadership role in the world under the administration and with no plan for what we'll do to replace the deal. Withdrawing from the Iran Deal ignores significant progress that we've made so far. In order to get its sanctions relief, Iran gave up thousands of centrifuges, shipped more than 90 percent of its highly enriched uranium overseas, and filled its plutonium reactor with cement. The most critical part of the deal, however, is the intrusive inspections that let us know Iran is following the rules and not trying to build a bomb in secret. Both international watchdogs as well as our own military and intelligence professionals have verified that Iran is in compliance with the deal's terms. Regardless of these positive steps forward, President Trump announced that in withdrawing from the Iran Deal, he will move to re-impose sanctions that were lifted per the deal. Presumably by doing so, he plans to negotiate a more favorable arrangement with Iran. The problem is that it took years of carefully layered and coordinated sanctions from countries around the world for Iran to come the table. The United States is an economic power for sure, but Iran will get along fine with sanctions relief intact and new trade from the other countries (our European allies, Russia, and China) who are still abiding by the deal. Making matters worse, we may end up having to sanction some of our friends along the way. Unfortunately, our diminished sanctions leverage could be the least of our worries. President Trump is about to attempt to negotiate away North Korea's nuclear arsenal, but he just effectively told Kim Jong Un that the United States might say one thing and do another three years later. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is threatening to build a nuclear weapon of their own if Iran restarts its program--something they weren't saying when the deal was in place. Finally, should the deal collapse completely, Iran will no longer be subject to limits or monitors. Should it choose to rush for a bomb in the name of self-defense, we could be looking at an incredibly costly military conflict to stop it. I supported the Iran Deal because I saw it as our best way to stop Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon--and to do so without firing a single shot. Now, we've withdrawn from the agreement, isolated ourselves from our allies, and puts us closer to a military conflict than we ever were. That's unacceptable. The Trump Administration may be fixated on talking tough, but they need to explain how they're going to actually keep us safe moving forward. We simply cannot tolerate putting our service members in harm's way for another poorly conceived and ill-advised war. When I called state Rep. Patricia Todd Friday to ask how she was doing, she laughed. It wasn't that she found her situation funny, but for as long as I've known her -- about 12 years -- laughter has been her defensive reflex. If the Emergency Broadcast System broke into regular programming to say the world would end in 30 minutes and we'd all be dead, Todd would go out rolling on the floor. "It's been tough," she said between guffaws and chuckles. "Also I don't know what my future holds. I may wind up homeless." From the outside looking in, it seems like Todd's world has ended, and I feel like I'm writing an obituary for a living person. She has no job, having been fired before her first day of work. She just sold her home in Birmingham and has no way to pay for her new condo in Orlando, where she had planned to begin work next month with the One Orlando Alliance, an LGBT advocacy nonprofit formed after the Pulse nightclub shooting. She's leaving the elected office that's been her public identity for the past 12 years, and probably couldn't win it back, even if the qualifying deadline hadn't passed. And her community, including longtime friends and constituents, is shunning her. All for a tweet. Tuesday night, Todd typed out the status update heard around Alabama in which she accused Gov. Kay Ivey of being in the closet. "I do know I'm impulsive," Todd said. "I might write an email and then come back to it, but unfortunately I didn't do that this time." Ivey denied that she's gay and called Todd's tweet a "disgusting lie," and Todd has caught a lot of hell from all directions. Todd says she deserves every bit of it. She's not begging for forgiveness, and she doesn't want sympathy. She'd rather have the punishment. Before I spoke with her, she had gone on the Matt and Aunie talk radio show to take her licks live on air. She called her tweet a mistake, but when asked to say whether she was sorry, Todd hadn't apologized. "It always seems too fake to me," she said of political apologies afterward. "I'm going to stand up here and say 'Here's the target.' I'm going to take it." When political careers end and a little time passes, some public officials are forgotten quickly, and the brightest stars are remembered for the moment they went supernova, not for the light they shined the years before. I suspect, years down the road, folks will remember two things about Todd: That she was the first openly gay Alabama lawmaker, and the tweet. That's a shame because, in her tenure as an Alabama lawmaker, Todd's presence has been more valuable than her record might suggest. There have been a few politicians I've met -- Bob Riley and Don Siegelman both come to mind -- who've had such powerful personalities and charisma, that no matter whether you agreed with a thing they said or did, if you spent a few minutes talking with them, you couldn't help but leave that conversation liking them. Todd had that power to charm, too. Sometimes charm was the only power she had. When conservative Republicans in other states passed bathroom bills and other anti-LGBT laws, the folks on the Alabama House floor had to look Todd in the eye before dropping similar legislation. She put a face on the "other." Todd wasn't just the LGBT lawmaker, or "head queer" as she sometimes puts it. She looked out for the working poor, for women, for children and for the infirm. Before one committee shot down a medical marijuana bill she sponsored, Todd wooed the committee members -- with brownies. And I won't forget the last day of the 2014 Legislative Session, when Todd's bill to reform payday lending died in the Alabama Senate. Todd watched it die with her Senate cosponsor, Scott Beason, one of the most slow-talking, Trump-loving, knee-jerk, country conservatives you'll ever meet. You won't find a more unlikely alliance in a comic book. Todd had an almost magical ability to make friends out of enemies. Now, in a hasty, ill-considered moment, she's made a lot of enemies. For her sake, and everyone else's, I hope she has a little of that charm still left. Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group. Want access to the best analysis and in-depth reporting about Alabama each week? Sign up for the weekly Reckon Report newsletter and follow Reckon on Facebook and Twitter. For the first time since countrys civil war ended in 2009, civilians have reclaimed their land occupied by military. Iranaitheevu, Sri Lanka Last month, in an extraordinary act of courage, more than 350 members of Sri Lankan Tamil minority defied military restrictions and successfully reclaimed their homes on the Navy-occupied island of Iranaitheevu after 26 years of forced displacement. It is the first time since the South Asian countrys civil war ended on May 18, 2009, that civilians have successfully reclaimed occupied land without government permission. Three weeks later, on May 15, the government relented and finally granted the community official permission to return home. A 1992 navy offensive during the war forced all 650 of Iranaitheevus residents to flee by boat across the Palk Strait to Iranaimaatha Nagar on Sri Lankas mainland. The community was never able to reclaim its home, as the war forced them to displace several more times over the next 17 years. When the Sri Lankan government secured a military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Tamil separatist group, in 2009 it also forcibly detained 300,000 Tamil civilians including the Iranaitheevu community in militarised displacement camps that were notorious for their inhumane conditions and rampant human rights abuses. Over 100 LTTE fighters, who surrendered in 2009, remain disappeared. On the ninth anniversary of the end of the war, rights groups have urged the government to provide information to the families of the disappeared. A UN panel in its report said that an estimated 40,000 civilians were killed in the final phase of the civil war in 2009, while the Sri Lankan government put the death toll at 9,000. {articleGUID} Even after the government released most Iranaitheevu community members from the camps six months later, it never authorised them to return home. Instead, the navy remained on the island, and the Iranaitheevu community returned to Iranaimaatha Nagar. Although the war has now been over for nearly a decade, the Sri Lankan military continues to occupy large swaths of land, preventing thousands of families from returning home. While the current Sri Lankan administration has released some land since coming to power in 2015, the most recent government figures indicate that 40,000 people, mostly Tamils, remain internally displaced. A 2016 study by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), however, suggests that the figure may be even higher. When the community returned to Iranaimaatha Nagar after the war, the Iranaitheevu Womens Development Society (WDS) began organising the community to carry out advocacy campaigns and protests demanding government permission to return home, but to no effect. Then, last month the community stopped waiting for permission. About 350 community members men, women and children piled into 44 motorboats on April 23, and sailed back to the island, even though they were terrified that the navy would retaliate. We were scared. We knew it would be dangerous. We thought we might lose people, said WDS head, who did not wish to give her name. A carefully orchestrated plan The communitys unprecedented success was the result of a meticulously orchestrated plan, quietly developed over the last year by the WDS. WDS members spent months enlisting media, clergy and activists to accompany them when they returned to the island. They invited journalists, including a film crew because they believed that the navy wouldnt do anything bad in front of the cameras, according to Elisabeth, a WDS member, who asked that only her first name be used. Believing that the navy would also be less likely to fire on clergy than ordinary civilians, WDS also organised a dozen priests and nuns to join them. And in case anything went wrong, they brought civil society activists who could report on potential violations. WDC members and priests immediately after boarding boats on Iranaimaatha Nagar beach [Photo courtesy of www.vikalpa.org] Because only about 20 navy officials are stationed on the six square kilometer island, the women believed that the navy would lack the capacity to stop dozens of boats unless they had forewarning. So, the WDS formulated their strategy in secrecy to maintain the element of surprise. {articleGUID} We didnt even inform our husbands until three days beforehand, Elisabeth said. They also asked journalists, clergy and activists to keep silent during the planning process. On April 23, they tied white flags to all 44 boats to signal their nonviolent intent. They boarded the boats holding banners with slogans such as, Iranaitheevu is our native land. Permit us to resettle written in all three of Sri Lankas national languages Sinhala, Tamil and English. Navy officials and intelligence officers flocked to the port and photographed them as they prepared to depart. But to the communitys surprise, they did not intervene. The returnees were even more shocked when the Navy made no attempt to prevent them from disembarking on Iranaitheevu. Instead, journalists filmed as officials politely confronted the community shortly after they walked onto the island. With a priest leading the negotiations, the community explained that they had come to reclaim their homes, and had no intention of leaving. Initial discussion between the navy official, a member of the fisheries association and Iranaitheevu, immediately after arrival on April 23 [Photo courtesy of Ruki Fernando] They showed navy officials their land deeds, as well as legal affidavits that stated that the deeds were valid and proof of legal ownership. The negotiations were successful. Over 100 community members are now living on the island. Other plans to arrive in the coming months. The community reported that the navy rarely interacts with them, and have not caused any problems. The Navy Commander in charge of Iranaitheevu declined to comment. Al Jazeera made several attempts to contact navy headquarters, but did not receive a response. We will persist, and we wont leave Life on Iranaitheevu is much more difficult than it was prior to 1992. Most houses on the island are uninhabitable after a quarter-century of neglect. The school and hospital will both require significant repairs before they are usable. Many people are living in the church, as it is the only accessible building that has a sturdy roof. Others have built temporary shelters out of woven coconut palm leaves, but water still seeps in when it rains. The community hopes that their situation will improve quickly now that the government agreed to help them resettle. DM Swaminathan, the Minister of Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern Development and Hindu Religious Affairs, said that the government will be providing assistance immediately and will help the community rebuild their houses, hospital, school and post office. Theres no time to waste. We need to turn it into an actual town, he said. The community insists they will stay, regardless of the challenges. We will persist, we will live here, and we wont leave because this is our native land, said the WDS head. The UNSC is allowing cities to be flattened and civilians mercilessly killed under the guise of fighting terror. Six years ago the town of Baba Amr in Homs was under siege by Syrian government forces. For months the town was bombed and starved. I entered the city weeks before it was taken over by Syrian government forces. I saw the makeshift field hospitals overwhelmed with wounded. I saw doctors on their knees, exhausted. I saw entire families killed, and others huddled in cold damp basements, hiding from the incessant bombing and shelling. At the end of February 2012, the armed opposition surrendered the town to government troops. Six years later, and although in a different context, the same tactic was deployed against East Ghouta in the Damascus suburbs: surround, starve, bomb, and eventually, conquer. The siege and destruction of cities is not the only destructive routine in the Syria war. The people of Syria are subjected to endless cycles of violence where the backers of the warring parties repeatedly choose not to protect civilians, most often under the guise of an ongoing war against terrorism. Medicine and medical workers have also been sucked into the violence. This can be seen in the attempts by the Syrian government to control the provision of healthcare in opposition-held areas by denying humanitarian access, threatening or arresting medical staff, and damaging or destroying medical infrastructure. Early on in the conflict, medical facilities went underground, forming the beginning of a network of field hospitals such as the ones I visited in Homs. The international backers of the Syrian armed opposition on their part imposed stringent sanctions on the Syrian government which contributed to the decline of the government healthcare system. As the war raged on, we saw indiscriminate bombing and shelling that did not differentiate between civilian and military targets. In some cases, civilians were considered military targets based on the fact that they had remained in areas controlled by groups designated as terrorist. Hospitals have regularly been hit. This is the new norm. We no longer know if they are struck accidentally or intentionally or destroyed as part of a general rampage of violence. Either way, the infrastructure that sustains life is being eliminated. This is not to say that there are only civilians in areas under siege. The armed opposition groups that controlled East Ghouta until March committed their fair share of atrocities including the shelling of residential areas in government-controlled Damascus. The Syrian government pursues its military tactics under the banner of fighting terrorism. At the UN Security Council, it is Russia that outright backs Damascus, but none of the other members really oppose the fight against terrorists either. The result is that statements and resolutions haggled over for days are issued by the UNSC with loopholes so big you can flatten an entire city through them. Air strikes on civilians all wound the same, regardless of who is dropping the bombs. Across Syria, Doctors without Borders (MSF) has provided assistance through hands-on medical projects wherever access could be negotiated, and through support for a series of makeshift hospitals and medical networks. We constantly look for ways to do more although we have been denied the opportunity to work in Syrian government-held territory, let alone cross from there into besieged zones. In April, the Syrian ambassador to the UN referred to MSF as terrorists without borders, demonstrating how the war on terror narrative is being used to delegitimise the act of providing impartial healthcare. The situation we see in Syria has some similarities across the region, including in Yemen and Iraq. Everyone is fighting their own terrorists. I have witnessed other sieges and military campaigns each with its own specificity, and each with its own brand of horror. In Iraq, the army surrounded Mosul and sealed it off before launching a joint ground and air offensive. Between 9,000 and 11,000 are estimated to have died at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and US-led coalition forces. Among the injured and dead that I saw coming out of Mosul were entire families that had been killed in the fighting, malnourished children wounded with shrapnel and others that had been trapped under collapsed buildings for days. I saw the same kinds of wounds as I saw in Homs. Air strikes on civilians wound and kill in the same way, regardless of who is dropping the bombs. Our calls for action to ease the suffering such as our call for a ceasefire during the East Ghouta offensive have fallen on deaf ears in the face of such determined violence. In some cases, our protest itself has become part of the endless cycles of siege. Our demands for humanity are measured by the warring parties against the inhumanity of their enemy and brushed aside, be it by the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria or other warring parties in the region. After the cycle of siege, violence and UNSC resolutions on East Ghouta came to an end amid claims and counter-claims of a chemical attack, the complicity of everyone involved in this war must be seen for what it is: It is in the interest of all to maintain a space of conflict where each could battle their own terrorists. From Syria to Iraq and from Yemen to Gaza, the armies and their backers use the trump card of the fight against terrorism as the ultimate justification for any atrocities committed against civilian populations under siege. Indiscriminate bombing is never acceptable, no matter who the enemy is. Nor is targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Humanitarian supplies must always be exempt from the military tactic of siege. The wounded and civilians wishing to escape the violence must always be allowed safe passage. The civilians who stay behind do not become legitimate targets. Providing treatment to patients both civilians and wounded combatants alike is never an act of terrorism, nor is it a form of support for terrorism. It is a legally protected act of humanity. The wide consensus within the UNSC over the need to preserve fighting terrorism as a legitimate excuse for the use of indiscriminate force is a race to the bottom of the pit of inhumanity. The wounded and the dead that I have seen over the past 6-years fall on all sides of geopolitical divides. So too does the complicity in their deaths. Simple and necessary demonstrations of humanity such as the provision of medical care to all wounded cannot continue to be sacrificed in favour of unhindered death and destruction under the pretext of anti-terrorism campaigns. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Healthcare reduced for refugees held in Papua New Guinea Amnesty International outlines in a report the reduction in medical services available to refugees since being moved from Manus Island detention centre to three smaller facilities on the island in November. In a leaked document, the pope blamed the Chilean church hierarchy for grave defects in handling sex abuse cases. All Chilean bishops have offered to resign over a sex abuse and cover-up scandal, in the biggest shakeup ever in the Catholic Churchs long-running abuse saga. The bishops announced at the end of an emergency summit with Pope Francis on Friday that all 31 active bishops and three retired ones in Rome had signed a document offering to resign, and putting their fate in the hands of the pope, according to the Associated Press news agency. Earlier, the pope summoned the bishops to Rome for a meeting to discuss the grave events hounding the predominantly Catholic country in Latin America. Francis can accept the resignations one by one, reject them or delay a decision. It marked the first known time in history that an entire national bishops conference had offered to resign en masse over a scandal. Calls had mounted for the resignations after details emerged of the contents of a 2,300-page Vatican report into the Chilean scandal leaked early on Friday. Grave negligence Francis had accused the bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring investigators to minimise abuse accusations and showing grave negligence in protecting children from paedophile priests. In one of the most damning documents from the Vatican on the issue, Francis said the entire Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible for grave defects in handling cases and the resulting loss of credibility that the Catholic Church has suffered. No one can exempt himself and place the problem on the shoulders of the others, Francis wrote in the document, which was published by Chilean T13 television and confirmed as accurate on Friday by the Vatican. Three victims from Chile have urged the pope to turn his personal apology into action [File: AP] Criticism against Francis In a statement in response, the Chilean bishops said the contents of the document were absolutely deplorable and showed an unacceptable abuse of power and conscience, as well as sexual abuse. They asked forgiveness to the victims, the pope and all Catholics and vowed to repair the damage. Francis himself admitted that he had made grave errors in judgment in the case of Bishop Juan Barros, who is accused by victims of Chilean priest, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, of witnessing and ignoring their abuse. Francis first drew scorn from victims, ordinary Chileans and even members of his sex abuse advisory board by appointing Barros bishop of Osorno, Chile, in 2015. Robert Gahl, associate professor of ethics at Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, told Al Jazeera he believes Pope Francis will take a pragmatic decision regarding the resignations. Its very likely that the pope will accept the resignations very quickly of several of these bishops who were involved directly with their own responsibility in these crimes of sexual abuse and of hiding information from the Vatican investigators, Gahl said. He added, however, that accepting all the resignations was unlikely because he really needs to rely upon the people in the country to understand whats happening there. Theyve already demonstarted their humility and their desire for reform. Gahl said the victims themelves of sexual abuse might have a voice in this governance and thats what hes striving for and Im sure he can rely upon many of those good bishops who presented their resignations. The AP news agency reported earlier this year that Francis did so over the objections of other Chilean bishops who knew Barros past was problematic and had recommended he and other Karadima-trained bishops resign and take a sabbatical. The AP subsequently reported that Francis had received a letter in 2015 from one of Karadimas most vocal accusers, Juan Carlos Cruz, detailing Barros misdeeds. That letter undercut Francis claim to have never heard from victims about Barros. Francis further enraged Chileans and drew sharp rebuke from his top abuse adviser when, during a January trip to Chile, he said the accusations against Barros were calumny and said he was certain he was innocent. After receiving the Scicluna-Bertomeu report, though, Francis did an about-face. Blaming a lack of truthful and balanced information about the case for his missteps, Francis invited the three main whistle-blowers to the Vatican hotel he calls home so he could apologise in person. Two days of national mourning declared after Boeing 737 crashes near Havanas Jose Marti airport, state media says. An ageing Boeing 737 with 110 people on board crashed and burned shortly after taking off from Havanas airport, leaving three survivors and investigators sifting through debris for clues as to what caused the airliner to go down. It was Cubas worst aviation disaster in three decades and its third major air accident since 2010. The plane had 104 mainly Cuban passengers and six crew members. Skies were overcast and rainy at the time of Fridays disaster, and Cuban state television said the 39-year-old jet veered sharply to the right after departing on a domestic flight to the eastern city of Holguin. The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport, and we looked out and saw black smoke rising, and they told us a plane had crashed, Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena told The Associated Press news agency at the airport. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) said a high number of people were feared dead [Adalberto Roque/ AFP] Fire crews and ambulances rushed to the scene, while images posted on social media showed a thick column of smoke rising above the crash site. The plane was almost completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to find the cause of the crash. Things have been organised, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified, he said. State airline Cubana, which operated the flight, has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Mexican officials said the Boeing 737-201 was built in 1979 and rented by Cubana from Aerolineas Damojh, a small charter company that also goes by the name Global Air. Cubana Flight 972 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport. Three survivors Four survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, of whom three remained alive as of late Friday. State media reports stopped short of openly declaring that the remaining passengers on board were dead, but there was no word of other survivors by Friday night. Relatives of those on board were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. My daughter is 24, my God, shes only 24! cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. A statement from Mexicos Transportation Department identified the pilot and co-pilot as Captain Jorge Luis Nunez Santos and first officer Miguel Angel Arreola Ramirez. It also said the flight attendants were Maria Daniela Rios, Abigail Hernandez Garcia and Beatriz Limon. Global Air noted maintenance worker Marco Antonio Lopez Perez was also on board. Outside the companys Mexico City offices, former Global Air flight attendant Ana Marlen Covarrubias said she had worked for the company for over seven years and knew nearly all the crew members. I dont have the words. Im very sad. Were in mourning, she said, in tears. It was something really, really, really terrible; a tragedy for us. In addition to the Mexican crew, Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that the passengers were mostly Cubans plus five foreigners from countries it did not identify. Argentinas Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had died in the crash. In November 2010, a Global Air flight originating in Mexico City made an emergency landing in Puerto Vallarta because its front landing gear did not deploy. The fire was quickly extinguished, and none of the 104 people on board was injured. That plane was a 737 first put into service in 1975. Mexican aviation authorities said a team of experts would fly to Cuba on Saturday to take part in the investigation. Cubas First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa had met Cubana officials on Thursday to discuss improvements to its service. The airline blames its spotty record on a lack of parts and aeroplanes because of the US trade embargo against the communist-run country. Last year, a Cuban military plane crashed into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers. In 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather, killing all 68 people on board, including 28 foreigners, in what was the countrys worst air disaster in more than two decades. The last deadly accident involving a Cubana-operated plane was in 1989, when a charter flight from Havana to Milan, Italy, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board and at least two dozen on the ground. Egypts President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza Strip for the entire holy month of Ramadan, days after mass protests along the Gaza-Israel border in which more than 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. Sisi made the announcement on Twitter late on Thursday, marking the longest duration since 2013 that the only crossing connecting Gaza to Egypt would be accessible for. I have instructed the concerned agencies concerned to take the necessary steps to keep the Rafah border crossing open throughout the holy month of Ramadan in order to ensure the easing of the burdens on the brothers in the Gaza Strip, Sisi said. Ramadan started on May 17 and is expected to end on June 14. Rafah is the main exit for the 1.9 million Palestinians in the Strip to the outside world since Israel imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the besieged territory more than a decade ago. But following el-Sisis rise to power in 2014, Egypt has kept the crossing largely closed. The Erez crossing, the other exit for Gazans, is managed by the Israelis, who put severe limitations on the number of people who can pass through it. Rafah was last opened temporarily in February for two days to allow some 160 Palestinians, who were stranded in Cairos airport for nearly two weeks after being denied entry to the Gaza Strip, to return to the enclave. The border was also opened for three days in November last year as part of a unity deal between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. Last year, the crossing was open for just 36 days, according to Israeli NGO, Gisha. Egypts decision on Thursday comes amid heightened tensions along the Gaza-Israel border over the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. On Monday, at least 60 Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli forces as they held demonstrations near the Israeli-Gaza fence as part of the Nakba or Catastrophe protests. More than 700,000 Palestinians were violently expelled in 1948 from areas that are now under the control of Israel. Turkish president tells OIC leaders that Israel must be held accountable for the killing of Palestinians in Gaza Strip. Istanbul, Turkey Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Muslim leaders to unite and confront Israel, days after scores of Palestinians were killed by Israeli snipers as they marked 70 years of Israeli occupation. Speaking at an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday, Erdogan said Israel should be held accountable over the killings which drew widespread international condemnation and triggered a wave of protests from Asia, through the Middle East, to North Africa. To take action for Palestinians massacred by Israeli bandits is to show the whole world that humanity is not dead, Erdogan told the group of Muslim leaders gathered in Turkeys largest city, Istanbul. The Turkish president described Israels killing of Palestinians as thuggery, atrocity and state terror, and said the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital would inevitably haunt it. The Gaza Strip has been transformed into a large concentration camp for millions of people who are deprived of their most basic rights to travel, education, work and medical treatment. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar's Emir Collective punishment On Monday, as the United States went ahead with the controversial relocation of its embassy to Jerusalem, 62 Palestinians, including five children, were killed and more than 2,700 wounded as the Israeli army fired live ammunition and tear gas at protesters who had assembled hundreds of metres from a 1949 armistice line between Gaza and Israel. The protesters in the besieged enclave had gathered for Nakba Day a commemoration of the events of 1948 when Zionist paramilitaries ethnically cleansed Palestinian cities and towns. About 750,000 people were forcibly expelled from historical Palestine. Several heads of state attended the Istanbul summit, but Saudi Arabia, the host of the 57-member OIC, sent only a senior foreign ministry official. Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE also sent lower-level ministers. Speaking at the conference, Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said the Palestinian cause had become a symbol for oppressed peoples everywhere and condemned Israel for the brutal massacre of peaceful demonstrators. Who among us does not know the declared siege forced on the Gaza Strip and the collective punishment against its population? the emir said. The Gaza Strip has been transformed into a large concentration camp for millions of people who are deprived of their most basic rights to travel, education, work and medical treatment. When their sons take arms they are called terrorists, and when they stage peaceful demonstrations, they are called extremists, and are shot dead with live ammunition. US part of the problem For his part, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said the US had become part of the problem and not the solution and called the relocation of the embassy an act of aggression against the Islamic nation, against Muslims and Christians. Jordans King Abdullah II urged the adoption of urgent measures to back the resistance of Palestinians, while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for economic and political measures against the US and Israel. Late on Friday, the OIC issued a final communique calling on the United Nations to launch an international investigation into the killings in Gaza, the creation of an international protection force for Palestinians, and for the OIC to place economic restrictions on any countries, companies or individuals who recognise Israels annexation of Jerusalem. Protesters waved Palestinian flags and carried a variety of colourful placards and banners [Faisal Edroos/Al Jazeera] Thousands protest in solidarity with Palestine Earlier in the day, Erdogan told a raucous crowd of more than 10,000 people in Istanbuls Yenikapi fairground that the Muslim world had to unite and pull themselves back together. Muslims are way too busy fighting and disagreeing with themselves, and shy away when confronted by their enemies, he told the audience. Since 1947, Israel has been free to do what it likes in this region. They do whatever they feel like. But this reality can be undone if we unite. Earlier this week, Turkey recalled its envoys to Israel and the US following the killings of Palestinians and the relocation of Washingtons embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Impassioned scenes at a Palestine rally here in Istanbul as more than 10,000 protest Israel's brutal 70-year occupation. pic.twitter.com/CW45JQilV2 Faisal | (@faisaledroos) May 18, 2018 Tolgar Memis, a German-Turk, said he came to the rally to support Erdogans recent remarks and policies against Israel. What weve seen over the last few years, all the injustice, and what happened earlier this week its simply unacceptable. Erdogan has made great strides in defending the Palestinians, something he is obligated to do, and hopefully other leaders will follow his cue. Follow Al Jazeeras Faisal Edroos on Twitter: @FaisalEdroos Protesters demanded that Israel be held accountable over the killings of more than 60 Palestinians on Monday [Faisal Edroos/Al Jazeera] Among the items seized were boxes of Hermes Birkin bags that fit into five police trucks and different currencies. Handbags stuffed with cash, a number of jewellery items and hundreds of expensive purses were among the items seized from apartment units and homes owned by former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razaks family, during the second night of police raids in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysias Star Online newspaper reported on Friday that 284 boxes filled with luxury items were seized from three condominium properties located in a highrise building in the countrys capital. The operation on Thursday night was part of a continuing investigation ordered by newly-installed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Najib. Al Jazeeras Florence Looi, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, said the raids were still going on Friday, adding that six locations were searched. She reported that investigators are also trying to unlock a safety deposit box, which Najib reportedly said could not be opened because the key has been missing. In one of the properties, investigators took boxes of Hermes Birkin bags and loaded them into five police trucks, according to Singapores Straits Times. Our correspondent said that the Hermes bags cost anywhere between tens of thousands of US dollars up to $200,000 each. Police also seized at least 72 bags filled jewellery, watches as well as cash of various denominations, according to the report. Aman Singh, a senior police investigator overseeing the raids, was quoted as saying that the number of jewellery is rather big. He said that investigators are still trying to determine the total sum worth of the seized items. Najib, who is prevented by the new government from leaving the country, is being investigated by the new government of Mahathir over a corruption scandal at the state-owned investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), from which officials are alleged to have stolen more than $4.5bn. #Malaysia: Rosmah Mansor is known to fancy Birkins a lot. Once, Internet users got creative & started a collage of her carrying all the different Birkins. These bags are valued anywhere from US$12,000 to US$300,000. Housewife with a lot of $ #1mdbhttps://t.co/YRk6cBoIt3 Trinna Leong (@trinnaleong) May 17, 2018 New York penthouse, Van Gogh paintings Some of that money is alleged to have ended up in Najibs personal bank account, according to a civil lawsuit in the United States. In 2016, the US State Department filed a case seeking to seize more than $1bn in assets linked to the fund. US prosecutors listed some 20 assets including lavish real estate properties in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles to a penthouse in New York. The US also alleged that Malaysian funds were also used to purchase more than $200m of artworks by Van Gogh and Monet. The former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing and said the money was a donation from the Saudi royal family, which he had since returned. Under Najib, investigators also looked into the allegations against him but found no evidence of wrongdoing. The head of that investigating body has since resigned after Najib lost his premiership. Najibs alliance, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), unexpectedly lost last weeks parliamentary elections to his one-time mentor, Mahathir. Meanwhile, former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said he will let the due process takes its place in the case of Najib. I said his crime in terms of unjust incarceration and using all the institutions against me, that I am not going to pursue, Anwar said in an interview with Al Jazeera. In terms of the investigations and the possible preferring of charge by the attorney general, that he has to accept. At least 10 people are killed and 10 others are wounded after gunman opens fire at school in US state of Texas. A 17-year-old boy armed with a shotgun and a revolver has opened fire at a school in the US state of Texas, killing at least 10 people and wounding 10 others, according to authorities. The gunman, identified by police as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was taken into custody on murder charges after the Friday morning attack at Santa Fe High School, located about 50km southeast of Houston, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the shooting, which took place shortly before 8am (13:00 GMT) was one of the most heinous attacks that weve ever seen in the history of Texas schools. Its impossible to describe the magnitude of the evil of someone who would attack innocent children in a school, Abbott told reporters on Friday afternoon. As of this time, there have been 10 lives that have been lost, and another 10 wounded, Abbott said. Its time in Texas that we take action to step up and make sure this tragedy is never repeated ever again in the history in the state of Texas, he added. One or two other people of interest have been detained and are being questioned by officials, according to Abbott. The governor said the suspected shooter carried out the attack with a shotgun and a .38 calibre revolver he had apparently taken from his father, who legally owned both weapons. #UPDATE There have been explosive devices found in the high school and surrounding areas adjacent to the high school. Because of the threat of explosive items, community members should be on the look-out for suspicious packages and anything that looks out of place. Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018 Everyone started running The suspect had also planted various types of explosives in a home and a vehicle, including a molotov cocktail, authorities said. The 17-year-old was held without bond in the Galveston County jail on charges of capital murder, according to Henry Trochesset, county sheriff. Wesley Hill, a student at the school, said he had been there for only about 25 minutes when police evacuated his classroom. He told the local ABC News affiliate his teacher helped lead them to safety. It was scary. I didnt know what to think My heart started beating real fast; I didnt know what to do, Hill said. Another student, Dakota Shrader, said she heard an alarm sound in the high school, and then three loud booms. Everyone started running, she told ABC-13 KTRK in tears and visibly shaken. Horrible tragedy Among those wounded was one officer, who was being treated at a local hospital, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters. At least six injured people, including the police officer, were transported to local hospitals, said Chief Walter Braun of the Santa Fe Independent School District (ISD) police. David Marshall, chief nursing officer at UTMB hospital in Galveston, Texas, said three people two adults, one male and one female and one boy under 18 were brought in with gunshot wounds. The female patient was undergoing surgery after being shot in the leg, Marshall told reporters. The adult male was also undergoing surgery after being shot in the arm, and the underage patient had a gunshot wound to the leg. Its a horrible tragedy. Our hearts go out to those folks in Santa Fe Were doing the best we can to be a community partner to take care of them, Marshall said. Safi Madain, medical director in the ER at Clear Lake Medical Center, said eight high school students received treatment at the hospital for gunshot wounds. Local officials called on residents to be vigilant and report any suspicious packages to the authorities. Leigh Wall, the Santa Fe ISD superintendent, said the community had experienced an unthinkable tragedy. We have received an outpouring from across the state, and we appreciate your continued prayers for our students and our staff and our community, Wall told reporters. US President Donald Trump expressed sadness and heartbreak over the shooting. Describing the incident as absolutely horrific, Trump said: This has been going on too long in our country. This is the third school shooting in eight days in the US, according to CNN, and the 22nd so far this year. A shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 students and staff in February sparked a movement for stricter gun control laws in the US. To the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, we are with you. #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/3DYXOhmwsP March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) May 18, 2018 Parkland students sent love and support to Santa Fe on Friday. Though this is the 22nd school shooting this year, we urge those reading this not to sweep it under the rug and forget, the students said in a statement. This is not the price of our freedom. This is the most fatal shooting since the one at our school and tragedies like this will continue to happen unless action is taken. The UN human rights chief has slammed Israels deadly reaction to protests along the Gaza border as wholly disproportionate and backed calls for an international investigation. Addressing a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, Zeid Raad al-Hussein said there was little evidence Israel made an effort to minimise casualties during mass border protests by Palestinians on Monday. He said Israeli forces had killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children, since March 30. More than 12,000 were injured, at least 3,500 by live ammunition. Israel was an occupying power and under international law, it was obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said. But instead, Gaza residents are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity; dehumanised by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest, he said. Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week, he added. End the occupation, and the violence and insecurity will largely disappear. He pointed out that while at least 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in a single day of protests on Monday, on the Israeli side, one soldier was reportedly wounded, slightly, by a stone. Many of the Palestinians injured and killed were completely unarmed and were shot in the back, in the chest, in the head and limbs with live ammunition, he said. Palestinian protesters are demanding the right of return for refugees [Reuters] Some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used sling-shots, flew burning kites into Israel, and attempted to use wire-cutters on border fences, but these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force, Zeid added. The stark contrast in casualties on both sides is suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response, he told the council. The killings resulting from the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions, he added. Such violations are commonly called war crimes, although Zeid did not explicitly use that word. Right of return protests The special session comes after six weeks of mass protests along the Gaza border with Palestinian refugees demanding the right to return to their homes inside what is now Israel. The protests on Monday, organised by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, were part of Nakba or Catastrophe, the day Palestinians commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes by Israeli forces. Israel has defended the killing of protesters, saying it was acting in self-defence to protect its borders and communities. Both Israel and the United States said Hamas, which rules Gaza, instigated the violence, an allegation the group denies. In Fridays session in Geneva, the Human Rights Council will consider a resolution put forward by Pakistan and other Muslim countries that includes a call for the council to dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry UNs highest-level of investigation. The draft resolution said the investigators should look into all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the context of the military assaults on large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March, 2018. It said the aim should be to establish the facts and circumstances around alleged violations and abuses including those that may amount to war crimes and to identify those responsible. Zeid said he supported the call for an investigation that is international, independent and impartial, in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice. Israeli ambassador Aviva Raz Schechter said Fridays session and the call for a commission of inquiry are yet again politically motivated and wont improve the situation on the ground by even one iota. China, France, Brazil, Sweden, and Switzerland were among the 51 countries who supported the special session. Sergei Skripal would not have survived if a military-grade agent had been used, says Russian President Vladimir Putin. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, whose poisoning with a nerve agent in the United Kingdom triggered a diplomatic crisis with Russia, has been discharged from a British hospital. The 66-year-old, a former colonel in Russias military intelligence, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Accusations by the UK that Moscow was behind the nerve agent attack led to a Russia-West crisis in which Western governments, including the United States, expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and retaliated with the expulsion of Western diplomats. The father and daughter were in critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But their health began to improve rapidly, with Yulia discharged last month and her father on Friday. It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital, the hospitals Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned, the hospital statement read. Souring relations UN experts confirmed in April that a high-purity nerve agent was used but did not specify whether it was Novichok, a nerve agent allegedly developed in the Soviet Union, or who might be behind the poisoning. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was very happy about Skripals hospital discharge, but used the occasion to denounce accusations that Russia had poisoned the ex-spy with a military-grade nerve agent. I think if a military-grade poisonous agent had been used, as our British colleagues stated, this person would have died instantly, Putin said during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Russia has challenged Britain to provide evidence in the case and has requested consular access to Skripal and his daughter. Following Skripals release, Britains Metropolitan Police said it was making good progress in the case. This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack, it said in a statement. Protective custody The Russian embassy in London has accused Britain of blocking access to the pair in defiance of diplomatic convention. Alexander Yakovenko, Russias ambassador to London, welcomed Skripals progress on Friday but reiterated Russias desire to see the pair, saying that currently, Britain was not fulfilling its obligations under international law. Were happy that hes all right, Yakovenko told reporters. Were still demanding the access to these people. We want just to understand how they feel and we want them to say personally what they want. If they dont want our assistance, its fine. We want to see them physically. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said their offer of consular assistance had been passed to Yulia Skripal, a Russian citizen, but that she had turned it down. Both she and her father are now likely to be in protective custody. In the interests of Sergei and Yulias safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place, the Metropolitan Police said. Armed group says US, foreign allies remain targets and will stop attacking Afghan forces who will leave their ranks. An earlier version of this article stated that the Taliban had offered a general amnesty to police and army in Afghanistan. This was incorrect. The amnesty was only offered to those who would leave what it called "enemy ranks", as is now reflected below. The Taliban says it will not target Afghan police and military in the country if they leave their ranks, due to the high number of casualties suffered by the security forces in the ongoing conflict. The armed group declared in a rare statement on Friday a general amnesty to all military formations, national army, national police, Arbakis (local police) and all employees of the regime to safeguard their lives and wealth, in case they leave enemy ranks. While stating that the main target of its recently launched spring offensive in the country are the US and its allies, the armed group said security officials often come under fire because they are protecting the foreign invaders and the corrupt regime which they have installed. These security forces, however, are our own countrymen who have joined the ranks of America due to misguidance or other reasons, the statement said. In case you do leave the enemy ranks the mujahideen of Islamic Emirate shall use every means at their disposal to try and ease your life. The Taliban, which was removed from power by the US-led forces in 2001, also vowed to further intensify attacks in the country. Taliban fighters attacked a police headquarters in the western Farah province on Monday, killing at least 20 members of the security forces. In subsequent clashes on Tuesday between the group, armed with heavy weapons, and Afghan security forces at least 25 members of the forces and five civilians were killed in the Afghan city. Afghan security forces have struggled to combat the Taliban since the US and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in the country in 2014 and shifted their focus to a support and counter-terrorism role. According to a recent BBC study, the Taliban are active in 70 percent of districts, fully controlling four percent of the country and demonstrating an open physical presence in another 66 percent. Last year, the US pledged to increase its support to struggling Afghan forces, announcing plans for thousands of additional advisers and increasing air raids in a bid to force the Taliban to enter peace negotiations. Taliban, which ruled the South Asian nation between 1996-2001, has set the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country as a pre-condition for talks. West Bank residents, who are usually denied entry, pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month. Occupied East Jerusalem More than 100,000 Palestinians, many of them from the occupied West Bank, have made their way to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem for the first Friday of Ramadan. Palestinians from the occupied territories, who otherwise cannot access Jerusalem, are typically allowed to enter the city under strict conditions during the Fridays of the Muslim holy month. On most days, Qalandiya checkpoint, the main gateway in the West Bank to Jerusalem and beyond, resembles a land border, complete with terminals, turnstiles and security detectors. Palestinians can only cross it with travel permits from the Israeli military, which are usually granted to Palestinians of all ages during Ramadan. However, so far the Israeli military administration has yet to issue any. This time, Palestinian men over 40, boys under 12 and women of all ages were allowed to pass without a permit, most streaming past concrete barriers without being stopped, as Israeli soldiers stood close by. Occasionally, a man would be stopped and asked for his Israeli military-issued ID to determine whether he was of the appropriate age or not. Important to go to Jerusalem whenever we can Some mothers had brought their younger teenage sons with them, hoping that they would be overlooked and not subject to stringent searching. Munira Abu Nasra, 40, walked confidently past the soldiers, holding her nine-year-old sons hand in one hand, and a bag in the other. I had a feeling that this Friday there wouldnt be a lot of people crossing Qalandiya, she told Al Jazeera, her eyes sweeping over the thin crowds of people. Thats why I made sure to come today. On Monday, several hundred Palestinians gathered in Jerusalem to protest against the relocation of the US embassy to the city, a move widely criticised by the international community. The relocation ceremony took place as the Israeli army killed at least 62 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who rallied as part of the Great March of Return movement calling for the right of refugees to return to the areas from which they were forcibly removed in 1948 when the state of Israel was created. People are not sure whether the situation is stable enough and are still afraid of going to Jerusalem, in light of last weeks events, said Abu Nasra. Abu Nasra is from the town of Bir Nabala, which is an East Jerusalem suburb that was cut off from the city by the separation wall and is now considered in the West Bank. Its important to go to Jerusalem whenever we can, Abu Nasra said, as she reached the other side of the checkpoint where buses were waiting to ferry people to Jerusalem. I have another son who is 16, and theres no way he can cross through Qalandiya. Women cross through Qalandiya checkpoint, located between Ramallah and Jerusalem, on Friday morning on their way to Jerusalems Old city [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera] Dream come true The short ride after crossing the checkpoint ended at the beginning of Salah al-Din Street, the main commercial centre in occupied East Jerusalem, where metal barricades were set up at various points. Helicopters and drones were up in the sky, and there was an increased presence of Israeli border police guards and flying checkpoints temporary military inspection areas. Entering through one of the gates of the Old City, Palestinians made their way to the Al-Aqsa Mosque Mosque compound, some holding their prayer mats over their heads to shield them from the hot sun. Inside, as the two mosques were full, men, women and children sought shelter in the shade of trees, waiting for the call to prayer. Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director general of the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Mosque, told local media that as many as 120,000 worshipers managed to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque Mosque compound for Friday prayers. Coming to Jerusalem is a dream come true, said Hadeel Dabaas, a young woman from Tulkarem. I plan on coming every Friday, as long as things remain calm and there are not any complications at the checkpoints. Hadeel Dabaas, 23, from the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem, says coming to Jerusalem is a dream come true [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera] The 23-year-old admitted she was in two minds about whether or not to come up until the last minute because of the recent heightened tensions but was surprised by what she saw at Qalandiya checkpoint. It was very calm. Its like the Israelis, by making minimal fuss of us crossing into Jerusalem today, want to show the world a polished image of themselves, she said. The soldiers even passed out Ramadan Kareem cards! Tensions subsiding While many Palestinians have stressed that the US embassy move to Jerusalem makes little difference to their lives considering that the city is already occupied they nevertheless are cautious about entering Jerusalem, even for worship. Following the deadly shootings of scores of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip this week, Israeli authorities expressed concerns that protests would spread across Jerusalem and the West Bank but for now, there is little to indicate that this will happen. Only a smattering of people heeded the call of several Palestinian popular committees, who had called for protests at flashpoints with the Israeli occupation after Friday prayers. Unsurprisingly, their presence amounted to no confrontations. Juma Abed Sasa, 77, came from Jericho to pray in Jerusalem [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera] However, the significance of Jerusalem still weighs heavily on the minds of Palestinians. Without Jerusalem, there is no life, Juma Abed Sasa, who was born in Yafa in 1941, told Al Jazeera. Sitting near Damascus Gate, the elderly man, who was forced from his hometown at the age of seven and now lives in Jericho, plans on spending his Ramadan Fridays in the city. Without Jerusalem, there can be no peace, he said. If the Palestinian leadership gave up on it, then what else is there left for them to negotiate over? Turkish troops set up observation posts in Syrias Idlib While Turkey and its proxy forces are trying to determine Idlibs fate through dialogue and disarmament to prevent a government assault, the province could become a Turkish-guaranteed safe area like other zones in northern Syria. UN Human Rights Council decides to urgently dispatch experts to probe Israels killing of Palestinians in Gaza. The United Nations top human rights body has voted to send a team of international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. A resolution calling on the UN Human Rights Council tourgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry was backed on Friday by 29 members. Two members the United States and Australia voted against and 14 abstained. Investigators mustinvestigate all alleged violations and abuses in the context of the military assaults on large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018, the approved resolution said. The commission of inquiry will be asked to produce a final report next March. The 28th Special Session of the Council "Violations of international law in the context of large-scale civilian protests in the #OPT, including East Jerusalem" has concluded. The draft Resolution has been adopted by 29 votes in favor, 2 against, 14 abstentions. pic.twitter.com/C1MOS6aTPn HRC SECRETARIAT (@UN_HRC) May 18, 2018 Earlier on Friday, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the UN human rights chief, had backed calls for an international probe. He heavily criticised Israels response to the weeks-long mass protests in the Gaza Strip aswholly disproportionate. Israel is an occupying power, and under international law, it is obliged to protect the people of Gaza and ensure their welfare, he said. But instead, Gaza residents have beencaged in a toxic slum from birth to death, added Zeid. At least 62 Palestinians were killed, and thousands wounded in a single day of protests on Monday, but al-Hussein pointed out thaton the Israeli side, one soldier was reportedly wounded, slightly, by a stone. There is little evidence of any attempt to minimise casualties on Monday, said Zeid. Since protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed 106 Palestinians, including 15 children. More than 12,000 have been wounded, at least 3,500 by live ammunition. Hundreds of protesters continued to rally on the Gaza-Israel border on Friday [Mohammed Abed/ AFP] Speaking to the session via a video recording, Michael Lynk, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine, said Israels use of force may amount toa war crime. Both Israel and the US rejected the councils resolution, saying Hamas, which rules Gaza, instigated the violence an allegation the group denies. Al Jazeeras Bernard Smith, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said Palestiniansdo not believe they can rely on the US to put any pressure on Israel, so they are turning to international institutions for help. They hope an investigation or a fact-finding mission will expose Israels tactics in Gaza to more international scrutiny, he added. Israel has defended the killing of protesters, saying it was acting in self-defence to protect its borders and communities. In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry said the council wasdominated by hypocrisy and absurdity. Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters in the Gaza Strip continued rallying near the fence with Israel on Friday. Al Jazeeras Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from the protest site, said the atmosphere there was calmer than in recent weeks. Protesters burned tyres, some of them tried to hurl stones, but we havent seen the tensions we have seen in the past few weeks, she said.Weve seen a little bit of tear gas, but there hasnt been any gunfire. Some two million people live in the Gaza Strip, a coastal territory that shares borders with Egypt and Israel. Both countries maintain a blockade of Gaza for security reasons, a move the UN said has caused the territorys economy to collapse. On Thursday, Egypts President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said he had ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing for the holy month of Ramadanto ensure the easing of the burdens on the brothers in the Gaza Strip. UN Human Rights Council decides to urgently dispatch investigators to probe Israels killing of Palestinians in Gaza. By Palaver-filled torpor is an apt description for an article published by Foreign Affairs on April 30, titled " Time for a New U.S. Foreign Policy Narrative: A Better Alternative to Trump's 'America First ," by Ian Bremmer and Joe Kennedy III. They begin the piece demonizing Trump's understanding of the U.S.'s role in the world: "Refugees and immigrants were cast as villains, repressive regimes like Russia and China were regarded with admiration, and human rights and democratic freedoms were pushed to the sidelines." As historian Dr. Victor Davis Hanson wrote, "[President] Truman May Have Been the Proto-Trump," with his low approval ratings, crass demeanor, and foreign policy achievements that rivaled any of his predecessors. Democratic elites were flummoxed when Truman, condemned as a Midwestern country bumpkin, arguably made the best geopolitical decision of the 20th century by firing MacArthur, replacing him with General Matthew Ridgway, and stopping at the 38th parallel. Now Twitter-crass Trump will meet with Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore to possibly bring peace to the Korean peninsula. The Foreign Affairs article never mentions the fact that Presidents Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama never made this type of headway with the North Korean regime. But to Bremmer and Kennedy, Trump's America First monikers and wanting to protect "the well-being of the American people" from the largest influx of unskilled immigrants in American history make him a monster. Messrs. Bremmer's and Kennedy's piece never acknowledges what Trump inherited from the former administration. In 2011, when President Obama announced a sudden drawdown of forces from Iraq after the U.S. had the country under control and Gaddafi in Libya had given up his nuclear weapons a Middle Eastern bloodbath ignited under his national security team's watch. The U.S. won in Iraq. If we had stayed in Iraq the way we did in Germany, Japan, and South Korea, then Iraq and the entire Middle East wouldn't be infested with Iranian Quds Forces, Russian military hardware, Turkish forces, and raging jihadists. Bremmer and Kennedy never investigate the Middle East wreckage that continues in Syria. Though ISIS is under control in Northern Syria, other Islamic extremists benefited and strengthened during this period. Mainly, al-Qaeda, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam, and the Sunni insurgency have flared again in Iraq, while a new group called "White Flags" has surfaced in Kirkuk and Diyala. It's the Iran deal that did nothing to stop Iran's nuclear program and set in motion Iran's dangerous ballistic missile program. Simply put, Iran lied about its nuclear weapons program, according to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Furthermore, hundreds of billions in economic gains for the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism and a policy of containment that had been in place for decades under Democrat and Republican administrations were dismantled. When the Iran outreach policy was executed by Obama, John Kerry, and former CIA director John Brennan, Iraq became a puppet state, Syria was taken over by Shia militias led by the Quds Force, and Yemen went up in flames. This outreach policy correlated with Iranian troops now sitting on Israel's border, causing oil prices to skyrocket. Additionally, Hezb'allah now has 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of hitting any part of Israel at a moment's notice. And former NATO ally Turkey was caught in the middle and now has swung to Iran's and Russia's sphere of influence. Messrs. Bremmer and Kennedy never dissect this aspect of the former administration's legacy. Moreover, while Obama was in office, Crimea was annexed by the Russians in 2014, and nothing was done while China claimed the South China Sea as territorial waters. Now a series of fortified artificial islands that have been militarized to make the Chinese claims a reality to U.S. allies is in full force, while trillions in economic activity that passes through those waterways is essentially under Chinese influence. China's hegemonic moves now threaten political and economic stability over this strategic waterway for the entire Asian hemisphere, Australia, and India. Bremmer and Kennedy should have noted that these Chinese efforts have gone unchecked by U.S. administrations, Congress, and NATO. By no means is Trump perfect, but who can fault the man for running on "Make America Great Again"? Bremmer and Kennedy should have examined the human rights and democratic freedoms that were taken away over the disastrous policies the former administration undertook. If both men want to ask what America's overarching national security strategy is, that is a worthy article long overdue. What this article reeks of is hyperbolic shouting from the rooftops that consists of no coherent policy recommendations other than meandering into tired Russian collusion arguments and unfettered campaign sloganeering. Bremmer knows better as president of the Eurasia Group, and Kennedy as well, since his namesake JFK was an ardent defender against conceding ground to America's enemies in the name of appeasement. What these two authors should have examined is the reasoning behind the former administration and previous ones letting the Iranian people down by not supporting their "Green Revolution." Or both men could have done a case study on how corruption, bad governance, and Venezuela's failure embracing socialism tear away at the social values of Latin America. If Bremmer and Kennedy want the former administration's policies or some vague notion of human rights, then debate Eli Lake; Michael Oren; and Jay Solomon, who wrote the bestseller The Iran Wars. All three men contend that the foreign policy establishment wanted a nuclear deal with Iran to preserve Obama's and their legacy. The raison d'etre of their piece is proclaiming that the era of Pax Americana is over. However, "America's role in the world is still being written." Instead of America under Trump, there is China's "alternative model for global leadership," or, put another way, authoritarian capitalism that destroys the environment and puts the Communist Party above the U.N.'s Declaration of Human Rights. Both men have lost their way with this article. Their entire argument is centered on their hatred for Trump and Republicans and their conviction that the U.S. Democratic Party is the beacon of light for the upcoming election cycle. Vote how you want the US is a free country but examine the facts of what U.S. foreign policy and Western-aligned nations wrought with implementing "leading from behind" on the world stage. If they believe in multilateralism and international institutions and a bipartisan foreign policy consensus that was in place since FDR, then how do Bremmer and Kennedy believe that the U.S., NATO, the E.U., and Asian allies confront China, Russia, and Iran? The policy implications are evident: war, terrorism in Europe, Islamic radicals emboldened, the Middle East and Africa in flames. Pax Americana led by Trump works better than "globalism with Chinese characteristics," Putin yearning for Russian glory days, or tyrannical Iranian ayatollahs. Brennan and Kennedy use lofty rhetoric and Trump-bashing without examining the cold, hard facts of international relations and realist foreign policy. Every one of their points and arguments should be dismissed into the dustbin of history. It's difficult to believe that Donald Trump has been president for nearly a year and half already. The left is still so caught up in the 2016 election cycle that it's hard for many to look forward. In fact, many have developed what psychologists are dubbing post-election stress disorder. What Is Political Anxiety? According to a report from the American Psychological Association, two thirds of people are stressed about the future of the country, including 60 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Democrats. Many of these individuals claim they worry about political issues on a daily basis, often finding it difficult to get good sleep. "When people feel anxiety, they experience some combination of physical and psychological effects such as an inability to concentrate, fearful anticipation, elevated awareness or alertness, nausea, loss of appetite, and sweating. Some may even experience panic attacks," explains Logan Block of Sleepopolis. "Most people are able to manage anxiety when it does occur, and the feelings typically pass quickly. But for some people, anxiety can lead to one or more anxiety disorders." The problem with anxiety disorders is that they often morph and compound into even larger issues. Before long, the original cause of the anxiety disorder isn't even relevant anymore. Anxiety becomes such a way of life that anything and everything can become worrisome and fear-inducing. While the anxiety is real, some people take exception to the nomenclature associated with political anxiety and "post-election stress disorder." In an interview shortly after President Trump's inauguration, U.S. rep. Brian Mast, an Army veteran, called the correlation between actual PTSD and "PESD" disrespectful. "There's a big difference between being pissed off about things and what happens on the battlefield," Mast said. "I have empathy for the stressors that are in people's lives as a result of this election, but that doesn't mean that there's any real comparison to service members that have been targeted by snipers, that have been blown up, that have had to take the lives of their enemies ... there's not a comparison between the two, in my opinion." Mast certainly has a point, but the truth is that political anxiety as ridiculous as it may be is a real thing. Learning how to cope with it is the next big challenge we face. How Can Americans Cope with Political Anxiety? Most people do a poor job of managing their political anxiety (and anxiety in general). As cognitive behavioral therapist Jennifer Shannon says, "[w]e may try to vent our emotions by demonizing and name calling. We may check our preferred news feeds obsessively, looking for evidence that we are right. We may avoid listening to views not our own, or even avoid interacting with others who have different political beliefs all together. And of course, we worry. We lay [sic] awake at night with the what if's scrolling across our brains." None of this works, though. It might provide temporary relief, but it's just masking the problem or exacerbating the underlying issue. In order to really cope with political anxiety at a healthy and constructive level, Americans need to do the following: Embrace Reality It's really important that Americans understand the difference between actual and perceived impact of political policies and movements. While there are certainly situations in which a bill or mandate has a direct impact on your life, the reality is that almost nothing changes from day to day. Think about your life now and your life two years ago. While there are two totally different administrations in power, your life at least on a political landscape remains relatively unchanged. For all of the talk about health care, taxes, North Korea, LGBT rights, gun control, and other issues, it's unlikely that any of these issues has actually changed your life in a practical way. You may perceive that they have, but the honest truth is that very few people have actually been impacted by the political talk on these topics. This isn't to say political decisions don't have any effect on American life. When you look at four-, eight-, and ten-year chunks of time, you can definitely see progression. But to let a decision today impact your stress level tomorrow is shortsighted. Limit News Intake The second piece of advice is to limit news intake. When you understand that so much of the news is speculation and sensationalism, you'll realize that you don't have much to gain from tuning in. It's smart to stay in the loop on what's happening, but be selective. Check in once every few days to see what's going on, but don't constantly check your phone or religiously watch the 24-hour cable news cycle. You aren't missing anything. See the Good in Other People Finally, make it a point to see the good in other people. The vast majority of American voters want what's best for the country. Their idea of what's best might differ from yours, but don't let this breed contempt. See the good, learn to compromise, and always keep things in perspective. The Media's Responsibility There are numerous factors involved in the rise of political anxiety in America, but the media shoulder a large portion of the blame. While their elitist personalities will never allow them to admit as much, the members of the media have blood on their hands. They like to claim they're just reporting the facts and delivering the news, but the reality is that networks like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the New York Times are in the business of pursuing highly politicized agendas. It used to be that the media reported the news. In 2018, it seems as though they're trying to create the news. They know that divisiveness sells and are set on propagating sensational stories that create anxiety in the general public and make them more likely to keep the TV on, share clickbait news articles, buy more papers, etc. The media have been creating news (rather than reporting it) for many years now, and the rise of Donald Trump from businessman to president seems to have made the situation worse. Leftist reporters, TV personalities, talk show hosts, and journalists are in such denial of what's happening on the political landscape that they're grasping for straws making up news, exaggerating stories, and giving a platform to glorified gossip. The good news is that the democratization of news, fueled by the rise of social platforms, blogging, and podcasting, is finally eroding some of the power that traditional news outlets have enjoyed over the past couple of centuries. Ultimately, the hope is that this will lead to more objective, fact-based news reporting that isn't controlled by ratings. As the power shifts from liberal media companies and their minions to the masses (which consist of sane, logical liberals, conservatives, and moderates) the hope is that political anxiety will no longer rule the day. What actually happens remains to be seen. We, as public health and medical professionals, reiterate our commitment to address climate change on behalf of our patients and communities. We know that the health of every American is threatened by climate change. This statement articulates our agreement on the urgency of addressing climate change to protect human health. So begins the error-riddled statement "A Health Professionals' Declaration on Climate Change," issued by a group of health care organizations on April 25, 2018 and signed by thousands of doctors. The trouble is, they don't know what they are talking about, as the last sentence shows. Taking action to cut carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases will help the U.S. mitigate climate impacts, and [sic] lead the world in our global climate efforts. They confuse carbon, a solid, with carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas. They refer to other greenhouse gases (GHG) but don't specify. The facts are that the most important GHG by far at 95% of the total, is water vapor; methane (CH4) is only 0.36% of the GHG and 0.00017% of total atmospheric gases. They must know that CO2 is essential to plants and they produce oxygen, which is essential to health and life, their patients! They claim that the reduction of CO2 will help people's health, but at what price? As Bjorn Lomborg explains: The climate impact of all Paris INDC promises is minuscule: if we measure the impact of every nation fulfilling every promise by 2030, the total temperature reduction will be 0.048C (0.086F) by 2100. Because of the impact on jobs and the economy, the U.S. Senate voted 95-0 not to vote on the Kyoto Protocol, the forerunner to the Paris Agreement. What would a reduced economy do to the health and welfare of the people? These health professionals must know that it is much more damaging. Societies change through paradigm shifts. American physicist Thomas Kuhn defined them as "a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions." The most significant one of the 20th century was environmentalism. It was a necessary shift because it does not make sense to soil your nest. However, like all paradigms, there is a sequence of adaptation. Environmentalism was ideal because it transcended national boundaries and therefore required a global government. It also gave them the moral high ground. They cared about the environment while the rest of us, especially capitalists and industrialists, didn't. A major objective of the environmentalists was to co-opt as many people as possible by proselytizing and using groupthink. The plan was to legitimize their ideas as the belief of the majority, argumentum ad populum the consensus argument. It is false in any form, but especially science. As Dr. Michael Crichton said, "There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period." The claim that 97% of climate scientists agree is meaningless, but it fools many people. The second tactic used another major form of argument, argumentum ad verecundiam, or an appeal to authority. They chose to persuade the leaders of professional science societies to get their members to adopt the anthropogenic (man-made) global warming (AGW) message. As AGW promoter Peter Gleick, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, asked, "[c]limate-change deniers versus the scientific societies of the world: Who [sic] should we listen to?" The British Royal Society instigated the plan, using its power as the progenitor of all other national science societies. Lord May led the campaign as leader of the society. The only society that rejected the AGW claim was the Russian Academy, led by Yuri Israel. As a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he knew what was wrong with the science. Israel was publicly attacked at a conference for his position. The Russian scientist was immediately and disrespectfully admonished by the chair and former IPCC chief Sir John Houghton for being far too optimistic. Such a moderate proposal was ridiculous since it was "incompatible with IPCC policy. A few other scientists protested what the leadership was saying on their behalf without consulting members. For example, the late Harold Lewis, emeritus professor of physics at the University of California and former member of the American Physical Society (APS), understood and managed to get some public attention. He resigned from APS in a devastating letter: It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist. Anyone who has the slightest doubt that this is so should read the Climategate documents, which lay it bare. I don't believe that any real physicist, any scientist, can read that stuff without revulsion. I would almost make that word revulsion a definition of the word scientist. So, what has the APS, as an organization done in the face of this challenge? It has accepted the corruption as the norm and gone along with it." Perpetrators of climate change pseudoscience and some of their supporters continue to try to maintain the fraud. The April 25 statement from the health professionals is proof that Abraham Lincoln was wrong: you can fool most of the people most of the time; even those who should know better. It is likely that few, if any, of those who signed the Declaration know anything about global warming science. They should have heeded Mark Twain's advice: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt. Dr. Tim Ball is an environmental consultant and former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba. Tom Harris is executive director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition. Over fourteen centuries ago rose Muhammad, a supposedly illiterate hired hand of a rich widow, Khadija, claiming he was the bearer of a perfect life prescription from Allah: the Quran. He claimed that humanity could do no better than to follow its precepts as well as to emulate Muhammad's own life example for a guarantee of bliss and salvation. In exchange for this, people had to embrace Islam surrender by surrendering their liberty to Muhammad. Up to this day, the Muslim world considers a perfect Muslim as someone who follows in the footsteps of Muhammad, by action and by deeds. You have an excellent model in the Messenger of Allah, for all who put their hope in Allah and the Last Day and remember Allah much. (Surat al-Ahzab 21) To faithful Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad is a role model, and they must follow his Sunnah and learn how to implement its precepts and practices in their lives. So to understand the Prophet Muhammad is to understand Islam. Fortunately, for both Muslims and non-Muslims, Muhammad is not around so that we can personally observe his conduct and be tempted to emulate him. What is possible, however, is to go to authentic Islamic records and discern what Muhammad did during his life and judge it for ourselves. The absence of Muhammad is fortunate for the Muslims because it enables them to spin many yarns about how virtuous he was. There are more stories about the kindness, his generosity, his forbearance, and whatnot than any dozen men could do in ten lifetimes. Muslims, heads in the sand, keep reciting to each other all these made-up tales. It is fortunate for non-Muslims that we won't be inclined to do some of things Muhammad did. Many accounts of his actions, as recorded and reported by reliable, authoritative Muslim sources, would be considered criminal in the civilized societies of today. Special Hatred for the Jews Muhammad, for one, was a model of spewing hateful speech, cursing all non-Muslims repeatedly, with special venom reserved for the Jews. In the Islamic scripture, headed by the Quran, the Jews are cursed and called all kinds of names so many times. Is it Allah who so despises the Jews, or is it Muhammad? Either way, it doesn't make sense. If it is Allah speaking these derogatory terms in the Quran, then I am shocked. It is unbecoming of the creator of the universe, the source of all good, to devote so much of his book to cursing a few millions of his own creatures. Recall that the Quran claims that not even a leaf falls without the permission and decree of Allah. So why is it that he allows the Jews to behave in ways he condemns? If it is Muhammad who is angry at the Jews, then it makes sense. The Jews kept rejecting him and telling him to take his sale pitch somewhere else. But what doesn't make sense here is that Muhammad claims that every word of the Quran is that of Allah. So which is it? Abusing Women Islamic records report that Muhammad had numerous wives. Some even admit that they can't provide an accurate count because he took wives so often and with great liberty. A number of his wives were slave women women taken as booty in battle. Well, okay. Maybe he was doing what the Arabs of his time did. Make war; take everything, including women and children; and treat them exactly the way you would treat your own livestock. If you found a woman you desired, she was yours. That simple. But he also married a child of one of his most senior followers, Ayesha. The poor child was a nearly six-year-old little girl when he married her, and he consummated the marriage when she was barely nine and he was pushing sixty. Now, Ayesha was not a slave girl with whom he could take that kind of liberty. He could not treat her like a piece of property, rightfully his. She was Abu Bakr's daughter. Did Muhammad bamboozle the old Abu Bakr, or did the old Abu-Bakr's lust for power make him offer his little girl to Muhammad? Either way, what Muhammad did establish was a shameful and criminal act of marrying little girls as a legitimate practice. Not long ago, a member of the highest Islamic Council of Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa saying that in Islam, there is no age limit for marrying even infants. Now, this is the kind of religious sanction that ought to make you cringe. Other Practices Just a couple more points here. Muhammad also declared acceptable killing non-Muslims, plundering their possessions, and taking their women and children as slaves to be held or sold. He legitimized slavery and even described how slaves should be treated as second- and even possibly third-class chattel. Muhammad also established what amounts to a modern-day protection racket. He actively encouraged his followers to attack non-Muslim caravans and habitats, get all the loot they could, give him his cut of 20%, and keep the rest. But again, if you are the representative of the creator and owner of the universe Allah, everyone must give you a wide berth. And people did. It just so happened that men of Muhammad's time very much liked what he did and preached. Never mind women. Women did not count in much of Arabia's baby, Islam. Muhammad's Praiseworthy Acts Let us set aside these well documented unseemly and even criminal activities and look at some of the good things attributed to Muhammad. One particular case relates to Muhammad's trying time in Mecca. The story is that an old Meccan woman would throw tumbleweeds on Muhammad as he walked by. In response, Muhammad would speak to her kindly and inquire about her well-being. This is often cited as an example of how kind and forgiving he was. Keep in mind that Muhammad was meek in Mecca and had lots of ill wishers and few friends. He was in no position to retaliate in kind to any abuse he was subjected to. Once out of Mecca and in power in Medina, Muhammad hardly bothered inquiring about the well-being of old women. He did treat his friends his followers kindly. But he showed absolutely no mercy to his enemies. He had his enemies anyone and everyone who did not fall into his fold treated by the sword. A Muslim's surrender of liberty is not merely a matter of personal choice. Muslims abandon their most precious rights and are out to make all non-Muslims do so, too, by hook or crook. In short: I, for one, would hardly want to take Muhammad as my exemplar and emulate him. CAUTION: This article contains extremely graphic and disturbing content. Read at your own risk, and keep out of reach of children. In the last decade, there's been an explosion of "gay" BDSM (homosexual sadomasochist) events hosted by upscale big-city hotels. Truly, it's out of control. During the last weekend in April, a depraved orgy dubbed CLAW (Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend) took over three downtown Cleveland hotels: the Westin, Hampton Inn, and DoubleTree. Based on the workshop descriptions and items available for rental, many of the conference rooms, hallways, and private rooms may be spattered with blood, sexual fluids, and excrement. The CLAW organizer admitted that the weekend is just one big orgy. Here's his description: The draw is it's a bunch of masculine men in leather and gear, cruising for sex[.] ... [W]e have a huge vendor mart, about 35 workshops and discussion groups on various things like BDSM skills, community and peer groups[.] ... [W]e do a big showcase, a runway kind of thing on Friday night featuring the vendors and just some hot young guys[.] ... It's a live auction, right in the center of the lobby on Saturday night, of these three young men who have each had their [penis] cast in silicone medical grade silicone, by one of our sponsors SquarePeg Toys. And so it's an auction with these nice looking guys and you actually get to take their [penises] home with you. A "gay" website describes a similar BDSM event, "International Mr. Leather," held at the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago in 2015: The entire hotel is converted into a pleasure dome, with all sorts of kinky happenings, over the course of the weekend. The lobby becomes a buzzing, high-end leather bar, with the mild scent of rubber and rawhide lingering in the air. The ballrooms turn into dance parties, and the hallways are converted into cruising grounds. The whole building transforms into something resembling a bathhouse (but with nicer carpets and lighting)[.] ... A room at the hotel costs much more than the typical bathhouse, but that was the biggest difference between the two. "Gay" bathhouses are infamously linked to the spread of AIDS and other diseases, but about 70 continue to operate in many cities in the U.S. Now some upscale hotels are (at least temporarily) turning into bathhouses. Where are the CDC and local health departments when we need them? BDSM-affirming research admits that BDSM participants have a high rate of mental disorders (25% have attempted suicide; about 40% suffer from anxiety and depression), twice the incidence of Hepatitis C, and ten times the incidence of HIV/AIDS of the general population. In other words, major corporations are knowingly allowing their hotels to become public health hazards both for the event participants and the innocent guests who follow. These hotels will never be clean again. Traveler, beware! How have we arrived at this low point? Ever since homosexuality was declassified as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association (in 1973) for political, not scientific reasons open depravity has been growing like a malignant tumor. Then came state and local laws, plus corporate policies, demanding "non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation" a term undefined in the law. Applied to public accommodations (such as hotels), these laws result in the defilement of public places affecting all of us. While sexual orientation is referenced in laws, it's intentionally left undefined. Sometimes, a specific perversion not to be protected (such as pedophilia) will be singled out in a statute, but what exactly sexual orientation does include is not spelled out. Ryan Anderson at the Heritage Foundation notes: SOGI [sexual orientation/gender identity] laws could ... have serious unintended consequences. These laws tend to be vague and overly broad, lacking clear definitions of what discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" mean and what conduct can and cannot be penalized. These laws would impose ruinous liability on innocent citizens for alleged "discrimination" based on subjective and unverifiable identities, not on objective traits[.] ... Under SOGI laws, acting on ... [religious or moral] beliefs in a commercial or educational context could be actionable discrimination. The Supreme Court recently gave the BDSM community a huge green light in the 2013 ruling Lawrence v. Texas. Sodomy and related perversions conducted in private were no longer to be considered criminal (though still not declared a "fundamental right"). Justice Antonin Scalia noted that the ruling was "a massive disruption of the current social order." Homosexual sodomy (and its variations) is not a fundamental right because it is not "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition." Scalia declared, "[T]here is no right to 'liberty' under the Due Process Clause." In the current legal environment, SOGI anti-discrimination laws are used to protect sodomy in all settings, not just private homes. But where is the legal definition (or ruling) requiring that these filthy sadomasochistic practices be protected under the umbrella of sexual orientation? The pro-LGBT Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law quotes as authoritative the definition of sexual orientation from the Yogyakarta international law conference (2006): Sexual orientation is understood to refer to each person's capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations with, individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender. You can see CLAW's workshops here. Brace yourself. Some workshops will take place in the hotels, some in nearby "gay" bars and "dungeons." And the attendees will practice their skills in their private hotel rooms. You can be sure that the follow-up cleaning will not adequately sterilize these public accommodation spaces. Yet local health authorities are hands-off. Too many have been duped to believe that banning such events would be discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. And the sexual radicals are using the vagueness in the law for all it's worth. So we see unbelievably degraded "workshops" taking place in upscale hotels all over the country. Who will challenge CLAW, given that it is an IRS 501(c)(3) approved group? CLAW describes itself as a "national leather charity." As of 2018, it had donated $800,000 to radical LGBTQ groups, including those focused on youth (GLSEN, PFLAG, and various LGBT youth centers). Other recipients of CLAW funds are the Chicago Leather Archives & Museum, pride organizations, National LGBTQ Task Force, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, Woodhull Foundation, various "LGBT rights" advocacy groups, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, HIV-AIDS groups, leather groups, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, etc. The fact that CLAW funds youth groups, GLSEN, and PFLAG shows that these people are grooming our youth. This is not hyperbole. In May 2009, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth (an official government agency) held its annual "Youth Pride" parade and fair. Ending the day was a queer prom at Boston City Hall, where teens were greeted as they entered by "Mr. Boston Leather" handing out his "business" card (with information leading them to leather groups). Too many young men especially are being seduced by social acceptance of this depravity. The corporations allowing these events Marriott, Hilton, and other hotel chains ought to be ashamed. They are allowing their properties to be polluted while keeping this fact from the public. The slippery slope is real. It is time to overturn SOGI non-discrimination laws. The author thanks MassResistance and Americans for Truth about Homosexuality for first reporting on this event. Stay tuned to MassResistance for a follow-up report. Amy Contrada is the author of Mitt Romney's Deception (2011) and various MassResistance reports. She has degrees from Tufts and Brown, plus a diploma in violin-making. See AmyContrada.com for some of her openly attributed writing. Over the eight years of the Obama administration, the Democratic Party moved left, then more left, then hard, radical, Alinskyite left. Terrible damage was done to the country as a result. Obamacare virtually destroyed our once finest health care system. The Iran deal was a cash cow for the mullahs; the West got nothing but the promise that Iran would become a nuclear power. Obama thrived on racial strife, and so he exacerbated it day after day, any way he could. He supported Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and Antifa. He likely saw to it that tens of thousands of dollars were illegally funneled to those groups along with the millions sent their way by George Soros. Obama enforced few if any immigration laws because the left needs that perennial immigrant underclass to gain power. For leftists like Obama, those who have worked hard and achieved personal success or wealth must be brought down. He never cared about elevating those in need, those stuck in poverty, to their maximum potential. Obama applied this theory of bringing the best down to the nation as well. He sought to bring and succeeded in bringing America down several pegs; he was never comfortable with America's primacy on the world stage. But since the 2016 election, the left has gone stark-raving mad. Leftists have lost all sense of decency. They now support the polar opposite of whatever Trump seeks to do for the good of the republic. The Democrats in Congress now support Hamas, the terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel. That Trump fulfilled the 1995 congressional promise to move our embassy to Jerusalem has forced them to make common cause with these terrorists. Most of the Democrats opposed the confirmation of Gina Haspel as director of the CIA because she oversaw the waterboarding of terrorists in the aftermath of 9-11. Again, those Democrats appeared in their rude, disrespectful questioning of Haspel to think that technique of interrogation, which does no physical harm, was too much for the planners of that horrific day. And then, for two days now, they are proudly and openly vilifying President Trump for referring to MS-13 gang members as "animals," which is an insult to animals. These migrants from El Salvador are savages who rape and murder in the most unspeakable ways. The media grasped the "animal" quote and ran with it, most of them with the full knowledge that it was taken out of context. Only the AP retracted the claim that Trump was not talking about all illegal aliens. The rest of them kept up the faux outrage. Pelosi said these gang members all have a "spark of divinity." Tell that to the families of their victims. One has to assume that at this point, if Trump were to comment unfavorably on a pedophile or child rapist, the Democrats would defend the latter. That is how mindlessly diabolical they have become. And as someone else observed, if he cured cancer, the Dems would protest that he was depriving doctors of work. Was the left happy for the three hostages released from North Korea? No. The usual network and cable outlets barely mentioned them. Could leftists share in Israel's exuberance in the new embassy in Jerusalem? Absolutely not. Many of them could not wait to spew their contempt in front of any camera they could find. They blamed the Hamas violence on Trump when it is, in fact, an everyday thing. Now that Kim Jong-un has blathered about canceling the summit in June, the lefties are positively giddy. They are so uniformly infected by their fury at Trump for winning that they have become dangerously toxic to the country. As it becomes clearer and clearer that Robert Mueller has not found Trump to be guilty of any crimes by which he can be impeached, leftists have lost the last vestiges of their grip on reality. They operate now by the old maxim, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Since they see Trump as their enemy, their newfound friends are Hamas, Hezb'allah, ISIS, Kim Jong-un, and MS-13. The Democratic Party has devolved into a manic state of hysteria in which its members no longer know right from wrong or good from evil. The Republicans in Congress had better step up to the partisan plate and fight these traitors to their own country, or we are lost. Image: Turinboy via Flickr. Is being a radical Islamist something you are born with or a disease that can be cured? China is betting on the latter, which is why it sends radical Muslims to brainwashing camps to wash away all their "Muslimness"...and turn them into happy communists! Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow their Islamic beliefs, criticize themselves and their loved ones and give thanks to the ruling Communist Party. "The psychological pressure is enormous, when you have to criticize yourself, denounce your thinking your own ethnic group," said Bekali, who broke down in tears as he described the camp[.] ... Detainees who most vigorously criticize the people and things they love are rewarded[.] ... Internees would wake up together before dawn, sing the Chinese national anthem, and raise the Chinese flag at 7:30 a.m. They gathered back inside large classrooms to learn "red songs" like "Without the Communist Party, there is no New China," and study Chinese language and history. They were told that the indigenous sheep-herding Central Asian people of Xinjiang were backward and yoked by slavery before they were "liberated" by the Communist Party in the 1950s. Before meals of vegetable soup and buns, the inmates would be ordered to chant: "Thank the Party! Thank the Motherland! Thank President Xi!" The Star Wars character Lando Calrissian, who started his existence as a token minority in The Empire Strikes Back when people complained to George Lucas about the lack of black people in Star Wars, has now become a minority of a different kind: a pansexual. That means he's attracted to every kind of man, woman, and object in the known universe. Here's something Star Wars fans have long known about Lando Calrissian: He's likely the most charismatic character in the galaxy. Here's something they just learned, via Solo: A Star Wars Story writer Jonathan Kasdan: Lando (played by Donald Glover and, earlier, Billy Dee Williams) is pansexual. When explicitly asked about Lando's gender identity by Huffington Post, Kasdan said, "There's a fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee's (portrayal of Lando's) sexuality." He continued, "I mean, I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie. I think it's time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of." In Solo, Donald Glover's Lando is as charming as he's always been since Empire Strikes Back, and maybe even more into his capes than ever before. In the new film, his female droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) comments, "I'm sure you noticed that Lando has feelings for me." And, as some fans have noted since the Solo trailer was released, Lando is flirty toward Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), at one point calling him "baby." In addition to being attracted to men, Lando is also sexually attracted to "droids" that is, robots. What's interesting about all this is that Lando's sexual-mechanical orientation is never explicitly shown in the film. Liberal Hollywood has no problem promoting women and minorities in key roles simply because they are women and minorities, but Hollywood has been afraid to have openly homosexual characters in film for fear of repelling audiences. In The Last Jedi, Laura Dern's character Admiral Holdo is simply an obnoxious feminist; you had to read the novelization to learn that she is also a lesbian. But I'm sure the march of progress will continue, and it won't be long before we'll see Lando seducing Chewbacca, or in bed with an R2 unit. As for me, I'm still waiting for C-3PO, the Liberace of the Star Wars series, to come out of the maintenance closet. Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com. Image: Hannaford via Flickr. "We will tear down the fence, and tear out the hearts from their bodies!" So, recently, yelled Hamas prime minister Yahya Sinwar. A lot of ink has been spilled criticizing Israel's response to the latest Palestinian attempt to destroy Israel, but try finding this quote. For those interested in short storylines, it really is all you need to read to understand the latest salvo in the Arab-Muslim world's 70-year campaign to destroy Israel. Really, the rest is equal parts distraction, distortion, head fake, and noise. When you drill down, for 70 years Israel has wanted peace, while too many of its neighbors want no Israel. Though there are more than 20 Arab-Muslim majority nations with land mass more than 500 times Israel's size, apparently one sliver-sized Jewish state is one too many for too many. For those who care about facts, reason, logic, history, and context trite things consider this: the PLO was formed in 1964, three years before Israel's "occupation." Back then, Egypt "occupied" the Gaza strip, Jordan "occupied" the west bank, and Syria "occupied" the Golan Heights. So why no peace back then before "occupation"? Just what was the PLO attempting to "liberate" in 1964? Answer: Israel of all Jews. And so it basically still goes today. In today's world, cause and effect are inverted. I read that the "Israeli blockade" is responsible for "an escalating humanitarian crisis" for Palestinians. I suppose that is true in a basic sense, the same way your front door is "responsible for" keeping intruders out. Of course, the blockade is in response to Palestinian terror. No terror, then no blockade. Here, in America, we have a near 1,000-mile wall between us and Mexico, which many want to fortify. Our wall keeps migrants out who mainly want to join us, not kill us. Imagine what we would build, or do, if, instead of wanting a job or better life, folks on the other side wanted to kill us? Also ask yourself, though Muslim Arabs live freely as citizens in Israel, what would happen if a Jew tried to set foot in Gaza or much of the West Bank? Answer: He would be killed. Immediately. So why is Israel supposed to welcome all Palestinians many of whom are bent on eliminating Israel yet Jews can't set foot in its surrounding "neighbors"? Does that trouble anyone? Likewise, can you imagine if Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu screamed out: "Kill the Palestinians"? You would not have to search hard to read about it. The reason some liberal editorials aside why there is ultimately not much backlash to Israel is that most everyone understands what is going on, and has been going on for 70 years, on a core level namely, Israel wants to live in peace, while most Palestinians want no Israel. If you doubt this, just read Hamas prime minister Sinwar's quote, though it is hard to find: "We will tear down the fence, and tear out the hearts from their bodies." William Chosen is a lawyer in Chicago. The mainstream media have forfeited the trust of all but the dedicated progressive faction of the American public, roughly 20-30% of the populace. Now that a majority distrusts their word, and now that we have a president who is a counter-puncher, they can't get away with their old tricks all the time. It was outright malpractice for many outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, and the Associated Press, to create the impression that when he used the word "animals" in public, Trump was referring to all immigrants, or to all illegal aliens, as he was responding to a question about MS-13. Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims: Thank you. There could be an MS-13 member I know about if they don't reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it. President Trump: We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in and we're stopping a lot of them but we're taking people out of the country. You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals. And we're taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. It's crazy. Yet shameless hacks wrote headlines, tweets, articles, and video segments claiming or implying that Trump was slandering all immigrants. Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, among the minority who trust the MSM, jumped in, implicitly and explicitly defending the humanity of MS-13 not exactly a winning election issue, even among Hispanics (who are the primary victims of MS-13 brutality). They didn't get away with it: As reported in the article above, Trumps remarks late Wednesday were in response to comments about members of MS-13 and other undocumented immigrants who are deported for committing crimes. CNN (@CNN) May 17, 2018 AP has deleted a tweet from late Wednesday on Trumps animals comment about immigrants because it wasnt made clear that he was speaking after a comment about gang members. The Associated Press (@AP) May 17, 2018 The New York Times changed its headline from "Trump calls undocumented immigrants 'animals'" (see the URL) to "Trump Calls Some Unauthorized Immigrants 'Animals' in Rant." The most egregious and unintentionally funny response came from MSNBC, which blamed Trump for media "confusion" over his statements. [O]n Thursday afternoon, MSNBC only briefly corrected the record before immediately blaming the President for press "confusion" on the topic given his history of saying "incendiary and racist things" in the past. "President Trump lashing out during an immigration roundtable at the White House and stirring controversy over his harsh rhetoric toward immigrants, branding them 'animals,'" anchor Andrea Mitchell proclaimed during her 12:00 p.m. ET hour show. Moments later, she begrudgingly offered a clarification: "But the White House now says he was referring to the criminal immigrant gang MS-13, not to all immigrants. Though he didn't say so. He certainly didn't make that clear." Turning to political analyst Elise Jordan, Mitchell sneered: "Elise, whether you're talking about MS-13 or not, or all immigrants, he's certainly used the animal phrase quite liberally and frequently when talking about illegal immigrants." Jordan actually explained that the context of the President's remarks was clear when looking at the full discussion in the White House meeting, beyond the seconds-long clip that Mitchell played: "I read the transcript and I do actually give him the benefit of doubt on this one because it did seem to be in reference to MS-13, which is a horrible gang that machetes are their primary use of warfare and they've preyed on minors." However, the former Bush administration official still decided that Trump was at fault for the media mistake: "So that said, the reason that I feel the comments were incendiary is because he's said so many other things in the past that were really inappropriate and horrible...it's such a contentious media environment because he has had so much racially charged language that this was, I feel like, blown a little bit out of proportion when it was about MS-13." At the top of the 1:00 p.m. ET hour, even after the corrections made by Mitchell and Jordan, anchor Craig Melvin still breathlessly hyped the story: "'Animals,' that's how the President of the United States described some who come across the border illegally...We'll also be reminding you of some of the other incendiary and racist things that this president has said." Minutes later, Melvin admitted that the reporting on the controversy wasn't accurate: The Associated Press deleted a tweet a short time ago about the remark because apparently there's been some confusion over whether the President was talking about all immigrants or whether he was talking about MS-13 gang members specifically. Correspondent Peter Alexander, awaiting the White House daily press briefing, added: "To be clear, yesterday, when the President was hosting a series of leaders...he was reacting to another individual in the room who brought up the issue of MS-13 gang members." But then, like Jordan earlier, the reporter declared: "But broadly, he has spoken unsparingly in terms of his criticism of immigrants who have come into the United States from Mexico in the past...obviously this just sort of underscores the fierce language the President often embraces when speaking about topics like illegal immigration[.]" This morning the POTUS called them out on their misbehavior: Best friends aren't in the news much because they are reliable. Arguably, America's best friend in Europe is Poland because Poland sees the world as Americans do. The countries west of Poland are self-indulgent and plot against us with notions like the carbon tax, a war by proxy in Gaza, and non-tariff barriers to trade. The country east of Poland is a kleptocracy that would be as poor as Ukraine if it weren't for its 10 million barrels per day of oil production. For the countries north of Poland, self-loathing turned suicidal with the importation of people who have no intention of assimilating. Poland is different. As this American Thinker article notes, when communism fell in Eastern Europe, Poland came out of the blocks running and hasn't looked back. It is said that if you are taking flak, you are over the target. So it is with Poland, which is getting hate from all the right people. Type "Why Poland Matters" into a search and you will get at least 14 articles with that title from the last two years from the likes of The Washington Post; The Financial Times; the Carnegie Endowment for World Peace; Forbes; and that ever reliable contra-indicator, The Economist. For the globalists, a free, independent Poland that controls its own destiny is a beacon of hope in Europe that they must extinguish. Poland has had experience of democracy on and off for over 800 years, with its first parliament convened in 1182. The country is now at the stage where it is trying to get its judicial system right. At the moment, the judiciary are a self-perpetuating claque. Judges recruit judges into the judiciary. Judges then elevate judges to higher positions in the judiciary. And judges are supposed to hold other judges accountable for their misdeeds. They tend to be too merciful in discharging this particular duty. Just this month, the Supreme Court decided that disrobing a judge caught shoplifting is too severe a penalty and has ordered a two-year pay cut instead. So it is not surprising that corruption hasn't been completely cleansed out of the Polish judicial system. Poland has no impeachment procedures for judges. There exists no equivalent of the U.S. Judicial Conduct and Disability Act (1980). Polish judges and the parties aligned with the elites of the country tell us that politicians absolutely must not have any role in judicial nominations and oversight. This is in stark contrast with the American system, in which the president picks the candidates for the federal judiciary and the Senate advises and consents (or not) to these nominations. This has hardly led to an authoritarian America. The numerous checks and balances in the American system of government do a respectable job of keeping the specter of abuse of power and tyranny at bay. The reform process, as part of a successful societal maturation, must proceed. Just as people in societies with a longer history of democracy would not quietly tolerate a self-serving and self-appointed elite, the people of Poland increasingly yearn for an efficient, honest, and accountable judiciary. There is room for disagreement among reasonable people as to how best to achieve this goal. But keeping things as they were is not an option. We in Poland will either work out by trial and error how to get there or fail and drift from the semi-periphery to the periphery. The current, pro-Poland government has nominated its loyalists to key positions in state-owned media just as every other Polish government has done over the last three decades. As for the judiciary, the supposedly right-wing and authoritarian president vetoed two of the three bills passed by his party that were supposed to reform the judiciary but gave too much power over the judiciary to the overzealous justice minister. Government for the people and by the people is always an unfinished task, with plenty of opportunity for error. Poland will get there. Pawel Dobrowolski is an economist and former investment banker. Matthew Tyrmand is a journalist. Someone must have let Nancy Pelosi out on a weekend pass, because the woman is losing it. At her press conference this week, the House minority leader mumbled, zoned out, and chuckled inappropriately. The only thing missing from the event was drool dripping out the corner of Nancy's mouth onto her expensive silk scarf. The most peculiar thing Nancy had to say concerned the "spark of divinity" she believes resides within the violent street gang, MS-13. Currently, most of these so-called Salvadoran "divine creatures" roam the streets of America illegally. According to Robert Hur, an official with the Justice Department, the culturally diverse MS-13's motto is "mata, viola, controla" which translates "kill, rape, control." Notorious for their hand signs, machetes, and full body tattoos, MS-13 participate in activities that involve things like human- and drug-trafficking, child prostitution, kidnapping, gun-smuggling, murder, and gruesome styles of retribution. In the Northeast, on Long Island alone, MS-13 committed 25 killings in the past two years. Recently, President Donald Trump, a man who calls it like it is, referred to MS-13 residing in U.S. prisons as "animals." Based on the bedlam the gang has wrought within America's borders, Trump calling them "animals" was more a compliment than an insult. Simply put, MS-13 is a band of marauding illegals from Central America who threaten members with death if they attempt to leave the ranks and who wreak havoc wherever they go. Speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party, Nancy Pelosi said Trump calling illegal rapists and murderers "animals" is offensive and harsh. So, in between holding up five fingers while referring to the number six and staring out into space mid-sentence, during Pelosi's press conference, the House minority leader also chided the POTUS for insulting MS-13. Waxing spiritual, it happened during the former Speaker's comments on "food insecurity." After mentioning "God's children," Nancy had this to say about Trump's MS-13 comments: When the President of the United States says about undocumented immigrants, "These aren't people; these are animals," you have to wonder: does he not believe in the spark of divinity? The dignity and worth of every person? Democrats are the ones who justify bestowing immigrant status on illegals while denying human status to unborn humans, and now Mrs. Pelosi is suddenly touting the "dignity and worth of every person"? Nancy Pelosi must have forgotten that she advocates for the unfettered slaughter of 3,000 American babies per day. Based on Nancy Pelosi's own words, if a "spark of divinity" is infused into a fertilized egg, then supporting abortion is far worse than Trump calling MS-13 names. Either way, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi is still the official spokesperson for a political party that publicly honors the "spark of divinity" in vicious street gangs and does it while disregarding the "spark of divinity" residing within the guiltless unborn. In other words, when it comes to shedding innocent blood, pro-choice liberals and Central American street gangs are similar. Therefore, before accusing Trump of being hostile toward violent gang members, maybe loopy Nancy Pelosi and her ilk need to acknowledge that the gruesome procedure that ends the life of the innocent and helpless inside the womb is on par with the murder and mayhem MS-13 inflicts on enemies outside the womb. Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannie-ology.com. The legacy left by Richard Pipes, a historian of Russia who taught at Harvard who died yesterday at the age of 94, rightly should include the fall of the Soviet Empire and the liberation of Eastern Europe. His family, including his son, Daniel Pipes, who, as president of The Middle East Forum, is performing a similar contribution on the resurgent forces of jihad, has my deepest condolences. Even the New York Times obituary of Professor Pipes acknowledges his contribution in turning the United States away from a strategy of accepting Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe and its role as champion of global communism. Without Professor Pipes's work, President Reagan's declaration of his strategy as "We win, they lose," and his injunction to "Tear down this wall!" probably never would have happened. Richard Pipes in 1959. Perhaps his most public role in challenging American policies toward the Soviet Union came in 1976 under President Gerald R. Ford. At the time, conservative critics had for several years been attacking the CIA's National Intelligence Estimate, an annual assessment of the Soviet threat, calling it overly optimistic about Soviet foreign policy intentions and blind to what they believed to be a dangerous military buildup. In response, the CIA, under pressure from the president's Foreign Policy Advisory Board, conducted an in-house review of its performance in analyzing Soviet strategic doctrine and military capabilities over the previous decade. But the resulting report by the CIA's experts the so-called Team A was found to be so deficient that President Ford asked the CIA director, George H.W. Bush, to order a competitive analysis, pitting the agency experts against a team of outsiders. Professor Pipes, who had been serving as an adviser to Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington, a Democrat who was a harsh critic of detente, was appointed to lead Team B. Its conclusion that the CIA had badly underestimated the "intensity, scope and implicit threat" of Soviet military objectives later gave ammunition to Ronald Reagan as he took to the campaign trail for the 1980 presidential election espousing a hard line against Moscow. With Reagan's victory over President Jimmy Carter in the election, Professor Pipes, taking a leave from Harvard, was appointed director of Eastern European and Soviet affairs at the National Security Council. He again became a lightning rod for the left, which regarded him as a sinister influence on Soviet policy. Well, they regarded President Regan as pretty sinister, too. Fortunately, President Reagan had the inner strength to ignore those he knew were wrong, no matter how powerful their media presence. As a result, the peoples of Eastern Europe are free of their communist oppressors. Thank you, Professor Pipes. Your clarity and integrity and scholarly work changed the world for the better. This is a historic moment of bated breath and tight sphincters all over Clintonworld. After decades of skating on their grifts, abuses, and outright crimes, a reckoning is coming. And not just for the Hillary Clinton, but for her enablers. The leaks begin about the I.G. report on the Hillary Clinton email investigation Until Wednesday, there had been virtually no genuine leaks coming out of the inspector general's office at the Department of Justice the sign of a probe with integrity. But that silence ended when the I.G.'s office circulated relevant portions of its report to people named in it, for their comments, which would be included when the report is published. "With a cloth?" The first sign was the now-infamous New York Times article, "Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation," in which, all of a sudden, it was officially admitted that the Trump campaign was spied on by the Obama intelligence apparatus and that at least one secret agent was employed. Clearly, a major spin operation was underway in which damning facts to be revealed in an I.G. report are presented in the most favorable light possible and then can be dismissed as "old news" when the report is published. But not everyone who now has seen portions of the report is playing defense. Sara Carter is one of the key investigative reporters covering the biggest political scandal in American history. She writes: Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report, which is expected to be released within the next three to four weeks to the public, has been turned over to current and former officials for review, as first reported in The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. The draft, however, does not include any recommendations for criminal prosecution. If there was any evidence collected by the Inspector General's office of criminality, Horowitz would then refer the matter to the Department of Justice and submit a criminal referral to prosecutors. "It would be up to the Inspector General to make the recommendations but there is an expectation that there will be at least one referral for prosecution," said a source familiar with the findings, who added that it is not conclusive as the Inspector General's office never discusses ongoing investigations. In other words, so far, nobody outside the tightly controlled I.G. office knows the nature of any criminal referrals resulting from the inquiry. But the history of the investigation into Andrew McCabe, already made public before he was able to retire and collect extra retirement income, suggests that the I.G. is far from reluctant to make such referrals: As for the criminal referrals, it would be similar to the outcome of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions after Horowitz's explosive first report released in April found that he lied multiple times about authorizing a leak to The Wall Street Journal. In McCabe's case, Horowitz referred his findings to Sessions, who fired him several days before he was set to retire. Horowitz also submitted a criminal referral on McCabe to the DOJ for possible criminal prosecution, as reported. It would be up to Washington prosecutors to determine whether or not to move forward with the referral and it elevated the possibility that McCabe would be charged with a crime. Horowitz's report concluded that McCabe had lied to then-FBI Director James B. Comey, as well as his investigators and others regarding his authorization of the leak. McCabe lied on four occasions, three of those were under oath. A.G. Sessions already revealed that John Huber, a U.S. attorney in Utah, has been charged with investigating scandals relating to Justice Department investigations of President Trump, and the U.S. attorney in Little Rock has a grand jury investigation underway. So the pieces are in place for action on any referrals that may result. It is important to remember that the I.G. report currently in the review and comment stage is but the second (McCabe was the first) of three, as Carter notes: The report [under review and comment now] is expected to focus solely on the Clinton investigation and not on the 2016 Russia election meddling investigation, according to sources. ... The Clinton report is expected to be followed by a third report on the IG's investigation into the FBI and DOJ's handling of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application on Carter Page, a former volunteer for the Trump campaign. The IG announced this investigation in March. The "Crossfire Hurricane" story in the New York Times was playing defense on the FISA application investigation, it seems. My speculation is that both phases of the I.G. report are close to being released. Or else, the email investigation report makes reference to the counterintelligence investigation of Trump. Because of the integrity of the I.G. office, we don't really know, but we will be finding out soon. After sacrificing fifty of their prized terrorists in their latest stunt to discredit Israel in the past week, was it really worth it to Gaza's Hamas rulers? Based on at least one surprising press account describing the phony staged event, it looks as if the trick fell flat. Get a load of what the liberal-lefty, hoity-toity, Euro-infused Economist is reporting about it: Every state has a right to defend its borders. To judge by the numbers, Israel's army may well have used excessive force. But any firm conclusion requires an independent assessment of what happened, where and when. The Israelis sometimes used non-lethal means, such as tear-gas dropped from drones. But then snipers went to work with bullets. What changed? Mixed in with protesters, it seems, were an unknown number of Hamas attackers seeking to breach the fence. What threat did they pose? Any fair judgment depends on the details. See? They are admitting that the Hamas "protesters" were basically terrorists. And it's normal to get rid of terrorists, especially if they are on the attack. Sounds as though someone's waking up to the garbage going on, and Hamas's expectations of winning the hearts and minds of the Eurotrash has fallen flat. Not even the Economist is supporting it. The Economist has a lousy headline to its piece which blames Israel, but the article itself is far more factually oriented, and it's likely that the Economist's unsigned pieces are group efforts, meaning that the guy who wrote the headline in some place like London is not the same person as the guy on the ground who went out and gathered the facts. Its blame to Israel is namby-pamby boilerplate, but its indictment of Hamas is the genuine article, and it clearly shows how the wretched situation is the terrorists' own doing: Hamas bears much of the blame, too. It all but destroyed the Oslo peace accords through its campaign of suicide-bombings in the 1990s and 2000s. Having driven the Israelis out of Gaza, it won a general election in 2006 and, after a brief civil war, expelled Fatah from the strip in 2007. It has misruled Gaza ever since, proving corrupt, oppressive and incompetent. It stores its weapons in civilian sites, including mosques and schools, making them targets. Cement that might be used for reconstruction is diverted to build underground tunnels to attack Israel. Hamas all but admitted it was not up to governing when it agreed to hand many administrative tasks to the PA last year as part of a reconciliation deal with Fatah. But the pact collapsed because Hamas is not prepared to give up its weapons. The Economist slides into naivete with this, apparently unaware that when a situation gets this far gone with an entrenched one-party state (Have they not heard of Zimbabwe, California, or Venezuela?), getting rid of such rulers who won't get out isn't solved by gentle elections to change power. Israel, Egypt and the PA cannot just lock away the Palestinians in Gaza in the hope that Hamas will be overthrown. Only when Gazans live more freely might they think of getting rid of their rulers. Much more can be done to ease Gazans' plight without endangering Israel's security. But no lasting solution is possible until the question of Palestine is solved, too. Mr Netanyahu has long resisted the idea of a Palestinian state and has kept building settlements on occupied land. But The Economist does move back to hard realism by pointing out that the stunt is failing, not just as a result of the facts on the ground, but based on other things not moving in Hamas's favor: As Israel marks its 70th birthday, the economy is booming. By "managing" the conflict, rather than trying to end it, Mr Netanyahu has kept Palestinian violence in check while giving nothing away. When violence flares Israel's image suffers, but not much. The Trump administration supports it. And Arab states seeking an ally against a rising Iran have never had better relations with it. Then it calls for a "peace movement," which is ridiculous, given the orientation of the thugs ruling Gaza. Good luck with that one. What can be clearly drawn from this is that the kill stunt we were all supposed to coo over and condemn Israel for is a failure. Everyone, even The Economist, can see that it's a cynical political tactic by sworn terrorists who still fancy themselves military fighters, while hypocritically and mendaciously calling themselves "peaceful." Blaming Israel cuckoo clock-style for whatever happens as a result of that isn't working anymore. What a dose of stupidity these terrorists have thrown out there for themselves. The best thing to do with Hamas is to get rid of it, but if that can't be done, throwing these terrorists out from power by force will do. The variant of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe with model number ZS570KL is currently receiving a software package that will upgrade the handsets operating system to Android 8.0 Oreo. After installing the update, users will be able to take advantage of features including the Picture-in-Picture mode, the notification dots functionality, and the autofill feature. The Picture-in-Picture mode permits users to view two applications at the same time by showing one app in a smaller window that is placed on top of another application. On the other hand, the notification dots feature alerts users on which applications have notifications directly on the home screen, and tapping the notification dots will open a selection of quick in-app actions. Meanwhile, the autofill functionality reduces the time spent by the user in logging in to websites and applications by remembering important information like passwords and usernames. Aside from the upgraded version of the Android operating system, the update also brings software changes that are specific to the device. The software package introduces changes to the launcher of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe. Users may now swipe up to open the app drawer, and the all apps icon has been modified. A number of pre-installed applications will also be removed after installing the software upgrade, including TripAdvisor, Puffin Browser, and Kindle. Meanwhile, ZenMotion, a feature that permits users to control the device using gestures, will now be turned off by default after the device has been updated. The Privacy Settings of the device has also been modified, and this software package also adds support for the Voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) service of the Taiwanese telecom firm Chunghwa Telecom. Before installing the software upgrade, the Taiwanese device maker advises users to backup the files and images stored in the handset to a microSD card or a personal computer to prevent loss of important data. ASUS further mentioned that it could take several days before the software upgrade reaches all units of the device. In addition, users should also verify if the smartphones battery has sufficient charge to last the entire update process. It should be noted that the Taiwanese device maker has already upgraded another variant of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe, which has the model number ZS550KL, to Android 8.0 Oreo last March. The American arm of Cambridge Analytica filed for Chapter Seven bankruptcy in the United States, just over two weeks after its British unit and parent company SCL Elections did the same in the United Kingdom. The development marks the end of yet another episode in the Facebook data privacy scandal that emerged in late March, with several sources reporting an academic researcher used an online personality quiz to harvest data of up to 87 million Facebook users without obtaining consent from most of them, then offloaded that information to Cambridge Analytica which allegedly used it for profit but repeatedly denied those accusations. Earlier this month, the firm highlighted a report authored by Queens Counsel Julian Malins who found no evidence of the company breaking any laws, arguing it has been vilified due to standard industry practices. The data harvesting practices in question selling Facebook data to third parties have formally been banned by Facebook in 2015 but the Menlo Park, California-based social media giant is still struggling to control the data that previously found its way online in such a manner and is generally having difficulties with policing its developers today. An internal investigation into similar privacy violations already saw some 200 apps banned by Facebook in recent weeks. The worlds largest social media also threatened to sue The Guardian over publishing the Cambridge Analytica story in March but said it later regretted that move. Facebook is presently being investigated over its data privacy practices in both the United States and the European Union, with the former already submitting CEO Mark Zuckerberg to some ten hours of congressional grillings earlier this month. Brussels will also question the multi-billionaire over the matter in the coming weeks, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said Wednesday. Cambridge Analyticas Thursday bankruptcy filing was signed by Jennifer and Rebekah Mercer, daughters of Robert Mercer, an AI pioneer, business magnate, and billionaire who was one of President Trumps largest donors and backed the company with $15 million in 2013. Cambridge Analytica worked for the Trump campaign on the 2016 election but denied using the controversially harvested data in order to benefit the then-candidate. The Honor 10 sales are off to a really good start it seems. The company has announced that it took consumers in Spain only six hours to buy all the available Honor 10 units, while the Phantom Blue Honor 10 sold out within one day in France. The Honor 10 is also available in Germany, Italy, and the UK as we speak, and the device was announced a couple of days ago in London, following its original launch in China which took place last month. Now, it is unclear as to how many Honor 10 units Honor made available for users in Spain, or how many of them the company sold overall, but it seems like consumers are quite interested in the device. That may not be that surprising considering that the phones pricing starts at only 399 / 399 in Europe, depending on the region, and youre also eligible for a 30 / 30 voucher which you can get on the companys official website (hihonor.com). Honor had introduced four color variants of the Honor 10, Blue, Gray, Green, and Black, though their availability is market-dependent. As far as the device itself is concerned, it actually resembles the Huawei P20 quite a bit, while the two phones also have similar specs. The Honor 10 does not come with Leicas lenses, as Honor wanted to keep its price down, but the phone is fueled by Huaweis most powerful SoC, the Kirin 970, just like the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro. This handset was announced in both 4GB and 6GB RAM variants, but only a 4GB RAM model is available in Europe, and it comes with 64GB or 128GB of storage, depending on which variant you opt to buy. The Honor 10 does sport a display notch, and its bezels are quite thin, though it does have a chin below the display, which houses the phones fingerprint scanner, which is placed under the glass. 16 and 24-megapixel cameras are included on the back of this phone, while a 24-megapixel camera sits on the devices front side. The phone ships with Android 8.1 Oreo, with Huaweis Emotion UI (EMUI) 8.1 skin on top of it. This smartphone also includes a 3,400mAh battery, and Huaweis proprietary fast charging. Introduction Do we have a good one for you today these two devices that came out a couple of months ago, are still the most the most beautiful, technologically advanced, and popular smartphones on the planet the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9 Plus. This comparison is for those customers who wait until the prices come down, are waiting for a new color, or when the carriers offer even more specials. After all, not many new flagship devices have been released since the Galaxy 9 series. The two of these devices are so similar that this comparison is a little different than most, with both models compared at the same time, rather than breaking it down into two separate reports. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are very similar to their predecessors, the Galaxy 8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. This year, Samsung only refined the outside of the S9 series with a few design touches small, but welcomed changes. Samsung changed the way the curved glass/display meet the body of the device, making it much easier to pick up and hold without activating an app by mistake. The Galaxy S9 series is slightly shorter, but weighs more than the S8 series. Both the US/China models of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus use the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and the Adreno 630 GPU. The EMEA countries receive the Exynos 9810 processor and Mali-G72 MP18 GPU. Both devices use the same 8-megapixel front-facing camera (FFC) with the same specs, as well as the same 12-megapixel main camera. Advertisement Please take a careful look at the detailed specifications comparison chart below and here you will see just how these two high-end Android smartphones stack up against each other. After that, we will look at them in more detail and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information, we will try to determine the winner based on overall specs, as well as the execution of design and functions. Specifications Advertisement Samsung Galaxy S9 From the outside, you are looking at the most beautiful display you will find on a smartphone the Samsung WQHD+ Super AMOLED Display. On the Galaxy S9s 5.8-inch display that translates into 570 pixels-per-inch (PPI) and on the Galaxy S9 Pluss 6.2-inch display we still get a whopping 529 PPI. Both use Cornings Gorilla Glass 5 for protection (front and back) and are HDR10 compliant. Both devices take advantage of the Always-On display technology to help save battery life and make it much easier on the user to check quickly their notifications to decide if they really want to read the entire notification. The displays are slightly less curved than their predecessor to make it easier to pick up and hold in your hand without activating and app on the display. There is a 3D Touch area used as the home button. Samsung flagships sold in the US/China use the newest Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor clocked at 2.7GHz with an Adreno 630 GPU to handle any graphic you can throw its way. Models destined to the EMEA countries use the Exynos 9810 octa-core clocked at 2.7GHz and a Mali-G72-MP18 GPU both very comparable in performance. One big difference is that the S9 Plus now packs 6GB (up from 4GB) of DDR4 RAM rather than the 4GB in the Galaxy S9, although both have a base of 64GB of expandable internal memory. Samsung will also manufacture both models with 128GB or 256GB of memory, but it will depend on your area and carrier whether or not they will carry that model or if you can order one. Advertisement This is one area where the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus part ways. While they both use the same 12-megapixel Super Dual Pixel camera as their main shooter, the Galaxy S9 Plus adds a second 12-megapixel camera and 2x Optical Zoom. The main camera itself is an exciting piece of technology with its new Adaptive Aperture that works like the human eyes iris in bright light situations, the aperture will reduce itself to f/2.4, but when the camera senses a lowlight situation, it will open wider to an f/1.5. This feature helps the user to insure that their photos will automatically have the proper light exposure in most cases. Working along with the adaptive feature is the Phase Detection AutoFocus (PDAF), OIS, 10x Digital Zoom, and LED Flash. The Galaxy S9 Plus second camera allows for much better portrait mode shots and allows for the blurring of the background to give you that bokeh effect. The front-facing camera (FFC) is the same 8-megapixel used of the Galaxy S9s predecessor. It has a large aperture of f/1.7, auto-HDR, and has autofocus. This camera is perfect for selfies, which continue to grow in popularity. Video chatting is enhanced with the cameras large size and the inclusion of autofocus. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Advertisement Every year we hope for a larger battery, but Samsung has kept the same size batteries as last year the Galaxy S9 carries a 3,000mAh capacity battery and the S9 Plus is packing a 3,500mAh capacity battery. Both batteries are non-removable, which is certainly the modern trend, so that means we have to rely on charging them throughout the day if we are a heavy user. Fortunately, the batteries, combined with the energy efficient Snapdragon 845, tend to last the average user an entire day. However, if you do need to replenish your battery, Samsungs Adaptive Charge and quick wireless charging will have your Galaxy S9 or S9 Plus back in service in no time, as they are capable of fully charging in about an hour and 40 minutes or less. Samsung may have given the dual-cameras only to the Galaxy S9 Plus, but many improvements occur each year on the entire flagship S series. First and foremost is the new Snapdragon 845/Adreno 630 combination to increase features, extend battery life through more efficiency, and stunning graphics. In the camera area, besides the adaptive aperture, this year the Dual Pixels were supersized to capture even more detail. Samsung continued the Hi-Res audio, but this year added the dual-stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos the earpiece is one speaker while the second speaker resides on the bottom of the phone giving the S9 series one of the best sounding speakers on the market. Samsung is always concerned about safety and continues this trend by not only offering facial recognition and iris scanning, but also this year they offer Intelligent Scan that combines the previous two methods to gain quicker access in a more secure manner. The rear fingerprint sensor was re-positioned to make it harder to smudge the camera lens, although it would not hurt to move it even farther away from the camera. The new AR Emoji is a fun feature where you can turn your own photo into an emoji and send it to others on social media. The AR Emoji feature needs some work, for instance, it does not recognize beards, but is the basis for a future upgrade. The Galaxy S9 series has the usual Samsung goodies Samsung Pay, IP68 certification, heart rate monitor, SpO2 sensor, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Bixby personal assistant, and an improved Samsung DeX that allows you to make your Galaxy S9 into a desktop computer. No offense to Android Pay, which you can do on the S9 series, but Samsung Pay is simply the best option on the market. Not only can you use the pay wave implementation to make a payment, but almost any card swiping equipment can also handle Samsung Pay something not possible with Android Pay or Apple Pay. Older establishments that never upgraded equipment from swiping a credit card can still accept Samsung Pay. Bixbys personal assistant keeps improving at a rapid rate and may reach the level of Googles Assistant in a very short time. The devices ship with Android 8.0 Oreo, along with the new and less invasive Samsung Experience 9.0 (UI) and come in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Titanium Gray, Lilac Purple, as well as a new red color announced for China. The Final Word Advertisement It comes as no surprise that the Galaxy S9 Plus is the more coveted of these two devices. It has the camera with more options, 6GB of RAM, a larger battery, and a slightly larger display. However, the Galaxy S9 Plus will cost you about $130 more than the Galaxy S9, and that is a lot of money for 2GB of RAM and a camera upgrade. Remember that the Galaxy S9 has the same processor, GPU, stereo speakers, and other Samsung goodies. You will have to decide if the extra money is worth the extra camera features remembering that the main camera is the same on both models. The extra RAM would certainly help things run smoother and allow for more multitasking, but you have to ask yourself if that is something you do. Proper Google Assistant support is landing on two Sony headsets with an update thats being pushed out to owners of either device. The headsets in question are Sonys WH-1000XM2 over-the-ear headphones, and Sonys WI-1000X, both of which were confirmed to be getting access to Google Assistant at some point during an announcement made by Sony at CES 2018, albeit without mentioning when the update would be released at the time. Prior to this update going out Google Assistant was technically accessible from both of these pars of headphones but to activate it you were required to hold down the call button. Following this update, users will be able to re-configure the noise cancellation button to activate Assistant instead of having to hold down the call button which should make the process of using the feature quicker than it was before. In addition to now being able to re-configure the button used for activation, when alerts come through to your connected phone Google Assistant will read them aloud to you through the headphones, another convenience factor that will allow users to forgo having to pull their phones out of their pockets if they dont necessarily need to interact with an alert right away. Owners of other Sony headphones should expect the same exact support in a future update but right now theres no mention from Sony about when the update will start hitting devices. It could be soon or it could still take months but the update will eventually head out to Sonys WF-1000X, WH-CH900N, and h.ear on 2 models. One thing to keep in mind with this update is that it will be heading out to numerous regions where Sony sells each of these pairs, some of which dont have support for Google Assistant, so there will be some users who wont be able to utilize the proper support that this feature is generally introducing for those where Google Assistant is available. The Sunrise Gold variants of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus Android flagships may be coming to the United States after all, even as Samsungs Wednesday announcement made no mention of their stateside availability. Earlier this week, known industry insider Evan Blass shared the two renders seen above, with their implication being that the new color will eventually become available for purchase to American consumers. While the international models of Samsungs high-end mobile offerings even those powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon chips sold in Canada and Mexico come with no model branding, those retailed in the U.S. so far always had their model names printed near the bottom third of their rear panels, much like those seen in the press renders shared by Mr. Blass. Besides the Sunrise Gold models, Samsung on Wednesday also announced the Burgundy Red variants of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, having also failed to mention the U.S. in the context of their availability. The South Korean tech giant has a long history of refreshing its ultra-premium mobile lineups with new colors, usually as a way to reinvigorate sales in select markets, with the implication here being that the stateside commercial performance of the Galaxy S9 series may not warrant such a move yet. While the Burgundy Red color option already debuted late last year as the final addition to the Galaxy S8 family, the Sunrise Gold version is entirely new and may be revisited going forward, depending on its market reception. Samsung reportedly has at least one entirely new smartphone color in the works for this year, with one industry insider recently claiming the Galaxy Note 9 series will include a Teddy Brown finish, thus offering the first brown Galaxy-branded flagship since the 2013 Galaxy S4. The Galaxy Note 9 is expected to debut in late August or early September, with its launch most likely being tied to the annual IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany. The merger between Sprint and T-Mobile may not be finalized yet, but that reportedly hasnt kept Sprint from throwing together incentives packages intended to encourage some employees to stay after its complete. Thats according to a new report from the Kansas City Business Journal which states that the retention bonuses are intended to assuage fears about job losses following the merger. However, the bonuses are also said to only be made available to select employees and may not guarantee a continuing career with the company. In fact, the company itself has said that the bonuses are neither a reflection of the employees worth to Sprint or a promise of continued employment. Although none of the offers finer details have been outlined, this seems to primarily be an effort to stop a panic among managing employees. Theres a good chance that those jobs will already be filled by current managers at T-Mobile if the merger goes through. The concerns expressed by Sprint employees, meanwhile, are not at all unfounded. If regulators approve of the deal, Sprint will effectively be absorbed into what the two companies are calling the new T-Mobile. Whats more, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray recently explained that Sprints vast spectrum holdings are the primary advantage of the merger. That seems to imply that although some of Sprints infrastructure will undoubtedly be used, the majority of what separates Sprint as a company is likely to disappear. Thats going to put a substantial amount of pressure on current employees working at the company, in addition to a sense of diminished worth. The detriment to Sprint is that the merger is, by no means, final or guaranteed but a decrease in employee morale could be the result. That could, in turn, harm the company as a whole in spite of the fact that similar mergers between carriers have failed in the past and job loss may be far less than some expect. In the meantime, there is a chance that employees who chose to take the bonuses will be able to claim those even if the merger falls through. So this is arguably a smart move on Sprints part since it serves as an incentive for employees to continue performing optimally. Former President of the ANC and President of JxCats parliamentary groupHaving a legitimate government at the helm of Catalonias Generalitat was important. The mandate following the 21 December elections was unambiguous. As a result, most independence supporters such as myself were in favour of forming a government and avoiding a fresh election, in spite of the four occasions on which the Spanish legal system has prevented Parliament from voting in a president. And let us not forget the peoples right to good government and a government under parliamentary control, two circumstances that were made impossible thanks to Article 155 [whereby Madrid imposed direct rule]. The election of Quim Torra as President of the Catalan Government brings to a close one of the most bizarre and abnormal chapters in Catalan politics in recent years: the absence of a legitimate government. Nevertheless, no one should be fooled into thinking that with the formation of a new government and the end of 155, the political situation in Catalonia will cease to be rocky. Events in both Catalan and Spanish politics have continued to be marked by decisions made by the courts of law. Those who some time ago delegated political action to the courts thinking they would solve "the Catalan problem" have now seen that the judicialization of the issue has become the main stumbling block to seeking a political solution through dialogue. Ironically, it has also become the main reason why the Catalan issue has taken on an international dimension. We are only a few weeks away from the start of our court case, for which we stand accused of crimes which are punishable by decades in prison. Those of us who are in prison already know that we will be tried separately from those who are in exile. The reason is none other than to ensure that the legal decisions made in Belgium, Scotland, Germany and Switzerland which have shown little or no sympathy for the Spanish Supreme Courts case do not cast doubt on our guilty verdict. The machinery of the Supreme Court is engaged in designing criminal justice of variable dimensions. In other words, we are to be tried differently based on the same facts. An utter disgrace. But for now it seems that nobody wishes to stop it from going ahead. It is one of the consequences of what one could call a "judgeocracy", a situation in which the judges not only do not reject their overblown political role, but instead brazenly accept and even actively seek it, by means of their decisions. Faced with a situation in which Parliaments political institutions are debased along with the governments ability to mediate and moderate the conflict, 'judgeocratic' solutions might mean that the benefits of avoiding new elections become irrelevant or marginal to say the least. President Puigdemont is aware of the risks. Nevertheless, he was determined to form a government, a decision consistent with the conviction held by any democrat that institutions must engage in politics, and that the more demanding and participatory the public are, the higher the democratic quality will be. We ought to thank President Torra and his government for taking on the leadership of a complex institutional manoeuvre, and a labyrinthine yet inevitable political agenda, if we are not to lose everything. Torras government wont have it easy thanks to interference from certain quarters and the ongoing legal proceedings. However, he mustnt stop governing in the search for solutions, thinking about the Catalan people as a whole and while committing himself to "repair the tears in the countrys social seams that have appeared in recent months, however minor they may appear." How did Sothebys manage to be deprecated on Monday for achieving a price of $157.2-million for a Modigliani reclining nudethe highest amount ever paid at that firm for a single artwork? The auction house was seen as under-achieving, because this indolent ladys $139-million hammer price was on the backside of her presale estimatein excess of $150 million. As such, she had a Me-Too moment with another ballyhooed nudePicassos Fillette a la Corbeille Fleurie in last weeks Rockefeller sale of Impressionist and modern works, which hammered at $102-million, against Christies presale estimate of about $100 million. Bidding on the Modigliani at Sothebys opened at $125 million, proceeded sluggishly and stopped dead at $139 million. According to Kelly Crows Wall Street Journal report, it was bought by its pre-arranged third-party guarantor who, as the symbols in the catalogue reveal, had offered an irrevocable bid prior to the sale. Such bidders (at both Sothebys and Christies) receive a fee for relieving the auction house of its risk, which means that they end up paying less than anyone else making the same bidan uneven playing field. It could be that potential buyers are resisting being gamed in this manner. For raising unrealistic expectations for its star lot, Sothebys had only itself to blame. In a presale press release, the auction house had boldly claimed that this was the greatest work from the iconic series in which Modigliani reinvented the nude for the Modern era. It may have been the largest painting from that series, but in the masterpiece market, square footage counts less than quality. To my eyes (and, presumably, to the eyes of megabucks buyers), this example, sold by Christies in November 2015, was much more of a wow picture. Estimated to bring in excess of $100 million it had hammered at $152 million ($170.4 million, with buyers premium): In this tweet, posted three weeks before the sale, I had suggested that Mondays Modigliani would fall short: Not sure why people suggest that the @Sothebys Modigliani (est. in excess it $150m) will break artists record set by the full-frontal example that hammered at $152m in 2015 @ChristiesInc https://t.co/0hh1gIJTjN Well see pic.twitter.com/7g73VH8Z8v Lee Rosenbaum (@CultureGrrl) April 24, 2018 The surprising sense of letdown from a rare nine-figure auction price was reminiscent of what happened last week to the star lot of Christies Rockefeller salePicassos Fillette a la Corbeille Fleurie, for which similarly sluggish bidding stopped dead at $102 million ($115 million with buyers premium) against a hammer-price presale estimate of about $100 million. The rest of the Sothebys auction was marred by the failure of 13 of the 45 works to find buyers. Hammer total for the sale was $277.5 million, far below $307.4-$378.1 million estimate of hammer total. The sale was 71.1% sold by lot; 89.3% by dollar. Things went more smoothly last night at Christies, whose Impressionist/Modern evening sale was 89% sold by lot and 99% by dollar (meaning that the four lots that failed to sell were of relatively small value). The hammer total was $362.2 million ($415.85 million with fees), comfortably within the $326.6-421.5 million presale estimate and exceeding the take at Sothebys. It was a good, clean sale, David Norman, a private dealer (formerly co-chairman for Impressionist/Modern art at Sothebys) told Katya Kazakina of Bloomberg. But the damage at Christies was done before the sale: By now youve undoubtedly read that this work, in a three-way tie for the highest estimate in that auction (in the region of $70 million), never made it to the auction block: Seen above at the May 3 press preview, intact (and reportedly consigned by the hapless Steve Wynn), it was unaccountably damaged about a week later and was withdrawn from sale, along with another Picasso reportedly consigned by WynnFemme au chat assise dans un fauteuil, estimated at $22 million to $28 million. Christies has declined to provide any details about the nature of the damage or how it occurred. Perhaps its in the hands of the lawyers (as happened with Wynns previous Picasso fiasco). The auction house did release a statement on Sunday that Picassos self-portrait as a sailor was accidentally damaged Friday during the final stages of preparation for Christies May 12-15 exhibition, and would be restored. Unmentioned was whether it would be offered at a future sale at Christies or elsewhere. The highest price in Christies Impressionist/Modern sale was $85.81 million for Malevichs Suprematist Composition, which had been among five works restituted to the artists heirs by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, in 2008, after having been displayed in 2003-2004 at two Guggenheims (Berlin and New York) and at the Menil Collection, Houston: The Malevich set an auction record for the artist in 2008, and again last night, when it hammered at $76 million, against an estimate of about $70 million. That estimate is a lot less than was reported in this Christies handout to journalists, which contained what the auction house later told me was a $20-million typo. We all make mistakes, but this (which I relied upon in a tweet, later amended) was a whopper: All registered domestic and foreign companies in the Philippines are liable to pay corporate income tax. Starting in 2020, corporate income tax will be reduced from 30 percent to 20 percent over a 10-year period through the CITIRA initiative. Businesspeople should regularly familiarize themselves with regulations for tax residency, corporate income tax, withholding tax, and others to remain compliant. In the Philippines, all companies domestic or foreign are liable to pay corporate income tax (CIT). The tax liability for a corporation is determined by its residency status and is based on the net income it obtains while carrying out its business activity, normally during one business year. Beyond CIT, businesspeople should also understand withholding tax and some other taxes. Business leaders that regularly review corporate taxes in the country and consult with their local advisors find it easier to remain compliant and leverage any beneficial reforms, such as rate reductions or incentives. Residency status of a company A company is regarded as a resident if it is incorporated under the tax laws of the Philippines or as a foreign resident corporation that is duly licensed by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to engage in trade or business in the Philippines. While a domestic company is taxed on its worldwide net taxable income, a foreign company resident or non-resident -, is taxed only on income that is received in the Philippines, or that arises or is deemed to accrue in the country. Non-resident foreign corporations, however, are taxed on gross income derived from the Philippines. Corporate income tax Income tax does not include dividends received from domestic corporations; interest on Philippine currency bank deposit and yield or any other monetary benefit from deposit substitutes and from trust funds and similar arrangements; and other passive income previously subject to final taxes. The applicable CIT rate for both resident and non-resident corporations is 30 percent based on net taxable income. This is set to change with the introduction of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) in September 2019. CITIRA will see CIT rates reduced to 20 percent in annual increments of 1 percentage point over a 10-year period starting in 2020. Withholding tax Dividends Dividends distributed by a resident company are subject to withholding tax at 30 percent; those distributed to non-residents are taxed at 15 percent, provided the country of the non-resident recipient allows a tax credit of 15 percent. The withholding tax may be reduced under an applicable tax treaty. Interest Interest paid to a non-resident is subject to a 20 percent withholding tax unless otherwise stipulated under a tax treaty. Royalty Royalty payments made to a domestic or resident company are subject to a final withholding tax of 20 percent. A 30 percent withholding tax is levied on royalty payments to non-residents. Other taxes imposed on corporations Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) Fringe benefits granted to supervisory and managerial employees are subject to 35 percent tax on the grossed-up monetary value of the fringe benefit. Under new income tax regulations, fringe benefits mean any good, service or other benefit granted in cash or in kind, other than the basic compensation, by an employer to an individual employee. The benefits include, but not limited to housing; expense accounts; vehicles; household personnel; interest on loans at less than market rate; club membership fees; expenses for foreign travel; holiday and vacation expenses; education assistance; and life or health insurance and other non-life insurance premiums. Fringe benefits tax, however, is not imposed when the fringe benefits are deemed necessary to the nature of your business. Branch Profit Remittance Tax (BPRT) Branches of foreign companies in the Philippines, except those registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, are subject to income tax at the rate of 30 percent on their income derived within the Philippines. A 15 percent branch profit remittance tax (BPRT) is levied on the after-tax profits remitted by a branch to its head office. Minimum Corporate Income Tax (MCIT) After-tax profits remitted by a branch do not include income items which are not effectively connected with the conduct of its trade or business in the Philippines. Such income items include interests, dividends, rents, royalties, including remuneration for technical services, salaries, wages, premiums, annuities, emoluments or other fixed or determinable annual, periodic or casual gains, profits, income and capital gains received during each taxable year from all sources within the Philippines. A minimum corporate income tax (MCIT) of 2 percent is imposed on the gross income of both domestic and resident foreign corporations, on an annual basis. It is imposed from the beginning of the fourth taxable year immediately following the commencement of the business operations of the corporation. The MCIT is imposed when the standard 20 percent CIT is lower than the 2 percent MCIT on the companys gross income. Any excess of the MCIT over the normal tax may be carried forward and credited against the normal tax for the three immediately succeeding taxable years Improperly Accumulated Earnings Tax (IAET) Income accumulated by closely-held corporations with a purpose of avoiding tax attracts an improperly accumulated earnings tax (IAET)of 10 percent. The closely held corporation may refer to companies wherein at least 50 percent of the capital stock or voting power is owned directly or indirectly by not more than 20 individuals. The tax base of the 10 percent IAET is the taxable income of the current year plus income exempt from tax, income excluded from gross income, income subject to final tax, and the amount of net operating loss carry-over deducted. Corporations excluded from the ambit of the IAET include banks and other nonbank financial intermediaries; insurance companies; publicly-held corporations; taxable partnerships; general professional partnerships; non-taxable joint ventures; and duly registered enterprises located within the special economic zones declared by law which enjoy payment of special tax rate on their registered operations or activities in lieu of other taxes, national or local. The criteria to determine the liability for the IAET is the purpose of the accumulation of the income and not the consequences of the accumulation. That is, if a company allows its earnings or profits to accumulate within its reasonable needs, then it would not be subject to the tax unless proven to the contrary. This article was originally published on May 18, 2018 and was updated on October 3, 2019. How Hyposexuality Differs From Asexuality Trending News: Having Trouble Maintaining Your Sex Life? You Might Be Hyposexual Long Story Short Do you consider yourself asexual? Well, we have news: youre probably hyposexual. Long Story Having trouble maintaining your sex life? Cant raise an erection or get into the mood for some sack time? If youve reached the point where your girlfriend is telling everyone youre asexual, you should be concerned. But you should also know that youre probably not asexual. Chances are youre hyposexual. No, we didnt just make that up. The term is used by sexual health professionals to describe a decreased libido that can potentially be experienced at different degrees and time periods for various reasons. Related: 10 Smartphone Apps To Boost Your Sex Drive The Independent published an insightful explainer on the condition, talking to a spokesperson for the UKs LGBT Foundation and a clinical psychologist. Hyposexuality differs from asexuality mainly in its definition: the former is a diagnosis; the latter is an orientation formed around community and personal experience. Basically, if you cant get it up or orgasm and sex is painful and porn does absolutely nothing for you and youre finding it all a bit distressing theres a good chance you are hyposexual. The diagnosis of hyposexuality has actually existed for decades. As far back as the 1980s, researchers were noting a marked increase in the prevalence of the condition. Interestingly enough, hyposexuality is reportedly more common in women than it is in men. This is because of the underlying neurochemistry that differs in male and female brains, consultant clinical psychologist Janice Hiller told The Independent. Which means you wont be surprised by the generally acknowledged causes: depression and other forms of mental illness as well as drug and alcohol abuse. Thankfully the symptoms usually arent long term and can be resolved with counselling, medicine or lifestyle changes (including, sometimes, a change in partner). Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question How many people are hyposexual and not aware? Drop This Fact One subgroup often affected by hyposexuality is people with epilepsy. Sexual difficulties may be due to the epilepsy itself or medications and other health conditions associated with the disorder. A climber negotiates the cliff traverse on Pyramid Peak in 2016. Three government agencies and two guide services are teaming up for an intensive educational campaign this summer on the backcountry and 14ers, spurred by the deaths of eight people last year in the wilderness outside Aspen. At the time, it was considered that the companys idea to fuel the rocket using propellant kept at ultra-low temperatures might cause an explosion and hurt the astronauts crammed on top of the rocket.This week, NASA specialists have backed up a bit. While still considering the procedure to be a possibly high-risk one, they may give it a pass should the proper safety precautions be taken. Brent Jett Jr., member of NASAs Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, said as much during a meeting on Thursday."My sense is that, assuming there are adequate, verifiable controls identified and implemented for the credible hazard causes, and those which could potentially result in an emergency situation it appears load-and-go is a viable option for the program to consider," he said according to LA Times SpaceX uses liquid kerosene mixed with oxygen kept at super cold temperatures (-340 degrees Fahrenheit, -171 degrees Celsius) as fuel for its rockets. This allows for the rocket to carry more of the stuff as it occupies less space.The temperatures at which the propellant is being kept would require the fuel to be loaded right before the launch, with the astronauts onboard. Any spark generated during this process could translate into a deadly explosion.As per the NASA regulations, all manned rocket launches must be subject to a chance of death that is not greater than one in 270 flights.An incident occurred in 2016 when an unmanned Falcon rocket blew up while being fueled as the super cold oxygen reacted with the carbon fiber composites within the fuel tank and exploded.The problem with the carbon fiber composites within the fuel tank has been remedied, and the recently launched Falcon 9 Stage 5 rocket is now much safer. Among other things, the guys over at Profiles in History specialize in selling guaranteed-authentic original items used in blockbusting movies. Through the years, they sold stuff like the Cowardly Lion costume from The Wizard of Oz, Luke Skywalkers lightsaber from Star Wars and even the Marilyn Monroe subway dress from The Seven Year Itch.This June, during the Icons & Legends of Hollywood event, the auction house will be selling a Harley-Davidson FLSTF Fat Boy. But not just any Fat Boy, but the exact one used by the former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1991 Terminator 2 Judgement Day movie.The motorcycle was used while filming a chase through a dried out Los Angeles River. In the scene, Schwarzeneggers T-800 robot was trying to evade, while protecting John Connor, from being obliterated by the shapeshifting T-1000.According to a statement released earlier this month, the auction house expects to get up to $300,000 for it.This will not be the only Terminator-related prop that was sold by Profiles in History. A full-scale model T-800 endoskeleton, also featured in the Judgement Day movie, was sold at a previous event for a staggering $488,750.The FLSTF Fat Boy is one of the iconic bike builders best selling motorcycles. It was created for the Daytona Bike Week rally in 1988 by Willie G. Davidson and Louie Netz.The production version of the bike used a 1984 Softail-inspired frame and was fitted with a V-twin engine with a 1,340 cc (82 cu in) displacement.The auction will be held starting June 5. Alongside the Harley will sit some other exciting items like Charlton Hestons chariot from Ben-Hur, Sigourney Weavers Ripley spacesuit from Alien. When President Trump demanded that China cut its $375 billion trade deficit with the U.S. by $200 billion, Chinese officials and the U.S. press shrieked. It seemed impossible. However, there's a simple way for China to give Trump this win: buying $200 billion worth of American oil, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Alaska, Texas and Louisiana. The details: Alaska is estimated to have nearly $1 trillion worth of LNG that it's eager to sell and heartland states have several trillion dollars worth of oil and gas reserves available for export. While there would be some delays in delivery new production and transportation infrastructure would first have to be built the trade deficit is measured by date of sale, so the impact would be seen right away. The backdrop: China has an immense energy demand, accounting for 60% of global growth in oil, gas and coal consumption since the 2008 Great Recession. It has more than $3 trillion worth of foreign exchange reserves, over $1 trillion of which is held in U.S. dollars. Buying and paying up front for U.S. energy, then, amounts to little more than changing the mix of assets in its portfolio. In fact, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has repeatedly called on China to import more American LNG, recognizing that it would also help diversify Chinas supply sources. From the U.S. perspective, selling natural resources is less desirable than selling manufactured products. But by doing so, Trump could credibly claim to cut the bilateral trade deficit by more than half. Moreover, these contracts would allow American companies to secure loans to build oil and gas infrastructure whose construction would employ tens of thousands of American workers. While this proposal may sound far-fetched, Governor Bill Walker of Alaska is already seeking Chinese financing for a $43-billion deal to export LNG, and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. has almost completed negotiations with its Chinese counterparts. The Chinese oil conglomerate Sinopec has also proposed a $7-billion, 700-mile pipeline from the Permian Basin shale oil field in western Texas to the Gulf, another effort the package could include. The other side: Most economists dismiss bilateral trade deficits as irrelevant. They insist that deficits are simply the consequence of Americans consuming more than they save. But this argument misses the political economy of trade and the opportunities it offers politicians to demonstrate that they are championing jobs for their constituents. Congressmen, senators, mayors and governors campaign on this issue regularly. Why not a president campaigning in states that produce oil and gas? Finally, while the U.S. government would not say so, this deal would also make China more dependent on the U.S. for delivery of a vital resource. Strengthening economic ties is a major stabilizing factor with benefits for both countries. Since China depends on energy delivered across U.S. Navyowned oceans, the marginal increase in its vulnerability is insignificant. The bottom line: Trumps demands may be unreasonable, but they're not impossible to fulfill. If China concludes that this maneuver can pacify him and avert a trade war, we might see movement in this direction. Graham Allison is the former director of Harvard Kennedy Schools Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the author of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydidess Trap? LGBT activists are reacting with anger and dismay at the prospect that Apple might build its new corporate campus in North Carolina. The state is still being boycotted by a number of organizations and state governments for not fully repealing a law limiting the civil rights of LGBT people. Why it matters: Apple has been one of the strongest corporate allies of the LGBT political movement, and its potential decision is seen as opening the floodgates for others that want to set up shop in states with anti-LGBT laws. After being elected on the promise to nullify a state law that severely limited the rights of LGBT people, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper accepted a compromise that kept in place a ban on cities passing their own protections for LGBT citizens. "North Carolina is one of the most hostile states in the country to LGBTQ people, with no credible path to progress in the near term ... Under these conditions, it's hard to imagine that any company would decide to take their operations and thousands of employees there." an LGBT activist speaking to Axios Yes, but: Assuming it does choose North Carolina, Apple is likely to make the case that it can do more good as a part of the community than just as a highly vocal outsider. Apple will also likely point to its record of fighting for causes it believes in, including immigration issues and LGBT rights. Of course, Apple isn't saying anything right now, since it isn't even confirming North Carolina as the likely site. It's complicated: Officials at national LGBT groups were hesitant to talk publicly about Apple's move, both because they still hope Apple will change its mind and because the company has been a strong partner. While many groups have been encouraging Amazon and Apple to shy away from North Carolina for their major expansions, some people have made the case that the companies could have a large impact by moving to a state without LGBT protections. Among those in that camp is American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, whose company has strongly backed LGBT rights. "I think we're more impactful here than we would be anywhere else," Parker told The Washington Post. Speaking about Amazon, he suggested that company might also want to consider going to a place where LGBT rights aren't fully protected. "My personal view is if they care about making a difference, they should go where they can make a difference." Meanwhile: Those still hoping to get Apple to come to Northern Virginia are trying to make their case, although its unclear whether that region is even under serious consideration. Virginia state delegate Danica Roem told Axios that Northern Virginia has close proximity to the federal government and two international airports, as well as an educated workforce. And, while the state still has work to do on LGBT issues, it is moving in the right direction. "We should be rewarding states that are making steps toward progress instead of states where progress has stalled. You still have a problematic legislature in North Carolina that is clearly not amenable to any supportive LGBTQ legislation." Danica Roem who, in addition to being a passionate voice for bringing business to Virginia, is the only transgender person in a U.S. state legislature China is disputing reports that Vice Premier and Xi Jinping special emissary Liu He offered to meet the Trump administration's request to cut the trade deficit in his talks Thursday in D.C. Why it matters: "Even if there is a deal to cut the trade deficit by $200 billion, experts say the U.S. can not produce and sell enough goods to China to hit that target," as Bob Davis and Lingling Wei reported in the Wall Street Journal: 'The U.S. is operating at full employment. There isnt a tremendous amount of underutilized U.S. capacity,' says Chad Bown, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics." Beijing did offer an apparent concession Thursday when it announced it is dropping the anti-dumping investigation into US sorghum, citing increased costs for Chinese consumers. What's next: The two sides are meeting today, but expectations are low for any imminent deal. President Trump met Liu He on Thursday. That may be a sign of some progress, or at least the president showing respect for Xi's emissary, unlike in early March when Trump snubbed Liu. But any deal would likely be more a pyrrhic victory than an agreement that resolves any of the underlying structural issues. Linkage to North Korea: Does Trump think Xi and Kim are playing him, with Kim throwing the Singapore meeting in doubt and Xi possibly using the sudden uncertainty, and Trumps apparent desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize, as leverage to press the US to agree to a weaker trade deal in exchange for Chinas help to get the Singapore meeting back on track? The president said Thursday that Xi "could be influencing" Kim. Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit DC next week, with a focus expected to be on the North Korea situation, not trade. Go deeper: Christopher Johnson of CSIS asks if the US really understands the leverage it has in these talks in Rebooting U.S.-China Trade Ties: Enter Ye Through the Narrow Gate. 1 big thing: Europe's pent-up fury with Trump European Council President Donald Tusk expressed a frustration thats been bubbling up across Europe this week when he said of President Trump, with friends like that, who needs enemies? Why it matters: Outraged that Trump spurned their pleas on the Iran deal, fearing the prospect of U.S. sanctions on steel and aluminum and at odds with Trump on key issues like climate change and the U.S. embassy move in Israel, Europes leaders are warning they could go their own way. This isn't the first time Trump has ruffled European feathers calling NATO "obsolete" and leaving the Paris climate accord are other notable examples but the Iran decision hit Europe both in the heart and in the wallet. The reaction is reflective of a sense in Europe that the Trump administration is really assaulting the values Europe is built on multilateralism, cooperation and trade. In some ways its an emotional response. Erik Brattberg, director of the Carnegie Endowment's Europe program So what is likely to come from the European outrage? The European Commission announced today it would revive a so-called blocking regulation that could offer European companies limited protections from U.S. sanctions. But French President Emmanuel Macron essentially ruled out further action, saying, We wont start a strategic trade war against the U.S. about Iran." it would revive a so-called blocking regulation that could offer European companies limited protections from U.S. sanctions. But French President Emmanuel Macron essentially ruled out further action, saying, We wont start a strategic trade war against the U.S. about Iran." It could be a different story if Trump hits the EU with tariffs on June 1, Celia Belin of Brookings notes: "It's one thing to take a decision that disregards European interests. It's another thing to take a decision that attacks European interests." What to watch for... Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian demanded a more radical improvement of tax administration in Armenia on Friday as he presented the new head of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) to senior officials from the government agency. Pashinian said reforms carried out by the previous SRC chief, Vartan Harutiunian, are not sufficient. The SRC must avoid hampering economic entities and the at the same time vigorously combat tax evasion and increase tax revenue, he said. Pashinian also told Harutiunians successor, Davit Ananian, to root out corruption among tax and customs officers that has long been a major source of complaints by Armenian businesspeople. The success of our efforts to transform the positive energy accumulated as a result of recent political developments into concrete economic results greatly depends on the work of the SRC, the tax and customs bodies, he declared. Mr. Prime Minister, I can assure you that we will accomplish the tasks which the countrys government will set for us, said Ananian. Ananian worked as a deputy minister of finance from October 2016 until his appointment as SRC chief. The 46-year-old was a tax inspector in the 1990s and ran a private tax and accounting consultancy from 2006-2016. Harutiunian, who is close to former Prime Minister Karen Karapetian, resigned on Thursday. He pledged to embark on a major reform reforms after being named to run the SRC in October 2016. The total amount of taxes and customs duties collected by the SRC rose by more than 7 percent last year, helping the government to cut the state budget deficit to 3.3 percent of GDP. The SRC reported an even faster rise in state revenue in the first quarter of this year. At 1.16 trillion drams ($2.4 billion), the Armenian governments 2017 tax revenue was equivalent to almost 21 percent of GDP. The proportion is still quite low by international standards, reflecting the scale of tax evasion in Armenia. The tax-to-GDP ratio stood at less than 18 percent in 2012. It rose by 0.5 percentage points in 2017, according to the SRC. Harutiunian, whom Pashinian publicly thanked for his work, defended his track record in a farewell statement to the SRC employees issued on Friday. The great effort to improve the [tax collection] system and the implementation of effective projects have borne fruit: relations between business and the state structure have been moved on to a plane of dialogue and partnership, he said. The International Monetary Fund praised the Karapetian governments efforts to improve tax administration already in June 2017. It said that they have contributed to the higher-than-projected revenue collection. Justice Minister Artak Zeynalian on Friday urged supporters of an armed opposition group that seized a police station in Yerevan in 2016 to avoid destabilizing the situation in Armenia in the wake of what he called a democratic revolution. In recent days, several dozen people blocked a major street and a court building in the Armenian capital to demand the immediate release of the three dozen gunmen standing three separate trials on criminal charges stemming from their July 2016 standoff with security forces which left three police officers dead. They unblocked the street on Thursday following an appeal from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. The latter said these and other disruptive protests held across the country are not understandable after the success of his velvet revolution. Zeynalian, who was appointed as justice minister last week, echoed the statements by Pashinian as well as former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, saying that an atmosphere of lawlessness could ruin the country. Everyone must be conscious of their actions and make sure that they dont damage the common interest, he told a news conference. This revolution is a unique revolution for the world and each of us is responsible for it. If something crosses our mind then we must not exclude that it may contradict others opinions. While unblocking Yerevans Arshakuniats Avenue, the radical protesters continued to surround on Friday a nearby court building where hearings are held in the ongoing trial of the ten leading members of the armed group. They thus prevented security forces from transporting the defendants back to their prisons. Representatives of the protesters met with Pashinian late on Thursday. Details of the meeting were not immediately made public. Pashinian, who was elected prime minister by the parliament on May 8, reiterated earlier this week that one of his immediate tasks is to secure the release of all political prisoners through solely legal mechanisms. But he said the case of the gunmen that had seized a police base in Yerevans Erebuni district is a bit different because of the three police casualties. He said it must be resolved as a result of public discussions that must involve relatives of the three slain policemen. The leader of the gunmen, Varuzhan Avetisian, condemned Pashinians remarks as buffoonery and false humanism in the courtroom on Wednesday. He again strongly defended the 2016 attack, saying that casualties are inevitable during such rebellions. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Friday that he would welcome U.S. assistance to wide-ranging reforms planned by his government. Pashinian met with the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, to discuss the political situation in Armenia, U.S.-Armenian relations and regional security. The Armenian government is interested in and attaches great importance to partnership with the American government and its possible assistance to democratization, the fight against corruption, human rights protection and reforms planned in other areas, he told Mills. We are full of energy to achieve our goals and concrete results, taking into account the positive atmosphere in the country, he added in remarks publicized by his press office. Mills was reported to express Washingtons readiness to support the reform agenda of the new Armenian government. The U.S. government is committed to supporting your stated goals of democracy, human rights, transparency and accountability, which will improve Armenias business environment and make the country more attractive to U.S. investors, said the envoy. In a congratulatory message sent to the new Armenian premier earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he looks forward to working with you on the many areas of mutual interest for our two countries. Those include strengthening trade ties, democratic institutions, and regional security, wrote Trump. The U.S. State Department issued a similar statement hours after the Armenian parliament voted to elect Pashinian as prime minister on May 8 following weeks of massive anti-government protests organized by him. It said Washington will work closely with his government. Mills met with Armenias newly appointed Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan later in the day. According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, the two men reaffirmed their countries readiness to step up bilateral military cooperation. By Rashid Shirinov Baku hosted two presentations of high quality European food products by Greek Delcof, Cypriot New Sevegep, Romanian Legume FructeBuzau and Agricultural Unions of Greek Naoussa, Rodochoriou and Zagor on May 16. The events were a part of Pandora and Fruit Life projects, co-funded by the EU. The former project is aimed at promotion of Greek, Romanian and Cypriot fruit compotes, juices, marmalades, olive oil, canned tomatoes and pickles, while the latter envisages expansion of Greek fresh fruits export, such as cherries, peaches and apples. The events were aimed at informing professionals of the food market in Azerbaijan in order to maximize information about the products. Managers of local super-markets and hypermarkets, importers, distributors, wholesalers, chefs of restaurants, representatives of foreign diplomatic missions and journalists attended the events. The key speakers noted that fruits and vegetables are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and disease-fighting phytochemicals. They went on to add that according to many researches done by the world leading institutes, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables everyday can help reduce risk of premature death and stroke as well as many diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The presented products meet the EUs strict quality requirements and bear corresponding markings. The speakers from the suppliers side stressed that they are interested in export of their products to Azerbaijan and new business agreements with distributors and big supply chains in the country. The companies also took part on the WorldFood Azerbaijan 2018 exhibition which takes place in Baku on May 16-18. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova A special fashion exhibition "From antiquity to modernity" solemnly opened in Fairmont Baku Flame Towers on May 17. The fashion exhibition will be held as part of Azerbaijan Fashion Week 2018 scheduled for May 17-19, Trend Life reported. Azerbaijan Fashion Week is the main fashion event of this spring, featuring the best fashion collections of local and foreign designers. A press-conference timed to the fashion show was held in Baku. The French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez and Moroccan Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohamed Adil Ambarch informed the audience about the work of the fashion designers who will represent their country at Azerbaijan Fashion Week 2018. Along with other foreign designers, their collections on AFW will be demonstrated by Patrick Boffa (France) and Karim Tassi (Morocco). Honored Art Worker Fakhriya Khalafova said that she will present two collections at the Fashion Week. The first collection, created from silk fabrics with a pomegranate pattern. The second is made of unique Uzbek silks. For the first time the presentation of the collection took place within the framework of the third Miss Union Fashion 2018 in Uzbekistan with the participation of models from Asia, Africa and Europe. After the press conference, a special fashion show "From Antiquity to Modernity" was opened. The 7th season of Azerbaijan Fashion Week is timed to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. In this regard, AFW organizers paid much attention to the demonstration of the evolution of Azerbaijani women's outfits in the last century. The exhibition features exhibits of Baku House of National Clothes. Unique dresses of Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Irevan khanates are presented as part of the event. Moreover, fashionistas have a chance to enjoy wonderful clothes by Azerbaijani designer Turkan Turkel dedicated to the State Historical and Architectural Reserve "Icherisheher". The final chord of the fashion exhibition will be the presentation of the works by national designer, honored art figure Fakhriya Khalafova. Demonstration of her dress in the colors of the State Flag of Azerbaijan will be an important moment for Azerbaijan Fashion Week 2018. The exhibition will be open during all three days of Azerbaijan Fashion Week. The entrance to the exhibition is free from 15:00 to 18:00. At the same time, Azerbaijan Fashion Week showroom is open for all comers. Here guests can purchase the latest collections of local and foreign designers. Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan Fashion Week comes back this month to showcase the latest collection from local designers and international brands. The highly anticipated event opened in Baku Flame Towers on May 17, Trend Life reported. Number of famous fashion brands including Alex Chzhen, Mak Mari, Yerlan Zholdasbek, Jemma Aleksander, Di Siitova, Fakhriya Khalafova, Forte Fashion, Ajour, and Kengerli showcase their latest collections. Within the framework of Azerbaijan Fashion Week 2018, fashion designers will delight fashionistas with new collections for Autumn-Winter season 2018/19. Besides fashion shows, AFW showrooms will be available for the guests. Fashion lovers have a chance to talk with designers, learn about the latest fashion trends, discover new names and find something special for their wardrobe. During its existence due to the high level of organization and finding the status of the leading fashion event of the country, the Organizing Committee of Azerbaijan Fashion Week signed a number of partnership agreements for cooperation with fashion weeks in different countries, promoting Azerbaijan and region in the fashion community at the international level. Its partners include Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia, Kazakhstan Fashion Week, Tbilisi Fashion Week, Caspian Fashion Week, Belarus Fashion Week, and Krasnodar Fashion Week. A new agreement had been recently signed with Volga Fashion Week, whose representative will also be among the honored guests of Azerbaijan Fashion Week. Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova "Giselle" ballet of Adolf Adan will be staged the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater on June 16. The leading soloists of the Russian State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, laureates of international contests of ballet artists Maria Vinogradova (Giselle) and David Motta Soares (Count Albert) will play the main roles in the ballet, Trend Life reported. Besides, soloists of the theater Ayan Eyvazova (Mirta) and Timur Oduchev (Hans) will also take part in the ballet. Honored artist of Azerbaijan, Eyyub Guliyev will lead the performance. The romantic ballet in two acts was first performed in 1841. "Giselle" ballet is about a peasant girl named Giselle, who dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another. The Wilis, a group of supernatural women who dance men to death, summon Giselle from her grave. They target her lover for death, but Giselle's great love frees him from their grasp. The performance was an unqualified triumph. Giselle became hugely popular and was staged at in Europe and the U.S. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan Fashion Show 2018 is underway in Baku.The runway show is timed to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The first day of the Azerbaijan Fashion Week was opened in Baku Flame Towers by the famous Kazakhstan designer Alex Chzhen, Trend Life reported. The new collection of the Autumn-Winter 2018/19 season featured black and white strips and cell prints, flavored with motivational slogans "Never give up on your dreams ". Mak Mari brand showcased all the compulsory components of the Georgian fashion school, including monochrome, asymmetry, oversize gowns and ragged jackets resembling a kimono. Especially interesting were prints made in the form of lace. Kazakhstani designer Yerlan Zholdasbek brought to the eastern aesthetics to the runway. Bright prints, characteristic for the Central Asian region and free flying silhouettes, were underlined by decorations inspired by nature itself - brilliant pomegranate brooch and necklaces of peppers. Azerbaijani designer Jemma Aleksander has found her style and continues to adhere to it in the framework of her new Autumn-Winter collection. Created by her stylish fit women's trouser suits are good in that they look appropriate on the podium, and in everyday life. They are appropriate both at a business meeting and at an evening reception. The jackets give the image of the forest of bohemianism and eccentricity. Kazakhstani designer Di Siitova most likely was inspired by classical American westerns. After all, how else can you explain that unique mix between accessories borrowed from Indian tribes, for example, a crown of feathers on the head. After a short break on the podium of Azerbaijan Fashion Week, two capsule collections of the famous Azerbaijani designer, honored art figure Fakhriya Khalafova were presented. The connecting link between them was the use of such material as silk. And if the first one was devoted to one of the most beautiful symbols of Azerbaijan, the popular motif in the ornament of fabrics-pomegranate, then the second collection was created from the unique Uzbek silk - ikata. Next on the podium stepped models in the new collection of the young Azerbaijani brand Forte Fashion. The brand's creators have set themselves the goal of creating bright modern clothes in an affordable price range and are ready to even compete with the world's giants of the mass market presented in the local market. The fashion collection from Ajour, Lush featured evening dresses and wedding dresses, abundant with a lot of embroideries and laces. The creator of national brand Kengerli, famous photographer Jalal Kangarli, presented to the audience a very feminine collection, made in all sorts of shades of pink. Transparency of fabrics, a large amount of embroidery, feathers and crystals have become characteristic elements of his new collection. After the end of the shows, guests and participants of Azerbaijan Fashion Week enjoyed after-party. Mini Mi Kids, Lasha Jokhadze, Makhaim, Karim Tassi, GM Fashion Lab, Gulnaz Alkenova, Revoltant Hommes, Dinara Amrakhova and Parcha will present their collections on May 18. For more information, please visit : www.afw.az/ Media partners of the event are Azernews.az , Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Rashid Shirinov The participation of the European Union (EU) in the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be enhanced, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) noted on May 17. They made the remarks in the European Parliaments recommendation on the negotiations on the EU-Azerbaijan Comprehensive Agreement. The MEPs emphasized that new agreements between the EU and each of the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be conditioned by substantial progress in the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict. In particular, Parliaments rapporteur Norica Nicolai said that the EU borders are becoming more and more insecure, and therefore an intensive dialogue and cooperation within the Eastern Partnership program, including Azerbaijan, becomes essential. Honest and trustful relationship between the EU and Azerbaijan will bring economic benefits to both sides, she added. Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years. Until now, Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Rashid Shirinov Many European countries do not want to see what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh, Norica Nicolai, the European Parliament Rapporteur on the EU-Azerbaijan Comprehensive Agreement, told Euractiv on May 17. I remember that when I went to organize a meeting with people coming from Nagorno-Karabakh, internally displaced persons, they could not obtain visas from the French embassy in Baku to come to the European Parliament and give testimony about what happened after they had to leave Nagorno-Karabakh, she said. The rapporteur noted that she considers this as something done by an Armenian lobby. Armenian lobbies have a big influence. Unfortunately, many European countries react according to this lobby, they do not want to see what has happened in the area, said Nicolai. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 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 regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Until now, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijans territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions. In her interview, Nicolai noted that increasing the level of relations between Azerbaijan and the EU is good for both sides. For us especially, because there are a lot of European companies who do business in Azerbaijan. I believe that we need to support the Eastern Partnership at this moment, we need to look at what unites us, not the things that make us different, the rapporteur mentioned. She further noted that if the EU does not have Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova in the Eastern Partnership, it risks a failure in its neighborhood policy. If we are not close to our Eastern partners, we risk being isolated in a world that is more and more open and global, Nicolai said. Azerbaijan and the EU have a very strong base of cooperation on many different areas. The bilateral relations are regulated on the basis of a partnership and cooperation agreement, which was signed in 1996 and came into force in 1999. The agreement provides for wide-range cooperation in the areas of political dialogue trade, investment, in economic matters, legislation and culture. Since then, the EU has gradually expanded the scope of its assistance and cooperation with Azerbaijan. Presently, a new comprehensive agreement is being developed in order to replace the agreement of 1996. The new document should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz An event dedicated to Azerbaijans traditions of multiculturalism and multi-faith harmony and tolerance was held in San Francisco at the renowned Commonwealth Club on May 16. The event took place on the sidelines of the California visit of a delegation of Azerbaijans faith and community leaders, led by Mubariz Gurbanli, the Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations (SCWRO) of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Jointly organized by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles and the American Jewish Committees San Francisco Office, the event was attended by representatives of local Jewish community, as well as different ethnic and religious communities, faith leaders, journalists and others. Bay Areas well-known interfaith councils such as the United Religions Initiative, Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, Interfaith at the Presidio, Marin Interfaith Council and Silicon Valley Interreligious Council were the official partners of this event. Opening the event, Matt Kahn, the Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee-San Francisco, and Rabbi Serena Eisenberg, Northern California Director of AJC, welcomed the guests and emphasized the importance of this multi-faith event. They stressed that the AJC and Azerbaijan have been enjoying strong friendship and partnership for many years now, mentioning the annual visits by the AJC leadership to Azerbaijan. Speaking afterwards, the Chairman of the SCWRO Mubariz Gurbanli stated that the tolerance in Azerbaijan has very solid foundations, rich traditions and deep historical and cultural roots. He also mentioned that there has always been a strong relationship of mutual trust between ethnic and religious communities in the country. Stating that 809, including 31 non-Islamic religious communities had been registered in Azerbaijan, Gurbanli said that people belonging to all religions live in a mutual understanding and peace in the country. He also stressed that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev elevated multifaith harmony and tolerance to the level of state policy in the country. In his speech, the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles Nasimi Aghayev expressed his gratitude to the AJC-San Francisco for partnering with the Consulate General in arranging this wonderful event showcasing Azerbaijans long-standing traditions of tolerance, inclusion and multiculturalism and the centuries-long peaceful co-existence of all peoples and religions. Aghayev also mentioned that at this Commonwealth Club in 1919 the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech during which he recalled his meeting with the delegation from the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (which was the worlds first majority-Muslim secular republic) at the Paris Peace Conference and outlining his positive impression of the Azerbaijani delegation and the values they represented. In their remarks, Fuad Nurullayev, Deputy Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims' Office, Deputy to Sheikh-ul-Islam of the Caucasus; Milikh Yevdayev, President of the Religious Community of the Mountain Jews of Baku; Aleksandr Sharovskiy, President of the Religious Community of European Jews of Baku; Robert Mobili, President of the Albanian-Udi Christian Religious Community of Azerbaijan; and Elnur Afandiyev, the Archpriest of the Baku Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church highlighted the ancient traditions of tolerance and multiculturalism in Azerbaijan noting that people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, including Muslims, Christians, Jews and representatives of other faiths have been living together in peace, brotherhood and mutual respect for many centuries in Azerbaijan and continue to do so today. At the end of the panel discussions, members of the delegation answered the questions of the audience in a Q&A Session.The discussions were moderated by Rev. Will McGarvey, Executive Director of the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County. A photo exhibition reflecting the traditions of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan was also presented to the attendees. The event was received with much interest by the audience. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova AIESEC International Youth Organization is organizing its biggest annual event Youth Speak Forum 2018. The event will take place in the Pullman Hotel on May 20, Trend Life reported. Youth Speak Forum is an annual event, based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. The main aim of the Forum is to attract young people interested in the sustainable development and personal growth. This is the place to expand our environment by communicating with speakers and other delegates; receiving valuable advice from them; personal and professional development; getting knowledge of relevant social problems; as well as taking part in the exciting atmosphere of the AIESEC organization! Among the speakers of the Forum will be Ghulam Isaczai (Resident Representative of UNDP Azerbaijan), Hijran Huseynova (Chair of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan), Samira Shabanova ( head of EY Azerbaijan HR department), Tural Kerimli (General Director of High Tech Park), Alakbar Mustafayev (CEO of the incubation center of Youth Inc.) and many others outstanding personalities. The forum will consist of two parts: the first part where the delegates will have a chance to attend trainings of highly qualified speakers from different sectors, and the second part where they will have a chance to actively participate and create mini-projects. Youth Speak Forum 2018 will discuss How to build your personal brand, Gender equality as the foundation of a thriving family, How to come up with innovative start-ups, etc. In the end of the Forum one group will have an opportunity to win a free AIESEC internship abroad and go to a 6 weeks internship program abroad this summer! AIESEC is the worlds largest youth-run organization, operating in over 127 countries and territories around the world since 1948. The main goal of the organization is to create a platform for the youth to empower their personal and professional development, as well as to provide them with an opportunity of leadership development and cross-cultural understanding. AIESEC Azerbaijan was established in 2006 with the support of Ministry of Youth and Sports, and has been contributing to development of Azerbaijani youth for the last 12 years. During this time AIESEC Azerbaijan has implemented hundreds of projects involving international participants from all over the world, as well as has helped more than 5000 young people to gain experience in local and international projects. The participation fee is 20 AZN. The fee includes 2 networking coffee breaks, lunch break and special logistics provided to each delegate. In the end of the forum everyone will be granted with a certificate of participation. For more information, please contact: +994505888397 Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az. Link for registration: bit.ly/YSFAze --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Trend: The decision made by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in connection with Azerbaijan is unfair, Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Ogtay Asadov said at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament in Baku May 18. Asadov was commenting on the sanctions imposed with regards to Azerbaijan. He added that this is not the first case. "Once we did not allow the French MP who visited Nagorno-Karabakh region to come to Baku to attend the meeting of the PACE Committee, he said. Afterwards, sanctions, banning the holding of any events in Azerbaijan for two years, were imposed against the countrys parliament. However, the meeting was to be held in Azerbaijan, but PACE had no funds, Asadov said. Moreover, PACE even asked us later to hold this meeting. But we refused, saying that being under sanctions, we can not hold a meeting. The speaker added that two years later the committee's meetings were again held in Azerbaijan. "As for the unfair sanctions against Samad Seyidov, he will not be allowed to stand for election as president of the Assembly or act as an election observer in other country, he said. However, despite all this, Seyidov will continue his work. Following the hearings in Paris on May 15, the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure decided that sanctions should apply to four PACE members - Pedro Agramunt (Spain) for a period of 10 years, Cezar Florin Preda (Romania), Samad Seyidov (Azerbaijan) and Jordi Xucla (Spain) for a period of two years each. All four, while remaining members of the Assembly with the right to speak, will be banned during these periods from acting as rapporteurs or election observers, and cannot be chairs or vice-chairs of any committees or sub-committees, or stand for election as president of the Assembly. They will be unable to represent the Assembly or its committees at any third-party events. By Rashid Shirinov When Azerbaijan brings its fair position to the world community, the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) resorts to sanctions, said Samad Seyidov, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee for International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE. He made the remarks at a session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on May 18 when commenting on PACEs recent application of sanctions against him. Seyidov believes that the PACEs decision is unfair. When people holding high positions in the PACE break the law, no sanctions are applied against them. This indicates the double standards, he said. The head of delegation noted that this decision of PACE can be described as exerting pressure on Azerbaijan. But we are on the right track. This is not a disadvantage, but an honor for me, because I protect the interests of Azerbaijan, Seyidov added. Following the hearings in Paris on May 15, the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure adopted a decision on applying sanctions against four PACE members: Pedro Agramunt (Spain) for a period of 10 years, Cezar Florin Preda (Romania), Samad Seyidov (Azerbaijan) and Jordi Xucla (Spain) for a period of two years. All of them will remain members of PACE and will have the right to speak, but will not be able to act as rapporteurs or election observers or chairmen or vice-chairmen of any committee or subcommittee. Moreover, they will not be able to nominate their candidature for the presidency in the Assembly or to represent PACE or its committees at any third-party events. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Sara Israfilbayova World oil prices continue to rise on Friday after overcoming a mark of $ 80 per barrel of Brent brand on the eve, against the background of a decline in world reserves. Brent crude futures rose by 51 cents to $79.81 a barrel, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $71.61 a barrel, up 12 cents and set for a third straight week of increase, Reuters reported. World reserves are approaching long-term average values, which indicates that the coordinated actions of the OPEC countries and non-members of the organization on the Vienna deal were successful, the analyst of the oil and gas sector Cantor Fitzgerald Jack Allardyce cites Reuters. According to the IEA May report, commercial oil stocks in OECD countries in March fell to below the five-year average of 1 million barrels, to 2.819 billion barrels. This level has become minimal since March 2015. One of the main objectives of the agreement to reduce oil production in the OPEC + deal is to reduce commercial oil reserves in the world to an average level over the past five years. At the same time, of all the world's commercial reserves, the participants in the transaction are tracking stocks in the most developed countries - the OECD. OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached an agreement in December 2016 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1. Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017. OPEC and its partners decided to extend its production cuts till the end of 2018 in Vienna on November 30, as the oil cartel and its allies step up their attempt to end a three-year supply glut that has savaged crude prices and the global energy industry. --- Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Kamila Aliyeva Leaving the JCPOA, the United States has opted for a risky and potentially costly strategy, Gianluca Pastori, expert in U.S.-Europe political relations, said in an interview with Azernews. He was commenting on the consequences for the U.S.-European relations following U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal. In the long term, the Iranian deal aimed at promoting the emergence of a new Middle Eastern balance, reducing U.S. political dependence from its allies and allowing them to minimize their involvement in the region, according to the expert. Now, this project seems abandoned. Rather, Donald Trump seems sticking to an old vision of US role in the Middle East, based on a special relationship with Israel and Saudi Arabia and on the containment of Iran, he said. From a practical point of view, it means that the U.S. will be increasingly involved (both directly and indirectly) in supporting their Middle Eastern allies and in preserving what they perceive as the best balance of power, thus being less able to allocate resources to other, maybe more important areas, such as the Asia-Pacific region, according to Pastori. He went on to say that the EU has repeatedly expressed disagreement with Washington and its will to remain engaged with Iran despite Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA. From a European perspective, the JCPOA has been a major diplomatic success and many European companies look to Iran as a potential partner to sell their goods or delocalize their production. Russia and China too have reaffirmed their commitment to the JCPOA. The question is whether Iran is still interested in the agreement now that the U.S. has left, he noted. By remaining committed, Tehran sends an important political message, according to the expert. On the other hand, neither the EU nor Russia or China can affect Irans international status as the US can do or transform Iran into a part of a new Middle Eastern order, he added. Commenting on the possibility of signing new accord, the expert said that a new deal is difficult to envisage, at least in the short term. Donald Trump repeatedly affirmed that he is not interested in sacking the deal in itself; rather, his position is (officially) rejecting the agreement to negotiate a better one. Within the administration, there are some supporters of the JCPOA, such as the Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, who once defined it unsatisfactory but the best possible option, he said. In the past, Iran clearly stated that it would not enter new negotiations, according to Pastori. Moreover, a new deal would go against the Trumps apparent Middle Eastern strategy. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia refuse any dialogue with Iran and Washington seems unwilling to antagonize its traditional allies, he added. The forthcoming U.S. midterm election is another factor pulling in this direction, with the Republican Party traditionally opposing the JCPOA forced to reaffirm this negative attitude to defend its current Congressional majority, said the expert. On May 8, President Donald Trump announced that the United States walks away from the accord reached in 2015 between Tehran and the six world powers. Trump also announced that the U.S. will re-impose the nuclear-related sanctions on Irans economy and oil exports, which were waived under the JCPOA. Whilst the sanctions are effective immediately, there is a wind-down period of 90- or 180-days to allow firms to exit any existing agreements they have with Iran. Trump has also hinted that he might impose additional sanctions on top of those which were waived. Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia plus Germany signed the landmark nuclear deal on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016. The agreement limits Irans nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Kamila Aliyeva The World Bank (WB) and Uzbekistan signed loan agreements totaling $940 million on May 17. The agreements were concluded during the meeting of the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev within the framework of his first official visit to the United States, the website of the WB said. The allocated funds will be used to finance four new projects in Uzbekistan in the field of improving energy efficiency, fruit and vegetable production and emergency medical services. These loans have increased the WB project portfolio in Uzbekistan to $ 2.8 billion. To date, it includes projects in the field of transport, education, agriculture, irrigation and water supply. Im very impressed with Uzbekistans wide ranging and ambitious reforms, Kim said. The World Bank Group will continue to provide expertise and financing to support the countrys ambitious development agenda and advance the governments efforts to build a brighter future for all the people of Uzbekistan. In addition, an advisory services agreement was signed with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the WB Group. It will assist in the development of public-private partnership in order to attract private investors to finance, design, build and operate solar power plants in Uzbekistan. Moreover, the corporation will help in mobilizing investments up to $ 1 billion to implement similar projects. A memorandum of understanding between the World Bank and Uzbekistan, which confirmed the main directions of bilateral cooperation, was also signed. Uzbekistan is on the right track. Continuing bold economic and social reforms, improving the business environment, and strengthening institutions will bring private sector investments, create jobs, and help the country join the leading economies of Central Asia and the world, Kim said. I strongly support the governments efforts to continue reforms that will benefit all people in Uzbekistan. The World Bank Group is currently reviewing its concept of cooperation with Uzbekistan in order to support the bold reform program of the government. The main task of the bank, according to its representatives, is to assist Uzbekistan in building a market economy, reforming state institutions, increasing citizen participation in decision-making, and investing in the development of human capital through the further development of education, health and social protection systems in the country. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Kamila Aliyeva One of the largest online retailers in the world American corporation Amazon is preparing to enter the Uzbek market. This became known following the visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the United States. Minister of Foreign Trade Jamshid Khodzhaev, who was part of the Uzbek delegation, informed about the next steps of the parties to develop a mutually beneficial partnership. For the first time this company showed interest in our market. We have already made some progress in cooperation on this issue. Negotiations with the leadership of Amazon are currently underway and draft memorandums that envisage the joint development of a roadmap for entering the Uzbek market are being worked out, he said. In addition, the ministry intends to prepare road maps for the development of electronic commerce in Uzbekistan and expand access of Uzbek entrepreneurs to global trading platforms and electronic payment systems. To this end, during the visit, a memorandum on mutual understanding and cooperation was signed with the internet payment company Openbucks Corp, which will help with the development of electronic commerce in Uzbekistan. To ensure uninterrupted access of Uzbek products to the U.S. market, an agreement was also reached with the American company WCC International on the implementation of a special project for the certification of Uzbek textile and other products in accordance with international norms and standards. Within the framework of the agreement on cooperation, the issue of introducing an international program for the provision of organic cotton production is also being considered. The Uzbek president, during his visit to New York, held a series of meetings with representatives of American companies and took part in a bilateral business forum. During the visit, over 20 major business deals between Uzbekistan and U.S. companies were signed, which, if fully implemented, will be worth more than $4.8 billion and could sustain more than 10,000 US jobs and open opportunities for billions of dollars in future contracts. In 2017 the volume of trade turnover between Uzbekistan and the United States amounted to 210.2 million dollars. In the structure of Uzbek exports, the main share falls for services - 71.4 percent, mechanical equipment - 15.7 percent, dried pepper - 3.3 percent and fruit and vegetable products - 3.1 percent. In turn, pharmaceutical products, mechanical and electrical equipment, plastic products, optical instruments and devices, rubber, rubber products, vehicles, artificial fibers are imported from the U.S. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Kamila Aliyeva The fleet park of the Uzbek national air carrier, Uzbekistan Airways, was replenished with another liner of a new generation of Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The new Dreamliner is already included in the schedule of flights of the airline, it will be operated on long-distance directions. This is the third aircraft of this type in the airline's park. This aircraft differs from the previous two Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners operated by Uzbekistan Airways, with an increased number of seats for passengers and a special compartment for the rest of the crew. The total number of seats on this aircraft is 270 (business class - 24, economy class - 246). On this liner, as well as on other Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts, GEnx-1B GE Aviation engines are installed, providing better fuel efficiency, low noise level and minimum level of CO2 emission into the atmosphere. According to the development plans, the national airline will have six airliners of this type in its fleet by 2020. Uzbekistan Airways became the first customer of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Central Asia. The airline launched commercial operation of Dreamliner in 2016. On July 27, 2017, the national air carrier of Uzbekistan performed the first non-stop flight from Tashkent to New York on this type of aircraft. Uzbekistan Airways was established on January 28, 1992 upon the presidential decree, wholly owned by the state. The aircraft fleet of the Uzbek airline currently has 33 aircraft of western production, including fourteen Boeing passenger aircraft, thirteen airbuses (three A-310 and ten A-320-200), three medium-haul RJ-85s and two cargo planes Boeing-767-300BCF. The Uzbek airline operates flights to over 20 cities in Europe, America, the Middle East, Asia, 22 cities of the CIS countries and 11 destinations on local airlines. Uzbekistan Airways has 11 airports located on the territory of Uzbekistan, six of which are international. The company has representative offices in 25 countries. Uzbekistan Airways transported more than 2.703 million passengers in 2017. Last year, Uzbekistan Airways performed 22,950 flights compared to 22,387 flights in 2016. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Kamila Aliyeva Kazakhstans fourth oil refinery can be built in Shymkent, Aktau or Aktobe, Central Asian media outlets reported. KazMunaiGaz is developing a feasibility study for the refinery, which should be completed by the end of the second quarter of this year, according to the Kazakh Energy Ministry. After the scale of the project is determined, a decision on the location of the plant will be made. After the development and presentation of the feasibility study, the question of where from the raw materials will be supplied to the new refinery will be resolved. Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev earlier spoke in favor of the need to build a fourth refinery in the republic. According to the forecasts of the Energy Ministry, there will be a need to increase imports of petroleum products by 2022. By this time, the fourth plant should already be built. In 2019, it is planned to attract investors and begin construction. Kazakhstan has three major oil refineries - Atyrau, Shymkent and Pavlodar. Pavlodar refinery has already completed its modernization program. Atyrau refinery plans to launch new units by June, while Shymkent is expected to wrap up a modernisation in September. The refining capacity of all the three plants will increase from 13.8 to 16.5 million tons after modernization of the refinery completes. Production of all types of light oil products, gasoline, diesel fuel and aviation kerosene will increase. All plants will produce gasoline for 2.3 million tons more. The production of diesel fuel will increase for 917,000 tons and aviation kerosene for 539,000 tons. As a result of 2017, the production of oil refined products reached 709.6 billion tenge in value terms showing an increase of 14.2 percent compared to 2016. As many as 59.3 percent of the output fell to the Atyrau Refinery, 12 percent to the Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant and 11.2 percent - to the Shymkent oil refinery. The refineries plan to increase their oil products throughput to 15.3 million tonnes this year, from 14.2 million tonnes last year. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Rashid Shirinov Azerbaijan intends to redirect the flow of tourists from the western direction to the regions of Russia, including the Altai region. This was noted during the talks of the Deputy Chairman of the Altai regions government Viktor Meshcheryakov with the Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev on May 18. In this regard, representatives of Azerbaijan intend to take part in one of the tourism exhibitions in the Altai region, as well as to establish direct links with travel companies in the region. During the meeting, the sides discussed the development of the tourist complex in the Altai region and Azerbaijan. Nagiyev noted that Azerbaijan is currently promoting tourism services in the regions of Russia. It was also mentioned that historical and cultural monuments and rest on the Caspian sea coast are particularly attractive for Russian tourists in Azerbaijan. In a recent research conducted by Skyscanner, Azerbaijan entered the Top 10 most affordable tourist destinations for Russian tourists. It says that a two-week trip to Azerbaijan for two will cost the Russian travelers about $1,616, and some $426 of this figure is the cost of the flight. Experts calculated that the average daily budget for two in Azerbaijan is about $85. Over the past year, the country received up to 2.7 million tourists, 31.6 percent of whom were guests from Russia. Taking into account the opening of more and more new flight routes between Russia and Azerbaijan, this figure will further increase in the near future. Today Azerbaijan can accommodate about 40,000 tourists in its 575 hotels, which include a series of luxury ones Excelsior, Hilton, Four Seasons, Fairmont, JW Marriott as well as sufficient number of budget hotels for cost-conscious travelers. Moreover, 25 hostels and 92 apartments for tourists operate in Baku. The provided accommodation establishments are of any price range, starting from just $6-7 per night in hostels and $25 in hotels. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A trip to visit family in Virginia gave Melanie Dixon the inspiration for the Tacky Wine Tour. "Back in October, I was up there visiting my family and my father bought me and my mom a wine tour," Dixon said. "So we went on it, and at the first place, (my mom) was like, 'I think you should have a vineyard' because we have 10 acres. I can kill anything, so I decided that would be a really bad option for me. "At the fifth (place), I was like ,'You know what, someone picks you up, drives you around to wineries, you get to drink, not drive, and enjoy time with your friends. "I didn't realize we had wineries in this area. I came home and thought this would be a good option for this area because there's not a lot of just adult activities." With that in mind, Dixon visited local wineries to solicit their input before launching her first tour on Nov. 4. "I went to the wineries individually and asked them how they felt if we brought a tour and included the tastings," she said. "Our wineries here are outstanding and were very excited, so we put it on Facebook and sold out for two months. I didn't realize how many wine drinkers there were in the area. I was very pleased." Each tour includes pickup and dropoff, transportation to and from the wineries, a "Tacky Box Lunch," wine tour with tastings, snacks and a gift bag that includes a personalized wine glass handmade by Dixon. More Information Tacky Wine Tour Info: tackywinetour.com and facebook.com/tackywinetour See More Collapse "I work directly with the wineries, and we schedule our times," Dixon said. "They have everything set up for us when we come in. We have our own table, go and sit, and the winemakers will go over their process of how they make their wine, what they're growing at their particular vineyard, education behind their winery, education behind them, and about each wine - what separates it from everything else. Each one of them is so unique. That's what I enjoy about them." Dixon intentionally named the wine touring company to put guests at ease. "I was kind of scared to go on a wine tour when my father first presented it because I thought, 'OK, well, you have to know how to swirl and smell and what if I don't know if they ask me where it hit me on my palate?,' " she said. "I was really nervous and had a lot of anxiety at first, and they don't care. "I wanted people to be comfortable when they came on. They can be tacky. They don't have to be proper. Tacky is fun." Dixon tries to provide a relaxing and memorable experience for her guests - or "VIPs," as she likes to refer to them. "When people spend their money to come out, it is very personal to me," she said. "I want to make sure their day is as perfect as possible. I am their picture-taker, their water-dispenser, their snack-dispenser - they are my boss. "My goal for them is to do nothing and be comfortable and happy. They just pile in and we go and they enjoy their day." Admittedly not a wine connoisseur - just a big fan of the grapey fermented beverage - I needed no convincing to join the touring festivities. At 10 a.m., the group was off, with WineStyles in Beaumont the first stop. Although the wine bar isn't a winery, it gave guests a chance to try different wines from across the country while letting Dixon introduce herself and guests to mingle and meet one another. The group consisted of Dixon, two couples, two sisters and their sister-in-law, a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law and me. Some had already been on a tour with Dixon, and others were newbies. It didn't take long to bond over our common interest - wine. We started our first glass of the day with sangria in honor of Cinco de Mayo and moved to a Moscato, followed by two other samples. Soon after the group piled in the van, we were off to Sour Lake to meet Shawn Bruno, owner of Bruno and George, where every wine has a story. We toured the facilities, learned about the wine produced there and then proceeded to the main show - tasting the wine. In no time at all, raucous laughs and hijinks occurred as wine kept being poured. Several glasses later, it was time for lunch, with a feast of fajitas prepared by Dixon. Dixon not only is the tour guide, safely ushering you from site to site, she also feels like a longtime friend with whom to gab about life - and, of course, wine. Our tummies full, we headed to Vine 2 Wine Vineyard & Winery in Winnie. Stacy Rollins, who owns the vineyard with her husband, brought out wines for us to sample, discussing their origins, means of development and best pairings. Full of wine, we headed outside with the blue skies overlooking the picturesque field of budding grapes and piled into the van one last time. White wine, red wine, sweet wine, dry wine - whatever your preference - Tacky Wine Tour is the place for lovers of wine and fun. The maximum 12-person wine tours alternate between wineries, with differing pickup locations, depending on the day's itinerary. "We have five great wineries in this area," Dixon said. "I thought when I first started the business that we could go to five, but I'm discovering that two or three is definitely enough because there's just not enough time because they're so spread out." Tours usually book up one to two months in advance. Private tours can be scheduled by calling or emailing Dixon. Kara Timberlake is a freelance writer An interview with a Santa Fe High School student after a deadly shooting Friday shows how the frequency of America's mass shootings may be affecting children. The girl, identified as 17-year-old Paige, described the shooting scene to ABC13 after at least nine people were reported dead and at least 12 people were injured. "I managed to keep calm through it all, there was another girl who just freaking out," Paige said. "They were struggling to keep her calm, it was really scary." The reporter asked Paige if there was a surreal moment where she thought, "this isn't real." "No, there wasn't," Paige said. "... It's been happening everywhere. I've always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too. So, I don't know. I wasn't surprised, I was just scared." HOUSTON LAWMAKER: 'Y'all been sending thoughts and prayers for two freaking decades' Santa Fe is roughly 30 miles south of Houston. The small town of some 13,000 residents is now the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in America since February, when 17 people were killed in Parkland, Florida. In May alone, 24 people have been killed and 97 injured in mass shooting incidents around the nation, according to non-profit Gun Violence Archive. Those figures include Friday's tragedy. In 2018, 128 people have been killed and 406 injured in American mass shootings, per the same data. Santa Fe High is the 22nd school shooting since the start of the year and the third in eight days, CNN reports. Get instant Houston breaking news alerts sent directly to your phone by texting CHRON to 77453. Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93. Despite a drop in revenue and a "tighter budget than normal," Beaumont ISD is hoping to raise teacher pay and offer all employees a stipend to combat ongoing recruitment and retention issues. RELATED: How much do BISD teachers make now? Superintendent John Frossard said Thursday that, based on preliminary estimates, BISD is projecting a decrease in state funding for the 2018-19 school year because of lower attendance and lower property tax revenue. Both drops are because of Tropical Storm Harvey, he said. PHOTOS: See Harvey's damage to local schools BISD currently has about 250 fewer students than last year, Frossard said in April. That's an improvement from the beginning of the school year, when the district was down 400 students, he said, but still means they'll receive less money from the state. The district will lose another 48 students when Bevil Oaks is released to Hardin-Jefferson ISD this summer, though those students will have the option to stay in BISD, Frossard said. The lower enrollment will likely result in "a revenue decrease of approximately $1.6 million," he said last month, because the state funds districts based on average daily attendance. MORE: Beaumont ISD releases Bevil Oaks to Hardin-Jefferson "We're waiting on final property valuations," he said Thursday, but it's expected to be a "tighter budget" this year. More Information w See More Collapse The district also has to fund the consolidation of Central and Ozen high schools and has announced plans to implement new academic programs that will cost more money. Despite that decrease, the district is pursuing raises for all teachers and bus drivers and stipends for all employees, Frossard said. "The amount (for stipends) that we can afford hasn't been determined," he said. He proposed increasing bus drivers' hourly pay by $2.50 an hour and increasing the pay scale for teachers. The size of teachers' raises would vary based on experience but would be between about 1.8 percent and 5.7 percent. He also proposed increasing the stipend that bilingual teachers receive on top of their salaries and said the administration is considering a possible incentive to attract teachers to high-need campuses. The proposed increases are part of a plan to ensure there are "high-quality" teachers in every classroom, Frossard said, including those that have struggled to meet state standards. Starting salaries for first-year BISD teachers would be increased from $45,000 to $45,500, he said. The district has struggled to compete with Houston-area schools, where starting and average salaries are often higher. This would be the second time in three years that the district would offer incentives to staff "hard-to-fill" campuses. In 2016, BISD paid up to $8,250 in bonuses to attract teachers to 14 schools where teaching vacancies had gone unfilled for at least 30 days and where at least 80 percent of students were considered economically disadvantaged. Frossard said the district plans to use money from tax abatement agreements with industrial companies for one-time expenses like the stipends but is hoping to avoid using it for pay raises or other recurring costs. Under the agreements with refineries and plants, the district receives direct payments from the companies in lieu of tax increases on expansions or developments. BISD expects "a significant amount" of money from those payments, he said last month, which could soften the blow of lower tax values and lower state payments. "Generally we don't like to use that to build into the salary scales because that money isn't indefinite," he said. Instead, it will likely be used for purchases including security upgrades, playground equipment and instruments for band students. CFO Cheryl Hernandez said BISD expects to finish the 2017-18 year with a budget deficit of more than $1 million, mainly because of increased costs from Harvey and purchases that were carried over from the 2016-17 fiscal year, but next year's budget "will be balanced." The board is expected to vote on the budget on June 21, Frossard said. LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/LizTeitz Jefferson County school districts said in a joint statement Friday that "safety is our top priority," and said support is available to students "who need support in processing the horrifying shooting at Santa Fe High School." The statement from Beaumont, Nederland, Hamshire-Fannett, Port Arthur, Port Neches-Groves and Sabine Pass ISD is intended "to outline what we have in place to reassure our students that their school is a safe and nurturing place to learn and grow." Counselors, teachers and administrators are available to students to discuss the shooting, and "are also keeping an eye out for children who may be having a hard time but not necessarily seeking assistance," the statement said. The districts "have an emergency plan in place, including a crisis team," and follow guidelines from the Texas State School Safety Center, the statement said. "Regularly scheduled safety meetings and drills are conducted at the campus and district levels, and staff and administration actively monitor campuses." >> SE Texas schools plan for active shooter situations "Communication is paramount to any safety and prevention plan," the districts said. They urged parents to talk to their children about "any concerns," and said they plan to remind students "that if they see something or hear something that is of concern, notify an adult immediately." "We also ask parents ensure that students understand that even joking about school violence leads to an immediate and swift investigation of the threat," the statement said. Eleven Southeast Texas districts reported responding to threats or suspected weapons on campus this spring after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, though most were determined to be hoaxes. "BISD, NISD, HFISD, PAISD, PN-GISD and SPISD continue to value the parent and community partnerships in making our schools safe for students and staff," the statement said. "Safety is our top priority." BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) A Louisiana man who founded Cajun Navy 2016, a volunteer flotilla renowned for rapidly responding to natural disasters, has been arrested on a charge he defrauded a customer who hired him to rebuild a home. Jon Bridgers, 47, of Walker, was freed from jail on $10,000 bond after his arrest Wednesday on a charge of residential contractor fraud, according to his attorney, Philip House. Bridgers' group received national recognition for rescuing Texas residents from Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters last year. He was one of President Donald Trump's guests at his State of the Union address in January. A homeowner told investigators from the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office that Bridgers didn't complete the job after getting paid more than $50,000, according to an investigator's report. The homeowner said he hired Bridgers in October 2016 to rebuild his house and gave him a $15,000 down payment, the first of several payments before the homeowner hired someone else to finish the job, the report says. In a statement released by his lawyer, Bridgers said he didn't defraud anyone. He blamed his arrest on a "miscommunication" and said he had tried to amicably resolve a "contractual dispute." "My entire life I've built a reputation of being a man of my word," he said. "My focus remains on the work the Cajun Navy is doing every day to be prepared to respond to the next disaster, wherever it may be." Neither Bridgers nor his company, Bridgers Construction, has ever been licensed through the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, according to the investigator's report. Compensation for primary care physicians jumped by more than 10 percent during the past five years nearly double the pay increase for specialty physicians during the same period, a report from the Medical Group Management Association found. MGMA gathered data from 136,000-plus providers across more than 5,800 organizations. The survey includes data from physician-owned practices, hospital-owned practices, academic practices and other U.S. providers from small and large practices. Here are four statistics on physician compensation by the MGMA. 1. For primary care physicians, increases in median compensation differed significantly across states during the last five years. Median total compensation declined for primary care physicians in two states: Alabama (-9 percent) and New York (-3 percent). 2. However, numerous states saw increases in median total compensation compared to the national rate. The top five states were: Wyoming 41 percent Maryland 29 percent Louisiana 27 percent Missouri 24 percent Mississippi 21 percent 3. The District of Columbia paid physicians the least, with $205,776 in median total compensation, while Nevada, the highest-paying state, provided physicians with $309,431 in median total compensation. 4. Depending on medical specialty, the difference in physician compensation between the highest-paid state and the lowest-paid state ranged between $100,000 and nearly $270,000. The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department finalized a contract with Cerner May 17, awarding the EHR vendor $10 billion over the next 10 years to put the VA on the same records system as the U.S. Defense Department. The agreement came almost one year after former VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, announced Cerner would replace the agency's legacy EHR, VistA. Dr. Shulkin, who was ousted from the agency in March, praised the deal in a tweet. "A big day for @DeptVetAffairs! Congratulations all around for finalizing the @Cerner contract. An important step forward in the modernization of this essential system. Also a huge advance for interoperability standards across the industry. Gratitude to @DeptofDefense, @WhiteHouse, and the @VeteransHealth/ IT team and many others who made this happen," the May 17 tweet reads. The award is one of the largest IT contracts in the federal government. It requires that the new electronic records platform be able to share patient data securely and seamlessly between the VA, DOD and community providers. The VA also will be able to add capabilities to the system as necessary to meet the unique needs of veterans, VA clinicians and community providers. "In sum, signing this contract today is an enormous win for our nation's veterans. It puts in place a modern IT system that will support the best possible healthcare for decades to come. That's exactly what our nation's heroes deserve," acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie stated in a news release. The VA will work with the DOD, which began its transition to Cerner in February 2017, to avoid problems the DOD encountered with its rollout, including the management and documentation of patient care, poor system usability, insufficient training and inadequate help desk support. Congress already has awarded the VA $782 million in funding for fiscal year 2018 to get the project underway. More articles on EHRs: Democrats demand VA fire acting CIO, citing 'malign neglect' on EHR project Contractors bash firm hired to help with Mayo's Epic implementation DOD's EHR isn't 'operationally suitable,' Pentagon report finds RMC Jacksonville (Ala.), the city's only hospital, will shutter June 30, with its property gifted to nearby Jacksonville State University, according to AL.com. The Healthcare Authority of the City of Anniston (Ala.), which operates the 104-bed hospital's parent company, Anniston-based RMC Health System, confirmed the closure in a May 17 news release obtained by Becker's Hospital Review. RMC Health System purchased the hospital in 2013. Officials said the hospital campus will be gifted to the university, which is still coming to terms with the aftermath of a tornado that damaged several campus buildings March 19, according to the news release. "In today's volatile healthcare environment, sustaining under-utilized, high-cost services and facilities is not fiscally responsible," Billy Grizzard, chairman of the Healthcare Authority of the City of Anniston, said in a statement. "RMC's board and leadership team have carefully evaluated the most viable options for the future of our health system and believe that reallocating our resources and services will best serve residents of Calhoun County and surrounding communities. The difficult decision to close was not made lightly." The 42-year-old hospital's emergency room and ancillary services supporting the ER will remain operational until 11:59 p.m. June 30. Certain other services provided by the hospital will transition to other RMC facilities during the next six weeks, the report states. The health system's human resources team will assist RMC Jacksonville employees in finding other job opportunities within the health system, officials said in the news release. To access the AL.com report, click here. A state judge tossed out California's physician-assisted suicide law May 15, claiming the legislation was unconstitutional because it was introduced in the wrong forum, according to NBC News. Here are four things to know about the ruling. 1. State Superior Court for Riverside (Calif.) County Judge Daniel A. Ottolia ruled the legislation did not fall within the scope of healthcare services when the bill was under debate during a special section. The order is stayed for five days before the law is no longer in effect. 2. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he will appeal the ruling, stating, "We strongly disagree with this ruling and the state is seeking expedited review in the Court of Appeal," according to NBC News. 3. The law went to court after several nonprofit organizations and physicians challenged the law, which allows adults to obtain prescriptions for life-ending medication if a physician has determined they have six months or less to live. Those opposing the law claim the legislation lacks the safeguards necessary to protect against abuse, the report states. 4. A report to the state legislature regarding the law's effectiveness for the latter half of 2016, obtained by NBC News, found 111 Californians took advantage of the law to end their lives during the time period. The law initially went into effect during the second half of 2015, The Los Angeles Times reports. A Wake County Superior Court judge on May 15 placed a temporary restraining order on a ruling issued by the North Carolina Medical Board indefinitely suspending the license of Anne L. White, MD, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. Here are six things to know about the case. 1. Wake County Superior Court Judge George B. Collins issued the restraining order following a request from Dr. White's attorney during an emergency hearing May 14. 2. In his May 15 decision, Mr. Collins addressed the procedural issue of whether the state medical board has the authority to suspend a physician's license indefinitely. With the restraining order, Dr. White will be allowed to resume her clinical duties at her practice, the Carolina Laser and Cosmetic Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. 3. The state medical board issued a summary suspension of Dr. White's medical license May 6, according to the report. In the 13-page ruling, the medical board alleged Dr. White's conduct was found to be "immoral and dishonorable" and "unprofessional" under state law. The board's formal charges also alleged Dr. White reused syringes and dermatology products on multiple patients, and kept bags of human fat drawn during liposuction procedures in an office closet, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. 4. During the past few years, the board has only issued summary suspensions against four other physicians in the state, the report states. A summary suspension represents "an emergency action, taken in situations where the board believes allowing the licensee to continue practicing while the legal process plays out could result in patient harm," the medical board said in a statement to the publication. The Winston-Salem Journal reports none of the four physicians who previously received summary suspensions have had their medical licenses reinstated. 5. The suspension prevents Dr. White and all personnel at the medical facility from practicing medicine. However, the board said May 14 medical providers previously supervised by Dr. White may continue their services if they can find another physician to supervise them in addition to or in lieu of Dr. White. 6. A hearing for Dr. White is scheduled to take place June 21, giving her the opportunity to defend her actions. The Winston-Salem Journal reports Dr. White had board notices served against her in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2017. However, the board noted in a statement to the publication, "previous instances of misconduct cannot be treated as a predictor of future misconduct" and that "each case is unique and the outcome depends on the circumstances of the case." To access the full report, click here. UTMB Health's John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas, is one of three hospitals that received patients after a May 18 shooting at Sante Fe (Texas) High School, according to CNN. Nine students and one teacher died during the shooting, and at least 12 other individuals were injured, including two law enforcement officers. Webster, Texas-based Clear Lake Regional Medical Center received seven patients, Texas City-based Mainland Medical Center received two patients and John Sealy Hospital received three patients. "Our staff [members] are busy taking care of these patients and standing by ready for other patients to come in," UTMB Health's Chief Nursing and Patient Care Officer David Marshall, RN, said during a May 18 press conference streamed by CBC News. A 17-year-old male student suspected to be the gunman is in custody, a law enforcement official told CNN. A second, 18-year-old individual, believed to be the gunman's accomplice, is also in custody. The situation marks the eighth school shooting in eight days and the 22nd one to occur in 2018, according to a separate CNN report. After a woman allegedly faked a pregnancy to gain access to the labor and delivery floors of Muncie, Ind.-based Ball Memorial Hospital, hospital officials are working with police and alerting hospital staff to look out for the woman, according to WRTV. It is unclear whether the hospital obtained surveillance video of the woman. Hospital officials declined to tell WRTV whether they have identified the woman. "While no related criminal activity has taken place or charges have been filed, hospital police, leadership and team members remain vigilant. The safety and the very best care of patients and guests are always the highest priority," Ball Memorial Hospital stated in a May 17 news release obtained by WRTV. Indianapolis-based Community Health North Hospital said it is crucial for staff to have drills to ensure outsiders cannot gain access to a hospital's newborns. "As soon as a baby is delivered, we put identification on a baby, which does include a security tag," said Jamie Phillippe, MSN, director of NICU/PICU/Pediatrics at Community Health North. Ms. Phillippe said the hospital's maternity ward and newborn ICU are locked down at all times. To protect patients when security threats arise, hospital officials share information with all staff and pay close attention to video feeds around the facility, she said. In April, a federal judge denied Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island's motion for summary judgment in an antitrust suit filed by Boston-based Steward Health Care. Last week, the judge denied the insurer's request to immediately appeal the April ruling, meaning BCBS of Rhode Island will have to face the antitrust suit, according to Law360. Here are five things to know. 1. Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, R.I., filed for receivership in 2008 and spent subsequent years looking for a buyer. In June 2011, Steward announced plans to buy the hospital. Steward backed out of the deal in September 2012 after failing to reach an acceptable agreement with BCBS of Rhode Island. 2. Steward subsequently filed an antitrust suit against BCBS of Rhode Island, claiming the insurer obstructed Steward's attempted $40 million takeover of Landmark Medical Center to keep Steward from entering the Rhode Island market, according to Law360. 3. Steward alleged BCBS of Rhode Island "purposely thwarted Steward's acquisition and planned revitalization of Landmark" by refusing to negotiate in good faith for reasonable reimbursement rates for Landmark and actively conspiring with Providence, R.I.-based Lifespan and Woonsocket, R.I.-based Thundermist Health Center to help block the deal. 4. BCBS of Rhode Island filed a motion for summary judgment in the case in 2017, and U.S. District Judge William E. Smith denied the motion in April. In his opinion, Mr. Smith said Steward has "raised a triable issue as to whether Blue Cross engaged in a predatory refusal to deal by blocking Steward from entry into the Rhode Island healthcare and health insurance markets," according to WPRI. On May 15, the judge denied the insurer's request to appeal his ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 5. Blue Cross spokesperson Gail Carvelli told WPRI the insurer was disappointed by the ruling. "We remain confident, however, that Steward Health Care's claims are without merit, and that we will prevail at trial," said Ms. Carvelli. "We will continue to defend our mission to provide high-quality, affordable health insurance to Rhode Islanders." More articles on payer issues: CEO of health insurance startup Oscar: Expansions on the way UnitedHealthcare denied a dying mother's liver transplant, until she penned a letter to the CEO CMS has opened an investigation into St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital days after the state's healthcare agency cited the hospital for not reporting two medical errors in which needles were left in patients' hearts after surgery, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Here are five things to know about CMS' investigation into the St. Petersburg hospital. 1. A CMS spokesperson told the Tampa Bay Times the review aims to ensure the hospital is following all federal health regulations. The agency contracts with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration to conduct inspections. The publication reports state officials typically perform a quality assurance and performance improvement review, which aims to confirm hospitals are operating at acceptable standards to receive federal reimbursement. 2. In an email to the Tampa Bay Times, Johns Hopkins All Children's said the institution has been "transparent" with regulators. "Patient safety and providing the highest quality care are foundational to our mission and the manner in which we care for children. We work closely with local and federal regulatory agencies and will continue to collaborate in the interest of our patients and their families, who are always our number one priority," the hospital said. 3. Federal and state regulators began investigating the hospital after a Tampa Bay Times investigation in April revealed a needle was found in 3-day-old Katelynn Whipple's heart during a follow-up visit to the hospital after she underwent heart surgery in 2016. However, the surgeon who operated on the child told her parents the needle did not exist. Ten days later, Katelynn's parents took her to a different hospital for emergency surgery unrelated to the needle. The surgeon operating on the child reportedly discovered the needle 30 minutes into the operation. 4. In April, hospital leaders told the publication surgical needles had been left behind in two patients since 2016. Jonathan Ellen, MD, president, CEO and physician-in-chief of Johns Hopkins All Children's, said at the time the hospital has since performed fewer heart surgeries and is referring complicated cases to other hospitals, according to the report. Dr. Ellen also confirmed one of the hospital's three heart surgeons, Tom Karl, MD, is not operating at this time. Medical records obtained by the Tampa Bay Times indicate Dr. Karl was involved in Katelynn's surgery. 5. The AHCA told the Tampa Bay Times Johns Hopkins All Children's was due for a review, but the agency decided to accelerate its investigation into the hospital after learning of the two needle incidents, according to the report. The results of the April investigation, released May 15 and obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, cited the hospital for not reporting the two "adverse incidents" within 15 days as required by law. The hospital also violated state law by not disclosing the incident to the patient or a patient representative. AHCA shared the results of its investigation with CMS, who proceeded to ask for a wider review of the hospital's operations, the report states. To access the Tampa Bay Times report, click here. Here are 20+ surgeons focusing on scoliosis. To recommend an addition to this list, please email Shayna Korol at skorol@beckershealthcare.com. Becker's 16th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management ASC Conference registration is now open, click here. Learn more about the biggest business and clinical trends in orthopedics and spine at the event, June 14-16 in Chicago. For exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities, contact Maura Jodoin at mjodoin@beckershealthcare.com and Kristelle Khazzaka at kkhazzaka@beckershealthcare.com. Todd J. Albert, MD (Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City). Dr. Albert is an orthopedic spine surgeon and the president of the Scoliosis Research Society. He is the surgeon-in-chief and CMO of HSS, and serves as chairman of the orthopedic surgery department and an orthopedic surgery professor at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Dr. Albert specializes in disorders of the cervical spine. Here is Dr. Albert's website. Neel Anand, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles). Dr. Anand serves as a professor of orthopedic surgery and director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai. He is a pioneer in the field of minimally invasive spine surgery and a member of the Scoliosis Research Society. Dr. Anand underwent scoliosis and spine trauma fellowship training at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Vincent Arlet, MD (Penn Medicine in Philadelphia). Dr. Arlet is the chief of orthopedic spine surgery at Penn Medicine who specializes in spinal deformity, including scoliosis. He has completed over 2,500 adult and pediatric spinal deformity procedures and is an active member of the Scoliosis Research Society. Sigurd Berven, MD (UCSF Health Spine Center). Dr. Berven is an orthopedic spine surgeon and professor at UCSF Health who focuses on pediatric and adult spinal disorders. He is a director at large of the Scoliosis Research Society. Laurel Blakemore, MD (University of Florida Health in Gainesville). Dr. Blakemore is the division chief of pediatric orthopedics at UF Health. Her practice focuses on scoliosis, complex spinal deformity and general pediatric orthopedics, and she serves as secretary elect for the Scoliosis Research Society. Her research focuses on pediatric spinal deformity and early onset scoliosis. Randal R. Betz, MD (Institute for Spine & Scoliosis, Lawrenceville, N.J.). Dr. Betz is a pediatric orthopedic spine surgeon at the Institute for Spine & Scoliosis. He served as president of the Scoliosis Research Society in 2005 and remains an active member. Dr. Betz is also recognized for his expertise in pediatric spinal cord injury treatment. J. Abbott Byrd III, MD (Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists in Norfolk, Va.). Dr. Byrd is an orthopedic spine surgeon at Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists and the active treasurer of the Scoliosis Research Society. Dr. Byrd specializes in treating pediatric and adult patients with complex spine problems, including scoliosis. He holds several spinal implant device patents and developed Synergy Spinal Systems. Christopher J. DeWald, MD (Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago). Dr. DeWald is an orthopedic spine surgeon at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush whose research interests include fusionless scoliosis surgery. Dr. DeWald has completed international spine surgery fellowship training in Germany, France, England and Japan. In addition to scoliosis surgery, Dr. DeWald performs thoroscopic spine and adult spinal reconstruction. Thomas Errico, MD (New York University Langone Health in New York City). Dr. Errico is chief of the division of spine surgery at NYU Langone Health and a professor of orthopedic and neurosurgery. Dr. Errico has served as president of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery and the North American Spine Society. He is involved in pediatric spine surgery research as part of the Harms Study Group, which is supported by the Setting Scoliosis Straight Foundation. David S. Feldman, MD (The Paley Institute in West Palm Beach, Fla.). Dr. Feldman is an orthopedic spine surgeon and the director of spinal deformity and hip preservation at the Paley Institute. He previously served as the chief of pediatric orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Health in New York City and focuses on treating spinal deformities such as scoliosis. Joseph Flynn, Jr., MD (The Spine & Scoliosis Center, Orlando). Dr. Flynn is an orthopedic spine surgeon at The Spine & Scoliosis Center. His primary interests include pediatric and adult spinal deformity and degenerative and traumatic cervical and lumbar spine disorders. Kamal N. Ibrahim, MD (DuPage Medical Group in Elmhurst, Ill.). Dr. Ibrahim is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at DuPage Medical Group. He is the former chief of pediatric and scoliosis surgery at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Ill., and a previous president of the Scoliosis Research Society. His clinical interests include scoliosis treatment, spine deformities and trauma-related injuries. Lori A. Karol, MD (Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas). Dr. Karol is an assistant chief of staff and medical director of the Movement Science Laboratory and Performance Improvement department at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. She is a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and serves as a director at large of the Scoliosis Research Society. Her clinical interests include scoliosis and other orthopedic and spine disorders. Lawrence Lenke, MD (Columbia University Medical Center in New York City). Dr. Lenke is a professor of orthopedic surgery at the ColumbiaUniversityMedicalCenter, the surgeon-in-chief at The Spine Hospital of at NewYork-Presbyterian in New York City and a leading expert in spine deformity surgery. Dr. Lenke developed the classification system for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and previously served as president of the Scoliosis Research Society. Peter O. Newton, MD (Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego). Dr. Newton is the president elect of the Scoliosis Research Society, chief of the division of orthopedics and scoliosis at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego and a clinical professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Dr. Newton primarily treats scoliosis and other spine conditions, and his research focuses on spine surgery, scoliosis without spinal fusion and orthopedic biomechanics. He previously served as president of the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America. David W. Polly Jr., MD (University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis). Dr. Polly is a professor and chief of spine surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is widely recognized for his research on scoliosis. Dr. Polly is a past president of the Scoliosis Research Society. Frank Schwab, MD (Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City). Dr. Schwab is the spine service chief at HSS. His practice focuses on complex spinal pathology, pediatric and adult spinal deformity, revision and reconstruction procedures. Dr. Schwab developed the first definitive classification of adult spinal deformity and is the research council chair of the Scoliosis Research Society. Rajiv K. Sethi, MD (Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle). Dr. Sethi is an orthopedic spine surgeon and medical director of the Neuroscience Institute at Virginia Mason. A director at large of the Scoliosis Research Society, Dr. Sethi has expertise in complex spine and scoliosis surgery and is a fellow of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Paul D. Sponseller, MD (Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore). Dr. Sponseller is the vice president of the Scoliosis Research Society and chief of the division of pediatric orthopedics at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. He is a professor of orthopedic surgery and urology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He specializes in pediatric spine and orthopedic disorders. Michael Vitale, MD (Columbia University Medical Center in New York City). Dr. Vitale is the chief of pediatric spine and scoliosis surgery at the Columbia University Medical Center and a professor of pediatric orthopedic surgery. He is the Chief Quality Officer of the orthopedic surgery department and specializes in non-operative and operative complex pediatric scoliosis treatment, performing about 200 scoliosis procedures annually, half of which are on children less than eight years of age. Dr. Vitale leads the Scoliosis Research Society's advocacy efforts to meet the unmet need for pediatric medical devices. Stuart L. Weinstein, MD (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City). Dr. Weinstein is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spinal deformities and hip problems. Dr. Weinstein is the past president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Association, the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America. More articles on spine: The underrated qualities that all successful spine surgeons possess 8 things for spine surgeons to know for Thursday May 17, 2018 Spine surgeon collected $847k from Medicare after surrendering license And he's not alone: 5 things to know Here are four orthopedic spine and neurosurgeons making headlines. The late Cyril Raben, MD, continued practicing medicine after surrendering his license and collected thousands of dollars from Medicare before his death. Cathleen Van Buskirk, MD, had her bankruptcy fraud trial rescheduled from May to Aug. 20, 2018. It took only a few hours for a Dallas County jury to convict neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, MD, of first-degree felony for endangering an elderly woman in the operating room. North Little Rock-based Arkansas Surgical Hospital welcomed Phillip Porcelli, DO. More articles on spine: 20+ spine surgeons focused on scoliosis Top 10 Spine Review articles: May 14-18 Regent, 14 physicians unveil new total joint, spine ASC 5 things to know Crowds of visitors thronged the NI Food Pavilion to sample the finest wares from the region's food and drink producers. Ireland's biggest agricultural show is the ideal place for companies to showcase their best new products and the cream of the crop was on display yesterday. Ballylisk of Armagh was riding high after its new triple cream cheese was named Best New Product in the food pavilion, and owner Dean Wright says it is in talks with some high-end retailers in London which are considering stocking the product. The family-run business of fifth generation farmers get their ingredient directly from source, using milk from their own Holstein Friesian herd. "We take the product right through from farm to cheese. I think we are the first farm in Northern Ireland to do that and it means we have a product on the market with full traceability," Dean said. "It's a triple cream cheese, which is a semi-soft cheese targeted at the high-end market, with three times the amount of cream from normal white mould-ripened cheese would have. "We have our own milk pools, cows, cheese plant and it has done very well. There has been huge interest from well-known chefs, establishments and outlets across the UK. It's getting to places where I never expected it to get," he said. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Belfast Telegraph promotional team members Lauren Rolston and Aoibheann McKinley during Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The tug of war competition during Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The tug of war competition during Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Anne Matthews and Betty Rodgers from A Blissful Blend pictured with Nick McCafferty Entrepreneur Development Apprentice at Ulster Bank. A Blissful Blend was one of the companies provided with free space by Ulster Bank to exhibit in its marquee. The companies include Ulster Bank customers and entrepreneurs from the bank's Entrepreneur Accelerator. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Ulster Bank has the NatWest Six Nations trophy at its stand over the duration of this yearOs Balmoral Show. Visitors to the show today had the chance to have their photo taken with the trophy which Ireland claimed this year as part of their Grand Slam success. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Pig showing and judging at the show. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Ulster Bank has the NatWest Six Nations trophy at its stand over the duration of this yearOs Balmoral Show. Visitors to the show today had the chance to have their photo taken with the trophy which Ireland claimed this year as part of their Grand Slam success. Pictured with the trophy are Ireland and Ulster captain Rory Best with Jack Francis from Crumlin. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Karen Bradley on Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Karen Bradley on Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Karen Bradley samples food at the Moy Park stand on Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Karen Bradley on Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. People queue to gain entry to the show which is celebrating its 150th anniversary (Jonathan Porter/PressEye) Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Ulster Bank's Henry the Hippo with Freya McMinn(2) and her sister Sofia(3). Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. People enjoy the entertainment as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Freestyle Motocross as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Freestyle Motocross as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Crowds enjoy the good weather as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse show jumping as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 DUP leader Arlene Foster pictured at the Balmoral Show event this afternoon. Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse showing as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. People enjoy the entertainment as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show at Balmoral Park. (Jonathan Porter/PressEye) Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Cattle judging as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues (Jonathan Porter/PressEye) Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. The 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Cattle judging as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Cattle judging as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse showing jumping as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse showing as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse showing as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 17th May 2018 Second day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse showing as the 150th anniversary Balmoral Show continues. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Belfast Telegraph promotional team members Lauren Rolston and Aoibheann McKinley during Day 2 of the Balmoral show on May 17th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Papa's Minerals Company was also turning heads with its new Belfast ginger ale from the Longbridge Drinks Co, which has its own story. "Belfast invented ginger ale, so we're bringing it back with our brand new Belfast ginger ale," said owner Wayne Adair. "We've even named it after the Long Bridge. The original Queen's Bridge was called Long Bridge before it was knocked down and replaced with the present Queen's Bridge. "So, because ginger ale was born in Belfast, we decided to name it after one of the original Belfast landmarks." Not only was Quails Fine Foods from Banbridge showcasing its latest products, but it was celebrating a win in the show ring. Joe Quail explained: "We've been farmers and butchers for 120 years. We show Limousin cattle and we won first prize with our cow this year. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Four year old Anna McFeeters from Carryduff pictured at the show with a Kid goat. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Riverside Special School pupils Dexter project during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Horse Jumping at the Balmoral Show on Wednesday. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Horse Jumping at the Balmoral Show on Wednesday. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. HRH Princess Anne visits the Balmoral show today (Wednesday). While at the show she viewed an exhibition of the 150 years of the Balmoral show. she also presented an award to Show Judge Terence McKeag for his 50 years service at the show. Photo by Aaron McCracken RUAS/No Repro Fee HRH Princess Anne visits the Balmoral show today (Wednesday). While at the show she viewed an exhibition of the 150 years of the Balmoral show. she also presented an award to Show Judge Terence McKeag for his 50 years service at the show. Photo by Aaron McCracken RUAS/No Repro Fee PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Stunt Moto cross riders put off freestyle tricks during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Big Air Motocross Freestyle Jumps at the Balmoral Show. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Singer Derek Ryan pictured at the Balmoral Show on Wednesday. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Riverside Special School pupils Stephen Millar and Matthew Bloomer Dexter project during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. A robotic robot entertains the crowds at the Balmoral Show. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Maurice Murphy and Azaria the goat. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Maurice Murphy and Azaria the goat. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Sarah 12,Rachael 10 and Richard 6 pictured with there sheep. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Jacqueline Baxter from Newtownstwert pictured with Reserve and Special Champion Heifer Beauty Hill Ferrari. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Michaela Rodgers from Carnlough. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. REPRO FREE McAuley Multimedia 16/05/18 Marcia McNally, TechXpert at Ulster Bank meets Zeldan the Giant French Lop during day one of the 2018 Balmoral Show in partnership with Ulster Bank. Pic Steven McAuley/McAuley Multimedia Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Wolf and Woodsman's David Knowles, Andy Laverty and Jonny Laverty with Lynsey Cunningham Regional Director, Entrepreneurship at Ulster Bank. Wolf and Woodsman was one of the companies provided with free space by Ulster Bank to exhibit in its marquee. The companies include Ulster Bank customers and entrepreneurs from the bank's Entrepreneur Accelerator. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Jenny Gregg and Lila Gregg from Craft Equestrian with Lynsey Cunningham Regional Director, Entrepreneurship at Ulster Bank. Craft Equestrian was one of the companies provided with free space by Ulster Bank to exhibit in its marquee. The companies include Ulster Bank customers and entrepreneurs from the bank's Entrepreneur Accelerator. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Jake McClurg (10) from Ballynahinch, who is showing sheep, pictured as the gates open for the 150th Balmoral show (Jonathan Porter/PressEye) PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Allen McIntosh of Ulster Wool shows a fleece to school children at the Sheep Shearing competition on the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye HRH Princess Anne visits the Balmoral Show today. Photo by Aaron McCracken RUAS/No Repro Fee HRH Princess Anne visits the Balmoral Show today accompanied by RUAS president Cyril Millar and Chief Executive Alan Crowe (L). Photo by Aaron McCracken RUAS/No Repro Fee Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse show jumping in the parade ring. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Horse show jumping in the parade ring. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Ulster Bank's Henry the Hippo pictured with Erin Gould(2) from ballygowan. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Ulster Bank has the NatWest Six Nations trophy at its stand over the four days of this yearOs Balmoral Show. Visitors to the show today had the chance to have their photo taken with the trophy which Ireland claimed this year as part of their Grand Slam success. Pictured with the trophy are Trevor Hanna and Peter Armstrong from Belfast. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Ulster Bank has the NatWest Six Nations trophy at its stand over the four days of this yearOs Balmoral Show. Visitors to the show today had the chance to have their photo taken with the trophy which Ireland claimed this year as part of their Grand Slam success. Pictured with the trophy are Miceal Doyle from Ballyward and his children Eoin(8), Clara(6) and Rose(3). Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Ulster Bank has the NatWest Six Nations trophy at its stand over the four days of this yearOs Balmoral Show. Visitors to the show today had the chance to have their photo taken with the trophy which Ireland claimed this year as part of their Grand Slam success. Pictured with the trophy is Ulster Bank Henry The Hippo Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Katherine Smart , aged 5 ,from Loughgall during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park (Brian Little/PressEye) PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Conor Savage from Castlewellen preparing his Blondie cattle during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Horse jumping competition starts on the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Max Jess aged 3 from Kilkeel looking at the tractors during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Cattle showing in the parade ring. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Cattle showing in the parade ring. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Who jumping in the parade ring. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 16th May 2018 First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park. Cattle showing in the parade ring. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Matthew Preston, aged 12, from Antrim showing his Dexter Cattle during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Emma Allen from Loughgall showing her Limousin Bull during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Martine McCann (left) and Alica McAuley with her Limousin Cattle during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye PressEye-Northern Ireland- 16th May 2018-Picture by Brian Little/ PressEye Hayden Tumelty from Dowpatrick with his Dexter cattle during the First day of the 2018 Balmoral Show, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Balmoral Park Picture by Brian Little/PressEye Rhonda Geary 15th May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / PressEye.com Final preparations are under way for the 150th Balmoral Show. Matt Mackey / PressEye.com 15th May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / PressEye.com Final preparations are under way for the 150th Balmoral Show. Andrea McKee from Killinchy along with her horse Matt Mackey / PressEye.com 15th May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / PressEye.com Final preparations are under way for the 150th Balmoral Show. Emily Magowan from Killinchy and her horse Patrick. Matt Mackey / PressEye.com 15th May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / PressEye.com Final preparations are under way for the 150th Balmoral Show. Matt Mackey / PressEye.com 15th May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / PressEye.com Final preparations are under way for the 150th Balmoral Show. Emily Magowan from Killinchy and her horse Patrick. Matt Mackey / PressEye.com 15th May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / PressEye.com Final preparations are under way for the 150th Balmoral Show. Matt Mackey / PressEye.com / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pacemaker Press Belfast: 16/5/2018: The Balmoral Show has begun with the first of four days of events to showcase food and farming in Northern Ireland. As well as a range of livestock classes, the event hosts hundreds of trade stands displaying everything from crafts to machinery. Four year old Anna McFeeters from Carryduff pictured at the show with a Kid goat. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press. "This year we have a new pork and chorizo sausage and it's going well - people say it has a good kick to it. We dry-age the full carcass in our Himalayan salt chill for 28 days. "We're also launching the fact that we're opening a new store in the Eurospar at Wallace Village in Lisburn. We've won 27 Great Taste awards." Long Meadow Farm from Armagh was also showcasing its popular new rhubarb and honey flavoured cider. "It's going really well - it's one of the top sellers. It's now launched in Sainsburys from the beginning of May," said Catherine McKeever. "We're a family-run business of third-generation apple growers and we have diversified into cider. Breakfast isn't forgotten, with Lurgan-based Avondale Foods launching two varieties of bircher muesli and two varieties of ready-to-microwave porridge. Dawn Cann says blueberry and strawberry muesli proved popular with visitors this week. "You don't have to cook them - you just stir and eat," she says. Meanwhile, Broughgammon Farm is launching a new farm shop at its Ballycastle farm, where it will be putting on artisan classes to teach foraging, wild game butchery, cheese-making, fermenting, smoking and curing. Morelli's Ice Cream is also in the process of expansion, taking over the premises next door to expand its factory. Manager Ben Robinson says it is currently testing new creams in conjunction with the university in Coleraine and is about to launch a new Ferrero Rocher-themed Ambassador cone. Glanbia Ireland has announced the appointment of Janet McCollum as a non-executive director of the company. Janet has over 25 years of experience in the food industry and currently serves as chief executive of Moy Park based in Co Armagh. Moy Park is one of the UK's top 15 food companies, Northern Ireland's largest private sector business and one of Europe's leading poultry producers. Speaking about the appointment, Henry Corbally, Chair of Glanbia Ireland, said: "I'm delighted to welcome Janet McCollum to the Board of Glanbia Ireland. "Janet has a wealth of experience of the food industry and a keen understanding of consumer trends which will be invaluable at the Board. I know she will make a significant contribution to the ambitious plans we have for the organisation. "At Moy Park, Janet has demonstrated her strong strategic leadership and everybody in Glanbia Ireland looks forward to working with her." Last year, Janet received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank. She was honoured for making a hugely positive impact in the business community here as well as playing a major role in representing the agri-food industry nationally and internationally. Yesterday, she was a keynote speaker at the Ulster Bank lunch at Balmoral Show, which is now in its 10th year. The Belfast-born executive, has overseen a major expansion in the business, including its growth in the convenience food sector, which has helped drive profits. Moy Park, based in Craigavon, employs 6,300 people in Northern Ireland and a total of 12,000, including its operations in Europe. It recorded pre-tax profits of 35.7m in 2015. It is now one of the UK's top 15 food companies, and part of the Brazilian-based JBS Group. Janet has been head of the company since 2014, but first joined as European accountant back in 1993. Fish caught in the Irish Sea will soon be served on dinner plates in the Middle East thanks to a new deal with a Co Down co-operative. Kilkeel co-operative fishing, processing and distribution group Seasource Ltd has announced an unprecedented partnership with an eCommerce focused holding company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Irish Sea Food Company will be a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi-based company which will feature Kilkeel-landed fresh fish and seafood in a new online catalogue as well as through numerous local supermarkets and restaurants. It will take online orders from customers in the UAE, which will be processed and freighted from Kilkeel to guarantee a fresh and tasty product is delivered within 48 hours. Alan McCulla, chief executive officer of Seasource Ltd, said this is the first time fresh fish from Northern Ireland will be made available directly to customers the Middle East. He said projected sales for the first year will be modest but should exceed 1.5m per annum within the next three years. Mr McCulla added: "The new venture requires high grade logistical capacity and fast turn-around capability. "These are requirements which we have perfected in recent years thanks to our growing export business, which includes Ireland, GB, France, Spain and Italy. "We have worked closely with our new Partners to create the Irish Sea Food Company and are delighted to announce this new venture. We are grateful to Invest NI, who facilitated the introduction last year during a UAE trade mission with the company principals Alan O'Donnell and Ian Grannan. "Kilkeel operations will benefit from this as they already have, from expansion, including the new partnership with international fishing company Hooktone Group." The 20m Maldron Hotel in Belfast city centre has enjoyed an occupancy rate of between 70% and 80% since it opened in March. More than 100 new jobs have been created at the 237-bedroom hotel at Brunswick Street which has been welcoming guests from all over the world. General manager Mike Gatt said: "We have been very fortunate that it has been well received. Bookings are coming to us at a regular rate. Guests are coming from far and wide. "We had three tour groups yesterday - two from China and one from North America. "For many years, the investment in Belfast was really non-existent. We have entered a new era. Hotels are just playing catch-up. "Looking at occupancy levels across Belfast, we still have a bit to go." Speaking at yesterday's official opening, Mr Gatt added: "We are delighted to officially open the Maldron Hotel Belfast City. "Today marks the culmination of many months of work by our contractors and by hotel staff, but we now have a hotel which we are all incredibly proud of. "We have already had a hugely positive response from the customers who have stayed with us and we look forward to welcoming many more in the months and years ahead. Our city centre location, four-star comfort, state-of-the-art technology, high levels of service and best quality food and drink mark the hotel out as a great place to stay. He added: "Maldron Hotel Belfast City is perfect for both business and leisure travel and we are able to provide an unrivalled level of service to everybody who stays with us." A second Maldron Hotel in Northern Ireland is located in Londonderry and another at Belfast International Airport. The Irish parent company, Dalata Hotel Group, also owns the Clayton Hotel, formerly the Holiday Inn, at Ormeau Avenue. More ventures are in the pipeline for Dalata Group, with three new hotels comprising nearly 500 rooms due to open this year in Dublin and Cork. In England, Maldron Hotel Newcastle is scheduled to open early next year. The ribbon was cut on the new four star hotel by Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Nuala McAllister at an event attended by other local dignitaries including the Lord Mayor of Cork Tony Fitzgerald, a former guest, representatives of business, the public sector, tourist organisations and Belfast Metropolitan College. The Belfast Lord Mayor said: "Tourism is boosting our economy and offering Belfast people rewarding career options. "So I'd also like to pay tribute to the Dalata Hotel Group for their vision in partnering with us to deliver a Hotel Employment Academy, to help people who are currently out of work develop their skills and find jobs." John Hennessy, chairman of Dalata Hotel Group, said: "Maldron Belfast City has been built with the business and leisure markets both at the forefront of our minds. We are confident that we can offer an unrivalled level of hospitality and service for all our visitors in the years to come." The stylish new hotel boasts 237 bedrooms and five state-of-the-art meeting rooms. Rolls Royce has unveiled its Cullinan SUV a 230,000 luxury 4x4 for the super-rich. Boasting a five-year long design and production process, a 6.75-litre engine and incredible refinement, the Cullinan is proof that SUV fever has infected every sector of the car industry. Theres an amazing array of choices, technology and options that all add up to a supremely luxurious SUV offering 850Nm of torque from its V12 twin turbo engine. Rolls Royce makes the usual breathless claims about the Cullinan, but given the level of cost and sophistication, in this case they are probably reasonably correct. Our customers expect to go everywhere in luxury, effortlessly and without compromise, conquering the most challenging terrain to enjoy lifes most enriching experiences, wherever they may be, says company boss Torsetn Muller Otvos. For this reason, they have asked us to create a Rolls-Royce that offers uncompromised luxury wherever they dare to venture. Cullinan is that car. It is Effortless, Everywhere. It is incomparable and dramatically evolves the parameters of super-luxury travel, translating Rolls-Royces ethos of Effortlessness into physical capability, anywhere in the world. Cullinan will simply take the world in its stride. First deliveries are expected at the end of this year, or early in 2019. So whats it like? Here are 10 fascinating facts about this rich mans off-roader. 1. The car can be specced with an Individual Seat configuration, with the two individual rear seats separated by a centre console incorporating a drinks cabinet with whisky glasses and decanter, champagne flutes and refrigerator 2. It is, however, a proper go-anywhere 4x4 that has been tested to destruction all over the planet. The chassis is a double-wishbone front axle and five-link rear axle with air suspension set-up that delivers a Magic Carpet ride even over rough terrain 3. Dont expect it to win any awards for fuel efficiency: the Cullinan does 18.8mpg on average 4. The Cullinan is named after the largest diamond ever discovered, which now resides in the British Crown Jewels 5. Its the first time a Rolls-Royce has an opening tailgate (called The Clasp), which opens and closes in its two sections automatically at the touch of the key fob button 6. It claims to be the first three-box car in the SUV-sector. The Cullinans rear partition wall creates a distinct environment for passengers, separated from the luggage compartment (which keeps noise down) 7. Its only the second new Rolls-Royce to sit on the all-new aluminium Architecture of Luxury. And, claims the manufacturer, the Cullinan is the most technologically advanced, and only purpose-built, luxury SUV in the world 8. For the first time ever in a Rolls Royce, the rear seats fold down 9. When you click the unlock button, the Cullinan lowers itself by 40mm to make getting in easier 10. Although no price has officially been given, the Cullinan is expected to cost from around 230,000. This is likely to make it the second most expensive car in the range, after the Phantom, which will remain the Rolls Royce flagship model. McBurney/Rolling Stones - 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour Pictured Rolling Stones fans Ian Davis and Des Husin from Belfast as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 Location: Europa Bus Station, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com McBurney/Rolling Stones - 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour Pictured Rolling Stones fans Martin Beeton and Tara Shields as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 Location: Europa Bus Station, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com McBurney/Rolling Stones - 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour Pictured Rolling Stones fans Kelly and Richard O'Neill as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 Location: Europa Bus Station, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com McBurney/Rolling Stones - 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour Pictured Rolling Stones fans Lisa Dynes with her daughter Carrie Dynes from Bangor as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 Location: Central Station, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com McBurney/Rolling Stones - 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour Pictured Rolling Stones fans Anthony Di Lucia (L) and Donal O'Neill from Belfast as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 Location: Central Station, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com McBurney/Rolling Stones - 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour Pictured Rolling Stones fans Gareth Barr with his dad John Barr and brother Owen Barr as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 Location: Central Station, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com McBurney/Rolling Stones - 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour Pictured Rolling Stones fans John McCready with his daughter Cassie McCready from Dundonald as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 Location: Central Station, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com Rolling Stones fans Mark Brown and Laura Ross from Carrickfergus as they journey from Belfast to Dublin for the first date of the 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour at Croke Park. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ronnie Wood on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ronnie Wood on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones on stage at Croke Park, Dublin for their first night of their 'STONES - NO FILTER' 2018 tour. Thursday 17th May 2018. Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Archbishop Thomas Croke - who lends his name to Dublin's historic GAA stadium - must have been spinning in his grave as Sympathy for the Devil heralded the arrival of the Rolling Stones last night. The ageing rockers launched the second leg of their No Filter tour in front of a mainly middle-aged, middle-class audience paying between 70 to 181 for the ambience, classic rock and roll and bragging rights to say they probably attended the last ever Irish gig by the Stones. It might not have been a sell-out, but 74-year-old Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 76-year-old Charlie Watts, and a relatively youthful Ronnie Wood (70) proved they could still give their fans in Ireland satisfaction. Prime Minister Theresa May should walk away from Brexit negotiations with the EU with no deal rather than show "weakness", the DUP's Sammy Wilson has said. The MP, who is the DUP's Brexit spokesman, also hit out at "geriatric" members of the House of Lords who have voted against the Government's legislation to take Britain out of the European Union. Read More Mr Wilson, speaking to The Daily Telegraph, said the government will tell Brussels it is prepared to stay tied to the EU's Customs Union beyond 2021. I don't believe it is necessary for us to stay in beyond that period. In doing so the PM shows a sign of weakness to EU negotiators - if they stick their heels in, she will concede. When the PM has stuck her heels in, as she did in December, they changed the agreement," he said. "As she did in March, when they said they wouldn't accept the legal agreement, they backed down. She should learn from that. Stand up to them. They need the deal, they will back down. Do this kind of thing where you sway with the wind you will come off worse. Expand Close Theresa May Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May The House of Lords has frustrated the government's Brexit plans by proposing 15 amendments to legislation. Mr Wilson, whose party's is propping up the Conservative Government, said: "They are [peers] not experts. They are a bunch of geriatric members, most of whom are on the EU payroll. You expect them to vote the way they have done. A senior Northern Ireland civil servant has apologised after hundreds of neurology patients were recalled for further testing. An independent inquiry has been launched following a probe into the work of a consultant neurologist in Belfast. It followed the year-long examination by the Royal College of Physicians of patient notes relating to the work of Dr Michael Watt. The permanent secretary at Stormont's health department, Richard Pengelly, said the health and social care services "apologised unreservedly" after standards of care fell short. "This issue has undoubtedly caused a great deal of distress to patients and their loved ones. "On behalf of the entire health and social care system I want to apologise unreservedly for that - the reality is that we all feel diminished when the high standards the public demands of our service are not met." Neurology involves treating brain conditions including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's. The recall of 2,500 people by Belfast Health Trust has raised concerns about potential misdiagnosis. Mr Pengelly added: "In recent weeks and months, prompted by other events, there has rightly been a focus on whether our service is sufficiently open and transparent, the extent to which we take responsibility for our mistakes and, more importantly, learn from them. "I want the public to be in no doubt that we are sincere in our efforts to learn from past, and more recent, events. The standard of care provided has fallen short of the one we have set, and indeed the standard the public have the right to expect." He assured the public that health authorities and the independent sector were working hard on a number of fronts to address this rapidly. "I do want to emphasise that that will be an open and robust process, and anything less than complete co-operation from all parts of the system will simply not be acceptable." Sinn Fein health spokesman Pat Sheehan welcomed the public apology. The West Belfast MLA said: "It is an extremely stressful and worrying time for many of these patients and it is important this is recognised and addressed. "The priority, of course, is that every patient is seen as soon as possible within the 12 weeks timeframe of the recall and those requiring further treatment or care receive it as a matter of urgency. "It is also vital the Belfast Trust communicate clearly and regularly with the affected patients to address the stress and worry many will be feeling at this time." Alliance health spokeswoman Paula Bradshaw MLA has said that while the apology is welcome, more communication and action is needed. "I have spoken to many healthcare personnel over the last couple of weeks and I feel Mr Pengelly's comments today very much reflect their personal sentiments," said the South Belfast MLA. Terri Mercer, a former patient of Dr Watt who has set up a Facebook group supporting the doctor, said that she acknowledged the apology. "However, we would also like a public apology to Dr Watt for the distress and damage to his reputation and for him to be reinstated as soon as possible," she said. "Our members would like to know why Dr Watt's name was released by the trust and his patients stopped from seeing him with no explanation." 'The failure to provide adequate funding comes despite the Department of Health commissioning an independent review into the cost of running community pharmacies' (stock photo) High street chemists across Northern Ireland are facing closure without an urgent cash injection from health officials, it has been claimed. The body that represents community pharmacies in Northern Ireland has said the service is in crisis and patients will lose out as they are forced to rely upon already overstretched GP and A&E services. Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI) has published the results of a survey of members, 81% of whom said the current funding situation is having an impact on their own health and wellbeing. Gerard Greene, CPNI chief executive, said: "Community pharmacists are at breaking point as the realities of managing their businesses on a day to day basis, whilst serving patients and customers, is causing severe strain. "The cost of providing the community pharmacy service is hugely underfunded due to a shortfall in what the Department of Health is willing to allocate, and the cost of keeping community pharmacies open. "We are a patient facing service, we are the only section of the health service where patients can access us without an appointment and patients consistently report high levels of satisfaction. "The current situation must be addressed urgently." The failure to provide adequate funding comes despite the Department of Health commissioning an independent review into the cost of running community pharmacies. The review, carried out by PWC and published last year, identified a shortfall of between 20m and 40m to run community pharmacy in Northern Ireland. Mr Greene said the current stance by the Department of Health is difficult to understand given the fact it is encouraging people to make better use of local chemists. In addition, a number of major reviews of the health service here, including the Bengoa Report and Transforming Your Care, recommend more care is delivered in the community. Mr Greene continued: "Our members are telling us they feel like they are being ignored." Paul Savage, who owns three pharmacies in north and west Belfast, said: "I am an important part of the community. "We have given CPR to people who have collapsed in the shop and saved their lives, we have had someone die in the pharmacy, I have had a gun held to my head," he said. "It's so frustrating to feel like our contribution to the health service is not being recognised. "At the moment it is actually costing me money to dispense prescriptions. "It is not a sustainable position and it's extremely worrying for me because I have wages and overheads to pay." The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment. Community Pharmacy NI members said funding shortfall is having an impact on their own health The two archbishops of Armagh are to lead a cross-community pilgrimage of hope to one of the First World War's bloodiest battlefields. Archbishop Richard Clarke, of the Church of Ireland, and Archbishop Eamon Martin, of the Catholic Church, will lead a delegation to the Island of Ireland Peace Park at Messines, and will lay a peace wreath at the Menin Gate in Ypres. In 2016, the two archbishops led young people from across the island of Ireland on a pilgrimage to the battle sites of the Somme. From May 30 to June 1 this year, the two archbishops will again lead a diverse group of people of varying ages and backgrounds and representing the Protestant and Catholic traditions to historic sites relating to the First World War, culminating in a reflective visit to the Island of Ireland Peace Park at Messines. Their poignant journey heralds the forthcoming centenary of the end of the First World War. The delegation of 36 people will include a core group of 16 young adults who, in visiting the battlefields and memorials, hope to forge friendships and share their thoughts and hopes for the future while exploring their cultural identities. The sites on the pilgrimage will centre on the Battle of Messines and the arenas in which soldiers from the 16th (Irish), 10th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) divisions fought and died in Belgium and France . The group will also visit the city of Kortrijk (Courtrai); cemeteries and memorials including Thiepval Wood, Guillemont and the Ulster Tower; the Memorial Museum at Passchendaele; and Tyne Cot Cemetery. Speaking in advance of their pilgrimage, the two archbishops said in a joint statement: "We will have much to learn from this joint trip, and from each other in the group. "It is our vision that the pilgrimage will be a witness to hope and that the visits to these important and symbolic sites in the centenary year of the end of the First World War will enable us to forge even greater friendships and work yet harder for peace together in the future." BBC Northern Ireland's broadcast of an unchallenged attack on Christians during its royal wedding coverage was described as a "new low," by DUP MP Ian Paisley. The North Antrim MP made the comment following the contribution of Belfast comedian Nuala McKeever on BBC Radio Ulster flagship programme Good Morning Ulster on Friday. The two-and-a-half-hour show extensively covered the royal wedding including Northern Ireland people who had been invited to Windsor for the occasion as well as a group from the Shankill on their party plans for the big day. It also had a local reporter at Windsor to report on the latest preparations. Ms McKeever was presented as giving an anti-royalist sentiment for one part of the show. She wondered what "right wing Christians" would make of Prince Harry marrying a "black divorcee". DUP MP Paisley described the comments as an attack on Christians and a "new low" for the "biased BBC" from a commentator who "couldn't help using it to make anti Christian comments". He added: "It was a disgrace and an unacceptable attack on people - think if she had made an attack on people of a different faith." Harry and Meghan Markle will tie the knot in a hotly anticipated wedding on Saturday. Ms Markle is the first mixed race person in modern history to marry a senior British royal. Ms McKeever said that while she was not adverse to the wedding itself she thought there needed to be "perspective" on where the event sat in terms of world affairs. The Give My Head Peace star said she would have an interest in news reports and on that dress but was not in any way "gearing up" for the day. "I was invited to go to a party and thought 'do you know who I am,'" she said. "For some here it's the glorious celebration for others they are asking why the BBC is leading with Meghan Markle's father and not the slaughter of 53 people in Gaza?" Presenter Nikki Gregg pointed out it had been a "tough week on the news front" and for some it was light relief and an opportunity to celebrate something positive. "It's always a question of priority and perspective," continued McKeever, "who am I to say don't get excited about something... each to their own. "It highlights a little the excessive inequality in the UK. When you see the cake costs 50,000 and you just think of all these people who struggle to get by. "And I know it has always been thus but in theory they are a modern couple and things are moving on. "I do laugh to think 'I wonder how a lot of right wing Christians are coping with fact he is marrying a black divorcee'. "Other than that I wish them well of course. I am just not a particular fan of the idea of us paying for the monarchy and money always being available for their things." She added: "They also represent a system that is inherently inequal - any reform is grand but doesn't challenge the root attitude there are certain people in society deserving of being fawned over." To which presenter Gregg cut in asking about the "mindfulness day" the comedian had planned for Saturday instead of taking in the wedding coverage. "I am not bah humbug at all [over the wedding] good for them but there needs to be priority," she continued. "I am more distressed by the fact that the BBC which I pay for is spending so much time covering that as opposed to things like Israel actions in Gaza. I think [the BBC] has become a little biased that way but each to their own." To which the presenter ended the interview outlining how the public can follow the coverage with the BBC. The BBC has been asked for a comment. Belfast City Council is to give community groups a combined 400,000 for bonfire diversion, it can be revealed. One group alone, the UDA-linked Belfast South Community Resources (BSCR), is getting 26k. The controversial move was discussed at a meeting of the council's Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on Friday morning. Press were asked to leave the room while an item on the councils Community Development Grants Programme, which is earmarked for arts and culture funding, was discussed. It is understood the decision was made to give community groups 400k of the public money for "bonfire diversion" programmes. Alliance Councillor Emmet McDonough Brown criticised the DUP and Sinn Fein, who have a combined majority in the council, for allocating public money to a group with alleged paramilitary links. The South Belfast Councillor said that not only did the two parties again manage to put their differences aside when it comes to "carving up public money", but that they actively blocked any attempts at public scrutiny by removing the call in procedure - an initiative designed to hold local government to account. "This decision has the potential to have a negative impact on Belfast, once again calling into question the relationships between certain parties and paramilitaries. Either way the DUP and Sinn Fein have proven yet again they are content to finance a divided society," he said. "What makes this situation even worse, is that the DUP and Sinn Fein clearly recognise their actions are wrong, taking steps to block others holding them to account. "While stalemate continues at Stormont, the DUP and Sinn Fein as always can be relied on to put these differences aside when it comes to allocation public money within Belfast City Hall - a position they are so determined to protect that they have now removed the call in procedure, stopping other Councillors questioning their motives. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close William Young used a drone to take this remarkable photo of the bonfire at Sandy Row. 11/07/2017 Sandy Row Photo: William Young Sandy Row Photo: William Young Roden Street Photo: William Young Shankill Photo: William Young The scene on Love Lane in Carrickfergus as the local community rebuild a bonfire after the original bonfire they build was burnt on Monday evening. Picture by Matt Mackey / presseye.com 10/07/2017 The scene on Love Lane in Carrickfergus as the local community rebuild a bonfire after the original bonfire they build was burnt on Monday evening. Picture by Matt Mackey / presseye.com 10/07/2017 The scene on Love Lane in Carrickfergus as the local community rebuild a bonfire after the original bonfire they build was burnt on Monday evening. Picture by Matt Mackey / presseye.com 10/07/2017 Pacemaker Press Belfast 11-07-2017: Final preparations takes place for the Bonfire on Sandy Row in Belfast .The bonfires will be lit in loyalist areas as part of Eleventh Night celebrations on Tuesday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press Belfast 11-07-2017: Final preparations takes place for the Bonfire on Sandy Row in Belfast .The bonfires will be lit in loyalist areas as part of Eleventh Night celebrations on Tuesday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press Belfast 11-07-2017: Final preparations take place for the Bonfire on Sandy Row in Belfast .The bonfires will be lit in loyalist areas as part of Eleventh Night celebrations on Tuesday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison. SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan posted this photo of one of his election posters on a bonfire and said he considers the action a hate crime. Workmen board up windows of property beside a bonfire at the end of the Comber Greenway off Ravenscroft Avenue in east Belfast. [Photo: Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com] Workmen board up windows of property beside a bonfire at the end of the Comber Greenway off Ravenscroft Avenue in east Belfast. [Photo: Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com] Masked men continue to build a bonfire at Inverary Playing Fields in Belfast. Police in Northern Ireland have warned their resources could be stretched amid growing fears of tension around the burning of Eleventh night bonfires. [Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire] PA Masked men continue to build a bonfire at Inverary Playing Fields in Belfast. [Photo: PA Wire 10/07/2017] PA A bonfire constructed across the road from a petrol station in Carrickfergus was set alight in the early hours of Tuesday morning. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp William Young used a drone to take this remarkable photo of the bonfire at Sandy Row. 11/07/2017 Councillor McDonagh Brown said his party demand openness and transparency for all Belfast citizens. BSCR is a community group based in the Sandy Row area of Belfast. In the past it has been linked to the UDA and received money from Stormonts controversial Social Investment Fund in 2016. It was alleged that SIF money bought a 700,000 Sandy Row office block, which veteran loyalist Jackie McDonald used to conduct UDA business, which was gifted to BSCR. In October last year it emerged that South Belfast MLA Christopher Stalford has his constituency office in the same block. He later said he makes no apology for renting an office said to be linked to the UDA. An Orthodox Jew from Belfast has said it is "deeply shameful" that three parties on Belfast City Council tried to open a book of condolence for Palestinians killed in Gaza earlier this week. Sinn Fein is to open its own book after a request for the council to do so was blocked by the two main unionist parties in Belfast. Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance were in favour of opening a book of condolence at City Hall after more than 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands were injured by the Israeli defence forces during attacks on the Israeli border organised by Hamas, the group which controls Gaza. However, according to the rules, a book of condolence can only be opened with the agreement of all parties at City Hall. It is understood the two main unionist parties were not in favour of opening the book. Last night, Steven Jaffe of the Northern Ireland Friends of Israel slammed the parties who had supported the proposal for a book of condolence, describing it as "deeply shameful". "Sinn Fein want to open a book of condolence at Belfast City Hall to 50 terrorists from Hamas and three from Islamic Jihad who died during violent attacks on Israel's border. "Hamas and Islamic Jihad are vile, Jew-hating radical Islamist groups that want to destroy Israel. "And the SDLP and the Alliance Party want a book of condolence too. Deeply shameful," he said. As Hamas yesterday revealed plans to continue its offensive against the Israeli border, Hamas leader Salah Bardawil admitted on television that 50 of the 62 killed on Monday were members of the terror group. SDLP council group leader Tim Attwood said he was "disappointed" that unionists blocked the book of condolence "to mark the killings and injuries inflicted on the people of Gaza". "People of Belfast are horrified and wish to express their sympathy at the tragic loss of life," he added. Sinn Fein's group leader on Belfast City Council, Deirdre Hargey, said her party will be opening its own book of condolence this weekend in the party's room at City Hall, open to all members of the public. "I requested on Tuesday that a book of condolence be opened in Belfast City Hall for the victims of the massacre carried out by Israeli forces on Palestinians in Gaza. I had hoped that all parties on Belfast City Council would support this request. "However, the unionist parties have failed to give their support, which is extremely disappointing given the scale of this massacre by Israeli forces. "This was an atrocity and the brutal nature of the Israeli Army was laid bare for all to see. "Sinn Fein will not be put off by this unionist refusal to support a book of condolence and we will be opening our own book of condolence this Saturday from 12-5pm in the Sinn Fein room at Belfast City Hall to allow citizens to come to City Hall and show their solidarity and sympathy with the people of Palestine." Palestinian health officials say more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and 10,000 injured by Israeli troops over the past six weeks in protests along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Sixty protesters died on Monday alone, when almost 50,000 took part in demonstrations coinciding with the controversial relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem. In a recorded message played at the ceremony this week, President Donald Trump said the embassy move was a "long time coming" but he remained committed to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. "Our greatest hope is for peace. The United States remains fully committed to facilitating a lasting peace agreement," Mr Trump said. Guatemala also opened an embassy in Jerusalem this week - two days after the USA did so. Israeli Premier Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed the small Central American country's decision to move its embassy to the Israeli capital. Crowds gather for a wreath-laying ceremony on Dublin's Talbot Street to mark the 44th anniversary of the Dublin/Monaghan bombings The families of victims of one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles should be told the truth, a campaigner has said. A wreath-laying ceremony took place yesterday at a memorial to the 33 people killed by loyalist bombers in Dublin and Monaghan. The victims' families want the British Government to release classified security files relating to deaths in which state collusion is suspected. The ceremony marked the 44th anniversary of the blasts, when paramilitaries detonated four no-warning bombs on May 17, 1974. The Justice for the Forgotten lobby group has fought a long-running campaign for an open inquiry into allegations that British security agents colluded with the terrorists to plot the co-ordinated and sophisticated attacks. Spokeswoman Margaret Urwin said: "When people talk about justice they are often meaning prosecutions and so on. "We have been campaigning now for 25 years, since 1993. "What the families have always asked for, demanded, is for the truth rather than prosecutions. "I don't think they ever expect justice in that sense but what they really want to get is as much of the truth as possible." A move to extend Sunday trading hours in Belfast has been rejected by a council committee. On Friday morning, Belfast City Councils Strategic Policy and Resources Committee voted 16 to four against designating the city as a holiday resort, thus allowing large shops to extend their hours on 18 Sundays each year. Last month the the committee decided to organise a weekend summit of all stakeholders in a bid to break the deadlock, after a decision on the issue was deferred twice in as many weeks. In the last 12 months there has been one committee vote and two public consultations on the topic. Combining the two consultations, there is a slight majority (52.8%) in favour of extending Sunday trading hours for large shops. Retail NI and USDAW are firmly against extending the Sunday trading hours in Belfast, feeling it would unfair to smaller shops and workers. Others, including Hospitality Ulster and Visit Belfast, are in favour. At Friday mornings meeting, Sinn Fein council group leader Deirdre Hargey proposed the committee not accede to the request to extend the Sunday trading hours and the proposal was carried 11 votes to four. Both Councillor Hargey and SDLP group leader Tim Attwood said they had not seen enough evidence of the benefits of extending the hours. Alliance councillors Emmet McDonagh Brown and Sian ONeill, alongside PUP representative Billy Hutchinson and Independent councillor Patrick Convery voted to extend the trading hours. Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said rejecting the plans was the right decision and allowing it to go ahead would have resulted in many smaller retailers shutting their doors. Local independent retailers have seen a 71% hike in their rate bills following the last rate revaluation and continue to struggle to stay in business, he said. This proposal would have resulted in a number of local community independent retailers closing. These are retailers who provide an invaluable community service for many elderly, disabled and people without cars. We now need to focus on moving forward and agree a broader strategy to grow the weekend economy of Belfast. Retail NI is committed to seeing Belfast becoming a truly global city with a competitive retail and hospitality offer to shoppers and tourists Retail NI has tabled proposals for a Small Shop Sunday campaign to encourage shoppers and tourists to support the citys smaller retailers on a Sunday morning between 11am to 1pm, allowing large retailers to continue to trade from 1pm onwards. All extraditions from the UK to the Republic of Ireland should be suspended amid uncertainty over Dublin's position on handovers post-Brexit, the High Court in Belfast heard today. Judges were told Irish authorities wanted to "have their cake and eat it" by seeking a man charged with benefit fraud while staying requests for people wanted in Britain. Ronan Lavery QC claimed it amounted to a breakdown of the principle of mutual recognition within the European Union. Insisting the extradition process must be a "two-way street", he argued: "The UK has to set down a marker in relation to this case with Ireland, or else all of the other EU member states will be at this as well." His client, Enda Toner, from Cullyhanna in south Armagh, is appealing an order for his extradition to the Irish Republic. Toner is being sought in connection with 165 allegedly fraudulent job seekers allowance claims worth around 34,000 euros. Detained in Northern Ireland on a European Arrest Warrant last December, he remains in custody pending the outcome of his legal challenge. Lawyers for the requested person centred their appeal on a decision by Ireland's Supreme Court earlier this year to refer a separate extradition request from UK authorities to the European Court of Justice. Thomas Joseph O'Connor, 51, of Cloughbeirne, The Walk, Roscommon, is wanted over a 5 million pound tax fraud. With O'Connor claiming extradition could violate his rights as an EU citizen because of the UK's decision to leave the Union in March 2019, legal clarity is urgently being sought from Luxembourg. Up to 20 extradition cases to the UK remain held up, pending the outcome of the referral. But according to Mr Lavery the Irish authorities are refusing to cooperate with extradition requests. "The principle of mutual recognition has been suspended, it's broken down," he contended. "One country isn't playing ball and there's no reason why we should extradite our citizens to that country. "They don't want to extradite to the UK yet they want us to extradite to the south, they want to have their cake and eat it." Asked by Lord Justice Treacy if he meant the UK should not extradite anybody to the Republic of Ireland, the barrister replied: "Yes - not while this is pending. "This is a two-way street where we have an extradition treaty with the Republic of Ireland on the basis of reciprocity." Referring to the decision taken in O'Connor's case, he insisted: "The Irish Supreme Court knew exactly what it was doing, and it knew what the potential effect of this might be." Stephen Ritchie, representing the authorities in Dublin, countered that there is no legal impediment to Toner's extradition. He added: "It's not a lack of cooperation or refusal, what the Republic of Ireland is doing is asking for direction from the European Court of Justice on this point." Reserving judgment on the appeal, Lord Justice Treacy pledged to give a decision within weeks. A 24-year old man who bit off then swallowed a chunk of his friend's ear during a drunken street fight was handed a 20-month sentence on Friday. Thomas McCoubrey later confessed to being under the influence of "a whole raft of stuff" during the incident, which occurred at Waring Street in the centre of Belfast on the evening of September 13 last year. McCoubrey - who at the time was homeless and who has been on remand since last September - was told by Judge Patricia Smyth that he will spend ten months in prison, followed by ten months on licence when he is released from jail. The Judge directed that as part of his licence conditions, McCoubrey should attend trauma counselling to deal with a childhood that Belfast Crown Court heard was "traumatic and neglectful." Prosecuting barrister Kate McKay said that police CCTV operators were alerted to a fight between two males, and when officers arrived at the scene, they had to split up two men who were "tangled together on the ground." Police noticed one of the men had a large chunk missing from the top of his right ear, who told officers McCoubrey bit him. An ambulance was called, and he was given medical attention, but he was intoxicated and said he was not prepared to make a statement. He did, however, say the man who bit his ear was a friend, and he was later treated for his injury at the Mater Hospital. When he was arrested McCoubrey initially made the claim he was acting in self-defence, but when police viewed the CCTV footage again, it showed McCoubrey acted as the aggressor and throwing punches. It also showed both men falling to the ground. Branding the incident as both "unprovoked" and a "drunken episode", Ms McKay said that since the incident the injured man "simply cannot be traced" as he has alcohol issues and lives a transient lifestyle. The prosecutor revealed he had not co-operated with police, and when questioned about the ear injury, Ms McKay told the court it was understood "a piece of the ear was swallowed. It was not found at the scene. It was possible it could have been re-attached, but that was not the case." When McCoubrey was arrested the following day, he refused to answer police questions - but later admitted causing the injury to his friend. Joel Lindsay, the barrister representing McCoubrey, said that despite the injury, the two men "are friends and remain friends." Mr Lindsay said a psychiatric report compiled on his client whilst on remand indicated McCoubrey was under the influence of a "whole raft of stuff" on the evening in question, adding that at the time his client was homeless, suffering from anxiety and depression and abusing both drink and drugs. Revealing that McCoubrey has since expressed remorse and a desire to turn his life around, Mr Lindsay said it was his client's case that during the fight his friend grabbed him around the throat, which caused him to panic and bite his ear. Petrol prices in Northern Ireland have increased by 6.4p in the last year - one of the biggest price hikes in the UK. The average cost of petrol is running at 123.8p per litre, new figures show. And owners of diesel cars are also bearing the brunt of increases, with the average price per litre rising by 6.9p year-on-year to 125.7p. The past week alone has seen significant change in prices, with both petrol and diesel increasing by 1p. It means drivers of a medium-sized car could be paying out 71 to fill their tanks with petrol - 4 more per tank than 12 months ago, when prices were at 117.4p. And it is a similar picture for diesel cars. It now costs 72 to fill up a medium-sized car - also 4 more expensive than May 2017 when diesel was 118.8p. The figures emerged after an analysis by fuel price index by Confused.com. Dr Catriona MacArthur from the Consumer Council said rising fuel prices were a growing concern. "Today's figures from Confused.com, which show an increase in petrol prices, will come as an added burden to Northern Ireland consumers," she told the Belfast Telegraph. "Our research confirms that rising prices are the number one concern for Northern Ireland consumers. "We are encouraging consumers to look at ways to cut their household bills, and we have a range of resources to help." The average price of petrol in the UK is now 124.4p - up 0.9p up week-on-week. And diesel has also increased by 1.0p to 127.5p, on average. Secretary of State Karen Bradley samples food at the Moy Park stand at the Balmoral Show yesterday The Secretary of State has been warned that a failure to secure stable government in Northern Ireland will put up to 1bn of investment projects at risk. At an event organised by the Institute of Directors in Belfast yesterday, Karen Bradley was grilled by business executives about her plans to fill the power vacuum at Stormont. Read More Later, Mrs Bradley and Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson clashed at the Balmoral Show over Brexit and a border poll. A High Court ruling on Monday threw doubt on the authority of senior civil servants to take decisions that would normally be the responsibility of ministers. Mrs Justice Keegan overturned a decision by the permanent secretary in the Department for Infrastructure to give the go-ahead to a controversial incinerator in Mallusk. At the gathering of business leaders, public affairs consultant David Kerr told Mrs Bradley that "muddling on through" the current crisis was "not an option" and she must move to introduce direct rule to give the business community the security it needed. "The Belfast power station, the North-South interconnector, Casement Park, the Belfast transport hub and the Dalradian gold mine are projects worth around 1bn, which are at risk without secure government at Stormont," he said. Mr Kerr told the Belfast Telegraph: "Mrs Bradley stated that Monday's judgment would be appealed and we should wait to see how that goes. Quite frankly, that's not good enough. "I believe any appeal will fail, and even if successful, those opposed to the incinerator will themselves appeal and the whole process could take over a year. "We need decisions taken now. Direct rule would be a temporary stopgap until we get power-sharing up and running again at Stormont." The Institute of Directors' Northern Ireland national director, Kirsty McManus, said: "Karen Bradley was left under no illusion as to the depth of anger and frustration felt in the business community after hearing the frankly expressed views of more than 40 business leaders. The local economy has now endured almost 18 months of political uncertainty following the collapse of the Executive, and maintaining the status quo is simply unacceptable." Ms McManus stressed that business leaders wanted decisive action taken. "This week's legal ruling has put at risk more than 1bn of strategic infrastructure projects and cast doubt over billions of pounds worth of projects still in the pipeline across the public and private sector," she said. "Our members are calling on the Secretary of State to work with her colleagues in Westminster to introduce a mechanism that will allow decisions on these key projects to be taken without fear or hindrance and keep driving the Northern Ireland economy forward." Speaking at the Balmoral Show, Mrs Bradley said "knee-jerk reactions" to the Mallusk ruling were not the answer. "This is a specific decision about a specific planning application. We cannot rush into anything - we need to consider what the judge said about that application and make decisions based on that," she added. "We want to get clarity on this matter as soon as possible. The UK Government is prepared to take steps to ensure there is good governance in Northern Ireland." Also at the show, the Secretary of State and Ms Anderson clashed over the EU's proposed backstop solution for Northern Ireland. Mrs Bradley attempted to defuse the situation. "We don't agree with the text that's been put forward by the EU, but let's not talk about that - we are here to enjoy a great show," she said. But Ms Anderson replied: "We are here to enjoy a brilliant show, but we are not going to be collateral damage and there can be no dilution of our rights." The Sinn Fein MEP also pushed for a border poll. When Mrs Bradley tried to end the conversation, Ms Anderson pressed her on legacy funding. "We are waiting on the Department of Justice," the Secretary of State replied. 'Motorists who contravene parking or bus lane regulations can be fined up to 90. This is halved if the fine is paid within 14 days' (stock photo) Drivers in Northern Ireland could have shelled out up to 3.5m on nearly 40,000 parking and bus lane fines in the first three months of this year. A total of 38,491 penalties were issued from January to March, a report has shown. Motorists who contravene parking or bus lane regulations can be fined up to 90. This is halved if the fine is paid within 14 days. On the basis of the maximum fine, the total revenue could have topped 3,460,000. The details emerged in statistics from the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) yesterday. Its Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) Statistics bulletin revealed that almost half (46%) of the 24,154 on-street parking fines were issued in Belfast. It also showed that 76% of the 5,208 PCNs relating to bus lane violations in Greater Belfast were issued on three city centre roads - Great Victoria Street (32%), Donegall Square East (29%) and College Square East (15%). Glyn Roberts from Retail NI hit out at what he branded "overzealous" traffic wardens and warned that DfI's strategy is adversely impacting on traders. "This is like groundhog day, we keep seeing these stats reveal the same issues over and over again and we know the clear impact it is having on the retail sector," he said. Mr Roberts has met with departmental officials and written to the permanent secretary, Peter May, to express "real fears", which he says must be taken seriously. He also called for a fairer approach to traffic enforcement after it emerged that no penalties at all were issued in at least 27 towns. "Northern Ireland has twice the average rate of shop vacancies in the UK," Mr Roberts added. "We have to have a level playing field and an approach which delivers for all town centres and the entire retail industry - otherwise people will just go to out-of-town supermarkets." The stats also show that the number of PCNs issued on behalf of councils for off-street parking offences totalled 9,129, with the highest number dished out in Fermanagh and Omagh (13%). Drivers in Antrim and Newtownabbey, which accounted for 2% of fines, were the least affected - in Belfast the figure was 11%. Belfast City councillor Jim Rodgers also called for a change to the "unfair" system which, he warned, is driving shoppers away from the city centre. "We as a council are on a big drive to pull visitors in and yet at the same time DfI is pushing them out," he said. "Visitors who are not familiar with the layout of the roads and complicated bus lane system are being caught out and then choosing not to come back - that is having a negative impact on footfall." A spokesperson for DfI said its aim is to reduce the number of illegally-parked vehicles and unauthorised vehicles using bus lanes and not generate revenue. "This, in turn, will reduce traffic congestion, improve road safety, improve accessibility for all road users, including Blue Badge holders and improve bus journey times," they said. "Making money is not an objective of enforcement. The objective is to discourage illegal parking and illegal use of bus lanes by issuing a penalty to those who park/drive illegally." The number of sex offences reported to police in Northern Ireland has reached a 20-year high. A total of 3,443 sexual offences were reported to the PSNI in the 12 months to April - the highest in two decades, and triple the number reported in 2000/01. The shocking figures were revealed as the PSNI published its annual crime statistics for 2017/18 yesterday. In total, 98,301 crimes were recorded by the PSNI in the last 12 months, a rise of 0.3% on the previous year when 98,104 crimes were recorded. It was the second lowest total since 1998/99. The figures do not include conviction rates. A series of other reports have indicated that many sex offence cases do not result in someone being convicted. Last month the Public Prosecution Service revealed that of the 64 defendants who appeared at the Crown Court accused of rape in 2016/17, just 15 were found guilty (23.4%). Helena Bracken from Nexus NI, a support group for people affected by sexual violence, said the increase in the number of reported sex offences was "shocking and frightening", but added it was encouraging that more victims are coming forward. "It's shocking to hear that reported offences are at a 20-year high," she said. "However, with the rise of the #MeToo movement, the Weinstein scandal and the Belfast rape trial, more people are coming forward than before. "People are realising that they are victims - it's not their fault. "We currently have a waiting list of over 700 people on our books, and in the wake of the Belfast rugby rape trial we were getting 15 referrals a day. "However, it is worth noting that a lot of sexual offences are still going unreported, and the conviction rate for these crimes remains low." Yesterday's figures also show that reported domestic abuse offences are at a 10-year high. Nearly 30,000 incidents with a domestic abuse motivation were recorded by the PSNI in 2017/18 - an increase of 747 on 2016/17 and the highest figure recorded here since 2004/05. The number of crimes with a domestic abuse motivation reached a record high of 14,560 in 2017/18, up by 4.5% on the previous year. Meanwhile, drug crimes also reached a 20-year high, rising by 20.1% to 6,502 recorded offences. There was also a 23.9% increase in drug seizures to 6,872 incidents. In addition, 3,121 people were arrested for drug-related offences, 419 more than 2016/17. Possession of weapons offences climbed to 1,000 - the highest recorded level. And violence against the person offences increased by 2.4% to 34,162 offences. Anti-social behaviour reached a five-year high of 61,207 recorded incidents in 2017/18, an increase of 2.5% on the previous year. Belfast accounted for nearly a third of all anti-social behaviour incidents. However, robbery, public order offences, criminal damage and theft were down. Robbery offences fell to a 20-year low of 577 crimes, while public order offences reached their lowest levels since 2005/6, with 1,107 offences. Criminal damage fell by 6.1% to 18,290 offences, and theft, including burglary, fell by 2.4% to 30,262. In addition, there was a fall in security-related deaths and casualties resulting from paramilitary-style attacks. In the past year, there were two security-related deaths, 50 shootings and 18 bombings. Paramilitary-style attacks caused 87 casualties, seven fewer than the previous year. Loyalists were deemed responsible for 50 of the 65 casualties of paramilitary-style assaults. Casualties from paramilitary-style shootings fell from 28 to 22 in 2017/18, and all except one were attributed to republican groups. In addition, 176 people were arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris said that the PSNI was "committed to 'Keeping People Safe'." He said: "The figures show a snapshot of the crime types which we are dealing with but it is also important to acknowledge that although the statistics show a number of reductions, demand on policing is increasing and becoming more complex as less visible, more complex crimes such as public protection and cyber-crime reports increase. "We are removing more drugs off our streets and reducing the harm to our communities and bringing those responsible before the courts. "We welcome the increase in reports and believe that this shows increasing confidence in the police service." Professor James Dornan the father of Northern Ireland actor Jamie has said he would vote for a united Ireland if it offered unionists "a better deal". Professor James Dornan, a obstetrician and gynecologist, told Channel 4 News that everything is on the table after the Brexit vote and that a border poll on Irish unity was likely to be held before 2022. The father of the Fifty Shades of Grey actor, who is from a unionist background, said he has started to think he might back a united Ireland. He said: I would traditionally be thought of as being quite happy with the Union and I have been. It has been very good to me, educationally and health wise and everything else in my life. Asked if he was thinking the unthinkable about voting for a united Ireland, he replied: It is not so much that I am thinking the unthinkable. I think everything is on the table at the moment. On whether he thought a border poll would see a victory for Irish unity, he said: Against the Union as we have at the moment. There is a lot of people nowadays, not just me, who are saying you know what, if somebody offers me a better deal and somebody offers me a good deal, then I would go for it." Mr Dornan said he was absolutely sure there are ongoing talks between senior officials in Belfast and Dublin about what a united Ireland would look like. I think that is definitely going on day and daily, he said. I think at every level, at the highest level." Expand Close Top medic: Professor Jim Dornan relaxes at his home / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Top medic: Professor Jim Dornan relaxes at his home SDLP veteran and former deputy first minister Seamus Mallon told Channel 4 news that it would be a mistake to rush towards a border poll without laying the ground work first. He said: "To try and barnstorm it with a poll of that nature in a short period of time without doing the ground work could be very dangerous indeed. "We would be doing to the unionists what was done to us and they would feel exactly the same as we felt for so long and there would be the danger of violence coming from that." An SDLP MLA has lodged a complaint against the PSNI claiming he was left embarrassed after a police officer gave him "wholly inaccurate" information about a drill attack on a woman in Co Tyrone. The incident, which took place in Strabane in the early hours of Saturday, May 5, hit headlines across the UK after it was reported the victim of the attack in which a power drill was used, was "drilled into the skull", sparking revulsion and horror. It later emerged when a 17-year-old boy appeared in court charged over the attack on Brenda McLaughlin (38) that the drill had not penetrated the woman's skull. Daniel McCrossan was one of the first public representatives to speak out about the attack. He now claims police gave him and others "wholly inaccurate information". Mr McCrossan said his phone "hadn't stopped" all morning with people calling to ask why Strabane town centre had been cordoned off and he sought guidance from the PSNI over what had happened. "I was told that "a serious assault had occurred, a drill was used and that they believed the victim was allegedly drilled into the skull". The scene was described by the PSNI as "something from a horror movie", Mr McCrossan said. "On social media the PSNI also described the incident, outlining the victim was attacked with a drill, had sustained a very serious head injury, and that the victim was critical, adding again to public concern," he added. "A short time following the conversation, I was interviewed and asked to condemn what had happened, which I did. "I was asked what I was told happened, from that I gave an account of my understanding of the briefing which I was given that morning by the PSNI." However, in the following days Mr McCrossan said he was left feeling embarrassed as it turned out the details he had been given by police were not accurate. On May 10, Belfast High Court heard that the drill allegedly used in the attack "did not penetrate" the victim's skull. Prosecutors revealed she suffered cuts to the skin around her head but no fractures. Mr McCrossan said he has made a complaint to the PSNI, accusing them of "serious mishandling" of the information around the attack. "As further detail emerged, it is clear the PSNI gave me and others in the public arena wholly inaccurate information," he said. "The level of detail on the PSNI Facebook page also added hugely to public concern. "I feel very aggrieved, frustrated and embarrassed that I was given information by the PSNI which was inaccurate, ill-informed and inflated. Information which flared public concern and grasped media attention." He added: "It is my understanding that an assault took place and I wish the victim a full and speedy recovery to full health. Any assault should and must be fully condemned. However, it is vitally important that I express my frustration and regret that the PSNI wrongly gave out information and detail into the public domain which was incorrect. "From the case, it is clear the victim was not 'drilled into the skull' and the scene was not the horrific description provided to me and others by the PSNI. "I have submitted a complaint to the PSNI regarding my serious concerns and annoyance regarding the serious mishandling and poor judgement regarding their commentary of this assault. "In the interest of public confidence, the PSNI must correct the public record as soon as possible and the inaccurate information provided and for the way in which this has been handled." PSNI Chief Inspector Jonathan Hunter said officers are happy to meet Mr McCrossan. "We endeavour to make public representatives aware of serious incidents in our area to manage community impact," he said. "Police investigations can move quickly and as new evidence comes to light, the context of an incident can change. "We have written to the person concerned and would be more than happy to discuss this matter with him directly." Civil servants have claimed they have no power to place restrictions on betting machines branded the crack cocaine of the gambling world. New regulations in England and Wales have clamped down on fixed-odd betting terminals (FOBTs), cutting maximum bets from 100 to 2. There are several hundred of the machines in betting shops across Northern Ireland, with the legislation governing them unchanged since 1985. Despite calls for action, the Department for Communities said its hands were tied. "Any proposed changes to Northern Ireland gambling law would be for an incoming minister to determine," a spokesperson explained. Charity CARE NI branded the position "untenable" and warned that Northern Ireland had the highest rate of problem gamblers in the UK. DUP MP Ian Paisley also criticised the impasse, describing FOBTs as "a plague on many families" and calling for measures to regulate them. "The Government has a difficult balance to strike because many retail jobs and government revenue will be impacted by this decision," he said. Mr Paisley also claimed that the lack of controls was another consequence of Sinn Fein collapsing the power-sharing Executive. Sinn Fein culture spokeswoman Sinead Ennis said she supported a change in the law controlling FOBTs, which are mainly found in deprived areas. "Gambling can get people into debt and with that comes a whole host of problems including mental health (problems), crime, relationship breakdowns and even suicide," she added. The Northern Ireland Turf Guardians' Association, the body representing local bookmakers, said it would "welcome any evidence-based review of the gambling industry". It also insisted it would take time to consider the outcome with its membership. The organisation added it was awaiting confirmation from the Department for Communities on future legislation after a 2011 consultation on issues including the regulation of FOBTs. There are currently 305 betting shops in Northern Ireland. The industry employs approximately 1,500 people, who contribute an estimated 29m to the economy. Theresa May is set to present a plan to break the deadlock over the Irish border issue to European Union leaders (Kirsty O'Connor/PA) A proposal to keep the UK closely tied to the EUs customs union beyond the end of 2020 could only be acceptable to Tory Eurosceptics on a short-term basis, a former party leader said. Theresa May is set to present a plan to break the deadlock over the Irish border issue to European Union leaders, which is reported to involve keeping the whole UK aligned with customs tariff rates set in Brussels. The move would only be a backstop proposal if other arrangements to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland failed or were not ready by January 1 2021 after the implementation period expires. The Prime Minister has already said the existing fallback option, which would keep Northern Ireland closely aligned to EU rules, is unacceptable because it would effectively create a border with the rest of the UK in the Irish Sea. We are not going to sacrifice the entire integrity of our single market, of our union, just to satisfy certain opinions in the United KingdomNeale Richmond, chairman of the Irish senate's Brexit committee The Prime Minister said the alternative proposal would be presented in due course. Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested the proposal could be acceptable to fellow Eurosceptics as long as it was not aimed at providing a lasting solution. He suggested that a backstop could be useful maybe for a month or two. He told BBC Radio 4s Today: If they do require to have some kind of backstop, most people will accept that on the basis that it is there for practical reasons but that it is not in any way about the politics, it is wholly about the practicalities. Expand Close POLITICS Brexit Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp POLITICS Brexit The Irish insisted they wanted to work with the UK Government to limit the negative impact of Brexit. But Neale Richmond, chairman of the Irish senates Brexit committee, acknowledged it was still a possibility that the UK could walk away from talks without a deal and flights would be grounded, foodstuff will rot in ports. He told Today: Brexit is not going to be good for Ireland, we have acknowledged that, we didnt ask for it. We are trying to limit the damage and work in the most progressive way possible with the British Government to achieve that. But he said the rules of the single market could not be ignored in establishing the new relationship. Its not going to be easy, but we are not going to sacrifice the entire integrity of our single market, of our union, just to satisfy certain opinions in the United Kingdom. The naked and severely injured body of a 14-year-old schoolgirl was discovered yesterday in Co Dublin. Tragic Ana Kriegel was viciously beaten and left to die in a derelict farmhouse shortly after she went missing, gardai believe. She died from severe blunt trauma to the head. The farmhouse where the grim discovery was made, just off the Clonee Road in Lucan, is not far from where Ms Kriegel was last seen on Monday evening. Her family had reported her missing at Leixlip Garda Station at around 8pm that day after they became concerned for her safety. Gardai immediately launched a search for the teenager. A well placed source said the murder scene was "horrific", adding: "There was a lot of blood. It was awful." It is understood a "significant line" in the murder investigation was that Ana may have been killed by someone who was known to her. Gardai are probing if this person was with the schoolgirl in St Catherine's Park, Lucan, when she was last seen alive. The park is a popular spot frequented by families with children. The 200 acre site, which was searched by gardai for three days, stretches from Lucan to Leixlip and the nearby Clonee area. A first year student at Confey Community College, Ana was described as a "particularly striking teenager" who was well known within her school and local community. Investigators also said her family had been left extremely distressed by her murder. Gardai have launched a hunt for the killer and Supt John Gordon of Lucan garda station said detectives are following a number of lines of inquiry. He added: "As you can imagine at this time (her family) are receiving a lot of support from An Garda Siochana but they are extremely distressed and they are also looking for the public assistance, and privacy at his time as well." Eilidh MacLeod and Laura MacIntyre made the 400-mile journey from Barra to Manchester for their first big concert. But shortly after the Ariana Grande show ended, the Castlebay Community School pupils were reported missing, having failed to get in touch with family following the explosion. It was later confirmed Eilidh was among the 22 dead, while Laura was found seriously injured in hospital. Expand Close Manchester Arena incident Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Manchester Arena incident The news devastated the small community on the Outer Hebrides island where Eilidh had been part of the successful Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band, made up of children from Uist and Barra. When her body was returned to Castlebay, the 14-year-olds family took it in turns to carry the coffin at waist height, as is tradition on Barra, in a procession to her funeral. Businesses were closed as a mark of respect and so people could go to the service, with around 1,000 people attending. The square below Our Lady Star of the Sea was filled with mourners who could not get inside the church, and speakers were used so those outside could hear. In contrast to the hate that took her life, Eilidh's life was and now stands as a testament forever of the world of love, innocence, goodness, kindness and faith.Donald Manford Speaking at the service, her great-uncle Donald Manford said: In contrast to the hate that took her life, Eilidhs life was and now stands as a testament forever of the world of love, innocence, goodness, kindness and faith. As Laura continued to recover she was moved from Manchester to a Glasgow hospital to be closer to home. Her parents thanked a man who came to her aid after the explosion, saying he probably saved their daughters life. The kindness and care started from the first moments after the bombing when a young travel safe officer held Lauras hand and comforted her for an hour while she waited for treatment, the family said. We believe he helped save Lauras life that night and he will always be a hero to our family. Laura returned to school in Barra last October. Expand Close Eilidh MacLeod funeral PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Eilidh MacLeod funeral Tributes to Eilidh have continued since her death, with friends in her pipe band performing in memory of her during Tartan Week in New York last month. Sir Paul McCartney also donated two signed Beatles box sets which raised more than 3,000 to support the families on Barra. Eilidhs parents Roddy and Marion MacLeod described the gesture as poignant and fitting as his song Mull of Kintyre is an iconic song for the pipes, of which their daughter had been a keen player. A Team Eilidh fund was also set up by relatives to raise money for a permanent memorial to the teenager to be installed on Barra. Contemporary Celtic music band Skipinnish later revealed the inspiration for its song Wishing Well was the death of the 14-year-old and proceeds from a re-release of the song would go towards the campaign. Both Mr and Mrs MacLeod were invited to travel to Manchester for a commemoration event being held one year on from the attack. Teachers are beginning to use emojis in the classroom (Ben Birchall/PA) Emojis have fast become an essential part of 21st century communication, and they are now reportedly finding their way into the classroom. A number of teachers are using the icons in subjects such as English and languages, according to the Times Educational Supplement (TES). Supporters argue that the emoji language from the famous smiley face to one with tears of sadness can help pupils connect with the subject they are learning. Expand Close Emojis are being used by some teachers to help engage pupils in lessons, it has been reported (Matt Alexander/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Emojis are being used by some teachers to help engage pupils in lessons, it has been reported (Matt Alexander/PA) Charlotte Hodgson, an English teacher at Avonbourne College in Bournemouth, told the magazine that everyone in her department uses them, and that emojis have helped her students to engage with Shakespeare. Ive just taught A Midsummer Nights Dream and, when weve read a bit of the scene, they summarise it in two main emojis and then have to explain it, she said. The emojis just give them a starting point that they understandCharlotte Hodgson, English teacher The emojis are not used by themselves there is always some kind of verbal or written explanation that then allows you to check the pupils literacy, writing skills or speech skills. The emojis just give them a starting point that they understand. Ms Hodgson added that the symbols can help pupils to link ideas, which can lead higher understanding, engagement and learning. Luca Kuhlman, a modern foreign languages teacher at a Stockton secondary school, told the TES that emojis are a useful aid. Wherever possible, I take out the English words in a text and replace them with an emoji, so they associate the French with an image rather than with an English translation, he said. If you can eliminate as much English as possible, they dont need much explanation. He added that the symbols have to have purpose and he would not overuse them. As educators, we have not a single minute to waste teaching trivia, such as emojisClare Sealy, head of St Matthias School, east London On the other side of the debate, Clare Sealy, headteacher of St Matthias School in east London, is against their use. She told the TES: As educators, we have not a single minute to waste teaching trivia, such as emojis. How will such learning help bridge the word gap? How can we help disadvantaged children gain the sorts of powerful knowledge that children in, say, the top public schools have? Not by devoting precious curriculum time to the detritus of youth sub-culture. That would be fiddling while Rome burns. A massive security operation is under way in Windsor for the royal wedding (Kirsty OConnor/ PA) Police will effectively create a ring of steel around Windsor Castle as part of a massive security operation for the royal wedding. The wedding on Saturday is one of the largest public events policed by Thames Valley and in the run-up to the big day officers have been patrolling Windsor, including armed officers dog handlers and even mounted police. Metal barriers have been put up in the Berkshire town to deter attackers from using vehicles, like the terrorist atrocities committed on London and Westminster Bridges. On Friday, police were seen manning the barricades outside the castle, and sniffer dogs were out as checks continued before Saturdays ceremony. Preparations are continuing so that we can ensure that everyone has a safe, secure and happy day on Saturday. Last night, we set up Hostile Vehicle Mitigation barriers across Windsor - Watch the action #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/eoKjNLFCzu TVP Windsor (@TVP_Windsor) May 15, 2018 As part of Thames Valley Polices (TVP) operation to safeguard Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, their guests and spectators, airport-style security scanners and bag searches will be in operation in Windsor. But as well as the visible security arrangements, officers will also be engaged in covert operations. Police on horseback make their way up Castle Hill in Windsor. #royalwedding pic.twitter.com/tFCF7xB2lP Catherine Wylie (@wyliecatherine) May 18, 2018 Apart from the obvious security risks, revellers in the town are being asked not to throw confetti during the big day as it could also pose a potential threat. TVP tweeted: Please do not throw confetti or any other items at any time during the day, particularly during the procession. It poses a potential security risk and its a bit of a pain to clean up! We hope everyone enjoys the day. Confetti at the #RoyalWedding Please do not throw confetti or any other items at any time during the day, particularly during the procession. It poses a potential security risk and it's a bit of a pain to clean up! We hope everyone enjoys the day pic.twitter.com/wrMlIe8Hfy Thames Valley Police (@ThamesVP) May 18, 2018 With the US actress a big draw to both British and American fans, huge crowds are expected and the newlyweds carriage ride route may be closed to latecomers if the predicted 100,000 revellers become a safety issue. If this proves to be the case, TVP, in consultation with others like Network Rail and British Transport Police, could also order trains not to stop at Windsors two stations. Almost every TVP officer will be on duty on Saturday, working right across the forces area. Harry and Ms Markle have invited 600 guests to attend their wedding and 200 family and friends will be at an evening reception hosted by the Prince of Wales at Frogmore House. As part of the security arrangements, drones have been banned from flying over the Windsor Castle estate on Friday and Saturday, and aircraft are restricted from flying below 2,500ft. Expand Close Armed police outside Windsor Castle ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday (Steve Parsons/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Armed police outside Windsor Castle ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday (Steve Parsons/PA) The security operation for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge cost police more than 6 million, figures revealed in April. Nearly 3 million was spent on overtime costs alone, with hundreds of officers drafted in to help police the crowds watching the event in London in 2011. But the cost of Harry and Ms Markles wedding cannot yet be confirmed. A spokeswoman for TVP said: In terms of costs, a number of organisations will bear a cost, including Thames Valley Police for the policing operation and the RBWM (Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead) for the infrastructure. At this stage we are not in a position to confirm the costs of royal wedding. If at a later stage there is an opportunity to recover costs, this will of course be explored. Prince Harry meets members of the public outside Windsor Castle ahead of Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle this weekend. ( Jonathan Brady/PA) Prince Harry has greeted well-wishers outside Windsor Castle on the eve of his wedding to Meghan Markle who says she is feeling wonderful. Harry and Meghan will spend their last night as an unmarried couple in separate luxury hotels, only meeting again at the altar on Saturday. Joined by his brother and best man, the Duke of Cambridge, Harry looked relaxed during the 10-minute walkabout. Wearing an open-necked white shirt and light jacket, he waved to the crowds and chatted to his brother before making a beeline to talk to a young girl waiting among the crowds outside. Expand Close Royal wedding PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal wedding And the bride-to-be said she was feeling wonderful as she arrived with her mother Doria Ragland at the luxury Cliveden House Hotel after meeting the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for afternoon tea. The bride and groom-to-be were also present. Meghan, with an arm briefly around her mother, smiled broadly and looked at ease as they were greeted by the hotel general manager. Expand Close Royal Wedding preparations PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal Wedding preparations The surprise walkabout by the brothers echoed the eve of Williams own wedding in 2011 when the pair greeted royal fans with an impromptu public appearance on The Mall in central London. Harry shook hands with dozens of well-wishers who shouted good luck to the groom. At one point the prince was handed a small teddy bear wearing a red sweater, which he gave a quick hug before moving on to speak to a young boy sporting a red, white and blue crown-style hat. When asked how he was feeling, Harry replied: Great. The prince appeared to have a neatly-trimmed beard in preparation for his big day. Expand Close Royal wedding PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal wedding Fans, many decked out in the national colours of both Britain and the United States, are camped outside the castle and have been singing loudly in readiness for the festivities. It was announced earlier that the Prince of Wales is to step in for the father of the bride and walk Meghan down the aisle. Kensington Palace said that Charles would give his soon-to-be daughter-in-law away when she marries Prince Harry on Saturday in the historic surroundings of St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle. The palace said the American former actress had asked her future father-in-law to accompany her as she makes her way to the altar. In statement, Kensington Palace said: Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St Georges Chapel on her Wedding Day. The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to The Royal Family in this way. Meghans father Thomas Markle was forced to pull out of performing the fatherly duty after undergoing heart surgery in a dramatic upset just two days before the wedding. An update on the #RoyalWedding: pic.twitter.com/wfJ6ZFyzHi The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 18, 2018 Charles previously performed the duty for Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, Lord Brabourne, in 2016. A large security operation saw police manning the barricades outside the castle, snipers on the roofs of high street buildings and sniffer dogs carrying out checks before Saturdays ceremony. Prince Harry has greeted well-wishers outside Windsor Castle on the eve of his wedding to Meghan Markle who says she is feeling wonderful. Harry and Meghan will spend their last night as an unmarried couple in separate luxury hotels, only meeting again at the altar on Saturday. Joined by his brother and best man, the Duke of Cambridge, Harry looked relaxed during the 10-minute walkabout. Wearing an open-necked white shirt and light jacket, he waved to the crowds and chatted to his brother before making a beeline to talk to a young girl waiting among the crowds outside. Expand Close Royal wedding PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal wedding And the bride-to-be said she was feeling wonderful as she arrived with her mother Doria Ragland at the luxury Cliveden House Hotel after meeting the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for afternoon tea. The bride and groom-to-be were also present. Meghan, with an arm briefly around her mother, smiled broadly and looked at ease as they were greeted by the hotel general manager. Expand Close Royal Wedding preparations PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal Wedding preparations The surprise walkabout by the brothers echoed the eve of Williams own wedding in 2011 when the pair greeted royal fans with an impromptu public appearance on The Mall in central London. Harry shook hands with dozens of well-wishers who shouted good luck to the groom. At one point the prince was handed a small teddy bear wearing a red sweater, which he gave a quick hug before moving on to speak to a young boy sporting a red, white and blue crown-style hat. When asked how he was feeling, Harry replied: Great. The prince appeared to have a neatly-trimmed beard in preparation for his big day. Expand Close Royal wedding PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal wedding Fans, many decked out in the national colours of both Britain and the United States, are camped outside the castle and have been singing loudly in readiness for the festivities. It was announced earlier that the Prince of Wales is to step in for the father of the bride and walk Meghan down the aisle. Kensington Palace said that Charles would give his soon-to-be daughter-in-law away when she marries Prince Harry on Saturday in the historic surroundings of St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle. The palace said the American former actress had asked her future father-in-law to accompany her as she makes her way to the altar. In statement, Kensington Palace said: Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St Georges Chapel on her Wedding Day. The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to The Royal Family in this way. Meghans father Thomas Markle was forced to pull out of performing the fatherly duty after undergoing heart surgery in a dramatic upset just two days before the wedding. Ms. Meghan Markle arrives at Cliveden House Hotel, accompanied by her mother Ms. Doria Ragland #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/SqOFhb0Wr5 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 18, 2018 Charles previously performed the duty for Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, Lord Brabourne, in 2016. A large security operation saw police manning the barricades outside the castle, snipers on the roofs of high street buildings and sniffer dogs carrying out checks before Saturdays ceremony. A police force has been accused of being institutionally racist despite one of its officers being cleared of assault after one of the forces own race relations advisers was Tasered in the face after repeatedly being mistaken for a suspect. Supporters of Judah Adunbi, a 64-year-old black African man from Bristol, lashed out at Avon and Somerset Police after acting sergeant Claire Boddie was acquitted. She had been accused of unlawfully discharging a Taser in the Easton area of the city on January 14 last year when Mr Adunbi refused to confirm his identity. She said he looked familiar to a suspect wanted on an arrest warrant. Expand Close Claire Boddie was cleared by a judge (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Claire Boddie was cleared by a judge (Ben Birchall/PA) The 47-year-olds trial heard how the force had mistaken Mr Adunbi for Royston McCalla on several occasions. In a slip of the tongue in court, her defence solicitor Richard Shepherd even mixed up the names, addressing Mr Adunbi as Mr McCalla. Members of the public exclaimed and Mr Shepherd apologised for the error. Desmond Brown, an equality campaigner who sits on several police and council boards in Bristol, accused the force of being institutionally racist when he spoke to reporters outside court. Expand Close The gated entrance and garages on King Street, Easton, Bristol, where Judah Adunbi was Tasered (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The gated entrance and garages on King Street, Easton, Bristol, where Judah Adunbi was Tasered (Ben Birchall/PA) Sporting a t-shirt with the slogan I Am Judah, Mr Brown told the Press Association: This was an opportunity for UK justice to be a shining beacon as we are always told it is. Justice doesnt work for people of colour in Bristol. There is a disturbing pattern. It feels like trying to move a dinosaur that doesnt want to change. We are now considering civil action and will continue to fight for justice and equality. Expand Close Judah Adunbi, a police race relations adviser, was Tasered in the face (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Judah Adunbi, a police race relations adviser, was Tasered in the face (Ben Birchall/PA) Mr Adunbi said: I hope the fact this prosecution was brought will mean other black people will not be Tasered in the face when out walking their dog; and the police will finally realise that not all black people look or act the same. Supporters also hit out with claims Ms Boddie was given special treatment because she was a police officer. Persistent requests were made for the case be heard in Bristol but it was moved to Salisbury. When arriving at court, the defendant was whisked through a back door away to avoid the main entrance. The press is banned from publishing her street address, a routine detail in court proceedings to identify a defendant, because her solicitor said it put her at risk. The judge did order her details to be recorded by the court to show that everyone was seen to be treated fairly under the law. Prosecutors refused to release footage shown as evidence in the trial which would normally be published. Ms Boddies solicitor failed in a bid to stop Mr Adunbi giving evidence. When he did try to speak in detail, Mr Shepherd said his grandstanding was not relevant to the case. The judge made Ms Boddie enter the dock like any other defendant after it was asked she be excused from doing so. A police officer has been cleared of assault following a Taser incident in #Bristol last year following a trial in Salisbury today. Our full statement can be found here: https://t.co/3QKC5jeeKq pic.twitter.com/6W7evacM7j Avon and Somerset Police (@ASPolice) May 18, 2018 The trial heard how Mr Adunbi claimed the officers were victimising him because it was not the first time they had mistaken him for the defendant. They approached him from behind as he walked home with his dog and a scuffle ensued after he repeatedly told them to leave him alone and refused to give his name. He told the court he felt like his head was frying after falling to the floor from the Taser blow. Ms Boddie said she acted with reasonable force in defence of herself and fellow officer Pc Darren Weston, seeing Mr Adunbi as a danger because he had keys in his hand and had made verbal threats. He later used them to open a gate at his home. Were proud of the positive engagement we already have with our multi-cultural neighbourhoods but we know theres more work to do and conversations to be had to improve our understanding of those who live in our communities, their concerns, the issues they face and our relationships with themSarah Crew, Avon and Somerset Police District Judge Tan Ikram said Ms Boddie was well-trained, experienced and with an unblemished record but the officers did make a mistake in wrongfully identifying Mr Adunbi. He described him as uncooperative with police, but said this was his right. He said the prosecution failed in its attempts to persuade him she had not acted in self-defence. Ms Boddie now faces a gross misconduct hearing after The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found she had a case to answer but this does not include allegations she discriminated against Mr Adunbi. Deputy Chief Constable Sarah Crew, who leads the forces diversity and inclusion board, said: Were proud of the positive engagement we already have with our multi-cultural neighbourhoods but we know theres more work to do and conversations to be had to improve our understanding of those who live in our communities, their concerns, the issues they face and our relationships with them. The force has a string of groups dedicated to this work, supports organisations like the Black Police Association, conducts outreach programmes while Independent Advisory Groups, of which Mr Adunbi was a member, are undergoing a review, she said. Judah Adunbi was Tasered outside his house in Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA) A police officer who Tasered her forces own race relations adviser after mistaking him for a suspect has told a court she was not sure he was the wanted man even though she had previously met him. Avon and Somerset acting sergeant Claire Boddie said she was trying to get Judah Adunbi to identify himself and keep him calm to stop the situation escalating, Salisbury Magistrates Court heard on Friday. The 47-year-old denies assault by beating after Tasering Mr Adunbi in the face outside his Bristol home as he was walking his dog on January 14 last year. Boddie regarded as a well-trained officer with more than 20 years experience of frontline policing said she felt the use of force was reasonable in self-defence, to defend her fellow officer Pc Darren Weston, and in order to make an arrest. The pair approached Mr Adunbi from behind in Colston Road in the Easton area of the city and repeatedly asked him to identify himself, telling him he looked like a man they wanted to speak to, the court heard. Mr Adunbi, a 64-year-old black African man, was a member of the forces independent advisory group which raises policing matters which could cause the public concern. Expand Close Claire Boddie is accused of assault by beating over the incident involving Judah Adunbi (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Claire Boddie is accused of assault by beating over the incident involving Judah Adunbi (Ben Birchall/PA) The court heard he had been mistaken by members of the force for wanted man Royston McCalla on several occasions before and after the incident. During the encounter, Boddie told Mr Adunbi he looked familiar. There was a scuffle and Mr Adunbi fell to the floor after the Taser bar hit him in the jaw, the court heard. Giving evidence at her trial, Boddie said: I was not sure it was Mr McCalla. I wanted to give him the opportunity to identify himself and calm him down. If he wasnt Mr McCalla, then the incident would be resolved there and then. If a person is wanted [by police], very often they will deny who they are. She later admitted she had met McCalla during an earlier police operation, adding: I could not say for definite that [Mr Adunbi] was or was not him. In a statement made after the incident, which was read to the court, she described Mr Adunbi as hostile from the start. In the witness box, she described the sequence of events as dynamic and volatile, claiming Mr Adunbi was very agitated and angry. In footage captured on the officers body-worn cameras, Mr Adunbi can be heard becoming increasingly angry. He shouts and swears, telling them to leave him alone and it is his right to withhold his identity. He is heard shouting: Why you coming to torment me? Go f*** off about your business and dont follow me. Stop, stop, if you put your hand on me Im gonna f*** you up. Im not threatening you. Im telling you if you put arms on me Im going to defend myself. This is not the first time you have done this. Expand Close Race relations adviser Judah Adunbi (centre) had been mistaken for a suspect before, the court heard (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Race relations adviser Judah Adunbi (centre) had been mistaken for a suspect before, the court heard (Ben Birchall/PA) She said she was aware that McCallas file had a warning for violence and weapons, so was concerned Mr Adunbi had keys in his hand. In mobile phone footage played to the court, a bystander can be overheard shouting to police that Mr Adunbi lived nearby. He later walked away from police and used them to unlock a gate at the back of his house. She said: When someone is being filmed they tend to play up. He had been [verbally] threatening my colleague and I took the keys in his hand as a threat. He threatened to put Pc Weston to sleep. I know that the keys could be used as a weapon. Mr Posner, prosecuting, said asking him the same question over and over again was not calming him down. Boddie responded: It doesnt appear so, no. She said she did not recall whether she thought to ask why he was upset. Mr Posner suggested she never intended to discharge the Taser and asked: Did you fire the Taser and needed to justify it later? She responded: No, thats not correct. Mr Posner said: He had his hands by his side. You didnt need to use it, did you? Boddie replied: I believed the male was using violence to escape. The trial continues. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are making final wedding preparations on their last day before becoming husband and wife. The couple will accompany the mother of the bride, Doria Ragland, as she meets the Queen at Windsor Castle later likely for afternoon tea. Ms Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, has been tipped to walk Ms Markle down the aisle at the castles historic St Georges Chapel during Saturdays ceremony, which will be broadcast to a global television audience of millions. Her father, Thomas Markle, decided not to attend the ceremony on medical advice after undergoing heart surgery. In a statement released by Kensington Palace, the bride-to-be said on Thursday: Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday. There has also been speculation that Ms Markles closest male friend, Soho House director Markus Anderson, could step in to replace Mr Markle, a reclusive former TV lighting director who was embroiled in controversy after allegedly being caught staging photographs with the paparazzi. Mr Markle reportedly pulled out of attending the ceremony in St Georges Chapel to avoid embarrassing his daughter, but then later said before his surgery that he wanted to be part of history and hoped to be there, celebrity website TMZ revealed. Expand Close Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland accompanied the actress to the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada, in 2017 (Danny Lawson/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland accompanied the actress to the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada, in 2017 (Danny Lawson/PA) Prince Harry has not yet met his future father-in-law the first meeting was due to take place this week. Ms Markle will be bitterly disappointed her father will not be there but it was business as usual for the prince and his fiancee who were spotted being driven into Windsor Castle for an apparent wedding rehearsal in St Georges Chapel on Thursday afternoon. A dress rehearsal for the armed forces also took place in Windsor, with thousands of people turning out to get a flavour of how Saturday will unfold. Some 250 members of the armed forces are expected to take part in Saturdays festivities, lining the streets as the newlywed Harry and Meghan head on a 25-minute carriage ride through the town where the weather is expected to be sunny and warm. Expand Close Royal Wedding preparations PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Royal Wedding preparations Press from around the world, tourists, locals and royal fans watched from behind barriers as members of the military paraded around Windsor. There is also a heavy police presence, with armed officers stationed around town and other officers on top of buildings looking over the crowds. Well-wishers gathered in Windsor will be hoping to catch another glimpse of the bride or groom before the big day. Harry accompanied his brother Prince William, now the Duke of Cambridge, on an impromptu walkabout outside Clarence House, in central London, the evening before his wedding to Kate Middleton. Crowds in Windsor will be hoping to see the prince before he spends his final night of bachelorhood at the Dorchester Collections Coworth Park in Ascot. The bride will stay at the Cliveden House Hotel, set in a National Trust estate in Taplow, Berkshire, with her mother. Alexander Yakovenko has claimed the UK is violating international law by not granting access to the Skripals (Kirsty O'Connor/PA) Russias ambassador to the UK has stepped up demands to be allowed to see Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, suggesting the pair may be being detained by the British state. Alexander Yakovenko said the pair were isolated, adding: You can call it kidnap. He welcomed the announcement that former spy Mr Skripal had been discharged from hospital after the attack, which the UK authorities have blamed on a military-grade Novichok nerve agent. Mr Yakovenko has claimed the UK is violating international law by not granting access to the Skripals. The 1963 Vienna Convention gives consular officials access rights if one of their nationals is in prison, custody or detention. We are still demanding access to these people. We want to understand how they feelRussias ambassador Alexander Yakovenko Setting out Moscows interpretation of the case, he said: We are saying that they are isolated because we dont have access to them. This is our interpretation. You can call it detained, you can call it isolated, you can call it kidnap. Unless we see them it is difficult to make a conclusion. He acknowledged that the Foreign Office had told him they did not interpret the situation in the same way and added, I got the impression that we will never see them. Russia has denied involvement in the incident in Salisbury which left both Mr Skripal and his daughter seriously ill. Mr Yakovenko said: If it was really Novichok and they were poisoned by Novichok, the consequences would be very serious. My question was how they survived from Novichok. German media deals another crushing blow to UK official version that only Russia possessed Novichok: @zeitonline confirms that BND intelligence service had all the information about A234 since 1990s, evidence points to production in several NATO countries pic.twitter.com/cKXBsL7HbF Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) May 17, 2018 At a press conference at his official residence in London after Mr Skripal was discharged, Mr Yakovenko said we are happy that he is all right. He added: We are still demanding access to these people. We want to understand how they feel. We want them to tell (us) personally what they want. If they dont want our assistance, thats fine, but we want to see them physically. Mr Yakovenko criticised the Governments attitude towards Moscow, highlighting Defence Secretary Gavin Williamsons comment that Russia should go away and shut up. The ambassador said: We in Russia, we know the price of words. You will never hear from our minister of defence Britain should shut up. Its impossible. Mr Yakovenko, who was likened to the Iraqi propaganda chief known as Comical Ali during a parliamentary meeting with MPs and peers this week, said he had been given an apology by some lords. A few people from the House of Lords came to me yesterday and they apologised for the statements of the MPs, he said. They know the price of words, they know how the ambassador of a big country should be treated. Some 10 people are dead and 10 more wounded after a shooting at a high school in the town of Santa Fe, Texas governor Greg Abbott has said. He said Fridays shooting was one of the most heinous attacks that weve ever seen in the history of Texas schools. Mr Abbott said explosive devices including a molotov cocktail had been found in the suspected shooters home and a vehicle, as well as around the school and nearby. The suspect said he originally intended to commit suicide but gave himself up and told authorities he did not have the courage to take his own life, the governor said. Mr Abbott said there are one or two other people of interest being interviewed about the shooting. He said the suspect used a shotgun and .38 revolver, which he obtained from his father. We look to God to give the first responders, as well as the victims and the families, the guidance they need in the coming days and weeks.Texas governor Greg Abbott Mr Abbott said both weapons were owned legally by the suspects father. It is not clear whether the father knew his son had taken them. He said: We look to God to give the first responders, as well as the victims and the families, the guidance they need in the coming days and weeks. Mr Abbott said he will organise meetings around the state to discuss preventing further shootings. Expand Close Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting A law enforcement official has identified the person in custody as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis The district confirmed a number of injuries. A school police officer was shot, officials said, but there was no immediate word on his condition. Michael Farina, 17, said he was on the other side of campus when the shooting began and thought it was a fire drill. He was holding a door open for students in wheelchairs when a principal came running down the hall telling everyone to run. Another teacher yelled: It is real. Students were led to take cover behind a car shop across the street from the school. Some still did not feel safe and began jumping the fence behind it to run further away, Mr Farina said. I debated doing that myself, he said. Aerial footage showed students standing in a grassy field and three medical helicopters landing at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 people roughly 30m (48km) south-east of Houston. One student told Houston television station KTRK a gunman came into her art class and started shooting. She said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, Start running, the student said. Vice President Mike Pence said he and President Donald Trump were briefed on the shooting. Mr Pence said the students, families, teachers and all those affected should know: Were with you. Youre in our prayers and I know you are in the prayers of the American people. Mr Trump added in a tweet that that early reports were not looking good. God bless all! First lady Melania Trump also weighed in on Twitter, saying her heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today. Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi has announced, in what would be the longest uninterrupted period since 2013. The move is meant as a humanitarian gesture during the annual holiday, one of the few occasions in which Egypt allows some Gazans stranded by a 2007 Egypt-Israel blockade to leave and return to the territory ruled by the militant Islamic group Hamas. The announcement came days after Israeli forces shot and killed 59 Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border. Mr el-Sissi wrote on his official Twitter account that the opening would ease the burden on our brothers in the Gaza Strip. Adham Abu Selmia, head of the Hamas-linked National Committee to Break Gaza Siege, welcomed the extension as a positive step. We hope the crossing will stay open as a normal right, he said, calling for an increase in the number of departures and a faster exit process. The crossing has been open since Saturday so Mr el-Sissis announcement is technically an extension and Egyptian authorities said 510 people crossed on Wednesday, the majority coming from Gaza into Egypt. Expand Close Palestinians wait with their luggage to cross into Egypt at the Rafah crossing AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Palestinians wait with their luggage to cross into Egypt at the Rafah crossing On Thursday, 541 people crossed from Egypt into Gaza along with dozens of trucks carrying cement, steel, power engines and medical and food aid from the Red Crescent, the officials said. Last month, Hamass Interior Ministry said more than 20,000 people were on exit waiting lists. Through this week, an average of 500 travellers a day moved through the border, mostly leaving. On Friday, travellers were slowly moving toward the crossing, a bus arriving about every hour with people whose names appeared on lists provided by Hamas officials, who oversee who goes through the border. Monday was the deadliest day of cross-border violence in Gaza since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. Capping weeks of protests, about 40,000 Gaza residents descended on the border area. The high number of wounded has overwhelmed the Gaza health system. Expand Close Palestinian protesters run for cover from Israeli troops AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Palestinian protesters run for cover from Israeli troops Mr el-Sissi said in televised comments earlier this week that Egypt has been communicating with Israel and the Palestinians in an effort to stop the bloodshed. He urged Israel to understand that the Palestinian reactions are legitimate and they should handle it very carefully. In 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza by force, provoking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade that severely restricted the movement of most of Gazas two million inhabitants. The Rafah crossing is Gazas main gate to the outside world but has only had sporadic openings since the 2013 removal of Egypts elected Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, a high-ranking member of Hamass parent group, The Muslim Brotherhood. While Egypt has been struggling with Islamic insurgency for decades, militant attacks increased after Mr Morsis was removed, giving Egyptian authorities more justification to tighten movement to and from Gaza. Over the years, Egypt has opened the crossing for a few days every two to three months. Travelling has mostly been restricted to humanitarian cases, with priority given to medical patients, students admitted to outside universities and Palestinians with residency permits in third countries about to expire. Palestinian-Egyptians and dual-nationals are also eligible to apply. Mr el-Sissis announcement is not expected to ease the lengthy, complicated security procedures that turn Palestinians trips to the Rafah crossing into a hardship. Egypts security and intelligence services haves lists of Palestinians allegedly involved in the Islamic insurgency and anti-government attacks during the 2011 uprising that forced long-time president Hosni Mubarak to step down. Gina Haspel testifies during a confirmation hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) The US Senate has confirmed Gina Haspel as the CIAs first female director despite her role in one of the darkest chapters in the spy agencys history. It voted on Thursday by 54-45 after a tough nomination process. Ms Haspel was a controversial choice because of her role in a former CIA programme to brutally detain and interrogate terror suspects at covert sites abroad following the 9/11 attacks. Her opponents said it was wrong to promote someone who supervised a black site in Thailand. They said the US needs to close the book forever on the programme that marred Americas image with allies abroad. Raha Wala of Human Rights First said the Senates decision was unwise. He said Human Rights First was putting Ms Haspel on notice that Congress and the American people will hold her to her pledge to never reinstate such a programme. Laura Pitter of Human Rights Watch said Ms Haspels confirmation is a perverse byproduct of the US failure to grapple with past abuses. Senate confirms Gina Haspel as new CIA Director, a dark day for human rights. The vote undermines respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law. Statement by @LauraPitter pic.twitter.com/gtojHHYWip Human Rights Watch (@hrw) May 17, 2018 Ms Haspels supporters cited her 33-year career at the agency. Senator Marco Rubio said: With her unparalleled CIA experience, she will hit the ground running and continue to lead the worlds finest intelligence agency. I look forward to working with her as she helps advance and protect Americas national security interests from the daily threats we face. My statement applauding Senate confirmation of Gina Haspel to be CIA Director: https://t.co/R2YIDf6DmQ pic.twitter.com/7JYItWgIHw Senator Rubio Press (@SenRubioPress) May 17, 2018 Former top intelligence officials said she earned the chance to take the helm of the agency. Police are responding to a high school in Texas after a gunman was reported on campus. The Santa Fe school district near Houston issued an alert saying Santa Fe High School had been placed on lockdown. Galveston County Sheriffs Major Douglas Hudson said units are responding to reports of shots fired. He had no immediate details on whether anyone had been hurt. WATCH LIVE: A Sante Fe student describes the active shooter situation. The high school is on lock down. Details: https://t.co/lUUGfKCRsj pic.twitter.com/aBBcsMSCM6 ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) May 18, 2018 Santa Fe is a city of about 13,000 residents, 30 miles south east of Houston. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. The student said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. Authorities have not yet confirmed that report. I am delighted to learn that the elderly professor who made a lame joke about knickers in a crowded lift, thus causing an international scandal, is refusing to apologise. Here's what happened: Professor Richard Ned Lebow, a political scientist from King's College London, was heading back to his hotel room after attending a conference of the International Studies Association (ISA) in San Francisco. The attendant in the lift asked him which floor he wanted, and Prof Ned Lebow responded "ladies' lingerie". Another academic at the same conference, Simona Sharoni, a professor of gender studies, heard him and filed a complaint against him for sexist behaviour. Lebow emailed Sharoni privately to try to resolve the matter, but to no avail - he had said the wrong thing, a feminist had got offended and so he was now officially toast. The ISA found Lebow guilty of using a phrase that was "inappropriate and offensive", informed him that he had violated its code of conduct, and censured him for emailing Sharoni. It demanded an unequivocal apology, with the threat of disciplinary action. But Lebow, rather gloriously, is taking a stand. "There is nothing to apologise for," he said. "If I did apologise it would show that crazy people like this one can intimidate associations - and it will have a chilling effect on everyone... This is also about an issue of humour and the idea that humour is now becoming off limits." Sharoni, meanwhile, was full of pious self-righteousness. She claimed to have been "quite shaken" by the incident and pompously proclaimed that she "cannot and will not remain silent when misogyny is at play". Shaken? Really? I'd be shaken if I nearly got run down by a car, or if somebody screamed obscenities in my face. Not because an old man made a rather poor joke in a lift. As for misogyny, as Lebow himself pointed out, such complaints detract from real, genuinely damaging instances of harassment. The overreaction to Lebow's quip reminded me of another socially inept septuagenarian who got in trouble for a pathetic attempt at humour. Prof Tim Hunt of University College London famously said that the problem with women in the science lab is that "you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry". Unhelpful? Unfunny? Sure. But his remarks were not "shocking and bewildering", or "painful", "injurious" and "harmful" to women, as they were subsequently described. Hunt didn't deserve to be ditched by UCL, the European Research Council and the Royal Society for his supposed crimes. Don't comfort yourself with the thought that this is all just overblown American-inspired campus nonsense. Intolerance, sexual puritanism and censorship are on the march everywhere these days. Now two male RNLI volunteers at Whitby have been dismissed over a pair of Secret Santa novelty mugs with naked women on them. Apparently, their female boss discovered the mugs and after a disciplinary process the men were told their services were being dispensed with. Why? Because the mugs could have been seen by schoolchildren and thus posed a "safeguarding risk". I agree that it's not great to have porn-inspired crockery in the RNLI cupboard, and there may have been more to this case than meets the eye. But it seems a terrible shame that young men who risk their lives, without pay, to save the lives of others should be hoofed out, essentially over a pair of dodgy mugs. There's an awful, thin-lipped joylessness currently at large in society, an unattractive zeal to sniff out, expose and punish words or behaviour deemed to be "inappropriate" - and what a snivelling, preachy word that is. It can often be translated as "something I don't like which is therefore morally wrong and must be banned". Fuelling it all is a race for victimhood: the infantile, narcissistic quest to be more hurt, more oppressed and more in need of special attention and protection than anybody else. Even the DUP are getting all moist and snowflakey now. DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly said she was appalled by the recently-coined insult "gammon", often deployed by sneering Corbynistas against right-wing, red-faced, middle-aged men. "Stereotyping by colour or age is wrong no matter what race, age or community," she tweeted piously. Ah, get real Emma, comparing someone to a cut of ham isn't very kind, but it's hardly hate speech. We live in a world where we're constantly told "you can't say that". Soon we won't be able to say anything at all, for fear of howling retribution. That's why we need to stand by Prof Ned and his pants. Going up? Another day and another reason why we need political leadership in Northern Ireland. The province is in political limbo because of the stand-off between the DUP and Sinn Fein, yet the problems requiring urgent action keep piling up. And the court ruling this week, effectively saying that civil servants should not make decisions which normally would be taken by ministers in the devolved government, has thrown the governance of the province into chaos. Previously, senior civil servants had taken some major decisions, mostly of the type required to keep public services functioning. But now, even though the court ruling is to be appealed, they are reluctant to act in place of ministers. The latest challenge to law makers in the province - the absentee MLAs or direct rule ministers, if they are ever appointed - is to change our outmoded betting laws. In England and Wales, new regulations have drastically reduced the amount that can be bet per spin on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals from 100 to 2. That is a common sense move against what has been described as the crack cocaine of gambling. The previous high stakes betting on the spin of a wheel produced in some gamblers an addictive buzz akin to that obtained from drugs. But unlike addiction to drugs or drink, which has a natural limit - the addict eventually falls down drunk or drugged - out of control gambling has no limits. Northern Ireland is reckoned to have the highest proportion of problem gamblers in the UK and reformed addicts will testify that they used to go to any lengths to get the money to feed their habit. And then, when their world came crashing down around them, their families realised the extent of the problem. Problem gambling costs homes, wives, children and friends and any move which could curtail the numbers falling into that bracket deserves widespread support. But who is going to introduce the necessary changes in Northern Ireland? Even the most addicted gambler would not bet on devolution returning any time soon. Yet the situation is untenable. If local politicians continue to steadfastly turn their faces against compromise and Westminster equally resolutely refuses to introduce direct rule, how will legislation addressing everyday problems ever get on the statute book here? Little wonder more and more people are losing faith in the political process. To sum up then: the bride's father, Thomas Markle, is not attending tomorrow's wedding between his beautiful daughter, Meghan, and Prince Harry. Having been exposed for posing for fake (and lucrative) paparazzi shots, purporting to show his wedding preparations near his home in Mexico, he had apologised profusely and said he would not embarrass his daughter by attending. The royals then asked the media to respect the privacy of the man who'd been invading it himself. Following this, Meghan sent him a message (they appear to communicate by text), saying she was heartbroken and begging him to come anyway. He said he would. Then he had another change of heart. He said he'd had some sort of cardiac problem (although he was photographed around this time leaving a fast-food joint with a non-prescription, fried chicken takeaway) and now wouldn't be coming after all. His other daughter, who appears to detest Meghan - even though she wanted to attend her wedding - claimed the pap pics were her idea to show her father - and the royals - "in a positive light". She blamed the media for putting her father under pressure. The father, meanwhile, blamed the heart issue on his son, who'd written a nasty open letter to Prince Harry, saying that if he married Meghan, it would be the greatest mistake in the history of royal wedding mistakes. The father went into hospital. The mother then left for her daughter's wedding. She was preceded into London by the angry half-brother, who, having called Meghan jaded, shallow and conceited, was now saying nicer things about her, claiming that he only got nasty because he hadn't got an invite. He also blamed media attention. The half-brother's ex-wife, to whom he hasn't spoken in 20 years, had also arrived in London as a royal wedding pundit along with her two sons, one of whom is a cannabis farmer (legal), currently harvesting a new strain he calls "Markle's Sparkle". The half-sister, who is writing a book called The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister (which, she says, aims to show Meghan is not), has rarely been off the airwaves, spewing bile about her famous relative. She claimed this was a freedom of speech issue and that Meghan had no right to try to shut her up. She also blamed the media. This week, she said she was in a car crash, where she broke her foot - or, possibly, her knee - as she and her partner tried to avoid the paparazzi. She insisted that she doesn't mind a bit that she wasn't invited to the wedding, but has called the bride-to-be narcissistic and selfish. Apparently, though, she's bought her a wedding pressie. Meghan's uncles on her father's side - one a bishop, the other a former US diplomat - have expressed surprise they weren't invited to tomorrow's ceremony. So, too, have various young royals, who grew up with Prince Harry. But the Spice Girls are going. And David Beckham and Posh. Theresa May isn't. Nor are Mr and Mrs Obama. Nor Mr and Mrs Trump, nor Pippa Middleton. The father hasn't met Harry. The mother has met the Queen. And what the Duke of Edinburgh makes of it all is anybody's guess. Phew! It does put the usual wedding preparation pressure (Do we really need a chocolate fountain? When we release the doves, what if they poop on our heads?) into perspective. Poor Meghan and Harry (but, mostly, Meghan, because it's the Markle Beverly Hillbillies who've been affronting her) have had a wild week of it. There's been endless media analysis about whose fault all this was and how it could and should have been handled better by palace wedding planners. But, actually, as a foil to the usual fairytale froth of royal nuptials, there is, amid the cringe-inducing carry-on of the extended Markle clan, something oddly relatable about the relatives. More exaggerated in this instance, granted. But all families have their renegades. That section of the family gene pool that somehow got contaminated with what could kindly be called eccentricity. To put it another way, every family has the odd balloon. (I was trying to think who this might be in my own family, but couldn't work it out, leading to the uncomfortable conclusion that in our family - gulp - it might be me.) But this is part of life's rich tapestry. And stage-managing your wedding day to edit them out of the picture is never going to work. In the case of Meghan's father, his behaviour was wrong. But not criminal. There's since been a bit of an attempt to portray him as a naive victim of paparazzi manoeuvring (money, we're told, wasn't his main motivation). But this is a man who's spent a lifetime working in the extended media industry - he's an award-winning retired lighting director - so he's nobody's fool. He saw a chance to make a quick bob or two. Not entirely noble. But not the end of the world, either. And, suddenly finding themselves in media demand, the rest of the clan have been making hay, too. (Or, in the case of the cannabis-farming cousin, a slightly different crop.) The cross-Atlantic media attention was always going to be intense, but the chaos - and there is no other word for it - which has surrounded this royal wedding has lifted it to another plane entirely. Meghan will be without her dad on her big day, which is truly sad. He's paying a big price for making a few quick bucks. And I just hope the poor girl stays off social media, because some of the vitriol being spewed on there makes even the half-sister seem half-human. The bride has had to deal with more pre-wedding drama than ever envisaged by the Brothers Grimm. Tomorrow, though, is Meghan's day. Meghan's and Harry's. But also, just as importantly perhaps, it's a day for those of us who still love a fairytale ending. For, despite the many twists and turns, and the best efforts of those hobgoblins of fate and hate, that's what tomorrow amounts to. This is not just the usual Cinderella story about poor girl meets prince with the traditional trappings of carriage, a palace, footmen, disgruntled siblings, a tiara and those new royal titles. It's a story that's as down to earth as it is the stuff of fantasy. It's about two ordinary people who love each other saying that proudly and publicly. It's their friends and their families (those invited, anyway) joining in the fun. And it's about well-wishers, who don't even know them, but who see and share their happiness, cheering from the sidelines - albeit pausing intermittently to critique some of the guests' dafter style choices. As another famous American, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once reminded us, all the world loves a lover. And while tomorrow's wedding may be a bit grander than most, that celebration of life and love is universal and uplifting and affecting and fun. So, here's to them. Here's to the bride and groom. Here's to Meghan and Harry and to love conquering all. Here's to happy ever after. Secretary of State Karen Bradley samples food at the Moy Park stand at the Balmoral Show yesterday When Karen Bradley was looking at her diary engagements early yesterday she would have reckoned there wasn't much ahead to worry about. A breakfast organised by the Institute of Directors was the first engagement. The business community are hardly a bolshie bunch so nothing too challenging was expected there. Then it was on to the North West 200 at Portstewart, with the final date of the day at the Balmoral Show. Except it didn't quite work out that well. Despite the glorious sunshine, a stormy reception awaited Mrs Bradley. Those at the breakfast don't recall any previous secretary of state getting such a rough a ride over government action - or rather non-action - here. The message was that 16 months on from the Executive's collapse, she must quit dithering and ensure Northern Ireland has the stable government the business community craves. Public affairs consultant David Kerr, who was at the event, couldn't understand why Mrs Bradley is so opposed to appointing direct rule ministers. He warned that she may mistakenly hope the business community can successfully apply pressure to Sinn Fein and the DUP to restore the Executive. It can't, and with little prospect of power-sharing returning this year the Secretary of State needed to take "the situation by the scruff of the neck and appoint ministers to allow government to operate lawfully," Mr Kerr said. He believed Mrs Bradley had been advised that direct rule was "more dangerous and controversial" than it actually was. In his experience as a former Ulster Unionist special adviser at Stormont in the first power-sharing administration, direct rule had "worked fine" as a temporary stop-gap until the parties sorted out their differences. But for the moment, keeping Dublin and Sinn Fein content outweighs other considerations for the Government. At the North West 200, and later the Balmoral Show, Mrs Bradley tried to escape difficult questions from the media and Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson with a 'let's just enjoy the day'. One wag tweeted that Usain Bolt "couldn't run as fast as Karen Bradley". She was even unfavourably compared to James Brokenshire - whoever could have predicted that? Questions have also been raised over whether she is spending enough time in Northern Ireland. But most of her predecessors have faced the same accusations, and parliamentary arithmetic means MPs must be in Westminster more than ever before to vote. Mrs Bradley also sits on the Cabinet Brexit sub-committee which eats into her time. Still, the Secretary of State is viewed more as Theresa May's woman in Northern Ireland than an independently-minded figure with her own ideas on the way forward politically. If she's dithering, it's because her boss is. Yesterday was a bad day out of the office. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad unveiled 13 members of his cabinet Friday, nine days after leading an alliance of opposition parties to their first electoral victory since independence six decades ago, but he left the vital foreign minister portfolio unfilled. The cabinet, approved by Sultan Muhammad V, Malaysias king, is split evenly among the four parties of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. It reflects the countrys multi-ethnic population and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is set to become the highest-ranking female leader in Malaysian history when she is sworn in as deputy prime minister. She will hold a second portfolio as minister of women and family development. Mahathir named three members of his Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu), three from Wan Azizahs Peoples Justice Party (PKR), four from the ethnic Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP) and three from the faith-based National Trust Party (Amanah). From Bersatu, Mahathir named Muhyiddin Yassin as home minister, Maszlee Malik as education minister and Puan Rina Harun as minister of rural development. Mahathir dropped his earlier promise to serve as education minister because of a coalition pledge prior to the election where PH upset Barisan Nasional (BN), the coalition that ruled Malaysia for 61 years. Thats the position of the manifesto and I cant break it, Mahathir said in a Bersatu Facebook posting on Friday. I failed to realize that the prime minister cannot hold any other portfolio. I thought that the restriction only applied to the prime minister holding the finance portfolio. Najib Razak, who led BN and was seeking a third term as prime minister, also served as finance minister. Since the election, Najib has been ordered not to leave the country and residences linked to him have been searched by police officials who reported recovering stashes of money and jewelry along with hundreds of high-priced designer hand bags. Joining Wan Azizah from PKR are Mohamed Azmin Ali as minister of economic affairs and Zuraida Kamaruddin as minister of housing and local government. Wan Azizahs husband and founding leader of PKR, Anwar Ibrahim, was pardoned by the king on Wednesday and freed from his prison sentence on a sodomy conviction. The coalition campaigned on Anwar succeeding Mahathir as prime minister, a move that could take place in a year or two, according to Mahathir. The new prime minister also named Lim Guan Eng from DAP as minister of finance, along with Anthony Loke Siew Fook as minister of transportation, Gobind Singh Deo as minister of communication and multimedia and M. Kulasegaran as minister of human resources. Lim is scheduled to be in court on Monday where he has pleaded not guilty to two corruption charges, the Straits Times of Singapore reported. Despite the ongoing court issue, Anwar endorsed Lim for the role during a public rally hours after his release from prison on Wednesday. The Amanah party cabinet members are Mohamad Sabu, as defense minister, Salahuddin Ayub, as agriculture and agro-based industry minister and Dzulkefly Ahmad, as health minister. Sabu, like others linked to the new administration, has served time following his imprisonment twice under the nations defunct Internal Security Act, according to Malaysian media. Working as a cook during his second incarceration 30 years ago, Sabu established relationships that carried through his political career. The swearing-in of the new cabinet is scheduled to take place on Monday in Istana Negara, the kings official residence. Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, the truth about the harms of marijuana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is the second agreement of its kind signed this week between the two nations. It involves BioCubaFarma business group, the Chinese State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC) and Sino-Pharma company. Cuba and China have expanded their biotechnology cooperation with the signing of another memorandum of understanding for the opening of new joint ventures in the field of biotechnology. This is the second agreement of its kind signed this week between the two nations. It involves BioCubaFarma business group, the Chinese State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC) and Sino-Pharma company. Eduardo Martinez, president of the Cuban firm, and Shi Hongxiang, vice president of SDIC, signed the document at the embassy of the Caribbean nation in Beijing. Martinez said that the document is a starting point to take cooperative relations in the biotechnology sector to a higher step, with more than 15 years of existence, reports Prensa Latina. Its essence is to explore several new Cuban models and medicines, in order to create joint ventures in both nations that will increase production and distribution levels in the Chinese, Latin America and other markets of the world, he said. The list includes Heberprot and PPG. The first one with proven efficacy to prevent amputations due to diabetic foot ulcer and the second one to reduce blood cholesterol levels, among other positive effects. According to the Caribbean official, it also includes drugs to treat heart attack, different types of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson, all with high worldwide incidence. That business group signed a similar agreement on Tuesday in this capital with Chinese firm Guang Xi Fukang Investment. In both cases, the joint ventures that are opened in Cuba will be based at the Mariel Special Development Zone, located in west of Havana, and encourage direct foreign investment. Ayushman Bharat should be developed as a value-based healthcare programme giving priority to quality of treatment while keeping the cost component within the defined limit. Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), which represents leading research-based medical technology companies with significant manufacturing investments in India, has stated that Ayushman Bharat should be developed as a value-based healthcare programme giving priority to quality of treatment while keeping the cost component within the defined limit. The government announced its plan to launch Ayushman Bharat or National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) in February 2018 to bring over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families under cashless health insurance cover of upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. The government is currently in the process of drawing up package rates for treatments under the programme. Ayushman Bharat has the potential to be the most comprehensive health financing and reimbursement initiative, the success of which is very important to Indian people. It can metamorphose Indian healthcare ecosystem depending on the approach we take. The government is working out package rates to contain cost of treatment. These package rates are expected to subsume the cost of medical devices. Among all the good things, this is one element of the programme which can have a vitiating impact on the entire initiative in the medium to long term. Subsuming cost of implants, prosthesis, hardware and high risk consumables without any quality benchmarking or outcome measurement will make way for the cheapest products which may lead to sub-optimal therapies, MTaI Director Mr. Kaustav Banerjee said. While episodic cost may be lower, the total cost of disease management will increase. Manufacturers will have no incentive to improve device longevity. Instead, the focus will be to reduce cost by significantly sacrificing outcome. The increase in redo, revision, repeat procedures due to increased adoption of cheaper products will have a direct impact on the payer and the patient both, he added. Giving an example of how cost-based treatments are affecting the quality of healthcare delivery, Mr. Banerjee said, In heart valve replacement surgery, bi-leaflet valve has a higher longevity but in most reimbursement programmes currently operational in India mono-leaflet valve is being used as it is cheaper. Mono-leaflet valves have fallen away globally due to various clinical reasons such as sheer mechanical stress on mono-leaflet valve could be a predisposition to thrombosis, and requirement of elevated anti-coagulant regime that potentially affect the valve longevity. Similar issues exist for every high risk medical devices and implants. In order to address these concerns, it may be an ideal solution to migrate to a value based healthcare system in the long run which will focus on health outcome for every rupee spent. At the same time, it may be worth considering a short to medium term solution given the magnitude of NHPS and the time constraint in implementation. This can be done by separating the prices of medical devices from package rates and rationalising trade margins of devices to mitigate compliance risk, he added. Aer Lingus inaugural service direct to Seattle, Washington State, will take to the skies this afternoon. Flight EI143 will be operated by an Airbus A330-200 series aircraft carrying the registration EI-DAA and named Saint Keeva. It will take off at 3.50pm from Dublin Airport. The new Dublin-Seattle service will operate four times weekly, year round. It marks the start of Aer Lingus new interline agreement with Alaska Airlines. "We are delighted to commence Irelands first and only direct service to Seattle, Washington State, with four direct flights each week," said Mike Rutter, chief operating officer. Seattle as a destination holds great promise for Aer Lingus given the strong business ties between the two regions making this an important route for business travel, as well as leisure trips, as exemplified by the high demand for business class tickets on the route to date. "Our interline agreement with Alaska Airlines means we can offer seamless onwards connections to our guests to 40 additional locations serviced by Alaskan Airlines, including Hawaii and Alaska. "It also ensures that we can make Ireland, and further into Europe, accessible for Alaskas 44 million travellers." Fares to Seattle start from 219 each-way including taxes and charges, when booked as a return trip. Visit aerlingus.com for further information. All of Bolands Quay has been sold to Google. Mark Reynolds of Savills, the NAMA-appointed receiver to the Bolands Quay development project, announced the sale today. The Bolands Quay site received planning permission in July 2015 and, since then, NAMA has provided funding for demolition and enabling works. In December 2016, NAMA committed to providing funding to Mark Reynolds for the construction of the entire scheme in one phase. Google has now agreed to acquire the entire of the Bolands Quay campus. "We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Bolands Quay," said Fionnuala Meehan, VP and head of Google in Ireland. Google was the first multinational company to establish operations on Barrow Street in 2005 and it is fantastic to see how the area has developed since then. "With this investment, Google is ensuring we have the space to continue to grow our EMEA HQ operations into the future. "This is a really exciting time for Google and follows on from our recently announced investments in Velasco and in our Data Centre in Grange Castle South." Google has invested over 1 billion in capital investment in Ireland since 2003 and last week announced a 150 million extension to its Data Centre. "The acquisition of Bolands Quay by Google is a significant vote of confidence in the Irish economy and in the future of its operations here and NAMA is very pleased to have been part of this successful outcome for all parties," said Brendan McDonagh, Chief Executive of NAMA. Designed by Dublin architectural practice Burke Kennedy Doyle with engineering input from Arup, Bolands Quay will comprise 28,000sq m of office space, 46 apartments, cafes and cultural space. The development will include three new landmark buildings, one rising to 53 metres (173 ft), another to 49 metres (161 ft) and a third to 47.8 metres (157 ft). BAM is the main contractor and the scheme is set for completion on a phased basis from Q2 2019. Google will retain the office accommodation for its own use and will appoint a commercial letting agent to manage the letting of the remaining commercial premises and apartments. Bolands Quay will be linked to Googles EMEA HQ on Barrow Street via walking routes through the site. The development will also include a new pedestrian bridge and two new civic plazas with water frontage to Grand Canal Dock. The historic buildings on the site, dating from the 1830s, will be sympathetically restored and their heritage preserved adding to the architectural uniqueness of the development. By Padraig Hoare The numbers that will be affected by home repossessions could fill Croke Park because of the intransigence of banks and the cancer of vulture funds, a mortgage campaigner has claimed. David Hall, of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that a tsunami is coming with 17,000 mortgage holders vulnerable to having their homes repossessed. I now believe that 17,000 mortgage holders which affect nearly 80,000 people a Croke Park full of citizens will have their homes repossessed. This is because the banks have been complicit in hiding the human crisis and destruction that is ahead, he told TDs and senators. He said the selling on of mortgages in arrears to vulture funds was a social evil that had been allowed to happen under the watch of the Government and the Central Bank. Vulture funds are a cancer in our society. They have one thing on their agenda and that is feasting on the carcasses of those who suffered because of the gambling by banks. While banks are horrible, they must out of a mix of legal, fiscal and social necessity and for reasons of PR, provide some solutions. Vultures are by contrast a social evil. Vultures are a symptom of the failure of Government, the Department of Housing, the Department of Finance, the Central Bank and the banks, Mr Hall said. He said that a damaging narrative was emerging that thousands in arrears were messers, strategic defaulters, and non-engagers, which, he said, was a false characterisation. The majority of those in long-term arrears which stands at 31,5000 households cant pay, Mr Hall said. He claimed homelessness would quadruple in the next two years unless a Nama-type organisation was formed to take over non-performing loans in all of the lenders. Askaboutmoney founder Brendan Burgess said he estimated that 10,000 mortgage holders were making no attempt to pay their arrears and should face having properties repossessed, adding that vulture funds were necessary. Because there is no effective sanction in Ireland for the 10,000 or so irresponsible borrowers, the 300,000 responsible borrowers pay their mortgages for them. The 300,000 borrowers pay the highest rates in Europe. You dont get free accommodation. It would not be tolerated anywhere else, he told the same committee. Martha OHagan Luff, assistant professor of finance at Trinity Business School, said while it was essential the most vulnerable were protected, there were substantial risks in not resolving non-performing loans. The huge "NO" sign erected on Ben Bulben by anti-abortion campaigners is the subject of a legal complaint submitted to Sligo County Council by An Taisce. The charity, which works to preserve and protect Ireland's natural and built heritage, says the advertisement requires planning permission. President of Sligo Chamber of Commerce, Fiona Candon, says she is unhappy at the use of Ben Bulben as a billboard but there is unlikely to be a negative impact on trade or tourism. She said: "It has certainly put a spotlight on Sligo and for anybody who didn't know this spectacular mountain, they certainly know about it now but we wouldn't normally advertise Sligo in this way." The 100-foot sign, which is made out of plastic cladding, was placed on the North facing side of the mountain with the landowner's permission yesterday morning. According to Ocean FM presenter, Naill Delaney, political messages have been previously placed on the mountain over the years. During The Troubles in the 1970s and 80s messages such as H Blocks and Brits out were spotted. - Digital Desk Update 9.45am: New research has found that students who got lower points in their Leaving Cert are most likely to drop out of third level education. The study by the Higher Education Authority also found a gender gap, in terms of students progression into second year. 89% of female students continued their courses, compared to 83% of males. Those who attended fee paying schools were also more likely to stay on in college. Construction-related courses had the worst retention record with nearly a quarter dropping out. Graham Love from the HEA says better careers guidance could be part of the solution. He said: "I think career choice is something that can be improved on with better career guidance. "We certainly see males with very high levels of not progressing, some of those construction and IT courses particularly at level six and seven. "Perhaps some of these students would be better going through the newly approved emerging apprentice system." Earlier: College drop out rate for DEIS Schools in disadvantaged areas double that of fee-paying schools The college drop out rate for students who went to DEIS Schools in disadvantaged areas is almost double that for those who went to fee-paying schools. The finding is contained in research by the Higher Education Authority. It shows that overall, 86% of Irish college students progress on to second year - a slight increase on previous figures. The students most likely not to progress are male students studying computer science, construction or engineering. Graham Love. Graham Love from the HEA says many students need extra supports to stay in college. He said: "There's no doubt that the environment in school is much closer and more supportive. "When one moves into third level, a greater level of independence is required - that is where we see some loss. "We know that our third level institutions are investing in a number of measures to support these students - whether that is additional maths courses or interventions when people are identified as not attending lectures." - Digital Desk Rugby star Paddy Jackson has no current offers of employment and continues to pay an enormous personal price despite being resoundingly acquitted of rape, his lawyer claimed as he called on prosecutors to pay his legal costs. Brendan Kelly QC told a judge in Belfast Crown Court that Jackson, 26, had done nothing to bring the situation upon himself, revealing that his client's salary had been halved when he was charged last year. Jackson and former Ulster and Ireland team mate Stuart Olding, 25, were found not guilty in March of raping the same woman at a house party in 2016. Both men, who were subsequently sacked by Ulster and Ireland for involvement in explicit WhatsApp chats that were revealed during the marathon trial, are bidding to recover their legal costs from Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service. Jackson had privately funded his case and his legal bill is estimated to be well in excess of 100,000. Despite being linked with other clubs, both players are still without a team for next season. Neither were in court for today's court hearing. "He's without employment, he's without offer of employment," Mr Kelly said of Jackson. "It's not for me to criticise those who have seen to that, but this is the position we are in. "He's paid an enormous price for the events of that evening, despite what we would say was a resounding acquittal in this case. "He did everything he was supposed to do during the Crown Court proceedings and we would argue he did nothing at all to bring this on," Brendan Kelly QC said. As well as the cut in wages, Mr Kelly said Jackson had found it difficult to extract equity from his house during the case because the "banks weren't really on his side". He also told judge Patricia Smyth his father Peter had spent his retirement pot funding his son's defences costs. Mr Kelly said it was "inexcusable and inexplicable" that prosecutors had taken 13 months to charge Jackson, also criticising the PPS's handling of certain aspects of the case. But the barrister stressed the application was not a bid to "punish" prosecutors. He said the only reason Jackson was seeking costs from the PPS was because, unlike other jurisdictions, there was no centralised legal funding pot that paid both state and defence costs in Northern Ireland. He said the trial had lasted almost twice as long as first envisaged through no fault of his client, claiming that, if he had been tried on his own, proceedings would have lasted as little as a week and a half. The barrister said one of the reasons the trial took so long was due to problems caused by trying to manage the "persistent pollution of Twitter and other forms of social media" as the public commented on a trial that he said garnered "unparalleled levels of publicity". Prosecution counsel Toby Hedworth QC said successful applications to recover private legal costs in Crown Court cases in Northern Ireland were "vanishingly rare". He argued that a dangerous precedent would be set for public policy in the region if prosecutors had to consider the financial implications of pursing rape cases. He said it would lead to a "threat hanging over the Crown" when it was assessing whether to take charges against suspects with a "high profile or substantial means". "There's a substantial danger that confidence in the Public Prosecution Service would be diminished in terms of its decision-making processes," he said. Mr Hedworth said it was not the PPS's fault Jackson did not have a job. "He's not been deprived of a livelihood because of the prosecution, he's been deprived of a livelihood because the public became aware of certain things he was saying and doing in the conduct of his private life," he said. The barrister noted that when his own funds ran dry during the case he could have applied for legal aid, rather than relying on other sources. "Rather than mortgaging the home or turning to others for assistance he should and could have sought a representation order, but his choice was not to do so," he said. Olding was granted legal aid about half way through the nine-week trial. Until that point, he had been funding the case personally and with financial assistance from family and friends. The court heard that his lawyers are making a similar application to recover costs. Only Jackson's case was aired today. Olding's lawyers are to consult on whether they want to make oral arguments or rely on written submissions, with his junior counsel telling the judge there was "very little to distinguish between the two applications". Judge Smyth reserved judgment and cautioned the legal teams not to expect a ruling in the near future, due to the workload otherwise facing the courts. Two other men, Blane McIlroy, 26, and Rory Harrison, 25, were also unanimously acquitted of lesser charges connected to the alleged incident at Jackson's house in June 2016. Update 9.40am: Investigations are continuing after four Irish men were arrested in Spain in connection with a 3.4m drug seizure. Cannabis herb was found concealed in lettuce pallets on a lorry bound for Ireland. Gardai are intensifying their search to try and determine Anastasia Kriegel's final movements as they continue with their murder investigation. 14-year-old Anastasia's body was found in a derelict farmhouse on the Clonee Road in Lucan on Thursday afternoon. Gardai began treating her death as murder after a post-mortem was carried out by the State Pathologist Marie Cassidy in the early hours of Friday morning. Results are expected later today. It has been reported that Ms Kriegel was the victim of a violent assualt. State Pathologist, Dr. Marie Cassidy at the scene at a derelict house and farmyard on the Clonee Road, Lucan. The teenager had been missing from her home in nearby Leixlip on Monday, her family reported her missing at around 8pm that evening. She was last seen at St Catherine's Park outside Lucan at around 5.30pm on Monday - around a kilometre from the farmhouse where her body was found three days later. Gardai are now focusing on who Ana was with and how she made her way from the park to the unused buildings. There are a number of routes from the park to the derelict farmhouse and invesitgators are trying to figure out what route Ana took. The derelict house and farmyard on the Clonee Road, Lucan where the body of a female was found this afternoon. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. A family friend has said it would be completely out of character for Ana not to be in contact with her family. Speaking to KFM, local TD and family friend Catherine Murphy says her parents knew something was wrong when she went missing on Monday evening. She said: She was a permanent communicator and they knew very early this was out of character for her. "I think people are afraid and until this is resolved they will continue to feel that. "This is just such an unusual crime, it is very hard to process it and the community are feeling that." Gardai at the scene at a derelict house and farmyard on the Clonee Road, Lucan. Her school Confey Community College released a statement saying it is a terrible tragedy for the Kriegel family, their school and community. It also says they are deeply saddened by Anastasia's death and their thoughts are with the Kriegel family and friends. The school issued a letter to parents and an advice sheet for students on how to cope when something terrible happens. Ana was also a member of local dance group Dance LA who have also expressed their sadness at the news of Ana's death on Facebook. An appeal has been made for anyone with any information to come forward. Gardai want to hear from anyone who was in St. Catherine's Park or the Clonee road area on Monday evening and are also appealing for anyone with dashcam footage to come forward. Superintendent John Gordon from Lucan Garda Station is leading the investigation, he says every support is being given to Ana's family, who are "extremely distressed." He said: As you can imagine at this time they are receiving a lot of support from An Garda Siochana but they are extremely distressed and they are also looking for the public's assistance and privacy as well. "They have another child in that house so they need to be careful around that." Garda forensic team at the scene outside a deserted building in Lucan. He said the body was found as part of a gardai search for Anastasia. Gardai had been searching the 200-acre St Catherine's Park since the teenager went missing. They found her body in a disused farmhouse on the Clonee Road at about 1pm on Thursday. The scene at Clonee Road remains sealed off as the Garda's technical examination continues. Gardai at the scene at a derelict house and farmyard on the Clonee Road, Lucan. - Digital Desk Gardai are asking for help to find a 14-year-old boy missing from Dublin. Jamie Walsh has not been seen since last Saturday night at around 11pm in Tallaght. The ISPCC is urging the public to support its annual fundraising day, Childline Change, today. Its 24-hour listening service answers over 380,000 contacts from children and young people across Ireland every year. The service costs 3.5 million to run every year and relies on public and corporate support for over 90% of this funding. There will be collection points all over Ireland today and people can also donate via the website ISPCC.ie, by text or through Elverys stores. Jill Waters, Director of Fundraising with the ISPCC says this year is a very exciting year for the company. She said: "We are transforming our services to online so we are investing a huge amount of money to be able to provide our services where children are actually at. "They are communicating on their devices so by the end of the year we will have a new website." - Digital Desk Update 11.55am: The Chairman of Independent News & Media says the board is "horrified" at the prospect of an alleged data breach at the company. Murdoch McLennan told shareholders at its AGM today that it would be entirely deplorable if third parties had accessed data for an "improper purpose". INM is opposing a move by the Director of Corporate Enforcement to appoint inspectors to investigate how the company is run and the High Court has yet to make a decision on the matter. John Flynn is a shareholder from Cork and thinks the company can bounce back from the current controversy. "I think there's a mass hysteria at the moment about this business of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and all this about the data protection," he said. We're gone over the top, we're gone from one extreme to the other. Lets have a bit of basic common sense and stop behaving like children. Earlier: Independent News and Media holding AGM in Dublin today Update 7.43am: Independent News and Media holds its Annual General Meeting in Dublin today. It is the company's first AGM since the start of its legal battle to prevent corporate watchdog the ODCE examining its affairs. The ODCE wants to appoint inspectors with powers to investigate corporate governance, and an alleged data breach at the company. Today's meeting is likely to hear questions from shareholders about the financial impact the controversy is having on the media group. - Digital Desk By David Raleigh A Co Limerick community is "numb and deeply saddened" at the sudden death of a teenage girl from the area. 18-year-old Jessica Sheedy, from Caherguillamore, Bruff, Co Limerick, attended University Hospital Limerick (UHL) for a planned operation, last Friday. However, Ms Sheedy (18), sadly passed away later, sources said. When asked for comment, a spokesman on behalf of the hospital stated: UL Hospitals Group wishes to express its deepest sympathies with Jessicas family. We will be dealing with the family directly on these matters and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time. The hospital did not respond to questions as to whether it had launched an investigation. Ms Sheedy was laid to rest last Tuesday, in Dromin, located outside the village of Bruff. She is survived by her heartbroken parents James and Ann, brother Adam, relatives and friends and a large circles of friends, her obituary stated. According to her death notice, published online, Ms Sheedy passed away so unexpectedly. The local community was also in deep shock. Sources at UHL also described their upset at hearing about the teenagers sudden passing. Extending his sympathies to the family, local Fianna Fail councillor Bill ODonnell said: There is a lot of shock in the community the community is absolutely numb. People are absolutely numb and deeply saddened. The community is reeling. Everyone you bump into the street is the same. The community is very close, it is a tight little community around here, he told the Limerick Leader. I went to school with Jimmy and his brother in Athlacca. They are very well known and very nice people, lovely people a lovely family. Everyone is just shocked. They are absolutely lovely people, a lovely family, lovely neighbours, he added. Ms Sheedys family asked the media to respect its privacy. A member of the family said Friday that they did not wish to comment. Britain's Prince of Wales is to step in for the father of the bride and walk Meghan Markle down the aisle. Kensington Palace announced that Charles would give his soon-to-be daughter-in-law away when she marries Prince Harry on Saturday in the historic surroundings of St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle. The palace said the American former actress had asked her future father-in-law to accompany her as she makes her way to the altar. In statement, Kensington Palace said: Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St Georges Chapel on her Wedding Day. The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to The Royal Family in this way. An update on the #RoyalWedding: pic.twitter.com/wfJ6ZFyzHi The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 18, 2018 Meghans father Thomas Markle was forced to pull out of performing the fatherly duty after undergoing heart surgery in a dramatic upset just two days before the wedding. The stars mother Doria Ragland had been tipped to perform the role. But unlike Ms Ragland, Harrys father is vastly experienced at appearing at large-scale public events amid intense scrutiny. He also performed the duty for Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of his close friend, Lord Brabourne, in 2016. It is understood that Harry was involved in discussions with his fiancee about who should take on the important role on the big day. - Press Association A "severe" flu season in the northern hemisphere and better than expected sales of plasma products has helped CSL lift its full-year profit guidance for a second time this year, sending its market capitalisation to almost $83 billion. CSL, which creates vaccines and other products to prevent and treat life-threatening illnesses, said it now expected net profit after tax for fiscal 2018 in the range of about $US1.68 billion to $US1.71 billion, up from $US1.55 billion to $US1.60 billion flagged in February. CSL now expects net profit after tax for fiscal 2018 in the range of about $1.68 billion to $1.71 billion. Credit:Jesse Marlow Shares in Australia's largest biotechnology company closed 4.13 per cent higher on Friday at $182.95. The increase in market capitalisation to $82.77 billion moved CSL into fourth spot on the ASX 200, ahead of banking giant ANZ at $81.66 billion. CSL chief executive Paul Perreault said the improved outlook was underpinned by a "confluence of positive outcomes". "Of particular note has been a positive product and geographic sales mix shift, particularly with better than expected sales of Idelvion and Haegarda," he said. The proposed $32 billion takeover of Frank Lowy's Westfield empire moved a step closer with investors in the European group Unibail-Rodamco giving the green light to its directors to proceed with the offer. Unibail-Rodamco is the largest mall owner in Europe and wants to buy Westfield for its assets in London and North America. The malls would continue to operate under the Westfield name. Investors will vote on the proposed takeover and OneMarket demerger on May 24, prior to the Westfield annual general meeting, at Sydney Town Hall. The cash and scrip offer values Westfield shares at about $10.01 and despite the price equivalent, accounting for exchange rate fluctuations, is at a discount, it is expected the vote will be for the affirmative. Filmmaker James Cameron's reputation as a cantankerous, demanding egoist precedes him: along with the stories about shouting at actors and crew on his feature films and keeping them in freezing water tanks for hours, there's the one about the time he threatened to nail a mobile phone to the wall of the Avatar set with a nail gun to make a point about how he didn't want the ringing to interrupt filming. So it is somewhat surprising to encounter this tall, lanky, amiable man, neatly dressed in a blue button-down shirt and black jeans, relaxed and ready to be posed by a crew of photographers. They instruct him to fold his arms; he complies, arranging a stern look to go with the gesture. "I charge by the smile," he says with a wry grin. "But scowls are free." Cameron has taken time out of his Saturday morning editing schedule to discuss his career as a deep-sea explorer and documentarian, the subject of a new exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Fans can see the scale model of the wreck used to plan the dive to the Titanic, the stunning gown Kate Winslet wore as she sank into the sea, and the high tech diving helmets, designed by Cameron, that allowed the actors in The Abyss to be filmed underwater, their faces lit with a ghostly glow. There are scale models and full prototypes of parts of the Deep Sea Challenger, the self-engineered submersible in which Cameron made his record-breaking 2012 dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, nearly 11,000 metres down. The sub was built in Sydney, and Cameron fondly recalls putting it together at a small workshop in Leichhardt, sandwiched between a plumbing supply store and plywood cutting company, occasionally fending off passersby curious about the strange objects under construction inside. James Cameron says making films is his "day job" which is there to support the work he cares most about, undersea exploration. Credit:Australian National Maritime Museum It is true that he has mellowed over the years, Cameron agrees. "But don't tell anybody. That reputation was hard-earned." The reputation was fun, he says, and became its own story. "I can still be exacting," he says. But he yells at underlings less now, and credits this to his deep sea expeditions, where the crew bonded so intensely over their shared purpose; he learned to adjust what he calls his "pretty incisive analytical process" basically, trying to figure out why something went wrong. "It could sometimes be interpreted as blaming," he says with mock-innocence. "Especially when I say [shouting] "Stupid mother f-----, why did you do that?!" He smiles and shrugs. "So I don't do that any more, right?" We are sitting in the screening room at Cameron's Los Angeles studios, a cinema lined with purple velvet couches and banks of desks filled with 3-D glasses, computers and editing equipment. The giant screen shows his bright green submarine surfacing with a splash in front of a huge red ship. This is where he views the "dailies" from the Avatar sequel he is currently shooting: the "day job," as he calls it. Both men are described as being in their 20s and about 175cm tall. Credit:ACT Policing Canberra police have appealed for witnesses after two men stole cash from the Narrabundah newsagency in an aggravated robbery on Monday. Police said two men armed with weapons entered the store about 12.50pm and demanded cash, before stealing two tills with money inside. No one was injured. The men fled and were last seen in a green Nissan Pathfinder with registration YLF66Q on Kootara Crescent. The men are described as being in their 20s and about 175cm tall. They were wearing all-black clothing and their faces were covered. Police believe one of the men is Caucasian in appearance. The incredibly beautiful confections are a link to history; to the mores of another time, to an elite strata of society. Official portrait of Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco wearing Cartier jewellery 1959, G. Lukomski "We forget that a lady of any substance or who had any pretensions in society, right through the 19th century, up until the Second World War, if they went to a grand dinner, went to the opera, if you were invited to a royal occasion, a woman had to wear a tiara. A woman had to have one. It was part of the kit,'' Mr Vaughan said. Five pieces of jewellery are from the Queen's personal collection, the gallery starting discussions with the head of the royal collection more than two years ago. Mr Vaughan met with the keeper of the royal collection at St James' Palace in London to negotiate the loan of the stunning jewels. The Halo tiara, for a start, features a room-shining 933 diamonds, first commissioned from Cartier by the then Duke of York for his wife, the Duchess of York, later better known as the Queen Mother, who later gave it to her daughter Elizabeth. Cartier London Halo tiara 1936, platinum, diamonds, 3 x 18 cm, lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Collection Trust/All Rights Reserve "The Queen has never loaned a group of her jewels like this before,'' Mr Vaughan said. "It really makes the show very special, which is why it's getting international attention because this is a remarkable thing. "I mean, we're part of the Commonwealth, and, of course, this building was opened by the Queen in 1982. So I think that when we went and had our first discussions with the royal collection, there was an awareness that there's a relationship with Australia's National Gallery. "As they indicated then, they had to work out what the Queen might or might not need to wear during the period of this [exhibition] but they would hope and expect it would be possible for us to borrow from the royal collection, which is really amazing.'' One of the most colourful tiaras in the exhibition is a riot of rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds once owned by one-time American heiress Edwina Mountbatten, wife of Louis Mountbatten, the uncle of Prince Phillip and the supposed inspiration for the name of the new baby, Prince Louis. Cartier London Tutti Frutti bandeau 1928, platinum, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, lent through the generosity of William and Judith, and Douglas and James Bollinger, on longterm loan to Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Photo: Victoria and Albert Museum, London The 1928 tiara is of the times, in a bandeau style to suit the shorter hair of the flapper period, but also reflecting the Cartier brothers' push into India. It can also break into two bracelets, reflecting the engineering prowess of the jewellery as much as its inherent beauty. "One of the features of all Cartier jewels is all the parts move. So when the wearer moves, the jewellery moves with the wearer,'' Mr Vaughan said. His favourite tiara in the exhibition is one once owned by Princess Marie Louise, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, in the 1930s. Cartier Paris Gloucester Indian tiara c190621, platinum, diamonds, sapphires, pearls, Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Glouceste "It's very, very glamorous,'' he said. "What I like about it is that it has a very different shape to most and a slightly exotic, Eastern feel. And there's a bit of debate about it: 'Is it because the Cartier brothers in designing this were thinking a little bit about India or maybe Byzantium?'.'' And there is an Australian - in fact, Canberra - connection to the stunning headpiece. Princess Marie Louise in 1956 upon her death bequeathed the tiara to her royal cousins Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke being the the 11th Governor-General of Australia, in the 1940s. "So the family lived here in Canberra,'' Mr Vaughan said. "And this [tiara] has never been lent before. Ever.'' Tiaras en masse at a 1964 opening of Parliament. The importance of personal connections to securing pieces for the exhibition is never more evident than in this tiara. Mr Vaughan knew the current Duke of Gloucester from his time in London as director of the British Museum Development Trust. Amazingly, they also had a personal connection, in that Vaughan was born in Devonport, Tasmania, the same town the Duke of Gloucester used to take his family for summer holidays during his tenure as Governor-General. So the negotiations for the loan of the tiara became that little bit easier. "We got in touch and we said, 'We know you don't lend this, but this is for Canberra. You spent part of your childhood in Canberra and it would be fantastic to have that link to the family','' Mr Vaughan said. "And the Duke and Duchess came straight back and said, 'It would be great, we'd love to lend'. It is very special.'' Also in the exhibition is a tiara worn at the 1902 coronation of Edward VII, the Queen's great-grandfather, a piece reflecting Cartier's desire to "create fashion, not follow it''. "This is what I call the transitional style. It's very, very different to a classic tiara of the late 19th century,'' he said. Cartier Paris Scroll tiara 1902, special order, silver, gold, diamonds, 8.1 cm (height at centre), Photo: Nils Herrmann, Cartier Collection, Cartier "What is different and special about the Cartier style is that you can hardly see what these jewels are hanging on, which is a very thin band of platinum. "Until then, everyone would make frames for tiaras out of silver or gold. But to take all that weight, the bands of silver and gold had to be quite thick. Platinum is really, really hard so you can have a thin band of platinum and the frame disappears. "The whole point of the Cartier style in the 20th century, at least until the Second World War, is to be streamlined. And this is the beginning of this new style they're developing. "By having a very thin band, light, when it hits it, goes right through the tiara and illuminates every facet of the diamond. So a Cartier tiara will be many times more shiny and sparkling than a more old-fashioned one where a thick band of gold or silver stops the light from shining through.'' The evolution of the Cartier tiara even reflected the advent of one of the great developments in the modern world, the advent of electricity. "Through the 1890s and into the 1900s, the great interiors of London houses and Parisian salons were being electrified,'' Mr Vaughan said. "Now, old-fashioned tiaras with these thick gold and silver bands were terrible under electric light. Cartier designed their tiaras for the new electric light to go right through them and illuminate all around. "In 1910, if you walked into a room, a great gathering of European royalty and aristocracy, and all the women were wearing tiaras, you would instantly know who'd been to Cartier and who hadn't, who'd dusted down their grandmother's tiara from long ago. "It was absolutely a hallmark of being up-to-date and stylish.'' Cartier London Tiara 1937, platinum, diamonds, aquamarines, 5 cm (height at centre), Photo: Vincent Wulveryck, Cartier Collection, Cartier Coronations were big business of Cartier. The 1937 coronation of George VI, saw the London jewellery house commissioned to make 27 new tiaras for the event. They asked if the tiaras could be exhibited at their Bond Street headquarters. "And the whole of London came,'' Mr Vaughan said. Prince Albert of Monaco also agreed to have some of his mother's jewels be part of the exhibition, including a tiara once worn by Princess Grace of Monaco, which can also, ingeniously can be broken up and worn as three brooches. Cartier Paris Tiara 1949, special order, platinum, white gold, diamonds, pearls, 18 x 4.5 cm, Photo: Agence Realis, Princely Palace of Monaco "People have been incredibly generous,'' Mr Vaughan said. "We were really surprised, to be frank. We asked for far more things than we ever believed we would ever be allowed to borrow.'' The tiaras were worn by fascinating people. Princess Marie Bonaparte wearing her laurel leaf tiara, 1930 Another stunning tiara was once owned by Princess Marie Bonaparte, a great-great niece of the Emperor Napoleon. "She was a very interesting person. An author and psychoanalyst who was a friend of Freud,'' Mr Vaughan said. The sheer brilliance, and assumed price tags, of the jewels is almost overwhelming. The royal family of Qatar have loaned a tiara - and, almost as an aside, one of the largest sapphire in the world, weighing in at 478 carats and once owned by Queen Marie of Romania, another grand-daughter of Queen Victoria. Items loaned by the royal family of Qatar including a tiara and one of the world's largest sapphires. The value of the tiaras, like all the items in the 300-piece exhibition, remains top-secret. Even the original prices are never revealed, part of the Cartier promise of life-time privacy. Needless to say, Mr Vaughan says "this is the strictest security we've ever had for any exhibition''. And while no one can touch the jewels, you can take a selfie with them as they sparkle behind the glass and at least pretend to be a princess for a day. Relatives of a NSW teacher who was raped and murdered by a school cleaner before her body was dumped in a national park are suing the state government. Stephanie Scott, 26, was killed at Leeton High School in the Riverina by Vincent Stanford on Easter Sunday, 2015. The NSW Department of Education was not made aware of the claims filed in the state's District Court before proceedings commenced this week, AAP understands. A department spokesman declined to comment in detail, citing the current legal action. A man is being questioned as a woman fights for her life after being hit by a truck that a witness said was running a red light in Sydney's west on Thursday night. The truck failed to stop. The woman was crossing Woodville Road at the intersection of Tangerine Street in Villawood about 9.35pm when the collision occurred. Initial investigations by police suggest the 20-year-old woman was crossing at the lights on a green pedestrian signal. A gastro outbreak has left students and teachers from a Brisbane private school in hospital and forced the college to close. Queensland Health is trying to track down the source of the gastroenteritis outbreak, with students and teachers from Mt Maria College falling ill after an excursion to state Parliament and the law courts in Brisbane's CBD. Principal Glenn McConville said the school would be closed on Friday, as cleaners disinfect common areas. He hopes students will be back in class on Monday. He said two year 10 classes went on a day trip to Parliament House and the courts on Tuesday, and by Wednesday about 15 students and two teachers were ill, with some winding up in hospital. "We found out late on Wednesday that four or five students who went on that excursion had gone to hospital for some sort of gastro infection. They were really, really sick," he told ABC radio. Queensland's artistic leaders have been left "disappointed" by the federal budget and fear the state's small, medium and independent art organisations will be "starved" of funding. They believe there is a "massive opportunity" for Queensland to become the nation's arts and culture destination, but ambitions have been let down by a lack of additional funding to the Australia Council, which distributes federal money to artists across the nation. Brisbane Powerhouse stages Brisbane Comedy Festival. However, Arts Minister Mitch Fifield has fired back saying funding for the Australia Council has been higher on average than under the Labor government. Senator Fifield also said an increased tax rebate from 16.5 to 30 per cent, should attract more big-budget international movies and "turbo-charge" Queensland's film industry. Improved communication around prisoner mental health would likely not have impacted the treatment of an Ipswich magician imprisoned on child sex charges before his suicide in 2015, a coroners investigation has found. Queensland coroner Terry Ryan released his report on Wednesday into the suicide of 41-year-old Franky Houdini at Wolston Correctional Centre. Franky Houdini, pictured in 2003, died in his cell in 2016. Credit:Graham Tidy Mr Ryan found policies managing prisoner mental health information were sound, despite contextual information about Mr Houdinis mental health condition not being shared between Queensland Corrective Services and the Prison Mental Health Service. Known through Ipswich as a magician and escapologist, Mr Houdini, whose original name was Frank Kunde before it was changed legally, was sentenced to six years imprisonment on a number of child sex and child pornography charges in November 2010. Are you the lucky owner of two strips of land next to Melbourne Airport? If so, you might be about to come into a significant inheritance, a legal expert says. One of the farm tracks near Melbourne Airport. Credit:Google The airport wants to expand into adjoining farmland to build a new runway to cater for growing passenger numbers, but has hit a hurdle over the ownership of two slender parcels of land. The land has no apparent owner and may not have had one for almost 150 years. Brownes was sold to a Chinese dairy company in November 2017. Brownes Dairy has found its prince in Chinese dairy giant Shanghai Ground Food Tech, according to managing director and chief executive Tony Girgis. Shanghai Ground purchased the WA dairy company in November 2017 in an effort to increase liquid milk and cheese exports to China. Brownes had been up for sale from December 2016 and they had to meet a lot of potential buyers before they accepted Shanghai Grounds offer, Mr Girgis told attendees at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia's the china connection event on Thursday. The company is now planning a $10 million investment in the non-operational Brunswick cheese factory in WA's south west to produce 6000 tonnes annually most of which will head to China. In the long-standing conflict of man versus seagull, one West Australian restaurant has armed its patrons with water pistols to battle for the last chip on the plate. 3Sheets restaurant at the coastal Perth tourist spot Hillary's Boat Harbour had lived in harmony with the sea birds until a few weeks ago when they suddenly turned "vicious". The great battle: man vs seagull. Credit:Jim Rice Owner Toby Evans said seagulls were a fact of life when serving food by the ocean. "They used to sort of sit there and wait for diners to leave and then we'd clear up the plates really fast. But for the last two weeks they've been really bad," Mr Evans said. Dairy farmer Simon Gleeson remembers the non-stop "noise pollution" the onshore gas well generated an industrial rumble that was audible from inside his house 24 hours a day. There were truck movements on his property at daytime, loud crashes of machinery and a tall tower that stood out in the skyline where the well had been drilled just 400 metres from his home. Farmer Simon Gleeson said he would be open to gas exploration on his land. Credit:Rob Gunstone, Warrnambool Standard But Mr Gleeson said he wouldnt hesitate to say yes if someone came knocking on his front door again tomorrow asking to search for gas on his farmland. No one wants a hole drilled in their farm but were not the type of people that say not in our backyard either; energy has got to come from somewhere, Mr Gleeson said. Beijing: A Chinese school has installed facial recognition technology to monitor how attentive students are in class. Every movement of pupils at Hangzhou Number 11 High School in eastern China is watched by three cameras positioned above the blackboard. A man watches as a visitor tries out a facial recognition display at a booth for Chinese tech firm Ping'an Technology at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing. Credit:AP The "smart classroom behaviour management system," or "smart eye", is the latest surveillance equipment to be rolled out in China, where leaders have rushed to use technology to monitor the wider population. The system had been installed in one classroom, but would be deployed across the school by the summer, said the headmaster, Ni Ziyuan. Some students are already changing their behaviour due to the increased monitoring. Kensington Palace had published the full 22-page Order of Service for the wedding, so that viewers at home could download it and follow proceedings. Skipping straight to the good bit: the vows. The cover of the Order of Service for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Credit:Windsor Castle As expected, feminist Meghan wasnt going to promise to obey her husband, even though hes a prince. The archbishop of Canterbury asked Meghan, will you take Harry to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honour and protect him, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live? I will, she replied. Harry made the same vow. Loading The program was produced and printed before it became clear that Meghans father would be unable to attend the wedding on medical advice so he was named as leading his daughter to the High Altar but Prince of Wales took his place. But lets back up. According to the palace Harry and Meghan took a great deal of care in selecting all elements for their service in a collaborative effort with others. From an hour-and-a-half before the service began, guests seated in the chapel were treated to a performance of British classics Prince Charles advised the couple on their choice, according to the palace. The first half was organ music, then the orchestra played Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves and Elgars Serenade for Strings: all nicely patriotic choices. Then at midday: a fanfare, and the bride appeared. Alone. She made her way down through the nave of the chapel to the entrance to the quire under the organ, where the Prince of Wales accompanied her the rest of the way to the altar where, as the program put it, the bridegroom and his best man await. Prince Harry was his brother's best man and Prince William returned the favour. Credit:AP Then there was a brief sting of Handels Eternal Source of Light Divine, composed for the birthday of Queen Anne, and David Conner, the Dean of Windsor, to get proceedings started with an address from the Church of Englands Common Worship. After a hymn, vows and prayers, Lady Jane Fellowes Harrys mothers older sister read from the Song of Solomon, in a reading that will resonate. She was there to represent the lost Diana, and many will have been reminded of her while Fellowes spoke. Arise my love, my fair one, and come away: for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, passion as fierce as the grave. Princess Diana and Harry. Credit:Kensington Palace There were tears. The program didn't say what Bishop Michael Curry from the Episcopal Church in Chicago would say in his address, but it was a powerful statement on love. It seems likely he ran it past the Archbishop of Canterbury when they met on Friday (the Archbishop tweeted a photo of the pair sitting on a bench and laughing, with the comment with my brother PB Curry getting ready for the royal wedding tomorrow!) And then Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir sang Stand By Me. Next, the vows: for richer, for poorer (we hope you kept a straight face here), the rings and the proclamation, the blessing, prayers, another hymn (Guide me O thou great Redeemer), the signing of the registers, the national anthem, and then the bride and groom headed out of the chapel down the aisle as husband and wife, to the sound of Etta James. Prince Harry greets crowds in Windsor on Friday. Credit:AP Oh, and one more thing. The back page of the booklet was blank except for a St Georges Cross encircled by a belt: the symbol of the Order of the Garter. Several explosives were found at the high school and in nearby areas including three crude pipe bombs, a carbon dioxide device and a Molotov cocktail. Dimitrios Pagourtzis. Credit:Galveston County Sheriff's Office Abbott said other devices were found in a home and a vehicle connected to the suspect. He said authorities recovered a journal with a note that said "not only that he wanted to commit the shooting but that he wanted to commit suicide afterwards". He said two weapons were used - a shotgun and a .38 revolver - and both belonged to the suspect's father. It's not clear if the father was aware that his son had take the guns. A student, Angelica Martinez, said she heard a fire alarm go off and, about two minutes after students began evacuating, she heard gunshots. "[Some students] were, like, 'run, run, there's gunshots!' Nobody believed them until the gunshots got closer and then we all started running," she told MSNBC. "Everybody ran to the nearest gas station and waited for their parents there." Authorities found explosives on and off the campus at Santa Fe. Credit:AP Her mother, Angie Martinez, told MSNBC that he daughter called her during the fire alarm as the chaos broke out. "I said, 'calm down', I said, 'find a hiding place'. She told me they were outdoors and a lot of students were running. I said, 'well, run to the bushes'. I said, 'don't get off the phone'." Courtney Marshall, a 15-year-old freshman at the school, said the gunman came into her art class shooting. "I wanted to take care of my friends, but I knew I had to get out of there," Marshall told Reuters, saying that she saw at least one person hit. "I knew the guy behind me was dead." Parents and students embrace outside a gym where students had waited to be reunited with their families. Credit:Houston Chronicle Student Dakota Shrader said she initially thought it was a regular fire drill until she heard three shots and the sound of an explosion. "All these teachers were telling us to run, run, go, go," she said, through tears. "This is a place where we're supposed to feel safe, nobody should have to go through this, nobody should have to feel that pain." Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother. Credit:AP Abbott said that, unlike many of the mass shootings that have ravaged the United States recently including a shooting at a Florida high school three months ago, there were no warnings signs or "red flags" relating to Pagourtzis. The "Born To Kill" t-shirt "may be the only... warning sign," he said. "Here the red flag warnings were either non-existent or very imperceptible," he said. "As far as investigations by law enforcement agencies, as far as having a criminal history, he has none. His slate is pretty clean." He said that an officer confronted the shooter and took him into custody. Three people were transported to University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston: the school guard, John Barnes, was in a critical condition with gunshot injuries to his upper arms, one woman was in a good condition with a gunshot wound to the leg and one male student was in a good condition with a gunshot wound to the leg. Speaking at an event at the White House, US President Donald Trump said the country was dealing with "sadness and heartbreak". "This has been going on too long in our country, too many years, too many decades now," he said. "We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. We're with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever." He said his administration "is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others". The latest such incident at a US school underscored a national debate over gun control and gun rights that has intensified after a student killed 17 students and staff on February 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Latest News Two in three SMEs are seeking new funding methods to cope with pandemic CEO reminds SMEs that retained profits and personal credit cards arent sustainable funding Pepper and Aussie unite to make play for mortgage brokers to shift over to SME Linkup between lending and mortgage giants shows why brokers should be diversifying their business Nathaniel Nhan Truong, director of The Lounge Lounge, recalls how he helped make the Australian dream come true for two non-resident business owners who wanted to buy their Sydney premises THE SCENARIO Many of Australias foreign residents want to take advantage of the booming economy and property markets, but it isnt always easy. Not only is it more expensive, these buyers require approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, depending on their circumstances. Often the loans require bespoke terms and conditions, and some major banks have stopped accepting residential mortgage applications from non-residents altogether. Despite the challenges, its far from impossible, so when a solicitor referred a self-employed couple to Loan Lounge we were hopeful a workable solution could be found. The couple were in their early 30s and had already placed a 10% deposit for a commercial property in Chatswood, Sydney valued at $555,000 with settlement due in a years time. They both had visas with three and a half years remaining, and while the income wasnt strong on face value, the business had gained significant traction and was already operating from the premises they wanted to buy. They had tried to secure finance with multiple providers receiving the approval each time only to discover on settlement the lender would not be able to deliver. The client had faced this blow time and time again, and the stress levels had increased considerably; already limited by their visa and employment status, their narrow choice of products was decreasing further. As all this was against the would-be borrowers, the vendor was pressuring them to pull out so they could get a better deal as the markets swayed upwards, potentially threatening the future of the business. THE SOLUTION To overcome the limitations in the criteria, we had to think outside of the box and draw on our commercial experience. We started by understanding the clients position and the applications she had placed with various lenders before this point. At this time, it emerged they had become so exhausted by the lack of options, they were about to pay a private lender $20,000 upfront to get a deal approved and over the line, with ongoing costs of 2.5% interest per month. I still remember being on the phone with the client when she was at the branch and about to make the transfer. It was at this point to really gain her trust and give her confidence that we could get the deal done. To overcome the limitations in the criteria, we had to think outside of the box and draw on our commercial experience. We found out that the deal had been submitted to ANZ Business Banking using payslips instead of the company financials. We were able to make the deal work under the full document policy using the rental addbacks. Because the couple were purchasing an owner-occupied property for their business premises, they were no longer paying rent. Therefore, that money could be taken out of their ongoing expenses and considered as income, further boosting their serviceability. We also structured the loan over three years to give the bank comfort around the visa situation and ensure the loan would be paid off regardless of the visa's renewal. THE TAKEAWAY The first step to understanding and knowing the client is the most crucial in the loan process. We took time to understand the clients position and understand if previous applications were made and how they were made. The details and near deals that emerged during this process gave us greater insight in preparing the right proposal. The clients had faced a series of setbacks, despite their growing business and were about to agree to a deal with terms that would not have been in their best interest. Throughout the negotiation of the loan, we had to be mindful of their visa situation and how the loan had to be renegotiated over the next three years to take into account their permanent residency or risk a sale down the track. Fortunately, we were able to provide the clients an approval in a timely manner and not only reduce their upfront costs but provide an affordable loan over the next three years. Today, the clients own their own business premises and have permanent residency. They were very happy with the outcome and they have become clients for life. We are currently looking after their first land and house package and renegotiating the commercial loan over a 15-year term. We are very pleased with the outcome as there was a clear benefit for all parties. Nathaniel Nhan Truong Director, The Loan Loungegive Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Hundreds of Brooklynites waived Palestinian flags and held signs reading right to return and other slogans at a pro-Palestinian protest in Bay Ridge on Monday hours after the United States opened its embassy in Jerusalem, and Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinian demonstrators at the border with Gaza. One of the protests organizers said the neighborhoods large Palestinian community welcomed the display of solidarity. A lot of people poured into the protest walking out of restaurants, said Nerdeen Kiswani. Seeing people who felt the same sentiments was amazing. The protest commemorated the Nakba Arabic for catastrophe which is how Palestinians refer to their displacement following the creation of Israel 70 years ago this week, and the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflicts. Israelis celebrate their independence on May 14, while Palestinians typically mark the day with protests. Mondays demonstration on the corner of 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue was particularly charged after developments in Israel earlier that day. As the United States opened its embassy to Israel in a disputed Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 60 Palestinian protesters, mostly by gunfire, who were marching on the fence separating the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel. Some threw stones and tried to break through the barrier, according to Agence France-Presse. The images of Trump administration officials celebrating the embassys opening in Jerusalem while the violence raged on in Gaza angered many at the Ridge protest. Ivanka and Jared were sipping champagne, and Jared was talking about peace while they were massacring people, said Kiswani, who grew up in Bay Ridge. Several pro-Palestinian groups organized the protest, including Within our Lifetime United for Palestine, which Kiswani cofounded. Around 300 attended, among them Bay Ridgites, activists, and even some Jewish groups, including Neturei Karta, a movement of Orthodox Jews who oppose the founding of Israel on religious grounds. Palestinian activism is not new to Bay Ridge. Several of the countrys most notable activists are from the neighborhood, including Linda Sarsour, former head of the Ridge-based Arab American Association of New York. Displays of solidarity with the Palestinians are the norm there, said Kiswani. Bay Ridge is a stronghold of Palestinian identity, he said. Its expressed in Bay Ridge much more than other places. One Borough Park protest attendee from the Workers World Party, a Marxist-Leninist group that supports the liberation of Palestine, said she feels support for the Palestinian issue is gaining momentum in the borough and around the country, especially after May 14. Even pro-Israel groups had no choice but to speak out, said Kayla Popuchet. People are learning more about Palestinian history. Reach reporter Adam Lucente at aluce nte@c ngloc al.com or by calling (718) 2602511. Follow him on Twitter @Adam_Lucente. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC This Memorial Day in Bay Ridge, theyll strike up the bands all 18 of them. The 151st annual Kings County Memorial Day Parade the oldest continuous large city Memorial Day march in the U.S. is set to step off Monday, May 28, at 11 am from 78th Street and Third Ave. Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen, Jr., Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, will serve as Grand Marshal for the 2018 parade, and hell be joined by deputy parade marshals George Broadhead, a retired Marine, and Army veteran Thomas Trombone both of whom served in the Korean War and Army Vietnam veteran Barry Berger. The Deputy Grand Marshals are three veterans who have championed Brooklyn veterans issues and have supported the parade for many years, said Raymond Aalbue, a U.S. Air Force veteran and executive director of the parade committee. Broadhead was wounded in the final battle before the truce in Korea and was awarded the Silver Star medal for gallantry and the Purple Heart for his actions. The United Military Veterans of Kings County, the parade organizers, are touting this years event as the most elaborate ever, with 18 bands participating, including the West Point Marching Band, the Trailblazers Band from Gardner-Edgerton High School in Gardner, Kans., the Fort Hamilton High School Marching Band. The Army Junior ROTC Battalion, the Boy and Girl Scouts and several local labor unions will be represented in the line of march, along with many civic organizations, the NYPD and the FDNY. Seven floats, led by one featuring the Military Order of the Purple Heart and another staffed by members of the Hope for Warriors wounded veterans group, will also travel the route, as will vehicles for those veterans who are not able to march. From its starting point, the parade which dates back to 1867 when Brooklyn was an independent city and the third largest in the nation will move along Third Avenue to Marine Avenue, then over to Fourth Avenue before ending in John Paul Jones Park at 101st Street, near the main entrance to the Fort Hamilton Army Base, where a posst-parade memorial service will be held. The memorial service will includes bag pipe-playing, the laying of wreaths by Brooklyns veteran service organizations, the raising of Old Glory, a 21-gun salute by the Veteran Corps of Artillery New York States oldest military unit, dating back to the Revolutionary War dressed in 1812-era uniforms, and the playing of taps by two Fort Hamilton High School Marching Regiment students. It is an emotional ceremony, one that drives home the solemnity of the day, said parade vice president Connie Ranocchia. All we ask people to do is to take some time out of their day to remember the terrible price so many Americans had to pay for our freedom. And we must remember their families. We hope theres a big turnout along the route and everyone joins us in Cannonball Park for our memorial service. Its really impressive. The 151st annual Kings County Memorial Day Parade will step off from 78th Street and Third Avenue in Bay Ridge at 11 am Monday, May 28, 2018. Reach James Harney at (718) 260-2529 or e-mail him at jharn ey@cn gloca l.com . Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC The citys head advocate officially wants to be the states top attorney. Public Advocate Tish James, a Brooklynite and lawyer who formerly represented Fort Greene as councilwoman, announced her campaign to become New York States next attorney general at a rally on Wednesday, less than two weeks after former top prosecutor Eric Schneiderman resigned in disgrace following accusations of sexual and physical assault by four women. James who dubbed herself The Peoples Lawyer promised to continue fighting for those vulnerable city dwellers she helped in her past and current seats amid a crowd of union reps, local pols, and other supporters who cheered her decision during the event at the Brooklyn Historical Society in Brooklyn Heights. Throughout my entire career [I was taught] that the law is the most effective tool in our quest for justice and for progress, and Ive used it in my work defending our most-vulnerable communities, James said. New Yorkers deserve an attorney general who is unwavering in her fight to uphold and defend their most basic rights, and I promise all of you, I will never, ever waver in my fight to uphold and defend your most-basic rights. Last week, James took to social media to say she removed herself from the list of candidates interested in interviewing for the job with Albany lawmakers who can appoint a successor for vacated seats such Schneidermans via a so-called back-room deal, according to a New York Times editorial, which criticized that process and demanded the Assembly let Acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood stay in the role she assumed following her former bosss resignation until voters can elect a replacement in the fall. After thoughtful and careful deliberation, I have decided not to participate in the ongoing legislative process regarding the attorney generals office, James wrote on Twitter on May 11, two days after the Times published its editorial. But days later, she formed a committee with the state Board of Elections to run the good old-fashioned way in the September Democratic primary, and launched her campaign on May 16. And James isnt the only Brooklynite vying to replace Schneiderman. Former Brooklyn Heights Councilman David Yassky who briefly eyed the neighborhoods state Senate seat that Democrat Brian Kavanagh filled last year after Daniel Squadrons abrupt resignation reportedly joined the 17-person shortlist of hopefuls who submitted resumes to the Assembly for the attorney general gig. But Yassky, who now runs Pace Universitys law school after representing the Heights in Council from 2001 to 2008, said a supporter actually submitted his resume on the former pols behalf. And although he is flattered at the prospect, he thinks Underwood should remain in the role. I didnt submit a resume, Im not seeking that appointment, and I am very much hoping the legislature designates Barbara Underwood as the interim attorney general, Yassky said. Shes ideally suited for the job, and to keep the invaluable work of that office moving forward at this moment. And if Underwood remains in the seat, she will face off against James and the other Democratic candidates vying for it in the September primary, the winner of which will then move on to compete in Novembers general election. This would-be councilman has sunnier days ahead. Bay Ridge political activist Rev. Khader El-Yateem who narrowly lost his bid for the neighborhoods Council seat to Councilman Justin Brannan in last Septembers Democratic primary is trading the County of Kings for the Sunshine State. The Arab-American faith leader is moving to Florida next week to head an outreach program similar to those he ran out of his Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in the Ridge, but said hell always have a soft spot for the Brooklynites hes leaving behind. Its bittersweet, but its a really great opportunity to have a bigger voice with issues such as social justice and making the churches more transparent and welcome to immigrant communities, El-Yateem said. The reverend, who settled in Bay Ridge in 1995 after immigrating from the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1992, is confident hes leaving the neighborhood in good hands, he said, and proud of the community-building he and his colleagues accomplished, even if there is more to do. What I have seen over the past two years is a huge number of people becoming more involved and engaged. It gives me a lot of hope, he said. But I see that our community continues to also be fragmented, and I hope the people here to continue to work to bridge the gap. Earlier this month, El-Yateem and a handful of other activists launched a new political club Yalla Brooklyn translated to Lets Go Brooklyn that encourages civic involvement among immigrants and refugees, and he assured that activism wont stop when he leaves the County of Kings. It is going full swing with candidate forums, political work, education, and voter registration, the reverend said. But its not goodbye forever to Bay Ridge, according to El-Yateem, who said hes keeping his house in the neighborhood and wont rule out moving back one day. You never know whats going to happen down the road I have deep roots here in Brooklyn, Im sure one day I will come back, he said. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC This would-be councilman has sunnier days ahead. Bay Ridge political activist Rev. Khader El-Yateem who narrowly lost his bid for the neighborhoods Council seat to Councilman Justin Brannan in last Septembers Democratic primary is trading the County of Kings for the Sunshine State. The Arab-American faith leader is moving to Florida next week to head an outreach program similar to those he ran out of his Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in the Ridge, but said hell always have a soft spot for the Brooklynites hes leaving behind. Its bittersweet, but its a really great opportunity to have a bigger voice with issues such as social justice and making the churches more transparent and welcome to immigrant communities, El-Yateem said. The reverend, who settled in Bay Ridge in 1995 after immigrating from the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1992, is confident hes leaving the neighborhood in good hands, he said, and proud of the community-building he and his colleagues accomplished, even if there is more to do. What I have seen over the past two years is a huge number of people becoming more involved and engaged. It gives me a lot of hope, he said. But I see that our community continues to also be fragmented, and I hope the people here to continue to work to bridge the gap. Earlier this month, El-Yateem and a handful of other activists launched a new political club Yalla Brooklyn translated to Lets Go Brooklyn that encourages civic involvement among immigrants and refugees, and he assured that activism wont stop when he leaves the County of Kings. It is going full swing with candidate forums, political work, education, and voter registration, the reverend said. But its not goodbye forever to Bay Ridge, according to El-Yateem, who said hes keeping his house in the neighborhood and wont rule out moving back one day. You never know whats going to happen down the road I have deep roots here in Brooklyn, Im sure one day I will come back, he said. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC The citys head advocate officially wants to be the states top attorney. Public Advocate Tish James, a Brooklynite and lawyer who formerly represented Fort Greene as councilwoman, announced her campaign to become New York States next attorney general at a rally on Wednesday, less than two weeks after former top prosecutor Eric Schneiderman resigned in disgrace following accusations of sexual and physical assault by four women. James who dubbed herself The Peoples Lawyer promised to continue fighting for those vulnerable city dwellers she helped in her past and current seats amid a crowd of union reps, local pols, and other supporters who cheered her decision during the event at the Brooklyn Historical Society in Brooklyn Heights. Throughout my entire career [I was taught] that the law is the most effective tool in our quest for justice and for progress, and Ive used it in my work defending our most-vulnerable communities, James said. New Yorkers deserve an attorney general who is unwavering in her fight to uphold and defend their most basic rights, and I promise all of you, I will never, ever waver in my fight to uphold and defend your most-basic rights. Last week, James took to social media to say she removed herself from the list of candidates interested in interviewing for the job with Albany lawmakers who can appoint a successor for vacated seats such Schneidermans via a so-called back-room deal, according to a New York Times editorial, which criticized that process and demanded the Assembly let Acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood stay in the role she assumed following her former bosss resignation until voters can elect a replacement in the fall. After thoughtful and careful deliberation, I have decided not to participate in the ongoing legislative process regarding the attorney generals office, James wrote on Twitter on May 11, two days after the Times published its editorial. But days later, she formed a committee with the state Board of Elections to run the good old-fashioned way in the September Democratic primary, and launched her campaign on May 16. And James isnt the only Brooklynite vying to replace Schneiderman. Former Brooklyn Heights Councilman David Yassky who briefly eyed the neighborhoods state Senate seat that Democrat Brian Kavanagh filled last year after Daniel Squadrons abrupt resignation reportedly joined the 17-person shortlist of hopefuls who submitted resumes to the Assembly for the attorney general gig. But Yassky, who now runs Pace Universitys law school after representing the Heights in Council from 2001 to 2008, said a supporter actually submitted his resume on the former pols behalf. And although he is flattered at the prospect, he thinks Underwood should remain in the role. I didnt submit a resume, Im not seeking that appointment, and I am very much hoping the legislature designates Barbara Underwood as the interim attorney general, Yassky said. Shes ideally suited for the job, and to keep the invaluable work of that office moving forward at this moment. And if Underwood remains in the seat, she will face off against James and the other Democratic candidates vying for it in the September primary, the winner of which will then move on to compete in Novembers general election. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) yesterday came down heavy on the Jaypee Group, accusing Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. (JAL) and its beleaguered subsidiary Jaypee Infratech (JIL) of "fraudulent" transactions. According to media reports, in a 77-page verdict, the Ahmedabad bench of the Tribunal said that JAL had transferred ownership of 858 acres of unencumbered land belonging to JIL to its own lenders in order to avail further loans. Significantly, these transactions took place around the time JIL's accounts were declared a non-performing asset (NPA) and continued even after the formation of the joint lenders' forum without seeking any prior approval from it. "The impugned transactions are declared fraudulent, preferential and undervalued," said the bench. According to The Economic Times, it also ordered the immediate release of the collateral that JAL had used to secure loans of more than Rs 21,000 crore from a clutch of lenders. The daily added that the transactions that now stand to be reversed as per the NCLT order include mortgage deeds of 335 acres in favour of Axis Trustee Services, 310 acres to ICICI Bank, 25 acres to Standard Chartered Bank and 90 acres in favour of State Bank of India. "Instead of capitalising on this unencumbered land which could have been used to raise money and complete construction of projects, JAL decided to use this to secure its own loans. This is virtually asset stripping," a source involved in the matter told the daily, adding that this NCLT order has huge implications since so far banks have never concerned themselves about where the collateral is coming, whether it is owned by the parent or its subsidiaries, and the financial situation of the latter. To remind you, the matter came to light when Jaypee Infratech's insolvency resolution professional Anuj Jain filed a petition before the NCLT. Pegging the value of the transferred land at Rs 5,000-6,000 crore, Jain had argued that the land could have been sold or mortgaged to raise funds and complete JIL's pending construction of flats and prevent value erosion. JIL was supposed to around 30,000 flats in Jaypee's much-hyped Noida township Wish Town launched in 2007 but it has only delivered 9,500 apartments so far. The NCLT order is a double whammy for JAL since on Wednesday the Supreme Court directed it to deposit Rs 1,000 crore with its registry by June 15. This amount will be used to bankroll compensation to distressed homebuyers who had invested in Jaypee properties. The bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had added that if the amount is not submitted by the deadline, the liquidation proceedings against JIL will proceed as scheduled. The apex court's next hearing on the matter is reportedly scheduled on July 4. With PTI inputs Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa announced a farm loan waiver soon after taking oath, a move that economists feel could cost the state dear. It's in keeping with his party BJP's pre-poll promise of granting waiver to farmers who had raised loans of up to Rs 1 lakh. "Its cost to the state exchequer would be roughly to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore," says Professor R. S. Deshpande, senior economist and former director and currently honorary visiting professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru. Speaking to Business Today, he said, "The figure on the actual impact could go up as we still need to get numbers from commercial banks on the outstanding loans to such farmers (could be about 8 lakh of them)." The immediate impact would be that the amount would get reduced from the state's expenditure on development, he says. This may not be the best thing at the moment. Consider this. Professor Deshpande says that the Karnataka government has already accumulated huge debt over the past five years and servicing this will alone take a huge share of the state's revenue every year. He calls it a result of the failure of the state's agriculture policy that allowed loans to get accumulated and not taking adequate correctives during crop failures and farmers' distress. Calling for greater accountability, he says, "That is one reason farmer suicides continue in the state and it is estimated that about 10 farmers commit suicide everyday in the state," he says. Deshpande is also quite critical of the handling of affairs by the last agriculture minister Krishna Byre Gowda. But then, he did have words of praise for the minister's father, C Byre Gowda, who also happened to be the state's former agriculture minister but someone, who Deshpande feels, did some stellar work in this area. For the moment, the next five years are going to be a testing time for any government, adds Deshpande. While all eyes at the moment are on Yeddyurappa and how he can garner the numbers needed to ensure his government's survival, the move on farm loan waiver was rather swift, in line with the emphasis in the party manifesto. The first line of his party's election manifesto in the state promises: "crop loan waiver up to Rs 1 lakh, including all loans from various nationalised banks and cooperatives in the first cabinet meeting for the benefit of farmers". In what could be a big blow to the Yeddyurappa-led Karnataka government, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the BJP to prove its majority on the floor of the house by 4 pm tomorrow. BJP had asked for at least a week to prove its numbers in the state assembly. While opposing tomorrow's floor test, former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, who was representing BJP in the apex court said that since the Congress MLAs are not in Bengaluru, the floor test should be postponed. The MLAs of Congress party are currently holed up in resorts in Hyderabad and Kochi to prevent any defection before the crucial floor test. In another setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led party, the apex court ordered the Yeddyurappa government to not to appoint any nominated member of the Karnataka assembly. A member from the Anglo-Saxon community is appointed to the assembly after each election. Yeddyurappa will first have to prove majority before appointed the member. BJP today placed before the Supreme Court the letters Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa had sent to Governor Vajubhai Vala in which he had staked claim to form the government in Karnataka. The Supreme court is hearing a petition moved by the Congress-JDS combine challenging the Governor's decision to invite the BJP to form government. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday, told a special bench headed by Justice A K Sikri that being the single largest party the BJP was the "mandate of people" of the state who have thrown out the Congress. Karnataka assembly will be convened at around 11 am tomorrow morning. Then a protem Speaker will swear in all the MLAs, a process that will take a few hours. Only then will a floor test be conducted. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yeddyurappa, told the bench that there was no pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JDS and they have formed an "unholy alliance" after the elections. In the May 12 polls, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 members, while Congress secured 78, the JD(S) 37 and others three. Just an year ago, Baba Ramdev was sanguine about the growth prospects of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. The confident yoga guru-turned-entrepreneur had said that Patanjali would double its turnover within a year. And, to be fair, it didn't seem a far-fetched target at that time. The company, after posting a record sales of Rs 10,561 crore in FY17, was aiming to grow two-fold in FY18. The last fiscal, however, has dashed Patanjali's hopes of a 100 per cent growth. It now seems that a cut throat competition in the FMCG space and some uncertain policy decisions by the government may have finally dawned on India's fastest growing consumer goods brand. The company's bewildering growth, which began from 2014, has come to a grinding halt. Baba Ramdev's closest aide and Patanjali's managing director, Acharya Balkrishna blamed the lingering effects of demonetisation and the hasty implementation of goods and services tax (GST) for lack of growth. "We have closed the year around the same level as the previous fiscal year's revenue," Balkrishna told Mint. Patanjali, which had clocked close to 111 per cent growth in sales in 2016-2017, was hoping to cross the annual revenue of India's largest packaged goods company Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) by FY19. The stagnation in sales comes at a time when its rival HUL logged a double-digit growth in sales volume in the last quarter of FY18. HUL's net sales during the last quarter of FY18 stood at Rs 9,003 crore compared to Rs 8,773 crore in the same quarter of previous fiscal. Its consolidated net sales was at Rs 35,474 crore in 2017-18 as against Rs 34,964 crore in the previous fiscal. However, a sputtering growth has failed to dampen the spirit of Acharya Balkrishna who believes that the current fiscal will be better when it comes to numbers. Early this year, Balkrishna had spurned the interest shown by luxury brand LVMH's private equity fund, L. Catterton, in Patanjali. He had said that they will never sell stake to a foreign company. Last year, Patanjali's founder Baba Ramdev had said that the promoter of the company will always be a Sanyasi and never a businessman. Patanjali's MD Acharya Balkrishna, who owns 96.8 per cent of the company's shares, is among the richest Indians. In an interview to Business Today, Balkrishna had claimed that he is least interested in creating wealth for himself. Acharyaji and Swamiji, as they are fondly referred to by their followers, started their FMCG and Ayurvedic formulations journey in 1990, when they set up the Divya Yog Pharmacy Trust. One of the reasons for its dominance in Indian households is that it claims to offer 'swadeshi' products at affordable prices. On an average, Patanjali launches two-three products a month in all the categories it is present in. Earlier, Patanjali used to sell its products at designated shops, but now the brand is sold at almost all leading e-commerce portals such as Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, 1MG, BigBasket, Grofers, etc. The company is also planning to increase its employee strength to 5 lakh. Earlier this month, it emerged as the highest bidder for the debt-stressed Ruchi Soya Industries which owes around Rs 12,000 crore to a consortium of 16 lenders. But of late, the company has come under the scanner for allegedly selling substandard quality products. Its popular Amla juice was suspended by the defence canteen stores (CSD stores) for not meeting quality parameters. But the company maintains that not more than 10 per cent of its business is outsourced, adding that from procurement to production to selling, everything is done by the brand leaving little scope for adulteration. The Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH), also called Haryana Board of School Education, has declared the results for Class 12 Board examinations today. The results for the Haryana Board Class 12 examinations were declared at 3:00 pm and could be seen at BSEH official website, bseh.org.in, and on third party websites like results.indiaresults.com and www.examresults.net. The Haryana Board of School Education conducted the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) Class 12 examinations from March 7 to April 13 earlier this year. Reportedly, around 2,24,000 students appeared in the HBSE Class 12 exam. Apart from the regular students, around 77,000 students from Open School also participated in these examinations. The HBSE Class 12 Result were declared by Chairman Jagbir Singh. The results will be uploaded on the BSEH website sometime in the evening for students to see. The website might turn unresponsive for some time due to increase in traffic. Students looking for their Haryana Board of School Education Class 12 exam results are advised to remain patient and log in after waiting a while. Here's how to check your Haryana Board of School Education Class 12 exam results: 1. Go to BSEH official website, bseh.org.in 2. Click on the 'Results' tab at the top of the page 3. You will be taken to an external website. Enter your Class 12 roll number and other required details. 4. Submit the details and download your Haryana Board of School Education Class 12 2018 exam results. New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The government today gave ex post facto nod to an agreement between India and Morocco to boost cooperation in the field of mining and geology. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on April 11, 2018 in New Delhi between the Moroccan Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable development and the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. "The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex post facto approval to the signing of MoU between India and Morocco in the field of mining and geology," Ministry of Mines said in a statement. The MoU will provide an institutional mechanism between India and Morocco for cooperation in the field of geology and mining, the statement said. This cooperation will be mutually beneficial on economic, social and environmental fields in both countries, it added. "The MoU aims to strengthen cooperation between India and Morocco in the field of mining and geology. The activities involved in the cooperation viz development of geological infrastructure, promotion of mining and geology, training programs and establishment of geological data bank would serve the objective of innovation," the statement said. PTI NAM NAM BAL BAL If you have been planning a family trip, away from the city this summer, there might be some cause for concern as airfares are on a constant rise. According to reports, Indian airlines are looking at the highest jet fuel prices in about four years that is in turn making air tickets costly. The increase in fares may have already affected demand for tickets, which is not a very welcoming news for the world's fastest-expanding aviation market. Yatra.com conducted a tariff analysis for The Economic Times and found that fares for the first 15 days of May this year is up by 17% as compared to the same period last year. Sharat Dhall, COO of Yatra.com said that average airfares for key routes have increased since the beginning of May with an increase of over 15% compared to April, 2018, and by 10% versus May last year that went up to 17%. There was an increase of 6.3% in Aviation Turbine Fuel prices in the beginning of May. The Indian Oil website mentions that prices for jet fuel went up by 26.4% to Rs 65,340 per kilolitre in Delhi in May. Fuel prices make for 50% of the total cost of airline operations in India. Moreover, there is an increase in demand during summer holiday season which are affecting airfares. But steep ticket pricing is affecting the demand which has been on a downward spiral throughout the first half of May. "Fares have increased, and demand is getting affected. Aviation is not a cost plus business (and increase in cost cannot be transferred to passengers due to competition). The hike is visible more in last-minute fares (booked within seven days of travel date). This has led to a decline in demand. Loads during the first half of May are on a declining trend across airlines due to rising fares," an aviation official told the newspaper. Tickets are more expensive than the overall average, closer to the date of departure, CEO at aviation consultancy firm CAPA South Asia, Kapil Kaul said, also adding that he predicts a downward bias on full year profitability. Though the Air India sale process is not going well, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal seems to have again tossed his hat in the ring by indicating that he's still not out of the race when it comes to the divestment of the loss-making national carrier. According to a report in Bloomberg, the Jet Airways chairman, during an interview in Manchester, England, said: "We are looking at our own business. But I am not saying that we will not look at Air India, I've never said that. Ultimately we will always see what's best approach ahead of us, and for the country." Citing contours of the sale process, Jet Airways on April 10 had said it was not interested in participating in the Air India sale process. "We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step. However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," Jet Airways Deputy CEO & CFO Amit Agarwal had said in an e-mailed statement. However, from Goyal's statement it seems evident the Jet Airways top boss is holding the cards on the expectation that the government would ease out more terms and conditions for the sale. The government extended the deadline for submitting the expression of interest (EOI) for Air India on May 1 to May 31. Earlier, the deadline for submitting EOI was May 14. After all three national carriers, including IndiGo, Jet Airways, and Tata Sons, citing various reasons like terms of reference, liabilities, stake issues, etc, for not participating in the sale process, the government extended the deadline to receive initial bids till May 31. If things go as per the plan, which so far seems unlikely, Air India will announce successful bidder on June 15. On May 1, the government had also clarified its stand on over 160 queries it received from interested bidders over the disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries, Air India Express and AISATS (Air India Sats Airport Services Private Limited). These queries were mainly about the impact of the government's decision to retain a 24 per cent stake in the airline, the make-up of the airline's debt and liabilities, its latest financial performance, slots, and employee rights. However, the government didn't change the basic terms of the sale offer, according to which the centre wants the bidder (a single company or consortium) to pick up only 76 per cent of the stake in Air India, including 100 per cent of Air India Express, and 50 per cent of AISATS, the ground handling subsidiary of AI. The government has also said that the successful bidder will also need to take on about Rs 33,392 crore of debt and retain the airline staff for a year. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday assured all possible help from the government to strengthen the 11 public sector banks that have been placed under the RBI's 'Prompt Corrective Action' framework to check their deteriorating financial health. The RBI has put restrictions on the distribution of dividends, remitting of profits and giving out loans by these banks. Besides, they have been stopped from expanding their branch networks and need to maintain higher provisions. Management compensation and directors' fees are also capped. The government may have to infuse more capital into these banks. Goyal, who was earlier this week given temporary charge of the finance ministry until Arun Jaitley recovers from the kidney transplant surgery that he has undergone, met heads of the 11 public sector banks here on Thursday. "Over the next few days we will ensure that the central government gives every possible support to further strengthen the resolve of these banks to come out of PCA framework as quickly as is possible,'' Goyal told journalists after the meeting. The 11 banks under PCA are Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of Maharashtra. Goyal said the meeting was very useful to understand what has transpired over the last 12-13 years in the banking system....the 11 banks were represented at the highest level. Every one of the bankers spoke of solutions going beyond history...They are going to work through the day and meet me again late in the evening to prepare the action agenda on a case by case basis, he disclosed. Earlier in the day, Goyal said he would endeavour to quickly put on track the banking sector, which has been marred by scandals and bad debts that threaten to have repercussions for the broader economy. The latest Quarterly Report from the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) on its operation, on behalf of the State, of the Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) for SMEs, shows that for the first quarter of 2018, CGS Facilities were sanctioned for 30 Irish SMEs, for a total of over 4.4 million in funding that will create or maintain 229 Irish jobs. Since the Credit Guarantee Scheme became operational in October 2012, the Government claims 560 facilities totaling 88.8 million have been sanctioned. These sanctions are supporting or maintaining 3,519 jobs, according to the report. Commenting on the publication of the report today, Minister of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Pat Breen said, "I am pleased to see that the Credit Guarantee Scheme continues to support Irish SMEs in every region, and across 16 sectors of the economy. Over 88m in sanctioned facilities are now supporting 3,519 jobs. I would encourage SME operators seeking finance to examine whether the Credit Guarantee Scheme is the right option for them to grow their business." Source: www.businessworld.ie It was announced today that the entire of Bolands Quay has been sold to Google. The development is one of the largest urban regeneration projects to have been undertaken within Dublin City Centre in recent years. Designed by Dublin architectural practice Burke Kennedy Doyle with engineering input from Arup, Bolands Quay will comprise 28,000sq m of office space, 46 apartments, cafes and cultural space. The development will include three new landmark buildings, one rising to 53 metres (173 ft), another to 49 metres (161 ft) and a third to 47.8 metres (157 ft). BAM is the main contractor and the scheme is set for completion on a phased basis from the second quarter 2019. Google has invested over 1 billion in capital investment in Ireland since 2003 and last week announced a 150 million extension to its Data Centre. The Bolands Quay site received planning permission in July 2015 and, since then, NAMA has provided funding for demolition and enabling works. In December 2016, NAMA committed to providing funding to Receiver Mark Reynolds of Savills for the construction of the entire scheme in one phase. Google has now agreed to acquire the entire of the Bolands Quay campus. Google will retain the office accommodation for its own use and will appoint a commercial letting agent to manage the letting of the remaining commercial premises and apartments. Bolands Quay will be linked to Googles EMEA Headquarters on Barrow Street via walking routes through the site. The development will also include a new pedestrian bridge and two new civic plazas with water frontage to Grand Canal Dock. Savills say the historic buildings on the site, dating from the 1830s, will be restored and their heritage preserved. Commenting on the project, Director of Real Estate & Construction at Google EMEA, Joe Borrett said, "This is a very important addition to our office portfolio in Dublin and the standard of finish in the development is a tribute to the architects, construction companies, the Receiver, Savills and NAMA. We are looking forward to creating vibrant new civic spaces and retail amenities for our neighbours around Barrow Street to enjoy." Chief Executive of NAMA, Brendan McDonagh added, "NAMA is pleased at the progress which has been made in developing this landmark site which will bring much-needed office, retail and residential accommodation to the city. The acquisition of Bolands Quay by Google is a significant vote of confidence in the Irish economy and in the future of its operations here and NAMA is very pleased to have been part of this successful outcome for all parties." Source: www.businessworld.ie A recent report into lifelong learning participation among adults showed that at 7%, Ireland is falling well behind other EU Member States, including Denmark (31%), Sweden and (29%) and Finland (25%) in terms of employee training. Ireland is currently below EU average (11%) and significantly behind top performers in terms of employee training. To help address this, Skillnet Ireland has said it will invest a 4.3m grant in supporting over 1,100 companies in the Mid-West, benefitting 7,000 employees at a local level in 2018. Skillnet Ireland is the national agency responsible for the promotion and facilitation of workforce learning in Ireland. It funds over 50 industry representative groups, supporting over 15,000 companies and 50,000 trainees annually. Businesses from across the Mid-West region came together yesterday to share strategies for recruiting and retaining talent within their organisations at an event hosted by Skillnet Ireland in Dromoland Castle Hotel, Co Clare. Themed Upskilling the Mid-West Innovative Ways to Attract and Retain Talent, high profile businesses such as Lufthansa Technik Shannon, Jaguar Land Rover, Zimmer Biomet, Element Six and Northern Trust spoke about the challenges of retaining talent within the Mid-West Region. This event was hosted by eight Skillnet Ireland Networks in the mid-west at Dromoland Castle, Co Clare: Shannon Chamber Skillnet, Aviation and Aerospace Skillnet, Aviation Finance Finuas Skillnet, ICBE Business Excellence Skillnet, Irish MedTech Skillnet, Lean and Green Skillnet, Limerick Chamber Skillnet and Next Level Skillnet in conjunction with Mid-West Regional Skills. Speaking about the launch of Skillnet Ireland, Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton said, "We have set the ambition to make Irelands education and training service the best in Europe by 2026. Upskilling and lifelong learning are critical to delivering on this ambition. This year we will reach over 50,000 employed learners with programmes to help workers grow and develop in their current career or to change direction if they wish to. Skills are central to our competitiveness as a nation and government policy is targeted at both protecting and enhancing that. The promotion of lifelong learning and adapting to technological advances has always been at the core of workforce development." He added, "Skillnet Ireland plays a key role in increasing the skills supply, and strategically looking at the needs of our workforce for business and economic growth through its learning networks. Fulfilling the skill needs of the economy and ensuring that we are future proofed to meet new challenges, is an important part of delivering on our ambition to make Irelands education and training service the best in Europe by 2026." Source: www.businessworld.ie Lloyds Banking Group said on Friday it had sold its Irish residential mortgage portfolio to Barclays for around 4 billion pounds in cash, as part of a plan to focus on its core UK market. The deal covers gross assets of around 4.3 billion pounds, of which 300 million pounds are impaired, Lloyds said in a statement, and in the year to end-December they generated a pretax loss of around 40 million pounds. Lloyds said the deal would generate a pretax loss of around 110 million pounds, which would be recognised in its first-half results, but that it would also result in a better-than-expected increase in common equity tier 1 of around 25 basis points. Following the deal, which is due to complete in the second half of 2018, Lloyds said it would have only a minimal exposure to Ireland, and the total outstanding run-off portfolio would be around 4 billion pounds. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie A new report has been published today by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI). According to the report, the Drinks Industry employs 92,000 people while the hospitality sector as a whole supports almost 210,000 jobs throughout Ireland, purchasing 1.1bn worth of Irish inputs annually and exporting 1.25 billion worth of produce every year. The report, The Drinks Market Performance 2017, authored by Dublin City University economist Anthony Foley and commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) was published ahead of the launch of DIGIs 2018 Support Your Local campaign. Support Your Local is a campaign that seeks to highlight the positive economic, cultural and social contribution that the drinks and wider hospitality industry makes to Ireland while calling for Government supports to ensure the continued growth and development of the industry. The report shows that beer remains the nation's most popular drink, making up a 44.8% share of the alcohol product market last year. Spirits made up nearly 20% of the alcohol product market in 2017, a 3.6% increase on previous year, while wine made up 28% of the market, the second most popular drinks category. It is estimated that alcohol consumption per adult decreased by 1.4% on 2016 and by almost 18% (17.9%) in the ten years since 2007. Speaking this week, Secretary of DIGI and CEO of the Licensed Vintners Association, Donal OKeeffe said, "The drinks industry is integral to Ireland's economic health. 92,000 people work in the drinks industry alone, and the combined hospitality sector, which includes pubs, hotels, restaurants, breweries, distilleries, retailers, manufacturers and distributors, employs almost 210,000 people across the country. That's 10% of all jobs, or 1.25 billion worth of exports a year." He added, "Uncertainty is the word of the day. Brexit makes it harder for exporters to plan for the future. If it's harder to trade with Great Britain or Northern Ireland, and sterling remains weak, revenues will decline due to trade barriers and a decrease in overseas visitors." Source: www.businessworld.ie New Ireland Assurance last night celebrated its 100th anniversary at the Shelbourne in front of close to 300 people. The Life and Pensions business of Bank of Ireland Group was founded on the 5th January 1918, with the original office based on OConnell Street. Its roots are deeply connected with the foundation of the Irish state and its purpose was to keep Irish money in Ireland for the benefit of Irish businesses and the State. New Ireland today employs close to 800 people in Ireland. Speaking last night, Group CEO Bank of Ireland, Francesca McDonagh said, "Over this past 100 years we have seen revolution and evolution, war and peace, economic climbs and declines but in all of this, the resilience of those associated with New Ireland, has kept the company growing: always adapting to change, always forging ahead. New Ireland has forged a strong position of trust with customers across Ireland, advising on some of lifes most important financial decisions. I look forward to the next phase of this exciting journey, as we continue to enable customers to thrive." Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Michael DArcy added, "I am delighted to be a part of the celebrations to mark the centenary of New Ireland Assurance. I congratulate all involved in reaching this significant milestone which shows the ability to evolve and innovate and I wish you continued success in the years ahead." Source: www.businessworld.ie Ryanair said its issues with pilot staffing have stabilised, with would-be Ryanair pilots queueing up to join after the company decided to recognise unions and offer direct contracts. Along with direct employment contracts for new joiners, plus agreements to recognise unions in some countries, Ryanair has also dropped the cost of some training, known as a type rating, ordered more simulators and has 100 new training pilots. "After Christmas, we will have the capacity to train the pilots right up to a fleet of 550 aircraft. We will have less than 500 aircraft next year, so we're in good shape," Ryanair Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew told Reuters on the sidelines of a CAPA-Centre for Aviation conference in Dublin. "Because things have stabilised and calmed down, it seems as if people are queuing up to join us," he said, adding retention rates have improved. "But it will always be a challenge." Ryanair now has union recognition contracts in Britain and Italy, but is still negotiating in Spain and Germany. Bellew said he hoped to come to an agreement in Spain over the next days and months, where a sticking point is days off for union work. Bellew said Ryanair thinks the 36 days asked for is excessive. Bellew said there was an opportunity to open bases in France, where it is also holding talks with the main pilots' union, but that Ryanair didn't have enough aircraft to do so over the next 12-18 months. "In 2020 we have more aircraft, maybe it will be then, maybe earlier," he said. Asked about whether Ryanair would be interested in Norwegian Air Shuttle, which has rebuffed approaches from British Airways-owner IAG, Bellew said Ryanair had its hands full. But he added that if IAG or Lufthansa ended up buying Norwegian and having to give up airport take off and landing slots then Ryanair would be interested in those. Separately, chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said there was a real risk of flights being grounded in April 2019 with a transition deal between Britain and the EU still not signed. "How are people going to fly in April of 2019?" he said. "That reality is still a possibility because there's nothing signed yet." (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie The logo of the Rosneft oil company on the wall of its headquarters in Moscow, Russia, in 2014. Photo: IC (Reuters) Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of Russian state oil firm Rosneft, is concerned that its recent drilling in an area of the South China Sea that is claimed by China could upset Beijing, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Wednesday. Rosneft said on Tuesday its Vietnamese unit had started drilling at the LD-3P well, part of the Lan Do Red Orchid offshore gas field in Block 06.1, 370 kilometers (230 miles) southeast of Vietnam. The block is within the area outlined by Chinas nine-dash line, according to energy consultancy and research firm Wood Mackenzie. When asked about the Reuters report of the drilling, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that no country, organization, company or individual can, without the permission of the Chinese government, carry out oil and gas exploration or exploitation activities in waters under Chinese jurisdiction. We urge relevant parties to earnestly respect Chinas sovereign and jurisdictional rights and not do anything that could impact bilateral relations or this regions peace and stability, the spokesman, Lu Kang, told a regular news briefing on Thursday. Vietnams Foreign Ministry said its oil and gas activities are conducted in accordance with the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. As we have repeatedly asserted, all of Vietnams maritime economic activities, including oil and gas activities, have been licensed and carried out in maritime zones entirely under Vietnamese sovereignty and jurisdiction, ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement in response to a request from Reuters for comment. Chinas U-shaped nine-dash line marks a vast expanse of the South China Sea that it claims, including large swaths of Vietnams exclusive economic zone. Maps of the area indicate the block is around 85 kilometers inside the contested area. A series of dashes, the line is not continuous, making Chinas claims often ambiguous. In recent years, though, China has increasingly patrolled and enforced the area, claiming historic rights to the resources and features within it. In March, Vietnam halted an oil drilling project in the nearby Red Emperor block following pressure from China, sources told Reuters. That block is licensed to Spanish energy firm Repsol, which has asked Vietnam to pay compensation over the issue. Rosneft had no consultations with the Kremlin on drilling in the South China Sea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. As far as we know, the company has already made a statement that it works exactly in line with the obtained licenses, Peskov told a regular conference call with reporters. Fearing repercussions and pressure from China, Rosneft Vietnam had wanted to begin drilling with as little attention as possible, despite the statement by its parent company on Tuesday, the sources said. On Thursday, its parent company said its drilling in the block was within Vietnam's territorial waters, and in accordance with Vietnamese legislation. Petrovietnam warned over production Both Rosneft and Russias Gazprom have significant development projects in Vietnamese waters that fall within the area claimed by China, said Ian Storey, a regional security expert at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Although Russian diplomats have privately expressed concerns to their U.S. counterparts that China may one day put pressure on Moscow to terminate those projects, so far Beijing has refrained from doing so because of the ever-closer strategic partnership between the two countries, said Storey. It would be a serious blow to the burgeoning Sino-Russian entente if Beijing asked Moscow to end its energy projects in Vietnam. China has become Russia's top destination for exports, largely because Russia is the largest supplier of oil and gas to China, mainly through pipelines. The drilling in the Red Orchid gas field within the block will be undertaken using the Hakuryu-5 equipment made by Japanese company Japan Drilling Co. Ltd., Rosneft said in that statement. The Hakuryu-5 arrived in the disputed area on May 6, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon ship-tracking data, and was still recorded as being inside the block late on Wednesday. The drilling is significant for Vietnam, which has been struggling to maintain its crude oil and gas output amid already declining production from its key fields and the continuing pressure from China in the disputed waters. Vietnam already gets about 30 percent of its gas needs from block 06.1 because of oil and gas operations that were first established there more than 15 years ago. The block is operated by Rosneft and jointly owned by India's ONGC , Rosneft, and PetroVietnam. It lies just south of blocks 05.3 and 05.2, where in 2007 British Petroleum suspended work following a threat of economic consequences from China, according to a September, 2007 U.S. State Department cable leaked by WikiLeaks. In April, Vietnams state oil firm PetroVietnam said that maritime tensions with China will hurt its offshore exploration and production activities this year. Hanoi and Beijing have long been embroiled in disputes over the maritime boundary, which is a politically sensitive issue in Vietnam. Police in the central province of Khanh Hoa have launched an investigation into a group of Chinese tourists who were pictured in a local airport wearing T-shirts printed with a map showing the nine-dash line, state media reported on Wednesday. Airport authorities asked the tourists, who arrived at Cam Ranh Airport on Sunday, to take off their T-shirts after going through customs, the Van Hoa (Culture) newspaper reported. Nigeria has awarded a $6.7 billion contract to the Chinese state rail builder to construct a segment of a major railway project that has been years in the making, marking another Beijing milestone in its new infrastructure venture in Africa. The contract was signed by a unit of China Railway Construction Corp. and Nigerias Transport Ministry, the Chinese builder said in a statement (link in Chinese) on Thursday. The construction of the Ibadan-Kaduna segment is expected to be complete within 48 months. Upon completion, it will conclude the Lagos-Kano rail modernization project, which links the commercial capital of Lagos with Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria. The modernization project spans 1,315 kilometers (817 miles). It started in 2006 and was later broken into various segments for implementation in 2008. Beijing has ramped up its presence over the last few years on the African continent, where nations have rushed to sign infrastructure contracts with China under its Belt and Road Initiative. The Belt and Road aims to link China to other parts of the developing world, including Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa, through its ambitious infrastructure and trade program. Another signature project is in Kenya, where China has successfully built a rail line to link the port of Mombasa to Nairobi, the capital. The 480-kilometer railway was launched in June 2017. Contact reporter Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com) news, crime Canberra construction union official John Lomax has won an undisclosed payout from the Federal Police over his wrongful arrest during the union's royal commission. Mr Lomax sued the Australian Federal Police for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution after the charge was later withdrawn. Mr Lomax settled the lawsuit earlier in the year. While details of the payout are subject to a strict confidentiality agreement, Fairfax Media understand the figure is in the tens-of-thousands of dollars. The Australian Federal Police confirmed the claim had been resolved. "But the terms and nature of the resolution are confidential," an AFP spokesman said. Mr Lomax was arrested and charged with blackmail in July 2015 during the Canberra hearings of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption. He pleaded not guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court the following month. Police alleged he had forced a Canberra painting company to sign a union enterprise bargaining agreement, causing a financial loss. In October 2015, Canberra prosecutors offered no evidence in court and dropped the case. In 2016, Mr Lomax launched action in the ACT Supreme Court against the AFP to recover his legal costs and claim compensation. The civil case alleged three AFP officers had brought a trumped-up charge, which they knew had no chance of a conviction, against Mr Lomax in a bid to pressure the Canberra Raiders great into giving evidence against his union colleagues. Mr Lomax has declined to comment about the settlement. CFMEU construction and general national secretary Dave Noonan confirmed the matter had settled, however he said he did not know the specifics as the case had been run by Mr Lomax, not the union. However, Mr Noonan said a number of inferences could be made as a result of the deal. "The fact [the police] settled it means they didn't want the case to proceed and the facts to be made public," Mr Noonan said. Mr Lomax's case is one of a number of failures linked to the Coalitions royal commission into unions, which was called by then prime minister Tony Abbott in 2014. In 2017, the AFP were also forced to pay the bulk of the construction union's costs for a court challenge against an illegal raid on its Canberra headquarters. Police attached to the TURC seized thousands of documents from the CFMEU's Dickson offices after evidence given to the trade unions royal commission in August 2015. The union then took legal action against the AFP in the ACT Supreme Court, claiming the confiscation of the documents was unlawful on numerous grounds and there was no evidence to support the issuing of a second warrant. Justice Richard Refshauge later upheld the majority of the union's challenges and found part of the search of the Dickson offices had been unlawful. This week, Victorian prosecutors dropped blackmail charges against militant Victorian construction union boss John Setka and his deputy, Shaun Reardon. It is not yet known if Mr Setka and Mr Reardon will seek to launch a wrongful prosecution action against authorities, or pursue civil action against Boral. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/0c9f4e55-b970-4f8c-a5b1-0ac4a1c4078d/r0_225_4256_2630_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg The long wait is over! The Haryana class 12 results have been released by the Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) also known as Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH). Nearly, 2.5 lakh candidates appeared for the examination held between March and April. Students who attended the examination can now visit the official website of the board to check their results. The Haryana class 12 results will be available on bseh.org.in. The board is also expected to release the class 10 results during the next week. CBSE is also expected to release the class 12 results in the rolling month. How To Check Haryana Class 12 Results Here are the steps to follow to check the Haryana class 12 results. Step 1: Go to the Haryana board official website. (bseh.org.in) Step 2: On the home page, click on the results link. Step 3: You will be directed to a new page. Step 4: Submit your credentials, such as roll number and name. Step 5: The results will be displayed on the screen. Step 6: Download them to your computer and take a printout for further reference. The Haryana class 12 results is also available on indiaresults.com, which is a third-party website partnering with the HBSE. There is no need to bring to your attention the reputation of the All India Institutes of Medical Science (AIIMS) hospitals in the country. Annually, AIIMS conducts an online entrance examination for an admission to the MBBS courses at AIIMS, New Delhi, and eight other AIIMS around India (Patna, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, Rishikesh, Raipur, Guntur and Nagpur). AIIMS stands as one of the top medical entrance examinations in the country and sits only behind the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). This prestigious medical entrance examination is all set to take place in various exam centres spread across the country. Hardly, a week left for the examination, so students should be juggling with their books during the final phase of their preparations. Here are the last-week preparation tips for the AIIMS exam. What Are The Best Books For AIIMS Preparation Go With Your Mock Tests We always recommend that students keep the last one week to take mock tests and revise everything they've studied. If you are one amongst the students following this practise, you're on the right path. The mock tests will also help the students learn the necessary time management skills. Along with mock tests, one should also give a reasonable amount of time to studying the concepts. Devote Time For Self-study During the last week, one should devote at least 9-10 hours on self-studying. Start with any of the subjects and try to finish it off by the end of the day. This will give you enough time for other subjects on the last day besides boosting your confidence. Believe In Your Strategies It is very obvious many students will start adopting new shortcuts and strategies during the last phase of their preparations. This is not encouraged. For the good or bad, believe in your strategies and follow them without any second opinion throughout your preparations. Revise The Basic Concepts Effectively Go back to the basics and do your best to strengthen your knowledge of the concepts in each subject. The basic concepts are required for the overall understanding of the topic. Spend at least 2-3 hours of time for each subject to work on this area. Use NEET Preparation For AIIMS Students who are going to take the AIIMS exam must have appeared for NEET. If you are one amongst them, there is nothing wrong in using the NEET preparation material for this exam. We also suggest you solve the NEET practise papers. How To Use NEET Preparations To Crack AIIMS Focus On The General Knowledge Unlike other medical entrance exams, AIIMS also tests the candidates on their general knowledge. One has to take advantage of this section because it increases the chances of qualifying for the next step in the admission process. Never get into the details of the concepts at this stage and practise solving the previous years' question papers to gain command over this GK section. Never compromise on reading about the current affairs even on the last day. Avoid Distractions What you have learned in the last week plays a significant role on the exam day. Avoid all the distractions that include IPL and social networking sites, such as Facebook and WhatsApp. A cent percent focus is required to taste success in AIIMS. Enjoy Preparing For The Exam Students should not allow any exam stress to seep in during the final phase of the preparations because it costs more on the D-day. Do your best while reading and at the same time stay away from distracting activities. Always believe in your strength and keep the good work going for one last week. Good luck! How To Crack AIIMS MBBS Exam The completion of a graduate degree is one of the biggest milestones in one's career. After the convocation ceremony, most of them might be satisfied and face a big question, 'what to do after this?' This question intimidates the fresh pass-outs until they draft a plan for the next stage. The decision they take after they graduate is very important and decides what the future will hold for them. This is common for every graduate and there is no exception for art students who possess a BA graduate degree. Almost all the students who have a graduate degree in arts feel that the career options and opportunities are very limited. But things have changed over the years and graduates from this stream find plenty of job opportunities in the market. Explore the career opportunities and courses to pursue with the a degree in BA. Career Opportunities After BA With a BA degree, candidates are eligible to apply for almost all the competitive entrance examinations such as Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). For the probationary officer and clerk vacancies in banks, a graduate degree is the only requirement. While coming to the private sector, students who have good command over a language can take up roles of customer care executives. Master of Arts (MA) This is one of the best options for graduates who have completed their bachelor's in arts. For many postgraduate-level courses, the basic qualification is a bachelor's degree. All the major universities in India offer MA with various specialisations and students who are aiming for the profession of teaching can consider this option. Bachelor of Laws (LLB) One more lucrative option after pursuing a BA degree is taking up law as a profession. One can start pursuing LLB after their graduation, which opens many job opportunities in the private and government agencies as a legal advisor. One can also eye the judge's chair upon clearing the Judicial Services exam. Master of Business Administration (MBA) The popularity of MBA in our country is known to all. The sky is the limit after pursuing an MBA. The course specifically nourishes the skills required to handle the business operations in both public and private sectors. If you want to become an entrepreneur in the future, this administrative course helps you a lot. Most of the universities conduct management entrance examinations for an admission to the course. Bachelor of Education (BEd) This open doors for graduates keen on the teaching profession. One who pursues BEd can find employment in schools as a teacher. Along with theoretical teaching, the course also focuses on nourishing the teaching skills of candidates. Diploma Courses Over the years, the diploma courses have delivered positive results in providing employment opportunities. The major advantage of pursuing the diploma courses is the fact that they are short-term; they are provide practical knowledge. Starting from animation to computer technology, arts students can opt for a lot of diploma courses. These are some of the top career options to pursue after acquiring a degree in BA. Most of the journalism institutes consider a BA degree as the primary educational requirement to pursue mass communication courses. One can also take up offbeat programmes such as event management with a graduate degree in BA. What To Do After BA in English Literature? Photo: Tommy Gun's A national chain of men's barber shops is backing down in its dispute with an independent operator in Nova Scotia. Tommy Gun's Original Barbershop says it "sincerely apologizes" for a cease-and-desist letter sent to Thong Luong, the owner of Tommy's Barber Shop in north-end Dartmouth. Luong says he received the letter alleging trademark infringement earlier this month, but that he had no intention of complying. He says he received offers from three lawyers to take his case pro bono, and a Nova Scotia cabinet minister also spoke out on his behalf. Service Nova Scotia Minister Geoff MacLellan told reporters he didn't see how the name of a small barber shop could confuse customers or depreciate the national chain's brand. Tommy Gun's backed down Thursday evening through a statement posted on Twitter, wishing Luong "every success in the future." "Now that we have all of the relevant information, we do not intend to pursue this matter any further," the chain's statement read. "Mr. Luong is well within his legal rights to use his name for his barbershop." Luong, a father of three who immigrated to Canada from Vietnam as a teenager in 1984, said earlier Thursday that he was "proud" of his shop. "Every time my kids go shopping with me, and they see someone call me 'Hi Tommy' they're so proud and they said 'Dad, everybody like you. I never see a person who don't like you.'" MacLellan said there are no issues as far as the province is concerned Tommy's Barber Shop is registered with Nova Scotia's Registry of Joint Stocks and is "completely compliant." "What Tommy Gun's offers in terms of the consistency of the layout, the products, the services, it's very different than what you would see at an independent barber," said MacLellan. After finishing high school, Luong said he worked 90 hours a week, washing dishes and fixing jewelry until he opened his own barbershop in 2003, six years before Tommy Gun's Original Barbershop registered its trademark. Photo: CTV The occupants of a tent city on the Nanaimo waterfront are calling for action on affordable housing. Tents popped up near Port Place Mall recently, with residents calling the camp "Discontent City." They say false promises were made after a similar camp was removed from the grounds of Nanaimo City Hall earlier this year. Activists say the campers want to see homes not shelters built for the homeless. "Sometimes, you can get moved five times in a night. People are displaced every day and that's what this is about," said Mercedes Courtoreille. with files from CTV Vancouver Island Photo: Colin Dacre A Penticton business owner is sounding the alarm about a scammer making the rounds recently in the community. Wine Master owner Marla Truman said three weeks ago a man estimated to be 65 came into her shop at Apple Plaza just off Main Street with a story about how he locked his keys in his vehicle. He tells the businesses the tow truck company is demanding money up front, and his wallet is at home, begging to borrow money to get back into his vehicle. He was dressed OK, regular looking guy, nice jacket, she said. Truman says the man sells his story well, mentioning he had a recent heart attack and the stress of the situation is hard on his health. He even offers an expensive-looking, but ultimately fake, gold watch as collateral for the loan. Truman never took the bait, but in talking to other businesses in the area over the past few weeks shes heard of at least four others that have given the man money between $20-$100 only to never see him again. We are just trying to get it out there, because he seems to be working the crowd pretty good, she said, explaining there are reports of him being active as recently as this week. Business owners that believe they have interacted with this man should call the RCMP or Crimestoppers. Photo: RDKB Rain in southern British Columbia has eased, but concerns about flooding remain high in dozens of communities, from the Fraser Valley east to Alberta. Environment Canada has lifted a special weather statement that forecast up to 40 millimetres of rain for the Boundary and Similkameen regions, which were already coping with thousands of evacuations caused by rivers swollen from snowmelt after recent hot weather. Despite the improved conditions, flood warnings were posted Friday for the Salmon River near Falkland and Salmon Arm, as well as the Slocan River just north of Castlegar in the same area where more than 60 properties were placed on evacuation alert on Thursday. Flood warnings remained in effect for the Granby, Kettle and West Kettle rivers affecting communities that included Grand Forks, which saw flooding last week as water reached historically high levels. A spokeswoman for the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary says those rivers are expected to peak by midday Saturday. Frances Maika said about 12 members of the military had arrived to assist with sandbagging and the Central Okanagan Regional District said 45 soldiers were working to protect a West Kelowna neighbourhood threatened by rising water levels from Okanagan Lake. About 300 soldiers arrived in B.C. from Edmonton on Thursday in response to a provincial request for federal assistance as about 4,500 people have been forced from their homes by flooding and a further 7,000 have been told to be ready to leave on short notice. The arrival of a contingent of at least a dozen members of the 3rd Canadian Division based in Edmonton has been a dramatic morale booster for overwhelmed residents of Grand Forks, said Maika. "When you have children and elderly people sandbagging who are exhausted, to see 12 big guys show up who are fresh and have a lot of endurance, that's a good thing," she said. The community was preparing for the rivers to peak and Maika said that is expected before midday Saturday. "We were looking (Thursday) night at two alternatives ... severe flooding or catastrophic flooding," Maika said. "It looks like, from the forecast right now, that severe flooding is our option." Once the waters peak, Maika said there's concern eroded river banks that have been supported by the raging waters could begin to collapse as the rivers recede. About 40 riverside properties could be affected and Maika said owners have been warned to get out if they spot further erosion of the banks. Officials were also keeping close watch on levels on the Fraser River from Prince George south to the Fraser Valley as evacuation alerts were posted in many communities along most of the river's length, although no severe flooding had been reported. The River Forecast Centre says as much as 80 per cent of the annual snowpack still remains at higher elevations and high melt rates have gradually increased flows across rivers in the central and southern Interior. But the centre says the chance of those rivers flooding from snowmelt alone has fallen dramatically, although there was still a risk if heavy rains return. In order for the country to show the so-called V-shaped recovery, it will be necessary to practically double the growth... Forgotten Palestinian Christians Are Fighting to Survive in Land Where Jesus Lived and Died Christian Post Contributor | 18 May, 2018 by Stoyan Zaimov An evangelical ministry has said that in the midst of all the turmoil surrounding Jerusalem and Gaza, a dwindling number of Palestinian Christians are fighting to survive in the land where Jesus Christ was born and sacrificed Himself for the world. "We all need Christ, but in Palestine, it's the land of Christ, and that's an issue and a problem, and I will say a challenge and a potential at the same time. The challenge is that this is the land of Christ where He was born, where He gave His life as a sacrifice on behalf of all the [world]," said Bethlehem Bible College's President Jack Sara. "It's the birthplace and the resurrection place, and the Holy Spirit place. And the Church, it started there. Yet, nowadays Christians don't make up even 1.5 percent of the total population," Sara told Mission Network News on Wednesday. The official opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, along with the violence that has swarmed around it, remains a highly divisive topic among the international community and local Christians. What many Palestinians are saying is that they continue to see Muslims and Jews give their lives to Christ, but feel forgotten by the Western world in their plight in the Gaza Strip and other economically-ravaged areas. Others, such as Fr. Mario da Silva, a Roman Catholic priest, have warned that the harsh living conditions have led to the Christian population in Gaza being reduced to no more than 1,000 people, down from 4,500 just six years ago. Gazans "live like it's an open air prison since we can't leave. We can't visit relatives, look for work, medicine or good hospitals on the outside," Silva said in April. "It's really a prison. People don't have any money and the situation is terrible. There is widespread poverty," he added. Sara, who also served as senior pastor with Alliance Church in the Holy Land, told MNN that followers of Christ are simply unable to continue living in the area. Despite the decline in numbers, the Palestinian believers say they are "being used by God to build His Kingdom." "This is the epicenter of a lot of things. So when we talk about the epicenter, I would say [of] God's history and salvation history. That means it's really a place where Satan hates so much and there are a lot of spiritual forces that are attacking the people. Just think, that area never knew peace," Sara added. "That area had a lot of bloodshed. That area had a lot of, actually still, turmoil till now, no rest in the country." Read more about Palestinian Christians on The Christian Post. 'I am Not a Bigot': Robert Jeffress Responds to Mitt Romney's Twitter Attack 17 May, 2018 by Michael Gryboski , | First Baptist Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress has denounced former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's accusation that he's a "religious bigot." "Robert Jeffress says 'you can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.' He's said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem," Romney tweeted on Sunday. In an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs Monday night, Jeffress said he took issue with Romney's claims and asserted, "I am not a bigot." "Many of those comments [in Romney's tweet] are either manufactured or ripped out of context. I hold to historic Christianity that believes that Jesus Christ offers the way to Heaven," explained Jeffress. "The fact that people don't agree with that is fine, but it's wrong to call tens of millions of evangelical Christians like me bigoted because we follow the words and teachings of Jesus who said: 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me.'" When Dobbs asked if Jeffress expected an apology from Romney for his comments, the megachurch pastor laughed and responded, "I'm not waiting by my Twitter." In 2012, when Romney became the first Mormon to secure the presidential nomination of the Republican Party, Jeffress garnered controversy for labeling Mormonism a "cult." Read more about 'I am Not a Bigot': Robert Jeffress Responds to Mitt Romney's Twitter Attack on The Christian Post. Ohio Megachurch Pumps Out Free Gas for Over 100 Drivers to Show Love of Jesus 17 May, 2018 by Samuel Smith/CP , | A campus of an eight-location multiracial megachurch in Ohio celebrated its 10th anniversary by buying gas for over 100 cars on Saturday. The Liberty Campus of Victory Christian Center, an Assemblies of God congregation that has eight campuses across Ohio and Pennsylvania, spent over $3,200 to buy 10 gallons of gas for the first 100 cars that stopped by a local BP station on Saturday morning as a way of giving thanks to a community it has served for the last decade. Led by VCC Liberty pastor Lock P. Beachum Jr. and aided by local police, about 30 volunteers from the church manned the pumps at the gas station and blessed Youngstown-area residents by pumping fuel paid for by the church's community outreach initiative Operation Impact. Beachum told The Christian Post that for over an hour, he and the volunteers provided at least 112 cars with about $30.00 worth of gas each. "I actually heard about a couple of people who cried. They were just so blown away of this act of kindness," Beachum told CP. "Our church is in a distressed area, so [for] a number of folk just being in the situation of life that they are in, that [meant a lot]. It equated to 30 dollars." According to the pastor, only a "select few" members of the church were told about the giveaway. "We didn't want the word to get out. Simply put, when that day came on Saturday morning, just like anything else, word had already kind of leaked out a little bit so some people already knew. I also did a Facebook Live [video]," Beachum said. "All the people waiting in line were, I'm sure, calling all their friends and telling everybody they are getting free gas." In addition to the gas, church volunteers handed out free snacks and water to the drivers. Beachum explained that although the plan was only to give out 10 gallons of gas to 100 cars, some beneficiaries of the giveaway felt so blessed that they donated to the ministry, which in turn helped pay for gas for more cars. "One of the folk that got the free gas, they said, 'Thank you for the incredible blessing. I feel so blessed that I want to give some money to the ministry,'" Beachum said. "We took that money that they gave us to the ministry and we put it towards more gas. So we ended up servicing 112 cars rather than 100 cars that was planned." Read more about Ohio Megachurch Pumps Out Free Gas for Over 100 Drivers to Show Love of Jesus on The Christian Post. Parent Outraged After School Gives Students Worksheet on Writing Islamic Faith Declaration Christian Post Contributor | 18 May, 2018 by Samuel Smith A Christian parent in West Virginia has voiced outrage after his seventh-grade daughter brought home a packet from her social studies class this week that includes a page asking students to practice writing the Islamic declaration of faith in Arabic calligraphy. Rich Penkoski, a conservative Christian who runs an online ministry called Warriors for Christ, contacted Principal Ron Branch at Mountain Ridge Middle School in Gerrardstown to voice his concerns about the packet on Islam that was given out as part of the class' world religions unit. While the packet went into detail about the history of Islam, the prophet Muhammad and the five pillars of the religion, Penkoski was most upset with a worksheet toward the end of the packet that instructs students to practice calligraphy by copying the Arabic form of the Shahada by hand. The Shahada, one of the pillars of Islam, is the Islamic profession of faith that declares belief in one true God and Muhammad being a messenger of God. "I saw the assignment of writing the Shahada in Arabic. Their excuse was calligraphy," Penkoski told The Christian Post. "I was like, 'Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!' First of all, calligraphy was invented in China 3,000 years prior to Muhammad. The fact that they were trying to get my daughter to write that disturbed me.'" "I said, 'That is not happening. My daughter is not doing that,'" Penkoski continued. "My daughter told me that if she didn't do the assignment then she was going to get a [detention] slip." After contacting the school, Penkoski was told that the teacher, Katherine Hinson, did not actually assign the packet to the class to complete for a grade but simply printed it out and gave it to the class as an optional reading. However, the Penkoskis claim that the school is only now saying it is optional because they raised concerns. "Why would they print all that out and then tell them they don't have to do it?" Penkoski asked. "When they were given a packet [on Christianity], which didn't go into that much detail, they did have to write an essay. So you're telling me they don't have to do it now that I called you on it? It makes no sense and it is not consistent." Penkoski also claims that on Tuesday, the day after he voiced his complaint, his daughter came home with the same exact packet. Although certain areas of the packet were crossed off this time, Penkoski's daughter, Brielle, contends that the calligraphy assignment was still given to the class. "The teacher told them they have to do that one," Rich Penkoski asserted. "I called the principal again." "I said, 'This is not OK in asking my kid to write down the Shahada.' The teacher happened to walk-in and said she made it an option and that the kids didn't have to do it. My daughter conflicted that story and said, 'No, that is not what was said.' What was said was, 'Do the assignment and if you want to learn more about the Quran, ask your parents.'" Read more about the Parent's Outrage on The Christian Post. Transgender Woman Sues Waxing Spa After Muslim Employee Declined Service for Religious Reasons 18 May, 2018 by Michael Gryboski , | A transgender woman who was born male has filed a complaint against a Canadian beauty waxing spa after a female Muslim employee declined service over religious reasons. The complaint was brought before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario against Mad Wax of Windsor in response to a female Muslim employee who was opposed to touching a biologically male body. Carruthers, president and CEO of Mad Wax Windsor Camp Inc., released a statement last week, confirming he had received the complaint and that he respects the religious beliefs of his employees. "All clients regardless of sex, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation are welcome," stated Carruthers, as quoted by CTV News. "However, we also welcome staff members and respect their religious beliefs and feelings of safety and dignity in regards to the right not to perform waxing services on males or male genitals." Ray Colautti, attorney for Carruthers, echoed the CEO's comments about the need to respect the beliefs of the staff and that no one else was available to perform the waxing. "[Mad Wax] respects its own staff and religious beliefs and feelings of safety and dignity in regards to the right in not performing waxing services that they don't feel comfortable providing," stated Colautti, as quoted by iheartradio.ca. According to the complaint, the transgender individual, who has remained anonymous, contacted Mad Wax in March for an appointment. However, the professional hair removal company declined service, noting that the staffer who does male hair removal was on sick leave while the only other staffer who did body waxes was a Muslim woman who refused physical contact with any males she was not related to. The unnamed transgender woman is suing the company for $50,000 as compensation for what the complaint identified as "immense harm to her dignity." Read more about this Transgender Woman Who Sues A Waxing Spa for Religious Reasons on The Christian Post. Va. Ministry Opens First-Ever Church-Run Grocery Store to Provide Affordable Food to Needy Christian Post Contributor | 18 May, 2018 by Samuel Smith A nondenominational church in Virginia claims to be the first church in history to open up its own nonprofit grocery store to provide its local impoverished community discounted groceries at up to three-quarters of the cost of regular grocery stores. Last month, The Vineyard Church in Hampton hosted the grand relaunching of its nonprofit, The Storehouse. The Storehouse, which is located in the back of the church, exists with the purpose of providing affordable food and household necessities to many in the Hampton Roads area who don't know where their next meal is going to come from. Although The Storehouse first opened in October 2015, it was initially only a benefit available to church members, pastor Jacob Hopson told The Christian Post on Thursday. But as the store grew and Hopson and the church leadership got a better understanding of how to run it, the store was eventually opened up to the public. "We went from once a month to every Saturday to doing it weekly. It went from doing it two or three days a week to doing it five days a week now and opening it up to the general public," he explained. "We started off and saw that our members had about a 75 percent reduction in their grocery budget." The grand relaunching of the store, which took place on April 15, was attended by local politicians and several community members. Over 18,000 people have benefited from shopping at the store since its inception. At the store, customers can find a wide variety of needs they might find at a normal grocery store anything from Poptarts and laundry detergent to produce, dairy and meat. "We don't do anything like skirt steak, we actually do filet mignon and New York strip. We do bone-in sirloin," Hopson explained. "We do high-end stuff that keeps them eating like kings and queens on a pauper's budget." In the Hampton area, there is a high percentage of the population that suffers from food insecurity, or the lack of consistent access to a sufficient quantity of nutritious food. According to WAVY, as many as 16 to 26 percent of the Hampton area suffers from food insecurity. "That is the number of people who don't know where their next meal is coming from," Hopson, a disabled Air Force veteran who has survived two heart attacks and cancer, said. "The area that we are in is an economically challenged area. Even though it is right down the street from the beach, there are a lot of drugs in the area. Not only are we doing this in helping them in their need, but we are actually here to help some people get off of drugs. We are still doing other missions of the church but we are just doing this other aspect as well." Open five days per week to the public Tuesday through Saturday and to the church members on Sunday, customers of The Storehouse are aided in their experience by a personal shopper who will hold their basket and take them throughout the store. When the customer is done, the shopper will even carry the customer's bags to their car. Read more about this First Ever Church-Run Grocery Store on The Christian Post. Just about the only unequivocal example of evil most Americans can agree on are the Nazis. Its why whats known as Godwins Law holds that the longer an online argument about some issue goes on, the more likely it is that someone is going to invoke Adolf Hitler: We all agree that being like Hitler is bad. But as a disturbing new report suggests, an increasing percentage of Americans dont really know why Hitler and his henchmen are considered to be evil incarnate. A study conducted by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference for short, found that forty-one percent of all respondents, and two-thirds of millennials, could not correctly identify Auschwitz. Not surprisingly, 45 percent couldnt name a single concentration camp. Only half knew that six million Jews perished in the Holocaust. One-third put the number murdered at two million or less. Even worse, Twenty-two percent of millennials in the poll said they havent heard of the Holocaust or are not sure whether theyve heard of it. Paradoxically, nearly three-in-five of those interviewed believe the Holocaust could happen again and half think it could happen in the United States. Given the overall level of ignorance about the Holocaust itself, its not clear what theyre basing their opinions on. The head of the Claims Conference, Julius Berman, told the Times of Israel that, We are alarmed that todays generation lacks some of the basic knowledge about these atrocities. The Conferences vice-president added that there remain troubling gaps in Holocaust awareness while survivors are still with us; imagine when there are no longer survivors here to tell their stories. What makes this report especially troubling is that there has been a rise in anti-Semitism both in the United States and, especially, abroad. While anti-Semitism is, in the words of historian Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, The Devil That Never Dies, it was, for a while at least, driven mostly underground by the Third Reichs crimes against the Jews of Europe. Now, to paraphrase the book of Exodus, a generation has arisen that knows not Auschwitz. On the left, criticism of Israeli policy, some of which is arguably warranted, has fostered alliances with loathsome anti-Semites, Hamas, and Holocaust deniers. One prominent left-wing British politician even called Hitler a Zionist. I wish I were making that up. On the right, ask any prominent Jewish commentator about how quickly his or her comment boxes fill up with anti-Semitic bile. Sometimes, you dont even have to be Jewish: David French of the National Review, who is an Evangelical Christian, was subjected to pictures of his seven-year-old daughter in a gas chamber. On a personal note, when my father was a teenager, German troops massacred thousands of their former Italian allies on his home island of Cephalonia in Greece. The Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously wrote that Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Growing up, especially in the New York area, I cant imagine that people could ever forget the lessons of World War II and the Holocaust, much less not know what Auschwitz is. Well, it appears that people not only have forgotten the past, they never bothered to learn about it in the first place. Its an ignorance that leaves us, effectively, without a Devil, which makes it as dangerous as it is inexcusable. BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions. Eric Metaxas is a co-host of BreakPoint Radio and a best-selling author whose biographies, children's books, and popular apologetics have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com Publication date: May 18, 2018 Violence enters the human story from nearly the beginning: While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him (Gen. 4:8). The Genesis narrative notes that violence soon becomes endemic. In a mere two chapters, we read, Now the earth was corrupt in Gods sight and was full of violence (Gen. 6:11). And God said to Noah, I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth (Gen. 6:13). God hates violence. We see that especially in the prophets. Ezekiel: He [God] said to me, Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? (8:17). Hosea: Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence (12:1). Obadiah: Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever (v. 10). If the Bible is to be trusted, violence is cause for divine destruction of the people who practice and countenance it. Americans might take note. It nearly goes without saying the United States is a violent culture. Yes, places like El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela, and Jamaica have much higher per capita murder rates. But compare the United States with other high-income countries, and we see this: According to 2010 data from the World Health Organization, gun homicide rates range from 0 (UK) to 3 (Finland) deaths per million. No country comes anywhere close to the US rate of 36. When it comes to countries with the most mass shootings between 1966 and 2012, among other developed nations, France experienced 10, Russia had 15, and the Philippines had 18. The US? 90. Mass shootings force us to pay attention to our violent DNA. They also prompt our endless debates about guns. One side argues that fewer guns in fewer hands will lead to fewer gun deaths. There is some evidence to suggest this. After four mass shootings in Australia between 1987 and 1996, Parliament passed stricter gun laws; except for one incident this month, the country hasnt had a mass shooting since. Then again, when assault weapons were banned in the US between 1994 and 2004, it had little effect on gun crime overall (to be clear, only 2 percent of gun crimes before the ban involved assault weapons). If the ban contributed to a decrease in mass shootings, the rates were minor. Which is why the other side assumes that limiting guns, including assault weapons, wont help. For example, places like Norway, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany have relatively high rates of gun ownership (though still below that of the US) and yet relatively low crime rates. Back and forth it goes. Each side has valid points, and as Christians enter this debate, we should not cocoon ourselves but really try to listen to the other side. Only then might we help formulate policies that can work for all Americans. Heres how CT views the issue: Owning guns is legitimate, and guns have reasonable recreational uses, including sport shooting and hunting. But guns are one of many potentially dangerous items of everyday lifelike driving, like making fires, like flying. To make society safer, we regulate such activities. Counter to arguments from the National Rifle Association, to regulate rights does not restrict freedom but actually makes it possible. We Christians, for example, champion the right to practice religion freely while gladly submitting to building and zoning codes, noise laws, and many other restrictions for the sake of community harmony. So while we support the legitimacy of owning guns, given the violence of our land and Gods hatred of violence, we also see a need to regulate the purchase and use of guns. In particular, we Christians should work to ban weapons whose main purpose is to kill a lot of people very quickly, to keep guns in general out of the hands of unstable personalities, and to ensure that everyone who buys and owns guns can demonstrate they know how to use and store them safely. Will this alone eliminate American violence? Hardly. The problem runs too deeply in our veins as descendants of Cain. Other contributors (like the glorification of guns and violence in TV and movies, to name just one) must also be addressed. Nonetheless, increased gun safety is one small step that could become the first of many that together forestall our divine destruction. Mark Galli is editor in chief of Christianity Today. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. I grew up in the 1960s in one of the many daisy-chain suburbs surrounding Los Angeles. Seven of us, two adults and five children, struggled for living space in a tiny two-bedroom rental house. My father worked on an assembly line during the day; my mother worked nights as a waitress. Our family was hard-working, but the foundation was dysfunctionala house built on sinking sand. Church, religion, and the Bible were unknown. Mother was a pill-popper. I dont know what she took or where she got them, but she was always looking for sleeping pills when she came home in the morning and something to get her going when she left for work in the evening. Whether down or up, she had a fiery temper and would spank us with whatever implement was handy. I always felt that she cared the least for me. I think that feeling was the lead domino in a spiraling loss of self-esteem. One day, when I was nine, she abruptly ran off with the cook where she worked. Perhaps she would have contacted us had it not been for a car wreck that ended her life shortly thereafter. Dad, who never had more than a social drink, rapidly found solace in alcohol. One morning, I awoke to find him molesting me. Eventually the police intervened, but he and my brothers were able to convince them that I was only having a bad dream. That was the proverbial last straw. I felt isolated and unloved by a mother who had abandoned me, a father who had molested me, and siblings who seemed indifferent. So at age 10 I ran away from home, only to be picked up as a runaway. For three years, my life was a vicious recurring cycle: running away from foster homes, being picked up like a stray dog, and being sent back to juvenile hall. All told, I stayed in eight foster homes. Some were nice, but you werent allowed to stay in those you liked because you might become too attached. Most gave you food and water and little else. Emotional Upheaval While I was in juvenile hall, I learned about drugs from some of the older girls. A great way to forget your problems, they said. This was the 1960s, and California was becoming a major narcotics hub. Little was known about the dangers of drugs, and they were easy to obtain. When I was high on the drug Seconal, commonly called Reds, my poor self-image disappeared. I was one of the gang (my group of other users). I was accepted. I quickly had friends. At age 13, I met Sammy Perillo, who was 19. We crossed the border into Mexico and married in quickie fashion. To get closer to Sammy and his drug of choice, heroin, I started shooting up. Sammy and I had a beautiful little girl who died as an infant. After he went to prison, I delivered his twins, but only one survived. I never saw Sammy again. To support my habit and my son, I danced at a strip joint. Needing money (addiction is not cheap), I teamed up with a man named Mike Briddle to rob one of its frequent customers. Fleeing California with Mike and his wife, we hitchhiked to Houston, Texas, where we were picked up by a stranger needing help to move into his new house. Mike noticed that the man had a roll of money. High on PCP (also called angel dust), we murdered him and his friend and left for Colorado. Our trio stayed in a seedy hotel in Denver when I realized I could no longer withstand the emotional upheaval within, that little glow from a divine coal that was waiting to burst into flames. I confessed to the police, and they extradited me to Texas, where I had been indicted in absentia for capital murder. A swift trial followed, then a verdict of death by lethal injection. During my daily high in California, I had often said, Let me die with a needle in my arm. Now it would come to pass. My own words had condemned me. While I waited in Houston to transfer to a womens prison before my execution, a woman involved in prison ministry, came to visit. This angel talked about Christ and his path to forgiveness. I was receptive. I was ready. And I was eager to hear more. Under her direction, I recited the sinners prayer. After 24 years of being tossed about like a dry chunk of dirt, God poured in the waters of life and began molding me for his purpose. Article continues below Knowing Forgiveness Many believers encounter Jesus in dramatic fashion, and they are changed instantly, like Saul on the Damascus Road. For others, like me, salvation feels more like a process than a moment. It takes time. When I first accepted Jesus, I felt a change, but I found it hard to believe the change was for real. How could God ever forgive me for the horrible crime I had committed? My mind said this could not be so. My soul was in torment. After I was transferred to a prison in Huntsville, Texas, my angel from Houston still visited me. She brought me a Bible, and to relieve my doubts she would frequently say, Pam, you must forgive yourself. To do otherwise is denying Gods grace and mercy. But she was also adamant that I confirm my salvation by using the gift of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongueswhich I just couldnt seem to do. Once again, I felt dejected and unlovedeven by God. The bed in my concrete cell was an iron slab cantilevered from the wall. I crawled under it and pulled the covers down to the floor to form a tent. Inside, I cried and begged God to allow me to speak in tongues, but all I could manage were inarticulate groans. My tears covered the floor in puddles. (For what its worth, I do not condemn this godly woman for her convictions on the gift of tongues. In fact, she gave me the motivation to press on and continue studying the Bible, where I learned that the Holy Spirit bestows many other gifts.) It was only after a woman named Karla Faye Tucker arrived on Texas Death Row that I grew to experience full confidence in my salvation. I tried to lead her to Christ myself, but God meant it to come from another source: a prison puppet show performed by Teen Challenge, along with a free Bible. Karla Fayes redemption was dramatic, remarkable, and the subject of movies. Her vocal commitment to Christ resounded throughout the world before her execution. And her magnificent conversion was the spiritual cement I needed. I knew then that in Christ, God can forgive anyone, no matter how severe their transgressions. Prison without Christ is probably as close to Hell as one can come. You are alone, spiritually empty, and consumed with hate. But we Christians have a joy that provokes others to ask why. Fortunately, the Texas prison system allows for church, Bible-study groups, and even a faith-based dorm developed in Karla Fayes memory. These meetings are open to everyone, and I have shared my testimony on many occasions. In 2000, I received welcome news: My sentence had been reduced from death to life in prison. And today, as I pray for parole after nearly 40 years of incarceration, I give thanks for how God was directing my path to salvation, even in my lowest momentseven as I made one terrible choice after another. As grateful as I am to have escaped death row, I am a thousand times more grateful for the promise of eternal life. Pamela Perillo trains service dogs for disabled veterans through the Patriot PAWS program. John T. Thorngren is the author of Salvation on Death Row: The Pamela Perillo Story (KiCam Projects). Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. Evangelical Christian men will, sooner or later, be told to check out Jordan Peterson, a 55-year-old University of Toronto psychology professor. His book 12 Rules for Life has sold 700,000 copies since January in North America alone. New York Times columnist David Brooks called him possibly the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now; The Guardians Tim Lott adds that hes fast becoming the closest that academia has to a rock star. Peterson, formerly at Harvard University, became a hero to conservatives and free speech advocates in 2016 by opposing the Canadian governments plans to regulate speech about transgender persons. He also became a target of public protest (at the University of Toronto, Queens University, and Linfield College), media attacks (most notably, an infamous interview on Britains Channel 4), and intellectual scorn. Houman Barekat wrote in the Los Angeles Review of Books that Peterson positions himself as a prancing messiah-cum-surrogate-dad for gormless dimwits everywhere. One filmmaker called 12 Rules a book for neo-Klansmen. Peterson defenders say his quotes are misunderstood. His appeal to Christians is pervasive. Peterson is a charismatic speaker who offers clear guidance on morals and mannersRule #1: Stand up straight; Rule #7: Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient). He takes evil seriously: Youre bad enough, as other people know you. But only you know the full range of your secret transgressions, insufficiencies and inadequacies. Peterson also esteems the church and traditional family values. He loves biblical teaching ... 1 You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. Former President Jimmy Carter has accepted an invitation to deliver the commencement address at Liberty University on Saturday. Many will view this announcement as surprising, some even as disappointing for one reason or another. I view it as hopeful. Carter is a progressive evangelical; the Falwell family and Liberty University identify with fundamentalist evangelicalism. Politically, Carter is generally liberal while the Falwells are conservative. Historically, Carter and Libertys late founder Jerry Falwell Sr. had differed sharply and personally on multiple issuesmost notably civil rights and American defense of Israel. So why, in this current era of adversarial politics in the state and even in the church, are the two contrasting forces coming together? It is less surprising that Carter is willing to accept the invitation than that Liberty chose to offer it in the first place. While the former president can be unflinching on what he views as absolute moral principles (such as his opposition to racism), his career-long natural instinct has been to bring people together as much as possible (like when he met with former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1978 at Camp David). To work cooperatively with a broad range of evangelicals in achieving common evangelistic and social justice goals would not normally be difficult for Carter. By contrast, fundamentalists, almost by definition, are more or less separatists. But Jerry Falwell Sr. modified that separatist mentality by entering the political arena as the founder of the Morality Majority, which set out to influence the conservative social agenda. Gradually his college and his successor, son Jerry Falwell Jr., came to embrace the Republican Party as a vehicle for implementing their social goals. We all know what happened next. The nation unexpectedly elected a Republican president who supported much of the conservative agenda but did not reflect the Christian virtues of moral purity and intellectual honesty in his personal life. Falwell Jr.s support for President Donald Trump created a sense of ethical dissonance. A significant number of the Liberty students objected strongly and publicly to the stance of their leadership. Had the institution sacrificed its soul for political advantage? Had it confused its moral agenda with its chosen political institution for advancing it? And then came the big surprise. In 2017 both Carter and Falwell Jr. attended Donald Trumps first presidential prayer breakfast. Carter reached out to the son of his former adversary, and Falwell Jr. was grateful. The Liberty president was a trained lawyer (educated at the University of Virginia) and greatly enjoyed politics and prominent politicians. Falwell invited leading Republicans and Democrats to Lynchburg for major assemblies. (University leadership has explained that they extend invitations to politicians from both parties, but GOP figures have been more likely to accept. Barack Obama was invited to speak in 2012, for example, but opted to send Virginia Senator Tim Kaine instead.) While outsiders might assume Carters invitation was motivated by a desire to assuage the dissenting students, Falwell expressed genuine appreciation for his record as a Christian and humanitarian in the Liberty press release announcing Carter as the ceremonys speaker: I was so impressed with the presidents warmth, kind demeanor, and humility. It is one of the greatest honors of my life to welcome President Carter to our Commencement stage. I have tremendous respect for him as a statesman and a true Christian. While Christians may disagree about what role government should play in serving those in need, the Liberty University community along with all Christians worldwide are united in the belief that we, as individuals, should provide food and shelter to the poor. President Carter, both during his time in office and since, has followed the teachings of Christ by serving the poor and loving his neighbors. I am thrilled that he will be sharing the story of his life of faith in action to our graduates and their families. Article continues below Indeed Carters post-presidential career is as significant as that of any president, including other noteworthy examples like Herbert Hoover and John Quincy Adams. Through the Carter Center, he has continued his international humanitarian work in disease eradication, conflict resolution, human rights, and the promotion of democracy. So now the nonagenarian Carter93 years old and apparently recovered from a serious bout with canceris coming to the college whose founder also began the movement that helped to defeat him in his presidential reelection bid in 1980. The longest-surviving president in history (37 years and counting since he left office) and the leader of arguably the fastest-growing American Christian college of the past century are engaging in a mutual spirit of reconciliation and intellectual openness. There must be a lesson here for all Christians. Its time for us to put biblical principles at the center of our approach to political clashes and remember: The kingdom of God is above all human institutions, including political ones. Yet, we must seek to live out the kingdom of God ideals as best we can in this imperfect world. Other Christians seeking the same ideals will reach different conclusions than we do. We must humbly realize that God distributes his wisdom widely. As Christians, its up to us to exercise kindness in the midst of intense debate. The process (charity) is no less important than the product (truth). The wise participant in an intense discussion will recognize that passion often stems less from the specific issue at hand than from a longer-standing and more personal issue. We can eagerly listen for the best ideas of the other person or side and find points of empathy. In our lives, we should advocate for the social principles we find in Scripture (e.g. Mark 12:31, James 1:27, Matt. 25:3536, Rom. 12:18); vote for people of ability, character, integrity, and goodwill; and then expect those legislators, as much as possible, to apply their high values to the specific issues of the day. Ultimately God is our truth. As it says in Jeremiah 29:13, Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all of your heart (KJV). The closer you come to truth, the closer you come to the mind of God. William Ringenberg is an adjunct professor of history at Taylor University and author of The Christian College: A History of Protestant Higher Education in America andThe Christian College and the Meaning of Academic Freedom. Speaking Out is Christianity Todays guest opinion column and (unlike an editorial) does not necessarily represent the opinion of the magazine. | Image: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Update (August 19): After a court of appeals ruled in favor a Trump administration policy barring federal funding for clinics that offer abortion referrals, Planned Parenthood announced on Monday it will withdraw from a government program that offers low-income women reproductive healthcare. Title X currently provides 1.5 million women with contraception, pregnancy tests, and STD screenings. It does not fund abortions. The news that [Planned Parenthood is] refusing to accept taxpayer funds to target vulnerable women is a good thing for women's health, said Catherine Glenn Foster, president and CEO of Americans United for Life in a statement. ...Women who need true healthcare will have their needs met by authentic and eager healthcare providers across America." While policy previously restricted the federal government from covering abortion costs, the new rules go even further in not allowing the funds to go to any clinic that also makes abortion referrals. Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice groups have spent months in a legal battle against the tighter rules. In a tweet, Planned Parenthood wrote that it serves 40 percent of patients in the Title X program. Since Trumps inauguration, the Department of Health and Human Services has once again enabled states to withhold federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers and rescinded an Obama administration memo warning states against blocking Medicaid funding for providers that offered abortion. ---- Pro-life evangelicals are celebrating another move by the Trump administration to cut federal funding for abortion. According to reports, the White House is expected to announce new regulations prohibiting Planned Parenthood and other entities that make abortion referrals from receiving grant money through Title X, the governments quarter-billion-dollar family planning program. Already, Title X funds cannot be used for abortion itself. But Planned Parenthood still receives more than $50 million every year to cover birth control and other services for low-income and uninsured patients. Under the new policy, clinics could not accept the money at all if they perform or recommend abortions. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, called the proposal a responsible and commendable step toward our goal of totally separating taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. The Title X programwhich now supports about 4 million patients and 4,000 providersdates back to 1970. Previously, President Ronald Reagan had put a similar rule in place to restrict the funds from being used to back abortion. The Trump administrations restriction, drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is currently being reviewed by the White House budget office, NPR reported. President Trump has shown decisive leadership, delivering on a key promise to pro-life voters who worked so hard to elect him, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which will host the president at its annual gala in Washington next week. Trump has moved to restrict federal government funding for abortion since taking office by pushing back the policies put in place by his predecessorfollowing up on campaign promises to pro-lifers and answering many Christians prayers. A majority of Americans60 percentoppose the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion, according to a Marist Poll conducted in January. Im grateful that my tax dollars will not fund Planned Parenthood, thanks to the Trump administration, to Vice President Mike Pence, to Kellyanne Conway, and to the many pro-lifers in the Department of Health and Human Services who have worked tirelessly to fulfill their campaign promise, a promise made to the pro-life movement for the past decade, said Abby Johnson, president of And Then There Were None, a ministry for former abortion clinic staff. In January, the Trump administration rescinded an Obama administration memo warning states against blocking Medicaid funding for abortion providers. Last year, it reversed an earlier policy barring states from withholding Title X funds for abortion clinics. Trump also reinstated a ban on federal funding for organizations performing abortions abroad. After the administration freed states to set their own regulations for clinic funding, more than a dozen have moved to defund Planned Parenthood either through diverting federal Medicaid or Title X funding or cutting off state funding to abortion providers. Nebraska and Tennessee were among the most recent states to do so, approving new restrictions just last month. Some of these state-level efforts have been challenged in court; for example, a federal appeals court ruled last month against Ohios policy blocking federal funding from Planned Parenthood was unconstitutional. Last year, a court ruling favored Arkansass decision to end Medicaid funding for its two Planned Parenthood affiliates. The governor of South Carolina also directed its state agencies to cut off funding for abortion clinics. We thank President Trump for the numerous actions his administration has taken to restore pro-life policies, said National Right to Life President Carol Tobias. We are encouraged to see the announcement of Title X regulations that are back in line with previous policy that prevents federal dollars from being used to directly or indirectly promote abortion domestically. Christianity Today previously reported how the Trump administration has turned HHS from a pro-life antagonist to an advocate, including adopting new protections for health care workers who refuse to perform abortions. Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice advocates are expected to counter the latest pro-life policy shift in court, as theyve done for previous changes, according to Politico. Opponents to the rule say it amounts to a gag order, keeping doctors from referring patients to abortion providers even though abortion remains a legal, FDA-approved option. | Image: White House Less than a week after the first family of suicide bombers killed or injured dozens of worshipers at Sunday services in Indonesia, the countrys top Muslim leader met with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss religious freedom in the face of mounting extremism. Honored to welcome the @NahdlatulUlama Secretary General to the @WhiteHouse today, Pence tweeted after his meeting Thursday with Yahya Cholil Staquf, who leads Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization in the world. Their efforts opposing radical Islam are critical in Indonesiawhere we saw despicable attacks on Christians. @POTUS Trumps admin stands with NU in its fight for religious freedom & against jihad. Last Sunday, a family of sixincluding four childrenbelieved to be affiliated with the terrorist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) set off explosives at three churches in Surabaya, the second-largest city in Indonesia. As the holiday of Ramadan began, Staquf sat down with Pence and senior advisers in the West Wing to discuss the attack, which has heightened ongoing concerns from Christians and Muslims alike over radicalization and sectarian violence. His organizationa Sunni group with as many as 50 million membershas been championed as a model of moderate Islam due to its vocal stance against extremism and its efforts to build healthier relationships across faiths. In 2016, CT reported how NU called for majority-Muslim countries to do more to protect freedoms for Christians and other faiths. One of the victims of Sundays attacks was a Christian trained by NU as a church guard; he died blocking a suicide bomber on a motorcycle. The VP conveyed deeply personal condolences on behalf of the United States for the events of last weekend, reiterated the administrations commitment to helping Indonesia and the NU in its efforts to combat extremism, and offered Ramadan greetings to the NU community, said Johnnie Moore, an evangelical adviser to the Trump administration who also attended. Thursdays meeting builds on Pences trip to Indonesia last year, when he met Staquf for the first time and praised the nations religious tolerance, saying: As the largest majority Muslim country, Indonesias tradition of modern Islam, frankly, is the inspiration to the world. Yet the fringe of radical Muslims in Indonesia is gaining clout, raising the risk of violent attacks and increasing Christian persecution in the political sphere. Last year, religious freedom groups began to question the countrys reputation as a religiously tolerant democracy once its top Christian politician, the governor of the capital city of Jakarta, faced protests from hardline Islamists and ended up convicted of blasphemy. The surprising verdict came as four senior Indonesian political leadersthree Muslims, one Christianwere finishing a US tour seeking partners to promote and preserve the archipelagos pluralism. With the news of Ahoks sentencing to two years in prison, a pall fell over our gathering, wrote Paul Marshall, a professor of religious freedom at Baylor University and a scholar with the Leimena Institute, a Christian think tank in Jakarta. Our very well-informed companions believed this victory for radicalism might be a prelude to the demise of democracy in Indonesia, the worlds largest Muslim-majority country. (Though he explained for CT why he still has hope.) That incident, along with other political discrimination targeting Christians and fellow minorities, earned Indonesia a place among Tier 2 countries for religious freedom violations, as designated by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). (Recently, a few prominent evangelical leaders were appointed to the commission: Moore, who was tapped by the Trump administration for the role, as well as Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and founder Gary Bauer.) In USCIRFs annual report released last month, the independent agency (which makes policy recommendations to the US State Department) suggested the American government train Indonesian officials in counterterrorism so they might better address violence against places of worship, as well as help fund counter-extremism programs. As Marshall explained: If the third-largest democracy on the planet succumbs to Islamic radicalism, then the future of the Muslim world and the rest of us looks dire. The major center of Muslim moderationand the major counter to ISIS and similar ideologieswill be undercut. This will affect us all. Staquf has been vocal about what he sees as a necessary responsibility for Muslims to identify elements within their own traditions and communities that make them prone to radicalization and violence. Western politicians should stop pretending that extremism and terrorism have nothing to do with Islam, he told TIME last September. There is a clear relationship between fundamentalism, terrorism, and the basic assumptions of Islamic orthodoxy. So long as we lack consensus regarding this matter, we cannot gain victory over fundamentalist violence within Islam. A few weeks ago, Paige Pattersons comments on domestic violence went public, setting off a Twitterstorm of condemnation and support. Thousands of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) women have since called for his resignation. For the many women who were willing to sign their names to the statement, there are dozens of others suffering in silence who will never come forward. I know, because I was one of them. I was raised as a Baptist pastors daughter in a small town in Indiana. I spent most of my youth sitting in the front pew, listening to my dads sermons. After graduating high school, I married my high school sweetheart, and together my husband and I continued to be active in my dads congregation. From the outside, we were part of a perfect, multi-generational Baptist family. Behind closed doors, however, I suffered physical, emotional and spiritual abuse at the hands of my husband. After years of soul-crushing torture, I gained the courage to walk away from my marriage. We had tried multiple rounds of counseling, but the abuse was relentless. After crying out to God for help, I clearly felt him release me from my marriage, so with the loving support of my parents, I filed for divorce. Soon after, I was called to a meeting with our churchs deacons, who informed me that I would undergo church discipline for my decision to divorce. One even said, If you do this, God will never use you. My ex-husband received no reprimand for the abuse, though he didnt deny it. By contrast, I eventually had to withdraw my membership and move away, and my father was fired as the churchs pastor for his role in supporting me. I would like to believe that my story is an anomaly. But these problematic beliefs on domestic abuse and divorcelike those represented in the Paige Patterson caseare endemic to parts of the Christian church. (Patterson has since made follow-up statements.) Domestic violence is a bondage that historically has been allowed and even protected in some churches. The very nature of this abuse is satanic, as it steals, kills, and destroys the lives of victims. Yet all too often, church leaders fall back on select verses, rather than the totality of Scripture, to justify their views. The net result: They abandon victims in their suffering. While many leaders in the church cling to wrong and dangerous ideas about abuse, many others are ready to provide aid. Here again, my own story provides evidence. When I was in the midst of divorce, my father called our good family friend, Jerry Falwell Sr., founder of Liberty University, to ask his counsel on how to handle the situation. He told my father, Tell your daughter to get away from that marriage and come to Liberty, where she can meet a young man who will treat her right. Years later, when my second husband (whom I did indeed meet at Liberty) and I were speaking with Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, I shared my story with him. He looked me in the eye and said, What that church did to you was wrong. It is never Gods will for a woman to endure physical abuse to keep a sick marriage alive, he later told me. God hates violence. In fact, the reason he gave in Genesis 6 for destroying the world was because of unbridled violence. To abuse another person is to abuse someone God created in his image; it is tantamount to abusing God himself. (Jeffress has recently commented on the Patterson case.) I had two Southern Baptist leaders affirm Gods love for me and his desire to use my story for his kingdom. Those two men gave me hope that someday, a change would come to the SBC. That day is today. As I track Pattersons case and the larger conversation around it, I see the spirit of God working to bring freedom to the hearts of those whove been captured by domestic violence. Jesus came to set the captives free, and through these brave men and women, the bondage of domestic violence is being lifted. The events of the past few weeks have shed light on a number of injustices that have taken place behind closed doors in various local churches. The light is shining, too, on the broader Christian church and its response to domestic violence. We must stop putting the impetus on victims to fix their spouses sinful behavior. As we look to the future, pastors and other church leaders have the opportunity to be instruments of light or darkness. Today and every day, I pray they will listen to the voices of their sisters and choose to cast light on the shadows. Autumn Miles is a speaker, author, and radio show host. In 2017, she worked with LifeWay Research to commission a study on domestic violence in the church and produced resources to help pastors better help victims. Her latest book, I Am Rahab: Touched by God, Fully Restored, which shares her story of overcoming abuse, releases on August 21. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Parents todayespecially in Californiaface really tough questions about their children's education. One of them: Who do kids belong to? In 2015, California passed what it dubbed "The Healthy Youth Act." The stated aim of the legislation was two-fold: first, to "provide pupils with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect their sexual and reproductive health" from things such HIV, STDs, and "unintended pregnancy." Second, to give students "knowledge and skills" to help them develop "healthy attitudes" concerning, "body image, gender, sexual orientation, relationships, marriage, and family." At this point, cries of "Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!" and (kudos if you get that reference) could be heard from Crescent City to Calexico. To "reassure" concerned parents, the law allowed parents to "excuse their child from all or part of comprehensive sexual health education, HIV prevention education." But the law explicitly states that this "right" to excuse your child does not extend to "instruction, materials, presentations, or programming that discuss gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, discrimination . . . relationships or family ..." In other words, parents in California can opt their kids out of the anatomy but not the ideology. Well, many parents missed the caveat and operated under the assumption that being able to opt out of what is normally thought of as "sex ed," i.e., the anatomy part, would mean they'd be able to spare their kids the indoctrination part. But they were wrong. In late March, in response to a request from members of the Orange County Board of Education, the Board's general counsel wrote that, under "The Healthy Youth Act," parents "may not excuse" their children from instruction about "gender, gender identity, gender expression," and the rest. He added that "the courts have held that parents do not have the constitutional right to override the determination of the state legislature or the school district as to what information their children will be provided in the public school classroom." All parents have the right to do is "advise their children that they disagree with" what's being taught. Not surprisingly, parents are outraged. But to be clear, the general counsel was just reiterating what the law explicitly stated. What's more, the troubling California goings on isn't limited to just sex ed classes and curricula. As William May of Catholics for the Common Good told the National Catholic Register, "All this [indoctrination] is being integrated into other courses, not just sex education . . . it's being integrated into history and literature. . . ." He added that "It's essentially getting to the point where parents will have to opt out of public education." Or, as a few of my friends seem to be considering right now, it may be time to opt out of California altogether. Still, those looking for greener grass need to know it's not only in California that would-be indoctrinators have figured out stealthier and more-effective places for their ideas. In most places, parents can opt their children out of sex ed. But whoever thinks about opting their kids out of literature or history? So, what can parents do? First, let's remember that our kids don't belong to the state, and certainly not to these would-be indoctrinators. By "our kids" I mean that we, parents, are primarily and ultimately responsible for their well-being and formation. To the extent other entities are involved, it should be to support, not to usurp our God-ordained role. Second, we need to be prepared to fight on this one. According to the Register, Orange County school board meetings have been "standing-room only" since that memo came out. But that may be too late and not enough. Parents are going to have to make difficult decisions about their kids' educations. So let's keep them in our prayers. Their fight is ours too: reminding would-be Leviathans whose children we're talking about. Originally posted at Breakpoint. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment I can trace my ancestry to County Tyrone in Ireland. I still vaguely remember my great grandmothers Irish accent. Ireland holds a special place in my heart. And that is why my heart is currently breaking for that country. On May 25 Ireland will vote on whether to repeal the 8th Amendment to their constitution which provides legal protection to children in the womb. While the Catholic church has been clear that they oppose repealing the 8th, other churches have been less so. Among those in stunning support of the repeal is Bishop Michael Burrows from the Church of Ireland. The Christian leader was quoted in an article in The Irish Times on March 30 stating his view and his reasons for supporting the repeal. Unfortunately, his reasons were practical, but completely lacking any sound theological reasoning. Burrows said he believes the 8th is "incorrigibly flawed," but does not seem to expound on how it is flawed. He also stated, "I believe sufficiently in parliamentary democracy to hand the matter to the legislators and indeed to trust them that is their duty and their vocation." This statement is tragically revealing. Bishop Burrows is saying first that he trusts the government to make life and death decisions for other human beings. Throughout history, government license to arbitrate over life and death has not gone well for the most vulnerable in a country whose government wields that kind of power. Here in America, that has certainly been true for the more than 60 million children that have been killed since 1973 when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion at a federal level. But even more troubling is Burrows' statement that "this is [the legislators'] duty and their vocation." When it comes to the most critical social issues of our day, it is the pastor's duty and the pastor's vocation to speak with Biblical clarity, and Scripture could not be clearer on the immorality of killing innocents. Bishop Burrows is abdicating his responsibility to the government instead of doing the difficult work of leading the people in the truth of God's word, even when - especially when - it is completely counter cultural. But Bishop Burrows is not alone. Far too many pastors at home and abroad have abdicated their Biblical, God-given responsibility to speak the truth in love to the culture. May 25th is not just a referendum on abortion, but also on the Church in Ireland. They have failed to protect the most vulnerable in their culture. Of course, we Christian Americans cannot point fingers, as we have over 60 million fingers pointing back at us and demanding we accept accountability for their lives. What we can do, however, is pray that Ireland will not follow in our unfaithful footsteps. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment It is without doubt a mixed blessing that whatever Christian leaders say in public nowadays often gets distributed immediately and very widely via social media and YouTube and once it is "out there," it is difficult to get it back. I wonder if Andy Stanley, senior pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta, would like to "get back" some of the words he used in a sermon recently concerning the Old Testament.1 If this had been a sermon about the need for Christians to read Old Testament Scripture well rather than badly, and even about the necessity of churches devoting far more resources than they currently do to helping their members to achieve this, I'm sure that many people would have applauded; certainly I would have done so. But what Andy actually urged Christians to do was to "unhitch" the Old Testament from their Christian faith. He acknowledged that these "Jewish scriptures," as he called them, are certainly an important "back story" for "the main story" of Christian Scripture they represent a divinely inspired description of "God on the move through an ancient, ancient time." However, the Old Testament "or the Law and the Prophets as they called it" was not regarded in the early Church as "the go-to source regarding any [his emphasis] behavior in the church." Those early Church leaders "unhitched the church from the worldview, the value system, and the regulations of the Jewish Scriptures," including the Ten Commandments; "they unhitched the church from the entire thing ... everything's different, everything's new." And we should follow their example: "Jesus' new covenant, His covenant with the nations, His covenant with you, His covenant with us, can stand on its own two nail-scarred resurrection feet. It does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures." Andy acknowledged in this sermon that his comments might be considered "a little disturbing" by some listeners, and judging by the reaction on social media, he was quite right. Significant numbers did not applaud. In many ways, however, it is a mistake to focus simply on this sermon, for in doing so we run the risk of getting distracted from a larger and more important reality: that the kind of position Andy has articulated is not unusual in the contemporary church worldwide. And it is this fact, rather than the words of one preacher in one sermon, that we ought to find truly disturbing. For to regard the Old Testament (OT) as anything less than actively relevant Christian Scripture, in precisely the same sense that the New Testament (NT) is Christian Scripture, is to step outside the bounds of historic, orthodox Christian faith. It is to step aside from following Christ. And many Christians appear not to realise that this is so. Jesus and the Old Testament Long before there was a Church, there was already a Scripture.2 Its prior existence is indicated in the Gospels in what Jesus himself names on a number of occasions as "the Law and the Prophets" (e.g., Luke 16:16) or close variants (like "Moses and the prophets") selected human words recognized as representing at the same time the word of God, and as such preserved for posterity. That is to say, they were recognized as prophetic, in the broad sense; they were recognized as "inspired." It is this canonical collection of Law and Prophets that in Jesus' own lifetime and in the history of the earliest Church "was viewed as a privileged, stable witness against which the claims of the gospel were tested and shown to have been established from of old"3 was understood, indeed, as "the very words of God" (Rom. 3:2). In Matthew 5:17-20, for example, Jesus tells his hearers: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. In line with this, we find Jesus again and again in the Gospels basing his teaching or arguments on the OT, sometimes prefacing what he is about to say with phrases like "it is written that" (e.g., Mk. 14:27; Mt. 11:10) and thereby drawing people's attention to the authority upon which he rests his case. After the resurrection, Jesus rebukes two of his confused and downhearted disciples precisely for failing to take these same Scriptures sufficiently seriously when trying to understand their present experience: How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christhave to suffer these things and then enter his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:25-27). The central importance of the OT Scriptures is emphasized again shortly afterwards, in Luke 24:44, when Jesus advises all the core disciples and others that "[e]verything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms." If the disciples, after the resurrection, want to understand what is going on in the world and in their lives, they must attend to these OT Scriptures. Jesus himself sends them there. The Apostles and the Old Testament The remainder of the NT reveals that the earliest Church took this advice very seriously; we would of course expect this of disciples of Jesus. This comes to expression clearly in the famous words of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV): "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." The primary reference here is of course to the OT, since the NT does not yet exist; and we notice immediately how impossible is any idea that these "Jewish scriptures" are merely "divinely inspired backstory" but not at the same time a "go-to source regarding ... behavior in the church." The OT is inspired Scripture designed precisely so that it is useful to the Church in "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." It is the very canon (or measuring-stick) of Christian faith and practice in the first century AD. We see this played out in the book of Acts, where Christians are described as sharing with Jews a commitment to hearing what "the Law and the Prophets" have to say (Acts 13:15) and to believing it: "I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets," affirms the Apostle Paul to Felix in Acts 24:14. Various of his letters to the Christian churches of the first-century Roman world illustrate the seriousness with which he took this idea. Everywhere in this correspondence he grounds his teaching in the pre-existing Scriptures. For example (and this is important especially in the light of Andy Stanley's advice that Christians should not obey the Ten Commandments), Paul applies the Ten Commandments to the various ethical situations with which he is confronted in the emerging churches (Rom. 7:7, 13:9, Eph. 6:2-3). For Paul and the other apostles, it was impossible to speak of Christ without speaking of him 'in accordance with the Scriptures' of Israel that already existed Scriptures that "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:20-21) which the Church at its origin received ... as the sole authoritative witness ... These Scriptures taught the church what to believe about God: who God was; how to understand God's relationship to creation, Israel, and the nations; how to worship God; and what manner of life was enjoined in grace and in judgment.4 Indeed, the apostles largely spoke of Christ only in relation to the OT, as Martin Luther once astutely observed, noting "how little Paul and Peter report the individual acts of Jesus in their letters: Paul wrote gospel by making mighty sermons out of a very few passages of the Old Testament."5 Scripture in the Early Post-Apostolic Church The generations of Christians who came immediately after the apostolic age unsurprisingly followed the apostolic example. They held stubbornly to the belief that it was the Scripture of Israel that gave the Church its fundamental orientation to reality the fundamental story of which it found itself a part and that their reception of this literature as their Scripture was intrinsically bound up with their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. They could not have the one without the other. As Craig Allert notes, "it is axiomatic that authoritative Scripture for the Apostolic Fathers [AD 95-150] were [sic] the Hebrew Scriptures," albeit that they usually read them in Greek translation, because so many of the early Christians could not read Hebrew.6 This is already true of 1 Clement, which dates from the closing decade of the first century AD: "Approximately a fourth of the entire text consists of Old Testament citations"7 The Epistle of Barnabas, which was written sometime during the opening decades of the second century AD, likewise understands "the corpus of the Old Testament, including its entire portfolio of texts, as a document of revelation in which are found valid propositions for the present."8 From the pen of Justin Martyr (c. AD 100-165) we have two surviving 'apologies' (defenses of the Christian faith), written in the middle of the second century AD, and in both of these the OT is likewise central: "Justin ... appealed to the Scriptures (the Old Testament) as a prophetic witness for the Messiah, Jesus Christ ... The Old Testament in Justin is without question recognized as the Scripture of the Christians."9 This is the case even though Justin, like others before him, knew some of the writings of the apostles that would eventually form the NT. Yet "the New Testament is not actually interpreted [in his work]. Its character as 'Scripture' does not appear to have been held ... Demonstrations of the Christian truth ... are capable of being obtained only from the Bible held in common with the Jews."10 As to this 'commonality', it is striking that even though significant Jewish-Christian disagreement surfaces in Justin's Dialogue with Trypho in a number of areas, this is not the case on the question of which are the books in the Bible. On that question, at least, they do not disagree. Marcion of Sinope Twice in his First Apology, Justin mentions someone who did take a very different view of the OT: Marcion of Sinope, who centered his Bible on ten of the Apostle Paul's letters and rejected the OT as Scripture in its entirety.11 Marcion did this in broad companionship with others in the early Christian centuries who have come to be described by Christian writers as "the Gnostics," and he has often been regarded as essentially a Gnostic himself. These Gnostics substituted for the OT's fundamental distinction between the Creator and his good material creation a distinction, instead, between the spiritual (good) and the material (evil) world. They proposed that salvation involved not the redemption of the whole world, including the body, but the escape of the individual spirit from the material world (and centrally from the body). This being so, Gnostics had no place in their philosophy for an incarnate deity dying for the sins of the world and rising bodily again so that others could do the same. The gnostic analysis of the world, indeed, did not find sin to be the obstacle to salvation, but rather ignorance from which elite and esoteric 'knowledge' (Gk. gnosis)would deliver the initiate. The marginalization of the OT that we find in Marcion's approach to Scripture greatly facilitated this kind of conforming of Christian faith to the norms of a certain type of Hellenistic philosophy. However, this Marcionite move was widely understood in the post-apostolic Church as wrongheaded, and to be certain, if accepted, to change the very character of apostolic Christian faith. The change is already illustrated in Marcion's own teaching on the basis of a slimmed-down collection of Scriptures that did not (and could not) include even apostolic writings (like the Gospel of Matthew) that indicated significant continuity between the OT and the NT. Marcion was therefore condemned as a heretic, and the great opponent of both Marcionism and Gnosticism in the second century, Irenaeus, deployed OT Scripture extensively in his attempts to discredit their doctrines. It is not surprising that in mounting this assault Irenaeus became the first Christian writer in history to cite and allude to more apostolic than OT documents.12 Marcion and the Gnostics had explicitly put on the agenda the question, is there genuine continuity and coherence between the two sets of truth claims? This forced writers like Irenaeus into far greater citation of NT texts than anyone before him, in order to demonstrate the continuity and coherence. Indeed, we find in Irenaeus' Against Heresies (c. AD 180) about twice as many NT as OT citations.13 So it is that by the end of the second century AD we see "the development of the authority of these [NT] texts," as they begin to be cited alongside OT texts in ever greater numbers.14 Scripture in the Later Post-Apostolic Church The serious attention given to OT texts by Christian writers during the first two centuries AD continued all the way down through the succeeding ones, even as the final contours of the NT corpus were becoming firmly settled in the Church. Both Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 150-215) and Tertullian (c. 160-240) continue in this line in the early part of the third century. Slightly later, so does Origen (c. 185-254), and after him in the fourth century come such important writers as the 'Cappadocian Fathers' (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa), and in the fifth century Theodoret of Cyrus, for whom (even at this late stage) "commentary on the New Testament [remains] in a minor key."15 Worthy of especial note as we move into the fifth century is Augustine (AD 354-430). Not a single one of these early Christians believed that it was possible or desirable to "unhitch" the Old Testament from their Christian faith. Not a single one of them believed that the old Scriptures were merely "Jewish scriptures" describing "God on the move through ancient, ancient times," rather than active Christian Scripture providing a "go-to source regarding ... behavior in the church." All of them believed that Scripture preceded the Church,16 as well as being produced in the Church, and that the truth-claims of the Church had to be grounded in prior Scripture, even as it was producing new Scripture. Augustine provides an especially powerful example, in fact, of the post-apostolic Church's convictions concerning the unity of Christian Scripture, OT and NT, when he remarks in Against Adimantus that ... in it [the OT] there is such strong prediction and preannouncement of the New Testament that nothing is found in the teaching of the Evangelists and the apostles, however exalted and divine the precepts and promises, that is lacking in those ancient books.17 Conclusion In conclusion, "the Christian Church was born with a Bible in its hands," as Stephen Dempster puts it,18 and it always had one thereafter, looking for its guidance on faith and life to the prophets, and then to the apostles, on whose foundational teaching the Church had been built looking to what the Clementine Homilies (in the second or third century AD) name as "the prophetic rule."19 Early attempts by people like Marcion to "unhitch" the OT from Christian faith were rejected by the post-apostolic Church, whose leaders recognized that this represented a fundamental assault on apostolic faith, and ultimately on the lordship of Christ. It is the whole Bible that orthodox Christians must continue to regard as Scripture, at the same time always striving to read it well across its whole scope. Bad reading of the OT should certainly always be rejected. The OT itself, however, can never be "unhitched" from Christian faith. Its words remain "the very words of God" for the Church, shaping both its faith and its practice words to which Jesus Christ himself directs our attention. Footnotes 1 Accessed on May 13, 2018, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShxFTNRCWI&feature=youtu.be. 2 The substance of the argument below is taken from my new book, The Reformation and the Right Reading of Scripture (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2017), chapter 2. 3 Christopher R. Seitz, The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets: The Achievement of Association in Canon Formation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 35. 4 Christopher R. Seitz, The Character of Christian Scripture: The Significance of a Two-Testament Bible (STI; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011), 17. 5 Heinrich Bornkamm, Luther and the Old Testament (trans. E. W. and R. C. Gritsch; ed. V. I. Gruhn; Mifflintown, PA: Sigler, 1997), 85. 6 Craig D. Allert, A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 109. 7 Henning G. Reventlow, History of Biblical Interpretation, Volume 1: From the Old Testament to Origen (trans. Leo Perdue; RBS 50; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009), 127. 8 Reventlow, Biblical Interpretation, 1:120. 9 Reventlow, Biblical Interpretation, 1:140, 146. 10 Reventlow, Biblical Interpretation, 1:146. 11Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Significance and Development (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 90-99. 12 Allert, High View, 119. 13 It is significant that while this is true of a work explicitly directed against heretics, it is not true of his non-polemical Epideixis tou apostolikou kerygmatos (Proof of the Apostolic Preaching, trans. Joseph P. Smith; ACW 16; New York: Newman, 1952), which proceeds in a more traditional manner. Reventlow, Biblical Interpretation, 1:157-58. 14 Reventlow, Biblical Interpretation, 1:155. 15 Robert C. Hill, Reading the Old Testament in Antioch (BAC 5; Leiden: Brill, 2005), 44. 16 Hill describes the Antiochene commentators in general (Diodorus of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, John Chrysostom), e.g., and not just Theodoret, in the following way: they "think that their canon is Jewish in origin and ... that all the books came to them from Judaism." Hill, Antioch, 23. 17 Augustine, Contra Adimantum (Against Adimantus) 3.4, as translated in David F. Wright, "Augustine: His Exegesis and Hermeneutics," in Hebrew Bible /Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation,ed. Magne Sb, vol. 1/1 (Gottingen: Vandenhoek and Ruprecht, 1996), 701-30 (714). 18 Stephen G. Dempster, "Canon and Old Testament Interpretation," in Hearing the Old Testament: Listening for God's Address, ed. Craig G. Bartholomew and David J. H. Beldman (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 154-79 (159). 19 Clementine Homilies, 2.15. Iain Provan is Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, Vancouver. He has written extensively on matters of biblical interpretation, including two recent books published by Baylor University Press: Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says, and Why It Matters (2014), and The Reformation and the Right Reading of Scripture (2017). Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Israel is slaughtering unarmed men! Israel is killing women and children! Israel is butchering babies! It's time for the world to condemn this genocidal nation! As I wrote in my last column, things are falling into place just as scripted by Hamas. The terrorist organization recruits and sends its young men on suicide missions. Israel responds with the expected force. The media reports the events along anti-Israel lines. Then the nations of the world rise up to condemn evil Israel. I previously cited Aaron Klein and Melanie Phillips, both of whom pointed out how the secular media plays right into Hamas's hands. Since then, David Friedman, our ambassador to Israel, also weighed in, dubbing the protests and the ensuing casualties "a public relations event." He said, "If I could give a word of advice to the media, if they purport to care so much about the Palestinian cause: this coverage of Palestinians running to the fence, burning tires it's the fuel or the lubricant for further malign behavior." He added, "there's a reason why Hamas sends impressionable kids to the front, telling them that the border is safe to cross. They want them to be killed or injured, to make the front page of the paper." That is the satanic and cynical strategy of Hamas. Alan Dershowitz made similar comments, claiming that when the media reports in such "a biased manner," that "incentivizes and encourages Hamas." He said, "You use children and women, you deliberately put them on the front lines, you make it impossible for Israel to defend itself without occasionally killing a woman or a child or an elderly person. And every time Israel accidentally kills somebody like that, Israelis grieve. Israel loses. Hamas cheers and celebrates because that's exactly what they want. They want the media to show the body count. They want the media to show the dead baby, even though Israel tried everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties." It doesn't matter that Hamas has admitted that more than 80 percent of those killed on Monday were Hamas members. It doesn't matter that the dead baby (seen with grieving mother), did not die at the hands of the IDF. (And why on earth would you bring an infant anywhere near the front lines of an active shooting site?) It doesn't matter that, "A Hamas leader said in an interview that the terror group was 'deceiving the public' when it spoke of 'peaceful resistance.'" All that matters is that Israel is evil and Israel is monstrous and Israel is genocidal. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is now calling on the Islamic world to unite against Israel. "The Islamic world should move as one, with one voice, against this massacre," he said. And here in the West, celebrities are condemning evil Israel once again. According to Chelsea Handler (on Tuesday), "Nikki Haley is on tv talking about Hamas being responsible for the Palestinians protesting yesterday. These people had no weapons. They had tires to burn. There was a dead baby. While Netanyahu celebrates." Bette Midler tweeted (specifically targeting President Trump), "Fifty-two people die in protest over moving American Embassy to Jerusalem. Thanks, a--hole! Your uninformed and demented actions have consequences! Don't you get it? Those people had families too!" Michael Ian Black was more succinct: "Two *thousand* wounded. This is a massacre." Did I say that things were playing out just as Hamas scripted? Again, as I emphasized in my last column, I grieve over this loss of life as well, regardless of who is ultimately responsible for it. And I do not claim that Israel is perfect in all her actions. But this is a story we've read before. We know the plot. We know the players. We know how the story ends: Israel is a genocidal monster that must be stopped! Is it any coincidence that all this is taking place at the same time we relocated our embassy to Jerusalem? Is it any coincidence that Zechariah, writing more than 2,500 years ago, described how all the nations would unite to attack Jerusalem? (See Zechariah 12 and 14. This could speak of all surrounding nations, of a coalition of nations worldwide, or literally, of every nation.) The plot thickens. (For a lucid, pro-Israel statement by Bret Stephens, published in the New York Times, no less, see here.) The Pastor's Pastor Rev Dr Rowland Croucher founder of John Mark Ministries which specialises in Christian theological research and ministry to Ministers and especially to those who are scarred and heart-injured. Rowland poses this vital question - What would Jesus do? There are some thing we all need to reminded of when discussing Jesus. He was no push over. He dealt with the money changers. He dealt with the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the day without fear nor favour. He handled lies and half truths and petty politics like no other before him. He exercised an authority whereupon all marvelled. He went to the Cross, a most horrible form of death. When Rowland Croucher discusses his question What would Jesus do - also think on these things. Rowland Croucher asks What would Jesus do Part 2 - the first part looked at who is Jesus (hyperlink) So whats he asking us to do? Simple: Follow me. What does that mean? In the Gospel of John, he gives his followers a mandate: As the Father has sent me, so Im sending you (John chapter 20 verse 21). In other words: what you have seen me do, you do! Whats that? At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry (Luke chapter 4 verse 18), he gives us a dot-point summary: he came to offer Good news to the poor, freedom for captives, sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to release people from their debts. Whatever inhibits our well-being, Jesus offers to bring healing in those areas And thats what were to do. Indeed at the final judgement (Matthew chapter 25 verses 37-38), well be asked how we went with all that. Jesus today is hungry needing food; thirsty, needing clean water; a stranger needing our hospitality; or naked needing clothes; sick, or in prison, needing our help So, what do we do? And where do we start? We begin with a commitment to follow Jesus. We invite Jesus into our life, and Jesus Spirit helps sort us out in terms of the collected baggage, guilt and shame thats accumulated there. And our motto, our watch-word, is the same as Jesus Great Commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbour as yourself (Luke chapter 10 verses 27-28). Jesus hearers had a Yes, but question about that: Who is my neighbour? Not easy. When Serbs are slaughtering Muslims who is my neighbour? When Tutsis are being killed by Hutus, who is my neighbour? When hundreds of thousands are being slaughtered by radical Islamists in Syria and Iraq, who is my neighbour? Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan answers this very clearly: my neighbour is someone anyone who needs my help and Im in a position to offer it. And before we rush off to help everyone, and in the process get spattered all over the wall of needfulness we do what Jesus suggested when the needs are so numerous and so great: The harvest is plentiful so what? PRAY (Luke chapter 10 verse 2). And prayer is so important that we develop a relationship in the stillness and quietness of a desert rather than rushing around wearing ourselves out. Speaking of TED talks, I note this week that theres one titled Were all trying to be multi-taskers. Its good for nothing! All of Gods best leaders, best people, regularly spend time in deserts, as Jesus did. Then LISTEN. A true friend is someone who listens to you and to God at the same time. But dont get too addicted to helping others. Ive met many people who get a buzz out of needing to be needed Thoreau suggested If you see someone coming towards you with the obvious intent of doing you good, run for your life. Or C S Lewis: She went around doing good: you could tell those she wanted to help by their hunted look! Work with others to alleviate the needs of the marginalised. Dave Andrews tells a terrific story about some squatters in Brisbane who were constantly harassed by the police. Because they camped illegally, of course the police had to keep moving them on. Solution: Bricks through the police station windows. Dave had another suggestion: invite the police for coffee, and talk about it. Eventually the Council and State Government found some ways to accommodate these homeless people legally. [4] Dave signed his book when he kindly gave me a copy: To Rowland Croucher, with the prayer that you will not only keep the faith, but also the love that is at the heart of our faith. And, if youre able, speak truth to power. Jesus did this especially with the Jewish religious and political authorities (though some have thought he was a bit soft on Rome but thats a discussion for another day). An excellent book to whet your appetite: Peter McKinnons The Songs of Jesse Adams - about what Jesus might have done if he were to come to Melbourne a generation ago. [5] Conclusion So doing what Jesus did helps answer the greatest existential questions I face about my life: Who am I? Do I have worth? What am I supposed to be doing with the one life Im given? Its simple, really: Follow Jesus. Do what Jesus did. If you try to save your life youll lose it. John Stott, one of my mentors, puts it like this: 'If you insist on living for yourself, youll lose yourself. But if youre prepared to lose yourself and give yourself away in love for God and your fellow human beings, then in that moment of complete abandon, when you think you have lost everything, the miracle happens and you find yourself. [6] And St Pauls excellent summary: So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lovers life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. (Philippians chapter 1 verses 9-11 ). References [4] Dave Andrews, Can You Hear the Heartbeat: A Challenge to Care the Way Jesus Cared pp. 112 ff. Dave was in the media recently because of his excellent ministry 'Befriending Muslims'. [5] Peter McKinnon, The Songs of Jesse Adams, Acorn 2014. For my review, visit http://www.jmm.org.au/articles/33782.htm [6] John Stott, Why I am a Christian, 2013, p. 97 Rowland Croucher is an Australian Baptist pastor (as was also his wife Jan before she passed away nearly a year ago). He's authored ten books and will soon see his latest published in the next month or so:('Questions & Responses: the 50 toughest questions pastors and counsellors are asked'). This is the story of the ministry tour of Rev Dr Stephen Mbogo, International Team Leader/CEO African Enterprise and Ben Campbell, Executive Director AE Australasia. In a time where people are increasingly feeling disillusioned by threats to Christian freedom and growth, Rev Dr Mbogo comes to Australia with a message of hope of the great power of God in bringing 98,000 people to Christ in Sub Saharan African through the ministry of African Enterprise (AE) last year. On Sunday 29th April, the African Enterprise ministry tour commenced in Perth Western Australia, to encourage a supporting, mission-hearted Baptist church with news of the impact that they have made in Ethiopia through the student discipleship program run by AE Team Leader Mel Mesfin. This discipleship program, which aims to impact 20,000 secondary and tertiary students every year with bible and ministry training, is a church partnered program running through July-August in 100 cities in Ethiopia. In a country ravaged by civil unrest and state of emergency conditions, AE aims to shape new generations of young people to ensure a strong and healthy church in the future. On Wednesday 2nd May, Stephen spoke with the Christian Media and Arts annual conference in the Gold Coast, about how AE engages African media with the Christian story during mission periods in Africa. The AE mission, which aims to bring thousands of people to Christ every year throughout Sub Saharan Africa and the North, has many significant testimonies of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that can be shared in both mainstream and Christian media. In subsequent weeks, Stephen has preached at churches in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as in many homes of supporters. Topics have ranged from the training of pastors, reaching the Muslim north, discipleship of new believers and the various development programs that are in place to support the major 10 African missions. The key message to the Australian community is be encouraged! The Lord is powerfully at work in Africa thanks to the prayers and support of His people here in Australia. God will triumph over all evil, and please pray that the Lord would open the heart of everyone in Australia to hear Gods message of salvation and His reconciling love through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The ministry of African Enterprise has been in place for 57 years in Africa and 40 years in Australia. Ben Campbell is the Executive Director of Australasia, and works closely with the African teams and supporters here in Australia to see many more thousands transformed by the grace of God every year in Africa. There are also many encouraging testimonies of Australians coming to Christ through the evangelistic work of many AE leaders over these 40 years. More details of the missions ahead can be found on africanenterprise.com.au. If you have a heart for Africa, please keep us in your prayers and support. How Puritanism explains Trump: Why the 17th century taught the US and UK different lessons For many Christians in the UK, what is currently happening in the USA is, at best, puzzling and, at worst, looks like a betrayal of Christian principles. And one question keeps raising its head: Whatever do Christians of the so-called 'evangelical religious right' think that they are doing in supporting Donald Trump? To discover such Christian enthusiasm for a president whose words and actions are so often crude, stridently nationalist, anti-immigrant and, at time, misogynistic, seems at odds with the gospel, to put it mildly. In fact, the active involvement of Christians in the rise of US populism is so incomprehensible to many British Christians that it can feel like we are looking at activities on another planet. Now and then we hear a language that we understand...and then the person speaking it goes off and does something quite inexplicable. We are left asking: 'Why ever did they do that? I thought they were just like me!' Clearly, the matter is complex but one of the biggest reasons is because US and UK Christians have drawn hugely different lessons from their common history. This became very obvious to me while writing a book (recently published) on 17th-century Christians, on both sides of the Atlantic, and their legacy. The book is titled When God Was King and, in short, it is about 'Puritans doing politics'. Writing this, it became obvious that many UK and US Christians are divided by a common history. In the UK, the Puritans are a tainted brand. We might admire their dedication to reforming the church and their love of the Bible, but all that stuff about banning Christmas, plays, music, and sport on a Sunday afternoon all looks very joyless, judgmental and dull. Not to mention the slaughtering of Catholics in Ireland, which has left a legacy of bitterness that is still with us in 2018. And, anyway, all that 'Puritan politics stuff' fell apart when King Charles II was restored in 1660. After that, dissenting Nonconformists (the heirs of the Puritans) focused on rather less ambitious (but more positive) projects like social reform. Not so on the other side of the pond. There the Puritan brand is still doing very well indeed. After all, it was Puritans (of one form or another) who set up their own version of an ideal community in New England in the 17th century (a 'New Jerusalem' in the 'New World') that has become such a key part of the cultural DNA of the USA. What's not to like about a turkey dinner at Thanksgiving, which was originally celebrated by Europeans and Native Americans sitting at the same table in 1621? But the 'Puritan brand' has left more than just a taste for turkey and cranberry sauce in the modern USA. The settlers at Plymouth Colony (1620) and even more so at Massachusetts Bay (1630) thought that they were founding, as they put, it, 'a city on a hill'; a beacon of godliness, a Bible Commonwealth. It is not hard to see how this has morphed over four centuries into a belief in 'American exceptionalism'; even into strident US nationalism. They set a precedent for a separation of church and state, but one in which the believers thought they had a big role to play in government. That, too, lies behind the quite phenomenal influence of a certain form of Christianity in the US political system, which actually has no national church and where church and politics are supposed to be separated. Their legacy can also be seen in a very conservative and conformist form of Christianity and one that is confident about imposing this on others who don't subscribe to the programme. After all, it was a semi-theocracy that was (briefly) set up in Massachusetts Bay in the 17th century and one in which, in one town, 20 per cent of the adults in each decade found themselves charged with an offence, usually a morals violation. As the historian Michael Zuckerman has put it, they tried to create 'a totalitarianism of true believers'. And with women carrying names such as Be-Fruitful, Fear, Patience, Prudence, and Silence, it is not hard to see what lessons some men have drawn from that. The first settlers generally got on fairly well with Native Americans but soon tensions rose and with it a sense that God had decided in favour of the European newcomers. Seeing vast numbers of Native Americans lost to European diseases, John Winthrop, in a letter written in 1634, concluded, 'God hath hereby cleared our title to this place.' Relating the destruction of a Pequot settlement (400 non-combatants killed) on the Mystic River, in 1637, Captain John Underhill wrote, 'sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents... We had sufficient light from the word of God for our proceedings.' This did not bode well for future attitudes towards perceived 'outsiders'. Finally, their strident millenarian focus on the imminent Second Coming still reverberates in the modern Protestant evangelical churches in the USA, even more than it does in the UK. It is a legacy that can be seen behind: climate change denial (God, not human agency, will decide the global future), opposition to gun control (be ready to oppose worldly government in an End Times conflict), Christian conspiracy theory (Antichrist is guiding the EU, the UN, the Catholic Church, etc) and the political agenda regarding the Middle East (where conflict may simply be seen as part of End Times events). Now, the 17th Puritans are not really responsible for this. What we do with history is our decision and our responsibility. And, of course, we pick and choice in order to satisfy our own agendas. There was and is much to admire in the Puritan passion for scripture, personal holiness, social transformation, education and the importance of the individual. However, it seems to me that some in the US churches have drawn on rather more controversial and contested aspects of the Puritan legacy. And these come with some health warnings: 'The 17th century attempt to dominate others did not work well then and it's not got better since'; and 'The gospel is designed for service, not for the control of others.' We live in interesting days, Never think history has finished with us. 'When God was King: Rebels & Radicals of the Civil War & Mayflower Generation' by Martyn Whittock is published by Lion Hudson, price 9.99. Invesco has secured lease expansions with Alta Mesa Resources and Entech Civil Engineers at its Energy Crossing 1 office building, brokers announced. Alta Mesa Resources expanded its lease by 38,917 square feet of new space on the second floor, and extended its lease of 53,666 square feet for a total of 92,583 square feet in the building at 15021 Katy Freeway near Texas 6. Greg Usher of Cypressbrook Co. represented Alta Mesa Resources, which now takes up nearly 40 percent of the building. Entech Civil Engineers, meanwhile, expanded its lease by 3,069 square feet for a total of 18,576 square feet. Rob Johnson of Lee & Associates Houston represented the tenant. Kevin Wyatt with Lincoln Property Co. represented the landlord in both deals. RELATED: Real estate transactions While terms of these deals were not disclosed, so called "blend and extend" type leases have become more common as tenants lock in deals while the market is down and landlords manage the risk of empty space. Houston's office vacancy recently hit 21.4 percent, including sublease and direct space, NAI Partners said at a press event Tuesday. That's the highest since NAI Partners began tracking it in 1999. RELATED: Office market struggles as other sectors thrive That's giving tenants more options, including allowances for improvements and lease concessions. "Landlords are much more willing to come back to the negotiating table and restructure their leases early," said Griff Bandy, a broker with NAI Partners who specializes in representing tenants. "When it's a white hot market, they're not as interested in doing that." About a third of the companies Bandy works with are anticipating growth this year in planning their office needs. Nothing is ever bad at the Alley Theatre. The company has the money and artistic standards to make sure its productions rarely have shoddy lighting, scenic design, sound or, for the most part, acting. In this way, the Alley is the most professional theater company in town (at least in terms of what happens onstage). But that doesnt mean everything is good at the Alley. The difference in quality from show to show isnt technique. Its vision. Sometimes the Alley will stage a finely executed production, such as Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which runs on the main stage through June 3, that has no business existing in 2018. While I clap for the fantastic debuts by new company actors Dylan Godwin and Shawn Hamilton (both have graced the Alley stage, but this is their first show as part of the ensemble), I scratch my head at why, of all the plays the Alley could do right now, it has to be a 1993 comedy by Steve Martin that reeks of the male-centric worldview thats crumbling in the age of #MeToo. Granted, this play was likely slated more than a year ago by former artistic director Gregory Boyd, who made it a point to spotlight dead, male artistic geniuses this season Isaac Babel (Describe the Night), Louis Armstrong (Satchmo at the Waldorf), Richard Burton (Cleo) and now Picasso. Contracts were signed, dates set in stone. Men once again bared their frustrated, fiery, irascible souls for us all to contemplate in quiet gratitude. Notice how difficult it is for theater companies to escape a history of obsessive male-hero worship? Thats why half of the jokes in Martins farce about smart horny men fall flat. In the 25 years that have passed since the play premiered, Martins writing has become tired and tiring. The men-are-from-Mars, women-are-from-Venus mentality that drives the humor remains boringly male-centric and uncomfortably reminiscent of the outdated tone of 1990s stand-up comedy. The comedic setup hinges on the duality of male brilliance and female beauty. With much of popular culture moving so quickly to correct course, isnt it sad to see live theater key word: live trapped in amber? The problem isnt that jokes about men getting women into bed are offensive. This is PG-13 stuff you hear from your sexist grandpa during Thanksgiving dinner. The problem is that it feels lazy and obvious. Humor, before anything else, depends on social context. When jokes are worn out, theres no going back you cant revive Frankensteins monster without magic and alchemy. Still, maybe you want to just shut off your brain and simply look at what this ensemble does with what its given. This is the ideal mindset for making it through brainless theater. The actors rescue mission is doomed. And yet their wigs are so hilariously excellent. The moment when Godwin flips down his hair, creating the signature, disheveled look of Albert Einstein, is clean, physical and simple. He executes with the kind of elan that makes Martins writing shine. Godwin, showing off a bouncy, colorful German accent, plays Einstein as a frustrated and energetic young genius whos extremely sure of himself despite his nonexistent career as a physicist. Hamilton plays a wisecracking and occasionally wise bar owner. He delivers on time and with the right energy, and gives Godwin room for the zaniness. More Information 'Picasso at the Lapin Agile' When: 8 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, through June 3 Where: Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Information: $26-$99; 713-220-5700, alleytheatre.org See More Collapse Godwin has a formidable comedic sparring partner in Joseph Castillo-Midyett, who plays the lithe, sensual and obnoxious Pablo Picasso. Castillo-Midyett comes closest to deconstructing the archetype of the brooding male artist. He makes us not take Picasso seriously, even when the play insists on putting him in a literal spotlight. Hes Stacee Jaxx from Rock of Ages. Hes a man fit to head KISS, the Playboy Mansion or the Alley of yore. The point is that this kind of character is everywhere, and hes starting to get on my nerves. Castillo-Midyetts Picasso is both the most extreme incarnation of the problematic artist and the most appropriate. He shows Picasso for the clown he is (at least in this interpretation). And he makes us sympathize with Melissa Pritchett, who rolls with the punches in a series of men-worshipping ingenue types here. Pritchett seems to find herself in these roles every now and again at the Alley. But the actors at the Alley show theyre excellent at making lame roles just a bit more surprising than expected. In the end, there is no feminist reclamation to be had in this play. The final moments, in which three important men are literally bathed in starlight, are symbolic of the extremes to which people will go to worship charismatic men. These men dazzle you with their genius and talent, hoping it shines brighter than their true views on women. Its not charming. You have to squint hard not to be blinded by the nonsense. wchen@chron.com MySpace via The Associated Press Most experts say the era of mass shootings in the United States began on Aug. 1, 1966, when a sniper fired from a clock tower on the University of Texas at Austin campus, killing 17 people before being killed by police. The pace of these events has increased in recent years. The Washington Post compiled a list of 1,081 people killed in events that met its criteria for mass shootings. A partial list follows. This year: April 22: 4 killed, 4 injured at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tenn. A suspect was arrested after a lengthy manhunt. Feb. 14: 17 killed, 15 injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The shooter, a troubled student, was arrested. Jan. 28: 4 killed, 1 injured at a car wash in Melcroft, Pa. The shooter was shot in the head and later died. Other major events in recent years: Nov. 5, 2017: 26 killed, 20 injured at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs near San Antonio. The shooter fatally shot himself. Oct. 1, 2017: 58 killed, 422 injured at a concert in Las Vegas. The shooter killed himself. June 15, 2017: 5 killed at three locations in New Mexico. The shooter was arrested. June 5, 2017: 6 killed at an office in Orlando, Fla. The shooter killed himself as police arrived. Jan. 6, 2017: 5 killed, 6 injured at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. The shooter surrendered to airport deputies. July 7. 2016: 5 killed, 9 injured in ambush on police officers guarding a peaceful demonstration in Dallas. The shooter was killed by a robot-controlled bomb. June 12, 2016: 49 killed, 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. The shooter died in a gun battle with a SWAT team. Dec. 2, 2015: 14 killed, 21 injured at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif. The shooters, a husband and wife, were killed by police. June 17, 2015: 9 killed, 1 injured at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. The shooter was arrested and sentenced to death. Sept. 16, 2013: 12 killed, 8 injured at the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. The suspect was killed in a gun battle with police. Dec. 14, 2012: 27 killed, 2 injured at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The suspect shot himself to death as police arrived. Pregnancy-related deaths and disease will be on the agenda this weekend as 2,000 Texas physician leaders and healthcare experts gather in San Antonio for the annual meeting of the nation's largest state medical society. Policy-making delegates of the Texas Medical Association meeting Saturday will vote on a slate of proposals aimed at curbing the state's crisis involving women dying following childbirth. The proposals, many of which would require legislative action, were drawn from suggestions made by physicians who attended a maternal mortality conference in March. "We want to shine a light on this problem and determine the best strategies to do something about it," said Dr. Carlos Cardenas, the association's outgoing president. "Even one death is too many." On Friday at the meeting, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Penn spoke to attendees about "School Shootings and Targeted Violence: What Can or Should Be Done?" The talk, scheduled weeks ago, was given not long after the shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday morning that killed at least 10 and wounded 10. The TMA recommendations to curb maternal deaths and disease include the pursuit of legislation to tailor a Medicaid health benefits program for women of childbearing age that would provide a year's coverage before, during and after pregnancy; and more seamless enrollment of adolescents and women into state-funded women's and family planning programs. It also calls for "sufficient resources to resolve red tape and payment barriers preventing more widespread use of long-acting reversible contraceptives." The recommendations also call for the legislation to improve the quality of pregnancy-related health data records. The poor quality of such data caused Texas' number of such maternal deaths to be inflated in a 2016 study. RELATED STORY: Black women in Texas face the greatest risk from pregnancy related death There were 56 pregnancy-related deaths among Texas residents in 2012, the most recent for which data has been verified. That's 14.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, which ranks Texas somewhere in the middle among U.S. states. The rate in Texas and nationally has been climbing, though it is unclear how much of that is due to better documentation of the problem in recent years. In addition, TMA delegates will consider a resolution to better protect doctors and other healthcare workers from retaliation in hospital whistle-blower cases. And attendees will hear talks on physician burnout and cyberspace medicine in the era of the "dark Web." Santa Fe ISD school officials said on Friday that explosives devices have been found near Santa Fe High School and that people should not touch anything suspicious. "There have been explosives devices found in the high school and surrounding areas adjacent to the high school," Santa Fe ISD tweeted around noon on Friday. "Because of the threat of explosive items, community members should be on the look-out for suspicious packages and anything that looks out of place." A state representative from Houston is asking for more than just sympathy following the mass shooting in Sante Fe, Texas on Friday. "Y'all been sending thoughts and prayers for two freaking decades now," tweeted Rep. Gene Wu, who represents the Gulfton area. "Time to try something new." "Once again, Texas has seen the face of evil," Senator Ted Cruz told reporters in Santa Fe following the deadly school shooting on Friday. "What happened this morning here in Santa Fe defies words." "The agony, the hell, that parents, that this community is going through is unimaginable," Cruz said. "Everyone of us that's a parent that sends our sons or daughters off to school in the morning, to have this horror greet them." Cruz said Texas and the nation are grieving with the Sante Fe community, located roughly 30 miles south of Houston. Authorities believe 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis killed 10 people and injured 10 more armed with a pistol and a shotgun at Sante Fe high. THE LATEST: Shooter identified in Santa Fe High School rampage that killed 10 "There's been too damn many of these," Cruz said. "Texas has seen too many of these." The Texas senator pointed to the Austin bomber and the shooting in Sutherland Springs as recent examples of mass murder that shook Texas. He praised the bravery of first responders and communities who came together during those moments. Cruz, who recently visited Sutherland Springs to participate in the rebuilding of the First Baptist Church where 26 people were killed, said that during his visit to the town he saw the community was filled with not only grief but also hope and joy. "You are being lifted up in prayer by millions of people across the country and across the world," Cruz told Sante Fe residents. HOUSTON LAWMAKER: 'Y'all been sending thoughts and prayers for two freaking decades' Prior to Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott also spoke at the conference, offering condolences and explaining what police knew so far. "It's time in Texas that we take action," Abbott said, promising that roundtable discussions with parents, students, concerned citizens and others would begin as soon as possible. "We want to hear from everybody." Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93. Survivors of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida shared their thoughts and condolences to the survivors of the Friday shooting at Santa Fe High School. "Santa Fe High, you didn't deserve this," tweeted Emma Gonzalez, a senior at the Parkland high school. "You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying this put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices." SCHOOL SHOOTING: At least 9 dead in Santa Fe High School; shooter had multiple guns, bombs Law enforcement officials confirmed at least nine people died in gunfire at Santa Fe High School on Friday morning. At least a dozen other people at the school have been reportedly transported to area hospitals. Officials said an attacker was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol, a shotgun and pipe bomb. On Feb. 14, a shooter entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 people inside the school. Since then, students at the Parkland high school have become activists for firearm reform. ESCAPING: Students seek refuge at gas station after Santa Fe High School shooting The shooting at Santa Fe High School is still under investigation as of Friday afternoon. Officials are warning people that "explosive devices" have been found at the school and the surrounding area. Anyone who comes across anything suspicious around the school is encouraged to call 911. Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has been arrested following the school shooting, the Galveston County Sheriff's Office confirmed on Friday. Santa Fe ISD is asking anyone with information about the shooting, including photos and videos, to contact their command center at 409-927-3310. The FBI in Houston is also investigating the school shooting. Anyone with information about the school shooting can contact the FBI at 713-693-5000. Scroll through the gallery above to see more reactions from students in Parkland, Florida on the school shooting at Santa Fe High School. Will Axford is a digital reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com. Follow him on Twitter. Get instant Houston breaking news alerts sent directly to your phone by texting CHRON to 77453. BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are in discussions for an asset swap deal that would see the U.K. energy major gain a greater foothold in a key project in the North Sea and the U.S. explorer get Alaskan assets, according to people familiar with the talks. BP is considering taking Conoco's 24 percent interest in the Clair field, in which BP already holds a 28.6 percent stake and is the operator, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. In exchange, Conoco is likely to take some of BP's assets in Alaska. BP describes Clair as "the largest undeveloped hydrocarbon resource" in the U.K. continental shelf. RELATED: ConocoPhillips sees more promise in Alaska oil The world's biggest oil companies, including BP, have largely been selling their aging North Sea assets as they move funds to areas where it's cheaper to produce oil and natural gas. Still, the region has seen a revival in recent years as new entrants infuse additional capital and fresh technology. BP itself has said it will focus on a few projects as it targets higher output. No Decision No final decisions have been reached between the companies and talks could still fall apart, the people said. A BP spokesman declined to comment. Conoco is not looking to sell its U.K. North Sea assets, Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance said at the company's annual general meeting this week. "Unless formally announced by the company, we don't comment on business development activity," Emma Ahmed, a spokeswoman for Conoco, said by email. The people familiar with the talks didn't say which Alaskan assets are being put on the table. Prudhoe Bay, which started production in the 1970s, is the biggest of BP's fields there. While Conoco has increasingly shifted its attention toward shale in the U.S., it's continued to expand exploration in Alaska, where it was the biggest oil producer last year. In February, it announced a $400 million deal to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s stake in a project on the western North Slope, including an interest in the Alpine pipeline. Conoco has also been reducing its exposure to the U.K. as fields age. The Houston-based explorer said in April it intended to cut 450 jobs in Britain between Oct. 1 and April 2020 as it ceased output through its Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal. The Texas explorer is the operator or has interests in other U.K. fields including Britannia, Judy and Galleon. A half-dozen flooded houses mostly in Meyerland will hit the auction block next month, a process expected to help set the value of Harvey-damaged properties in the area. "Sellers have been hit by all these low-ball offers. They just don't know how to act or react," said Houston real estate broker Paul Lynn, who is handling the auction. "Here's another way to get it sold, to get confirmation of what the value is." Pork will be on the menu a lot in the coming weeks for Terry Holcomb of Coldspring following a successful hunt for feral hogs on May 18. Holcomb trapped 19 of the reported 40 feral hogs that have been digging up his lawn and tearing up fruit trees. The rest of the pigs have left the area. They havent been back since Saturday, Holcomb said. In the May 16 edition of the Cleveland Advocate, Holcomb and others discussed the challenges they face in dealing with the growing problem of feral hogs. At least for now, Holcombs problem pig pack has moved on to annoy other property owners, but if they come back, he is ready. TEXAS SUMMERS: These are crucial times for wildlife across the state The hogs departure comes as a relief for Holcomb, who says he spent 10 hours Saturday processing the 19 pigs with a group of friends. I was very, very tired by the end of the night and I am not in a hurry to do it again any time soon, he said. They are gone and that was my intent. The 19 hogs provided 250 pounds of meat that Holcomb distributed among the families who assisted Saturday. I split up nine hogs amongst them and we kept 10, Holcomb said. He plans to process some of the meat into summer sausage in the coming weeks. Though he is no expert at hog trapping, Holcomb has learned a few tricks, some from watching YouTube videos. Patience is the biggest thing. If you set the trap off too soon, you will only catch a couple and youll never get the rest of the hogs into the trap. Pigs are smart and they figure things out pretty quickly, he said. Using a trap he borrowed from his father, Holcomb set it up in a wooded area near his home. He installed a motion-detecting game camera to monitor the pigs nocturnal movements. Holcomb conditioned the hogs over several nights, leaving tasty corn inside the trap. As they grew accustomed to finding food, the number of pigs willing to venture into the trap grew. By Saturday, he was ready to spring the trap. I wanted to set off the trap manually so I could get the maximum number of pigs inside, so I set up a deer-hunting tree stand nearby and ran a 30-pound fishing line from the trap door to the deer stand, he said. As he climbed the ladder to the tree stand perch Friday night, Holcomb hoped for the best and settled in for a long night. At 9:45 p.m, he heard the pigs moving through the woods next to him. Sitting alone in the dark, the sound was ominous, even from Holcombs safe perch. Its something to hear 30-40 pigs coming through the woods. You can hear them from a little distance. I could hear them eating the corn in the trap, Holcomb said. After a few minutes, Holcomb pointed a light in the direction of the trap. As soon as he noticed several pigs inside, he cut the fishing line and the door snapped close. Having captured half of the pigs, the danger still was imminent as many of the larger pigs were outside of the trap looking for someone to blame, according to Holcomb. Those mama pigs were upset. You do not want to be out on the ground with a mad mama hog, Holcomb said. I fired off a couple of shots and they took off. Then I high-stepped it out of there and got back to the house. Once back at the house, he hopped on his ATV and headed back to the trap. As long as I had something between me and the hogs, I felt comfortable, he said. After wasting no time securing the trap door, Holcomb went home to wait for daylight. At 7 a.m., he returned to count heads. I was extremely happy with the catch and that the mamas had moved on. You have to be careful anytime you catch baby pigs, Holcomb said. Holcomb knows he will likely get criticism from people who are opposed to hunting, but he has a ready response. Those are the kind of people who dont have any problem with animals being killed, as long as they dont know about it. They pick up their meat in the supermarket and think their food just grew up dead, he said. Holcomb believes people would be less wasteful if they had to catch and process their own meat. Its sickening how much food gets wasted in the United States. It gives you a deeper respect for your food and you are less likely to waste it if you have to get it yourself, he said. Google Maps A suspected burglar shot himself Thursday night as deputies closed in on him at a Cypress apartment complex, authorities said. Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff's Office were called to a burglary of an apartment in the 5900 block of FM 1960 West around 5:30 p.m., deputies said. Coldspring-Oakhurst High School Senior Symore Thompson has been awarded a 2018 Area Go Texan Scholarship in the amount of $20,000. Thompson is a Top Ten honors student and has been an active member of the Coldspring FFA Chapter for four years. She plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Biology. After Texas Governor Greg Abbott approved the Harris County Commissioners Courts request to hold an emergency bond election for mitigation projects, local officials hope some of the funds help the flood-prone Lake Houston area. The multi-billion dollar special election will be held Aug. 25 the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey and fund mitigation projects that reduce or prevent flooding. I consider responding to matters concerning Hurricane Harvey to qualify as an emergency, Abbott said on May 7. To the extent your emergency special election relates to Hurricane Harvey, it is granted. The bond will help the county secure federal disaster funds that require local entities to match a percentage of the funds, county officials said. However, the state will continue providing some matching dollars through Community Development Block Grant funds so local governments would not need to match the federal grants, Abbott said. Reducing flooding near San Jacinto River Mark Mitcheletti, a San Jacinto River Authority board member who was appointed by Abbott in February said the SJRA is working with the Harris County Flood Control on a $2 million study to identify projects to help minimize or eliminate downstream flooding in the San Jacinto River watershed. Mitcheletti said the study will take between 12 to 18 months to complete and will identify projects that could be funded partly through the county bond. According to SJRA General Manager Jace Houston, the study is being funded by a 75 percent grant of FEMA funds through the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The remaining 25 percent will be a local match shared with the SJRA, Montgomery County, the Harris County Flood Control District and the City of Houston. The SJRA has not currently identified specific projects, that's really the purpose of the study, Mitcheletti said. As such, they have not pursued funding for projects. There will need to be funding from the local, state and the federal level to achieve the recommendations of the study. We anticipate some of that will come from the Harris County bond. We are hopeful that the bond language will be written in such a way as to give Lake Houston Area residents comfort that money will be appropriated for projects that impact the San Jacinto water shed. The Kingwood resident also said SJRA officials know the amount of water flowing through the west and east fork of the San Jacinto River has increased over the past 20 years and believe detention ponds and reservoirs will be needed. One of the challenges is that most of this development has occurred outside of Harris County. We hope that the bond will be allowed to fund projects that impact Harris County, even if they are in areas upstream from Harris County, Mitcheletti said. Infrustructure projects Harris County and the City of Houston are eligible for FEMA Public Assistance funding to rebuild public facilities and infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Harvey. Harris County has also submitted approximately $240 million in claims for that funding and the local match for that is 10 percent or $24 million. Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman said the bond will fund some projects like channel widening, home buyouts and adding or improving detention basins at the Crosby/Huffman Chamber of Commerce luncheon on May 17. Mormans district includes portions of Atascocita and Crosby and Huffman. Were looking for the state and the feds to help out but were not waiting for them to help out, weve immediately begun making improvements to make sure that if we get a Harvey type event its not so devastating, he said Seeking district restorations Huffman and Crosby ISDs would also like to see some of the bond funds directed toward the Lake Houston area. While Harris County and the City of Houston are being approved for federal funding, Huffman ISD is still playing the waiting game in anticipation of FEMA money and reimbursements from private insurance companies. Huffman ISD officials said because they are still waiting for funding some of their projects have been put on hold. The district would use the fund from the bond to repair their chillers, transportation buildings, bus fleets and campus facilities damaged by Harvey. "Huffman ISD wants nothing less than restoration to pre-storm conditions for our facilities and finances so we can get back on track to building and sustaining excellent instructional programs in schools where students and staff feel safe and secure every day, Huffman ISD Superintendent Benny Soileau said. In many cases, our schools are the safest and best places our kids see all day. We want this to remain." Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said Humble ISD has incurred between $7 million to $10 million in storm related costs that will not be reimbursed by insurance or FEMA. Humble ISD used their school buses, buildings and staff for rescue and recovery efforts to help people in the Lake Houston area. "We welcome support from the county, state and federal levels in recovering from this costly storm and moving forward. We routinely collaborate with Harris County Commissioners on issues that affect schools, such as road construction, traffic flow and development," Fagen said. Fagen added that Humble ISD provides input into flood control measures through the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce. "The Chamber has partnered with outside institutions to conduct research to identify the most effective flood mitigation strategies for our area," Fagen said. "If Harris County residents support the bond, the continued funding of this research would be important as well as the implementation of research-backed, short and long-term strategies to help ensure the safety of our community." Interim Crosby Superintendent Kirk Lewis said since Crosby ISD wasnt hit as hard as the other Houston areas, he suspects a lot of the bond monies will go to the west side of Harris County for Addicks and Barker Cypress reservoir relief. When you look at our community as a whole, most of our flooding was in the northeast area of Crosby ISD in the locations served by the Cedar Bayou Watershed. I could see asking the bond to help improve the flow of water through the watershed to better drain that area, Lewis said. Its my understanding there will be public hearings to provide community input about what projects the bond will fund. I would hope one of those forums could be held in our area so the people of Crosby and Barrett Station could share their concerns. kaila.contreras@chron.com Fort Bend County Constable's Office Precinct 3 Two good Samaritans saved an 8-month-child who police said was left alone in a turned-off vehicle with the windows rolled up. Ayesha Farooq went into the Hobby Lobby at 6811 in Katy on Wednesday, leaving her infant daughter alone in her vehicle. Fort Bend County Constable's Office Precinct 3 Chief Deputy Robert Van Pelt told Chron.com that two strangers waited between 10 to 20 minutes before approaching the car, concerned for the safety of the child. The pair were able to get the infant out of the vehicle when they realized the doors were unlocked. Stacy Christ remembers comforting neighbors whose homes flooded in storms before Hurricane Harvey bringing them supplies and feeling her heart break for them. She thought that seeing the devastation gave her an idea of what it must be like to go through that until her own home flooded during Hurricane Harvey. No matter how hard you think it is when someone goes through this, you dont know until you experience it yourself, Christ said. You just dont know where to turn. The experience pushed her even harder to accomplish a project launched over a year ago the Project of Love. Christ is former president of the Home Owners Association for Treasure Island at Magnolia Point in Huffman. Darlene Bradbery is her neighbor. Bradbery lives with her caretaker, Charlie Foxworth. Their home took on water for the second time in 2016 during the Tax Day flood. Project of Love was an effort to replace Bradberys home, which had to be torn down due to the extent of the water damage. After making progress on the effort, Project of Love shut down after a series of events drove Bradberys realization that moving off of her Huffman property was necessary. She recently bought a property in San Jacinto County. However, Christ is not giving up on her efforts to get a new home for Bradbery and Foxworth. She is working to get Project of Love back up and running in San Jacinto County and is seeking the resources to do so. Christs friendship with Bradbery and Foxworth began the day Christ helped them with home tear-out and clean up efforts after the second flood. When the house was demolished, Christ told them she would do everything in her power to get them a house again. That started the Project of Love, Christ said. I couldnt sleep at night knowing they didnt have a home. Christ partnered with Houston District E city council member Dave Martins office. The council member said, were happy to help expedite permits for you whatever kind of assistance we can do to make this process easier on you, said Jessica Beemer, chief of staff for the District E office. The District E office helped talk her through what permits would be needed and some businesses came onboard with the project as well. Christ said the first company to step-up was J&A Demolition with an offer to tear down the structure. Barnard Architects drew-up architectural design plans for the house. Arched Cabins, a builder of multi-use structures including homes, came on-board, as well as several other entities. In a post on the original projects GoFundMe page, Christ also thanks Joslin Construction, Lentz Engineering, Paradigm Consultants, Civil-Surv Land Surveying, LC, Precision Construction, city of Houston Permitting Center, Lakeside Floors, Minute Man Press and Habitat for Humanity for offering time and resources for the original project. Then, just as they were about to start the permitting process to build the home, Harvey hit. This time, it wasnt just Bradberys property that flooded. Christs did as well. Christ was pulled away from Project of Love while she spent three months living in a Galleria-area hotel as her house was made livable again. It was October, or November, when they were able to start the permit application process with the city of Houston. Then, about a month ago during another rain, Bradberys property took on water once again, said Christ. They cant keep replacing things every time it floods, Christ said. Shes disabled. Physically, she cant go through this again. They were in a camper when Harvey hit and it was completely submerged. She lost everything that had been replaced after the previous flood. They decided to move to a less flood-prone area and are in the process of clearing the land and having utilities installed on land they purchased in San Jacinto County. In the meantime, she and Foxworth will continue living in an RV on the property in Huffman. Bradbery, Christ, Beemer and others involved were sad not to see the project come to fruition. However, Christ may not have to restart the Project of Love completely from scratch. Were not sure what their permitting process looks like over there, but we do have the plans that were submitted and that kind of thing, Beemer said. Although we cant really continue to work on it like we were because the new property is outside the city, were happy to share our resources with (San Jacinto) County. Additionally, Arched Cabins has already come onboard with the new effort, offering a discount on a structure as well as free delivery. Christ is coordinating with Frank Bass, who sold Bradbery the new property and has connections in that area. Christs hope is that between the two of them they can find people and companies willing to help the cause and provide services by donation, or for a discount. Christ said some of their needs will include help to run electrical, plumbing, A/C and heat as well as insulation and drywall. I want to see Project of Love start back up again in San Jacinto County, Christ said. We want to get some folks up here to do anything they can for the project. Well accept any help. Beemer said that through Christs continued efforts, its as though Christ is becoming an extension of Bradberys family. While Christ was staying in the hotel after Harvey, Foxworth and Bradbery took it upon themselves to look after her property. Just the other day, they accompanied Christ to the hardware store and helped her transport a new lawnmower from the store to her home. These are just a couple examples of the selfless deeds they have done for her, said Christ, which reinforces her in the mission to get them a house. They are very giving, loving, special people, Christ said. I cannot say that enough. Ive been blessed to meet them. When she calls me her angel, I say, no, youre mine. For more information about how to help with the new Project of Love, contact Frank Bass at 936-377-3235, or Stacy Christ at 832-283-1155. mfeuk@hcnonline.com Spring Branch Education Foundation awarded 105 scholarships to Spring Branch Independent School District seniors a total of $163,900 at the SBEF 2018 Bright Stars of SBISD, Celebrating Academic Excellence awards program on May 17 at The Westin Houston, Memorial City. The event, hosted by SBEF, honored scholarship recipients as well as 2017-18 Teachers and Principals of the Year. We are privileged to recognize these exemplary seniors and educators who represent the many bright stars in Spring Branch ISD, SBEF Executive Director Cece Thompson said. At the Bright Stars event, we publicly pay tribute to our seniors for their achievements and also to the educators and district employees who helped prepare our honorees for the next stage of their lives, said Warren Matthews, SBEF board member and Scholarship Committee chair. Each scholarship application package is independently reviewed and evaluated by every member of the Scholarship Selection Committee. Its an enormous task, and Im very appreciative of their commitment and engagement, he continued. Our honorees include campus leaders, community volunteers, students who have overcome significant challenges and obstacles, and others who helped their communities recover from tragic events, including the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. Many recipients are the first in their families to pursue higher education, and were happy to help them take that first step. Throughout the school year, Spring Branch ISD staff members contribute to the SBEF Employee Campaign, funding scholarships for SBISD graduates who are children of district employees. When employees were asked in August 2017 to contribute to SBEFs 2017-18 Employee Campaign scholarship fund, they eagerly responded. The response was so great we awarded a $1,250 scholarship to every applicant - 42 graduates, Thompson said. Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images Houston police have issued a warrant for 6ix9ine, a 22-year-old rapper accused of choking a teenager at The Galleria earlier this year. Video footage of Daniel Hernandez, better known by his stage name Tekashi 6ix9ine, shows him confronting a 16-year-old teenager who recorded him during his visit to the west Houston mall. Houston police have charged a teenager in the shooting death of a 45-year-old store clerk near Spring Branch. Brandon Veregas, 19, is facing a first-degree murder charge in his alleged role in Jose De Jesus Garcia's death at T&T Food Mart in the 4000 block of Hollister Road on Monday. WILLIS RAID: Officials raid care facility following allegation of physical, sexual abuse The Houston Police Department was called out to the convenience store around 4 p.m. Monday to reports of a panic alarm. Police found several shell casings in the store's parking lot, a shattered glass door leading into the store and the body of a man in his 40s lying just inside the threshold. The shots were fired from the parking lot through the store's glass front door, homicide Detective Adrian Lopez said on the day of the shooting. Witnesses told police they heard around 10 gunshots. Veregas was arrested Wednesday, police said. Authorities did not immediately release a booking photo. Jay R. Jordan is a breaking news reporter at Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan. On Friday morning Santa Fe High School was the site of a deadly active shooter incident, the details of which are still being revealed. The school, a part of the Santa Fe Independent School District, is located along Highway 6. Santa Fe is located in Galveston County between Alvin and Galveston. THE LATEST: 'Multiple fatalities' reported at Santa Fe High School shooting The school day at Santa Fe begins at 7:10 a.m. and concludes at 2:25 p.m. daily. The population of the student body is around 1,500 students. According to the most recent Texas Education Agency data, the school's demographics are predominantly Caucasian and Hispanic. At least 24 percent of students have been termed economically disadvantaged. Earlier this year the school was under a precautionary lockdown after there had been a report of popping sounds in the area thought to be from a firearm. That lockdown was lifted by the end of the school day after law enforcement determined there was no danger. Tensions in the country were still very raw in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. READ MORE: Houston-area media reporting fatalities from school shooting Santa Fe Junior High School and two elementary schools, Dan J. Kubacak and Roy J. Wollam, are also part of the school district. Graduation for SFHS is set for June 1 and preparation for next week's final exams were underway when the shooting broke out Friday morning. Authorities are on the lookout for a man they say has gone into multiple stores in The Woodlands area, stripped himself naked and exposed himself to patrons. Oak Ridge North Police Chief Andrew Walters sent out an advisory on Nixle asking city residents to be on the lookout for an unidentified man they have nicknamed Wee Willie Dangles. Walters described the suspect as a white male in his 50s, with salt and pepper hair, wearing eyeglasses. Lt. Scott Spencer, with the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office, said a man his late 50s was reported entering a store at Market Street in The Woodlands, matching the description and wearing a thick beard. He is alleged to have entered a Club Monaco on Six Pines Drive Thursday afternoon, strip off his clothing and run out of the store. Its not a call we typically get, so it stands out, Spencer said, suggesting that the Market Street streaker could be the same man from the Oak Ridge North incident. Walters told the Villager that a heavy-set man is alleged to have entered a Kirklands store in Oak Ridge North on Wednesday afternoon, remove his shirt and shorts and proceeded to walk laps in the store. After a couple of passes around the scented candles and glassware, Wee Willie stopped near the the front door, put his shorts and shirt on and left, Walters wrote in his advisory. Police were called but he had disappeared. He did this time leave his image on the store video. Walters said authorities are not yet releasing the image, but are working to identify the man with witnesses who were present at the Kirklands store. The man is alleged to have walked into two other stores in north Harris County, including the Kirklands in Spring and a Cilantros Mexican Restaurant inside a shopping center in Rayford, Walters said. Both incidents took place Wednesday morning, Walters added. Walters said the man is simply walking into stores and stripping his clothes off. Our concern is if it starts to manifest in more violent actions or more aggressive actions toward people, Walters said. I would like to get him to stop obviously, its deviant behavior. For lewd conduct, the man can face various charges depending on who it is he exposed himself to, Walter said. If it was a child, its a felony. If its an adult, itll be a class B misdemeanor, Walter said. Police are working with two other agencies, including the Montgomery County and Harris County Sheriffs offices to catch him, he said. So if any of yall happen to see Wee Willie out and about, or know who Wee Willie may be, wed sure appreciate the opportunity to talk with him about his habits, Walters said in his Nixle advisory. michelle.iracheta@chron.com Sales tax holiday announced for water-efficient products The state of Texas will hold a sales tax holidays on water-efficient and Energy Star products from May 26 to May 28. Products displaying a WaterSense label or logo can be purchased tax-free for personal or business use during the three days. Those products include: shower heads, bathroom sink faucets and landscape irrigation controls. Also during the sales tax holiday, certain energy-efficient products displaying the Energy Star logo can be purchased tax-free. They include air conditioners priced at $6,000 or less, refrigerators priced at $2,000 or less, and washing machines. Certain water-conserving products also will be tax free during the holiday, such as items that are used or planted for conserving or retaining groundwater. Examples of items that qualify for the exemption include: soaker or drip-irrigation hose, moisture control for a sprinkler or irrigation system, mulch, rain barrels, permeable ground cover surface that allows water to reach underground basins, plants, trees, grasses, soil and compost. Visit www.comptroller.texas.gov/taxes for more information. The Woodlands Rotary Club launches Rotary House The Woodlands Rotary Club launched their promotion of the Rotary House of The Woodlands at their annual Woodlands Wine Dinner. With Montgomery County evolving into the North Houston Medical Center, Rotary House of The Woodlands was created to provide temporary housing for individuals and their families who are receiving treatment at one of the Montgomery Countys five local hospitals that operate within 10 miles of each other. The hospitals include CHI St. Lukes Hospital, Conroe Regional Medical Center, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, Methodist Hospital The Woodlands and Texas Childrens Hospital. Rotary House of The Woodlands currently has two furnished, ground floor, one-bedroom apartments at The Plantation Apartment Community. Hospital social workers are the contact people for families in need of low cost temporary housing during treatments. The cost to guests is $130 regardless of length of stay, with a three-month maximum stay. Background checks are required before guests are accepted. To arrange to use Rotary House of The Woodlands, patients or families can contact the hospital or medical treatment facility social workers to see if their situation makes them eligible. The social workers will provide a simple application, including credit card information for payment of one-time fee. Registration open for Play Smarter Kids preschool program Play Smarter Kids Early Learning and Enrichment Center will offer a five-day preschool option for three- to six-year-old children. The new preschool will expand on the weekly enrichment classes Play Smarter Kids has offered since early 2017. Play Smarter Kids owner and director Aurora Clarke writes the original curriculum to integrate STEM concepts (science, technology, engineering and math) with early literacy. The program includes three to four hands-on activities per hour, so children are playing, exploring and learning. Play Smarter Kids also commits to maintaining a 1:6 teacher to student ratio. Parents can register their children for the morning session from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. or afternoon session from 12:30-4 p.m. Children may be enrolled for two, three, four or five days per week. Children ages 3 to 6 will attend mixed-age classes. Register online at www.playsmarterkids.com/pskpreschool. Interfaith announces new VP of Programs Interfaith of The Woodlands has announced Lucy Gomez as the new vice president of programs. Gomez brings more than 12 years of experience to the executive-level position. She will work along side the president and CEO and CFO roles to further enhance Interfaiths community involvement, programs and services, disaster efforts and more. Gomez has worked at Interfaith since 2005 in Family Services and most recently held the position of Director of Programs and Services. Gomez has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in anthropology from The University of Texas at San Antonio and a Masters degree in International Relations from The University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom. Gomez is also a 2015 graduate of Leadership Montgomery County. City offers support for Veterans Memorial After an impassioned presentation by the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission during an Oak Ridge North City Council meeting on May 14, the council unanimously voted to approve a resolution of support for the proposed Montgomery County Veterans Memorial to be built in Conroe. The current memorial is located in Conroe and is set to be decommissioned in November. Judy Chance Doroy, deputy director of the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission, said the organization was asking governmental agencies throughout the county to sign a resolution of support for the proposed memorial. We want to honor all our veterans, those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who have served and those who are currently serving, she said. We want their names in this memorial. The commission has already received suppport from the Montgomery County Commissioners Court, Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts office and the city of Conroe. Phone system restructuring to be probed City Manager Vicky Rudy said the city should reconsider revamping its phone system after an influx of calls recently that have created work flow issues. The city previously used an automated system where callers were greeted with multiple numbered options for each department. Council Member Frances Planchard said she opposed going back to the previous system. City Council members asked officials to look into updating the phones. Officials appointed to committees Oak Ridge North resident Paula Cleveland was sworn in as a new member of the Community Affairs Committee. The council also named Mayor Jim Kuykendall, Planchard and Council Member Clint McClaren to the Council Personnel Committee. Council members Paul Bond and Alex Jones were named to the Capital Projects Committee. Both committees are scheduled to meet over the summer to work on the city budget for the upcoming year. City officials expect to file a budget with the county by Thursday, Aug. 30. In other appointments, Bill Patillo was reappointed to a two-year term as judge of Oak Ridge North Municipal Court. John Planchard, Holly McClaren and Rick Moffatt were also reappointed for two year terms to the citys Tax Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) No. 1. Its never too early to learn how to protect your brain. Many are surprised to learn that changes in the brain can occur decades before signs and symptoms of dementia appear, which makes living a brain-healthy life even more important. Others wonder as we age if our memory changes are normal or possibly a sign of dementia. Many are still confused about the various types of dementia and their symptoms. These are just some of the topics Amazing Place, Houstons only day program for adults with mild to moderate dementia, addresses in free presentations throughout the community. Over the last three years, Amazing Place has reached over 6,500 individuals at various companies, churches and organizations with this information. If you are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Services, you may want to consider claiming your benefit to be buried in one of the 135 national cemeteries, including one that is located in Houston on Veterans Memorial Drive. Veterans burial benefits include a grave site, opening and closing of the grave, a government marker or headstone, a burial flag and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, at no cost to the family. Burial allowances also may be available to some veterans. Cremated remains are provided for with burial or interment with the same care and honors as casketed remains. You have the opportunity to make pre-arrangements by contracting the VA National Cemetery of your choice and requesting an eligibility determination in advance of the need. When the need eventually arises, the funeral home chosen by the family will assist the family in making the arrangements with the VA National Cemetery. The items provided by a funeral home are not covered by this benefit. If the Veteran qualifies for additional burial benefits, some of these additional costs may be covered from this separate benefit. You may want to further prepare by purchasing a pre-need funeral contract to pay for the casket and other funeral home items in advance of the need. You will need a DD-214, which is a copy of your military discharge. If you cannot locate the document, then you can obtain a copy online at archives.gov/veterans. If you have never been to the Houston National Cemetery, you should go; it is beautiful and meticulously cared for. This particular cemetery has one small chapel and three outdoor pavilions that are available for services that provide for 21 burials, Monday through Friday. Burial benefits are available to all members of the armed forces who have met minimum active duty requirements and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. The veterans spouse and dependent children, as well as some unmarried adult children with disabilities, also may be eligible for the burial benefit. There are many variations of eligibility criteria to be eligible for burial in a national cemetery. You may access eligibility criteria online at cem.va.gov. Many inquiries are filed each year regarding a persons eligibility to be buried in the famous Arlington Cemetery. This prestigious cemetery is located in Arlington County, Virginia, which is across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The cemetery was started with 1,100 acres of land inherited by Mary Lee from her father, George Washington Parke Custis, in 1857. Custis was the grandson of Martha Washington, who had been adopted by George Washington when Custis father died of camp fever in 1781 during the last major battle of the Revolutionary War at Yorktown. When Custis died, Arlington passed to Mary Lee, his only surviving child who had married Robert E. Lee. Details of the history can be found online at smithsonianmag.com. Eligibility for in-ground burial in this cemetery is very restricted. The above-ground internment is much less restrictive. Online access to review eligibility requirements for in-ground burials may be found online at arlingtoncemetery.com. Arlington is running out of land. The cemetery currently sits on 624 acres. Based on the amount of land available and the current burial rate, the cemetery will close for new burials in 23 years if current eligibility rules remain in place. Another anticipated expansion into the area south of Arlington (about 40 acres) would add an additional number of years, which would lengthen the closing time of their burials to the 2050s. Email your questions to education@wrightabshire.com or visit the website at www.wrightabshire.com. Wesley E. Wright and Molly Dear Abshire are attorneys with the firm Wright Abshire, Attorneys, P.C., with offices in Bellaire, The Woodlands and Carmine. Both Wright and Abshire are board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in estate planning and probate law and are certified as Elder Law Attorneys by the National Elder Law Foundation. Nothing contained in this publication should be considered as the rendering of legal advice to any persons specific case, but should be considered general information. What does being a good conversationalist have to do with being an effective networker? Everything. At some point in your career, you have heard the term networking mentioned with regard to job search. Its no surprise that when people try to network and end up with less than expected results, the impression is that networking works for only a few instead of everyone. The art of having a rich discussion has nothing to do with age, its about being a good conversationalist. As older job candidates approach new job opportunities, question your style in meeting people and your approach to gathering information. The definition of good conversationalist is a person who enjoys and contributes to good conversation; an interesting person in conversation. In other words, someone who is active in a conversation. One of the habits that people tend to develop during their career is focusing on the work at hand rather than time spent on developing communication skills. Its not that people raise their hands and volunteer to be a bad conversationalist, but it can be a lifelong habit of just not paying attention to the person in front of them. A newly hired manager once talked about their experience in working on a project with an older co-worker. When they met for the first time to discuss the opportunity, the co-worker dominated the meeting, leaving the manager to listen and interject comments when possible. Instead of having a productive discussion where both participated in sharing ideas and planning, the manager left feeling disrespected, and worst of all, he perceived the older co-worker as being a know-it-all with a closed mind. The truth is, having a good conversation transcends age; its an art that takes practice in developing skills. It helps to recall what makes a good conversationalist. Think of someone who served as a mentor to you. What was it about their style of communication that influenced you? Most likely, they cared about you by sharing in a give-and-take conversation. Being a good communicator will serve you throughout your career, and its doubtful you will ever hear a negative statement about a good conversationalist. The next time you consider a career move, think how you network and what you could do to make your efforts more effective. Anyone can start becoming a better conversationalist with just a few changes. 1. Be genuine with what you convey to the other person. A good conversation is not a debate to win a point; its more about an exchange involving all your senses such as non-verbal language, eye contact and interest. 2. Share the conversation, aiming for a 50-50 balance of talking and listening. Talking too much will only leave the other person with a memory of how much you talked rather than what you said. 3. Be focused when talking and listening. Rarely can a person convey their interest in you when looking around the room to check out who is present. 4. Questions fuel good conversations, so use open-ended questions to help the other person talk. Avoid asking questions that could be answered with a simple yes or no. 5. Use the WAIT technique to help you internally monitor your actions when communicating with another person Why Am I Talking? If you cant come up with a good reason why you are talking, it might be a sign you are dominating the conversation. Kimberly Thompson is a board-certified counselor. Send questions to kim@careerrescue.com or Houston Chronicle, P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210. Visit her blog at www.blogs.chron.com/careerrescue. For more than half a century the Deep East Texas Council of Governments and Economic Development District, better known as DETCOG, has served the local governments and citizens of our region. It seems everyone has heard of DETCOG. Yet many do not have a good understanding of just who we are and what we do. First of all, Ill start with what DETCOG is not. We are not a regional government. We have no taxing or ordinance making authority. We exercise no control over the cities and counties within our region. Simply put, we dont tell them what to do - they tell us what to do. We serve to enhance local control - not take away from it. We provide many services that would not be feasible for our members to provide on their own. We were founded to facilitate planning, eliminate duplication, and promote economy and efficiency in the coordinated development of our region. DETCOGs original mission of economic development remains an important focus today. As an Economic Development District, we work closely with the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Governors Office and other state agencies, regional partners including the Texas Forest Country Partnership, local economic development corporations and other organizations to identify and assist with job creation opportunities in our region. In one of our programs we have awarded over $3.7 million in forgivable loans to businesses to create new jobs in our region. Several of our programs fall under the broad category of Public Safety. We provide the network, equipment, support and training required to operate the Emergency 9-1-1 communications system in all 12 counties of our region. More than 400,000 emergency 9-1-1 calls are handled by this system every year. We also coordinate regional emergency preparedness and homeland security planning and assist jurisdictions with local planning. This involves preparation to deal with hurricanes and other natural disasters, as well as preventing, preparing for, and effectively responding to acts of terrorism. DETCOG facilitates law enforcement training on a regional basis and provides reimbursement to law enforcement agencies to enable officers to attend specialized training not available in our region. We help local jurisdictions access criminal justice funding under grant programs such as Direct Services to Victims, the Violence Against Women Act, the Justice Assistance Grant program and Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention. Our Regional Juvenile Alternatives grant provides funding to local juvenile probation departments to help provide essential services that include psychological evaluations, counseling services, life skills classes and drug and alcohol awareness. We put a lot of emphasis on keeping youth out of the criminal justice system. Our STAR (Services to At-Risk Youth) program provides counseling, crisis intervention, parent education and many other services designed to keep youth from running away from home, being truant from school, or exhibiting other delinquent behavior. This highly successful program helps youth and families resolve crises that threaten their family unit. The emphasis is on keeping families together. Many people know us as the Deep East Texas Area Agency on Aging (AAA). Through this program we help enable older citizens to live dignified, independent and productive lives. Services include funding for senior centers that provide congregate and home delivered meals and activities for persons age 60 and older. Our AAA also provides health education programs, care coordination, caregiver support services, benefits counseling, and an ombudsman for residents of long-term care facilities. Our Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) provides information, assistance and counseling to older persons and persons of all ages with a disability to help them gain access to long-term care programs, services and support so that they might continue to live in their own communities. The DETCOG Regional Housing Authority improves access to quality housing for everyone and encourages self-sufficiency for low-income families. Through the Housing Choice Voucher Program we serve approximately 1,800 households and invest almost $10 million per year into our regions economy in payments to local landlords. There is a focus on helping families become self-sufficient and achieve the goal of home ownership. Through our participation in the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) Program, we have identified homeless veterans living in Deep East Texas and provided them with housing and other assistance. We operate one of the largest and most successful RSVP programs in the nation. RSVP is the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, which recruits and organizes persons age 55 and older who volunteer their time and talents to meet real needs in every county of Deep East Texas. Our program leverages approximately $114,000 of federal and state funding into millions of dollars in beneficial services. This is accomplished by more than 1,300 volunteers performing services at 200 work stations throughout the region. These work stations include schools, healthcare facilities, food banks, and many other community service agencies. We also have a program to connect you with other great organizations, both public and private, that help people in our region. If you need help and dont know where to turn, you can pick up the phone and dial 2-1-1. DETCOG partners with the State of Texas to operate a regional 2-1-1 Call Center. Utilizing a comprehensive statewide database of programs and services, 2-1-1 Texas provides information and referral assistance to all persons seeking access to local programs and services. Yes, DETCOG provides all these services and more! Like transportation and rural transit planning, grants to reduce solid waste and promote a cleaner environment, assistance with Community Development Block Grants, and of course, disaster recovery. We are currently assisting survivors of Hurricane Harvey. Did you know that in the past 10 years, DETCOG has worked with federal and state agencies to facilitate the distribution of more than $263 million in disaster recovery funds to our region? These funds have rebuilt and improved infrastructure, put residents back in their homes and helped businesses recover after the trauma of hurricanes, floods and wildfires. If it sounds like Im bragging, well maybe I am. Im bragging on the 60 or so DETCOG employees who work so hard to deliver these programs and services. Im bragging on the 58 members of our Board of Directors who give unselfishly of their time to provide guidance and oversight for these programs. Im bragging on the counties, cities, school districts, river authorities, tribal council, special districts, chambers of commerce, and other sustaining members who have voluntarily joined together through DETCOG to make Deep East Texas a better place. For more information, call us at (800) 256-6848, visit our website at www.detcog.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Id also like to invite you to join us for our annual Membership and Awards Luncheon on May 24 at the Pitser Garrison Convention Center in Lufkin. Heres to those visionary leaders who, more than 50 years ago, saw the benefit of working together with their neighbors and created an organization to make it happen. Thats DETCOG. And heres to the next 50! As more baby boomers continue to enter their retirement years, an increasing number of these individuals are living alone and aging in place. This leaves many wondering if their loved ones should live alone, and if so, what are the precautions and considerations. Retirement Center Management COO David Keaton can attest through his own experience with his parents that being alone may not be a healthy choice. Keaton knew that a change needed to be made, not only for his fathers, but also for his mothers well-being. He had visited California over the last few years where his dad lived and found him suffering more and more from weight loss and general deteriorating health. After numerous conversations and visits, a decision was made for his parents to relocate to the Village of Meyerland, one of the properties he oversees for RCM. A Greek philosopher famously said, The only thing constant in life is change. It doesnt take many years of living to know his words are true and see that change is an inevitable part of life for everyone. Residents at Parkway Place, a Buckner senior living community located in the heart of Houstons Energy Corridor, understand its the attitude with which you handle change that makes all the difference. In fact, many Parkway Place residents find change fun and interesting. If you take a walk around the beautifully landscaped 15-acre community today, youll see construction crews working hard to complete a $12.8 million renovation. Changes include updated interior design and the addition of a new bistro for residents looking for a more casual dining option. Youll also likely find residents gathered at windows, eagerly watching the construction progress. For Parkway residents, these changes are exciting. Not all life changes are as exciting as new paint color, but the caring spirit of Parkway residents and staff help turn even difficult changes into positive outcomes. Last fall, nearly 20 now-residents had to make the best of change when Hurricane Harvey destroyed their homes. They came to Parkway Place and found hope through a welcoming community of new friends and neighbors. They dove right into the active Parkway Place lifestyle and became involved with daily activities such as Bible studies, bingo, Wii bowling and chair volleyball. Joann Haggard, the first resident to move to Parkway Place after the storm, said, When I walked in, I knew it was OK. I felt like family. At Parkway Place, residents are free to engage in life however they choose. Whether enjoying the quiet comfort of their private independent living apartment or socializing with friends over a chef-prepared meal in the dining room, residents are free to choose their own schedules. For more information or to schedule a visit, call 281-677-5912, or visit online at www.bucknerparkwayplace.com. SANTA FE Seventeen-year-old Trey Lemley was one week past prom, two weeks from the end of his junior year. He was surrounded by safe, familiar things. The long tables of the Santa Fe High School art lab. The walls covered in murals and paintings. The friends who had made them. Then, one of his classmates, clad in a trenchcoat, entered the room with a shotgun and a revolver. Trey dropped his phone, flung himself inside a closet and barricaded the door, according to his sister, Courtney Lemley. When Trey came out, three bodies lay on the floor in pools of blood. When Trey came out, the old, safe Santa Fe High School was gone. When Trey came out, he and his district of more than 4,000 students, about 30 miles south of Houston, had joined a growing cadre of U.S. communities with children who will never come home, racked by a mass shooting and represented by political leaders who have no clear consensus on how to stop them. About 7:30 a.m. Friday, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis killed 10 and injured at least 10 more before a Santa Fe school police officer and a Texas state trooper intercepted him. He eventually emerged from the art class and surrendered, according to an arrest affidavit. The school officer, 49-year-old John Barnes, suffered a gunshot to the upper arm, critically wounding him with severe blood loss. The dead included students and an educator. Police also detained two people of interest in the case, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news briefing Friday at the school. One was at the scene and had "suspicious reactions" after the shootings, and officials were unsure whether that person was involved in the attack, Abbott said. The other was being interviewed. Abbott gave no other details about them. Pagourtzis claimed to have acted alone and was cooperating with authorities, said Galveston County Judge Mark Henry, the county's top elected official. Authorities said Pagourtzis deployed inoperable explosive devices, perhaps to stoke fear. They were checking for more devices in Pagourtzis' vehicle and home, about three miles northwest of the school, Abbott said. The dead include students Angelique Ramirez, 15, and Jared Black; and Cynthia Tisdale, a teacher's aide in the art class, according to their family members. Among the injured were Rome Shubert, 16, a member of the school's baseball team who was treated and released after being grazed on the back of the head; student Clayton Horn, shot in the arm and leg; and sophomore Trenton Beazley, one of Shubert's baseball teammates, who was struck in the back by bullet fragments. It was the worst mass shooting in America since Valentine's Day, when 17 people died at a high school in Parkland, Florida, and perhaps the worst school shooting in Texas since Charles Whitman killed 17 in a rampage from his perch in a University of Texas tower in 1966. There have been 16 school shootings nationwide in 2018, according to a database maintained by the Washington Post. The shooting set off another enactment of the nation's familiar scenes of school terror: Students watching classmates die. Fleeing, their belongings searched by armed officers. Parents, tortured by lack of information, flocking to the school and hospitals. Desperate pleas for word of the missing on social media. Blake Wingate, 16, and Kane Hopkins, 15, were getting ready to leave their first-period class near one of the school's three gyms when they heard fire alarms blare. They moved toward a hallway. Three gunshots. Inches away, a window shattered. A teacher screamed for students to run. The teens tried to run back to the gym. The door was locked. Other students joined as they tried to muscle open doors to the second gym. Those were locked, too. They found one unlocked door leading to the third gym and ran across a basketball court and outside to the school's parking lot. Wingate saw a classmate begging for help, holding a teenager, the body limp. He and Kane kept running, intent on escape. Eight people crammed into Wingate's two-door Jeep as more students streamed out of the school and across Highway 6. Wingate drove to Hopkins' house. As they arrived, one friend threw up. They spent the rest of the day watching news and texting friends in a desperate attempt to learn their classmates' fates. They still don't know what happened to a friend whose parents tried and failed to find him at local hospitals. They don't want to go back to school. It doesn't feel safe. "It keeps replaying in my head," Wingate said. "It's a weird story that will stay in my head for the rest of my life. Just how close I was." Other students jumped fences and fled to nearby woods or took shelter behind a mechanic's shop across the freeway. Avari Creekmore, 16, got to school a little late. She heard fire alarms. She saw blood on a hallway floor and heard shooting. "I took off running. I turned and saw him with whatever he had and I ran," she said, referring to the shooter. "I called my mom and said 'We have an active shooter at school,' and she said, 'I'm on my way.'" The odor of gunpowder hung in the air. "I just thought to run away from it," Avari said. "I just thought if he was near me just, God, get out of his sight." Suzannah Salazar, 17, said she heard what sounded like four pops in the nearby art classroom, then she ran. Hours after the shooting, she was still waiting to hear what had happened to her 16-year-old sister, Sarah, who she believes was in the room. "I'm just hoping my sister comes back," she said. "I'm trying to stay as calm as I can." Freshman Kali Reeves, 15, ran to a convenience store on the highway. "All I know is, several are dead, a friend of mine was shot," Reeves said. "I know one girl is dead; she took a shot to the head." Parents rushed to a complex of school district buildings about three miles from the high school, at a landmark known as the Alamo Gym. Some met relief as they found their children there. Others met only frustration. "You shouldn't have to be waiting three hours to hear where your kid is," said Lesley Tribble, a 29-year-old who said she is the legal guardian of student Angelique Ramirez. "She's easily identifiable she has fire-red hair and two lip piercings," Carli Daffern, 14, said of Ramirez, who she said is her best friend and neighbor. "None of us can get any real intel," Tribble wrote in a text message. "We've been calling hospitals asking because we still can't get any names or anything ... (Authorities are) trying to keep people calm but names aren't being released and now certain parents are getting riled up." Leia Olinde, a local business owner, came to look for her aunt, Tisdale, but acknowledged she was growing more concerned. "If everything was fine and she was OK she would have found a way to contact her husband by now," she said. Community members and officers escorted families out of the facility by early Friday evening. Some walked briskly, heads down. Others, sobbing, needed guidance, a supportive hand on an arm. One woman pulled her T-shirt up to cover her face. Officers blocked traffic. Friends or family had cars waiting. The community had seemed to reach a silent agreement that, at the very least, they could help the families leave this place, saturated with 10 solid hours of stress and uncertainty, quickly. Tribble stayed. Just before 6 p.m., she learned Ramirez died. Pagourtzis appeared in the evening before Henry, the county judge, who arraigned him on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault on a public servant. Henry denied bond. Pagourtzis made a quick appearance and stayed mostly silent. He asked for a court-appointed lawyer. Investigators found carbon dioxide canisters wrapped with duct tape but no detonators, and a pressure cooker with an alarm clock and nails, but no explosive, Henry said. They also discovered an unspent Molotov cocktail a bottle filled with flammable liquid. "I think he wanted people to think they were explosives, but they were not," Henry said, adding authorities have no reports of explosions during the shooting. Still, investigators took their time searching Pagourtzis' vehicle and house, several miles from the high school on Highway 6. Pagourtzis used guns owned by his father, Abbott said, and did not have a legal right to possess them. "I have no information ... whether the father knows the weapons were taken," he said. No clear motive emerged, but Abbott said the teen revealed in journals that he had planned to kill himself after the attack. "He didn't have the courage to end his life," Abbott said. The student's social media persona included a photo of a "BORN TO KILL" T-shirt, German nationalist symbols and indications of an affinity for guns. He also participated in a Greek Orthodox dance team, according to a church website. Hopkins and Wingate, who fled the school in the Jeep, said they knew Pagourtzis from the football team and welding classes. "He always wore dark clothes and that trench coat," Wingate said. "He would go outside and sit in a corner. The teacher always had to go out to find him." A woman who answered the phone at a number associated with the Pagourtzis family declined to speak with The Associated Press. "Give us our time right now, thank you," she said. In the arrest affidavit, officers said Pagourtzis told them he avoided shooting students he liked, "so he could have his story told." REACTION: 'Yall been sending thoughts and prayers for two decades now' The high school's Earl Routh Field House turned into a command post for law enforcement. They established a mass casualty unit, and a makeshift morgue. Bodies remained inside the school into the evening. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center put out a call for donations, especially for type O negative. Leaders across the political spectrum condemned the violence. Abbott, a Republican, said he planned to convene a roundtable on school shootings to hear from victims as well as proponents of gun rights. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican from Houston, said a response should be focused on access to schools and retrofitting schools to prevent attacks. He said gun owners should lock them up to keep them safe. Democratic State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, however, tweeted: "Y'all been sending thoughts and prayers for two freaking decades now. Time to try something new." President Donald J. Trump in February promised to stand up to the National Rifle Association to impose new gun restrictions, before telling the NRA in May that the Second Amendment would "never ever be under siege as long as I am your president." On Friday, Trump emphasized keeping guns away from people who shouldn't have them. "This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years. Too many decades now," he said. "We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High, we're with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others." Former Astronaut Mark Kelly, who lived in the area of Santa Fe, near Johnson Space Center, for 15 years, said he and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords were devastated. Giffords was injured in a shooting at an event in her Arizona district in 2011. "It is our moral obligation to protect the vulnerable," Kelly wrote on social media. "The adults, the politicians, are responsible for the safety of children." Santa Fe had an active shooter drill in February, junior Brittany Hale said. It then went on lockdown Feb. 28, 14 days after Parkland, after a threat was reported, junior Jacob Smirkik said. Though school was in session the next day, he said few attended. "This time," he said, "there was no warning." On Thursday, David Hogg, a Parkland student, had a chilling premonition as he spoke to reporters at an event in Los Angeles. "There is someone alive right now that will not be alive at this time tomorrow and has never even thought about gun violence," he said, "but everyone around them will have to for the rest of their lives." Minutes after the Santa Fe shooting, it was becoming clear that the schools would forever be linked. "Santa Fe High, you didn't deserve this," tweeted Emma Gonzalez, an outspoken Parkland survivor. "You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out, we will be there to support you by raising up your voices." Santa Fe students walked out just last month in support of the national protests against gun violence in schools. In one photo that surfaced again Friday, a group of those walking out held up a poster. Someone had scrawled on it in black marker: "Santa Fe High School says #NeverAgain." BREAKING NEWS ALERTS: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news text alerts from the Houston Chronicle. Reporters Todd Ackerman, Gabrielle Banks, St. John Barned-Smith, Keri Blakinger, Dug Begley, Jacob Carpenter, Susan Carroll, Jenny Deam, Matt Dempsey, Kevin Diaz, Robert Downen, Collin Eaton, Lindsay Ellis, Emily Foxhall, Jose Gonzalez, Maggie Gordon, David Hunn, Samantha Ketterer, Jaimy Jones, Lomi Kriel, Brooke Lewis, Mike Morris, Ileana Najarro, Nick Powell, Monica Rhor, Kirk Sides, Mike Snyder, Alex Stuckey, Paul Takahashi and Mike Ward contributed to this report. Administrators on Thursday recommended Houston ISD seek voter approval for a $1.7 billion capital projects bond in May 2019, charging forward with long-term spending plans even as the district faces uncertainty about its leadership and ability to maintain local control over decision-making. District leaders said the $1.7 billion bond would finance much-needed rebuilding of 18 existing elementary and middle schools, construction of three new campuses, security upgrades at all 280-plus schools and the purchase of new buses, among other costs. HISD administrators said it was unclear whether the proposed bond package would result in a tax increase, saying they will have a better idea when the Harris County Appraisal District finalizes property values in August. HISD trustees would have to approve a measure to send the bond referendum to voters, with board members likely making a decision in late 2018 or early 2019. If approved, the bond would be HISD's first since 2012, when 67 percent of voters backed a $1.89 billion package. The 2019 proposal, however, could meet more resistance than usual amid ongoing upheaval in the district. In the past four months, HISD has lost its superintendent, announced a $100 million-plus budget deficit and increased its odds of losing local control over its school board by choosing not to surrender control over 10 chronically under-performing campuses. The district's image also took a hit last month when police arrested two women and the audience temporarily was ousted from the central administration building during a heated school board meeting. The women were released from jail the next day and no charges were filed. HISD also has been criticized for adding $212 million to the $1.89 billion bond approved in 2012. Various stakeholders have debated whether the district needed the additional money to cover rising construction prices or mismanagement of the initial bond. HISD Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby said Thursday the district will begin polling to determine whether there is public support for a bond referendum. He said he is "confident" residents ultimately will back the proposal. The average taxpayer or public person would probably say, Why would you be doing this now? Busby said. "I think by this time in November or December, the public will begin to see what we're doing and what we'll look like moving forward. Houston ISD voters have approved four capital projects bonds since 1998, totaling $4.2 billion. In recent years, residents of school districts throughout the five-county Greater Houston area also have overwhelmingly supported large school bonds, passing 30 out of 31 packages that totaled at least $100 million. Few districts, however, have sought bonds amid such turbulence. Comparing ourselves to surrounding districts, theyre not making national news for negative reasons right now, so we need to remember what the public opinion is of our district overall, HISD Trustee Sue Deigaard said, referring to media coverage of last months school board meeting. University of Houston political science Professor Richard Murray said the districts more affluent voters, who turn out in higher numbers during off-year May elections, likely will be key to the referendum. Those voters traditionally have supported school bonds, but they also have seen their local tax bills dramatically rise in recent years as property values have gone up. The districts upheaval, Murray said, also makes it more challenging to win support for a bond. Its obviously a loss to have this vacuum of a visible superintendent in place that could be the public face of the effort, Murray said. Youve also got a board thats made some headlines that are not particularly attractive. Its not going to be an easy thing. HISDs recommendation Thursday represented a shift from its first presentation about a potential bond in January, before all the tumult. At that time, HISD leaders discussed the possibility of a $500 million bond issue that would result in no tax increase, or a $1.2 billion bond that would come with an increase of 3 cents to 7 cents per $100 in taxable value. Busby said the proposed bond amount has changed as district leaders further assessed campus and maintenance needs. HISD Chief Financial Officer Rene Barajas said projections for post-Harvey property values have changed, as well, causing the shift in its tax outlook. District leaders in January predicted a 3 percent decline in values this year, but Appraisal District officials since have provided a preliminary estimate of a 2 percent increase in values, Barajas said. Getting further and further way from Harvey, we may be talking to the appraisal district and they may be saying, Youre probably looking at a 4 percent increase in property values next year, Barajas said. That helps significantly to increase the size of a bond issue without having any negative impact on taxes. Barajas added that HISD leaders could lower the recommended bond total to avoid any property tax increases. HISD has the lowest school property tax rate $1.2067 per $100 in taxable value among medium and large school districts in the Greater Houston area, but it also boasts the largest property value base relative to its enrollment. HISD administrators have not finalized a line-item proposal for a 2019 bond, but they presented a broad outline of major projects Thursday. At the 18 schools scheduled for reconstruction, the district would build new facilities, rather than renovating. The 18 schools originally were built between 1914 and 1980, with an average age of 65 years. The 18 campuses are Bonham, Brookline, Durkee, Elrod, Grissom, Kelso, Law, McNamara, Memorial and Scroggins elementary schools; Burbank, Deady, Henry, Key, Lanier and Revere middle schools; T.H. Rogers School; and the facility home to both Cage Elementary and Project Chrysalis Middle School. Myra Bell, principal of Kelso Elementary School on the citys southeast side, said the bond would provide vital facilities and security upgrades at her dual-language campus, which originally was built in 1951. During a tour of the campus Thursday, Bell noted several drawbacks of its current configuration: outdated air conditioning systems leave some classrooms hot and humid, all third and fourth graders are housed in temporary trailers, teachers use a tiny unisex bathroom with no ventilation and fences provide little distance between playgrounds and the public sidewalk. I feel like when my kids go off to other schools, they see the difference, Bell said. Theyre at the age where this needs to be that type of environment that hooks the kids. Two of the three new campuses would be located on the city's south and west sides to reduce overcrowding. The third campus, also scheduled for the city's south side, would mimic HISD's existing Barbara Jordan High School for Careers. The proposed 2019 bond would finance construction at significantly fewer campuses than the 2012 bond, which involved 40 schools. However, the 2019 package would involve much more spending on non-construction capital costs, such as security vestibules at all campuses and an undetermined number of buses. jacob.carpenter@chron.com twitter.com/chronjacob For 23 years, John Barnes worked for the Houston Police Department, patrolling the streets of citys southwest side, and later hunting rapists and pedophiles. But his most dangerous day came four months into his new job as a school police officer in Santa Fe, when gunman opened fire in the towns high school, killing ten and critically injuring Barnes. During the shooting, Barnes and another officer rushed into Santa Fe ISD High School, where they confronted the 17-year-old junior accused in the shooting, Dimitrios Pagourtzis. Pagourtzis shot Barnes with a shotgun, badly wounding the 49-year-old school police officer, according to HPD Capt. Jim Dale, a close friend of the officer. A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper with Barnes fired off a shot before Pagourtzis surrendered. Dale said Barnes was taken in critical condition to UTMB Galveston, where the heart of the injured officer stopped twice as paramedics and doctors scrambled to stem bleeding from wounds in both arms and repair the damage caused by the shotgun blast. In stark contrast to the decision of a Florida sheriffs deputy who waited outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a shooter killed 17 people, Barnes charged into Santa Fe ISD High School with the state trooper and confronted the gunman. He went to the fight. He was willing to give up his life to save as many children as possible, said Houston Police Chaplain Monty Montgomery, another friend. Thats a big difference than what weve seen some other times. Around 6 p.m., the officer was out of surgery, according to UTMB. At an earlier briefing, UTMB Hospital doctors explained that Barnes, who was shot in the elbow, was expected to come out of surgery in the next couple of hours as surgeons finished the exacting work of fixing the damage caused by the multiple projectiles of a shotgun blast. Chief Medical Officer Gulshan Sharma said surgeons were repairing injuries to the bone and blood vessel in Barnes elbow. Immediately following the shooting, Barnes was bleeding out and his blood pressure was very low, Sharma said. By Friday afternoon, Barnes vital signs were stable and showed some good signs at this point. But for hours after the shooting, reports whipsawed back and forth about his condition, rattling his former colleagues. Around 2:30 p.m., Chief Art Acevedo said in a tweet that Barnes was hanging in there and that his family was very hopeful. John is known for his tireless work in Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, Acevedo also tweeted. The senior police officer joined HPD in 1995, and worked in southwest patrol for years before transferring to an investigations assignment in 2005. Barnes, according to records from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, started his career working as a jailer and deputy for the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office. Over the course of his career, he accumulated almost 6,000 training hours and numerous department awards for his investigative work. In 2008, he was named Reactive Investigator of the year for his work on an internet sex crimes case, according to Badge and Gun, the magazine published by the Houston Police Officers Union. Dale and Barnes met in 1994 when they attended the HPD academy. Barnes who they nicknamed Tarrant County told other officers they should all watch the 1973 movie Serpico, he recalled. It was a reference to the true story of a dogged New York City police detectives who fought rampant corruption on the force. He didnt want anything to taint the badge, Dale said. He had the utmost respect for the profession. After a decade in the patrol division, Barnes became a detective, investigating pedophiles and sexual predators. In January, he retired from HPD after more than two decades. On Jan. 5, Barnes joined the Santa Fe ISD police department, a move that would let him work closer to his home in League City. He has a wife a teacher in Santa Fe ISD who works at another school in the district and a son and daughter. I can live down there closer to the family and live the easy life, Dale recalled Barnes telling him. Now you look back at it and think, theres no such thing as an easy life in this profession. The shooting occurred on the last day of National Police Week, 12 hours before Houston police officers were set to gather at the Houston Police Officers Memorial to mourn comrades who have died in the line of duty, including Sgt. Steve Perez, the 61-year-old officer who died in the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey last year. Its a really emotional rollercoaster, Dale said. He was grateful his friend had survived, but also thinking of all the children killed in the shooting. Youve got 10 students parents who wont have the summer to look forward to, he said. Or graduation next week. Theyre going to have to bury them. Jacob Carpenter and Lise Olsen contributed to this report. As Santa Fe High School was on lockdown Friday morning with an active shooter situation, a man who appeared to be open-carrying a handgun near the school while holding an American flag was there to "make America great again." The man spoke to KHOU-TV near the scene of a deadly school shooting in south Houston and said he arrived to "offer support." The man also appeared to be open-carrying a handgun on his hip when he walked away from the news crews. The man carried an American flag on a pole. Three months after surviving a high school shooting that prompted a new wave of gun safety activism, David Hogg says he lies awake at night worrying about the welfare of his fellow students around the country. There is somebody alive right now that will not be alive at this time tomorrow and has never even thought about gun violence, but everybody around them will have to for the rest of their lives, said Hogg, an 18-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Less than 24 hours after Hogg uttered those prescient words at an education conference in Los Angeles, a 17-year-old Santa Fe High School student in Galveston County opened fire Friday with a shotgun and a handgun, killing 10 people and wounding 10 more in yet another massacre on the campus of an American school. In the aftermath of the killings at the Florida school, where authorities say a troubled student fatally shot 17 people and injured 15 others on Feb. 14, Hogg and other outspoken survivors injected new energy into the national gun safety movement. They marched by the thousands on the state capitol in Tallahasse and on Washington. Students at schools across the country, including Sante Fe High School, walked out of class in solidarity. And in March, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a new gun control law that was immediately challenged by the National Rifle Association, but which came as a welcome development for reformers after the dozens of mass shootings at schools, churches, concerts and other settings yielded little more than the ubiquitous hopes and prayers. How, and if, Fridays shootings in Santa Fe might affect that momentum for change was not yet clear, even as families waited for word on their childrens welfare. But the student activists from Parkland quickly expressed solidarity with the Santa Fe community. Santa Fe High, you didnt deserve this, Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez wrote on Twitter. You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices. Rosy Murphy, 18, was among the students at Houston area schools who joined the national walkout. She organized the protest in April at Pearland High School, coordinating her plans with teachers and administrators and passed out voter registration cards. Nothing will change, Murphy said Friday, if we dont vote. State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, agreed that the ultimate solution lies at the ballot box. I dont think their attitudes will change until their friends start losing elections said Wu, referring to opponents of stricter gun laws. Wu, however, said he believes the Santa Fe shooting will strengthen the clamor for change. Kristen Brown, the co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, agreed. I think it just reaffirms and redoubles our absolute commitment to make sure that Congress reflects the will of the people, said Brown, noting that surveys show most Americans support measures such as stronger background checks and laws to keep guns out of the hands of people considered an extreme risk. Floridas law, Brown said, shows that an event like the Parkland shootings can galvanize a movement for change. The law raised the minimum age to purchase rifles from 18 to 21, imposed a three-day waiting period on gun purchases, funded school police officers and mental health counselors and authorized shool districts and sheriffs to arm certain school personnel. The idea of Florida changing anything around the age someone could purchase a gun would have been anathema (before Parkland), and yet, it happened, Brown said. Raising the minimum age for gun purchases was not among the proposals mentioned by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a news conference a few hours after the shootings Friday. Abbott said he intends to meet with legislators soon to discuss ways to prevent similar tragedies, including speeding up background checks and preventing those who pose immediate danger from obtaining guns. Wu was skeptical. My prediction, he wrote in a text message, is that some weak-sauce gun bills will be filed next session, there will be a brief debate, but the bills will quietly die in the Senate. On the national level, President Donald Trump expressed heartbreak and frustration in response to the Santa Fe shootings. He said his administration would seek to keep guns away from those who shouldnt have them. After the Parkland shooting, Trump said he would consider stricter background checks and raising the minimum age for buying an assault weapon. But these initiatives have not come to pass. Rosy Murphy, the Pearland student, said she struggles to find hopeful signs. The question, she said was not if another shooting will happen at a school, but when. I was kind of just counting down the days until there was a school shooting close to home because its inevitable, she said. Is it going to take a school shooting in every town for everyone to change their minds? Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting, responded on Twitter to the Santa Fe tragedy. "This has been my fear since February 14th, that another mass casualty shooting would happen before we did anything," he tweeted. "Now, we have . .. . more children dead and our leadership in Washington has done nothing. We do not need thoughts and prayers, we need action and we need it now." mike.snyder@chron.com lindsay.ellis@chron.com Colorful lights weren't the only thing commuters saw on U.S. 59 this week. On Tuesday, student activists from the University of Houston hung up large protest signs reading "Free Palestine" and "Hands off Jerusalem" on the highway's iconic bridges. Mohammad Abdel-Aziz, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine, told Chron.com there's no shortage of reasons why he and several other students put up the display during the early morning hours. CONTROVERSIAL PAST: TX pastor who thinks Jews will go to hell gives opening prayer at Jerusalem embassy "Tuesday was the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, which translates to 'catastrophe," Abdel-Aziz said. "... 70 years ago in 1948, over 750,000 Palestinians were pushed out of their home, more than 500 villages were destroyed, including my hometown, Saffuriyya." According to the BBC, up to 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes because of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The displaced refugees and their descendants were never allowed to return the motivation behind this month's "Great Return March." "While Israelis call it their independence, it was our Nakba, it was the destruction of our home," Abdel-Aziz said Abdel-Aziz said another reason for the display was the ongoing human rights crisis along the Israeli-Gaza border. At least 60 Palestinian protestors, including children, have been killed by Israeli gunfire and more than 2,700 injured while gathering and attempting to cross and protest near the Gaza-Israeli border in the past week, reports the New York Times. Israel says it is defending its border and claims Hamas is attempting to infiltrate their territory under the cover of protests. TED CRUZ: U.S. should 'undoubtedly' look to Israel as border security example The same group of student activists also held a protest outside the Consulate of Israel in Houston on Tuesday. Check out Olivia P. Tallet's reporting on the group of roughly 50 activists and the consulate's response to the protest on Houston Chronicle. Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93. At least 10 people were killed in a shooting this morning at Santa Fe High School, 30 miles south of Houston. What we know so far: Gunfire broke out around 7:30 a.m. Police say at least 10 people were killed. Suspected shooter identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a junior at the school. Pagourtzis has journals saying he wanted to commit shooting and then commit suicide, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Two people have been detained. Gunman had at least a shotgun and a .38 caliber pistol. Earlier reports indicated he also had an AR-15 style assault rifle and pipe bombs. Weapons belonged to Pagourtzis' father, who legally owned them. Explosive devices were found on and off campus. At least 12 others were injured. They were taken to hospitals including University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and Mainland Medical Center. Santa Fe ISD police officer John Barnes was wounded. He is in critical condition at UTMB. The injured students include Clayton Horn, who was shot in the arm and upper thigh and Rome Shubert, 16, who was grazed in the back of the head by a bullet. Police have blocked off at least a half mile of State Highway 6, about 4 miles northwest of the high school, and bomb technicians are investigating a home. According to public records, the home is Pagourtzis' residence. Explosive devices found in the home and a family car. What we don't know: Names of those killed. Specific locations of explosives on and off campus. The identity or role of the second person detained. More on the Santa Fe shooting: "Shooter identified in Santa Fe shooting that killed 10" "Teen suspect in Santa Fe shooting promoted 'Born to Kill' T-shirt, German nationalist symbols" "John Barnes, officer shot confronting Santa Fe shooter, showing 'good signs'" "Things to know about Santa Fe High School" "President and first lady tweet condolences in wake of Santa Fe school shooting" "Falkenberg: Santa Fe shooting reminds us no one is safe" Our reporters' live updates, via Twitter A Texas Southern Baptist pastor is calling on fellow church leaders to reject social justice in all its forms. "Social justice, by definition, is based on the anti-biblical and destructive concepts of Marxist ideology," wrote Grady Arnold, a pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Cuero, Texas. Arnold's writings were featured in SBCToday, a Southern Baptist news and opinion blog, and submitted to the Resolutions Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, an annual meeting where church leaders debate and vote on denomination opinions. CONTROVERSIAL PAST: TX pastor who thinks Jews will go to hell gives opening prayer at Jerusalem embassy "Social justice and Christian ethics are clearly antithetical to each other in the areas of tolerance, sexuality, gender, human life beginning at conception, and in general the role of a believer and the purpose for good works being to glorify God," Arnold wrote. A fellow Southern Baptist pastor told the Star-Telegram that Arnold's work was "the most divisive resolution ever proposed in the 40 years." SBCToday included a publisher's note reminding readers that "SBC Today does not necessarily endorse all that is written on this blog." Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93. The Texas prison system is expanding its review of disciplinary cases into a system-wide audit and taking administrative action against the prison captain who ordered guards at a Brazoria County lock-up to write up inmates or get in trouble themselves. Word of the short-lived quota at the Ramsey Unit emerged earlier this month, after the Houston Chronicle obtained Texas Department of Criminal Justice emails revealing the scheme. "I'm glad TDCJ knows how unacceptable that practice is and that they should have zero tolerance for it," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. "We want to hold inmates accountable but we need to make darned sure that there's not some employees abusing their powers." Officials said the broader review would entail looking at months of disciplinary data to analyze any spikes in inmate write-ups at any of the system's 104 units. "It's a positive step for TDCJ," said Jennifer Erschabek of Texas Inmate Families Association. "It certainly is hopeful for those inmates who have been wrongfully given write-ups for things they didn't do." It's not clear how long the audit might take, but officials said it is already underway. The quota system that sparked it all began in mid-March, when Capt. Reginald Gilbert sent out an email to ranking prison officials demanding that each sergeant turn in paperwork for at least two cases per day. "Effective March 10, 2018, each Sergeant will be required to turn in at least two (2) cases written by officers for a Level 2 Code 35 'Unauthorized Storage of Property,'" he wrote. "Two each day is my requirement. Remember this is to be done each workday without exception." Any sergeants who missed their daily quota, Gilbert wrote, would face consequences ranging from documenting the oversight on an employee performance log to formal disciplinary action. The email didn't explain the reasons for the order, but Whitmire said Thursday it was in response officers "not doing their jobs" and neglecting to discipline inmates violating policy. In April, Gilbert sent a follow-up email, cutting the case quota in half, less than a week before he nixed it altogether, without offering a reason. After receiving an anonymous copy of the messages, the Chronicle put in a formal request for information on April 21. Four days later, Warden Virgil McMullen sent out a message to lieutenants and above. "This email is to reiterate the email I had Capt. Gilbert send out on April 6, 2018. We DO NOT and WILL NOT have case quotas on Ramsey Unit," he wrote. "Make sure any and all previous emails regarding case quotas are not being followed. We will follow agency policy." Lawmakers and inmate advocates condemned the practice, decrying the impact it could have on an inmate's chances at early release. "Instead of focusing on the further criminalization of inmates to fulfill an unnecessary quota, our criminal justice system must focus on their rehabilitation back into society," Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas, said in a statement. "Instances such as this further hamper the goals of inmate rehabilitation and unjustly impair their prison terms. Last week, prison officials moved to correct any damage done by reviewing all the disciplinary cases written up at the Brazoria County unit during the time frame in question. Then on Thursday, prison spokesman Jeremy Desel confirmed that a system-wide audit would include a look at figures from all units. "If they were to find an unusual spike in the number of cases at a unit, then they would drill down into that and examine further," he said. "We're not going to look at every single case written." The Administrative Review and Risk Management Division will oversee the examination. It's still not clear how many disciplinary cases were written up at Ramsey Unit while the quota was in effect. Keith Kaminski was ready for rough waters. He is, after all, a pirate. Kaminski is a member of an adventure group called the Modern Day Pirates, a national group that encourages wanderlust, exploration, self-improvement and helping worthy causes. In the battlefield that was the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Kaminski had a secret weapon his rock crawler, an off-road buggy designed to scramble up boulders and any other obstacle brave enough to stand in its way. That vehicle, paired with Kaminskis spirit of adventure and big heart, morphed into an ideal rescue machine when waters started to rise. The storm left Kaminski and wife Aprils home in the Richmond/Rosenberg area high and dry, but their neighborhood was flooded in. Kaminski put his rock crawler to use in the relief effort. He rescued one neighbor, then another and another. The first day, he saved two or three families. By the second day, word got out that he was willing to travel to help others. Then my cell phone number got spread around, he said. We got our neighborhood taken care of, and then I went across the street. Kaminski saved 12 families the first few days, making multiple trips to shuttle two people at a time, since thats all his buggy could hold. He helped adults, children and even dogs. When the water receded on his street, Kaminski loaded the rock crawler on to his trailer and drove to Cinco Ranch, Katy and Fulshear, where he continued to shuttle evacuees to their friends or families homes or shelters. Since the rock crawler runs on propane, neighbors and friends donated tanks from their grills to keep the rides going. Kaminski would stop to help move cars that had flooded on main thoroughfares, clearing the roadways for emergency vehicles. Before long, he started getting calls from his fellow Modern Day Pirates from other parts of the country who wanted to help. They raised thousands of dollars, which they sent to Kaminski. He went to gas stations, using the donations to fill up tanks for boats and rescue trucks. He also bought cell phone chargers and back-up phone batteries when needed. I had the pleasure of giving it out, he said. And people needed fuel. I filled up as many gas tanks as I could. It was very rewarding. Frank Yarrish, a Marine and Modern Day Pirate, joined Kaminski in his rescue efforts. His wife, Beatriz, a retired Marine major and teacher at Bush High School, volunteered also. After people were safely rescued, Kaminski used his rock crawler to retrieve items from their houses that they forgot or had too little time to pack. We just tried to take care of people, to get clothes, medicine and other things that would make their lives easier for the next couple of days, he said. Kaminski said that adrenaline took over during the long days of relief work. Seeing families with children carrying only a plastic bag or two of clothes was difficult. You just hope everything worked out for them, he said. His rock crawler is currently in the shop for repairs. It took on a lot of water, Kaminski said. Its got some bumps and bruises. But it was there in just the right time. A judge handed Deandre Dorch four 65-year prison terms for his part in a horrific 2016 child abuse case in which two children were tied up with dog leashes and chains and left outside in a Northeast Bexar County subdivision. A jury last month convicted Dorch, 38, of two counts of injury to a child by omission and two counts of child abandonment. He opted to be sentenced by state District Judge Laura Parker, who presided over the trial in Felony Impact Court. Bexar County sheriffs deputies had cried as they testified how on April 28, 2016, they found a boy, 4, and a girl, 3, restrained so tightly they could barely move, leashed and chained in the backyard of the home Dorch shared with his girlfriend. Courtroom spectators wept again Friday as the childrens adoptive mother, LaKenya Shaw, blessed Dorch, telling him the children now are thriving and are a gift to me. I had a conversation with (the boy) yesterday and told him, You have to make a choice with everything you could do good or you could do bad. There are consequences, LaKenya Shaw told Dorch. I gave him examples. Its no different for you. Receive Jesus in your life. God still performs miracles. They (the children) are a gift to me. God bless you. No adult was present and six other children were inside when deputies arrived at the house in the 8100 block of Chipping in the Camelot II subdivision after a neighbor called to report hearing children crying for several hours. At the time, Dorch and his girlfriend, Porucha Phillips, 36, told deputies they were watching the tied-up children for their friend, Cheryl Reed, 32, whom they knew from California, where they all had lived before coming to San Antonio. Reed told deputies that she had left her children in Phillips care. Phillips pleaded guilty in October to two counts of injury to a child and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Charged with two counts of injury to a child-serious bodily injury, Reed is awaiting trial. At a presentencing investigation hearing Friday, Dorchs attorney, Edward Bravenec, asked the judge to consider a shorter prison term, saying that although his client did have some responsibility for what happened to the children, he was not the abuser. Mr. Dorch was not the person actually beating them, Bravenec told Parker. Maybe as we get older, we change. Twenty-five years is a long time. Hell be a fairly old man. Prosecutors Karl Alexander and Emily Argulo argued that Dorch has been involved in a gang and in the criminal justice system since he was 14. He may not have beat them, but hes just as responsible, Alexander told the court. These children are not only dealing with permanent physical scars, but mental scars. Dorch faced five to 99 years or life in prison on the injury to a child-serious bodily injury, but because he was wanted on warrants out of California when the incident occurred and was a fugitive, his punishment range was enhanced to 25 to 99 years or life in prison. Parker sentenced Dorch to 65 years on each of the four counts, to be served at the same time. He will have to serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole. Shaw, who will finalize her adoption of the two children May 31, said after the sentencing that they are wonderful, are full of life, and are healing from their wounds. They arent scared anymore, she said. They are safe and happy. Elizabeth Zavala is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | ezavala@express-news.net | @elizabeth2863 The 30-year-old man who was arrested in January after he was accused of beating a woman unconscious and then raping her is set to be released from jail without having to pay bail, according to Bexar County Jail officials. Bishoy Elkhaliny was being held in the Bexar County Jail without bond on a burglary charge related to a June 2016 incident, in which he had been accused of breaking into an apartment and assaulting his then-girlfriend. That case was dismissed Monday for a lack of evidence. Elkaliny still faces a charge of aggravated assault with severe bodily injury and is being investigated for a possible sexual assault charge, stemming from an alleged attack against a different former girlfriend, Kaila Kutzik. She said on Dec. 30 Elkaliny beat, raped and held her captive for several days at his home in the San Antonio development of Stone Oak. RELATED: 'A classic sociopath': Abused victims of Stone Oak playboy speak out after years of violence But the District Attorney's Office has yet to indict Elkhaliny on the assault charge, and under Texas law, if an inmate has not been indicted within 90 days of their arrest, they're entitled to release. As of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, Elkhaliny remained in the jail, but he is scheduled to be released in the near future, at which time he will be fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, jail officials said. Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood said in a written statement there is a large volume of evidence related to the aggravated assault charge against Elkhaliny, and due to his office's desire to be both "thorough and complete," they are still investigating the accusations. "I stand firm on my belief that anyone who abuses women will be held accountable for their actions and receive the punishment that they deserve, this case remains under investigation with our office and we will do everything we can ethically and legally to ensure that justice is done," LaHood said. But Kutzik, 23, said she feels let down by the District Attorney's Office. "The justice system has obviously failed me and everyone out there," she said. "[Bishoy] is not someone who just changes." MySA.com does not normally identify victims of domestic or sexual abuse but Kutzik and the other women in this story have allowed their names and stories to be used. Her case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Boyd. Kutzik said the large volume of evidence the district attorney's office cites for the delayed indictment is video footage of her and Elkhaliny living the "party life" and was provided by Elkhaliny's defense attorney, Johnny Cisneros. She said the videos have nothing to do with the assault charge. "I didn't understand how everything before came into play," she said. "It feels like they're trying to scare me out of pressing charges." Boyd did not immediately return requests for comment. RELATED: Victim who was held captive in Stone Oak home shares photos, details of attack Cisneros, on the other hand, credits Boyd for being a judicious assistant district attorney while prosecuting the burglary charge against Elkhaliny, which was one of two reasons the case was dismissed, he said "First, the district attorney's office had problems with that case, and Stephanie Boyd was fair and honorable," he said. "Secondly, I'm a good lawyer." KC Perez, who was the complainant in the burglary charge, previously told MySA Elkhaliny had stalked his then-girlfriend, Jacqueline Culp, to Perez' apartmenjt, kicked in her door, broke a table and then began beating Culp on a balcony. She too feels disappointed by the district attorney's office, and feels that Elkhaliny "was able to get away with everything he did" once again. "It's so screwed up," she said. "This dude is a danger to society. Why are they so willing to let him go? It's going to happen again. He's going to kill someone." As mySA has previously reported, Elkhaliny has a lengthy criminal history, but multiple cases were dropped from felony to misdemeanor charges. In one instance in Corpus Christi in June 2016, shortly after the alleged break in at Perez's apartment, Elkhaliny pistol-whipped Culp several times, shoved his finger in her eye so hard she bled and held her captive in a garage, Culp said. He barricaded himself inside his father's home, forcing U.S. Marshals to eventually break into his bedroom and arrest him, according to police reports. He was later convicted of two Class A misdemeanor charges of assault and unlawful restraint and was sentenced to 150 days in jail with credit for time served. Elkhaliny is still facing a felony assault charge in his alleged attack on Kutzik, and the district attorney's office is still investigating him on a charge of sexual assault related to the attack. But both Johnny Cisneros and Kaila Kutzik, two people on opposite ends of the case, feel little will come of the 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 The biggest donor behind negative ads against Republican Dan Crenshaw in a Houston Republican congressional runoff is his opponent's brother-in-law's law firm, new Federal Election Commission reports show. The Lanier Law Firm sent $450,000 to Conservative Results Matter in April, FEC records filed on Thursday show. That PAC, which supports Kevin Roberts for the 2nd Congressional District over Crenshaw, has been running ads that slam Crenshaw as a "so-called Republican" and compares him to Democrats like former President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Lanier Law Firm was founded by Mark Lanier in 1990. Kevin Roberts is Lanier's brother-in-law and he works for the firm as its executive director. Roberts campaign on Thursday said Roberts never asked Lanier to give to the Conservative Results Matter PAC. The funding from the Lanier Law Firm makes up about 90 percent of the PAC's funding. Until now, who was backing the PAC was unknown. It was created in March and had not yet needed to identify its donors. On Thursday, that list was made public for the first time. Roberts is not a lawyer and in a new video he put out Wednesday, Roberts decries Crenshaw's supporters for attacking Lanier for his occupation and trying to claim Roberts is little more than an office manager at the firm. Conservative Results Matter also on Thursday reported committing $180,000 more in the race to oppose Crenshaw through TV and digital ads, according to two filings submitted to the FEC. Crenshaw and PACs supporting him have fired back at Roberts for the ads from Conservative Results Matter, accusing it of smearing Crenshaw, a retired Navy SEAL who was wounded in combat. The group called American Patriots PAC has been running ads to counter the Conservative Results Matter ads. American Patriots reported spending more than $150,000 on the race just since Monday. They aren't the only outside groups trying to sway the election. A group calling itself the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund told the FEC they has spent $8,000 in robo-calls on Thursday to voters in the district opposing Roberts and supporting Crenshaw. And With Honor Fund, a group that backs veterans running for Congress, spent $60,000 on the race since Monday in a bid to help Crenshaw. WHO ARE THE OUTSIDE GROUPS SPENDING MONEY IN HOUSTON RACE Crenshaw and Roberts are locked in a close runoff battle for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District. The winner of Tuesday election will advance to the November election. Democrat Todd Litton and Libertarian Patrick Gunnels are already set to be on the ballot. Early voting in the race started Monday and runs through Friday at 7 p.m. They are battling for the 2nd Congressional District which runs from West Houston to the northern edges of Harris County and swings east to pick up Atascocita and Humble. Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace. AUSTIN An East Texas appeals court is refusing to rehear a case questioning the constitutionality of the state's "revenge porn" law, setting up a likely showdown between free speech and privacy at state's top criminal court. The 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler on Tuesday rejected a request from Galveston County district attorneys and the Texas attorney general to rehear a case that led the court to strike down a state law making it a crime to share certain nude images if the person pictured had reason to believe the images would stay private. MORE: Texas revenge porn law struck down by state appeals court Is issue is whether the law unconstitutionally infringes the free speech rights of someone who shares the image if they had no knowledge that the person pictured expected the image would stay private. According to the court, the law makes that person culpable, although the state argues that person is held harmless. "We have to protect all speech in order for any speech to be reliably protected," said Mark Bennett, a Houston 1st Amendment attorney representing Jordan Bartlett Jones, who is accused of intentionally disclosing a photo showing a woman's genitals and revealed her identity, although she had reasonable expectation the picture would stay private. "Some of that speech that we have to protect is pretty obnoxious stuff. It is pretty reprehensible. Sometimes it's vile, but only by protecting the vile speech can we make sure our children and our children's children are still going to have the opportunity to engage in the important speech," said Bennett. The state plans to petition the Court of Criminal Appeals to review the case, said Alan Curry, assistant criminal district attorney for Galveston County. "We fully expect this would have to be decided by the high court in Austin," he said. Thirty-eight states have some sort of "revenge porn" law, according to the Civil Cyber Rights Initiative. Texas lawmakers passed the "Relationship Privacy Act" in 2015. Violation of the law is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and up to $4,000 in fines. Andrea Zelinski covers politics for the Houston Chronicle. Read her story about the state's case defending the "revenge porn" law. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Send her tips at andrea.zelinski@chron.com. AUSTIN As early voting in the primary runoff elections ends Friday, Democrats and Republicans alike are scouring the numbers for patterns and trends they hope will show their candidates have momentum with voters. By Thursday, turnout remained low in most areas statewide meaning that without an unlikely surge of last-minute voting, most races will be basically determined by the time polls open Tuesday for Election Day balloting. The numbers so far show that turnout in this runoff will probably be a little low overall low for the Republicans who dont have any races in many areas, and a record turnout for the Democrats in some areas where they have high-profile races, said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Houstons Rice University. On election night, when the early voting totals are released, we should get a clear indication of who will win in most of the races, all but the ones that are very close. Democratic and Republican party officials in various areas call it much the same way: Perhaps as many as 1.1 million Texans may vote in the runoff, just about 5 percent of the states registered voters. Most of that will come in Texas five largest urban areas Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin where the most active runoff races are underway, mostly between progressive and moderate Democrats. So far just 251,000 Texans have voted early in-person or by mail in the primary run-offs so far in the state's largest 15 counties. Those counties have 9.9 million registered voters. Harris County is an example: Democrats will be casting ballots to help decide their partys nominee for governor, in three congressional districts, in a Texas Senate district and a state House district, along with six other county races. Republicans, by contrast, will be able to vote in two congressional and two judicial districts. By Wednesday, the partisan tallies were close: 24,567 Democrats had cast votes by mail and in early ballots, while Republicans had cast 24,154. The two early voting locations with the most voters were within the 2nd Congressional District, where a Republican primary between Dan Crenshaw and Kevin Roberts is helping drive turnout. More than 1,600 had voted at the Kingwood United Methodist Church and 1,586 had voted at the Champion Forest Baptist Church, according to the state tallies. The only other voting location with more than 1,500 votes was the Metropolitan Multi Service Center, which is in the 7th Congressional District that features the Democratic runoff battle between Laura Moser and Lizzie Pannell Fletcher. Most all of the other 43 voting locations had fewer than 700 votes over the first three days. In Dallas County, where Democrats were the busiest in runoffs, they had cast 17,427 ballots compared to 8,896 for Republicans. In neighboring Tarrant County, where there are more Republican runoffs, GOP early voters outpaced Democrats 13,064-9,411. In Bexar County, a traditional Democratic stronghold in most areas, early-voting Democrats were ahead of Republicans 14,647 to 10,933. And in deep blue Travis County, where most all the runoffs are Democratic, they posted an early turnout of 14,685 comparted to 3,427 for Republicans. White flap with Richards If the runoff turnout was slow, activity in the Democratic gubernatorial race was not on Thursday as Cecile Richards, national president of Planned Parenthood that is supporting former Dallas County sheriff Lupe Valdez, blasted rival Andrew White for his suggestion during a debate that theres room in her movement for people like him. White, who says he is personally pro-life but would protect abortion rights if elected governor, had declared during an Austin debate last Friday that Richards said theres room for people like him in her movement. Hey @randrewwhite! Rule #1. Dont speak for someone else, especially a woman youve never met or talked to, like me. Rule #2. Thats also why women dont like politicians telling us what to do with our bodies, Richards said in a tweet on Thursday that quickly caught fire in Texas political community. White fired back with his own tweet, citing a Richards interview on MSNBC: I was quoting you and agreeing with you in this recent video. (Also, we met a long time ago). Also Thursday, shortly after a Dallas newspaper reported White was not spending his accumulated $1 million in campaign donations, questioning whether he realized he would lose the runoff, White refuted it by announcing that he was going up on TV in the Austin market with an ad that will air through Tuesday. The spot touts Whites rescues of dozens and dozens of Houston residents with his small boat during Hurricane Harvey last fall, and pledges that he will do right for every Texan, no matter what it takes. White aides would not provide a cost for the ad buy, which comes after he launched a direct mail campaign last week in major Texas markets. But Valdezs campaign message went up Thursday with a reported $77,000 buy of radio ads in Houston, North Texas, Austin, Odessa, Midland and San Angelo. Both candidates on Thursday were reported campaigning hard in key areas, with White working this week in Houston, Austin, Dallas and possibly San Antonio. Valdez is focusing on Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and other areas in South Texas that she considers key to her victory. Both candidates got a late start, and are six months behind where they need to be, so getting a clear message out, with very little money, is a key for both of them in these final days before actual voting, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston. mike.ward@chron.com twitter.com/ChronicleMike jeremy.wallace@chron.com twitter.com/jeremyswallac Whoa, Nellie, on increasing college tuition. I once said to my students, not entirely in jest, when I taught freshman composition at Lone Star College, Why would you want to take this comp class at the University of Texas at Austin when you can take it here? There your instructors would likely be graduate students only a few years older than you, with little classroom experience. Here the instructors have Ph.D.s, as I do, or masters degrees, seasoned by years of teaching experience. There, the cost of the comp class would be about $1,000; here about $200. We know from a Freedom of Information Act request that tenured professors generally teach only two classes per semester, with about 15 students in a class. We are told that these professors spend the balance of their time publishing articles or books or doing research. Not so. The FOIA results revealed that at UT, where the commencement ceremony will take place on Saturday, only 20 percent of the faculty do most of the universitys publishing, the remaining 80 percent little publishing. Moreover, Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University for 20 years, reported that only half of all professors publish as much as one article a year. Bok also said that universities are like riverboat gamblers and exiled royalty: their desires are never satisfied. Why do universities permit this abuse? It is because they can get away with it. The university system throughout this country is an understood cartel: University A can raise tuition each year because they know universities B through Z will raise it. Theres safety in numbers. Economist Herb Stein once said, What cant go on forever, wont. But it will: I have no doubt that it will one day cost $30,000 or $40,000 or $50,000 a year in tuition to attend major public universities in Texas and the country. That is because there will always be more than enough wealthy parents to pay that amount, believing the cost worth it for the future success of their children. And thats the rub: College is becoming more and more and more only for rich kids. You would think that political leaders in Austin might step in to correct these abuses. But they wont because its too risky. If a politician takes on, say, UT for excessive tuition costs, UTs alumni, supporters and associations are large and powerful enough to turn the questioning politician out of office. Scholar and researcher, Jorge Klor de Alva points out the widening disparity between rich and poor kids. In a study published by the American Enterprise Institute, he reports: Among not-for-profit institutions, the amount of taxpayer subsidies hovers between $1,000 and $2,000 per student per year until we turn to the most selective institutions Among these already well-endowed institutions, the tax subsidy jumps substantially to more than $13,000 per student per year. At Lone Star College, where Im a trustee, 69 percent of our students are minorities. Take a peek at UT or Texas A&M for this percentage. As a trustee at a community college, I have stated publicly that I would 10 times over prefer to be a trustee at a community college serving poor kids than a regent at a big, prestigious school. Yet legislators continue to give the lions share of funds to the rich schools. The UT System has an endowment of $26.5 billion; the A&M University Systems is $11.5 billion. They are among the richest public schools in the world. But they still every year raise tuition. Mitch Daniels had the courage and honesty to say, Whoa, Nellie, to tuition increases. There are fair, realistic ways to cut college costs (thats another paper), but the elite schools prefer to act like riverboat gamblers and exiled royalty. Trowbridge is a trustee at Lone Star College. The school shooting in Santa Fe that left 10 dead and 10 injured has state officials lining up to offer possible solutions to prevent another such tragedy, so Texas students can be safe in their classes. Gov. Greg Abbott says he will be leading a quick study of what can be done, through a series of around the state, and plans to propose "swift solutions" that could include ramped-up security and expedited background checks on gun purchasers. Many companies tell their employees they care about inclusiveness. Why? Because its good for business. Plus, studies show workers care about diversity and are more likely to stay at a company that shares those values. But a lot of those companies stop at simply saying they care. So, I have an idea: why not show people whats important to your organization? Give them some visual proof that youre not just giving lip-service to a hot-button topic. This all hit home for me recently when an Asian American member of our companys management team pointed out that weve got a diversity problem. Basically, in any given meeting, she noticed that she was one of the few minorities or women in the room. Diversity and inclusion is important to us. But instead of stopping with that declaration like most companies do, we set up a working group to improve diversityan effort that can be especially difficult due to Colorados demographics. But were not using demographics as an excuse. Instead, were rolling out a company-wide Diversity and Inclusion initiative, spearheaded by the woman who opened our eyes to our lack of diversity. As we undertake that effort to improve diversityeverything from LGBTQ, racial and gender inclusivenessweve concluded that visually displaying who we are and who we want to become is crucial to advancing this objective. Dont be afraid of the facts After all, we all know what it looks like when you go to a companys leadership page on their website and you see the nothing but middle-age white men in every picture. Dont hide the problem. If you dont have the diversity you need, dont be afraid to explain what you are doing to become more inclusive. Its become a corporate mantra in recent years for executives to say that people are at the center of their organization. But in most corporate offices, its tough to see that ethos in action. I know it seems simple, but visually highlighting diversity is certain to have one of two resultsit will make staff feel like part of a diverse team or it will highlight that a company, like ours, is simply not diverse enough. Either way, sharing that current reality and engaging with staff through visual media to improve diversity and promote a culture of inclusiveness can help foster a discussion about making improvements. Simply showing your people, big and bright, across your digital signage network will make your diversityor lack of itvery apparent. Here are six ways companies can visually cultivate and promote more diversity in their workplaces: Capture great photos of your staff, at work and at play Those pictures can show diverse people interacting in the lunchroom, cutting a birthday cake, playing with their pets or engaging in local community projects. And in addition to highlighting physical diversity, these types of images can showcase acquired diversitythe different life experiences, perspectives and interests each individual brings to your organizationwhich helps employees find commonalities and promotes a more cohesive company culture. Which is important because highly engaged workers are five times less likely to quit than those who are not engaged, according to the Society of Human Resource Management. Show people before text When communicating about human achievements, such as a salesperson of the month award, or other information, displays should primarily focus on people, with any text given secondary importance on the screen. Displays should capture the essence of that person in their picture, so make sure its a nice photo, not the headshot from their building pass. Share the facts about diversity at your company Oracle is great at sharing data about the state of diversity at their company. I think its smart to show yearly or semi-annually where the company stands, juxtaposed against where it started. Give people the data and the results over time. They will appreciate that you are trying to do better. With our diversity efforts, we plan to display when our workgroup is meeting and invite employees to contribute. We plan to report publicly what the priorities are and the action plans for reaching them. Get the playlist right When considering how your firm rotates important information on display screenseverything from facility news, security tips, performance management statistics and benefits informationinclude visuals of people as a balanced part of that playlist. Pay attention to Black History Month, International Womens Day, National Hispanic Heritage Month. The list is endless and if you want to be inclusive, you need to put the effort into letting your employees know you care. Share what you are doing in the community I like what Oracle does in this regard. Let your employees know what the company is doing and the philanthropic organizations its supporting. You may get suggestions from employees about other organizations that are doing good work that could make your giving even more inclusive. Be open about job opportunities Publicize your job openings, something that tends to be surprisingly secret in most organizations. Ask your workers to spread searches on their networks and to let management know of diverse candidates. But make sure youre going beyond your employees own networks to reach out of your comfort zone into affiliate groups and associations. Its good business. A recent academic study finds that inclusiveness makes companies more innovative and successful. The impact of increasing diversity and inclusiveness goes straight to a companys bottom line: Research from McKinsey shows that firms in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% likelier to have stronger financial results than their respective national industry medians, and the top quartile of firms for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have stronger than average profits. Diversity as a retention tool Think were just making this up? Think theres no ROI on promoting diversity? Recently, one of our Account Executives heard from Ball Corporation about how the organizations display network impacts its workforce. Last year, Ball had an employee who was considering a gender transition but wasnt sure about the companys support through the process. The employee thought about leaving Ball but decided to stay after seeing content on the companys Visual Communications network that celebrated Balls recognition as a best place to work for the LGBTQ community by the Human Rights Campaign, positioning Ball as a global leader in workplace diversity and inclusion. That may sound like a small thing, but the direct costs of replacing an employee is 33 percent of the worker's annual salary, according to the Work Institutes 2017 Retention Report, which also finds that 75 percent of employee churn is preventable. And on top of the costs associated with workforce attrition, just consider the impact that one piece of content had on the employee on the verge of leavinghow the content connected them to something deeper within the organization. Thats invaluable. With annual Gay Pride celebrations set to take place around the country at the end of June, companies should use their display panels to signal how they value an inclusive work environment. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Business intelligence (BI) software is designed to help enterprises discover and visualize their data to drive better business outcomes. These widely deployed applications come in various forms, including high-priced offerings, but many businesses are well served by free services that incorporate most of the key features organizations need. There are many factors and options to consider when evaluating BI tools because some are better suited to particular uses, while others require more extensive coding skills or a background in data science. Weve reviewed dozens of providers to identify the best free BI software on the market today. After weighing their strengths and limitations, studying reviews by industry leaders and analyzing rankings from various research firms, weve selected the following six apps (presented in alphabetical order) to help you find the solution that's best for you. BIRT BIRT is an open source business intelligence platform that has been downloaded more than 12 million times and is supported by more than 2.5 million developers from at least 157 countries, according to the Eclipse Foundation, a non-profit consortium of software vendors that supports the project. The BIRT dashboard can create various reports that visualize data and accomplish more advanced tasks such as grouping on sums and percentages of overall tools. Other reporting features include lists, charts, crosstabs, letters and documents and compound reports. BIRT, which is used by industry stalwarts like Cisco and IBM, can also be embedded in many other business applications to extend the capabilities of BIRTs report engine and charting engine within applications that use Java. BIRT requires extensive coding skills so organizations that dont have those resources might be better served by another app. http://www.eclipse.org/birt/ Google Analytics Google Analytics, it should come as no surprise, is one of the most popular business intelligence platforms on the market today. More than half of all websites use the service, including about 70 percent of the top 10,000 sites, according to various firms that track online software usage. The cloud-based app features various visualization methods and creates data summaries in interactive dashboards. The service is especially powerful for companies that specialize in marketing or advertising and are particularly interested in tracking click-throughs and other visitor metrics to determine what content is performing above and below objectives. Core features of Google Analytics include data collection and management (collection APIs, tag management, configuration APIs, custom variables, data import and user access controls); data analysis, visualization and reporting (data access, filtering and manipulation, funnel analysis, mobile-app reporting, real-time reporting, segmentation and user flow reporting); and data activation (audience demographics, intelligence and anomaly detection, multi-touch attribution, predictive analytics, publisher integrations, remarketing integrations and app notifications). https://www.google.com/analytics/ IBM Watson Analytics Free Edition Thanks to a massive and sustained advertising campaign, IBM Watson Analytics is one of the most well-known business intelligence programs on the market. The free version of IBM Watson Analytics features a full range of self-service analytics, including access to data refinement and warehousing services. The platform is driven by a powerful analytics engine combined with natural language processing capabilities that make business intelligence customizable and easy to learn. The smart assistant can help businesses and professionals from various disciplines and with a variety of skill sets, including those with data science and data visualization skill sets. IBM Watson Analytics can also help users discover insights, predict outcomes, visualize results, create reports and collaborate with others. Watson Analytics Free Edition only supports flat files with no more than 100,000 rows and 50 columns. It is also limited to a total data storage of 500 MB. https://www.ibm.com/watson-analytics Jaspersoft Community Jaspersoft offers five of its open source programs for free via a community program. JasperReports Server, the most popular and feature-rich of the programs, is a standalone and embeddable application that provides reporting and analytics for enterprises. The software includes extensive database support, flexible server architecture, centralized reporting and analytics, secured data access and auditing, and online analytical processing analysis across multiple attributes and time periods. Tibco, an infrastructure software vendor that acquired Jaspersoft in 2014, boasts an impressive list of customers, including Time Warner Cable, the government of British Columbia, Groupon and Vanderbilt University. Other free community editions of Jaspersoft include JasperReports Library, Jaspersoft ETL, Jaspersoft Studio and Visualize.JS. https://community.jaspersoft.com/ Microsoft Power BI Microsoft also provides a free version of its business intelligence program, Power BI Desktop, which includes up to 1 GB of data storage and 10,000 rows of data per hour. The cloud-based analytics service is designed for non-technical professionals who want to keep tabs on their business by exploring data more deeply through interactive visual reports, built-in connectors and reports from a wide variety of sources. Microsoft Power BI features dozens of data connectors so users can incorporate information from various sources into their queries. The platform also empowers businesses to transform CSV data and Excel spreadsheets into visually appealing reports that can be shared with others or published online. Finally, Microsoft Power BI features an impressive number of customizable visualizations so users can arrange data in all types of charts, from bubbles to table heatmaps, tornado charts, aster plots, histograms, cards and more. https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/ Qlik Qlik offers free versions of three of its most robust programs QlikView Personal, Qlik Sense Desktop and Qlik Sense Cloud. The personal, or free editions, are best for solo use because collaboration and sharing is limited, but they have many of the same core functions as the full versions. QlikView is designed to help businesses consolidate data from multiple sources, explore associations in the data, visualize the results and discover insights that can lead to better decisions. Qlik Sense enables professionals to create personalized visualizations, reports and dashboards in a drag-and-drop interface. The platform also features data compression, a rarity in business intelligence software, that can compress in-memory data to a tenth of its initial size so users can complete operations faster. https://www.qlik.com/us This story, "The best free BI tools, 2018" was originally published by CIO . In my book, The Big Unlock, I describe the four major categories of technology providers as Custodians, Enablers, Arbitrageurs and Innovators. Each of these categories of providers has staked a claim to reimagining the digital future of healthcare. First, the Custodians: These are the big electronic health record (EHR) vendors like Epic and Cerner who have the data and the workflow. As systems of record, they enjoy the long-term strategic commitment of the health systems they serve and are the first port-of-call whenever a health system decides to enable new functionality for enhancing the patient and caregiver experience. With its sightseeing attractions and military bases, San Antonio may be a quaint tourist destinationhome of the Alamo and the scenic River Walkbut with a population of nearly 1.5 million, it is also the seventh-largest city in America. In fast-growing Texas, boasting six of the nations 20 most populous cities, only Houston is bigger. Though frequently overshadowed by its more cosmopolitan siblings Austin and Dallas, San Antone is a teeming urban center, with the same problems confronting other major cities. And in one of those problem areascrimeSan Antonio is, unfortunately, a leader. According to FBI data, the diverse, progressively run Alamo City had the highest rate of serious crime among the countrys 15 largest cities in 2016. The incidence of reported crimes in San Antonio fluctuates from year to year, affecting the comparative rankings, but despite a reduction in some categories in 2017, heavily Hispanic San Antonio has had a major crime problem since the 1980s. With more than 1,200 drive-by shootings in 1993, many gang-related, San Antonio earned the nickname the Drive-By City. Reported homicides in 2016 were the highest since 1995. San Antonio also has one of the nations worst rates of auto theft. In the National Council for Home Safety and Securitys 2018 ranking of Texas cities, San Antonio came in at 215 out of 224, making it one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. San Antonio police chief William McManus insists that the city is safe, and that the police department is doing everything possible to combat crime, though residents are understandably skeptical. Though San Antonio is not officially a sanctuary city, the police department has long prevented officers from asking detainees about their immigration status. Moreover, San Antonio was one of the first cities to file a suit challenging Senate Bill 4, the state law passed in 2017 banning sanctuary cities and requiring local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. (The law has been upheld.) McManus was critical of SB 4 prior to its passage, asserting that it would generate mistrust in immigrant communities, making it harder for officers to prevent and solve crime. Democrat-majority cities with heavily minority populations sometimes face a political dilemma concerning crime control. Should the elected officials encourage aggressive policing, at the risk of antagonizing groups claiming to represent minority communities, or favor a hands-off style that appeases the minority community while turning a blind eye to illegal-immigrant offenders? It appears that San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg, a left-leaning activist who defeated centrist incumbent Ivy Taylor in 2017, and a city council dominated by progressives (on which Nirenberg previously served), have chosen the lenient approach, sacrificing public safety to maintain the support of noisy immigrant groups. The state attorney general has launched an investigation of McManus for ordering the release last year of 12 illegal immigrants who were being transported by a human smuggler; only the truck driver was detained. Citizens filed complaints against the police chief, alleging that his failure to hold the illegals for federal authorities violated SB 4. The case attracted the attention of statewide Republican officials who supported the law, such as Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and the San Antonio Police Officers Association also criticized the chief. We finally have a higher authority looking into the chiefs conduct. That is a good thing, said SAPOA president Mike Helle, adding that there were several unlawful things done by McManus that day, and it needs to come to light. The rank-and-files public criticism of its police chief (who was appointed by the city council in 2006) over the human-smuggling incident is not the first sign of conflict between street cops and McManus. In 2016, SAPOAs 2,000 members returned a 97 percent no confidence vote against the chief and called for his resignation; McManus, with the support of local elected officials, refused to step down. In a city plagued by high crime rates, residents are justified in questioning the leadership of a police chief who has so thoroughly lost the confidence of his own officers. McManus is not the only dubious figure in San Antonios criminal-justice system. Bexar County district attorney Nicholas Nico LaHood, a Democrat elected in 2014, was arrested for selling drugs at a gentlemens club when he was 21 (he is now 37). LaHoods brief tenure as San Antonios top prosecutor (he lost his renomination bid in March) was marred by other controversies, including charges that he threatened to destroy the law practices of defense lawyers if they pursued claims of prosecutorial misconduct. LaHoods replacement as the Democratic nominee, Joe Gonzales, who will face Republican candidate Tylden Shaeffer in November, promises to be even less conventional. During the Democratic primary, Gonzales suggested that he favored the elimination of cash bonds in all misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases, a controversial reform that would replace the bail system with personal recognizance for many criminal defendants. Such reforms, like the sanctuary-city policies banned by SB 4, elevate virtue-signaling to certain voter blocs over public safety. Elections have consequences, especially with regard to government policies dealing with law enforcement and public safety. Local pols often cater to interest groups favoring leniency instead of the rule of law. Have the beleaguered residents of San Antonio had enough yet? Photo: ZeChief EVER SINCE THE ARRIVAL of video as a news medium, commentators have pronounced the still news photograph obsolete. Susan Sontag led the way in 1977. She considered photojournalism dead. The vast photographic catalogue of misery and injustice throughout the world has given everyone a certain familiarity with atrocity, making the horrible seem more ordinarymaking it appear familiar, remote (its only a photograph), inevitable. James Lever, in the 2018 spring-summer issue of the engaging Oxford arts magazine Arete, similarly disdains the still photograph and exalts the smart phone. The photograph seems to bespeak a deep nostalgia for the diminishing 20th century idea of photojournalism itself, that discipline that once considered itself an unacknowledged legislator capable of authoritative intervention in public affairs. Every decade since Sontags verdict, replenished by Lever, proves the death of photojournalism to have been greatly exaggerated, a truth celebrated in the vitality and relevance of the thousands of distinctive photographs today online and in print that give so much deliberative angst to the judges in all journalisms prize competitions. The Pulitzer jurists in April awarded two prizes in photography: one to Ryan Kelly for capturing the impact of a car driven into people protesting neo-Nazi rioters in Charlottesville, Virginia; and one to Reuters for its coverage of Myanmars expulsion of the Rohingya. Reuters also won for international reporting on the Philippine drug war, the first time it has won two Pulitzers in a single year. Still to be recognized for their distinction are the two photographs Reuters published after the date for submissions. The first, taken before the massacre of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din, shows them bound and kneeling to be shot or hacked to death. It was taken by an unknown photographer and handed to a Reuters reporter on the scene in the destroyed Rakhine village of Inn Din in February. The second is a Reuters photograph of a group of the bereaved families who had fled to Bangladesh. Together, they push the boundaries of photojournalism. Together, they rebut the idea that the still image deludes the mind and deadens the emotions. The picture of the kneeling men is shocking, the second apparently innocuous, but it is the two together that reverberate with extraordinary power. When an addition transforms an equation, economists call it the multiplier effect. We flinch on seeing the doomed 10. The very sight of them inflicts a moral injury on the conscience of the viewer, to adopt the diagnostic term of Anthony Feinstein, professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, who has studied the reactions of journalists to violence. The addition of the photograph of surviving relatives multiplies the horror of the atrocity; so, here in that one group photograph are the enduring human consequences of murder most foul. Here is heartache, here are the broken families haunted by nightmares of loved ones braced to die, here are the widows racked with grief and anxiety, here is the one surviving father who will not see his dreams for a cherished son, here are the babies who will never know their fathers. Myanmars contention is that it launched a military campaign in August 2017 to suppress attacks by Rohingya insurgents in Rakhine State. The Rohingya are commonly called Bengali in Myanmar, a term of abuse for the 1.1 million Muslims in Rakhine despised by the nationalists among Myanmars 89 percent majority Buddhists. According to Doctors Without Borders, at least 9,000 Rohingya died between August 25 and September 24 last year, with about 70 percent of the deaths caused by violence. The authorities, flying in the face of the long history of Rohingya, condemn them as stateless infiltrators. (In April, the military said it had punished seven of its soldiers identified in the massacre with 10 years hard labor in a remote prison.) The picture of the kneeling men is shocking, the second apparently innocuous, but it is the two together that reverberate with extraordinary power Sign up for CJR 's daily email The intense human qualities of the family group photograph depend on its association with the massacre. It would not, by itself, qualify for Henri Cartier-Bressons term, the decisive moment, because his emphasis was on a visual climax, the organic coordination of shapes, lines and values, on patterns that vanish on hesitation. The term became a commonplace of photojournalism, and was redefined to mean a dramatic rather than a visual climax, a story rather than a picture. After talking with Cartier-Bresson in Paris in the 1970s, I had the nerve to advocate reserving his decisive moment for the relatively few occasions when the photographer captures a news or symbolic moment that is also a visual moment, the fractional element of time when decisive content in news is indisputably synthesized with meaningful form. Think of Joe Rosenthal on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on the morning of February 23, 1945. Awed by the sight of five Marines and a navy medical corpsman struggling to plant the stars and stripes ruffled by the wind in the moment of triumph, Joe swung his camera and secured a picture at 1/400th of a second set between f8 and f11. He didnt know he had it. No genius could have posed the picture if he had spent a year in a studio with lights and a wind machine. Joe did take a number of other posed pictures. For his third shot he got the soldiers together and had them wave and cheer under the flag. That was a news moment, but its geometry was unmemorable. If it had been the only picture of the victory, it could have been hailed as a news moment but not a decisive moment. It leaves no memorable impression. A single news photograph is more likely to become iconic if geometry organizes the emotions. It has affinity with the way we remember. Pause here for a nanosecond to summon to our minds eye the equilibrium in the Reuters imagea 2017 Pulitzer finalistof the national agitation after Baton Rouge police fatally shot an African-American man resisting arrest for flogging DVDs. Jonathan Bachmans photograph is the epitome of peaceful protest. Two cops in riot gear of visored helmets, big boots and full body armor rush to arrest Ieshia Evans, a slim 35-year-old in a sleeveless frock. Her cool stare, we surmise, makes the cops fractionally recoil. Another blink and the association of ideas takes me instantly to Beijings Tiananmen Square in 1989, and now I am looking at the image of a lone protester standing against the gun barrel of a tank (Jeff Widener, AP). Blink and zip to the joyous tumult of Times Square on VJ Day 1945, and share the exuberance of a sailors random kiss for a stranger, a forever famous nurse in white (Alfred Eisenstaedt). I see these not as cinematic clips but each as a single scene because in our minds eye we cannot persuade the retina to be a cinema screen for a movie. The moving image can inform and excite but its trajectory cannot easily be recalled to mind. So many still images of such variety and over so many decades, yet something is routinely missing in the news honor galleries: a whole category of photojournalism represented by the fusion of the two photographs of 10 doomed men and 10 surviving families. The godfather of photojournalism, the innovative Hungarian Stefan Lorant, made silent films, and then embraced the idea of sequence for photo stills (incubated in his three months as Hitlers involuntary guest in a Berlin prison, lucky to escape the Holocaust). Lorant invented coupling, the juxtaposition of two different photos, to make a point. The first expressions were jokesa portrait of Neville Chamberlain next to a portrait of a dozy llama; a flinty portrait of Rockefeller at 97 next to a beatific Hungarian peasant of 97. He labeled this sequence poverty and riches. More sophisticated images were in the development tank. Wilson Hicks of Life magazine dubbed Lorants idea the third effect. When two pictures are brought together, their individual effects are combined and enhanced by the readers interpretive and evaluative reaction. That is exactly the virtue of the two Reuters photographs, the first of the 10 doomed men, the second of the formal group of their loved ones. By itself, the family group photograph is not strictly a decisive moment, but the two together qualify. To dedicate weeks to the finding, identifying, and photographing of the group of bereaved relatives was inspired. And to present them linked graphically to their sons, husbands, and fathers cannot but move us to tears and outrage. Formal group photographs rarely feature among prizes. David Kings collation of commissars rubbed out by Stalin from once comradely photographs is a notable exception and so are the survivors of the Inn Din massacre. It is surprising that such dramatic coupling has been pretty well abandoned by photo editors when it may offer corroboration as well as comprehension. The Russian ambassador to Turkey lies dead in an apparently empty art gallery at the feet of a screaming off-duty Turkish policeman with murder in his heart and a pistol brandished in his raised hand. How did he get away with it? We do not see a crowd scattered in a panic. The photograph of eight or nine people in a corner huddling together in fear was discarded. Coupled or isolated, it would have completed our understanding. By the time Reuters had verified and published the photograph of the 10 doomed men, the reportersWa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28had been in prison for two months, still subject six months later to court hearings in Yangon to decide whether they would be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. To publish the first photograph of the 10 men would have been an imperative for any other news organizationbut would Reuters be risking its captive staff to the uncertain temper of Myanmars military authorities? Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler drew on a staff thoroughly conversant with Myanmar. With investigative editors Michael Williams and Janet Bride in London and Myanmar bureau chief Antoni Slowkowski, Adler had every detail scrutinized of the first report of the massacre at Inn Din, and its photograph of the 10 men given up by a Buddhist village elder. They were published in an ambitious graphic presentation identifying by maps, diagrams and narrative what had happened. (Adler is the chairman of CJRs Board of Overseers.) But Reuters did not leave it at that. Williams was intrigued that an element in the original story drawing most attention was the glimpse of the victims lives in supporting their families in one of the worlds poorest countries. They had been fishermen, fish sellers, farmers, store keepers, an Islamic teacher and two studentsbut where were their families now? Reuters committed to finding and photographing the bereaved mothers, wives and babies. In the immediate aftermath of the massacre, it was known only that they had fled somewhere for food, shelter and security when the Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist militants set fire to their homes. Finding the missing families among nearly 700,000 refugees who would have had to cross rivers and seas was a tough call for the reporters Simon Lewis, Zeba Siddiqui and Tommy Wilkes, supplemented by Marshall. If and when they found the relatives of the victims of Inn Din, they would be bringing them the worst news imaginable, the last photograph of their relatives on the edge of their shallow grave. It was excruciating to imagine the grief when, one by one, the mothers and wives and a single father braced for the last living image of a loved one. The reporters scoured the refugee camps where hundreds of thousands of exhausted peoplemothers with newborns, pregnant women and the oldwere still arriving in panic, bone-chilled, caked in mud, exhausted, starving or sick. The reporters found the familiesand more. They won their trust. Without Reuters, said the brother-in-law of Abdul Majid, one of the 10 Rohingya men killed, wed have no idea what happened to our relatives. Andrew Marshall, roving from Bangkok as Southeast Asia Special Correspondent, came in to write the story and arrange the photograph. He knew Myanmar well enough to have been detained and expelled while reporting on Cyclone Nargis in 2008, then invited back by the junta three years later for Hillary Clintons historic visit to the new capital of Naypyidaw. He had been in Rakhine State with photographer Damir Sagolj in May 2012, a month before violence erupted between Rakhine and Rohingya. With Amy Sawitta Lefevre, he reported from Thailand on the slave ships that trafficked Rohingya to horrific jungle camps. He trekked into one of the camps to watch police winkle Rohingya bones from the damp earth. To dedicate weeks to the finding, identifying, and photographing of the group of bereaved relatives was inspired. And to present them linked graphically to their sons, husbands, and fathers cannot but move us to tears and outrage. How coupling may be effective depends on the subject. That is another reason to appreciate the restraint in the coupling arranged by Marshall and Hossain. The two formal groups would have been ruined by hype, by the imposition of drama in any reconstruction of simulated emotions. They stand as an inspired example of symmetry and grace, respectful of the occasion, and the innate dignity of the individuals. We shall remember them. ICYMI: In Myanmar, journalists have sided with the military against the Rohingya Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Harold Evans is Editor at Large for Reuters, and the author of Pictures on a Page. His credits include the Hood Medal of the Royal Photographic Society; the lifetime achievement award by the International Center for Photography; the Presidents Award of the UK Design and Art Directors Association; and the Press Photographers Association of Great Britain. He has served as chairman of the judges of World Press Photo. IN THIS WEEKS LOWERCASE Unfortunate printer #fail in my parents' hometown paper yesterday. pic.twitter.com/JvqeihaXV5 Marin Cogan (@marincogan) September 9, 2013 I just made a rare visit to CNN's website in search of national headlines about Tuesday's primaries. Instead, I found these. I will not make that mistake again. pic.twitter.com/DuGWxtkb8L Carolyn Morrisroe (@CarolynMorrisro) May 9, 2018 At the @newseum, bathroom tiles feature newspaper headline bloopers. This one might have been intentional pic.twitter.com/tAKNXwXJVm Tim O'Reilly (@timoreilly) May 10, 2016 Sign up for CJR 's daily email There are typos, and then there are typos#hawaiivolcano pic.twitter.com/Ofaud4Ik1h Willie Deutsch (@WillieDeutsch) May 15, 2018 Have a headline you want to share? Snap a photo and email it to [email protected] or tweet it to us @CJR. Want to see more regrettable headlines? Check out the Lower Case archives. ICYMI: Veteran editor announces on Twitter he was fired from newspaper Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today The Editors are the staffers of the Columbia Journalism Review. The executive in charge of Facebooks News Feed, longtime senior staffer Adam Mosseri, took questions about the companys often-acrimonious relationship with the media at an event in San Francisco on Thursday hosted by CJR and The Information. Facebook recently announced that Mosseri will be switching jobs, leaving the News Feed role to run Instagram, but he talked about the social networks approach to news during an interview with Jessica Lessin, The Informations founder, as part of a half-day conference focused on the strained relationship between journalism and the social networks. I think its complicated, Mosseri said when asked about the relationship that Facebook has with publishers and the press. The news industry is going through a massive amount of change in a very short time. The Internet is changing how people consume not only news but all kinds of information, turning a lot of business models in the industry upside down, and we are part of that. We are trying to figure things out and we make mistakes but we are trying to do better. There are areas where we have really strong partnerships and areas where the relationships are incredibly antagonistic and everything in between. ICYMI: A tweet with two graphs showing Facebook metrics is upsetting a lot of journalists Mosseri addressed criticism that when Facebook changes the way the News Feed algorithm works, it can often mean sudden and dramatic changes in the traffic publishers get. Theres no way for me to guarantee stable distribution for any one publisher, its just not possible, even if we stopped changing how [algorithmic] ranking worked entirely, he said. Peoples interests change, the news changes every day, theres all sorts of competitive effects. So distribution is always going to be volatile. Mosseri also echoed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergs recent comments about the idea of the social network compensating media companies directly for their content. Sign up for CJR 's daily email In terms of just paying publishers for news, I dont think that scales very well, he said. There are too many publishers in too many countries all over the world for us to do that. Its never going to be a way to support the entire industry, even if every dollar Facebook made went to the industry. Also, news publishers arent the only constituent we are beholden to. Mosseri said the company believes a better approach is to help the media business develop new business models, whether its video or like were trying to do with subscriptions. At one point, Mosseri acknowledged that Facebook hasnt always been as open about the experiments it conducts around new formats like video. The company is currently paying news publishers to create original content for its new Watch feature, but some remember how Facebook started doing something similar for short-form video with Facebook Live and a number of companies moved to focus on video and then found there wasnt enough revenue to continue. We need to be more transparent about how we do that kind of thing and get better at setting expectations, Mosseri said. I dont think we did that well enough. When it comes to funding of journalism through grants or research or projects like the News Integrity Initiative, which CJR covered in a recent feature, Mosseri said the company does this because we are interested in funding journalism in all sorts of ways. We believe news is incredibly important in the world, and informing people is important. And it also matters to the people who use our product. He also talked about the companys recent attempts to emphasize trusted news in the News Feed. There are a billion pieces of content posted every day, and tens of millions of publishers, so its just not possible for us to have someone read every post and decide what is trustworthy, he said. So we tried to design a ranking system that would focus on trust but be difficult to game. Its not just a popularity contest even if lots of people say a source is trustworthy that doesnt necessarily mean we will rank it highly, because it might just appeal to a narrow group of supporters. We look at how broad that trust is were trying to look at the idea of broad experience, common ground, shared viewpoints to help prevent polarization. When asked whether Facebook was too slow in recognizing the problem with misinformation or fake news, Mosseri admitted that it was, but argued that this was part of a broader problem with Silicon Valley. I definitely agree that the level of our investment wasnt commensurate with the risk, he said, and I think that was a function of not fully appreciating how important the issue was or is. I think we were much less focused on the risks of what might happen, and thats not just Facebook but the Valley in general. Mosseri also said that publishers should think differently about the audience they reach on Facebook versus those who come to their site. Theres a big difference between someone who consumes something passively as theyre scrolling through something vs someone who goes to your site directly, he said. Facebook might be the majority of your traffic, but not the majority of people who care deeply about your content. The San Francisco event was sponsored by the Knight Foundation, which, together with the Ford Foundation, helps support CJRs New Gatekeepers coverage. ICYMI: Veteran editor announces on Twitter he was fired from newspaper Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg. Wash. Plumbers Workers Comp Scam Nets Him 45 Days in Detention An Auburn, Wash., plumber who lied about working while he was receiving disability payments has been sentenced to serve 45 days in detention. Bobby Eugene Stepp, 66, claimed he wasnt working due to an on-the-job injury, while he was actually running his own plumbing business that took in more than $144,000 during that time. King County Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle ordered the sentence last week for Stepp, and allowed him to serve the time in electronic home monitoring. A hearing about repaying the wrongfully obtained benefits is scheduled for June 8. Stepp pleaded guilty last month to felony, first-degree theft in the incident. The Washington Attorney Generals Office prosecuted the case based on a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) investigation. Stepp lost his right leg due to a workplace accident in 2004. As a result, he received medical benefits and wage-replacement payments off and on until early 2015. L&I began investigating in 2015 after a routine cross-match of Employment Security Department and L&I records showed Stepp was earning wages. It turned out that in 2014, he worked first as a plumber for two companies and then operated his own plumbing business installing bathtubs, charging papers said. The company earned more than $144,000 from June through December that year, according to his bookkeepers records. During the same period, he received more than $29,000 in L&I wage-replacement payments. To qualify for the payments, Stepp signed official forms stating that he could not work, and was not working, because of his injury. L&I administers the state workers compensation system, which helps injured employees heal and return to work. The department provides medical and vocational services, and, in some cases, a portion of injured workers wages if they cant work due to their workplace injury or cant do the same job. Washington Woman Woman Faces Felony Charges Related to Fake Thefts, Insurance Claims Taylor Morgado (formerly Lawson), of Buckley, Wash., pleaded not guilty in King County Superior Court to one count of first-degree theft and one count of filing a fraudulent insurance claim totaling nearly $27,000. The felony charges were filed after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidlers Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU). According to the investigation, Morgado filed two false claims with Safeco Insurance. In April 2015, she filed a renters insurance claim after she reported a burglary at her Auburn residence. The claim included electronics, jewelry, cash and a 2-carat diamond wedding ring set that she said had been appraised at $4,995. Safeco paid her $6,424 for the entire claim; her policy was capped at $3,000 for jewelry and the rest paid for the replacement of electronic items. In December 2016, the ring was listed for sale on Morgados OfferUp account with an asking price of $3,800. Morgado told Kreidlers detectives that she had found the ring after she filed the claim, but she didnt know if she should tell Safeco that she had found it. She turned in the ring during the investigation. In May 2015, Morgado filed a stolen vehicle claim for her 2013 Nissan Juke. Morgado reported to Auburn police that the vehicle was stolen from her residence in the middle of the night. She told police that the spare key to the Nissan had been stolen in the burglary the previous month. Safeco paid $20,240 to the lienholder and $550 in rental car expenses for Morgado. In January 2017, the car was recovered by Washington State Patrol when a man was arrested in the Nissan for driving under the influence. Police checked the cars license plates and found they were registered to a different car owned by a friend of Morgados. Morgado later told Kreidlers detectives that she had given the car to her friend before she reported it stolen. The new era of big batteries has already drawn scrutiny after fiery electric-car crashes across America and Europe. Now, U.S. city planners are worried about the same risk of hard-to-control blazes as these power-storage units make their way into basements and onto rooftops. You can have these things go on fire, and then hours or days later, they can reignite, presenting a new challenge for first-responders, said Paul Rogers, who led New York Citys effort to establish battery safety standards until he retired as a lieutenant with the fire department earlier this year. Firefighters if they act inappropriately they could get killed, he said. Improvements in energy storage are revolutionizing how and when electricity is used. Batteries now fuel everything from hand-held devices such as smartphones to the electric cars proliferating around the world. In the latest trend, racks of batteries stacked up to the size of studio apartments are being installed in urban spaces like office buildings and shopping malls. The units allow buyers to tap into lower-cost and renewable energy and supply back-up power during widespread outages. But the same chemistry that makes lithium-ion batteries so effective also poses a hazard. While fires are rare, an overheating unit can ignite. And while water can put out a battery blaze, it takes a lot more of it than usual. A few high-profile fires involving everything from mobile phones and laptops to electric cars and even jumbo jets has some city officials calling for more caution and clearer standards before storage units end up in buildings. An effort by New York to review the safety of these battery systems has already limited their deployment, according to the research group Electric Power Research Institute. At this point, not a single lithium-ion battery system has been installed inside a building there, though there have been four approved for outdoor spaces, New York utility Consolidated Edison Inc. said. For its part, New Yorks fire department says it isnt deliberately slowing installations. The agency just wants to ensure these installations meet appropriate safety standards, said Ronald Spadafora, the departments chief of fire prevention. The way Rogers puts it: A lot of code officials, they dont know what to do with the lithium-ion batteries. More Batteries Lithium-ion batteries have gotten a lot cheaper dropping almost 80 percent since 2010 as demand increased for electric cars. Thats increased the appeal for utilities to integrate batteries that can store the intermittent energy produced by wind and solar farms. Commercial building owners can deploy batteries to buy energy when its cheap, and then use it to power air conditioners and lights during hot summer days when electricity prices surge. California, New York and Massachusetts have set targets to increase the amount of storage on their grids, and New York City wants to have 100 megawatt-hours deployed by 2020 enough to power anywhere from 25,000 to 80,000 homes for an hour based wide-ranging estimates of residential electricity use. As rare as battery fires are, periodic blazes in e-cigarettes, laptops and even battery packs on one of the most sophisticated jetliners in the world, the Boeing Co. 787, have led to government restrictions and frightening headlines. In 2012, an energy storage system made up of lead-acid batteries caught fire next to a wind farm in Hawaii. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has opened investigations into two recent fires involving Tesla Inc. cars, along with an earlier blaze last year. And the agency charged with setting vehicle safety standards, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said it was gathering information on a recent episode in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Swiss police are examining a fatal Tesla crash last week that triggered a fire. More Research Incidents like those have some government officials urging more research into the risks of having even bigger batteries in buildings. A unit can be as small as a school locker and as big as a standard 8-foot-by-20-foot shipping container. The installation of lithium-ion and other new energy storage technologies offer exciting opportunities, but also present significant safety concerns, Spadafora said. Installations at scale necessary to power buildings and building systems potentially present very serious fire and life-safety hazards. In San Francisco, the fire department says lithium-ion batteries in buildings with capacities larger than 20 kilowatt-hours must comply with city and California fire codes for stationary battery systems. Rules include placing the batteries in separate rooms with automatic sprinklers, ventilation and smoke detection systems. New York has been more cautious in green-lighting installations, partly because Americas largest city is so densely urban. The fire department said it has taken time to develop its own guidelines to allow for researchers to conduct tests that would help determine the appropriate safety measures. Developing Standards A lot of municipalities are waiting to hear what New York is doing, Rogers said. Last month, the New York City fire and building departments, City University of New York, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and utility Con Edison published a guide for permitting and connecting outdoor lithium-ion systems. What we are trying to do is bring this to scale, said Tria Case, director of sustainability at the City University of New York who is responsible for facilitating the development of the energy-storage guidelines. There is a need to develop standards, so each project doesnt have to be on a case-by-case analysis. New York City should have a guide for installing indoor storage systems in buildings by year end, Case said. That should help reduce deployment times and cut down on costs for systems. So far, the effort to develop consistent regulations hasnt created any bottlenecks in installations, according to Kelly Speakes-Backman, chief executive officer of the Energy Storage Association, Washington-based industry group that has been working with the city. Of course, safety is our first concern, Speakes-Backman said during an interview at an industry conference in Boston last month. We are participating in the working groups to help make sure these standards are safe and reasonable. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. AKRON, Ohio - For Fontus Blue CEO Christopher Miller, a civil engineering professor at the University of Akron, helping water utilities supply better drinking water to customers is personal. Miller moved from Iowa to the Akron-area in 1995 to teach at the University of Akron. Shortly after, he adopted a dog. Just four years later, the dog was riddled with cancer. "I'm not saying I know for sure I know why (the dog got cancer). But I started to investigate known carcinogens in the water source and they were below allowed limits, but they were high," Miller said. While water quality standards have become more stringent since the 1990s, the experience empowered Miller, who wasn't formally trained in drinking water quality, to find a way to improve water quality. The challenge with managing drinking water, according to Miller, who has spent the past 20 years conducting research at the university and doing drinking water treatment consulting work, is that source water can't be controlled. The weather, location and temperature changes can create different water chemistries, which makes variations in treatment processes high. Such variations and resulting chemistry changes require a plant operator to have an in-depth knowledge of chemistry and understanding of the impact of various treatment decisions. But many plant managers don't have the formal training needed to understand those complexities, according to Miller. So Miller set out to develop a software solution that would help water utilities make chemistry and treatment decisions, which the goal of improving water quality for customers. "The software we built (Decision Blue(r)) takes some of the known research things that are out there and puts them inside of that so it can now help water plant managers make some of those tougher chemistry or treatment decisions. And it automates calculations for them," Miller said. The company's Enhanced Monitoring solution is available out of the box, while proactive modifications of chemicals are customized for each plant. Miller was able to translate his research into a viable software solution with the help of the University of Akron Research Foundation's I-Corps program, which helps university professors and students learn if their business idea has any merit. The program was hosted at the Bounce Innovation Hub, which was then called the Akron Global Business Accelerator. The experience, as it turns out, was a harbinger for Miller, who now calls the Bounce Innovation Hub home. "We didn't really look anywhere else at getting space than Bounce," said Miller, who moved Fontus Blue into a 400-square foot space in the hub last year. For Miller, exposure to other start-ups and access to resources are what sold him on the space. At an event designed to help tenants get to know one another, Miller met Glenn King from Data-Command. The duo discovered they were both software companies serving common clients with different needs. Now, King and Miller collaborate on marketing, messaging and trade show efforts, and King has even helped Miller expedite his software development efforts. "(The partnership has) allowed us to be bigger than we are separately. It's a synergy that would not have happened but for being in that space together," Miller said. Miller has big plans for Fontus Blue, which now includes team members Caleb Sprague, engineering project manager; Chiklith Gelli, database administrator; and Dustin Miller, new business development manager. The company's software is currently used by clients in six states and Canada, which supply water to more than 3 million customers. One of the company's clients is American Water, the largest publicly traded water utility in the U.S. "We're starting discussions with them utilizing our software as part of a platform they want to use for all of their facilities," Miller said. "It's social validation that what we are doing is top notch." By the end of the year, the company hopes to have more than 100 water utilities on what it calls its "Exceptional Drinking Water Network." The company is currently working on adding self-sign up/registration functionality to make it easier for water utilities to get started using the software. Also in the works is an app that would help individuals pull up consumer confidence reports for their public water system, and offer education on which filters to buy and how often to change them. The app goal is to help individuals take a more proactive role in improving their water quality. "It actually matters what we're drinking," Miller said. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Like the nation listening to the viral "Yanny/Laurel" audio clip, Kim Jong Un, President Trump and John Bolton are not all on the same frequency when it comes to the planned U.S.-North Korea summit and what "Libya Model" means. Thursday, President Trump sought relieve North Korea's anxiety over National Security Adviser John Bolton's comment that the U.S. planned to follow the "Libya Model" when it comes to the Kim-Trump summit over North Korea's nuclear program. Over the weekend, North Korea threatened to figuratively nuke the nuke summit, making reference to Bolton's comments about Libya. Eight years after agreeing to complete denuclearization, Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and brutally killed. During an Oval Office photo-op with the Secretary of NATO, Trump said his administration had no intention of following the "Libya Model" and that if a deal is struck, Kim Jong Un would be protected and North Korea would enjoy an economic windfall. Would that include a Trump Tower in North Korea? Trump is being criticized for conflating/confusing the Libya disarmament deal and Gaddafi's ouster and assassination, eight years later. That criticism misses the point, which is that Kim Jong Un and North Korea connect the two events. When North Korea hears "Libya Model" they equate that with Gaddafi giving up his weapons and ultimately being overthrown and killed in brutal and humiliating fashion. One of the main reasons Kim Jong Un has pursued a nuclear program is to ensure his and North Korea's security and survival. It's the same reason Saddam Hussein had feigned having weapons of mass destruction, thinking it would ward off threats from neighboring countries. Kim Jong Un doesn't want to end up like Gaddafi and Hussein. When North Korea threatened to pull out of the summit, the quick take was that it should have been expected, given North Korea's history. The Trump administration was criticized for having the cart before the horse. It likely wasn't that simple. North Korea's cold feet over the weekend may have been iced by multiple forces. Former State Department officials noted that it's likely that Kim Jong Un could be getting push back from hardliners in North Korea, over his talks with South Korea and overtures to Trump. Other factors are China, and China's trade goals with the U.S., as well as Trump withdrawing from the Iran deal. Trump said Libya was a different situation than North Korea and that he believes the summit is moving forward. Given that it's Trump and Kim Jong Un, it may ultimately take the mediation of Dennis Rodman for the summit to happen. Yanny or Laurel or Covfefy? After producing today's cartoon I learned the White House posted a video of staff members revealing if they heard "Laurel" or "Yanny" when listening to the viral audio clip. Most seemed to hear "Laurel." It depends one the frequency the audio is played on when you hear it. I've heard both "Laurel" and "Yanny" listening to it on different news channels. The White House video ends with Trump joking that he heard "Covfefe." I'm surprised he didn't say "Witch Hunt" or "No Collusion." CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jay Graham likes to keep people guessing. The cop-turned-brewer runs Magic City Brewing Co., the first craft brewery in Barberton. He had enough of the civil-service life patrolling Cleveland and returned to his hometown and - with no prior commercial brewing experience - opened Magic City Brewing Co. with co-owners Erica Graham, his wife; Brian Burmeister, and Becca Petroff, his cousin. If there is one thing about Graham, he's a straight shooter. And if you think you'll just get a few typical, unimaginative styles in this brewery, well, guess again. As the brewery approaches its one-year anniversary - it opened July 6, 2017 - Graham muses what to brew. Maybe a barrel-aged version of his Peanut Butter Chocolate Coffee Stout? How 'bout an Imperial Sour with vanilla and coconut? Graham is serious about his beer. He was a little less serious when it came to the brewery's logo, a slightly demonic-looking and very focused rabbit. It dates to one night when he was talking to Burmeister, a graphic artist. "What do you want for a logo?" Burmeister asked. Graham - after a beer or two, he admits - blurted "A bunny. Ten minutes later he had the first rendition." He finds it funny. "I'm a big guy covered in tattoos, and I'm a big metal head," said Graham, 34, wearing a brewery t-shirt whose back side proclaims: "Born, bred & brewed in Barberton, Ohio." The logo also is a bit reminiscent of the classic magic trick - "like pulling a bunny out of the hat" - and appropriate because of Barberton's slogan. (The city was dubbed 'The Magic City' after its 19th century growth spurt.) He considered other locations like Portage Lakes but the pull to his hometown was strong. "This is where we landed, this is home," Graham said. Imagination and attitude have driven him since he began home brewing. He didn't start because of a passion or from being a connoisseur. He started because of a dare. "I was 20 years old, and two buddies told me I couldn't do it," he said. He took the challenge. He made what he remembers were a Cream Ale and Pale Ale. His first dates with his now wife were at Great Lakes Brewing Co. His interest in brewing grew. Time went by, and Magic City opened on a one-barrel system before shifting to a three-barrel. "I feel like I did it kind of smart," he said about easing into the process. Initially, he had three business plans. "One was a 'shoot for the moon,' one was realistic, one was bare minimum. All three are ripped up and in the recycle bin, shredded," he said. Meaning: Life is good and people like his beer. He credits the support of those around him, and it hasn't been perfectly smooth. Local bureaucratic challenges cropped up, but Graham - a guy who had never owned a business - dealt with it. "People helped out," he said. "It's been a work in progress." He respects brewing, seeing the good in a community that can come from it. From his time in Cleveland he remembers dead areas becoming revitalized, in part from breweries. "Years ago, you didn't go to Battery Park. You did not go there," he said. "Now, Ralph (Sgro) is making great beer." Sgro and Ryan Bennett opened Terrestrial Brewing Co. in 2017. The communal nature that goes hand in hand with the growth of breweries helps the industry, too. Magic City is part of the Summit Brew Path. "Your casual craft beer drinker isn't going to want to come down here and spend the day," he said. Now, with Ignite Brewing Co. and Wadsworth Brewing nearby, that's changed. People can hit several in one swing. The old-fashioned thing that hasn't changed for Graham is communication. "We don't have wi-fi," he said. "I'd rather you talk to the person next to you. At least once a week I get a guy asking 'Can I have the wi-fi password?' 'Yeah, it's talk-to-your-wife-she's-sitting-next-to-you.' " About the beers A dozen beers are on tap, and crowlers - no growler fills - are available. His DILLIGAF (Do I Look Like I Give A ...") India Pale Ale is a tasty staple, its balanced Citra hops yielding a bright flavor, but it's not an over-the-top screamer smacking you in the face. A delicious Coffee Blonde made with Pearl Coffee Co. from Akron is available. And he's making a quaffable Gose with tangerine, pineapple and mango, perfect for summer sipping. The style is a bit salty, and his has just a hint of sweetness. "Anyone who says they're going to open and not do 'fad' beers isn't giving the clientele enough credit," he said. "You have to adapt." As for the future, Graham keeps an easy-going, open mind. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said. "Just keep it going." Six-pack of facts about Magic City * It's at 161 2nd St. NW, Barberton. It sits near a fitness center and Al's Quality Market. Hours: 4-11 p.m. Thursday-Friday, noon-midnight Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. * You can bring food, and picnic table are scattered throughout the space. * Graham is hoping to have food trucks on Fridays and bands on Saturdays. * It has an old-fashioned Skee-ball machine. Several pieces of art hang, including a colorful rendition of the late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. * Ignite Brewing Co. is five blocks away. Wadsworth Brewing Co. is 7 miles to the west. * Magic City self-distributes to Kent, Cuyahoga Falls, Portage Lakes and Bolivar. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Got $2 million? Indians first baseman Yonder Alonso would like to sell you his house. Alonso, who signed a two-year contract with Cleveland in the offseason, recently put his Miami Beach penthouse on the market. Built in 2008, the 1,500-square foot two-level condo is on the 21st floor of the MEI luxury residences. The unit offers two bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a chic all-white modern design, sleek kitchen plus stunning views of the ocean, intracoastal and city skyline. The asking price is $1,995,000. "When I first moved to Miami I fell in love with the beach and the tranquil ambiance that coastal living offers," Alonso said in a press release. "This penthouse reflects my dream of the Miami lifestyle and I hope the new owners enjoy it as much as I have." The building, located about four miles north of South Beach, features amenities such as an infinity pool, beach access with private cabanas, tea lounge, spa and fitness center. "MEI offers an impeccable lifestyle with upscale amenities, making it an attractive residence, situated in the heart of Miami Beach," said listing agent Jeff Miller of Brown Harris Stevens Miami in the release. "This particular penthouse boasts the best views in the building, allowing you to watch the sunset from your balcony." Alonso grew up in Miami after his family defected from Cuba when he was a child. The University of Miami alum is hitting .220 with 9 home runs and 23 RBI in his first season with the Indians. More Houses of the Week: COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Unsuccessful medical marijuana cultivator applicants challenging the state's process for awarding the lucrative grow licenses hit a major setback in court on Thursday. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kim Brown denied five companies' request for a preliminary injunction to scrap the medical marijuana grow license scores and start over from the beginning. Brown concluded the lawsuit filed by CannAscend Ohio LLC, Appalachian Pharm Products LLC, CannaMed Therapeutics LLC, Palliatech Ohio LLC, and Schottenstein Aphria LLC was premature because the companies haven't aired their appeals in administrative hearings. Furthermore, Brown wrote in her order, the court does not have the authority to revoke winners' licenses as the rejected applicants sought. "Plaintiffs' claims do not challenge the constitutionality of the medical marijuana control program statutes or regulations themselves, but instead challenge the constitutionality and validity of the way the Ohio Department of Commerce interpreted and applied the statutes in administering and implementing the licensing application process," Brown wrote. The decision is a win for the department, the companies already granted grow licenses and for patients worried the lawsuit would further delay the program. But another lawsuit could still slow down the program. Court sides with department The Department of Commerce awarded 24 provisional cultivator licenses in November -- 12 for up to 25,000 square feet of grow space and 12 for up to 3,000 square feet. Losing applicants could appeal their scores to a hearing officer appointed by the department, and the agency's director would have the final say on the outcome of the hearing. But the department delayed hearings and later put them on hold while a third-party accounting firm could validate all scores. Attorneys for the state argued lawsuits were premature until after applicants exhausted all other remedies, namely the administrative appeals. Brown sided with the state. Decision is inconsistent, marijuana companies say But a different Franklin County judge came to the opposite conclusion earlier this month. Judge Richard Frye rejected the Department of Commerce's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Ohio Releaf LLC. Frye wrote that the department has failed to implement the appeals process and provide timely hearings. During hearings in the Ohio Releaf case, commerce officials said it would take a year to get through the 67 appeals filed by unsuccessful companies. CannAscend's attorney Larry James said Thursday evening he was shocked by Brown's ruling, especially in light of Frye's recent opinion. "Obviously, this is a major surprise and clearly from any reading of any of the testimony of that hearing and our presentation, [an administrative hearing] is not a viable option," James said. Brown did not dismiss complaints that the department violated Ohio public records law. What's next? Frye is expected to make a decision in the other case within the next week. Ohio Releaf sought to pause awarding final operating licenses to the 12 larger growers until after the administrative hearings could be held. The Department of Commerce and patients intervening in the case argued that any delay will jeopardize the program being operational by Sept. 8. The unsuccessful marijuana cultivator applicants also have argued that the department's own rules prevented it from issuing additional licenses before Sept. 9. Brown wrote that the department has the power to award or revoke licenses if appropriate to remedy an appeal. The department did just that earlier this week, when it awarded a 25th grow license to a company edged out of top applicants because of a department employee's error. WASHINGTON - Democrats are up in arms over a farm bill proposal on the U.S. House of Representatives floor that calls for more stringent work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, called the five-year, $868 billion bill "cruel" in a Wednesday floor speech. She said it's dishonest to portray people who get SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, as "undeserving" and "lazy." "Sixty-five percent of our SNAP recipients cannot work," said Fudge. "They are children, seniors and disabled. And most of the others do work--some of them in the very building in which we stand today." Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee like Holmes County GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs support the bill, saying it will improve U.S. food security while reforming the social safety net. "Introducing work and education requirements for physically and mentally able-bodied adults makes sure those who truly need assistance get it, and that job training or educational opportunities are available for everyone," said a statement from Gibbs. "There are more than 6 million job openings in the United States right now. We need to make sure our social safety net provides a pathway for relevant and useful job training so those jobs can be filled and American families can prosper." House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway says the bill requires work-capable adults to work or get free work training for 20 hours per week to receive SNAP benefits. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the requirement would lift more people out of poverty, and help them get steady jobs. But groups like the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities say those changes would cause more than 1 million low-income households with more than 2 million people -- particularly low-income working families with children -- to lose their benefits altogether or have them reduced. If the bill is adopted, it would cut more than $20 billion in SNAP benefits over the next decade, the group says. Because no Democrats in the House of Representatives support the bill, House GOP leaders must rely exclusively on Republican votes for passage. That's led the House Freedom Caucus - including Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan - to say they'll withhold their votes unless the House votes first on an immigration bill. House Republican leaders hope to resolve the impasse with the Freedom Caucus by Friday to vote on the bill. Bainbridge Township Republican Rep. Dave Joyce was still deciding how to vote on Thursday. His office has been polling constituents on the subject through emailed and telephoned surveys that ask whether they back the new bill's work requirements for SNAP. "No one will get kicked off the program unless they chose to not work or participate in 20 hours of job training," said an email that Joyce sent constituents. According to his press secretary, Megan Dutra, more than 60 percent of respondents to Joyce's poll backed the changes. Democrats Tim Ryan of the Niles area and Marcy Kaptur of Toledo say they'll vote against the bill. "At the beginning of this Congress, I was ready to work with Republicans on a Farm Bill that ensures we meet the basic food needs of Americans, bolsters conservation efforts and meets the needs of family farmers across Ohio," said a statement from Kaptur. "Instead, the Republican majority in Congress decided on a go it alone, slash and burn approach relying on Washington lobbyists instead of their own constituents to write this bill. I look forward to the Senate dispatching this flawed bill and working on something more productive that actually addresses America's conservation challenges, provides for basic food security and keeps America's agricultural engine roaring." Ryan says the legislation has squandered an opportunity to fix the nation's broken food system and prioritize local family farmers. He says the bill would undermine ongoing conservation programs and cut SNAP "by $15-$20 billion over the next decade, hurting those most in need of healthy, fresh food." "Rather than moving the needle of our country's food system in a direction that promotes sustainable farming practices, emerging local and organic farms, urban agriculture, conservation practices, and specialty crops, this Farm Bill takes us backwards," said a blog post from Ryan. Ohio's Democratic U.S. Senator, Sherrod Brown, calls the House farm bill proposal "mean spirited," criticizing Republicans for seeking to pass traditionally bipartisan legislation on a party-line vote. He said the work requirement could negatively affect at least 100,000 Ohioans who are receiving opioid treatment. He predicted the Senate's bill will be extremely different, and the final compromise between the Senate and House bills won't look much like what's currently before the House. "They should go back to the drawing board and pass a farm bill like the Senate would, with Republican and Democrat support," said Brown. CLEVELAND, Ohio - It's a lousy time to be a taxpayer. The people we trust to watch our money keep letting us down. Examples of this are making headlines from Cleveland to Columbus. The most recent is George Dixon III, who headed the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's board of trustees for 24 years. He often acted like a passionate advocate for the poor people who rely on public transportation. Turns out he was also a passionate advocate for himself. This bum cheated the publicly funded RTA out of more than $1.1 million, according to a RTA investigation released this week. RTA officials say Dixon owes the money for unpaid health-care premiums, undeserved health benefits, and personal calls on his RTA phone. There's so much more about this story that should depress taxpayers. First, Dixon's absurdly long tenure on the board reflects the laziness of our elected officials, who reappoint the same people to positions of public trust and then forget about them. Giving someone else a chance to serve on the RTA board would have limited the damage Dixon could do. Dixon's gregarious personality and years as a popular restaurateur made him a favorite among Cleveland mayors, who kept him on the RTA board. Other politicians put him in other positions, as well. After RTA investigators began looking into Dixon in March, he resigned from the RTA board and from a position on the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission -- where he had sat for 17 years. But the most disturbing element of Dixon's free ride is that nobody at RTA noticed sooner. Sure, RTA says it's now going after the low-level accomplices who must have helped Dixon pull off the scam. But isn't it the job of top management to know what those low-level employees are up to before they do something bad? Officials don't read Also making depressing headlines is former Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman, who was convicted Tuesday of 26 misdemeanor ethics charges and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for voting to award city money to a design firm with close ties to him and his wife. At his sentencing, Cimperman said he was embarrassed and ashamed. Even his sad face and body language - which resembled a teddy bear left alone on a park bench - reflected his remorsefulness. He was given probation in what most people familiar with the case believe was a fair resolution. Cimperman is credited with helping to energize downtown and Ohio City. He has a track record of fighting for the disenfranchised. And he left council during the investigation into his votes to head a nonprofit that assists immigrants, Global Cleveland, where he gets good reviews from his board. But Cimperman's actions should have taxpayers questioning if any politician really pays attention to what they are doing. In some cases, Cimperman sponsored legislation involving his wife's design firm -- ParkWorks, later known as LAND Studio. In other cases, someone else sponsored the ordinances involving the firm. Sadly, Cimperman says he didn't always read what he was voting on or pay much attention to the details. Cimperman's defenders are quick to point out that sometimes the ordinances did not specify that the money was going LAND Studio. But that is a lame excuse. There are few design firms that do what LAND Studio does. And council members surely knew what firms would be involved in high-profile projects. While Cimperman was ultimately responsible for the votes, taxpayers should have been able to count on someone around him to be a better watchdog, namely council leaders. They knew Cimperman's wife worked for LAND Studio. Also, shouldn't City Hall's taxpayer-funded lawyers -- who are supposed to keep an eye on legislation and council - have been a bit more enterprising? Surely, someone should have noticed after at least the first 10 or 20 times Cimperman voted on ordinances involving LAND Studio that something wasn't right. Columbus' bon vivant Now, let's look downstate at former Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger. Some taxpayers may have thought Rosenberger wanted the high-profile job to make sound public policy and help fix Ohio's many problems. Turns out, Rosenberger wanted to travel on the dime of lobbyists and others. He abruptly resigned last month amid an FBI inquiry into his international travel habits. This week, he disclosed that he was reimbursed for more than $43,000 in travel expenses last year while he was in the state legislature. His travels included a trip to London paid for by GOPAC, a conservative advocacy organization. And just for fun, two lobbyists for an auto title loan company traveled with Rosenberger on that trip, which sources have said caught the interest of the FBI, my colleague Andrew Tobias has reported. Rosenberger's attorney said this week that the trips were "all perfectly lawful." Forgive taxpayers for being cynical. Hanging with lobbyist doesn't instill much confidence. And Rosenberger's travel history suggests he liked being a bon vivant more than an office-bearer. Lawmakers deserve a detention Finally, it's impossible to ignore the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), which is accused of fleecing the state out of $80 million by padding attendance records. ECOT was Ohio's largest charter school and among its worst performers. State lawmakers welcomed ECOT as an alternative to bothersome public schools that they refuse to adequately fund. ECOT's founder and the school's supporters poured campaign contributions - worth more than $2 million, the Columbus Dispatch reports -- into the hands of lawmakers, most of them Republicans. By pure coincidence, I'm sure, ECOT received little oversight. Now, after ECOT's attendance records have triggered a full-blown scandal in Columbus, lawmakers are giving up the money they received from ECOT's backers. ECOT continues to defend itself in court, but nobody is standing with it. Lawmakers are running away and promising to provide tougher oversight of charter schools. But what we really need is tougher oversight of our elected officials, who are making headlines by continually failing us. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Frye ordered Friday the Ohio Department of Commerce to promptly give a cultivation company an administrative hearing, but he denied the grower's request that a portion of the program be put on hold. The decision is a win for the state, which had argued a halt to the program would delay cannabis from getting to patients. Frye wrote the public's interest would not be served if the court interfered in the operations of the program. The department in November rejected Ohio Releaf LLC's application for one of 12 provisional large-scale grow licenses, and Ohio Releaf requested an administrative hearing to appeal its case. The department has put appeals hearings on hold while a private-sector firm reviews its scoring on the applications, after an error was discovered. Ohio Releaf sued, saying the department was purposely delaying the hearings and preventing it from making its case to grow medical marijuana. One of Ohio Releaf's requests was to halt the 12 large-scale grow licenses from operating until it received its hearing. The state had argued stopping the process would prevent patients from obtaining cannabis. The judge wrote in his order that there wasn't enough evidence to justify a halt in further work on permanent licensing of large-scale cultivators. The litigation was filed because Ohio Releaf believed that only 12 large-scale licenses could be awarded. The state conceded in court last week that it has the authority to issue more licenses and they just issued a 13th Level 1 license this week. Furthermore, Frye noted that the medical marijuana program's rules allow additional licenses after Sept. 8, when the program is supposed to be fully operational -- although the state recently said not all growers and dispensaries will be open by then. Ohio Releaf calls the decision a win. "Everyone wants a successful medical marijuana program in Ohio," said Michael Gonidakis, a spokesman for Ohio Releaf, in a statement. "Since the state conceded that they can issue more than 12 Level 1 licenses, the Judge allowed the program to move forward as long as Ohio Releaf's rights are protected. That is a right to (an administrative) hearing." The Ohio Department of Commerce also describes the decision as a win. "In two separate, detailed decisions, two separate judges have confirmed that Ohio's medical marijuana program is operating appropriately and has a green light to continue," agency spokeswoman Kerry Francis said in a statement. "The program that the General Assembly created in 2016 has never been done in Ohio before, has many moving parts and, above all, must be run with integrity. These rulings can reassure Ohioans that that is happening." On Thursday, another judge dismissed a separate lawsuit from cultivation companies that didn't win licenses. Criticism of the state Although the state doesn't have to halt part of the medical marijuana program, Frye did criticize the Department of Commerce for stalling on Releaf's administrative hearing. The department promised Releaf a hearing but didn't provide one in a timely manner. The department has "abandoned any pretense of compliance with Ohio law," Frye wrote. He suggested the department hold "mini-hearings" for the dozens of rejected companies that want to appeal, with time-limits such as a half day. "Likely most applicants would welcome a short, quick 'mini-hearing' to satisfy themselves that no obvious, glaring error had been made by the Department, and to allow prompt responses to concerns raised by Department witnesses," he wrote. Mini-hearings He also wrote that administrative hearings could be expedited by videotaping some of the department's testimony ahead of time, since Ohio Releaf may not get to make its case until April 2019 - well before the Sept. 8 fully operational date. Frye also suggested the department videotape its administrative hearing testimony at an April hearing. But the department objected to his suggestion. "Unfortunately, suggestions in this regard fell on deaf ears," Frye wrote. Since administrative hearings are supposed to be flexible, he decided to demand the department promptly give Releaf its hearing. Legislative or executive branch intervention? Frye outlined other potential concerns that emerged from testimony, including the error in scoring cultivation applications, the fact that nearly two-thirds of companies that applied for cultivation licenses were disqualified by the department - which is a higher number than in other states with medical cannabis programs - and the revelation that a Commerce employee who was involved in scoring applications had gotten rid of some of his personal notes. "The court was frankly startled to learn that contemporaneous working notes had been destroyed," Frye said. "Frye wrote that with the passage of time, the employee may need the notes to assist him in the administrative appeals hearings. . "It is evident that the General Assembly or the Executive branch have a continuing opportunity to get involved if this new Program is mired in problems, but that does not preclude reasonable action by this court in response to this law suit," he wrote. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Sure, Mike DeWine isn't dripping with natural charisma. But he works hard, and he cares, according to a Republican political consultant who helped run DeWine's 2010 and 2014 campaigns for Ohio Attorney General. "He's a force of nature in this state," Mark Weaver, owner of Communications Counsel, said in an interview recorded this week for the Ohio Matters podcast. "There is probably no more durable brand in Ohio politics than Mike DeWine, and the last person you can say that about is George Voinovich." "Although you would not hire Mike DeWine to host a game show -- that would not be his skill set -- he is hardworking, he never lacks for energy and he evinces this caring for Ohio, for families and for people that comes through for anyone who sees him," Weaver said. Weaver, who's now involved with a pro-DeWine advocacy group, also weighed in on Richard Cordray, DeWine's similarly dry opponent in this year's governor's race. Weaver ran Betty Montgomery's successful campaign in which she defeated Cordray for attorney general in 1998, but lost to him while running Michael Crites' campaign against Cordray in 2008. Weaver also worked with Cordray while the two were young government attorneys in the late 1990s. "Richard Cordray has not found his political voice yet. He's smart as a whip, always prepared on the issues," Weaver said. "He has a great reputation within the party. I think President Obama and Elizabeth Warren will raise money for him, but I don't think he connects well with voters." In a wide-ranging conversation Weaver otherwise touched on his eclectic work in law, media, political consulting, communications advice and crisis communicating. Ohio Matters is the weekly politics podcast from cleveland.com. Every Friday, Andrew Tobias, Mary Kilpatrick and Seth Richardson sit down with political figures from around the state for in-depth interviews and discussions. Previous episodes can be found here and include full-length interviews with the gubernatorial candidates, former Attorney General Marc Dann reflecting on his life and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges on the GOP's internal politics. Short-sighted thinking by Ohio officials imperils a wildly successful mental-health program for kids (Greater Cleveland's PEP Connections) and could mean Ohio is missing out on Medicaid prescription coverage savings. At the root of both issues appears to be the $100 million or more in extra annual taxes Ohio can get by using Medicaid managed care programs. PEP, as the nonprofit Positive Education Program is known, helps high-risk young people in Cuyahoga County who are confronting mental illness be treated while living at home rather than, less effectively, and at far greater cost, in residential facilities. It's a worthy program that saves lives and money -- but it's likely to vanish with loss of $2.5 million annually should the state merge Medicaid behavioral health care into its managed care portfolio (presumably bulking up Ohio's own tax income at the same time). Advocates say key PEP services won't be billable under the state's plan, dooming the program. A legislative compromise is in the offing that would create a one-year hiatus, allowing further negotiations to save PEP; on Tuesday, a Senate committee amended House-passed HB 332 to fund PEP for the year beginning July 1. But that doesn't address the wisdom of the state's move in the first place. Meanwhile, Ohio seems wedded to a potentially costly Medicaid prescription drug plan contracted out to managed care plans that in turn hire pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The PBMs then pay drug stores to fill Medicaid prescriptions -- and take a cut for themselves. The Columbus Dispatch reported earlier this month that West Virginia saved $38 million the first year it ended its managed care contracts and switched to a fee-for-service setup. The state initiated the change after discovering that the 1 percent cut PBMs were taking was costing West Virginians an extra $10 million annually. Additionally, if a PBM earns discounts from drug manufacturers by listing their drugs as preferred, or a PBM hammers down what it pays druggists, a PBM could, without the state's knowledge, balloon its profits at taxpayers' expense by making the state pay more than it needs to. Moreover, such pricing practices could drive independent pharmacies out of business. Of Ohio's Medicaid managed care contractors, four use CVS Caremark, part of CVS Health, the drugstore chain, as PBM; the fifth uses Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. Ohio's Medicaid program spent $3 billion on prescription drugs in 2017, the Medicaid Department told the legislature's Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee in March. The department has promised lawmakers that new "transparency requirements" are coming in July that would reveal the "PBM spread" (what a PBM pays pharmacies versus what it bills the state). That, the Medicaid Department added, could lead to contractual changes "based on real - and not perceived - data." At the same time, Ohio Medicaid Director Barbara Sears warned the oversight committee that switching to a fee-for-service plan would rob Ohio of a net $132.7 million a year. The lion's share ($100 million) would result from the loss of Medicaid managed care taxes that the state could no longer collect. That's a reasonable concern. Yet it's clear Ohio officials have been operating in the dark for years about the real costs of the state's Medicaid managed care system -- in drug prices and possibly in other areas, as well. That's worrying. Ohio officials must find a way to keep beneficial programs like PEP Connections while fully exploring both the alternatives to -- and the costs of -- its use of Medicaid managed care programs. About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization. Have something to say about this topic? * Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the "Follow" option at the top of the comments, and look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com. * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Joe Rosiejak was thrilled to discover Wow Air's new service linking Cleveland to Scotland, where he lives. He wasn't as thrilled when he arrived in Cleveland on Wow's inaugural flight, and discovered he had to queue up in a long security line. "It was very, very off-putting," said Rosiejak, one of several travelers on that first Wow flight who expressed displeasure with the new system in place at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for in-bound international travelers. Some of those first Wow passengers waited nearly two hours to make it through the process -- first U.S. Customs and Border Protection and then screening by the Transportation Security Administration. Rosiejak said he made it through customs quickly, but was held up at TSA, where he had to take off shoes, his belt and jacket, and nearly had his duty-free Scottish "holy water" (aka Scotch) taken away. "It makes an impression that you are not welcome in Cleveland," said Rosiejak, who came to town for a friend's surprise birthday celebration. Airport Director Robert Kennedy said he was aware of some unacceptable delays during the first days of the new Iceland flights and is working with all parties - TSA, customs and contracted airline baggage handlers - to speed up the process. He said he believes the system has improved over the past week, and will continue to do so. Earlier this year, in advance of the two new international routes, on Wow and Icelandair, the airport reconfigured its international arrivals area. Previous to the renovation, passengers arriving on international flights had to deplane and then take a shuttle bus to baggage claim, a time-consuming process that irritated many travelers. Now, passengers can exit directly into the airport terminal - but only after going through additional security screening. Most U.S. airports with international flights get around this requirement for extra screening by providing a direct exit to the nonsecure side of the airport for passengers who are not connecting to another flight. Cleveland can't do that, at least not in the short-term, because the international arrivals area is at the far end of Concourse A, with no easy way to connect it to the main terminal. Kennedy said a new airport master plan, to begin later this year, will likely address the problem, but not for several years. Pittsburgh International Airport faced a similar problem, but came up with a solution three years ago, said Bob Kerlik, vice president of media relations for the Pittsburgh airport. "The temporary fix required crews to literally to knock down some walls, install temporary barriers, and route passengers a different way - but it's more convenient for them than to re-clear security," said Kerlik. A permanent solution is in the works, as the airport rebuilds its main terminal and relocates the international arrivals area. Kerlik said the old system was a function of the airport's former US Airways hub days, when most passengers were connecting through Pittsburgh to other destinations. "Now, nearly all of the passengers are ending their trips in Pittsburgh and it didn't make sense to have that configuration any longer," he said. Rosiejak, who has since returned home to Scotland, hopes Cleveland is able to make some adjustments, as well. If not, he said, "I will have to reconsider my flight options when I come back later this year." Editor's note: Have you been through the newly reconfigured customs/security area at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in recent weeks? How was your experience? Please email sglaser@plaind.com with your observations. Related: Cleveland Hopkins airport renovates customs area in advance of new Iceland flights SHANGHAI, May 18 (Reuters) - Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who is leading a trade delegation in Washington, has met U.S. President Donald Trump, state broadcaster China Central Television said on Friday. A second round of talks between senior Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts started at the U.S. Treasury on Thursday morning, focused on cutting China's U.S. trade surplus and improving intellectual property protections. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had earlier said Trump would meet Liu later on Thursday. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on goods worth up to $150 billion to combat what he says is Beijing's misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies. Beijing has threatened equal retaliation, including tariffs on some of its largest U.S. imports, including aircraft, soybeans and autos. (Reporting by Adam Jourdan Editing by Paul Tait) * Chinese premier meets Trump in Washington - state media * Liu is leading Chinese trade delegation * Meeting comes after Trump's tariff threat * Talks focus on cutting China's U.S. trade surplus (Adds details from state media, Liu quote, paragraphs 4-7; adds bullet points) SHANGHAI, May 18 (Reuters) - Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who is leading a trade delegation in Washington, has met U.S. President Donald Trump, state broadcaster China Central Television said on Friday. A second round of talks between senior Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts started at the U.S. Treasury on Thursday morning, focused on cutting China's U.S. trade surplus and improving intellectual property protections. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had earlier said Trump would meet Liu later on Thursday. Liu said the two countries should work together with mutual respect to promote stable and healthy ties, the People's Daily said in a post on an official microblog account. "China is willing to strive together with the United States to appropriately handle and resolve trade issues felt by both sides on a basis of mutual benefit," the official newspaper cited Liu as saying. He said the two sides should push to ensure trade cooperation continued to be a "ballast stone and propeller" of U.S.-China relations. The paper said Trump had called for strengthening of trade and investment ties in sectors such as energy, manufacturing and agriculture, as well as pushing ahead work on intellectual property protection. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on goods worth up to $150 billion to combat what he says is Beijing's misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies. Beijing has threatened equal retaliation, including tariffs on some of its largest U.S. imports, including aircraft, soybeans and autos. (Reporting by Adam Jourdan and Wang Jing Editing by Paul Tait) A spokesperson for the White House was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. "Both times he wanted to know if there was a difference between HIV and HPV, so I was able to explain that those are rarely confused with each other." Gates recounted meeting Trump twice after he was elected president: in December 2016 and in March 2017. He expressed mild incredulity at Trump's questions about two well-known viruses. Footage of the Microsoft founder, aired on MSNBC late Thursday , shows the billionaire philanthropist responding to questions at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation meeting and describing his first exchanges with the president. Bill Gates told an audience recently that President Donald Trump twice asked him the difference between HPV and HIV. The questions apparently followed a conversation about the effects of vaccines, a topic that remains controversial in the U.S., where some people and lawmakers believe common immunization vaccinations are harmful. "In both of those two meetings, he asked me if vaccines weren't a bad thing because he was considering a commission to look into ill effects of vaccines and somebody I think it was Robert Kennedy Jr. was advising him that vaccines were causing bad things. And I said no, that's a dead end, that would be a bad thing, don't do that," Gates recalled. HPV stands for human papillomavirus, which the U.S. National Institutes of Health defines as "a group of related viruses" transmitted sexually that can cause warts and, for some types of the virus, cancer. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus, a sexually transmitted disease that breaks down the immune system and can lead to AIDS. "Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS," the NIH says. "There was a thing during the election where he and I were at the same place and I avoided him," Gates also said, garnering laughter from the audience. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is said to be the wealthiest charity foundation in the U.S. with more than $42 billion in assets. The Trump administration proposed significant cuts to programs helping to treat and prevent HIV/AIDs in its 2018 and 2019 budgets. The reductions in the 2019 budget included slashing $40 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's HIV/AIDS prevention programs as well as $26 million from a federal housing plan for people with HIV. Outside the U.S., the budget proposed a 20 percent cut of more than $1 billion in global HIV funding for 2019. Neither of the original budget proposals was passed by Congress. Eleven-year-old Elisabeth Anisimow has built up quite the college fund doing what she loves: painting. The child art prodigy has raked in about $35,000 in art sales since she started selling her work at 7 years old, she tells CNBC Make It. Much of that has come from her "living paintings" she paints a living person along with a backdrop and props, in the style of famous impressionist works by the likes of Monet, Degas, Renoir and Rembrandt. "You can move around but you still look like a painting," Anisimow tells CNBC. "That's why they're called living paintings. Because paintings don't move around." Ballerina Kaylee Quinn painted by Anisimow in the style of Degas' iconic ballerinas. All photos courtesy of Ekaterina Anisimova. The Los Angeles-based artist, who says she reads art books for fun, was inspired by the European tradition "tableaux vivant," which translates from French to "living pictures." Especially popular in the 19th century, it involved actors transforming themselves to represent scenes from art, literature or history. To create a piece she can sell, a camera captures images of her painted subjects in different poses, which are printed onto canvases and framed. Anisimow, who converted her parents' garage into her studio, showcases her work at art galleries, festivals, charity events and fundraisers. Author Wendy Plumb painted in the style of French impressionism Anisimow sold one of her first living paintings of a girl carrying a basket of apples when she was just 9. "It was for quite a high price, but it made me realize that I can do this, something that I really like, and still get paid for it," she says. Anisimow was just 9 when she started selling her living paintings. Her living paintings range from $2,500 to $5,000 depending on the complexity of the project and the cost of the materials. Anisimow, who calls herself an artist and entrepreneur, is saving her money so she can study art at the Sorbonne in Paris when she grows up. Her clients come through referrals or her social media accounts. People reach out and ask her to paint them, she says. "They want to see themselves in a painting. And then they're like, 'Can you do a painting of me and can I be in it? Or a painting of my children?'" TV host Kathryn Eisman and her daughter Capri painted in the classic pastel colors of Monet But social media is also where she encounters people who doubt her abilities. "They're like, 'I don't believe it. It has to be some kind of parent or something. An 11-year-old is way too young to do this,'" Anisimow says. "I don't care what they think because I know that this is me. This is my style and this is who I am and nothing can change that." Anisimow uses others' doubts to fuel her growth as an artist. "It's like a compliment, and I'm like, 'Well, I'm going to prove it to you' and it supports me to do something even better and bigger than I did before,'" she says. Twins Hannah and Lauren Bernaba painted in the style of Flemish art Don't miss: Meet the 17-year-old prodigy chef who makes $160 10-course meals Dell has begun talking to holders of its VMware-tracking stock, DVMT, to gauge their interest on a merger with VMware, according to people familiar with the matter. Dell remains bullish on VMware's future and wants to own as much of the stock as possible, and also wants to clean up the virtualization pioneer's capital structure, which has been complicated by a series of mergers and partial spin-outs, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Dell Technologies released a filing Thursday saying it is still weighing an initial public offering, a merger with VMware or doing nothing. Dell added a fourth possible option -- "a potential conversion of shares of Class V Common Stock of Dell into shares of DHI Common Stock of Dell." In other words, Dell is considering exchanging its common stock, which today is privately held by Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake, for shares of the publicly traded tracker, DVMT. To that end, Dell wants to suss out the thoughts of the DVMT tracker holders, which include hedge funds D.E. Shaw and Elliott Management, before it moves forward with any transaction, the people said. Dell wants to know whether these owners would prefer to hold complete shares of Dell, rather than shares of a stock that tracks only the performance of VMware within Dell. A DHI common share is an ownership stake in all of Dell, including EMC, the personal computer business, and Dell's ownership position in VMware. VMware has a complicated ownership structure. Currently, Dell owns 82 percent of VMware. Of that portion, 50 percent is held by owners of the tracking stock DVMT. The other 32 percent is held by founder Michael Dell and private-equity firm Silver Lake, the owners of Dell's DHI. Michael Dell and Silver Lake took Dell Technologies private in 2013 and later acquired EMC (which owned a big stake in VMware) in 2016. That $67 billion deal still stands as the largest pure technology acquisition ever. The remainder of VMware is traded publicly as VMW. Last month, activist investor Carl Icahn acquired a stake in VMware below the mandatory 5 percent threshold for disclosure, according to people familiar. Icahn attempted to thwart Michael Dell's 2013 effort to take Dell private. Dell is unlikely to pursue an exchange of DHI for DVMT if the holders of the tracking stock don't want to move forward with a VMware deal, one of the people said. Dell loves the VMware business and wants to own the entire company, the people said. A reverse merger where combined Dell-VMware shares trade publicly would also allow Silver Lake to monetize its investment of Dell on the public market. A deal that eliminates the tracker stock could simplify a VMware merger, as Dell could then negotiate a straight 1-for-1 exchange ratio with VMware holders. Dell doesn't need to legally give VMware holders a so-called "majority of the minority" vote on a deal, although it would prefer to include one, two of the people said. While VMware has a special committee working on its behalf to ensure a fair transaction, a majority of the minority vote is a "nice-to-have, but not a must-have," one of the people said. Dell continues to work on a complex valuation process, where it must calculate a fair value for itself and the relative exchange values for the tracker stock and VMware shares. The complex nature of the deal will be a time-consuming process, and no announcement is close, said the people. A Dell spokesman declined to comment. Sears Holdings CEO Eddie Lampert admits his retail empire isn't what he imagined it would become when he brought Sears and Kmart together 13 years ago. He had his eyes set then on being "the next Warren Buffett," and Sears Holdings was supposed to be his Berkshire Hathaway, says one former top Sears executive. But Lampert's strategy from the start was slashing costs to grow the bottom line, even if that meant not investing in Sears' stores, the person explained to CNBC. Sears and Kmart were already lacking so many resources, namely investment capital to fend off online upstarts like Amazon, and an experienced bench of retail executives, so these early cuts took an enormous toll. Shares hit an all-time high of $195.18 each in April 2007 but now trade under $4. The retailer's sales in the latest quarter tumbled by a double-digit percentage rate, and cash is drying up with substantial debts looming. Relationships with suppliers have since unraveled there were a handful of vendor disputes and a century-old partnership with Whirlpool was terminated last year. Real estate landlords are anxious about Sears' stores going dark. Speculation about the company filing for bankruptcy remains widespread. That chatter has grown loud once again after Lampert's hedge fund made an offer last month to buy up some assets that had already been on the chopping block. The deal would be another way to infuse cash into the business, but some observers see it as a sign that the company has grown even more distressed. It comes at a critical time in the retail calendar when stores start making holiday orders. With a recent wave of bankruptcies, including liquidations of Toys R Us and Bon-Ton, vendors have been increasingly wary of taking on too much risk by extending credit. Lampert's proposal, which is being evaluated by an independent committee of the board, has been met with questions about what would be left of Sears would the business still be viable. The CEO insists he's not giving up on the company. "In a perfect world this would shrink, this would grow, and the grow would offset the shrink," Lampert told CNBC in a rare one-on-one interview following Sears' annual shareholder meeting in early May. CEO of Sears Holdings and founder of ESL Investments Eddie Lampert Gustavo Caballero | Getty Images The hedge fund manager has poured more than $1 billion into Sears to keep it afloat. He owns nearly 50 percent of the retailer's stock today, company filings show. And he's a major stakeholder in other affiliated businesses including Lands' End, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores and real estate investment trust Seritage. The offer from Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, includes plans to buy the Kenmore appliance brand, part of Sears' Home Services business and potentially additional real estate. The transaction would leave Sears Holdings with its Auto Centers, the DieHard brand, Innovel (a logistics business) and its Shop Your Way membership platform. With respect to Sears' Home Improvement and PartsDirect businesses, ESL has said it values those assets together at $500 million and would pay Sears, which has a market capitalization of less than $400 million today, for them in cash. The firm hasn't offered any other asset appraisals to date, while a special committee is in the midst of evaluating the bid. Lampert declined to discuss the offer in his interview with CNBC. Even under a new owner, Lampert has said the goal would be for Kenmore and Parts Direct to still work with Sears in some capacity. The proposal was arranged as a "go shop" process, meaning Sears still has the ability to seek better offers, but these assets have been on the block for years without any success. There's also the possibility that everything will be rejected by Sears' independent committee sending Lampert back to the drawing board. 'Deeper point of financial distress' According to one analyst, the bid from ESL is "highly likely an indication that Sears' cash crunch and liquidity constraints are becoming so severe that the company dearly needs to raise cash in order to stay open and finance their ... buy for Christmas and winter merchandise inventories." Bill Dreher, an analyst at Susquehanna International Group and a market maker for Sears' stock, said he believes Sears "is entering into a deeper point of financial distress, and that the company is closer to being forced to file for bankruptcy protection than we had previously suspected." According to Lampert, though, any deal would "enable [Sears] to improve its debt profile and liquidity position." "Some people would believe that you can go into bankruptcy and try to negotiate or adjust these liabilities," Lampert told CNBC. "We've chosen a different path." The biggest task today for Lampert a father and an avid cyclist who spends most of his time in Florida is getting Sears back to making money. "We are fighting the battle," he said. "Let's be realistic, ... we have to get the company back to profitability consistently." The Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based department store chain hasn't turned a profit consistently since the early 2000s, following the merger of Sears and Kmart in 2005. Its last profitable year was in 2010. Same-store sales, a key performance metric for retailers, have been in a steady decline for more than a decade. "The idea that the retail operations will ever make money again it would take a miracle for that to happen," Retail Metrics founder Ken Perkins said about Sears' predicament. "I think if it was any other retailer, they probably would've already filed for bankruptcy." Walk away? 'So far, I've said no' In other words, Sears is a far cry from the "$55 billion revenue, 350,000 person start-up" that Lampert, then just chairman, described in 2006. "What [Sears] could have been is a much bigger online company, a much bigger service-oriented company, where the stores would be smaller," serving as showrooms and warehouses, Lampert said. "That's what we still haven't figured out what the [best] business model is so we can stamp it out and do more and more." What stood in the way of Lampert's vision, which he enunciated more than a decade ago? Amazon, to start with. The e-commerce giant has been grabbing market share and slashing prices online to Sears' and others' detriment. In addition, more consumers are opting to shop outside of the suburban shopping mall, instead at big-box businesses and category killers like Home Depot and Dick's Sporting Goods. "We have businesses that are profitable, and we have stores that are profitable, but we have other things that offset it. You know, it's almost every year like these four things are working, but all of a sudden these two are not," he explained. "Would it have been better for me as an investor for me to walk away? So far, I've said no." Lampert said he doesn't see bankruptcy in the cards for Sears at least not anytime soon. That's something that's been fresh on the retail industry's mind ever since Sears disclosed in 2017 there was a "substantial doubt" about its "ability to continue as a going concern." Sears said it made the disclosure because of changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "I put a lot of time in, I put a lot of capital in not just my capital. But if we didn't raise capital over the past few years, that would've happened," Lampert said. "Bankruptcy happens when companies run out of money." Sears burned through $1.8 billion in cash in its operations during 2017, $1.4 billion during 2016 and $2.2 billion during 2015, company filings show. It ended last year with $336 million in its cash reserves, compared with $286 million the previous year, a slight uptick thanks to asset sales. Sears' liabilities are also significant and a glaring red flag for those on Wall Street who still follow the company. It had roughly $4.3 billion in funded debt as of Feb. 3, 2018, along with unfunded pension and retirement obligations of about $1.6 billion. One of Lampert's main strategies to flush out cash has been to sell Sears' real estate, what many industry experts agree is the retailer's most prized asset. A combined Sears and Kmart had more than 4,000 locations in 2011. But by the end of 2017, Sears Holdings operated a little more than 1,000 stores. Hundreds more expect to shutter as the company looks for liquidity to fund its operations. It closed more than 400 stores in 2017 and over 200 locations in 2016. As part of this year's real estate sell-off, Sears is in the process of closing its last store in Chicago, where the company was headquartered for more than a century. Taking into account the ongoing and previously announced closures, Sears will operate fewer than 900 locations by the end of this year. Soon enough, rival J.C. Penney's physical footprint will surpass that of Sears. The winding down of Sears' real estate accelerated roughly a decade after Lampert arrived. Seritage was spun off from the department store chain as a real estate invetment trust in 2015, with a portfolio of roughly 250 Sears locations and the power to terminate leases and take those stores back. "We set that up so Seritage had the right to redevelop those properties," Lampert said when asked about the REIT at the recent shareholder meeting. "What [those stores] can become has a lot of potential ... like residential ... but it requires a lot of capital we didn't have." Lampert told CNBC the company always looks for ways to make a location more productive. Vacating the space is a last resort. "We're not liquidating just to liquidate. We're liquidating ... to get capital to put into our pension plan," Lampert said. "As opposed to erring on the side of, 'This store might work.' ... If it's not working, we've invested the time, so we've got to close it because we are now jeopardizing this [store] over here." Funding the shortfall Most recently, Sears has been focused on slashing expenses further. During the past year, it was able to save $1.25 billion . Sears is looking to cut costs by an additional $200 million, unrelated to store closures, in 2018. A chunk of that stems from layoffs and employees clocking in fewer hours. "Part of the equation is cost savings, but there is a cash flow negative portion of the business" that must be addressed, said Moody's analyst Christina Boni. "It's still very difficult to just put costs out and see a meaningful impact on operating cash flow, and there continues to be a big deficit." "You adjust maturities, but how do you fund the shortfall?" Boni asked, referring to the fact that Sears has recently been able to extend the due dates for some of its loans, effectively buying more time. "Although Sears can continue to improve its financial position through further sales of other brands or additional stores, fewer assets will be available to mitigate future shortfalls in operating cash." Under Lampert's watch so far, the company has spun off Lands' End and sold the Craftsman tool brand to Stanley Black & Decker (for $900 million). A closed Lands' End section of a Sears store, Laguna Hills, Calif. Scott Mlyn | CNBC The CEO has since been scolded by ex-employees and even other retail executives for doing what they say is this: sucking Sears dry of its most valuable assets and staving off a complete liquidation, while controlling an underfunded pension fund that puts retirees' fortunes at risk. Sears struck a deal with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal organization that oversees pensions, late last year that gives it more financial flexibility over the next two years. As part of that arrangement, Sears paid $407 million toward the plan. "People have been saying for years, including ourselves, that [Lampert is] not very good as a retailer. In fact, he's lousy," said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners. "But he does know something about real estate and he is a value investor." "[If] he buys the assets, he ends up getting them himself," Johnson said about ESL's latest proposal. "What's happening at its current pace is everything will be sold except the brand name, which is worth nothing." (Sears earlier this year marked down the value of its brand name for the third year in a row.) Older generations that grew up with the department store chain remember it for its better days: one where it ran a booming catalog business selling everything from toy dolls to wagons and homes. Younger generations struggle to understand how a company in such dire shape could be deemed the "Amazon of its day." "I think there's some truth to the idea that all [retailers] come to an end," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. "Companies fall into a complacency or complexity, where the business is too big to manage. ... Maybe they revamp the business and bring in new people. Or they fall back into a snare and struggle to fall out of it. That's where Sears is." For Lampert, he's lashed out at the naysayers before but told CNBC some critiquing of the company is well-founded. "There are a lot of criticisms that are 100 percent valid [about] a lot of the decisions we've made. That's all fair game," Lampert said. "But I think it's a shame for the company that the story isn't better told. This is a story of resilience." WATCH: The future of Sears Conceptual images of the transit show it taking passengers directly from the surface down to the underground facility, and then sending them on through a network of multiple connected tunnels. The Boring Company CEO, speaking alongside Steven Davis, a former SpaceX engineer and Boring's project leader, said that the fare for the up-to-150 mph "Loop" system would be $1. It will carry people from downtown LA to the city's international airport, a distance of 11 miles, in eight minutes. "This system is designed to be more like a highway and a bunch of off-ramps and loops connecting to the highway, kind of like cars," Musk said. "Almost like an autonomous underground, multi-level car system that costs a dollar." Musk is also the boss of electric automaker Tesla and space exploration firm SpaceX. He assured people in the audience that the project would not be noisy and would reduce traffic significantly. "Compared to a flying car, you don't have to worry about bad weather, you can't see it, hear it feel it, you're not dividing communities with lanes and we think we can make this really fun," Musk said. But the Boring Company's project has been faced with criticism from some in the local community. Two neighborhood groups have targeted the approval of a 2.7-mile tunnel planned by the firm with legal challenges. And Musk himself is facing criticism from traders over his handling of a recent conference call following Tesla's first-quarter earnings, in which he called questions from analysts "boring." Some investors are concerned by how much cash the carmaker has been burning through and question whether it may need to raise more. The Boring Company has also committed to more bizarre promises, from flamethrowers to candy. Emerging market stocks fell deeper into correction territory on Friday and were on track for their worst week in nearly two months. But some see opportunity if you have the stomach. "These emerging markets stocks are always going to be a higher volatility play, so you have to be willing to deal with both the ups and the downs," Mark Tepper, president and founder of Strategic Wealth Partners, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Thursday. "There's a lot of value in emerging markets stocks right now." Exposure to emerging markets is a sure bet on the consumer, Tepper added. "The emerging market consumer is still one of the most powerful forces in investing," he said. "The growth of the middle class in China and India, it just represents a ton of potential." Geopolitical issues, such as talk of a trade war between the U.S. and China, will keep emerging sector stocks under pressure in the short term, added Tepper. The MSCI emerging markets ETF is on track for a 2 percent decline in 2018, its first year in the red since 2015. The ETF is setting up for its third month of losses this year. In the fight to control CBS, former NBCUniversal CEO Bob Wright has placed all bets on Les Moonves, who he called one of "two really, really good media executives in this country." He says CBS' ongoing resistance to a merger with Viacom will put an end to dual share structures at companies, once and for all. "There's no benefit that Shari [Redstone] is bringing to the table with 10 percent ownership and trying to control all the board. It doesn't make sense anymore," Wright said Friday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." National Amusements, owned by the Redstone family, has been trying to merge CBS and Viacom, both of which fall under its umbrella. But CBS and Viacom have not been able to come to terms on some aspects of the merger, and CBS has been fighting what it called interference by the Redstone family. CBS wants to cut National Amusement's voting power by issuing a special dividend to shareholders. As it stands, the share structure of CBS enables Shari Redstone, through theater and media holding company National Amusements, to maintain voting control over CBS, despite only owning about 10 percent of shares. Wright said these types of dual share structures can be helpful at the advent of a company, so "the guys that built it can protect the company for a while." But CBS isn't new anymore. "CBS is a 90-year-old company. I think the Delaware courts will look at that and say, 'This is a silly situation,'" Wright said. Furthermore, Wright said the merger Redstone is pushing between CBS and Viacom would be damaging, insofar as it ousts Moonves. If Redstone is "smart," Wright said, she will relinquish some of her voting power and allow Moonves to take charge of a merged CBS and Viacom. This type of dual share structures "usually helps new companies, so the owners, the guys that built it, can protect the company for a while," Wright said. "The reality of it is this exposes [the dual share structure] as negative to shareholder values," Wright said. "This is probably going to go down in history as the beginning of the end of that whole type of ownership," he added. Veteran media analyst Porter Bibb also sees an end to two-class shareholding thanks to Moonves' maneuvers. "CBS and Les Moonves have lifted the lid on a Pandora's box," he said. "Dual-class shareholding is history." While it may not happen immediately, he thinks it is going to evaporate over the long term as activist investors start to make their cases. "Hundreds of companies are going to be decimated by activist investors who are going to come in and challenge the two-class system," Bibb, managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners, told "Power Lunch" on Friday. Team Moonves has already suffered one setback. A judge declined Thursday to issue a restraining order against Shari Redstone, that would have prevented her from interfering with a special board meeting on Thursday. CNBC's Michelle Fox contributed to this report. Disclosure: NBC and CNBC are divisions of NBCUniversal. If you're struggling to do business or just live under your country's administration, a movement of philanthropists, academics and investors is working on a very sci-fi alternative. Nathalie Mezza-Garcia is a political scientist turned "seavangelesse" her term for an evangelist in favor of living off the grid and on the ocean. Mezza-Garcia spoke with CNBC's Matthew Taylor about what she sees as the trouble with governments, and why she believes tech startups should head to Tahiti. This seavangelesse is a researcher for the Blue Frontiers and Seasteading Institute's highly-anticipated Floating Island Project. The project is a pilot program in partnership with the government of French Polynesia, which will see 300 homes built on an island that runs under its own governance, using a cryptocurrency called Varyon. "Once we can see how this first island works, we will have a proof of concept to plan for islands to house climate refugees," she said. The project is funded through philanthropic donations via the Seasteading Institute and Blue Frontiers, which sells tokens of the cryptocurrency Varyon. The pilot island is expected to be completed by 2022 and cost up to $50 million. "There is significance to this project being trialed in the Polynesian Islands. This is the region where land is resting on coral and will disappear with rising sea levels," Mezza-Garcia said. If you don't want to live under a particular government, people will be able to just take their house and float away to another island. Nathalie Mezza-Garcia Floating Island Projet As well as offering a home for the displaced, the self-contained islands are designed to function as business centers that are beyond the influence of government regulation. "This means there is stability, outside of fluctuating geopolitical influences, trade issues and currency fluctuations it's the perfect incubator," she said. It's also an attractive alternative, Mezza-Garcia said, for those disenchanted by the government of the day. It's an unapologetically libertarian concept: Governments under the Floating Island scheme would exist only as service providers, according to Mezza Garcia, and the "floating communities" could self-govern. "If you don't want to live under a particular government," she said, "people will be able to just take their house and float away to another island." In what Mezza-Garcia describes as the "long term," she envisions hundreds of new countries in the ocean. Watch: What is blockchain? Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Friday that the special counsel's appointment was triggered by the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The former U.S. attorney and mayor of New York maintained, however, that there was no legitimate reason to appoint special counsel Robert Mueller to led a probe of potential links between President Donald Trump's election campaign and Russia. "It was really about the firing of Comey that led to [Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein's decision" to appoint the special counsel, Giuliani said Friday in a CNN interview. Comey was fired on May 9, 2017. Two weeks later, Rosenstein appointed the special counsel to the FBI's ongoing probe of Russian election meddling. Shortly after Comey's termination, the White House said Trump's action was based on a letter from Rosenstein criticizing Comey's handling of an investigation into former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails. But in an NBC Nightly News interview two days later, Trump gave a different explanation. "In fact, 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. Giuliani told CNN the firing was an insufficient reason to appoint a special counsel. "No reason to investigate. The president has complete discretion to fire anybody he wants," he said. While conceding that Trump could potentially obstruct justice a facet of the investigation that has reportedly grown more prominent over time Giuliani said Comey's firing, regardless of the president's reason for doing so, wouldn't count as such. "In the case of firing a subordinate who's going to be replaced by somebody else on an acting position immediately, ... it doesn't matter if, in fact, it can't result in anything," Giuliani said. Giuliani also said the president cannot be indicted, citing Justice Department precedent. Earlier on CNN, Giuliani said he learned that the special counsel has whittled down the number of subjects about which Trump could be questioned in a potential interview. Jay Sekulow, another member of Trump's legal team, had assembled information from the special counsel into a list of 49 potential questions for the president, according to The Washington Post. The questions, revealed by The New York Times, touched on Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal from the investigation, as well as the firings of Comey and former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Giuliani said a number of the question categories have been removed from the list that could potentially be put to Trump. One of them has to be lying. That conclusion is inescapable if you closely examine the sworn testimony of two erstwhile FBI allies, James Comey and Andrew McCabe, about the leaking episode that led to McCabe's firing in March. After all, two diametrically opposed accounts can't both be correct. President Donald Trump has seized upon the situation laid bare in a report from the Justice Department's inspector general to assail both men, long among his favored targets for reasons having nothing to do with their veracity. "He LIED! LIED! LIED!" Trump wrote, in a veritable presidential tweet-gasm, hours after the McCabe report's release. "McCabe was totally controlled by Comey - McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!" More from ProPublica: You're entitled to government transparency Police are mislabeling anti-LGBTQ and other crimes as anti-heterosexual Electionland This is much more than a venomous 21st century personal duel tweet versus tweet at 10 paces. The credibility of Comey and McCabe is crucial, giving Trump every incentive to tar them. The former has offered withering accounts of his interactions with the president. And given what the two men observed both before and after Trump sacked Comey, both could be called on for key testimony in a potential obstruction of justice charge against the president. The truth is that, in this case, Trump is partially right: One or both of the FBI's former top officials is almost certainly lying. The irony is that the entire episode is at complete odds with Trump's long-running claim about a "Deep State" FBI cabal that's out to get him. The leak at issue, in fact, brought election-eve attention to a second investigation of the Clintons, news that helped Trump's campaign. It's yet another improbable turn of events. Comey and McCabe were both long thought to embody the square-jawed, gray-suited ideal of the honest G-man. And by all accounts, they were close colleagues. Comey elevated McCabe, over more traditional candidates, to be his deputy; McCabe then served as acting FBI director for three months after Comey's dismissal. But they diverged dramatically in their testimony for the IG's investigation, which focused on a leak that McCabe orchestrated to the The Wall Street Journal about an FBI probe into the Clinton Foundation. In his damning 35-page report, the IG concluded that McCabe made an "improper media disclosure" and demonstrated "lack of candor," repeatedly lying about it under oath. McCabe's punishment was swift: He was fired on March 16, just two days before he would have qualified for retirement, after 21 years at the FBI. Comey's testimony, which the IG concluded was backed by the "overwhelming weight" of circumstantial evidence, was instrumental to the report's conclusions. In Comey's telling, he was ignorant of the original leak, and then misled about it. When he and McCabe discussed The Wall Street Journal article shortly after its publication nine days before the election, according to Comey's sworn testimony to the IG, McCabe professed bewilderment about the leak's source. Testified Comey: "I have a strong impression he conveyed to me, 'It wasn't me, boss.' And I don't think that was by saying those words. I think it was most likely by saying, 'I don't know how this shit gets in the media, or why would people talk about this kind of thing?' words that I would fairly take as: 'I, Andy, didn't do it.'" Comey has always portrayed himself as a model of probity. In public appearances and in his recent memoir, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership," he stresses the importance of "a fundamental commitment to the truth especially in our public institutions and those who lead them." In his book's 312 pages, the word "truth" appears 73 times in various forms. There are 98 references to "lying" or "lies." In interviews during the recent media blitz for his book, Comey cast the McCabe episode as reinforcing the importance of truth-telling and accountability. "Sometimes even good people do things they shouldn't do," Comey told CNN. "It's not acceptable in the FBI or the Justice Department for people to lack candor." (Comey declined a ProPublica request to discuss McCabe, emailing back that the matter is "painful and complicated, and I don't want to step into it." McCabe also declined to be interviewed.) For his part, McCabe testified that he told Comey about the leak at the time, insisting that it's his old boss who has it wrong. McCabe's account is presented in detail in the IG's report, as well as in a series of press statements from McCabe and his lawyer, former DOJ inspector general Michael Bromwich. Bromwich asserts the IG report falsely "paints Director Comey as a white knight carefully guarding FBI information." In Bromwich's view, Comey had "every incentive to distance himself" from the controversial leak. After all, he noted, Comey himself was being investigated by the IG for allegedly improper media disclosures. That report, focused on Comey's handling of the Clinton email case, is expected in a few weeks. It will likely spark a whole new round of scrutiny about leaking. Meanwhile the president has reveled in the spectacle of two favorite targets turning on one another. Six days after the McCabe report came out, he tweeted: "James Comey just threw Andrew McCabe 'under the bus.' Inspector General's report on McCabe is a disaster for both of them! Getting a little (lot) of their own medicine?" The easy part is concluding that someone was untruthful in this instance. The much harder point is trying to determine which person it was and what to make of it. Last year, I spent five months on assignment for ProPublica examining the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation an exquisitely fraught case with career implications for all involved. The assignment offered some perspective into the trafficking of sensitive information in Washington, D.C. and how the curious facts of the McCabe affair are distorting a series of events that in other, less politically raucous, times might have been unremarkable. And it's all been intensified by a drastic change in the political environment. If you want to see the embodiment of the popular view of a government leak, Steven Spielberg's movie "The Post" provides a good example. It depicts The Washington Post's Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee (played by Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks) as they wrestle with whether to publish secret documents known as the Pentagon Papers. Those papers were furtively photocopied and then handed over to journalists by civilian military contractor Daniel Ellsberg. Depending on your political perspective, Ellsberg was either a conscience-driven whistleblower exposing government deceit about the Vietnam War, or a traitor harming the interests of the U.S. government. But either way, the portrayal embodies the most traditional definition of leaking: an individual bringing to light information that those in power don't want revealed. But there's a whole second category of leaks that get less attention but are surely far more prevalent. (Nobody keeps statistics on these things.) These leaks occur when public officials disclose something, often with official approval, to advance the interests of their institutions and themselves. The FBI is no exception to this practice. Outside of congressional hearings or public appearances, officials there are loath to be quoted in the press by name. "Background" briefings where officials express opinions or describe events while shielded by agreements that they will be identified obliquely as, say, "sources familiar with the matter" have long been common. There are undoubtedly semantics involved. A government official trying, in his view, to inform the public, likely doesn't view himself as "leaking." Sure enough, in his book, Comey wrote that he told Trump that he "didn't do sneaky things" and he didn't leak. Similarly, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last May, six days before Comey's firing, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley asked him if he'd "ever been an anonymous source" or, in a separate question, if he had "ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source" for news reports about the investigations into Clinton's emails or Trump's Russia ties. "Never," Comey replied to the first question. "No," was his response to the second. My reporting about the FBI doesn't tie Comey to any disclosures directly provided or overtly "authorized." But it's fair to say there was a great deal written about the agency and its work by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Journal, as well as ProPublica that accurately recounted specific actions, meetings and thinking at the highest levels within the FBI. Many of those articles quoted "sources familiar with the matter." Comey's book confirmed many of these events in strikingly similar detail. Comey has long been one of the most media-savvy officials in Washington. Days after his firing, as he later acknowledged in congressional testimony and in his book, Comey provided a close friend, Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman, with one of the memos he prepared memorializing his meetings with the president, and arranged for Richman to anonymously share its "substance" with a New York Times reporter, in hope of forcing the appointment of a special prosecutor. Which brings us to Donald Trump. As a New York developer, he was widely reported to be an inveterate leaker, shamelessly inflating his reputation (as a businessman and lady's man) with a multi-decade stream of anonymously sourced tidbits planted in Gotham's tabloids. As a presidential candidate, he reveled in the hacked Clinton email revelations served up on Wikileaks. In his actions as president, Trump has been less than consistent on the issue of leaking. For example, he revealed highly classified intelligence to Russia's ambassador and foreign minister during a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office. And last month, Trump pardoned one time vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby, who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for concealing the fact that he had leaked the identity of a CIA officer. That hasn't stopped Trump (like many a president before him) from expressing outrage about leaking. In his case, he has conflated it with lying and threatening the nation's security. He has labored mightily to brand some of his critics with a scarlet L, as disseminators of America's secrets to "the enemy of the people" the news media. Trump called California Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democrat bird-dogging the Russia investigation, "the leakin' monster of no control." Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; former CIA Director John Brennan; Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee all were "liars and leakers." Comey, Trump declared over and over, was "a proven LEAKER & LIAR," who "gave up Classified Information (jail)." More recently, he reacted to embarrassing disclosures emanating from his own White House by calling the offenders "traitors and cowards." Trump began targeting Comey and McCabe while a candidate in 2016, for reasons that had everything to do with politics and nothing to do with leaks or lies. Candidate Trump's opinion of the FBI director was transactional, ping-ponging with his view of whether Comey's latest action benefited him. He bashed Comey for his July 2016 announcement that there was no basis for charging Hillary Clinton in the FBI's investigation of her private email server; praised Comey in late October for announcing that he was reopening the case, after agents discovered new Clinton emails on Anthony Weiner's laptop; and attacked Comey again, days later, when he announced that examination of the new messages hadn't changed anything. Trump then fired Comey less than four months after taking office, explaining in an NBC interview at the time that he'd been frustrated by the director's refusal to shut down the Russia investigation. Trump's enmity toward McCabe has a partisan origin, stemming from reporting in an Oct. 23, 2016, Wall Street Journal story: During a failed bid for a Virginia state senate seat the year before, McCabe's wife Jill, running as a Democrat, had taken $467,500 in contributions from the political action committee of Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close Clinton ally. According to an FBI statement provided to the Journal, McCabe, who was a Republican, had played "no role" in the Virginia campaign, conferred with FBI ethics overseers about the matter, and had no responsibility for the Clinton email investigation until February 2016 months after his wife's defeat when Comey promoted him to deputy director. No matter. Then-candidate Trump immediately tweeted out the story, telling campaign rallies that the situation was "absolutely disgraceful," sure proof that the FBI's email probe was "rigged." Thus was the stage set for the "improper media disclosure" that led to McCabe's sacking. As leaks go, what McCabe would provide was underwhelming. It didn't involve classified information. It didn't reveal much of a secret. And it was overshadowed by much bigger news. This was a classic Washington leak: a calculated act of reputational enhancement (one that, not incidentally, also took a potshot at another agency). And how it occurred was telling. This was no secret conversation in a garage at midnight. Instead, as laid out in the inspector general's report, it originated with a request by a reporter to the person officially designated by the FBI to handle such queries. Three senior officials then conferred before any information was released. On Oct. 24, 2016, just two weeks before the presidential election, Devlin Barrett, who covered law enforcement for the Wall Street Journal, emailed FBI public affairs chief Michael Kortan, the agency's longtime official spokesman. Barrett had written the article that explored whether Jill McCabe's political ties had influenced the email probe the article that Trump had seized upon. Now, Barrett was pursuing a related story: He'd been told the FBI's deputy director had sought to chill a second Clinton probe, this one involving donations to the Clinton Foundation. Kortan conferred with McCabe, who authorized the public affairs chief and Lisa Page, a key FBI attorney assigned to McCabe's office, to speak with Barrett on condition that they not be identified as the source of the information. (Page, then in the midst of an extra-marital affair with Pete Strzok, the FBI agent who had led the Clinton email probe, would later become a target of criticism after investigators discovered their text exchanges, which included remarks critical of Trump.) During an initial call on Oct. 27, Barrett told the FBI's Kortan and Page that his sources were adamant that McCabe had issued orders to "stand down" on the Clinton Foundation investigation. Page quickly briefed McCabe, who later told investigators he considered this narrative "incredibly damaging." McCabe instructed Page to provide the reporter an anecdote designed to counter the "stand down" claim. At the time, the FBI's investigation into the Clinton charity had been lingering for more than a year. Its existence was widely known in Washington, in part, top FBI officials suspected, because of whispers from Clinton-hating agents in the bureau's New York field office. It had been written about widely in the press. But it was still officially secret, even as the rules for confirming investigations suddenly seemed less certain. A year earlier, Comey had publicly confirmed that the FBI was investigating Clinton's use of a private email server. In his book, Comey explains that the email probe was something "the whole world knew anyway"; making "no comment" about it seemed "increasingly silly." He cites DOJ policies allowing such disclosure regarding matters of "extraordinary public interest" or where investigative activity had already made it obvious. (In that case, Comey wrote, Attorney General Loretta Lynch had agreed with his decision.) But when, at a hearing in July 2016, a Republican congressman asked Comey if the FBI was looking into the Clinton Foundation, he refused to confirm the probe. Comey testified that it was standard FBI practice to decline comment on "the existence or non-existence" of ongoing investigations. Nonetheless, on Oct. 27, 2016, McCabe authorized Page and Kortan to furtively confirm to a reporter what Comey publicly would not. Late that afternoon, speaking from Kortan's office at FBI headquarters, they told the Wall Street Journal's Barrett about a phone conversation McCabe had with Matt Axelrod, a top lieutenant to Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, two months earlier. As the FBI officials related it, Axelrod was "very pissed off" that New York agents were still openly pursuing the Clinton Foundation probe. (Justice Department policy strongly discourages taking any overt investigative steps involving a political candidate close to an election.) Page and Kortan told the Wall Street Journal reporter that McCabe had defended the investigation into the Clinton Foundation, saying: "Are you telling me that I need to shut down a validly predicated investigation?" That prompted Axelrod, "after a pause," to say, "Of course not," according to this account. (Axelrod, now in private practice, declined to discuss the matter.) After the conversation, Page reported back to McCabe (who was out of town), texting: "We're done. He's going to look at his story again and will circle back with him in the morning." Meanwhile, the Justice Department appeared to be deploying its own leaks to jab at the FBI. On Oct. 29, The Washington Post published an anonymously sourced story, headlined: "Justice Officials Warned FBI That Comey's Decision to Update Congress Was Not Consistent with Department Policy." Strzok texted Page about the Post article the next day, concluding that Axelrod was the source. "Yeah. I saw it," Page replied. "Makes me feel WAY less bad about throwing him under the bus in the forthcoming CF [Clinton Foundation] article." The Journal story was posted a short time later. The entire exchange that McCabe had leaked including the dramatic "pause" in the conversation appeared, attributed to "a person familiar with the probes," "one person close to Mr. McCabe," and "people familiar with the conversation." But the material was buried inside a story that focused on new details about a far bigger revelation two days earlier: Comey's election-jarring announcement that he was reopening the email probe. McCabe's leak seemed trivial at the time. A lot of things changed over the ensuing six months. Trump was elected president, for starters, and his campaign was under investigation. Trump began castigating the FBI on a regular basis. An agency that had historically been subject to less criticism and scrutiny than other agencies was suddenly being bashed by the president, its motivations and actions questioned. So when Trump fired Comey, on May 9, 2017, McCabe found himself acting director of the FBI facing the same kind of presidential pressure and attention that Comey had endured. Although McCabe didn't know it, a conversation he'd had earlier that day would light a fuse on his own FBI career. Two agents from the FBI's inspection division, expanding an existing investigation of media leaks, had decided to interview the deputy director about the Oct. 30 Wall Street Journal story because it appeared to show someone had improperly revealed McCabe's private conversation with a Justice Department official. This would be the first in a series of interviews with investigators in which McCabe, according to the inspector general, repeatedly lied and changed his story. According to the IG report, McCabe told the agents on May 9 that he had "no idea" how the account of his conversation with the DOJ official got out. Three days later, they emailed him a draft statement of what he'd told them, asking him to sign and return it. The statement read in part: "I do not know the identity of the source of the information contained in the article. ... I gave no one authority to share any information relative to my interaction with the DOJ executive with any member of the media." McCabe never signed the statement. On July 28, investigators from the inspector general's office, in the midst of their separate inquiry into the Clinton email case, decided to interview McCabe after reviewing Page's text messages and discovering references to her meeting with the Journal reporter. At this point, McCabe had had roughly seven weeks to refresh his recollection. But he stuck to his initial position. Asked on tape and under oath if Page had been authorized to talk to a reporter, McCabe replied, according to the IG report: "Not that I'm aware of." Questioned about texts that suggested otherwise, McCabe said: "I was not even in town during those days. So I can't tell you where she was or what she was doing." Four days later, on Aug. 1, McCabe changed his stance. He called an assistant inspector general and said he "may" have authorized Page to speak to Barrett, after all. On Aug. 18, in yet another conversation with investigators, McCabe admitted he'd "misspoke." He now "took ownership" of the leak. That admission led the investigators to refer the matter to Michael Horowitz, the inspector general of the Justice Department, who launched his own probe on Aug. 31, 2017. (As it happens, McCabe's lawyer, Bromwich, had previously praised Horowitz, calling him "an experienced and highly regarded law enforcement professional" in an op-ed for The Washington Post in early 2017.) By Nov. 29, when he was questioned again by investigators for the IG, McCabe seemed to be trying to offload some blame on his former boss. McCabe, now accompanied by a lawyer, detailed his claim that he'd told Comey he had disclosed the Axelrod conversation when they spoke on the day after the Journal story appeared. The director "did not react negatively," McCabe testified instead telling his deputy it was "good" that he had made clear the FBI wouldn't buckle to political pressure. McCabe also told the IG he didn't view what he'd done as revealing the existence of an investigation, explaining, "There really wasn't any discussion of the case, of the merits of the case, the targets and subjects of the case, so I did not see it as a disclosure about the Clinton Foundation case." The inspector general's report served up a heap of evidence against McCabe from multiple sources. But it was Comey who served as perhaps the most damning witness. The report detailed his starkly conflicting account of their conversation about the Journal story. In his testimony to the IG, Comey said McCabe had "definitely" not told him he was behind the leak. "[J]ust to make sure there's no fuzz on it," he testified, "I did not authorize this. I would not have authorized it." The IG spelled out multiple reasons why Comey would not have viewed his deputy's disclosure with equanimity. The first was a meeting with his executive team on Oct. 31, 2016, convened shortly before he discussed the Journal story with McCabe. There, Comey expressed dismay about all the leaks emanating from the bureau. According to notes Page took at the meeting, later cited in the IG report, Comey cited a "need to figure out how to get our folks to understand why leaks hurt our organization." At the time, Comey was already being skewered for having revealed his decision to reopen the Clinton email investigation. He said he would never support confirming any investigation through a leak and noted his earlier refusal to disclose the Clinton Foundation probe. Discussing the conversation with Axelrod, he noted, was also sure to harm the FBI's already troubled relations with the Justice Department. As one of the FBI's two top officials, McCabe had authority to share information with the media, a point he offered in his defense but only after denying, then admitting, responsibility for the leak. The inspector general rejected his claim that this disclosure met the Justice Department's "public interest" standard. Instead, the report found, it was "an attempt to make himself look good by making senior [DOJ] leadership look bad." McCabe, the report concluded, was primarily motivated by his desire to avoid "another personally damaging story." To put it another way: It was a typical government leak. But with the FBI under critical examination in Trump-era Washington, it looked much more suspicious than it might have in the past, especially given McCabe's shifting story. In late February, the IG privately sent his report to the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, which recommended McCabe's dismissal. Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired him on March 16. Trump quickly tweeted: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!" In a series of media statements after his dismissal, McCabe, whose case has now been referred for possible criminal prosecution, blamed political pressure from Trump for his firing and made clear his determination to fight. He contended he answered investigators' questions "as completely and accurately as I could" during a chaotic time, and made efforts to correct his answers when he realized they were "not fully accurate or may have been misunderstood." McCabe presented a detailed rebuttal that was included and discussed but ultimately found unpersuasive in the report. And his defense team told ProPublica they also have reviewed previously undisclosed emails proving that McCabe informed Comey that he was in contact with the Journal, which the IG chose to leave out of the report. They also assert that transcripts of Comey's interviews show he was uncertain in his recollections of what really happened. They say they are barred from providing details of these purportedly exonerating documents because they remain subject to a government non-disclosure agreement. McCabe's team provided ProPublica with a copy of the NDA, which granted his lawyers access to "certain FBI-related information" on the condition that they not release anything "derived from or relating to FBI files" without "prior written authorization of the FBI." McCabe spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said Bromwich has sought, but not received, release from the non-disclosure agreement. (A representative of the IG's office declined comment on the issue.) It's certainly plausible to imagine that in an organization as hierarchical as the FBI with its chief press officer coordinating the interaction with a major publication Comey would normally have been made aware of McCabe's actions. (Kortan, who retired in February as assistant director for public affairs after surviving as the FBI's media chief for 18 years, declined to discuss the matter; the IG's report makes no mention of any testimony from him on the matter.) The inspector general's report makes clear that he considered Comey's testimony more credible than McCabe's. But the same inspector general is about to release a second report, this one focused, among other matters, on Comey's actions and public disclosures in the Clinton email case. For all of Comey's professions to Trump that he wouldn't do anything "sneaky," the episode where he leaked one of his memos through a surrogate while not involving any classified information (contrary to what Trump claims) appears to fit that definition. And, as noted, descriptions in his book conspicuously match the views of "sources familiar with the matter" who were cited in past news articles. Many legal experts and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein have already concluded that Comey's actions during the email investigation violated longstanding Justice Department policy. In the McCabe report, the IG embraced his view of events. In the report that is forthcoming, he may not fare as well. A view from Singapore of the border crossing into the Malaysian southern city of Johor Bahru. Singapore and Malaysia may find their relationship under pressure if the latter's new government withdraws from a rail project that's become emblematic of improved bilateral ties. Uncertainty clouds the future of a 2016 deal to construct a high-speed rail network between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said this week that all foreign infrastructure programs will be reviewed. His administration will be assessing existing initiatives on feasibility of as well as the sum of borrowed money. Scrapping the 350km rail network, which is expected to slash travel time between the two cities to 90 minutes from a four to five-hour car journey, could reintroduce tensions into Malaysia's interactions with its wealthy, next-door neighbor. For decades, relations between the two were uneasy after Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent nation in 1965. The two now enjoy a warm alliance despite occasional hiccups over issues such as territory and water that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail project is meant to represent. "The rail is a very important project symbolizing the mending of ties between Singapore and Malaysia in the 2010s," said Chan Xin Ying, a Malaysia-focused research analyst at Nanyang Technological University. Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and others already oppose a push by centrist GOP lawmakers to force a vote on a plan to shield young undocumented immigrants from deportation .The effort has gained steam over the objection of House leaders, who caution that Republicans should pass an immigration plan President Donald Trump will support. The president has backed restrictions on legal immigration in exchange for protecting the young immigrants, the so-called Dreamers. Democrats and many moderate Republicans consider that deal unacceptable. The backlash from the party's conservative wing comes at a terrible time for House Speaker Paul Ryan and top Republicans. The jab from the conservatives coincides with hits Republican leaders have taken from the party's moderate flank over immigration. The hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus sought assurances that the House would vote on a tough immigration plan in exchange for their votes on the farm bill, but it did not get them. Thirty House Republicans then broke with party leaders to oppose the legislation. With all Democrats voting against the plan and some members not voting, the measure sank by a 198 to 213 vote. A pocket of House Republicans killed a GOP farm bill championed by the party's leaders Friday. But Republican leaders' headaches caused by rebellion within the party may only have begun. Despite objections from powerful Republicans, centrist GOP lawmakers need only a handful more signatures on a petition to force a vote on immigration policy, assuming all Democrats get on board, as expected. The success of the Freedom Caucus' rebellion will likely only turbocharge the efforts to subvert House GOP leaders on immigration policy as lawmakers recognize the leverage they have. The GOP's Chief Deputy Whip, Rep. Patrick McHenry, said as much following the farm bill's failure on Friday, according to NBC News. It will be "probably hours" before more Republican lawmakers sign on to the petition, the North Carolina Republican said. More momentum for the centrist lawmakers' effort "is exactly what I feared if the farm bill went down," McHenry added. Moe tweet: Chief Deputy Whip @PatrickMcHenry says it is "probably hours" before more moderate Rs sign onto the immigration discharge petition - says "which is exactly what I feared if the farm bill went down" The pressure from two of the GOP's ideological flanks puts party leaders in a precarious spot. The Freedom Caucus lawmakers' immigration goals align more closely with Trump's demands that moderate Republicans appear unwilling to accept. Appeasing one pocket of the Republican caucus likely would mean alienating another. On top of that, it is unclear if top Republicans even want to revisit immigration a politically charged issue as they try to hold off a Democratic push and keep control of the House after November's midterm elections. Some Republicans worry that seeking a bipartisan immigration deal months before the midterms would suppress enthusiasm from the Republican base, which largely responds well to figures such as Trump who pledge to crack down on immigration. McCarthy who needs to keep all of his caucus happy as he tries to succeed Ryan as House GOP leader believes such an agreement could hurt Republicans, according to a Politico report. "If you want to depress [GOP voter] intensity, this is the No. 1 way to do it," the California Republican told fellow lawmakers this week, according to the report. McCarthy and Ryan have taken different stances on the issue, the news outlet reported. Ryan, who has long talked about wanting to protect the young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, hopes he can pass a bill to do so before he leaves Congress in January. He wants to do so in part for his legacy, Politico said, citing a leadership source. When Ryan and McCarthy met with Trump this week to discuss how to proceed on immigration amid the moderates' push, the president appeared uninterested in starting talks again, according to Politico, which cited several sources briefed on the meeting. He called the petition the House's problem. Ryan has repeatedly said he wants to pass only immigration legislation that the president would sign. That leaves Republicans in a difficult spot, trying to appease two emboldened pockets of their party with diverging interests only months before critical elections. It is unclear whether the House would bring up a series of varying immigration bills and let lawmakers decide which they prefer, as the Senate did last year. Three different plans to codify protections for young immigrants failed in the Senate earlier this year. FABRICE COFFRINI | AFP | Getty Images The United Nations' human rights chief issued a scathing critique of Israel's policy toward Gaza on Friday. "They are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, said of the Palestinians living in Gaza during a special session of the UN's Human Rights Council, convened in the wake of Monday's deadly violence on the Israeli-Gaza border. "Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," Hussein said. "End the occupation, and the violence and insecurity will largely disappear." Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killed 60 Palestinian protesters in Gaza during a demonstration that followed weeks of protests marking the 1948 establishment of the Israeli state. It also coincided with the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. Israel defended its actions, saying it had acted in self-defense and blamed the bloodshed on Hamas, the Islamist militant and political group that governs the Gaza Strip. Israel's UN ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter called Zeid's words "politically motivated," adding that "the loss of life could have been avoided had Hamas refrained from sending terrorists to attack Israel under the cover of the riots, while exploiting its own civilian population as human shields." With the words "toxic slum," Hussein was likely referring to the living conditions in the blockaded territory of Gaza, where 1.9 million residents live in an enclave of 225 square miles, making it one of the most densely-populated places on earth. Both Israel and Egypt imposed air, land and sea blockades on the territory in 2007 after Hamas won local elections in 2006. Thirty-nine percent of the population lives below the poverty line, more than half lack access to reliable electricity, and unemployment stands at 42 percent, according to the UN. The World Bank in March said that Gaza's residents have "for years endured an environmental disaster due to sewage pollution." Ninety-seven percent of Gaza's drinking water is contaminated by sewage. Hussein described Gazans as "deprived of dignity, dehumanized by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest." A Palestinian woman takes some of her belongings from her partially destroyed home across the street from where a high rise apartment building in Gaza City was targeted by Israeli airstrikes, Aug. 26, 2014. Roberto Schmidt | AFP | Getty Images Although Israeli troops left Gaza in 2005, Israel still retains control of Gaza's airspace and coastline, leading the UN to designate it as an occupying power there. Israel and the U.S. have criticized the 47-state Human Rights Council, whose members are chosen by the UN General Assembly, claiming it is biased and has a disproportionate number of member countries hostile to Israel. Decades of turmoil Monday's violence was met with condemnation from international leaders, who urged the protection of rights to peaceful protest. But Tel Aviv affirmed its position as absolutely necessary to protect its citizens from attacks. "The Hamas terrorist organization declares it intends to destroy Israel and sends thousands to breach the border fence in order to achieve this goal," Netanyahu had written on Twitter after the events. "We will continue to act with determination to protect our sovereignty and citizens." Hamas is designated a terrorist group by the U.S., and has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks since the 1990s. The White House echoed Netanyahu's defense, emphasizing the right of Israel to defend its border and calling the deaths "unfortunate propaganda" on the part of Hamas. Hamas denied provoking the violence, while a Hamas official told local press that 50 of the demonstrators killed were members of the group. Palestinians run for cover from tear gas during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, east of Jabalia on May 14, 2018, as Palestinians protest over the inauguration of the US embassy following its controversial move to Jerusalem. Mohammed Abed | AFP | Getty Images Luigi Di Maio, Leader of 5-Star Movement (M5S) leaves the parliament after a new day of meetings for the formation of the new government on April 26, 2018 in Rome, Italy. The power-sharing agreement between Italy's two populist parties is likely to raise concerns for officials at the European Union. The left-wing Five Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right Lega are on the brink of clinching power in the southern European nation, forming a coalition after neither party gained enough seats to govern alone at March elections. They released their plans for the next executive Friday morning which would potentially end more than two months of political instability in the third largest euro zone economy. The plan will be voted on by their members over the weekend and, if approved, could bring further problems for the EU. Their plan aims for a "necessary" re-discussion over European treaties, a "reduction" of the powers coming from Brussels, and a return to a pre-Maastricht setting. Under an accord signed in the city of Maastricht in 1992, European countries are supposed to comply with euro-wide fiscal rules. This means that their debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio should not exceed 60 percent and their public accounts should not register a deficit above 3 percent of GDP. Italy's debt stands at about 132 percent of GDP and the country registered a deficit of 2.3 percent in 2017. A demand letter sent last year by CBS chief Les Moonves to controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is playing out in the boardroom battle for control of the media giant, best-selling author Ken Auletta told CNBC on Friday. "You have two scorpions in a bottle here. And each of them have the ability to kill each other. But they don't want to," said Auletta. His upcoming book, "Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else)," details the Moonves letter to Redstone regarding her plan to merge CBS with its sibling company Viacom. In a "Squawk Box" interview, Auletta said Moonves made nine demands in the 2016 letter to Redstone. "Basically, it was we want to control the board. We want to appoint the board, independent directors," Auletta said. "Only Moonves could be relieved of his job by the independent directors, which he appointed. And Shari Redstone, though basically she had 80 percent voting control, would not have control. Exactly what played out here." At issue: Redstone wants to CBS to merge with Viacom, with Moonves to lead the combined company and with Viacom CEO Bob Bakish as his No. 2. Moonves doesn't want Bakish looking over his shoulder. On Thursday, the CBS board approved a special dividend that would cut the Redstone family's voting power to about 20 percent from 80 percent. However, the move cannot take effect unless it can overcome Redstone legal challenges. National Amusements, the privately held movie theater company owned by 94-year-old Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari, holds a majority of the voting shares in CBS and Viacom. The two media companies had been under the same umbrella from 2000 to 2006 before they were split into separate publicly traded companies. McCarthy's stance has set him apart from House Speaker Paul Ryan , the Wisconsin Republican whom McCarthy wants to succeed as the top House Republican. Ryan wants to pass protections for the young undocumented immigrants before he leaves Congress at the end of his term in January, Politico said. McCarthy in part faces a tough political dynamic because he could need conservatives' support to win a bid for speaker. "If you want to depress [GOP voter] intensity, this is the No. 1 way to do it," the California Republican told colleagues in a closed meeting on Wednesday, the news outlet reported late Thursday. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy believes a bipartisan deal to shield young immigrants from deportation could hurt Republicans in November, according to Politico . Republicans aim to hold on to their House majority in November's midterm elections. Democrats need to gain 23 seats to take control of the chamber. Spokespeople for both McCarthy and Ryan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Both men have opposed an effort by centrist House Republicans to force a vote on immigration. Twenty House Republicans have signed a so-called discharge petition, which would require a series of immigration votes if several more Republicans and all Democrats get behind it. Democrats are expected to support the effort. Ryan and McCarthy met with President Donald Trump this week, and Ryan floated the idea of reopening negotiations on an immigration deal, Politico reported, citing several sources briefed on the meeting. Bipartisan negotiations flamed out earlier this year as Trump and conservative Republicans could not find common ground with Democrats and moderate GOP lawmakers on several demands. Democrats accused Trump of shifting in his demands throughout the talks. Trump did not appear interested in starting up talks again when he met with Ryan and McCarthy, according to Politico. Republican leaders are telling lawmakers who support the effort to force an immigration vote that they will bring immigration bills to the House floor next month, Politico separately reported. Read the full Politico report here. Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, arrives at a television studio in New York, April 17, 2018. In their filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Cohen's lawyers also questioned how Avenatti could have legally obtained information contained in the report, which appears to be drawn from an unlawful leak of confidential bank records . Cohen's lawyers accused Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti of publishing "inaccurate statements" in an explosive report he released May 8 detailing payments made to Cohen's company, Essential Consultants. Lawyers for Michael Cohen on Friday objected to porn star Stormy Daniels' attorney being allowed to represent her in a case involving Cohen, saying his violations of "ethical rules" as well as local court rules "warrant a denial." They also accused Avenatti, with his non-stop series of appearances on television about the case, of "smearing" Cohen in order "to further his own interest" in gaining media attention. "To our knowledge, this Court has never been presented with clearer evidence of the deliberate creation of a carnival atmosphere and inappropriate conduct while an attorney's application for admission was pending," Cohen's lawyers wrote. Avenatti, who is not admitted to federal court in New York, is asking Judge Kimba Wood to be admitted pro hac vice meaning solely for the purposes of Cohen's case to speak on Daniels' behalf. Files related to Daniels, and to a $130,000 hush money payment she received in October 2016 from Cohen, were reportedly among documents seized from Cohen by the FBI during raids on his home, office and hotel room on April 9. Daniels has said the money was in exchange for her silence about an affair with Trump, an affair that the White House has denied. Avenatti is representing Daniels in a lawsuit against Trump and Cohen to void the contract she signed. While prosecutors are investigating Cohen for business dealings, as well as the payment to Daniels, they have not charged him. Since the raids, however, there have been several court hearings and multiple legal filings related to how to handle the documents and electronic files seized from Cohen. Trump's own lawyers, as well as lawyers for the Trump Organization, have been admitted to the case so that they can argue about documents that might be subject to protection from prosecutors' eyes because of attorney-client privilege. Cohen's lawyers noted that Daniels has another lawyer who is admitted to New York federal court, who can speak for her if Avenatti's request for admission is denied. With the National Australia Bank under fire over allegations of fraud and misconduct by its bankers, its CEO Andrew Thorburn admitted that banks had been prioritizing its company operations over its clients. "Well I think this has been a drift over time where banks have become so complex, maybe so hierarchical, so focused on compliance, rather than truly understanding the client and doing the right thing," he said. In an interview with CNBC in Melbourne on Friday, he said: "As a banker, I am ashamed." A Royal Commission inquiry had exposed the misconduct of bankers across the sector, including NAB. The bank told the Commission it identified more than 1,300 customers who may have been affected by the misconduct of dozens of its bankers. NAB has admitted to the inquiry that some of its advisers had engaged in dishonest and illegal conduct such as misappropriation of client funds. It has paid A$19 million in compensation to customers. It also said that for years it charged advisory fees to hundreds of thousands of clients without providing them with services or allocating them an adviser. In an open letter to customers and shareholders, Thorburn said that 20 bankers in New South Wales and Victoria have had their employment terminated, or are no longer with NAB as a result of its investigation. Thorburn conceded that bad behavior has no place in a bank. "I also know (Australian Securities and Investment Commission James Shipton) talked about focusing more on and clamping down on bad behavior. And I agree totally with that because when we have bad behavior in a bank it's really destabilizing and debilitating." "We need to find it, fix it, and hold people accountable. And we will continue to do that." However, the NAB boss defended the majority of his bankers there are 12,000 versus the 20 who were involved, pointing out "there's a lot of people here who are doing absolutely the right thing." Reuters contributed reporting to this article. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is responsible for detecting incoming threats and protecting the airspace above the United States and Canada. The military command created at the height of the Cold War to defend the United States and Canada from nuclear attacks is facing a new threat from Russia: hypersonic weapons. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is marking 60 years of existence. On the heels of that anniversasry, though, CNBC learned that multiple U.S. intelligence reports assess Russia will be capable of fielding a hypersonic glide vehicle, a weapon that no country can defend against, by 2020. "[Hypersonic weapons] is a developing field, so there is not much that I can state here officially," said Canadian Lt. Gen. Pierre St-Amand, deputy NORAD commander, when asked about the CNBC report at a discussion at the Canadian embassy in Washington. "We are tracking and providing advice so that we can be in a position to continue to develop our mission in the future," St-Amand said, adding that NORAD is watching and discussing the hypersonic weapons threat. Since its creation in the late 1950s, NORAD has been responsible for detecting incoming threats and protecting the air space above the United States and Canada. In a nod to the Cold War paranoia of the time, the command was constructed nearly a mile inside of a mountain and underneath 2,400 feet of granite. U.S. Air Force photo The idea behind NORAD's Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs was that it could withstand a direct hit from a Soviet nuclear weapon while coordinating an American response. The latest revelations about hypersonic weapons come more than two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin touted his nation's growing hypersonic arsenal as "invincible." Putin claimed the hypersonic glide vehicle, dubbed Avangard, was capable of reaching targets at 20 times the speed of sound and strikes "like a fireball." He also said that the hypersonic warhead had already entered serial production. Avangard, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, is designed to sit atop an intercontinental ballistic missile. Once launched, it uses aerodynamic forces to sail on top of the atmosphere. Sources, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity, said Russia successfully tested the weapon twice in 2016. The third known test of the device was carried out in October 2017 and resulted in a failure when the platform crashed seconds before striking its target. "Today we don't have the perfect warning system to be able to detect and determine their [hypersonic weapons] intent or even how do we respond to that," retired U.S. Air Force Gen.Victor Eugene Renuart, former U.S. Commander of NORAD and NORTHCOM said during a Q&A at the Canadian embassy. Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Alexei Druzhinin | TASS | Getty Images "It's NORAD's role to identify the kinds of threats that it needs to be able to see and then it's the nation's role to figure out how do we partner and create that detection capability," Renuart added saying the U.S. must invest in a warning infrastructure to counter hypersonic weapons. Renuart also connected national security to global trade agreements particularly when it comes to Russia and the nation's deals with several U.S. partners, including members of the North Atlantic Treat Organization, or NATO. This makes dealing with Russia even more complicated. "I think we have some interesting frenemies out there because we trade with China and Russia to some degree, maybe lesser so with Russia but our NATO friends trade heavily with Russia and especially depend on Russia for energy," Renuart said. That means, despite any threat from Russia, the U.S. has to deal with the nation in a conventional way, as well. "So we are changing the way we interact with them, all the while we are seeing fifth-generation aircraft, we are seeing stealth capabilities, we are seeing advanced technologies and a modernization of their nuclear force unlike we've seen since those Cold War days," he said. Meanwhile, Russia is expected to test their hypersonic glide vehicle again this summer. WATCH: Lockheed Martin one step closer to handing hypersonic weapons to US Air Force Dutch semiconductor company NXP gained 4 percent Friday following a report that its proposed deal with U.S. chip giant Qualcomm is "looking more optimistic." Shares closed at $111.02 after the update, attributed to an anonymous Beijing official and included in a WSJ report about broader U.S.-China trade talks. The proposed merger has been waiting for months on regulatory approval out of China. Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf told CNBC in April that broader trade tensions between the two tech-heavy countries were stalling the deal. "I think it'd be a very unusual situation for the rest of the world to approve something and then China not do it," Mollenkopf said at the time. "It's a good situation for China to get this deal done, and you know I have confidence that that'll happen." As of Friday's close, NXP is down 5 percent on the year and more than 11 percent off its 52-week high. Baidu on Friday said its operating chief, former Microsoft executive Qi Lu, will be stepping down in July, less than two years into his tenure there. Baidu stock was down more than 9 percent after the announcement. The move is a loss for one of China's leading tech companies, which are racing like American technology companies to enhance services with artificial intelligence. Baidu hired Lu to take on day-to-day operations on behalf of CEO Robin Li in January 2017. Immediately prior to that, he was an executive vice president at Microsoft, where he was in charge of Office applications. Earlier in his career he worked at IBM and Yahoo. Office is now a key part of Microsoft's growing Commercial Cloud. "We have seen many positive changes at Baidu since Qi joined last year. I'm especially impressed by Qi's integrity, dedication to work and sharp insights into technologies and businesses," Li said in a statement on the news. Lu said in the statement that he can no longer work full-time in China for "personal and family reasons" and will spend more time in the U.S. He will retain his role as vice president of Baidu's board and will focus on research and development, although he won't be working full-time for Baidu. "I'm honored to have participated in Baidu's transition into an AI-first company," Lu said. Microsoft and Google, among others, have also sought to reshape themselves around AI. Lu, who has more than 40 U.S. patents, left Microsoft in 2016 for health reasons following a bicycle accident. One of the most interesting things I do for International Living is interview retirees and expats for a series of audio podcasts. They're simply phone chats with people who have made successful moves abroad. We talk about what they did before they moved, why they decided to move abroad, how they did it, and what they're doing now. More from International Living: Europe's top 5 affordable retirement havens How to spend your summer in Ireland How to spend 3 days in Rome I'm thinking of this today because I just did an interview with a Canadian expat who relocated to Coronado, Panama, and the phrase she used to describe the life she and her husband now live in this bustling little beach town west of Panama City is still stuck in my head. "It's like being 15 again," she said. She said this at the end of a fairly long explanation of how she and her husband dealt with the legal and bureaucratic issues of moving full-time to Panama. It took a while to get their resident visas. It took a while to finalize the purchase of their house in Coronado. It took a while to do the renovations they wanted. Bureaucracies are pretty much the same the world over, but she said that at the end of it allwhen everything was taken care of, all the paperwork was filed, and all the dust had settledthey had no real burning issues or responsibilities left to deal with. They were legal residents of a tropical paradise living comfortably on their retirement savings without mortgage or debt of any kind. They were, essentially, 15-year-olds on permanent summer vacation. Permanent summer vacation in Panama. No work, no debt, no deadlines, no snow, no worries. What an amazing concept. It's what most of us believe retirement should be like. After a lifetime of working and being responsible for ourselves and others, retirement should be like a permanent summer vacation. Retirement should feel like it did when you were 15 and the last bell of the last class of the last day of the school year rang. It should feel like running out the door into the sunshine and realizing you didn't have to go back in there again all summer. Only summer lasts forever. A lot of the retirees I talk to who have moved abroad say essentially the same thing, but no one has said it quite as simply and clearly as my friend in Coronado. She put the entire concept of a successful retirement abroad in a phrase that I've now adopted as my model for what the ideal retirement is like. It's like being 15 again. That's something to aspire to. That's something to shoot for. That's something devoutly to be wished. And, because there are so many places abroad that can make exactly this kind of retirement possible, it's something that people are actually doing every day. I know, because I talk to those people every day. People who, no matter what their age in years, are essentially 15-year-olds on permanent summer vacation. That's exactly how I want to retire. Commentary by Dan Prescher, a writer for International Living. Prescher is a native of Omaha, Neb., who currently lives in Cotacachi, Ecuador. Since joining International Living in 2001, he and his wife have lived and worked in Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua and three locations in Mexico. LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - An experimental Ebola vaccine to be deployed in an outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has conquered some major scientific hurdles in giving high protection, but it now faces extreme real-world tests including heat, humidity, language barriers and lack of roads. Because it is not yet licensed, the Merck & Co vaccine has been offered to Congo under a "compassionate use" protocol agreed by national and international health and ethics authorities. This means fully informed, signed consent is needed from every person who wants the shot. And in the current Ebola outbreak, that makes logistical, cultural and language barriers the ultimate challenges, global health specialists say. The hurdles illustrate how hard it can be to move from laboratory to real life, especially in remote communities with no functioning health systems. The Congo outbreak is a chance to reality-test a vaccine against a disease epidemic that can't be replicated in controlled environments. "This is going to need a highly sophisticated operation in one of the most difficult places on earth," said Peter Salama, the World Health Organization's deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response. "It's very hot and very humid, and we're talking about hundreds of kilometers of densely forested areas." The shot is designed for use in a so-called "ring vaccination." When a new Ebola case is diagnosed, all people who might have been in recent contact with them are traced and vaccinated to try and prevent the disease's spread. The vaccine supplies so far will be enough to vaccinate 50 rings of 150 people, according to the WHO. It said that as of May 15, 527 contacts of Ebola cases and suspected cases had been identified and were being followed up. Health workers will need to use translators for several local languages and explain the vaccine to leaders from different communities, Salama said. Limited communications, health facilities and electricity, as well as the need to keep the vaccine in a "cold chain" at -60 to -80 degrees Celsius will also present challenges. If any of these elements fails, the vaccine's potential to protect 100 percent of those immunized will go unrealised. "These are make or break issues," said Salama, who visited Congo last weekend. "There's a lot of complex logistics and social science here." CONTACTS Results of a trial using the ring vaccination technique with the Merck shot, which is known as VSV-EBOV, in Guinea in West Africa in 2015 showed 100 percent protection in those vaccinated immediately. Health experts working to contain the Congo outbreak, which was first reported on May 8, say a cold chain will be in place to get the vaccines from Congo's capital Kinshasa to the affected areas within a few days. Then the shot could be given to local frontline medical, burial and hospital workers who volunteer for it as early as next week. There have been 44 suspected, probable or confirmed Ebola cases in this outbreak in Congo's Equateur province, and 23 people have died. The WHO said on Thursday it became more concerned when a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city of about a million people which is connected to Kinshasa by the Congo River. Jeremy Farrar, a specialist in infectious diseases and director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, told Reuters the epidemic now had "all the features of something that could turn really nasty." "You can't overrespond in this scenario," he said. "But the vaccine must be seen in the context of an overarching public health response. Critically that means early diagnosis, early isolation, safe burials and understanding the social context. The vaccine can only be a part of the solution." ACCEPTANCE Experts also caution that acting too hastily could jeopardize the potential success of a vaccine deployment. Micaela Serafini, a medical director for the international charity Medecins Sans FrontiEeres (MSF) who is helping coordinate the response to the Congo outbreak, said its teams are planning for at least 45 minutes of discussion and information-sharing with each person, with a translator present, before signed consent would be obtained. Then, she told Reuters, medical teams would probably return the following day to administer the vaccine. "What we need to avoid at all costs is an uncontrolled situation in the communities affected," she said. Even though the vaccine has still yet to get a license, the emergency response teams say its safety and efficacy data is strong. And despite lingering suspicions in some of the more remote parts of Africa of western medicines, experts anticipate widespread public acceptance. Congo's health minister Oly Ilunga signaled on Thursday that his government was fully behind the shot's use. "The vaccine will help us save lives in the Equateur province, in the DRC and in neighboring countries. The vaccine allows us to limit the virus, so we must use it," he said. Merck and the GAVI vaccine alliance have said a stockpile of more than 300,000 doses of the shot is available for emergency use in an epidemic. Salama and Serafini said one tricky task may be managing a scenario where larger groups of people not identified as high-risk contacts of a Ebola case might demand the vaccine for themselves or their family. "We want to make sure we are engaging whole communities so that the broader community understands what we are doing and why," said Salama. "That is particularly important when you're not targeting everyone, because naturally people will ask: 'How come you're vaccinating that person but not me?"' (Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva and Patient Ligodi in Kinshasa; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Pravin Char) BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - For China to slash its record trade surplus with the United States by up to $200 billion annually, it would have to buy the equivalent of more than 600 Boeing airliners every year. U.S. officials said on Thursday that China was offering U.S. President Donald Trump a package of trade concessions and additional purchases of U.S. goods that would cut the U.S. trade deficit with China by as much as $200 billion a year. But that number would be difficult to hit over several years, let alone one, experts say. It is larger than all of the United States' agricultural and oil exports combined, and would mean selling China nearly nine out of every 10 aircraft Boeing made in 2017. Talk of the reported offer came on the first of two days of U.S.-China trade talks in Washington focused on resolving tariff threats between the world's two largest economies. The Chinese foreign ministry has since denied it, saying that China has made no such offer, and that trade negotiations with Washington are still under way. "Is this a smoke bomb or putting psychological pressure on China?" said Wang Jun, chief economist at Zhongyuan Bank. "This is very inconceivable and very difficult to achieve. The key issue is that they don't want to sell what we want to buy, and we can't buy too many farm products, either." The scale of change needed to reduce China's trade surplus with the U.S. by $200 billion is staggering, even using the biggest possible mechanisms. The United States' two largest exports to China by value last year were aircraft, at $16 billion, and soybeans, at $12 billion. China would have to buy 667 more Boeing commercial jets a year to meet the $200 billion goal, assuming each plane costs $300 million. Boeing made 763 such planes last year. The U.S. aircraft maker also has a backlog of orders for 5,654 jets, about seven years' worth of manufacturing. Alternatively, China could buy all of the United States' agricultural exports. But with a value of $138 billion in 2017, those goods would still fall short. Even selling China all of the United States' oil exports for 2017 would only knock about $8 billion off the U.S. trade deficit at current prices. Only if the U.S. sold China all, or nearly all, of its yearly oil production would the number reach $200 billion. It would be painful for China to slash exports to the United States. But if China halted all shipments of its toys, games and sporting goods to the U.S., the trade surplus would only fall by $26.8 billion. An article carried by the social media account of the overseas edition of the People's Daily, operated by the Communist Party, said the matter was "a misunderstanding purely." CONCESSIONS STILL EXPECTED China could make concessions to boost imports from the United States, but it is unlikely to reduce its surplus with the U.S. by up to $200 billion a year, Chinese government advisers said. "The trade deficit is not a big problem, but it's very difficult to cut it by $200 billion a year," said Liu Xiangdong, a senior economist at China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), a Beijing-based think tank. China can buy more farm products, energy products such as gas and oil, as well as microchips, he said. The United States had a record trade deficit with China of $375 billion in 2017, according to U.S. data, while Chinese statistics showed a trade surplus of $276 billion - also a historic high. The discrepancy is caused by different calculation methods and indirect shipments via Hong Kong and other intermediaries. Xiao Lisheng, a senior economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a top government think tank, said it's more realistic for China to cut the trade surplus by about $30 billion a year, and nearly $100 billion total over three years. In the first round of trade talks in Beijing this month, top U.S. officials asked China to reduce the trade imbalance by at least $200 billion by 2020. Trump has threatened to impose up to $150 billion in punitive tariffs to combat what he says is Beijing's misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies. Beijing has threatened retaliation, including tariffs on some of its largest U.S. imports, including aircraft, soybeans and autos. Moody's Investors Service said on Monday it does not believe China can meet U.S. demands to cut its trade surplus by $200 billion by 2020 without significant disruptions of its economy. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Ryan Woo Additional reporting by Stella Qiu in BEIJING Editing by Gerry Doyle) HELSINKI, May 18 (Reuters) - Buyout fund CVC Capital has agreed to buy a majority stake in Mehilainen, one of Finland's largest healthcare companies, from private equity companies KKR and Triton. The companies, announcing the sale in separate statements on Friday, did not disclose the price but the Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, said the deal would be valued at 1.8 billion euros ($2.1 billion). Mehilainen had sales of 756 million euros last year. The Finnish healthcare industry is restructuring ahead of a potential shake-up aimed at boosting competition between healthcare providers by opening up more opportunities to the private sector. Mehilainen said CVC would buy a stake of around 50 percent and Finnish insurance group Lahitapiola and pension funds Varma and Ilmarinen would increase their stakes to more than 30 percent combined. The actual stakes will be announced when the deal has closed. "This is a very good solution. A stock market listing would have been an option, but this is better at this stage as the market is in transformation," Mehilainen's CEO Janne-Olli Jarvenpaa told Reuters by phone. "We'll have a long-term investor with capability to fund growth projects." He declined to disclose the price of the deal and CVC, KKR and Triton were not immediately available to comment. The Finnish parliament is expected to vote on the government's healthcare reform bill next month. On Thursday, Mehilainen's rival Terveystalo agreed to buy Swedish rival Attendo's Finnish operations for 233 million euros. ($1 = 0.8470 euros) (Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl; Editing by Susan Fenton) * French Centre for Business in Tehran anticipates mass exit * European goodwill won't be enough to protect business * Total exit sends negative signal to smaller firms PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - The head of France's business lobby in Iran said on Friday he feared a mass exodus of European firms following the U.S. decision to impose new sanctions and that EU government efforts to protect their companies were unlikely to be enough. European leaders want to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, which lifted most of the international sanctions that have badly hurt the Iranian economy in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But EU officials say there is no easy way to protect EU firms and banks from the extraterritorial nature of U.S. sanctions that Washington has reimposed and larger firms have already started signaling their intent to pullback from Iran. "Sadly, what we can fear is a mass withdrawal of European firms," Matthieu Etourneau, managing director of the French Centre for Business in Tehran, said at a conference at the French Institute for International Affairs. "The political pro-activeness of governments is good, but we have the feeling that it will not be enough to ensure companies keep their activities in Iran." French energy group Total, which arguably signed the most symbolic contract between Iran and Western powers since 2016, said on Wednesday it might quit its multi-billion-dollar gas project in Iran unless it secured a waiver from the sanctions. Etourneau said the presence of big companies like Total initially had a ripple effect of bringing smaller companies from the sector into the market, but that its departure would naturally send the opposite signal. "What we're seeing develop is that companies will seek exemptions and waivers, but the American stance is so intransigent on the question that we think it's unlikely they will be granted," he said. Among tools being studied, EU officials are trying to revamp a blocking statute to encompass U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to revive Iran-related sanctions after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods, including sanctions aimed at Iran's lifeblood oil sector and transactions with its central bank. Etourneau said he was skeptical on its efficiency and the ability to introduce it quickly enough, especially as companies needed to make decisions within the next few weeks to ensure they abide by the wind-down periods. "We have the feeling that the American position for Iran is regime change so what can you do within that framework?" he said. Smaller French banks with clients operating in Iran have already started telling those customers they are unlikely to be able to continue providing services after Aug. 6, he said, adding that sanctions linked to the central bank would make financial activity even more complicated. "With the absence of banking support all economic sectors will be impacted, including those which have had exemptions such as health and the food industry," he said. Small and medium companies may look to work with Asian affiliates as one option of staying in Iran. "In the short-term the easiest solution would be for European states to cover the cost of American sanctions imposed on certain companies," he said. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Mark Potter) * China halts anti-dumping probe into U.S. sorghum imports * Buenos Aires Grains Exchange cuts Argentina soy outlook * (Adds quotes, updates prices) LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Chicago grain and soybean futures rose on Friday, boosted partly by news that China had scrapped its anti-dumping investigation into imports of sorghum from the United States. The move comes as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is in Washington for talks aimed at resolving trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. "Grain markets are stronger this morning, which appears to be on the back of China scrapping an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy case on U.S. sorghum imports," ING said in a market note. "This news could be viewed as somewhat of a cooling in the trade dispute between the U.S. and China, and possibly means that China even looks to scrap its proposed retaliatory import tariffs on U.S. grains." The Chicago Board of Trade's most-active wheat contract was up 1.8 percent at $5.06-1/2 a bushel at 0956 GMT while the most-active CBOT corn contract rose 1.5 percent to $4.01-1/4 a bushel. Concern that dry weather could curb yields in key exporters Australia and the United States also supported wheat prices. "U.S. conditions are not good for wheat. The Australian wheat crop had a bit of rain but not much, large areas are still pretty dry," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank. European wheat prices also rose, with December futures on Paris-based Euronext up 0.7 percent at 178.25 euros a tonne. Dealers said some improvement in crop prospects in eastern Europe and Ukraine had helped to limit gains. "The recent heat seen in the eastern parts of the EU and Black Sea has diminished with the return of needed rain and cooler temperatures," said David Sheppard, managing director at UK merchant Gleadell. The CBOT's most-active soybean contract climbed 1.1 percent to $10.06 a bushel. Dealers said a further cut in the crop outlook for Argentina provided additional support for soybeans. Argentina's 2017-18 soy crop is seen at 36 million tonnes versus a previous estimate of 38 million tonnes, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday said soybean export sales totalled 506,600 tonnes in the latest week, near the low end of forecasts that ranged from 400,000 to 1 million tonnes. (Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson) * Simulated copper options trading to start on ShFE on Monday * No timeframe set for actual launch, but mkts expect by year-end * China is pushing to develop commodity derivatives HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters) - The latest step in China's push to develop its commodities derivatives market gets under way on Monday as the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) launches a month-long test of a much-anticipated copper options contract. The options, approved by China's securities regulator in November, are on track to be the country's first industrial options after sugar and soymeal launched last year. An options contract gives the buyer the right - but no obligation - to assume a futures position at a specified price. Simulated trading will begin on the ShFE on May 21, according to a notice on the bourse's website. It will run concurrently with the ShFE's daytime trading hours until June 22, but there will be no night session. No timeframe has been set for the contract to launch for real, but participants expect it before year-end. The options have been touted as a way for Chinese metal firms to manage their price exposure. Traders from units of China Minmetals Corp and Jiangxi Copper, two of China's biggest state-run metals firms, said they would participate in the trial. A trader from international trading house Trafigura said his company would also take part. The traders declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. He Jinbi, chairman and CEO of Maike Metals Group, told Reuters on the sidelines of the LME Asia Week conference in Hong Kong that his company would not participate in the trial but that its brokerage subsidiary, Maike Futures, would. The listed options contracts for the simulation will run from June 2018 to May 2019. But Guy Wolf, global head of market analytics at brokerage Marex Spectron, was sceptical about the project's chances given that the "vast majority of liquidity" on the ShFE is in the front-month copper contract. "You cannot create a liquid options market around an illiquid future," he said. ShFE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on potential liquidity. In a bid to encourage companies to step up and play the role of market makers, the exchange said it would hand out rewards to participants, including two 'first prizes' based on the number of active accounts, average transaction volumes and positions. It did not say what those prizes would be. Market sources said they expected the ShFE to look for market makers for when the contract is up and running, but will probably only take Chinese companies linked to state-owned enterprises or top-tier China brokers rather than any overseas firms. Meanwhile, traders at the industry event in Hong Kong said it was unlikely that Shanghai copper futures would be opened up to international investors in 2018. (Reporting by Melanie Burton and Tom Daly; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Joseph Radford) TOBOLSK, Russia, May 18 (Reuters) - On a sprawling construction site in Western Siberia, about 20,000 workers are busy building what will be one of the world's five biggest petrochemical plants, part of a play by Russia to capture more of the value from the oil it produces. Russian energy companies, led by privately owned Sibur, have been increasingly shifting their focus to petrochemicals in a drive to capitalize on the fast-growing sector and offset the volatile market for crude oil exports. According to the EY consultancy, Russia accounts for about 1 percent of global petrochemical output, trailing not only the United States and Europe but also Thailand, Taiwan, Brazil, Iran and China. That is set to change, with the Sibur plant due to come on stream, while gas giant Gazprom plans to invest $5 billion in a petrochemical plant on the Baltic Sea, and oil major Rosneft has said it will ramp up its petrochemical capacity in Russia's far eastern region. The Sibur plant is taking shape near Tobolsk, birthplace of Dmitry Mendeleev, the inventor of the periodic table and one of the founders of modern chemistry. It is also close to many of the fields that produce crude oil, the raw material for much petrochemical production. Most of Russia's oil is exported as crude, a trade that has delivered diminishing returns as world oil prices have weakened over the past four years. Sibur is banking on growing domestic consumption of petrochemical products, which are used in construction, medicine, aviation, car making, clothes, bottling, packaging and many other sectors. "We see quite a huge potential for growth of the Russian market," Dmitry Konov, head of Sibur, said at the construction site of the plant on the outskirts of Tobolsk. Once in operation, the complex, known as ZapSibNefteKhim, will have an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of ethylene and 500,000 tonnes of propylene. BANKING ON GROWTH According to Vadim Drujina, a partner at McKinsey & Co consultancy in Moscow, petrochemicals is the fastest-growing segment of crude oil consumption. "Growing petrochemicals demand is partly explained by substitution of traditional materials, e.g. steel, in such segments as construction and automotive," Drujina said. "Given the abundance of petrochemicals feedstock it makes a lot of sense for Russia to think about further growth of petrochemicals in order to create additional value." Denis Borisov, director of EY's oil and gas center in Moscow, expects that in Russia alone, demand for petrochemicals - depending on product - will grow by 2 to 3 percent a year to 2025. The location, the Russian heartland of oil production, allows Sibur to cut transportation costs as it obtains the feedstock, such as associated petroleum gas and naphtha, from nearby fields operated by other companies. Grigory Vygon of Vygon Consultancy in Moscow said the oil petrochemical industry is the only area of oil products consumption that will grow long-term. "The pace of global petrochemical growth is double the growth of the global economy," Vygon said. As they increase in prosperity emerging economies will consume more of the products, such as personal care items, paints and furnishings, that are derived from petrochemicals, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a report. "Global economic growth is lifting more people into the middle class in developing countries and higher incomes mean sharply rising demand for consumer goods and services," it said. Rosneft, the world's top publicly listed oil producer, plans to produce 3.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals in the Russian Far East. The head of the company, Igor Sechin, the most influential energy official in Russia, has said the hydrocarbon share in global energy consumption will decrease in the long term, while petrochemical products and gas consumption will offset the decline in oil demand. Gazprom has also announced plans for a large-scale gas chemical complex on the Baltic Sea with investments of around $5 billion. (Editing by Katya Golubkova and Christian Lowe; Editing by Dale Hudson) (Adds details, updates oil price, changes dateline from NEW DELHI) RIYADH, May 18 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Friday it is consulting other oil producers in and outside OPEC to ensure the world has adequate supplies to support economic growth after prices hit $80 a barrel for the first time since 2014. OPEC's most influential energy minister, Saudi Arabia's Khalid al-Falih, said in a Twitter post that he had called his counterparts in the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Russia, as well as major oil consumer South Korea, to "coordinate global action to ease global market anxiety." Falih also said he had reassured the executive director of the International Energy Agency of "commitment to the stability of oil markets and the global economy" and that he would contact others over the next few days. On Thursday, Falih called Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to assure him that supporting global economic growth was "one of the kingdom's key goals," the Saudi government said in a statement, after India expressed frustration with the recent surge in oil prices. Oil prices held firm on Friday, with Brent crude trading at around $79.70 per barrel after the international benchmark broke through $80 for the first time since November 2014 the previous day. The Saudi Energy Ministry said on Thursday that the kingdom together with other producers would ensure the availability of adequate supplies to offset any potential shortfalls. India's Pradhan had expressed concern about the negative impact of escalating prices on consumers and especially the Indian economy, the world's third-largest oil consumer. India is one of the world's fastest-growing energy consumers and its oil use lags only that of the United States and China. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its ally Russia have cut their output since January 2017 to help reduce excessive global stockpiles. So far, OPEC has said it sees no need to ease output restrictions despite a fall in global stocks to the group's desired levels and concerns among consuming nations that the price rally could lead to demand destruction. OPEC member the UAE said on Thursday OPEC had bigger issues to consider than the impact of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the international nuclear deal with oil producer Iran, such as Venezuela's collapsing oil output. U.S. President Donald Trump has also called on OPEC to help cool oil prices, saying they were artificially high. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Rania El Gamal; writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Marwa Rashad; Editing by Dale Hudson and Alexandra Hudson) Police officers seal off the road on which Russian Sergei Skripal and his daughter have been staying in Salisbury, Britain, March 7, 2018. Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy poisoned by a nerve agent in Britain in March, has been discharged from hospital, England's health service said on Friday. Skripal was found collapsed on a bench on March 4 in the southern English city of Salisbury along with his daughter, who was discharged from hospital last month. "It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital," the hospital's Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack and Western governments including the United States have expelled over 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and has retaliated in kind. We've all heard about college dropouts who became billionaires. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Michael Dell all left college without a diploma only to succeed wildly. But the majority of the world's wealthiest people have a bachelor's degree. And, according to The Wealth-X Billionaire Census 2018, they tend to have graduated from the most prestigious universities. "The social elitism, prestige and fast-track career progression often associated with a private Ivy League education undoubtedly provides a springboard towards wealth creation and for some high achievers to attain billionaire status: Five of the top seven-ranked billionaire universities are Ivy League schools," Wealth-X reports. Leading the way is Harvard, the alma mater of 188 billionaires in 2017. Harvard grads those who earned an undergraduate or graduate degree represent 6.8 percent of the global billionaire population. In fact, more billionaires attended the school than attended Stanford, MIT and Yale combined. While No. 2 ranked Stanford has less than half the number of billionaire grads than Harvard, "the average net worth of Stanford's billionaire population is the highest," Wealth-X reports, adding that its high ranking "owes much to its location in the heart of Silicon Valley and its close integration with the global tech giants." Qatari Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed Bin Jassim al-Thani. Ozge Elif Kizil | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen exits a hotel in New York City, April 11, 2018. Brendan McDermid | Reuters The Miami section of the roadshow occurred April 4. Foreign Policy reported that one person who was at the forum in Miami said that Cohen had "sat in one roundtable discussion" at the event. A spokesman for the Qatari embassy said that Cohen had asked for the meeting with Al Thani, but would not confirm the meeting happened. "The State of Qatar has never been a client of Mr. Cohen," the spokesman told Foreign Policy. CNBC has requested comment from Qatar's embassy, as well as from Stephen Ryan, a lawyer for Cohen. Qatar's leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, met with Trump in the Oval Office at the tail end of the roadshow, on April 10. Just a day earlier, on April 9, FBI agents, armed with search warrants, raided the New York City home and office of Cohen, as well as a hotel room where he and his family had been staying while their apartment was being renovated. The agents, acting on behalf of federal prosecutors in Manhattan, seized documents and electronic files, as well as cells phones and other electronic devices. Prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible crimes related to his business dealings. President Donald Trump, right, and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 10, 2018. Mark Wilson | Bloomberg | Getty Images WATCH: Qatar makes changes to foreign investment policies President Donald Trump is mixing three issues that should not be mixed: trade, foreign policy and enforcement, said Max Baucus, former U.S. ambassador to China. And that could be a "real danger," Baucus told CNBC. U.S. and Chinese officials met this week in Washington to talk about trade. During those meetings, an agreement between the two countries including possible tariff reductions started to take shape, a senior administration official told CNBC on Friday. "The problem is he may give in on trade in order to get [North Korean dictator] Kim [Jong Un]," Baucus said on "Closing Bell." The summit between Kim and Trump is set to take place in Singapore, but it's unclear if it will occur. Kim has threatened to pull out and on Wednesday Trump said "we'll have to see" if the summit is still on. On Thursday, Trump said the North Korean leader was possibly being influenced by Beijing. "It's very dangerous because we don't know what's in Kim Jong Un's mind. We don't know what's in [Chinese President] Xi Jinping's mind. We don't know what's in Trump's mind," said Baucus, a Democratic former senator from Montana. "We can't trust Kim. It's also a bit hard to trust Xi Jinping. So I wouldn't give up a lot of stuff now hoping we can get Kim to go to Singapore and get a deal," he added. Baucus also slammed Trump's push to get Chinese company ZTE back into business in the U.S. Last month, the Trump administration barred U.S. companies from selling to ZTE for seven years. The ban was in response to the company's shipping of American goods to Iran and North Korea in violation of sanctions. ZTE has said the ban was unacceptable and threatened its survival. While top administration officials tried to separate Trump's comments from the trade talks, Trump muddled that message earlier this week. He said on Twitter that his reversal only relates to a "larger trade deal" his administration seeks with Beijing. Baucus said that while the trade issues with China are legitimate, ZTE should be prosecuted for violating the law. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. CNBC's Jacob Pramuk and Reuters contributed to this report. A training exercise involving U.S. B-52 bombers flying alongside South Korean warplanes was canceled following threats that Pyongyang would withdraw from a highly anticipated summit with President Donald Trump next month, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials. According to Friday's report, the officials said South Korea had asked to not participate in an air drill that also involved Japan and the U.S. The White House referred CNBC's request for comment about the Journal report to the Pentagon, which said plans for a separate exercise is continuing as planned. The news came a day after the Defense Department said the U.S. had no plans to scale back the exercises. When asked if the U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range bomber capable of deploying nuclear weapons, was leaving the exercises, chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said Thursday that the scope of the exercises has not changed. "These are alliance decisions, this is something that we do to ensure the readiness of both our forces as well as the South Korean forces," White said, noting that the training is "longstanding and defensive in nature." White also said the Defense Department has not held any talks to scale back its future training operations on the Korean Peninsula. "There has been no talk of reducing anything, there has been no talk of changing our scope. These are annual exercises and we are very transparent about them," White said. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that the administration was continuing to prepare for the June 12 summit in Singapore. Soon thereafter, Trump told reporters that if the meeting doesn't happen, the administration will move on. A woman using the Grab app on an Apple iPhone in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade on Friday officially launched an investigation into the takeover of Uber Technologies' Southeast Asia business by rival Grab, the ministry said. The investigation will take 180 days, with the possibility to be extended by up to 120 days, the ministry said in a statement. [The stream is slated to start at 11:30 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] President Donald Trump will discuss criminal justice reform in a summit at the White House on Friday. Trump plans to address the partisan divide in Congress on improving prison conditions and better-preparing prisoners for re-entry into society at the Prison Reform Summit, bringing together more than 100 activists, experts and policymakers. This comes as part of a push from the president's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner who proposed a prison reform bill with CNN commentator Van Jones and American Tax Reform president Grover Norquist. The bill, the Prison Reform and Redemption Act, would require the federal prison system to evaluate inmates after sentencing and provide services to help them avoid becoming repeat offenders, including drug treatment, job training and mental health counseling. Congress disputes have brewed over improving prison conditions, including measures regarding women's health and sanitary needs. The House Judiciary committee cleared an act which would place federal prisoners closer to home, allow more home confinement for lower-level offenders and expand prison employment programs. The First Step Act is a follow-up to the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act passed by the committee in February. The White House is pushing to conduct risk assessments on prisoners ready for re-entry to create customized programs to make them successful on the outside. Data-driven analysis on re-entry assessments is supported by a report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, saying taxpayers could save $1.47 to $5.27 on the cost of repeated crime and incarceration. "There is not enough cooperation and dialogue in the world today," Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum, told CNBC's Willem Marx on Thursday. The U.S. and EU are currently on track for a showdown over how to handle one of the linchpins of the global financial system following Trump's decision to re-impose tough economic sanctions on Iran. The president of the World Economic Forum (WEF) has urged European leaders to continue trying to find common ground with the President Donald Trump administration. The U.S. and EU are currently on track for a showdown over how to handle one of the linchpins of the global financial system following Trump's decision to re-impose tough economic sanctions on Iran. "We are in a situation where there is a more fractured world but in a more fractured world you have to incentivize more and closer cooperation," Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum, told CNBC's Willem Marx on Thursday. "There is not enough cooperation and dialogue in the world today," he added. Iran deal EU leaders are rushing to find an alternative solution to the landmark Iran nuclear deal, after Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the multilateral pact earlier this month. The U.S. president had often described the Iran nuclear accord as the "worst deal ever," while EU officials continue to believe it is vital for international security. Alongside the foreign minister of Iran, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. all signatories of the Iran nuclear deal gathered in Brussels on Tuesday to begin discussions on how to keep the accord alive. When asked whether he believed the U.S. was largely responsible for the current challenges to the transatlantic relationship, Brende replied: "I think we all have to work with the current U.S. administration." The WEF describes itself as the "international organization for public-private cooperation." Best known for its annual meeting in Davos, the Forum seeks to remain independent and impartial. Aside from Iran, the U.S. and Europe are also currently at odds over trade tariffs. Following the U.S. decision to raise duties on metals, Europe has been seeking a permanent exemption from the higher prices. A farmer harvests corn near Burlington, Iowa. Getty Images For 21st century Washington, governing is a climb that keeps getting steeper. Consider the farm bill defeated on the House floor Friday. As dramas in the capital go, this one is distinctly second-tier. But at the hands of both Democrats and Republicans, this massive 600-page legislation flunked the first big test of whether Congress can sustain the bipartisan coalition undergirding one of America's 20 largest industries. Since Congress first offered major support for agriculture during the Great Depression, farm assistance programs have faced a recurrent challenge in preserving political support. One in four Americans were involved in the industry then, but that has now shrunk to one in fifty. One modern breakthrough took place in the late 1970s, thanks to two farm-state senators. Democrat George McGovern of South Dakota and Republican Bob Dole of Kansas each at different points his party's nominee for president teamed up on a significant expansion in the food stamp program. They firmly linked two disparate constituencies: conservatives representing farmers in Midwest and Plains states, and liberals representing low-income Americans elsewhere, especially in big cities. That's been enough to pass an updated version of the farm bill every few years ever since. But the shifting winds of a fractious, polarized political system have rattled that consensus in several ways. First, the increasing concentration of farm production and profits into a diminishing number of large agri-businesses have left federal subsidies for commodity prices, conservation and crop insurance more vulnerable to political attacks. In some cases that produces bipartisan opposition as in an unsuccessful attempt on the House floor this week to curb subsidies for the sugar industry. The dominance of Big Agriculture also makes it easier for House Democrats to defect over issues closer to home. Far more than in Dole's era, today's GOP focuses consistently on cutting federal benefits for low-income Americans. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, accompanied by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), speaks at a news conference following a closed House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 19, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein | Reuters So Democrats rebelled en masse against this farm bill's new work requirements for food stamp recipients. Complaining that more than 1 million households would lose food stamp benefits, all 183 House Democrats on hand voted no. That defeated the bill because 30 House Republicans, defying lame-duck Speaker Paul Ryan and other party leaders, joined Democrats for radically different reasons. Their no votes reflected the the Trump-era centrality of restricting immigration. As Democrats and GOP moderates seek separate legislation to protect so-called immigrant "Dreamers," members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus decided the farm bill could become a bargaining chip to block them. Unable to gain the concessions they wanted, enough caucus members to sink the bill withheld their votes. Farm bills have failed before. Congress couldn't pass one on schedule in 2012, leading lawmakers to extend provisions of the 2008 version. The current law, which finally passed in 2014, is projected to cost $455 billion by its scheduled expiration later this year. With 2018 midterm elections looming, Congress could fall back on a similar stop-gap extension this year. But the Senate isn't giving up. As a senior member of the Agriculture Committee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky takes a strong personal interest in the issue. And because the farm bill won't be considered under special "reconciliation" rules requiring only a majority vote, Senate passage will require support from at least nine Democrats to surmount an opposition filibuster. That assures the Senate farm bill won't include the sorts of food stamp restrictions that helped sink the House proposal today. Which means, in turn, that Congress will have at least one more chance to patch together a bipartisan farm coalition once again. WATCH: GOP leaders set back as Farm Bill fails If you are concerned about that plastic garbage island floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean estimated at twice the size of Texas, consider the plate the plastic one you use and then toss into the garbage. Or the plastic straw that goes into your drink or the 500 million that Americans use each day. Environmental concerns are leading more cities around the United States, including Malibu, California, and Seattle, to ban the use of various single-serve plastic food-service items. As business owners, specifically restaurants and caterers, look for alternatives to plastic, a creative entrepreneurial boom is uncovering unconventional design approaches. Warsaw-based manufacturer Biotrem is making more than 10 million pieces of biodegradable disposable (single-use) tableware and cutlery that compost without need for industrial composting facilities within 30 days. For those who can't wait the 30 days, these wares are also "accidentally" edible. The tableware is made from wheat bran, a sustainable, plant-based resource available in many regions of the world. The cutlery is made from fully biodegradable PLA bioplastic and wheat bran. The idea to use wheat bran occurred in the late 1990s to Jerzy Wysocki, whose family's milling business dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century. Wysocki was looking for uses for wheat bran, a byproduct in the wheat grain milling process, other than animal feed or compost. The family milling business was small and couldn't compete with large mills taking over the market in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He gave up traditional milling and bet it all on the new model. Biotrem manufactures edible tableware and cutlery including plates, bowls and cups that solve a big environmental problem: Styrofoam, plastic and paper waste generated by consumers. The Warsaw-based company makes its edible plates and bowls from wheat bran. Biotrem According to Biotrem, 1 kg of wheat bran products generates in total considering the whole wheat cultivation process, transportation, processing and utilization around 1.3 kg of CO 2 ; 1 kg of polystyrene disposable plates or cups generates in total around 8.5 kg of CO 2 . Biotrem pricing may be too high for some small businesses $5 (MSRP) for a 10-pack of plates and $30 (MSRP) for a 100-pack. But Biotrem marketing specialist Artur Bednarz said the comparison to be made is not to typical paper or plastic single-use tableware, but to pricing of other plant/bio-based tableware, with which Biotrem is "pretty much on the same level." Its business is booming, and Biotrem expects pricing to come down as production ramps up in multiple locations. Biotrem's long-term business plan is spreading the technology behind its production of bio-based tableware and packaging outside Poland, which should lead to lower production costs, Bednarz said. European distributors such as large wholesalers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are ordering "really large quantities," according to Bednarz, mostly used by street-food joints, restaurants, event organizers and caterers. The company, which spent more than 5 million (US$5.9 million) on research and development to date, including support from the European Union and local authorities, is currently planning investments in the expansion of the current production plant and launching new facilities abroad. US efforts to move away from plastic are gaining Biotrem just picked up its first U.S.-based distributor, Coral Gables, Florida-based Veri Food, in January of this year. "We're selling everything Biotrem produces. It's going well," said Roberto Cavallini, marketing manager at Veri Food. "It's like Kellogg's [cereal] that you have for breakfast." While the jury is still out with humans, Cavallini said, "We did some tests with fish, and they eat it." He said actions taken by cities around the United States, such as Malibu, California, will be a boon to this industry. He has made presentations to officials in Southern Florida, including public school authorities. On June 1 a strict ban will go into effect in Malibu on single-use straws, stirrers and utensils. Plastic bags are already banned. Alternatives made from corn starch or corn sugar from the plastics industry are not allowed, as they don't compost quickly or without industrial facilities. Starbucks' hometown of Seattle has a similar ban going into effect on July 1. The increasing focus from municipalities is leading to some creative thinking from business owners in particular, restaurant owner Bob Morris, who owns popular Malibu spot Paradise Cove Beach Cafe, which serves 600,000 patrons annually. He found out seven weeks ago that the ban was coming. As an "old surfer," Morris said he agrees with the ban, given the state of the world's oceans. But his business couldn't figure out a way to use glass or stainless-steel straws in a sanitary way, and paper was too weak and didn't compost fast enough to use in straws. (McDonald's is testing paper straws in the U.K.) It took Morris waking up in the middle of the night to find the answer. "I woke up and said, 'I think I have the answer.' I had seen this piece of pasta in my mind." The pasta he saw was in the shape of a straw and was sold in a food market in Santa Monica. He thought it might work for a straw one day. That day came quickly. Morris said, "We call it 'The Amazing Pasta Straw." After the city of Malibu announced a ban on plastic straws, Paradise Cove Beach Cafe restaurant owner Bob Morris turned to pasta straws. Paradise Cove serves 600,000 patrons annually. Rad Bosselman It is an uncooked piece of pasta that works for up to four hours in any cocktail. The restaurant has already served more than 60,000 drinks using the pasta straw. Based on lack of customer complaints, "I ordered a few million out of Italy. ... Flour and water," Morris said. Business owners who pinch pennies over issues like these are truly pinching pennies, he said, as the cost of using the pasta straws over traditional plastic straws is negligible, a fraction of a penny. "I've been on the beaches for 50 years, and this is something very necessary to do. When people see the pasta straw, it's something they can embrace. It's cheap, it's available, and for sure it can make a dent in the environmental nightmare we humans have brought upon ourselves," Morris said. "The cost of straws in huge volume is three-quarters of a penny. Anyone talking about going out of business is baloney. This is a clean, simple solution to a challenging problem. ... I wouldn't want to be in the plastic straw business now." Paradise Cove expects to be ordering, and moving, a lot more pasta straws. "Pasta has only had one food use for hundreds of years. Now when we're talking about billions of straws, billions of anything is a lot," he said. After initial testing with tens of thousands of the restaurant's patrons, Morris said there was one complaint more like a question, about gluten in the straws. (He said experts informed him that gluten is not activated in the pasta until it is cooked.) We're not trying to make a million out of it, just trying to get usage of plastic down, and as an old surfer, that's a good thing. My son says, 'Using your noodle.' Bob Morris owner of Paradise Cove Beach Cafe in Malibu, California 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 In Skopje, May says we have been very clear we will be leaving the customs union and will operate an independent trade policy Mrs May then travelled to Skopje for talks and in a joint-media conference with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, she said Britain is committed to having a smooth trade agreement with the European Union so they can also ensure they dont have a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland enabling them to have an independent trade policy. She said: We have been very clear that we will be leaving the customs union and in future outside of that customs union be able to develop our own independent trade policy That we also deal with the issue in the Irish government that we do not have a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland but also that we are able to have an independent trade policy. That is what we will be doing and ensuring that at the end of the implementation period as form the end of December 2020 we will be able to operate an independent trade policy. Daily Express Editorial: Customs pact is road to ruin The Sun >Today: ToryDiary: A lesson from Wednesday evening in the Commons. May might win a Customs Union vote after all. Formal UK proposal on avoidance of hard Irish border to be published within weeks A new UK government proposal to ensure there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit is expected to be published within weeks. Following a high-level meeting in Sofia on Thursday, Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated that a proposed backstop customs arrangement put forward by the European Commission was unacceptable, and that the UK would soon be presenting its own white paper. The EU backstop plan, which was proposed by Michel Barnier in February, would result in Northern Ireland and Great Britain adhering to different regulations effectively placing a border in the Irish Sea. At the time, Mrs May rejected the idea, saying no UK prime minister could ever agree to such a proposal. Belfast News Letter The proposals could be out next week The Times Varadkar says he was not discouraged after bilateral talks with May Daily Telegraph But that border checks would still be required if the UK left the single market Guardian And what about the view from Brussels? FT DUP says no deal better than showing weakness Daily Telegraph Meanwhile, Mays spokesman says she intends to bring Brexit bill to commons in weeks Daily Express And will demand her backbenchers throw out Lords amendments The Sun Comment: May makes progress Heather Stewart, Guardian >Yesterday: Henry Hills column: May should not fall for the old fragile Union con on Northern Ireland Nelson: No deal is still an option, whether May likes it or not The clock keeps ticking Gina Mller, Guardian To remain in the EU system, unable to cut trade deals with the United States or anyone else, taking dictation while being unable to influence the rules: what would be the point of leaving? To at least a dozen Tories, perhaps more, it would be better to have no deal at all. This is, still, an option whether Mrs May likes it or not. Its sometimes said that there is no support in Parliament for a no-deal Brexit, but this overlooks a fairly important point. When MPs gave the Prime Minister permission to invoke Article 50, serving divorce proceedings to the European Union, this became the default position. Daily Telegraph >Today: Iain Dales column: Gammon and the patronising Remainers whove lost on Brexit but cant move on Javid criticises EU for not taking British citizens rights protection seriously enough Sajid Javid has attacked EU members over a lack of preparation for protecting the rights of UK citizens after Brexit. The Home Secretary is pressing European leaders for details of arrangements for British expats seeking to remain in the EU. He said the UK had taken significant steps to protect the rights of European Union citizens in Britain, but there is a lack of evidence that the rest of the EU is taking the issue as seriously for UK citizens. Mr Javid said it is currently unclear what systems member states are creating to ensure the rights of UK citizens in their countries are protected after the end of the implementation period in December 2020. Daily Express European Commission refers UK to ECJ for air quality limits breach It could result in a multimillion-pound fine The Times May expected to approve 10 Conservative peers to strengthen hand in Lords, including perhaps Lilley The British government faces huge fines from the European Court of Justice for failing to curb air pollution linked to thousands of early deaths in Britain every year. The European Commission announced it was referring the UK to the EUs top court on Thursday in Brussels but the lawsuit was first reported in March by The Telegraph. The decision fires the starting gun on a race to bring Britain back in line with air pollution limits before EU judges in Luxembourg impose hefty fines in the form of a daily penalty or lump sum. That ruling is expected within two years but could come sooner if proceedings are fast-tracked. If a Brexit deal is agreed, Britain will be in the transition period and still subject to the ECJs judgement at that time. Daily Telegraph Theresa May is expected to approve the creation of about 10 Tory peers and hand at least one to Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist party in an attempt to improve her weak position in the House of Lords, which has already voted 15 times against her government over Brexit. The elevations, which are expected to be announced in the coming days in Westminster, were immediately criticised by high profile remain Labour peer Lord Adonis as a desperate attempt by the prime minister to enlist people to boost her fragile position in the unelected upper house. Tories tipped for elevation include former ministers Sir Eric Pickles and Peter Lilley. Adonis said: This is a classic example of packing the Lords to try and make Brexit easier to endorse. Guardian Meanwhile, peers have composed a further amendment to Data Protection Bill The Times Comment: Lords reform remains unnecessary and damaging Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph Gyimah speaks of serious concern about free speech in UK universities Badenoch advises candidates about social media profiles Daily Telegraph Britain considering deploying 400 more troops to Afghanistan British universities are in danger of developing a mono-culture where only certain political views are accepted, an education minister has warned. Sam Gyimah, the Conservative MP for East Surrey, said one student he met during a nationwide tour of university campuses had Tory bitch written on her bedroom door after airing her political views in a lecture. In another university, a student had his car egged for expressing his political opinions, the universities minister said. Speaking to students at Kings College London, Mr Gyimah expressed serious concern at the state of free speech in UK universities. Daily Telegraph Britain is considering sending hundreds more troops to Afghanistan after pressure from President Trump, The Times understands. One of the options being looked at is for about 400 additional personnel to be deployed to the war zone as part of a Nato training mission, almost doubling the British presence. The United States said last year that it would send an extra 3,500 troops to Afghanistan, key areas of which have fallen under the control of the Taliban four years after the end of Nato-led combat operations. A final British plan has not been signed off but Whitehall sources say that Theresa May is expected to make an announcement at a summit of Nato allies in July. Mr Trump will attend the meeting then travel to Britain on his first official visit. The Times MoD says contribution kept under constant review Guardian Williamson has written to the Prime Minister to ask for the increase Daily Express More government Brokenshire says Grenfell-type cladding should be banned The Times Clark asks competition watchdog to look at supermarket supply FT Javid tells banks to suspend immigration checks following Windrush Daily Express Eustice says government has open mind about levy on disposable cups Daily Mail Bradford: The real gambling problem is online Fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) have been dubbed the crack cocaine of betting, having destroyed thousands of lives over the past few years and become the topic of heated public debate. On Thursday, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport finally ruled that the stakes on the highly addictive machines should be cut from a staggering 100 every 20 seconds to 2. The B2 machines exist in betting shops around the country and are a staple product for the industry; a large proportion of its profits depend on the income from these machines We are taking gambling addiction off the high streets and sending it online. The government has missed a trick in its regulation reforms. The Gambling Commission last year reported that online gambling was a growing area and that 18- to 24-year-olds would suffer the most. Guardian FOBT stake cut may not be implemented for another two years The Times Meanwhile, National Lottery age limit could rise to 18 Daily Telegraph Increased calls for Bercow to stand down after accusations that he called Leadsom a stupid woman in the chamber Its also alleged he muttered she was f useless Daily Telegraph Speakers office speaks of strong and differing views Guardian This is just the latest problem for the speaker Daily Mail John Bercow was overheard calling a female cabinet minister a stupid woman in the Commons chamber this week. The Speaker allegedly made the remarks about Andrea Leadsom, the Tory leader of the House. Some MPs also said they had heard him mutter that she was f***ing useless, though others present disputed that claim, according to The Sun. The allegations will intensify calls for his departure that were made after bullying accusations, which he denies. The Speakers Office said last night that strong and differing views were expressed on all sides in the Commons on Wednesday, when the remarks were reported to have been made. The Times More Conservatives Party set to appoint Sheleg as treasurer The Times There should be no sense of shame about mental illness James Cleverly, The Times May lacks reasoning power Polly Toynbee, Guardian Five things to do before the next election Will Tanner and Neil OBrien, The Sun >Yesterday: >Today: Claire Ward in Comment: If the Conservatives really want to work with trade unions, they will back one in its struggle with Boots Other parties Watson calls McCluskey controversial after his criticism of Labour MPs The Times Corbyns controversial Lords appointment Daily Telegraph Hamilton ousted as Ukip group leader in Welsh assembly Guardian Salmond waiting for IndyRef2 starting gun before re-entering politics Herald News in Brief Judy Terry is a marketing professional and a former local councillor in Suffolk. The fact that two of Londons richest boroughs, Wandsworth and Westminster, have Band D council tax rates of, respectively, 723 and 711, less than half that of the average across England which stands at 1,671, highlights how unfair this system has become. Average property prices beyond the M25 are a fraction of their equivalents in London, whilst wages outside London average less than 30,000. However, local authority bosses incomes are certainly comparable with some of the highest paid in the capital, with enviably generous pension entitlements. Nevertheless, two Suffolk councils (Forest Heath and St. Edmundsbury) which share many services, now propose increasing pay for top executives by up to 26 per cent, to aid future recruitment.. This means adding a reported 17,000 to the Chief Executives salary. There is no doubt that this is a very well run and ambitious authority, but such generosity lacks sensitivity when hard-working local people, living in areas of deprivation including Mildenhall and even parts of Newmarket are lucky to be paid as much as 17,000 a year. Meanwhile, a growing number of second home owners dodge paying council tax by registering properties as holiday lets and claiming small business rate relief. In the prime coastal areas of Southwold, Aldeburgh and Walberswick in Suffolk, more than a third of residential properties are registered as second homes, pushing up prices to the detriment of local communities. In Southwold, alone, 253 second home businesses benefit from this rate relief, which is equivalent to 551,744 a year. Just up the coast, also within the Waveney District, Lowestoft suffers pockets of deprivation and low aspiration; although the area now benefits from the expanding offshore wind industry, it deserves the added investment such a sum could contribute, creating more jobs and potentially helping to revive the fishing industry. As one local Conservative councillor says: It is unfair that people who can afford two homes are being subsidised by those who cant even buy one. Whilst tourism makes a valuable contribution to local economies, it shouldnt be at the expense of residents. Cornwall, which suffers from similar rate relief problems with second homes, is seeking devolved powers to end the practice. Despite its apparent affluence, Suffolk should do the same, especially given the pressures on social care for its expanding elderly population, and the plans to cut school transport seriously impacting rural areas. Taxpayers want to see local authorities delivering value for money: for example, separate charges for some bin collections could be avoided if all Suffolks councils signed up to a centrally controlled county-wide waste service, saving millions, instead of retaining separate operations. Millions could also be saved if Highways officials co-ordinated works with the various utilities (water, broadband, gas etc), fining them if roads and pavements are not restored to a high standard, and if projects overrun. Engagement would also prevent roads being repeatedly dug up just weeks after they have been resurfaced, causing huge inconvenience to local residents and businesses. Savings could repair urban potholes, which have proliferated to dangerous levels. Local authorities beyond the capital do have extra responsibilities, which is all the more reason for sharing resources to reduce costs, and Waveney with Suffolk Coastal are exemplars. But it is not an excuse for borrowing vast sums to become developers which is an increasing practice around the country in the hope of raising extra income. For example, Labour-controlled Ipswich Borough Council recently announced an increase in its borrowing from 56 million to build a commercial property portfolio to 350 million, without having any credible strategy for allocating such a vast sum. The council set up a company, led by an expert from a national firm of surveyors, with Labour councillors who lack any specialist property experience, appointed to the board, to manage the business. The problem is that there is no accountability or formal oversight of its activities, yet there is evidence from underbidders that the council has already overpaid by several million pounds for sites. Conservative councillors report being refused permission by the councils Operations Director, who doubles as the monitoring officer, to ask questions at Full Council because of commercial sensitivity. For the same reason, the Scrutiny Committee is toothless. Commercial property is notoriously volatile, so the secretive nature of these deals is worrying when the local taxpayer (the Ipswich population is less than 140,000) will ultimately have to repay the debt, potentially penalising future generations. At the very least, the company should have an experienced independent chair (the recently retired former chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership would be an ideal candidate) and publish an Annual Report, setting out the financial position for each acquisition, including tenancy agreements and rental levels, as well as ongoing maintenance costs. When public companies are required to provide such information, it should also be mandatory for local authorities dabbling in unfamiliar territory. The Government should urgently review its lending priorities; its own borrowings may be a few billion lower than in recent years, but it is funding a future financial crisis by allowing councils to build up enormous debts which are unlikely ever to be repaid. Iain Dale is Presenter of LBC Drive, Managing Director of Biteback Publishing, a columnist and broadcaster and a former Conservative Parliamentary candidate. Nick Boles commended a brilliant article in the Jewish Chronicle on Wednesday, in which Israel was taken to task for the killing of 58 Palestinians on the Gaza border. In it, he explained that, as a strong supporter of Israel, he couldnt stand by and not question the tactics used by the IDF earlier in the week. I agreed with every word. If youre a true friend of Israel, you have to hold its government to account when it engages in actions which are so clearly wrong and wholly disproportionate. Yes, we get the fact that Hamas isnt blameless here, but it seems to me quite clear that the actions of the IDF have played into its hands: it will be rubbing its hands with glee at the prospect of yet another generation of youngsters being radicalised into hating the Israelis. Israeli has an absolute right to defend itself and its borders but, if this action had been taken by Iran or Syria, can you imagine the howls of outrage there would be? Democracies dont behave in this brutal way, and ought to be capable of not rising to the bait put in front of them by terror organisations. Having said all that, Nick backtracked a day later following the claim that, of the 59 Palestinians killed, 50 of them were members of Hamas. I have to say that he didnt need to backtrack at all. Yes, you could argue that this suggests the IDF targeted the people they were shooting, but surely that suggests that it has been operating a blanket shoot-to-kill policy on anyone they believed was a Hamas member. Loathe them as I do, would I support a shoot-to-kill policy on Hamas supporters? No, I would not. Because that reduces would us to their level. Theres been a lot on social media this week about the use of the word gammon as an insult to Brexiteers by devout Remainers. Apparently were all red-faced, white, middle aged men. Some have said the word is being used in a racist way. I wouldnt quite go that far, but it is certainly unpleasant and patronising. I plead guilty to being white and middle aged although I dont usually have a red face. Its typical of these people to look down their noses at people they disagree with, on the basis that they consider themselves far cleverer and better educated than the dunderheads who voted Leave. The moral superiority they seem to have is quite astonishing. They cannot cope with the fact that Brexit has turned their worlds upside down. Both Matthew Parris and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown have said that Brexit has sent them to the edge of madness. Several others clearly fall into that category, too. I try to find it amusing, but I dont. There are two sides to any argument and, while I completely understand that many people disagree with Brexit, I often find the manner of their disagreement to be totally patronising. Many of them havent moved on from the referendum. They simply rehash the same tired old arguments, and fight battles which have already been lost. Im almost at the point of not even engaging in these debates any longer. Anyone who even mentions the word gammon deserves to be ignored, or muted on Twitter. And as for the pretentious #FBPE hashtag, well dont even get me started on that one I need a lie down. It is quite remarkable that the Conservatives have established a fairly consistent three to five per cent lead in the opinion polls. Given Cabinet divisions on Brexit and some government failures, this lead can hardly be explained by the ministerial brilliance. I wonder how long it will be before more people in the Labour Party put it down to the failings of their own partys leadership. They should have walked away with hundreds of gains in the local elections. They didnt. They should be way ahead in all the opinion polls. They arent. I wonder when they will ask themselves why that is. A man and a woman are getting married in Windsor on Saturday. Just thought you should know. Wednesday marked the 75th anniversary of the Dambusters raid, led by Guy Gibson. Lord Ashcroft wrote about it recently in the Daily Express. Back in the early 1980s I lived a few miles from the Eder Dam in Bad Wildungen. I spent many a happy hour relaxing by the lake. I remember the first time I visited it on a school exchange in 1979. I was walking along the dam wall, looking at a postcard of the moment the bomb hit and water fooded into the valley below, when a German man looked over my shoulder and exploded: You bloody English did that! Quick as a flash I looked at him, and said: Yes, and a bloody good job we made of it too. It was an astonishing feat of scientific and aviation brilliance, and when news of the successful raids broke in Britain, it really lifted peoples spirits. The very opposite happened in Germany. Which was really the point of it all. It also sent a strong message to Stalin, who had begun to doubt Britains war effort. Not any longer, after the raid. If you live near Bath, Jacqui Smith and I will be appearing at the Bath Literary Festival to record a live edition of our FOR THE MANY podcast on Sunday at 11am. Tickets are available on the festivals website! Come and say hello! We return to Brexit, the negotiation and customs but neither via the Governments clarified position on the Northern Ireland-related backstop, nor its plan to render the use of this backstop unnecessary (namely, staying tied to the Customs Union until 2021). Instead, our route is a Commons vote on Wednesday evening which the Government won by 301 votes to 269. Here is part of the story of how Ministers got there. After Theresa May became Prime Minister and as the last general election drew nearer, Conservative MPs were increasingly accused, in their constituencies, of supporting policies anathema to floating voters NHS cuts, for example. When they protested, and said that they had never supported any such plans, their votes against Commons Opposition Day motions were thrown back in their faces. These Labour motions were deliberately written in terms unacceptable to Tory Ministers. So Conservative MPs duly voted against them. And were then accused, in their seats, of opposing everything written into them support for current or increased levels of NHS spending, say. All this is part of the warp and woof of party politics, but there is a twist. Politics has got nastier. If you doubt it, glance back to last summers general election, and the experience of candidates who became targets for racist abuse, anti-semitism, death threats on social media, and physical intimidation. This was so for people of all parties, but Conservatives got the worst of it. Sheryll Murray had swastikas carved into her posters. Social media posts about her said burn the witch and Stab the c***. Andrew Percy was subject to anti-semitic abuse, and his staff were spat at. On this site, Joy Morrissey reported defaced election posters and screams of hatred. There was much more. At some point after he became Mays Chief Whip in 2016, Gavin Williamson settled on a scheme to reduce, since he could not prevent, some of the thuggery. Conservative MPs would no longer be whipped to vote against some Opposition Day motions. They would have a slightly easier time in their seats in consequence. And, because they were no longer required to be in the Commons on Wednesday afternoons, when those Opposition Day debates often took place, those MPs with marginal seats a long way away from Westminster would be able to return to them earlier, work in their constituences for longer, and boost their campaigning for re-election too. Meanwhile, the Government would simply ignore the terms of the Labour motions passed in consequence. John Bercow didnt like this shift at all. He complained that the balance of our constitutional settlement would be threatened if the executive stopped responding to the legislature. Ministers took no notice. Then, last year, Labour hit on a device to make them do so, at least in some cases namely the Humble Address, whose passing by the Commons would compel the Government to release papers. Guido Fawkes reports that Bercow himself first suggested the move to Keir Starmer, who was looking for a way of embarrassing the Government over its Brexit plans. The revival of the Humble Address paved the way for a first-class inter-Tory flare-up. Starmer put down an Opposition Day motion demanding that the Government release details of its so-called impact assessments on the effects of leaving the EU. As Ministers debated how to respond, Davis Davis and Williamson fell out. The Brexit Secretarys friends say that the whips advised that the motion would not be binding if passed. But the two men had different views of what to do about Opposition Day motions in any event. Williamsons approach was not to risk losing votes. Furthermore, he didnt want to whip Tory MPs against those motions anyway for the reason described earlier. Daviss take was that the Government could sometimes win votes that Williamson thought it would lose. He also believed that all governments with small majorities, or none at all, will lose some whipped motions anyway and must take the results on the chin. What happened next is now history. Conservative MPs werent whipped to vote against Starmers motion. The Government was compelled to release the papers. Davis was hauled before the Brexit Select Committee, before which he summoned a legion of angels to dance on a forest of pins in other words, he set out to persuade the committee of the difference between an informal assessment of an impactand a formal impact assessment. In short, the Brexit Secretary took yet more bullets for the Government, while the Chief Whip added further to his record of never having lost a whipped vote. Later, Williamson was promoted to Defence Secretary. His deputy, Julian Smith, succeeded him as Chief Whip. He took much the same approach to Opposition Day motions as his predecessor. And so we come to this Wednesdays vote. Once again, Labour put down a Humble Address motion. Once again, it would have compelled Ministers to release papers this time, all those concerning the customs partnership and maximum facilitation proposals considered by the so-called War Cabinet. Once again, the whips warned that the Government could lose the vote. ConservativeHome is told that senior civil servants went tonto. Untune that string, they cried; release those papers, and hark what discord will follow. Confidential decision-making in Government will become impossible. Our negotiation options will be laid bare to our EU interlocuters. Ministers weighed in not just leavers such as Davis, but former Remainers as senior as David Lidington. A decision was taken. The vote was whipped. And the Government won by the relatively comfortable margin of 32. Now stand back, for a moment, from this strange history. Never mind, for our purposes, who was right and wrong. Whether Williamson was right to seek to protect Tory MPs from abuse in their seats. Whether Bercow was right instead to champion the potency of Parliament. Whether Davis was right to say that sometimes governments must risk a bloody nose, and sock it to the opposition. Instead, mull the thought that the Government may be able to win some votes that the whips are convinced it will lose. Which returns us, at last, to Theresa Mays customs options. Staying tied to the Customs Union for longer, putting back dates at which new technology may become operable, keeping the discredited customs partnership option in play: much of the Governments internal hesitation, paralysis and anguish is driven by the belief that there is a Commons majority for the Customs Union. The lesson of this week is that there might not be that, when push comes to shove, some Labour MPs in Leave-backing midlands and northern seats wont vote for one or, more likely, will abstain. We end by repeating what a Cabinet Minister told this site last week Personally I am not convinced of a CU majority. I think we can burn off a few of ours plus get a few Labour votes and, equally important, absentions. The slight danger with the Flints [see here] is that they are not reliable allies and you are probably going to put them in an abstain column as against supporting the Government. We have managed to let this narrative establish that the Commons doesnt support Customs Union exit and frankly we have only ourselves to blame. I think we will need to vote on it, and we have a very decent chance of winning, but it will be tight. The danger is that Number Ten will take a bigger gamble by avoiding the inevitable, and you end up pleasing no-one by trying to get a broken compromise. 05/18/2018 A U.S. District Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Nestle Waters North America that claimed its Poland Spring brand water does not come from springs. The company said the Connecticut-based court granted its motion to dismiss the suit, filed last August by eleven consumers who claimed the product is essentially filtered groundwater. The court dismissed the complaint after reviewing the results of an independent investigation into whether Poland Spring meets the requirements of the federal spring water standard. We are pleased with the courts decision to dismiss this meritless lawsuit, said Charles Broll, Nestle Waters Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Poland Spring is what we have always said it is 100% natural spring water, meeting all FDA regulations for spring water. The lawsuit, similar to one filed in 2003, claimed Nestle Waters was misleading consumers by labeling the Poland Spring product as 100 percent natural spring water. Investigation concludes it's properly labeled Nestle says DLA Piper conducted an independent analysis of the Poland Spring product, determining that the water is properly labeled as spring water. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, chairman emeritus of DLA Piper, said in a statement that Poland Spring brand water sources satisfy the requirements of the federal spring water identity standard, and as a result, the use of the term spring water on Poland Spring labels is both accurate and appropriate. The federal regulations covering water products, and whether they can be considered spring water, are specific. Below are the standards that must be met: There's no delicate way to announce that cybercriminals have stolen sensitive information about half of the United States population, but Equifax at least deserves points for trying. Equifax, one of big three agencies that control the shadowy credit reporting industry, first announced its discovery of an unfortunate cyber security incident in early September. The incident potentially impacted 143 million consumers, then-chairman and CEO Richard Smith said, adding that the firm acted immediately to stop the intrusion. An Equifax-led investigation into the matter would be complete in several weeks, the company said. That turned out to be an extremely optimistic assessment. Another eight months passed until, finally, in a May 8 filing to the SEC, Equifax quietly said its investigation into the breach was complete, at least where the hack of government-issued identification is concerned. Through the companys analysis, Equifax believes it has satisfied applicable requirements to notify consumers and regulators, the credit reporting behemoth wrote in the filings. It does not anticipate identifying further impacted consumers. The filing, Equifax seems to hope, will finally bring this dark chapter in its history to a close. Over those previous eight months, the Equifax breach evolved from a clearly disappointing event that Equifax said would soon be resolved to an ongoing international scandal and criminal case. From a small sale to insider trading Though Equifax said it acted immediately upon discovering that consumer information was accessed on July 29 of last year, some people questioned why the official announcement about the incident did not arrive until September 7. It didnt take much digging for financial journalists to find a potential answer. Later that day, Bloomberg News was reporting on its discovery that three Equifax executives sold $1.8 million worth of their shares in the company on August 1, one day after Equifax had said the breach was discovered. John Gamble, the companys Chief Financial Officer, sold a reported $946,374 worth of stock. Joseph Loughran, the president of U.S. information solutions, and Rodolfo Ploder, president of workforce solutions, sold a respective half a million and quarter million worth of options. In a statement to Bloomberg, an Equifax spokesperson initially described the $1.8 million sale as a small percentage of their Equifax shares and added that the executives had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time. By November, Equifax had backtracked slightly, saying that it had agreed to launch an investigation into the sale. Luckily for the executives, the Equifax-led investigation found that the suspicious-looking stock dumping was perfectly legal. But by March, a former Equifax executive was facing federal insider trading charges -- only this executive was a different one from the three that were cleared in the company investigation. Jun Ying, a former information officer, "used confidential information to conclude that his company had suffered a massive data breach and dumped his stock before the news went public, federal prosecutors said. It remains unclear why Ying knew about the breach while other executives did not. Equifax says it is cooperating with authorities, explaining to the press in March that "we take corporate governance and compliance very seriously, and will not tolerate violations of our policies. John Gamble, the Chief Financial Officer who sold nearly a $1 million worth of his stock on August 1, remains at the company and is responsible for all financial functions at Equifax, according to his Equifax bio. Monitoring credit and giving away rights One potential way to keep people from panicking or getting angry about their data being stolen is to frame the unpleasant announcement as a chance to get something for free. Company to Offer Free Identity Theft Protection and Credit File Monitoring to All U.S. Consumers, the first Equifax press release revealing the breach said in big, bold letters. Shortly after, Equifax had its new crediting monitoring website live and ready to go. At the unfortunately titled page equifaxsecurity2017.com, users were instructed to enter the last four digits of their social security numbers and their last names. From there, they could find out if they were impacted by the breach and enroll in credit monitoring. But some consumers reported being told that their data was impacted, regardless of whether they put in a correct name and matching social security number. And after reading through the terms and conditions, advocacy groups warned that consumers may be walking into a trap. By agreeing to the terms on the website, consumers were agreeing to waive their rights to sue the company, according to a vague arbitration clause included in the fine print. The National Consumer Law Center was among the advocacy groups warning consumers that the open-ended language in the clause would prevent consumers from taking Equifax to court. Consumers and media have raised legitimate concerns about the services we offered and the operations of our call center and website, CEO Rick Smith responded in an editorial in USA Today. We accept the criticism and are working to address a range of issues. Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and other prominent Democratic lawmakers pressed Equifax about the arbitration clause. Equifax subsequently agreed to reword the agreement, explaining in the new fine print that the arbitration measure only applied to the credit monitoring service itself, not the cyber security incident in question. Meanwhile, as that controversy played out, the official Equifax Twitter account continued to urge consumers to visit their security page and sign up for free credit monitoring. It took several weeks for people to notice that Equifax had been sending people to the wrong page. Instead of sending consumers to equifaxsecurity2017.com, the Equifax Twitter account instead directed consumers to securityequifax2017.com, a fake phishing site that someone had created for the express purpose of ridiculing Equifax for creating an easily impersonated domain. Equifax eventually apologized for the confusion, admitted that it had shared the wrong link, and removed the offending posts. Credit locking, and more of the same Several months later, in February 2018, Equifax rolled out Lock & Alert, a service offering a credit lock, marketed as a step below a credit freeze. While locks are not as secure as credit freezes, they are also cheaper and easier to implement. In fact, Equifax said that its lock service was completely free. And, responding to the previous criticism about arbitration agreements, Equifax explicitly said that consumers who signed up for Lock & Alert were not agreeing to any arbitration provision. The consumer-empowerment approach that is offered through Lock & Alert is what people have come to expect, Equifax said in promotional materials. Not long after, consumers discovered that the experience of locking ones credit might not be as empowering as they were led to believe. It turned out that consumers who signed up for the service were unknowingly agreeing to let Equifax use their information for marketing purposes, according to advocacy group US PIRG, which reviewed the sites fine print. And a reporter at NBC News found that the service didnt work; an error message repeatedly appeared on the screen saying that we are experiencing technical issues. I think it's fair to say as with any service we did have some initial operational issues shortly after the launch, Equifax spokeswoman Nancy Bistritz-Balkan told NBC News. But our team has been working around the clock to document the issues and address it appropriately. Equifax goes abroad Equifax focused its breach investigation on United States consumers, giving only a brief mention to impacted people in Canada in the UK. Equifax also identified unauthorized access to limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents, is all the firm had to say about the matter in September. When people questioned what limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents actually meant, Equifax clarified that 400,000 people in the UK and 100,000 Canadians were affected. That might sound like a figure a little too significant to describe as limited, but Equifax said that the breach was related to something else, an apparent process failure, as the company called it, that occurred a year earlier. This was due to a process failure, corrected in 2016, which led to a limited amount of UK data being stored in the US between 2011 and 2016, Equifax told the British press. Several weeks later, Equifax revised the number yet again. The company announced that 700,000 UK residents would receive notices about their data being hacked. An additional 14 million records in the UK were also stolen, Equifax clarified, but the cases were not considered serious enough to warrant direct notifications to those consumers. An Equifax spokesman later offered this explanation about the many discrepancies affecting British Equifax victims to the BBC: "This information does not change the number of consumers affected or any of the UK figures/statements already provided. More people exposed In March, Equifax said that an additional 2.4 million consumers in the United States had their information hacked, bringing the original figure of 143 million Americans that Equifax had tallied closer to 145.5 million. Though the announcement seemed like new information, Equifax insisted that it was not. This is not about newly discovered stolen data, interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. said. In what has become a familiar talking point, he said a new analysis of the stolen data had simply provided Equifax more clarity. Its about sifting through the previously identified stolen data, analyzing other information in our databases that was not taken by the attackers, and making connections that enabled us to identify additional individuals, Barros explained. Exposed phone numbers and passports In February, Equifax submitted a document to the Senate Banking Committee saying that hackers also accessed phone numbers, email addresses, and the expiration dates for credit cards. That appeared to be worse than the birth dates, addresses, and, in some instances, drivers license numbers and credit card numbers that Equifax said had been stolen to the public. An Equifax spokesman explained to Wall Street Journal that "in no way did we intend to mislead consumers." Rather, she said that the list given to Congress only reflected minimal portion of consumers affected. Based on the statements from Equifax, the public seemed to have the impression that their passport data at least was safe. And some data like passport numbers were not stolen, the Associated Press confidently reported in February. However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren published an independent report not long after claiming that passport information was, in fact, stolen. Equifax said that the senators characterization of what was stolen was not accurate. The easiest way to understand this is that there was a field labeled passports [that was hacked] with no actual data in it, an Equifax spokeswoman told the New York Post in February. But in an SEC filing in early May, Equifax indicated that scanned images of passports were stolen from thousands of consumers who had used the agencys dispute portal. In a statement, Equifax said it hadnt been trying to hide that information. The passport information that it said wasnt hacked came from a different data set than the stolen passport data it had discovered more recently. Our response earlier this year regarding passports was related to the data elements contained in the database tables accessed by the attackers, an Equifax spokeswoman told ConsumerAffairs in a statement. In response to a request from Congress to provide quantities of each data element impacted, in the interest of completeness, we manually reviewed the images stolen from the dispute portal in order to include the numbers of government-issued identifications contained within those images, she added. No unauthorized activity on core services Throughout its repeated updates and disclosures about what was hacked, Equifax has maintained that it found no evidence of unauthorized activity on Equifaxs core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases. What that statement actually means is up for debate. Senators and consumer groups have complained that the definition of core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases is overly broad. From a consumer standpoint, identity theft crimes possibly related to the hack already seem to be taking place, affecting core business at least where victims are concerned. Earlier this year, an accountant and several consumers went public with stories about identity thieves collecting government benefits on their behalf. Experts said the crimes could have been made possible thanks to the Equifax hack, as well as vulnerabilities on the social security website itself. While Im not entirely sure how the thief obtained my personal information, its likely that the Equifax data breach...contributed to the identity theft, accountant Jim Shambo, one such identity theft victim, wrote in a blog post. Luckily for Equifax, such scenarios could turn out to be beneficial for the credit reporting agency. Or as Equifax CEO Rick Smith told a conference in August; Fraud is a huge opportunity for us. It is a massive growing business for us. Equifax has not yet returned an inquiry from ConsumerAffairs asking, among other questions, whether there is any truth to the allegations leveled by Warren and others that it has profited off its own breach. But, in the grand tradition of Equifax disclosures, Smith also appears to have changed his story and updated his perspective on the matter. A month after saying fraud was a huge opportunity for Equifax, the CEO published an editorial in USA Today clarifying that the Equifax hack had been humbling and bad for the company. We are devoting extraordinary resources to make sure this kind of incident doesnt happen again, Smith wrote. We will make changes and continue to strengthen our defenses against cyber crimes. Two weeks after making that promise, Smith suddenly decided to retire. He left with a compensation package worth $90 million. CORNWALL, Ontario William Sanders, 26, of Ingleside was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with break and enter. It is alleged in the early morning hours of May 10, 2018 the man forced his way into a Second St. W. business and police were contacted to investigate. The man was located in the area, taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court at a later date. THEFT UNDER $5,000, BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario William McDonald, 24, of Cornwall was arrested on May 9, 2018 and charged with theft under $5,000 and breach of two probation orders for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on May 8, 2018 the man entered a Pitt St. business and removed property making no attempt to pay for the property as he left the store. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. The man was located on May 9, 2018, taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. THEFT UNDER $5,000, POSSESSION OF PROPERTY OBTAINED BY CRIME, POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario Adrian Oliver, 34, of Huntingdon, QC and Mathieu Pitre, 25, of St.Zotique, QC were arrested on May 9, 2018 and charged with possession of property obtained by crime, possession of controlled substances and breaches. Oliver was also charged with theft under $5000. It is alleged on May 9, 2018 Adrian Oliver attempted to remove property from a Brookdale Ave. store and police were contacted to investigate. Both Oliver and Pitre were located a short distance away and found to be in possession of a stolen car. They were taken into custody and found to be in possession of a quantity of Speed. Both were charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. THEFT UNDER $5,000, ESCAPE LAWFUL CUSTODY CORNWALL, Ontario A 16-year-old Cornwall youth was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with theft under $5,000 and escape lawful custody. It is alleged the youth removed property from a local business on March 28, 2018 and on May 10, 2018 left a temporary youth detention center without permission. He was located by police, taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as per provision off the Youth Criminal Justice Act. BREACH, WARRANT CORNWALL, Ontario A 26-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on May 9, 2018 and charged with breach of recognizance for failing to notify a change of address, breaching curfew, communicating with his ex-girlfriend and attending her residence. He was also charged with breach of probation for communicating with her, being within 100 meters of her and for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on May 9, 2018 the man was found to be at his ex-girlfriends residence despite his conditions. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and it was learned there was a warrant issued for his arrest as he had failed to attend court earlier in the day for a break and enter charge. The man was held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as the conditions stem from a domestic incident and would identify the victim in the matter. FRAUD, BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario Blake Atwell, 42, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with two counts of fraud and breach of undertaking and probation for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged during the month of November, 2017 the man fraudulently withdrew money from an account that did not belong to him on two occasions and police were contacted to investigate. On May 10, 2018 the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on July 3, 2018. WARRANT CORNWALL, Ontario Michael Denneny, 38, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 on the strength of a warrant. It is alleged the man failed to attend court on May 8, 2018 for threats charge and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On May 10, 2018 the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody on the strength of the warrant and released to appear in court on July 3, 2018. BREACH CORNWALL, Ontario Gilles Desforges, 41, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with breach of undertaking for attending a specific store and failing to keep the peace. It is alleged the man attended a local store on May 9, 2018 despite his conditions and police were contacted to investigate. During the investigation the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on June 14, 2018. FAIL TO ATTEND FOR PRINTS CORNWALL, Ontario Darin Cooper, 22, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with failing to attend for prints. It is alleged the man failed to attend for prints on April 23, 2018 and an investigation ensued. He was taken into custody on May 10, 2018, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. IMPAIRED OPERATION, OVER 80 CORNWALL, Ontario Shawn Valade, 43, of Cornwall was arrested on May 10, 2018 and charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle and over 80. It is alleged on May 10, 2018 the man was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in the area of Thirteenth Street and Brookdale Avenue. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on May 17, 2018. There were 36 calls for service in the City of Cornwall in the last 24 hours (8 a.m. the previous day to 8 a.m. the day of the release). To see whats happening in your neighbourhood visit our Crime Plot Map @ http://www.cornwallpolice.ca/ . CCPS reserves the right not to post all calls for service in order to protect the identity of the victims. CORNWALL, Ontario The Eastern Ontario schools of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO) gathered in Cornwall on Thursday night, May 10, to celebrate their faith based education in song. Sunday, May 6 to Sunday, May 13 was Catholic Education Week and the school board held events celebrating their education all week long. Every year, one event held to help celebrate Catholic Education Week is the Celebrating our Catholic Faith in Song event, which was held Thursday night at the old GV auditorium, now a part of St. Josephs Cathoic Secondary School. There were 13 schools from across the region in attendance that night with their school choirs ready to celebrate in song. Last years event drew more than 800 parents and students. Parents are so proud of their kids and they love to get to see them perform, said Natalie Cameron, Superintendent of the CSDBEO. The event was kicked off by Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School with the songs Ave Maria and From Now On and was closed by St. Joes with Dont Stop Believing and Good, Good Father. Baked treats were provided by the St. Matthews Catholic Secondary School hospitality class. James Gray was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army. At the end of the American Revolution, British officers were given large land grants to settle into new colonies. Where Grays Creek is situated today, is the land that Colonel James Gray owned and lived on. (It has obviously been named after him.) Colonel James Gray had four coloured slaves. Two were women, and two were men. The men were brothers: Simon and John Baker. James Gray died in 1795, and left his land and property to his son, Robert Isaac Dey Gray. When Robert took control of his fathers property, he decided to travel to New York State, and purchased a coloured slave named Dorinda. Dorinda was Simon and Johns mother. Robert brought Dorinda back to his farm, and freed her. Dorinda ended up working for Captain Samuel Anderson, a local judge, as his house servant. (Captain Andersons land is down the road from Grays Creek, where the Glen-Stor-Dun-Lodge is today. There is a plaque detailing Captain Andersons history, just West of the property, close to the sidewalk for the public to view.) Robert Gray eventually became the Attorney-General of Upper Canada. He tried to create new laws which aimed at giving slaves a better quality of life. Robert died in November 1804, along with his slave Simon. They were on a ship in Lake Ontario when a storm hit. The ship sank, taking both men down with it. In his will, Robert freed his remaining three slaves, and left them money and land to support themselves. In a Toronto newspaper from December 1869, John Baker is quoted as saying, I and mother were Freed by Grays will. We got a little of the money he left for us, but not much. The Gray family has a very interesting history, but what captivated my interest the most while I began researching about James Gray and his son, was the history of their slaves. The slave that caught my attention, was John Baker. John Baker was unlike most coloured slaves in the area. He was well-educated, and he could read and write. In his memoirs, he states that he worked for a judge who lived in York (Toronto) after Robert Gray died and freed him. In 1812, John volunteered for the Upper Canada militia to repel the American invasion. He already had military experience, because he had also fought in the American Revoultion. John fought in several major battles: Fort Erie, Sacketts Harbour, and Lundys Lane. At the end of the war John was given a pension for his efforts. He was granted one shilling a day for the rest of his life. In 1815, John enlisted in the British army to fight in the Napolenoic Wars in Europe. He fought in two battles, and claimed in his memoirs that he saw Napolean riding his horse. John eventually returned to Upper Canada, and lived in Cornwall for the rest of his life. For the last few years of his life, he was seen daily, limping down Pitt Street to visit P. E. Adams store. He completed odd jobs for Mr. Adams, and always sat in one particular seat in the store. It is said that the floor was worn away in the place where his feet always rested. John died on January 17, 1871, and the local newspaper at that time claimed that he was 105 years old at the time of his death. The Canadian Encyclopedia states, In some ways, Bakers life was unique. He may have been the last surviving Upper Canadian slave. He had seen his adopted homeland become Upper Canada, Canada West, and then, the Dominion of Canada. Conduent is selling off its commercial vehicle operations as part of its planned divestiture of up to a half a billion dollars in assets, the company said in a statement. Conduent said its commercial vehicle operations business -- which generated about $70 million in revenue in 2017 is expected to be purchased by Alinda Captial Partners. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions. "As we continue on our path focused on our core business to drive profitable growth and divest non-core assets, we made the decision to sell our CVO business," Conduent president Dave Amoriell said in a statement. "This sale will enable us to increase focus on advancing our technology platforms that will best serve our large enterprise customers and scalable business relationships." [RELATED: Report: Fujifilm To Sue Xerox, Claims Merger Agreement Is Still 'Valid' ] Xerox created Conduent when it spun off its business services division in 2016. The company formerly known as Affiliated Computer Serivces was purchased by Xerox for $6 billion from founder Darwin Deason. ACS was known for creating electronic toll collection systems and photo traffic enforcement solutions prior to being owned by Xerox. Conduent sold the former Dallas headquarters of ACS in 2017 which resulted in $24 million in income and it has closed approximately 130 offices in locations around the world, the company has previously said. Conduent has said it is evaluating all of the assets it inherited when it split from Xerox, with the goal of creating a leaner organization that's more targeted to their core operations. The Florham Park, N.J.-based company said it wants to achieve $700 million of cost savings by the end of 2018, The company recently announced that it was selling the non-core consulting and actuarial segment once known as Buck Consultants to H.I.G. Capital, a global private equity company with offices in Miami, Boston and New York. In a statement, Conduent said that after that sale it will be focused on digital business platforms, as well as retaining Human Resources Outsourcing, Total Benefits Outsourcing, BenefitWallet and RightOpt. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP is serving as legal counsel to Conduent. Rackspace has taken a major dive into the Salesforce ecosystem, revealing on Thursday its acquisition of a consulting partner that will form the foundation for a new Software-as-a-Service practice. The managed cloud giant has closed a deal for RelationEdge, a Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partner headquartered in San Diego, Calif. that has expanded into a dozen U.S. cities since its founding in 2013. The buy, at an undisclosed price, is the latest step in an evolution toward delivering scalable application servicesone that got going in earnest one year ago, when Rackspace bought Boston-based TriCore Solutions, Gerard Brossard, executive vice president of Rackspace Application Services, told CRN. [Related: Rackspace To Acquire Datapipe In A Blockbuster Deal For Global Cloud Services] The San Antonio, Tex.-based company has been eyeing a move toward SaaS since the TriCore acquisition, at the time the most expensive in its history, which put Rackspace in the business of managing mission-critical Oracle E-Business Suite and SAP solutions, Brossard told CRN. Salesforce was a natural place to start, he said. But "this is more than about the Salesforce space," Brossard emphasized. "It's our whole application strategy." That application strategy aims to encompass delivery of three types of apps: custom, packaged, and now SaaS. Other than an Office 365 resale business, Rackspace had never before partnered with a SaaS vendor. Moving into managed SaaS was necessary, Brossard said, because Rackspace is committed to meeting customers wherever they are in their digital transformation process. While RelationEdge's only technology alliance is with Salesforce, the company's expertise is around business processes. That skillset it has nurtured among its 125 employees can, and will be extended, to other cloud software ecosystems, Brossard said. "They first talk to customers at the business process level. They discuss business outcomes," he said of the solution provider. "It becomes a foundation for us to build on," he said, by adding SaaS capabilities beyond the CRM leader. The RelationEdge branding will be maintained within Rackspace, and the organization will remain entirely intact. The solution provider's founder and CEO, Matt Stoyka, will join Rackspace and report directly to Brossard. Once RelationEdge is operating as a division of Rackspace, Brossard said the "selection of technology opportunities will expand." Brossard wouldn't say what other SaaS vendors Rackspace hopes to join forces with. There were discussions with Salesforce during negotiations to buy RelationEdge to ensure the cloud software giant supported Rackspace's entry into its ecosystem, Matt Bradley, Rackspace's chief strategy officer, told CRN. The embrace of SaaS is part of a larger transformation that started in 2015 with a managed services alliance with Microsoft Azure, at the time seen entirely as a competitor to Rackspace in the Infrastructure-as-a-Service market. Major deals of that sort followed with Amazon Web Services, and later Google Cloud Platform. The strategic shift from cloud infrastructure provider to multi-cloud managed services partner accelerated when Rackspace was privatized in 2016. Last night, recording artist Craig David dazzled employees suppliers and media at an exclusive ceremony to celebrate the launch of Marella Cruises newest ship, Marella Explorer, in Palma, Majorca. The cruise line said the show represented a chance to showcase the new, modern Marella Cruises brand. As the countdown began to officially launch Marella Explorer, 10 special team members - each representing a different part of the ship held a beam of light that released the champagne bottle to christen the ship. The hour-long spectacular was the brainchild of Black Skull Creatives Dan Shipton, Ross Nicholson and Jay Revell, who together have produced high profile shows for artists such as Dua Lipa, Paloma Faith and Ellie Goulding. Managing Director of Marella Cruises, Chris Hackney, said: The launch of Marella Explorer marks an exciting time for us as she is the first ship to officially launch under the Marella Cruises name, so it was an honour to have Craig David join us in celebrating such a fantastic night. The crowd went wild during his performance. Marella Explorer marks the next step in the continued modernization and growth of the Marella Cruises fleet. We pride ourselves on continuing to offer more ships, new destinations and fantastic service and the futuristic feel of this evening has given a real glimpse of how we are continuing to look to the ahead. The ship departs for its maiden voyage on May 19. Princess Cruises has released its 2019-2020 South America season with 14 departures including three voyages sailing to Antarctica. Among the highlights, a 58-day South America voyage circumnavigates the continent and offers the opportunity to visit icons of the region, including Easter Island, Rios Carnival, Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, Patagonia and more. The Coral Princess and Island Princess cover the entire continent for the 2019-2020 season, featuring three departures to the Antarctic Peninsula for scenic cruising, departing aboard Coral Princess December 20, 2019, January 5 and 21, 2020. South America is a highly-desired destination for our guests with so many landmarks and cultures to explore, said Jan Swartz, president, Princess. This upcoming season also marks our return to Antarctica which we know is a huge draw for travel seekers and has been voted a top place to visit. Social security numbers are meant to act as an identifier. But if ill-intended actors snatch that number, it can be used for identity fraud. New technologies, like behavioral biometrics, are being developed as a new means of authentication, ending reliance on a single, centrally stored ID. Why do we use social security numbers as a form of ID? Social Security Numbers were initially created in 1936 for the sole purpose of tracking the earnings of U.S. workers. Now, the social security number may be the most commonly used numbering system in the United States. Born out of convenience, these numbers have transformed into a national, federated form of ID. The simplicity of using a unique number already assigned to most U.S. citizens encouraged widespread use of these numbers by government agencies and enterprises to easily identify people in large record systems and databases. Today, social security numbers are required for everything from opening bank accounts to applying for loans, marriage licenses and jobs. In theory, social security numbers should be an acceptable method of identification. However, the problem with social security numbers is that, like passwords, credit cards and other personally identifiable information (PII), they are centrally stored by businesses in one place. These databases create an attractive target for hackers, as it removes the work of having to scour multiple places to look for the information they seek to steal. As a result, social security numbers are easy to steal, and easy to use once obtained. It is also much harder for the owner of a number to have it changed, meaning fraudsters can take advantage for extended periods of time. Some of the biggest cyber attacks that have occurred in the last year have proved just how easy it is to steal social security numbers. The global WannaCry ransomware attack began by striking hospitals and healthcare systems in the UK, as the data stored are considered highly valuable on the black market. Healthcare organizations often struggle to put up the most basic cyber safeguards, and many still function on legacy IT systems that have not been updated. Hospitals and other institutions also tend to store patient information from insurance provider to social security numbers on centralized systems, and since these databases have little to no protection, even the smallest cyberattack is felt on a large scale. Equifax is another benchmark example. Out of the 146 million people affected worldwide, about 145.5 million social security numbers were stolen topping the list of compromised PII. What makes this instance even worse is that even an individual who is not a direct customer can still be affected. Anyone who obtains these stolen credentials can commit anything from account takeover to racking up credit card charges. But fraudsters who get their hands on social security numbers can create major headaches for the true owner, such as stealing their identity or creating synthetic IDs, and using it to steal goods, commit crimes, file false tax returns, and more. If social security numbers are so easy to steal, why do we still rely on them? A key issue is that since we rely on social security numbers to such a great extent, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do without them. Like passwords, they are familiar theyve existed as a method of identification and authentication since 1972. Not to mention, they are convenient. Social security numbers are assigned to virtually every U.S. citizen; everyone has one. Replacing them would be a cumbersome task for the government. Other countries have attempted to make a change. In India, the government implemented its unified ID program, Aadhaar, where the entire country has shifted to a digital identification method with biometric markers and a 12-digit number assigned to every citizen. Aadhaar is tied to aspects of their lives. Similarly, Estonias government issued an e-Residency program with digital national ID cards using cryptographic keys, assigned to every citizen. But recently, both sets of ID have proved vulnerable to cyberattacks. With PII of Indian and Estonian citizens stored on one central, digital server, those ID numbers are easy targets for hackers. However, we are entering a world of self-sovereign identity, where individuals seek to take back control of their PII. People dont want to rely on government agencies or third parties to issue identifiers or store their information. They want to create and own their identifiers, and choose which information they want to share, and with who they want to share it with. Are other alternatives on the table? Biometrics are quickly growing into a popular form of identification, as we witnessed with the launch of Apples FaceID. But even though fixed biometric markers like facial scans and fingerprints are hard to replicate, theyre not foolproof, especially when stored in one easy-to-access location. Another alternative being explored is behavioral biometrics. Models are derived from an individuals behavioral patterns using AI and stored on their device. These models are based on the specific way an individual taps, types and swipes their device, also accounting for geolocation and device type. AI algorithms continuously build upon these models and analyze them for even the slightest sign of potential fraudulent behavior. The added benefit of storing behavioral biometrics on-device goes beyond making hacking more difficult it gives people control of their virtual ID. The user is given control over their own identity, on their own device. With that, users are empowered to authorize access to someone even for a temporary basis with, for instance, a virtual one-time token. If a user is conducting an online transaction, he or she may grant a bank a QR code with the specific PII it is requesting for verification. Blockchain is also being considered by many as a driver for self-sovereign identity. Rather than a single, centralized entity controlling where the data is stored, blockchain can be used to store hashed attestations of user data while minimizing the number of hackers trying to break into a centralized system. Services can be authorized by validating this hash on the blockchain with user consent and behavioral authentication. Though it may take time before social security numbers are completely replaced, the alternative methods being explored are promising. Methods like behavioral biometrics, decentralization and on-device secure storage will prove to be formidable solution, taking the responsibility of protecting PII away from businesses and government entities, and giving individuals the power of choice. On the way to the Democratic state convention, Eva Bermudez Zimmerman started her day with a spark of difficult emotion. It was not about her quest to win the election for lieutenant governor. That would come later - with an upbeat tone, as she told me she had 38 percent of delegates and rising as of midafternoon. Im very much nearing the 50 percent that I need, she told a small gathering of Democrats. Before all that politicking, Bermudez Zimmerman left her home in Newtown and stopped in Hartford to talk to a 9 a.m. class at the Global Communications Academy, as a volunteer for Connecticut Against Gun Violence. She gave the 20 teenagers a harrowing story -- about losing two friends who were shot to death when she was a student 16 years ago in that very building, then Quirk Middle School. The 30-year-old union organizer didnt lose her composure but she came close. I dont usually talk about gun violence, its too emotional for me, she told them. As she set out toward the convention hall - with a long stop at a Park Street salon -- Bermudez Zimmerman rebuffed the notion shes a disruption to a Democratic Party trying to unify the top of its ticket. Im fortifying the party, she declared. Ned Lamont, who will win the endorsement overwhelmingly Saturday, persuaded Susan Bysiewicz to drop out of the race for governor and join him as his pick for the No. 2 spot. That caused Bermudez Zimmerman, already exploring a run with an eye toward lieutenant governor, to gain momentum as black and Hispanic supporters, among others, recoiled at an all-white top of the ticket. So it seems on the surface a simple standoff: Bermudez Zimmerman, a young, upstart Latina unionist going up against an established candidate, a former secretary of the state and frequent stateside candidate whos not widely loved by neither labor nor big-city delegates of color. But traveling with Bermudez Zimmerman on the way to the convention in downtown Hartford, a few things come clear. No one who hears the labor organizer for the Connecticut State Employees Association, SEIU, is likely to come away believing her age - shes turning 31 next month - is a factor in the race. She talks about her 13 years of experience in policy and politics and says her urban-suburban-international background makes her mature beyond her years. That, she said, came from a childhood in a tough neighborhood in the capital city in the 90s. I grew up very fast, she said after the school visit. You didnt have a Disney reality. At the school, she gave the students, all of them black and Hispanic, cards to be mailed to legislators. If you fee strongly about stopping gun violence, she said, you can write that in this note. Minutes after she left the school, a shooter in a Texas high school killed at least ten people. Bermudez Zimmerman has worked for the Obamacare exchange as a volunteer signing up enrollees, and shes worked on many campaigns, served on the town council in Newtown and was secretary of the Democratic State Committee. Thats not enough experience for the person who would be a heartbeat away from the governors office, Bysiewiczs supporters say. They say, quietly for the most part, shes running on race. Its not about the color of my skin, Bermudez Zimmerman said. Its about social justice and about making the middle class work - in cities as well as upscale towns like Newtown, where many of her neighbors own small businesses and struggle with high taxes. The Rev. Charlie Stallworth of Bridgeport is also in the race for lieutenant governor. As an African American, he may split some of Bermudez Zimmermans urban support on the convention floor. At 10 a.m., Bermudez Zimmerman met with four women in the the We-Ha Huddle activist group. Weve got to raise that 80 grand, she told them after a long discussion about government, referring to the $75,000 threshold for public financing for the primary. Then off to Sirlenes Salon Brazilian Touch in Parkville, where Bermudez Zimmerman had her hair, eyebrows and makeup done - and chatted in Portuguese, which she learned while living in Brazil in her high school years before attending college in Puerto Rico. Co-owner Sirlene Ribeiro jabbed at Bermudez Zimmerman, I have to find out from other people youre running for office, you dont want my vote? Shes a regular there, but this days treatment - 2 hours - was very special - only for my wedding and campaign video -- ahead of her press conference at the entrance of the Connecticut Convention Center. There, she hugged every supporter and, when pressed, talked about Bysiewicz. We are complete opposites. I respect her, she said, but at the end of the day I am someone who represents working people. She repeated that its not about race, then said its embarrassing that Democrats have never nominated a person of color for lieutenant governor. Its time to have that conversation, she said. The Democratic State Convention that kicks off on Friday hailing U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy in downtown Hartford will showcase a facade of party unity. Gubernatorial support is coalescing around Ned Lamont. First Susan Bysiewicz withdrew her challenge for the nomination and joined on as Lamonts running mate. Then, on Thursday, Sean Connolly, the former state Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner, dropped his bid. Now Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim is Lamonts only expected convention challenger. But underneath the surface of togetherness, rumblings of complaints over party diversity could erupt at the Connecticut Convention Center this weekend. No sooner was the Lamont-Bysiewicz union cemented than Ganim took to a podium to proclaim the party was overlooking the needs of the inner city, a group of New Haven clergy decried the lack of diversity among top-of-the ticket candidates, and Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, a union organizer from Newtown, was suddenly moved to declare her candidacy for lieutenant governor. Today, I am making that commitment, because I believe that our party and our state are ready for a truly diverse and representative slate, and because I will contribute new perspective and unique experience at the highest level of state politics and government, Bermudez Zimmerman, a Latina and Hartford native, said in a statement. Bermudez Zimmerman, who could become a lightning rod among those of the 1,998 delegates who think the top of the ticket should better reflect the states racial and ethnic diversity, quickly picked up support from State Sen. Gary Winfield. You know this race changed on Monday, Winfield said, referring to Lamonts selection of Bysiewicz. Winfield has been a proponent of progressive causes in the General Assembly, from prison reform to the blight of the cities. Timing is everything in politics, he said. Its also about possibilities. Those possibilities, Winfield said, include the inevitability of black or Latino governor. You cant say what they say to us all the time: that we need a qualified candidate, said Winfield, who said he recently met with Lamont to talk about the campaign. Hes a nice guy, Winfield said. One thing helping Ned Lamont is hes not shooting down Connecticut. Though Lamonts nomination is all but assured, the same can't be said for Bysiewicz, a former secretary of the state and state representative from Middletown. Despite declaring themselves a team, the governor and lieutenant governor positions have separate nominating processes. Other races to watch in the convention include the Attorney Generals race in which there are four candidates competing: William Tong, a state representative from Stamford, Chris Mattei, the former federal prosecutor who put former Gov. John Rowland in prison, assistant attorney general Clare Kindall and state Sen. Paul Doyle, of Whethersfield. In the Treasurers race there are also four candidates, including two Greewnich residents Dita Bhargava Bhargava, a former hedge fund portfolio manager, and John Blankley, who has worked as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and as chief financial officer of BP North America. Others include Shawn Wooden, the former President of the Hartford City Council and Arunan Arulampalam, a lawyer who advises banks and financial institutions. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT ANSONIA Students begged, parents pleaded and politicians raged. But after a loud and sometime raucous two-hour public hearing, where people demanded taxes be raised and an alderman blasted the mayor for not doing so, nothing changed. The $600,000 cut from the Board of Educations 2017-18 budget by the Board of Aldermen remains out. The 2018-19 school budget remains at $31,260,484, with no increase. Of that sum, a little more than half is funded by the state. None of the four Board of Apportionment and Taxation members who presided over the public hearing voted to restore the money. To do so would have meant also adding $600,000 to the 2018-19 Board of Education budget as required by state law, since municipalities cant reduce school funding from year to year. It will be up to the state courts to decide if the aldermen illegally took $600,000 from the school board as repayment of what they claim was a loan made to help the board weather last years state budget impasse. But in the meantime, Superintendent of Schools Carol Merlone said without that $600,000 I cant pay my bills through the end of the year. Already, the school board is projecting a $347,416 deficit in tuition expenses for sending special education students out of district, and a lack of $1,613 in hiring substitute teachers. Nearly 100 people, mostly parents, teachers and school employees attended Thursday nights public hearing before the Board of Apportionment and Taxation on whether to amend the 2017-18 budget. The four Republican Board of Apportionment and Taxation members who attended the meeting heard from teachers including Chera Gaudino, a first-grade teacher at Prendergast School; parents including Christian Rudolph, Janessa Bennett and Lisa Glazer; and students including Idalisse Martinez, Tamia Esson and Jesse Brookins. Gaudino, a single mother of two, said she spends up to $600 of her own money on supplies every year. Im taking money away from my family, she said. I dont have the heart to look into the eyes of an excited and nervous 5- or 6-year-old and tell them Im sorry, but we dont have crayons, or scissors or books this year. Gaudino said the loss of the money will have a devastating impact on early childhood intervention. Thats because if the $600,000 is returned to the 2017-18 budget, state law requires it be included in the 2018-19 budget. Both Bennett and Glazer said that for the city to grow, the school system must improve and giving the board the money it requests is the way to make that happen.. This decision you are about to make is pivotal, said Bennett. People are watching. By not fully funding education, she said, you are saying to me as a parent and a taxpayer, education in this city is not a priority. ... You dont want to put that message out to prospective home buyers. Christian Rudolph, whose 8-year-old son Stefan attends Prendergast, urged the city to raise taxes to pay for the schools. Our schools are struggling, he said. We need more revenue. We need to raise taxes. Glazer, whose son graduated from Ansonia High and now attends University of Connecticut, said Im willing to pay more taxes. But Mayor David Cassetti repeatedly has said he is not raising taxes. Phil Tripp, the former Board of Aldermen president who has been at odds with Cassetti and his administration for the past four years, accused city hall of grabbing Board of Education money to fill a $1 million deficit. The Board of Educations budget is not an ATM machine for the mayors office to tap into every time they have a financial problem, Tripp charged. Kevin OBrien, a sixth ward alderman whose wife is employed at Prendergast, told the partisan crowd he was wrong to vote in favor of withholding the $600,000. I made a mistake, he said. Give the money back to the kids. Meanwhile the students expressed concern that the loss of funding will result in a loss of teachers, impact arts and cut advanced classes and after school activities. But BOAT voted unanimously to keep things as they are. Dan King, an alderman and BOAT chairman, explained the school board received more than expected in state funding and the city less so it was appropriate to retrieve the $600,000. I was hopeful, Bennett said after the vote. An overwhelming amount of parents and teachers came out. Im surprised no one on this board had the integrity to make education their priority. BRIDGEPORT - The owner of a Shelton solar power installation company has been charged with stealing more than $62,000 in state energy incentives and fleecing nearly two dozen customers in Fairfield and New Haven counties. Christopher Stapleton, 56, of Fairview Oregon, was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree larceny and one count of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community. Its hard to know what to make of the testimony on legalized marijuana from Robert Patterson, chief of the Drug Enforcement Agency, before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month. He attributed deaths to marijuana use but offered no information to back that up. He said he didnt see mass incarcerations of marijuana users, even though FBI numbers show they increased in 2016 (the last year numbers are available). He said he was unaware of the many studies showing that opioid use has dropped in places where marijuana is legal. For example, in Canada, where medical marijuana is legal at the federal level, a recent study showed a significant reduction in opioid use in just six months. The House Judiciary Committee held the meeting to discuss the opioid crisis. Both prescription opioids and street drugs account for about 115 overdose deaths each day in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those deaths, about 40 percent involve prescription drugs. While opioids were the topic, marijuana repeatedly came up during Pattersons testimony (available here online in its entirety). Here are some of the highlights on marijuana that many have taken issue with or at least found very curious. Related: Racial Injustice and the Legal Marijuana Industry Unaware of Studies The DEA currently lists marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. In his testimony, Patterson said that marijuana remains a Schedule I drug because of the science. However, when asked by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, Patterson said he was unaware of the often-referenced 2017 study by the National Academy of Sciences that found conclusive or substantive evidence that marijuana effectively deals with chronic pain issues. Patterson also did not know about state studies from Minnesota and New Mexico about decreased use of opioids where marijuana is legal, or the similar findings of a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Gaetz appeared baffled that the head of the DEA would be unaware of such studies. However, Patterson did eventually say he is in favor of more study, although he also said he believes legalized marijuana is contributing to the countrys substance abuse problem. Related: To Touch the Plant or Not: What Type of Cannabis Business Should You Start? Not Seeing Arrest Issue Patterson also noted that he hears repeated references to arrests of marijuana users. I dont see a huge enforcement presence but I hear this statistic all the time about this mass incarceration of users...and I dont see it, he said. Those numbers come from the federal government itself. The FBI released data last year showing that the number of people arrested for marijuana increased in 2016, and accounted for more arrests than murder, rape, aggravated battery and robbery combined. Overall, the number of arrests for marijuana increased 12 percent to about 653,000 arrests nationwide. While the FBI numbers did not break out possession vs. other charges, historically possession of small amounts makes up the majority of marijuana arrests. A detailed study of marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010 by the American Civil Liberties Union found that 88 percent of all arrests were for simple possession of marijuana. Patterson also said he knew of marijuana-related deaths, but when pressed on the issue he had no information on-hand to back that up. Related: New Study Will Explore Medical Marijuana as a Treatment for Autism Dangerous Environment Patterson did say he supports more research into marijuana. However, research is stymied because the federal government currently only allows marijuana grown at one location at the University of Mississippi for use in study. However, Patterson said personally he thinks the country is in a dangerous environment when it comes to legalizing marijuana given what he now knows about what fuels addiction issues in the United States. He did not elaborate. He also said, under questioning from Gaetz, that he believes legalized marijuana adds to the substance abuse problem in the country. When asked what studies show that medical marijuana would increase the use of opioids, Patterson said, I dont know. In an opinion piece for The Hill, Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, wrote that when thousands of Americans are dying from opioid overdose it is almost inconceivable that the DEA would willfully and publicly maintain such a Flat Earth position with regard to the use of medical cannabis as a potential alternative. To stay up to date on the latest marijuana related news make sure to like dispensaries.com on Facebook Related: For the Perfect Social-Impact Investment, Look No Further Than Cannabis California's 'Pot Desert' Problem DEA Chief's Congressional Testimony About Legal Marijuana Angered Some, Baffled Many Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved HARTFORD Facing an uncertain primary season and a make-or-break fall election, state Democrats on Friday descended on the Connecticut Convention Center to reconnect and cheer their odds-on favorite, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy. Met with a standing ovation before close to 2,000 delegates, Murphy told the convention that while primaries may appear divisive, they are healthy for a party as diverse as state Democrats. During an 18-minute address, the senator, a leading figure in the national debate on gun safety, said progress is being made. Were Democrats because we want every child in this country to grow up free from the fear of gun violence, he said. We support the real Second Amendment, not the imagined Second Amendment. We support the Second Amendment that allows congress to do what the overwhelming majority of Americans want us to do, like pass mandatory background checks and ban assault weapons. Murphy reached the convention stage after an incendiary, partisan address by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, followed by a brief rules squabble. The nominating process began at about 7:35 p.m., when U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal put Murphys name into nomination. He has worked tirelessly and relentlessly to end gun violence in the United States of America, and we will do it, Blumenthal said, continuing with a litany of Murphys advocacy, from womens health care to the opioid crisis. In every one of these areas he has been a champion, Blumenthal said. They are not just Democratic values, they are American values. After a brief video of TV news clips, Nick Balletto, party chairman, declared Murphys endorsement by acclamation. The first-term senator warned that Connecticut Republicans can taste control of state government. This is the party of Trump, he said. This is the party of the Tea Party. Its the worst of America First. Unlike other statewide candidates up and down the top-of-the-ticket, Murphy, with $7.7 million in the bank, had no opposition in the nomination process that started the two-day convention. Arriving downtown at about 5 p.m., the 44-year-old, first-term senator greeted about 100 red-shirted, chanting supporters. While a blue-state icon nationally, Murphy adopted the red T-shirts during his 2006 run against Nancy Johnson, the former longtime representative. Meeting with reporters outside the convention hall, Murphy said Fridays school shooting in Texas would be another step in the gun-safety momentum that has built up nationally since Sandy Hook in 2012. Eventually we are going to be stronger than the gun lobby and there are signs that that moment may be upon us, Murphy said. More voters today care about the issue of guns than ever before. The polls have never been higher with respect to background checks and assault-weapons bans, he said. This is a long-term social and political movement, not unlike the fight for marriage equality; not unlike the fight for civil rights in this country. Scheduled to start at 6 p.m., delegates were slow in arriving in the massive ballroom, festooned with more than 2,000 chairs, platforms for TV broadcasts, large video screen and signs designating the seating areas of the delegates, who hugged, schmoozed and contemplated various candidacies and challenges that could play out Saturday, particularly Eva Bermudez Zimmermans plan to seek the nomination for lieutenant governor, despite Ned Lamonts plan to tap Susan Bysiewicz as his running mate. Im proud that were string and ready for what I believe will be a very big fight from the top of the ticket down, Murphy said. I think were going to come away with a really strong Democratic team from the governor on down. Whether get a candidate this weekend or we get a candidate in August were going to have a very-strong ticket and were going to have an energized base that is going to turn out in record numbers this fall. Murphy predicted that the race for governor will be very close in November. He said the prospect of a primary contest between Lamont and Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim is not worrisome. Im not somebody thats afraid of primaries, Murphy said. I think primaries can often energize party members, and if thats the way it goes then I think our party will be stronger at the end of that process. He said that President Donald Trump would certainly be an election issue, particularly his sabotage of the American health-care system. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT Sherry Ann Allen stole more than $1.1 million from the Greater Eastern Credit Union by using a hidden transaction feature, knowing no one at the Johnson City, Tenn.-based cooperative reviewed hidden transactions, enabling her to move large sums of money into and out of accounts she controlled over seven years. Earlier this month, the former president/CEO who joined the Johnson City, Tenn.-based credit union 30 years ago, signed an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to theft and income tax evasion. She admitted to using the stolen funds to pay for her credit card bills, her cars, her clothes, her jewelry, and she also funded cruises and trips for her churchs youth group and credit union employees. Johnson also handed out expensive gifts to employees at GECUs Christmas party and at its annual picnic. Johnson paid for all of this on an annual salary that ranged from $86,000 to $100,000 during her four-year tenure as CEO. The alleged theft was initially exposed in February when the $55 million GECU took the highly unusual step of publicly disclosing that a forensic fraud investigation determined Allen stole more than $1 million. Last week at CO-OPs 11th annual THINK conference, over 750 credit union leaders from around the U.S. gathered in Chandler, Arizona to collaborate and learn strategies to achieve excellence through digital transformation. With the theme of the Race to Excellence, there was a strong focus on navigating the complexities of rapid evolution and revolution in order to meet the growing needs of financial consumers. Technology is changing faster than ever, presenting new challenges and opportunities for credit unions; but one thing is for certain, together through strategic partnership and collaboration our industry is well-positioned to thrive. Credit unions have a tremendous opportunity. How many organizations have 50 million+ people, have financial relationships with those people, and have trust? Apple. Amazon. And credit unions. Jaron Lanier. A lot was covered over the course of THINKs 17 keynote presentations and 35+ Power Sprint sessions and well be sharing those insights throughout the coming weeks and months. For now, here are three key takeaways from this years THINK conference: For Subscribers What we learned: Windber tested; Berlin's bright future; Hemminger leads way; Shirley making plays A look at what we learned in Week 7 of the high school football season. Windber gets test. Berlin will be good for a while. Somerset senior leading way. Township QB is playmaker. By Benjamin Jumbe. President Yoweri Museveni and his Mozambique counterpart Filipe Jacinto Nyusi have reiterated their commitment to the economic integration of Africa. This followed bilateral talks held in Mozambique capital Maputo where president Museveni is on a 3 day state visit. In a joint communique released after the bilateral talks, the leaders said that this would accelerate economic transformation, industrialization and improvement of peoples lives Meanwhile both leaders agreed to the establishment of a joint Mozambique-Uganda Business Forum that will bring together respective private sectors to seize opportunities for trade and investment in both countries The two leaders witnessed the signing of a general cooperation agreement which will see both countries cooperate in areas of defence, tourism, diplomacy and trade, with a Joint Ministerial Commission to meet in Kampala in August this year to concretize this agreement. The agreement was signed by Ugandas Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa and Jose Pacheco of Mozambique. Currently, Uganda exports goods and services to Mozambique worth $154,000 while Mozambiques exports to Uganda stand at $5.12 million. There is never a dull moment in Indian politics. With the conclusion of the bitterly fought Assembly elections in Karnataka, a theatre of the absurd is being enacted. The party that won the largest number of seats is out to form the government, but is short of a majority. The two parties that were staunch rivals forged an alliance within hours of the announcement of the result. To top it all, the party with the least number of seats has been offered the coveted post of chief minister. Then theres the controversy over who the governor should invite first to form the government. There is precedent on both sides: for the single largest party as well as the post-poll alliance with majority seats. What has completely vanished from the scene is any sense of morality. Money power will play a role in who eventually gets a majority. I spent a few days travelling in Karnataka during the elections and the leaders of all three parties told me they were winning with a clear majority. It was obviously election rhetoric but the irony is that each one is declaring himself a winner after the result. That apart, with general elections less than a year away, Karnataka 2018 yields some interesting insights. India Today cover story, Modi's Southern Coup, for May 28, 2018. This election shows in spades that the lethal Modi-Shah combination of charisma and a win-at-any-cost strategy is still working, with the BJP increasing its tally from 40 to 104. The duo sets the tone and tenor of the campaign. PM Modi held 21 rallies and spent six days campaigning in Karnataka. In spite of being in power for four years and with a lacklustre candidate for the chief ministers post, it is apparent that the Modi magic still works. Caste is alive and kicking in Indian elections. By taking back their former tainted chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, the BJP ensured it won 46 (60 per cent strike rate) of the 76 Lingayat seats in comparison to the 11 it won in 2013. The other big caste in Karnataka, the Vokkaligas, remained loyal to the Gowdas and secured enough seats for them to demand the chief ministership. This election has also shown that the communal card delivers votes wherever there is a high percentage of minority voters. The BJP won 16 of the 19 seats in coastal Karnataka where the minority population is 21 per cent of the electorate. The Congress has to learn the lesson that wherever there is a three-way fight against the BJP, it pays to have a pre-poll alliance with a strong regional party. It has to lose its delusions of grandeur and be a bit player when the need arises. Winning the Karnataka elections would have given a big boost to Rahul Gandhi as the new Congress president. Now he has to wait for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to prove his credentials. There is a lesson for all non-BJP parties too they can beat the formidable BJP election machine and PM Modis pan-Indian image only if they combine forces. It is also evident that anti-incumbency is a silent killer. Its not always easy to detect. But it was a big factor in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and now in Karnataka. The BJP high command is aware of this as it prepares itself for the 2019 elections. Morality has no place in Indian politics. You play to win. Taking on corrupt candidates or those from rival parties is not an issue as long as they can win. And, of course, those with deeper pockets have a better chance at winning. At least, corruption was not an issue this election. The electorate took it for granted that all were corrupt and will make money when in office. When there is a hung verdict, it is open season for dirty tricks. In that sense, the Karnataka elections were significant for both mainstream parties. It has given the BJP its first beachhead in the south under the Modi-Shah regime. Also, if it is able to hold the state, it will deny the Congress power in a major state. Now who learns what from this high-stakes election is yet to be seen, but the aftershocks will be felt for some time. (India Today Editor-in-Chief's note for cover story, Modi's Southern Coup; May 28, 2018.) Also read: What goes inside the mind of men who rape children Union home minister Rajnath Singh on May 16 tweeted to declare a conditional ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir as state's chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had sought a few days ago. The Centre asks Security Forces not to launch operations in Jammu & Kashmir during the holy month of Ramzan. Decision taken to help the peace loving Muslims observe Ramzan in a peaceful environment.HM Shri @rajnathsingh has informed the Chief Minister, J&K of Centres decision. HMO India (@HMOIndia) May 16, 2018 Mufti's Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP are equal partners in the state government. A day after chief minister Mufti made public her demands, the state BJP had publicly opposed a ceasefire even though they were part of the all-party meeting in the state where the issue was discussed. The ceasefire, albeit just for a month, was against the wishes of the security forces, particularly the Indian Army and even the Central Reserve Police Force - a paramilitary organisation deployed in J&K. Forces are apprehensive that terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HM) can use the respite to regroup. More importantly, however, the ceasefire signals a rethink or even a rollback of the Modi government's "muscular J&K policy". In 2014, a few months before a dialogue between the top diplomats of India and Pakistan was called off after the Pakistan high commissioner met Hurriyat leaders, a senior government functionary told me what it would entail. "The new policy," he said, "was simple, no repeating what has been done before, no talks, no soft peddling." At the centre of the Kashmir dispute is a violent form of political Islam and the time has come to challenge it squarely, a senior officer who still reports to Rajnath Singh, had told me while explaining the need for a muscular policy in J&K. Recently, chief of Army staff general Bipin Rawat summed up the new policy when he said, "In fact, I wish these people, instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons. Then I would have been happy. Then I could do what I (want to do)." Four years on, the situation in the Valley isn't encouraging. Crowds at funerals of terrorist are growing. Pictures and videos of gun wielding terrorists exhorting others to join-in are now an almost every day feature. I wonder what was told to Rajnath Singh now which made him take the decision? When in Opposition, the BJP and the RSS had blamed the Manmohan Singh government for being soft on terror and Kashmir. And, following the "muscular" policy the Indian Army restarted the "Cordon and Search Operations" (CASO) under which entire villages are cordoned off and searched. The practice was stopped in 2000s after the government and the Army came to came the conclusion that CASO yielded little result while it inconvenienced people more and that it needed to win hearts and minds. Now, CASO and Search and Destroy Operations (SADO) of the security forces stand suspended because of the ceasefire. This at a time when casualties are not only high but the coming summer in the Valley, security agencies predict, will be hot and violent. At least 48 local boys have joined terror groups in the last four months and 22 more are missing and believed to have joined terror groups. In just four-and-a-half months, 29 Indian Army soldiers have been killed. The more things change, the more they remain the same A "muscular J&K policy" and ceasefire has happened earlier too. When the Modi-led NDA government refused to engage the Hurriyat, the separatist group in J&K, the group had been pushed into irrelevance. A ceasefire was announced in the past as well when Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the Non-initiation of Combat Operations (NICO) in 2000. Then too, like now, the forces were told to "open up" only when they were attacked or when they had specific lead about a terrorist hiding in a specific house. While the results weren't encouraging, he followed it up with his famous insaaniyat (humanism), jamhooriyat (democracy) and kashmiriyat (Kashmir's legacy of amity). Like Prime Minister Modi's Lahore initiative, when he dropped in to visit his Pakistani counterpart Nawaj Sharif, en route from Kabul others too like Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh made similar initiatives rightly or wrongly. The only difference between then and now: neither was vitriolic about the other's policy. There was of course criticism and debate. They understood governance and foreign policy was an ongoing never-ending process. And most importantly, each was laying the foundation for others to build upon. Better late than never Spin doctors will surely say all this was planned. After all, the prime minister will be in Kashmir on May 19 to inaugurate developmental projects. To be fair, Prime Minister Modi did allude to Vajpayee in his speech in Kashmir. But on the ground, the policies and intention appeared at variance. Until now speaking to those responsible for the Kashmir policy gave a sense that Kashmir was important, but perhaps the people of Kashmir weren't on the top of the list of policy makers. The ceasefire announced yesterday for Ramzan is surely a step that recognises, even if minimally, that people of Kashmir are more important. People of J&K were at the centre of Vajpayee's "Insaniyat policy" and it still resonates in the Valley. Wuhan redux? Finally, one cannot but draw parallels with the recent Wuhan Summit where Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met after an unprecedented freeze of relations between the two Asian giants. After the summit, the Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police were told not to be aggressive with their Chinese counterparts should they meet each other while patrolling the 3,488km long disputed border. With the 2019 elections to Parliament just months away, cooling down tempers along the borders and avoiding another stand-off is a smart move, according to experts. One wonders whether the sudden Kashmir ceasefire has a similar intent? Whatever be the truth, the "muscular J&K policy" appears to have been all but folded-up at least temporarily. Also read: Kashmir's Ramzan ceasefire is total foolishness, which will only hurt our security forces Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen in northeast Alberta. Its bitumen assets include Foster Creek, Christina Lake, and Narrows Lake, as well as other projects in the early stages of development. The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, and Clearwater operating areas of British Columbia and Alberta, as well as various interests in natural gas processing facilities. The Refining and Marketing segment transports and sells crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs. This segment owns a 50% ownership in Wood River and Borger refineries located in the United States; and owns and operates a crude-by-rail terminal in Alberta. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More 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. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Amphenol: ARCAS Automotive Group (Luxco 1) S.a.r.l., AUXEL FTG, AUXEL FTG India Pvt Ltd., AUXEL FTG Shanghai Co., AUXEL S.A.S., Air LB International Development S.A., All Systems Broadband, Amphenol (Changzhou) Advanced Connector Co., Amphenol (Changzhou) Connector Systems Co., Amphenol (Changzhou) Electronics Co., Amphenol (Maryland), Amphenol (Ningde) Electronics Co., Amphenol (Qujing) Technology Co., Amphenol (Tianjin) Electronics Co., Amphenol (Xiamen) High Speed Cable Co., Amphenol Adronics, Amphenol Advanced Sensors Germany GmbH, Amphenol Advanced Sensors Puerto Rico, Amphenol Air LB GmbH, Amphenol Air LB North America Inc., Amphenol Air LB SAS, Amphenol Alden Products Company, Amphenol Alden Products Mexico, Amphenol Antenna Solutions, Amphenol Assemble Tech (Xiamen) Co., Amphenol Australia Pty Ltd, Amphenol Automotive Connection Systems (Changzhou) Co., Amphenol Bar-Tec, Amphenol Benelux B.V., Amphenol Borisch Technologies, Amphenol CNT (Xian) Technology Co. Ltd., Amphenol Cables On Demand Corp., Amphenol Canada Acquisition Corporation, Amphenol Canada Corp., Amphenol Comercial, Amphenol Commercial Interconnect Korea Co., Amphenol Commercial Products (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Amphenol Commercial and Industrial UK, Amphenol ConneXus AB, Amphenol ConneXus Ou, Amphenol Custom Cable, Amphenol DC Electronics, Amphenol Daeshin Electronics and Precision Co., Amphenol EEC, Amphenol East Asia Electronic Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Amphenol East Asia Limited, Amphenol FCI, Amphenol FCI Asia Pte. Ltd., Amphenol FCI Connectors Singapore Pte. Ltd., Amphenol Fiber Optic Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Finland Oy, Amphenol France Acquisition SAS, Amphenol France SAS, Amphenol Germany GmbH, Amphenol Gesellschaft m.b.H., Amphenol Goldstar Electronic Systems (Baicheng) Co. Ltd., Amphenol Goldstar Electronic Systems (Yulin) Co. Ltd., Amphenol Holding UK, Amphenol Intercon Systems, Amphenol Interconnect India Private Limited, Amphenol Interconnect Products Corporation, Amphenol Interconnect South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Amphenol International Ltd., Amphenol Invotec Limited, Amphenol Italia S.r.l., Amphenol JET (Haiyan) Interconnect Technology Co., Amphenol Japan Ltd., Amphenol Kai-Jack (Shenzhen) Inc., Amphenol LTW Technology Co., Amphenol Limited, Amphenol MCP Korea Limited, Amphenol Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Amphenol Middle East Enterprises FZE, Amphenol Nelson Dunn Technologies, Amphenol Netherlands Holdings 1 B.V., Amphenol Netherlands Holdings 2 B.V., Amphenol Omniconnect India Private Limited, Amphenol Optimize Manufacturing Co., Amphenol Optimize Mexico S.A. de C.V., Amphenol PCD, Amphenol PCD (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Phitek Limited, Amphenol Printed Circuits, Amphenol Provens SAS, Amphenol RF Asia Limited, Amphenol Sensing Korea Company Limited, Amphenol Shouh Min Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Singapore Pte. Ltd., Amphenol Socapex SAS, Amphenol Sunpool (Liaoning) Automotive Electronics Co., Amphenol T&M Antennas, Amphenol TCS (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Amphenol TCS Ireland Limited, Amphenol TCS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Amphenol TFC Fios E Cabos do Brasil Ltda., Amphenol TFC MDE Participacoes Ltda., Amphenol TFC do Brasil Ltda., Amphenol Taiwan Corporation, Amphenol Technical Products International Co., Amphenol Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Technology (Zhuhai) Co., Amphenol Technology Macedonia Dooel Kocani, Amphenol Tecvox LLC, Amphenol Tel-Ad Ltd., Amphenol Thermometrics, Amphenol Thermometrics (UK) Limited, Amphenol Times Microwave Electronics (Shanghai) Limited, Amphenol Tuchel Electronics GmbH, Amphenol Tuchel Industrial GmbH, Amphenol Tunisia LLC, Amphenol USHoldco Inc., Amphenol-Borg Limited, Amphenol-Borg Pension Trustees Limited, Amphenol-TFC (Changzhou) Communication Equipment Co., Anytek Electronic Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, Anytek International (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Anytek International Co. Ltd., Anytek Technology Corporation Ltd, Asia Connector Services, Berg UK Ltd., Blueline Product Limited, C&S Antennas, C&S Antennas Limited, CSA Limited, Casco Automotive (Suzhou) Co., Casco Automotive Group, Casco Automotive Singapore Pte., Casco Automotive Tunisia S.a.r.l., Casco Holdings Co. Limited, Casco Holdings GmbH, Casco Imos Italia S.r.l., Casco Logistics GmbH, Casco Products Corporation, Casco Schoeller GmbH, Casco do Brasil Ltda., Cemm Thome Corporation, Cemm Thome SK, Cemm-Mex, Changzhou Amphenol Fuyang Communication Equipment Co., ContactServe (Proprietary) Limited, East Asia Connector Services, Edwin Deutgen Kunstofftechnik GmbH, Ehrlich Werkzeug & Geratebau GmbH, FCI Besancon SA, FCI Connectors (Shanghai) Ltd., FCI Connectors Canada, FCI Connectors Dongguan Ltd, FCI Connectors Hong Kong Limited, FCI Connectors Italia S.r.l., FCI Connectors Korea Ltd., FCI Connectors Malaysia Sdn Bhd, FCI Connectors Sweden A.B., FCI Connectors UK Ltd., FCI Deutschland GmbH, FCI Electronics Hungary Kft, FCI GBS India Private Limited, FCI Japan K.K., FCI Nantong Ltd, FCI OEN Connectors Limited, FCI PRC Limited, FCI Taiwan Limited, FCI USA LLC, FCIs-Hertogenbosch B.V., FEP Fahrzeugelektrik Pirna, FEP Fahrzeugelektrik Pirna GmbH & Co. KG, FEP Fahrzeugelektrik Pirna Verwaltungs GmbH, Fiber Systems International, Filec Production SAS, Filec SAS, Friedrich Gohringer Elektrotechnik GmbH, GE - Advanced Sensors Business, Guangzhou Amphenol Electronics Co., Guangzhou Amphenol Sincere Flex Circuits Co., Guangzhou FEP Automotive Electric Co., Hangzhou Amphenol JET Interconnect Technology Co., Hangzhou Amphenol Phoenix Telecom Parts Co., Holland Electronics, Intelligente Sensorsysteme Dresden GmbH, Invotec Circuits Holdings Limited, Invotec Circuits Limited, Invotec Group Limited, Invotec Holdings Limited, Ionix Aerospace Limited, Ionix Holdings Limited, Ionix Systems Limited, Ionix Systems Ou, Jaybeam Limited, Jaybeam Wireless SAS, KE Elektronik GmbH, KE Ostrov Elektrik, KE Presov Elektrik, Konnektech, Kunshan Amphenol Zhengri Electronics Co., LPL Technologies Holding GmbH, LTW Technology (Samoa) Co., LTW Top Tech (Samoa) Co., Lectric SARL, Martec Limited, Mocorp Holding A/S, Nantong Docharm Amphenol Electronics Co., PROCOM, PT Casco SEA, PerLoga Personal und Logistik GmbH, Piezotech, Piher Sensors & Controls S.A., Piher Sensors And Controls, Precision Cable Manufacturing Corp. de Mexico, Procom A/S, Procom Antennas AB, Procom France SARL, Pyle-National Ltd., RSI International Limited, S.C.I. Palin, SEFEE SA, SGX Europe SP. z.o.o., SGX Sensortech (IS) Limited, SGX Sensortech China Holdco Limited, SGX Sensortech China Limited, SGX Sensortech GmbH, SGX Sensortech SA, SSI Control Technologies, STEMFI SA, SV Microwave, Shanghai Amphenol Airwave Communication Electronics Co., Shanghai Amphenol Electronics Technology Co., Shanghai Tecvox Trading Co., Shenyang Amphenol Sunpool Automotive Electronics Co., Sine Systems Corporation, Skymasts Antennas Ltd., Societe dEtudes et de Fabrications Electroniques et Electriques, Spectra Strip Limited, TCS Japan K.K., TFC South America S.A., Tecvox Europe S.r.l., Telect, Telect Mfg., Telect de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Teradyne Connection Systems, Thermometrics Mexico, Tianjin Amphenol KAE Co., Times Fiber Canada Limited, Times Fiber Communications, Times Microwave Systems, Times Wire and Cable Company, U-Jin Cable Industrial Co., Zhongshan Feisaide Electromechanical Co., and i2s-sensors. The following companies are subsidiares of Mohawk Industries: A&S Energie NV, A&U Energie NV, Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation, Aladdin Manufacturing Of New York LLC, Aladdin Manufacturing of Alabama LLC, Alsace Logistique S.A., Avelgem Green Power CVBA, Avon Pacific Holdings Ltd, B&M NV, BGE Mexico S. de R. L. de C.V., Berghoef GmbH, Berghoef-Hout B.V., Bienes Raices y Materiales del Centro S. de R.L. de C.V., C.F. Marazzi S.A., Canterbury Spinners Ltd, Carpet Foundation Ltd, Cevotrans BV, Ceramus Bahia S/A Produtos Ceramicos, DT Mex Holdings LLC, DTM/CM Holdings LLC, Dal Italia LLC, Dal-Elit LLC, Dal-Tile Chile Comercial Limitada, Dal-Tile Colombia S.A.S., Dal-Tile Distribution Inc., Dal-Tile Group Inc., Dal-Tile I LLC, Dal-Tile Industrias S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile International Inc., Dal-Tile Mexico Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Operaciones Mexico S. De R.L. De C.V., Dal-Tile Peru SRL, Dal-Tile Puerto Rico Inc., Dal-Tile Services Inc., Dal-Tile Shared Services Inc., Dal-Tile Tennessee LLC, Dal-Tile of Canada ULC, Daltile, Daltile, Dekaply NV, Durkan, Dynea NV, Eliane Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Eliane S/A - Revestimentos Ceramicos, Emilceramica India Pvt Ltd., Emilceramica S.r.l, Emilgermany GmbH, Emilgroup Asia Ltd, Explorer S.r.l., F.I.L.S. Investments Unlimited Company, Feltex Carpets Ltd, Feltex Carpets Pty Ltd, Feltex New Zealand Ltd, Fibremakers Australia Pty Ltd, Flooring Foundation Ltd, Flooring Industries Limited S.a r.l., Flooring XL B.V., Floorscape Limited, Godfrey Hirst & Co Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Group, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Limited, IVC BVBA, IVC Far-East Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., IVC France S.a r.l., IVC GROUP LIMITED, IVC Green Power NV, IVC Group, IVC Group GmbH, IVC Luxembourg S.a r.l., IVC Rus OOO, IVC US Inc., International Flooring Systems S.a r.l., International Vinyl Company - Vostok OOO, KAI Group, KAI Keramica Ltd, KAI Mining EOOD, KERAMA CENTER OOO, Kerama Baltics OOO, Kerama Export OOO, Kerama Marazzi OOO, Kerampromservis (LLC), Khan Asparuh - Transport EOOD, Khan Asparuh AD, Khan Omurtag AD, Koninklijke Peitsman B.V., Kraj Kerama OOO, MG China Trading Ltd., MI Finance SRL, MUD (Holding) Brazil Ltda., Management Co EAD, Marazzi Acquisition S.r.l., Marazzi Deutschland G.m.b.H., Marazzi France Trading S.A.S., Marazzi Group, Marazzi Group F.Z.E., Marazzi Group S.r.l., Marazzi Group Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marazzi Iberia S.L.U., Marazzi Japan Co. Ltd., Marazzi Middle East FZ LLC, Marazzi Schweiz S.A.G.L., Marazzi UK Ltd., Mohawk Assurance Services Inc., Mohawk Australia Pty Ltd, Mohawk Canada Corporation, Mohawk Capital Finance S.A., Mohawk Capital Luxembourg SA, Mohawk Carpet Distribution Inc., Mohawk Carpet Foundation Inc., Mohawk Carpet LLC, Mohawk Carpet Transportation Of Georgia LLC, Mohawk Commercial Inc., Mohawk ESV Inc., Mohawk Europe BVBA, Mohawk Factoring II Inc., Mohawk Factoring LLC, Mohawk Finance S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Acquisitions S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Funding S.a.r.l, Mohawk Foreign Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Investments Inc., Mohawk Global Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Holdings International B.V., Mohawk Industries Inc., Mohawk International (Europe) S.a r.l., Mohawk International (Hong Kong) Limited, Mohawk International Capital N.V., Mohawk International Financing S.a.r.l, Mohawk International Holdings (DE) LLC, Mohawk International Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk International Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk International Netherlands B.V., Mohawk International Services BVBA, Mohawk KAI Luxembourg Holding S.a r.l., Mohawk KAI Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Capital S.A., Mohawk Luxembourg Financing S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Pacific S.a r.l., Mohawk Marazzi International BV, Mohawk Marazzi Russia BV, Mohawk New Zealand Limited, Mohawk Operaciones Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Mohawk Operations Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Pacific Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Resources LLC, Mohawk Servicing LLC, Mohawk Singapore Private Limited, Mohawk Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mohawk Unilin Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk United Finance B.V., Mohawk United International B.V., Mohawk Vinyl Financing S.a r.l., Molber Beheer B.V., Monarch Ceramic Tile Inc., P.F. Onroerend Goed B.V., PF Beheer B.V., Pergo, Pergo (Europe) AB, Pergo Holding BV, Pergo India Pvt Ltd, Polcolorit S.A., Premium Floors Australia Pty Limited, RR Apex LLC, Rata International Pty Ltd, Recubrimientos Interceramica S. de R.L. de C.V., Riverside Textiles Pty Ltd, S.C. KAI Ceramics SRL, Sibir Kerama OOO, SimpleSolutions USA LLC, Soft Step (Australia) Pty Ltd, Spano Group, Spano Invest BVBA, Spano NV, Stroyagromekhzapchast ChaO, Stroytrans OAO Orelstroy, Summit Wool Spinners Ltd, The Flooring Federation Ltd, Tiles Co OOD, Unilin (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Unilin ApS, Unilin Arauco Pisos Ltda., Unilin BVBA, Unilin Beheer BV, Unilin Distribution Ltd., Unilin Distribution Ukraine LLC, Unilin Finland OY, Unilin Flooring India Private Limited, Unilin Flooring SAS, Unilin GmbH, Unilin Holding BVBA, Unilin Insulation BV, Unilin Insulation SAS, Unilin Insulation Sury SAS, Unilin Italia S.R.L., Unilin North America LLC, Unilin Norway AS, Unilin OOO, Unilin Panels SAS, Unilin Poland Sp.Z.o.o., Unilin SAS, Unilin Spain SL, Unilin Swiss GmbH, Unilin s.r.o., World International Inc., Xtratherm, Xtratherm Limited, Xtratherm S.A., and Xtratherm UK Limited. Wall Street analysts have given Schwab US Dividend Equity 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 Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. National Bank of Canada engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial services. It operates through the following segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, US Specialty Finance and International (USSF&I), and Other. The Personal and Commercial segment involves in banking, financing, and investing services offered to individuals and businesses as well as insurance operations. The Wealth Management segment focuses on the investment solutions, trust and lending services, and other wealth management solutions offered through internal and third-party distribution networks. The Financial Markets segment includes banking and investment banking services and financial solutions for large and mid-size corporations, public sector organizations, and institutional investors. The USSF&I segment comprises specialty finance expertise activities of subsidiary ABA Bank, which offers financial products and services to individuals and businesses; and activities of targeted investments in certain emerging markets. The Other segment encompasses treasury activities such as asset and liability management, liquidity management and funding operations, certain no Read More Bay Banks of Virginia, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and consumers in Virginia. The company accepts checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, cash management accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include commercial and industrial loans, such as small business loans, asset based loans, and other secured and unsecured loans and lines of credit; purchased loans; residential and commercial mortgages; home equity loans; consumer installment loans; and consumer loans comprising automobile and boat financing, home improvement loans, and unsecured personal loans. The company also provides credit cards; and insurance, online banking, telephone banking, mobile banking, analysis checking, cash management deposit, wire, direct deposit payroll, lockbox, positive pay, and remote deposit services, as well as a line of commercial lending options. In addition, it offers management services, including estate planning and settlement, as well as trust administration, investment, and wealth management services; and revocable and irrevocable living trusts, testamentary trusts, custodial accounts, investment planning, brokerage services, investment managed accounts, and managed and self-directed rollover individual retirement accounts for personal and corporate trusts. As of March 9, 2020, the company operated 17 banking offices located throughout greater Richmond region, the Northern Neck region, Middlesex County, and the Hampton Roads region. Bay Banks of Virginia, Inc. was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Read More Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Offices and Retail around the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at A13.7bn (British Land share: A10.3bn) as at 30 September 2020 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies. Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance. Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 65% of our portfolio. Our Retail portfolio is focused on retail parks and shopping centres, and accounts for 31% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 53 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London. Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Caterpillar: Advanced Tri-Gen Power Systems LLC, Anchor Coupling Inc., Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd., AsiaTrak (Tianjin) Ltd., Banco Caterpillar S.A., Berg Propulsion International Pte Ltd., Bucyrus, Bucyrus Australia Surface Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Holdings Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Limited, Bucyrus International (Chile) Limitada, Bucyrus International (Peru) S.A., Bucyrus Mining Australia Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Mining China LLC, Bucyrus UK Limited, Cat Rental Kyushu LLC, Caterpillar (Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Machinery Components Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (HK) Limited, Caterpillar (Huainan) Machinery Service Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Langfang) Mining Equipment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.a r.l., Caterpillar (NI) Limited, Caterpillar (Newberry) LLC, Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Logistics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar (U.K.) Limited, Caterpillar (Wujiang) Ltd., Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar Acquisition Holding Corp., Caterpillar Americas C.V., Caterpillar Americas Co., Caterpillar Americas Funding Inc., Caterpillar Americas Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Asia Limited, Caterpillar Asia Pacific L.P., Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Asset Intelligence LLC, Caterpillar Belgium S.A., Caterpillar Brasil Comercio de Maquinas e Pecas Ltda., Caterpillar Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Brazil LLC, Caterpillar Castings Kiel GmbH, Caterpillar Centro de Formacion S.L., Caterpillar China Limited, Caterpillar Commercial Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Commercial LLC, Caterpillar Commercial Northern Europe Limited, Caterpillar Commercial S.A., Caterpillar Commercial S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Commercial Services S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Communications LLC, Caterpillar Corporativo Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Cote DIvoire, Caterpillar Credito S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., Caterpillar DC Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Digital Services & Solutions SARL, Caterpillar Distribution International LLC, Caterpillar Distribution Services Europe B.V.B.A., Caterpillar East Real Estate Holding Ltd., Caterpillar Emissions Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, Caterpillar Energy Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions S.A., Caterpillar Energy System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Engine Systems Inc., Caterpillar Equipos Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Eurasia LLC, Caterpillar FS (QFC) LLC, Caterpillar Finance France S.A., Caterpillar Finance Kabushiki Kaisha, Caterpillar Financial Acquisition Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Aftermarket Solutions Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Australia Leasing Pty Limited, Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited, Caterpillar Financial Commercial Account Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Corporacion Financiera S.A. E.F.C., Caterpillar Financial Dealer Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Funding Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Caterpillar Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Limited, Caterpillar Financial Nordic Services AB, Caterpillar Financial Nova Scotia Corporation, Caterpillar Financial OOO, Caterpillar Financial Receivables Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Renting S.A., Caterpillar Financial SARL, Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services (Ireland) plc, Caterpillar Financial Services (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Argentina S.A., Caterpillar Financial Services Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Financial Services CR s.r.o., Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Services GmbH, Caterpillar Financial Services India Private Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Leasing ULC, Caterpillar Financial Services Limited Les Services Financiers Caterpillar Limitee, Caterpillar Financial Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Caterpillar Financial Services Netherlands B.V., Caterpillar Financial Services Norway AS, Caterpillar Financial Services Philippines Inc., Caterpillar Financial Services Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Financial Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, Caterpillar Financial UK Acquisition Funding Partners, Caterpillar Financial Ukraine LLC, Caterpillar Fluid Systems S.r.l., Caterpillar Fomento Comercial Ltda., Caterpillar Forest Products Inc., Caterpillar France S.A.S., Caterpillar GB L.L.C., Caterpillar Global Investments S.a r.l., Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Equipamentos De Mineracao do Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Global Mining Equipment LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Expanded Products Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Global Mining Germany Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong AFC Manufacturing Holding Co. Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Global Mining SARL, Caterpillar Global Mining U.S. Parts LLC, Caterpillar Global Services LLC, Caterpillar Group Services S.A., Caterpillar Holding (France) S.A.S., Caterpillar Holding Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Holdings Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Hungary Components Manufacturing Ltd., Caterpillar Hydraulics Italia S.r.l., Caterpillar IPX LLC, Caterpillar IRB LLC, Caterpillar Impact Products Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Caterpillar Industrial Inc., Caterpillar Industrias Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Industries (Pty) Ltd, Caterpillar Insurance Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Insurance Company, Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc., Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Finance Designated Activity Company, Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg I S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg II S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Product SARL, Caterpillar International Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Services del Peru S.A., Caterpillar Investment Limited, Caterpillar Investment One SARL, Caterpillar Investment Two SARL, Caterpillar Investments, Caterpillar Japan LLC, Caterpillar Latin America Services S.R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Panama S. de R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Servicios de Chile Limitada, Caterpillar Latin America Support Services S. DE R.L., Caterpillar Leasing (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar Leasing Chile S.A., Caterpillar Leasing GmbH (Leipzig), Caterpillar Leasing Operativo Limitada, Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Caterpillar Logistics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Logistics (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Logistics Inc., Caterpillar Logistics ML Services France S.A.S., Caterpillar Logistics Services China Limited, Caterpillar Luxembourg Group S.ar.l., Caterpillar Luxembourg LLC, Caterpillar Luxembourg S.a r.l., Caterpillar Machinery Nantong Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence, Caterpillar Marine Power UK Limited, Caterpillar Marine Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Maroc SARL, Caterpillar Materiels Routiers SAS, Caterpillar Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Mining Canada ULC, Caterpillar Mining Chile Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Motoren (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG, Caterpillar Motoren Henstedt-Ulzburg GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Rostock GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Verwaltungs-GmbH, Caterpillar Netherlands Holding B.V., Caterpillar North America C.V., Caterpillar Operator Training Ltd., Caterpillar Overseas Credit Corporation SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Investment Holding SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Limited, Caterpillar Overseas SARL, Caterpillar Panama Services S.A., Caterpillar Paving Products Inc., Caterpillar Paving Products Xuzhou Ltd., Caterpillar Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Power Generation Systems (Bangladesh) Limited, Caterpillar Power Generation Systems L.L.C., Caterpillar Power Systems Inc., Caterpillar Power Ventures International Ltd., Caterpillar Precision Seals Korea, Caterpillar Prodotti Stradali S.r.l., Caterpillar Product Services Corporation, Caterpillar Propulsion AB, Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Italy S.R.L., Caterpillar Propulsion Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Singapore Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar R&D Center (China) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe LLC, Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe Servicios S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Reman Powertrain Indiana LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Drivetrain LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Renting France S.A.S., Caterpillar Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar SARL, Caterpillar Services Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Servizi Italia Srl, Caterpillar Shrewsbury Limited, Caterpillar Skinningrove Limited, Caterpillar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., Caterpillar Special Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Switchgear Americas LLC, Caterpillar Switchgear Holding Inc., Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., Caterpillar Torreon S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Tosno L.L.C., Caterpillar Transmissions France S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Holdings Ltd., Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, Caterpillar Tunnelling Europe Limited, Caterpillar UK Employee Trust Limited, Caterpillar UK Engines Company Limited, Caterpillar UK Group Limited, Caterpillar UK Holdings Limited, Caterpillar Undercarriage (Xuzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Underground Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Used Equipment Services Inc., Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., Caterpillar Work Tools B.V., Caterpillar Work Tools Inc., Caterpillar World Trading Corporation, Caterpillar Xuzhou, Caterpillar of Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar of Canada Corporation, Caterpillar of Delaware Inc., Centre de Distribution de Wallonie SPRL, CleanAir Systems, Downer Freight Rail, ECM Railway Evolution Romania s.r.l., ECM S.p.A., EDC European Excavator Design Center GmbH, EMC Holding Corp., EMD International Holdings Inc., ERA Information & Entertainment (BVI) Limited, ERA Mining Machinery Limited, Electro-Motive Diesel Limited, Electro-Motive Locomotive Technologies LLC, Electro-Motive Technical Consulting Co. (Beijing) Ltd., Energy Services International Limited, Equipos de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Eurenov S.A.S., F. G. Wilson (Proprietary) Limited, F. Perkins Limited, FG Wilson (Engineering) Limited, GB Holdco (China) Inc., GFCM Comercial Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., GFCM Servicios S.A. de C.V., Gremada Industries - Assets, Hong Kong Siwei Holdings Limited, Inmobiliaria Conek S.A. de C.V., JCS Co., Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp., Leo Inc., Locomotive Demand Power Pty Ltd., Locomotoras Progress Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Lovat, M2M Data Corporation, MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios, MWM, MWM Austria GmbH, MWM Benelux B.V., MWM Energy Australia Pty Ltd, MWM France S.A.S, MWM Real Estate GmbH, MaK Americas Inc., MaK Americas Inc. (Canada), Magnum Power Products LLC, Marble, Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH, Mec-Track S.r.l., Metalmark Financial Services Limited, Motoren Steffens GmbH, Nippon Caterpillar LLC, P. T. Solar Services Indonesia, PT Caterpillar Finance Indonesia, PT. Bucyrus Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia Batam, PT. Caterpillar Remanufacturing Indonesia, Perkins Engines, Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Perkins Engines Group Limited, Perkins Engines Inc., Perkins Group Limited, Perkins Holdings Limited LLC, Perkins India Private Limited, Perkins International Inc., Perkins Japan LLC, Perkins Limited, Perkins Machinery (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Perkins Motores do Brasil Ltda., Perkins Power Systems Technology (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines LLC, Perkins Small Engines Limited, Perkins Technology Inc., Progress Metal Reclamation Company, Progress Rail Arabia Limited Company, Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd, Progress Rail Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Equipamentos e Servicos Ferroviarios do Brasil Ltda., Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Holdings Inc., Progress Rail Innovations Private Limited, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems GmbH, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems S.r.l., Progress Rail International Corp., Progress Rail Leasing Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Progress Rail Locomotivas (do Brasil) Ltda., Progress Rail Locomotive Canada Co., Progress Rail Locomotive Chile SpA, Progress Rail Locomotive Inc., Progress Rail Maintenance de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Progress Rail Manufacturing Corporation, Progress Rail Raceland Corporation, Progress Rail Rocklin Corporation, Progress Rail SA Proprietary Limited, Progress Rail Services Corporation, Progress Rail Services Holdings Corp., Progress Rail Services LLC, Progress Rail Services UK Limited, Progress Rail Switching Services LLC, Progress Rail Transcanada Corporation, Progress Rail Welding Corporation, Progress Rail Wildwood LLC, Progress Rail de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pyroban Group, Pyroban Group, Pyrrha Investments B.V., Pyrrha Investments Limited, S&L Railroad LLC, SCM Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., SPL Software Alliance LLC, Sabre Engines, Servicios de Turbinas Solar S. de R.L. de C.V., Shandong SEM Machinery Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines (Beijing) Trading Services Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines (Thailand) Ltd., Solar Turbines CIS Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Canada Ltd./Ltee., Solar Turbines Central Asia Limited Liability Partnership, Solar Turbines EAME s.r.o., Solar Turbines Egypt Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Europe S.A., Solar Turbines India Private Limited, Solar Turbines International Company, Solar Turbines Italy S.R.L., Solar Turbines Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Solar Turbines Middle East Limited, Solar Turbines New Zealand Limited, Solar Turbines Saudi Arabia Limited, Solar Turbines Services Company, Solar Turbines Services Nigeria Limited, Solar Turbines Services of Argentina S.R.L., Solar Turbines Switzerland Sagl, Solar Turbines Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Solar Turbines West-Africa SARL, Tangshan DBT Machinery Co. Ltd., Tecnologia Modificada S.A. de C.V., Towmotor Corporation, Traction & Mining Motor Repairs Pty Ltd, Turbinas Solar S.A. de C.V., Turbinas Solar de Colombia S.A., Turbinas Solar de Venezuela C.A., Turbo Tecnologia de Reparaciones S.A. de C.V., Turbomach, Turbomach Endustriyel Gaz Turbinleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, Turbomach France SARL, Turbomach GmbH, Turbomach Netherlands B.V., Turbomach Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbomach S.A. Unipersonal, Turbomach Sp. Z o.o., Turner Powertrain Systems Limited, UK Hose Assembly Limited, Underground Imaging Technologies Inc, United Industries LLC, VALA Inc., Vasky Energy Ltd., Wealdstone Engineering, Weir - Oil & Gas Division, West Virginia Auto Shredding Inc., Western Gear Machinery LLC, Wetland Sustainability Fund I LLC, Williams Technologies, Yard Club, Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Sales Co. Ltd., and okyo Rental Ltd.. Yemenis wait for a taxi at the Jeju International Airport on May 5. Yemen's civil war is forcing many Yemenis to seek refuge in other countries. / Yonhap By Jung Da-min Over 130 refugees from Yemen applied for legal refugee status at the Jeju Immigration Service May 1-8. This followed 90 Yemenis who arrived on the island up until April and applied this year. None have been approved so far. The only person to gain refugee status since the law was enacted in 2013 was a Chinese who helped North Korean defectors. Up until May 7, 325 Yemenis had landed on the island this year, skyrocketing from 52 last year and 10 in 2016. 16 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Deutsche Wohnen in the last twelve months. There are currently 9 hold ratings and 7 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "hold" Deutsche Wohnen stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in DWNI, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares. View analyst ratings for Deutsche Wohnen or view top-rated stocks. The following companies are subsidiares of Continental Aktiengesellschaft: A-Z Formen- und Maschinenbau GmbH, ADC Automotive Distance Control Systems GmbH, ALPHALOR 3 EURL, AZ-CZECH s.r.o., Adam Touring GmbH, Advance Tyre Company Ltd., Advanced Imaging Technologies, Advanced Imaging Technologies (Pty) Ltd, Advanced Scientific Concepts, AlMutlak Continental Company Limited Liability Company, Application Solutions (Electronics and Vision) Ltd., Argus Cyber Security Ltd, BENECKE-KALIKO S.A., BENECKE-KALIKO S.A., BEST DRIVE CTM S.A. de C.V., BV Environmental Limited, BV F1rst Limited, Bandvulc Tyres Limited, Belt Concepts of America Inc., BeltTrade Inc., Benecke Changshun Auto Trim (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., Benecke Changshun Eco Trim (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Benecke-Kaliko AG, BestDrive LLC, BestDrive Sverige AB, Bestdrive Benelux B.V.B.A., CAC Philippines Inc., CAS Munchen GmbH, CAS UK Holding Ltd., CAS-One Holdinggesellschaft mbH, CGH Holding B.V., CGT Referral Resources Inc., CONTINENTAL CPM S. DE R.L. DE C.V., CONTINENTAL ENGINEERING SERVICES PORTUGAL UNIPESSOAL LDA, CONTINENTAL IBERIA SALES AND SERVICES S.A.U., CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIAL SERVICES S A (Pty.) Ltd., CONTINENTAL SURFACE SOLUTIONS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, CONTITECH Chile S.A., CPT Automotive Changchun Co. Ltd., CPT GUADALAJARA S. de. R. L. de C.V., CPT MANUFACTURING MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., CPT MAQUILA MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., Carrel Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH Co. Vermietungs KG, Changshu ContiTech Trading Ltd., Conseo GmbH, Conti Automotive Servicios S.A. de C.V., Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH, Conti Trade Australia Pty. Ltd., Conti Trade Italia S.r.l., Conti Versicherungsdienst Versicherungsvermittlungsges. mbH, Conti-Gummi Finance B.V., ContiTech (Shandong) Engineered Rubber Products Co. Ltd., ContiTech AG, ContiTech AVS France, ContiTech Africa (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Anoflex SAS, ContiTech Antriebssysteme GmbH, ContiTech Australia Pty Ltd, ContiTech Belgium BVBA, ContiTech Canada Inc., ContiTech China Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd., ContiTech Consulting Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Dae Won Airspring Systems Ltd., ContiTech Elastomer-Beschichtungen GmbH, ContiTech Finland Oy, ContiTech Fluid Automotive CZ s.r.o., ContiTech Fluid Automotive Hungaria Kft., ContiTech Fluid Automotive Maroc SARL, ContiTech Fluid Distribuidora S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Korea Ltd., ContiTech Fluid Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Mexicana Servicios S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Monterrey Servicios S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Oil & Marine Middle East FZE, ContiTech Fluid Serbia D.O.O., ContiTech Fluid Shanghai Co. Ltd., ContiTech Fluid Technology (Changchun) Co. Ltd., ContiTech France SNC, ContiTech Global Holding Netherlands B.V., ContiTech Holding (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ContiTech Holding Netherlands B.V., ContiTech IMAS A.E., ContiTech India Pvt. Ltd., ContiTech Japan Co. Ltd., ContiTech Kautschuk- und Kunststoffvertriebsges. mbH, ContiTech Kuhner Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, ContiTech Kuhner GmbH & Cie. KG, ContiTech Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, ContiTech Luftfedersysteme GmbH, ContiTech MGW GmbH, ContiTech Magyarorszag Kft., ContiTech Maroc SARL, ContiTech Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech North America Inc., ContiTech Oil & Marine Corp., ContiTech Power Transmission (Ninghai) Ltd., ContiTech Power Transmission (Sanmen) Ltd., ContiTech Power Transmission Korea Co. Ltd., ContiTech Print Service (S) Pte. Ltd., ContiTech Printing Blanket Shanghai Ltd., ContiTech Roulunds Rubber A/S, ContiTech Rubber Industrial Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, ContiTech Scandinavia AB, ContiTech Schlauch GmbH, ContiTech Services (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Shanghai Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd., ContiTech Singapore Pte. Ltd., ContiTech Slovenija druzba za proizvodnjo gumenih tehnicnih izdelkov d.o.o., ContiTech South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Techno-Chemie GmbH, ContiTech Thermopol LLC, ContiTech Thermopol Romania S.R.L., ContiTech Tianjin Conveyor Belt Ltd., ContiTech Transportbandsysteme GmbH, ContiTech USA Inc., ContiTech United Kingdom Ltd., ContiTech Vibration Control France SAS, ContiTech Vibration Control GmbH, ContiTech Vibration Control Slovakia s.r.o., ContiTech Vibration Control s.r.o., ContiTech-Universe Verwaltungs-GmbH, ContiTrade (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ContiTrade Africa (Pty) Ltd, ContiTrade France Rechapage, ContiTrade Services s.r.o., ContiTrade Slovakia s.r.o., Conticlub SAS, Continental - Industria Textil do Ave S.A., Continental Adria pnevmatike d.o.o., Continental Advanced Antenna Automotiva LTDA, Continental Advanced Antenna GmbH, Continental Advanced Lidar Solutions US LLC, Continental Aftermarket & Services GmbH, Continental Aftermarket GmbH, Continental Automotive AB, Continental Automotive Aguascalientes S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Austria GmbH, Continental Automotive Bajio S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Bangkok Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Benelux BVBA, Continental Automotive Brake Systems (I) Private Limited, Continental Automotive Changchun Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Components (India) Private Ltd., Continental Automotive Components Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Corporation, Continental Automotive Corporation (Lianyungang) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Czech Republic s.r.o., Continental Automotive Electronics LLC, Continental Automotive Engineering (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive France SAS, Continental Automotive Funding Corp., Continental Automotive GmbH, Continental Automotive Grundstucksges. mbH, Continental Automotive Guadalajara Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Holding Netherlands B.V., Continental Automotive Holding Spain S.L., Continental Automotive Holdings UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Hungary Kft., Continental Automotive Inc., Continental Automotive Instruments Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Interior Wuhu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Italy S.p.A., Continental Automotive Japan K.K., Continental Automotive Jinan Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Korea Ltd., Continental Automotive Lithuania UAB, Continental Automotive Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Maquila Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Occidente S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Parts (Suzhou) Co. Ltd, Continental Automotive Rambouillet France SAS, Continental Automotive Romania SRL, Continental Automotive SLP S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Singapore Pte. Ltd., Continental Automotive Spain S.A., Continental Automotive Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Changsha Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Changshu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Costa Rica S.A., Continental Automotive Systems Inc., Continental Automotive Systems SRL, Continental Automotive Systems Slovakia s.r.o., Continental Automotive Trading France SAS, Continental Automotive Trading Italia S.r.l., Continental Automotive Trading Nederland B.V., Continental Automotive Trading UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Trading Osterreich GmbH, Continental Automotive UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Wuhu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive d.o.o. Novi Sad, Continental Automotive do Brasil Ltda., Continental Barum s.r.o., Continental Benelux SPRL, Continental Bicycle Systems GmbH & Co. KG, Continental Bicycle Systems Verwaltungs GmbH, Continental Brake Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Brakes Italy S.p.A., Continental Brasil Industria Automotiva Ltda., Continental Caoutchouc-Export-GmbH, Continental ContiTech de Chihuahua S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental ContiTech de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Daek Danmark A/S, Continental Dekk Norge A/S, Continental Digital Services France SAS, Continental Dack Sverige AB, Continental Engineering Services & Products GmbH, Continental Engineering Services GmbH, Continental Engineering Services Ltd., Continental Finance GmbH, Continental France SNC, Continental Global Business Services Manila Inc., Continental Global Holding Netherlands B.V., Continental HT Tyres s.r.o., Continental Holding China Co. Ltd., Continental Holding France SAS, Continental Hungaria Kft., Continental India Private Limited, Continental Industrias del Caucho S.A., Continental Industria e Comercio Automotivos Ltda., Continental Industria e Comercio de Pecas de Reposicao Automotivas Ltda., Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems LLC, Continental Investment Ltd., Continental Italia S.p.A., Continental Lemmerz (Portugal)-Componentes para Automoveis Lda., Continental Llantera Potosina S.A. de C.V., Continental Mabor Industria de Pneus S.A., Continental Matador Rubber s.r.o., Continental Matador Truck Tires s.r.o., Continental Middle East DMCC, Continental Opony Polska Sp. z o.o., Continental Pneus (Portugal) S.A., Continental Pty Ltd, Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH, Continental Rengas Oy, Continental Rubber of America Corp., Continental Safety Engineering International GmbH, Continental Secure Data Germany GmbH, Continental Secure Data Headquarter B.V., Continental Secure Data USA LLC, Continental Servicos de Vulcanizacao do Brasil Ltda., Continental Suisse S.A., Continental Temic Electronics (Phils.) Inc., Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG, Continental Teves Portugal - Sistemas de Travagem Lda., Continental Teves UK Ltd., Continental Tire Andina S.A., Continental Tire Canada Inc., Continental Tire Chile SpA, Continental Tire Colombia S.A.S., Continental Tire Corporativo S.A. de C.V., Continental Tire Holding US LLC, Continental Tire Japan Co. Ltd., Continental Tire Korea Co. Ltd., Continental Tire Sumter LLC, Continental Tire West Africa Limited, Continental Tire de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Continental Tire the Americas LLC, Continental Tires (China) Co. Ltd., Continental Tires (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Tires Espana S.L., Continental Tires Holding Singapore Pte. Ltd., Continental Trebbin GmbH & Co. KG Sondermaschinenbau, Continental Trebbin Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, Continental Tyre AS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Group Ltd., Continental Tyre Investment UK Ltd., Continental Tyre Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Management Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Marketing Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre North Africa SARL, Continental Tyre PJ Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Services Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Continental Tyre Technology Centre Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Continental Tyres Ltd., Continental Tyres of Australia Pty Ltd, Continental UK Group Holdings Ltd., Continental VUK s.r.o., Continental do Brasil Produtos Automotivos Ltda., Continental of Taiwan Co. Ltd., Continental vyroba pneumatik s.r.o., Contitech Argentina S.R.L., Contitech Botswana (Pty) Ltd, Contitech do Brasil Produtos Automotivos e Industriais Ltda., Contitrade Espana S.A.U., Contitrade Holding, Contitread Renovado Morelia S.A. de C.V., Correx Handelsgesellschaft fur Kautschukprodukte mbH, Custom Machining Services Inc., DRUST, Dekkmann A/S, Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd., DynaGen Inc., EPD Holdings Inc., Eddelbuttel + Schneider GmbH, Elektrobit, Elektrobit Austria GmbH, Elektrobit Automotive Americas Inc., Elektrobit Automotive Finland Oy, Elektrobit Automotive GmbH, Elektrobit Automotive Korea Limited, Elektrobit Automotive Romania SRL, Elektrobit Automotive Software (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Elektrobit France SAS, Elektrobit India Private Ltd., Elektrobit Nippon K.K., Emitec Denmark A/S, Emitec France SAS, Eu-Retec (Private) Ltd., FSC Franchising Service Company S.p.A., Formpolster GmbH, General Tire International Company, Granite Investments Limited, Holding ContiTech SAS, Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., Hornschuch (Shanghai) Surface Technology Co. Ltd., Hornschuch Consulting GmbH, Hornschuch Group GmbH, Hornschuch Italia S.r.l., Hornschuch Stolzenau GmbH, Hornschuch UK Ltd., Hornschuch-Markt GmbH, INTECH Thuringen GmbH, Kathrein Automotive, Kathrein Automotive Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Kathrein Automotive North America Inc., Kathrein Automotive Portugal Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Kim Holdings Scotland Limited, Kolubara-Univerzal D.O.O., Konrad Hornschuch AG, Konrad Hornschuch International GmbH, Legg Company Inc., Libra Associates (Properties) Limited, MISA GmbH & Co. KG, MISA-Beteiligungs GmbH, Merlett Belgie B.V.B.A, Merlett Benelux B.V., Merlett Deutschland GmbH, Merlett France SAS, Merlett Group, Merlett Iberica 2016 S.L., Merlett Norway As, Merlett Plastics UK Ltd., Merlett Polska Sp. Z o.o., Merlett RUS LLC, Merlett Tecnoplastic S.p.a., Noviteck SA, O'Sullivan Films Inc., OOO "ContiTech Rus", OOO "Continental Automotive RUS", OOO "Continental Automotive Systems RUS", OOO "Continental Kaluga", OOO "Continental Tires RUS", OOO Hornschuch RUS, OTA Grundstucks- und Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH, OTA keys, OTA keys S.A., Omitec Group, Otomotiv Lastikleri Tevzi AS (OLTAS), POWERTRAIN MAQUILA MEXICO S. DE R.L. DE C.V., PT Continental Tyre Indonesia, PT Quantum Inventions Indonesia, Parkpocket, Phoenix Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Phoenix Compounding Technology GmbH, Phoenix Conveyor Belt India Private Ltd., Phoenix Conveyor Belt Solutions Inc., Phoenix Conveyor Belt Systems GmbH, Phoenix Fluid Handling Industry GmbH, Phoenix Oil & Marine Ltd., Phoenix Service GmbH & Co. KG, Phoenix Shanxi Conveyor Belt Co. Ltd., Phoenix Vermogensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Pneu Egger AG, Profi Reifen- und Autoservice Gesellschaft mbH, Prazisionstechnik Geithain GmbH, QUANTUM INVENTIONS SDN. BHD., Quantum Inventions, Quantum Inventions Private Limited, R & J Strang Tyre Services Limited, REG Reifen-Entsorgungsgesellschaft mbH, REPARATION PNEUMATIQUES DU SUD EST (REPNEU) SAS, ROSEA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Hannover-Stocken KG, Reifen Apel GmbH, Reifen Kauffmann GmbH, Reifen-John GmbH & Co KG, Reifen-Service Clemens & Hegel GmbH, Rengasmaailma Oy, Road-Broad Automotive Electronics (Qufu) Co. Ltd., Rundpneu Beteiligungsges. mbH, S.C. ContiTech Fluid Automotive Romania S.R.L., S.C. ContiTech Romania S.R.L., S.C. Continental Automotive Products SRL, SAS CONTITRADE FRANCE, STEINEBRONN BETEILIGUNGS-GMBH, Semperit (Ireland) Ltd., Semperit (UK) Ltd., Semperit Reifen Gesellschaft mbH, Senior Experts Services GmbH, Siemens VDO Automotive S.p.A., Specialised Belting Supplies Ltd., Specialty Fabrics & Converting Inc., Specialty Yarn & Converting Inc., Stable One Insurance Company LLC, Synerject Taiwan Co. Ltd., Syrma A.E., TON Tyres Over Night Trading GmbH, TOO "Continental Matador KZ", Temic Automotive (Phils.) Inc., Tikka Spikes Oy, Tyre Maintenance Limited, Tyre Reinsurance (Ireland) DAC, Tyre and Auto Pty Ltd, UMG Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Union-Mittelland-Gummi-GmbH & Co. Grundbesitz KG, Unterstutzungskasse mbH der Goppinger Kaliko- und Kunstleder-Werke GmbH, VIVAX Trading GmbH, Vanvulc Tyres Limited, Vaysse SAS, Vergolst GmbH, Veyance Distribuidora de Produtos de Engenharia Ltda., Veyance Hong Kong Co. Ltd., Veyance Industrial Services Inc., Veyance Qingdao Engineered Elastomers Company Ltd., Veyance Technologies, Veyance Technologies Australia Pty. Ltd., Veyance Technologies Canada (NS) ULC, Veyance Technologies Hong Kong Co. Ltd., Veyance Technologies Zambia Ltd., Viking Tyres (UK) Ltd., Vitesco Technologies (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies 1. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Vitesco Technologies 1. Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies 2. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Vitesco Technologies 2. Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Automotive Cuautla S.A. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Canada ULC, Vitesco Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Vitesco Technologies Delavan LLC, Vitesco Technologies Eisenach Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Emitec GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Engineering Romania SRL, Vitesco Technologies France S.A.S., Vitesco Technologies GDL S. de R.L. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Germany GmbH, Vitesco Technologies GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Group Aktiengesellschaft, Vitesco Technologies Holding 1 Canada Inc., Vitesco Technologies Holding 2 Canada Inc., Vitesco Technologies Holding China Co. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies Holding Netherlands B.V., Vitesco Technologies Hungary Kft., Vitesco Technologies India Private Limited, Vitesco Technologies Italy S.R.L., Vitesco Technologies Japan K.K., Vitesco Technologies Korea, Vitesco Technologies Lohmar Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Roding GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Romania SRL, Vitesco Technologies Singapore Pte. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies UK Ltd., Vitesco Technologies USA LLC, Vitesco Tecnologia Brasil Automotiva Ltda., Vogtlandische Reifenwerke Sitz Bad Nauheim GmbH, Vulcanite Holdings Pty Ltd, Vulcanite Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Vulcanite Pty Ltd, Wohlfahrtseinrichtung fur die Arbeiter und Angestellten der Semperit Reifen AG GmbH, Zonar, Zonar Systems Inc., Zytek Automotive, Zytek Automotive Ltd., Zytek Group Ltd., balance GmbH Handel und Beratungsservice im Gesundheitswesen, co-pace GmbH, inotec Innovative Technologie GmbH, and kek-Kaschierungen GmbH. / Yonhap A 58-year-old South Korean man was shot to death in the Philippines, police officials said Thursday. The victim, identified by his surname Kim, was shot by an unidentified gunman in Manila around 9 p.m. Wednesday, officials at the National Police Agency said. Local police launched an investigation, and a South Korean police official stationed in the Southeast Asian nation is helping with the probe, officials said. Kim was not a resident of the Philippines, and police are looking into why he was staying there. The National Police Agency plans to dispatch a team of investigators specializing in scientific investigation to the Philippines to help with the investigation. (Yonhap) The Hershey Co. engages in the manufacture and market of chocolate and sugar confectionery products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: North America; and International and Other. The North America segment is responsible for the traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery market position of the company, as well as its grocery and snacks market positions, in the United States and Canada. The International and Other segment is the combination of all other operating segments which are not individually material, including those geographic regions where the company operates outside of North America. Its brands include Hershey's, Reese's, and Kisses. The company was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 and is headquartered in Hershey, PA. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: 87 Leonard Development LLC, ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Acacia (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Accounting Solutions Holding Company Inc, Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Amber Investments S.a r.l., Ambidexter GmbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BHW Kreditservice GmbH, BNA Nominees Pty Limited, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, BTAS Cayman GP, BTD Nominees Pty Limited, Baincor Nominees Pty Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Barkly Investments Ltd., Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Biomass Holdings S.a r.l., Birch (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Blue Cork Inc, Blue Cork Inc., Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cape Acquisition Corp., CapeSuccess Inc., CapeSuccess LLC, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Career Blazers LLC, Career Blazers Management Company Inc, Career Blazers Management Company Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc, Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services of Washington D.C. Inc. Washington D.C., Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc, Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc., Carpathian Investments Designated Activity Company, Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Centennial River 2 Inc., Centennial River Corporation, Chapel Funding, Charlton (Delaware) Inc, China Recovery Fund LLC, China Recovery Fund LLC, Cinda - DB NPL Securitization Trust 2003-1, City Leasing (Thameside) Limited, City Leasing Limited, Consumo S.p.A., Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, D.B. International Delaware Inc., D.B. International Delaware Inc., DAHOC (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DAHOC Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB (Pacific) Limited, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB Abalone LLC, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Alps Corporation, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (in voluntary liquidation), DB Asset Finance I S.a r.l., DB Asset Finance II S.a r.l., DB Aster II LLC, DB Aster III LLC, DB Aster Inc., DB Aster LLC, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Investments Sarl, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Commodity Services LLC, DB Consorzio S. Cons. a r. l., DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Covered Bond S.r.l., DB Credit Investments S.a r.l., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Commodities Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Enfield Infrastructure Holdings Limited, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance International GmbH, DB Ganymede 2006 L.P., DB Global Markets Multi-Strategy Fund I Ltd., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holding Fundo de Investimento Multimercado Investimento no Exterior Credito Privado, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (South America) Limited, DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Immobilienfonds 1 Wieland KG, DB Immobilienfonds 2 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 4 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG, DB Impact Investment (GP) Limited, DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB Io LP, DB Litigation Fee LLC, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Managers LLC, DB Municipal Holdings LLC, DB Nexus American Investments (UK) Limited (in members'voluntary liquidation), DB Nexus Investments (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios Interactivos Agrupacion de Interes Economico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB PWM, DB Portfolio Southwest Inc., DB Print GmbH, DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB RC Holdings LLC, DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Finance 1 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Finance 2 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Holdings Luxembourg S.a r.l., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a r.l., DB Value S.a r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita S.A., DBAB Wall Street LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBCIBZ2, DBFIC Inc., DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBOI Global Services Private Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management IA Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management US IB L.L.C., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUKH No. 2 Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBX Advisors LLC, DBX ETF Trust, DBX Strategic Advisors LLC, DBO Vermogensverwertung GmbH, DEBEKO Immobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUFRAN Beteiligungs GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK A.S., DG China Clean Tech Partners, DI Deutsche Immobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DIB-Consult Deutsche Immobilien- und BeteiligungsBeratungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DNU Nominees Pty Limited, DSL Portfolio GmbH & Co. KG, DSL Portfolio Verwaltungs GmbH, DTS Nominees Pty Limited, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, De Heng Asset Management Company Limited, De Meng Innovative (Beijing) Consulting Company Limited, DeAM Infrastructure Limited, Deloraine Spain S.L., Delowrezham de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (Mauritius) Limited Port, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (France) SAS, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, Deutsche Asset Management S.A., Deutsche Asset Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (Chile), Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anonima Institucion Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Bauspar-Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance LLC I, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance Trust I, Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency of Delaware, Deutsche Bank International Limited, Deutsche Bank Investments (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Deposits, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Note Programme, Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company Los, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Polska Spolka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao Sao, Deutsche Bank SPEARs/LIFERs Series DBE-8011 Trust, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Services (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Societa per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Management Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Colombia S.A.S., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 1 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 2 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 3 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 4 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankterHaftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Deutsche Holdings (Malta) Ltd., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche Immobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Inversiones Dos S.A., Deutsche Inversiones Limitada, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mandatos S.A., Deutsche Master Funding Corporation, Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a r.l., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Public Limited Company, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC I, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC II, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC III, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Deutsche Securities S.A., Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Securities SpA, Deutsche Securities Venezuela S.A., Deutsche Securitisation Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trust Company Limited Japan, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsches Institut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.I., Elba Finance GmbH, Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, Emerald Asset Repackaging Designated Activity Company, Erste Frankfurter Hoist GmbH, European Value Added I (Alternate G.P.) LLP, Exinor SA, FARAMIR Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH, FRANKFURT CONSULT GmbH, Fiduciaria Sant' Andrea S.r.L., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Franz Urbig- und Oscar Schlitter-Stiftung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-037, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-039, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-040, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-041, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-043, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-044, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-047, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., G.O. IB-US Management L.L.C., G918 Corp., GAC-HEL Inc., GWC-GAC Corp., Galene S.a r.l., Gemini Technology Services Inc., German American Capital, German American Capital Corporation, Gladyr Spain S.L., Global Markets Fundo de Investimento Multimercado, Global Markets III Fundo de Investimento Multimercado - Credito, Greenwood Properties Corp., Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer Landstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Kerpen-Sindorf Vogelrutherfeld GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Leipzig Petersstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Wiesbaden Luisenstrae/Kirchgasse GbR, HTB Spezial GmbH & Co. KG, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, IOS Finance EFC S.A., ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, Immobilienfonds Mietwohnhauser Quadrath-Ichendorf GbR, Immobilienfonds Wohn- und Geschaftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul Inkasso GmbH, Kradavimd UK Lease Holdings Limited, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Latitude Australia Secured Personal Loans Trust, Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo III Initial GP Limited, Lindsell Finance Limited, London Industrial Leasing Limited, MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MHL Reinsurance Ltd., MIT Holdings Inc., MIT Holdings Inc., MPP Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Securities Corp., Motion Picture Productions One GmbH & Co. KG, NCW Holding Inc., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., New 87 Leonard LLC, Nordwestdeutscher Wohnungsbautrager Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentre", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Holding GmbH, OPB-Nona GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPB-Quinta GmbH, OPB-Septima GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM Flottenfonds V GmbH & Co. KG, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, OPS Nominees Pty Limited, OVT Trust 1 GmbH, OVV Beteiligungs GmbH, Opal Funds (Ireland) Public Limited Company, PADUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, PARTS Funding LLC., PB Factoring GmbH, PB Firmenkunden AG, PB International S.A., PB Spezial-Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PBC Banking Services GmbH, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, PT. Deutsche Verdhana Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Peruda Leasing Limited, Plantation Bay Inc., Plantation Bay Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Immobilien GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH & Co. Objekt Leipzig KG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank Service GmbH, Postbank Systems AG, QR Tower 2 LLC, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, REO Properties Corporation, RREEF, RREEF America L.L.C., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisors Private Limited, RREEF Management L.L.C., RTS Nominees Pty Limited, Reference Capital Investments Limited, RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables LLC, Route 28 Receivables LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SCUDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SEDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SENA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Kamenz KG, SIFA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SOLIDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SP Mortgage Trust, SPINO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SPV I Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, SPV II Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, STATOR Heizkraftwerk Frankfurt (Oder) Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim Alternative Investments GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Komplementar AG, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Service Company Four Limited, Sharps SP I LLC, Singer Island Tower Suite LLC, Somkid Immobiliare S.r.l., Stelvio Immobiliare S.r.l., Structured Finance Americas LLC, Structured Finance Americas LLC, Swabia 1. Vermogensbesitz-GmbH, Suddeutsche Vermogensverwaltung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, TAKIR Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TELO Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, TEMATIS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TERRUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Halle I KG i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Nordhausen I KG i.L., TOSSA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRIPLA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRS Aria LLC, TRS Leda LLC, TRS Maple II LTD, TRS Oak II LTD, TRS SVCO LLC, TRS Scorpio LLC, TRS Tupelo II LTD, TRS Venor LLC, TRS Walnut II LTD, Tagus - Sociedade de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Tasfiye Halinde Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Tianjin Deutsche AM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Limited, UKE Beteiligungs-GmbH, UKE Grundstucksgesellschaft mbH, UKE s.r.o., Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksgesellschaft Kirchnerstrae GbR, Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft Disternich GbR, Ullmann Ullmann Krockow Krockow Esch GbR, VCJ Lease S.a r.l., Vesta Real Estate S.r.l., VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, WEPLABeteiligungsgesellschaftmbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., Whale Holdings S.a r.l., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., World Trading(Delaware)Inc., Zumirez Drive LLC, db PBC, and norisbank GmbH. Wall Street analysts have given iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate 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 iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Stantec Inc. provides professional consulting services in the area of infrastructure and facilities in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics. It also offers water, transportation, and public works; transportation planning and traffic engineering; and resource assessment, mine development, reclamation, hydrology, and geotechnical and infrastructure engineering services, as well as urban planning, traffic assessments and optimization, environmental impact assessments, and public consultation services. In addition, the company provides structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and hydraulics engineering services. It serves urban regeneration, infrastructure, education, public and private sector, tourism and leisure, and waste and water sectors, as well as office and commercial, residential, and retail and town centers. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada. Read More 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 Accenture: 2nd Road, 2nd Road Pty Ltd., ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Ltd, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Innovation Singapore Holdings Pte, ?What If! Limited, ?What If! Shanghai Co. Ltd, ?What If! USA LLC, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD Dialeto Agencia de Publicidade SA, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Beijing) Mobile Technology Co Ltd, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co Ltd, Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (South Africa) Pty Limited, Accenture (UK) Ltd, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Azerbaijan Ltd, Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BV, Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A, Accenture CAS GmbH, Accenture Canada Holdings Inc., Accenture Capital DAC, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd., Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SAS, Accenture Customer Services Limited, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Delivery Poland sp. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital France Holdings SA, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance (Gibraltar) III Ltd, Accenture Finance GmbH, Accenture Finance GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II GmbH, Accenture Finance II GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II Ltd, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services Srl, Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Ghana Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Ltd., Accenture Global Services Ltd, Accenture Global Solutions Ltd, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services Ltd, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc., Accenture Holding GmbH, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holding GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SAS, Accenture Holdings plc, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazylym Cozumleri Limited irketi), Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture Insurance Services SAS, Accenture Insurance Services SpA, Accenture International BV, Accenture International Capital SCA, Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture International Sarl, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea BV, Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Managed Services SpA, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Middle East B.V, Accenture Middle East BV, Accenture Minority I BV, Accenture Minority III Ltd, Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi (Pty) Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Newco LLC, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations Sp. z o.o., Accenture Outsourcing SRL, Accenture Outsourcing Services, Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations BV, Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru S.R.L, Accenture Peru S.R.L., Accenture Post Trade Processing SAS, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process Ltd, Accenture Product Lifecycle Services, Accenture Properties, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture S.A., Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture SAS, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sendirian Berhad, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Ltd, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.r.l., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services Sp. z o.o., Accenture Services Sp. z.o.o., Accenture Services and Technology Srl, Accenture Services fur Kreditinstitute GmbH, Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Servicos Administrativos Ltda, Accenture Servicos de Suporte de Negocios Ltda, Accenture Solutions Co Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Sp. z o.o., Accenture Sp. z.o.o., Accenture SpA, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc., Accenture Sub Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag KFT, Accenture Technologia, Accenture Technologia Consultoria e Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Technology Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions SAS, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures BV, Accenture Technology Ventures S.P.R.L., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co., Accenture Vietnam Co. LTD, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Limitada, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Customer Insight Limited, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Agave Consultants Limited, Agilex Technologies Inc., Allen International, Allen International Consulting Group Ltd, Alnova Technologies Corporation S.L., AlphaBeta Advisors, Altima, Altima Asia Ltd., Altima SAS, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Appaloosa Technology SAS, Arca, Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Avanade, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade (Thailand) Co Ltd, Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Denmark ApS, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Ltd, Avanade Europe Services Ltd, Avanade Federal Services LLC, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SAS, Avanade GZ Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd. (SH), Avanade Guangzhou, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy SRL, Avanade KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Netherlands BV, Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland Sp. z o.o., Avanade Poland Sp. z.o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain SL, Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Ltd, Avanade do Brasil Limitada, Avanade Osterreich GmbH, AvantBiz Consulting Limited, Avenai, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Benext, Bionic, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Boomerang Pharmaceuticals Communications Ireland Limited, Bow & Arrow, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brand Learning LLC, Brand Learning Ltd, Brand Learning Partners Limited, Brand Learning Pte Limited, Bridge Energy Group LLC, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CadenceQuest Inc., Capable Marketer Limited, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc., Certus Solutions Consulting Services Ltd, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cimation UK Limited, Cirruseo, Cirruseo SAS, Clarity Insights, Clearhead, Clearhead Group, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas (SN) (PTE.) Limited, Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Ltd., Cloud Talent Limited, Cloudsherpas, Cloudsherpas Inc., Cloudworks, Codagenic Pty. Ltd., Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda., Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda., Context Information Security, Coritel S.A., Corliant Inc., CreativeDrive, CustomerWorks Europe SL, Cutting Edge Solutions Ltd, D5 Global Holdings LLC, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., DMA Solutions Limited, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (Australia) PTY LTD, DayNine Consulting (Deutschland) GmbH, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting France SAS, DayNine Consulting Japan K.K., DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings, Declarative Holdings LLC, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digiplug SAS, Digital Consulting & Software Services LLC, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Ltd., Duck Creek Technologies, Duck Creek Technologies LLC, Deja Vu Security LLC, ESR Labs, Elcurator SAS, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting L.P., End-to-End Analytics, Energuia Web, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Ltd., Energy Quote Private Ltd., EnergyQuote JHA, EnergyQuote JHA Ltd., EnergyQuote Trading Ltd., Enimbos, Enkitec, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V. , Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enterprise System Partners PR LLC, Enterprise System Partners S.A.S., Entropia, Epylon, Ethica Consulting Group, Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Exton Consulting, Fairway Technologies Inc, Fairway Technologies LLC, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, First Annapolis International, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Focus Group Europe Limited, Formicary, Formicary Holdings Limited, Formicary Limited, FusionX, FutureMove Automotive, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, Genfour Limited, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gestion Altima Canada Inc., Gevity, Global Public Firm S.L., GlobalView SAS, GoodFilm GmbH Filmproduktion Stuttgart, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Hytracc Consulting UK Limited, Hytracc Holding AS, I-Faber S.p.A., IBB Consulting, IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INCAD, INSITUM, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Imagine Broadband (USA) Ltd, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Industrie&Co, Infoman AG, Infoman Schweiz AG, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Infusion Development Inc., Infusion Development UK Limited, InfusionDev LLC, Innoveer Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria Brasil LTDA, Insitum Consultoria Colombia SAS, Insitum Consultoria Europa SL, Insitum Consultoria Peru SAC, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., Intrepid, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Advertisement (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inventor Technology Limited, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, Javelin Group (Bulgaria) EOOD, Javelin Group Limited (UK), Javelin Group SASU, K Comms Group Limited, KCS.net AG, KCS.net AG West, KCS.net Deutschland GmbH, KCS.net Holding AG, KCS.net Osterreich GmbH, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Ltd, Kogentix Singapore Pte. Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kunstmaan NV, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon UKI, Kurt Salmon UKI Ltd., Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LabAnswer, LabAnswer Government, LemonXL Limited, Logistics Market Place Limited (UK), Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Corporation, Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte. Ltd., Mackevision UK Ltd, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd., Maihiro, Matter, Matter Llc, Maud Corp Pty Limited, Maxamine International, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing Corporation, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mindtribe Product Engineering LLC, MobGen, MobGen Technology S.L, Moonrise NV, Mortgage Cadence, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, N3 LLC, NBS Marketing Inc., NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile, Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Chile SpA, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda., New Energy Aborda, New Energy Associates Ltd, New Energy Group, New Energy S.r.l., NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage China Ltd., NewsPage Pte Ltd, Nice Agency Limited, Northstream, Northstream AB, Northstream Holding AB, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology LTDA, Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Octo Technology SPRL, Octoman SAS, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Openmind, Openminded, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium Consulting Ltd, Orbium GmbH, Orbium Holding AG, Orbium Inc., Orbium International AG, Orbium International sp. z o.o., Orbium Licences AG, Orbium Limited, Orbium Pte. Ltd., Orbium Pty Ltd, Orbium Services sp. z o.o., Orbium Sarl, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PCO Innovation Canada Inc., PCO Innovation EURL, PIXO PUNCH Limited, PLM Systems S.r.l, POC Holdings, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, Pach Invest SARL, Pach Invest SAS, PacificLink Group, PacificLink iMedia Ltd., Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald Inc., Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Partners Technology Mexico Holdings BV, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production K/S, Perseroan Terbatas. Accenture, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Ltd, Pragsis Technologies S.L, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Ltd, Procurian Germany GmbH, Procurian Inc., Procurian International I LLC, Procurian International II LLC, Procurian LLC, Procurian Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procurian Switzerland GmbH, Procurian USA LLC, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co Ltd, Radiant Services, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Limited, Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (Asia) Pte Ltd, Redcore (India) Private Limited (India), Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Renacentis IT Services, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Rothco, Rothco Holdings Designated Activity Company, Rothco Unlimited Company, S.C. EnergyQuote S.r.l., S3 TV Technology Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SEC Servizi, SEC Servizi S.p.A., SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Sagacious Consultants LLC, Salt Solutions, Sanchez Capital Services Pvt Ltd, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Airline Planning Group, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace Asia (Hong Kong) Limited, Seabury Aviation Consulting LLC, Seabury Cargo Advisory B.V., Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Human Capital LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Seabury Structured Finance LLC, Search Technologies BPO, Search Technologies BPO Inc., Search Technologies GmbH, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LATAM, Search Technologies LATAM S.A., Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Sente Partners LLC, Sentelis, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Shackleton, Shackleton Barcelona S.L., Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton Madrid S.L., Shackleton S.A., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., Silveo, Simian Pty Limited, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Commerce GmbH, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., SinnerSchrader Swipe GmbH, Sinnerschrader, Sistemes Consulting S.L., Solutions IQ, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Storm Digital, Storm Digital B.V., Structure Consulting Group, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Systor AG, TQuila Limited (UK), Tadata Creative Unlimited Company, Tara Insurance DAC, Tara Risk DAC, TargetST8, TargetST8 Consulting LLC, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica Ltd., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Limited, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Total Logistics Supply Chain Consultants Limited, Tquila, Trivadis AG, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Verax Solutions, Verax Solutions Corporation, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong, Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd., Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, Weblinc Pty Ltd, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wire Stone Sarl, Wolox, Workforce Insight Inc, Yesler, Zag, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines, Zenta Global Philippines Inc., Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc., Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, and solid-serVision.com GmbH. The following companies are subsidiares of Xylem: Aanderaa Data Instruments AS, Beijing United Gas Meters Co. Ltd., Bellingham & Stanley Ltd., Bombas Flygt de Venezuela S.A., CMS Research Corporation, EmNet LLC, FARADYNE Motors LLC, Faradyne Motors (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Flow Control LLC, Flowtronex PSI LLC, Fluid Handling LLC, Godwin Holdings Ltd., Goulds Water Technology Philippines Inc, Grindex AB, Grindex Pumps LLC, HYPACK Inc, Heartland Pump Rental & Sales Inc., IMT b.v., Jabsco Marine Italia s.r.l., Jabsco S. de R.L. De C.V., Lowara UK Ltd, Lowara Vogel Polska SP ZOO, Lowara s.r.l., MJK Automation ApS, MultiTrode Inc., Multitrode Pty Ltd, Nova Analytics Europe LLC, O.I. Corporation, PCI Membrane Systems Inc., Pension Trustee Management Ltd, Pims Pumps, Portacel Inc., Pure Technologies, SELC Electronics Ltd, SELC Group Ltd., SELC Ireland Ltd, Safe Sea Services FZC, Sensus, Sensus (UK Holdings) Ltd., Sensus Australia Pty Ltd, Sensus Canada Inc., Sensus Chile SA, Sensus Espana SA, Sensus France Holdings SAS, Sensus France SAS, Sensus GmbH Hannover, Sensus GmbH Ludwigshafen, Sensus Italia SRL, Sensus Japan Kabushiki Kaisha, Sensus Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Sensus Maroc S.A.., Sensus Metering Systems (Fuzhou) Co. Ltd., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 1) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 2) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 3) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 4) S.A R.L., Sensus Metering Systems (LuxCo 5) S.A R.L, Sensus Metering Systems IP Holdings Inc., Sensus Polska sp. zoo, Sensus Precision Die Casting (Yangzhou) Co. Ltd., Sensus SPA, Sensus Services Deutschland GmbH, Sensus Slovensko a.s., Sensus South Africa (Proprietary) Ltd., Sensus Spectrum LLC, Sensus UK Systems Limited, Sensus USA Inc., Sensus de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Sensus metrologicke sluzby s.r.o._Slovakia, Sensus Ceska republika spol. s r.o., Sentec Limited, Smith-Blair Inc., Texas Turbine LLC, Tideland Signal Corporation, Tideland Signal EMEA B.V., Tideland Signal LLC, Tideland Signal Limited, Tirinstal Investments Ltd, UGI Global Limited, Valor Water Analytics, Visenti Pte. Ltd, Water Asset Management Inc., Water Process Limited, Watercompany, Xylem (China) Company Limited, Xylem (Hong Kong) Limited, Xylem (Nanjing) Co. Ltd, Xylem Analytics (Beijing) Co. Ltd, Xylem Analytics Australia Pty Ltd., Xylem Analytics France S.A.S., Xylem Analytics Germany GmbH, Xylem Analytics IP Management GmbH, Xylem Analytics IP Management SCS, Xylem Analytics LLC, Xylem Analytics UK LTD, Xylem Australia Holdings PTY LTD, Xylem Brasil Solucoes para Agua Ltda, Xylem Canada Company, Xylem Delaware Inc., Xylem Denmark Holdings ApS, Xylem Dewatering Solutions Inc., Xylem Dewatering Solutions UK Ltd, Xylem Europe GmbH, Xylem Financing S.a.r.l, Xylem Germany GmbH, Xylem Global S.a.r.l, Xylem Holdings S.a.r.l., Xylem IP Holdings LLC, Xylem IP Management S.a.r.l, Xylem IP UK S.a.r.l., Xylem Industriebeteiligungen GmbH, Xylem Industries S.a.r.l., Xylem International S.a.r.l., Xylem Lowara Limited, Xylem Luxembourg S.a r.l., Xylem Management GmbH, Xylem Manufacturing Austria GmbH, Xylem Manufacturing Middle East Region FZCO, Xylem Middle East Water Equipment Trading & Rental LLC, Xylem Russia LLC, Xylem Saudi Arabia Limited, Xylem Service Hungary Kft, Xylem Service Italia Srl, Xylem Services Austria GmbH, Xylem Services GmbH, Xylem Shared Services Sp. Z.o.o., Xylem Technologies & Partners S.C.S, Xylem Technologies GmbH, Xylem Water Holdings Limited, Xylem Water Limited, Xylem Water Services Limited, Xylem Water Solutions (Hong Kong) Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Argentina S.R.L., Xylem Water Solutions Australia Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Austria GmbH, Xylem Water Solutions Belgium, Xylem Water Solutions Chile S.A., Xylem Water Solutions Colombia SAS, Xylem Water Solutions Denmark ApS, Xylem Water Solutions Deutschland GmbH, Xylem Water Solutions Espana S.A., Xylem Water Solutions Florida LLC, Xylem Water Solutions France SAS, Xylem Water Solutions Global Services AB, Xylem Water Solutions Herford GmbH, Xylem Water Solutions Holdings France SAS, Xylem Water Solutions India Private Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Ireland Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions Italia S.R.L, Xylem Water Solutions Korea Co. Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions Magyarorszag KRT, Xylem Water Solutions Malaysia SDN. BHD., Xylem Water Solutions Manufacturing AB, Xylem Water Solutions Metz SAS, Xylem Water Solutions Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Xylem Water Solutions Middle East Region FZCO, Xylem Water Solutions Muscat LLC, Xylem Water Solutions Nederland BV, Xylem Water Solutions New Zealand Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Norge AS, Xylem Water Solutions Panama s.r.l., Xylem Water Solutions Peru S.A., Xylem Water Solutions Polska Sp.z.o.o., Xylem Water Solutions Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Xylem Water Solutions Rugby Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Singapore PTE Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Xylem Water Solutions South Africa Holdings LLC, Xylem Water Solutions Suomi Oy, Xylem Water Solutions Sweden AB, Xylem Water Solutions U.S.A. Inc., Xylem Water Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Xylem Water Solutions UK Limited, Xylem Water Solutions Zelienople LLC, Xylem Water Solutions(Shenyang) CO. Ltd, Xylem Water Systems (California) Inc., Xylem Water Systems Hungary KFT, Xylem Water Systems International Inc., Xylem Water Systems Japan Corporation, Xylem Water Systems Philippines Holding Inc., Xylem Water Systems Texas Holdings LLC, Xylem Water Systems U.S.A. LLC, YSI (China) Ltd., YSI (Hong Kong) Ltd., YSI (UK) Ltd., YSI Incorporated, YSI Instrumentos E Servicos Ambientais Ltda., YSI International Inc., YSI Nanotech Limited, and ylem Analytics Germany Sales GmbH& Co. KG. The following companies are subsidiares of UnitedHealth Group: 1031387 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1070715 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1st Avenue Pharmacy Inc., 310 Canyon Medical, 310 Canyon Medical LLC, 4C MSO LLC, 4C Medical Group PLC, 5995 Minnetonka LLC, ABCO International Holdings LLC, ACN Group IPA of New York, ACN Group IPA of New York Inc., ACN Group of California, ACN Group of California Inc., AHJV, AHJV MSO, AHN Accontable Care Organization LLC, AHN Central Services LLC, AHN Target Holdings LLC, AMIL International, AMIL International S.a.r.l., APS Assistencia Personalizada a Saude Ltda., ARC Infusion, ASC Holdings of New Jersey LLC, ASC Network LLC, ASI Global, ASI Global LLC, Access Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Inc., Access I.V., Administradora Clinica La Colina S.A.S., Administradora Country S.A., Administradora Medica Centromed S.A., Advanced Care, Advanced Care Pharmacy, Advanced Pharma Inc., Advanced Surgery Center of Clifton LLC, Advanced Surgical Hospital LLC, Advantage Care Network Inc., Advocate Condell Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Sherman Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate-SCA Partners LLC, Alere Health, Alere Health Improvement Company, Alere Healthcare of Illinois, Alere Wellbeing, Alere Wellology, Alere of New York, Aliansalud Entidad Promotora de Salud S.A., All Savers Insurance Company, All Savers Life Insurance Company of California, Alliance Surgical Center LLC, Aloha Surgical Center LLC, Ambient Healthcare, Ambient Healthcare Inc., Ambient Healthcare of Central Florida, Ambient Healthcare of Georgia, Ambient Healthcare of Northeast Florida, Ambient Healthcare of S. Florida, Ambient Healthcare of West Florida, Ambient Holdings, Ambient Holdings Inc., Ambient Nursing Services, AmeriChoice, AmeriChoice Corporation, AmeriChoice Health Services, AmeriChoice of Connecticut, AmeriChoice of New Jersey, AmeriChoice of New Jersey Inc., American Health Network of Indiana Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Indiana II LLC, American Health Network of Indiana LLC, American Health Network of Ohio Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Ohio II LLC, American Health Network of Ohio LLC, Amico Saude Ltda., Amil, Amil Assistencia Medica Internacional S.A., Amil Lifesciences Participacoes Ltda., Antelope Valley Surgery Center L.P., Analisis Clinicos ML S.A.C., Apothecary Holdings Inc., Apothecary Shop of Phoenix Inc., AppleCare Medical Management, AppleCare Medical Management LLC, Aquitania Chilean Holding SpA, Arise Physician Group, Arizona Physicians IPA, Arizona Physicians IPA Inc., AssuranceRx, AssuranceRx LLC, Athens ASC Holdings LLC, Audax Health Solutions, Audax Health Solutions LLC, Austin Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Avella Patient Access Program Inc., Avella Specialty Pharmacy, Avella of Austin Inc., Avella of Columbus Inc., Avella of Deer Valley Inc., Avella of Denver Inc., Avella of Gilbert Inc., Avella of Las Vegas II Inc., Avella of Orlando Inc., Avella of Phoenix III Inc., Avella of Sacramento Inc., Avella of Scottsdale Inc., Avella of St. Louis Inc., Avella of Tampa LLC, Avella of Tucson II Inc., Avella of Tucson Inc., Aveta Arizona, Aveta Health Solutions Inc., Aveta Inc., Aveta Kansas City, Aveta Tennessee, AxelaCare Health Solutions, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings LLC, AxelaCare LLC, B.R.A.S.S. Partnership in Commendam, Banmedica Colombia SpA, Banmedica Internacional SpA, Banmedica S.A., Beach Surgical Holdings III LLC, Behavioral Healthcare Options, Behavioral Healthcare Options Inc., Belleville Surgical Center Ltd. an Illinois Limited Partnership, Benefit Administration for the Self Employed L.L.C., Benefitter Insurance Solutions Inc., Birmingham Outpatient Surgical Center LLC, Blackstone Valley Surgicare GP LLC, Blue Ridge GP LLC, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings I SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings II SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings III SRL, Bordeaux Holding SpA, Bordeaux International Holdings Inc., Bordeaux UK Holdings I Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings III Limited, Bosque Medical Center Ltda., Brandon Ambulatory Surgery Center LC, BriovaRx, BriovaRx, BriovaRx Infusion Services, BriovaRx Infusion Services 102 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 200 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 204 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 209 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 305 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 402 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services Inc., BriovaRx Specialty LLC, BriovaRx of California, BriovaRx of California Inc., BriovaRx of Florida, BriovaRx of Florida Inc., BriovaRx of Georgia, BriovaRx of Georgia LLC, BriovaRx of Hawaii, BriovaRx of Indiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana L.L.C., BriovaRx of Maine, BriovaRx of Maine Inc., BriovaRx of Massachusetts, BriovaRx of Massachusetts LLC, BriovaRx of Nevada, BriovaRx of New York, BriovaRx of New York Inc., BriovaRx of Texas, BriovaRx of Texas Inc., CDC Holdings Colombia S.A.S., CLISA Clinica de Santo Antonio S.A., CMO Centro Medico de Oftalmologia S/S Ltda., CMS Central de Manipulacao e Servicos Farmaceuticos S.A., CNIC Health Solutions Inc., COI Participacoes S.A., COI Clinicas Oncologicas Integradas S.A., Cabin Enterprises LLC, Cabin Holdings LLC, California MedTrans Network IPA LLC, California MedTrans Network MSO LLC, California Medical Group Insurance Company Risk Retention Group, Camp Hill-SCA Centers LLC, Capital City Medical Group L.L.C., Cardio Management, Cardio Management Inc., Care Improvement Plus Group Management, Care Improvement Plus Group Management LLC, Care Improvement Plus South Central Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus Wisconsin Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus of Texas Insurance Company, Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha Ltda., Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha S.A., Castle Rock SurgiCenter LLC, Catalyst360, Catalyst360 LLC, Catamaran Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Catamaran Health Solutions, Catamaran Holdings I, Catamaran IPA III, Catamaran Mail, Catamaran PBM of Illinois II, Catamaran PBM of Puerto Rico, Catamaran PD of Pennsylvania, Catamaran PD of Puerto Rico, Catamaran Rebate Management, Catamaran S.a.r.l., Catamaran Senior Services, Catamaran of Pennsylvania, Cedar Park Surgery Center LLC, Cemed Care - Empressa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Cemed Care Empresa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Central Indiana Care Organization LLC, Central Ohio Care Organization LLC, Central de Compras SpA, CentriHealth Corporation, CentriHealth UK Limited, CentrifyHealth LLC, Centro Medico Hospitalar Pitangueiras Ltda., Centro Medico Odontologico Americano S.A.C., Centro Medico PJ Ltda., Centro de Entrenamiento en Reanimacion y Prevencion Limitada (CERP), Centro de Servicios Compartidos Banmedica S.A., Centromed Quilpue S.A., Centros Medicos y Dentales Multimed Ltda., Centurion Casualty Company, Channel Islands Surgicenter L.P., Channel Islands Surgicenter Properties LLC, Charleston Surgery Properties LLC, Charlotte-SC LLC, Childrens Surgery Center LLC, ChinaGate (Hong Kong) Limited, ChinaGate Company Limited, Citrus Regional Surgery Center L.P., Clinica Oftalmologica Danilo de Castro Sociedade Simples, Clinical Partners of Colorado Springs LLC, Clinica Alameda S.A., Clinica Bio Bio S.A., Clinica Ciudad del Mar S.A., Clinica Davila y Servicios Medicos S.A., Clinica Medico Cirurgica de Santa Tecla S.A., Clinica San Borja (La Esperanza del Peru S.A.), Clinica San Felipe S.A., Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Clinica Sanchez Ferrer S.A., Clinica Vespucio S.A., Clinica del Country S.A., Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare, Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare Inc., Coalition For Advanced Pharmacy Services, Coalition for Advanced Pharmacy Services Inc., Coastal Physicians Management Inc., Collaborative Care Holdings, Collaborative Care Holdings LLC, Collaborative Care Services, Collaborative Care Services Inc., Collaborative Care Solutions, Collaborative Realty, Collaborative Realty LLC, Colmedica Medicina Prepagada, Colonial Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Colorado Innovative Physician Solutions Inc., Colorado Springs Surgery Center Ltd., Comfort Care Transportation, Comfort Care Transportation LLC, Commonwealth Administrators, Connecticut Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Connecticut Surgery Properties LLC, Connecticut Surgical Center LLC, Connextions, Connextions HCI, Constructora e Inmobiliaria Magapoq S.A., Consumer Wellness Solutions Inc., Country Scan Ltda., Crescent Drug Corp., Cypress Care, Cypress Care Inc., DBP Services of New York IPA, DBP Services of New York IPA Inc., DTC Surgery Center LLC, DWIC of Tampa Bay, DWIC of Tampa Bay Inc., DaVita Magan Management Inc., Danbury Surgical Center L.P., Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company, Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company LLC, Definity Health, Dental Benefit Providers, Dental Benefit Providers Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of California, Dental Benefit Providers of California Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois, Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois Inc., Derry Surgical Center LLC, Diagnostico Ecotomografico Centromed Ltda., Diasnostico por Imagenes Centromed Ltda., Dilab Medicina Nuclear Ltda., Diplomat Pharmacy, Distance Learning Network, Distance Learning Network Inc., Doctor + S.A.C., Dry Creek Surgery Center LLC, Dublin Surgery Center LLC, Duncan Printing Services, Duncan Printing Services LLC, E Street Endoscopy LLC, ELG FZE, EP Campus I, EP Campus I LLC, East Brunswick Surgery Center LLC, Electronic Network Systems, Electronic Network Systems Inc., Elual Participacoes S.A., Empire Physician Management Company, Empire Physician Management Company LLC, Employers Health Choice PPO Inc., Empremedica S. A., Endoscopy Center Affiliates Inc., Enterprise Life Insurance Company, Equian, Equian LLC, Equian Parent Corp., Esho Empresa de Servicos Hospitalares S.A., Etho Empresa de Tecnologia Hospitalar Ltda., Evercare Collaborative Solutions, Evercare Collaborative Solutions Inc., Everett MSO Inc., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos Ltda., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos S.A., Excelsior Insurance Brokerage Inc., Executive Health Resources, Executive Health Resources Inc., Executive Surgery Center LLC, Eye Clinic Oftalmologia Clinico Cirurgica e Diagnostico Ltda., FMG Holdings, FMG Holdings LLC, FOR HEALTH OF ARIZONA, Family Health Care Services, Family Home Hospice, Family Home Hospice Inc., First Rx Specialty & Mail Services, Florida MedTrans Network LLC, Florida MedTrans Network MSO LLC, For Health, For Health Inc., For Health of Arizona Inc., Fortified Provider Network Inc., Fortify Technologies Asia LLC, Fortify Technologies LLC, Foundation Financial Services Inc., Franklin Surgical Center LLC, Freedom Life Insurance Company of America, Freeway Surgicenter of Houston LLC, Frontier MEDEX Limited, Frontier Medex Tanzania Limited, FrontierMEDEX, FrontierMEDEX (RMS), FrontierMEDEX (RMS) Inc., FrontierMEDEX Government Services, FrontierMEDEX Government Services LLC, FrontierMEDEX Inc., FrontierMEDEX Kenya Limited, FrontierMEDEX US, FrontierMEDEX US Inc., Fundacion Banmedica, GRANTS PASS SURGERY CENTER LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center Ltd., Gainesville Surgery Center L.P., Gainesville Surgery Properties LLC, Genoa, Genoa Healthcare Inc., Genoa Healthcare LLC, Genoa QoL Wholesale LLC, Genoa Technology (Canada) Inc., Genoa Technology Inc., Genoa Telepsychiatry Inc., Genoa of Arkansas LLC, Glenwood Surgical Center L.P., Glenwood-SC Inc., Golden Outlook, Golden Outlook Inc., Golden Rule Financial Corporation, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Golden Triangle Surgicenter L.P., Grapevine Finance LLC, Greater Hartford ASC LLC, Grove Place Surgery Center L.L.C., Guardian Health Systems Limited Partnership, H&W Indemnity (SPC), H&W Indemnity (SPC) Ltd., H.I. Investments Holding Company LLC, HCP ACO California LLC, HCP ACO Nevada LLC, HCentive Technology India Private Limited, HMI NewCo LLC, Harken Health Insurance Company, Hayes-Strub LLC, Health Business Systems, Health Care-ONE Insurance Agency Inc., Health Inventures Employment Solutions LLC, Health Inventures LLC, Health Net Insurance of New York, Health Net Services (Bermuda) Ltd., Health Plan of Nevada, Health Plan of Nevada Inc., Health Technology Analysts Pty Limited, HealthAllies, HealthAllies Inc., HealthCare Partners ASC-LB LLC, HealthCare Partners Management Services California LLC, HealthCare Partners RE LLC, HealthFirst IPA Inc., HealthMarkets Group Inc., HealthMarkets Inc., HealthMarkets Insurance Agency Inc., HealthMarkets LLC, HealthMarkets NewCo Inc., HealthMarkets Services Inc., HealthSCOPE Holdings Inc., HealthScope Benefits Inc., Healthcare Partners Plan of Nevada Inc., Healthcare Solutions Inc., Heartland Heart and Vascular LLC, Help S.A., Help Service S.A., Highlands Ranch Healthcare, Highlands Ranch Healthcare LLC, Home Care I.V. of Bend, Home Infusion With Heart, Home Medical S.A., Hospice Inspiris Holdings, Hospice Inspiris Holdings Inc., Hospitais Associados de Pernambuco Ltda., Hospital Alvorada de Taguatinga Ltda., Hospital Ana Costa S.A., Hospital Maternidade Promater Ltda., Hospital Samaritano de Sao Paulo Ltda., Hospital Santa Helena S.A., Hospital de Clinicas de Jacarepagua Ltda., Humedica, Humedica Inc., Hygeia Corporation, Hygeia Corporation (Canada), Hygeia Corporation (DE), Hygeia Corporation (Ontario), INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City LLC, INSPIRIS of New York IPA, INSPIRIS of New York Management, INSPIRIS of New York Management Inc., INSPIRIS of Texas Physician Group, IRX Financing I LLC, Illinois Independent Care Network, Imed Star Servicos de Desempenho Organizacional Ltda., Impel Consulting Experts, Impel Consulting Experts L.L.C., Impel Management Services L.L.C., Indian River Surgery Center Ltd., Indian River Surgery Properties LLC, Indiana Care Organization LLC, Infusource, Ingram & Associates, Ingram & Associates LLC, Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3001 S.A., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3600 Ltda., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo S.A., Inmobiliaria Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Inmobiliaria Vinamed Ltda., Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Alameda S.A., Inspiris, Inspiris Inc., Inspiris Services Company, Inspiris of Tennessee, Instituto do Radium de Cammpinas Ltda, International Psychological Services Pty Limited, Inversiones Clinicas Santa Maria S.A., Isapre Banmedica S.A., Isapre Vida Tres S.A., Johnston Surgicare L.P., Joliet Surgery Center Limited Partnership, LHI, Laboratorio ROE S.A., Laboratorios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., LifePrint Health, LifePrint Health Inc., LifeStyles Marketing Group Inc., LifeWell Ltd. Co., Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization, Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization LLC, Lifeprint East, Lifeprint East Inc., Logistics Health Inc., Lotten-Eyes Oftalmologia Clinica e Cirurgica Ltda., Louisville S.C. Ltd., Louisville-SC Properties Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook Inc., Lusiadas - Parcerias Cascais S.A., Lusiadas A.C.E., Lusiadas S.A., Lusiadas SGPS S.A., MAMSI Insurance Resources, MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company, MD Ops, MD Ops Inc., MD-Individual Practice Association, MD-Individual Practice Association Inc., ME AHS UC LLC, MEDEX Insurance Services, MEDEX Insurance Services Inc., MGH/SCA LLC, MHC Real Estate Holdings, MHC Real Estate Holdings LLC, MIAMI SURGERY CENTER LLC, MSLA Management LLC, MXMD Centros De Cancer, Mamoeco Mamografia e Ecografia Centro de Diagnostico, Managed Physical Network, Managed Physical Network Inc., March Holdings, March Holdings Inc., March Vision Care, March Vision Care Inc., Marin Surgery Holdings Inc., Maryland Ambulatory Centers, Maryland-SCA Centers LLC, Massachusetts Assurance Company Ltd. PIC, Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center LLC, Mat-Rx Development, Mat-Rx Fort Worth GP, MedExpress Development, MedExpress Development LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Alabama LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Inc. - Ohio, MedExpress Urgent Care Maine Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care New Hampshire Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach, MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach LLC, MedSynergies, MedSynergies LLC, MedSynergies North Texas, Medalliance Net Ltda, Medalliance Net Ltda., Medica Health Plans of Florida, Medica Health Plans of Florida Inc., Medica HealthCare Plans, Medica HealthCare Plans Inc., Medical Clinic of North Texas PLLC, Medical Hilfe S.A., Medical Preparatory School of Allied Health, Medical Support Los Angeles Inc., Medical Surgical Centers of America Inc., Medical Transportation Services, Medical Transportation Services LLC, Medication Management Systems Inc., Melbourne Surgery Center LLC, Memorial City Holdings LLC, Memorial City Partners LLC, Memphis-SC LLC, Memphis-SP LLC, Mesquite Liberty LLC, Metro I Stone Management, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Metropolitan Medical Transportation IPA LLC, Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee, Midwest Center for Day Surgery LLC, Mile High SurgiCenter LLC, Mississippi Surgery Holdings LLC, Mississippi Surgical Center Limited Partnership, Mobile Medical Professionals, Modern Medical Inc., Monarch Management Services, Monarch Management Services Inc., Montgomery Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Mountain View Medical Group LLC, Mt. Pleasant Surgery Center L.P., Multiangio Ltda., Muskogee Surgical Investors LLC, Mustang Razorback Holdings, Mustang Razorback Holdings Inc., My Wellness Solutions LLC, NAMM Holdings, NAMM Holdings Inc., NSC Fayetteville LLC, NSC Greensboro LLC, NSC Lancaster LLC, NSC Seattle Inc., NSC Upland LLC, Nashville-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., National Foundation Life Insurance Company, National MedTrans LLC, National Pacific Dental, National Pacific Dental Inc., National Surgery Centers LLC, Neighborhood Health Partnership, Neighborhood Health Partnership Inc., Netwerkes, Netwerkes LLC, Nevada Medical Services LLC, Nevada Pacific Dental, New Orleans Regional Physician Hospital Organization L.L.C., New West Physicians Inc., Newton Holdings LLC, North American Medical Management - Illinois, North American Medical Management California, North American Medical Management California Inc., North Puget Sound Center for Sleep Disorders LLC, North Puget Sound Oncology Equipment Leasing Company LLC, Northern Nevada Health Network, Northern Nevada Health Network Inc., Northern Rockies Surgicenter Inc., Northwest Surgicare LLC, Northwest Surgicare Ltd., Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care, Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care of Huntsville, OC Cardiology Practice Partners LLC, OSB Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Omesa S.A., OmniClaim LLC, Oncocare S.A.C., OneNet PPO, OneNet PPO LLC, Optimum Choice, Optimum Choice Inc., Optum, Optum Bank, Optum Bank Inc., Optum Biometrics, Optum Biometrics Inc., Optum Care Inc., Optum Care Services Company, Optum Clinical Services, Optum Clinics Holdings, Optum Clinics Holdings Inc., Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings, Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings Inc., Optum Digital Health Holdings LLC, Optum Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Solutions (India) Private Limited, Optum Global Solutions (Philippines), Optum Global Solutions (Philippines) Inc., Optum Global Solutions International B.V., Optum Government Solutions, Optum Government Solutions Inc., Optum Growth Partners LLC, Optum Health & Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, Optum Health & Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, Optum Health & Technology (India) Private Limited, Optum Health & Technology (Singapore) Pte. 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Ltd., Optum Networks of New Jersey Inc., Optum Nevada Accountable Care Organization LLC, Optum Operations (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas Inc., Optum Perks LLC, Optum Pharmacy 701 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 702 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 703 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 705 LLC, Optum Public Sector Solutions, Optum Public Sector Solutions Inc., Optum Rocket, Optum Rocket Inc., Optum Senior Services LLC, Optum Services, Optum Services (Ireland) Limited, Optum Services (Puerto Rico) LLC, Optum Services Inc., Optum Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Optum Solutions do Brasil Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Optum Technology, Optum Technology LLC, Optum UK Solutions Group Limited, Optum Women's and Children's Health, Optum Women's and Children's Health LLC, Optum of New York Inc., Optum360, Optum360 LLC, Optum360 Services, Optum360 Services Inc., Optum360 Solutions LLC, OptumCare ACO Florida LLC, OptumCare ACO Holdings LLC, OptumCare ACO New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Clinical Trials LLC, OptumCare Colorado ASC LLC, OptumCare Colorado LLC, OptumCare Colorado Springs LLC, OptumCare Endoscopy Center New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Florida CI LLC, OptumCare Florida LLC, OptumCare Health Plan of California Inc., OptumCare Holdings Colorado LLC, OptumCare Holdings LLC, OptumCare Holdings New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Management LLC, OptumCare New Mexico LLC, OptumCare New York IPA Inc., OptumCare South Florida LLC, OptumHealth Care Solutions, OptumHealth Care Solutions LLC, OptumHealth Financial Services, OptumHealth Financial Services Inc., OptumHealth Holdings, OptumHealth Holdings LLC, OptumHealth International B.V., OptumInsight, OptumInsight Holdings, OptumInsight Holdings LLC, OptumInsight Inc., OptumInsight India Private Limited, OptumInsight Life Sciences, OptumInsight Life Sciences Inc., OptumRx, OptumRx Administrative Services, OptumRx Administrative Services LLC, OptumRx Discount Card Services, OptumRx Discount Card Services LLC, OptumRx Group Holdings, OptumRx Group Holdings Inc., OptumRx Health Solutions LLC, OptumRx Holdings, OptumRx Holdings I LLC, OptumRx Holdings LLC, OptumRx Home Delivery of Illinois, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio LLC, OptumRx IPA III Inc., OptumRx Inc., OptumRx NY IPA, OptumRx NY IPA Inc., OptumRx PBM of Illinois, OptumRx PBM of Illinois Inc., OptumRx PBM of Maryland, OptumRx PBM of Maryland LLC, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx PBM of Puerto Rico LLC, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin LLC, OptumRx PD of Maryland, OptumRx PD of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx Pharmacy, OptumRx Pharmacy Inc., OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada, OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada Inc., OptumRx of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumServe Technology Services Inc., Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., OrthoNet Holdings, OrthoNet Holdings Inc., OrthoNet LLC, OrthoNet New York IPA, OrthoNet New York IPA Inc., OrthoNet Services, OrthoNet Services Inc., OrthoNet West, OrthoNet West Inc., OrthoNet of the Mid-Atlantic, OrthoNet of the South, OrthoNet of the South Inc., Ovations, Ovations Inc., Oxford Benefit Management, Oxford Benefit Management Inc., Oxford Health Insurance, Oxford Health Insurance Inc., Oxford Health Plans (CT), Oxford Health Plans (CT) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NJ), Oxford Health Plans (NJ) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NY), Oxford Health Plans (NY) Inc., Oxford Health Plans LLC, P2 Lower Acquisition, P2P Link LLC, PCCCV, PCCCV Inc., PCN DE Corp., PHC Subsidiary Holdings, PHC Subsidiary Holdings LLC, PHYS Holding Corp., PHYSICIANS DAY SURGERY CENTER LLC, PMI Acquisition, PMI Acquisition LLC, PMSI, PMSI Holdco II, PMSI Holdings, PMSI Holdings LLC, PMSI LLC, PMSI Settlement Solutions, PMSI Settlement Solutions LLC, POMCO Inc., POMCO Network Inc., PPH Holdings LLC, PacifiCare Health Systems, PacifiCare Life Assurance Company, PacifiCare Life and Health Insurance Company, PacifiCare of Arizona, PacifiCare of Arizona Inc., PacifiCare of Colorado, PacifiCare of Colorado Inc., PacifiCare of Nevada, PacifiCare of Nevada Inc., Pacific Casualty Company Inc., Pacifico S.A. Entidad Prestadora de Salud, Paoli Ambulatory Surgery Center, Paoli Surgery Center L.P., Parkway Surgery Center LLC, Pasteur Plaza Surgery Center GP Inc., PatientsLikeMe, PatientsLikeMe LLC, Patrimonio Autonomo Nueva Clinica - PANC., Payment Resolution Services, Payment Resolution Services LLC, Peoples Health, Peoples Health Inc., Pharmaceutical Care Network, Pharmacy Review Services, Pharmacy Software Holdco Inc., PhyServe Holdings, Physician Alliance of the Rockies LLC, Physician Care Partners, Physicians Health Choice of Texas, Physicians Health Choice of Texas LLC, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland Inc., Physicians Plaza Holdings LLC, Plano de Saude Ana Costa Ltda., Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico, Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico Inc., Plus One Holdings, Plus One Holdings Inc., Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes, Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes Multiestrategia, Polo Holdco, Polo Holdco LLC, Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Precision Dialing Services Inc., Preferred Care Partners, Preferred Care Partners Holding, Preferred Care Partners Holding Corp., Preferred Care Partners Inc., Preferred Care Partners Medical Group, Preferred Care Partners Medical Group Inc., Premier Choice ACO, Premier Choice ACO Inc., Premier Surgery Center of Louisville L.P., Prime Health, Prime Health Inc., PrimeCare Medical Network, PrimeCare Medical Network Inc., PrimeCare of Citrus Valley, PrimeCare of Citrus Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Corona, PrimeCare of Corona Inc., PrimeCare of Hemet Valley, PrimeCare of Hemet Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Inland Valley, PrimeCare of Inland Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Moreno Valley, PrimeCare of Moreno Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Redlands, PrimeCare of Redlands Inc., PrimeCare of Riverside, PrimeCare of Riverside Inc., PrimeCare of San Bernardino, PrimeCare of San Bernardino Inc., PrimeCare of Sun City, PrimeCare of Sun City Inc., PrimeCare of Temecula, PrimeCare of Temecula Inc., ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success, ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success LLC, ProHEALTH Medical Management LLC, ProHealth Medical Management, ProHealth Physicians, ProHealth Physicians ACO, ProHealth Physicians ACO LLC, ProHealth Physicians Inc., ProHealth Proton Center Management, ProHealth Proton Center Management LLC, Procura Management, Procura Management Inc., Progressive Enterprises Holdings, Progressive Enterprises Holdings Inc., Progressive Medical, Progressive Medical LLC, Progressive Solutions, Promotora Country S.A., Pronetics Health Care Group, Pronounced Health Solutions Inc., Prosemedic S.A.C., Prospero Management Services LLC, Pueblo-SCA Surgery Center LLC, Pulse Platform LLC, QoL Acquisition Holdings Corp., Quality Software Services, QuarterMaster Newco LLC, R&H Family Fitness Unlimited LLC, Rally Health, Rally Health Inc., Real Appeal Inc., Recaudacion y Cobranzas Honodav Ltda., Redlands Ambulatory Surgery Center, Redlands-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., Reliant MSO LLC, Research Surgical Center LLC, River Valley ASC LLC, Riverside Electronic Healthcare Resources Inc., Riverside Medical Management, Riverside Medical Management LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Meadowlands LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Newark LLC, Rocky Mountain Health Maintenance Organization Incorporated, Rocky Mountain HealthCare Options Inc., SC Affiliates LLC, SCA Alaska Surgery Center inc., SCA Athens LLC, SCA Austin Holdings LLC, SCA BOSC Holdings LLC, SCA California Surgical Holdings LLC, SCA Capital LLC, SCA Cedar Park Holdings LLC, SCA Clifton LLC, SCA Danbury Surgical Center LLC, SCA Development LLC, SCA EHSC Holdings LLC, SCA EWASC Holdings LLC, SCA Hays Holdings LLC, SCA Heartland Holdings LLC, SCA HoldCo Inc., SCA Holding Company Inc., SCA Holdings Inc., SCA IEC Holdings LLC, SCA Indiana Holdings LLC, SCA Nashville ASC LLC, SCA Pacific Holdings Inc., SCA Pennsylvania Holdings LLC, SCA Premier Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, SCA ROCS Holdings LLC, SCA Rockledge JV LLC, SCA SSC Holdings LLC, SCA SSSC Holdings LLC, SCA Sage Medical LLC, SCA Sage Medical MSO LLC, SCA Southwestern PA LLC, SCA Specialists of Florida LLC, SCA Stonegate Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Center of Cullman LLC, SCA Surgery Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Partners LLC, SCA Surgicare of Laguna Hills LLC, SCA Teammate Support Network, SCA eCode Solutions Private Limited, SCA of Clarksville Inc., SCA-Albuquerque Surgery Properties Inc., SCA-Alliance LLC, SCA-Anne Arundel LLC, SCA-Applecare Partners LLC, SCA-Bethesda LLC, SCA-Blue Ridge LLC, SCA-Bonita Springs LLC, SCA-Brandon LLC, SCA-Castle Rock LLC, SCA-Central Florida LLC, SCA-Charleston LLC, SCA-Chatham LLC, SCA-Chevy Chase LLC, SCA-Citrus Inc., SCA-Colorado Springs LLC, SCA-Connecticut Partners LLC, SCA-DRY CREEK LLC, SCA-Davenport LLC, SCA-Denver LLC, SCA-Denver Physicians Holdings LLC, SCA-Derry LLC, SCA-Doral LLC, SCA-Downey LLC, SCA-Dublin LLC, SCA-Encinitas Inc., SCA-Eugene Inc., SCA-First Coast LLC, SCA-Florence LLC, SCA-Fort Collins Inc., SCA-Fort Walton Inc., SCA-Franklin LLC, SCA-Frederick LLC, SCA-Freeway Holdings LLC, SCA-Ft. Myers LLC, SCA-GRANTS PASS LLC, SCA-Gainesville LLC, SCA-Gladiolus LLC, SCA-Grove Place LLC, SCA-Hagerstown LLC, SCA-Hamden LLC, SCA-Hilton Head LLC, SCA-Honolulu LLC, SCA-Houston Executive LLC, SCA-IT Holdings LLC, SCA-Illinois LLC, SCA-JPM Holdings LLC, SCA-Kissing Camels Holdings LLC, SCA-MC VBP Inc., SCA-Main Street LLC, SCA-Marina del Rey LLC, SCA-Mecklenburg Development Corp., SCA-Memorial City LLC, SCA-Merritt LLC, SCA-Midlands LLC, SCA-Midway Management LLC, SCA-Mobile LLC, SCA-Mokena LLC, SCA-Mokena Properties LLC, SCA-Morris County LLC, SCA-Mt. Pleasant LLC, SCA-ND VBP Inc., SCA-Naperville LLC, SCA-Naples LLC, SCA-New Jersey LLC, SCA-Newport Beach LLC, SCA-Northeast Georgia Health LLC, SCA-PORTLAND LLC, SCA-Palm Beach LLC, SCA-Palm Beach MSO Holdings LLC, SCA-Paoli LLC, SCA-Phoenix LLC, SCA-Pocono LLC, SCA-Practice Partners Holdings LLC, SCA-River Valley LLC, SCA-Riverside LLC, SCA-Riverside Partners LLC, SCA-Rockville LLC, SCA-Sacred Heart Holdings LLC, SCA-San Diego Inc., SCA-San Luis Obispo LLC, SCA-Sand Lake LLC, SCA-Santa Rosa Inc., SCA-Shelby Development Corp., SCA-Somerset LLC, SCA-South Jersey LLC, SCA-Sparta LLC, SCA-Spartanburg Holdings LLC, SCA-St. Louis LLC, SCA-St. Lucie LLC, SCA-SurgiCare LLC, SCA-Swiftpath LLC, SCA-VERTA LLC, SCA-Wake Forest LLC, SCA-Western Connecticut LLC, SCA-Westover Hills LLC, SCA-Wilmington LLC, SCA-Wilson LLC, SCA-Winchester LLC, SCA-Winter Park Inc., SCA-Woodlands Holdings LLC, SCAI Holdings LLC, SCP Specialty Infusion, SCP Specialty Infusion LLC, SHC Atlanta LLC, SHC Austin Inc., SHC 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Sierra Health Services Inc, Sierra Health Services Inc., Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company Inc., Sierra Health-Care Options, Sierra Health-Care Options Inc., Sierra Home Medical Products, Sierra Home Medical Products Inc., Sierra Nevada Administrators, Sierra Nevada Administrators Inc., Sirona Infusion, Sistema de Administracion Hospitalaria S.A.C., Small Business Insurance Advisors Inc., Sobam Centro Medico Hospitalar S.A., Sociedad Editorial para la Ciencia Limitada., Sociedad de Inversiones Santa Maria S.A., Somerset Outpatient Surgery L.L.C., Southwest Medical Associates, Southwest Medical Associates Inc., Southwest Michigan Health Network Inc., Southwest Surgery Center LLC, Southwest Surgical Center of Bakersfield L.P., Space Coast Surgical Center Ltd., Specialists in Urology Surgery Center LLC, Specialized Pharmaceuticals Inc., Specialty Benefits, Specialty Benefits LLC, Spectera, Spectera Inc., Spectera of New York IPA, Spectera 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Board (Chile) SpA, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company, The Lewin Group, The Lewin Group Inc., The Magan Medical Group, The Outpatient Surgery Center of Hilton Head LLC, The Polyclinic MSO LLC, Thomas Johnson Surgery Center LLC, Thousand Oaks Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Rivers Holdings, Three Rivers Holdings Inc., Three Rivers Surgical Care L.P., Tmesys, Tmesys LLC, Topimagem Diagnostico por Imagem Ltda., Touchpoint Health Plan, Trails Edge Surgery Center LLC, Travel Express Incorporated, TriMed LLC, Trinity Infusion, Trio Motion LLC, Tucson Arizona Surgical Center LLC, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan California, UHC Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UHC Global Health Services BC Ltd., UHC International Services, UHC International Services Inc., UHC of California, UHCG Holdings (Ireland) Limited, UHCG Services (Ireland) Limited, UHCG FZE, UHG Brasil Participacoes S.A., UHIC Holdings, UHIC Holdings Inc., UICI Funding Corp. 2, UMR, UMR Inc., USHEALTH Academy Inc., USHEALTH Administrators LLC, USHEALTH Advisors L.L.C., USHEALTH Career Agency Inc., USHEALTH Funding Inc., USHEALTH Group Inc., USMD Administrative Services, USMD Administrative Services L.L.C., USMD Affiliated Services, USMD CT (Mo), USMD Cancer Treatment Centers, USMD Cancer Treatment Centers GP, USMD Diagnostic Services, USMD Holdings, USMD Holdings Inc., USMD Inc., USMD PPM, USMD PPM LLC, USMD of Arlington GP, Ultima Rx, Unidad Medica Diagnostico S.A., Unimerica Insurance Company, Unimerica Life Insurance Company of New York, Unison Administrative Services, Unison Health Plan of Delaware, Unison Health Plan of Delaware Inc., United Behavioral Health, United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A., United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A. Inc., United Group Reinsurance Inc., United Health Foundation, United HealthCare, United HealthCare Services Inc., United Management Services Inc., United Resource Networks IPA of New York, United Resource Networks IPA of New York Inc., UnitedHealth Advisors, UnitedHealth Advisors LLC, UnitedHealth Group Finance Inc., UnitedHealth Group Global Healthcare Services Limited, UnitedHealth Group Global Services, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, UnitedHealth Group Information Services Private Limited, UnitedHealth Group International Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UnitedHealth Group International GP, UnitedHealth Group International L.P., UnitedHealth International, UnitedHealth International Inc., UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services, UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services LLC, UnitedHealth UK Limited, UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealthcare Benefits Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas L.L.C., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co. Ltd., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare Global Canada Limited, UnitedHealthcare Global Medical (UK) Limited, UnitedHealthcare Inc., UnitedHealthcare India Private Limited, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Designated Activity Company, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services Inc., UnitedHealthcare International Asia, UnitedHealthcare International Asia LLC, UnitedHealthcare International I B.V., UnitedHealthcare International I S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II B.V., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III B.V., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International V S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VI S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VIII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International X S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley Inc., UnitedHealthcare Service LLC, UnitedHealthcare Services Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits LLC, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arizona, UnitedHealthcare of Arizona Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas, UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Colorado, UnitedHealthcare of Colorado Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Florida, UnitedHealthcare of Florida Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare of Illinois Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky, UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky Ltd., UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana, UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi, UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New England, UnitedHealthcare of New England Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico, UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New York, UnitedHealthcare of New York Inc., UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma, UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, UnitedHealthcare of Oregon Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania, UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., UnitedHealthcare of South Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Texas, UnitedHealthcare of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Utah, UnitedHealthcare of Utah Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Washington, UnitedHealthcare of Washington Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic, UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands, UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest, UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest Inc., UpFront Insurance Agency LLC, Upland Holdings LLC, Upland Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Urgent Care Holdings, Urgent Care Holdings Inc., Urgent Care MSO, Urgent Care MSO LLC, Urology Associates of North Texas, Urology Associates of North Texas P.L.L.C., VERTA MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC, Valley Hospital L.L.C., Valley Physicians Network, Valley Physicians Network Inc., Vida Tres Internacional S.A., Vidaintegra S.A., Vivify Health Canada Inc., Vivify Health Inc., WESTMED Practice Partners LLC, Wauwatosa Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Wauwatosa Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Wayland Square Surgicare Acquisition L.P., Wayland Square Surgicare GP Inc., WebInsure Benefits LLC, WellMed Medical Management, WellMed Medical Management Inc., WellMed Medical Management of Florida, WellMed Medical Management of Florida Inc., WellMed Networks DFW, West Coast Endoscopy Holdings LLC, Western Connecticut Orthopedic Surgical Center LLC, WillowB Labs LLC, Wilmington ASC LLC, Winchester Endoscopy LLC, Winter Park LLC, XLHealth Corporation, XLHealth Corporation India Private Limited, Your Health Options Insurance Services, Your Health Options Insurance Services Inc., Your Partner in Health Services, divvyDOSE, eCode Solutions LLC, gethealthinsurance.com Agency Inc., hCentive Inc., inPharmative, inPharmative Inc., and ppoONE. 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. Read More Duck Creek Technologies, Inc. provides software-as-a-service core systems to the property and casualty insurance industry in North America. It offers Duck Creek Policy, a full lifecycle solution for the development of products and quoting, binding, and servicing of policies across various channels from agents and brokers to end-users; Duck Creek Billing that provides payment and invoicing capabilities, such as billing and collections, commission processing, disbursement management, and general ledger capabilities for insurance lines and bill types; and Duck Creek Claims that supports the entire claims lifecycle from first notice of loss through investigation, payments, negotiations, reporting, and closure. The company also provides Duck Creek Rating that allows carriers to develop new rates and models and deliver accurate quotes in real-time based on the complex rating algorithms; Duck Creek Insights, an insurance analytics solution that allows carriers to gather and analyze data from internal and external sources and facilitate rapid analysis and reporting on a single system; Duck Creek Digital Engagement that offer digital interactions between property and casualty insurers and their agents, brokers, and policyholders; and Duck Creek Distribution Management that automates sales channel activities for agents and brokers, including producer onboarding, compliance, and compensation management. In addition, it offers Duck Creek Reinsurance Management that automates critical financial and administrative functions; and Duck Creek Industry Content that provides pre-built content, including base business rules, product designs, rating algorithms, data capture screens, and workflows for insurance lines of business. The company serves insurance carriers and leaders. Duck Creek Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Read More CYBG PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides retail and business banking products and services to individuals and businesses under the Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, B, and Virgin Money brands in the United Kingdom. It operates through SME Banking and Retail Banking segments. The SME Banking segment offers a range of banking products and services, including business current accounts; and secured and unsecured term loans, business overdrafts, and invoice and asset financing products and services. It also provides international trade services, such as import loans, export loans, documentary collections, currency guarantees, and letters of credit for securing trade; and current account facilities comprising debit cards, cheque books, regular statements, direct debits, and standing orders, as well as day to day and online banking services. This segment serves business customers in the small business, commercial, corporate, and structured finance markets. The Retail Banking segment offers personal current accounts, savings accounts, and term deposits; occupied mortgage loans and BTL loans, unsecured personal loans, and overdrafts, as well as credit card products; and insurance and investment products. The company was founded in 1838 and is based in Leeds, the United Kingdom. Read More 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. 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. Read More Wall Street analysts have given Thomas Cook Group 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 Thomas Cook Group wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More Wall Street analysts have given Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets 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 Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Wall Street analysts have given Enel Generacion Chile a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Enel Generacion Chile wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Biocon, the promoter of Syngene International, on May 16, 2018 has sold 37,65,574 equity shares. New Delhi: Biocon Ltd has sold close to 2 per cent stake in its research arm Syngene International for an estimated Rs 230 crore. "Biocon, the promoter of Syngene International, on May 16, 2018 has sold 37,65,574 equity shares amounting to 1.88 per cent of the equity share capital of Syngene through open market sale," Biocon said in a regulatory filing. In a separate filing, Syngene said Biocon has sold the shares for achieving minimum public shareholding requirement. Based on average weighted price of Syngene's shares on May 16 at Rs 611.02 apiece, the transaction is estimated at Rs 230.08 crore. Post transaction, stake of promoter and promoter group in the company stands at 72.57 per cent. Public shareholding is 25.90 per cent. Shares of Syngene International were trading 0.36 per cent lower at Rs 605.20 apiece on BSE. Reliance Communications on Friday said it is in advanced stages of discussions with Ericsson for settling issues related to unpaid dues outside of the insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Anil Ambani-run Reliance Communications on Friday said it is in advanced stages of discussions with Ericsson for settling issues related to unpaid dues outside of the insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. "We confirm that RCom and Ericsson are at an advanced stage of discussions to expeditiously resolve commercial issues. This will enable Reliance Communications to exit the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process," an RCom spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson added that the company is confident to "expeditiously proceed with its monetisation plan with Reliance Jio and overall resolution plan with the lenders, keeping in mind the interests of all stakeholders". Earlier this week, the NCLT in Mumbai admitted an insolvency petition filed by Swedish firm Ericsson against RCom and two of its subsidiaries seeking to recover Rs 1,150 crore. Ericsson had signed a seven-year deal in 2014 to operate and manage RCom's nationwide telecom network but has not been paid for the service. Last September, the telecom gear maker had filed a petition in the NCLT Mumbai bench seeking liquidation of the telecom operator to recover Rs 1,150 crore that RCom owes it. NCLT proceedings can potentially delay RCom's plans to sell assets to lighten its debt load. RCom owes around Rs 45,000 crore to as many as 31 domestic and international banks, including over Rs 10,000 crore to a Chinese lender. Due to mounting losses, the company began to wind down its mobile operations from last November. It was also not servicing the debt for many quarters before that as it was looking to recast the loans but did not materialise and since then many of its creditors had taken RCom to bankruptcy court. This has prevented the company from closing sale of its telecom tower business to Anil Ambani's elder brother-run Reliance Industries for over Rs 23,000 crore, apart from monetising other assets including selling its sprawling Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) premises to the Chinese lender and pare debt. The manual transmission variants of the petrol powered Yaris are priced between Rs 8.75 lakh and Rs 12.85 lakh. New Delhi: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) expects sales to grow by around 7-8 per cent this fiscal as it marks its entry into the mid-sized sedan segment in the country with Yaris. TKM, which is a joint venture between auto major Toyota and Kirloskar Group, on Friday started deliveries of the new model across the country. The company expects to deliver around 1,000 vehicles today itself. The manual transmission variants of the petrol powered Yaris are priced between Rs 8.75 lakh and Rs 12.85 lakh. Automatic variants are tagged between Rs 9.95 lakh and Rs 14.07 lakh (ex-showroom). "We are entering a very competitive segment with Yaris. But with a host of industry first features, we are confident of the vehicle performing well in the market," TKM Deputy Managing Director N Raja told PTI. Raja said the company is also counting on the existing around 10 lakh Toyota customers in India to drive sales for Yaris. When asked about the company's sales growth expectations during the current fiscal, Raja said: "Our sales growth rate currently is around 3 per cent. With Yaris coming in, we hope to see our growth rate more or less like the industry, single digit -- 7-8 per cent this year." The highly competitive mid-sized sedan segment in the country is around 2 lakh vehicles a year, dominated by the likes of Honda City, Hyundai Verna and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. Commenting on the response for Yaris so far, Raja said: "In less than a month of announcing the price and opening the bookings, we have collected nearly two months equivalent of customer orders." Having initiated production last month itself, the company is looking forward to ship around 4,000 units across the country for customers by the end of this month, he added. "We hope to service all these customers by the end of this month which will take us amongst the top three in sales in the petrol segment," Raja said. The Yaris comes with a 1.5 litre petrol engine mated to 7-speed CVT (continuous variable transmission) and 6-speed manual transmission options. Reliance Communications (RCom) on Friday said that it was in advanced talks with Ericsson to resolve commercial issues to exit the bankruptcy proceedings. New Delhi: Reliance Communications (RCom) on Friday said that it was in advanced talks with Ericsson to resolve commercial issues to exit the bankruptcy proceedings. Earlier this week, the NCLT in Mumbai admitted an insolvency petition filed by Swedish firm Ericsson against RCom and two of its subsidiaries seeking to recover Rs 1,150 crore. This has derailed RComs plan to sell assets to Reliance Jio. However, a news agency report quoting sources said that it is uncertain if the firms discussions over dues would lead to an out-of-court settlement because of lack of clarity. We confirm that RCom and Ericsson are at an advanced stage of discussions to expeditiously resolve commercial issues. This will enable Reliance Communications to exit the NCLT process, said RCom. The late actor was also posthumously honoured with the Best Actress award for her performance in "Mom" at the 65th National Film Awards. Mumbai: Veteran Bollywood actor Sridevi was honoured with the TITAN Reginald F Lewis Film Icon Award at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. The award traditionally celebrates women of the film industry all over the world and also salute the multi-cultural impact on the world of cinema. Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai and producer Namrata Goyal received the award on behalf of Sridevi's family. Subhash Ghai tweeted, It was honour to receive Award on behalf of legend @SrideviBKapoor at @Festival_Cannes yesterday for her outstanding contribution in indian cinema n shared my experience with impeccable inimitable actor to western audience hosted by Titan Reginald F. Lewis film honours. It was honour to receive Award on behalf of legend @SrideviBKapoor at @Festival_Cannes yesterday for her outstanding contribution in indian cinema n shared my experience with impeccable inimitable actor to western audience hosted by Titan Reginald F. Lewis film honours pic.twitter.com/5QZsTYtVkG Subhash Ghai (@SubhashGhai1) May 17, 2018 "Janhvi, Khushi and I are overwhelmed with the recognition and tributes and love of millions of her fans being showered on her. Her work and life has touched so many hearts across the world and she has been an inspiration to millions. She will live forever, thanks to her body of work," the actor's husband, producer Boney Kapoor, said in a statement. Recently, the late actor was also posthumously honoured with the Best Actress award for her performance in "Mom" at the 65th National Film Awards. Sridevi passed away on February 24 in Dubai. Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle arrive to attend the traditional Christmas Day service, at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, England. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: Amid the preparations of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding, the Buckingham Palace and the Royal Collection Trust shared the details of previous dresses worn by British monarchs and those marrying into the royal family. The Royal Family revealed the details of previous dresses on their official Twitter handle as they wrote,"While the details of Ms. Meghan Markle's Wedding Dress won't be revealed until Saturday, with the help of @RCT, take a look at what other Royal Brides have worn on their Wedding Day. While the details of Ms. Meghan Markle's Wedding Dress won't be revealed until Saturday, with the help of @RCT, take a look at what other Royal Brides have worn on their Wedding Day: https://t.co/ZmZMEXU37U#RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/QbT0jl6zI5 The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 16, 2018 Queen Victoria wore a wreath of Orange Blossom rather than a tiara at her Wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. Many Victorian Brides chose to embellish their dresses with Orange & Myrtle Blossom a tradition started by Queen Victoria who chose to wear a wreath of Orange Blossom rather than a tiara at her Wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/pH4t5VZI0D The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 16, 2018 The Royal Family also tweeted, "The Duchess of Cambridge wore a dress designed by Sarah Burton for @McQueen to wed The Duke of Cambridge in 2011. The ivory satin bodice drew upon the Victorian tradition of corsetry - a particular Alexander McQueen hallmark. #RoyalWedding." On The Queen's Wedding Day, Her Majesty wore a Norman Hartnell designed gown that was inspired by Botticelli's painting 'Primavera'. #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/PPL1tYhcez The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 16, 2018 The Duchess of Cambridge wore a dress designed by Sarah Burton for @McQueen to wed The Duke of Cambridge in 2011. The ivory satin bodice drew upon the Victorian tradition of corsetry a particular Alexander McQueen hallmark. #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/ba6hs1oePm The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 16, 2018 The Royal Collection Trust pomped the royal dresses on their Twitter handle as they wrote,"Many #RoyalWedding dresses feature fine lace. #QueenVictoria commissioned Honiton lace for her wedding ensemble, & insisted her daughter-in-law Princess Alexandra wore Honiton rather than Brussels lace at her wedding to the future King Edward VII. http://bit.ly/2rFZjk3." Many #RoyalWedding dresses feature fine lace. #QueenVictoria commissioned Honiton lace for her wedding ensemble, & insisted her daughter-in-law Princess Alexandra wore Honiton rather than Brussels lace at her wedding to the future King Edward VII. https://t.co/GZEKTFg6he pic.twitter.com/eMHp46ovDs RoyalCollectionTrust (@RCT) May 16, 2018 The Royal Wedding will take place on May 19 at England's Windsor Castle. Meanwhile he has no idea how many of the organs are still inside (Photo: AFP) Kidneys are vital organs important for survival and living a healthy life. While kidney transplants are used help people lead a healthy life, for some people they can become a way of life. Darren Ferguson from Britain was born with a blocked kidney and was diagnosed with chronic key stage five renal failure. He got his first transplant when he was just five and since then has had to go through the same process every five to ten years. While doctors said he was unlikely to have children, Darren defied all obstacles and went on to live a fulfilling life. His family has nicknamed him Robocop because of the device he needs to stay alive. Darren has had five kidney transplant and none of them have been removed since his body dissolves them. Meanwhile he has no idea how many of the organs are still inside. Members of the animal charity organisation have named them Harry, Meghan, Duchess, Prince, William, Henry, George, Windsor, Charlie and Albert. (Photo: Pixabay) A litter of ten puppies who have all been named after members of the royal family will soon get to go to their forever homes on Saturday. The crossbreeds were born on National Puppy Day on March 23 and were being cared for buy staff at Dogs Trust Manchester Staff. Members of the animal charity organisation have named them Harry, Meghan, Duchess, Prince, William, Henry, George, Windsor, Charlie and Albert. As millions around the world watch a new beginning to Prince Harry and Meghan Markles wife, the puppies too will be starting with the latest chapters to their life, The Metro reported. The puppies mum, thought to be an Akita cross, arrived at the dogs home in Manchester as a heavily pregnant stray and she has since been rehomed. Speaking to The Metro, Dawn Bishop, rehoming centre manager at Dogs Trust Manchester, said, On the day the couple commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives, our lovely and very excited owners will be making exactly the same commitment to their furry, four-legged family member. Bishop further added, It has been a joy to look after them and no doubt they will be treated like royalty in their new homes. Its wonderful that everyone has found their special someone and we wish Prince Harry and Meghan, and our terrific ten, all the happiness they deserve. Delhi ranked number four with 5 per cent train searches to these religious destinations. (Photo: Pixabay) Mumbai: Spiritually motivated tourism isgrowing in the country, as more and more Indians are going to popular pilgrimages, such as Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Puri in Odisha, according to a report. Travel marketplace ixigo in its report said there has been a month-on-month growth in hotel bookings of 60 per cent for Puri, 48 per cent for Varanasi, 34 per cent for Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and 19 per cent growth for Shirdi in Maharashtra. The report is based on actual hotel searches and bookings on ixigo this summer. "Looking at the spike in hotel bookings, we can say that spiritual travel is now being considered as one of the offbeat travel trends in India," said Aloke Bajpai, chief executive officer and co-founder, ixigo. The report also showed that Lucknow tops the list with about 13 per cent outbound train searches to these religious cities, followed by Mumbai with 7 per cent and Hyderabad with 6 per cent. Delhi ranked number four with 5 per cent train searches to these religious destinations, it added. Spiritual tourism is one of the biggest untapped markets for domestic travel as close to 60 per cent domestic tourism in India is religion-based, according to Bajpai. "To support this upcoming trend, the government has allocated special budgets for creating infrastructure around religious places," he said. In addition, new projects, circuits and train routes are being established to increase tourism at these pilgrimages, he added. Estonia is not just the land of cathedrals, castles and medieval citadels. Its also a land of forests, lakes, bogs, swamplands and rivers. Over 50 % of the country is covered with forests and makes one want to drive into the country rather than just visit the capital Tallinn. Having been conquered and ruled by the Danish, Swedish, Germans and the Russians, Estonia only regained Independence as recently as 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Old Town Tallinn, with its red roof tops, squares, steeples and cobbled streets is a prime example of Medieval Europe. The best way to see the Old Town is on foot and I took one of the free walking tours conducted by some very well informed young student guides One can spend days exploring the Old town, but for me a few hours is more than sufficient .I made a beeline to the less touristy districts Kalamaja, the bohemian Mecca of Tallinn and Telliskivi, the creative city. Located in a former industrial complex, I found innumerable eating and drinking places, photo galleries, boutiques, quirky stores and not to forget a large number of very interesting and kitsch street art. Its a crime not to head out of Tallinn to explore more of this gorgeous country. Renting a car, my next stop was Narva, 235kms from the capital, stopping at the highest waterfall in Estonia, Jagala and also Viru Raba, one of the most accessible bogs in Estonia. There is a 3.5 kms walking trail and it takes you through dark murky water and I promise you fantastic photo opportunities. I also visited Sillamae, an old Stalinist city, which was once a nuclear weapons facility and wears a deserted look now but presents an interesting peep into the not so distant past. Narva a very significant city, although you will hardly see any tourists there, is situated by the Russian border and is home to most of Estonias Russian population. Two dramatic architectural marvels on opposite banks of the River Narva, one belonging to Estonia and one to Russia vie for attention. The Estonian Castle of Order of Germanic Knights and the Russian fortress of Ivangorod are a sight to see when lit up at night. The next day is an easy drive to the university town of Tartu, making pitstops at the mighty Lake Peipus and the elaborate Orthodox Puhtitsa convent. Lake Peipus is the fifth largest lake in Europe and is home to The Old Believers, a group of people who fled Russia in the 17th Century to avoid religious persecution and still maintain their old traditional ways. Tartu is the oldest city in Estonia and seamlessly integrates the old and the new. It is a pretty town filled with historic buildings, relaxing parks and quirky sites too. Not to miss is the Leaning House, which sits in the main Town Hall Square. This once sinking house has a very noticeable lean with a gradient of 5.8 degrees, which is more than that of the Pisa Tower. Another must see is the St Johns Church. This Gothic brick building is unique on a pan European scale. Decorated with 1,700 unique terracotta sculptures on the inside and outside, I have never seen a church with so much character. Heading to the Parnu, Estonias most famous beach resort town, windy rainy weather greeted me and was not conducive for any outdoor activity. I drive my car onto a humongous ferry that is only a 25-minute ride to Muhu and Saaremaa Islands. Cars, buses, trailers etc. are all effortlessly driven onto this ferry and this is the only way to get to these islands. Muhu, the smaller of the two islands, is connected to Saaremaa by a beautiful bridge with open waters on either side making for a spectacular drive. There are a number of interesting things to see and do on these islands other than the regular beach activities in summer .The Timber Windmills of Angla in the middle of fields seem out of place but make for an interesting visit to give you an insight into the bygone farm life on the island. The very bizarre Kaali meteorite craters are most fascinating. According to various estimations, these carters are 3,500-7,500 years old. The largest of these carters was formed when a large piece weighing 20-80 tons crashed into earth at a speed of 10-20kms per second. In ancient times this carter/lake was considered a sacred body of water and a sacrificial site. Time stands still in the fishing village of Koguva. The beginnings of the village can be traced to 1532, while the dwellings are only some 200 years old .It is like a fairy tale village with the green moss covering every inch of the village stone fence. Tiny dwellings, so quaint and pretty, one can witness the remarkable examples of Estonian peasant architecture. A reminder of how life was not very long ago .The un-spoilt quietness of that village is still tugging at my heart. I was able to spend an unhurried seven days in Estonia, crisscrossing this breathtaking country. Each corner of Estonia is different. The islands offer a totally different experience than the expansive forests. Tallinns medieval Old Town is steeped with history while the waterfront Kalamaja has intimate vinotheques, alternative art cafes and music events. Once in Estonia you are only a stones throw away from Latvia and Lithuania. (Meenakshi S. is a travel and car enthusiast who did a road trip from Coimbatore to London in 2017) Marie Antoinette of France had to walk down the aisle with some of her underwear exposed (Photo: AFP) Britains royal wedding has been in the news for quite sometime as it has also been surrounded by controversy. While the news of Meghan Markles father not attending the wedding may have caused her stress, this isnt the first royal event to run into trouble. It has been seen in the past that even the likes of the Duchess of Cambridge and the Queen have faced serious problems on their big day. Prince Harrys late mother Princess Diana faced a setback when she referred to her husband as Prince Charles Arthur George instead of Charles Phillip. Meanwhile Charles mixed up his vows and offered to give Diana thy goods instead of worldly goods. At the same wedding a bridesmaid tripped and started crying as Princess Diana comforted her. Weddings can be nerve wrecking and way back in 1763 the pressure made Augusta of Saxe-Gotha violently sick as she walked down the aisle. As for Margarets wedding, the best man Jeremy Fry was forced to step down when it was discovered that he was arrested for a minor homosexual offence in 1952, 15 years before being gay was legal in Britain. Getting the wedding dress wrong can be the most traumatising memory of the special day. Unfortunately for Marie Antoinette of France, her wedding dress was too small and revealed a bit of her corsetry and chemise as she walked down the aisle. Harrys brother William was a very sleepy groom as he stayed up all night due to cheering crowds and nerves before the wedding. There was also chaos caused by a horse which threw his rider off and ran past the royals although no one was hurt. Queen Elizabeth herself almost faced embarrassment as a hairdresser broke her tiara. It was then rushed to the jewellers to be fixed and was brought back just in time for the ceremony. While a global audience will be watching the wedding, some polls have suggested that many Britons are not as enthralled as the media. (Photo: AP) Meghan Markle confirmed she will walk down the aisle without her father when she weds Prince Harry in a glittering ceremony on Saturday, putting an end to days of speculation that has marred the build-up to Britains biggest social event of the year. Outside the ancient walls of Windsor Castle, home to the English royal family for nearly 1,000 years, crowds of well-wishers mingled with tourists and swarms of television crews under swathes of red, white and blue Union flags. Harry, Queen Elizabeths grandson, and U.S. actress Markle, a star of the TV drama Suits, will tie the knot on Saturday in a royal extravaganza at the castles 15th-century St Georges Chapel. Markles father, Thomas, had been due to walk his daughter down the aisle in front of a congregation of senior royals, celebrities, friends of the couple and a TV audience of hundreds of millions. But the former lighting director for TV soaps and sitcoms gave a series of contradictory statements about whether he would be there, with the Los Angeles-based celebrity website TMZ.com saying he had undergone heart surgery on Wednesday. Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health, Meghan Markle, 36, said in a statement. I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday. Meghan and Harry were driven to Windsor Castle on Thursday where the Royal Standard was raised, indicating the monarch was also in residence. The couple will stay in separate luxury hotels on the eve of the wedding. The wedding celebrations, forecast to play out under sunshine and blue skies, will be a sumptuous show of British pageantry that is likely to attract a huge world audience. Supporters hope the union of one of the most popular royals and a glamorous American actress, a divorcee with a white father and an African-American mother, will reinvigorate the monarchy. Beside the British royal family, which blends sometimes stuffy European traditions with the global popularity of modern superstars, Markle has brought some Hollywood glamour and a sense of modernity to the House of Windsor. However, much of the carefully planned and choreographed build-up to the ceremony has been overshadowed by confusion over the attendance of Markles father, who is divorced from her mother, Doria Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker. TMZ said it had spoken to Markles father after his surgery and that he seemed alert and coherent, telling us doctors implanted stents in his blood vessels. It was not known when he will be out of the hospital. Ragland, who will spend the night before the wedding with her daughter in the five star Cliveden House hotel and accompany her to the chapel, has arrived in Britain and was due to meet the 92-year-old queen and her husband Prince Philip, 96. Markles mother met Prince Charles and his wife Camilla for tea on Wednesday. Royal commentators have speculated Ragland will now walk her daughter down the aisle instead. GLOBAL SPECTACLE After the hour-long ceremony, the couple will take part in a procession through the towns ancient streets on a 19th Century Ascot Landau carriage pulled by four Windsor Grey horses. Police are expecting more than 100,000 people to throng the streets outside the castle, the queens home west of London and the oldest and largest inhabited fortress in the world, and have said there would be tight security for the event. A large number of officers were present as crowds watched the troops who will accompany the newlyweds on the carriage procession perform a practice run on Thursday. Britains monarchy continues to be a source of fascination around the world and few other countries can emulate the pageantry which surrounds the royals. Queen Elizabeth, the worlds longest reigning current monarch, is deeply respected and popular in Britain. Harry, 33, the younger son of the late Princess Diana, has himself always been a very popular figure member of the royal family. A cheeky child who stuck his tongue out at photographers, he left a lasting memory in the minds of many when aged just 12, he walked solemnly behind his mothers coffin as her funeral cortege made its way through London after her death in a car crash in 1997. There was a celebratory atmosphere in Windsor. Sales of everything from flags and biscuits to tea towels emblazoned with the couples pictures were brisk. A restaurant handed out free pizza to royal fans, some of whom have slept on the street since Tuesday to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds on Saturday. The atmosphere at the moment is wonderful, said Sandra Atkinson, a 54-year-old sales assistant at the Cath Kidston shop in Windsor. Weve almost sold out of our wedding items. Weve sold out of all our mugs, all our tea towels. Its been wonderful for business. We were expecting the Americans to come in, and they have come in. While a global audience will be watching the wedding, some polls have suggested that many Britons are not as enthralled by the nuptials as the media. A YouGov poll, commissioned by anti-monarchist pressure group Republic, found that 66 percent of Britons were not interested in the event, with 60 percent of Britons planning to have a normal weekend. However, other surveys show most Britons are in favour of the monarchy continuing in Britain and that the wedding and the birth last month of William and Kates third child, Prince Louis, were events of which Britain could be proud. The Prince of Wales is ''pleased'' to be able to welcome Markle to the royal family in this way. (Photo: AFP) Prince Charles will be the one to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle when she marries his son Prince Harry, palace officials said Friday as final preparations were under way on the eve of the royal wedding. The bride had initially hoped her father Thomas Markle would take on the role, but confirmed Thursday he would not attend as he is recovering from a heart operation after being caught up in a paparazzi fiasco involving staged pictures. Although many thought her mother Doria Ragland could step in, Kensington Palace said her future father-in-law would take on the responsibility at Saturday's ceremony. "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle... on her wedding day," a statement said. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the royal family in this way." Markle's mum will on Friday meet Queen Elizabeth II for the first time at Windsor Castle, where the nuptials will take place. She met with Charles and his wife Camilla on Thursday, and will be joined by her daughter and future son-in-law for Friday's afternoon tea with the monarch. In the weeks running up to the wedding, organisers have been caught off guard by the chaos surrounding the family of the bride-to-be, with palace staff referring to it as the "Markle Debacle", Britain's Daily Mirror reported. And the palace itself has come under fire for its handling of the situation. "Kensington Palace has missed a trick with the whole family," veteran royal biographer Penny Junor told AFP, suggesting it might have been prudent for Markle to invite her half-siblings. "The relatives have become a bigger story than the event itself, which is tragic." - 'Ethereal' lemon and elderflower cake - Despite the pre-ceremony fiasco, Meghan was smiling as she arrived for Thursday's dress rehearsal involving military marches and a dry-run of the carriage procession that will whisk the couple around Windsor to greet the crowds after their wedding at St George's Chapel, in the castle grounds. The duo made a brief appearance, surprising crowds milling around the rehearsal route by pulling in to Windsor Castle via the famous Long Walk promenade. Meanwhile, Violet Bakery in east London was on Friday applying finishing touches to the "ethereal" lemon and elderflower wedding cake, which it said would be displayed in a special "installation", according to Kensington Palace. Ingredients for the cake, which will be assembled at Windsor on Saturday, include 200 Amalfi lemons, 500 eggs and 10 bottles of elderflower cordial. Details about Markle's wedding dress remain a closely-guarded secret, and will not be revealed until the bride arrives for the service. Mother and daughter will spend Friday night together at the Cliveden House Hotel, set amid an expansive country estate 30 minutes drive from Windsor Castle, while Harry will stay with his brother Prince William at the nearby Coworth Park hotel. - Philip to attend - Security forces have transformed the picturesque town into an impregnable fortress. Every nook and cranny has been scoured and every imaginable security measure deployed to guarantee the safety of the royal couple and the tens of thousands of spectators set to flood the streets. Diehard royalists have already started camping out in the town to secure the best viewing spots along the carriage route, with dozens expected to sleep on the streets overnight. "I came here on Wednesday with all my friends," Sam Perez, 50, from New York, told AFP outside the castle gates where he had set up camp. "We're going to party tonight," he added. "The people from the town, they're really, really good, they bring coffee, cookies, hot tea. That's nice." - Outlook sunny - Much of the week has been overshadowed by speculation about whether or not Markle's father would attend. He was originally reported to have pulled out after allegedly posing for a set of staged photos which sold for a reported 100,000 ($135,000/114,000 euros) -- in a breach of royal etiquette. US celebrity news website TMZ cited sources as saying he had agreed to the photographs in a bid to improve his image. "He was trying to explain his side of things, that him working with the paparazzi for those staged photos was an attempt to recast his image to show him as a loving father who was getting ready for his daughter's wedding, and not as a reclusive lush," reporter Sean Mandell told the BBC. Despite the rocky build-up, at least Britain's unpredictable weather looks set to behave, with a forecast for clear skies and mild temperatures. Further good news arrived when it was announced that Harry's grandfather Prince Philip would attend, despite recently undergoing hip surgery. A 40-year-old Dalit man was shot dead on Thursday allegedly by five bike-borne assailants at Naifal village in Ghaziabad a suspected caste enmity case. (Representational Image) Ghaziabad: A 40-year-old Dalit man was shot dead on Thursday allegedly by five bike-borne assailants at Naifal village in Ghaziabad a suspected caste enmity case, police said. The incident took place under Masuri town police station area and family members of the deceased have identified the assailants, the police said. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vaibhav Krishna said Mahendra, a Dalit, was returning to his home on Thursday evening after parking the vehicle on a private school premises. When he was just a few yards away from his home, the five bike-borne assailants opened fire at him, leaving him dead on the spot, and fled, Krishna said. Anil, the brother of Mahendra, told police that on February 12, 2009 their father Sahib Ram, a labourer, was shot dead during the wedding procession of his brother. The "higher caste" people of the village were opposing the procession, the official said, adding that the murder case of the father is still under trial in a district court. In a bid to prevent Mahendra, who was the main witness in the murder case, from testifying against them, they shot him dead, Krishna said. A few days ago they had allegedly threatened Mahendra not to give evidence in his father's murder case. The body has been sent for postmortem and an FIR is yet to be filed, Krishna said. Thoothukudi: The founder-president of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) and actor-turned politician Kamal Haasan, generally believed to have a leaning towards late rationalist leader Periyars ideals, however, made it clear in the temple town of Tiruchendur on Thursday that he will never go against the religious sentiments of the people. Declaring himself an ardent fan of the Father of the nation, Gandhi, the MNM leader, addressing his party cadres in Tiruchendur, said his present tour of meeting the people is similar to that of the Bharath Dharshan Yatra of Gandhi to better understand the people. Even though I contradict some of the Gandhian ideals, I am proud to follow him in serving the nation, stated Kamal Haasan. Further, Kamal Haasan said that India is a wonderful nation with a great cultural lineage and added: I have no hesitation to worship our heritage and great forefathers. Neither my ideology will be a hindrance to the religious faiths and Gods you believe in, reiterated Kamal Haasan, who summed up his ideology to accept and revere, whichever is good for the welfare of the people and desist only such elements that divide and go against the welfare of the people. Kamal Haasan too did not spare the Tamil Nadu government, which he alleged, issued an order specially to prevent him visiting schools and colleges and interacting with students. The students have confidence and hope in him and hence they called me to speak amidst them, said Kamal Haasan. Work on launching the youth wing of Makkal Needhi Maiam was on and would soon, probably next month, prove to the world how far his partys ideals have reached the students, Kamal Haasan added. The Supreme Court on Friday directed BJP's B S Yeddyurappa to take the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly tomorrow at 4 pm. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his partys majority in the Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow, thereby brutally slashing a 15-day window that Governor Vajubhai Vala had allowed the BJP. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister on Thursday, heads a minority government with 104 MLAs, 8 short of a simple majority of 112 in the 224-seat Assembly. After the Karnataka results returned a fractured verdict on May 15, the Congress-JD(S) teamed up in a post-poll alliance and staked claim on the government with 116 MLAs. Incensed that Governor Vala chose to invite Yeddyurappa instead to form government -- as leader of the single-largest party -- the Opposition moved the Supreme Court on the night of May 15, challenging that decision. In an unprecedented overnight hearing, the Supreme Court ruled it would closely scrutinise today the two letters that Yeddyurappa had submitted to the Governor on the basis of which he was invited. The bench comprising Justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan heard the case on Friday morning. During the hearing, the apex court noted: It is just a numbers game, one who enjoys the majority should be invited to form the government. It observed since B S Yeddyurappa has claimed support and BJP is the single largest party, there could be two probabilities -- whether the Governors decision should be tested or a floor test be held on Saturday. Justice Arjun Kumar Sikri then said: Floor test seems to be the best option. The Congress said it was ready but the BJPs lawyer Mukul Rohatgi demurred asking for more time, which was ignored. After the verdict, Yeddyurappa said: I will discuss with Chief secretary and call for an Assembly session tomorrow. We are 100 per cent confident that we will prove majority. The Centre was represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal and Mukul Rohatgi. Congress lawyer and party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi informed that the Supreme Court has forbidden Yeddyurappa to take any policy decision until tomorrow." SC has delivered a historic interim order, many important directions have been given, one of them being that floor test has to be conducted at 4 pm tomorrow under a protem speaker," Abhishek Manu Singhvi said. He added: We welcome the Supreme Court's order. Congress leader Ashwani Kumar said: The Supreme Court's verdict has upheld constitutional morality and democracy. It's a judgement that should be celebrated. Faith of people in the wisdom of the SC is vindicated once again. It's a setback for a party that wanted to usurp power." Union Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted: BJP is ready and confident of winning trust vote in Karnataka. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House." During the hearing, both sides submitted to the court the letters they had given Governor Vala while staking claim to form government in Karnataka. Abhishek Manu Singhvi also sought security for Congress-JD(S) MLAs in case floor test being conducted. Supreme Court observes it can pass an order to make proper security arrangements. Amid fears of poaching and defection, the Congress-JD(S) alliance shepherded its MLAs last night to a hotel in Hyderabad. The Supreme Court today will resume hearing a petition challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's invitation to BJP's B S Yeddyurappa to become Chief Minister of the state. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi/Bengaluru: The Supreme Court today is hearing a petition challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's invitation to BJP's B S Yeddyurappa to become Chief Minister of the state. The Governors invite, which led to Yeddyurappa taking charge as the Chief Minister, has sparked a major political row and fears of defection. Hours before the Supreme Courts takes up the case which the three-bench judge first heard at an all-night hearing on Thursday, the Congress-JD(S) combine has moved out their MLAs into neighbouring Telangana to ensure that there is no poaching and the flock of its 117 lawmakers stays intact. Here are the developments to the story: In 1985, the top court's doors were opened past midnight to hear the bail plea of a prominent businessman who was charged under the stringent FERA law. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The drama and excitement thrown up by the crisis in Karnataka was not the lone case in the history of the Supreme Court burning the midnight oil. The historic hearing, which paved the way for Thursday's swearing-in of B S Yeddyurappa as the chief minister of the state, witnessed examples cited by senior lawyers about some of the previous post-midnight hearings in the top court. Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for some BJP MLAs, recalled his experience when a bench on July 29, 2015, sat through the midnight to consider an urgent plea to stay the scheduled execution of lone death row convict of 1993 Mumbai blasts case, Yakub Memon, at 6 am the next day. Rohatgi, who opposed the hearing of the Karnataka crisis at night, said it was not like Memon's case which concerned a life and death situation, to be considered for urgent hearing in the wee hours. He faced opposition from a lawyer from the other side who justified the ongoing hearing saying the Constitution was being hanged in this case. While these two cases are the latest examples of the Supreme Court accepting pleas to hear matters in late hours, jurists are reminded such emergency hearings earlier. In 1985, the top court's doors were opened past midnight to hear the bail plea of a prominent businessman who was charged under the stringent FERA law. The Supreme Court had attracted tremendous criticism in this case when then chief justice E S Venkatramaiah was woken up at midnight and he proceeded to grant bail to industrialist L M Thapar. Thapar was arrested on the basis of a Reserve Bank of India complaint that several companies run by him had violated the then Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). The Ayodhya case was heard at the residence of Justice M N Venkatachaliah, who later became the Chief Justice of India. The hearing continued past midnight at the residence of the judge on the intervening night of December 6 and 7, 1992 after the demolition of Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. In that case, one of the parties to the Ayodhya dispute had rushed to the top court immediately after the medieval structure was razed by karsevaks. After the hearing at his residence, the bench headed by Justice Venkatachaliah directed that status quo has to be maintained at the disputed site. Like the 1993 Mumbai blasts case in which the convict was to be hanged next day, there are other instances in which petitions have been rushed late in the evening for considering a stay on their execution. In the infamous Ranga-Billa case of national capital, a bench headed by Justice Y V Chandrachud, who held office of Chief Justice of India from February 22, 1978 to July 11, 1985, sat late in the night to consider a plea that they should not be hanged. Among such petitions was also the matter concerning Noida's Nithari serial murders convict Surinder Koli, when the top court heard the late night move on his behalf for staying the execution of his death sentence. Another such hearing took place in the eve of April 9, 2013 when a petition was moved on behalf of one Manganlal Barela against the execution of his death sentence in a murder case. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves recalls that in the case titled Shatrughan Chauhan v/s Union of India, he and his colleagues got to know about the execution of death sentence against 16 persons at 4 pm and rushed with a petition to the residence of then Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam. He said the CJI and Justice M Y Iqbal heard the matter at around 11:30 pm and at around midnight ordered a stay on the execution. Lawyers also recall some political matters when the top court had held late night hearings, including the one in which it ordered a composite floor test in Uttar Pradesh in 1998 to determine who enjoyed the majority - Kalyan Singh or Jagadambika Pal. Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday spoke with JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda over phone and is understood to have discussed the prevailing political situation in the state. (Photo: File | ANI) New Delhi: Amid a power struggle in Karnataka, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday spoke with Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H D Deve Gowda over phone and is understood to have discussed the prevailing political situation in the state. Sources to news agency PTI confirmed that Rahul Gandhi and the former prime minister had a telephonic talk, but no details were available about what was discussed by the two leaders. With the Congress and the JD(S) fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court over government formation in the state after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala invited the BJP's B S Yeddyurappa, who took oath as chief minister, and gave him 15 days to prove a majority. Sources said the Congress and the JD(S) are concerned about the safety of their legislators, whom they feel the BJP will poach while misusing the central agencies and the state machinery. Both the parties are learnt to have lodged their lawmakers in luxury resorts in the state and are awaiting the Supreme Court's decision in the matter. The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on the finalisation of the Centres 'scheme' on setting up of the Cauvery Management Board/Authority for allocation and distribution of water among the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry. (Photo: File | PTI) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday accepted the amended draft scheme filed by the Centre in the Cauvery water dispute case. On Thursday, the apex court reserved its verdict on the finalisation of the Centres 'scheme' on setting up of the Cauvery Management Board/Authority for allocation and distribution of water among the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry. The Centre on Wednesday had informed the court that it was agreeable for the name Cauvery Management Board (CMB) to implement the February 16 judgment. The Court asked the Attorney General to make necessary changes in the scheme and to submit the revised final scheme. However, during the resumed hearing on Thursday, Attorney General K K Venugopal submitted before a three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, that instead of Cauvery Water Management Board, the Centre has decided to name it as Cauvery Water Management Authority. He said that there is no change in the composition or powers and in fact, an authority will have more powers than a board. The headquarters will be in Delhi and the authority would exercise full control. It can also seek the help of the Centre if needed. The CJI told the counsel that it would pass orders in respect of the contempt plea of Tamil Nadu as well as on the 'scheme'. The final scheme submitted by the Centre, which envisages a 10-member authority, including the secretary, has been empowered to monitor the entire spectrum of monthly availability of storages and rainfall pattern vis-a-vis the schedule of monthly flows to be delivered at Billigundulu/inter-state contact point for a period of 15 years and to effect the necessary adjustments in the monthly schedule. The authority will have the power to monitor the storage of water in the eight reservoirs in the Cauvery basin and the apportionment, regulation and control of the Cauvery waters. It will also have the power to supervise reservoirs, and with the regulation of water releases from the basin with the assistance of the Water Regulation Committee. The headquarters of the committee will be in Bengaluru. The authority will also regulate the release of water by Karnataka at the inter-state contract point at Billigundulu and discharge station located on the common border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court ordered tagging of the plea with other similar petitions which have already been referred by the top court to a five-judge constitution bench on January 8. (Photo: File/PTI) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre seeking its reply on a plea by a group of 20 former and current students of the prestigious IITs challenging section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises unnatural sex between two consenting adults of the same gender. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, while seeking response from the government, ordered tagging of the plea with other similar petitions which have already been referred by the top court to a five-judge constitution bench on January 8. The 20 IITians, including scientists, teachers, entrepreneurs and researchers of different age groups, who all are Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgenders (LGBT), have claimed that criminalisation of sexual orientation has resulted in a "sense of shame, loss of self-esteem and stigma". Their plea was filed on behalf of LGBT alumni association of the IITs, which claims to have over 350 members. Among the petitioners, the youngest one is a 19-year-old student of IIT Delhi, while the oldest one graduated from an IIT in 1982. The top court had earlier referred to a constitution bench several pleas filed by eminent citizens and NGO 'Naaz Foundation' challenging the 2013 Supreme court verdict which had re-criminalised gay sex between consenting adults. Section 377 of the IPC refers to 'unnatural offences' and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse "against the order of nature" with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to pay a fine. "The petitioners contend that the continued existence of section 377 severely curtails the protection of equality, dignity, liberty and expression that the Constitution guarantees to all Indian citizen," the plea filed by the group of IITians said. "The stigma, silence and violence that section 377 brings in its wake, deeply hurts the petitioners' professional promise and personal fulfilment," it said. It has alleged that several petitioners have had to grapple with depression, self-harm and other mental health issues, all of which have had a very deleterious effect on their academic and career prospects. The petition urged the court to intervene to finally settle the controversial issue as government and parliament had been reluctant to examine it. On May 1, the top court had dealt with two separate pleas filed by LGBT rights activists Arif Jafar, Ashok Row Kavi and others including Mumbai-based NGO 'Humsafar Trust' which fights for LGBT rights. The top court had on April 23 sought the centre's reply on a hotelier's plea for striking down section 377. While agreeing to reconsider the 2013 verdict criminalising gay sex, the top court had in January said the section of people or individuals who exercise their choice should never "remain in a state of fear". New Delhi: A livid Indian Army is framing a written complaint to online retailer Amazon and also mulling options including taking legal recourse over the sexual content and title of a racy online e-book Indian Army Wife. An Army source told this newspaper: We will definitely act on this book and its title which is very derogatory to the wives of Army officials and soldiers. Said Colonel Aman Anand, spokesperson, Indian Army: It is our duty to protect the honour of Army wives who are known to sacrifice everything, including their husbands, for national duties. The 68-page book, the Kindle edition of which was first published in September 2016, is written by Aman K, who is believed to be a UK-based writer. The e-book tells the story of a Brigadiers wife who explains how she became an exhibitionist at a young age and then how she became a shared hotwife (a woman who has sex with other men with her husbands approval) in order to accelerate her husbands career. An online promotion on the book says: Read on to find out how Abhijeet gets from Captain to Brigadier in record time. This story has it all, from flashing a school teacher to husband watching and more, goes the online promotion. Calling the book demeaning, defamatory and scandalous, Major General T. Parshad (retired), former Judge Advocate General (JAG), said: I am not aware of the contents of the book but after reading the book details, I find it absolutely derogatory. It is not only the duty of the Army but of the entire nation to safeguard the honour and reputation of our ladies from such scandalous write-ups, which for monetary benefits defame the Army wives as a class, he said. Aman K. is the pseudonym of someone who purportedly described himself in 2016 on an online portal as a London-based 33 years old born to Indian parents there. Aman Ks other equally suggestive titles include Indian Hotwife: Seduced by her Personal Trainer, My Indian Wife - First Time Shared, Married But Available: Indian Hotwife, etc. Hyderabad: Karnataka Congress and JD(S) MLAs who reached here on Friday morning left for home in the night to vote in the Assembly on Saturday. The MLAs will have spent 16 hours in buses, travelling to and from Bengaluru. Their stay in star hotels in the city lasted all of 16 hours. The MLAs of both parties reached Hyderabad at about 9 am. The expectation was that they would have to spend some days at Hyderabad. After they reached the city came the news that the Supreme Court had directed Karn-ataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to hold the floor test on Saturday. The Governor has summoned the Assembly at 11 am on Saturday, and the MLAs rushed back to Be-ngaluru at about 10 pm. The bus trip takes about eight hours, adding up to 16 hours for the 2-day trip. Their stay in the hotel lasted a mere 12 hours. TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the party was considering two options to send the MLAs back to Bengaluru. He said there was a plan to send the MLAs in special flights but that was abandoned following the experiences of Thursday night and Friday. City was picked for safety reasons After civil aviation authorities refused permission for a special flight to Kochi, the Congress and JD(S) considered two options to send party MLAs for their camps. One was Hyderabad, where they eventually landed, and Chennai whi-ch is close to Bengaluru. The first plan was to send the MLAs to Chennai because of its proximity to the Karnataka capital. However, there were doubts as the AIADMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, is friendly with the BJP. There was fear that the AIADMK government could cause problems for the MLAs. Disconcerted by the denial permission of fly to Kochi, the Congress and JD(S) leaderships chose to play safe and opted for Hyderabad. Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao is a supporter of the JD(S) and had called for voters to support the party before the Karnataka elections. In the fluid situation after the results were announced, Mr Rao expressed the wish that JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy must become Chief Minister. With Hyderabad chosen, the MLAs took three buses and reached the city in the morning. In a significant order which will bring the curtains down in the long pending Cauvery water dispute, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to notify in Gazette the constitution of the 10-member Cauvery Water Management Authority and give effect to the Authority with promptitude before the onset of the South West Monsoon. New Delhi: In a significant order which will bring the curtains down in the long pending Cauvery water dispute, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to notify in Gazette the constitution of the 10-member Cauvery Water Management Authority and give effect to the Authority with promptitude before the onset of the South West Monsoon. Disposing of a contempt petition filed by Tamil Nadu, a three judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud in its order noted that there is distress situation in the State of Tamil Nadu due to scarcity of water, which can be remedied to some extent by the effective implementation of the scheme. The court accepted the assurance given on behalf of the Centre that the draft scheme for implementation of the February 16 judgment on distribution and apportionment of water to the four riparian States of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will be taken to its logical end with utmost dispatch. As per the provisions of the scheme the States are to furnish/place an indent to the Authority for the supplies required by them on each reservoir site. Both Karnataka and Kerala objected to this and said the States cannot be compelled, as it would amount to interference with States rights. Further they said it is wholly unnecessary as the Award passed by the Tribunal quantifies the volume of river water to be shared and apportioned between the States. Rejecting the submission, the Bench said, Suggestions/objections of the State of Karnataka and State of Kerala are devoid of merit. This objection does not commend us inasmuch as the necessity to furnish/place an indent of water demand and about the total water reservoir is to work out the quantity of river water to be released during the relevant period in consonance with the proportion specified in the Award as modified by this Court. That is to further the rights of the States/U.T. for just and reasonable use of water from the allocable water on equitable basis and not to impinge upon their rights and more so for smooth and effective implementation of the Award as modified by this Court. The court agreed with the Centres submission that the dispensation envisioned in the concerned clauses in the scheme is essentially to ensure smooth and effective implementation of the scheme. It said the implementation of the scheme would be strictly in accordance with the distribution of water to the respective States/U.T. in consonance with the Award of the Tribunal as modified by this Court. The court said the fact that the subject of water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power, forms part of Entry 17 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution (State subjects), cannot be the basis to whittle down the efficacy of the Award passed by the Tribunal and, in particular, the scheme to ensure smooth, effective and efficient implementation of this courts order. The Bench pointed out that the `draft scheme has been formulated singularly for that purpose and the same will have to be taken forward to its logical end in accordance with law with promptitude. Needless to observe, we cannot allow the parties to reopen the issues already settled in the Award and as modified by this Court, indirectly in the guise of questioning the appropriateness of clause 9(3)(iii) in the draft scheme (relating to making indents to the Authority). The Bench made it clear that the Authority constituted under the scheme will be bound by the contours regarding apportionment of river water in terms of the Award as modified by this Court and while doing so, is expected to take into account all factors that may be relevant at the given point of time, including to identify the situation of distress in the basin caused due to identifiable factors before quantifying the water quantity for being released or allotted to the party States/U.T. for the relevant period. The Bench appreciated the stand taken by Mr. Nambiar, senior counsel appearing for Union Territory of Puducherry, that the Authority cannot be expected to issue directions mechanically and that the Authority must have complete power to enforce its directions so as to comply with the Award, as modified by this Court, in its letter and spirit, concerning the apportionment of water between the party States/U.T. DMK working president M K Stalin on Thursday termed Vala's invite to BJP to form the government 'hasty' and 'unconstitutional'. (Photo: File) Chennai: Congress' southern ally, DMK, welcomed the Supreme Court directive on Friday to hold a floor test in Karnataka on Saturday and demanded the removal of Governor Vajubhai Vala for his "mistake" in inviting the BJP to form the government. "The verdict given by the Supreme Court is seen as a big victory for democracy and the Constitution. The mistake by the Karnataka Governor has become apparent," DMK working president M K Stalin told reporters in Chennai. "Vala should immediately resign or Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi or President (Ram Nath Kovind) should remove him from the post," Stalin, the leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, said. Earlier in the day, the apex court ordered a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4pm tomorrow, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the governor to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats, followed by the Congress with 78, Janata Dal (Secular) with 37 and three seats going to others in the 224-member Assembly, where elections were held for 222 seats. While both the BJP and Congress-JDS post-poll alliance staked claim to form the government, Vala had invited Yeddyurappa and sworn him as chief minister on Thursday. Stalin had on Thursday termed Vala's invite to BJP to form the government "hasty" and "unconstitutional", alleging that it would lead to horse-trading. Speaking to reporters after participating in a demonstration by the Congress against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, former chief minister Siddaramaiah said all the 78 legislators of the party and two Independent MLAs were with them. (Photo: File/DC) Bengaluru: The BJP has "abducted" and "kept in wrongful confinement" Karnataka Congress MLA Anand Singh by "using" the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax (I-T) department against him, the party alleged on the eve of the floor test for the Yeddyurappa government. Speaking to reporters after participating in a demonstration by the Congress against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, former chief minister Siddaramaiah said all the 78 legislators of the party and two Independent MLAs were with them. However, he alleged that Singh had been "abducted". "(Congress MLA) Anand Singh is abducted and kept in wrongful confinement by the BJP people using the ED and the I-T. This is what the BJP people are doing... Shamelessly doing. (BJP president) Amit Shah did the same kind of manipulation in all the states. They don't know the Constitution and the law. They don't know anything other than false propaganda," Siddaramaiah said. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said Singh was in Delhi and would be with the party once he is "freed". "Singh is in Delhi. He is with us. Anand Singh is (at present) in captivity. Once he is free, he will be with us. He is being held hostage, but he is in touch," he said. On Pratap Gowda Patil, who is also reported to be "missing", Siddaramaiah said he was with them. "Pratap Gowda Patil came and signed on the paper (list of MLAs) that was submitted to the governor," he said. Rejecting suggestions of any break in the ranks of the Congress and the JD(S) MLAs, Siddaramaiah maintained that all of them were together. Welcoming the Supreme Court ordering the floor test tomorrow, he said the BJP did not enjoy majority with only 104 seats. "They have won 104 only. They don't have 112 seats, they don't have even one seat above 104 because two independents got elected with us. Congress (78), JDS (37) and two independents (independent+KPJP) and BSP 1...total 118. As Kumaraswamy has won two seats it stands at 117." "All of us are together. We have an understanding. Despite this being reality, despite they (BJP) not asking for 15 days, the governor has given them 15 days to prove majority. What inference could one draw?" Siddaramaiah said. "Governor has followed (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and Amit Shah's instructions. If he had followed constitution, he would not have taken such decision," he said. Targeting the Prime Minister and the BJP president, Siddaramaiah said, "Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are fossils of Hitler in this country. They don't have respect for constitution or democracy. It is a murder of democracy. It is a clear violation of constitution," he said. He said never in the past had a chief minister been given 15 days to prove majority. Siddaramaiah also termed the Supreme Court verdict as "historic." Jammers were installed at the hotel to block the signals due to which even hotel staff and journalists faced issues with their phones. (Representational image) Hyderabad: Security was tight at the star hotel where the Karnataka Congress legislators were housed in the city on Thursday. But there were gaps. Journalists were not allowed inside, but anyone could walk in for a cup of coffee and talk to the legislators. Inside the hotel, the MLAs were moving freely in the premises but refused to answer questions. Whenever they left their rooms, the MLAs were followed by Karnataka security officials and party workers. Sources said the phones of the Karnataka MLAs were taken away and the room numbers were not revealed even to the hotel employees. Jammers were installed at the hotel to block the signals due to which even hotel staff and journalists faced issues with their phones. Telangana Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior leaders from the state visited the hotel to make arrangements for the MLAs. Reportedly, a few MLAs from JD(S) were lodged at other prominent hotels like Novotel, Awasa Hotels and Golconda Resorts in Gandipet. About, 30 Congress MLAs were sharing 20 rooms in Taj Krishna. The hotel security staff was only allowing journalists and camera-persons who were carrying their ID proofs from their media houses. Outsiders and passers-by were seen sneaking inside the luxury hotel amid the high drama. The grand ball room at Taj Krishna, which is usually open for outsiders and customers, was locked. A lavish Hyderabadi spread was laid out for them. Many staffers were asked to report for additional assistance. Additional security forces including female staff were deployed at the hotel. After having lunch in their rooms, some MLAs came out for some relief. Congress MLA Shivsha-nkarappa of Davanagere South came to first floor along with another MLA. When this reporter, who walked in as a guest, spoke with him, he only identified himself. To a question, he said all party MLAs were at the hotel. This was repeated by other MLAs. None of them was willing to answer any other question. Karnataka Congress MP D.K. Suresh, the brother of Congress camp incha-rge D.K. Shiva Kumar, was seen maintaining the list of party MLAs. Karnataka PCC president G. Parameswara, AICC secretary and Karn-ataka Congress incharge K.C. Venugopal and other leaders are also in the camp along with MLAs. Hyderabad: IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday said the Hindutva card would not work in elections in Telangana State. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the BJP tried to do politics using the Hindutva card in the state TS, they would bite the dust as no one in the country was more spiritual than Chief Minster K. Chandrasekhar Rao who performs pujas and yagams with utmost devotion, Mr Rao said. During a media interaction at the secretariat, Mr Rama Rao rubbished reports of the TRS working as Team-B or C of BJP or the Congress. The TRS is an independent party. We neither fear Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi. They are not TRS bosses. Telangana people are our bosses and we are accountable and answerable only to them. Where is the need for us to work as Team-B or C for any other party? Mr Rao said. On Karnataka camp politics shifting to Hyderabad, Mr Rao said, This shows how the Congress is confident of safety and security to their MLAs in the city and how well law and order situation is handled in the city. Mr Rao stated that 2019 Assembly elections in Telangana state will be one-sided and the TRS would win with thumping majority. If the TRS lost the election, he would leave politics forever, he said. I have challenged TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy directly that I will quit politics permanently if the TRS loses, and asked whether he is ready to do the same if the Congress loses in 2019, Mr Rama Rao said. Irrespective of whether Mr Uttam or anyone accepts my challenge or not, I have firmly decided to quit politics if the TRS loses. The TRS government has done good for all sections in the state and I am confident that people would ensure victory for TRS in 2019, Mr Rao said. In response to petitions by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), the Supreme Court made history when, hours after midnight on Wednesday, it sat to adjudicate on the action of Karnatakas governor in dealing with a hung Assembly after an election, but its ruling has failed to nip the constitutional mischief in the bud. The ruling was like the curates egg, good only in parts. The subsequent action of governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday, to appoint BJP MLA K.G. Bopiah as pro-tem Speaker to conduct the confidence vote on Saturday, was also unprepossessing. The Congress, along with the JD(S), seemed ready on Friday to move another urgent petition in the court challenging Mr Bopiahs appointment in violation of the settled convention that the seniormost MLA in the House is made pro-tem Speaker to conduct proceedings to test a governments majority. Mr Bopiahs actions as Speaker in 2011 had earned a sharp rebuke from the Supreme Court. The then Speaker had disqualified a block of rebel BJP MLAs when they rose against incumbent chief minister B.S, Yeddyurappa, once again in the eye of the storm, for being corrupt. Even as demands for the governors resignation began to be voiced on Friday, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking Mr Valas resignation from his high constitutional office. In its ruling in the early hours on Thursday, the Supreme Court permitted the action of the governor in letting Mr Yeddyurappa being sworn in, but on Friday morning it drastically cut down the time given to him in which to prove his majority. From the 15 days given by the governor (against the seven the BJP leader had sought), the time was cut down to 48 hours from the time of the hearing. However, the courts ruling, which for now upheld the notion that the single largest party may be called to have the first try in forming government even when it cant show prima facie where its numbers would come from, rather than a coalition of parties whose joint strength of MLAs easily crosses the halfway mark, has set off demands in Goa, Bihar and Manipur states where the single largest party didnt form governments, and calls on the respective governors to remove the present governments and visit the process of government-making afresh. This is an extraordinary development, and would ordinarily be dismissed out of hand. But in light of the Supreme Courts early morning ruling in the Karnataka case, and given the lack of codification of coherent principles for government-making after an election, politics of a new kind has been urged by many parties, making a mockery of our understanding of constitutional principles and practices. The first port of call for India is the Supreme Court when it deals with Karnatakas pro tem Speaker case. Driving up to the foothills of the mighty Himalayas, I started a conversation with my turbaned, handsome driver from Tehri Garhwal. Karnataka was going to the polls the same day, and there was much chatter across the social media about the outcome. I asked him what he thought was likely to happen. He shrugged, What can happen? BJP will manage the result somehow and form the government. I smiled and he countered, Do we have a choice? That comment, coming from him, led to a longish discussion on why we had come to this stage in India. The road up was rough and under construction. We crossed a bridge over a dry river bed. It is going to be a difficult summer, the driver said, looking around at the parched fields. He told me he earned Rs 10,000 a month, which he was not complaining about. It was the Aadhaar and ATM fee issues that bothered him. But he conceded it would be a good step in the right direction down the line. My grouse is with all the lies we are told. Just be frank and say we are trying our best. Citizens will understand the problem and not feel angry. I asked him whether he had ever believed the promise made by NaMo about Rs 15 lakhs coming into the bank account of citizens once the black money issue was resolved. He laughed out loud. Are we that gullible? That stupid? I dont care about all that. I dont want Rs 15 lakhs or even Rs 15,000 in my account. I just want enough to feed my family and educate my two children. It is a modest, realistic dream. In any other nation, it would be easily achieved. But here in India? Later the same evening, after I had checked into my beautiful resort, and was looking forward to a relaxing break, with no television, no news, nothing but bird songs to soothe my jangled nerves, I heard a mans rather plaintive voice asking me if I had a problem with the BJP winning in Karnataka. He was from Karnataka. A chartered accountant, he clarified. His wife, who was waiting for my response, introduced herself as a lawyer. Oh dear! My little holiday was gone right there! I tried to concentrate on my wild mushroom soup. But by then, I had figured I had no choice but to get drawn into Karnataka elections. The CA announced confidently, Madam, India is very lucky. The BJP is going to rule for the next 66 years. Why 66? Why not 70? Or 100? He grinned, Astrologers have predicted. Okaaaaay! If , all around me, at that altitude, in those sylvan surroundings, people were happily endorsing a long BJP raj, my best option to hang on to my peace of mind ( I was paying a fat amount for it, after all!) was to change the subject and focus on yogic asanas. This is how it is going to be. And I am so disappointed. Not because of any heightened antipathy towards the BJP ( I feel no differently about the Congress Party), but because of the shocking apathy of citizens. Given the Karnataka circus, and the low levels it has sunk to, no matter which person becomes the CM the appointment will remain suspect and contemptible. Kidnapping, bribery, death threats and worse have been employed in this ugly election. Nobody is surprised! That is the tragedy. We now expect and accept that our elected representatives will be this neech, this dishonest, this despicable. We take their criminal conduct, criminal records and murder charges in our stride, as if it is really quite all right to have hardened history-sheeters in our state Assemblies and Parliament. The utter shamelessness of holding a bunch of spineless, avaricious, venal MLAs inside a distant resort, and keeping them there till the time comes to prove the numbers on the floor of the House, shows the degradation that has been institutionalised by political parties across the country. Reddy or Yeddy or Siddy or even a Teddy who the hell cares? There is only one real contest and thats between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. The rest are minor, inconsequential players. Looming way above even these two main protagonists (NaMo-RaGa) is the shadowy, sinister figure of Amit Shah. It is he who is feared. It is he who thrives on generating paranoia. I wonder what has happened to all the gutsy print/TV analysts from an earlier era who used to inform, educate and challenge such leaders and help citizens to make up their minds sans prejudice. India cannot keep rushing to the learned judges of the Supreme Court each time there is a constitutional crisis, and expect them to sacrifice precious sleep. This is absurd! Karnataka is being used as a litmus test by both the parties. Whatever happens next should not be taken seriously at all. It is evident to all that big, big money is being poured into the state and the usual horse-trading is happening on a war footing. But the point is, even when citizens are fully aware of the behind-the-scenes manipulation, why arent they protesting? And insisting on an upfront, honourable resolution to the current crisis? Why dont they declare they will not accept the decision of the governor under such dodgy circumstances? Why cant they storm the resort where the MLAs are being hosted and expose this dirty game? Come on, Karnataka lead the way. You still have time on your side. If enough voices are raised and politicians confronted, perhaps this election will have served a purpose in the long run. Citizens have voted. They have asserted their democratic right. The same right is being blatantly abused and insulted. Why bother with an election at all, if this is the outcome? Citizens are deeply wounded because they are being openly ridiculed and mocked by politicians who have converted yet one more election into an absolute farce. But wait! There is an amusing side-show happening in another part of the world. While we tear our hair out in frustration, our former British masters will soon be celebrating a royal wedding in England. Mid-summer madness in fabulous frocks! Who cares what happens in Namma Bengaluru? Ummmm. We do! We must! But hey....congratulations, Harry-Meghan (Haghan?), anyway. And Shaadi Mubarak! The latest conflict centres on new cybersecurity legislation set for a vote by Vietnamese lawmakers later this month. It aims to impose new legal requirements on internet companies and hardens policing of online dissent. (Photo: Pixabay) A struggle over internet laws in Vietnam is pitting a government keen on maintaining tight control against US technology companies trying to fight off onerous new rules with the countrys online dissidents among the biggest losers. The latest conflict centres on new cybersecurity legislation set for a vote by Vietnamese lawmakers later this month. It aims to impose new legal requirements on internet companies and hardens policing of online dissent. Facebook, Google and other global companies are pushing back hard against provisions that would require them to store data on Vietnamese users locally and open offices in the country. But they have not taken the same tough stance on parts of the proposed law that would bolster the governments crackdown on online political activism. Vietnam offers a case study in the conflicting pressures the likes of Facebook and Google confront when operating in countries with repressive governments. It also shows how authoritarian regimes try to walk a line in controlling online information and suppressing political activism without crippling the digital economy. Such tensions are playing out across Southeast Asia, where the enormous popularity of Facebook and Google has created lucrative business opportunities and outlets for political dissent. With that, though, has come to both government censorship and a way to get propaganda to large audiences efficiently. The region is particularly important for Facebook and Google because most Internet users in China are blocked from accessing them. An industry group called the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) is leading efforts to soften the proposed cyber law in Vietnam. Jeff Paine, managing director of the AIC, said he and others were able to raise concerns about the law directly with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other top government officials when they visited Singapore last month. The discussions took place as part of a seminar about internet issues that included academics, industry officials and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, according to Paine. He said there was a healthy dialogue that focused mostly on how Vietnam can leverage the next stages of the digital revolution. But he said there was no discussion of content restrictions. The Vietnamese government did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment for this article. Political activists in Vietnam rely on social media to rally support, and the new cyberlaw comes on the heels of an April letter from more than 50 rights groups and activists to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg accusing the company of working too closely with the Vietnamese government to stifle dissent. Facebook and Google say they have to abide by local laws in the countries where they operate. Facebooks latest transparency report, released Tuesday, shows that in the second half of last year, the company began blocking content in Vietnam for violations of local law for the first time. The company reported 22 such instances - though it said they were prompted by private reports of defamation rather than direct government requests. Google last year also blocked YouTube videos at the request of the government for the first time. Updated figures released Friday show the company was asked to remove more than 6500 videos in 2017, mostly for criticising the government, and that it complied with a majority of the requests. The transparency reports do show that the companies dont automatically do the bidding of the government. Facebook said it had received 12 government requests for Facebook user account data in 2017 and complied with only 4 of them, all of which were emergency requests. The company defines an emergency as involving imminent risk of serious physical injury or death. In cases where content is alleged to violate local law, both companies say takedown requests are subject to legal review, and when they comply the material is only blocked locally. Direct government censorship requests dont tell the whole story though. Facebook also removes content and blocks accounts for violating its own global community standards, which bar material and behaviours ranging from posting pornography to hate speech and inciting violence. The first thing we do when a government tells us about content that violates laws is we look at whether it violates our standards, said Monika Bickert, Facebooks vice president of global policy management. The company this week began providing data on community standards violations but does not break it down by country. My account was blocked for 8 months, said Le Van Dung, an independent journalist in Vietnam who signed the letter to Zuckerberg. I sent letters to Facebook management for months but theres only an automatic reply saying they have completed your request. His account was restored last month, the day after the appeal to Zuckerberg was sent, he said. Facebook said Dungs account was correctly removed for violating community standards provisions barring spam activities and was restored by mistake. Dung denies engaging in spam. He did, though, have more than one account. Multiple accounts are not allowed on Facebook and fall within the companys definition of spam behaviour. TIGHTENING THE SCREWS Vietnam has had tough internet regulations in place since 2013. They ban any postings that are anti-government, harm national security, cause hatred and conflicts or hurt the prestige of organizations and individuals. The rules also ban social media users who spread fake or untruthful information. New rules implemented in 2017 tightened the screws further. One turning point, according to Yee Chung Seck, an attorney in the Ho Chi Minh City office of the international law firm Baker McKenzie, was an April 2017 meeting convened by the government to discuss a range of Internet ills including disinformation, hate speech and bullying. That came just after the government called on all companies doing business in the country to stop advertising on YouTube, Facebook and other social media until they found a way to halt the publication of toxic anti-government information. Yet another decree implemented last month stated that social media platforms had to remove illegal content within three hours of it being reported by the government, though Paine said the rule applies only to domestic companies. Still, Facebook and Google dont seem to be under any imminent threat given how deeply they have penetrated into Vietnam society. About 55 million of Vietnams 96 million people are regular social media users, according to research by Simon Kemp, a digital media consultant based in Singapore. Facebook, YouTube and Google Search are far and away the most popular internet destinations, Kemps data shows. Facebook is also the most popular platform for online shopping in Vietnam. And the government is eager to nurture the countrys digital economy: smartphones and all that they enable, especially e-commerce and online banking, are transforming economies across Asia, and no one wants to be left behind. They love that part of the story, said Chung. But the government also wants more control, including local data storage and local corporate offices - a provision company officials privately fear is designed to allow the government to intimidate companies by exposing individuals to arrest. Both Facebook and Google serve Vietnam from their regional headquarters in Singapore. The new law also gives more power to Vietnams Ministry of Public Security, which is tasked with crushing dissent in the communist-ruled country. Facebook said it expected the new rules would require it to restrict more content. Google declined to comment. LONG JAIL TERMS For the rights activists, there appears to be little hope of relief. For example, just this month, a Facebook user in Vietnam was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for posts which distorted the political situation, according to a statement posted on an official Communist Party website. Still, Facebook remains an important tool for activists in Vietnam - a country where government criticism is rarely tolerated and the battle between the authorities and dissidents is a game of cat-and-mouse. Sometimes we use Facebook to distract authorities like we pretend to discuss an important meeting, which obviously wont happen, activist Nguyen Lan Thang said. Then we watch from afar and laugh as they surround our fake meeting spot, Thang added. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The company involved, LocationSmart of Carlsbad, California, operates in a little-known business sector that provides data to companies for such uses as tracking employees and texting e-coupons to customers near relevant stores. A website flaw at a California company that gathers real-time data on cellular wireless devices could have allowed anyone to pinpoint the location of any AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile cellphone in the United States to within hundreds of yards, a security researcher said. The company involved, LocationSmart of Carlsbad, California, operates in a little-known business sector that provides data to companies for such uses as tracking employees and texting e-coupons to customers near relevant stores. Among the customers, LocationSmart identifies on its website are the American Automobile Association, FedEx and the insurance carrier Allstate. LocationSmart did not immediately respond to emails and telephone messages seeking comment on the flaw and its business practices. The LocationSmart flaw was first reported by independent journalist Brian Krebs. Its the latest case to underscore how easily wireless carriers can share or sell consumers geolocation information without their consent. The New York Times reported earlier this month that a firm called Securus Technologies provided location data on mobile customers to a former Missouri sheriff accused of using the data to track people without a court order. On Wednesday, Motherboard reported that Securus servers had been breached by a hacker who stole user data that mostly belonged to law enforcement officials. Securus may have obtained its location data indirectly from LocationSmart. Securus officials told the office of Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, that they obtained the data from a company called 3Cinterative, said Wyden spokesman Keith Chu. LocationSmart lists 3Cinteractive among its customers on its website. Wyden said the LocationSmart and Securus cases underscore the limitless dangers Americans face due to the absence of federal regulation on geolocation data. A hacker could have used this site to know when you were in your house so they would know when to rob it. A predator could have tracked your childs cellphone to know when they were alone, he said in a statement. LocationSmart took the flawed webpage offline, a day after Carnegie Mellon University computer science student Robert Xiao discovered the software bug and notified the company, Xiao told The Associated Press. The doctoral researcher said the bug allowed anyone, anywhere in the world, to look up the location of a US cellphone, said Xiao. I could punch in any 10-digit phone number, he added, and I could get anyones location. The web page was designed to let visitors test out LocationSmarts service by entering their cell phone number. The service would then ring their phone or send a text message to obtain consent, after which it would display the phones location generally to within several hundred yards. But Xiao found a flaw that allowed him to bypass consent in just 15 minutes. It would not take anyone with sufficient technical knowledge much time to find this, he said. He wrote a script to exploit it. It was just surreal when I discovered this, he said. Xiaos research indicated that LocationSmart had offered the service since at least January 2017. LocationSmart touts itself as the worlds largest location-as-service company. It says it obtains location information from all major US and Canadian wireless companies, with 95 per cent coverage. Representatives for AT&T and Sprint said they dont allow sharing of location information without individual consent or a lawful order such as a warrant. Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company has taken steps to ensure that Securus can no longer request information on the companys wireless customers and that it was reviewing its relationship with LocationSmart. T-Mobile did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gigi Sohn, a former top aide at the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration, said user location data has been at high risk since last year. Thats when Congress repealed FCC privacy rules barring mobile wireless carriers from sharing or selling it without customers express opt-in consent. At a bare minimum, consumers should be able to choose whether a company like LocationSmart should have access to this data at all, she said. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The service is expected to eventually replace Google Play Music, the Alphabet Inc units existing music streaming brand. Googles YouTube will launch a music streaming service next week, it said on Thursday, looking to use its popular internet video brand to tap the growing market for paid music streaming. YouTube Music, which will offer both ad-supported and $9.99-per-month versions, will compete directly with services from Spotify, Pandora, Apple and Amazon. YouTube Music will launch on May 22 and include features such as personalised playlists based on a users YouTube history. The service is expected to eventually replace Google Play Music, the Alphabet Inc units existing music streaming brand. The news sent stocks of music streaming companies Spotify and Pandora lower by about 2 per cent on Thursday morning. Google has an advantage given YouTubes more than a billion users and viewers. So, it has opportunities to convert some into YouTube Music listeners or premium subscribers, said Ali Mogharabi, an analyst at Morningstar Research. The growing adoption of paid music streaming has helped wean a generation of music listeners away from free or pirated music and has led to services such as Spotify and Apple Music becoming the recording industrys single biggest revenue source. Revenue from music streaming services overtook sales of CDs and digital downloads for the first time in 2017, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. YouTube Music will launch in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea on May 22. It will roll out to more countries in the following weeks. Separately on Thursday, YouTube also said it would revamp YouTube Red, the paid version of YouTube that comes with original programming, to include YouTube Music at an additional price of $2. YouTube Premium, which will replace YouTube Red, will cost $11.99. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Houston: Ten people, mostly students, were killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire in a Texas high school Friday, the latest deadly school shooting to hit the United States. The gunman, arrested on murder charges, was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe High School. He is being held on capital murder charges, meaning he could face the death penalty. Governor Greg Abbott said 10 people died and another 10 were wounded in "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." "Nothing can prepare a parent for the loss of a child," Abbott told reporters in Santa Fe, located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Houston. Abbott said the gunman apparently carried out the attack with a shotgun and a .38 revolver that were legally owned by his father. The Houston Chronicle said Pagourtzis also threw pipe bombs into a classroom at the start of the school day. But with gun reform a divisive issue in the United States, Abbott focused on the need to better address mental health concerns and to arm schools, rather than call for limits on the proliferation of weapons. At dusk, hundreds of people, including many children, turned out for a candlelight vigil as the community sought to cope with the tragedy. People prayed and sang "Amazing Grace," tears streaming down some faces. There were hugs, and dogs providing emotional support. Abbott said searches were being conducted at two residences and "explosive devices" had been found, including a "CO2 device" and a Molotov cocktail. He said journal entries by the gunman suggested he wanted to commit suicide but "he gave himself up." Abbott said searches were being conducted at two residences and "explosive devices" had been found, including a "CO2 device" and a Molotov cocktail. He said journal entries by the gunman suggested he wanted to commit suicide but "he gave himself up." Abbott said there were no "warning signs" about the suspect, who had no criminal history, although he did post a picture on his Facebook page of a T-shirt with the words "Born to Kill" on it. Law enforcement authorities were questioning two "people of interest," the governor said. One may have "certain information," he said, and the other had some "suspicious reactions." Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said most victims were students. "Officers inside encountered a bloody mess in the school," a law enforcement official told the Houston Chronicle. Area hospitals said two victims were in critical condition. One of the wounded was a police officer, John Barnes, who engaged the gunman and was shot in the elbow, officials said. 'I shouldn't be going through this' The shooting was the latest in what has become an all-too-familiar situation in American schools, where gun violence has become a part of everyday life, part of a broader toll taken by firearms which are responsible for more than 30,000 gun-related deaths annually in the US. "My friend got shot in the art hall," weeping student Dakota Shrader told reporters. "I shouldn't be going through this," Shrader said as her mother comforted her. "It's my school. This is my daily life. I feel scared to even go back." Shrader said fire alarms went off "and everybody just started running outside. "And the next thing you know everybody looks and you hear 'boom, boom, boom' and I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest forest so I could hide and I called my mom." Earlier this year, 17 people were killed at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, -- a massacre that prompted survivors to launch a grassroots campaign against gun violence that led to the largest gun reform rallies in nearly two decades. Friday's was the second mass shooting in Texas in six months. Twenty-six people were killed in a Texas church in November 2017 by a 26-year-old Air Force veteran. Abbott, the Texas governor, said he would convene roundtable discussions to look into ways of preventing such mass shootings in the future. President Donald Trump expressed "sadness and heartbreak" over the shooting and ordered US flags to fly at half-staff for the next few days. "This has been going on too long in our country," Trump said, speaking at an event on prison reform at the White House. "We're with you in this tragic hour." Trump, who has previously shied away from gun control and proposed arming teachers, said he was "determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others." Cambridge Analytica LLC listed assets in the range of $100,001 to $500,000 and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million. (Photo: File/AFP) New York: Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the centre of this years Facebook privacy row, filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in a New York court late on Thursday. Cambridge Analytica LLC listed assets in the range of $100,001 to $500,000 and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million. Cambridge Analytica and its British parent SCL Elections Ltd said earlier this month that they would shut down immediately and begin bankruptcy proceedings after suffering a sharp drop in business. The company, whose activities in consulting on political campaigns in India, the US and elsewhere hit the headlines in March, is also the focus of an investigation by the UK Parliaments committee for digital, culture, media and sport. Cambridge Analytica announced on May 2 it will begin bankruptcy proceedings after losing clients and facing mounting legal fees because of the scandal over reports that it harvested personal data from 87 million Facebook users beginning in 2014. The firm was hired by President Donald Trumps 2016 US election campaign. President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency passed on a vote of 54-45. (Photo: AFP) Washington: The US Senate on Thursday confirmed Gina Haspel as the first female CIA director, despite deep reservations among some lawmakers that her past involvement in the harsh interrogation of terror suspects was a red flag. President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency passed on a vote of 54-45, with half a dozen opposition Democrats bucking their party and supporting the controversial Haspel's nomination. Two Republicans voted against her, while Republican Senator John McCain, who was tortured during years spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, is in Arizona battling brain cancer and could not vote. The 61-year-old Haspel, a Russia specialist who spent her career in the clandestine service, takes over from Mike Pompeo, whom Trump recently made his secretary of state. Haspel endured a contentious confirmation process during which lawmakers criticized her work in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, when she oversaw a secret prison in Thailand. It was there that Al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were water-boarded, an interrogation technique subsequently condemned as torture. Haspel pledged to lawmakers that she would not allow the CIA to return to using such brutal interrogation techniques, and that she would refuse to do something unlawful. While in her hearing she notably declined to describe the interrogation methods as "immoral," she wrote in a follow-up letter to lawmakers that the harsh program "is not one the CIA should have undertaken." Number two Senate Republican John Cornyn said Haspel is well-liked within the CIA, and will provide "objective, unbiased, and unvarnished intelligence" to the president and policymakers. But Senate Democrat Elizabeth Warren insisted Haspel's past connection to practices now widely seen as torture should sound the alarm bell. "Patriotism and judgment are not the same thing," Warren said on the Senate floor. "And someone who puts protecting the agency above following the law cannot be trusted." The American Civil Liberties Union attacked Haspel's confirmation as "a complete disgrace to our democracy." "For the first time in the history of the United States, the CIA will be led by someone with a past role in the use of torture," Christopher Anders, deputy director of ACLU's legislative office, said in a statement. Prime Minister Mark Rutte of The Netherlands is likely to be the first foreign leader to be hosted by the new state government of Karnataka. Rutte will visit Bengaluru during his tour to India next week. He will visit the Indian Space Research Organisation's headquarters, the Ministry of External Affairs stated on Friday. Rutte will be on a two-day official visit to India starting May 24. His visit comes within a year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tour to The Netherlands last June. This is going to be his second visit to India since June 2015 but the first after being re-elected as prime minister of The Netherlands in 2017, the MEA added. The Dutch prime minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, comprising the deputy prime minister and minister for agriculture, nature and food quality, minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, minister for infrastructure and water management, and minister for medical care of The Netherlands. Besides, the MEA stated, about 231 business delegates representing 130 companies have registered to join the Trade Mission, accompanying the Dutch prime minister to India. The companies joining the Trade Mission represent the agri-food, horticulture, logistics, education, smart cities, water, health and life sciences, IT, and maritime sectors. The India-Dutch CEOs forum will take place in New Delhi during the visit of the prime minister of The Netherlands. India and The Netherlands have a bilateral trade of US $5.39 billion. The Netherlands is the fifth largest investor in India with a cumulative investment of US $23 billion from 2000 to 2017. The Netherlands is home to a 235,000-strong Indian diaspora, the largest in mainland Europe. The visit by the Dutch prime minister is expected to boost economic and political cooperation between India and The Netherlands, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. The city police stopped the Raj Bhavan Chalo protest organised by the Congress on Friday morning. The march was organised to protest against Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision of inviting the BJP to form the government, despite lacking a majority. The protesters started from the Congress headquarters on Queen's Road, but the police did not allow them to reach the Raj Bhavan. They put up barricades near Balekundri Circle, following which the leaders went back to the KPCC office by car. Senior Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot, K H Muniyappa and Ramalinga Reddy along with party workers led the march. Midway, they were joined by former chief minister Siddaramaiah. Just two days after the Centre announced a unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir during the holy month of Ramzan, militants attacked a patrolling party of the army in the Hajin area of northern Bandipora district on Saturday morning. Reports said the militants attacked a patrol party of 13 Rashtriya Rifles in Hajin, 32 km from here, early Saturday. The army retaliated, resulting in a brief exchange of fire and soon searches were launched in the area. The attack comes just on the second day of unilateral ceasefire announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs during Ramzan. The ministry said the security forces, however, reserve the right to retaliate if attacked or if essential to protect the lives of innocent people. On Friday, suspected militants decamped with three service rifles from a police post at Dalgate in heart of the Srinagar city. Earlier on Thursday, militants decamped with service rifle from a policeman near Kashmir University. Militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba has already rejected the ceasefire announcement by calling it a "drama" while separatist leaders on Friday termed it as a "cosmetic measure". New Delhis announcement came a week after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the central government should consider a unilateral ceasefire in the state starting from Ramzan till the completion of the Amarnath yatra in August. Earlier, in the year 2000, the then NDA government, headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had taken a similar initiative by announcing a unilateral suspension of ant-insurgency operations in the state during Ramzan, which continued for five months from November to May 2001. The Congress party workers stated a protest at Hosapete on Friday against the BJP accusing the saffron party of abducting Vijayanagar MLA Anand Singh. They staged the protest at Rotary Circle and sought the police to immediately trace the MLA. They also demanded Singh to appear before the public and clarify his stand. 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DMC makes no representation that materials on the Web site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who choose to access the Web site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. The Web site is not intended to subject DMC to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country or territory other than Denton, Texas and the United States of America. DENTON MEDIA COMPANY PRIVACY POLICY For each visitor to the Web site, DMC's servers automatically collect information about which pages are visited and the domain name of visitors. This information is used for internal review, to tailor information to individual visitors and for Web site traffic audits. We also provide this information (as well as information from third-party market researchers) about our users on an aggregated, anonymous basis to our advertisers. DMC may place a "cookie" on the browser of your computer. The cookie itself does not contain any personally identifying information. A cookie may be used to tell when your computer has contacted the Web site. DMC uses the information for editorial purposes and for other purposes such as delivery of features and advertisements, so DMC can customize delivery of information to you without compromising privacy. For example, cookies may be used to ensure that you will not see the same banner advertisement too often in a single session. DMC may, in the course of providing services through its Web sites, ask you to disclose voluntarily certain information about yourself. This could include information that identifies you or your household. Any information in DMC's possession solely as a result of your use of the Web site and that is associated with you or your household is considered "Personal Information." It consists of both information supplied by you (e.g. name, address, telephone number and e-mail address) and information collected about how you use the Web site (e.g. the fact that you have bought merchandise through the Web site). 'Personal Information' does not include statistical data about large numbers of users, none of whom are identifiable, nor does it include information that you have posted for public view on the Web site or otherwise publicly disclosed. Like many other commercial sites, our site may utilize an electronic file called a Web beacon to count users who have visited a page or recognize users by accessing certain cookies. Our site and/or the Web sites of advertisers and merchants with which we have a relationship may use Web beacons (a) for auditing purposes and to collect information from the Web sites of certain advertisers or merchants; (b) to report anonymous individual and/or aggregate information about our users from such advertisers or merchants. Aggregate information may include demographic and usage information. No personally identifiable information about you is shared with such advertisers or merchants. You may choose to opt-out by contacting us in accordance with the information set forth at the bottom of this policy. In addition, DMC service providers and third-party advertising service providers may use their own cookies, web beacons and other technologies to collect the information listed above. The data collected in connection with ad serving and ad targeting does not include your name, postal address, email address, telephone number, birthdate or gender unless you affirmatively provide information within the ad. However, it may include device identifying information such as the IP address, MAC address, cookie or other device-specific unique ID. These service providers also may assign an anonymous identifier to the tracking pixel or session cookie. The collection of information by our service providers and third-party advertising service providers is governed by their relevant privacy notices, for which we have no responsibility or liability, and are not covered by our Privacy Policy. If you have any questions regarding the privacy notice of one of our service providers, you should contact the service provider directly for more information. If you would like more information about the information collection practices of a particular third-party advertising service provider, or if you would like more information on how to opt out of a third-party advertising service providers information collection practices, go to www.aboutads.info, or for apps, at www.aboutads.info/appchoices. Additionally, some of our third-party advertising service providers are members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI"). You can obtain more information about these third-party advertising service providers' information collection practices, and opt out of such practices (and at the same time opt out of the collection practices of other, or all, NAI members) by following the opt out instructions on the NAI's website at http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp. Please note that one of our third-party advertising service providers is DoubleClick. You can opt out of the use of cookies by DoubleClick by visiting http://www.google.com/settings/ads. How does the Web site use the information it gathers? Information collected on the Web site, including traffic patterns and user behavior, is used primarily for the following purposes: Internal research. The Web site is continuously assessing how visitors use the site. This data assists us in making decisions about how to improve the site and to better serve our users. Research data are aggregated and do not include data about specific individuals. We may share aggregated research (but not individual user information) with our advertisers or business partners. Additionally, the Web site may use your information to contact you to ask for your participation in a focus group, survey, or some other type of research effort. To customize your experience on the Web site. As the Web site improves its service, it may offer users more opportunities to customize content and other aspects of the site. Information provided by you may be used to assist in the customization process, if you elect to participate in these features. To tailor advertising efforts. Most of the information and services available to you at the Web site are free. In order to continue providing services free of charge, the Web site sells advertising. Advertisers prefer to target their communication toward audiences who are most likely to be interested in their products. The information gathered on the Web site helps us advise advertisers in general terms about certain aspects of site visitors (e.g. how visitors use the site, general demographic attributes of visitors, usage patterns on various parts of our site, etc.). This information helps both advertisers and the Web site make better decisions about where to place advertising. This information may also be used to send targeted marketing, such as emails, to users that we think would be interested in such marketing. Visitors who choose to conduct financial transactions with advertisers on the Web site may also provide specific data to those advertisers during the process of their transactions. Additionally, any information provided during the purchase on the Web site of products or services will result in the collection of certain information required to complete the transaction. To use third party service providers. We provide some services and products through third parties. These third party service providers may perform functions on our behalf, like sending out and distributing promotional emails. We may share your personally identifiable information with such service providers as necessary to allow those service providers to fulfill orders, send mail or email, administer contests or sweepstakes, remove repetitive information on customer lists, analyze data, provide marketing assistance, provide search results and links, process credit card payments, operate the Web site, troubleshoot, or provide customer service. We may also collect personal information from individuals and companies with whom we have business relationships ("Affiliates") and may share your information with service providers to accomplish our administrative tasks. For example, when you order a service, the third party payment processor we use releases your credit card information to the card-issuing bank to confirm payment for the service. The use of your personally identifiable information by these third parties is governed by the privacy policies of these third parties and is not subject to our control. More specifically, here is how the Web site may use information you provide: E-mail addresses. If you supply the Web site with your e-mail address, either by registering on the site, by communicating with us via e-mail, or signing up for promotional offers or emails we may, from time to time, send you information that we believe would be of interest to you via e-mail. This information may be from the Web site or sent by us on behalf of one of our quality advertisers. Note: If we send you e-mail on behalf of another company, your personally identifiable information is not disclosed to that company unless you purchase a product or service from that company in which case it may need your information to fulfill your purchase. Rather, the company provides us with the information it wants to send, and we prepare and send the e-mail directly to you. We may use a third party service provider to manage or send emails on our behalf, but that third party is only authorized to use your information as necessary to send our email to you and it is not authorized to sell or transfer your information. Postal addresses. If you supply the Web site with your postal address, we may send you periodic mailings with information on new products, coming events, surveys or other research materials, or other information we think might be of interest to you. Telephone numbers. If you provide your telephone number or cell phone number, the Web site may call or text you regarding orders you have placed online, to tell you about new products, services, or coming events, or to offer other information that may interest you. Additionally, the Web site or one of its agents may call you for research purposes. Sale transaction information. From time to time, we provide offers from our advertisers who, as part of their offer, request information on customers who purchased their offer in order to allow the advertiser to fulfill the purchase. In those cases, we share some of your personally identifiable information with that advertiser. Sharing this Information may allow that advertiser to market directly to you should it choose to do so. However, we will only share personally identifiable information with an advertiser if you provide us that information and enter into a transaction with that advertiser on or through our Web site. We are not responsible or liable for the actions of such advertiser. Business transfer. We may also share your information in the case our business is sold or transferred. If this occurs, the successor company would acquire the information we maintain, including personally identifiable information. Except as necessary to process your requests or orders placed with advertisers or merchants featured on the Web site, or as otherwise described above, DMC does not rent, sell, barter or give away any lists containing Personal Information for use by any outside company. DMC also respects the privacy of data on your personal computer and does not access, read, upload or store data contained in or derived from your private files without your authorization. Facebook Connect Our Web site may allow users to access Facebook Connect to interact with friends and to share on Facebook through Wall and friends' News Feeds. If you are logged into our Web site and Facebook, when you click on "Connect with Facebook" your profiles will merge if the email addresses match. If the email addresses don't match, we ask you if you want to merge them and you must enter your Web site password to validate that they control that account. If you are already logged into our Web site but not logged into Facebook, when you click on "Connect with Facebook" you will be prompted to enter your Facebook credentials or to "Sign up for Facebook." By proceeding you are allowing the Web site to access your information and you are agreeing to the Facebook Terms of Use in your use of our Web site. Similar access to your information may occur if the Web site allows users to access other social applications similar to Facebook. Conversely, if you are not currently registered as an the Web site user and you click on "Sign in Using Facebook," you will first be asked to enter your Facebook credentials and then be given the option to register and join the Web site. Once you register on our Web site and Connect with Facebook, you will be able to automatically post recent activity back to Facebook. You have the option to disable Facebook Connect at any time by logging into "My Profile" and clicking on "My Facebook Profile." Further, you can edit privacy settings for the reviews that appear on Facebook or disconnect this service by visiting the Facebook Application Settings page. Links The DMC site contains links to other sites. DMC is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites, including any sites that may indicate a special relationship or partnership with DMC (such as co-branded pages or "powered by" or "in cooperation with" relationships). DMC does not disclose personally identifiable information or unique identifiers to those responsible for the linked sites. The linked sites, however, may collect personal information from you that is not subject to DMC's control. To ensure protection of your privacy, always review the privacy policy of the sites you may visit by linking from the DMC site. Opt Out Procedures You always may opt out of receiving future mailings or other information from DMC. If the mailing does not have an e-mail cancellation form, send us an e-mail the type of information that you no longer desire to receive. You may opt out of any or all contacts from the Web site at any time. All e-mails sent to you from the Web site will allow you to opt out of any further e-mail from us. You may e-mail us to opt out of our email programs. You may also write or call us at the following address and phone number to notify us regarding use of your information: 3555 Duchess Drive, Denton TX 76205, 940.387.3811. When you register on the Web site, you will be given the opportunity to opt out of further communication from us. You may accept certain kinds of contact and decline others. For example, you may choose to accept e-mails, but not postal mail or telephone calls. If, at any time in the future, the Web site decides to use information provided by you in a way not described here, we will contact you beforehand to explain the use of the information and give you the opportunity to decline that use. Children's Privacy The following additional terms, conditions and notices apply to use of the Web site by children under the age of 13 years whenever DMC becomes aware that a user is in that age range: Users under 13 years of age may not submit or post information on the Web site without the consent of the user's parent or legal guardian. Prior to collecting any personal information about a child under 13, DMC makes reasonable efforts to obtain consent from the child's parent after informing the parent about the types of information DMC will collect, how it will be used, and under what circumstances it will be disclosed. Although DMC will apply these children's terms and conditions whenever it becomes aware that a user who submits Personal Information is less than 13 years old, no method is foolproof. DMC strongly encourages parents and guardians to supervise their children's online activities and consider using parental control tools available from online services and software manufacturers to help provide a child-friendly online environment. These tools also can prevent children from disclosing online their name, address, and other personal information without parental permission. "Personal information" collected from children may include any of the information defined above as "Personal Information" with respect to general users of the Web site and may be used by DMC for the same purposes. Except as necessary to process a child's requests or orders placed with advertisers or merchants featured on the Web site, DMC does not rent, sell, barter or give away any lists containing a child's Personal Information for use by any outside company. If a child enters a game, contest or other activity sponsored by DMC on the Web site, the child may be required by DMC to provide the minimum Personal Information reasonably necessary for the child to participate in such activity. A child's parent or legal guardian may request DMC to provide a description of the Personal Information that DMC has collected from the child, as well as instruct DMC to cease further use, maintenance and collection of Personal Information from the child. If a child voluntarily discloses his or her name, e-mail address or other personally-identifying information on chat areas, bulletin boards or other forums or public posting areas, such disclosures may result in unsolicited messages from other parties. Cancellation & Refund Policies A subscription to any of our products can be cancelled at any time. All print subscriptions will include four Premium Issues per year and 12 monthly Puzzle Books. For each Premium Issue, your account balance will be charged an additional $1.99 in the billing period when the issue publishes, which will result in shortening the length of your billing period. The promotional or introductory rate is effective for the term of the subscription. Following the term the Denton Record-Chronicle will continue to provide product and services at the then current rate until you notify us to cancel your subscription. Prices are subject to change without notice. There are no refunds on digital accounts. Subscription Refunds over $10.00 will be sent via check on the 15th of the month following the cancellation. Or credited via the original method of payment. 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According to Heather Talley, regional wildlife recreation coordinator for the division, the clinic will be taught by experienced fly anglers, who will discus the basics of casting, fish identification and feeding preferences, and when to utilize various types of flies. Classroom instruction will last an hour, after which participants will head outside to practice with the help of an instructor. Those with a fishing license can cap off the clinic by heading to the Lake at the Hills community fishery to try to catch a fish. SALT LAKE CITY Weve been promised the Eagles before, but we think itll actually happen this weekend. The chart-topping band was originally scheduled to headline Vivint Arena on May 3, but the show got postponed to May 20. Fingers crossed! Other weekend events in Salt Lake City include glow in the dark yoga to Led Zeppelin (really), the Utah State Yoyo Contest and a free showcase of contemporary Mexican cinema. Living Traditions Festival Salt Lake Citys diverse cultures unite downtown for the Living Traditions Festival, put on by the Salt Lake City Arts Council. The free, three-day cultural celebration includes traditional music, dance, foods and crafts from the citys various ethnic communities. May 18-20; 5-8:30 p.m. May 18, noon-7:45 p.m. May 19, noon-6:15 May 20; 451 S. 200 East, free (801-596-5000, livingtraditionsfestival.com). Glow yoga to Led Zeppelin This aint your standard yoga. One Love Yoga hosts two nights of yoga classes at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, complete with black lights, glow paint and the music of Led Zeppelin. Attendees are encouraged to bring light-colored clothing and their own yoga mat. May 18-19, 8 p.m., 138 W. Broadway, $20 (801-355-2787, oneloveyogapride.com, artsaltlake.org). Filmexico New standouts in contemporary Mexican cinema come to Filmexico at downtowns Broadway Centre Cinemas and select Cinemark theaters. The two-day showcase is free to the public, and features select short films, documentaries and full-length features. All films will be shown in multiple languages with English subtitles. May 18-19, times vary, 111 E. 300 South, free (801-321-0310, saltlakefilmsociety.org). Mural Fest Twelve of Utahs best mural-makers have joined forces for the inaugural Mural Fest. The event culminates a month-long collaboration with these artists, who have created 10 new public art murals, all made at a central location. The free event will also feature food trucks and live music. May 19, 5-10 p.m., 193 W. 2100 South, free (801-464-6757, sslarts.org/muralfest). Utah State Yoyo Contest Yes, Utah has an official yoyo contest, and its this weekend. Come watch the states best yoyo tricksters work their magic at the Salt Lake County Librarys Columbus location. May 19, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 2530 S. 500 East, free (yoyocontest.com/utah). The Eagles Take It Easy at the Eagles Vivint Arena performance. The show was originally scheduled for May 3, but was postponed because founding member Don Henley faced an unspecified illness. The bands lineup includes Henley and longtime Eagles members Joe Walsh and Timothy Schmit. Founding member Glenn Frey, who died in 2016, has been replaced by his son, Deacon Frey. Musician Vince Gill rounds out the current lineup. May 20, 7 p.m., 301 W. South Temple, prices vary (801-325-7528, vivintarena.com). POPE FRANCIS: A MAN OF HIS WORD 3 stars Pope Francis, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, John Kerry, Angela Merkel; not rated; in general release Pope Francis: A Man of His Word covers an awful lot of territory, both literally and figuratively. Over the course of 98 minutes, Wim Wenders film follows the pope from Argentina to the Philippines to Italy, speaking to everyone from impoverished locals in Brazil to esteemed representatives of the United Nations. Along the way, we hear his views on a wide array of world issues, ranging from poverty to environmentalism to religious conflict. But as all-encompassing as Wenders effort might be, it is held together by a single unifying theme, underscored in the films title. Pope Francis sees himself as a man of the people specifically the poor people and he is determined to never lose sight of that role. Wenders film is more of a promotional profile than a pure documentary, a piece of advocacy more than investigation, and this is made clear by the fact A Man of His Word only features interviews with the pope himself, who addresses the camera directly and with conviction. As a profile, its also exclusively focused on the popes contemporary efforts. We learn very little about his background aside from the fact that hailing from Buenos Aires, hes the first head of the Catholic Church to come from the Americas. Rather than offer a traditional backstory on its subject, A Man of His Word instead bookends its content with the story of the man who inspired the popes name: St. Francis of Assisi. Voiceover and black-and-white re-enactment tells the story of the celebrated Catholic saint who resolved to forsake wealth and live among the people, as Jesus Christ did. In A Man of His Word, we see the modern Pope Francis noted as the first pope to take that name doing his best to imitate his namesake, vehemently condemning consumerism and a culture of waste while living in a modest apartment, and even traveling in a tiny car that looks comic next to the vehicles of his surrounding security detail. The more effective imagery, though, comes from the faces and places we see the pope encounter on his travels, which are often destitute and desperate. These shots are rolled into commentary on issues such as poverty, family and environmental concerns, and images of almost postapocalyptic destitution are projected onto the facade of St. Peters Basilica in a memorable display. Because of the film's nature, when Pope Francis comments on issues such as immigration and our relationship to the Earth (which, in his view, should be defined as a caretaker rather than master), we are offered his simple perspective rather than any attempt to consider rebuttals or complexities. But at the same time, we do see him address more sensitive issues such as why God allows suffering, the role of gays in the church and the churchs history with abuse, to which he offers a stern condemnation of priests who have abused minors. Altogether, its a lot to take in, and though often the film is a celebration of its subject, its also easy to get lost in the imagery of the subjects the pope is addressing. Pope Francis: A Man of His Word may capture its subject best as Pope Francis shares Sir Thomas Mores Prayer for Good Humor, which asks the Lord for good digestion, but also for something to digest. Pope Francis: A Man of His Word is not rated but would likely draw a PG rating for some disturbing imagery; running time: 96 minutes. SALT LAKE CITY The Aces, a Provo band that recently released its acclaimed new album, When My Heart Felt Volcanic, made their live TV debut Wednesday night on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers. The band, composed of vocalist Cristal Ramirez, guitarist Katie Henderson, bassist McKenna Petty and drummer Alisa Ramirez, played the shimmery disco-pop number The Last One on the show. Late Night with Seth Meyers also posted an additional Aces performance online, of the song Waiting For You. Its been a good year for The Aces. After considerable national coverage of its previous release, the 2017 EP I Dont Like Being Honest, the groups new album was featured on NPR's All Songs Considered. Of My Heart Felt Volcanic, NPRs Lyndsey McKenna wrote, It's a shimmering statement of purpose, confident and controlled, constructed with care and, Across 13 tracks, the Aces' sound positively sparkles. Drawing from both past and present Top 40 proclivities, the record captures moments with clarity and detail. The band returns to Utah on Friday, May 18 for a show at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo. Watch both of The Aces performances on Late Night with Seth Meyers below. PROVO Surveillance photos of a missing American Fork woman taken on the day she disappeared have raised new questions about where she may have gone and what happened to her. Jerika Alvey Binks, 24, was last seen leaving a residential treatment center near 300 North and 1100 East in American Fork about 9 a.m. on Feb. 18. She told her roommates she was going for a run, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office. Earlier this week, family members posted photos on the Finding Jerika Facebook page of Binks running on the National Timpanogos Cave Trail in American Fork Canyon. A National Park Service stop-motion activated camera captured her running down the trail. "She is clearly alive and well at 1:30 pm. Where she went from here is unclear," the family posted on Facebook. The family released the photos this week without the knowledge of investigators. Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said deputies believe someone in the family snapped photos with their cellphone while investigators privately showed them the pictures on a computer. The reason the sheriff's office did not want the photos released was to avoid compromising the investigation should Binks' disappearance turn out to be a criminal matter. But Cannon said his office understands the family's desire to have the public help find their loved one as soon as possible. He said the sheriff's office is not upset with the family. "We as a family have been waiting for a month to release these photos out of respect, and not wanting to step on anyones toes who are aiding in the investigation," the family posted on Facebook. "They say its her coming down the trail. There is not footage of her coming up, which leads us to believe she gained access to the trail elsewhere. Furthermore, that leads us to believe someone showed her an entrance prior to her run that day." Thursday afternoon, Timpanogos Cave National Monument issued a statement to further clarify the pictures, which were taken in an area that was closed to the public for the winter about halfway up the trail. "Typically, the camera records wildlife in the area while it is closed to the public, and rangers were surprised to find an image that matched Jerika, date-stamped February 18, the reported date of her disappearance," the park stated. The family does not believe, however, that Binks is still in that area. Officials spent hours searching the area as have volunteers with drones. The park service concurred that "multiple days of searches were conducted by air and ground, including helicopters, drones, dog teams and ground searchers rappelling through steep terrain both above and below the cave trail." "It is unknown what route Jerika took to get above the locked NPS gate and into the closed part of the hiking trail where the photos were taken. Adjacent scree slopes, animal trails, and other possible but unauthorized routes have been also searched multiple times," the park stated. The public trail officially opens for the season on Saturday. Cannon said Thursday that investigators did not have any evidence about happened to Binks, including whether she was abducted, ran away, or whether she was injured somewhere and trapped. The search by investigators, however, has been very active, according to a series of search warrant affidavits filed over the past several weeks. In one warrant, investigators looked at a second possible sighting of Binks on the same Timpanogos trail taken a few weeks before she went missing. In the photo, a woman with similar features as Binks is seen walking with a man. Police later determined that the woman in the photo is not Binks, Cannon said. On the day Binks disappeared, she "left two uncashed checks in her bedroom along with her ID and debit card. She left her cellphone charger and her room was tidy. In my experience, these facts are indicative that Jerika did not run away or leave town because it is rare for a person to leave an area without taking their property, money and identification with them," the investigator wrote in one affidavit. Detectives also checked Binks' bank accounts and found "no activity" since Feb. 18 nor any suspicious activity on her credit union account, according to the warrants. "It is common for Jerika to go running but she would always return back to the rehab center at a reasonable time. Other individuals staying at the rehab believe this is abnormal behavior for Jerika and are concerned. Jerika has lived at the rehab center for several months and has been doing well with her treatment," another affidavit noted. Some warrants were served on Binks' social media accounts and Google search history. Police say Binks talked to people using Snapchat prior to her disappearance. "She is also known to sneak out of her house and meet with boys. Jerika was seen sneaking out of the house to meet with a boy and that it was against the rules approximately one week before her disappearance. She also used her Snapchat account to meet this individual approximately one week before her disappearance," a warrant states. Cannon said that man was tracked down by detectives who determined that he was not involved. The reward for information leading to Binks being found is now up to $10,000. She is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 120 pounds, and has brown hair and eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 801-851-4013. Correction: A stop-motion camera that captured images of Jerika Binks was set up by the National Park Service. An earlier version incorrectly stated it was a Department of Natural Resources camera. WEST VALLEY CITY About two years ago, Jennifer Tolboe, a mother of four autistic children, needed help. She says she reached out to a friend, who called West Valley City Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team. When detective Ammon Fox came to Tolboe's house, he assisted her in the midst of what she called her "breaking point." "We were able to figure it out and get help," Tolboe told the Deseret News during a press conference at the West Valley City Hall Thursday as West Valley police announced a new Special Needs Safety Program. Through Fox's help, the mother was able to go to a respite center for a day and "talk to people" and breathe in a "safe place." Though the police department does not retain information on exactly how many calls it gets regarding people in crisis who have mental health issues or special needs, the department gets "multiple" such calls every day, West Valley detective Ryan Carver said. The Special Needs Safety Program will help all involved family members, people with special needs and police, according to Roxeanne Vainuku, public information officer for West Valley City. It will allow family members and caregivers to provide information about their loved ones that will go into a database. Officers can then use that information to help them in times of crisis. People with autism, mental health issues, aging disorders and other special needs, or their caregivers, can be registered in the program. Those who take part can give information, including where a loved one tends to go if they leave home unexpectedly, triggers that agitate them or interests that might help calm them down. Tolboe's 3-year-old daughter, Isabell, and 5-year-old son, Skyler, are both "wanderers" who need to wear GPS tags. She says the program gives her some comfort. "So when one of them walks out the door and I can't find them, I can call (the crisis intervention team), instead of just the police, and go, 'My kid's missing.' They already know who they're looking for. They know what are some of the things that they like so if they're scared that they can't find mom, or whatever the reason is, they can calm them down and assure them that this is a safe place and be able to get them home," Tolboe said. Detective Fox discussed how understanding community members with special needs can help police defuse crises. For example, when police are called to help someone who has a traumatic brain injury, they know to talk to him about something he loves, Fox said. "When we go there knowing him, we know that all we have to do is talk to him about his hobby of BMX biking, and we're always confident that crisis will end peacefully," Fox explained. Tori Yeates, a social worker at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of Utah, calls the program "a huge resource. Mostly because when somebody's in crisis, whether it's the parent that's in crisis or the kid, just in general, anybody who goes into crisis doesn't really think clearly." Yeates said as far as she knows, West Valley's effort is one of the first of its kind. It can also benefit those struggling with mental health issues like depression or suicidal thoughts who can receive help in moments of need, the social worker said. All West Valley police officers receive training in crisis intervention, Vainuku said. However, 17 officers have special training in crisis intervention and could conduct follow-up visits with families, she added. "We know that each person and their condition is unique, and it is our goal to develop a safety plan for each person that is also unique," said West Valley Police Chief Colleen Jacobs. When someone registers for the program, a member of the Crisis Intervention Team will meet with the person and their loved one to discuss questions or concerns, the individual's condition and a safety plan. "I know that if there is an issue with one of my kids, whether they're being aggressive, I can't control them, they wander off, or if me myself, I'm just burnt out and I can't deal with it anymore, I know that I have at least one resource that I can call. And it's not scary. It's somebody that I know will actually be able to help me," Tolboe said. People can register for the Special Needs Safety Program online on West Valley's Crisis Intervention Team website, www.wvc-ut.gov/1692/Crisis-Intervention-Team, or by calling West Valley City's nonemergency dispatch line, 801-840-4000, and asking for a Crisis Intervention Team officer. A fire engine sits outside Salt Lake City Fire Department's newest station, Station No. 14, on Thursday. According to the city, the station, which was dedicated Thursday, is the second fire station in the country to be built as a net-zero energy building. Because of the buildings exceptional sustainability features, the structure will generate as much energy on-site as it uses annually. Station No. 14, located at 3800 W. California Ave., generates its own power from a 110-kilowatt solar array comprised of more than 300 panels. The two-story, 17,100-square-foot building, designed by Blalock and Partners, features a four-bay garage totaling 5,770 square feet. Living quarters have 10 single-bunk rooms and two officer suites, and spaces for fire operations such as an administrative station office, kitchen, maintenance and training rooms. See the world through the eyes of award-winning photojournalists. Click through the gallery above to view the unique images our visual storytellers captured today. Don't forget to follow the official Deseret News Instagram account for more photographs and videos from the staff. Privatizing the United States Post Office would go a long way to finding solutions. Even though competitors pay taxes, licensing and other regulations, they still are able to realize a profit. Mismanagement and intransigence is why the United States Post Office cant do the same. The foremost problem is Congress and the postal workers' union streamlining, closing remote offices by 10 percent, updating obsolete mail handling equipment, cutting Saturday delivery, setting wage levels to the economy and reducing employee numbers in line with demand. Eliminating the federal monopoly on first class mail delivery would destroy competitive edge and the petty punishment for employee carriers of first class on international mail. In Japan, the post office provides banking services, bill paying on the phone, savings accounts and some credit services, all done with ATMs requiring no employee interaction or cost. There is no reason America cant offer the same. Rate changes in first class costs are the easiest way to increase revenue. However, other classes of mail rarely increase with cost, as these classes are the basis of revenue, and a raise could have a further negative effect on income. Additionally, they have an enormous fleet of vehicles made-to-order that need maintenance and replacement. Cost-cutting could reduce this cash drain by leasing and the use of neighborhood kiosks, saving mailman feet and costs. While the Constitution may require a post office, there is nothing saying the government must be owner and manager. All thats needed is the will of the people and a responsive Congress. Term limits is a must. JW Scott West Jordan There is little doubt that Russia influenced and manipulated United States politics. Now Russia wants to disrupt United States energy markets by raising oil prices, suppressing the United States' growing dominance in world oil production and opposing offshore oil-and-gas drilling and shale production. Russia has obvious motives in disrupting U.S. energy production. America will soon become the worlds dominant oil and gas producer, and that presents a real and present danger to Russias international leverage based on Russian oil and natural gas that is Europes major energy supply. Its hard to overstate the degree to which Russia is attempting to influence energy markets in order to suppress and influence United States energy production. American government officials have concluded that the Kremlin is behind efforts to exploit American social media. Russian operatives have even attempted to infiltrate the business systems of nuclear power plants and other energy companies in the United States. Other countries that perceive we are vulnerable to interference will exploit that vulnerability. Russia and Saudi Arabia have signed a long-term pact aimed at suppressing external oil and gas production with the goal of controlling oil prices. Russian cyber-attacks and dirty tricks demonstrate that the effort to disrupt United States energy markets and influence domestic energy policy is not merely a governance challenge: It is economic warfare. To achieve its goals, the Kremlin is attempting to make, as a report of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said, useful idiots of unwitting environmental groups and anti-fossil fuel activists in achieving Russian goals. Russias motive in providing covert support to the keep-it-in-the-ground movement, according to a report on Russian manipulation by the House Science Committee, is to arouse the American public against shale oil-and-gas production, pipeline construction and offshore drilling. By intentionally injecting foreign propaganda into climate change policies, posting content in social media that supports positions held by some American liberals and conservatives alike, Russian agents instigate and inflame discord in the United States. This shows a willingness on the part of Russia to do whatever is required to harm Americas energy sector, which is dynamic and complex, in contrast to Russias backward, inefficient government-controlled energy industry. As for climate concerns, the perceived wisdom has been that all fossil fuel production is in conflict with the need to reduce carbon emissions. Those engaged in the war against fossil fuels assume that any use of oil or natural gas will harm the environment. Thanks to the shale revolution, movement from coal to natural gas has already reduced carbon emissions from electricity production to late 1980s levels. Natural gas will provide the bridge to a future that now includes increasing solar and wind power. Yet United States environmental groups oppose hydraulic fracturing, despite its value in unlocking huge amounts of natural gas; they also oppose construction of new gas pipelines that are needed to bring this gas to energy markets. Years of experience indicate that nuclear power plays an essential role in providing essential and dependable base load electrical power. But the 10 largest environmental groups oppose nuclear power. Hasnt it occurred to leaders who profess concern about climate change that unless development of advanced nuclear reactors goes forward, efforts to contain carbon emissions will be unsuccessful? If the most prosperous and technically advanced country in the world cant produce a cleaner and more secure energy future, who can? The best way to deal with Russian attempts to undermine United States energy production is to summon Americas resources and technological dominance on behalf of full production of oil, natural gas, renewables and advanced energy systems, including small modular nuclear reactors. That will promote economic growth, help working-class Americans and prove durable. SALT LAKE CITY Now that lawmakers have announced the Utah Transit Authority won't have a new name after all, the agency's trustees are going to have less to worry about before their positions are eliminated later this year. "Honestly, I don't think there's much more for us to do," Draper Mayor Troy Walker, a member of the UTA board of trustees, said Thursday. "This board's job now from my perspective is to hold the rudder until the new board takes over." Walker said he was happy about the name change being taken off the table. "Absolutely," he said. "We'll stop talking about it." The same law passed earlier this year that renamed UTA the Transit District of Utah also replaces the 16-member board and top bosses with a new, three-member management team to be appointed by Gov. Gary Herbert before Nov. 1. But on Wednesday, the lawmakers behind SB136 announced they would seek to repeal the new name next session because it was distracting from the more significant changes in the legislation. Earlier in the day, the governor reiterated his own concerns about turning UTA into Transit District of Utah and said he was willing to call lawmakers into special session to stop the change. The UTA board was asked by lawmakers not to go forward at their next meeting on May 23 with plans to consider issuing a request for bids on a consulting contract for an expert in rebranding. Carl Arky, UTA's spokesman, said the agency will do whatever lawmakers want. "All we know is were going to comply with any change in the direction they decide," Arky said. "Well no longer continue to take any steps to rebrand UTA until were told otherwise." UTA board members expressed more enthusiasm about the decision. "Fantastic," said Babs De Lay, named to the board by House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper. "No one wanted the name change, to confuse the public and to cost public monies to that extent." She said she'd "never heard a staff person or a board person say they were in favor of that." De Lay said she had been assured that the UTA's $50 million estimate for the name change was accurate, even though lawmakers have complained repeatedly that the price tag was much too high. "I'm not an accountant," she said. "I just had the information that was given to me." No money was appropriated by the 2018 Legislature for renaming UTA. The sweeping transportation bill calling for the name change stated it should be done over time and only as resources allow. Another trustee, Alex Cragun, said he believes $50 million was a good number. "We're talking about not only rebranding buses, we're talking about signs, we're talking about websites," he said, "Just in general, every small to large piece of anything that involves public transportation in the Wasatch Front." Plus there's labor, market research and other costs, said Cragun, who was appointed to the UTA board by Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. "Rebranding isn't cheap." He said phasing in a new name over time would have confused riders. "I never saw that there was a real need for the changing of the name," Cragun said. "I think having a decision once and for all, it makes sure we have a consistent message for our riders." Trustee Jeff Acerson, the mayor of Lindon, said a lot of people he talked to didn't understand the reasoning behind the name change. "I'm just glad that reasonable minds over time can look at things and hopefully gravitate to the right decision in the best interest of the public," Acerson said. "I think it's a good thing for everyone." Even before the sweeping legislation that ultimately included the name change was introduced last session, trustees reluctantly voted to back the restructuring plan for UTA after being told lawmakers saw it as nonnegotiable. Greg Bell, the chairman of the UTA board and former lieutenant governor, initially said dealing with the name change would be left to the new management team, then reversed course May 1 after he said he was told by lawmakers to pick up the pace. At Bell's urging, the executive committee agreed to ready the bid proposal for the full board to consider. The day before lawmakers announced UTA would remain UTA, he said the agency was getting "mixed messages." Bell said Wednesday he did not want to talk about the name change. "This whole discussion got to a position where they just needed to make a decision," said Jason Perry, head of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. "It was starting to take a toll not just on the organization, but on elected officials." He said lawmakers "were being forced to constantly explain, justify and defend this decision. The one thing they did not want to spend all their time talking about was the name." Now, Perry said, UTA can focus on fixes the public wants to see. Legislative audits have been critical of executive compensation and other issues, including transit development dealings. Those are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation. UTA signed a nonprosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the probe last year in exchange for agreeing to cooperate and submit to federal monitoring. "There will still be significant political discussions about the structure of UTA and how it functions," Perry said. "Some of them may continue to be fiery, but it will not be about, 'What about the name?' Because that was just a complete distraction." PROVO A man charged last week with sexually abusing a young neighbor has told police he also sexually abused two more girls who came to his home, according to police. Johnathon Damion Nixon, 32, was charged in 4th District Court on May 10 with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, after police say he hosted sleepovers for young girls even though he is a registered sex offender. In interviews with police Thursday, Nixon "stated that he wanted to confess to multiple sex offenses against three children," according to a jail booking statement. One of the three children Nixon discussed is the child connected to the charges already filed, Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon confirmed. Nixon told police that he touched each of the three 7-year-old girls inappropriately on multiple occasions when they were in his home, and that the abuse of one of the girls had occurred over three years, according to the booking statement. He also told police one of the girls would "flirt" with him, and that he told another girl they were playing "games," the statement indicates. Charging documents state Nixon told officers he had a "love feeling" for the child associated with that case, and that he has "lust problems" when he sees young girls. Cannon said Nixon is being investigated for 50 counts including rape of a child, sodomy on a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child. He could face aggravated charges, Cannon said, because he was acting as a caretaker when the alleged sexual abuse occured and because of his prior conviction. According to state court records, Nixon pleaded guilty in December 2015 to one count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony. He was ordered to spend 120 days in jail with credit granted for the 94 days he had already served. Cannon said that conviction required Nixon to register as a sex offender. He urged parents to utilize the registry as they get to know the people who their children may associate with. Nixon is in custody in the Utah County Jail with bail set at $500,000 cash. His initial court appearance for the charges filed last week is set for June 26. Those who have experienced sexual abuse or assault can be connected to trained advocates through Utah's statewide 24-hour Rape and Sexual Assault Crisis Line at 888-421-1100. OREM There's a quiet revolution underway in higher education: The creation of dual-mission colleges and universities that serve learners who range from students seeking vocational training to those seeking a liberal arts education. While some herald the movement for its economic efficiencies, others lift up the model as means to bridge the economic divide between people with high school educations or even less schooling and those who have earned certificates and degrees from colleges. While shifting demographics, lower birth rates and flight from rural communities is driving the change, it is also a function of lower rates of high school graduation in many parts of the country. "(There's a) growing sense that higher education needs to be done differently now," said Utah Valley University President Matthew S. Holland, who leads the state's largest public university in the state. Theres a growing sense that new models and ways of increasing access must be implemented that foster student success for the broadest population, Holland later elaborated in a prepared statement. Growing numbers of higher education leaders for a wide array of reasons are creating a new path forward to better serve students but also address workforce development in an evolving economy. Higher education officials from institutions that included technical colleges, state-funded colleges and universities as well as private liberal arts institutions have been meeting in Utah this week to share strategies and war stories during the National Summit on Dual-Mission Institutions in Higher Education at UVU. Utah is considered a national leader in this area with three colleges and universities UVU, Weber State University and Dixie State University offering open-door entry to vocational programs as well as rigorous four-year degree programs. But unlike many states dealing with lower numbers of students seeking postsecondary training and college, Utah's population is growing, largely due to its higher-than-average birth rate. The economy is bustling, which has resulted in increased funding for the state's public and higher education systems in recent years. "We are very fortunate in Utah in many ways. Growth is a challenge and it has to be grappled with, but boy, I'd take that challenge over the opposite," Holland said. In Arkansas, a state roughly the same size as Utah, state funding for higher education has been stagnant the past four years, said Margaret Ellibee, chancellor of University of Arkansas - Pulaski Technical College. Among a state of about 3 million people, 300,000 have not graduated from high school, she said. "Many of our population and our students who come to us have a third-grade reading level, said Ellibee. The technical college is in the beginning stages of a partnership with the University of Arkansas - Little Rock. Officials believe the arrangement will help more students achieve the goal of a bachelor's degree by transferring to the university after completing two years in a more affordable, accessible community college setting. Meanwhile, the college maintains open entry to other students who seeking its technical programs, she said. Joel Ward, president of Red Deer College, said the college serves a number of rural communities within 60 miles of its Alberta, Canada, campus. While students attended the college to start their careers, once they transferred to other four-year universities "they never came back," he said. This has resulted in the "economic, social and cultural impoverishment of our communities," Ward said during a panel discussion. The phenomenon became a rallying cry in the college's bid to also become a four-year university, which the government approved earlier this year. Becoming a degree-granting institution not only would boost enrollment, it would help enable students to earn degrees close to home and help develop Alberta's workforce and economy. The lack of access was also tantamount to a "social justice issue," he said. While many institutions of public education have "Harvard envy" and want to move beyond their initial missions, Ward said serving the needs of students and working to ensure vibrant communities are paramount concerns. "There's only one Harvard. The rest of us need to do our jobs," he said. SALT LAKE CITY The Jordan River Utah Temple will be rededicated on Sunday, May 20, with a youth cultural celebration on Saturday, May 19, after being closed for more than two years for a renovation. More than 450,000 people attended the recent open house. The Deseret News asked readers to share their memories of this temple, whether from the original groundbreaking, dedication and open house or the recent open house or an experience in between. Some readers participated in both open house events and share their experiences there. Another remembered biking to the groundbreaking to beat traffic. For another, the recent open house was the first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints her family had been inside. These experiences have been edited for length and clarity. Memories flooding back I remember as a child driving by the beautiful Salt Lake Temple and thinking how lucky my parents were because they got to go inside every month. I couldnt wait for my own opportunity to enter when I was grown up. Then one day in Primary, they told us exciting news. Another temple was going to be built and we all had the opportunity to contribute our own money to help build this temple. I couldnt wait to start earning money to help. I did odd jobs and saved my nickels and dimes. I remember the Sunday I proudly put in my $5.00 and how thrilled I was to say that I had earned money to help build the house of the Lord. Several years later, the temple was finished and the open houses began. My parents told us we would have the opportunity of seeing the inside of a temple before it was dedicated it was like a dream come true, I could hardly wait. As we went through each room, I was amazed at the beauty and peace I felt, even though (or maybe because I was) a Primary child. When the temple was dedicated, my family had the privilege of attending the dedication and watching it happen in one of the sealing rooms. As I sat in this amazing room with mirrors looking into eternity, I thought my heart would burst with joy. I will never forget how impactful this opportunity to feel the peace of being inside a temple was, and I promised myself that I would strive to live in a way so I could be worthy to attend the temple when I was of age. Its funny how life comes full circle. Thirty-seven years later, I was able to attend another Jordan River Temple open house with my family and all the youth of our ward. Those feelings and memories from my childhood came flooding back. I have had the privilege of doing ordinances in temples all around the world, but the Jordan River Temple will always hold a special place in my heart. Michelle McNeill of Herriman Biking past a traffic jam My husband Dave, our son Russell and I attended the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of the Jordan River Temple in August of 1981. We left an hour early because parking would be quite a distance from the temple. When we got to 90th South and 9th West a couple of miles from the temple, we hit a traffic jam and crept along to 11th West. I jokingly said, "We should have come on our bikes." Dave agreed and said, "Let's go back and get them." We headed back and were soon on our way again, this time on our bikes, with a half hour to go. We got to the traffic jam again, but this time we were able to keep going. Russell counted 61 cars that we passed on 90th. When we got to 1300 West, which is the street the temple is on, we turned left. The police were preventing cars from going that direction, but they let us go. By now we had only 8 minutes, but the temple looked pretty close. There were a lot of people walking. We got to the temple, parked our bikes along the wrought-iron fence where we could keep an eye on them, and walked onto the temple grounds. We found a place on the newly laid sod just as Elder Marion G. Romney started the program. We couldn't see a thing, but we could hear, except when then-Elder Gordon B. Hinkley was talking. A news helicopter started flying around and drowned out most of his talk. In October of that year, our family attended the temple open house and later the dedication. I had learned to tat the year before and had tatted two white handkerchiefs that my daughter Leslie and I used for the dedication. Rayna Scott of Sandy First temple trip My children and I are recent converts and this was our first time setting foot inside a temple. The sense of calm and peace that comes over you is indescribable. We sat in the celestial room and I had tears rolling down my face. We can't wait to go to another temple so we can be immersed again in the Spirit and those amazing feelings. Amanda Godin, of Price A trip with special needs children I had been waiting for two years for a temple dedication. We werent able to go to the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple open house because the date ended up on the week following my due date. I had so wanted for my oldest daughter to be able to attend one as I had when I was little. When I found out about Jordan River having an open house the same time we were driving through Utah to go home, I reserved tickets the minute they opened up. Traveling with my four young children and my parents, we planned our entire trip around the open house. The night before the tour my 7-year-old daughter was so nervous that my dad ended up giving her and two of her siblings a blessing so that they could prepare to see the temple. We explained to my children what they could expect to see and all about the white booties they would have to wear on their feet. My son has autism and my 4-year-old daughter has a sensory processing disorder. When we arrived at the temple, both refused to wear the white shoe coverings. Crowds of people were filling up behind us and I desperately tried to coax two of my children into these booties. I fought back tears of embarrassment as how rough things were going, despite what we did to prepare. My mom offered to sit out with my two children and not go inside. I insisted we were all to go in. Finally my children agreed to let the young women cover their feet and we headed for the door. The minute we walked inside the temple almost immediately my children became different people. Calm, behaved, in awe, they listened to every command and direction. Their entire countenance had changed the minute we crossed the threshold. My 7-year-old created special memories with her grandparents as she enjoyed the beauty of this temple. Perhaps my favorite part was when we entered the celestial room. I pulled my son onto my lap and he stared in awe at the ceiling for the longest time. I felt the spirit so strongly and I felt comforted to be surrounded by my children in this room. It was a beautiful feeling. It was amazing to me that despite not yet being dedicated I could still feel such strong feelings in this holy place. The minute we left the temple my children were back to their own selves, crying and screaming and throwing tantrums. To watch my children change instantly inside the temple and to be able to enjoy it was one of the sweetest tender mercies from Heavenly Father that I have ever received. My children are difficult and their special needs makes it even harder but after waiting two years to take my children to something like this it was truly so worth it. Starr Frei, of Great Falls, Montana Memories from both open houses In 1981, I was 5 years old. The bishop asked for donations to build the temple. In Primary, we spoke about building the temple. I remember looking out my bedroom window and seeing the temple being erected. When the temple was finished, we waited in a long line to go into the temple. I remember holding my mother's hand and seeing the baptismal font. Now, 37 years later, the Jordan River Temple is being re-dedicated. I was able to volunteer several times as an usher and in the parking lot. I also have children participating in the Ready challenges for the youth cultural celebration. What an amazing experience they have been having. I was also able to take my family twice and talk to them about the sacredness of the temple. It was extra special because I have a 5-year-old boy. I could watch his face and remember how it was for me. I could feel the Spirit that is with him and my other children. I spoke to them about how important it is for them to work hard to come back to the temple some day. I will cherish those feelings and the friends I made while volunteering. I feel very blessed to have been a part of both dedications. Mattie Noall Sacred and special place My wife and I were sealed in the Jordan River Temple on June 13, 1998. We also met for the first time in the temple chapel. We are now approaching our 20th anniversary. Needless to say, the Jordan River Temple is a very sacred and special place for our family. Tim Harlan Jordan River Temple was open when another was closed I met my future husband at a single adults conference. After our attendance at BYU Campus Education Week, he invited my to go to the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday. The Salt Lake Temple closed early on Saturday. We had just missed the last session of our group day. We were both disappointed, because he knew he was going to propose and I thought he would propose that day. The brother at the desk, told us if we hurried we could catch a session at the Jordan River Utah Temple. He did propose at the temple, and I did say yes! That was 35 years ago. Claudia Stewart, of Ventura, California Jittery groom's room? My husband and I attended the original open house on the day we got engaged, but before we were engaged. As we walked through the bride's room, the older woman guide said "this is the bride's room where the jittery brides wait." My now-husband said, "Where do the jittery grooms go? I replied, "Grooms are not supposed to be jittery. They have been to the temple before." It then occurred to me that they might be jittery because they have not been married before. We have told this story to friends and family throughout the years. Imagine my surprise, when an article in your paper talking about the new open house, states that there is no jittery groom's room." Lyn Fischer, of Provo A father's example My father, Hollis Sjoblom Martin served as a veil worker at the Salt Lake and Jordan River temples for approximately 30 years. While he was serving in the Jordan River Temple, I would occasionally accompany him to the temple. While waiting for him to complete his assignment I would wait in the foyer. One evening as I was waiting, there was a small group of brethren talking together. They were speaking a foreign language. Though I did not understand a word they said, I enjoyed listening. Their ability to converse in the foreign language amazed me. One of the brethren noticed that I was listening. He approached me and said, You are probably wondering what language we are speaking. I replied that yes I was and I had enjoyed listening. He then said, We are speaking Danish. You would be wise to learn to speak Danish for it is the celestial language. We had a good laugh. Well, I dont know that Danish is the celestial language. But my fathers consecrated service in the temples has contributed to my love of the temples, understanding of the importance of temple ordinances and my desire to serve there. Randy B. Martin Chicken pox and a sealing In 1989, we were scheduled to be sealed as a family in the Jordan River Temple. We had four small children and two of them came down with chicken pox. I called the temple and spoke to the temple president. We devised a plan where we could have the two with chicken pox wait with my sister in the car in the circle drive. When it was time to seal the children, he cleared the lobby and brought the children to the sealing room. We were sealed as a family, the lobby was cleared again so the children could be taken to the car. I thought that we would have to postpone our sealing. I was so upset because I had been waiting eight years. But thanks to a loving inspired man we were able to be sealed for eternity as a family. I am forever grateful to him. Carrie Earl of Highland Ranch, Colorado Life's milestones and the temple I am so blessed to have the Jordan River Temple in my memories forever. It all started when they announced on Feb. 3, 1978, that a new temple was going to be built in the Salt Lake Valley. Everyone was so excited and couldn't believe it. We were instructed that we had to pay for the temple before construction could be started. We all donated whatever we could and with the small job that I had, I felt so honored to be able to contribute as much as I could. Then came the groundbreaking in South Jordan on June, 9 1979. I was so determined to be present for this historical event. I took my sister, Carolyn, with me and we were so inspired when President Spence W. Kimball, didn't use a shovel, but a tractor to break the ground a great example to hasten the work of the Lord! I was thrilled to be there and witness such an occasion. We took pictures of us by the "corner poles of the temple." During construction, I served as a sister missionary in the England Coventry Mission. I was released in October 1981, just in time for the temple open house. I felt so blessed to be able to be there in time for that occasion and for the dedication a few weeks later. I loved attending the temple after my mission to do sessions and it was there in the Jordan River Temple celestial room that my husband-to-be, Andy Moore, asked me to marry him in May of 1983. When we were engaged in May 1983, we stayed in the celestial room talking about our lives coming together, not realizing that several hours had passed, and had to be nicely asked to leave as the temple was being closed for the day. Of course we wanted to be married there as well, and so we did on Aug. 18, 1983. Having a family and jobs took us away to other states for 20 years. So now, not only are we back in Utah, we again live so close to the Jordan River Temple we live three minutes from the temple if we make the traffic lights, and five minutes if we miss the lights. We are so blessed. We are so excited about it opening again. We loved visiting the open house before the re-dedication with some of our family. And it was such an honor to volunteer to help with the ushering at the open house as well. I love and feel so humble to hold a temple recommend and so privileged to attend temple sessions to do various work. I know that what is done there is holy and of God. I love visiting temples wherever we go, but I especially love the Jordan River Temple and all the experiences I was able to grow up with and participate in and pass these stories and my testimony of them on to our children and grandchildren. Ann Terry Moore, of Riverton HERRIMAN When therapists and doctors told Heidi Swapp years ago that her son was anxious and depressed, she said, "It just didn't add up. I didn't understand." Cody, her 16-year-old, hadn't shut her out, isolated himself or turned mean, Swapp said. But now, three years after his death, she realizes he was battling "a perfect storm" of difficulties. Though she won't know if they would have saved her son, she has learned new ways of addressing her children when they cause her stress. Her new approach includes taking a moment to calm down, not assuming she has all the answers and making sure she listens to their concerns, she told about 400 people gathered in a middle school auditorium in Herriman Thursday evening. As Herriman copes with suicides of several teens in the last year, such advice on how to prevent similar tragedies in the future was welcome. "We're scared. And that's OK. We can be scared and worried and make a difference, and we can evolve," Swapp said. Those in attendance at the forum at Copper Mountain Middle School included couples, families with teens, school administrators and health officials. Several jotted down notes as they listened during the two-hour meeting. "This event tonight is not going to end suicide or suicidal behavior in Herriman. But it's a start," said Michael Staley, the state medical examiner's suicide prevention research coordinator. Pastors, counselors, doctors and others also weighed in during the forum organized by Herriman Community Awareness, a group formed in recent weeks to address the issue of deaths among teens in the community. Seven teens who took their lives in the last year either were enrolled at Herriman High or had recently graduated or transferred to a new school, according to Jordan School District. At the meeting, Staley cautioned that "suicide cannot be easily explained," but factors that put students more at risk include moving homes or schools, social isolation, depression and access to alcohol, drugs and guns. He said research suggests that depressed youths may use drugs to feel better. And a key way for parents help them is to limit how much time they spend on phone and social media, he said. "Lock up your guns, your medication, and let's start using our smartphones responsibly," he said. Online interactions are no substitute for the face-to-face exchanges that are important to mental health, added Kyndel Marcroft, a counselor. Herriman's recent tragedies are a magnified version of a statewide problem. A 2017 study conducted by the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that from 2011 to 2015, the frequency of youth suicides in Utah more than doubled, to 11 per 100,000. The Utah rate is more than 2.5 times the national average. And 42 young Utahns from ages 10 to 17 killed themselves in 2017, according to preliminary data. A state task force to study the issue led the 2018 Utah Legislature to infuse millions in state budget money for more school counselors, mental health hotlines and new crisis teams that can make house calls. Darrell Robinson, a Jordan School District board member who represents Herriman and part of Riverton, said the district had received several calls from people asking how they could help and show support at Thursday's event a change from last year, when the issue of teen suicides wasn't on the district's radar. But he still has some anxiety as summer approaches, he said, because even though it can be stressful, school "does provide eyes and ears." Several at the meeting acknowledged the student deaths have taken a toll on police officers, teachers, counselors and others. "To those of you that are hurting, I know you're hurting. But please remember: There is hope," said Talitha Hanks, an actor and one of the event's organizers. The Centers for Disease Control has previously told the Deseret News said that there is limited scientific evidence supporting contagion one suicide leading to another and that the CDC has worked with communities to identify clusters of suicide, but the vagueness around the concept it has made it difficult to assess. No matter the exact cause of the deaths may be, Herriman High students have stepped up to help. A YouTube video from from a student group shows Herriman school employees telling students of their own personal challenges, adding: "We get it." And students recently held a "blackout," urging classmates to set aside their smartphones and focus on talking in person. Teddy Hodges, another Herriman Community Awareness organizer, said more, similar events would be planned for later dates, along with monthly mental health awareness classes. Correction: A previous version misidentified the school where the meeting took as Copper Hills Middle School. It is Copper Mountain Middle School. A new map shows where each state falls in the Yanny vs. Laurel debate. The website sportsbetting.ag put together a new map that investigated geotagged Twitter data from this week to see which word was shared most commonly in each state. As the Deseret News reported, people across the internet debated whether a soundclip played the word Yanny or Laurel. The clip originally played on Reddit before it arrived on Twitter. What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018 The report found there were 830,350 total tweets for Yanny and 844,380 for Laurel. Laurel edged out Yanny in every state except for New Mexico, South Dakota, Connecticut, Hawaii and Utah, where Yanny led the way. See the full map below. The website similarly created a heat map to show where in the world Yanny and Laurel were most popular. Experts said there are a number of reasons why people hear what they hear when they listen to the clip. Raul Veiga, CEO of production company Radial Producoes, told BuzzFeed News that visual cues could play a role. "So its actually a very poor-quality recording and the brain gets influenced by what you read first, before you actually hear it. What gets people confused is that its not Yanny or Laurel, its more of a 'Yarel' thing," he said. But, according to The Verge, its possible to hear both words. So if your sound card or your ears emphasize both the higher and the lower frequencies, you can toggle between the two sounds, according to The Verge. And changing the sound mix to emphasize higher or lower frequencies might tip you toward Laurel or Yanny. SALT LAKE CITY The controversial inland port authority law apparently will remain intact as negotiations between Salt Lake City officials and the state are at an impasse, the governor's office confirms. Despite months of talks and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert's willingness to call a special session to tweak SB234, those talks hit a wall this week. "For two months, Gov. Hebert negotiated in good faith with Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, Senate President Wayne Niederhauser and House Speaker Greg Hughes on changes to the inland port authority bill passed by the Utah State Legislature in the 2018 General Session," said Herbert's deputy chief of staff, Paul Edwards. "We regret that these negotiations produced neither an acceptable compromise nor the needed special consensus to convene a special session." David Litvack, deputy chief of staff for Biskupski, said the parties could not get to a place where the mayor's concerns were adequately addressed. "Maintaining land use authority and the tax increment those are core issues, not just for Salt Lake City but for cities across the state." The bill, as passed, establishes a new governing body called the Utah Inland Port Authority to oversee the development of a global trade area on nearly 20,000 acres of Salt Lake City's northwest quadrant west of the airport the city's last undeveloped swath of land. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, said negotiators were trying to resolve Biskupski's chief concerns, including clarifying standards for land use decisions, clarifying the tax increment, potential adjustment of the port authority's boundaries, and possible changes to the composition of the port authority board, including a member to be appointed by Salt Lake City. The Utah Inland Port Authority will be an 11-member board made up of a majority of state officials, with one seat from the Salt Lake City Council and one seat from Salt Lake City International Airport, and other seats for stakeholders including Salt Lake County and West Valley City. Though an earlier version of the bill included a board appointment from Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, the final version did not. City leaders, as well as members of the Salt Lake County Council and the Utah League of Cities and Towns, have decried the bill as an unconstitutional land and power grab since the port authority board, through an appeals panel, would have the power to ultimately override city administrative land use decisions. They've also protested the port authority's power to capture up to 100 percent of the project area's tax increment. Over the next 25 years, the city estimates the port authority would take control of more than $1.4 billion in new tax revenue, including $360 million in new property tax revenues from Salt Lake City, $581 million from the Salt Lake City School District and $84 million from Salt Lake City libraries. After the bill was abruptly changed in the session, Stevenson said he has removed himself from the discussions. "If I stay in this, it looks to me like I will be shot at from two sides," he said. Still, Stevenson said the inland port authority is vital to the state's interests. "This is a big deal for the state of Utah. It could be the biggest economic development initiative the state has ever been involved in bigger than Hill Air Force Base and bigger than the Point of the Mountain. It is important for those who are involved in this to move it forward." Opponents to the inland port authority have voiced objections that include environmental concerns including the inland port becoming a repository for out-of-state coal shipments but Stevenson said the coal component doesn't seem practical. "I don't think it is something anyone should be concerned about," noting the long distances to ship coal from central Utah to the Wasatch Front when other rail lines are an option. This week, a federal judge in California struck down an Oakland, California, ordinance banning the handling of Utah and Wyoming coal at a deep water port at a former Army base. That decision could pave the way for Utah coal to be exported from the West Coast. Litvack said the current impasse does not mean negotiations will not resume at some point. "We share the same vision, we share the same goals, and that is the basis for continuing the conversation to get there, because we all want to get there," he said. Steven Hipolito, a Massachusetts limousine driver, was a stranger to 8-year-old Mary Alice Tryda when he volunteered to drive her, free of charge, to her doctors' appointments, Fox News reported. Mary Alices family had recently moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts, when her mother, Kelly Tryda, posted on Facebook asking for information to get to Boston Childrens Hospital. When Hipolito saw the post, he volunteered to drive Mary Alice in one of his limousines. "I have a similar story; when I was a child my mother had to bring me back and forth to the children's hospital, so I understood her stress," Hipolito said. What started as one ride turned into several, and now Hipolito makes the monthly 30-mile drive to Boston to take Mary Alice and her mother to all of Mary Alice's monthly doctors' appointments. It has made things much easier; it takes a lot of stress off because I dont like driving in the city, Kelly Tryda told Fox. Mary Alice has brittle cornea syndrome, a rare connective tissue disorder that affects the eyes, joints and skin, according to The National Institutes of Health. Read the full story here. UTAH STATE PRISON Prosecutors say a man already serving a life sentence for killing a Draper police officer teamed up with another man sentenced for running over a Springville officer and a third inmate to attack a prisoner. Timothy Troy Walker, 39, Corbin Chandler Decker, 21, and Jordan Gailey, 28, were charged Friday in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault by an inmate, a first-degree felony, for allegedly stabbing a fourth inmate at the Utah State Prison at least six times on April 28, according to charging documents. In 2014, Walker avoided a potential death sentence when he pleaded guilty to killing Draper Police Sgt. Derek Johnson. Walker ambushed Johnson before the sergeant could get out of his vehicle. Johnson had spotted Walker's car broken down and had pulled up to see if he could help. In 2016, Decker was using drugs in a parked car when he was approached by two Springville police officers. Decker drove off with one officer still hanging out of his vehicle and then intentionally hit a second officer, according to authorities. He was ordered to serve consecutive sentences of one to 15 years on four counts, including assault on a police officer. Gailey has a history of aggravated assault, according to court records, including a conviction of aggravated assault on a prisoner in March. In the latest case against them, Decker and Gailey entered the cell of another inmate and "began kicking and striking" the inmate in what appeared on surveillance video to be in a "stabbing" motion, the charges state. Walker stood at the cell entrance as lookout, according to court documents. As the inmate being assaulted tried to leave, "Walker struck him in the face," according to court documents. The attacked inmate, who suffered "substantial blood loss" was taken to a local hospital. All three defendants could receive enhanced penalties if convicted, the charges state. Samsung might be close to launching a successor to its Galaxy Tab S3 tablet. A Samsung device with the model name samsung SM-T835 was spotted on benchmarking website, Geekbench, and speculation suggests that this could be the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4. The tablet is tipped to be powered by a Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 SoC with 4GB of RAM. The device is also listed as running on Android Oreo v8.1. The device managed to score 1895 on the single core test and 6362 on the multi core test. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 was spotted on GFXBench back in February this year, and the specs match up to the current leak. The GFXBench listed state that the phone would offer a 10.5-inch display size with a resolution of 2160 x 1600 pixels. The device was also listed as having a 12MP camera at the back, while at the front the tablet may feature an 8MP camera. It should be noted that model name in most the listings were the same. Samsung was initially expected to unveil the tablet during MWC 2018, but that did not happen. To recall, Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab S3 tablet at MWC 2017, followed by an Indian launch in June of the same year. The tablet was launched at a price of Rs 47,990 and features a 9.7-inch sAMOLED display with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixel. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is powered by a Snapdragon 820 SoC with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. At the back of the device is a 13MP rear camera, while at the front is a 5MP camera. The tablet also came bundled with the companys S-Pen stylus. You can read our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 here. SC asks Karnataka's Yeddyurappa govt to prove majority by tomorrow Amidst dramatic scenes of the Congress party and the Janata Dal (S) shifting their MLAs en masse to safer places following the swearing-in of the Bhartiya Janatha Partys BS Yeddyurappa as chief minister, the Supreme Court has ordered the Yeddyurappa government to prove majority in the Karnataka assembly by 4 pm tomorrow. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," the apex court said. The floor test will follow the swearing-in of all members of the legislative assembly. A pro-tem speaker will be appointed by the house, who will conduct the floor test as per the rules of the House. There will also be no secret ballot. The governor had given BJP chief minister BS Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his governments majority support in the house. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," a three-judge bench headed by Justice A K Sikri said. The CM will not take policy decisions before the floor test, as per the order passed by the bench today. The bench took note of the letters sent by the CM to the governor staking claim to form the government. Since the largest party had no clear majority, it was evident that it needed support of "others" to form a government. In such a situation the court thought it better to order an immediate floor test rather than deal with the legality of the governor's decision. The court will deal with this and lay down the law on this later in July. For now, the court said that it can't compromise on rule of law and refused to grant more time to the CM to prove his majority. Appearing for the BJP, Former Attorney General for India Mukul Rohatgi had sought reasonable time for the floor test, but the court rejected the demand. The court also stayed the nomination of an Anglo-Indian member before the floor test. The court also took an undertaking from Rohatgi that the chief minister Yeddyurappa will not take any policy decisions before the floor test. Rohtagi sought more time on the ground that the MLAs have to be rounded up and others contacted. He also accused the Congress of locking up its MLAs. But the Congress resisted any extension. The Congress and the JD(s) had approached the court after the governor had asked Yeddyurappa to form the government. Rohatgi, while explaining the poll results said the mandate in the state was for a change. The ruling party was thrown out, he said, adding that there was an unholy alliance between the Congress and the JD(S). He said that there was no need for the single largest party in the current atmosphere of fear and apprehension to give out the names of those supporting it. He also defended the governors decision to invite Yeddyurappa saying he was satisfied that he could provide a stable government. "These claims cannot be verified by the governor. The real place is the floor," the judges quipped The BJP has 104 members in the 224-member assembly while the JD (S)-Congress combine has the numbers to form a government and hence there was no way that the BJP could have had more than 104 members without falling foul of the anti-defection law. Andhra's EV policy offers Rs30,000-cr boost to go all electric by 2030 Andhra Pradesh, which has set a target of a million electric vehicles on roads by 2023, will invest Rs30,000 crore and give complete reimbursement of road tax and registration fees on sale of electric vehicles until 2024, in order to promote electric mobility in the state. The electric mobility policy rolled out by the Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday proposes incentives to consumers, auto makers, battery manufacturers and charging infrastructure in a bid to promote electric vehicles (EVs), involving investment of over Rs30,000 crore in the next five years. The electric mobility policy rolled out by the Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday proposes incentives to consumers, auto makers, battery manufacturers and charging infrastructure in a bid to promote electric vehicles (EVs), involving investment of over Rs30,000 crore in the next five years. Electric vehicle manufacturers will get a 10 per cent capital subsidy for the first two companies setting up manufacturing units in Andhra Pradesh and reimburse stamp duty on purchase or lease of land as well as state GST. Besides, the government will provide discounts on water and electricity bills as additional benefits for setting up manufacturing facilities in Andhra Pradesh. As part of the EV policy, the state government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japanese carmaker Toyota, which has started feasibility studies for the introduction of Prius PHEV and Small EV Commuter into the ambitious smart city project at Amaravathi. "Toyota sincerely appreciate Governments ambitions to reduce the pressing issue of pollution in the country through electrification of vehicles. As a responsible auto manufacturer, we believe that we have a bigger role to play in the nation by addressing the problems of safety, energy security and emissions," Akito Tachibana, managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said. The government of Andhra Pradesh will convert its existing city buses in 4 cities to all-electric buses by 2023 and in the whole state by 2030. Besides the upcoming capital city of Amravati, other major cities like Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati will get electric buses. To support the charging infrastructure, state-run power distribution companies will set up 100 fast charging points in available public spaces, commercial and residential building and government offices in these cities. Concern has been raised at the issue of rising insurance costs for community projects such as men's sheds. Independent TD Thomas Pringle has raised the issue of rising insurance costs on the community sector in a Dail question to Finance Minister Pascal Donohue after speaking with Kilmacrenan Mens Shed. After engaging with the Kilmacrenan Mens Shed I was told that rising insurance costs were becoming an increasing concern for them despite Government commitments to address costs in the expert group on the insurance industry," Deputy Pringle said. We know that this is an ongoing issue for the motor industry but little focus has been on the effects rising insurance costs are having on the community sector and for vital outlets like the successful Mens Shed. No doubt Mens Sheds all over are taking a serious look at how they are going to fund their single biggest financial expense of the year that is the insurance premium. The value of the services provided by mens sheds in Donegal like in Kilmacrenan is priceless. In fact, they are saving the State in the long term by actively engaging with men in the community who would otherwise have little to no other social outlet. This has a huge pack on the overall mental health of the person using the service ultimately saving on the Department of Healths budget. I decided it was important to raise this with the Minister however he has stated that neither he or the Central Bank can interfere with the market which brings to question whether his establishment of the Cost of Insurance Working Group last year will do anything to change the situation facing the community sector. In fact, the community sector was largely sidelined in the report. Considering the fact that the Groups Report had 29 recommendations to be implemented by the end of next year, its hard to believe that the accumulative effect of the recommendations will be sufficient enough to benefit community groups like Mens Sheds. I also doubt that community groups can wait a year for the recommendations to kick in before they are hit hard by insurance premiums. The Minister needs to step in here and adequately address the impact that insurance costs are having in the community sector. I am disappointed with the ministers current response and the way he is treating the community sector on par with private sector businesses. Donegal relies hugely on this valuable sector but the current Government and Fianna Fail supporting them has proven their priority lies with the development of the private sector at the cost of our community. We cannot allow this agenda to dominate our future as it will continue to erode the community sector which is so important to counties like Donegal and indeed across Ireland." Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Delayed locally by a lack of right-hand-drive production, Collins says the new Accord will be a feature-laden alternative to flagship models from rival brands. The move represents more of an emotional decision than a money-making exercise. Rival models such as the Stinger, Skoda Superb and Mazda6 struggle to attract buyers in a diminishing segment. Toyotas mid-sized Camry is the only model in its class capable of impressive sales volumes, much of which is a result of commercial and government fleets. We will pack it full of features and technology, he said. Its an important nameplate, its a global nameplate... We just think the Accord name has been in the market for decades. Its our flagship sedan. We just think its an important model. The Honda executive says the brand faced serious challenges when trying to balance the price and features of the existing Accord with customer expectactions. Honda axed the current generation's near-$60,000 Accord Hybrid flagship following minimal customer interest. The new model could see the return of hybrid power, along with an updated cabin and more advanced suite of Honda Sensing driver aids. US versions of the new Acccord are available with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine producing 143kW, a 2.0-litre turbo motor with 188kW, or a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre hybrid model with 158kW of power. Hybrid and 1.5T models drive the front wheels through a CVT automatic transmission, while the 2.0T versions benefit from a 10-speed auto. Manual versions offered in the US are unlikely to come to Australia. April 2018 was the 400th consecutive month of global temperatures above the 20th century average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) announced Thursday. That means the last time Earth was cooler than that average was December 1984the same month Band Aid released "Do They Know It's Christmas." This three-decade streak is not some fluke, NOAA scientists remarked. "It's mainly due to anthropogenic (human-caused) warming," NOAA climatologist Ahira Sanchez told CNN. "Climate change is real, and we will continue to see global temperatures increase in the future." The rising temps could be explained by natural causes such as an El Nino, but as Sanchez noted, "if you were to remove the human factor, you would still see a variability, but it would be up and down." For instance, the cooling effects of a La Nina or a volcanic eruption would have brought temperatures down on some years. But it's clear that humans are influencing Earth's temperature and the climate by burning fossil fuels. NOAA announced yesterday that April 2018 was the third warmest April in the agency's global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880. What's more, the period between January to April was the fifth warmest in the 139-year record. That's pretty remarkable, especially if you live in the U.S. If you recall, it was so unusually cold in the East Coast during winter that President Donald Trump, who often confuses the weather and climate, remarked, "perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old global warming." While North America was cooler-than-average during this stretch, other countries and much of the Southern Hemisphere set heat records. Central Pakistan, for example, experienced a blistering 122.4 degrees Fahrenheit on April 30. This chart details some of the month's climate anomalies: NOAA "We live in and share a world that is unequivocally, appreciably and consequentially warmer than just a few decades ago, and our world continues to warm," NOAA climate scientist Deke Arndt told USA TODAY. "Speeding by a '400' sign only underscores that, but it does not prove anything new." "The thing that really matters is that, by whatever metric, we've spent every month for several decades on the warm side of any reasonable baseline," Arndt added. As for Earth's vulnerable poles, the April average for Arctic sea ice extent was the second smallest in the 39-year record at 378,000 square miles (6.8 percent) below the 1981-2010 average, NOAA said. On the other end, NOAA said that Antarctic sea ice extent during April was 320,000 square miles (12.3 percent) below the 1981-2010 average, the fifth smallest April extent on record. Antarctic sea ice rapidly expanded during the first half of April, but slowed later in the month. When Detroit-area native Ali Rose VanOverBeke came back home in 2016 to volunteer with the Red Cross at the height of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, she probably didn't expect to get a business idea with the potential to change both her and Flint's future. But that is exactly what happened. VanOverBeke noticed the buildup of plastic water bottles outside people's homes, which residents had to rely on for drinking water since their tap water was contaminated by lead. "They're not just facing a manmade water crisis," VanOverBeke told ABC News in a story published Thursday. "Now, there's like this localized, environmental stress because of the surplus of plastic that they've been forced to use." To solve the problem, VanOverBeke turned to her former classmate at New School's Parsons School of Design Jack Burns. The pair came up with a creative plan to transform the discarded water bottles into unique eyeglasses designed to fit anyone. "Our goal is simple: do good for people and the planet using design and collaboration to be the change we want to see," a Kickstarter campaign for the project reads. Last year, the pair set up a company for the glasses called Genusee, named after Flint's Genesee county. They plan for the company to be a "for Flint, by Flint" effort and are working on setting up a manufacturing facility in Flint. "We are working toward really being a part of not just like the immediate solution in Flint but being a part of the long-term solution," VanOverBeke told ABC News. To this end, they launched the Kickstarter campaign April 18 with the goal of hiring 17 new workers. With six hours to go as of this writing, they have raised $71,329, more than exceeding their $50,000 goal. "Genusee is bringing a new manufacturing legacy to the city of Flint by creating jobs; turning the surplus of plastic waste caused by the man-made water crisis into closed loop eyewear," the Kickstarter campaign says. Each pair of glasses recycles 15 single-use plastic bottles. The glasses so far come in one style, called The Roeper, that the Kickstarter says is "democratically designed" to flatter a diverse array of face shapes. The frames come in Crystal Fog and Classic Black, and can be used for prescription glasses or sunglasses. Currently, Flint residents are already involved with sewing the glasses' polish bags at a center that provides employment training for women. "That we are able to take the water bottles that are just trash, to have them processed into new material, is so amazing to me," one of the sewers, Marty Calhoun, told ABC News. As world leaders prepare to gather in Paris for a landmark climate summit, a new analysis from Stanford University and University of California researchers lays out roadmaps for 139 countries, including the world's major greenhouse gas emitters, to switch to 100 percent clean, renewable energy generated from wind, water and sunlight for all purposes by 2050. Mark Z. Jacobson, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and director of the school's Atmosphere/EnergyProgram, said the roadmaps should give negotiators and leaders confidence that they can meet energy demands in all energy sectorsincluding electricity, transportation, heating and cooling, industry and agriculturewith clean sources. The main barriers to getting to 100 percent clean energy are social and political, not technical or economic," Jacobson told members of Congress and ambassadors from countries participating in the negotiations during a forum Thursday in Washington, DC. All the roadmaps are available via an embeddable collection of interactive maps on The Solutions Project's website. Jacobson and his colleagues found that future costs for producing clean energy are similar to a business-as-usual scenario of about 11 cents per kilowatt hour, similar to the average cost in America today. The air pollution and climate costs due to fossil fuels, however, are virtually eliminated by clean-energy technologies. Overall, the analysis found, the business, health, plus climate costs of a 100 percent clean and renewable energy system were more than 60 percent lower than those of a business-as-usual system. Switching to 100 percent clean energy would prevent four to seven million premature deaths each year globally from pollution associated with fossil fuels. By comparison, about six million people die prematurely each year from smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, the transition to clean, renewable energy would create more than 20 million more jobs than would be lost in the transition. It would also stabilizeenergy costs, thanks to free fuels such as wind, water and the sun; reduce terrorism risk by distributing electricity generation; and eliminate the overwhelming majority of heat-trapping emissions that contribute to climate change. The researchers also calculated that just 0.3 percent of the world's land footprint would have to be devoted to energy production under a 100 percentclean energy scenario. That is less than the size of Madagascar. Jacobson and his colleagues are also slated to publish a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Nov. 23 which examines how to achieve reliability under a 100 percent clean energy scenario for the U.S. The countries in the roadmap include the world's major emitters, and were selected based on available International Energy Agency data. Last week, the IEA's energy outlook concluded for the first time that renewables are already set to outpace coal as the world's leading source of electricity. The past few years have seen dramatic increases in the growth of renewable energy," Jacobson said. Countries can ramp that up even faster and enjoy a host of economic and health benefits by doing so." Earlier this month, National Geographic highlighted Jacobson's earlier research on clean energy roadmaps he drew up for all 50 U.S. states, calling the project a blueprint for a carbon-free America." The magazine will highlight his new research on the 139 country roadmaps to clean energylater this month. The paper, along with underlying data and tables are available on Jacobson's faculty website. The analysis uses the same methodology as a previous study published in Energy and Environmental Science, and will be formally published in a journal next year. Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Trapped in a Venezuelan prison riot: Utah man pleads 'please help me LoP Guest lop guest User ID: kaput 05-18-2018 12:58 AM Post: #1 Trapped in a Venezuelan prison riot: Utah man pleads 'please help me Advertisement A distraught former Mormon missionary has posted videos on social media begging for urgent help after fellow inmates revolted and took control of a notorious prison in Venezuela. On Wednesday, prisoners posted videos online claiming they had taken over the headquarters of intelligence agency Sebin, known as the Helicoide, where hundreds of people are held. Inmates at the crowded Caracas detention centre jailed opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said they had taken control of the prison 'peacefully'. Joshua Holt, a US citizen and former Mormon missionary, looking distressed while posting about riots at the Helicoide detention centre in Venezuela On social media, men identifying themselves as inmates said the detention centre, 'has been taken over peacefully by all the political prisoners and all the prisoners who are abducted here, who are tortured daily.' One said that tear gas and weapons had been fired at detainees, but they were holding out to demand freedom. However, a clearly distressed Utah man, Joshua Holt, who has been imprisoned for two years without trial, posted two videos on Facebook about the riot, saying his life was in danger. In one video he said: 'I need help. So they've taken out the entire prison where I am at. The people have taken the entire prison, they're outside, they're trying to break in. They're saying they want to kill me. They're saying they want me as their guarantee. I need help. I'm calling on the people[breaks off] ' The second clip continues: 'I'm calling on the people of America. I need your help to get me out of this place. I've been begging my government for two years. 'They say they're doing things, but I'm still here. Now, my life is threatened. How long do I have to suffer here? How long do my kids have to go on asking for their mummy and daddy. How long do I have to suffer?' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...video.html Where is the trump?A distraught former Mormon missionary has posted videos on social media begging for urgent help after fellow inmates revolted and took control of a notorious prison in Venezuela.On Wednesday, prisoners posted videos online claiming they had taken over the headquarters of intelligence agency Sebin, known as the Helicoide, where hundreds of people are held.Inmates at the crowded Caracas detention centre jailed opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said they had taken control of the prison 'peacefully'.Joshua Holt, a US citizen and former Mormon missionary, looking distressed while posting about riots at the Helicoide detention centre in VenezuelaOn social media, men identifying themselves as inmates said the detention centre, 'has been taken over peacefully by all the political prisoners and all the prisoners who are abducted here, who are tortured daily.'One said that tear gas and weapons had been fired at detainees, but they were holding out to demand freedom.However, a clearly distressed Utah man, Joshua Holt, who has been imprisoned for two years without trial, posted two videos on Facebook about the riot, saying his life was in danger.In one video he said: 'I need help. So they've taken out the entire prison where I am at. The people have taken the entire prison, they're outside, they're trying to break in. They're saying they want to kill me. They're saying they want me as their guarantee. I need help. I'm calling on the people[breaks off] 'The second clip continues: 'I'm calling on the people of America. I need your help to get me out of this place. I've been begging my government for two years.'They say they're doing things, but I'm still here. Now, my life is threatened. How long do I have to suffer here? How long do my kids have to go on asking for their mummy and daddy. How long do I have to suffer?'Read more: LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-18-2018 01:03 AM Post: #2 RE: Trapped in a Venezuelan prison riot: Utah man pleads 'please help me Unfortunately, these are the rusks missionaries take. He may have to die for his beliefs. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-18-2018 01:04 AM Post: #3 RE: Trapped in a Venezuelan prison riot: Utah man pleads 'please help me Who can help this man in a foreign country? Brad Nailer lop guest User ID: 1337 05-18-2018 01:04 AM Post: #4 RE: Trapped in a Venezuelan prison riot: Utah man pleads 'please help me maybe that mormon should say a prayer to his magic underwear mormons used to believe that blacks were subhumans who couldn't go to heaven, so they were disallowed to be mormons, until 1970 when the irs threatened to cancel their tax exempt statusmaybe that mormon should say a prayer to his magic underwear LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-18-2018 01:11 AM Post: #5 RE: Trapped in a Venezuelan prison riot: Utah man pleads 'please help me There is a video inside the linK. After 2 years in prison they guy seemed to have learned perfect spanish. The others have been there for 4 years. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 1337 05-18-2018 01:11 AM Post: #6 RE: Trapped in a Venezuelan prison riot: Utah man pleads 'please help me Don't go to bed with no price on your head. No don't do it. Don't do the crime if you cant do the time, don't do it Don't roll the dice if you can pay the price, no don't do it. The newest version of the 2018 Farm Bill, set for a vote on Friday, includes an unprecedented provision allowing the widespread killing of endangered plants and animals with pesticides. The bill launches the broadest attack on the Endangered Species Act in 45 years, eliminating the requirement that federal agencies analyze pesticides' harm to the nation's 1,800 protected species before approving them, greatly increasing the risk of extinctions. "House Republicans are putting salmon, killer whales and other wildlife on the fast track to extinction," said Lori Ann Burd, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's environmental health program. "This is a stunning gift to the pesticide industry, with staggering implications for endangered species." Earlier this year the National Marine Fisheries Service released a "biological opinion" showing that three widely used insecticideschlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinonare putting killer whales and 37 different salmon and sturgeon species on a path to extinction. In response the pesticide industry has sought to exempt pesticides completely from the Endangered Species Act. During this session of Congress, the pesticide industry has spent more than $43 million on congressional lobbying to achieve that goal. In addition to the attacks on endangered species, H.R. 2 weakens Clean Water Act protections from pesticides, includes a sweeping provision that would gut protections for forests, and has 46 different provisions that would curtail public input and common-sense protections provided by the National Environmental Policy Act. Late additions to the legislation would also roll back virtually all protections for old-growth forests in Alaska. "This farm bill should be called the Extinction Act of 2018," said Burd. "If it becomes law, this bill will be remembered for generations to come as the one that drove the final nail in the coffin of some of America's most vulnerable species." A study published in Science Friday presents what authors call a sobering "reality check" on global efforts to protect biodiversityone third of all conservation areas set aside as wildlife sanctuaries or national parks are "highly degraded" by human activities. "The study shows that governments are overestimating the space available for nature inside protected areas. Governments are claiming these places are protected for the sake of nature when in reality they aren't. It is a major reason why biodiversity is still in catastrophic decline, despite more and more land being 'protected,'" study lead-author Kendall Jones of the University of Queensland said in a press release published by ScienceDaily. Jones was joined by other researchers from the University of Queensland as well as from the University of Northern British Columbia and the Wildlife Conservation Society, which provided materials for the press release. They used what the abstract calls the "most comprehensive global map of human pressure" to determine that 2.3 million square miles32.8 percent of all protected landis under extreme pressure from grazing, urbanization, road-building and other human activities. The study's authors said the study was a warning for countries looking to make their targets for the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). The UN is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the CBD's entry into force on the International Day for Biological Diversity May 22. The number of protected areas has almost doubled in those 25 years, accounting for 15 percent of the Earth's land area. The goal is to cover 17 percent by 2020. But the study indicates that, when it comes to protecting land, governments need to think about quality as well as quantity. The study found that, of lands protected before the CBD was ratified, 55 percent had experienced an increase in human-caused pressures since. However, that increase was lowest in large reserves with strict protections. "We know protected areas workwhen well-funded, well-managed and well placed, they are extremely effective in halting the threats that cause biodiversity loss and ensure species return from the brink of extinction. There are also many protected areas that are still in good condition and protect the last strongholds of endangered species worldwide. The challenge is to improve the management of those protected areas that are most valuable for nature conservation to ensure they safeguard it," study author and University of Queensland Prof. James Watson said in the press release. Some success stories included the Madidi National Park in Bolivia, the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia and the Yasuni Biosphere Reserve in Ecuador. The areas that suffered most human pressures were in highly populated parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. (Photo: Paul Jeffrey/WCC) World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit has said he is worried that some Christians are celebrating the move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem as a gift from God, despite the disruptively provocative nature of this move. In a statement Tveit condemned the use of excessive violence by Israeli forces against civilian protestors in Gaza during last week in which many have lost their lives. He said he is particularly worried that some Christians are celebrating the move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem as a gift from God, despite the disruptively provocative nature of this move. "The military responses to the demonstrations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of many people - including several children - and injuries to thousands, and the numbers are still growing. "This violence and bloodshed must be condemned by the international community and must be subject to international investigation. The situation calls for a deeper understanding that lies behind these events," said Tveit. He noted that the protesters are exercising their civil rights to express their objection and despair at the current situation for them as Palestinian people. THE NAQBA The "naqba", the catastrophe their families experienced 70 years ago, continues to cause unresolved dispossession and suffering for many Palestinians - particularly for the people of Gaza, said the WCC. "That unarmed civilians including children are shot at with live ammunition, even killed, and many injured cannot be defended legally or morally as an expression of 'the right to self-defense of a state.' "This must be seen as an unacceptable use of violence against people that Israel rather has a duty to respect and protect," said Tveit. The WCC said Jerusalem is a shared Holy City of the three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. "In the Holy Land, a comprehensive and sustainable peace must be based upon a two-state solution along internationally recognized borders," he said. The WCC said that the protest is against the unilateral US decision to move its embassy to the "undivided Jerusalem." "That action is against all relevant UN resolutions, and it has created a serious obstacle to any peaceful and just solution. "The issue of Jerusalem has not been 'taken off the table', but remains one of the most difficult issues on the table for peace negotiations, made even more volatile by the U.S. action," said the WCC. It noted that protests on May 14 coincided with the official transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel. Protests on May 15 were marking the 70th anniversary of what Palestinians refer to as the naqba, or "catastrophe," when hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted during Israel's creation in 1948. JERUSALEM STATUS The World Council of Churches said it has consistently affirmed the long-held understanding that the status of the city of Jerusalem - which is of profound significance to and beloved of three faiths and two peoples - must be resolved through peaceful negotiations. At a time like now all the actors and particularly the powerful State of Israel and foreign States need to "strive for a just peace, act with utmost respect for the sanctity of life and exercise restraint from all forms of violence, which will further escalate the ongoing tensions." The WCC said it "is a very serious situation for the churches locally - and globally - that some Christians are thanking God for a decision that is so blatantly against international law and policy, so much undermining the peace process based on a common international understanding of the rights of both peoples to share Jerusalem as their capital, and so provocative to the occupied and oppressed people of Palestine. "This should concern all who understand their religious faith as compelling them to work for reconciliation and peace." Tveit said, "It is deeply saddening that previous cautions that any unilateral decision about the future of Jerusalem would undermine the peace efforts in the Holy Land have gone unheeded, directly contributing to the current violence." 'COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED' He said it clearly could have been avoided. The repercussions that relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem will have on finding a lasting solution to the situation in the Holy Land are deeply concerning. "We urge the international community to accelerate all efforts toward a just and viable solution which respects the aspirations of all the people living in the Holy Land in line with international conventions and resolutions. "Even as the threat of an increasing spiral of violence looms large, we join our member churches in hope and prayer that efforts toward peace will overcome the present tragic violence and lead to a time when 'swords shall be beaten to plowshares and spears into pruning hooks,'" said Tveit. The WCC said it expresses its solidarity with its member churches in the Holy Land, and will continue to accompany them in their work for reconciliation, justice and peace. (Photo: REUTERS / Kacper Pempel)A visitor walks between electric barbed-wired fences at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and former concentration camp November 18, 2013. Aging survivors gathered at the former Auschwitz death camp in Poland and political leaders warned that the Nazi genocide must continue to serve as a warning as the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27, signs in Europe and beyond show that ultra-nationalism and extreme right-wing groups are on the rise, The Associated Press reported. Even Poland, which was occupied and terrorized by Hitler's regime was convulsed this week by revelations of a fringe neo-Nazi group that honors Hitler. Other ultranationalist parties that espouse anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim views seem increasingly emboldened as well. Israel called on Poland on Jan. 27 to amend a bill approved this week by Polish lawmakers that would make it illegal to suggest Poland bore any responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by Nazi Germany on its soil, Reuters reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed his ambassador to meet Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to express opposition to the bill, which would make using phrases like "Polish death camps" punishable by up to three years in prison. "The law is baseless, I strongly oppose it. One cannot change history and the Holocaust cannot be denied," Netanyahu said, in comments mirrored by other senior Israeli officials. Poland's Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki, who authored the bill, said on Twitter the law is not directed against Israel. "Important Israeli politicians and media are attacking us for the bill ... On top of that they claim that Poles are 'co-responsible' for the Holocaust," he said, adding that "this is proof how necessary this bill is." AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP It has been more than 70 years since the Nazi-occupied Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated. Auschwitz was the most notorious of all the concentration camps where it is believed that more than a million people were systematically exterminated via State systems of execution and torture, The Conversation notes. Concentration camps were central to the Nazi ideology and victims were mostly Jews, Gypsies, black people, gay people and people with intellectual disabilities. But while most people have heard of the major concentration camps Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, and Treblinka these were not the only places Jews and other prisoners were held. Each of the 23 main camps had sub-camps there were nearly 900 of them in total. The horrors of Auschwitz and World War II led Western scholars and governments to become increasingly sensitive to the need to educate society about the dangers of exclusionary institutional structures and genocidal social policies. Which is why schools throughout Europe and beyond teach students about the Holocaust and the associated moral and ethical issues. The importance of Holocaust commemoration has also helped to create symbolic places and memorials such as the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. This museum has an educational training center with facilities to enrich the studies on the Holocaust. Other sites include the Jewish Museum in Prague and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. Young people today are growing up at a time when support for right-wing politics is on the rise across Europe. With unemployment rife and the prospects of owning a home diminishing, right-wing groups offer an alternative way for disengaged young people to see the world. This is evidenced by a surge of numbers and support for far-right parties groups across Europe including France, Sweden, The Netherlands and Austria, said The Conversationalist, with referring to the "alt-right" ideas in the United States. "It is therefore timely and important that young people continue to develop an understanding of the consequences of these ideologies and develop a moral compass. "One way this can be done is by taking students to these historical sites and memorials to gain a full insight as to what it was like live through horrific events such as the Holocaust," said The Conversationalist. Merseyside Police issue advice to TT visitors Police in the UK are issuing advice to bikers heading to the Isle of Man for TT. Merseyside Police are hoping to raise awareness of the risks of motorbike thefts for those arriving in Liverpool before getting the ferry to Douglas. Last year, 22 bikes were stolen from outside hotels in Liverpool City Centre in the build up to TT. Police officers will be sharing crime prevention advice with those staying in the city before heading to the Island, as well as raising awareness of motorbike security. Abortion Bill scheduled for first reading in LegCo The Abortion Reform Bill will undergo its first reading in the Legislative Council next week. The upper branch of the Manx parliament had hoped to begin its work on the proposals earlier this month, but members didn't receive an up to date copy for the Bill in time. The Bill is aiming to change the Island's abortion laws, increasing the access to abortion services on the Island. Bill Henderson will be the Member in charge of the Bill in the Legislative Council. 2018-05-17 Maeci The Foreign Ministry has asked the Italian Embassy in Islamabad to urgently verify with local authorities news of the Pakistani student residing in Verona who after returning to her home Country was reportedly obliged to interrupt her pregnancy by her family. If this were the case, it would constitute a very serious incident. Italy staunchly defends the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of the principle of gender equality in any circumstance. Prof. Dr. Laurent Stalder (*1970), currently Associate Professor at ETH Zurich, as Full Professor of Theory of Architecture. Laurent Stalder, who studied and obtained his doctorate at ETH Zurich, researches the history and theory of architecture from the 19th to the 21st centuries at the interface with the history of technology. He investigates topics such as the revolving door, building technology or glass as part of his exploration of modern architecture in relation to the history of modern technologies, rather than in terms of its formal contributions. His work constantly draws links between theoretical knowledge gained through research and current architectural practice. Laurent Stalder also provides major support for teaching and research at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture, of which he is currently the head. According to researchers, artists from ancient times to the present day have kept using the same symbols and metaphors to depict peace. "Dove or rainbow, kiss or embrace, peace banquet, horrors of war or the victory of love over violence - artistic depictions of peace have a long history," says art historian Prof. Dr. Eva-Bettina Krems from the University of Munster's Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics". She will discuss this topic in Munster with international researchers at the research association's conference "PEACE. Theories, Images and Strategies from Antiquity to the Present Day". "Ancient theatre has already shown how love displaces violence. This peace motif is repeated in early modern art as well as in modern media motifs." In the Greek comedy "Lysistrata", for example, women from Athens and Sparta force their husbands into peace by denying them sex. "In Roman mythology, the goddess of love Venus, by means of her arts of seduction, persuaded Mars, the god of war, to lay down his weapons - a popular motif for depicting peace until the 19th century," according to Prof. Krems. "'Make love, not war' was the protest against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. John Lennon and Yoko Ono took this up in their "bed happenings". The motto 'Make love, not war' has shaped peace campaigns worldwide ever since." The conference is part of the programme of the exhibition "Frieden. Von der Antike bis heute" (Peace. From Antiquity to the Present Day), taking place at five locations in Munster. In the LWL-Museum fur Kunst und Kultur, works by renowned artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Eugene Delacroix, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Kathe Kollwitz and Otto Dix bear witness to artistic strategies to convey the ideal of a world free from aggression. The idea and basic concept of the exhibition project are the result of the many years of research at the Cluster of Excellence on the topic of peace. Terrible horrors of war "Artists have often shown the terrible horrors of war in order to invoke the ideal of peace," says Krems. This tradition, which continues to this day, can be seen impressively in the works of the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). According to the art historian, "Rubens occasionally negotiated peace talks and in the Thirty Years' War, like many other artists of the pre-modern epochs, commented triumphantly on ongoing negotiations in painting and exaggerated peace agreements achieved. Practical political conditions and the reality of the war, however, could dampen optimism: in the 1630s, Rubens demonstrated in his works the devastating effects of the war and the pessimism of those years." The oil sketch "Allegory of War" shows a woman sitting on the ground at the edge of a battle among the dead and seemingly despairing of war. In art history, the path leads from Rubens to Francisco de Goya's prints "Desastres de la guerra" (1810-1814) and ultimately to Otto Dix's (1891-1969) drastic depictions of the horrors of war in the face of the destruction in the First World War. "Even without precise knowledge of the respective circumstances in which the artists created their works, the political and thus also accusing aspects of these works is impressive." The artistic efforts for peace achieve their greatest possible impact through the depiction of the devastating consequences of war. Krems adds: "A frequent statement of early modern depictions is also the fragility of peace." In the famous painting "Mars and Venus" by the Italian painter Paolo Veronese from the 1570s, the Roman god of war and the goddess of love look like a harmonious couple at first glance. "But the bond of Mars and Venus is extremely fragile, and the god of war's horse is pushed back with great difficulty by a Cupid, a little angel." Ancient myths or the Bible provide the reference images for most allegorical representations of peace: later epochs intensified their statement by linking various allegories, such as peace and justice in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period - Pax and Lady Justice. In the 16th century, the Italian painter Battista Dossi created almost life-size portraits of Pax and Lady Justice for the Duke of Ferrara. The figure of peace holds a torch for burning weapons in one hand, her other hand holds a cornucopia with fruits, flowering branches and grain ears. "In this period, Pax without Justice was considered an unjust peace, no more than a temporary ceasefire," according to Prof. Krems. In this sense, the paintings show the complementary concepts of statecraft and of the art of governing at that time. Popes and their staging of peace Pope Gregory XIII also had himself depicted together with the allegories of peace and justice, which identified him as a Prince of Peace, although he had endorsed the massacre of the Huguenots on Bartholomew's Night in 1572. "That the allegories of Pax and Justice legitimised authoritarian state control seemed logical in the context of the Counter-Reformation, because at this time one doubted whether peace agreements would be possible across confessional boundaries," according to Prof. Krems. At the conference of the Cluster of Excellence, she will speak about the media stagings of peace by the Popes in the 16th and 17th centuries. "The rainbow and the dove," says Prof. Krems, "are examples that show how persistent symbols of peace are, but how they are at the same time, again and again over the centuries filled with new meaning by artists." In the Old Testament, the dove with an olive branch in its beak announces the end of the Flood to Noah, while the rainbow symbolises the new covenant between God and man. "When German artist Otto Piene organised spectacular 'Sky Art' events in the late 1960s, where rainbows were flown in the skies over Moscow, New York, Rome and Paris, he was no longer concerned with the sign's Christian semantics, but with the long-secularised image of the rainbow as a symbol of global peace," according to Prof. Krems. The exhibition at the LWL-Museum fur Kunst und Kultur features screenprints by Otto Piene entitled "Pax", peace, which are reminiscent of the 'Sky Art' events (image 4). "The popularisation of both art and the peace movement contributed to symbols such as the dove and the rainbow being semantically reduced further and being easier to read as symbols," explains the art historian. (asc/sca/vvm) Conference "PEACE. Theories, Images and Strategies from Antiquity to the Present Day" At the public conference of the Cluster of Excellence, which will be held from 22 to 25 May 2018 in Munster, internationally renowned researchers will address the question in 21 lectures of why people throughout the ages wanted peace, but never succeeded in securing it in the long term. On the basis of many historical examples of European history, they address strategies, behavioural patterns and processes with which people from antiquity to the present day have tried to establish and maintain peace. The researchers focus on how many of the images, rituals and strategies have remained valid over time. At the same time, they show changes typical of their time and their causes. All lectures will be held in the auditorium of LWL-Museum fur Kunst und Kultur at Domplatz 10 in Munster. Art historian Prof. Dr Eva-Bettina Krems organises the conference together with historian Prof. Dr Gerd Althoff, philologist Prof. Dr Christel Meier-Staubach and, from the Cluster of Excellence, historian Prof. Dr Hans-Ulrich Thamer. The conference is part of the exhibition "Peace. From Antiquity to the Present Day", which will present the topics in a variety of exhibits at five locations in the city of the Peace of Westphalia from 28 April to 2 September 2018. 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It is a group of leukemias that develop in the bone marrow from progenitors of specialized blood cells, the so-called myeloid cells. Rapidly growing and dividing, these aberrant cells crowd the bone marrow and bloodstream, which can be fatal within weeks or months if the disease is left untreated. Myeloid cells of various types and stages can become cancerous and cause AML, which makes the condition very heterogeneous and difficult to treat. Thus, finding drug targets that affect as many forms of AML as possible is a prime goal for researchers. Mutations in the MLL (Mixed lineage leukemia) gene are of interest, as they are frequent in AML. They are caused by rearrangements of big chunks of DNA, so-called chromosomal translocations, which can lead to the fusion of two otherwise-separated genes; in the case of the MLL gene, fusions with more than 75 different partner genes were found. Above that, it was known that MLL-fusion proteins act in the context of large protein complexes, which need specific "effector" proteins to exert their oncogenic function - ideal targets for a precise therapy. However, it was not clear whether such critical effectors are common for all MLL-fusion proteins. The research groups of Florian Grebien from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, Giulio Superti-Furga, Scientific Director of the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Johannes Zuber, from the Institute of Molecular Pathology, tackled that question in their latest study. They were able to identify common, conserved molecular mechanisms that drive oncogenesis in the context of the large number of different MLL-fusion proteins by characterizing the protein-protein interaction networks of distantly related MLL fusion proteins. Their results were now published in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04329-y) The scientists, with CeMM PhD-Student Anna Skucha as first author of the study, characterized the entire protein complexes around seven different MLL fusion proteins in detail, which revealed 128 conserved interaction partners of MLL fusions. In further functional experiments, that were carried out in collaboration with the IMP Vienna and the Medical University Vienna, they identified the methyltransferase SETD2 as a critical effector of MLL-fusion proteins. Using genomic techniques including CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, the researchers found that SETD2 loss caused induction of DNA-damage and ultimately cell death in the cancer cells. Moreover, SETD2 loss increased the lethal effect of Pinometostat, a drug that is currently in clinical development for treatment of leukemia patients with MLL fusions. These experiments might pave the way for a more effective therapy in the future using a combination of compounds. "These data highlight the relevance of combined proteomic-genomic cellular screening to identify critical effectors of genes involved in the development of acute myeloid leukemia" Florian Grebien, one of the senior author of the study, explains. "Our results establish a novel role for SETD2 in the maintenance of genomic integrity during initiation and progression of MLL-rearranged AML and contribute to further clarification of the molecular mechanisms driving MLL-fusion-dependent leukemogenesis" ### The study "MLL-fusion-driven leukemia requires SETD2 to safeguard genomic integrity" was published in Nature Communications on May 18, 2018. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04329-y Authors: Anna Skucha, Jessica Ebner, Johannes Schmollerl, Mareike Roth, Thomas Eder, Adrian Cesar-Razquin, Alexey Stukalov, Sarah Vittori, Matthias Muhar, Bin Lu, Martin Aichinger, Julian Jude , Andre C. Muller, Balazs Gy?rffy, Christopher R. Vakoc, Peter Valent, Keiryn L. Bennett, Johannes Zuber*, Giulio Superti-Furga* and Florian Grebien*. The study was funded by the European Commission, the European Research Council (ERC), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Florian Grebien did his PhD jointly supervised by Ernst Mullner of the Medical University Vienna and Hartmut Beug of the Research Institute for Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna. For his post-doctoral research he joined the team of Giulio Superti-Furga at the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. Since 2014 he leads an independent research team at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research (LBI-CR). In January 2018, he was appointed Professor and head of the institute for Medical Biochemistry at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. Florian Grebien's research is funded by the starting grant "ONCOMECHAML" from the European Research Council (ERC). Florian Grebien's research focuses on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of white blood cells that is characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal myeloid cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. The laboratory of Florian Grebien aims to contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of leukemia development through the development and use of novel tools for functional evaluation of oncogenic aberrations. The mission of CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is to achieve maximum scientific innovation in molecular medicine to improve healthcare. At CeMM, an international and creative team of scientists and medical doctors pursues free-minded basic life science research in a large and vibrant hospital environment of outstanding medical tradition and practice. CeMM's research is based on post-genomic technologies and focuses on societally important diseases, such as immune disorders and infections, cancer and metabolic disorders. CeMM operates in a unique mode of super-cooperation, connecting biology with medicine, experiments with computation, discovery with translation, and science with society and the arts. The goal of CeMM is to pioneer the science that nurtures the precise, personalized, predictive and preventive medicine of the future. CeMM trains a modern blend of biomedical scientists and is located at the campus of the General Hospital and the Medical University of Vienna. http://www.cemm.at For further information please contact Mag. Wolfgang Dauble Media Relations Manager CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Lazarettgasse 14, AKH BT 25.3 1090 Vienna, Austria Phone +43-1/40160-70 057 Fax +43-1/40160-970 000 wdaeuble@cemm.oeaw.ac.at http://www.cemm.at Team led by Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley researchers exploits tiny defects in diamonds to pave the way for enhanced biological imaging and drug studies It may sound contradictory, but diamonds are the key to a new technique that could provide a very-low-cost alternative to multimillion-dollar medical imaging and drug-discovery devices. An international team led by scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley discovered how to exploit defects in nanoscale and microscale diamonds and potentially enhance the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) systems while eliminating the need for their costly and bulky superconducting magnets. "This has been a longstanding unsolved problem in our field, and we were able to find a way to overcome it and to show that the solution is very simple," said Ashok Ajoy, a postdoctoral researcher in the Materials Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab, and the Department of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, who served as the lead author of the study. "No one has ever done this before. The mechanism that we discovered is completely new." MRI machines are employed to locate cancerous tumors and aid in the development of treatment plans, while NMR machines are used to examine the atomic-scale structure and chemistry of drug compounds and other molecules. The new technique, described in the May 18 edition of the Science Advances journal, could lead to the direct use of these tiny diamonds for rapid and enhanced biological imaging. Researchers will also seek to transfer this special tuning, known as spin polarization, to a harmless fluid such as water, and to inject the fluid into a patient for faster MRI scans. The high surface area of the tiny particles is key in this effort, researchers noted. Enhancing this spin polarization in the electrons of the diamonds' atoms can be likened to aligning some compass needles pointing in many different directions to the same direction. These "hyperpolarized" spins could provide a sharper contrast for imaging than conventional superconducting magnets. "This important discovery in the hyperpolarization of nano- and microscale diamonds has enormous scientific and commercial implications," Ajoy said, as some of the most advanced MRI and NMR machines can be incredibly expensive and out of reach for some hospitals and research institutions. "This could help expand the market for MRI and NMR," he said, and could also potentially shrink the devices from room-sized to benchtop-sized, which "has been the dream from the start." Ajoy is a member of the Alex Pines research lab at UC Berkeley - Pines is a senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division, and a pioneer in the development of NMR as a research tool. Scientists had struggled to overcome a problem in properly orienting the diamonds to achieve a more uniform spin polarization - and this problem was even more pronounced in collections of very small diamonds that presented a chaotic jumble of orientations. Earlier efforts, for example, had explored whether drilling tiny features into diamond samples could aid in controlling their spin polarization. The tunable spin properties in diamonds with defects known as nitrogen vacancies - in which nitrogen atoms take the place of carbon atoms in the crystal structure of diamonds - have also been studied for potential use in quantum computing. In those applications, scientists seek to control the spin polarization of electrons as a way to transmit and store information like the ones and zeros in more conventional magnetic computer data storage. In the latest study, scientists found that by zapping a collection of microscale diamonds with green laser light, subjecting it to a weak magnetic field, and sweeping across the sample with a microwave source, they could enhance this controllable spin polarization property in the diamonds by hundreds of times compared with conventional MRI and NMR machines. Emanuel Druga, an electrician in the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry R&D shops, devised a large measurement tool for the new technique that proved instrumental in confirming and fine-tuning the spin polarization properties of the diamond samples. "It allowed us to debug this in about a week," Ajoy said. The device helped researchers to home in on a good size for the diamond crystals. At first, they were using crystals that measured about 100 microns, or 100 millionths of an inch across. The tiny samples of pinkish diamonds resemble fine red sand. After testing, they found that diamonds measuring about 1 to 5 microns performed about twice as well. The tiny diamonds can be manufactured in economical processes by converting graphite into diamond, for example. The team of scientists has already developed a miniaturized system that uses off-the-shelf components to produce the laser light, microwave energy, and magnetic field required to produce the spin polarization in the diamond samples, and they have applied for patents on the technique and the hyperpolarization system. "You could think of retrofitting existing NMR magnets with one of these systems," said Raffi Nazaryan, who participated in the study as an undergraduate researcher at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. Prototypes of the system cost just several thousand dollars, he noted. While the spin is short-lived, researchers said they are exploring ways to continuously polarize the samples, and are also researching how to transfer this polarization to liquids. Ajoy said, "We could potentially recycle the liquid so it flows in a closed loop, or keep injecting newly polarized liquid." ### Scientists from The City College of New York, Peking University in China, TU Dortmund University in Germany, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York also participated in the study. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov. FRANKFURT. Due to global trade and tourism, mosquitoes - transmitters of dangerous infectious diseases - have spread to almost every part of the world. Moreover, climate change promotes the spread of species that thrive under warmer temperatures even further. Scientists at the Goethe University and the Senckenberg Gesellschaft fur Naturforschung have now compared the ecological niches of the Asian tiger mosquito and the yellow fever mosquito on various continents with the following result: "Due to its longer invasion time span of 300 to 400 years, the yellow fever mosquito has almost completely filled its niches in non-native areas, whereas the Asian tiger mosquito, with a shorter invasion time span of 30 to 40 years, has not yet arrived in all regions where they would find a suitable environment," says Prof. Sven Klimpel. "Over the next one to five decades, infectious diseases transmitted through vectors will increase" concludes Sven Klimpel's team at the Goethe University and the Senckenberg Gesellschaft fur Naturforschung. Vectors transmit agents that cause infectious diseases from a host to another organism without contracting the disease themselves. Many known vector species are native to tropical and subtropical regions. If vector species are established in a new area together with a disease agent, the area of risk for the associated disease will expand correspondingly. Two prominent examples of vectors are the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti). The yellow fever mosquito is the main vector of the yellow fever virus, the dengue virus, the Zika virus and several other viral diseases. The tiger mosquito can also transmit the Zika virus and the dengue virus, but transmits other disease agents as well, such as the West Nile virus and the Chikungunya virus. These two medically relevant vectors are the focus of the current study in Scientific Reports. The yellow fever mosquito, originally native to Africa, began to spread throughout the world 300 to 400 years ago - presumably with the expansion of sugar cane plantations and slave trade. The tiger mosquito, which today is considered one of the 100 worst invasive species, originally comes from South and Southeast Asia. Over the past several decades, it has been introduced and spread by trade and tourism, especially by the trade of automobile tires and lucky bamboo (Dracaena spp.). For example, tiger mosquito eggs, larva and pupae were transported great distances by sea, surviving in small water puddles inside used automobile tires, or in water containers for lucky bamboo. In their study, the scientists investigated the ecological niches of both species in their native and non-native range, i.e., the totality of environmental conditions in which a species can occur. In their new ranges of distribution, mosquitoes can encounter different environmental conditions than in their native ranges. Invasive mosquito species are said to be especially quick to adapt to new climatic conditions. The scientists, however, found no evidence to support this. Both species occupy a broad niche and occur in a large number of different environmental conditions in their native ranges. Since similar climatic conditions prevail in the new distribution ranges, worldwide expansion cannot be explained by a niche expansion through adaptation, although local adaptation and genetic changes in species' traits cannot be ruled out. The scientists were, however, able to identify a difference between the two species: that time plays an important role in the expansion or invasion of a species. With its longer time span of invasion, the yellow fever mosquito almost completely fills its niche in the new, non-native distribution ranges; i.e. it occurs under many climatic conditions that also exist in its native distribution range. The Asian tiger mosquito is a different case. In the new distribution ranges, it does not (yet) occur in all habitats that offer suitable climatic conditions. The researchers therefore predict a further expansion potential for this species in the future. Klimpel sums up: "The Asian tiger mosquito can already be found in nearly all southern European countries, and due to its broad niche, it will inevitably spread and establish itself in northern Europe as well. Further exotic mosquito species such as Aedes japoniucs (East Asian bush mosquito), Aedes koreicus or Aedes atropalpus will follow - or have already arrived - in Central Europe." ### Images may be downloaded at: http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/72048458 Publication: Sarah Cunze, Judith Kochmann, Lisa K. Koch, Sven Klimpel: Niche conservatism of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti - two mosquito species with different invasion histories, in Scientific Reports, DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-26092-2 Information: Prof. Dr. Sven Klimpel, Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Riedberg Campus Frankfurt am Main, Tel. +49 69 798-42237, Klimpel@bio.uni-frankfurt.de Current news about science, teaching, and society in GOETHE-UNI online Goethe University is a research-oriented university in the European financial centre Frankfurt The university was founded in 1914 through private funding, primarily from Jewish sponsors, and has since produced pioneering achievements in the areas of social sciences, sociology and economics, medicine, quantum physics, brain research, and labour law. It gained a unique level of autonomy on 1 January 2008 by returning to its historic roots as a "foundation university". Today, it is among the top ten in external funding and among the top three largest universities in Germany, with three clusters of excellence in medicine, life sciences and the humanities. Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Mainz, it acts as a partner of the inter-state strategic Rhine-Main University Alliance. Internet: http://www.uni-frankfurt.de Publisher: The President of Goethe University Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, International Communication, PR & Communication Department, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: +49(0)69 798-13066, Fax +49(0)69 798-761 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de. Publisher: The President of Goethe University Editor: Dr. Anne Hardy, Referee for Science Communication, PR & Communication Department, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: (069) 798-13035, Fax: (069) 798-763 12531. Stem cells in the brain can divide and mature into neurons participating in various brain functions, including memory. In a paper published in the journal 'Cell Stem Cell', scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen (LMU) have shown how this works. They found that ion channels play a key role in mediating force signals to the neural stem cells to activate them. The ancient Greek aphorism panta rhei means "everything flows", a phrase used by philosophers to describe the constant flux and interplay between the past and renewal. A recent paper lends this relationship a whole new meaning: a team of researchers headed by Professor Magdalena Gotz and their collaborators from the LMU (Prof. Benedikt Grothe) and the Henrich-Heine University Dusseldorf have discovered that the flow of cerebrospinal fluid is a key signal for neural stem cell renewal. "Neural stem cells in the brain can divide and mature into neurons and this process plays important roles in various regions of the brain - including olfactory sense and memory," explains Magdalena Gotz, Director of the Institute for Stem Cell Research at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and professor at the Institute for Physiological Genomics at the Biomedical Center of LMU. "These cells are located in what is known as the neurogenic stem cell niche one of which is located at the walls of the lateral ventricles*, where they are in contact with circulating cerebrospinal fluid." The cerebrospinal fluid fills the brain and its roles are still ill understood. This work highlights the role of this fluid as a key signal - but this time not a chemical but a physical signal. Gotz and her team, under the guidance of lead author Dr. David Petrik, discovered that brain stem cells are also influenced by the physical forces of the fluid flow. Channel protein plays a key role "The whole mechanism is controlled by the ENaC molecule," Petrik explains. This abbreviation stands for epithelial sodium (Na) channel and describes a channel protein on the cell surface through which sodium ions stream into the cell's interior. "We were able to show in an experimental model that brain stem cells are no longer able to divide in the absence of ENaC. Conversely, a stronger ENaC function promotes cell proliferation." Further tests showed that the function of ENaC is augmented by shear forces exerted on the cells by the cerebrospinal fluid. The physical stimulation causes the channel protein to open for longer time and allow sodium ions to flow into the cell, thus stimulating division. "The results came as a big surprise, since ENaC had previously only been known for its functions in the kidneys and lungs," says study leader Gotz. She and her team now want to better explore the fast signals mediated by ions in stem cells and clarify the extent to which the findings are also relevant to treatment. After all, pharmacological ENaC blockers are already used clinically to relieve certain types of hypertension. Now it is known that they can also influence stem cells in the brain and thus brain function. Here, too, research is in constant flow: panta rhei ... ### Further Information * The ventricular system is a set of four interconnected cavities (ventricles) in the brain, where the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is produced. Background: Co-author Melanie Pusch is participant in the Helmholtz Graduate School Environmental Health doctoral education program, or HELENA for short. Original-Publikation: Petrik, D. et al. (2018): Epithelial Sodium Channel Regulates Adult Neural Stem Cell Proliferation in a Flow-Dependent Manner. Cell Stem Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2018.04.016 The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, pursues the goal of developing personalized medical approaches for the prevention and therapy of major common diseases such as diabetes and lung diseases. To achieve this, it investigates the interaction of genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle. The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen is headquartered in Neuherberg in the north of Munich and has about 2,300 staff members. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association, a community of 18 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centers with a total of about 37,000 staff members. The Institute of Stem Cell Research (ISF) investigates the basic molecular and cellular mechanisms of stem cell maintenance and differentiation. From that, the ISF then develops approaches in order to replace defect cell types, either by activating resting stem cells or by re-programming other existing cell types to repair themselves. The aim of these approaches is to stimulate the regrowth of damaged, pathologically changed or destroyed tissue. As one of Europe's leading research universities, LMU Munich is committed to the highest international standards of excellence in research and teaching. Building on its 500-year-tradition of scholarship, LMU covers a broad spectrum of disciplines, ranging from the humanities and cultural studies through law, economics and social studies to medicine and the sciences. 15 percent of LMU's 50,000 students come from abroad, originating from 130 countries worldwide. The know-how and creativity of LMU's academics form the foundation of the University's outstanding research record. This is also reflected in LMU's designation of as a "university of excellence" in the context of the Excellence Initiative, a nationwide competition to promote top-level university research. Contact for the media: Department of Communication, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstadter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Tel. +49 89 3187 2238, E-mail: presse@helmholtz-muenchen.de Scientific Contact: Prof. Dr. Magdalena Gotz, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Stem Cell Research, Ingolstadter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Tel. +49 89 3187 3750, E-mail: magdalena.goetz@helmholtz-muenchen.de Researchers have studied how a 'drumstick' made of light could make a microscopic 'drum' vibrate and stand still at the same time. A team of researchers from the UK and Australia have made a key step towards understanding the boundary between the quantum world and our everyday classical world. Quantum mechanics is truly weird. Objects can behave like both particles and waves, and can be both here and there at the same time, defying our common sense. Such counterintuitive behaviour is typically confined to the microscopic realm and the question "why don't we see such behaviour in everyday objects?" challenges many scientists today. Now, a team of researchers have developed a new technique to generate this type of quantum behaviour in the motion of a tiny drum just visible to the naked eye. The details of their research are published today in New Journal of Physics. Project principal investigator, Dr Michael Vanner from the Quantum Measurement Lab at Imperial College London, said: "Such systems offer significant potential for the development of powerful new quantum-enhanced technologies, such as ultra-precise sensors, and new types of transducers. "Excitingly, this research direction will also enable us to test the fundamental limits of quantum mechanics by observing how quantum superpositions behave at a large scale." Mechanical vibrations, such as those that create the sound from a drum, are an important part of our everyday experience. Hitting a drum with a drumstick causes it to rapidly move up and down, producing the sound we hear. In the quantum world, a drum can vibrate and stand still at the same time. However, generating such quantum motion is very challenging. lead author of the project Dr Martin Ringbauer from the University of Queensland node of the Australian Research Council Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems, said: "You need a special kind of drumstick to make such a quantum vibration with our tiny drum." In recent years, the emerging field of quantum optomechanics has made great progress towards the goal of a quantum drum using laser light as a type of drumstick. However, many challenges remain, so the authors' present study takes an unconventional approach. Dr Ringbauer continues: "We adapted a trick from optical quantum computing to help us play the quantum drum. We used a measurement with single particles of light--photons--to tailor the properties of the drumstick. "This provides a promising route to making a mechanical version of Schrodinger's cat, where the drum vibrates and stands still at the same time." These experiments have made the first observation of mechanical interferences fringes, which is a crucial step forward for the field. In the experiment, the fringes were at a classical level due to thermal noise, but motivated by this success, the team are now working hard to improve their technique and operate the experiments at temperatures close to absolute zero where quantum mechanics is expected to dominate. These future experiments may reveal new intricacies of quantum mechanics and may even help light the path to a theory that links the quantum world and the physics of gravity. ### CENTECH, a Montreal-based technology incubator, announced earlier that it has selected a company founded by Dr. Etienne de Villers-Sidani for its Propulsion Program, which helps the most innovative start-ups move from the initial development phase to commercializing their products and services on the international market. Dr. de Villers-Sidani is a researcher and neurologist at Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and member of the Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM). Dr. de Villers-Sidani's company, Innodem Neurosciences, has developed a patent-pending mobile application that will improve the effectiveness and quality of life and care of patients with neurological problems. Innodem's eye-tracking technology for mobile devices allows patients that cannot speak because of paralysis (ALS, stroke, etc.) or intubation (intensive care) to communicate by simply gazing at various images on a tablet or smartphone linked to the patient's pre-recorded or synthetic text-to-speech voice messages. This innovation is meant to improve the less efficient message boards and standard of care that rely on third-parties rather than being patient-centric. Communication with several types of neurological patients is often only possible by tracking eye movements. Innodem's application can anonymously track these gaze patterns because its technology uses image-processing algorithms to capture eye movements with high precision using standard cameras found on most off-the-shelf electronic tablets and smartphones. The company believes that as more people use the app, the AI back-end that it is developing will help it launch other apps to assist the medical and pharmaceutical industry make better diagnostics for neurological diseases. Metrics can also be extracted for diagnosis or to follow illness progression. Innodem's current competitors require the use of proprietary hardware such as infrared cameras, reducing the availability and increasing the cost of such technology. Currently, eye-tracking systems designed for paralyzed individuals cost several thousand dollars, making them unaffordable for cost-sensitive healthcare institutions and most patients. Innodem's technology on the other hand will be software-based and thus very affordable. Innodem Neuroscience technology is a result of Dr. de Villers-Sidani's work at The Neuro developing novel therapeutic strategies that can improve cognitive function, communication and quality of life in patients suffering from various neurological conditions, including neurodegenerative disorders and strokes. CENTECH's Propulsion Program will come with a $10,000 award and access to leading edge infrastructure, equipment and software, mentorship and networking opportunities. "With Innodem and the arrival of Dr. Villers-Sidani's team, CENTECH will concretize its vision of bringing together a concentration of the best Med Tech start-ups under one roof," explained Richard Chenier, CENTECH's Director General. "We are developing a true community of expertise in this field, here in Montreal, thanks to best of class institution such as The Neuro." ### About CENTECH Created in 1996 by the Ecole de Technologie Superieure, and located in the heart of Montreal's Quartier de l'innovation, CENTECH is a start-up company launcher dedicated to technological tools and other advanced technologies with high growth potential. Recognized by UBI (University Business Network) as one of the world's most effective accelerators, CENTECH acts as a veritable growth machine. It has created one of the greatest densities of high-level tech entrepreneurs in Canada. About The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro - is a world-leading destination for brain research and advanced patient care. Since its founding in 1934 by renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Wilder Penfield, The Neuro has grown to be the largest specialized neuroscience research and clinical centre in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. The seamless integration of research, patient care, and training of the world's top minds makes The Neuro uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on the understanding and treatment of nervous system disorders. In 2016, The Neuro became the first institute in the world to fully embrace the Open Science philosophy, creating the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute. The Montreal Neurological Institute is a McGill University research and teaching institute. The Montreal Neurological Hospital is part of the Neuroscience Mission of the McGill University Health Centre. For more information, please visit http://www.theneuro.ca NASA's next planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is one step closer to searching for new worlds after successfully completing a lunar flyby on May 17. The spacecraft passed about 5,000 miles from the Moon, which provided a gravity assist that helped TESS sail toward its final working orbit. As part of camera commissioning, the science team snapped a two-second test exposure using one of the four TESS cameras. The image, centered on the southern constellation Centaurus, reveals more than 200,000 stars. The edge of the Coalsack Nebula is in the right upper corner and the bright star Beta Centauri is visible at the lower left edge. TESS is expected to cover more than 400 times as much sky as shown in this image with its four cameras during its initial two-year search for exoplanets. A science-quality image, also referred to as a "first light" image, is expected to be released in June. TESS will undergo one final thruster burn on May 30 to enter its science orbit around Earth. This highly elliptical orbit will maximize the amount of sky the spacecraft can image, allowing it to continuously monitor large swaths of the sky. TESS is expected to begin science operations in mid-June after reaching this orbit and completing camera calibrations. Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on April 18, TESS is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. The mission will observe nearly the entire sky to monitor nearby, bright stars in search of transits -- periodic dips in a star's brightness caused by a planet passing in front of the star. TESS is expected to find thousands of exoplanets. NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2020, will provide important follow-up observations of some of the most promising TESS-discovered exoplanets, allowing scientists to study their atmospheres. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, based in Dulles, Virginia; NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley; the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. The TESS science instruments were jointly developed by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. ### Knowledge of fungal disease in agriculture emphasises a 'global collapse' in the ability of chemicals to control pathogenic fungi that threaten human health as well as food security Fungi can evolve so swiftly to counter the chemical treatments designed to protect health and food, in much the same way as bacteria change in the face of increasingly powerful antibiotics, that urgent action is necessary to control this rapid emergence of resistant strains. "To avoid a global collapse in our ability to control fungal infections and to avoid critical failures in medicine and food security, we must improve our stewardship of extant chemicals, promote new antifungal discovery and leverage emerging technologies for alternative solutions," warns a research team in Science today. Crop-destroying fungi regularly reduce annual yields worldwide by a fifth, with another 10% loss after the crop has been harvested, and fungal effects on human health are spiralling, says the team from Imperial College, Rothamsted Research and the universities of Lausanne and Exeter. "Most people now have heard of bacterial 'superbugs', but resistance is a problem in all kinds of infectious diseases and agricultural pests," says Nichola Hawkins, a molecular plant pathologist and evolutionary biologist at Rothamsted and co-author of the Science review. "The causes of resistance have a lot in common across these different systems," she says. "Ultimately, they all come down to evolution by natural selection. But there are some important differences too. "With antibiotic resistance, we often see the sharing of resistance genes between species. For fungal pathogens, what we're seeing is mostly parallel evolution, where resistance evolves repeatedly in multiple different species that are each under the same, strong selective pressure." Hawkins advocates the sharing of knowledge across agricultural and clinical fields in an effort to seek the common drivers of resistance, and for the fields to work together to come up with new solutions. But the most obvious solution, to keep coming up with more new compounds, is not the whole answer, she notes. "Recent experience tells us that this is not sustainable unless we also become more aware of resistance management, and develop non-chemical control measures too," says Hawkins. "By aiming for as broad a toolkit as possible, we reduce the pressure on any one component, and improve our chances of a longer-term solution." The work at Rothamsted forms part of the Smart Crop Protection (SCP) strategic programme (BBS/OS/CP/000001) funded through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. ### NOTES TO EDITORS Publication: Fisher et al, 2018, Science 360: 739-742, Worldwide emergence of resistance to antifungal drugs challenges human health and food security Rothamsted Research contacts: Nichola Hawkins, Molecular Plant Pathologist & Evolutionary Biologist Tel: +44 (0) 1582 938 106 E-mail: nichola.hawkins@rothamsted.ac.uk Susan Watts, Head of Communications Tel: +44 (0) 1582 938 109 Mob: +44 (0) 7964 832 719 E-mail: susan.watts@rothamsted.ac.uk About Rothamsted Research Rothamsted Research is the longest-running agricultural research institute in the world. We work from gene to field with a proud history of ground-breaking discoveries, from crop treatment to crop protection, from statistical interpretation to soils management. Our founders, in 1843, were the pioneers of modern agriculture, and we are known for our imaginative science and our collaborative influence on fresh thinking and farming practices. Through independent science and innovation, we make significant contributions to improving agri-food systems in the UK and internationally. In terms of the institute's economic contribution, the cumulative impact of our work in the UK was calculated to exceed 3000 million a year in 2015 (Rothamsted Research and the Value of Excellence: A synthesis of the available evidence, by Sean Rickard). Our strength lies in our systems approach, which combines science and strategic research, interdisciplinary teams and partnerships. Rothamsted is also home to three unique resources. These National Capabilities are open to researchers from all over the world: The Long-Term Experiments, Rothamsted Insect Survey and the North Wyke Farm Platform. We are strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), with additional support from other national and international funding streams, and from industry. We are also supported by the Lawes Agricultural Trust (LAT). For more information, visit https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/; Twitter @Rothamsted About BBSRC The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. BBSRC invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond. Funded by government, BBSRC invested 469 million in world-class bioscience in 2016-17. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. More information about BBSRC, our science and our impact. More information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes About LAT The Lawes Agricultural Trust, established in 1889 by Sir John Bennet Lawes, supports Rothamsted Research's national and international agricultural science through the provision of land, facilities and funding. LAT, a charitable trust, owns the estates at Harpenden and Broom's Barn, including many of the buildings used by Rothamsted Research. LAT provides an annual research grant to the Director, accommodation for nearly 200 people, and support for fellowships for young scientists from developing countries. LAT also makes capital grants to help modernise facilities at Rothamsted, or invests in new buildings. In a new SLAS Technology auto-commentary, two authors of an article recently published in Nature Biomedical Engineering (Abnormal Scar Identification with Spherical Nucleic Acid Technology) share more insight into their unique method for skin disease diagnosis using NanoFlare nanotechnology. In particular, the authors address point-of-care diagnosis and image acquisition, which are the primary bottlenecks in efficient disease diagnosis. Authors David Yeo, Ph.D., and Prof. Chenjie Xu, Ph.D., of the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) use NanoFlare to enable biopsy-free disease diagnosis and progression monitoring in response to therapy. It is a minimally-invasive, self-applied alternative that can reduce scarring and infection risks; improve accessibility to disease diagnosis; provide timely feedback of treatment efficacy; and reduce healthcare personnel time and attention, hence the overall healthcare burden. This vision of simplifying disease diagnosis using topically-applied nanotechnology could change the way skin diseases such as abnormal scars are diagnosed and managed. ### Simplifying Skin Disease Diagnosis with Topical Nanotechnology can be accessed for free for a limited time at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2472630318775314. For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit http://www.slas.org/journals. A PDF of this article is available to credentialed media outlets upon request. Contact nhallock@slas.org. About our Society and Journals SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international community of nearly 20,000 professionals and students dedicated to life sciences discovery and technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building. SLAS DISCOVERY: 2016 Impact Factor 2.444. Editor-in-Chief Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D., Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN (USA). SLAS Discovery (Advancing Life Sciences R&D) was previously published (1996-2016) as the Journal of Biomolecular Screening (JBS). SLAS TECHNOLOGY: 2016 Impact Factor 2.850. Editor-in-Chief Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Ph.D., National University of Singapore (Singapore). SLAS Technology (Translating Life Sciences Innovation) was previously published (1996-2016) as the Journal of Laboratory Automation (JALA). Follow SLAS on Twitter at @SLAS_Org. Follow SLAS on Facebook at SocietyforLaboratoryAutomationandScreening. Follow SLAS on YouTube at SLASvideo. Follow SLAS Americas on LinkedIn at Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS Americas). Follow SLAS Europe on LinkedIn at Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening Europe (SLAS Europe). Due to its ballistic properties, lead shot up to now has been regarded as the optimal ammunition for hunting waterfowl. But it came to criticism because lead poisoning was observed in ducks and sea eagles which had ingested the shot as a result of bottom feeding respectively with their prey. Ammunition manufacturers now offer a range of alternative hunting shot containing iron, copper, zinc, tungsten, or bismuth as primary declared component. A team of researchers at the TU Munich led by Prof. Dr. Axel Goettlein and Prof. Dr. Jurgen Geist, however, has come to the conclusion that a number of the alternatives are even more toxic to water organisms than conventional lead shot. Surprising Results from Metals Measurements As part of the study, shot made of each of the different materials were exposed to the identical conditions in water. These measurements demonstrated, that the quantity of metal ions released into the solution varies greatly. While shot made of tungsten, bismuth, and a coated lead shot released almost no metal ions into the solution, alarmingly high concentrations were measured for shot made of copper and zinc. The researchers found, that it was not always the declared main component of the shot which dominated ion release. Particularly striking was a sample of iron shot that released large quantities of zinc, which obviously came from a coating. Rethinking Bans In an immobilization testfor the water flea Daphnia magna standardized according to DIN, their movement behaviour is used as an indicator for their vitality. As the study showed, even small quantities of copper and zinc consistently led to very high or complete immobilization of this model organism. In contrast, shot made of pure iron, bismuth, and tungsten did not impact the mobility of the water fleas. Nor did lead shot cause a significant impact on the mobility of the water fleas as compared to the control group. The study concludes that, if lead shot should be banned for the reason of environmental protection, the current findings indicate that a prohibition on copper and zinc for manufacturing of shot should also be called for. Because widely different conditions concerning water quality in conjunction with the correspondingly adapted organisms occur in nature, additional studies are necessary in order to provide a sound basis for making decisions concerning alternatives to lead shot. ### Publication: Faeth J, Feiner M, Beggel S, Geist J, Goettlein A: Leaching behavior and ecotoxicological effects of different game shot materials in freshwater. Knowledge & Management of Aquatic Ecosystems. (419); 24, 2018. DOI: 10.1051/kmae/2018009 https://www.kmae-journal.org/articles/kmae/abs/2018/01/kmae170148/kmae170148.html Contacts: Technical University of Munich Department of Forest Nutrition and Water Management Prof. Dr. Axel Goettlein Phone:+49 8161 71 - 4749 Mail: goettlein@forst.tu-muenchen.de (Primary contact for hunting and analytical questions) Technical University of Munich Chair of Aquatic Systems Biology Prof. Dr. Jurgen Geist Phone: +49 8161 713767 Mail: geist@wzw.tum.de (Primary contact for questions concerning water ecology) The proponents of the referendum want to avoid another 2008 like bank bailout and argue that: " [...]under the 100% reserve system the central bank wouldnt have complete control over the money supply, while it would under a sovereign money system. Further, under a 100% reserve system the possibility of a bank-run or the government having to rescue a bank is not completely eliminated, whereas it would be under a sovereign money system.. To control money creation the central can: "[...] to keep the amount of money in circulation stable or inject, the Swiss National Bank will need to re-introduce this money into the economy. It can do this in one of several ways: - by buying assets such as securities or foreign exchange reserves (as it can now) - by lending money directly to banks - by handing debt-free money directly to the government to be spent back into circulation or to reduce taxes or to be given directly to citizens.". These statements, coming from the vollgeld paper have severe drawbacks, we will look at them later. A team from the University of Delaware has found the protein that triggers degradation in the eye If you want to take clear photographs, you don't use sandpaper to clear a smudge from your camera's lens. Similarly, if you want to see clearly, the lens of your eye has to be free of obstruction. For that reason a curious thing happens during the development of eye lenses. Instead of closely guarding their nucleus and the DNA it contains - which normal cells do - most lens cells do the exact opposite. They actually degrade their own nuclei and other cell parts. If they were left in place, they would block clear vision causing cataracts at birth. Cataract disease, commonly found in the elderly, is a leading cause of blindness in the world. Until now, scientists did not understand much about how these cells managed to do this - how they simultaneously pruned away obstructions without damaging proper development of the eye lens. But now, in an article published in PLOS Genetics, University of Delaware biologist Salil Lachke and his collaborators show the protein (Celf1) is essential to this process and reveal the mechanism used in three different vertebrates - mice, frogs and zebrafish. They also show the role this molecular machine plays in controlling factors that normally inhibit cell division, information that could have significant implications for cancer research. The discoveries plant one of the earliest flags in a little-explored frontier of eye lens biology - showing how an RNA-binding protein found in fish, amphibians and mammals rewires components normally involved in cell division in order to control cell differentiation and specialization during lens development. They show that this RNA-binding protein is essential to breaking down the nucleus' membrane and starting the process of digesting fiber cell DNA that would otherwise obstruct vision. "Scientists and philosophers have long wondered at the beauty and complexity of the vertebrate eye," Nobel Laureate Craig Mello wrote after reading Lachke's article. "How has evolution assembled this amazingly complex organ? Dr. Salil Lachke at the University of Delaware has been systematically searching for answers to this question for many years." In this study, Mello said, Lachke "reveals how building the eye actually requires de-constructing the internal, opaque, structures inside the cells that form the lens, including destroying the DNA itself. In a collaborative study, Salil and co-workers identify an RNA-binding protein Celf1, that plays a role in eye development in fish, frogs and mice, and they identify key mRNAs regulated by Celf1." But how does a cell degrade its own nucleus and DNA without killing itself and defeating the goal of lens development? How does it know when to stop this degradation? "Isn't that sort of a counter-productive thing to do - destroying the one thing that keeps it alive?" Lachke said. "It's almost like arrested cell death. In normal cell death, the body gets rid of the nuclei as well as the cell. But here, the lens wants to keep itself functional and does so by getting rid of the nuclei but still keeping the cells, which act as bags filled with 'crystallin' proteins that effectively refract light. The RNA-binding protein Celf1 is the key to this process. "The functions of RNA-binding proteins, especially in organ development, are not well understood, mainly because scientists have not looked at them as carefully yet," Lachke said. "Most studies focus on signaling proteins and DNA-binding proteins that are important for initiating gene expression. But after you turn on a gene, you have to do a lot to precisely regulate its final output. In a process known as 'post-transcriptional control,' RNA-binding proteins determine the life span of their target RNA or whether that RNA should be translated into protein. Thus, it is essential to study RNA-binding proteins and the molecular processes they control after a gene is turned on." If you think of genes as lights that are turned on in a house, you could think of these proteins as the ones who go around making sure lights are kept on in the correct rooms and turned off when no longer needed. That's where Celf1 comes in. Its molecular interactions with specific RNA in the lens initiate events that make it possible to break open the envelope of the nucleus and degrade the DNA within in order to allow light to reach the retina properly. When Celf1 is absent or deficient, serious eye disorders, including cataracts at birth, result. "The whole process is very complicated and regulated very tightly," said Archana Siddam, who recently earned her doctorate in Lachke's lab and was the co-lead author on the PLOS Genetics article. "And this project sheds light on the molecular mechanism behind this complex process. We knew the lens gets rid of the nucleus, but we didn't know the control mechanism. This sheds light on how exactly it is degraded, what genes are involved and that Celf1 is the factor that orchestrates the whole process." Part of the same process is critical to cell division and development - but in those cases it does not degrade the nucleus. Instead, it remodels its envelope so that the duplicated DNA can be evenly distributed to two daughter cells. This new information about Celf1 is sure to provide new traction in other cellular research, including cancer studies. Mello, who shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Andrew Fire for their discovery of RNA interference, said he has followed Lachke's "exciting work" since 2012, when Lachke was awarded a prestigious fellowship from the Pew Charitable Trusts - the first awarded to a UD researcher. Mello was a Pew recipient in 1995 and now chairs the national advisory committee that selects Pew's biomedical scholars. "Clearly Delaware has been doing an amazing job recruiting young faculty," Mello wrote, "as Delaware has had two additional Pew Scholarships awarded already since then - one to Dr. April Kloxin and one to Dr. Catherine Grimes." Lachke's research provides important new insight in a critical field of research, said Mello, distinguished professor in the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Program in Molecular Medicine and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Cataracts are a major cause of blindness and Dr. Lachke's work is providing fundamental new knowledge on the basic underlying mechanisms involved in eye development," Mello wrote. "This is extremely important work." And there is much more to do, Lachke said. "This is relatively unexplored territory," Lachke said. "Of about 1,500 RNA-binding proteins, fewer than 100 are currently known to be directly linked to disease. We have now linked Celf1 to cataract eye disease. This will inform ophthalmic geneticists to look closely at Celf1 for possible mutations in individuals with cataracts at birth, and it will also inform cancer biologists to look into Celf1 as a candidate that can impact key factors involved in cancer." Among Lachke's research team were University of Delaware students Deepti Anand, Christine Dang and Atul Kakrana. As Lachke's lab investigated the science at UD, two other collaborators and their labs were doing the same in other vertebrate models - Luc Paillard of the University of Rennes in France and his team studied frogs, while Jeffrey Gross of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and his team studied zebrafish. Also contributing were Carole Gautier-Courteille, Vincent Legagneuax, Agnes Mereau and Justine Viet of the University of Rennes, and Linette Perez-Campos of the University of Texas-Austin. The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Retina France. "Science is all about collaboration," said Siddam, who now is working as a Commissioner's Fellow in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Winchester, Massachusetts office. "That's something Salil fosters in all of his graduate students. I'm glad I had the opportunity to work in that environment. We worked as a team with those in France and Pittsburgh - and that was so wonderful. We learned so many things from each other and the scope got bigger because of all the contributions." ### An international research team led by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Queensland, has identified three new genes linked to the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The study, supported by Alzheimer's Research UK and also involving researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is published today (18 May) in the journal Translational Psychiatry. The researchers combined findings from an existing study of Alzheimer's genetics, with those from a new analysis involving the children of people with the disease. The findings are set to help researchers better understand the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's and could open the door to new approaches for treating the disease. To find genetic risk factors for diseases like Alzheimer's, researchers generally compare the DNA code of people with and without the disease. By carefully analysing data from very large groups of people, researchers can pick out gene variations that are more common in people who have Alzheimer's. This approach has helped to find around 30 genes that are associated with Alzheimer's risk. The more people who are involved in these genetic studies, the more powerful they are and the more they can reveal about the genetics of Alzheimer's. Large-scale research resources like the UK Biobank hold rich genetic and medical information about hundreds of thousands of research volunteers, but as only a fraction of this data comes from people with Alzheimer's, relatively few people can be included in the genetic studies. In this new study, Alzheimer's researchers used a technique that allowed them to cast their nets more widely and include many more people in their genetic analysis. The research involved genetic information from over 300,000 people from the UK Biobank. As most of the participants were too young to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the research team looked to medical information about their parents, many of whom had developed the disease. On average, children share 50% of their genes with each of their parents. While at the individual level having a parent with Alzheimer's doesn't mean you are at a much greater risk of the disease, by combining data from many thousands of people whose parents developed Alzheimer's the researchers were able to sift out genetic information relevant to the disease. The team combined results from their new analysis with data from an existing genetic study involving 70,000 people with and without Alzheimer's disease. The findings highlight three new genes that may play a role in Alzheimer's risk. Prof Peter Visscher, from the University of Queensland, said: "By focusing on people with a family history of Alzheimer's, we have been able to take advantage of a wealth of existing data to gain new insights into the genetics of the disease. One challenge of this method is that we rely on people to provide accurate information about whether their parents developed Alzheimer's, and in some cases the disease can be mistaken for another form of dementia or go undiagnosed." Dr Riccardo Marioni, from the University of Edinburgh, said: "New genetic discoveries can provide vital clues to the biological processes involved in Alzheimer's, but our genetic makeup is not the only factor that affects our risk of the disease. We are now working to combine genetic data and information about people's lifestyle to produce more comprehensive and personalised picture of Alzheimer's risk. Understanding how genetic and lifestyle factors interact to affect our overall risk could lead to more targeted risk reduction strategies and pave the way to precision medicine in Alzheimer's disease." Dr Sara Imarisio, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "This innovative research highlights three new genes linked to the risk of Alzheimer's disease and presents promising leads for future research. The next step will be for molecular scientists to assess how these genes might contribute to the development of Alzheimer's and fit in to the existing picture of the disease. Interestingly, two of these genes are targeted by drugs that are used to treat other conditions, signalling a potential direction for research into new Alzheimer's treatments. "Dr Marioni is unlocking the power of big data by applying cutting-edge statistical techniques to rich medical, genetic and lifestyle information provided by hundreds of thousands of research volunteers. People don't have to have dementia to take part in research studies, and anyone who is interested in playing a part can find out how at http://www.joindementiaresearch.org "There are currently no treatments to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer's, but research can change this picture. Alzheimer's Research UK is proud to be supporting this pioneering research, none of which would be possible without the efforts of our dedicated supporters." ### This research was funded by Alzheimer's Research UK, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). For further information, or to speak with Dr Sara Imarisio, please contact Glyn Morris, Science Communications Officer at Alzheimer's Research UK on 01223 896 663 or email press@alzheimersresearchuk.org Notes to editors: Ref: GWAS on family history of Alzheimer's disease by Marioni et al., is published on 18/05/2018 in Translational Psychiatry. Alzheimer's Research UK is the UK's leading charity specialising in finding preventions, treatments and a cure for dementia. Our animation "What is dementia?" explains the essentials of dementia and the diseases that cause it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HobxLbPhrMc We rely on donations to fund our vital dementia research. To help us defeat dementia, donate today by visiting http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org or calling 0300 111 5555. We are currently supporting dementia research projects worth over 31 million in leading Universities across the UK. Our Defeat Dementia campaign, a pledge to raise 100 million in five years to grow the research field and accelerate progress towards new treatments and preventions, was announced by the Prime Minister at the G8 legacy event on 19 June 2014. For more information visit http://www.dementiablog.org/defeat-dementia Despite concerns about Italian politics potentially heading in a Eurosceptic direction, the British Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate slipped from its best levels on Friday. Still, the pair is on track to have sustained notable gains throughout the week thanks to a lack of demand for the Euro, as well as hopes for a softer Brexit. Last weeks GBP/EUR gains were limited, with the pair only edging higher from 1.1300 to 1.1336. This weeks GBP/EUR performance was much stronger, with the pair touching on a May high of 1.1471 on Thursday before trending closer to the level of 1.1440 at the time of writing. Pound (GBP) Weakens on Post-Brexit EU Customs Union Uncertainties The Brexit debate for most of this week has been Britains membership of EU customs unions, mainly whether or not the UK will remain in a customs union following the conclusion of the Brexit process. Reports emerged in the middle of the week that the UK government was planning to remain in a customs union or create a new one with the EU, in which it would remain from 2021 onwards. Towards the end of the week, UK Prime Minister Theresa May insisted that the UK would leave the EU customs union following Brexit, but other government sources insisted that the cabinet had agreed to a backstop plan for the sake of keeping Irelands border soft. The reported agreed backstop plan would see the UK keeping the EUs tariffs in order for Ireland and Northern Ireland to maintain a soft border beyond the Brexit process. Supposedly, this plan would only be implemented if the government fails to achieve a more bespoke customs deal in Brexit negotiations. Sterling was sold on Friday as investors digested the report. According to Adam Cole, chief currency strategist from RBC: Markets are still uncertain about where we are going to be on the other side of the transition deal, It is not going to immediately attach a 100 percent certainty of us remaining in the customs union, Cole essentially explained that investors were hesitant to buy the Pound too much until there was more evidence and certainty that the UK would remain in an EU customs union, rather than simply buying the currency on hopes. Euro (EUR) Fails to Capitalise as Political Uncertainties Persist The Euro saw another week of weakness against major rivals like the Pound and US Dollar (USD) thanks to a lack of notably optimistic Eurozone data, as well as concerns about Italian politics. Two Italian populist parties appeared to be closer to agreeing to a coalition deal. Both the League and 5-Star Movement parties have a history of Euroscepticism. While the parties have indicated there are currently no plans to pull Italy out of the Eurozone, the rising likelihood of these parties forming a leading government is making Euro investors more anxious. According to David Madden from CMC Markets: The possibility of a Eurosceptic government in Rome is shaking investor confidence... at this point a larger fiscal deficit and greater bond issuance [in Italy] does seem likely, GBP/EUR Forecast: UK Inflation in Focus Next week is likely to be a major one for Pound trade, as multiple major UK ecostats will be published throughout the week especially from Wednesday through Friday. Wednesday will see the publication of Britains April Consumer Price Index (CPI) results. UK inflation is forecast to have improved from 2.5% to 2.7% year-on-year, following the disappointing sharp drop in inflation seen last month. If UK inflation beats expectations, it could actually revive Bank of England (BoE) interest rate hike speculation. Bets of a 2018 rate hike from the bank could rise which would certainly make the Pound more appealing against a weak Euro. As for the Euro, it is likely to remain unappealing unless Eurozone data begins to surprise to the upside again. Concerns about Italian politics and the recent broad strength of rivals like the US Dollar (USD) are especially likely to weigh on Euro trade. Towards the end of the week, growth figures from Germany and the UK will be published too which could further influence GBP/EUR. A Belgian policeman fired the bullet that killed a two-year-old Kurdish girl during a high-speed chase of a van transporting migrants in Belgium last week, prosecutors confirmed Tuesday. Prosecutors announced the results of the probe into the death of Mawda Shawri, after officials said on Friday that she had died from a bullet wound in the incident on May 17 but did not say who had fired it. The prosecutors office in the southern town of Mons said the investigation showed only one bullet had been fired during a dangerous high-speed chase over 60 kilometres (36 miles) and traced it to a police officer. The officer who opened fire is overcome and disconsolate. He neither wanted nor could have imagined this, prosecutor general Ignacio De la Serna told reporters, according to the Belga news agency. Its a tragic event that everyone regrets, including the police officers, he added. The police officer who fired the shot had appeared before a judge, who is reviewing all the evidence before deciding whether to press any charges, the prosecutor said. The toddler died in an ambulance on her way to hospital. The lawyer for the girls family, Olivier Stein, told AFP that the prosecutors could have avoided confusion over how the girl died if they had questioned his clients directly. But instead, he said, they had treated them more like offenders than victims. Stein said judicial authorities had told him the bullet was fired at a moment when the van was travelling at 90 kilometres per hour as police squad cars moved beside it. The UN Human Rights Council will meet Friday to decide whether to send international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. The special session of the UNs top rights body will consider a draft resolution calling for the council to urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry, the UNs highest level investigation. The special session comes after a month and a half of mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border, calling for Palestinian refugees to be able to return to their homes now inside Israel. The largest demonstrations coincided with the move of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, which saw Israeli forces kill some 60 Palestinians, pushing the overall toll well over 100. Israel has justified its actions, saying they are necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas. The draft resolution discussed Friday, presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and backed by 47 UN member states, said the investigators should look into all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the context of the military assaults on large scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018. It said the aim should be to establish the facts and circumstances around alleged violations and abuses including those that may amount to war crimes and to identify those responsible. The special session of the council came at the request of Palestine and the United Arab Emirates, on behalf of Arab countries in the council, the UN said earlier this week. In addition to the Arab countries, China, France, Brazil, Sweden, and Switzerland were among the 51 countries who supported the special session. The UN human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein is expected to speak at the opening of the session, as is the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territory. Some 1,500 Eritreans have demonstrated in the Swiss capital, Bern, and handed a petition of 12,000 signatures to Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga calling for a more humane asylum policy. The move comes after migration authorities said they will re-examine the files of 3,200 of the 9,400 Eritrean asylum seekers admitted to Switzerland on a temporary basis. Following a court ruling last year, they could lose their status and be sent back to Eritrea. The petition handed on Friday to Sommaruga urges Switzerland to hear migrants according to criteria that respect its humanitarian tradition, and grant asylum to all asylum seekers who risk ill-treatment in their country. It calls for this to be done immediately and retroactively. This petition was launched by Citizens Action for an Asylum Policy Worthy of Switzerland, an umbrella organisation of associations and individuals working with the Eritrean community. Up to now, Switzerland has not been able to deport Eritreans to their country of origin, but policy on residence permits has been tightened. The petitioners say the tightening of policy is because of pressure from the conservative right, not a change of situation in Eritrea. They say the main reasons Eritreans flee their country are human rights violations, the unlimited length of time that military service can last, the consequent lack of perspectives and lack of freedom of expression. According to the petition, Eritrea is ruled by a brutal regime which is regularly denounced, and there are very many testimonies from people who have fled the country of the numerous abuses suffered by the population, as reported by the United Nations and the Swiss government. Ludwig Minelli, founder of one of Switzerlands best known assisted suicide organisation Dignitas, is appearing before a Zurich district court on charges of profiteering in the first case of its kind in Switzerland. The non-profit group is often used by foreigners wanting an assisted suicide in Switzerland. Minelli denies the charges. Under Swiss law, assisted suicide is not illegal as long as there are not self-serving motives i.e. that too much money is charged. Breaking the law could mean up to five years in prison or a fine. The 85-year-old Minelli stands accused in Uster district court of profiteering in three cases concerning German women who undertook an assisted suicide in the years 2003 and 2010. In one case, of an 80-year-old woman, Minelli is said to have accepted a CHF100,000 ($99,980) donation, despite the cost for the assisted suicide being several thousand Swiss francs. The second case concerns a mother and daughter who were allegedly charged CHF10,000, double the usual cost. Prosecutors are calling for a fine of CHF7,500 and court costs, plus a suspended financial penalty of around CHF65,000, with a two-year probation period. Anniversary, headlines Minelli has strongly denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations unfounded and incomprehensible. Its not clear when the court will hand down the verdict. Dignitas is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary since its founding on May 17, 1998. The court case comes after Switzerlands approach to assisted suicide made the international headlines again when David Goodall, a 104-year-old Australian scientist ended his life on May 10, using the services of Life Circle in Basel. A Paris court gave Terry Gilliam the go-ahead Friday to release "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" in cinemas, a victory for the Monty Python member in the long-running legal battle over the apparently cursed film. The comedy, which is due to close the Cannes film festival on Saturday, was supposed to come out in French cinemas on the same day. But Paul Branco, a former producer of the disaster-hit production, made a last-minute court bid to halt its general release. Branco, who claims his Alfama Films owns exclusive rights to the movie, has waged a lengthy legal campaign to stop the Hollywood director from releasing the final version starring Jonathan Pryce and Star Wars actor Adam Driver. Frances National Centre for Cinema last week issued a screening permit for it to be shown in cinemas, prompting Branco to try to block that decision in the courts. Its a big victory, we are very happy and very relieved, said Christophe Ayela, lawyer for the films distributors Star Invest Films. Branco has completely lost the argument, said Cannes festival president Pierre Lescure on Twitter. His pathetic insults have come back like a boomerang the only pleasure to emerge will be Gilliams joy tomorrow evening, he said. Paris judges are due to rule next month on a wider case over who owns the rights, and courts in France and Britain have previously sided with Portuguese-born Branco in the long-running dispute. Branco said he still had the rights to the film after a failed attempt to make it in 2016 when funding fell short. Gilliam, 77, and his new backers then completed work on the saga at a cost of 16.3 million euros ($19.4 million) between March and June 2017. Bulletproof jacket The legendary polymath and former Monty Python star, whose films include classics like Time Bandits and Brazil, has struggled for nearly two decades to get the film to the screen. His various attempts to shoot the surreal story based on Cervantes unfilmable novel have been beset by a series of calamities, some of them recounted in the acclaimed 2002 documentary, Lost in La Mancha. The set was washed away during an aborted attempt to make it in 2000 with Johnny Depp, when lead actor Jean Rochefort also had to be airlifted to hospital after falling ill. A host of Hollywood stars including Ewan McGregor, John Hurt, Robert Duvall and Jack OConnell were later linked with the project, but each time the production fell through. Gilliam had earlier told AFP that Branco had nothing to do with the (final) film, and joked Thursday that he would wear a bulletproof jacket to the premiere. There is no negotiating with him his demands are laughable, absurd. He is trying to make as much money as he possibly can from a film he did not produce, he added. Branco told reporters earlier this month that he had sunk 800,000 euros ($948,000) of his own money into the project. It is thanks to us that this film was made, he said. nip/kjl/fg/har | A 13-year-old Syrian refugee boy became the star of the Cannes film festival Friday for his breathtaking performance in a Lebanese film many see as the likely winner of the Palme d'Or top prize. Zain Al Rafeea, who has been working as a delivery boy in Beirut until recently and who has only just learned to write his name turns in a performance in Capernaum that critics said would melt the hardest of hearts. I and the total stranger sitting next to me were sniffling and sharing a packet of tissues by the end, said the Hollywood Reporters Leslie Felperin. And young Zain who is small for his age endeared himself still further by falling asleep at the press conference Friday afternoon, having stayed up late for the gala premiere the night before. He said he now wants to be an actor and had been spoiled by the crew on the shoot. Director Nadine Labaki took six months to make the odyssey through lives of the poorest of the poor in the slums of the Lebanese capital using amateur actors. Zain plays a boy of the same name who runs away from home after his desperate mother and father sell his 11-year-old sister into marriage for a few chickens. Zain then takes his parents to court for having brought him into the world. Labaki discovered the girl who plays his sister, Cedra Izam, selling chewing gum in the streets. Babys parents rounded up But it was Zains on-screen rapport with an unbearably cute baby Boluwatife Treasure Bankole whose real-life Kenyan and Nigerian parents were rounded up during the shoot that created the most cinematic magic. In an astonishing sequence at the heart of the film, the boy is left to look after the breast-fed baby in a shanty town after its mother is picked up and imprisoned by the police. In real life, the casting director stepped in to look after the infant in the absence of its parents. Capernaum turns on the characters lack of papers, with Zains parents too poor to have registered his birth. Cinema is one of the most powerful weapons we have to draw attention to problems, it is one of our responsibilities as artists, actor-director Labaki told AFP. She said she found the idea for the film staring her in the face one night when she was driving home from a party. I stopped at a traffic light and saw a child half-asleep in the arms of his mother who was sitting on the tarmac begging. It became an obsession for me I did more than three years of research. I was trying to understand how the system fails these kids, she said. These kids are facing extreme neglect. A lot of the things I saw shocked me, children who were incredibly neglected, and I went into childrens prisons. You feel completely powerless. And thats maybe why we turn away, said Labaki, best-known for her far less gritty beauty parlour story, Caramel. Prizes a certainty I wanted to be in the head of these kids and understand what happens when you turn away and the kid goes around the corner and disappears. She said her 13-year-old lead who has been working since he was 10 in the Mazraa district was lucky to have loving parents. When we started (shooting) he wasnt going to school and faced a lot of hardships. Hes only now just learned to read and write his name. There are thousands of kids in his situation. Just like his character, Zain told reporters that he would like to live in Europe. And Labaki said there is a chance his refugee family might get asylum in Norway. His future is uncertain. I hoped the film can give him another horizon, she added. The child got a 10-minute standing ovation after walking the red carpet for the premiere at Cannes late Thursday. Critics raved over the film although some complained its storylines were too sprawling. Prizes are almost a certainty, said Variety. Young Rafeea is a revelation as the swaggering, foul-mouthed Zain, combining the requisite traits of wounded sensitivity with seasoned resilience that somehow never feels cliched, said its critic Jay Weissberg. Since the war in neighbouring Syria broke out, tiny Lebanon has become home to a million Syrian refugees, more than half of whom live in extreme poverty, according to the UN. With little end in sight to the seven-year civil war, Lebanese patience has been wearing thin, with refugees becoming the scapegoats for many of the countrys ills. French former European Parliament chief Nicole Fontaine has died at the age of 76, officials said Friday, with President Emmanuel Macron hailing her decades-long "fight for the European project". Fontaine, a centre-right former lawyer who led the EU assembly from 1999 to 2002, was the second woman to hold the post after former French minister, Holocaust survivor and rights icon Simone Veil. She died on Thursday, former minister Dominique Bussereau said. For 35 years of her life, she fought for the European project, Macron said in a statement. Born in Fecamp on the northern French coast, Fontaine was an MEP from 1984 until the end of her time as parliament chief and also served as Frances industrial minister between 2002 and 2004. A 1999 profile by The Economist described her as a consensus-seeker, coalition-builder, conciliator nowhere more at home than in the byzantine corridors of Europe, canvassing cross-party support, flashing her smile, teasing out compromise. After Britains shock referendum vote in 2016 in favour of leaving the EU, Fontaine declared that she was unsurprised by the result, describing Europe as sick with a democratic deficit. Hydraulic fracturing is a process by which pressurized water, sand and chemicals are pumped into natural-gas wells more than a mile deep to break apart shale to release pockets of oil and natural gas. Researchers hypothesized that methane concentrations in the drinking-water wells they sampled would increase over time with the growth of natural gas drilling in the area. This is a correlation researchers observed in Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale region. But thats not what UCs water tests revealed. The study concluded that methane observed in groundwater was biogenic, or naturally occurring and independent of natural gas drilling. The study researchers in Pennsylvania thought the contamination issue was a failure of the well casings in the fracking wells, Townsend-Small said. Hopefully, that doesnt happen often. And that apparently didnt happen with the wells of homeowners we worked with for our study. Townsend-Small has spent much of her career researching groundwater and methane. She and other UC geologists are studying the influence of the Great Miami River on groundwater in southwest Ohio at UCs C.V. Theis Groundwater Observatory. She also has studied atmospheric methane in relation to algae blooms in the Great Lakes and methane in arctic lakes in Alaska. Some people had elevated concentrations of methane in their groundwater, but the isotopic composition showed it wasnt from natural gas. It was from a different source, Townsend-Small said. What we found is in most cases it was probably from underground coal in the area or biological methane produced in groundwater. Study co-authors included UC professor emeritus David Nash and UC assistant professor of geology Joshua Miller. Botner said if researchers were to replicate the study, she might recommend expanding it to include other hydrocarbons such as propane or look for carbonate isotopes associated with natural gas drilling. Its a controversial topic, Botner said. But thats why science is so valuable. Maybe another study would confirm our findings or maybe they would find something else. Regardless, we would welcome more well testing. French prosecutors on Thursday sought prison terms of up to seven years for a group of Hungarians on trial over accusations they stole rare maps worth millions of euros from a string of French libraries. Investigators say the suspects, six men and a woman, honed a methodical scheme of presenting fake library cards in order to consult tomes from the 16th to 18th centuries in cities including Toulouse, Nancy and Lille. They would then surreptitiously cut out the maps with craft knives, making off with historical prints worth an estimated four million euros ($4.7 million) between 2011 and 2013. They were tripped up in 2012 when one of the accused was stopped and his car searched by Hungarian customs officers, who found 110 ancient maps, some of which had been stamped by the Toulouse public library in southern France. Andras Katona, a self-described plumber, said he had bought the entire lot of maps later valued at 450,000 euros at an Italian market from a gypsy who spoke Yugoslavian. Hungarian officials alerted the French police, who determined the maps were indeed stolen from Toulouse. The only suspect to admit taking the maps is Katonas cousin Karoly Forgo, 51, who has lived in southern France for the past 20 years. He claims he acted alone after powerful people approached him about the job, but has refused to identify them during the trial, which began Monday in Bordeaux. Prosecutors are seeking a five-year term for Forgo and sentences of two to three years for Katona, Forgos wife Hedvig, and Gabor Dorogi, a drug addict who was convicted alongside Forgo for stealing freight consignments in Beziers, France, in 2013. Tibor Szathmari, a 69-year-old antique dealer specialising in ancient maps, is facing seven years behind bars, while his associate, Pal Nagy, who claims to work at a Hungarian demolition firm, is facing six years. Szathmari has denied the charges, though he has refused to clarify the source of his revenues Hungarian investigators found two new 44 trucks and a Bentley valued at some 200,000 euros at his luxurious villa in Hungary. Ive worked with antiques for half a century I have hardly any money in my pockets, he told the court this week. Investigators have failed to determine where the maps were destined, though they suspect dealers in Britain and the US. Privacy Settings This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit. NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using. Russian President Vladimir Putin wished "good health" to former agent Sergei Skripal as he was released from a British hospital Friday, after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning alleged to have been orchestrated by the Kremlin. God grant him good health, Putin said in a Sochi press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. If a military-grade poison had been used, the man would have died on the spot. Thank God he recovered and that he left (hospital). Russia has rejected British accusations of involvement in the poisoning, which sparked a diplomatic crisis that saw Russia and the West expelling dozens of diplomats in tit-for-tat moves. Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was visiting from Moscow, collapsed on March 4 on a bench in Salisbury, the city in southwestern England where the former double agent lives. Police officer Nick Bailey who came to help was also taken to hospital. He was discharged several weeks after the attack, while Yulia Skripal was treated in hospital for just over a month. Salisbury District Hospital nursing director Lorna Wilkinson said looking after Skripal and the two others poisoned by the same nerve agent had been a huge and unprecedented challenge. This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital, she said. Souring relations Britain has said the poisoning was carried out with a type of nerve agent known as Novichok which was developed in the Soviet Union. UN experts have confirmed that a high-purity nerve agent was used without specifying whether it was Novichok or saying who might be behind the poisoning. Following Skripals release, the Metropolitan Police said it was making good progress in the case. This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack, it said in a statement. Russia has challenged Britain to provide evidence in the case. We have several times offered our British partners any necessary assistance in the investigation (of the poisoning), Putin said Friday. So far we have received no response. Our offer remains open. Protective custody? The Russian embassy in London accused Britain of blocking access to the pair in defiance of diplomatic convention, airing the claims in a set of sensational social media posts. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said their offer of consular assistance had been passed to Yulia Skripal but that she had turned it down. Both she and her father are now likely to be in protective custody. In the interests of Sergei and Yulias safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place, the Metropolitan Police said. Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence officer who passed information on Russias agents in Europe to British security services, resulting in imprisonment in his homeland. He moved to Britain as part of a spy swap in 2010 and has lived there ever since. President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the arrest of a Russian journalist in Ukraine on charges of treason was "unprecedented". Krylo Vyshynsky, a Ukrainian national who received a Russian passport in 2015, was detained near his Kiev home on Tuesday and is being held in custody pending a trial. The arrest of a journalist this is an unprecedented act, Putin said in a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This man is being accused of treason for something he did publically and was in line with his professional duties, he said. Ukraines SBU accused Vyshynsky who works for the Russian state-run RIA Novosti news service of travelling to Crimea in 2014 to carry out subversive reporting to justify the peninsulas annexation by Moscow. The 51-year-old was also accused of collaborating with Russian-backed separatist groups in eastern Ukraine where a conflict that broke out following Crimeas seizure has cost some 10,000 lives. Putin said he and Merkel had touched on the journalists arrest in their talks but did not provide further details. Merkel said she would discuss the issue with the president of Ukraine during a trip later in the day. Krylos arrest came as the SBU raided RIA Novostis office in Kiev. Vyshynskys wife on Friday said she had been denied access to her husband and had been forced to communicate him through his lawyer. No meetings and no telephone calls with relatives. Nothing will persuade them, Irina Vyshynskaya said during a video press conference from Kiev. Vyshynskaya said her husband had health problems and had been examined by doctors, but did not provide further details. Kiev and its Western allies regularly accuse Russia of using its public media for propaganda and incitement of separatist sentiment in Ukraine. Ukraine ranks 101st out of 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as Russia came in at 148. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Thursday and said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country. A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi. After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists the condition are in place for the start of a political process on a major scale, Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there were detailed discussions between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syrias coastal province of Latakia. With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory, Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces. Russia has been involved in Syrias civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Assads regime but also changed the course of the war. Putin also congratulated Assad on the successes of the Syrian governments army in the fight against terrorist groups. The next task, of course, is the economic recovery and humanitarian aid for those people in a difficult situation, Putin added. Stability is improving The latest round of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana wrapped up on Tuesday, but did not however make any concrete progress towards ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives. Russia, Iran and Turkey have been attempting to resolve the conflict in the talks that started last year in Astana in competition with a US and UN-backed Geneva initiative. In a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad added on Thursday we have evaluated the political process and will select candidates for a constitutional committee, a suggestion proposed in January at a summit in Sochi, that will work with the United Nations. According to the Kremlin statement, Assad said stability is improving in Syria, opening the door to the political process we started some time ago. We know it will not be easy because some countries do not want stability to return to Syria. But with you and other partners and friends, we will continue to make strong progress in the peace process, Assad was quoted as saying in the statement. Thanks to military successes, we are managing to normalise the situation in the country, opening the way for the return of many of our compatriots. Russian television broadcast short clips from the two mens discussion. Regime forces recaptured Ghouta from rebels last month after a ferocious offensive that displaced tens of thousands, both to government-controlled zones around Damascus and to opposition-held parts of northern Syria. De Mistura, speaking Wednesday to the UN Security Councils monthly meeting on the Syria conflict, described what he called the classic Syrian regime tactic of a bombardment of a rebel territory followed by negotiations and then mass evacuations from the defeated area. But the special envoy noted that half of the people in the northern rebel province of Idlib had already fled from other parts of Syria, and will have nowhere else to go because there is no other place to go. Putin and Assad met on the eve of a meeting in Sochi between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first face-to-face talk of the year between the veteran leaders. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with a nerve agent in Britain, triggering a diplomatic crisis with Russia, has been discharged from hospital, the facility said Friday. It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave, Salisbury District Hospitals chief executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Nursing director Lorna Wilkinson said treating him and two others poisoned by the same nerve agent had been a huge and unprecedented challenge. This is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital, she said. Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was visiting from Moscow, collapsed on March 4 on a bench in Salisbury, the city in southwestern England where the former double agent lives. Police officer Nick Bailey who came to help them was also taken to hospital. He was discharged several weeks after the attack, while Yulia Skripal was treated in hospital for just over a month. Treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned, the hospital statement said. The poisoning sparked a diplomatic crisis that saw Russia and the West expelling dozens of diplomats in tit-for-tat moves. Souring relations Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning, saying it was caused by a type of nerve agent known as Novichok which was developed in the Soviet Union. UN experts have confirmed that a high-purity nerve agent was used without specifying whether it was Novichok or saying who might be behind the poisoning. Following Skripals release, the Metropolitan Police said it was making good progress in the case. This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack, it said in a statement. Russia has challenged Britain to provide evidence in the case and has requested consular access to Skripal and his daughter. Protective custody? The Russian embassy in London accused Britain of blocking access to the pair in defiance of diplomatic convention, airing the claims in a set of sensational social media posts. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said their offer of consular assistance had been passed to Yulia Skripal but that she had turned it down. Both she and her father are now likely to be in protective custody. In the interests of Sergei and Yulias safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place, the Metropolitan Police said. Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence officer who passed information on Russias agents in Europe to British security services, resulting in imprisonment in his homeland. He moved to Britain as part of a spy swap in 2010 and has lived there ever since. Meghan Markle's father was diagnosed with heart problems in Mexico but refused to undergo surgery, the health ministry in Baja California state, where he lives, said Thursday. Thomas Markle, who has already confirmed he will not attend his daughters wedding to Britains Prince Harry on Saturday, went to Rosaritos Hospital de Playas early in the morning on May 3 complaining of heart pain, the ministry said. Markle, 73, underwent emergency surgery on Wednesday at a different hospital, according to the celebrity website TMZ. According to the health ministry statement, days earlier he arrived at the Mexican hospital having experienced hours of discomfort without any physical exertion. He underwent testing and received pain medication, before being diagnosed with heart disease, the statement added. However, Markle rejected any treatment following the diagnosis and declined to be transported to his Rosarito home. The patient decided to voluntarily leave on the afternoon of Friday May 4, to continue his care at a private medical facility, the ministry said. Markle, an Emmy award-winning television lighting director, has been at the center of a media storm over whether he would walk his daughter down the aisle, before finally pulling out for good due to health reasons. A South African Pentecostal pastor was handed a 30-day suspended jail term on Friday for repeatedly making homophobic comments, including a suggestion that gays be locked in cages like animals. Oscar Bougardt was found guilty by a Cape Town court of making statements that discriminate and incite hatred against homosexuals. He was also ruled in breach of an earlier court order that barred him in 2014 from verbally attacking homosexuals. Judge Lee Bozalek sentenced Bougardt to a 30-day jail term, suspended for five years provided he makes no further anti-gay comments. Bougardt is a pastor at Calvary H.O.P.E Ministries in Cape Town. In 2016 he described homosexuals as criminal and said 99 percent of paedophiles have (a) homosexual background. In 2015, he said, To hell with homosexuals, their lifestyle is an abomination to God, but Christians in South Africa are too scared to speak out against (it). If I was the president of my country I would lock them in cages where they belong.They dont even deserve a prison cell, according to a transcript of his remarks, read out in court. The judge said the pastors statement advocates the criminalisation of gay sex, including by implication punishment by death through stoning. Not only do such statements dehumanise gays and lesbian people, they advocate hatred towards them, Bozalek said. South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that recognises gay rights and the only one that allows same-sex marriages. In September 2016, South Africa banned an anti-gay American pastor Steven Anderson from entering the country, after an outcry from rights groups over his characterisation of gays as sodomites and paedophiles. Texas added 39,600 jobs in April, and extended its streak of employment growth to 22 months, according to a report released Friday. The states unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in April, an improvement from 4.1 percent in March, which was also the rate this time last year. Its a tick above the national unemployment rate of 3.7 percent for April, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. A separate report released Friday was even more optimistic on the number of jobs added to the Texas economy. The state added 42,500 jobs in April, according to seasonally adjusted and benchmarked payroll employment numbers from by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Texas job growth picked up in April, and year to date the state has added 151,200 jobs the most over a four-month period since the end of 2014, said Keith R. Phillips, Dallas Fed assistant vice president and senior economist in a news release. Combined with continued growth in the leading index, this makes it very likely that job growth will be strong in the second half of 2018. Energy industry jobs continue to accelerate sharply, Phillips noted. The heart of the Permian Basin oil province, Midland, had the states lowest unemployment rate at 2.1 percent, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Neighboring Odessa had an unemployment rate of just 2.8 percent. The Permian Basin is in the middle of a boom with oil prices above $70 per barrel, and the oil field, which extends into eastern New Mexico, had 463 active drilling rigs last week, about 45 percent of all rigs working in the U.S. San Antonio had an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent in April. It had been 3.5 percent in March, and was at 3.3 percent a year ago. The biggest jobs gains in Texas were in manufacturing, which added 8,600 jobs, and professional and business services, which added 7,500 jobs in April. Education and health services added 6,200 jobs, the Workforce Commission said. Texas employers continue to boost the impressive Texas economy by adding 39,600 jobs in April and 332,300 jobs over the year, TWC Chairman Andres Alcantar said in a news release. Our states ongoing trajectory of success is linked to the innovation and competitiveness of employers in a range of industries providing workers more opportunities to demonstrate their world-class skills. Earlier this month, the federal government reported the nation had marked the 91st straight month of hiring growth and a 3.9 percent U.S. unemployment rate the lowest since December 2000 Texas economists and employers for months have been talking about the struggle to find and keep good workers. Amid the tight market for workers, San Antonio-based USAA recently expanded parental leave to 12 weeks and has increased its minimum pay rate to $16 per hour. At Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spas in San Antonio, franchisee Jim Wallace said two months ago he raised base pay for therapists by 15 percent, and he said hes continuously looking for new benefits. We provide scaled down health benefits, we provide a 401(k), we have numerous bonus and incentive programs along with the standard pay, based on performance, he said. And I think most of all were just trying to create an environment that is welcoming and positive. We try to eat together, we have little functions together, we celebrate birthdays. We try to do little things that I think make a difference to people. jhiller@express-news.net | Twitter: @Jennifer_Hiller Front porches dont play the same leading role in home life as they once did. Back in the day, folks would gather on a covered porch to read, listen to the radio or socialize with neighbors sitting on their own front porches. Once considered a status symbol, porch-sitting were even credited with preventing crime. But with the advent of air conditioning, porch-sitting and porches themselves went into decline. Most post-war suburban homes were built with a front porch in name only, usually just a small landing to give visitors a place to wait to be invited inside. Most outdoor living moved to the backyard as these homes figuratively and literally turned their back on the public street. But the traditional covered front porch still serves a useful purpose. Even if theyre not used a lot, porches help mitigate the change between the street and the home interior, said architect Candid Rogers. They serve as a transition between the two and, because they provide shade, they also make the house cooler. And front porches are often integral to an older homes appearance. When architect Jim Poteet of Poteet Architects was restoring the Ike West House in the King William district and its two levels of porches, he went to great lengths to re-create its original beauty. I think its the coolest porch in the neighborhood, said Poteet, who, over the past two decades, has renovated and restored more than 50 properties in the area. Its a great spot to watch the King William Parade, and when you stand on the second floor deck, its like youre on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. The house was built in the 1890s in the French Second Empire style, but the rounded porch wasnt added until sometime during the first two decades of the 20th century. Like a lot of porches in older homes, especially those with southern exposure, this one was vulnerable to the weather. Poteet likens a porch to a boat. Theyre exposed to rain, wind, sun, you name it, he said. If you dont maintain it regularly, painting it annually or at least every other year, it will fall apart. And this one was in pretty bad shape. Still, its a vital part of the present-day home so he rebuilt almost the whole thing, recreating many of the balustrades, the fretwork, flooring and most of the columns and then painting them all as they were originally. Back when the porch was built, wood was almost always painted, he said. But in the 1970s, the mentality became, Wood is fantastic, lets strip off all the paint. But thats not the historic look. Not every porch is all Victorian spindles, brackets and turned balustrades. On Madison Street, as part of a small development built in 2008, Poteet placed a porch on the second floor. Its more of a 1920s, California look thats big enough for four people, and, because its on the second floor, it provides more privacy than a street-level porch, Poteet said of the 96-square-foot, screened-in space made with Spanish cedar that will hold up well to rain. On South St. Marys Street, behind Brackenridge High School theres an example of how a porch helps separate the commercial from residential. In a 1924 building with an ice cream shop downstairs and a one-bedroom apartment upstairs, the second-story porch serves the apartment while shading the entrance to shop downstairs, according to architect Darryl Ohlenbusch, who purchased and renovated the building about 10 years ago. He sold it in 2016. I always thought it was an interesting example of how to combine commercial and residential, but I dont think the place would be livable without the porch, he said. But even more modern bungalows look good with porches. Architect Tobin Smith recently worked with a couple in Alamo Heights whose backyard was devoid of trees, so there was no shaded area for the adults to sit and watch the kids play. As part of an extensive addition that included a new master bedroom, Smith designed a welcoming porch where they could sit and socialize with the neighbors while watching their children play in the tree-shaded front yard. The porch would also serve to stitch together the old part of the house with the new, said Smith. The result, inspired by several Civilian Conservation Corps-era buildings located near the zoo, is what Smith calls a second arbor below the tree canopy. The roof line rises to a crescendo above the front door is supported by a series of partial limestone columns out of which emerge steel supports. The two largest columns flank the front door to define the entry way, with three more that support the rest of the roof. It does everything a good front porch needs to do. Richard A. Marini is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | rmarini@express-news.net | @RichardMarini Last summer, I met with both Sen. Ted Cruz and Congressman Beto O'Rourke on the same day. You'd think that we'd had our fill of campaigns and elections after the 2016 political carousel, but my teacher friends and I wrapped up our school year ready to work. We contacted candidates and representatives thirsty to meet with decision-makers about issues which impact us, like school vouchers and funding. Tired of the spin and soundbites, we knew face-to-face interaction would be key; so, we emailed, we called, we visited offices. It was early July, and one of my friends and I drove to the Sheraton on the North Loop. The nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) had invited Cruz for a closed town hall, and I found tickets by happenstance, hidden within a group discussion on his campaign Facebook page. There was a sign-in table and a place to write questions. Near the door was a small group trying to get in. The patient Cruz staffers explained that a ticket was required. "But where was this publicized?" asked a sassy lady, white curls neatly tucked under her sunhat. She kept poking her cane with emphasis toward the open door. My friend and I walked in, and I counted: 64 seats. Cameras were set up in the back, and the meeting began with introductions by the host and director of CVA, Dan Caldwell. He led the Pledge of Allegiance. Someone in the audience insisted we do the Texas Pledge, too. One by one, each branch of our proud veterans was called, and they stood. We all clapped. Caldwell introduced Cruz and established the rules: They'll take as many questions as they can, but no protests. "If you interrupt or disrupt the event in any way, you will be asked to leave," he said. Sure enough, two people who attempted to disrupt were removed. Good! Those of us who showed up wanted to hear the senator. Cruz and Caldwell continued a back-and-forth for about 20 minutes, after which the senator answered five prescreened questions. Toward the end, though, Caldwell made a huge mistake. He said that while some representatives had been out hiding during recess, "Senator Cruz is not one of them." The crowd of protesters who had maintained civility lost it, and everyone erupted, many in laughter. Cruz was trying to calm down the crowd and yelled, "I was about to thank folks for being civil and respectful," and I took this chaotic moment as a chance. I walked to the stage, right up to him. I found some jumble of words to communicate that I had learned a lot from the town hall I had no idea the Pentagon wasn't audited, and I agreed that it should be. "As a teacher, I'm audited every single year with exams," I remember blubbering. But I had one thing to ask. I begged Cruz to return for an open town hall. I explained that there were people standing outside who hadn't been able to get in, who didn't know to get tickets. Then I shook his hand, and he closed the meeting thanking me and everyone who came, and I took him at his word: He'd be back. My friend and I then walked out of the Sheraton and into the blinding Texas light, where we were both shocked at the contrast Cruz's closed town hall had with our meeting with O'Rourke that morning. GRAY MATTERS: Running with Beto O'Rourke Seven other friends and I had been waiting on the side of the road under U.S. 59. A car pulled up and parked, and O'Rourke's long, Jimmy Stewart-like frame unfolded. He enthusiastically shook our hands and introduced his staff. But there was a problem the coffee shop we picked didn't open for another hour. "No worries," he said. After a quick Google search, he looked up at Nicki Zachary, then a second-year teacher and my former student. "I'll ride with Nicki!," he said. Eyes wide, she jumped into her little sedan with the candidate for the U.S. Senate. We pulled into the nearest place with coffee and spent two hours with him. Tables were pushed together, mugs of coffee steamed. I asked: "Do you meet with your constituents for town halls?" "Yes," he said. "Once a month. I meet my constituents once a month for a town hall anyone can come and I meet specifically with veterans once a quarter." We talked informally about high-stakes testing and the Betsy DeVos confirmation. He asked question after question. By the end of the meeting, he might have asked more question than we had. And while his charm and genuine engagement were indeed magnetic, it was his comment about monthly town halls that left me impressed. Gaby Diaz O'ROURKE ISN'T the only one meeting monthly with constituents. Utah's Republican Senator, Mike Lee, held live town halls once a month for four years, switching over to telephone town halls only last year. This system is similar to Texas Senator John Cornyn's call-out system, though the last time he randomly called Houston constituents was last summer. My Congressman, Ted Poe, also uses it. Cruz's team explains that he has done events "with Q&As" 22 times in 2017. Maria Jeffrey from Cruz's office gave the same figure of 19 town halls that W. Gardner Selby from Politifact partially debunked last year: Three of those "town halls" included the meetings hosted by CVA, which were not announced by his office. And 11 were private meetings. A good friend and fellow "woke" mom contacted me excitedly about Senator Cruz coming to meet exclusively with her company Lockheed and Martin. "What should I ask?" she had messaged me on Facebook. I suggested she ask the most important question a constituent can ask a representative. "When are you planning to host a town hall?" He evaded her question at the private event. GRAY MATTERS: Under the cover of night, Houstonians seek 'missing' senator The truth is that Cruz might have attended "seven events" this year where a few people got to ask him some questions, but his office has organized and hosted no town halls, open, closed or over a telephone system. In fact, his federal Senate office has no call-out system. His campaign, however, does. His Senate and campaign offices said that he does do call outs but only to his campaign supporters. Catherine Frazier from Cruz's campaign office confirmed that he's been doing them since he started running for office. She emphasized, "He's done two in the last few weeks." But schedules or instructions for opting in for these telephone town halls are not displayed on Cruz's Senate page or Senate Facebook page. For a man who mocked "coastal elites" for their "safe spaces" in his piece on President Trump in Time, Cruz seems to hide in safe spaces filled exclusively with an echo chamber of his campaign supporters. Why not call out to all Texas constituents? Eric Gay, STF / Associated Press In contrast again O'Rourke's office has hosted 95 open town halls, not counting the quarterly veterans town halls, since he began his first term in the House of Representatives in 2013 the same year Cruz began his first term. These monthly town halls are organized by O'Rourke's congressional office. Links to the dates and times of the events are clearly posted on his congressional website and congressional Facebook page. His office explains they call out to constituents before the town halls take place to get the word out. Besides the meeting at the coffee shop, I attended an open town hall hosted by his campaign when he returned to Houston. Back in February at Greenhouse International Church, well over 150 Houstonians showed up to ask questions. He began taking open questions when a young woman identified herself in two ways: She was a current student at Harvard University, and she was a Dreamer. "Why did you vote 'yes' on the budget deal when we asked you not to?" she demanded, voice cracking. His own voice dropped an octave, and he slowly responded, "If I thought voting 'no' would've secured a DACA deal, I would've done it. But I don't believe that was going to happen that way." She persisted. "But why didn't you trust us? We needed your 'no' vote" and continued expressing that she was angry and felt betrayed. "I'm glad that you're here telling me how you feel. Even if we disagree, I think it's important that I hear you." That's exactly what he been up to: Besides hosting monthly town halls for his El Paso constituents, through his campaign he has hosted an additional 235 open town halls as he's traveled through 251 of the 254 counties in Texas. THESE MEN are both great guys. Great dads. Passionate speakers. Both bleed Texas. Every time O'Rourke is in El Paso, he walks his children to the same elementary school he attended. "We can't plan anything before school on days he is home, so he can walk them," said Chris Evans, his communications director. "They love it, but he definitely loves it more." Cruz recently tweeted a selfie with his daughter Caroline at "Hamilton" in Houston with the grin of a man in heaven. "Singing, dancing and the Federalist Papers ... a perfect daddy-daughter evening!" In a political universe filled with not-so-great-men, we should consider ourselves lucky to have to choose this November between two amazing fathers and Texans but, then again, we're voting for a senator. And they aren't simply running for the seat; they are competing to define what it means to be a senator. Jake King/Associated Press Once, at a Humanities Texas teacher conference, Charles Flanagan from the National Archives made me break down the Constitution by word count. We made graphs with bright colors. And guess what? Article I, which outlines the powers of Congress, takes up just over half the entire document. It exposes our exultation for representative government. The people should always be in contact with their representatives. Representatives should always be connected with the people. The reality is that if Texans want to bypass the noise and spin of the media right- or left-leaning we have to work to connect with candidates directly. Go to town halls if candidates swing through your city. Bring your list of questions. Call your representatives while waiting at the doctor's office. Email them during your lunch break. If we want to move beyond tired party soundbites, we have to show up and ask the tough questions ourselves. By doing so, we uphold the dream of democracy our founding fathers and mothers worked so hard to preserve. Gaby Diaz is an English teacher in Houston. Get the Gray Matters newsletter. It bleeds Texas. SANTA FE Seventeen-year-old Trey Lemley was one week past prom, two weeks from the end of his junior year. He was surrounded by safe, familiar things. The long tables of the Santa Fe High School art lab. The walls covered in murals and paintings. The friends who had made them. Then, one of his classmates, clad in a trenchcoat, entered the room with a shotgun and a revolver. Trey dropped his phone, flung himself inside a closet and barricaded the door, according to his sister, Courtney Lemley. When Trey came out, three bodies lay on the floor in pools of blood. When Trey came out, the old, safe Santa Fe High School was gone. Now Playing: Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, faces capital murder charges for allegedly going on a rampage at Santa Fe high school Friday morning, that left 10 people dead and another 10 injured. (Houston Chronicle) Video: Staff, Houston Chronicle When Trey came out, he and his district of more than 4,000 students, about 30 miles south of Houston, had joined a growing cadre of U.S. communities with children who will never come home, racked by a mass shooting and represented by political leaders who have no clear consensus on how to stop them. About 7:30 a.m. Friday, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis killed 10 and injured at least 10 more before a Santa Fe school police officer and a Texas state trooper intercepted him. He eventually emerged from the art class and surrendered, according to an arrest affidavit. The school officer, 49-year-old John Barnes, suffered a gunshot to the upper arm, critically wounding him with severe blood loss. The dead included students and an educator. Police also detained two people of interest in the case, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news briefing Friday at the school. One was at the scene and had "suspicious reactions" after the shootings, and officials were unsure whether that person was involved in the attack, Abbott said. The other was being interviewed. Abbott gave no other details about them. Pagourtzis claimed to have acted alone and was cooperating with authorities, said Galveston County Judge Mark Henry, the county's top elected official. Authorities said Pagourtzis deployed inoperable explosive devices, perhaps to stoke fear. They were checking for more devices in Pagourtzis' vehicle and home, about three miles northwest of the school, Abbott said. The dead include students Angelique Ramirez, 15, and Jared Black; and Cynthia Tisdale, a teacher's aide in the art class, according to their family members. Among the injured were Rome Shubert, 16, a member of the school's baseball team who was treated and released after being grazed on the back of the head; student Clayton Horn, shot in the arm and leg; and sophomore Trenton Beazley, one of Shubert's baseball teammates, who was struck in the back by bullet fragments. It was the worst mass shooting in America since Valentine's Day, when 17 people died at a high school in Parkland, Florida, and perhaps the worst school shooting in Texas since Charles Whitman killed 17 in a rampage from his perch in a University of Texas tower in 1966. There have been 16 school shootings nationwide in 2018, according to a database maintained by the Washington Post. The shooting set off another enactment of the nation's familiar scenes of school terror: Students watching classmates die. Fleeing, their belongings searched by armed officers. Parents, tortured by lack of information, flocking to the school and hospitals. Desperate pleas for word of the missing on social media. Blake Wingate, 16, and Kane Hopkins, 15, were getting ready to leave their first-period class near one of the school's three gyms when they heard fire alarms blare. They moved toward a hallway. Three gunshots. Inches away, a window shattered. A teacher screamed for students to run. The teens tried to run back to the gym. The door was locked. Other students joined as they tried to muscle open doors to the second gym. Those were locked, too. They found one unlocked door leading to the third gym and ran across a basketball court and outside to the school's parking lot. Wingate saw a classmate begging for help, holding a teenager, the body limp. He and Kane kept running, intent on escape. Eight people crammed into Wingate's two-door Jeep as more students streamed out of the school and across Highway 6. Wingate drove to Hopkins' house. As they arrived, one friend threw up. They spent the rest of the day watching news and texting friends in a desperate attempt to learn their classmates' fates. They still don't know what happened to a friend whose parents tried and failed to find him at local hospitals. They don't want to go back to school. It doesn't feel safe. "It keeps replaying in my head," Wingate said. "It's a weird story that will stay in my head for the rest of my life. Just how close I was." Other students jumped fences and fled to nearby woods or took shelter behind a mechanic's shop across the freeway. Avari Creekmore, 16, got to school a little late. She heard fire alarms. She saw blood on a hallway floor and heard shooting. "I took off running. I turned and saw him with whatever he had and I ran," she said, referring to the shooter. "I called my mom and said 'We have an active shooter at school,' and she said, 'I'm on my way.'" The odor of gunpowder hung in the air. "I just thought to run away from it," Avari said. "I just thought if he was near me just, God, get out of his sight." Suzannah Salazar, 17, said she heard what sounded like four pops in the nearby art classroom, then she ran. Hours after the shooting, she was still waiting to hear what had happened to her 16-year-old sister, Sarah, who she believes was in the room. "I'm just hoping my sister comes back," she said. "I'm trying to stay as calm as I can." Freshman Kali Reeves, 15, ran to a convenience store on the highway. "All I know is, several are dead, a friend of mine was shot," Reeves said. "I know one girl is dead; she took a shot to the head." Parents rushed to a complex of school district buildings about three miles from the high school, at a landmark known as the Alamo Gym. Some met relief as they found their children there. Others met only frustration. "You shouldn't have to be waiting three hours to hear where your kid is," said Lesley Tribble, a 29-year-old who said she is the legal guardian of student Angelique Ramirez. "She's easily identifiable she has fire-red hair and two lip piercings," Carli Daffern, 14, said of Ramirez, who she said is her best friend and neighbor. "None of us can get any real intel," Tribble wrote in a text message. "We've been calling hospitals asking because we still can't get any names or anything ... (Authorities are) trying to keep people calm but names aren't being released and now certain parents are getting riled up." Leia Olinde, a local business owner, came to look for her aunt, Tisdale, but acknowledged she was growing more concerned. "If everything was fine and she was OK she would have found a way to contact her husband by now," she said. Community members and officers escorted families out of the facility by early Friday evening. Some walked briskly, heads down. Others, sobbing, needed guidance, a supportive hand on an arm. One woman pulled her T-shirt up to cover her face. Officers blocked traffic. Friends or family had cars waiting. The community had seemed to reach a silent agreement that, at the very least, they could help the families leave this place, saturated with 10 solid hours of stress and uncertainty, quickly. Tribble stayed. Just before 6 p.m., she learned Ramirez died. Pagourtzis appeared in the evening before Henry, the county judge, who arraigned him on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault on a public servant. Henry denied bond. Pagourtzis made a quick appearance and stayed mostly silent. He asked for a court-appointed lawyer. Investigators found carbon dioxide canisters wrapped with duct tape but no detonators, and a pressure cooker with an alarm clock and nails, but no explosive, Henry said. They also discovered an unspent Molotov cocktail a bottle filled with flammable liquid. "I think he wanted people to think they were explosives, but they were not," Henry said, adding authorities have no reports of explosions during the shooting. Still, investigators took their time searching Pagourtzis' vehicle and house, several miles from the high school on Highway 6. Pagourtzis used guns owned by his father, Abbott said, and did not have a legal right to possess them. "I have no information ... whether the father knows the weapons were taken," he said. No clear motive emerged, but Abbott said the teen revealed in journals that he had planned to kill himself after the attack. "He didn't have the courage to end his life," Abbott said. The student's social media persona included a photo of a "BORN TO KILL" T-shirt, German nationalist symbols and indications of an affinity for guns. He also participated in a Greek Orthodox dance team, according to a church website. Hopkins and Wingate, who fled the school in the Jeep, said they knew Pagourtzis from the football team and welding classes. "He always wore dark clothes and that trench coat," Wingate said. "He would go outside and sit in a corner. The teacher always had to go out to find him." A woman who answered the phone at a number associated with the Pagourtzis family declined to speak with The Associated Press. "Give us our time right now, thank you," she said. In the arrest affidavit, officers said Pagourtzis told them he avoided shooting students he liked, "so he could have his story told." REACTION: 'Yall been sending thoughts and prayers for two decades now' The high school's Earl Routh Field House turned into a command post for law enforcement. They established a mass casualty unit, and a makeshift morgue. Bodies remained inside the school into the evening. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center put out a call for donations, especially for type O negative. Leaders across the political spectrum condemned the violence. Abbott, a Republican, said he planned to convene a roundtable on school shootings to hear from victims as well as proponents of gun rights. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican from Houston, said a response should be focused on access to schools and retrofitting schools to prevent attacks. He said gun owners should lock them up to keep them safe. Democratic State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, however, tweeted: "Y'all been sending thoughts and prayers for two freaking decades now. Time to try something new." President Donald J. Trump in February promised to stand up to the National Rifle Association to impose new gun restrictions, before telling the NRA in May that the Second Amendment would "never ever be under siege as long as I am your president." On Friday, Trump emphasized keeping guns away from people who shouldn't have them. "This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years. Too many decades now," he said. "We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High, we're with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others." Former Astronaut Mark Kelly, who lived in the area of Santa Fe, near Johnson Space Center, for 15 years, said he and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords were devastated. Giffords was injured in a shooting at an event in her Arizona district in 2011. "It is our moral obligation to protect the vulnerable," Kelly wrote on social media. "The adults, the politicians, are responsible for the safety of children." Santa Fe had an active shooter drill in February, junior Brittany Hale said. It then went on lockdown Feb. 28, 14 days after Parkland, after a threat was reported, junior Jacob Smirkik said. Though school was in session the next day, he said few attended. "This time," he said, "there was no warning." On Thursday, David Hogg, a Parkland student, had a chilling premonition as he spoke to reporters at an event in Los Angeles. "There is someone alive right now that will not be alive at this time tomorrow and has never even thought about gun violence," he said, "but everyone around them will have to for the rest of their lives." Minutes after the Santa Fe shooting, it was becoming clear that the schools would forever be linked. "Santa Fe High, you didn't deserve this," tweeted Emma Gonzalez, an outspoken Parkland survivor. "You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out, we will be there to support you by raising up your voices." Santa Fe students walked out just last month in support of the national protests against gun violence in schools. In one photo that surfaced again Friday, a group of those walking out held up a poster. Someone had scrawled on it in black marker: "Santa Fe High School says #NeverAgain." BREAKING NEWS ALERTS: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news text alerts from the Houston Chronicle. Reporters Todd Ackerman, Gabrielle Banks, St. John Barned-Smith, Keri Blakinger, Dug Begley, Jacob Carpenter, Susan Carroll, Jenny Deam, Matt Dempsey, Kevin Diaz, Robert Downen, Collin Eaton, Lindsay Ellis, Emily Foxhall, Jose Gonzalez, Maggie Gordon, David Hunn, Samantha Ketterer, Jaimy Jones, Lomi Kriel, Brooke Lewis, Mike Morris, Ileana Najarro, Nick Powell, Monica Rhor, Kirk Sides, Mike Snyder, Alex Stuckey, Paul Takahashi and Mike Ward contributed to this report. At least 10 people were killed in a shooting this morning at Santa Fe High School, 30 miles south of Houston. What we know so far: Gunfire broke out around 7:30 a.m. Police say at least 10 people were killed. Suspected shooter identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a junior at the school. Pagourtzis has journals saying he wanted to commit shooting and then commit suicide, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Two people have been detained. Gunman had at least a shotgun and a .38 caliber pistol. Earlier reports indicated he also had an AR-15 style assault rifle and pipe bombs. Weapons belonged to Pagourtzis' father, who legally owned them. Explosive devices were found on and off campus. At least 12 others were injured. They were taken to hospitals including University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and Mainland Medical Center. Santa Fe ISD police officer John Barnes was wounded. He is in critical condition at UTMB. The injured students include Clayton Horn, who was shot in the arm and upper thigh and Rome Shubert, 16, who was grazed in the back of the head by a bullet. Police have blocked off at least a half mile of State Highway 6, about 4 miles northwest of the high school, and bomb technicians are investigating a home. According to public records, the home is Pagourtzis' residence. Explosive devices found in the home and a family car. Now Playing: Santa Fe High School Shooting Video: Houston Chronicle What we don't know: Santa Fe High School shooting locations Click the dots to see what happened in each location. Graphic by Jordan Rubio Names of those killed. Specific locations of explosives on and off campus. The identity or role of the second person detained. More on the Santa Fe shooting: "Shooter identified in Santa Fe shooting that killed 10" "Teen suspect in Santa Fe shooting promoted 'Born to Kill' T-shirt, German nationalist symbols" "John Barnes, officer shot confronting Santa Fe shooter, showing 'good signs'" "Things to know about Santa Fe High School" "President and first lady tweet condolences in wake of Santa Fe school shooting" "Falkenberg: Santa Fe shooting reminds us no one is safe" Our reporters' live updates, via Twitter As odd as it may seem, the best way to preserve a natural habitat on some portions of the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River may be to burn them. For the first time, the San Antonio River Authority is hiring a contractor to conduct a prescribed burn in three areas totaling about 13 acres on a lower section of the Mission Reach to help suppress non-native grasses, such as Bermuda and Johnson grass, and restore soil nutrients. SARA then hopes to cultivate or encourage growth of native trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers that attract wildlife common to the area. Its basically like throwing out fertilizer, Justin Krobot, Mission Reach superintendent at SARA, told about a dozen residents a recent informational meeting. A second meeting is set for 6 p.m. May 31 at Stinson Municipal Airport, 8535 Mission Road. Related: Tenants complain of displacement as new park opens Prescribed burns typically are done with torches that burn gasoline and diesel, with water pumps and sprayers nearby and in coordination with local firefighting jurisdictions. Krobot said they have been done elsewhere in Bexar County, including Government Canyon State Natural Area, the Alamo Ranch master planned community and Madla Park in Grey Forest, a northern suburb of San Antonio. That is something that has been a tried-and-true method for land management in San Antonio for quite some time, Krobot said. SARA officials have monitored areas burned by fires resulting from errant fireworks or other causes on the Mission Reach, and have recorded really good results in controlling non-native plant life and restoration of natural habitats, he said. The burns will be done by Raven Environmental Services, which is insured and licensed through the Texas Department of Agriculture. Brady Alexander, president of the Hot Wells Neighborhood Association, representing an area north of the planned burn zone, said he not only supports the plan but would like to see it used in other green spaces on the Mission Reach that are regularly mowed. He asked that SARA notify property owners once a specific date is set for the burn, so they can stay home that day, or take whatever precautions they feel are needed. Read more: S.A. to have permanent huge selfie wings in Hemisfair SARA selected two spots on 9.5 acres on both sides of the river, about a half-mile east of Stinson Airport, and on the west bank, covering 3.5 acres, just north of Loop 410, based on potential for improvement and natural fire breaks roads, trails or tributaries that help keep a fire contained, Krobot said. Wildlife will have time to vacate, and SARA does not expect protected birds to be nesting in the targeted areas, but is still conducting surveys to be sure, he said. Once the burns are completed, SARA will place signs explaining why the ground is charred. We dont want anybody to come up and say, Hey, what happened here? Krobot said. For more information, contact the Marissa Korth, the projects community relations coordinator, at 210-302-3296 or mkorth@sara-tx.org. Scott Huddleston is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | shuddleston@express-news.net | @shuddlestonSA When Rowan Casillas, 17, was casting about for ideas for the dance piece she would create for the San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet, she settled on a topic that affects many families in San Antonio and across the nation including her own. Since she was a child, Casillas had watched an aunt struggle with schizophrenia, a severe disease marked by hallucinations, delusions and often bizarre behavior. I didnt understand why she acted that way, said Casillas, one of several members of SAMB to choreograph pieces for the companys spring show. Id ask my mother, and shed say, She has mental illness. Id be, like, What is that? Now that shes older, Casillas wants to bring light and dispel stigmas about mental illness with her five-minute dance titled Split-Minded, part of the companys 30th Annual Dance Kaleidoscope on Saturday and Sunday at the Palo Alto College Performing Arts Center. Related: New report shows role of drug use in San Antonio child neglect or abuse deaths More Information Performances The San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet's 30th Annual Dance Kaleidoscope is at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children and $15 for seniors, students over 18 and military. Palo Alto College Performing Arts Center, at South Loop 410 and Texas 16. For more information, call (210) 650-8810 See More Collapse Casillas, who has been dancing ballet since she was a toddler and creating ballet choreography since age 15, saw her piece performed in March at the Regional Dance America/SW Festival in Richardson, outside Dallas. The day after the festival, as members were packing to return to San Antonio, the head of the ballet company was watching TV in her hotel room. A segment on Bring Change to Mind (BR2M), www.bringchange2mind.org, the nonprofit formed in 2010 by actress Glenn Close to reduce stigma around mental illness, came on. It was like the stars were aligning, recalled Karin Connally Heiden, executive director of SAMB, which is open to dancers ages 11 to 17. Rowan had just had her dance performed on this very subject. Back home, Heiden reached out to BC2M, explaining what Casillas dance was about and what it aimed to do. (Close has two family members with mental illness.) The nonprofit jumped at the chance to collaborate, posting a blog Casillas wrote about her dance piece on the BC2M website and allowing the use of its public-service announcements at this weekends performances. Fittingly, May is national Mental Health Awareness month. Keeping a journal On a recent evening, 22 members of SABM gathered in a studio on the North Side to rehearse for the upcoming show. Casillas piece proved a haunting portrayal of the emotional and psychic toll taken by schizophrenia. Performed to the song So Far, by Olafur Arnalds, the nine dancers movements are both flowing and jarring, their hands fluttering at one point to communicate frenzy or despair. I kept a journal (while creating the piece), writing down words that described my aunts behavior, said Casillas, who joined the company when she was 9. I wanted to portray the emotions by connecting each emotion or action to a movement. Casillas doesnt dance in her piece. The lead role belongs to Belleza Mitchell, who happens to be a close friend and classmate of hers in the dance program at the North East School of the Arts at Lee High School, where both are juniors. In another case of the stars aligning, Mitchell, too, has a family member who suffered from schizophrenia, giving her a deep understanding of her role. Mitchell portrays Casillas aunt in the piece, a figure buffeted this way and that by her roiling thoughts and feelings, embodied by the eight other dancers who chase after and torment her. I wanted the dance to portray ambivalence, said Casillas, who has watched her aunt continue to struggle with the reality of her disease. Jacquelin Casillas, Rowans mother, said her husbands sister gets caught in a cycle not uncommon to those who struggle with mental illness. She starts treatment and as soon as shes feeling better, she doesnt want treatment anymore, she said. And then she hits rock bottom. Shell do something very manic or out of the norm and then get into trouble. Chasnoff: A 'breakdown of process' in mental health court Jacquelin said her sister-in-law, now in her 40s, was completely normal until her mid-20s, when she began to isolate herself, plagued with auditory hallucinations and suspicions that the government was trying to control her. Her three children, now grown, struggled as well. Casillas said she has talked to her father about whether the aunt, who lives in San Antonio, should be invited to see the performance, which is sponsored in part by the city of San Antonios Department of Arts and Culture. Hes close to her and Im going to leave it up to him, she said. It took Casillas about six weeks to create the dance, which is the second piece shes done for the company. The young artist, who wants to stay in dance forever, is eyeing either the Boston Conservatory or the University of Missouri conservatory in Kansas City after she graduates from high school. Heiden describes Casillas as passionate and talented. She really thought about this piece, and did research into (mental illness), she said. Shes being responsible in how she portrays this, which I think, for her age, is amazing. Shes doing the work of a seasoned choreographer. Casillas said she simply wanted to help those with loved ones whove suffered with this disease, to enable them to not feel so alone. Above all, I wanted to portray (mental illness) respectfully, she said. Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | @mstoeltje HUNTSVILLE After three canceled death dates in one year, lovers lane killer Juan Castillo was executed Wednesday night despite years of protesting his innocence. He was the sixth man this year to meet his end in the death chamber here. No one from his family was there to watch as he mumbled his final words. To everyone that has been there for me, you know who you are, he said. Love yall. See yall on the other side. Thats it. As the drugs took hold, he struggled to lift his head and look down at his feet. I can taste this, he added. It does burn. He began breathing heavily, then stopped a minute later. He was pronounced dead at 6:44 p.m., 23 minutes after the execution began. He did not apologize to the family of his victim, who came to observe. Fifteen years weve been waiting for this day, said Mark Garcia, the victims brother. Juan decided to take my brothers life, and today was the day that he had to face the consequences. Flanked by his tearful family, Garcia said justice was finally served even though he felt Castillo had gotten off too easy. My brother didnt get a second chance, he said. My brother didnt get to file any appeals or ask for forgiveness. Castillo was sent to death row in 2005 for the slaying of Tommy Garcia Jr., an aspiring local rapper gunned down in a robbery that turned fatal. It all happened in early December 2003, when Castillo and his girlfriend teamed up with another couple to target the 19-year-old musician, prosecutors said. With the promise of sex and drugs, Debra Espinosa Castillos then-girlfriend and Garcias past lover lured the unwitting victim to a secluded make-out spot. There, two men in ski masks later identified as Castillo and his friend Francisco Gonzales attacked the couple as they sat in the car. They tore Garcia from the Camaro and shot him seven times, according to court records. Espinosa and Gonzales both testified that it was Castillo who fired the fatal shots but Castillo has long maintained that he didnt do it. In fact, he said, he wasnt even there. There was never any physical evidence placing him at the scene, but prosecutors used a slew of sources to tie him to the crime. Aside from the eyewitness testimony, three others said theyd heard Castillo confess, and a fourth person said shed seen him wearing the victims distinctive jewelry in the days after the slaying. But in the 13 years since his conviction, some pieces of the case have become less certain. Five years ago, one of the key witnesses against him an informant who met Castillo in Bexar County Jail recanted his testimony. I described what Juan Castillo supposedly told me about the capital murder, ex-inmate Gerardo Gutierrez wrote in 2013. Juan Castillo never told me this information about this capital murder case. This testimony was untrue about Juan Castillo. I made up this testimony to try to help myself. That recantation eventually won Castillo a stay of execution. But when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent the case back to a lower court, the judge deemed that change of heart unreliable and rejected the legal claim within a day before the defense had a chance to weigh in. Its really unusual and strange, Amanda Marzullo, executive director of Texas Defender Services, said at the time. Its a clear due process violation. But Bexar County prosecutor Matthew Howard said the federal courts had already reviewed that claim and rejected it, well before it ever went back into state courts. That affidavit had already floated through the justice system for a while, he said. So it wasnt exactly new evidence by the time it was presented to the CCA. Wednesdays execution date is Castillos fourth in a year. Last Mays date was rescheduled after prosecutors failed to give 90-day notice to the defense. Then, a September execution was pushed back in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and a December death date was called off in light of the recanted testimony. For the second time since the First Baptist Church massacre in November, a wave of secondhand trauma has swept through the community of Sutherland Springs. The first time was on Valentines Day, when 17 people were killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Kris Workman, who was paralyzed from the Sutherland Springs church shooting, which claimed 26 lives, grieved then at the notion that others would feel and know his pain. Jennifer Holcombe struggled to not let herself sink into despair. Sherri Pomeroy couldnt bear to speak. Friday afternoon, after news broke that at least 10 people were killed by a student at Santa Fe High School near Galveston, Julie Workman drove home from work, sobbing. Here we go, Workman, who narrowly survived the First Baptist Church shooting, said while driving. When is it going to stop? What are we going to do to make it stop? My heart breaks. Just immediate tears. To have somebody go through this again, she said. THE GUNMAN'S WIFE: Wife of Sutherland Springs gunman Devin Kelley speaks for first time about day of the massacre Jennifer Holcombes daughter would have turned 2 years old Thursday. The girl and her father, Danny Holcombe, were killed in the First Baptist Church right beside Jennifer. Holcombe added flowers to her daughters grave Thursday. She woke up Friday to news of another mass shooting. The first thought was of the parents that have to go through knowing theyve lost a child, because Ive been there, she said. Im just hoping they have some kind of support to help through it. She, Workman and other Sutherland Springs residents went to a retreat Friday in Schulenburg. The idea was to provide comfort and relief after the six-month anniversary of the church shooting. To bring peace, as Workman said. Now they are also praying and grieving for the Santa Fe families. Because so many of us have been through this, we cant not think about them and pray for them, Holcombe said. Frank Pomeroy, the Sutherland Springs pastor who lost his 14-year-old-daughter, Annabelle, in the shooting, spent the morning comforting his wife, Sherri. He said he worried about politicians and activists turning the shooting into a political conversation. We need to have intelligent discourse when it comes to gun control and gun ownership. But to do so, you dont need heated individuals in the room that have already made up their minds, he said. His point of view contrasts those of the student activists in Parkland, who argue that the aftermath of mass shootings is when passing gun control legislation is most possible, because the public eye is focused on the tragedy and empathy is running high. Pomeroy said he hopes the families have faith, if only because he cant imagine having gone through what he did without it. He says its what saved him. If we find something bigger, beyond ourselves, thats what heals ourselves, he said. Workman said that life is unfair, but it doesnt have to be not this badly. We should be able to grow old and love on our families and die from old age. Not from some horrific event that people have inflicted on one another, she said. We as human beings that have every technology, we shouldnt be acting like this. We should be loving one another, not harming one another. Pomeroy said seeing the news opens wounds. While many people across the country will be saying they cant imagine what the families and students of Santa Fe High School are going through, there are some who can imagine. In Sutherland Springs, all they have to do is think of Nov. 5. Those that have kids, love on your kids. Those that have parents, let the parents know that theyre loved, Workman urged. And those that are hurting, weve got to find a way to help them understand that thisll pass. Youll get through this. Silvia Foster-Frau is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | @SilviaElenaFF Lets move on from the now-moot question of whether San Antonio should have submitted a bid for the 2020 Republican National Convention. That debate is so two-weeks-ago. Lets also temporarily put aside the important issue of whether Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the City Council violated either the spirit or the letter of the Texas Open Meetings Act by deciding against a convention bid behind closed doors. (The Express-News has filed a formal complaint with the Texas Attorney Generals Office over this issue.) As the RNC bid debate slowly recedes into our collective rearview mirror, new questions have emerged: Was there a recording of that executive session? And, if not, what did the city do to document what happened? The Open Meetings Act requires that all closed-door meetings by governmental bodies (with the exception of legal consultations from an attorney) be documented either with an audio recording or a certified agenda. Related: Council spat over Brockhouse request for investigation boils over For more than 20 years, the San Antonio City Council has opted for the certified agenda option, with meeting notes taken by the city clerk. Councilman Greg Brockhouse, Nirenbergs bestest buddy (but only on International Sarcasm Day), has a big problem with that. On Tuesday, Brockhouse sent an email to his colleagues, calling for the audio recording of future executive sessions. In a Wednesday press release, Brockhouse said, Based on my efforts to ensure complete and total transparency, recording all Closed Door Executive Sessions will provide for a detailed record of events. In my view it will also ensure a total compliance by all Members in the Closed Session. Brockhouse said he became more convinced of the need for audio recording after viewing certified agendas for two executive sessions held by the council during Brockhouses first year in office: the May 3 meeting on the RNC bid and a January 25 session which resulted in City Manager Sheryl Sculley receiving a $75,000 bonus. In both cases, Brockhouse disagreed with the decisions and objected to the fact that they were made away from the public eye. He said the certified agendas for both of those meetings, which he asked to see on Tuesday, are a joke. One sentence. Brockhouse added, Any interested party that wants to sue to find out whats going on behind closed doors, theres no record of it. Theres nothing. Its a black hole. Chasnoff: Decision to keep council meeting on RNC closed may have been a violation Brockhouse argues that the city is violating the Open Meetings Act, which defines a certified agenda as a true and correct record of the proceedings. The law also stipulates that certified agendas include a statement of the subject matter of each deliberation and a record of any future action taken. This definition begs the following question: How much written information is required to provide a true and correct record? That question vexed Jim Mattox 30 years ago when, as Texas attorney general, he faced an inquiry from the executive director of the Commission on Jail Standards. In a 1988 opinion (JM-840), Mattox concluded that a certified agenda need not be a verbatim transcript of an executive session, but must be more than a one or two word list of the subjects discussed. That leaves plenty of interpretive wiggle room. The main purpose of documenting closed-door meetings is to offer legal proof that the governmental body didnt overstep the requirements of the Open Meetings Act. Neither recordings nor certified agendas of executive sessions are available through open-records requests. A member of the public can only see them by court order, in the case of a lawsuit. The greater the likelihood of violation, Mattox wrote, the greater the detail necessary. City Attorney Andy Segovia said Thursday that the certified agendas seen by Brockhouse meet the legal requirements of that Open Meetings Act. While Segovia considers certified agendas to be satisfactory, he said hes not opposed to the concept of recording executive sessions. Were looking into what other major cities in Texas do and well probably have a discussion with the mayor and the clerk as to what to do next, he said. Garcia: Nirenberg letter draws rebuttal from RNC official The underlying issue is that Brockhouse believes the council has been using executive sessions to make policy decisions, which should be reserved for open meetings. He pointed to both the Sculley bonus and the RNC discussion as examples of the council trying to get around transparency requirements by reaching consensus without technically taking a vote. Were violating the rules here and weve turned executive session into our own consensus-building policy enacting, Brockhouse said. And its got to end. I consider the record-keeping incredibly inadequate, not meeting the law and leaving the city open to very serious litigation. @gilgamesh470 Gilbert Garcia is a San Antonio Express-News columnist. Read more of his stories here. | ggarcia@express-news.net | @gilgamesh470 GREENWICH - The assistant principal at Cos Cob School was honored with a statewide award, thanks to her great relationship with parents at her elementary school in Greenwich. Cos Cob School Assistant Principal Barbara Oxer was presented with the Connecticut PTAs 2018 Outstanding Assistant Principal of the Year Award. Nominated by members of the Cos Cob School PTA, Oxer was acknowledged for her leadership for learning, strength in communication, active participation in community, continuous personal professional development, and providing learning opportunities for her staff. Barbara is a committed and talented professional, who approaches her role with humility, candor and good humor, said Phoebe Lindsay, co-chair of the Cos Cob PTA and parent nominator. Her positive impact on Cos Cob School can be measured by the improvements made to our educational practices and school environment, as well as the trust she engenders among parents. Lindsay praised Oxer for going the extra mile to help students, families, staff and the community. Barbara has developed personalized learning workshops and guided the use of Schoology for staff, implemented the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports program and established a mindfulness room, Lindsay said. She teaches financial literacy after school pro bono and is devoted to Special Education families. As an elected member of the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting and active member of district committees, her positive influence extends well beyond our school. She received the award at the organizations annual awards dinner in Rocky Hill on April 25. WESTPORT A 42-year-old Westport man has been arrested for allegedly possessing nearly 5,000 images of child pornography. Michael Spero was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree possession of child pornography. In February 2018, the Connecticut State Police Computer Crime Unit forwarded two Cyber Tips to the Westport Police Department involving images of child pornography that had been uploaded to the internet. Sgt. Sereniti Dobson of the Westport Police Youth Division initiated an investigation and was able to determine both images were uploaded from the same residence. Through her investigative efforts, Dobson identified the suspect who uploaded the images as Michael Spero, 42, of Westport. On April 23, members of the Westport Detective Bureau, with the assistance of the regional Technical Investigation Unit, executed a search warrant at Speros residence. While searching Speros bedroom, officers located psilocybin mushrooms and narcotic pills. He was taken into custody on the narcotic violations and charged with possession of narcotics and possession of a hallucinogen. He was released after posting $2,500 bond. We made an on-scene arrest for the narcotics charges and then we had to forensically examine all the electronic devices, Westport Lieutenant Jillian Cabana said. During the course of the search, various electronic devices were also seized and later examined. Speros devices were found to contain over 4,900 images of child pornography. Theres not a higher charge than that, Cabana said, noting that people who receive the charge of first degree possession of child pornography possess a minimum of 50 or more visual depictions of child pornography. Generally for stuff related to child pornography people tend to save the images and treasure and collect them ovre time. Usually if theres one image, theres definitely more than one, Cabana said. Dobson applied for a warrant for Speros arrest, which was later granted by a judge. On Thursday, Spero turned himself in on the active arrest warrant. Spero was held on $100,000 bond and was transported to Norwalk Court later that morning for arraignment. 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Born and raised in Setauket, Long Island, Caleb Brewster left his home at the age of 19, seeking adventure as a whaler. With war brewing, he returned in 1775 and joined the local militia, where he became a lieutenant. Looking for more action, in 1777, he joined the Second Continental Artillery. Stationed in Connecticut, he was able to take part in raids on British-held areas of Long Island. He also had a commission to operate as a privateer in Long Island Sound, capturing British vessels and provisions. In August 1778, Brewster wrote to George Washington from Norwalk, volunteering to spy on the enemy in Long Island. Washington eagerly accepted. Brewster is best known for the role he played in the Culper Spy Ring during the Revolutionary War. Operating out of Black Rock harbor in Fairfield from 1778 until 1783, Brewster engaged in many successful raids and expeditions against the British on Long Island, and carried intelligence across Long Island Sound to Washingtons headquarters. After the war ended, he married Anne Lewis and they settled in their own house in Black Rock. He opened a blacksmith shop near the wharves in Black Rock harbor, on what is now Brewster Street. A livestock farm situated on the banks of Loch Tay with over 91 acres of land has been put up for sale in Stirlingshire. Rynachulaig Farm, on sale for offers over 470,000, is a productive and compact livestock farm, situated in an elevated position with views over the loch and surrounding hills. The farm includes 36 hectares (91.38 Acres) of productive hill ground and pasture land, a modern farmhouse built in 2016, a range of modern farm buildings and farmyard, and the title rights to graze 300 ewes on an area of adjoining hill ground owned by the National Trust for Scotland. Property consultants Galbraith is handling the sale. They say it is an "excellent opportunity" to acquire a compact working farm in a "lovely location". The modern farmhouse is two years old (Photo: Galbraith) Duncan Barrie, who is handling the sale for Galbraith said: This area is well known sheep farming country and the proximity to Stirling Agricultural Centre is a notable bonus. The farmhouse is two years old and is in excellent condition inside and out. The house has the potential to be extended, subject to the necessary planning consents, on the upper level. Mr Barrie added: The purchaser of Rynachulaig will be able to step in and continue the farming business in a relatively straightforward manner. This could be an ideal opportunity for anyone wishing to farm on a small-scale and enjoy the beauty of this part of the country. The farmland has been classified by the James Hutton Institute as being Grade 4.2 and the land has carried approximately 450 of a hefted sheep flock in recent years. The existing hefted sheep flock on the farm is offered along with the farm by separate negotiation. Rynachulaig Farm is located in an area renowned for the high quality of its stock and sporting opportunities. The surrounding areas are also well catered for by a range of agricultural suppliers and facilities including the market at Stirling Agricultural Centre which provides an outlet for stock reared on the farm. For further details please contact the firms Stirling office on 01786 434600. An inquiry is to be launched looking into the governments proposals for a new environmental watchdog. It will also look at government proposals to bring environmental principles into UK law after leaving the EU. Defras consultation on Environmental Principles and Governance after leaving the European Union sets out how the Government plans to replace the role of the EU in enforcing environmental rules. It also contains proposals to bring the EUs environmental principles into UK law. But the new watchdog will not be ready in time for exit day in March 2019, and farm and green groups have criticised the proposed watchdog as "toothless". The CLA, a rural organisation representing farmers and landowners, has criticised the watchdog as "adding confusion and complexity" to environmental policy. Mary Creagh MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee who will be launching the inquiry, said: The EUs role in holding successive governments to account has transformed the UK from the dirty man of Europe in the 1970s, to a world leader on the environment. Ministers must ensure that our treasured natural spaces and iconic British species, and our ability to hold the Government to account on air pollution are not lost by leaving the EU. We will be looking closely at whether the Governments proposals live up to its promises to keep high environmental standards after leaving the EU. The Committee aims to conclude its inquiry in time to report before the Governments environment consultation closes on 2nd August 2018. Submissions for the inquiry should therefore be made by 5pm on Friday 1st June 2018. Later submissions will be accepted, but may be too late to inform the Committees report. Two thirds of people with dementia are based in rural areas, with the percentage of older people occupying rural areas as high as 56%, leading many to feel very isolated. Ahead of Dementia Action Week (21-27 May), the Alzheimers Society has launched the first ever dementia friendly guide for rural communities. It calls on people in rural areas to address isolation for those with dementia to take action and get better support. Dementia is the UKs biggest killer with someone developing it every three minutes yet the charity says too many face it alone. Already over 350 areas have embraced dementia friendliness, ensuring people with dementia are empowered to live a life they want in their community. The 'Dementia: Rural Communities Guide' details how the double jeopardy of living in a rural community and having dementia means many people feel excluded and disempowered and unable to access support. The guide has been launched at the Devon County Show in Exeter. Sector representatives from the farming industry discussed the current issues faced by people with dementia in rural communities and the need for these communities to commit to becoming dementia-friendly. The event heard how individuals, rural businesses and farming sectors have a key role to play to help those with dementia in rural areas. Initiatives already succeeding in making rural communities dementia friendly include Rural Plus, a campaign that the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs set up in. The police have released a picture of a couple they would like to speak to after reports of sheep worrying. Derbyshire police rural crime have released the follows reports of a dog chasing sheep in Shardlow. The incident is alleged to have happened at around 2pm on Monday, April 30. A Dalmatian dog was seen to be chasing sheep in a field just off London Road. The police said the sheep became "very distressed" after apparently being chased down the field by a Dalmatian type dog. PCSO Kerry Wallington-Waite, who is a member of the team said: We would like to speak to the couple in the photo about the incident and so would ask anyone who thinks they know who they are to make contact with me. Dog walkers need to be careful when they are walking their pets in such locations, whilst it is very tempting to let dogs off their leads their natural instincts can be to chase sheep. This can be dangerous for the sheep and affects the livelihood of the farmers. PCSO Wallington-Waite added: It is a criminal offence for the keeper or owner of the dog to allow it to worry livestock and are liable for any damage caused, so we would urge dog walkers to keep the pet on a lead when walking in such areas. " If you recognise the couple in the photo please contact PCSO Wallington-Waite on 101 quoting reference number 18*204114. Scottish farmers have welcomed a consultation towards strengthening the rules on responsible dog ownership around livestock. MSP Emma Harper has announced to bring forward a consultation on a Members Bill to tackle livestock worrying following pressure from farmers. With an increase in the number of devastating dog attacks on sheep throughout Scotland, NFU Scotland has been pushing the message that dogs need to be controlled around livestock. The union says authorities need to have clear powers when dealing with such incidents. Ms Harper, SNP MSP for the South Scotland region said: I am quite concerned about the amount of livestock worrying that has happened and it may be that I can encourage the Government to help support legislative change, amendments or even a members bill. The announcement follows comments by another MSP, who said recent sheep worrying incidents in Scotland is "nothing short of disgraceful". Kate Forbes MSP denounced such incidents as "wretched", and has also called for the introduction of mandatory leads on dogs around livestock. 'Serious increase' Following on from the Ms Harper's announcement, NFU Scotland President Andrew McCornick said that livestock worrying is an issue which is effecting farmers the length and breadth of Scotland. It is undeniable that there has been a serious increase in the number of incidents reported, Mr McCornick said. We know that a huge number of instances go unreported, so the real scale of the issue is likely to be even greater than what is in the public domain. I am delighted that Emma Harper is taking a Members Bill to the Scottish Parliament and I look forward to working with her, to push through this badly needed legislative change. The union has been educating members of the public to put their dogs on leads around livestock at all times, but it says now is the time for affirmative action. We want people to enjoy the countryside, but we do not want to sacrifice the livelihood of farmers and crofters just because a minority of dog walkers refuse to put their dogs on a lead, Mr McCornick added. Rise of attacks Rural insurer NFU Mutual recently revealed that the cost of claims related to livestock worrying has reached a record level of 1.6 million across the UK. The figures follow the release of a report by the All Party Parliamentary Animal Welfare Group which shows more than 1,800 farm animals have been killed by dog attacks in the space of four years. However, social media is proving an effective tool to educate dog owners on the importance of keeping dogs under control around livestock. It focuses not only on the devastation that can be caused for the farmer, but also to the dog owner if the animal is shot, or later put down. Two farmers died in a slurry accident after entering it to remove a blockage, an inquest into their deaths has explained. Alexander Forman, 32, and Richard Pooley, 36 entered the slurry pit on Newlands Farm, East Yorkshire, in December 2015. Its likely the two men went into the slurry pit to clear a blockage, Hull Coroner's Court heard. According to pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, the farmers entered the pit and drowned in pig manure. He said the pair would have been overcome with toxic slurry fumes within a matter of seconds. No criminal charges have been brought against anyone in connection with the tragedy, the officer of the case concluded. The inquest will continue for its second day (18 May). Slurry incidents According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), incidents involving slurry occur regularly on farms in the UK. These incidents include people, not just farmers, being overcome by toxic gases, drowning as a result of a fall into slurry or liquid stores, or being injured from the collapse of structures containing slurry. Slurry is broken down by bacterial action which produces gases. Slurry gas includes methane, carbon monoxide, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide, all of which can create a risk to human and animal health. Some gases are flammable, others are toxic and some will displace oxygen from the air, causing a risk of asphyxiation. Agriculture remains the most dangerous profession in the UK yet many of the fatalities and serious injuries reported each year can be easily avoided. Figures from the HSE have revealed that in 2016/17, agriculture had the highest rate of fatal injury, around 18 times higher than the All Industry rate. The news about Irrfan Khans ill health had shocked one and all. The actors health became an issue of concern as he had to start shooting for Vishal Bhardwajs next with Deepika Padukone but couldnt start the shooting schedule due to his deteriorating condition at that time. Soon after, Irrfans wife wrote an open letter for everyone to know what the family was going through as Irrfan was battling neuroendocrine tumor. The actor was soon taken to the best doctors in the USA and his treatment has been going on ever since. Irrfan was active on social media before falling ill and he had also informed everyone about his battle with tumor through Twitter, however, since his condition became serious, the actor was not seen being active on social media at all.But, now after a lot of days, Irrfan took to Twitter to wish the team of Karwaan all the best. The film stars, Mithila Palkar, Dulquer Salmaan and Irrfan himself. Irrfan wrote, Beginnings have the innocence that experience can't buy. My best wishes to @dulQuer , @mipalkar for joining the karwaan. Two karwaans ' .... Mine and the movie !! @MrAkvarious @RSVPMovies@ RonnieScrewvala. Actor Dulquer Salmaan was quick to reply to him by saying, Thank you so much sir ! Couldn't have asked for a better beginning than with you! Wishing and praying for your speedy recovery always! The film is slated for release on August 10, 2018. We wish Irrfan a speedy recovery! It was honour to receive Award on behalf of legend @SrideviBKapoor at @Festival_Cannes yesterday for her outstanding contribution in indian cinema n shared my experience with impeccable inimitable actor to western audience hosted by Titan Reginald F. Lewis film honours AA pic.twitter.com/5QZsTYtVkG Subhash Ghai (@SubhashGhai1) May 17, 2018 It was a few months ago when Bollywoods biggest female star Sridevi passed away due to accidental death in Dubai. As her fans globally mourned this huge loss, close friends and family offered their solid support to husband Boney Kapoor and her young daughters Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor. Her sudden demise had the entire nation in shock. Just recently the actress was honoured with the National Award for Best Actress (MOM) and her family was present in New Delhi to receive the honour. Remembering the timeless beauty yet again, the ongoing Cannes Film Festival 2018 had a special mention for Sridevi.The late actress was honoured at the Titan Reginald F Lewis Film Honours for her contribution to the Indian cinema. Since Boney Kapoor along with daughter Janhvi and Khushi couldnt attend Festival De Cannes which they had to, it was filmmaker Subhash Ghai and producer Namrata Goyal who received the honour on their behalf.After receiving the award on her behalf, Subhash Ghai tweeted, It was honour to receive Award on behalf of legend @SrideviBKapoor at @ Festival_Cannes yesterday for her outstanding contribution in Indian cinema n shared my experience with impeccable inimitable actor to western audience hosted by Titan Reginald F. Lewis film honours Meanwhile, commenting on Sridevi being honoured at the Cannes this year, husband Boney Kapoor said, Im happy that people from the world over are recognising her body of work and her contribution to cinema. Even though the overwhelming emptiness of losing her remains, its comforting to know that she lives on through her work. Janhvi, Khushi and I are overwhelmed with the recognition and tributes and love of millions of her fans being showered on her. Her work and life has touched so many hearts across the world and she has been an inspiration to millions. She will live forever, thanks to her body of work.We must admit, Indian cinema will never be the same without the late Sridevi. Shwetha Menon Yes, we are talking about popular Malayalam actress Shwetha Menon, who was a model herself. Interestingly, the actress was also a part of the Miss India contest of the year 1994 and she was in the race for the title. The actress was placed at the third spot behind Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya rai and she won the second runner-up title. The Super Model After that, Shweta Menon also competed at the Miss Asia Pacific in 1994 and the actress had entered the semi final. In fact, Shweta Menon also went on to become the first ever Gladrags female super model. The Debut.. In fact, Shwetha Menon made it to the films, much before she sparkled at the beauty contests. Her debut film was the Mammootty starrer Anaswaram, which had hit the theatres in 1991. Later, the actress also went on to appear in Bollywood. The Talented Actress.. It wouldn't be wrong to tag Shwetha Menon as one of the most talented actresses around in Mollywood. Over the years, she groomed herself as a talented actress doing versatile roles and rightly, she won the Best Actress title at the Kerala State Film Awards, two times. Story Bharat (Vijay Antony) is a successful doctor who practices medicine in the US. Critical situation arises in his family when his mother suffers from kidney failure and he steps forward to donate one of his own. It is then he learns that he is indeed an adopted son which makes him travel to India in quest of his biological parents. Why was he abandoned? Would he be able to trace his actual parents? Does he encounter any obstacles during his journey? Upside & Downside Upside Vijay's subtle performance Songs & background music No over the top actions Downside Flat screenplay at times Lack of commercial elements Performances Vijay Anthony has rendered his usual best with subtle and measured performance. He knows his strength and weakness and hence, chooses his movies suiting his demand and capabilities. Anjali & Sunaina have done justice to their roles adding weightage to the movie. The rest of the cast and crew have chipped in with their share of contributions. Technical Aspects Along with actor Vijay Anthony, it's the music director in him, who has scored well. The background music holds the audience back to the seat while songs are not left behind. Arumbey single track, which was released few months ago is a chartbuster. Editing is adequate which doesn't spike the viewing experience nor lets the audience down. Cinematography by Richard M Nathan is one of the key drivers of the movie. Kaali travels from the USA to India with different locations and varied lighting. He has handled the camera well and offers a good viewing experience. Director Kiruthiga Udayanidhi's name was doing rounds after the release of Vanakkam Chennai for her impressive debut. Being associated to a prestigious family and the wife of actor-producer Udayanidhi Stalin, Kiruthiga, had her own name chiselled after her debut movie. Though Kaali speaks about its own merit, the screen treatment could have been better considering its interesting storyline. Nonetheless, Kiruthiga scores pretty well with her overall rendition of output. Mahesh Bhatt Pays Tribute To Reema Lagoo On Her First Death Anniversary It has to be recalled that Reema played the role of Dayawanti on the show. The director of the show, Mahesh Bhatt shared an emotional post about Reema on her first death anniversary. Reema Infused Life Into His Show Naamkaran Mahesh Bhatt wrote, "Reema Ji began her journey with me with Aashiqui. She was an exceptional person and an actor with great emotional depth. It was she who infused life into my show Naamkaran . I am so fortunate to have met her on this journey of life. ." - (sic) Fans Paid Tribute To The Veteran Actress, Want Naamkaran 2 Even fans got emotional and paid tribute to the late veteran actress. A few fans were also upset that they lost their favourite actress on this date (May 18), and losing their favourite show on the same date as well! They requested the director to bring Naamkaran Season 2. Read Tweets: Aarhaam "What a tribute u have given we never seen like this 1death anivarsary u closed the show thank u @MaheshNBhatt #Naamkarann." - (sic) Jitendra Yadav "She is living as real mother for all movie lovers in Indian Cinema. And ashiqui is always blinking in my mind with strongest mother role. Thanks bhatt Sir to bring her in front of all of us. Wishing you best always. She is always alive in our heart and souls." - (sic) Ramamurthy "A wonderful versatile actress.Still remember her comedy serials like.Tu tu mein mein and Shrimanjee aur Shrimati..." - (sic) Beema "18th,may 2017 we lost her. 18thmay 2018 we lost our show naamkaran. We give love support and time to them. But thy give nothing. today iam crying badly because I lost my most interesting show naamkaran.when the last episode see istop watching star plus I can do." - (sic) Nancy "Bhatt sir for sake of Reema mam or a tribute to a legendary actress plz give Naamkaran season 2 it's a humble request from all Naamkaran fans we don't want to miss excellent show and excellent team zain and aditi plz sir just one more season with Naamkarann zain and aditi." - (sic) Pawan "When i know about namkaran will be stop in few days. Then I. Cry sir. And our mind is stressed so sir dont stop namkaran. If you do this. Sir plese start the new season of this show with avni and neil specially both not others avni ir neil ye jodi hi best hai sir." - (sic) Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Leap This is one of the major leaps happening on the show. The most awaited leap was the introduction of Naira in Rishikesh, and the next one was the Cape Town leap. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Revamp Talking to India-forums about the revamp of the show, the actress said, "It is going to be new, and different, and very exciting. There will be drama, inner emotions, and everything else." Viewers Will Witness More Drama & Emotions, Post Leap She further added, "The viewers are going to love the episodes, and we are super busy shooting for them currently, so yes, there's a lot that the viewers will get to witness." Kartik & Naira Complete Two Years Of Togetherness On Screen! Meanwhile, Mohsin has completed two years of shooting on the show, and the characters Kartik & Naira have completed two years of togetherness on screen. Mohsin Completes Two Years Of Shooting On YRKKH Posting a picture, Mohsin wrote, "Kartiks Surprise bday and completing 2 Years shooting in Yeh rishta !!! Mashallah time flew... #kaira to complete 2 years on 18th May inshallah." - (sic) Mohsin Wishes Shivangi The actor also wished Shivangi Joshi, advance happy birthday (the actress is celebrating her birthday today i.e., May 18) and wished his fans Ramadan mubarak! The actor wrote, "Advance mai Happy Bday to this Beautiful girl...May Lord give u much more Success. God bless Always!!! Chand Mubaarak and Ramzaan mubaarak to all." - (sic) #2yearsofKaira Sharing a throwback picture, the actor further wrote, "It was during this blessed time 2 years back we started with Yeh rishta Mashallah. Time Certainly Flew !!! #2yearsofKaira Tb to #greece." - (sic) Shivangi & Mohsin On screen Camaraderie & Chemistry When Shivangi was asked about her on her on screen camaraderie and chemistry with Mohsin Khan, she told Pinkvilla, "Mohsin and I help each other a lot during scenes and we make sure to rehearse and get it right so that the onscreen understanding replicates." Mohsin Is Very Sweet And Caring On Sets Too She further said, "He is a very supportive co-star and a good actor. We both work equally hard to make sure the chemistry comes out right on the show. He is very sweet and caring on sets too." WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - CBS Corp.(CBS.A, CBS) and the Special Committee of its Board of Directors, issued statement regarding the decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery to deny a motion for a temporary restraining order brought by CBS and the members of a Special Committee of its Board of Directors. CBS said, 'The judge today found that the allegations in our lawsuit 'are sufficient to state a colorable claim for breach of fiduciary duty against Ms. Redstone and NAI as CBS's controlling stockholder.' We could not agree more. While we are disappointed that the judge did not grant a TRO, the ruling clearly recognizes that we may bring further legal action to challenge any actions by NAI that we consider to be unlawful, and we will do so. We remain confident that we will prevail in the lawsuit previously filed by CBS and the members of its Special Committee.' Separately, the Board of Directors of CBS Corporation, in a unanimous vote of the directors not affiliated with National Amusements, Inc. or 'NAI', declared a pro rata dividend of 0.5687 shares of Class A common stock for each share of the Company's Class A common stock and Class B common stock to stockholders of record on the record date, as is permitted under CBS's charter. The payment of the dividend is conditioned on a final determination by the Delaware courts, including a final decision on or the exhaustion of time for any appeals, that the dividend is permissible. The record date for the dividend will be 10 days following such final determination by the Delaware courts or on the next business day after the end of such 10-day period. The payment date is expected to occur five business days after the record date or as soon as practicable thereafter. The Company believes that the written consents delivered by NAI purporting to amend the Company's bylaws are neither valid nor effective. The dividend, if issued, would dilute NAI's voting interest from approximately 79% to approximately 20%. The dividend would not dilute the economic interests of any CBS stockholder. CBS said its board has taken this step because it believes it is in the best interests of all CBS stockholders, is necessary to protect stockholders' interests and would unlock significant stockholder value. If consummated, the dividend would enable the Company to operate as an independent, non-controlled company and more fully evaluate strategic alternatives. At the same time, in light of the recent actions by NAI and the pending litigation in the Delaware Chancery Court, the Board of Directors determined to postpone its 2018 annual meeting of stockholders that was previously scheduled to take place tomorrow. The Board will determine shortly a new record date for the meeting and will publicly announce the new date, time and location. The postponement will provide all constituents with additional time to consider all pertinent matters before the annual meeting. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de BANGKOK, May 18, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The past fiscal year was one of the most lucrative years for VGI. We achieved a record revenue of THB 3,936 million - a significant growth of 29%, and the highest in the company's history. Our EBITDA expanded by 25% to THB 1,691 million, while our adjusted net profit rose considerably by 28% to THB 964 million.All of our business segments have contributed to this success. The diversification of our product mix; the extended digital portfolio of Master Ad Plc (MACO) - our main outdoor media service provider - and the synergies between VGI and Rabbit Group - our lifestyle solutions company - are among the key factors."Our strategy is clear, VGI branched out beyond being an Out-of-Home ("OOH") media provider to the online world, where we have successfully integrated our world-class offline and online platforms to create an Offline-to-Online ("O2O") advertising service, thereby solidifying our role as the market leader in the country. In fact, this strategy has proven to be a major factor driving our strong performance, helping to generate additional income of THB 336 million. This year, we also commenced our collaboration with AIS, the leading telecommunications operator; hence we can expect to see more positive results in the year to come," said Nelson Leung, Deputy CEO of VGI.On 17 May 2018, VGI's Board of Directors approved the cash dividend payment from the operating results of the second half of 2017/18 at THB 0.054 per share (subject to the resolution of 2018 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which will be held on 5 July 2018). In addition, the Board approved an intention to sell VGI Malaysia to Master Ad Plc, VGI's subsidiary. VGI Malaysia is our overseas platform with a diversified OOH business portfolio covering transit media in Malaysia and Indonesia, airports, cinemas, buses as well as modern trade. "We want to place a stronger focus on building the most robust Offline-to-Online ecosystem in Thailand and have seized this great opportunity to sell our international business to MACO, who will be our arm's-length for regional expansion," said Leung.The Board has also approved an intention to acquire Kerry Express Co., Ltd ("Kerry"), Thailand's leading parcel delivery company. Kerry Express expanded its business alongside the e-commerce and social media booms in recent years. Today, Kerry Express delivers more than 750,000 parcels per day via its 600 distribution centres, 12,000 vehicles and 2,000 service points. Kerry Express is also an active partner of Rabbit LinePay, it pioneered LinePay-on-delivery ("LOD") service since July 2017. Now Kerry Express is one of Rabbit LinePay's largest merchants. In the 2017 financial year, it made a total revenue of over THB 6,578 million obtaining a net profit of THB 733 million, an increase by 105% and 138% from 2016, respectively."With the acceleration of Internet access and the increasing popularity of smartphones, the advertising landscape is rapidly changing. Digital and online marketing is now the "go-to" choice for advertisers. Therefore, advertising is no longer just about creating awareness, but engaging consumers with brands. The logistics capabilities enhanced through our partnership with Kerry Express will enable us to effectively deliver our services to respond to this fast-growing trend. We are confident this new business approach will contribute to our future success, as reflected in our new vision "Pioneering Solutions for Tomorrow" to be unveiled on May 23," said Leung.About VGI Global Media Plc (Stock Code VGI.BKK)Established in 1998, VGI has been committed to be Thailand's most customer-oriented media company. This rich heritage defines who we are and what we do today. VGI was the No. 1 out-of-home media platform having its media in Transit, Office, Outdoor, Aviation and Activation with over THB 6,800mn inventory million on hand. Now, VGI is the unique market leader in Thailand providing fully integrated Offline-to-Online (O2O) solutions for the clients. Leveraging on its exclusive access to Rabbit data, which serves as a bridging point throughout the customer journey, enabling VGI to offer a 360-degree advertising solution for our clients, helping them reach their target audience at every stage of the purchasing process and engage more effectively with their customers; thereby providing a better overall customer experience. VGI is a member of BTS Group Holdings Plc., Thailand's leading provider of mass transit solutions. www.vgi.co.thSource: VGI Global Media PCLCopyright 2018 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. LONDON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cavendish Media and Digital - Creative Corporate Finance for Creative Companies Cavendish Corporate Finance, the specialist sell-side M&A firm, is pleased to announce that it has advised Sparkler, a leading digital insight and strategy consultancy, on its acquisition by PA Consulting Group, one of the world's major international management consulting businesses. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/685634/Cavendish_Corporate_Finance_Logo.jpg ) In a world where strategies, technologies and innovation collide, the combination of PA's and Sparkler's capabilities will help clients to understand and respond to shifts in their customer and competitive landscapes, and to seize the opportunities of disruptive change. Sparkler works with many of the world's most advanced digital brands and blue-chip companies, including Microsoft, eBay, Diageo, Electrolux, Sainsbury's, Sky and Uber. With expertise in consumer research, including digital communities, Sparkler has market-leading understanding of how consumers think and behave in the digital world. The company has a long-standing track record in helping clients innovate their services and position their brands for success. In 2017, Sparkler won a Best Agency award at the Market Research Society awards. The deal adds to Cavendish Corporate Finance's extensive track record in advising companies in the media, PR, data and digital sectors. The Cavendish team was led by Linda Sullivan, partner and head of media and digital. Linda Sullivan, Partner, Head of Media and Digital at Cavendish, commented: "We are delighted to have advised Sparkler on this transaction. Sparkler is a leader in its field with clients including many of the world's most advanced digital brands and blue chip companies such as Microsoft, eBay, Sainsbury's and Uber. PA Consulting is an excellent home for Sparkler, giving it an internationally renowned corporate partner that can help provide the additional resources and global capability to further its growth and success. As with other recent deals in the media sector we had significant levels of buyer interest in Sparkler. Competition for innovative, specialist digital and marcomms companies is on the rise and Cavendish has demonstrated its global reach with a number of recent successful transactions." Notes to Editors About Cavendish Corporate Finance Cavendish is the UK's leading independent firm advising exclusively on sell-side M&A to mid-market companies. Founded in 1988, the firm has advised on more than 500 company sales. For more information, visit: http://cavendish.com/ For further information contact: Morgan Rossiter Richard Morgan Evans cavendish@morganrossiter.com 0203-195-3240 Students from 386 schools across 55 countries have entered this year's competition LONDON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A record-breaking 2,290 participants have entered Future Lions 2018, AKQA's global undergraduate competition. Students from 386 schools across 55 countries, including for the first time, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, have submitted pioneering ideas to connect audiences to a brand in a way not possible three years ago. Future Lions 2018 partners include Snap Inc., and global youth empowerment organisation, MiSK Foundation. Claire Valoti, VP International Sales at Snap Inc. said: "At Snap, we believe ideas have the power to change the world and our platform exists to give flight to creativity. Young people are often the most enthusiastic adopters of new technologies, and we are excited to see how the Future Lions 2018 entrants respond to the brief, and the innovative thinking they bring to the challenge." Shaima Hamidaddin, Executive Manager of MiSK Global Forum said: "The emerging trends of the future economy will have profound implications for young people's futures. Those with the skills in demand and the creativity to adapt to new contexts will have an edge in the transition over those who do not. Our partnership with this year's Future Lions competition aims to discover and empower young creative minds that inspire a sustainable difference at global scale." This year's competition theme, Create Tomorrow, explores how recent advances in technology including artificial intelligence, blockchain, intelligent interfaces and new rules of energy, are advancing the possibilities yet to manifest. AKQA Creative Director and previous Future Lions winner Nicolai Smith said: "2018's competition is already the biggest, and having just reviewed the diversity of entries, it also promises to be the boldest and the best. We've been impressed, and overwhelmed, with the extraordinary imagination and commitment of this new generation which will make choosing the finalists tougher than ever." The Future Lions judging panel has started to select five winning student teams that will be celebrated on stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on 21 June. Each will receive the prestigious Future Lions trophy and enjoy full access to the Festival. Alongside individual awards, the school with the highest number of shortlisted entries will be named Future Lions School of the Year, winning career workshops with AKQA international teams as part of their prize. During the past decade, AKQA's Future Lions competition has helped to launch the careers of many celebrated creatives with winners working at some of the world's most respected creative organisations, continuing to contribute groundbreaking ideas. Visit www.futurelions.com for further details about the 2018 Future Lions competition. About AKQA AKQA is an innovation and experience design agency. The future inspires us. We work to inspire. LAS PALMAS, Spain, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A moving social experience that invites us to reflect on the importance of childhood memories "It's important to spend more time with people you really love," says one former pupil in the documentary, which reflects on the importance of unforgettable family moments. As Oscar Wilde said, "Memory [] is the diary we all carry about with us." To raise awareness about the importance of our first experiences and sensations in life, Canary Islands released a moving documentary that invites us to reflect on our childhood memories, with the slogan: "The first thing you learn is the last thing you forget ." (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693539/Islas_Canarias_Logo.jpg ) This curious "experiment on memory" involved inviting 5 former pupils to come back to Edge Grove School (Hertfordshire, Great Britain) 60 years on and relive their memories. In this setting that brought them back to their past, they were asked two questions: "If you could travel back in time, what would you tell your childhood you?" and "What is your best childhood memory?" The participants' responses encourage us to reflect on the importance of "spending more time with the people that we really love" and of making the most of that time because, as one of them tells us, "it is the most precious thing we have." Through this moving action, Canary Islands would like to transmit the importance of experiencing unforgettable moments and adventures with our family, as those good times-such as our childhood holidays-become memories that will last our whole life. The action is explained in full at greatmemoriesforlife.com and you can see a video of the reunion at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5lKFwzXLg0 SHANGHAI, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 26, 2018, Asia's largest vending show, China International Self-service Products and Vending Systems (CVS) 2018 was launched in Shanghai. The exhibitions were co-organized by the China Self-service Vending Industry Association and UBM Sinoexpo Ltd. Concurrently, Shanghai International Smart Retail Show (SRS) also opened at Shanghai New International Expo Center. Both Mr. Zhang Jiang, Secretary General of the China Self-service Vending Industry Branch of China Department Stores Association, and Mr. Zhang Xueqiang, General Manager of UBM Sinoexpo Ltd., spoke at the grand opening ceremony. Brands Coalesced at CVS and SRS CVS has experienced 15 successful runs, and is the most recognized fair in the self-service and new retail industry. It's the most representative of what's trending in the industry, and is the bellwether in star-building and cross-border integration platforms. CVS and SRS 2018 attracted more than 300 exhibitors in 15,000 square meters of exhibition space, and hosted more than 20,000 professional visitors. Well-known corporate brands were present, but the exhibition also gathered many industry rookies as vendors. CVS Makes a Giant Leap with Quality of Exhibitors and Products Industry leaders brought game-changing exhibits: Youbao created a modern technology experiential shop highlighting the future of intelligent self-service consumption; Shanghai Ju'ang focused on building the latest research and development products; VingooJuice's tribal smart intellectual convenience store - the X-24 smart retail space; Shanghai Yongguan, China's number one commercial device manufacturer, exhibited smart self-help clearing trolleys (LIFI technology), smart stores (face recognition and RFID), and smart self-service vending machine (mechanical visual product identification). Innovative workshops were held to present new retail visual solutions, self-service shopping solutions for retail shelving, retail cabinet inventory solutions, and more. Furthermore, Shanghai Renji and Jingpin Hi-Tech were on site as exhibitors of overall solution providers for vending machines. High-end summit: experts presented opportunities and challenges in the industry The summit on April 26th attracted academics, practical schools, capitalists, Dalat platforms, academic institutions represented by Peking University's HSBC School of Business, Langran Capital Capital Partners represented by China Merchants Securities, Focus Media represented by the media, Tencent Cloud represented by the Practical School, Suning Tesco, Innovation Factory, Joy City Real Estate Co., Ltd., and Iraqi Company. In total, more than 1,000 participants were privy to discussions regarding trends in smart retail, as well as case studies. On April 27th, the China Department Stores Association, the Vending Industry Branch, the American Vending Machine Association, the Japan Vending Machine Association, Dalian Fuji Bingshan, VingooJuice, the Franchise Retailing Business School of Hisense, Haier, City BOX, Hahabianli and other companies gathered to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the vending machine industry. The summit also received strong support from companies such as Dalian Kelvin and Hangzhou Yile. Looking Forward CVS aims to support young business and startups, to act on opportunities for partners, and to move forward in innovation and development. CVS is dedicated to building the frontline information for industry experts and elites at home and abroad, and to explore platforms for industry trends. Join us in our future endeavors: On April 26-28, 2019 , the 16th China International Self-service, Kiosk and Vending Show (CVS) and the Shanghai International Smart Retail Show (SRS) will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. , the and the will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. In late October 2019 , the 17th China International Self-service, Kiosk and Vending Show (CVS) and Shenzhen International Smart Retail Show (SZRS) will make its debut in Shenzhen . Click to see our photo gallery from CVS2018: https://gallery.vphotos.cn/vphotosgallery/index.html?vphotowechatid=3FA6F09A0A39F567237BA22F6E8B3424 For more information contact: Shuree Shen shuree.shen@ubmsinoexpo.com +86-21-3339-2017 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693470/CVS_and_SRS2018.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693471/Professional_buyers.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693469/New_Retail_Area.jpg LONDON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to exceptional demand the World Architecture Festival has extended the deadline for entries to the prestigious WAF Awards until Friday 1 June 2018. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/693560/World_Building_of_the_Year_2017.jpg ) The WAF awards are the 'Oscars of architecture' and are recognised by architects, designers and industry experts as the only truly global architecture awards celebrating the very best in design. Do you have what it takes to join the WAF Awards winners including Zaha Hadid Architects, BIG, Snhetta, Isay Weinfeld and Foster + Partners as well as ones to watch Vo Trong Nghia, Farshad Mehdizadeh and Gustavo Penna, to name a few? The Awards are the largest live event of its type in the world. All shortlisted practices will present their proposals live, in front of festival delegates and the international judging panels. As well as the 30+ category winners, the super-jury will choose the best building of the year, the best future project, and the best completed landscape. In addition, WAF also presents a series of prizes covering small projects, best use of colour, best use of timber, glass future, photography, drawing, and student work, and to mark this year's festival location, WAF is launching an 'Amsterdam Prize' for the best building in the city, completed between January 2017 and July 2018. Finalists will be visited by a special jury and the winner will be announced on the first day of the Festival. The WAFX awards, launched to mark the tenth anniversary of the Festival last year, will continue to be presented to future projects that address specific problems likely to affect architects over the coming years, such as climate and social equity. The 11th edition of the Festival will take place in Amsterdam (28- to 30 November), where more than 500 architectural practices are expected to compete for category and overall prizes, presented at the Gala Awards Dinner which will be hosted at the historic Beurs van Berlage. Award entries are now open until 1 June, and potential entrants can take advantage of 15% discount on the entry fee when submitting three or more projects. For further information on how to enter the awards visit: http://www.worldarchitecturefestival.com WAF Partners include Founder Partner Grohe and Headline Partners ABB Busch-Jaeger and Miele. Editors' note: Any press inquiries should be directed to Tania Silva-Jones Email: tania.silva-jones@emap.com Phone: +44(0)203-953-2045 STOCKHOLM, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Annual General Meeting 2018 of TF Bank AB resolved to adopt a warrants program 2018:1 and thus a directed issue to three elected senior executives. TF Bank announces today that the warrants have been fully subscribed by Mikael Meomuttel, Espen Johannesen and Mikael Johansson, which acquired one-third of the total number of warrants, respectively, at the price SEK 2.03 per warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to subscribe to one (1) share in TF Bank. The subscription of shares under the warrants may take place from 14 May 2021 until 13 June 2021 at the subscription price of SEK 120 per share. For full terms of the warrants program 2018:1, see the notice convening the Annual General Meeting 2018: www.tfbankgroup.com/en/notice-of-annual-general-meeting-in-tf-bank-ab-publ/ Shares and share capital At full subscription with the exercise of all warrants, 1,372,340 new shares can be issued corresponding to a dilution of approximately 6 percent of the total number of shares and voting rights in TF Bank, subject to the conversion of the number of shares each warrant entitles to subscribe which may occur as a result of certain issues etc. Upon the exercise of all warrants, the company's share capital will increase by no more than SEK 6,861,700. About TF Bank TF Bank is an internet-based niche bank offering consumer banking services through its proprietary IT-platform with a high degree of automation. The company's IT platform is designed for scalability and adaptation to different products, countries, currencies and digital banking solutions. TF Bank carries out deposit and lending activities with consumers in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Estonia and Latvia through subsidiary, branch or cross-border banking. The business is divided into two segments: Consumer Lending and Ecommerce Solutions. For further information, please contact: Mikael Meomuttel, CFO and Head of Investor Relations +46(0)70-626-95-33 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/tf-bank-ab--publ-/r/senior-executives-in-tf-bank-subscribe-fully-to-the--warrants-program,c2524513 The following files are available for download: 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. The Chinese provider of storage and back-up power systems has been awarded the $59.7 million contract to build the facility, which will be located at an industrial area in the Nangarhar province. The tender had been issued in September 2017.The Ministry of energy and water of Afghanistan (MEW) has awarded the contract to build a 40 MW hybrid solar plant at the Hisar-e-Shahi Industrial Park (HIP), which is located 22 km southeast of Jalalabad City, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, to Shuangdeng Group Co Ltd., a Chinese provider of communications back-up power systems, energy storage batteries, ... 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. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - At 8:30 am ET Friday, Statistics Canada will release Canada retail sales for March and consumer prices for April. Ahead of these data, the loonie advanced against its major rivals. The loonie was worth 1.2798 against the greenback, 1.5075 against the euro, 0.9620 against the aussie and 86.67 against the yen as of 8:25 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. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel has cleared the final hurdle to the top Intelligence post after six Democrat Senators crossed party lines to vote in her favor. Senate confirmed Haspel's nomination as CIA Director by a 54-45 vote, clearing the way for her to become the first female to lead America's Central Intelligence Agency. Four moderate Democrats who face re-election this year in states Trump won in 2016 - Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Bill Nelson of Florida - were joined by fellow Democrats Mark Warner and Jeanne Shaheen voted to confirm Haspel, while two Republicans voted against her. Sen. John McCain, who urged the Senate to reject Haspel's nomination citing her refusal in testimony to acknowledge torture's immorality, was absent from voting while fighting brain cancer. Earlier, Haspel's nomination was approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee after she sent a letter to Vice Chairman Mark Warner claiming she now believes the CIA should not have undertaken its enhanced interrogation program. 'Congratulations to our new CIA Director, Gina Haspel,' Trump tweeted shortly after the Senate confirmation. 61-year old Gina would become the first female director in CIA's 70 year history, but the historic significance is overshadowed by her alleged link to a black site prison in Thailand where terrorism suspects were tortured. As an undercover officer, Haspel served as CIA station chief in Thailand in 2002. The station was notorious for running one of the 'black sites' where suspected al-Qaida extremists were interrogated using techniques such as water-boarding, sleep deprivation and nudity. Human rights groups say Ms Haspel left Thailand to oversee further US torture, but it is unclear what role she played as her exact record has been classified by the CIA. Trump in March had promoted CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel to the top Intelligence post to replace Mike Pompeo, who was to become the new Secretary of State. A 33-year CIA veteran, Haspel spent most of her career as an undercover operative. Haspel earned the agency's George H.W. Bush award after she pulled together a capture operation involving two terrorists with suspected connections to an embassy bombing. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Regulatory News: Amplitude Surgical (Paris:AMPLI) (ISIN: FR0012789667, Ticker: AMPLI, PEA-PME eligible), a leading French player on the global surgical technology market for lower-limb orthopedics, announces that it has joined the list of innovative companies listed on the Euronext comprising the "Tech 40" label. Launched in April 2015 on EnterNext's initiative, this label incorporates emblematic Tech sector companies listed on the Euronext markets in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon that operate in one of the following fields of activity: life sciences, eco-industries or TMT. The 40 companies granted this label are selected by an independent group of European experts based on their business, financial and stock market performance. Olivier Jallabert, Chairman and CEO of Amplitude Surgical, says: "All of Amplitude Surgical's staff and I, founder of the Group in 1997, are particularly proud to be joining the other technological players listed on the Euronext that have been granted this label. This TECH 40 label rewards the hard work undertaken by our teams to implement a winning growth strategy, based on an international deployment and a portfolio of innovative products About Amplitude Surgical Founded in 1997 in Valence, France, Amplitude Surgical is a leading French player on the global surgical technology market for lower-limb orthopedics. Amplitude Surgical develops and markets high-end products for orthopedic surgery covering the main disorders affecting the hip, knee and extremities, and notably foot and ankle surgery. Amplitude Surgical develops, in close collaboration with surgeons, numerous high value-added innovations in order to best meet the needs of patients, surgeons and healthcare facilities. A leading player in France, Amplitude Surgical is developing abroad through its subsidiaries and a network of exclusive distributors and agents distributing its products in more than 30 countries. Amplitude Surgical operates on the lower-limb market through the intermediary of its Novastep subsidiaries in France and the United States. At June 30, 2017, Amplitude Surgical had a workforce of nearly 370 employees and recorded sales of over 93 million euros. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180518005332/en/ Contacts: Amplitude Surgical Philippe Garcia CFO finances@amplitude-surgical.com +33 (0)4 75 41 87 41 or NewCap Investor Relations Marc Willaume amplitude@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 00 13 or NewCap Media Relations Nicolas Merigeau amplitude@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 98 55 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 18, 2018) - Sixty North Gold Mining Ltd. (CSE: SXTY) (FSE: 2F4) (the "Company" or "Sixty North Gold") is pleased to announce that it has expanded its land package in the Yellowknife Gold Belt by 25.8 %, with an additional 127.75 hectares (315.68 acres). The added mineral claim (NDM3) abuts the existing property on the southwest side. All Company claims and mining leases are shown on the attached map. The addition is underlain by the same group of rocks that host the past-producing multimillion ounce Con Mine and Giant Mine gold deposits in Yellowknife and the proximal Clan Lake deposit (Goldmining Inc.), which are the Kam Group and Banting Group respectively, as discussed in the Company's NI 43-101 report dated December 11, 2017 and filed on SEDAR. Proximity to existing or past gold deposits is not an indication of gold mineralization on the Company's property. "The increase in our land package brings the Company significant opportunity for increased area exploration" stated Ronald Handford, Chief Executive Officer of Sixty North Gold. "Sixty North Gold is now surrounded by claims held by TerraX Minerals Inc. and others, confirming the interest in the potential in this area of the Yellowknife Gold Belt. Sixty North Gold intends to commence surface exploration on its mineral claims in early June this year." Dr. D.R. Webb, Ph.D., P.Geo., P.Eng. is the Qualified Person for this release within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed the technical content of this release and has approved its content. About the Company The Company is engaged in acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Its principal target is the exploration for gold on the Mon Gold Property, 40 km north of Yellowknife, NWT. The Mon Gold Property consists of 11 contiguous mining leases and 3 mineral claims, comprising an aggregate 1,536.92 acres, located in the South MacKenzie Mining District, NWT. For more information, please refer to the Company's Prospectus dated January 19, 2018 available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), under the Company's profile. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS s/ "Ronald Handford" ________________ Ronald Handford, Chief Executive Officer and Director For further information, please contact: Ronald Handford, CEO 604-230-4263 Email: rhandford@sixtynorthgold.com Website: www.sixtynorthgold.com Statements about the Company's future expectations and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward looking statements". Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any projected future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Further details about the risks applicable to the Company are contained in the Company's Prospectus dated January 19, 2018 available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), under the Company's profile. THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENT OF THIS PRESS RELEASE. Claims and Leases Map To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5873/34725_sxty-nr17may2018-map.jpg Munich (ots/PRNewswire) -- Sub-analysis presented from ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48, the longest single comparative global trial of a non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant (NOAC) in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) to date - Results showed a reduction in both spontaneous and traumatic intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) in patients who took edoxaban, compared to warfarin[1] - The data is being presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) 2018, in Gothenburg, SwedenDaiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo), today announced new sub-analysis data from the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial, which demonstrates that patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with edoxaban (known by the brand name LIXIANA?), for the prevention of stroke or systemic embolic events (SEE), had reduced rates of different types of intracranial haemorrhage (ICH, bleeding inside the skull),[2] compared to those on warfarin.[1] The data was presented at the 4th European Stroke Organisation Congress (ESOC), on 16-18 May, in Gothenburg, Sweden.Providing insights on the rates of ICH by cause, the sub-analysis showed a 42% reduction in spontaneous ICH (HR 0.58 [0.41-0.81]), which occurred in 97 patients taking either edoxaban or warfarin, and a 62% reduction in traumatic ICH (HR 0.38 [0.23-0.63]), which occurred in 185 patients taking either edoxaban or warfarin, among patients taking edoxaban (60 mg or 30 mg dose reduced, once-daily) compared to warfarin.[1] These results build on the body of evidence supporting the use of edoxaban in clinical practice and follow results from the ENGAGE-AF-TIMI 48 trial, where edoxaban demonstrated non-inferiority to warfarin for the prevention of stroke or SEE in patients with AF, with significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality and major bleeding.[3]"Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants are increasingly used in clinical practice, and it is essential that we continue to expand our understanding of these therapies in specific patient populations, to help inform and optimise care" said co-author of study Robert P. Giugliano, from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. "Results from the sub-analysis of the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial suggest that edoxaban offers an advantage over warfarin in patients who need anticoagulation and are at risk of ICH, providing guidance and offering further assurance to physicians regarding its use."ICH is a type of bleeding that occurs inside the skull, either within the brain parenchyma or the surrounding meningeal spaces.[2] It can have serious life-long implications for patients, and the mortality rate in ICH is three times that of ischemic stroke.[4]The sub-analysis provides further insights into outcomes in edoxaban compared to warfarin by ICH subtype, with edoxaban (60 mg or 30 mg dose reduced, once-daily) treated patients having lower rates of intraparenchymal haemorrhage (IPH) (HR 0.55 [95% CI 0.38-0.78]) and subdural hematoma (SDH) (HR 0.36 [0.22-0.58]), and similar rates of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) and ischemic stroke with haemorrhagic transformation (ISHT) (both p>0.05).[1]"These data provide further insights into the benefits of edoxaban and its use to achieve the best possible outcomes for AF patients," said Wolfgang Zierhut, MD, Head of Antithrombotic & Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area, Daiichi Sankyo Europe. "We remain committed to advancing understanding of edoxaban and this data adds to the growing body of evidence supporting its use."These latest sub-analysis findings from the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial align with the '2018 European Heart Rhythm Association guide on the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation', published in March 2018. The guidelines recommend NOACs over warfarin for the prevention of stroke in eligible AF patients, due to the reduced risk of intracranial and life-threatening bleeds, which has been consistently observed across multiple studies.[5]About the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 StudyENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 (Effective aNticoaGulation with factor xA next GEneration in Atrial Fibrillation) was a three-arm, randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, global phase 3 clinical trial comparing once-daily edoxaban with warfarin in 21,105 patients with NVAF at moderate-to-high risk of thromboembolic events at 1,393 centres in 46 countries. ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 compared two edoxaban treatment strategies, a higher dose arm (60 mg or 30 mg dose reduced) once-daily and a lower dose arm (30 mg or 15 mg dose reduced, which is not currently licensed) once-daily, with warfarin in patients with NVAF for a median of 2.8 years. Patients were dose reduced for creatinine clearance (CrCL) 30 to 50 mL/min, body weight of 60 kg or less or certain p-glycoprotein inhibitor use. ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 represents the longest single comparative global trial with a novel anticoagulant in patients with NVAF performed to date. The full results were presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2013 in Dallas and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.[3]About EdoxabanEdoxaban is an oral, once-daily, direct factor Xa (pronounced "Ten A") inhibitor. Factor Xa is one of the key components responsible for blood clotting, so inhibiting this makes the blood thin and less prone to clotting. Edoxaban is currently marketed in Japan, the U.S., South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand Switzerland, the U.K., Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Canada, and other European countries.The edoxaban Summary of Product Characteristics can be viewed here: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Pro duct_Information/human/002629/WC500189045.pdf.About Edoxaban Clinical Research Programme (ECRP)Daiichi Sankyo is committed to expanding scientific knowledge about edoxaban, as demonstrated through our research programmes evaluating its use in a broad range of cardiovascular conditions, patient types and clinical settings in AF and VTE. The edoxaban clinical research programme includes multiple RCTs (randomised, controlled trials), registries and non-interventional studies, with the goal of generating new clinical and real-world-data regarding its use in AF and VTE populations. Daiichi Sankyo expects that more than 100,000 patients will participate in the edoxaban clinical research programme, including completed, ongoing, and future research.The RCTs include:- ENSURE-AF (EdoxabaN vs. warfarin in subjectS UndeRgoing cardiovErsion of Atrial Fibrillation), in AF patients undergoing electrical cardioversion - ENTRUST-AF PCI (EdoxabaN TReatment versUS VKA in paTients with AF undergoing PCI), in AF patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention - Hokusai-VTE CANCER (Edoxaban in Venous Thromboembolism Associated with Cancer), in patients with cancer and an acute VTE event - ELDERCARE-AF (Edoxaban Low-Dose for EldeR CARE AF patients), in elderly AF patients in Japan - ELIMINATE-AF (EvaLuatIon of edoxaban coMpared with VKA IN subjects undergoing cAThEter ablation of non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation) - ENVISAGE-TAVI AF (EdoxabaN Versus standard of care and theIr effectS on clinical outcomes in pAtients havinG undergonE Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) - Atrial Fibrillation)In addition, global and regional registry studies will provide important real-world data about the use of edoxaban and other oral anticoagulants in everyday practice, and include:- ETNA-AF (Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice in patients with non valvular Atrial Fibrillation) - ETNA-VTE (Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice in patients with Venous ThromboEmbolism) - EMIT-AF/VTE (Edoxaban Management In diagnostic and Therapeutic procedures-AF/VTE); - Prolongation PREFER in AF (PREvention oF thromboembolic events - European Registry) in patients with AF - ANAFIE (All Nippon AF In Elderly) Registry in Japan - Cancer-VTE Registry in JapanWe are committed to adding to the scientific body of knowledge around edoxaban in a variety of AF and VTE patients, including those who are vulnerable.About Daiichi SankyoDaiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. With over 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for hypertension and thrombotic disorders, under the Group's 2025 Vision to become a "Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology," Daiichi Sankyo research and development is primarily focused on bringing forth novel therapies in oncology, including immuno-oncology, with additional focus on new horizon areas, such as pain management, neurodegenerative diseases, heart and kidney diseases, and other rare diseases. For more information, please visit: http://www.daiichisankyo.com.Forward-looking statementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements and information about future developments in the sector, and the legal and business conditions of DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. Such forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a global pharmaceutical company, including the impact of the prices for products and raw materials, medication safety, changes in exchange rates, government regulations, employee relations, taxes, political instability and terrorism as well as the results of independent demands and governmental inquiries that affect the affairs of the company. All forward-looking statements contained in this release hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any guarantee of future performance. Actual events and developments could differ materially from the forward-looking statements that are explicitly expressed or implied in these statements. DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. assume no responsibility for the updating of such forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector, legal and business conditions and the company.References1. Nelson, S.E. et al. Intracranial haemorrhage in patients with atrial fibrillation receiving oral anticoagulation with warfarin or edoxaban. Abstract presented at ESOC Congress 2018. 2. Caceres, A.J., Goldstein, J.N. Intracranial Hemorrhage. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2012;30(3):771-794. 3. Giugliano, RP et al. Edoxaban versus Warfarin in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation. N Engl J Med. 2013;369:2093-104. 4. The Risk of Intracranial Hemorrhage with Anticoagulation in the Elderly - Estimates of Prevalence and Therapeutic Strategies, 2015. Available at: http://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articl es/2015/12/21/12/59/the-risk-of-intracranial-hemorrhage-with-antic oagulation-in-the-elderly . [last accessed: May 2018]. 5. Steffel, J, et al. The 2018 European Heart Rhythm Association Practical Guide on the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation. European Heart Journal. 2018;21;39(16):1330-1393.ContactLydia Worms (Europe)Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbHEdoxaban Communications & Product PR Europe+49(89)7808751EDX/18/0240Date of preparation: May 2018ots Originaltext: Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de Franchised sales and lettings agency business Hunters confirmed on Friday that in the year-to-date, it has signed nine new branches and opened three, as its investors mustered for the annual general meeting. The AIM-traded firm said it had a "strong pipeline" of agreed sales, and had increased instructions in the four months to the end of April. "Excluding the effect of the acquisition of our Bristol chain, formerly known as Besley Hill, instructions are up by 5.4% against the same period last ... 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. HKTDC Chairman Vincent HS Lo, offers advice to Hilary Yip, the 13-year-old founder of start-up MinorMyna. Hilary Yip HKTDC Chairman Vincent HS Lo (2nd row, 5th from R), HKTDC Executive Director Margaret Fong (2nd row, 5th from L), judges and finalists of the competition in the Start-up Express incubation programme. Angel Tang, Tel: +852 2584 4554, Email: angel.hc.tang@hktdc.org Beatrice Lam, Tel: +852 2584 4049, Email: beatrice.hy.lam@hktdc.org HONG KONG, May 18, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - A record turnout of more than 18,300 visitors attended the 10th Entrepreneur Day, which concluded its two-day run at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today. The number represented a four per cent increase from last year. Organised by HKTDC, the event hosted a record 276 exhibitors, showcasing a range of innovative products and technologies as well as support services for start-ups. A series of on-site activities were organised to help start-ups seek funding, expand their business, recruit talent and solve problems. These included seminars, pitching sessions, Start-up Clinic consultations, as well as Start-up Mixer "speed dating" meetings between start-ups and experts in various sectors.Nurturing young entrepreneursA key highlight of Entrepreneur Day 2018 was today's Start-up Express Pitching Final, the final contest of the HKTDC's new "Start-up Express" incubation programme. Launched in March this year, Start-up Express aims to help start-ups expand globally by connecting them with investors, buyers and potential partners from different parts of the world, through exhibitions, overseas business missions and other activities. Participants are selected through a competition that culminates in the Start-up Express Pitching Final. In this year's inaugural edition, 20 finalists were shortlisted from 100 entrants.Today's Start-up Express Pitching Final was preluded by a Teenage Entrepreneur Pitching session, during which Hilary Yip, the 13-year-old founder of start-up MinorMyna, pitched her business ideas to HKTDC Chairman Vincent HS Lo. She also shared her source of inspiration and story as an entrepreneur. "My business is an online educational platform that helps children of all ages pick up another language by chatting via live video calls with children their own age [in other countries]. My original intention was to help people to learn. But if it's popular, I think it will make money, just like Facebook," she said.Mr Lo said: "Youth are the future of Hong Kong. It's very important to nurture them and create opportunities for them, as they will be driving force of the city's economic development."Start-up Express winnersThe Start-up Express Pitching Final yielded 10 winners - Dragon Creative Enterprise Solution Limited, RainsOptics Limited, Film Players Limited, Koofy Development Limited, Walnut Technology Limited, Mamahelpers Limited, 3DK Tech Limited, Farseer Limited, Lecker Labs Limited, Hong Kong Wowwoo Catering Services Limited.Each of them is entitled to participate, free of charge, in a series of major local and overseas activities, worth about HK$160,000, that will help them build their networks and expand their business. The activities include a business mission to the Guangdong Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area and visits to major trade fairs around the world. Business leaders, including Mr Lo; Victor Fung, Group Chairman of Fung Group; Neil Shen, Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital China; and Daryl Ng, Deputy Chairman of Sino Group will share their experiences with the winners during a series of power meet-ups. NiCubator, a project set up by actor and entrepreneur Nicholas Tse, may also provide the winners with promotion opportunities.The contest's Head Judge Antony Leung, also Chairman and CEO of Nan Fung Group, said: "The quality [of the contestants] is very good. I'm interested to invest many of them. It also shows that Hong Kong's ecology and environment for start-ups is getting better and better." Other judges included Jonathan Lee, Director of Karting Empire; Derek Yeung, co-founder of Chef Nic Holdings Ltd, Duncan Chiu, CEO and co-founder of Radiant Venture Capital; Erica Ma, co-founder and Community Advisor of Cocoon, Lap Man, co-founder and Managing Partner of Beyond Ventures; and Chen Guanhua, co-founder of the HKX.Entrepreneur Day Website: www.hktdc.com/edayPhoto Download: https://bit.ly/2GuvvLRAbout HKTDCEstablished in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc, LinkedIn.- Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdc- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdc- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-councilSource: HKTDCContact:Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - Starbucks is again facing racism allegations after a Latino customer accused the coffee chain for writing a racial slur on his coffee order. According to reports, a customer name Pedro ordered drinks at a Starbucks in La Canada Flintridge and noticed that 'beaner' was written on the drink instead of Pedro. 'Beaner' is a derogatory term for Mexicans in the United States. Starbucks, which is preparing to close its stores later this month for mandatory racial-bias training, reportedly said that the company officials met with the customer at one of the local stores and that he accepted their apology. 'This kind of mistake is unacceptable and we will take additional steps to assess what happened here and how our partners can be better,' Starbucks said. Starbucks is schedule to close all of its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the US on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct a racial-bias education for its employees. The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 employees across the country. In April, Starbucks came under scathing criticism after two black men were arrested from a Philadelphia Starbucks outlet. The arrests sparked accusations of racial profiling by the coffee chain. The two men were waiting at the store for a friend to show up. However, a store manager asked the men, who had not made any purchases, to leave the store after they attempted to use the restroom despite being told it was only for paying customers. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - House Republicans failed to pass an $867 billion farm bill on Friday amid a revolt by several more conservative lawmakers. The House voted 198 to 213 in favor of the bill, with thirty Republicans joining with all of the Democrats in the chamber to block the bill. Many of the Republicans that voted against the legislation are members of the House Freedom Caucus, who withheld their support for the bill after failing to get assurances the House would vote on a tough immigration plan. The vote is seen as an embarrassment for House Republican leaders, who had expressed confidence that the bill would pass. President Donald Trump expressed support for the bill in a post on Twitter on Thursday, tweeting, 'Tomorrow, the House will vote on a strong Farm Bill, which includes work requirements. We must support our Nation's great farmers!' The unanimous Democratic opposition to the bill was partly due to a provision imposing strict work requirements for people who receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. Even if the House had passed the bill, the Senate is working on separate legislation that is expected to be a compromise between Republicans and Democrats. 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. Westpactoday announced the appointment of Carolyn McCann to the new position of Group Executive, Customer & Corporate Relations.CEO Brian Hartzer says the new role is to help set high service standards and quickly resolve customer issues in managing the banks relationship with its customers and the broader community.Ms McCann joined Westpac in 2013 with responsibility for external affairs, communications, government relations and sustainability across the Westpac Group.Prior to joining Westpac, Ms McCann spent 13 years at Insurance Australia Group in various positions, including Group General Manager, Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations.Her appointment is effective from next month.Shares in Westpacare down 0.62 per cent to $28.92 Anil Ambani-run Reliance Communications (RCom) on Friday said it is in advanced stages of discussions with Ericsson for settling issues related to unpaid dues outside of the insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings New Delhi: Anil Ambani-run Reliance Communications (RCom) on Friday said it is in advanced stages of discussions with Ericsson for settling issues related to unpaid dues outside of the insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. "We confirm that RCom and Ericsson are at an advanced stage of discussions to expeditiously resolve commercial issues. This will enable Reliance Communications to exit the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process," an RCom spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson added that the company is confident to "expeditiously proceed with its monetisation plan with Reliance Jio and overall resolution plan with the lenders, keeping in mind the interests of all stakeholders". Earlier this week, the NCLT in Mumbai admitted an insolvency petition filed by Swedish firm Ericsson against RCom and two of its subsidiaries seeking to recover Rs 1,150 crore. Ericsson had signed a seven-year deal in 2014 to operate and manage RCom's nationwide telecom network but has not been paid for the service. Last September, the telecom gear maker had filed a petition in the NCLT Mumbai bench seeking liquidation of the telecom operator to recover Rs 1,150 crore that RCom owes it. NCLT proceedings can potentially delay RCom's plans to sell assets to lighten its debt load. RCom owes around Rs 45,000 crore to as many as 31 domestic and international banks, including over Rs 10,000 crore to a Chinese lender. Due to mounting losses, the company began to wind down its mobile operations from last November. It was also not servicing the debt for many quarters before that as it was looking to recast the loans but did not materialise and since then many of its creditors had taken RCom to bankruptcy court. This has prevented the company from closing sale of its telecom tower business to Anil Ambani's elder brother-run Reliance Industries for over Rs 23,000 crore, apart from monetising other assets including selling its sprawling Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) premises to the Chinese lender and pare debt. Rupee depreciation is impacting the bottomline of auto industry, which is already reeling under the impact of increasing crude oil prices, a top official of Toyota Kirloskar Motor said on Friday Mumbai: Rupee depreciation is impacting the bottomline of auto industry, which is already reeling under the impact of increasing crude oil prices, a top official of Toyota Kirloskar Motor said on Friday. "Rupee depreciation is impacting the auto industry to an extent of erosion of profitability," Shekar Viswanathan, vice chairman and whole-time director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor told reporters at the launch of the firm's mid-sized sedan, Yaris, in the domestic market. "Crude oil price increase also taking a toll on the industry," he added. While the rupee is hovering around the Rs 67 mark against the US dollar, crude oil price has crossed $80 a barrel this week, amid rising geopolitical tensions. Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the joint venture between Japanese auto major Toyota and Kirloskar group, on Friday marked its entry into the highly competitive mid-sized sedan segment, with the launch of Yaris. The car prices start at Rs 8.75 lakh (ex-showroom). Yaris would compete with the likes of Honda City, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Hyundai Verna in the domestic market. Viswanathan said the company plans to increase the local content in the variants, adding Yaris currently has 87 percent localisation, while the Etios has the highest local content, at 90 percent. Stating that the company is expecting the government to rationalise the goods and services tax (GST) rates on hybrid cars, Viswanathan ruled out any plans to increase vehicle prices. There have been multiple reports on call drops faced by the country's nearly 1-billion mobile users and falling quality standards and the sector watchdog has also been seeking to improve the quality. Mumbai: Stressing the importance of providing quality mobile network services to the rapidly expanding subscriber base, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan on Thursday said the country needs much more infrastructure by way of more towers and fiberisation. "In a country where data is growing at 500 percent, we need much more infrastructure. You need at least double the number of towers, at least double the size of fibre. Otherwise, where will the quality come from? So, they (operators) are working on that," Sundararajan said. She was talking on the sidelines of the second 5G India conference organised by the Department of Telecom. "We are driving down hard on the service quality areas. We are beginning to see visible changes as a result of it. But it is not enough," she added. Earlier, Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha also said that the government will "ensure quality service" for the telecom subscribers. "The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has issued standards recently. The government will ensure that quality service is given to the consumers," he told reporters. His remarks came amid concerns on falling service quality of mobile operators resulting in inconveniences like call drops. However, a query on penalising erring operators did not elicit a direct reply. "We will ensure there is good service quality," the minister said, when asked about penalty. There have been multiple reports on call drops faced by the country's nearly 1-billion mobile users and falling quality standards and the sector watchdog has also been seeking to improve the quality. Asked about reports of the government mulling another round of spectrum auctions, he said the ministry is waiting for recommendations from Trai. When asked if the government is in favour of IUC for messages, Sinha said it is the mandate of Trai and the watchdog is "considering" it. Speaking at the conference, Special Secretary N Sivasailam said the country is on the "right track" for rolling out the next generation 5G services, adding that an ecosystem will have to be built for the roll-out. Reliance Jio managing director Sanjay Mashruwala, however, pointed out that the country is far from rolling out the 5G services due to the lack of supporting pieces in the ecosystem. Sivasailam said the government is planning to announce the new telecom policy next month after receiving suggestions on the recently issued draft. (Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd) Both NuMetal and ArcelorMittal put in a second round of bids after the first bids were opined to be invalid New Delhi: Russia's VTB Capital-based NuMetal Ltd on Thursday told the company law appellate tribunal, NCLAT, that it has offered over Rs 37,000 crore for Essar Steel in the second-round of bidding, which should be opened and the highest bidder be selected from it. ArcelorMittal, the only other bidder to have put in a bid for Essar Steel in the first round in February, however, opposed the opening of the second round of bids and wanted only the first round of bids to be considered. At a hearing of counter petitions filed in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for NuMetal said that the second round would help to maximise value for lenders. Essar Steel is being auctioned after the company defaulted on payment of about Rs 49,000 crore loan to lenders. Rohatgi submitted that the resolution professional, who is conducting the auction of Essar Steel, should open the second round of bids as it would help realise the maximum value for the assets. "Our bid in the second round is much higher at Rs 37,000 crore. Let there be competition," he said. Both NuMetal and ArcelorMittal put in a second round of bids after the first bids were opined to be invalid --- NuMetal because of it being 25 percent owned by Aurora Trust of Ruia family, the promoters of Essar Steel; and ArcelorMittal because of it being holding shares in loan defaulting companies, Uttam Galva Steel and KSS Petron. The insolvency and bankruptcy law bars participation by promoters of delinquent companies in bidding for assets being auctioned. For the second round of bid, VTB Bank sought to severe ties with Ruia family by buying out Aurora Trust's stake in NuMetal. Appearing for ArcelorMittal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi opposed NuMetal's plea saying the second round of bid had become "infructuous" after the world's largest steelmaker paid Rs 7,000 crore to cure its ineligibility. ArcelorMittal transferred Rs 7,000 crore to an escrow account of SBI to clear outstanding loans of Uttam Galva and KKS Petron. A two-member bench of NCLAT, headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya, which was hearing the matter, directed the case to be list on 22 May for next hearing. It also said that NCLT Ahmedabad could also extend the period of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. Under the present law, the insolvency proceedings should be completed within 270 days and this period is ending on May 28. In the second round of bidding, mining baron Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources also joined the race. Also, JSW joined NuMetal for the bid. The appellate tribunal was hearing two cross-appeals by Arcelor Mittal and Numetal. Russia's VTB Capital-backed Numetal Ltd has challenged a lower court order allowing rival ArcelorMittal to clear bank dues of associate companies so that it can become eligible to acquire Essar Steel. ArcelorMittal, on the other hand, has challenged its disqualification from bidding. In a statement, ArcelorMittal said, ArcelorMittal has participated in the resolution process for Essar Steel in good faith from the start. On February 12, we submitted a competitive offer to creditors which we understand was the superior offer received. Moreover, while we have always believed our offer was eligible, as a demonstration of our commitment to India and Essar Steel we have indicated to the Committee of Creditors our readiness to settle outstanding dues of companies where we only had a passive shareholding. "We would hope that this very serious offer would be given appropriate consideration and that we will be identified as the preferred bidder for the asset. In our view, it is critical for the credibility of the IBC that the process is followed fairly and correctly as originally laid out. By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed above $80 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since November 2014, before retreating on a stronger dollar and climbing U.S. output to end unchanged By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed above $80 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since November 2014, before retreating on a stronger dollar and climbing U.S. output to end unchanged. A rapid slide in oil supply from Venezuela, concern that U.S. sanctions will disrupt exports from Iran, and falling global inventories have all combined to push oil prices up nearly 20 percent in 2018. The U.S. dollar hit its highest level in four months against the yen as yields on benchmark U.S. government bonds hit a seven-year high. A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for importing nations such as those in Asia, which are facing a trillion dollar bill for their imports this year as demand in the continent reaches a record high. Brent crude futures reached an intraday high of $80.50 a barrel, but later gave up most gains to settle up 2 cents at $79.30 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled unchanged at $71.49, after earlier also hitting their highest since November 2014 at $72.30 a barrel. Global inventories of crude and fuel have dropped sharply in recent months owing to robust demand and OPEC-led production cuts. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC global producers, that have curbed output since the start of 2017, will next meet to discuss supply policy in Vienna in June. However, Venezuela's economic crisis, and the prospect of additional U.S. sanctions following its May 20 elections could hit the market further. "I expect that Venezuelan production will continue to decline and the upcoming elections hold the spectre of the U.S. imposing additional sanctions on Venezuela that may hasten the loss of supply," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, a consultancy in Houston. He said Iranian oil sales could plunge by 300,000 to 500,000 bpd in the next six weeks as well, after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision this month to withdraw from an international nuclear deal with Iran and revive sanctions that could limit crude exports from OPEC's third-largest producer. Record domestic oil output and exports have capped the rally in the United States, and led to a rising premium for Brent above WTI, which traded at $8.20 a barrel on Thursday, the widest spread since April 2015. <0#WTCLc1-LCOc1> U.S. crude output has soared 27 percent in the last two years to a record 10.72 million barrels per day, putting it within reach of top producer Russia's 11 million bpd. That has not been enough to stop oil prices rallying, energy ministers of OPEC's largest producer Saudi Arabia and its neighbor and fellow OPEC member United Arab Emirates to note that the market remains well supplied. The two ministers, in a joint statement, blamed volatility in prices on international political tensions. They plan to meet their Russian counterpart in Saint Petersburg in a week to discuss the oil market. Global oil inventories were expected to drop further as the peak demand summer driving season nears, offsetting increases in U.S. shale output, Bernstein analysts said. Several banks have in recent days raised their oil price forecasts, citing tighter supplies and strong demand. Further supporting prices, Royal Dutch Shell said it was halting crude exports from a major Nigerian pipeline. On the flip side, high oil prices would hurt consumption, the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday as it lowered its global oil demand growth forecast for 2018 to 1.4 million bpd from 1.5 million bpd. [EIA/S] The IEA said global oil demand would average 99.2 million bpd in 2018. U.S. bank Goldman Sachs said consumption would cross 100 million bpd during the peak summer period. (Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Ron Bousso in London; editing by Simon Webb and Marguerita Choy) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. To ensure 24X7 power supply to people, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday urged ministries of railways, power and coal to work in coordination New Delhi: To ensure 24X7 power supply to people, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday urged ministries of railways, power and coal to work in coordination and also asked power plants to increase their plant load factor (PLF), an official statement said. Plant load factor is the amount of power a plant is producing as against its total capacity. In this regard, Goyal, who is the minister of railways and coal, chaired a detailed review meeting with RK Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power and New and Renewable Energy in New Delhi, the Ministry of Coal said in a statement. "Goyal stressed on the necessity to increase PLF of various power plants of the country. He said all pithead plants with sufficient coal supply should run at 100 per cent PLF. (He) urged that team-work and better coordination among ministries to ensure 24X7 power supply for the people of India," it said. According to the statement, the minister has also instructed the officials of the three ministries to keep a close vigil on the power production and supply situation in the country and remain in contact with chief secretaries and power secretaries of the states. At the meeting, the minister also reviewed power supply requirement during the ongoing summer and forthcoming winter season besides discussing short-term, medium-term and long-term measures to improve the coal stock position in power plants of the country. "Further, the minister stressed on the need for states located far from mines to use provisions under 'flexibility of utilisation of coal' rules, so that this coal can be used by those power stations near the coal source," the statement said. Gujarat and Maharashtra have already been using these provisions, it added. Besides Goyal and Singh, other senior officials of the three ministries also attended the meeting. After the CBI filed chargesheets in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, the ED is now expected to follow suit next week. Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed chargesheets in the country's largest financial scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now expected to follow suit and file its first chargesheet in the Rs 14,356 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud. According to the Business Today, the ED's chargesheet is likely to name 15-20 accused including Nirav Modi and his sister Purvi Mehta. The chargesheet will include documentary evidence against the accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The report said the ED will also file a second chargesheet in June against Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi, the Gitanjali Group, Nakshatra Ltd, Gili Ltd and some other unnamed individuals. On 7 May, the ED issued a summons to Mehta under the PMLA, the India Today reported. The ED asked Mehta to be personally present before the agency's Mumbai's office. The Economic Times, on 6 May, reported that the CBI interrogated a senior Mumbai-based chartered accountant (CA) who had been an investment adviser to Mehta. In February, it was reported that the ED was examining a Singapore-based firm, Islington International Pte Ltd, whose beneficiary owner is stated to be Mehta. Modi's Firestar International reportedly received funds worth Rs 271 crore from Islington International Pte Ltd, and the Income Tax Department (IT-D) had earlier said that Firestar had not been able to provide supporting documents that establish Mehta or Islington's creditworthiness. "The source of funds also remains suspicious," a report by the investigative arm of the Department had said. Based on the documents seized during searches last year, IT officials claimed that Firestar also received Rs 284 crore from two companies based in Cyprus and Mauritius, between 2013 and 2014, in the form of share capital and high-share premium. During those searches, the Department found evidence that showed that documents claimed to be submitted by these foreign entities were prepared in Modi's office. The source of funds and creditworthiness of the overseas companies were not explained properly. With inputs from IANS Mehul Choksi, along with his nephew and millionaire designer jeweller Nirav Modi, is being investigated by the ED for allegedly defrauding PNB, the country's second largest lender. New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Thursday it has seized over 34,000 pieces of jewellery worth Rs 85 crore from the Gitanjali Group, owned by diamantaire Mehul Choksi, in connection with the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. The jewellery was kept at the premises of the Gitanjali group firm, Ms Gitanjali Ventures DMCC in Dubai, and was seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) when it was "brought" to Mumbai, the agency said in a statement. It said the seizure of gold and silver jewellery was made on 10 May after the ED raided a strong-room belonging to Bharat Diamond Bourse. "The ED seized over 34,000 pieces of jewellery worth Rs 85 crore under the PMLA of Mehul Choksi-controlled Gitanjali Group brought from Dubai," it said. Choksi, along with his nephew and millionaire designer jeweller Nirav Modi, is being investigated by the ED for allegedly defrauding PNB, the country's second largest lender. Both Modi and Choski are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them. The statement said the agency's probe against Choksi allegedly found that the "proceeds of crime generated out of the criminal act of cheating and conspiracy have been siphoned off by the accused persons and some part of it has been amalgamated in business of the company and is being projected as untainted property". The remaining amount of the proceeds of crime has been siphoned off and parked out of India, in the companies/entities of the accused persons located in different countries, it claimed. The agency said the data obtained from PNB found that with the "connivance of accused bank officials, unauthorised LOUs (letters of undertaking) aggregating to Rs 3,032.17 crore and unauthorised FLCs (foreign letters of credit) aggregating to Rs 3,106.56 crore were issued to the Gitanjali group of companies". The funds so raised for payment of import bills have "not been utilised" for such purposes in many cases, it alleged. The agency claimed it has detected that the Gitanjali group had many overseas subsidiaries or dummy companies which were "used by him (Choksi) for circular trading". "He had devised a modus operandi under which the Indian entities of Choksi were importing the unfinished goods/raw material like diamonds, colour stones, pearls among others from his overseas entities situated mainly in Hong Kong and the UAE. "The same goods were shown to be processed and made into jewellery and again exported by the Indian entities of Choksi to his overseas entities," the ED alleged. The ED claimed it "appears" to it that in the name of export and import, Choksi, through his various companies in India and abroad, was involved in money laundering and goods like studded jewellery, precious and semi-precious stones among others that were imported and exported through these companies have been procured/manufactured by the "ill-gotten money". Choksi, Modi and others are being investigated by the ED as well as other probe agencies after the fraud case was registered this year following a complaint by PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank. The Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED have registered two FIRs each in this case. The CBI this week filed two charge sheets in the case before a Mumbai court while the ED is expected to file its own prosecution complaint soon. The ED complaint or charge sheet will focus on the money laundering aspect and the role played by the accused in perpetrating the alleged fraud, officials said. With an aim to deepen the commodity derivatives market, regulator SEBI on Friday proposed allowing trading in this segment by foreign entities New Delhi: With an aim to deepen the commodity derivatives market, regulator SEBI on Friday proposed allowing trading in this segment by foreign entities with exposure to the Indian physical commodity market. To begin with, foreign entities may be allowed to hedge their exposures with derivatives trading in only those commodities where India has a large production, consumption or export share globally, barring the sensitive commodities. Proposing a detailed set of norms for eligibility criteria, disclosure and KYC requirements, code of conduct and safeguards against any unwanted price fluctuations, SEBI, in a consultation paper said that the final regulations would be framed after taking into account public comments till 18 June. The proposal follows recommendation from the regulator's Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committee (CDAC) for allowing in this market the hedge funds (category III alternative investment funds), portfolio management service (PMS) firms, mutual funds and direct participation of foreign participants having exposure to commodities in the first phase. In the second phase, the CDAC has proposed to allow banks, insurers, foreign portfolio investors and pension funds in the commodity derivatives market. Earlier last year, SEBI had issued consultation papers for allowing mutual funds, portfolio managers and hedge funds, among others. SEBI said it has been advised by the CDAC to adopt a calibrated approach before opening up the commodity derivatives market to foreign participation where, presently the domestic institutional participation is also not allowed. According to SEBI, allowing direct participation of foreign entities having actual exposure to commodities may make Indian commodity derivative markets more broadbased, vibrant, deep and efficient. Further, it may also add to the depth and liquidity in the far-month contracts. "The participation by these entities may in the long run, pave way for Indian markets in becoming price setters for some of the global commodities," the regulator noted. Foreign entities, having actual exposure to Indian physical commodity markets, may be termed as --Eligible Foreign Entities (EFEs). Such EFE is not resident in India; may be Non-Resident Indian (NRIs), provided that such NRIs are engaged in physical commodity trading businesses with India. The minimum networth requirement for such EFE should be USD 1 million and however this limit may be gradually reviewed based on experience of EFE participation in the market. With regard to registration, SEBI said that EFEs desirous of taking hedge positions in Indian commodity derivatives market should approach Authorised Stock Brokers (ASBs), from amongst the brokers which are registered under SEBI. The exchanges should jointly frame guidelines regarding the eligibility criteria for the ASBs approved by their risk management committees. Besides, EFE need to be required to meet the KYC requirements. The commodity derivatives exchanges will put in place appropriate risk management systems in place for allowing EFE to take positions in eligible commodities as well as a mechanism to monitor the limits as well as physical exposure of an EFE, which may include seeking periodical reports. The position limits should be governed by the hedge policy of the commodity derivatives exchanges and no separate client trading limits should be allowed for EFEs. Such exchanges should issue a separate hedge code for easy identification of EFEs. However, SEBI can place restrictions based on the need to maintain market integrity. Hedge limits for a commodity will be determined on a case to case basis, depending on the applicant's hedging requirement and other factors which the commodity derivatives exchange deems appropriate in the interest of the market. Regarding disclosure, SEBI said that commodity derivatives exchanges on daily basis need to disclose on their website the positions as well as hedge limit allocated to EFEs, indicating the period for which approval is valid, in an anonymous manner. Arvind Kejriwal has agreed to join the investigation in the case of alleged assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has agreed to join the investigation in the case of alleged assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash even as he demanded video recording of the proceedings, the police said on Friday. In a letter addressed to Station House Officer of Civil Lines Police Station, the chief minister said he would be available at his camp office at 5 pm on Friday. "Due to some prior commitments, I won't be able to join the investigation at 11 am. I would request you to kindly defer the time on the same day at 5 pm at my camp office," read the letter. The city police had sent him a notice to join the investigation in the case at 11 am on Friday. Kejriwal also demanded that he be allowed to video record the proceedings. "I wish to video record the entire proceedings during the investigation. If you have any objection, I would request you to kindly make arrangements at your end to video record the same and in such case, a copy of the recording be provided after the conclusion of my questioning (sic)," he said in the letter. A senior officer privy to the probe said a five to six member police team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Harendra Singh will visit the chief minister's office on Friday. "The proceedings will be video recorded, but the chief minister won't be allowed to video record the investigation. Also, it will be the police's decision to share the recording with him. The video proceedings of the questioning of AAP MLAs and others in the case were also recorded earlier," he said. Elaborating further, the officer said the AAP supremo will be questioned on a range of points like the reason for holding the late night meeting with Prakash on the day of the alleged incident, and whether such meetings have been held with the Delhi government officials earlier, etc. The police might also summon his deputy Manish Sisodia in the case as he was present when the alleged incident took place. Prakash was allegedly assaulted during a meeting at Kejriwal's official residence on 19 February. The police have already questioned 11 AAP MLAs present at the chief minister's residence for the meeting. Two of the party MLAs Amantullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal were arrested in the case. Kejriwal, his former advisor VK Jain and Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia were also present in the meeting. Jain was also questioned in the case. On 23 February, a police team had examined the CCTV system installed at the chief minister's residence in the Civil Lines area and seized the hard disk. The forensic report on the hard disk is still awaited. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta said the "conspiracy" of assault on Prakash was "hatched" at Kejriwal's residence, so it was no surprise that he would be questioned by the police. "The chief minister should cooperate in the investigation, instead of indulging in the politics over it," he said. The alleged assault on the chief secretary had triggered a bitter tussle between the Delhi government and its bureaucrats. Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in ensuring sufficient water supply from Haryana. New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in ensuring sufficient water supply from Haryana as the national capital stares at a possible water crisis next week. In his letter to the prime minister, Kejriwal said the city has been receiving 1,133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996, but recently, for the first time in 22 years, the neighbouring state has contested Delhi's right over this water and partially stopped the supply to the national capital. "The Supreme Court has directed Haryana to keep supplying the earlier quantity of water till 21 May, which means the state could reduce water supply after Monday," he said. If that happens, it would create an "unprecedented shortage of water" in Delhi and could lead to "serious" law and order situation, the chief minister said. "I would urge you (prime minister) to kindly use your good offices to persuade Haryana to continue supplying the same level of water that it has been supplying for last 22 years and not to disrupt it till the issue is finally decided by the courts," Kejriwal said in the letter. The Haryana government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it would maintain status quo on supply of Yamuna river water to Delhi till 21 May. The apex court asked the Delhi government and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to request Haryana for the maintenance of status quo on water supply and directed Haryana to take an independent decision on the matter. The chief minister also wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, saying, "Just two days are left, we need to act fast to prevent a crisis." He requested Baijal to talk to the prime minister seeking his intervention in the matter if there is no response from Haryana. On Thursday too, Kejriwal had written to his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar and Delhi L-G over the issue. In his letter to Modi, the chief minister said disruption in water supply from Haryana could affect Chandrawal water treatment plan, which supplies water to NDMC area where Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, embassies and major establishments like railway stations and hospitals are located. "In addition to affecting the public at large, any disruption in water supply would affect all these establishments also. "The Delhi government has already filed an application before Upper Yamuna River Board. However, final adjudication by the board could take some time," Kejriwal said. The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) is expected to declare the HBSE Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) Result 2018 today (18 May). The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) declared the HBSE Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) Result 2018 on 18 May, according to reports. The Haryana Board Class 12th result has been released on the official website bseh.org.in. The result has also been declared at indiaresults.com and via SMS. According to The Indian Express, this year's pass percentage is 63.84. The HBSE had conducted the Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) during February and March. Students, who are appeared for these exams can check their score on bseh.org.in. Steps to check the result - Go to the website bseh.org.in. - Click on the menu button which says 'result'. - Look for the link for Haryana Board of School Education Senior Secondary Examination (Class 12th) Result 2018 and click on that. - Enter your credentials and click on the submit button. - Download your result or keep a printout for future reference. The Haryana board is expected to release the result for the Secondary School (Class 10th) Examination on 21 May, after the release of the Senior Secondary (Class 12th) Examination result on 18 May. The Ramzan ceasefire announced by the Indian government on 16 May comes after a period of heightened armed violence and killings in Kashmir. By Athar Parvaiz Srinagar: The Ramzan ceasefire announced by the Indian government on 16 May, 2018, comes after a period of heightened armed violence and killings in Kashmir. An IndiaSpend analysis of Jammu & Kashmir Police data shows that in the three years since March 2015, when the current government assumed power in the state, armed encounters between militants and security forces have increased by 53 percent over the preceding three years. Deaths in conflict have similarly increased by 51 percent. The Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party formed a coalition government in Jammu & Kashmir in March 2015. Data suggest an increase in violence and related deaths since then, particularly after the July 2016 killing of militant commander Burhan Wani209 militants were killed in 2017, up 65 percent from 136 in 2016. The data also attest to a spurt in incidents of stone pelting, pellet and bullet injuries, as well as damage to homes and private property. The alliance between PDP and BJP was sold to the people with the promise that it would lead to a peace process. But the peace process never took off, Noor Ahmad Baba, political commentator and former head of Kashmir Universitys political science department, told IndiaSpend, On the contrary, the protests and political dissent in the aftermath of Burhan Wanis killing is being met with repression. It has further alienated the people especially the youth. The coalition partners have been at loggerheads over many issues, the latest disagreement having been about the current ceasefirethe PDPs proposal to New Delhi had been opposed by the state BJP unit, as The Telegraph reported, and also by the union defence ministry, as the Hindustan Times reported. The central home ministry relented eventually and announced a ceasefire. It is important to isolate the forces that bring a bad name to Islam by resorting to mindless violence and terror, home minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter on 16 May 16. It is important to isolate the forces that bring a bad name to Islam by resorting to mindless violence and terror. HMO India (@HMOIndia) May 16, 2018 To be sure, Wanis killing is not the only reason why militancy has registered an increase in Kashmir. The continuous vicious cycle of violence in the absence of a political dialogue is leaving a huge impact on the mindset of the youth, Baba said, adding that a new phenomenon is visible in Kashmir in which people risk their lives and rush to encounter sites to support trapped militants during cordon-and-search operations. This, he said, is due to the lack of a meaningful peace process. Nevertheless, the ceasefire is a step in the right direction, Baba said, adding that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Srinagar on 19 May, he must make clear whether he intends to kickstart a long-term peace process. Modi recently went to neighbouring China and then to Nepal. Would he be interested in Pakistan as well? It remains to be seen, Baba said. By the end of 2016, the number of active militants across Kashmir was 209 (136 militants were also killed in that year), according to a map published by the Crime Branch of Jammu & Kashmir Police in its annual crime gazette. Between 2012 and 2014, the army had estimated that fewer than 100 militants were active in Kashmir, most of them non-locals, as the Hindustan Times reported on 7 April. The spurt in militancy is reflected in the increase in the number of armed encounters between militants and security forces. Between 2012 and 2014, 129 encounters or incidents of cross-firing between government forces and militants were recorded, in which 227 militants (including 60 Kashmiri militants) and 101 security forces (including 48 army personnel) were killed, Jammu & Kashmir Police data show. Encounters registered an increase of 53 percent, with 247 encounters recorded from 2015 to 2017, in which 439 militants (including 156 Kashmiris) and 200 government forces (including 109 army personnel) were killed. As many as 4,799 incidents of stone pelting took place from 2015 to 2017, as per home ministry data cited in a parliamentary response on February 7, 2018. Stone-pelting is a relatively recent phenomenon, so no comparative figures are available. However, its human toll has been well-documented and was evident when IndiaSpend visited Srinagar's Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, where most pellet victims with eye injuries come for treatment. Hospital records show that 1,398 patients have been treated here for pellet wounds from January 2015 to 10 May, 2018. As you can see, my eye is totally damaged, 20-year-old Ashfaq Ahmad Chohan, a pellet victim from Chek-Hayin village in north Kashmirs Kupwara district, who was visiting the hospital to obtain a disability certificate, said. However, he said, he was being given a document certifying only 30 percent disability, which would impair his chances of getting commensurate compensation. The government of Jammu and Kashmir had announced in November 2017 that it would provide jobs to the worst-affected pellet victims, but until January 2018 only 13 people had got the promised jobs, Greater Kashmir reported on January 25, 2018. Last year, human rights NGO Amnesty Internationals India chapter had started a Ban Pellet Guns campaign, urging the Jammu & Kashmir government to ban pump-action shotguns which fire metal pellets. Owners of houses where militants hide often become unwitting victims as their homes get cordoned off by security forces, and crossfire results in loss of life and extensive damage or total destruction of their property. As many as 105 houses have been destroyed since 2015 in encounters in Pulwama, one of the two worst militancy-hit districts in south Kashmir, for which IndiaSpend was able to access official figures. News reports have noted that during encounters, local youths, as well as youths from adjacent and even far-off villages, have started helping the militants escape, as The Week reported on 12 June, 2017. They distract the security forces by hurling stones and raising slogans so that the militants can flee. In response, the security forces have started conducting search operations during the night so that civilians cannot gather in support of militants. However, at a recent encounter during the intervening night of May 12 and 13, 2018, four militants escaped while incidents of stone pelting by civilians were recorded, the Business Standard reported on 12 May, 2018. Hundreds of people reached the spot shortly after they heard gunshots, a local resident of Wagum-Pulwama, where the latest encounter had taken place, said. Once we felt our young boys have been surrounded by army men, the darkness didnt deter us and we came out help them, another resident said, speaking to IndiaSpend without wishing to be named. Sitting in a tent outside his gutted house, local resident Bashir Ahmad Ganie alleged that the security forces had burned his house down on suspicion that militants were hiding inside. Ganie had also sustained a bullet injury during the encounter. Srinagar-based defence ministry spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia refuted the allegations. We dont destroy any property intentionally, he said, Whenever local terrorists get trapped during our cordon and search operations, we give them the opportunity to surrender. But, when they resort to firing, the encounter happens and in the process property also gets damaged. The author is a Srinagar-based journalist. UJC and Hurriyat have sought a tripartite dialogue involving Pakistani, Indian and Kashmiri leadership for a permanent settlement of the Kashmir problem. Srinagar: The United Jehad Council (UJC), a conglomerate of militant outfits in Kashmir, and the Hurriyat have sought that a tripartite dialogue involving Pakistani, Indian and Kashmiri leadership for the permanent settlement of the Kashmir problem. The UJC has demanded that thousands of those detained in the jails should be released as a confidence-building measure (CBM), while the Hurriyat has said that demilitarisation and the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) would help in the creation of a conducive atmosphere for talks. A meeting of the UJC was held on Friday at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the leadership of its chairman and Hizbul Mujahideen chief, Syed Salahuddin, in which it was said that the ceasefire announcement made by the Indian government lacks seriousness and rather stressed on the need for dialogue on the resolution of the Kashmir issue. This came days after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced the suspension of anti-militancy operations by the forces in Kashmir during the month of Ramzan. In a statement issued to media, the UJC spokesperson, Syed Sadaqat Hussain, said that Indian leadership should show seriousness to resolve the Kashmir issue. "The Indian leadership should become serious about the resolution of the Kashmir problem, for which Jammu and Kashmir should be accepted as a disputed territory... and, in light of UN resolutions, a tripartite dialogue should be stared," said Salahuddin. The conglomerate has also said that as a CBM, thousands of those detained in the jails should be released. The UJC chief has, however, termed the Ramzan ceasefire as something which lacks seriousness as it was restricted only to the holy month. "The ceasefire announcement by India was a ceasefire just for the sake of ceasefire. As the name suggests, after the month of holy Ramzan, the Indian forces would resume the killings and mass murders in Kashmir," said Salahuddin. The UJC chief, however, also said that a ceasefire would have been a welcome development if the Indian leadership had shown seriousness. He added that the Indian leadership was trying to mislead the international community and Kashmiris won't be carried away by such tactics. "'Operation Halt' is a cruel joke with the freedom-loving people of Kashmir, who are engaged in a legitimate movement for the right to self-determination," a joint separatist leadership comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik had said in a statement on Thursday. On Friday, Hurriyat (M) chairman Farooq said that concrete steps should be taking for a serious dialogue on the Kashmir problem. He said that as a CBM, the Government of India (GoI) can start by repealing AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir, which is considered to be draconian as it confers powers on troops to detain people on mere suspicion. "Let GoI start with demilitarisation and repealing of black laws like AFSPA. (Narendra) Modiji is coming tomorrow (Friday) and we are saying in that context that if initiatives are taken which will provide relief to people then we can move towards conflict resolution." He further added, "When we talked with the Indian government last time in 2006, we said at that time as well that CBMs should be initiated so that people feel that there is a seriousness on part of the Indian authorities. We talked about the release of prisoners and removal of bunkers and watchtowers from the towns. Even if phased initiatives are taken, they should be serious." Mirwaiz said that if the Indian government is saying that it will not run after youth for one month and then start the operations after Ramzan it "will not make any impact on the ground." "There are only two ways for peace in Jammu and Kashmir and that is either by the implementation of the UN resolution or tripartite talks. We are seeking that the leadership of India, Pakistan and Kashmir sit for talks for carrying out negotiations." "Such measures should be taken which are serious for resolution of the Kashmir problem." It's now official. On 16 May, the Centre announced a conditional ceasefire in Kashmir during Ramzan. It's now official. On 16 May, the Centre announced a conditional ceasefire in Kashmir during Ramzan. The objective of the ceasefire is also clearly stated as intended to help people observe the holy month in prayers and due solemnity. The announcement, however, also makes it clear that the ceasefire will not apply if security forces are attacked, or if terrorists launch attacks on innocent people. News coverage of crowds apparently protecting terrorists notwithstanding, the killing of innocents is more common than one would think. Terrorists dont really care very much whom they kill. Their objective is to create a climate of unrest and fear. The ceasefire announcement has been greeted variously. Those with a clear insight into the situation underlined that far from being a sing of weakness, the ceasefire was a display of confidence by the security forces, and a part of the governments will to peace. Others cited past failures of such initiatives as a reason not to opt for a ceasefire. On the other hand, some others suggested that the ceasefire be accompanied by an "Operation Comeback" referring to ongoing but intermittent offers by the security forces to persuade young local militants to opt for a surrender and a return to their homes and hearths. All of these are solid points of view, echoing differing experiences and lessons learnt in the Valley. The most telling comment, however, came from the chief minister herself. She is reported to have said, I hope Pakistan will respond positively to the ceasefire. I hope militants, while respecting the holy month of Ramzan, will respond positively and help in stopping the bloodshed which has been happening in J&K for so many years." This squarely equated Pakistan, the militants and the violence, also making the point that the success of a ceasefire depended on Rawalpindi putting a noose around militant encampments across the line of control. The answer from Islamabad was not long in coming. The Lashkar-e-Taiba refused to recognise the ceasefire, rather confusingly stating that it would be treachery to the martyrs. That statement was from Abdullah Ghaznavi, and why he felt that it would be treacherous to stop creating more martyrs remains somewhat puzzling until one considers that terrorists would lose their rationale with a cessation of violence. Thats why unilateral ceasefires dont deliver on the specific objective of reducing violence. It is worth remembering that after the announcement of NICO (Non Initiation of Combat Operations) by the Vajpayee government on 19 November, 2000, violent incidents went up at least 50 percent, with civilians being the main targets of a series of terror attacks. However, also remember that a NICO at that time which is essentially pretty much the same as the ceasefire being offered now was aimed at showing the governments sincerity in terms of opening a dialogue with Kashmiri separatists, and later with Pakistan, as apparent in the invitation extended to the then Chief Executive General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to visit India. Remember also that the NICO happened when violent incidents were between 4,000 and 3,000, and total militants were above the 3,500 range. Most were also foreign mercenaries. Thats not the case today. Todays violent incidents in total are between 200-300, though climbing. Secondly, the number of militants are less than a quarter of their earlier strength. And heres the main nub of the whole exercise. This time around, the target audience for a ceasefire is or should be the local population, tired and angry and far from being sympathetic or supportive of the government that was once the case. Kashmir has changed, and with it, the prioritisation of the objectives of a ceasefire also needs to be modified. The outreach to Pakistan can wait. In short, the ceasefire may not bring down the violence. Terrorists, on the other hand, will use this period to launch a serious attack, perhaps on an SF camp, to goad security forces into a retaliation. Thats going to be a challenge of no mean proportion, particularly in terms of preventive intelligence gathering. Meanwhile, engage in dialogue, talk, listen and respond, to the people on the ground. The success of this ceasefire, and in fact, every such attempt in any theatre of militancy anywhere at any time, depends on the support of the people on the ground. The Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) on Wednesday rejected the offer of home minister Rajnath Singh's offer of ceasefire in Kashmir, terming it as a compromise. Hours after Union home minister Rajnath Singh issued a directive to halt security operations in Kashmir during Ramzan, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) rejected the offer of a ceasefire, terming it as a compromise. However, mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including Opposition parties National Conference and Congress, have said that peace needs to be given a chance. LeT chief Mahmood Shah said in a statement to the media that the ceasefire is no option and no thought can be given to such a compromise. We deem it as a sin and disgrace to the sacrifices put up in the freedom struggle. We are the heirs of the martyrs. Opting for such a choice is treachery to the blood of martyrs...The statement of India's interior minister is nothing but a drama. It may be a wish of India and its few sympathisers and nothing else. The LeT referred to army chief Bipin Rawat, stating that he believes that he can threaten the Kashmiris by imposing atrocities on unarmed students. It has neither happened before nor will it happen now. We were active in the resistance before and so we will be in future (sic), it said in a statement. The outfit further said that it was in favour of negotiations, but talks of negotiations in the presence of armed occupational forces in the region are lies. Our mothers are supporting us by picking up the guns and we can never betray their trust. This indigenous freedom struggle is supported by the pure blood of martyrs and we can never let anyone betray it. We vow to the people that we will never betray their trust and the immense sacrifices they have gone through in the freedom struggle. We will fight to the last of our blood in our struggle against illegal occupation. India shall soon witness the wrath of the people. We will continue the armed struggle until and unless Jammu and Kashmir has won its freedom, he added. However, mainstream parties have welcomed the central government's move to extend the offer for ceasefire to militants. The ruling PDP said that it will try and pursue a dialogue with the separatists. PDP chief spokesperson, Rafi Ahmad Mir, said that the ceasefire was a welcome development, adding that steps will be taken to convince the central government on the need for dialogue with Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, while welcoming the announcement, said that the decision would go a long way in healing the wounds of people of the state who have been suffering the tragedies and pain of violence and uncertainty for the past three decades or so. The Congress and National Conference also welcomed the ceasefire offer. A Congress state spokesperson said that efforts should be made to restore peace beyond the month of Ramzan also in the Valley. Earlier, former chief minister Omar Abdullah also welcomed the offer, which he said was made after an all party meeting which was convened by Mehbooba Mufti recently. Awami Ittehad party leader and MLA from Langate, Er Rashid, said that the ceasefire announcement proves that militants enjoy public support and eliminating them makes them stronger. The unilateral ceasefire is a victory of the Kashmiris. At the same time, it should not be seen as a defeat of the other side. New Delhi must now move beyond the ceasefire and offer unconditional talks to United Jihad Council and the Hurriyat leadership, and then start tripartite talks between all the three stakeholders. However, the Government of India (GoI) interlocutor, Dineshwar Sharma, said that after the ceasefire, he may try and approach the separatists again for talks. Former Kashmir interlocutor, MM Ansari, told Firstpost that the central government's announcement is a welcome step which augurs well for restoring peace and containing human rights violations. He said that this was a step towards preparing a congenial atmosphere for the prime ministers visit to the state. He added that it was in line with the policy of former prime minister AB Vajpayee on Kashmir. This is the first measure taken by the prime minister in pursuance of Vajpayee's policy on Kashmir, he said. Farmers will now receive funds for irrigation wells and orchards directly into their bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) method, Maharashtra minister for Employment Guarantee Schemes (EGS), Jaykumar Rawal, said today. Mumbai: Farmers will now receive funds for irrigation wells and orchards directly into their bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) method, Maharashtra minister for Employment Guarantee Schemes (EGS), Jaykumar Rawal, said today. "Earlier, funds for irrigation wells used to be given to the shop keepers against the material purchased and orchard funds were given to the nurseries but now farmers will get the funds directly in their bank accounts and hence will be the beneficiaries,"Rawal said. He reviewed schemes district-wise, related to MNREGA, EGS, irrigation wells, orchards and Samruddh Maharashtra Jankalyan Yojana over a period of two days in meetings held at the Sahyadri state guest house. Giving information about the decisions taken during the review, Rawal said the EGS department was extensively implementing the irrigation wells scheme. "This scheme has proved to be a revolutionary one for farmers. It is expected that work on 76,000 such wells which is currently underway will be completed soon and as per the planning done in this meeting," he said. He said that money to purchase saplings for private orchards planted under the Kalpvruksh Orchard Scheme with funds made available from MNREGA, would also be transferred directly into the bank accounts of farmers. "The profit from the produce goes to the farmer. This will enable the farmer to purchase saplings from government or registered nurseries," he said. He further said a decision had been taken to encourage mulberry plantation as there was good scope for a silk industry in the state. "Mulberry plantation is done during rainy season through MNREGA. However, it has now been decided to allow mulberry plantation throughout the year. Similarly, orchards can be planted throughout the year as per availability of water," Rawal said. The Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) announced its Class 10 board examination results on the official board website, nbsenagaland.com The Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) announced its Class 10th board examination results today (18th May). Eligible students who appeared for the exams may check their results on the official board website, nbsenagaland.com. In addition to this, the results will also be declared on examresults.net and indiaresults.com on Friday afternoon. A report on The Indian Express said 10,437 boys and 11,275 girls had registered for the HSLC (High School Leaving Certificate) from 78 centres. The highest enrolment was observed at Dimapur district with 7,094 candidates followed by Kohima with 3,619 candidates, the report said. The High School Leaving Certificate or the Class 10th examinations started on 15 February and ended on 27 February. Some 22,446 students appeared in the examination that was held despite wide protests by the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC), Kohima and the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC). Here is how you can check your score for the NBSE Class 10th results 2018: 1) Visit the official website www.nbsenagaland.com 2) On the homepage, go to the Results section 3) A new page will open 4) Enter your exam roll number and date of birth (DOB) 5) Submit the entered information 6) Save your Nagaland HSLC result 2018 A Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was killed on Friday after Pakistan violated ceasefire on the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura sector, according to media reports A Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was killed on Friday after Pakistan violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura sector, according to media reports. Two civilians also lost their lives in the attack. Slain BSF constable Sitaram Upadhyay hailed from Jharkhand. He is survived by a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. Photo of BSF Constable Sitaram Upadhyay, who lost his life in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector of #JammuAndKashmir. He hails from Jharkhand & is survived by a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. pic.twitter.com/ViHqGi5Rzc ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 The two civilians, who were killed as a result of the ceasefire violation by Pakistan, were identified as Tarsem Lal and his wife Manjeet Kour. The couple was killed in the shelling when a mortar exploded in their house in Chandu Chak village in RS Pura sector, Hindustan Times reported. The reported further quoted a senior official of the BSF as saying, The firing in RS Pura sector is intermittent. The administration has announced that schools within a three-kilometre radius of the International Border (IB) will remain closed on Friday, ANI also reported. This is the third instance of ceasefire violation by Pakistan this week. On Thursday, a BSF trooper was injured in firing by Pakistani rangers on the IB in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district. The Pakistani rangers resorted to unprovoked firing on the IB in Samba and Hiranagar sectors, BSF sources had said. The rangers had fired at some dozen BSF border outposts. The BSF trooper was injured at the Regal Post. "The BSF positions retaliated effectively. Firing exchanges between the two sides continued till the early hours," the sources had said. On Tuesday, a BSF constable was killed in Pakistan firing on the IB in the Samba district. "Pakistan rangers started ceasefire violation at 1.30 am. They resorted to unprovoked firing at the BSF positions on the IB. "BSF constable, Devinder Singh, was injured in the firing. He succumbed to his injuries later," a BSF official had said. The ceasefire violations come ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir on 19 May. With inputs from IANS A 1,000 tonne barge, specially designed for carrying fuel mid-sea to the Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, was launched on Thursday. Kolkata: A 1,000 tonne barge, specially designed for carrying fuel mid-sea to the Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, was launched on Thursday. The ship, manufactured by city-based Titagarh Wagons will depart for Mumbai dockyard of the Indian Navy for delivery after various trials including machinery and speed trials. The vessel will be formally handed over to the navy at Mumbai in September, followed by the another vessel three months thereafter. "This 68 meter long ship has a displacement of 2,000 tonnes and is vital for enhancing naval operations at sea by replenishing strategic assets like the aircraft carrier in the anchorage," a statement said. With a maximum speed of 12 knots, this ship is capable of sustaining at sea for seven days, it said. In May last year, the company commenced the construction of two 1,000-tonne fuel barges for the Indian Navy and two coastal research vessels for the National Institute of Ocean Technology under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences at its shipyard near here. The construction work for the other three vessels is in process, according to the statement. The company has also obtained new orders from the West Bengal government for building small boats and has participated in various tenders where the results should come out in the next six-eight months. "These orders are likely to be from the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Inland Waterways Authority of India, Shipping Corporation of India," it said. The manufacturing firm had signed contracts of Rs 100 crore and Rs 75 crore with the National Institute of Ocean Technology under the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of Defence (Navy), Directorate of Ship Production respectively. It is drawing up the layouts and planning the facilities of the next phase of ship building at Kulpi, the company said. Here is a glossary of some of the the terms that have emerged with respect to the politics that unfolded in the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 After days of high drama, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday, reducing the 15-day window given by the governor to Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to prove majority. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," a three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said. The top court said the pro tem speaker will take decisions in accordance with the law on the issue of floor test. Here is a glossary of some of the the terms and concepts that have emerged over the last few days: Hung Assembly A hung Assembly refers to a situation where no single party secures a complete majority in the polls after the Election Commission declares the results. In the case of Karnataka, a party has to win at least 113 seats out of the total 224 seats (over 50 percent) in the Assembly to secure a simple majority. This year, since the elections to two of those seats were deferred thus bringing the total polled seats to 222 a party could have been said win a majority with 112 seats. According to results declared on Tuesday, the three biggest parties in Karnataka fared as follows: BJP bagged 104 seats, Congress 78 seats and JD(S) 37 seats. Since no party has reached the 112-seat mark, the current Assembly is referred to as hung. On Thursday, BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa took oath as the chief minister, hours after the Supreme Court declined to stay his swearing-in ceremony. So right now, Karnataka has both a functioning government (with one minister) and a hung Assembly. In case of a hung assembly, the state functions under a caretaker government's rule. Now, after Yeddyurappa's swearing-in on Thursday, the state is now under a government which can enact politicies with the consent of the governor, who is the head of the cabinet. However, Yeddyurappa's lawyer gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court on Friday that the current government (under and consisting of only Yeddyurappa) will not take any major policy decision until the floor test, will be conducted on Saturday at 4 pm. Pro tem speaker The pro tem is a temporary speaker appointed by the governor, whose duty is to administer the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-elected MLAs after summons are issued in the Lower House. After the MLAs take take their seats in the House, a regular speaker is elected by the rule of simple majority. Traditionally, the senior-most member of the House called the Father of the House is chosen as a pro tem Speaker. For the recommendation, it is also taken into account if he or she is likely to be a candidate for the post of Speaker or a minister. Apart from conducting the proceedings, the pro tem Speaker would take a call on whether the trust vote should be held through a voice vote or ballot. At 71, eight-time Congress MLA Raghunath Vishvanath Deshpande is the senior-most in the House, who has been recommended to be the pro tem Speaker in the Karnataka Assembly. The floor test to confirm the majority of a party is usually only done by a regular speaker, but as a News18 article points out, there is nothing constitutionally wrong in pro tem Speaker conducting a floor test, while adding that a pro tem speaker can only perform the functions of a regular speaker in case the House is not able to elect one. With the BJP currently short of eight MLAs to secure a majority in the House, the Yeddyurappa-led government may not be able to elect a speaker from their own, in which case there may be no need for a vote of confidence, the piece adds. Floor test If there are doubts against the chief minister, the governor can ask him to prove his majority in the House. In case of a coalition government, the chief minister may be asked to move a vote of confidence and win a majority. In the absence of a clear majority, when there is more than one individual staking claim to form the government, the governor may call for a special session to see who has the majority to form the government. Some legislators may be absent or choose to not vote. The numbers are then considered based only on those MLAs who were present to vote. Cabinet of one Shortly after taking oath as Karnataka chief minister on Thursday, Yeddyurappa announced a farm loan waiver that he said will benefit one lakh farmers in the southern state. Hours later, several IAS and IPS officers were on Thursday transferred and a new advocate-general appointed in a top level reshuffle. The Yeddyurappa government appointed senior advocate Prabhuling K Navadagi as the Advocate-General of Karnataka, in place of Madhusudan R Naik. But how do Cabinet meetings take place with only one minister sworn in so far? They don't. The chief minister advises the governor who is the head of the cabinet on his own, who then approves the decisions. On Thursday, Governor Vajubhai Vala signed the transfer papers to appoint Navadagi to the post with immediate effect, a government notification said. 15-day period to prove majority? The governor, while inviting the single largest party to form government, gave 15 days to the BJP to establish majority. The 15-day period, however, is not out of a rule-book. It is completely at the discretion of the governor, who can decide on any length of time before which a party has to prove a majority in the House. "I do not think we need 15 days to prove majority, despite the governor giving us time. I am confident that those Congress MLAs lodged in a private resort outside Bengaluru, who have undergone mental torture and harassment, will vote with the government. We are in power and we will prove our majority," Yeddyurappa reportedly said. On Friday, the Supreme Court reduced the period by several days, and said that a floor test has to be conducted on Saturday. Single largest party The governor's decision to invite the single largest party to form government over post-poll alliances has raised several eyebrows. The single largest party is simply the party with most number of MLAs in the House, which in this case is the BJP with 104 MLAs. However, the Constitution does not explicitly speak of coalitions or of a single largest party. With inputs from Firstpost contributor Ajay Kumar Click here to follow LIVE updates on the Karnataka polls The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre seeking its reply on a plea by a group of 20 former and current students of the prestigious IITs challenging section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises unnatural sex between two consenting adults of the same gender. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre seeking its reply on a plea by a group of 20 former and current students of the prestigious IITs challenging section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises unnatural sex between two consenting adults of the same gender. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud, while seeking a response from the government, ordered tagging of the plea with other similar petitions which have already been referred by the top court to a five-judge constitution bench on 8 January. The 20 IITians, including scientists, teachers, entrepreneurs and researchers of different age groups, who are all Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgenders (LGBT), have claimed that criminalisation of sexual orientation has resulted in a "sense of shame, loss of self-esteem and stigma". Their plea was filed on behalf of the LGBT alumni association of the IITs, which claims to have over 350 members. Among the petitioners, the youngest one is a 19-year-old student of IIT-Delhi, while the oldest one graduated from an IIT in 1982. The apex court had earlier referred to a constitution bench several pleas filed by eminent citizens and NGO 'Naaz Foundation' challenging the 2013 apex court verdict which had re-criminalised gay sex between consenting adults. Section 377 of the IPC refers to 'unnatural offences' and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse "against the order of nature" with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to pay a fine. "The petitioners contend that the continued existence of section 377 severely curtails the protection of equality, dignity, liberty and expression that the Constitution guarantees to all Indian citizens," the plea filed by the group of IITians said. "The stigma, silence and violence that section 377 brings in its wake, deeply hurts the petitioners' professional promise and personal fulfilment," it said. It has alleged that several petitioners have had to grapple with depression, self-harm and other mental health issues, all of which have had a very deleterious effect on their academic and career prospects. The petition urged the court to intervene to finally settle the controversial issue as government and Parliament had been reluctant to examine it. On 1 May, the top court had dealt with two separate pleas filed by LGBT rights activists Arif Jafar, Ashok Row Kavi and others, including Mumbai-based NGO 'Humsafar Trust' which fights for LGBT rights. The top court had, on 23 April, sought the Centre's reply on a hotelier's plea for striking down section 377. While agreeing to reconsider the 2013 verdict criminalising gay sex, the top court had in January said the section of people or individuals who exercise their choice should never "remain in a state of fear". It had also said the determination of the order of nature was not a constant phenomenon as social morality changes from time to time. The apex court is already seized of similar pleas filed by celebrities like dancer N S Johar, chef Ritu Dalmia and another hotelier Aman Nath challenging the validity of section 377 criminalising consensual gay sex. The Delhi High Court, on 2 July, 2009, had legalised homosexual acts among consenting adults, holding that the 149-year-old law making it a criminal offence was in violation of fundamental rights. Uttar Pradesh government's preliminary probe into the collapse of a flyover in Varanasi, where 18 people were killed in the mishap, has identified a few lapses in its construction. Uttar Pradesh government's preliminary probe into the collapse of a flyover in Varanasi where 18 people died has identified a few lapses in its construction. The report, whose copy is in possession of Firstpost, mentioned the following lapses: 1. The flyover's designs were not approved by the competent authority. 2. Support beams between flyover's columns were not attached to cross beams. 3. Non-maintenance of records that makes it tough to ascertain whether cement, sand and stones with which the support beam was made were mixed in the right proportion. Also, no information about if competent authorities were regularly keeping an eye on this aspect. 4. The construction unit does not have a checklist of concrete mixture that was used. 5. Inspecting officers did not issue comments after inspection of the construction work. 6. No barricading of the area where construction was under way and not making an alternative route available for motorists. The report recommended strict action against Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation (UPSBC) managing director Rajan Mittal, former chief project manager Gendalal, project managers KR Sudan and Lal Chand and additional project manager Rajendra Pal. Mittal was ousted from the position after the incident. Now, there is a chance that their names will be included in the FIR. Passing the blame According to letters in possession of Firstpost, the Varanasi police registered an FIR and shot off five letters to the UPSBC since November regarding traffic diversion. According to Deepak Ratan, Inspector General, Varanasi Range, the police requested UPSBC to ensure safe traffic regulations at the construction site but that was not followed, because of which the traffic police deployed its 17 employees in three different shifts. "No matter what the reason, for us this is a case of negligence", Ratan said. Speaking with Firstpost, Sudan denied the allegation about non-diversion of traffic. He said the corporation sent letters to the commissioner of Varanasi Range and traffic police to divert traffic and move fruit sellers from the construction site. He said the authorities ignored UPSBC's letters. "Whatever has happened is very unfortunate. The death toll would not have increased if the Varanasi district administration had paid heed to our letters where we requested for diversions and other things", Sudan added. 'Wait for final report' Requesting anonymity, a senior officer of the state Public Works Department (PWD) told Firstpost that though the preliminary investigation found these flaws, a thorough investigation was still needed. "An innocent [person] should not be made guilty and the culprit should not be spared. A deep investigation should be done. The team that probed this was given only 48 hours time and it is not possible to explore all the possible angles in a small span of time", the senior officer posted in Lucknow said. Civil construction expert Vinay Gupta, who consulted with the UPSBC on multiple occasions, said it would be premature to say anything. "Investigations take more time than construction and there could be many reasons or one combined reasons [sic] for the collapse. We have been getting information that it happened due to the storm but let me tell you that storms keep occurring. There could have been the problem with the bearings, problem with the peer caps or the concrete that was used in casting the beam that came down", he said. On Thursday, the UPSBC's ousted managing director stated that gusty winds during the freak storm in north India was responsible for the flyover's collapse. He said the winds (whose speed crossed 100 kilometres per hour) dislocated the support beam, which led to its crash as the flyover was still under construction and not equipped to withstand such a strong impact. Mittal was previously removed from the post in 2014 by then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after it was alleged that he favoured a company for a contract worth Rs 1,200 crore. He was reinstated in dual positions of UPSBC managing director and Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam by the present dispensation. An under-construction flyover near Cantonment railway station in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency collapsed Tuesday evening. State-run Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation (UPSBC) was building the flyover. After the accident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had set up a three-member team and sought a report in 48 hours. The Supreme Court directed a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday. BJP's Karnataka unit asserted it would sail through the floor test, telling those who were doubting them to wait and watch A day after BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa took oath as Karnataka chief minister, much to the dismay of the JD(S)-Congress combine, the Supreme Court directed a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday. The apex court announced the floor test after hearing Congress-JD(S) plea against the Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala inviting the BJP to form the government in the southern state. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," a three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the chief minister, had sought time till Monday for the floor test but the bench, also comprising Justices SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, ordered it for Saturday, PTI reports. Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that the Supreme Court's order vindicated the party's stand that Vala acted unconstitutionally. "Todays Supreme Court order, vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the government, even without the numbers, has been called out by the court," he tweeted. "Stopped legally, they will now try money and muscle, to steal the mandate," Gandhi added in the tweet. Todays Supreme Court order, vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money & muscle, to steal the mandate. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 18, 2018 Meanwhile, Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa that they were confident that they will prove full majority. "Will discuss with chief secretary and call for Assembly session tomorrow. We are 100 percent confident that we will prove full majority," he said. Congress leader and former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar applauded the decision, saying that the judgement should be celebrated. "Supreme Court verdict has upheld Constitutional morality and democracy. It's a judgement that should be celebrated. The faith of people in the wisdom of the Supreme Court is vindicated once again," he said to ANI. SC verdict has upheld constitutional morality&democracy. It's a judgement that should be celebrated. Faith of people in wisdom of SC is vindicated once again. It's set back for a party that wanted to usurp power:Ashwani Kumar,Congress on SC directing floor test in K'taka Assembly pic.twitter.com/2srcDuygg0 ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 "It's a set back for a party that wanted to usurp power," he added, taking a jibe at the BJP. Senior advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the Supreme Court delivered a "historic verdict" on the matter. "SC has delivered a historic verdict, many important directions have been given, one of them being that floor test has to be conducted at 4 pm tomorrow under a protem speaker," he said to the press. "The Supreme Court also said that oath should be administered to all MLAs before the floor test tomorrow and BS Yeddyurappa cannot take any policy decisions until tomorrow," he added. Singhvi also announced that the court also said a member of the Anglo-Indian community cannot be nominated. He was referring to the Congress-JD(S) combine moving the Supreme Court against the Karnataka governor's alleged move to nominate an Anglo-Indian member to the Assembly, saying it should not be done till the floor test in the House. BJP's Shobha Karandlaje also welcomed the court's decision, exuding confidence that the party will be able to prove its majority. "We welcome the Supreme Court's order. We will prove majority on the floor of the House tomorrow, we are ready for floor test," she said to ANI. Union minister Prakash Javadekar also echoed this confidence, tweeting, "BJP is ready and confident of winning trust vote in Karnataka. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House." AAP leader Ashutosh exclaimed on Twitter that the BJP was not ready for Saturday's floor test. "BJP not ready for tomorrow floor test? Modi and Amit Shah exposed!" he said. He added that Vala should ask himself whether he should continue as the governor. "Is it the end of the road for Modi? Just think," he concluded about the court's decision. BJP's Karnataka unit asserted that it would sail through the floor test, telling those who were doubting them to wait and watch. "We were ready to prove majority from the word go. We have more than the required number to sail through the floor test. We are looking forward to proving our mandate tomorrow. To all those doubting the strength of our mandate, we just have one thing to say: Wait and watch," the party tweeted. Yeddyurappa has to prove a majority in the Karnataka Assembly, and the Congress and JD(S) have alleged that the BJP is trying to poach their newly elected lawmakers, as it has fallen short of eight seats to the 112 halfway mark in the Lower House. The JD(S) had won 38 seats along with its ally BSP, while the Congress won 78 seats, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party winning 104 seats in the 12 May Assembly election. The Congress-JD(S) stitching up a hasty post-poll alliance approached the governor on Tuesday to form the government, as also did the BJP. But the governor Valla invited Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove within 15 days that he has a majority in the Legislative Assembly. With inputs from agencies Follow LIVE updates of the Karnataka Election Result here In an exclusive interview with Sameer Yasir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the announcement should become a stepping stone for a larger peace process to end the turmoil in the border state The Centre's announcement of a unilateral ceasefire in counterinsurgency operations, coinciding with the beginning of the holy month of Ramzan, has been met with relief tinged with hope in Jammu and Kashmir. In an exclusive interview with Sameer Yasir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the announcement should become a stepping stone for a larger peace process to end the turmoil in the border state. Edited excerpts follow: What is your initial reaction to the Centres announcement of Non-Initiation of Counterinsurgency Operations (NICO) for the month of Ramzan? There was a consensus on the issue during the all-party meeting, but your alliance partner had rejected it. I think we have all worked hard for this. Everybody wants the guns to stop roaring in Kashmir. Everybody wants to get some relief; people should get some relief. All parties and concerned citizens groups called for a unilateral ceasefire during the month of Ramzan till the completion of the Amarnath Yatra. We are glad the Centre respected the sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and made the announcement. What is the state going to achieve by pushing the Centre to announce the unilateral ceasefire? Do you believe it will pave the way for a larger political initiative? At least something has been started. Let's see how it plays out in the coming days and weeks. If the results are encouraging, and there is less violence and positive contributions from the other (Pakistani) side, then this can be taken forward. I mean, somewhere we had to start a genuine process that would help our efforts to address the problems in Jammu and Kashmir. It is not that we had not tried earlier. There have been setbacks. But I think this auspicious month will bring some happiness to the faces of people who have been affected by the recent events in Kashmir. Otherwise, even during Atal Bihari Vajpayees time, this was done, but there was no positive reciprocation from the Pakistani side. What was the response of your alliance partner, the BJP, when you asked for the ceasefire? They publicly opposed the move, terming it as 'surrender' before militants. As you know, there is a particular mindset in different layers of the system ,where they have their own considerations and beliefs about how to deal with a security situation. To see Kashmir primarily through the prism of security is unfortunate, and that has been the case always. There are wheels within the wheels. I am very grateful to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who have personally intervened and ensured that this happens. But the BJP, your alliance partner, has agreed to nothing previously. It has opposed everything you have demanded. That would be a wrong assessment. We debate, we disagree but in the end, we find common ground and deliver. Unfortunately, someone making a statement out of turn on controversial issues gets more attentions then the real things we have been able to deliver on the ground in terms of infrastructural development and other critical issues. That was the basic purpose of my father putting everything at stake and on the line by allying with the BJP at the fag-end of his life. The party that Mufti Mohammed Sayeed built with his blood and sweat was successful in giving an alternative in Jammu and Kashmir politics an alternative setup. We put everything at stake thinking it will lead to some results and that it will have a far-reaching impact. For the wider interest of Jammu and Kashmir, we gave up everything if people were to get some kind of relief. We joined hands with a party and a prime minister who had such a huge mandate from the people of India a lot of thinking had gone into it. After Vajpayee, if there is one person who is in a position to take a decision on Jammu and Kashmir, it is Modi. After Vajpayee, there was so much space, so many years passed but nothing happened between the last ceasefire and this time. Now he (Modi) is in a position where he can take decisions (about a ceasefire), which means he understands the real problem. I think it is a good step. It is not the solution, but it is something to start with. The Lashkar-e-Taiba has said it is a sin to even think about a ceasefire during Ramzan but Hizbul Mujahideen has not reacted so far. Everybody should reciprocate. I am saying everyone should respond in kind to this announcement if they want to put an end to the bloodshed in Kashmir, because every passing day sees us losing more people. We are losing young boys and security forces. Somewhere down the road, everyone had to sit together and decide if we wanted to continue this bloodshed. It is not in our favour (to have the violence continue). Fathers and mothers are grieving over the deaths of their children. It doesn't matter who is getting killed, but at the end of the day, human lives are being lost. We also have to understand that day after day, the greater the number of militants, the more the dominance of security forces and police. Then it becomes like a garrison. You have to call for more guns to combat guns which is not the kind of politics I personally believe in. The Karnataka election had thrown up a hung Assembly. The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party winning 104 seats in the 12 May Assembly election. Here is a full list of the winners from the BJP and their Assembly constituencies. In a highly-anticipated hearing, the Supreme Court is set to hear a petition filed by the Congress against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, who invited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government on 16 May, on Friday. The apex court had ordered that the letter submitted by Yeddyurappa and senior BJP leaders to the governor in which it was declared that the party has the requisite number of MLAs to form the government be produced before the court. After the Supreme Court refused to stay the governor's decision, BS Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday. However, the top court has kept it subject to the cases outcome. Now, all eyes are on the BJP as it attempts to retain power in the southern state. The Karnataka election had thrown up a hung Assembly. The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party winning 104 seats in the 12 May Assembly election. However, it fell short of eight seats from the 112-halfway mark in the Lower House, in which the Congress trailed behind with 78 wins and the regional JD(S) 37 seats. Here is a full list of the winners from the BJP and their Assembly constituencies. Shashikala Jolle - Nippani P Rajiv - Kudachi Aihole Duryodhan Mahalingappa - Raybag Umesh Katti- Hukkeri Balachandra Laxmanrao - Arabhavi Anil S Benake - Belgaum Uttar Abhay Patil - Belgaum Dakshin Doddagoudar Mahantesh Basavantaray - Kittur Anand Vishwanath Chandrashekhar Mamani - Saundatti Yellamma Mahadevappa Shivalingappa Yadawad - Ramdurg Govind Karjola - Mudhol Siddu Savadi - Terdal Murugesh Nirani - Bilgi Veerabhadrayya (Veeranna) Charantimath - Bagalkot Doddanagouda G Patil - Hungund Ameenappa Gouda S Patil - Muddebihal Somanagouda B Patil (Sasanur) - Devara Hippargi Basanagoud R Patil (Yatnal) - Bijapur City Narasimhanayak (Rajugouda) - Shorapur Venkatreddy Mudnal - Yadgir Rajkumar Telkar - Sedam Basarvaraj Mattimod - Gulbarga Rural Dattatryea Patil - Gulbarga Dakshin Guttedar Subhash Rukmayya - Aland Prabhu Chauhan - Aurad Dr. Shivaraj Patil - Raichur Shivana Gowda Nayak - Devadurga Basavaraj Dadesugur - Kanakagiri Paranna Munavalli - Gangavathi Achar Halappa Basappa - Yelburga Ramappa Sobeppa Lamani - Shirahatti Kalakappa Bandi - Ron Chandrakantagouda Channappagouda Patil - Nargund Shankar B Patil Munenakoppa - Navalgund Amrut Ayyappa Desai - Dharwad Jagadish Shettar - Hubli-Dharwad-Central Arvind Bellad - Hubli-Dharwad- West CM Nimbannavar - Kalaghatgi Rupali Naik - Karwar Dinakar Shetty - Kumta Sunil Naik - Bhatkal Kageri Vishweshwar Hegde - Sirsi CM Udasi - Hangal Basavaraj Bommaiah - Shiggaon Neharu Olekar - Haveri Ballary Virupakshappa Rudrappa - Byadgi Somalingappa - Siraguppa Somashekhar Reddy - Bellary City NY Gopalakrishna - Kudligi Sriramulu - Molakalmuru GH Thippareddy - Chitradurga Poornima Srinivas - Hiriyur Gulihatti D Shekar - Hosadurga Chandrappa M - Holalkere SV Ramachandra - Jagalur G Karunakara Reddy - Harapanahalli Ravindranath - Davanagere North N Linganna - Mayakonda K Madalu Virupakshappa - Channagiri MP Renukacharya - Honnali Ashok Naik - Shimoga Rural KS Eshwarappa - Shimoga Araga Jnanendra - Tirthahalli BS Yeddyurappa - Shikaripura Kumar Bangarappa - Sorab Harathalu Haalappa - Sagar BM Sukumar Shetty - Baindur Haaladi Srinivas Shetty - Kundapur K Raghupathi Bhat - Udupi Lalaji Mendan - Kapu V Sunil Kumar - Karkala MP Kumarswamy - Mudigere CT Ravi - Chikkamagalur DS Suresh - Tarikere Belli Prakash - Kadur JC Madhuswamy - Chikkanayakanhalli BC Nagesh - Tiptur Jayaram AS - Turuvekere Jyothi Ganesh - Tumkur City SR Vishwanath - Yelahanka Ashwath Narayan - Malleshwaram S Raghu - CV Raman Nagar Suresh Kumar - Rajajinagar V Somanna - Govindarajanagar Uday Garudachar - Chickpet Ravisubramanya LA - Basavanagudi R Ashoka - Padmanabanagar Aravinda Limbavali - Mahadevapura Sathish Reddy - Bommanahalli M Krishnappa - Bangalore South Pritham Gowda - Hassan Harish Punja - Belthangady Umanatha Kotian - Moodabidri Bharath Shetty - Mangalore City North Veda Vyasa Kamath - Mangalore City South Rajesh Naik U - Bantwal Sanjeev Mathandur - Puttur Angara S- Sullia Appachu Ranjan MP - Madikeri KG Bopaiah - Virajpet Harsha Vardhan - Nanjangud SA Ramadas - Krishnaraja L Nagendra - Chamaraja CS Niranjankumar - Gundlupet With inputs from agencies Click here for LIVE updates A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court has ordered that a floor test be conducted in Karnataka Assembly at 4pm on Saturday Auto refresh feeds NPP's seats increased to 20, the same as that of the Congress, after the party won the April 27 election in Williamnagar, where polls were countermanded following the killing of its candidate. Regional parties United Democratic Party (six), Peoples Democratic Front (two), the Hills State Peoples Democratic Party (two), NCP (one), independents (two) besides the BJP, which won just two seats came together to form the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance under Conrad Sangma. But it was the conglomerate of the National Peoples Party which had secured 19 seats formed the government with the support of other regional parties and the BJP. Opposition Congress, which had won the largest number of seats in the February Assembly poll in Meghalaya, will hold demonstrations across the state tomorrow to protest the Karnataka Governor's decision of inviting the BJP to form government. The Congress had secured 20 out of the 58 seats of Meghalaya Assembly in the polls. The governor had then invited the BJP, which had only won 21 seats out of the 60 seats in the Manipur Assembly, he said. Singh said he would meet the governor tomorrow following the swearing-in of BJP leader B S Yeddyuraapa as chief minister of Karnataka. Opposition leader of Manipur Legislative Assembly O Ibobi Singh today told reporters that since his party was the single largest party as it had won 28 seats out of 60, during the 2017 Assembly elections in the state, he would state claim to form the government. Amid the political development in Karnataka, Opposition Congress in Manipur today said the party leaders would meet the governor tomorrow to stake claim to form the government in the north-eastern state. "As far as swearing-in is concerned, we are not restraining it, but we are making it subject to the outcome of the case," a three-judge bench, comprising justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, said in a rare past-midnight hearing that was continuing till the wee hours of Thursday. The Supreme Court tonight said it was not in favour of deferring BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa's swearing-in as Karnataka Chief Minister, even as the Congress and JD (S) continued their past-midnight legal push to stall the government formation in the state. A marathon midnight hearing and a tumultuous day later, all eyes are on the Supreme Court today, which is set to hear a petition filed by the Congress against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala who invited the BJP to form the government on 16 May. JDS CM candidate HD Kumaraswamy, however, told reporters that all MLAs from both the parties were united and staying in the same place. News18 report stated that Congress MLAs have been shifted out of Karnataka. However, as the chaos after election results spiral out of control in Karnataka, confusion prevails. Firstpost wasn't able to independently verify the information, but News18 quoted sources saying that several Congress MLAs had moved out of Eagleton resort and Shangri-La hotel in Bengaluru and left for Puducherry, while a few JDS MLAs were shipped off to Cochin and Hyderabad. Opposition leader of Manipur Legislative Assembly Ibobi Singh told reporters that since his party was the single largest party as it had won 28 seats out of 60, during the 2017 Assembly elections in the state, he would state claim to form the government. Former Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma have sought time from respective governors of the state for a meeting today, reports said. Not just Meghalaya, Manipur, even Bihar and Goa on Thursday threatened to march till Raj Bhavan and stake claim to form government. The government appointed M Lakshminarayana, additional chief secretary, public works department, as the additional chief secretary to the chief minister. It also notified that his position will be equivalent to the additional chief secretary in home department. Hours after BS Yeddyurappa assumed office as chief minister, several IAS and IPS officers were transferred in a top level reshuffle on Thursday. The reshuffle includes the transfers of the advocate general of the state, senior police officers and the additional chief secretary to the chief minister, according to News18 The pro-tem Speaker would get to take a call on whether the trust vote should be held through a voice vote or ballot. According to News18 , the Karnataka Assembly Secretariat has forwarded Congress MLA RV Deshpande's name to Governor Vajubhai Vala to be appointed as the pro tem (temporary) Speaker. As per convention, the senior-most member in the House gets recommended as the pro tem Speaker when it is newly-constituted. Quoting sources, CNN-News18 reported that the newly-elected JD(S) MLAs are being shifted to Hyderabad along with some Congress legislators. They are currently in Kurnool, from where they would take 2 to 3 hours to reach Hyderabad. Amid reports that JDS and Congress MLAs have been shifted out of Bengaluru to keep them away from being poached by the BJP, JDS MLA CS Puttaraju said that all the MLAs are on their way to Hyderabad. "We will then decide where to stay." All the MLAs are with us. We are going to Hyderabad and then well decide where to stay: JDS MLA CS Puttaraju As reports confirmed that Congress and JD(S) MLAs are being moved to Hyderabad, there is still confusion over previous reports which said that the MLAs will be going to Cochin and Puducherry. Kerala minister and JDS MLA MT Thomas said, "I'm definite they (Karnataka JD(S) MLAs) aren't coming by flight so I'm moving to Kurnool. Not sure about their destination. If they come here, they're welcome. I was expecting them yesterday but Civil Aviation department didn't give permission to charter flight." "Sir, why are we playing with fire? Votaries of Democracy are now making mockery of System. Those who do not forget to sermonize on the value of Democracy are out to wreck the polity." Sinha further added, " In the present situation, one really wishes that ultimately justice prevails. What is right for Peter should be right for Paul too. What is right for Meghalaya, Manipur & Goa should be right for Karnataka too !! God save Karnataka & Democracy! Jai Hind !!" In a series of tweets, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha hit out at the political slugfest unfolding in Karnataka and said that this is the politics of jugaad and arm twisting. Karnataka MLAs arrive in Hyderabad's Park Hyatt hotel. Security is tightened in and around the area. News18 reported that top two floors of the hotel are residential, which is where the MLAs, most probably, will be put up. Saamana editorial also added a sarcastic comment saying 'if Congress would have done the same, it would have been called the murder of democracy, but it is absolutely valid" when BJP does it. After Shatrughan Sinha, now Shiv Sena criticised the politics unfolding in Karnataka. Saamana, Shiv Sena mouthpiece slammed BJP over politics in Karnataka. The editorial called the Karnataka Governor a 'polite servant' of the BJP. "What BJP is doing in Karnataka is Chanakyaneeti. Those who don't understand it, are not just fools, but also traitors." Speaking to India Today, Jaiveer Shergill said, "If Congress MLAs are scared then it is because of the threatening atmosphere created by the BJP. The minute the police was withdrawn from Eagleton Resort (where Congress MLAs were staying earlier) the BJP workers barged in." The top court, however, said the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa was subject to the final outcome of the matter before it and posted the case for further hearing at 10.30 a.m on Friday. Congress party is seeking an appointment with President Ramnath Kovind to protest against the swearing-in of BS Yeddyurappa and Governor's Vajubhai Vala's decision to administer the oath of office "unconstitutional". Earlier, a three-judge bench of the apex court rejected at a special pre-dawn hearing, a joint writ petition filed by the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) on Wednesday night, to stall Yeddyurappa's swearing-in. Amid reports that Congress MLAs have reached Hyderabad with JDS MLAs in tow, BJP hit back at the two parties saying that they "misleading" people for the last couple of days. "Don't know where the MLAs are. They are misleading people for last three to four days. You will know how we will prove the majority and how many MLAs support the government. We will respect Supreme Court's judgement and it'll have a bearing on further development of political scenario in Karnataka," says BJP's B Bommai. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who is representing two BJP MLAs in the Karnataka hearing in Supreme Court said that he is going to show the court the letter which was given by BS Yeddyurappa to the Governor. I am going to show the letter which was given by BS Yeddyurappa to the Governor which shows BJP has majority MLAs. Let the Congress-JD(S) prove their majority in the floor of the House after this verdict, he said. Two buses filled with MLAs of Congress and JDS arrived at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad. There is no official confirmation in the number of MLAs who travelled to Hyderabad, but reports confirmed that they have arrived in Hyderabad. A specially constituted three-judge bench comprising Justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan begin hearing Congress-JD(S) petition. The bench of the apex court rejected a joint writ petition, filed by the Congress and the JDS on Wednesday night, to halt the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister at a special pre-dawn hearing. The bench, headed by Justice AKSikri, also sought the letter Yeddyurappa wrote to the Governor on Wednesday, informing him about his election as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader in Karnataka. "We have the support from Congress and JD(S) MLAs, I cant disclose more at this point," says Rohatgi. "Also the letter submitted by Indian National Congress and the JDS does not have the signature of many MLAs," Rohatgi added. Mukul Rohatgi hands over the letters saying BS Yeddyurappa was elected as leader of the single largest party and has sufficient numbers to prove majority. There is no need for BSY to give names of all MLAs who are supporting him to governor and he is ready to prove majority any time. Supreme Court asks, "On what basis the Karnataka Governor decided which party/coalition can prove the majority since both sides have given the letter to Governor?" Proceedings in Supreme Court turned extremely interesting as Justice Sikri suggested that since the trust vote is the deciding factor, why not have it tomorrow? This, however, is merely a suggestion by the apex court. The BJP notched up 104 MLAs and is short of eight MLAs for a simple majority. On the other hand, JD(S) demonstrated, to the governor and the public, that it has the support of 116 MLAs, four more than the simple majority required to win the vote of confidence. Karnataka assembly has 224 seats, so normally the majority figure should have been 113. But polling was held only for 222 constituencies, because polling in two constituencies was put off to 20 May by the Election Commission. So the current majority figure is scaled down to 112. So, the question the Congress and JD(S) have raised and the Supreme Court will consider is this: If JD(S)-Congress combine have already demonstrated that they have the ability to form a stable government (with 116 MLAs), why did the governor chose the BJP, which has, officially, only 104 MLAs in this corner? Where from and how did Yedyurappa assure the governor that he would muster eight or more MLAs to form a stable government. And more important, how was the governor convinced that Yedyurappa had the numbers? The Supreme Court seems poised to order in favour of a BS Yeddyurappa conducting a floor test tomorrow to prove his majority in the House. Heated arguments are underway in the apex court and Supreme Court has only made observations and not ordered anything till now. Supreme Court rejected videographing of the floor test. Rohatgi suggested floor test on Monday, but the apex court has rejected the suggestion adding that the floor test should happen at the earliest. The Supreme Court is most likely inching towards ruling in favour of a floor test tomorrow. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Congress, said that the party is ready for it but "the entire proceedings should be video graphed and ensure proper security to MLAs to vote fearlessly." While, Mukul Rohatgi sought more time for floor test saying there should be a reasonable time not one day, Supreme Court rejected the suggestion saying it should happen at the earliest. "It is not appropriate for floor test tomorrow," Rohatgi said. If the reports are to be believed, this comes as a shot in the arm for the Congress and JDS. However, a detailed reading of the Supreme Court order is necessary to understand the ruling. According to reports, the pro-tem Speaker will decide the manner in which the floor test should be conducted. RV Deshpande, the Pro tem speaker, is an eight-time Congress MLA from Haliyal, would not have powers like a regular speaker, but he would administer oath to all the newly elected MLAs. BREAKING NEWS: Mukul Rohatgi has given an undertaking that BS Yeddyurappa will not take any major policy decision until the floor test This Court is not passing any order staying the oath-taking ceremony of respondent no.3. In case, he is given oath in the meantime, that shall be subject to further orders of this Court and the final outcome of the writ petition, stated the order of the court. After hearing the parties, we are of the opinion that it is necessary to peruse the letters dated 15th May 2018 and 16th May, 2018 submitted by the respondent no.3(Yeddyurappa) to the Governor which found a mention in the communication dated 16th May 2018 of the Honble Governor. We request the learned Attorney General and/or respondent no.3 to produce these letters on the next date of hearing. "Today Supreme Court has taken many historic and interim decisions. First is, floor test will be conducted tomorrow at 4 pm. Then, BSY's lawyer has given an undertaking that BS Yeddyurappa will not take any major policy decision until the floor test. Most importantly, Supreme Court will hear our petition which questions whether the governor should first invite the single largest party or should invite parties which have the number in ten weeks. There were several opposition to our stand but the Supreme Court has delivered a strong ruling and it should send a message to everyone who were opposed to this." 1. Floor Test Must Be Conducted At 4pm Tomorrow 2. Protem Speaker to decide the mode of test 3. No Secret Ballot 4. Govt shall not nominate the Anglo Indian Representative 5. Government shall not take any major policy decisions BS Yeddyurappa said that the BJP will prove its majority in the floor of the House. "We will discuss with the chief secretary and call for Assembly session tomorrow. We will win with majority and obey the orders of the Supreme Court," Yeddyurappa told reporters. Police detain Congress leaders who were taking out a rally to Raj Bhavan to protest the governor's decision to invite BJP to form the government. Senior leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge were leading the rally. "Todays Supreme Court order, vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money & muscle, to steal the mandate." - Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Chief Minister, had sought reasonable time till Monday for the floor test but the bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, ordered it for tomorrow. - Yeddyurappa cant take decisions till the floor test, says Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Supreme Court ordered that a floor test be held in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow to ascertain whether newly appointed BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa enjoys a majority in the state. Congress-JDS take affidavits of all 116 MLAs which will be submitted first in the court and later sent to President Ram Nath Kovind After Supreme Court's floor test order, Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa said, "Will discuss with Chief secretary and call for assembly session tomorrow. We are 100 percent confident that we will prove full majority." " We were ready to prove majority from the word go. We have more than the required number to sail through the floor test. We are looking forward to proving our mandate tomorrow. To all those doubting the strength of our mandate, we just have one thing to say: Wait and watch." In a series of tweets, BJP's Karnataka wing said, "We will prove majority on the floor of the house tomorrow. BJP is confident of winning the floor test. We have the blessings of 6 crore Kannadigas who voted for change. Their aspirations and blessings will be respected and acknowledged. We were ready to prove majority from the word go. We have more than the required number to sail through the floor test. We are looking forward to proving our mandate tomorrow. To all those doubting the strength of our mandate, we just have one thing to say: Wait and watch. Following SC's order for floor test tomorrow at 4 PM, we want to make one thing very clear. We are absolutely sure of our numbers and will decisively prove our majority on the floor of the house. If people's mandate has to be vindicated again, so be it. Bring it on! The drama that has been staged by JDS-Cong is there for everyone to see! They know fully well the discontent that exists amongst its own MLAs. It will be known to the world tomorrow! JDS-Cong may pull all their plugs. But rest assured, we will emerge victorious tomorrow." "This is a historic decision. I welcome Supreme Court's decision. Thank the supreme court for the same. Judges have once again risen to the occasion and taken the correct decision. a decision that protects democracy and the constitution. Constitution clearly states the importance of governor's role. Governor mustnt favour any party and any decision he takes shouldn't be biased. Bunch of us had gone to the Governor and told him that BJP doesn't have the numbers. Karnataka did not vote for BJP. They don't have anything more than 104 seats. On the other hand, the Congress, JDS and the Independents have 117 seats, Therefore, you should invite us to form the government, we told the governor. We tabled our claim even before the BJP approached the governor." "House proceedings should be followed with decency. A Pro tem speaker should be impartial. I expect everyone will abide by the Supreme Court order," Deshpande further added. The Governor appoints the senior-most legislator of the House as a Pro tem Speaker. Speaking to News18, RV Deshpande, who is the senior-most member of the Karnataka Assembly said, "Have not received any confirmation from Raj Bhavan whether I will be the pro tem Speaker tomorrow. Generally, the senior-most legislator is appointed as the Pro tem Speaker but since I have not been asked yet, so I cannot say anything." "Rs 100 crore or Rs 200 crore, our MLAs are with us. None of our members are going away. Today, evening or tomorrow early morning, we all are leaving for Bengaluru," JD(S) leader GT Devegowda. Tejashwi Yadav and other alliance leaders met Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik, hand over letters stating that RJD is the single largest party and hence should be invited to form government With the floor test hours away, senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah left for Hyderabad on a special flight. He will escort the MLAs back to Bengaluru ahead of tomorrow's floor test. "Congress party is murdering the mandate. There is nothing larger than a mandate in a democracy," BJP Sambit Patra said. He also pointed out that it was the same Congress party which was hell bent on impeaching the CJI. "I am happy to see that the Congress party is finally showing respect for the Supreme Court. I hope a similar veneration is maintained in future too, and they don't change their stand from judgment to judgment," Patra said. "It seems they knew that Congress will be the single largest party & they had this doubt that BJP & JD(S) will come together to form the government," Patra said. "The Congress party has been exposed completely," Patra said. Citing a report in The Times of India , Patra claimed that initially, anticipating good show the Congress party had drafted a petition to be filed in Supreme Court, requesting it to order that the single-largest party should be called for swearing-in. But they changed the plea when they say that they will have to do the same thing. "This is the real face of Congress. They want to selectively read the Constitution of India," Patra said. "Congress's selective approach won't work. The Constitution cannot be altered to the whims of the Gandhis," he added. In a counter to Sambit Patra's presser, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the Supreme Court has delivered a historic verdict. ". First time a question has been raised on the role of governor and which party can he invite according to the constitutional provisions," Singhvi said. "We want to set down a few things in perspective. The BJP's lawyers pleaded in Supreme Court that more time should be given for the floor test. The court denied. They argued that a chief minister should not be barred from making decisions, but the apex court denied that as well. Then they wanted a secret ballot. Now any one who is smart will now why would anyone place such a demand. But Supreme Court denied that request as well," Singhvi said. Even as all the three parties are struggling to form the government with no party having a simple majority on its own, the parties are eyeing the two assembly constituencies which are yet to go to the polls Rajarajeshwarinagar and Jayanagar. Winning these constituencies will make a huge difference to the parties which are struggling to increase their numbers to inch closer to the simple majority figure of 112. By convention, the Pro Tem Speaker is usually the senior most MLA in the House. However, Governor Vajubhai Vale has appointed BJP's KG Bopaiah, a three-time MLA, as the Pro Tem speaker. The Congress has objected to the governor's decision and said that the convention should have been followed. "Unless it was to ensure that the trust vote did not go against the CM, there was no conceivable reason for the Speaker to have taken up the disqualification application in such a great hurry," the Times of India had reported at the time, quoting the SC order. In 2011 he oversaw the floor test for BS Yeddyurappa government and had disqualified all MLAs who had rebelled against Yedyurappa. His decision was upheld by Karnataka HC but overturned by Supreme Court. The apex court had castigated him for "hastily" disqualifying 16 MLAs to enable BS Yedyurappa to win the trust vote in October 2011. KG Bopaiah, who was appointed by the governor to conduct a floor test, has been a three-time MLA. He was appointed Speaker on 17 November 2009 and he served till October 2013. The Constitution does not define an eligibility criteria for a Pro Tem Speaker. However, a well established tradition has been that the senior-most MLA in the House has been nominated to swear-in MLAs and conduct a floor test, if needed. In the Karnataka Assembly, Congress' RV Deshpande is the senior most member in the House and has won elections eight out of the nine times that he has contested. However, KG Bopaiah, a three-time MLA and former Speaker of the Assembly has been appointed as the Pro Tem speaker. "KG Bopaiah was appointed as pro tem speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations," BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar said defending Boapaiah's appointment. "We are constrained to hold that the proceedings conducted by the Speaker on the disqualification application filed by Yeddyurappa do not meet the twin tests of natural justice and fair play," the apex court said . "Extraneous considerations are writ large on the face of the order of the Speaker and the same has to be set aside," the Supreme Court said while quashing then Speaker KG Boapaiah's order to disqualify 11 BJP and 5 MLAs in 2010 as it was apprehended that they would support the no-trust motion against the then BS Yeddyurappa government. "It is a well-laid out procedure that the senior-most MLA will be appointed as the pro tem speaker. However, when in a situation when the BJP is intent on abducting the democracy and keeping it captive, then it becomes all the more important that this procedure is followed," Congres spokesperson RS Surjewala said. " In the current situation, RV Deshpande who is the senior most MLA in the Assembly, should have been appointed the pro tem speaker without any doubt. He may have been elected on a Congress ticket but at least his unbiasedness and his respect is intact, unlike Mr Bopaiah," Surjewala said. He said that even the Supreme Court had remarked that "unless there was the intent that the trust vote does not go against the chief minister" there was no logical explanation of the Speaker's conduct. Surjewala said that it was the Supreme Court which had given stinging structures against Bopaiah. "Governor Vajubhai Vala has once again launched an encounter on the Constitution by appointing KG Bopaiah as pro tem Speaker instead of the senior most MLA. This is the same man (Bopaiah) whose partisan conduct was even criticised by the honourable Supreme Court," Surjewala said. "We will be able to inform you in a short while. Yes, the option of going back to Court is open," Surjewala said upon being asked if Congress will challenge BJP MLA KG Bopaiah's appointment as pro tem Speaker. On Pratap Gowda Patil, who is also reported to be "missing", Siddaramaiah said he was with them. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said Singh was in Delhi and would be with the party once he is "freed". "Singh is in Delhi. He is with us. Anand Singh is (at present) in captivity. Once he is free, he will be with us. He is being held hostage, but he is in touch," he said. "(BJP president) Amit Shah did the same kind of manipulation in all the states. They don't know the Constitution and the law. They don't know anything other than false propaganda," Siddaramaiah said. The BJP has "abducted" and "kept in wrongful confinement" Karnataka Congress MLA Anand Singh by using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax (I-T) department against him, the party alleged on the eve of the floor test for the Yeddyurappa government. According to various news reprots, BJP MLAs are likely to meet at the Shangri-La hotel in Bengaluru at around 9 pm to chalk out a strategy for tomorrow's floor test. The party claimed to have support of 111 MLAs, while only 104 MLAs won the elections on its ticket. Speaking to India Today, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the BJP in desperation has reached out to as many as 21 of our MLAs but they will not succeed. He said that a party MLA has recorded G Janardhan Reddy's call while he was trying to persuade him to come to BJP. Singh, who is also the Supreme Court Bar Association President, said the top court should have deferred the oath ceremony of B S Yeddyurappa at the first place but welcomed the decision to give the minimum time for the floor test. - PTI While Dwivedi said the top court's order to conduct the floor test was "quite reasonable", Sinha echoed similar views and said there was nothing wrong in the time limit granted by the apex court. Senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi, Ajit Sinha and Vikas Singh hailed the apex court's order and said the direction would help dispelling the speculations of "horse trading and poaching". Legal experts were today divided over the choice of the pro tem Speaker of the Karnataka assembly by the Governor, but were one on the Supreme Court's direction to conduct the floor test tomorrow, terming it reasonable and justified. "We are in the Shangri-La hotel for the legislature meeting. We have the majority. More than what we expected. Our workers are really happy. Of course they are with us, if the MLAs from Congress and JD(S) don't support us, how can we prove majority? We will win the floor test 101%. "This audio CD is one of the handiworks of Congress' dirty tricks department. This is a fake CD: Prakash Javadekar on the audio, which was released by Congress, in which Janaradhana Reddy is allegedly trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering him money," Javadekar said. According to India Today, The lawyers claimed that they were stopped from entering despite having an appointment. However, it is noteworthy here that the Supreme Court is on the summer break starting today. According to CNN-News18, junior lawyers from the Congress party are engaged in a heated argument with the registrar's staff and the Supreme Court guards after they were denied entry into the court. The report further said that the Congress party's lawyers were there to file an urgent petition over the appointment of KG Bopaiah as pro tem speaker in Karnataka. Congress has submitted a plea requesting urgent hearing in the Supreme Court against the appointment of KG Bopaiah as pro tem speaker. The Supreme Court has not yet listed the matter for hearing, reported CNN-News18. Congress leaders are saying (and hoping) Yedyurappa's letter to the Governor will seal his fate. There is no mention of a number bigger than 104. The Governor's invitation does not mention any number at all!, writes P Chidambaram. Congress and JD(S) leaders have approached the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of MLA KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker for the floor test in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly scheduled for Saturday. A three judge Supreme Court bench will hear the application at 10:30 am Saturday in an unrelenting string of breakthroughs for the legal pushback from the Congress-JDS camp which claims it has the support of 118 MLAs. It is submitted that there are grave and genuine concerns as far as the impartiality of the present pro tem Speaker is concerned. #FloorTest Petitioners have made a representation to Governor requesting him to follow convention and appoint the senior member MLA as the pro tem Speaker to facilitate the #FloorTest I am in touch with the JD(S) MLAs so that they support BS Yeddyurappa ji tomorrow. Nobody can even dare to ask me to help them & nobody has dared to ask me as yet. Party is like my mother: Preetham Gowda, BJP #KarnatakaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/OPgWrFTnMf Congress leaders are saying (and hoping) Yedyurappa's letter to the Governor will seal his fate. There is no mention of a number bigger than 104. The Governor's invitation does not mention any number at all!, writes P Chidambaram. Congress and JD(S) leaders have approached the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of MLA KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker for the floor test in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly scheduled for Saturday. A three judge Supreme Court bench will hear the application at 10:30 am Saturday in an unrelenting string of breakthroughs for the legal pushback from the Congress-JDS camp which claims it has the support of 118 MLAs. Karnataka Floor Test Tomorrow LATEST UPDATES: The Congress has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing once again after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala appointed BJP's Virajpet MLA KG Bopaiah as the pro tem speaker. Congress has requested an urgent hearing of the matter but the CJI is yet to take a call on the matter. Governor Vaju Bhai Vala has appointed KG Bopaiah of the BJP as the pro tem speaker to oversee the floor test. The Congress strongly objected to his appointment and said that the Supreme Court it self had criticised his 'partisan' conduct in the past during another floor test faced by the same chief minister. Addressing a press conference, BJP's Sambit Patra said that anticipating good show, the Congress party had drafted a petition requesting SC to order that the single-largest party must be called. But when it figured that forging an alliance with JD(S) is the only way for it to come to power, it changed the case. The Congress trained its guns on Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday for inviting BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in spite of the Congress-JD(S) combine having the numbers. "The governor is listening to Shah & Modi instead of following the Constitution. What the Governor did was a murder of democracy. Yeddyurappa had asked for seven days but Governor gave him 15 days to prove majority! It shows clear collusion with BJP," said Siddaramaiah. Earlier, in a historic decision, the Supreme Court's three-judge bench ruled that the floor test, to prove majority, will be held tomorrow (Saturday) at 4 pm in Karnataka's Vidhan Soudha. The Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Sikri, said that the Pro tem Speaker will decide the mode of the floor test. Further, the apex court ruled against secret ballot as suggested by KK Venugopal who was apppearing for BJP. The Supreme Court also ruled that the government shall not nominate the Anglo Indian Representative. And finally that the government cannot take any major policy decisions till the floor test is concluded. The BJP and the Congress, both, showed confidence of winning the floor test. BJP's Karnataka unit tweeted: "Following SC's order for floor test tomorrow at 4 PM, we want to make one thing very clear. We are absolutely sure of our numbers and will decisively prove our majority on the floor of the house. If people's mandate has to be vindicated again, so be it. Bring it on!" In a press briefing following the Supreme Court order, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said, "Governor mustnt favour any party and any decision he takes shouldn't be biased. Bunch of us had gone to the Governor and told him that BJP doesn't have the numbers. Karnataka did not vote for BJP." The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the Congress-JD(S) combine in Karnataka against the decision of Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJPs BS Yeddyurappa to form the government. Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi produced the letter by Yeddyurappa to the governor. I have the support of others and requisite majority, reads BSY's letter. Rohatgi said there was no need to name the MLAs supporting BJP. The SC told Rohatgi while Yeddyurappas letter didn't disclose names of MLAs, the other side gave letter signed by MLAs. Ultimately it is the number game and the Governor needs to see which aide has the number, the SC said. Rohatgi insisted that there was an unholy alliance between the Congress and the JD(S). Earlier, sources said the Congress and the JD(S), fearing their MLAs being poached by the BJP, moved their MLAs out of Karnataka on Thursday night. Sources said except two Congress MLA s all have gone to Hyderabad. All 38 JD(S) MLAs and two Independents are also in the city. Total 116 MLAs are there. Fearing MLA poaching by the BJP, the Congress and JDS moved their MLAs out of Karnataka on Thursday night. The Congress MLAs were taken to Hyderabad and JD(S) members were shifted to Kochi on buses, sources said. Earlier, all MLAs were expected to board a chartered plane from Mysore or Bangalore to Cochin in Left-ruled Kerela, but the permission for the same was denied. JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy alleged that the DGCA had not permitted the flight to take off from Bengaluru. Meanwhile, in Delhi, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will on Friday hear a petition filed by the Congress-JD(S) combine in Karnataka against the decision of Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJPs BS Yeddyurappa to form the government. The BJP, which won 104 seats, emerged as the single largest party in the state Assembly. During the high-voltage hearing, which lasted from 2.11 am to 5.28 am, the top court made it clear that the swearing-in and government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case. The court directed the Centre to place before it two communications sent by Yeddyurappa to the Governor in which he had staked claim to form government, saying their perusal was necessary to decide the case. It issued notices to Karnataka government and Yeddyurappa seeking their replies on the plea filed by Congress-JD (S) combine and posted the matter for Friday. BS Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka after the Supreme Court refused to stay Governor's decision. However, the top court has kept it subject to the cases outcome. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to Yeddyurappa at the Raj Bhavan amid tight security. The beleaguered Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) leaders, however, protested against the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa and termed the governor's decision "unconstitutional". "Constitutionally, we (JD(S) and Congress) should have been given the chance to form the government as we together have the majority in the Assembly. The governor's decision to invite the BJP to form the government is against the Constitution," state unit Congress chief G Parameshwara told reporters in Bengaluru. Earlier, a three-judge bench of the apex court rejected a joint writ petition, filed by the Congress and the JD(S) on Wednesday night, to halt the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as the chief minister at a special pre-dawn hearing. The top court, however, said the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa was subject to the final outcome of the matter before it and posted the case for further hearing at 10.30 am on Friday. The bench, headed by Justice AK Sikri, also sought the letter Yeddyurappa wrote to the governor on Wednesday, informing him about his election as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader in Karnataka. Vala on Wednesday night invited Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove within 15 days that he had a majority in the Legislative Assembly. Although the BJP emerged as the single-largest party winning 104 seats in the 12 May assembly election, it fell short of eight seats from the 112-halfway mark in the Lower House, in which the Congress trailed behind with 78 wins and the regional JD(S) 37 seats. This is the third time Yeddyurappa took oath as the state chief minister, a decade after he became the BJP's first chief minister in south India in May 2008 when the party came to power for the first time in the southern state. Among the Congress leaders who protested Yeddyurappa's swearing-in were the former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah, party General Secretary KC Venugopal and senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. "Yeddyurappa first needs to furnish the list proving his majority in the House," Siddaramaiah told reporters. JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda also joined the protest, while his son and JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy attacked the Modi government for "demolishing" democracy. "Modi government wants to demolish democracy by targeting the Opposition parties. Even when the JD(S) and the Congress together have the majority, we weren't invited by the governor to form the government," lamented Kumaraswamy, a former chief minister. In a related development, the Congress and the JD(S) have lodged their newly-elected legislators at a resort on the city's outskirts, ostensibly to prevent them being poached by the BJP, which they alleged was indulging in "horse trading" to win over their MLAs. "We have a need to safeguard our MLAs from poaching by the BJP, which is why they have been moved to a resort on the city outskirts," Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the 'Karnataka effect' also led the Congress in Goa and the RJD in Bihar on Thursday to say that they would ask the governors of their states to give them a chance to form the government, the same way that Yeddyurappa was sworn-in in Karnataka as the leader of the single largest party. The Congress-JD(S) combine also moved the Supreme Court against Vala's alleged move to nominate an Anglo-Indian member to the Assembly, saying it should not be done till the floor test in the House. The interim application, filed this afternoon, is likely to be heard on Friday along with the main petition of the combine on which the apex court in the wee hours on Thursday refused to stay the swearing-in of BS Yeddyurappa as the chief minister of the state. The Congress will also observe 'Save Democracy Day' across the country to protest Vala's "collusion with the BJP" and his "partisan" action of inviting Yeddyurappa to take oath in Karnataka. With inputs from agencies The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 PM on Saturday The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that a floor test be held in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday to ascertain whether newly appointed BJP chief minister BS Yeddyurappa enjoys majority in the state. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," a three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said. The bench also asked the newly elected government not to take any major policy decision till it proves majority in the House. It also ordered authorities, including the DGP, to ensure law and order outside the Karnataka Assembly. The apex court made it clear that it would deal with the constitutionality of the governor's letter inviting Yeddyurappa to form the government later. The bench said ultimately the question is about majority which has to be proved in the floor test. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Congress, said that the party is ready for it but "the entire proceedings should be videographed and ensure proper security to MLAs to vote fearlessly". Supreme Court, however, rejected the videographing proposal. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yeddyurappa, suggested the floor test to be conducted on Monday, but the apex court rejected the suggestion while adding that the floor test should happen at the earliest. During the hearing, Yeddyurappa placed before the Supreme Court letters that he had sent to Governor Vajubhai Vala in which he had staked claim to form the government in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday, told a special bench comprising Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan that being the single largest party the BJP was the "mandate of people" of the state who have thrown out the Congress. Rohatgi told the bench that there was no pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JD(S) and they have formed an "unholy alliance" after the elections. The apex court is hearing a petition moved by the Congress-JD(S) combine challenging the governor's decision to invite the BJP to form the government. "The single largest party (BJP) is the mandate of people of Karnataka who have thown out the ruling party. The ruling party has much less members than us. There was no pre-poll alliance. It (Congress-JDS) is an unholy alliance," Rohatgi said. At the outset, the bench asked the Attorney General KK Venugopal, "Have you brought those letters (sent to the Governor by Yeddyurappa)?" Venugopal told the bench that Yeddyurappa was being represented by Rohatgi, who placed the letters before the bench. The bench directed Rohatgi to give the copies of the letters to the counsel appearing for Congress-JD(S) combine. Rohatgi, while reading out then operative part of the 16 May letter sent by Yeddyurappa to the governor, said the BJP leader had said in the letter that the party has emerged as the single largest party in the state and they were willing to form the government. He also referred to the 16 May letter written by Yeddyurappa and said that the BJP leader had requested the governor to invite the party to form government and had also said that they would provide a "stable government" and they have the "support of others". In a historic pre-dawn hearing, the top court had on Thursday cleared the last-minute hurdle created by the Congress-JD(S) combine for the BJP's ambitious surge in southern India by paving the way for Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. A specially constituted three-judge bench after more than three hours of hearing, had made it clear that it was not interfering with the governor's decision to invite the saffron party to form government in the state in which BJP with 104 seats has emerged as the single largest party. During the high-voltage hearing, which lasted from 2.11 am to 5.28 am, the top court had made it clear that the swearing-in and government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case. The court had directed the Centre to place before it two communications sent by Yeddyurappa to the Governor in which he had staked claim to form government, saying their perusal was necessary to decide the case. With inputs from PTI Follow LIVE updates on Karnataka Election Result 2018 The one person whose role will be crucial in BJP's floor test in Karnataka is the pro tem Speaker, a post likely to be held by Congress MLA Raghunath Vishvanath Deshpande. The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that newly-appointed Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa must face a floor test in the Assembly on Saturday at 4 pm to ascertain whether or not he has a majority. What this means is as follows: Big Breaking 1. Floor Test Must Be Conducted At 4pm Tomorrow 2. Protem Speaker to decide the mode of test 3. No Secret Ballot 4. Govt shall not nominate the Anglo Indian Representative 5. Government shall not take any major policy decisionshttps://t.co/lig487mx0k Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 18, 2018 And as the senior-most member of the Assembly, it appears Congress MLA Raghunath Vishvanath Deshpande will be appointed pro tem Speaker. Yeddyurappa took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, thanks to the Supreme Court nod despite a Congress petition against the BJP forming a government in state. But the battle is not over yet, as the BJP still has to prove it has the numbers on the floor of the House. Quoting sources in the Assembly Secretariat, CNN-News18 reported that Deshpande's name has been forwarded to Governor Vajubhai Vala for consideration. As per convention, the senior-most member of the House is chosen as a pro tem Speaker. His/her main role is that of administering the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-elected MLAs. For the recommendation, it is also taken into account that he or she is not likely to be a candidate for the post of Speaker or a minister. Apart from conducting the proceedings, the pro tem Speaker will take a call on whether the trust vote should be held through a voice vote or ballot. At 71, the eight-time MLA is the senior-most in the House. The current strength of the Assembly is 222 and the magic number is 112. While the alliance between the Congress and the JD(S) has claimed that together have the support of 116 MLAs. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the southern state winning 104 seats, but is eight short with 104 MLAs. Vala has given the BJP 15 days' time to prove its majority. After Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister, the Congress on Thursday claimed that he will turn out to be a "one-day chief minister" as he lacks majority. "Yeddyurappa will turn out one-day chief minister His fate as the chief minister is dependent on the court hearing," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters in New Delhi. The party also challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah to prove the numbers by Friday. The Congress also attacked Vala, accusing him of encountering Constitution twice, first by inviting the BJP to form government on Thursday and allowing Yeddyurappa to take oath while a matter in this connection is set to be heard on Friday by the Supreme Court. The Congress and the JD(S) had on Thursday night jointly petitioned before the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the oath-taking ceremony, as communicated by the governor to the BJP's chief ministerial candidate Yeddyurappa. The court did not stay the swearing-in ceremony and the next hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday at 10.30 am. In view of the developments, the Congress has decided to protest the on Friday by holding dharnas across the country. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said Yeddyurappa's fate is sealed in his letter given to Vala as it makes no mention of a number bigger than the 104 MLAs of the BJP. Mr Yedyurappa's letter to the Governor will seal his fate. There is no mention of a number bigger than 104. The Governor's invitation does not mention any number at all! P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 17, 2018 The Union former finance and home minister also said had he been in Yeddyurappa's place, he would not have taken the oath till the apex court took a decision on the petition filed by the Congress-JD(S) combine challenging the governor's decision to invite him to take oath. However, Yeddyurappa is a "100 percent sure" of winning the vote of confidence in the Assembly and completing the five-year term. "I am sure of winning the vote of confidence and my government completing five years," said Yeddyurappa at a press conference on Thursday after taking the oath. With inputs from PTI The Supreme Court bench of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan has taken up the joint petition of Congress and JD(S) against Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite BJP legislative party leader BS Yedyurappa to form government The Supreme Court bench of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan has taken up the joint petition of Congress and JD(S) against Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite BJP legislative party leader BS Yedyurappa to form government. The governor went by the convention of inviting the single largest party ignoring the claims of HD Kumaraswamy to form a government with the support and participation of the Congress. The BJP notched up 104 MLAs and is short of eight MLAs for a simple majority. On the other hand, JD(S) demonstrated, to the governor and the public, that it has the support of 116 MLAs, four more than the simple majority required to win the vote of confidence. The Karnataka Assembly has 224 seats, so the majority figure should have been 113. However, polling was held only for 222 constituencies, because polling in two constituencies was put off to 20 May by the Election Commission. So the current majority figure is scaled down to 112. So the question the Congress and JD(S) have raised and the Supreme Court will consider is this: If the JD(S)-Congress combine has already demonstrated that it has the ability to form a stable government (with 116 MLAs), why did the governor chose the BJP, which has, officially, only 104 MLAs in its corner? Where from and how did Yedyurappa assure the governor that he would muster eight or more MLAs to form a stable government? And more importantly, how was the governor convinced that Yedyurappa had the numbers? And that his claim to form a stable government was more worthy of consideration than Kumaraswamy's who already had 116? This is the crux of the issue. That is why the Supreme Court had on Thursday asked to see the two letters that Yedyurappa wrote to the governor staking his claim to form a stable government. What the court wants to see, obviously, is if Yedyurappa mentioned that he had already cobbled up the numbers (112 or more). Why the court wants to see this has its roots in the Sarkaria Commission report of 1984. While delineating the role of a governor in the event of the hung House (where no party gets a majority), the commission had set an order of priority for the governor to consider before inviting any party to form government. The order of merit, discussed in this article, looks like this: 1. An alliance of parties that was formed prior to elections. 2. The largest single party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others, including 'Independents'. 3. A post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining the government. 4. A post-electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming government and the remaining parties, including 'Independents' supporting the government from outside. In the present case, the first point does not apply. So the governor was right in calling the single largest party to form government, which is the second in order of priority. But that is, if we read the second priority only partly. The latter part of the sentence says "form government with the support of others, including Independents". What this means is that the largest party can lay claim but also show that it has enough numbers, that is the support of other MLAs, to form government. That is also to say that the governor's discretion to call the largest party is conscripted by the need for him to assure himself that the person laying claim can indeed form a stable government. This is what the Supreme Court is likely to put under scrutiny. If Yedyurappa just staked claim as the single largest party, without showing how he would be able to form a stable government, then the court might have a role to play. If the two letters that Yedyurappa wrote are silent on this aspect, then the question will arise: How did the governor convince himself that Yedyurappa could form a stable government. Because, at the other end, the Congress-JD(S) had already assured him of the numbers. The case seems to rest on this. If the court is convinced from the two letters that the governor had enough reasons to believe that Yedyurappa could form a stable government, it is unlikely to interfere. If the court is not convinced, then it remains to be seen if orders a recall of the governors order or severely curtails the time given to Yedyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the House. Follow all the LIVE updates here Opposition parties will be hoping to turn Vala's invite to Yeddyurappa into a 'Ram Lal-II moment' & kick-start a combined movement against the Modi regime. Opposition parties have been gunning for the recall of Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala ever since he invited BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government, despite lacking majority after a fractured mandate in the state. The Congress, which in alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) and had made a bid to form the government in the state, referred to a 2011 tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the recall of the then Karnataka governor and said, "We agree". "Governor of Karnataka is bent upon destroying India's federal structure, urged PM to ask the President to recall him," Modi, who was then the Gujarat chief minister, had tweeted on 19 May, 2011. Modi and his BJP had sought the recall of the then governor, HR Bhardwaj, alleging that he was "harassing" the BJP-led state government and "acting in a partisan manner". In the same vein, Yeddyurappa's swearing in as the chief minister of Karnataka for a second time, after an overnight high-voltage legal battle in the Supreme Court, has not gone down well with the principal Opposition party Congress. The Opposition parties will be hoping to turn Vala's invite to Yeddyurappa into a 'Ram Lal-II moment' and kick-start a combined movement against the BJP and the Modi regime. Lal was governor of the TDP-ruled Andhra Pradesh in 1984. He had unceremoniously dismissed NT Rama Raos ministry and installed rebel N Bhaskara Rao. Opposition hoping for repeat of NTR saga In July 1984, when NTR went to the United States to undergo a heart surgery, his then finance minister Rao formed a rival faction of the party. Despite lacking the numbers to hold a majority, Rao staked claim to the government and Lal obliged, administering an oath to Rao and granting him time to prove his majority. But when the resilient NTR returned, he forced then prime minister Indira Gandhi to reverse the decision and allow the reinstatement of the Telugu Desam Party leader at the helm. Though the current case is different from what happened in 1984, as this Economic Times report points out, Opposition parties see a similar opening to 'replay' a joint fight against the Centre. "They feel irrespective of what happens to the Yeddyurappa government, they will have a political plank against the Centre that has been 'manipulating electoral mandate from state to state,'" the report said. Congress-JDS combine has already reached out to BSPs Mayawati, NCPs Sharad Pawar, Trinamools Mamata Banerjee, SPs Mulayam-Akhilesh, RJDs Tejashwi Yadav, CPMs Sitaram Yechury, JDU rebel Sharad Yadav and CPIs Sudhakar Reddy-D Raja, and will be hoping to counter the Centre in a manner similar to 1984. Parallels to Soren In March 2005, after the Jharkhand Assembly elections, NDA had the support of 41 MLAs including five independents in the 80-member Assembly and staked claim to form the government. However, governor Syed Sibte Razi invited Shibu Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to form the government. The matter went to the Supreme Court and it ordered Soren to prove his majority within two days, just like in the case of Yeddyurappa. Soren failed to do so and later Arjun Munda of the BJP became the chief minister and subsequently proved his majority in the house. The Congress-led Opposition would be hoping that Yeddyurappa sees a similar fate when the floor test finally happens at 4 pm on Saturday, as they feel that the whole exercise is BJP's "irrational insistence" on forming the government. Yeddyurappa now has to prove a majority in the Karnataka Assembly. Meanwhile, the Congress and JD (S) have alleged that the BJP is trying to poach their newly elected lawmakers, as it has fallen short of eight seats to the 112 halfway mark in the Lower House. The JD(S) had won 38 seats along with its ally BSP, while the Congress won 78 seats, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party winning 104 seats in the 12 May Assembly election. The Congress-JD(S) stitching up a hasty post-poll alliance approached the governor on Tuesday to form the government, as also did the BJP. But the governor invited Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove that he has a majority in the Legislative Assembly. With inputs from agencies Follow LIVE updates of the Karnataka Election Result here Back in 2008, the BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP fell five short of the majority and resorted to Operation Kamala. This is playing out all over again in Karnataka. Bengaluru: Back in 2008, the BS Yeddyurappa-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell five short of the majority and resorted to Operation Kamala, where elected members from other parties were asked to resign and stand on a BJP ticket. The year is playing out all over again in Karnataka. Soon after Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath to Yeddyurappa as the state's 23rd chief minister on Thursday, the seething Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) combine took their respective flock to resorts in an effort to keep them from splitting. The high political drama over numbers continued in the Supreme Court on Friday, with the apex court asking Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly by 4 pm on Saturday. It had earlier refused to stay the governor's decision to invite the single largest party to take office. The only element missing now is the overwhelming presence of mining baron Janardhan Reddy, his two brothers, and friends, who are operating from the background owing to their tainted image. However, their friend and trusted lieutenant B Sriramulu is at it. "We have reached out to like-minded persons. We will prove the majority within the stipulated time on the floor of the House," he told media persons. That Yeddyurappa got 15 days to prove his majority by the governor is another bone of contention a long rope given by Vala, a veteran Gujarat politician known to have risen from the RSS pool of talent. Vala, strictly speaking, is going by the rule book taking care of the Constitution and at the same time respecting the Supreme Court's decision in the SR Bommai case, where it made a floor test mandatory to prove a government's majority. Bommai, incidentally, is a former Karnataka chief minister who did not get to prove his majority on the floor of the House as the then governor went by a contentious letter announcing the withdrawal of support to his government in September 1998. The governor had recommended President's Rule with immediate effect. Later, a full bench of the Supreme Court clarified that the majority enjoyed by any government should be tested on the floor of the House, and has since been a governor's guidebook in such matters. Bommai's son, Basavaraj, has won again on a BJP ticket this time. Rewriting the equation After Yeddyurappa took the oath in the name of God and farmers, he went straight to the Vidhana Soudha. He bent down on the first step invoking memories of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's act of touching the Parliament steps reverentially before entering and also got a special pooja done to the chief minister's chair before sitting on it. He later held a cabinet meet all by himself and asked the state chief secretary to come up with numbers as to how many farmers would benefit from a loan waiver promised in the BJP manifesto. Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders, including Lok Sabha MP Mallikarjun M Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, sat on a dharna at Freedom Park, the city's protest spot, while its freshly-minted MLAs came to the venue from a resort where they were ensconced. JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, looking visibly upset at being pipped to the post by Yeddyurappa, is zealously guarding his flock of 38 at a Hyderabad hotel, which includes a Bahujan Samaj Party winner. Till the previous evening, Kumaraswamy alternately wore a smirk and a smile and was confident that he would be the next chief minister "due to circumstances thrust upon the state" and "to keep out the communal elements". He said, together with Congress, which provided unconditional support, their numbers would exceed that of BJP's 104 at 116. Incidentally, the signatures of three from JD(S) and six from Congress were missing from that list, with the parties explaining that the members were still on their way to Bengaluru. Few more from that list have subsequently gone missing. Since polls were held in 222 seats, BJP needs just seven MLAs to hold on to power to show a majority of 112 on the floor. Of the two 'other' winners, one switched loyalties to Congress after promising to stay with BJP. The saffron party's likely targets are two of its sitting MLAs who joined other parties and won. Eyes are also on six of those who switched between JD(S) and Congress and won, and some dyed-in-the-wool Congressmen, notably Satish Jarkhiholi, who were unhappy with the previous government. BJP is also making all-out efforts to woo those in JD (S), who fought Congress candidates tooth and nail, especially in the old Mysuru region, and won with a slender margin. "They are aware that they fought hard. They are very upset and confident that their voters will understand their decision to support a BJP government," a senior BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity. Mayawati's BSP, which had a pre-electoral tie-up with JD (S) in 20 seats, took the opportunity to teach Congress a lesson. "I want to suggest to Congress that it should not use language for its political expediency during election campaigns that end up benefiting the BJP and RSS," she said. Mayawati made it very clear that Congress leaders' utterances had hurt the chances of the non-BJP camp and ended up boosting the BJP tally. After the Supreme Court's decision on Friday, the BJP has very little time. Will Amit Shah's party be capable of proving its majority on the floor of the House? Going by previous experience, yes, it is fully capable. But at what cost remains to be seen. Goa, Bihar, Manipur and Meghalaya are on their way. The author is a Bengaluru-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. Common sense assumptions that single party governments will be more suited to governing effectively are actually very misplaced. While it's most certainly true that there will be expediency in the making of decisions but is that even a good thing? By Taruni Kumar All we want is a stable government, no? One that is unlikely to topple because of a misplaced shove in the middle of a heated debate? So common sense dictates, this stable government must be made of as few dissenting players as possible, so ideally, one party. But the Karnataka drama is what one gets when one prizes simple majorities and 'stability' over an admittedly shakier coalition. As the 16 May headlines on the front pages of The Times of India and The Telegraph declared, Karnataka's nataka has been on in full swing after counting day. Opinions are split about whether the elections yielded a clear winner or not. While the BJP fell short of the 112-seat mark to get the clear majority with only a 104 seats won, Congress and JD(S) combined forces in the aftermath of the counting to get the combined support of 117 MLAs, technically making them the first ones past the post. But but but, how does this matter when one has contacts? In the time-honoured tradition of 'bhai hi bhai ke kaam aata hai', Karnataka's governor Vajubhai Vala invited Narendrabhai and Amitbhai's party to form the government and gave them 15 days to prove their majority while the Congress and JD(S) simmer on the sidelines holding on to the 117 signatures they already had. But, they're the majority party, you say? So, they should be given the chance. Correct? Not correct. First, the BJP won the maximum number of seats, yes, but was behind the Congress party in terms of the popular vote. BJP's total vote share was 36 percent while the Congress' was 38 percent. JD(S) had an 18 percent vote share. Now in the particular electoral framework that India uses, this means nothing as a majority is calculated based on the total number of seats one wins and not the total number of votes one gets. But when the party that loses gets more votes than the party that won, the argument of black and white winners and losers in the electoral games begins to lose some weight. Second, if the logic was always the same, ie, the party that wins the most seats should be invited to form government first, then the invites offered to BJP to form governments in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya come under some serious scrutiny. While it was invited first to form government, the BJP had not emerged as the majority party in those elections. So, how is this happening, you ask? Simple. Power begets power. When the governor of Karnataka is a BJP man, as is the President of India and the governors of the aforementioned states before they went on to occupy the constitutional posts, it becomes exceedingly evident that sab ghar ki hi baat hai. And if you're wondering, yes, Goas governor Mridula Sinha, Manipur's then governor Najma Heptulla, and Meghalayas governor Ganga Prasad are all BJP folks as well. So it comes as no surprise that in those three states, the party got an invite despite not winning the largest number of seats and in Karnataka, it was invited because it did, in fact, win the highest number of seats. The BJP wins even when it loses because the party has people in all the right places. That's as stable as stable gets. There's, thus, little chance of in-fighting or toppling of a BJP-led government because of a disagreement. But then there's also little chance of this particular kind of government feeling any fear about its own future either. A government that exists without fear is one that exists without the need to introspect or even listen to the voters that elected it (or perhaps didn't as the case may be). Right now, the BJP is in control of everything. The Centre, most of the states, at every level of government and that's a scary thought. Because an elected representative will listen only when a election scares them - and not much scares a party that has friends in all the high places and enough bags of money to ensure that even non-friends cooperate when required. For once, it's worth asking, "What is even the point of voting, macha?" Common sense assumptions that single party governments will be more suited to governing effectively are actually very misplaced. While it's most certainly true that there will be expediency in the making of decisions but is that even a good thing? For example, on 13 March 2018, the Lok Sabha passed the funding demands from 99 Indian government ministries and departments, the Finance Bill, 2018, the Appropriation Bill, 2018 and 218 amendments. All without debate. Despite protest from the Opposition members of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan (also from the BJP) used a procedure called the 'guillotine' which allows her to pass grants without discussion. It's also an aptly named tool to slaughter democratic processes. And when it comes to not having any ears to the voices of the voters, here's a fun fact. The Finance Ministry rejected the highest number of RTI applications received by it during the year 2016-17. Yup, that's when demonetisation was implemented. The government chose to not be accountable, because it could afford to do so. In 2017, former RBI governor Yaga Venugopal Reddy said that coalition governments in India had produced better economic growth rates than a strong majority government. In fact, India's first set of economic reforms in the early 1990s came from a minority government led by PV Narasimha Rao. But when the government got a majority, these reforms came to a standstill. It's simple, really. When there is sustained competition, politicians and governments must work together and make the extra effort to come out on top in the next election. But political stability only works for those who already have privilege: The upper class (which in India also means upper caste) elite who are fine with nothing really changing as long as their roads are free of potholes because the status quo suits them. Coalition politics may be deemed unstable but it adds accountability. A government that must negotiate at every step of the way and at every turn to ensure its own survival while also making sure that it doesn't lose its voter base for the next election is one that must put thought into its every move. The multiple parties that make it up all have different voter bases, the needs of which must be met. So they must listen to themselves as well as the Opposition. But at the moment, everyone seems to be listening only to the BJP. The Ladies Finger (TLF) is a leading online women's magazine delivering fresh and witty perspectives on politics, culture, health, sex, work and everything in between. Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the backdrop of the political development in Karnataka, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the Centre might as well appoint chief ministers like it appoints governors, adding that 'democracy was being disrespected'. Mumbai: Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the backdrop of the political development in Karnataka, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the Centre might as well appoint chief ministers like it appoints governors, adding that "democracy was being disrespected". "If democracy is being disrespected, what is the use of being called a democratic country? Stop holding elections so that (prime minister) Modi can go on foreign tours without any hassle," Thackeray said at a rally at Ulhasnagar. "Stop holding elections. So that time and money can be saved. Appoint chief ministers the way governors are appointed," he said. BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa was on Thursday sworn in as the Karnataka chief minister following Governor Vajubhai Vala's controversial decision to invite the BJP to form the government though the party does not have a clear majority. Commenting on the development, Thackeray said nothing else could be expected from the governor, who was a BJP leader himself. He also took a swipe at the BJP, Sena's ally in Maharashtra as well as the Centre, over the Ayodhya issue. "The BJP rakes up the (Ayodhya) issue only when elections are near. It should use the capability, which it used to grab power in Karnataka, to construct the Ram temple," the Sena leader added. Click here for LIVE updates on the developments in Karnataka While it is not yet clear if BS Yeddyurappa will be able to prove his majority during the floor test on Saturday, the high political drama in Karnataka has certainly spurred people to make memes. While it is not yet clear if the newly appointed Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa will be able to prove his majority during the floor test on Saturday, the high political drama in the wake of the Assembly results certainly sparked the interest and creativity of the Twitterati and those on Facebook. Here are some of the best memes floating around on the internet: #KarnatakaVerdict "I hope Congress will get a majority": Congress supporter. "I hope BJP will get a majority": BJP supporter "I hope it will be a hung assembly": Luxury resort owner. Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) May 15, 2018 Follow LIVE updates on Karnataka Assembly Election Result 2018 The larger issue that the Supreme Court would do well to examine is not confined to Karnataka. The larger issue that the Supreme Court would do well to examine is not confined to Karnataka. It pertains to whether governors in various states have acted in an arbitrary manner to appoint chief ministers after general elections in different states. Different methods have been employed in different states. In some, such as Goa and Manipur, a post-poll alliance was appointed. In others, such as Karnataka now, the single largest party has been handed power, without reference to whether or not it has a majority in the new House. The result in each case is that the ruling party at the Centre gets power in one more state. So, the basic question is whether all these decisions have been motivated by political bias. Another essential question is the extent to which political mandates are being compromised by money and muscle power. Perhaps the real issue in this regard is not so much that these factors operate in politics, but the shamelessness with which this might now be going on. The country cannot afford the sort of chaos that might ensue from a loss of public confidence in the institutions of democracy. There has already been far too much erosion in public confidence with regard to the universally acknowledged pillars of democracy. What is particularly worrying is that the current crisis in Karnataka has led to questions being raised about the legitimacy of governments as far afield as Bihar and the Northeast. Credibility of institutions If it were not for this pattern of what seems suspiciously like loaded dice which keep coming up in favour of the party ruling at the Centre in state after state, the Karnataka governors decision would not be necessarily objectionable. The Narasimha Rao-led government at the Centre ruled for two-and-a-half years without a house majority. That government had the support of only its 226 members. That made it by far the largest party in the house, but still well short of the majority mark, which was 274 in a full House. That government survived without much tension for so long simply because it actually had 'the confidence of the House', which is what the Constitution actually requires. As an insightful politician once said, this constitutional requirement is more about chemistry than arithmetic. President Venkataraman had correctly read the mood of the various major parties in that House in the traumatic weeks following Rajiv Gandhis assassination and the countrys humiliating debt crisis. For two-and-a-half years, the BJP repeatedly found one reason or the other to walk out of the house before a vote on the presidents address. And the Left would walk out before the budget was voted. The government won each vote, since each walk-out reduced the majority mark for that vote. No party brought a motion of no confidence until after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Thereafter, there was much public discussion about how the backing of JMM MPs had been obtained when the Rao government finally struggled against trenchant opposition. Indeed, it is ironic that Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is leading the Congress efforts at government formation in Karnataka. He was the parliamentary affairs minister who skillfully saw the Narasimha Rao government through all the required parliamentary votes during those two-and-a-half years. The way that tricky political situation was managed is a testament to the importance of the credibility of constitutional institutions such as the president. No one questioned the conduct of President Venkataraman, either when he appointed VP Singh who had the outside support of the BJP and the Left against the single largest party (the Congress) or when he appointed Narasimha Rao, who led the single largest party in the new House. The difference was that both those prime ministers had 'the confidence of the house' when he was appointed. Poll expenditure While these questions about propriety are being raised, it would be good if the Supreme Court were to also consider the extent to which money power and other sorts of lure are being used during elections in different parts of the country. There are estimates that several thousand crore rupees have been used to bribe voters in Karnataka. This not only undermines the democratic system, it indicates that citizens in very large numbers have become cynical about the efficacy of the electoral system. This does not augur well at all. Chief Election Commissioner TN Seshan had cracked the whip on poll expenditure and other sorts of unfair means from 1991. Other CECs such as My JM Lyngdoh had continued in that vein. Over the past several years, money and muscle power in elections appear to be running amok once again. The issue of ensuring clean elections has fallen to the margins. All the major parties, including several regional parties, are responsible. This is intricately linked with the sort of horse-trading that is feared in Karnataka. When each candidate and party has to spend vast amounts to buy victory, they are bound to seek the quickest and easiest ways to recoup that outlay. To some extent, that seems now to have become at least as important an objective of forming a government than serving the peoples interests efficiently. If profit is such a major motive, horse-trading is surely bound to be expected from both buyers and sellers of House votes. The Supreme Court might consider ordering systematic methods to ensure greater transparency and accountability. But ultimately, it is up to citizens at large to consider very seriously how to strengthen the systems that give citizens leverage in a democracy. Several months later, with the benefit of hindsight, Opposition parties in India will be thanking their stars that the nataka in Karnataka happened much before the general elections. They should be happy because the unfolding drama has alerted them to the script that could unfold after elections to Parliament and given them time to come up with their own game plan. Several months later, with the benefit of hindsight, Opposition parties in India would be thanking their stars that the nataka in Karnataka happened much before the 2019 general elections. They should be happy because the unfolding drama has alerted them to the script that could unfold after elections to Parliament and given them time to come up with their own game plan. Karnataka is important for the Opposition parties as it reminds them that the BJP believes in the principle of everything being fair in politics and power. It is capable of forming a government under every circumstance: With a majority, without a majority, when it is the single largest party and even when it is not the single largest party. It can come to power by, as Chanakya advised, saam, daam, dand and bhed. If the Opposition has been watching, it would have realised that the BJP has multiple models for forming a government if it doesnt have the numbers on its own or with the help of its pre-poll allies. It has the Arunachal model that is based on mass defections. It has the Goa model based on denying the single largest party a chance to form the government through quick post-poll maneuvers. And it has the Karnataka model based on its status as the single largest party to keep out a post-poll alliance that apparently has the numbers. The BJPs mindset reveals it will try to form the government in 2019 or in 2018 if simultaneous elections are held for several state Assemblies and Parliament at any cost. Even if it doesnt get a majority on its own or with the help of its allies, it would employ one of its three models to keep the Opposition out. Is the Opposition ready to play the BJPs game? One of the key learnings for the Opposition from the Karnataka elections should be this: Unite before polls or perish after them, dont rely on a post-poll patch up. The results have proved the BJP benefits from a multi-corner contest. So, if the Opposition has to take on the BJP, it has to put together a united front. This can occur only if two things happen: One, Congress president Rahul Gandhi gives up his prime ministerial ambitions and agrees to replicate the Karnataka model agrees to be a junior partner in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Two, regional leaders such as Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Sharad Pawar and Naveen Patnaik bury their ambitions, hubris and differences and come up with a tactical pan-India alliance with the Congress. It can, of course, be counterproductive. In a presidential-style election where the fight is Modi vs all, the prime minister has the advantage of being seen as a lone warrior against a rag-tag army of opportunistic leaders. But, in spite of this risk, this is the only option the Opposition has against the BJP. This strategy would help not just during elections but also limit discretionary powers of the president in case the BJP doesnt get a clear majority. If that happens, the BJP would find it difficult to employ its Goa (we have the post-poll numbers even if not the single largest) and Karnataka (we are the single largest) models. A pre-poll coalition would make it mandatory for the president to invite the coalition if it has the numbers. Legally too the Karnataka episode could be a blessing in disguise both for the Opposition and Indian democracy. Who should first be invited to form the government in case of a hung Assembly has always been a debatable subject. It was partly settled when the Congress challenged the governors invite to the BJP in Goa when the Supreme Court upheld the decision by pointing at the post-poll alliance. When no political party is in majority, then it is the bounden duty of the governor to see who can form the government. If nothing happens, then the governor is duty-bound to call the leader of the single largest party, but if someone goes to the governor with a list of supporters, then it is a different issue altogether, a bench of then chief justice JS Khehar and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and RK Agrawal said. Ideally, the same principle should have been applied by the governor in Karnataka after JD(S) and Congress joined hands to muster the numbers. The Supreme Court has, of course, come up with the best solution under the circumstances. In the interim, it asked the BJP to prove its majority on Saturday, taking away the luxury of the 15 days it was allowed by the governor. Besides this, it has also decided to hear the Congress plea challenging the governors decision. If the apex court gives clear guidelines on how a government is to be formed in case of a fractured mandate, it would limit post-election discretionary powers of governors and the president. All this is good for the health of Indian democracy. And also for the Opposition: Provided it is learning the right lessons from the drama in Karnataka. Kombarana Ganapathy Bopaiah, three-time BJP MLA, was on Friday appointed pro tem Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly by the governor. Kombarana Ganapathy Bopaiah was appointed pro tem speaker of the Karnataka Assembly by Governor Vajubhai Vala ahead of Saturday's floor test. Congress immediately objected to the appointment of Bopaiah, a three-time BJP MLA. "The pro tem speaker, by convention, is the most senior MLA. We are asking for convention to be followed", Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said at a press conference. The most senior MLA in the state Assembly is Ravi Deshpande, but he was ignored. Bopaiah earlier served as Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly from 2009 to 2013. In May 2011, the Supreme Court quashed the then speaker Bopaiah's decision to disqualify 16 MLAs ahead of the no-confidence motion in October 2010 which ensured survival of the then Yeddyurappa government. Eleven rebel BJP MLAs and five Independent ones were disqualified by Bopaiah on the eve of the voting on a no-trust motion against the then chief minister Yeddyurappa. The 16 MLAs had withdrawn their support to the government on 6 October, 2010, and were suspended on 11 October, 2010. A bench headed by Justice Altamas Kabir, while quashing the speakers decision, said basic constitutional values and principles of natural justice were not observed by Bopaiah in disqualifying the 11 rebel BJP and five Independent legislators. "The procedure adopted by the speaker seems to indicate that he was trying to meet the time schedule set by the governor for the trial of strength in the Assembly and to ensure that the appellants and the other Independent MLAs stood disqualified prior to the date on which the floor test was to be held," the Supreme Court said in its order. "Unless it was to ensure that the trust vote did not go against the chief minister, there was no conceivable reason for the speaker to have taken up the disqualification application in such a great hurry", the apex court said. The court passed the order while setting aside the Karnataka High Court order upholding the speakers decision, aggrieved by which the disqualified legislators had moved the apex court. The apex court ruling came on an appeal by four of the 11 disqualified BJP MLAs in Karnataka against the high court order upholding the speakers decision. In their appeal, the MLAs contended that their disqualification raised substantial questions of constitutional and administrative laws of public importance having serious implications for the democratic representative government and involving an interpretation of the provisions of the Tenth Schedule and the rules made there-under. The legislators submitted that they made a categorical statement in their replies to the show-cause notice issued by the speaker before their suspension that they had no intention at all to leave BJP or the membership of its legislature party and that their letter to the governor was aimed at cleansing the image of the party by getting rid of Yeddyurappa as chief minister. With inputs from PTI Click here to follow LIVE updates on the Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 results. Now that the Supreme Court has effectively quashed the Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala's decision and slashed BJP chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's window to prove majority from 15 days to 24 hours (a key Congress demand), will Congress president Rahul Gandhi now admit he was wrong to cast aspersions on the judiciary? Will he apologise for his conduct? Now that the Supreme Court has effectively quashed the Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala's decision and slashed BJP chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's window to prove majority from 15 days to 24 hours (a key Congress demand), will Congress president Rahul Gandhi now admit he was wrong to cast aspersions on the judiciary? Will he apologise for his conduct? The least the Gandhi scion should do is issue an unqualified public apology for attempting to bring the Indian judiciary into disrepute. It isn't just the petty attempt to impeach the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, in his effort to "get even" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom he is unable to defeat politically, the Congress president has made subversion of judiciary a cornerstone of his irresponsible, infantile and vituperative campaign. He has caused enough damage to the judiciary in general and the highest judicial forum in particular. He must cease and desist. This issue hasn't arisen just because the highest court of the land just made a string of observations that are seemingly favourable to the Grand Old Party in a matter of utmost importance. The issue is bigger. By firing from the shoulders of dissenting judges, repeatedly dragging the judiciary through political mud, trying to use judges as pawns, playing off one brother judge against another, levelling unverified allegations: the Congress is constantly humiliating and belittling a public institution of high importance and integrity. Not for the first time would Congress be guilty of this crime but Rahul has introduced in his attempted subversion a cavalier arrogance. In a country where public institutions are weak and ineffective barring a few, this may lead to erosion of faith in the judiciary and have a deleterious effect on democracy. The dynast must gather his wits and consider how he has turned himself into a laughing stock. The chief justice admitted an urgent writ petition filed by the JD(S)-Congress coalition at midnight on Thursday. The CJI constituted a three-judge bench at 1.40 am to hear the petition (which continued well past 4 am). Barely a few hours later, the Congress president told a rally in Raipur that judiciary is "under severe attack" from the Modi government and the way judges are being "intimidated and not being allowed to work" can only be compared to "Pakistan and some African nations". This has probably happened for the first time in a democracy. This happens in places like Pakistan, says Congress President Rahul Gandhi #RahulPakAnalogy pic.twitter.com/NwlGLtpPVe TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) May 17, 2018 Incidentally, Congress leader and senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the petitioners, expressed gratitude at the CJI's decision to admit the Congress-JD(S) petition at the midnight hour and lauded the Supreme Court for ensuring that "justice never sleeps". Irrespective of merits, very gracious of SC to fix hearing at 145 pm at ct no 2. Shows justice never sleeps & accessibility is 24x7, where merits so demand. Which apex court in world allows such accessibility? Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) May 16, 2018 Singhvi's praise isn't uncalled for because the CJI has indeed shown grace and courteousness in admitting a plea which neither had a life depending on it (unlike the Yakub Memon case), nor was it a matter of grave national importance. Yeddyurappa's swearing-in will ultimately depend on his ability to prove the numbers on Karnataka Assembly floor, so the Congress' unseemly hurry to file a petition at that late hour amounts to little beyond scoring a political point. As it turns out, the three-judge bench of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan eventually allowed the swearing-in to go through. As Shashadri Chari wrote in The Print, "It was extremely courteous of the CJI, whom the Congress had sought to impeach, to entertain the unusual, politically motivated demand by people whose legal, fundamental or democratic rights were not at risk or under challenge". Not to put too fine a point on it, this is the same CJI whom Rahul wanted to impeach on flimsy grounds. When Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu rejected the notice, the Congress accused the Rajya Sabha Chairman of "muzzling the Constitution". The party's social media team also chimed in, and alleged that CJI had "fixed benches". Should he not be impeached? pic.twitter.com/ULLiFhKvBP Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) April 23, 2018 Congress leader Kapil Sibal, in fact, filed a plea challenging Naidu's rejection of impeachment notice and withdrew it only when he realised that his efforts to shop for a "bench of his choice" won't materialise. Thursday morning's developments where the CJI went out of his way to accommodate a political petition and Friday's observations by the three-judge bench are in keeping with the highest standards of competence, neutrality and upholding of justice that we expect from the apex court. The petulant and resentful behaviour of the Congress party and its president now lies exposed. To take a look at the observations made by the Supreme Court on Friday, it seems as if BJP suffered a resounding defeat. The Supreme Court not only ordered a floor test by 4 pm on Saturday (which severely cripples BJP's chances of wooing JD(S) or Congress MLAs), it also directed the pro tem speaker to decide the mode of test, dismissed Attorney General KK Venugopal's plea for 'secret ballot', directed the BJP government not to nominate an Anglo-Indian representative and prevented Yeddyurappa from taking any major policy decisions in the interim. Not just that, in admitting Yeddyurappa to take oath as chief minister (subject to proving majority), the SC also "made it clear that it would deal with the constitutionality of the governor's letter inviting Yeddyurappa to form the government later". The Congress secured a legal victory on all key metrics of the petition through a bench constituted by the CJI in a case that is of existential importance for the party. The blinkered vision of Rahul is perhaps preventing him from noticing the judicial spine. The ruling TMC looked set for a resounding win bulldozing all political rivals in rural West Bengal in the vote count for the three-tier panchayat election Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress looked set for a resounding win bulldozing all political rivals in rural West Bengal on Thursday in the vote count for the three-tier state panchayat election, with the BJP emerging a distant second in almost all the districts. The Left front, which ruled the state for 34 years until 2011, lay decimated in the third position, while the Congress was virtually wiped out in Monday's polls, which were marred by widespread violence and allegations of strong-arm tactics and irregularities against the Trinamool. As per latest reports, the state's ruling party has won 20,277 Gram panchayat (lowest tier) seats of 31,814 that were contested, while it was leading in 382 seats. The party has won 2,605 out of 6,125 contested panchayat Samiti (middle tier) seats and were comfortably ahead in another 431. The Trinamool Congress also seemed on track to win all 20 Zila Parishads. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the party workers for the massive win and dedicated the victory to the people. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which managed to bag 5,416 Gram panchayat and 282 panchayat Samiti seats, gave a tough fight to the Trinamool in two western districts Purulia and Jhargram. The saffron outfit also led in 34 and 43 seats, respectively, in the two tiers of the rural body. Another interesting development was the performance of the Independents, who have bagged more seats than the Left front. In South 24 Parganas district's Bhangar that has been on the boil over the construction of a power grid sub-station by the state government in the last one year, Independent candidates backed by Jomi-Jibika-Bastutantra O Poribesh Rokkha Committee (committee for protecting life, livelihood, ecology and environment) won five out of the eight Gram panchayat seats, where they had filed their nominations via WhatsApp. The panchayat Samiti was, however, won by ruling party strongman Arabul Islam who was arrested a day before the election for his alleged involvement in the murder of a local youth. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said his party was moving on the right track. "We have done reasonably well. Had the polls been free and fair, we would have done better." Sporadic incidents of unrest over the election results were reported from districts like Nadia where a group of miscreants allegedly ran away with ballot boxes. The counting of votes was halted for almost three hours in Nadia's Majhdia after allegations of tampering with the ballot papers were received. "There are some reports of unrest in the districts but the administrations concerned have already taken action. There are no reports of major violence from anywhere," State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary Nilanjan Shandilya told IANS. In Birbhum district, BJP and Trinamool Congress activists clashed with each other outside a counting station. Police had to resort to baton charge to disperse the mob. According to the state administration, 12 persons lost their lives on the polling day, out which six were confirmed have died in poll violence. Statistics reveal that of the total 58,692 seats in the three tiers of the rural local bodies, 20,076 seats, or 34.2 percent, have been decided uncontested, with the Trinamool bagging a whopping proportion of these seats. These include 16,814 of the total 48,650 Gram panchayats seats, 3,059 of the 9,217 panchayat Samiti seats and 203 of the 825 Zila Parishad seats. The Supreme Court has now asked the SEC not to issue winning certificates in these seats. AFP British political consulting group Cambridge Analytica (CA) filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York, court documents showed. The firm, whose attorney filed on 16 May, announced in early May that it would close and file for bankruptcy in Britain and the United States after failing to recover from the Facebook data scandal. The documents, seen by AFP, listed Cambridge Analytica LLC's estimated assets in the range of $100,001 and $500,000, with estimated liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Earlier this month, the companywhich worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaignclaimed its business had been ruined by "numerous unfounded accusations" which rendered operating the business "no longer viable." The firm became embroiled in scandal in March when a former analyst, 28-year-old Canadian Christopher Wylie, revealed it had used a Facebook personality prediction app to hijack up to 87 million Facebook users' dataclaims it denies. Soon after, CA chief executive Alexander Nix was suspended after he was filmed by undercover reporters bragging about ways to win political campaigns, including through blackmail and honey traps. Meanwhile, another whistleblower said Britons' personal data may have been misused by a pro-Brexit campaign ahead of the 2016 referendum in which Britain voted to leave the European Union. Wylie has also since told a Senate panel on interference in the 2016 US election that CA had used Russian researchers and shared data with companies linked to Russian intelligence. This week, the New York Times reported the US Justice Department and the FBI are investigating Cambridge Analyticaalthough it was unclear if the probe was linked to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's into Trump campaign collusion with Russia. Sunderarajan Padmanabhan A team of scientists from India, Ireland, and America have uncovered a novel role of a protein, Ataxin-2, in initiation and progression of neurodegenerative diseases Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2 (SCA2). ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing muscle weakness. It makes it difficult to perform basic functions like walking, eating, and speaking. Closely related to it is SCA2 that slows down the activity on the part of the brain that controls voluntary activities such as coordination, balance, and speech. Scientists have been engaged in understanding risk factors for onset for such diseases. The studyled by Baskar Bakthavachalu at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalorefocused on a particular protein domain of Ataxin-2 known as the intrinsically disordered region (IDR) which assists Ataxin-2 in the formation of granules inside neurons. The researchers were interested to know if IDR regions of Ataxin-2 and indirectly, the granuleshad any role in promoting neurological dysfunctions. The researchers performed studies in the fruit fly (Drosophila) which has a single copy of the Ataxin-2 gene, in contrast to mammals, which have multiple copies. A single copy of the gene makes it convenient to study what would be the impact, if it was to be deleted. It was found that IDR assists granule formation by controlling the stability and strength of Ataxin-2 interactions with other cellular components and results in aggregation. Fruit flies which had Ataxin-2 IDR deleted were fully normal expect being deprived of their ability to form granules. The main caveat in the field had been non-existence of a system that could discriminate the function of the granule without interfering with the other important functions of Ataxin-2. We overcame this lacuna with genome engineering a fly model where these two described functions were separable, Baskar explained. The scientists also took cues from earlier research studies which had demonstrated that reduced Ataxin-2 levels in mice pre-disposed to ALS-like illness slowed down their onset and progression of neurodegeneration. They wondered if reduced neurodegeneration could be attributed to the lack of granule formation or if it was a property of other functions of Ataxin-2. The team found that the Ataxin-2 IDR-assisted granules facilitate its association with other pathogenic proteins known to endorse neurodegeneration. Thus, deletion of the IDR domain, thereby inhibiting granule formation, was sufficient to prevent neurotoxicity. They also proved that Ataxin-2 contributed to long-term memory in fruit flies via the IDR-granule connection and that Ataxin-2 plays a vital role in the rewiring of the nervous system. Thus the study has shown that it is the IDR domain of Ataxin-2 that allows development of long-term memory even as it, paradoxically, results in specific forms of neurodegeneration. One possible explanation is that mechanisms that allow granule fluxes (formation and clearance) under normal scenarios are tilted towards granule accumulation in diseased conditions, said Baskar. The research results have been published in journal Neuron. The team included K. VijayRaghavan, Mani Ramaswami, Indulekha P.Sudhakaran , Amanjot Singh, Devasena Thiagarajan and M.Sankaranarayanan (all from NCBS); Joem Huelsmeier, Jens Hillebrand, and Amas Petrauskas (Trinity College, Dublin); Laura Mizoue and Roy Parker (University of Colorado); and Udai Bhan Pandey and Eric N Anderson (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine). India Science Wire Narendra Modi will be travelling to Russia at Vladimir Putin's invitation on 21 May. From deliberations during a walk along Wuhan's East Lake to 'productive' discussions over tea is how Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'informal summit' with Chinese president Xi Jinping went last month. The prime minister is scheduled to have another 'informal summit'. This time, he is going to Russia on 21 May to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin for "agendaless" talks in the summer beach resort of Sochi. Modi will be travelling to Russia at Putin's invitation, the government said. An external affairs ministry release said Modi's visit to Russia will be an important occasion for him and Putin to exchange views on international matters in a broad and long-term perspective in order to further strengthen the special and privileged strategic partnership. "Both leaders will discuss their respective national developmental priorities and bilateral matters," the statement said. It said the informal summit was in keeping with the tradition of regular consultations between India and Russia at the highest level. Meanwhile, official sources told PTI the issues on the table may include the economic impact on India and Russia in the wake of the US president Donald Trump pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, the situation in Afghanistan, Syria, the threat of terrorism and matters relating to the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS summits. The sources further said the possible impact of the US sanctions against Russia under Countering Americas Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on India-Russia defence cooperation may also figure during the talks between the two leaders. The sources said the large part of the informal meeting between Modi and Putin will be one-to-one and there may be limited segment for restricted delegation-level discussions. They said Putin will to also host a lunch for Modi. However, sources told NDTV that the tricky issues involving defence deals would not be brought up, even as reports have emerged that India trying to acquire 200 Kamov Ka 226T helicopters from Russia was on the agenda. Sources quoted in the report said that the no-frills attached visit would be "agendaless, flexible and would have no formalities in terms of protocol," and would discuss several international and regional issues but not many domestic issues will be taken up as those are discussed at the annual summit between the two sides later in the year. 'Similar to Wuhan summit' The aim of the informal summit is to use the friendship and trust between the two countries to create convergence on key global and regional issues, official sources told PTI. The two leaders may also deliberate on extending India-Russia civil nuclear cooperation in third countries, possible areas for cooperation for the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, Indias engagement with five-nation Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the situation in the Korean peninsula. This is the second such informal summit in as many months for the prime minister. He used the same format during his talks with Xi. The concept of an informal summit was stated to be unique as the two leaders have no pressure and obligation to strike any agreements nor make big announcements but focus mainly on candid discussions on solutions to some of the vexing problems. Indian official sources told The Wire that the summit was prefixed with the word 'informal' to make it less protocol heavy. The report further said that a formal summit usually involves talks across table, with the two leaders first reading out an opening statement after which issues are then picked up from the agenda. Typically, a joint declaration would already have been negotiated before the leaders meet and would be ready to be released to the media. However, at the Wuhan summit, the setting of the talks played an important role. Modi and Xi viewed antique Chinese artefacts at the Hubei Provincial Museum, where they also exchanged views on boosting dialogue between their two ancient civilisations and how to live peacefully together, Xinhua said. The next day, they took a walk together and then an hour-long boat-trip. Informal settings, mostly without aides, seemed to be important to lead to frank discussions. The one-on-one talks during the Wuhan summit were followed by delegation-level interaction with six top officials each from both sides took part, giving an impression that some of the critical issues were on the table for discussion, according to PTI. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale were present in the meeting. The informal summit in Sochi will be somewhat similar to the Wuhan summit, according to The Economic Times. Modi and Putin will be engaged in a one-on-one interaction soon after the prime minister arrives in the resort city on 21 May. This will be followed by a lunch where both leaders will be accompanied only by senior officials from both sides. Thereafter, the two leaders will be engaged in another tete-a-tete including interaction through a possible walk. The agenda, therefore, is open-ended and broad at the Sochi summit, NDTV report added. Putin will also host a lunch for Modi, but there will be no "guard of honour". There will be no other minister accompanying the prime minister and no documents or joint statement is expected from this meeting either, the report added. With inputs from agencies US president Donald Trump has threatened North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with 'decimation,' unless he agrees to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. Washington: US president Donald Trump has threatened North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with "decimation," unless he agrees to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. With the 12 June US-North Korea summit at stake, Trump on Thursday gave Kim two optionsreach an agreement to denuclearise and remain in power or suffer the fate of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was murdered by rebels supported by a NATO bombing campaign in 2011, EFE news reported. "If you look at the Libian model with Gaddafi, that was total decimation. We went in there to beat him, now that model would take place if we don't make a deal, most likely," Donald Trump told reporters prior to his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House. "But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy," the president added. Trump, however, said that the United States is not using "the Libyan model" in its negotiations with North Korea, distancing himself from National Security Adviser John Bolton, who had explicitly mentioned "the Libya model of 2003-2004" as a basis for talks with Pyongyang. In 2003, Muammar Gaddafi agreed to eliminate his country's weapons of mass destruction in exchange for US economic incentives, although the agreement purportedly did not give Gaddafi any security guarantees. "This with Kim Jong-un would be something where he would be there. He would be running his country. His country would be very rich. He would get protections that would be very strong," the president added. Trump also downplayed Pyongyang's threats to pull out of the US-North Korea summit planned for 12 June in Singapore, saying "North Korea's actually talking to us about times and everything else as though nothing happened." "Our people are literally dealing with them right now," Trump added. LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - An EU court upheld on Thursday a partial ban on three insecticides known as neonicotinoids, saying that the European Commission had been right in 2013 to restrict their use to protect bees. The ruling covers three active substances - imidacloprid developed by Bayer CropScience, clothianidin developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and Bayer CropScience, as well as Syngenta's thiamethoxam. The court said the European Union's 'precautionary principle' meant that the EU could take measures if there was scientific uncertainty about risks to human health or the environment, and did not have to wait until it was clear harm had been caused LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - An EU court upheld on Thursday a partial ban on three insecticides known as neonicotinoids, saying that the European Commission had been right in 2013 to restrict their use to protect bees. The ruling covers three active substances - imidacloprid developed by Bayer CropScience, clothianidin developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and Bayer CropScience, as well as Syngenta's thiamethoxam. The court said the European Union's "precautionary principle" meant that the EU could take measures if there was scientific uncertainty about risks to human health or the environment, and did not have to wait until it was clear harm had been caused. The General Court of the European Union did however annul restrictions on the use of a different class of pesticide, BASF's fipronil, because the Commission had not carried out an adequate assessment of the impact of its measures. The partial ban in 2013 meant neonicotinoids could not be used on maize, rapeseed and some spring cereals. However, they could still be used for crops such as sugar beet. The Commission had decided to review the approvals because of the loss of bee colonies due to the misuse of pesticides. The review sparked a debate about the wider use of chemicals in farming, which environmental groups are keen to restrict. A majority of EU countries last month backed a proposal to ban all use of neonicotinoids outdoors, limiting their use to crops in greenhouses. Syngenta said the court's ruling was "disappointing and unfortunate" and that scientific innovation was the only way to produce sufficient food and protect the environment. Bayer said it, too, was disappointed and said it would review its legal options. It said it was convinced of the safety of its products when used properly. Parties have two months to decide whether to lodge an appeal at the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice. Greenpeace welcomed the court's decision. "The ruling sets the EUs priorities straight its primary duty is to protect people and nature, not company profit margins," its EU food policy adviser Franziska Achterberg said. Bayer and Syngenta have warned that banning the insecticides would mean farmers reverting to older chemicals and spraying more. They also argue that the European Food and Safety Agency had based its finding of possible risk on excessively high doses in laboratory tests and demanded field studies be carried out on an unrealistically large area. Campaign group Friends of the Earth has said new evidence has shown neonicotinoids persist in the environment for many years, drifting into water and wildflowers next to crops, and that healthy oil seed yields since the partial ban shows the chemicals are not needed. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Additional reporting by Silke Koltrowitz in Zurich, Caroline Copley in Berlin; Editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Susan Fenton) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Sarah N. By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office on Thursday gave a federal court a classified memo describing the extent of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related crimes. The memo was filed in response to questions raised in the court in Virginia two weeks ago by Judge T.S. Ellis that Mueller should not have "unfettered powers." Ellis demanded to see an unredacted copy of the August 2017 memo written by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that defined Mueller's investigative mandate. Ellis will review the memo before deciding whether or not to dismiss charges against President Donald Trump's former election campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Manafort has argued that Rosenstein granted Mueller too much scope when he was appointed exactly a year ago, and that Mueller is exceeding that authority. Trump's allies have also accused Mueller of exceeding the boundaries laid out by Rosenstein, and questioned whether he is authorized to pursue possible financial crimes committed by Manafort and others. Mueller has indicted Manafort in federal courts in Virginia and Washington D.C. with an array of allegations of money-laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent, to bank and tax fraud. Manafort has pleaded not guilty. The judge overseeing the Washington case earlier this week refused Manafort's request that he dismiss the charges there. When Mueller was appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017, Rosenstein said the probe would include "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation" into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. Russia denies interfering in the 2016 election, and Trump has said there was no collusion with Russia. In August, Rosenstein authorized Mueller to investigate allegations that Manafort may have "committed a crime or crimes arising out of payments he received from the Ukrainian government" before and while pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was in office. Some of Mueller's actions remain under seal. He also has indicted more than 15 others, including 13 Russians and three Russian companies. Five people have pleaded guilty, including former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has admitted making false statements to the FBI, and longtime Manafort business partner Rick Gates. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and John Walcott; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sought on Thursday to further choke off funding sources for Iranian-backed Hezbollah, imposing sanctions on its representative to Iran, as well as a major financier and his five companies in Europe, West Africa and the Middle East. The U.S By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sought on Thursday to further choke off funding sources for Iranian-backed Hezbollah, imposing sanctions on its representative to Iran, as well as a major financier and his five companies in Europe, West Africa and the Middle East. The U.S. Treasury said Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi was a Hezbollah financier operating through Belgium, Lebanon and Iraq, and was a close associate of Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of acquiring vast wealth during his decades-long rule. It also imposed sanctions on Hezbollah's representative to Iran, Abdallah Safi Al-Din, who it said served as an interlocutor between Hezbollah and Iran on financial issues. The department said it had blacklisted Belgian energy services conglomerate Global Trading Group; Gambia-based petroleum company Euro African Group; and Lebanon-based Africa Middle East Investment Holding, Premier Investment Group SAL Offshore and import-export group Car Escort Services. All were designated because they are owned or controlled by Bazzi, the Treasury said. "The savage and depraved acts of one of Hezbollah's most prominent financiers cannot be tolerated," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "This administration will expose and disrupt Hezbollah and Iranian terror networks at every turn, including those with ties to the Central Bank of Iran," he said. The sanctions are among a slew of fresh measures aimed at Iran and Hezbollah since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last week. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to outline in a speech in Washington on Monday plans by the United States to build a coalition to look closer at what it sees as Iran's "destabilizing activities," spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters at the State Department. In one of the biggest moves this week aimed at clamping down on Iran's overseas operations, the Treasury sanctioned Iran's central bank governor, Valiollah Seif. On Wednesday, the United States, backed by Gulf States, imposed additional sanctions on Hezbollah's top two leaders, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton, Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann and Doina Chiacu, Editing by G Crosse and Rosalba O'Brien) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Sarah Marsh HAVANA (Reuters) - A Boeing 737 plane crashed on Friday shortly after taking off from Havana's main airport, carrying 104 passengers on a domestic flight, Cuban state-run media reported. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties on the plane, which was destined for Holguin and operated by national airline Cubana, state-run TV reported. By Sarah Marsh HAVANA (Reuters) - A Boeing 737 plane crashed on Friday shortly after taking off from Havana's main airport, carrying 104 passengers on a domestic flight, Cuban state-run media reported. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties on the plane, which was destined for Holguin and operated by national airline Cubana, state-run TV reported. "It crashed between the locality of Boyeros and the village of Santiago de La Vegas," state-run TV said in its midday news broadcast, referring to an area some 20 km south of Havana. Ambulances and firefighters were rushing to the scene. "A column of black smoke rose up in the sky," said Ana Gonzalez, a nearby resident. Flight tracking websites indicated the flight was CU972, departing Havana at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT). The aircraft was possibly leased from a small Mexican airline called Damojh, state media said. "There is still no information, we are gathering what we can to give correct information," a Damojh representative told Reuters in Mexico. "As the day progresses there will be more information." (Reporting by Sarah Marsh in Havana; additional reporting by Anthony Esposito in Mexico, Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; editing by Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. A gunman walked into an art classroom and went on a shooting rampage in Santa Fe High School early Friday morning, killing several people, Houston area media and CNN are reporting. At this time, around 11 am EST, parents are still dealing with the worst time after any shooting - trying to figure out where their children are and whether they are alive. A gunman walked into an art classroom and went on a shooting rampage in Santa Fe High School early Friday morning, killing at least 8 people, Houston area media and CNN are reporting. At this time, around half past 11 am EST, parents are still dealing with the worst time after any shooting - trying to figure out where their children are and whether they are alive. The local sheriff says fatalities may rise to 10 and that most of those killed are students. Two students have been detained. BREAKING: A suspect is in custody after a shooting at Sante Fe High School in Texas pic.twitter.com/oAc8jcY71B NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 18, 2018 School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018 Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting early Friday at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. Wire services have still not confirmed reports of fatalities. The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but is not immediately releasing further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson says a suspect "has been arrested and secured." School officials say law enforcement officers are working to secure the building "and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location." Students are being transported to another location to reunite with their parents. Teachers yelled out to students to run to a nearby gas station, students who escaped told news networks. One student told Houston television station KTRK that a gunman came into her first-period class and started shooting. The student says she saw one girl with a bloody leg as the class evacuated. By Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba SANTA FE, Texas (Reuters) - Texas officials charged a 17-year-old student with murder in the shooting of 10 people, including fellow pupils, at his high school on Friday in an attack similar to the massacre at a Florida high school earlier this year. Students said a gunman, identified by law enforcement as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, opened fire in a classroom at Santa Fe High School shortly before 8 a.m. By Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba SANTA FE, Texas (Reuters) - Texas officials charged a 17-year-old student with murder in the shooting of 10 people, including fellow pupils, at his high school on Friday in an attack similar to the massacre at a Florida high school earlier this year. Students said a gunman, identified by law enforcement as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, opened fire in a classroom at Santa Fe High School shortly before 8 a.m. CT (1300 GMT) on Friday, and that they fled in panic after seeing classmates wounded and a fire alarm triggered a full evacuation. Ten people were hurt in the attack, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. It was the latest in a long series of deadly shootings at U.S. schools. Seventeen teens and educators were shot dead at a Parkland, Florida, high school in February, a massacre that stirred the nation's long-running debate over gun ownership. The Galveston County Sheriff's Office identified Pagourtzis and said he had been charged with capital murder in a post on its Facebook page. More charges could follow. Speaking to reporters before the teen was identified, Abbott told reporters that the suspect had used a shotgun and a .38 revolver taken from his father in the fourth-deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. public school. "Not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting," Abbott said, citing a police review of the suspect's journals. "He didn't have the courage to commit suicide." Two other people are in custody, Abbott said. Investigators are talking to the suspect, Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said. Abbott said that investigators had seen a T-shirt on the suspect's Facebook page that read "Born to Kill." Explosive devices had also been found at the school, located about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Houston, and off campus, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted. Police were searching two homes and a vehicle linked to the suspect, where they have found multiple homemade explosive devices, Abbott said. 'THE GUY BEHIND ME WAS DEAD' Courtney Marshall, a 15-year-old freshman at the school, said the gunman came into her art class shooting. "I wanted to take care of my friends, but I knew I had to get out of there," Marshall said, saying that she saw at least one person hit. "I knew the guy behind me was dead." Orlando Gonzalez said that his 16-year-old son Keaton, fled the attack, but one of his friends was shot and wounded. "I was really worried, I didn't know what was going on ... I almost couldn't drive," Gonzalez said. "I just imagine what he's going through ... He's still scared." The school has some 1,462 students, according to federal education data. U.S. President Donald Trump called the latest school massacre "absolutely horrific." "My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others," Trump said at the White House. Days after the Parkland shooting, Trump said that elected officials should be ready to "fight" the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group. Early this month he embraced that group, telling its annual meeting in Dallas "your Second Amendment rights are under siege." The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms. No major federal gun controls have been imposed since Parkland, though the administration is pursuing a proposed regulatory ban on "bump stocks," which enable a semi-automatic rifle to fire a steady stream of bullets. The devices were used in an October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 59 people but have not played a role in other major U.S. mass shootings. (Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder and Liz Hampton in Houston, Gina Cherelus and Peter Szekely in New York and Mark Hosenball and Ian Simpson in Washington; Writing by Daniel Wallis and Scott Malone; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Susan Thomas) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ali Kucukgocmen ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he would raise the violence in Gaza at the United Nations General Assembly, after dozens of Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli security forces this week. A vocal critic of U.S By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ali Kucukgocmen ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he would raise the violence in Gaza at the United Nations General Assembly, after dozens of Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli security forces this week. A vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Erdogan castigated both Washington and the United Nations for the violence that followed the embassy's opening. A populist with roots in political Islam, Erdogan has described Israel as "terrorist state" and accused it of using Nazi-like methods. Turkey declared three days of mourning following the Gaza events and Erdogan called for an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). "Israel must certainly be held accountable for the innocent people it has massacred in front of international law. We will follow this issue in the United Nations General Assembly as well," he said in his opening speech at the summit in Istanbul. "Unfortunately, any step taken towards justice is being blocked by the U.S. leadership in the Security Council." Escalating his criticism of Israel's actions, he likened treatment of Palestinians to the suffering endured by Jews in Nazi concentration camps. "The children of those being subject to all sorts of torture in concentration camps during World War Two are now attacking Palestinians with methods that would put Nazis to shame." The violence in Gaza has sparked a diplomatic row between Turkey and Israel, with the two countries expelling each other's senior diplomats this week. The plight of Palestinians resonates with many Turks, particularly the nationalist and religious voters who form the base of support for Erdogan, running for re-election next month. MUSLIM SOLIDARITY Earlier, he addressed thousands of supporters waving Turkish and Palestinian flags in Istanbul's Yenikapi neighbourhood, calling for Muslim solidarity and accusing the United Nations of failing to stand up to Washington. "If the Muslim world stands against cruelty in Gaza together, Israel's recklessness will not last," he said. "The United Nations, which has failed to take effective steps against the United States, has taken another blow to its already worn-out legitimacy." Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told the rally that the world must act. Despite the difficult political ties between Israel and Turkey in recent years, Israel was the 10th-largest market for Turkish exports in 2017, buying some $3.4 billion of goods, according to IMF statistics. "We have excellent economic ties with Turkey. And these relations are very important for both sides," Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon told Israel Radio on Friday when asked if Israel should break ties with Turkey. Trump's decision to move the embassy reversed decades of U.S. policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies. Turkey has said that other countries should be prevented from following the United States and moving their embassies to Jerusalem. Guatemala this week became the second country to move its embassy to the holy city, and Paraguay said it would follow suit this month. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, speaking at the Istanbul summit, called on Muslim countries "to totally cut their relations with the Zionist regime (Israel) and also to revise their trade and economic ties with America". U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Israel had systematically deprived Palestinians of their human rights, with 1.9 million people in Gaza "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death". (Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Parisa Hafezi in Ankara; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Dominic Evans) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BOGOTA (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government has been giving Venezuelan identification cards to Colombians in order to transport them over the border to vote for him in Sunday's presidential elections, the Colombian government said on Thursday. The diplomatic relationship between the neighboring countries has grown increasingly fraught as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans migrants have fled to Colombia and other countries to escape economic devastation and hunger. Maduro is likely to win re-election to a six-year term in the contest this weekend, which the opposition is largely boycotting BOGOTA (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government has been giving Venezuelan identification cards to Colombians in order to transport them over the border to vote for him in Sunday's presidential elections, the Colombian government said on Thursday. The diplomatic relationship between the neighboring countries has grown increasingly fraught as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans migrants have fled to Colombia and other countries to escape economic devastation and hunger. Maduro is likely to win re-election to a six-year term in the contest this weekend, which the opposition is largely boycotting. His main rival is former state governor Henri Falcon, who broke with the opposition to run. "Through trustworthy intelligence sources we have knowledge of a plan by the Maduro regime, in progress since the end of last year, to give identifications to Colombian citizens and transport them to vote in the May 20 elections," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in a televised address. "The plan details the manner, procedures and payments to be made to guarantee the movement of the voters and their vote in favor of Maduro," said Santos. The Colombian president did not provide further details about the alleged plot, but said it reaffirmed Colombia's decision not to recognize the results of Sunday's vote. The Colombian military will be increasing patrols along the two countries' porous 2,220-km (1,380-mile) land border to prevent the movement of illegal voters, Santos added. The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Additional reporting by Alexandra Ulmer in Caracas; Editing by Sandra Maler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. There's arguably no program more important to retired workers in this country than Social Security. Despite the average retired worker's paycheck only amounting to roughly $1,411 a month as of April 2018, Social Security payouts account for at least half of all income for 62% of retirees and essentially all monthly income (90%-plus) for 34% of retirees. Furthermore, an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that was conducted in 2016 found that 22.1 million people are being kept out of poverty as a result of their monthly Social Security payout. Of these 22.1 million, 15.1 million are retired workers. As you can see, Social Security is much more than just a paycheck -- it's a financial foundation for millions of retirees. Older Americans don't understand Social Security very well However, in spite of Social Security's importance, confusion reigns when it's discussed. Back in 2015, MassMututal released its findings from a 10-question, true-false, online survey of 1,513 adults from across the United States. The questions covered relatively basic concepts that working-age and older Americans should know if they want to maximize their lifetime benefit from Social Security. The results of that survey found that 62% of pre-retirees (those aged 50 and over) and 72% of the general adult population failed -- i.e., scored six or fewer correct answers out of 10. On Tuesday, May 15, MassMutual released the results of its second true-false survey on Social Security, albeit this one only covered five questions. Though there was improvement from its survey three years prior, the results still were pretty dismal. In this go-round, MassMutual only questioned adults aged 50 and over. Of the 1,007 seniors surveyed, 47% failed to correctly answer four or five out of five questions correctly (a score of 60% or lower was deemed a "fail"). Another way of looking at this is that nearly half of all older Americans failed. And what pre-retirees don't know could cause them to leave money on the table when they do decide to claim Social Security benefits. How would you have fared? Here's a rundown of MassMutual's 2018 Social Security survey questions, along with the corresponding percentage of folks who answered correctly. 1. Under current Social Security law, my benefits will not be reduced if I claim them at age 65. True or false? Fewer than half (49%) of all respondents correctly answered "false" when asked this question. What this tells us is that most folks don't have any clue what their full retirement age is and/or how Social Security payouts actually work. Your full retirement age is the age at which the Social Security Administration (SSA) deems you eligible to receive 100% of your retirement benefit. This age is entirely determined by your birth year. For baby boomers and future retirees, your full retirement age ranges between ages 66 and 67. To make things as simple as possible, your payout will be permanently reduced if you enroll for benefits prior to reaching your full retirement age, whereas your benefit may grow above and beyond 100% of what you're due if you wait until after your full retirement age to sign up. 2. My spouse is eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits, even if he or she has no individual earnings history. True or false? Just a shade over half (54%) of all respondents correctly answered "true" to this question. Traditionally, earning 40 lifetime work credits is the easiest way to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. However, spouses who've never worked a day in their lives still have ways they can qualify for Social Security benefits. As an example, if a breadwinning spouse were to pass away, the spouse who hadn't worked a day in their life would be able to claim a monthly survivor benefit based on the earnings history of the spouse who passed away. This certainly is not a common means of garnering Social Security benefits, but it does point out the important fact that Social Security is about more than just senior citizens. It protects the long-term disabled and survivors of deceased workers, just as it provides a financial foundation for retirees. 3. If my spouse dies, I will continue to receive both my own benefit and my deceased spouse's benefit, the total Social Security benefits I receive will not change. True or false? Things got a bit better with this question, as 80% of respondents correctly answered "false." Survivor benefits, which I briefly mentioned above, only come into play if they're higher than the surviving spouse's retired worker benefit. If a spouse's own earnings history generates a larger benefit than what he or she would receive as a survivor benefit based on their deceased spouse's earnings history, then the higher retired worker benefit is kept in place. If, however, the survivor benefit is more than what he or she would receive from their retired worker benefit, then the survivor benefit can be chosen. It's one or the other -- not both! 4. Social Security retirement benefits are based on my earnings history. I'll receive the same monthly benefit amount whether I start collecting before or after my full retirement age. True or false? Some 83% of survey takers correctly answered "false" to this question. The responses to this question would suggest that older Americans understand the general concept of waiting longer to receive a larger monthly benefit. What they don't appear to know is their full retirement age (as evidenced by question one), or how much those benefits grow with each passing year. Social Security benefits for retirees can begin at age 62 or any point thereafter. However, the dangling carrot of sorts is the approximate 8% increase in benefits for each year an eligible beneficiary goes without claiming their payout, up until age 70. All things being equal -- birth year, earnings history, and work history -- an individual claiming at age 70 can earn up to 76% more per month than an individual claiming a retired worker benefit at age 62. 5. If I am still working when I claim my Social Security, my benefit might be reduced, depending on my earnings and my age. True or false? The top performance was seen with this question, where 85% of respondents correctly answered "true." This question refers to what's known as the "retirement earnings test." If you're working while receiving Social Security benefits and you've yet to hit your full retirement age, the Social Security Administration (SSA) can withhold some, or all, of your benefits. If you won't reach your full retirement age in 2018 but have already claimed benefits, the SSA can withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 in wage income above $17,040. Meanwhile, if you will hit your full retirement age later this year, the SSA can withhold $1 in benefits for every $3 in wage income above $45,360. Once your full retirement age is reached, the SSA won't withhold a cent, even if you're working. Don't worry, though, the SSA won't keep your withheld benefits forever. You'll get them back in the form of a higher monthly benefit once you reach your full retirement age. One last terrifying finding One final question posed to survey takers that was also pretty scary was whether or not they'd set up a My Social Security account online to monitor their estimated monthly payout at full retirement age, as well as their reported earnings history. This was asked because the SSA has stopped sending updates through the mail to American workers under the age of 60 since MassMutual's previous survey in 2015. The responses showed that 86% of respondents between the ages of 50 and 59 had not done so. Failing to set up an account online can put pre-retirees at two disadvantages. First, they'll have virtually no idea what to expect each month from Social Security when they do file for their benefit. And second, should there be an error in their reported earnings history, it's a lot easier to fix prior to receiving benefits than it is to correct once benefits have begun. Long story short, there's still a long way to go before retirees are making the most of Social Security. Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. 62% of Germans regret that the UK is leaving the EU, but they are not very concerned about it Germans dont expect a negative impact on their economy They also believe that that the EU should not make Brexit too easy for the British, for the sake of principles Almost two years after the historic referendum in the United Kingdom, what do the citizens of Germany think of Brexit and its consequences? The British Chamber of Commerce in Germany, KPMG, Open Europe Berlin, and the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), asked a social research company to conduct a survey on exactly that matter in Germany. In March 2018, a minority 39 percent of the German public said they were very concerned about Brexit. Many more said they were worried about Donald Trump (82 percent); the crises in the Middle East (75 percent); the nuclear situation in North Korea (71 percent); and tensions between Europe and Russia (66 percent). Around 62 percent of the respondents said they regret the UK leaving the EU. That was almost unchanged from the results immediately after the referendum. These misgivings were more pronounced in western parts of Germany (65 percent) than in eastern parts (50 percent). Supporters of the Green party showed the most regret (83 percent). Only the supporters of the euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) (46 percent) displayed relatively little regret over Brexit. This was not a sign of massive confidence in the future of the EU as it is today If an EU membership referendum were held in Germany, 82 percent would vote remain and only 14 percent would vote leave, exactly as indicated in June 2016. Again, supporters of the Green party (91 percent remain) were the most pro-EU. Only AfD supporters would favor German departure (73 percent). About 42 percent of Germans believed that other countries may leave the EU, whereas 46 percent did not think so. This was not a sign of massive confidence in the future of the EU as it is today. In particular, the easterners, the less educated, and supporters of the extreme left and right, thought the EU would unravel. Asked whether the relationship between Germany and the UK had worsened since the Brexit decision, 42 percent said yes and 48 percent said no. Only 11 percent of Germans expected cooperation between the remaining 27 EU member states to become easier after Brexit. Almost half thought there would be little change, and 39 percent even believed cooperation will prove to be more difficult. Strange puritanism Germans mostly (41 percent) expected no influence of Brexit on their own economy. A rather damaging effect was expected by 33 percent, and rather beneficial consequences by 15 percent of the respondents. About 53 percent said a soft Brexit was more likely. This would include the UK remaining close to the customs union and the single market. Only 38 percent expected a hard Brexit of near-total separation. A large majority of Germans (65 percent) wanted the EU to stand firm against Britain during the talks. The share of hardliners was the highest among pro-EU supporters of the Greens (75 percent) and the Social Democrats (71 percent), and the lowest among eastern Germans (46 percent) and AfD supporters (47 percent). Especially this last finding once more reaffirms a certain Kantian attitude of Germans as sticklers for principles dismissing the idea of cherry-picking even in the realm of win-win deals. That is a belief that Europe has to hurt in order to be good, and leaving the EU has to hurt even more. This attitude, derided by philosopher and political scientist Lord Ralf Dahrendorf (1929-2009) back in 1979 as some strange puritanism, not to say masochism, still has currency not only in EU circles but also in the German population. Overall, these survey results hardly bring comfort to the UK government: on the German publics angst priority list, Brexit is at the bottom. The Germans concern over its negative consequences for their economy is not pronounced. Also, a clear majority want the EU to be unyielding during the Brexit negotiations probably expecting the UK to back down from its red lines, since most Germans also expect a soft Brexit to be the final result. Here's how you can change voices for Google Assistant Tips Tricks lekhaka-Vishnu Sasidharan Google Assistant is currently available on 500 million+ devices, which includes Android, iOS phones, Speakers, TV etc. Here's how you can change voices for Google Assistant. Google Assistant is currently available on 500 million+ devices, which includes Android, iOS phones, Speakers, TV etc. In case of Android devices, they need to run Android 6.0 or higher. Advancements that have been made in Google Assistant have been plenty, the newest addition to the list is the addition of six new voices in addition to the two that already exist, there have also been reports that John Legends voice will be available later in the year. Coming back to the voices that have been made, out of the six that have been added, three are male while rest are female, the even-numbered ones being male and the rest female. Eight Is the number of voices that are available for you to choose from. The Google Assistant is already available in Hindi in phones and tablets. Unfortunately, this option is not available to you if you are using Google Home or Google Home mini speaker. The newest achievement that has been studied is the ability to call restaurants or order dinner, Googles new Duplex technology allows it to mimic human speech and carry out a human conversation on its own. This feature will be tested in the US and will be limited to English. The procedures to follow in order to change the voice in your device have been listed below: Android Phone and tablet 1) Long pressing the Home button to bring up the Google Assistant 2) Tapping on the blue Drawer icon on the top-right corner to access Google Assistant's Explore panel. 3) Go to settings by tapping on the three-dot menu on the top-right corner. 4) You will be able to access Settings through here. 5) Go to Preferences from here. 6) Select Assistant voice. 7) You can choose the voice of the Assistant from here. 8) Select the voice of your choice from the options available. You can preview the voice here. 9) Exit the page and the new voice of your preference will be selected. Speaker 1) Open the Google Home app on your Android phone or tablet 2) Select the three vertical lines on the top-right corner to access the menu 3) Choose More settings from the list given. 4) Tap on preferences. 5) Go to Assistant Voice from here. 6) Choose the voice of your preference from here. 7) Your voice will be set after you exit from the page. iOS iPhone and iPad 1) The first thing you need to do is access the Google Assistant app from your iPhone or iPad. 2) You will have to go to the blue drawer on the top right in order to explore. 3) Select the three-dot icon and then the settings. 4) Select Preferences 5) Now choose Assistant voice 6) Select the voice of your preference from here. Speaker 1) Open the Google Home app on your iPhone or iPad. 2) Access the Menu by clicking on the three-line menu on the top-left corner. 3) After this, go to More settings. 4) Tap on preferences. 5) Choose Assistant voice to explore the options available. 6) Choose the voice that you prefer. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Attention to detail and Vibrant 6.28-inch Screen OnePlus 6 is by far the most premium OnePlus 6 smartphone I have seen till date. The attention to detail is impressive and the smartphone feels rock solid in hands. There's Gorilla Glass 5 on front and back. The rounded corners and gentle curves make the device quite handy; however, it fails to offer a comfortable one-hand usage. OnePlus 6 is slightly thicker and heavier than the OnePlus 5T. The massive 6.28-inch display takes most of the space at the front and comes with the infamous notch. The screen is touch responsive and looked vibrant and bright indoors. We are yet to test how it performs in direct sunlight. No Stereo Speakers The alert slider now settles on the right side and the fingerprint scanner is now oval in shape for a better grip. OnePlus has still kept the 3.5 mm headphone jack, which makes it comfortable to use in everyday life. The audio performance is questionable as there are no stereo speakers and all you get is one down firing speaker that can be easily covered by your hand while playing games and watching videos in landscape mode. More Power than ever OnePlus happens to be the first smartphone in the Indian market to ship with the best-in-class Snapdragon 845 CPU. The smartphone gets up to 8 gigabytes of RAM and up to 256GB of on-board storage. The Snapdragon 845 is also a graphics powerhouse as it is supported by Adreno 630 GPU, which is 30 % faster and battery efficient. This seems like a winning combination and like previous OnePlus smartphones; we are expecting the same buttery smooth performance on the new OnePlus 6 as well. The smartphone runs OxygenOS 5.1 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. The connectivity options include dual-SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, and NFC. Important Camera Upgrades As far as the camera is concerned, the new OnePlus 6 still works on the same set of sensors (16MP f/1.7+20MP f/1.7), which we saw on OnePlus 5T; however, there are some major camera upgrades. The pixel size for the primary 16MP sensor has been increased to 1.22 um, which should bring in more light for better night photography. There's OIS in the primary camera along with EIS, which should also improve video performance. The new OnePlus 6 is also capable of shooting videos in 4K format at 60 FPS, which sounds great. The smartphone can also record super slow-mo videos; however, it maxes out at 480 frames per second, unlike the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ and Sony's flagship handsets that pushes the limits at 240 fps. However, OnePlus allows you to record the video for 60 seconds, which is definitely a plus point. For selfies, OnePlus 6 comes with a 16MP front-facing camera. Sadly, it still doesn't offer portrait shots but might be able to do it with an upgrade in the coming months. The camera performance seemed good in daylight but the low-light images showed noise and loss of details. We are yet to test the camera's complete potential and would recommend you to wait for our comprehensive review. No Water-Dust Resistance OnePlus 6 is trying to compete with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+, Google Pixel devices; however, it still lacks one very important everyday feature. The Chinese brand has still not been able to deliver on water-dust resistivity and the OnePlus 6 only ships with a very low degree of protection from elements. OnePlus says that the new smartphone is only splash-proof. What this means is that you can take it out in rain and click a picture try it while taking a dip in the pool and you will regret it. Notably, Samsung Galaxy A8+, which is now selling at Rs. 32,490, offers an IP68 rating for water-dust resistivity. No expandable Storage We might never see a handset from OnePlus with a microSD card slot. The new OnePlus 6 also maintains the same set of standards and only ship with the in-built storage of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. For most users, 128GB storage will be enough; however, if you like to carry the world in your pocket, go for the higher storage variant, but be ready to pay an extra Rs. 5,000 for the extra storage. Battery and dash Charging OnePlus hasn't upgraded the battery size and the new OnePlus 6 is also backed by the similar 3,300 mAh battery unit which should last a day. The smartphone also gets the Dash Charge, which is said to give 60% boost in just 30 minutes. Verdict OnePlus 6 is the most advanced OnePlus smartphone and seems like a winner in the sub Rs. 40,000 price-segment for most of the users. However, it's not perfect and misses out on some very important features that restrict us to call it a real flagship killer. If you can make peace with lack of expandable storage, IP water-dust resistivity, and average audio, this is a great Android device to buy in the market today. We will test the smartphone in the coming week to find out what it really has to offer as a daily driver. Stay tuned on Gizbot. Lenovo and Ubisoft announces Lenovo Legion range of gaming hardware News oi-Sandeep Sarkar Lenovo is equipping the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Pro teams with its own hardware to meet the demands of the professional players. Lenovo and Ubisoft have announced Lenovo Legion. The legion serves as an official PC and monitors sponsor of Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Pro League and Majors. The product comes as an exclusive global partnership. The partnership will extend for the duration of the Rainbow Six Siege Pro League season. It will take place from spring 2018 through spring 2019 across North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Lenovo is providing a range of high-performance gaming hardware. The hardware will be put into the hands of some of the world's dedicated and skilled Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege players. This will allow the players to push their limits in competition. The partnership also includes co-branding and co-promotion. It also includes an invitation for fans to join global giveaway contests. A user will also have access to an in-game Lenovo Legion charm that can be unlocked through an in-game challenge. Further, the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six engages an estimate of30 million players. Its esports enthusiast fanbase is growing fast as per the company. The company reports that Six Invitational (SI) 2018 saw a 300 percent increase in viewership as compared to the last year's SI. It also saw a peak of 321,000 concurrent viewers during its Grand Finale. Lenovo is equipping the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Pro teams with its own hardware to meet the demands of the professional players. The sponsored devices will include the Lenovo Legion Y720 Tower, Lenovo Legion Y720 and Y520 Laptops, and the Lenovo Legion Y25f Gaming Monitor. The Lenovo Legion Y720 Tower, for example, packs ample power to enable high refresh rates for smooth frame rates and high-quality streams and videos for fans to enjoy. The Lenovo Legion Y25f Gaming Monitor will feature 144 Hz refresh rate for sharp and clear images. The company claims that the display will bring out in-game details during epic plays. Lenovo Legion PCs and monitors will be showcasd next during theTom Clancy's Rainbow Six Pro League Season 7 Finals. The finals will be held at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City Hotel & Casino on 19th and 20th May 2018. These finals will include two teams from each of the four regions that will represent Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Xiaomi tipped to launch Mi Band 3 at its annual event in China News oi-Karan Xiaomi is said to be preparing for its upcoming event in Shenzhen later this month. Xiaomi Mi Band 3 might become official at the upcoming event along with company's new flagship smartphone. Chines tech giant Xiaomi is said to be preparing for its upcoming event in Shenzhen later this month. The company is going to launch its new devices at the event. In our previous report, we have reported that the company is planning to launch it next generation Mi band. It seems that the intention of the company is also same. Xiaomi Mi Band 3 might become official at the upcoming event along with company's new flagship smartphone. The company's global spokesperson Donovan Sung has confirmed their annual event in Shenzen. The event will also see new product announcements, although he did not provide any more details on the products which are going to be launched. Earlier this month a post was appeared on popular Chinese social network Weibo claiming the event will be held on May 23rd. The annual gathering is Xiaomi's most important product launch event of the year. In the last render, we have already seen a glimpse of the upcoming Mi Band 3. According to a recent tweet from Xiaomi, the third generation tracker comes without a physical button - indicating it is likely to come with a touch-screen display. However, company's CEO, Lei Jen was also spotted with the new Xiaomi Black Shark smartphone last month at an event in China. In the same, even Lei was wearing a mystery, not-yet-seen fitness tracker on his wrist. After that the speculation surfaced on the web that he was wearing the Mi Band 3. Many Mi Fans are waiting for the next gen Xiaomi Mi Band 3. The Mi Band 2 was released two years back which was the most popular wearable at the pocket-friendly price. This band proved that activity tracking doesn't need to be expensive to be accurate. Last month the fitness band has recently cleared the Bluetooth certification in China. Now the company has officially teased the new band on its Twitter handle, which clearly shows that the company is ready for the launch. Xiaomi has also teased the band on twitter with a caption "Can you guess what it is?". While looking at the image we can say that the smartband is not going to come with any physical button toggle modes, the one which was there on Mi Band 2 and Mi band HRX Edition. Xiaomi entered the wearable market in India back in 2015 with the launch of its first original Mi Band at Rs 999. The affordable price made it an instant success in a space because wearables are usually priced higher. Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is expected to come with a lot of development. It is expected to feature heart-rate sensor, OLED display, touchscreen and gesture support and with the touchscreen, it seems that the device will come with a hicked price. Source Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications SAN FRANCISCO - From its office tower perch overlooking San Francisco's financial district, Coinbase handles thousands of requests a day from investors who want to buy, sell or store bitcoin, or perhaps other cryptocurrencies supported on the nearly six-year-old exchange. As bitcoin's value surged over the past year, peaking at more than $19,000 in December, mainstream investors flocked to Coinbase to buy and hold cryptocurrency - hoping to get in early on what even Wall Street now widely acknowledges is a potentially transformative financial technology. Even though bitcoin's value has dropped by half, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and others maintain their enthusiasm for its prospects. There are few hints that Coinbase is any different from other Silicon Valley start-ups. It has all the trappings: Catered steak salads for lunch. Fridges stocked with coconut water and Soylent. Glass-walled conference rooms named after historic space missions such as Voyager and Apollo, a nod to the universal rallying cry among investors who obsessively monitor bitcoin's price: "To the moon!" But in many ways, Coinbase styles itself the anti-start-up. Its attitude, both hungry and calculating, may be the key to its survival as it seeks to sell the world - from mom-and-pop investors to massive hedge funds - on the idea that it has become to cryptocurrency what Google is to web searches. Since its founding by a former Airbnb engineer in 2012, Coinbase has been growing at a rate rivaling much better-known start-ups. It manages more than 20 million accounts, almost as many as Fidelity Investments, twice as many as Charles Schwab and about as many accounts as Vanguard has investors. Coinbase is, however, a much smaller player in terms of assets under management; it stores $20 billion worth of virtual currencies, compared with the nearly $7 trillion in assets held by Fidelity. As Coinbase has expanded its services, so, too, has the company's appetite for talent grown. It has hired former executives from Twitter and TD Ameritrade. It announced two splashy corporate acquisitions in April. And what was a staff of 100 people a year ago has ballooned to 300, with plans to add 450 in the next year. That's not counting support contractors, who number more than 1,000. On top of existing satellite offices in New York and London, Coinbase is looking to open others this year in North America, Europe and Asia. Coinbase's secret sauce isn't a fancy algorithm or a data-driven advertising business. It's a calculated bet that as the rest of the financial system begins to catch on to cryptocurrency, investors and regulators alike will want a fully licensed partner that undergoes routine audits and complies with all the policies that a typical brokerage does. Its brand, carefully cultivated, is one of trust and legitimacy, in contrast to what it says are "fly-by-night" exchanges that freely operate in a legal gray zone in other parts of the world. "We are not a run fast, break things culture," said Asiff Hirji, Coinbase's chief operating officer. "That doesn't work when you're dealing with people's money." That's perhaps doubly important for a novel type of asset that experiences wild price swings nearly daily and that has a reputation as a currency favored by black market drug dealers and criminals. Consumers who sign up with Coinbase must feel sure that their online wallets will not be hacked, its executives say. To minimize the risk of a catastrophic data breach, Coinbase stores roughly 99 percent of its customers' funds in formats that are not connected to the Internet. The remaining 1 percent - the liquid funds that Coinbase uses to carry out trades - comes from the company's reserves, so that customer funds are never directly connected to the marketplace. That 1 percent is privately insured by Lloyds of London, Hirji said, offering another layer of protection. Meanwhile, Coinbase must overcome the widely held perception that cryptocurrency itself is a scam. Legendary investor Warren Buffett has called bitcoin "probably rat poison squared," and Bill Gates has said he would probably bet against the currency if he could. JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has been among the most outspoken bitcoin skeptics. He called it a "fraud" last year before softening his tone on the subject some months later. - - - Yet even Dimon concedes that the technology underlying bitcoin has substantial promise. "The blockchain is real," he told Fox Business in January. JPMorgan is so confident in blockchain's potential that it is quietly developingproducts making use of the technology. Blockchain is technology that allows people or companies, without necessarily trusting one another, to instantly and irrevocably record their transactions on a public ledger. Faith in the ledger is maintained by thousands of computers worldwide that collectively police the system for forgeries and other types of fraud. Real-world applications of blockchain are still limited, but the technology has been proposed as a way to automate and streamline activities ranging from home buying to intellectual property protection. Individual cryptocurrencies operate on top of blockchains, often as a way to transfer information or to represent items of value. In its own way, Coinbase plays an outsize role in accelerating blockchain's acceptance as a mainstream technology. Its dominant position among exchanges, for example, has effectively made it the kingmaker of cryptocurrencies. Only four coins - bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum and litecoin - are traded on its platform, although hundreds exist. Getting listed on Coinbase is like being accepted into a top university, said Zavain Dar, a partner at the venture firm Lux Capital. And with so much money flowing into the exchange, that has important implications for the industry as projects vie for visibility and funding. "They essentially play the retail gatekeepers for what's legitimate in crypto," Dar said of Coinbase. "The more selective they are, the better their brand is." But Coinbase plays a more active role in shaping the environment, too. This year it launched Coinbase Ventures, an investment arm that pours funding into early-stage cryptocurrency initiatives. And many former Coinbase employees have gone on to start virtual currency companies and investment funds, some of which Coinbase Ventures has said it will support financially. This group of ex-Coinbase entrepreneurs is so large and influential that it has become known informally as the "Coinbase mafia." As members of its original team have moved on, Coinbase has gradually changed in character, said Linda Xie, who joined the company when it had fewer than three dozen employees. (Xie, a member of the Coinbase mafia, founded Scalar Capital in 2017.) The company now has fewer hard-core believers who are steeped in bitcoin's founding ideology - one that envisions cryptocurrency supplanting traditional banks and similar institutions - and more who simply believe in creating a financial system that functions faster and more smoothly using blockchain technology. For Brian Armstrong, Coinbase's founder and chief executive, that's perfectly fine. "The idea of being compliant and trusted is not really a popular stance in the crypto community," Armstrong said. "Early crypto people, especially, were like, 'You're destroying crypto!' So there's anti-Coinbase people out there. But I really believe that if we're to shepherd this technology to a mainstream audience, we need to do it in a compliant way." Although Armstrong has been disciplined about which coins to allow on Coinbase and its power-user platform, GDAX, the company says it will begin widening what it lists in the coming year. Retail investors will have more choices. To a much greater degree, Armstrong said, so will accredited and institutional investors, many of whom are sophisticated enough to take on more risk. Tracking it all will be Coinbase's cryptocurrency index fund, which behaves much like Fidelity or Vanguard products that mimic the composition and performance of the S&P 500 or the stock market as a whole. - - - Coinbase's explosive rise last year, alongside bitcoin's, was not without growing pains. Social media are littered with complaints of long waits for transactions to clear, delays in getting customer service, and funds tied up with little explanation. In late January and early February, many customers were alarmed to discover that their purchases on Coinbase were leading to double or triple withdrawals from their bank accounts and racking up mysterious fees. "Coinbase drained my bank account," said one reddit user who said the debacle caused his rent check to bounce. The errors came at a sensitive time for Coinbase - just weeks after the price of bitcoin hit $19,000, prompting a flood of interest from average investors. Executives leapt into action to identify the problem. "I remember Dan [Romero, head of Coinbase's consumer division] rallying the team, I remember Asiff [Hirji, the chief operating officer] hopping on the phone and making calls," said Adam White, a Coinbase vice president. The issue turned out to be beyond Coinbase's control: a change in the coding scheme that banks and payment processors use to identify transactions. Visa and Worldpay, the two financial institutions that took responsibility for the problem, issued a statement in mid-February apologizing for the mix-up and announcing refunds. But the incident nonetheless dinged Coinbase's all-important reputation. "I remember reading reddit posts where someone had been double charged or Coinbase had withdrawn money from their checking account, but their Coinbase [account] hadn't been credited for several days," said Zak Yaffe, a medical student at the University of Washington who bought a mix of virtual currencies in September. "In both cases, Coinbase support didn't seem to respond for many days or even weeks." In subsequent surveys, customers said they were now somewhat less likely to recommend the company to others, according to White, the Coinbase vice president. "Customers were just less happy with the experience they had," he said. "And that sucks." The episode underscored what executives already knew: The enormous demand for bitcoin would require far more customer support. Since then, Coinbase has more than doubled its support staff and decreased the amount of time it takes to respond to most inquiries - from more than 70 hours to less than 10. It has cut its backlog by 95 percent, according to the company. The pressure eased as the price of bitcoin dropped this spring. At the height of bitcoin mania in December, Coinbase was receiving as many as 100,000 phone calls a week from the public, said Tina Bhatnagar, vice president of operations and technology, who is also head of customer support. "Now we're leveling off," she said. "We get a lot of volume, but that was definitely peak peak peak. Now we get 30,000 to 40,000 in a week." In retrospect, the service hiccup, ultimately, may have worked less as a drag on the company than as motivation to kick its expansion into overdrive. Even as Coinbase continues to flesh out its main offering - the trading platform - its investments and acquisitions all appear aimed at diversifying the company, much as Google gradually expanded its ambitions from the search engine into online video and self-driving automobiles. The past year has forced Coinbase to grow up much more quickly than many of its peers, said Barry Schuler, the former chief executive of AOL and a Coinbase board member. "The company [had] to evolve from start-up to growth stage in under 12 months," he said. "It was the equivalent of going from toddler to college graduate with no time to be an adolescent." China gives the nod to Bain consortium to buy Toshiba's chip unit China regulators have approved Toshiba to go ahead and sell its chip business to Bain consortium for $18B. Bain consortium is led by US equity firm Bain Capital but includes Apple, Dell, Seagate, Kingston and Korean chip maker SK Hynix. There was fear that China would intentionally stall the deal because of ongoing trade-related tensions with the US. This approval in the Toshiba Bain consortium deal also akes analysts hopeful that China regulators will give the green light on Qualcomm's acquisition of NXP. Source Earlier this month, news broke about ZTE is ceasing its main operations due to the US-imposed ban restricting companies from selling US-made hardware to the Chinese company. Later on, President Donald Trump chipped in, saying that he is working closely with the Chinese government to bring ZTE back on track but unfortunately, the House Appropriations Committee rejected the president's appeal. The amendment's author, Dutch Ruppersberger, said that the company has ignored embargoes by selling equipment to North Korea and Iran. President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2018 Unfortunately, for now, ZTE is still on hold and continues to lose money as its main operations are shut. It seems that its only choice is to seek alternative chip supplier like Samsung for the time being, but that's much easier said than done and by the time the company switches suppliers it might be too late. Via Update: The roll out has been halted due to unknown reasons. Here's Sony's official statement on this: We apologize for the inconvenience, but the release of this software update has been delayed.We are working on the issue and will release the update as soon as possible. Original story: Earlier this year, Sony promised it would add Google Assistant support to its some of its existing products. In line with that, a new update has started rolling out to the company's WH-1000XM2 and WI-1000X headsets. The update - carrying version 2.0.0 - brings proper Assistant support, meaning users can get notifications spoken to them through headset, there's support for Assistant for iOS, and things like that. To access the feature, once the firmware is updated, all you need to do is to enable the 'Google Assistant' option in the 'Change function of [NC/AMBIENT] button' menu. Source | Via These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Owners of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge were quick to cheer when the OTA update to Android 8.0 Oreo was finally rolled out but shortly after, the Korean giant had to suspend it due to some technical difficulties. The rollout began in the UK a few days ago and users started reporting unexpected reboots, although the issue affected a limited number of units. A Samsung official later explained that the company is halting the new software to investigate and resolve the issue. The same problem was registered in Canada as well. Luckily, the fix didn't take long and now the devices are again getting the much-anticipated Oreo update. The firmware versions are G930FXXU2ERE8 and G935FXXU2ERE8 for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, respectively. Via Korean Movie | 2018 Erotic Melodrama Romance Directed by Lee Sang-soo () 102min | Release date in South Korea: 2018/09/06 Synopsis When a junior in college moves into his aunt's house, temptation is almost too much with all of the women living there. But feelings grow between them. Published on 2018/05/18 | Source Added episodes 29 and 30 captures for the Korean drama "Switch - Change The World" (2018) Advertisement Directed by Jo Young-min, Nam Tae-jin Written by Baek Woon-cheol, Kim Ryoo-hyun Network : SBS With Jang Keun-suk, Han Ye-ri, Jung Woong-in, Jo Hee-bong, Shin Do-hyun, Ahn Seung-hwan,... 32 episodes - Wed, Thu 22:00 (2x35min) Formerly known as "Operation King" (, gong-jak-wang) Synopsis A smart con artist impersonates a prosecutor. He passed all the necessary exams, but never managed to get work in the legal profession. Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2018/03/28 More Emily Mayer As with any war, death is inevitable and as stated before in this columns series, Hill County would not come out unscathed. The May 18, 1918, edition of The Havre Plaindealer carried the sad news everyone was dreading, complete with misspelling. CHESTER BOY BURIED WITH MILITARY HONORS Young Man Was a Member of the U. S. Navy Commander J. D. Gallup, Senior Vice Commander Royal Horton, and Chaplain W. H. Watson of Assinniboine camp No. 21 United Spanish War Veterans, journeyed to Chester Wednesday to assist at the funeral services held over the body of Edward Nodstrom, late of the U. S. navy and the first Hill county boy to give his life for his country in the present war, to be buried in the county. The services were held at the Methodist church, Rev. Hollis preaching the sermon assisted by Bishop Faber and Rev. L. J. Christler. The business of Chester was suspended during the afternoon, all business houses being closed, and the entire population of the town as well as the people for miles around attended en masse. It was estimated that more than 700 were present at the church and 500 at the grave. The funeral procession was three quarters of a mile in length and there were 70 autos in line. The services at the grave were in charge of the Spanish War Veterans and consisted of the ritualistic service music by the band and choir, the regulation volleys by the firing squad, and taps. In commenting on the services Captain Gallup remarked that while he had taken part in many occasions of this kind, yet he had never in all his experience seen such an outpouring of patriotic citizens as he witnessed in Chester. Eddie as he was known to residents of Chester and vicinity, had grown to young manhood on his fathers farm a mile north of that city, and was very popular in the community. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Axel L. Nordstrom, who settled in the vicinity of Chester in 1909. He enlisted in the navy some six or eight months ago. He was 22 years old at the time of his death. In the Hill County Democrats edition of the same week, it was announced that Eddie Nordstrom had died of pneumonia at a naval base in California. Chester and what is now Liberty County were still part of Hill County in 1918. Liberty County was carved out of Hill County in 1920. Montanas newspapers were well aware of their role in fighting The Great War. This announcement also ran in the Plaindealer, complete with misspellings: MONTANA PRINTERS FORM STATE CONFERENCE Meeting Held in Great Falls on Sunday May 12 Pursuant to a call issued by the Great Falls Typographical Union, representatives of several th the typographical unions of the state convened in that city on Sunday, My 12, and perfected the organization of a state conference of the printing crafts. The following report of the convention appeared in the Tribune on Monday morning: Realizing that the man power of the country, in the constantly increasing demands that must be made upon it to answer the call of President Wiison in the fight of this nation for liberty ad democracy, is fast becoming depleted, and that the ranks of the Typographical union have contributed over 3,000 patriots to the cause of Uncle Sam, the printers realized that it was up to them to aid in every way, believing the conservation of highly-trained mechanics was a most important item in the effort of the United States for the compilation and dissemination of all data necessary for the successful presecution of the selling of thrift stamps and liberty bonds. Acting upon this assumption, and with a desire to cooperate with the employing interests in an earnest effort to avoid industrial strife during the war, and do their part toward making marimum efficiency possible in their calling, they formed the Montana Typographical conference. The objects of the society, as stated in the constitution, are to more fully co-operate with Typographical unions of the state, to create and maintain a wholesome regard on the part of the employer for the worker, and to effect a more thorough organization. Billings, Havre, Lewiston, Helena, Butte and Anaconda sent delegates upon the request of the Great Falls union. Havre had three newspapers in 1918; two were weekly and one was daily. One of the weekly newspapers, the Hill County Democrat, was also going to daily publication in the not too distant future. It is very interesting to read the different newspapers, for each had its own writing style. For this column, I mostly get copies of the Plaindealer, because to print copies of all three newspapers is cost prohibitive at this time. Those copies come in very handy and are invaluable, because oftentimes I refer back to them as part of my research. Thank you newspapers! Here are a couple of entries from the Society column: Saturday Wedding. A wedding of interest to the many Havre friends of the young couple occurred last Saturday evening at the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Lucas, five miles south of Havre, when their daughter, Miss Lydia Izadora, became the bride of Mr. H. L. Rudd. The ceremony was performed by Rev. P. H. Case of this city, and the young couple were attended by Miss Elizabeth Tautges and Mr. Edwin Bradshaw. Following the ceremony an elaborate wedding dinner was enjoyed by the assembled guests. Mr. Rudd is one of the valued attaches of the Great Northern relay office in Havre, and has a host of friends who extend good wishes. Mr. and Mrs. Rudd will make their home in Havre. Mrs. Carleton Hostess. A party of ten ladies were entertained Tuesday afternoon by Mrs. Frank Carleton, the affair being in honor of Mrs. S. H. McIntyre of Helena, mother of Mrs. Carleton, who is visiting in the city. Bridge whist was played during the afternoon, at the close of which the hostess served dainty refreshments. The Society column also had a section of Personal Mention which consisted of short paragraphs of society news. Here are two that are war related: An evening class in the surgical dressing department of the Red Cross was started Wednesday evening, with Mrs. C. P. Black as instructor. Mrs. Wm. Kending was at Laredo Tuesday, conducting a class in surgical dressing for the Red Cross chapter. In the Of Local Interest social pages, we find the following war-related entries, complete with misspellings: Rulyard recently held a street carnival which was well attenled and enjoyed by all, and in which War Savings and Thrift Stamps formed a very prominent part. Every one went to see the fat woman and animals and other attractions, all local productions, had their pictures taken and their fortunes told. The speaking contest revealed much local talent and was greatly enjoyed by the audience. Prizes were awarded by the school clerk. The first prize was 8 Thrift Stamps. Bertha Galles won first prize and Fern Sigenthaler won second. Alex Skinner, who has been enjoying a furlough with Havre relatives and friends for the past week, returned Monday to Camp Lewis. Private advices received in Havre yesterday announce the safe arrival in England of Leo Kroppe, a former attache of the Daily Promoter who enlistel in the aero squadron last fall. Word has been received by Havre friends of O. B. Crane, formerly local representative of the Continental Oil company, that he is in the 3rd engineers training camp at Camp Humphrey, Va., Ollie states that he expects to be over there very soon. Geo. Janzen, one of the Hill county boys who is in the national army, arrived this week from Camp Lewis on furlough. Mr. Janzen has a laluable ranch north of Havre and is now superintending seeding operations thereon. D. P. Van Horn formerly owner and editor of the Chester Democrat, went to Chester Wednesday to attend the funeral of Edward Nodstrom and incidentallp to chaperon the delegation of Spanish American War Veterans, who also attended the funeral. Sixth annual run held Havre Eagle Riders Club members Casey Arensmeyer, from left, Lyle Bender, Heather Sinclair, Denise Moore and J.B. Moore pose for a photograph in the Havre Eagles Club Thursday. Eagle Riders is holding its sixth annual poker run May 26, with a motorcycle rodeo May 27. Proceeds from the poker run will benefit the Montana Wounded Warriors Project. Memorial Day weekend kicks off with the sixth annual Eagle Riders Poker Run Saturday, May 26, followed by the first Bike Rodeo Sunday, May 27, for the Montana Wounded Warriors. All proceeds will go toward the Montana Wounded Warriors project, providing hunting and fishing trips for combat veterans with councilors and nurses available to provide aid. It is to "serve those that have served us," said Heather Sinclair, the president of the Eagles Riders Club. The entire Havre community has shown its support for the Poker Run over the years, with even Havre Mayor Tim Solomon riding with the Poker Run in support. The entire ride spans roughly 170 miles before returning to Havre. In the past, the Poker Run has seen close to 100 registrations and around 80 bikes going through town and with the addition of the Bike Rodeo numbers are expected to be higher, Sinclair said. Registration for the event opens May 26 at 8:30 a.m. at Tip It Bar, 1315 Third St. N, and ends at 9:30 a.m. Registration is $25. A free-will donation breakfast will be available before "kick stands up" at 10 a.m. and the participants begin the ride. Participation and registration is available to the entire community. People who are not capable to ride are free to use other vehicles, and Sinclair and the other Eagles Riders are working on finding transportation for disabled veterans who still want to go on the ride. The ride will stop at Spencer's Hi-Way Bar in Hingham and K-Lines in Rudyard. A lunch break is offered at the Inverness Bar and Supperclub at 110 Main in Inverness and sold for $8. After lunch the riders will stop at The Grand in Chester, The Club in Fort Benton and Diamond 4 U Club in Big Sandy before arriving at The Eagles in Havre. At the start of the run, the riders will be given an envelope with the start of their poker hand. At every stop riders will receive a punch in the envelope saying what card was received at that stop and will be used to build the rider's final hand. Once the riders return, cash prizes will be given up to the highest hand, the second highest hand and the lowest hand. After the ride, live and silent auctions will be held and a dinner served, free for registered riders and $9 for others. The Milk River Band will perform live that night. The following day will be the Bike Rodeo at the Tip It Bar, where all ages of local residents are welcome to watch seven events for the rodeo. Admittance will cost $10, with participants paying $5 to register for each event. The Bike Rodeo is a cooperative between the Eagle Riders Club and the Kindred Spirits out of Shelby. The family-friendly events include a slowest race, a barrel push, a water-balloon toss, a plank run, a dart throw, slalom egg toss and a weenie bite competition all preformed while riding motorcycles. Liquor Down will also be playing live at the rodeo. "The whole club, the riders, would like to thank all the community for the contributions and donation to make this (weekend) a success," Sinclair said, "all the commissioners we would like to thank them for giving us the road." It takes many hands, a lot of heart as well as a supportive community to make this all possible, she said. "Come and enjoy," added Lyle Bender, head trustee for the riders. Senior Kenny Wilson is one of Havre High School's students of the month for April. The son of Kenneth and Marlene Wilson, Kenny has three older siblings, Monique, 25, Austin, 29, and Riche, 30. Kenny is a member of the Havre High bass choir, as well as Anime and Art clubs. Outside of the classroom, Kenny is a member of the Abundant Life Ministry, and he helps his parents and other family members on the farm. His hobbies include bowling, going to movies, drawing, crafts and riding bikes. He also enjoys spending time with his siblings and friends. Kenny was nominated by Rachel Haug because he "tries his hardest in the classroom and works well with his peers." Haug said Kenny "enjoys telling jokes and puns to brighten people's day" and "will always help someone in need." After high school, Kenny plans to help his family and maybe get a parttime job at Walmart. Christian Mathis, a junior, is Havre High's other April student of the month. Mathis Christian The son of Tana and Brian Johnson, Christian has five siblings, Reese, 13, Laney, 15, Andrea, 16, Mitche, 17, and Brandi, 20. Christian is a member of the Havre High swim team and has participated in school plays. Outside of school, Christian works at McDonald's and the Boys & Girls Club. His hobbies include running, sleeping, relaxing and watching Netflix and hanging out with family. He also enjoys taking car rides and listening to music. Christian was nominated by Luke Thompson for "asking the tougher questions and constantly challenging his peers." Thompson said Christian is "passionate about life" and "will leave Havre High and do great things." After high school, Christian plans to go to either Seattle or San Antonio for college, where he expects to go into law, medicine, or something else. Students present their films and audience will vote at event Monday, at 6:30 p.m., Havre High School will play host to the HHS and Hi-Line Documentary and Shorts Film Screening. The screening is a competition and also a night to celebrate the work of the Havre High School Media Production students, a joint letter from Havre High business teacher Vicki Proctor and Media Productions student tutor Christian Sorensen says. Students will present their projects with the theme of a social concern at this screening, and explain why they chose the topic for the film and the importance of the topic to them personally. They will also share any interesting details and their approach to making the film. Participants presenting their film projects are Natalie Verploegen, Christian Sorensen, Mariah Olson, Laetitia Witt, SeRim Jeong, Abigail Berger, Sydney Doney, Gryphon Guyant, Grace Loftus, Cole Hanson and Jada Paulson. This is a cooperative project that evolved last year into a high-school sponsored activity, Proctor wrote in an email. Up until last year, it was called the Yellow Bus Creations Film Festival where our students entered projects which had a regional-type of competitive feel with prize monies sponsored by the Yellow Bus Committee. Last year, discouraged by the fact that not many students were able to attend the event, after more than 12 years of holding the screening, it was decided to approach the screening another way, Proctor said. Prizes and plaques are still sponsored by the Yellow Bus Committee, but the activity is now held at the high school and the audience will vote on the winners. Proctor added that the idea of the event being held at the high school was suggested by Sorensen. Yellow Bus Creations core members are Dave and Kris Shaw, Kevin and Rita Campbell and Lois Gilge. The screening will be held in Room 28 and is free but an RSVP is needed. For more information or to RSVP, people can email Proctor at [email protected]/. Matthew 6:9 and Genesis 1:26 Out our way, some pastors find they arent masters of theology, regardless of what the degree says. I have studied, and I have earned degrees from two highly-respected seminaries, but some of my best lessons have been learned in the saddle and by opening myself up to Gods universal sermons. Goliath, my cow pony, if a 16 1/2 hand quarter horse can be called a pony, has helped me grasp a number of deep and important theological concepts which I had missed along the way. I call him Doc these days because he has been my professor here at the Montana Seminary of Horse Sense Theology. Riding in the quiet at the end of a long day, smelling the incense of the sage, hearing the hymns sung by the meadowlark, and sharing the day with my trail buddy as we head for home, I sometimes go deep in thought. Doc and I, like all riders who spend long hours with the same horse over the years, have a special connection; I wonder if he gets some sense of these thoughts, or perhaps he is the one sending them. At any rate, over the years I have written this column on cowboy theology, and I often share my thoughts in dialogue form with Doc. It seems to help clarify what insights I have gained. I was reading a book by a French writer of some 300 years ago who suggested pondering The Lords Prayer one phrase, or even one word, at a time. So I talked to Doc about the idea and he twitched his ears in that familiar whatever floats your boat signal. So I began with the first two words: our and father. Doc suggested one word at a time as I am still recovering, he says, from the last time he bucked me off, and may not have all my faculties in place yet. Go slowly, he suggested; You cant handle much more. Okay, so I started with the first word; our. Christ didnt say my father, or your father, but our father. We all belong to Him and He belongs to us. And if we all belong to Him, then we all belong to each other as well. Check out Genesis where God creates man, the generic term in Hebrew for the creature. God created man; male and female he created them. There are different words for male and female humans, but thats a lesson for another day. God created the creature man both male and female in His image. And what race did God create? All of them. Over the thousands of years of human existence, humans have moved and settled in new areas and adapted to their new environments. This was part of the plan. So we see many different races and cultures, but all are still human and part of the same creation. When I was at seminary I was somehow adopted by the foreign students as one of them. Irish, English, French, Spanish, Black Africans and White Africans, Arabs, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Samoan, East Indian and the cowboy. Well, I expect I was as foreign to folks born and raised on the East Coast as my friends from over the seas were, so I fit in. But I remember that strangely I began to find the differences between us were really rather superficial, but the things we had in common and shared were part of what made us all the same. I had forgotten that what human beings have in common is far greater than the things that divide us. Somehow talking to Doc resurrected that forgotten insight and re-established it. Father is the second word, and of all the Names we give to God, that is the favorite of the Son. And the one He taught us was also Gods favorite. Lord The Great I Am Master King etc. all words that describe His role as Creator but Abba, is Aramaic not just for Father but for poppa, daddy. It is not a title: it is a relationship. The gods of Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc., were kings and rulers = powerful masters, sometimes destroyers. But not daddies. Not mommies. Yet the God of Israel has been introduced as both. The image of the loving father who rejoices in his wayward sons home coming; the image of the mother hen scooping up her chicks to protect them from the storm. Not the distant, powerful figures of the other religions, which punished. And now in Christ, God is no longer the God of Israel alone, but of all nations, lands and people. Of all individuals. He is not just Our Father, He is also my Father, and yours as well. And Docs, too! The God of Creation is our Father Abba to all people, and Abba to each one of us individually. And if God, the King of the Universe, is your poppa, what does that make you? And because He is also my poppa, what does that make us to each other? Well, these are some good thoughts on the trail. Thanks, Doc for the help. Youre welcome. Now where are my oats? Brother John Bruington and Doc Goliath can be reached at [email protected] Goliath has to dictate his responses, as at 1,200 pounds he cant type on the laptop. North Central Senior Citizens Center, May 21-25 Monday Transportation from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday Transportation from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; bingo at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday Transportation from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m; TOPS at 8 a.m.; cards at 1 p.m.; mall or Walmart shopping from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday Transportation from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday Medical transportation will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. but people must make a request at least 24 hours in advance. No cards played this week. March Menu by Earlene DeWinter (Subject to Change) Monday Taco buffet, milk Tuesday Baked chicken, Mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, cake Wednesday Lasagna, salad, bread sticks, fruit, milk Thursday Pork schnitzel sandwich, coleslaw, Tatortots, dessert Friday Soup, salad bar, chefs choice, dessert, milk Montana Primary Elections 2018 are June 5; dont forget to vote. Memorial Day Weekend is May 26-28; enjoy the company you are spending time with this Memorial Day weekend while fondly remembering those you have lost. Our spring fundraiser is right around the corner. We are now collecting for the rummage sale. If you have any closets or cabinets to clean out now is the time. Bring any and all donations to us here at the Senior Center the beginning of May. We are always very grateful. We will be holding a silent auction, which will begin next week. A drawing by Arlene Morgan entitled The Old Buttrey Home has been donated to the Senior Center. A picture of the drawing can be seen on the Seniors Facebook page or you can stop down to see the drawing and put in your bid. The proceeds from this auction will go to the steam table fund. May 9, 2018, at home with her family by her side, Carol Fullerton of Big Fork, Mt., passed away from cholangiocarcinoma. She was born to Rex and Erma Gulick of Joplin, Montaana, April 21, 1957, in Chester, Montana. Carol graduated from Joplin High School in 1975 and attended Great Falls Business College. She met her husband, Nick, while working for the state of Montana in Helena. Carol had all the qualities Nick was looking for. She was a hard worker. She was responsible. She was a problem solver. If you had a question, she had the answer. She was dynamite in a small package and quite attractive. They were married Nov. 13, 1982. She was business-minded and worked with her husband, Nick Fullerton, in their family architectural business that they started in Helena in 1982. The business has continued as Fullerton Architects, which is co-located in Montana and California. She devoted much of her time to this operation and family life. Carol always took on the biggest projects. She stained unfinished tile laid in their Bozeman home, which was her pride and joy since she used a combination of stains suggested by Homer Formby himself. She stained every exterior board for their Big Fork homes as to get just the right color. She sewed wind blinds for their homes to get that perfect creative look as well as making gifts for family. She did all her own yard work, even laying down parts of drip systems for their landscaping. She knew how everything worked in their homes that they designed and built and kept everything in working order. In their company, she kept their construction crew on track and did the ordering for building materials and interior accessories. Years later, they dropped the construction crew and focused on their architectural business. Carol and Nick were not only in the design work but made sure that a house was move-in ready right down to putting the sheets on the beds, decorating for the holidays and planning itineraries for an easy move-in for the new owners. July 4, 2016, was a special day for Carol where families and friends gathered to attend the wedding of her son, Tyler, and Eileen Connors. Carol tackled a last-minute alteration project on all of the pants for the groom, the best man and the groomsmen so that they could fit suspenders to complete their attire. Then, to end the evening, she danced the night away. She always said that this wedding was the best she had ever gone to. It is pretty hard to beat an outdoor wedding in Bozeman, Montana. Carol loved her busy life and she will be missed by so many friends and family. Carol is survived by her husband, Nick Fullerton, and their son, Tyler (Eileen) Fullerton; her mother, Erma Gulick of Fairfield, Montana; her sisters, Karen (Mike) Johnson and Lois (Bill) Meehan; brothers Steve (Victoria) Gulick and Dave (Sherrie) Gulick and sister-in-law Donna Gulick. She is preceded in death by her father, Rex Gulick, and her brother Marvin. Her family wishes to thank all of her caregivers for their compassion and comfort including her doctors and nurses in Kalispell, Mt. No funeral plans are scheduled at this time. Hero of Pork Chop Hill, a local veteran, dies at age 90 Joe Clemons, a Hendersonville retiree whose heroism led to a pivotal U.S. Army victory in the Korean War, died on Tuesday at age 90 at his home, friends said. Gregory Peck played Clemons in the 1959 movie "Pork Chop Hill" about the bloody battle in which American troops fought off the Chinese army to take a crucial high-ground position. Born on April 30, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Mary Florence Burke Clemons and Joseph Gordon Clemons, Joseph Gordon Clemons Jr. was raised in Plant City, Fla. After graduating from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, serving for 18 months before he won an appointment to West Point, from which he graduated in 1951 eighth in his class. Clemons was a key infantry leader in the battle for Pork Chop Hill, which is regarded as one of the most intense artillery battles in U.S. military history. Nine artillery battalions of the 2nd and 7th divisions fired 37,655 rounds on the first day and 77,349 rounds on the second. As a fresh Chinese assault made its way up a ridge Clemons radioed his battalion, I must have water, plasma, more medical assistance, flamethrowers, litter, ammunition, several radios. Only a little water and C rations arrived, according to an account of the battle in Military History magazine in April 2003. Rarely in combat history has a force of the size committed on Pork Chop taken such losses ... and nevertheless continued to hold their position, Clemons's Silver Star commendation said. He also won the Distinguished Service Cross. Clemonss 135-man Company K, 31st Infantry, suffered 125 casualties, including 18 killed, in the battle. During the battle, G Company, 17th Infantry Regiment, reinforced Clemons badly outnumbered company. The supporting troops were led by Maj. Walter B. Russell Jr., the brother of Clemons's wife, Cecil B. Russell, a niece of U.S. Sen. Richard Russell of Georgia. Joe and Cecil, who survives, married in 1952. A career Army officer, Clemons rose to the rank of colonel and became commander of the 198th Infantry Brigade in 1969. While commanding the brigade in Vietnam, he ordered the pilot to land his personal helicopter in a combat zone. On a mission in 1970, he landed when one of his units was pinned down by intense enemy fire, according to a biographical sketch on Wikipedia. Clemons ordered his pilot to pick up and evacuate the wounded while he remained on the ground. For his actions he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor. He served in the military from 1946 until his retirement in 1977. In 1999, he was entered into the Ranger Hall of Fame; in 2000, made a member of the U.S. Legion of Valor; and in 2007, he was recognized as a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In retirement, Joe and Cecil lived a life of adventure and service. He sailed his 44-foot yawl on a voyage from California to Hawaii with his wife, son, Mike, and a brother-in-law. He started a private service delivering yachts across the Pacific and to any destination requested. He flew his own Cessna aircraft and piloted a 1946 NAVION with U.S. Air Force markings at numerous air shows, continuing to fly into his early 80s. After their life in Hawaii for almost 20 years, Joe and Cecil relocated to Hendersonville in 1988, where Cecil and her family had lived when she was a child. An active parishioner at St. James Episcopal Church, Clemons served as Senior Warden, co-founded the Intercessory Prayer Team and founded the Sunday transportation team. He also volunteered hundreds of hours with the Meals on Wheels program in Henderson County. He was a very quiet war hero, Frank Byrd, who has known Clemons for years at St. James. He was very involved. He was one of the most anti-war people Ive ever known because he lived it. He was a helluva hard worker and a wonderful human being. Jeff Miller recalled the champagne-popping moment when Clemons agreed to travel on an HonorAir flight to Washington to tour the National World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial and other sights. I took him to visit his brother. His brother was in Korea, too, Miller said. He asked, 'Could I visit my brothers grave? Hes buried in Arlington' Miller made a call to the national cemetery and told an officer who he wanted to bring. The head of the detachment met us with assistant and escorted him to his brothers grave personally in full dress uniform, he said. He was so flipping humble. We call them humble heroes. He would be the face beside that. You would never know he did what he did. True to form, Clemons resisted any effort at recognition during the flight. He didnt want us to make a big deal of it because he didnt want all the attention so we didnt make a big deal of it, he said. All the Tomb guards became groupies of Joe. They were wearing their heels out snapping when they went by him. They were very touched by him and just his humility. When he got home, he told a friend at church that the HonorAir trip had been the greatest day of his life. Theres one less hero, one less humble hero, in our county, Miller said. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his only brother, Kenneth Richard Clemons, TSRG, U.S. Marine Corps. He was married to Cecil Bealer Russell Clemons for 65 years. The couple had three children; Michael Joseph Clemons of Macon, Georgia, Susannah Russell Clemons formerly of Kailua, Hawaii and currently residing in Hendersonville and Joseph Gordon Clemons III, and his wife, Elizabeth of Luxembourg; ten grandchildren: Charles Joseph Clemons, Russell Joseph Clemons, Jan Stewart Shultis, Makana Akua Clemons , Leigh Kulani Shultis, Kalani Shultis, Katherine R. Clemons, Kimberly R. Clemons, Abigail E. Clemons, Gordon P. Mac Clemons; as well as three great-grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at St. James Church officiated by the Reverend Christiana Olsen. Burial with full military honors will be held in the Russell Family Cemetery in Russell, Georgia on Saturday, June 23, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. officiated by Reverend William Russell and Reverend Montgomery Russell. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Armed Forces Retirement Home, 3700 North Capital Street, Washington D.C. 20011-8400. Thos. Shepherd & Son Funeral Directors are in charge of the arrangements. Brian Manning is to be supervised by the Probation Service A man has avoided jail for possessing child pornography, which he accessed via an instant messaging app on his smartphone. Father-of-four Brian Manning (52), of St Finbarr's Close, Greenhills, Dublin, pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing 37 images and one video classified as child pornography on March 15 last year. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court had previously heard the images depicted mostly pre-teen girls engaged in explicit sexual activity with adults. Manning was sentenced to 18 months fully suspended yesterday on condition that he be supervised by the Probation Service for that period. Judge Cormac Quinn said he was taking into account mitigating factors, including Manning's early guilty plea and his remorse. The judge said he was also aware that media coverage of the case had affected Manning's personal life and his marriage had ended. A probation report placed him at low risk of re-offending. Anonymity Gda Ronan Swan told Ronan Kennedy, prosecuting, that gardai were made aware of the offence by Canadian authorities in February last year. The National Child Exploitation Co-ordination Centre in Canada said someone going by the username biman4377 had been distributing child pornography over a social media app called Kik Messenger. Gda Swan said Kik Messenger offered a certain amount of anonymity as only a username and address were required to set up an account. The court heard that a garda contacted Virgin Media which confirmed that two images of child pornography had been sent from an IP address registered to Manning. Manning voluntarily attended Crumlin Garda Station by request and made admissions. His phone was seized and a forensic examination revealed 37 photos and one video. Manning told gardai: "I was in a bad place at the time. If I'm prosecuted I know I'm going to destroy my whole family, who don't deserve it - I do." A judge has jailed a "dangerous man" for 18-and-a-half years after he was convicted of carrying out three premeditated, random violent attacks on women over a five-year period. Judge Pauline Codd described the attacks on three women by the 34-year-old as primal and brutal and said "he is clearly a dangerous man". The man attacked three women in 2011, 2015 and 2016 at locations around Clondalkin in south Dublin. Two of the attacks involved a sexual assault and took place late at night as the women walked home after a night out. In the last attack, carried out in broad daylight as the victim, Ruth Maxwell, was walking to the Luas to go to work, the man put a hunting knife to the woman's throat. This attack took place on Knockmeenagh Lane, Clondalkin, not far from the other two attacks and near a house occupied by the family of the man's partner. Two of the victims cannot be identified for legal reasons. After a three-week trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, a jury of 11 men found the man guilty of carrying out the three attacks. All verdicts were unanimous. Yesterday, Judge Codd said that all the attacks were very serious and there was an escalation in violence over the three attacks. She said the violence was brutal and primal in nature. Remorse She said the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had shown no remorse. She added the attacks were premeditated and the involvement of a leather belt, a hunting knife, duct tape and cable ties were aggravating factors. She imposed consecutive sentences of eight years, nine-and-a-half years and five years. Judge Codd suspended the final four years on condition that he successfully complete any sex offender programmes in custody as directed by the Probation Service. She also imposed a nine-year period of post-release supervision on condition that he obey any curfew set by the Probation Services, notify gardai of his residence, and keep a travel log of all journeys he takes. During a lengthy sentence hearing, the man, a foreign national who has lived and worked in Ireland since 2008, sat impassively. He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2016 as a suspect for the attack the previous month. Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, told the court that it was the view of the Director of Public Prosecutions, based on the evidence, that the man posed a risk to the public. He was identified after detectives used CCTV cameras to track a white van spotted near the scene of the 2016 attack back to the road he lived on. After his arrest, gardai matched his DNA to blood and semen samples taken from the two earlier crime scenes. Tests on blood traces on a jacket seized by gardai from his bedroom in June 2016 revealed it was the third victim's blood. The judge praised the "excellent work" of gardai in the three investigations. She also commended the courage and dignity of the complainants, saying: "I trust and hope they can rebuild their lives." A child porn pervert who harassed RTE newsreader Sharon Ni Bheolain has been jailed for three years for stalking the broadcaster and possessing child pornography. Conor O'Hora (41), of Heather Walk, Portmarnock, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to harassing Ms Ni Bheolain between March 27, 2013, and January 7, 2014. O'Hora, who superimposed Ms Ni Bheolain's head on more than 30 pornographic photos, further pleaded guilty to three counts of knowingly possessing child pornography on a mobile phone and on a computer hard drive at Station Road, Portmarnock, on February 18, 2014. The court heard that the harassment involved posting more than 30 modified photos of Ms Ni Bheolain on a website which was reachable through a Google search of her name. The pornography charges involved the possession of roughly 100 images of children and 40 sexually explicit and violent online conversations between O'Hora and a co-accused. Some of the online discussions related to Ms Ni Bheolain, while others related to three identified children. Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan condemned O'Hora's "insidious form of harassment" and "debasing behaviour" and handed down a four-and-a-half-year sentence, with the final 18 months suspended. "The information on her will be out there forever," said the judge, who also ordered O'Hora not to seek to contact Ms Ni Bheolain in any way. "I've no doubt it caused considerable distress to the complainant and her family. He must have known that. "It was reprehensible and he should be thoroughly ashamed." Disgusting The judge described the images and conversations as "sordid and pretty disgusting". The final 18 months of the sentence were suspended on the basis of O'Hora's mitigation, including the hope for his reform and the steps he has already taken toward rehabilitation. Detective Garda Padraig Hanley told Kerida Naidoo SC, prosecuting, that gardai were alerted after modified images of Ms Ni Bheolain were found online when her name was put into Google. The court heard they comprised photos of Ms Ni Bheolain's head which were then superimposed on to pornographic images. O'Hora co-operated fully with gardai. He had one minor previous conviction, for a road traffic offence. Det Gda Hanley told Judge Nolan that O'Hora had "no particular malice, just a fixation" toward Ms Ni Bheolain. Pieter Le Vert BL, defending, said O'Hora did not wish Ms Ni Bheolain any harm and that the images and conversations were just "really bad fantasies". The state has closed its case in the trial of Freddie Thompson for the murder of David 'Daithi' Douglas. Thompson has denied murdering Mr Douglas (55), who was shot six times at his partner's shop in Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 8, on July 1, 2016. It is the prosecution case that Thompson (37), of Loreto Road, Maryland, Dublin 8, provided logistical support in the planning and execution of a murder and was the driver of one of two spotter vehicles. Getaway It is alleged that at least four people - Thompson, and other referred to as Mr B, Mr C and Mr F - were involved in Mr Douglas' murder. Gardai have alleged that four vehicles were used in the killing: a silver Mercedes, which was the "murder vehicle"; a silver Suzuki Swift, the get-away car; and a blue Mitsubishi Mirage and a silver Ford Fiesta, which were spotter cars. CCTV expert Gda Ciaran Byrne was recalled yesterday to the stand, where he showed footage from the Guild of the Little Flower on Meath Street. Sean Gillane, prosecuting, told the court heard that at 4.14pm the CCTV footage showed Thompson appear to hand an item to a woman, who was working at a market stall. The footage then showed the same woman as she ran across the road, got into the silver Ford Fiesta and drove away. A statement was also read into evidence from a man who said he was driving down Francis Street at 4.15pm when a Mercedes came up behind him and overtook him. He followed the vehicle, as he was going in the same direction, and saw two men get out, one of whom, the passenger, appeared to have his face covered, possibly with a balaclava. In his statement, he said the men had just got out of the vehicle when the Mercedes went up in flames. The driver's trouser leg also caught fire and he quickly extinguished it. The court heard that the men jumped into a silver Suzuki and drove off at speed. Mr Gillane said that was the State's case. The trial has been adjourned and will return on May 31, when submissions and closing speeches are expected to be heard. A man who was last night fighting for his life after a frenzied stabbing at an Inchicore apartment was trying to flee his attacker at the time, gardai believe. Residents in the Parknoe House apartments, which form part of the Tyrone Court complex, say there were blood stains all over the stairs and landings, with the crime scene stretching from the ground floor to the third floor. "It looks like the man was repeatedly attacked as he ran down the stairs," said one man, who said he heard shouting in the complex at around 6am yesterday. Surgery "There's blood up the walls and down the stairs, and bloodied clothing lying on the first landing." Two men were stabbed in the attack. One was fighting for his life last night after emergency surgery yesterday morning. The second man's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. They were both treated at the scene by Dublin Fire Brigade personnel before being transferred to St James's Hospital. The attacker fled the scene, but gardai arrested a man a short time later not far away. A secondary crime scene was established at the Blackhorse Luas stop nearby, and members of the garda Technical Bureau carried out a forensic examination of both scenes. They could be seen working on several landings and the stairs of Parknoe House. The technicians took away evidence bags, and photographed every detail of the scene. At the Luas stop, the main focus of garda attention was on the ticket machine and shelter on the side of the platform that is served by the trams travelling in the direction of Tallaght. The arrested man was taken to Kilmainham Garda Station for questioning. A motive for the attack is not yet clear and gardai are keeping an open mind. Local sources said the victims were not Irish, and it is believed the man being questioned is also foreign. Dan Peterson School gets needed facelift, honors former principal A much-needed facelift is being brought to the Dan Peterson School this week in the form of new art murals. They are also there to honor the schools former principal. Dan Peterson is a unique school within the Alpine School District that services students who have disabilities and need an individualized education program, according to Principal Ryan Hemming. Thanks to a special project from the Ken Garff Ford and Chevy dealership in American Fork, bright murals are taking the place of dark brick hallways and sprucing them up in part as a thank you to the schools former ... Where to go to see this fall's foliage show in the Tri-State area local It was a starry night in the national capital on Thursday as Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Kartik Aaryan, Karan Johar and Diya Mirza, along with several others, reached Delhi for the inaugural press conference of the upcoming 19th edition of the International Indian Film and Academy (IIFA). The gala will be held June 22-24 at the Siam Niramit Theatre, which is adorned by Thailands heritage, art and culture and hosts the countrys most popular theatre productions. The IIFA Rocks, a musical night which precedes the IIFA Awards ceremony night, will be co-hosted by Ayushmann Khurrana and Katrik Aaryan. Adding a unique charm to the event will be composer Pritam. Ranbir, who will host as well as perform at the event, claimed he is very nervous when he performs in front of a live audience. I am very nervous when I dance. When we dance for films there is a camera and there are takes but when you dance for a live audience there is just that one take so you have to give your best. There are no cuts. I want to rehearse more because I want to better myself, Ranbir said. Shahid Kapoor, Kartik Aaryan, Dia Mirza, Ranbir Kapoor and Karan Johar pose for a photo. (PTI) Dia Mirza, Ranbir Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor during a press conference for 19th Edition of IIFA Weekend & Awards 2018, in New Delhi. (PTI) The 19th edition of IIFA is returning back to Bangkok, Thailand after a decade. Ranbir said he was extremely excited for this edition. Bangkok is the place where I first won my IIFA award for my debut film Saawariya. I am looking forward, he said. Karan Johar speaks during the IIFA press conference. (PTI) Karan, who was one of the hosts for the 18th edition of IIFA, will again reprise his role as a presenter this year. He said that this year the event will be grander as several Bollywood stars will be seen performing. I think the IIFA stage is always the most glamorous. It is large and has all the epicness... Also this year we have so many performances... We have Ranbir Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor and many other movie stars who are going to light up the stage in Bangkok and I cant wait to get back, the filmmaker said. When asked what were the lessons he has learnt from last years IIFA ceremony and his famous nepotism rocks remark, the filmmaker said: To keep my mouth shut and open it only when the teleprompter comes out and not give my vishesh tippani on anything on the stage. Dia Mirza with Shahid Kapoor during the press conference. (PTI) Asked who hosts the best after parties, Karan said: Its always Salman Khan, who has the best after parties. He is definitely the man who brings everyone together in one room. So every time theres IIFA and Salman is there, theres always a big after party in his room. Shahid, who will be performing and seen as a host at the three-day gala, which will be held on June 22-24 at the Siam Niramit Theatre in Bangkok, said he was not sure if his wife Mira Kapoor and daughter Misha would join him. Id definitely be there, he said. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow @htshowbiz for more The ongoing 71st Cannes International Film Festival honoured late Sridevi, who died suddenly in February this year in a Dubai hotel, with a special salute to the Sadma star at the Titan Reginald F Lewis Film Honours on Thursday. Sridevis daughters -- Janhvi Kapoor, Khushi -- with their father Boney Kapoor were supposed to be present at the function. However, filmmaker Subhash Ghai received the award on behalf of Sridevis family. Reacting to the announcement of Cannes intending to honour Sridevi, Boney had earlier said, Im happy that people from the world over are recognising her body of work and her contribution to cinema. Even though the overwhelming emptiness of losing her remains, its comforting to know that she lives on through her work. A footage dedicated to Sridevi was also screened at the Cannes event. #Sridevi mam honored at #CannesFilmFestival2018. Subhash Ghai collect the award on behalf of boney #janhavi_kapoor and #KhushiKapoor. Worlds greatest actress Sridevi mam @SrideviBKapoor pic.twitter.com/5WrN0WaCrS Aman Singh (@AmanSin11100816) May 18, 2018 Subhash Ghai tweeted, It was honour to receive Award on behalf of legend @SrideviBKapoor at @Festival_Cannes yesterday for her outstanding contribution in indian cinema n shared my experience with impeccable inimitable actor to western audience hosted by Titan Reginald F. Lewis film honours. It was honour to receive Award on behalf of legend @SrideviBKapoor at @Festival_Cannes yesterday for her outstanding contribution in indian cinema n shared my experience with impeccable inimitable actor to western audience hosted by Titan Reginald F. Lewis film honours pic.twitter.com/5QZsTYtVkG Subhash Ghai (@SubhashGhai1) May 17, 2018 Janhvi, Khushi and I are overwhelmed with the recognition and tributes and love of millions of her fans being showered on her. Her work and life has touched so many hearts across the world and she has been an inspiration to millions. She will live forever, thanks to her body of work, he added. Sridevi was awarded the National Film Award in the best actress category for her performance in the Hindi film Mom, which also starred Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Akshaye Khanna. At the 90th Academy Awards ceremony too, Sridevi was honoured in the Memoriam section. As Janhvi gears up for her Bollywood debut with Karan Johars Dhadak opposite Ishaan Khatter, Boney plans to make a documentary on Sridevi. Follow @htshowbiz for more Whos a Bollywood hero? Well, conventionally, hes the one who fights the bad guys, is an ideal man who takes the moral high ground, heroically saves the damsel in distress, and always loves his mum. Down the years, the A-listers of Hindi cinema have seldom, if at all, broken this mould. But now, its happening in a flurry. Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor show that theyre not shy about ditching the image. Even Rajkummar Rao, the quintessential good fellow on screen until now, has taken on a very different role. With his latest release, Omerta, Rajkummar has pushed the envelope even harder, taking on the challenging role of the British terrorist of Pakistani descent, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who plotted the murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Im just doing whatever excites me. Im an actor and its my job to play different characters, says Rajkummar. I like challenging myself with every film. Thats the only fun part of acting for me. If I keep doing the same thing in every film, it might become monotonous. I feel our audience expects [new things] from us now. Ranveers act in Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmaavat as the menacing Sultan Alauddin Khilji, obsessed with the Rajput queen Padmavati, is a watershed in his career. Soon after the films release, as the rave reviews came in, the actor said in a media interview, When I was offered Padmaavat, most people were of the opinion that a hero should not play the anti-hero. How wrong they were. Ranbir Kapoor plays Sanjay Dutt in an upcoming biopic. In the upcoming biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt, lead star Ranbir Kapoor plays a person who, despite his fame, was once a drug addict and was even jailed for another offence not at all your typical shining, flawless hero. Akshay Kumars role in 2.0, the sequel to Robot / Enthiran (2010), is a stunning change from his usual bandbox clean image. Akshay is the main antagonist, Dr Richard, opposite Rajinikanth. About these choices, actor Adil Hussain, who played villainous characters in Agent Vinod (2012) and Ishqiya (2010), says, I guess, the era of black-and-white characters is over. The audience is educated enough to accept even characters with grey shades, which is an extremely good sign, because people arent exactly black-and-white. We all have dark and light sides. Generally, the artist community in any part of the world is supposed to be the conscience-keeper of society. Theyre also evolving and so are the heroes. This is an evolutionary process in the understanding of human beings. It helps us as a society not to judge a person outright. A person must have gone through something to be doing something evil. People are not born evil. The audience is educated enough to accept even characters with grey shades, which is an extremely good sign, because people arent exactly black-and-white Adil Hussain, actor Filmmaker Ketan Mehta feels that the way such performances are being lapped up by the audience proves that a flawed hero is much more interesting than a conventional hero. Also, he adds, Popular actors have become a little more adventurous and experimental with their roles. Actors, directors, scriptwriters are going beyond the usual and its a great sign. The anti-hero was always there Amitabh Bachchans angry young man was the perfect example. Then, Shah Rukh Khan began his career playing the anti-hero in Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994) and did it again with Raees (2017). Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says that such roles are now being taken up by more actors, because people want to add different shades to their roles. He adds, I think all actors today are quality-conscious, and the audiences also love this experiment. Follow @htshowbiz for more For a state that had to take a loan to pay salary to its staff, Uttarakhand will have to bend, roll, and stretch all its resources if it is willing to implement the reforms in police department as has been ordered by the Nainital High Court. In a landmark judgment, the High Court on May 15, told state government to ensure that police personnel did not work for more than eight hours at a stretch and those doing arduous duties were paid extra salary. The court also directed the state government to launch a housing scheme for the police personnel and provide recreational facilities like gym and swimming pool at police stations as well at police housing colonies. The police department has taken the order with a pinch of salt. The directives if and thats a big if implemented, they say, will bring about a qualitative sea change in the working of the department. The question, however, is how do they go about implementing the HC order. Senior police officials said that the state government would need to remove some major hindrances before the HC order could be implemented. The biggest hindrance, they said is the availability of funds. Ever since the HC passed order on May 15, several rounds of talks and discussions have been held within the department on its implementation and the obstructions it would face, a senior official posted at the state police headquarters and familiar with the development said. The official, who asked not to be named in print, said, among the reforms, one is providing better housing facilities to the departments personnel. At present only about 18% of the total force has been provided housing facility by the department. The remaining 82% are given housing allowance. If all the remaining force were to be granted government accommodation, one can well imagine the amount of money the department would need to do it, he said. Also, if the government intends to implement another key reform suggested by the high court ensuring that personnel work in shifts and not more than eight hours at a stretch the department would have to recruit more people. The total sanctioned strength of the state police is 27,000. At present, it is short by about 1,000. If the department limits the duty hours to eight hours, then it would have to hire at least 5,000 more personnel to ensure that enough force is available at any given time to maintain the law and order, the official said, The duty hours cannot be limited to eight hours during important days and festivals. However it can be done on normal working days as it will enable the personnel, especially the ones deputed in the field, to spend more time with their families, he added. Additional director general of police, Law & Order, Ashok Kumar, meanwhile, said that the department will soon have a meeting with the government to discuss the high court order. We are studying the order. We will soon have a meeting with the government officials to discuss the same with them and find ways to implement the directives, said Kumar. While passing the order, a division bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma also directed the government to create within three months a corpus for the welfare of the police personnel and them at least three promotions in their career. It suggested appointing a psychiatrist in each district to check upon the mental health of the personnel. It also suggested a medical examination of all police personnel every three months to assess their fitness. In a world where power-dynamics keep changing, only those would succeed, who can discern the changes happening right now, have a positive attitude, are attuned to the world around them and are ever-ready to learn from every person, situation and action, national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Friday said. Doval shared his four-point mantra for success in his acceptance speech after being awarded honorary doctorate degree by Governor KK Paul during the 14th convocation ceremony of Kumaun University here. Emphasizing that world and its power-dynamics were changing, Doval said, First the reins of power were in the hands of those who were physically strong, then those who had had huge chunks of land, then those who had had big armies and lately those who own technology. He said people who were not able to recognize the changes taking around them, remained unsuccessful. Only those who can see the change and who see the world with a positive attitude, who think there is so much to learn and those who see positivity in every person and every action will succeed. Doors will close on those, whose attitude is negative, he said. Addressing the students, Doval said 51 years ago, he had attended a convocation ceremony as a student after completing his post graduation. I am hopeful that with knowledge that you gained here, you will fulfill your responsibilities in the coming time in an effective manner. But I have a question. What you learned here, is it good enough for next 50 years? What kind of world it will be? What kind of society it will be? Are you ready for that new world? he asked. Sharing a story, Doval said when Buddha was dying, his disciple Ananda asked who will show them the path after he leaves the physical body. Buddha gave them a mantra Appa deepo Bhava or be light unto yourself. In this world you can learn everywhere. If your mind is tuned, it will receive knowledge from every side, he said, adding, be your own Guru and disciple. On being granted the honorary degree, Doval said, I was told about this honour over a year ago, but I was little reluctant. I am not from an academia. I have been an operational man throughout my life. I accept this honour with humility and gratitude. Chancellor KK Paul said, Today is a very special day indeed. The Kumaun University, by honouring our most distinguished son of the soil, Ajit Doval, has in a way honoured itself. Chief minister TS Rawat in his address said a professor who taught in the US, once told him that Uttarakhand had great human resources, but there was lack of professionalism. He urged youth to develop entrepreneurial skills and professionalism and contribute in developing the state and putting a check on the migration out of state. Not once, but eleven times, this woman conned men on the pretext of marriage but later duped them after fleeing with jewellery and cash. Rita alias Puja, a resident of Uttar Pradeshs Jaunpur, duped eleven people in the last few years, with the help of four accomplices who posed as her father and family members so that people did not know her real identity, police said. Rita, who goes by one name, used to target mostly divorced, disabled or single youngsters so that the gang did not have to spend on decoration and wedding arrangements. All her marriages were either performed in a simple manner at a rented apartment, temple, and ashram or in court. On wedding night, fraudster used to decamp with ornaments, gifts and other household items. The gangs modus operandi was to target prospective grooms through matrimonial sites into light, with Rita duping men in Uttarakhand, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, police said. Following a tip off from an informer, police arrested Rita along with her gang members, including Mukesh Singh, Bhopal Singh and Arun all residents of Uttar Pradeshs Bijnore, from Roorkee, said superintendent of rural police Manikant Mishra. Ashok Kumar, a resident of Dhanuri had filed a complaint with the police in Haridwars Kaliyar, alleging that Rita dupe him, after getting married in a court and fleeing with ornaments and valuables, following which a police team was constituted to arrest the fraudsters, Mishra said. Kumar was duped by Rita, who told him that she was resident of Pauri Garhwals Kotdwar and her family members hail from the state itself, police said. With fake names, the gang used to target prospective grooms and presented themselves as the father, cousin and uncle of Rita. They used to describe themselves as being from a poor family so that they did not have to spend money on wedding and instead used to borrow money from targeted person as pre-wedding expenses, Mishra said. A police team was formed, which led to the arrest of the gang, whose criminal background is being investigated. Cash amounting to 35,000, ornaments and other valuable items have also been recovered from the gang members, police said. The arrested people have confessed that they duped 11 people in the way, station house officer at Kaliyar police station Devraj Sharma under whose supervision the case was unearthed, said. Eleven people were killed and 20 injured when a speeding truck mowed through a group of pilgrims at Tanakpur in Champawat district on Friday morning, police said. Four of the deceased were children. Champawat superintendent of police Dhirendra Gunjiyal told HT over the phone that while nine pilgrims died on the spot, two succumbed to their injuries in a nearby hospital soon afterwards. All the victims hailed from Nawabganj in neighbouring Uttar Pradeshs Bareilly district. Nine of them were identified as Keshar Singh (16), Veer Singh (18), Vishal (17), Rajkumar (16), Deendayal (35), Babu (12), Sonu (18), Sohan Lal (40) and Ramswroop (45). The incident occurred while the pilgrims were heading to the Purnagiri shrine on foot, said Tanakpur circle officer RS Rautela. The group had reached the vicinity of the commercial tax office on NH-125 around 4.30 am when a speeding dumper lost control and mowed through them. Around 20 pilgrims were also injured in the incident, he added. Army personnel from the nearby Banbasa military station launched rescue operations along with the police and local residents. The injured were taken to Tanakpur hospital, from where eight were later referred to Khatima hospital in US Nagar. The driver of the truck, registered at the US Nagar regional transport office, managed to escape after the accident. In a previous incident, five pilgrims including two women and an infant were killed after their Maruti van collided with a sand lorry in Nanakmatta of US Nagar on Monday evening. A 28-year-old man got himself shot in his arm and leg on Tuesday night in order to try and implicate three men with whom his friend was involved in a monetary dispute, police said on Thursday. The man, identified by only his first name Rahul, is hospitalised with gunshot wounds to his elbow and leg and will be arrested soon, said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (northeast). Rahuls three aides have already been arrested. Thakur said it was the second time in four months that Rahul has been shot by the same set of rivals. The DCP said that the police will probe if the previous attack too was staged to implicate his rivals. A senior investigator said Rahul was shot in his leg in February and three men, who the man claimed to be his rivals, arrested on charges of attempt to murder. The accused men were out on bail in that case, said the investigator. A monetary dispute involving Rahuls friend and a rival, both property dealers, is at the centre of this conflict. Rahul, who works as a driver, lives with his family in Maujpur. He told the police that he was returning home with his friend, Gulzar, on a motorcycle around 11.30pm on Tuesday when four men on two motorcycles intercepted them and shot at him with an intention to kill. Rahul identified three of the four suspects as the same men who were involved in trying to kill him in February. No calls were made to the police from the crime spot. There were no eyewitnesses . Moreover, Gulzar was not injured in the entire episode, said the DCP. So, the two men, Rahul and Gulzar, were separately questioned about the circumstances of the attack. There were discrepancies in their statements. They were also changing their statements, said the DCP. The police then decided to call the three suspects for interrogation. The suspects claimed innocence. Unlike most criminals, they had not gone into hiding, said the officer. When put through sustained interrogation, Rahul and Gulzar allegedly confessed to having lied about the attack. Hours after her uncle was found hanging, a 20-year-old blind woman, who was allegedly raped in a shanty in central Delhis Karol Bagh two weeks ago, said she wanted to withdraw the case. The dead man, a rickshaw puller, was the sole bread winner of the family that included the rape survivor and her 55-year-old mother. The survivor said that with her uncle gone she did not want to continue the legal battle as the family does not have the resources to meet their basic needs. Ab humara koi hai nahi, toh hum gaon chale jayenge (Now that we have no support, we will go back to our village), she said, adding, Police have done what they could, it is better to withdraw the case than face legal hassles of court and police station. There is no surety of food or money, fighting the case is unthinkable. The man was found hanging around 5am on Thursday from the tree under which their makeshift shanty stands. The rape survivors mother said the police and staff of a nearby government mortuary left with the body and there has been no communication since. We do not know how to claim the body. We need someone. We think we will let the body be counted as an unclaimed one, and be cremated by the police, the survivors mother said. The girl was allegedly raped on May 4, when her mother had gone to fetch water from a nearby restaurant and her uncle was away at work. As told by the victim, a few men tried to lure her with a treat. They allegedly dragged her into the neighbouring shanty when she resisted and raped her. The survivor had said that she believed two to three men took turns to rape her for over 20 minutes. She said they kept her mouth pressed to ensure she did not scream. Police had, however, claimed that the rape was committed by one man while two others stood guard outside. When the suspects let her go, the survivor crawled back to her jhuggi where her mother found her weeping. The victims mother on Thursday said that after the crime, a team from Delhi Commission for Women had visited them. They offered us a sum of Rs 25,000. Despite our need, we could only accept Rs 5,000. I fear if we had kept the entire sum, someone would have murdered us or robbed us. That money, we were told, was deposited in an account. But we dont know how to handle a bank account... cant even dial 100 or contact our relatives if an emergency arises, the rape survivors mother said, adding that she will regret leaving her daughter alone that day. The rape victim has not been counselled after the incident. No one came here. We had to go to the police station a few times and a team of women cops assisted us. Since then there has been no communication, she said. The survivor, who is youngest of five siblings, had lost sight in both her eyes soon after she turned five. She studied up to Class 4 and dropped out as she could not study due to loss of eyesight. A girl was crushed to death and her elder brother injured when a speeding dumper hit them while overtaking a bus in south Delhi on Friday, police said. The accident occurred around 7am when Raju, 14, and his Ishrat, 12, were going to school in Sarita Vihar near Shaheen Bagh. When Ishrat and Raju were walking near the footpath, the dumper lost balance due to a collision with the bus. It crushed Raju and Ishrat, deputy commissioner of police Chinmoy Biswal said. Ishrat and Raju were rushed to a hospital where she was declared brought dead while Raju is undergoing treatment, the officer said. The two lived in a slum and studied in a government school in Noor Nagar. A fresh war of words broke out between Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday over the impending water crisis in the city. While chief minister Kejriwal alleged that the L-G didnt respond to his repeated appeals to solve the water crisis, L-G Anil Baijal hit back, saying that given the importance of the matter, the chief minister should have discussed it with him earlier rather than spending time on dharnas without reason. Kejriwal on Friday also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he expressed apprehension that the water crisis could affect more than a million people and requested him to persuade the Haryana government not to curtail supply. Meanwhile, Baijal stated that he had already taken up the matter with the Centre and the Haryana government. The CM said that he had sent a note to the L-G on May 16, urging Baijal to persuade the Central government and Haryana government that water supply should not be reduced. Kejriwal claimed to have sent a second letter to the L-G on May 17 and a message on the L-Gs mobile on Thursday night. In response to the CMs allegations, Baijal shot a letter to Kejriwal on Friday stating, Given the importance and complexity of the subject, you could have met and discussed with me earlier along with officers of the Delhi Jal Board, rather than spending time on dharnas without reason and now sending frantic letters and messages when the matter has escalated to a critical stage. A water crisis looms over the city from Tuesday, affecting VIP areas, railways stations and hospitals in NDMC areas, the Delhi government has stated. The impending crisis had prompted the CM to send letters to the L-G, Prime Minister and the chief minister of Haryana The manner in which all the letters sent by you (Kejriwal) are released on social media even before reaching my office, betrays an attempt to sensationalize the issue rather than seriously resolve it, L-G wrote his letter to the CM. Criticising the government for moving the Supreme Court, the L-G also stated that attempts should have been made to resolve the water crisis first through mutual negotiation and dialogue, rather than through confrontation. It was the Delhi Jal Board which moved the Apex court against Haryana government. Kejriwal is his letters to the L-G, the Prime Minister and CM of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar has stated that Delhi has been receiving 1,133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996. However, recently for the first time, Haryana has contested Delhis claim that has led to a legal battle between the two neighbouring states. A six-member police team on Friday questioned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for over three hours in connection with the alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash on February 19. Police said Kejriwal was cooperative but avoided answering many questions. Some of his replies were not satisfactory, Harendra Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (north), who was among those who interacted with the CM, said. Singh said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia too could be questioned in the coming days, if required. We may question Kejriwal again if our probe requires it, the additional DCP said. The police recorded the entire proceedings on camera. However, they will not share the video with Kejriwal as he is not entitled to it as per the law under which he was questioned, the officer said. Kejriwal issued a statement, thanking the police for questioning him under achche vatavaran (pleasant atmosphere). The police are not at fault. They are under great pressure to file a fake case (against us), Kejriwal said. Four men robbed the driver of a fashion store designer of his car after holding him at gunpoint from outside the Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj on Thursday evening. Police said the car owner, Vikram Sharma, 44, had gone to the mall on Nelson Mandela Marg at 5.45 in his Fortuner SUV. As I got down, my driver, Ashok Rai, drove to a nearby area where he could park the car till I returned. After an hour, when I called my driver, his phone was switched off, Sharma said. Unable to contact Rai, Sharma stepped out of the mall to look for him. I made a few calls and even called up home but my driver had not reached there. Around 7.30pm, I received a call from an unknown number. It was Rai. He told me that he was near Munirka on the Rao Tula Ram Marg, he said. Rai told the police that he was waiting for Sharma when four men in a silver sedan approached him. In his statement to the police, Rai said, One of them quietly came near and held me from behind. As I struggled to get free from his clutches, two more men got down from the sedan and entered my car. They pulled me to the rear seat and pointed a gun at me. They threatened me not to make noise. Rai told police the four men took his cellphone, ATM cards, cash and other valuables. They drove around for at least two hours. And then they threw me off the car at Delhi-Gurugram expressway flyover. The men then sped away in the Fortuner and the other silver car, Rai said. Sharma said his car had a tablet, a laptop with some important documents and cash. It is quite shocking that during the evening, in an area like Vasant Kunj such an incident can happen. This is really frightening, he said. Based on Rais complaint Delhi Police have registered a case under sections 394 (causing hurt in committing robbery) and 365 (Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Indian Penal Code at Vasant Kunj North police station. Deputy commissioner of police (southwest), Milind Dumbere said there is no breakthrough so far. The matter is being investigated. An officer said police are checking CCTV camera footage from the area to identify the four men. We have informed police posted at the state borders. We are probing the role of a Haryana based gang. The gang has recently been involved in similar incidents in other parts of the city, the officer said. Seventy eight years ago this past week, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald set up a drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California, called McDonalds Bar-B-Que which would come to eventually revolutionise the way that food was consumed around the world. One of the most important things that the brothers McDonald did at this restaurant over the next few years was finetune their delivery structure. They came up with what they called the Speedee Service System, an assembly line model for making hamburgers and to deliver them to customers in record time truly fast food. By 1948, the restaurant was known simply as McDonalds, servers (or carhops) had been eliminated to make it a self service operation, and the assembly line model had been implemented to continued success. McDonalds became the massive brand it is under Ray Kroc, who joined the brothers to expand the franchisee structure and eventually bought them out, in order to create the behemoth that is now McDonalds. The burger, fries, and a drink model of a meal has now found its way to more than a hundred countries and has more than 36,000 restaurants worldwide. So ubiquitous have the golden arches of McDonalds become that the symbol is one of the most recognisable brands in the world. The brand has lent itself to several schools of serious academic thought from the nutritional value of the food served to the cultural significance of the brand itself. In a documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock called Super Size Me, he eats nothing but McDonalds food for 30 days, producing drastic negative effects on his physical and mental health. In a book about the struggle between the worlds drive for more prosperity and the desire to retain identity and traditions, Thomas Friedman puts forward a (contested) theory called the Golden Arches Theory, which posits that no two countries that both had McDonalds had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonalds. Yet another academic sociologist George Ritzer uses the phrase McDonaldisation of Society to describe how the world has become more culturally homogeneous as a direct result of globalisation. The brand has found so much traction that many McWords have invaded the popular lexicon. A McJob, for instance, is a low-wage job in which a person is an interchangeable cog in a large corporate machine; a megachurch more caught up in commercialism than religion is called a McChurch. In almost eight decades of existence, McDonalds has gone from one small fast food joint to becoming a symbol of the capitalist enterprise. The University Grants Commission will likely grant autonomous status to St Stephens College at a meeting next week, officials familiar with the matter said, allowing one of Indias best-known colleges freedom in a range of activities from admission to the academic syllabus to setting the tuition fee. The college had applied for an autonomous status last year following which an inspection was carried out on May 10 and 11 by a committee set up to examine applications from colleges for grant of autonomous status. The committee inspected the infrastructure of the college, and interacted with the students and staff, including non-teaching staff. It submitted its report following which UGC is likely to take up the proposal in its meeting scheduled for May 24. If the UGC signs off on the proposal, St Stephens will become the first autonomous college in Delhi University. HT first reported this last year. Read More | DUTA writes to UGC against grant of autonomous status to St Stephens College The principal of the college, John Varghese, did not respond to phone calls and messages. The inspection was carried out and all formalities have been completed. A proposal to grant St Stephens autonomous status is likely to be placed before UGC for clearance. If it is approved, a letter will be sent to the Delhi University informing it about the decision, said a person familiar with the developments who asked not to be identified. However, the application of the college was preceded by protests from certain students and teachers groups that wanted the college to remain more closely linked with the university. Even during the visit by the committee a number of teachers staged a protest. As per the UGC Guidelines for Autonomous Colleges, a college that comes under the scheme launched last year can determine and prescribe its own courses, restructure and redesign its syllabus, and become skill-oriented in consonance with job requirements. It can also fix fees of the courses. An autonomous college is also empowered to prescribe admission rules in accordance with prevalent reservation policies, evolve methods to assess students performance, conduct examinations, even launch self-financing courses. Autonomy for a college also empowers it to announce results, issue mark sheets, and migration and other certificates. However, the degree will be awarded by the university with the name of the college on the degree certificate. This is a good move, I think...Colleges need to be unshackled and have the freedom to formulate their own curriculum, syllabi and evaluation processes. The government has agreed to continue full financial support and the terms and conditions of service of faculty and support staff will remain the same. It will open doors for research collaboration and student and faculty exchange. The degree is to be given jointly by the college and the university so all round accountability will remain. So the college will have academic freedom but remain a part of the university, said Kavita Sharma, former principal of Hindu college and current president of South Asian University. Allaying the fears of students and teachers, the HRD ministry had earlier said that there will be no reduction in the government grants on account of autonomy. A southern white rhino has become pregnant through artificial insemination at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park giving hope for efforts to save a subspecies of one of the worlds most recognizable animals, researchers announced Thursday. Scientists will be watching closely to see if the rhino named Victoria can carry her calf to term over 16 to 18 months of gestation. If she does, researchers hope someday she could serve as a surrogate mother and could give birth to the related northern white rhino, whose population is down to two females after decades of decimation by poachers. The mother and daughter northern white rhinos that live in a Kenya wildlife preserve are not capable of bearing calves. The last northern white male rhino, named Sudan, was euthanized in March at the Kenya preserve because of ailing health related to his old age. Victoria is the first to become pregnant of six female southern white rhinos the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research is testing to determine if they are fit to be surrogate mothers. If they pass the testing, they could carry northern white rhino embryos sometime within the next decade as scientists work to re-create northern white rhino embryos. A researcher point to the newest ultrasound of Victori. (AP Photo) There are no northern white rhino eggs so creating an embryo would require using genetic technology. The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research has the cell lines of 12 different northern white rhinos stored in freezing temperatures at its Frozen Zoo. Scientists hope to use frozen skin cells from the dead northern white rhinos to transform them into stem cells and eventually sperm and eggs. Then the scientists would use in vitro fertilization to create embryos that would be put in the six female rhinos. The confirmation of this pregnancy through artificial insemination represents a historic event for our organization but also a critical step in our effort to save the northern white rhino, said Barbara Durrant, director of reproductive Sciences at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. But more challenges lie ahead, with artificial insemination of rhinos in zoos rare so far and resulting in only a few births. Victoria is a healthy 3,747-pound (1,700-kilogram) rhino estimated to be 7 years old. She and the other five female rhinos that range in age from 4 to 7 years old were all born in the wild and relocated to San Diegos Safari Park in 2015. Scientists will be perfecting artificial insemination techniques and embryo transfer techniques on the females, which undergo weekly ultrasounds. Durrant recently spotted the beginning of tiny limbs of Victorias baby during her recent ultrasound. She is two months pregnant. We will know that they have proven themselves to be capable of carrying a foetus to term before we would risk putting a precious northern white rhino embryo into one of these southern white rhinos as a surrogate, Durrant said. A ranger takes care of Sudan, who was the world's last male northern white rhino, at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia county in Kenya. (AP File Photo) The ultimate goal which could take decades is to create a herd of five to 15 northern white rhinos that would be returned to their natural habitat in Africa. Some groups have said in vitro fertilization is being developed too late to save the northern white rhino, whose natural habitat in Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Congo and Central African Republic has been ravaged by conflicts in the region. They say the efforts should focus on other critically endangered species with a better chance at survival. The southern white rhino and another species, the black rhino, are under heavy pressure from poachers who kill them for their horns to supply illegal markets in parts of Asia. There are about 20,000 southern white rhinos in Africa. Over 100 mass organisations will hold marches in all state capitals on May 23 to protest against the anti-people policies being pursued by the central government. The Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan (JEJAA), an umbrella organisation consisting of trade unions, peasant organisations, agricultural workers, state and central government employees, bank and insurance workers, college and university teachers, students, women, Dalits, Adivasis, and environmentalists, would observe Protest Day on May 23. The protest day would be the launch of a series of struggles with the aim of making the government accountable for the devastating impact of its policies and betraying the people especially workers, peasants, women, and youths by its false promises. The campaign would put forward the slogan...either the government changes its policies or people would change the government, said Hannan Mollah, a member of the JEJAA coordination committee. The leaders of JEJAA also accused the BJP-RSS of unleashing terror by spreading caste and communal hatred and violence. Democratic institutions have been taken over by RSS cadres. The law and order situation has become the worst ever in the BJP-ruled states with mobs and gangs roaming free on streets lynching people and they are being protected by those who are in power. It is a war against the Modi government, Atul Anjan, another member of the coordination committee, said. Riots, encounter killings, murders and rape against women and children have become routine with RSS-BJP leaders in the forefront shamelessly protecting the perpetuators of such crime, organisation leaders said. After the successful farmers march in Maharashtra organised by the All Indian Kisan Sabha (AIKS), which is also part of the JEJAA, leaders feel that only a conglomeration of various progressive organisations can mobilise people to take on the BJP government. In Assam, even elected representatives are under the scanner for being suspected foreigners. In a bizarre incident, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA received a notice from one of the foreigners tribunals in the state to come and prove that he is an Indian citizen. I am surprised that they have asked me to come and appear, says Kishor Nath, the BJP MLA from Barkhola, a constituency in Cachar district. Two days ago, according to Nath, a notice from the Cachar Foreigners Tribunal landed at his residence. The notice says Nath, his wife, four brothers and wife of one of the brothers to appear before the tribunal in June. We have been here for at least three generations, says the legislator. We also own ancestral land in Doodhpatil part 5 village. Nath says the family has all the documents and legal papers to establish they are Indian citizens. My name was there in the National Register of Citizens draft, which was published on January 1, says Nath, explaining how the familys names appearing in the NRC (meaning they are genuine citizens) could have been possible only if the authorities were satisfied with their documents. For the BJP MLA who won the 2016 assembly polls by just 42 votes, this incident is an eye-opener of sorts. Every other day I would have people coming to me with complaints on how they are getting notices from the tribunals to come and prove they are Indians, he says. Imagine the difficulty a poor person with no means must have had to go through when he gets such a notice, he says. If the Foreigners Tribunal declares Nath a foreigner, he could be apprehended by the local police and even end up in a detention camp. In Assam, according to some estimates, there are over 90,000 declared foreigners, out of which around 1,000 are housed in the six makeshift detention camps set up in the district jails. There have also been reports of local authorities marking people as suspected foreigners without proper verification and subjecting them to harassment. In 2017, the tribunal in Barpeta had asked Mahiruddin Ahmed, a retired Indian Army havildar to come and prove his is not a foreigner. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress combine expressed confidence a day ahead of the Supreme Court-ordered floor test to judge whether Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa of the BJP indeed has the majority he claimed in a letter to the governor. Reports of missing legislators, allegations of central investigative agencies being used, claims of poaching attempts, and rumours of enticing allurements on offer dominated the day in Bengaluru as the drama surrounding the hung verdict to the Karnataka elections continued for the fourth day. The Congress released an audio recording in the evening, claiming mining baron and a former BJP minister Janardhana Reddy could be heard offering money and a ministry to its Raichur Rural MLA Basangouda Daddal. The Congress said this is an example of the brazen manner in which the BJP is trying to lure MLAs to its side to win a majority on the floor of the assembly. Union Minister for HRD Prakash Javadekar, at the forefront of the BJPs efforts to form a government in the state, rubbished the allegation, and said the audio was a fake and a product of Congresss dirty tricks department. He added that the voice on the recording needs to be forensically examined. Adding that the BJP did not need to do such things to win the motion of confidence, he expressed confidence that the Yeddyurappa government would prove its majority on the floor of the house. Earlier in the morning, the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, the Congresss Ghulam Nabi Azad alleged that the partys Vijaynagar constituency MLA-elect Anand Singh was being held captive by the Narendra Modi government. Former CM Siddaramaiah claimed that Anand Singh had been abducted and the Enforcement Directorate was being used against him. The Congress Partys MLA-elect from Maski Pratapagouda Patil is also said to be missing. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara claimed that Patil had signed the letter in support of JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy. Subsequently, though, it is believed that Patil slipped away before all Congress legislators were herded into a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru first and then taken to Hyderabad from where they are expected to return for Saturdays vote. In a day filled with minute-by-minute turn of events, reports emerged that the JD(S) had convinced a BJP MLA, Preetham Gowda ,who has been elected from Hassan constituency, to support Kumaraswamy. The JD(S) won six of the seven assembly seats in Hassan with Preetham being the exception. The Hassan Lok Sabha seat is represented by JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and the district is considered a stronghold of the party. The BJP spokesperson S Prakash denied that Preetham had switched sides: All our 104 MLAs are intact. If anything, we will see more legislators support us on the floor of the house. Preetham is also related to our senior leader C T Ravi. Why would he switch? There was also some confusion over the current stand of the independents. The two independent MLAs R Shankar from Ranibennur and H Nagesh from Mulbagal who were said to be with Congress-JD(S) alliance were said to have left Hyderabad on their own late on Friday evening. HT couldnt independently establish their whereabouts. Senior political analyst S Mahadev Prakash said this current environment of poaching and counter-poaching marked a new low in Karnataka politics. There is no clarity on who is with whom. All are claims being made by the respective parties. Till the vote on motion of confidence does take place, we will not know who stands on which side. The Congress also criticised governor Vaijubhai Valas decision to make KG Bopaiah the pro-tem speaker. Bopaiah shot into the limelight when he controversially disqualified 10 BJP MLAs rebelling against their own chief minister BS Yeddyurappa in 2010. His act was subsequently criticised by the Supreme Court, which said the speaker had acted hastily in an attempt to ensure the continuance of Yeddyurappas government. Four civilians and a constable of the Border Security Force (BSF) were killed after Pakistan Rangers targeted Indian forward posts along the International Border (IB) in Jammus RS Pura sector and Arnia subsector on Thursday night. Unprovoked firing and attempts to infiltrate the border have increased in the last few days, and the latest incident comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis scheduled visit to a farm university in RS Pura on Saturday. The constable, identified as 27-year-old Sita Ram Upadhyay of the 192 battalion, was hit in heavy firing at Jabowal around 1:30 am. He was shifted to GMC Jammu, where he was declared brought dead at 3:20 am. Hailing from Paaliganj in Jharkhands Giridh district, Upadhyay is survived by a three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter. A couple, Tarsem Lal and his wife Manjeet Kour, were killed in the shelling when a mortar exploded in their house in Chandu Chak village in RS Pura sector. Two more civilians, who were grievously injured in Pakistans shelling of Trewa village in Arnia sub-sector, were declared dead at a government medical college and hospital in Jammu while another were injured. One of the deceased has been identified as Satpaul, while the identity of the other is being ascertained. Their bodies have been shifted to the hospital mortuary, said a police officer on duty at the GMC police post, requesting anonymity. Firing in Heeranagar area was on during the intervening night of May 16 and 17 in which one BSF trooper was injured. Yesterday, during the daytime, it stopped but Pakistan resumed firing last night in Arnia sector which claimed the life of a jawan early today, a senior BSF officer said on Friday on condition of anonymity. The officer added that in RS Pura sector of the IB in Jammu, unprovoked shelling of mortars and heavy fire from the Pakistani side started at about 4 am which was being suitably countered by the BSF units. The firing in RS Pura sector is intermittent, he said. Big explosions of mortars could be heard in Jammu city through the night. Earlier this week, a BSF jawan was killed along the Jammu border area while thwarting an infiltration bid People of Arnia, the biggest town along the IB in the state with a population of over 20,000, have been asked to stay indoors. Schools within a five kilometre radius of the border have also been closed as a preventive measure. Meanwhile, Indian high commissioner Ajay Bisaria was summoned to the foreign office in Islamabad, where the acting foreign secretary condemned what was described as unprovoked ceasefire violations along the Line of Control(LoC) and the IB hat killed four civilians and injured 10 more. A statement from the Foreign Office contended that Indian troops continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons. It added that the ceasefire violations are a threat to regional peace and may lead to a strategic miscalculation. The statement said there were more than 1,050 ceasefire violations along the LoC and international border this year that resulted in the death of 28 civilians and injuries to 117 others. Pakistan asked the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement and to investigate all violations. (With inputs from Rezaul H Laskar in New Delhi and PTI) The Congress on Friday asked the governors of Goa and Manipur to allow it to form governments in the two states, citing the example of Karnataka where BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa was invited to take over as chief minister because he heads the largest party in the assembly after elections. In Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal met the governor and staked claim to govern the state. Congress legislative party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar gave Goa Governor Mridula Sinha a letter seeking an invitation to the party to prove its majority in the House. Sixteen Congress legislators met the governor--one party lawmaker is travelling abroad and another is hospitalised. We requested the governor to follow the precedent of Karnataka and undo the mistake she had committed on March 12, 2017 when she invited the minority party (BJP) to form the government, Kavlekar was quoted by PTI as saying. We have given a time of seven days to revert to us on our request. We have all the required numbers with us to form the government in the state. We can prove our numbers on the floor of the House. The magic figure of 21 is there with Congress... even without poaching into BJP camp, said Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Girish Chodankar. The Congress won 17 seats in the 40-member Goa assembly and emerged as the largest party in Goa elections in March 2017, falling short of the majority figure by four seats. The BJP, which got 14 seats, formed the government in alliance with the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which had won three seats each. Three Independent MLAs supported the BJP too. The Congress now has 16 members in the Goa Assembly as one of its legislators, Vishwajeet Rane, joined the BJP last year. Rane later won the Valpoi Assembly by-election as a BJP candidate. A Congress delegation met Manipurs acting governor Jagdish Mukhi and staked claim to form government in state. In March 2017, a BJP-led coalition was to form Manipurs government and not the Congress, which was the single-largest party. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and Congress leaders met Governor Satyapal Malik in Patna to stake claim to govern the state. The RJD fought the elections in alliance with Janata Dal (United) or JD (U) and the Congress, emerging as the single largest party. In July 2017, JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar broke the alliance and tied up with the BJP to continue as chief minister. (With PTI inputs) The Naga Peoples Front (NPF) on Friday asked Nagaland Governor PB Acharya to invite Leader of the Opposition and former chief minister TR Zeliang to form the government in the state. In Karnataka, BJP without having the magic figure is being allowed to form the government in the name of single largest party whereas in Nagaland, NPF Party led by TR Zeliang was not allowed to do the same despite being the single largest political party, a statement from Zeliangs office said. The party had 26 MLAs in the 60-member house when governor Acharya invited the Progressive Democratic Alliance of the BJP and the NDPP to form the government. The two alliance partners won 30 seats, one short of majority. The NPF, a former ally of the BJP in Nagaland, interestingly, is also part of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA). Why wasnt the NPF sworn in and given 15 days time to prove its majority on the floor of the House? Zeliang asked. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Manipur, a delegation led by former chief minister and leader of the Congress legislature party Okram Ibobi Singh met governor Jagdish Mukhi on Friday and submitted a memorandum demanded that the BJP-led government be dismissed. If I am invited to form the government I can assure you that we will provide a stable government and will prove the majority on the floor of the House within 15 days, Singh wrote in the memorandum. The former chief minister of Manipur said he told Mukhi, who recently took oath as Manipur governor, that like Karnataka, Manipur is also in India. Why should the governor apply different principle here, he asked. In the 2016 elections, Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats. We thought the governor would do justice and invite us. But she, under pressure from the diktat of Amit Shah invited BJP, Singh said. Similarly, in Meghalaya the Congress organised a protest in capital Shillong and submitted a memorandum to the President through the governor. The Congress, which recently went to polls along with Nagaland, had emerged as the single largest party with 21 seats. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala is attempting to permit the BJP to convert minority into majority by horse trading, the three-page memorandum alleged. State unit of the Congress party organised protests in Agartala and Guwahati, too, under the AICC call of Save democracy day. If we allow the Karnataka like situation to continue, there will soon be an authoritarian dictatorship under Narendra Modi. We have to save the Constitution, said Assam state Congress president Ripun Bora, as he attended the protest with around 100 other members of the party at Dighali Pukhri, a lake in the heart of Guwahati. Responding to Boras allegations, BJP spokesperson and media in-charge of Assam Rupam Goswami said the Congress has nothing against the NDA government and that is why it was resorting to such allegations. We all know who killed democracy during the Emergency. Congress government have imposed presidents rule more than 70 times, he said. (With inputs from Priyanka Deb Barman in Agartala and David Laitphlang in Shillong) Former diplomat Madhuri Gupta, who had served at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, on Friday convicted by a Delhi court for passing on sensitive information to Pakistans ISI and compromising national interest. Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma held the former diplomat guilty under various provisions of the Official Secrets (OS) Act for the offences of spying and wrongful communication of information protected under the law. The court would hear arguments on the quantum of sentence to be handed down to Gupta tomorrow. The court noted that the e-mails passed on by the accused were categorically sensitive information which could have been useful to the enemy country which were strategically very important for the foreign policy of the country and its secrecy was of utmost important. Gupta, who was the Second Secretary (Press & Information) at the Indian High Commission, was convicted under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act which attract a maximum sentence of three years and fine or both. She was arrested on April 22, 2010, by the special cell of the Delhi Police for allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistani officials and remaining in touch with two ISI officials, Mubshar Raza Rana and Jamshed. While convicting Gupta, the court observed that in one of the e-mails, she had promised to collect information regarding Hydro Electric Power Projects in Jammu and Kashmir which could have had a serious repercussion on the security of the country. It is seen that accused was unable to give such information but her intention of passing on such information and her going to Jammu after giving false excuse of attending marrige points out her intention of helping the enemy country. She had been giving information regarding various postings of officers of defence, MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and HCI (High Commission of India) as well as their family particulars, which could have caused danger to the life and security to said officers and their family, the court noted. It also noted that various electronic gadgets, including laptops and Blackberry mobile phones which has been purchased in her name, contained e-mails sent to various ISI handlers. The court convicted Gupta for the offence under second part of sections 3(1)(c) (obtaining, publishing or communicating to any person any secret official information which is useful to an enemy) and 3 (wrongful communication of information) of OS Act and section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code. These offences contain a maximum punishment of three years of imprisonment. The court, however, absolved her from the first part of Section 3(1)(c) of OS Act that attracts a maximum punishment of 14 years, holding that none of the information divulged by her pertained to any work of defence or to the naval, military or air force or affairs of the government. According to the prosecution, Ministry of External Affairs had received information that the accused had been maintaining unauthorised contacts with Pakistani intelligence officials and passing on sensitive official information personally as well as through electronic means from her computer at her office and residence. Gupta had denied the incriminating evidence against her and had stated that she was innocent and falsely implicated in this case by the officials of the high commission and the External Affairs Ministry, with whom she had strained or frosty relations, in connivance with the police officials of Delhi. Two suspected militants on Friday looted around Rs 3,28,000 from a branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, the biggest in the state, in south Kashmirs Kulgam district, police said. Officials said the militants barged into J&K Banks branch in Khudwani area of Kulgam in the afternoon. The two militants overpowered the guard of the bank, showed him a gun and then took away the money, Kulgams superintendent of police Harmeet Singh said. The security forces immediately cordoned the area to trace the robbers. Last year, there were a series of bank robberies in Kashmir and a majority of them targeted J&K Bank. The bank stopped cash transactions for some time in at least 40 branches in south Kashmir after the robberies. Police blamed militants of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba for the incidents, saying they were cash-starved. The surge in robberies was reported after the Centre announced the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8, 2016. However, the militants had vehemently denied the allegations. On Wednesday, an apprehensive Congress started drafting its petition against the Karnataka governor in the afternoon, long before Vajubhai Vala invited Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government. As the drama heightened in Karnataka and news came that there was little chance the governor would call Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy to form the government, top leaders of the Congress sprang into action to give the final shape to the next step: a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. Former finance minister P Chidambaram, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhis political secretary Ahmed Patel, the partys legal brain Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha and Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala got into a huddle at the Congress office. There, it was decided to file the petition in the following few hours. It was our natural outpouring of grievance against what was happening in the southern state. There was a clear arithmetic impossibility in the BJPs claims, yet politics had taken precedence. We felt that if the petition was filed immediately, the SC would take a different view. Our promptness would show our assertion to uphold what the apex court had said in the Goa case, said Singhvi. In that case, last year, the Supreme Court said, When no political party is in majority, then it is the bounden duty of the Governor to see who can form the government. If nothing happens, then the Governor is duty-bound to call the leader of the single largest party but if someone goes to the Governor with a list of supporters, then it is a different issue altogether. Congress leaders kept party president Rahul Gandhi informed throughout this period through messages and phone calls. Dubbing the governors invitation to the BJP to form the government immoral, illegal and unconstitutional, the Congress moved the Supreme Court late on Wednesday night, citing both constitutional and judicial precedents. The BJP defended the governors decision. It too, cited another set of constitutional conventions and court judgments. The petitioners, former Congress state president G Parmeshwara and Janata Dal (Secular) leader Kumaraswamy, sought an urgent midnight hearing from the top court. After their quick meeting, the Congress leaders, except Patel and Singhvi, went on to hold a press conference. Singhvi, who was chosen by the party to appear in this case, went back home but not before asking his associates to seek a hearing. At 9.30 pm, the party received a copy of the invitation extended to Yedduyrappa and then, without wasting any time, the associates filed the petition with the registrar of the court. The Congress legal brains also felt that the court would hear the case in the night itself but could summon the petitioners at a very short notice. They decided that they would assemble somewhere hear the court. So, they all gathered at the coffee shop at the Taj Mahal hotel on Mansingh Road. The hearing started in the Supreme Court at 2:10am. Is there conspiracy in the air in Bengaluru? The Janata Dal (Secular) or JD (S) believes there is after Karnatakas governor denied the partys bid to form a government in the state and invited Bharatiya Janata Party leader BS Yeddyurappa. A party leader told news agency PTI late Thursday chartered flights scheduled to carry JD (S) and Congress legislators from Bengaluru to Kochi in Kerala was denied permission by the countrys aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, at the last minute. The politician was asked if the Congress and JD(S) MLAs planned to travel together. Plan was there....you know what all kinds of things, they are doing, said the politician. We are just working out, all flights have been denied permission...flights that were confirmed, last minute there is a problem, the unnamed JD(S) leader was quoted by PTI as saying. A civil aviation ministry official denied the allegation and said permission was not required for charter operations within India. Fearing the BJP will poach their legislators, the Congress and the JD(S) had decided to fly them to a resort in Kochi but that plan was dropped. BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa was on Thursday sworn-in as chief minister of Karnataka and given 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House. The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD(S) was victorious in 37 constituencies. Polling was held in 222 of the states 224 seats, for which results were declared on May 15, delivering up a hung House. The Karnataka legislative assembly will convene for a special session at 11 am on Saturday for a floor test that will decide the fate of the BJP government led by BS Yeddyurappa after the Supreme Court on Friday gave him 24 hours to prove his majority. Both Yeddyurappa and leader of the Congress legislature party Siddaramaiah said they were confident of their numbers on Saturday even as the appointment of BJP leader KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker sparked a fresh row that is headed to the Supreme Court again for a resolution. The Congress and Janata Dal Secular , who had moved their legislators to Hyderabad, raised allegations that the BJP was offering inducements to change sides. Here are the highlights: 11.49pm: Over 115 MLAs of the Congress and JD(S), along with their leaders, left in five luxury buses, accompanied by a large number of vehicles of Congress leaders of Telangana, IANS reports. Amid tight security, the long convoy left the two hotels after 10.30 pm. Meanwhile, ANI reports that some MLAs are taking a flight from Hyderabad to Bengaluru with Kumaraswamy. #WATCH HD Kumaraswamy along with other JD(S) MLAs on board a Hyderabad-Bengaluru flight ahead of floor test in Karnataka assembly tommorrow #KarnatakaElection2018 pic.twitter.com/44Fkc9OYne ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018 11.27pm: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee has filed a complaint and demanded action against BJPs Janardhan Reddy for offering hundreds of crore rupees and a minister portfolio to Raichur rural MLA Basvanagowda Daddal through telephone, reports ANI. 10.58pm: Congress MLAs leave for Bengaluru from Hyderabads Taj Krishna hotel. 10.50pm: Yeddyurappa, along with BJP MLAs, leaves Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru after meeting of legislature party. 10.31pm: Chief Justice Dipak Misra has listed the Congress plea before the three-judge bench, headed by Justice AK Sikri and also comprised of Justices SA Bobde and Ashok Bhusha. 10.02pm: Supreme Court to hear Congress plea regarding the appointment of KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker tomorrow at 10:30am. 9.58pm: BJP legislator Preetham Gowda says, I am in touch with the JD(S) MLAs so that they support BS Yeddyurappa ji tomorrow. Nobody can even dare to ask me to help them and nobody has dared to ask me as yet. Party is like my mother. 9.41pm: JD(S) MLAs leave for Bengaluru from Hyderabads Novotel Hotel. 9.23pm: JD(S) and Congress have jointly given a list of 118 MLAs to the governor. Weve sufficient strength to form government in Karnataka. This morning Supreme Court has given judgement on the governors decision. For the past two days, BJP is trying to buy the MLAs of the opposition, says Kumaraswamy. 9.17pm: HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) says, Two MLAs have been hijacked by our BJP friends. But I am certain that they will come back to us. 9.04pm: Congress-JD(S) writ petition challenging the appointment of MLA KG Bopaiah as pro-tem Speaker has been filed in Supreme Court. The petition claims that the appointment of pro-tem speaker was completely unconstitutional, says Dev Dutt Kamat, lawyer for the Congress. 8.55pm: In Bengaluru, Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot alleges that the Raj Bhavan shut its doors and was not accepting the partys complaint against Bopaiahs appointment, reports PTI. Raj Bhavan has succumbed to pressure from the BJP and the Centre as it is not ready to accept our letter of protest, he said, adding, We have the mandate as all our MLAs are together and BJP will not be able to prove its majority. 8.45pm: Siddaramaiah was unanimously elected as leader of the Congress legislature party at a meeting of the CLP in Hyderabad as per the directions of party president Rahul Gandhi, says Karnataka Congress. 8.31pm: Ghulam Nabi Azad says, MLAs are with us. Whatever misuse they (BJP) had to do they have done. Supreme Court has also given them a good scolding, not verbally but in terms of action. It is a different matter that the people of BJP have a thick skin. 8.20pm: The Congress-JD(S) combine has approached the Supreme Court challenging the governors decision to appoint KG Bopaiah as the pro tem Speaker, reports PTI. According to the news agencys sources, the petition was placed before a registrar of the apex court but some defects were pointed out in the plea. Some defects have been pointed out to us and we are curing those defects, one of lawyers, associated with the development, said. Lawyers representing Congress at the Registrar Office of Supreme Court, seeking an urgent hearing on the appointment of KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker of Karnataka assembly. (ANI/Twitter) 7.59pm: BJP responds to Congress bribery allegations. This audio CD is one of the handiworks of Congress dirty tricks department. This is a fake CD, says Prakash Javadekar. 7.55pm: HD Kumaraswamy reached Hyderabad and drove to Novotel to meet his party MLAs, reports IANS. The JD(S) leader held a meeting with party leaders and discussed the strategy for the floor test on Saturday. He later drove to Taj Krishna for a meeting with Congress leaders and MLAs. 7.51pm: Of course they are with us, if the MLAs from Congress & JD(S) dont support us, how can we prove majority? We will win the floor test 101%, says Yeddyurappa. 7.45pm: Yeddyurappa says, We are in Shangri-La hotel for the legislature meeting. We have the majority. More than what we expected. Our workers are really happy. 7.43pm: JD(S) Saravana says Devanand Chavan, MLA from Nagathan, is still with them. BJP leaders are misleading about him that he is supporting BJP, he says. 7.14pm: Congress MLAs leave from Hotel Taj Krishna in Hyderabad, reports ANI. They will be travelling to Bengaluru for the floor test in the assembly tomorrow. Congress MLAs leaving Hotel Taj Krishna in Hyderabad. (ANI/Twitter) 6.56pm: Congress releases audio clip of BJPs Janardhana Reddy allegedly speaking to its MLA from Raichur Rural and making offers of money and a ministry post. Congress released an Audio clip where BJP leader Janaradhana Reddy is trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering money and posts. Janaradhana Reddy clearly says he has the backing of BJP President Amit Shah for doing horse trading! pic.twitter.com/oVEC88DgV2 Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 18, 2018 6.50pm: DMK has welcomed the Supreme Court directive to hold a floor test and demanded the removal of Governor Vajubhai Vala for his mistake in inviting the BJP to form government, reports PTI. Vala should immediately resign or Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi or President (Ram Nath Kovind) should remove him from the post, DMK working president M K Stalin told reporters in Chennai. 6.26pm: Siddaramaiah has held a crucial meeting with Congress MLAs in Hyderabad to discuss the strategy to be adopted in the state assembly on Saturday when the BJP seeks a trust vote, reports PTI. The senior leader drove to hotel Taj Krishna and began consultations with the party leaders. He is giving directions to the MLAs to ensure coordination to defeat the trust vote, PTI reports quoting Congress sources. The meeting was attended by all 76 MLAs of the party. 6.23pm: BJP MLAs to meet at 9 pm today at Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru. 6.18pm: Congress alleges BJP has abducted and kept in wrongful confinement Karnataka Congress MLA Anand Singh by using the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department against him, reports PTI. (BJP president) Amit Shah did the same kind of manipulation in all the states. They dont know the Constitution and the law. They dont know anything other than false propaganda, Siddaramaiah told reporters after participating in a demonstration by Congress against the Karnataka governor. 6.10pm: JD(S) MLC Basavaraj tells PTI, We are trying for flight tickets. If we get, we will fly. But getting tickets for flight appears to be difficult. 6.03pm: UP Congress leaders, led by Raj Babbar, meet Governor Ram Naik to hand over a memorandum, protesting against Karnataka governor inviting BJP to form the government in the state. 5.54pm: All the MLAs are here, we will be leaving for Bengaluru. We dont have any meeting here. Siddaramaiah has come here, we will be leaving soon. We have 77 MLAs here. No pressure on us. It will be our government, says Rajshekar Patil, Congress MLA in Hyderbad. 5.44pm: As per the orders of the SC, tomorrow the members will take oath and there shall be a vote of confidence conducted by the pro-tem Speaker. The governor has no authority to use his discretion in appointing the pro-tem Speaker, says Surjewala. Bopaiah has violated Constitutional norms and was issued orders by the Supreme Curt in 2011 and indictment was passed against him for his conduct as speaker, he says. 5.42pm: At the press conference, Surjewala says, We will be able to inform you in a short while. Yes, the option of going back to Court is open. 5.37pm: Congress is likely to challenge Bopaiahs appointment in court ahead of tomorrows vote of confidence, according to party sources, reports PTI. 5.29pm: KG Bopaiah has a tainted history, says Randeep Surjewala. Bopaiahs appointment as pro-tem Speaker violates constitutional traditions and parliamentary practice. Surjewala said that Modi, Shah and Vala cannot trample on the Constitution to favour Yeddy Reddy gang. 5.27pm: At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala says, The governor, Vajubhai Vala, has once again launched an encounter on the Constitution by appointing KG Bopaiah as pro tem Speaker instead of the senior most MLA. 5.13pm: Siddaramiah arrives at Hotel Taj Krishna in Hyderabad to meet the Congress MLAs. 5.07pm: Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are fossils of Hitler in this country. They dont have respect for constitution or democracy,Siddaramaiah said earlier today, quotes PTI. It is a murder of democracy. It is a clear violation of Constitution, he said, on BJP being given 15 days by the governor to prove majority. 4.53pm: Siddaramaiah arrives in Hyderabad. He will be meeting Congress MLAs staying in Taj Krishna hotel, reports ANI. 4.45pm: BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje says, There is nothing illegal about BK Bopaiahs appointment. Congress is trying to delay proceedings. 4.40pm: Governor Vala issues official notification summoning the Karnataka legislative assembly to meet in Bengaluru on Saturday, May 19, at 11am. Read: Rules, auspicious time set for Yeddyurappa govts floor test 4.35pm: Governors decision to invite S Yeddyurappa to form government shows that he is acting under the Modi-led central governments pressure, Congress leader Ashok Chavan said. Politics is taking place from the Raj Bhavan, he said while addressing a save democracy day protest near the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in Mumbai. The role of a governor should be neutral and unbiased but unfortunately, this is not the case in Karnataka, he said. 4.22pm: Prakash Javadekar says, KG Bopaiah was appointed as pro-tem speaker even in 2008 by the then governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than he is today. Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah ji is as per rules and regulations. 3:33pm: What the BJP has done is against the rule book. Ideally, the senior most leader is supposed to hold that position: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress on BJP MLA KG Bopaiah being appointed as pro-tem speaker Karnataka. 3:47pm: Karnataka Governor appoints BJP MLA KG Bopaiah as pro-tem Speaker ahead of floor test tomorrow, reports ANI. 3:44pm: BJP MLAs arrive at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru to meet the Governor, reports ANI. 3:43pm: Pro-tem Speaker by convention always means the senior most MLA, irrespective of party. What BJP has done is not right, says Singhvi on BJP naming KG Bopaiah. 3:43pm: BJP needs to start worrying about how it will fill the gap from 104 to 112, says Singhvi. 3:41pm: Absurd that impeachment issue is being linked with this issue, says Singhvi. 3:38pm: The true face of the BJP is to create a government by hook or by crook, more by crook, says Singhvi. 3:35pm: Congress addresses a press conference. Party leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Sighvi says BJP wanted vote of confidence done via secret ballot, ANI reports. 3:26pm: Former Speaker and BJP leader KG Bopaiah named pro-tem Speaker. 3:20pm: JD(S) spokesperson Ramesh Babu says party state president HD Kumaraswamy is back in Bengaluru, but 36 of their MLAs are in Hyderabad to prevent the BJP from poaching them. Kumarawamy, who contested and won from both Channapatna and Ramanagara, accounts for two assembly seats. 3:13pm: Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah says there are no break in ranks and that all party MLAs and the JD(S) will stick together. We (Congress and JD-S)have an understanding. Despite this being reality, despite they (BJP) not asking for 15 days, the Governor has given them 15 days to prove majority. What inference could one draw?... Governor has followed Narendra Modi and Amit Shahs instructions. If he had followed constitution, he would not have taken such decision, he said, PTI reported. 3:08pm: Karnataka assembly session to start at 11am on Saturday. BS Yeddyurappa has been advised by astrologers that this is an auspicious time for such a session. The pro-tem Speaker will be elected first, and MLAs will be sworn in. 3pm: BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra says Congress feared a repeat of Goa in Karnataka. Fearing another Goa, Congress had drafted an SC plea for the largest party to be invited first. It seems they knew that Congress will be the single largest party and they had this doubt that BJP and JD(S) will come together to form the government, says. 2:55pm: BJP calls all newly elected Karnataka MLAs for a meeting at its party office this evening, ahead of tomorrows floor test in the Assembly. Read: Congress and RJD meet governors, want Karnataka model in Goa, Manipur and Bihar 2:30pm: Civil aviation ministry says it has sought a detailed report into JD(S) allegations of flight permits being denied for chartered planes. It adds that permission is not required for chartered flights operating within India. 2:27pm: Congress delegation in Manipur also stakes claim to form government in the state, spokesperson for partys state unit Kh Jaikishan Singh says. Nine leaders of Congress Legislature Party (CLP), led by the Opposition Leader in Manipur Assembly and former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, met Acting Governor Jagdish Mukhi at Raj Bhavan around noon, Singh says. 2:15pm: Amid the ongoing tussle in Karnataka, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav meets Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik and stakes claim to form the government being the leader of the single largest party in the state Assembly. The party has been protesting against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Valas move to invite BJPs BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in that state despite falling short by eight seats to get a simple majority in the 224-member assembly. 1:42pm: Union minister Prakash Javdekar says the BJP is confident of a positive outcome on Saturday. BJP is ready and confident of winning the trust vote In Karnataka. We will prove our majority on the floor of the House, Javdekar says on Twitter. 1:38pm: Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress in the Supreme Court, says, This is a historic interim order because the court has directed confidence motion within less than 36 hours. 1:36pm: Congress delegation meets Manipur acting governor Jagdish Mukhi, stakes claim to form government in state. Let us wait till 4 pm tomorrow. What is the outcome on the floor of the Karnataka assembly. The Manipur Governor Jagdish Mukhi said that he will look into the matter. I hope he will do justice, says Okram Ibobi Singh, Congress and former CM of Manipur. 1:26pm: Thirteen Congress MLAs hand over memorandum to Goa Governor Mridula Sinha saying Congress is the single largest party in the state. 1:19pm: Yeddyurappa who has 104 MLAs including himself, in the letter requested for 7 days, he had no other name, yet Governor invited him. It was unconstitutional, Governor even gave him 15 days time, says Siddaramaiah. 12:42pm: Constitution wins, Democracy restored! BS Yeddyurappa does remain a 1 day CM - Constitution rejects an illegitimate CM as also the unconstitutional decision of Governor of Karnataka (sic), Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweets. 12:40pm: Congress seeks an appointment with President Ram Nath Kovind to appraise him of Karnataka Governor inviting the BJP to form government despite falling short of the majority, PTI reports quoting a party source. 12:30pm: Congress president Rahul Gandhi hails the Supreme Court order, says it vindicates the party. Todays Supreme Court order vindicates our stand that Governor Vala acted unconstitutionally. The BJPs bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money & muscle, to steal the mandate, Gandhi tweets. 12:28pm: Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa says the party will obey the Supreme Court order on floor test, reports PTI. We will prove majority tomorrow, he adds. 12:21pm: Will discuss with chief secretary. We are sending our file to Karnataka governor to call an assembly session at 11 am tomorrow. We are 100% confident that we will prove full majority, says Yeddyurappa on Supreme Courts order. 12:10pm: In Goa, 13 Congress MLAs reach Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Mridula Sinha. Coming on the heels of the Supreme Court decision for a floor test, the Congress aims to stake claim to form the government after it emerged as the single largest party in the 2017 election. 12:04pm: Congress lawyer Abhishek Manu Shinghvi informs press of Supreme Courts order, calling it a historic verdict. 11:53am: Karnataka BJP general secretary Shobha Karandlaje says party welcomes the Supreme Court order. We will prove majority on the floor of the House tomorrow, we are ready for floor test, says Karandlaje, who is also a close aide of Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa. 11:48am: Supreme Court verdict has upheld constitutional morality and democracy. Its a judgement that should be celebrated. Faith of people in wisdom of SC is vindicated once again. Its set back for a party that wanted to usurp power, says lawyer Ashwani Kumar, who represented the Congress in court. Read - Karnataka tussle: The new Congress is aggressive on statecraft, dismal on votecraft 11:44am: Supreme Court orders all newly-elected MLAs to take oath before the floor test at 4 pm. After administration of oath, pro-tem Speaker to be appointed. No secret ballot to be held for the floor test. The director general of police will personally ensure proper security for all legislators. CM Yeddyurappa to not take any decisions on policy. 11:40am: Supreme Court orders the floor test to be conducted according to rules of the House. 11:39am: Justice Sikri says court has to balance the equity. Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who filed a petition against Karnataka Governors decision to invite BJP to form the state government, says the Governor has not acted properly. 11:35pm: Supreme Court orders BS Yeddyurappa to take floor test in Karnataka Assembly on Saturday at 4pm. 11:32am: Order being dictated. 11:31am: Rohatgi asks for floor test on Monday, citing that Congress and JD(S) MLAs are outside the state. SC observes that the floor test could take place on Saturday afternoon. 11:29am: Mukul Rohatgi, lawyer representing the BJP, questions the need for an immediate floor test, and asks for reasonable time. Supreme Court says there are precedents to fix time limits. 11:28am: Congress-JD(S) asks that no Anglo-Indian community member be nominated as MLA before the floor test. SC asks Governor the same. 11:27am: Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal asks for appointment of an interim Speaker for the floor test. 11:23am: Additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who is representing the Karnataka government, says the Governor has not received a signed letter from the Congress-JD(S). 11:16am: In case of a floor test being conducted tomorrow, Singhvi seeks security for Congress-JD(S) MLAs. Supreme Court observes that it can pass an order to make proper security arrangements. 11:15am: Congress lawyer Singhvi demands a floor test be held in the Karnataka assembly tomorrow. 11:14am: Mukul Rohatgi claims BSY has majority. Does he have letters of support from them or it is mere ipse dixit of oral submissions? Singhvi counters. 11:11am: SC says it will either hear the matter and decide, or order for a floor test tomorrow itself. Singhvi argues how could the governor have called Yeddyurappa to form government. 11:09am: Justice Sikri says let there be a floor test and let the House decide. Question is who should enter the arena first. 11:08am: Singhvi says Yeddyurappa claimed to be single largest party even before Election Commission declared the election results. 11:07am: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Congress, says the SC must decide who should get the chance Cong-JDS alliance or BJP. 11:03am: Justice AK Sikri observes the floor test tomorrow in the Karnataka assembly is an alternative. We dont give time to anybody, he adds. 11am: Supreme Court says pre-poll alliance is different from a post-poll alliance. 10:58am: Not every MLA in Cong-JDS have signed the letter supporting the alliance, Rohatgi tells the court. 10:55am: Rohatgi tells the court that support will come from MLAs belonging to Congress-JDS. I dont want to say anything more at this stage, he adds. 10:54am: SC wonders on what basis a Governor decides who can provide stable government the single largest party or a written support of majority to Cong-JD(S). 10:53am: SC tells Rohatgi that on one hand he claims to be the single largest party with support, but at the same time the Cong-JD(S) have given support in writing to Governor. 10:52am: Rohatgi reads out May 15 letter saying in the absence of a pre-poll alliance, BJP can form government as a single largest party. May 16 letter is by Yeddyurappa, saying he has support of others and requisite majority. 10:51am: Counsel for BJP, Mukul Rohatgi hands over to the court letters from BS Yeddyurappa staking claim to form the Karnataka government. Rohatgi says Yeddyurappa has the necessary support and is ready to prove his majority on floor of House. 10:46am: Supreme Court hearing begins. 10:42am: BJPs Sadananda Gowda confident of party winning case. Certainly (BJP has the numbers), without that how can we form the govt? he tells ANI. Commenting on the MLAs being taken to Hyderabad, he says, It is their right no? They can take them anywhere, even to Pakistan. 10:28am: Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi is representing the BJP in Supreme Court. Well show CMs (Yeddyurappa) letter to court. It shows he has support and support will be shown in the house. There is no issue of horse-trading, it is the other way as MLAs have been taken to resorts, he says, adding the BJP has the numbers to prove majority. 10am: The BSE Sensex drifts lower by another 125 points in early trade today amid unabated foreign fund outflows and surging global crude oil prices. Investors are also keeping an eye on the political developments in Karnataka. 9:57am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wishes former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Deve Gowda on his birthday. Spoke to our former Prime Minister Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji and conveyed birthday wishes to him. I pray for his good health and long life, Modi tweets. The message comes amid the ongoing battle between the BJP and the Congress-JD(S) combine over formation of the new Karnataka government. 9:53am: The MLAs travelled in buses run by Sharma Travels, which is owned by a Congress sympathiser. 9:46am: JD(S) and Congress MLAs reach Hyderabad. Sources tell HT that the legislators will stay at hotel Park Hyatt. Congress Karnataka MP DK Suresh, says, They (MLAs) are coming here, we are arranging everything here. We are waiting for them, in another 2 hours they will come, JD(S) and Congress both. 8:10am: JD(S) minister in Kerala, MT Thomas, says he is going to Kurnool to meet the party lawmakers. Im definite they (partys Karnataka MLAs) arent coming by flight, so Im moving to Kurnool... I was expecting them yesterday but the Civil Aviation department didnt give permission for the charter flight, he says, according to ANI. 8:10am: JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy has said his party MLAs along with the Congress will stay united at same place in order to prevent horse-trading ahead of the trust vote in the assembly. 8am: Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, the junior home minister in the Narendra Modi government, says Congress president Rahul Gandhi insulted the country when he compared Karnataka political turmoil with Pakistan. 7:34am: Supreme Court bench scheduled to continue hearing Congress-JD(S) petition at 10:30am. Read: How Congress laid groundwork for midnight Supreme Court hearing against Karnataka governor 7:30am: MLAs of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) who were staying at Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru are expected to stay in Hyderabad. Late night reports said the legislators changed buses on the highway to head to the Telangana capital city. Newly-elected legislators of the Congress and Janata Dal(Secular) from Karnataka on Friday arrived in Hyderabad, reports said, to prevent alleged attempts by the BJP of horse-trading ahead of the trust vote in the assembly. The legislators arrived in the Telangana capital by road from Bengaluru, news agency PTI said quoting unnamed sources, after the JD(S) alleged on Thursday night chartered flights that were to fly them from Bengaluru to Keralas Kochi were denied permission by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the last minute. Kerala minister and JD(S) leader Mathew T Thomas on Friday repeated the allegation that the ministry of civil aviation did not give them the permission for the charter plane. I am definite Karnataka JD(S) MLAs are not coming by flight so I am moving to Kurnool. Not sure about destination if they come here, they are welcome. I was expecting them yesterday but civil aviation department did not give permission for a charter flight, Thomas said while speaking to news agency ANI. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad echoed Thomas statement, saying: MLAs who were staying at Bengaluru resort received threats. We wanted to take them to Kerala by air but permission was not granted. Ultimately they had to travel by road. Is this democracy? No one trusts Constitution anymore, people have faith only in judiciary. However, a civil aviation ministry official said that DGCA permission was not required for charter operations within India. The legislators are expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts. All the MLAs of Congress and JD(S) are coming here. We are all staying here, DK Suresh, Congress member of Parliament from Karnataka, said. The Congress and the JD(S) decided to fly their legislators from out of Karnataka fearing poaching by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its leader BS Yeddyurappa was given 15 days time to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly. Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had met JD(S) chief and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda at the latters residence before the Karnataka polls. Rao had appealed to Telugu people living in the neighbouring state to vote for the JD(S). Kerala tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran earlier invited Congress and JD(S) MLAs from Karnataka to their state to avoid horse-trading and poaching bid by the BJP. Neighbouring Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have also been mentioned as possible destinations. The Congress lent unconditional support to former prime minister HD Devegowdas son, HD Kumaraswamy, to form the government in the state where a hung assembly emerged with the BJP as the largest party with 104 seats. The Congress secured 78, the JD(S) 37 and others three. Polling was held in 222 of the states 224 seats, for which results were declared on May 15, delivering a hung assembly The Congress decision to move the Supreme Court on Wednesday night, challenging the Karnataka governors invitation to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the next state government, is part of the new aggression the party has displayed in recent weeks under its president Rahul Gandhi. But when it comes to striking a chord with voters, the Congress trails way behind its political rival. First, the aggression, although it didnt pay dividends in the Supreme Court, which declined to stay the swearing-in of the BJP government in Karnataka. The party has vociferously targeted the government for cancelling a 126-aircraft deal with Dassault Aviation of France that envisaged the local manufacturing of Rafale fighter planes and opting to buy 36 planes instead in a fly-away condition. It has raised allegations of corruption against senior BJP leaders and the suspected Rs 12,600-crore fraud at Punjab National Bank involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. The Congress has also raised the issues of an increase in attacks on Dalits and women and the alleged assault on institutions, including the Supreme Court and high courts, and a perceived attempt to fill these institutions with people who follow the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJPs own ideological fount. Even as several leaders cautioned against it, the Congress also initiated a move to remove Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, questioning the allocation of cases by him. Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu rejected the notice for Misras removal, prompting two Congress MPs to move the apex court. They later withdrew the petition. In Karnataka, the Congress was quick to move and ally with the Janata Dal (Secular) to get past the halfway mark after it failed to get enough numbers in the assembly polls. And when Governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday invited the BJP, which emerged as the largest party in the state assembly but without a simple majority, to form the government, it was quick to challenge the decision at an urgent hearing in the SC. Our decision to ally with JD(S) within hours of results coming in, and the decision to challenge the Governors invitation, show that Congress president Rahul Gandhi is politically and ideologically clear. He is willing to fight hard, a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity. But, for the Congress, the real worry remains electoral outcomes. The party has lost or performed badly in 20 states since 2014. It lost power alone or with allies in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (the Congress ruled united Andhra Pradesh for 10 years from 2004 till its bifurcation in 2014), Maharashtra, Haryana, J&K, Jharkhand, Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and now Karnataka. Among the states where the Congress fared badly are Odisha, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura. In Goa, the party could not form the government despite emerging as the single largest party. The Congress was able to form a government only in Punjab and Puducherry and improve its tally in Gujarat after nearly two decades. It is also in power in Mizoram, which goes to the polls later this year. The results of the last Lok Sabha polls showed that the Congress had failed to open its account in 13 states and could not cross the double-digit mark in any state. The annihilation in states has further shrunk its political space. The BJP points to precisely this gap. Anil Baluni, the partys media department head and Rajya Sabha MP, said, The Congress is getting active in court, but is disappearing among the people. The party is filled with textbook leaders, not mass leaders, who cant win elections. And in cases like Punjab, where they have won, it is not the party or its national leadership but a Captain Amarinder Singh who won. The immature and unsuccessful leadership will drive the party down further, Baluni added. Political analysts attribute the Congresss defeats to its failure to put in place state-specific strategies and its inability to reconnect with the masses. It has miserably failed in campaign strategy and vote-catching. It has also not been able to strategise differently for different states. The failure to communicate its achievements for example in Karnataka and absence of focused planning are the other reasons for its continued electoral debacles, said Delhi-based political analyst N Bhaskara Rao. But the situation is not new to the Congress; its leaders point to a similar turbulent phase in 1998 when the party ruled just four states Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Mizoram and Nagaland. That was the time when Sonia Gandhi took over its reins. Under her leadership, the Congress rose to govern 17 states either alone or in alliance in 2004. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will go to the polls in November-December this year and in all these states, the Congress is in a direct fight with the BJP. It is important for the grand old party to win some of these states for its comeback at the national level. A magisterial probe into the killing of a woman town planner, supervising a demolition drive on May 3 in Kasauli, has revealed major lapses on part of the police. Shimla divisional commissioner Shimla, who conducted a detailed inquiry into the killing of the assistant town planner Shail Bala Sharma, on Thursday submitted his report to additional chief secretary, home, BK Aggarwal. In the 130-page report, the divisional commissioner has indicted cops and the local administration officials for lapses that led to killing of Sharma, who was shot by a guest house owner, Vijay Singh. Vijay had also fired at a PWD staffer Gulab Singh, who was part of the drive being held to demolish unauthorised constructions of hotels at the tourist town of Kasauli . Gulab Singh succumbed to his injuries at the PGIMER in Chandigarh after 10 days. Vijay managed to flee the scene of crime as the cops on duty failed to act. Vijay was later arrested from Mathura in a joint operation conducted by Himachal Police and Delhi Police Crime Branch. More details of the report will be out once it is submitted to chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said an official of the home department, pleading anonymity. Thakur also holds the home portfolio. The CM had asked the divisional commissioner to conduct the probe after the killing of the assistant town planner. The commissioner was told to inquire into all relevant aspects related to the case. The CM also wanted fixing of the responsibility of the person responsible for the lapse. At a review meeting of the home department two days ago, the chief minister pulled up police department and termed the killing of a woman town planner in Kasauli as a blot on their functioning. Moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modis monthly radio address on Friday and asked him to allow Kashmiris to carry out a peaceful protest march during his visit on Saturday and listen to our Mann Ki Baat. Mirwaiz wanted the cessation of security operations, which the Centre announced for the holy month of Ramzan, to be made a permanent feature and be followed by demilitarisation before the final resolution of Kashmir issue. Mr Modi, all have been listening to your Mann ki baat for years now. As you come here tomorrow, allow us Kashmiris to peacefully gather at Lal Chowk so that you hear our Mann ki baat! Its just three words Resolve Kashmir Dispute. @narendramodi, he said in a tweet. The protest march was called by separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Yasin Malik, to register their demand for freedom for which we have been sacrificing our lives for the past 70 years. Authorities have been confining separatists to their homes or lodging them in jails whenever they call such protest rallies. Modi is scheduled to visit Kashmir on Saturday and inaugurate projects in the state. Addressing the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar earlier in the day, Mirwaiz said their call for protest march to Lal Chowk on Saturday and to the Eidgah graveyard on Monday was a test for both the central and the state government on their claims of being the worlds best democracy. Instead of addressing gatherings, the marchers would hold placards to convey their messages, he said, stressing that they should be allowed to hold the rallies. Modis visit comes two days after Centre asked security forces in Jammu and Kashmir not to launch operations during Ramzan to help Muslims observe the holy month peacefully. Mirwaiz said that if the government is sincere, they should make the Ramzan ceasefire permanent. Goodwill gestures or CBMs (confidence building measures) cannot be meant for a month alone, but have to be long term and meaningful. If the government of India really means business, it must look at real CBMs like demilitarisation and repealing the draconian AFSPA, PSA, and DAA, he said. These measures must be followed by the start of a process wherein all the three parties to the dispute India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir come together to hammer out a solution acceptable to all in keeping with the will and aspirations of the key party the people of J&K, he said. On Thursday, the separatists had termed the Centres ceasefire announcement a cruel joke. Indian authorities (should) shun arrogance and accept Kashmir as a dispute. Declaration of one months truce and sticking to a loud denial to solve the Kashmir dispute is a mere hypocrisy. It is highly illogical and unfortunate to offer relaxations in killings for one month and then restart it with impunity, they had said in a joint statement. Accusing the BJP of poaching on opposition MLAs to prove its majority in tomorrows floor test, the Congress on Friday released a purported audio conversation between mining baron Janardhana Reddy and a Congress MLA to back its claim. (Live Updates) In the audio, a man suspected to be Reddy is heard allegedly offering Chitradurga Rural Congress legislator Basanagouda Daddal a ministerial berth with 100 times growth. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, however, said the audio was utter falsehood. We condemn the activity of the congress dirty tricks department, he said. Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson V S Ugrappa, who released the audio tape, said Daddal was also offered Rs 150 crore, which, however, was missing in the audio clip. In the conversation, the man is heard telling Daddal that a fortune awaits him where he can become a minister and build wealth 100 times more than what he has now. Forget the unpleasant past we had. Now my good time has started. Our senior.. national president will talk to you. Whatever you want like position and other things, you can talk to him one-to-one (directly), he says. The man also concedes that Daddal had lost his wealth by relying on him when he (Reddy) had launched the BSR Congress, a breakaway group of BJP in 2011. Apparently trying to convince Daddal, the man reportedly says During BSR time when we had bad time, we formed the party in an adverse situation. There is no denying the fact that you all lost your property by relying on me. I want to tell you that you will grow 100 times (more than what you are now). Shivanagouda became minister by trusting mywords. Has he not made money and became strong enough to remain MLA till death. Didnt he grow because of me? However, the Chitradurga (rural) MLA is heard turning down the offer saying the Congress had helped him and campaigned for him during the election. After releasing the audio clip, Ugrappa alleged that the BJP tried to poach Maski MLA Pratap Gowda Patil. Ugrappa also claimed that he has got the audio clip of conversations of BJPs national leaders too, which will be released at an appropriate time. He warned the BJP leaders not to resort to ulterior ways of grabbing power. Else, the nation will not pardon them,Ugrappa added. Lashing out at the congress, Javadekar said after repeated electoral defeats, the congress dirty tricks department is working at full speed. India is among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater, according to a first-of-its-kind study using an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth. Scientists led by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in the US used data on human activities to map locations where freshwater is changing around the globe and why. The study, published in the journal Nature, found that Earths wet land areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water management, climate change and natural cycles. Areas in northern and eastern India, the Middle East, California and Australia are among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater that is already causing problems, The Guardian reported. In northern India, groundwater extraction for irrigation of crops such as wheat and rice have caused a rapid decline in available water, despite rainfall being normal throughout the period studied, the report said. The fact that extractions already exceed recharge during normal precipitation does not bode well for the availability of groundwater during future droughts, researchers said. The team used 14 years of observations from the US/German-led Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft mission to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions around the world. This is the first time that we have used observations from multiple satellites in a thorough assessment of how freshwater availability is changing everywhere on Earth, said Matt Rodell of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. On land, freshwater is one of the most essential of Earths resources, for drinking water and agriculture. While some regions water supplies are relatively stable, others experienced increases or decreases. What we are witnessing is major hydrologic change, said Jay Famiglietti of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). We see a distinctive pattern of the wet land areas of the world getting wetter - those are the high latitudes and the tropics - and the dry areas in between getting dryer. Embedded within the dry areas we see multiple hotspots resulting from groundwater depletion, said Famiglietti. He noted that while water loss in some regions, like the melting ice sheets and alpine glaciers, is clearly driven by warming climate, it will require more time and data to determine the driving forces behind other patterns of freshwater change. Pakistan on Friday summoned Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria over unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the Line of Control. The Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad said in a statement that the acting foreign secretary summoned the Indian envoy and condemned the firing incidents on Friday in Pukhlian, Cahprar, Harpal, Charwah and Shakargarh sectors. Pakistan informed the Indian envoy that the unprovoked ceasefire violations had killed four members of a family in village Khanoor while 10 other people were injured. The FO claimed the firing by the Indian side was still going on. Indian officials said four civilians and a BSF jawan were killed while 12 others were injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled villages and border outposts (BoPs) in Jammu early today. This is the third day of shelling and firing by Pakistani troops along the international border (IB) in Jammu frontier and comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow. Pakistan Rangers shelled areas in RS Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors of Jammu by resorting to heavy mortar shelling and firing since 1 am in RS Pura and Bishnah sectors, a senior BSF officer said. On Friday, a BSF jawan was among two people injured when Pakistani troops opened fire and lobbed mortars at over 15 border outposts and some civilian areas along the international border in Samba and Kathua districts. On May 15, a 28-year-old BSF jawan was killed when Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by opening fire on forward posts to help infiltrators cross the border in Samba sector. Indian troops have also foiled four infiltration bids along the IB since May 12. Pakistan said the Indian envoy was informed that the deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, the FO said. Pakistan also said that Indian forces along the LoC and the IB are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons. It alleged that in 2018, Indian forces have carried out more than 1,050 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the border resulting in the deaths of 28 civilians, while injuring 117 others. Pakistan urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the international border. It also urged India to permit the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per UN Security Council resolutions. India maintains that the UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Shimla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control. President Ram Nath Kovind will stay at Mashobras Retreat Building, part of the presidential estate in Himachal Pradesh, from where he was turned away by the staff two years ago. Kovind will embark three day visit to Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla on May 20. Kovind, who was the-then governor of Bihar, was holidaying in Shimla in 2017. He was a guest of Himachal Pradesh governor Acharya Dev Vrat. Kovind visited Shimla catchment area Cheogh. On his way back, he drove to the Retreat Building located about 14 kilometers from Shimla . However Kovind, who was travelling in an official vehicle while other members of his family were in cabs, was turned away by the staff at the retreat as he did not have required permission from Presidents office . Without complaining, Kovind went on his way. In an interesting turn of events, Kovind shall return as President. Constructed in the British era back in 1850, the retreat is managed by the Presidents office. The building, spread over 987 square metres, was taken over by British government in 1859. The retreat in Mashobra is the second Presidents Retreat after Rashtrapati Nilayam in Hyderabad. Mashobras Retreat Building was made a part of the presidential estate after the Viceregal Lodge, which was turned into Rashtrapati Bhavan after Independence, was handed over to the Indian Institute of Advanced Study. All India Congress Committee president Rahul Gandhis sister Priyanka Gandhi has a cottage that is situated just half a kilometre away. During his stay in Shimla, Kovind will attend the ninth convocation of Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and forestry in Nauni. The university was founded in 1985 with an objective promote research in forestry and horticulture . Governor Acharya Dev Vrat and chief minister Jai Ram Thakur will also be present. Thakur, who holds the Home portfolio, reviewed arrangements on Thursday. Thakur directed officers to ensure arrangements for smooth plying of vehicles with minimum inconvenience to the general public and tourists. He is one of the tallest Lingayat leaders of the Congress and the speaker of the outgoing assembly. But Krishnappa Bheemappa Koliwad was humbled this week after joining a long list of sitting Congress MLAs to lose the election. The 73-year-old Koliwad lost his traditional Ranibennur seat to R Shankar, the only candidate to win from his Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party. In an interview with Venkatesha Babu, he blamed former chief minister Siddaramaiah for the partys debacle. Edited excerpts: Why are you angry with Siddaramaiah? It is Siddaramaiahs attitude and arrogance that has put the Congress party in its current predicament in Karnataka. His rank casteism, favouring members of his own community (Kurubas or traditional shepherds), and, more importantly, rewarding only yes men has hurt the party. He has given 15-20 tickets to his community members. What was the need to give a ticket to Revanna (transport minister in the former cabinet and a fellow Kuruba) when he was already an MLC (member of legislative council)? The CMs attitude towards others (hinting at Vokkaligas and Lingayats) made them turn against the party. Did dividing Lingayats help the Congress party anyway? I kept telling them not to do it (grant Lingayats a separate minority religion status), but he would only listen to his yes men. So did the Congress government fail to deliver? No,noI think we had good programmes and policies, our work was good but one mans dictatorship and arrogance has brought us down. Are you saying all this because you lost the election? My one seat doesnt matter. I have won five elections and lost five elections. I won an election in 1972 when he (Siddaramaiah) was not even in politics. He is a baccha (child) in front of me. He was the one who, unable to take the heat, ran from his constituency (Chamundeshwari) to contest from another (Badami). His attitude resulted in a defeat (in Chamundeshwari) and he barely won in (Badami). He tried to prevent me from getting the ticket . I reached out to Rahul (Gandhi, Congress president) and got it. Are you planning to quit the party? Why should I? Congress is not anybodys personal property. I have been a loyal member since 1969 and helped build the party in the state. I am not a party hopper like him. (Siddaramaiah was in the Janata Dal- Secular till 2005). My only appeal to the Congress president is please dont make him (Siddaramaiah) the state unit president or Congress legislature party leader. He will destroy the party in the state. He has no intention of making {Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD} Kumaraswamy the CM. I agree that to stop communal forces, we need to do everything possible. But Siddaramaiah is not the man to do it. His political career is over. Suspected militants on Thursday night snatched three rifles from police personnel at a guard post in Dalgate area of Srinagar, officials said. The ultras targeted a police post in the tourist hub of Dalgate area and escaped with three service rifles of the cops, a police official said. Security forces have cordoned off the area to track down the attackers, the official said, adding further details of the incident were awaited. This is second incident of rifle snatching in the city since Thursday. Suspected militants escaped with a rifle of a policeman in Hazratbal area outside the Kashmir University. At least 70% of the several hundred flights that fly in and out of the Mumbai airport every day were delayed on Friday, as the airport upgrades its Instrument Landing System (ILS) that guides flights. The Mumbai airport handles 945 flight movements daily, and 45 flight movements an hour. Usually, flights take off and land on the main runway 27, but owing to the 12-hour system upgrade, airlines are using the secondary runway which has a lower capacity. Further, the minimum visibility pilots need to land at the Mumbai airport with the ILS is as low as 800 metres, but without it, they need a visibility of 2,400 metres. This essentially means pilots have to rely on an older navigation system to take off and land, and as a result, airlines and passengers reported delays of up to an hour all through Friday. The 12-hour upgradation, from 11 am to 11 pm, began on Thursday and will go on till June 5. An official from the Mumbai International Airport Limited said. Several airlines, including Jet Airways and Air Vistara , posted messages on social media informing passengers of the delay. However, airport officials said that work on the ILS was on, but added that the delay on Friday morning was because of changing wind speeds and directions, and not the technical upgradation. MIAL said while one flight had to be cancelled, no flight was diverted or asked to go-around. Passengers can expect delay of around 30 minutes until the ILS is upgraded and made available. A new localiser will be placed with more antennas than the current one that has 14. This will help in more precision to the flight movements, explained a senior airport official. Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress won all the 19 zilla parishads in the recently concluded panchayat polls, scripting a clean sweep in 10 of them. Though the elections took place in 20 districts, the results of Birbhum zilla parishad cannot be declared without the Supreme Courts consent as no opposition candidate could file their nomination amidst violence. The state election commission has ordered repoll in two booths in Phulbari gram panchayat in north Bengal on Sunday as the ballot papers were snatched on Thursday during counting. Counting in the three-tier polls, where each voter chose three candidates one in each tier started on Thursday and continued on Friday. According to the results that came in till 5 pm, TMC won 21,110 (66.88%) of the 31,560 gram panchayat seats, BJP bagged 5,747 (18.20%), the Left 1,708 (5.41), Congress 1,062 (3.36%) and others and independents 1,933 (6.12%). Results of 254 seats were yet to be declared. At the panchayat samiti level, TMC secured 4,888 (81.10%) of the 6,027 seats, BJP got 756 (12.54%), the Left 129 (2.14%), Congress 131 and others and independents 123 (2.04%). Results of 98 seats were yet to be declared. At the zilla parishad tier, TMC secured 544 (95.2%) of the 571 seats, BJP got 22 (3.85%) the Left 1 (0.17%), Congress 2 (0.35%) and others and independents 2 (0.35%). Results of 51 seats were yet to be announced. TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee congratulated the people for supporting them overwhelmingly. Violence Continues There seems to be no end to the violence that began on April 2, the first day of nomination, in the state. A day after counting began, BJP leaders claimed Pradip Das (63) a supporter of the party in Alipurduar was killed allegedly by supporters of the ruling party. On the other hand, Biplab Sarkar, (35), a Trinamool leader who won the panchayat samiti in Habra I of North 24 Parganas district, died in a hospital on Friday. On the polling day, Sarkar was injured when a clash broke out in the area. Before Sarkars death, Mamata Banerjee had said on Thursday that 13 lives were lost, of which 10 were Trinamool supporters. Opposition leaders, however, alleged that the total number of those killed in poll-related violence was more than 40. Trinamool leaders alleged that in Gopiballavpur area of Jhargarm district, BJP men ransacked their party office. After BJP won Gopiballavpur I panchayat samiti, they ransacked our party office, alleged Churamani Mahato, a state minister. Sukhmay Satpathi, BJP district president of Jhargram, said a section of Trinamool Congress had done the act and were blaming them for it. Samit Dash, BJP district president in West Midnapore, alleged that they had won the zilla parishad seats but the administration with Trinamool Congress men illegally declared Trinamool Congress the winner. Trinamool claimed four of their supporters were injured on Thursday when CPI(M) workers allegedly attacked a victory celebration in Kulpi in South 24 Parganas district. Clashes were reported between Trinamool Congress and BJP supporters in Basanti of South 24 Parganas district area and in Salboni of West Midnapore. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Kochi on Friday sentenced two men to life imprisonment for murdering a man 17 years ago for marrying a Muslim woman. The court awarded the punishment to Mohamed Iqbal and Jackie Haneef and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them after they were held guilty of murdering M Balakrishnan in 2001. Three other accused, including the father of Balakrishnans wife, were acquitted for want of evidence. Presenting its case, the prosecution said that on September 18, 2001, three months after Youth Congress chief of Kasargode (north Kerala) unit, Balakrishnan married a Muslim woman, the two accused forced him into a car and drove him to a secluded place where they stabbed him. The prosecution had contended that the womans father had hired the two assailants but the court ruled that the CBI failed to prove charges against him. Although the prosecution had argued for maximum punishment against the convicts by stating that the case belonged to the rarest of rare category, the defence asked the court to tone down the two mens quantum of punishment on account of the long duration of the case and their current living conditions. Reacting to the ruling, the victims father M Gopalan, a retired tehsildar, said: It was a long battle and I am happy my sons killers finally got what they deserved. Hung assemblies do not easily produce governments. Its a process in which the rough and the ready carry the day. Often with the help of friendly governors, and legislators willing to trade loyalties. No matter who triumphs in the ongoing tussle in Karnataka, the developments there could have far-reaching consequences across India. Alleged gubernatorial misdemeanours have historically evoked the ire of regional parties. There is already a churning in the South and in the North. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has exited the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), making the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) step-motherly treatment of Andhra Pradesh an issue of Telugu pride. A Janata Dal (Secular) ally in Karnataka, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is also stitching together a partnership with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh. The Telangana Rashtra Samitis (TRS) K Chandrasekhar Rao is working on a federal front in tandem with Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress (TMC). Read these moves in conjunction with the southern line-up against the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission. Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu share apprehensions of losing revenue to backward states despite better economic and population control records. As a case study, the political ferment that has engulfed Karnataka has parallels in Uttar Pradesh in 1998. Kalyan Singh was the chief minister in Lucknow and IK Gujral the United Fronts prime minister in Delhi. The Kalyan Singh government, conceived in a hung assembly, rested on support from defectors from across the anti-BJP spectrum. The turncoats escaped the anti-defection law with Kesari Nath Tripathi seemingly acting more like a BJP man than the speaker of the assembly. Rampant poaching appeared to take place when Mayawati withdrew support to Kalyan Singh after taking her six-month turn as chief minister in the March 1997 rotational power-sharing arrangement. The efflux from the SP, the BSP and the Congress helped Kalyan prove a majority amid unprecedented violence in the House in October. He even survived Governor Romesh Bhandaris recommendation of Presidents Rule. The Gujral regime didnt pursue the matter after the proposal didnt pass muster with President KR Narayanan. The jumbo 98-strong Kalyan ministry was proof of the perks of defection. Very much part of it was a breakaway Congress faction, called Loktantrik Congress and led by Naresh Aggarwal and Jagdambika Pal. It later played the Trojan horse. The arrangement was jerry-built and could be shaken with the touch of a porcupines quill. The Loktantrik Congress dealt a sledgehammer blow on February 21, 1998 with the backing of the SP and BSP. The Governor dismissed Kalyan Singh, swearing in Jagdambika Pal as CM late in the night. There was spontaneous outrage against Bhandaris decision. Of all the people, Atal Bihari Vajpayee went on a fast-unto-death against the CM from a faction with just 21 members in the 425-strong assembly. What transpired the next morning is now history. The high court restored Kalyan Singh and removed Pal as CM in less than 24 hours. In the final analysis, the UP events catalysed regroupings in the South that catapulted Vajpayee to power at the Centre in 1998. A prized new ally for him at the time was the TDPs Naidu, who was then the United Front convener. The people of my state want Atal-ji as PM. I must partake of that goodwill, he told me in confidence, citing as proof protests against the UP fiasco on the streets of Secunderabad. Could Karnataka work for anti-BJP forces the way UP worked for the saffron clan? The similarities are hard to miss: a hung house, arch-rivals burying the hatchet, a contested gubernatorial decision, and the matter taken to court amid allegations of sheep-stealing. Pal and Aggarwal are now with the BJP. Is history repeating itself as tragedy or comedy? The resolution of Karnatakas political-legal drama may well rest on a letter the states newly sworn-in chief minister, BS Yeddyurappa, sent to governor Vajubhai Vala while staking claim to form the government. During the extraordinary midnight hearing in the Supreme Court on Thursday, the main argument of Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) petitioners, challenging Valas decision to invite Yeddyurappa to take oath, was that while the BJP was the single largest party in the state assembly, it did not have majority support. Calling a person who has support of 104 MLAs as opposed to Congress-JDS alliance of 116 MLAs and then giving the person 15 days is adding insult to injury by the governor, argued senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. He suggested that the governor may have been misled by Yeddyurappas letter, claiming to have the support of 111 legislators. BJP cannot go from 104 to 111 unless there is defection - and that is prohibited, added Singhvi. But did the letter say the BJP had 111 MLAs, he was asked. Singhvi admitted he did not have the letter. The three-judge bench that heard the matter expressed surprise. We do not know what kind of majority Yeddyurappa has claimed. Unless we see that letter of support, we cannot speculate, said Justice SA Bobde, one of the three judges on the bench. Lawyers representing the BJP did not volunteer information on the letter in court. The court refused to stay Yeddyurappas swearing in on Thursday but asked for the letter he wrote to the governor to be produced on Friday. After hearing the parties, we are of the opinion that it is necessary to peruse the letters dated 15th May, 2018 and 16th May, 2018 submitted by the respondent No.3 to the Governor which find a mention in the communication dated 16th May, 2018 of the Honble Governor. We request the learned Attorney General and/or respondent No.3 to produce these letters on the next date of hearing. The office of the governor and the state BJP unit refused to share a copy of the letter from Yeddyurappa . In turn, the BJP has alleged that the Congress forged signatures of many of its legislators while submitting partys list of MLAs to the Governor. Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said one should wonder how the Congress could collect the signatures of all the MLAs even before they arrived in Bengaluru to attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting. Forging signatures is not new to the party...In Karnataka, they have resorted to their age old practice. The Congress is synonymous with the word forgery. Yeddyurappas future may now hinge on the very letter that enabled him to take oath on Thursday. Samta Andolan Samiti, which campaigns for major changes in caste-based reservation, has offered support to candidates contesting assembly elections from reserved seats in Rajasthan, if they accept the organisations objectives. Of the 200 assembly constituencies in the state, 59 are reserved. The samiti has mooted six proposals against caste-based reservation and called its poll campaign as Mission 59. We have written to 10 national level political parties to include our nationalist issues in their manifesto by giving affidavits, samiti president Parashar Narayan Sharma told reporters here on Friday. The samiti calls for ending reservation benefits to the creamy layer in SC/ST category and scrapping of quota in promotion from April 1, 1997. If a candidate fails to get a job owing to quota, he/she should be given compensation -- 100 times of the salary fixed for the post. If somebody fails to get an educational post, he/she should get an equivalent post in a private institution and the government should bear the expenses. The samiti demands that nobody be arrested under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act without investigation. Eight candidates from the reserved category have given affidavits in support of the samitis demands; we will support these candidates, Sharma said. We will field 59 candidates in the reserved assembly constituencies. He said, If any political party agrees to our issues, we will ask the party to give tickets to these candidates. If no party agrees to our issues, then these candidates will contest as independents. The samiti has written letters to the BJP, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India, CPI(M), Rashtrawadi Congress Party, Shiv Sena, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and Lok Dal. Today the atmosphere has deteriorated due to casteism; Samta Andolan is making efforts to eliminate casteism and build a good atmosphere, Sharma said. On its foundation day, the samiti felicitated three petitioners in the Supreme Court, who have sought implementation of a creamy layer concept in the SC/ST category. After the Congress accused the BJP of murdering democracy in Karnataka, outgoing BJP president Ashok Parnami on Friday said the Congress has throttled democracy in the country in the last 70 years. Reacting to Congress allegation, Parnami said, Congress should look inward. They have continuously murdered democracy in the last 70 years. How can they now talk of protecting democracy? He also said that the BJP is a democratic party and believes in a democratic setup. In Karnataka, it was the prerogative of the governor to decide which party was to be invited to form the government. He was addressing the media after participating in a workshop on booth formation that was inaugurated by chief minister Vasundhara Raje. BJP organisational general secretary Chandrashekhar, state party general secretary Bhajanlal and state party secretary Mukesh Dadhich were present as were the district party in-charges. Parnami claimed that the BJP would be able to form the government in Karnataka with 112 MLAs. The Supreme Court has given time till 4 pm on Saturday to the BJP. Parnami said the Supreme Court has given its ruling in the matter and Congress should not resort to petty politics. Congress should have faith in democracy and the governor. Why did they approach the Supreme Court, and if they have gone to court then they should abide by its order and wait for the floor test. On National Unionist Zamindara Party MLA Sonadevi Bawri joining the Congress, he said, She had started supporting Congress long back. In the Rajya Sabha elections, she had voted for the Congress candidate. She was clearly told that if she had voted for the Congress then the BJP would not give her the party ticket to contest the assembly elections, said Parnami. He said those who believe in the BJPs ideology are welcome to join the party. He said the party does not believe in caste politics but in Sab Ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas. On the tiff between BJP MLAs Prahlad Gunjal and Chandrakanta Meghwal, Parnami said Which family doesnt have tiffs. BJP is a large family, if there is a spat, we will resolve it. At a party meeting in Kota on Saturday, Gunjal and Meghwal got into a verbal spat and Gunjal had allegedly used abusive language against Meghwal. Asked about the Gurjars threatening a fresh agitation over reservation, Parnami said the issue would be resolved. The Gurjars have supported the BJP in the past and are still with the party. It is the BJP which has resolved their demand and so they support the party. On the formation of booths, Parnami said the BJP in the last 18 months has formed 51,227 booths in the state which will now be verified. The workers will visit the booths and gather feedback on the situation of booths. One senior party worker will carry out verification of booths in five mandals. Addressing BJP organizational general secretary Chandrashekhar said BJP has spread because of its workers. It has become the worlds largest political party due to the hard work by the workers. The workers have to strengthen the party at booth level to counter the illusion and negative environment spread by the Congress and other opposition parties. Congress workers in Alwar led by partys district chief Tikaram Jully on Friday staged a demonstration protesting over scarcity of drinking water in the district. Party workers clashed with police and later alleged that they were roughed up by the police. Party workers from across the district gathered at the citys Nangloi Circle to protest against the political developments in Karnataka and burnt effigy of the Prime Minister before marching to the water supply department. The protesters handed over an 8-point memorandum over the scarcity of drinking water to water supply department officials. Later, there was a ruckus as party workers, raising slogans against the department, tried to enter the water supply department offices. District Mahila Congress general secretary Sweta Saini said police misbehaved with women protesters. Women face the brunt of water scarcity the most as it affects their daily chores, she said. Congress district chief Jully said, the department agreed to set up control rooms at every office in the district. They said they will increase the number of tankers supplying drinking water and clear the pending dues of tankers operators for the last two years. If the department does not solve water woes within three days, there will be a bigger agitation, Jully said. Meanwhile, additional chief engineer MC Rathi said the department will increase the number of tankers fitted with GPS. Although some tanker owners are opposing the move, we will go ahead as we want to solve the problem by August. We cannot do much as the district depends on groundwater, which is falling day by day, he said. According to the National Capital Region Rules, a consumer should get 200 litres of drinking water every day but the supply is less than 100 litres. City households get piped water once in two days, residents said. National Unionist Zamindara Party (NUZP) MLA Sonadevi Bawri on Friday joined the Congress in the presence of state party president Sachin Pilot. Bawri is an MLA from Raisinghnagar in Ganganagar district. NUZP has two MLAs in Rajasthan Sonadevi and Kamini Jindal. I have joined the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Pilot. It is a fact that Congress has always supported and worked for the elevation of Dalits and the poor. The present government tortured Dalit during the bandh on April 2, said Bawri, a first time MLA, elected in 2013 assembly elections. Hitting at the state government led by BJP, she said, Jindal and I always stood by the BJP... But today we are realising that after our votes they sidelined us and used our partyUse and throw. Addressing newspersons at state party office, Pilot said, Without any pretentions, she become a member of this organisation and will work towards empowering Dalits I think this will strengthen the Congress not just in this district but the entire state. I wholeheartedly welcome her to our party. He continued that this indicates that the current atmosphere is anti-farmer, poor, Dalit and women, not just in Rajasthan, where BJP is in power, but across India. The fact that she (Sonadevi) has restored her faith in Rahul and Sonia Gandhis leadership is setting the tone how people in the future will disregard ruling dispensation in Rajasthan and join the Congress. Pilot said Congress is in opposition in Rajasthan and many states, despite the strong tactics of the BJP, smaller parties, independents all are coming with the Congress. We started our election campaign and will strengthen our booths. The Mera Booth, Mera Gaurav (MBMG) programme will now be held in all 200 assembly constituencies of Rajasthan, where discussions will be held with workers and they will be imparted training. The divisional-level meeting of MBMG has been done at Kota, Udaipur and Ajmer, he said. Speaking about the Karnataka elections, he said that the Congress and the Janta Dal (Secular) had a clear mandate. The Congress got 2% more votes than BJP. BJP did not get a clear majority but despite that, the Governor has kept aside all legalities and Constitutional provisions and made BS Yeddyurappa the chief minister. But the Supreme Court, rightly reduced the timeline to prove majority from 15 days to less than 48 hours. I welcome the Supreme Courts move, but the intentions and motives of the BJP to misuse the office of the governor the Congress will continue to agitate at all district party offices and I am sure the pressure we are building will make sure that the BJP does not succeed in destroying all norms of democratic institutions in our country, he said. Now enjoy air journey from Allahabad to Lucknow for just Rs 967 courtesy Jet Airways that has decided to start starting flights between the two cities under the regional connectivity scheme from June 14. The private airline has also released the time-table and the fare list of the destinations to be covered from Allahabad under the UDAN scheme. The government had in March 2017 awarded 128 regional routes to five airlines for launching flights under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, which aims at boosting air connectivity to the hinterland. As per the announcement, the initial fare on Lucknow-Allahabad-Lucknow route will be Rs 967 while on Allahabad-Patna-Allahabad route, one will have to shell out Rs 1216 to enjoy air journey. Similarly, fare for Nagpur-Allahabad-Nagpur will be Rs 1,690 and for Indore-Allahabad-Indore Rs 1,914 per passenger. Flight number 9W 3555 will take off from Lucknow at 6.30am and reach Allahabad at 8.05am. Similarly, flight number 9W3556 will depart from Allahabad at 12.50 and reach Lucknow at 2.25pm. For Patna, flight number 9W 3558 will take off from Allahabad at 8.35am and reach Patna at 10.15am. In return journey, flight number 9W 3557 will take off from Patna at 10.40am and reach Allahabad at 12.20pm. The air service on Lucknow-Allahabad-Patna route will be available three times a week. And so will be the case on Nagpur-Allahabad-Indore route, operation on which will begin from June 16. Flight number 9W 3553 will take off from Nagpur at 9.45am and land in Allahabad at 11.50am. Flight number 9W 3552 will take off from Allahabad at 12.20pm and land in Indore at 2.30pm. In return journey, flight number 9W 3551 will take off from Indore at 3pm and land in Allahabad at 5.10pm. Similarly, flight number 9W 3554 will take off from Allahabad at 5.40pm and reach Nagpur at 7.45pm. Besides operating on these routes, the Jet Airways has also planned to begin operations on some new routes including Lucknow-Bareily-Delhi-Bareliy-Lucknow. It will begin soon, said UP cabinet minister for stamp and civil aviation Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi. He said in the second bidding done in January, nine airports and 22 air routes of Uttar Pradesh were selected for connectivity and service. As per him, as the Centre was now focusing on Allahabad, air service to many more cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Gorakhpur, Dehradun, Kolkata and Pune would also begin from the Sangam city. He said the Jet Airways is offering seats in the UDAN flights on subsidised rates to encourage air passengers to avail the service as much as possible. With the onset of Ramzan, the agitating students of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) withdrew their three-day hunger strike and 15-day dharna. But leaders of the AMU students union (AMUSU) threatened to launch a fresh agitation, if their demand for a judicial inquiry into the violence on the campus over a portrait of Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah is not fulfilled. This should not be viewed as an end to our agitation but as preparation for a possible second stage of our struggle which would be launched, if needed, at an all-India level in case authorities fail to fulfill their commitment, said AMUSU president Mashkoor Ahmad Usmani. We would have our delegations meeting the home minister and President of India besides others concerned and would press for our demand, he added. The agitation by students ended on Wednesday night after Nafeesa Begum, the mother of missing JNU student Najeeb, persuaded the AMU students to end their indefinite hunger strike. AMU vice- chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor too expressed solidarity with the agitating students after visiting them. The strike has ended but the movement has begun. We would even go for legal recourse, if our demands are not met. The shape and form of the movement will be discussed and announced soon, stated the AMUSU president. Our struggle is entirely based on the demand for a judicial inquiry into the police lathicharge on unarmed AMU students and also for stringent punishment to those armed goons belonging to right wing groups who had entered the AMU campus with an objective of fomenting violence on the campus, he added. Nafeesa Begum, the mother of missing student from JNU Najeeb, persuaded the AMU students to end with hunger strike and threatened not to have food till students have it. The onset of Ramzan month was another major reason leading to calling of hunger strike. (Inputs from PTI) Balrampur Hospital has decided to take the help of a private agency to catch dogs loitering on its campus. We have sought permission from the authorities to float a tender to hire a private agency for the purpose, said Dr Rajiv Lochan, director of Balrampur Hospital. Stray dogs were noticed on the hospital campus every day and even in and around the wing where dog bite cases are treated. The hospital administration had written to the municipal corporation to tackle the problem. But when the dog catchers came, the strays used to scamper away. Earlier, when there was monkey menace in the hospital compound, a private agency was hired to drive away the simians with the help of a langur, Lochan said. He said patients and their attendants keep complaining about the dogs and the fear the animals have generated in the wake of Sitapur incidents. As many as 13 children have died in attacks by feral hounds in Sitapur district in the last six months. Around 22 villages of Khairabad block of the district are affected by dog menace. Some victims also came to Balrampur hospital for anti-rabies injections. In yet another incident, an eight-year-old girl, Sonam, was on Thursday attacked and severely injured by a pack of feral dogs in Khairampur village of Manpur area, bordering Khairabad and Talgaon areas of Sitapur. Dog attacks in Sitapur district have claimed lives of at least 13 children since November last year. Of these, seven were killed in since May 1 while seven children were severely injured in such attacks this month. Om Prakash, station officer (SO) of Manpur police station, said the incident took place when Sonam had gone to attend natures call alone near her village around 6.30 am. He said a group of villagers who were irrigating the field nearby rescued the girl after hearing her screams. The SO said the villagers informed that there were at least 7-8 feral dogs that attacked the girl and fled towards Madarpur village after being chased. The girls father, Chhotelal informed the police about the incident. The pack of dogs also attacked a goat in Madarpur village, said Om Prakash. Om Prakash said the girl had been sent to the district hospital for medical treatment where her condition was stated to be out of danger. The attack was on the same pattern as those reported in the past few weeks. On Wednesday afternoon, a nine-year-old girl, Pallavi, was injured in an attack by a pack of feral hounds in Barabhari village of Khairabad area which is barely 5 km from Khairampur village of Manpur police area. So far, the feral dogs were untraceable despite extensive combing operations in the villages affected by canine scare, said the SO. As a precautionary measure, drummers and announcers had been deployed by the district administration to alert people about feral dog attacks in Khairabad area of Sitapur, he added. Canine menace continues in Sitapur district despite the deployment of government officials (from lekhpal to sub divisional magistrates) to check such incidents. Apart from the 22 villages most affected by dog attacks, district officials marked 26 other villages for their operation where sightings of feral dogs were reported. The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday served notices to six former chief ministers, who have been occupying sprawling government bungalows in Lucknow, and asked them to vacate the same in 15 days. Six former chief ministers who have been asked to vacate the government bungalows include Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, ND Tiwari, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh. The Supreme Court had on May 7, 2018 struck down the amendment to the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1981 to provide for allotment of government residence to former chief ministers at his/her request for lifetime. Quashing the amendment, the SC had observed that Section 4(3) of UP Ministers (salaries, allowances & miscellaneous provisions) Act, 2016 is unconstitutional. The state governments move to serve notices to the former chief ministers has come a day after Mulayam met chief minister Yogi Adityanath here on Wednesday. An official spokesman though had called the meeting a courtesy call, sources aware with the deliberations at the meeting said Yadav discussed the issue of government bungalows on the Vikramaditya Marg here allotted to him and his son Akhilesh Yadav as former chief ministers. A suggestion for allotment of the two bungalows to leader of opposition in Vidhan Sabha Ram Govind Chaudhary and leader of opposition in Vidhan Parishad Ahmad Hasan was made at the meeting. A senior officer said the state government has not taken any decision on such an allotment. Earlier, the Supreme Court had on August 1, 2016 ordered cancellation of allotment of government bungalows to former chief ministers observing that the allotment of houses made to former chief ministers, private bodies and individuals was bad in law. The Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party government had in 2016 amended the Act, which was challenged by a Lucknow-based non-profit organisation Lokprahari. The Uttar Pradesh government has lodged a police complaint against three top forest officials for calling tenders for mining sand in reserved forests, which cant be done without the Centres permission, HT learnt on Thursday. The three forest corporation officials went ahead with the proposal without even consulting the forest department, which guards these green stretches on behalf of the Centre. The Uttar Pradesh van nigam (forest corporation) without taking the approval of the state and the central government and in violation of norms sought e-tenders for sand mining in the name of eco-restoration of forests along the rivers, says the FIR lodged by states special secretary (forest) Om Prakash. HT has a copy of the complaint that names director SK Sharma, senior general manager Manoj Sinha and general manager JP Sinha. They have been accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating and causing loss to the government. Non-forest activity, including mining, is not allowed in forest areas without the Centres approval. Governments in several states allow mining in and around rivers and water bodies in forests and many times it is done without the approval of the Centre on the excuse of eco-restoration work. Eco-restoration is a provision meant to keep reserved areas in good health by clearing debris or any other object that affects local ecology. UPs principal conservator of forest Rupak De refused comment, saying FIR was lodged after an inquiry. Everything has been explained in the FIR, he said. One has to understand the importance of sand for green fauna. Sand provides biotic relief to trees and bushes and there is a natural process of removal of excess sand. Removing sand by forest department does more harm than good, said Fayaz Khudsar, a senior biologist with the Delhi University. Quoting the inquiry report, FIR, lodged on May 5, says director Sharma was aware that calling tenders was in violation of the Indian forest act and the Supreme Court ban on sand mining in forest areas. Sharma pursued the proposal despite the state government not responding to his letter in September 2017 as it violated norms, the FIR says. The proposal was aimed at creating ecological imbalance within the forest areas as sand mining inside forests would mean use of heavy machinery and movement of vehicles and therefore it was scrapped, the FIR said. An official of the Uttar Pradesh forest department familiar with the matter said the corporation had no right to issue tenders without the permission of the forest department and without analysing if eco-restoration was needed. The investigation was on and statements of the accused were being recorded, station house officer of Gazipur police station Surjeet Kumar Rai said. Non-gazetted policewomen across Uttar Pradesh will now wear tunics instead of shirts, in keeping with a new government order reportedly aimed at effecting gender sensitisation in the law-enforcement force. This is the first time a gender-specific khaki uniform has been introduced in the state. The uniform has been designed keeping in mind the comfort and convenience of women cops, said BP Jogdand, additional director general (ADG) at the police headquarters in Allahabad. The changes were suggested by the Allahabad police headquarters after recommendations to this effect were made at the 7th National Conference of Women in Police in January 2016. Jogdand said the suggestions were forwarded to the state government after its endorsement by the Uttar Pradesh director general of police on November 8, 2017. It was on the basis of these recommendations that state government secretary OP Verma issued the order, he added. The order reads that the shirt will be worn like a tunic, and it will fall till a few inches above the knee, said a senior police officer at the Allahabad police headquarters. It will be more comfortable and attractive than the earlier one. Double-collared with four pockets, the tunics worn by these policewomen will change from half-sleeved in the summer to full-sleeved in the winter. It will also have four loops to accommodate a fabric belt (newad) and prominently bear the logo of the Uttar Pradesh police, the office said. However, no changes have been made to the trousers included in the uniform. Atarsuiya police station house officer Anshul Pandey welcomed the changes, stating that the new uniform was aimed at making the police force look smarter. The design is attractive, although the tunic looks heavier than usual shirts. Nevertheless, it will be very comfortable to wear in the winter, said Pandey. The move comes a few days after the state police department changed the design of caps worn by constables across the state. According to the new directive, all constables and head constables should compulsorily wear khaki woollen berets instead of folding caps. Sitapur district magistrate Sheetal Verma said on Thursday that experts from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Humane Society of India had confirmed that feral dogs, not wild animals like wolves, were behind the attacks on children in the districts. Experts from the WII, which is a Dehradun-based government premier institute for wildlife studies, and Humane Society of India have confirmed that feral dogs are responsible for the attacks, said Verma. Though villagers and the district administration had held that feral dogs were responsible for these attacks, many Lucknow-based animal activists claimed that wild animals were attacking humans. However, these groups failed to provide any conclusive scientific evidence in support of their claim. Meanwhile, the district administration has taken measures to control dog population in the affected areas. We have established an animal birth control clinic for dogs in Sitapur where canines from these areas are being sterilised, said the DM, adding that the district administration was not facilitating any killings of dogs. We have also urged residents in the affected areas not to kill any dogs and cooperate with the administrative machinery to mitigate this problem, she added. A total of 164 district officials had also been deployed in the affected areas to spread awareness about feral dogs and ways to protect children from such attacks, in which seven children have been killed this month itself. Verma also issued a helpline number where residents could report feral dog sightings. When commuting on the Metro or chilling with friends at a mall, dont get startled if you notice someone trying to well, talk to their phone or laptop in an unfamiliar tongue. Sneak a harmless peep into their screen, and youre likely to find that the gadget user is trying to learn a new language. Its easier to learn this way, on my mobile, says Farah Hussain (name changed), a 28-year-old media professional. On her way home after office, she finds it convenient to access tutorials on her phone and learn to translate English to Korean. I wanted to learn Korean, but getting admission in language classes is difficult for a person like me who has an erratic work schedule. But I didnt want to give up the idea. I had started watching Korean dramas, but sometimes the subtitles didnt match the actors expressions, and I was left with an unsatisfactory experience. I didnt want to be lost in translation, so I opted to learn Korean online, she says. READ| Playing video games is one of the best ways to learn a new language Another Delhiite, 30-year-old PhD scholar Sabhyata Prakash decided to learn Turkish, after developing a liking for Turkish TV dramas. I saw a few Turkish dramas on Indian television, and found that their content was great. It was very different from usual Indian saas-bahu sagas. But one thing I hated was the poor dubbing in Hindi. So, I started watching the original shows online with English subtitles. I began paying attention to the language, too. To understand the dialogues, story and culture better, I made notes and practised through online tests and websites, says Prakash, who has picked up the basics of Turkish now. Utsav Bansal, an MBA student at Delhi Universitys Faculty of Management Studies, aims to acquire a certification course in French language. But, to be able to get admission in the course of my choice, I need to know French till the primary level. Since, I didnt have time in between my hectic schedule, I thought of learning it from a mobile app. Although Im still a beginner, Im happy I chose this medium because Im in Mumbai for my summer internship now, but dont have to miss my language learning sessions, since its online, says Bansal. A word of caution Language teachers warn that the information online can be inaccurate. Ive found many of those YouTube videos giving wrong information on a language. Also, the quality of teaching and its information cannot be guaranteed, says Kwak Mira, education manager at Korean Cultural Centre. For those insisting on an online course, Mira advises finding an authorised course. Check the teachers profile and visit only recommended sites. Interact with the author at Twitter/@HennaRakheja Kaali Cast: Vijay Antony, Sunainaa, Anjali Direction: Kiruthuga Udhayanidhi Rating: 1.5/5 Vijay Antonys Bharath leads a perfect life -- a successful thoracic surgeon in America, he owns a multi-specialty hospital and has a loving family. There is one wrinkle though -- a nightmare that haunts him incessantly. He sees a bull charging at a boy as the childs mother yells at him to run. Before he can find out what happens next, he wakes up. His parents are worried about this and we see them discussing it too. The nightmare is explained soon enough when Bharath discovers he is adopted and the truth behind his nightmare lies not in America, but in India. To search for his biological parents, he travels to India a premise interesting enough to keep you interested for the length of the film, right? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The film is failed by execution and plot holes. For example, what is a thoracic surgeon doing in a kidney transplant surgery? Bharath is not only allowed in the operation room, but he takes part in the surgery too. His attempts to find his parents also border on ridiculous. When he realizes his mother is no more, he attempts to find his father by setting up a hospital in his mothers native village. Now going by the name Kaali, he starts performing DNA tests on the male patients who come to his hospital. And then there are the elaborate flashbacks served one after another to keep the suspense alive. The one-dimensional performances also do nothing to help the film. Even the director fails to go deep when it comes to exploring relationships in the film -- be it Maris tragic story (played by Vijay and Nasser) or Kaalis relationship with the local medic, Valli (Anjali). Read | Irumbu Thirai movie review: Vishal-Samantha starrer is about conning a con man Every time Kaalis suspicion is cleared, there is expectation that he might finally meet his father and learn what happened in his past. How frustrated and anxious must one be when he is faced with this situation? Vijay, however, believes his trademark lost look takes care of the entire film. Kaali eventually finds the truth about his mother but we are past caring by that point. We do breathe a sigh of relief though as credits roll for we dont have to deal with another tragic story. And there, perhaps, lies the true tragedy of Kaali. Author tweets @Priyanka_S_MCC Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Khajoor Pe Atke Cast: Manoj Pahwa, Vinay Pathak, Seema Pahwa, Sanah Kapoor Director: Harsh Chhaya Rating: 2/5 Khajoor Pe Atke is a dark comedy revolving around a probable death in a family, but the film never touches the required urgency to ensure that the audience remembers it for long. Actor-turned-director Harsh Chhaya doesnt waste much time in introducing the motives of his characters. Jeetendra (Manoj Pahwa) decides to go to Mumbai when he is informed about his younger brothers illness. Though the relationship of the two brothers has lost the warmth over the years, but childhood bonding doesnt die easily, so Jeetendra couldnt resist the urge of being at the bedside of his dying brother. Jeetendra and his family are soon joined by the youngest brother Ravinders (Vinay Pathak) family. The hospital, where the second brother is admitted, turns into a conference room, and nobody is really concerned about the patients health. Video: In conversation with Manoj Pahwa, Vinay Pathak and Harsh Chhaya Harsh Chhaya sets up the premise and lets the drama unfold. It works initially when families from small towns find Mumbai really tough to navigate. There are hilarious scenes between Manoj and Seema Pahwa, his wife in the film. In fact, Seema Pahwa adds charm to the drama. Completely indifferent to the ongoing crisis, she keeps pushing her own agenda against everybodys will. She is cheeky, manipulative and brazenly funny. Manoj Pahwa and Vinay Pathak stay away from slapstick humour, but they are never allowed to provide enough thrust to the relationship drama. Whenever a scene starts to gain momentum, the director decides to switch to another. It also suffers from the problem of plenty. There are at least five plots jostling for screen space. In the end, none of them accumulates enough steam. The director begins well but soon resorts to a predictable storyline. There are sequences that divert the attention from the central plot -- its understandable though. He couldnt keep playing inside the same space for a long time. Sanah Kapoor, Shahid Kapoors real life sister and Manoj Pahwas daughter in the film, is the only one who gets a chance to showcase her talent. Thanks to more screen time, she gradually adjusts to the premise. Her track stands out despite cliched writing. By the time climax kicks in, Khajoor Pe Atke has turned messy and is all about mistimed phone calls. You know, the type when characters trapped in tragic circumstances keep receiving phone calls from people all over the world. You have been there, seen that. The goofiness of the situation keeps the viewers entertained for first few minutes, but then it gets stretched to a point where you cant even think of smiling. The endless wait for that one moment of resolution is the hallmark of Khajoor Pe Atke. Despite a promising theme, Khajoor Pe Atke is somewhere lost in translation. Thanks to Manoj and Seema Pahwas terrific comic timing, the audience bears to sit through this 120-minute botched up relationship drama. Interact with Rohit Vats at Twitter/@nawabjha ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Two people armed with choppers barged into a jewellery store at Kamothe, tied up the owner and took away cash and jewellery worth Rs66 lakh on Thursday evening. The entire operation took 40 minutes. The store owner said that one the accused had come to the store the previous day as a customer. According to the police, the two entered Balaji Jewellers at Tirupati Complex at Sector 36, around 9.36 pm when the owner of the store Sanjay Jain, 36, was about to close it. Jain was alone at the store then. One of the accused entered the store carrying a bag. The second man entered after a few minutes and they suddenly closed the store from inside. They took out choppers and threatened Jain, said Ashok Naik, senior police inspector of Kamothe police station. The duo tied Jain and sealed his mouth with sellotape. When Jain tried to raise an alarm, they attacked him with choppers. Jain sustained injuries on his hands, he said. They removed the jewellery displayed in showcases. They took 2 kgs of gold jewellery worth around Rs65 lakh. They also took away Rs1 lakh cash, Naik said. Jain managed to press the alarm button which alerted the people of nearby areas. However, the accused had fled the spot by then. There were CCTV cameras installed at the store. The two took away the DVR of the cameras. A CCTV footage from a nearby building shows the culprits leaving the store at 10.05 pm. They committed the crime in 40 minutes, a crime branch official said. While the first accused was around 30 to 32 years, the second one is around 28 to 30 years, the police said. Jain told us that one of the accused had come to store on Wednesday with another person. They had spent some time at the store and also purchased a gold ring worth Rs1,200. So it appears that they had come to do a recce, Naik said. Jain has been admitted to a hospital. An FIR under sections 452, 342, 349 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against three accused. There were CCTV cameras installed in the nearby buildings. However, they had switched off most of lights by then. So we are not getting clear visuals of the culprits, the crime branch official said. A CCTV footage shows the culprits walking off in two different directions. They might have kept their vehicle at a distance and walked to it with the looted jewellery, he said. Kamothes Sector 36 has lot of housing societies. Tirupati Complex, where the store is located, is also a housing society with shops on the ground floor. The Kamothe police and the Navi Mumbai crime branch are investigating the case. Seven teams have been formed to search for the accused. In a move that may give fillip to redevelopment of slums on defence land, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to send a formal proposal in this regard. The defence ministry also allowed the state government to start slum mapping before redevelopment. Most defence land parcels are in Santacruz and Colaba. Sitharaman also directed defence ministry officials to provide permission for public and utilities projects involving defence land. She gave an in-principal approval for two small land parcels to be used for a tunnel for the Metro-3 project. The decisions were taken in a meeting chaired by Sitharaman and Fadnavis. The chief minister is keen on redeveloping slums in Mumbai. The redevelopment of slums of defence land has been pending for many years owing to resistance from the defence ministry. The issue was first discussed in the western zonal council meeting headed by Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Ahead of the monsoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has identified 17 spots where work on the underground Metro has disturbed sewage and stormwater drains, which may, in turn, lead to flooding in case of heavy rain. The civic body has ordered the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRC) to fix the damage by May 31, failing which they could be penalised. The stormwater drains department of BMC said the ongoing construction work for Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3 has left the 17 spots, mostly in south Mumbai, congested. VH Khandkar, chief engineer of the department, told HT, MMRCs piling work has disturbed many of our utility lines. The work is very slow and not up to the mark. After inspections, we have given them directions on remedy. I have written to the MMRC and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), asking them to rectify the arrangement of the utility lines by May 31. Another official said, MMRC has already missed the April 30 deadline and may be penalised if they fail to complete the work before the monsoon. Some of the spots identified by the BMC are Bandra-Kurla Complex, SEEPZ, Marol Naka, Cuffe Parade, Churchgate station, Hutatma Chowk, Acharya Atre Chowk and Worli Naka, which are usually not prone to flooding. The civic body will inspect these spots again before June. However, a spokesperson for MMRC said, There is no delay in the work. All pre-monsoon measures will be carried out before the deadline. On Wednesday, mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar had said that in case Mumbai floods this monsoon, Metro work, and not BMC, is to blame. The state governments metro authorities will be responsible, he said. Hundreds of flights that fly in and out of the Mumbai airport every day were delayed on Friday, as the airport upgraded its Instrument Landing System (ILS) that guides flights. The Mumbai airport handles 945 flight movements daily, and 46 an hour. Usually, flights take off and land on the main runway 27, but owing to the 12-hour system upgrade on Friday, airlines used the secondary runway which has a lower capacity. Further, the minimum visibility pilots need to land at the Mumbai airport with the ILS is as low as 800 metres, but without it, they need a visibility of 2,400 metres. This means pilots have to rely on an older navigation system to take off and land, and as a result, airlines and passengers reported delays of up to an hour all through Friday. According to flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service that shows real-time aircraft flight information on a map, 230 arriving flights and 350 departing flights were delayed. The 12-hour upgradation, from 11 am to 11 pm, began on Thursday and will go on till June 5, an airport official said. Several airlines, including Jet Airways and Air Vistara , posted messages on social media informing passengers of the delay. Airport officials said work on the ILS was on, but added that the delay on Friday morning was because of changing wind speeds and directions, and not the technical upgrade. MIAL said while one flight had to be cancelled, no flight was diverted or asked to go-around. Passengers can expect delay of around 30 minutes until the ILS is upgraded and made available. A new localiser will be placed with more antennas than the current one that has 14. This will help in more precision to the flight movements, explained a senior airport official, on condition of anonymity. In another example of citizens power, residents have taken up an initiative to save the pond at Sector 35 in Kharghar one of the largest fresh water bodies in the city. On May 12, around 25 members of a citizens group Lake Citizens Group took up cleaning of the pond. The pond is not able to hold water during monsoon. Citizens removed the waste which was dumped into the pond. The collected trash was enough to fill two mini trucks. The next drive has been scheduled for Sunday, May 20. The drive was spearheaded by Kharghar resident Sudhir Patel, 48. Patel was irked due to the apathy shown by the planning body, City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), and wanted to draw its attention towards the issue through the clean-up drive. He hopes that Cidco would now take action. In order to highlight the issue, we have started the drive. Although we will have planned more drives, the officials should also be reminded that it is their duty to ensure that the pond is clean, said Patel. The waste removed out from the pond over a period of time is a clear indication that officials have deliberately turned a blind eye towards the issue, he said. Read more: Debris dumping shrinks huge pond in Navi Mumbai by 75% The group handed over a letter to Cidco officials who promised action to ensure that dumping of waste is stopped. Vilas Bankar, executive engineer Cidco, said, There is no plan to clean the pond before the rains. But we have kept it in our proposal. The Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) had provided residents with logistics for the clean-up drive. They said they would continue to support the residents in their initiatives as well, authorities said. Deepali Labhe, 45, who lives in Sector 35, said that she keeps a watch on the pond from her fifth floor house. The pond is in front of my building and I can see that it is dying.Vehicles are being washed every day at the pond, leading to more pollution. There is no marine life now, said Labhe. Aaba Vithal Ranaware, 57, a Juinagar resident and an environmentalist, said, I have seen the citys transformation. There was a time when the city had plenty of small ponds near Parsik hill in Kharghar. The ponds would get filled with water during monsoon, and the water stock would be available even during summer. Blame it on concretisation and apathy of authorities and citizens, we are left with very few water bodies now. These are also on the verge of dying, Ranaware said. It is a positive step taken by the residents and hopefully it will yield positive result, said Ranaware, who has been a Navi Mumbai resident for more than four decades. Lake Citizens Group had also taken up sapling plantation drive across Hyde Park road in Kharghar in 2017. They have been taking care of the saplings ever since. The group intends to plant more saplings around the periphery of the pond to keep a check on rampant dumping. The plantation would make sure that natural habitat of flora and fauna thrive here. Residents hope to see migratory birds visiting the pond again. It is time to emphasise on the need to clean water bodies. Though we have lost much of the pond, I am hopeful that we would be able to revive it, said, Amarnath Singh, 35, a sector 35 resident. The group needs Cidcos help in the coming days as they would need JCB to dig out debris from the pond. Your travel time between Mumbai and Pune is set to reduce by 25 minutes in the next three years, as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has shortlisted two firms to build the 13.3-km link between Khalapur and Kusgaon on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Currently, road travel between the two cities takes around 3 hours. The plan, termed capacity augmentation, aims to create tunnels and additional lanes to reduce snarls on the expressway. The link will start at Khopoli through an interchange to Kusgaon at the Pune-end of the expressway. Once the link is built, motorists heading to Pune can avoid the ghat section, the most critical part where heavy vehicles slow down the traffic. The work on the project is expected to start after the monsoon. Afcons Infrastructure and Hyderabad-based Navyuga Engineering have emerged as the lowest bidders for the project that has been divided in two packages. The bids, which were opened on Thursday evening, are above the MSRDCs estimated cost of 5,300 crore. For package one, which entails construction of two tunnels and a small portion of the viaduct, Navyuga Engineering Ltd was the lowest bidder. Our estimated cost was 2,071 crore, while the bid received was for 2,696 crore. Afcons Infrastructure was the lowest bidder for package two of the project, which entails construction of the viaduct. Our estimated cost was 1,243 crore and the bid was worth 1491.52 crore, said a senior MSRDC official. The project will be implemented on engineering, procurement and construction model. The funding will be arranged by pledging toll to financial institutions, senior MSRDC officials said. The bids are higher than our estimation, but these were made around two years ago. MSRDC board will decide if there is a need to negotiate. The companies are expected to get the letter of acceptance (LoA) by the end of the month, the official added. MSRDC still has to obtain environmental clearance for 74.7 hectares of forest land needed for the link. In a bid to be better prepared this monsoon, System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) will install 15 additional automatic weather systems (AWS) in Mumbai and one in Panvel. These will provide location-specific weather details, which should help Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) be better prepared in case of extremely heavy rainfall. An AWS provides information related to rainfall, wind speed, temperature, humidity and wind direction. The 16 new AWS do not have air quality sensors and will not be able to provide air quality index (AQI), but can give location specific weather details this monsoon, said Gufran Beig, project director, SAFAR. Mumbai already has 10 AWS spread across the city. Officials from the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said they had installed an additional 15 automatic weather systems (AWS) in Mumbai and one in Panvel over the past year. In addition to the 25 AWS in Mumbai, the IMD has its weather stations at Colaba and Santacruz. According to the IMD, Mumbai has one of the largest weather monitoring networks in the country. However, the IMD has not been able to provide inadequate warning and advisory in 2017. On August 29, it predicted extremely heavy rainfall in two locations, but the city came to a grinding halt because it received over 200mm of rain at over 20 locations. This year, BMC and IMD have been at loggerheads. BMC had asked IMD to provide warnings specific to an area, time and intensity of rainfall. It also asked the IMD to ensure the Doppler Radar was in working condition and issue de-warning messages. A senior civic official said, IMD had said that they cannot provide warning specific to an area. IMDs deputy director general for the western region, KS Hosalikar, said, We are already providing weather information daily, and during monsoon, four-hour to 24-hour location specific updates will be provided to BMC. The data will be indicative of any remedial actions necessary if excess rain is being recorded at any particular location. This data will also be available in the public domain through SAFARs website, he said. In yet another safety scare, a family had a lucky escape on Wednesday after a nearby house was damaged during the blasting of Ulwe hill for the Navi Mumbai airport project in Panvel. Earlier, the blasting had caused landslides, damaged houses and injured a few people. This time, a boulder flew into a house and made a gaping hole in it at 1.15pm, said residents of Varcha Owle village near Ulwe hill. Villagers and the contractor have filed cross police complaints. Vilas Gharat, 60, whose house was hit, said, We have two adjacent houses. After the blasting, a huge stone fell on the roof and went through the wall. My mother, who was sleeping near the wall, and children, who were having lunch in the other room, had narrowly survived. I was resting after lunch. It was very scary. Do they want to kill us? Cant we even sleep in peace? Will they compensate for our deaths? questioned Gharats mother Ambubai, 80. She added, We are ready to move from our villages but not until all our rehabilitation demands are met. The blasting work should stop till then. Angry villagers reached the blasting site and stopped the work. The women and staff of the contractor reportedly came to blows. The villagers later went to Panvel city police station, demanding the work be stopped. They were initially stopped from entering the police station. Later, a complaint was filed by the villagers against the contractor, who also lodged a cross complain. Vinod Chavan, senior inspector of Panvel city police station, said, We have registered two non-cognisable offences. An engineer said he was assaulted by some women. The police have provided a security cover to the site. Ketan Dattaram Patil, 31, a resident of Sion Koliwada, was found dead near his residence on Friday. The Sion police suspected it to be a suicide case and said he may have shot himself with a pistol. While the police have registered a case of accidental death, they are also investigating if Ketan was murdered. According to the police, the victims brother, Mohnish Dattaram Patil, called the control room around 1.30am on Friday, informing them that the victim was found lying in a pool of blood. A local, who was going to the public toilet found Patils body lying three huts away from his residence, and then informed the family members. After Monishs call, the police reached the spot and found that Ketan had been shot in the temple and a country pistol was lying next to him, said a police official. Police officials recovered two used cartridges and one live round from the spot. If he had shot one round, how can we get two used rounds at the spot. This is what we are probing, said N Ambika, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 4. We have collected the evidence from the spot and will send it to the forensic lab on Saturday for further leads. She added that the pistol had not been legally registered.Ketan resided with his parents and younger brother. His family runs paan shop in the locality. During investigations, we found that on the day of the incident, Ketan had thrown a party for all his locality friends. They had drinks together. We have taken the statements of all those who were present at Ketans residence that day, said a police officer. Three people were arrested and a 15-year-old was detained by the police for assaulting a 23-year-old, following a brawl over a petty issue in Chembur on early Thursday. The police have arrested Vijay Godke, 26, Ashwin Sable, 22, and Kundan Godke, 25. Two more accused in the case are on the run. According to Chembur police, one Darshan Shetty, 19, was riding his bike at DSouza Wadi in Chembur when he brushed past the accused, who were walking in the lane. The accused asked Shetty why he cut past them, said Jayprakash Bhosale, senior police inspector, Chembur police station. The situation quickly escalated into an argument, after which on Jason Dsouza intervened to stop. The accused, however, refused to budge and began to physically assault Dsouza. One of them kicked him on the chest and then attacked him with a sharp weapon, inuring his ear. DSouza approached the Chembur police, who registered a case under charges of attempt to murder and causing grievous hurt. This is the third such incident that has taken place in the recent past. On Monday, three people sustained injuries at Mankhurd road after a fight broke out between two groups of people. Ramesh Sasane, 19, was riding his bike, with two on the pillion seat. The bike then dashed into two pedestrians, Mehfooz Khan and Mustafa Shaikh. Shaikh and Khan told Sasane to ride properly, leading to an argument which soon resulted into a physical fight. After Ramesh raised an alarm, his father, Sanjay, 46, and brother, Pradeep, 21, who live in the vicinity rushed to the spot. A case was registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian penal code (IPC) against Sanjay, Ramesh and Pradeep. All three have been arrested. On May 9, an 18-year-old was arrested and three minors detained for allegedly killing a man in a brawl over boarding a taxi at 2.30am near Chembur colony bus stop on RC Road. Three men Rambabu Mahadev Savita, 23, Surendra Natha Singh, 36, and Brij Singh, 23 were seated in their taxi, and were on their way to Chembur from South Mumbai. At the same time, Krishna Boina, 18, and three minor boys, two aged 17 and one aged 16, were waiting at RC road to board a taxi to Kurla. When the taxi arrived at RC road, the teenagers were waiting for the three men to disembark. However, the three were in an inebriated condition and were taking too long to pay the driver. The teenagers asked them to hurry up, which led to an argument. The main accused, Boina, picked up a paver block and smashed it on to Surendras head, killing him. Police personnel couldnt help but smile when an official of the Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (KSDSU) approached them with a demand that they lodge an FIR against monkeys that raised hell in their accounts section on Wednesday. University staffers, however, insisted that the manner in which a veritable army of two dozen simians ransacked a section of the office around 10.30 that morning was no joking matter. The matter is now under investigation. According to those familiar with the incident, the monkeys scrambled down a ladder from the terrace while the office was being cleaned at the start of the day. Even as the employees fled in utter panic, they proceeded to tear files and ledges kept on the tables. The office reportedly looked like a war zone by the time the attackers were through. The vice-chancellor and the pro-vice-chancellor visited the scene soon after the incident and ordered that its premises be locked, so as to preserve physical evidence of the simian attack for a police investigation. The monkeys, however, were far from done. Sources said that no sooner had KSDSU estate officer Awdhesh Choudhary set off with an application addressed to the local police that he was accosted by four simians on the office corridor. He raised the alarm when one of the animals allegedly caught his leg, bringing his colleagues to the rescue. Choudhary could not be reached for comment. KSDSU vice-chancellor Sarvanarayan Jha said some ledgers kept in the account section were damaged, but not seriously. We could see groups of monkeys at a distance upon our visit to the spot, the vice-chancellor said, denying any conspiracy angle to the incident. The office was locked immediately to preserve the scene of the rampage, he added. Meanwhile, KSDSU police station house officer Ajay Kumar Jha denied claims that they made light of the incident. How could we lodge an FIR against monkeys? We have lodged a complaint and entered it into the police diary instead. We will investigate the matter, he said. A newborn baby girl, who was bundled up in a polythene bag for almost six hours by her father to be sold, has proved to be a fighter, but is looking for the warmth of a mothers bosom, according to doctors who are treating her in a Mohali hospital. Hours after she was born, her father Jaspal Singh put her in a polythene bag and tried to sell her outside the Civil Hospital in Phase 6, Mohali on Monday night. Dr Jaideep Brar, on emergency duty at the hospital, alerted the police when Jaspal approached him and said he wanted to sell the infant. Jaspal was arrested and sent to judicial custody on Tuesday, and the baby was admitted to the hospital. Weighing 3 kgs, with thick black hair, the little girl has been kept in a warmer in the Sick New Born Care Unit (SNBCU) of the hospital. She is a fighter in the real sense as she has survived death, says Dr Tejwir Singh Shimar, a paediatrician treating her. She looks for the warmth of a mothers bosom and is very active, but cries a lot, says Manpreet Cheema, the in-charge of the nursery. She is being artificially fed and smiles beautifully when shes picked up and cuddled. When she was brought to the hospital, doctors had doubts she would survive. She could hardly breathe and as she had been in the bag for hours, she was put on oxygen, Shimar explained. As nobody knew about the condition of her birth, she was given antibiotics to ward off infections. We have urged the police to trace the mother so that the child can be breastfed, the doctor said. Her mother, Manjit was taken to GMCH in Chandigarh, Sector 32, according to a neighbour who did not want to be named. However, police have not yet contacted her in GMCH. Some staff in Mohali civil hospital have taken to calling the newborn Baby while others refer to her as Manjits baby, because the tag on her right leg carries her mothers name. Ironically, if the father Jaspals version of the story is to be believed, it was Manjit who had suggested that he sell her as they could not afford a third child. The couple has two sons, aged 10 and five. Adoption Requests Pour In Meanwhile, requests for adoption are pouring in. We have received about 10 queries regarding adoption, Dr Shimar said. Neighbours of Jaspal and Manjit have said they believe the infant was delivered at home without even the help of a midwife. Jaspal had helped deliver the child as the family did not want to inform anyone about the birth, a neighbour told HT. The Chandigarh police are all set to build memorials in schools dedicated to policemen killed in the line of duty in recent years. This is part of a Central government initiative to honour the sacrifices made by policemen, and inspire the younger generation. As of now, the Chandigarh police are planning to build six monuments, five in Punjab and one in Himachal Pradesh. Metal busts of the slain men will be installed in their schools with plaques highlighting their supreme sacrifice. UT policemen from Punjab who were killed on duty include inspectors Sucha Singh and Jagjit Singh, sub inspector (SI) Amarjit Singh, assistant sub inspectors (ASI) Amarjit Singh and Lalu Ram. ASI Amin Chand belonged to Himachal Pradesh. A senior UT police official said a reminder was sent to Punjab education secretary Krishan Kumar today, seeking permission to raise the memorials in the schools of the martyred policemen. A letter in this regard was sent to him some weeks ago. The expenditure for the memorials will be borne by the UT police. Inspector Sucha Singh, an alumnus of the Government School in Mullanpur, Mohali, was stabbed to death by a criminal on June 8, 2013, when he was on night duty near the Sector 43 bus stand. Amin Chand of Panial village in Kangra district, who studied at the Government School in Lunj, was killed in a bomb blast while accompanying the then senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sumedh Singh Saini on August 29, 1991. ASI Lalu Ram was also killed in the same blast. Inspector Jagjit Singh, who studied at the Government High School in Abohar and Government College, Sector 11, Chandigarh, was killed in a terrorist attack on the intervening night of July 16 and 17 in 1988. SI Amarjit Singh was killed in a terrorist attack on February 25,1992. ASI Amarjit Singh, an alumnus of Khasla college in Garhdiwala, Hoshiarpur, was shot in the line of duty on December 8, 1989. Happy with the news, his widow, Sukhwinder Kaur said, If it materialises it will give him his rightful place after 28 years in the police force. People, especially from his native place, can remember his sacrifice and can draw inspiration from it. Sukhwinder has two daughters who are married and a son who is settled abroad. Amin Chands son, inspector Narinder Patial, now posted in a special operational cell, said: Its a great initiative by the police authorities and the government. It will inspire the youth to contribute to the society and make sacrifices for their country. Moreover, putting up the memorials in schools will inculcate in children the desire to give back to society. The memorials, said Chandigarh director general of police Tajender Singh Luthra, will be a symbol of inspiration for schoolchildren. The blueprint is ready and now the process of installation of the memorials will begin. We plan to complete them before October 21 this year. Scholarships of Rs 11,000 each are already being awarded to each topper in the martyrs schools, Luthra added. Anushka Shetty is believed to take things slow and is not signing every project thats coming her way. Last seen on screen in Bhaagamathie, in which she played an IAS officer, shes believed to have signed her next project after much deliberation. If the industry grapevine is anything to go by, Anushka will next team up with actor Gopichand for an action based-script. The duo had previously worked together in Lakshyam and Souryam, which was directed by Siva of Vivegam and Vedalam fame. Its worth mentioning that Anushka was initially in talks for Sivas next project Viswasam with Ajith. However, the golden opportunity eventually went to Nayantara, who jumped at it. While not much information is available at the moment about Gopichands project; it is learnt that it will be directed by Jayendra, who is currently helming Kalyan Ram and Tamannaah Bhatia starrer Naa Nuvve. The regular shooting of this project will commence as soon as Gopichand wraps up his present commitments. Both Anushka and Gopichand have signed on the dotted lines. The rest of the cast and crew will be finalized soon. Its going to be an out-and-and commercial film. The team is finalizing the shooting schedule as per the availability of both the lead actors, a source told HT. Basking in the success of Bhaagamathie, which was a runaway hit, Anushka is in talks for a couple of more projects. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Veteran actor-director Sachin Pilgaonkar returned to Marathi cinema after a gap of three years with Rakesh Sarangs Ranangan. He was last seen in Subodh Bhaves magnum opus Katyar Kaljat Ghusali (2015). So, what about the film appealed to him to say yes? To be very honest, it was my son Swwapnil (Joshi, actor). He does everything with conviction and I have full faith in him. He called me regarding Ranangan and I trust him completely. He cannot go wrong. I saw the script much later because I had to, to know what I have to perform, says the Ekluti Ek (2013) director. Interestingly, the films director Rakesh Sarang is a close friend too. You can imagine how it is working with close people. The comfort zone is fantastic and we had a great time shooting. Sachin is also concerned about the pace with which films are being churned out in the Marathi film industry. The number of films are increasing, which is not a very good sign. The number of films does not make an industry big. What makes an industry big is the number of successful films. We should try and increase the number of successful films, he says. He adds that people also need to give time for films. This whole trend of three days of screen play, seven days of dialogue writing and immediate shooting should stop. You have to give it serious time and thought. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Actor Nagarjuna and filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma have reunited after two decades for upcoming Telugu action flick Officer. Nagarjuna plays a fearless police officer in the film, which is gearing for release next month. On Thursday, Varma revealed that Nags character is inspired from the life story of IPS officer KM Prasanna. While many reports suggested that the film is loosely based on Liam Neeson starrer Taken, Varma finally shed some light, putting rumours to rest. Revealing the inspiration behind making Officer, Varma wrote on Twitter: The Story of Officer is based upon true life IPS officer K M Prasanna from Karnataka, who was appointed as the chief of a SIT (Special Investigation Team) to investigate a highly reputed cop in Mumbai. Its the details that IPS officer K M Prasanna personally told me in 2010 that finally became the story of Officer. Nagarjuna is playing Mr Prasanna, who at present is the Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Mumbai. The Story of @iamnagarjuna s OFFICER is based upon a true life IPS officer K M Prasanna from Karnataka , who was appointed as the chief of a SIT (Special Investigation Team) to investigate a highly reputed cop in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/KojJUmzbtl Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 17, 2018 Varma went on to add that Prasanna shares an uncanny resemblance to Nagarjuna. Comparing my personal interactions with both, I observed that they share a very similar demeanor and strength of mind, which I tried to capture in Officer. K M Prasanna does bear an uncanny resemblance to @iamnagarjuna ..Comparing my personal interactions with both, I observed that they share a very similar demeanour and strength of mind,which I tried to capture in #Officer pic.twitter.com/jNJZENxLzG Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 17, 2018 During the launch of the project last November, Varma said in a statement: I am extremely excited that I am doing a film with Nagarjuna after nearly 25 years but contrary to some uninformed media speculations, this new film is nothing to do with Shiva, neither in character nor in story content, Varma had posted on his Facebook page. Predominantly shot in Mumbai, the film also stars Myra Sareen in a crucial role. The first look poster, which was released not long ago, featured an angry looking Nagarjuna flashing a gun. According to the industry grapevine, the film might have a simultaneous release in Hindi. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Actor Chiyaan Vikram, who was last seen on screen in Pongal release Sketch, will return as the foul-mouthed cop Aarusaamy in Saamy Square, the sequel to Saamy. The project marks the reunion of Vikram and director Hari after a decade. Over the last few months, the films shooting has been taking place across various places in the country. The first glimpse of the film in the form of a motion poster was released on Thursday evening and going by the visuals, it can be said that the story starts in Tirunelveli and ends in New Delhi. Saamy Square is a sequel of the 2003 Tamil hit Saamy. (YouTube Grab) The motion poster features Vikram seated on what appears to be a milestone. On one side, it is written Tirunelveli and as the camera pans, we can read New Delhi written on the other side. The motion poster has been received very positively and in just over 12 hours it is closing in on half a million views. If everything goes as planned, the makers are hopeful of coming to the screens this Ramzan season. Fresh of the success of Mahanati, Keerthy Suresh will be seen playing the leading lady. Trisha was also part of the project briefly, but she walked out citing creative indifferences. The film features Bobby Simhaa as the antagonist. It is rumored that he comes as the son of Kota Srinivasa Raos from the original. The film has music by Devi Sri Prasad and is being bankrolled by Shibu Thameens, who had produced Vikrams Iru Mugan. We get the sense that the film begins in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu and will end in New Delhi. (YouTube Grab) Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Romanian theater director and filmmaker Lucian Pintilie, who emigrated after falling out with the communists and then made a career in France and the US, died at 84. The Elias Hospital in Bucharest said Pintilie, who inspired generations of Romanian actors, died late Wednesday after being admitted over the weekend. US theater director Andrei Serban, who was born in Romania, told Pintilie last year: You were the first person to give me the courage right from the start, that with courage and theater you can do anything. Pintilie directed plays at the prestigious Bulandra Theater in Bucharest in the 60s and early 70s. However, his work was censored by the communists and one film was personally banned by Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu. That film, Reenactment, considered a Romanian classic, was released in 1968 and withdrawn shortly afterwards. It was screened in Cannes in 1970 to critical acclaim and shown again in Romania in 1990 shortly after communism ended. Based on a Romanian novel depicting real-life events, the movie illustrates the incompetence and abuse of power by some officials. It tells of two delinquents embroiled in a drunken brawl who are detained by a prosecutor who then releases them on the condition that they re-enact their fight in a restaurant for an educational film. After leaving Romania, Pintilie moved to France and directed plays at the Theatre National de Chaillot and the Theatre de la Ville in Paris, where he staged Henrik Ibsens The Wild Duck and Anton Chekhovs Three Sisters. Pintilie also directed operas in France, Britain and Italy and plays at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the Arena Stage in Washington. Pintilie was married to Romanian actress Clody Bertola for 42 years. She died in 2007. Funeral plans were not immediately known. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Anecdotes, humour and memories of the life and times of the late Khushwant Singh flew thick and fast as his friends, family and admirers gathered here on Thursday for a literature festival, with all agreeing that he was indeed a nice man to know. Led by his son, Rahul Singh, the seventh edition of the hitherto Kasauli-based Khushwant Singh Lit-fest travelled to London, where one of the most known individuals in contemporary public life spent years, first as a student and after Indias independence, as a diplomat in the Indian high commission. Rahul Singh said: England was very much part of my fathers life. He imbibed British values here. The lit-fest mirrors his passions and concerns for the environment, educating the girl child, and improving India-Pakistan relations. The half-day event began with him recalling two memorable passages from his father, including one titled Why I am an Indian, that, he noted, were not only appreciated by many, but also infuriated some. A panel discussion underway at the Khushwant Singh Lit-fest in London. (HT Photo) Khushwant Singh, who died in March 2014 aged 99, mentored many journalists and writers during his working life that spanned journalism, literature, law and politics. His many roles included editing Hindustan Times. In a session titled KS: Not a Nice Man to Know, speakers recalled their experiences and interactions with him, including the famous notice outside his house in Delhis Sujan Singh Park, which cautioned visitors not to ring the bell unless they were invited. Imtiaz Dharker recited a new poem on him, while novelist Jaishree Mishra recalled Singhs review of her debut novel, Ancient Promises and he introducing her to Delhis literary circle. Neelima Dalmia Adhar, daughter of industrialist Ramkrishna Dalmia, recalled Singhs long association with her father during his time as editor of the erstwhile Illustrated Weekly of India, while raconteur Seema Anand narrated one of Singhs inter-faith stories, and said she missed him the most while working on a book on erotic literature of the east. The lit-fest at the May Fair Hotel in central London included contributions from Pakistani writer Moni Mohsin, Shrabani Basu and Tessa Blackstone in a session on Women: A 100 Years Later, when concern was also expressed over the status of women in the Indian subcontinent. Other speakers included Meghnad Desai, Mihir Bose, Zareer Masani, Charles Allen, John Keay and Rosie Lewellyn-Jones. Academic Rachel Dwyer, who compered the event, announced that a tree would be planted on behalf of the speakers in the periphery of the Sariska Tiger Reserve. Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the centre of this years Facebook privacy row, filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in a New York court late on Thursday. Cambridge Analytica LLC listed assets in the range of $100,001 to $500,000 and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million. Cambridge Analytica and its British parent SCL Elections Ltd said earlier this month that they would shut down immediately and begin bankruptcy proceedings after suffering a sharp drop in business. The company, whose activities in consulting on political campaigns in India, the US and elsewhere hit the headlines in March, is also the focus of an investigation by the UK Parliaments committee for digital, culture, media and sport. Cambridge Analytica announced on May 2 it will begin bankruptcy proceedings after losing clients and facing mounting legal fees because of the scandal over reports that it harvested personal data from 87 million Facebook users beginning in 2014. The firm was hired by President Donald Trumps 2016 US election campaign. Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who was poisoned by a nerve agent in Britain more than two months ago, has been discharged from hospital, Englands health service said on Friday. Sergei Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russias military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack and Western governments including the United States have expelled over 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and has retaliated in kind. The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But their health began to improve rapidly, and Yulia was discharged last month. It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital, the hospitals Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Britain and international chemicals weapons inspectors have said the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. Russia has denied Britains charges of involvement in the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. It has suggested Britain carried out the attack itself to stoke anti-Russian hysteria. Frances interior minister says authorities have thwarted a possible attack using ricin or explosives and arrested two brothers. Interior minister Gerard Collomb told BFM television on Friday that authorities were tracking extremist activity on social networks and identified two young men preparing to commit an attack with explosives or ricin. He said the young men were of Egyptian origin but didnt indicate their nationality or provide other details about where or when they were arrested. He said the men notably had tutorials on how to make poison using ricin. No other information was immediately released. The announcement came days after an Islamic extremist stabbed five people in the heart of Paris, and as the country is still on edge after a string of deadly attacks in recent years. Veteran spy Gina Haspel will become the first female director of the CIA after six Democrats joined Republicans in a Senate confirmation vote on Thursday that overrode concerns about her role in the spy agencys harsh interrogation program after 9/11. The 54-45 vote split both parties, and the margin was the closest for a CIA nominee in the nearly seven decades that a nod from the Senate has been required. Haspel, who has spent nearly all of her 33-year CIA career in undercover positions, is the first career operations officer to be confirmed since William Colby in 1973. Haspel, 61, is a native of Kentucky but grew up around the world as the daughter of an Air Force serviceman. She worked in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe and was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year. She worked under former CIA director Mike Pompeo until President Donald Trump moved him to secretary of state. Haspel was backed by many in the CIA rank-and-file and was robustly supported by senior intelligence officials, including six former CIA directors and three former national intelligence directors, who said she earned the chance to take the helm of the nations premier spy agency. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said Haspel has integrity and both frontline and executive intelligence expertise. We salute Director Haspel, a trailblazer who today becomes the first woman to lead the CIA, he said. Her opponents argued that it wasnt right to promote someone who supervised a covert detention site in Thailand where terror suspects were waterboarded, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning. They said the US needed to slam closed what was one of the CIAs darkest chapters that tainted Americas image with allies abroad. Several senators said Haspel was not forthcoming in answering questions about her role in the torture program or the CIAs decision to destroy video-taped evidence of the sessions. They also had questions about her rejection of the now-banned techniques. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a floor speech that Haspel offered up almost the classic Washington non-apology. He asked how the Senate could take seriously Haspels conversion on torture? Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the world was watching the confirmation vote, which he called a referendum on torture. He said the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques the CIA used at black sites, including slamming detainees against walls and confining them in coffin-shaped boxes, amounted to government-sanctioned torture. Haspel has vowed never to restart such a program and says her strong moral compass would prevent her from carrying out any presidential order she found objectionable. That was enough to coax some senators into the yes column. But Leahy said he still questioned her judgment and lamented that she has never publicly condemned torture as immoral. He wondered aloud what Haspel would do if shes asked to do something that goes against Americas core values. Should we trust that she will have the moral compass to stand up and say No? he asked. Based on what weve seen, I do not. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the nomination was not just about Haspel, but the US grappling with its past mistakes. The bottom line is this: No one has ever been held accountable for the torture program and I do not believe those who were intimately involved in it deserve to lead the agency, Feinstein said before casting her vote against Haspel. Since Trump nominated Haspel, her confirmation has been clouded by debate over the CIAs former interrogation program. A protester in the Senate visitor gallery briefly disrupted speeches ahead of the vote with shouts against the CIA. Three Republicans opposed her: Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is battling cancer and did not vote; Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky; and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona. Six Democrats, however, were heartened by her pledge to never restart harsh interrogation programs, even if Trump requested. They said they voted for Haspel because they thought her experience was essential in confronting todays threats from US adversaries like Russia, North Korea, China and Iran. Among Democrats supporting Haspel were several up for re-election this fall in states where Trump is popular, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida. Also voting yes were Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking member of the intelligence committee. This has not been an easy decision, Warner said, adding that hed met and talked with Haspel many times in the past several weeks. He said hes convinced that Haspel could and would stand up to Trump, who has voiced support for waterboarding and has said torture works. After the vote, human rights groups quickly issued statements denouncing the confirmation and the now-defunct program. The Senate has now rewarded that atrocious conduct by promoting someone that reportedly administered it to lead one of the governments most powerful agencies, said Daphne Eviatar at Amnesty International USA. The image of Savita Halappanavar an Indian-origin dentist who died in Galway in 2012 after being refused an abortion due to strict Irish laws has been splashed across towns and streets before a landmark referendum on May 25 on liberalising Ireland's abortion rules. The laws currently impose a near-total ban, forcing thousands to fly to England and other countries to terminate pregnancies. The referendum is to repeal the eighth amendment to Irelands Constitution, introduced in 1983, which "acknowledges the right to life of the unborn". The campaign to repeal abortion laws gained momentum after the widely publicised case of Halappanavar , a 31-year-old dentist who came to the hospital 17weeks pregnant and complaining of backpain. She was found to be miscarrying. She and her family requested the pregnancy be terminated several times at University Hospital Galway, but were told that Ireland is a Catholic country and the laws prohibited termination while the foetus is alive. Halappanavar died of septicaemia, a bloodstream infection, a week after her miscarriage. Her smiling image is on one of the prominent posters used by the Yes campaign group, Rosa. Many Irish women based in Britain and elsewhere are reported to be travelling to the country to vote in the referendum, which is the sixth in the last 35 years. Earlier referendums led to changes considered minor, but the May 25 round asks the Irish to decide whether one of the worlds most restrictive abortion regimes should be liberalised once and for all, or if status quo is maintained. As an intense debate continues over abortion in the country, Halappanavars Karnataka-based father, Andanappa Yalagi, supported the Yes campaign and its use of his daughters image. The family believes she would have been alive if abortions were allowed. Yalagi told Irish Times, I will watch this vote. I hope the people of Ireland will vote yes for abortion, for the ladies of Ireland and the people of Ireland. My daughter, she lost her life because of this abortion law, because of the diagnosis, and she could not have an abortion. He added, We are happy people in Ireland remember Savita, and remember her when they are talking about abortionIt is a long time. It is six years, and the law still has not been changed. I am surprised change has not been implemented. I request that all Irish people vote Yes for this law to change. Social change used to come slowly in Ireland, Irish Times journalist Kitty Holland wrote in The Guardian this week. Now, it cannot seem to come fast enough. Three years ago this month, the Republic voted in favour of same-sex marriage and became the first country in the world to do so by popular vote, she wrote. A year later, Leo Varadkar, who was a number of firsts rolled into one, became taoiseach (prime minister). At 38, he was the countrys youngest ever prime minister, the first from an ethnic minority background and the first to have come out as gay. Now, voters are about to go to the polls to have their say on arguably the most bitterly and repeatedly contested issue in modern Ireland: abortion. A two-year-old girl of Kurdish origin died in unclear circumstances on Thursday after police gave chase to a van carrying illegal migrants in southern Belgium, prosecutors said on Thursday. The police had opened fire on the van, but the girl did not die as a result of the police shooting, said Frederic Bariseau, a prosecutor in the Belgian city of Mons, near the French border. An autopsy is in progress, he told AFP, adding that the girl died in the ambulance on the way to hospital. In the van intercepted by the police were 30 people including 26 adults, all of Kurdish origin. These people are currently being heard, which should take some time, due to translation, said Bariseau. The prosecutor evoked a number of possible causes of death, including illness or dangerous driving where the childs head may have hit a side of the vehicle. The Belgium border region near France has become a magnet for migrants, with many heading towards Calais to try to board lorries and reach Britain. Appointment 18 May 2018 In Stephens' new role as managing director of the newly renovated resort, he will oversee all business operations, while seeking out new ventures for the resort and bringing exceptional guest services. He brings extensive experience in the hospitality industry, holding with various management positions with Hyatt Hotels both domestic and internationally. From his first general manager position at the Hyatt Regency Lexington in Kentucky to general manager at the Grand Hyatt DFW in Dallas Fort Worth, he further expanded his skillset as general manager of the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale in Arizona, followed by opening general manager of the Andaz Maui at Wailea and of the Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo in Brazil. After an all-encompassing journey with Hyatt Hotels, Stephens joined Two Roads Hospitality as managing director of Lansdowne Resort and Spa in Leesburg, Virginia. Throughout his career, he also took on the role of leading and inspiring the surrounding communities from city to city. While in Scottsdale, he served on the Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Partner Council for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Board for Hospitality and Management Studies at Northern Arizona University and the Arizona State University Hotel & Resort Leadership & Management Board. Additionally, he played an important role in partnering with Scottsdale's Yavapai Elementary School, engaging students and teachers in special program initiatives, as well as fundraising to support families in need. He also adopted Kihei Elementary School and developed various programs to assist the school's students, teachers, and families. To top off his impressive leadership portfolio, Stephens was recently a board member on the Lansdowne Conservancy in Leesburg, Virginia. Recognized as an exceptional operations manager, Stephens was nominated for Hyatt's prestigious General Manager of the Year award in 2005, 2009 and 2013. Additionally, he received the General Manager of the Year award in 2009 by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, Arizona chapter, and General Manager of the Year in Where Magazine's Silver Plum awards. Stephens will bring an unparalleled level of guest service and staff satisfaction to the resort with years of diverse hospitality, business and management experience. Appointment 18 May 2018 Hotel Crescent Court - an iconic, luxury hotel situated in the heart of Dallas' vibrant Uptown - proudly announces the appointment of Erwin Latiefas General Manager of the members-only Crescent Club, located on the 17thfloor of the Crescent Complex's central office tower, overlooking the dazzling Dallas skyline. In this role, Erwin will be responsible for managing the Club's day-to-day success, overseeing all operational aspects, while proficiently leading club personnel. Latief brings more than 25 years of industry experience with luxury hotels and resorts in Dallas and Indonesia. Since beginning his career in 1997, Latief has showcased a strong history of hotel operations and leadership achievement while recruiting and managing high performing teams. Perfecting his skills, Latief held executive roles at SUN Group, Inc. in Jakarta and Bali, The Dharmawangsa, a former Rosewood Hotel and The Grand Hyatt in Indonesia. He also spent several years in Dallas at Hotel Crescent Court as Spa Manager and Training & Human Resources Manager prior to the hotel's multi-million dollar transformation and most recently served as Captain of The French Room at The Adolphus Hotel. Additionally, Erwin earned his master's degree in International Hotel Management from Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom after receiving his bachelor's in Hotel Management from the International Management Institute in Switzerland. External Article 18 May 2018 As the final judging for AHEAD Americas takes place at Ace Hotel New York during NYC x Design, panel member Markus Schreyer shares his thoughts on current hospitality trends across the region. On spirituality and the slow movement: Today's travellers take great design and amenities as a given, they are searching instead for originality and meaning, for experiences that broaden their horizons and open their minds. Therefore, the most exciting hotel projects today are not merely offering accommodation; they are becoming community hubs, delivering cultural, spiritual, and intellectual programming to meet the needs of the future traveller. People are turning away from speed and mass production towards slowness, experience and connection. We are seeing a tremendous change already in the way we live, work and communicate and hoteliers have to respond to these changes in order to stay on the forefront. Press Release 18 May 2018 The Family Coppola Hideaways is thrilled to unveil its brand new funicular at La Lancha, the lakeside retreat in Guatemala. Ascending from the shores of Lago Peten Itza through the jungle canopy to the hotel's lobby and restaurant, the "jungle elevator" provides a unique welcome experience for guests. As they are transported up the mountainside, they will be met with breathtaking views of Lago Peten Itza and the lush surrounding vegetation of the Guatemalan countryside. Available to any guest arriving by boat, the funicular can accommodate four people at a time. "La Lancha's location above Lago Peten Itza is perhaps its most magnificent quality," says Francis Ford Coppola. "We were determined to amplify that experience for guests arriving via boat with the addition of a jungle elevator that provides views as breathtaking as they are unforgettable." Set deep in the Guatemalan rainforest high above the shores of Lago Peten Itza, La Lancha offers guests rustic ambience with a glimpse into the region's exotic wildlife. All ten air-conditioned guestrooms are tucked into the property's jungle surroundings with large covered decks and views of either the lake or the rainforest and its famous howler monkeys. Purchased by Francis and Eleanor Coppola in 2003, the resort's charming, remote waterfront location offers swimming, hiking, canoeing, zip-lining and horseback riding, an ideal destination to enjoy both a languid respite and exploration of nearby ancient Mayan civilizations such as Tikal and Yaxha & Topoxte. Located just 90 minutes from the Belize border, La Lancha is not far from The Family Coppola's two other Central American resorts - Blancaneaux Lodge and Turtle Inn. Make a reservation today by calling toll-free (855) 866-8181, visiting The Family Coppola Hideaways website or emailing [email protected]. Press Release 18 May 2018 Conference Highlights Will Include a One-on-One Discussion with Preet Bharara, Former US Attorney, Southern District and NYU Distinguished Scholar in Residence (June 4); and an Interview With The Honorable Ricardo Rosello, Governor of Puerto Rico, Moderated by Conference Chair Jonathan M. Tisch (June 5) Hospitality Industry Executives Including Sebastien M. Bazin, AccorHotels; Jim Murren, MGM Resorts International; Christopher J. Nassetta, Hilton; and Arne Sorenson, Marriott International, Among Others, Will Offer Insights Into the Rapidly Evolving Global Marketplace Advertisements Business titans and thought leaders in the hospitality industry will be among the featured panelists at the 40th Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. Hosted by the NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) Jonathan M. Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism (sps.nyu.edu/tisch), the Conference will be held June 3-5 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City, and will feature panel discussions, workshops, and networking events that provide data, analysis, perspectives, insights, and opportunities for professionals in the field. Jonathan M. Tisch, chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels & Co. and co-chairman of the board of Loews Corporation is the Conference chair; Jeffrey Stewart, founder, Walnut Hill Advisors, serves as the Conference vice chair; Dennis Di Lorenzo, Harvey J. Stedman Dean, NYU School of Professional Studies, serves as the Conference host; and Nicolas Graf, associate dean, NYU School of Professional Studies Jonathan M. Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism, is the Conference co-host. Sponsored by leading hospitality organizations, the Conference is the premier hospitality finance and development forum of its kind, during which global hotel CEOs, owners, developers, investors, lenders, analysts, and other hospitality innovators gather to discuss current issues and the future of the industry. Contributions from the patron and sponsor organizations of the event provide student scholarships and support the educational programs of the NYUSPS Jonathan M. Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism, which has served the industry by producing future generations of global leaders in hospitality and tourism for more than two decades. This year's one-on-one conversations will feature Preet Bharara, former US Attorney, Southern District; NYU Distinguished Scholar in Residence, NYU School of Law; host, CAFE, Stay Tuned with Preet on Monday, June 4. On June 5, during his annual "Beyond the Boardroom" session, Conference Chair Jonathan M. Tisch, will speak with special guest The Honorable Ricardo Rosello, governor of Puerto Rico. They will discuss recovery efforts on his island nation after Hurricane Irma, which left Puerto Rico and its citizens without power and critical services for many months, greatly affecting the island's tourism and hospitality sector. This one-on-one discussion will provide a revealing insider's view into the challenges faced during the crisis, as well as those still ahead. Additional highlights of this year's conference include "The CEOs Check In: A View from the Top," which will take place on Monday, June 4. Moderated by Betty Liu, anchor, Bloomberg Television, and founder and chief executive officer, Radiate, this all-star panel will feature Sebastien M. Bazin, chairman and chief executive officer, AccorHotels; Jim Murren, chairman and chief executive officer, MGM Resorts; Christopher J. Nassetta, president and chief executive officer, Hilton; and Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive officer, Marriott International. "The Leaders' Forum" kicks off the second day of the Conference. It features Eric Danziger, chief executive officer, Trump Hotels; William J. Ferguson, co-chairman and co-chief executive officer, Ferguson Partners; Colleen Keating, chief operating officer, Americas, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG); David Kong, president and chief executive officer, Best Western Hotels & Resorts; and Thomas C. Morey, senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary, Park Hotels & Resorts. Scott D. Berman, principal and hospitality industry leader US, PwC, will serve as moderator. Also on June 5, "The Leaders Check In - Part Two" will focus on the most critical issues affecting the hotel industry. Adam F. Weissenberg, vice chairman and global transportation, hospitality, and services leader for Deloitte, will moderate the discussion. Featured panelists will include James Allen, chairman, Hard Rock International, and chief executive officer, Seminole Gaming; Ken Greene, president, Americas, Radisson Hotel Group; Stephanie Linnartz, global chief commercial officer, Marriott International; and Greg Mount, president and chief executive officer, RLH Corporation. In addition, Michael S. Shannon, chairman of KSL Capital Partners, will be presented with The IREFAC C. Everett Johnson Award for his remarkable business acumen in leading his organization to new levels of financial success. Members of the media who wish to cover the Conference must request press credentials in advance by emailing Paola Curcio-Kleinman at [email protected]. As part of the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference's continuing initiatives to remain environmentally friendly, the Conference brochure/agenda is available only online. A mobile app featuring the agenda, speaker bios, enhanced networking opportunities, and Conference news and updates also will be available for download. For more information, click here. Opinion Article 18 May 2018 Hotels are faced with an interesting dilemma. We're entering a time of hyper-personalization guests show dominating preference for hospitality experiences which are more unique in nature and catered to individual needs/expectations. However, riding the coattails of the on-going personalization trend comes the initial implementation of GDPR on May 25th. For those unfamiliar, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) aims strengthen and unify data protection for individuals within the European Union (EU). This legislation, which applies to guests and employees, brings with it a large number of changes relating to the use of personal data. This is where the dueling conundrum lies. With all these rules and guidelines, how will hotels remain competitive in their quest to deliver the exceptional, personalized service guests expect? How can hotels be expected to get personal if they have limited access to personal data? We're here to break it down for you. What Constitutes 'Personal Data'? In order to understand the expectations (and subsequent limitations) of the new protocol, we need to first gain an understanding of what exactly GDPR defines as the "personal data" of guests and hotel employees. In the case of GDPR, personal data is "any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ('data subject')". Basically, this could include an individual's name, identification number, location data, online identifiers, their physical appearance, and more. Consider this the beginning tier of data classification, while other personal information such as political beliefs, biometric data, genetic information, is considered sensitive and is therefore held to a higher standard of security. Why GDPR? You may be wondering why this new legislation has come to fruition. Over time it has been noted that the hospitality industry is exceptionally vulnerable to data-related threats. From pre-stay to post-stay, guests are engaged in a near limitless number of transactions, which involve the exchange of sensitive information in addition to credit card data. In fact, according to the Verizon 2016 Data Breach Investigations, the hotel industry accounted for the second largest share of security breaches in 2016. GDPR has been formulated in an effort to remedy this trend in the EU, compelling hotels to upgrade their data protection processes to meet new, improved standards. Those hotels who do not meet the standards enforced by GDPR will face serious financial penalties, with costs up to 20 million or 4 per cent of worldwide annual turnover (whichever is greater). How Can Hotels Collect Personal Data for GDPR? While it may seem daunting at first glance, the GDPR legislation shouldn't act as an impenetrable barrier between hoteliers and their guests. With GDPR in place, personal data must be collected for specified explicit purposes. Further, data cannot be captured (with consent for a specific information exchange) and then used for other purposes, unless consent is readily provided and documented. Let's consider a common example. Imagine a guest has supplied their email address at the time of booking a hotel. Under GDPR's regulations, you cannot use that email for email marketing at a later stage, unless the guest provided documented consent (likely through an 'opt-in' feature) for that use. Due to the dynamic nature of hotel services and touch points, it's likely that guests' personal details are shared amongst different areas of a hotel's operation (the front desk, spa, restaurants etc.). In preparation of GDPR, hotels' management teams should set aside time to complete a data mapping process that clarifies what data is captured, where that information is stored and how it can be used in order to protect and monitor it appropriately. Hoteliers should also take a closer look at their third-party partnerships, to ensure there is no risk to the security of guest data within those touchpoints, as well. Why is this so important? Under the standards of GDPR, if a hotel is outsourcing the process of data to a third party who is not complying with GDPR regulations, the hotel and the third-party processor can be held jointly responsible if a breach occurs. GDPR might leave some hoteliers feeling nervous as they prepare for changes to their current data processes, especially considering how many hotels rely on email marketing as a critical pillar to their business model. However, it's important to recognize the opportunity this legislation provides to establish more open communication streams with guests. In order to access and use their personal data, hotels must now develop a communications strategy that allows guests to know exactly what their data is being used for, and why. Essentially, hoteliers will be expected to talk with their guests, in a more holistic and transparent manner, to determine what they want out of their experience. In many ways, GDPR may ultimately yield a positive outcome for hoteliers and for guests. By forcing an opt-in and being specific about how information will be used, hoteliers will be left with a database of clients that are interested in receiving relevant guest experiences, marketing messages, and perhaps more receptive to booking or becoming loyal to your hotel. Additionally, it forces hoteliers to become smarter about what data they request and keep. The data which hoteliers must access to satiate and earn the loyalty of modern guests speaks to their preferences. What wine do they like, what type of pillow do they prefer, what other items, service styles or experiences will make their stay more enjoyable? The use of this type of data should be easy to obtain guest consent for, as it will ensure their visit meets (and exceeds) their expectations. Performance 18 May 2018 HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee -- The U.S. hotel industry reported positive year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 6-12 May 2018, according to data from STR. In comparison with the week of 7-13 May 2017, the industry recorded the following: Occupancy: +0.8% to 68.5% Average daily rate (ADR): +3.5% to US$130.06 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +4.4% to US$89.03 Among the Top 25 Markets, Orlando, Florida, reported the highest jump in RevPAR (+23.1% to US$111.25), due primarily to the largest lift in ADR (+14.5% to US$136.24). San Diego, California, experienced the largest increase in occupancy (+9.9% to 80.0%) and a double-digit rise in RevPAR (+16.6% to US$126.63). San Francisco/San Mateo, California, posted the second-largest increase in ADR (+10.6% to US$240.22). Miami/Hialeah, Florida, registered the only other double-digit increase in ADR (+10.2% to US$191.08) and the second-highest increase in RevPAR (+18.2% to US$158.39). Overall, 17 of the Top 25 Markets reported an increase in RevPAR. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey, reported the steepest declines in ADR (-7.4% to US$149.20) and RevPAR (-11.7% to US$114.21). Denver, Colorado, experienced the largest drop in occupancy (-9.4% to 73.4%) and the only other double-digit decrease in RevPAR (-11.2% to US$96.00). The iconic "Black Cement" Air Jordan 3 will restock tonight at 5:00pm ET via Shiekh's online site. The kicks released not long ago during the NBA's All-Star Weekend in February, but if you struck out then, or are simply looking to double up, you'll want to make sure you're hands are free at 5 tonight. As was the case when the kicks released earlier this year, men's sizes will retail for $200. Jordan Brand has celebrated the classic Air Jordan 3 silhouette throughout 2018 in honor of the sneaker's 30th's anniversary and there is still much more in store. In addition to the rumored "Quai 54" colorway and the recently revealed "Charity Game" Air Jordan 3, fans will also have the chance to cop the "Triple White" rendition which is set to hit retailers in July. Bow Wow would roll out a carpet if Lil Tay were available to take his Bow Wow Challenge when it reaches the production phase sometime in the future. Bow Wow is making the most of the unfortunate events that landed him endless ridicule at the hands of Internet trolls. Bow Wow was caught making an audacious claim, when in fact, the contents of his post were a direct copy-paste from an uncredited source. Since then, "the Bow Wow challenge" has been synonymous with getting caught in the act with your pants at ankle level. Knowing full well what it's like to be a talking head with Mouseketeer potential, Bow Wow reserves a soft spot for media sensation Lil Tay. In conversation with TMZ, he defended her right to provide for her family, even if it comes at the cost of self-regard. Bow Wow was in Marrieta, Georgia shooting a music video for his upcoming album due next week. Two days ago, Lil Tay was exposed by her mother's ex-employer as an "Internet Fraud" (as if we didn't know). Lil Tay was reportedly using the boss' Mercedes-Benz in her Social Media posts and he didn't take kindly to the misrepresentation. Bow Wow probably remembers the fateful evening when he drove out in a rented Ferrari, pretending it was his very own car. The rental company then caught wind of his posturing, and exposed him via Instagram. The post quickly went viral, exposing an element of financial sadness we did not expect out of the former child star. Remember Mac Miller's breakthrough single, "Donald Trump?" It was the song that helped Mac breakthrough into the mainstream and pretty much served as an anthem for summer 2011. Of course, Donald Trump was initially a big fan of the song and even said that Mac Miller was the "next Eminem." Two years later, Trump took to his favorite social media platform, and threatened Mac with legal action for using his name on a song that generated millions of hits. Despite this, a recent report suggests that Donald Trump not only listens, but brags about the fact that his name was used in a popular rap song. The Senate Judiciary Committee released a 2500 pages of testimony about a 2016 meeting with Trump aides and Russians earlier this week. In the document, there's a 375 page interview with music publicist Rob Goldstone. The Outline's Drew Millard revealed an excerpt from the transcript that revealed that Trump bragging about how he inspired and received a platinum plaque for Mac Miller's 2011 hit. "We went and had about 10 minutes with Mr. Trump. Emin said hello, posed for a photograph. Mr. Trump at the time was listening to very loud rap music when we walked in, because he knew I was in music, said, look, Ive been presented with a platinum disk for a song called, Donald Trump, to which I thats how I remember this incident. I cautioned him that he should perhaps look at the words to the song before he enjoyed it so much." Despite making the song, Mac Miller regrets making the song in light of Trump's presidency. However, Trump still seems to bump it every once in a while. A former Playboy Playmate leapt off the balcony of her NYC hotel with her 7-year-old son, killing the both of them instantly. Stephanie Adams, who was the publication's Miss November 1992, was found dead early Friday morning around 8:15 am. Adams and her son checked into Gotham Hotel Thursday evening around 6:00pm, and were lodging in a penthouse suite on the 25th floor, NYPD Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubrey revealed during a press conference. Their bodies were eventually found on a second-floor landing in the building's rear courtyard. "Early this morning investigators located an individual whose attention was drawn to that same second-floor area when he heard two loud noises. His attention was drawn to that and he discovered these two deceased individuals," Aubrey said. Adams was recently engaged in a bitter custody battle with ex-husband Charles Nicolai, owner of Wall Street Chiropractic & Wellness. Their relationship was reportedly riddled with violent behaviour. Jennifer Aniston is most famous for her role as Rachel on Freinds, but the gorgeous actress hasn't slowed down since the show ended in 2004. In recent years, we've watched some of Hollywood's biggest stars jump from the movie screen to the streaming screen. Netflix movies are viewed at a rate that is competitive with cinema films, and the streaming site may even offer more freedom to actors than a big budget Hollywood film can. So it only makes sense that Aniston has begun her transition to featuring in streaming movies. Aniston will star alongside Adam Sandler in the Netflix film Murder Mystery, and now she has also signed on to star in a movie for the streaming site where she plays a lesbian president. According to Deadline, the film is called First Ladies, and the plot will focus on Aniston and her wife Tig Notaro. The two will maneuver the political climate of same-sex love at the same time the country experiences its first female president. The tagline for the film reads, "When Beverly and Kasey Nicholson move into the White House, theyll prove that behind every great woman... is another great woman." Yes, you read that correctly. The release date has not yet been revealed. Last year, Samsung turned up the heat on top competitor Apple when it launched an ad spot titled Growing Up that effectively threw shade at every generation of the iPhone. It followed around a young man, who had been a diligent iPhone user since the devices first arrival, and tugs on all the imperfections that have plagued iPhone users over the years: storage space issues, the problem with sending pictures through text in the earlier days, its lack of water-resistant protection before newer models were introduced, etc. Eventually our subject switches over to a Samsung Galaxy device and in their newest campaign, Samsung is effectively delivering on the same message, this time calling on the task of Moving On. In the new clip, our antagonist is a woman whose iPhone 6 consistently delivers on performance issues, lagging at critical moments with the pressure to upgrade constantly around her. She takes it to the Genius Bar where the attendant suggests that she either turn off the performance management setting or just upgrade. She leaves the store with no new iPhone, but by the end of the clip she has upgraded to a new Samsung device while Chyvonne Scotts 1961 track Im Moving On fittingly plays on in the backdrop. At the end of last year, Apple came under fire when it confirmed that it had been slowing down older iPhones through that performance management setting in order to preserve battery life. But, the Internet gave birth to plenty of theories, including the idea that Apple was slowing down these devices to instead get their customers to buy newer models and continue the cycle. Apple put out a statement shunning the idea, but the conspiracy remains. Stefflon Don is back with another as she drops off her latest Senseless. Arriving on Friday (May 18th), the new track leans heavily on her Jamaican-bred deliverythe same flow that brought her to prominence in the U.K. rap scene. Most recently, more listeners have been tuning into Steff as she taps into the mainstream market, hopping on cuts alongside the likes of Ne-Yo, Halsey, and Big Sean this year. Currently, shes serving as a supporting act on the European leg of G-Eazys tour while also being a name attached to somewhere around 15 different festivals throughout the U.K., Europe, and The United States. There are plenty of opportunities to catch Stefflon Don in action, but for now get acquainted with Senseless. Quotable Lyrics: Look how you made me feel Look how you made me get aggressive Look how you made me feel Look how you made me get senseless Melissa McCarthy and Puppeteer/Director Brian Henson join forces for the neo-noir comedy The Happytime Murders. The trailer opens with Detective Connie Edwards, played by the Oscar-nominated actress, engaged in a back-and-forth with an addict puppet about sucking dicks. Apparently, all the characters in the film seem to think shes a man (maybe they wouldn't be so confused if she wore pink?). Hey Handsome. Looking for some rotten cotton? asks one of the puppet streetworkers. Im a woman! Edwards lashes out. The film is being called a dark comedy, but it looks more like a silly ride. Maybe thats because audiences hoping for a PG film will be disappointed. Instead, the movie is about to get deep, at least to Hollywood standards. The film takes place in a world where humans and puppets coexist, except people are considered second-class citizens. This isnt particularly foreign territory, but it is a spoof on Will Smiths Netflix flick, Bright, where humans and mystical creatures battle for power and status. As with all plots, Edwards isnt a fan of her colleague, a puppet private eye named Phil Phillips (played by the puppeteer, Bill Barretta), whom shes summoned to work with; probably because gasp they share a secret. But theyve got work to do; they're assigned to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show. Sesame Street, maybe? This isnt a film for a faint of heart. Edwards is forced to snort candy-coke with Twizzlers at gunpoint in front of a gang. And horny muppets shoot cum everywhere, literally. This probably isnt going to be a first-date film, but it will be fun as hell. The Happytime Murders will be in theatres on August 17th, 2018 Aaron Schlossberg has felt the mighty wrath of the general public after video of him spewing outwardly racist and bigoted remarks went viral. In the aftermath, the disgraced New York City lawyer has seen his online business pages become flooded with staunch criticisms, while also invoking a bevy of pointed objections from the media. Tomi Lahren, whose political conservatism can be viewed as racist at times, was caught by cameramen while departing LAX airport. A shutterbug asked the television personality what she thought of Schlossberg's rant, which she described as being both rude and ridiculous. Lahren continued argue that no human being deserves to be treated like that, regardless if English is their native tongue or not. However, Lahren voiced some strong opinions about immigrants and assimilation into American culture during an interview on FOX's Watters' World. "These people need to understand that its a privilege to be an American and its a privilege that you work toward. Its not a right. You dont just come into this country with low skills, low education, not understanding the language and come into our country because someone says it makes them feel nice." In the debate over how to provide reliable, clean and affordable electricity, coal-fired and nuclear power plants get lumped together. A handful of companies that operate coal and nuclear power plants have threatened to mothball their facilities because they cant compete with cheap natural gas and subsidized renewable energy. They are demanding subsidies because they claim the plants play an essential role in keeping the nations electric grids resilient. Experts from the Department of Energy and most power plants operators insist the grid will work just fine without these uneconomic generators. However, President Donald Trump has ordered Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to consider invoking war-time powers under the Defense Production Act to order electric customers to pay higher bills to keep the old plants operating. RELATED: Coal and nuclear seeking second helping of subsidies All of this crony capitalism, though, risks linking the costly, archaic and dirty coal sector with the emissions-free nuclear industry that is critical for the nations future. Sixty-six nuclear power plants currently provide 20 percent of the nations electricity, but 24 are either scheduled to close or will be losing money by 2021, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, an energy research group. Closing those plants would shut down a quarter of the nuclear fleets generation capacity, or about 32.5 gigawatts. Perry would need to approve $1.3 billion a year in subsidies to keep the plants open, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. But nuclear plants in New York, Illinois and New Jersey are in less trouble because those states reward them for generating electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. Nuclear plants generate more than 50 percent of the countrys zero-carbon power, avoiding at least 400 million tons of CO2 equivalents in emissions. If those plants shut down, generators would likely replace them with natural gas plants-the cheapest alternatives-resulting in more carbon pollution. Even if we were able to replace retired nuclear solely with renewables, its still a setback in the climate fight, according to Third Way, a moderate, non-partisan think tank in Washington. The most significant problems with nuclear power plants are the high life-cycle costs and the inability to ramp up or down quick enough to support wind and solar generation. Nuclear energy developers, though, are beginning to address these problems with new reactor designs. Companies such as NuScale are seeking licenses for small, modular reactors that can ramp electric output. The Tennessee Valley Authority is seeking permission to test what the industry calls SMRs at its Clinch River location. Perry granted $40 million to help NuScale last month to deploy its first SMR in 2026. RELATED: Nuclear power as we know it is finished Making these new investments is an important step to reviving and revitalizing nuclear energy, and ensuring that our nation continues to benefit from this clean, reliable, resilient source of electricity, Perry said. That doesnt help existing reactors. And companies that own nuclear power plants also tend to own coal-fired power plants, and they want to maximize profits from their existing fleet. Ohio-based First Energy has lobbied hard to convince Perry and Trump to subsidize both forms of generation. Invoking the Defense Production Act, though, would essentially nationalize their plants and guarantee profits. I dont favor nationalizing anything, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said at a recent energy conference sponsored by the Washington Post. Using the act would disrupt competitive markets and benefit few uneconomic power plants, he added. The best solution is to put a price on carbon emissions, thereby improving competitive markets by forcing emitters to pay for their pollution and rewarding companies that dont emit. Major oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil, and power generators, including NRG, support carbon pricing. A small carbon tax of $25 a ton, increasing 5 percent a year from 2020, would keep existing nuclear plants open and encourage new, more flexible technologies, according to the Energy Information Administration. But it would also put coal plants out of business. First Energy, Exelon and their allies want Perry to rig the system to keep their inefficient plants profitable. But if he genuinely believes in free and efficient markets, Perry should support a small carbon tax instead to encourage innovation and reward companies that control their pollution. Every expert study agrees that competitive markets are providing customers more than enough electricity, even with dozens of coal and nuclear power plants scheduled to close. Invoking the Defense Production Act to save old, dirty coal plants would be nothing more than a political payoff to Trumps supporters and betray free market capitalism and consumers. Chris Tomlinson is the Chronicles business columnist. chris.tomlinson@chron.com twitter.com/cltomlinson To close its irregular and trying season in the makeshift Resilience Theater in the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston Grand Opera chose to feature one of its recent success stories. Jose Pepe Martinezs and Leonard Foglias Cruzar la Cara de La Luna (To Cross the Face of the Moon) is a homecoming of sorts, as HGO premiered the fully-staged mariachi opera just a little over a mile away at Talento Bilingue de Houston in 2010. It has since become one of the operas most successful premieres, with subsequent performances in Paris, New York, San Diego, Fort Worth, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago and more to come. As heard Thursday night, the 2018 revival validates both this operas success and makes a solid case for its place in the standard operatic repertoire. The story of a family divided by the United States-Mexico border, Cruzar feels timelier than ever given current U.S. immigration issues. It shifts back and forth in time and locale, between the present in Houston and the past in Mexico. Though the opera begins simply with the character Mark (Efrain Solis in a strong HGO debut) spotlighted alone onstage accompanying himself on the acoustic guitar, the operas first shift back in time to a Mexican wedding soon triggers a fast curtain drop to reveal this productions MVPs: the thirteen versatile musicians of Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano. Serving as the operas orchestra, Mariachi Los Camperos featured a horn line that played with staccato precision, but matched the lyrically sweet sound of the strings when the score called for it. The rhythmic strumming of the guitars and harp provided this scores percussion and the strings lowered their instruments to sing in tight harmony when Cruzar needed a chorus. From the operas opening to its finale 75 minutes later, the members of Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano distinguished themselves. Among the strong cast, Houston Grand Opera Studio alumnus Octavio Moreno displayed top vocal talent reprising the role of paterfamilias Laurentino, which he created at the operas premiere seven-and-a-half years ago. Deploying his bright, lyric baritone expressively, Moreno musically portrayed a sympathetic Laurentino in a compelling performance spanning 50 years of the characters life. Musical highlights of the evening included a duet between Laurentino and Mark (Moreno and Solis), sung with an ardor worthy of Puccini, and an ailing Renatas (Cecilia Duarte, also reprising the role she created at the operas premiere) poignant aria as she struggles in vain to make it across the border to reunite her family in the United States. The substantial Spanish-speaking contingent in the large, opening night audience was welcomed by a bilingual program book, as well as surtitles in English when the characters spoke or sang in Spanish, switching to Spanish titles when the singing and dialogue turned to English. This gives rise to the question: Will an audience attending HGO for the first time at Cruzar la Cara de la Luna come back for La Boheme next season? But that may be beside the point. Popular operatic staples like Turandot and Madame Butterfly are full of cultural appropriation to manufacture - however successfully - an exotic cultural setting. But with Cruzar we have a score that is poignant, passionate and unabashedly melodic, yet comes by its vibrant cultural color naturally and honestly. Operas largely European culture is enhanced by the authentic Mexican cultural cred this relative newcomer brings to the table. And that should be enough to recommend it. Eric Skelly is a writer in Houston. The debate about whether cooking is more art or science is a never-ending one. But at Spyce, the latest culinary experiment in automation, that debate feels pretty well settled. Started by a group of 20-something robotics engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who partnered with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud, the new restaurant in downtown Boston is founded on the idea that a fulfilling meal can be more science than spontaneity. The restaurant's founders have replaced human chefs with seven automated cooking pots that simultaneously whip up meals in three minutes or less. A brief description of meal preparation - courtesy of 26-year-old co-founder, Michael Farid - can sound more like laboratory instructions than conventional cooking. READ ALSO: Nobody can agree if this robot says 'Yanny' or 'Laurel' and everyone is arguing about it "Once you place your order, we have an ingredient delivery system that collects them from the fridge," Farid said. "The ingredients are portioned into the correct sizes and then delivered to a robotic wok, where they are tumbled at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The ingredients are cooked and seared. And once the process is complete, the woks tilt downward and put food into a bowl. And then they're ready to be garnished and served." Spyce bills itself as "the world's first restaurant featuring a robotic kitchen that cooks complex meals," a distinction that appears to reference burger-flipping robots like "Flippy," who plied his trade in a California fast food kitchen before being temporary suspended - because he wasn't working fast enough. A prototype of Spyce's robotic chef was first assembled in the basement of the co-founders' fraternity house at MIT. The restaurant's dining experience actually begins a few steps before the robots get involved, when customers create customized, compostable bowls that cost $7.50 using colorful touch-screens. Heavy on vegetables and healthy grains, the bowls include a calorie count and have themes such as Latin, Thai, Mediterranean and Hearth. While meals are cooked, the customer's name appears on an electronic display above their wok, showing their order. Once finished, hot water jets rinse the inside of woks before another collection of ingredients is dumped inside. Farid said they decided to place the robotic chefs out in the open to remove any lingering mystery. "We didn't want to create a black box that produces a meal," Farid said. "We wanted this experience to be exciting." The restaurant's motto: "Culinary excellence elevated by technology." RELATED: Robot chefs: Hype or a sign of change? That motto is one that the restaurant industry is beginning to adopt as a whole, experts say. Restaurants across the country already incorporate automated technology, such as "self-service ordering" and "robotic servers," according to a report last year by the McKinsey Global Institute. The report concluded that jobs that involve "predictable physical activities" - such as cooking or serving food, cleaning kitchens, collecting dirty dishes and preparing beverages - are the most susceptible to automation. "According to our analysis, 73 percent of the activities workers perform in food service and accommodations have the potential for automation, based on technical considerations," the report said. Because the industry's human labor tends to be lower paid, robots cooks have yet to be adopted, the report said. As the technology becomes cheaper and more widespread, however, that could change. Spyce employs multiple people, a detail that the restaurant's founders are quick to emphasize when they explain their concept. There's a friendly "guide" to assist customers with ordering and to ask about your day, according to Farid. Humans prep the food overnight and the restaurant also employs a "garde manger" (French for "keeper of the food") whose job is to add touches like pumpkin seeds, cilantro and crumbled goat cheese before meals are served. Farid said the robots add efficiency and lower operating costs, but he declined to say by how much. He said he sees the robots enhancing the dining experience, not replacing it, but declined to speculate on whether Spyce is opening the floodgates of a job-killing robot revolution. "Our restaurant is really efficient because people focus on what people are good at, but the robot handles the high volume tasks - like the cooking and washing - that robots are good at," he said. "At the end of the day, our product is not a technology product - it's an experience and a delicious meal." Italian fashion brand Missoni - known for its flame-stitch knitwear - lends its colorful designs and bold geometric patterns to home goods, too. Its newest collection is so diverse that you can find a piece to suit just about any room. Consider Missoni's velvety chartreuse pouf, flame-stitch bed sheet or decorative pillows covered in butterflies. Find the collection at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and amara.com. Diane Cowen They call it the angels share the lost bit of alcohol that evaporates from a barrel as the whiskey ages, infusing the air with a boozy scent. And when I open my waterproof roll bag inside my car the day after the Kentucky Derby, thats exactly what I find wafting out of the 10-liter sack. Soon, my entire hatchback smells like the inside of a bourbon-barrel warehouse, out in the Kentucky countryside. Which is kind of cool, actually as long as we dont get pulled over. There are about a half-dozen bourbon-laced souvenir glasses tossed inside the bag, the remnants of one-too-many mint juleps spilling from their sides, and forming a small pool in the bottom of the bag. And as I catch a whiff, I turn to my boyfriend, John, in the drivers seat and joke that this is the best metaphor possible for what this trip has become. We left Houston on Thursday, with a garment bag full of fancy clothes, a backseat full of camping gear and high hopes for a blue-sky day to check Attend the Kentucky Derby off our bucket lists, after John snagged us general admission tickets as my Christmas present. We had clear plans: Drive six hours Thursday and crash in Little Rock, Ark., for the night, then make it to our campsite 30 minutes south of Louisville, Ky., after another eight or so hours of driving on Friday. Wed hang in Louisville under the sunny skies the forecast called for until leaving on Sunday for a seven-hour schlep to Memphis, Tenn., and driving the rest of the way home on Monday. Contributed / Contributed Then came the rain. The clouds were supposed to wring themselves out on Friday, blessing us with clear skies the day of the race. But when we woke up Friday morning, weather apps showed us a new plan: The rain would begin at roughly the time we arrived in Louisville that night and continue until we packed up again Sunday morning. We started shifting our plans over lunch at the venerable Memphis barbecue institution, Rendezvous, as we oohed and ahhed over ribs. Why should we rush to Kentucky to pitch a tent and sleep in the rain, when we could stop in Nashville for a midafternoon introduction to a weekend of whiskey, we reasoned. I Googled as John drove, and soon we had plans to stop in Music City for a tour of a newly rediscovered historical distillery, Nelsons Green Brier, just west of downtown Nashville. Its a family business, and the tour featured epic, nearly biblical stories from the familys past: When the family originally sailed from Germany to America in the 1800s, the patriarch cashed out his familys fortune for gold bricks, which he had sewn into a suit. He never took that suit off during his journey, and when the ship wrecked and he was tossed overboard, he promptly sank to the bottom of the ocean. Id love to see the facts backing that one up, but truly-true or not, it led to an interesting tour. Ive never been into whiskey, despite several vacations traipsing all over Ireland, Scotland, Kentucky and Nashville in hopes of finally acquiring a taste for it. So during the tasting that followed the Green Brier tour, I mostly nodded along as everyone said they tasted notes of cinnamon and vanilla, nutmeg and honey. To me, it was all throat burn and nose scrunching. I skipped over the gift-shop whiskey and instead purchased a bottle of liqueur that tasted like movie popcorn. (Bottle Tally: 1) More Information Looking to plan your own bourbon-laced road trip? Check out https://kybourbontrail.com/ See More Collapse Distilleries in Kentucky are often booked solid during Derby weekend. Luckily, Id reserved a tour at Jim Beam weeks in advance, and we took a 9:30 a.m. tour on Derby day. By this point, Id already resigned myself to wearing old sneakers in lieu of espadrilles and a wet bun instead of glamorously blown-out hair. Our tour guide met us dressed in a fascinator and rain jacket, holding an umbrella over her head for our 90-minute tour. Wed also resigned ourselves to the realization that the universe couldnt care less that wed spent months planning a perfect day at the Derby. It was gonna rain. We were gonna be cold. We might even get grumpy with each other. So we might as well make whiskey the focus of the day. John decided to fork over the $45 to bottle his own Knob Creek, which we previously didnt even know was part of the Jim Beam label. He rinsed the bottle, watched it weave through the conveyer belt to be filled, and when time came to put a wax seal over the stopper, he pressed his thumbprint into the top, for that little extra something. (Bottle Tally: 2) We stayed an extra half hour, enjoying the warmth of the distillery bar, and ordered a couple of mint juleps in the hopes Id begin to love the Kentucky staple in time for the horse race. It took more than one. In fact, it took more than two or three. It wasnt until halfway through the sopping-wet Derby day, dressed in a bubblegum-pink raincoat, my water-wicking hiking leggings and the Calvin Klein hat I bought for the day and refused to attend the race without, that I found myself able to toss back a julep without making a face. Being so cold and wet that John laughed at how loud my teeth chattered made warming up to whiskey more of a necessity than a silly vacation activity. I tossed the empty souvenir glasses in our waterproof hiking bag, which Id chosen as a purse for the day, forsaking the creamy white and brown leather bag Id dug out of the special-occasions cubby of my closet for the trip. We made a few bets, none of which paid off, and after the big race ran, we waited in an hour-long taxi line for the trip back to our tent. In the taxi, we contemplated opening that bottle of popcorn-tasting liqueur later to help warm us up and send us to sleep. But it turns out shivering like a hamster for eight hours straight while sipping six or so mint juleps is enough to exhaust your body into a restful slumber, even when youre sleeping on the ground. By the time we woke up Sunday, the sun was already shining taunting us as we packed up our tent and tossed soggy sneakers in trash bags, which we tucked into far-away corners of the car. Makers Mark opens at 11 a.m., John told me. And maybe if we get there early, we could beat the crowds and hop on a tour before driving to Memphis for the day. So thats what we did. And by the time I finished our five-glass tasting, I had a smile on my face. Id found a whiskey I liked: Makers 46, a traditional whiskey aged with charred staves of French oak inside the barrel, giving it notes of caramel and vanilla that even I could taste. Naturally, I marched right into the gift shop, where I bought a bottle I could dip in wax myself, just like John had done the previous day. (Bottle Tally: 3) I may not have loved the Kentucky Derby. But I love whiskey now, so well call this vacation a win. maggie.gordon@chron.com twitter.com/MagEGordon From the spears hurled by Romans to the missiles launched by fighter pilots, the weapons humans use to kill each other have always been subject to improvement. Militaries seek to make each one ever-more lethal and, in doing so, better protect the soldier who wields it. But in the next evolution of combat, the U.S. Army is heading down a path that may lead humans off the battlefield entirely. Over the next few years, the Pentagon is poised to spend almost $1 billion for a range of robots designed to complement combat troops. Beyond scouting and explosives disposal, these new machines will sniff out hazardous chemicals or other agents, perform complex reconnaissance and even carry a soldier's gear. "Within five years, I have no doubt there will be robots in every Army formation," said Bryan McVeigh, the Army's project manager for force protection. He touted a record 800 robots fielded over the past 18 months. "We're going from talking about robots to actually building and fielding programs," he said. "This is an exciting time to be working on robots with the Army." But that's just the beginning. The Pentagon has split its robot platforms into light, medium and heavy categories. In April, the Army awarded a $429.1 million contract to two Massachusetts companies, Endeavor Robotics of Chelmsford and Waltham-based QinetiQ North America, for small bots weighing fewer than 25 pounds. This spring, Endeavor also landed two contracts worth $34 million from the Marine Corps for small and midsized robots. In October, the Army awarded Endeavor $158.5 million for a class of more than 1,200 medium robots, called the Man-Transportable Robotic System, Increment II, weighing less than 165 pounds. The MTRS robot, designed to detect explosives as well as chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear threats, is scheduled to enter service by late summer 2019. The Army plans to determine its needs for a larger, heavier class of robot later this year. "It's a recognition that ground robots can do a lot more, and there's a lot of capabilities that can and should be exploited," said Sean Bielat, Endeavor's chief executive officer. Specifically, he points to "the dull, the dirty and the dangerous" infantry tasks as those best suited to robotics. During combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department amassed an inventory of more than 7,000 robots, with much of the hardware designed to neutralize improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Military brass were trying to quickly solve a vexing problem that was killing troops, but the acquisition strategy led to a motley assortment of devices that trade journal Defense News last year called "a petting zoo of various ground robots." This approach also meant that each "pet" was essentially a one-off device used for a single task. The Army's current approach is to field more inter-operable robots with a common chassis, allowing different sensors and payloads to be attached, along with standardized controllers for various platforms, said McVeigh, a retired Army colonel. This strategy is also geared toward affordability. "If we want to change payloads, then we can spend our money on changing the payloads and not having to change the whole system," he said. While it ramps up to use its newer robots, the Army will retain about 2,500 of the medium and small robots from the older fleet. Amid their many capacities, none of the current or planned U.S. infantry robots is armed-yet. Armed robots are hardly new, of course, with South Korea deploying sentry gun-bots in the demilitarized zone fronting North Korea and various countries flying drones equipped with a variety of weapons. "Just strapping a conventional weapon onto a robot doesn't necessarily give you that much" for ground troops, said Bielat, the Endeavor Robotics CEO. "There is occasional interest in weaponizing robots, but it's not particularly strong interest. What is envisioned in these discussions is always man-in-the-loop, definitely not autonomous use of weapons." Yet, depending on one's perspective, machines that kill autonomously are either a harbinger of a "Terminator"-style dystopia or a logical evolution of warfare. This new generation of weaponry would be armed and able to "see" and assess a battle zone faster and more thoroughly than a human-and react far more quickly. What happens next is where the topic veers into a moral, perhaps existential, morass. "It seems inevitable that technology is taking us to a point where countries will face the question of whether to delegate lethal decision-making to machines," said Paul Scharre, a senior fellow and director of the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security. Last year, 116 founders of robotics and artificial intelligence, including Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, sent a letter to the United Nations urging a ban on lethal autonomous weapons. "Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend," the letter stated, warning of a "Pandora's box" being opened with such systems. To date, 26 countries have joined calls for a ban on fully autonomous weapons, including 14 nations in Latin America, according to the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Notably absent from this list are nations with robust defense industries that research AI and robotics-countries such as the U.S., Russia, Israel, France, Germany, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The campaign was launched five years ago by activists alarmed at the prospect of machines wielding "the power to decide who lives or dies on the battlefield." "If you buy into the notion that it's a moral and humanitarian issue-that you have machines making life-and-death decisions on the battlefield-then it's a very simple issue," said Steve Goose, director of Human Rights Watch's arms division and a co-founder of the campaign. "People have a sense of revulsion over this." Not long ago, such futuristic software seemed, if not quite impossible, at least 30 years away. Given the pace of research, however, that's no longer the case-a fact that has given the effort by Musk, Goose and others new urgency. "It seems that each year, that estimate has come down," Goose said. Autonomous weapons systems are "years, not decades" hence, he said in an interview last month from Geneva, where a U.N. group convened its fifth annual conference on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems. Much of the recent discussion has focused on defining the terms of debate and where human control for lethal decisions should lie. There are also questions as to how quickly such machines will proliferate and how to deal with such technology in the hands of rogue, non-state actors. Over time, Goose said, the campaign will "convince these governments that every nation is going to be better off if no nation has these weapons." But Scharre said there's no chance the U.N. will agree to a legally binding treaty to ban autonomous weapons. He predicts that "a critical mass" of nations supporting some type of ban could pursue an agreement outside the U.N. While proponents may argue that autonomous robot soldiers will shield soldiers from harm, they will also remove the bloody consequences of armed conflict, a knowledge that "puts a valuable brake on the horrors of war," said Scharre, a former Army Ranger. "There's a value of someone being able to appreciate the human consequences of war," he said. "A world without that could be potentially more harmful. If we went to war and no one slept uneasy at night, what does that say about us?" Ellen Ochoa walked purposely across Johnson Space Centers campus, the unusually sunny day as bright and cheerful as her coral blazer. After 30 years at NASA, the veteran astronaut could make the walk to mission control with her eyes closed. But that day, the walk was momentous and somewhat final. She was about to watch her last space launch as a battle-tested member of NASA as two U.S. astronauts were rocketed from Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. In January, she had quietly announced to colleagues her plan to retire May 25 as leader of Johnson, the agencys human space flight hub that employs 10,000 civil servant and contractor employees. The day, understandably, was bittersweet. Its hard to leave the mission and its hard to leave the people, she said. Its hard, absolutely. Ochoa, now 60, has spent the last five years leading the Houston center only the second woman and first Hispanic to do so. Friday marked the last day of her trail-blazing career with the space agency. She joined the space agency in the late 1980s at the dawn of the Space Shuttle program, a time when space flight opened up to people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and gender. By 1993, she was the first Latina to go to space. She flew four times in her astronaut career, logging almost 1,000 hours in space. Ochoa is in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, has six schools named after her in California, Oklahoma, Washington and Texas and has become an outspoken advocate for girls entering science, engineering, technology and math (STEM) fields. Shes also a classical flautist. But Ochoa is not one to boast her laundry list of accomplishments. Those who work alongside her describe her as a good role model for women, someone who is smart, driven and compassionate yet completely focused on the NASA team and pushing toward the agencys goal of human exploration. She focuses on the people and cares about the team, said Melanie Saunders, the centers acting deputy director who has worked with Ochoa for more than a decade. Shes spent a lot of time in her tenure focusing on inclusion and innovation and how we can use employee engagement to drive the advancement of human exploration in space. But after three decades, Ochoa is ready to take a breather. She and her husband, Coe Miles, are moving to Boise, Idaho a place theyve visited often and fallen in love with. Shell be replaced by Mark Geyer, an Indiana native who has been with NASA for about 28 years. He spent a number of those years at Johnson, including two as Ochoas deputy director. Though Ochoa is ready for a change, she admits its a tough time in history to leave, just as the Trump administration has renewed the nations push for human exploration to the moon and beyond. Its hard to leave the people and the mission and I think that always makes it difficult to determine when is the right time, Ochoa said. Obviously were in the middle of some important developments but for me this is just a logical sort of transition year Its a good time to try new things. Who wouldnt want to? Ochoa first considered astronaut a seemingly viable career path on April 12, 1981, the day the first Space Shuttle launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The start of the shuttle program was a big event for the 22-year-old budding scientist who was pursuing a graduate degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University. For the first time since President John F. Kennedys famous moonshot speech in 1962, women and minorities had a chance to join the exclusive astronaut corps. The shuttle programs mission of research and development in space forced NASA to look for more engineers, scientists and medical doctors. NASA was trying to get a broader mix of people across all fields because of everything they were doing, Ochoa said. The design and mission of shuttle pushed NASA to be more inclusive. Seven years later in 1988, the Shuttle program was going strong when Ochoa walked into NASAs California-based Ames Research Center as a research engineer. Through the program, NASA had sent the first American woman, Sally Ride, into space in 1983, followed by the first African-American, Guion Bluford, later that year. Astronauts aboard had deployed and rescued numerous satellites and conducted countless scientific studies on orbit. The space agency had also recovered from heartbreak. In 1986, all seven crew members on the Space Shuttle Challenger were killed 73 seconds after lift off. It was the first major astronaut accident since 1967, when all three Apollo 1 astronauts were killed on the launchpad after fire erupted inside the cabin. Ask why she dreamed of being an astronaut, and shell look at you incredulously. Who wouldnt want to? In fact, Ochoa had tried to join NASA as an astronaut three years before Ames hired her on as a research engineer in 1988. She first applied in 1985 but didnt make the cut. She tried again in 1987 and made it to the interview round, one of just 120 people nationwide to do so. She didnt make the cut that year either. I was very encouraged to have made it that far and even more determined to pursue the astronaut corps as a career, Ochoa told U.S. News and World Report in 2017. I continued to update my application, and I was fortunate enough to be selected in the following class in 1990. Michael Coats, who would later tap Ochoa as his deputy after he became the Johnson Space Center director in 2005, remembers her astronaut interview vividly. Even then, he said, he could tell the young Ochoa was destined for great things. She impressed all of us with her obvious smarts, Coats said. She was quick on the draw but she also impressed us with her poise under pressure. Iconic photo and mission Standing in socked feet on the aft flight deck of the Space Shuttle Discovery, Ochoa holds a flute to her lips and begins to play. Zero gravity has caused her brown hair to float wildly around her young face. Manuals and other odds and ends hang suspended in the air around her. Shes tucked her feet into straps on the floor to keep herself upright. The 1993 photo is from Ochoas first trip to space, freezing in time the moment when her two worlds collided. Ochoa, a classical flautist, once dreamed of pursuing music in college astronaut was simply not a job title women held. Back then, she never would have dreamed of playing her beloved flute thousands of miles above Earth. Yet there she was, flute in hand as she became the first Latina in space. During that nine-day mission, she and her crewmates conducted studies to better understand the effect of solar activity on the Earths climate and environment. She also operated a robotic arm that captured and deployed a satellite studying the outermost part of the Suns atmosphere. Over the next decade, Ochoa flew on shuttle missions three more times, each just as memorable as the first. During her third mission in 1999, she was involved in the first docking to the space station, where she and the rest of her crew delivered logistics and supplies for the first humans to live on the station. By the end of her 2002 flight, she had logged almost 1,000 hours on orbit. I loved the opportunity to be in space but to me it wasnt just about being in space, she said. It was about being part of a team, it was about we have a goal to accomplish, about scientific discovery, about learning what humans can do in space, about bringing value to country, she said. The really rewarding part was why am I here, who am I sharing this with. Ochoa quit flying after that, but she stayed within the agency, transitioning into several different roles on the ground. She worked in the astronaut office where staff oversee everything related to astronaut training and operations. She also worked on the mission control room floor and was director of Flight Crew Operations. Saunders first started working with the veteran astronaut when she was director of flight crew operations, meaning she was responsible for not only all the astronauts, but all the airplanes and flight operations out of Ellington Field. Ellington Field is the heart of Johnsons flying operations where astronauts are trained for spaceflight. It also is the base for NASAs administrative, high altitude aircraft and cargo transport. Ochoa is smart, always well prepared, calm and has a knack for getting right to the heart of the issue, Saunders said. She can see solutions other people eventually get to but dont see as quickly. and she can identify the core problem and begin to find approaches to resolve it. Without prompting, Coats lists the exact same attributes when describing why he chose Ochoa to serve as his deputy director in 2007. I was very, very impressed again by not only her technical skills, which are outstanding, but her management skills as well, Coats said. She never loses her poise. Ive never heard for raise her voice or get upset thats the person you want in a decision-making position. But Ochoa was reluctant to rise to the top, Coats recalls. When Coats said he wanted Ochoa for the deputy position, Ochoa looked at me with a stare that could kill she loved her current job. Coats tried again with a different approach. I said, Im not asking, Im telling you you are going to be. Congratulations, he said. And she just nodded and accepted what she considered a demotion, I think, but she did a fantastic job. Coats retired from his position as center director in December 2012. And when then-NASA administrator Charles Bolden asked who Coats would have replace him, the answer was obvious. I told him Ellen Ochoa and he smiled and said I kind of thought youd say that, Coats said. I think shes done a terrific job over the last five years. I hate to see her leave. Im proud of her. Very accessible leader The viewing room above mission control was standing room only in March when Ochoa walked to the front, various televisions playing live video feeds of the imminent launch to the International Space Station. Family and friends of the two U.S. astronauts strapping into the spacecraft headed to the space station were talking excitedly, the hum of their voices rising together to a collective shout. But when Ochoa reached the front of the room, the missions pin displayed prominently on her lapel, the crowd immediately quieted. This was the woman responsible for keeping their boys safe. Ochoa walked everyone through the importance of what their loved ones were doing how their work on the space station will help future astronauts get to Mars and how hard Johnson personnel have worked to make sure both the astronauts and the space station are safe. As she spoke, she knew what they were feeling both she and her family had been through this before. Were watching over the station systems and crew day-in and day-out, Ochoa told the group. We also work with engineers and doctors and astronauts and cosmonauts to make it all work, to train people to get ready for flight and to execute the flight. Its that constant compassion and attention to detail that makes Ochoa one of the best center directors that Herb Baker, who retired last year from NASA, has worked with in his 42 years with the agency. I just think the world of her, Baker said. Shes very accessible and shes very smart no surprises there and she cared deeply about the people who worked out there. Ochoa took over as center director at Johnson during a time of uncertainty for the space agency. Three years prior in 2010, President Barack Obama ended NASAs Constellation Program, a brainchild of the George W. Bush administration to send astronauts back to the moon as a stepping stone for Mars. Saying the program was too costly and inefficient, the Obama administration instead aimed to get astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and then near Mars by the 2030s. Still, Ochoa led NASAs human space flight hub with poise and ambition. She made sure flights to the space station went smoothly and that astronauts were prepared for space. She also oversaw all the research and development at Johnson, including work on the Orion spacecraft built to eventually take humans to Mars. But since President Donald Trump took office, theres been a shift back toward Bushs initial vision of going to the moon then Mars. Trumps $19.9 billion proposed budget for the next fiscal year tasks NASA with launching an uncrewed Orion flight by 2021, followed by a launch of Americans around the moon in 2023. It also calls for NASA to build a $2.7 billion Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, which basically would act as a mini space station orbiting the moon, by 2023. Once built, crews could live and work there for 30 to 60 days at a time and it also could act as a stop-over for astronauts traveling deeper into space to Mars, for example. The budget still must be approved by Congress. To me, Im really excited, Ochoa said of the future of NASA. Theres more of a focus on working to get to the moon than there was in the previous administration. So, its not an ideal time to leave NASA but there never will be, Ochoa said. Ochoa and her husband already have purchased a home in the heart of Boise, an idyllic town surrounded by foothills and, sometimes, snow. We just knew at some point we just wanted a place where we could do a lot of hiking, and it had to have other things, like it had to have a university, easy access to an airport and we decided Boise was a good place to do that, she said. They made sure their new home was within walking distance of just about everything, including Boise State University, she said. Though she hasnt lined up any professorial gigs yet, shes keeping her options open for the future. For now, shell continue serving on several boards, including the National Science Board, and shell continue her many speaking engagements about women and minorities in STEM and leadership. Im interested in being able to do a variety of different things [that] come up that are intellectually interesting, do interesting things and talk about my passions, she said. Im looking forward to being able to do that rather than one full-time job. But she said she plans to keep tabs on all the projects happening at NASA. I already told them to make sure they invite me back for all the launches, Ochoa said. alex.stuckey@chron.com twitter.com/alexdstuckey WASHINGTON The Trump administration plans to announce on Friday a new policy barring Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health organizations from providing or mentioning abortions at any facility that receives federal family planning funds, according to two White House officials and others familiar with the matter. The change, a top priority of social conservatives, is the latest move by President Donald Trump to impose curbs on reproductive rights, in this case by walling off government money from any facility that offers women the option of terminating a pregnancy. A Harris County sheriffs deputy fired for inappropriate sexual contact with a woman arrested on a drunken driving charge is now facing a federal lawsuit. Ex-deputy Victor Mora, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of official oppression last year and surrendered his peace officers license, is accused of coercing the woman into having sex by promising to help her with her criminal case, the lawsuit claims. The suit which accuses Mora, the county and the sheriffs department of violating the womans constitutional rights is the second lawsuit against the sheriffs office in recent weeks alleging sexual misconduct by its employees. The latest lawsuit stems from a September 2016 incident that resulted in the termination of Mora following an internal affairs investigation and the filing of criminal charges. The encounter had a long-lasting impact on the woman, said Houston attorney Eric Nielsen, who is representing her. She can barely talk about the incident without crying, he said. She feels very ashamed. Court records show the woman was arrested on suspicison of drunk driving on Sept. 24, 2016, by a Harris County sheriffs deputy. According to Moras disciplinary paperwork, he met the woman after she was arrested and brought to the departments Clay Road substation in west Harris County. According to the disciplinary records, while the woman was in a holding cell, Mora signaled to her he wanted her to show him her breasts. They chatted and the woman gave him her number, according to the records, which also show Mora said he may have looked up the womans information on the jails Justice Information Management System. After the woman posted bond Mora called her, according to the lawsuit and disciplinary records. Defendant MORA called Plaintiff repeatedly and stated that if Plaintiff agreed to meet him, MORA would get Plaintiffs car out of impound and help her with her ongoing DWI case, the suit alleges. The woman met Mora in the parking lot of a local discount store, where the deputy kissed and made unwarranted and unwanted sexual advances toward the woman, telling her that he liked her and if she gave Mora what he wanted that Mora would fix the [criminal] case and make it go away. Terrified that Defendant Mora could harm her criminal case if she refused, Plaintiff reluctantly submitted to sexual intercourse with Defendant Mora at a hotel that Mora had previously selected, according to the suit. Mora told the woman that if she wanted his help, she would have to have sex with him several more times, the suit says. After the encounter, the woman realized Moras actions were oppressive, predatory, illegal, and possibly dangerous, and changed her phone number. After learning of the allegations months later, the sheriffs office substantiated the womans complaint, records show. A termination letter sent to Mora dated Feb. 15, 2017, shows he was fired for violating the agencys internal policies. The disciplinary paperwork shows Mora admitted to contacting the woman several times. Internal investigators noted that Mora denied directly promising to help her in exchange for sex, but that the womans polygraph indicated she was telling the truth when she told investigators she had not lied. Your conduct is grossly unprofessional, represents poor judgment, and can only be characterized as a blatant disregard, if not outright contempt, for Sheriffs Office policy as it related to fraternization, officials wrote in the termination letter. Mora appealed the firing, which was upheld by Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The womans DWI charge was later dismissed. In September 2017, Mora pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of official oppression and was allowed to enter pre-trial intervention, which means he will not be convicted of crime if he completes probation. He was required to surrendered his peace officers license, court records show. Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriffs Office, declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit. The termination letter speaks for itself, he said. The suit seeks unspecified damages in the hopes of preventing future misconduct. They only way they make changes is when it costs them money, said Nielsen, the womans attorney. st.john.smith@chron.com twitter.com/stjbs Today, we will discuss one of the most pressing threats to American Christianity. Meaning, of course, American Christians. Yes, thats an overly broad statement. All those Christians whose faith requires them to live the Good News, to feed the hungry, to house the homeless, speak for the voiceless and welcome the stranger, surely do not threaten the faith. To the contrary, they empower it. They are what Christianity is supposed to be. But were here to contend with what Christianity too often is. Having seen putative Christians excuse the liar, rationalize the alleged pedophile, justify the sexual assaulter and cheer as walls are raised against the most vulnerable, its obvious that many of those who claim that name embody a niggardly, cowardly, selfish and situational faith that has little to do with Jesus. Exhibit A: North Bend High School in rural southern Oregon. As detailed by The New York Times and CNN.com, two state reports completed in March and publicized just a few days ago, paint the school as a torture chamber for LGBTQ students. Were talking kids pelted with food and homophobic slurs and a teacher telling two girls it was disgusting for them to kiss. One girl said she was hit in the head with a skateboard by a student who punctuated the assault with anti-gay insults. When she complained to a school official, the woman was dismissive, telling her that her sexuality violated the officials religious beliefs. And, when LGBTQ kids ran afoul of school officials, they were given a punishment designed specifically for them. They were forced to read the Bible. A hearing has been set for this week to resolve the issue. For the record, the school board disputes many of the charges. The superintendent told the Times the Bible was used as punishment only once. Ahem. Let us put aside the constitutional imbecility of forcing a child to read the Bible at all. Nor will we ponder what it says about how you see your faith when you regard its holy book as a punishment. Matthew Vines, a gay Christian and activist, does a good job of refuting the clobber quotes places in the Bible often interpreted as condemning homosexuality in The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality, a video easily findable online, and in his book, God and the Gay Christian, so we have no need to go there. Instead, lets go to Matthew 25:40 where Jesus reminds his followers that whatever you did unto the least of these ... you have done it also unto me. Its a familiar admonition, often quoted but seldom, it seems, taken seriously by many of us who call ourselves Christians. Yet if divinity identifies with the least of these, that means, does it not, that God is in the homeless man begging change at the off ramp, the immigrant slogging north across the unforgiving desert, and, yes, the lesbian whacked by a skateboard. Unfortunately, faith has become for many people a license to do what is easy demonize the Other rather than an obligation to do what is hard: Love your neighbor as yourself. Small wonder millions of people tell pollsters theyve given up on organized religion not the search for spiritual meaning, you understand, but religion. In modeling bigotry, intimidation and violence and calling it faith, these Christians in Oregon give them no reason to reconsider. Indeed, they slander what they claim to hold sacred. Christianity, after all, is the struggle to be like Christ, who famously welcomed the foreigner, the outsider, the outcast. But then, he didnt go to school in Oregon. They dont tolerate that stuff at North Bend. Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald, lpitts@miamiherald.com. First Union received the complaints through their 0800 number and a public survey. The survey alone has received around 1,500 responses, of which 30% claim they have been required by their employer to work without pay whether it be for a meeting, or end of shift tasks. Briscoes, Rebel Sport, The Warehouse, Countdown, Pak n Save, Cotton On, Noel Leeming, Harvey Norman, Farmers, Kmart, Whitcoulls and Warehouse Stationery have been contacted by First Union to advise complaints have been received that they need to investigate. The union said that these are not the only companies that they received complaints about, and that others will be released in due course. Union rep Tali Williams said there are a variety of big name employers involved. Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded. And the chances of Donald Trump's family and fortune surviving climate change are small, dwindling daily and irreversibly. Advertisement Saving BUB, Beautiful Unique Biodiversity, as in these pygmy elephants in Borneo, is another reason to preserve carbon storing forests. Source Rainforest Rescue These elephants are already threatened by ivory poachers, but a planned road will greatly help poachers to invade their habitat. You can sign here to urge the plan is stopped! Forests: the cheapest way to store carbon Advertisement What Consumers of Palm Oil Never See is what their consumption drives: deforestation and extinction. Source SOB - IAR Indonesia, RAN OO UK Bank Financing Tied To Deforestation, Rights Violations For Palm Oil In Indonesia Greenpeace has published evidence of illegal deforestation and violations of local communities by companies receiving $16+ billion in loans and credit from the British bank HSBC. OO 'Out Of Control' Wildfires Damage Protected Forests In Northern Peru - fueled by agriculture and drought, the fires burned around 5,000+ acres during late 2016. Advertisement When we harm forests, we harm ourselves. HOT NEWS OO 2016 Officially Declared Hottest Year On Record - the third year in a row to do so, and a marker of global warming. OO Earth Sets A Temperature Record For The Third Straight Year - Surface temperatures are heading toward levels that many scientists believe will threaten both the natural world and human civilization. OO Global Warming Never 'Paused' And Could Soon Accelerate warns NASA scientist. We were looking in the wrong place for the extra heat, which went into the oceans, not the air. Just goes to show that oceans matter, too, when measuring the progress of global warming. As the extra heat starts going mostly into the air again, expect an acceleration in the effects of global warming on climate. * * MELTDOWN Nothing Like Drama To Emphasize Reality - from the "Day After Tomorrow" 2004 movie, a fictional depiction of the 2002 breakup of the Larsen B shelf in 2002. Once again, the Larsen shelf is in the process of shedding a tremendous amount of ice. Advertisement OO Larsen Ice Crack Continues To Open Up readying to calve a giant iceberg in the Antarctic. Nature Imitates Fiction: Similar to "Day After Tomorrow" Shot above, this is a REAL drone shot of a developing crack in the Brunt ice shelf that threatens the British Antarctic station. Screencapture of Jan 17, 2017 video at climatecrocks.com OO UK's Antarctica Research Base To Relocate As 'Precautionary Measure' amid concerns it could fall into a growing giant ice chasm. OO Argentine Scientists In Antarctica Tally Toll Of Climate Change as a nearby glacier thunderously sheds ice into the ocean daily on King George Island in Antarctica, changing the ecosystem around it. Every Minute, The Sea Rises As Our Future Drowns Credit Ferdi Rizkiyanto at www.behance.net OO Some Sea Level Rise Already Unstoppable; Cutting Carbon Emissions Will Stop Even More - due to the enduring effects of CO2, the global heating driving sea level rise will continue even after we cut emissions, making it ever more urgent that we cut emissions as much and fast as possible. OO Ancient Warm Period Hints At Bigger-Than-Expected Sea Level Rise up to 18 feet over many centuries even if governments cap global warming around current levels, scientists said. * * Advertisement WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW @@ Climate Change 101: Why Care? What You Need to Know - Bill Nye tells it all in five minutes amid graphic, dynamic, engaging, compelling imagery. Check it Out! STAND UP FOR THE ARCTIC - Urge your senator here to prevent drilling for oil in the Arctic, which is already heating far faster than elsewhere due to the burning of fossil fuels. * * TIME TO STAND UP FOR A DECENT CLIMATE Shedding Icy Tears as humanity fails to muster the will needed to stop the unfolding climate catastrophe. Source slightlywarped.com OO It's Time To Stand Up For The Climate--And For Civilization says Bill McKibben. Takeaways: 19th century scientists predicted how climate change could - and would - occur; 20th century scientists documented developing climate change. 20th and 21st diplomats built international bridges to tackle climate change. These foundations of civilization - science, diplomacy and civility - were hard won, but could fade fast. Advertisement Trump could slow the pace of progress in tackling climate change, Enough to ensure far more disastrous climate change than we might prevent. How Fast We Act on Climate Change Will Determine How Many Children Will Die From It now and in the future. Related Headline: OO Bill Moyers: The Climate Threat Posed By Right-Wing Populism's Rising Tide - nationalist populist movements are skeptical about cooperative bodies, like the EU and the UN, which are essential for international progress on climate change. But... OO America Isn't That Divided On The Environment - Studies show there is no political divide on: Conserving water during droughts; Conserving electricity; For farmers, mitigating climate change by better soil management. Meh montage Advertisement OO As Trump Takes Power, Americans' Concern Over Climate Change Hits Record Levels - with a clear majority backing action to tackle climate change. OO Trump Doesn't Represent American Views On Climate Change polls show, an issue that many experts consider to be one of the greatest threats of our time. OO Americans Are Aware Of, And Want Action On, Climate Change poll shows. OO Trump Supporters Don't Like His Climate Policies - Recent polls indicate that most Republicans support: participation in international climate agreements, like the Paris accord; taxing and regulating carbon emissions. getting more of US energy from clean renewable energy, and less from fossil fuels. Why did they vote for Trump? Many were convinced Hillary was worse, climate wasn't a high priority, and they didn't take many of his policy proposals seriously. (Current events must be jolting many of those Trumpers now.) WHAT WE CAN DO OO The Anti-Trump Opposition Began At The Women's March: Here's How To Grow It - unite many factions around themes of broad agreement, one of which is climate change. OO Support Science-Informed Leadership And Candidates Running For Office * * TRUMP TRUMPED BY CLIMATE CHANGE Advertisement Donald Trump's Children Likely Face Climate Apocalypse in their lifetimes; the likely crash of civilization that follows will crash their fortune and survival chances for their kids - and all of ours. Unless, of course, Trump acts to cut emissions, hugely. Source heavy.com OO Trump Aides' List Of First Days' Changes On Energy include: Not weighing climate change when approving pipelines, allowing new drilling for oil, gas, or other major actions; Ignoring the social cost of carbon emissions; Removing the State Department's ability to grant permission for cross border pipelines. The above changes run counter to Trump saying "Protecting clean air and clean water, conserving our natural habitats, and preserving our natural reserves and resources will remain a high priority." Surprised? OO Trump's Regulatory Freeze Halts Obama Rules To Promote Greater Energy Efficiency Madagascar Drought Means Starving Children Credit Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times OO How Climate Denying Trump Is Killing Children - By refusing to tackle it he allows the US to fuel the world with climate changing pollution that spells death for many children from increasingly extreme weather, such as the grisly drought in Madagascar, leaving a trail of dead children and desperate survivors. OO Trump The Destroyer Arrives - His cabinet picks collectively will lead an effort to undermine the legacy of Mr. Obama on the environment, health care, immigration, civil rights and education - with no ideas on how to replace them. Advertisement Daily Climate Editor Laura Pyle notes: "We have by far the highest I.Q.," Trump said, "of any cabinet ever assembled." MEH: Perhaps he meant IQ as in Inauspicious Quacks. OO Trump Tweeted The Wrong Ivanka. She Gave Him Climate Advice. Credit David Horsey at the Los Angeles Times, modified OO The Real Climate Hoax: Trump Cabinet Nominees Cast Doubt On Climate Change even if they don't flat out deny it or its cause, while the overwhelming scientific consensus shows their doubt to be unreasonable and misleading. OO New Studies Show Rex Tillerson Is Wrong About Climate Risks - While he accepted climate change exists, the Secretary of State nominee nevertheless proceeded to downplay its risks. OO Trump Nominees Pruitt And Perry Continue To Play Down Climate Change Credit David Horsey at the Los Angeles Times EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt: Advertisement Doesn't know that abolishing each statute it administers would spark a debate in Congress; that abolishing each statute it administers would spark a debate in Congress; Could be an EPA wrecking ball , given that his career has grew from suing the EPA , given that his career has grew from suing the EPA Pruitt's EPA may loosen California's car pollution rules and in other states, too, ultimately worsening US air pollution. Was grilled on his conflicting fossil fuel industry ties . . Didn't tackle Oklahoma's fracking earthquake epidemic, critics charge. Department Of Interior Nominee Ryan Zinke: promotes coal , ignores clean renewable energy,and the need to act on climate change. , ignores clean renewable energy,and the need to act on climate change. pledges to undo federal regulations over federal lands while protecting them. Do you smell hypocrisy? OO Rick Perry Pledges Support For DOE Research, Renewables As Trump Plans Drastic Agency Cuts OO Trump's Education Nominee Betsy Devos Favors Policies That Dilute Science Education favoring diverting taxpayer dollars towards allowing enabling parents to use private schools where there is no accountability for the quality and accuracy of the science taught there. @@ A Message to Trump from Climate Scientists - lets hope Mike Pence is watching this, since this is probably beyond Trump's attention span... more importantly, Americans in general should see this. OO Trump Ignores Climate At Our Peril OO Climate Change A Growing Challenge For A New President -Even As He Denies It Advertisement Prove You're Not A Loser, Trump! OO Donald Trump Sees The Future In Coal. China Sees The Future In Renewables. Who's Making The Safer Bet? OO America Is Losing The Energy Innovation Race. Trump Can Help Win It - and create 1000s of new jobs, if he's smart enough to recognize the opportunity. * * TRUMP DENIES PUBLIC ACCESS TO EPA, OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES OO Democratic Senators Launch Salvo At Trump's Blocking Of Information in a letter to him and made public here. OO Information Lockdown Hits Trump's Federal Agencies, Closed To Public -- AND Congress in many cases. OO Office That Protects Whistleblowers Fires Warning Shot Across Trump's Bow: Whistleblowers Rights Ride Above Trump's Silencing "Under the anti-gag provision, agencies cannot impose nondisclosure agreements and policies that fail to include required language that informs employees that their statutory right to blow the whistle supersedes the terms and conditions of the nondisclosure agreement or policy," the OSC press release said. @@ Erosion - Donald Trump Climate Denial Vs Reality Music Video, by Rapper Baba Brinkman. In the absence of federal information, this might become a more significant way to inform the public. Hit it, Baba! Advertisement OO Trump's War On EPA Regulations Will Kill Jobs And A Lot Of People - Clean air and water standards create jobs, spur innovation, and save lives. OO EPA Scientific Studies Must Be Vetted By Administration Before Release OO EPA Scientists' Work May Face 'Case By Case' Review By Trump Team official says. OO Trump WH Website Fabricates Benefits Of No Health Regulations On First Day Takeaways: The White House website said eliminating power plant climate rules, and other environmental rules would "greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than30 billion over the next 7 years." (Less than20 per person yearly, even if true.) Its source was a flawed discredited 2015 economic study supported by the fossil fuel industry; it did not include the costs of pollution, especially on health, nor the world market trend away from fossil fuels. The website distorted the findings of even this flawed study. Welcome to Trump's Dark Fantasy World! OO All References To Climate Change Deleted From The White House Website RESISTING TRUMP'S BLOCK OF VITAL SCIENCE Scientists Are Starting To Stand Up for Science Source Facebook Advertisement OO Scientists Are Planning The Next Big Washington March * * CLIMATE LEADERSHIP OO President Obama Transfers $500 Million To Green Climate Fund in attempt to protect Paris deal. This leaves the US owing $2 billion; Donald Trump is expected to stop further payments. * * CLUELESS LEADERSHIP Wisconsin Chooses to Mislead Public on climate change ignoring on its state websites the overwhelming consensus that it is caused by burning fossil fuels. OO Wisconsin: State Agencies Wipe Human-Caused Climate Change From Websites; Scientists Object saying Advertisement "Rapid changes in climate are threatening public health, safety, and natural resources. Failing to accurately inform the public about these threats and the opportunities to reduce them, violates the trust we place in our public institutions." * * GOOD CLEAN NEWS OO China's War On Coal Continues -- It Just Canceled 104 New Coal Plants - these halted projects are equal in size to one-third of the US coal fleet. It's potentially a very, very big deal for efforts to fight climate change. OO Toyota, Shell Among Giants Betting Nearly $11 Billion On Hydrogen As A Clean Fuel with plans to invest a combined 10 billion euros in hydrogen-related products within five years. OO Saudi Arabia To Launch $30-50 Billion Renewable Energy Program Soon says its energy minister. The Sun Grinds the Grain at this solar powered mill in Zambia. Source news.trust.org OO Africa: Zambia Tries New Way To Beat Drought - Solar Grain Mills hoping to hold down the cost of milling grain, and hold the line on food prices. Advertisement OO Norway: Oslo Temporarily Bans Diesel Cars To Combat Pollution despite angering some motorists after they were urged to buy diesel cars a few years ago. * * SOCIAL REPERCUSSIONS Credit H. Raab at Flickr OO Climate Change Will Hurt Crops More Than It Helps Them study suggests, reaffirming an earlier study's idea that high temperatures could seriously harm the production of some of the world's most important food crops, including corn, soybeans and wheat. Together, these 3 crops account for about a third of total cropland used on Earth. The implications of these studies are catastrophic for the world's food supply. OO Big Unfinished Business For Trump: Averting Serious Southwest Water Shortages - Outgoing Interior Secretary Sally Jewell laid out a game plan this; whether Trumps uses it is unknown. OO Indigenous Canadians Face A Crisis As Climate Change Eats Away Island Home - ask not for whom the bell tolls... * * Advertisement GOOD IDEAS @@ Limit Trump's TV Viewing, Aides Try - to keep him from tweeting explosive and insane ideas he gets from watching TV, notes Seth Meyers truthfully in this recent "Late Night" segment. OO Even Conservatives Question Trump's Fitness: Maybe Trump Isn't 'Lying' OO Psychological 'Vaccine' Could Help Immunize Public Against 'Fake News' On Climate Change - by showing the errors and illogic imbedded in the climate myths that climate deniers create, when communicating with the public on climate change. Related Headline: OO A Fake News Vaccine? Climate Change Misinformation Can Be Fought With 'Inoculation' scientists say. OO Social Will Needed, If Technology Is To Stave Off Climate Change - without the societal will to decarbonize, even the best technologies won't be enough. OO Evaluating The Social Cost Of Carbon Is Crucial To Tackling Carbon Pollution new ways to do so are evolving to keep up with the best available science. * * NATURAL REPERCUSSIONS Advertisement OO Tibetan Tree Rings Trace Climate Change To 1870s when the Industrial Revolution revved up carbon emissions worldwide. The new study shows that before the 1870s, the temperature difference between summer and winter was widening. After the 1870s, this difference started to decrease, a trend that holds to the present day: as temperatures rise overall, winters become warmer faster than summers, closing the temperature gap between the two seasons. Trying to Rid Itself of Killing Ticks, A Moose Rubs Itself Smooth Source New Hampshire Fish and Game Department OO Ticks, Thriving In Warm Weather, Take A Ghastly Toll On New England Moose - Researchers say droves of winter ticks, which flourish when fall is warm and the winter comes late, are killing moose calves. They have "wasted away." * * SPEAKING OUT A Bonnie Green Prince Charles Credit Richard Stonehouse at Getty Images OO UK's Green Prince Charles To Challenge Trump On Climate Change during the climate change denier's scheduled UK visit - unless, of course, Charles can avoid Trump altogether and let his princely sons meet Trump instead. Advertisement OO Bernie Sanders To Scott Pruitt: 'Why Is The Climate Changing?' - Pruitt noted that humans may contribute to climate change "in some manner," and Sanders insisted that the science says a great deal more than that. OO Al Gore's Inconvenient Sequel To Open Sundance Festival in an acutely political year. Viewing Climate Change From Decades of Winters in the Colorado Rockies, Billy Barr amassed a unique, massive and valuable record of climate data. OO Billy Barr: The Hermit Who Inadvertently Shaped Climate-Change Science - Moving to the Rocky Mountains Biological Lab four decades ago, he started recording winter climate data that forms a unique, long term record of climate change in the Rocky Mountains. [FD: I know him personally, and he truly is an amazing person.] * * FOSSIL FUEL FOLLIES OO The Great Lakes: Fossil Fuel Time Bomb Ticking In Largest US Freshwater Supply - Two 63-year-old pipes lie exposed at the bottom of the current-whipped Straits of Mackinac, "the worst possible place" for a spill in all the Lakes. OO Taxpayer Subsidized Coal Mining On Federal Land Under Review - one of the only places where, because of taxpayer subsidies in the form of cheap leases, coal can compete with natural gas. OO Land Rush For Oil In US Permian Basin: Exxon Mobil Is The Latest Player acquiring a major parcel in West Texas and New Mexico -- more climate-changing fuel we should not use. Advertisement Disappearing Views - and People as air pollution takes its toll on both. Source AFP at www.scmp.com OO China, Japan, Vietnam: Air Pollution Map Reveals Countries At Risk Of 'Airpocalypse. - A study from Greenpeace International and Harvard University has discovered coal-fired power plants built in these countries are slowly killing people and creating an "airpocalypse." OO Southeast Asia's Coal Boom Could Cause 70,000 Deaths Yearly By 2030 report says. Conversely, about 50,000 lives could be saved yearly by 2030 if no new coal-fired power plants are built in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan or Taiwan, a new study finds. OO China: Illegal Oil Refineries Produce High-Risk Fuel, Dump Acid Sludge To Make Toxic Lakes - A recent drug crackdown exposed evidence that many illegal oil refineries still operate in China These refineries sell home-processed diesel and oil to trucks and create safety hazards. Chairman Mao Would Have A Fit - all these bicycles for hire, discarded in a pile by people who were finished with them, but chose not to return them. Source Imaginechina/Rex/Shutterstock OO Chinese Choose Polluting Cars Over Clean Bicycles - Where is Chinese enforcement when it really counts? OO How Airlines Can Fly Around New Carbon Rules and a flying boom means a boom in airline pollution. OO Canada's Trudeau Is Under Fire For His Not So Green Record having approved two oil pipelines and a major gas facility. * * FIXING CLIMATE CHANGE Advertisement @@ A Simple And Smart Way To Fix Climate Change given by Dan Miller in 2014 at a Ted talk suggests a way to profit as we tackle climate change, by finally charging those who sell and use fossil fuels - and distributing the revenues back to all of us. The strategy is sure to speed transition to clean renewable energy. What's not to like? Check it out! If we do not live sustainably, Our children will die inhumanely. @@ The Cost of Unintended Pregnancy: Too Young Teen childbearing cost US taxpayers $9+ Billion in 2010 And the costs of raising a child usually ensures decades, if not a life, of poverty for its mother. - US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WHAT YOU CAN DO Help prevent unintended pregnancies in your community: publicize where women can access affordable contraception. They can go here to find locations: Advertisement And there are many more actions you can do, right here. * * * SOLAR KEEPS DANCING OO Republican Political Donors Install Nearly As Much Solar As Democratic Donors - political party affiliation doesn't matter. OO Despite Headwinds, Big Capital Continues To Flow Into Solar Projects, Processes And Startups - A billion-dollar roundup of some of the bigger and more interesting solar deals so far this year. OO Mapping Tool Identifies Michigan's Upper Peninsula Brownfield Sites For Solar Development identifying nearly 80 brownfield sites in the Upper Peninsula that could host the development of more than 750 megawatts of solar. Check it out here, right now! Advertisement * * * WHY WE SHOULD ACT NOW: RISING RISKS Daily Climate Change: Global Map of Unusual Temperatures, Jan 30, 2017 Source cci-reanalyzer.org How unusual has the weather been? No one event is "caused" by climate change, but global warming, which is predicted to increase unusual, extreme weather, is having a daily effect on weather, worldwide. Looking above at recent temperature anomalies, much of the US, Canada, and the waters surrounding them are experiencing warmer than normal temperatures: the eastern Pacific warm spot continues and, despite recent precipitation, so does the drought in most of California. Much of the areas surrounding the North Pole are experiencing much warmer than normal temperatures - not good news for our Arctic thermal shield of ice. Hotter than usual temperatures continue to dominate human habitats. * * * Advertisement There is, of course, much more news on the consequences and solutions to climate change. To get it, check out this annotated resource list I've compiled, "Climate Change News Resources," at Wordpress.com here. For more information on the science of climate change, its consequences and solutions you can view my annotated list of online information resources here. To help you understand just what science does and does NOT do, check this out! Page Content Montreal 17 May 2018 ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu and the Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (UN CTED), Ms. Michele Coninsx, took an important step today to address international terrorist threats. The two leaders met in Montreal to sign a new agreement which will now greatly strengthen and enhance their agencies cooperation and information sharing relating to border controls, aviation security and counter-terrorism, and which will support key United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding international priorities for aligned counter-terrorism response. This new agreement directly supports UN Security Council resolution 2309 and aligns with the ICAO Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP). It enables us to cooperate to mobilize political will, to leverage expertise, optimize resources and maximize deliverables to Member States, explained ICAO Secretary General Liu. Together we will pursue to strengthen Member States capacity and promote a more widespread culture of collective responsibility and effective, collaborative responses to international terrorist threats, while at the same time continuing to simplify and streamline travel clearances for our networks vast majority of legitimate low risk passengers. Cooperation with ICAO is vital to the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (UN CTC) and UN CTED. This new agreement not only supports UN Security Council Resolution 2309, but also efficiently addresses others including UNSC resolutions 2341, 2395 and 2396. CTC visits are becoming more complex and, in some cases, more focused on certain thematic areas. As a result, they increasingly require specialized expertise, including in the area of civil aviation, noted Ms. Coninsx. UN CTED will therefore continue to rely on ICAOs support in conducting assessment visits on the Committees behalf. The CTC and CTED will continue to support the work of ICAO in coherence with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT) and UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact and promote the implementation of its Standards and Recommended Practices, whether in the Security Council or in our interaction with regional and sub-regional organizations and Member States. The new ICAO-UN CTED agreement will be followed by a joint action plan and build upon past cooperation initiatives between the two UN entities, mainly being pursued at present under the aegis of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (UN CTC) and through the development of an Advanced Passenger Information (API) programme for global aviation, CTC State assessment visits. ICAOs Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP), developed and issued at the end of 2017, has already begun to assist this process and its objectives will now be bolstered by the new cooperation parameters being set out. This new agreement will greatly assist our agencies efforts to respond in a coordinated way to new and emerging challenges, such as evolving security requirements and increased international mobility, concluded Dr. Liu. It also recognizes our shared emphasis on prioritizing more sustainable travel facilitation solutions, including travel document security, citizen identity management, and the international standardization of passenger data exchange. Resources for Editors About ICAO A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 192 Member States. ICAO's Security and Facilitation Strategic Objective ICAO's No Country Left Behind initiative Contacts Anthony Philbin Chief, Communications aphilbin@icao.int +1 514-954-8220 +1 438-402-8886 (mobile) Twitter: @ICAO William Raillant-Clark Communications Officer wraillantclark@icao.int +1 514-954-6705 +1 514-409-0705 (mobile) Twitter: @wraillantclark LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/raillantclark/ Trafficked fishermen taken into State care in Ireland by Kitty Holland May 17,2018 | Source: The Irish Times Sixteen fishermen from outside the EU, who gardai suspect have been trafficked for exploitation in the industry, have been taken into the care of the State. Gardai are investigating the cases of the men, from Egypt, the Philippines and Ghana, under the provisions of the 2008 Human Trafficking Act. A person convicted under the Act faces a fine of up to life in prison. Twelve of the men arrived in Ireland with permits granted under an Atypical Working Scheme (AWS) for Non-EEA Crew in the Irish Fishing Fleet, established especially for the industry in 2016. According to the United Nations human trafficking includes the transportation, recruitment or receipt of people, by means of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception or abuse of power or vulnerability. Four others, from Ghana, arrived in Belfast at the end of January with UK transit visas to work on vessels out of Belfast. They were brought directly across the border and worked on vessels out of ports including Howth, Dunmore East, Co Waterford and Castletownbere, Co Cork, without Irish permits, before being asked to leave a boat in Howth at the beginning of April. They are now being accommodated in the Balseskin reception centre in Dublin, having been referred to gardai by the International Transport Federation, a trade union. The men have the right to work while they await the outcome of the investigation, and must remain as here witnesses. The ITF, which is affiliated to Siptu, describes the AWS as unfit for purpose and is calling on Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan the lead Minister in granting permits to suspend the scheme. They say the scheme, established amid concerns of widespread exploitation in the industry, is being widely ignored and undermined, with evidence of wages as low as 2.40 an hour, 20-hour working days and neither sick-pay nor insurance. In a report earlier this year the Irish Naval Service said between January 2016 and September 2017, it boarded and inspected 86 Irish registered fishing vessels and found 182 non-EEA crew members, of who 73 had the required permits and 109 had not. The ITFs solicitors, Mason, Hayes and Curran, in a letter on 16th May 2018, said if the AWS is not suspended the federation will initiate proceedings in the High Court. seeking orders restraining the grant or renewal of further permissions under the scheme. The continued operation of the AWS manifestly represents a real and imminent danger [to fishermens human rights]...there is now clear, unambiguous evidence that the AWS is not fit for purpose...Fishermen abroad are induced to come to Ireland by the hollow promise of safe and fair working conditions. Dozens of fishermen are...vulnerable to trafficking and ..severe labour exploitation. The four Ghanaian fishermen, interviewed by The Irish Times last month, were at a press conference hosted by the ITF on Thursday. One of them, Joshua Baafi (36), said the men were thankful for the intervention of the ITF in their case. We thank God for this. They are looking for work, in decorating, cleaning or anything but have been unable to so find anything so far. A spokesman for the Department of Justice said: This Government abhors any abuse of proper employment conditions, in any circumstance. In the matter of abuses or otherwise of the employment conditions of any Non EEA National in the Irish fishing industry, the relevant authorities are primarily the Workplace Relations Commission and the Marine Survey Office. The Department does not comment with third parties on any correspondence it receives. Any change to the scheme would be a matter for the relevant Departments with the approval of Government. 2018 THE IRISH TIMES Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. EU still unhappy with Thai fishing May 17,2018 | Source: The Nation The European Union has kept a yellow flag for Thailand over the countrys illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing problems, a source at the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry revealed on Wednesday. The source said Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach was already informed of the results from the EUs review of Thailands performance. A delegation from the EU visited Thailand last month to discuss anti-IUU efforts. Two issues behind the EU decision to not upgrade Thailands anti-IUU ratings are fleet management and laws enforcement, the source said. The EU apparently found discrepancies in boat categorisation at the Marine Department and expects to see strict laws enforcement, efficient management of administrative orders and clear timeframes. The source said the EU wanted Thailand to achieve visible progress within four months. Since 2015, Thailand has been slapped with a yellow flag for shortcomings in its fisheries monitoring, control and sanctioning systems. If the EU were to issue a red flag, Thailands seafood exports would be banned by EU members. Deputy Prime Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya, who oversees a subcommittee on solutions to IUU, said the Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) needed to upgrade its operations and staff. I have also assigned the Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing to send five staff to the FMC to help train and monitor the workforce there over the next three months, Chatchai said. He said he also instructed the legal authorities, from the police to public prosecutors and courts, to boost coordination and efficiency. I expect to get clear and positive results by July, Chatchai said. 2017 by THE NATION Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. Falklands describes as 'positive', the outcome of fishery talks held in Argentina May 16,2018 | Source: MercoPress The Falkland Islands has been positive about the outcome of the first round of fishery talks (May 14/15) referred to the South Atlantic, between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The talks in Buenos Aires, with Falklands representatives included in the UK delegation, emphasized on the exchange of scientific information and conservation of shared fishery resources in the South West Atlantic. A brief release from the Argentina foreign affairs ministry late Tuesday, said a second round of talks is scheduled for next November in London, but this was not mentioned in the Falklands announcement. Follows the full release: Positive outcome for Falkland Islands fishery talks. Following two days of fisheries talks in Buenos Aires this week progress has been made in resuming the exchange of scientific data for the benefit of the South Atlantic region. The purpose of sharing information on fish and squid stocks is primarily to help ensure the sustainability of fisheries in South Atlantic waters, but may also have additional conservational benefits in future. This respects the agreement outlined within the Joint Communique between the UK and Argentina, which highlighted the need for improved cooperation and positive engagement on South Atlantic issues of mutual interest. The meeting took place in a constructive atmosphere and was very much about renewing and refreshing the SSC process (Scientific Sub-Committee. The delegations included representatives from UK and Argentine Governments, and the Falkland Island and Argentine fishery management organizations. The discussions addressed the renewal of some scientific work on Ilex and Southern Blue Whiting, as well as proposals for research cruises and the extension of the SSC agenda to include a wider range of species. Broader ecosystems issues were also considered, including the impact of fishing on seabirds and marine mammals. John Barton, Director of Natural Resources said: The fisheries Scientific Sub-Committee meeting this week was a step in the right direction in terms of improving our understanding of shared resources. The renewed scientific cooperation between the Falkland Islands/United Kingdom and Argentina should, in time, provide for better conservation of such resources. 1997 - 2016, MercoPress Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture. Imperial Valley News Center White House Press Secretary on the Move of the Guatemalan Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel Washington, DC - The United States welcomes the move of the Guatemalan Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We thank our Western Hemisphere partner for joining us in recognizing Israels capital and encourage additional moves. By being the first head of state to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to open an embassy there on May 14, 2018, President Trump reprised the role President Truman played 70 years ago when he was the first to recognize the State of Israel. We look forward to welcoming many more of our friends and allies in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Southern White Rhino at San Diego Zoo Safari Park Pregnant Through Artificial Insemination San Diego, California - Researchers at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research announced Thursday morning that they have confirmed a pregnancy in one of the southern white rhinos living at the Nikita Khan Rhino Rescue Center. The pregnancy, created through artificial insemination with sperm from a male southern white rhino, is an important milestone in the ongoing work to develop the scientific knowledge required to genetically recover the northern white rhino, a distant subspecies of the southern white rhino. Only two northern white rhinos currently remain on Earth (unfortunately both are female). The confirmation of this pregnancy through artificial insemination represents an historic event for our organization but also a critical step in our effort to save the northern white rhino , said Barbara Durrant, Ph.D., director of Reproductive Sciences, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. The sperm had excellent motility and the procedure went very well - we are excited to confirm a pregnancy has occurred but we have a long time before we can declare a real success with the birth of a healthy southern white rhino baby. Rhino gestation lasts from 16-18 months. The artificial insemination of a rhino named Victoria, occurred on March 22 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park . Victoria is one of six female southern white rhinos that were relocated to the Safari Park from private reserves in South Africa in November 2015. Artificial insemination of rhinos has rarely been attempted in zoos and there have only a few births from this procedure in the past. We have been very lucky to be able to provide the space and social structures necessary to encourage natural breeding of southern white rhinos, black rhinos and greater one horned rhinos in zoos, said Randy Rieches, Director of curatorial and husbandry sciences for San Diego Zoo Global. Unfortunately the challenges associated with limited gene pools and severely reduced numbers facing Javan rhinos, Sumatran rhinos and the northern white rhino means that some form of assisted reproduction may be their only hope for the future. A key element of the program at the Rhino Rescue Center is the ability of animal care staff to work closely with the rhinos, building positive relationships so the rhinos participate voluntarily in procedures like artificial insemination and ongoing monitoring of pregnancies. Just the fact that we have been able to confirm this pregnancy while the embryo is just a few weeks old is tremendously important and is all due to the work that animal care staff have put into developing relationships with these rhinos, said Parker Pennington, post doctoral associate. Through regular cooperative ultrasounds with Victoria we will be gathering a lot of data about the progress of a rhino pregnancy data that has never been gathered before. If Victoria is able to carry the calf to term, the first southern white rhino calf born at the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center could arrive in summer 2019. To reach the ultimate goal of successfully producing a northern white rhino, multiple steps must be accomplished. One of the first steps involved sequencing the genome of the northern white rhino to clarify the extent of genetic divergence from its closest relative, the southern white rhino. Another step requires conversion of cells preserved from 12 individual northern white rhinos in the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Researchs Frozen Zoo to stem cells that could develop into sperm and eggsa process successfully begun in the laboratory of Jeanne Loring, Ph.D., of The Scripps Research Institute, with details of the process published in 2011. Reproductive options include artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, with the southern white rhinos possibly serving as surrogates for northern white rhino embryos. The reproductive system of rhinos is very complex, and there is still much to be learned. There are many challenges ahead, but researchers are optimistic that a northern white rhino calf could be born from these processes within 10 to 15 years. This work also may be applied to other rhino species, including critically endangered Sumatran and Javan rhinos. Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global. As a leader in conservation, the work of San Diego Zoo Global includes on-site wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, as well as international field programs on six continents. The work of these entities is made accessible to children through the San Diego Zoo Kids network, reaching out through the internet and in childrens hospitals nationwide. The work of San Diego Zoo Global is made possible by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and is supported in part by the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global. Release of Anwar Ibrahim Washington, DC - The United States welcomes the release from prison and the full pardon of Malaysian political leader Anwar Ibrahim. His conviction and detention raised serious concerns about the rule of law in Malaysia. We are glad that he has been reunited with his family. We look forward to working with the new government in Malaysia to further strengthen the U.S.-Malaysia Comprehensive Partnership. Radhika Madan Keeps It Casual In Crop Top And Pants, Take A Look At Her Hot Pictures I was in college in the San Francisco Bay Area at about the same time Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were building their first Apple computers -- the Apple I -- in Jobs's parents' garage in Los Altos, California. While they only made 200 or so copies of their first computer, it was the seed from which the wildly successful company grew. However, not everyone believed in Jobs and Wozniak at the time -- in fact, some thought they and their garage-built computers weren't going to amount to much of anything. So it was in 1976, when Los Altos ad agency executive Mike Rose received a referral from Regis McKenna, who ran an area PR firm. The referral? Steve Jobs, who was looking for a company to print the instruction manual for the Apple I computer. Rose talked with Jobs on the phone, but he wasn't exactly impressed by what he heard. He scribbled a handwritten note to his business partner, notifying him that he would be hearing from Jobs, but to watch out for "this joker." Here's the text of the note: "Bob -- This joker (attached) is going to be calling you. Somebody at Regis McKenna recommended us (you). They are 2 guys -- they build kits -- operate out of a garage -- want our catalog sheets. Wants it for nothing. Wouldn't trust me. Told him we'd like to see what they've got -- we'd estimate -- then decide. Sounds flakey. Watch it! Mike" Reportedly, Jobs decided that the quote he received from Rose's company was too high, so he ended up selecting a local printing company to produce it. While the job certainly wouldn't have made Mike Rose rich, it's intriguing to think what might have happened if he had taken Jobs and Wozniak a bit more seriously and developed a long-term relationship with them and their nascent company. Says Leslie Berlin, project historian for the Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford University (where Mike Rose's note now resides), "The note is wonderful in part because it reveals how much Silicon Valley has changed in 35 years. In 1976, two guys trying to launch a tech company from a garage in the heart of Silicon Valley were flakes. Today, someone in Rose's position might well ask for a piece of the action -- payment in the form of a small bit of stock, perhaps?" Rapper Meek Mill decided not to participate in a prison reform panel alongside President Trump at the White House. The panel called the Prison Reform Summit was supposed to take place on Friday, but the rapper born Robert Williams didn't want to be a distraction. "I was originally scheduled to be part of a panel on prison reform at the White House to help shed light on the issues within the system," Meek said in a statement to Rolling Stone. "Unfortunately, the focus turned to the President and myself, which concerned me that it might take away from creating a positive result from today's discussions. As a result, I decided not to attend so that the focus would be solely on fixing our prison system." Meek added: "Most importantly I remain fully committed to improving our criminal justice system." The 30-year-old rapper was arrested for violating the terms of his probation last fall and was released in April after credibility issues with a police officer witness. For the last 10 years, Meeks case was presided over by Judge Genece Brinkley. Meek was originally arrested in 2007 and was convicted of seven charges involving guns and drugs. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty He currently has a Jay-Z-produced docuseries in the works about the ongoing problems in the criminal justice system. The Prison Reform Summit will be moderated by political commentator Van Jones where over 100 policymakers and activists will be present, USA Today reports. "As you know, I'm on the left side of Pluto," Jones said. "But one thing I know is that its one of these strange issues that the more people engage on it, the more stupidity they see in the system. The more we can get the Trump White House and the Republican party to engage in this issue at all, the more progress we'll make, and then I think more reform leads to more reform." A southern white rhinos pregnancy has raised hopes that her northern cousins can be saved from extinction. Sudan the last remaining male northern white rhino died in March after suffering age-related complications, making extinction for his kind seem inevitable. But after southern white Victoria was impregnated using artificial insemination at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, scientists think she could one day act as a surrogate for a new generation of northern whites. Researchers at the zoo will watch closely to see if she can carry her calf to term over 16 to 18 months of gestation. If she does, it is hoped that she could one day serve as a surrogate mother for the closely related northern white rhino. After decades of decimation by poachers, there are only two remaining members of that species, both females, but neither Najin or Fatu, are capable of bearing calves. Najin, age 28, has achilles tendons that could rupture under the weight of a pregnancy and, though younger, Fatu is barren because of a uterine infection. However, researchers around the world are working on artificial reproduction techniques in an attempt to bring both species of rhino back from the brink. Victoria is one of six female southern white rhinos at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research where testing is taking place to determine whether they are fit to be surrogate mothers. An ultrasound of Victoria the rhino showing her two month-old foetus (AP) She is the first to become pregnant. If she gives birth, it is thought that they could carry northern white rhino embryos within the next decade, as scientists work to recreate northern white rhino embryos. The confirmation of this pregnancy through artificial insemination represents an historic event for our organisation but also a critical step in our effort to save the northern white rhino, said Dr Barbara Durrant, director of reproductive sciences at the institute. San Diego Zoo has the cell lines of 12 different northern white rhinos stored in freezing temperatures at its Frozen Zoo. Scientists hope to use frozen skin cells from the dead northern white rhinos to transform them into stem cells and eventually sperm and eggs. Recommended Black rhinos return to Chad 50 years after poaching wiped them out Then the scientists can use in vitro fertilisation to create embryos that can be put in the six female rhinos. Meanwhile another team collaborating with Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, which is home to the last remaining northern whites, is working on a completely separate project to save the species. The process being worked in conjunction with Ol Pejeta will harvest eggs from the two remaining northern white females, the conservancys spokeswoman Elodie Sampere told The Independent. Working with Dvur Kralove zoo in the Czech Republic, scientists intend to use an Ol Pejeta southern white rhino as a surrogate for northern white rhino eggs. Sudan, the last male white rhino, dies Both projects face plenty of challenges. While Victoria is a healthy female, artificial insemination of rhinos in zoos has resulted in few births. Scientists at the zoo will be perfecting artificial insemination techniques and embryo transfer techniques on her and her fellow San Diego females, which undergo weekly ultrasounds. Dr Durrant recently spotted the beginning of tiny limbs of Victorias baby during her recent ultrasound. She is two months pregnant. We will know that they have proven themselves to be capable of carrying a foetus to term before we would risk putting a precious northern white rhino embryo into one of these southern white rhinos as a surrogate, said Dr Durrant. The ultimate goal which could take decades is to create a herd of five to 15 northern white rhinos that would be returned to their natural habitat in Africa. Some groups have said in vitro fertilisation is being developed too late to save the northern white rhino, whose natural habitat in Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Congo and the Central African Republic has been ravaged by conflicts in the region. They say the efforts should focus on other critically endangered species with a better chance at survival. A recent collaborative effort between African governments and conservation organisations saw black rhinos reintroduced to Chad 50 years after poaching completely wiped them out. Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Show all 8 1 /8 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Winner Pikin and Appolinaire Pikin, a lowland gorilla, had been captured and was going to be sold for bushmeat but was rescued by Ape Action Africa. Jo-Anne took this photograph as the gorilla was being moved from her former enclosure within a safe forest sanctuary in Cameroon to a new and larger one, along with a group of gorilla companions. She was first sedated, but during the transfer to the new enclosure she awoke. Luckily, she was not only very drowsy, but she was also in the arms of her caretaker, Appolinaire Ndohoudou, and so she remained calm for the duration of the bumpy drive Jo-Anne McArthur Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Finalist Elegant Mother and Calf Every year from July to late October southern humpback whales migrate north from their Antarctic feeding grounds to give birth in the warm sheltered waters off Tonga. Ray encountered this humpback mother and calf peacefully floating in the plankton-filled water around the island group of Vavau, Tonga. After Ray gently approached them, the giants swam a bit closer to have a look at him. While they made this elegant turn, Ray took the shot. He later converted the image into black and white which he felt represented the simplicity of the scene Ray Chin/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Finalist Warm Embrace When polar bear mothers and cubs emerge from their dens in the early spring, the cubs stay close to their mothers for warmth and protection. Once the cubs are strong and confident enough, they make the trek to the sea ice with their mother so that she can resume hunting for seals. Debra waited six days near the den of this family, in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada, before they finally emerged. In the most challenging conditions she has ever faced, temperatures ranged from -35C to -55C with high winds, making it almost impossible to avoid frostbite and keep her camera gear functioning properly Debra Garside/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Finalist Roller Rider Lakshitha was on safari in MaasaiMara National Reserve, Kenya, when he spotted an unusual sight a lilac-breasted roller riding a zebra. Normally they prefer to perch high up in the foliage, but his roller spent an hour or more riding around and enjoying the occasional insect meal. Lakshitha waited for the surrounding zebras to form the perfect background before taking this tight crop Lakshitha Karunarathna/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Finalist Sloth Hanging Out Luciano had to climb the cecropia tree, in the protected Atlantic rainforest of southern Bahia, Brazil, to take an eye-level shot of this three-toed sloth. Sloths like to feed on the leaves of these trees,and so they are often seen high up in the canopy. Luciano Candisani/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Shortlisted Reach for the Sky Steven was taking pictures of a small group of adult roseate spoonbills in a rookery in Tampa Bay, Florida, when he noticed a newcomer flying in from afar. With just enough time to back up a few steps, Steven photographed the bird landing exactly square to his camera with its wings in a stunning symmetrical U-shape Steve Blandin/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Shortlisted Holding On This close-up captures the touching moment an infant lays its small hand in the big hand of its mother. Jami took this photograph while she was in Borneo working on a story about the effects of palm-oil agriculture on orangutan habitat. Loss of primary rainforest is a serious threat to this already critically endangered species Jami Tarris/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice award Shortlisted Blood Ivory In a protected area of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a rangers bloody hand rests on a heavily grained ivory tusk, also covered in the blood of an African elephant. The bull had to be destroyed due to a severe tusk infection that couldnt be treated.The tusks were removed to a place of safekeeping, where they were carefully catalogued in accordance with legislation Peter Chadwick/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Both black and white rhinos still face intense hunting pressure due to the demand for their precious horns, and that population will be guarded constantly by a special ranger unit to ensure their survival. Upon the death of Sudan, wildlife manager at Kenya Wildlife Services Paul Masela described the sadness of watching a species go extinct in real time. I wouldnt say it was a wake-up call because we saw it coming, and we should have done better, he said. Additional reporting by AP Up until recently, it was starkly minimal, fade-into-the-background shoes that were being hailed as a fashion status symbol. But, skip to 2018 and an unlikely item that two decades ago would have been considered sartorial suicide is sweeping through the street style pack. Enter: dad trainers. Throughout the 80s and 90s, this style of shoe was worn exclusively by dads and, as such, became pigeonholed as the epitome of uncool. Now though, those very same chunky, bulbous and vaguely orthopaedic-looking trainers have become the must have cool-girl purchase of the year. So much so, that everyone from Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, to Kaia Gerber, Kim Kardashian and Hailey Baldwin has adopted the thick-soled shoe. But, exactly how did the dad trainer manage to shake off its tasteless reputation? Like most trends, this one started on the catwalk where a love for all things 90s saw a return to golden-era sportswear and footwear that considered ugliness an aesthetic statement. Take for instance Balenciagas Triple-S which according to StyleBop were the fastest selling item of 2017 - Kanye Wests Yeezy Runner and Louis Vuittons Archlight sneakers, all of which have taken over the runways and well-dressed feet of style stars of late. According to one expert though, the dad shoes rise to fame initially grew out the normcore trend with Adidas Stan Smith which was re-released in 2014 the main catalyst for its popularity. Honest to God, what could be more of a dad shoe than the Stan Smith? I mean, my dad wore them, Elizabeth Semmelhack, a shoe historian and the senior curator of Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum told Cosmopolitan. Even though it was revived in fashion and is basically no longer considered a dad shoe, when it came back in a few years ago that was one of the few things that gave it its edginess." Despite being super-comfy, Semmelhack adds that no one is really wearing them because of their practicality. Instead, theyre seen as the perfect antidote to fashions seriousness and a way for women to make a powerful statement. The majority of people are wearing them in a kind of ironic way, she says. Theyre super themselves, super fashionable and beautiful, and then to have on these somewhat clunky shoes creates an edgy compare and contrast. Womens footwear is in a bit of an interesting moment, because the high heel is losing currency, and I do think, in part, it's related to the #MeToo movement. It's a kind of complicated moment in actual politics, gender politics, and the politics of footwear. Despite their unwavering popularity, not everyone is convinced and many have taken to social media to express their aversion to the ugly trainer trend. People will literally wear anything thats designer them Balenciaga trainers are UGLY AF, one person wrote on Twitter. Another added: They look like them trainers kids used to get off the market back in the day. With a new app from Google, finding outfit inspiration will no longer require hours of scouring the internet. The new shopping feature, Style Match, was just announced as part of Google Lens and it will change the way you shop. The concept is simple - if you see something that you like, you can point your camera at it and your phone will then show you the same item, or similar items, to purchase. Recommended You can now filter Pinterest results by skin tone And once you find the exact dress you saw someone on the train wearing, you can purchase it through Google Shopping. The app works in real-time by using image-recognition technology - meaning you can purchase a pair of shoes within seconds of seeing them on your coworkers feet. You can also see reviews of the item before you purchase, as well as different items in a similar style. According to Google, Style Match also works on home decor. Style Match simply requires you to point your camera at an item (Google) This isnt the first fashion-matching app - the app ScreenShop offered a similar shopping experience when it was released last year. However, Googles version is the first to be built directly into the camera - meaning youll be able to browse the world around you, just by pointing your camera. The 10 Best fashion apps Show all 11 1 /11 The 10 Best fashion apps The 10 Best fashion apps 10-best-fashion-apps-logos.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-9.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-7.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-1.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-4.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-10.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-3.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-2.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-8.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-6.jpg The 10 Best fashion apps ten-best-5.jpg When you dont have the words to describe the jacket you saw someone wearing on the street into a search bar, Style Match can do the work for you. Currently, the Google Lens app is only available on Android phones and Google Assistant. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has said a new mass transit system under Los Angeles will eliminate traffic, cut pollution and transport people at 150 mph directly to their destination all for the cost of a dollar. Mr Musk says his tunnel-digging firm appropriately named The Boring Company is working with the citys Metro system to solve these urban transportation issues. Almost every city in the world has severe traffic issues and there really dont seem to be solutions that are anywhere around the corner, Mr Musk told a crowd at the Leo Baeck Temple synagogue in LA. He added that the often-proposed solution of flying cars would be dangerous, noisy and impractical. Its really hard to imagine going 3D up. So if its unlikely going 3D up, then what about going 3D down? This is the only way that we can think of to address chronic traffic issues in major cities, he said, referencing his companys plan to create a network of tunnels underground for the purpose of mass transit. The fastest tunnel boring machine in the world currently operates at around 0.003 mph. Mr Musk has challenged engineers at his company to not just outpace this speed, but achieve a speed of around 0.3 mph for its tunnel digging operation similar to that of a snail. Unlike a traditional subway, the tunnel network Mr Musk proposes is comprised of dozens of main tunnels that link together through connecting tunnels. Rather than have large stations for people to enter the network, micro stations the size of a parking space would transport passengers down an elevator into the transport network. Youd be going very fast the whole time and the only time youd actually stop would be when you exit. The thing about a subway, a subway stops at every station, Mr Musk said. One subway train cant go past another subway train, its very difficult. And so a subway ends up being like a series of stop streets. Whereas this system is designed to be more like, you have a highway and a bunch of off ramps and loops connecting to the highway almost like an autonomous underground multi-level car system. A map displaying proposed routes for the first tunnel network under Los Angeles built by The Boring Company. (The Boring Company) Mr Musk also spoke about transit systems connecting cities through the Hyperloop transportation system, which would carry people in pods travelling through vacuum tubes at around 700 mph. Other companies are currently working on that concept, without the involvement of Mr Musk, but eventually the aim would be for both transport systems to link up Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty Mr Musk acknowledged that The Boring Company needed to respect the citys strict planning laws and is in the process of applying for various permits to develop a test section under the city. Once the test tunnel is completed, he hopes to gain public support and better understand the user experience by offering free rides to the citys residents. It'll be sort of like a weird little Disney ride in the middle of LA, he said. "I think we could make it really fun." Two Italian, populist, eurosceptic parties have reached an agreement to form a government of the eurozones third largest economy, setting up the single currency bloc for a possible new crisis. Marchs national elections in Italy delivered a hung parliament, but also left the virulently anti-immigrant Lega Nord and the radical anti-establishment Five Star Movement as the two parties with the most seats. After a week of intense wrangling, the leaders of the two parties which have sharply divergent outlooks in a host of areas announced on Friday that they had agreed upon a common programme. This government contract binds two political forces that are and remain alternative, to respect and achieve what they promised to citizens, said the Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio. Both parties ran on electoral platforms that threatened conflict with the eurozone and the EU, in areas ranging from busting national budget deficit rules, to clamping down on immigration to lifting sanctions on Russia. The two parties will stage informal ballots of their supporters on the programme over the next three days, meaning the coalition could take office early next week. Italian 10-year borrowing costs spiked above 7 per cent in 2011 and 2012, threatening a fiscal crisis for Rome, as traders panicked that the the single currency could be on the verge of splitting apart. They have since come down dramatically as the European Central Bank has been heavily buying up the countrys sovereign bonds as part of its money printing programme, with the countrys borrowing costs hitting a low of 1.051 per cent in 2016. On Friday 10-year bond yields, which move in the opposite direction to prices, on Friday rose to 2.2 per cent, the highest since October 2017, although the markets still seem generally unperturbed by the prospect of a Five Star-Lega Nord coalition. No sign of market panic The common programme, published online on Friday, promises a universal basic income of 780 per person per month, which it says should be part funded by the EU. It wants limited deficit spending to boost GDP growth and a review of the EUs fiscal rules. Sanctions on Russia should be lifted immediately, its says. In line with the Lega Nord's anti-immigrant ethos there is a plan to speed up the deportation of 500,000 migrants. However, there is no mention of a long threatened referendum on EU or eurozone membership for Italy, nor calls for the European Central Bank to cancel the portion of the countrys national debt that it owns (worth around 250bn). Italy has had one of the worst economic performances in the rich world over the past decade, with its per capita GDP in 2017 still down 8.4 per cent on the level of 2007. The countrys GDP per capita is even below the level seen when it adopted the euro in 2000. Pain of the eurozone era The countrys unemployment rate currently stands at 11 per cent, down from a peak of 13.1 per cent in 2014, but double the 5.8 per cent low seen in 2007 Italy accounts for around 15 per cent of the eurozones GDP, behind France and Germany. That contrasts with the 1.8 per cent of Greece, the member state that was the crucible of the eurozone crisis between 2010 and 2015. The country also accounts for just under a quarter of the sovereign debt of the currency bloc. Although we have to brace ourselves for significant noise, including clashes between Rome and Brussels, a truly disruptive crisis is probably not on the cards for now. However, if highly-indebted Italy loosens the fiscal reins....the country would become vulnerable to a debt crisis if and when the next cyclical recession exposes the countrys weaknesses, said Holger Schmieding of Berenberg bank. The competition watchdog has launched its investigation into the proposed merger of Sainsburys and Asda, inviting comments on the deal from all interested parties. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will be considering whether the merger could result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the UK for goods or services. Sainsburys and Asda announced their plan to merge last month. The deal would result in the creation of the UKs largest retailer, but has been met with concern from politicians and regulators. Mike Coupe, chief executive of Sainsburys and the proposed boss of the combined group, has pledged price cuts of 10 per cent for customers, as well as promising no stores will be closed and no jobs lost. Sainsbury's CEO: Sainsbury's-Asda merger won't result in any store closures The CMA said on Friday that its invitation to comment is the first part of the information gathering process, ahead of the formal investigation. The watchdog also said it is likely to proactively contact companies and organisations that are active in the markets affected by the proposed merger, or have valuable insights or evidence that could assist the CMAs investigation. This means the CMA will likely be in contact with suppliers, competitors, industry bodies and consumer organisations over the coming weeks. A consumer survey aimed directly at customers will also make up part of the evidence for the CMAs investigation, as well as hearings and meetings with interested third parties. The CMA has set a deadline of 5pm on Monday 4 June for its initial information gathering process. Retail consultancy Maximise UK said last week that the watchdog could force Sainsburys and Asda to sell up to 245 supermarkets across the UK. Research by Maximise showed the number of stores at risk is at least 6 per cent of the companys combined total, which is 73 shops, but could increase dramatically depending on how the CMA makes its calculations. In the 1970s, Abbas Attar shot The Greatest and, arguably, The Worst, winning international acclaim as a titan of photojournalism. He was in Zaire in 1974 when Muhammad Ali was preparing for his Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman. That was one fight safe for Abbas the name he used professionally to shoot; no chance of getting caught in the crossfire like many of the war zones he covered. He ducked bullets and dodged violence in Biafra, Bangladesh, Northern Ireland, Vietnam, the Middle East, Chile, Cuba, and South Africa. Left-foot forward, the champ is gently jogging on the quarter of the canvas and ropes in view, or dancing as he would put it, as if propelled by the fans keeping him cool overhead. There is on Alis face a hint of a grin and also of anxiety the watching world attested to by a barely discernible row of people in the background. The expanse of the ceiling which takes up much of the frame makes him look oddly vulnerable and alone. The photographer in 1973 (Magnum) (A. Abbas / Magnum Photos) I want to give the feeling that the people I photographed kept on doing whatever they were doing before I photographed them, Abbas said. It was what he called a suspended moment. In 1979 a menacing turbaned figure steps out of an Air France plane in Tehran Abbas is back in his country of birth, which he left for Algeria aged eight, to chart its brewing revolution as a historian of the present. Ayatollah Khomeini is flanked by concerned-looking bearded men wearing turbans. At the top of boarding stairs he holds his cloak together at his waist, one hand on the shoulder of a European pilot who is incongruously wearing sunglasses, and a smile. Khomeini had been exiled by the Mohammad Reza Shah 14 years earlier and now the tables were turned: it was the dictator monarchs turn to flee. Speaking to the BBC last year, Abbas pointed out the portent he discerned in Khomeinis severe gaze. You see the intensity of his look, the destiny of Iran is written there. As Abbas put it, the Ayatollahs eyes seemed to say: Wait until my feet hit the ground and then you will see. A young revolutionary, nose and mouth covered by a white cloth, grips an assault rifle in a morgue. Four pale, male torsos lie dead, legs out of view in the fridge. He looks nervous, as if they might rise. Generals, secret police, what did it matter, summary executions were not what Abbas had signed up for in supporting the ousting of the Shah. That was a turning point, for Abbas and countless others. I decided this revolution is not going to be mine anymore, he said. Abbas captures a mullah in a car with a gun in his hand somebody who is supposed to be religious, spiritual. In 1980, the image is used on the cover of his first book, Iran, La Revolution Confisquee (Confiscated Revolution). A group of male revolutionaries dragging a woman believed to be a supporter of the Shah through the streets. One has his fist pressed against her jaw. Colleagues implored Abbas not to show the negative side of the revolution. He ignored them. He saw it as his duty to document the fact that the violence of the Shahs forces was now being mirrored by zealous revolutionaries. I knew only once in my lifetime I would witness such a historical event, he said. I was not only concerned but I was also involved. Abbass lament that the revolution was hijacked is one that is familiar to many Iranians as is the observation that the advent of the Islamic Republic helped usher in an era of Islamism as a world nuisance. I could see that the wave of religious passion raised by Khomeini in Iran was not going to stop at the border of Iran, Abbas said in 2009, in an interview with the British Journal of Photography. It was going to spread in the Muslim world and it did. In the following decades, Abbas a resident of Paris throughout his later years pursued his newly acquired fascination with religious motivations and actions, (in 2016 he published The Gods Ive Seen, his study of Hindu devotees; his photographic essays also covered Judaism and Christianity). Upon leaving Iran, he did not return for 17 years. Its not fair to say his exile was self-imposed for his images had come to forge public memory of the Iranian revolution both for people in the country and the wider world. As such he was a known quantity to the authorities. He had peered into the Ayatollahs soul through a lens and it wasnt pretty. But return he did. By the time of the election of Mohammed Khatami in 1997, he was curious to see how young people were responding to Islamic rule. These helped to form his 2002 book Iran Diary 1971-2001. In the seventies Abbas who once said that he had learned to see the world in black and white, that colour was a distraction worked for the Sipa and Gamma agencies. He became a full member of Magnum in 1985; the credit Abbas / Magnum became his very brand, recognised by newspaper editors and readers alike as a guarantee of both quality and humanity as his colleague Phil Davison puts it. Pilgrims in Seau dEau, Haiti in 2000 religiosity was a key focus of Abbas (Magnum) (A. Abbas / Magnum Photos) Remembering his friend in Scotlands Sunday Herald, Davison writes: As a correspondent arriving alone in a strange country, often in a combat zone, it was always a relief to see Abbas and his camera in a doorway across the street, gesturing me to stay down and pointing out whence the gunfire was coming If you wanted to get the story and get out safely, you stuck close to Abbas. Having taught himself how to operate a camera, Abbas got his first big break with the International Olympic Committee at the 1968 summer games in Mexico he returned there in the early 1980s, where he spent years exploring the country. In 1992 he published Return to Mexico: Journeys Beyond the Mask. One of the first photographs that gained him attention was of a white police officer in South Africa standing facing the camera in front of several rows of black trainees, heads shaven, bare-chested, wearing shorts it became a widely used representation of apartheid. In 1994, he published Allah O Akbar: A Journey Through Militant Islam, the culmination of his travels in Muslim countries. Islamism, which he carefully distinguished from mainstream manifestations of the faith, remained a concern for him throughout his life in 2009 he returned to the subject with In Whose Name? The Islamic World After 9/11. That said, he was not afraid to voice uncomfortable truths about problems he believed were particular to Islam. Islam has become a world nuisance, he said. Christian, Jews, even Hindus, they have their own extremists and theyre as crazy as the others but they dont blow themselves up every day all over the world. Muslims never fought Islamism, he added. In a way Muslims are hostage to the arguments of Islamism. Christianity in a way lost its fundamentalism with Voltaire. Were hoping for a Voltaire in Islam. In the interviews conducted with him in French, English and Persian online, he comes across as a down to earth person with a sharp mind and zero pretension. He was also, clearly, a very private man. Writing for BBC Persian, fellow photojournalist Hasan Sarbakhshian recalls a warning from Abbas: Once people know who you are, its time to put the camera away. British-educated, Abbas was born into a Bahai family in the city of Khash in Sistan and Baluchistan state, near Irans border with Pakistan. In 1952 his parents moved to Paris from where they headed to Algeria. His father KH Attar and his mother Monavar Attar-Hamedani, were expelled along with other missionaries in 1968. His own relationship with God, he told NPR, was professional. He doesnt tell me what to do, how to photograph and I dont tell him how he should deal with his believers, you know. So we have a mutual respect relationship. In 2006 the Kayhan newspaper published an article under the title: Abbas Attar, the black camera of a Bahai photographer, after which he never returned to Iran. It accused him of being an Islam-basher, excoriating him as a Bahai with anti-Islam agenda this of course was not true. Bahais are a persecuted minority in Iran. As he told Vice in 2015: "Ive been more into photographing all the bullshit and the good things that people get up to in the name of God. Paying tribute to Abbas, Magnum president Thomas Dworzak said: He was a godfather for a generation of younger photojournalists. Abbas, who was divorced, is survived by four sons and seven grandchildren. His advice to aspiring photojournalists was very practical: Buy a good pair of walking shoes and fall in love. When you fall in love then you see things differently, then you become a photographer, but first get a good pair of walking shoes. Abbas Attar, photographer and journalist, born 29 March 1944, died 25 April 2018 A man has been jailed for life after he stabbed a woman in the head during a random attack in broad daylight in Manchester. A woman in her 30s, who has not been named, was walking down a road in December 2016 when Genesis Beresford Edwards, 33, approached her from behind while on a bicycle and stabbed her in the head and body repeatedly. Edwards then walked off, leaving his bike at the scene, while the victim ran home before collapsing and being rushed to hospital. She suffered injuries including a 4cm-deep wound, a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain. Edwards was arrested on 17 December and in the process assaulted a police officer, causing several fractures to the officer's eye. Detective Constable Louise Moss, from Greater Manchester Polices City of Manchester division, said: This was a sickening unprovoked attack on a woman as she was simply walking home from the local shop. This is everyones worst nightmare and although she has recovered from her injuries this shocking attack will never leave her. She has been extremely brave throughout this investigation and I want to thank her for her patience and courage throughout this case. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters Edwards was sentenced to life with a minimum of 11 years at Manchester Crown Square today for attempted murder and Section 20 assault. Two armed robbers who stabbed a charity worker while stealing his mobile phone during a four-hour violent spree have been found guilty of murder. Abdul Samad, 28, was attacked by Nathan Gilmaney, 18, and Troy Thomas, 18, in Maida Vale, London, a short distance from his home. In a four hour period in October 2017 Thomas and Gilmaney carried out nine knife-point robberies, stabbing four people and killing Mr Samad. While on a moped and armed with knives they approached their first male victim and demanded he hand over his valuables. The victim tried to escape onto a bus but they chased after him, mounted the pavement and Gilmaney stabbed him in the back, puncturing his right lung. An hour later they attacked a man who was with his elderly aunt in Paddington. They again threatened them at knife-point, stealing jewellery and money but despite taking everything they could, Gilmaney stabbed the man in the stomach, before making off. CCTV images captures Gilmaney and Thomas on multiple occasions throughout the night (CPS) Moments later they confronted Mr Samad, who handed over his phone without resistance. Glimaney and Thomas drove off only to do a u-turn when they realised they needed the pin number for the phone. CCTV footage showed Mr Samad doing exactly what they asked only for Gilmaney to lunge forward and stab him in the chest then drive off. Mr Samad staggered the short distance to his home and collapsed on the doorstep. Paramedics performed emergency surgery in the street but despite their best efforts, Mr Samad died there a short while later. Mr Samad worked for the Dragon Hall Trust, which helps young people develop their computer skills. His mother Layla Begum said the murder has destroyed her family. She added: "Since his death there has not been a single moment that goes by for me without shedding tears." "I would do anything to get him back. Sometimes when I am at home I think he will walk in again and that this has all been a bad dream. "However, as each minute, each hour and each day goes by I then realise Abdul is not going to come back home. Abdul has been taken from us forever." While Mr Samad was being treated by paramedics Gilmaney and Thomas continued to rob and attack several others. They stabbed three more of their victims and assaulted a teenage girl. CCTV images capture Gilmaney and Thomas filling up their moped with petrol (CPS) As the authorities received reports of the crimes, the pair were spotted on their moped and a pursuit ensued involving a police helicopter. Gilmaney took off his helmet believing officers would abandon the chase; however, given the severity of the offences officers had authorisation to continue the pursuit. Both were arrested and found to have several of their victim's items in their possessions. They gave no comment during questioning. Detective Inspector Shaun Fitzgerald, investigating officer from the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "The prosecution said Gilmaney and his friend Thomas were 'the highwaymen of the 21st century' and there couldn't be a more apt description. "The teenagers believed they had the right to threaten and rob wherever they wanted, often stabbing their victims for no reason at all but to prove they could. "They armed themselves with knives and drove around on Gilmaney's moped, with the number plates removed, with the aim of stealing as many wallets, phones and valuables as possible. "Over the course of just four hours they carried out nine knife-point robberies, stabbed four people and killed Abdul, a charity youth worker and a valued and much-loved member of the community. "Their behaviour is truly shocking, not least because the fact they had just killed a man and could hear his cries and the paramedics battling to save his life with surgery in the street did nothing to slow down their spree. "They were caught that same night by police officers who set off in pursuit and bravely tackled them to the ground, knowing them to be armed. I commend their bravery and that of all the victims and witnesses who attended court to help secure these convictions today." UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 October 2021 British comedian Jo Brand poses with cut-out silhouettes representing women outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters New Scotland Yard, to highlight violence against women by male police officers or former police officers AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 6 October 2021 A protester, wearing a mask of Johnson, holds a sign reading Question it all on the final day of the Tory conference Getty UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA Sally-Anne Russell, from the CPS homicide unit, said: These two young men murdered a man who had devoted his working life to help young people. They acted as a team attacking and robbing their victims in a brazen manner, leaving a family without a son. Although Gilmaney and Thomas thought they had disguised their identities by wearing balaclavas and helmets, the prosecution was able to prove they were responsible for the crimes. These young men were caught on CCTV in a lift, having taken their balaclavas and helmets off, as they attended an address to sell their stolen goods. They were also found with other stolen items when they were arrested. Our thoughts remain with the family of Abdul Samad and the other victims. Gilmaney had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter, three counts of attempted robbery, six counts of robbery, four counts of wounding with intent and one count of theft. Thomas admitted theft, three counts of attempted robbery and six counts of robbery. He had denied four counts of wounding with intent but was also found guilty by the jury of those greivous bodily harm offences. Sentencing will take place on 15 June at the Old Bailey. A police officer has been cleared of unlawfully tasering her forces own race relations officer in the face after mistaking him for a suspect. Avon and Somerset acting police sergeant Claire Boddie, 47, stood trial after being accused of unlawfully discharging a taser and hitting Judah Adunbi, 64, in Bristol. Salisbury Magistrates Court heard he had repeatedly been mistaken for a suspect before and after the incident. District Judge Tan Ikram found Ms Boddie not guilty of assault by beating. PC Claire Boddie was found not guilty (PA) There was silence in the court as the verdict was announced with the 47-year-old sat in the dock looking at the floor. Mr Adunbi and his supporters left the room immediately after the judge left. Judge Ikram said: The issue for me is whether the prosecution have persuaded me that she didnt act in self-defence. The prosecution failed to persuade me and she is found not guilty of assault for that reason. During the trial, Ms Boddie regarded as a well-trained officer with more than 20 years experience of frontline policing said she felt the use of force was reasonable in self-defence, to defend her fellow officer PC Darren Weston, and in order to make an arrest. The pair approached Mr Adunbi from behind in Colston Road in the Easton area of Bristol and repeatedly asked him to identify himself, telling him he looked like a man they wanted to speak to, the court heard. Mr Adunbi, a 64-year-old black man, was a member of the forces independent advisory group which raises policing matters which could cause the public concern. The court heard he had been mistaken by members of the force for wanted man Royston McCalla on several occasions before and after the incident. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA During the encounter, Ms Boddie told Mr Adunbi he looked familiar. There was a scuffle and Mr Adunbi fell to the floor after the Taser bar hit him in the jaw, the court heard. Giving evidence at her trial, Ms Boddie said: I was not sure it was Mr McCalla. I wanted to give him the opportunity to identify himself and calm him down. If he wasnt Mr McCalla, then the incident would be resolved there and then. If a person is wanted by police, very often they will deny who they are. She later admitted she had met McCalla during an earlier police operation, adding: I could not say for definite that [Mr Adunbi] was or was not him. In a statement made after the incident, which was read to the court, she described Mr Adunbi as hostile from the start. In the witness box, she described the sequence of events as dynamic and volatile, claiming Mr Adunbi was very agitated and angry. In footage captured on the officers body-worn cameras, Mr Adunbi can be heard becoming increasingly angry. He shouts and swears, telling them to leave him alone and it is his right to withhold his identity. He is heard shouting: Why you coming to torment me? Go f*** off about your business and dont follow me. Stop, stop, if you put your hand on me Im gonna f*** you up. Im not threatening you. Im telling you if you put arms on me Im going to defend myself. This is not the first time you have done this. She said she was aware McCallas file had a warning for violence and weapons, so was concerned Mr Adunbi had keys in his hand. Additional reporting by PA British security services are considering whether to move poisoned Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter abroad, The Independent understands. Mr Skripal has been discharged from hospital and is being treated for nerve agent exposure at an undisclosed location, following daughter Yulia Skripals release last month. Sources say both victims are being kept in safe houses and have been interviewed by police, while security services consider whether to move them a different country for their safety. Recommended Sergei Skripal leaves hospital for first time since poisoning A former military intelligence officer said the Skripals could be given new identities and even appearances for their own protection, while being minded by MI6. Mr Skripal will almost certainly be moved location, Philip Ingram said. He might well be offered a new identity. These sorts of things are not straight forward, but it is work the intelligence services are used to doing and can set that up. The Independent understands police have still not yet identified a suspect in the poisoning, almost 11 weeks after the pair were attacked in Salisbury. Counter-terror officers continue to investigate the case as attempted murder, after revealing the nerve agent was smeared on the handle of Mr Skripals front door. The 66-year-old former double agent and his daughter were taken to intensive care after falling unconscious on a bench on 4 March and a Court of Protection hearing later that month saw doctors raise concern they could suffer permanent brain damage. But Ms Skripal has made written statements after being released from hospital on 9 April and police said her father is also making good progress. Scotland Yard has declined to give any details of where the victims are being treated or security operations, amid Russian government accusations of kidnap. Decontamination work continues in Salisbury (Getty) This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack, a spokesperson said. In the interests of Sergei and Yulias safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place. In her latest statement, Ms Skripal said she was safe and feeling better as time goes by and had access to friends, family and help from specialist officers. She refused assistance from the Russian embassy and said she did not want to speak to her cousin, Viktoria Skripal, who was denied a British visa for a second time this week after giving numerous media interviews in Russia. Her opinions and assertions are not mine and they are not my fathers, Ms Skripal said. With the culprits still at large, national security adviser Sir Mark Sedwill said security services were reviewing arrangements for other Russian defectors living in the UK earlier this month. Mr Skripal, a former military intelligence colonel, had been living openly under his real name after being handed over in a 2010 spy swap and the attempted assassination increased fears held by other defectors. Little over a week after the attack in Salisbury, Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov was found strangled at his London home. No one has been arrested in relation to his death and police investigations continue. Scotland Yard said there was no immediate evidence of a link to the attack on Mr Skripal, but Mr Glushkovs links to Russian dissident Boris Berezovsky sparked fresh scrutiny over a string of suspicious deaths. Ms Skripal was visiting her father from her home in Russia when the attack took place and they unwittingly spread the nerve agent around Salisbury as they visited a pub and restaurant on the day they fell ill. Decontamination work is ongoing in the Wiltshire city to rid sites of any traces of novichok, which was found to remain present in potentially toxic quantities at designated hotspots. Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Sergei Skripal The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006. AP Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Yulia Skripal Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei. Facebook Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub. PA Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Nick Bailey Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack. Wiltshire Police/Rex Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation - Skripals home Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripals house. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Theresa May visits scene of attack Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Skripal days before attack Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life. ITV News Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation - military involvement British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury. EPA Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Home Secretary visits scene of attack Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been turned upside down by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack. Reuters One of the first police officers to respond to the incident, DS Nick Bailey, also fell seriously ill but was the first to be discharged. Officials said Mr Skripal was still at an important stage of his recovery and would be treated outside hospital. Lorna Wilkinson, the director of nursing at Salisbury District Hospital, said: Treating him and the other two people poisoned by this nerve agent, while still providing outstanding care to the other patients who rely on our hospital, has been a huge and unprecedented challenge that Im proud our staff have risen to. A spokesperson for the NHS said they could not detail how the three victims were treated, but that nerve agent poisoning requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned. Recommended Police to place high security barriers in Salisbury for months to come Cara Charles-Barks, chief executive of Salisbury District Hospital, hailed Mr Skripal leaving as fantastic news. That he, Yulia and DS Bailey have been able to leave us so soon after coming into contact with this nerve agent is thanks to the hard work, skill and professionalism of our clinicians, who provide outstanding care to all our patients, day in and day out, she added. This has been a difficult time for those caught up in this incident the patients, our staff and the people of Salisbury. I want to thank the public for their support, and I want to pay a special tribute to both the clinical staff here at the trust and those who work so hard behind the scenes. A small amount of nerve agent in liquid form is believed to have been used in the attack, which sparked global diplomatic tensions. The British government has accused Russia of culpability after identifying the nerve agent used as one of the Soviet-developed novichok group and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed its analysis. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any role in the attack on Mr Skripal, a former double agent who was jailed for treason in Russia before moving to the UK following a 2010 spy swap. Sergei Skripal speaks to his lawyer from behind bars seen on a screen of a monitor outside a courtroom in Moscow. (AP) Russia has expelled Western diplomats in retaliation against its own representatives being cast out, while expressing doubt over the authenticity of the chemical analysis and Ms Skripals statements. Speaking at a press conference alongside Angela Merkel in Sochi, Vladimir Putin wished Mr Skripal good health but suggested he would have died on the spot if novichok had been used. The Russian ambassador to Britain, Alexander Yakovenko, reiterated demands to see the Skripals and accused the UK of flouting international law by refusing consular access. You can call it detained, you can call it isolated, you can call it kidnap, he said. Unless we see them it is difficult to make a conclusion. Mr Yakovenko added: Nobody has seen their pictures, heard their voice and whether they are alive. It is fine for us if they say they do not want our services. The Russian government initially promised to cooperate with the OPCW but has since refused to recognise its findings, as with previous probes into nerve agent attacks in Syria. At a conference on chemical weapons in France, Boris Johnson discussed measures to enforce an international convention signed by countries including Russia. We have to confront the reality that chemical weapons have been used numerous times in recent years, in defiance of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, the foreign secretary said on Friday. Assads brutality in Syria, and the attempted murders in Salisbury pose a grave threat to the Chemical Weapons Convention and to the rules-based order that keeps us all safe. A government spokesman said the Skripals would still need ongoing care, adding: The fact that all three victims of this incident have been discharged from hospital does not alter the fact this was a brazen and reckless attack attempted murder using an illegal chemical weapon. Cuts to police budgets are driving rising violent crime, Britains most senior police officer has said, following another murder in London. A 24-year-old man was stabbed to death in Barking on Thursday night, hours after a 16-year-old boy was killed during disorder in Birmingham. The bloodshed came in the wake of official statistics that revealed a 22 per cent rise in knife crime across England and Wales, with the tide of violence turning scrutiny on reductions in police funding and the number of officers. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick, said her force was recruiting 500 extra officers using a 110m boost to the force's budget announced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Asked whether funding cuts were to blame for the spike in violent crime during an LBC Radio call-in, she added: We are definitely seeing an increase and I think there's lots of reasons for it. There's a connection to the drugs markets and what's going on with those, undoubtedly. Obviously, some changes in people's financial and economic circumstances that affect all kinds of things which have a direct or indirect effect on young people. We are seeing the glamorisation of violence, we are seeing social media being used to taunt other gangs, to bring violence about very quickly. Violent knife fight erupts on Victoria line in London There's a whole load of things, but of course I would be naive to say that the reduction in police finances over the last few years, not just in London but beyond, hasn't had an impact. I'm sure it's had an impact. It's part of the issue, and that's why I'm very grateful for the new money that we've got, which we are getting on and investing on recruiting new people and I think it will help. The government has announced initiatives including a serious violence taskforce and 1m extra funding for charity programmes steering young people away from gangs. But its first-ever Serious Violence Strategy was heavily criticised for omitting findings from a leaked Home Office document suggesting that budget cuts had likely contributed to rising violence and encouraged offenders. The last stabbing came in Barking at around 11.30pm on Thursday. Police gave the 24-year-old victim first aid before paramedics arrived but he was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests have been made and police are appealing for information. Mr Khan called the killing devastating news, adding: The Met will do everything they can to bring the criminals responsible for this senseless death to justice. There is no honour in staying silent. To stop stabbings and violent crime, we must work together. More than 60 people have been murdered in London so far this year but violence has not been confined to the capital. A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed in the street in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, on Thursday. The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Show all 21 1 /21 The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Oluwadamilolda Odeyingbo Oluwadamilolda Odeyingbo, 18, was killed in a fight in Chislehurst on 10 January 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Hasan Ozcan Hasan Ozcan, 19, was stabbed to death on the Gascoigne Estate in Barking on 3 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Sabri Chibani Sabri Chibani, 19, was stabbed fatally in the chest in Streatham on 11 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Promise Nkenda Lord Promise Nkenda, 17, was stabbed to death in Canning Town on 14 February 2018 Facebook The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Lewis Blackman Lewis Blackman, a 19-year-old rapper from Kentish Town, was stabbed to death in Kensington on 18 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Abdikarim Hassan Abdikarim Hassan, 17, was stabbed to death near his home in Camden's Peckwater estate on 20 March - less tahan two hours before another man was stabbed to death nearby Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Kelvin Odunuyi Kelvin Odunuyi, a 19-year-old rapper known as DipDat and Lampz, was shot dead in Wood Green on 8 March Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Lyndon Davis Lyndon Davis, 18, was chased down and stabbed to death in Chadwell Heath on 14 March Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Tanesha Melbourne-Blake Tanesha Melbourne, 17, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Tottenham on 2 April PA The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Amaan Shakoor Amaan Shakoor, 16, was shot dead in Walthamstow on 2 April Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Israel Ogunsola Israel Ogunsola, 18, was stabbed to death in Hackney on 4 April Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, a 17-year-old rapper and aspiring architect, was shot dead in a Kennington Street on 5 May Handout The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Jordan Douherty Aspiring rapper Jordan Douherty died of his injuries outside a birthday party in Romford on 23 June Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Katrina Makunova Katrina Makunova, 17, was stabbed to death in Camberwell on 12 July 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Latwaan Griffiths 18-year-old Latwaan Griffiths was fatally stabbed on 25 July and died in hospital after being thrown off the back of a moped in Camberwell Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Guled Farah Guled Farah, 19, was shot in Walthamstow on 22 September Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Ethan Nedd-Bruce Ethan Nedd-Bruce, 18, died after he was shot outside a party at a flat in Greenwich, south-east London, on 22 October. He had also been stabbed, but the gunshot wound was the cause of death. Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Jay Hughes Jay Hughes, 15, died was fatally stabbed outside a chicken shop in Bellingham, south-east London, on 1 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Malcolm Mide-Madariola Malcolm Mide-Madariola, 17, was found suffering from a stab wound outside Clapham South Tube station on 2 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 John Ogunjobi John Ogunjobi, 16, died in front of his parents after he was stabbed in Greenleaf Close, Tulse Hill, on 5 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Aron Warren Aron Warren, 18, was found stabbed in a flat block in Greenwich on 8 December and died at the scene Metropolitan Police He was found gravely injured following disorder in the town centre, where police have mounted extra patrols. On Wednesday, a 17-year-old boy was stabbed in the chest in the Moss Side district of Manchester. He remains in a serious condition in hospital after running into a house for refuge and collapsing. An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault. Recommended Two teenage girls stabbed after Instagram argument in London The reasons behind rising violence have been the subject of fierce debate. A report by the government cited drug dealing and social media as key drivers last month, but police have called for more funding to turn around the loss of thousands of officers and voluntary groups have attacked cuts to youth services. The Metropolitan Police claims its "gangs matrix" database helps prevent violence but an Amnesty International report criticised it as racially discriminatory and ineffective. On Friday the Home Office announced charities could bid for a share of a 1m fund to help steer young people away from gangs and violent crime. Successful groups will receive up to 30,000 each to educate teenagers about the dangers of carrying weapons, with the pot available increased from an initial 765,000 announced last year. Victoria Atkins, the crime minister, said 47 charities across the UK had already benefited from the community fund, including the London-based Ben Kinsella Trust and the Coventry-based Positive Youth Foundation. Knife crime has devastating consequences for families and local communities and we are determined to provide necessary support for those most at risk, she added. Our Serious Violence Strategy places a new emphasis on early intervention and steering young people away from crime in the first place. Britain must be prepared to launch cyber attacks on enemies or risk falling behind in modern warfare, the head of defence intelligence has warned. Air Marshal Phil Osborn warned that online offensives could have nationally crippling effects in minutes, with the UK already being hit by hackers in Russia, North Korea and Iran. We can see numerous examples: unprecedented industrial espionage activity against the UK and allies, private security contractors being used in high-end capability warfare in Syria, cyber attacks against national infrastructure and reputation across Europe, information operations that attempt to pervert political process and frustrate the rule of law, and attempted assassinations, he said in a lecture to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI). Without change, we risk quickly falling behind in today and tomorrows full-spectrum confrontation. This context demands that we are more strategic in our approach, and that our capabilities are better tailored to this accelerating shift in operational environment. More of the same just wont cut it. The Chief of Defence Intelligence warned that the world was becoming more dangerous, uncertain and unpredictable, with the threat from hostile states and competition between rival nations increasing at a pace the government previously underestimated. He said that when he took his post in 2015 it was unthinkable that Russia would invade Crimea, allegedly influence American elections, or openly be part of proxy wars across the Middle East. Air Marshal Osborn spoke as Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel met in Sochi (AP) Just some three months ago, it would have been inconceivable to imagine that we would see a highly likely state-sponsored chemical weapons attack in a British city, the former RAF commander added. The nature of warfare is changing to something that is broader than previously. Air Marshal Osborn said the military application of new technology action was having a transformative effect on the way wars were fought. The aggressive application of machine-learning, artificial intelligence and quantum computing to full-spectrum operations is likely to be as disruptive to modern warfare as air power was some 100 years ago, he said. Multi-layered warfare is making it possible for countries to positively collaborate in one arena and prepare for direct conflict in another, he continued, arguing that Britain must ensure it has information advantage over its enemies and competitors: This ability to wage hidden and difficult to attribute warfare, in cyberspace and elsewhere, brings the opportunity to be much more aggressive and to take risk we need to compete, sometimes proactively, and certainly not just observe. The senior officer said GCHQ was already building its offensive cyber mission and hinted at wider-ranging information operations. Deception and the ability to adapt will be critical, he argued, alongside controlling the narrative against disinformation campaigns as seen over Syria, Ukraine, the downing of MH17 and now Salisbury. Cyber warfare, electromagnetic weapons, machine learning and artificial intelligence are all being developed by the military, which aspires to use of every platform as a sensor. Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Show all 24 1 /24 Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning United States Donald Trump has expelled 60 Russian diplomats from the US and closed the consulate in response to the Sergei Skripal spy poisoning. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Great Britain Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed Britain would be expelling 23 Russian diplomats. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Ukraine Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has expelled 13 Russian diplomats. Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Germany Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has expelled 4 Russian diplomats. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning France France's President Emmanuel Macron has also expelled 4 Russian diplomats. Reuters Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Poland Poland's President Andrzej Duda has expelled 4 Russian diplomats. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Lithuania President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite has expelled 3 Russian diplomats. Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Czech Republic Czech Republic President Milos Zeman has also expelled 3 Russian diplomats. AFP Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Netherlands Netherlands Prime minister Mark Rutte has expelled 2 Russian diplomats. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Latvia Prime Minister of Latvia Maris Kucinskis has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Estonia Estonia's Prime Minister Juri Ratas has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Croatia Croatia President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Italy Italian President Sergio Mattarella has expelled 2 Russian diplomats. Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Canada Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled 4 Russian diplomats. Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Finland Finland's President Sauli Niinisto has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. Reuters Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Denmark Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has expelled 2 Russian diplomats. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Romania Romania's President Klaus Werner Iohannis has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Norway Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. REUTERS Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Spain Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has expelled 2 Russian diplomats. Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Sweden Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Albania Albanian President Ilir Meta has expelled 2 Russian diplomats. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Australia Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has expelled 2 Russian diplomats. Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Macedonia Macedonia President Gjorge Ivanov has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. AFP/Getty Countries join UK expelling Russian diplomats over spy poisoning Hungary President of Hungary Janos Ader has expelled 1 Russian diplomat. AFP/Getty As Brexit approaches, Air Marshal Osborn said Nato, Five Eyes and other international alliances were essential for national security and maintaining the current strategic status quo, as states including North Korea develop cyber, nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. The threat is obvious, he concluded. If we fall behind either key allies or prospective opponents, we will fall behind exponentially and likely irrevocably. The imperative to act, and act quickly, is compelling. Air Marshal Osborn spoke as the British and Russian governments clashed once again over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury. After the NHS announced that the former double agent had been discharged from hospital, Vladimir Putin claimed he would have been dead on the spot if novichok had been used. The Kremlin has denied involvement in the attack and dismissed an international investigation that confirmed Britains identification of the substance used. Amid tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions, the Russian ambassador has accused the UK of kidnapping Mr Skripal and his daughter as state-owned media airs conspiracy theories. On Friday, Boris Johnson told a chemical weapons conference in France that Russia was violating international law and threatening the rules-based order that keeps us all safe. Last month, the first-ever joint technical alert issued by the US and UK warned that Russian hackers were targeting millions of devices around the world to spy, steal information and build networks for potentially devastating future cyber attacks. Other groups also pose a threat, with North Korea accused of being behind the WannaCry ransomware that paralysed the NHS last year and a sustained attack on Parliaments email system attributed to Iran. Oxfam is to make 100 staff redundant in Britain after the sexual exploitation scandal in Haiti led to a drop in the funding the charity receives. In addition to agreeing not to bid for money from the Department for International Development (DFID), which gave Oxfam about 30m per year, a number of other high-profile donors have paused their funding until they receive further assurances from the charity on how it will prevent sexual misconduct. Oxfam was forced to deny covering up the use of prostitutes by its aid workers in Haiti. A confidential report by the charity said there had been a culture of impunity among some staff in the Caribbean country. It also concluded that children may have been among those sexually exploited by aid workers. The news led to a number of allegations emerging about other charities and more than 120 people in the sector are believed to have been accused of sexual abuse last year. Due to the reduction in funding, Oxfam has said it would now have to live within its means and will be laying off approximately 100 of its 2,000 members of staff in the UK. A spokesperson for the charity said: We are having to reorganise our work in order to ensure we live within our means while doing all we can to protect the support we give to millions of people striving to escape poverty and survive humanitarian disasters. Some donors have paused new funding of our work pending reassurances. Sadly, this will mean that we will lose some great people in our international programmes and in the UK. We are still working through the effect this will have on redundancies, but our estimate at the start of the process was that it could affect in the region of 100 staff in the UK. 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 Nick Owen, a regional officer for Unite, said: Oxfam workers, many of whom have dedicated their lives to the charity, face losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Staff who remain may well have vastly different roles and responsibilities. People in desperate need of food and water to survive should not be penalised by government decisions on funding. In many global emergencies, Oxfam is often the only organisation with enough expertise to build complex water and sanitation systems. The news comes as Oxfams chief executive, Mark Goldring, announced he would stand down at the end of the year. Mr Goldring said he was proud of the charitys work over the past five years. But I think the time is coming for a new leader, he added. Following the very public exposure of Oxfams past failings, we have redoubled our efforts to ensure that Oxfam is a safe and respectful place for all who have contact with us. How to watch it 1. At Windsor If youre reading this and youre not in a sleeping bag having spent the night on the streets in Windsor (ie out of choice), or actually been invited to the do, the chances are that youre not going to get even the slightest glimpse of the players in the flesh, so to speak. If you are in Windsor; stay where you are. If not then theres always 2. Street parties If there are no royal wedding street parties round your way (for example there are believed to be none in Glasgow) then there are alternatives. Nottingham has emerged as the royal wedding street party capital of Britain, because the local council, with a fine sense of priorities in an age of austerity, is offering a 200 grant for every street party. In Brinsley, Notts, for example a mock royal wedding will take place, with kiddies plonked on a Shetland pony on their way to the church, almost like the real thing. Meanwhile, Margates Dreamland amusement park will emulate Windsors royal chapel with an inflatable bouncy church and free entry for anyone named Harry, Meghan or wearing a wedding dress (or all three). You might also try a giant live-screen event in the medieval grandeur of Winchester Cathedral or the one at Wembleys Designer Outlet; or screenings at the Southbank Centre and the Skylight rooftop bar in Tobacco Dock, most, admittedly, in London. 3. On TV The betrothal of HRH Prince Henry of Wales and Ms Meghan Markle off of Suits is what telly folk have been looking forward to all year, even if their viewers havent. So the broadcasters will be throwing their best assets into the coverage, which takes over BBC1, BBC News, ITV, and Sky News all day. Even though shes been round this particular block a few times, Kay Burleys breathless joyfulness at meeting another pensioner in a union jack outfit is always, well, breathlessly joyful, and balanced by the encyclopaedically knowledgeable and calm Alastair Bruce. Huw Edwards takes on the role of BBC Silvery Haired Dimbleby-in-Waiting. What those guys dont know about royal carriages isnt worth knowing. ITV is making do with Phillip Schofield and Julie Etchingham, as their trump card, Tom Bradby, who actually knows the Royal Fab Four, has been unwell, though there are reports he will be a guest at the wedding. How to avoid it 1. Pubs, the theatre, exhibitions life goes on Even in a Britain infected with a sort of royal fever, there are some who are immune to it, and will be looking for other distractions. Best choice of all would be a day spent at the The Alexandra Hotel in Derby, which has banned mention of Harry and Meghans nuptials and will fine (for charity) anyone heard mentioning them, and is a wedding-free zone indeed the bar will be closing at its usual time of midnight rather than taking advantage of the general licensing hours extension to 1am. Eccentrically, you could head down to the lovely Theatre Royal, Windsor, where there is an outside chance you can get a ticket for the highly appropriate Horrible Histories Live: More Best of Barmy Britain, featuring the likes of Elizabeth I and Henry VIII. So then you can claim you met royals at Windsor on the Big Day. Almost as unconventionally you could follow the true path of Diana worship and relive the glamour of her era, at the exhibition of her style and fashions being held at Kensington Palace. Theres also the Museums at Night festival, where some of the most inspiring museums including the National Gallery and Keats House are open into the night as part of the event. 2. Hit the road Given that the great majority of the population is going be watching TV and/or drunk, the roads (apart from around Windsor) will be blissfully clear for a nice long drive. Suggestions would be the A149 North Norfolk coastal route past Sandringham, listening to North Norfolk Radio, of course; the A93 from Perth to Royal Deeside, taking in Balmoral; and the magnificent A4086, from Capel Curig to Caernarfon, which also has an inoffensive tangential royal connection. An alternative would be take the rare opportunity to circumnavigate in a near deserted M25 in daytime; a little over an hour each for the clockwise and anti-clockwise legs will tick that one off the old bucket list. For the highly, ambitious, you could try fitting all of them in over a long weekend. 3, Er, just change TV channels You dont need to get on a flight to Fiji to escape the wedding (and that might not even work such is its global appeal). For there are plenty of telly alternatives, and there are some left-field choices. None more left-field than BBC Parliaments rerun of Prime Ministers Questions, which features, by common consent, an unusually strong performance by the left-field monarch-sceptic Jeremy Corbyn. (The leader of the opposition, by the way, wont be watching the wedding live, but on catch-up, apparently). You may instead like the look of London Lives alternative, a classic movie about the Second World War the Malta Story (1953), featuring the incomparable Sir Alec Guinness (its available outside the capital online). Recommended Homeless charity enraged as police impound bus ahead of royal wedding Channel 4, who once gave us an alternative Queens speech with Quentin Crisp seems to have given up on the satire, sticking a triple bill of The Simpsons on instead. The brilliant thing would have been a special edition of The Simpsons starring all the Windsors and the Markle clans in their colourful glory. But, then again, maybe that is precisely the point of the royal wedding. Conversation for the royalists These are fairly obvious, and will be endlessly churned during the coverage on the day, but here is a short checklist for the topics: 1. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is setting new standards for restrained good taste and 10 is WTF awful, how ridiculous are Beatrice and Eugenies hats/fascinators? 2. Isnt the 96-year old Duke of Edinburgh doing well on his new hip ? 3. Where does Meghans wedding dress rank in the pantheon of frocks running from, say, Princess Elizabeth in 1947 through Margaret (1960), Anne (1973 and 1992), Diana (1981), Fergiana (1986), Sophie (1999), Camilla (2005) and Kate (2011). Ditto the ring, the kiss, the size of the crowd. 4. Hows Pippa looking (front and rear)? 5. The Palace should/should not have done more for Meghans family to protect them from the media and the paps (caution: this could take all day). 6. Starting with Prince Charles, how far down the order of succession to the throne can you get without recourse to Wikipedia? Can you make it to Zenouska Mowatt (number 57)? Conversation for the republicans 1. How should an elected head of state be chosen: direct vote of the people; by parliament, or Commons alone by exhaustive ballot or resolution of the house; by a Labour Party-style electoral college including the unions; via online poll; by Simon Cowell and Tom Jones; by a Congress of Peoples Soviets? 2. Try and think of the best offensive headline for a fantasy left-wing paper front page, based on some classics from the Morning Star and Socialist Worker from the 1980s, eg Parasite Marries Scrounger (Sarah Ferguson and Andrew) or Noddy to Wed Big Ears (Diana Spencer and Charles). 3. Is the biracial Meghan a step forwards or backwards for progressive politics? 4. Who is paying for all this? TV coverage of the royal wedding starts from 9am Sergei Skripal has been discharged from hospital, more than two months after he was poisoned by a nerve agent in Salisbury. The Russian ex-spy has been in Salisbury District Hospital ever since he and his daughter, Yulia, were found unconscious on a park bench near the town centre on March 4. Ms Skripal was discharged from hospital last month, a few weeks after policeman Nick Bailey, who was exposed to the poison when he came to help the stricken pair. The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered severe brain damage. Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Sergei Skripal The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006. AP Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Yulia Skripal Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei. Facebook Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub. PA Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Nick Bailey Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack. Wiltshire Police/Rex Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation - Skripals home Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripals house. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Theresa May visits scene of attack Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Skripal days before attack Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life. ITV News Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation - military involvement British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury. EPA Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Home Secretary visits scene of attack Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been turned upside down by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack. Reuters In a statement, the hospital said: "While these patients have now been discharged, their right to patient confidentiality remains and limits us from giving detailed accounts of the treatment these individuals received. "However, treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents, requires stabilising them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned." Recommended Police reviewing security of defected Russian spies in UK Salisbury District Hospital chief executive Cara Charles-Barks said: "It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital. That he, Yulia and DS Bailey have been able to leave us so soon after coming into contact with this nerve agent is thanks to the hard work, skill and professionalism of our clinicians, who provide outstanding care to all our patients, day in and day out. "This has been a difficult time for those caught up in this incident - the patients, our staff and the people of Salisbury. I want to thank the public for their support, and I want to pay a special tribute to both the clinical staff here at the trust and those who work so hard behind the scenes. "They've demonstrated the very best of the NHS." The Metropolitan Police said that its investigation into the attack was continuing, and that it would not be discussing any security arrangements around the Skripals. "Detectives from the UK's Counter Terrorism Policing network continue to investigate the attempted murders of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in March this year," the force said in a statement. "They are both making good progress and we are pleased that Mr Skripal has now also been released from hospital, which was announced by the NHS earlier this morning. "This is a complex investigation and detectives continue to gather and piece together all the evidence to establish the full facts and circumstances behind this dreadful attack. "In the interests of Sergei and Yulias safety, we will not be discussing any protective or security arrangements that are in place." Britain and international chemicals weapons inspectors have said the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. Russia has denied Britain's charges of involvement in the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. It has suggested Britain carried out the attack itself to stoke anti-Russian hysteria. The Irish government does not want a border down the Irish Sea separating Great Britain from Northern Ireland, a senior lawmaker from the countrys governing party has said. Neale Richmond, the Fine Gael senator who chairs the bodys Brexit committee, said Brexiteers had mischaracterised the countrys approach to solving the border question. His comments come a day after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met with Theresa May at a summit on Sofia, where he warned that there was a serious possibility of the UK quitting without a deal. EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said there would likely be customs checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland if the so-called backstop of keeping NI in the customs union and single market took effect. But Mr Richmond on Friday morning said the UK should negotiate the absolute best alignment with the EU that means there was no border anywhere. One thing weve been very clear on, we always want it to be an overall EU-UK agreement we dont want to see any border on the island of Ireland, something the British government has committed to both in December again and in March but we always dont want to see any border in the United Kingdom, we dont see that a vision, down the Irish Sea, as a lot of Brexiteers are trying to paint our position, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. He added: Nothings gone and nothings finished at this stage; thats what were hoping for. We have the confirmation from the British government: they have said there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland. Were not going to sacrifice the entire integrity of our single market, of our union, just to satisfy certain opinions in the United Kingdom Neale Richmond, Fine Gael senator The senator warned that the EU had to protect the integrity of its single market, stating that were not going to sacrifice the entire integrity of our single market, of our union, just to satisfy certain opinions in the United Kingdom. The intervention comes amid a row over how to solve the Irish border question which has all but deadlocked Brexit talks. The UK Cabinet is divided between two options for customs procedures after Brexit, both of which were presented by the government in a paper published in August of last year. The EU has already said UK plans for a so-called customs partnership are based on magical thinking and that a separate, vaguer proposal involving technology called MaxFac (Maximum Facilitation) would not prevent a hard border in Ireland. The Government is due to choose between the two rejected proposals by next month, four months before the deadline for signing a deal. EU minister says little progress has been made on Brexit since March Both the UK and EU say they want to avoid the return of a hard border on Ireland, as secured under the Good Friday Agreement. The two sides in talks also both need to agree how the so-called backstop to the Ireland question which come would into effect if no other solution was found would work in practice. Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An abandoned shop is seen in Mullan, Co Monaghan. The building was home to four families who left during the Troubles. The town was largely abandoned after the hard border was put in place during the conflict. Mullan has seen some regeneration in recent years, but faces an uncertain future with Brexit on the horizon Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A defaced Welcome to Northern Ireland sign stands on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Mervyn Johnson owns a garage in the border town of Pettigo, which straddles the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh. Ive been here since 1956, it was a bit of a problem for a few years. My premises has been blown up about six or seven times, we just kept building and starting again, Johnson said laughing. We just got used to it [the hard border] really but now that its gone, we wouldn't like it back again Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Farmer Gordon Crocketts Coshquin farm straddles both Derry/Londonderry in the North and Donegal in the Republic. At the minute there is no real problem, you can cross the border as free as you want. We could cross it six or eight times a day, said Crockett. If there was any sort of obstruction it would slow down our work every day Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures John Murphy flies the European flag outside his home near the border village of Forkhill, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Potter Brenda McGinn stands outside her Mullan, Co Monaghan, studio the former Jas Boylan shoe factory which was the main employer in the area until it shut down due to the Troubles. When I came back, this would have been somewhere you would have driven through and have been quite sad. It was a decrepit looking village, said McGinn, whose Busy Bee Ceramics is one of a handful of enterprises restoring life to the community. Now this is a revitalised, old hidden village Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Union Flag colours painted on kerbstones and bus-stops along the border village of Newbuildings, Co Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Grass reflected in Lattone Lough, which is split by the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, seen from near Ballinacor, Northern Ireland Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Donegalman David McClintock sits in the Border Cafe in the village of Muff, which straddles Donegal and Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An old Irish phone box stands alongside a bus stop in the border town of Glaslough, Co Monaghan Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Billboards are viewed from inside a disused customs hut in Carrickcarnon, Co Down, on the border with Co Louth in the Republic Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Seamus McQuaid takes packages that locals on the Irish side of the border have delivered to his business, McQuaid Auto-Parts, to save money on postal fees, near the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler. I live in the south but the business is in the North, said McQaid. "I wholesale into the Republic of Ireland so if theres duty, Ill have to set up a company 200 yards up the road to sell to my customers. Ill have to bring the same product in through Dublin instead of Belfast Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A disused Great Northern Railway line and station that was for customs and excise on the border town of Glenfarne, Co Leitrim Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Alice Mullen, from Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, does her shopping at a former customs post on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh. Id be very worried if it was a hard border, I remember when people were divided. I would be very afraid of the threat to the peace process, it was a dreadful time to live through. Even to go to mass on a Sunday, youd have to go through checkpoints. It is terribly stressful, said Mullen. All those barricades and boundaries were pulled down. I see it as a huge big exercise of trust and I do believe everyone breathed a sigh of relief Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A bus stop and red post box stand in the border town of Jonesborough, Co Armagh Reuters Though the backstop was in principle agreed in December, both sides have now begun to interpret the ambiguous text of what they agreed in different ways. Downing Street says the policy would keep the entire UK aligned inside the customs union to prevent a hard border on Ireland, while the EU has said the agreement would keep Northern Ireland in the customs union, and introduce customs checks at Irish sea ports between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The EU is sceptical of Britain's interepretation of keeping the entire UK aligned because Brussels worries it would allow the UK effective access to the single market without having to follow its rules. Brussels has unveiled details of measures that would block American sanctions against European companies trying to do business with Iran, in a bid to head off Donald Trumps new economic assault on the Middle Eastern county. The US president announced the re-introduction of the anti-Iran sanctions as he confirmed US was breaking the international deal designed to put a stop to the countrys nuclear programme with the end to sanctions as a reward for compliance. Mr Trumps administration has not ruled out hitting European companies that trade with Iran with its new measures, so the EU has now responded by updating a blocking statue originally meant to circumvent a the US embargo against Cuba in the 1990s. The move would prohibit EU-based companies from complying with the US sanctions, and provide compensation if they were affected by American penalties against them. As long as the Iranians respect their commitments, the EU will of course stick to the agreement of which it was an architect - an agreement that was unanimously ratified by the United Nations Security Council and which is essential for preserving peace in the region and the world, Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said on Friday morning. But the American sanctions will not be without effect. So we have the duty, the Commission and the European Union, to do what we can to protect our European businesses, especially small and medium enterprises. The European Parliament and European Council will be allowed to scrutinise the new policy; it was unanimously agreed by EU heads of state and government at a summit in Sofia this week. The original blocking clause was never actually used when it first drawn up to circumvent the USs anti-Cuba embargo in 1996. We have the duty, the Commission and the European Union, to do what we can to protect our European businesses Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president The EU has also announced that the financial might of the European Investment Bank will be brought to bear to back EU projects in Iran, and that one-off transfers to Irans central bank would be explored. Energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will alsovisit the Iranian capital of Tehran this weekend to explore the possibility of more financial development assistance to Iran. The measures all represent an attempt to save the Iran nuclear deal, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). Even before Mr Trump pulled the US out of the deal, Iran complained that the 2015 deal was not yielding the expected economic benefits. Iran and the deals other signatories, the UK, Germany, France, EU, China, and Russia, all say they want the agreement to continue and that the US does not have the power to terminate it unilaterally. Donald Tusk on Trump: 'With friends like that, who needs enemies-' On the Iranian side the deal was seen as a triumph for Hassan Rouhani, the countrys president, who is seen as straddling the Islamic Republics moderate and reformist factions. Mr Rouhani had to face down hard-liners on his own side to sign the deal, who opposed reconciliation with the US. The deal is equally politicised in the US, where it is seen as a major legacy of Barack Obamas foreign policy. The deal is also staunchly opposed by Israel, a key US ally in the region. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The dispute over the JCPoA is running parallel to another row between the US and EU over steel and aluminimum tarrifs that Mr Trump plans to impose on EU and other countries' imports. The EU has said it will negotiate with Mr Trump to improve US companies' access to European markets, but only if he first pledges to permanently exempt Europe from the sanctions. Boris Johnson and his European counterparts met with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Brussels this week in an attempt to find a way forward. Under the deal Iran agreed to dramatically cut its enriched uranium stockpiles and its capacity to enrich uranium in the future. The IAEA gained full access to Iranian nuclear facilities under the deal to monitor its implementation. In exchange, the other countries agreed to lift sanctions. Two Italian populist parties unveiled a joint programme for a coalition government on Friday, pledging to roll back austerity measures, repatriate migrants and put themselves on a collision course with Brussels. The publication of the agreement brings the League and the Five Star Movement to the verge of forming western Europes first eurosceptic-led government a development likely to send shockwaves through the EU. The two parties members will be asked to vote on the plan, which calls for sharp tax cuts, a rollback of pension cuts and additional welfare spending for people on low incomes. The programme also pledges to repatriate irregular migrants and block landlords of those trying to cross the Mediterranean to safety. The League, a right-wing populist party mostly concentrated in the north of Italy with a record of anti-immigrant politics, has said it wants to leave the eurozone as soon as politically feasible. The Five Star Movements politics is more ambiguous; an anti-establishment vein runs through its shifting policies. It emphasises direct democracy and sits in Ukips group in the European parliament. Fridays joint programme makes no mention of the parties stance on the EU or the euro, leaving the situation ambiguous. Officials in Brussels are worried that the parties will pick fights with the EU institutions if they get into government in one of the EUs founding states. League leader Matteo Salvini said he and Five Star leader Luigi di Maio would meet with Italys mostly ceremonial president on Monday to form a government if their members signed off on the plan in votes due to be held before Sunday. Days and nights of work, he said in a statement on social media. Do you like it? The Five Star Movement won the most votes in Marchs elections, garnering 32.7 per cent. The Northern League came a narrow third behind the centre-left Democratic Party, winning 17.4 per cent; its wider electoral alliance, which included the centre-right, won 37.1 per cent. Last year saw the election of a right-wing government in Austria that included the FPO as a junior partner. That eurosceptic far-right party is however in coalition with the OVP, which strongly supports continued EU and euro membership for Austria. 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 Asked about the apparent impending formation of the government, a spokesperson for the European Commission said: I havent seen the text yet. As you said, this is an ongoing process. I havent actually seen a government that has been formed in Italy, so we have no comments to make in this stage. As always, it is the president [of the European Commission] who decides whether he wants to comment. We will wait and see and we will comment when we have more information, if we do have comments to make. A Labour frontbencher has faced ridicule after it emerged that she delivered a strikingly similar speech to Barack Obama when she was re-elected last year. Kate Osamor, the shadow international development secretary, appeared to plagiarise large chunks from the former US president's historic victory address in 2008 when she won her seat in Edmonton with an increased majority of more than 21,000. Footage obtained by PoliticsHome shows Ms Osamor addressing activists in the North London constituency, where she supplemented the words "Labour" and "Edmonton" for "America" in almost identical comments. However Ms Osamor denied plagiarising Mr Obama, saying she felt his speech was well known enough for the audience to recognise it. Addressing the crowd, Ms Osamor said: "If there is anyone out there who doubts that Edmonton is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of hope is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. "It's the answer told by the lines of people stretched around polling stations, schools and churches. "By young people who queued, many for the first time in their lives because they believed that voting for Labour this time must be different, that their voices could be the difference." The extract is almost identical to Mr Obama's victory speech in his hometown of Chicago a decade ago. The former president told cheering crowds: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. "It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference." Ms Osamor's spokesman said: "Kate deliberately invoked a victory speech so famous that she thought it needed no introduction." UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA It comes after the shadow cabinet member had to row back an outspoken interview where she unexpectedly backed intervention in Syria and called for Bashar al-Assad to be removed. Brexit has become one of the key dividing lines in the race to succeed Heidi Alexander as Labours candidate for the Lewisham East by-election. Party members in the south-London constituency will tomorrow decide from one of four Labour candidates to compete in Junes vote, with the winner set to defend the partys healthy 21,000 majority. Barring a major hiccup that individual will become an MP in a matter of weeks. When narrowing down the candidates, party bosses decided to impose an all-women, BAME shortlist and either Janet Daby, Brenda Dacres, Sakina Sheikh or Claudia Webbe will be picked by the members on Saturday morning. They will replace Ms Alexander, a pro-EU campaigner, who resigned as an MP to work alongside Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, as his deputy for transport. While all appear to have voted for Mr Corbyn in the leadership contest and oppose austerity, the candidates have differing views on Brexit policy, with one, Ms Daby, previously calling for a public vote on the final deal should Labours six Brexit tests not be met by Theresa May. Lewisham as a whole voted by nearly 70 per cent to stay in the European Union. First to announce her candidacy following Ms Alexanders resignation was 28-year-old Ms Sheikh, the newly elected Lewisham councillor and anti-Transatlantic trade treaty activist. She has the official endorsement of Momentum the group set up to support Jeremy Corbyns first leadership victory in 2015. With that comes the organisations substantial influence and ability to mobilise activists on the ground. Prominent left-wing activists have also pledged their support for Ms Sheikh, including the commentator Owen Jones and Mr Corbyns former spokesman, Matt Zarb-Cousin. I really want this and Lewisham really needs this, she told The Independent. I put myself forward because Im the best candidate to serve Lewisham both because of my national campaigning experience and because Im embedded in the community here and know what they need. Recommended Labour MP Heidi Alexander resigns to become London deputy mayor The only candidate that can win is the one who is local. I think in some areas the localness of the candidate is incredibly important and Lewisham is definitely one of them. I think in places where there is a high level of deprivation you find that the community resources one and other and heightens the sense of community. Only a local person knows what it is like to live here and struggle here. Unlike other candidates in the running, Ms Sheikh, who joined the Labour Party in 2015 to vote for Mr Corbyn, has made clear she would not defy the party whip on Brexit in the Commons. Brexit does sit heavy on my heart, she said. I voted to Remain, I campaigned to Remain. I deeply, deeply wanted to Remain. I was really upset by the referendum result, I was demoralised by it. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA That said, I respect the result of the referendum, she added, making clear she believed Britain should now leave the EU. Asked whether Britain should leave the single market, she replied: I think that is the line we need to take in order to respect the referendum. It is a key departure from Ms Alexander, who had been co-chair of the group of Labour MPs involved in the Westminster campaign for the single market. Ms Webbe is running a ticket of political experience. The Islington councillor is a member of Labours governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), a former policy adviser to Ken Livingstone, and she has the powerful backing of Unite union. Key allies of the Labour leader have also thrown their weight behind Ms Webbe, including the shadow home secretary Diane Abbott. Anybody who knows me, knows I would not stand without the clear encouragement of the leadership to do so, she told The Independent. Despite being the only candidate who is not a Lewisham councillor, she describes it as her second home, with close family members, including her sister, living in the constituency. She also helped found Operation Trident in 1998 which aimed to combat gun and violent crime in black communities in the capital. I am the strongest, most experienced candidate, she said. I havent just arrived at this agenda Ive been a member of the Labour Party for well over 20 years. Ive got a huge track record within the Labour party. Im not somebody who has just been elected to office and hasnt even stepped foot in the Town Hall yet, she said. On issues related to Brexit, she said she would vote on the basis of the needs of her constituents and on the basis of what is in interest of Lewisham East. It is not guaranteed as a backbencher that I would necessarily vote with the whip, she said. What Im interested in is protecting jobs and living standards. But she does not believe a second referendum is a viable option. I voted Remain, London voted Remain, she said. But the country however obviously voted for Brexit Labour constituencies up and down the country are polarised. Were also socialists and were democratic socialists. I believe in democracy and I believe that when the vote has been taken we cannot keep having the vote in order to get the right vote. The country voted Brexit and I believe as a democratic socialist we have to honour that. Lewishams deputy mayor, Janet Daby, who has lived in the area for 22 years, has described herself as the unity candidate in the contest and has the backing of the Fire Brigades Union and the public services union, Unison. She grew up in a single parent household on a council estate was the first in her family to head to university. She made clear to The Independent she will continue with Ms Alexanders work on Brexit, adding: I oppose a hard Brexit and, if elected to Parliament, I will fight for UK to remain in the customs union and the single market. Leaving the customs union and single market will have a disastrous effect on the economy and, as usual, it will be the poorest who suffer the most. I have lived in Lewisham East for 22 years. I have friends and family that live in my constituency and I've been clear about my position on Brexit from the outset of the campaign. I would not put myself in a situation in which I have to make the short journey back from Westminster knowing that I have just voted to make the residents of my community poorer. The fourth contender is 35-year-old Brenda Dacres, another Lewisham councillor, whose parents were part of the Windrush generation to come from Jamaica in the 1960s. She was the first in her family to attend university and is also a qualified barrister. Ms Dacres did not respond when asked for comment on her candidacy. A post on her Twitter account, however, makes clear she will support the shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmers stance on Brexit. But a blog on her official website, from August 2017, recalls how devastated she felt on the 24 June 2016 when the result of the referendum became clear. In the aftermath of the result, the Tory government is seeking to push through a devastating hard Brexit, including pulling out of both the customs union and single market, it reads. This would put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk. It added: I believe that we should stand up for our place in the single market, on which hundreds of thousands of jobs, and our rights at work, depend. I believe we should stand up for free movement. Labour Conference must demand adherence to Keir Starmers six tests and, if they cannot be met, a vote on the final deal must be called. With sixteen year olds having a vote it is their future too. Theresa May has been accused of hypocrisy after appointing nine new Conservative peers to the House of Lords, including several ex-ministers, despite vowing to end the practice. The prime minister sent six former MPs three of whom sat in the cabinet to the upper chamber, which flies in the face of her claims that senior politicians should not expect automatic ennoblement. Announcing the appointments on the eve of the royal wedding was branded frankly pathetic by critics, who called the prime minister cynical for seeking to sneak out the news when it would receive little attention. Recommended Peers ready to drive out lazy lords if May agrees to a cap on numbers Controversial appointments on the Labour side include Martha Osamor, who has been embroiled in the partys antisemitism scandal, and also the DUPs William McCrea, a Presbyterian minister who once called for airstrikes on the Republic of Ireland. The row comes after peers inflicted a string of embarrassing defeats on the government over Brexit and has been seen as an attempt by the prime minister to bolster her support in the Lords. Former communities secretary Sir Eric Pickles, ex-solicitor general Sir Edward Garnier and Peter Lilley, a former social security secretary, were among the new Tory peers tipped by Ms May, while her DUP allies put forward Dr McCrea. Jeremy Corbyn nominated three new peers including Ms Osamor, a longtime community activist, Pauline Bryan, an author and campaigner, and Iain McNicol, who stood down as Labours general secretary earlier this year. Mr McNicol had reportedly come up against Mr Corbyns office in private and his replacement by former Unite official Jennie Formby was seen by many as an attempt to find someone more favourable to a left-wing agenda. The new peerages increase the Tory presence in the upper chamber but Labour and the Liberal Democrats combined will still have 35 more peers. There are also 181 peers sitting as crossbenchers. Ms May shelved plans earlier this year to slash the number of peers, after a cross-party report recommended cutting the numbers in the Lords from nearly 800 to 600 in a decade. The Lord Speakers Committee recommended limiting any peers term to 15 years and adopting a new two-out, one in system to accelerate a reduction in size. However Ms May retreated from the more radical plans, which she said needed careful thought and instead pledged to show restraint in her appointments. Meanwhile, Ms Osamors elevation was described as a two-fingered salute to the Jewish community, after the campaigner signed a letter protesting against the suspensions of party members over antisemitism. Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: Mr Corbyn has promised action, not just words, against antisemitism in the Labour Party. Today his actions speak louder than ever. By elevating Ms Osamor to the peerage, Mr Corbyn has sent an unmistakable signal to those in the Jewish community who still harboured some hope that he might change. Ms Osamor said in a statement that she was implacably opposed to antisemitism and had spent her life campaigning against racism and discrimination. Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords, Dick Newby, said the move was a desperate bid by Ms May to reduce opposition to her flagship Brexit legislation in the upper chamber. The fact that she is doing this on the Friday evening before the royal wedding is frankly pathetic, he said. This is a desperate grab for power by a regime losing its grip on parliament, public opinion and even its own back benches. The Prime Minister is running scared of the mounting criticism of her disastrous handling of Brexit. These appointments show the PM isnt serious about reforming the Lords and smacks of hypocrisy. Tommy Sheppard, the SNPs Lords spokesman, described the decision as a real affront to democracy. He added: The Tories are not even trying to disguise this it is a complete fix. By creating even more peers in a desperate attempt to force through their chaotic Brexit they are showing a despicable disregard. Even for the Tories this is shabby. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 October 2021 People walk past a life-size sculpture of British singer John Lennon entitled "Imagine", by sculptor Lawrence Holofcener, displayed to mark what would have been the 81st birthday for the former member of the Beatles in Carnaby Street Reuters UK news in pictures 8 October 2021 WW II veteran, 96-year-old Lorna Cockayne, who served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), popularly and officially known as the Wrens, as a Bletchley Park codebreaker, poses for a photograph with the Legion d'honneur after receiving it during a ceremony at the Pear at Parley in Ferndown, Bournemouth PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2021 British comedian Jo Brand poses with cut-out silhouettes representing women outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters New Scotland Yard, to highlight violence against women by male police officers or former police officers AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 6 October 2021 A protester, wearing a mask of Johnson, holds a sign reading Question it all on the final day of the Tory conference Getty UK news in pictures 5 October 2021 Members of Insulate Britain outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, before a hearing over the injunction banning the environmental activists from blocking the M25 PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2021 A delegate passes a street cleaner on the second day of the annual Conservative Party Conference being held at the Manchester Central convention centre AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2021 Margaret Thatcher-themed mugs for sale at the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester EPA UK news in pictures 2 October 2021 A couple make their way through a flooded underpass in Bristol as a yellow weather warning for rain and wind is issued for parts of the UK Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 1 October 2021 A driver talks to members of the media after passing his HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) driving test at National Driving Centre in Croydon, south London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 30 September 2021 The centrepiece One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is seen ahead of the beginning of the Japan Festival, a celebration of the countrys plants, art and culture running from 2-31 October, at Kew Gardens in London PA UK news in pictures 29 September 2021 The family of Betty Campbell unveil the bronze sculpture of her during the unveiling of the statue in Central Square, Cardiff, of Betty Campbell, Wales' first black headteacher PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2021 A sign referring to the lack of fuel is placed at the entrance to a petrol station in London AP UK news in pictures 27 September 2021 Police officers detain a protester from Insulate Britain occupying a roundabout leading from the M25 motorway to Heathrow Airport in London PA UK news in pictures 26 September 2021 Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer watches the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match at The Font pub in Brighton PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2021 Scottish pro-independence supporters hold a march and rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK news in pictures 24 September 2021 Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2021 Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the ups and downs of her mothers case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran AP UK news in pictures 22 September 2021 A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by CrackTheCrises coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London EPA UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for 12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters However Lord Fowler, the lord speaker, described it as a relatively modest list compared to previous prime ministers and it showed Ms May intended to keep her promise to slash numbers on the red benches. He said: When the prime minister wrote to me in February, she made it clear that the new peerages announced today are a long-planned list arising from the dissolution of parliament before the June 2017 general election. In that letter, she also committed herself to restraint when making new appointments to the House of Lords. The relatively modest size of todays list when compared with those under several previous prime ministers has demonstrated a welcome commitment to that pledge. The new peers account for about a third of the 35 peers who have left the House since last years election, he said. The number of British troops in Afghanistan could top 1,000 for the first time in years following calls from Donald Trump for US allies to do more to combat the Taliban. Defence secretary Gavin Williamson is understood to have written to the prime minister recommending that numbers be boosted, although a decision is yet to be made. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the UKs contribution to the mission was kept under constant review. Were Mr Williamson's recommendations enacted, it is thought that between 400 to 450 soldiers could be sent to the country to join around 650 who are already deployed in non-combat roles. Recommended First woman Afghan military pilot wins US asylum after fleeing Taliban However, a former UK commander in Afghanistan, General Sir Richard Barrons, warned that even more troops may be needed. The retired officer told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the decision to end combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014 hasnt worked. The extra troops would send an important message to our allies that they should do more, while also signalling to the Taliban that they will never bring this fight in Afghanistan to an end by fighting, they have to resort to dialogue, he added. However, he suggested a greater military presence and an enhanced and more dangerous role should be considered, with troops leaving the their bases to accompany Afghan forces on operations. I absolutely think, if we are going to make a meaningful contribution, we will have to find the courage to train, advise, assist and accompany them into action, Sir Richard said. "With that comes some risks and consequences, but thats how you make a difference. The US has increased its presence in Afghanistan since Mr Trump unveiled his South Asia strategy in August last year. 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 Around 4,000 troops are thought to have been added to the 8,400-strong US deployment in the country, to bolster the Kabul government, train Afghan forces and fight the Taliban and other militant groups. Meanwhile, a British parliamentary briefing document in April warned that the number of Afghan districts under insurgent control or influence has doubled since 2015. It added: The United Nations reported over 10,000 civilian casualties in 2017, over half of which were attributed to the Taliban. Sir Richard suggested that the UK should deploy around 10 per cent of the troops sent by the US, which would lift the British contribution to more than 1,200. A MoD spokesman said: The support the UK provides Afghanistan on security, development and governance is crucial to building a stable state and reducing the terrorist threat to the UK. We remain committed to Natos non-combat Resolute Support mission, in which we play an important role, and keep our contribution under constant review. The military uplift is intended to prevent a Taliban takeover of the country, target Isis and al Qaeda. US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said secretary of state Mike Pompeo had reinforced our enduring investment in Afghanistan in a conversation with the countrys president, Ashraf Ghani. The reported change in approach is said to come amid concerns over how Mr Trump will approach a coming meeting of Nato leaders. Theresa May is expected to join the president at the summit in Brussels in July, with Mr Trump then set to make a visit to the UK. Mr Trump has repeatedly called for Nato members to meet their defence spending commitment of two per cent of gross domestic product and has threatened to walk away from the organisation if his demands are not met. During a meeting with Mr Trump in Washington, Nato general secretary Jens Stoltenberg said all members have increased their spending, in part due to Mr Trumps approach. After the talks Mr Stoltenberg said it was very important that we all contribute more to our shared security. Additional reporting by PA Thousands of people have died from Ebola since an outbreak erupted in West Africa four years ago. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the epidemic over in 2016, a new outbreak has been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where at least 44 people have been infected with the virus and 23 deaths are under investigation. Here, The Independent looks at the origins of outbreak of the deadly virus, which has never really gone away. 28 December 2013 A two-year-old boy named Emile Ouamouno dies of a mysterious haemorrhagic fever in the Guinean village of Gueckedou after playing with fruit bats. His mother, three-year-old sister, and grandmother all died shortly afterwards. The virus begins to spread, carried to nearby villages by mourners and a healthcare worker. 23 March 2014 Guinea confirms that the disease is the haemorrhagic fever Ebola, which was first discovered in 1976. To date, it has killed 59 people in the West African country. 8 April 2014 The funeral of venerated healer Mendinor, attended by hundreds of mourners, leads to the spread of the virus to Sierra Leone and Liberia. West African tradition demands that mourners lay hands on the corpse and each other during funerals. 24 May 2014 The Sierra Leone government decides to treat Ebola sufferers in Kenema hospital, which soon becomes overrun by patients and has no strict hygiene measures in places. Hundreds of patients and health workers die at the hospital, where the death toll stands at more than 800. 8 August 2014 The outbreak is declared an international emergency by WHO after the virus reaches the Nigerian capital of Lagos, a major industrial hub which is home to 21 million people. 24 August 2014 British volunteer nurse William Pooley becomes the first Briton to contract Ebola after working in Sierra Leone. He is flown back to the UK for emergency treatment and goes on to make a full recovery September 2014 A major fightback begins after the humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres calls the international response slow and derisory. Countries including the UK and US respond by constructing new treatment facilities in West Africa and training health workers in infection prevention. 7 October 2014 Fears grow in Europe when a Spanish nurse becomes the first person to contract the virus outside West Africa. She contracted the disease after treating a priest, who was flown home to Spain after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone. 9 October 2014 The UK announces that it will introduce temperature screening for passengers arriving at Gatwick and Heathrow from West Africa. 28 December 2014 Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey is given the all-clear from Ebola at Heathrow on her return from Sierra Leone, but soon falls ill with the virus and is kept in isolation in Londons Royal Free Hospital for several weeks. January 2015 WHO announces a turning point in the Ebola crisis, as the number of new patients falls in all three of the worst-hit countries Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. This drop is attributed to boosts in medical care and an increased caution among locals. The death toll reaches 8,800. 9 May 2015 Liberia is declared Ebola free, but cases continue in Sierra Leone and Guinea. July 2015 Three more cases of Ebola are confirmed in Liberia, traced back to a dog meat meal they shared. November 2015 After being declared Ebola free for a second time, three more cases emerge in Liberia. 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 14 January 2016 An official end to an epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people is declared by WHO after no new cases are reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 42 days (twice the length of the viruss incubation period). 9 June 2016 Liberia is declared free from Ebola for the fourth time after a further outbreak in April. 11 May 2017 The DRC reports eight suspected cases of Ebola, including four deaths, in the province of Bas Uele. Two months later, WHO declares an end to the outbreak. 8 May 2018 An Ebola outbreak is declared in the Equateur province of the DRC, with a total of 32 suspected cases, including 18 deaths. 18 May 2018 WHO calls an emergency meeting to consider the international risks of the latest outbreak after a case of Ebola is confirmed in Mbandaka, a major city in the DRC. The current outbreak totals 44 cases, including 23 deaths. The risk to public health has been raised to very high in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the World Health Organisation, after a case of Ebola was confirmed in a major city. The first definite case of the deadly virus in the city Mbandaka, which has a population of around 1.5 million, was described as a major, major game-changer in the outbreak, by the WHO deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response, Dr Peter Salama. The fear now is that the disease, which has been linked to the deaths of as many as 25 people so far this year, could spread much faster in a city than in remote, rural areas, where most cases have been reported to date. But the situation in the Congo does not yet warrant being declared a global health emergency, the WHO announced later on Friday. WHO officials, speaking after an experts meeting on the outbreak, said vaccinations plan to begin on Sunday in a key test of an experimental vaccine. The health agency called the risk to the public in the Congo very high and the regional risk high, with the global risk low, adding: The confirmed case in Mbandaka, a large urban centre located on major national and international river, road and domestic air routes increases the risk of spread within the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to neighbouring countries. The first Ebola case of this outbreak was announced last week in the city of Bikoro, 93 miles from Mbandaka, where there were a further three suspected cases. A WHO statement said there had been 21 suspected, 20 probable and three confirmed cases of Ebola between 4 April and 15 May, according to reports by the Associated Press. The ultimate fear now is if the virus, which can be fatal in up to 90 per cent of cases, were to spread to Kinshasa, a city that is home to almost 10 million people, many of whom live in slums with poor sanitation. It is an hours flight from Mbandaka Ebola survivor explains why she wants to return to Sierra Leone Mr Salama had told reporters on Thursday: Were certainly not trying to cause any panic in the national or international community. What were saying though is that urban Ebola is very different phenomenon to rural Ebola because we know that people in urban areas can have far more contacts so that means that urban Ebola can result in an exponential increase in cases in a way that rural Ebola struggles to do. Health teams are now monitoring more than 500 people who may have come in contact with infected individuals. They say they are now better prepared to deal with the outbreak, compared to when a major outbreak killed more than 11,000 people across west Africa between 2014 to 2016, with more than 28,000 confirmed, probable and suspected cases. A vaccine, which was tested during the previous outbreak, will be sent out and given to those who may have come into contact with the disease. The organisation has already sent 4,300 doses to Kinshasa and is now sending 7,540 more doses to the region, claiming this should be enough to treat 50 rings of 150 people. Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Show all 27 1 /27 Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Haja Bobor, 31 During Ebola, they quarantined areas. My husband was at Kailahun and couldnt cross the boundary, so we were separated. They taught us how to wash our hands and we were all washing our hands every day; even my children were washing their hands. Haja is the mother of three surviving children, two of her children died from diarrhoea WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Aruna Bockarie, 24 This is the finished toilet that we have built in our compound, I am very happy to have my own toilet and I will be proud to use it WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Aruna Bockarie, 24 All the parents came together and built a school in the village, we have just opened the school. The children are at assembly with no uniforms. I am the teacher at the school so I took this photo to show how we have been working hard for our children to be educated WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Haja Bobor, 31 Here is my son, Sessay (left), with his friends. I was happy to snap them. I have given birth to six children, but only three are still alive. The first one I lost was three years ago, and the second was two years ago. Four months ago I lost Senior Lahai. He was six months old and was affected by a runny stomach and a rising body temperature WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Haja Bobor, 31 Four months ago I lost Senior Lahai. He was six months old and was affected by a runny stomach and a rising body temperature. He was really, really sick, he wasn't even taking breast milk, and he died. My heart was broken. My baby used to be strong. He was able to sit by himself and was just starting to practise to crawl and reach for things. He laughed a lot when I played with him, Id clap and dance. I have a happy moment when he started sitting by himself and learning to crawl. Those are the happy moments that makes a mother most happy. The moment I remember most about Lahai was when he was breastfeeding and was playing with my neck and chin with his hand. I look to the future and hope that such things won't happen again, and that God will give me children that stay with me WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Aruna Bockarie, 24 My step brother Ibrahim is building our toilet with loamy soil because we dont have cement. WaterAid taught us about good sanitation and I want to show that we are now building our own toilets so that we will not go to the bush or use the stream as a toilet that is why I took this photo WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Aruna, 33 Washing in the stream: When we came here the water system was very bad. I know that when I drink dirty water I get sick. We are getting diarrhoea because we are drinking that type of water. If I am sick I am not able to earn money because I am not able to go to work, and I have to stay at home, which is very difficult for me WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Tailu Yajah These are the contractors that came to build the water well, and they are mixing the stones and the cement to build the cover of the well WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Tailu Yajah I started tree climbing when I was living with my grandmother and she was trying to get some palm kernels and process them to make the oil that we use. I didnt like doing the processing part so I decided to climb the trees to do the harvest instead. Tree climbing is very difficult. At times you can be confronted by a snake, as you are going up you just see one and it will hiss at you. If you are not strong you are going to fall out of the tree, and could die! I am just doing it for necessity sake. I dont want to do this job really, but at the moment I have no other means of making money, so I have no choice but to do this to manage my family WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Haja Bobor, 31 They killed my uncle during the war. I was not in this village during the war; I was in Guinea. Just after the war, my mother asked me to come back home. There were no houses when I returned; it had all been destroyed WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Tailu Yajah This is my son Bockarie. He reminds me of his mother, who is not presently here with me, and he resembles me. Recently my son was very sick and we had to take him to the clinic to get treatment. Even getting to the clinic costs money. I didn't have any money, so I had to borrow money from the community people so I could take him to the hospital. Having very good drinking water would ease the issues with having to take people to the hospital because of illness, and the problem of finding the money to manage that WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Tailu Yujah Sidique is 21 years old, he is my daughters husband and is drinking from the stream we use to fetch water. Our forefathers created this village, and the water was good. They covered it with a concrete box to keep it safe, but all of that fell down during the war, and afterwards no one could repair it. The water is not good here now and I have worms as a result. It will be very good to have clean water; it would give us a long life. If you have good drinking water, then your life is safe, but if you dont then your life is not secure. Having good drinking water would ease the issues with having to take people to the hospital because of illness, and the problem of finding the money to manage that WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Matu, 40 We the women of this village are experiencing the problems with lack of water and we pray that things will change. The rain washes everything, including faeces into the water. The children get diarrhoea from the water. With clean water, I would be clean and would not suffer from sickness WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Matu, 40 This is my brothers wife, she is holding both her daughter and my granddaughter WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Matu, 40 Matu is the life and soul of the village of Tombohuaun. She is a traditional birth attendant and plays an important role within the womens society. Matu suffers from poor health; she has stomach problems caused by the dirty water WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Amadou Kokoyeh (Bush Chicken), 8 My name is Amadou Kokoyeh, but I am more familiar with Kokoyeh [Bush Chicken]. The name Kokoyeh was given to me by fathers older brother. Its meant to be a bird that is in the bush and mostly eats other peoples groundnuts when they plant them. WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Amadou Kokoyeh (Bush Chicken), 8 This is my father helping to dig the water well, so that we will have clean water to drink. I am happy because we are going to have a well in my village. I dont think the water we currently collect from the muddy spring is good for drinking because it is exposed, and leaves and other things fall in it. I also get water down there with my mum, and sometimes I go with the other kids. Sometimes when I drink it, I have a stomach pain, and it also brings me headache. I have got sick from that, and I was taken to the health centre WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Amadou Kokoyeh (Bush Chicken), 8 This is my family my mother, father and younger brother. When Im not with them this picture will make me feel closer to them WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Amadou Kokoyeh (Bush Chicken), 8 Moserie Yajah was lying down in the grass, and asked me to get a shot of him. At the moment, every day people ask me to get a photo of them. I feel very happy when people ask for a picture. What I love most to get a shot of is people that are well dressed, sitting in a chair or in a very comfortable area that I can snap WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Amadou Kokoyeh (Bush Chicken), 8 We were going down to Matus place, and my friends and brother decided to cover themselves with that fishing net, and asked me to take a shot of them. The fishing net was taken from Ginnahs mother (Massah) and I think the picture is really good. I like the photo mainly because they are standing close to the wash yard, where people go to heat their water and wash. I love it because they are all my brothers, and we look out for each other WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Amadou Kokoyeh (Bush Chicken), 8 I love this picture. I took this photo of Bockarie when he was drinking water. The water was collected from the muddy spring where everyone collects water. I dont think it is good for drinking because it is exposed, and leaves and other things fall in it. I also get water down there with my mum, and sometimes I go with the other kids. Sometimes when I drink it, I have a stomach pain, and it also brings me headache. I have got sick from that, and I was taken to the health centre. If it rains, we harvest rainwater WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Amadou Kokoyeh (Bush Chicken), 8 This is my cousin Papay; we are very close he lives nearby and we spend lots of time together. In this picture he is messing around. On his head is what our fathers make to catch fish in small streams. We then eat some fish and they sell the rest. It is important for our survival WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Kempah Ginnah, 42 The community people helping to build the water well, I was glad about this, that is why I took this photo. Kempah is a youth leader and mechanic from Tombohuaun WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Kempah Ginnah, 42 These children are our next of kin, my children and their friends. They are wonderful children WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Jeneba, 13 Here, my father, brothers and aunt are separating cocoa fruit from pods. By selling cocoa, my family earns enough to pay my school fees WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Haja Bobor, 31 We have now built a small school in our village. This is inside the class for my childrens first day in school. I took this picture to show them in the future so they will know that I want them to be educated and also free from diseases WaterAid Life after Ebola: a community rebuilds in Sierra Leone Haja Bobor, 31 This is my Aunt Mamie Ansumana. She is 40 and is a farmer. She loves going to the farm and likes to smile. She looked after me when my children died. The dirty water caused the death of two of my children; I dont want anything to happen to the others. She took me from the room where Senior Lahai died to her own room. I slept in her room for some time. I want to thank to her because she is still taking care of us WaterAid The WHOs ring vaccination method involves treating those who may have contacted those feared to be infected, their contacts and frontline health workers. Last time, thousands died from the disease in countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and Nigeria. Those infected included a number of British health workers including nurse Pauline Rafferty, who made a full recovery. The virus can cause symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pain, headache, bleeding and a high temperature and can be fatal. There is currently no licensed treatment for the disease, which is spread through contact with an infected person who has symptoms, through their bodily fluids and through handling raw or undercooked bushmeat. The Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the Equateur province where the outbreak was announced and urged people to check the WHO website for the latest updates. The NHS issued advice following the previous outbreak which includes to avoid physical contact with anyone who has possible symptoms of an infection and washing hands frequently with soap or failing that, rubbing them with alcohol. It also advises not handling dead animals or raw meat, not eating bushmeat and making sure fruit and vegetables are washed and peeled before eating. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in America has echoed the NHS advice and added that any travellers who experience symptoms or who have had contact with someone who has over the past 21 days should seek medical help immediately. Agencies contributed to this report Authorities are trying to determine how a box of ammunition fell from a military helicopter before crashing through the roof of a school. Ysleta Independent School District says no one was injured when the cache slammed into a building at Parkland Elementary School in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday afternoon. The box punctured a hole in the roof upon impact and caused a power outage in part of the building, officials said. Recommended Bride survives helicopter crash on her wedding day The school stands meters from the perimeter of United States Army base Fort Bliss, home to the 1st Armored Division. Colonel Jay Hopkins, commander of the divisions aviation brigade, apologised for the incident. I'm extremely sorry for any damage done to the neighbouring elementary school, and I am grateful that no one was injured, he said. The incident is under investigation. Officials at Fort Bliss say they will now reassess flight patterns as part of the investigation into how the ammo box fell from the helicopter. In December last year, the US Marine Corps sparked fury in Japan when a window fell off one of its helicopters mid-flight, falling onto a school playing field and injuring a child on the island of Okinawa. 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 boy was lucky to escape the incident with only a minor arm injury after being hit by the window, which weighed around 20 pounds (9 kilograms). This is a regrettable incident and we apologise for any anxiety it has caused the community, the US forces in Japan said in a statement issued at the time of the accident. Additional reporting by AP California authorities have arrested and charged the ex-boyfriend of a woman killed in an explosion at the day spa they had opened together. Federal prosecutors charged 59-year-old Stephen Beal with one count of possessing an unregistered explosive device. He has not entered a plea, and he was not charged in connection with the death of Ildiko Krajnyak, the 40-year-old woman who died in the blast. He was identified by authorities as the co-owner, with Ms Krajnyak, of the spa. They were romantic partners but the relationship deteriorated due to disputes over the exclusivity of the relationship and financial issues, according to a federal complaint. The document said Mr Beal continued to pay the businesss rent and a chunk of its operating costs. Earlier this week a brown cardboard box exploded soon after Ms Krajnyak opened it, according to the complaint. The blast injured two other people, blew open the spas ceiling and projected shards of shattered windows into the parking lot. Authorities said soon after that they believed the blast was no accident and had been caused by an explosive device, a contention the complaint reiterates. Evidence collected from the blast site suggests that the explosive incident was intentional, the complaint said. Austin bombings suspect dead Show all 23 1 /23 Austin bombings suspect dead Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Austin bombings suspect named as 24-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt by Texas police. Facebook Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 The bomber's car at the scene surrounded by law enforcement vehicles after he detonated a device following them closing in on him. kvue Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Officials investigate the scene. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Law enforcement officials search for evidence at the location where the suspected package bomber was killed in suburban Austin. Getty Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 The Austin bomber's car after he detonated the device. kvue Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Agent in Charge Fred Milanowski, Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs speak to the media as law enforcement investigates the scene. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 The scene after the Austin bomber detonated a device in his car. kvue Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Emergency responders investigate the scene. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Police vehicles are seen just south of the Woodspring Suite and Red Roof Inn along the interstate as police investigate. The bombing suspect was identified by police and according to media reports he allegedly blew himself up after being confronted by police after being sought in connection with more than five bombings across the Austin, Texas area. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Officials work at the scene early on Wednesday. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Austin Police and ATF section off parts of Slaughter Lane. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Grocery carts block a vacated Randall's along Slaughter and Brodie Lanes near the scene of the explosion. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Officials work at the scene. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 Law enforcement personnel are seen gathering evidence outside a FedEx Store which was closed for investigation after a fifth bombing in Austin. There has been five bombings in the month of March in neighborhoods across Austin and police think they are all related. Reuters Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 Caity Colvard gets emotional as she watches a massive response of law enforcement officers at a bomb explosion site at a Goodwill store in Austin. Emergency teams were responding to another reported explosion in Texas' capital, this one at a Goodwill store in the southern part of the city. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 FBI agents carrying items out in paper bags and boxes as they exit the FedEx store. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 Damage from a bomb blast that killed a man earlier in the month is pictured at the front porch of a home on Haverford Drive in Austin. Reuters Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 FBI and police investigate a bombing at the intersection of Republic of Texas and Mission Oaks boulevards. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 Investigators work at the scene of a bombing on Dawn Song Drive in the Travis Country neighborhood. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 A police crime scene van arrives near the site of the explosion. Police warned nearby residents to remain indoors overnight as investigators looked for possible links to other deadly package bombings elsewhere in the city this month. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 Police tape marks off the neighborhood where the package bomb went off. It is the fourth similar bombing in three weeks in the Austin area. Getty Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 Austin police chief Brian Manley talks with FBI Special Agent after explosion on Sunday. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 18 Police maintain a cordon near the site of the explosion in southwest Austin. Reuters Investigators found two completed improvised explosive devices and three firearms during a search Mr Beals residence in Long Beach, a city south of Los Angeles, according to an FBI agents affidavit. They also found materials that could be used to construct bombs, including approximately 130 pounds of explosive material and e-matches and tubes that are all known to be chemical precursors and component parts of improvised explosive devices. CCTV shows moment motorcycle bomb explodes at Indonesia police station The complaint alleges that Mr Beal told agents the materials were for model rocket building, a hobby he had not pursued since 2004. He also said he had built a small explosive device to assist with his neighbours gopher problem, according to the document. Donald Trumps encounters with world leaders have been anything but boring. From his infamous white knuckle handshake with the newly elected French President to reportedly hanging up the phone on the Australian Prime Minister mid-conversation after yelling at him, it would be safe to say he has upended the usual diplomatic order. In a similar vein, the President has now used a bilateral meeting with Panama's President on Monday to boast about building the Panama Canal. For the record, the 48-mile waterway in the Central American country is a century-old canal he of course did not build. Sat side by side while cameras flared, the mogul-turned-politico claimed he and Mr Varela had many important issues to discuss, but nevertheless found time to declare: The Panama Canal is doing quite well. I think we did a good job building it, right - a very good job. Turning to Juan Carlos Varela, Mr Trump asked: "Right?" The President of Panama made sure to interject with: Yeah, about 100 years ago. Apparently keen to make his point again, Mr Trump later added: But things are going well in Panama. The US transferred control of the canal to Panama in December 1999. The massive waterway connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and is an important conduit for international maritime trade. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP Mr Trump also heaped praise on the relationship between America and Panama in the press slot, dubbing it very strong. We are developing new things to do and only getting stronger. And also, friendship with the president is very, very good, he said. Critics immediately seized on Mr Trumps decision to brag about the Panama Canal - judging it his latest gaffe. Recommended Carla Bruni says Trump made up claims they had an affair In response to the Bowling Green Massacre, President Andrew Jackson hired Donald Trump to build the Panama Canal to keep out the Australians, quipped Marie Conner. This is a reference to the now notorious Bowling Green Massacre a terrorist attack invented by senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway which never took place. She falsely claimed Iraqi refugees committed a massacre within the United States but most people didnt know about it because it didnt get covered by the media. Another critic added: Did Trump just take credit for the Panama Canal? Does he know when it was built? Maybe he thinks Frederick Douglas was the head engineer". A passenger plane carrying more than 100 people crashed shortly after take off from Havanas main airport, killing most on board. Local media reported that three survivors all women were in a critical condition after the Boeing 737 jet, which was en route from Jose Marti International Airport to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin, came down. Conflicting reports suggested between 104 and 110 passengers and crew were on flight CU972, which had been scheduled to depart at 11am local time (4pm BST) and land an hour and 20 minutes later. Recommended Footage shows moments two plane collide with each other in Istanbul But the jet failed to make its destination and came down close to its departure airport, crashing into a field and railway line. Photos posted on social media showed a large plume of thick, black smoke rising from near the terminal buildings. "The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed," Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena said.. The aircraft involved is believed to be a Boeing 737-200 on loan from a Mexican airline, Global Aerolineas Damojh of Guadalajara. The plane was one of the oldest commercial aircraft in service almost 39 years old. It was first flown by the US airline, Piedmont, in 1979, and had flown for many other carriers. Reports say it lost height shortly after take off and crashed in woodland close to the airport. Footage from scene of plane crash in Havana, Cuba Havanas airport is a short way southwest of the Cuban capital, and has pockets of population nearby as well as a major highway near one end of the runway. There is concern that people on the ground may be among the casualties. Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances. State TV said nine foreign crew were on board, as well as the passengers, while Cubas president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, said he feared there would be many fatalities. Emergency personnel at the site of the accident near Havanas Jose Marti airport (AFP) Crash investigators are at the scene alongside police and firefighters. What appears to be a charred wing and other parts from the plane were scattered on the ground. A post on Cubanas website urged families of the passengers to contact the airline using two telephone numbers. Plane tracking app FlightRadar24 showed an American Airlines jet having departed from the airport shortly after the crash, suggesting the runway remained open, however it was closed a short time later. Cuban state media originally reported that the aircraft had been chartered from an Italian carrier, Blue Panorama. That airline is operating flights for Cubana, but the aircraft involved in the accident appears to have belonged to a Mexican carrier, Global Air. The 420-mile flight to Holguin was scheduled to take just over an hour. Given the destination a large city in the east of the island it is likely to have had a mix of families, tourists, business travellers and government officials on board. In the last three years of the 20th century alone, Cuba suffered four fatal accidents, and in 2010 a domestic passenger flight crashed, killing all 61 passengers and 7 crew members aboard. The aircraft involved in the accident is believed to have belonged to Mexican carrier Global Air (Victor Ambriz) Cubana de Aviacion, the national airline, has had a troubled history. As a result of the US economic embargo, the airline has been largely reliant on Russian and European aircraft. Maintenance of its relatively elderly fleet has been a constant challenge. The practice of chartering in aircraft and crew, known as wet leasing, is widely used around the world. In 1999, a DC-10 jet belonging to the French airline, AOM, suffered a fatal accident while flying for Cubana. After a flight from Havana it overshot the runway at Guatemala City. Cuba air tragedies: a timeline The case began with a headless deer. Prosecutors in Oregon charged 11 people with misdemeanour wildlife violations this week, in what local authorities called one of the biggest and most complex poaching cases theyd ever seen. Authorities believe the suspects are part of an illegal poaching ring that spanned two state and multiple years. Craig Gunderson, a senior trooper who spent more than a year investigating the case, told the Seattle Times that the investigation started when troopers noticed deer showing up "minus their heads towards the end of the hunting season. Recommended Black rhinos return to Chad 50 years after poaching wiped them out To catch the deer-hunters in the act, Oregon State Patrol Officers put up game cameras in the area, according to the Times. The cameras caught glimpses of people pulling into the woods in a truck, shining a spotlight, and brandishing rifles. Oregon troopers recognised the truck days later and pulled it over. They confiscated the suspects cell phones, which were allegedly filled with photos, videos, and texts about the hunt. WWF Christmas advert tugs on heart strings when an elephant looks poachers in the eye Officials followed that evidence to more than 20 kill sites in neighbouring Washington state, and eventually to the suspects homes, where they allegedly found 20 deers heads. I consider it a killing spree, Mike Cenci of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife told KPTV, referring to 10 suspects who were charged in one Washington county. Im completely disgusted," he added. "These people are wholesale natural resource murderers. In addition to the 10 people charged in Cowlitz County, Washington, eight were charged in Skamania County. More charges have also been filed in other jurisdictions across the state. 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 Meanwhile, in Oregon, authorities continued tracking down leads and filing charges where they could. But authorities said most of the crimes occurred in Wasco County, where prosecutors were finally able to file charges this week. The scope of what we can prove and what actually happened, theres a real gap there, Mr Gunderson said. Well never have the whole story, but the stuff we can prove is pretty gross. The nearly 115 charges include unlawful taking or possession of wildlife, waste of wildlife, hunting with an artificial light, use of dogs or bait to hunt, aiding or sharing in a wildlife violation, and altering, borrowing or loaning a license, tag or permit. The hunters are believed to have killed seven bobcats, four cougars, five bear, 35 deer and one silver grey squirrel in Oregon alone and laid most of them to waste. For some of these people, it was kind of a demented social club, Mr Gunderson said. For some, it was about ego and bravado who could kill the biggest, the most. Seventeen people have been implicated in the poaching ring across the two states, and two have pleaded guilty to poaching-related crimes. Investigators say more charges could still be coming in Washington. A man declared I am a savage on social media, seven months before police say he lured four young men to his family's farm, gunned them down, ran one of them over with a digger and dumped three of their bodies in a pig roaster. Cosmo DiNardo, 21, was the privileged son of wealthy parents who owned land in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, according to the county's District Attorney. There, DiNardo rode quad bikes and shot guns, which his friends say he often sold to willing buyers. He also sold weed and customised Jordans and Nike trainers, which he sometimes photographed next to large bullets, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. But in 2016, according to court records, he was involuntarily committed to a mental health facility for treatment of schizophrenia, The Inquirer reported. He got banned from both his former high school and from Arcadia College, which he attended for just one term, due to unspecified strange or aggressive behaviour on campus. He started making strange Facebook posts, openly asking for sex and talking about going to taxidermy school. Eventually, his friends told The Inquirer, he started talking about killing people and being a savage. Earlier this week DiNardo pleaded guilty to murdering four young men whose July 2017 disappearances alarmed the suburban Philadelphia community and briefly stumped police - until DiNardo was caught trying to sell one of the victim's cars. Within days, he confessed to the killings. He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences. His cousin, Sean Kratz, is charged with being DiNardo's accomplice and killing one of the men. He unexpectedly rejected a plea bargain and now may face the death penalty. Ten months after the crimes, police still do not know the motive, not even after DiNardo's hour-long confession, which saw him describe matter-of-factly how over the course of three days he invited the four unsuspecting men to his family's farm to buy marijuana, then killed them the second they turned their backs. 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 first man to go missing on 5 July was Jimi Taro Patrick, a 19-year-old business student on a full scholarship at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. DiNardo told the detective that Mr. Patrick was supposed to bring $8,000 (5,900) to buy a large quantity of marijuana and meet him at the farm. So we get there, you know, and I said, OK, well let me see the $8,000 - let me see the money, DiNardo said on the recording. So I go to count the money, and there's 800 bucks there. So I'm like, dude, if you don't have the money, like this is horrible. This is not good for me. Instead, DiNardo told Mr. Patrick he could sell him a shotgun for $800 (592). DiNardo handed him the gun. He goes to shoot it, DiNardo said. And I shoot him. After that: I go get the backhoe, dig the hole, you know. Said a prayer. Put him in the hole. Then he burned all of the money, because I didn't want the kid's 800 bucks. I didn't kill him over 800. I wasn't robbing him. Two days later, Dean Finocchiaro came to DiNardo's farm hoping to buy marijuana from him too. DiNardo took Mr. Finocchiaro to show off a Vespa in the family barn. That's where Kratz shot the victim, DiNardo said. Patton Oswalt explains how his late wife's book helped to catch the Golden State Killer In a taped confession, Kratz admitted this to police, but said he did it because DiNardo made him, because he was afraid. I was scared that he was gonna harm not only myself, but, you know, I have a one-and-a-half-month-old nephew, Kratz said. Got a little brother, a mother. He made it out, like, you know, 'You say anything, I will hurt your brother.' DiNardo told the detective that he shot Mr. Finocchiaro again just to finish it. Then he dumped Mr. Finocchario's body in a makeshift pig roaster, a 12-foot deep hole in the ground. Just half an hour later, two more marijuana customers showed up. The ambush played out again for a third and fourth time. DiNardo said he shot the men, 21-year-old Tom Meo and 22-year-old Mark Sturgis, as soon as they turned their backs. Mr. Sturgis, DiNardo said, was such a big kid, I unloaded my gun on him, instantly killing him. But Mr. Meo was lying on the ground screaming, I can't feel my legs! I can't feel my legs! Kratz stood by with his head in his hands, DiNardo said. And he was out of bullets. And so to make the screaming stop, afraid the neighbours might hear, DiNardo said he climbed in his backhoe once again. You know, he sees that coming and just shuts the . . .. up, and I just run him over, DiNardo said. DiNardo put their bodies in the pig roaster too. He dumped petrol down the hole and started burning them. Then, NBC News reported, the cousins left to get Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. In court earlier this week, the victims' families sat in the courtroom gallery while listening to DiNardo apologise, saying he couldn't come to terms with what he had done, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. He told the judge that if there is anything I could do to take it back, I would, only for Judge Jeffrey L Finley to call the apology false and insincere. To you, human lives are disposable, Judge Finley said, according to the district attorney. Speaking directly to DiNardo, Mr. Finocchiaro's father said he prayed that Dean's spirit haunts you the rest of your miserable life, while Mr. Meo's mother said it was taking everything in me not to kill DiNardo at that moment, The Morning Caller newspaper reported. Mr. Sturgis' father, Mark Potash, remembered DiNardo's savage posts on social media, posing with guns in the weeks before the murders. You think you're savage? he asked. You've lived your whole life protected. In prison, you'll meet savage. And I promise you, it won't look like you. The Washington Post An American doctor bankrolled his lavish lifestyle by performing unnecessary chemotherapy and prescribing costly medication to potentially, thousands of patients, according to the US Justice Department. Texas based Dr Jorge Zamora-Quezada, 61, flew on a six-seat Eclipse 500 business jet, bought with some of the $50 million (37m) he was paid since 2000 for administering a host of treatments to countless patients. On land he roared between various homes and properties in a blue 2017 Maserati Granturismo Coupe. Investigators said that along with co-conspirators, he took part in a $240 million (178m) healthcare fraud scheme and international money-laundering operation funded by excessive and unwarranted medical procedures - including treatment for children and the elderly. The seven-count charge against Dr Zamora-Quezada could land him in prison for decades. He remains in custody and a court date has been set for 2 July, Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said. His patients trusted him and presumed his integrity; in return he allegedly engaged in a scheme of false diagnoses and bogus courses of treatment ... with no regard for patient well-being, CJ Porter, a special agent with the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, said in a statement earlier this week. Dr Zamora-Quezada owned medical practices across Texas, primarily practising rheumatology. But various shell organisations were built to obscure the flow of money stemming from excessive and fraudulent treatments, the indictment said. It is unclear how many patients could be affected. The charge sheet names more than a dozen people but also notes the doctor hid thousands of medical records in a dilapidated barn. ProPublica found that he saw more than 1,500 patients in 2015 alone and was paid $1,672 (1,237) per patient - well above the $955 (706) average in Texas. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty A call to a phone number listed under Dr. Zamora-Quezada went unanswered, as did one of his Texas practices, Arthritis Ost. Nora Rodriguez, a patient of Dr Zamora-Quezada, told CNN that he yelled and threw her out of his office after she questioned his treatment. He kept getting upset when I was asking him why I was feeling worse and not getting better, she said. Dr Zamora-Quezada's plane and Maserati have been seized by authorities, along with the various real estate properties that investigators allege he used to rent out, under the appearance of generating legal income. Properties in Texas, Colorado and California were among those seized, in addition to a pair of penthouses in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The doctor is not new to scrutiny. In 2006, the Texas Medical Board accused him of prescribing a drug inconsistent with public health and welfare and of billing for treatment that was improper, unreasonable, or medically or clinically unnecessary, The Dallas News reported in 2010. Dr Zamora-Quezada later settled for a public reprimand, monitoring by other doctors and a $30,000 (22,191) fine. He had received $42,450 (31,400) over a span of a year from Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company, The Dallas Morning News reported, citing ProPublica data. Eli Lilly did not respond to questions on Dr. Zamora-Quezada's total revenue from the company or why he was paid by it. He was also accused of sexually assaulting four former employees. A Yellow Pages review of his practice in 2015 said: Dr Zamora has no time for returning patients only for new ones ... be prepared to wait for hours because [they] overbook people like crazy. JUST DON'T GO!! Washington Post. The Santa Fe, Texas, school district and police have said there were explosive devices found in the Santa Fe High school and in a building off campus after this morning's school shooting. There have been confirmed reports of explosives found on the campus and off the campus, Santa Fe Police Chief Jeff Powell said, adding: Thats our main concern is to keep our community safe". The building has been evacuated after a shooter opened fire and killed at least eight people and injured several others, Chief Walter Braun of Santa Fe Independent School District Police confirmed. Police have encouraged residents of Santa Fe to exercise caution and call them should they spot any suspicious packages in the area. It is not clear at this time whether any of the explosive devices were detonated and resulted in any of the deaths or injuries. Governor Greg Abbott has confirmed 10 people have died with 10 others injured. Police identified a suspect, 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis, and he is in custody. One other person has been detained but not identified, Mr Abbott said, adding that police are questioning the person. The governor confirmed during a news conference that the explosive devices included a molotov cocktail that had been found in the suspected shooter's home and a vehicle parked near the school. The Houston Chronicle newspaper has reported that some of the devices were pipe bombs and pressure cookers, but the exact number and locations of the devices are not known as yet. CNN reported that police are investigating a trailer where the devices may have been assembled. A local Houston television station said a bomb squad was present at a home on State Highway 6, approximately three miles from the school. The station also reported there were police vehicles present at another home about four miles from the school, but it is unclear if that scene is connected to the shooting at this time. At least eight students were treated for gunshot wounds, six of whom have been released from hospital. At least one patient is still in fair condition and expected to remain in hospital for several days and three more are being treated in area hospitals. At least one police officer, John Barnes, was also injured and remains in critical condition. Mr Barnes had retired from the Houston police force before joining school staff. Explosive devices found in Santa Fe high school and surrounding areas following shooting The shooting, according to eyewitnesses, began in an art class at around 8am local time. The governor said the suspect said he originally intended to commit suicide but gave himself up and told authorities that he didn't have the courage to take his own life. Santa Fe High was to hold its graduation ceremony tomorrow. This is the 22nd school shooting in the US this year. Mr Abbott also said during a news conference the shooting was "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools". Close Sheriff Ed Gonzalez Santa Fe High School shooting Ten people were killed after a gunman believed to be a student opened fire at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, in the latest spasm of gun violence in a country still shaken by the massacre at a Florida high school in February. Authorities quickly named 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis as their suspect. Later in the day he was charged with capital murder - for which he did not enter a plea - and was denied bond. He was being held in solitary confinement. Scenes of grief and horror streamed out of the small community less than an hour's drive from Houston. Stunned and weeping teenagers tried to piece together the mayhem they had experienced. Schools were set to be closed for the start of the following week, with the FBI saying Santa Fe High School and the surrounding area would remain a closed crime scene for some time. Please allow a few seconds for the live blog to load, if you cannot see it click here Authorities said the assailant appeared to have obtained his weapons - a shotgun and a revolver - from his father, who possessed them legally. Explosive devices were found both at the school and off campus, Mr Gonzalez said. Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Show all 15 1 /15 Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Santa Fe High School staff react as they gather in the parking lot of a gas station The Galveston County Daily News via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school An active shooter incident was reported at Santa Fe High School in Texas KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school People embrace outside the Alamo Gym where students and parents wait to reunite following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Houston Chronicle via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Law enforcement officers responding at Santa Fe High School HCSO via Reuters Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school School staff members sit in a school bus to be transported to another school The Galveston County Daily News via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school A Santa Fe Police officer consoles others after the shooting The Galveston County Daily News via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Emergency personnel and law enforcement officers respond to claims that an active shooter was reported on campus KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Police officers work a check point in front of Santa Fe High School The Galveston County Daily News via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school A woman prays in the grass outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their kids following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Houston Chronicle via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Santa Fe High School freshman Caitlyn Girouard, center, hugs her friend outside the Alamo Gym Houston Chronicle via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school A Pearland Police armored vehicle stands in front of Santa Fe High School The Galveston County Daily News via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school Emergency responders from multiple agencies work at the scene The Galveston County Daily News via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP Texas shooting: scene at Santa Fe high school KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP Court documents said the suspect admitted to authorities having carried out the shooting with the intent of killing people and said he spared the lives of students he liked so that he could have his story told. Writings in the suspect's journals that indicated he wanted to take his own life, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. We also know information already that the shooter has information contained in journals on his computer and his cell phone that he said that not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting, he said. As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time he didn't have the courage to commit the suicide, that he wanted to take his own life earlier, Abbott added. Some fellow students described him as quiet. He also played on the school's American football team. Donald Trump issues statement after Santa Fe High School shooting President Donald Trump called the shooting heartbreaking and said that federal and local authorities were coordinating in the wake of the gun attack. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others, Mr Trump said at the White House. As the day unfolded, Democratic elected officials said the latest shooting again proved the need for tougher gun laws. They were joined by teenage survivors of the Florida shooting who have turned into vocal fun control advocates. While Mr Abbott said he intended to convene a series of public meetings to find solutions that would prevent more shootings, he did not elaborate on details. A Chinese bank has caught staff offering elite clients a chance to pay $150,000 to attend a dinner with US President Donald Trump and get their pictures with him. The China Construction Banks (CCB) employees were circulating the invitation, which included the banks logo, on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. It invited their high net worth clients to a dinner on 31 May in Dallas, Texas where they could also meet American tycoons, the invitation said. Mr Trump will be in Texas to host a Republican National Committee fundraising dinner that evening that costs $50,000 a plate - which meant the Chinese advertisement offered a ticket at three times the price. It is illegal for US political campaigns to accept contributions from non-US citizens or corporations. This means only the clients who hold US passports and willing to contribute in their own name would be eligible to attend the dinner or any similar events. CCB is Chinas second-largest bank owned by the state and it was staff from one of the branches in Shenzen, China, who sent the invitations for dinner, photos, and autographs with the US leader out to their clients, Bloomberg News confirmed. The RNC and the Trump 2020 campaign also told the outlet they had no knowledge of CCB's invitation. The campaign even said it had alerted US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to the advertisement, one source said. We do not accept foreign donations of any kind, a Trump campaign official who declined to be named said in a statement to Bloomberg. Since it has been brought to our attention, we have notified the appropriate authority about this unauthorized flier," they said. The Shenzen branch said outside organisers had promoted the offer to bank staff, who then promoted it on social media. It noted that the bank itself had no hand in planning or promoting the event and told Bloomberg News it would "strengthen internal management and marketing oversight," the outlet reported. Kim Jong-un travels to China in secretive visit The bank also forwarded an email statement from VVISA, a Shanghai-based travel agency, which said it had helped the organisations offering the dinner package. Both VVISA and the bank staff in question would get commissions from the sale of the tickets to the dinner. "VVISA said the invitations were initiated by a U.S. foundation and a Chinese entrepreneurs group and assisted by VVISA, with no relation to Construction Bank. The event is still proceeding and VVISA is cooperating with many institutions, it said in the statement, adding that participants are paying on their own," Bloomberg reported. The invitation comes at a crucial time in China-US trade relations as well. Mr Trump met with President Xi Jinping's trade advisory to discuss the upcoming negotiations and sticking points. China also recently said it "greatly appreciates the positive US position on the ZTE issue" after US President Donald Trump said the US Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done to save jobs at Chinas biggest telecommunications company, ZTE, which broke US sanctions laws with North Korea and Iran. 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 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China welcomed the US president's efforts to help regain jobs for the telecommunications giant just ahead of the two countries' trade negotiations. Mr Trump tweeted on 13 March: "Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!" The White House later said it expected Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to make a decision about ZTE independently. ZTE admitted to illegally selling equipment made with American components to Iran. This was even before Mr Trumps decision that the US would no longer participate in the six-party Iran nuclear deal and renew and place even more sanctions on Tehran. The company also sold products to North Korea, which the US and United Nations have placed strict sanctions upon until it agrees to halt development on its nuclear programme. Mr Ross said at the time that the companys egregious behaviour cannot be ignored and again noted today that the company did violate US sanctions. In light of the presidents tweet, Mr Ross said that the sanctions on ZTE are an enforcement action, separate from trade. However, he noted that his agency will explore promptly alternative remedies for ZTE to possibly re-enter the US market. The US Senate has confirmed Gina Haspel to be director of the CIA, ending a difficult confirmation fight centred on her ties to the spy agency's past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques. Ms Haspel, who will be the first woman to lead the CIA, is a 33-year veteran at the agency currently serving as its acting director. She was nominated by President Donald Trump, with the the 100-member chamber voting 54-45 in favour of confirming her selection. Six Democrats joined most Republicans in voting for Ms Haspel, and two Republicans voted no. Ms Haspel was approved despite stiff opposition over her links to the CIA's use of harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning widely considered torture, in the years after the 9/11 attacks. An undercover officer for most of her CIA career, in 2002 Ms Haspel served as CIA station chief in Thailand, where the agency conducted interrogations at a secret prison using methods including waterboarding. Three years later, she drafted a cable ordering the destruction of videotapes of those interrogations. Republican Senator John McCain, who has been away from Washington all year with brain cancer, urged the Senate not to vote for Ms Haspel. He did not vote on Thursday. 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 Tortured himself while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, Mr McCain said approving Ms Haspel would send the wrong message, and the country should only use methods to keep itself safe as right and just as the values we aspire to live up to and promote in the world. Ms Haspel also had strong support from the Trump administration, many current and former intelligence officials and a wide range of legislators. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, which oversaw the nomination, supported Ms Haspel. Gina Haspel hearing interrupted by an anti torture protestor yelling bloody gina Rights groups quickly condemned the vote. Laura Pitter of Human Rights Watch called it the predictable and perverse by-product of the U.S. failure to grapple with past abuses. Mr Trump nominated Ms Haspel, then deputy director, in March to succeed Mike Pompeo as CIA director. Ms Haspel became acting director after Mr Pompeo was confirmed as secretary of state. Reuters Muslims were detained for re-education by Chinas government and made to eat pork and drink alcohol, according to a former internment camp inmate. Omir Bekali, one among perhaps a million people reportedly arrested and held in mass re-education camps, said he was detained without trial or access to a lawyer and forced to disavow his beliefs while praising the Communist Party. Mr Bekali, a Kazakh citizen, said he contemplated suicide after 20 days in the facility which itself followed seven months in a prison. Since spring last year authorities in Xinjiang region have confined tens or even hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the camps, including some foreign nationals. One estimate put the figure at a million or more. A US commission called it the the largest mass incarceration of a minority population in the world today while a leading historian called it cultural cleansing. The Independent has contacted the Chinese foreign ministry for comment. Asked to comment on the camps by the Associated Press, the ministry said it had not heard of the situation. When asked why non-Chinese had been detained, it said the Chinese government protected the rights of foreigners in China and that they should also be law abiding. Chinese officials in Xinjiang did not respond to requests for comment. When Mr Bekali refused to follow orders each day in the camp, he was forced to stand at a wall for five hours at a time. A week later, he was sent to solitary confinement, where he was deprived of food for 24 hours, he claimed. After 20 days in the heavily guarded camp, he wanted to kill himself. The psychological pressure is enormous, when you have to criticise yourself, denounce your thinking your own ethnic group, said Mr Bekali, who broke down in tears as he described the camp. I still think about it every night, until the sun rises. I cant sleep. The thoughts are with me all the time. The detention campaign has swept across Xinjiang, a territory half the area of India. Chinese officials have largely avoided comment on the camps, but some are quoted in state media as saying that ideological changes are needed to fight separatism and Islamic extremism. Radical Muslim Uighurs have killed hundreds in recent years, and China considers the region a threat to peace in a country where the majority is Han Chinese. The internment programme aims to rewire the political thinking of detainees, erase their Islamic beliefs and reshape their very identities. The camps have expanded rapidly over the past year, with almost no judicial process or legal paperwork. Detainees who most vigorously criticise the people and things they love are rewarded, and those who refuse to do so are punished with solitary confinement, beatings and food deprivation. The recollections of Mr Bekali, a heavyset and quiet 42-year-old, offer what appears to be the most detailed account yet of life inside so-called re-education camps. Rare interviews with three other former internees and a former instructor in other centres corroborated Mr Bekalis depiction. Most spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their families in China. Mr Bekalis case stands out because he was a foreign citizen, of Kazakhstan, who was seized by Chinas security agencies and detained for eight months last year without recourse. Although some details are impossible to verify, two Kazakh diplomats confirmed he was held for seven months and then sent to re-education. The detention programme is a hallmark of Chinas emboldened state security apparatus under the deeply nationalistic, hard-line rule of President Xi Jinping. It is partly rooted in the ancient Chinese belief in transformation through education taken once before to terrifying extremes during the mass thought reform campaigns of Mao Zedong, the Chinese leader sometimes channelled by Mr Xi. Cultural cleansing is Beijings attempt to find a final solution to the Xinjiang problem, said James Millward, a China historian at Georgetown University. Rian Thum, a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, said Chinas re-education system echoed some of the worst human rights violations in history. The closest analogue is maybe the Cultural Revolution in that this will leave long-term, psychological effects, Prof Thum said. This will create a multigenerational trauma from which many people will never recover. However, fragments in state media and journals show the confidence Xinjiang officials hold in methods that they say work well to curb religious extremism. Chinas top prosecutor, Zhang Jun, urged Xinjiangs authorities this month to extensively expand what the government calls the transformation through education drive in an all-out effort to fight separatism and extremism. In a June 2017 paper published by a state-run journal, a researcher from Xinjiangs Communist Party School reported that most of 588 surveyed participants did not know what they had done wrong when they were sent to re-education. But by the time they were released, nearly all 98.8 percent had learned their mistakes, the paper said. Transformation through education, the researcher concluded, is a permanent cure. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released earlier this week claimed that Chinese officials were now regularly imposing themselves on families in Xinjiang in home stays. During the visits unwilling hosts are allegedly forced to tell authorities about their lives and political views, and are subject to indoctrination. Muslim families across Xinjiang are now literally eating and sleeping under the watchful eye of the state in their own homes, said HRWs Maya Wang, a senior researcher. The latest drive adds to a whole host of pervasive and perverse controls on everyday life in Xinjiang. Peoples war on terror On the chilly morning of 23 March 2017, Mr Bekali drove up to the Chinese border from his home in Almaty, Kazakhstan, got a stamp in his Kazakh passport and crossed over for a work trip, not quite grasping the extraordinary circumstances he was stepping into. Mr Bekali was born in China in 1976 to Kazakh and Uighur parents, moved to Kazakhstan in 2006 and received citizenship three years later. He was out of China in 2016, when authorities sharply escalated a Peoples War on Terror to root out what the government called religious extremism and separatism in Xinjiang, a large Chinese territory bordering Pakistan and several Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan. The Xinjiang he returned to was unrecognizable. All-encompassing, data-driven surveillance tracked residents in a region with around 12 million Muslims, including ethnic Uighurs and Kazakhs. Viewing a foreign website, taking phone calls from relatives abroad, praying regularly or growing a beard could land a person in a political indoctrination camp, or prison, or both. The new internment system was shrouded in secrecy, with no publicly available data on the numbers of camps or detainees. The US State Department estimated those being held are at the very least in the tens of thousands. A Turkey-based TV station run by Xinjiang exiles said almost 900,000 were detained, citing leaked government documents. Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the European School of Culture and Theology, puts the number between several hundreds of thousands and just over 1 million. Government bids and recruitment ads studied by Zenz suggest that the camps have cost more than $100m (74m) since 2016, and construction is ongoing. Mr Bekali knew none of this when he visited his parents on March 25. He passed police checkpoints and handed over his decade-old Chinese identity card. The next day, five armed policemen showed up at Mr Bekalis parents doorstep and took him away. They said there was a warrant for his arrest in Karamay, a frontier oil town where he lived a decade earlier. He couldnt call his parents or a lawyer, the police added, because his case was special. Mr Bekali was held in a cell, incommunicado, for a week, and then was driven 500 miles to Karamays Baijiantan District public security office. There, they strapped him into a tiger chair, a device that clamped down his wrists and ankles. They also hung him by his wrists against a barred wall, just high enough so he would feel excruciating pressure in his shoulder unless he stood on the balls of his bare feet, he claimed. They interrogated him about his work with a tourist agency inviting Chinese to apply for Kazakh tourist visas, which they claimed was a way to help Chinese Muslims escape. I havent committed any crimes! Mr Bekali said he yelled. They asked for days what he knew about two dozen prominent ethnic Uighur activists and businessmen in Kazakhstan. Exhausted and aching, Mr Bekali coughed up what he knew about a few names he recognised. The police then sent Mr Bekali to a 10sqm cell in the prison with 17 others, their feet chained to the posts of two large beds. Some wore dark blue uniforms, while others wore orange for political crimes. Mr Bekali was given orange. In mid-July, three months after his arrest, Mr Bekali received a visit from Kazakh diplomats. Chinas mass detention of ethnic Kazakhs and even Kazakh citizens had begun to make waves in the Central Asian country of 18 million. Kazakh officials say China detained 10 Kazakh citizens and hundreds of ethnic Kazakh Chinese in Xinjiang over the past year, though they were released in late April following a visit by a Kazakh deputy foreign minister. Four months after the visit, Mr Bekali was taken out of his cell and handed a release paper. But he was not yet free. We now know better Mr Bekali was driven from jail to a fenced compound in the northern suburbs of Karamay, where three buildings held more than 1,000 internees receiving political indoctrination, he said. He walked in, past a central station that could see over the entire facility, and received a tracksuit. Heavily armed guards watched over the compound from a second level. He joined a cell with 40 internees, he said, including teachers, doctors and students. Men and women were separated. Internees would wake up together before dawn, sing the Chinese national anthem, and raise the Chinese flag at 7.30am. They gathered back inside large classrooms to learn red songs like Without the Communist Party, there is no New China, and study Chinese language and history. They were told that the indigenous sheep-herding Central Asian people of Xinjiang were backward and yoked by slavery before they were liberated by the Communist Party in the 1950s. Before meals of vegetable soup and buns, the inmates would be ordered to chant: Thank the Party! Thank the Motherland! Thank President Xi! Discipline was strictly enforced and punishment could be harsh. Mr Bekali was kept in a locked room almost around the clock with eight other internees, who shared beds and a wretched toilet. Cameras were installed in toilets and even outhouses. Baths were rare, as was washing of hands and feet, which internees were allegedly told was equated with Islamic ablution. Mr Bekali and other former internees said the worst parts of the indoctrination program were forced repetition and self-criticism. Although students did not understand much of what was taught and the material bordered on the nonsensical to them, they were made to internalise it by repetition in sessions lasting two hours or longer. We will oppose extremism, we will oppose separatism, we will oppose terrorism, they chanted again and again. Almost every day, the students received guest lecturers from the local police, judiciary and other branches of government warning about the dangers of separatism and extremism. In four-hour sessions, instructors lectured about the dangers of Islam and drilled internees with quizzes that they had to answer correctly or be sent to stand near a wall for hours on end. Do you obey Chinese law or Sharia? instructors asked. Do you understand why religion is dangerous? 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 One by one, internees would stand up before 60 of their classmates to present self-criticisms of their religious history, Mr Bekali said. The detainees would also have to criticise and be criticised by their peers. Those who parroted official lines particularly well or lashed into their fellow internees viciously were awarded points and could be transferred to more comfortable surroundings in other buildings, he said. I was taught the Holy Quran by my father and I learned it because I didnt know better, Mr Bekali heard one say. I travelled outside China without knowing that I could be exposed to extremist thoughts abroad, Mr Bekali recalled another saying. Now I know. A Uighur woman told AP she was held in a centre in the city of Hotan in 2016. She said she and fellow prisoners repeatedly were forced to apologise for wearing long clothes in Muslim style, praying, teaching the Quran to their children and asking imams to name their children. Praying at a mosque on any day other than Friday was a sign of extremism; so was attending Friday prayers outside their village or having Quranic verses or graphics on their phones. While instructors watched, those who confessed to such behaviour were told to repeat over and over: We have done illegal things, but we now know better. A debt to the country Other detainees and a re-education camp instructor told similar stories. In mid-2017, an Uighur former on-air reporter for Xinjiang TV known as Eldost was recruited to teach Chinese history and culture in an indoctrination camp because he spoke excellent Mandarin. He had no choice. The re-education system, Eldost said, classified internees into three levels of security and duration of sentences. The first group typically consisted of illiterate minority farmers who had committed no ostensible crimes other than not speaking Chinese. The second class was made up of people who were caught at home or on their smartphones with religious content or so-called separatist materials, such as lectures by the Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti. The final group was made up of those who had studied religion abroad and come back, or were seen to be affiliated with foreign elements. In the latter cases, internees were often were sentenced to prison terms of 10 to 15 years, Eldost said. While he was teaching, Eldost once saw through the window 20 students driven into the courtyard. Two rows of guards waited for them and beat them as soon as they got out of the police van. He later heard that the internees were recent arrivals who had studied religion in the Middle East. Violence was not regularly dispensed, but every internee interviewed said they had seen at least one incident of rough treatment or beatings. Eldost said the instruction was aimed at showing how backward traditional Uighur culture is and how repressive fundamentalist Islam is compared to a progressive Communist Party. The internees confessions of their backwardness helped drive the point home. Internees are told to repeat those confessions to the point where, when they are finally freed, they believe that they owe the country a lot, that they could never repay the party, said Eldost, who escaped from China in August after paying a bribe. Eldost said he tried in little ways to help his internees. Tasked with teaching the Three Character Classic, a Confucian standard taught widely in elementary schools, he would make up mnemonic devices to help his students including elderly or illiterate Uighur farmers who barely knew their own language recite a few lines. He also advised students to stop habitually saying praise God in Arabic and Uighur because other instructors punished them for it. Every time he went to sleep in a room with 80 others, he said, the last thing he would hear was the sound of misery. I heard people crying every night, he said. That was the saddest experience in my life. Another former detainee, a Uighur from Hotan in southern Xinjiang, said his newly built centre had just 90 people in two classes in 2015. There, a government instructor claimed said that Uighur women historically did not wear underwear, braided their hair to signal their sexual availability, and had dozens of sexual partners. It made me so angry, the detainee said. These kinds of explanations of Uighur women humiliated me. I still remember this story every time I think about this, I feel like a knife cut a hole in my chest. Kayrat Samarkan, a Chinese Kazakh from Astana who was detained while running errands in a northern Xinjiang police station in December, was sent to an internment camp in Karamagay in northern Xinjiang with 5,700 students. Those who did not obey, were late to class or got into fights were put for 12 hours in a loose body-suit that was made of iron and limited their movement, he said. Those who still disobeyed would be locked in a tiger chair for 24 hours. As one form of punishment, he said, instructors would press an internees head in a tub of ice and water. After three months, Samarkan could not take the lessons anymore, so he bashed his head against a wall to try to kill himself. He merely fell unconscious. When I woke up, the staff threatened me, saying if I did that again they would extend my sentence to 7 years there, he said. After 20 days, Mr Bekali also contemplated suicide. Several days later, because of his intransigence and refusal to speak Mandarin, Mr Bekali was no longer permitted to go into the courtyard. Instead, he was sent to a higher level of management, where he spent 24 hours a day in a room with eight others. A week later, he went to his first stint in solitary confinement. He saw a local judicial official walking into the building on an inspection tour and yelled at the top of his lungs. He thought even his former detention centre, with the abuse he suffered, would be better. Take me in the back and kill me, or send me back to prison, he shouted. I cant be here anymore. He was again hauled off to solitary confinement. It lasted 24 hours, ending late afternoon on 24 November. That is when Mr Bekali was released, as suddenly as he was detained eight months earlier. A Baijiantan policemen who had always gone easy on Mr Bekali during interrogation appeared and checked him out of the facility. You were too headstrong, but what the department did was unjust, he told Mr Bekali as he drove him to his sisters home in Karamay. Mr Bekali was free. Freedom, but not for his family The next morning, a Saturday, the police opened their immigration office for Mr Bekali to pick up a unique, 14-day Chinese visa. His original had long expired. Mr Bekali left China on 4 December. Seeking compensation from the Chinese government is out of the question. But Mr Bekali keeps a plastic folder at home of evidence that might prove useful one day: his passport with stamps and visas, travel records and a handwritten Chinese police document dated and imprinted with red-ink seals. Omir Bekali displays a photo of his parents who he believes have now been interned in China (AP) The document is the closest thing he has to an official acknowledgement that he suffered for eight months. It says he was held on suspicion of endangering national security; the last sentence declares him released without charge. At first, Mr Bekali did not want his account published for fear that his sister and mother in China would be detained and sent to re-education. But on March 10, back in China, the police took his sister, Adila Mr Bekali. A week later, on March 19, they took his mother, Amina Sadik. And on April 24, his father, Ebrayem. Mr Bekali changed his mind and said he wanted to tell his story, no matter the consequences. Things have already come this far, he said. I have nothing left to lose. Additional reporting by AP Malaysian police have seized 284 designer handbags and 72 suitcases stuffed with cash and jewellery as part of a corruption and money-laundering investigation into former prime minister Najib Razak. Items such as Birkin handbags from Hermes, jewels, watches and other valuables were carted out in orange boxes from a luxury apartment complex in the capital Kuala Lumpur following a police search. Police still need to assess the value of the haul but Amar Singh, chief of the police commercial crimes unit, said the amount of jewellery found "is rather big". Mr Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor are at the centre of a corruption scandal after billions of dollars were reportedly siphoned off from the Malaysian state fund, the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Authorities in six different countries are investigating the fund. US investigators have accused Mr Najib's associates of stealing and laundering $4.5bn (3.3) from the fund, some of which allegedly landed in Mr Najib's bank account and was used to buy a $23m pink diamond necklace for his wife. Ms Rosmah is known for her lavish spending on designer handbags, watches and jewellery when she travels abroad. Mr Najibs critics have previously accused his wife of financing her expensive shopping habit with public funds. Mr Singh declined to say who the raided apartment belonged to but he confirmed that the search was conducted in relevance to our 1MDB investigations". Anti-corruption police also carried out simultaneous raids at several other locations, including his former office as prime minister, an official residence and Mr Najibs own home, where police seized more handbags and clothes following a 20-hour search. Mr Singh said police were trying to crack open a safe in Mr Najibs house. Police search former prime minister Najib Razak's home in Kuala Lumpur as part of a corruption probe after billions of dollars were siphoned off from a state fund (REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin) Mr Najib has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer denounced the long search at his home as "harassment". The police raid marks an extraordinary turn of events a week after Mr Najibs coalition was defeated in a general election he was expected to win putting an end to the coalition's 60-year rule. After leading an opposition alliance to victory in the 9 May election, the new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad re-opened the investigation into the state funds missing money. The 92-year-old, who was once Mr Najibs mentor, was prime minister for 22 years until 2003. He ran again in the countrys latest election, pledging to tackle the corruption at the heart of the administration. 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 Mahathir said there is sufficient evidence to investigate the multibillion dollar fraud allegations and that the initial investigation showed the scale of the previous administrations wrongdoing was more serious than expected. He added that the government will try to retrieve the billions of dollars laundered from the state fund to repay the governments debt. He warned that arrests will be made when enough evidence is gathered and that no deal will be made with Mr Najib. The former prime minister and his wife have been banned from travelling overseas as the investigation continues. In a tweet, Mr Najib said: I have been informed that the Immigration Department in Malaysia does not allow me and my family to go abroad. I respect this decision and I will stay with my family in the country. The government has also dismissed the attorney general who cleared Mr Najib of wrongdoing in 2016 and the head of the treasury who was also the 1MDB state fund chairman. In a post on Twitter earlier this week celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, Mr Najib asked for the forgiveness of past sins. Additional reporting by agencies. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was given the finger by a member of the public during an event at a hotel. Mr Turnbull was at an event in Brisbane to meet the locals when a bystander thought he had jumped the queue to get a drink. While he was sipping a beer a 27-year-old man, who apparently did not recognise Mr Turnbull, gave him the finger. Recommended Australian PM defends photo of holding baby and drinking beer Police detained the man, who was described as an angry landscaper, news.com.au reported. Queensland Police said the man, who had red hair and was dressed in a cream sweatshirt, was angry that Mr Turnbull and his entourage were being served at the bar before he was. Mr Turnbulls security detail intervened as the man approached the prime minister and he was later issued with an infringement notice for failing to leave a licensed premises. Despite the incident Mr Turnbull said the event, where he was addressing hotel guests in the company of local Liberal MP, Ross Vasta, had gone very well. It was a very warm welcome, it was an open session, and there were questions on a whole range of topics," he 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 Yeah there was one gentleman there who clearly had had a few drinks too many, and I think he was assisted to make an early return home. "Which is probably where he shouldve gone earlier in the evening, as I'm sure he's worked out by this morning." New Zealand's "first bloke", Clarke Gayford, has posted a picture of himself fending off an aggressive shark with a pole. Mr Gayford, a television host, is the partner of New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern. "A childhood myth is ruined," he lamented in a tweet after spotting a dolphin in the background while he was protecting himself from the shark, a bronze whaler, also known as a copper shark. In the 1963 film Flipper, the titular dolphin saves his friend, a boy named Sandy, from a shark by ramming it with its snout. "So it turns out that not only do dolphins not help, they actually quite like watching," Mr Gayford added. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The encounter took place while he was helping a cameraman film bottle-nosed dolphins off Great Barrier Island, near Auckland. The marine mammals were eating kingfish, Mr Gayford told AFP, and blood in the water attracted a number of copper sharks. "I had to fend the large one pictured off with a pole several times, as it was getting quite agitated," the fishing programme host added. "We got out not long after." It was not Mr Gayford's first close encounter with a shark. In March he posted an image of himself with an "overly amorous" whale shark that pinned him against a boat. The whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea. From stern stares to intimidation by large dogs, relations between President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Angela Merkel have rarely strayed from tension. For all the two leaders share they speak each others language and have become heavyweights of international politics politically, they could not be further away from one another. On sanctions, eastern Ukraine, Crimea, hacking, Syria and the Skripals, there still is no common view. As far as Ms Merkel is concerned, Mr Putin has been living on another planet. But as the German leader took part in talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, the Russian leaders second residence, an unexpected rapprochement appears to be in the making. At an interim press conference, Mr Putin lauded a healthy renewed contact with Germany. And Ms Merkel agreed: These negotiations are important and they will continue. For this, the leaders have Donald Trump to thank. The US presidents decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has set European leaders scrambling on a mission to save it. Russia, a close ally of Iran, has been only too keen to assist. The Kremlin also senses an opportunity to return from international isolation, and, in time, reduce European sanctions. To this end, Mr Putin has been unusually busy with bilateral meetings over recent days. He is due to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron within the week in St Petersburg. The meeting was planned before, but the timing came in handy, says Joseph Janning, head of the Berlin office of the European Council for Foreign Relations. Merkel wanted to let Washington know that Germany does not wholly depend on the US for international issues. At the press conference, the leaders confirmed their agenda was broadly as expected. There would be no discussion of sanctions, as the German side had insisted. Instead, Iran, Syria, Ukraine and energy would take prominence. There was also discussion of the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany. This project represents a rare moment of economic agreement between the countries, but it has not been without controversy. It has attracted the criticism of Mr Trump, who has reportedly threatened a trade war, and Ukraine, worried about losing lucrative transit fees. 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 Putin seemed to provide guarantees that Russia would reluctantly continue to pay to transit gas through Ukraine. Ukraine for some reason doesnt want to grow relations with us, but they are still keen on money, he told journalists. Were not against the idea the deliveries will continue through Ukraine provided they are economically viable. Earlier, a Kremlin spokesman suggested that the meeting had happened because the world leaders now found themselves on the same page. When opinions coincide, then countries at the very least become a bit closer to one another, said presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. Ms Merkel was less committal. We have different points of view, but we need to come closer, to discuss the facts, she said. The Wests knowledge of the novichok nerve agent used to poison a former Russian spy and his daughter came from a sample smuggled to Germany in the 1990s, local media reports. Britain blamed Russia for the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed its analysis. More than 20 Western countries expelled Russian diplomats over the issue, in the biggest expulsion since the Cold War. In a joint report, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the weekly Die Zeit and broadcasters NDR and WDR said Germanys BND spy agency had secured the sample of novichok from a Russian scientist. The sample was taken to Sweden for analysis and the chemical formula given to the German government and military, the report said, citing sources. Western countries used the information to help develop countermeasures. Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Sergei Skripal The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006. AP Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Yulia Skripal Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei. Facebook Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Scene of attack Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub. PA Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Victim - Nick Bailey Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack. Wiltshire Police/Rex Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation - Skripals home Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripals house. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Theresa May visits scene of attack Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Skripal days before attack Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life. ITV News Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation - military involvement British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital. AFP/Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Police investigation The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury. EPA Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Home Secretary visits scene of attack Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March. Getty Skripal attack aftermath in pictures Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been turned upside down by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack. Reuters The story could help explain how Britain was able to analyse the poison it said was used to attack the Skripals in Salisbury in March. Moscow has denied blame for the attack and accused London of not being forthcoming in how it investigated the poisoning. The finding about a class of weapons known as novichok developed in the former Soviet Union largely stems from a previously unknown secret operation of the BND, a summary of the German news organisations joint report said. It said it was unclear what had become of the sample, and said the Swedish government had said it could not provide information about the process on short notice. The BND also declined to comment on the report. A spokesman for the German defence ministry said the military researched how to protect against chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear weapons materials, in accordance with international law, but could not provide details so as to safeguard members of the military and the German population. This includes the question about which substances are being researched and the availability of these materials, a ministry spokesman said. As a result, statements and assertions about this are not confirmed, denied or commented on. The German media report said the BND had informed the US and British intelligence agencies about the case following the analysis, and small amounts of the poison were later produced in several Nato member states to test Western protective gear, testing equipment and antidotes. Mr Skripal remains in hospital in Salisbury, where his condition is said to be improving and he is no longer in a critical condition. His daughter was discharged last month and is recovering at an undisclosed location. Investigators are yet to identify who carried out the poisoning, the national security adviser told MPs earlier this month. A two-year-old girl has died after a van carrying around 30 Kurdish refugees was chased by armed police in Belgium. Police said the girl died soon after the van was stopped in a village near the town of Mons. After the van collided with another vehicle the occupants emerged and a scuffle broke out between them and the police, during which shots were fired, according to the BBC. The police fired on the van in an effort to get it to stop, The Guardian said, citing a source. However, prosecutors have stressed the girl was not hit by gunfire. Belgian media reports said the girl, who was accompanied by her mother, had been held out of the window in an apparent attempt to deter the police. Police found 26 adults, three children and the body of the girl inside the van. The occupants were arrested and will be questioned at a local police station. A post mortem examination into the girl's death will be conducted. Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily. An inquiry has also been established to determine whether police action had contributed to the girl's death. The Guardian's source told the newspaper the refugees had recently been deported to Germany but had returned to Belgium, from where they were planning to make their way to the UK. Police attempted to stop the van because it was being driven in a strange manner, they said. It was also found to be carrying false number plates. President of Syria Bashar al-Assad paid a visit to Vladimir Putin last night at his summer house in Sochi in Russia. At the meeting, which was not publicly announced prior to taking place, the pair reportedly discussed topics including progress in the Syrian conflict, re-establishing the political process, economic recovery and humanitarian efforts. It is the third time Assad has visited Russia since the Syrian conflict broke out underlining the strong relationship between the two leaders and Russias position as Assads chief backer. In a statement to press as shared on Russia's Kremlin website, Mr Putin confirmed the goal of stepping up the political process in Syria, and added: the President of Syria has made a decision to send his part of the delegation to form the Constitutional Committee that is supposed to work on the Constitution of Syria. According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, the talks discussed the distinguished bilateral relations between Syria and Russia and means of boosting regional and international security and stability, as well as Russias role in finding a political solution. Mr Assad thanked the Russian leader for his support in the conflict, and congratulated him on his re-election in March, according to transcripts of the conversation between the two shared on Russias Kremlin site. The site quotes the Syrian leader as saying to his Russian ally: "Stability is improving, and all that opens the doors to the political process, which we started a while ago. "I have always said, and I repeat it again, that we have always wholeheartedly supported the political process, which should proceed in parallel with the war on terrorism." "We know that will not be easy, since there are countries which do not want stability to return to Syria. However, together with you and our other partners and friends, we will move firmly forward with the peace process." He added: The terrorist-controlled areas have decreased significantly. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been able to return to their homes in recent weeks, millions more Syrians are on the way. According to the Russian site, Mr Putin congratulated Mr Assad on the major success of the Syrian Government Army in the struggle against terrorist units." He is also quoted as saying that the next step is to provide humanitarian relief for those caught up in the conflict, as well as pushing for economic recovery. Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Show all 13 1 /13 Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage The wreckage of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus, which was targeted by the US, UK and France air strikes. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage A Syrian soldier films the damage of the Syrian Scientific Research Center surrounded by papers and rubble. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Firefighrers extinguish smoke that rises from the damage. The Pentagon says none of the missiles filed by the U.S. and its allies was deflected by Syrian air defenses, rebutting claims by the Russian and Syrian governments. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage The wreckage of part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound . AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Part of a building collapsing, surrounded by the wreckage. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Further damaged to the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, also says there also is no indication that Russian air defense systems were employed early Saturday in Syria. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage A Syrian soldier sprays water on the wreckage. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Syrian state news agency SANA reported several missiles hit a research centre in Barzeh, north of Damascus, "destroying a building that included scientific labs and a training centre". AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage A Syrian soldier films the damage. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Damage to the Scientific Research Center building that was hit by the strikes. EPA Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage The Scientific Studies and Research Centre was one of the targeted buildings by the US, UK and France. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Further damage to the centre. EPA He added: Due to the efforts of your army recently, important steps have been made towards the further consolidation of the legitimate government. "Terrorists have laid down arms in key areas of Syria, which made it possible to restore the countrys infrastructure, push them back and practically end their operations near the Syrian capital. It is understood that they also spoke about investment of Russian companies in Syria, and investing more in Syria in general. In video footage of the meeting shared by Reuters, Mr Putin also said: In connection to noticeable victories and success of the Syrian army in fighting terrorism and to the beginning of a more active political process, foreign armed forces will be withdrawn from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. It is not clear which countrys forces he was referring to as a number of nations have a presence in the country. As well as Russian forces, Iran also has troops in Syria on Assads side, while America has forces there which it says were focused on helping to defeat Isis. Following the meeting, political scientist and Middle East watcher Vyacheslav Matuzov told Russian news site Tsargrad that the two leaders noted a "turning point" in the situation in Syria. He told the news site: "Now it is necessary to pay attention to the political aspects of this crisis," and that it was time to draft a "constitutional document". He added that in terms of reconstruction of the country, while relations between Russia and Syria were good," we must seek the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the territory of Syria, and especially those who came there without an official invitation from the authorities." It is understood the pair also discussed what the next steps would be following the National Dialogue Congress which took place earlier this year in Sochi. Mr Assads past public visits to meet with Mr Putin in Russia took place in November 2017 and October 2015. Mr Putin also travelled to Syria last December. Russia stepped into the Syrian war with military involvement in 2015, supporting the Syrian government in what the allies termed a fight against terrorists. Critics of Russia's actions, among them the United States and European states, say it is propping up an Assad leadership that has lost its legitimacy, and that its air strikes have killed large numbers of civilians. Russia says it never targets civilian areas. The war in Syria began in 2011, in what began as protests against the rule of Mr Assads family which has lasted for decades. Around 450,000 are believed to have been killed in the conflict and millions more displaced. Agencies contributed to this report. The UN has voted to send an international war crimes probe to Gaza after the bodys leading human rights official slammed Israels reaction to protests along the border as wholly disproportionate. Israeli firing into Hamas-ruled Gaza killed nearly 60 Palestinians at mass border protests on Monday. There is little evidence of any attempt to minimise casualties on Monday, Zeid Raad al-Hussein told a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The council voted through the resolution with 29 in favour and two opposed, while 14 states abstained. The resolution also condemned the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians. Israel condemned the resolution, which was put forward by a group of countries including Pakistan. The United States decried it as an example of a biased focus on Israel by the council. Both lamented that it didnt mention Gazas Hamas rulers, whom Israel blames for the violence. The independent, international commission of inquiry mandated by the council will be asked to produce a final report next March. Commenting on the UKs abstention from the vote, the London-based anti-poverty charity War on Want told The Independent: Its disgraceful that the UK has abstained from a UN Human Rights Council vote for a Commission of Inquiry into Israels killing of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza. Ryvka Barnard, the charitys senior campaigner on militarism and security, said: In doing so, the UK has gone against a broad international consensus amongst leading international, Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, which agree that the only way to approach justice is through an independent inquiry. Trusting that Israel can fairly and neutrally investigate its own war crimes is an insult to any common sense definition of justice, and makes a mockery of the UKs stated commitment to international law, human rights, and accountability. Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a racket to return a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator shouts Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Tear gas canisters are fired by Israeli forces at Palestinian demonstrators Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A wounded Palestinian is evacuated Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a sling to hurl stones at Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A female demonstrator uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator with a slingshot looks on Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Female Palestinian demonstrators react to tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Israeli forces fire teargas canisters toward Palestinian demonstrators AFP Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Female demonstrators run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded protester AP Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator moves a burning tire Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a racket to return a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian demonstrators during clashes with Israeli forces AFP/Getty In a vigorous speech, Mr Zeid slammed the appalling recent events in Gaza and called for the occupation of Palestine by Israel to end. He said the 1.9 million people living in Gaza had been denied human rights by Israeli authorities and described those living in the Palestinian enclave as caged in a toxic slum from birth to death. They are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity; dehumanised by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest, he said. The vote for an investigation came days after Israeli forces shot and killed 59 Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border on the day the US officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem. Mr Zeid said that under international law, Israel was obligated to protect the population of Gaza and ensure their welfare, but there is little evidence of any attempt to minimise casualties, he added. Palestinians run to take cover as an Israeli drone fires tear gas grenades east of Gaza City (AFP) The human rights chief said 118 Palestinians, including 15 children, were killed since protests began on 30 March. He said the number continues to climb as some of the injured die from their wounds. He compared the Palestinians use of Molotov cocktails, slingshots and burning kites against the horrifying and criminal violence with which they were met. The stark contrast in casualties on both sides is ... suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response. Killings resulting from the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute wilful killings a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, he told the UN council. Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week, he concluded. Palestinian protesters flee from tear gas during the demonstrations on Monday (AFP/Getty) Backing calls for an independent investigation into the events in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice, Mr Zeid warned those responsible for violations must in the end be held accountable. What do you become when you shoot to kill someone who is unarmed, and not an immediate threat to you? You are neither brave, nor a hero. You have become someone very different to that, he said. Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he will take the events in Gaza to the United Nations General Assembly. Speaking at the start of an extraordinary summit of Muslim nations held in Istanbul in response to the weeks events, Mr Erdogan said the United States blocked every step towards justice in the UN Security Council. Israel must certainly be held accountable for the innocent people it has massacred in front of international law. We will follow this issue in the United Nations General Assembly as well, he said. Israeli soldiers guard on top of a watch tower along the Israel-Gaza border (AP) Earlier this week, the UK called for a UN investigation to look at why such a volume of live ammunition was used by Israeli troops against Palestinians protesters in Gaza. Foreign minister Alistair Burt said UK diplomats were urgently working towards trying to establish an inquiry after the violence which followed Donald Trumps move to formally recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital rather than Tel Aviv. The human rights commissioners speech comes after Egypts president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire Muslim holy month of Ramadan the longest length of time since 2013. In a tweet, Mr Sisi said the opening of the border would alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip. The crossing has been open since Saturday so Mr Sisis announcement is technically an extension. The high number of wounded following this weeks violence has overwhelmed the Gaza health system: Egyptian authorities said 510 people crossed the border on Wednesday alone, the majority coming from Gaza. Palestinians throw stones Israeli security forces on Tuesday (Getty) Officials said dozens of trucks with medical aid and food from the Red Crescent and cement, steel and power engines had travelled from Egypt into Gaza. The Rafah crossing is Gazas main gate to the outside world but has only had sporadic openings since the 2013 ouster of Egypts elected Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, a high-ranking member of Hamas parent group the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2007, Hamas wrested control of Gaza by force, provoking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade that severely restricted the movement of most of Gazas two million inhabitants. Kensington Palace has revealed the wedding cake that's been made to celebrate the union of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Claire Ptak, owner of Violet Bakery in east London, has been working on the spring-inspired creation in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace over the past week. The cake has been presented in an intricate display and will be served to guests of the wedding at the reception. The royal wedding cake has been revealed (AP) Ms Ptak has been assisted by a team of six other bakers, including Violet Bakery head baker Izaak Adams, as shes attentively created the three-part layered cake. The cake has been made from 200 Amalfi lemons, 10 bottles of Sandringham elderflower cordial, 20kg of butter, 20kg of sugar and 500 organic eggs from Suffolk. The inside consists of layered lemon sponge thats been drizzled with an elderflower syrup and sandwiched using buttercream and lemon curd, while the outside has been decorated using a white buttercream made from elderflower Swiss meringue. Prince Harry and Markle have been heavily involved in the culinary process, with the lemon sponge made especially for the couple and the elderflower cordial made from elderflowers sourced from the Queens Sandringham estate. The elderflower is so quintessentially British to me as a Californian, said Ms Ptak. Its a kind of ethereal, floral flavour which I think is very special, especially for a wedding. The final appearance of the cake and its display has been kept secret until the day of the nuptials. Ms Ptak is joined by Violet Bakery head baker Izaak Adams (WPA Pool/Getty Images) Its an installation of the way that were putting it out. Its the last thing that well reveal," said Ms Ptak. Its a non-traditional layout, Ms Ptak continued. Its a slight shift from tradition. According to the baker, Prince Harry and Markle particularly like the ingenuity behind the cakes spring design, praising its seasonality and freshness. The royal wedding cake will be made from layered lemon sponge that's been sandwiched with buttercream and lemon curd (AFP/Getty Images) The buttercream is sweet and the lemon curd is very tart so you get a very lovely thing happening when you take a bite, which is to get all of these flavours and sensations perfectly balanced, Ms Ptak explained. The cake has been decorated with a variety of flowers, including some of Markles personal favourites in shades of white and cream. When it came to preparing for any potential mishaps, Ms Ptak didnt feel the need to make another cake should anything go wrong. In March it was announced that east London baker Claire Ptak would make Prince Harry and Markle's wedding cake (WPA Pool/Getty Images) Its cake. It cant go that wrong, she said. We have enough cake and we dont want to be wasteful. Anything that is left over, we were going to donate to charity. The cakes installation was put together this morning, with the flowers then added once the cake was carefully transported to Windsor Castle. Ever since the engagement between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was announced, Kensington Palace has been slowly releasing details about how the big day will unfold. Over the past few months weve discovered tidbits such as who will bake the cake, wholl be taking the official photographs and whos been confirmed to walk the bride down the aisle. While the royal family has been painting a colourful picture of tomorrows nuptials, there are still a variety of elements of the wedding that remain a mystery. Theres been much debate regarding which designer has been chosen to create Markles wedding dress, with frontrunners including Burberry, Erdem and Ralph & Russo. Furthermore, the question of whether the humanitarian and former actress will wear a tiara as she becomes an official member of the royal family has not yet been answered. Here are the final predictions for the royal wedding before the ceremony takes place: Wedding dress Speculation has been rife about which designer claimed the coveted job of creating Markles wedding dress. Some believe that shell wear a Ralph & Russo dress, having worn an opulent gown by the same designer during her official engagement photoshoot. Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, 2018 Princess Eugenie, eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, and her husband, wine merchant Jack Brooksbank, hold hands as they descend the stairs outside St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle after their nuptials on 12 October 2018 Getty Images Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Prince Harry and Meghan, 2018 Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex emerge from the West Door of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle after their wedding ceremony AFP/Getty Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Zara and Mike, 2011 Zara Phillips and her new husband Mike Tindall kiss outside Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh after their wedding PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Prince William and Catherine Middleton, 2011 Prince William and his wife Kate kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace next to bridesmaids Margarita Armstrong-Jones (right) and Grace Van Cutsem (left), following their wedding at Westminster Abbey PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly, 2008 Peter Phillips, the eldest grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and Canadian Autumn Kelly leave St. George's Chapel in Windsor after their marriage ceremony PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Charles and Camilla, 2005 The Prince of Wales and his bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall leave St George's Chapel in Windsor, following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Lady Armstrong-Jones and Daniel Chatto, 1994 Lady Armstrong-Jones arrives with her bridesmaids, Lady Francis Armstrong-Jones, Zara Phillips and Tara Noble Singh at St Stephen Walbrook Church, City of London, for her wedding to Daniel Chatto PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Viscount Linley and Serena Stanhope, 1993 Serena Stanhope with her father Viscount Petersham at Claridges Hotel, London en route to St Margaret's Church, Westminster for her wedding to Viscount Linley (David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon) PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Lady Helen and Tim Taylor, 1992 Lady Helen Windsor and her husband , Tim Taylor, on the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, after their wedding ceremony PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Edward and Sophie, 1992 Prince Edward, his wife Sophie Rhys- Jones and her pageboys and bridesmaids leave St. George's Chapel in Windsor after their wedding. Known as afterwards as the Earl and Countess of Wessex PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Andrew and Sarah, 1986 Prince Andrew kisses his bride Sarah Ferguson on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Charles and Diana, 1981 The Prince and Princess of Wales smile and wave to the crowds during their carriage procession to Buckingham Palace after their wedding at St.Paul's Cathedral PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Charles and Diana, 1981 Lady Diana and Charles, Prince of Wales are seen during their wedding at St Paul Cathedral AFP/Getty Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, 1978 Prince and Princess Michael of Kent (Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz), after their civil wedding ceremony at Vienna Town Hall, ready for their evening reception PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, 1973 The bride and groom, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, wave to the crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding at Westminster Abbey PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Princess Alexandra and Angus Ogilvy, 1963 Princess Alexandra (daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent) and her husband, Sir Angus Ogilvy, riding in a carriage through London after their wedding at Westminster Abbey PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Princess Margaret and Antony, 1960 Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones at Buckingham Palace after their marriage ceremony at Westminster Abbey PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Elizabeth and Philip, 1947 The royal wedding party appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after Princess Elizabeth was married to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (now the Duke of Edinburgh) in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Elizabeth and Philip, 1947 A Panoramic view as the crowds gather to watch Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh get married PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Elizabeth and Philip, 1947 Members of the British Royal family and guests pose around Princess Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace on their wedding day AFP/Getty Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Elizabeth and Philip, 1947 Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are cheered by the crowd after their wedding ceremony AFP/Getty Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Elizabeth and Philip, 1947 Crowds camp out overnight on the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the Royal Couple, Princess Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on their wedding day PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Edward and Wallis, 1937 Edward, Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII of England) and his wife Wallis Simpson during their wedding at Chateau de Cande in France. Edward VIII of England, eldest son of George V and Mary of Teck, abdicated because of his love affair with American-born divorcee Wallis Simpson. After his abdication, he became Duke of Windsor and married Mrs. Simpson, who had changed her name by deed poll to Wallis Warfield, in a private ceremony AFP/Getty Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Prince Henry and Lady Alice, 1935 The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester on their wedding day. Lady Alice and Prince Henry were married at Buckingham Palace PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Elizabeth and Albert,1923 Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later to be Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) and Prince Albert, Duke of York (later to be King George VI) on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Princess Patricia and Commander Alexander Ramsay, 1919 Princess Patricia of Connaught, driving from Westminster Abbey, with her husband Commander Alexander Ramsay, after their wedding ceremony PA Royal wedding ceremonies: through the years in pictures Royal Wedding - Edward and Alexandra, 1863 Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and his bride, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, after their wedding PA However, others are of the opinion that shell opt for Canadian-born designer Erdem Moralioglu, considering his previous affiliations with the royal family and the amount of time Markle spent in Toronto when filming Suits. Also in with a strong chance is British luxury fashion house Burberry. Markle has been seen wearing clothes designed by Burberry on many an occasion, such as when she ventured to Edinburgh with her beau. Moreover, the fact that Markles mother, Doria Ragland, was spotted recently carrying a Burberry garment bag when leaving her home in Los Angeles to make her way to the UK could also hint that the bride will wear a dress created by the designer, if she is to match her mother. Tiara The likelihood that Markle will wear a tiara as part of her wedding ensemble is fairly high, considering the fact that previous royal brides such as the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Diana also did so. However, its not 100 per cent certain, nor is which tiara she would wear if given the opportunity. According to royal expert and commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, she may be provided with a tiara for her wedding directly from the monarch herself. She might be leant or gifted a tiara for her wedding by the Queen as Kate and Sophie Wessex and Zara Phillips were, he told The Independent. The tiaras in contention to be worn by Markle for her wedding include the Spencer Tiara, worn by Princess Diana when she married the Prince of Wales in 1981, the Cartier Halo Tiara, which the Duchess of Cambridge wore on her wedding day in 2011 and the Strathmore Rose Tiara, worn by the Queen Mother when she married the future King George VI. Wedding speech Its common tradition at weddings that the best man, who in this case is the Duke of Cambridge, makes a speech following the ceremony to celebrate the newlywed couple. Markle is also expected to make her own speech at the wedding, demonstrating her willingness to break away from convention. Whether Markle will indeed make a speech to mark the special occasion is yet to be confirmed. However, if her previous speeches are anything to go by, she will undoubtedly have little trouble speaking on such a public platform. In 2015, Markle gave a highly acclaimed speech at the UN Womens 2015 conference about gender equality. First dance Recommended The first royal wedding performer may have been revealed For many couples, choosing the right song for the first dance at their wedding is an extremely important decision. Recent research conducted by Sonos concluded that Cant Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley was the most popular song for first dances in the UK. However, Sky Bet predicts that Prince Harry and Markle may decide to go with a Whitney Houston number. Houston is currently the 2/5 favourite for the first dance, with Bob Marley being given 10/1 odds and Elton John a likelihood of 2/1. Honeymoon One of the most highly discussed aspects of the royal wedding has been where Prince Harry and Markle will choose to venture to for their honeymoon. The newlyweds wont be going on their honeymoon straight after the wedding, as they have an official engagement that theyll be carrying out together the next week. As for the destination of the honeymoon, there are several locations that have been debated. Recommended Five places Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could go on their honeymoon An unnamed source informed Travel + Leisure magazine that the couple would be visiting the Hoanib Valley Camp in Namibia, having previously travelled there together. Some believe that Prince Harry and Markle will imitate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge by choosing to go to the Seychelles, while others think theyll opt instead to visit Rwanda, considering the fact that Markle visited the country in 2016 as a World Vision global ambassador. However, royal expert Omid Scobie thinks that the couple may choose Botswana as their honeymoon destination. Given they have already holidayed in Botswana twice, the trip sounds exactly like the kind of thing they would go for, he told The Independent. Sandwiched between and landlocked by a bunch of other Stans (including Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan), Uzbekistan and much of this part of Central Asia has been overlooked for years but the country is home to an incredible number of photogenic mosques, mausoleums and madrasas in every shade of blue. Its centuries-long history under Persian rule and as a key stop on the Silk Road left a rich cultural and architectural legacy, made all the more fascinating by the countrys time as an enclave of the Soviet Union. Uzbekistan is opening up to tourists, with three flights a week from London Heathrow and an easier visa process it formally involved letters of introduction, interviews and exorbitant costs. Heres why you should visit this relatively unknown destination now. Samarkands mausoleums inspired the Taj Mahal Persian rulers were building Uzbekistans 14th-century mausoleums such as Gur-e-Amir, devoted to the leader Amir Timur in eye-popping cobalts, cyans and sapphires before they even conceived of building Indias now famous counterparts. Gur-e-Amir was the precursor to the Taj Mahal (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Amir Timur was an ancestor of the founder of the Indian Mughal empire, Babur, and he conquered Delhi so the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum in Samarkand is a prototype of the Taj Mahal, says Aijan Lasser, from Kalpak Travel, which operates tours in the country. Some of its walls date back to the 14th century, but most of it has been painstakingly reconstructed after earthquake damage. Inside, the walls shine with gold leaf and signature shades of blue, making oscillating circular patterns. Theres Sagrada Familia canopy-esque coving under arches above and off-white marble with geometric black marble patterns below, while the original 200kg gold chandelier has long been looted by invaders. There are patterned tiles to rival Lisbon Beautiful, detailed ceramic tiles are everywhere in Uzbekistan. Mosaic squares and geometric or floral majolica patterns in shades of blue from cobalt to cyan line the walls of many of the countrys great monuments. Some of the best are in the Shah-i Zinda necropolis in the northeastern part of Samarkand. It began with one religious monument more than 1,000 years ago and over the centuries developed into a series of palatial tombs for royalty and nobles, plus a shrine to medieval Islamic art at its finest. There are hardly any tourists Theres nothing like getting a decent shot of a monument with no one else in it. On our visit, we were lucky enough to find the most famous historical site in Samarkand, Registan Square, practically empty. Registan Square is beautifully photogenic (Getty/iStock) Also from Timurs dynasty, Registan Square was the heart of the medieval city and its commercial centre all bulbous turquoise domes and striking mosaics. In its heyday, it would have been filled with bazaars, selling all the textiles and fabrics youd expect of a Silk Road hub. Having been restored by the Soviets, Registan is utterly photogenic and arguably one of Central Asias most impressive sights. The watermelons are sweeter Fresh fruit and veg are staples here visit towards the end of summer, when theyre being harvested. The countrys known for its super-sweet, fresh watermelons, and achichuk salad, consisting of thin, long-sliced tomato, red onion and cucumber. This is served with plov, the national dish rice cooked in a huge pot and tarted up with veg, quail eggs and slices of meat (beef, lamb or horse). Its best eaten canteen-style, where youll pay about $2 (1.50) for a big, heaped plate, with beer usually costing around $1. Hearty meat grills are big here too, alongside tear-and-share bread and samsa, a teardrop-shaped street food thats a cross between a samosa and a Cornish pasty, filled with anything from beef to lamb to potato. The best bit? You wont find any chain restaurants or coffee shops. Its subway rivals St Petersburgs The seventh metro system to be built in the USSR, Tashkents subway is one of the most ornate in the world. Each station takes inspiration from its name, and as such they are vastly different, ranging from chandelier-lit spaces with baroque flourishes to traditional Islamic designs or stark, post-Soviet, post-modern mashups. Detailed ceramic tiles are everywhere in Uzbekistan (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto) At Independence Square, gold, cylindrical art deco-style light fittings are works of art in themselves. Taking photos underground is banned, but its still entirely worth the ticket price for a look even if youre not going anywhere in particular. The Soviet-style architecture in Tashkent Much of Tashkent was damaged by an earthquake in the 1960s and rebuilt while under Russian rule, so its a mix of stark Soviet buildings, classical Russian architecture and restored, photogenic blue-tiled 12th-century mosques. Imperial Russian architects planned Amir Timur Square and its surroundings in the 1870s its all big boulevards and stark, flat surfaces. Its now flanked by the blocky, geometric concrete and oh so Soviet Hotel Uzbekistan, a 10-star property that was hugely popular with visitors in its 1970s heyday. For more Russian architecture head to Independence Square (previously Lenin Square until 1991), with its clear lines and big white-marble columns supporting a huge silver globe and three dancing storks (the national animal). Look closely for incorporated elements of Islamic tile design here too. For the vodka The Uzbeks quaff vodka like the Russians straight up, with a straight face. Vodka is the most important legacy of the Soviet Union in all ex-Soviet states, says Anna Martusevich, who left her hometown in Siberia to help launch the Hyatt in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent currently the countrys leading hotel. Dont have vodka with juice, thats not good for you. Instead have it neat, ice cold from the freezer with a hot snack. Na Zdorovie! Uzbekistan is known for its achichuk salad (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto) To see epic starry skies in the desert Head out of the cities and youll find massive sandy expanses and mountainous landscapes. From our reclining benches round the fire in the Aidar Yurt Camp in the Nurata Mountains and with the help of a stargazing app we made out the Northern Cross plus all the usual suspects, such as the Plough and Orion. Saturn and Jupiter were highly visible, too. Youll also find clean, lakeside beaches nearby, petroglyphs from fortress ruins dating back to Alexander the Greats time, plus opportunities for a camel ride. Travel essentials Kalpak Travels eight-day Classic Uzbekistan tour includes the highlights of Tashkent, Samarkand, Khiva and Bukhara. Regular scheduled departures take place in spring and autumn, and itineraries for independent travellers are also available. From 1,390 (1,216) per person, full-board, including all accommodation, internal transfers, tour guides and entry to all activities in the itinerary. Excludes international flights. Q What is happening? Britains train schedules change in May each year, but normally they comprise just modest adjustments to existing timetables and the introduction of some summer services. This will be the case again from Sunday 20 May 2018 with many train operators, such as Arriva Trains Wales, Chiltern, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway, Virgin Trains and Virgin Trains East Coast (soon to become London North Eastern Railway). But many rail travellers in southeast England will find that the schedules they are used to have simply been torn up. The aims are: to match supply to demand more effectively; to accelerate trains where possible; but also to slow some down deliberately, typically where services have been running chronically late because of unrealistic short calls at stations, to make journey times more predictable. Q Where are the biggest changes? On the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern networks, which link London with the Sussex coast and with Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The GTR franchise runs these trains, as well as the Gatwick Express. Recommended Eurostar passengers face disruption as strikes hit weekend services From 2am on Sunday 20 May 2018, schedules with origins stretching almost a century will end, and an entirely new plan brought in. A key feature is the introduction of a range of new services through the central spine between London Blackfriars and the Eurostar hub at St Pancras International. As the what was originally known as the Thameslink 2000 programme nears completion, there will be far more north-south trains, such as regular services linking Brighton with Cambridge and they must be embroidered into the schedules of other services to and from terminus stations such as London Victoria and Kings Cross. The direct trains will take some of the strain from the Tube. From Brighton to London Victoria, the rush-hour service is accelerated, with trains typically 15 minutes faster thanks to some stops being cut. Q So it's good news for all? No - for example those left standing at the platform as the previously stopping train rushes straight through. Initially some of the planned trains will be cancelled before they even start, due to a breaking-in period lasting several weeks. The full 24 trains-per-hour service through the central London core will not run until 2020. And commuters at some stations will see a significantly reduced rush-hour service. Recommended Government renationalises East Coast Mainline train service From Lewes in East Sussex to London, typical off-peak journey times are being extended and direct services to Ashford International, the Eurostar station in Kent, will end. Harpenden in Hertfordshire will see fewer rush-hour trains until the full timetable is introduced two years from now. A commuter group called Harpenden Thameslink Commuters says rush-hour services are being "slashed by one-third". East Midlands Trains, which shares the spine between London and Bedford with Thameslink, says changes to its services are being made for the new Thameslink timetable to work effectively. Commuters from Bedford and Luton will no longer be able to board the East Midlands Trains expresses during the rush hour, as they will whizz straight through. The new timetable will have a knock-on effect for travellers on the East Midlands line north from Bedford, with services linking Wellingborough and Kettering with the capital significantly reduced for commuters. So bad is the disruption that a bus is being laid on between Bedford and Wellingborough, and season-ticket holders are getting half-price travel until the Midland Mainline Upgrade is complete and normal services can be restored. Q Will the GTR plan work? Vast amounts of modelling has been done in advance of the change, and the phased introduction on the north-south spine through London should help identify teething problems without too much pain for travellers. The RMT union, which is involved in a long-running dispute with GTR over the role of guards, warns of disastrous consequences from the new timetable plans for the line through London. The general secretary, Mick Cash, said: The planned new timetable on GTR will place massive additional strains on infrastructure and staffing levels that are already struggling to cope with current capacity. The company are winging it with potentially disastrous consequences. RMT has warned repeatedly about the pressure on the central core through the middle of London which is crucial to the delivery of these plans. A real challenge is likely to be at times of serious disruption. At present railway staff have a range of well-tried fixes aiming to get back on schedule as swiftly as possible. But such experience takes time to build up, and if points fail outside Stevenage or a train breaks down at East Croydon, long delays and multiple cancellations may ripple through the railway system well beyond the South East. Q Where else will see big changes? TransPennine Express passengers should see some dramatic improvements centred on Manchester. Journeys to and from Liverpool Lime Street become one-third quicker at 35 minutes. Two fast trains an hour will connect Manchester with Leeds, York and Newcastle. But the much-delayed electrification work between Manchester and Preston means that TransPennines Anglo-Scottish routes are unable to call at some stations: The railway in this part of the world is very congested, says the train operator. We were given permission to run on this route, but not to stop at Wigan North Western and Manchester Oxford Road. Q What about airport links? Between London Paddington and Britains busiest airport, Heathrow, TfL takes over from Heathrow Connect as the cheap, slower alternative to the Heathrow Express. Trains are still half-hourly, with a journey time of 31 minutes to the central area (Terminals 2 and 3). But there are two big improvements: Terminal 4 regains the regular connection from London Paddington that it lost a decade ago, with a 35-minute journey time, and passengers can use Oyster or contactless cards just as they do on the Tube. Two minutes is sliced off the average journey time of the Gatwick Express from Victoria to the Sussex airport. There will still mainly be four non-stop trains an hour, though the familiar 00/15/30/45 pattern of service from London ends. And if you are prepared to take five minutes longer, the four-per-hour stopping trains will save you 3.70 on the 19.90 Gatwick Express fare. The clunky Thameslink journey connecting Gatwick with London Blackfriars in central London finally accelerates to 35 minutes, saving a quarter-hour on the current crawl through the south London suburbs. And thanks to the new north-south services, there will be easier links to both Gatwick and Luton airports for many thousands of travellers No improvement, though, for Britains worst-served airport, Durham Tees Valley. If you miss the 2.24pm Sunday service from Hartlepool to Teesside Airport, as the station is known, you must wait a week for the next one. Q I cant see any Advance tickets for my journey in two months time. Why not? Network Rail normally publishes its schedules for engineering work more than 12 weeks ahead, allowing train operators to finalise their timetables and start selling Advance tickets. But for six months from 20 May, the infrastructure provider is reducing the amount of notice it gives to train operators, meaning timetables will be published only four weeks ahead. Disruption is particularly bad in north-west England, where electrification work between Manchester and Preston is way behind schedule. At the two most recent sessions of Prime Ministers Questions, Jeremy Corbyn has unnerved Theresa May with short, punchy questions about her non-existent policy on Brexit, which she cannot answer. The luxury of opposition means you dont face the daily dilemmas of government, can ruthlessly expose bad decisions and, in Mays case, her inability to take them when her cabinet and MPs are so divided. However, Corbyn now has a big, difficult decision of his own to make whether to support the UK staying in the EU single market after Brexit. The House of Lords has voted for it, by calling for the UK to join the European Economic Area (EEA). Some 83 Labour peers defied Corbyns edict to abstain by backing it, a foretaste of what is to come when the Commons debates the Lords decision before parliaments summer break. Labours policy is to seek a new and strong relationship with the single market. Such constructive ambiguity is designed to appeal to both Leavers and Remainers. But the vote will force Corbyn to come off the fence. Whatever he does, it will be impossible to unite his MPs. An estimated 70 will rebel if he trusts his eurosceptic instincts and does not support single market membership. But if he bows to pressure from pro-European party members, trade unions, MPs and peers, Corbyn will provoke a revolt by MPs representing areas that voted Leave in the 2016 referendum. Two-thirds of Labour-held seats backed Brexit. Brexit so far: in pictures Show all 53 1 /53 Brexit so far: in pictures Brexit so far: in pictures Brexit campaign Boris Johnson led the VoteLeave campaign PA Brexit so far: in pictures Brexit campaign Boris Johnson MP, Labour MP Gisela Stuart and UKIP MP Douglas Carswell address the people of Stafford in Market Square during the Vote Leave Brexit Battle Bus tour on 17 May 2016. Their lead line on the tour was: We send the EU 350 million a week, let's fund our NHS instead. Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Voting day A man shelters from the rain as he arrives at a polling station in London on 23 June 2016. Millions of Britons voted in the referendum on whether to stay in or leave the European Union AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Referendum results Leader of Ukip, Nigel Farage, reacts at the Leave EU referendum party at Millbank Tower in central London as results indicated that it was likely the UK would leave the European Union AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Protesting the result A young couple painted as EU flags and a man with a sign reading Im not leaving protest outside Downing Street against the voters decision to leave the EU on 24 June 2016 Getty Brexit so far: in pictures David Cameron resigns British Prime Minister David Cameron resigns on the steps of 10 Downing Street on 24 June 2016 after the results of the EU referendum were declared and the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Theresa May Becomes the new Conservative Party leader Theresa May receives a kiss from her husband Philip, after becoming the new Conservative Party leader on 11 July 2016. May became Prime Minister two days later and although she voted to remain in the referendum was keen to lead Britains Brexit talks after her only rival in the race to succeed David Cameron pulled out unexpectedly. May was left as the only contender standing after the withdrawal from the leadership race of Andrea Leadsom, who faced criticism for suggesting she was more qualified to be prime minister because she had children AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Lancaster House keynote speech on Brexit British Prime Minister Theresa May delivers her keynote speech on Brexit at Lancaster House in London on 17 January 2017. Where she spoke about her offer to introduce a transition period after the UK formally leaves the European Union in March 2019. Despite repeating the pro-Brexit mantra of no deal is better than a bad deal, the Prime Minister claimed she wanted a tone of trust between the negotiators and said Britain was leaving the EU but not Europe. She said there should be a clear double lock needed for the transitional period to make sure businesses had time to prepare for changes to their trading relationships with the EU Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Triggering of Article 50 British Prime Minister Theresa May in the cabinet, sitting below a painting of Britain's first Prime Minister Robert Walpole, signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk invoking Article 50 and the United Kingdom's intention to leave the EU on 29 March 2017 Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Gibraltar nonsense Tensions have risen over Brexit negotiations for the Rock of Gibraltar. The European Council has said Gibraltar would be included in a trade deal between London and Brussels only with the agreement of Spain. While former Conservative leader Michael Howard claimed that Theresa May would be prepared to go to war to protect the territory. Spain's foreign minister stepped in only to assert that there was no need for the dispute Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Shock snap election Soon after triggering Article 50, Theresa May called on 18 April 2017 for a snap general election. The election would be on 8 June and it came as a shock move to many, with her reasoning to try to bolster her position before tough talks on leaving the EU AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Dissolution of Parliament for General Election Campaign Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement in Downing Street after returning from Buckingham Palace on 3 May 2017. The Prime Minister visited the Queen to ask for the dissolution of Parliament signalling the official start to the general election campaign Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Conservatives lose parliamentary majority An arrangement of British daily newspapers showing front page stories about the exit poll results of the snap general election. British Prime Minister Theresa May faced pressure to resign on 9 June 2017 after losing her parliamentary majority, plunging the country into uncertainty as Brexit talks loomed. The pound fell sharply amid fears the Conservative leader would be unable to form a government AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Labour gains Britains opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn gives a tumbs up as he arrives at Labour headquarters in central London on 9 June 2017 after the snap general election results showed a hung parliament with Labour gains and the Conservatives losing their majority AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Brexit negotiations begin Brexit Minister David Davis and European Commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations Michel Barnier address a press conference at the end of the first day of Brexit negotiations in Brussels on 19 June 2017 AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures May speaks in Florence British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks on 22 September 2017, in Florence. May sought to unlock Brexit talks after Brussels demanded more clarity on the crunch issues of budget payments and EU citizens' rights AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures EU council summit insufficient progress German Chancellor Angela Merkel joins other EU leaders for a breakfast meeting during an EU summit in Brussels on 20 October 2017. The EU spoke about Brexit and announced that insufficient progress had been made AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures DUP derails settlement on the withdrawal part of Brexit DUP Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds walks off after speaking to members of the media as a protester holding flags shouts after him outside the Houses of Parliament on 5 December 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May was forced to pull out of a deal with Brussels after the DUP said it would not accept terms which see Northern Ireland treated differently from the rest of the UK Getty Brexit so far: in pictures May suffers defeat over EU (Withdrawal) Bill Theresa May suffers defeat in parliament over EU (Withdrawal) Bill on 13 December 2017. The Government was defeated by Conservative rebels and Labour MPs in a vote on its key piece of Brexit legislation. MPs amended the EU (Withdrawal) Bill against Theresa May's will, guaranteeing Parliament a meaningful vote on any Brexit deal she agrees with Brussels. Ms May's whips applied pressure on Conservative rebels who remained defiant in the Commons throughout the day and in the end the Government was defeated by 309 votes to 305 Brexit so far: in pictures EU council summit sufficient progress Britain's Prime minister Theresa May arrives to attend the first day of a European union summit in Brussels on 14 December 2017. European leaders discussed Brexit and announced there was finally sufficient progress at the end of the two days AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures The game moves to transition Brexit Secretary David Davis gives evidence on developments in European Union divorce talks to the Commons Exiting the EU Committee in Portcullis House, London, on 24 January 2018 PA Brexit so far: in pictures Trade deal is what May wants French President Emmanuel Macron gestures to Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May after they hold a press conference at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, on 18 January 2018. May and Macron agreed a new border security deal, through which the UK will pay more to France to stop migrants trying to reach British shores on 18 January 2018 AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Transition period agreed The UK and EU agree terms for Brexit transition period on 19 March, 2018 Reuters Brexit so far: in pictures No agreement on Irish border The EU and UK however failed to reach an agreement on the Irish border during the successful talks on other Brexit issues AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures EU attacks Mays fantasy strategy For months after the March deal is struck there is little significant progress in talks. One senior EU official tears into Britains fantasy negotiating strategy and accuses Theresa May of not even having a position on a variety of important issue Getty Brexit so far: in pictures UK releases Ireland plan Britain releases a new customs plan to solve the Northern Ireland border but Michel Barnier says it leaves unanswered questions and would not prevent a hard border EbS Brexit so far: in pictures Chequers plan agreed The cabinet agrees on a plan known as the "Chequers deal" on July 6 2018. The plan seeks regulatory alignment on goods and food, divergence on services, freedom from the European Courts of Justice and an end to free movement. Many were surprised that the hard Brexiteers of the cabinet would agree to this plan PA Brexit so far: in pictures Chequers plan sparks resignations Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and numerous ministers resign in the days following the Chequers agreement Reuters Brexit so far: in pictures Davis out, Raab in On 9 July, Dominic Raab replaces David Davis as Brexit Secretary. Raab is a keen Brexiteer and was a housing minister before taking over from Davis Reuters Brexit so far: in pictures Barnier's "deal like no other" EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier claims on August 29 2018 that they are prepared to offer Britain a trade deal like no other, though he stressed that they will not divide or change the single market to accommodate Britain AP Brexit so far: in pictures "My deal or no deal" In an interview on Panorama on September 17, the Prime Minister insists that any Brexit deal will be offered to the EU on her terms. She asserts this amongst continued attacks on her approach to Brexit by Boris Johnson and the European Research Group, headed by Jacob Rees Mogg BBC/Jeff Overs Brexit so far: in pictures EU leaders reject Chequers Quite the blow was dealt to the Prime Minister at a EU leaders summit in Salzburg on September 20. European Council President Donald Tusk stated that the Chequers deal "will not work" Reuters Brexit so far: in pictures May demands respect Following the rejection of her Chequers plan the day before, the Prime Minister voiced her anger that the EU had dismissed it without offering an alternative. She stated that throughout this process, I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same. A good relationship at the end of this process depends on it." Getty Brexit so far: in pictures People's Vote march As the People's Vote campaign and The Independent's Final Say campaign gain traction, 700,000 people turn out in London to demand a final say on the UK's Brexit deal on October 20 2018 PA Brexit so far: in pictures More resignations As the Prime Minister settles on a Brexit deal, Brexit secretary Dominic Raab resigns along with Work and Pensions secretary Esther McVey and many other ministers Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Final Say petitions delivered to Downing Street People's Vote supporting MPs Chukka Umunna, Justine Greening and Caroline Lucas and The Independent editor Christian Broughton deliver over a million signatures in favour of a People's Vote to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street on December 3 2018 PA Brexit so far: in pictures May delays vote On December 10, the Prime Minister delayed the vote on her Brexit deal as it was near certain not to pass through the Commons due to Tory rebels and lack of DUP support AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures No confidence motion Tory MPs triggered a confidence vote in the Prime Minister on December 12. She won by 200 votes to 117 Reuters Brexit so far: in pictures Commons rejects the deal Following the delay, the Prime Minister's deal was rejected in the Commons by a historic 230 votes AFP Brexit so far: in pictures Corbyn tables a no confidence motion Following the rejection of the Prime Minister's deal, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence in the government, which the government won by a margin of 19 AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Plan B The Prime Minister won the support of the commons to return to Brussels to renegotiate the backstop on January 29. In the same sitting, MPs also voted against a no-deal Brexit in a non-legally binding motion PA Brexit so far: in pictures EU council president savages Brexit campaigners who failed to plan for departure: Special place in hell There is a special place in hell for pro-Brexit campaigners who demanded Britain leave the EU without explaining how it should happen, Donald Tusk has said. The European Council president launched the scathing attack as he accused anti-EU campaigners of pushing for Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely. Mr Tusk also dismissed suggestions that the EU could reopen negotiations over the controversial Northern Ireland backstop, dealing a blow to Theresa Mays hopes of securing fresh concessions as she tries to get her exit deal through parliament. Speaking in Brussels alongside Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Mr Tusk said: Ive been wondering what a special place in hell looks like for people who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely. He also tweeted the accusation moments later Getty Brexit so far: in pictures EU and UK announce talks to restart after Theresa May visits Brussels Both have agreed to restart Brexit talks to find a way through the deadlock in Westminster, following a visit by Theresa May to Brussels. In a joint statement the British government and European Commission said Ms May had had a robust but constructive meeting with president Jean-Claude Juncker, and that the pair would meet again before the end of the month. But the EU again refused to reopen the withdrawal agreement and its controversial backstop with any negotiations expected to focus on the future relationship between the UK and EU instead Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Brexit strategy lost MPs voted down May's Brext plans, with a majority of 45. The prime minister did not appear in parliament to see another defeat PA Brexit so far: in pictures Labour and Conservative MPs resign and create the Independent Group Back row of Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Chuka Umunna and Mike Gapes, middle row of Angela Smith, Luciana Berger and Ann Coffey and front row of Sarah Wollaston, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Joan Ryan PA Brexit so far: in pictures Non-biding votes on amendments to Brexit motion On February 27 he house held a series of votes, unanimously calling for the UK and EU to guarantee citizens rights in a no-deal scenario AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Attorney General publishes legal advice A hammer blow for May as Geoffrey Cox said her renegotiated deal can still leave UK in backstop against its will. Mr Cox did say the prime ministers efforts had reduced the risk of the UK being trapped in the backstop indefinitely. MPs went on to vote against her deal by 391 to 242 UK Parliament/PA Brexit so far: in pictures No-deal off the table MPs rejected a no-deal Brexit by 43 votes on March 13, with cabinet ministers rebelling in another humiliating defeat for Theresa May. A day later they voted in favour of the prime minister seeking an extension to Article 50 AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures House speaker bans May from third Commons vote on same Brexit deal John Bercow sensationally told Theresa May he would stop her making another attempt to pass her Brexit deal unless she has secured changes. The Speaker said a further meaningful vote would be ruled out of order if the motion was the same or substantially the same under an ancient convention to stop the government bullying parliament on issues MPs have rejected Parliament Live Brexit so far: in pictures May writes to Tusk The prime minister wrote to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, to ask for a three-month extension to give her more time to try to get her deal through parliament. However the European Commission advises the EU27 should offer a short extension to May 23 or a longer one meaning the UK would participate in European elections 10 Downing Street/AFP/Getty Brexit so far: in pictures European Council summit Theresa Mays request to extend triggering Article 50 until the end of June was rejected by the EU, and instead offered a shorter time frame. She accepted the offer of a delay until May 22 if her withdrawal deal is approved by Parliament. If MPs rejected it for a third time, the EU said Britain must propose a new plan by April 12. Ms May said she will not support a long delay because it would mean Britain participating in elections for the European Parliament Getty Brexit so far: in pictures Brussels confirms preparations for a no-deal Brexit are completed They warned that it is increasingly likely the UK will crash out. In a statement the European Commission (EC) said preparedness and contingency work, which the EC has been conducting since December 2017, was now finished. The announcement came days after EU leaders agreed to a request by Theresa May to extend the UKs Brexit date AFP Brexit so far: in pictures May resigns Reuters Corbyn aides are convinced that a tougher stand against Brexit might result in a few gains in pro-Remain areas at the next general election, but they would be heavily outweighed by losses in Leave land. They point to the Tories better performance here in this months local elections in England, warning that the Tories would exploit a Labour commitment to single market (and by extension free movement) in key marginals in the North and Midlands. Setting out his reservations about the single market in February, Corbyn said Labour would seek to negotiate protections, clarifications or exemptions, where necessary, in relation to privatisation and public service competition directives, state aid and procurement rules. Unfortunately, Chris Grayling, that well-known socialist, has just blown a hole in his argument by renationalising the East Coast rail line (again). In fact, there are reasons why the single market should appeal to the Labour leader. The trade deal the government strikes with the EU will mainly cover goods, while the EEA option would include services, which account for 80 per cent of the economy. If services are exempt, investment and jobs will be lost and Labours traditional working class base will be worst hit. The governments own forecasts show the Northeast and West Midlands would see the biggest slowdown in growth. Tax revenues would fall, limiting what the nation could afford to spend on vital public services, already facing huge demographic pressures. That gives Labour pro-Europeans a powerful argument: the single market route is in the national interest, which should override the partys. They believe the UKs economic clout would enable it to negotiate a good EEA deal, including some limits on free movement (already allowed under EU rules but not taken up by the UK). David Lidington : It will be a 'week or so' before Brexit customs proposals are fully examined Which way will Corbyn jump? Close aides predict he will trust his gut feeling: staying in the single market would be seen as not honouring the referendum and would leave the UK as a rule-taker, not rule-maker. One said: He wont budge. However, some Corbyn allies believe there is an outside chance he will embrace the single market, saying it will depend on the numbers in parliament. He would love to inflict a humiliating defeat on May that plunged the Brexit process into turmoil, which just might trigger a general election. (The Fixed-term Parliaments Act makes that unlikely, but we cant blame Corbyn for wanting to try). To defeat the government on the single market, Corbyn would need the votes of his MPs and about 12 pro-EU Tories. Although a number of Tories have expressed sympathy for the EEA option, it does not mean they would back it in a crunch vote. They are more likely to concentrate their fire on a customs union. So is Corbyn, because Labour MPs are broadly united on that, giving him a strong chance of defeating the government. If he votes for the single market, he will have a rebellion on his hands, and so might not win the prize of a Commons victory. Although he rightly mocks May for her indecision on Brexit, Corbyn may soon find himself taking a leaf out of her playbook. C is for kicking the can down the road, which she is now doing on customs to prevent the EU negotiations collapsing over the Irish border issue. So Corbyn might be tempted to postpone his tricky decision on the single market until the autumn, when the Commons is due to vote on the Brexit deal and other options will be in play, including rejecting it and calling a referendum. The two main party leaders have more in common than they would admit. Uganda yesterday launched the first investment window to seek to harness the financial muscle of the worlds leading hotel and lodge operators to raise vital funds to support and protect Ugandas wildlife. The offering, which is being facilitated by the conservation charity Space for Giants and its partner the African Wildlife Foundation under the Giants Club initiative, involves some of the most important wildernesses in the county. Uganda has Africas fastest growing elephant population but, with urgent development needs and limited budgets, the country lacks adequate financial resources to fully support its conservation requirements. By attracting private sector investment to these areas, Uganda now hopes to secure the long-term funding needed to rehabilitate and manage its conservation estate for the long term. Justus Karuhanga, the head of Space for Giants (Uganda), said the release to market of the initial offering of selected opportunities for responsible tourism investment was focused on five of the countrys most important landscapes for conservation. African governments need to prioritise where they spend their money, and conservation may not always be top of the list, he said. What it is happening here is an initiative to help bring together responsible investors and the Ugandan government, in a way that will drive economic, social, and environmental benefits to the people and wildlife of Uganda. "The government is very committed to this process and we are working hand-in-hand to help protect the Pearl of Africa for the long-term. Kaddu Sebunya, the President of the African Wildlife Foundation, stressed that Uganda hosts some of the most important wildlife and wildlands in Africa and has a world class tourism product. We are pleased to be working with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Government of Uganda and partners to help optimize the commercial opportunities in our protected areas in a way that maintains our natural resources and generates needed revenue for conservation. A lioness and cub in Uganda (Reuters) The initial offerings are two areas in Kidepo Valley National Park, four in Murchison Falls National Park, two in Kibale National Park, two in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and an area in Semuliki National Park. To allow flexibility in the scope of investor proposals, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has not specified that interested investors site specific sites. It is anticipated that these will be determined in discussion with successful applicants during detailed proposal and contracting stages. To oversee this investment opportunity, Uganda has created a special transparent application process in partnership with the Giants Club. The deadline for interested investors to submit their initial Expressions of Interest is 29 June this year. The countrys wildlife officials stressed that it would be critical that any new investor would have not only a track-record of developing and managing high-value, low-impact and commercially-successfully conservation tourism portfolios but also a demonstrable commitment to supporting and promoting conservation values. The opening of the investment window follows the staging of the Giants Club Conservation and Tourism Investment Forum in Kampala in October 2017 when potential investors were hosted by Ugandas president Yoweri Museveni. At this event, which was also backed by UNDP, opportunities for responsible investment were showcased to potential investors and partners, alongside a new enabling investment framework and incentives. Mr Museveni has emphasised the importance of this initiative, saying that it is an important step in our commitment to unlocking the new and innovative investment models needed to effectively protect our most beautiful landscapes and wildlife for the benefit of the Ugandan people. He said: By inviting conservation-motivated investors to help build a nature-based economy, we will rehabilitate and manage Ugandas network of protected areas while delivering economic growth. At the Investment Forum he told investors that Uganda is one of the best places in the world to visit: Uganda really is unique. The lowest part is 650 metres above sea level. The highest point is 5,000 metres, where there is snow. The terrain between the two is where we have all these wonderful things happening. The Giants Club is an initiative of non-governmental organisation Space for Giants. Its founding members were the presidents of Uganda, Kenya, Gabon and Botswana and it works to unite political leaders with enlightened businesses, conservationists and philanthropists in order to protect Africas remaining wildernesses. A full list of the available sites and investor selection criteria are available from the UWA Procurement and Disposal Unit and at www.ugandawildlife.org The Palestinian issue is back on the international agenda more than at any time over the last 15 years. If the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was intended to demonstrate that the Palestinians were powerless and there was nothing they could do about it, then it has failed. The embassy move, signalling that the US has abandoned even its previous modest restraint on Israeli actions, had exactly the opposite effect to the one intended. The protesting Palestinians and not the celebrating Israelis and Americans became the central feature of the event. Television split screens showed what looked like a Trump campaign rally in Jerusalem side by side with Israeli soldiers shooting dead 62 Palestinians and wounding a further 1,360 in Gaza. Israeli claims that they were defending the fence that surrounds Gaza from an attack by Hamas activists armed with stones and kites were contradicted both by the television pictures and the lack of any Israeli casualties. But such international outrage will dissipate, as it has in the past in Gaza when Israeli forces killed Palestinians in large numbers. The most important question now is how far the Great March of Return of Palestinian refugees from 1948, which has just ended, was a one-off event or the beginning of a campaign of Palestinian civil disobedience. If it is the latter, then we are at the start of what an Israeli paper described as the first act of the Trump Intifada. Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Show all 37 1 /37 Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinian mourners carry the dead body of Mukhtar Ebu Hamas, 25, killed by Israeli forces in Gaza on 14 May Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian woman flashes a victory sign during a protest near the border fence AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Israeli soldiers guard on top of a watch tower along the Israel-Gaza border AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinian demonstrators react to fired tear gas Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinian demonstrators run for cover Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures US President's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner arrive for the controversial inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem. The United States moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem after months of global outcry, Palestinian anger and exuberant praise from Israelis over President Donald Trump's decision tossing aside decades of precedent. AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinians carry a demonstrator injured during clashes AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman speaks during the dedication ceremony of the new US embassy in Jerusalem Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian man walks in the smoke billowing from burning tyres AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves as he arrives ahead of the dedication ceremony of the new US embassy in Jerusalem. Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinian protesters lying on the floor during clashes Rex Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinian protesters burn tires AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara, Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, US President's daughter Ivanka Trump, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and US ambassador to Israel David Friedman attend the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian man assists a wounded protestor AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian man holding his national flag walks in the smoke billowing from burning tyres AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Ivanka Trump unveil an inauguration plaque during the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinians carry a protester injured AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Ivanka Trump and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stand next to the dedication plaque at the US embassy in Jerusalem Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator uses a sling to hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest against U.S. embassy Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A female Palestinian demonstrator stands amidst smoke Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Ivanka Trump attends the opening ceremony of the new US embassy in Jerusalem AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinian medics and protesters evacuate a wounded protester AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures An Israeli soldier aims his weapon at Palestinian demonstrators Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Gazans carry an injured protestor Rex Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Protestors gather to demonstrate Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures An Israeli soldier fires tear gas at demonstrators Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator poses with a slingshot Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Protestors carry tires Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A demonstrator kicks a burning tire Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Palestinians congregate prior to their demonstration against the US moving their embassy to Jerusalem Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Female Palestinian demonstrators react to tear gas fired by Israeli troops Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator reacts Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian man throws leaflets dropped by the Israeli military during a protest against the US embassy move to Jerusalem and ahead of the 70th anniversary of Nakba, at the Israel-Gaza border, east of Gaza City Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A boy holds a Palestinian flag as he stands amidst smoke Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator tries to put out a fire caused by objects dropped from Israeli drones during a protest against the US embassy move to Jerusalem and ahead of the 70th anniversary of Nakba, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator with a slingshot REUTERS Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem in pictures Protesters look up at falling tear gas cannisters dropped by an Israeli drone AFP/Getty Israel, the US and Egypt have an interest in containing the aftermath of the killings on 14 May. Minor concessions easing the blockade of Gaza, which is similar to a medieval siege, were reportedly offered to Hamas by Israel, if the Islamic group would call off the protest. Egypt has announced that it will open its crossing with Gaza for Ramadan, which has just begun. Other gains for the Palestinians, aside from temporarily putting their fate back on the political and media map, include focusing attention on the miserable conditions of the 1.9 million people living in Gaza, who are caged in a toxic slum according to the UN Human Rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein. But greater visibility of their miseries does not mean that much will be done to improve matters. The balance of forces is too skewed away from the Palestinians and towards the Israelis for the latter not to feel that they can act with impunity. The Israeli government may not like the bad publicity it has been getting, but it can cope with it so long as it does not go on too long. Daniel Levy, a former Israeli diplomat, peace negotiator and president of the US/Middle East Project, says that if Palestinian protests are not sustained over time, which means ongoing casualties, and broadened geographically beyond Gaza to include the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel, then the Israeli government can ride this out. He adds that even then, if the demonstrators are to have an effect, they would have to remain unarmed and non-violent. In the past civil disobedience has produced some benefits for the Palestinians: the First Intifada in 1987 led to the Oslo Accords and the much more violent Second Intifada in 2000 led to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza three years later. But it is doubtful if Palestinian leaders are capable of pursuing such a course themselves or allowing civil activists to do so. The leadership is divided between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, long locked in rancorous rivalry. The PA, in particular, is a moribund political organisation, frightened that protesters might turn against it or provoke Israeli retaliation. Israeli drones fire tear gas as clashes erupt at Gaza-Israel border protests Palestinian leadership has always resembled that of the Arab dictators and has always been incapable of mobilising their people. Israel may have done everything to prevent the emergence of a Palestinian state, but, even without Israeli repression, this was hobbled by corrupt and incompetent elites, monopolising power and suppressing dissent. Israel is apparently at the height of its power with carte blanche from the White House to do what it wants. The US blamed Hamas for the Palestinian casualties in Gaza without a word of criticism for Israel. Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE give priority to allying themselves to the US against Iran and are dismissive of the Palestinians plight. But such total endorsement of Israel by the US may not be in the long-term interests of Israel. The embrace of Israel by Trump, the Republicans and Christian Evangelicals alienates Democrats, though this may not count for much. Perhaps more important, American Jews were shocked to see pastors whom they identified as antisemitic bigots playing a leading role in the opening of the US embassy. Lack of any US restraint is attractive to Israels right-wing government, but it will not necessarily do Israelis a lot of good. Israeli governments tend to be overconfident and are prone to overplaying their hand. Their invasion of Lebanon in 1982 turned into an unsuccessful 18-year-long war. A US government purporting to act as mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, though wholly in Israels corner, was arguably more useful to Israel than the US when it makes no such pretence. Arab states may today say positive things about Israel, but their previous opposition was largely rhetorical. For Israel, there are two dangers stemming from Trump: Israel has always wanted to be close to US leaders, but it has never dealt with one as arbitrary, ill-advised and self-willed as this president. Netanyahu has traditionally been cautious when it comes to fighting real wars, though he is always happy to threaten to do so unless he gets what he wants. With Trump in the White House, he may feel that Israel will never be so well placed again and this is the moment to establish facts on the map. A more serious weakness in Israels strategic position in the Middle East is likely to be worsened by uncritical support from Washington. There are 6.5 million Israeli Jews and a similar number of Palestinians between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. All the Palestinians living in Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel are under some form of Israeli control. It is a situation that guarantees permanent crisis. Israel has the choice of expelling the Palestinians, subjugating them permanently or trying to find some means of coexisting with them. Mass expulsion is not feasible at this time and a deal on coexistence is unlikely, which leaves permanent repression as the only option. It may be that the protests in Gaza that led to so many people being killed will not turn into a more widespread, non-violent civil disobedience. But neither can Israel turn its superiority of force and even its close alliance with Trump into a permanent victory, because, whatever it does, the Palestinians will still be there. Ireland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in all of Europe. In 1983, the country amended its constitution to provide equal rights to the life of a woman and the unborn child, effectively banning abortion and prohibiting Irish politicians from legislating for change. In the decades since the passage of the eighth amendment, there have been a series of high profile cases that highlight the harm that this law causes to girls and women. These range from denying women life-saving cancer treatments because they are pregnant, to preventing women who have received a diagnosis of fatal foetal anomaly from terminating unviable pregnancies, to the tragic death of Galway dentist Savita Halappanavar, for whom an abortion would have been a life-saving procedure. On 25 May, the Irish public will have a once in a generation opportunity to change these laws. This is why, in my view, its essential that all Irish people vote yes in the upcoming referendum. 1) Under current laws, abortion is illegal is except to save a womans life. Doctors practise under the threat of 14 years imprisonment if they provide termination for their patients in all other circumstances. This means that they can end up waiting until its too late and sacrificing the lives of the mother and the child in order not to be held to account for accidentally killing a foetus while treating the woman. 2) Abortions are illegal in instances of pregnancy as a result of rape, fatal foetal anomaly, and when the womans health is at risk. Almost every other country in Europe allows for abortion under these circumstances. The United Nations has repeatedly called Irish abortion laws cruel, inhuman and degrading. Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights Show all 5 1 /5 Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS 3) Abortion pills, which have become available online in recent years, are also illegal in Ireland. A woman or girl who orders pills online and takes them at home does so without medical support and under the threat of 14 years imprisonment. 4) Thousands of women are forced to travel abroad each year to access abortion. In 2016 alone, 3,265 women provided Irish addresses to clinics in England and Wales. This figure does not include those who did not provide an address or who travelled to other countries. Those who cannot afford to travel may take illegal abortion pills or be forced to continue their pregnancy, adding to cycles of poverty and rates of abandonment. 5) Repealing the eighth amendment will allow the government to legislate for and to regulate abortion in Ireland. It will allow women to decide what is best for them with the support of their doctor, and it will allow doctors to provide the care that women need. To give women proper autonomy over their bodies and recognition of themselves as equal to men, we have to stop a law which says they have no more right to live than a fertilised egg. Once you consider the facts, its very plain that this is the only choice for Ireland. Ailbhe Smyth is the co-director of Together For Yes and convenor of the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, second right, meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May, second left, on the sidelines of an EU and Western Balkan heads of state summit at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. (AP Photo/ Virginia Mayo) What happened this week? The Taoiseach and the UK Prime Minister Theresa May held a bi-lateral meeting in Bulgaria where Ms May put some tentative proposals to him on avoiding a hard Border in Northern Ireland. What did the Prime Minister propose to the Taoiseach? According to sources, the British government is willing to negotiate a customs partnership or arrangement with the EU, that would negate the need for a customs border. It would keep the UK in the EU's customs arrangement until such a time as another solution was found. Leo Varadkar said he would not disclose exactly what Ms May had offered, but made it clear that the plan from the British was insufficient. Is it workable though? Partly. But according to the Taoiseach, based on what Ms May had proposed, a significant uphill battle remains. He said that for starters, the plans were verbal and not written, and at this stage, he was willing to take seriously only plans that were put in writing and "legally operable". Crucially, they did not deal with the fact that Ireland and the UK will have differing regulations and rules if Britain leaves the single market. And even though there may be no customs checks, there will have to be checks on goods crossing the Border. This was especially important in the case of animals for the agriculture industry as the EU's single market needed to be protected against potential diseases coming from countries that the UK is dealing with. It appears that the British have left this major part out. So are we any closer to sorting out Brexit? We're inches closer, but only inches. There is a palpable sense of pessimism among the government and EU officials that the UK will be able to get a reasonable solution across the line by the June deadline. However, they are grateful the proposals are not dependent on technology, because this has been roundly dismissed as unworkable. So the 'direction of travel' is indeed right, is how one source put it. What happens if there is no deal by June? In very strong terms, the Taoiseach warned this week that there may be no 'withdrawal agreement'. This comment tells us that the Government sees the prospect of the UK crashing out without a deal as being raised. How much time is there? Formal negotiations resume between the EU taskforce and the UK next week. They will have about two weeks to get things agreed by the June summit. Is there hope? Yes. The EU is the champion of brinkmanship talks, and has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on many occasions. It's a big jump from serving with the Irish Army to running a food distribution company in Bulgaria, but for Paul Hayles, all the obstacles were cleared last week when his first consignment of Dawn Meat barbecue beef skewers arrived in Sofia. The former UN peacekeeper, who worked as an electrician with the Air Corps and Army, rushed the meat to the main Bulgarian supermarket chains in time for weekend summer barbecues. Mission accomplished. There were plenty of hazards to negotiate for the 44-year-old Tallaght man, who had to organise a refrigeration plant in Bulgaria, arrange supply systems of Irish meat products and most critically set up his own distribution system from this country to Bulgaria's supermarket shelves. So what made him want to set up a meat importation company in Sofia? Paul had decided to remain in the Balkans with his Bulgarian-born wife Mirela when his Army career was completed seven years ago, and two years ago he decided to branch out from his electrician background and set up his own business. Glaring "There was a glaring gap in the market for good-quality Irish beef and lamb products so we registered our trademarks and went for it," he tells Farming Independent. "A lot of British citizens live here as well as some Irish and they would be familiar with Irish food products. And there are a lot of Bulgarians who were interested in Irish produce." The main problems he faced when setting up the venture were logistical - how to get the produce to Bulgaria. "There is a good market for Irish foods here but the continental transport system didn't run any further than Budapest," Paul explains. Eventually he found a company willing to extend the transport link to Sofia and now the Irish product is picked up in Holland and taken directly to Bulgaria. "The problem was chilled groupage transport from Ireland to Bulgaria, which was next to impossible to solve. I suppose that was our opportunity - no one found a way before us. Not boasting just stating a fact," Paul says. "But if there are any transport providers operating from Ireland to Bulgaria I would be very happy to hear from them! "And we welcome any inquiries from Irish food suppliers (dry or meat products) wishing to get into the Balkan markets to contact us via our website haylesfoods.com." His processing plant is in northern Bulgaria where all the meats are processed, packaged and labelled, and the intention now is to have Irish mince, sausages, rashers, puddings, BBQ skewers, steaks and lamb chops on the shelves of the country's main supermarket chains on a weekly basis. Paul is fulsome in his praise for Bord Bia and the Irish embassies in the Balkans for their help in getting his new company up and running. "We received great help from Bord Bia in the initial stages when it was hard to get guys to actively engage with us as we were new," he says. "Julie Clinton gave us useful contacts and we got big help from the Irish embassies in Bulgaria and Romania. "Ambassador Michael Forbes let us use the embassy for the company launch. And Ambassador Derek Feely in Romania helped us via the commercial attache Liviu Buzila, who was wonderful. I can't praise this guy enough." The farm is located 6km from Edenderry, 9km from Carbury and 11km from Kinnegad. Pictures: Wilsons Auctions A 135ac grass farm at Edenderry in Co Offaly with a range of agricultural potential has come on the market to be sold by public auction, writes Jim OBrien. The holding at Grange East in Edenderry in Co Offaly is coming for sale under the instructions of the receiver with a guide price of 900,000 or 6,600/ac. Located 6km from Edenderry, 9km from Carbury and 11km from Kinnegad, the property is described by Celia Lamb of selling agents Wilsons Auctions as a good big dry farm. With excellent road frontage on to two roads the holding is laid out in 10 the large open fields and is suitable for beef or dairying. According to Ms Lamb it was a dairy farm at one stage and could be converted for the same purpose again. While essentially good ground the farm could do with some attention and husbandry to bring out its full potential. It will sold at auction at 3pm on Wednesday May 30th at the Wilsons Auctions, Kingswood Interchange, Exit 2, Naas Road, Dublin 22. A one-month extension to the deadline by which derogation farmers must have 50pc of the their slurry spread, has been announced. The date is extended from 15 June to 15 July 2018 and thereafter the remainder of slurry must be spread by low-emission technology Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D explained that We have decided to extend the date by one month to 15 July 2018 in light of the significant difficulties faced by farmers and contractors in spreading slurry as a result of the extreme weather this spring. "This has meant that it is not possible for many derogation farmers to meet the 15 June deadline set out in the Ntitrates Regulations due to the poor weather and delayed grass growth, which has impacted on first cut silage harvesting dates. The limited extension for 2018 will facilitate farmers and contractors in catching up with their workloads. Irelands derogation allows higher stocking rates subject to derogation farmers complying with specific requirements. The 15 June deadline was introduced for more intensively-stocked derogation farmers in order to improve nitrogen-use efficiency and reduce ammonia losses from slurry. Under the National Emissions Ceiling Directive Ireland must reduce its ammonia emissions with the agriculture sector being responsible for 98pc of ammonia emissions. Ammonia losses from slurry are significantly reduced by slurry application in the springtime and also by using low-emission equipment. The timeframes for slurry application stipulated in this new measure for derogation farmers will contribute to reducing ammonia losses and assist farmers to deliver their production targets, reduce their greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions and reduce the risk of runoff to water quality. The minor adjustment in the date is aimed at facilitating an orderly introduction of the measure on derogation farms this year (6,891 applications for derogation status have been submitted in 2018). US private equity group Cerberus has swooped on 1.1bn worth of soured loans from AIB, with the bank getting 800m of it US private equity group Cerberus yesterday swooped on 1.1bn of soured loans from AIB. The final deal represents less than a third of the initial assets on offer from the State-backed bank. AIB will receive 800m from the transaction, a discount on the loans of close to 25pc - that's better than the discounted value the loans were carried at on the bank's books however. It leaves the bank with a paper profit on the deal. But the whittling down of the once 3.76bn Project Redwood has raised questions about the lender's appetite for further portfolio deals. It's understood most of the loans sold to Cerberus are attached to commercial property and investments after AIB stripped out buy-to-let mortgages, small-to-medium business loans, a number of development loans, and revolving facilities - all of which were included in October's initial sale documents. While the deal clips 12pc off AIB's non-performing exposures (NPE), which stood at 9.2bn at the end of the March, the transaction made little impression on the share price which closed just 0.02pc higher at 4.96. However, it marks a milestone in the bank's mission to bring NPEs in line with the European average and free up capital. Soured exposures accounted for 14.5pc of AIB's total loan book at the end of December and Investec's Owen Callan anticipates the much-scaled back Project Redwood will reduce that to 13pc - still some distance from the 5pc norm in the eurozone. According to Goodbody, the deal adds about 30 basis points to the bank's common equity tier one (CET1) capital ratio - a conservation buffer that reflects a lender's ability to withstand a downturn - and in a note to clients analyst Eamonn Hughes said "simplistically, this adds about 100m to AIB's excess capital". The deal comes after a lengthy period of preparation by AIB. The bank, which returned to normal trading on the London and Dublin stock exchanges last year in a 3.4bn IPO, first appointed advisers, KPMG, on Project Redwood in April 2017. By the time suitors were running the numbers on an acquisition at the end of last year, the number of loans on the block totalled 10,901. According to sources, the portfolio was stripped back partly because bidders baulked at paying up for unsecured debts and because the bank feared a repeat of the political maelstrom triggered by Permanent TSB's sale of 18,000 residential mortgages, the majority of which were owner-occupier mortgages. The bank's decision to launch a blockbuster auction of home loans prompted opposition politicians to propose legislation designed to restrict the sale of loans to regulated entities. But Cerberus's acquisition of AIB's latest portfolio, would qualify even if the rules changed. The US heavyweight had joined forces with retail credit firm, Everyday Capital, to acquire the AIB portfolio. It is understood Everyday Finance, which is regulated by the Central Bank, will retain a nominal economic interest in the assets. Sources said the consortium was assembled in the past few months. The entire Bolands Quay development has been sold to Google, NAMA-appointed receiver Savills' Mark Reynolds has announced. "Securing the sale of the entire campus to one owner occupier, has significantly de-risked the project and has justified the decision to build out the entire scheme," Mr Reynolds said. "The sale allows the team to focus on delivering this magnificent new development, in a smooth and timely fashion, in conjunction with the new owner Google." The Irish Independent reported in November 2017 that Google were lining up a purchase of the development. Read More The campus, designed by Dublin architectural practice Burke Kennedy Doyle, is one of the largest urban regeneration projects to have been undertaken within Dublin's city centre in recent years. Bolands Quay will comprise 28,000sq m of office space - which Google will retain for its own use - 46 apartments, cafes and cultural space. Google is expected to appoint a commercial letting agent to manage the letting of the remaining commercial premises and apartments. Expand Close Bolands Quay project / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bolands Quay project The city centre development, which will include three new landmark buildings, is set for completion on a phased basis from mid-2019. After receiving planning permission in July 2015, NAMA provided funding and enabling works at the Bolands Quay site. In December 2016, NAMA committed to providing funding to Mark Reynolds for the construction of the entire scheme in one phase. Chief Executive of NAMA, Brendan McDonagh, said that "NAMA is pleased at the progress which has been made in developing this landmark site which will bring much-needed office, retail and residential accommodation to the city". "The acquisition of Bolands Quay by Google is a significant vote of confidence in the Irish economy and in the future of its operations here and NAMA is very pleased to have been part of this successful outcome for all parties," he said. Bolands Quay will be linked to Googles EMEA HQ on Barrow Street via walking routes through the site. A new pedestrian bridge and two new civic plazas with water frontage to Grand Canal Dock will also be included in the development. Last week, Google announced a 150m extension to its data centre. VP and head of Google in Ireland, Fionnuala Meehan said it's "fantastic to see how the area has developed" since it established operation in Barrow Street in 2015. "With this investment, Google is ensuring we have the space to continue to grow our EMEA HQ operations into the future. This is a really exciting time for Google and follows on from our recently announced investments in Velasco and in our Data Centre in Grange Castle South." Shares in Mothercare were up 5.4 pence at 25.4 pence each by yesterday afternoon, valuing the business at 46m. Photo: PA The company that operates the Mothercare brand in Ireland says shops here won't be affected, after the struggling British retailer said it will close over a third of its stores there. The UK business yesterday announced the return of the chief executive who was sacked just five weeks ago. Sales and profit in the UK have been hammered by intense competition from supermarket groups and online retailers as well as by rising costs, resulting in what it called "a perilous financial condition". Mothercare's shares had lost 83pc of their value over the last year but rose as much as 34pc yesterday after it detailed a 113.5m (130m) refinancing, including a planned 28m equity fundraising, and said Mark Newton-Jones would return as CEO. Newton-Jones was ousted as CEO on April 4 by then chairman Alan Parker. Parker himself abruptly retired on April 19. Newton-Jones's replacement as CEO - former Tesco executive David Wood - will become group managing director. Mothercare said it would seek creditor approval for so-called company voluntary arrangement (CVA) proposals that would enable it to shut 50 stores and secure rent reductions on 21 others. As many as 800 jobs could be lost. In Ireland a separate business has the right to trade under the Mothercare brand. Mothercare Ireland is a separately owned and family-run business, started by David Ward in 1992 and is now run by his two sons, Jonathan and Ben, and daughter Laura. Managing director Jonathan Ward said the UK developments will have no impact here. "Mothercare UK have this morning released their refinancing and UK store restructuring plan," Mr Ward said. "Mothercare Ireland is a completely separate company and, as a result, our 15 Irish stores are unaffected by any plans in the proposal and will continue to trade as normal." Mothercare Ireland is one of the original partners of the Mothercare International Group, and is currently the fifth-largest partner in the world. The Irish business exited an examinership in October 2015 that resulted in three stores being closed at Blackrock and Jervis Street in Dublin and Cruises Street in Limerick and significant rental reductions being achieved. Earlier this year, the directors of the Irish business said it had achieved a significant turnaround last year. That was after new accounts for Mothercare Ireland show that the company recorded pre-tax profits of 488,711 in the 12 months to March 26, 2017 last. In the UK, Mothercare trades from 137 UK stores, down from nearly 400 a decade ago. The new plan would see it trade from 78 UK stores by 2020. The CVA route, which allows firms to avoid insolvency or administration, has been taken this year by fellow UK retail strugglers - fashion chain New Look, floor coverings group Carpetright and department store group House of Fraser. Brutal trading conditions for store groups - with pressure on UK disposable incomes compounding intense competition - are also partly responsible for the collapse of Toys R Us UK, electricals group Maplin and drinks wholesaler Conviviality. Shares in Mothercare were up 5.4 pence at 25.4 pence each by yesterday afternoon, valuing the business at 46m. "The recent financial performance of the business, impacted in particular by a large number of legacy loss making stores within the UK estate, has resulted in an unsustainable situation ... meaning the group was in clear need of an appropriate resolution," said interim executive chairman Clive Whiley. Analysts at Peel Hunt said Mothercare's measures looked sufficient to get the UK business back to breakeven. Additional reporting Reuters Developers Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan face a fresh hurdle in their plans to secure planning permission for apartments, a pub and restaurant at the site of the former Kiely's pub in Mount Merrion, Co Dublin. This follows a number of objectors lodging appeals against the decision by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to grant planning permission for the revised plan. The green light from the council followed the local authority refusing planning permission to an earlier plan last July after it received over 330 objections. The refusal by the council was upheld by An Bord Pleanala resulting in the developers submitted the revised plan. The new plan comprises 11 one-bedroom, 30 two-bedroom and nine three-bedroom apartments along with the pub and restaurant. The objectors to lodge individual appeals with An Bord Pleanala against the decision are listed as Donal Kavanagh, Colm Daly and Gerald Cosgrove. A local TD, the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, made a submission with the council voicing her concerns over the plan. In her submission, Minister Madigan stated: "I stand with Mount Merrion residents on this issue. Their needs must be given top priority in considering this application." She said: "While the re-submitted application takes into account a number of the original concerns, however concerns still remain. "New development in the area is welcome, but it must be suitable for the local landscape and fit in with the community," Ms Madigan said. A third terminal at Dublin Airport should not necessarily be State-owed, according to Transport Minister Shane Ross. The statement underscores his continued inclination towards the possibility of the first privately-owned major piece of infrastructure at the country's biggest gateway. Mr Ross was addressing the CAPA aviation conference at Powerscourt in Co Wicklow yesterday, which was attended by senior executives from around the world. Among those at the event was IAG chief executive Willie Walsh, Cathay Pacific chief executive Rupert Hogg, and DAA chief executive Dalton Philips. Mr Ross said that airports must continue to innovate to provide services suitable for 21st century airlines. "In Ireland, an ambitious airports investment programme has been included in our national development plan launched last month," he told the audience, "and will ensure we can maintain and grow our aviation links into the future." He added: "The investment envisaged in the national development plan in transport generally, and in the area of international connectivity, is rooted in sustainability, balance and seizing the opportunities for our economy to expand to better support our society." Mr Ross said "the national development plan in Ireland will prioritise infrastructural improvements at our airports. "The possibility of a third terminal in Dublin, not necessarily State-owned, should not be ruled out." Last month, Dalton Philips insisted that a third terminal would not be required at Dublin Airport until passenger numbers hit 55 million a year. Last year, the airport handled 29.6 million. The airport is highly unlikely to continue recording the blistering pace of passenger growth it has notched up in recent years, making it as many as 20 years before a third terminal is required, Mr Philips said last month. On a rolling 12-month basis, the number of passengers using the airport topped 30 million a year last month, Dublin Airport managing director Vincent Harrison told the conference yesterday. The Government is currently undertaking an airport capacity review - the results of which are due out later this year - that will determine airport infrastructure requirements to 2050. Trade union Siptu has continually opposed any privately-owned terminal at Dublin. The airport is in the throes of major infrastructure projects, including the construction of a new runway which is due to open in 2021. That 320m project also includes a new runway and other infrastructure. The Irish Aviation Authority is also constructing a 50m control tower at the airport. The minister also said that minimising disruption of airline operations in Ireland following Brexit next year is a priority for the Government. "The EU now has a role in every aspect of aviation, and Brexit impinges on every aspect," he told the conference. "My department and the Government is ready for every eventuality," he insisted, adding that the challenges for the aviation sector are "unique". "For Ireland, maintaining top connectivity, minimising disruption of airline operations, seeking regulatory alignment and ensuring the continued safe, efficient and effective aviation operations are key objectives in the Brexit negotiations," said Mr Ross. Verus Precision has invested 800,000 in renovating a derelict building into a new state-of-the-art facility in Sligo Established in 2008 by current Managing Director Andrew Hodson and Technical Director Michael Nugent, Verus was the first independent metrology lab in Ireland and is now the largest in the country. The company works with firms, mainly in the medtech sector to ensure the precise, scientific dimensional measurement of their products. Verus started at a 'hot desk' at IT Sligos Innovation Centre and is now celebrating its 10th anniversary with the launch of its new facility, based at Cleveragh Industrial Estate. Verus is retaining its Aughamore Far Industrial Park unit in Sligo and will be using it as a centre for research and new product development. Managing Director and co-founder Andrew Hodson said the company is "breathing new life into an area which has been the home of toolmaking and injection moulding in Sligo City". "We spent 800,000 on the facility, which needed extensive refurbishment as well as new world-class equipment. The facility is on the first IDA industrial site in Sligo, built in 1977, and home of the toolmaking trade in Sligo City and it is great to see it full of life again." Some 150,000 of total investment came from Enterprise Ireland for the creation of eight new jobs at the firm, which currently has 20 employees. Officially opening the site this week, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys said that Verus Precision is an important high-skill regional employer in Sligo. "Enterprise Irelands investment will facilitate critical subcontract manufacturing activities being brought in-house with the creation of eight new high-skill jobs," she added. Verus currently operates a second laboratory based at Nottingham, UK, and plans open an independent metrology lab in the US next year. The group has grown to have a turnover of 2.5m and is looking at a projected 8m turnover in the next five to six years. Thousands of people who have been paying nothing on their mortgages for years are the reason variable rates are so high in this country, it has been claimed. Consumer advocate Brendan Burgess told an Oireachtas committee that some 10,000 borrowers were exploiting the fact that there is effectively no sanction for not paying your mortgage. He said those not paying were irresponsible. Variable rates being paid by 300,000 borrowers here are the highest in the eurozone. The higher rates mean a 200,000 variable-rate mortgage here costs 3,000 more a year to service than the average in the rest of the economic bloc. "Because there is no effective sanction in Ireland for the 10,000 or so irresponsible borrowers, the 300,000 responsible borrowers pay their mortgages for them," he told TDs and senators on the Oireachtas Finance Committee. Mr Burgess used Central Bank figures which he claimed showed that around 10,000 mortgage holders are more than five years in arrears. He said most were choosing not to pay. This is what some commentators call "strategic defaulters". But debtor advocate David Hall disputed the 10,000 figure, and said they it was unproven and did not stand up to scrutiny. Read more: Pressure grows on AIB and Bank of Ireland to cut mortgage rates Mr Burgess said non-payment does not hurt the lenders, instead it hurts the other borrowers. "The lenders use the difficulty in repossessing houses as an excuse for charging more. When overseas lenders look at the Irish market and see that it takes years to repossess a home from a defaulter, they stay well away," he said. There should be a fast-track repossession system for those who had not paid their mortgages for years, Mr Burgess said. He told committee chairman John McGuinness just 2,476 residential properties had been repossessed by court order since 2009. Most of these were empty and abandoned. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager at a news conference on Irelands tax dealings with Apple at the EC in 2016. Photo: Reuters The United States government has lost a bid to join Apple's court fight against the European Union order that the tech giant must pay Ireland a record 13bn tax settlement. The EU's highest court yesterday rejected the US request, its press service announced on Twitter. A lower court had dismissed the request in December, saying the American government failed to show it had a direct interest in the result of the state-aid case. In August 2016 the European Commission ordered Ireland to recoup the record 13bn plus interest, saying the world's richest company had been handed an unfair advantage due to its historic tax treatment in Ireland. The Government, which had been found to have provided the aid, as well as Apple, appealed against the ruling. Last year, the US asked the EU court for permission to intervene in Apple's case, arguing that the outcome of the case could affect its economic situation due to the tax credits the iPhone maker could claim back in America as a result of paying more taxes in Ireland. Any tax paid by Apple in Europe can be deducted from the tax bill in its home, US market. The EU's Apple order has reverberated across the Atlantic, triggering criticism from the US Treasury that the EU was making itself a "supra-national tax authority" that could threaten global tax reform efforts. The text of yesterday's courts decision wasn't immediately available. Apple representatives in London didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Appeals over tax cases have been piling up at the EU's courts since 2015, when the Commission issued its first orders against Luxembourg and the Netherlands to recoup unpaid taxes from a Fiat Chrysler cars unit and Starbucks respectively. The EU has also ordered Luxembourg to recover 250m from Amazon and Belgium to get back as much as 700m from 35 companies, including Anheuser-Busch. At stake in all these decisions are billions of euro that multinational companies have squirrelled away in tax havens, out of the reach of authorities in the countries where they make most of their sales. With no court hearings in sight yet, the EU has been continuing its investigations, including those into the tax affairs of McDonald's and Engie SA in Luxembourg. Bloomberg If you thought the 'Laurel or Yanny' auditory conundrum was weird, then you'll be completely freaked out by 'brainstorm or green needle'. While most people who listen to the 'Laurel or Yanny' audio will only hear one of the words, people are hearing both on the 'brainstorm or green needle' test. Whichever word you think of you will hear, with some people reportedly hearing 'brain needle' or 'green storm'. if you think of the word brainstorm you hear the word brainstorm. if you think of the words green needle you hear green needle. pic.twitter.com/kNBfIINpgL Vinny (@sirvinnyd) May 17, 2018 The snippet is taken from a review of a Ben 10 toy that was posted on YouTube in 2014 so the word appears to be 'brainstorm' which is the name of a character in the show. But hey, who knows what's real and what's right anymore? Regarding the Laurel or Yanny question, the 'right' answer is Laurel since the clip was taken from a recording of the word 'Laurel' from dictionary.com. Yanny Laurel code However, many academics have been weighing in on why people are hearing different words. Theories range form the way our hearing changes we age, to peoples brains being primed by seeing the written word first, to accent variation between British and American listeners influencing what they pick up. Video of the Day What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018 Professor Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology, at Oxford, said he could only hear 'laurel' and it could be because of his age. He told The Telegraph: "There are some effects where words alternate what you hear when you say them rapidly repeatedly.. but given this is only said time two, that doesnt seem like it. "There are plenty of auditory perceptual grouping effects where you get one interpretation or another and it flips back and forth but again that doesnt quite sounds like it. "If there was stuff going on at high frequency range maybe you would get young people hearing/and being influenced by that, but not oldies?" Read More Jane Setter, a professor of phonetics at the University of Reading, said people may also be hearing different names depending on where they live. There may well be differences between British and American listeners, she told the Telegraph. The phenomenon seems to have started off with American listeners perceptions of a recording of Laurel generated by computer i.e. synthesized. Accent differences will predispose the brain to hearing certain patterns so it would be interesting to see if a Brit, Aussie, American pattern emerges but Im not sure whos collecting that data, and it will be difficult to do so now with any research rigour. Another factor that could influence what name listeners hear according to Prof. Setter was seeing the written word first in the tweet. As English speakers read from left to right this could prime the brain to expect to hear Yanny for some people. Alex Holcombe, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Sydney, has also explained that the audio quality of the clip could be an influence as our brains effectively fill in the blanks when presented with low sound quality. He said: Because our brains are almost every day trying to understand what was said under less than ideal (noisy) conditions, it is in the habit of making strong guesses from ambiguous stimuli, he explained. If the auditory signal is somewhere between the prototypical way of saying laurel and yanny, then the brain may tend to force it towards one or the other, as it does with the phonemic restoration effect. Longitude has dropped 33 new acts into the 2018 mix and revealed the day by day breakdown of acts. Taking place at Marlay Park in Dublin over the weekend of July 13-15, the festival has proven exceptionally popular this year with weekend, Friday day, and Saturday day tickets selling out in hours. Limited Sunday tickets are still available on Ticketmaster for 69.50. Among the new acts announced today are Sigrid, Playboi Carti, Alma, Rejjie Snow, IAMDDDB, Jesse James, Solomon, Durand Jones & The Indications, Kojaque, Mango X Mathman, Le Boom, Soule, Erica Cody, Day_s, Tebi Rex, Laoise, Jyellowl, Jafaris, Flynn, and Sequence. While Cardi B had to pull out due to her pregnancy, there is still a stellar line up with previous announcements including hip hop performer and producer J. Cole who's headlinging on the Friday night. He'll be joined by Grammy nominated rap trio Migos and Post Malone. On Saturday 14th Travis Scott leads the line up. Travis has set the stage for 2018 with his third full-length album, Astroworld which promises the best music of my career. Diplo returns to Longitude and Tyler, The Creator will perform on Saturday night. Solange will hit the main stage as the Sunday night headliner. Her latest album A Seat At The Table earned her first ever Grammy win and topped the Billboard album charts. Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals and Sampha will also perform Sunday. Here's the day by day breakdown: Friday 13th July: J. Cole Migos Video of the Day Post Malone Khalid Joey Badass 6LACK ALMA A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Princess Nokia Bas Jafaris DAY_S LAOISE Flynn JyellowL Stevie G Krystal Klear EVE Cailin Sarah Mooney Saturday 14th July: Travis Scott Diplo Tyer, The Creator Giggs Sigrid Lil Pump Rejjie Snow Playboi Carti Big Shaq Mabel Kojaque SOULE Jesse James Solomon Mango X Mathman Sequence Erica Cody DJ Deece Boots & Kats Jack Thompson Long Island Sound Staxx Lyrical Sunday 15th July: Solange SZA Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals Sampha J Hus The Internet Kali Uchis Ibeyi Jacob Banks IAMDDB Belly Naaz Durand Jones & The Indications Le Boom Lilla Vargen Sorcha Richardson Solardo Ghostboy Kettama Ciara Brady Justyna Koss Red Bull Music return to Marlay Park with a fresh supply of the best Irish and international acts. In no particular order the line-up includes: Friday, 13th July: Stevie G, Krystal Klear, EVE, Cailin, Sarah Mooney Saturday, 14th July: Boots & Kats, DJ Deece, Jack Thompson, Long Island Sound, Staxx Lyrical Sunday, 15th July: Solardo, Ghostboy, Kettama, Ciara Brady, Justyna Koss Actor Gary Oldman at the premiere of the film Capharnaum at the Cannes Film Festival (Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) Gary Oldman happily posed for pictures alongside his wife on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival. The 60-year-old actor has enjoyed a successful year, winning best actor at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars for playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. And he looked content as he smiled alongside his wife, Gisele Schmidt, in Cannes. Expand Close Actor Gary Oldman and wife Gisele Schmidt pose for photographers on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Actor Gary Oldman and wife Gisele Schmidt pose for photographers on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) The pair married in August 2017. Oldman recently revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he proposed to his now wife while he was dressed as Churchill. He said: There was a break in the filming, and we had talked about it and I just felt the urge. We were down in the war rooms, and I took her into the back room. And as Winston Churchill, I said, Will you marry me?' Expand Close France Cannes 2018 Capharnaum Red Carpet / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp France Cannes 2018 Capharnaum Red Carpet Oldman was attending the premiere of Palme dOr contender Capernaum, a drama from Lebanese director Nadine Labaki. Video of the Day The film reportedly received a 15-minute standing ovation following its debut. Capernaum is about a 12-year-old boy, Zein, who takes his parents to court for giving him a life of pain and suffering. Should Labaki win the Palme dOr for the film, she will be only the second female recipient of the prize, following on from Jane Champion who scooped it in 1993 for The Piano. John Legend has confirmed the birth of his and Chrissy Teigen's second child (Ian West/PA) John Legend has confirmed the birth of his and Chrissy Teigens second child in a series of tweets criticising Donald Trump. The president caused fury when referring to dangerous criminals trying to cross illegally into the United States as animals, later insisting the term was aimed at members of the brutal transnational gang MS-13. On Wednesday, Teigen sent a tweet hinting that the couples son had been born, and now Legend has confirmed the news. Even human beings who commit heinous acts are the same species as us, not "animals". I'm in the hospital with our new son. Any of these babies here could end up committing terrible crimes in the future. It's easy, once they've done so, to distance ourselves from their humanity John Legend (@johnlegend) May 18, 2018 The All Of You star fired off a series of tweets from the hospital where his wife gave birth attacking Mr Trump. Referencing the presidents comments, he tweeted: Even human beings who commit heinous acts are the same species as us, not animals. Im in the hospital with our new son. Any of these babies here could end up committing terrible crimes in the future. Its easy, once theyve done so, to distance ourselves from their humanity. But its much more honest and challenging to realize they were all babies once and think about what in society, their home life, etc took them from baby to violent gang member. And then to think about collective action we could take to mitigate these conditions. But it's much more honest and challenging to realize they were all babies once and think about what in society, their home life, etc took them from baby to violent gang member. And then to think about collective action we could take to mitigate these conditions John Legend (@johnlegend) May 18, 2018 He then added: And we should particularly interrogate the role of American policy in helping to make MS-13 the organization it is now. Video of the Day Teigen, 32, and Legend, 39, who are also parents to two-year-old daughter Luna, revealed they were expecting a second child in November last year a boy. Luna was born in April 2016 after model Teigen opened up about their fertility struggle and how she had undergone IVF treatment. The couple married in 2013. Teigen appeared to confirm the birth of their second child in a tweet on Wednesday. Somebodys herrrrrrre! chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 17, 2018 The model and TV presenter wrote, Somebodys herrrrrrre! along with two baby bottle emojis and two smiling face emojis. Legend retweeted the message. Aiken Promotions are taking several measures to avoid a repetition of the access issues experienced by some fans at Ed Sheeran's first Phoenix Park gig on Wednesday night. Some fans with standing tickets complained of not being able to see or hear the artist during the concert because there were seated stands between them and the stage. The issues affected a small proportion of the 50,000 crowd in what was the seventh sold out show after three in Cork and three in Galway. Fans felt the issues were due to 'overcrowding' and said the pitch area was 'crammed to capacity' and felt 'claustrophobic'. The issues prompted some disappointed fans to leave the show early. Expand Close Ed Sheeran performing on stage last night. Photo: Steve Humphreys / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ed Sheeran performing on stage last night. Photo: Steve Humphreys However, Aiken Promotions released a statement on Thursday explaining that there had been ample room on the pitch, but some people had stopped at the entrance, forcing others to remain behind in an area which was not designed to watch the show. The area was located between the concessions area/entrances and the viewing area/pitch. Eamon O'Boyle, Safety Officer with Aiken Promotions, told Morning Ireland this morning that there will be increased security at the concerts tonight and tomorrow night. Expand Close John O'Keefe attended the Ed Sheeran concert at Croke Park and his photo illustrates how many fans remained behind the seated area. PIC: John O'Keefe/Twitter / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp John O'Keefe attended the Ed Sheeran concert at Croke Park and his photo illustrates how many fans remained behind the seated area. PIC: John O'Keefe/Twitter "We're going to increase the level of security and have a team of 30 people who are going to be policing this particular area itself to make sure that this won't occur and we're also going to create a sterile area at the entrance and this will ensure people don't congregate within that area," he explained. "There was adequate space within the venue [on Wednesday]," he added. "The problem was people kind of stopped to look at the concert and then they created a blockage there." Video of the Day He also revealed that they will have a 'one way in and a one way out system' which will allow people who are in the venue to be able to get back out to the area where there are services including food and toilets. Mr O'Boyle also asked concert goers to arrive at the venue early as on Wednesday they observed that the "arrival pattern was different than we had experienced in other venues". Ed Sheeran is usually on stage by 8.45pm and usually all concert goers are in the venue by 8.30pm. It was later than this for many arrivals on Wednesday, he said. Concert goers should bear in mind that there is a walk to the location which can take 20 minutes or more so allow adequate time to walk there and allow for a queue. According to Mr O'Boyle, the issues on Wednesday played out over approximately ten minutes as once they noticed some "discomfort around the entrance", he says they "immediately intervened with the assistance of the gardai and our stewards". He reassured fans that there will be a "much bigger security presence tonight". Last night Aiken Promotions released a second statement reiterating some of the points of the previous statement and adding some more. "Re some comments from audience members who mistakenly thought they had seated tickets when they were in fact standing tickets, we want to clarify that tickets with Gen Admission (GA) on them are tickets for the designated standing area," it said. "If you have a seated ticket it will clearly state on it a Block / Row and seat number "Please check your tickets carefully. "Last night a number of people arrived late. Please leave plenty of time to get to the venue. "Please check online for details on where concessions and toilets are located and your best routes from the area you are in to those facilities. "There are bars and concessions left and right of the stage "Red Route is for seated tickets - Seating blocks A&B must enter by the North Rd entrance (Cabra and Ashtown side), Seating Blocks C,D,E must enter at Chesterfield Avenue "If you have standing tickets - Yellow Route or Blue route you can enter by either side - please follow signage and directions of stewards." Gardai also had no reports of any incidents from the first event. The sign on the side of Ben Bulben in Co Sligo. Photo: James Connolly A team of 20 pro-life campaigners in Co Sligo constructed a giant 'No' slogan on Ben Bulben mountain in a move that has provoked controversy. A priest from a nearby parish described the placing of the sign as a "bridge too far". The sign, which is clearly visible around the area of Grange, has met with negative reaction on both sides of the campaign within the north Sligo community. Fr Christy McHugh said: "We don't need this kind of thing to make a point." Meanwhile, Sligo county councillor and Grange native Cllr Marie Casserly said the sign had only proved to get people's backs up. "It certainly has annoyed people on both sides and I have gotten calls from both sides. It's not good for the campaign and it's not good for the area," she said. Expand Close The sign on the side of Ben Bulben in Co Sligo. Photo: James Connolly / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The sign on the side of Ben Bulben in Co Sligo. Photo: James Connolly However, speaking to Ocean FM's Niall Delaney yesterday morning, Tommy Banks of Sligo for Life said: "It's a cry from the mountains to save Ireland's babies because no one is listening." Mr Banks, who was one of 20 who had been up since 4am yesterday to construct the sign, said it was "horrific to think that we have to do this". Meanwhile, the National Parks and Wildlife Service said in relation to the erection of the sign: "The owners should procure its immediate removal so that Ben Bulben is returned undamaged to its natural and beloved state." The sign on the side of Ben Bulben in Co Sligo. Photo: James Connolly The sign on the side of Ben Bulben in Co Sligo. Photo: James Connolly The giant 'No' sign that appeared on Ben Bullen mountain yesterday has been removed. The 'No' sign was erected on the north-facing side of the mountain by the Sligo for Life group after fearing their argument ahead of next week's referendum was "not being heard". As the mist lifted around the mountain this morning, locals were surprised to see the 'No' sign was gone, with remnants of the lettering scattered on the mountainside. A spokesperson for Sligo County Council said it was "being dealt with by the planning enforcement section of the council". Expand Close The sign on the side of Ben Bulben in Co Sligo. Photo: James Connolly / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The sign on the side of Ben Bulben in Co Sligo. Photo: James Connolly "They know all about it and they are dealing with it," they said. An investigation into the sign began yesterday after Sligo County Council received numerous complaints from the public. The National Parks and Wildlife Service also advised the owners to remove it. #benbulben Gone. Would it be a bit much to report them for littering pic.twitter.com/3HdpeOHlNM Annie West (@anniewestdotcom) May 18, 2018 And we have Ben back to looking majestic again this morning with just a wee tidy up to do.#Benbulben #Sligo #MySligo pic.twitter.com/zbfY6rHo8l Cllr Marie Casserly. (@Marie_Casserly) May 18, 2018 "The insinuation of alien materials such as this onto a special area of conservation is insensitive to its conservation status and incompatible with the habitat," they said in a statement. Sligo County Councillor Marie Casserly said she was "happy" to see that the sign was gone this morning. "It's such a sensitive matter and people feel strongly about it from both sides. Ben Bullen wasn't the place to make a protest," she told Independent.ie. "I think people were more annoyed that such an iconic landmark was used. People will be glad when the referendum is over, it's such an important topic but there are people in the middle that are still unsure about what way to vote." One of the people to put up the sign at 4am yesterday morning, Tommy Banks, told Niall Delaney on OceanFM yesterday morning that the sign was "a cry from the mountains to save Irelands babies because no one is listening." By Thursday night, Mr. Banks told OceanFM that the group had received threats from members of the public to remove the sign. "A threat was made from some of the Yes people. One of them came to me and said, 'that will come down'. That was reported to the guards, it's private property." The sign received negative reactions from the public yesterday, with a local priest saying there was "no need for it". With the Catholic Church advocating a 'No' vote, Fr Christy said that this slogan has only damaged the campaign. "We dont need this kind of thing to make a point," he said. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin is angry that RTE has declined to allow him to participate in a televised debate on the referendum. While Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has ruled out going head-to-head with No campaigners, representatives of Mr Martin told RTE executives three weeks ago that he was enthusiastic about the idea. Sources say there was considerable annoyance last Monday when it emerged the national broadcaster invited Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald to be the political representative for the Yes side on 'Claire Byrne Live'. One senior Fianna Fail figure suggested to the Irish Independent that RTE "had their own political reasons" for choosing Ms McDonald. Waterford Fianna Fail TD Mary Butler, who is to the forefront of the Love Both campaign, was the political representative for the No side during last Monday's heated programme. RTE sources noted that it would be highly unorthodox to have two politicians from the same party on opposite sides of a live debate. Health Minister Simon Harris will represent Fine Gael on next Tuesday's 'Prime Time' debate. Although saying he has been "very involved" in the campaign, the Taoiseach has opted out of debates. He will be interviewed one-to-one by Sean O'Rourke on radio today. Government sources have questioned who Mr Varadkar's challenger would be, as it would not be normal for a Taoiseach to debate with non-politicians. All the leaders of the main political parties are backing a Yes vote. Mr Martin appeared on last night's 'Six One News' for a standalone interview and is expected to be offered at least one radio slot ahead of next Friday's vote. But a source close to the opposition leader said: "We met with RTE and said he was available. Then RTE went to Sinn Fein. They seem to want to put us in the No box to suit their own agenda." Fianna Fail has the largest number of TDs who oppose repealing the Eighth Amendment - but the party hierarchy believes this should not exclude Mr Martin from the debates. A spokesperson for the broadcaster told the Irish Independent: "Micheal Martin has to date featured on various RTE programmes regarding the referendum, and will continue to do so, including coming into RTE studios for a live interview on the 'Six One News'." Asked why Mr Martin has not been selected for any debate, the spokesperson replied: "RTE news and current affairs does not comment on editorial decisions around guests featured on its programmes." The Fianna Fail leader, who only backed repealing the Eighth for the first time this year, will be a panellist on TV3's 'The Tonight Show' next Wednesday. Meanwhile, in the Dail yesterday, Tanaiste Simon Coveney urged people to "look at the facts rather than the posters". "We must recognise that in any campaign as emotive and divisive as this campaign, one gets people who are desperate to win an argument and may present the facts in a very emotive manner. I respect both sides in this referendum campaign," he said. Protesters hold up placards as they take part in the March for Choice, calling for the legalising of abortion in Ireland after the referendum announcement, in Dublin. Photo: AFP/Getty Images TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has insisted that the government's proposed to allow terminations is not abortion "on demand". He said no women will be able to go into a pharmacy and "bang on the table and demand abortion pills" and that he doesn't believe women would do that anyway. Expand Close Protesters hold up placards as they take part in the March for Choice, calling for the legalising of abortion in Ireland after the referendum announcement, in Dublin. Photo: AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters hold up placards as they take part in the March for Choice, calling for the legalising of abortion in Ireland after the referendum announcement, in Dublin. Photo: AFP/Getty Images And he warned, that under the current law, "it's only a matter of time" before a woman bleeds to death from using abortion pills ordered over the internet and taken without medical supervision. Mr Varadkar was responding to claims by the 'No' campaign that the government plan to bring in unrestricted abortion on demand up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy if the Eighth Amendment is repealed. The law was proposed due to the difficulty of legislating for cases of rape and incest. Mr Varadkar told RTE Radio's Today with Sean O'Rourke: "It won't be unrestricted and it wouldn't be on demand". He said that women with crisis pregnancies would be offered alternatives to abortion by doctors and there would be a 72-hour waiting period. He said the doctor will also have to confirm that the pregnancy is less than ten weeks gestation. Mr Varadkar also said it's not the intention that abortion clinics would be set up in Ireland and that this is not in the legislation. He said that surgical terminations would take place in licenced institutions or hospitals. He added: "The view that I would take is that this really is a personal and private matter. Voting 'Yes' doesn't mean that you're endorsing abortion or think it's a good thing." Mr Varadkar said it is only a matter of time before a woman dies in Ireland due to using abortion pills bought over the internet. Mr Varadkar said women are buying abortion pills online and some of them are using them unsafely. "It's only a matter of time before somebody loses their life as a result of taking one of those pills over the internet. It has happened in other countries," the Taoiseach said. He asked people to bear that in mind when they vote. "Let's not wait for this to happen and if there is a no vote on Friday I think it's only a matter of time before somebody haemorrhages or bleeds to death or dies as a result of using these pills unregulated," Mr Varadkar said. Supt Dave Taylor, then Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and then deputy commissioner Noirin OSullivan attend a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee in 2013. Photo: Damien Eagers Superintendent Dave Taylor planned to "bring down" former Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan, her predecessor Martin Callinan has alleged. The Disclosures Tribunal has heard Mr Callinan claim the conversation took place at his home in 2015, some time after Supt Taylor was arrested during an inquiry into the alleged unauthorised disclosure of information to journalists. Mr Callinan is scheduled to give evidence today. Garda counsel Micheal P O'Higgins SC, said Mr Callinan had made a statement saying Supt Taylor told him "he would bring her down because of what she had done". Supt Taylor denied the allegation. He also rejected a claim by Mr O'Higgins that at the time he had "lost his balance" and was making "wild allegations" about Ms O'Sullivan. The tribunal has previously heard how Supt Taylor was said to have been "gutted" after Ms O'Sullivan transferred him from the garda press office to the traffic bureau in June 2014. The following year he was arrested and suspended after being placed under investigation for the alleged leaking of unauthorised information. No charges resulted from the inquiry, but Supt Taylor accepted yesterday he had been passing information to journalists. While that inquiry was ongoing, Supt Taylor criticised his treatment by investigating officers, but under questioning yesterday he accepted Chief Supt Frank Clerkin, who led the inquiry, had done a professional job. In September 2016, while still under suspension, he made a protected disclosure alleging Mr Callinan ordered him to negatively brief journalists about penalty points whistleblower Maurice McCabe and that Ms O'Sullivan had knowledge of the smear campaign. The accusations are denied by Mr Callinan and Ms O'Sullivan. Mr O'Higgins put it to Supt Taylor that the protected disclosure was part of a plan to shield himself from criminal and disciplinary proceedings. The barrister alleged Supt Taylor decided to portray himself as a victim and to align himself with Sgt McCabe. He said Supt Taylor "had attempted to sell to Sgt McCabe what were a load of lies" and then "hawked around" those lies to journalists and politicians. The purpose of this, he alleged, was to undermine Ms O'Sullivan and as part of that he had to attach Mr Callinan. But Supt Taylor did not accept that his protected disclosure was "not the truth". Tribunal chairman Mr Justice Peter Charleton said Supt Taylor "had a problem" with Ms O'Sullivan and asked what the problem was. Supt Taylor said he felt he was removed from the press office when he had been doing a good job. He denied being bitter about it but said it was a public move from a high-profile position to a less high-profile one. Referring to suspicions that Supt Taylor had passed garda critical incident reports about various matters, including rapes, to journalists, the judge said Supt Taylor had been "breaking the garda code left right and centre every single day almost for a period of over a year". Supt Taylor replied: "It is of extreme regret to me and, as I said, I have to live with that now after this tribunal is over." Earlier, Supt Taylor said Mr Callinan was "extremely annoyed and extremely angry" after a journalist called to his home in 2013 before publishing an article in the Irish Independent saying the commissioner had penalty points quashed. Questioned by John Berry BL, for Gemma O'Doherty, Supt Taylor said Mr Callinan asked him to contact management at Independent News & Media (INM) to express his annoyance and to convey that journalists should make queries via the garda press office. Supt Taylor said he and then Assistant Commissioner John Twomey met with then INM managing editor Michael Denieffe. He said the meeting was held in Mr Twomey's office at Harcourt Square rather than at garda headquarters as Mr Callinan was "a protected person" and Mr Twomey was in charge of personal protection and the security of Mr Callinan's home. A convicted murderer who held a shiv of jagged perspex to his female barrister's throat and threatened to kill her in an attempt to escape custody has been given a eight year sentence. Sean Ducque (34), who was due to go on trial for murder the following week, had hidden the improvised weapon down his trousers and attempted to use his terrified barrister as leverage to escape from a cell in a courthouse. Let me out of the fucking cell now or I am going to kill her, Ducque told prison officers, adding I am facing life anyway. A violent struggle with three prison officers and two gardai followed before Ducque was restrained. Ducque, formerly of Cloonlara Crescent, Finglas, Dublin who has 44 previous convictions, was subsequently convicted of murder in July 2017 and is currently serving a life sentence. Today's sentence is consecutive to a five year term he is currently serving for assault with intent to commit unlawful seizure of a taxi, imposed in May 2016. Ducque pleaded guilty to assaulting the victim, falsely imprisoning her and making a threat to kill her in a cell at a District Court in Dublin on June 8, 2017. Ducque also pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting three prison officers causing them harm and attempting to escape from lawful custody on the same occasion. Judge Melanie Greally said Ducque had subjected the injured party to an utterly terrifying ordeal and noted that as well as the physical attack, the overt threat to kill had caused huge trauma. She commended the woman her immense bravery in describing the devastating effects the attack had on her in her victim impact statement. She noted that the two of the prison officers sustained injuries and they all suffered stress, trauma and anxiety as a result of the incident. Judge Greally noted Ducque's convictions and said it was clear he was someone who was capable of extreme violence in many manifestations. She took into account his guilty plea and admissions. She imposed concurrent sentences totalling eight years to be served consecutive to his current term. The woman's victim impact statement said it had been her dream to work as a barrister but the incident has had a devastating impact on her personally and professionally. She said she had never known fear like that day and believed that she could die. Luigi Rea BL, defending, said Ducque had no personal animosity towards his victim and had attempted to use her as leverage to escape. He said Ducque deeply regretted what he did and had asked that an apology be passed onto her. He said Ducque had deluded himself into thinking he could somehow engineer his escape. He said his client had lived in the inner city as a young man and worked as labourer before he began dabbling in drugs as a 15 year old. Brian Manning (52) of St Finbarr's Close, Greenhills, Dublin leaves the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after receiving a suspended sentence. He previously pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing 37 images and one video classified as child pornography. Pic Collins Courts. A 52-year-old Dublin man has avoided jail for possession of child pornography, which he accessed via an instant messaging app on his phone. Brian Manning, a father-of-four of St Finbarr's Close, Greenhills, Dublin pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing 37 images and one video classified as child pornography on March 15, 2017. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that the images depicted mostly pre-teen girls engaged in explicit sexual activity with adults. Manning was sentenced to 18 months fully suspended today on condition that he be supervised by the Probation Service for that period. Judge Cormac Quinn said the headline sentence for the offence was two and a half years, but he was taking into account mitigating factors including Manning's early guilty plea and his remorse. The judge said he was also aware of the fact that media coverage of the case had affected Manning's personal life and that his marriage had ended. A probation report placed Manning at low risk of re-offending. Garda Ronan Swan told Ronan Kennedy BL, prosecuting, that gardai were made aware of the offence by Canadian authorities in February 2017. The National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre in Canada said someone going by the username biman4377 had been distributing child pornography over a social media software app called Kik Messenger. Gda Swan said Kik Messenger, an instant messaging app for mobile devices, offers a certain amount of anonymity as only a username and address is required to set up an account. The court heard that an investigating garda contacted Virgin Media who confirmed that two images of child pornography had been sent from an IP address registered to Manning. Manning voluntarily attended Crumlin Garda Station by request and made admissions. His Samsung S5 phone was seized and a forensic examination revealed 37 photos and one video. Manning was arrested, cooperated fully with gardai and made an early guilty plea. He said he had used the Kik Messenger service for less than a year but that he no longer used it and no longer viewed child pornography. I was in a bad place at the time, he told gardai, adding that he knew it was wrong and that he was sorry. For me it was more about the chat and fantasy world, it wasn't about the pictures. If I did send images, I don't remember doing that, he said. People just posted in chatrooms. I'm so sorry for even looking at them. I seen (sic) them in chatrooms, I didn't intentionally download them and I didn't knowingly store them, said Manning. I tried not to store these on my phone, I just deleted them. It was accidental that they were saved to my phone, he said, but accepted that he had made lewd comments about pictures. Manning said that in real life he only liked women and did not have sexual attraction to children. I know what I did was wrong. The only thing I can do now is conduct myself properly for the rest of my days. If I'm prosecuted I know I'm going to destroy my whole family, who don't deserve it I do, Manning told gardai. He has two previous convictions dating back to the 1980s for an assault in a pub and being drunk and disorderly. Gda Swan told Paul Carroll SC, defending, that Manning seemed extremely remorseful, fully aware of the gravity of the situation and fully cooperative. Mr Carroll said that Manning's wife had become aware of the images and that Manning had attended counselling for a time in 2015. The court heard that Manning had experienced certain financial and marital difficulties between 2010 and 2014 and had become somewhat estranged from his wife and increasingly isolated, inward-looking and depressed. Mr Carroll said his client turned towards the internet and that what started out as some sort of bizarre messaging between adults became more and more deviant to the point that images were being sent by others, which Manning was accessing. A psychologists' report did not recommend any intervention. Judge Quinn ordered Manning to apply for assessment for treatment on a sex offenders' programme. Man appeared before Judge Dermot Dempsey at Dublin District Court on Friday A 25-YEAR-OLD man has been granted bail after appearing in court charged with dangerous driving in connection with a traffic pursuit in Dublin on Thursday night. Andrew Leonard with an address at Constitution Hill, Broadstone, Dublin was charged with dangerous driving at Leeson Street and unlawful possession of cannabis at Constitution Hill. He was brought to appear before Judge Dermot Dempsey at Dublin District Court on Friday. Court Garda sergeant Gail Smith said there was no objection to bail and time was needed to get directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. The court heard that there was a possibility of further charges in relation to this. Mr Leonard, who did not address the court, was released on bail in his own bond of 300 and was ordered to appear again on July 27 next. The judge acceded to defence solicitor Anarine McAllisters request to grant free legal aid to her client. She furnished the court with a statement of his means and told the judge Mr Leonard was not working. A "GRUDGE" held by former Garda press officer Dave Taylor against then commissioner Noirin OSullivan was the trigger for allegations that a smear campaign was conducted against whistleblower Maurice McCabe, the Disclosures Tribunal has heard. The claim was made by Ms OSullivans predecessor Martin Callinan, who alleges Supt Taylor decided that in order to make his story work he had to involve Mr Callinan in the alleged plot. The tribunal is investigating allegations, made in a September 2016 protected disclosure by Supt Taylor, that Mr Callinan ordered him to negatively brief journalists that Sgt McCabe had been investigated over a child sexual assault allegation. The penalty points whistleblower had been cleared of the allegation in 2007. Supt Taylor claims the smear campaign, which he says lasted from mid-2013 to March 2014, was conducted with the knowledge of then deputy commissioner Noirin OSullivan. Mr Callinan began giving evidence this morning and is expected to face questions for four days. Under examination by tribunal counsel Pat Marrinan, he denied ever giving Supt Taylor such an order. I had no intention in the wide earthly world of doing down Sgt McCabe, nor indeed had I the time to do so, he said. Mr Callinan said he had an opinion as to the reason for Supt Taylors allegations. Pressed on this, he said: I am of the view and the belief that Supt Taylor, because of a grudge he bore against Noirin OSullivan, embarked on this story. The tribunal had previously heard Supt Taylor was arrested in May 2015 as part of an inquiry into the alleged unauthorised leaking of information to journalists. The investigation did not result in any charges. The former commissioner said that Supt Taylor came to his house after the arrest and told him he had a huge grievance about being moved to the Garda traffic bureau as the superintendent saw this as a sideways move. Mr Callinan also claimed Supt Taylor made similar remarks prior to that meeting in the former commissioners home. He was extremely disappointed and angry that the commissioner [Ms OSullivan] had moved him, said Mr Callinan. After his arrest and suspension he told me he believed commissioner OSullivan was the person responsible for having him arrested and he would bring her down. Mr Callinan continued: On that basis, the superintendent decided that in order for the story to work he had to involve me in the process. Mr Marrinan asked Mr Callinan if he had linked the sexual assault issue with Sgt McCabes making of allegations about the fixed charge penalty system. Not particularly judge, replied Mr Callinan. He said the 2006 allegation of sexual assault had absolutely nothing to do with issues in An Garda Siochana between 2012 and 2014. Were you linking that to some improper motive that Sgt McCabe had for making his allegations about fixed charge penalty notices? asked Mr Marrinan. No, I wasnt, Mr Callinan responded. The tribunal heard on Thursday that in June 2013 Mr Callinan informed then Justice Minister Alan Shatter of the historical sexual assault investigation. At the time complaints made by Sgt McCabe were coming to the attention of politicians. Mr Callinan said Mr Shatter had asked if there was anything in the background. Mr Callinan said he felt he was statutory obliged to respond and inform him of the fact of the investigation. He said he did not advance the view that the sexual assault investigation was the catalyst for Sgt McCabe making his complaints. I think the sergeant was entitled to make any allegation he saw fit. I wasnt linking Sgt McCabe with any mala fides, he said. Mr Callinan was quizzed about claims by Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness, Fine Gael TD John Deasy and Comptroller & Auditor General Seamus McCarthy that he made derogatory comments about Sgt McCabe to each of them individually on the margins of a Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting in January 2014. The tribunal has previously heard Mr McGuinness alleges Mr Callinan referred to another Garda whistleblower, John Wilson, pulling a knacker off a horse on Grafton Street and said Sgt McCabe fiddles with kids. Mr McGuinness claims Mr Callinan added: Thats the type of f***ing headbangers Im dealing with. Mr Callinan denied making these remarks and made a counter allegation against Mr McGuinness in a statement to the tribunal. This was a claim that Mr Callinan asked Mr McGuinness if the PAC intended to call Mr Wilson as a witness, and that Mr McGuinness replied: You must be joking, sure hes a f***ing header. Mr McGuinness denies saying this. But Mr Callinan today said he was standing over his account of the conversation. He also said he was unaware of the horse story involving Mr Wilson. While he was aware the former gardas nickname was Jockey, he thought it was to do with the late Scottish world champion darts player Jocky Wilson. Mr Callinan also denied making derogatory remarks about Sgt McCabe to RTE presenter Philip Boucher-Hayes ahead of an appearance on Crimecall in December 2013. Mr Boucher-Hayes had been attempting to get the commissioner to discuss the penalty points controversy on the programme. In a statement to the tribunal, the presenter said Mr Callinan told him Sgt McCabe was a troubled individual and had a lot of psychiatric issues. Mr Boucher-Hayes said Mr Callinan also claimed Sgt McCabe was motivated by a set of grievances against Garda management and was not to be trusted. Mr Marrinan asked Mr Callinan about his reaction to journalist Gemma ODoherty calling to his home in April 2014. The journalist wanted to verify that the Martin Callinan at that address was the Garda commissioner. Mr Callinan was not there at the time, but his wife confirmed it was his address. Ms ODoherty later published a story in the Irish Independent that Mr Callinan had penalty points quashed. Mr Marrinan asked if Mr Callinan was aware of any other gardai, apart from Sgt McCabe and Mr Wilson, who had been providing material from the Garda Pulse system to journalists. Mr Callinan said he was not aware. I think it is a very strong possibility that was the situation, he said. Mr Marrinan put it to him that he was very angry about the journalist calling to his home. I was certainly angry about it. That is factually correct, he replied. The former commissioner was asked if he was also upset about the article appearing, but he said he hadnt been. I certainly couldnt be arguing with Ms ODoherty publishing that story as she was factually correct, he said. Mr Callinan said he had been on duty going to an important meeting when he was caught speeding and that he later applied to have the ticket cancelled. He said there was nothing nefarious involved in that particular manoeuvre. Mr Callinan said it was possible Ms ODohertys information came from Sgt McCabe or Mr Wilson, but he didnt know if it was. However, he said she was entitled to publish the story if she wanted to. Mr Callinan said he told Supt Taylor to contact the newspaper to convey that he did not think it appropriate for a journalist to call to his home and that queries should be addressed to the Garda Press Office. I know he did that and subsequently reported back to me that he made that phone call, he said. He said he didnt know the details of how a subsequent meeting on the issue between Supt Taylor, then Assistant Commissioner John Twomey and Independent News & Media managing editor Michael Denieffe at Harcourt Square was arranged. Mr Callinan said Mr Twomey would have been in charge of policing in Dublin city at the time and would have had responsibility, among other things, for the security of his residence. Mr Marrinan put it to him that this could have been regarded as an over-reaction. But Mr Callinan said: I think I was entitled to make that protest. Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles on Friday said Congress would fix the Dengvaxia aid budget if the Department of Health screws up anew. In a television interview, Nograles said the House of Representatives would gladly craft a responsive supplemental budget for Dengvaxia victims should DoH disappoint anew with their budget proposal. Nograles is the appropriations committee chairman. He said he expects Secretary Francisco Duque to tick all the boxes in the agencys revised supplemental budget breakdown when they meet again on May 22. If not then the panel would take matters in its own hands, he noted. Thats why Tuesday, whether they present to me a good budget or not, if its not a good budget, we will be the one to dissect it. I will approve it on Tuesday, send it to floor, have it approved on the last week [of the second regular session] since were going to go on break, and send it to the Senate, he said. The Senate and House of Representatives will adjourn sine die on June 1. Last Wednesday, DoH presented to the committee its proposed supplemental budget for 2018, which would focus on providing medical aid to nearly 900,000 school children who were vaccinated with Dengvaxia during the previous Aquino administration. At the end of the presentation, Nograles told Duque to recast or revise their flawed proposal. It should be so simple, right? You can already imagine in your head what system youre going to use, how to activate the system and all of that...but I dont see it in this budget (DoH proposal), I dont see it in the system in place and there are many lapses in the system, he said.Nograles earlier filed House Bill No. 7449 or the proposed supplemental budget for 2018 that seeks to utilIze the P1.16-billion refund given to the Philippine government by Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur of France. In April 2016, the Philippines became the first country in the world to launch a mass anti-dengue inoculation program using the new drug. The program was suspended after Sanofi admitted in November 2017 that children who have never had dengue but were given Dengvaxia shots have an increased risk of a severe case and hospitalization from the third year after immunization. The Davao City lawmaker said the Dengvaxia program was DAP-like since the inoculation effort was unprogrammed or was not included in the 2016 General Appropriations Act. He said the P3 billion used for the purchase of the Dengvaxia vials was taken from the miscellaneous personnel benefits fund. The Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) was devised by the previous Aquino administration as a way for the executive to realign savings to other programs. It was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2014, way before the purchase of the anti-dengue drug took place. What I want from DoH is to show me a real deployment plan that will address the issues of the parents. What they want really is a no-nonsense monitoring of their children, he said. Garda at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Garda at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Garda at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Garda and crime scene investigators at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Garda and detectives at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers A crime scene investigator climbs out the window of a derelict house near the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Garda and a crime scene investigator at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers State pathologist, Marie Cassidy at the scene at Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers An ambulance removes a body from the scene at Clonee Road where a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Crime scene investigators at the scene on the Clonee Road, outside Lucan where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Crime scene investigators at the scene on the Clonee Road, outside Lucan where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers 'This is a terrible tragedy for the Kriegel family, our school and our community' - school pays tribute to much-loved student Ana (14) Inset photo: Austin Crowe A forensic examination of the mobile phone owned by murdered schoolgirl Anastasia Kriegel may yield vital clues to the identity of her killer. Senior investigating officers are also hopeful they can recover the killer's DNA from her clothing, which was found close by the battered body of the 14-year-old in a disused farmhouse outside Lucan, Co Dublin. Expand Close Ana Kriegel / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ana Kriegel A post mortem examination of the body, carried out by State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy yesterday, confirmed that Ana had died from blunt force trauma to the head. The result showed that she had been savagely assaulted with a blunt weapon, possibly a brick, in the farmhouse at Clonee Road, near St Catherine's Park. Expand Close How three-day search for Ana unfolded / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp How three-day search for Ana unfolded Forensic experts are also examining bloodstains found in the building. Early indications from the post-mortem also show that Ana was a victim of a sexual assault. Expand Close An ambulance removes a body from the scene at Clonee Road where a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An ambulance removes a body from the scene at Clonee Road where a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Gardai believe she was murdered shortly after she went missing on Monday evening. The grim find was made at lunchtime on Thursday after an extensive search by Gardai and other agencies in west Dublin and north Kildare. Officers are now trying to track down friends and social media acquaintances, who had been in contact with Ana either earlier on Monday or over the weekend. She was last seen alive at St Catherine's Park after leaving her home in Leixlip, Co Kildare. Expand Close Garda at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Garda at the scene on the Clonee Road where the body of a young girl has been discovered. Picture credit; Damien Eagers Gardai have already contacted the families of some of her friends with the intention of taking statements from them to help build up a picture of her final hours. They have appealed to others, who were in touch with Ana or might have some information of her plans for Monday evening, to contact them at the investigation headquarters in Leixlip, tel 01 666 7800, or on the confidential phone line, 1800 666111. Investigations Investigators are hoping to speak to two boys, aged in their early teens, in the coming days. Gardai began treating her death as murder after a post-mortem was carried out in the early hours of Friday morning to determine the exact cause of death. They are now looking into whether Ana may not have been alone at the time she went missing. An appeal has been made for anyone with any information to come forward. Garda Superintendent John Gordon said the girl's family was "extremely distressed". A first-year student at Confey Community College, Ana Kriegel was described as a particularly striking teenager who was well known within her school and local community. Investigators also said that her family have been left extremely distressed by her tragic death. Paying tribute after news of her tragic death, the school wrote in a statement; "We've learned yesterday (17th May 2018) of the death of Anastasia Kriegel. May she Rest in Peace. This is a terrible tragedy for the Kriegel family, our school and our community. We are deeply saddened by Anastasia's death. Our deepest sympathy to Anastasias family and friends." Due to the serious nature of the crime, local gardai are receiving assistance from a number of garda units including detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI). Her family grew increasingly concerned when she did not return home, and contacted Leixlip garda station at around 8pm on Monday night. Following a three-day search, her remains were discovered in a derelict farmhouse around 2km from where she was last sighted. The scene was preserved and the property was examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau yesterday afternoon. Gardai are trying to find out if Ana had made an arrangement to meet up with somebody that evening and are checking out all mobile devices she might have used and looking at her activity on social media on Monday and in the previous few days. The park where Ms Kriegel was last seen alive is a popular spot frequented by families with children. The 200-acre site, which was searched by gardai for three days, stretches from Lucan to Leixlip and the nearby Clonee area. But just a few hundred metres away towards the Clonee Road, the derelict property where Ana was discovered paints a far bleaker place. The farmhouse and surrounding property has been derelict for many years, and is a place frequented nowadays only by local youths as a hang-out spot. Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said she has been close friends with Anas family for decades. Ms Murphy said she had only spoken to Ms Kriegels parents on Wednesday night. When she wasnt contactable her parents went to the local garda station almost immediately. Theyre absolutely heartbroken, Ms Murphy said. They didnt waste any time when she didnt turn up at home, not communicating with her family was out of character entirely. They went to the guards at half past eight. This was just not like her, she added. Describing Ana, Ms Murphy said that the young teenager loved dogs and had a tight-knit group of friends. Ana was tall for her age, but she was a big kid, Ms Murphy said. She loved dogs, shed have you pestered about what type of dog was this or that. Ms Kriegel was also involved in the performing arts, practicing in a dance academy in Leixlip. Last night, State pathologist Marie Cassidy conducted a preliminary examination of the schoolgirls remains. Supt John Gordon, of Lucan garda station, said the family are extremely distressed. TD Catherine Murphy said the family are eager for people to share any information they may have and said this crime "needs to be solved quickly". "We've been personal friends for several decades. We all live in the same area but there is a group of us that socialise together," Ms Murphy told RTE Radio's News at One. "That's how we know each other, we'd be close personal friends. "I've known Ana since she was a tot. "I'd know her from growing up. I wouldn't have seen her all that often because they were very dedicated parents, and their social life changed once she arrived. "Essentially, I knew obviously from Monday that she was missing." Ms Murphy said she saw the news of a body being found on social media yesterday. "I was just utterly shocked you know. You'd be shocked if this was any child, I suppose when you know the family it's just a little bit different. "Look, you just want to be with the family. You can do nothing in these situations. "We all felt helpless what could you possibly do, you can do nothing but be there for your friends. "I would most definitely echo the appeal of helping the guards with any information you may have. "Ana's family have been nothing but complimentary about the guards. They took them seriously as soon as they arrived at the police station on Monday evening at 8pm. "She left at 5pm, it was just so out of character, she communicated with them all the time. There wouldn't have been an unanswered text message. "The family have been very complimentary about the guards and want people with any information at all to come forward. "This needs to be solved quickly. People in the community are afraid, it's a devastating crime." Ms Murphy also appeal for privacy for the family. A man in his late 20s has been arrested in connection to the seizure of five fireams in Dublin last month. According to gardai, the man was arrested on Thursday evening in Dublin and he is currently being detained under the provisions of Section 30 of The Offences Against the State Act at Coolock Garda Station. On Tuesday, April 3, gardai discovered a sub machine gun and four handguns in a discarded backback in Coolock. A vehicle linked to the incident was also seized by gardai. The man has been charged in connection with the incident and is scheduled to appear in court on Saturday. Police at the scene of a suspicious death on the Townhill Road near Rasharkin, County Antrim Police at the scene of a suspicious death on the Townhill Road near Rasharkin, County Antrim A man has appeared in court in Northern Ireland accused of battering his uncle to death in a drunken argument over rent. Ballymena Magistrates Court heard that while 36-year-old Polish man Marek Sinko was initially arrested and questioned about the death of 53-year-old Eugeniusz Sinko last October, it was only when police recently received a pathology report stating the cause of death was due to a grade three traumatic brain injury the decision was taken to lay a murder charge against him. Standing handcuffed in the dock, Sinko, from the Townhill Road in Rasharkin, confirmed that he understood the single charge against him, namely that of the murder of his uncle Eugeniusz Sinko on 22 October last year. The body of 53-year-old Mr Sinko, a labourer who been living in the area for a number of years, was found in the front yard of the home the uncle and nephew shared on the Townhill Road. Expand Close Police at the scene of a suspicious death on the Townhill Road near Rasharkin, County Antrim / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police at the scene of a suspicious death on the Townhill Road near Rasharkin, County Antrim In court, on Thursday May 17, Detective Inspector McCartney gave evidence that he believed he could connect Sinko to the murder and described how the victim had suffered 63 injuries. He described how brain injuries were graded one to three, three being the most serious with injuries in that category being caused by such events as a fall from a great height, a serious road traffic collision or serious assault. Its quite obvious that the victim here was in receipt of a serious assault, claimed the inspector. He told the court Marek Sinko claimed to have struck his uncle five times in what he himself admitted was a brutal fight over rent money when the pair had been drinking heavily and further claimed that his uncle had gone outside to wash himself after the fight while he went to bed. Thats been disproved by the receipt of a pathology report which states that the victim would have been unconscious within minutes of the assault if not sooner, said the senior detective. He added that police also had evidence of some cleaning of the scene in the blood spattered kitchen and that the body of Mr Sinko may well have been dragged from the kitchen to outside the house. Inspector McCartney said while the victim had 63 noted injuries to his body, the defendant only had minor injuries to his hands, telling the court that his claims of striking his uncle five times is certainly not the picture we are getting from the post mortem. He told the court that as well as admitting the assault was brutal, the defendant had also admitted that at no time did his uncle attempt to fight back. Re-interviewed on Wednesday, May 16, Inspector McCartney said Marek Sinko has not changed his stance whatsoever and maintains he struck the victim five times that he can recall. The officer said police were objecting to the alleged killer being freed amid fears that he would flee the jurisdiction but during an exchange with District Judge Nigel Broderick, he agreed the defendant had a clear criminal record and had been in police bail since October with no issues or breaches at all. Defence Solicitor Stewart Ballantine said the defendant himself acknowledges that this is a tragic case for this man and his family and that he had never any intention of hurting his uncle. He argued that Sinko was a suitable candidate for bail given his clear record, good work record and the fact that he had been on police bail since October, with a full history of compliance. Right from the outset he gave a clear account of what occurred during the altercation, said the lawyer, that his uncle went out the front door, he retired to bed for the night, got up in the morning and went outside and found unfortunately, his uncle's remains lying with the tap running. Mr Ballantine claimed Sinko immediately sought assistance and had tried performing CPR himself but unfortunately that was not successful. Despite police objections to Marek Sinko being freed on bail and conceding that it was somewhat unusual to grant bail for a murder charge in the Magistrates Court, Judge Broderick said he would free the defendant given all that he had heard of the background and bail history. Initially, he said he would free Sinko on his own bail of 750 with a surety in the same amount and imposed other conditions including a curfew, a prohibition on alcohol, that Sinko was to be tagged, have no contact with named witnesses and to report to police three times a week. Sinko was however remanded into custody after the PPS said they intended to appeal the judges decision. While that appeal will be heard in the High Court, Sinko will appear again in the Magistrates Court on 14 June. Gardai are appealing for witnesses to help find a 14-year-old boy missing from Dublin. Jamie Walsh was last seen in Tallaght on Saturday May 12 at 11pm. Jamie is described as being 5"4", brown hair and slim build. Anyone with information is asked to contact Tallaght Garda Station on (01) 666-6000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station. Northern Ireland's Secretary of State Karen Bradley and Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson exchanged words at the Balmoral Show. A row erupted at the Balmoral Show on Thursday between Northern Ireland Secretary of State Karin Bradley and Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson. The pair had a frank exchange of views on the issues of Brexit, legacy and a border poll after Mrs Anderson confronted the Secretary of State when they ran into each other at the event. Tensions have been high in Northern Ireland politics in recent weeks with issues surrounding the Irish border after Brexit and dealing with Troubles legacy issues in Northern Ireland dominating the discussion. On Monday it was reported that Prime Minister Theresa May was not confident of Northern Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom in the event of a border poll. Mrs Anderson told the Secretary of State that as far as Sinn Fein were concerned there had been a demonstrable change in opinion on the need for a border poll in Northern Ireland. "I think the evidence that we've had from opinion polls, shouldn't be dismissed," Mrs Anderson said. The Conservative MP for Staffordshire Moorlands said the government would address the points that were made. Things became heated when Mrs Anderson started to talk about her concerns around Brexit. "Brexit is something we are seriously concerned about, and there is a backstop and a protocol in place that will allow the North at least to stay in the custom's union," the MEP said. "We don't accept the backstop thats been set down by the EU, we are working on a backstop that we are happy with and we'll be bringing that forward," the Secretary of State replied. "Your Prime Minister wrote to Donald Tusk and actually said that they agreed that there needed to be a backstop," Mrs Anderson fired back. The Secretary of State tried to turn attention back to the Balmoral Show. "We all agree with that, we don't agree with the text that's been put forward by the EU but let's not talk about that we are here to enjoy a great show," Mrs Bradley said. "We are here to enjoy a brilliant show, but we are not going to be collateral damage and there can be no dilution of our rights," Mrs Anderson told her. The Secretary of State attempted to end the conversation but Mrs Anderson pressed her on legacy funding. "We are waiting on the Department of Justice," Mrs Bradley replied. Mrs Anderson said that the Secretary of State had made "disgraceful" comments on legacy and Mrs Bradley then ended the conversation and left. Dr Ciara Kelly, Charlie Bird, Cathy Kelly and Garry Cohn joined models Cathy Macken and Kiera Broe for their fittings Charlie Bird gets some help choosing his suit for the big event. Irish celebrities will share the catwalk with models with disabilities to raise funds for a special education school in Wicklow next week. Newstalks Dr Ciara Kelly, RTE broadcaster Charlie Bird, author Cathy Kelly and Design Doctors Garry Cohn will strut their stuff in aid of St Catherines in Newcastle, Wicklow. St Catherine's works with 200 children from babies to 18 years with moderate to profound physical and intellectual disabilities. Models Cathy Macken and Kiera Broe joined the well-known Irish names for a wardrobe fitting ahead of the big event. I was a GP in Wicklow and worked with many of the families with children attending St Catherine's, Dr Ciara Kelly said. I know how hard it is for these families and there are never enough services. So I am delighted to be able to support this event. Cathy Kelly has visited St Catherine's in the past and witnessed the work the school does. 'I am a UNICEF ambassador and have visited St Catherine's and seen the children and the staff and the conditions they are working under. I have seen the work they are doing under unbelievable conditions. Society will be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable,' said Cathy. The 'Fabulous Fashion' event takes place at 7 p.m. at Fishers of Newtownmountkennedy on Wednesday, May 23, and funds raised will go towards development projects and equipment for St Catherine's. Tickets cost 25 and include wine, finger food and live music. There will also be lucky envelope and raffle draws. Tickets are available from St Catherine's, Shelby Dinelli at (087) 2825459 or Fishers. The nation's favourite doctor, Ciara Kelly, joins Karl Henry on this week's show to talk about her own recent health scare and how that forced her to re-evaluate her health and life situation. She also talks about her move away from medicine into the media and why she's not afraid to take risks. Plus, for her health check SOS on the health of the nation, she explains why weight is still the over-riding concern for the country and why prescribing exercise along with advice on food and nutrition has to be the future for medics and the medical profession. Heart disease and cancer are the main killers and weight is the common connection in them both, she explains. At least half of all cancers can be stopped through lifestyle changes. The future of health is prescribing exercise and its already started. Get moving for thirty minutes a day will reduce the risk factors for your health as well as lifting your mood and mental health also. Contact Karl with any health and fitness questions on realhealth@independent.ie Emily Maher is predicting a soapbox moment. "I'm going to tell people not to be buying fakes!" She's talking about furniture of course. Maher is principle designer at Lost Weekend, an interior design practise and vendor of contemporary and classic furniture. She's also one of the speakers on the Trend Talks stage at the forthcoming House Show at the RDS from May 25. The Trend Talks stage is new to House. You'll find it on the balcony, just at the top of the stairs and beside the Art Loft. It's the shy little sister of the glamorous Inspiration Stage, which is just where it was last year. Where the Inspiration Stage is bedazzling, the Trend Talks stage is small, friendly and approachable. This makes it a very good place to ask questions. The Trend Talks run throughout the show with a promising line-up of interior designers, exhibitors, and design mavens. "I'm going to bring a couple of my suppliers up on stage with me," Maher explains. "Manuel Vizcaino from Carl Hansen is coming over from Denmark." Carl Hansen make Danish design classics, most famously Hans Wegner's Wishbone chair (1950). With prices starting at 677, it's an expensive piece, handcrafted to a meticulous standard and ethically produced. You can buy a cheap Chinese knock-off of the same chair for a fraction of the price but Maher doesn't approve at all. "Ripping off designs is disrespectful to the designer, the quality isn't the same, and the pieces don't hold their value. At the end of the day you're wasting your money." Then she sighs. "I'm a real advocate of Buy for Life. I'll have to remember not to be boring the pants off people!" She'll also be joined onstage by Alsu Corcoran from the French-Italian company, cc-tapis. In 2018, cc-tapis won the prestigious Salone del Mobile Milano Award for its display of breathtakingly beautiful wall and floor rugs. "It's an incredibly cool company," Maher says. "Cool is the wrong word. You're going to have to find a cooler word than cool." All cc-tapis rugs are hand-knotted in Nepal, where the company runs schools to educate the weavers' children. Their ethical policies are admirable. Plus, they collaborate with crush-worthy designers like Patricia Urquiola and Bethan Laura Wood. Prices start at 490 per square metre. Julianne Kelly of Kevin Kelly Interiors has been briefed to bring us up to speed on trends in soft furnishing and some of her UK suppliers - Maeve Power of Colefax and Fowler; Stephen Hunter of the Style Library; and Roisin Thompson of Designers Guild - have flown over to join her onstage. Expect an update on the trend for patterns inspired by nature in both wallpaper and fabrics. John Derian's nature based wallpaper for Designers Guild costs 100 per roll. If you're feeling especially flush, Kevin Kelly Interiors has some gorgeous objects inspired by the natural world. "We're loving Isabelle Bizard's bespoke lighting range and her approach of creating one-of-a-kind pieces with natural materials," Kelly explains. "She finds inspiration in the natural shape of a shell, or a dazzling piece of agate or an intense amethyst. Then she uses these natural jewels and objects to create totally beautiful objects d'art." All the lamps are individually priced, but expect to pay around 605 for an Isabelle Bizard wall sconce and 1,130 for a table lamp. On Sunday, Claire Price and Elaine Regan of House Edit (that's an online design platform offering advice, digital interior design e-consultation, and shopping) will be sharing their insights on current interiors trends. "We think that muted greens, rose hues, and earthy tones will follow through to 2019," Price predicts. Regan and Price will also give some practical tips on how to make these trends work in your home. "It's important to think about the bigger picture," Regan explains. "We will be showing how to be selective with the trends you incorporate into your own design schemes." On each day of the show, I'll be hosting Trend Talks discussion panels with some very chatty exhibitors and well as a selection of interior designers from the Interiors Association. There are some very engaging speakers in the mix. Gwen Kenny of Divine Design has her finger on the button in terms of sustainability, widely forecast as the decade's dominant trend, and Nina Kati could (and will) talk about Feng Shui Design for Ireland. I'm also delighted to welcome Rory Kelly, a young designer with an exceptional talent for putting design concepts into words. Other names on the schedule include interior designers Louise Higgins and Angela Connolly. International speakers at Trend Talks include the hands-on Annie Sloan, inventor of chalk paint, and Anders Buchmann, creative strategist for Trend Talks' sponsor, Bang & Olufsen. "My talk is about how we will live with sound in the future," Buchmann says creative strategist for Bang & Olufsen, Trend Talks' sponsor. The future is wireless, of course, with better audio quality and connectivity than before. He also sees a growing awareness of the visual impact of audio equipment. In the early days of Wi-Fi, the best sound system was completely invisible. Now, people are becoming interested in bringing sound into the home in a way that looks good. "It's about making a visual statement with sound instead of making it disappear," he says. "People don't want black boxes in their homes with a lot of wires sticking out. They want something beautiful." Bang & Olufsen's Beoplay A9 speaker (2,199), a Space Age disc on tripod legs, has the presence of a nicely designed piece of furniture. The BeoSound Shape system is made up of hexagonal tiles. Each one of these conceals a hi-fi module: a speaker; an amplifier; or an acoustic damper. The tiles are covered in high quality fabric in stylish colours. Wild Dove Grey or Brazilian Night Blue, anyone? The initial purchase is a big commitment. A set of eight panels costs 3,500. But there's a level of versatility built into the design. The tiles can be reupholstered when you redecorate, and the pattern reconfigured. It's hi-fi, but it could easily pass for art. See house-event.ie. See also bang-olufsen.com, lostweekend.ie, kevinkellyinteriors.ie, houseedit.ie, and theinteriorsassociation.ie. Four of the worlds top five cheapest airlines are Asian, according to a new study. The Global Flight Pricing report compiled by travel planning website Rome2Rio also found that the average cost per kilometre for flights had increased from 17.75 US cents in 2016 to 18.8. Top 25 | The world's cheapest airlines AirAsia X Air India Express Indonesia AirAsia Primera Air IndiGo Airlines Etihad Ryanair Qantas WOW air Virgin Australia Oman Air Jet Airways Air India Limited Sri Lankan Airlines Qatar Airways Hainan Kuwait Airways AirAsia Philippines Royal Brunei Airlines China Southern Airlines Lion Mentari Airlines Jetstar Gulf Air Bahrain Cebu Pacific Emirates The research highlighted Virgin Atlantic as one of the few airlines to have reduced the cost of its flights since 2016, rising from 100th in the rankings to 42nd. But it was Asian and Indian carriers to dominate the top 25, with Air Asia X taking top spot, followed by Air India Express and Indonesia AirAsia. Which is the cheapest airline in Europe? Expand Close WOW air / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp WOW air Ryanair, by some distance. The Irish airline ranks in seventh overall, despite its cost per kilometre rising from nine cents to 10. WOW air, which offers cheap flights to Iceland and beyond, ranks ninth, with a kilometre cost of 10 cents, while Wizz Air, in 53rd spot, has a cost per kilometre of 13 cents. Primera Air, which operates transatlantic flights from Stansted, came fourth, while Etihad, the Abu Dhabi-based airline, took a surprising sixth spot. Qatar Airways and Emirates also snuck into the top 25, at 15th and 25th respectively. How did the survey work? Rome2Rio analysed economy fares from 200 of the worlds airlines over a two-month period, racking up 1.5 million prices, to calculate cost per kilometres in US dollars. Of European household names, Virgin Atlantics price per kilometre fell 4 cents to 13 cents, lifting it up the rankings, while Easyjet fell from 71st to 124th after its cost per kilometre rose from 14 cents to 19 cents. British Airways took 139th spot, down from 116th in 2016, with a kilometre cost of 20 cents, while low-cost, long-haul operation Norwegian came in 102nd. Is flying more expensive than it was two years ago? Expand Close Stock photo / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stock photo Since our 2016 report, we have seen some significant shifts in pricing and ranking, says Kirsteene Phelan, chief operating officer at Rome2Rio. Airlines who have ventured into the budget scene - such as British Airways - as well as those such as Norwegian who have a reputation as budget stars - need to pass on higher fuel and operational costs to the customer. Sadly, the romance of air travel, whilst not dead, is certainly waning, with more airlines tipped to scale back their inflight offerings in favour of pay-to-play service to help boost profits. We anticipate those seeking to enjoy their journey will look for other options including rail to boost their travel experience. Promoted: See the latest Ryanair offers and deals on Independent Discounts What is going on in Asia? Of the top 30, 24 were based in either Asia or the Middle East. The AirAsia Group is particularly dominant with three of its airlines in the top 20, explains Phelan. Although Qantas (eighth) ranks highly for value, we are often seeing travellers from the UK to Asia and Australia booking with carriers such as Etihad (sixth), Royal Brunei Airlines (19th), China Southern (20th) and Emirates (25th). This suggests that whilst overall value may be high for one airline over another, specific route pricing can vary greatly and travellers need to be vigilant for deals to ensure the best price to their destination. What about flying across the pond? Rome2Rio found that Primera Air was offering the cheapest flights across the Atlantic, followed by WOW air. It found that Air Canada and United Airlines, ranking 84th and 90th respectively, were next best value, while Norwegian fell from 86th to 102nd. Travel between the US and UK has been one of the hot markets in the last two years, driven by the arrival of Norwegian Air, says Phelan. New kid on the block, Primera Air, seems to have snatched Norwegians crown, whilst the traditional flagship carriers of United Airlines, American Airlines and British Airways continue to struggle to keep pace with their newer competition. Read more: Read More Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] The appointment of a new Vice President of Research, Innovation and Engagement at IT Sligo, demonstrated its commitment to regional development. That was the view of IT President Brendan McCormack in welcoming the appointment of former MEP, Dr Chris O'Malley to the newly-created role. The position was created to strategically grow IT Sligo's already pivotal research and innovation functions and increase and co-ordinate engagement with industry and public bodies. Dr McCormack, said: "As a result of his time in Wales, Dr O'Malley has deep experience of enhancing the economic development of a rural region and this will help him greatly in his new role at IT Sligo. "The creation of this new role at VP level demonstrates IT Sligo's commitment to regional development and regional engagement. "We already have a strong research and innovation team and have robust connections with industry and regional development agencies. Chris will be instrumental in strategically growing these connections and creating new ones, especially with our alumni across the world. "I personally look forward to working closely with Chris in implementing IT Sligo's new Strategic Plan." Dr O'Malley will work on maximising relationships and building networks with stakeholders while working closely with the Senior Management team on implementing IT Sligo's new ambitious Strategic Plan. Dr O'Malley comes to IT Sligo with a wide breadth of strategic leadership experience in higher education in three different jurisdictions, leading developments in teaching and learning, research, community and industry engagement and organisational change. His previous roles in third-level education include: Pro Vice Chancellor, Business & Development at the University of Worchester; Pro Vice Chancellor, Regional & International Development, University of Wales and Director of Strategic Development, Dublin City University. He joins IT Sligo from Fingal Leader Partnership where he held the role of Chief Executive Officer and is a former Fine Gael member of the European Parliament (MEP). As the youngest MEP at the time, he represented Dublin in the European Parliament. Dr O'Malley said: "I am very much looking forward to taking up this role at IT Sligo and building key, strategic partnerships with employers and stakeholders across the North West and beyond. "My aim is for IT Sligo to be an engine of innovation for the region. My aim is to strategically enhance the role of IT Sligo in regional development. "A particular concern of mine in this role will be to increase the level of engagement between the research expertise in the Institute and the needs of local companies and public services." Dr O'Malley will be moving to Sligo from Dublin to take up the position. "I have been to Sligo only a small number of times but I did not know the Welsh Valleys when I moved there and it did not take me long before I knew the whole region inside out and was passionate about its development. I fully expect that to happen in Sligo. I have two grown-up daughters and will look forward to showing them around my new home when they come to visit." DEMOCRACY, FEDERALISM. Ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno participates Thursday, along with retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide as resource speakers in a conference on democracy and federalism at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. The event named Safeguarding Democracy: A forum discernment on Charter Change and Federalishosted by the AdMUwas preceded by a Mass at the Church of Gesu inside the campus and a Solidarity Walk in support for Sereno, removed from her post as the countrys top magistrate via a quo warranto petition granted by the Supreme Court last May 11. Manny Palmero OUSTED chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Thursday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to resign for having a hand in the plot to remove her as the countrys top magistrate, and tore into him on a wide range of issues, from his failure to stem rising prices to his policy toward China. Speaking before the Quo Vadis, Quo Warranto forum organized by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Pasig City, Sereno recalled President Dutertes earlier remarks that he would resign if it were proven that he had a role in her ouster. Yesterday he said [talk of his involvement] was not true, and that he would resign. How many times have we heard him say he will resign? Sereno told the forum participants in Filipino. From his own mouth, he admitted that he started the campaign to remove me. So, Mr. President, resign now! she said. She recalled that Duterte had referred to her as his enemy, in response to her question regarding Solicitor General Jose Calidas quo warranto petition against her. At the time, Duterte even asked his allies in Congress to speed up the impeachment process, Sereno said. Sereno was ousted last week as chief justice after the Supreme Court voted 8-6 to grant the quo warranto petition against her, finding her unqualified for the position because she failed to file her statements of assets, liabilities and net wortha failure that nine justices believed was a violation of the Constitution. In her speech Thursday, Sereno said Calidas attempt to expel her would have ended if Duterte had no hand in it. If he does not want it, it could have ended, but it did not end. Clear as day, Sereno said in an interview after the forum. The ousted magistrate also raised the ante on her attacks against the President, slamming his leadership for failing to arrest rising prices of basic commodities, the weak value of the peso, the perpetration of extrajudicial killings, his intolerance of dissent, his use of vulgar language as well as his foreign policy. She said when Duterte cursed a person out on national TV or threatened to shoot her in her sensitive parts, were outright threats and intimidation. Sereno also said the unsolved killings perpetrated by motorcycle-riding men is instilling fear in the public, reminiscent of what the country faced in the 1970s. She also noted the threats received by journalists for doing their job.Sereno also took offense at Dutertes remarks that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not allow his removal from office adding that it seems Duterte has no respect for the Constitution. Should I also go to Mr. Xi Jinping because Duterte is accountable to China? she said. I thought our Constitution was the Constitution of the Philippines, not China, so I should have gone to China and spoken to the lieutenants of Mr. Xi Jinping, Sereno said to laughter from the audience.She said what Duterte is doing constitutes a betrayal of public trust and his statements regarding China could even be taken as an impeachable offense. She said what is happening in the country was a sign that the dictatorship has begun. Do we have to wait for a proclamation to say the dictatorship is here now? She said those who pushed for her ouster did not even have the guts to bring the impeachment case against her to trial before the Senate, where her side would be heard. In the same forum, Sereno declined to comment on questions about her plans to run for public office, but emphasized she was not a politician. But she said she is willing to lead the fight for respect of the rule of law and accountability. Meanwhile, the Palace said President Duterte does not discriminate against women working in government, after he said he didnt want a politician or a woman to become the next chief justice. In a Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque believed that the President may have been quoted out of context when he was asked by a reporter who he wants to be the next chief justice. I want someone with integrity. Not a politician and even more so, not a woman, the President said in Filipino in a video posted on social media. To my knowledge, there is no discrimination and anyone can be appointed in the government, Roque said. President Duterte also did not mention Sereno in the video interview. Roque was reacting to criticism from various groups, calling the statement sexist. But Roque believed the discussion was focused on the Ombudsman and said he did not hear the question about the chief justice. Roque said he had no idea why the President made the remark and said he would clarify it with him when they meet over the weekend in Cebu. A 39-year-old mother of three can undergo expensive but vital cancer treatment thanks to the generosity of the public. Michelle Beck, nee Walsh, who is living in Australia with her husband and three children is originally from Carraroe, Sligo and last Friday morning set up a Go Fund Me Page to pay the cost of immunotherapy treatment aimed at prolonging her life. Her sister, Claire Lynch told The Sligo Champion that the family were overwhelmed with the response. "Michelle is delighted. It's such a morale booster for her," said Claire. Her sister was last home in December 2013 but is due to make another visit soon as she comes to the end of her current chemotherapy treatment. Michelle, a research scientist, met her future husband, Darren Beck from Sydney whilst working in Dublin after graduating from college. They made the decision to move to Sydney seven years ago where they married and had three children, two boys Callum (6) and Rylan (4) and Thea now 23 months. Whilst pregnant with Thea Michelle noticed a lump in her breast. Despite getting checked out, pregnancy masked the symptoms and the real truth of what lurked beneath was not made known until the day of Thea's birth when Michelle was diagnosed with aggressive advanced triple negative breast cancer. She has had two mastectomys each one year apart to remove both breast tissue and nodes, as well as several other procedures and has undertaken three rounds of chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy. Claire says however that her sister's chemotherapy treatment is now taking its toll and is no longer the best option to prolong her life. "Michelle continues with chemotherapy today but her body has taken just about enough," says Claire. Immunotherapy treatment is seen as the best option but costs $6,000 every three weeks and she will need at least a year of treatment. The Go Fund Me Page had a target of $12,000 but this was surpassed quickly and now stands at $148,000. The donations have mainly come from Australia, the United States and Ireland.Claire added: "Michelle is an inspiration to all that meet her. "She has been through all this while loving and nurturing a new born baby and her two young boys. "Everyone that knows Michelle would agree she is the happiest most positive person you could meet." Fresh questions about the subcontracting of UK laboratories by the HSE's Cervical Check programme must be answered. That's according to Sligo Leitrim Deputy Marc MacSharry who said it had emerged that when a laboratory is under pressure with smear testing it avails of third party testing facilities to prevent a backlog with a sister company in the UK. This was confirmed by Medlab, Sandyford, Dublin yesterday. "The Minister needs to clarify how exactly this works and whether there is a different criteria applied to tests carried out in the UK or whether they are all treated the same and signed off by Irish pathologists here," said Deputy MacSharry. "In addition, the Minister must explain whether he knew about this practice and whether he is satisfied that this happens on a regular basis and whether GPs are informed whether the tests have taken place. "Are we outsourcing the testing of smears, transcribing the results and then looking to an Irish pathologist to sign off on the test results or are they being signed off by UK pathologists? "It is important that all of the background regarding how and when tests are sent overseas to the UK is made known so that women can have full confidence in the Cervical Check programme,"he said. "It's crucial from here on out that women continue to seek the testing services of Cervical Check and HPV Vaccination," he added. We are just a few weeks away from the referendum on repealing the Eighth amendment. As a woman from County Sligo, I will vote Yes on 25 May. I'd like to explain why. This referendum is not a vote on abortion because abortion is already here. Everyone acknowledges that. Just look at the numbers. Between 2012 and 2016, 172 women from County Sligo travelled to England to have abortions. That does not take into account those who did not list their home address, or who travelled to other countries to access care. Nor does it account for the many women who, unable to travel, choose instead to order unregulated abortion pills online from unknown sellers. These pills are safe when taken under the supervision of a doctor, but that's not what is happening. The shame and isolation of this act means that girls and women taking abortion pills may delay getting emergency care when bleeding becomes severe. The threat of 14 years prison sentence if they are discovered means that many suffer and put their lives at risk because they cannot access supported abortion care legally here at home. Many never even tell their doctors, or seek their support. And so, this is really a vote to decide if we will choose to regulate and make safe the abortion that is already here, and prove care to women. In the 35 years since its addition to our constitution, there have been far too many public cases of girls and women who have been harmed by the Eighth Amendment. This goes back to the devastating story of Miss X in 1992 when a young girl, just 14 years old, became pregnant as a result of rape. This experience was so traumatic and desperate that she became suicidal. In a time of unimaginable trauma for Miss X, the Eighth Amendment prevented her from being able to terminate her pregnancy in Ireland and start to heal the wounds of her horrific experience. It is cases like these and many others that led both the Citizens' Assembly and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment to recommend legislation that allows access to abortion up to 12 weeks. After hearing hours upon hours of expert and personal testimony, panels of regular Irish citizens and our elected officials both realised that it is nearly impossible to legislate for cases concerning rape and incest. The most compassionate and logical laws we can create offer access until the 12-week mark. The reality is that life is complicated - we all know this. There will be a time in all of our lives when we are forced to manage medical emergencies and uncertainty. When this time comes, everyone hopes for compassionate, supportive care from doctors that we know. We simply can't reduce complex medical situations to two rigid sentences in a Constitution. But that is precisely what we've done with the Eighth Amendment. Rather than allowing our well-trained doctors to do their jobs, we have constrained their ability to provide the best care possible for their patients. That is why our nation's top experts on women's health, the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the vast majority of its members are all in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment. When faced with complex cases, their hands are currently tied by the constitution. The results of this can be disastrous for women. As polling day approaches, I ask you to think about a woman you love, and consider what you would want for her if she experienced the horror of rape or incest and became pregnant as a result. If she received the devastating diagnosis of a fatal foetal abnormality, what would you want for her? Finally, I would ask you to consider the fact that abortion is already here in Ireland, it is just unsafe and unregulated. Women - most of them mothers - are taking abortion pills at home alone without any medical supervision whatsoever. All the medical experts say this is dangerous. Voting Yes means we will regulate abortion in Ireland, make it safer, and provide care to women in Ireland who need it. For these reasons and so many more, I will be voting Yes. I would appeal to you to do the same. Because a woman you know might need your yes. Repealing the 8th Amendment is a necessary first step towards allowing women full and equal citizenship, according to councillor Declan Bree. It would remove a major obstacle to independent decision-making for a woman regarding her body, her life, and her future, he said. He likened the current situation of women with crisis pregnancies as fleeing to the UK like refugees. Cllr Bree said: The repeal of the 8th will allow for the introduction of a properly regulated, properly limited medical service governed by legislation which will provide support for women in crisis situations without the need for them to flee the country like refugees. Women need to be trusted and Repeal needs to happen so that women can make their own choices and have those choices respected and vindicated in law, Cllr Bree told a meeting of People First activists in Sligo this week. When I first became involved in politics as a teenager 50 years ago we lived in a different Ireland. An Ireland controlled by right wing and conservative politicians an Ireland where the hierarchy, the church and secret societies like the Knights of Columbanus had a major role in determining public policy. It was an Ireland where citizens lived in fear of criticising the church, an Ireland that had no access to birth control. Doctors could not prescribe and chemists could not supply condoms or other methods of contraception. It was an Ireland where there was widespread censorship of magazines, books and films and where women in particular were denied access to health books promoting contraception, never mind abortion. Divorce was banned and homosexuals were targeted and lived under constant treat of prosecution. It was also an Ireland in which Catholic priests and nuns terrorised thousands of boys and girls and where little or no action was taken to stop the chronic beatings, rapes and humiliation of countless children. The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse described the rape and molestation as endemic in catholic church-run industrial schools and orphanages. The sheer scale and longevity of the torment inflicted on defenceless children over 800 known abusers in over 200 Catholic institutions made it clear that it was not accidental or opportunistic but systematic. That the hierarchy did its utmost to cover up the torture and rape of our children speaks volumes about those who would now proclaim their concern about unborn children. During the referendum campaign in 1983 I was proud to be involved in the Anti- Amendment campaign in Sligo-Leitrim. We had a small but courageous number of activists in our campaign group. We opposed the 8th Amendment and argued that it was legally unnecessary, anti-woman, sectarian and divisive. The experience of the last thirty five years has proven us correct. It was an acrimonious and bitter campaign and unfortunately the majority of citizens were persuaded by the hierarchy and the conservative lobby to vote for the 8th Amendment. However, today it is recognised that the neglect and abuse meted out to so many vulnerable women and children by the church and state leave those institutions with no moral authority to decide upon, restrict or impose boundaries on women. In the 35 years since the 8th Amendment was inserted into the Constitution somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 women per year are known to have provided Irish addresses in UK clinics when seeking to access abortion services. In this context it is clear that the 8th Amendment has simply served to force women to travel abroad to access basic health care. Making abortion secretive and hard to talk about does not mean it does not happen. It is part of the history of many families in this country. It is utter hypocrisy to pretend that it is not so, he said. Elizabeth Powers, Roisin O'Dwyer, Niamh Lowe, Siobhan Gavagan, Emma Kinsella, Rachel Pierce and Deirdre O'Sullivan enjoy the sun in the Phoenix Park. Photo: Steve Humphreys Those heading to Ed Sheeran's Phoenix Park gigs on Friday and Saturday are in luck with the weather as Met Eireann are forecasting dry and sunny conditions for both days. The general outlook for Friday and Saturday is dry and sunny before temperatures dip on Sunday. Solar UV Index: Moderate countrywide but High in any sunshine for today Friday. Met Eireann (@MetEireann) May 18, 2018 Friday started out cloudy and dull with patchy drizzle in the west and northwest. However, Met Eireann said the cloud will gradually break this afternoon allowing the sunshine to break through. It should remain bright for the remainder of the day. Highest temperatures of between 17 and 19C degrees expected with Met Eireann warning of a high solar UV index. It will be mostly dry overnight but temperatures will drop dramatically to between 5C and 8C degrees. Saturday will be dry and sunny with temperatures ranging between 16C and 20C. Outbreaks of rain will affect the west by late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. In Dublin, it should remain dry for the day. The forecast for Sunday isn't great with Met Eireann predicting that it will be a dull and damp day with patchy outbreaks of rain. It will feel mild, however, with top temperatures hovering between 14C and 16C degrees. Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who law enforcement officials took into custody and identified as the suspect in the deadly school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, near Houston (Police/AP) Some 10 people are dead and 10 more wounded after a shooting at a high school in the town of Santa Fe, Texas governor Greg Abbott has said. He said Fridays shooting was one of the most heinous attacks that weve ever seen in the history of Texas schools. Mr Abbott said explosive devices including a molotov cocktail had been found in the suspected shooters home and a vehicle, as well as around the school and nearby. The suspect said he originally intended to commit suicide but gave himself up and told authorities he did not have the courage to take his own life, the governor said. Mr Abbott said there are one or two other people of interest being interviewed about the shooting. He said the suspect used a shotgun and .38 revolver, which he obtained from his father. We look to God to give the first responders, as well as the victims and the families, the guidance they need in the coming days and weeks.Texas governor Greg Abbott Mr Abbott said both weapons were owned legally by the suspects father. It is not clear whether the father knew his son had taken them. He said: We look to God to give the first responders, as well as the victims and the families, the guidance they need in the coming days and weeks. Mr Abbott said he will organise meetings around the state to discuss preventing further shootings. Expand Close Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting A law enforcement official has identified the person in custody as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis The district confirmed a number of injuries. A school police officer was shot, officials said, but there was no immediate word on his condition. Michael Farina, 17, said he was on the other side of campus when the shooting began and thought it was a fire drill. He was holding a door open for students in wheelchairs when a principal came running down the hall telling everyone to run. Another teacher yelled: It is real. Students were led to take cover behind a car shop across the street from the school. Some still did not feel safe and began jumping the fence behind it to run further away, Mr Farina said. I debated doing that myself, he said. Aerial footage showed students standing in a grassy field and three medical helicopters landing at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 people roughly 30m (48km) south-east of Houston. One student told Houston television station KTRK a gunman came into her art class and started shooting. She said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, Start running, the student said. Vice President Mike Pence said he and President Donald Trump were briefed on the shooting. Mr Pence said the students, families, teachers and all those affected should know: Were with you. Youre in our prayers and I know you are in the prayers of the American people. Mr Trump added in a tweet that that early reports were not looking good. God bless all! First lady Melania Trump also weighed in on Twitter, saying her heart goes out to Santa Fe and all of Texas today. A rare attack by a dolphin on porpoises has been captured on camera in the north of Scotland. Photographers initially thought the bottlenose dolphin was throwing a large salmon into the air as they feed on the species but a closer look at the pictures revealed the rare sight. The pictures were taken by Jamie Muny and Alister Kemp at Chanonry Point in the Moray Firth earlier this month. Sea Watch Foundation, a national charity that monitors the numbers and distributions of whales, dolphins and porpoises around the British Isles, said it had been alerted to a series of unusual sightings of bottlenose dolphin attacks in the Moray Firth and described the pictures as exceptional. Mr Kemp said: In the hundreds if not thousands of hours Ive spent photographing the dolphins, I have never witnessed such an attack. Chiara Giulia Bertulli, sightings officer for Sea Watch Foundation, said: The cause of these incidents is not clear but aggressive interactions could be due to the high co-occurrence of the two species which can result in competition over a shared food resource, occasionally leading to the death of the smaller species, although other theories have included misdirected infanticide. The changing testosterone levels in male dolphins could also influence the extent and seasonality of these attacks. The waters in the UK are incredibly rich for whales, dolphins and porpoises, and reporting sightings, whether they are of species displaying unusual behaviours or not, is a really important for Sea Watch as they are way to learn more about the many cetacean species occurring around the UK. A Chinese school has installed facial recognition technology to monitor how attentive students are in class. Every movement of pupils at Hangzhou Number 11 High School in eastern China is watched by three cameras positioned above the blackboard. The "smart classroom behaviour management system", or "smart eye", is the latest highly-intrusive surveillance equipment to be rolled out in China, where leaders have rushed to use the latest technology to monitor the wider population. The system has been installed in one classroom, but will be deployed across the school by the summer, headmaster Ni Ziyuan said. Some students are already changing their behaviour due to the increased monitoring. "Previously when I had classes that I didn't like very much, I would be lazy and maybe take naps on the desk, or flick through other textbooks," one student told Hangzhou.com, a news website run by the central government. "But I don't dare be distracted after the cameras were installed in the classrooms. It's like a pair of mystery eyes are constantly watching me." The system works by identifying different facial expressions from the students, and information is then fed into a computer which assesses if they are enjoying lessons or if their minds are wandering. The computer will pick up seven different emotions, including neutral, happy, sad, disappointed, angry, scared and surprised. If it concludes the student is distracted with other thoughts, it will send a notification to the teacher to take action. Many Chinese have grown accustomed to their privacy being infringed by the government and corporations, but people have been expressing horror about the new system on Chinese social media. "If I was still at school, I would not be able to concentrate on anything but that watching eye!" said one comment. Malaysian police have carried out raids on five properties linked to Najib Razak, the former prime minister who was ousted last week by an opposition coalition who accused his government of corruption. The raids began late on Wednesday after Mr Najib returned from evening prayers at the mosque, and included two of his family residences in Kuala Lumpur. Investigators remained for about 12 hours, until well into yesterday morning. Speaking outside Mr Najib's home at around 4am, his lawyer, Datuk Harpal Singh Grewal, said there was no indication of any impending arrests, reported the 'Straits Times'. "No documents were taken, nothing of note, only personal possessions, including bags. We believe that the police will take out two to three boxes of items," he said. Mr Najib, who is barred from leaving the country, is being investigated by the new government of Mahathir Mohamad, his former mentor turned nemesis, over a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal at the state-owned investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which he founded. The fund is being investigated by the authorities of at least six countries, including the US justice department, which alleges billions were laundered through layers of foreign bank accounts to finance Hollywood films and luxury goods, including jewellery and a yacht. Jeff Sessions, the US Attorney General, described the scandal as "kleptocracy at its worst" and some of the missing money is alleged to have ended up in Mr Najib's personal bank account. The former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing and said the money was a donation from the Saudi royal family, which he had since returned. Mr Mohamad (92), who came out of retirement to challenge Mr Najib, said he was confident prosecutors would soon have a strong case to charge the former leader. He said: "We are slowly getting to the bottom of things and many of our senior officers are volunteering information accompanied, of course, by documents. "We think that within a short while, we will have a case against him, we will be able to charge him." The British government is considering nearly doubling the number of troops in Afghanistan, according to reports. Britain's Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is said to have written to the Prime Minister recommending the increase, although a decision is yet to be made. According to reports, between 400 to 450 soldiers could be sent to the country to join the roughly 600 already deployed in non-combat roles following pressure from Donald Trump. Nato has also reportedly asked Britain to send more troops to the country. The US has increased its presence in Afghanistan since Mr Trump unveiled his South Asia strategy in August last year. Around 4,000 troops are thought to have been added to the 8,400-strong US deployment in the country, to bolster the Kabul government, train Afghan forces and fight the Taliban and other militant groups. The military uplift is intended to prevent a Taliban takeover of the country, target Islamic State and al Qaida. On Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had "reinforced our enduring investment in Afghanistan" in a conversation with the country's president Ashraf Ghani. The UK's combat operations ended in 2014 and the remaining personnel are limited to training Afghan forces. It had been thought unlikely that the UK would increase its presence in the country. The reported change in approach is said to come amid concerns over how Mr Trump will approach a coming meeting of Nato leaders. Mrs May is expected to join the president at the summit in Brussels in July. Mr Trump has repeatedly called for Nato members to meet their defence spending commitment of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) and has threatened to walk away from the organisation if his demands are not met. During a meeting with Mr Trump in Washington on Thursday, Nato general secretary Jens Stoltenberg said all members have increased their spending, in part due to Mr Trump's approach. After the talks Mr Stoltenberg said it is "very important that we all contribute more to our shared security". Earlier UK Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood suggested that the UK should spend as much on defence as it does on the NHS, which is currently around 9.8pc. The US spends around 3.5pc. He told the Daily Telegraph: "The Government often does what people call for. If people call for more money for schools and hospitals, that is often where the money then flows. It is important we raise the profile of the dangers of reducing our defence posture. Once you lose it, you will never get it back." In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. ~ Congos latest Ebola outbreak now has 14 confirmed cases as health officials rush to contain the often deadly virus in a city of more than a million people. The World Health Organisation is holding an experts meeting to determine whether the epidemic warrants being declared a global health emergency. The WHO says the risk to the public in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is very high and the regional risk high, particularly in neighbouring Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic. Vast, impoverished Congo has contained several past Ebola outbreaks but the spread of the haemorrhagic fever to an urban area poses a major challenge. WHO concerned as one #Ebola case confirmed in urban area of Democratic Republic of the Congo #DRC https://t.co/sdiHElFTZW pic.twitter.com/KuXsnHvFKx World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 17, 2018 The city of Mbandaka, which has one confirmed Ebola case so far, is an hours flight from the capital, Kinshasa, and is located on the Congo River, a busy travel corridor. The outbreak is potentially a public health emergency because many of the criteria have been met, said David Heymann, a former WHO director who has led numerous responses to Ebola. For a health crisis to constitute a global health emergency it must meet three criteria stipulated by the WHO: it must threaten other countries via the international spread of disease, it must be a serious, unusual or unexpected situation, and it may require immediate international action for containment. #DRCongo: @MSF emergency teams are on site and setting up two Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs) in Mbandaka and Bikoro to tackle the #Ebola epidemic and limit as much as possible the risk of it spreading https://t.co/UKSecy59zE MSF East Africa (@MSF_EastAfrica) May 17, 2018 Ebola has twice made it to Congos capital in the past but was rapidly stopped. Congo has had the most Ebola outbreaks of any country and Dr Heymann said authorities there have considerable expertise in halting the virus. The latest outbreak tests a new experimental Ebola vaccine, which proved highly effective in the West Africa outbreak a few years ago, although the vaccine was used long after the epidemic had peaked. More than 4,000 doses have arrived in Congo this week, with more on the way, and vaccinations are expected to start next week. One challenge will be keeping the vaccine cold in a region with poor infrastructure and patchy electricity. Just one Ebola death in the current outbreak has been confirmed so far. The health ministry said the total number of cases is 45, including 10 suspected and 21 probable. The ministry said two new deaths have been tied to the cases, including one in a suburb of Mbandaka. The other was in Bikoro, the rural area where the outbreak was announced last week, about 90 miles from Mbandaka. UK aid has supported @gavi in the development of an Ebola vaccine. 5400 of these vaccines have now arrived in DRC to help stop the current outbreak from spreading further. pic.twitter.com/pPPklw5npQ DFID (@DFID_UK) May 17, 2018 This is a major, major game-changer in the outbreak, Dr Peter Salama, the WHOs emergency response chief, warned after the first urban case was announced. Urban Ebola can result in an exponential increase in cases in a way that rural Ebola struggles to do. Until now, the outbreak had been confined to remote rural areas, where Ebola, which is spread via contact with bodily fluids of those infected, travels more slowly. Doctors Without Borders said 514 people believed to have been in contact with infected people were being monitored. The WHO said it was deploying about 30 more experts to Mbandaka. Among the MSF staff on the ground are some of our most experienced Ebola responders, including medical personnel, experts in infection control, and logisticians. https://t.co/Gjd6qG7p77 via @nbcnews @maggiemfox Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) May 17, 2018 Amid fears of the outbreak spreading to neighbouring countries, the UN migration agency said it would support the deployment of Congolese health teams to 16 entry points along the nearby border with the Republic of the Congo for infection control and prevention. This is the ninth Ebola outbreak in Congo since 1976, when the disease was first identified. The virus is initially transmitted to people from wild animals, including bats and monkeys. There is no specific treatment for Ebola. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding. The virus can be fatal in up to 90% of cases, depending on the strain. Health workers don protective clothing as they prepare to attend to patients in the isolation ward to diagnose and treat suspected Ebola patients, at Bikoro Hospital in Bikoro, the rural area where the Ebola outbreak was announced in Congo. (Mark Naftalin/UNICEF via AP) Congo has confirmed a case of Ebola in Mbandaka, a city of 1.2 million, marking the first urban case in the latest outbreak of the disease. The World Health Organisation's lead response official called the development "a game-changer". Confirmed cases of Ebola had previously been limited to a remote area more than 160km south of Mbandaka, in the rainforest of Congo's Equateur province. The case in Mbandaka is only the third confirmed case of the current outbreak; 20 others are probable, and 21 are suspected, bringing the total potential cases to 44. The death toll is now 23. "This is a major development in the outbreak," said Peter Salama, the WHO's deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response. "We have urban Ebola, which is a very different animal from rural Ebola. The potential for an explosive increase in cases is now there." The port city of Mbandaka lies on the eastern bank of the Congo river, Africa's second longest after the Nile. Tens of millions of people live along the river, and the capitals of Congo, Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo lie along it and its tributaries. Ebola is notoriously hard to contain, though recent outbreaks in Congo have been managed swiftly by the government and global health institutions. This is the ninth Ebola outbreak in Congo since the 1970s, and the first since May of last year, when five confirmed cases resulted in four deaths. An outbreak between 2014 and 2016 in west Africa was the worst ever, and killed more than 11,000. There were no cases in the Congo during that outbreak. The disease causes internal bleeding and spreads rapidly through contact with small amounts of bodily fluid. Its early symptoms are not obvious and the worst effects may take weeks to show. Ebola, endemic in Congo, is often transmitted to humans through eating contaminated meat, but can be caught through any close contact with an infected animal. The international response to the current Congo outbreak has been substantial, and is expected to grow in size and urgency after the announcement of a confirmed urban case. On Wednesday, the WHO delivered 4,000 injections of an experimental vaccine with proven efficacy in recent trials, with more batches expected soon. The WHO is also deploying 30 experts to Mbandaka to "conduct surveillance in the city and is working with the Ministry of Health and partners to engage with communities on prevention and treatment and the reporting of new cases". Persistent rain and lack of roads has hampered the effort to contain the outbreak so far. Cases had previously only been confirmed in Bikoro, a small town whose health clinic only has "limited functionality," according to the WHO. Helicopter and motorcycle are the only ways to reach Bikoro from Mbandaka, but an airstrip has been rapidly cleared for small planes to land with supplies. Part of the difficulty in deploying the vaccine is that it must be transported and stored at between -50C and -60C, requiring powerful refrigerators. The vaccine, produced by Merck, is not yet licensed, but the WHO has cleared it for "compassionate use". "The remote location of the outbreak hampers both the information about the outbreak and interventions to control it," said Cyrus Shahpar, director of epidemic prevention at Resolve to Save Lives, a New York-based organisation. ( Washington Post) Ecuador's government cut off Julian Assange's internet connection in March following his activity on social media (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno has ordered the immediate withdrawal of extra security assigned to the countrys embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has resided since 2012. A brief statement from Ecuadors National Communications Secretariat said from now on the diplomatic mission would have normal security similar to the rest of Ecuadors embassies in the world. The statement did not say why the decision was made. Expand Close Julian Assange extradition / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Julian Assange extradition In March, Ecuadors government cut off Mr Assanges internet connection following his activity on social media decrying the arrest of a Catalan separatist politician. Ecuador granted him asylum in its London embassy in 2012 where he has remained cooped up ever since. The country has tried to find a solution that would allow Mr Assange to leave without the threat of arrest, but with no success. In the final portrait of Mozart from 1790, a year before his death, he is painted as puffy and bloated, his face ravaged by alcoholism. But a new book by a retired British surgeon suggests the Austrian symphonist has been unfairly maligned and did not have a serious drinking problem. Jonathan Noble, a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and former Manchester United club surgeon, began his research hoping to delve into the illnesses which may have sparked works of genius in great composers. Yet after studying post-mortem reports and medical notes, he found that many did not suffer from the conditions attributed to them. And he concluded that claims of Mozart's alcoholism have "little foundation". "Alcoholism is inconsistent with serious, sustained musical composition. If you're a true alcoholic, there's no way you can go around composing operas, symphonies or string quartets," he said. An elderly Palestinian man falls to the ground after being shot by Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strips border with Israel on Monday. Photo: Adel Hana/AP Monstrous. Frightful. Wicked. It's strange how the words just run out in the Middle East today. Sixty Palestinians dead. In one day. Two thousand four hundred wounded, more than half by live fire. In one day. The figures are an outrage, a turning away from morality, a disgrace for any army to create. And we are supposed to believe that the Israeli army is one of "purity of arms"? And we have to ask another question. If it's 60 Palestinians dead in a day this week, what if it's 600 next week? Or 6,000 next month? Israel's bleak excuses - and America's crude response - raise this very question. If we can now accept a massacre on this scale, how far can our immune system go in the days and weeks and months to come? Yes, we know all the excuses. Hamas - corrupt, cynical, no "purity" there - was behind the Gaza demonstrations. Some of the protesters were violent, sent burning kites - kites, for heaven's sake - across the border, others threw stones; though since when has stone-throwing been a capital offence in any civilised country? If an eight-month-old baby dies after tear gas inhalation, what were her parents doing bringing their infant child to the Gaza border? And so it goes on. Why complain about dead Palestinians when we have the Sissis in Egypt and the Assads in Syria and the Saudis in Yemen to contend with? But no, the Palestinians must always be guilty. The victims are themselves the culprits. This is exactly what the Palestinians have had to endure for 70 years. Remember how they were to blame for their own exodus seven decades ago, because they followed the instructions of radio stations to leave their homes until the Jews of Israel were "driven into the sea". Only of course, the radio broadcasts never existed. We still must thank Israel's "new historians" for proving this. The broadcasts were a myth, part of Israel's foundational national history invented to ensure that the new state - far from being founded on the ruins of others' homes - was a land without people. And it was a marvel to behold the way in which the same old reporting cowardice began to infect the media's account of what happened in Gaza. CNN called the Israeli killings a "crackdown". References to the tragedy of the Palestinians in many news media referred to their "displacement" 70 years ago - as if they happened to be on holiday at the time of the 'Nakba', the catastrophe, as it's known - and just couldn't make it home again. The word to use should have been perfectly clear: dispossession. Because that is what happened to the Palestinians all those years ago and what is still happening in the West Bank - today, as you read this - courtesy of men like Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, a supporter of these wretched and illegal colonies built on Arab lands and appropriated from Arabs who have owned and lived on the land for generations. And so we come to the most ghastly of all fateful events last week: the simultaneous bloodbath in Gaza and the glorious opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem. "It's a great day for peace," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced. When I heard that, I wondered if my hearing was defective. Did he actually say those words? Alas, he did. At times like this, it is an immense relief to find that journals like the Israeli daily 'Haaretz' maintain their sense of honour. And the most remarkable piece of reportage came in 'The New York Times' where Michelle Goldberg caught perfectly the horror of both Gaza and the embassy opening in Jerusalem. The latter, she wrote, was "grotesque a consummation of the cynical alliance between hawkish Jews and Zionist evangelicals who believe that the return of Jews to Israel will usher in the apocalypse and the return of Christ, after which Jews who don't convert will burn forever." Goldberg pointed out that Robert Jeffress, a Dallas pastor, gave the opening prayer at the embassy ceremony. And Jeffress it was who once claimed religions like "Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism" lead people "to an eternity of separation from God in hell". The closing benediction came from John Hagee, an end-times preacher who, Goldberg recalled, once said Hitler was sent by God to drive the Jews to their ancestral homeland. Of Gaza, she added: "Even if you completely dismiss the Palestinian right of return - which I find harder to do now that Israel has all but abandoned the possibility of a Palestinian state - it hardly excuses the Israeli military's disproportionate violence." I'm not so sure, though, that Democrats have become more emboldened to discuss Israeli occupation as she thinks. But I think she's right when she says that as long as Trump is president, "it may be that Israel can kill Palestinians, demolish their homes and appropriate their land with impunity". Rarely in modern times have we come across an entire people - the Palestinians - treated as a non-people. Amid the trash and rats of the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Lebanon - oh, fateful names they remain - there is a hut-museum of items brought into Lebanon from Galilee by those first refugees of the late 1940s: coffee pots and front door keys to houses long destroyed. They locked up their houses, many of them, planning to return in a few days. But they are dying fast, that generation, like the dead of the Second World War. Even in the oral archives of the Palestinian expulsion (at least 800 survivors are recorded) organised in the American University of Beirut, they are finding that many whose voices were recorded in the late 1990s have since died. So will they go home? Will they "return"? That, I suspect, is Israel's greatest fear, not because there are homes to "return" to but because there are millions of Palestinians who claim their right - under UN resolutions - and who might turn up in their tens of thousands at the border fence in Gaza next time. How many snipers will Israel need then? And, of course, there are the pitiful ironies. For there are families in Gaza whose grandfathers and grandmothers were driven from their homes less than a mile from Gaza itself, from two villages which existed precisely where stands today the Israeli town of Sderot, so often rocketed by Hamas. They can still see their lands. And when you can see your land, you want to go home. Mothercare has docked the pay of chief executive Mark Newton-Jones as he returns to lead a turnaround of the ailing babywear retailer. The company, which employs around 3,000 people across 137 stores, ousted him as boss in April. However, on Thursday it said he would be going back to head up the firm as it undertakes a sweeping store closure plan, which could see the loss of 800 jobs. Expand Close Mark Newton-Jones is returning to Mothercare to lead a turnaround of the troubled retailer (Mothercare/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mark Newton-Jones is returning to Mothercare to lead a turnaround of the troubled retailer (Mothercare/PA) Mr Newton-Jones will be paid 480,000 on his return, having received a basic salary of 612,000 prior to his departure. A spokesman for the group said: In recognition of Mothercares financial position and the support for the restructuring and refinancing given by multiple stakeholders, Mark has taken a significant pay cut. Mark has a major role as part of the team to return to Mothercare to a more stable footing, accelerate the transformation of the Group and drive it towards a viable and sustainable future. Mothercare has proposed to close 50 stores as part of a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA), an insolvency procedure that requires the approval of landlords. Alongside the restructuring, Mothercare also announced a refinancing package worth up to 113.5 million. It comprises 28 million through an equity capital-raising, an extension of its existing debt to 67.5 million, and 18 million in shareholder and trade partner loans. Among the latter figure is a 2 million loan from DC Thomson, publisher of the Beano. Dan Wood, who was brought in to take over from Mr Newton Jones, will now be made managing director. Mothercare also posted its annual results on Thursday, revealing that it swung to a 72.8 million pre-tax loss in the year to March 24, compared with a 7.1 million profit in 2017. On an adjusted basis, pre-tax profits fell 88.3% to just 2.3 million. In the UK, losses grew from 9.7 million to 79.4 million. People gather by the Barnett Intermediate School where parents are gathering to pick up their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP) Students at Santa Fe High School in Texas were just beginning Friday classes when an alarm bell sounded, gun shots rang out, and they had to run from the latest mass shooting at a U.S. school. "I wanted to take care of my friends, but I knew I had to get out of there," said 15-year-old freshman Courtney Marshall, who saw the gunman walk into her art class and open fire. "I knew the guy behind me was dead." Police said a student fatally shot at least eight people, including students, before he was arrested. Explosive devices were also found on campus, authorities said. Student Zack Wofford said he was in a classroom two doors down from where the shooting took place. He said his substitute teacher ran into the corridor and pulled the fire alarm and that students barricaded the door. "On the side it happened ... was only three, four classes," Wofford told CBS affiliate KHOU. "We knew there was another 1,000 (students) on the whole other side of the school. We knew the fire alarm would get them out safe." Sophomore Dakota Shrader told reporters there was panic as teachers told the students to run. "As soon as the alarms went off, everybody just started running," she said, "and next thing you know everybody looks, and you hear boom, boom, boom, and I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest floor so I could hide, and I called my mom." One male student told KHOU how he sprinted for the safety of a nearby treeline: "I didn't want to be in sight. I heard four more shots, and then we jumped the fence to somebody's house." Another, Damon Rabon, recounted how he and a substitute teacher saw the shooter after they heard several loud bangs and poked their heads out of a classroom door. "Black trenchcoat, short kind of guy, had a sawed-off shotgun," Rabon told CBS News in an interview. One female student was interviewed by CBS News in a video that was widely shared online. In it, she said she was not surprised that the shooting took place at her school because they have been "happening everywhere." "I've always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here too," said the student, who was not named. "I wasn't surprised, I was just scared." In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) A woman wipes away tears as she leaves the family reunification site following a shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP) A man hugs a woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) In this image made from video, people stand near school buses outside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. An active shooter was reported on campus Friday. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) In this image taken from video emergency personnel and law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) Law enforcement officers are responding to Santa Fe High School following a shooting incident in this Harris County Sheriff office, Santa Fe, Texas, U.S., photo released on May 18, 2018. Courtesy HCSO/Handout via REUTERS Two women pray outside the family reunification site following a shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Marie D. De Jesus /Houston Chronicle via AP) This undated photo from Facebook shows Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who law enforcement officials have taken into custody and identified as the suspect in the deadly school shooting Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas, near Houston. (Facebook via AP) A woman prays in the grass outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their kids following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) This undated photo from Facebook shows Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who law enforcement officials have taken into custody and identified as the suspect in the deadly school shooting Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas, near Houston. (Facebook via AP) A 17-year-old armed with a shotgun and a pistol opened fire at a Texas high school on Friday, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. The shooting at the Santa Fe High School was the nation's deadliest such attack since the massacre in Florida that gave rise to a campaign by teenagers for gun control. Expand Close In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) The suspected shooter, who was in custody on murder charges, also had explosive devices that were found in the school and nearby, said Governor Greg Abbott, who called the assault "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools". Investigators offered no immediate motive for the shooting. Expand Close In this image made from video, people stand near school buses outside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. An active shooter was reported on campus Friday. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In this image made from video, people stand near school buses outside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. An active shooter was reported on campus Friday. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) The governor said the assailant intended to kill himself but gave up and told police that he did not have the courage to take his own life. The deaths were all but certain to re-ignite the national debate over gun regulations, coming just three months after the Parkland, Florida, attack that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Expand Close Two women pray outside the family reunification site following a shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Marie D. De Jesus /Houston Chronicle via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Two women pray outside the family reunification site following a shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Marie D. De Jesus /Houston Chronicle via AP) "It's been happening everywhere. I've always kind of felt like that eventually it was going to happen here, too," Santa Fe High School student Paige Curry told Houston television station KTRK. "I don't know. I wasn't surprised. I was just scared." Another 10 people were wounded at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 people roughly 30 miles southeast of Houston, the governor said. Expand Close A man hugs a woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A man hugs a woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) The wounded included a school police officer who was the first to confront the suspect and got shot in the arm. Zachary Muehe was in his art class when he heard three loud booms. He told The New York Times that a student he knew from football was armed with a shotgun and was wearing a shirt emblazoned with the slogan "Born to Kill." "It was crazy watching him shoot and then pump. I remember seeing the shrapnel from the tables, whatever he hit. I remember seeing the shrapnel go past my face," he told The Times. Michael Farina, 17, said he was on the other side of campus when the shooting began. He heard a fire alarm and thought it was a drill. He was holding a door open for special education students in wheelchairs when a principal came bounding down the hall and telling everyone to run. Another teacher yelled out, "It is real!" Students were led to take cover behind a car shop across the street from the school. Some still did not feel safe and began jumping the fence behind the shop to run even farther away, Mr Farina said. "I debated doing that myself," he said. The gunman yelled "Surprise" before he started shooting, according to Texas Representative Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The suspect was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who appeared to have no prior arrests or confrontations with law enforcement. He made his initial court appearance on Friday evening by video link from the Galveston County Jail. A judge denied bond and took his application for a court-appointed attorney. Mr Pagourtzis played on the junior football team and was a member of a dance squad with a local Greek Orthodox church. Acquaintances described him as quiet and unassuming, an avid video game player who routinely wore a black trench coat and black boots to class. The suspect obtained the shotgun and a .38-caliber handgun from his father, who owned them legally, Mr Abbott said. It was not clear whether the father knew his son had taken them. The assailant's homemade explosives included pipe bombs, at least one Molotov cocktail and pressure-cooker bombs similar to those used in the Boston Marathon attack, authorities said. Survivors of the Florida attack took to social media to express grief and outrage in the aftermath. "My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School. It's an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town - Parkland will stand with you now and forever," Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Jaclyn Corin said in a tweet. She also directed her frustration at President Donald Trump, writing "Our children are being MURDERED and you're treating this like a game. This is the 22nd school shooting just this year. DO SOMETHING." In the aftermath of the Florida assault, survivors pulled all-nighters, petitioned city councils and state politicians, and organised protests in a grass-roots movement. Within weeks, politicians adopted changes, including new weapons restrictions. In late March, the teenagers spearheaded one of the largest student protest marches since Vietnam in Washington and inspired hundreds of other marches from California to Japan. The calls for tighter gun controls have barely registered in gun-loving Texas - at least to this point. Texas has some of the most permissive gun laws in the US and just hosted the National Rifle Association's annual conference earlier this month. In the run-up to the March primary election, gun control was not a main issue with candidates of either party. Republicans did not soften their views on guns, and Democrats campaigned on a range of issues instead of zeroing in on gun violence. Kuwait has circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations calling for the deployment of international peace keeping forces on the border between Israel and Gaza strip, in the wake of the massacre of 62 Palestinians by the Israeli army on the day of the inauguration of US embassy in Jerusalem. The Gulf country is currently member of UN Security Council and is expected to receive the backing of the other Arab countries of the UN for the draft resolution. The proposed forces according to the resolution will be providing international protection to Palestinians. At least 62 Palestinians were killed on Monday by the Israeli army near the eastern border with Gaza as thousands of Palestinians in Gaza strip protested against the inauguration of US embassy in the disputed city of Jerusalem. The massacre drew to Israel worldwide condemnations with many countries calling independent investigation into the killing. Israel has rejected the calls arguing that its forces were defending the border from Gaza ruler Hamass terrorists. Israeli ambassador to the UN has lambasted Kuwaits draft resolution noting that it would rather give protection to Hamas that Israel views as a terrorist group. The cynicism and attempts to distort reality have reached a new low, said Ambassador Danny Danon, in a statement. Israel will continue to defend its sovereignty and the security of its citizens against the terror and murderous violence of Hamas. Israel expects its ally the US to veto the move as it did Monday after blocking the adoption of a UN statement that sought to call for an independent probe into the situation along the Gaza border. In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) In this image made from video, people stand near school buses outside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. An active shooter was reported on campus Friday. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) In this image taken from video emergency personnel and law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) Multiple people were killed on Friday in a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, CNN reported, in the latest gun violence in a country still shaken by the massacre at a Florida high school in February. Citing unnamed sources, CNN said there were multiple fatalities after the shooting at the school about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Houston. Expand Close In this image made from video, people stand near school buses outside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. An active shooter was reported on campus Friday. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In this image made from video, people stand near school buses outside Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, May 18, 2018. An active shooter was reported on campus Friday. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) The sheriff's office for nearby Harris County said its deputies were assisting with a "multiple-casualty incident." "This is no longer an active shooting situation and the injured are being treated," the sheriff's department said on Twitter. Expand Close In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In this image taken from video law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying Santa Fe High School has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) The school district in Santa Fe, said the situation was "active, but has been contained." Local media reported that a suspect was in custody. U.S. President Donald Trump wrote of the shooting on Twitter: "Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" Expand Close In this image taken from video helicopters sit in the parking lot of Santa Fe High School as law enforcement officers respond to the school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying the high school has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In this image taken from video helicopters sit in the parking lot of Santa Fe High School as law enforcement officers respond to the school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. The Santa Fe school district issued an alert Friday morning saying the high school has been placed on lockdown. (KTRK-TV ABC13 via AP) The latest such incident at a U.S. school underscored a national debate over gun control and gun rights that has intensified after an assailant killed 17 students and staff on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Cubas President Miguel Diaz-Canel, third from left, walks away from the site where a Boeing 737 crashed (Enrique de la Osa/AP) A 39-year-old plane with 110 people aboard crashed and burned in a field just after taking off from the Havana airport on Friday, leaving three survivors in Cubas worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials said. The Boeing 737 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport while on a short-hop flight to the eastern city of Holguin. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the field of debris left where Cubana Flight 972 hit the ground. There is a high number of people who appear to have died, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel said from the scene. Things have been organised, the fire has been put out and the remains are being identified. Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. My daughter is 24, my God, shes only 24! cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. State TV said the jet veered sharply to the right after takeoff, and Mr Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to investigate the cause of the crash. The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed, Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena said. Expand Close There were more than 100 passengers on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp There were more than 100 passengers on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) Authorities said there were 104 passengers and six crew members on the flight operated by the Cuban state airline. Mexican authorities said the Boeing 737-201 was built in 1979 and rented by Cubana from Aerolineas Damojh, a small charter company that also goes by the name Global Air. A statement from the countrys Transportation Department identified the pilot and co-pilot as Captain Jorge Luis Nunez Santos and first officer Miguel Angel Arreola Ramirez. It said the flight attendants were Maria Daniela Rios, Abigail Hernandez Garcia and Beatriz Limon. Global Air said maintenance worker Marco Antonio Lopez Perez was also aboard. Expand Close More than 100 passengers were on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp More than 100 passengers were on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) Mexican aviation authorities said a team of experts would fly to Cuba on Saturday to take part in the investigation. Cubana has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Four crash survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, and three remained alive as of mid-afternoon, hospital director Martinez Blanco told Cuban state TV. Expand Close The partner of a member of the crew and a friend comfort each other in Mexico City (Rebecca Blackwell/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The partner of a member of the crew and a friend comfort each other in Mexico City (Rebecca Blackwell/AP) State media reports stopped short of openly declaring the rest on board were dead, but there was no word of other survivors by Friday evening. Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa had met with Cubana officials on Thursday to discuss improvements to its service. The airline blames its spotty record on a lack of parts and airplanes because of the U.S. trade embargo against the communist-run country. It was Cubas third major aviation accident since 2010. Cubas President Miguel Diaz-Canel, third from left, walks away from the site where a Boeing 737 crashed (Enrique de la Osa/AP) Three survivors have reportedly been taken to hospital in a critical condition after a plane crashed on take-off from an airport in Cuba. The Boeing 737 operated by Cubana de Aviacion crashed after leaving Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. The plane, with 104 passengers and nine foreign crew aboard, ploughed into a farm field where firefighters sprayed the charred fuselage with hoses. Residents living near the site said they saw at least some survivors being taken away in ambulances. A military officer said there appear to have been three survivors in a critical condition. Expand Close There were more than 100 passengers on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp There were more than 100 passengers on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) Its a disaster, the officer said. State media also reported there were three survivors. An employee of a Mexican charter firm said the plane belonged to the company and it had a six-person Mexican crew. My daughter is 24, my God, shes only 24! cried Beatriz Pantoja. Her daughter Leticia was on board the plane. She and other family members were rushed to a private area inside an airport terminal in the afternoon. Expand Close More than 100 passengers were on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp More than 100 passengers were on board (Ramon Espinosa/AP) Cubana has placed many of its planes out of service due to maintenance problems in recent months. An employee who answered the phone at the Mexico City office of Aerolinea Global Air said that the Mexican crew included a pilot and a co-pilot. Firefighters rushed to extinguish flames engulfing the plane, which was meant to be on a short jaunt to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin. Government officials including President Miguel Diaz-Canel rushed to the site, along with a large number of emergency medical workers. On Thursday, Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa met with Cubana officials to discuss improvements to its service. The airline is notorious for its frequent delays and cancellations, which Cubana blames on a lack of parts and planes due to the US trade embargo on the island. Fridays crash was Cubas third major accident since 2010. The UN Human Rights Council has voted to set up a commission of inquiry to look into a deadly crackdown on protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. Meeting in a special session in Geneva, the council voted 29-2 with 14 abstentions to back a resolution that also condemned the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians. Israel condemned the resolution, which was put forward by a group of countries including Pakistan, and the US said it was an example of a biased focus on Israel by the council. Both lamented that it did not mention Gazas Hamas rulers, blamed by Israel for the violence. "End the occupation, and the violence & insecurity will largely disappear" UN #HumanRights Chief delivers opening statement at @UN_HRC Special Session on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Full speech: https://t.co/7GqZf77qvq pic.twitter.com/IxNg7eXzpJ UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) May 18, 2018 Israeli troops firing into Gaza killed nearly 60 Palestinians at mass border protests on Monday. The independent, international commission of inquiry mandated by the council will be asked to produce a final report next March. During Fridays session, the UNs top human rights official backed calls for an international inquiry and questioned Israels assertion that its security forces tried to minimise casualties. There is little evidence of any attempt to minimise casualties on Monday, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein. Expand Close An elderly Palestinian man falls to the ground after being shot by Israeli troops / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An elderly Palestinian man falls to the ground after being shot by Israeli troops Some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used sling-shots, flew burning kites into Israel, and attempted to use wire-cutters on border fences, but these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force, added Mr Zeid, a Jordanian prince. He said: The stark contrast in casualties on both sides is also suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response. Israel and the US have repeatedly accused the 47-member council of anti-Israel bias. Israeli ambassador Aviva Raz Schechter said Fridays session and the call for a commission of inquiry are yet again politically motivated and wont improve the situation on the ground by even one iota. The unfortunate outcome of Mondays riots can only be attributed to Hamass cynical exploitation of its own population in a violent campaign against Israel, she said. It is regrettable that so many member states allow themselves to be misled by the false narrative of so-called peaceful protests. At least one gunman has opened fire at a Texas high school, killing eight to 10 people, most of them pupils, authorities said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he could not be precise about the number of deaths at Santa Fe High School. Two suspects believed to be students are in custody. Authorities said possible explosive devices have been found at the school and experts are in the process of rendering them safe. Theres no indication how many devices have been found. Police asked the public to remain vigilant and to call 911 if they see any suspicious items. It was the nations deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and re-energised the gun-control movement after surviving teenagers launched a campaign for reform. School officials confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but would not release further details. A school police officer is being treated in hospital, the sheriff said, but there was no immediate word on the extent of his injuries. We hope the worst is over, and I really cant say any more about that because it would be pure speculation, assistant principal Cris Richardson told reporters at the scene. Aerial footage showed students standing in a grassy field and three medical helicopters landing at the school in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 residents about 30 miles south east of Houston. School officials said police were working to secure the building and move pupils to another location to reunite with their parents. One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting. She said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room. Expand Close Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Students and parents wait to reunite after the shooting We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, Start running, the student told the television station. She said she did not get a good look at the gunman because she was running away. She said students escaped through a door at the back of the classroom. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was responding to the shooting. After the February 14 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors pulled all-nighters, petitioned city councils and state legislators, and organised protests in a grassroots movement. Within weeks, state legislators adopted changes, including new weapons restrictions. The move cemented the gun-friendly states break with the National Rifle Association, and the NRA fought back with a lawsuit. In late March, the teenagers spearheaded one of the largest student protest marches since Vietnam in Washington and inspired hundreds of other marches from California to Japan. New Delhi, May 18 (IBNS): Electronic manufacturing giant LG Electronics India launched an emotional yet inspirational campaign themed #CelebratingTheNew, revolving around how new innovations and new lifestyle aspirations make dreams come true, and more importantly how dreaming up is shaping a new India in 2018. The launch of the video coincides with LGs 21st anniversary celebrations in India, where it is further stepping up efforts to design and manufacture innovative products and solutions that satisfy the specific requirements of Indian customers. The heartwarming video is of a father and a teenage daughter wherein a father surpasses a challenge he had since his youth, through learning from her daughter. Celebrating the new is a fresh take on every lifestyle dynamics of parent-kid relationships in India. And, how one common thing in our lives passes from generation to generation. LG has captured this philosophy as journey of Innovation from one generation to another in the Video The video begins with a teenage girl searching for something in the old boxes where she accidentally discovers a mathematics answer sheet with a score that reads 3 out of 100 marks. The answer sheet, as it turns out, belonged to her father. Were your math so bad? the daughter asks her father. The video takes you into a flash back where we see a boy was being scolded by his father, who also happens to be a mathematics school teacher, for scoring bad in his math exam. The 14-year boy, who is now a father, is embarrassed and is seen roaming around the streets. The scene cuts back to the present day where he regrets running away from school after flunking the test, and how that incident has changed his life forever. As the story moves on, we see the daughter putting her best efforts in teaching math to his father to an extent that she convinces him to appear for an exam. The girl then sends the answer sheet to her grandfather to check. In the end, we see a surprise planned for the father where the grandfather is holding his answer sheet wherein a score of 93/100 is seen. The music that accompanies the video depicts the journey and the motive of persuading ones dreams. Speaking of the campaign, Amit Gujral, Head Corporate Marketing, LG Electronics India, said: The emotionally charged campaign is a true reflection of LGs brand philosophy of making our customers dreams come true. The video effectively depicts the emotions and aspirations of a common man, and how following ones dreams can have a long-lasting impact on their own lives and of their loved ones. It reminds us in a unique way how dreams have and continue to come alive with LG. We have always been a companion along the journey of our consumers and this campaign dedicates a strong message - LG has been an integral part of every Indians dream. The video recalls LGs astronaut brand that was launched coinciding with its 20th anniversary celebrations last year. The video, which went viral with 104 million views, a delightful message that touched the hearts of millions of customers. We invite all Indians to be a part of the new journey via http://bit.ly/LG21yrs_P where we are sure everyone of us shall relate to. Our 21 years long journey in India is a remarkable milestone, and we are determined more than ever before to develop innovative products and solutions that act as catalyst in offering better lifestyle to all its consumers, concluded Gujral. The government of Sierra Leone has been hurled before the court of the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) over a ban on pregnant schoolgirls returning to the classroom after delivery. Right groups including United States-based Equality Now (EN), Gambia- based Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and others filed the case before the regional court in the Nigerian capital Abuja. According to Equality Now, the case is seeking to lift the ban on pregnant schoolgirls from attending school in Sierra Leone. The ban has been in place since 2015, as the young mothers are deemed to be a bad influence on their schoolmates. A spokesman for the ECOWAS has confirmed to Reuters that the case had been filed and said it would give Sierra Leone 30 days to respond. An official in Sierra Leones education ministry told Reuters that she was not yet aware that a case had been filed, but that the government would defend their policy. It is estimated that a third of children in Sierra Leone are born to school-age children and there is anecdotal evidence that the incidence of teenage pregnancy rose sharply during the Ebola outbreak. Plan International, Save the Children and World Vision International have reported that sexual exploitation and violence against girls increased during the Ebola epidemic in the West African nation. EN & partners have engaged state and non-state actors to advocate for the lifting of the ban. Unfortunately, efforts have been fruitless and the violation of girls rights to education continues unabated, the Rights group lamented in a statement. Bangalore, May 18 (IBNS): The Supreme Court will hear petition that challenged the invitation made by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to BJP strongman BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in the state. Yeddyurappa took oath as the Chief Minister of the southern state on Thursday. The entire invitation episode has triggered a political row in Karnataka. The Supreme Court had earlier on Thursday said it will not Yeddyurappa from taking oath as the CM. However, the apex court had said his survival as the top leader of the state will depend on the final verdict. Sources told NDTV that the Supreme Court is likely to cut down 15-day time-limit given to Mr Yeddyurappa by the Governor to prove the majority. In a major political turn, the Karnataka unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday evening announced that its leader BS Yeddyurappa will be taking oath as the chief minister of the south Indian state on Thursday after governor Vajubhai Vala invited the party to form government. The Governor gave BJP a period of 15 days to prove majority, said reports. BJP had won 104 seats in the Assembly polls. Meanwhile, playing with the strategy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to assume powers in Karnataka, the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will now stake claims to form governments in Goa and Bihar respectively, as the two political outfits had emerged as single largest parties in the two states, media reports said. The move by the Congress and the RJD have genesis in Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to invite BJP's BS Yeddyurappa to take oath as the CM of the state. The Congress has raised the Goa, Manipur instances where it was not asked to form the government despite emerging as the single largest party. Taking a cue from the Karnataka slug-fest, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi said he will meet Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik at 1 pm on Friday. In the 2015 Bihar state polls, former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad's RJD emerged as the single largest party. Though the grand alliance- which was formed by RJD, Janata Dal (United) and Congress- constituted the government in 2015, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) broke out of the alliance to join hands with the BJP in 2017. In Goa, which went to polls in 2017, the Congress emerged as the single largest party but the BJP formed the government with the support of a regional party in the state. Image: Facebook page of BS Yeddyurappa Guwahati, May 18 (IBNS): At least nine people were killed and two others injured in four separate road mishaps in Assam in the past 24 hours. According to reports, three people were killed when a speeding truck mowed down them on National Highway 31 (C) in Gossaigaon area in Kokrajhar district on Thursday night. Local people said that the dead were employees of a petrol pump and were returning home. The deceased persons were identified as Robinson Das Hebrom, Robinson Hebrom and Supriya Murmu. In a separate incident, four people died in a road mishap in Kamalpur area near Baihata Chariali in Kamrup (Rural) districton Thursday night. The incident happened when a Wagon-R vehicle hit a roadside parked truck. Two people died on the spot and four others received serious injuries. The injured were rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital, where two succumbed to their injuries. The deceased persons were identified as Andhi Boro, Merina Boro, Manmohan Boro and Liza Boro. In tow other incidents, an old woman died when a vehicle hit her in North Guwahati area and another person died in Khetri area in Kamrup (Metro) district. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Islamabad, May 18 (IBNS): Pakistan on Friday summoned Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria over the issue of 'unprovoked ceasefire violations' by Indian armed forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary. Pakistan's foreign ministry said Acting Foreign Secretary, summoned the Indian High Commissioner and 'condemned' the incident. "The Acting Foreign Secretary, summoned the Indian High Commissioner today and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary on 18th May 2018 (which still continues), in Pukhlian, Cahprar, Harpal, Charwah and Shakargarh Sectors, resulting in the shahadat of 4 innocent members of the family of Mr. Noor Hussain (including his wife, two (2) daughters and a son) in Village Khanoor, and injuries to 10 others," Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. "The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons. In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 1050 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, resulting in the shahadat of 28 innocent civilians, while injuring 117 others. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017, when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations," claimed the foreign office. "The Acting Foreign Secretary urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary," read the statement. The Foreign Ministry said he urged that the Indian side should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. New Delhi, May 18 (IBNS): Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that Swachh Bharat is a prerequisite for establishing a Swasth Bharat. He was addressing the Convocation of Lady Hardinge Medical College, here on Friday. The Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare,Ashwini Kumar Choubey, the Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. The Vice President said that the job of faculty members does not end by merely imparting medical knowledge and skills but entails a more onerous responsibility of moulding the young minds into conscientious citizens with uncompromising integrity, high moral and ethical standards. It is said that a person, who plans for a year, sows grains, the one who plans for 10 years, plants fruit-bearing trees, and the one who plans for generations, develops human beings!, he added. The Vice President said that it is time for all public health experts, healthcare professionals, local bodies and communities to join hands in promoting hygiene and sanitation in a big way to build a Swachh Bharat, a prerequisite for establishing a Swasth Bharat. He further said that lack of adequate medical facilities in the rural areas and the acute shortage of doctors and para-medical personnel across the country is a challenge. "We need human resource in the health sector - whether it is a medical college or the paramedical staff, the country needs them in large numbers," he added. The Vice President said that the Doctors are considered next to God in our country and it is the cardinal responsibility of all those entering the medical profession to uphold the trust and confidence of the patients, who seek treatment from them. He advised the Doctors to maintain the highest standards of ethics and integrity at every stage. "I am sure that all the students of the Lady Hardinge Medical College will carry on the legacy of this prestigious institute and contribute towards building a healthy India," he added. The Vice President said that in the classical Indian thought the doctors are revered as gods Vaidyo Naarayano Harihi. "It is the ability to listen, ability to diagnose the problem and the ability to heal that imparts this divine touch to the noble profession you all are engaged in," he added. Following is the text of Vice Presidents address: I am extremely delighted to be a part of this convocation ceremony of the prestigious Lady Hardinge Medical College, which was established more than 100 years ago. I convey my greetings and best wishes to all the graduates, post graduates, their parents and teachers on this momentous occasion. In the classical Indian thought the doctors are revered as gods Vaidyo Naarayano Harihi . It is the ability to listen, ability to diagnose the problem and the ability to heal that imparts this divine touch to the noble profession you all are engaged in. Training of young professionals in the sciences and art of medicine is one of the most sacred duties one can ever perform. You are not only imparting knowledge and helping students imbibe skills but you are also facilitating the internalization of a set of values. Patience, understanding, empathy, soothing expression and skilful assessment are crucial for a successful career in medicine. These attitudes and behavioural traits need nurturing, they have to be modelled by seniors and have to be lived by students. The health of our country is being moulded in the medical institutions like yours. Dear faculty members, your job does not end by merely imparting medical knowledge and skills but entails a more onerous responsibility of moulding the young minds into conscientious citizens with uncompromising integrity, high moral and ethical standards. This is all the more important in the present times when the image of the medical profession has been dented by the perception that it has become highly commercialised. Since attaining Independence, India has made great strides in various fields from producing enough food to feed more than 1.3 billion people to becoming one of the leading space faring nations. However, the country is still facing many problems like poverty, illiteracy, atrocities against women and terrorism, to name a few. Today, the people of the country need to once again unite to overcome various challenges and build a New India. With about 65 per cent of the population below 35 years, we need to fully tap this demographic capital in various fields to fast track the progress of the country. It is said that a person, who plans for a year, sows grains, the one who plans for 10 years, plants fruit-bearing trees, and the one who plans for generations, develops human beings! Colleges like Lady Hardinge Medical College have been striving to develop good doctors and good human beings, so that through education and culture, a nation of strong men and women is built and generations can reap its benefits! Sisters and brothers, today the nations health sector is a cause for concern. We are facing the twin burdens of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Although polio, tetanus and small pox were successfully eliminated, diseases like TB, malaria, chikangunya and dengue are still prevalent. Also lot more efforts are needed to further bring down IMR and MMR indices across the country. It is time for all public health experts, healthcare professionals, local bodies and communities to join hands in promoting hygiene and sanitation in a big way to build a Swachh Bharat, a prerequisite for establishing a Swasth Bharat. Other major concerns that need to be addressed by the government and other stakeholders are the lack of adequate medical facilities in the rural areas and the acute shortage of doctors and para-medical personnel across the country. We need human resource in the health sector--whether it is a medical college or the paramedical staff, the country needs them in large numbers. One of the ways to overcome shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas is to make it mandatory for MBBS graduates to serve in rural areas before granting the first promotion to them. The private sector must not only supplement the efforts of the government in bridging the urban-rural divide in the health sector, but must adopt a more humane and philanthropic approach and ensure that healthcare is affordable and accessible. Sisters and Brothers, India is lagging behind several countries in research output. Medical colleges like yours must accord highest priority to this aspect. In fact, translational research is of utmost importance in the medical field so that that people get benefited. Dear students, you must remember that not many have had the benefit of such privileged education like yours. You therefore have a greater responsibility in building a healthy India. Knowledge and modern technology are your instruments to advance medical sciences and prevent diseases. Doctors are considered next to God in our country and it is the cardinal responsibility of all those entering the medical profession to uphold the trust and confidence of the patients, who seek treatment from them. As regards affordability of medical care, it is a fact that medical costs are mostly met by out-of-pocket expenses by the people. For many poor and middle class families, hospitalization means disposing of family silver and getting into debt trap. In a laudable initiative, the government has started Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection scheme to provide universal health care to 500 million poor and vulnerable people. I am happy that several State Governments too have designed their own health insurance schemes so that the poor and needy sections are not denied access to medical treatment. Dear students, as you step out of the portals of this prestigious institution, remember that you are a member of a noble profession and always remain committed to upholding the Hippocratic Oath. Maintain the highest standards of ethics and integrity at every stage. I am sure that all the students of the Lady Hardinge Medical College will carry on the legacy of this prestigious institute and contribute towards building a healthy India. I wish you all a happy, healthy and blessed life ahead! JAI HIND! New Delhi, May 18 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day-long visit to Jammu and Kashmir on May 19, officials said on Friday. The Prime Minister will attend the Closing Ceremony of the Birth Centenary Celebration of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in Leh. At the same event, he will unveil a plaque to mark the commencement of work on the Zojila Tunnel. The 14 km long Zojila tunnel will be Indias longest road tunnel and Asias longest bi-directional tunnel. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, had approved the construction, operation and maintenance of this tunnel between Baltal and Minamarg, on the Srinagar-Leh section of NH-1A, at a total cost of Rs 6800 crore earlier this year. The construction of this tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh, read a government statement. It will cut down the time taken to cross the Zojila pass from the present three and a half hours, to just fifteen minutes. It will lead to all-round economic and socio-cultural integration of these regions. It also has immense strategic importance. The Prime Minister will dedicate the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower Station to the Nation, at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar. He will also lay the Foundation Stone of the Srinagar Ring Road. At the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium in Jammu, the Prime Minister will lay the Foundation Stone of the Pakul Dul Power Project, and the Jammu Ring Road. He will also inaugurate the Tarakote Marg and Material Ropeway of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The Tarakote Marg will facilitate pilgrims visiting the shrine. The Ring Roads in Srinagar and Jammu are aimed at reducing traffic congestion at these cities and making road travel safer, faster, more convenient and more environment friendly. The Prime Minister will also attend the Convocation of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu. Kolkata, May 19 (IBNS): To commemorate the International Museum Day, an exhibition titled The Objects in the Archive was inaugurated by Dr. Jayanta Sengupta, Secretary and Curator, Victoria Memorial Hall at Central Research and Training Laboratory (CRTL), the research wing of National Council of Science Museums (NCSM). The exhibition contains various unique scientific artefacts which played a very important role in the history. Speaking on the occasion, Shrikant Pathak, Director, CRTL said: "As the theme of International Museum Day 2018 is Hyperconnected museums: New approaches, new publics we are introducing an indigenously developed device which we have named RAWAN (Remotely Accessible WiFi based Audio Narrator) in this exhibition. This device has two parts-one access point which is installed beside the artefact and another is Receiver which the visitor has to carry. This device enables the visitors to listen to information about the artefact when he comes close to the artefact. It works on Wireless Fidelity (WiFi). The visitor can navigate from one artefact to another and listen to the information about the artefact. This is a low cost, low maintenance device and will be highly suitable for the museums especially small museums which cant afford high-cost equipment." CRTL being the research wing of NCSM has always been involved in developing and introducing state of the art galleries and display techniques in museums. This is another device which has been developed in its lab and will be highly useful in museums. The artefacts displayed here will make people nostalgic. Todays generation will also be pleasantly surprised to see the initial forms of Calculators, Typewriter, Computer, Gramophone etc. People will definitely feel connected to their past. This is what makes the museums relevant to the society. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to increase public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society, and it has been steadily gaining momentum ever since. The exhibition will continue till May 24, 2018 and can be visited between 10.30 AM to 5.00 PM. Guwahati, May 18 (IBNS): As the National Register of Citizens (NRC) updation process is underway in Assam to detect illegal foreigners, a Foreigners Tribunal (FT) in Assam has served notices to a BJP legislator from southern Assams Barak valley and members of his family asking them to prove their Indian citizenship before the tribunal. According to the reports, the Foreigners Tribunal No 1 at Cachar has served a notice to BJP legislator of Borkhola assembly constituency Kishor Nath and six other members of his family including his wife and asking them to prove with documentary evidence that they are Indian citizens. Apart from the BJP MLA, the tribunal has served similar notices to the BJP MLAs wife Nilima Nath, his four brothers Matilal Nath, Pradip Nath, Jagdish Nath, Manik Nath and sister-in-law Rakhi Nath. The BJP MLA and his family members will now have to appear before the tribunal in June next and have to prove that they are Indian citizens. Reacting over the tribunals notice, Kishor Nath said that, he is a son of the soil and they have been living in Barak Valley for three generations. We will submit our all documentary evidence before the tribunal that we are Indian citizens. I am the elected MLA of Borkhola constituency. I am shocked after receiving the tribunal notice, the BJP MLA said. The BJP MLA alleged that, the previous Congress government had directed the government officials and targeted them to file such type of cases in weekly, monthly basis. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) New Delhi, May 18 (IBNS): The Supreme Court will hear the petition filed by the Congress-JDS against the appointment of BJP MLA KG Bopaiah as the pro tem speaker on Saturday. The hearing will take place at 10:30 am on Saturday. The Congress party has alleged that the appointment violates the Constitution. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: "Appointment of Shri Bopaiah as a Pro Tem Speaker, violates every settled constitutional tradition and every settled parliamentary practice. This is a 3rd encounter of the Constitution committed by Vajubhai Vala at the instance of PM Modi and Amit Shah." "What did the Supreme Court say it said three things about Mr Bopaiah; (1) that Mr. Bopaiah in league with Shri Yeddyurappa was trying to defeat a floor test so that Shri Yeddyurappa remained Chief Minister(2) that Shri Bopaiah, flagrantly violated the constitution. (3) That Shri Bopaiah flagrantly violated the law & rules and every settled principle of natural justice and fair play, only to ensure that Shri Yeddyurappa somehow remained in power and defeated the floor test," Surjewala said. The Congress party said that Karanataka Governor Vajubhai Vala must understand that he cannot "murder democracy in broad day light, nor he can trample upon the Constitution and throw it in the dust bin of history." "Appointment of a three-time MLA as a Pro Tem Speaker,discarding senior most Legislator tradition of being appointed as Pro Tem Speaker, reflects that BJP does not have majority and that they have conceded defeat pursuant to today's verdict of the SC," the Congress alleged. In a jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Supreme Court on Friday ordered a floor test in the Karnataka assembly at 4 pm on Saturday, turning down the saffron outfit's request for more time to prove majority. The Congress called the judgement "historic" while Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa said he would prove his majority on the floor of the house on Saturday. The apex court has ruled out videography or use of secret ballots in the conduction of the floor test. Following the order, Congress' senior leader Abhishek Singhvi, who led the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) in the court, said: "Truth will come out tomorrow." Singhvi has also termed the Supreme Court's order as "historic interim order". BJP's BS Yeddyurappa has already sworn in as the new Karnataka Chief Minister. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had earlier granted 15 days to the BJP to prove its majority, after the part failed to reach the seats needed to form the government on its own. After the verdict, Yeddyurappa told media that the BJP is ready for the floor test and the party will also win it. The legal battle has a genesis in the fractured mandate meted out by the Karnataka people in the recently concluded assembly polls. The Congress and the JD(S), which had won 78 and 38 seats respectively, united after the poll results to keep the BJP, which bagged 104 seats, out of power. The Congress and the JD(S) knocked the door of the Supreme Court on Wednesday night immediately after the Governor's invitation to Yeddyurappa to take oath as the CM. However, after a three-hour long hearing in the midnight drama, the top court had refused to stay the swearing-in ceremony, which was held on Thursday. A three-judge bench comprising Justices AK Sikri, A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan has heard the case. Ex-Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi was defending the BJP and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was advocating the union government in the case, report said. Mumbai, May 18 (IBNS): Indian airline company Jet Airways has announced on Friday that beginning Nov 5, 2018, it will launch its first non-stop service between Mumbai and Manchester, thus further strengthening its connect to the United Kingdom (UK). This new service is the first nonstop service connecting India, via its economic capital with Manchester, the 3rd largest city in the UK. Jet Airways will deploy its wide body A330-200 with 254 seating for the service, which will operate for four days every week including Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, stated an official release. Manchester will become the 21st international addition to the Jet Airways network and with the introduction of this new flight - the carriers 5th non-stop service to/from the UK, Jet Airways will also become the largest carrier between Mumbai and the UK. The launch of this new service will provide seamless connectivity to several domestic destinations to and from India which include Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bhuj, Bhopal, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Nagpur, Rajkot, Raipur, Udaipur, via the airlines HUB, Mumbai. Similarly, quick connections to beyond points on Jet Airways international network such as Bangkok, Colombo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dhaka and Kathmandu, will now be available. The new service will complement the carriers existing thrice daily, non-stop services between Mumbai London Heathrow, and a daily service between Delhi London Heathrow. The launch of the new service comes one year after the airline launched 3 new international services last year on October 29 to Amsterdam, Paris and London from Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai respectively. Vinay Dube, Chief Executive Officer, Jet Airways said We are extremely pleased to begin a new chapter in our decade-long relationship with the United Kingdom. The new service will bring Manchester into our global network, reinforcing our footprint as well as expanding the choice of connectivity to/from the United Kingdom for our guests with the 4 day/ week, non-stop service." "With the new flight, Jet Airways will have over 8000 seats on offer every week, making it increasingly convenient for both business as well as leisure travelers, travelling between India and the UK, deepening commerce as well as tourism ties between the two countries, he added. Manchester is the fastest growing UK city outside of London and is also Europes second largest digital hub. The city lies at the heart of the UKs North and the area is home to leading companies from a range of industries including aerospace, automotive, chemical, financial, IT, media, pharmaceutical and retail. "Consequently, the new service between Mumbai and Manchester is expected to be of special significance to business travelers, as also for a significant diaspora of people, including a growing Indian community residing in and around Manchester. The fast-expanding business and industrial hub also has one of the largest student communities in Europe, besides being extremely well connected to other major cities such as Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield, all within close proximity to Manchester," the release added Commenting on the new partnership, Manchester Airport CEO Andrew Cowan, said: Securing a direct service to one of Indias major cities is the product of a lot of hard work over a long period of time to forge closer ties between Manchester and this globally significant economy. We have worked, along with a range of partners, to create a compelling case for why our city and the wider North is a great place to visit, invest in and do business with." "I am delighted Jet Airways have recognised this by launching what Im sure will be a hugely popular service, not least for the 500,000 people of Indian origin living across the North. Direct connectivity to the worlds most important markets is key to creating a prosperous and internationally competitive Northern economy, and a balanced and outward facing UK. "This route will deliver a major boost to businesses looking to export to the worlds fastest-growing economy, as well as helping to attract Indian visitors and investors to the North. We look forward to working with Jet Airways on launching the Mumbai service in the months ahead, Cowan added. Jet Airways flight 9W 130 will depart from Mumbai at 0230 hrs (Local time) and will arrive in Manchesters Terminal 2 at 0755 hrs (Local time). The return flight, 9W 129 will depart from Manchester at 0935 hrs (Local time) and arrive in Mumbais Terminal 2 at 0040 hrs (Local time). "The new flight assumes even greater importance with the The Manchester-India Partnership championed by Honble Prime Minister of India, Sh. Narendra Modi, to help strengthen cultural and business ties between the two economies. The launch of the new service will also support with the recommendations of the UK Government, which has been promoting connectivity to other key cities in the UK, besides London Heathrow," the release read. Photo/ICJ/Jeroen Bouman New York, May 18 (IBNS): The Security Council should act on behalf of the entire United Nations membership rather than prioritizing their own national interests, or those of close allies, international court judges said on Thursday, as the 15-member body debated how to effectively counter numerous threats to world peace. Against a backdrop of grave threats and growing turmoil in many regions, the unity of this body and the serious commitment of the entire international community will be crucial in preventing human suffering and defending our common humanity, declared Maria Luiza Viotti, Chef de Cabinet, delivering a statement on behalf of UN SecretaryaGeneral Antonio Guterres. She noted that the UN Charter does not rule out using any specific means of settling international disputes, leaving Member States free to choose from a range of different tools; including negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement. Therefore, the Council could adopt a more open-minded approach, such as recommending that States settle disputes through special settlement mechanisms; a power it has rarely employed. Where States agree to use the International Court of Justice, the Council should ensure that its judgment is properly observed, she said, calling on Member States to consider accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court. International law is foundational to this Organization and the Security Council has a special role to play in ensuring that it is respected, she said. Also briefing the Council was Hisashi Owada, Senior Judge and President Emeritus of the International Court of Justice, who said that the crucial question is how the Council and the Court should work together to resolve disputes. The Courts legal opinion has helped to inform the Council on choosing a means of resolving disputes, as was the case in 1970, with legal resolution of South Africas continued presence in Namibia. He said that the Council could seek the legal opinion of the Court on issues that often are at the root of the conflict; as it did following the Balkan wars of the 1990s, which led to the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. To strengthen cooperation between the two bodies, he said, the Council could use its discretionary power more often to refer legal disputes to the Court, and consider making more use of the Courts legal advisory function. He noted that 15 of the 26 requests for advisory opinions came from the General Assembly, and the Council has sought out the Court only on a limited number of cases, such as Israels construction of a border fence in 2000 and Kosovos declaration of independence, in 2008. International courts were never designed to try any more than a small number of alleged perpetrators, he said, and officials in national jurisdictions must take on the lions share of this work.Theodor Meron, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, said that international criminal justice is still very much in its infancy, and it is in a highly vulnerable stage of development at present. Meron suggested the Council develop and adopt objective criteria to assess all credible allegations of international crimes, and serve the interests of the UN membership as a whole, rather than prioritizing their own interests or those of their strategic allies. He also encouraged the Council to simply refer possible violations of international law to appropriate judicial actors for further action, rather than being a gate-keeper and risking becoming stymied in debates about whether or not egregious atrocities occurred in any particular situation or who might be responsible. Todays debate was chaired by Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, who urged States and the international community to reject the temptation to place force above law, and fear above trust. If we call an act of aggression a conflict, without properly defining the victim and the aggressor; if we call a threat a challenge without defining the source of that threat then we are helpless in terms of selecting legal steps to react, he said. The government of Guinea has resigned on Thursday as President Alpha Conde planned a cabinet reshuffle amid opposition parties protests over disputed polls. Prime Minister Mamady Youla has presented his resignation and that of the whole government to the President on Thursday. According to the minister of state and presidential spokesman Kiridi Bangoura, the outgoing government will remain in charge of day-to-day tasks until a new government is formed. Last month Guinean opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo called for an end to protests over disputed local election results that have left at least 15 people dead after violent confrontations with the security services in the West African nation. Diallo earlier met President Alpha Conde and agreed on a series of measures, including the implementation of a 2016 agreement between the government, opposition, civil society and international partners. On Wednesday May 16, opposition parties suspended street protests against the official outcome of local elections in February, saying the international community had offered to mediate. This year local elections were the first since a military dictatorship ended a decade ago. It followed eight years of delays blamed on lack of funds, political infighting and Ebola outbreak. Guinea is desperately poor, with a GDP of little more than $800 per person, about half the regions average. Guineans are worried that President Conde will try to change the constitution so that he can run for a third term in 2020. Yet Conde refuses to scotch the rumor. Washington, May 18 (IBNS): Just days before their scheduled meet in Singapore, US President Donald Trump threatened North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with "decimation", unless he agrees to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. Trump also assured that Kim will remain in power if he agrees to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. "They've been negotiating like nothing happened," Trump was quoted as saying by CNN about North Korea. "If the meeting happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, we go on to the next step," Trump said. "We may have the meeting. We may not have the meeting. If we don't have it, that will be very interesting. ... We'll see what happens." Trump said in case of North Korea the so-called "Libya model" for denuclearisation is not being pursued. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi agreed to give up his nuclear programme in 2003 but he was later that year killed by western-backed rebels. The suggestion on the model was given by US national security adviser John Bolton, media reports said. The suggestion had prompted alarm in North Korea. He said the deal his government has been thinking about Kim Jong-un would be "something where he'd be there, he'd be in his country, he'd be running his country, his country would be very rich." Meanwhile, North Korea this week threatened to cancel the upcoming talk between its leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump if the latter unilaterally insists the former gives up nuclear weapons, media reports said on Wednesday. Kim and Trump are scheduled to meet in Singapore on June 12. Improvement in relationship in recent times: Relationship between South and North Korea seemed to have improved in recent times with Kim Jong un meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Panmunjom peace village on Apr 27. The neighbouring leaders shaking hands over the Military Demarcation Line grabbed attention all over the world. US, Trump and North Korea: 2017 witnessed US President Donald Trump slamming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as the Asian nation continued to conduct several of its missile tests, teasing world peace and tranquillity and often threatening to trigger a war. Situation became far tensed when North Korea tested an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that it said was capable of striking US mainland. The United Nations Security Council imposed strong new sanctions against the Asian nation after its Nov 29 launch of a nuclear-capable weapon. Trump and North Korea continued to exchange barbs earlier this year too. Fresh development in the relationship between North Korea, South Korea and the US began recently when a North Korean delegation was invited to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Trump and Kim agreed to meet on June 12, signalling improved relationship between the two nations. Three United States nationals were also released by North Korea this month. The move was appreciated by the United Nations. The release of three United States nationals by North Korea is another important building block towards peace, said a United Nations human rights expert on Thursday, while urging the release of six South Korean nationals who are still being held. In a statement reacting to the release of the US citizens, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN expert on human rights in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) said that he had consistently advocated for the release of these foreign detainees, who were reportedly under arbitrary detention and prevented from enjoying their basic freedoms. I welcome this important decision of the DPRK Government, the Special Rapporteur continued, which I hope will offer an opportunity to further address human rights and humanitarian concerns, he added. Kim Sang-duk, known as Tony Kim, Kim Hak Song and Kim Dong-chul were among several foreign nationals arrested in recent years in the country. The two presidents discussed combating terrorism and bilateral ties. Russia is one of the few allies Syria has at the present moment. The meeting also involved senior Russian military officers and officials, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. Greeting his counterpart, Putin said, "I congratulate you on the coming of the holy month of Ramadan and congratulate you on the great successes achieved by the Syrian Arab army in the fight against terrorism. And due to the efforts of the Syrian soldiers, very important steps were gained during the latest period in order to boost the legislative authority in the country where terrorists were expelled from important regions in Syria, which paved the way to start reconstructing infrastructure in the country after expelling terrorists and putting an end to the threat against Damascus. "And now we can adopt the forthcoming steps in a joint form as the aspired goal is to reconstruct economy and offer humanitarian aid to people in need. "As you know, we are in contact with all sides concerned in this complicated process including the UN and its envoy de Mistura, and I wish to discuss with you all these directions for our joint work and I welcome you," he added. In response, Assad said, "I like to offer congratulations on the occasion of starting your new constitutional term and I believe that the outcomes of latest elections were an indication that the policies you have adopted, whether on the internal or on the international arena satisfied the Russian people who saw this step as giving Russia a bigger and bigger place on the international arena." I am happy to meet again in Sochi after several months of our last meeting here, in fact, a lot of positive changes have been done between these two meetings, particularly regarding combating terrorism as the area of terrorists has become more smaller and during the latest weeks, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have returned to their homes and there are millions on their way to return and this means more stability, and this stability forms a broad door for the political process which has started since several years. "Of course, as we have announced previously, we announce here once again that we always supported, and we have a lot of enthusiasm for this process because it is necessary in parallel with combating terrorism and we know that this issue will not be simple as there are countries that have no desire to see this stability as completed in Syria, nevertheless, we, and you, and the partners in the peace process will continue, with the same power, in order to achieve peace.. And todays meeting is an opportunity to put a common view for the forthcoming period in regards to peace talks, whether in Astana or in Sochi. Once again, I thank you, and avail the opportunity to thank the Russian military forces, in particular, the air forces, which played an important role in combating terrorism," the Syrian head of state said. In a statement, both the countries reiterated their stance of combating terrorism together in Syria. "In this regard, President al-Assad affirmed that he will send a list that includes the names of candidates to the membership of the committee on discussing constitution in the list of the Syrian government as soon as possible to the UN, and Russia welcomed this decision and supports it, Putin said. He added, We affirm that with the achievement of the big victories and the remarkable successes by the Syrian Arab army in the fight against terrorism and with the activation of the political process, it is necessary for all foreign forces to withdraw from the Syrian Arab Republic territories." Assad thanked Putin and Russia for helping the Middle Eastern state during its time of crisis, referring to the recent joint strikes it endured from the USA, the UK and France, in response to an alleged chemical attack in Douma, near the national capital Damascus. Image: twitter.com/KremlinRussia_E London, May 18 (IBNS): Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle on Saturday when she will marry his son Prince Harry, confirmed the Kensington Palace on Friday. Prince Charles will perform the act as Meghan's father Thomas will be unable to attend the marriage due to health reasons, media reports said. "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle," read a statement issued by the Kensington Palace. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the royal family in this way," it said. The royal marriage will be held on Saturday. Prince Harry's grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, will also attend the wedding, Buckingham Palace confirmed, reported BBC. Prince Philip, 96, is reportedly recovering from a hip operation. The wedding will be held at St George's Chapel in Windsor. Image: Wikimedia Commons Shares of Strides Shasun cracked 20% in response to the poor Q4 numbers. The company posted a loss of Rs4.4cr vs. profit of Rs91.6cr in Q4FY17. Sales decreased by 1.9% to Rs664.2cr in Q4FY18. The decline in its US and institutional business was the main reason behind the decline in the revenue. The results are much below the street expectations, as revenue has come 15% below expectations, EBITDA is 500bps below expectations and there is a huge swing in the PAT.The company has been restructuring its business nearly every quarter in FY18. Moreover, FY19 has also started with a big restructuring i.e. merger of its Australia business with Apotex. The company had guided that the restructuring of several businesses (branded business in India, API Business-Solara, Africa generics manufacturing business) would lead to better margins going ahead. Company had said that it has sold its India branded generics business as well.Management has continued to say that Strides will become a full B2C franchisee with better margins going ahead. This strategy has clearly not played out as expected since the 13% EBITDA margin in Q4FY18 vs. 16.4% in Q3FY18 average 18% margin in FY17 tells a different story. The B2C business will command better margins and a solid growth trajectory.The company in Q4FY18 has seen halving of its US base business between Q3 and Q4. The market opportunity for gLovaza (Omega-3-Acid Ethyl Esters Softgel capsules) has declined by 50%. This drug has been launched by Strides Shasun in partnership with Par Pharma. Potassium Citrate, another drug that company launched in September 2017 has also seen 50% decline in the market opportunity. Potassium citrate was launched by Teva in early March 2018. The market share in Potassium citrate is now at 12% and that in gLovaza is 13%.Company has said that it has witnessed single digit price erosion in the recently launched US products, this is still an encouraging commentary but on a base that has seen 50% decline, company will need big products. The Oseltamivir (gTamiflu), which it was expecting to get approval in Q4 has got delayed and has received some queries from USFDA.In Q3FY18, company had guided of 20% growth in the US portfolio but instead has achieved a decline of 50%%. Moreover, the US base business was expected to be $40-45mn that has come down to $21mn. Company expects approval to gTamiflu in July 2018, which means that Q4FY19E will not have full quarter impact of gTamiflu, and hence, Q1FY19 should see downward revisions.The ARV business too faced severe headwind due to the pressure on funding in Africa. The business has continued to suffer due to margin pressure and further price renegotiation will lead to squeeze the margins further. The antimalarial business, has reduced 56% yoy from $35.7mn in FY17 to $15.6mn in FY18. Company expects to maintain this ARV business base in FY19E.Strides Shasuns MD Arun Kumar has said that FY18 has been a difficult year for the company and business execution was far from satisfactory. He has also said that the several corporate actions, especially the restructurings including divesting several businesses, have not added any value to their goal of becoming a diversified global B2C player. The decline in the ARV business and dependence of the company on few products in US has exposed vulnerability of the current model of Strides Shasun.While this is too early to comment about its B2C model, Strides need a strong momentum in the ANDA approvals, which will reduce its vulnerability. The merger in Australia is expected to be positive for the company, however it has not yet provided the valuation details of the Arrow-Apotex deal. Shashi Tharoor is a man of words. But this time on Twitter, his tweet was a little different. The Congress MP didn't share his regular gems which force people to reach for their dictionaries. Instead, he shared a heartwarming incident that took place at the ongoing Auckland Writers Festival. reuters Also read: Shashi Tharoor Drops A Bomb Of A Word 'Lalochezia' And People Actually Think It's A Disease Tharoor narrated the heart-wrenching story of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre during the opening gala of the festival. Later, an Englishman came to him during a book signing and slipped a note to Tharoor. When selected authors were invited to tell a 7-minute true story at the opening gala of the #aucklandwritersfestival, I told the story of Jallianwallah Bagh. An Englishman came up afterwards at the book signing and pressed this note into my hand. pic.twitter.com/TFBUc1GSqD Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 17, 2018 The note read: I am British born and I am sorry. People are praising the Englishman's gesture. I'm touched. It was so thoughtful of you to tell Jwb story. Relevant to the gathering. I wish to convey my appreciation to the gentleman for his sensitivity. Prakash Rao (@prakashrao26) May 17, 2018 That story would bring goose bumps to anyone! And we have to give you this that you are really good speaker and a story teller!! And that man was sensitive enough to realise the pain. PrettyParu (@Pretty_Paru) May 17, 2018 A good deed...shows the mind set and good heart Mr. Tanwar (@ArpitTanwar) May 17, 2018 I appreciate the courage of this Britisher felling sorry for the deeds of his ancestors. ARVIND PACHAURI (@arvindpachauri) May 17, 2018 They should be for the atrocities committed. This gentleman appears to be overcome with a feeling of guilt. Still humane to feel sorry for the ruthless actions of his ancestors. Davinder Deep Singh (@Davinderdeep) May 17, 2018 Awww...I was there. I think many are truly sorry. Now I am more skeptical of the great Indian divide, fostered by the Indians!!! Sadhana Reddy (@Thenidunno) May 18, 2018 Really Tharoor ji, you can touch the hearts of even the meanest people and make them feel sorry even if they don't say it like this gentleman. Respect! pic.twitter.com/XuXW5snVBH sukhinobhav (@sukhinobhav) May 18, 2018 Also read: How Much Tharoor Is Too Much Tharoor? 'Farrago' Re-fired To Respond To PM Modi's Lok Sabha Speech It was pretty thoughtful of the Englishman to come and apologise to Tharoor. What do you think? Fairy-tale romance is not just about diamonds, flowers, and a happy ending. There is much more than what we see on the surface and one couple who is giving some solid lessons to everyone is Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja. If you think their social media PDA is getting too much now, wait till you see how the couple has been breaking old and boring norms of marriage and other stereotypes. Instagram In case you are wondering what makes them one of the most loved couples today, there are legit reasons behind it. The lovelorn couple is all about supporting each other, establishing couple goals and making loong-distance love look easy-breezy. Here are some of the reasons. Read on! 1. When Sonam Kapoor flaunted her wedding Mehendi (Henna) on the Cannes red-carpet like a boss and international media couldn't help praising her! Agencies Sonam rocked the Cannes red-carpet donning a beautiful off-shoulder nude tulle gown by Vera Wang with a wispy yellow trail. But that was not all. It was her traditional Indian mehendi that caught attention. Sonam, who could have easily chosen to conceal it using make-up, proudly flaunted it instead and she got featured in the American Vogue, one of the leading international fashion brands. Everyone was all praises for Sonam and why not? She deserved every bit of it. 2. It wasn't just Sonam who adopted Anand's surname. In fact, Anand too added an 'S' to his name. Because marriage is an equal partnership and patriarchal rules are meant to be broken. Thanks for teaching the world that. Not that they are the first couple to do so but this definitely is an inspirational step for many. Talking about the decision, Sonam said, I have been engaged for a long time. It took me a long time to decide. Its a choice, at the end of the day. And if people dont understand the concept of feminism, they need to go online and look at the description. And how do you know Anand has not changed his name? 3. Anand couldn't be there to cheer for his wife at the Cannes red-carpet but he made his presence felt by cheering for his leading lady. Screengrab 4. Sonam too missed Anand and she flaunted Bhane (Anand Ahuja's brand) in many of her appearances at the Cannes. Sonam Kapoor was back to work in just three days of her marriage. Talking about walking the Cannes red carpet for the first time as Mrs. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, she said, It is the same. There is no difference. Your life doesnt change that much (after marriage). Women need to stop thinking that way. Work is going to stay the same, hopefully.That wasn't all. Her husband could not be there but she showered love by wearing Bhane and flaunting it proudly. It is that time of the year where Bollywood eagerly awaits its annual gala-IIFA. It is not just an award-show but it is much more than that. This year, it's going to be better and bigger in every sense of the word. With A-listers including Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani and actor Kartik Aaryan joining the club of IIFA performers, this is certainly going to a year of a refreshing change at the IIFA awards. Agencies At the press event for IIFA, where Ranbir, KJo, Dia Mirza, Kartik Aryan and Shahid Kapoor were present, they didn't just talk about the event but went on to joke around with each other. Agencies When Ranbir was asked how excited he is, he couldn't help but take a dig at KJo and his 'sangeet performances'! He said, I dont know about a big performance, we usually leave that to Karan Johars sangeet performances. I am extremely excited about it though the first time I danced on stage was for the IIFA awards in Singapore, Bangkok is the place where I won my first IIFA award. So, I am looking forward to it, I havent decided upon the tracks yet. Even though he is a brilliant actor, Ranbir went on to admit that he has stage fright at live shows. He said, I get really nervous when I dance at live shows; dancing for films is different as there are retakes and in live acts, there is only one take. So you have to give your best and I rehearse more to give my best. I have seen Shahid performing over the years and he is impeccable on stage. The latest addition to the IIFA gang is Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety actor Kartik Aryan, who will be attending and hosting one of the IIFA events this year. Talking about whose performance he is looking forward to this year, he said, "Both Shahid and Ranbir are fantastic performers and if Karan sir would be performing, it would be really good. I am looking forward to his hosting session as well. I am excited to be part of it and hosting IIFA Rocks this year. IIFA this year isn't going to be just about films, glamour, and fashion. Instead, it's going to stand up for a cause too. IIFA has tied up with UN Environment for the campaign Beat Plastic Pollution, the theme for World Environment Day 2018. Actress Dia Mirza, the UN Environment goodwill ambassador for India, is all set to headline it. Talking about the same, Dia said, Agencies I have been gifted this amazing privilege of having some amount of influence on people and if I can use that privilege to make a positive change then its a blessing. Looks like IIFA is on its way to crusade for gender rights and the environment as IIFA is also aiming to restore gender parity by naming the Best Actress award as the finale act. IIFA is scheduled to happen as a two-day event at Bangkok in June and the main awards gala on the last day will be hosted by Riteish Deshmukh and Karan Johar, the IIFA Rocks, a musical night which precedes the IIFA Awards ceremony night, will be co-hosted by Ayushmann Khurrana and Kartik Aaryan. Excitement has doubled up, isn't it? Kangana Ranaut might be a red-carpet rocker at the Cannes Film Festival this year but this does not mean that she is away from controversies. Even though we know she didn't see this one coming but her and Padmaavat actor Jim Sarbh's sense of humor is being tagged as 'distasteful' and 'disrespectful'. In case, you are wondering what conspired at the Cannes that lead to this, it was after a clip that went viral on the internet. Screengrab The clip that clearly looks like one of the micro-events from the Cannes this year has Jim Sarbh cracking an insensitive joke around rape and Kangana Ranaut laughing at it. One of the captions that a fan posted, while sharing the clip read, The last night! The reason we are all going to hell. Jim Sarbh entertained us with his morbid jokes and we could not get enough. The clip is going viral on the internet and people are in rage. Kangs is A+ grade hypocrite (nothing new) and this Jim Sarbh turned out to be a piece of shit. Rape jokes are not okay... stfu .. BANNO (@Inception700) May 15, 2018 Dear Jim Sarbh/ Kangana Ranaut Rape jokes are not funny. Rape is NOT a joke. If you tell or laugh at jokes about rape you are a part of the problem. https://t.co/Pk5bSB9zCr _()_/ (@karishmau) May 15, 2018 Rape is a dark word. Lets not water it down to describe a brutal gym session or a bad day at work or with a joke.@jimSarbh #KanganaRanaut have some sense before cracking such jokes !! Dhruvesh Shah (@dhruveshshahz16) May 17, 2018 "Feminist " #KanganaRanaut laughs as Jim Sarbh cracks a joke about 'rape' at #Cannes !! Bloody #Hypocrites !! Feminism | Women empowerment ki baate sirf aapni movies promote karte waqt media k samne yaad aate hai innko !! #Shame Arnab (@_a_r_n_a_b) May 17, 2018 Dear Jim Sarbh/ Kangana Ranaut Rape jokes are not funny. Rape is NOT a joke. If you tell or laugh at jokes about rape you are a part of the problem. https://t.co/Pk5bSB9zCr _()_/ (@karishmau) May 15, 2018 Kangs is A+ grade hypocrite (nothing new) and this Jim Sarbh turned out to be a piece of shit. Rape jokes are not okay... stfu .. BANNO (@Inception700) May 15, 2018 In his clarification, Jim Sarbh spoke to Bollywoodlife and shared his side of the story. He said, First of all, I understand the environment we live in just now, in light of recent events, but more frankly, in light of events going on since the beginning of human consciousness, rape is a deadly serious issue. I treat it as such. The joke that I made is about a Priest blowing a very casual question completely out of proportion, condemning alcohol, prostitutes, and rape all simultaneously. The Punjabi (or whichever ethnicity, depending on the audience) responds to the situation by consenting to it and expressing his sexual proclivities. I personally do not find it to be about a desire to rape, or to inflict sexual violence upon another, but a subversive and comedic response to an extremely volatile sentence. While Jim has given his piece of mind, Kangana hasn't issued any clarification. 65-year-old Mulchand lost his life on Thursday morning after he waited to sell his harvest in Lateri Mandi, Madhya Pradesh. Like many other farmers, he had come to Mandi with his harvest to get it weighed and passed by Mandi officials. His sad demise came after he waited for his turn, all the while sitting in the sun for four days straight. camera24.in Also read: With Farmers Protests Agrarian Crisis Hits Peak, Here Are Four Ways India Can Help Its Food Providers According to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, the dead farmer's son, Narmada Prasad said that there were queues of farmers who were waiting for their turn. The wait was made especially harder by the soaring temperatures, reaching 43 degrees Celcius in the region. Other reports said that Mulchand also went without food in the last few days before his demise. Mulchand reportedly collapsed on Thursday morning at 6 AM. His son and other farmers had rushed to help him but to no avail. It was then the farmers started blaming the authorities for disregard and insufficiencies. patrika Also read: Another Debt Ridden Farmer Attempts Suicide In MP's Damoh, Minister Says It Is 'World Problem' The local officials including SDM AK Manjhi and tehsildar Shatrughan Singh Chauhan reached the spot only to face the wrath of angry farmers. Soon, farmer protests were led by Surendra Raghuvanshi which led to the closing of mandi gate. The farmers sat on a blockade and presented a list of demands to the administration. They demanded Rs 10 lakh in compensation to be given to Mulchand's family. In addition, they asked for solutions to the many insufficiencies the officials showed. Lateri, Shatrughan Singh Chauhan expressed grief over Mulchand's passing before adding that the situation was out of his control. He announced that Mulchands family would receive compensation of Rs 4 lakhs and that the mandi is operating entirely within the rules and guidelines. Lateri's tehsildar, Shatrughan Singh Chauhan expressed grief over Mulchand's passing before adding that the situation was out of his control. He announced that Mulchands family would receive compensation of Rs 4 lakhs and that the mandi is operating entirely within the rules and guidelines. The government wants you to link anything and everything it can to your Aadhaar in the name of transparency and ensuring that benefits reaches the right persons. But instead of making the system transparent, Aadhaar has often been accused of coming in the way of people getting essential services. Read More Here are the top news of the day: This 40-Year-Old Mother Of Four Daughters Just Became Third Arunachal Woman To Scale Mt. Everest! 40-year-old Muri Linggi, resident of Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district, who has earned the distinction of becoming the third woman from Arunachal Pradesh to scale Mount Everest, after Tine Mena and Anshu Jamsenpa. Read More Man Axes His Wife To Death In Rajasthan Because She Wanted To Visit Her Parents! A 45-year-old woman was allegedly axed to death by her husband, after a fight over wanting to visit her parents. She was asleep in her room along with her two daughters in Kherkheda village in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district, when her husband killed her with an axe, police said. Read More Old Woman Becomes Homeless After Civic Body Demolition, Mumbai Cop Raises Funds To Find Shelter Since husband and son passed away years ago, she did not have anywhere to go but her daughter-in-law and she refused to take her in. Around 250 police officers made the contribution and helped PSI Nilesh Bhalerao, 32, raise the fund for the woman. Read More BSF Jawan, Four Civilians Killed In Pakistan Shelling In Jammu Four civilians and a BSF jawan were killed while 12 others were injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled villages and Border out Posts (BoPs) in Jammu on Friday, officials said. Read More Did You Know That There Is Bribe Rate Card For Noida Cops The Noida Crime Branchs Special Operation Group (SOG) was dissolved after internal messages about alleged bribery and collections from local businessmen and traders became public on Friday. Read More Ambassador of Belarus I.Petrishenko meets Ambassador of Egypt 18-05-2018 On May 17, 2018, in Moscow the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Russian Federation, Igor Petrishenko, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Republic of Belarus with residence in Moscow, Ihab Nasr. The sides discussed the current state and prospects for the Belarusian-Egyptian cooperation, further development of the legal basis of cooperation, the schedule of contacts at the highest level. For reference. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on February 1, 1992. In 2017, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to 97,4 million U.S. dollars, the volume of the Belarusian export 76,1 million. U.S. dollars. print version In a shocking crime, police in Bhopal has recovered dead body of a woman, whom they say was brutally raped before she was murdered. The incident came to light on Thursday after police broke open an apartment in Pragati Nagar area following complaint of foul smell by other residents. Reuters/ Representational Image Inside the apartment, police found a partially decomposed naked body, suggesting that the crime was committed at least a couple of days ago. Police said, the woman was living with a man whom neighbours thought was her husband in a one room rented apartment. On postmortem it was revealed that she was raped before the murder and a beer bottle and a soft drink bottle were found inserted in her private parts. BCCL The woman is said to be a resident of Ichhawar town in Sehore district, not much is known about her partner, who is still missing. Police said they suspect his role in the crime and said efforts are on to trace him. When we first got news of the OnePlus 6, the company promised us wed also have a special Avengers-themed limited edition, and now here it is. The Avengers edition OnePlus 6 doesnt differ too much from the standard device, but it does have a few aesthetic changes. Images courtesy: Jayesh Shinde The device features a Kevlar textured carbon fibre back with the same glass panel as on the glossy back version. The OnePlus logo on the rear is accompanied by the Avengers logo, both in gold, with a matching notification switch. Theres also a new case in the shape of Iron Mans helmet, much like last years Star Wars edition had a Kylo Ren helmet case. Theres also a couple of new Avengers Infinity War themes you can apply. ALSO READ: The Notch-Bearing, Bezel-Less OnePlus 6 Finally Comes To India, Starting At Rs 34,999 The OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity War Edition alert slider has a gold finish, and the gold used in this limited edition of the OP6 is of the same hue as found in Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet. To recap, the OnePlus 6 features a massive 6.28-inch 1080x2280 display which, thanks to the notch, has a 19:9 ratio. It features the new 2.8GHz Snapdragon 845 processor with Adreno 630 GPU. On the camera side, theres a 20MP/16MP dual camera arrangement on the rear with 4K 60fps video. All of this is powered by a 3300mAh battery with the companys Dash Charge capability, and runs OxygenOS 5.1 on top of Android Oreo 8.1 So far, the Avengers Infinity War Edition OnePlus 6 has only been announced in China and India, and it won't go on sale in other markets. Every device comes with one of these superhero medallions -- one of six in total. We got the Thor and his hammer insignia with our OnePlus 6 Avengers Edition phone. Also, this limited edition device is only available in the 8GB RAM version with 256GB storage. OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity War Edition Price And Availability The OP6 Avengers Infinity War Edition will set you back at Rs 44,999, significantly higher than the standard edition OnePlus 6 device, and is expected to be available June 5. At a presentation this Thursday, Elon Musk finally elaborated on the plan for The Boring Company going forward, as it continues to tunnel its way under LA. If nothing else, you can at least say the plan far exceeds its name in ambition. Musk revealed his concept for the Loop, a personalized mass transit system capable of carrying 16 people at a time at 241 kilometres per hour. The Loop would consist of vacuum tubes occupying the tunnels theyre digging under LA, connecting the citys downtown are to the LA International Airport. Where youd normally be stuck in traffic for hours on that route, Musk estimates the Loop would get you there in about eight minutes. The best part though is how accessible the system will be. For a distance of 28.16 km by road (though the route will probably be shorter underground), Musk plans to have a fare of just $1 (approximately Rs 68) per person. The CEO says he envisions dozens or even hundreds of small stations for Loop, each about the size of a single parking spot, with the pods themselves being fully electric. Just to be clear, this is somewhat different from the Hyperloop, Musks idea for cross-country travel in vacuum tubes, except at pretty much airline speeds. He did however specify that it would be simple enough to weave the more local Loop into Hyperloop stations, as well as other means of public transport. It's the only way we can think of to address the chronic traffic issues in major cities, Musk said at the event. And that is clearly a problem in LA, considering Musk was late for his own event, blaming it ironically on traffic. Google Home and Amazon Echo devices might be the personal assistants of the future, able to help us out with everything from cooking recipes, to online purchases, to finding random facts. However, theyre obviously not infallible, and theyre unfortunately also not that secure. According to Forbes, theres a newly available method to penetrate the security around digital assistants called voice squatting. Researchers from Indiana University, Bloomington, the University of Virginia and the Chinese Academy of Sciences came together for the study, unraveling just how malicious hackers could use it to spy on you. The hack manipulates something called skills. The Skills API is a platform third-party developers can use to create voice-first experiences for Alexa. Basically, when a developer builds this into their app or online service, it allows Alexa to call it up when you perform a search, or ask it to do something through another app like booking tickets. The thing is, because the Skills API is open to anyone, hackers are using it to build malicious skills that connect to their own tainted apps instead of legitimate ones. All they have to do is make them sound like something youd ask for using voice commands, and then its possible theyd be served up instead. The malicious skills are basically squatting on the command phrases of other developers. For instance, in one demonstration, the researchers registered a skill called rap game, which sounds very much like rat game In most cases, when someone asked Alexa for rat game, they were served the former option instead. They even went further, doing something called word squatting, by registering the skill rat game please. This way, they can prey on people used to saying please while requesting something from another person and also end up doing that with Alexa. As it turns out, both these techniques were also effective on Google Home. devices On average, fake skills were launched more than 50% of the time when test subjects tried to call the proper ones. These skills, once impersonated, could cause serious information leaks to untrusted parties, the researchers wrote in their paper. Unlike with your phone, theres no visual interface needed to match. In addition, most of the time you dont even have to offer confirmation after requesting an action, meaning they could be easier to manipulate. The researchers then used the reprompt function to manipulate Alexa. This allows a skill to keep running when it doesnt receive a response, though users have to be identified through an audio or text file. The team instead created a long, silent audio file, so users wouldnt know they need to say anything, allowing the skill to run indefinitely. And because its listening for your voice during the reprompt function, its basically just recording audio of its surroundings. Using this method, the researchers were able to have the Amazon Echo record 102 seconds of audio, and 264 seconds on Google. If users continued talking even if they werent speaking to their assistants, the devices would continue recording indefinitely. And thats just the spying. These malicious skills could also be used to launch phishing attacks by pretending to be your bank service and thereby gaining your password, or pass on false propaganda by impersonating a news channel. Luckily, both Amazon and Google say they have measures in place to detect malicious skills, though the researchers doubt their methods. Security is an ongoing focus for our teams and we constantly test and improve security features for all Google Assistant devices including voice-activated speakers, a Google spokesperson said. Unfortunately, please isnt one of the words currently being monitored. The late great Professor Stephen Hawking was a physicist at heart, interested in unraveling the secrets of the universe. Its because of his devotion to the science that he was intrigued by the possibility of time travel. So his loved ones are following his actions in life, and inviting any time hoppers to his memorial service so they can try to disprove that. Hawking passed away on March 14 this year at the age of 76, after a stellar lifelong career as the worlds foremost theoretical physicist. The famous London Westminster Abbey will be hosting a memorial for the late scientist on June 15, where his ashes will be interred alongside the graves of fellow geniuses like Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Tickets to the service have been opened up to the public through a ballot system, so they can come pay their respects. The ballot is being run by the Stephen Hawking Foundation, whose leadership includes Hawkings three children, Robert, Lucy, and Tim. However, the coolest thing here is a detail on the applications that eagle-eyed fans picked out. You need to list your birth date on the application to have a chance at a ticket, and it seems the ballot is allowing applications from people born more than 20 years from now, up to December 31, 2038. Clearly, its an invite to time travellers from the future that want to experience some part of Hawkings legacy. You might not realise how sweet a gesture this is until you learn a little detail from Hawkings own past. He himself was mesmerised by the possibility of time travel, though weve never had a way to prove whether or not it will ever be possible. Thats why on June 28, 2009 he held a champagne party exclusively for time travellers. How did he achieve that? Well he just planned and executed a party, and made sure to send out invitations only after it was over. The Discovery Channel captured the event on video at the time, as Hawking dressed up and waited at the event for guests. He sent out an invitation after the party, giving the exact coordinates, date, and time, they should arrive. Unfortunately, no one showed. What a shame, Hawking said at the time. I was hoping a future Miss Universe was going to step through the door. Perhaps Hawking will be so lucky as to have an actual time traveller at his memorial service, maybe his partys invitations just never made it decades into the future. Then again, maybe no one wanted to show up so ostentatiously, and risk creating ripples in space time, splintering off into alternate realities. So perhaps any time hoppers that show up to pay their respects will fly under the radar, in which case well never even know they were there. via GIPHY La insurrecion de abril en Nicaragua // The April Insurrection in Nicaragua, 2018 wtulnews [at] gmail.com) Friday May 18th, 2018 2:09 PM by WTUL News & Views WTUL News and Views speaks with Tulane University's Stone Center for Latin American Studies post doctoral fellow Dr. Pamela Neumann and WTUL affiliate Alexandra about the April Insurrection in Nicaragua. Listen now: Copy the code below to embed this audio into a web page: 33 minutes + 35 seconds There is a new cycle of social movement in Nicaragua called the April Insurrection, or la insurreccion de abril. It is the biggest uprising since the civil war ended in 1990. The movement ignited on April 18th, 2018 when Nicaraguans took to the streets to protest a more narrow issue- President Ortega had proposed social security reforms that would raise income and payroll taxes while reducing pension benefits. Demonstrators opposing this change were met with intense violence from authorities, followed by deployment of the Nicaraguan army ordered by President Ortega. The violent response set off a ripple effect, as students and other groups across the country raised voices against governmental repression and censorship of dissent, as well as violations of human rights. I was joined in conversation shortly after the April Insurrection began by WTUL affiliate Alexandra, who has family on the ground in Nicaragua, and Dr. Pamela Neumann, a post doctoral fellow at Tulane University in the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. Dr. Neumann did her P.H.D. in Sociology at the University of Texas in Austin and has a masters in Latin American Studies. She currently does research on gender based violence and feminist activism in Nicaragua. We talked through this social movement- what led up to and where its headed- as well as the role of social media and technology in civil unrest and student movements. Switch the Market flag Open the menu and switch the Market flag for targeted data from your country of choice. for targeted data from your country of choice. A gunman ranting about President Donald Trump walked into the lobby of Trump National Doral Miami resort early Friday morning, draped an American flag on the counter and began firing. The man who was not a guest at the resort waited in the lobby for police officers to arrive before luring them into a gunfight, authorities said. During the gunfight, the unidentified man was struck several times in the lower body. No workers at the resort or guests were injured. A Doral cop hurt his wrist. Theres a shootout in the lobby, said Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez. Hes at the hospital stable. Dont know how many times he was hit. News footage shows a bald man arriving at Kendall Regional Medical Center on a stretcher. Doral mayor J.C. Bermudez said authorities do not believe the shooting was terrorism related. Check for updates here. @alextdaugherty @newsbysmiley Donald Trump used the word "animals" while talking immigration Wednesday, and Democrats pounced. They'd been waiting. At a White House event discussing California's sanctuary city laws, Trump listened as a local sheriff lamented that the state's policies prevent local law enforcement from referring MS-13 gang members to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. And then Trump vented. "You wouldnt believe how bad these people are," Trump said in response, without explicitly mentioning the gang. "These arent people. These are animals. And were taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate thats never happened before." The comments set off another round of condemnation from the left for a president who's become known for using inflammatory language to communicate a hard-line stance on immigration. Democratic leaders quickly framed the comments as the latest affront from the president who opened his campaign in 2015 by referring to Mexicans as drug dealers, criminals and rapists. But the White House defended Trump's remarks on Thursday, and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said people decrying Trump's remarks are defending MS-13. Trump said the same Thursday evening. "Frankly, I don't think the term POTUS used was strong enough," Huckabee Sanders said. Regardless, Republicans spent Thursday playing defense, which is where Democrats want them. Heading into the mid-term elections, Trump's penchant for incendiary, off-the-cuff remarks is among the reasons the country's minority party is so optimistic they can win in November, particularly in areas like South Florida, where high percentages of voters were either born in a different country or born to parents who fled to the U.S. to find a better life. The president's knack for offending other cultures and dragging lawmakers into his vortex could be a great equalizer even for strong incumbents. As the White House tried to explain Trump's comments Thursday, Democratic challengers in South Florida sought to put their opponents in the same position. Mary Barzee Flores, a former judge and trial lawyer running against longtime Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, called the incumbent a "coward" for staying silent on Trump's latest remarks. Read more here. Allianz SE's new Australian business will be launched in alliance with global fixed-income manager PIMCO and will target the countrys $2.6trn retirement savings pool, Reuters and Money Management reported. The business would be initially headed by Adrian Stewart, PIMCOs head in Australia and New Zealand, who has led the collaboration since its inception in 2015, while the search for a new CEO is being held. Richard Feledy, managing director of Allianz Australia, said there is a significant demand for retirement-income solutions not only in Australia, but also abroad. It is a global challenge that we should all be focused on solving, Feledy said. The new business is expected to create and fill more than 50 Sydney-based jobs, the reports said. Related stories: Allianz on the reasons behind first quarter profit rise Allianz leader on how to manage change The expectation is that the combined business will trade under the name SSL Endeavour with the leadership from both companies to remain in place. That means that Roger Spicer will continue as CEO of SSL, while David Lawrence will retain his position of CEO of Endeavour. The new firm will have co-chairs in the form of Andrew Sturdy, founder of SSL, and Endeavour chairman Chris Giles. Both Endeavour and SSL are specialist international brokers, committed to increasing the efficiency and flow of business into the London Market, said Lawrence. This deal represents a milestone in our development to date we are delighted to be combining with the talented SSL team that will give us greater scale and complementary skills. With the backing of JCF, SSL Endeavours focus on growth and modernisation initiatives make the Group very well placed for future expansion, both organically and through acquisitions. SSL CEO Roger Spicer praised the historic nature of the deal: JCF has successfully agreed two deals in the Lloyds market simultaneously which is a remarkable feat. They have brought together two successful companies with no overlap of business. I believe that SSL Endeavour will be able to provide a broader offering to its combined client base. We are looking forward to an exciting future working together with the Endeavour team. Related stories: Endeavour Insurance looks at "gap" in cyber insurance market Endeavour announces general insurance veteran as non-executive chairman The Gallagher Brisbane team has donated $2,411 to support the construction of Jimmy's Village School in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The funds have helped Jimmy Chan, the school's principal and teacher, to start putting up the walls of the English language school that would cater to underprivileged Cambodian children. The insurance industry needs bright and talented young professionals who will ensure it continues to properly underwrite risks and provide high quality expert advice to the wider community, said Justin Kennedy, CEO of Key Media. The great news is that there is a wealth of burgeoning talent in the industry in Australia. These rising stars are passionate about insurance and fill you with confidence that the future of the industry is in safe hands. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to continue Insurance Businesss well-established tradition of profiling a selection of these individuals in our annual Young Guns report. Eligible nominees must be aged 35 or under, have never previously been named an Insurance Business Young Gun and work in an insurance broking role, or a role that interacts/works with the intermediary channel. See the past Young Guns here. Entries are free, but will close at the end of next week. To make way for the new building, an existing six-story complex is being demolished. We are delighted that this project is getting underway, said Tim Bailey, CEO of Zurich Life and Investments Australia. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop a workplace that is tailored to the needs of our people and our customers. From late 2020, our Sydney-based teams will be able to welcome our customers into a state-of-the-art, purpose-built building, one that aligns to the culture of innovation and service that were aspiring to. Zurich Australian Property Holdings, Zurich Insurance Groups property development arm, is overseeing the development of the tower, with Zurich Financial Services Australia set to occupy the majority of floors as anchor tenant. Related stories: Zurich rolls out offering for new clients Zurich renews major PGA sponsorship The establishment of Hansard Worldwide Limited represents a new chapter in the 30-year strong development of the Hansard story and our commitment to clients in all parts of the world, said Gordon Marr, chief executive of Hansard Global plc, the London Stock Exchange-listed parent company of the Hansard Group. To ensure we continue to support our mobile, internationally orientated clients, HWL will be working with high-quality international, regulated independent financial advisors. The granting of its licence is the first step in the establishment of the HWL business. We look forward to providing further information as we progress. Hansard Group, which is headquartered in the Isle of Man, said putting up HWL in The Bahamas provides an important regional presence supporting physical access to key markets, as well as the ability to better serve clients and advisors across time zones. Across the border, Canada is a marginally less stormy affair but residents and business are still battling extreme weather events. Rapidly melting snowpacks and heavy rains have caused severe flooding in both eastern and western provinces, making travel extremely difficult and causing business interruption. Traveling at a time of natural disaster or extreme weather is very stressful. No-one has a crystal ball that can see into the future and predict exactly when a storm will hit. But there are things travelers can do to protect themselves, and their travel plans, against potential losses. Whether its your passport in a foreign country or your insurance policy in any country, making sure that your valuables are taken care of can be make or break in a natural disaster, said Justin Tysdal, travel insurance expert and CEO of Seven Corners. You dont want to make a chaotic situation even more scary by discovering that your passport has gone missing. Bringing along a travel version of a fireproof safe can make sure that no matter what type of disaster occurs, your identification and documents remain intact. Tysdal also advises travelers to build delays into plans as even the most meticulously planned trips can experience the odd hiccup here and there. Severe weather events, even if theyre not directly impacting the exact location of a traveler, can cause flight delays, cancellations, and problems with other public transport. Being prepared for the worst will help travelers conquer frustration when it beckons. The best way for anyone to avoid frustration and protect their future travel plans is to add a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) policy to their travel insurance package, Tysdal added. The CFAR benefit allows travelers to cancel their trip for any reason they wish. That way, should a natural disaster or any other emergency occur prior to the departure date, travelers can cancel their trip and receive at least 75% of their nonrefundable trip cost back. Related stories: Lava fountains and flows: insurance implications as Hawaiian volcano continues to erupt Paying travel health claims just got faster with blockchain Preferred Property Program (PPP), a national managing general agency, has named Wayne Dow vice president of programs. Dow will be joining the Bell Works office in Holmdel, N.J., to oversee the marketing of PPP products to all of its network brokers. He joins PPP with 20 years of experience, most recently serving as underwriting manager at Kevin Davis Insurance Services for the past 12 years. Prior to KDIS, Dow was with Travelers Bond & Specialty Insurance first as fidelity and crime claim counsel and then moving to the underwriting side of the business. Established in 1998, PPP operates a risk purchasing group and is domiciled in Illinois and administered by JGS Insurance in New Jersey. Source: Preferred Property Program Topics Property New Jersey New Jersey Transit had installed a federally mandated emergency braking system on less than 10 percent of its fleet of locomotives nine months before the deadline, according to a progress report covering the first quarter of this year. The report filed with the Federal Railroad Administration shows the positive train control system was installed in 35 of 440 locomotives in NJ Transits fleet by the end of March. Thats the same number NJ Transit reported at the end of last year. Since the quarter ended March 30, eight more locomotives have been equipped for a total of 43, an NJ Transit spokeswoman said. The agency also reported 37 of 124 radio towers were fully equipped through March 30, two more than at the end of last year. Seven more have been equipped since then. None of NJ Transits 11 territories, defined as entire track segments, has been completed, though positive train control has been tested on 6 miles (10 kilometers) of track in western New Jersey since the beginning of this year. Last month, NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett said that the overnight test of the system on tracks in Morris County had been successful and that he was more confident than he had been when he assumed his job in February. But he stopped short of saying NJ Transit would meet the Dec. 31, 2018, deadline. Corbett didnt comment on Wednesday. The federal government required U.S. railroads to install the emergency braking system after a 2008 commuter rail crash in California that killed 25 people. The original deadline of December 2015 was extended three years. NJ Transit, which serves New Jersey and parts of New York and Pennsylvania, could get another two-year extension to finish installing the positive train control system if it meets certain benchmarks by the end of the year, such as installing all system hardware and completing employee training. But last month, the Federal Railroad Administration sent a letter expressing concern over NJ Transits ability to qualify for the extension. Corbett recently told a state legislative committee that a review conducted shortly after he took over revealed disturbing results and that the contractor working on the installation had since expanded its operation facilities to try to meet the deadline. This month, NJ Transit also said it would reduce its train service over the next several months as it tries to meet the federal deadline. NJ Transit is the nations third-largest transit system, with 12 rail lines and more than 250 bus routes. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New Jersey The New Hampshire Executive Council has unanimously approved John Elias as New Hampshires new commissioner for the Department of Insurance, succeeding Roger Sevigny who is set to retire June 11 after 16 years in the role. John is a good choice, Sevigny said in an emailed statement to Insurance Journal. I have full confidence in his ability and wish him the best for the future. As insurance commissioner, Sevigny led a staff of 82 employees at the New Hampshire Insurance Department. In a previous interview with Insurance Journal, he pointed to assisting with guiding the state through the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act as two of his biggest accomplishments while in office. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has praised Sevigny for a job well done in a statement announcing the Commissioners upcoming retirement. We will have big shoes to fill with Rogers absence, Sununu said in previous remarks. Sevigny also offered a word of advice for his successor: Do what makes sense and regulate in a way that you would want to be regulated if you were on the other side. Elias will serve as New Hampshires Insurance Commissioner for a five-year term, effective June 10. He previously held the position of assistant commissioner at the New Hampshire Insurance Department and has more than 15 years of experience working for insurance carriers in various management and executive roles in underwriting, compliance, product management and strategic planning. Since joining the New Hampshire Insurance Department, he has been focused on organizational structure, process improvement and the overall efficiency of the organization, according to the department. Elias said that he hopes to use his years of experience managing teams and organizations in the insurance industry to bring a unique perspective to insurance regulation as New Hampshires insurance commissioner. My experience as an insurance company executive has provided me with a unique perspective on insurance regulation, he stated in his application letter for the role, obtained by Insurance Journal. I understand company philosophies, worked with regulators in 16 states, and embrace customer service and continuous improvement. Rep. Shevrin Jones confers with House Speaker Richard Corcoran in a recent Florida legislative session. [The Florida House] At the end of session, superintendents and the statewide teachers' union called for the Legislature to redo their education funding in the budget they were about to pass. When a special session seemed imminent on gambling issues, again, they made the same call, without success. Now, Democrats have organized a last-ditch effort to use an obscure state law to poll lawmakers on their willingness to come back for a special session to address education funding. State Reps. Shevrin Jones of West Park and Nicholas Duran of Miami said Thursday that they and 33 others have filed petitions with the Florida Secretary of State for the poll. This method of calling a special session circumvents the Republican Legislative leadership, who typically are the ones who must call any special sessions and declare its purpose. The 35 total members are all Democrats from both the House and the Senate, though not all members from their party are included on the list. The required threshold is 32 members to force a poll: The list of 35 total Democrats from the Florida Legislature who are forcing a poll for an education special session. (Provided by Rep. Shevrin Jones) Both Jones and Duran hail from the two counties, Broward and Miami-Dade, hit hardest by a change in the way the state calculates school funding this year, designed to direct more dollars to smaller districts. They, like the rest of the House members who aren't termed out, are up for re-election. "In the aftermath of Parkland and the waning days of session, the Legislature took action for the safety of our schools," Duran said. "In our rush to do something we didnt account for the conesequences of that bill 7026 and now the school districts are facing those consequences." Since the passage of this year's budget as well as SB 7026, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, school districts have been scrambling to comply with the new safety requirements as well as their normal operations. Several are considering raising local property taxes. Democrats tried the same tactic after the Pulse shooting in the summer of 2016, in an effort to force a special session vote on guns. They failed to garner enough support to call the session. This year's final vote on the budget was taken on March 11, the Sunday after the legislative session was supposed to end but it went into overtime after the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting changed the entire direction of the session and caused lawmakers to reconcile with issues like school safety and gun rights not previously taking center stage. Jones was not present for the vote on the budget. He said it was because after the Legislature's official end date he needed to go back to his full-time job as the executive director of the Florida Reading Corps, a branch of AmeriCorps. Duran voted yes, along with many other Democrats who argued against the budget but who ultimately voted for it. "When our members were presented with the budget, they were presented with something they did not like," Jones said. "But (some are) going to vote for it because there are some good things in there." Despite the fact that Republicans have said repeatedly that they are proud of the investment they made this year in education, Jones said this poll at the very least will require every lawmaker to go on the record in an election year with their position on the current school funding levels. It's unlikely the Democrats will succeed, but now that the Secretary of State has received Jones and Duran's petition, that office will send out the poll today. Lawmakers will have until noon on May 24 to respond, according to Sarah Revell from the Secretary of State's office. Canadas finance minister said his plan to indemnify Kinder Morgan Inc. against losses on its Trans Mountain expansion project would be carried out in a commercially viable way. Bill Morneau said Thursday the government was not looking to give a grant or a subsidy to get the C$7.4 billion ($5.6 billion) pipeline built and that talks are continuing with the company. His comments come a day after he offered an indemnity to cover costs of political delays on the pipeline expansion. We think there is a way to do it in a commercially appropriate way, so the project is economically viable then we can actually provide sort of like insurance, he said during an interview with BNN Bloomberg. We can effectively say, Look there is a premium thats going to get paid but we can insure this sort of delay so that the project gets done. Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continue to prod Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. to go ahead with Trans Mountain. The company set a May 31 deadline for Canada to resolve political and legal uncertainties surrounding the project. Pipeline Insurance Trudeau, speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, said the pipeline expansion was in the national interest and also used the term insurance to describe his offer to the company. We are very confident there is a strong business case for a pipeline, Trudeau said. Both signaled they were confident another company would want the project if Kinder Morgan decided to balk. Trudeau said only thered be alternatives, while Morneau didnt specially respond when asked if hes had talks with rival pipeline companies. Im focused on the discussions were having, Morneau said. Im sure thered be people whod come forward, because again, its commercially viable. Pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. said Thursday in an emailed statement it wasnt in talks to buy Trans Mountain or operate the pipeline. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics Canada Lloyds and independent specialist marine broker SSL Insurance Group has agreed to merge with fellow Lloyds broker and delegated authority specialist Endeavour Insurance Services. The deal will conclude with both companies being acquired by a fund advised by private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co., according to the announcement. The merger provides a strong and efficient platform from which to grow a dynamic, client focused Lloyds broker whilst exploring further acquisition opportunities in the insurance market, the announcement said. The combined business will trade as SSL Endeavour and the leadership team at both companies will remain in place with Roger Spicer continuing as CEO of SSL and David Lawrence retaining his role as CEO of Endeavour. SSL Endeavour will be co-chaired by Andrew Sturdy, founder of SSL and Chris Giles, Endeavour chairman. The transaction is subject to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval and is expected to complete in the second quarter of2018. Established in 2003, SSL is a marine broker with clients in 80 countries. SSL also offers cash-in-transit, financial institution and political risk insurance. Employing 42 people, the company is headquartered in London. Founded in 1999, Endeavour specialises in business produced by North American and European agents handled under delegated authorities. Employing 44 people in its London office, Endeavour has divisions supporting business from Canada; the United States, Europe and the rest of the world; and a cyber division. The merger creates a highly complementary and entrepreneurial business from which to expand, both organically and through acquisition. We look forward to working with the team as they develop their specialist proposition, said Jonathan Cox, vice president, J.C. Flowers. Topics Mergers Agencies Excess Surplus Lloyd's A Milwaukee-area company will go to trial in a racial discrimination case after a federal judge declined to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the firm refused to hire a woman because she was black. U.S District Court Judge David E. Jones denied Scion Dentals motion to dismiss the case, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit in 2016, alleging the dental benefits administration company refused to hire a black woman for a permanent position and fired her from her temporary position because of her race. The commission provided enough evidence for the case to continue to trial, Jones said. Court documents allege the company didnt give Nartisha Leija a permanent position because she didnt have a college degree, but the company later hired two white employees despite their lack of degrees. Scion Dental said it fired Leija because there werent any active projects. But the commission alleges the company fired Leija a week after she filed complaints and that the company hired new employees afterward to do similar work. The commission alleges Scion Dental violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their sex, race, color, national origin or religion. Scion Dental combined with other companies is now a part of SKYGEN USA, according to the commission. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Wisconsin The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a sweeping $867 billion farm bill on Friday after Republican leaders failed to appease conservative lawmakers who had asked them not to hold the vote until they were given the chance to consider a bill to clamp down on immigration. The next steps are unclear for the farm bill, which failed in a 198-to-213 vote. The farm bills passage through the House has been entangled in the debate over immigration, as the conservative House Freedom Caucus sought to pre-empt a move by moderate Republicans and Democrats to use procedural tactics to force a wide-ranging immigration debate on the House floor. Freedom Caucus lawmakers warned Republican leaders on Thursday that they should delay the farm bill vote until they were given the chance to debate and vote on a conservative immigration bill. The farm bills failure is an embarrassment for House Republican leaders. They are trying to stave off the broader immigration debate sought by moderates, which would include a vote on a bipartisan bill that falls well short of demands from conservative Republicans and President Donald Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy were seen on the floor of the chamber negotiating with Freedom Caucus lawmakers as the farm bill vote was under way. Republican Farm Bill Sows Bipartisan Discontent This is all the more disappointing because we offered the vote these members were looking for, but they still chose to take the bill down, Ryan spokesman Doug Andres said of the Freedom Caucus immigration demand. But Representative Mark Meadows, head of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters that leadership had offered them a vote on the conservative immigration bill months ago and that their latest offers had not been fully clear. Unfortunately too many of our members have been left standing at the altar too many times with those kinds of promises, said Representative Scott Perry, a Freedom Caucus member. Food Stamps Meadows told reporters after the vote that the farm bills failure was likely temporary. Its not a fatal blow, its just a reorganize, he said. Representative Dennis Ross, a member of Republican whip team, said he thought the farm bill would be back on the House floor next week. But, while some of the Freedom Caucus roughly 30 members voted against the farm bill over their immigration demand, a handful of moderate Republicans also joined Democrats to oppose the bill. The moderates disliked changes it would make to a food stamps program used by about 40 million Americans, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Republican Farm Bill Calls for Changes to Food Stamps, Renewal of Crop Insurance The farm bill, as written by House Agriculture Committee Republicans, would impose stricter work requirements on millions of food stamp recipients. Democrats were adamantly opposed to those requirements, and said if they are changed now, a bipartisan farm bill would be possible. If they will listen to me, I can deliver a lot of Democrats for this bill, said Representative Collin Peterson, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. Even if the House passes a farm bill with the food stamp work requirements in place, they are unlikely to end up in a version being written by the Senates agriculture committee. Senate leaders have said the House SNAP proposals could not pass that chamber, where Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority and passing most legislation requires 60 votes. (Reporting By Amanda Becker Editing by Bill Berkrot and Cynthia Osterman) Topics Legislation Agribusiness Mark Fox cringes every time he relives the day his worst weather nightmare came true. April 3, 2012, was a hot and humid day in North Texas, and the unstable atmosphere spawned 17 tornadoes in five hours in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, one of the most destructive tornado outbreaks ever in Texas. The storms flattened neighborhoods, ruined elementary schools and took out approximately 110 airplanes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, causing more than $700 million in damage overall. Fox has worked as a meteorologist in North Texas and the Panhandle the bottom of the countrys infamous Tornado Alley for nearly 20 years. As the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Services Dallas-Fort Worth office, hes tasked with deciding when a storm is dangerous enough to warrant an emergency alert. More than 8.8 million people live in the 46 counties that Fox oversees and 2.2 million of them have moved there since 2000. That means more people live in harms way. The more we grow and the more targets we give the storms, the more targets they can hit, Fox said. Texas population has grown faster than any other large states this decade. Its been the nations growth center and has shown no signs of slowing down, according to Steve Murdock, former director of the U.S. Census Bureau. For Fox, this means the tornadoes that hes spent his whole career tracking can destroy more lives than ever before. Some suburbs around Dallas and Fort Worth have doubled in size over the past 20 years. Others have tripled. To accommodate additional residents, new housing developments and businesses have sprung up in multiple cities. As a result, the recipe for disaster that Fox fears has already begun, as tornadoes have struck densely populated communities that simply didnt exist a few years before. The environment was ripe for severe weather on April 3, 2012, as warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico rose north and collided with cold, dry air that rolled down from the Rocky Mountains. The first of four major tornadoes rated as EF-2 or greater, with reported winds of more than 110 mph touched down just south of Lancaster at noon. Within minutes, the tornados path ripped through several subdivisions within the city, injured 10 people and damaged or destroyed 173 homes many of which were in neighborhoods that didnt exist a decade before. The strongest tornado of the day struck Forney, a suburb 20 miles east of downtown Dallas. Forney has grown by more than 230 percent since 2000, adding 13,000 residents. At 2:33 p.m., an EF-3 tornado with peak winds of 170 mph tore through more neighborhoods, including the Diamond Creek subdivision, that didnt exist a decade before. What made this day particularly rare, Fox said, was that there were tornadoes on both sides of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area within such a short space of time. That hardly ever happens. Fortunately, no one died that day, something that Peter Morgan, Forneys director of community development, still cant quite believe. We had a number of buildings which were totalled. We had a number of buildings not standing, Morgan said. We were just very lucky. Thats a big reason why Forney adopted a new building code in May 2017 that Morgan said will ensure all new buildings will be able to withstand winds of up to 115 mph, or the equivalent of a weak EF-2 tornado. The majority of the citys existing buildings, however, fall under an older code, which Morgan said only ensures buildings can withstand winds of up to 90 mph, or the equivalent of an EF-1 tornado. This means that the peak winds reported from the 2012 tornado could still destroy the majority of the structures in its path if it were to strike again today. In response to the various natural disasters that threaten the state including tornadoes the Texas Legislature has taken steps to help its communities recover more quickly. In 2017, a bill was passed that makes it easier for prescription drugs and other medical supplies to be transported to disaster areas. And in 2015, out-of-state businesses and employees working on disaster recovery became exempt from taxes and certain licensing requirements. Across the state, there have been more than 650 reports of tornadoes since 2013, ranging from Lubbock to Corpus Christi and from El Paso to Houston. Seventy of those have been EF-2 and above. Aside from luck, Fox said that earlier weather forecasts from improved radar technology allowed his office and other emergency agencies to start preparing for a potential disaster up to seven days in advance. Mobile radar apps, emergency alerts, NOAA Weather Radio, warning sirens and social media were all used to communicate the warnings to residents. After seeing the destruction across his city for himself on April 3, 2012, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said it was a miracle that no one was killed by the storm. Texans may have to hope for more miracles in the future. Disclosure: Steve Murdock 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. Find a complete list of them here. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2018/05/17/cities-sprawl-more-texans-are-exposed-tornadoes/. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Texas Windstorm A North Carolina city employee isnt owed workers compensation for an injury he suffered while smoking during a lunch break, the state appeals court ruled Tuesday. A three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals said Larry Brooks fall in 2015 was due to underlying medical conditions combined with his decision to smoke, not actions by his employer. Brooks, who supervised a utility crew for Winston-Salem, was taking his lunch break at a gas station when he smoked an electronic cigarette in a city truck and had a coughing fit, according to court documents. Brooks, who said he wasnt accustomed to e-cigarettes, stepped out of the truck while coughing uncontrollably and hit the curb after passing out. Brooks told medical personnel that day he was diabetic but had been off his medicine. A doctor later said high blood pressure, high blood sugar and the coughing fit contributed to the fall that injured his back. Brooks was put on restrictions that made him unable to return to his position. Court documents also note the city has a policy against its workers smoking inside its vehicles. Brooks was previously denied compensation by the North Carolina Industrial Commission. But he said the state board made a mistake in rejecting him, arguing that his circumstances were similar to other cases of workers crashing vehicles when they blacked out at work. However, the appeals court ruled that the fall didnt arise from work duties, so he wasnt entitled to compensation from the city. While admittedly Brooks would not have been at the gas station but for his job, his fall was not traceable to the conditions of his employment, the court opinion states, citing instead a combination of Brooks actions and medical conditions. He chose to purchase an e-cigarette, return to the truck, smoke the cigarette, and ultimately step outside of the truck to get fresh air, the ruling says. None of these actions were required by his employment or served to benefit his employer. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Workers' Compensation North Carolina A lead paint manufacturer will pay more than $60 million to remove the toxic material from homes around California. Officials in Santa Clara County announced the settlement with NL Industries on Wednesday, ending 18 years of litigation. The money will fund remediation of lead paint in multiple cities and counties statewide that joined in a sweeping public nuisance lawsuit. Dallas-based NL Industries doesnt acknowledge any wrongdoing as part of the deal. The company says its happy to put the litigation behind it. The lawsuit was filed in 2000. The case is still pending against two other former makers of lead paint: the Sherwin-Williams Company and ConAgra Grocery Products. The companies are appealing a 2014 court ruling finding them liable for the removal of lead paint from older houses. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits California Manufacturing The number of applications for marijuana business licenses is outgrowing the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Offices approval system. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports a May 8 Marijuana Control Office spreadsheet says there are 467 applications being processed with another 46 businesses set for inspection. Brandon Emmett of the Alaska Marijuana Control Board, which oversees the office, says there is discussion of making Marijuana Control Board meetings longer to deal with the backlog of applications and also to manage the need to revise state regulations. Emmett also says raising application fees could help cover the cost of hiring more staff. Emmett says the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association and the Marijuana Control Board requested more state funding from the Legislature for the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, but the request was denied. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Cannabis Alaska Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has vetoed a bill requiring drivers to carry higher limits on their car insurance. Ducey closed out the states legislative session by signing 55 new laws and vetoing seven others. Wednesday was the final day that Ducey had to act on 62 bills that state lawmakers passed in early May as they finalized next years $10.4 billion state budget and other laws. Some of the laws Ducey signed include a measure that will regulate robot delivery services, and change timelines for special elections. One of the measures that he vetoed would have required Arizona drivers to carry higher limits on their car insurance. Ducey said he was concerned that it could increase premium costs. Ducey said he is open to the prospect of revising the limits but is concerned about making insurance less affordable for low-income drivers. State law currently requires $15,000 for injuries to any one person, $30,000 for all injuries from the same mishap, and $10,000 in property damage. Ducey signed 346 bills and vetoed 23 others throughout this years legislative session. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto Arizona Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is a bank for central banks. Founded in 1930, the Bank for International Settlements is the oldest global financial institution and operates under the auspices of international law. But from its inception to the present day, the role of the BIS has been ever-changing as it adapts to the dynamic global financial community and its needs. Bank for International Settlements Is a Financial Chameleon The BIS was created out of the Hague Agreements of 1930 and took over the job of the Agent General for Repatriation in Berlin. When established, the BIS was responsible for the collection, administration and distribution of reparations from Germanyas agreed upon in the Treaty of Versaillesfollowing World War I. The BIS was also the trustee for Dawes and Young Loans, which were internationally-issued loans used to finance these repatriations. After World War II, the BIS turned its focus to the defense and implementation of the World Bank's Bretton Woods System. Between the 1970s and 1980s, the BIS monitored cross-border capital flows in the wake of the oil and debt crises, which in turn led to the development of regulatory supervision of internationally active banks. The BIS has also emerged as an emergency "funder" for nations in trouble, coming to the aid of countries such as Mexico and Brazil during their debt crises in 1982 and 1998, respectively. In cases like these, where the International Monetary Fund is already in the country, emergency funding is provided through the IMF program. The BIS has also functioned as trustee and agent. For example, from 1979 to 1994, the BIS was the agent for the European Monetary System, which is the administration that paved the way for a single European currency. Notwithstanding all the roles mentioned above, the BIS has always been a promoter of central bank cooperation to ensure global monetary and financial stability. Bank for International Settlements Tackling Challenges Given the continuously changing global economic structure, the BIS has had to adapt to many different financial challenges. However, by focusing on providing traditional banking services to member central banks, the BIS essentially gives the lender of last resort a shoulder to lean on. In its aim to support global financial and monetary stability, the BIS is an integral part of the international economy. To promote such stability, the BIS offers a forum of cooperation among member central banks (including monetary agencies) by: Contributing to international cooperation: As a crucial resource for central banks and other financial institutions, the BIS produces research and statistics and organizes seminars and workshops focused on international financial issues. For example, the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) organizes seminars and lectures on themes of global financial stability. The governors of member central banks meet at the BIS twice a month to share their experiences, and these meetings function as the core of central bank cooperation. Other regular meetings of central bank executives and specialists, as well as economists and supervisory specialists, contribute to the goal of international cooperation, while also ensuring each central bank serves its country effectively. As a crucial resource for central banks and other financial institutions, the BIS produces research and statistics and organizes seminars and workshops focused on international financial issues. For example, the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) organizes seminars and lectures on themes of global financial stability. The governors of member central banks meet at the BIS twice a month to share their experiences, and these meetings function as the core of central bank cooperation. Other regular meetings of central bank executives and specialists, as well as economists and supervisory specialists, contribute to the goal of international cooperation, while also ensuring each central bank serves its country effectively. Offering services to committees established and working at the BIS: By offering its services to various secretariats of financial committees and organizations created under its patronage, the BIS also functions as an international "think tank" for financial issues. Committees such as the Markets Committee debate and improve upon fundamental issues regarding the workings and regulations of the international financial infrastructure. As the bankers' bank, the BIS serves the financial needs of member central banks. It provides gold and foreign exchange transactions for them and holds central bank reserves. The BIS is also a banker and fund manager for other international financial institutions. How the Bank Operates The BIS competes directly with other private financial institutions for global banking activities. However, it does not hold current accounts for individuals or governments. At one time, private shareholders, as well as central banks, held shares in the BIS. But in 2001 it was decided that the private shareholders should be compensated and that ownership of the BIS should be restricted to the central banks (or equivalent monetary authorities). The BIS unit of account is the IMF's special drawing rights, which are a basket of convertible currencies. The reserves held account for approximately 7% of the world's total currency. Like any other bank, the BIS strives to offer premium services to attract central banks as clients. To provide security, it maintains abundant equity capital and reserves that are diversely invested following risk analysis. The BIS ensures liquidity for central banks by offering to buy back tradable instruments from them; many of these instruments have been specifically designed for the central bank's needs. To compete with private financial institutions, the BIS offers a top return on funds invested by central banks. The statutes of the BIS are presided over by three bodies: the general meeting of member central banks, the board of directors, and the management of the BIS. Decisions on the functions of the BIS are made at each level and are based on a weighted voting arrangement. The Bottom Line The BIS is a global center for financial and economic interests. As such, it has been a principal architect in the development of the global financial market. Given the dynamic nature of social, political, and economic situations around the world, the BIS can be seen as a stabilizing force, encouraging financial stability and international prosperity in the face of global change. Here is a last series of excerpts from A Venture in Immortality, by David Kennedy. See the previous two posts for other excerpts. In trance [the medium] Albert Best spoke to me. "Ann is here again, she is saying something about Sauchie. (This is a village in Clackmannanshire.) I replied that yesterday I had officiated at a wedding where the bride came from Sauchie. He continued, "The groom was another Kennedy, not you, Iain." I agreed that the name of the groom was Iain Kennedy. Next followed, "What did you do to the best man? Ann says that you did something discourteous but not intentional to the best man!" This was absolutely true. I absent-mindedly closed the official reception without giving the best man the customary opportunity of replying to the toast to the bridesmaid. "Ann says you must attend to your socks and buy a few more pairs. You had a hole in one that you wore at the wedding." Again true. To my horror I discovered at the function that a hole was showing above the heel of my shoe. "There is something wrong with your shoe which you are wearing. Take it off." I took off my shoe and discovered that the sole was separating from the upper part on one shoe. This was totally invisible and could only be seen by probing at the joint of upper and sole with a pencil. Still more remarkable facts were to come. Albert, in trance, continued: "Ann is saying that there is something wrong with a light". Now as it happened the bulb in my study burned out the previous night when I was about to finish work and go to bed. I had made a mental note to buy a new 250 watt bulb but had not yet done so. I told Albert Best that my study lamp had gone out. Now this coincidence was a perfectly good explanation of what he claimed Ann had said, "Something wrong with a light". There was a pause and silence for almost half a minute. "No. This is not the light she is talking about. She says that the light could be dangerous." Another pause, then, "Would you please," she says, "check the lights on your car when you leave here. There is something wrong with one of them and that could be dangerous." Immediately after the session I went outside to where my car was parked and tested the lights. I found that my near-side side lamp was out. I also found that the wire behind the side light assembly was hot after the lights had been on for a few minutes. Here was a source of danger, both of fire and the obvious danger of driving at night without a front side-light. There was no conceivable way in which Albert Best could have been aware of this defect in my car. He had not even seen my car for weeks and in any case it was mid-summer and I would not have my lights on. In addition, there was the heating of the wire behind the light assembly. I am particularly impressed by this piece of evidence from Ann. It could not be known to any human agency, of this I am convinced. This is an example of something which is quite outside any kind of telepathic explanation. It is simple and yet it fulfills all the requirements of a non-telepathic condition.... It appears to be possible for helpers and loved ones on the other side to be aware of sources of potential danger and to try to give warning. This kind of evidence is very difficult to explain except on the survival hypothesis. [pp. 124-126] In a first-time meeting with another medium, Mrs. Constable, some very good evidence was obtained. She began, "You are working on a book just now but I feel that you have got stuck. Leave it aside for the moment and tonight just try to relax and scribble down any ideas that come to you, for half an hour or so." Suddenly she stopped, as though interrupted by someone whom she could hear, but who was not audible to me. "What's that you say? It's a lady speaking, she says, 'Tell him not tonight because he has to go out tonight'." I replied that I had an afternoon appointment but that I was free this evening and intended to be at home. "Oh no!" was the reply. "She says you are going to get a telephone call which will change your arrangements in the next few hours." Mrs. Constable continued, "There is a lady here comes the lady who spoke just now a lovely lady very beautiful especially her hair. She says, 'Tell him it was my teeth.' She had trouble with her teeth. She is very quiet shy. She does this to her mouth (here Mrs. Constable put her hand over her mouth) as though she used to hide her mouth or her teeth with her hand." I must emphasize how completely accurate this description is of my wife. She had a shallow palate and gums. For years of her life, until she died, she was plagued by the problem of finding dentures which were comfortable and even wearable. All together she had four sets of dentures at the time of her death. We used to have a private joke between us. She would say to me, "If I ever come back to you after I die, I'll just put my hand over my mouth and say, "Remember my teeth'." At 12 noon, a few minutes after I arrived home, I received a telephone call from the [people I had an afternoon appointment with]. The call was to ask me if I would mind coming out in the evening instead of the afternoon.... This knowledge on Anna's part of the course of the next few hours and the fact that I would be involved all evening might be brushed off as coincidence; a guess on the part of the medium. Yet if it were so, it was a detailed guess because it also mentioned a telephone call changing my plans. The chances of my plans for an entire evening being changed by something of this nature are very, very slender. It has happened to me once in the last two years. I regard this as a significant type of evidence of a non-telepathic nature. [pp. 141-142] From a session with Albert Best: Finally, Albert Best continued, "Ann is very light-hearted and as she goes off she says again to you, 'Enjoy yourself, you need relaxation' and smiling broadly she says, 'Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.' You'll hear about that later she says." On the veridical nature of the statements, my first comment is that as I write this twenty-four hours later, I have just been handed a present of a bottle of Jamaica Rum by a member of my congregation who has returned from holiday. [p. 152] Refreshingly, Kennedy acknowledges his own biases; and he includes some trenchant remarks about belief and disbelief: What are the Filthy Five? The Filthy Five refers to five power plants that were located in Massachusetts. The Filthy Five were constructed before 1977 and were therefore exempt from modern pollution laws for many years. Key Takeaways The Filthy Five was a name given to collectively to five coal-fired power plants in Massachusetts. The plants had been in operation for decades using older, dirty technology, but were permitted to continue operation under the federal Clean Air Act. The last of the Filthy Five ceased operation in 2017. Understanding the Filthy Five The Filthy Five emitted several times the amount of pollution created by modern plants at levels that exceeded those permitted under the revised Clear Air Act of 1990. However, these plants were exempt from modern pollution regulations because they were legacied in under the old laws. They produced large amounts of sulfur, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and mercury. The governor of Massachusetts came under political pressure to do something about these plants and issued an edict requiring them to adhere to modern pollution regulations. The last of the Filthy Five power plants was Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, which was a 1,500-megawatt plant and the largest coal-fired plant in New England. It went dark in May 2017 as part of a shutdown that had been underway for several years. Other members of the Filthy Five included Salem Harbor Power Station, which stopped burning coal on June 1, 2014. The Salem Station generated power beginning in 1951, but shuttered due to low natural gas prices, low demand for electricity, and tightening Federal pollution rules. Transition to Cleaner Energy As in other areas of the country, the end of coal in Massachusetts resulted not only from persistent environmental activism, but from a number of economic factors, including stricter pollution regulations, cleaner energy alternatives and a changing market in which coal use had become costly and inefficient. Cleaner energy options such as natural gas have largely replaced coal as a primary source of energy in the region since the closure of the Filthy Five. Nearly 50 percent of New England's energy now comes from natural gas, while a third comes from nuclear power, according to ISO New England, the organization that oversees the regional power grid. The same trend applies nationwide. The share of U.S. electricity generate by coal fell from 52 percent in 2000 to 37 percent in 2012 as a result of shale gas development. The Energy Information Administration predicts that natural gas will produce more electricity than coal by 2035. This transition has not come without complications. Extended low temperatures during the winter of 2017 created extreme energy demand for heat for homes. However, natural gas pipeline capacity wasnt sufficiently expanded to meet the demand. As the regions natural gas delivery infrastructure increases, this concern should decrease. What Is Market Neutral? A market-neutral strategy is a type of investment strategy undertaken by an investor or an investment manager that seeks to profit from both increasing and decreasing prices in one or more markets while attempting to completely avoid some specific form of market risk. Market-neutral strategies are often attained by taking matching long and short positions in different stocks to increase the return from making good stock selections and decreasing the return from broad market movements. Key Takeaways Market neutral refers to a type of investment strategy employed by investment managers that seek to profit from both increasing and decreasing prices in the financial markets. Known as a market-neutral strategy, the investment selections seek to avoid significant losses, as the long and short positions serve as a hedge to one another. Market-neutral strategies are often employed by hedge funds as their investment objective is absolute returns rather than relative returns. The two main types of market-neutral strategies that fund managers employ are fundamental arbitrage and statistical arbitrage. Market-neutral strategies have one of the lowest positive correlations to the market because they place specific bets on stock price convergences while hedging away the general market risk. Understanding Market Neutral There is no single accepted method of employing a market-neutral strategy. Beyond the method mentioned above, market-neutral strategists may also use other tools such as merger arbitrage, shorting sectors, and so on. Managers who hold a market-neutral position are able to exploit any momentum in the market. Hedge funds commonly take a market-neutral position because they are focused on absolute as opposed to relative returns. A market-neutral position may involve taking a 50% long and a 50% short position in a particular industry, such as oil and gas, or taking the same position in the broader market. Often, market-neutral strategies are likened to long/short equity funds, though they are distinctly different. Long/short funds simply aim to vary their long and short stock exposures across industries, taking advantage of undervalued and overvalued opportunities. Market-neutral strategies, on the other hand, focus on making concentrated bets based on pricing discrepancies with the main goal of achieving a zero beta versus its appropriate market index to hedge out systematic risk. While market-neutral funds use long and short positions, this fund category's goal is distinctly different from plain long/short funds. Types of Market-Neutral Strategies There are two main market-neutral strategies that fund managers employ: fundamental arbitrage and statistical arbitrage. Fundamental market-neutral investors use fundamental analysis, rather than quantitative algorithms, to project a company's path forward and to make trades based on predicted stock price convergences. Statistical arbitrage market-neutral funds use algorithms and quantitative methods to uncover price discrepancies in stocks based on historical data. Then, based on these quantitative results, the managers will place trades on stocks that are likely to revert to their price means. A great benefit and advantage of market-neutral funds is their big emphasis on constructing portfolios to mitigate market risk. In times of high market volatility, historical results have shown that market-neutral funds are likely to outperform funds using other certain strategies. Except for pure short-selling strategies, market-neutral strategies historically have the lowest positive correlations to the market specifically because they place specific bets on stock price convergences while hedging away the general market risk. Example of a Market Neutral Fund Because it is a market-neutral strategy, the Vanguard Market Neutral Investor Shares Fund (VMNFX) uses long and short-selling strategies, unlike the firm's other mutual funds, which only buy and sell long positions. The fund's strategy aims to minimize the impact of the stock market on its returns, meaning the fund's returns may vary widely from those of the market. Although most funds that short stocks, such as hedge funds, do not disclose their short holdings because SEC rules do not require them to, the Vanguard Market Neutral Investor Shares does publish its shorts. It chooses short positions by evaluating companies in five categories: growth, quality, management decisions, sentiment, and valuation. Then, it creates a composite expected return for all of the stocks in its universe and shorts those with the lowest scores. Investing in market-neutral specific funds is typically for high-net-worth individuals. For example, VMNFX has a minimum investment amount of $50,000. Other funds may have extremely high expense ratios, well above the investment ratios of passively managed funds. Here's your morning news bulletin... GET INFORMED ... IRELAND: Gardai appeal for public's assistance in relation to 'suspicious death' of 14-year-old schoolgirl. IRELAND: Four Irish men remain in Spanish custody after drugs worth 3.4m seized in lettuce lorry. IRELAND: Belfast Crown Court to hear Paddy Jackson's attempt to recover legal costs. IRELAND: Elusive Cork event centre already cost taxpayer 633k. WORLD: South Korea downplays Pyongyangs threats to cancel talks. WORLD: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make final wedding preparations. VIEWS:Charleton Tribunal: David Taylors credibility is left in tatters. SPORT: The one they left after them? Presumably, the Racing 92 players and management recognise it was a Champions Cup final they should have won. ... SOME DISTRACTION VIRAL: Laurel or Yanny? Youll never guess what Donald Trump hears. SHOWBIZ: John Legend confirms the birth of his son in tweet attacking Donald Trump. FEATURE: Ask Audrey: 'Hes doing a PhD on Cork Language in UCC, as hes terrified of ever getting a job'. By Geoff Percival IPL Plastics is eyeing a number of acquisition opportunities in continental Europe and is likely to move on them after its long-awaited IPO, which is now set to happen late next month. Speaking after IPLs agm in Dublin, chief executive Alan Walsh said the company formerly known as One 51 has identified a couple of acquisition opportunities which would give us a meaningful presence in Europe. Almost three quarters of IPLs revenues are generated in North America, with the remainder coming from Europe and Asia. The company has spoken of wanting to re-balance its geographical spread but is also keen to benefit from new opportunities such as the use of plastic packaging for lithium batteries used in electric cars. It is understood any acquisition would fit into IPLs environmental solutions/large format packaging and/or returnable packaging solutions divisions, rather than its consumer packaging unit. At an additional egm, IPL shareholders voted in favour of the formation of a new Canadian holding company, necessary to allow the groups planned float on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The price range for the IPO which is expected to raise around 125m is due to be published early next week. Mr Walsh said a secondary listing, further down the line and based on acquisition activity in Europe, is not off the radar completely. The group recently ditched plans for a Dublin IPO this year, saying a sole listing in Toronto would achieve a higher valuation for the company. IPL, which saw profits grow by 9% last year and revenues rise 36%, said first quarter earnings for 2018 were up year-on-year and it is targeting around 6%-9% annual earnings and revenue growth out to 2021. By Eamon Quinn KBC Ireland said it can remain aloof from other banks selling off loan books for the time being, saying it had reduced its substantial amount of non-performing loans (NPLs) by 1.3bn in the past year by working through its books. Chief executive Wim Verbraeken said the bank had one of the most conservative approaches to NPLs in the Irish market and that although it had not ruled out sales, they were not a priority at this time. It comes as AIB said it sold 1.1bn of investment property loans at a discount to a group that included vulture fund Cerberus, while Permanent TSB said earlier this week it would sell a pared-back 2.2bn of troubled home and investment loans by the end of the year. Ulster Bank last week said it had started the auction of 6,500 mortgage loans worth 1.6bn. AIBs sale, which involves 800 customers, will raise 800m for the bank. Debt advisers and opposition politicians have warned about the sales to new vulture fund buyers despite the process securing implicit backing from the Central Bank and the Government. Banks say they are under pressure from the ECB to reduce their crisis-era soured loans. KBC said its net profit of 59m in the three months to the end of March down from 70.4m a year earlier marked a solid financial performance. After selling 198m in new mortgages in the quarter, Mr Verbraeken said it had slightly increased its mortgage share of over 10%. He would not say whether there was room to cut mortgage rates but noted that 80% of its mortgages were on fixed rates as customers were locking in. A man in his mid 20s has been arrested for dangerous driving in Dublin. A chase began on Botanic Avenue and ended up in Donnybrook shortly after 11pm last night. A woman whose nephew is allegedly in an organised crime gang has failed in her bid to recover almost 30,000 seized by gardai as the proceeds of crime. Judge Melanie Greally said that the claim by Lydia Whelan was entirely opportunistic and ruled that the cash could be confiscated by the State. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Ms Whelan, with an address at Marniers Port, Sheriff Street, Dublin 1, had a clean unblemished record but heard evidence that her nephew James Whelan was a member of an organised criminal gang. The court heard that the cash was seized on June 14, 2011, during a search of a house on Barnamore Crescent, Finglas, where Mr Whelan was living at the time. Grainne O'Neill BL, for Revenue, told the court that during surveillance operations, gardai had observed a number of suspicious transactions around the house and suspected that controlled drugs were being stored there. A search warrant was issued and garda forced entry to the unoccupied house. During the raid, a cash bundle of 29,994 was found in a washbag used by Mr Whelan. The court heard the house belonged to Mr Whelan's mother but she was away on holidays and he told gardai he was the only one living there at the time . In an affidavit to the court, Garda Michael Noone said Mr Whelan had criminal associations and was believed to be a member of an OCG, or organised criminal grouping, in the Finglas area. He has 57 previous convictions, mainly for road traffic offences but including two for simple possession of drugs in 2015 and two for car theft. Gda Noone said that Mr Whelan, also of Canon Lillis, Dublin city, has been seen associating with convicted criminals who he alleged were members of the criminal gang. The court heard that on one of these occasions, June 21, 2016, Mr Whelan was seen at a Rihanna concert with a man suspected of being heavily involved in the sale or supply of drugs. He said that there was no legitimate source for the cash found and he believed it was linked to criminal activity. Judge Greally said that on the balance of probabilities, the cash seized was directly or indirectly the proceeds of crime or was intended for use in criminal conduct. She granted costs to the DPP despite a submission from Keith Spencer BL, for Ms Whelan, that this would be inappropriate because his client was in straitened financial circumstances. Judge Greally told Mr Spencer: She ran the gauntlet on it. It was an entirely opportunistic claim. I dont see any reason in the world why the State isnt entitled to costs. Judge Greally ordered that the 29,994 be handed over to the Exchequer. Audrey's been sorting out Cork people for ages... Now, listen up Paddy. My wife and I are travelling first class to Cork from Heathrow airport tomorrow morning, to escape the flag-waving untouchables around town for the royal wedding, shouting wed be lost without the queen, innit. While the royals are considered quite common in my circles, my wife and I would still like to watch the ceremony nonetheless, pride in your patria and all that. (Patria is the Latin word for home country, you hedge-school dimwits.) Anyway, where would be a good place in Cork to catch the wedding on TV? Edmund Servant-Shagger De WinceaLot, London, I believe I own half of Kenmare. I suppose its better than owning all of it. I asked my Posh Cousin where around Cork would have a welcome for a septic ludraman. (Thats the Irish word for idiot, you public-school gobshite. No offence.) She said take the bus to Crosshaven, that crowd would so anything for a bit of tourism. I said I couldnt imagine anything more common. She said, except for Meghan Markles family. We had a good old laugh about it. Guten tag. I am now six weeks living in Cork and there is something that puzzles me greatly. In Germany, my local supermarket is called Lidl. Here, most people call it Lidls. Likewise, Aldi is called Aldis. When I told my neighbour I was unhappy about Lidls, she said, No problem Jurgen boy, you can always go to SuperValus. This is infuriating. Can you explain it? Jurgen, Dortmund and St Lukes, I like things to be precise. Go way. And there was I thinking Germans were mad for crack. I checked with my swotty nephew, hes doing a PhD on Cork Language in UCC, because hes terrified of ever getting a job. He said that Lidls is the possessive, as in it belongs to Lidl. I said you never hear Posh Cork people saying Lidls. He said you never hear them saying Lidl either, in case their neighbours think they shop there. I said, youre good crack for a layabout. Ive got this cousin from like Cork, hes coming up to Dublin this weekend to watch Munster getting todally blown away by the 150% legends in blue that I like to call Lane-ster. I said he can hang with my goys after the carnage, as long as he doesnt wear tan shoes or that Eau du Bogmeister aftershave you guys use to cover up the whiff of farm-shite. Do you think hell fit in with the crew of 250% ledges that I like to call my friends? Gordon, Ballsbridge, why does he keep talking about some place called Pres? Hes terrified people will think hes from Limerick. (And who could blame him?) My godson moved from Cork to Dublin four years ago. I said what does a Cork guy need if he wants to fit in with a gang of entitled langballs who live at Up Their Own Arse, Dublin 4. He said, he should shut down half his brain and speak with a ridiculously posh English accent. I said, nice one, people will think hes Prince Harry. Cmere whats the story with popping the question to the old doll, when she do be fully expecting it? My old doll is hinting like mad at the moment, even going so far as to say shed be more up for bedroom action with a ring on her finger. So, basically, my plan is to pop the question while shes watching the royal wedding on Saturday and then use some old guff that old dolls like, such as you do be my princess. Am I on solid ground with that approach, or what? Dowtcha Donie, Blackpool, I wont life a single finger to help her organise the thing. Thats more than most men do. There is no right way to pop the question. I know the preferred approach in Blackrock is to show your bank balance to your girlfriend and say, Will that be enough to satisfy your mother? Whereas in Kinsale its more How can I go wife swapping if I dont have a wife? (Try Bandon, apparently.) Howre oo goin on? Herself is after falling in with a pack of celebrity watchers inside in Schull, and didnt she come home the other night and announce that she wants an open marriage, no less. I said, how do you mean? She said, I want to be able to see other people. I said, why dont you just get a new pair of glasses. She didnt like that one bit. Do you think I should agree to this open marriage crack or what? Dan Paddy Andy, Ballydehob, she hasnt spoken to me in a week. Bliss. I think that a complete lack of communication is the secret to a successful marriage. I also know that a long-term relationship can be a bigger challenge than giving elocution lessons in Killorglin. I begged My Conor for an open marriage last year. He said, why do you want me to sleep with strangers? I said, it might finally give us something in common. As the French film festival reaches its end, Helen Barlow looks at this years hits, misses and talking points. 1. Cannes has a new king The king of the festival is surely Spike Lee. With BlacKkKlansman the outspoken filmmaker hit both nails on the head by delivering a film that couldnt be more timely in its treatment of African American rights and of human rights in general, Lee stresses. The 61-year-old director explains how he had the blessing of the mother of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer, to include footage of her daughter being run down by a man during the white nationalist protest in August 2017. 2. Irish were busy behind the scenes Ireland didnt have much of presence in the competition this year, but at the business end of the event, the Irish Film Board was busy pushing 27 films. For example, Lenny Abrahamsons eagerly anticipated The Little Stranger starring Domhnall Gleeson and Charlotte Rampling wasnt ready for this years festival, but it did feature in the Film Boards catalogue. Other features getting a push included A Girl from Mogadishu, the true story of a girl who was born into a refugee camp and trafficked to Ireland as a teenager; and Float Like A Butterfly, about a Traveller girl who is a boxer. 3. Orsons eyes are smiling In The Eyes of Orson Welles Belfast-born documentary director Mark Cousins, below, gives a new take on the cinematic master through his artworks, provided to him exclusively by Welles daughter Beatrice. Cousins told me in Cannes how Welles drew compulsively as a kind of way to relax. He also thrived in the theatre and loved Ireland from the first time he visited at age 16. He would come and go throughout his lifetime. Theres quite a lot of Ireland in this film, but Welles relationship with Ireland is even more than Ive told, Cousins explains, referring to his inclusion of Welless trip to Ireland and his early work at the Gate Theatre. The deepest relationship he had with any character was with Shakespeares Falstaff and he world premiered his theatrical version of Falstaff in Belfasts Grand Opera house in 1960. Ive just become chairman of the Belfast Film Festival and hope to do something about Welles relationship with Belfast like we do in the film with Galway and Dublin, because its mostly unknown. Welles loved Ireland and he loved Irishness. He came from quite an intellectual background where everybody was contained. But he was a wild, stormy man and when he went to Ireland he found people like that. He also went to China and Germany in his teens but it was Ireland that really got inside him. 4. Acting couples were a thing Acting couples have been a thing in Cannes. Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are in Asghar Farhadis Everybody Knows, the Iranian directors first venture into Spanish which met with mixed reviews. Marion Cotillard had a stinker on her hands with Angel (she says she studied the Kardashians, which was probably a mistake) while her husband Guillaume Canet was in one of the festivals biggest crowdpleasers, synchronised swimming serio-comedy Sink or Swim. John Travolta and Kelly Preston play a real life couple in Gotti, about gangster John Gotti, and the actors seemed as close in Cannes as they are in the movie. 5. Heels are over-rated The selfie ban on the red carpet and Terry Gilliams minor stroke made early headlines around the globe. Few A-list stars emerged to create the usual Cannes media frenzy, though jury member Kristen Stewart created a stir by daring to go barefoot on the red carpet stars. Jury head Cate Blanchett also rallied women into action by fronting a protest with 82 women walking the red carpet to highlight the low number of female filmmakers who have been selected for the festivals competition line-up over its 71 years. 6. We missed Netflix Netflix was sorely missed, most notably in their last-minute decision not to screen Alfonso Cuarons Roma and two Orson Welles projects: The Other Side of the Wind, his long-lost film that was recently completed, and Morgan Nevilles documentary Theyll Love Me When Im Dead. Last year, with The Meyerowitz Stories and Okja, so heres hoping the festival organisers and the streaming giant come to some arrangement in 2019. 7. French still impress There was no lack of interesting French films with French enfant terrible Gaspard Noe (Irreversible, Love) proving controversial with Climax, his dance party movie where someone slips LSD into the communal alcohol. French heartthrob Gaspard Ulliel lays everything bare, literally and proverbially, in To the Ends of the World, a kind of French riff on Platoon and Apocalypse Now in the years leading up to the Vietnam War as French forces unsuccessfully try to fend off the fierce jungle-oriented locals. 8. Who needs a hotel (or even a receptive audience)? Lars von Trier parked his campervan out of town after travelling down from Denmark by road as usual. With no press conference on offer for his film, The House That Jack Built starring Matt Damon and Uma Thurman, the controversial director had no chance to defend his blood-drenched story. About 100 people walked out of a film that featured scenes of mutilations of murder victims, and the killing of children At least Von Trier had support from French director Gasper Noe. All the sadistic scenes were so funny that people were staring at me because I couldnt stop laughing, Noe told Vulture. 9. A new chapter in a Solo career Alden Ehrenreich ably fills Harrison Fords younger shoes in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Variety notes how the 28-year-old American nails Fords cocky gait, his roguish eye-twinkle, his puffed-cheeked finger-pointing, and while the performance may initially come across as a highly skilled bit of mimicry, by the films end hes managed to give the role a satisfying new spin. 10. Lots of Driver Adam Driver isnt in this years Star Wars movie though hes coming in Episode IX next year. In Cannes he has two films on offer: Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman and Terry Gilliams The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Gilliam made headlines just before the festival as he suffered a mild stroke, presumably because of the stress of the court case that was holding up his films inclusion in the programme. Hopefully hes since had time to recover because Cannes surely isnt for the faint hearted. A changing workforce will fuel companies that tap the potential of workers over 55, writes Tyler Cowen. Bloomberg asked readers a year ago: Are you about to be replaced by a robot? Next the question became a statement: Robots Are Coming for Jobs of as Many as 800 Million Worldwide. Does the real-world experience so far back up the fears? Japan and the U.S. are two of the countries most advanced in robot deployment, and yet both are very close to full employment. To be sure, introducing more software and more robots into the workplace introduces very real problems of training and retraining, but there will always be more work to be done. Scary as the rise of robots apparently is, perhaps its a fixation because its actually less scary than the real social issues ahead. One of those is how to integrate growing numbers of elderly into the workplace. More elderly workers will force many people to confront their biases, fears and prejudices, probably leading to a bigger cultural clash than that with the machines. No matter how much they may disavow explicit age discrimination, many companies try to portray themselves as cool places to work for young people. And indeed these companies are especially interested in hiring younger people: The median age at the hot tech companies ranges from 27 to 31. Its 38 at IBM and 39 at Hewlett Packard, still young by most standards, but in the tech industry those are viewed as much stodgier places to work. Overall, the median age of American workers is a little over 42. It is not a surprise that tech companies should have so many younger workers, because younger people probably are on average more in touch with the latest developments in rapidly changing fields, such as programming and software. Younger people also seem more interested in putting in the sometimes crazy hours behind many startups, because they have a higher overall career return from doing so. Of course, American business is becoming more like the tech sector as more companies are incorporating tech innovations. That development may not favor elderly workers. Squeamishness about the elderly manifests itself in advertising too. Retirement products and Viagra are exceptions, but so many ads use young actors because companies are image-conscious. Collectively it amounts to a harmful form of age discrimination. These biases toward youth may be a greater problem in America, which typically has prided itself on being a young, dynamic culture, always riding the next wave of change. There is also a practice, hard to avoid even in efficient workplaces, to reward workers to some extent on the basis of seniority alone. In the longer run that makes elderly workers a potential target for cost-cutting, even if they are doing a good job. Of course, the age structure of Americas workforce is moving in the opposite direction of these trends. The populations of the US and many other developed nations are aging, and the big surprise has been that older people want to work more than in previous generations. Against many prior expectations, the labour force participation rate of older Americans started rising in the 1980s and 1990s. For instance, the labour force participation rate for men ages 65 to 69 was 25% in 1985 but 37% in 2016. By 2020, over one quarter of the workforce will be over 55 years of age. I would suggest that the ability to spot, mobilise and deploy older workers is the next biggest source of competitive advantage in the US. The sober reality is that many companies should retool their methods to fit better with the experience and sound judgment found so often in older workers. That also will involve a retooling of the glamour notion to valorize the young less and the idea of maturity more. HR departments may have to work harder to help older workers keep up with new technologies. That prospect doesnt make for exciting headlines as a robot takeover does. But most of the story of economic success involves such small changes. And do you know which group of workers often understands that best? The older ones. Of course, some sectors have welcomed elderly workers with open arms. In academia, the practice of mandatory retirement at age 70 has been replaced by permanent tenure, because of changes in the law. This has happened without incidence, though it may bring long-run fiscal problems if more people work through their 80s and beyond. On the bright side, that development might induce a beneficial modification of the tenure system, and a move toward greater contract flexibility. Our willingness to banter about the robot apocalypse is yet another sign that, too often, we just dont want to confront the issues surrounding the elderly. - Bloomberg By Joyce Fegan A man I met in London this week told me they dont talk about Brexit anymore. You cant. If you bring it up with a mate and theyre on the other side, then that could be the end of the friendship. And you definitely dont bring it up on a first date, he said ring finger brandishing a band of gold. I know what you mean, I said, weve a topic a bit like that in Ireland. I left this gentleman and headed off up the Thames Embankment, through parks in full bloom, past big red buses and black cabs, and thought to myself, Isnt it great to have a day off the island? The only flyers being handed out here were for discounts on cups of coffees and tours on the Thames. When I arrived in the area of Westminster, I saw a group of what I thought were protesters. They were dressed in blue and covered in yellow stars made of felt. Together they held up a 10ft-long banner that read: Save Britain from Brexit: Come talk to us no matter what side youre on. They had a few takers, of which I was not one. I continued up the Thames Embankment. Just the night before I had found myself pressing play on some audio link my sister had sent me. Laurel or Yanny? read her text. I heard Yanny. You? Shed heard Laurel. We then talked about her eldest boy, whos five, but hes had a recent growth spurt and shes had to buy him clothes for seven-year-olds. We bid each other adieu via Whatsapp and sealed it with an x. The next morning, Thursday, I wake up to headlines of more women dead because of the cervical smear test scandal. Is scandal the incorrect word, I wonder. Later in the day a friend sends me a photo of one of our favourite mountains. All I see is its majestic outline and now the word NO in big white letters. I come out of my messages app to check my email. Its been pinging more regularly of late. All these companies are asking me about privacy and data. Facebook and Instagram keep asking me to review their policy. I keep dodging them. They all keep telling me the same thing theres something happening on May 25, new EU legislation, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will come into force. I refuse to engage. Ive enough going on. Ive been keeping count over the last two weeks or so of the amount of people who disclose big life things to me. Theyre revealed in seemingly innocuous conversation. One involved a loved one living in emergency accommodation. Another was about a very sick nephew. The revelations werent accompanied with tears. They were all said very matter-of-factly. My reaction was not one of sympathy or even help, because all hands were rendered tied, if not useless, it was just to listen. Theres a lot going on in peoples lives, I thought. People have a lot going on. And this is all before theyve to hear about health service failings, data protection, and finding out if their ears pick up Laurel or Yanny, let alone how theyll vote in a referendum. How are people expected to have clarity of thought about anything when our world is so full of noise? I really like bookshops and frequent them regularly, sometimes I part with money, sometimes not. But I always look at the bestseller shelves. They tell me something about my people. This week were into Liz Nugents latest crime novel, the Happy Pears vegetarian cooking, and emotional resilience. Author Liz Nugent About a year ago, Caroline ODoherty of this newspaper interviewed Dr Harry Barry about his book, Anxiety and Panic. The article spent days atop our most read section. Dr Barry has a new book out, Emotional Resilience: How to Safeguard your Mental Health. A lot of us are interested, it seems; last I checked it was number four on the bestseller list. Its not exclusively about depression or anxiety or panic attacks, instead it covers things like how to challenge perfectionism, procrastination, and catastrophising. After several years of intense news consumption, my default mode is set to catastrophise. I bought the book. Its not so much theory about neuroscience and such, although there is that, its mostly exercises. My latest catastrophisation: Have I evidence the absolute worst will come to pass or is it just a bit of spilt milk? Turns out, theres a lot of spilt milk in my life. Dr Barry also talks about rating. Something happens, say a row with your brother, and you feel quite yucky in its aftermath lets call that feeling shame. Your PC or pathological critic has kicked in. Imagine a world leader hurling abuse at you and youll have a clear enough picture of the PC. Youre rating yourself as awful, useless, abnormal, worthless, or a failure. Dr Barry asks you to first recognise this self-rating and then challenge it in writing. Can a person be a failure as a whole? No. Can they fail at a task? Yes. Can an entire human being be rated as awful? No. Can their behaviour be awful? Yes. Its liberating once you get into the swing of it. Dr Harry Barry In this country full of noise, with its constant stream of information, it follows that some of us may feel a little overwhelmed from time to time, our mental health may be challenged and our clarity of thought clouded. Im not much of a religious type, but there is something about the Angelus the idea of pausing whatever it is we are doing to take stock. Simple things like noticing the air travelling up your nostrils and hitting the back of your throat helps, as does listening out for sounds close to you and then in the distance. Notice the distribution of your weight on that chair. As our country takes stock before a historic vote next Friday, pause for your own thought and find your own clarity. And after Friday, whether you find yourself in the minority or majority, lets not have a Brexit effect lets all keep talking to each other. Since December 2017 the international coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has intensified its airstrikes against the Houthis in northwest Yemen, leaving the inhabitants more exposed than ever. Just a few kilometres from the frontline is Haydan village in Saada governorate, a mountainous region with almost no medical facilities. The endless barrage of airstrikes has made transport here extremely challenging. In March 2017, teams from Medecins Sans Frontieres/ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) returned to the hospital in Haydan that had been bombed and destroyed by Saudi warplanes in October 2015. MSF teams provide healthcare to isolated communities in Haydan as well as the remote surrounding area. The testimonies and stories told by patients at the hospital provide a glimpse into the dire conditions people have endured for more than three years of conflict. Emergency room at the MSF Haydan hospital in Saada governorate. In 2017 the hospital received nearly 7,000 patients. Picture: Agnes Varraine-Leca/MSF HIS face half-hidden by his arm, Mohammad is lying on a bed in the emergency room in the hospital in Haydan. The shrapnel wounds in his leg and abdomen are severe. He waits silently for the ambulance to take him for surgery in another hospital thats an hour and a half away by road. Mohammad was on his way to Friday prayers at the mosque when he was hit near the Houthi stronghold of Maran, in north Yemen. One minute I was walking down the road, and then I woke up here. Was it a bomb or a rocket? I have absolutely no idea, he says. Mohammed lost consciousness with the impact but he was picked up by passers-by who brought him by car to the hospital in Haydan, where MSF stabilises the war-wounded before referring them to one of the hospitals in Saada. Formerly a court clerk in Saada, Mohammad is not a combatant. He fled the fighting in Saada for Yemens capital Sanaa where he now lives with his family. He had gone to Saada governorate to try and collect his salary, which, as is the case for 1.25 million other Yemeni government employees, he has not received since September 2016. 16,749 air raids in three years Because of the difficulty with transport close to the frontlines, the war-wounded arrive late at the hospital in Haydan and are consequently often in a critical condition. Medecins Sans Frontieres teams refer these patients to hospitals in Saada. What we see most are bullet wounds and injuries like shrapnel wounds sustained during bombing raids, explains Frederic Bonnot, MSFs project coordinator in Haydan. In March 2018, ground conflict between the Houthis and coalition-supported forces loyal to President Hadi was a daily occurrence on almost all of Saada Governorates borders. Particularly badly affected were Kitaf in the east, Baqim in the north and Razeh in the west. On the night of February 22 a truck full of food was bombed by the Saudi led coalition which stated their target was a Houthi checkpoint. Saada governorate in Yemen Picture: Agnes Varraine-Leca/MSF Even before the most recent conflict broke out in March 2015, Saadas inhabitants were among the most vulnerable in the country. The governorate was already the scene of intense fighting during a succession of wars between the Houthis and the then President Ali Abdallah Salehs armed forces between 2004 and 2010. President Saleh was assassinated in December 2017. Before 2015, extremely high levels of stunted growth had already been observed among children under the age of five in Saada governorate. Since the end of 2017, airstrikes from the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have escalated in Saada governorate, which was targeted by one-third of the 541 airstrikes recorded in December by the Yemen Data Project. According to the organisation, this was the highest number of bombing raids registered in one month since January 2017 up 67% from November. The aerial bombardment campaign began after Houthi missiles were fired towards Saudi Arabia and its capital Riyadh. As soon as a missile is fired at somewhere in Saudi Arabia, the Saudis respond almost immediately by bombing Saada, comments Frederic Bonnot. The airstrikes hit public infrastructure, markets, houses and civilian vehicles, as well as military bases and Houthi-held checkpoints. On 29 March 2018, two coalition airstrikes targeted a truck barely 200 metres from MSFs offices in Saada. Roads are routinely targeted, particularly those of strategic value. The road passing through Saaqain district we use to go from Haydan to Saada has been targeted several times since the beginning of the year. Its the same in Yasnim where we provide support to a health centre, continues Frederic Bonnot. This is impacting our ability to get around and refer patients to hospitals in Saada. There can be delays, and its often a question of life or death. The road between Saada and Khamer, bombed by the Saudi led coalition. Picture: Agnes Varraine-Leca/MSF Hard choices 19-year old Qoussor waited an hour and a half on the side of the road before finding a car that would take her and her son to the hospital in Haydan. Baby Nabil is only 6-weeks old and for the past few days hes had trouble breathing. Even though his mother lives not far away on the other side of the mountain in Maran, the airstrikes that continue day after day mean there is little available transport in the area and the options that remain are expensive, so people have to make hard choices. Its really difficult for people in Maran to get around. Either there are no vehicles available because the bombing is too heavy or we dont have the money to pay for it, she says. The journey to the hospital had to be made and due to his poor health, Nabil must spend a week in the hospital. A man drives two children and a young man in Amran governorate in Yemen. Picture: Agnes Varraine-Leca/MSF The cost of transport remains a major obstacle for Yemenis in need of healthcare. More patients come to the hospital in Haydan on market days, explains Frederic Bonnot. On Wednesdays and Saturdays there is more transport available from the more remote areas in the mountains and the valleys, and families needing medical treatment take advantage of it. Wrapped in a blanket, baby Nabil is receiving supplemental oxygen and theres an intravenous infusion in his left hand. His health deteriorated rapidly, leaving his family no other choice but to travel to Haydan. The journey cost them 1,000 Yemeni Rials (3.25 Euros), an amount they negotiated. The price can be as much as 15,000 Rials, according to the location, availability of transport and the cost of fuel. Another, somewhat less visible, consequence of the war is the prices of commodities, particularly raw materials, which have risen sharply since 2015. This makes life even tougher and increasingly challenging for people in Yemen. The price of gas and petrol has doubled in the past three years and wheat flour has risen by more than 50%. According to the World Food Programme, imports increased in January and February 2018. But scarcity of essential imported food and fuel commodities continued in March 2018. There are several reasons for this: the imposition of taxes in Sanaa on goods from Aden and other ports in the south of the country, trading practices that include stockpiling merchandise to push prices up, travel restrictions and trafficking associated with the conflict. [timg This situation weighs heavily on the daily lives of people in Yemen. Like Qoussor who, at the age of 19, has known almost nothing but war. Maran, the town where she was born and grew up, suffered from intense conflict during the Saada War, which lasted from 2004 to 2010. Back then, underground shelters were constructed where people could take refuge during airstrikes. Tunnels dug in the mountain lead to caves rarely more than a metre high. Qoussor says that in these caves, Standing up is impossible. These shelters are still used by the population when the bombing is fierce and families no longer feel safe in their homes. The last time they were forced to seek refuge, Qoussor and her relatives spent two days in the caves, rationing bread they managed to bring with them. - Medecins Sans Frontieres & Digital Desk The remains of 14-year-old Anastasia (Anna) Kriegel were discovered at disused farmhouses in Lucan, west Dublin, almost three days after her family reported her missing. It is understood that the schoolgirl had been found naked and appeared to have suffered a serious physical assault including injuries to her head. Gardai in Lucan Garda Station have launched a major investigation and believe she may not have been alone at the time she was last seen. Anna, from nearby Leixlip, Co Kildare, was spotted on Clonee Road, at the border of St Catherines Park, at around 5pm on Monday. We believe at the time she may not have been alone at that stage and that is part of the investigation, said Supt John Gordon. Detectives were trying to identify and locate those individuals in a bid to piece together the final movements of Anna and who else she might have been with or in contact with. The disused farmhouses where she was found are more than 1km from where she was last seen. Supt Gordon said there were a number of routes to the area and were investigating this matter. The derelict house and farmyard on the Clonee Road, Lucan where the body of a female was found this afternoon. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. Formerly living in Lucan, Anna was adopted from Russia at the age of two by her parents. She was in first year at Confey Community College in Leixlip. The school had joined in the appeals for sightings of the student. Her remains were discovered at around 1.30pm by the Dublin West divisional search team. Supt Gordon said Annas family reported her missing at around 8pm on Monday. He said the searches began at around 1.30pm on Tuesday, led by the divisional search team, and included the Garda sub-aqua unit given the proximity of both the Royal Canal and the Liffey. The civil defence also assisted. The farmland backs onto the St Catherines Park, a sprawling area of 200 acres that straddles the border of Dublin and Kildare. Supt Gordon said the family was traumatised. They are receiving a lot of support from An Garda Siochana. They are extremely distressed and they are looking for the publics assistance and privacy as well, they have another child in the house, so they need to be very careful around that. In relation to Anna, he said: She was a particularly striking girl, tall for her age and very well known in the locality, quite well known within the school and the community. The area was sealed off after the discovery and the Garda Technical Bureau arrived in mid-afternoon. The divisional search team continued their searches in the area. State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy arrived at the scene at around 6pm and conducted a preliminary autopsy there, before a full examination last night. That will determine whether or not the investigation is officially upgraded to that of murder. Gardai at the scene at a derelict house and farmyard on the Clonee Road, Lucan. Picture: Collins Gardai first issued an appeal for information in relation to Anna at lunchtime on Tuesday. Anna was described as 5ft8in, with black shoulder length hair, sallow skin and slim build. She was last seen wearing a black hoodie with white writing, black bottoms and black runners. Only yesterday morning, gardai reissued their appeal, but this time added that they and the girls family were very concerned for her wellbeing. Supt Gordon said they were appealing to anyone who was in St Catherines Park from 5pm onwards or on the Clonee Road on Monday 14 May to contact the Garda incident room at Lucan Station at 01 6667300, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station to pass on any information they have. In a motion before the 800-delegate Forsa conference in Killarney, the Employment and Social Protection Executive Grades branch called on the incoming executive to oppose the introduction of a basic income policy or any version of it. There are rumblings about Ireland being the first country to introduce a basic income payment, or universal payment on a State-wide basis, the conference was told yesterday. But this regressive measure would dismantle all social welfare payments leaving people with nothing, Francis McHugh, of the Sligo Social Welfare branch said. Proposing the motion, he said: The basic income payment paves the way for the means testing of all social welfare pensions and payments that potentially includes the State pension contributor that people have worked diligently all their lives to pay into and pay for. Now, they will receive a much lower payment than they would otherwise be entitled to. Put simply, people will receive less money at all stages of their lives, Mr McHugh claimed. The single basic income for all would not just affect workers, it would also affect small enterprises, the conference heard. The Family Income Supplement, FIS or working family payment that many families and industries on tight margins depended on, would be the first to go, Mr McHugh warned. Before the current social insurance and social welfare framework was established 100 or more years ago, the violent poverty riots became so deadly, Queen Victoria had to be evacuated to the Isle of Wight, he reminded delegates. Citing the experience of other countries, Mr Mc Hugh said in Oldham, in England, where it was introduced in some regions, the basic income payment had resulted in peoples income dropping severely. He said a BBC investigation found people, families affected by the scheme, were left starving, without money and dependent on charity shops. Mr McHugh said that the documentary also showed people who were dying were being declared fit for work. Basic income policy, he added, would force down all payments. The motion, meanwhile, was remitted to committee staged to formulate union policy on basic income. Jessica Kenny is the first person to be appointed to the role of homeless liaison nurse at Dublins Mater Hospital and she said there has been a huge amount of presentations in the first months of this year. Speaking after she made a presentation to the Mission Awareness Conference, organised by the Mater Hospital, she said work is now under way to determine all the various reasons why homeless people presenting in ED often left before their treatment was completed. It was over 50% who leave before the treatment is completed, she said, referring to the period of January to April this year. In addition to the large number of presentations, she said she is also exploring how many of those were individual presentations to the ED and how many were repeat visits by clients. I feel like we have made significant progress already, Ms Kenny said, adding that work will also be undertaken to see the reasons why some clients are not seen after presenting at ED. She said those who are presenting have various complaints and added that she is compiling a register of clients while also working with others in the hospital and outside it to help increase access to treatment. A huge problem with homeless people is finding them and tracking them when they have no fixed abode, she said. How do they get out-patient or follow-up appointments with no address? That is something I am looking at. Her position operates Monday to Friday to coincide with the work of other agencies which work with the homeless population in the capital and Ms Casey said: The role is to bridge that gap and integrate them into healthcare. It is estimated that between 8% to 10% of all presentations in EDs involve people who are homeless and Ms Casey said any reduction to the number who attend but who do not receive completed treatment would be positive. Other speakers at the conference included Fr Peter McVerry and Fiona OReilly, the general manager of the medical charity Safetynet Primary Care, who told delegates: Beware of the economic argument its cheaper to neglect peoples healthcare needs, it doesnt mean its the right. Elsewhere, both the Irish Congress of Trade Unions today and the Simon Communities have backed recommendations in a National Economic & Social Council (NESC) report calling for the use of publicly-owned land to build new homes, alongside measures aimed at increasing affordability. The report said Irelands housing system is speculative, volatile and expensive. www.nesc.ie Anne Cummings, Teresa Bell and Mary McMahon, were asked to attend the palace party in recognition of their dedication and commitment to the charity. The trio from Sligo, Athlone and Dublin, will be all glammed up for the 70th birthday of Britains Prince of Wales that takes place just days after the royal wedding. Together they will bring more than 70 years of volunteering to the party which celebrates the work of the charities and organisations that have Prince Charles as their patron. They were nominated by their branch manager for all the years spent giving emotional support to people most in need. Ms Cummins, a self- confessed royal watcher since she was a child, has been a Sligo Samaritans volunteer for 33 years. Im absolutely thrilled, honoured, surprised, charmed and delighted to be going, but I feel so many more people deserved it more than me, she said. I have always been a royal watcher. When I was very small I had a royal scrapbook. I have been to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards, but I never thought Id be inside it. Its amazing. Its a wonderful opportunity. Im so lucky. She said she is six weeks older than Charles. Im 70 in September as well, so Ill see if weve both weathered the storm the same. Teresa Bell, who has been a volunteer with Athlone branch for 20 years, is glad she was sitting down when she got the call to say she was going to the party. Its fantastic. Its so important for Prince Charles to understand the work that we are doing, she said. Ms McMahon became a volunteer in Dublin 18 years ago after her friend lost a brother to suicide. She always said: if only he had spoken to somebody and it always stuck with me. A few years later when I had more spare time I joined and I loved it. Irish regional director for Samaritans, Cindy OShea, said the three women embody the commitment, vision and dedication to those who are most vulnerable. World: 9 The Higher Education Authority (HEA) wants school students to get improved guidance and information after its latest analysis shows a slight improvement in progression of students to the second year of their college courses. The 14% of students who started courses in autumn 2014 but did not enter second-year a year later is down from 15% among the preceding years college entrants. The HEA report shows that institutes of technology (IoTs) continue to have much higher numbers who do not make it to year two. The non-progression rates on their non-degree courses were as high as 27%, up from 25% in a year, compared to 15% on their honours (level 8) degree courses. The numbers who did not progress on level 8 degrees at universities was 10%, down slightly from 11% in a year. Teacher education colleges have the highest retention rates, but the numbers who did not progress increased from 6% to 8%. The HEA distinguishes between non-progression and dropout by pointing out that some students may repeat first year, change courses or leave for personal reasons with plans to return later. Student characteristics continue to significantly influence progress, as those with higher prior educational attainment (measured using Leaving Certificate results), from better-off backgrounds, and women are more likely to progress. But when these factors are controlled, given the higher number of male students and low-points courses at IoTs, the HEA found that their non-progression rates are much closer to the universities. For example, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD) had 9% and 11% non-progression rates, respectively. But controlling for age, gender, nationality, socio-economic group, grant and free fees status, school type, course level and Leaving Certificate points, their students are more likely not to progress than those of Letterkenny and Limerick institutes of technology, whose headline progression rates were both 22%. Joseph Ryan, chief executive of the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA), said this reflects the fact that institutes of technology attract and encourage disproportionately more of the student groups at higher risk of not progressing. The association plans to analyse student retention further to better understand the stories of the students behind the statistics, including what influences different rates in different study disciplines. HEA chief executive Graham Love said the continuing relatively high non-progression rates on some level 6 and 7 courses in computing, engineering and construction remains a worry, despite small increases in overall proportions of students progressing to second year on all courses. He said: The majority of these students are male. They may learn in a different way and I am glad that the new apprenticeships model is responding to that way of learning. We also need to ensure that there is adequate guidance and information at second level...We need to ask if students are picking wrong courses and how we can help ensure that they make the right choice. Gardai will have to rely on witnesses if they are to prosecute the culprit, because theres no CCTV in the ward where it allegedly happened at Cork University Hospital. The girl had been admitted to the hospital after sustaining injuries in an accident. Its understood that she claims she was woken in the early hours of the morning by a man who sexually assaulted her. The girl then contacted two nurses who were elsewhere on duty and gardai were notified about the allegation earlier this week. A Garda spokesman confirmed that a complaint had been received and that investigations are ongoing. Cllr Mary Linehan-Foley, who is a member of the HSE South Forum, said she is shocked by the incident: Im appalled to hear something like that. Not in a million years should a teenage girl have been put in an all-male ward. I find that truly unbelievable. The hospital is refusing to make any comment on why the girl had been placed in an all-male unit. Ms Linehan-Foley said she will be asking senior HSE personnel to explain why there appears to be no policy in place to segregate the sexes, especially as a girl was involved in this. An initial complaint about the incident was made to gardai in Bishopstown, which is part of the Togher Garda District. However, it was then passed on for investigation to experts from the Garda National Protective Services Bureau who are based at Garda divisional headquarters in Anglesea St. The hospital has said that it is co-operating with the garda investigation into the incident. It is believed gardai have already spoken to the teenage girl and to her parents. It is expected they will also speak to nursing staff and people who were in the ward at the time. A spokeswoman for the hospital declined to comment further as the garda investigation is ongoing. This means that they want expenditure to be controlled and any tax cuts to be specifically targeted at areas that would increase labour force participation. This is timely advice because this is the time of the year when the various government departments sit down to think about what they would like to get in terms of extra spending from the Minister for Finance in October and the time when the Minister gets inundated with pre-budget submissions from all sorts of interest groups. A cautious approach to fiscal policy is certainly advised at the moment. The sensible approach to fiscal policy, which is the policy that describes how the Minister controls expenditure and raises revenue, is in a counter-cyclical fashion. This means that when an economy is growing strongly, that is the time to apply the brakes and control spending and any tax giveaways. Then when an economy is experiencing sub-par growth, that is the time to press the accelerator and boost growth through a combination of tax cuts and expenditure increases. In Ireland, we have a long and inglorious history of doing exactly the opposite. In the first six years of the century, the various governments put the pedal to the metal by cutting taxes and increasing spending at a time when the economy was firing on all cylinders. Then when the crash occurred, we had nothing in reserve and we were subsequently treated to a combination of savage expenditure cuts and tax increases. Obviously, this approach exacerbated the downturn, but there was no choice given the mess that the public finances were in. Hopefully, lessons have been learned. The Irish economic cycle is very strong at the moment and the last thing we need is an expansionary fiscal policy delivered through a combination of tax cuts and/or expenditure increases. At a time like this, we should, in theory, be running budget surpluses, which would give us the wherewithal to run deficits when the inevitable downturn in the economic cycle occurs. Alas, such an approach to economic policy is much easier said than done. On the economic front, it is very clear that extra investment is needed in vital public services such as health, education, and law and order. At the same time, the pressure on public sector pay is escalating. Meanwhile, Ireland 2040 implies a considerable but sensible increase in capital expenditure over the coming years. Personally, I was always a fan of the now defunct Golden Rule in the UK, which was a fiscal rule that only permitted a budget deficit for capital spending purposes. On the taxation side, the personal tax burden increased alarmingly over the past decade and it is now undoubtedly an impediment to attracting the labour inflow that the economy now badly requires as we move towards full employment and labour shortages in most sectors of the economy. It will be a difficult balancing act. On the political front, the challenges are also obviously immense. Assuming the Government survives until October, it is hard to see how Budget 2019 will not be the last one delivered by the current administration. Hence, there will be massive pressure to make the upcoming budget a pre-election one. The unfortunate thing is that no matter how prudent the Minister for Finance would like to be, the two main opposition parties appear to desire a massive increase in spending on anything that moves in the economy. The reality of politics is that to push policies, one needs to have power, but history would suggest that the only way to sustain or attain power in this country is to promise to spend money on everything and at the same time cut taxes. That is exactly the combination that Ireland does not require at the moment. Whether the Minister adopts a prudent approach or not to the public finances, the reality is that resources are by definition limited and scarce, and demands are virtually insatiable. He will have to make choices, but we should hope that these choices are driven by sensible economics rather than stupid politics. Asia A Third of Protected Wildlife Areas Marred by Roads and Towns: Study An endangered Przewalski's horse trots across the Takhin Tal National Park, part of the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area, Mongolia, June 22, 2017. / Reuters OSLO A third of the worlds protected areas for wildlife are suffering road building, more farms and other man-made threats that are undermining goals to safeguard the diversity of life on Earth, scientists said on Thursday. Almost 200 nations agreed in 2010 to set aside at least 17 percent of the worlds land areas in parks and other sanctuaries by 2020 as a cornerstone of a plan to shield animals and plants from pollution, land clearances and climate change. But many protected areas fall short, according to a report in the journal Science led by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia. Six million sq km (2.3 million square miles) 32.8 percent of protected land is under intense human pressure, from threats including more roads, cities, farms and railways, the scientists wrote. The area is roughly equal to the size of India and Argentina combined. Mangroves, Mediterranean forests, some grasslands and savannahs were among protected areas most at risk. James Watson, a professor at the University of Queensland and co-author, told Reuters he was stunned by the data. Governments are claiming these places are protected for the sake of nature when in reality they arent, he said. Overall, governments say the extent of protected lands has roughly doubled since the early 1990s and now covers 15 percent of the worlds land in more than 200,000 protected areas, the study said. Among examples of threats, the study showed satellite images of Kamianets-Podilskyi, a growing city within a national park in Ukraine, roads slicing through Mikumi National Park in Tanzania and farms and other buildings in Dadohaehaesang national park in South Korea. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which oversees the 2020 plan, said it hoped Thursdays findings would spur more action to ensure that protected areas exist in more than name. There is indeed a risk for protected areas to be misrepresented as paper parks, Cristiana Pasca Palmer, executive secretary of the CBD, told Reuters in an email. Among recommendations, countries should improve assessment and management of protected areas, and try where possible to connect them so threatened species can migrate. Another study in Science on Thursday showed that strict limits on global warming would help safeguard most species of plants and animals, especially insects such as bees or butterflies that are vital to pollinating crops. A species with a very small range is at greater risk of extinction, lead author Rachel Warren of the University of East Anglia told Reuters. A rise of 1.5C degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, the toughest goal under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, would mean that only six percent of insects species would suffer a halving or more of their natural habitats. But risks would rise fast with higher temperatures. Eighteen percent of insects would lose more than half their ranges if temperatures rise 2C (3.6F), the main Paris goal. Burma Chinese Demand Fueling Spike in Elephant Poaching Life-sized papier-mache elephants are displayed outside Yangons City Hall in November as part of the six-month countrywide Voice for Momos campaign to raise awareness of elephant poaching and wildlife smuggling. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy NAYPYITAW The Forestry Department has blamed growing demand from China for a surge in elephant poaching in Myanmar. Elephant poaching has increased rapidly because of increasing demand from a neighboring country for both consumption and medical use, said Forestry Department deputy director-general U Kyaw Kyaw Lwin as he answered questions at a press conference at the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry in Naypyitaw on Thursday. Such references by Myanmar officials to a neighboring country in the context of the illegal wildlife trade are commonly understood to refer to China. He added that while in the past elephants were mainly poached for their tusks, demand for flesh, trunks, and hide had increased. The number of poached elephants has risen steadily since 2014. While only four were poached in 2014, the number increased to 20 in 2015 and 18 in 2016, before jumping to 46 in 2017, according to Forestry Department records. Meanwhile, more than 50 elephants died of natural causes over the past four years. If we are losing an elephant every week, including those that die of natural causes, the population of wild elephants could drop significantly in the next 20 to 30 years, U Kyaw Kyaw Lwin said. Irrawaddy, Bago and Yangon regions have become poaching hot spots, but the Forestry Department has only around 300 staff members assigned to combat the illegal trade, and therefore has to rely on cooperation from local authorities and residents, he said. Police brought 56 poachers to trial last year, and have arrested six this year. In January, the department launched an initiative offering rewards of 3 million kyats each to those providing authorities with information leading to the arrest of elephant poachers. In March, the department awarded the sum to a villager in Irrawaddy Region after forestry police were able to arrest a poacher thanks to a tip from him. In mid-February, the government launched the Myanmar Elephant Conservation Action Plan (MECAP), a strategy for the next 10 years (201827) with the overall aim of securing viable and ecologically functional elephant populations in Myanmar for the next century and beyond with support from international and local organizations. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. Burma Finance Ministry to Investigate Customs Director Over Bribery Allegations The Customs Department in Yangon. / myanmartours.us NAYPYITAW The Ministry of Finance and Planning says it will launch an internal investigation into a department director who allegedly encouraged his staff to take bribes. On Sunday, an audio file was posted on the Golden Gatekeeper Facebook page purportedly of U Yin Min Aung, director of the Finance Ministrys Customs Department. In the recording, the man stresses the importance of maintaining cohesion when taking bribes. The director is alleged to have made the remarks on May 26, 2016, during a meeting with taxation officers about to take up assignments across the country. The recording has gone viral since being posted online and sparked a public outcry. On Thursday, Deputy Finance Minister U Maung Maung Win said an internal investigation body had been formed to look into the allegations. But we have not yet started the investigation. Well gather evidence first, he told reporters in Naypyitaw, where the ministrys work over the past year was being reviewed. U Thein Swe, the Customs Departments deputy director-general, said the investigation was ordered by the Presidents Office. The investigation body consists of a deputy director-general and a director. I dont know who they will investigate, he said. An internal investigation is not enough. The maximum punishment will be a transfer or a warning. In fact, that case should be handled by the Anti-Corruption Commission. Only then will the public get a satisfactory answer, lawyer U Kyi Myint told The Irrawaddy. In the recording, the man tells his audience to beware of attracting legal action when taking bribes. Everyone should unite and be satisfied. Everyone should be in agreement. But dont be too greedy beyond your position. The elephant has his own share, the horse has his own share, the goat has his own share, and the ant has his own share, the man says. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. Burma Myanmar Agrees to Accelerate Repatriation of Rohingya Despite Challenges Rohingya refugees walk at Jamtoli camp in the morning in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, January 22, 2018. / Reuters DHAKA A Myanmar foreign ministry delegation on Thursday in Dhaka said it is accelerating the repatriation process of Myanmar nationals living in Bangladesh but that it needs to promote awareness among its citizens. We are working on [the challenges of repatriation]. We need to promote awareness among Myanmar people and we will be providing more information to the counterpart foreign secretary in Dhaka, said Myint Thu, the permanent secretary of the Myanmar Foreign Affairs Ministry, when asked about the challenges to repatriating Rohingya refugees now living in Bangladesh. A second Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting with Bangladesh was held in Dhaka. A 15-member delegation from both countries joined the meeting, where the main discussion was starting the physical repatriation of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals who are currently living in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh. The Myanmar delegation head said, We had a candid discussion on repatriation. We discussed our preparations to date, are continuing to have working group meetings and are setting up a mechanism to receive the refugees. He added that the two sides were working on the bilateral agreement to begin the process. When asked about claims that Myanmar has been delaying the repatriation process, the delegation head replied, Thats what we are here for. We are working on accelerating the process. Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, who is leading the 15-member team from Bangladesh, told reporters that he could not give a specific date as to when the process would begin because this kind of repatriation is very complex and difficult. The JWG is reviewing the progress to date of plans to repatriate some 700,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmars Rakhine State largely following Myanmar Army security clearance operations that began in August 2017. Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation agreement on Nov. 23, 2017. On Jan. 16, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a physical arrangement document that would facilitate the return of the Rohingya Muslim refugees to their homeland. The document stipulated that the process would be completed preferably within two years from its start. In mid-February, Bangladesh handed over a list of more than 8,032 Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar during a meeting in Dhaka. Myanmar has so far verified the residency of only 878 Rohingya out of the 8,032 who were on the list from Bangladesh. The head of the Bangladesh delegation said issues regarding the residency verification process and preparations to address these matters were also discussed. Shahidul Haque said that a new list would be sent and that both parties agreed to foster the repatriation process. A Bangladesh official told The Irrawaddy that it was productive meeting and that things were moving in the right direction even though the issue is quite complex. Asked whether the delegations discussed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in the meeting, the official stated that it was discussed and that there are no ARSA members in our territory. They are convinced of our position and we will work together to identify ARSA members, the official stated. Meanwhile, in a statement, the United States Embassy in Dhaka said on Thursday that the US Agency for International Development administrator Mark Green met with Shahidul Haque, the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, at the latters office in Dhaka on Wednesday. In the meeting, the administrator reiterated that any repatriation or relocation of the Rohingya must be safe, voluntary, dignified, and based on informed consent. The two discussed the strong partnership between the United States and Bangladesh, including USAIDs long history in the country. News Ta'ang Armed Group Opens First Liaison Office in Wa Territory TNLA leaders make donations to monks at the inauguration of a TNLA liaison office in Panghsang, Shan State, on Thursday. / PSLF-TNLA News & Information Department / Facebook YANGON The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) opened its first liaison office on Thursday in Panghsang, the declared capital of the Wa self-administered region in Shan State, to improve communication with allied armed groups. The TNLA is a member of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), which is led by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and has seven members in all. Major Tar Aike Kyaw, a spokesman for the TNLA, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the office was opened with the UWSAs permission. We want to have better communication with each other, so we opened an office there, he said, adding that he did not know if other FPNCC members had plans to do likewise. The TNLA is based in remote parts of northern Shan and has found it difficult to travel to other parts of the state to meet with fellow armed groups. It says the new office will save it both time and money and help foster closer relations with the UWSA and the rest of the committee members. It was very difficult to get to Wa areas; we had to spend a lot of time to get there. It was also not safe when we traveled,Major Tar Aike Kyaw said. The FPNCC was formed to help its members hold peace talks with the national government and military and has received occasional assistance from China as a mediator. It has condemned the Myanmar military over its latest offensives against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of its members, in Kachin State and against the TNLA in Shan. The Myanmar military has repeatedly warned the UWSA not to support the TNLA or any other members of the Northern Alliance, a separate but overlapping bloc of armed groups that often clash with the military in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states. But the UWSA, which claims some 30,000 fighters and the largest rebel army in the country, has ignored the warnings, with little direct blowback from the military. The military has, however, been restricting the movement of ethnic Wa is some parts of Shan in an apparent bid to pressure the UWSA to cut ties with the Northern Alliance. The FPNCC consists of the KIA, TNLA, UWSA, Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, National Democratic Alliance Army and Shan State Progressive Party. News US Aid Chief Calls on Myanmar to End Violence Against Rohingya Gawdu Zara, a Muslim village in southern Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, is seen burning in early September. Non-Muslims were seen looting the village. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy DHAKA The US governments aid chief on Thursday called on Myanmar to end violence against members of the Rohingya Muslim minority and to provide humanitarian workers and media unhindered access to the country. Mark Green, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, visited Rohingya refugee camps on a three-day visit to Bangladesh this week. The United States would provide $44 million in additional aid to help meet the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, he told reports in Dhaka, before travelling on to Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. Today, I will fly to Burma and will ask them to end the violence and will also ask them to allow media access, Green said. This humanitarian crisis is a global challenge and our government along with the international community will work together to support Bangladesh, he said. According to UN officials, nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh from Buddhist-majority Myanmars Rakhine State to escape a military crackdown since August, launched in response to Rohingya insurgent attacks. Refugees have told of numerous incidents of murder, rape and arson by Myanmar troops and Buddhist vigilantes, which the United Nations has likened to ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied nearly all of the allegations, saying its security forces have been waging a legitimate counter-insurgency operation against Rohingya terrorists. Green, who is due to meet Myanmar government officials in the capital, Naypyitaw, said he would ask for free and unhindered humanitarian access throughout the country as well as access for media to travel freely. US President Donald Trump this month assured Bangladesh of US support in dealing with the Myanmar Rohingya refugee crisis. Commentary A New Business Sense Helps Bind the Ties Among Northern Alliance Members A Northern Alliance banner links the flags of four armed ethnic groups. / Northern Alliance / Facebook Some ethnic Shan have wondered publicly whether the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is providing material support to the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in its fight against the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) after grenades carrying KIA markings were found following a clash between the RCSS and TNLA in Kyaukme Township early this month. The KIA has produced a range of weapons including sniper rifles, grenades and ammunition for a long time. But some ethnic Shan may not understand this, and have accused the KIA of supporting the TNLA. While it is likely the KIA has been willing to sell the TNLA guns, grenades and ammunition, the deals are more commercial than political. They are also not unique. The TNLA also purchases arms from the United Wa State Army indeed, almost all the AK-47 guns used by the TNLA come from the UWSA and have bought weapons from Chinese arms dealers as well. Illegal weapons markets can be found at a number of different spots along the Chinese border, and according to TNLA sources, for the right amount of money, its possible to buy any type of gun. The ethnic armed forces based near the Chinese border know how to generate cash, which they then look to invest in a variety of ways to generate returns to finance their revolutions. In March 2017, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), attacked several casinos in Laukkai in Kokang, and made off with US$73 million, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. This set an example for other ethnic rebels groups not just to attack your enemy, but to think about how to use their armed forces to raise money too. The MNDAA justified the attacks by claiming that the casinos belonged to Myanmar Army generals and local Kokang authorities who were former members of the MNDAA. Following the casino raids, different rumors circulated around the border that the MNDAA would use the cash to set up an arms factory to produce guns. But, other sources in the area said the MNDAA invested the money in businesses in areas controlled by the UWSA and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA). The UWSA controls Special Region 2, while the NDAA controls Special Region 4 (Mongla) in the eastern and northern parts of Shan. These two armed groups signed a ceasefire agreement in 1989, and their territories have since seen a range of commercial activity develop. The central government does not have any influence over or enough power to control this region. The UWSA has 30,000 troops, according to the National Reconciliation and Peace Center, while the NDAA has 3,000 men under arms. Chinese authorities occasionally crack down on illegal money laundering through banks, so the rebel groups do not view it as prudent to keep their money there. They do view it as safe, however, to invest money in the Wa and Mongla regions and even further afield; some say that the MNDAA has invested its casino horde in different enterprises in China. Members of the Northern Alliance the KIA, Arakan Army, TNLA and MNDAA have no shortage of ideas about how to make money, and they understand that is better not to spend it all waging war. They have tried to think ahead about how to make money, grow interest and ensure the have the funds to finance their revolutions in the future. In their attack on Muse on May 11, the TNLA targeted a casino belong to the Pansay militia, which historically had been involved in the illegal drug business. The TNLA claimed that the casino even belonged to some Burmese officials cooperating with the Pansay militia. However, the TNLA could not get inside the casino. The TNLA may have intended to seize laundered money when attacking the casino but motivated by good reasons. Gambling has ruined the lives of many poor people in the region, while the casino also plays a part in the illegal drug trade in the area, they say. The leaders of the TNLA, AA, and MNDAA want to build their own capitals similar to those established by the KIA, UWSA, and NDAA (Mongla). There are several reasons why. The groups have concluded that if they want to have peace they need their own separate areas. As long as they live among the Burmese, there will be no peace. They point out that the KIA has Laiza, and Mai Ja Yang towns and KIA soldiers have shown they are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect these places. The TNLA, AA and MNDAA want to set up arms factories similar to those operated by the KIA. The KIA arms factory were initially run by Chinese engineers but in 2015, according to border sources from China, the KIA was able to replace them with their own engineers, who had been trained by the UWSA. Today, the KIA operates the factories on its own. The Myanmar Army has repeatedly threatened to eliminate the KIA and other armed groups. But, the ethnic armed groups including the UWSA, which is based near the Chinese border, have shown a united front, one built as much on commercial motivations as communal interests. Senegal's Team OwnLabs is the overall winner of Ericsson's Innovation Awards 2018 with its solution addressing the lack of school labs in Africa by offering "physics, chemistry and biology classes in virtual reality via a smartphone". With 1444 university teams representing 107 countries having entered the competition, which concluded with the grand final ceremony at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm on 17 May, the Ericsson Innovation Awards 2018 sounds like a fantastic competition. In the end, it was all narrowed down to finalist teams competing in the EIA 2018 grand final, with Team OwnLabs the winner, and the three runners-up listed below. We're told, "Aligning with this years Nobel Week Dialogue, the theme for the competition The Future of Truth challenged student teams to answer the question of how technology can improve the way we find, validate, and share truth in a fully connected world." Exploring this theme were the aforementioned 1444 university teams from 107 countries, entering and presenting their innovative solutions. Team OwnLabs, from the Ecole Superieure Polytechnique de Dakar and Universite de Ziguinchor in Senegal, seeks to address the lack of school labs in Africa by offering physics, chemistry and biology classes in a virtual reality environment via a smartphone. Erik Ekudden, senior vice-president and chief technology officer, Ericsson, said: The mobile network platform is the most important innovation platform globally. It enables local ideas and initiatives to quickly scale to a global market. We drive technology leadership in the industry with strong ecosystem partners with university collaborations, startups, and established companies. "Being at the forefront in commercialising great technologies and business ideas is key to us. The Ericsson Innovation Awards is one way for us to spur innovation and thought leadership with a world-wide challenge which brings new perspectives and unorthodox thinking into the creative processes. The simplicity of OwnLabs idea to "help young people find truth through experimental science and reach their full potential was the motivation behind the jurys decision". Curtis Ludwig, head of Employer Branding at Ericsson, said: "The team was able to make virtual reality come to life through a very good use-case scenario. The judges were completely inspired by their idea and we hope they are able to make a lasting impact in Senegal. The jury for the 2018 Ericsson Innovation Awards included Mattias Fyrenius, chief executive, Nobel Media, Patrick Mesterton, chief executive and co-founder of Epicenter Stockholm, Marina Petrova, Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Anita Frisell, head of Technology Development and Execution at Ericsson Research. The runners-up were: Second place: Team Alfred, Stanford University, Columbia University, and Rochester Institute of Technology, United States. Alfred is an AI-powered personal assistant that gathers information, identifies bias, and sifts through the noise. Third place: Team TL;DR, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi Technological University, India. TL;DRs platform summarises and simplifies user agreements to help consumers make informed decisions. Fourth place: Team Open Sesame, Tongji University, China. Open Sesame is a platform that reviews and verifies retail reviews and ratings to ensure a more reliable shopping experience. About the competition The Ericsson Innovation Awards is a global, annual competition that gives students around the world the opportunity to develop new, innovative ideas in collaboration with Ericsson experts. For more information on the finalists, their solutions, and the 2018 competition, visit the Ericsson Innovation Awards 2018 site here. A US Congress committee has agreed to uphold the sanctions imposed by the US Commerce Department on Chinese telecommunications vendor ZTE, in what appears to be a snub to US President Donald Trump. Over the last few days, Trump has tweeted a number of times that he would like to see ZTE back in business and that he had instructed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to take appropriate measures in this regard. In an amendment to the 2019 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill, the author, Dutch Ruppersberger, a Republican from Maryland, took a dig at Trump, adding in a statement which was tied to the news: "This amendment, which passed with the unanimous support of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, shows that, when the United States enacts sanctions, we stand behind them," Tech Crunch reported. On Sunday, Trump had tweeted out his change of mind, adding on Monday that his move reflected the bigger trade deal that was being negotiated with China and his personal relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. ...We have not seen Chinas demands yet, which should be few in that previous U.S. Administrations have done so poorly in negotiating. China has seen our demands. There has been no folding as the media would love people to believe, the meetings... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 16 May 2018 ZTE was hit with a seven-year ban on importing components from American companies in April, over sanctions-busting and not adhering to the terms of a settlement. The US and China are holding talks to try and avert an all-out trade war, with a second round of talks scheduled for this week. In 2017, ZTE paid more than US$2.3 billion to 211 American suppliers. China has been reported to have offered the US a deal to cut the trade deficit by US$200 billion. The amended bill will go to the House of Representatives for consideration in June. Ecommerce outfit The Catch Group has offered new mobile plans through its subsidiary Catch Connect. In a statement, the company drew attention to its 90-day plans which offered data ranging from 6GB to 45GB, all for $15 in a deal available until 28 May. There are also 30-day plans, offering between 2GB and 15GB, with prices ranging from $5 to $25. And one can also buy connectivity for a whole year, with allowances of 3GB, 6GB or 15GB per month for prices ranging from $139 upwards. Catch Group chief executive Nati Harpaz said: As with everything Catch does, we always aim to give the best price. "We will keep on rolling out great value plans and giving Aussies the best mobile deal they can get, thats what Catch.com.au and Catch Connect is all about. Catch Connect says it has pre-paid plans for convenience and no lock-in contracts. All plans offer unlimited talk and texts to standard numbers in Australia, and allow users to port across their own numbers. Added extras include: data top up $10 for 1GB or $15 for 2GB; international calls $5: up to 100 minutes to 32 selected countries; or $10: up to 300 minutes to 32 selected countries. The plans are powered by the Optus 4G Plus Mobile Network, which reaches 96.6% of Australians. Journalists at Fairfax Media, one of them a senior investigative scribe, appear to have got caught up in a bid to blackball the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE which has been hit with a seven-year export ban by the US over a small bribe it paid in Benin in 2005 and 2006 to secure a telecommunications contract. But reading through the first 21 paragraphs of this so-called investigative report which attempts to tie many threads together and come up with the conclusion that this 12-year-old bribe attempt should mean the company cannot now be considered for a contract by any Australian entity one finds no mention of the fact that the events covered date back so many years. Of course, if that been mentioned at the start of the the story, then there well might have been no story at all. The yarn, which ran on 13 May, attempts to have been planted by an interested party who leaked whatever documents were used to back up the claims made in the story. That happens in the US all the time over the last year or so there have been any number of attempts made by various companies and individuals to throw mud at Russia. It is indeed a convenient time for a "scoop" of this nature, given that ZTE is facing problems in the US. But then should Alcatel be banned from Australian contracts because of corrupt deals in years gone by in its South American office while former NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley was in a senior position at the company? What about Goldman Sachs? What about the Commonwealth Bank? AMP? How about Google? Or should every company that has a shady past and, boy, that would be a very long list be banned from bidding for contracts in Australia? Is this country some kind of pure, unsullied land mass when it comes to bribery and corruption? Some background: ZTE was hit with an export ban by the US Department of Commerce in April over its alleged non-compliance with the terms of a settlement for a sanctions violation. The company had shipped telecommunications equipment containing American-manufactured components to Iran, North Korea and Cuba. It paid a fine of US$1.19 billion for this and was also asked to sack some employees who were involved in the deals. ZTE failed to do so an error it now says was due to muddled processes and the US came back with a ban that prevents the company from buying any parts from US firms. ZTE bought components worth more than US$2.3 billion from 211 American companies in 2017 and thus, unsurprisingly, it recently said it was stopping its main business activities in the US after the ban was imposed. At the moment, with US President Donald Trump having taken up cudgels on behalf of ZTE, a US team, that is holding talks with its Chinese counterparts in a bid to avert a bilateral trade war, is attempting to sort out things. US politicians, meanwhile, have indicated that they are opposed to the two issues the ZTE sanctions and the trade war being conflated. ZTE and a second company from China, Huawei, have been shortlisted to get a rail contract in Western Australia and according to McKenzie and his co-Author Angus Grigg, this 12-year-old bribe should prevent ZTE from getting any business here. Plus, the fact that Australia in 2012 blocked Huawei from participating in the NBN once again, solely based on US warnings with no evidence at all should play a role in blacklisting that company too. McKenzie and Grigg write: "Nevertheless, security concerns around ZTE and Huawei are well-established in Western capitals." Really? But they do not provide any evidence for this claim. I have gone through the allegations levelled against Huawei with no evidence whatsoever before, so I will not tax any reader's patience. The Fairfax journalists write that the US "has put pressure on Australia to block Chinese companies from bidding for sensitive mobile services amid growing concern about foreign influence". They then add that despite these warnings, they have confirmed ZTE's shortlisting for the Perth rail project. Surely, they are not suggesting that Australia should heed US warnings despite the lack of evidence? Last I looked, Australia was a sovereign country. And the total of the bribes paid by ZTE 12 years ago? A huge US$12.8 million! And that was in Africa. Ah, but McZenzie and Grigg sanctimoniously state that the naughty ZTE may fall foul of the "tough US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" and that this venerable piece of legislation "could be used by regulators in Washington to further sanction the company". Get real. We are talking about the US, a country which brought about the global financial crisis through unprecedented corruption. Where does a US$12.8 million bribe paid 12 or 13 years ago sit in this context? It would be good if McKenzie and Grigg could now turn their attention to US companies that have set up shop in India and find out how much these firms paid to start doing business there. There's a rich vein to be mined there. It would be a lifetime's work. They could also look at the Persian Gulf states Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman and Bahrain and check what percentage was paid to various princes and others to facilitate business deals in that area. Trust me, that would be a full-time job for Fairfax Media in its entirety. But it would annoy our American friends, I'm sure. But as for stories like the ZTE one please, spare us the crusading zeal. This is a plant and someone of McKenzie's seniority should have been able to smell a rat. China-bashing is all the rage in the US and its servile client state Australia - but journalists should learn to cultivate some scepticism. Else, they might as well fade from the scene. Apple has paid the first instalment of a fine levied by the European Union for alleged tax evasion, depositing 1.5 billion (US$1.76 billion) into an escrow account set up for the purpose. Reuters reported that an announcement to this effect had been made by Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe on Friday. The EU imposed a 13 billion (US$17.6 billion) fine on Apple in August 2016, claiming that a number of the deals that the company had cut to do business in Ireland were illegal. The EU said at the time that it had concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits to Apple. Both Apple and Ireland are appealing the verdict, a process that may take as long a five years. The first tranche of the fine was due in January 2017 and in October 2017, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm,it was taking Ireland to the European Court of Justice over delaying the payment. Apple and Ireland reached agreement over what was deemed a suitable escrow arrangement in December 2017. In March, Ireland put Amundi, BlackRock Investment Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management in charge of the escrow account and gave them authorisation to make low-risk investments that would not put Irish taxpayers at risk. At the time of announcing the fine, EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Apple's "selective treatment" in Ireland resulted in an effective tax rate of 1% on its European profits in 2003. This rate fell to 0.005% by 2014. "The tax treatment in Ireland enabled Apple to avoid taxation on almost all profits generated by sales of Apple products in the entire EU single market," she said. "Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years." Graphic: courtesy the European Union Since its launch in 2013, Telegram has grown in popularity in the secure messaging category (its developers claim the app has over 200 million users), but with controversy. In addition to technical questions about how safe it truly is for users counting on it to keep their messaging activity private, the app has been in the news for political reasons throughout the first half of 2018. The governments of Iran and Russia have banned Telegram for thwarting them from accessing communications conducted on the app by their citizens and others inside their countries. What is Telegram? Telegram was designed to be a secure messenger that third-parties wouldnt be able to intercept. Telegram, the app and non-profit company supporting it, was founded by brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov. In 2006, Pavel Durov created a Facebook clone for Russia, VKontakte (also referred to as VK). After years of clashing with the Russian government over censorship issues on his social networking site, he and his brother fled Russia in 2013 for Buffalo, New York, where they started Telegram. VK is now purportedly owned by allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Durovs' clashes over free speech with their home countrys government, and them living in exile in the U.S., helped to give their messenger an aura of authenticity. Telegram soon gained a following, perceived as a safe tool for activists and journalists for their sensitive communications. How Telegram works Telegram uses your smartphones phone number as your messenger ID. You can share documents and media files with other Telegram users. Messages and media can be set to self-destruct (delete) after theyve been viewed by the recipient. An unsend function lets you delete a message within 48 hours after youve sent it. The Telegram app is available for Android, iOS (iPad, iPhone), Linux, macOS and Windows. It also has a website version that you can use through most browsers. Is Telegram secure? Concerns about the security of Telegram were raised not long after its release. By default, the app doesnt encrypt end-to-end communications (e.g., between your phone and the persons phone you are chatting with). You have to manually enable this feature, called Secret Chat. Otherwise, your chats will be saved on Telegrams servers, which are in various locations throughout the world. The communication between the client (i.e., your phone or other device) and Telegrams servers is encrypted, and your chat data stored on these servers is encrypted, supposedly. The Telegram developers emphasize this is so that you can recover your chats should you lose your phone or other device. But why is letting your chat data be stored on their servers not offered as an opt-in, and encrypted end-to-end chatting not set as the default? Keeping your chat data stored on these servers has to be an expense for their non-profit company. Experts in the encryption field have also questioned why Telegram uses a homegrown encryption protocol, called MTProto, when there are other freely available encryption protocols that have proven to be effective and that have been vetted by independent experts. (The Telegram website has available for download the purported source code for the desktop and mobile app versions of Telegram. The Telegram developers say this code allows researchers to evaluate the messengers encryption protocol.) Why (and how) Russia blocked Telegram The Russian government security agency, the Federal Security Service, ordered Telegrams developers to turn over the encryption keysfor Telegrams MTProto protocol to them by April 4, 2018. Pavel Durov refused to comply. According to him, there were about 15 million users of Telegram in Russia. The Russian Supreme Court then ordered Telegram banned in the country. Roskomnadzor (Russias equivalent of the U.S. FCC) ordered Russian ISPs to block the app. As of May 8, 2018, this has resulted in these ISPs blocking more than 10 million IP addresses. This blocklist was so high to prevent a workaround domain fronting from working through Telegram. Generally speaking, domain fronting enables an app to connect to a blocked domain by appearing to connect to another domain that hasnt been blocked. It is an unintended feature that has been exploited as a security flaw. Amazon and Google disabled domain fronting from their services in April 2018 after the Russian ban on Telegram. It was reported they did so partly due to request by the Russian government. Telegram vs. WhatsApp: Secure messaging alternatives Secure messengers other than Telegram include Signal, WhatsApp and Wire. The most popular is WhatsApp, with 1.5 billion users. In contrast to Telegram, all of these have encrypted end-to-end communications turned on by default. So your chat data is stored, and encrypted, only on your phone or other device that youre chatting from, and not on a server. They use the Signal Protocol (developed by the Signal messenger developers), which has been approved by encryption experts and is available for the public to evaluate and freely use. IWU Awarded Two Illinois Arts Council Agency Grants May 18, 2018 BLOOMINGTON, Ill. The Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) program recently awarded Illinois Wesleyan University an $8,800 grant for the School of Music and a $2,200 grant for the School of Art, to support IWU arts programs that are serving the public. The School of Music will put the $8,800 grant one of the highest award amounts granted to use as operational support for community engagement programming such as the Illinois Chamber Music Festival at IWU, the IWU Jazz Festival, the Childrens Opera Tour, and the New Music Series. All of these events and programs are free and open to the community. Funding for the School of Art will go toward operational support to curate shows that will directly impact students and members of the community in the Merwin and Wakeley Galleries. All of our events, whether receptions or artist's lectures, are open to the surrounding community, and we are always thrilled when the general public attends, said Gallery Director Carmen Lozar. The Illinois Arts Council Agency was created as a state agency by the Illinois General Assembly in 1965. The agency is governed by up to 21 private citizens chosen for their demonstrated commitment to the arts and appointed by the Governor. Council members serve in a voluntary, non-paid capacity and are charged with developing the states public arts policy, fostering quality culturally diverse programs, and approving grants expenditures. By Rachel McCarthy Muchnik 16 Earns NSF Graduate Research Fellowship May 18, 2018 Sydney Muchnik 16 spoke with former Associate Provost Frank Boyd about her research during the 2016 John Wesley Powell Research Conference at Illinois Wesleyan University. BLOOMINGTON, Ill. A three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship has been awarded to Illinois Wesleyan University biology alum Sydney Muchnik 16, who is now pursuing a Ph.D. at Yale University. IWU provided me with my first research experiences which helped me discover my love of science and influenced my decision to study genetics in graduate school, Muchnik said while reflecting on the fellowship. The highly selective NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program accepts 2,000 applicants from a nationwide pool of undergraduates in STEM fields. Since 1952, NSF has funded over 50,000 graduate research fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants. Fellows such as Muchnik receive a three-year annual stipend of $34,000, as well as an additional $12,000 to cover education costs to conduct research at any U.S. graduate institution of their choice. Fellows also benefit from the international reputation of the program, which includes numerous Nobel Prize winners, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu as former Fellows. As an Illinois Wesleyan undergraduate student, Muchnik was active in the campus community where she served as President of the Math Honors Society and Vice President of Colleges Against Cancer. She also worked as a Resident Assistant and a Residential Community Advisor. In addition, Muchnik gained experience as an intern for Advocate BroMenn Volunteer Services, where she completed an extensive research project on the history of the Brokaw School of Nursing at IWU. During her senior year, Muchnik joined Miner Linnaeus Sherff Endowed Professor of Botany David Bollivar in his laboratory, where she worked on a project involving bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis. When describing Muchniks work, Bollivar said, She had a talent for seeing the greater picture while still focusing on the details needed for success in the laboratory. One of my most important experiences at IWU was doing research in Dr. Bollivar's lab, Muchnik said. I loved working in the lab, and those experiences played a large role in my decision to apply to grad school. Through her fellowship, Muchnik will continue her passion for laboratory research in the Genetics Department at Yale. Her current thesis project explores how changes in regulatory regions of DNA can shed light on how genetics have driven the evolution of distinctly human aspects of brain function and development. To do so, she will study gene transcription and modification at different stages of a human brains development and compare her findings to the gene sequences found in non-human primates. Muchnik has already conducted research in the Biomedical Engineering department at Yale, where she worked alongside a professor to develop a technique for single-cell cytokine secretion in real time, a process used to activate latent HIV cells for study in the lab. At IWU, I gained basic scientific knowledge that prepared me for my graduate courses, Muchnik said. But, more importantly, I gained writing, presentation, and critical reading skills that have been exceptionally important for my success in grad school. By Rachel McCarthy 21 Dorchester District Two's security task force committee met Thursday night to discuss ideas to put before the school board to ensure safe schools in the district. LONDON and CALGARY, Alberta, May 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mkango Resources Ltd. (AIM:MKA) (TSX-V:MKA) (the "Company" or "Mkango") is pleased to announce that Mkango and Talaxis Ltd (Talaxis), a subsidiary of Noble Group Ltd, have signed the definitive agreements (the Agreements) in relation to the transaction announced on November 16, 2017, whereby Talaxis will acquire up to a 75% interest in Lancaster Exploration Ltd (Lancaster), the holder of the licence for the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project (Songwe) in Malawi, and up to 49% of Maginito Ltd (Maginito): Songwe Joint Venture In January 2018, Talaxis invested 5 million (C$8.8 million) in return for a 20% interest in Lancaster. Mkango will shortly commence a major drilling programme at Songwe and is targeting the completion of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate by the end of 2018. On Mkango publishing an NI 43-101 technical report in relation to the updated Mineral Resource Estimate, Talaxis will invest an additional 7 million (C$12.1 million) to fund the completion of a feasibility study for a further 29% interest, increasing its total interest in Lancaster to 49%. On Mkango completing a feasibility study for Songwe, Talaxis will have the option to acquire a further 26% interest in Lancaster, increasing its aggregate interest to 75%, by arranging funding for 100% of remaining project development costs, including funding the equity component thereof. If Talaxis exercises its option, Mkango will retain a 25% interest, free carried to production. Mkango is targeting completion of a feasibility study for Songwe by the end of 2019. Maginito Investment In January 2018, Talaxis invested 1 million (C$1.7 million) in return for a 24.5% interest in Maginito. Maginito is focused on downstream opportunities relating to the rare earths supply chain, in particular neodymium alloy powders, magnet and other technologies geared to accelerating growth in the electric vehicle market. This includes the collaboration with Metalysis Ltd announced in September 2017, which is focused on advanced alloys using neodymium or praseodymium with other elements for permanent magnet manufacturing. On successful completion of the second phase of the research and development programme with Metalysis, Talaxis will invest an additional 1 million (C$1.7 million) into Maginito for a further 24.5% interest, increasing its total interest in Maginito to 49%. Talaxis and Mkango will be each others preferred partner for all rare earths projects worldwide and for all activities in Malawi. William Dawes, Chief Executive Officer of Mkango, said: "Following the signing of the definitive agreements, Mkango has a clearly defined pathway to production against the backdrop of a strong outlook for rare earths geared to the electric vehicle market. We look forward to working with Talaxis to develop Songwe as a long term, sustainable producer of rare earths and complementary downstream technologies through Maginito. The next major milestone is an updated resource for Songwe, which triggers the next 7 million investment from Talaxis. Daniel Mamadou, Executive Director of Talaxis said: As the market for permanent magnet technology continues to grow rapidly, access to reliable sources of neodymium becomes key. As such, we are pleased to sign the definitive agreements with Mkango. Our focus is to ensure that our clients can benefit from a supply chain specialized in technology metals that is reliable and resilient to external shocks. About Mkango Resources Limited Mkango's primary business is the exploration for rare earth elements and associated minerals in the Republic of Malawi, a country whose hospitable people have earned it a reputation as the warm heart of Africa. The Company holds interests in three exclusive prospecting licenses in Malawi, the Phalombe licence, the Thambani licence and the Chimimbe Hill licence. The main exploration target in the 80% held Phalombe licence is the Songwe Hill rare earths deposit, which features carbonatite hosted rare earth mineralisation and was subject to previous exploration in the late 1980s. Mkango completed an updated Pre-feasibility Study for the project in November 2015 and is currently commencing a Feasibility Study, the initial phases of which include a major drilling programme. The main exploration targets in Mkangos remaining two 100% held licences are, in the Thambani licence, uranium, niobium, tantalum and zircon and, in the Chimimbe Hill licence, nickel and cobalt. For more information, please visit www.mkango.ca. About Talaxis Limited Talaxis Limited is a company owned by Noble Group that is involved in the investment and trading of metals and raw materials which are critical to green technology supply chains, including cobalt, lithium, and rare earths. Talaxis is also involved in the research and development of industrial applications for energy solutions providers and permanent magnets manufacturers. With the support of its parent company, Talaxis has access to physical commodities logistics and to a global marketing network. Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure Certain information contained in this announcement may have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of that term under applicable securities laws) with respect to Mkango, its business and the Project. Generally, forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or is expected, scheduled, estimates intends, anticipates, believes, or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results can, may, could, would, should, might or will, occur or be achieved, or the negative connotations thereof. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements with respect to the global market for products using the rare earth metals the Company is exploring for, completion of the feasibility study and of the transactions contemplated in the Agreement, as well as the use of proceeds from the investments into the Company by Talaxis and the timing of such expenditures. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, without limiting the foregoing, market demand for the metals and associated downstream products for which Mkango is exploring, researching and developing, the positive results of a feasibility study on the Project, delays in obtaining financing or governmental or stock exchange approvals. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. For further information on Mkango, please contact: Mkango Resources Limited William Dawes Alexander Lemon Chief Executive Officer President This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. UK: +44 207 3722 744 Canada: +1 403 444 5979 www.mkango.ca @MkangoResources Blytheweigh Financial Public Relations Tim Blythe, Camilla Horsfall, Nick Elwes UK: +44 207 138 3204 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Jeff Keating, Caroline Rowe UK: +44 20 3470 0470 Alternative Resource Capital Joint Broker Alex Wood, Rob Collins UK: +44 20 7186 9004; +44 20 7186 9001 The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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 press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any equity or other securities of the Company in the United States. The securities of the Company will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) and may not be offered or sold within the United States to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. Toronto, ON / TheNewswire / May 18, 2018 - Chilean Metals Inc. ("Chilean Metals," "CMX" or the "Company") (TSX.V:CMX, OTCQB: CMETF, SSE:CMX, MILA: CMX) has announced plans to raise additional capital to finance exploration on its Bass River projects and additional projects in Nova Scotia and for general working capital requirements. Chilean will offer both traditional (hard dollar) and Flow-through equity (for the exploration only). The traditional (hard dollar) equity will be offered via the sale of up to 12,500,000 units @ $0.12 per unit for maximum gross proceeds of $1,500,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. The warrant plus payment of $0.18 per common share will result in the holder receiving one common share of the Company for a period of five years from the date of issuance. The Flow Through equity will be offered via the sale of up to 4,000,000 units @ $0.16 per unit for maximum gross proceeds of $640,000. Each Unit will consist of one flow-through common share and one common share purchase warrant. The warrant plus payment of $0.18 per common share will result in the holder receiving one common share of the Company for a period of five years from the date of issuance. "As previously discussed when we announced the stock consolidation this equity is needed to enable the company to take advantage of our NS Exploration projects. To ensure existing shareholders have an opportunity to participate in the next round we will be using the Existing Shareholder Exemption as further defined below. This will ensure shareholders of record as of May 17th will be eligible to participate in the round. Management, board and our largest shareholders have committed to investing $500,000 in this new round. We would ask any shareholders who are interested to contact me at the email address on this press release" commented Chilean CEO Terry Lynch The private placement will be conducted in reliance upon available prospectus exemptions, including the existing shareholder exemption (the "Existing Shareholder Exemption") contained in OSC Rule 45-501, BCI 45-534 and various corresponding blanket orders and rules of participating jurisdictions. The Company has set May 17, 2018 as the record date for the purpose of determining existing shareholders entitled to purchase Units pursuant to the Existing Shareholder Exemption. Subscribers purchasing Units under the Existing Shareholder Exemption will need to represent in writing that they meet certain requirements of the Existing Shareholder Exemption, including that they were, as of the record date and continue to be as of the date of closing for their subscription, a shareholder of the Company. The aggregate acquisition cost to a subscriber under the Existing Shareholder Exemption cannot exceed $15,000 unless that subscriber has obtained advice obtained from a registered investment dealer regarding the suitability of the investment. The Company will accept qualifying subscriptions of $5,000 or more. In addition the Company wishes to announce it has reached a deal to pay a supplier for previous drilling work completed in Chile on the Company's behalf. The Company will pay the drilling company CDN$220,000 in cash and issue 750,000 shares to repay a payable of approximately CDN$370,000. The Company will also pay the drilling company's estimated VAT obligation on certain unbilled work and certain related fees, anticipated to be no more than $13,000. This arrangement and the financing discussed above remain subject to TSXV approval. About Chilean Metals, www.chileanmetals.com/ Chilean Metals Inc. is a Canadian Junior Exploration Company focusing on high potential Copper Gold prospects in Chile & Canada. Chilean Metals Inc is 100% owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific IOCG ("Iron oxide-copper-gold") belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3% NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire Cu-Mo deposit, recently sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. ("Teck"). Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one third of the 3% NSR for $3 million dollars at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's First Region. Chilean Metals Inc is the 100% owner of four Copper Gold exploration properties in Nova Scotia on the western flank of the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault Zone (CCFZ); Fox River, Parrsboro, Lynn and Bass River North respectively. Initial targeting and geophysics has been conducted on all properties, At Bass River North, airborne geophysics identified a major VTEM cluster on trend with the Pb/Zn/Ag mineralization exposed at surface and in drill holes to the southwest. Modeling of the airborne data by Minotaur (Australia) identified 3 priority targets recommended for ground-based geophysics prior to drilling. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF Chilean Metals Inc. "Terry Lynch" Terry Lynch, CEO Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The Qualified Person for Chilean Metals Inc., as defined by National Instrument 43-101, is Mick Sharry, M.Sc. Consultant Forward-looking Statements: This news release may contain certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that CMX expects to occur, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding current and future exploration programs, activities and results. Although CMX believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration success, continued availability of capital and financing, inability to obtain required regulatory or governmental approvals 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. 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. The UN human rights chief on Friday slammed Israels deadly reaction to protests along the Gaza border as wholly disproportionate, backing calls for an international investigation. Addressing a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the violence which has claimed more than 100 Gazan lives in six weeks, Zeid Raad Al Hussein warned that killing resulting from the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute wilful killings, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Violations of the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1949 following World War II are commonly called war crimes, although Zeid did not explicitly use that word. He pointed out though that while 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in a single day of protests on Monday, on the Israeli side, one soldier was reportedly wounded, slightly, by a stone. The stark contrast in casualties on both sides is suggestive of a wholly disproportionate response, he told the council. Many of the Palestinians injured and killed were completely unarmed, (and) were shot in the back, in the chest, in the head and limbs with live ammunition, he said, saying there was little evidence of any (Israeli) attempt to minimise casualties. Although some of the demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, used slingshots to throw stones, flew burning kites into Israel and attempted to use wire-cutters against the two fences between Gaza and Israel, these actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force. The special UN session comes after six weeks of mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border with Palestinian refugees demanding the right to return to their homes inside what is now Israel. Israel has justified its actions, arguing it was necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave which is run by the Islamist Hamas movement. The council is due to consider a draft resolution calling for the urgent dispatch of an independent, international commission of inquiry the UNs highest-level of investigation. Zeid said he supported the call for an investigation that is international, independent and impartial, in the hope the truth regarding these matters will lead to justice. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday hosts for the second time in half a year a summit of the main pan-Islamic bloc to show solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israel after the killing of dozens of Gaza protesters. Erdogan has reacted with unbridled fury to the killing by Israeli forces on Monday of 60 Palestinians on the Gaza border, accusing Israel of genocide and being run as an apartheid state. He has also called a mass demonstration in Istanbul expected to rally hundreds of thousands from 1300 GMT ahead of the summits start at 1600 GMT. Erdogan has already staged an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in December last year to denounce US President Donald Trumps decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. We must give the toughest response to the crime against humanity committed by Israel, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a meeting of OIC foreign ministers ahead of the summit. Speaking in Geneva, UN human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein slammed Israels reaction to the Gaza protests as wholly disproportionate, backing calls for an international investigation. OIC disunity upsetting However, as in 2017, disputes between the OICs key players notably between Sunni kingpin Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran may prevent the adoption of any measures going beyond harsh rhetoric. Riyadh which appears to have softened its stance on Israel as the influence of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has grown and its allies fear alienating the United States with tough measures against Tel Aviv. Saudis chief foreign policy preoccupation, shared with Israel, is ensuring US backing to contain Iran which both Riyadh and the Jewish state see as the main threat to regional peace. Egypt and Saudi Arabia distrust Turkeys support for Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, complicating any effort to take concrete measures against Israel. Cavusoglu also said some OIC member states failure to show enough support for the Palestinian cause upsets us. Dragged into chaos After declaring his intention to hold the event only on Monday, Erdogan has managed to build up an impressive guest list at short notice. Jordanian King Abdullah II will be present although the Palestinians will be represented by prime minister Rami Hamdallah and not president Mahmud Abbas who this week had surgery on his ear. From the Gulf, Kuwaits Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is expected as is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar, Turkeys main regional ally. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir will be at the Istanbul summit. The Saudi level of representation is higher than at the November meeting. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will attend, state media said, and overcoming the enmity between Tehran and Riyadh will be crucial for the Turkish hosts. As in the November 2017 meeting, a controversial guest will be Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on charges of genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Erdogan has long craved a role as a Muslim leader within the entire Islamic world, rarely holding back with tirades against Israel even though Ankara has diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. If the silence on Israels tyranny continues, the world will rapidly be dragged into a chaos where banditry prevails, Erdogan said Wednesday. Curse the oppression Tensions with Israel and hosting such a meeting also does Erdogan no harm with his core supporters as Turkey heads to presidential and parliamentary polls on June 24. In a diplomatic crisis threatening a 2016 deal that allowed the resumption of full ties, Turkey has ordered the Israeli ambassador to leave for an unspecified period of time over the killings. Turkey had already withdrawn its Tel Aviv ambassador for consultations while Israel ordered the Turkish consul in Jerusalem to leave, also for an unspecified period of time. The rally expected just before the summit is set to take place at the Yenikapi meeting area favoured by Erdogan for election rallies and which has capacity for a million people. Erdogan is himself expected to address the rally organised under the slogan curse the oppression, support Jerusalem. Israel condemned the hypocrisy and absurdity of the UN Human Rights Council after it voted Friday to send war crimes investigators to probe the shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. Israel completely rejects the decision of the Human Rights Council, which proves once again that it is an anti-Israeli body dominated by hypocrisy and absurdity, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. 269 Shares Share Many doctors dont want anything to do with investing money. They feel investing is not what they were trained to do and therefore a waste of their valuable time. I think this attitude gets some doctors into trouble. It is true that our time is best spent in our main area of training, but its very important for us to also have an adequate knowledge of investing. Being somewhat familiar with investing can help prevent us from being taken advantage of. Doctors are, in general, an easy mark for people in the financial world. We are assumed to have a lot of money and are willing to invest in anything without taking time to understand the investment. It doesnt have to be that way. With about the same amount of effort as learning the Krebs cycle, we can learn the basics of the financial world. The ostrich approach to finance, burying our head in the sand and letting someone else make all the decisions, will often lead to a financial catastrophe. Im thinking of the doctor who hires a financial advisor and then turns all the activity over to them and never looks back. These are usually the conditions that precede the news story where someone loses all their money due to an unscrupulous financial advisor, or getting in trouble with the IRS for not paying their taxes and blaming it on their manager instead of bucking up to the responsibility themselves. If you are the type who doesnt want to be involved with finances, then hire multiple advisors and get enough basic financial education to look over their shoulders to see that all is well. By giving each adviser a portion of your portfolio to manage, each one managing their specialty, you can feel confident that your finances are being well cared for. If any one advisor has only access to a portion of your wealth, there is less likelihood of embezzlement or any other miss step on their part. For example, you can have a property management company manage your investment real estate. Your 401(k) can be in the hands of your companys investment advisor. Your IRAs handled by another firm. Your taxable account investments can be in the hands of yet another advisor. Additionally, an accountant can be in charge of overseeing all of your investments when doing your taxes each year. In this example, if you have mistaken the qualifications or honesty of any one advisor, only a portion of your wealth is at their mercy. You are very unlikely to select bad people to be in charge of all the accounts, since most advisors are honest and are not out to cause financial mayhem. I know a property owner, lets call him Tim, who owned a large apartment complex which provided him with a good cash flow, accounting for the bulk of his retirement income. The property had no mortgage. At age 65, Tim decided he wanted to retire and travel the world. He hired a friend who was knowledgeable in managing property to become the property manager for his apartment complex. Tim began his lifelong dream of traveling around the world, worry free, with his manager depositing the apartment income into his bank account each month. He could draw money from this account from anywhere in the world as he traveled from one country to the next. Tim had great trust in his friend and didnt feel the need to check up on how the apartments were fairing. Several months into Tims world tour, Tim called one of the tenants living in his apartment complex, just to see how things were going. The tenant was very surprised to hear from Tim. I thought you were dead was her comment. It seemed that the trusted manager had been spreading rumors around that Tim had died in some foreign country and left the apartment complex to his trusted manager. The manager had the complex up for sale, and prospective buyers had been inspecting the complex. Needless to say, Tim was on the next flight home to fire his manager. Had Tim not contacted one of his tenants, and just trusted his so-called friend to manage his property, he might have found himself in China with no bank account or property anymore. He was lucky he checked up on things before it was too late. This is a story that happens all too often. Many times it is disguised as a great, cant miss, investment opportunity. Other times it is simply a money manager who gets a little too greedy. In every case, the problem arises from the owner of the assets leaving one individual with complete responsibility of his assets without paying enough attention to what is going on or having other professionals overseeing that individuals activities. If you do not want to do all the decision making, dont just hand the keys over to someone who will not have your best interest in mind. I had an episode like this happen to me. I was in a partnership with a group of doctors. The annual meeting occurred on a day I was unable to attend so I gave my proxy to someone I trusted, thinking that since he had the same amount of money invested in the project as I, that our interests would be the same and he would vote in the same manner that I would. Unbeknownst to me, the person I gave the proxy to was not in the same ownership category as I was. He had made some additional investments with the group that made his interests different than mine. He voted both his shares and my shares benefiting his interest at the expense of my interest. The motion carried, and my position in the company worsened. I learned a valuable lesson that day. If you are going to give your proxy to someone, you must be sure they will be acting according to your wishes. Make sure their interests are exactly the same as yours. When you choose to give the keys to your investment castle to an advisor, remember that they do not have the same interest in your investment as you do. They dont get paid from that investment the same way you do. Because of these differences, you must keep your hand in the pot. You cannot give them complete control thinking they will manage your investment the way you would. Discuss with them the investment parameters you want them to follow and pay attention to the monthly financial statements. After all, it is your money at risk. I have heard way too many doctors tell me they were fed up with having their investment advisor make more money off their portfolio than they do. The doctor should be making the bulk of the money, not the advisor. We get paid when the value of the account goes up. But if the advisor gets paid only when something is bought or sold, they may be buying and selling more often than is needed for your wealth appreciation. These unsolicited trades will generate additional advisor fees and more taxes for you. Both of which will be coming out of your pocket. However, you set up your investment strategy, be sure to keep your hand in it at all times. Knowing the basics about what is going on with your investments will help keep you from becoming the victim of an unscrupulous advisor. You are smart enough to keep that from happening. Dont get lazy with your hard earned money. Keep an eye on it and watch it grow. Cory Fawcett is a general surgeon and can be reached at his self-titled site, Dr. Cory S. Fawcett. He is the author of The Doctors Guide to Starting Your Practice Right, The Doctors Guide to Eliminating Debt, and The Doctors Guide to Smart Career Alternatives and Retirement. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 180 Shares Share I believe theres no such thing as work-life balance. I think this every morning when I leave for work, watching my two-year-old son press his face against the front window and wave at me as I back down the driveway. It comes up again at work, as I guiltily feel relieved when a patient cancels and I have an unexpected half hour to work on a behavioral science presentation for residents. There is always somewhere else that I should be, and something else that I should be working on. As a working mother who has been a chronic perfectionist and overachiever, the pressure is always there. If Im not careful, this pressure turns into guilt. I miss my sons doctors appointment, and I cant translate his toddler-speak as easily as I think I should be able to. At work, I fall hopelessly behind in answering emails while wondering when Ill have time to submit that paper for publication. Its easy to start berating myself for not being more efficient, for not accomplishing more at work, and then not getting home in time to start dinner. As the behavioral science educator in our family medicine residency program, I teach work-life balance. Residents vent in support group about the endless patient demands, of long nights, of stress in their marriages, of their own emotional struggles. So I encourage them to focus on their goals, to reflect on the things theyre grateful for, and put their energy toward what they value most. Take steps to change what stressors can be controlled, and learn to release the ones that cannot. I hear these words as I say them to our residents, and I resolve yet again to start taking my own advice. And sometimes I can successfully do this. Yet other times, I compose emails in my head as I rock my son to sleep. Or a patients struggles sparks one of my own worries, and I find my mind drifting off into my own troubles. Then my work life and my personal life collide into each other, and I wonder what kind of hypocrite I am that I presume to tell our residents how to live their lives better. Perhaps I should admit to myself that I cant achieve balance. Maybe part of me will always want to be in the other part of my life, somehow both working more and spending more time with my family. It hurts to think that I may never be able to spend all the time I want with my son. But I know fighting this guilt wont help. Instead, I focus on changing my relationship with it and remind myself that even if there isnt enough time, wishing to be in the other part of my life only takes me away from where I am now. So I close my eyes, and I focus on the feel of my sons soft hair against my cheek. I focus on the pain in my patients voice. I slowly take a deep breath. This is my only moment. Katie Fortenberry is a psychologist and an assistant professor, division of family medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT. This article originally appeared in Family Medicine Vital Signs. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Why not work from Kilkenny instead? Tom ONeill has been asking people since founding New Work Junction on the Dublin Road, Kilkenny. Now Abodoo.com are making it very easy. Abodoo is an exciting new careers matching platform for people who want to work from Kilkenny instead of commuting. New Work Junction is teaming up with Abodoo to provide office space for those remote or smart workers. Every day thousands of people commute to Dublin when they could just as easily work remotely from an office in Kilkenny. Many more would like to get back to work but cant commute because of family commitments. Thousands more leave Kilkenny for work abroad, though many could as easily stay here and work remotely. Now employers are listening! They are realizing that they can find quality staff and keep existing staff by allowing people to work near where they live. Could this be you? In our Kilkenny co-working office space today we have people working for companies in London, Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Montreal, Lisbon, Helsinki, and of course Dublin! These people are setting a trend. They are key people whom their businesses preferred to allow to work remotely than to lose. They have opened employers eyes to the many benefits to opening the remote working option widely. If you are fed up of commuting and want to take control, why not ask your company? asks ONeill. You wont believe the difference it will make. And if your employer is not willing to move with the times, or if you are a homeminder looking to get back to work, says ONeill, Go onto Abodoo.com, take the time to list your skills and the algorithm will match you to an employer offering a smart working career with benefits. Where an employer says that you dont have to commute but you do have to be in a professional work environment in your locality, New Work Junction is here for you. Many employers will even pay for your desk with us. Employers greatly benefit by embracing smart and remote working, productivity rises, attrition reduces, there is access to more talent, happier workforce and a serious financial saving says Vanessa Tierney Co-founder of Abodoo I believe that remote working can ease many problems: congestion in the main cities; carbon emission targets; finding and retaining talent for companies; footfall in the local shops and cafes on weekdays. And most importantly it can improve quality of life for a great many working people. We are so committed to the idea of remote working that we have become an Abodoo.com investor. When Apple or Google agrees to hire five Java programmers in Kilkenny but want them based in an office with good bandwidth, New Work Junction will provide five desks where the company can start their remote team the very next day. New Work Junction will be opening a branch in Carlow this June and another in Wexford later in 2018. Cleere Life & Pensions of 8 Dean St, was shortlisted for the prestigious title of Leinster Broker of the Year and Best Newcomer Broker of the Year at the LPI Broker Awards in the Mansion House, Dublin. The Brokers Ireland Life, Pensions and Investments Awards for Financial Brokers is designed to ensure that those at the forefront of the profession are identified and commended for their efforts. We are delighted the strength and depth of our investment & protection advisory offering and the continued innovations and improvements we have made over the last few years were recognised by the judges. Although unsuccessful on the night, its great to be recognised by the Industry in our first 3 years of business. This success recognises the full suite of Wealth Management, Pensions & Protection services that we provide to our clients. As the leading provider in Kilkenny we welcome new & existing clients to discuss their financial needs at our offices at 8 Dean St, Kilkenny. You can also contact us through www.cleerelife.ie and through our facebook page. Out contact details are 056 -7721854 or gearoid@cleerelife.ie or michelle@cleerelife.ie Killeen Financial Services Ltd T/A Cleere Life & Pensions is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Islamic terror attacks in the West are far less common since 2017 Presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom speaks to reporters at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. / Yonhap South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday called on North Korea to faithfully implement agreements for denuclearization and peace reached at the recent inter-Korean summit, one day after the communist state abruptly called off a high-level meeting largely aimed at discussing ways to implement the summit agreements. "Members of the NSC standing committee discussed future steps in regard to North Korea's decision to postpone the high-level South-North dialogue scheduled for May 16. While reaffirming their stance that the Panmunjom Declaration reached at the April 27 South-North Korea summit must be carried out without any disruption, the members agreed to continue consulting with the North side to hold the high-level talks at an early date," the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said. The NSC meeting, chaired by Chung Eui-yong, the top security adviser to President Moon Jae-in, was held earlier Thursday. Panmunjom is a small border village inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas, where Moon held his first-ever meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on April 27. In the historic summit, the leaders of the divided Koreas agreed to pursue complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to halt their countries' hostile acts against each other. Kim is now set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss on what terms his country will give up its nuclear ambitions. The May 18, 1980, Gwangju Democratization Movement is a painful chapter in Korea's modern history. At the order of military strongmen, soldiers turned their guns on the people they were supposed to protect. The brutal act was falsely justified as a legitimate act to put down a rebellion. Army generals Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo usurped power. On the 38th anniversary, Hankook Ilbo released unpublished photos by four of its journalists Kim Hae-woon, Han Ryung, Park Tae-hong and Kim Yong-il who were on the scene during the tragic period. "Even if I had a camera, I could not take a picture," Park Tae-hong, 75, was quoted as saying. "I was busy hiding my body from flying bullets. I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the tragedy and couldn't lift the camera at a morgue." They took some 2,000 pictures but only a few were published then. Here are some of those newly released. Washington, May 18 (PTI) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a first telephonic conversation with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reinforced the commitment of US investment in Afghanistan, the state department has said. This was Pompeo's first call with Ghani after he became the Secretary of State last month, replacing Rex Tillerson. "Secretary Pompeo reinforced our enduring investment in Afghanistan, as outlined in the President's South Asia strategy, and expressed support for the Afghan military's defence of the city of Farah," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. During the call, he also commended Ghani for his commitment to building a secure and prosperous future for his country and noted the government's efforts to reform their institutions to ensure the upcoming elections are transparent, credible and carried out on time. "The two discussed the strong partnership between the United States and Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism and our support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process," Nauert added. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today assured help to Indians stranded at the Bishkek airport in Kyrgyzstan after their flight was cancelled. A man named Ajay Gupta said on Twitter that he along with 50 others was on group tour in Bishkek and while departing from the airport, their flight was cancelled allegedly without any prior intimation. "And now they are not cooperating with us at all. Need your help asap," he said, requesting Swaraj's intervention. Taking note, Swaraj asked the India Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan to send embassy officials to the Bishkek airport to help the stranded Indians. Meanwhile, the minister also assured all assistance to the family of an Indian who had died in Ethiopia. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kolkata, May 17: The results of West Bengal panchayat polls 2018 will be declared by the State Election Commission (SEC) today. The counting of votes were scheduled to begin at 7 am. Stay tuned here for the live updates on trends and winners emerging from the 622 seats of 17 zilla parishads, 6,157 seats in 341 panchayat samiti seats, besides 31,827 seats in 3,385 gram panchayats. Elections to the rural bodies were conducted by the SEC on Monday. The polling was marred with violence as 14 deaths were reported. The Opposition decried the SEC and state police, accusing it of being hand-in-glove with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Ahead of the elections, the Opposition - comprising of the BJP, Congress and CPM-led Left Front - petitioned before the Supreme Court, followed by the Calcutta High Court, seeking deferment of the polls. The petitioners alleged the ruling party workers used mass-scale violence and intimidatory tactics to prevent their candidates from filing the nominations. To support their argument, they cited the victory of TMC in 34 per cent of the seats -- 203 of the 825 zilla parishads, 16,814 gram panchayat seats and 3,059 panchayat samiti seats -- without a contest. The courts, while restraining the SEC from declaring the results from those seats where no elections could be held due to no Opposition candidate, denied the appeal to countermand the polls throughout the state. Results of West Bengal Panchayat Elections of 2008 & 2013 2008 2013 PRI body Total Left Front Congress TMC Total Left Front Congress TMC Gram Panchayats 41504 21780 (52.47) 6839 (16.47) 9379 (22.59) 48800 15614 (31.99) 5495 (11.26) 25175 (51.58) Panchayat Samiti 8800 4894 (55.61) 1446 (16.43) 2019 (22.94) 9240 2829 (30.61) 918 (9.93) 5306 (57.42) Zilla Parishad 749 514 (68.62) 99 (13.21) 120 (16.02) 825 213 (25.81) 77 (9.33) 531 (64.36) Source: West Bengal State Election Commission, newspapers Pollsters claim that although the trail of violence involved in Bengal rural polls is not a new phenomenon, the "muscle power" used in this round of elections has escalated to unprecedented levels. While the TMC is expected to overwhelmingly emerge victorious in the rural elections, the results remain intriguing to see what remains left of the Left Front, along with the much-touted inroads made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state. Lucknow, May 17: Samples of iron beams, cement, concrete and other construction material used in a Varanasi flyover, a portion of which collapsed on Tuesday killing many, have been sent for "quality and standards test" to IIT-Roorkee in Uttarakhand, an official said on Thursday. Meanwhile, a three-member team set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the falling of two beams of the under-construction flyover continued with its investigations for the second consecutive day on Thursday. The disaster on Tuesday evening killed 15 persons, injured half a dozen and flattened many two and four-wheeler vehicles. The team led by Agriculture Production Commissioner Raj Pratap Singh also visited the site in front of the Cantt railway station, recorded the statements of witnesses and held detailed deliberations with officials of the Uttar Pradesh Bridge Corp and district administration other than getting it photographed by a drone. The team which has been mandated to look into all aspects of the tragedy has also recorded statements of suspended officials K.R. Soodan, Rajesh Kumar and Moolchand. It also spoke to Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agarwal, District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra and some police officials and took details of the project. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2018 03:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Tel Aviv, May 17: Guatemala opened its new embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday. The Central-American nation becomes the second country to do so after the United States. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales opened the embassy just two days after the US inaugurated its new site in the disputed city. The transfer of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by the US invited a lot of criticism from Palestine and the international community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted Guatemalas move. At the ceremony, he said, "You were always among the first, "Netanyahu further added, "We remember our friends and Guatemala is our friend, then and now." In December The US announced to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, but it is not recognised by international community. The Palestinians always want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The embassy move aggravated the conflict between Palestinians and Israel. The Palestinians in the weekly protests in Gaza demands the right of return to Israel and the lifting of a decade-old naval blockade. The Israeli forces killed nearly 60 Palestinians in the clashes along the border this Monday. The Gaza protesters hurled firebombs and stones towards Israeli troops across the border. Israel, however, accused Hamas militants of carrying out bombing and shooting attacks under the cover of the protests. It was considered as the bloodiest day of cross-border firing since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. Israel was criticised internationally for killing unarmed Palestinians. Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador. Consul general and several European countries summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their foreign ministries. These countries also demanded an international investigation. Meanwhile, Paraguay has also announced relocating its embassy to Jerusalem, whereas Romania, the Czech Republic and Honduras are considering doing the same. In the ceremony which was held on Wednesday, Morales said that Guatemala was bringing a message of "love, peace and fraternity" to Israel. Recently a law was passed by the Guatemalan Congress marking May 14 as "Israel-Guatemala Friendship Day." (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2018 01:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). May 18, 2018, 9:52am ET Boring Co promises $1 pod rides in LA tunnel The company has repurposed a Model 3 motor and battery to drive a locomotive. The Boring Company has outlined more details of its proposed tunnel system beneath the streets of Los Angeles. The startup's central aim is to slash the costs and speed of boring beneath the ground, creating a network of relatively small diameter tunnels that host transportation 'pods.' Passenger pods with room for 16 riders will coexist among sleds that ferry privately owned vehicles through the same space, though the pedestrian/cyclist pods will be given top priority. The cost of riding in Boring Co's pods has been set at just $1, highlighting the clear competition with traditional mass transit such as bus and subway. During the testing phase, citizens will be able to take a demonstration ride for free. Boring Co has talked about two different types of tunnels, one at atmospheric pressure and another 'hyperloop' with vacuum tubes. The company has clarified that its Los Angeles project will start with the former, enabling speeds of up to 150 mph for an eight-minute cruise between downtown and LAX. Elon Musk and Boring Co's Steve Davis suggest the system would have hundreds of connection points, routing passengers directly to certain blocks or a specific airport terminal. In the extreme, the executives say an access elevator could be put in every driveway. Hyperloop tubes will be geared for long-distance travel, launching at 700 mph for a 30-minute haul from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Passengers would be carried in 16-seat pods, like the urban system but pressurized within the cabin. Engineers have already built an all-electric locomotive, repurposing a Model 3 motor and battery system to remove muck from the tunnels while the boring machine carves through rock and soil. The electric muck hauler is said to be capable of removing a quarter-million pounds of material per load. Perhaps taking a lesson from Tesla's struggles with sensational media coverage, Boring Co appears to be more aggressive in reaching out to the public in a call to arms against "soul-destroying traffic." The strategy may serve a dual purpose in discouraging resistance from elected officials involved in the permitting process, some of whom have already laughed off the idea as a pipe dream. The presentation was very specific in its "being a good neighbor" pledge, promising to avoid tunneling beneath homes or businesses. Nothing will be audible or felt from the surface and trucks hauling spoils will be restricted overnight and during traffic rush hours. A Polish national who stole a Laois youths phone in what was described by Judge Keenan Johnson as an inter-gang altercation has had community service imposed after appealing a prison sentence. Before the recent circuit court was Lukasz Puk (35), previously of Roundwood Close, Maryborough Village, Mountrath Road, Portlaoise, but now residing in Limerick. He was appealing a six-month prison sentence imposed on him in the district court, for an offence committed on November 20, 2017. At the appeal, State solicitor, Mr Donal Dunne gave evidence that on November 20, 2017, two men followed a group of youths and when the injured party, a 15-year-old male, was attempting to flee he slipped off a wall. The two men assailed him, with one man kicking and punching him while the appellant, Lukasz Puk, demanded the youths phone before leaving the scene. When arrested, he admitted his part in the incident up to a point, said Mr Dunne, with the other man who was not apprehended doing a greater part in the offence. The phone was returned undamaged to the injured party. The appellant had no previous convictions. Defence, barrister Ms Louise Troy said that her client, a Polish national, was not the main instigator in the incident and didnt inflict any violence. She said he took the phone but intended to give it back, after provocation from the youths. Ms Troy suggested that perhaps there had been a racial element to the incident. Mr Dunne confirmed that the two parties were semi-known to each other. Ms Troy went on to say that a probation report placed the appellant at a very low risk of reoffending and he was quite remorseful. He has no supports in Ireland and is single with no children. Judge Keenan Johnson described the incident as an inter-gang altercation. He said he could see why the district court judge had imposed a jail sentence, but ruled that restorative justice was the way to go. The matter was adjourned to June 27 for the appellant to be assessed for community service, with the judge recommending 200 hours community service in lieu of six months in jail. When the case first came before Portlaoise District Court last December, Judge Catherine Staines said it was an extremely serious offence that merited a prison sentence. However, she said she had to know how the incident had affected the injured party and directed a victim impact statement be compiled. She also requested a probation order on the accused. When the case returned to the district court in March of this year, the injured partys father was in court with a victim impact statement. Judge Staines read out the statement, in which the man said that the beating his son received was a shock to the victim and his family. It was exceedingly violent and without regard for his life, he said. The youths father said the boy found it very difficult to go back to school, and for the parents the incident had been a nightmare come true. I cant imagine any justification for an attack of this nature, he said. Defence, solicitor Mr Declan Breen said the accused took the phone to teach the youth a lesson and return it later. Mr Breen said that his client did not have compensation as he has no work and his social welfare was cut. He was asking for time to pay, said defence. However, Judge Staines described it as a violent attack on a child, which had a devastating effect on the young man. Judge Staines noted that a probation report indicated that the accused had little insight into the seriousness of attacking a child and said she had to impose a sentence. The judge imposed six months in prison and directed that 2,000 from the court poor box go to the injured party for whatever counselling he might need. Recognisance was fixed in the district court for Puk to appeal the sentence. A Portlaoise man who claimed dropping his trousers and flashing the gardai was just a bit of tomfoolery has been directed to make a donation to the Garda Benevolent Fund. At last week's district court, Justin Greene (26), OMoore Place, Portlaoise, was charged with being intoxicated, at OMoore Place, on September 27, 2017. Garda Kennedy gave evidence that the gardai were in the estate at 8.10pm when the accused pulled down his trousers and flashed the gardai. He was highly intoxicated and there was a strong smell of alcohol from him, said Garda Kennedy. He was arrested and a fixed penalty notice was issued, but it was not paid. Judge Catherine Staines said if the accused had been charged with a section 6 public order offence he would be going to prison, as this was disgraceful behaviour. The accused told the court he was sorry. Defence, Ms Josephine Fitzpatrick said the accused had been intoxicated and was indulging in tomfoolery with his peers, when he foolishly did this as a part of that tomfoolery. Defence said the accused was not normally involved in this sort of behaviour and he should have paid the ticket, but forgot to. He spent a short time in the garda station and came to his senses, said Ms Fitzpatrick. Said Judge Staines: The gardai have a very difficult job and they demand our respect, this isnt tomfoolery. The judge said she appreciated the accused was on a low income, but she wanted him to donate 100 to the Garda Benevolent Fund. The matter was adjourned to July 12. Two young Laois ladies made it to the final of the Foroige Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2018. MaryAnn Harty and Wynetta Cawley from Mountmellick made it to the finals of the Foroige Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2018 this week, with their creative business Funkee Tees. The Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2018 were held Tuesday, May 15, hosted by Foroige, the leading youth development organisation in Ireland, in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin. MaryAnn and Wynettas company Funkee Tees sells baby clothes. They provide customised baby grows consisting of three colours, white, blue & pink in sizes 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 and 18-24 months. Both girls are 19 and attend Mountmellick Youthreach. They reached the finals after competing against 1200 other young entrepreneurs throughout Ireland in county and regional finals. Rachel McPartlin, age 16 from Leitrim with the business Rachels Heavenly Homemades was named Youth Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 for her company which produces gluten free goods. Sean Campbell is the CEO of Foroige. The Foroige NFTE Entrepreneurship Programme has multiple positive impacts on the young people who take part in it. "Career aspirations increase, interest in attending college increases, business knowledge increases, leadership behaviour increases, and a belief that attaining goals is within their control significantly increases. Empowering young people is what Foroige does, and we are more than proud of everything the young people here today have achieved," he said. The companies in the final represented Leitrim, Donegal, Sligo, Laois, Offaly, Dublin, Cork, Tipperary, Waterford and Westmeath. Foroige is the leading youth organisation in Ireland. It works with over 50,000 young people and 5,500 adult volunteers annually, through a network of more than 650 youth clubs & cafes, 160 targeted projects and national programmes such as Entrepreneurship (NFTE), Health & Wellbeing, Citizenship and Entrepreneurship. An urgent rethink of rural CCTV schemes is needed as funds are going unused according to the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association. ICSA rural development chairman Seamus Sherlock has said its time for Minister Flanagan and the Department of Justice to consider amendments to the scheme introduced to help local communities install CCTV systems as a crime prevention measure. Funding was allocated but the take up has been miniscule. We cannot allow the funding to go unused because of an overly arduous application process, he said. Recent figures released by the Department of Justice indicate that only 4% of the 3m CCTV funding available has been spent. "Reaching the halfway point in the scheme and with only 120,000 spent indicates a problem somewhere. An urgent review needs to be carried out at this stage to see how local communities can be further assisted with utilising the scheme. "Of particular importance is clarification as to whether the Gardai or local authorities are responsible managing the footage collected," he said. Mr Sherlock was speaking at a ceremony In Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) to mark the official handing over of the Agricultural Crime in Ireland reports to the Luke Wadding library. The reports were compiled by Dr Kathleen Moore Walsh, a lecturer in Law and Criminology and Louise Walsh, a lecturer in Accounting and Finance, following the ICSA/WIT Agricultural Crime Survey. The study examined crimes that occur solely on farms or relating to farming activities. The significant findings of each of the three reports are as follows: Report 1 provided data on the incidence of agricultural crime in Ireland and found that two thirds of farmers have experienced crime relating to their farming enterprise. Report 2 provided data on financial costs experienced by farmers arising from agricultural crime and indicated an average cost of 4,328 per respondent with experience of an incident(s) of agricultural crime. The report also found that many farmers were reluctant to report thefts due to the risk of rising insurance premiums. It found that on average farmers were willing to take a financial hit of 1,771.00 rather than report the incident. Report 3 provided data on agricultural crime reporting to Gardai and indicated that 45% of such crimes go unreported. The nature and scale of agriculture specific crime has been well and truly established with this survey and subsequent reports. Rural people want more resources in community policing, stiffer sentences for repeat offenders and closer consultation between rural stakeholders, local authorities and An Garda Siochana," Mr Sherlock added. Community CCTV projects in Laois in limbo over data protection. Third lucky Laois winner this year scoops 50,000 with Prize Bonds. The response to fire and other life threatening emergencies in Laois has been boosted with the official commissioning of a new 350,000 fire tender. Noel Howard, Managing Director or the Tullow-based High Precision Motor Products Fire, was in Portlaoise today, Friday, May 18, to officially hand over the keys to the new LS11A1 tender to members of the Laois County Fire and Rescue Service. The new vehicle will be based at Portlaoise Fire Station but has been readied and put through its paces over the past two weeks. It was already deployed on a trial runs attending a road traffic accident. It is six years since a new tender went into operation in Laois. Declan Power, Chief Fire Officer, welcomed the vehicle to the service and said it would be put to good use. "It is absolutely needed. We have two motorways and the N80 and N77 which means we have a significant volume of traffic flowing through the county," he said. Mr Power said a Portlaoise tender will now transfer to Rathdowney. He said the new vehicle has been fully funded by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. The vehicle officialy goes into operation on the day of its handover and should be a welcome addition who put their lives on the line every day. Some 15 million in funding will be available for rural towns and villages across Ireland through the 2018 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. Last year funding of 416,000 in town and village renewal was granted for five towns and villages in Kildare. Over the next 15 months, up to 200 towns and villages throughout the country- including Kildare - will benefit from funding under the scheme, which will be made available through Local Authorities to support rural regeneration. The scheme is specifically targeted at rural towns and villages with populations of less than 10,000. Kildare South TD Martin Heydon is urging Kildare communities to apply. This funding will benefit up to 200 towns and villages right across Ireland including here in Kildare, he said. Towns and villages in Kildare have benefitted from significant grants through the Renewal Scheme in the past. The Ballymore Eustace proposal prepared by the towns active Community Development Association was to fund a 5km looped walking trail at Golden Falls to make greater use of the wonderful amenities and natural beauty in that area. Narraghmore Development Association to redevelop the former hardware store in the village to create a space for use by the community as a form of country market and community shop with space for other uses such as a mens shed and theatre. Monasterevin Community Centre Ltd to refurbish the community centre (CYMS HALL) to provide additional accommodation to serve as a multi-purpose facility to accommodate digital/ business hub/ meeting rooms, training, back stage facility and a visitors centre. This is part 1 of a 4 part project which will add value and accelerate the growth of all types of business in the town of Monasterevin. The Athy funding was to go towards a CCTV scheme managed by Athy Enterprise Centre to enhance safety in the town. The towns and villages of rural Ireland are the heart and soul of our rural communities and it is crucial that we revitalise these areas. This is a great opportunity for other Towns and Villages to get their own proposals progressed and funded. An American campaigner has come to Kildare to complete part of her worldwide walk to raise awareness about the lack of clean drinking water for 1 billion people in the world. Anna Harrington from Idaho is being championed by a group of Newbridge people who have rallied to her cause. Newbridge resident, Susan Rusk has helped Anna with the Kildare leg of her journey along with Maureen O'Connell and Noel Heavey. "Ireland has signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals and the number six goal of that is: access to safe water and sanitation and sound management of freshwater ecosystems are essential to human health and to environmental sustainability and economic prosperity," said Susan. She explained that this has to be achieved by 2030. She said Anna was impressed with the Irish Aid organisations contribution in relation to the water crisis in third world countries, in particular Trocaire. However, Susan said it was important to continue that work and make Irish people more aware of the problem. Anna want's to get the message out there about the importance of water conservation and providing access to clean drinking water. She was due to set out on foot from Newbridge library towards Kilcullen, where later today she was due to talk to students from Scoil Bhride and the Cross and Passion secondary school about the water crisis. This was to be followed by a question and answer session. Anna has been overwhelmed by the warm welcome she has received here and was joined by a number of people on her journey this morning. Once she leaves Ireland, her next leg will be in Spain. SEE ALSO: Newbridge solicitor, Helen Coughlan is new president of Kildare Solicitors Bar Association Check out Anna's website by clicking here. A call has gone out for John Pauls for a new RTE One documentary about people named after the pope who visited Ireland in 1979. With Pope Francis set to make a visit to a 21st century Ireland in August 2018, this documentary profiles the generation of men who were named after the momentous visit of John Paul II in 1979. One in 10 baby boys born in 1980 were named John Paul after the pontiffs historic visit, which saw a quarter of the Irish population congregate at the Phoenix Park for his opening Mass. The producers of a new RTE One documentary want to hear from people who were named after the 1979 papal visit. What has your name meant to you? Which events have marked the watershed moments in your life? Is Pope Francis visit a date in your diary or of no interest? Now aged 38, where are the John Pauls and what can their lives tell us about Irish society now, what we value and where we are heading? The John Pauls were 10 years old for Italia 90, 28 when the economy collapsed, 35 when the marriage equality referendum was passed. Theyve been 80s kids, Celtic Cubs, Generation X and now the Squeezed Middle: their life stories mark four decades of change and insights into the countrys future. If youre a JP or you know a JP, contact producer Maya Derrington of Animo TV on maya@animotv.ie. WATCH: Former Kildare footballer Dermot Earley launches June Fest in Newbridge Date: Friday 18 May 2018 Intel Ireland has declined to comment on a comment that the expansion of Intel in Israel will be bad news for Ireland and the USA. On the Fudzilla website this week, it was reported that Israeli Economy Minister Eli Cohen said last Tuesday he was told by Intel Corp that the companys board has approved a plan to expand its operations in Israel. The site said: This will be bad news for those in the US and Ireland who had been wooing Intel with sweeteners and tax benefits if it set up shop there. It would appear that Intel, which already has a sizable base in Kiryat Gat, would expand it. Fudzilla said could not get an immediate comment from Intel but added that the Minister had said in February that Intel planned to invest $5 billion in expanding production at its Kiryat Gat plant in southern Israel. At the time he said that Intel would start expanding the plant this year and planned to complete the work in 2020. Intel has said it has plans to upgrade the Israel facility to 10-nanometer technology from 22-nanometer. Asked by the Leader to comment on the article, Hugh Hardiman, Director of Public Affairs, Intel Ireland, told the Leader: We have no comment in relation to this article. Intel is a big employers and exporters in Israel. Meanwhile, the Irish Independent reported that Israel's Finance Ministry said the company would invest about 4.3bn in the factory between 2018-2020 and had agreed to spend 710m on local suppliers. As a result, Intel would continue its reduced tax rate of 5% until 2027. The Israel Finance Ministry was reported as saying that it was also considering giving Intel a 165m grant, with a second grant of the same size to come with future investments. Intel is reported as saying that it exported 3bn of goods and services from Israel in 2017, about 8pc of Israels total hi-tech exports. HUNDREDS of people are facing the prospect of being arrested by gardai after they failed to appear in court in Limerick over the non-payment of court fines. The issue has come to light in recent weeks at court sittings in Limerick city, Newcastle West and Kilmallock during which dozens of bench warrants were issued. During one court sitting in the city more than 100 bench warrants were issued while at a sitting in Newcastle West Court earlier this month more than 60 warrants were issued On each court date, dozens of people had been summoned to appear under the provisions of the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014. That legislation was introduced to improve the collection rate of court fines and reduce the number of people who were going to prison for the non-payment of court fines. While the law took effect in January 2016, it is understood the Courts Service of Ireland only issued the first summons, relating to cases in Limerick, late last year. Each summons, which relates to the non-payment of fines imposed in 2016, required the recipient to appear before a specific court on a specific date. In the case of those who do appear, the presiding judge has a number of options open to them including the imposition of a prison sentence. Those who dont pay the fine also face the possibility of having to carry out community service while an attachment order may be imposed against any income they have other than social welfare. A Spokesperson for the Courts Service confirmed that once the bench warrants have been processed and printed, they will be forwarded to the relevant garda station for execution. Several garda and legal sources have claimed there could be chaos in local courts once the warrants are received by gardai and put on Pulse. Gardai are legally obliged to execute bench warrants soon as possible by bringing the individual before a court. You could have a situation of 20 or 30 people being arrested and brought to court on any one day, who knows what will happen, said one source. A legal source has also claimed that the non standard appearance of the summons has contributed to the low rate of attendance in court. They look different to the usual summons people receive, they are not very clear at all, stated the solicitor. WHEN a group of locals in Birdhill started a Tidy Towns committee over a quarter of a century ago they never thought the President of Ireland would come to see their endeavours. But that is what is happening this Saturday when President Michael D Higgins sweeps in and the place will be spotless. The village is immaculate 365 days a year but there wont be a hair out of place on Saturday. President Higgins was due to arrive at 12.30pm in recognition of Birdhill being named the overall winner in the National Tidy Towns competition 2017. He will now come at 3pm due to a funeral in Dublin. He will address what is expected to be a large gathering, in the local park. A plaque commemorating the community's success in such a prestigious and competitive annual contest will be unveiled. Chairperson of Birdhill Tidy Towns, Denis Floyd, with a touch of understatement said: Weve been fairly busy alright to get things in place. Hopefully we will get a fine day. People are great, there has been a lot of work done in the last couple of weeks. There has been no shortage of help thankfully. "There has been over 40 helping out at different times and on the day there will be 40 to 50 between stewarding and everything, said Denis. The chairperson said it is a huge honour for the Irish President to visit their village. There is great excitement. It is great for a small place. There is a real buzz. Everyone is looking forward to the occasion. Hopefully it will be a fine day and go off well, said Denis. As well as hearing President Higgins address, attendees will be able to enjoy a showcase of local talent, crafts and produce. For those wishing to learn from the best and improve their Tidy Towns score in 2018 there will be guided tours. Refreshments will also be provided. On Saturday night at 8pm, an evening of song and music will take place in the marquee which will help everyone to relax and unwind after a hectic few weeks, said Denis. Traffic restrictions will be in place during the visit but ample parking facilities will be available and Denis promises a cead mile failte to one and all. A LOCAL historian has criticised Limerick Against Pollution (LAP), saying they should not have marched on the Peoples Park. But Dr Tadhg Moloney, from Gouldavoher, has been accused of small minded pettiness by another doctor, Angus Mitchell, LAP, after he claimed the anti-incineration group should not have assembled in the citys main public park. He referred to a 500-year lease signed in August 1877, which stipulated the trustees of the Peoples Park should not permit or suffer [any] religious or political assemblage in the said premises. Nor, it adds, shall they suffer or allow any noisy or boisterous games to be played, nor any procession to be held in the Peoples Park. Dr Moloney suggested it might have been more appropriate for any gathering to take place at Pery Square, or on the plaza at Limerick Colbert station. When he raised his concern with a LAP member, he alleged he was labelled a killjoy. It was a political assembly. Some might say it wasnt. But there were politicians there. The mayor, a Fianna Fail councillor, was there with chains on, he said. But Dr Mitchell hit back, saying: This is a very important issue and for Tadhg Moloney to start reducing it to a level of pettiness is quite offensive. We put a lot of work into this, we had permission from the gardai. It wasnt a political assembly, it was a civic assembly. We are the people of Limerick, and we went to the Peoples Park. INFORMATION is being sought by gardai following the theft of a quantity of electrical cable from a building site on the outskirts of Limerick city. The cable, which has copper in it, was taken from a site on the Old Cork Road over the weekend. Gardai are also investigating the theft of a three generators from a construction site near Caherconlish. The generators, which belong to a drilling company, are red in colour and a Mosa make. If any of this property is offered for sale, please contact your nearest garda station, said a spokesperson. Meanwhile, homeowners in Limerick are being urged to secure their patio doors following a number of recent burglaries. Anybody who has a sliding patio door should check to see if it has a second locking device. If it doesnt a lock can be bought which is locked down into where the door slides on and it makes it impossible to lift out the patio door, said crime prevention officer, Sergeant Ber Leetch. SOME weeks ago, I wrote about the Johnsgate area of the city. Sitting in the shadow of the historic walls of Limerick, Johnsgate Village was built just over 20 years ago. What should have been a pleasant inner city residential development has been allowed to descend into near chaos in the short period of its lifetime. Since writing the column I have been contacted by five separate individuals, all of whom are residents of Johnsgate. They tell the same story. Their testimony is shocking, particularly at a time when the Limerick narrative is one focused on liveability, investability and a welcome phoenix-like economic resurgence. One individual, who doesnt wish to be named here, invested in Johnsgate Village 15 years ago. For a time this person lived happily in the area. One minutes walk from the Milk Market, the resident was living a content urban life. Then things changed. It didnt take long for the resident to move out of the city due to ongoing anti-social behaviour. The property was retained as a rental property. In the past month the tenants fled as result of what is described as intimidation. Windows of the property were then broken at night. Today, a perfectly fine residential home sits boarded up and unrentable in the heart of our city centre. On Saturday last I was contacted by another Johnsgate resident who, once again, does not wish to be named. This individual story deserves to be shared. I am a resident of Johnsgate and bought my property after I made a decision to move to Limerick a number of years ago, I was told. Unfortunately, I didnt investigate the area properly before purchasing. At the time, it didnt seem to be as bad. I failed to walk through the area thoroughly. Since then, numerous houses in the development have been boarded up. According to this individual, residents of Johnsgate Village are under siege. It is almost an daily occurrence to hear the sounds of windows smashing, or some other form of vandalism. I regularly chase children away from the house as rocks are thrown at my windows, the resident said. As the nice weather arrives, kids are running around the estate more than ever. I can't leave the house, for fear of what might happen. I feel trapped in the house. Despite writing to various politicians since 2016, this Johnsgate resident feels the problem has steadily worsened. The property is in good condition, but it is probably worth nothing, considering the problems that I am currently seeing in the area. Im having panic attacks for the first time in my life. My business is failing. I work from home and I cant get my head into the space it needs to be. I feel both my mental and physical health is affected. I am not the only one. Many of my neighbours can tell you similar stories. All of us are living in a state of fear. The biggest issue that these residents are facing is the fact that they feel completely alone. Residents believe both Limerick City and County Council and An Garda Siochana have their head in the sand when it comes to solving the Johnsgate situation. According to this individual, more and more residents are just giving up and moving out. Once a house is vacated, it is destroyed to ensure no other resident will move in. There is a campaign of fear and intimidation happening, and it is working. If something isnt done immediately, this area will become a ghost town in the middle of the city, the resident said. My estate is bordered by a historic landmark, which is systematically being pulled down brick by brick. This should be a place for both tourists and people of Limerick to come experience and appreciate part of their historical culture. Instead it is a no-go area for most. The resident finished their correspondence with this: I write to you in the hope that you can help raise more awareness about the seriousness of the situation. Thank you for at least taking an interest in the area. For the most part the residents here feel forgotten or ignored, they added. As a columnist with The Leader I find it a great privilege to be in a position to highlight issues such as the Johnsgate story. I have no power to deliver the changes needed, however. The residents of Johnsgate I have spoken to in recent weeks are those who have already invested in our city in good faith. They are the ones who have bought into the liveability of their city. They are decent, honest people who have had their dreams destroyed by a small few. Those in positions of power in our city need to take note of what is happening in Johnsgate. It is your duty to ensure those taxpayers do not feel forgotten or ignored but instead as valued citizens of the city of which we are all so proud. AS the institutions of the State continue to pass the buck for the cervical smear scandal, Dara Waldron reflects on the day he spent in the High Court with Jim Phelan, when the Vicky Phelan case was settled - a day when the word accountability rang loudly in the halls of justice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I never thought Id sit through one of the biggest cases in Irish history. Jim Phelan rang me on a Saturday to ask me if Id accompany him to the High Court that Tuesday. It would be just the two of us, as he didnt want his family there when he would give personal testimony. It was the day he would take the stand. He was nervous of what would come up. Vicky would be on standby at home. I was somewhat taken aback by the phone call. I thought why me? What would I be able to contribute to help? I suppose Id keep him relaxed, so that when he had to he could speak candidly. I got my bearings, mentioned Jims call to Ylva, my wife, and once things were in place, sent a text to confirm Id attend. I felt good to be asked. After texting Jim, Vicky messaged straightaway to say thanks. She wrote that Jim was extremely nervous about taking the stand, uptight about having to talk about the impact her cancer had on him. A lot of personal stuff would be brought out into the open. I thought about this and planned to just keep everything relaxed on the day. Ive been friends with Jim and Vicky a long time. We were neighbours for ten years. I remember when Vicky told me she had cancer in 2014. I remember the best side out mentality she pretty much patented at the time. I needed to take a similar approach. We both thought the day we travelled to the High Court was one of many, but it turned out the day the case ended. Jim was supposed to give evidence before a specialist doctor from the UK, who would report on medical matters. But there was a long delay when we arrived, and when the doctor, Professor John Shepherd, came from London, it was decided he would give evidence before Jim (he had to get back to London that evening). I thought wed have to sit through a long analysis before Jim could do his stuff. I was nervous about Jim taking the stand. I would feel partly responsible if things went wrong. When the Professor began testifying we thought of going for coffee; to make sure hearing the cold hard facts of Vickys diagnosis didnt upset Jim. But we stayed to listen simply because we didnt want to get followed by reporters outside. Soon the testimony had us transfixed. The Professor kept returning to the patients right to know; kept focusing on open disclosure as a fundamental right. As the barrister led him through, he kept repeating that Vicky had a right to know. I thought I knew what Vicky had been through since 2014 but there were times the testimony regarding Vickys medical history had me holding back tears. I could feel myself getting angry. However, my anger was part of the shock and sadness you could feel permeating the court. I remember two words specifically in this regard: ducking and diving. Professor Shepherd used these to describe the dilly-dallying in the HSE. There was ducking and diving across the board; professionals shirking their responsibility. You could feel the tension in the courtroom, not least for Jim who was yet to testify. He was still waiting. I wondered if the doctors testimony brought back memories for Jim, made him angry too, because it brought back painful memories for me. I remembered Vicky answering my wifes call in late January to say she was down the country working on her case. This courageous mother, who had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, was seeking out legal help; intent on bringing those who ducked and dived to account. Now I was with her husband in the High Court, both of us a cog in the justice wheel. How had our simple life come to this? When Professor Shepherd spoke about offering legal representation to patients regarding similar cases in England and Wales I thought of Vicky travelling the country pleading her case, with terminal cancer, in the dark of January. I expected to wake up at any moment from this nightmare; told it was all a dream. None of it was real. But it was real, very real. The Professor finished and Vickys barrister requested that the court continue to hear Jims testimony, given he had travelled for the day. The judge agreed, convened, and said wed meet again in ten minutes. Then everything turned. No sooner had the solicitors suggested waiting until the next day then I was asked to wait while Jim chatted with the legal team. I hung around for twenty minutes and then gestured to Jim that Id head out the back towards Smithfield, make my way to a pub to watch some of the racing. I didnt feel like having a pint, even though it seemed the right thing to do. Then Jim rang to say the case had been settled for two and a half million euros, with no confidentiality clause, and that hed make his way to meet me. I walked down towards the tram and saw him walk toward me in the distance. We walked along the canal in a daze. Neither of us spoke much. I suspected we were thinking the same thing; that the kids were financially looked after. It was important. But it wasnt enough. How could you put a value on Vickys life, on a mothers life? We went to a hotel to await our train and I tried to buy Jim a pint to mark the case ending, but he said I shouldnt have to put my hand in my pocket. And so we spoke about how great it was he didnt have to give evidence. He didnt have to dwell on whether he did a good job on the stand. We both knew the road that lay ahead. We didnt need to talk about it. The day was a fence jumped in what would be a long race. When we returned to Limerick I chatted briefly with Vicky. I told her about the doctors testimony, how much she would have enjoyed it. Leaving court, I felt honoured to have been a witness to the Professors testimony. In a country where holding power to account can often seem an impossible task, moral courage had won the day. For this reason, I was buoyant hopping into the car, but when I stopped briefly at traffic lights, tears began rolling down my face. All the repressed emotion from earlier began to resurface. I suddenly became overwhelmed with sadness, as I recalled one particular detail from the day. I remembered the moment when Prof. Shepherd turned to Jim as we left the court and said Ill do whatever I can for Vicky. It was a genuine moment of real compassion when the world itself seemed so shorn of compassion. LIMERICKs night skies could be lit up with an exciting festival of light this Halloween Bank Holiday. October may be five months away, but members of the councils cultural committee have this week heard a plan by arts group Lumen to create the citys newest Bank Holiday event. The street theatre firm set up in 2016 are planning a lantern-lit parade through Limericks medieval quarter, historical walks and talks, and notably a twilight swim on the River Shannon on the weekend of October 27 to 29. The proposal will go before a funding committee, and will be decided upon later this year but Lumen has already been given money for a feasibility study from the council, the results of which were presented this week. Artistic director Martin Shannon said: This festival will be a bespoke celebration, the people of Limerick and visitors to the city will gather in a procession of light and dramatically light up the river as the lanterns float away honouring the spirits of those who have passed. It will illuminate the October Bank Holiday weekend and commemorate Irish folklore and traditions at their very best. Its hoped the group will link with the St Marys community. The festival would cost in the region of 40,000, but Lumen hope it becomes sustainable over the course of five years, as well as providing a 250,000 economic boost. There was a warm welcome for the plans from members, with Cllr James Collins saying: It will literally light the city alight. What we are proposing now is to have a family friendly Halloween parade of light, a procession of fire lanterns along Nicholas Street culminating in the launch of the biodegradable fire lanterns along Nicholas Street.. Family events would finish no later than 8pm each night. THE FAMILY of murdered Limerick man Jason Corbett is due to appear on RTEs The Late Late Show this Friday night. Jason's death at the hands of his second wife Molly Martens and her father Thomas Martens shocked both Ireland and the US. In their first major Irish television interview since the murder trial Tracey Corbett-Lynch, along with siblings Wayne Corbett and Marilyn Corbett, will join Ryan Tubridy this evening to discuss the events that lead to Jasons death and the trauma of the subsequent trial for his family. A new book written by Ms Corbett Lynch and Irish Independent journalist Ralph Riegel is set to tell the story of the life and death of the father-of-two from Janesboro who was savagely beaten to death in the bedroom of his home in August 2015. Molly Martens and her father Thomas, a retired FBI agent, are both currently serving life sentences of more than 20 years after they were found guilty of his murder at the home he shared with Martens in Wallburg, North Carolina. In My Brother Jason: The Untold Story of Jason Corbetts Life and Brutal Death, Ms Corbett Lynch will reveal for the first time the full and shocking story of what Molly and Tom Martens tried to get away with. First letter from Canada franked with a stamp in Easterns June 8-9 auction May 18, 2018, 7 AM An 1840 folded letter sheet franked with Great Britains Penny Black is described as the first letter originating from Canada bearing a postage stamp. It is offered by Eastern Auctions in its June 8-9 sale. The intaglio printing normally found on Canadas 2003 $5 Moose stamp which includes the moose is omitted from this corner margin example in the upcoming Eastern auction. By Michael Baadke The June 8-9 general sale from Eastern Auctions begins with a selection of worldwide material and continues with British North America, Canadas pence and cents issues, Canadian postal history from the pence era to the Admirals, plate varieties, registered mail, proofs, plate varieties and more, as well as large lots and collections. The sale will take place at the Lord Nelson Hotel and Suites, 1515 S. Park St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The auction lots can be found online here, or on Stamp Auction Network where bidding ends June 6. A spiralbound printed catalog is also available. Among the listings for Great Britain material is a folded letter sheet mailed Dec. 7, 1840, and carried by steamer. Eastern describes it as the first letter originating from Canada bearing a postage stamp. Fort Malden, Amherstburg Upper Canada December 8, 1840 is handwritten on the letter sheet, according to Eastern, and a Dec. 7 Amherstburg double-arc dispatch postmark is clearly struck at upper left on the front. Originally addressed to Dover, England, the cover shows multiple redirections. Mail forwarded to a new address after acceptance was liable to one penny British inland postage, in this case a clear margined example of the 1840 One penny black, Plate 8 [OF] was affixed and cancelled by a red Maltese Cross, according to the auction catalog description. The estimate for this postal history item is given as $25,000+ in Canadian dollars, equivalent in U.S. dollars to approximately $19,530 in mid-May. A handsome 1851 folded lette sheet in this sale, mailed from Montreal to Buffalo, N.Y., is franked with a horizontal strip of four of the 3d orange red Beaver stamp on laid paper (Canada Scott 1) and tied by concentric ring cancels. The classic British North America and early Canada stamp issues include a vertical mint strip of 10 of the 1857-58 3d red Beaver on medium wove paper (Scott 4). Though it has its faults, the stamp strip is described by Eastern as without question, the largest existing multiple of the three pence beaver. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter A selection of modern errors includes a lower left corner margin never-hinged mint single of the so-called Missing Moose error stamp, the 2003 $5 stamp with all intaglio printing omitted, including the central figure in the vignette, the engraved moose (Scott 1693a). The two-day auction in Halifax offers some 885 lots altogether. Additional information is available by contacting Eastern Auctions Ltd., Box 250, Bathurst, NB, E2A 3Z2, Canada. May 3, 2021, 8 PM Washington Postal Scene By Bill McAllister Paul Nestor Carlin, a career postal service worker who became the 66th postmaster general of the United States died April 25. He was 86. A resident of McLean, Va., Mr. Carlin died at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington where he was being treated for the lingering effects of pneumonia, according to his widow. Mr. Carlin was only the third career postal worker to preside over the U.S. Postal Service. His term lasted only a year, Jan. 1, 1985, to Jan. 7, 1986, but it was a tumultuous period in which a contracting scandal involving a member of the Postal Service Board of Governors left a cloud over the agency. That governor was sentenced to four years in prison for attempting to steer a contract for address-reading equipment to a Texas firm. Court records and federal prosecutors later said that firing Mr. Carlin was part of a corrupt scheme by members of the postal board. Mr. Carlin fought back, suing to reclaim his job. The federal courts, however, rejected his efforts, saying that they had no power to intervene over the board of governors power to name the nations top postal executive. If ever a case cried out for judicial review to protect individual rights, this is that case, Mr. Carlin said in his appeal to the Supreme Court. In his petition to the high court, he charged that his removal was fraudulently procured by a corrupt postal governor. While federal lawyers sought to dismiss his legal claim, they acknowledged Mr. Carlins firing was a regrettable event in the history of the Postal Service. Born Aug. 25, 1931, in San Diego, he had worked as a Washington, D.C., lobbyist before President Richard Nixon made him his liaison with Congress on postal issues. He later became a labor relations specialist at Postal Service headquarters and then a regional postmaster general based in Chicago. Mr. Carlin was in that position when the governors tapped him to succeeded William F. Bolger an appointment he almost missed because the Ronald Reagan administration wanted the job to go to Edward J. Rollins, who had directed Reagans presidential campaign. White House spokesman Larry Speakes acknowledged that the administration belatedly let the Postal Service know of its support for Rollins. When Mr. Carlin took control of the USPS, it was faced with running deficits and he ordered salary cuts for top executives. His own salary was cut to $82,300 a year from $86,200. He also canceled or delaying issuing several stamps, including a 14 holiday stamp and 18 Washington Monument stamp, according to an Associated Press report. His family-written obituary, published May 13 in the Washington Post, cited his 17 years with the Postal Service and instituting professional management practices and independent financial solvency for the organization. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter After Mr. Carlin left the government, he created two companies which brought hybrid mail innovations to large mailers. Mr. Carlin met his future wife, Sue, at the University of Wyoming, where he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science and was an All-American track star. In addition to Sue, his wife of 63 years, he is survived by four sons. An Army veteran who rose to major in the reserves, Mr. Carlin will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. May 18, 2018, 6 AM A new United States forever stamp will be issued June 9 to commemorate the Flag Act of 1818, which established the number of stars and stripes that will feature on the U.S. flag. The stamp will be issued in Appleton, Wis. By Michael Baadke A new United States forever stamp will be issued June 9 to celebrate an act of Congress from 200 years ago. The Flag Act of 1818 forever changed how Americans view the most familiar and beloved symbol of their country. Although the alternating red and white stripes and the white stars against a blue field had existed for decades, the Flag Act defined how the flag would look and established how it would evolve as the nation expanded. The nondenominated (50) stamp shows a graphic representation of the 20-star U.S. flag that developed from the 1818 act, which declared that the flag should have 13 horizontal stripes alternating red and white, and a union of 20 white stars on a field of blue. When the act was approved on April 4, 1818, there were 20 states in the Union: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana and Mississippi. The 20 stars on the flag then represented those 20 states, and the act declared that a new star would be added to the flag on the next July 4 after each new state was admitted. It didnt take long to begin planning for adjustments, because Illinois was admitted to the Union eight months later on Dec. 3, 1818. The new stamp will be issued in a pane of 20 on June 9 with an 11:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time first-day ceremony during the 68th Appleton Flag Day Parade at Houdini Plaza, 100 W. Lawrence St., in Appleton, Wis. For collectors wishing to attend the event, the Postal Service recommends registration to gain entrance. Pat Mendonca, the USPS senior director for the postmaster general, will represent the Postal Service at the first-day ceremony. The stamp design was created by Kit Hinrichs, a graphic designer and flag aficionado who previously designed the Flag forever definitive stamp issued in four varieties Feb. 9 (Scott 5260-5263). Hinrichs shows a flag with crisp folds and a layering effect that conveys a sense of the dynamism of the young nation, according to the Postal Service. Along with the 20-star flag illustration that dominates the center of the horizontal design, the commemorative stamp shows the title Flag Act 1818 in gray reading up along the left side, and Bicentennial in gray reading down the right side. USA Forever is printed in black in a single horizontal line above the flag near the upper right corner. Ethel Kessler also contributed to this project as USPS art director. The stamps were offset-printed by Ashton Potter in panes of 20. As this story was going to press, the Postal Service had not announced if a press sheet of the new stamps would be made available. The Flag Act enacted 200 years ago is straightforward and concise, describing in some 100 words what the flag would look like from and after the fourth day of July next (that is, in 1818), and how it shall be changed by adding one star with the admission of each new state. The wording of the act is pictured in full on this page. It was, in fact, the third and final Flag Act to be enacted by Congress. The first, in 1777, resolved that the flag would consist of 13 alternating stripes of red and white, and 13 stars representing a new constellation. After Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the Union, the Flag Act of 1794 specified that the flag should have 15 stripes and 15 stars. The Flag Act of 1818, celebrated by the new commemorative stamp, clearly foresaw that the flag design would become unwieldy if the number of stripes continued to increase each time a new state joined the nation. And it circumvented the need for Congress to act on the flag design every time a new state was ratified. The bill was signed into law by President James Monroe. The 13 red and white flag stripes restored in 1818 have been accepted as representing the countrys 13 original colonies. The new stamp is the latest in a large number of U.S. stamps that show a historic flag rather than a contemporary flag. The U.S. flag first appeared prominently on the 1869 30 ultramarine and carmine Eagle, Shield and Flags stamp (Scott 121). The 1926 2 Battle of White Plains issue (Scott 629) is one of the earliest to depict a U.S. flag from a different era, showing a rendition of what is commonly known as the Betsy Ross flag or the Francis Hopkinson flag, with 13 alternating stripes and a circle of 13 stars in the blue field. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Historic flags were a popular stamp design element around the time of the 1976 U.S. bicentennial, including the 13-star flag shown again on the 13 Flag Over Independence Hall definitive of 1975 (Scott 1622-1622C), and the 15-star and 15-stripe Fort McHenry flag (known as the Star-Spangled Banner) on the 15 Americana series definitive issued in 1978 (1597). A set of 20 33 commemorative stamps was issued under the banner The Stars and Stripes on June 14, 2000, and displayed 20 different historic flags from the nations history, including one stamp that depicts todays 50-star flag (Scott 3403). Although information about first-day covers was not revealed by the Postal Service prior to this issue of Linns going to press, the Postal Service did publish illustrations of two pictorial cancels for the Flag Act of 1818 stamp, so it is anticipated that FDCs with color and black cancels will be made available for purchase. The similar illustrations show the text First Day of Issue and Flag Act of 1818 in a style resembling an old-form letterpress. A solid bar with repeating stars also appears on each of the two different first-day cancels. May 17, 2018, 4 PM Mick Zais, president of the American Philatelic Society, was confirmed by the United States Senate May 16 to serve as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Education. By Michael Baadke Mitchell (Mick) Zais, who has served as president of the American Philatelic Society since August 2016, was confirmed May 16 by the United States Senate in a 50-48 vote to serve as deputy secretary of the Department of Education. As a result of the long-awaited confirmation, Zais resigned his position as APS president. If confirmed by the Senate, I will have to resign from all boards and all other employment, Zais told Linns Stamp News last year when it was revealed that President Donald Trump intended to nominate him for the education role. Currently there are three boards on which I serve. The APS is one. Additionally, I work for an executive search firm. If confirmed, I will have to resign from that position as well, Zais said. APS executive director Scott English accepted the resignation May 17. On behalf of the APS members, I would like to thank Mick for his years of service on the APS board, English said. Even with his new responsibilities, I hope he still has time to collect, visit a few stamp shows, and even recruit a few new members in the nations capital. Best of luck in the next chapter! Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter According to the societys bylaws, when the position of APS president is vacated, the APS board of vice presidents will call a meeting of the board of directors within 10 days, and the directors will elect a new president from among the 10 remaining board members. English confirmed that the board will meet May 23 at 5 p.m. EDT to elect a new president, who will complete the presidential term that runs through August 2019. The newly elected president will then appoint a replacement board member to fill the vacancy on the board, subject to approval by the APS board of directors, to fill the remaining term on the board ending in August 2019, English said. The U.S. Department of Education released a statement May 16 announcing the Senate confirmation. We are thrilled to finally have Mick on our team, said Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. In his nearly four decades of public service, Dr. Zais has fought for our country abroad and for students at home. He brings a remarkable breadth of experience to the Department and will strengthen the work we do every day to improve education for students across the country. Zais was elected to a four-year term as South Carolinas state superintendent of education in 2011 after serving 10 years as president of Newberry College in South Carolina. Prior to that, Zais served for 31 years in the United States Army. His assignments included commanding general of all U.S. and Allied forces in Kuwait, and commanding general of Operation Provide Refuge, which brought 4,000 Kosovo refugees out of Macedonia for settlement in the United States. Zais was also the Pentagons chief of war plans. Zais earned an engineering degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and a Master of Arts degree in military history from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Leavenworth, Kans. At the University of Washington, he earned Master of Science and doctoral degrees in social psychology and organizational behavior. He also graduated from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., as a post-doctoral research fellow in national security affairs. Prior to his election as APS president, Zais served on the board of vice presidents from 2013 to 2016. A member of the society for more than 40 years, Zais has said his collecting interests include stamps and postal history related to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the U.S. Army stamps of 1936-37. May 18, 2018, 7 AM Early stamps issued specifically for Chad as a French colony in Africa included the name (in French) as a bold overprint. Soon after, an additional overprint of Afrique Equatoriale Francaise (French Equatorial Africa) was added. By Molly Goad The June 4 issue of Linns Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, May 21. And if you subscribe to Linns digital edition, youre at the head of the line with early access Saturday, May 19. To heighten your anticipation even further, enjoy these three previews of exclusive content available only to subscribers. A century of Chads stamps The history of Chad is complex, but stamps from the French colony turned independent republic are fun and interesting as columnist Janet Klug explores. Many stamps have featured animals and history associated with the republic, while recent issues celebrate popular topics from around the world. Cartoon character Betty Boop has been featured, as well as the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing the latter in a design embossed on gold foil. Website review: The Stamp Forum The Stamp Forum website won a gold award in the 2017 American Philatelic Societys chapters and affiliates website competition, warranting a closer look by columnist William F. Sharpe at the everything the site has to offer. Mixture contains common definitives, few stamps of interest In the Kitchen Table Philately column in each issue of Linns, E. Rawolik VI or E. Rawolik VII analyze the content of stamp mixtures offered to collectors. E. Rawolik, of course, is a pseudonym that is kiloware (a stamp mixture) spelled backward. This week, E. Rawolik VI reviews a mixture from Weber (Connecticut) that is quite similar to a mixture purchased in 2017 from the same source. Want to subscribe? Get access to all of these articles, and so much more, with a Linns Stamp News print or digital edition subscription! Sign up and start reading now! Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter When a mosquito bites you, it doesn't just help itself to some of your blood it also kindly gives you some of its spit in return. It's this saliva that's responsible for the irritating itch of a mosquito bite, thanks to a concoction of proteins found in it that people are slightly allergic to. Now, a new study in mice suggests that your immune system could react to these allergy-inducing proteins for up to a week, potentially explaining why an itchy bite lingers so long. Previous research has shown that the human immune system reacts to mosquito spit. However, it wasn't clear to what extent, because the effects were studied primarily in the immune systems of mice. But in the new study, published today (May 17) in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers created a close replica of a human immune system in mice. [10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species] (The researchers noted that the immune system they created in the mice didn't have every component of a human immune system and that they want to conduct further studies to get a more complete picture.) In the study, the researchers, from the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, injected baby mice with human hematopoietic stem cells which later turn into various types of blood cells, including immune system cells that were taken from umbilical cords. When the mice grew up and had a well-established "human" immune system, the researchers held an open vial of mosquitoes against the footpads of each mouse. The insects bit each mouse around four times. By analyzing blood bone marrow, skin and spleen cells from the mice, the researchers found that a number of immune cells remained active even seven days after the mice were bitten. This was the "most interesting" part of the study "that the effects lasted that long," said senior study author Rebecca Rico-Hesse, a professor of virology at the Baylor College of Medicine. The methods in this study are novel, she added, "because you can't go around sampling people's spleen and bone marrow after they've been bitten by mosquitoes." The immune response is complex, Rico-Hesse told Live Science. For example, the levels of cytokines proteins that help cells communicate during immune responses sometimes increased and sometimes decreased during the time points the researchers studied. But when the researchers mixed human immune cells in a lab dish with mosquito saliva, they found that cytokines only increased with time. The new findings show how important it is to look at a more complete picture of the immune system like the one in the so-called humanized mice, Rico-Hesse said. "In the dish, you only have a select subgroup of immune system cells versus the mouse, where all of these cells were interacting and living in correct tissues and developing in different areas like bone marrow and spleen." Rico-Hesse said that next, she'd like to do a similar experiment but with mosquitoes that are infected with a virus such as Zika or dengue. "Viruses are probably hitching a ride in some of these immune cells that mosquito saliva is attracting to skin after the mosquito bites," she said. The fact that these cells are being activated for as long as seven days suggests that "viruses might escape immune system" destruction, she added. Now it comes down to figuring out how this happens. "If we could block the effects of mosquito saliva proteins, it might be possible to "block a whole bunch of different [mosquito-borne] viruses and parasites," Rico-Hesse said. Originally published on Live Science. A conceptual picture of fusion energy inside a tokamak, the doughnut-shaped machine that produces plasma for fusion energy. A new paper has found whistler waves, normally found in the ionosphere, inside a nuclear fusion reactor. Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1:35 p.m. E.T. Mysterious, ghostlike "whistler waves" that are normally created by lightning could protect nuclear fusion reactors from runaway electrons, new research suggests. These whistler waves are naturally found high above ground in the ionosphere a layer of Earth's atmosphere about 50 to 600 miles (80 an1000 kilometers) above the planet's surface. These ghostly whistler waves form when lightning bolts generate pulses of electromagnetic waves that travel between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. These waves change in frequency as they cross the globe, and when these light signals are converted to audio signals, they sound like whistles. Now these whistler waves have been discovered in the hot plasma inside a tokamak the doughnut-shaped machine where nuclear fusion reactions take place according to a recent study published April 11 in the journal Physical Review Letters. Because whistlers can scatter and impede high-speed electrons, they could provide a new way to prevent runaway electrons from damaging the inside of a tokamak. Fusion power In nuclear fusion reactions, which power the sun and stars, atoms slam together, fusing into larger atoms while releasing energy. For decades, researchers have been trying to harness fusion energy on Earth, using powerful magnetic fields inside tokamaks to corral doughnut-shaped clouds of hot plasma a weird phase of matter that consists of electrically charged gas. Inside the tokamak, electric fields can propel electrons faster and faster. But as these high-speed electrons fly through the plasma, they can't slow down. Normally, objects moving through a gas or liquid feel a drag force that increases with speed. The faster you drive your car, for example, the more wind resistance you run into. But in plasma, drag force decreases with speed, allowing electrons to accelerate to near light speed, damaging the tokamak. Researchers already have a few techniques to mitigate runaways, said Don Spong, a physicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and a co-author of the new study. They can use artificial intelligence algorithms to monitor and adjust the density of the plasma to prevent electrons from accelerating too fast. If there are still runaways, they can inject pellets of frozen neon into the plasma, which increases the plasma density and slows runaway electrons. But whistler waves could be yet another way to rein in runaway electrons. "We ideally want to avoid disruptions and runaways," Spong said. "But if they occur, we would like multiple tools available for dealing with them." Stopping runaways In the tokamak at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, Spong's research team detected, for the first time, whistler waves being produced by runaway electrons. Plasma, he explained, is like a piece of Jell-O with many modes of vibration. If some runaway electrons have just the right velocity, they excite one of these modes and trigger whistler waves similar to how driving an old car at just the right speed can cause the dashboard to vibrate. "What we would like to do is reverse engineer that process and put those waves on the outside [of the plasma] to scatter the runaways," Spong said. By better understanding how runaways create whistlers, the researchers hope they can reverse the process using an external antenna to generate whistlers that can scatter the electrons and prevent them from getting too fast. The researchers still need to further explore the relationship between runaways and whistlers, Spong said, for example, by identifying what frequencies and wavelengths work best to inhibit runaways and by studying what happens in the denser plasma needed for fusion reactors. Of course, suppressing runaway electrons is just one hurdle to creating clean energy from nuclear fusion. Right now, fusion reactors require more energyto heat plasma than is produced by the fusion. To reach the breakeven point, researchers still have to figure out how to get plasma to stay hot without having to add heat. But Spong is optimistic about fusion energy. "I'm a believer that it's achievable." In 2025, the ITER project in southern France is slated to begin experiments. and scientists hope it will be the first fusion machine to produce more energy than is used to heat the plasma. Several groups have set their sights on achieving net positive fusion energy by 2050. And a new collaboration between MIT and a company called Commonwealth Fusion Systems announced that the partners hope to put nuclear fusion on the grid in 15 years. Editor's Note: This story was updated to note that light signals, rather than light frequencies, are converted to audio signals. Originally published on Live Science. Most women who elect to freeze their eggs are happy they did it, but about 1 in 6 say they regret the decision, according to a new study. Researchers surveyed women who underwent egg freezing for "fertility preservation," meaning they could potentially use the eggs in the future to conceive a child. The finding that some women regretted their decision was surprising and is cause for concern at a time when egg freezing is becoming more popular, the researchers said. Indeed, some tech companies, including Apple and Facebook, offer to cover a large part of the cost of the procedure for their employees. The researchers aren't exactly sure why some women apparently end up regretting the decision, but factors such as not feeling fully informed about the procedure and not having enough emotional support may play a role, the study found. The researchers are planning to conduct future studies to better understand what women are going through emotionally during egg freezing, which can be an expensive and time-consuming process. [Trying to Conceive: 12 Tips for Women] "While most women expressed positive reactions of enhanced reproductive options after freezing eggs, we were surprised to discover that, for a group of women, it wasn't so simple some even, frankly, regretted their choice," lead study author Dr. Eleni Greenwood, a clinical fellow in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), said in a statement. "Although this study doesn't reveal all the reasons behind regret, this is a critical finding." The study is published today (May 18) in the journal Fertility and Sterility. Egg-freezing regret The researchers analyzed information from 201 women who underwent elective egg freezing, also called "oocyte cryopreservation," at UCSF between 2012 and 2016. Elective means that the women did not have a medical reason for freezing their eggs. (Some women freeze their eggs for medical reasons for example, if they are diagnosed with cancer and need chemotherapy, which could cause infertility.) The women were surveyed about two years after their egg-freezing procedure, and at that time, 6 percent of the women had used their frozen eggs to try to conceive a child. Many women had positive views about egg freezing: 88 percent said they felt it gave them increased control over their reproduction planning, and 89 percent said they would still be happy that they froze their eggs, even if they never went on to use them. But when asked separate questions to gauge their level of regret, While 51 percent of the women said they had no regret about their decision, 33 percent had mild regret and 16 percent had moderate to severe regret, the researchers said. Women were much more likely to experience regret if they had frozen 10 or fewer eggs, compared with those who froze more than 10 eggs. The women may have interpreted the lower egg yield as a marker of low fertility, although the number of eggs retrieved during the process is not necessarily an indicator of this, the researchers said. Still, the number of eggs that a woman freezes is a factor in the procedure's "success rate," or the chances that using the frozen eggs will result in the conception of a child. In addition, while most of the women (70 to 80 percent) said they had adequate information about the procedure and adequate emotional support, those who said they did not have these things were also more likely to regret the decision. Another concerning finding was that some women appeared to have unrealistic expectations about their chances of having a baby after egg freezing, the researchers said. On average, the women said they thought they had a 56 percent chance of having a child with their frozen eggs, but a 2016 study found a live birth rate of about 39 percent in women who froze their eggs at age 35. And alarmingly, 6 percent of the women in the new study estimated that they had a 100 percent chance of having a baby with their frozen eggs, "which is obviously unrealistic and presents a critical opportunity for counseling," Dr. Kara Goldman, an assistant professor and reproductive endocrinologist at the New York University Langone Medical Center, who was not involved in the study, wrote in a commentary published alongside the study. "To the extent that this expectation of success may alter a patient's procreative plans, this misconception could lead to unintended childlessness with devastating consequences for these individuals." Goldman added that "without question, oocyte cryopreservation has changed lives and built families that may not have existed without the technology." But "more work is needed to ensure that patients at risk of regret are identified and appropriately supported," she added. The study authors said that improved counseling and emotional support for women undergoing egg freezing could help reduce decision regret. They also called for more research into the long-term emotional outcomes, and potential harms, of the procedure. "As oocyte cryopreservation takes off, we wanted to take a step back to understand how this technology might impact the trajectory of women's lives," Greenwood said. "We see this work as just the start of that conversation. Our ultimate goal is to translate this research into creating an increasingly supportive system to help women, realistically, achieve their reproductive goals." Currently, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine says there is not enough data to recommend that women freeze their eggs for the sole purpose of delaying childbearing. Original article on Live Science. The British monarchy's come a long way, baby. Tomorrow (May 19), Prince Harry will wed an American divorcee, Meghan Markle, to the well-wishes of his family on the anniversary of the day that a king of England once had his controversial wife beheaded. May 19 was the execution date of Anne Boleyn, the second of the six wives of King Henry VIII, as pointed out by The Washington Post. Boleyn was executed in 1536 at the age of either 28 or 35 (there is historical debate about whether she was born in 1501 or 1507). The charges against her were incest, adultery and plotting against the king's life charges widely viewed by historians as trumped up by Henry VIII to clear the way for his third marriage to Jane Seymour. [Family Ties: 8 Truly Dysfunctional Royal Families] Desperate for an heir Henry VIII was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty, born in 1491. He ruled from 1509 to 1547. For much of his reign, Henry's overwhelming concern was securing an heir to the throne. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was his brother's widow. She became pregnant at least seven times during her marriage to Henry, but most of her pregnancies ended in miscarriage or stillbirth. Only one child survived past early infancy, a girl, Mary, born in 1515. [10 Wedding Traditions from Around the World] Enter Anne Boleyn. One of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting, she caught the king's eye around 1526 but refused to become his mistress, as her sister had. Instead, Boleyn held out for the real prize the title of queen. Henry asked Catherine to quietly retire to a nunnery and allow her marriage to be annulled; she refused. Henry turned to the pope for the annulment, but years of negotiating and petitioning failed. Ultimately, Henry's marital troubles led to the separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church in Rome, and Henry got his divorce. The end for Anne Boleyn He also got his marriage to Boleyn. Unfortunately, Henry and Boleyn had no more luck at producing a male heir than Henry and Catherine had. Boleyn's first child, a girl named Elizabeth, was born in 1533. But no boys were forthcoming, and in 1536, Boelyn had a miscarriage of her own. (She may have had one or two more miscarriages between Elizabeth's birth and that loss, but historians aren't certain.) By this time, Henry had a new paramour in Seymour. Boleyn was arrested and taken to the Tower of London, accused of adultery with several noblemen, a court musician and even her own brother. According to an eyewitness, manservant George Constantine, Anne Boleyn's own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, read out her sentence: to "be burned here within the Tower of London on the Green, else to have thy head smitten off, as the King's pleasure shall be further known of the same." According to the chronicle of Thomas Wriothesley, the First Earl of Southampton, Boleyn was led out on the green of the Tower of London at 8 a.m. on May 19, 1536. She gave a short speech in which she called the king "the most godly, noble and gentle Prince that is." Her last words were, "To Jesus Christ, I commend my soul." She was then decapitated by a swordsman specially called in from the English holding of Calais for the task. According to biographer Eric Ives in "The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn," (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005), this was a merciful execution by the standards of the day, allowing Boleyn to kneel upright rather than putting her head on a block for decapitation by axe. There was an ultimate irony in Henry's desperation for a male heir and his dismissal of Anne Boleyn: His child with Boleyn would become one of the most famed monarchs in English history. Elizabeth I would ascend the throne in 1558, after the early death of her half brother, Edward (Seymour's son, who succeeded his father in name but died at age 15), and the bloody reign of her half sister, Mary I, Catherine of Aragon's surviving daughter. Boleyn's child would go on to rule until 1603, presiding over the Elizabethan era. She oversaw the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, a period of seafaring exploration and relative wealth in England, and the rise of cultural touchstones, including William Shakespeare. Fortunately for Markle, who will marry into the House of Windsor tomorrow, the rate of executions in the British monarchy has gone way down. Mary Stuart, the queen of Scotland, died by beheading in 1587, the last female monarch killed that way. The last king beheaded was Charles I in 1649. Markle likely won't have to worry about any Game of Thrones-style maneuvering for her own progeny, either. The British line of succession no longer excludes women, and Prince Harry is sixth in line for the throne, after his father, brother and his brother's three children. Original article on Live Science. Hatshepsut was a female pharaoh of Egypt. She reigned between 1473 and 1458 B.C. Her name means foremost of noblewomen. Her rule was relatively peaceful and she was able to launch a building program that would see the construction of a great temple at Deir el-Bahari at Luxor. She also launched a successful sea voyage to the land of Punt, a place located somewhere on the northeast coast of Africa, where they traded with the inhabitants, bringing back marvels. Despite the apparent success of her reign, and a burial in the Valley of the Kings, her monuments would be defaced after her death, apparently by her co-ruler and step-son/nephew Thutmose III. The fact that a woman became pharaoh of Egypt was very unusual. In the history of Egypt during the dynastic period (3000 to 332 B.C.) there were only two or three women who managed to rule as pharaohs, rather than wielding power as the great wife of a male king, writes Egyptologist Ian Shaw in his book "Exploring Ancient Egypt" (Oxford University Press, 2003). Birth Hatshepsut, along with her sister Nefrubity, was the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I and his wife Ahmose. Thutmose I was a warrior king who launched successful campaigns into Nubia and Syria, expanding the territory under Egyptian rule. After Hatshepsut became co-ruler of Egypt, she claimed to be of divine birth, the result of a union between her mother and the god Amun. She also claimed that Thutmose I had named her as his successor before his death. Underscoring her claim, one of the reliefs decorating Hatshepsuts enormous funerary complex depicts Thutmose I crowning her daughter as king in the presence of the Egyptian gods, write Helen Gardner and Fred Kleiner in "Gardners Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective" (Cengage, 2010). Queen to Thutmose II After the death of her father, the Egyptian throne passed to Thutmose II, Hatshepsuts half-brother and husband. In ancient Egypt, it was not unusual for royalty to marry within their family. Like his predecessor, he fought in Nubia. The Egyptian army continued to quell uprisings in Nubia and brought about the final demise of the kingdom of Kush at Kerma, writes Betsy Bryan in a section of "The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt" (Oxford University Press, 2000). In their personal life, the couple had a daughter named Neferure who would go on to assume royal duties. She appears during her mothers reign officiating as Gods Wife of Amun...writes Michael Rice in "Whos Who in Ancient Egypt" (Routledge, 1999). Regency and elevation to pharaoh With the death of Thutmose II, the throne fell to Thutmose III, a step-son and nephew of Hatshepsut. He was, however, a child and unable to rule Egypt, leaving Hatshepsut to serve as regent. She did this for three years until, for reasons unknown, she became a pharaoh in her own right (although technically a co-ruler with Thutmose III). She took on a full throne name, and statues were created depicting her as a male king, right down to the beard. However, she did allow some feminine traits to come through. Although for most of her reign Hatshepsut was depicted with the traditional image of a male king, the names that she used as king were formed with grammatically feminine participles, thus openly acknowledging her female status, write Gay Robins in a 1999 article in "The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology." In addition, University of Toronto Professor Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner, whose team found a wooden statue at Abydos that may be of Hatshepsut, notes that her waist was depicted as being somewhat slimmer than her male counterparts. "Even though she was portrayed as a man in her [statues], oftentimes they did give a nod to her female physique by making her waist narrower," she is quoted as saying in a LiveScience article. In addition, Hatshepsut appears to have taken care to cultivate loyalty and obedience among officials. Bryan notes that there was a sudden increase in large decorated private tombs at Luxor and Saqqara, and an inscription carved in her temple at Deir el-Bahari reads he who shall do her homage shall live; he who shall speak evil in blasphemy of her Majesty shall die. The Temple of Hatshepsut in the Valley of Kings in Luxor, Egypt. Shutterstock) (Image credit: Mirek Hejnicki Building program As a ruler, Hatshepsut inaugurated building projects that far outstripped those of her predecessors, Bryan writes, noting that in conquered Nubia, she built monuments at a number of sites, including Qasr Ibrim, Semna, Faras and Buhen. In Egypt proper, she launched a number of building projects. At the temple complex of Karnak, she erected a series of obelisks and built a Palace of Maat, a rectangular structure that was composed of "a series of small rooms with a large central hall for the placement of the central bark [a small ceremonial boat]. The walls of the palace were covered with carved and brightly painted relief scenes of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, writes a team of UCLA researchers working on the Digital Karnak Project. Perhaps the most impressive architectural achievement of Hatshepsuts builders is the temple at Deir el-Bahari. Shaw notes that its ancient name was djeser-djeseru the most sacred of sacred places, with its three colonnaded terraces leading to a sanctuary. When archaeologists excavated the temple in the 19th century, Shaw notes, they found shrines dedicated to Hathor and Anubis. Shaw writes that they also found, on the lowest terrace, a relief showing Hatshepsut as a sphinx triumphing over her enemies and another describing the quarrying and transportation of two granite obelisks from the quarries at Aswan. He also notes that the middle terrace contains an unusual group of painted reliefs showing a trading expedition to the land of Punt. Voyage to Punt This voyage to Punt (also known as Gods land) was a key foreign relations triumph during Hatshepsuts reign. Punt is believed to lie in northeastern Africa, somewhere in the area of Eritrea, Ethiopia and southern Sudan. Egyptians had made voyages to it for centuries by Hatshepsuts time. The depiction of Punt at the Deir el-Bahari temple shows scenes of the Puntites village (with) conical reed-built huts built on poles above the ground, entered via ladders, Shaw writes, adding that palms and myrrh trees can be seen. The ruler of Punt is distinguished from the Egyptians primarily by his beard and unusual costume, and his wife is depicted as an extremely obese woman. An ancient record of the voyage indicates that it was wildly successful. The loading of the ships very heavily with marvels of the country of Punt; all goodly fragrant woods of Gods-land, heaps of myrrh-resin with fresh myrrh trees, with ebony, and pure ivory, with green gold of Emu. After listing more goods, the record concludes that no Egyptian ruler had ever been so successful in Punt. Never was brought the like of this for any king who had been since the beginning. (Inscription from "Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant," Shelley Wachsmann, Texas A & M University Press, 2009) After Queen Hatshepsut's death, mentions of her were erased, as shown here. (Image credit: German Archaeological Institute) Death and defacement Thutmose III, who was technically co-ruler with Hatshepsut, succeeded the female pharaoh after her death. Although Hatshepsut was given a burial in the Valley of the Kings, her memory was not honored. Soon after her death in 1457 B.C., Hatshepsut's monuments were attacked, her statues dragged down and smashed and her image and titles defaced, writes Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley in a 2011 BBC article. She argues that this may have been an attempt by Thutmose III to gain credit for some of the successes Hatshepsut experienced during her rule. By removing all obvious references to his co-ruler Tuthmosis could incorporate her reign into his own. He would then become Egypt's greatest pharaoh. Hatshepsuts mummy In 2007, researchers announced that Hatshepsuts mummy had been identified in tomb KV 60 in the Valley of the Kings. A CT scan of a single tooth in a box with Hatshepsuts name on it perfectly matched a tooth socket in the mummys jaw, writes Cornell University anthropologist Meredith Small in a LiveScience article. She notes that she was around 50 when she died, balding, suffering from diabetes and wearing black and red nail polish. She also had a desire for perfume. Small writes that despite her health problems, and the post-mortem destruction of some of her images, history still remembers her as a successful ancient Egyptian ruler. Hatshepsuts image couldnt be erased because even with the weight, the beard, and the nail polish, she was a ruler, and a grand one, she writes. In ancient Egypt, just like today, you simply cant keep a good woman down. HOUSTON - The hilltop forts of Rajasthan in northwest India are among the most poignant human-made environments in the world. An ambiance of strife-torn, centuries-old power and ineluctable decay commingle there with softly colored decorations, natural beauty and a sense of secluded elevation from the earthly hubbub. The effect, at least in my brief experience, is dislodging: You come away changed. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has not succeeded in transporting one of these forts to Texas - but it has done the next best thing. Working with an international team, it has mounted a landmark exhibition of paintings, textiles, weapons, jewelry, palanquins, thrones, robes, carpets, sunshades, fly whisks, and foot scrapers - more than 300 objects in total - drawn mostly from the huge collections of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust at Jodhpur. The show has something for everyone. It kicks off with life-size animal mannequins sumptuously adorned for a spectacular wedding procession. It concludes with a Stinson L-5 Sentinel aircraft, or "Flying Jeep," and a 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom, custom-built for use by the female members of the court of Maharaja Umaid Singh. The car comes replete with blue "purdah" glass (so the women would not be seen) and a search light for - what else? - tiger hunting. But it's not, fundamentally, that kind of show. Rather, it's a thoughtful, stately and scholarly exhibition, filled with objects of almost unbelievable refinement, most of which have never left Jodhpur, let alone India. Among them are dozens of Mughal and Rajput paintings; a rare Mughal tent; a matchlock pistol with five barrels; a brilliant display of colorful turbans; swords and punch daggers galore; a dazzling ornament of diamonds and emeralds; and many carpets and embroidered textiles. The objects from the Mehrangarh Fort Museum are complemented by loans from Queen Elizabeth II, the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait and the Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur. Among those from the latter is a wooden model, coated in silver, of Mehrangarh Fort, made in 1930 to 1931. Its uniform, gleaming surface highlights the way in which the building, constructed from red sandstone mined by hand from the same site, seems to emerge as if organically from the rocky plateau. Construction on the fort, which is really a series of interconnected palaces, began in the 15th century. In the 20th century, five years after India gained independence, it was inherited by a 4-year-old boy. Gaj Singh II, the maharaja of Marwar-Jodhpur, who was educated in England and then returned to his inherited responsibilities, eventually establishing a museum at Mehrangarh Fort. It now attracts more than a million visitors per year. Although "Peacock in the Desert" appears to tell a story about a single ruling clan from a desert landscape in a limited region of the subcontinent, it is in no way a show about isolation. Rather, it is shot through with cosmopolitanism, revealing countless forms of hybrid beauty, blended belief and convoluted self-assertion. Jodhpur was established as the capital of the desert kingdom of Marwar by the 15th century. Its founders, a Hindu clan known as the Rathores, had been harassed out of their homeland further north two centuries earlier. The city's gathering wealth grew out of its position at the crossroads of trade routes. That enviable position also made it vulnerable, however, to two expansionist empires: First the Mughal, which exerted shifting degrees of control from the mid-16th to the mid-19th centuries; and then the British, who ruled from 1858 to 1947. Both periods saw the Rathores, a proud, martial people, resist, yield, and continually jockey for power, with the foreign rulers and with other Rajput territories. More than military victories and defeats, strategic marriages and exchanges of gifts played a key role in molding everything about the region's culture, from religion and language to warfare, architecture and artistic pursuits. Women - despite the strictures of purdah and the establishment of separate female courts, known as "zenana"-- played catalyzing roles as patrons and collectors, bringing new customs, art forms, and tastes into court life. The objects reveal different aspects of Hindu, Muslim and Western European traditions. Influence ran both ways: The Rathores, it's obvious, were greatly influenced by Mughal art and architecture. But the Mughals also learned from - and participated in - the Hindu culture of the Rathores. Rathore rulers and their courts spent long periods away from Jodhpur, both at the Mughal court and on military missions. One of the highlights of the show is the Lal Dera, an elaborate, ruby-colored tent from the late 17th or early 18th century. Believed to have been captured during a surprise attack on the camp of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, it is a square pavilion with a flat roof at the center, held up by four poles, and a veranda under sloping roofs all around it. Yes, it's just a tent. It certainly doesn't compare with Mehrangarh Fort. And yet . . . wow! Decorated with cream and cherry-colored stripes, with walls of silk velvet in plum and magenta and borders of sea green, all of it embroidered with floral motifs, it would have cost a fortune. So if it was indeed loot (and there is no way, as Peter Alford Andrews points out in the catalogue, the Mughals would have offered a royal tent as a gift), it was very valuable - both materially and symbolically. The paintings include a number of Mughal miniatures from the collection of Queen Elizabeth II. The word "miniature" is misleading: We are talking about some of the greatest, most ambitious paintings in world art. They show scenes from the Mughal court with members of the Rathore clan always visible and close - but subservient - to the emperor. The Rajput paintings, mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, lack the advanced finesse of the 17th-century Mughal style (which derived from Persia). But they are precious and lovely in their own way and steeped in local atmosphere. They tend to employ larger areas of vivid color: Midnight blue, a dusky purple, a spreading green warmed by tinges of yellow. Great Rajput painters such as Dalchand, working in the first quarter of the 18th century, portrayed Rathore rulers in their courtly settings, exuding characteristic Rathore virtues: not just martial vigor but also generosity, chivalry, a sincere yet still nonchalant interest in music and leisure, an aura of discerning connoisseurship. One notable painting is an 18th-century double portrait of Maharaja Ajit Singh and his son Bakhat Singh. Both men are set against a ground of drenching turquoise. Bakhat Singh, shown receiving a garland from his father, looks innocuous enough. But the story behind the image suggests otherwise, recalling a plot line out of Shakespeare or "Game of Thrones." When Maharaja Jaswant Singh died in 1678, his two potential heirs were already in the grave. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb filled the resulting power vacuum and occupied Jodhpur for almost 30 years. Jaswant Singh, however, had left behind two pregnant wives. The wives were secreted away by Marwar nobles. Only one of the babies, Ajit Singh, survived. The nobles waited until Aurangzeb died in 1707, then installed Singh on the throne. Singh restored the damage done to Mehrangarh Fort and Jodhpur's Hindu temples by Aurangzeb, an austere Muslim, and he groomed his two sons to take on royal responsibilities. However, one of them was impatient. On the night of June 23, 1724, when he was just 18, Bakhat Singh murdered his father as he slept in his royal chamber in Mehrangarh Fort. The painting of Ajit Singh presenting his treacherous son with the garland was made more than two decades after this patricide. Catherine Glynn, in her catalogue essay on Jodhpur painting, writes that it was probably commissioned by Bakhat Singh in an effort to establish his dubious legitimacy. "Peacock in the Desert" is not huge. It's easy to navigate. But it is dense with delights and revelations. It might also present a model for future efforts by Western museums to engage with Indian culture - and indeed the cultures of other countries. The exhibition was seen to fruition by Mahrukh Tarapor, senior adviser for international initiatives at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Karni Jasol, director of the Mehrangarh Fort Museum. Most of the objects and much of the scholarship have come from India. The show is dedicated to the memory of Martand Singh (1947-2017), known affectionately as "Mapu" - a former chairman of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, director of the Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmedabad and chief consultant for this exhibition until his death. After "Peacock in the Desert" ends in Houston, it travels to Seattle and then Toronto. See it, if you can. - - - "Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur" Through Aug. 19 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Oct. 18-Jan. 21 at the Seattle Art Museum; March 9-Sept. 2, 2019, at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism By Ross Douthat Simon & Schuster. 234 pp. $26 --- It's no secret that Pope Francis' honeymoon period has given way to deep divisions in his church. Liberals swoon over his tweets declaring that refugees are "our brothers and sisters," while conservatives rail at his critiques of capitalism, his rhetorical shift away from culture war flashpoints and his efforts to liberalize the church's teachings on divorce. In March, a Polish priest went so far as to pray for Francis' death. "I pray for the pope in his wisdom to open his heart to the Holy Spirit," said Edward Staniek, a priest and theologian in Krakow. "But if he does not, I pray for his quick departure to his father's house." How could anyone wish death on a man who washes the feet of drug addicts and refugees? Ross Douthat, a Roman Catholic and an opinion columnist for the New York Times, has written an erudite and thought-provoking, if ultimately unsatisfying, response to that question. He weaves a gripping account of Vatican politics into a broader history of Catholic intellectual life to explain the civil war within the church. This is not just a conflict between the pope's liberal fans and conservatives who pine for Benedict XVI, but a contest between two different visions of the church's relationship to modernity. Douthat believes the stakes are high: "With more popes like Francis, Catholic truth will stand on a knife's edge." In his telling, the Synod of Bishops on the Family, convened in 2014 and 2015, revealed Francis' plan to alter Catholic teaching in ways even more profound than the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The pope tried - and failed, at least in the short term - to stage-manage the synod's outcome (although Douthat admits that it was less rigged than similar gatherings under conservative popes). His main goal was to revise the church's rule that bans remarried Catholics from receiving the Eucharist (unless a church tribunal issues an annulment, declaring their first marriage invalid). To liberal Catholics, this prohibition ignores the Gospel's call for mercy, mistakes the nature of committed second marriages and is grossly out of step with lived reality (vast numbers of remarried Catholics already take Communion, especially in the West). But to conservatives like Douthat, the ban derives from Christ's unambiguous command: "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery" (Mark 10:11-12). To disregard Jesus' teaching, Douthat writes, would be far more radical than allowing the celebration of Mass in the vernacular, embracing religious freedom, permitting Catholics to eat meat on Fridays or any of the other reforms of Vatican II - none of which took such explicit aim at Jesus' own words. To toss out their traditional interpretation would set the church sliding down a slippery slope toward endorsing same-sex marriage, polygamy and "any stable, entangling commitment that fell outside the norms proposed by Catholic sexual teaching." Before you can recite a Hail Mary, ancient dogmas will crumble into a "theology of situations." It is cold comfort to Douthat that most other conservative Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox Church and most evangelical Protestants, have made their peace with divorce and have not yet collapsed into the state of atheistic nihilism that he fears. The Catholic Church, Douthat says, is the last authority willing to say divorce is bad, the last bastion of the scandal of the cross in a pluralistic, hedonistic culture. Douthat critiques that culture with provocative historical analogies. He ranges from the earliest church controversies to 17th-century clashes between moralizing Jansenists and accommodating Jesuits, who indulged the sinful lifestyles of French aristocrats and anticipated the "tweeting Jesuit apologists" who vex Douthat with their defenses of Francis. He is hardly the first critic to accuse the pope and other progressives of ancient heresies, but his accounts of complex episodes in long-ago church history are by turns exasperating and intriguing. He compares Francis' desire to open the sacrament to remarried Catholics to Arianism - named for Arius, a priest in ancient Alexandria who taught that Jesus is distinct from and subordinate to God the father. This heterodox vision of the Trinity roiled the ancient church for centuries, even after the Council of Nicaea deemed it a heresy in 325. In its essence, Douthat writes, "the appeal of Arianism was the appeal of a more rationalized Christianity" that demystified the paradoxes of the Trinity. It was an early example of an impulse that appears again and again in Christian history: the desire to reason away the enigmas of orthodoxy, to force Christian doctrine to make sense. He sees that desire in modern progressives' claim that it is absurd to take Christ's words about divorce and remarriage literally: How can a committed marriage constitute adultery? And just as Francis has avoided proposing bold revisions to doctrine, but instead has laid subtle groundwork for change in obscure footnotes buried in the pages of papal pronouncements, so too did Arian theologians "revive the heresy through deliberately ambiguous formulations, designed to allow what remained a minority viewpoint among the church's bishops to appear as a consensus view." Historical comparisons that leap centuries, cultures and continents are always full of problems, but they are also deeply interesting. Douthat manages in a slim volume what most doorstop-size, more academic church histories fail to achieve: He brings alive the Catholic "thread that runs backward through time and culture, linking the experiences of believers across two thousand years." He helps us see that Christians have wrestled repeatedly with the same questions over the past two millennia. How should Christians live in the world but not of it? How can depraved human beings make sense of law laid down by a God who defies comprehension? Yet the problem with argument by historical analogy is that such comparisons have a way of selectively angling the rearview mirror. There are other, more charitable ways to cast historical light on Pope Francis. One might argue that the Catholic hierarchy's entwinement with state power and wealth from the 4th century until our own time constitutes one long, largely unrepentant heretical act. It is a rebellion against Jesus' declaration that his "kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36), that Christians should refrain from serving both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24) and should render unto Caesar only the things that are Caesar's (Mark 12:17). The pope's effort to disentangle his church from the excesses of neoliberalism and nationalist politics is a profound act of resistance against the forces of secularization and worldliness, far braver than his opponents' defense of traditional marriage. Here and there, Douthat acknowledges the dark underbelly of the anti-Francis backlash. He fears that the pope's modest accommodation of secular pluralism has brought out the worst in his conservative enemies and unwittingly empowered "resurgent nationalism and civilizational tensions." But in his tale of the perils to orthodoxy, he ignores the way in which the church's compromises with secular democracy and multiculturalism have - at least partly - helped Catholics domesticate the chauvinistic impulses that tend to corrupt all religious ideals. Indeed, what is really driving Francis' critics? What about that Polish priest? It wasn't primarily the debate over Jesus' teachings on divorce that prompted Staniek's homiletic death wish but the pope's call for Catholics to take in Muslim refugees. He was outraged at the Vatican's challenge to politicians like Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party, who combine Islamophobic prejudice against migrants with showy displays of Catholic piety: Catholicism, Kaczynski declared, is one of "the foundations of our identity, our way of life and of being Polish." Xenophobic, nationalist venom - not the pope - is the great threat to the modern Catholic Church. In Christian terms, this poison is not mere heresy. This is heathenism, pagan tribalism, pure and simple. Mr. Douthat, pray for us. --- Worthen teaches history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her most recent book is "Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism." Eisenhower Vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties By James F. Simon Liveright. 427 pp. $35 --- "Dumb son of a bitch" and "damn fool." These insults did not come from President Trump about any of his many political adversaries. Rather, they are the words of President Dwight Eisenhower privately excoriating Chief Justice Earl Warren, whom he himself had appointed to the Supreme Court in 1953. Eisenhower's antipathy challenges the conventional image of the relationship between these two highly respected moderate Republicans. It serves as a point of departure for James F. Simon's illuminating and engaging account of their rivalry and a pivotal period in the history of civil rights and civil liberties. "Eisenhower vs. Warren" is the latest of several books that Simon, a legal historian and former dean of New York Law School, has written documenting enmity between a chief justice and a chief executive. Unlike earlier quarrels, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous showdown with Charles Evans Hughes over the New Deal, the fight between Eisenhower and Warren has received less attention. Simon exposes a fundamental difference between the relationship of Eisenhower and Warren and that of their New Deal predecessors. In the earlier conflict, Roosevelt sought to push the boundaries of change while Hughes fought for restraint. By contrast, Eisenhower resisted progress while Warren pursued it. Eisenhower and Warren were born less than six months apart but had very different paths into the Republican Party and Washington. Tracing their routes to power, Simon underlines how neither had the traditional qualifications or experience for the positions they attained. Eisenhower, a retired general, had worked in public service for most of his life but had never held elected office before entering the White House. Warren was a lawyer and had served as California's attorney general and governor, but had never been a judge before he put on the robes as chief in the nation's most powerful courtroom. Simon explores how each embraced his new position and revealed his natural acumen for politics and commitment to moderation and consensus, even as they came to demonstrate it in fundamentally different ways. Their differing approaches came into sharpest focus surrounding Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The arguments in the landmark case occurred just two months into Warren's tenure (before he had even been officially confirmed), after a sharply divided Supreme Court previously failed to decide the case. Simon deftly explains the core legal issues and debates, and reveals how Warren skillfully brought the court to unanimity and wrote the groundbreaking opinion. Hoping to avoid alienating white Southerners, Eisenhower provided only the barest support for the decision, noting that he was "sworn to uphold the constitutional process in the country. And I will obey." He offered even less endorsement for arguments on the implementation decree for Brown and the justices' other efforts at enforcing desegregation. Warren was deeply frustrated with Eisenhower's unwillingness to speak out more vigorously in support of Brown and its implementation. Their relationship frayed further as the court took a firm stand in a series of cases protecting the civil liberties of individuals accused of subversion during the Red Scare. In narrating this tension, Simon pays close attention to the internal dynamics of the court, especially Warren's strained relationship with the mercurial Felix Frankfurter, who was a strong advocate of judicial restraint. While Simon hints that the friction between Eisenhower and Warren dated back to their fight for the Republican presidential nomination in 1952, he shows that after Brown, their battles intensified. What is perhaps most striking is that, with the exception of a few veiled comments in news conferences and oblique statements in their memoirs, Eisenhower and Warren kept their frustrations with each other private. The tacit agreement to keep their animosity out of the public eye reveals just how different Washington politics was in the 1950s, especially within the Republican Party. It also makes Simon's task more challenging. His efforts to probe Eisenhower and Warren's relationship reveal that their differences were often more of approach than ends and represented a debate over immediate vs. incremental change. Simon shows sympathy for the political pressures Eisenhower confronted as president and his skill at navigating them. He acknowledges that Eisenhower wielded federal power on civil rights issues when he could, noting his role in desegregating the military, easing tensions over school segregation in Little Rock, and advocating for the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. Yet in charting the rivalry, Simon makes clear that he favors Warren's thinking and philosophy. He celebrates the chief justice's "strong moral sensibility," which Simon notes in Warren's push as governor to ensure that California residents received adequate health care and in Warren's belief that segregation was not just unconstitutional but immoral. Simon's veneration of Warren also creates some noticeable blind spots. While carefully charting Warren's early career, the author spends very little time on his key role in the internment of Japanese Americans as California's attorney general and governor. Simon does not suggest, as many other scholars have, that Warren's regret over his support for internment had an impact on his abiding commitment to expanded individual liberties and his recognition that vulnerable groups needed heightened protection. If one of Simon's goals is to track Warren's evolution, then a more in-depth look at internment would have illuminated it, especially since it was an issue that also divided the Supreme Court before he arrived. Internment also provides an important perspective on Warren's recognition of the different roles played by politicians and justices, having served himself in both capacities. In 1965, he told Eisenhower that while politicians often had to compromise to get results, a justice had to abide by "principle, not expedience." Today, many of the individual rights and liberties that Warren defended are under threat by actions of the executive branch. Simon's book offers a glimmer of hope that the court can and will once again take a stand. For, as Warren's example makes clear, such a position is not only constitutional but also morally and ethically right, and will allow the justices to join Warren on the right side of history. --- Geismer, a professor of history at Claremont McKenna College, is the author of "Don't Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party." War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence By Ronan Farrow Norton. 392 pp. $27.95 --- Ronan Farrow's "War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence" is more an elegy than a work of journalism, more a work of journalism than a history of diplomacy, and more a history than a sustained analysis of the value and effect of U.S. diplomacy. Farrow's overarching argument is straightforward: America needs diplomats, those "specialized experts trained in the art of hard-nosed negotiation" who can provide "thoughtful, holistic foreign policy analysis, unshackled from military contingencies." But for decades - beginning, in Farrow's telling, with the administration of President Bill Clinton and accelerating dramatically under President Trump - America has been overvaluing the military and undervaluing diplomacy, to its own detriment. Although "War on Peace" doesn't fully achieve its broadest ambitions, it offers lively writing, astute commentary and plenty of great stories, laced through with passion and outrage.The book's first half is mostly a wry, extended tribute to the late Richard Holbrooke, for whom Farrow worked as a junior staffer in 2009-10, while Holbrooke served as U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Famously abrasive and self-centered, on the surface Holbrooke hardly seemed to exemplify the suave, urbane diplomats of cinematic and literary fantasy. His inappropriateness remains the stuff of legend: Once, determined to get the last word in an argument, he even followed then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton into a ladies' restroom in Pakistan. Farrow's own job interview with Holbrooke also involved toilets: After a desperate effort to keep up while Holbrooke raced through the State Department's corridors, barking at aides and taking calls on his BlackBerry, Farrow eventually found himself following Holbrooke into his Georgetown townhouse, where Holbrooke proceeded to grill him about the Taliban while peeing behind a half-closed bathroom door. And yet, as Farrow's unsparing but affectionate portrait reminds us, Holbrooke was, for all his bluster, the ultimate practitioner of the dying art of diplomacy, that slow, often tedious project of engaging both with allies and with enemies, and seeking to avoid or resolve conflict. Holbrooke was maddening and obnoxious, but somehow his methods often worked. He was, Farrow concludes, "the rare asshole who was worth it." Holbrooke's signature achievement remains the 1995 Dayton agreement, which brought a negotiated end to the brutal wars that racked the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Like all products of diplomacy, admits Farrow, the Dayton agreement was "an imperfect document." It ceded "almost half of Bosnia ... to the Serbian aggressors, essentially rewarding their atrocities." Still, it "succeeded in ending three and a half years of bloody war." The diplomat's job, as Farrow relates it, is often difficult, tedious and infuriating: "Hammering out deals between governments ... can sometimes give the job the feel of Thanksgiving dinner with your most difficult relatives, only lasting a lifetime and taking place in the most dangerous locations on earth." (Farrow has some difficult relatives of his own. The reader is left to imagine the scene and wince in sympathy). But Holbrooke thrived on "difficult." No issue was too large or small. When Holbrooke decided that agriculture - particularly, the production of pomegranates - was the key to Afghan stability, Farrow found himself presiding over "dozens of meetings focused on the fruit." Sometimes, he recalls, Holbrooke would cut him off in the middle of an unrelated sentence, demanding, "Where are we on the pomegranates?" But U.S. diplomacy isn't all toilets and pomegranates. In the second half of "War on Peace," Farrow provides a tour through some of the other highs - and lows - of recent American diplomacy, from Plan Colombia (which, despite an inauspicious start, eventually poured $10 billion into Colombia and helped bring an end to that country's decades-long civil war) to the Obama administration's disastrous misreading of Egyptian politics in the wake of the Arab Spring. Farrow's message throughout is simple: Diplomacy is imperfect and unsatisfying but essential. When we underinvest in it or value military imperatives more highly, we - and the world - suffer. Running through the book is the story of Ambassador Robin Raphel, who worked over the course of her distinguished career in trouble spots from Iran and South Africa to Tunisia and Pakistan. Unlike the rough-edged Holbrooke, Raphel was a diplomat from central casting: She had "an aristocratic quality," writes Farrow, and spoke with "the clipped, mid-Atlantic cadence of a 1940s movie star." Erudite and tough as nails, Raphel believed in "an old-fashioned diplomatic maxim: you never stop talking." She favored dialogue with the Taliban, and maintained informal back channels to Pakistani military and intelligence officials even during the tensest moments in U.S.-Pakistani relations. Her dedication to diplomacy was almost her undoing. In 2014, the Justice Department opened an espionage investigation into Raphel's activities: An intercepted Pakistani cable apparently referred to her as a "source" of information on classified U.S. plans. The FBI raided her home and office, and she lost her security clearance. But after two years, the Justice Department dropped the investigation, vindicating Raphel's claims of innocence. "The FBI investigation flowed from multiple layers of misunderstanding," writes Farrow. "Anyone who had ever spent five minutes at a dinner party in Islamabad" knew that many "nominally 'classified' topics," such as U.S. drone strikes, "were an unavoidable matter of public debate" in Pakistan. The FBI's counterintelligence investigators - more familiar with electronic surveillance than with diplomacy - had delayed interviewing Raphel's State Department colleagues, because they didn't want to tip her off. When they finally spoke to her colleagues, they were surprised to find that what they saw as Raphel's "incriminating behavior" with foreign contacts was viewed inside the Foreign Service as "simply old-school, relationship-driven diplomacy." In "War on Peace," Raphel serves both as an examplar of the art of the diplomacy and as a cautionary metaphor: When a nation ceases to understand or value its diplomats, the tools of diplomacy become so unfamiliar as to seem actually criminal. The Trump administration represents the apotheosis of this trend, and Farrow's final chapters focus on Trump's gleeful dismantling of what remains of America's diplomatic apparatus. Under this president, deep budget cuts and hiring freezes have crippled the already demoralized State Department; the surfeit of military voices in Trump's Cabinet has sidelined the remaining civilian foreign policy officials; and from NAFTA to the Iran nuclear agreement, many of the alliances and treaties so carefully nurtured by diplomats in prior administrations have been mocked or sent to the shredder. Meanwhile, U.S. global influence is waning, and "Beijing looms large behind a retreating Washington." Like Farrow, I'm dismayed by the negligent casualness with which successive presidential administrations have handed ever-larger swathes of U.S. foreign policy over to the military, and disgusted by the Trump administration's contemptuous devaluing of the dedication and expertise of America's career diplomats. But Farrow's conviction that traditional diplomacy is a "life-saving discipline" requires more analysis than he offers. Was America truly better - richer, more peaceful, more successful on the global stage - when its diplomatic institutions were more robust? Maybe, maybe not: Farrow doesn't tease out cause and effect, and it is worth recalling that old-school diplomats didn't manage to prevent two successive world wars, keep the United States out of Korea or Vietnam, or stop the Cold War from fueling vicious internal conflicts throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. If the United States had more global influence in past decades, was this because of the skillfulness of its diplomatic corps or the strength of its military and economy? Conversely, if U.S. global influence is now declining and the United States has recently plunged "into military engagements that might have been avoided," is the decline of traditional American diplomacy really the primary cause? "The point," asserts Farrow, "is not that the old institutions of traditional diplomacy can solve today's crises. The point is that we are witnessing the destruction of these institutions, with little thought to engineering modern replacements." Perhaps it's this that troubles him most: not nostalgia for a vanishing past but the sheer wanton waste of it all. "War on Peace" is full of telling anecdotes and wry, witty observations. If it doesn't entirely hang together as an argument, it still makes for enjoyable and occasionally compulsive reading: Farrow is a natural storyteller, and his empathy and imagination breathe life even into the endless, awkward Thanksgiving dinner that constitutes diplomacy. In the end, "War on Peace" is much like Farrow's characterization of diplomacy itself: rich, messy and imperfect, but ultimately, more than worth it. --- Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University, a former State Department and Pentagon official, and the author of "How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything." The Watergate: Inside America's Most Infamous Address By Joseph Rodota William Morrow. 420 pp. $27.99 --- Every American knows the word "Watergate" - the political scandal that brought down Richard Nixon, the suffix attached to every public embarrassment for the past four decades. It's short, snappy and easier to remember than the Teapot Dome scandal. Fewer outside the nation's capital know that "Watergate" refers to an actual place, a sprawling complex of apartments, stores and offices where, on June 17, 1972, five burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the behest of Nixon's re-election campaign. The rest, as overeducated pundits love to say, is presidential and linguistic history. For most of us, that's enough. For Joseph Rodota, it's just the starting point for an obsession: "The Watergate: Inside America's Most Infamous Address." The political consultant has compiled an encyclopedic tome on ... well, everything one could possibly want to know about the buildings and habitants, and then some. And then even more. For students of Washington's architectural and social history, there are nuggets to mine. For the average reader, it's Overkillgate. But for old time's sake, let's take a random alphabetical dive into the pages. We begin, of course, with W and the Watergate origin story. The complex sits on six acres alongside the Potomac River, on what once was the location of the Washington Gas Light Company. Nearby sat the Watergate Barge, a floating concert shell for summer music, and the Water Gate Inn, a Pennsylvania Dutch-inspired restaurant famed for its popovers. The first third of the book is dedicated to the two-decade struggle to convert the Foggy Bottom industrial site to a modern development - complete with battles with the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and planners for the National Cultural Center, renamed the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after the president's assassination. Rodota, bless his heart, read the minutes of every single meeting and shares many of them in the book. The Watergate's final design was a series of concrete circles, approved after bitter fights about height and views to complement the proposed plan for the arts center - a distinctive clamshell design that was changed later into a less-expensive rectangular box now considered one of the uglier monuments of the period. Still, the Watergate was new and chic and everyone - well, mostly Republicans - wanted to live there. N is, inevitably, for Nixon. His 1968 election put the Watergate on the map. The complex was home to Attorney General John Mitchell and his wife, Martha (who was released from a psychiatric hospital to accompany her husband to Washington); Charles Wick; Maurice Stans; and Nixon's secretary Rose Mary Woods, who all became household names for their roles in the re-election scandal. "Watergate came into its own as the residential seat of power, becoming in the Nixon era what Georgetown had been in the Kennedy years," explained hostess Anna Chennault. In 1970, anti-war protesters rallied in front of what they called the "Republican Bastille." That was, of course, before 1972, when things went south and "Watergate" became shorthand for skullduggery. The hotel lost $4,000 a month in monogrammed towels alone. In 1973, one resident went swimming in the pool, reporting back to his wife that he was "the only one who wasn't under indictment." The letter A is reserved for Anna Chennault, a beautiful Chinese woman who married an American general when she was 22, was widowed 10 years later and lived in the Watergate for more than 50 years. Alluring, ambitious and aggressive, Chennault was one of Rodota's principal sources for the book and a Washington operator par excellence. Known as the Party Queen and the Dragon Lady, she secretly negotiated with South Vietnamese officials to help Nixon's 1968 campaign, threw fabulous parties for decades and was paid by defense contractor Northrop to throw those parties for her political and military friends. Her deepest regret? Not landing an ambassadorship for her many efforts on behalf of the Republican Party. E is for envy, a personal weakness when I read about real estate prices back in the day. In 1964, a roomy studio apartment in the Watergate sold for $17,500; a penthouse with river views went for $200,000. Chennault bought her 4,500-square-foot penthouse duplex for $250,000. Transportation Secretary John Volpe landed a three-bedroom penthouse for $130,000. It makes me want to cry. L is for leaks. Not the political kind, the wet kind. All those architecturally modern curving walls resulted in water that leaked from windows, from units above, from any place water can seep into a luxury building. And there were cooling and heating problems from the very beginning, so all those fancy people at those fancy parties were too hot or too cold and mad as hell about it. Luckily for them, you can't walk 10 feet in Washington without tripping over a lawyer (many residents themselves), so there were lawsuits galore. Good times. T is for Taylor, specifically Elizabeth Taylor. The iconic movie star was married to Sen. John Warner when he suggested moving from his D.C. rowhouse to a Watergate apartment, near his friend Sen. Bob Dole. Warner reportedly hated her little dogs; the Watergate restricted the number of pets allowed. Taylor was having none of it ("You've got to be f---ing kidding me"). The couple separated soon after. Yippy dogs: One. Warner: Zero. Other movie stars pop up in the book, primarily as guests of the Watergate Hotel: Lauren Bacall, outraged by the plastic hangers in her suite, demanded wooden replacements. Concierge Bettye Bradley brought in hangers from her own house; Bacall packed them in her bags when she checked out. Do not mess with your concierge, entitled celebrities. They remember everything and then dish years and years later. C is for cake. As in Watergate cake, a concoction of white cake mix, chopped nuts and pistachio instant pudding. The Watergate Pastry Shop disavowed all knowledge of the dessert, but it was so popular that stores routinely ran out of the pudding mix. The cake is not to be confused with the Watergate salad, a blend of pistachio pudding, Cool Whip, mini marshmallows, walnuts and crushed pineapple - a delicacy, explains Rodota, still popular in North Carolina to this day. Which brings us, thankfully, to P for Jean-Louis Palladin, the two-star Michelin chef who brought fine French dining to Washington in 1979. The tiny, elegant restaurant Jean-Louis in the hotel revolutionized the food scene in the nation's capital, drawing every VIP in the DMV. In 1981, Ronald Reagan celebrated his 70th birthday there, alongside pals Walter and Lee Annenberg, Alfred and Betsy Bloomingdale, and Charles Wick - all newly minted Watergate residents. Not everyone was enamored by the West Coast newcomers: one apartment owner dismissed Nancy Reagan and her California friends as the "Gucci coochi cost too moochi group." Because originality is hard, G is for "-gate." The suffix was first added to a 1974 French scandal about falsified Bordeaux vintages called "Winegate." "Koreagate" followed in 1976 when Tongsun Park funneled illegal contributions to more than two dozen members of Congress. But wait, there's more: "Billygate," "Travelgate," "Bridgegate" and a dozen others. The Watergate story is presented in chronological order, which means our M - that's Monica Lewinsky - doesn't show up until late in the book. Lewinsky and her mother lived next door to the Doles and spent nine months holed up in the apartment after President Bill Clinton's affair with the White House intern went spectacularly public. Lewinsky moved out in 1998, leaving a thank you to neighbors who contended with the daily crush of reporters on the sidewalk: "I hope you all know how very sorry I am that so much attention was brought to this building."The Watergate still draws its share of less-scandalous VIPs: Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. H stands for historic landmark, a designation the Watergate received from the city in 2005. "The Watergate made peace with its own history," said one advocate for the distinction. "And Washington has made peace with the Watergate." Indeed, when the hotel reopened in 2016, room keys cards proclaimed, "No need to break in." In his acknowledgements, Rodota thanks his family and friends for listening to his "fun facts" about the Watergate, exploring "potential characters and storylines at length, hijacking what might otherwise have been more wide-ranging dinner conservations." Caveat emptor, gentle readers. --- Roberts is a feature writer for the Style section of The Washington Post. Mark and Jay Duplass claim they made the ugliest movie to have ever played Sundance. The brothers shot the dimly lit "This Is John," about a man struggling to record a coherent answering machine message, for just $3 - the cost of a blank tape. Back in 2003, dwindling funds prompted them to do things like return muddy extension cords to the hardware store. "I think Home Depot can afford to subsidize a little bit of art," Mark says. "I think they're fine." Fifteen years later, the Duplasses are the ones doling out money. After becoming stars of the festival circuit with so-called mumblecore films, they're now two of TV's biggest impresarios through distribution deals with HBO and Netflix, for whom they recently produced the buzzy documentary series "Wild Wild Country." All the while, they've clung to their DIY eclecticism, piling acting, writing and directing projects on top of each other to form careers unlike anyone else's. They receive tons of emails from aspiring indie filmmakers who simply must know how "two extremely average guys," as Mark puts it, managed to pull it off. So, for maximum efficiency, they wrote a book, published this month: "Like Brothers," an honest look at how Mark, 41, and Jay, 45, built a lifelong partnership. "Without killing each other," Mark adds. - - - The Duplasses sit in the Hirshhorn Museum's courtyard in Washington the morning of their book tour's D.C. stop, in matching blazers and salt-and-pepper beards. While writing, the first-time authors thought about the questions they receive most often and just started "falling into the process," according to Mark, who adds that they write screenplays in a similar manner: "That doesn't mean it's not analyzed and studied after the fact, but the initial creative vomit goes much better for us when we start spilling it out." Katie Aselton, Mark's wife of 11 years who has acted in a number of their projects, calls Mark the gas and Jay the brakes: "Mark wants to do it all really fast, and Jay wants to slow things down and think about it a little bit." "Like Brothers" takes on a confessional tone at times, because the "two guys from the South who didn't go to therapy," as Mark frames it, often iron out personal issues through their creative work. We see this in the email exchanges they quote, which also include the grown men calling each other "Dupiss" or signing off as "diarrhea party 2049." The two were close while growing up in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. Mark notes that Jay was always willing to play with him, whereas "most older brothers hold [their younger brothers] down and fart in their faces - at least, in the '80s in the South, that's what they did." The Duplasses slept in the same twin bed by choice. In their free time, Jay borrowed his parents' camera and directed Mark in short films. They were "definitely involved in the late-'80s white boy funk movement, unfortunately," Jay says, but they eventually redirected their energy from music to film in the years after Jay started at the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. "I think there was an element of, well, if we're so amazing and we can do anything" - as Mark recalls their parents telling them - "we should choose the hardest thing and we should lock arms." Mark frequently visited Jay in college, and the two attended Q&A sessions held by the likes of Richard Linklater. Seeing the filmmakers walk around in jeans and white T-shirts, eating at familiar Austin spots, the brothers realized that people like them - regular people! - could make movies, too. "They weren't wearing berets, you know?" Jay says. "We didn't really know where movies came from, and we thought it was an elite that had been bestowed the gift of being able to make movies. That was kind of true, for a long time. Luckily for us, we landed in pretty much the center of the modern DIY filmmaking movement." It's a movement they identify with, unlike the mumblecore subgenre they were tossed into because of their projects' heavy improvisation and emphasis on human intimacy. The label landed them in the New York Times early on, and they're grateful - but "we don't feel like our characters mumble, and we're actually wildly obsessed with plot," Jay says. "It's weird to be the godfathers of a movement that you didn't create, you know?" Regardless, the rise of mumblecore contributed to the cult status of 2005's "The Puffy Chair," perhaps the indiest of indie road movies, and 2008's "Baghead," a comedy about four struggling filmmakers, both of which premiered at Sundance. When co-directing, Mark and Jay regularly hold what their longtime friend and collaborator Steve Zissis calls "Duplass brother powwows" to make sure their visions align. It's difficult to imagine a situation in which they wouldn't. In response to a silly tweet that proposed a Duplass brothers-themed Met Gala, the pair trade ideas on what that would entail. "The dream - we would never do this - is that we would wear the 'Dumb and Dumber' tuxedos," Jay says. "It's very flaunty." "But what about us in our hiking gear, with your vest that holds all of our keys and protein bars and carb-loading bars and your water filter and our matching visors?" Mark suggests as Jay munches on a granola bar he just pulled out of a Patagonia fanny pack. "Our matching visors." "And our matching shoes." "With the flaps! With the 'European Vacation' Rusty flaps on the side. What about, what's it called, the water - " "The CamelBak." "Hydration systems. Please quote me on that." "Because the truth is, we would go to the Met Gala [and] everybody else would leave, but we could stay there a week and be totally sustainable." - - - Clearly, they're on the same page. But even this harmony wasn't enough to make their aptly named HBO series "Togetherness" an entirely enjoyable experience. The brothers spent about 13 hours a day together, writing, producing and directing every episode. Mark also acted in all of them. Oh, we're not done. The show's first season overlapped with the last of "The League," an FX series Mark starred in with Aselton, while Jay continued to appear in Amazon's "Transparent." (Disclosure: Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.) They were also about a year into writing "Like Brothers." When HBO nixed "Togetherness" after two seasons in 2016, they finally found room to breathe. They spent more time with their children: Ora, 10, and Molly, 6, for Mark; Mimi, 9, and Sam, 6, for Jay. The brothers sense that their older daughters are "spiritual soul mates" in the same way they were as children. Jay realized that he enjoys acting the most, a discovery he owes in part to "Transparent" creator Jill Soloway, who quickly cast the writer-director in a lead role after meeting him at a party. "This is no longer a director who is trying his hand at acting," Soloway says. "He's one of the greatest actors of his generation. He's just a channel for emotion and comedy. He is hilarious and also really deep. Most people are one or the other, you know?" The praise is remarkable considering Jay received his first major part at 40. - - - Neither he nor Soloway has a solid idea of what the show's future holds, given recent harassment allegations against its star, Jeffrey Tambor (who partially denies them). But Jay, who dove headfirst into this "reverse midlife crisis," has plenty else on his plate. He co-wrote and starred in Lynn Shelton's "Outside In" with Edie Falco and produced Miguel Arteta's dramedy "Duck Butter" with Mark, who recently appeared in Jason Reitman's "Tully." The brothers still produce the adult animated comedy "Animals" and the anthology series "Room 104" for HBO. "Duck Butter" is part of the Netflix deal, another instance of their commitment to back their peers' projects. They had a hand in boosting "Florida Project" director Sean Baker's career by producing his breakout feature "Tangerine" in 2015. "They've been able to navigate through this crazy indie world and help other independent filmmakers," Baker says. "I really feel like the whole 'Tangerine' experience that I had with them has opened up so many doors for me." It's fitting that the Duplasses ended up at Netflix, whose vision seems to align with their spaghetti-at-the-wall approach. They've known Ted Sarandos since the early 2000s - before he was "president of the universe as the head of Netflix," Mark says - but remain grateful that he hasn't blocked their email addresses. They're well-acquainted with the possibility that no one will see their passion projects in theaters and don't mind throwing projects into the streaming site's void. "We have no entitlement at all - like, we came from nowhere," Jay says. "If they took it all away from us right now, we'd walk away, 'Seriously, we had a great run.' " "We did it!"Mark screams in the courtyard, his arms outstretched. "We did it." Albany Pledging to divest the state pension fund from fossil fuels, an environmental and anti-poverty activist announced on Thursday that he is running for state comptroller and seeking the Green Party ballot line. The activist, Mark Dunlea, is a co-founder of the Green Party and former Poestenkill town board member. He says he will seek the Green Party nomination at the party's convention on Saturday in Rensselaer. That's the same day as the convention of the Working Families Party, which is backing incumbent Democratic Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, as is the Reform Party. The likely Republican candidate in the race is campaign operative Jonathan Trichter, who also has the likely support of the Conservative Party, although he's a registered Democrat. Dunlea said DiNapoli's refusal to divest the state pension funds from fossil fuels is the main focus of his candidacy. "Time is running out for us to solve climate change," he said in his campaign announcement statement. "We need a state comptroller who will be a national leader in standing up for effective climate action, starting with divesting our state pension funds from fossil fuels." Dunlea also called for: Raising more state revenues by increasing taxes on the wealthy; A return to the policy of increased state revenue sharing with local governments; Increased oversight of the state's multibillion dollar economic development program "aka corporate welfare." Dunlea was executive director of the Hunger Action Network of New York State for nearly 30 years, where he helped draft the Corporate Accountability Act to increase state oversight of corporate welfare programs, including requiring companies to return their state payments when they failed to create or retain the jobs they promised. Dunlea is a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate and earned a law degree from Albany Law School. Former University of Texas at Austin President Larry Faulkner will serve as interim chancellor of the University of Texas System after William McRaven steps down at the end of the month. Faulkner, who told the Houston Chronicle that he will not consider taking the full-time position, said preparing the system for the upcoming legislative session will be a key part of his role. He said he expected the system to put in place a new chancellor "well before" the next session. "My job is really to keep business moving," he said. "I believe in the UT System. It's important for the state of Texas and it's important to me." The board's selection puts in place an established insider who has deep experience with UT-Austin and research. Faulkner served as UT-Austin's president from 1998 through 2006 and also led the Houston Endowment as president. In 2014 and 2015, he was a member of the state's higher education coordinating board as it drafted a 15-year plan for Texas higher education. A UT System committee has been quiet on the status of its search for a full-time chancellor. Several names including former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have been mentioned by sources as possible candidates, though the system has called those names speculative. Faulkner said the search committee had narrowed down a list of candidates, though he declined to specify how many candidates remained in contention. "I think they're pretty happy with the candidates they have," he said. Karen E. Adler, director of media relations, said Faulkner will earn a $500,000 annual salary, pro-rated for his term of service as interim chancellor. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, said in December that he would step down as chancellor by the end of the academic year. McRaven began leading the system in 2015. Faulkner said UT System board chair Sara Martinez Tucker approached him early in the search, asking if he would consider serving as interim chancellor. At the board's recent meeting in Houston, she again asked him to take the position, and he accepted, he said. He declined to comment on his compensation for the position. Board chair Sara Martinez Tucker said in a statement that the system is "honored" to have Faulkner serve as an interim head and expected him to transition "seamlessly." "He is widely known and respected for his steady hand in higher education leadership and administration, rich knowledge of the UT System and its institutions, and breadth of relationships throughout Texas and the nation," she said. "His strengths present the Board of Regents and the chancellor search committee with an optimal opportunity to concentrate on and conclude the search knowing that the system is in the perfect position to continue its advancement during this period." McRaven told regents that serving the UT System had been an "honor" and thanked his institutions' presidents. "I look at all that's transpired in the last three-and-a-half years, and it's been the ride of a lifetime," he said. Also Friday, the board approved up to $7 million for use should the Department of Energy select its bid to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory. The system has partnered with a corporation whose identity is not publicly known. Documents previewing the Friday board meeting show that UT believes a decision from the Department of Energy is imminent. Faulkner said he would be well positioned to assist with the Los Alamos transition, should the UT System earn the federal contract. He spent several years on the Sandia National Laboratories board. "I'm pretty well situated to help with that if it's necessary," he said. Lindsay Ellis covers higher education for the Chronicle. You can follow her on Twitter and send her tips at lindsay.ellis@chron.com. President Donald Trump says he wants to strike a nuclear deal with North Korea that would benefit "the whole world" by neutralizing a looming threat, and he is willing to trade economic concessions to help make it happen. That sounds a lot like the bargain former president Barack Obama made with Iran in the international nuclear deal that Trump ripped up earlier this month. Trump has cast the Obama administration's efforts as the work of overeager and naive negotiators who got fleeced by Tehran, while he will bring a master dealmaker's approach to his talks with Pyongyang. The result, he says, will be a great deal or a return to the "maximum pressure" approach he took toward Kim Jong Un at the start of his presidency. "I think it's going to be a very big success," the president said during a May 10 campaign rally in Indiana. "But my attitude is: And if it isn't, it isn't. OK? If it isn't, it isn't." Trump's divergent views of the two nuclear negotiations despite their similarities underscore two of the main drivers of his foreign policy approach - a desire to tear down what Obama put in place and his belief that he can tackle the intractable problems that his predecessors failed to resolve. So far Trump has revealed little about the specifics of what he wants out of his meeting next month with Kim beyond getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. He has suggested he would like to strike an accord with Kim that would serve as the framework for more detailed negotiations. The Trump administration has given no estimate for how long the negotiation might take. However long the bargaining lasts, the boundaries of a North Korea deal and the basic playbook to get that deal would roughly mirror the Iran pact, diplomats and analysts said. The essential trade-off of weapons or potential weapons for economic and other incentives is a diplomatic staple that long predates Trump. "The Iran nuclear talks were extraordinarily complex and difficult," spanning 10 years and two administrations from the start of the sanctions pressure campaign to a deal, said former senior State Department official R. Nicholas Burns. "The North Korea case is even more challenging because, unlike Iran, the regime has nuclear weapons and will not want to give them up at all costs. The North Koreans will be frustrating and tendentious and the deal the U.S. likely desires is roughly equivalent to the Iran deal Trump just disavowed." Trump's decision on Iran reimposed economic sanctions that had been suspended under the 2015 deal and which have been the model for some of the sanctions architecture erected against North Korea. As with Iran, the North Korea sanctions are a mix of U.S. and international restrictions intended to squeeze the country's ruling elite and draw the leadership to the bargaining table. The parallels don't stop there. Both cases involve a secretive nation with a history of nuclear development and alleged deception, as well as a national narrative of enmity with the United States. Iran claims it never sought nuclear weapons but nonetheless agreed under the deal to curb nuclear activity it said was related to energy and other peaceful uses. North Korea already has a nuclear weapons arsenal and claims to be able to target the entire United States. Both cases involve the threat of U.S. military force to stop the advance of a nuclear threat, and the dangling of negotiations as a better alternative. Trump famously threatened last year that he would rain "fire and fury" on North Korea if it menaced the United States or its allies. Both cases involve agreements with other countries that have leverage and a stake in the outcome. The United States would need China and South Korea, at the least, to make any deal with North Korea stick, and the United Nations would probably be asked to back a North Korean nuclear deal much as it backed the Iran accord. Trump hasn't said how he will negotiate a deal with North Korea that will be superior to past international agreements, except by being willing to leave the table if discussions aren't going his way. If he secures an agreement, Trump will be under pressure to show how he would address what he called the deficiencies in scope and duration of the Iran deal. Notably for North Korea, Trump blasted the Iran deal for failing to address that country's ballistic missile capability. Trump also complained that Iran was cheating on the deal, but verifying that North Korea is complying with any agreement could be far more difficult given how opaque it has been to the outside world for decades. Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet on June 12 for an unprecedented face-to-face negotiation that Trump said has one simple goal: "They give up their nukes." Planning for the meeting is going ahead, Trump said Thursday, despite surprise statements from Pyongyang this week that put the session in doubt. "If the meeting happens, it happens and if it doesn't we go on to the next step," Trump said matter-of-factly. "North Korea is talking to us. We are continuing to negotiate when to meet, how to meet. They've been negotiating like nothing happened." His tone was more upbeat last week, but the message was the same: He wants to talk but would not make what he calls the mistakes of his predecessor. "We're not going to walk into an Iran deal," he said. Some analysts caution not to draw too close of a comparison between the Iran deal and Trump's negotiations with Kim. "President Trump's exiting the Iran nuclear deal is regrettable but not inconsistent with his pursuing North Korea's denuclearization," said Patrick McEachern, a public policy fellow and North Korea specialist at the Wilson Center who is the author of a book comparing the Iranian and North Korean challenges. "President Trump's effort to get North Korea to give up an existing nuclear arsenal and the means to reconstitute it is a much taller task than President Obama's concentration on preventing a nuclear weapons-free Iran from getting the bomb in the first place." Comparing the two situations is "a bit apples to oranges," since Iran did not have a full-fledged weapons of mass destruction program and the goal of the deal was to prevent one, said Jenny Town, editor of the North Korea information clearinghouse 38 North. But more than that difference, Trump's disdain for the Iran deal is rooted in the fact it was struck under Obama's watch. "This is more a case of, the deal is bad because it wasn't his deal, more than anything else," Towns said. North Korea may turn out to be Chinese President Xi Jinping's greatest ally in negotiating a trade deal with President Donald Trump. As Trump heads toward a high-stakes summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, the president will look for all the help he can get, especially from Beijing - Pyongyang's closest ally. That's giving China added leverage in simultaneous talks with the Trump administration aimed at averting a trade war. While the U.S. has tried to keep the two issues on separate tracks, a sudden volley of harsh rhetoric this week from North Korea is stirring suspicion in the Trump administration that China may be trying to connect them, as the president suggested on Thursday. "For various reasons, maybe including trade," Trump told reporters. "President Xi could be influencing Kim Jong Un." Despite China's support of broad United Nations sanctions against the country, North Korea relies on its neighbor to hold up its economy. They share a border of more than 800 miles, and China accounts for about 90 percent of North Korea's trade, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. That provides Xi enormous influence over Kim. The North Korean leader has visited China twice in recent months, his first known visits to a foreign country since he took power. "If we expect China to cooperate on that important issue, we can't punch them in the nose on trade issues," said David Dollar, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who was the U.S. Treasury's economic emissary to China during the Obama administration. "When you bring in the North Korea factor, it becomes overwhelmingly sensible to make a trade deal with China," he said. Trump suggested Thursday that the seeds for Pyongyang's recent warnings against the U.S. were planted in a meeting between Kim and Xi on May 8. "All of the sudden, out of nowhere, Kim Jong Un went to China to say hello, again, a second time, to President Xi," Trump said. The president later in the day met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who's in Washington for trade talks. After their meeting concluded, a Trump administration official said that China had offered to reduce its annual trade surplus with the U.S. by $200 billion. On Friday in Beijing, China ended an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy inquiry into American sorghum imports. It's unclear what the U.S. may have offered in return. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been simultaneously charged with carrying out Trump's campaign to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program through economic sanctions, and playing an influential role in the China trade talks. He led a delegation earlier this month to Beijing, and one of his goals was to show the Chinese respect as the two nations try to deal with North Korea, Bloomberg News reported last month. Mnuchin also has a softer view on trade issues than hard-liners in the White House such as trade adviser Peter Navarro. "While Trump has a bias towards action against China on trade, Mnuchin and other so-called 'globalists' in the administration appear to be using Trump's overwhelming desire to reach a deal with North Korea in an effort to moderate the scope of trade action Trump decides to take against China," said Stephen Myrow, managing partner at Beacon Policy Advisers in Washington. China has shown itself ready to exert pressure on Trump's political base. Of the 10 states that face potential Chinese retaliatory tariffs on more than $1 billion of their exports, seven backed Trump in 2016, according to a report by the American Action Forum, a Washington-based group that opposes protectionist trade policies. Trump himself has linked disputes with China to the North Korea dilemma. In a tweet last month, he asked, "Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem?" Beijing's offer of a trade surplus reduction may be a step toward an eventual agreement, but the divide between the U.S. and China over trade remains wide even as talks with North Korea approach a critical phase. "It's going to get tough from here. It looked like it was moving pretty smoothly but there has to be a very serious negotiation and there are pretty wide gaps and there is not a lot of time" before Trump's June 12 summit with Kim, said Victor Cha, who was previously under consideration to become Trump's ambassador to South Korea. Cha reportedly withdrew his interest after privately expressing disagreement with Trump's North Korea policy. --Bloomberg contributors: Jordan Yadoo, Chloe Whiteaker, Justin Sink and Niu Shuping. The business of chemotherapy treatment for arthritis has been good to Jorge Zamora-Quezada. The Texas doctor took to the air on his six-seat Eclipse 500 business jet, bought with some of the $50 million he was paid since 2000 administering a host of treatments to countless patients. And on land, Zamora-Quezada, 61, roared between various homes and properties in South Texas in his blue 2017 Maserati Granturismo Coupe. But the Justice Department has alleged that he bankrolled his "lavish" lifestyle by performing unnecessary procedures and prescribing costly medication to, potentially, thousands of patients. Investigators have said that he and co-conspirators took part in a $240 million health-care fraud scheme and international money-laundering operation funded by excessive and unwarranted medical procedures - including treatment for children and the elderly. The seven-count indictment against Zamora-Quezada could land him in prison for decades. "His patients trusted him and presumed his integrity; in return he allegedly engaged in a scheme of false diagnoses and bogus courses of treatment ... with no regard for patient well-being," C.J. Porter, a special agent with the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, said in a Monday statement. Zamora-Quezada is in custody, and a court date has been set for July 2, Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said Thursday. The unsealed indictment says Zamora-Quezada owned medical practices in Brownsville, Edinberg and San Antonio, primarily practicing rheumatology. But various shell organizations were built to obscure the flow of money stemming from excessive and fraudulent treatments, the indictment said. Zamora-Quezada focused on treating rheumatoid arthritis, the indictment said. The disorder causes the immune system to mistakenly attack tissue and can be treated with various medications and chemotherapy drugs - which involve toxins that can damage healthy cells. It is unclear how many patients could be affected. The indictment notes more than a dozen people but also notes the doctor stashed thousands of medical records in a dilapidated barn concealed from Medicare oversight. ProPublica found that he saw more than 1,500 patients in 2015 alone and was paid $1,672 per patient - well above the $955 average in Texas. A call to a phone number listed under Zamora-Quezada went unanswered, as did one of his Edinburg practice, Arthritis Ost. Nora Rodriguez, a patient of Zamora-Quezada, told CNN that he yelled and threw her out of his office after she questioned his treatment. "He kept getting upset when I was asking him why I was feeling worse and not getting better," she said. He is also accused of falsifying records to show that his patients were having more pain than they described, and he hid documents from other doctors who saw the same patients for a second opinion. The indictment does not specify who his alleged co-conspirators are or their role in the scheme. Zamora-Quezada's plane and Maserati have been seized by authorities, along with the various real estate properties that investigators allege he used to rent out, under the appearance of generating legal income. Properties in Texas, Colorado and California were among those seized, in addition to a pair of penthouses in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Zamora-Quezada is not new to scrutiny. In 2006, the Texas Medical Board accused him of prescribing a drug "inconsistent with public health and welfare" and of "billing for treatment that was improper, unreasonable, or medically or clinically unnecessary," the Dallas News reported in 2010. Zamora-Quezada later settled for a public reprimand, monitoring by other doctors and a $30,000 fine. He had received $42,450 over a span of a year from Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company, the Dallas Morning News reported, citing ProPublica data. Eli Lilly did not respond to questions on Zamora-Quezada's total revenue from the company or why he was paid by it. He was also accused of sexually assaulting four former employees. A Yellow Pages review of his practice in 2015 is foreboding in retrospect. "Dr. Zamora has no time for returning patients only for new ones ... be prepared to wait for hours because [they] overbook people like crazy. JUST DON'T GO!!" An aging airliner crashed Friday shortly after takeoff on a domestic flight in Cuba, officials and Cuban news media reported, leaving more than 100 people dead in an accident that highlighted the precarious state of the country's commercial aircraft fleet. The plane, a Boeing 737-200 leased by state airline Cubana de Aviacion from a small Mexican carrier and operated by a Mexican crew, went down in a field within a couple of miles of Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. There were conflicting accounts of the exact number of people on board; Cuban media reported that as many as 105 passengers were listed, plus up to nine foreign crew members. The Cuban state-run newspaper Granma did not immediately provide a death toll but said that only three people survived the crash, which occurred at 12:08 Eastern time. It said the three were rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Cuban television reported that all three of the survivors were women. It said five children were among the passengers, including an infant under 2 years old. There was no immediate information on the cause of the crash. The plane, designated as Flight 972 and bound for Holguin in the eastern part of Cuba, belonged to Mexico's Global Air and had at least six Mexican crew members on board, an airline official told the Associated Press. The Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation identified the cockpit crew members as Captain Jorge Luis Nunez Santos and First Officer Miguel Angel Arreola Ramirez, both Mexicans. Boeing's 737-200 first entered service in the United States in 1968 and was last manufactured 30 years ago. The Mexican ministry confirmed Friday that the crashed plane was 38 years old. A history of the ill-fated aircraft indicated that it had changed hands at least 15 times, beginning its career in 1979 with Piedmont Airlines. It was later flown by airlines in Canada, Chile, Cameroon, Benin and the Caribbean, in addition to an earlier stint in Mexico. For almost five years, it was flown by the U.S. Navy. Images posted on social media from inside the airport terminal showed gray smoke rising in the distance from the crash site minutes after the plane went down. Cuban's newly appointed president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, and other government officials rushed to the site, along with emergency medical workers and ambulances. Photos from the scene showed Diaz-Canel inspecting the wreckage, surrounded by firefighters, rescue workers, soldiers and officials. The president said a commission would be formed to investigate the cause of the crash. He said there was no damage to homes in the area or casualties on the ground, and he thanked local residents for racing to the scene to help first responders. Cuban television said the crash was about 12 miles south of Havana near the villages of Santiago de las Vegas and Boyeros. The plane came down in a cassava field and appeared heavily damaged and burned, the AP reported. Firefighters sprayed water on its smoldering remains. The news agency said residents of the rural area reported seeing some survivors being taken away in ambulances. "We heard an explosion and then saw a big cloud of smoke go up," said Gilberto Menendez, who runs a restaurant in Boyeros, Reuters news agency reported. A worker at Havana's Calixto Garcia Hospital told Reuters that one of the three survivors who were rushed to the hospital subsequently died from burns and other trauma and the other two were in critical condition. There was no immediate official confirmation. Family members of the passengers were brought to a private area of the airport terminal on Friday afternoon. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on board the plane, AP reported. Cubana de Aviacion has taken many of its aging planes out of service in recent months because of mechanical problems. Mercedes Vazquez, Cuba's director of air transportation, told Cubadebate, a state-run news outlet, that the plane was leased from Global Air, which was founded in Mexico in 1990 and operates under the name Aerolineas Damojh, S.A. de C.V. Cubana has been relying heavily on aircraft rented from other companies since a number of its Russian-made planes were grounded for lack of spare parts. The spare-parts issue has grounded most of Cubana's Antonov 148 aircraft, which account for six of the company's 14 airplanes. Two U.S. government - the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board - and investigators from Boeing could assist in the investigation if invited by Cuban authorities. It is routine for U.S. investigators and the airplane manufacturer to help with investigations anywhere in the world when a U.S.-made plane crashes. Boeing said in a statement Friday, "We are aware of news reports out of Cuba and are closely monitoring the situation." It was the third major aircraft accident in Cuba this decade. Last year, a Cuban AN-26 military transport plane crashed into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing all military personnel on board. In November 2010, a domestic flight, an ATR 72-212 belonging to AeroCaribbean airlines, went down in bad weather over central Cuba en route from Santiago to Havana. All 68 people on board, including 28 foreigners of various nationalities, died in that crash, Cuba's worst in more than two decades. - - - The Washington Post's Nick Miroff, Anthony Faiola and Brian Murphy contributed to this report. Port Arthur Police Chief Patrick Melvin resigned Friday, according to Mayor Derrick Freeman. His resignation is "pending City Council's acceptance, Freeman said. "We have a council meeting Tuesday to finalize." Interim City Manager Harvey Robinson "requested the chief's resignation," said former city council member Willie "Bae" Lewis, whose term on City Council ended this month. Melvin and Robinson could not immediately be reached for comment. Melvin, 53, was hired by the Port Arthur City Council in September 2016 with an annual salary of $123,000. He spent 21 years with the Phoenix Police Department before leaving in 2006. He resigned from the Salt River, Arizona Police Department in early 2016 after being put on administrative leave. In November, members of the Port Arthur Police Association, the local affiliate of a statewide police union, voted that they had "no confidence" in Melvin and his administration. The union said that "a significant void in leadership occurred as a direct result of Chief Melvin's leadership style and philosophy." Melvin responded that he was pleased with the progress made since he was hired. "Change is often uncomfortable and a possibly painful process," he told the Enterprise. "Our job is to protect and serve the citizens of Port Arthur, not the status quo of a broken system." In December, he was named one of six finalists for police chief of St. Louis, Missouri, but was not selected. "As a career law enforcement professional, it was a privilege to be recruited and considered for the Chief of Police role by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the City of St. Louis," Melvin said in a statement at the time. "I am delighted to continue to serve the citizens and my fellow officers within the City of Port Arthur." "This is my home state comprised of family and friends," Melvin said. "My career has been defined by my ability to bring about change to Police Departments. Port Arthur is no different. I look forward to moving forward with our efforts to improve the department and bring greater transparency and build greater trust between the community and this department." In a 41-page letter to Robinson on Dec. 18, obtained by the Enterprise through a public information request, Port Arthur Police Association President Greg Mouton told the interim city manager that the officers "have lost all trust, faith and confidence" in Melvin. "It's evident now that Chief Melvin is seeking other employment opportunities," Mouton wrote. "Respectfully saying, why not assist him in his departure for the better of all that have been affected under his leadership." LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/LizTeitz INGOLSTADT, Germany - Franklin Uweh's home of eight months, ever since he arrived in Germany after fleeing his native Nigeria, is a squat, stucco compound in the verdant Bavarian countryside that he shares with hundreds of other asylum seekers. He's not allowed to work. He's not allowed to take language classes. His movements are strictly controlled. And every day he wakes up fearing that he'll be deported, the one fate he considers worse than an indefinite stay in this government-run shelter. "There's no life in this place," said the 27-year-old. "It's like a prison." But to Germany's top law enforcement official, it's something else: a national model. That dissonance is at the heart of a debate in Germany about the country's treatment of arrivals who have come seeking refugee protection, but who are unlikely to be allowed to stay. Germany has a new government this spring, and although many of the players remain the same, perhaps the biggest difference is a much tougher asylum policy in a country that accepted more than 1 million refugees during an unparalleled influx less than three years ago. The hardened stance reflects a souring national mood, with a far-right party now in Parliament for the first time in more than half a century and Chancellor Angela Merkel under pressure to pull up the welcome mat once and for all. Merkel has resisted doing so, arguing that the country must fulfill its humanitarian obligations to people fleeing war and persecution. But she has signed off on an upper limit to the overall number of asylum seekers, as well as a cap on family members who can join their relatives in Germany. And now Horst Seehofer, her new interior minister, is advancing a "master plan" to deal with one of the government's more vexing refugee-related challenges: how to quickly deport those who don't win asylum. Core to his strategy are mass shelters like the one where Uweh lives. Known as "anchor centers," they are intended to house migrants who, because they come from countries whose nationals often do not meet German asylum requirements, are deemed to have little chance of securing refugee protection. Residents - most of whom are from Nigeria, Ukraine, Afghanistan or Balkan nations - stay there from the time they arrive in Germany until the day they are deported. Unlike facilities for likely refugees, which are often small and interspersed throughout cities, towns and villages, the anchor centers are isolated by design. They are located far from German communities and offer virtually no opportunities for residents to integrate. Seehofer argues that they allow the government to conduct a speedy asylum review, with every step of the process under one roof, and to keep close watch on those deemed ineligible to stay in Germany. That has been a persistent problem: Last year, about half a million unsuccessful asylum seekers remained in the country, and efforts to reduce their number have fallen short. About 50,000 people have been deported in the past two years - a fraction of the some 450,000 who have applied for asylum in Germany during the same period. Unlike in the United States, where deportations sharply expanded under presidents Barack Obama and Trump, the German government has struggled to increase its deportation totals. A lack of cooperation from home countries and a bureaucratic process that involves coordination among local, regional and federal authorities are among the reasons why. The issue became a focus of intense public debate in Germany in December 2016, when a Tunisian man who had been turned down for asylum but who slipped away before he could be deported rammed a stolen truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12. "When it comes to protecting the citizens, we need a strong state. I will take care of that," Seehofer recently told the Bild am Sonntag in an interview touting his plans. Yet Seehofer's goal of making Bavarian anchor centers a model that can be replicated nationwide has run into fierce opposition from refugee advocates and police officials, who argue that the facilities are inadequate and will only breed resentment among residents. That, they say, will ultimately harm, not enhance, public safety. "If we're talking about thousands of people living together - people who don't have any occupation, who may be traumatized, who are alone - it's clear that there will be tensions," said Jorg Radek, deputy chairman of the Federal Police Union. Such tensions recently flared at a facility in the southern German town of Ellwangen, where police attempted to detain a 23-year-old Togolese man who had been marked for deportation. Nearly 200 fellow asylum seekers blocked the officers' path, and the police were forced to leave empty-handed. They recaptured the man days later, but it took hundreds of heavily armed officers, with numerous arrests and injuries resulting from a situation that the local police commander described as "very overheated." Nothing like that has happened at the center here on the outskirts of Ingolstadt, a picturesque Bavarian city along the Danube River that's best known as the home of the carmaker Audi. But the anger among asylum seekers was evident during a media tour of a facility that's normally off-limits to outsiders. "I need help!" Alimat Kubi pleaded to reporters during a demonstration by dozens of the facility's residents, who held aloft handmade signs and chanted slogans protesting the shelter's conditions. Kubi said she has spent eight months in a tiny room alongside her husband and four children. None of them can sleep at night because of the cramped quarters. And now they have a baby - her fifth child - born earlier this month. But they are not able to heat up bottles of milk for her, because residents are barred from cooking. "We thought Germany would be better for us," Kubi said, shaking her head. She said she fled her native Nigeria to protect her young daughters from female genital mutilation, a practice that is pervasive in some parts of the country. A dangerous journey across the desert and the sea followed. Her family is still waiting for word on whether they can stay. Although the average wait time for a decision among shelter residents is more than four months, some cases can take a year or longer because of appeals and the complicated nature of asylum claims for people who, in many instances, arrived in Germany without passports or other documents. Most Nigerians who apply for asylum in Germany are rejected on the grounds that they are seeking a better life, not necessarily fleeing war or persecution. But escaping female genital mutilation is a valid reason for granting protection, according to social workers who assist the migrants. Human rights advocates say policies for deciding who goes to the anchor centers ignore those specific reasons people fled their homes, and focus only on nationality. And once in the centers, where details of their cases are first considered, residents have virtually no hope of making progress with their German integration. "There is no contact with neighbors because there are no neighbors," said Alexander Thal, spokesman for the Bavarian Refugee Council, an advocacy group. "They just have to sit inside the center and wait." They also can be cut off from legal assistance. In Ingolstadt, only one lawyer specializes in asylum cases, and his office is miles away. "People don't have the tools to make use of their rights," said Gabriele Storkle, a social worker with the aid group Caritas, one of the few organizations allowed inside the center. Facility administrators said they were not surprised by the residents' display of anger during the media tour. But they also defended conditions at a facility that was until recently a military barracks. "It's not luxury living," said Martin Nell, a spokesman for the regional administration that oversees the center. "But they have food. They have housing. They have humane living conditions." Uweh, the 27-year-old Nigerian, strongly disagrees. He described the food as inedible, legal advice as scarce and privacy as nonexistent. But the worst part is psychological. After eight months at the center, he wakes up each day to find that friends have been deported. His asylum claim has been rejected and he knows that one day soon, the police will come for him. "There's no hope," he said, his lip quivering. "They should have just told me when I got to Germany, 'We don't need you here. Go back.' " --- Video Embed Code Video: Nigerian migrant Franklin Uweh describes life at a facility for asylum seekers in Ingolstadt, Germany.(Griff Witte/The Washington Post) Embed code: Video: Germany is housing migrants who seek refugee protection but are unlikely to be allowed to stay in so-called "anchor centers," far from German communities.(Griff Witte/The Washington Post) Embed code: Video: Asylum seekers call for improvements to living conditions at a facility in Ingolstadt, Germany.(Griff Witte/The Washington Post) Embed code: House Speaker Paul Ryan's power is eroding just weeks after announcing he won't seek re-election, threatening his ability keep the chamber's restive Republicans united heading into an election that could cost them their majority. Open conflict has erupted among GOP factions over immigration, contributing to an embarrassing defeat on the House floor Friday when farm legislation failed to pass. The Intelligence Committee chairman went on national television -- without consulting Ryan -- to say he wanted to hold Republican Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt of Congress. And Ryan was forced to reverse his decision to oust the House chaplain. The fractures are beginning to show six months before an election that has Republicans trying to defend their congressional majorities amid signals -- from fundraising numbers and voter turnout in special elections -- that enthusiasm among Democrats could flip control of the House. Ryan of Wisconsin is focusing on raising money and campaigning on last year's tax cuts to hold the GOP House majority, but among both conservative and more centrist Republicans there is grumbling that they must accomplish more before the November election. "It's one thing to run on tax reform, but I think members want to run on other things,'' according to Ryan Costello, a Pennsylvania Republican who isn't running for re-election. The problem, Costello said, is that lawmakers from swing districts want a bipartisan compromise on immigration, while "folks in ruby red districts" have very different priorities. Sarah Binder, a congressional expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said these divergent GOP priorities are coming to a head as the conservative Freedom Caucus tried to hold a massive farm bill hostage to their immigration demands. Republican moderates facing potential election challenges are pursuing a different immigration agenda, pushing for a vote that could only pass with support from Democrats. "A key problem is that these factions see different routes to keeping control of the House. Conservatives want to play to the base, moderates need to appeal to the center," Binder said. "That's a recipe for stalemate -- and one that a lame duck speaker seems ill-equipped to address." Binder said that when Ryan's predecessor as speaker, John Boehner, announced he wouldn't run again, he did it in a non-election year. That let him, in his own words, "clean the barn" for Ryan by dispensing with difficult issues. "Ryan seems desperate to keep the barn doors shut," she said. Ryan has responded to rebellions in his conference in the same way he has dealt with the episodic controversies sparked by President Donald Trump: private conversations about how to find a less disruptive way to accomplish the goal. That approach appears to have worked with Devin Nunes of California, the Intelligence Committee chairman, who now says he's having "continuing discussions" with the Justice Department to get the information he subpoenaed, rather than holding administration officials in contempt of Congress. A Nunes spokesman, Jack Langer, said Thursday that after Nunes raised the prospect of contempt action against Sessions on television last week, he has since promised to "consult with the speaker before introducing a contempt resolution, and that remains the case." Yet Ryan's quiet, consultative approach didn't work when he dispatched an aide to ask for the House chaplain's resignation. "Look at the chaplain incident. That was a huge loss of prestige. He had to backpedal in firing him," said Rep. Gerald Connolly, a Virginia Democrat. "There are visible signs of serious erosion of influence and power." A bipartisan furor erupted after Ryan asked the chaplain, Patrick Conroy, to step down. That prompted Conroy, a Jesuit priest, to rescind his resignation letter and challenge the speaker's authority to fire him in the first place. Ryan also wasn't able to reach a deal over the farm legislation in time to prevent its defeat -- even though the measure includes new work requirements for food stamp recipients, an idea embraced by conservatives. In the minutes before the farm bill Ryan backed failed in a 198 to 231 vote, Ryan could be seen on the House floor talking to lieutenants, at one point burying his head in his hands. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said the House has been busy acting on legislation, including bills to roll back regulations adopted under former President Barack Obama. The chamber this week will take up revisions to the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul and other measures, she said. "The notion that the House is slowing pace is silly," Strong said. A GOP congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity said the battle over immigration would have unfolded regardless of whether Ryan announced his retirement and that Nunes acted without consulting Ryan even before he said he will be stepping down. The revolt on immigration has been on a low boil for months. A group of centrists shrugged off the speaker's requests to drop a petition drive to force a floor vote on immigration legislation, including bills that would appeal to Democrats. That prompted threats from staunchly conservative Republicans to retaliate by trying to sink the farm bill unless Ryan allows a vote on their favored hard-line immigration bill instead. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican who represents a diverse district in South Florida, said in December he would vote against the leadership's spending bills if they didn't first move a bill that would provide protection from deportation for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, along with measures to enhance border security. Now Curbelo, tired of waiting, is ignoring Ryan's opposition to his petition to force a floor vote on four different immigration proposals. "The discharge petition on immigration is a sign of a weakened party leadership" that can't enforce discipline, said Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Members of the Freedom Caucus say they also were promised, in exchange for their support for a spending bill, a full House vote on a immigration legislation favored by conservatives that was proposed by Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia. Iowa Republican Steve King, one of the most outspoken immigration opponents in Congress, said Ryan's handling of Curbelo's discharge petition could have consequences for his successor. Ryan has backed Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker if Republicans hang on to the majority after the midterm elections. "If the Democrats take over the floor with a handful of Republicans that team up with them, that would be, I think, untenable for anyone to sustain a leadership position," King said. "Especially if they have to be elected to it in the future.'' Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said delaying action on immigration is another example of Ryan not following through on the promises he made when he first became speaker to let bills to go through committees with an open amendment process on the floor. Perry said he and his fellow conservatives will use their votes to make sure the next Republican leader can't make empty promises. "We get tired of hearing, 'well, we'll do that in six months -- or never,' and then it always becomes a little too difficult to do it," Perry said. Republicans in both factions say Ryan's tight control of the legislative schedule is beginning to backfire now that his lame duck status leaves him with fewer tools typically used by speakers to keep members in line. McCarthy and Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the third ranking member of the GOP leadership team, are reluctant to retaliate against rebellious members to maintain goodwill for a future speaker's race. "Naturally, any lame duck is not going to have as much power," said Rep. Dennis Ross, a Florida Republican, who is retiring at the end of the year. "But you also can do things you wouldn't normally do. He might reach across the aisle and get 50 Democrats to vote on a bill -- upsetting all of our conservative Republicans because they passed a farm bill, for instance, without them," Ross said. "But what's more important? The speakership or the legislation?" An obscure, Florida-based policy group with ties to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and two of the country's most conservative Republican governors has become one of the loudest and most persuasive voices in the debate over new work requirements in the food-stamp program. The Foundation for Government Accountability - headed by a former adviser to Maine Gov. Paul LePage - spent six years testing welfare changes in Kansas, Mississippi and other states before taking its ideas to Washington in 2017. On Friday, those ideas - and FGA's leveraging of state political connections and policy one-liners to become a fixture in GOP strategy discussions - were in the spotlight when the House voted on a farm bill that seeks sweeping changes to work requirements for food stamp recipients. The bill ultimately failed because of unrelated GOP struggles over immigration. But political observers said the inclusion of proposed changes to food stamps was testimony to FGA's growing influence in key Republican circles. "The President and Speaker have a lot of energy around welfare reform that's infectious," said Paul Winfree, President Trump's former deputy assistant for public policy and a current director at the Heritage Foundation. "And one of the primary groups spreading that energy around from office to office is FGA. They are giving Members the details and the messaging. This is a powerful combination." The work requirements at issue on Friday would fundamentally change the food-stamp program for many adult recipients. Under the plan, most able-bodied people between 18 and 60 will have to work or attend a state training program for 20 hours a week to receive benefits. House Republicans - including Ryan, who was introduced to the group in 2016 through Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback - have repeatedly proffered FGA's analysis as proof that most Americans support strict work rules in welfare programs, and that such rules boost income and employment. Democrats, who opposed the bill because of the reforms, have fiercely disputed those claims. Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., the top Democrat on the House Committee, slammed the proposal in a Wednesday floor speech, saying it would deprive "an estimated 2 million Americans . . . [of] the help they need." FGA, as well as more established think tanks such as Heritage and the American Enterprise Institute, have long argued that recipients leave poverty faster when their benefits are tied to employment. But unlike the old guard, FGA - with its low national profile, remote staff of 26, and annual donations of about $7 million in 2017 - until now devoted itself to state policy, said chief executive Tarren Bragdon. That focus changed in 2016, the year Republicans swept the White House, House and Senate and Bragdon met Ryan at the behest of Brownback, the speaker's former boss. FGA had worked with Brownback to strengthen food-stamp work requirements in Kansas, a cause that Ryan also supported. At a meeting with Bragdon in May 2016, and in subsequent conversations, Ryan expressed interest in FGA's work and research, Bragdon said. In January 2017, FGA hired its first federal lobbyist. One year later, Bragdon made a presentation to House GOP leaders on "how to successfully move people from welfare to work" in programs such as SNAP. "We saw an opportunity to take our state-level successes and expand them across America," Bragdon said. "Our approach is to really tackle one big issue: How to give more Americans the life-changing power of work, at both the state and federal level." FGA pursued that goal in the past by advancing bills that bar states from seeking waivers to food stamp requirements, as well as advocating for Medicaid work requirements and campaigning against Medicaid expansion. Libertarian and conservative charitable funds, including Donors Trust and the Bradley Foundation, have fronted roughly a quarter of the money behind these efforts, according to tax documents, while the balance has come from anonymous individual donors. Bragdon's staff includes veterans of conservative administrations in Kansas and Texas, as well as advocates for overhauling welfare whom Bragdon met as the head of the right-wing Maine Heritage Policy Center and later as an adviser to LePage in the late aughts. Over a decade in and around the Maine statehouse, Bragdon and a cohort of young conservatives gained a reputation for outraging the other side of the aisle. Under LePage, Maine slapped a five-year time limit on cash welfare benefits and reinstated full SNAP work requirements for able-bodied adults. "I remember them as a pack of inexperienced activist right-wingers that went crazy on welfare reform," said Cynthia Dill, a former liberal state senator who clashed with Bragdon and other now-FGA staff. "It galled me that they had no expertise whatsoever in health and human services, but were appointed to places of power by the LePage administration." Since leaving Maine, Bragdon has sought to export many of the state's policies elsewhere. FGA developed model state legislation, dubbed the HOPE Act, which bars states from seeking federal waivers from SNAP's work rules. The bill has been introduced in 16 states since 2016 and passed in Kansas, Mississippi and Wisconsin. FGA says elements of the bill have been adopted in 28 states total. FGA also refers activist social service administrators to positions in Republican administrations, a service it advertises on its "FGA Talent Bank" as part of its work to overhaul welfare. And it has churned out a steady stream of infographics, opinion polls and first-person videos to promote its policies, many trumpeting a 2016 FGA study from Kansas that claimed the reinstatement of SNAP work requirements prompted thousands of unemployed Kansans to get jobs and more than doubled their average incomes. The study, while much promoted by Republicans, has been panned by both liberal and conservative economists for cherry-picking data. Among other issues, the paper only reports outcomes from former food-stamp recipients who found jobs after they lost benefits, said Jeffrey Grogger, an applied microeconomist at the University of Chicago who has studied welfare. Grogger also said the paper failed to establish a direct relationship between the welfare policy changes and outcomes for recipients. Most welfare recipients obtain jobs and leave the program anyway, he said, regardless of work requirements. And he said the paper is at odds with the scientific literature that has largely found the rules do not greatly improve recipients' incomes, and may even hurt them. In addition to the Kansas study, House Republicans have distributed an FGA analysis of three-year-old USDA data that breaks down the number of unemployed, able-bodied SNAP recipients by state. A Washington Post review of more recent USDA data suggests the current figures on food stamp recipients are lower than FGA has claimed. The group has also circulated polling numbers suggesting almost all Americans support stricter work requirements but have been faulted by observers like Peter Germanis, a conservative economist who served in the Reagan and Bush administrations, for oversimplifying public opinion and the available evidence. "Work requirements should be based on credible evidence and attention to policy details - the exact opposite of what FGA produces," Germanis tweeted May 17. "Sad that so many politicians fall for their 'junk science.' " In an interview, Bragdon defended his team's analysis, saying other researchers are free to use "different approaches." FGA's poll results are in line with those conducted by other groups, he said. And FGA prepared its state-by-state analysis last year, before the most recent data was available. Bragdon said he is "proud" of his group's research, which he has pushed to get in front of as many lawmakers as possible. FGA specializes in slick policy one-pagers, which - with their color-coded headlines and catchy graphics - appear to bear a debt to Bragdon's brother, Trevor, a behavioral scientist who has worked with FGA and specializes in "persuasive branding" for conservative causes. One of Bragdon's employees, Sam Adolphsen, is currently on loan to the foundation, where he carries the title "senior fellow" and recently testified about SNAP before the House Oversight Committee. FGA's emphasis on policy messaging and marketing have, experts said, differentiated the group from traditional think tanks. "FGA isn't doing much 'thinking,' in the traditional sense," said Jim McGann, the director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. "But they market policy. They push, repackage and franchise other people's ideas for implementation." BEIRUT - President Donald Trump's moves to open a new Jerusalem embassy and withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal are destabilizing an already volatile Middle East, risking a wider regional war that the United States will be unable or unwilling to contain. Scenes of the bloodshed in Gaza have been twinned on television screens across the Arab world this week with footage of presidential advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner celebrating at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, reigniting forgotten Arab sympathies with the plight of the Palestinians and implicating the United States in the violence. Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal days earlier had already triggered concerns among friends and foes alike that he is steaming ahead in making major policy shifts without a coherent strategy for addressing the fallout. Either one of these steps would have rocked the region, but both coming in the space of less than a week amounted to "a recklessness that is frightening," said Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution in Washington. With the Arab-Israeli peace process at a dead end and wars already raging in Syria, Yemen and Libya, "the Middle East is already a dangerous enough environment," he said. "The last thing we needed was very provocative moves that only add further toward the momentum towards an even larger regional confrontation." In the space of eight days, election results in Iraq and Lebanon dealt setbacks to U.S. political allies in places where the United States competes for influence with Iran, and the biggest confrontation yet between Israel and Iran erupted in Syria and the Golan Heights. All of this added to the sense that the Middle East is hurtling toward some new form of upheaval. These events all run counter to U.S. interests by strengthening hard-liners in Iran, undermining the United States' Arab allies, fueling passions that can lead to extremism and ceding ground to rivals such as Russia, said Riad Kahwaji of the Dubai-based Inegma defense consultancy. "Iran, Russia, ISIS, al-Qaida - you are playing into the hands of all the U.S. enemies in the region," he said. ISIS is another name for the Islamic State. Even the closest U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf are growing uncomfortable with Trump's policies, which they increasingly suspect are rooted more in his desire to fulfill election promises to his domestic base than in any alignment with their interests, analysts say. Although Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates publicly welcomed Trump's decision last week to withdraw from the nuclear deal, officials from those countries have privately expressed misgivings about the apparent lack of any alternative strategy for containing Iran, the analysts say. The rulers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have energetically cultivated close personal relationships with the Trump family but are starting to realize that their close ties to the president could backfire. "These are the policies of one president. He will go, another will come, and we will be left to face the music in the region," said Mustafa Alani, director of security studies at the Gulf Research Center in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Saudi Arabia and its allies had vociferously opposed the nuclear deal because it failed to address their concerns about Iran's ballistic missile program and its expansionist activities in the region. But they didn't expect Trump to withdraw from the accord without a replacement strategy that would address their foremost concerns, he said. The Trump administration has yet to fully articulate its Iran strategy, but the U.S. president indicated in his statement announcing the withdrawal from the deal that his approach will rely on sanctions to curb Iran's behavior. Alani said that could take years. "The time frame is not encouraging because we don't think Trump can achieve the objective of Iran containment in two years," he said. "We are 100 percent with this policy, but what is this containment going to be, what is our role, and are you going to put us on the front line?" The Gulf countries had agreed that the deal was too weak to stop Iran's nuclear development, Alani said, "but we needed amendment, not cancellation. We need some sort of deal. We don't want war." The feeling that Trump is undermining his allies was compounded by the opening of the Jerusalem embassy on Monday, which thrust images of Israelis killing Palestinians back into the Middle East media for the first time in years and revived memories of an era when the United States was seen as the foremost enemy of Arab aspirations. "The Massacre of Trump's Declaration" read a headline in the pan-Arab Al-Hayat, making it clear who the newspaper blamed for the deaths of 60 Palestinians by Israeli gunfire. "Trump was beginning to have momentum vis-a-vis Iran with the support of the other Arab countries, but after Gaza, it's like he's someone shooting himself in the foot," said Kahwaji. "When we have scenes like we saw in Gaza, Iran gains more popularity because Iran is the one advocating resistance against Israel." These developments could put Arab allies of the United States "in a weak spot," Kahwaji said. "At some point they will have to distance themselves from the Trump administration." Most ordinary Arabs in the region see Trump's moves simply as "bizarre," said Rami Khouri, a professor at the American University of Beirut. "The United States posture has shifted into a very unusual, predatory, chest-thumping bravado, and we're seeing the results in the ratcheting-up of tensions," he said. "But then they don't take any action." Khouri said he doubts there will be a major war because the costs would be too high for everyone involved, and Trump has clearly indicated he does not want to engage the United States in military action. Instead, continuing flare-ups and skirmishes are likely, he said. But the risk remains that a miscalculation or unforeseen incident could ignite a larger conflict. Debates rage over which front line might become the next flash point. The most obvious one is Syria, where Israel and Iran are already locked in a cycle of escalating confrontations. An Israel-Iran clash in Syria could draw in Lebanon, where Iran's ally Hezbollah has recently cemented its hold on Lebanese politics with a narrow election win by its allies over the U.S.-backed bloc led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Yemen is another potential flash point. A big worry is that one of the missiles now being fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels at Riyadh will cause mass casualties or hit a facility such as the airport terminal and kill Americans, necessitating a U.S. response, said Firas Maksad, director of the Arabia Foundation, which is based in Washington and backed by Saudi Arabia. The outcome of the election in Iraq, meanwhile, has brought Iraq into play by delivering the largest number of seats in the country's parliament to the mercurial cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and relegating the U.S.-backed Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to third place, according to unofficial results. Sadr is opposed to both the United States and Iran, both of which have a military presence in Iraq. According to the latest figures made available by the Pentagon, as of December, 5,200 U.S. troops were based there, coexisting alongside Iranian military advisers and Iranian-backed militias under a detente that took hold during the Obama administration. But Sadr's win was narrow, and he will need allies if his bloc is to lead the next government, setting up a contest between Iran and the United States to influence its shape. "The most dangerous place is probably Iraq, because we have a substantial American presence in Iraq, and the Iranians have many proxies," said the Brookings Institution's Riedel. "The election has put the future of the country very much up in the air. I'd be worried that Iranian proxies will start targeting American soldiers, as they have done before, and then we're in a very shaky situation." WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and House Republican leaders have reopened negotiations over the fate of young undocumented immigrants and border security, resurrecting the politically explosive issue of immigration that has stymied the GOP. In a days-long uprising, GOP moderates fearful of continued inaction ahead of the midterm elections employed a rarely used legislative maneuver to force Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and White House officials back to the negotiating table. The overall efforts on Thursday have focused on a path to permanent residency for the hundreds of thousands of "Dreamers" left in limbo after Trump canceled the program last year. Crucial to the discussions are ways to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Trump promised repeatedly in the 2016 campaign. No single issue is more politically fraught and vexing for Republicans than immigration, and the latest flash point is exposing the divisions. Trump capitalized on fears about immigrants exploiting the nation's borders to win the presidency and a hard-line stance is the cornerstone of his brand. This week, the president clamored to tighten laws to keep "animal" gang members out of the country, and he has threatened to spark a government shutdown barely a month before the election if the border wall isn't funded. "A vote for a Democrat in November is a vote for open borders and crime," he said at a rally last month in Michigan. But taking a vote on restrictive immigration policies could hand political ammunition to rivals of many GOP incumbents in swing districts whose success is critical to retaining the party's House majority. Ryan, who has announced plans to retire at the end of his term, said Thursday that his goal is legislation acceptable to Trump, Republicans and some Democrats, a type of compromise that has been rare in the GOP-led House. "The question is, could we have a bill that has a vast majority of Republicans that some Democrats would support? What's the combination?" Ryan said That's a dilemma that Republicans had hoped they could avoid. In February, the Supreme Court moved to stay Trump's cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields more than a half-million young immigrants from deportation. By removing an imminent deadline, that stalled an already precarious effort to pass a legislative DACA fix. But a group of renegade Republican moderates are unwilling to wait. Twenty have signed a "discharge" petition that would set up a series of votes on competing immigration bills, including at least one that could pass with mostly Democratic votes. With nearly every Democrat expected to join the petition, that is enough Republicans to put it within arm's reach of success. Ryan and other Republican leaders have responded by mounting a full-court press to block the effort - which culminated Thursday in a new and frantic effort to fashion a more conservative bill that could win the support of most Republicans and potentially some Democrats. The effort follows a White House meeting Tuesday where Trump, Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., discussed ideas on how to sidestep the discharge effort and also fulfill Trump's pledges to build a border wall, crack down on "sanctuary cities" that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities, and tighten other immigration policies. But doing so requires navigating a political minefield, and it could mean at least a partial retreat from the sweeping immigration framework that Trump issued in January that included $25 billion in border wall funding as well as the cancellation of key legal immigration pathways. House GOP leaders have spent months trying to build support for a conservative immigration bill co-authored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, but they have failed to persuade enough Republicans to pass it. Conversations between House leadership and the White House in recent days have centered on how to modify the Goodlatte-McCaul bill to win broader support, according to lawmakers and Republican aides familiar with the talks. That could include adding a path to permanent residency for DACA recipients and removing a controversial guest worker program for agricultural workers that would require them to return to their home countries to secure visas. "No one has identified that unicorn yet," said one senior Republican aide of the effort to find a workable compromise. By Thursday afternoon, House leaders also were trying to find a way to set up a debate next month that would allow conservatives and moderates to channel their frustrations without empowering Democrats or endangering their pending reelection campaigns. The leaders of the discharge effort said Thursday that they were encouraged by Ryan's efforts to broker a bona fide immigration debate but said they were prepared to move forward with the discharge petition if they are not satisfied. "Symbolic votes are nice, but that's not what we're seeking here," said Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., who filed the initial petition. "We want something that the president can sign, and we want to make law." Ryan and his leadership team are also facing pressure from their right flank, with the conservative House Freedom Caucus on Thursday threatening to withhold votes on a massive farm and nutrition bill until leaders schedule a vote on the Goodlatte-McCaul bill. McCarthy said Thursday that the House would take up that measure next month but did not indicate whether other immigration bills would get a vote. The sudden immigration fracas represented the first major legislative dustup since Ryan announced last month that he would retire from Congress after his current term. A successful discharge petition - a rare act of internal defiance - would raise questions about Ryan's effectiveness as a lame duck. The last successful discharge petition came in 2015, shortly after then-Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced he would resign from the House. In the last few weeks of Boehner's speakership, a majority of the House successfully forced a vote on renewing the Export-Import Bank, an agency that many conservatives want to permanently shutter. The new dustup also carries implications for McCarthy and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., the No. 2 and No. 3 GOP leaders who are both seen as potential successors to Ryan. Both men have moved aggressively to put down the discharge rebellion. McCarthy told colleagues in a closed-door meeting Wednesday that signing the petition and potentially passing an immigration compromise favored by Democrats could depress conservative turnout in November and hurt their chances of keeping the House majority. Scalise, meanwhile, pledged to back Trump in a Fox News Channel interview: "We're working with President Trump to get a solution," he said, "but blanket amnesty with no border protection and no wall is not the answer." Immigration has been an especially sensitive issue for Ryan, who for years supported bills that would provide a path to legal status for millions of illegal immigrants - not just those who arrived in the United States as children. But that stance has been increasingly unpopular with Republican voters, who have consistently punished those favoring "amnesty," including former House Majority leader Eric Cantor, who lost his Virginia primary in 2014 to a hard-liner. Since becoming speaker, Ryan has been especially sensitive to respect the wishes of a conservative rank-and-file that expressed little interest in undertaking a broad effort that could give undocumented immigrants a path out of the shadows. According to the moderates leading the discharge petition, Ryan has shown no sympathy for their effort, despite his repeated pledges that Congress would act to protect DACA recipients after Trump's election. On Thursday, Ryan praised Trump for forging a strong immigration stance in January - one that has been criticized by Democrats and moderate Republicans for cutting back on legal immigration and funding what they consider to be an expensive and ineffective border wall. "The president hasn't changed his opinion, his principles, his pillars," Ryan said. "I think the president made a very good-faith effort. . . . He was extremely reasonable in putting those pillars out there." Even if the House manages to muscle through an immigration bill, there is no guarantee Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. - whose chamber filibustered four separate immigration bills earlier this year - will take it up. "I just don't know how the House could pass anything that would get us the nine Democrats that we need to pass it over here," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., one of McConnell's top deputies. Publicly, the White House is not deviating from the framework it laid out in January, which attracted just 39 supporters in the Senate when it was voted on earlier this year. "Our priorities have not changed in the immigration conversation at all," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday. Washington During a tense Senate confirmation hearing last week, Gina Haspel rattled off a list of national security challenges she could face as the first woman to lead the CIA Russian aggression, Iranian ambitions in the Middle East, China's increasing global reach, destructive cyberattacks and deadly terrorist groups. The senators barely touched those topics, however, instead focusing nearly all their questions on Haspel's role in the agency's then-secret network of overseas prisons where terrorism suspects were tortured in hopes of producing intelligence on attacks after Sept. 11, 2001. With the Senate voting 54 to 45 to confirm Haspel on Thursday, the career CIA officer's attention will pivot from a dark chapter in her past and in U.S. history to a daunting array of threats and opportunities around the globe. The CIA is deeply involved in helping President Donald Trump prepare for a June 12 summit in Singapore where he will try to persuade North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons. Two weeks ago, however, Trump pulled out of the international accord that has successfully blocked Iran from building any nuclear weapons even as U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded Tehran was complying with the deal. U.S. intelligence officials have warned Congress that Russia will try to meddle in American politics before the November midterm elections, much as they did in the presidential campaign in 2016. Trump has downplayed or dismissed those conclusions as a hoax. "These are fraught and complex and dynamic times," Susan M. Gordon, principal deputy director of National Intelligence, told reporters on a conference call this week. Haspel, 61, will face challenges at the White House as well. Trump has referred to her fondly as "our Gina" and pushed hard for her confirmation, but it's not clear whether she can forge the same close relationship with the president as her predecessor, Mike Pompeo, who is now secretary of State. Haspel has built a "respectful" relationship with the president over the last 16 months, when she served as Pompeo's deputy, according to an intelligence official who declined to speak publicly in order to describe private conversations. But the unusual political environment in the Trump era could be a hurdle for a veteran spy more accustomed to assessing adversaries overseas than navigating the toxic cross currents in Washington. She's the first CIA operations officer to rise through the ranks to the agency's top position in five decades. Trump has been deeply suspicious of career national security officials Haspel has worked 33 years at the CIA, mostly undercover and sometimes refers to a "deep state" dedicated to undermining him. At times, he has publicly derided U.S. intelligence agencies, even once comparing them to Nazis. "I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out," he said a week before he was inaugurated in January 2017, referring to a dossier of allegations about Trump's supposed ties to Russia. "That's something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do." Congressional oversight is increasingly politicized as well. When a bipartisan majority on the Senate Intelligence Committee this week backed intelligence community findings that Moscow tried to help Trump win in 2016 by hacking computers and spreading misinformation on social media, it broke with the House Intelligence Committee, which had voted on strict party lines to reject a similar conclusion. The Republican-led House Intelligence Committee is "acting in ways that are well outside the traditions and norms," said David Kris, a former assistant attorney general for national security who remains an external adviser to intelligence agencies. The situation becomes more complicated when Trump feuds with the intelligence agencies under his control. "It puts the whole system under strain," said Kris, who founded the Culper Partners consulting business. Haspel's Senate confirmation was largely expected after several Democrats, nearly all facing re-election battles this fall in states that voted handily for Trump, signaled that they would cross the aisle to support her. In the end, six Democrats voted in favor of Haspel and two Republicans Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona voted against her in the most narrowly divided confirmation vote in the CIA's history. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had urged his colleagues to reject Haspel, but he did not cast a vote because he is home in Arizona being treated for brain cancer. The vote followed a heated nomination battle that reopened the country's painful debate over the CIA's use of torture after the Sept. 11 attacks. Concerns about Texas' dwindling lethal injection supplies coupled with questions about the age of the drugs have some advocates wondering whether the state is prepared to humanely carry out its recent uptick in scheduled executions. Texas currently has eight death dates and nine doses of its execution drug compounded sodium pentobarbital for use in the Huntsville death chamber. What's more, a string of contradictory records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice raises questions about whether some of those doses could be three years old, far older than previously reported and old enough that experts worry it could increase the chances of a "torturous" execution. "The older the drug the greater the likelihood of a botched execution. Period," said Maurie Levin, a death penalty lawyer with experience in lethal injection litigation. "It becomes contaminated, corrupted, impotent, and all of those things can lead to a torturous execution." In response to a public information request by the Houston Chronicle late last year, the state said that some of its current supplies were obtained in 2015 even though supply logs appeared to show those drugs were no longer on hand. Officials declined to explain the discrepancy. "Clearly, the reason they are not being forthcoming is because there is something they don't want the public to know," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that has been critical of the administration of the death penalty. "That's bad policy and a bad practice," he added. **** Earlier this year, hours before the execution of death row inmate John Battaglia of Dallas, Levin and a team of attorneys filed an unsuccessful lawsuit accusing the state of botching two executions in January by using too-old drugs. In that claim - which a court shot down - attorneys reviewed TDCJ records and concluded that the department had been testing drugs just prior to their scheduled expiration to justify extending the shelf life. READ MORE: Lawyers claim last 2 Texas executions botched by old drugs Typically, the state's drugs have beyond-use dates at least a year in the future, but experts have repeatedly voiced suspicions about what the TDCJ does with those supplies when they're set to expire. For instance, in July 2017, on the same day a batch of drugs was set to expire, the state sent eight doses back to the supplier and got eight doses back the same day, listed in a log simply as "return from supplier." The state has previously declined to explain what, specifically, that designation indicates. "An educated guess is that they're using the same drugs that they previously stated already expired," Levin told the Chronicle. "But because they insist on keeping this information secret, we don't know what they're doing." Levin and other experts are concerned that TDCJ might simply extend the shelf-life of its current supplies as they near their expiration dates in July and November. The questions about the age of supplies come as several states have reported difficulties in obtaining drugs for lethal injections because of reluctance by manufacturers to provide them for that use. Megan McCracken, a capital litigator with the Lethal Injection Project at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law, voiced concerns after reviewing the state records. "The logs and DEA forms appear to contradict each other and to obscure information about the state's execution drug supply," she said, condemning the "lack of transparency." *** For attorneys and death penalty watchdogs, the possibility of using three-year-old drugs is troubling. READ MORE: As lethal injection lawsuit continues, Texas replenishes execution drug supplies The state's supplies of the deadly barbiturate are kept in 2.5-gram vials and in 5-gram vials, both of which are tracked on separate logs. The had-written 5-gram log and a Drug Enforcement Administration tracking form both show the prison system got 11 vials of drugs on Dec. 16, 2015. But then in July 2016, all of the 5-gram supplies were "returned to the supplier," the logs show. For seven months, the department had no 5-gram drugs, but in February 2017 another 11 vials came in marked "new supplies," according to the logs. So, on the one hand, records seem to show that the oldest 5-gram supplies date back to early 2017. But yet, other records indicate that the oldest 5-gram supplies date back to late 2015. "The received dates are 12/16/2015 and 02/02/2017," the department wrote in an email, responding to a question about when the current supplies were received. And last month, after a request for tracking forms corresponding "only" to drugs currently in supply, prison officials provided DEA forms dating back to December 2015, again suggesting the state still had those three-year-old drugs on hand. "It's like Scrooge and his ledger," said Dr. Joel Zivot, an associate professor of anesthesiology at Emory University School of Medicine who has testified as an expert in lethal injection litigation. "Maybe a lemonade stand would have a similar level of accountability." Embattled HSE chiefs have come under fire again this week, this time from a batch of irate Longford County Councillors. In what has been one of the worst periods in its 13 year history owing to the fallout from the cervical cancer crisis, local politicians were keen to vent their displeasure at the body charged with running the States health service. Their indignation was not however, directed at its handling of a controversy that has already claimed the head of its most senior official, but rather at calls to hold an upcoming meeting with councillors behind closed doors. HSE Cllr Peggy Nolan said she had been left flabbergasted by the request and by the HSEs pleas to have questions from local representatives circulated to it ahead of any meeting. As far as I am concerned, they (HSE) come, they listen and we do what we request them to do, she snapped. The questions wont be submitted in advance. Asked if she would be agreeable to holding discussions with the HSE in committee and away from the glare of the media spotlight, Cllr Nolan said: I am not having any more meetings in committee. This is to do with the welfare of people of this county, absolutely not. She was followed by Independent Cllr Mae Sexton, who admitted she was more than a bit surprised by the appeal. Every time they have come here where we have asked them (HSE) something, if they are not able to answer there and then we have said: OK, just get back to us on it, so I dont know why they are looking for the questioning in advance. I think its the wrong way for them to be approaching this as the idea of this committee was to give time to local authority members to speak on matters that are of grave concern to them. Cllr Paraic Brady Fine Gael Cllr Paraic Brady, who sits as one of three local figures on the HSEs Dublin Mid-Leinster Health Forum said he too had been left baffled by calls to hold any discussions in private. I cant see why the press cant be here, he maintained. The press attend our Health Forum meetings and there is no reason why they cant be here. Read Also: Longford patients warned of delay to seeing doctors after Cervical Check scandal The View: Our Health Service is light years away from where it should be A south Longford transport company are one of three businesses expected to share in a 1m windfall brought about by the arrival of Center Parcs next year. Ballymahon's OHaire Bus Hire will transport the UK leisure giant's housekeeping staff to and from its Longford Forest resort when it becomes fully operational next summer. It was among a trio of companies announced by Center Parcs in a first series of large scale supplier contracts ahead of its planned opening in 14 months time. Myself and our experienced and committed team here at OHaire Bus Hire are very grateful and delighted to have been chosen by Center Parcs to transport their staff to and from their place of work, said Anthony OHaire, owner of OHaire Bus Hire. A family-run business based in Ballymahon, the local bus company lies only one kilometre from the 233m holiday village. Details of its agreement with Center Parcs comes as the company celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. We commend Center Parcs for supporting local businesses and look forward to developing a great business relationship with them in the years ahead, added Anthony. We wish Center Parcs continued success as they develop and bring to fruition a state-of-the-art forest holiday village in Longford, their first in Ireland. Two other firms were also included in the weekend announcement by Center Parcs. They include Java Republic, which will provide premium coffee and tea across the resorts cafes and bars while Meath outfit Briody Bedding Ltd are to supply bespoke beds and mattresses for the 466 lodges and 30 apartments at the 395 acre site. Read Also: FastHouse lands 470-lodge contract at Center Parcs Longford Forest WATCH: The subtropical swimming paradise experience that is coming to Center Parcs Longford Forest The introduction of a new weekend evening bus pilot scheme from Granard to Longford could be just the start in combating the effects of rural isolation, it has been claimed. The National Transport Authority confirmed it had included a Friday and Saturday service connecting the towns of Granard, Ballinalee and Longford as part of a countrywide pilot scheme spanning 19 different counties. Expansion Local Cllr Micheal Carrigy, who has been Longford County Council's representative on the Longford/Westmeath Community Transport body for the past four years, said efforts to expand the service are already in train. There is already a three times a day service on that route (Granard-Ballinalee-Longford) and we are trying to link in with buses that go to Dublin during the mornings, he said. We are looking at expanding it to the south of the county as well so that, in time, every area will be covered. Inclusion The Fine Gael general election candidate also urged anyone who may feel their village or town is currently not adequately serviced to make contact with him. His party colleague and constituency running mate, Peter Burke TD, said there was plenty of merit in ensuring rural communities in Longford are predisposed to rural transport services. It was critical that Longford was included in the pilot scheme for a new night bus service, he said. In light of the new drink driving rules coming into force to increase safety on our roads, it is important to provide practical solutions to help combat potential isolation in our rural communities. Mr Burke said the addition of a new weekend evening service would inevitably make serviceable towns much more attractive both to locals and visitors to the area. Communities and local businesses in Granard, Balinalee and Longford will be able to organise new activities and events to attract residents in the evening, now that they know those residents will have this evening bus service available to them, he said. Read Also: Measures to ensure Longford and its economy will grow A judge has told a teenager accused of carrying out a series of thefts in north Longford to recompense the victims of his crimes or run the risk of a prison sentence. Corey Leonard (18), of Esker Hill, Longford, pleaded guilty to the charges which were heard today before Judge Seamus Hughes at Longford District Court. Sgt Tom Quinn gave evidence of each of the alleged incidents, the majority of which involved the theft of battery diggers taken from various building sites and farmland between March 31 and the beginning of this month. The charges included alleged thefts at Townagh and Aughadowry in Ballinamuck, Esker in Ballinalee and at Lettergullion, Drumlish. In most instances, he said, the batteries taken were valued at 200 resulting in an overall sum of 1,050 having been reported missing by various injured parties. Sgt Quinn also gave details of how Mr Leonard had similarly been charged with trespassing on the grounds of Fr Manning Gaels in Drumlish on April 30 2018. He said entry to the property was gained via a rear door before CCTV footage taken from the scene allegedly showed Mr Leonard making off with a sledgehammer, valued at 50. Sgt Quinn added it was during one of the theft related incidents before the court that the accused had been disturbed, forcing him to leave the scene empty handed. A resulting chase, involving a witness ensued and which led to a number of alleged dangerous driving incidents. He said Mr Leonard, together with a co accused, was arrested last Wednesday where certain admissions in relation to the charges before the court were made. Sgt Quinn said he had been informed that Mr Leonard's father had "gone to great lengths" to seek out employment for his son, efforts which had culminated in the 18-year-old securing a job in Dublin in the construction trade. The sergeant said it was his belief the events of the past week had had a certain "awakening" effect on Mr Leonard. Asked by Judge Hughes what caused him to resort to stealing, Mr Leonard said the batteries were taken with a view to being sold on for scrap. In defence, solicitor Frank Gearty assured the court that Mr Leonard would be mixing with associates of his father when he starts work on Monday and not the circles he had been socialising with up until his arrest last week. Sgt Quinn backed up that standpoint, describing the teenager's father as a "hardworking man". Judge Hughes said he would be willing to afford Mr Leonard an opportunity to make good his wrongdoings provided the necessary compensation was provided to the court. "There is a very strong possibility you will get one chance for what was a very serious criminal escapade, but it's up to you," he told Mr Leonard. Judge Hughes also agreed to relax Mr Leonard's bail conditions which previously had been required the teenager to sign on three times a week at Granard Garda Station. Due to his new found employment, this was reduced to once a week and on a Saturday in order to allow Mr Leonard return home. Two charges of dangerous driving levelled against Mr Leonard, were withdrawn by the State. A file, in relation to a co accused, is currently being readied for the Gardai's Youth Diversion Office. Sports & Recreation, Local News, Crime, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 18 2018 National Safe Boating Week is May 19-25. The SCPD will be getting a new patrol boat from New York State. Albany, NY - May 18, 2018 - Governor Cuomo today announced that five new patrol boats have been assigned to state and local law enforcement agencies to assist with marine law enforcement efforts across the state. "With our exceptional rivers, lakes and coastal waters, New York is home to some of the best recreational boating in the nation," Governor Cuomo said. "These new vessels will help state and local law enforcement keep our waterways safe and welcoming for New Yorkers and visitors alike." This year's patrol vessels were assigned to: Department of Environmental Conservation Police, Region 4 - 24' Justice model New York State Park Police, Niagara Region - 750 Impact model Suffolk County Police Department - 24' Justice model Glen Cove Police Department - 24' Justice model Yates County Sheriff's Department - 24' Justice model The boats, valued at approximated $150,000, were made possible through the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund administered by the U.S. Coast Guard, which provides funding to the states to assist with recreational boating safety. The patrol vessels will be delivered in July. These police agencies will use them to enhance recreational boater safety and enforce the New York State Navigation Law. "Our law enforcement partners do an excellent job helping promote safe recreational boating across New York," said Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. "Recreational boaters can do their part by following a few simple precautions that will help ensure a trip stays fun from beginning to end." National Safe Boating Week is a campaign sponsored by the National Safe Boating Council to spread the message of boating safety and encourage boater education. Boaters are reminded to practice safe and responsible boating, including: Wear a personal floatation device whenever they are on the water. State law requires that children under age 12 wear a personal flotation device while on a watercraft; Complete a safe boating course; Properly equip and inspect their vessel; Maintain a prudent speed; Refrain from mixing alcohol with boating; and Check the weather forecast before heading out on the water to learn about potential storms and seek immediate shelter on shore if thunder is audible. People paddling canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards should know their abilities and take precautions when there are high or steady winds creating large waves, or when they are in strong currents. Paddlers in waters where there are motorboats should keep close to shorelines and out of main channels. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said, "The diverse boating opportunities around Long Island are part of what makes our quality of life in Nassau County so exceptional. I'm grateful for Governor Cuomo's work to keep Long Island residents and visitors safe while they enjoy boating here." Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, "As the summer season gets underway, it is essential for local law enforcement to have the tools available to enforce our boating safety laws. I thank Governor Cuomo for delivering these patrol vessels to our waters to help meet our obligation and keep residents safe." Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike said, "Recreational boating in New York is important to our state in many ways. The patrol vessel program is a great asset to law enforcement and the patrols are a public reminder of safety, and that the navigation related laws are important. Our office provides marine patrol services on Seneca, Keuka, and Canandaigua Lakes in the Finger Lakes Region and we thank the Governor and the NYS Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation for this important support program." To protect New York's water quality and avoid spreading aquatic invasive species, all boaters and paddlers should check, clean, drain, dry and disinfect watercraft. Learn more at https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/48221.html Review Policy Because this blog is aimed at librarians and patrons of school libraries, I use E ARCs provided by Netgalley and Edelweiss, and physical ARCs if provided by major publishers. All books reviewed should be available in hard cover from vendors like Follett. I do not earn any money from this blog, and any books I receive are donated to my school library or other libraries in my district. All opinions are my own and do not reflect anyone else's. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 18 2018 Boyle nominates Sabrina Lacy for Hall of Fame representing the 4th Senate District. Suffolk County, NY - May 18, 2018 - On Tuesday, May 15, 2018 the New York State Senate inducted the 2018 New York Veteran honorees into the State Senate Veterans' Hall of Fame. This year Senator Phil Boyle selected Commander of the Suffolk County VFW, Sabrina Lacy as the honoree representing the 4th Senate District. It was a true privilege to name Sabrina Lacy as my nominee, said Senator Boyle. Sabrina served with distinction and received numerous medals and commendations while attaining the rank of Sergeant during her 20 years in the United States Army. It was my honor to stand with Sabrina at the induction ceremonies in Albany and present her with her certificate of recognition. Congratulations Sabrina! The New York State Senate Veterans' Hall of Fame was created to honor and recognize outstanding veterans from the Empire State who have distinguished themselves both in military and civilian life. Their meritorious service to our nation deserves the special recognition that only a Hall of Fame can provide, as a fitting expression of our gratitude and admiration. Sabrina Lacy is the first black woman to hold the position of Suffolk VFW Commander. She has dedicated her life to helping veterans throughout our county and state. According to 2010-2012 data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), 40% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. In all its forms, cancer is known to be a clinically and emotionally challenging disease to manage. Despite the fact that each year 455 men and women per 100,000 patients are diagnosed with cancer (NCI, 2008-2012 data), 1 in 5 cancer patients are still misdiagnosed, further exacerbating the challenges of treatment for clinicians, patients, and their families. Founded in 2011, Precipio Diagnostics out of New Haven, Connecticut is a reference laboratory using advanced diagnostics and personalized medicine to reduce the prevalence of cancer misdiagnosis. Today, Precipio reports a 99% accuracy rate in correctly diagnosing cancer patients through the companys unique combination of offerings. Precipios diagnostic services include laboratory testing and clinical review through partnerships with some of the nations leading medical institutions, including the Yale School of Medicine. In addition to its services, Precipio is also developing and commercializing products in line with its diagnostic services. Last month, the company filed a provisional patent for a non-invasive cell capture device for gynecological cancer detection. To learn more about Precipios offerings and vision for improving cancer diagnosis, Medgadget had a chance to speak with the companys Founder and CEO, Ilan Danieli. Michael Batista, Medgadget: What are the causes of cancer misdiagnosis and what are the repercussions when a patient is misdiagnosed? Ilan Danieli: There are many reasons a patient can be misdiagnosed; we believe one of the key causes of misdiagnosis is the lack of subspecialized expertise of the diagnosing pathologist. As the complexity of cancer continues to increase, the ability to correctly diagnose a patient is largely driven by the pathologists experience and focus. Pathology is largely a matter of pattern recognition; experience and expertise in being able to review the various components of the case (biopsy slides, clinical information, patient history); and putting together the picture to arrive at the right diagnosis. This requires significant training and the development of subspecialist expertise. Conversely, we see the pathology industry moving in the opposite direction, with pathologists functioning more as generalists, being asked to do more, review a broader range of patient types, with less training. The repercussions of misdiagnosis can be lethal. The diagnosis sets the path for the entire treatment course the patient and their oncologist will embark on as they begin their battle against the cancer. A wrong diagnosis will send even the best and brightest of oncologists down the wrong path. To be clear, when we say misdiagnosis, the bulk of the mistakes are incorrect classification of the disease. A false positive/negative is less frequent, although sadly, it does happen, and we have seen many such cases. Misdiagnosis can result in placing the patient on the wrong treatment, which can lead to disease progression and further harm to the patient. Its important to keep in mind that cancer treatment involves chemotherapy, which uses highly toxic drugs that are put into the patients body with the intent of attacking the cancer cells. With various treatments designed to attack different types of cells, administering the wrong chemotherapy drug can be catastrophic. Another element of the diagnostic process is determining the prognosis (severity) of the disease. Many cancers are defined both by stage, as well as how aggressive they are. Less-aggressive cancers are treated in a different manner than more-aggressive cancers; the decision on how aggressively to treat the patient is based on the pathologists determination of the disease prognosis. Medgadget: What are the industry standards for diagnosing cancer today which lead to these surprisingly high misdiagnosis rates? Danieli: Its important to understand that the diagnostic process includes two elements. The first is the laboratory work, often referred to as the technical component, where the biopsy is received and various tests are run on it. This includes chemical staining, laser-based analysis, chromosome evaluation, and many other tests. The industry standards are governed by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), which mandate the method in which a laboratory test is developed and validated, and the ability to reproduce consistent results. While there are guidelines in terms of which tests are customarily ordered based on the clinical information and the type of biopsy, these tests are laboratory-developed (termed LDTs) and each laboratory may have different protocols for which tests are run and how they are set up. Many of the characteristics of the laboratory output are also driven by the medical directors preferences and expertise. These factors can result in various degrees of variability in the output a laboratory produces. The second element of the diagnostic process is the professional interpretation. In this step, the pathologist receives all the laboratory outputs, reviews all the information, and arrives at a diagnosis. The ability to arrive at the correct diagnosis is largely driven by the pathologists training, experience and expertise. If the pattern presenting in the slides and other materials is familiar to the pathologist, either through training or having seen it before, then there is a higher likelihood that they will arrive at the correct diagnosis. In order to qualify to render a diagnosis, the physician must be a board-certified pathologist. However, while there are many subspecialist certifications that provide a higher level of training and subspecialized expertise, there is no regulatory requirement for pathologists to complete these subspecialized training programs in order to diagnose such cases. For example, we specialize in hematopathology (cancers of the blood system: leukemia, lymphoma, etc.), one of the most complex types of cancers to diagnose. While there is a board certification as a subspecialist hematopathologist, many pathologists with an anatomic pathology certification, who dont have that board certification, still diagnose blood-related cancers. Medgadget: Why did you and your team at Precipio think you could improve upon the industry standards? Danieli: We observed a growing gap between the need for subspecialized expertise required to reach the correct diagnosis and what the industry was providing. We recognized that one of the only sources of subspecialized expertise was within premier academic institutions; however, the only patients who were benefitting from that expertise, <5% of the patients in the US, were those who were fortunate to live close to and be treated in a leading academic institution. We realized that if we could build a platform that harnessed that expertise and made it accessible to patients outside those academic institutions, we could provide a higher level of care to those patients by ensuring that the most important step in the battle against cancerthe diagnosiswas done right. Medgadget: Precipios offerings include a combination of services and products. Lets start with the services. Can you tell us a little more about how Precipios services such as SmartPath and SmartGen work? Danieli: Our vision is to provide any patient, wherever they are, with access to the most accurate diagnosis. This involves access to both the best technologies in the laboratory, as well as access to the best-trained pathologist to ensure the correct diagnosis is provided. SmartGen and SmartPath provide both of these tools. As we all are aware, genetics are becoming a key driver in identifying features of the tumor that can lead to individualized, precision treatment based on the patients personal genetic characteristics. SmartGen offers patients access to academic-based genetic tests that are developed by the researchers in some of the worlds leading cancer research institutions. This includes advanced diagnostic tests that both utilize the most cutting-edge technologies as well as incorporate the evaluation of the latest set of genes known to be associated with various cancers. This means that if a patient has a genetic mutation that may indicate a certain treatment path, these tests will likely find it. SmartPath provides access to the second critical element of arriving at the correct diagnosisaccess to an expert pathologist. We are building the worlds largest network of academic expert, subspecialist pathologists who will provide their expert opinion in reviewing the patient case materials and arriving at a diagnosis. Unfortunately, since we launched this service, we have overturned numerous diagnoses that we believe would have set the patient down the wrong path; some received a second opinion after commencing a treatment course that turned out to be the wrong one. Our service includes a full, comprehensive review of the materials initially generated by the primary diagnosing laboratory by an expert pathologist. Upon receipt of the case, we will triage it and assign it to the subspecialist expert within our network, to ensure that the patient and their biopsy are paired to the correct academic expert. Medgadget: What about Precipios products? Danieli: Through our recent acquisition of Transgenomic, we have developed ICE-COLD PCR (or ICP), which is our liquid biopsy technology. Prior to the emergence of the liquid biopsy, clinicians relied solely on the genetic information obtained from the biopsy of the tumor taken during disease onset. Its rare that the patient is re-biopsied beyond that; this results in treatments administered that, absent updated genetic information, may become ineffective and perhaps even harmful. We now know that tumors shed fragments of DNA in the bloodstream, called circulating tumor DNA. The ability to target those DNA fragments within a blood sample and enable genetic analysis, changes the way a patients disease progression and specifically the tumors genetic footprint can be monitored. Liquid biopsies are transforming cancer treatment by enabling a minimally invasive blood draw that provides a wealth of real-time, comprehensive information on the biology of the tumor itself. Clinicians no longer have to rely on outdated information from a biopsy that was taken one, two, or even five years prior. They now have current information they can act on. Our technology enables any laboratory conducting genetic cancer testing on tissue (solid tumors) to easily, quickly, and at no incremental cost, expand their diagnostic capabilities to conduct the same genetic testing on blood samples. Furthermore, because our technology resides in a chemical and does not require any additional equipment purchased, it is affordable, easy to incorporate into the work flow, and, equally important, laboratories can stay competitive by increasing their offerings. Medgadget: Precipio facilitates an academic research collaboration between clinicians and researchers. How does this collaboration benefit each side of the equation and what is the role of this collaboration in Precipios model? Danieli: Academics conducting research are constantly in search of patient samples in order to broaden the scope and breadth of their research and further validate their discovery. Patient samples are hard to come by and are oftentimes sources from a certain geographic region, thus limiting the diversity of those samples. Clinicians and their patients, on the other hand, are the ultimate recipients of the fruits of any research that is conducted at those academic institutions. Therefore, they have a vested interest in contributing to those studies with the hope that one day, as has happened numerous times in the past, those studies will yield medical advances that will benefit them and other patients. Precipio facilitates that collaboration by pairing clinicians and their patients, particularly those with their diverse disease states, with academic researchers who are seeking these patient samples in order to further their research. Medgadget: Did Precipio originally set out to be both a service and a product business, or did that strategy evolve over time as a result of market trends or needs? Danieli: Our overall vision was always to eradicate the problem of misdiagnosis. The primary tool we believe our platform delivered was access to academic-level expert pathologists; this resulted in creating the pathology services business. However, there is no doubt that technology plays a role in arriving at a correct diagnosis, and so over time, our business evolved to begin to look at various technologies that we could incorporate into our offering. Over the past few years, we have both developed technologies in-house, such as IV-Cell and Juno, as well as acquired technologies such as ICP. Medgadget: How do different types of stakeholders [i.e. patients, providers, payers] derive value from Precipios services and products? Danieli: All three stakeholders gain substantially from Precipios services providing an accurate diagnosis. The value to the patient in getting the correct diagnosis is obvious and needs no further explanation. Same for the physician, having the support of and access to an expert, subspecialized pathologist they can consult with on a specific case, is priceless in terms of formulating the correct plan of attack for the disease. Payers play an enormous role in this process and stand to gain significantly from our services; unfortunately, the system is complex so they are also difficult to approach and can take longer to accept change. The cost of treating a cancer patient ranges from $100,000 to $250,000 depending on the type and severity of the disease. This often involves chemotherapy and other treatments that are extremely expensive and are paid for by the payers, the insurance companies. Administering the wrong treatment to the patient as a result of misdiagnosis is not only a waste of resources; it can also have downstream effects in causing the patient more harm than good, resulting in further disease progression as well as other potential ailments, which all translate into additional costs borne by the payer. Arriving at the right diagnosis ensures that the payers resources are correctly applied to the patients situation to ensure the best outcome. Medgadget: Can you share a little about Precipios business model? Are your offerings covered by health insurers or would a patient need to pay out of pocket? Danieli: All of our tests and services are based on industry-accepted guidelines and corresponding CPT codes, and are fully recognized by insurance companies. Precipio is an approved Medicare provider and we are in-network with hundreds of insurance plans that routinely reimburse for our services. Insured patients will not incur any additional out-of-pocket costs other than their standard co-pays and deductibles. Ultimately, we believe that as insurance companies transition from fee-for-service to value-based payment, it will become clear that the value proposition Precipio provides in terms of delivering an accurate diagnosis results in not only patient improvement but also a substantial economic impact. Medgadget: For any disease condition, diagnosis is the first step. How does Precipio think about or play a role in the either the transition to, or next steps of, mitigation and, if possible, recovery following diagnosis? Danieli: As a diagnostic company, we are tasked with providing information to help guide the treating physician, in cancer, the oncologist, in taking care of the patient. Therefore, our key focus is on the first, and, we believe, the most crucial step, in getting the diagnosis right. Having said that, ICP, our liquid biopsy technology, enables monitoring of the patient as they go through treatment. We now know that during the course of treatment, the genetics and biology of the tumor often change, sometimes as a result of treatment. Once these changes occur, the existing treatment may no longer be effective. ICP allows physicians to conduct repeat testing to monitor the patients genetics and provide a real-time picture of the current patients genetic profile, allowing for the adaptation of treatment to the patients individual genetic characteristics. This is the true revolution of precision medicine, and we are excited to play a role in this field. Link: Precipio Diagnostics by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, May 18, 2018 What began as a discussion about the role that blockchain technology likely will play in removing friction and increasing transparency for business turned into a conversation about the value of leveraging consumer data to do research or market to them Does anyone know what the medium value of the consumer data is?, Chad Andrews, global solutions leader for advertising and blockchain at IBM, said during a panel at MediaPosts Blockchain Marketing Forum on Wednesday. Andrews wasnt asking his fellow panelists, but the forum attendees, several of whom chimed in with estimates. About 50 cents per user, per use, Dan Kidd, Chief Revenue Officer of Datawallet, which specialized in compensating consumers for using their data to market to them. He said the explicit value depended on the consumer segment and the marketing category seeking their data. advertisement advertisement Eighty-five dollars for Facebook, $3 for everyone else, ReedSmith Partner and panel moderator Gerard Stegmaier offered without providing a time frame for those values. A range of somewhere between $50 and $1,500 a year, GfK Director of Data Assets Rolfe Swinton suggested. For his part, IBMs Andrews said, Annualized, it has to be about $500. Somewhere around there. Whatever the true market value is, Andrews real point was about leveraging it in a way that changes consumer behavior. The reason I ask is because people are inherently lazy, and at what point do they actually change their behavior based upon the perceived value of that action? he said, adding: And thats where I think Brave is very interesting, because it doesnt require a massive change in behavior. By Brave, Andrews was referring to the fledgling web and mobile browser, which also leverages a blockchain-based form of cryptocurrency known as the Basic Attention Token (BAT), that enables consumers to effectively make micropayments to publishers whose content they use without any friction involved in the process. Beyond that example, Andrews didnt seem clear on what the inflection point would be for consumer adoption of explicit data trading models, though he did tease about an announcement IBM plans to make June 18 during the Cannes Festival of Creativity in France. We should all be up in arms on the street demanding lots of things in this country right now -- one of them being ownership and transparency of our data, Andrews said, concluding: I wonder where the tipping point is going to be? When is it going to matter? by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 18, 2018 Contact lens purchasers can proceed with an antitrust lawsuit alleging that 1-800 Contacts and other online retailers wrongly agreed to limit their search ad campaigns, a judge has ruled. The decision, issued Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell in the Central District of Utah, stems from allegations that 1-800 Contacts and its rivals agreed to restrict the use of "1-800 Contacts" in search campaigns. Specifically, 1-800 Contacts' rivals -- including Vision Direct, Walgreens, National Vision and Luxottica -- allegedly promised they wouldn't use the term "1-800 Contacts" to trigger search ads. National Vision agreed last year to pay $7 million to settle the allegations, but the other companies are still fighting the lawsuit. advertisement advertisement The consumers sued soon after the Federal Trade Commission accused 1-800 Contacts of violating antitrust laws by entering into those agreements with competitors. The competitors agreed to the restrictions after 1-800 Contacts either sued or threatened to sue for alleged trademark infringement, according to the FTC. 1-800 Contacts allegedly targeted at least 15 competitors between 2004 and 2013. Of those, only Lens.com fought the lawsuit; Lens.com largely prevailed in that case. While the FTC matter and the suit by consumers are proceeding separately, they are factually intertwined. The FTC contends that the agreements harmed search engines by distorting their ad auctions and reducing the quality of the search results. The FTC also says the agreements resulted in higher prices for consumers, arguing that 1-800 Contacts charges more than online rivals, but that consumers stop searching and order from 1-800 Contacts if it is the only advertiser in the search results. An FTC administrative judge recently ruled against 1-800 Contacts. The company is appealing that decision, arguing that its settlement agreements weren't illegal when formed. "Starting in 2004, 1-800 Contacts, like many companies at the time, claimed that companies that paid search engines to show these ads were violating its trademark rights and taking unfair advantage of its goodwill in violation of federal and state laws," the contact lens retailer argued in its appeal to the FTC. "At the time, the scope of trademark infringement liability for paid search advertising was highly unsettled." The agency is expected to hear arguments in that case next month. 1-800 Contacts (and the other sellers) argued that the case should be dismissed because the consumers didn't present facts to show how the settlement agreements led to price increases. Campbell rejected that argument. She wrote that the allegations in the complaint "link the agreements to higher prices," adding that the consumers need not provide "an economic analysis that requires specific data and expert testimony" while the case is still in a preliminary stage. 1-800 Contacts and several other sellers also argued that claims stemming from settlement agreements that occurred before August of 2012 should be dismissed, because antitrust violations carry a four-year statute of limitations. The consumers countered that they had no reason to know about the search agreements until the FTC brought suit two years ago. The judge sided with the consumers. She noted that the search agreements between 1-800 Contacts and its rivals were subject to non-disclosure agreements, which could suggest that the companies were attempting to conceal wrongdoing. If so, the typical statute of limitations would not apply, she said. "Given that plaintiffs have alleged agreements to engage in anti-competitive conduct, it is reasonable to infer that a provision requiring the contracting parties to keep the terms of that allegedly anti-competitive agreement private was an affirmative act to conceal," Campbell wrote. That ruling -- which is only preliminary -- allows the consumers to proceed with the case. But Campbell could still determine later that the companies did not conceal wrongdoing. 1-800 Contacts' general counsel Cindy Williams previously said the suits against the company "have no merit whatsoever." Federal courts still haven't definitively resolved questions surrounding the use of trademarks in search advertising. Google and Yahoo have prevailed in several lawsuits alleging that they wrongly allowed a trademarked term to trigger pay-per-click ads, as have several advertisers. But judges have allowed other lawsuits over the question to proceed. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, May 18, 2018 Baidu Chief Operating Officer and former Microsoft executive Qi Lu will step down in July, the company said Friday. Lu, an expert in artificial intelligence, joined Baidu from Microsoft in early 2017. He left Microsoft in 2016 for health reasons after a bicycle accident, according to unnamed sources. While at Microsoft he ran the applications and services business and previously headed up its search division after joining in 2009. He also spent more than a decade at Yahoo. At the time, Baidu hired Lu to oversee daily operations. Robin Li, co-founder and chief executive officer at Baidu, said he would like to "express my sincere gratitude to Qi, who took over daily operational management at Baidu in the past year to give me more time to contemplate on the company's strategic course. He added: "We have seen many positive changes at Baidu since Qi joined last year. I'm especially impressed by Qi's integrity, dedication to work and sharp insights into technologies and businesses." advertisement advertisement Li attributed Baidus success in moving to an AI-first strategy to Qi, suggesting that the company is now well positioned to continue the momentum that we have built in the past year." Lu has more than 40 U.S. patents. Haifeng Wang will move into the position of senior vice president and general manager of Baidu's AI Group (AIG). Wang joined Baidu in 2010 and became a vice president in October 2013. Today he oversees the company's AI efforts in machine learning, big data, computer vision, natural language processing, speech technology, knowledge graph, robotics and augmented reality. From 2014 to 2017, Wang managed Baidu's core search products and previously served as the chief research scientist at Toshiba's R&D Center. Using a new approach, scientists have located a compound that stops the spread of breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancers in mice. Share on Pinterest Cancer metastasis could one day be halted by metarrestin. The compound which they call metarrestin destroys a unique structure inside the nucleus of cancer cells that can spread and form new tumors. A paper on the work in which researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) collaborated with those from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL is published in Science Translational Medicine. In describing how metarrestin works, co-corresponding study author Sui Huang, who works as an associate professor of cell and molecular biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, likens it to a dirty bomb against cancer. It could potentially result in a better outcome for patients with solid tumor cancers with high potential to spread to other organs, she adds. Metastasis the final frontier Cancer would not be such a potentially serious disease if it were not capable of metastasis, which is a complex process wherein cancer cells escape the primary tumor and invade nearby or distant tissue to form new, secondary tumors. What kills people, Prof. Huang explains, is when cancer spreads to other organs, such as when breast cancer spreads to the brain, liver, lungs, or bones. Metastasis is sometimes referred to as the last frontier of cancer research. It accounts for around 90 percent of cancer deaths and this figure has not altered much in half a century. Once a cancer reaches the metastatic stage, it becomes very difficult to treat with current methods, which are much more effective at tackling the primary tumor. Many drugs, explains co-corresponding study author Dr. Juan Jose Marugan, group leader of the Chemical Genomics Center at the NIHs National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences in Rockville, MD, are aimed at stopping cancer growth and killing cancer cells. But so far, no drug has been approved that is designed specifically against metastasis, he adds. Alcoholic neuropathy is a severe condition caused by excessive alcohol use. Damage to the nerves leads to unusual sensations in the limbs, reduced mobility, and loss of some bodily functions. Recognizing the symptoms and seeking treatment early can reduce the risk of permanent disability. In this article, we look at what alcoholic neuropathy is, what causes it, and how it may feel. We also explore how the condition is diagnosed and treated. What is alcoholic neuropathy? Share on Pinterest The peripheral nerves can be damaged by drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. A person who drinks alcohol in excess may start to feel a tingling sensation in their limbs. This happens when alcohol has damaged the peripheral nerves. These nerves connect the brain and spinal cord to the muscles, limbs, and sensory organs. Through the peripheral nerves, the brain is able to control the body and receive sensory information. When alcohol is responsible for damage to the peripheral nerves, a person has alcoholic neuropathy. People who drink heavily on a regular basis are at risk of developing this condition. Some researchers estimate that 65 percent of people in the United States who have been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder also have alcoholic neuropathy. How does alcohol cause neuropathy? Excessive, long-term consumption of alcohol can lead to malnutrition as well as nerve damage, and both contribute to the development of alcoholic neuropathy. Alcohol can impede the processing, transportation, and absorption of essential nutrients. Some people with alcohol use disorder also have inadequate food intake. This can lead to deficiencies in: vitamin E vitamins B6 and B12 thiamine niacin folate Deficiencies in these nutrients can harm overall health and stop nerves from functioning correctly. Symptoms Alcoholic neuropathy shows itself in different ways. Some may experience only one symptom, while others experience several. People who drink heavily on a regular basis and have one or more of the following symptoms should contact a doctor. Below are symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy, organized by the parts of the body most affected: Limbs cramps loss of movement muscle atrophy muscle spasms or contractions muscle weakness numbness loss of sensation pins and needles tingling or prickling Bowel and urinary system constipation diarrhea incontinence urinary retention Other areas of the body difficulty swallowing abdominal bloating dizziness or fainting impaired speech infertility, in men sexual dysfunction, including problems with erections or lubrication temperature sensitivity, to hot or cold vomiting or nausea Diagnosis Share on Pinterest An esophagogastroduodenoscopy examination may be perfomed to help diagnose alcoholic neuropathy. When speaking with a doctor, it is important to be honest about alcohol consumption. There are several possible causes of neuropathy, and knowing about a persons alcohol intake can help the doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. Several tests can be used to diagnose alcoholic neuropathy, and more than one may be necessary. They include: Blood chemistry test . This can give an indication of a persons overall health, including blood sugar levels and liver and kidney function. . This can give an indication of a persons overall health, including blood sugar levels and liver and kidney function. Complete blood count (CBC) . There are several types of blood cells, as well as platelets, which help with clotting. The CBC can show how well the immune system is working and how much oxygen is traveling throughout the body. . There are several types of blood cells, as well as platelets, which help with clotting. The CBC can show how well the immune system is working and how much oxygen is traveling throughout the body. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy . A thin tube with a camera is passed down the throat and used to check for causes of nausea and vomiting. . A thin tube with a camera is passed down the throat and used to check for causes of nausea and vomiting. Electromyography . Needles are inserted into areas of the skin and muscles to measure electrical activity. This can reveal signs of alcoholic neuropathy. . Needles are inserted into areas of the skin and muscles to measure electrical activity. This can reveal signs of alcoholic neuropathy. Nerve biopsy . A doctor will remove a small sample of a persons nerve tissue, which is tested for damage. People usually undergo this procedure with a local anesthetic. . A doctor will remove a small sample of a persons nerve tissue, which is tested for damage. People usually undergo this procedure with a local anesthetic. Nerve conduction test . This involves placing electrodes on the skin, which are used to measure the speed and strength of a persons nerve signals. . This involves placing electrodes on the skin, which are used to measure the speed and strength of a persons nerve signals. Neurological examination . A doctor will conduct a physical examination to test a persons reflexes, muscle strength, coordination, and sensory function. . A doctor will conduct a physical examination to test a persons reflexes, muscle strength, coordination, and sensory function. Upper gastrointestinal and small bowel series. This set of X-rays is used to examine the functioning of the digestive tract. A doctor may also want to test the functioning of the kidneys, liver, and thyroid. In addition, they may order blood tests to check for vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. Treatment Share on Pinterest Over-the-counter and prescribed medications can help to relieve pain associated with alcoholic neuropathy. The best thing a person with alcoholic neuropathy can do is to stop or significantly reduce their alcohol intake. It will likely be the first thing a doctor suggests. Some doctors may insist on it before testing or treatment continues. An inpatient detox may be suggested when a persons alcohol use disorder is very severe. Others may opt for an outpatient rehab. Community-based support is also available from organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Self-Management and Recovery Training. A doctor may also recommend other options. Alcoholic neuropathy can make daily life difficult, so it is essential to begin by managing the symptoms. Individuals have different needs, and a treatment plan may involve one or more of the following: Vitamin supplements , involving vitamins E, B6, and B12, among others , involving vitamins E, B6, and B12, among others Over-the-counter pain relief , for minor discomfort associated with alcoholic neuropathy , for minor discomfort associated with alcoholic neuropathy Prescription pain relief , such as capsaicin cream, tramadol, anticonvulsants, and gabapentin , such as capsaicin cream, tramadol, anticonvulsants, and gabapentin Medicines for urinary problems , including duloxetine, imipramine, tolterodine, and solifenacin , including duloxetine, imipramine, tolterodine, and solifenacin Physical therapy , because gentle exercises and activities can help with muscle and balance problems , because gentle exercises and activities can help with muscle and balance problems Orthopedic appliances to aid with mobility , including pull bars in the bathroom, stair lifts, and orthotic devices, such as raised heels in shoes , including pull bars in the bathroom, stair lifts, and orthotic devices, such as raised heels in shoes Other safety measures, including practical advice for people who experience a loss of sensation If a person can benefit from exercise, a doctor can likely recommend a physiotherapist who specializes in neuropathy. When significantly limiting or cutting off alcohol consumption, receiving ongoing support is essential. ATLANTA May 17, 2018 Vidalia, Ga. Though previously Meadows Regional was not hitting some of its marks in quality reviews by the Leapfrog Group, it is now, as evidenced by a Leapfrog safety grade that went from "C" to "A" in a year's time. Leapfrog is a nonprofit organization that promotes hospital transparency and quality of care and recognizes telemedicine as a valuable option for meeting intensivist requirements in the ICU. Ventilator days increased from 44.3 to 49.6, a clear measure that the hospital is transferring fewer ventilator patients. Average length of stay (ALOS) in the ICU dropped from 4.7 to 4.5, an indication that the hospital is more efficiently weening patients off ventilators, helping decrease risk factors such as ventilator-associated pneumonia. Savannah Karen McColl Jan Sisko /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Telemedicine, a leading provider of telemedicine physician services to acute care hospitals, microhospitals, and long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs), has partnered with Meadows Regional Medical Center and achieved significant gains in the first nine months of a Tele-ICU program. The facility, a 57-bed hospital with an eight-bed intensive care unit (ICU) in, was highlighted in a recent case study, where the improvements include:Prior to the telemedicine program at Meadows Regional, ICU patient acuity at the rural hospital had steadily increased. More patients needed ventilators and were staying on them longer. In addition, high utilization over flu season often resulted in as many as five to six patients on ventilators in the ICU; the average had been one to three. As a result, the facility was frequently transferring patients to tertiary facilities inand Macon90 miles awayor Augusta100 miles away.The hospital chose Eagle Telemedicine to provide a core team of tele-intensivists to share ICU patient care management with two onsite pulmonary intensivists. The team covers the night and weekend gaps in ICU staffing, shares patient care management with the onsite team, and is available to assist with patient diagnosis and treatment via a cart with a videoconferencing monitor."I have been happy about the camaraderie between our nursing staff and the intensivists they interact with on the video monitors," said, MD, vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer at Meadows Regional. "We had a concern that we would be credentialing 20 intensivists and we'd be seeing a different one each time we signed on, but that hasn't been the case. We have a core team of three to four tele-intensivists we see regularly." She also appreciates the fact that Eagle is led by physicians. "They truly understand the issues we have to deal with. I find them easy to work with."Dr. McColl also praised Eagle's methodology to round in the morning and again in the evening. This not only improves throughput by doubling the opportunity for patients to leave the ICU, but also gives night nurses stronger direction and added confidence as they attend to patients on their shift.In addition, onsite ICU intensivists have greater flexibility, and a comfort level knowing they leave their patients in the best possible hands when they take time off. Employee satisfaction scores have increased, especially among nighttime nursing staff."We are very pleased with the success of our Tele-ICU program at Meadows Regional," said Talbot "Mac" McCormick, MD, president and CEO of Eagle Telemedicine. "The improvements cited by Dr. McColl are a testament to the facility's commitment to meet challenges head-on, and to find sensible, sustainable solutions through our telemedicine program."Eagle Telemedicine was one of the first companies to emerge in the telemedicine physician service arena, and is still pioneering the industry a decade later, providing telemedicine programs to acute care hospitals, microhospitals and long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). Eagle's solutions help facilities offer specialized care to underserved communities, eliminate locum support costs, prevent burnout, manage coverage gaps, reduce unnecessary transfers, and increase census. Multiple specialties include Hospitalist Medicine, Stroke and Acute Neurology, Psychiatry, Critical Care and Cardiology. Standard services include NP/PA Backup, Nocturnist Coverage, Cross-Coverage Support and Surge Protection. For more information, visit www.eagletelemedicine.com.Carabiner CommunicationsO: 678.461.7438M: 678.591.2022 jsisko@carabinercomms.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/telemedicines-value-to-the-icu-demonstrated-in-rural-georgia-hospital-300650449.html SOURCE Eagle Telemedicine The biggest debate of the 21st century is obviously Android vs Apple, and till now there are no winners because no one will back down. People who swear by their Android, hate Apple never and stop talking about how much they hate all the Apple products, and then we're all aware of the term 'Apple fanboys', which is quite self-explanatory. But, the best thing to come out of this 'war' is the hilarious way in which companies are taking advantage of it and publicly taking digs at each other. Big brands throwing shade at their rival brands is always fun to watch but when this rivalry makes it on to their ads as well, then you know it's real and it's on. But, this one may be a little one-sided. We've seen a few ads of Samsung taking digs at Apple, but I don't recall any retaliation. Maybe because Apple knows that they don't need that to sell products, as they have such a loyal fanbase. The newest ad by Samsung called 'Moving On' is actually a newer version of an ad we've seen by the brand so many times an iPhone user becomes more and more frustrated with the phone that they end up with a Galaxy device at the end and are much happier. The one-minute ad starts with a woman who owns an iPhone 6, who just continuously runs into trouble because of her phone first, not being able to access her travel pass, then not being able to watch a video on the plane and then having an Uber mix-up because the app didn't load on her 'slow' phone. And, at all times she was conveniently surrounded by people only using Samsung phones. The woman is obviously frustrated with her phone and heads to the Apple store to get it fixed but is instead told it's because of controversial performance management feature - or 'battery throttling'. Remember how that made headlines everywhere a few months ago? Then, she is told, You could just upgrade it. And, it obviously ends with her upgrading to a Samsung phone obviously. Don't forget this creepy part taking a direct dig at the iPhone X. Let's also take this opportunity to look back at a couple of other Samsung vs Apple ads because why not. UPPER THUMB Being prepared for emergency situations is important, especially for public service organizations that serve the community. Thats why Marlette Regional Hospital will be teaming up with the Marlette Police Department today for a mock drill to assess both organizations readiness in the event of an active shooter. "Several recent national tragedies remind us all that the risk of an active shooter incident is real and can happen in any place at any time," states a news release submitted to the Tribune. "And the best way to stay safe is to be prepared so you can react quickly." UPPER THUMB As the weather warms up, local and state health officials are urging residents to be prepared for tick season. Tick-borne diseases, particularly Lyme disease, are expanding across the state. Lyme disease is an emerging disease transmitted by the blacklegged/deer tick in Michigan. It is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Typical clinical symptoms include flu-like ailments. However, if left untreated, it may spread to joints, the heart, and/or the nervous system. Although the west side of the state and Upper Peninsula are more at risk than the eastern portion of Michigan, both ticks and the disease are spreading across the entire state. Huron County is now considered being at potential risk for Lyme disease, which means the county is adjacent to a county with confirmed Lyme disease bacteria exposures and/or blacklegged ticks are present but are not infected with the bacteria. In 2017, there were more than 300 human cases of Lyme disease reported, and about two out of three cases reported exposure in Michigan. Lyme-disease infected ticks have currently been identified in 34 of Michigans 83 counties. With the expansion of blacklegged ticks into new areas in Michigan, the best way to protect against Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites, said Dr. Eden Wells, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services chief medical executive. If you find a tick attached to your body, promptly remove it. Monitor your health, and if you experience fever, rash, muscle or joint aches or other symptoms, consult with your medical provider. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that diseases spread by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas tripled in the U.S. from 2004 to 2016. The report also concludes that Lyme disease is an increasing concern for Michigan. The majority of cases can be treated successfully with antibiotics. Finding and removing ticks promptly can prevent Lyme disease. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offers these tick tips: The most effective way to prevent Lyme disease is to prevent tick attachment. Avoid direct contact with ticks. Ticks are typically found in wooded and brushy areas. Stay in the center of hiking trails. Repel ticks with DEET or permethrin. Use repellents containing 20 to 30 percent DEET on exposed skin and clothing. Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin. Find and remove ticks from your body. Perform frequent tick checks throughout your day. Conduct a full-body tick check upon return from tick-infested areas. Wear light-colored clothing to make it easier to see the ticks. Tuck long pants into high socks. Wear a long-sleeve shirt. Information about Lyme disease risk by county is available at www.michigan.gov/lyme. At one point in the new documentary "RBG," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her granddaughter Clara Spera are looking over a scrapbook Ginsburg's late husband, Marty, put together for her. Marty's idea was to solicit letters from his wife's admirers on the occasion of her 50th birthday. His own submission said that Ginsburg could take great pride in her accomplishments as a lawyer and judge but that there is "no way you take greater pride than I do." Spera asks her grandmother: "Do you read these often?" Ginsburg answers nonchalantly, never looking up: "No, I never read them." "You should. They're very nice," Spera says. "If you ever need a boost of self-confidence." Seems unlikely. Self-assurance would be an essential attribute for a woman born in the 1930s, the first in her family to go to college, one of nine women among a Harvard Law School class of more than 500, the second female to sit on the nation's highest court after about 200 years of only men. Now, she's the Notorious R.B.G. and she has created a whole new way for the public to look at a Supreme Court justice. The documentary adds to the fame, of course, but also reveals how it emerged and why it's unexpected, given the life that preceded the meme. The Ginsburg without photoshopped sunglasses and a crown fueled a revolution with lawsuits instead of protests. She believed in incremental progress instead of bold gestures. She was projected to be a conciliator on the court, not its pre-eminent liberal dissenter. Now, "everyone wants to take a picture with me." Has Ginsburg too eagerly embraced the fame? All of the speaking engagements and interviews have presented Ginsburg a platform to speak about the #MeToo movement, the need for an Equal Rights Amendment, Colin Kaepernick and, most notably, Donald Trump. It has not endeared her to those who believe Supreme Court justices should be read and not heard. And it is particularly surprising given that Ginsburg has always been recognized as big in the brains department and underserved in pizazz, especially compared with the gregarious Marty and her larger-than-life best friend on the court, the late Justice Antonin Scalia. And yet, lines stretch for blocks when she appears on college campuses and at synagogues, and her octogenarian likeness is tattooed on millennial muscles (she disapproves: "so permanent"). "RBG," the documentary work of Betsy West and Julie Cohen, launches this weekend. A feature film called "On the Basis of Sex," with Felicity Jones as Ruth and Armie Hammer as Marty, is scheduled for the fall. There's a limited TV series based on her and Sandra Day O'Connor in the works. She has been featured in a comic opera and a workout book. There's a popular Tumblr fan blog, a children's book, a compilation of speeches. She has her own impersonator on "Saturday Night Live." Her face is on tote bags and coffee cups and T-shirts, which she has been known to give to friends. "She has become perhaps the best-known justice in the history of the court," Michael Yelnosky, dean of the Roger Williams University School of Law, said when he welcomed Ginsburg to his school in February. It was among 13 speaking engagements the 85-year-old has made so far in 2018. Her liberal supporters once wanted her to retire so President Barack Obama could appoint her replacement, and now, that ship having sailed, depend on her to outlive Trump's time in office. The feminist Jewish blog Lilith has published "A Prayer for RBG's Long Life." "How's your health?" is the question that opens the documentary, and co-director West said she believes Ginsburg allowed them to film her regular workout planks and push-ups to show "she's proud of keeping herself in shape to do this job." Ginsburg is used to being doubted. She recalls in the film that when she arrived at Harvard, a woman told her that Marty, in the class ahead of her, had been boasting to everyone that his wife was so smart she was going to make law review. The woman added: "You look like a little twerp." --- A surprise for some in the documentary about the feminist icon may be the importance of the man in her life, who died in 2010. At the recent Washington premiere, the actress Michelle Hurd rose during the question-and-answer session with the filmmakers to address Ginsburg. "Thank you so much, if I could, Notorious R.B.G.," Hurd said. "For not only your service, but for the love story that you shared." In the film, Ginsburg recalls that her mother, who died of cancer as the young woman nicknamed Kiki graduated from high school, gave her two pieces of advice. Be a lady, which meant not giving in to unnecessary emotion, such as anger. And be independent. That meant, Ginsburg said, it will be great if Prince Charming comes along, but be prepared to "fend for yourself" if not. At Cornell, she found Marty early on, when she was still 17, he a year older. He was, she said, the first boy she had ever gone out with "who cared that I had a brain." "Meeting Marty was by far the most fortunate thing that ever happened to me," she says in the film. The filmmakers found a trove of home movies that show a beautiful young couple, laughing with school friends and posing on vacation. They married when Ginsburg finished college; he served in the Army, and they had two children, Jane and James. Ginsburg has said she believes women can have it all, but perhaps not all at the same time. It was radical for her to join her husband at law school. But when he graduated and found work at a firm on Wall Street, she followed him to New York and finished her final year at Columbia. While he concentrated on making partner as one of the city's top tax lawyers, she did the lion's share of work at home. But the woman's movement came along, and as a law professor and at the American Civil Liberties Union, Ginsburg became perhaps its leading legal strategist. Marty, too, saw the importance of what was happening, and their roles switched. "I became the person whose career came first," she says in the film. She argued six cases at the Supreme Court aimed at laws that treated men and women differently, and won five. Jane, as the story goes, once told people that there was an equal division of labor in the Ginsburg household: Her dad did the cooking, and her mom did the thinking. When President Jimmy Carter nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Ginsburg says, everyone was shocked that her husband followed her to the new job, giving up his partnership to teach at Georgetown University. And when there was an opening on the Supreme Court in 1993, Marty mounted an extraordinary letter-writing campaign - overzealous, some said - to make sure President Bill Clinton considered his wife for the job. Ruth was not one to toot her own horn, their friend and law professor Arthur Miller says in the film, so Marty became "the New York Philharmonic." At the premiere, co-director Cohen talked about their partnership. "You know, Marty Ginsburg and Ruth Bader Ginsburg's marriage would be extraordinary by today's standards," Cohen said. "It's almost hard to imagine a relationship like that starting in the 1950s." --- After Marty's death, there was a period of mourning, granddaughter Spera says, and then Ginsburg threw herself back into her work. By then the senior justice among the court's four liberals, she issued pointed dissents when the conservative majority prevailed in important cases. Her status among liberal college students, particularly women, rose almost overnight. "She called out the majority," said Shana Knizhnik, who created the Tumblr (and, with Irin Carmon, subsequent book) "Notorious R.B.G." after a friend used the term as a hashtag. It's a play, of course, on the rapper Notorious B.I.G., and Ginsburg had to ask her clerks for the connection. Now it is part of her shtick: "We were both born and bred in Brooklyn." Ginsburg can get a laugh, of course, just by saying the word "rapper." "I think the 'notorious' thing was organic, it's not something she sought out," said co-director West. "I think we were all so hungry to hear from Ruth Bader Ginsburg," said Aminatou Sow, who helped create the "Can't Spell Truth Without Ruth" meme. Ginsburg stepped up the speaking engagements and interviews, and conservative commentators argued that she sometimes was too free with opinions about issues that might come before the court. Even her supporters were surprised by her comments on Trump. In interviews in the summer of 2016, Ginsburg called him a "faker" and worried about the fate of the court and the country if he were elected. Several days later, she issued a statement: "On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them. Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect." In the film, criticism comes from Helen M. Alvare, a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. It's "not just a matter of decorum, it's not understanding her constitutional role," she says. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, a friend of Ginsburg's long before she became a judge, says she was "flabbergasted" by the comments about Trump. Totenberg pauses before delivering judgment. "It's inappropriate." The filmmakers asked Ginsburg, and it is the one time in the film the justice seems less than sure-footed. "The notion that I don't comprehend that my job is to interpret the law fairly, that I'm going to vote one way based on who I might have voted for president, is just ..." she trails off. "None of us, even if we wanted to, could be successful if that's the attitude that we have." But the most surprising aspect of the Ginsburg in the film, Cohen said, is the sober judge has a good sense of humor. As they were finishing shooting with Ginsburg, they showed her clips of Kate McKinnon's impersonation on "SNL," with her huge glasses, black robe and white jabot. The justice simply can't stop laughing as she watches. "It's marvelously funny," Ginsburg says finally. Does it remind you of yourself, she's asked. "Not one bit," Ginsburg replies. And then, with a beat of her own comedic timing: "Except for the collar." STAMFORD When volunteers walked city streets and visited shelters on an unseasonably warm winter night early this year, they found two more homeless people than last year, bucking a downward trend statewide. On that night, volunteers for the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, traversed cities across the state, finding nearly 3,400 homeless people, the lowest number ever recorded, according to data released Thursday. It was a 25 percent decrease from the groups first Connecticut homeless count in 2007, although the 2018 numbers were similar to last year. Chronic homelessness people without long-term housing is down 15 percent from last year, and nearly 70 percent since 2014, the coalition found. Nearly three quarters of those people are in the process of finding permanent housing. Alison Cunningham, the CEO of Columbus House, a homelessness solutions nonprofit in New Haven that also has a shelter in Middletown, said the numbers reflect targeted interventions. Homelessness is an issue across the country and its certain an issue across Connecticut, but there are pieces of good news in this, she said. That good news concerns the very low number of veterans experiencing homelessness, an area of focus for nonprofits such as Columbus House in the past. Targeted interventions also help in digging into the issues of a particular population, she said. Recently, housing advocates have turned their attention toward eradicating chronic homelessness, people who experience homelessness for long periods of time or multiple bouts of homelessness in a short period of time while living with a disability. When we look at the big picture, we see some improvement, Cunningham said. Homelessness is not going away, but the good news is weve been able to target these specific populations from going up and going off the charts again. More Information Homeless count The annual Point-in-Time Count in January recorded the least amount of homeless people statewide since it began in 2007. 2018 2017 Connecticut 3,383 3,387 Bridgeport 322 374 Danbury 123 122 New Haven 529 543 Norwalk 158 150 Stamford/Greenwich 255 253 Source: Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness See More Collapse The 370 homeless families found statewide also represented a decline. There were also only 38 veterans identified in emergency shelter and 13 without shelter. Along with Gov. (Dannel) Malloy, our communities have embraced the goal of ending homelessness an effort that saves lives, and saves our communities resources wasted when homelessness persists on our streets and in our shelter, Coalition CEO Lisa Tepper Bates said in a news release. However, the coalition remains concerned by the number of young people encountering unreliable housing or homelessness. The groups second statewide count of those 25 or younger found 5,054 facing housing instability; 254 of those counted were homeless living in an emergency shelter or somewhere unfit to live. We have made great progress ending the homelessness of key populations, Bates said. We need to carry forward that innovation to end the homelessness of vulnerable youth in our state. On Jan. 23, volunteers found 255 homeless people in Stamford, 30 of them without shelter. Of those under a roof, 154 were in an emergency shelter, while 71 were in a form of temporary housing while they sought a place to live. Stamfords figures include those counted in Greenwich by volunteers working the coalitions Point-in-Time Count. Jason Shaplen, CEO of Stamford nonprofit Inspirica, which provides shelter for 65 percent of the citys homeless population, said the data shows theres still plenty of room for improvement. Even though Stamford homelessness declined to 253 in 2017 from 287 the previous year, Shaplen said those figures are similar to the count in 2010 when the unemployment rate was up around 10 percent. Given that drop, were really glad not to have given any of that back, Shaplen said. We continue to make progress, but the war on ending homelessness has hardly been won. Staff writer Brian Zahn contributed to this story. barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton MIDDLETOWN A New Hampshire judge ordered court records unsealed this month in a suit filed by Nathan Carmans aunts to prevent him from collecting his mothers share of his multimillionaire grandfathers estate. In March, the court ordered all files in the case closed to public view. A reporter from the Union Leader newspaper in Manchester, N.H., objected and filed a motion to unseal the documents on March 29. Carman, who now lives in Vermont, is under investigation by state and federal authorities in the disappearance of his mother, Linda, 54, in September 2016 after a boating accident that left him adrift at sea. After eight days, he was rescued off the coast of Massachusetts by a passing freighter. His mother, who lived in Middletown, was never found. No charges have been filed in connection with her disappearance. The Coast Guard said Linda Carman is presumed dead. This is a big win for open government, attorney Justin Silverman, executive director of the Massachusetts-based New England First Amendment Coalition, said in a news release. Now we can monitor this high-profile case with little secrecy. A probate appeal was filed in July 2017 by Valerie C. Santilli, executrix for Carmans grandfather, John C. Chakalos, and her sisters Elaine Chakalos and Charlene Gallagher. The suit asks the court to declare the 24-year-old their fathers killer. Chakalos daughters filed a slayer action complaint in New Hampshire Probate Court last July, petitioning the judge under an inheritance law provision that prohibits a person who kills someone to reap monetary gain from the deceased. NEFAC, which defends, promotes and expands public access to government and the work it does, according to its website, requested the court provide an opportunity for an oral argument in support of unsealing the documents. NEFAC supported the reporters motion in an April 10 memorandum submitted to the court, and filed a motion to intervene. The courts of New Hampshire have always considered their records to be public, absent some overriding consideration or special circumstance, attorney Gregory V. Sullivan, speaking on behalf of the coalition and the Union Leader, said in the memorandum. He is a member of NEFACs Board of Directors. The Union Leader and NEFAC have since filed multiple motions asserting that no substantial reason has been offered to justify placing the exhibits under seal, the judge wrote, according to the release. The court concludes that the publics right to access to court records would be unreasonably restricted if those documents remain under seal, it concluded. Police have also deemed Carman a person of interest in the slaying of his wealthy grandfather, 87, who was shot to death at his Windsor home in December 2013, a month after his wife of 59 years died of cancer. He had gunshot wounds in his head and back, police said. Family members have said Nathan Carman is on the autism spectrum. Unlike Nathan Carman, his aunts have taken lie detector tests, fully cooperated with the investigation into John Chakalos murder and promised to donate Linda Carmans inheritance to a charity in her name if they win the slayer action case, Daniel Small, Holland & Knight attorney, said in a prepared statement. Nathans family has asked him repeatedly to cooperate with investigators and answer basic questions and discovery requests. Meanwhile, Nathan refuses to cooperate with the authorities, and even refuses to answer questions about the likely murder weapon, let alone produce it. Nathans attempt to attack the victims is simply another desperate ploy to deflect attention from his guilty behavior. And finally, Nathans decision to fire his lawyers was a strategic decision, not a money decision, the statement concluded. Nathan Carman was unable to be reached for comment. During an April 3 court hearing in Concord, N.H., Carman represented himself after firing his attorneys some time in February. Lawyers for Carmans family hoped to force him to turn over documents about a semi-automatic rifle he bought, which was similar to one used in the death of his grandfather, according to the Associated Press. Carman has granted very few media interviews but has sat down with ABC News on a few occasions. In the television program, 20/20 Lost at Sea: The Story of Nathan Carman, which aired last February, he denied sabotaging his boat. Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearst mediact.com or Twitter @cassandrasdis. MIDDLETOWN This years Middletown Kids Health & Safety Day set for Saturday, has been postponed indefinitely, according to a press release from the City of Middletown. For more information, visit www.middletownct.gov. Energy Company assists African communities ESSEX An estimated 600 million people, about two thirds of the population of Africa lives without electricity. They are off the electrical grid or the grid has not reached their communities. The impact on the quality of life, productivity and development prospects are severe. Ameri Energy Group believes its daylight harvesting product can have an enormous impact by improving the social conditions by extending access to lighting in the most remote corners of Africa. The product uses natural sunlight and converts it into cool, even, illumination. According to Anthony Chirico, Pres. and CEO of Ameri Energy Group, Africa has abundant sunshine as a natural resource and our product uses it to save electricity up to 100% during the daytime and 40 - 60% when operating the entire day. Last week, the company received a visitor from the Republic of Rwanda, Central Africa who after visiting the factory and installations in Connecticut and Rhode Island was impressed about its possibilities for his country, as well as other countries in Africa. The Ameri Energy Group has contracted with Dimpex, a New York company with extensive experience with development projects throughout Africa, to assist in setting up distribution and representation in African countries. The principals at Dimpex were impressed by the fact that Ameri Energy Group uses unique green technologies to provide high-quality products to its consumers with the primary goal of saving energy. It is a completely ECO - friendly lighting system that can be used in commercial, public and other buildings without generating CO2 emissions and energy waste. This is important as it is consistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and could find favor with Ministers of Energy and Environment in many African countries. Tighe and Bond earns high rankings MIDDLETOWN Tighe & Bond, one of the leading full-service engineering and environmental consulting firms in the northeastern United States, climbed 19 spots this year to No. 241 on Engineering News Records (ENR) 2018 Top 500 Design Firms ranking. In the past two years, Tighe & Bond climbed 34 spots as the firm continues to grow its regional market. ENR ranks its list of top 500 design firms nationally based on design-specific revenue from the previous year. Tighe & Bond, Inc. provides comprehensive engineering and environmental services to hundreds of public and private clients across the northeastern United States, with emphasis on the education, energy, government, healthcare, industrial, real estate, and water/wastewater markets. A staff of more than 340 people work from offices located in Middletown and Shelton, Connecticut; Westwood, Pocasset, Worcester and Westfield, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Rhinebeck, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. Operation Fuels Add-a-Dollar Program helps families HARTFORD Operation Fuel reminds Connecticut residents that they can help families keep their electricity on this summer by making a small donation through its Add-a-Dollar program on utility bills. Operation Fuel uses 100 percent of donations to the Add-a-Dollar program for energy assistance. The Winter Protection program ended May 1, and many Connecticut households could be in danger of having their electricity or gas service terminated during the spring and summer. During 2017, more than 52,000 households were disconnected. Operation Fuel will help as many families and individuals as possible in an effort to assure that they will be safe in their own homes. Anyone who needs energy assistance should call 211. Utility customers can add a dollar when they pay their utility bill by check or online. Utility customers who wish to donate more than one dollar, or who want to contribute automatically each month to Operation Fuel, should contact their utility company directly. This past fiscal year, $665,387 was raised through the Add-a-Dollar program; $518,563 was from utility customers donations and $146,824 was in utility provided shareholder-matching funds. In addition to the Add-a-Dollar program, donations for Operation Fuel can be made online at www.operationfuel.org or mailed to Operation Fuel, 75 Charter Oak Avenue, Suite 2-240, Hartford, CT 06106. Operation Fuel is a statewide nonprofit organization that provides emergency energy assistance year-round to lower-income working families and individuals, the elderly, and disabled individuals who are in financial crisis. Artists sought for sculpture walk KENSINGTON The New Britain Youth Museum needs artists to submit their work for a Summer Solstice Sculpture Walk that will take place for one day at Hungerford Park at 191 Farmington Avenue, in Kensington, on June 22, 3-6:30 p.m. The Juror for the show will be Keith Gervase, Collections Manager, New Britain Museum of American Art. This collaborative arts event that will take place on the grounds on the pond trail the day before the summer solstice. Artists may submit work in sculpture, public art or 3-dimensional media based on this years theme of Wind, Water and Wildlife. The show is a collaboration with the Art League of New Britain. In addition to the sculpture walk, we will be planning a full day of events, including a childrens and youth art show, artist demonstrations, and a concluding awards reception. There will be an opportunity for artists to sell their work at a designated location on the grounds. First prize is $750; second Prize is $500; third Prize is $250; Honorable Mention gets $100; Peoples Choice Award is a Gift Certificate for Artists Materials. All submitted works must be constructed from materials that can withstand exposure to variable weather conditions. The works will be displayed in an unprotected, public area for one day only, so all submitted works must be structurally sound enough to withstand some handling, touching, and possible physical stress. There will be no security in place after the designated times for the event so all artists will have to arrange to place their artwork(s) before the show and pick up their work afterward. Work needs to be installed by June 22 at 2 p.m. and removed after 6:30 p.m. We are not responsible for work left after the event. For information, contact Donna Veach at 860-225-3020 or go to marketing@newbritainyouthmuseum.org or call Paul Baylock at 860-877-3839 or 860-229-1484 or go to contact@alnb.org WETHERSFIELD A Middlefield man has been charged with second-degree forgery in connection with a state Department of Motor Vehicles investigation, police said. John Silvestri, 33, of Louis Road, turned himself in to police at Troop F barracks in Westbrook on Friday, police said. Connecticut State Police were asked by the DMV to assist in an investigation related to an altered insurance document by Silvestri LLC. The document was presented to the Commercial Safety Division to secure a state contract for snow plowing. Following an investigation by DMV and Department of Administrative Services officials, they concluded someone with Silvestri LLC altered the document and the company had failed its DMV safety inspection. An arrest warrant was inssued as a result of the investigation, police said. According to police, Silvestri admitted to an investigator that his company was shopping around for better insurance quotes and did not have the proper insurance at the time of the request, so a portion of the insurance accord stating snow removal libability is excluded was manually redacted by staff. Silvestri reportedly told police it was not done maliciously. Silvestri was released after posting $500 non-surety bail. He is scheduled to appear in court in Middletown on May 23. Police said there are no further arrests expected in connection with the case. The Air Force apologized Thursday for a snarky Tweet meant to highlight the A-10 Thunderbolt's efforts in beating back a Taliban attack in which at least 25 members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces were killed. "We apologize for the earlier post regarding the A-10," the Air Force said in a follow-up Tweet. "It was made in poor taste. It has since been removed." The original Tweet said, "The Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRT they got courtesy of our #A10." The "Yanny or Laurel" reference was to a popular Internet meme in which an audio recording is played. Some people hear "Yanny," while others hear "Laurel." The "BRRT" in the Air Force Tweet referenced the sound made by the 30mm rotary nose cannon of the A-10, commonly called the "Warthog" and considered the nation's premier close-air support weapon. The Air Force Tweet came up in the weekly Pentagon briefing when Dana White, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson, was asked whether jokes should be made about a battle in which friendly forces were killed. White said she wasn't aware of the Tweet and went on to describe the battle for Farah, in western Afghanistan near the Iran border, as a major defeat for the Taliban and an indication that the new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan -- aimed at forcing the Taliban into a political settlement -- is taking root. "Farah has not fallen," White said. "Today, in spite of vain Taliban attempts to challenge the Afghan government's control of Farah city, [the city] remains under the control of the Afghan defense and security forces." In addition to the A-10, she said Afghan A-29 ground attack aircraft and Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters contributed to beating off the attack, which reportedly resulted in heavy losses for the Taliban. White said the attack on Farah was part of the Taliban's annual spring offensive and "so was to be expected." Abdul Basir Salangi, governor of Farah province, said at least 25 Afghan troops and five civilians were killed in the attack by the Taliban, which reached the city's center, The New York Times reported. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. This Sikh Marine Is Ready to Sue the Service to Wear a Beard and Turban at All Times First Lt. Sukhbir Toor applied in March for a religious accommodation to wear a beard and turban and to not cut his hair. The Department of Veterans Affairs signed a 10-year, $10 billion contract with Cerner Corp. Thursday aimed at giving the department, for the first time, electronic health care records (EHR) that would mesh seamlessly and securely with those of the Department of Defense and the private sector. In a statement, acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, said the contract would "modernize the VA's health care IT system and help provide seamless care to veterans as they transition from military service to veteran status, and when they choose to use community care." "This is one of the largest IT contracts in the federal government, with a ceiling of $10 billion over 10 years," Wilkie said, "and with this contract, VA will adopt the same EHR platform as the Department of Defense." He said that President Donald Trump "has made very clear to me that he wants this contract to do right by both Veterans and taxpayers, and I can say now without a doubt that it does." For years, DoD and the VA have struggled to come up with a system for the smooth transition of records amid ongoing complaints from troops and veterans about lost or incorrect forms that delayed their care and benefits. The contract with Cerner Corp. of Kansas City, Missouri, was approved last year under then-VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin, but the final signing was delayed in the turmoil over Shulkin's firing in March and concerns over Cerner's ability to take on the job. "And with a contract of that size, you can understand why former Secretary Shulkin and I took some extra time to do our due diligence and make sure the contract does what the president wanted," Wilkie said. In response to the signing, Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the transition to EHR "should be done right, not fast, and I'm pleased the department took extra time to review the contract before moving forward. Oversight of implementation and spending will be critical as this process continues." "For too long, service members transitioning from the Department of Defense to VA healthcare have been unable to take their medical records with them," said Rep. Tim Walz, ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, but he also had reservations about Cerner's ability to carry out what the contract required. The award of the contract came a day after Wilkie defended acting VA Chief Information Officer (CIO) Camilo Sandoval against charges from House and Senate Democrats that he was unfit to oversee the department's to switch to EHR. In a statement Wednesday, Wilkie called Sandoval an "important member" of the leadership team at the VA but said he was only holding the CIO's position temporarily. Sandoval "has extensive experience in financial technology and digital mobile payments," Wilkie said. "Along with his close working relationship with the White House, this makes him well suited to oversee VA's IT infrastructure while the White House vets a permanent candidate for the position.". The statement from Wilkie, who was personnel chief at the Pentagon before coming to the VA after vid Shulkin's exit, was in response to a letter to the VA from 11 House and Senate Democrats questioning Sandoval's fitness to hold the top technology post. The Democrats said "there are serious character concerns that should disqualify" Sandoval from working at the VA. They cited a pending lawsuit against Sandoval on charges of harassment but their main complaint involved his work as director of Data Operations in 2016 for the Trump campaign. Sandoval was the data chief "while the Trump campaign was contracting with Cambridge Analytica," a British firm which allegedly collected personal information on more than 80 million Americans, much of it from Facebook. "Cambridge Analytica's misuse of personal information from tens of millions of Americans, including veterans, was an incredible breach of trust," the Democrats said. "As such, Sandoval's role in these activities must be thoroughly examined and he should be put nowhere near veterans' health and benefits data." Cambridge Analytica's work for the Trump campaign was the subject of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, and the firm was also being investigated by the Justice Department and the FBI, the New York Times reported. The 11 Democrats who signed the letter to VA Deputy Director Tom Bowman included Rep. Walz, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The letter added fuel to the controversy over political appointees at the VA and in the White House. Major veterans service organizations have accused them of promoting a campaign to "privatize" VA health care. Before he stepped down at VA, Shulkin charged that his efforts to reform the VA were being "subverted" by the political appointees. In December, an email surfaced from Jake Leinenkugel, a White House political appointee on veterans issues, to Sandoval. In the email, Leinenkugel said he favored replacing Shulkin with a more politically-attuned Secretary who would rapidly expand private health care for veterans. Leinenkugel said Shulkin should be "put on notice to exit" and he also targeted Deputy Director Bowman, who he said "doesn't trust the current slate of political staff." The letter from the Democrats came on the same day that the House passed major legislation that would expand private care options for veterans and lift the restrictions on the family caregivers program for disabled veterans, which is now limited to post-9/11 veterans. The bill has bipartisan support in the Senate, and President Donald Trump has said he will sign it quickly once it reaches his desk. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Authorities at a North Dakota military base on Friday are searching for an M-240 machine gun that has been unaccounted for since Wednesday, officials said. The 7.62mm caliber weapon was missing from the Minot Air Force Base, The Minot Daily News reported. The Air Force Global Strike Command directed an immediate inventory search of weapons in the 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing, the report said. Earlier this month, a container of grenades fell off a Humvee on a Native American reservation. The Air Force sent 100 airmen to walk the entire six-mile route where the military explosives were likely lost, The Washington Post reported, citing a statement from the local Mountrail County sheriff. The military has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the container with the ammunition, The Minot Daily News reported. Kenneth Halvorson, the Mountrail County sheriff, said in a statement to The Post that the missing ammunition is a belt of linked grenades for the MK 19 automatic grenade launcher. "This ammunition is specific to that launcher and will not operate in any other launching device without catastrophic failure," Halvorson said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The U.S. Air Force is using the C-17 Globemaster III for combat-airdrop operations in Afghanistan for the first time in nearly a year and a half, according to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. The cargo airlifter, based out of Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, made a drop over Southern Afghanistan on May 10, a release from the wing states. Without giving specifics, the Air Force delivered roughly a dozen pallets of general cargo over an austere location in Afghanistan for Operation Freedom's Sentinel, the release added. "Our tasking and the aircraft selection for this mission really comes down to the C-17's larger cargo capacity," said Maj. Nicholas Coblio, mission aircraft commander from the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, in the release. "The C-17 can complete this mission with one aircraft in one pass, minimizing risk and maximizing productivity." Related content: The crew, which included members of the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, picked up the cargo at Bagram Airfield, where U.S. soldiers from the Al Udeid-based 824th Quartermaster Detachment assembled the pallets, completing the final rigging for the drop. Airdrops often use GPS to guide the package to crews on the ground, improving accuracy. The Air Force in 2007 began using the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS), allowing airdrops to be conducted from higher altitudes. "This airdrop represents a very significant mission -- delivering needed supplies while reducing the burden and risk on our Army helicopter and maintenance crews," said Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 David Beville, with the 3rd Infantry Division's Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade. "This is our sole job. Regardless of what we are dropping, our job is to throw stuff out of planes to people that need it," Beville said, adding that loadmasters worked for 30 hours to prepare, assemble and rig the cargo. According to the Defense Department, the Al Udeid-based C-17s in January began moving cargo throughout Afghanistan for the first time since 2016. That year, the 816th squadron flew more than 2,400 missions, moving nearly 102,000 tons of cargo and almost 120,000 passengers, including 116 aeromedical patients. The C-17 is set to reach the end of its service life in the early 2030s, officials have said. The Air Force has 213 Globemasters, made by Boeing Co., according to official inventory data. The service is making use of all its cargo transport aircraft, including the C-5 Super Galaxy and C-130 Hercules, by rotating its fleet through the total force to extend aircraft longevity. Air Mobility Command has been rotating its C-17 fleet between the active duty, Reserve and Guard to stretch its lifespan -- or enterprise fleet management, as AMC calls it. By rotating the Globemasters among the three components, Air Mobility Command believes "we'll gain 10 to 20 years for service life on the C-17," Capt. Theresa Izell, a maintenance officer, said during a media day at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. "This isn't really revolutionary," Izell said last year, adding it's a way of sharing resources in the near term throughout the components. For missions in the Middle East, airlift crews will move on average 10 to 20 tons of cargo on a daily basis, in addition to transporting special operations forces, allies and civilians. "It's a complex environment," said Col. Charles D. Bolton, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, told Military.com last year. "We fly with the same defense systems we've had for a while. We're trained to operate in this environment and have been for many, many years." -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. VICENZA, Italy -- You are now living in Italy and looking for ways to earn extra cash and keep your business skills sharp. Before you take that job on the economy or start your own business, you need to know that doing so may be illegal in Italy. Following are some questions and answers about working here. Can I accept an off-post job working for an Italian or American business? United States military personnel, government civilian employees, contractors and their dependents in Italy live here pursuant to the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). U.S. military members on orders do not need a passport or a visa to enter and remain in Italy. However, U.S. government civilian employees and all dependents who are not European Union citizens are required to have a Missione Visa and Missione Soggiorno Permit. The Italian government gives these documents to those individuals who are here solely for the purpose of the U.S. military mission and, therefore, have "SOFA-protected" status. To be employed in Italy by someone other than the U.S. Forces (this includes GS, NAF, and government-contracted positions) requires an Italian work visa and work permit. This is true for both Italian businesses and American-based corporations. If a person chooses to obtain these documents, he or she is declaring to the Italian government that they desire to be considered an ordinary resident of Italy. One cannot have both ordinary resident and "SOFA-protected" status at the same time, no matter his position here. Those who get a job on the Italian economy as an ordinary resident are not entitled to any "SOFA-protected" privileges, including shopping in the post exchange and commissary, sending mail through the Military Postal System, driving SETAF-registered vehicles, and purchasing gas coupons. You are also responsible for all additional expenses that ordinary Italian residents incur, such as paying Italian income tax and making contributions into the Italian social security system. I am an EU citizen married to a service member. Where can I work? If you are command-sponsored and listed on your service member spouse's orders, you are here under "SOFA-protected status." As such, you must follow the guidance above for becoming an ordinary resident and give up "SOFA-protected" status. Working as an ordinary resident, however, may disqualify a person from future U.S. government jobs in Italy. Can I maintain skills by providing my service for free but be reimbursed for supplies -- like baking cakes or coloring hair? Activities such as baking cakes or coloring hair would not be considered a "profitable enterprise" so long as any reimbursement is limited to the cost of supplies. It is important to note, though, that any "donations" or other payments for your time, labor or expertise would be considered profit and would require a valid Italian work visa and permit. Can I operate a home-based business (e.g., Mary Kay, Scentsy)? If you are generating profit by work performed while living in Italy, Italian law mandates that you have a valid work visa and permit. Furthermore, using the American post office for home-based businesses is not allowed. Those who choose to obtain an Italian work visa and permit are declaring to the Italian government that you desire to be considered an ordinary resident of Italy. One cannot have both ordinary resident and "SOFA-protected" status at the same time. Can I telework for my prior employer in the United States? Unfortunately, SOFA employment restrictions apply equally to Italian-based businesses and American-based businesses. Thus, if you are generating profit by work performed while living in Italy, even on your computer for a U.S.-based corporation, Italian law mandates that you have a valid work visa and permit. For more information or for specific advice, contact the Vicenza Legal Assistance Office in Building 166 on Caserma Ederle. Or call DSN 637-8834, comm. 0444-61-8834. Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): 38 38' 40'' North , 106 4' 49'' West Latitude & Longitude (decimal): 38.64462,-106.08042 GeoHash: G#: 9wuef5494 Koppen climate type: Dfc : Subarctic climate Other/historical names associated with this locality: Chaffee County Fluorspar Mine, Chimney Hill Mine, Morgan Ranch Deposits Commodity List Mineral List No mineral species recorded. Rock Types Recorded Note: this is a very new system on mindat.org and data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information! Select Rock List Type Alphabetical List Tree Diagram Regional Geology REF:Deposit:: USBM MINERAL EXAM. FILEDeposit:: CONSV. DIV. COMP. DATE, 1,64Commodities (Major) - Fluorine-FluoriteDevelopment Status: ProducerHost Rock: Granite, Rhyolite This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found. Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License Age: Pleistocene (0.0117 - 0.126 Ma) Description: Unit commonly forms large, very bouldery, sharp-crested lateral and end moraines that have distinct hummocky surface morphology. Deposits in some areas have well expressed knob-and-kettle topography. Some of the surface boulders of granitic and gneissic composition are as large as 4.55.57.0 m. Most of the biotite-rich granitic and gneissic clasts within the soil are unweathered or slightly weathered. Youngest mapped till of Pinedale glaciation within cirques or near valley heads locally may include till similar in age to that of the Satanta Peak advance of Benedict (1973b, 1985), dated at about 1012 ka (Davis 1988). Soils formed in the top of the unit Qtp commonly have thin (25 cm) cambic B horizons that are poorly developed and have little or no clay accumulation. Some soils lack B horizons and have A/Cox or A/Bk profiles (Nelson and Shroba, 1998; Shroba and others, 2014). Depth of oxidation (base of Cox soil horizon) ranges from about 50 to 170 cm. Unoxidized till is gray, whereas soil B horizons commonly are light brown. Locally, as much as 15 percent of the biotite-rich pebbles and small cobbles within soils are partly or completely disintegrated (Shroba, 1977). Locally, multiple recessional moraines of Pinedale age were formed in glaciated valleys, including Cottonwood Creek and North Cottonwood Creek. 10Be cosmogenic surface-exposure dating (aver- age ages) of exposed boulders and pebbles on moraine crests on the south side of Pine Creek suggests two episodes of glacial advance: one at 22.01.4 ka and a later advance at 15.20.9 ka (Briner, 2009). Recently reported 10Be cosmogenic surface-exposure ages of exposed boulders on crests of outer and inner moraines composed of till of Pinedale age (units Qtpo and Qtpy of Shroba and others, 2014, respectively) on the southeast side of the Twin Lakes Reservoir (Schweinsberg, and others, 2016) are similar to those of a possible early advance at Pine Creek (Briner, 2009). Surface-exposure ages of boulders on the outer moraines on the southeast side of the Twin Lakes Reservoir range from 21.10.3 ka to 22.20.3 ka and average 21.60.3 ka. Ages of boulders on nearby inner moraines range from 21.10.3 ka to 22.20.3 ka and average 21.70.3 ka (Schweinsberg, and others, 2016). The surface-exposure ages reported for Pine Creek and near the Twin Lakes Reservoir are in accord with (1) radiocarbon and cosmogenic surface-exposure ages for till of Pinedale age in the Front Range region of north- central Colorado of about 3112 ka (Nelson and others, 1979; Madole, 1986; Benson and others, 2004, 2005; Ward and others, 2007; Madole, 2010); (2) retreat of Pinedale glaciers in the Front Range and San Juan Mountains, Colorado between about 19 and 12 ka (10Be surface-exposure ages of Guido and others, 2007; Ward and others, 2007); (3) last glacial maximum in the Taylor River drainage, about 18 km west of map area, of about 2116 ka (Brugger, 2007), and a late advance in the Taylor River drainage of about 14.5 ka (10Be and 36Cl cosmogenic ages of Brugger, 2007); (4) 10Be and 36Cl surface-exposure ages of 2316 ka for deposits of Pinedale age in type area for till of Pinedale age in Wyoming (Chadwick and others, 1997); and (5) 10Be and 3He surface- exposure ages of about 18.813.5 ka for till of Pinedale age in the Yellowstone regions and Teton Range (Licciardi and Pierce, 2008). 10Be surface-exposure ages of glacier- abraded bedrock within the cirque at the head of Rock Creek, just south of Turquoise Lake, suggest that deglaciation of the northern Sawatch Range occurred by about 1513 ka (Mason and others, 2011; Ruleman and others, 2013). Estimated thickness is as much as 40 m Reference: Kellogg, K.S., R.R. Shroba, C.A. Ruleman, R.G. Bohannon, W.C. McIntosh, W.R. Premo, M.A. Cosca, R.J. Moscati, T.R. Brandt. Geologic map of the upper Arkansas River valley region, north-central Colorado. doi: 10.3133/sim3382. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3382. [186] Mineral List Regional Geology Ref.: Dings, M.G. & Robinson, C.S. (1957), Geology and Ore Deosits of the Garfield Quadrangle, Colorado, USGS PP 289: 88.Mine located on Monarch Hill. Workings include a shaft and adit with about 1,500 feet of underground workings.Mineralization is replacement in Manitou dolomite near contact with Silver Plume (? granite.5 valid minerals. This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found. Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org Granitic rocks of 1400- and 1700-m.y. age groups, undivided, or, in Taylor River region, rocks with characteristics of Xg but U-Th-Pb zircon ages of Yg Age: Mesoproterozoic (1000 - 1600 Ma) Lithology: Major:{granitic} Reference: Horton, J.D., C.A. San Juan, and D.B. Stoeser. The State Geologic Map Compilation (SGMC) geodatabase of the conterminous United States. doi: 10.3133/ds1052. U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1052. [133] Paleoproterozoic crystalline metamorphic rocks Age: Proterozoic (1600 - 2500 Ma) Lithology: Orthogneiss/paragneiss Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154] Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License Twins assistant GM Rob Antony joined 1500 ESPNs Darren Wolfson on his latest podcast episode, discussing a wide range of topics from Jason Castros season-ending injury, to some pending free agents, some health updates on injured players and prospects to watch at the teams Class-A club (audio link, with Antony joining for about 20 minutes beginning at 24:30). Most notably, Antony and Wolfson discuss not only the specifics of Castros injury, but the organizations potential need to pursue outside help at catcher. Regarding the injury to Castro, Antony explains that initial imaging on the catchers knee revealed some tearing in the meniscus, but both Twins doctors and independent doctors who were consulted agreed that Castro would be able to return this season with a minor cleanup. (His initial prognosis upon being scheduled for surgery was around six weeks.) Upon performing the surgery, however, the tearing was found to be extensive enough that without a full repair of the meniscus, Castros career as a catcher wouldve been in jeopardy. It doesnt sound as if one singular incident this season led to the issue for Castro, who has had meniscus and ACL injuries in the past. In fact, Antony notes that Castro had no issues running straight or even catching, but the knee bothered him greatly when rotating through his swing at the plate and rounding the bases. Certainly, Castros .143/.257/.238 slash down from .242/.333/.388 a year prior exemplifies the difficulties he had on offense. Initial reports have suggested that Minnesota wont rush out to make a significant addition behind the plate. La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the other night that while the team is discussing its options, no decisions have been made (Twitter links). Neal suggested that if anything, the club could add a veteran depth piece to stash in Triple-A in order to give them further options beyond rookie Mitch Garver, now the teams No. 1 catcher, and veteran backup Bobby Wilson. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press expressed similar views in profiling how Garver, long rated as one of the organizations more promising prospects, is in line to receive a legitimate opportunity to show he can handle the primary job. Garver hit .291/.387/.541 with 17 homers in Triple-A last season and is off to a .254/.309/.413 start in 68 plate appearances with the Twins in 2018. Antony did nothing to suggest that Garver wont be given a real chance, but he did indicate that the team is actively exploring the market for help. I would say its probably safe to say were going to have to acquire somebody, whether its for insurance or to be on the big league squad as a [number] one or two [option], Antony said. I dont think were going to sell the farm to acquire a catcher thats not going to be an impact guy and is kind of a tide you over until Castro is ready next year, but we will look to see if we can improve our situation and our depth, definitely. Per Antony, the club is more confident in Garvers bat than that of Wilson, but the Twins also believe Wilson to be a more polished defender than Garver. So while Garver seems in line to shoulder most of the load, its possible that Wilson sees slightly more playing time than a true backup, though surely their on-field performances will ultimately dictate the timeshare. In the meantime, the Twins have received calls from other clubs with catchers to offer, per Antony, but conversations with those teams have not progressed to the point where were deep in talks with anybody right now. Certainly, there are teams around the league with catching options to offer. Marlins star J.T. Realmuto was among the most oft-discussed trade candidates of the past offseason and figures to be a staple on the rumor circuit again this summer, though hell have an enormous price tag attached to him with two and a half years of club control remaining. Seldom-used Red Sox catcher/outfielder/first baseman Blake Swihart will also be on the rumor circuit until what feels like an inevitable trade is completed following this weeks trade request from his agent. The Rays, meanwhile, probably wouldnt mind shedding the salary of hot-hitting Wilson Ramos while simultaneously adding a piece or two of intrigue to their minor league ranks. As far as depth options who are unsigned at present, Miguel Montero (released by the Nationals last month), Carlos Ruiz (reportedly playing in his native Panama) and Geovany Soto are among the most notable available names. Les lunettes de marque ne sont pas ce qui manque dans les commerces. Il y en a de toutes les sortes dont les lunettes de [] The Indian retailer of top Italian luxury fashion brands like Versace, Roberto Cavalli and Missoni is under the scanner of the Income Tax department because of unaccounted monetary transactions. The retail rights of these three Italian luxury brands are held in the country by a company called Infinite Luxury Brands, funded by the Kanpur-based Chaurasias, who sell gutkas and pan masalas. Last month, the I-T department carried out surveys in the showrooms of these three high-end stores located in a plush South Delhi mall, a source in know of the matter told Moneycontrol. A survey conducted by the I-T department is a surprise on-site inspection officials to ensure correct maintenance of books of accounts. The I-T department conducted surveys in these showrooms in April and found an unsubstantiated entry of Rs 16 crore in their books, the source said. An email query sent to Infinite Luxury Brands did not elicit any response. Six years ago, Chaurasias had partnered with Indian fashion designer Manav Gangwani to bring top global fashion and lifestyle brands into the country. Sources said that Gangawani is currently not a part of Infinite Luxury. Currently, Rajiv Chaurasia is the Executive Director of Infinite Luxury Brands Private Ltd. Versace and Roberto Cavalli sells its latest range of outfits and accessories such as jewellery, sunglasses, shoes, watches, perfumes for men and women in the upscale DLF Emporio mall. Vous etes confrontes a une infestation par la puce, la punaise de lit ? Voici plusieurs actions qui sont a mettre en uvre pour faire [] JSW Steel has finally sewn up the deal to acquire Italy's second largest steelmaker Aferpi after hectic negotiations over deal size and plans to turnaround the facility. The deal is said to be close to Rs 600 crore, slightly higher than the Rs 500- crore size that was quoted in March, when the two sides had come to an initial agreement on the sale. The Sajjan Jindal-company had begun negotiations with the local administration and Cevital the Algerian Group that had bought the facility in 2014 and the final leg started earlier this week. Talks finally concluded on Thursday evening, local time. A formal announcement is expected late Friday night, or Saturday. "The deal will help JSW Steel to expand its reach in the specialised steel market, especially in the automobile sector," said a source. Comeback The deal will mark a comeback by JSW Steel, which had lost out of Cevital in 2014, to buy Aferpi. Cevital, the largest privately-held group in Algeria, had bought Lucchini in 2014 and renamed in Aferpi. Lucchini was then owned by Russias Severstal and was declared insolvent in 2012. Aferpi has a capacity to produce 2.5 million tons of steel every year. It used to have an employee-strength of 2,000. Its operations include a blast furnace, a steel mill, a coke oven and a ports. The deal will also make up for another lost opportunity for JSW group in Italy, last year. The company had lost to LN Mittals ArcelorMittal in the race to acquire Ilva, which owned Europes largest steel facility. Presence in Italy will give JSW access to high margin products. At present Aferpi manufactures products used in sectors such as railways, energy, automotive and engineering. For instance, it products high speed rails that support some of the major rail networks in Europe. With some of its facilities dating back to late 19th century, Aferpi was one of the centres of industrialisation in post-World War Italy. But since the commodity boom went bust after 2008, the company has been struggling to make a profit. Cevital had promised to invest 300 million Euros after acquiring the company in 2014. The turnaround plant included the setting up of a new steel plant. The JSW group company may opt to supply primary steel from its India-based facilities and convert them into high margin products in Italy. Given the high margins for these products in Europe, this would make sense, said an executive from the industry had told Moneycontrol in March. Aferpi is currently working on projects that include production of 1 million ton of long steel products and revamping of wire rod and bar mills, installation of one electric arc furnace of 1 million ton capacity, with two continuous casting machines. In the last couple of years, cab aggregator Ola has in addition to spontaneous cab booking launched multiple services such rental that lets a user hire cabs and corporate, which helps employees plan their travel. While these services account for relatively small proportion of the company's overall business, the growth seems to be promising. In an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol's Priyanka Sahay, Rahul Maroli, vice-president - rental and corporate distribution, Ola, talks about how the company is trying to create a difference in the way these businesses have been run conventionally. Edited excerpts: It has been around two years of Ola Corporate. How has the journey been and how have you been differentiating yourself from the legacy service providers? Corporate business traditionally has been a very manual driven process. It has been characterised by admin desk. If you were going on a business meeting somewhere, you would have to take a 4 hour 40 km or an 8 hour 80 km package. There would be somebody standing outside the airport with a placard, there would be a bottle of water and a newspaper. These were the traditional things that got characterised in a B2B business. Most of these things were not necessary which over a period of time became luxury. Placard was a euphemism for not having a mobile connection. So it was the only means of recognising a driver. Over a period of time these things moved away from being a necessity ended up becoming value added services. So the positioning of most of the rental service providers in this country was that we will give you this this and this what we realised that there is a complete tectonic shift the way corporates were. There was a new bread of customers coming out. That's when we decided if we could launch Ola Corporate. We have built a huge retail infrastructure. It is possible that corporates could also start taking advantage of the retail infrastructure and look at taking rides on Ola platform. Ola Corporate, in reality, is not a mobility management tool, it is an overall tool wherein you could link it back into the ERP, you could administer the entire mobility policy right from an extent that you can decide what categories or budget can be allocated to which person. It tells users their eligibility per month. How many rides they have taken, etc. This entire expense code can be linked back to the company's ERP system and then you just take a ride. What percentage of Ola's overall business comes from corporate now? I won't be able to give you the exact percentage but currently we have about 3,500 B2B customers. The business has grown to about five times over the past 12 months (in terms of number of rides). We believe that we have about 20 percent of the entire corporate rental market, in the Tier-1 cities. Is the ticket size in B2B higher than the general rides? It is significantly higher, almost twice the size of a usual ride. Most people use it for long-distance commutes. Ola has expanded its services to Australia. Is there any plan to take the corporate business global? Not at the moment but we will definitely look at that. What sort of innovations have been done to make it more customer friendly? A simple innovation would be a thing like we launched a service called guest booking. We would be in a position to book a ride for you even without you being on our platform. I will just put in your email id or some details and you will get a ride allocated. Then a link gets sent to you across your mobile phone and you will be able to track the ride. So even without the app you would still be able to track it. That has been seeing a lot of traction specially with customers like hotels. The second innovation was of safety, specially with women employees. We did some micro innovations where in the emergency numbers for some of our customers were linked back into their central response team. Lot of companies have their own response teams. What sort of a growth is expected this financial year? We should easily be able to grow at least about 3-4 times. And this will be on the basis of? Largely on the number of customers. Now what we are also seeing that in terms of lot of our customers, share of wallet is increasing significantly. They wouldn't have given us a large share but now they are. The scope of work has been increasing. The wallet share has now been increasing. The larger challenge has been that employees are used to standing out of the airport with a placard as it is a huge ego booster. Then somebody dragging your bag out of the airport is also ego booster. That has to change. At some point in time, it will change. Lot of millennials and younger employees just don't want that and instead love Ola because of the discreetness it provides. We are a complete mobility management tool. Another innovation that we have done is called a manager approval. Lot of our customers have got a policy wherein if I take a ride it has to be approved by the manager. Depending on a weekly on a period basis, depends on what you set. The manager gets a note saying that he needs to approve the rides. It becomes completely seemless from a clients point of view. Also the earlier norms used to be garage to garage. It means that if you had to be picked up from the airport, the cab left the garage went across to the airport picked you up dropped you and then the car goes back. You got charged right from the point the car left the garage. For an end consumer it turned out to be significantly expensive. We have reduced that. We are an on demand platform. So depending on the demand we would have our cars at the vicinity. The cost reduction came from billing transparency it also came in from reducing pilferage both from a supply point of view and also from an employee form of view. Bulk of the business that we get in Ola corporate today is largely migration from legacy service providers Are these the same cabs that you use for other services? What we have now started to look at is that we go a step further in terms of customising. One of the things that we are now trying to do .. we are looking at ride assurance. We are piloting that with a couple of customers where we give you assurance in terms of rides. We assure you that you will get a ride if you have a critical application. Book it in advance and we will assure you that you get a ride. So we would have dedicated supply sitting in the back-end and depending upon demand that is available, we would dispatch that supply. Are all of them going to be leased cabs? It will be a combination of leased and attachment. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slapped a Rs 5 crore penalty on South Indian Bank for violation of bad loan classification, know-your-customer (KYC) guidelines, treasury functions and other non-compliances. The central bank said it has imposed, "...by an order dated May 14, 2018, a monetary penalty of 50 million on South Indian Bank Limited (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms, Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and treasury function and for deficiencies in its compliance function and compliance culture." The central bank said that the action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement the bank has entered into with customers. On May 15, South Indian Bank reported divergence in asset classification of provisioning towards non-performing assets (NPAs) in comparison to RBI's assessment for 2016-17. The gap with respect to gross NPAs was Rs 8.39 crore, while for net NPAs, the divergence came in at negative Rs 15.13 crore. Its profit had jumped 51 percent to Rs 114.10 crore for the March quarter in FY18, driven by healthy interest income and less provisioning for bad loans. Penalties on other banks In March, ICICI Bank was fined Rs 58.9 crore by RBI for failing to adhere to its directives regarding the sale of securities from the held-to-maturity or HTM portfolio. In April, the banking regulator penalised IDBI Bank to the tune of Rs 3 crore for failing to comply with norms related to reporting of bad loans. Earlier this week, RBI imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on Universal Co-operative Urban Bank, Mancherial, Telangana for violations on loans and advances. Previously, the central bank had charged Indian Overseas Bank IndusInd Bank and RBL Bank for violation of asset qualification and KYC norms. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More On one hand, we are seeing exits of foreign partners from the domestic mutual fund industry while on the other hand, a set of global players still find the Indian mutual fund industry attractive. On Thursday, Union Bank of India said that Japan's financial major Dai-ichi Life Holdings has acquired 39.62 percent stake in Union Asset Management Co Ltd through investment in compulsorily convertible preference shares. Accordingly, Union Mutual Fund will now be co-sponsored by Union Bank of India and Dai-ichi Life, the release said. Dai-ichi has replaced Belgium-based KBC Participations Renta SA, which exited the venture by selling its 49 percent stake in erstwhile Union KBC Asset Management Co Pvt Ltd and Union KBC Trustee Co Pvt Ltd to Union Bank of India on Sep 20. The entry of the Japanese fund with deep pockets will not only raise the prospects of Union Mutual Fund, but also accelerate the competition in an industry which is growing at 26 percent a year. Another global asset manager, BlackRock, which exited AMC joint venture with DSP in India, is said to be keen on continuing its presence in the Indian AMC business. According to reports, BlackRock has bid for acquiring IDFC AMC which is up for sale. So as the Indian mutual fund industry moves up the maturity curve, assets under management maintain the growth momentum clocking a CAGR of 26 percent global players are finding the industry appealing. The 43-player domestic mutual fund industry manages assets worth Rs 23 lakh crore as on March-end. Japan's Nippon owns a stake in Reliance Asset Management which is listed on the stock exchanges. Global players like Prudential and Franklin Templeton dominate the industry. Global investors across the board are of the view that the Indian economy is poised for significant growth. However, in the past, some of the foreign MFs that have bid adieu to India include Morgan Stanley, PineBridge, ING, and Fidelity. The main reason why few foreign MFs find India a difficult market to operate in is because they are unable to scale up their asset base. Even when some of these players manage to build a substantial equity asset base, the high cost of operations eats into profitability. Mutual fund experts said that a majority of foreign fund houses that were unable to comprehend Indian dynamics. Also, stringent guidelines by Indian regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India is also making it tougher for asset managers to charge high fees. A few years ago it banned entry loads, preventing funds from charging a fee to investors buying into schemes. Devendra Jain, a veteran insolvency professional recently faced a tough time when he was kidnapped from a Mumbai suburb. A group of investors, attempting to derail insolvency proceedings, mistook him for a company official in relation to a ponzi-scheme case. Jain, who is also the founder-chairman and managing director of NPAsource.com, an NPA-listing portal for banks, feels that there is a need to take insurance. Feeling the heat from physical assault and legal threats by stakeholders on the way they manage distressed companies, insolvency professionals have individually started buying insurance covers. Insurance should also cover professional charges of the insolvency professionals. We have operational dangers in several cases where insolvency is initiated. Compliance costs are also high, he told Moneycontrol. Just like Jain, another New Delhi-based insolvency professional was thought to be part of top management of a debt-ridden financial services firm and beaten up by individuals who lost money. Rising NCLT cases Any creditor has the right to take a corporate entity to the National Company Law Tribunal for insolvency proceedings if there is a default on debt or interest payment. These cases are referred to the NCLT on priority under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. An insolvency professional, who then takes over the running of the company, gets 180 days (six months) to come up with a viable solution to enable repayment of loans. The period can be extended by another 90 days. Though exact numbers are not available, it is estimated that oover 2,000 cases pertaining to insolvency proceedings are pending before the NCLT. India is said to have about 1,300-1,500 fully-qualified insolvency professionals. While the number of cases filed at the NCLT are on the rise, challenges faced by insolvency professionals too are aplenty. Sanjay Radhakrishnan, CEO of JLT Independent Insurance Brokers said that they have structured an insurance policy, especially for insolvency professionals to help mitigate risks. We have already sold about four policies to insolvency professionals handling some of the largest cases at NCLT. We are working with another 28 such professionals to offer products. Both private sector and public sector insurers have been providing the product, he added. Unlike India, several markets such as the United Kingdom have made it mandatory for the resolution professionals to take insurance. Ground Realities Industry sources told Moneycontrol that while only six to eight such specially-worded policies for individual insolvency professionals have been sold, the demand is much higher. Insurers expect the number of policies on offer to rise to at least 80-100 in the next three months. Not all insolvency professionals are able to afford the insurance costs, especially if they do not work with a large legal or accounting firm. Jain of NPAsource.com said while they asked IBBI to provide insurance to insolvency professionals like him, there has not been any progress yet. He added that they are also seeking a formal tie-up with an insurance company to provide insurance cover for insolvency professionals. What does this insurance cover? Several insolvency professionals still take a professional indemnity cover that offers basic insurance against legal proceedings if a case is filed against their conduct. But, specialised covers for insolvency professional are not yet a norm. Radhakrishnan of JLT Independent Insurance Brokers explained that a typical cover would have a sum insured from USD 3 million to up to USD 80 million. The premium here is 1.25-3.5 percent of the sum assured. He added that the reinsurance as well as the wordings of the policy are done from the London market which is considered to a global hub for high-risk insurance products. The insurance covers legal liabilities of the individual insolvency professionals and if any costs are incurred due to a case being filed against them, this product will cover that. Further, crimes committed against IPs to derail debt resolution proceedings will be provided against. Could IPs be charged of misconduct? In 2017, there were a few cases of alleged partisan behaviour. According to a report, Edelweiss ARC had approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in September, 2017, opposing the debt recast plan for Synergies Dooray Automotive on the grounds that the deal was fraudulent, void, and set a wrong precedent. The report said that Edelweiss ARC has also complained to IBBI about what it termed as partisan action by Mamta Binani, the resolution professional appointed for Synergies Dooray Automotive. However, Binani refuted these allegations saying that the resolution had happened with the NCLT approval, which had heard and set aside Edelweisss objections. There is a potential threat of insolvency professionals getting sued for any misconduct. Insurers said that considering several professionals are not paid very high fees, such individuals could potentially go bankrupt if they are slapped with heavy fines. NPAs mount, insurance paces slowly While the number of companies being dragged to NCLT has increased, industry players said that the pace of insurance has been lower. Though no insolvency professional has yet been asked to pay heavy legal damages for leading to worsening of a company financials during the time they have taken over, insurers believe that the risks at stake are very high. DSP BlackRock Investment Managers will elevate Vinit Sambre, Senior Vice President, as Head of Equities after Chief Investment Officer Anup Maheshwari's resignation, the fund house said in a May 18 press release. On May 10, Moneycontrol had reported DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund will elevate Vinit Sambre after Anup Maheshwari's exit. The fund house will also elevate Rohit Singhania, Senior Vice President, as Co-Head Equities. Maheshwari, Chief Investment Officer-Equities has decided to leave the firm to pursue other opportunities, the release stated. On April 26, Moneycontrol had also reported that Anup Maheshwari has resigned from the fund house. An alumnus of IIM Lucknow, Maheshwari had joined DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd. (previously called DSP Merrill Lynch Fund Managers) in July 1997. He was managing the domestic funds from May 2001 to June 30, 2012. Maheshwari had also worked as a CIO at HSBC Asset Management between Dec 2005 and May 2006 before returning to DSP BlackRock Investment Managers. Between 1997 and 2000, Maheshwari also managed an offshore fund, the Merrill Lynch India Fund which was registered in Mauritius and sold to Merrill Lynch's clientele outside India. Prior to joining DSP BlackRock Investment Managers, he worked with Chescor, a British fund management firm that managed three offshore funds investing into Indian equities. Currency In circulation has come Down in the last 4 days, says Economic Affairs Secretary. Will ensure no impact of oil prices on fiscal deficit, says Economic Affairs Secretary. May 18, 2018 / 10:34 PM IST / 10:34 PM IST India, EU give WTO lists of US goods for potential tariff retaliation India and the European Union have given the World Trade Organization lists of the US products that could incur high tariffs in retaliation for the US President Donald Trump's global tariffs on steel and aluminium, reported Reuters. May 18, 2018 / 10:14 PM IST / 10:14 PM IST India, EU give WTO lists of US goods for potential tariff retaliation India and the European Union have given the World Trade Organization lists of the US products that could incur high tariffs in retaliation for the US President Donald Trump's global tariffs on steel and aluminium, reported Reuters. May 18, 2018 / 10:34 PM IST That's all for today, readers. Thanks for staying on with our coverage of the day's action. Your enthusiasm encourages us to better our coverage every day. Do come back tomorrow for more news, views and insights. May 18, 2018 / 10:12 PM IST BBMB imposes 15% cut on water supply to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan The Bhakra and Beas Management Board (BBMB) has imposed a 15 percent cut on the water being supplied to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan from the Bhakra and Pong dams. The decision was taken because of low-level of water in the dams, reported PTI. May 18, 2018 / 10:08 PM IST Delay in payment of MGNREGA wages not accepted: Supreme Court Any delay in paying the wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is "simply not acceptable" and red-tape cannot be "pedalled" as an excuse to deny payment to the workers, the Supreme Court said today. May 18, 2018 / 10:06 PM IST Sebi clears Emami promoters of insider trading charges Markets regulator Sebi has cleared seven present and former promoters of FMCG company Emami of insider trading charges. Disposing of the case related to insider trading charges against Emami promoters, Sebi in an order said the allegations against the promoters stand "not proved". May 18, 2018 / 10:04 PM IST "I am in touch with the JD(S) MLAs so that they support BS Yeddyurappa ji tomorrow. Nobody can even dare to ask me to help them and nobody has dared to ask me as yet. Party is like my mother," Preetham Gowda, BJP told ANI. May 18, 2018 / 10:03 PM IST May 18, 2018 / 10:03 PM IST JD(S) and Congress have jointly given list of 118 MLAs to Governor. We've sufficient strength to form Govt in Karnataka. This morning Supreme Court has given judgement on Governor's decision. For past 2 days, BJP is trying to by the MLAs of the opposition: HD Kumaraswamy, JD (S) May 18, 2018 / 09:55 PM IST May 18, 2018 / 09:54 PM IST Mamata Baneerjee's TMC records resounding victory in West Bengal rural polls The ruling Trinamool Congress has scripted a resounding victory in the West Bengal rural polls bagging more than 85 percent of the seats, while the BJP came a distant second, emerging as the main opposition in the state. TRAI, or the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, has been in the news of late for taking a stance against tardiness by Telecom operators with regard to QoS, or quality of service in certain circles, especially call drops. According to the Economic Times, the agency is unimpressed that Carriers failed to meet benchmarks for call quality and call drops in the October-December period. Earlier this month, TRAI had issued show-cause notices to all telecom companies. Some sources have suggested that, internally, penalties totalling up to tens of crores have been discussed because most of the telcos have failed to comply with benchmarks. The tough talk by the regulator could trigger a standoff between the industry and TRAI. This is one more in a string of disputes over several issues, including call drops, dating back to 2015. At that time, Trai had mandated that telcos must compensate users for each dropped call. However, the Supreme Court scrapped the rule after the carriers appealed. Ram Sewak Sharma, the Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, says call drops strike at the heart of the consumer and make for a powerful consumer issue. He said call drops are not a "theoretical construct", but a real issue. Telecom operators have said that TRAI should take what they call a pragmatic view. We request that these nominal or marginal deviations from the prescribed benchmarks be waived off and no financial disincentives be imposed on the operators, the Cellular Operators Association of India said in a letter to the telecom regulator a couple of weeks ago. They added that certain marginal deviations were not material enough to attract financial disincentives when a large number of customers were being served. The COAI, which represents all private sector carriers including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio, sought a review of all financial incentive orders issued from the quarter ended March 2017 onwards. TRAIs chairman Sharma, for his part, laughed off suggestions that the regulator should take a pragmatic view on call drops, and brushed aside views that an Ombudsman was unnecessary. Sharma and his team wouldnt be in the wrong if they were to claim credit for the centres May 1st decision to approve the setting up of an Ombudsman, years after the regulator first sent the proposal. The chairman, who will be retiring in August 2018, has repeatedly taken telcos to task over the menace of call drops. The office of the Ombudsman, which will be technology driven, is to set up under TRAI with an aim to resolve consumer grievances, he said in an interview. The ombudsman is supposed to work like a deterrent in some sense because ultimately the quality of complaint resolution currently is not extremely good. Why is it not good? Because the telecom service provider is the first point of authority that will resolve the issue. Then, the second one is also controlled and owned by the service provider. So its like the party is the judge, says the chairman of TRAI, mincing no words. Elaborating on his observation that the ombudsmans job in this scenario will be driven by technology, Sharma said, Verification of truth is extremely easy because of the digital footprints of the activities happening there. He claims that what the regulator has proposed is essentially an infrastructure which is light in manpower but fairly advanced in terms of technology. Technology should become the main level of resolving consumer complaints, he said. Rajan Mathews, COAIs director-general, had earlier expressed a view that disagrees with the TRAI chairmans ideas. He said TRAI needed to work with the carriers to address systemic issues, instead of continuing to slap on penalties which are often quashed or reduced substantially by the courts. Its easy to see where the association is coming from. The telecom regulator is preparing to levy new penalties on carriers based on quality of service benchmarks which we spoke about earlier. Economic Times had recently reported that TRAI was preparing to issue penalties on carriers for not meeting quality-of-service rules in certain circles as per the tougher parameters. What penalties? Trai issued tighter rules on service quality effective October 1, 2017. The new rules imply penalties of a maximum of Rs10 lakh for every violation. Prior to this, the regulator had sent out show cause notices in March of this year. This step was taken after studying call drop data submitted by all carriers including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Jio. The operators are reported to have responded to TRAIs show-cause notices claiming they were enabling their systems to provide reports in line with the new rules. Such data was being reported for the first time, they said, because of which there was bound to be some margin of error. COAI claims that TRAI is being too stringent and should take a more practical approach. Sharma pulled no punches in his reply. He said, TRAI has always taken a pragmatic viewconsumer issues and the call drops and the quality of service areactually very, very practical problems...It is the consumer that we will continue to guard. Telecom companies have pleaded innocence, blaming the inconsistencies on all the variables at play, from arbitrary local laws to peoples fear of radiation from mobile towers. The contentious issue of call drops has pit mobile operators industry against the government, with the govt even rebuking the operators for the rising number of call drops, even as the companies move from 2G and 3G to 4G and 4G VoLTE, which will have an impact on their networks and expanding capacities. Ram Sewak Sharma gives no quarter to the telecom companies. Taking it on the chin, he says, TRAI will always get a stick, dont worry. Even if we say sell it for free, we will get the stick. The Delhi metro today told the high court here that it along with some Delhi University students, who defaced its properties during the varsity polls, had identified 10 sites for beautification as a pilot project. Taking note of the submission made by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which said the beautification work would be undertaken on June 9-10, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said let the needful be done and a report submitted before the next date of hearing on July 16. The court was hearing a plea by advocate Prashant Manchanda, who sought a complete ban on defacement of public properties by the DUSU poll candidates. During the hearing, the bench was informed that the guidelines against defacement were yet to be finalised. The bench, thereafter, directed Manchanda, the DMRC, the university and the varsity's students union to coordinate with the joint registrar of the high court and finalise the guidelines expeditiously. It said the issue of guidelines would be taken up on May 29. Directions were also issued to the Centre, the Delhi government and the university to take steps to publicise the penal consequences of defacement of public property, including in the campus area. Earlier the court had issued bailable warrants against several students, who had contested the 2017 DUSU polls, for failing to appear before it despite being served a notice in the PIL. It had also directed the students to work with the DMRC to restore its defaced properties across the city after taking into consideration the metro's submission that about 76 of its properties were found to be permanently defaced and restoring them would cost over Rs 16 lakh and take six months. The high court had earlier warned the students of Delhi University that they might have to go to jail if they were found defacing public property ahead of the next elections for the varsity's student union, DUSU. In a development that could prop up the value of embattled real estate firm Jaypee Infratech, the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has ordered that 759 acres of land given to its holding company Jaiprakash Associates be returned to it as the transfer was fraudulent, preferential and undervalued. This will be a huge upside to JILs valuation in the insolvency process, say corporate experts, adding with the land being transferred back to JIL, its value of around Rs 5,000 crore will be added to the companys liquidation value. NCLT has ordered that such transactions, which took place over two years between August 2015 to August 2017, would be considered reversed. What does the NCLT order say? In a 77-page judgment, NCLTs Allahabad bench noted that since the corporate debtor was facing financial stress and was unable to honour its project completion deadlines and failed in its commitment to deliver possession of flats to homebuyers in time, it was facing litigation from flat buyers in some forums. The corporate debtor has approximately 30,000 flats under construction. The mortgage was created in complete disregard to the interests of the creditors and stakeholders of the corporate debtor and the homebuyers at large. It has defaulted in payment of loans and other financial assistance borrowed from financial creditors, including fixed deposit holders. Its account was declared as a non-performing account on September 2015 by LIC and on March 31, 2016 by other lenders. The corporate debtor was in dire need of funds during the period and was facing severe liquidity crunch to complete the construction of projects and deliver the flats to homebuyers as well as honour the payment obligation to financial creditors including the fixed deposit holders. Since the corporate debtor itself was in dire need of funds and could have sold or mortgaged unencumbered land to raise funds to complete construction of flats in a timely manner and to fulfill its obligation to its creditors and prevent value deterioration erosion or insolvency but it chose to give away the land to secure the debt for a related party. The mortgage was created in complete disregard to the interest of the creditors and stakeholders of the corporate debtor. Now JAL has defaulted to its lenders exposing the mortgaged land to the risk of being sold to recover the dues payable by JAL, it said in its order. The directors of the corporate debtor despite being fully aware of the said fact of default admittedly failed to exercise due diligence in minimizing the potential loss to its creditors and entered the transactions which were on face of it were entered to give benefits to its related party with the clear intent to defraud it creditors. This land could have been sold today to generate cash that would have been sufficient to complete the construction of flats. The flat buyers are directly affected adversely by this decision, it said in its order. Some transactions as recent as March 2017 Corporate lawyers say that some of these transactions are as recent as December, 2016 and March 2017 and more importantly, they were executed after RBIs first list of defaulting companies was out and it was certain that JIL will head for the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP). It was more than clear that these transactions were in bad faith and to defraud the home buyers of JIL and for the benefit of banks and JAL. This also raises questions on the conduct of independent directors and institutional nominees on the boards of JAL and JIL, both public listed companies. Unfortunately, the IBC allows only a 2 years look back period for fraudulent transactions and therefore no one will ever get to know the extent of fraud committed on home buyers. The least court could do now is to choose the highest bidder, expedite construction of apartments and use the value of this returned land for payment of delay penalty to home buyers who have been waiting since 2008 for their flats unaware that promoters and prime lending institution of this country are working against homebuyers interests, like clockwork, says Abhishek Dubey, a Delhi-based corporate lawyer and a homebuyer. This case also questions the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India, that a fraud of thousands of crore of rupees can be pulled off by public listed companies, and prime banking institutions of India, he says. JIL resolution professional (RP) Anuj Jain, in his petition, had earlier alleged that the transfer of the land amounted to asset stripping. In February this year NCLT-appointed resolution professional Jain had approached the bankruptcy tribunal, alleging that 858 acres were fraudulently and wrongfully mortgaged to secure loans of Jaiprakash Associates. The RP had alleged that that said land of JIL which was valued at around Rs 5,000-6,000 crore was mortgaged to secure loans taken by JAL from State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. The transfer took place when the banks had started classifying JIL as an NPA due to loan defaults. Jain had contended that the land could have been sold or mortgaged by JIL to raise funds and complete the construction of flats. The company is required to deliver around 33,000 flats of which more than 25,000 are yet to be completed. On August 9 last year, the Allahabad bench of the NCLT had accepted lender IDBI Banks plea and admitted Jaypee Infratech as a case under insolvency resolution for defaulting Rs 526 crore. It appointed Anuj Jain as the insolvency resolution professional from BSSR & Co. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued a stay order on Jaypee Infratechs liquidation till June 15, asking the promoter of the company to deposit Rs 1,000 crore as security against homebuyers claims. If Jaiprakash Associates is not able to bring the money in by the deadline, the liquidation proceedings would continue as scheduled. The apex court will now hear the matter on July 4. Representative image The Maharashtra government on Thursday rolled out a fresh plan to make Mumbai slum-free, according to a report by The Indian Express. According to the plan, more than 18 lakh slum dwellers, who live in tenements built between 2000 and 2011, have been guaranteed rehabilitation, albeit not free of cost. Residents would have to pay for the house they get as a replacement under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojanas interest subvention scheme. The plan was detailed in a government resolution issued by the state's housing department on Thursday. The resolution stated that concession would be extended to such slum dwellers who had been evicted earlier for being found 'ineligible' for rehabilitation under the existing slum redevelopment schemes. On April 20, President Ram Nath Kovind approved modifications to the Maharashtra Slum Act, 1971 proposed by the Maharashtra legislature. The news daily quoted the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) as saying that more than 62 lakh people or one-half of Mumbais population reside in 12.5 lakh slum tenements. Slums collectively cover over 8 percent of the city's total geographic area. The plan was first proposed by the Shiv Sena-BJP government in 1995 and entitled hutments that had been built before January 1, 1995 to rehabilitation, free of cost. The Congress-NCP-led government had later changed the cut-off date to January 1, 2000. A leading environment advocacy group lauded the just-released 'Swachh Survekshan' 2018 for using improved methodology but stressed the need for cities to enhance solid waste management system for better results. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) noted that there was a clear improvement in the methodology adopted in the survey with more focus on innovation and on adoption of sustainable waste management practices. Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had released the 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' yesterday. Jharkhand has emerged as the best-performing state in terms of cleanliness, while Indore in Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the cleanest city in the country. "There is a clear improvement in the methodology adopted by the survey we see more focus on innovation, and on adoption of sustainable waste management practices. "However, some of the cities that have been selected for the awards are merely visibly clean and cannot claim to have adopted sustainable practices," said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general, CSE. He said the CSE had advocated categorisation of cities by population and pointed out that it is incorrect and misleading to place cities with different populations in the same category of ranking. "This year's survey has definitely made significant improvements. However, cities must shift their focus towards creating end-to-end systems to support segregation with effective processing and disposal mechanisms. "Only then will such ranking systems work in changing the solid waste management scenario in the country," he added. The 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' has followed the broad population-based categories, several sub-categories have been introduced such as the cleanest city or the fastest moving city, and cities with best solid waste management practices, highest citizen feedback, best innovation and practices, etc, CSE said. Elaborating on the green body's forum of cities that segregate scores points, Swati Singh Sambyal, programme manager, waste management, CSE, said cities which are members of the forum that segregate have bagged several awards. "Mysuru, for instance, a pioneer in waste management, has been ranked India's cleanest city in the 3-10 lakh population bracket. Mysuru treats close to 60 tonnes of wet waste and 90 tonnes of dry waste every day through a decentralised waste management system, and 85 per cent of the city is segregating its waste," she said. The forum was instituted by CSE in December 2017, and now has 20 cities from 13 states as its members. The forum's 2018 conclave is scheduled to be held in Delhi on June 7, 2018. The CSE said Indore and Bhopal, which held leading ranks in the previous Survekshan, have shown significant improvement this year in segregation at source and opting for decentralised waste management. Greater Hyderabad has been recognised for the best solid waste management practice amongst all capital cities/UTs in the country, it said. When it comes to cities with less than 100,000 population, Panchgani, a small hill station, has emerged as the cleanest in the west zone. The city encourages practices such as 100 per cent source segregation, collection and processing of solid waste. Panaji, which has emerged as the best innovator in the west zone, was recognised by CSE in 2016 as one of the cleanest and most efficient cities for its waste management, it said. "The past few years have witnessed a paradigm shift, with the key focus moving to segregation at source and processing from collecting and dumping. It has been observed that collection of segregated waste is the most critical issue in the entire management of solid waste. "Such efforts are either restricted to a few localities or wards within a town with only a few urban local bodies that have taken up such efforts at the entire town level. Also, it is imperative for cities to create adequate infrastructure for collection and processing of segregated waste," said Bhushan. However, Sambyal said one major anomaly in the survekshan results is that it continues to mark cities on their door-to-door collection systems. "But some cities do not practice door-to-door, and yet are the cleanest, adopting in-situ treatment of wet waste and collection of dry waste by the local body," she said. A ten-year SIP of Rs 10,000 in any of these five funds would be worth Rs 45-51 lakh now Congress Congress leaders today staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue next to the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, against the swearing in of B S Yeddyurappa as chief minister. Several senior Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot, Mallikarjuna Kharge, party's General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal, sat at the foot of the statue, staging the protest. The newly elected Congress legislators, who are staying at a resort on the city outskirts, also joined the protest. Janata Dal (Secular) legislators and leaders will also be joining the agitation soon, party sources said. Speaking to reporters, Siddaramaiah termed as "unprecedented" Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to grant 15 days time to Yeddyurappa for proving majority in the assembly. He said Yeddyurappa would now have to furnish the list of MLA's supporting him immediately. Yeddyurappa was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Governor at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan amid loud cheering by his supporters. Earlier today, the Supreme Court refused to stay the swearing-in after a rare post-midnight courtroom battle unfolded dramatically over the Congress-JD(S) combine's legal push to stall government formation. After a nearly three-and-a-half-hour hearing beginning 2:11 AM, a three-judge apex court bench also made it clear that the swearing-in and the government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case before it. The bench, comprising justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan, posted the matter for further hearing tomorrow morning and ordered placing before it the letter of support from MLAs presented by the BJP to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala while staking claim to form the government. The Congress today welcomed the Supreme Court's order of holding a floor test in Karnataka Assembly on May 19, saying the Constitution has won and democracy restored. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had given BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa 15 days' time to prove its majority. Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Constitution has rejected the "unconstitutional" decision of the Karnataka Governor. "Constitution wins, Democracy restored! B S Yeddyurappa does remain a 1 day CM - Constitution rejects an illegitimate CM as also the unconstitutional decision of Governor of Karnataka (sic)," he said on Twitter. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress-JD (S) combine in the apex court, termed the Supreme Court's decision "historic", and said, "Interim Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has been restrained from taking policy decisions till tomorrow." The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vala to form the government despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark is 112 seats. In a historic pre-dawn hearing, the top court had yesterday cleared the last-minute hurdle created by the Congress-JD(S) combine for the BJP's ambitious surge in southern India by paving the way for Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka. During the high-voltage hearing, which lasted from 2.11 AM to 5.28 AM, the top court had made it clear that the swearing-in and government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case. Today, a three-judge bench headed by Justice A K Sikri said, "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test." The apex court also directed the Karnataka government and the Governor not to nominate any MLA from the Anglo-Indian community to participate in the floor test tomorrow. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today accused the BJP of dividing people and making them fight among themselves, alleging that the situation in the country was deteriorating and the Dalits and tribals were being attacked. He also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on various issues, including the alleged rape of a girl in Unnao by a BJP MLA. "The atmosphere in the country is deteriorating. Dalits, adivasis (tribals), women and youth are being attacked. Wherever the BJP is in power, it is dividing people and making them fight among themselves," he alleged. The Congress president was answering questions posed by his party's booth-level workers in Bilaspur. "A BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh raped a woman, but the prime minister does not even utter a word. When a PM does not give direction, a country becomes direction-less. "When the PM does not say anything in the Una case, in the Rohit Vemula case and when the Dalits are attacked, then they (accused) feel what they were doing is right. A PM gives direction to the country, while a CM does so in case of a state," Gandhi said. He said if the Congress was voted to power in Chhattisgarh, then those who commit crimes against women and Dalits would be strictly punished and jailed. "If anyone breaks the law of the land, stern action will be taken against them," he said. Gandhi's two-day tour of Chhattisgarh, where Assembly elections are due later this year, started yesterday. BS Yeddyurappa As part of its legal strategy forward to navigate through the impasse after the Karnataka election results, Congress may seek a caretaker CM status for BS Yeddyurappa from the Supreme Court until the floor test is done, according to a report in The Economic Times. The Congress decided to go this way after the freshly sworn-in CM promised a loan waiver of Rs 1 lakh crore for the farmers. Congress lead counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that this went against the spirit of the SCs early morning order, after the court's late-night hearing. Singhvi is of the view that Yeddyurappa should remain in some capacity as a caretaker till he has passed the floor test. The court explicitly made the assumption of the chief ministership dependent on its further orders... with such a tenuous existence, Yeddyurappa chooses to have a single-person cabinet meeting with himself and announces a significant policy decision like a loan waiver, he told ET. Both BJP and Congress are readying themselves for the legal battle while other non-BJP parties are mounting pressure with coordinated protests against Yeddyurappa being sworn in when BJP didnt reach half-way mark. The RJD in Bihar, Congress in Goa and Meghalaya are staking claim to form the government, opposing BJPs coalition in those states. Prakash Javadekar told the press that these parties never staked claim in the states. In Manipur, where I was incharge, the Congress CM Ibobi Singh submitted the letter of support from the Manipur Peoples Party while staking claim. When the news leaked, the MPP said they had never issued any such letter. It looked like they had committed forgery. BS Yeddyurappa also ordered the removal of security from outside the resorts where Congress MLAs had been housed. Javadekar attacked Congress on its way of treating its MLAs like prisoners. They are not being allowed to keep their phones, news channels have been removed from the TV watch list. Dont they trust their own MLAs? On Wednesday, the state governor had invited the BJP to form the government in Karnataka, ignoring Congress and JD(S)s claims for an alliance. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala administers oath to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister of the state at a ceremony in Bengaluru on Thursday. (PTI) BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa today placed before the Supreme Court the letters he had sent to Governor Vajubhai Vala in which he had staked claim to form the government in Karnataka. The Supreme court is hearing a petition moved by the Congress-JDS combine challenging the governor's decision to invite the BJP to form government. Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka yesterday, told a special bench headed by Justice A K Sikri that being the single largest party the BJP was the "mandate of people" of the state who have thrown out the Congress. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yeddyurappa, told the bench that there was no pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JDS and they have formed an "unholy alliance" after the elections. In the May 12 polls, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 members, while Congress secured 78, the JD(S) 37 and others three. Congress Amid the political development in Karnataka, Opposition Congress in Manipur today said the party leaders would meet the governor to stake claim to form the government in the north-eastern state. Opposition leader of Manipur Legislative Assembly O Ibobi Singh today told reporters that since his party was the single largest party as it had won 28 seats out of 60, during the 2017 Assembly elections in the state, he would state claim to form the government. The governor had then invited the BJP, which had only won 21 seats out of the 60 seats in the Manipur Assembly, he said. Singh said he would meet the governor tomorrow following the swearing-in of BJP leader B S Yeddyuraapa as chief minister of Karnataka. He said there should be an equal rule and law in a country and that there should not be any discrimination as there is only one Constitution in India. The governor of Karnataka had invited the leader of the BJP Legislature Party which won the state Assembly elections as the largest single party. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the southern state winning 104 seats, but is short of a simple majority. On the other hand, the Congress and the JD(S), which have already announced a post-poll tie-up, won 78 and 37 seats, respectively. The combine had claimed before Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to have the requisite numbers to form government in the state. The Governor, however, invited the BJP to form the government and has given it 15 days to prove its majority. The Congress and the JD(S) had last night jointly petitioned before the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the oath-taking ceremony. The apex court, however, decided not to put a stay on the swearing-in. Yeddyurappa took oath as the chief minister of the state this morning. BJP leader and Chhattisgarh's Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal today attacked Rahul Gandhi for likening the situation in India to Pakistan, saying the Congress chief has insulted the people of the country by making such a comparison. Gandhi, who is on a two-day trip to Chhattisgarh, today said the Constitution is under "severe attack" and an atmosphere of fear was prevailing in the country. Gandhi also likened the situation in the country to Pakistan and some African countries under "dictatorships". "It is unfortunate and shameful that the Congress president Rahul Gandhi compared vibrant democracy like India with Pakistan. He has insulted his fellow country men," Agrawal, Chhattisgarh's Agriculture Minister, told reporters here. He said only the Gandhi scion can think about dictatorships in India as in past his party had imposed the Emergency on the country. "I also welcome Gandhi to Chhattisgarh as his visit will ensure the BJP's victory in the state in the upcoming assemble elections," said Agrawal. Rastriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav addressing the crowd during Bihar Bandh to protest against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's new sand mining policy in Patna on Thursday. (PTI) In a ripple effect stemming from developments in Karnataka, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, accompanied by the Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and CPI(ML) leaders, called on Governor Satya Pal Malik today, and staked claim to form government in Bihar. During the meeting with the governor, Yadav demanded that RJD, being the single largest party in the state and also constituting the single largest pre-poll alliance should be invited to form government. "We met the governor and submitted a memorandum stating that we have support of 111 MLAs, those of my own party as well as our allies -- the Congress and the Hindustani Awam Morcha -- besides CPI(ML). "We said that we have 111 MLAs together and if we are asked for floor test, we are confident of winning, as more legislators are likely to vote in our favour," he told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan. Yadav, who is the Opposition Leader in the Assembly, said, "The point we are trying to make is that there has to be one rule in the country. If the Karnataka Governor's decision to invite the BJP on the ground of it being the single largest party was proper, then the same yardstick should be applied to Bihar. The RJD, by virtue of its being the single largest party in the state, should be allowed to form government here." The RJD was relegated to opposition in Bihar last year after the JD(U) walked away from the three-party alliance, which also involved the Congress, and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government under Nitish Kumar. In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the RJD is the single-largest party with 80 MLAs, while JD(U) has 71 legislators and the BJP has 53. NDA constituent LJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party have two seats each. The Congress has 27 MLAs. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vajubhai Vala to form government despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The Congress won 78 seats and the JD(S) 37. The majority mark in Karnataka Assembly is 112 seats. Elections were held for all but two of the 224 seats. India's Ashok Leyland Ltd Light Specialist (R) and Field Artillery Tractor vehicles are displayed at the fifth Land and Naval Systems Defence Expo 2008 in New Delhi February 18, 2008. India's Ashok Leyland Ltd is working on developing a mine-protected vehicle and is in talks with overseas firms to partner it in the project, a senior official said on Saturday. REUTERS/B Mathur (INDIA) - RTR1X8TT live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Ashok Leyland, Indias third largest commercial vehicle maker, on Friday met analysts' expectations with a 40 percent rise in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended March. Net profit came in at Rs 667.4 crore, compared to the Rs 655 crore average of 21 analysts estimates in a Reuters poll. For the corresponding quarter in FY17 the company had posted Rs 476.1 crore. "FY 17-18 has been an extremely satisfactory year for us with achievements in many fronts. Record domestic truck volumes, substantial growth in LCV, continued growth in market share, success of our digital market place, and most importantly, the transformation which i-EGR brought to the Indian market. Exports has witnessed a healthy jump in the current year and, we will continue to focus on growing International. Business as well as Defence and After Market portfolios. Our network continues to grow and reach out to more of our customers," said Vinod Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, in a post-results statement . Net sales of the Chennai-based company for the reporting quarter grew 24 percent on year to Rs 8,772.5 crore. The Reuters poll had estimated sales to come in at Rs 8,886 crore. In the quarter gone by, Ashok Leyland, the leading bus manufacturer in the country, reported a year-on-year rise of 23 percent in wholesale sales to 58,734 units, according to data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. The rise in sales was primarily due to increased retail demand, which was in turn because of steps taken by most state governments on strictly following the restrictions on overloading. New product launches and new technology also contributed to a rise in demand. Bajaj logo live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Bajaj Auto, Indias fourth largest two-wheeler maker, on Friday beat analysts' expectations with a 34.67 percent rise in net profit for the March quarter, led by a sustained growth in exports and a revival in domestic demand. The company's net profit came in at Rs 1,079.87 crore, compared to the Rs 1,042 crore average of 16 analysts estimates in a Reuters poll. Net profit for the same quarter in 2016-17 had come in at Rs 801.82 crore. Net sales of the company came in at Rs 6,650.81 crore, a growth of 29.88 percent year on year. The Reuters poll had pegged the bike maker's revenue to come in at Rs 6,699 crore. "Bajaj Auto Q4 numbers were broadly in line estimates. The company has witnessed strong volume recovery in past six months led by plugging of key gaps in its product portfolio. New launches like CT100 ES, Platina ES, and Platina Comfortec managed to lift average volumes. The company has also re-launched the Discover in the economy bike segment to regain its market share," said Abhishek Jain, analyst at HDFC Securities. The Pune-based company clocked total sales (both two wheelers and three wheelers) of 1.04 million units during the quarter ended March, 33 percent higher than the 787,468 units sold in the same quarter in 2016-17, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Domestic sales of two-wheelers grew 20 percent on year to 497,587 units, while two-wheeler exports rose 25 percent over the same period to 358,802 units. The share of two-wheeler exports in Bajaj Auto's total sales declined marginally to 34.3 percent in the quarter, as against 36.5 percent at the end of the corresponding quarter last year. "We are expecting another 150 bps gain in market share in Q1 over and above the 150 bps we gained during Q4. We would like to end FY19 with a share of 26 percent. We are getting our act nice and firm in the motorcycle segment," S Ravikumar, Head - Business Development, Bajaj Auto told CNBC-TV18. The company's board of directors recommended a dividend of Rs 60 per share, and the total amount of dividend and tax thereon amounts to Rs 2,093 crore. At 2.08 PM, its shares were 0.74 percent up at Rs 2,840.05, compared with a 0.72 percent drop in the Sensex. In a 54 to 45 vote, the US Senate confirmed Gina Haspel as the first-ever woman to head the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). A member of the CIA for 33 years, Haspel managed to convince the senators of her merits, despite ongoing discussions of her involvement in the torture programme during Bush administration. Haspel, 61, and originally from Kentucky, was a part of CIAs clandestine services for the past 33 years. This is why American public and the Senators did not know much about her before President Trump picked her up for this job role. She also holds the distinction of being the first-ever woman deputy director of CIA. Before that, she was the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Director for Operations in the agency. She has served as the Deputy Director of the National Clandestine Service as well. CIA officials are thrilled by the appointment of Haspel as their leader. The CIA has shared some details about Haspels previous posts, her personal details and projects she has worked on. The agency has also released a timeline of her career, showing her journey through the CIA for all her time there. As the first woman to rise from the ranks to become Deputy Directorand now the first woman to be nominated as CIA DirectorDDCIA, Haspel says she owes her success to the colleagues she has served with over the years. They include the extraordinary sisterhood in CTC that brought their passion and drive to the fight to bring down aAl-Qaeda; the mentors, role models, and close friends who supported and believed in her throughout her career, the article read. Controversial choice As a clandestine officer at the CIA, Haspel was in charge of a secret operation labelled Cats eye, involving torture of two suspected terrorists, in what is called a black site in Thailand. CIA was operating other black sites in Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Kosovo. Abu Zubayadah, suspected to be involved in 9/11 attacks, was the first prisoner there, and the torture methods were inhuman and cruel. Haspel was appointed its head after Zubayadah, but she was present during another severe torture case, Abdal-Rahim al-Nashiri. Al-Nashiri was captured in 2002 and taken to Thailand, suspected of having links to al-Qaeda. After the tortures in the black site of Thailand was reported, it was shut down. Haspel was later in trouble for destroying videotapes that had documented the brutal interrogations at the secret prison in Thailand. Many said that she was just acting on orders from her senior, Jose Rodriguez who was the director of operations at the clandestine branch at the time and did not act independently. Support pouring in Haspel received backing from senior officials in the White House and senators from Trumps administration as well. A group of 53 former intelligence officials wrote a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee conveying their strong support to Gina, Vox reported. Ms Haspels qualifications to be CIA Director match or exceed those of most candidates put forward in the Agencys 70-year history, it said. A fact sheet was released by the White House, listing the reasons why Gina Haspel was the right person to lead the CIA. The statement had comments from US intelligence leaders like John Brennan and James Clapper, who served Obama. Clapper said, She is capable, smart, very experienced and well respected by the Agency rank and file. John Brennan, CIA director during Obamas tenure, said, Haspel has the experience, the breadth and depth, on intelligence issues. China may buy up to USD 200 billion worth of American goods under intense pressure from the Trump administration to reduce its massive trade deficit with the US, a media report said today, amid a round of high-level trade talks between the world's two largest economies. The US has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on up to USD 150 billion in Chinese goods while China has targeted USD 50 billion in American exports. The two countries have not yet implemented their tariff increases to reach a negotiated settlement. A high-level Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He is currently in Washington for trade negotiations with the US. The two-day talks would continue until Friday. Liu called on US President Donald Trump at the White House yesterday. "Chinese negotiators are preparing to offer the administration a deal to buy up to USD 200 billion worth of American goods, which would allow Trump to claim victory in his campaign to reduce the trade deficit with China and rebalance America's trade relationship with its biggest economic rival, according to people briefed on the deliberations," The New York Times reported. The Chinese promises would be largely illusory, economists cautioned, given the structural hurdles in China to buying more American exports and the sheer amount of goods the United States would have to produce to meet Beijing's demand, the daily reported. In a readout of the latest round of trade negotiations, the White House said the US officials conveyed the President's clear goal for a fair-trading relationship with China. The US delegation is led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. It also includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representatives Robert Lighthizer. "The United States officials and the Chinese delegation also participated in a meeting with President Donald J Trump at the White House. The two sides agreed to continue the discussions on Friday," the White House said. According to The New York Times, under the deal being discussed, China would pledge to buy substantially more American goods, including agricultural products like soybeans, as well as semi-conductors and natural gas. "That could theoretically reduce its trade surplus with the United States - which hit USD 372.5 billion last year - by up to USD 200 billion, though the real number would most likely be lower," it said. In return, China is asking the US to set aside tariffs and investment restrictions it has threatened against Chinese companies, the report said. Meanwhile, the US Congress is looking set to advance a bill that would give the US greater power to block deals between American and Chinese companies that could risk national security, The Wall Street Journal said. The US, the world's largest economy, has a trade deficit of almost USD 500 billion with the world's second largest economy China. President Donald Trump lent credence to reports that FBI informants had infiltrated his presidential campaign, saying that "if so, this is bigger than Watergate!" Trump's comments came on the anniversary of Robert Mueller's appointment as special counsel to head the Justice Department probe into possible coordination between Russia and Trump campaign officials, an investigation Trump repeatedly has called a "witch hunt." "Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI 'SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT,'" Trump said today on Twitter. "Andrew McCarthy says, 'There's probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.' If so, this is bigger than Watergate!" McCarthy, a contributing editor at the National Review, wrote an article published last week headlined "Did the FBI Have a Spy in the Trump Campaign?" The New York Times reported separately this week that at least one government informant met several times with Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, both former foreign policy advisers on Trump's Republican campaign. The newspaper attributed the information to current and former FBI officials. The Watergate scandal in the early 1970s occurred following a break-in by five men at Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate building in Washington and subsequent attempts by the administration of President Richard Nixon to hide its involvement. Nixon, a Republican, ultimately resigned from office as a result of the ensuing investigation. Meanwhile, Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani said that the president still wants to testify in the Russia probe. Speaking today on "Fox and Friends," the former New York mayor said Trump will only sit down with Mueller if "we feel there's a way to shorten this thing." He added that Trump remains eager to offer his "side of the case." Giuliani has been urging Mueller's team to wrap up the investigation now that the probe has reached the one-year mark. Giuliani's team has been weighing whether to allow Trump to sit for an interview with Mueller. He said the legal team is "pretty comfortable, in the circumstances of this case, that they wouldn't be able to subpoena him personally." While the Supreme Court has never definitively ruled on the subject, it appears that a sitting president could be forced to testify. In 1974, justices held unanimously that a president could be compelled to comply with a subpoena for tapes and documents. If Trump were subpoenaed and did not want to testify, he could always invoke his constitutional right not to testify against himself and decline to answer questions. But that act would pose significant political risk. Giuliani also repeated that Mueller's team has indicated it would not attempt to indict Trump, as he told The Associated Press on Friday. Justice Department legal opinions from 1973 and 2000 have suggested that a sitting president is immune from indictment and that criminal charges would undermine the commander in chief's ability to do the job. Giuliani told Fox News Channel's Laura Ingraham on Wednesday that Mueller "has all the facts to make a decision" after 12 months investigating Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion with Trump's campaign. "Mueller should now bring this to a close," said Giuliani. "It's been a year. He's gotten 1.4 million documents, he's interviewed 28 witnesses. And he has nothing, which is why he wants to bring the president into an interview." "It's about time to say enough. We've tortured this president enough," he added, describing the investigation as being "like a big weight" on the president's back. So far, the special counsel's office has charged 19 people - including four Trump campaign advisers - and three Russian companies. Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, have pleaded guilty and are now cooperating with the probe. Trump, however, has panned it as a "witch hunt" intended to discredit his presidency and has insisted that Russia had nothing to do with his winning campaign. Giuliani, who is working for the president pro bono, said Wednesday that the probe "is not good for the American people, and the special counsel's office doesn't seem to have that sort of understanding that they're interfering with things that are much bigger than them. The United States said today it was ready to proceed with next month's summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, putting the ball back in Pyongyang's court after it threatened to scrap the meeting. "If the North Koreans want to meet, we'll be there," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told journalists, adding that the White House schedule had not changed. "The president is prepared and will be ready to meet, and we're continuing to move forward with the preparations at this point." After weeks of warm words and diplomatic backslapping, Pyongyang on Tuesday abruptly threatened to pull out of the planned June 12 summit, blaming US demands for "unilateral nuclear abandonment." In an angrily worded statement, the North warned "if the US is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue." Sanders, however, said North Korea was "not in the driver's seat. Nothing could be further from the truth." "They're the ones that extended the invitation. If they're happy to meet, we're happy to do that," she added. Members of the new Hungarian government take the oath of office in Parliament in Budapest, Hungary. (Reuters) People offer prayers at the historic Washi Ullah mosque on the first Friday of Ramadan, in Allahabad. (PTI) Wallops Island | An Orbital ATK rocket is seen as it makes its final approach to launch Pad-0A at Wallops Flight Facility in advance of a Sunday launch, Wallops Island, VA. (AP/PTI) People rest at the municipal coliseum after the Colombian government ordered the evacuation of residents living along the Cauca river, as construction problems at a hydroelectric dam prompted fears of massive flooding, in Valdivia, Colombia. (Reuters) Senior Congress leader and Advocate Abhishek Singhvi leaves after a hearing in Karnataka government formation case, at Supreme Court in New Delhi, on Friday. The Supreme Court ordered a floor test to be conducted in the Karnataka Assembly on Saturday for BJP's B S Yeddyurappa, who was sworn-in as Chief Minister, to prove his majority. (PTI) Cannes Film Festival Director Thierry Fremaux, from left, Jury President Cate Blanchett and Cannes Film Festival President Pierre Lescure pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Capharnaum' at the 71st international film festival, Cannes, southern France. (AP/PTI) Representative Image A high-speed railway linking Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, which has been plagued by delays, will finally start operating in September, the Spanish consortium building the project said. The railway linking Islam's holiest cities, which was initially scheduled to open at the end of 2016, had a cost overrun of 210 million euros which Saudi Arabia has agreed to pay, the Al-Shoula consortium added in a statement. It will begin operating in September with four trains per week, before offering daily service by September 2019. Saudi Arabia in 2011 awarded the contract worth 6.7 billion euros ($7.1 billion) to the consortium of 12 Spanish companies and two Saudi firms for the project which aims to improve transport between the two cities during the annual hajj pilgrimage. The contract -- one of the biggest Spanish firms have ever undertaken abroad -- is for the laying of the 444 kilometres (275 miles) of track between Mecca and Medina, providing 35 trains and maintaining the line for 12 years. When it is finished, the rail link will be able to move 166,000 passengers per day. But the project has run into challenges that have added to its costs, leading to disagreements among members of the consortium over who is responsible for resolving them and paying for the cost overruns. The rail line crosses the Arabian Desert, where sandstorms are frequent and large dunes can suddenly form, which has added to the difficulties in completing the project. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visit to Spain last month played a "key" role in resolving the disagreements over the delays in completing he project, Spanish daily El Mundo reported earlier on Thursday. The leading firms in the consortium -- Spain's rail company Renfe, train maker Talgo, and state track operator Adif -- have extensive experience with Spain's own high-speed network, the world's second largest after China's. A top Ukrainian official has claimed that the dolphins trained by its military for sea missions have most likely died as they refused food from their new Russian handlers. The Ukrainian military had been training dolphins since 2012. As Russia took control of Crimea in 2014, among other assets, Ukraine also lost the facility of training sea mammals for military purposes. The repeated calls by Ukraine to Russia for the return of the animals has fallen on deaf ears. Now an envoy of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was informed that the dolphins are dead and they have finally lost hopes of seeing them again. There is a very sad story related to the dolphins, Borys Babin, Poroshenkos permanent representative in Crimea, told Ukrainian news site Obozrevatel. He claimed that the dolphins did not take to their new masters. The dolphins, trained by the [Ukrainian] naval forces in Sevastopol, would communicate with their trainers through special whistles, Babin said. The Russians obtained these whistles and the rest of the special equipment belonging to the military unit but the trained animals refused not only to cooperate with the Russian trainers, but [also] refused food and subsequently died. Many countries around the world train sea animals to recover objects at sea and detect mines and other naval hazards, as well as alert officers and help in rescuing people overboard. The US has one such facility in San Diego. When Russia annexed Crimea, it gave an option to the Ukrainian military personnel stationed in the region to either defect to Russia or face deportation. Many picked the former. Babin contrasted the defection to dolphins' sacrifice. It is very sad that so many Ukrainian soldiers, deployed to Crimea in 2014, treated matters of defection and loyalty to the flag much more poorly than these dolphins did, Babin added. Russian officials, however, denied that dolphins death has anything to do with they refusing to take food from Russian handlers. There can be no talk about any Ukrainian patriotism with regards to the combat dolphins because precisely under Ukraine the special forces dolphins were involved entirely in commercial activities, not underwater operations, Dmitry Belik, a Russian representative in Sevastopol, told state news agency RIA Novosti . He added that old age and sales of the animals in the past were to blame for their death. US lawmakers today pressed the Trump administration to hold China accountable for violating its trade laws and intellectual property regulations. "I think that's appropriate," Senator Rob Portman told Fox News in an interview when asked about holding China accountable for violating trade norms. "If you go too far, I think what some people in the White House are saying, ..Steve Mnuchin, the Secretary of the Treasury, you will end up shooting yourself in the foot if you really do in fact have the Chinese retaliating against our products, and yet we aren't getting satisfaction on more entry into their markets," he said. "So there's a way to do this. We have the bigger market. We have the trade deficit. In other words, there's only so much they can do to hurt our trade because they're selling us more than we're selling them," the Republican Senator from Ohio said. A high-level trade delegation from China is currently in Washington DC for talks with the US. The US trade delegation is led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "I think the president is right to focus on China. He's right to say that the imbalance between the US and China has grown over time. And, by the way, of the USD 500 billion trade deficit we have, roughly USD 370 billion is with Chinaso no question about that," Portman said. "One of the issues that he's focused on with China is intellectual property, the fact that they take our secrets and use them. So it's real and it's good that he is finally sort of standing up to it -- not finally him but finally an American administration is doing that. But, Neil, you have to be careful how you do it," he said. As many as 32 Senators in a letter called on US President Donald Trump to put American jobs and national security ahead of China. "Offering to trade American sanctions enforcement to promote jobs in China is plainly a bad deal for American workers and for the security of all Americans," the senators wrote. "American workers and companies confront rampant theft of US intellectual property, agricultural policies that disadvantage American farmers, restrictions on market access for U.S. service providers and manufacturers, and mercantilist industrial policies that have cost U.S. workers their jobs. America's policies toward China should put American workers, farmers and businesses first, not China's, the Senators said. The Senators urged Trump to focus on identifying effective strategies to reshape China's policy approach in each of these areas, such as through enforceable commitments to eliminate forced technology transfer policies, market distorting subsidies, data localisation policies, and foreign investment restrictions, and ensuring nondiscriminatory treatment of US firms in regulatory and other proceedings. "Above all, we urge you to remain steadfast in enforcing America's laws," the Senators said. Members of the Ways and Means Committee today met Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. During the meeting lawmakers encouraged Vice Premier Liu to continue discussions with Congress and the administration to strengthen and improve trade relations between the two countries by addressing the trade barriers faced by American exporters and China's theft of intellectual property from American businesses and workers. Senator Marco Rubio, in his remarks on the Senate floor, opposed any deal on the Chinese telecom giant ZTE. "The Chinese use their telecom companies to spy on us. Not just spy on us for national security, they spy on us for commercial secrets, steal stuff from us. They want to control global telecom. They want to make it difficult for the American military to communicate with commanders and each other," he alleged. Rubio said China wants to embed themselves in the technology of other countries. "We make calls to other countries, to our embassies abroad. Imagine if ZTE or Huawei controls the infrastructure in some country like that, they're hearing everything our government is doing and they're stealing secrets form our companies," he said. Asserting that the US shouldn't sell them any chips because they are trying to put US out of business, Rubio alleged that Chinese companies "steal" American secrets, and reverse engineer the things the US does. "Their goal is to dominate telecommunications, all technology in the world. And they're doing it by stealing from us. We should not be helping them," he said. "I do not shed one tear for ZTE or Huawei, or any of these companies. Chinese companies backed by the Chinese government have put plenty of American companies out of business. And they're doing this to undermine us economically, geopolitically and from a national security perspective," Rubio said. The Vatican called for more regulation of markets and financial systems on Thursday, saying economic crises showed they were not able to govern themselves and needed a strong injection of morality and ethics. A major document written by two key Holy See departments appeared to take aim at plans to further de-regulate markets in some countries, such as the United States, where President Donald Trump wants to loosen strict banking rules enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. It said profit for the sake of profit and not for the greater good was "illegitimate" and condemned a "reckless and amoral culture of waste" that has created oligarchies in some countries while leaving great masses of impoverished people "without any means of escape". The document attacked the "economic cannibalism" of some financial practices. While not infallible, the Vatican's pronouncement is considered official teachings of the Catholic Church and could affect the attitude of the church's 1.2 billion members. The 15-page document uses technical terms such as credit stocks, subprime mortgages, high-frequency trading, credit fault swaps, derivatives, shadow banking systems, capital outflow and interbank loans to illustrate what is says is vulnerability to abuse and illegality. It also speaks of executive salaries. Saying that the material wellbeing of a greater part of humanity depended on markets, they need to have a strong ethical foundation in order to help all, including people who live in conditions of extreme poverty. "The recent financial crisis might have provided the occasion to develop a new economy, more attentive to ethical principles, and a new regulation of financial activities that would neutralise predatory and speculative tendencies and acknowledge the value of the actual economy," it said. "On the contrary, the response seems at times like a return to the heights of myopic egoism, limited by an inadequate framework that, excluding the common good, also excludes from its horizons the concern to create and spread wealth, and to eliminate the inequality so pronounced today," the document said. The document, called "Considerations for an Ethical Discernment Regarding Some Aspects of the Present Economic-Financial System," was jointly prepared by the Vatican's doctrinal office and its department on human development. It said some forms of financial intermediation "have not only produced manifest abuses and injustice, but also demonstrated a capacity to create systemic and worldwide economic crisis". The document dismissed "the belief in a presumed self-sufficiency of the markets, independent of any ethics," saying "it is clear that markets, as powerful propellers of the economy, are not capable of governing themselves". "The markets know neither how to make the assumptions that allow their smooth running - social coexistence, honesty, trust, safety and security, laws, and so on - nor how to correct those effects and forces that are harmful to human society - inequality, asymmetries, environmental damage, social insecurity, and fraud," it said. More regulation was necessary, it said because one of the major reasons for the most recent economic crisis was "the immoral behaviour of agents in the financial world," an apparent reference to the subprime mortgage scandal in the United States. It said that even today, some types of derivatives were a "ticking time bomb ready sooner or later to explode, poisoning the health of the markets." The document called for separation of banks to avoid another crisis. It said ethical committees should be established in banks and that more ethics courses should be taught in major business schools. Critters and earthquakes, water and emissions will all get their time in the spotlight at Midland Colleges annual Environmental Regulatory Seminar this week. The seminar, presented by Midland Colleges Petroleum Professional Development Center, Permian Basin Petroleum Association and Society of Petroleum Engineers, is Thursday at the Scharbauer Student Center Carrasco Room. The PBPA is so excited to once again partner with Midland College PPDC and SPE International to co-host this years Permian Basin Environmental Regulatory Seminar, Stephen Robertson, the associations executive vice president, said in an email. It is part of our associations mission to promote the safe and environmentally responsible development of oil and natural gas resources among our members. The Environmental Regulatory Seminar presents a great opportunity to do just that. The production of oil and natural gas is an activity that occurs out in nature and most of our members are outdoorsmen and women in their free time as well, he said. So they are always looking at ways to better their operations to take care of and protect the environment in which they work and live. This opportunity to hear and learn from regulators, stakeholders, other operators and trade representatives is not one to miss. Commented Debi Moore, president of Sport Environmental Services, by email, This year is the 15th anniversary of the Permian Basin Environmental Regulatory Seminar. This event provides an exceptional opportunity for regulatory agency representatives and energy professionals to work together to better understand environmental standards and the challenges associated with their impacts on industry. The environmental regulatory structure in which energy companies operate in the Permian Basin is ever-changing and continually more stringent. Companies should not miss this opportunity to network and learn from key agencies at both the state and national level in one location. Curtis Helms, director of the center, said this years seminar will feature some new topics. This year were having Dr. Aaron Velasco with the Railroad Commission talking about seismicity and salt water disposal well permitting. Thats a new topic, he said. He said until this year, seminar speakers havent included someone from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Robert Gulley, director of the comptrollers economic growth and endangered species management division, will address the dune sagebrush lizard and the Texas Conservation Plan. Helms said the seminar also will offer attendees an hour of ethics education credit courtesy of luncheon speaker Stephen M. Pocsik, an attorney who will discuss ethics in oilfield mergers and acquisitions. I hear from different ones every year in the industry that theyre looking forward to the seminar, said Helms, who expects about 100 people to attend. That gives me encouragement the industry is interested in the seminar and wants it to continue. Attendees also tell him the seminar is one of the few places they can receive Environmental Site Assessor accreditation to accompany their Certified Petroleum Landman accreditation from the American Association of Petroleum Landmen. The seminar, scheduled for 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be kicked off by a presentation from Samantha B. McDonald, director of government relations with the Independent Petroleum Association of America. She will discuss Trump, Congress and Critters. Regulatory agencies participating in the seminar include the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, updating oil and gas-related regulations, and the Railroad Commission highlighting regulatory issues in its Midland district. Ben Shepperd, president of the PBPA, will discuss the associations regulatory priorities, while Ryan Flynn with the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association will give an update on his states energy industry. New Mexicos Oil Conservation Divisions proposed spill rules will the focus of a presentation by Randall T. Hicks of R.T. Hicks Consultants. Water issues will be covered by Richard Brantley with University Lands, who will discuss his agencys water commercialization and emissions management, and Neil C. Nowak with SCS Engineers will talk about high density polyethylene-lined produced and flow back water evaporation ponds. William Keffler with Texas Techs School of Law will talk about government regulation of wind energy, and Thomas Yamin with Oncor Electric Delivery Co. will talk about the impact of the regulated electrical industry on customers. 2018 Permian Basin Environmental Regulatory Seminar Real-world experiences were part of the curriculum recently at the Energy Commerce Program at Texas Tech Universitys Rawls School of Business. Chris Cuyler, vice president, exploration at Elevation Resources, served as a guest professor, bringing to the classroom his experience gained from work at Concho Resources and Elevation. Cuyler said he discussed topics ranging from geology and leasing, to regulations and oil and gas reserves, to cash flow. Rate of return and return on investment, that drives investment in oil and gas, he said. I discussed the metrics of what gets a project approved, rates of return and what supervisors look for. Lease-operating expenses were discussed as well, he said. He told the 45 to 50 students about how drilling technology has evolved from the standard 30 feet of pipe being sent downhole to 90 foot stands of pipe being used because of top drives -- allowing for drilling to go three times as fast. Time is money, and I showed them the day rate for drilling rigs and how drilling delays can impact expenditures. They were impressed, or maybe shocked, at how it adds up, Cuyler said. Almost every student in the class primarily juniors had summer internships awaiting them, and Cuyler said his real-world lessons would help jump-start those internships so they can be ready to contribute and make a difference from day one. His daughter, who attends Texas Tech, is preparing for her third internship this summer, he said. The students were interested in how what they were being taught would be applied, he said. They were very sharp students. He praised Techs approach of involving industry experts to provide students with up-to-date, pragmatic and practical information to augment what theyre taught in the classroom. I was impressed that the teacher wanted them to have practical knowledge that will help them contribute to their employers; he wanted them taught applicable knowledge, Cuyler said. The professors are top-notch and are tough on the students, he said. Those students earn their degrees. Companies today dont have the resources or the time to train them. They expect, that if theyre going to pay these graduates the salaries theyre going to pay, those graduates should jump in and be able to write contracts and agreements from day one, Cuyler said. He said that approach has made Techs students highly desirable. When he worked for Concho, he said the company tried to hire them for the land department but recruiting them was highly competitive. Cuyler, a graduate of Baylor University, the University of Texas at San Antonio and Rice University, happened into this opportunity in February, he said. While attending the North American Prospect Expo in Houston, he met the Texas Tech professors who invited him to speak to the class. He said he would do it again next year, and the next, and he hopes other industry professionals would serve as guest professors. Those professors are hungry for industry to work with them, he said. The ultimate moment of pride for the parents of a recent college graduate was caught on camera. Hanss Mujica, 24, of Mission, Texas, waited to announce to his family that he would be graduating until days before the commencement ceremony. Mujica shared the heartwarming moment via Facebook on Saturday and the post has since gone viral. "(My parents) had no idea what was going on. There were tears of joy. They were very excited," Mujica told LMTonline.com. Altough Mujica's parents knew he was a student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, they didn't know when he would be graduating. And that is, in part, Mujica's doing. Mujica had been suspended from the university in the past. After losing his financial aid, Mujica said he was forced to take one more year off to raise the money to attend again. READ ALSO: Emotional video shows Laredo girl surprised with full-ride to UT-Austin In the post that accompanies the viral video, Mujica recalls the disappoint on his parents' faces after telling them the news of his suspension and said he vowed to never disappoint them again. But first, he played with them a bit. "I let them know that after this semester, I would probably get out. I won't finish school," Mujicia said. "I wanted it to be more of a surprise." Mujica said he actually devised this plan back in high school to surprise his parents with news of his high school graduation. But after his older brother passed away his senior year, Mujica decided to postpone the special surprise until he graduated from college. In the video that has amassed over 1.6 million views as of Thursday morning, his parents believe they are posing for a photo shoot for their son's final project. His sister, also seen in the video, was in on Mujica's plan. With the help of his sister and friends, Mujica pulled off the ultimate surprise years in the making. A criminal justice major and psychology minor, Mujica had told his parents the photo shoot was for a psychology final and he needed to show how parents' attributes are passed on to their children. As Mujica hides from his family's view, the videographer hands his mother an envelope containing two tickets for his graduation ceremony and a touching letter. RELATED: Texas mother-daughter 'Mexican excellence' graduation photos inspire thousands As his father reads the letter aloud in Spanish, tears fill his eyes. The letter begins: "Mom and Dad, there are not enough words in this world that begin to describe how much you mean to me. Now as an adult, I see how much you guys sacrificed to keep me, my sister and my brother happy." The video has been liked by dozens of thousands, a fact that Mujica said he is proud of. "It's very heartwarming and touching that my story transcended to other people. I've been getting a lot of messages and comments of people being inspired to continue school or go back to school," Mujica said. No stranger to hardships, Mujica said it's what you do with the negativity that defines your character. "Some cases out there are lot more difficult than mine, but there were several times I was like 'this isn't even worth it,'" Mujica said. "But you can rise up and finish school." jerilynn.thorpe@lmtonline.com | Twitter: @jerilynnthorpe Cosmo DiNardo declared "I am a savage no explanation needed" on social media seven months before police say he lured four young men to his family's farm, shot them to death, ran one of them over with a backhoe and dumped three of their bodies in a pig roaster. DiNardo, 21, was the privileged son of wealthy parents who owned land in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, according to the Bucks County District Attorney. There, DiNardo could ride ATVs and shoot guns, which his friends say he often sold to willing buyers. He also sold weed and he also sold customized Jordans and Nike sneakers, which he sometimes photographed next to large bullets, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. But in 2016, according to court records, he was involuntarily committed to a mental health facility for treatment of schizophrenia, the Inquirer reported. He got banned from both his former high school and from Arcadia College, where he attended for just one semester, due to unspecified strange or aggressive behavior on campus. He started making peculiar Facebook posts, openly asking for sex, talking about going to taxidermy school. Eventually, his friends told the Inquirer, he started talking about killing people. About being a savage. On Wednesday, DiNardo pleaded guilty to murdering four young men whose July 2017 disappearances alarmed the suburban Philadelphia community and briefly stumped police - until DiNardo was caught trying to sell one of the victim's cars. Within days, DiNardo confessed to the killings. He was sentenced Wednesday to four consecutive life sentences. His cousin, Sean Kratz, is charged with being DiNardo's accomplice and killing one of the men. He unexpectedly rejected a plea bargain Wednesday and now may face the death penalty. Ten months after the crimes, police still do not know the motive, not even after DiNardo's hour-long confession, excerpts of which were published by NBC 10 Wednesday. In the confession, DiNardo described matter-of-factly how over the course of three days he invited the four unsuspecting men to his family's farm to buy marijuana from him, then killed them the second they turned their backs. The first man to go missing on July 5 was Jimi Taro Patrick, a 19-year-old business major on full scholarship at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. DiNardo told the detective that Patrick was supposed to bring $8,000 to buy a "large quantity of marijuana" and meet him at the farm. "So we get there, you know, and I said, OK, well let me see the $8,000 - let me see the money," DiNardo said on the recording. "So I go to count the money, and there's 800 bucks there. So I'm like, dude, if you don't have the money, like this is horrible. This is not good for me." Instead, DiNardo told Patrick he could sell him a shotgun for $800. DiNardo handed him the gun. "He goes to shoot it," DiNardo said. "And I shoot him." After that: "I go get the backhoe, dig the hole, you know. Said a prayer. Put him in the hole." Then he burned all of the money, because "I didn't want the kid's 800 bucks. I didn't kill him over 800. I wasn't robbing him." Two days later, Dean Finocchiaro came to DiNardo's farm hoping to buy marijuana from him too. Finocchiaro was in the market for a quarter-pound of weed, but in truth, DiNardo told the detective, he only had a couple ounces to sell. "Now this was a robbery," DiNardo said. DiNardo took Finocchiaro to show off a Vespa in the family barn. That's where Kratz shot the victim, DiNardo said. In a taped confession also published in part by NBC 10, Kratz admitted as much to the detective, but said he did it because DiNardo made him, because he was afraid. "I was scared that he was gonna harm not only myself, but, you know, I have a one-and-a-half-month-old nephew," Kratz said. "Got a little brother, a mother. He made it out, like, you know, 'You say anything, I will hurt your brother.'" DiNardo told the detective that he shot Finocchiaro again just to "finish" it. Then he dumped Finocchario's body in a makeshift pig roaster, a 12-foot deep hole in the ground. Just a half-hour later, two more marijuana customers showed up. The ambush played out again for a third and fourth time. DiNardo said he shot the men, 21-year-old Tom Meo and 22-year-old Mark Sturgis, as soon as they turned their backs. Sturgis, DiNardo said, was "such a big kid, I unloaded my gun on him," instantly killing him. But Meo was lying on the ground screaming, "I can't feel my legs! I can't feel my legs!" Kratz stood by with his head in his hands, DiNardo said. And he was out of bullets. And so to make the screaming stop, afraid the neighbors might hear, DiNardo said he climbed in his backhoe once again. "You know, he sees that coming and just shuts the . . .. up, and I just run him over," DiNardo said. DiNardo put their bodies in the pig roaster too. He dumped gasoline down the hole and started burning them. Then, NBC 10 reported, the cousins left to get Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. In court on Wednesday, the victims' families sat in the courtroom gallery while listening to DiNardo apologize, saying he couldn't come to terms with what he had done, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. He told the judge that "if there is anything I could do to take it back, I would," but the judge didn't want to hear it and the families didn't either. Judge Jeffrey L. Finley called the apology "false and insincere." "To you, human lives are disposable," Finley said, according to the district attorney. Speaking directly to DiNardo, Finocchiaro's father said he prayed that "Dean's spirit haunts you the rest of your miserable life," while Meo's mother said it was "taking everything in me" not to kill DiNardo at that moment, the Morning Caller reported. Sturgis' father, Mark Potash, remembered DiNardo's "savage" posts on social media, posing with guns in the weeks before the murders. "You think you're savage?" he asked, as the Caller reported. "You've lived your whole life protected. In prison, you'll meet savage. And I promise you, it won't look like you." BRIDGEPORT - A woman got a disturbing phone call from her nephew, who told her he had been kidnapped and his abductor was demanding $800 or he would burn, the young man. Titi, I was wondering if you were gonna send that money, cause I really want to go home, police said the young man pleaded with his aunt in a later call. While officers ran a trace, detectives told the aunt to demand that his abductors text her a photograph of her nephew. RELATED: CEO said streaker ruins Alamo experience for tourists I want to make sure youre still good, she told her nephew, police said. No one was prepared for what came next. The photograph showed the 21-year-old victim lying face-down in a bathtub, a 3-foot alligator on top of him, its open mouth facing the camera. Titi, man, they got this alligator on me and they saying that if no money is given, they are gonna have him chewing on me, the victim said in a follow-up phone call, police said. Bridgeport and Shelton police would later surround a Shelton hotel, capture the creature and arrest 30-year-old Isaias Garcia, a convicted felon from Garland, Texas, on kidnapping, extortion and assault charges. It is an outrageous case, but it is clear from the evidence that this young mans life was in danger, said Bridgeport Police Lt. Christopher LaMaine. This was no joke. On April 6, the young mans aunt and his father came to police to report the kidnapping. Police said they played the phone messages the from the victim. RELATED: Prominent S.A. woman's dismissed DWI gets refiled Working with the FBI, police said, detectives traced the cellphone number from which the victim called to the Residence Inn, in Shelton. Police determined that in addition to being calling the aunt, the phone had been used to call in a takeout order to a Stratford Chinese restaurant. Police said the restaurant confirmed a delivery to the hotel and gave the room number to detectives. But police said that when they got to the hotel room that same day, the victim and his captor were gone but Garcias girlfriend and the alligator were there. While the state Department of Environmental Protection got the gator, LaMaine said, detectives interviewed the girlfriend. She told them Garcia had arrived at the hotel room with the victim, ordered him to lie on a sofa and then just sat there staring at the victim until the young man fell asleep, police said. Told that Garcia was expected to return soon, detectives and Shelton police waited nearby. Police said that when Garcias car pulled into the hotel parking lot, with the victim in the passenger seat, cops converged, guns drawn. LaMaine pulled Garcia from the drivers seat, handcuffed him and recovered a large hunting knife tucked in the front of Garcias pants, police said. Police said the victim had two burn marks, one on his face and the other on his right forearm. He told police Garcia had burned him with a barbeque-style lighter after tying him up. On Tuesday, Garcia, who police said was previously convicted in Texas for aggravated robbery, pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin to first-degree kidnapping, attempted first-degree larceny by extortion, unlawful restraint, third-degree assault and threatening. He asked for a jury trial. The judge continued the case to June 4. Nominated ODM MCA, Mary Mwami, has accused Nairobi Governor Mike Sonkos bodyguards of assault. According to Mwami, she was attacked after a face-off with Sonko at City Hall on Tuesday. She claimed that Sonko verbally attacked her before one the bodyguards turned physical. The MCA said she was assaulted when members of the Transport Committee were scheduled to have a meeting with the County boss, who kept them waiting until 7 pm before they were allowed to get into his office. As I entered his office, Sonko shouted at me saying Wewe mama tuheshimiane, unatukana watu wangu, Mwami told journalists at City Hall on Wednesday. She said that to prevent an argument, she left Sonkos office and was escorted by security men leading to the alleged assault. As I was leaving Sonkos office, a bodyguard famously known as Jamal confronted me on claims I abused the Governor and his people, she said. I know Jamal as we have met in various functions. He jumped on my neck, pulled me and threw me on the ground. I am a person with disability. By the time he left, I noticed he had roughed me up to the point where my bra was torn. Central OCPD Robinson Thuku said Mwami reported the incident on Tuesday night. He said the MCA is expected to furnish police with medical reports. If the medical tests prove she was assaulted, we will take action and arrest the accused. Meanwhile, the governors communication deputy director Elkana Jacob denied the claims saying there was no fracas at the office. Sen. Bernie Sanders has never demurred when talking about what the American people should get for free from the federal government. To hear him tell it, every citizen should have a free education, free health care, and free paid family and medical leave. Of course, none of these things are free, and no amount legislation can make them so. The most government can do is to shift the costs of these things from people who use them to people who dont, and, in the process, establish the federal government as an omnipresent middleman. But now Sanders has turned his attention to jobs, saying that he wants to guarantee one to every American. With this, Sanders is working from Franklin Roosevelts 1944 playbook. In his State of the Union address that year, FDR brought together the intellectual progressive tradition, which began with Herbert Crolys 1909 book The Promise of American Life, with the political progressive tradition typified by the presidencies of William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson. That speech included what has come to be known as the Second Bill of Rights. Often referred to as an economic bill of rights, Roosevelts vision included rights to education, medical care, unemployment insurance and retirement benefits, among other things. This progressive vision set in motion a massive increase in the size and scope of government necessary to secure these new rights. From 1789 until 1934, federal spending averaged less than 3 percent of GDP. From 1935 on, federal spending grew almost sevenfold to 19 percent. Enter Bernie Sanders. One of the few things in Roosevelts Second Bill of Rights that remains unrealized in 2018 is the right to a useful and remunerative job. According to an early draft of his potential legislation, Sanders plan would guarantee every American a job that pays $15 an hour and provides health care benefits. This would be accomplished through government funding of hundreds of infrastructure, care-giving, education and other projects. People who are unqualified for any of the available jobs would receive federally funded job training in order to become so. Like Roosevelt before him, Sanders gives no indication as to how this new, expansive program will be funded. Roosevelt left that to others to figure out, just as Sanders now does. And therein lies the rub. Roosevelts progressive vision yielded a suite of social programs, but at a tremendous cost. By the end of World War II, the federal debt was $270 billion. Since then, the debt has since grown almost 7,500 percent to a point that is mathematically unsustainable. The massive spending has been mostly driven by two things: Social Security benefits and Medicare/Medicaid benefits. Just these two planks of Roosevelts Second Bill of Rights account for more than half of all federal spending, and almost three times total military spending. We cant afford just the part of Roosevelts progressive vision that was enacted, so how can we expect to afford even more? Because if we decide that everyone has a right to a job, then we empower the government to force us to provide those jobs. No matter the cost. And it will cost. Just like every other right created from that day to this. Thats the part of the program that Bernie Sanders would prefer you not consider. As with Roosevelt, Sanders will be long gone by the time the monstrous bill comes due. He can afford to ignore the price tag. The rest of us cannot. Antony Davies is associate professor of economics at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. James R. Harrigan is CEO of FreedomTrust. They host the weekly podcast Words & Numbers. Anti-LGBTQ+ bill will have financial implications ... The Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has joined the ongoing debate on who is best suited to deputise Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko. The County Head on Wednesday set tongues wagging following the shock nomination of firebrand politician Miguna Miguna. The embattled lawyer has since dismissed the nomination as a malicious distraction. He added via Twitter on Thursday: Sonko and I have not spoken, met or communicated since our gubernatorial debate in July 2017. I will not comment on malicious information, material or cheap propaganda circulating in social media. Thank you. On the same day, FIDA came out with a request to Sonko to consider a woman for the coveted seat. In a letter addressed to Sonko, Federation chairperson Mrs. Josephine Wambua Mongare reminded the under-fire governor that the 2010 constitution entrenches the principle of equality and requires that appointments should comply with not more than Two-Thirds Gender Rule at all levels. Whereas not all County Governments have met this threshold, we call upon you to show leadership in this area and consider a woman nominee from a list of competent and highly qualified women of repute, Mrs. Mongare urges in the letter. FIDA further noted that women are capable of meeting whatever criteria that is set out in selecting the next Deputy Governor. Before Migunas nomination, which experts attribute to the handshake between Uhuru and Raila, Sonko had vowed to nominate a technocrat woman from the Kikuyu community. I know that the deputy governor post should go to a Kikuyu because they have a large population that supported me but let me appoint a Kikuyu I want. A technocrat, a professional and an elite. I already have names and I will give it to a woman but I need to consult first and the only people I will consult are President Uhuru Kenyatta and deputy president William Ruto, said Sonko during an interview on Kameme FM. Corporate guru Ms Agnes Kagure, former Kiambu Woman Representative Ann Nyokabi, and former Starehe MP Bishop Margaret Wanjiru are some of the notable names have been named as possible contenders. Two domestic workers are among suspects wanted by police for a robbery incident at the house of Mabior Garang in Kilimani, Nairobi. Reports indicate that the home of the senior South Sudan government official was raided on Tuesday. Four men, armed with a pistol and crude weapons, are said to have broken into the house around midday and tied up the occupants of the house- Mabiors brother and his wife. The gang then made away with Sh95,000, US$28,000, seven golden necklaces, three sets of golden bungles, 12 golden rings, three bracelets, four gold watches and ten mobile phones all valued at Sh2.8 million. Margaret Alwet, 36, who is the ministers relative, told police that she received a call from her brother who informed her that a gang armed with a pistol and metal rods stormed into their residence and tied them up in the living room. She reported the incident at Kilimani Police Station and investigations have since been launched. Kilimani OCPD Michael Muchiri said the house-helps, believed to be Ugandan, fled with the attackers in what they suspect was an inside job. The women left with the attackers and we suspect they knew something on the attack. Let them surrender. Ironically, the family has been enjoying state protection since they moved into the country. Nairobbery in all its glory! Destinee Berry Is The New Miss Calaveras 2018 From left to right: Miss Calaveras 2018 Destinee Berry, 1st Runner Up Summer Hamari, 2nd Runner Up Ava Mosley, 3rd Runner Up Briana Wagner View Photos The 2018 Miss Calaveras was crowned Thursday night, during the Miss Calaveras Scholarship Pageant at the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee. Destinee Berry was also Friday mornings KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Berry is an eighteen year old senior at Calaveras High School. She lives in Valley Springs. During the talent portion of the Scholarship Pageant, which was 30% of the judges total vote, Berry demonstrated proper CPR on both an adult (dummy)and an infant (dummy). Berry will be using her $1,000 Angels-Murphys Rotary Club Scholarship this fall, as she plans to attend California State University, Monterey Bay. Berry would like to major in biology and plans to attend medical school with the goal of becoming an obstetrician. In addition to the Scholarship, Berry received a tiara and sash and won the Pageant Directors Award and the Talent Award. First Runner-Up is Summer Hamari, a student at Columbia College. Hamari, who lives in Copperopolis, also won the awards for Congeniality, Achievement and Poetry. Second Runner-Up is Ava Mosley a student at Calaveras High School. Mosley also won the Community Service Award and the Photogenic Award. Third Runner-Up is Briana Wagner, a Calaveras High School senior. All four ladies will make numerous appearances at all of the major Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee events over the next three days and represent Calaveras County at larger events over the next year. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard each weekday morning at 6:45. 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 KVML and 102.7 FM Dave Updike, Josh White and Ethan Billigmeier View Photos Sonora, CA A new federal report concludes the potential for large wildfires in states like California is above average this year based on a variety of factors. Wildland fire projections are primarily based on weather and fuel conditions. The report released this month by the National Interagency Fire Center projects warmer and drier than average conditions between now and August, a smaller snowpack to melt this year, high grass and other vegetation, and increasing potential for thunderstorm activity. It notes that last year the US Forest Services wildfire suppression costs reached a historic $2.4-billion, and 2018 looks to be another very busy year. This weekends Mother Lode Views will focus on fire prevention and gearing up for the 2018 summer season. Guests will be Stanislaus National Forest Fire Chief Dave Updike, CAL Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit Chief Josh White and Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services spokesperson Ethan Billigmeier. Former Citizen TV Business News presenter Terryanne Chebet is making a mega comeback following her unfortunate sack from the Royal Media Services station in 2016. The October 2016 retrenchment, alongside a number of other high profile journalists, did a number on her as confessed in a recent interview. When you think you are good at your job, then you face retrenchment, you start losing confidence in yourself, and that is what affects most people. It is the biggest challenge, said Terryanne in March this year. She added: Until , I walk in places and even the security guards tell me Terryanne, aki pole sana. Usijali, Mungu ako na plan. I would get strong, then I get into the car and the tears come, but I had to look strong at that time. It has taken a long while but I have had a very strong support from some group of friends, and my family was right there for me from the beginning. It was difficult and the most emotional period I have ever gone through in my life. Well, barely two years after the sack, Terryanne Chebet is the new Chief Executive Officer of Fanaka Television, the first 24-hour Business Television Channel in Kenya. Terryanne, who has previously worked in key financial journalism institutions such as CNBC Africa, CCTV Africa, and National Broadcaster KBC, was excited to break the news last evening. Business Television is my life. It is with humility and lots of enthusiasm that I am proud to accept my appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of Fanaka Television, said the founder of Scarlet Digital and Keyara Organics. We will cover business and the economy like in a way that has never been done in Kenya. To achieve this, Terryanne and her team have embarked on a global benchmarking tour to learn the ropes from the best in business journalism. This week, Terryanne has been in South Africa where they conducted an extensive benchmarking tour of CNBC Africa and Forbes Africa Magazine in Johannesburg. We look forward to collaborating with sister Business Tvs in Africa and beyond. Welcome to Fanaka Television where we are guided by our motto Strictly Business, added Terryanne. She was accompanied by Miss world Kenya 2015 Charity Mwangi and TV Producer and Host Elayne Okaya, who we understand will play a big role in Terryannes team. Saturday morning, Prince Charles will don his most regal attire in preparation for his son Prince Harry's marriage to American actress Meghan Markle, but he is not above slipping on silly Spurs merchandise as he did during a visit to San Antonio in the 1980s. When Prince Harry was just two years old, his father took a trip to the Alamo City as part of a four-day visit marking the Republic of Texas' 150th birthday in 1986, according to San Antonio Express-News archives. 1 VA secretary: Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie is President Trumps pick to permanently lead the beleaguered department. Wilkie is a former Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness. Hes led the agency for two months, ever since Trump fired David Shulkin amid an internal revolt and questions about his compliance with ethics rules. Veterans groups expressed support for Wilkies nomination. 2 Hurricane recovery: The Army Corps of Engineers is ending its work to rebuild Puerto Ricos electric grid, despite residents fears that the islands government wont be able to restore power on its own to more than 16,000 people who remain blacked out eight months after Hurricane Maria. The federal agency will keep operating more than 700 generators on the island, including three mega generators supplementing Puerto Ricos aging and storm-damaged power plants. But on Friday the restoration of thousands of miles of downed power lines will be handed back to the U.S. territorys bankrupt public utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. A Baytown man accused of leaving his 18-month-old daughter in a 112-degree car has been charged with endangering a child, a second-degree felony. Gene Terrell Curry Jr., 24, was in Kroger on Wednesday when Baytown Fire Department officials found a child in his car, with the windows rolled up and the engine off, a Harris County prosecutor said in Probable Cause Court on Thursday. A judge set Currys bond at $1,000. If he posts bond, Curry won't be allowed to be alone with his two children until his custody is revisited by a judge. Curry, who began crying at the news, is also the father to a 2-year-old and shares custody with the mother, said Genesis Draper, of the Harris County Public Defender's Office. Curry was still in Harris County Jail Friday morning and has not posted bond, according to the Harris County District Clerk. The arrest came during a particularly hot week in the Houston area. Parts of southeast Texas are setting record highs this week, with temperatures hitting the mid-90s. The child was fine after authorities took her from the car, although her cheeks were red and she appeared sweaty, according to the prosecutor. She was asleep and covered in two blankets when first responders found her. Curry saw the police and told them he wasnt in the store for long. While the temperature outside was 88 degrees, the temperature gauge in the car read 112.1 degrees, the prosecutor said. A woman in Katy, Ayesha Farooq, was also arrested Wednesday after being accused of leaving her 8-month-old daughter alone in the car while she went into Hobby Lobby. Two strangers waited between 10 and 20 minutes before approaching the car, which was unlocked, and getting her out, according to Fort Bend County Constables Office Precinct 3. Farooq was arrested and charged with endangering a child. BEIJING - China ended an anti-dumping investigation into imports of U.S. sorghum on Friday, a possible concession or goodwill gesture as key talks are underway in Washington over the trade dispute between the two nations. China's vice premier, Liu He, met with President Donald Trump and a U.S. negotiating team led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday in the first of two days of talks. China entered the talks offering a package of trade concessions and increased purchases of American goods aimed at cutting the U.S. trade deficit by $200 billion, according reports by news agencies. However, China's Foreign Ministry said this was "not true." "According to my information, the consultation is still underway and it is constructive," said spokesman Lu Kang at a regular news conference. The announcement on sorghum imports came from the Commerce Ministry in Beijing on Friday morning, and was not explicitly linked to the trade talks. Indeed, the ministry said it had concluded that the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures it had imposed on the sorghum imports in April would affect the cost of living for Chinese consumers and were not in the public interest. Kang told journalists not to "overinterpret" the announcement. But the move will inevitably be seen as a gesture aimed at improving the environment in Washington as trade talks continue Friday. The probe had sparked concerns among American farmers that they might lose their largest export market for the crop. But it is still just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall trade deficit in goods, which reached $375 billion last year. China imported $956 million of sorghum from the United States last year, according to the Commerce Ministry. Economists say it is far from clear how China could achieve a $200 billion reduction in the trade deficit with the United States - unless U.S. exporters, already running at or near full capacity, were to divert goods destined for other countries to China instead, a development that would only shift trade flows and not cut the global U.S. deficit. China is also asking the United States relax export controls banning the sale of many high-tech products to China, something Washington is loath to agree to. Separate Chinese tariffs on around $3 billion of U.S. products including fruit, nuts and pork were imposed in March in response to Trump's decision to slap tariffs on iron and steel imports. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the two sides were closing in on a deal to relax restrictions on Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE in return for China removing tariffs on U.S. agricultural products and easing roadblocks faced by U.S. semiconductor company Qualcomm. - - - Luna Lin contributed to this report. Democrat M.J. Hegar is running on her grit - as an Air Force combat veteran and as a mother - ahead of next week's Texas primary runoffs. "I'm not new to pressure," Hegar said Thursday in a phone interview. "Being in ground combat with nine of us versus 150 enemy fighters? That pressure was different than this pressure." Hegar is part of a wave of female candidates emphasizing personal toughness in bids for the House this year. With the chaos and controversy of President Donald Trump's White House and a steady stream of misconduct allegations hitting male politicians, Democratic primary voters seem ready to welcome the surge of female outsiders as a would-be steadying force. "I have older straight white men who tell me all the time, 'We need to let women fix this,' " said Lorie Burch, a Democratic House candidate running in the Dallas suburbs. A record number of women are running for Congress this year, but it's unclear if the Year of the Woman Candidate will turn into a second Year of the Woman. That label was attached to 1992, when a record four women joined the U.S. Senate. But this year, many female candidates are running in competitive primaries or in districts that heavily favor the other party, so the surge may not increase the number of women in Congress overall. Women hold roughly 1 in 5 congressional seats; so far this year, their success rate in House primaries has been about 50 percent. Democratic voters' eagerness to elect female candidates comes as their party continues to reel from Hillary Clinton's surprise presidential defeat in 2016. This year, about 40 female newcomers have won Democratic House primaries around the country. In Texas, where Democrats will settle 11 primary runoffs on Tuesday, women are running in all but one. Like struggling companies that bring in female CEOs, Democratic voters may be seeking stability and effectiveness in female candidates. "Research tells us that women sometimes benefit from a stereotypical advantage related to change," said Kelly Dittmar, a Rutgers University professor who studies women in politics. "They're seen as someone who is different, an outsider, anti-establishment." Primary results this week in Pennsylvania underscored women's appeal in Democratic races. In a state with no women in its congressional delegation, Democratic voters chose female candidates in seven primaries on Tuesday. At least three are running in districts where the Democrat is expected to win in November, some having seized the opportunity after the state's congressional map was redrawn. "We're going to change the face of this delegation," said Madeleine Dean, who won a Democratic primary Tuesday in a solid-blue district in the Philadelphia suburbs. Dean, a state legislator since 2013, said she started participating in legislative battles as soon as she reached Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a quality she promised to take to Capitol Hill. "What I hope people saw is somebody prepared to fight . . . who, in my experience going to Harrisburg, began putting up a fight immediately." In Texas, female Democratic newcomers won nine House primaries outright; in Nebraska, one woman beat out a former congressman in a primary in Omaha while another won a chance to challenge Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. In Idaho, former Democratic state legislator Paulette Jordan defeated two-time candidate A.J. Balukoff, a victory that puts her one step closer to becoming the country's first female Native American governor. Next week's primaries will test the mettle of female candidates in Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky, as well as Texas. In Georgia, two female attorneys - Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans - are vying for the Democratic nomination for governor, while in Kentucky, retired Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath is campaigning for the House as a Democrat. McGrath has emphasized her personal courage and grit throughout her campaign. In a video last year, she said she aspired to land jets on aircraft carriers as a child "because that's the toughest flying we can do." Hegar served three tours in Afghanistan, earning a Purple Heart after Taliban fighters shot down a medevac helicopter she was piloting in 2009. She nearly won her primary in a district north of Austin in March and will face physician Christine Eady Mann next week. Of course, many women seeking primary victories will not win in November. Most female candidates competing in Democratic runoffs next week are seeking to run in districts that heavily backed the president. Either Hegar or Mann will face Rep. John Carter, R, in a district that went for Trump by 13 points. Women have also had trouble running and winning so far this year in races higher up the ballot. Of the states that have held primaries so far, only Nebraska will see women compete in its Senate election, while only Idaho and Oregon will have female candidates for governor. In House races, Democratic female newcomers have far outstripped their GOP counterparts, who have run and won in only a small handful of primaries. Republican Carmen Maria Montiel is seeking her party's House nomination in the Houston area, where Clinton received 71 percent of the vote. She described herself as a survivor of domestic violence and said it taught her to "stand up and fight." "I know how it is being up and being down. I have learned how to stand up after a fall," Montiel said. Attorney Susan Wild beat five men in her House primary in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley this week. She said she stood out as a hard-nosed lawyer who has spent years of her career in court. "I'm used to hard battle. I'm used to tough questions. I'm used to dealing with sometimes very unreasonable people. It's not something that scares me," she said. Even Wild's chief opponent spoke about the need for more women in office. "Susan Wild is part of the wave. . . . I understand that. I get that. We need more female representation in the Congress and in the state legislature," John Morganelli said in his concession speech. Wild, who is running for the seat vacated by Republican Charlie Dent, will face an even tougher race in the general election. She faces Republican Marty Nothstein, a former Olympic medalist and chairman of the local board of commissioners. When talking about how she dealt with the pressures of running for public office, Wild recalled her experience - with childbirth. "Challenging, demanding, exhilarating, fun, horrible - all kinds of things mixed together," Wild said. "You forget how hard it was as soon as you have the outcome." --- The Washington Post's David Weigel contributed to this report. FAIRFIELD A distracted bicyclist suffered serious injuries to his nose early Wednesday evening when he ran into the back of an SUV. The accident happened around 5:40 p.m. on Reef Road, according to police. When the cyclist hit the rear of the Honda CRV, he was ejected off of the bike, and suffered major injuries to his nose. The accident was still under investigation and further information was not available After more than two months, 66-year old former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been discharged from the hospital after being poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent, British authorities said Friday. The former Russian double agent and his daughter were attacked in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4 and found slumped over on a park bench. Two month after the attack, British officials said that Skripal was no longer in critical condition, having joined his daughter in a recovery that could lead to the pair helping investigators solve the mystery of exactly how, where and by whom they were poisoned. "It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital," Cara Charles-Barks, the hospital's chief executive, said in a statement Friday. Malcolm Sperrin, a medical physicist, had cautioned in April that a long-term prognosis for the Skripals remained somewhat uncertain. Referring to Yulia, he said: "She might talk and converse, but what we don't know is if she will go back to where she was before the event, not just about cognition, but there's other aspects that could be affected, like mobility, problems with mental state, anxiety, depression. There are so many unknowns." In response to the March attack, British Prime Minister Theresa May had condemned the poisoning as a reckless and hostile act by Russia on British soil. She and her government say that in addition to forensic evidence, Russia is suspect because it has assassinated critics abroad before. Skripal was a double agent who sold secrets to Britain. He was convicted and jailed in Russia but released in a swap of intelligence agents in 2010. Britain's Foreign Ministry issued a statement in April saying, "let us be clear, this was attempted murder using an illegal chemical weapon that we know Russia possesses." But Russia has denied having anything to do with the attack, with top Russian diplomats insisting that Britain either rushed or bungled the investigation - or that British agents themselves may have poisoned the father and daughter to smear Russia, justify increases in military spending or distract residents from the failures of Brexit negotiations. - - - The Washington Post's William Booth and Karla Adam contributed to this report from London. --- Video Embed Code Video: In 1992, two Russian scientists approached The Post's Will Englund, then the Moscow correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, about the country's secret efforts to create Novichok, the deadly nerve agent that would later allegedly be used to poison double agent Sergei Skripal.(Joyce Lee,Will Englund/The Washington Post) Embed code: Seaweed could save Californias coastline by reducing ocean acidification Researchers from the California State University (CSU) found that marine vegetation could play a significant role in minimizing ocean acidification (OA), a phenomenon wherein the ocean waters become too acidic due to higher concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Ocean acidification is a chemical reaction brought about by a significant reduction of pH levels in ocean waters caused by an excess of CO2 in the atmosphere. In other words, the oceans are absorbing too much CO2 from the atmosphere, making the water more acidic. This phenomenon affects marine species, particularly shrimps and oysters, whose exoskeletons and shells dont form as fast in highly acidic waters. Highly acidic oceans may also change the behavior of fish. However, much like their counterparts on land, aquatic plants such as kelp and seagrass take up CO2. The researchers from CSU found that these plants may help mitigate the effects of ocean acidification and help marine species cope with harsh ocean water. The Ocean Protection Council Science Advisory Team (OPC-SAT) Working Group, which is managed by the California Ocean Science Trust, brought together a group that included five CSU faculty to study whether aquatic vegetation could protect vulnerable species on Californias coast. A lot of people are not aware how strikingly challenging OA could be in our future, says Karina Nielsen, Ph.D., co-chair of the group that authored the report titled, Emerging Understanding of Seagrass and Kelp as an Ocean Acidification Management Tool in California. Get CLEAN FOOD and help support our mission to keep you informed: The Health Ranger Store lab verifies everything we sell with accredited testing for heavy metals, microbiology and food safety. Certified organic facility, ISO-accredited on-site laboratory, no GMOs or synthetic ingredients. The world's #1 source of lab-verified clean foods and superfoods for nutritional healing. 600+ products available. Explore now. The ocean is an iconic part of Californias identity. OA is a big threat to that, she added, noting that the effects are getting more apparent now. Such effects could potentially change the entire oceanic food web which would greatly affect human populations that depend on marine species for food and commodities, according to Krista Kamer, Ph.D., director of CSU Council on Ocean Affairs Science and Technology (COAST). She also says ocean acidification could also impact protected species such as whales, turtles and sea birds. According to Nielsen, kelp and seagrass do have the capacity to locally increase the pH of seawater, and that they provide a sort of low-acid refuge for species such as oysters, abalone, crab and fish that stay around these plants. The study highlights two species of eelgrass, a type of underwater coastal seagrass, and two species of kelp that are said to have the greatest pH-raising potential for Californias coast. Study co-author Kerry Nickols, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at CSU Northridge, who specializes in kelp research, said kelp and seagrass support marine habitats in different ways. She also added that kelp is a large species and grows at a faster rate than seagrass: It can grow up to a foot a day. According to Nickols, the sheer size and speed of growth of kelp offer tremendous potential for future research. The top of the kelp the canopy is where all the new growth is, and this is where we are finding the higher pH levels, Nickols says. We still need to determine how far the pH benefits can extend in the water, and how marine life can benefit. Investing in conservation may help tourism, recreation in California According to Nielsen, investing in the conservation and restoration of eelgrass and kelp populations helps not only the plants, but the surrounding ecosystem. Underwater seagrass meadows and kelp forests offer numerous benefits, including reducing coastal erosion and providing shelter for a wide range of marine species. The study highlights the potential of eelgrass as it may be able to absorb and trap CO2 long-term, much like how trees can store CO2 from the atmosphere. Scientists call this carbon sequestration. If researchers are able to quantify substantial carbon sequestration benefits, Nielsen said, eelgrass restoration and conservation projects could have financial value in carbon markets. Moreover, ocean acidification indirectly impacts Californias coastal economy, as it may also harm the states fisheries, which may affect tourism and recreation. If the things that draw people to California are negatively impacted, the identity and the cultural landscape of the state could potentially be at risk, Nielsen noted. Today, ocean acidification is recognized as an emerging threat to marine life, and researchers have put their knowledge and effort into finding solutions to lessen its impact. To learn more about these mitigation efforts, visit Ecology.news. Sources include: Newswise.com Ocean.Washington.edu New York The company controlled by the family of White House adviser Jared Kushner is close to receiving a bailout of its troubled flagship building by a company with financial ties to the government of Qatar, according to executives briefed on the deal. Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Cos., is in advanced talks with Brookfield Asset Management over a partnership to take control of the 41-story aluminum-clad tower in midtown Manhattan, 666 Fifth Ave., according to two real estate executives who have been briefed on the pending deal but were not authorized to discuss it. Brookfield is a publicly traded company, and its real estate arm, Brookfield Property Partners, is partly owned by the Qatari government, through the Qatar Investment Authority. Charles Kushner and his son Jared, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and one of his key advisers, bought the office tower, which is between 52nd and 53rd streets, 11 years ago for a record-setting $1.8 billion. But the building today only generates about half its annual mortgage payment, and 30 percent of the 41-story tower is vacant. The Kushner family had been searching the globe for a partner for the building, including meeting as recently as last year with a billionaire from Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, the country's former prime minister. The Kushner Cos. declined to comment. Both Brookfield and the Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign fund of the oil-rich Middle Eastern emirate, said the Investment Authority had no knowledge of the deal. LYON COUNTY, Nev. - Alice Lyttle says she is the most-requested "working lady" at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, one of four brothels in this rural county on the outskirts of Carson City. The petite brunette with glasses brags that she's "actually the number-one sex worker in the nation in terms of gross earnings," part of a small cadre of women who legally sell sex as part of a dwindling-but-active Nevada industry. Although brothels have been a part of this community's fabric for decades - licensed and legal and legitimate since 1971 - Lyttle found herself standing outside the county's municipal offices in Yerington on Thursday morning, lobbying against an effort to put her out of business. Pushed in part by activists who want to end sex trafficking and prostitution, residents that have long looked the other way are now petitioning to change course. Some argue that it's a moral imperative to stop the exploitation of women, while some say that prostitution is hurting the county's image. Others counter that legalized prostitution is safer than the alternative and that the business is part of the county's lifeblood, delivering jobs and tax revenue. On Thursday, the county's board of commissioners unanimously decided to put a relatively simple question to voters, one that will appear on ballots in November if it meets final approval in June: Do they want to close the brothels or keep them open? "This is one of the issues, like taxes, where we need to go to the people," said Commissioner Ken Gray. Lyon County Manager Jeff Page said he didn't want to discuss the morality or the pros and cons of the brothels. He just wants voters to decide: "Do you want to close the brothels, yes or no?" Sex work has been accepted in Nevada since the middle of the 19th century. The state legalized it in the 1970s with a rule that all counties with fewer than 700,000 residents could opt to license brothels - prostitution is illegal in Reno and Las Vegas. There are seven counties with legal brothels in the state and fewer than two dozen legal brothels in all. Previous efforts to curb prostitution in Nevada have failed, including a proposed referendum in Churchill County that sought to put a similar question to voters in 2004. Because of that ballot initiative, the federal government worked to prevent U.S. military members stationed there from visiting the county's brothel, and it went out of business in 2005. The new campaign in Lyon County has been led by the End Trafficking and Prostitution PAC, which also is pushing for a similar measure in nearby Nye County. If successful, the group plans to move to other Nevada counties and is considering a campaign to make a statewide change to the law. The PAC and its supporters have chosen a moral argument, rejecting the idea that any woman would choose to do sex work for a living. They say the county effectively codifies exploitation - and tells everyone living there that it's OK. Melissa Holland, who runs the nonprofit Awaken, which works to end sex trafficking, said many of the women involved in the sex trade - including those in legal brothels - were exploited as children and continued into sex work. "They turn 18, and they've grown up in a state that says, 'Hey, this is a viable option for you, so let's legally continue the exploitation,' " Holland said. "That's not choice. These women were not raised to actually look at themselves and choose this. They have been told this is what you're good for, and Nevada has said let's make that a viable option." The ballot measures are the latest in a string of battles over how to regulate sex trafficking without harming sex workers. The U.S. House and Senate passed bills this year targeting the online advertising of sex work, which anti-sex-work advocates say conflate sex work and sex trafficking. Some residents of Lyon County worry that the brothels are a stain on the community's reputation and don't fit with its direction. The population here has seen a relative boom, doubling to more than 50,000 residents since 1995, in large part because of a recent influx of massive technology company campuses belonging to Tesla, Switch, Zulily and Jet. Denise Berumen, one of the original five petitioners calling for a referendum, said at a recent news conference that members of the community worry about being able to attract new, wealthy residents if the brothels are still within their midst. "It's about caring about what's going on in our community and just making the community attractive to the people moving in," Berumen said. "It's hard to make more industry come and more people want to live in our area. You want to make it a positive environment." Dennis Hof - who owns brothels in Lyon County, including the Moonlite BunnyRanch, and starred in the HBO series "Cathouse" - said the state's schools are probably a bigger deterrent than its brothels. He notes that between fees, taxes and the tourism they generate, the Lyon brothels contribute $10 million to the local economy. Hof, whose autobiography is titled "The Art of the Pimp," is running for a state assembly seat out of Nye County, and he views the efforts to curb legal sex work as an assault on Nevadan rights. "This is a direct attack on the freedoms enjoyed by many who reside in and visit the state of Nevada, which happens to be the only state with legal brothels," Hof said. The BunnyRanch's Lyttle takes issue with the word "prostitution" in the language currently being proposed for the Lyon County referendum, arguing that it is a "very loaded word" that could tip the scales against her industry. "It is very stigmatized, and people have opinions and beliefs surrounding that word that conflate with sex trafficking and sexual coercion," she said, "which isn't an accurate representation of the Nevada brothels." Jason Guinasso, a lawyer representing the End Trafficking and Prostitution PAC, said most women who are involved in Nevada's sex industry are being exploited. "Women are there either because of financial duress or a drug addiction, or some pimp is pushing them in there," Guinasso said. "You might have a few like the . . . Alice Lyttles who really have chosen this for whatever reason, but they are in the minority." - - - Westervelt is a freelance reporter based in Truckee, California. Sometime before 7:30 p.m. on April 17, 2013, in the small town of West, Texas, a fire broke out at the West Fertilizer Company plant. Thirty volunteers made up the town's fire department. They heard the beep on their pagers, said goodbye to their families and headed to the source of the menacing black smoke. Some of them, 12 of them, wouldn't come back. Twenty minutes after the fire started, the plant exploded - so powerfully that it registered as a 2.1-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale. A total of 15 people died in the blast, including the 12 volunteer first responders. Two-hundred-sixty people were injured and 150 buildings in the vicinity were damaged. Half of them, including two schools, had to be demolished. Arson caused the fire, federal investigators concluded three years later. But 80,000 to 100,000 pounds of unsafely stored fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate was the source of the disastrous explosion. After the fatal blast, the Environmental Protection Agency made serious changes to regulations about how companies store dangerous flammable chemicals and how they develop risk-management plans. The new rules were set to take effect last June, but were held up by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt after he took office. Now Pruitt wants to rescind most of the safety regulations, saying that a lot of them imposed "unnecessary regulatory burdens" on the chemical industry. Pruitt's proposed changes, signed Thursday, are subject to public comment. "Accident prevention is a top priority at EPA, and this proposed rule will ensure proper emergency planning and continue the trend of fewer significant accidents involving chemicals," Pruitt said in a statement. "The rule proposes to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, address the concerns of stakeholders and emergency responders on the ground, and save Americans roughly $88 million a year." The bulk of the claimed savings would come from getting rid of a rule requiring owners of a chemical plant to evaluate options for safer technology and procedures that would mitigate hazards, according to an EPA report. He also seeks to rescind rules requiring companies to conduct a "root-cause analysis" after a "catastrophic" chemical release or an incident that might have caused one and to perform a third-party compliance audit after an accident at a plant or when conditions are discovered that could lead to an accidental release of chemicals. Pruitt's move to dismantle these regulations is part of a broader push to scrap Obama-era environmental rules, a strategy that has drawn intense criticism from environmental groups. On Thursday, some accused Pruitt of bending to the chemical industry's will. "EPA administrators are supposed to push for safeguards to protect workers and residents from deadly catastrophes, like the one we saw in 2013 when the West, Tex., fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people," said Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook in a statement. "But this is Scott Pruitt. There apparently is no favor he won't do for the chemical industry. Repealing safety measures at industry's behest is just all in a day's work." Pruitt also would eliminate a requirement that chemical plants release information to the public about the types of chemicals stored, the types of procedures the plant has in place to mitigate the risks and, crucially, what to do in case of an emergency. He is not seeking to rescind the portion of the rule that made this information more readily available to first responders. That Obama administration's rule was proposed after an investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which called the explosion "one of the most destructive incidents [it] ever investigated." The board stressed the need for changes in both regulations and transparency to prevent a repeat tragedy. "CSB's analysis shows that the risk to the public from a catastrophic incident exists at least within the state of Texas, if not more broadly," the agency wrote. "For example, 19 other Texas facilities storing more than 10,000 pounds of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate are located within 0.5 miles of a school, hospital, or nursing home, raising concerns that an incident with offsite consequences of this magnitude could happen again." In addition to identifying safety-inspection failures and other lax regulations, the CSB report found that very few people in West appeared aware of the explosive nature of the fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate inside the West Fertilizer Co. Not even some of the plant's own workers were aware of the chemical's hazards, the report said. The volunteer firefighters had no plan in place to combat a hazardous-materials incident at the plant, it said. And instead of evacuating immediately, residents watched the fire from parking lots and front yards, exposing them to the blast and flying debris. But Pruitt argued that making the information about the risks of the chemicals and the company's emergency response plans available to the public exposed the plants to terrorists, a position he took before he was President Donald Trump's EPA administrator. "The safety of these manufacturing, processing and storage facilities should be a priority for us all," he wrote in a July 2016 letter to then-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, while he was the attorney general of Oklahoma, "but safety encompasses more than preventing accidental releases of chemicals, it also encompasses preventing intentional releases caused by bad actors seeking to harm our citizens." On Thursday, the chemical industry cheered Pruitt's decision to toss out the Obama-era regulations during a signing ceremony. "The EPA's Risk Management Plan Rule as proposed under the Obama Administration would have imposed significant new costs on the industry without identifying or quantifying the safety benefits to be achieved through the new requirements," Eric Byer, president of the National Association of Chemical Distributors, said in a statement. New York The middle school in northern Manhattan is named after Booker T. Washington, a champion of education for African Americans. But in a district where half the students are Hispanic and black, less than a quarter of the 852 students in this selective, high-performing school are from those groups. Now Booker T. Washington on West 107th Street, also known as Middle School 54, is at the center of a debate over segregation in New York City's public schools. In the absence of a coordinated policy by the Education Department, District 3 a diverse and highly segregated school district that spans the Upper West Side and Harlem came up with its own desegregation plan for its middle schools, including MS 54, which would require them to set aside seats for children with low test scores. The plan is one of an increasing number of desegregation efforts around the city led by local education officials and parents. And while this plan has met with resistance, some of it captured on a viral video of a meeting of angry parents at another District 3 school, chroniclers of the city's fitful desegregation efforts see a growing recognition across demographic lines that segregation is a problem that needs to, and can be, addressed. "When you look at the history of desegregation, it was a policy implemented top down," said Amy Stuart Wells, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University, who characterized the last major efforts in the 1960s and 1970s as "paying lip service" to diversity in curriculum and teaching practices within schools. "This is grass-roots. It's much more bottom up." The plan is intended to open the door at MS 54 and other selective middle schools to more black and Hispanic students, many of whom score below average on standardized state tests. "We're trying to capture the students in District 3 elementary schools who have been shut out of some of the highest-performing schools, " said Kimberly Watkins, president of the district's community education council, a parent group that advises on admissions policy. But the district continues to grapple with just how to do that. During a meeting Wednesday night, the district superintendent introduced two alternative plans that would also set aside seats for low-performing students not based solely on low test scores, but on a combination of test scores and grades, or test scores and the poverty of the students at their elementary school. Josh Kross, 41, a father of three who is white, agreed that something must be done. When he attended an orientation for new families at MS 54, "It was all white people and a couple of Asian families," he said. "There were no Hispanic families. There were no black families. It's offensive and it doesn't reflect the city." But Kross said that the plans failed to address the real problem the poor education that these children had received until this point and instead proposed to drop them into middle schools that they could be ill prepared to handle. "The school system is horribly segregated and underserves the underserved, but this isn't the way to fix it," he said. Across the city, the desegregation efforts are driven by shifting demographics, as more white, middle-class families are choosing the city over the suburbs, and once-poor and immigrant neighborhoods in Manhattan and swaths of Brooklyn and Queens are becoming gentrified. "There are opportunities that didn't exist before to create more integrated schools," said Pedro Noguera, an education professor at UCLA, where a 2014 report finding that New York state has the most segregated public schools in the nation helped galvanize the issue. And they are a response to a widespread perception that the city Education Department has moved too slowly on school segregation, which Mayor Bill de Blasio has called an unavoidable byproduct of residential segregation. At the request of parents and local elected officials, the city Education Department spent $150,000 to hire an urban planning firm, WXY Studio, to lead a community process to come up with a way to integrate the middle schools. Hundreds of parents and educators have worked collaboratively over the past year on the plan, which will be presented this summer. The district's middle-school effort has drawn a variety of criticisms from parents. Some say there are not enough seats for all the qualified applicants at the top schools, and that it could lower the quality of education. Others say it doesn't do enough to help lower-performing middle schools. Several of the district's middle schools are already embracing diversity on their own. For Lafayette Academy on West 93rd Street, one result of expanding a popular dual-language French program has been to draw more affluent, white, foreign-born and high-achieving students to a predominantly black and Hispanic school that once had abysmal test scores. Brian Zager, the principal, said the diversity has improved learning across the school. "Once you start knocking down walls and putting kids together," he said, "it's going to create a unifying culture." NEW HAVEN U.S. Sen.Chris Murphy spoke with health care providers and patients at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center Friday concerning new federal health care policies. Murphy, , D-Conn., visited the center to hear firsthand how the President Donald J. Trumps administration is driving up health care costs and what the impact his policies have been on Connecticut residents. The Trump administration proposed new regulations to allow insurers to sell more limited, short-term plans and make short-term health-insurance plans last a lot longer. The plans are an alternative to the Affordable Care Act that is intended to make health care less cheaper. Short-term plans are intended as temporary insurance coverage, but the Trump administrations rule would expand their duration so that they could become a long-term source of coverage. These plans generally do not comply with the ACAs protections for people with pre-existing conditions, which dont allow health insurers to charge more or deny coverage to a person or their child because of a pre-existing health condition such as asthma, diabetes, or cancer. The short-term plans also don't need to comply with federal regulations that require insurance companies to provide coverage for mental illness or maternity care. A report dated April 6 by Medicare's chief actuary found that the short-term plans would siphon off the healthiest people from the ObamaCare exchanges, leaving a risk pool that is older and sicker than is currently the case, according to the Hill. One woman said she and her husband are paying more than $21,000 a year for her familys medical coverage and its becoming an actual barrier to growing her family because they cant afford it. She questioned whether health care would get any better with premiums expected to increase. The period for rate filings is beginning across the country where insurance companies have to announce what their rate increases are going to be. Some Virginia and Maryland insurance companies recently filed 64 percent and 92 percent increases, respectively, Murphy said. As you know, families cant afford a 10 percent increase so when you think about premiums doubling, you are in cataclysmic territory, he said. And this is just the beginning. Those numbers will mirror the numbers in the small group and larger group markets, making insurance unaffordable to small businesses as well. Insurers have been clear one reason for the massive increases is this administrations intentional, strategic assault on the American health care system for insurance companies to price products in the market. Last year Congress eliminated the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate penalty, which encourages healthier people to enroll in the marketplaces for health care coverage. Although Connecticut insurers havent filed their rates yet, the projected premium increase for the state from the mandate repeal and short-term plans is 16.5 percent, according to the Urban Institutes projections. Murphy called the administrations moves a campaign of sabotage. The campaign of sabotage begins on the day Trump gets sworn into office, Murphy said. January 20, he signs an executive order telling all of the his agencies to start pulling apart the Affordable Care Act. Shortly thereafter he starts pulling down all the advertising so people cant know what insurance options are available and around the same time they cut in half the open enrollment period. Beresford Wilson, from family support organization FAVOR Inc, said Murphy was being generous when he called the administrations actions sabotage. I think its better represented as an attack on poor people, because thats what it is, he said. People end up dying from these changes ... The decisions that are being made and that have been made might cause you a little inconvenience but it causes death down here to familys like mine and the families have spoken today. mdignan@hearstmediact.com Ever since the fall of 2013, Jesse T., of Sonoma County, California, has found it nearly impossible to land a job. He's applied for construction, manufacturing, and electrical positions, with no luck. After nearly a year of unreturned calls and emails, his friend alerted him to a troubling web page. Was Jesse in prison, his friend asked, according to an arrest warrant, which did not give Jesse's last name. When Jesse searched his own name in Google, the first result was a post on Mugshots.com, a website that mines publicly available arrest records from across the country. It indicated that Jesse had been arrested, and included his full name, address and the reason for his detention. Jesse was, in fact, arrested in September 2013, but he was never charged with a crime. He was simply detained for 12 days and then released. But Mugshots.com made no such distinction. Jesse became convinced that the post, which included his full name, address and the reason for his detention, had ruined his reputation, making it difficult to find a job or even start a romantic relationship. He clicked on a link to a related site, unpublisharrest.com, which offered to remove the information - but demanded that Jesse pay $399. He called a number associated with the web page, and a told a man on the other line that his demands were illegal, according to an arrest warrant. The man laughed and hung up. Jesse is one of thousands of people across the country who California prosecutors say have been extorted by Mugshots.com. Between 2014 and 2017, Mugshots.com allegedly took more than $2.4 million in fees from at least 5,703 people nationwide who wanted their photos removed from the site, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a news release Wednesday. About 175 of those individuals had billing addresses in California. Becerra has filed charges of extortion, money laundering, and identity theft against four men who are allegedly behind the Mugshots.com. The arrest warrant, which seeks to extradite the men to California, names Sahar Sarid, Kishore Vidya Bhavnanie, Thomas Keesee, and David Usdan as the alleged owners and operators of Mugshots.com. None of the men could be located for comment. The website appears to still be operating as usual. Mugshots.com is one of several websites nationwide that make money by publicizing arrest information and demanding fees through intermediary sites to swipe records clean. Mugshots.com and similar websites say they are simply republishing arrest information that is already publicly available through government records. Mugshots.com shows a disclaimer in capitalized letters at the top of its Web page saying the information on its website is in no way an indication of guilt or evidence that an actual crime has been committed. But to many people whose photos have cropped up on the site, such disclaimers are not enough to make up for the damage to their reputation. Mugshots.com refuses to take down criminal record information unless that person pays a fee, usually $399, through the secondary website, Unpublisharrest.com. They make no exceptions - even if the person's charges were dismissed or if the arrest was due to a mistaken identity or law enforcement error, according to a law enforcement affidavit, which included interviews with 18 people. "This pay-for-removal scheme attempts to profit off of someone else's humiliation," Becerra said in a statement. "Those who can't afford to pay into this scheme to have their information removed pay the price when they look for a job, housing, or try to build relationships with others. This is exploitation, plain and simple." Websites like Mugshots.com have been operating for years, particularly in Florida. In 2012, the Miami Herald called mug shot websites the "hot new internet business." One of the first such websites appears to have been Arrrests.org, operated by Rob Wiggen, a 33-year-old Floridian skilled in computer programming. He would post hundreds of new mug shots on a daily basis, mining law enforcement websites in Florida and four other states, the Herald reported. An intermediary website would, in turn, charge people hundreds of dollars to remove mug shots. A number of lawsuits have previously tried to target Mugshots.com. Last year, Illinois resident Peter Gabiola filed a federal lawsuit seeking class-action status against Mugshots.com, alleging it posted incomplete criminal records so that its sister site could solicit "takedown" fees from people, the Chicago Tribune reported. Gabiola said he was fired an hour after starting a new job because the employer saw his retail theft arrest record online. Even after the Illinois Department of Corrections had removed his records from its website, the information was still available on Mugshots.com, the Tribune reported. In 2012, an attorney filed a class-action lawsuit against Mugshots.com and other booking photo websites, but was not able to locate the owners to serve them. The owners of Mugshots.com have tried to conceal their identities by listing their business address in Nevis, West Indies, registering their domain name in Belize and using a website hosting company in Australia, according to the attorney general's affidavit. They also hide behind dissolved or inactive limited liability companies. In doing so, "the owners avoid service of process by those who have been injured through their business practices, giving their victims no recourse to seek damages," the affidavit stated. The repercussions of a post on Mugshots.com can carry on long after a person dies. Rosa S., a resident of Ventura County, told investigators her late husband, Tony, was jailed for one night in 1998. He was never charged with a crime, and had no criminal history. In 2002, he committed suicide. Their son has the same name as his father, and when she searched her son's name on the Internet, the first result that popped up was her late husband's booking photo. When she called Mugshots.com to have it removed, she was told she would have to pay. The mother said what Mugshots is doing "is very ugly," the affidavit stated, "they are profiting from people's pain." Trials of the latest Klavesin-2 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) began at a sea range in Crimea. The craft got the official military 2R52 index which means high readiness for acceptance into service. The range in Feodosiya will be used for trials of marine robots. Experts believe the resumption of range operations will accelerate trials and introduction of naval hardware, the Izvestia daily writes. Rubin's Klavesin-2R-PM UUV The main Navy command told the newspaper the 2R52 vehicle also known as Klavesin-2 is undergoing trials at the naval range in Feodosiya. The special test vessel Viktor Cherokov of project 20360OS of the Black Sea fleet is engaged in the work. Klavesin-2 is the second generation of domestic unmanned underwater vehicles. It is bigger and heavier than Kalvesin-1 which resembles a torpedo by the appearance and size. UVV 2R52 looks like a miniature 7-meter long submarine with a diameter of close to one meter. It has a small superstructure. The vehicle weighs close to 4 tons. The submergence depth is up to 6000 meters. The bigger size increased its autonomy. Klavesin-2 carries modern and upgraded equipment compared to the previous model. 2R52 will be delivered to the area of operations by special nuclear submarines. It will be carried by the Belgorod submarine of project 09852 and the re-equipped Podmoskovye special nuclear submarine of project 09787 BS-64. The vehicle will separate from the submarine and operate as programmed. The range is up to 50 km. The operator can issue new assignments to the vehicle. Klavesin-2 can carry various equipment - hydro sonars, electromagnetic sensors, video cameras. Russian MoD video showing Rubin's Klavesin-2R-PM UUV (first) and the nuclear-armed Kanyon/Status-6 long range torpedo/drone Klavesin-2 is a multirole vehicle capable of numerous missions for the Navy, expert Alexander Mozgovoy said. "It can monitor the seabed at major depths, search and collect various objects, e.g. weapon debris. It can also reconnoiter underwater situation and collect seabed relief data for warships and robotic complexes," he said. The new Klavesin is tested at Crimean coast with unique hydrological characteristics near Feodosiya. The dead underwater volcano created major depths there. The range is also used by the Black Sea fleet for drills and live fire. Mozgovoy believes Crimea will be the main test ground for Russian robots and other naval hardware. "The climate and weather in the area allow operating round-the-year which accelerates trials. Specialized vessels and equipment are already deployed there," he said. The Soviet Union used Feodosiya range as the main test site for naval arms. New torpedoes, depth bombs, etc. were tested there. Prospective submarines underwent running trials at the range. At present work is ongoing to develop Feodosiya range into the main test ground of naval weapons. Specialized vessels the Seliger and the Viktor Cherokov are deployed there. The latter is equipped with a remotely controlled underwater craft and instruments to surface the debris of exploded torpedoes and destroyed targets from the seabed. The latest Periskop meteorological station monitors the weather along the navigation route and produces short-term forecasts, the Izvestia writes. Copyright 2018 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. With summer right around the corner, college students made memories ahead of graduation at Burnhouse on Thursday. Every Thursday is college night at the rooftop night club. In America, it is easy to forget. At a political moment when black evangelicals leaving white-controlled churches is headline news, it is important to remember this. In fact, it has happened before, over and over again. It is more than a political moment. It is a historical pattern. This matters because the majority of white Christians still believe their churches are open to nonwhites. Yet, as black members leave once again, it is obvious that many feel otherwise. If this pattern is ever going to change, white churches have to acknowledge racial history. They have to understand why blacks have left white churches and why they continue to do so. For example, Richard Allen, a freed slave, attended St. Georges Methodist Church in Philadelphia from 1786 to 1792. He would have stayed longer, but white members wouldnt let him. During the middle of a service, they dragged Allen and fellow Methodist preacher Absalom Jones, also a former slave, from the whites-only seating to the back of the church. Unwelcome as an equal member, Allen left the white-controlled church. He then founded an independent black Methodist congregation and later worked to organize the African Methodist Episcopal Church, an influential Protestant denomination. In other words, Allen was a Methodist, and he became a black Methodist only because whites forced him to do so. In the 1830s, after two major efforts by slaves to gain their freedom (a plot by Denmark Vesey and an uprising led by Nat Turner), whites forced blacks to worship in their churches and required any black religious gathering to be supervised by a white minister. Whites were afraid of losing control and afraid that independent black religious gatherings were a place where slaves could organize and challenge that control. For three decades, from the 1830s to the 1860s, evangelical churches in the South were technically interracial but by no means integrated or inclusive. After the Civil War, African-Americans left those churches for their own independent congregations free from white control. Today, when pluralism and multiculturalism are self-professed progressive values, and Sunday is still the most segregated day of the week, we should recognize the sociological fact and historical reality that whites will support inclusive practices so long as they feel in charge. This is true of interracial churches, as it is true of American society. To be surprised when blacks leave white evangelical churches is to forget how patterns of racial inequality persist, not despite religious civility and good intentions, but because of them. What happened to Richard Allen at St. Georges Methodist Church in 1792 may not happen anymore in evangelical churches. But it happens all too often outside the church, as a disproportionate number of African-Americans are forcibly removed from communities, families, homes and workplaces, denied political and legal representation, and placed at the edges of society in prisons, shelters, and on streets and stretchers. That white churches are reconciled with that reality should surprise only those who forget that this has happened before. Will the historical pattern ever change? Not until whites, whether evangelical or liberal, conservative or progressive, give up control. Not until they confess, This is not about me. Not until they stop explaining away the fact that African-American men have a 1-in-3 chance of going to prison by saying black communities lack family values. Not until they identify the systems of oppression that have torn apart black families, from slavery to convict leasing, from Jim Crow to mass incarceration. Not until they stop, listen and learn about the racial history of the United States. Not until they admit these things happened rather than actively forget them. In the meantime, those who can, the willing and able, shall say what they mean, even when the majority hears no more than they already know. Because they might not be in your church, but that doesnt mean they arent here. Chad Seales is an associate professor of religious studies at The University of Texas at Austin. If you want to understand why Donald Trump is president today (and why he could very well win a second term), look to the Democrats hysterical response to two of Trumps major foreign policy achievements over the past week. Last Thursday, the president traveled to Joint Base Andrews to greet three American hostages whose release he had secured from North Korea. Unlike his predecessor, Trump did it without sending the offending regime an unmarked plane loaded with hundreds of millions in hard currency. The return of these American captives should have been a moment of celebration and bipartisan unity. So how did Democrats respond? By blasting Trump for the way he welcomed the U.S. hostages home. The pretext for their outrage was Trumps comment thanking Kim Jong Un, who he said really was excellent to these three incredible people by which Trump obviously meant releasing them. No matter. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., took the Senate floor to attack Trump for his troubling remarks. Kim Jong Un is a dictator who capriciously detained American citizens, Schumer declared, channeling Captain Obvious, and warned that, by praising Kim, Trump weakens American foreign policy and puts American citizens at risk around the world. Apparently, Trump Derangement Syndrome is so debilitating that Democrats cant bring themselves to say Good job, Mr. President, even when he brings our hostages home. Before, Democrats complained that Trump was too belligerent toward Kim; now, theyre upset that he is too effusive. This is absurd. Trump is laying the groundwork for a high-stakes nuclear summit with Kim; of course the president is not going to publicly criticize him. People in Middle America listen to the Democrats reactions and think: Can Trump do nothing right in these peoples eyes? Then, a few days later, Trump racked up another major achievement when he fulfilled his promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Four American presidents pledged to do it, but only Trump actually did. How did Democrats respond? Not a single congressional Democrat traveled to Israel to attend the historic opening of the embassy. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., said that he personally invited Democrats to join the congressional delegation, but no one took him up on the offer. This says not a single Democrat could bring themselves to join in a celebration of what Trump had done. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blasted Trumps decision when he announced it in December, declaring that moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem now may needlessly spark mass protests, fuel tensions, and make it more difficult to reach a durable peace. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., did the same, declaring, The future of Jerusalem is an issue that should be decided by Israel and the Palestinians, not unilaterally by the United States. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called Trumps embassy move a setback while former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., declared that Trumps action would severely, perhaps irreparably damage peace efforts. Keep in mind, the past four Democratic Party platforms had called for the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. And last June, the Senate voted 90-0 (with the support of Feinstein, Murphy and Sanders) for a resolution that reaffirms the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which mandated the embassy move (a bill that passed two decades ago with Pelosis vote). Americans see Trump being criticized for doing exactly what Congress demanded, and his Democratic and Republican predecessors promised, and they rightly see hypocrisy. No matter what Trump does, the Democratic reaction is the same: Outrage. When Democrats cant even praise Trump unreservedly for bringing American hostages home or show up when he fulfills a plank of the Democratic Party platform by moving our embassy to Jerusalem, it further convinces millions of Americans who abandoned the Democratic Party in 2016 that they made the right decision. Marc A. Thiessen writes a column for the Washington Post. Congress needs to maintain the commitment it made to children in low-income households earlier this year when it extended the Childrens Health Insurance Programs funding for 10 years. President Donald Trump is seeking to use a rarely used budgetary maneuver to strip $15 billion of spending that had already been approved for the federal budget. The move is an effort to ease conservative taxpayers concerns over the escalating federal deficit caused by the spending bill. That deficit is expected to reach $1 trillion next year. About $7 billion of the cuts Trump is proposing would come from CHIP. Using funds earmarked for the health and well being of the countrys youngest and most vulnerable populations to score political points right before mid-term election balloting is bad public policy. U.S. presidents have only been allowed to seek a rescission, the term used for taking back money from federal programs after they have been approved by Congress, since the 1970s. Bill Clinton was the last president to get a rescission approved. Congress has 45 days to approve the presidents request. Each chamber needs only a majority vote for the measure to pass. The funds would only be taken back if Congress goes along with the plan. U.S. presidents do not have a line-item veto. We urge the Texas delegation to push back against this plan. There are 9 million children and their families dependent on this program. Administration officials contend the cuts would create savings without affecting operations because it is money likely not to be spent for childrens health insurance anyway. Some of the money targeted is part of a rainy day fund to cover unexpected surges in state enrollment. Contingency funding is not always necessary, but it could create problems if it became needed. Why take the chance? Congress failure to provide CHIP funding in a timely manner last year sent many states scrambling. It was not until late January that the funding finally came through for six years in the form of a continuing resolution. A later resolution extended the funding for a total of 10 years. CHIP, which was established in 1997, is a successful program that has brought the uninsured rate among children down from 14 percent to 5 percent over the last 21 years. Lets not mess with success by undermining its funding. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly recently commented that immigrants, with only an elementary school education, lack the skills to integrate into American society an insult to all immigrants, especially those serving honorably in the military. Gen. Kelly should apologize to these service members for his despicable comments. As an undocumented immigrant who came to this country at 9 and who served honorably as a Marine, I am extremely offended and disappointed about these divisive comments. Not only are his comments divisive, ignorant and despicable, but show an extreme degree of ignorance, racism and bigotry unbecoming of a Marine general. These ignorant and bigoted comments might have gotten him sanctioned, if not court-martialed and kicked out of the Marines, if made while still serving. As a side note, my parents had a first and sixth grade education, but knew the value of an education and wanted to make sure their children had an opportunity beyond theirs. I signed up when still a minor and needed my parents permission to do so. They reluctantly, but willingly, signed. I served honorably for four years, and today Im a college graduate with a law degree and my own law firm that employs a number of employees. You think my parents and I had sufficient skills to integrate well into American society, Gen. Kelly? Felix Gonzalez Respect the flag If I am not mistaken all grades and perhaps even high school students once stood before class started every day to salute the American flag, Old Glory. I remember when there were only 48 stars on the flag to represent each state. I remember when Alaska became a state, which increased the stars to 49. Then came Hawaii, making it 50. Nowadays, you see products such as beach towels with the flag on them. I consider that a disgrace. I feel some veterans who were injured serving their country would agree with me. Ann Dwyer No takers If the Republican National Convention is such a financial bonanza, why has only one city bid on it? Dallas, Houston and Nashville have all declined to bid. Surely there would be fighting over the privilege if it was so lucrative. Barbara Dunlap, Boerne STAMFORD A speech therapist accused of bringing a child to her home instead of dropping her off at preschool has been denied entry into a diversionary program for first-time offenders. Stamford Judge Richard Comerford denied the request for Tosha Flockhart, 37, of Nebraska, to participate in the accelerated rehabilitation program that would have wiped away the criminal charges. Flockhart remains charged with unlawful restraint, interfering with police and filing a false statement. Unfortunately, we live in a world where I see more and more children who are mistreated, Comerford said to Flockhart and her attorney John Thygerson during a hearing at the Stamford courthouse Thursday morning. It is a matter most serous. The application is denied. Stamford Police Youth Bureau Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said the incident occurred on May 1, 2017 when Flockhart was hired to bring the 4-year-old girl with special needs to preschool and assist her during the day. Police said Flockhart sent the girls mother text messages, pretending the child was at school with fabricated details about what she was doing in class. However, police said Flockhart took the child to her Hope Street apartment so she could study for an exam to complete her UConn masters degree program. The familys nanny arrived at the school around 1 p.m. that day to take the child to a dental appointment and realized she was not there, police said. The family was advised that the child never came to school, Kennedy said. And all those texts messages about what the child had done in school and how the child had interacted with the teacher and had given a flower to the teacher was a charade and the father and mother were devastated. Kennedy said the police department opposed Flockhart entering a probation program because she misled officers about where the child was and refused to tell them what happened. The child was not harmed during the incident. Assistant States Attorney Daniel Cummings also argued against Flockhart entering the program. Cummings said the girls mother was so upset, she literally became so ill, she could not see. Thygerson said Flockhart compounded her bad decision to take the child home by refusing to tell police what happened. He said Flockhart, a Midwest native, has moved to Nebraska where she is employed by a meat processing company and she no longer works with children. Flockhart is scheduled to return to court in July. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com A Santa Barbara County attorney who has fought for farmers and fossil fuels and led the lock her up chants in opposition to Hillary Clinton was appointed by the Trump administration Friday to head the Environmental Protection Agencys Pacific Southwest office in San Francisco. The appointment of Mike Stoker, a former county supervisor and GOP stalwart, infuriated environmentalists and further annoyed Bay Area Democrats and San Francisco power brokers reeling from what they view as assaults by the administration on environmental policies. Stoker, 62, will oversee hundreds of scientists, enforcement officers and employees in charge of promoting clean air, clean water and public health in EPA Region 9, which covers California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. Mike Stoker is highly qualified and well-equipped to lead Region 9, said Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, who has overseen major staffing cuts nationwide and believes the agency has overstepped its congressional mandate, particularly with regard to limitations on heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Through his public service and career in law, he understands the environmental challenges facing the region and will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to EPA. It was not clear Friday whether Stoker, who expressed a reluctance to move to San Francisco, would work out of the agency's headquarters in the liberal enclave, which has not had a permanent director since Jared Blumenfeld stepped down in May 2016. His reluctance is thought to be at least partly because of the difficulty a newcomer will face in advancing President Trumps deregulatory agenda in a hostile city. Stokers apparent plan to work out of the Los Angeles office prompted Sen. Dianne Feinstein to write Pruitt on Thursday, saying she is particularly troubled by the potential cost to taxpayers of an absentee administrator. Jahan Wilcox, the EPA spokesman, would only say, Mike Stokers duty station is San Francisco. Business and industry leaders supported the hire. To grow jobs in California, we need balance between our important environmental needs and diverse economy, said Robert Lapsley, the president of the California Business Roundtable, which is made up of the senior executives at large businesses around the state. His qualifications as an agricultural law attorney, with an emphasis in environmental law, combined with his decades of experience as an appointed and elected policymaker ... will serve California well. It is not a bipartisan view. Stoker secured the undying enmity of liberals for leading the lock her up chant in opposition to Clinton at the 2016 National Republican Convention. He is a perfect fit for Trump but not for California, said Blumenfeld, the former administrator. For all the dedicated, professional staff at EPA, doing your job just got more difficult and more heroic. Stoker will now wade head-first into several environmental conflicts between California and Pruitt, including a skirmish over whether the state can maintain stricter vehicle fuel standards than the rest of the nation. The new director will also assume management of an office where employees have complained of low morale. Many scientists, policymakers and enforcement officials claim to have been derailed from their mission of environmental protection as the Trump administration has sought to loosen what it views as overly restrictive regulatory policies on American business. Stokers questioning of the scientific consensus on climate change and his previous work at a fossil fuel company that was prosecuted by the EPA and California Department of Fish and Wildlife for a series of oil spills has not fostered confidence among environmental leaders. Michael Stoker was a mouthpiece for one of the most reckless and spill-prone oil companies in the nation, said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute. Hell be a convenient foot soldier for Trumps polluter-friendly EPA, and the people and wildlife of the Pacific Southwest will suffer for it. Stoker, who lives in Carpinteria (Santa Barbara County), has long been active in local and state politics. After being on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors from 1986 to 1994, the registered Republican served a five-year stint as chairman of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board under Gov. Pete Wilson and worked as deputy secretary of state for three years under Bill Jones. He launched campaigns for state Senate, state Assembly and Congress, all unsuccessful. Hes also run a law office on and off in Santa Barbara County since 1980, offering legal counsel and consulting on government, land use and business. In the late 2000s, Stoker worked as a spokesman for the fossil fuel company Greka Energy, which federal and state agencies accused of spilling oil 21 times and polluting county water and lands, a suit it eventually settled. At the time, Stoker criticized many of the charges as government overreach. Burdensome regulation has long been a concern for Stoker. More recently on Facebook, he weighed in on the case of Central Valley farmer John Duarte, who was fined for plowing over protected wetlands, a citation that become a rallying point for conservatives worried about losing property rights. Unbelievable but this zealousness by state and federal regulators happens all the time unfortunately, Stoker wrote. He recently worked as director of governmental affairs for UnitedAg, a trade association that seeks to protect farmers and has often fought against environmental restrictions. Stoker, who served as a delegate for then-candidate Donald Trump at the 2016 Republican convention, had been eyed by the president for other administration posts before being selected regional EPA director. In January, he was nominated to be director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, but never confirmed, and last year he was reportedly under consideration for an opening on the National Labor Relations Board. He fills a post that Pruitt has had an exceedingly difficult time filling. At least two preferred candidates including Ryan Flynn, an oil and gas lobbyist in New Mexico refused to take over an office in a left-leaning region populated by employees considered to be largely hostile to the administrations views. Ken Cook, the president of the Environmental Working Group, said the previous hiring difficulties may be why the embattled Pruitt was willing to hire Stoker despite his desire to oversee 702 employees in San Francisco from a Los Angeles satellite office. That he doesnt even want to face EPA employees whove spent their careers protecting public health, speaks volumes about what we can expect from his leadership, Cook said. Peter Fimrite and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite, @kurtisalexander @pfimrite The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has drafted letters to 12 major automakers that failed to meet a December 2017 deadline for completing repairs on high-priority vehicles equipped with defective Takata airbag inflators. Details of the Takata Recall Letters and Proposed Meetings According to Reuters, NHTSA contacted Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp, General Motors Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Co., and several other car manufacturers after the companies failed to complete necessary repairs on certain vehicles by a previously agreed upon deadline. NHTSA says the 12 automakers have collectively repaired about 65 percent of the 20 million vehicles included in the highest priority group, leaving about 7 million other vehicles unrepaired. Beyond this priority group, an additional 23 million U.S. vehicles from 19 automakers remain equipped with defective Takata airbag inflators that can explode when deployed The defective airbags have been linked to at least 22 deaths and more than 290 injuries worldwide. Reports show that the Takata airbag inflators can deploy with too much force, causing the airbags to rupture and eject metal shrapnel into vehicle cabins and occupants. The defect and resulting recall costs led to Takata filing for bankruptcy protection in June 2017. NHTSA and Takata Face Scrutiny From Lawmakers In addition to criticizing Takata and automakers for their handling of the airbag recalls, lawmakers have scrutinized NHTSA, saying the agency is not doing enough to make automakers to fix defective vehicles. Both the recalls and NHTSAs response were the subject of a U.S. Senate hearing in march. In a letter, Heidi King, who has served as deputy NHTSA administrator since September, said she was deeply concerned by the current repair figures. Last week, Senator Bill Nelson called on King to speed up recall and repair efforts. In 2017, Takata pleaded guilty to a single felony count of wire fraud and agreed to a $1 billion settlement to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation. Contact an Experienced Takata Airbag Recall Attorney If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective and dangerous Takata airbag, call Thomas J. Henry today. Our attorneys are available 24/7, nights and weekends to evaluate your claim and provide you with a free legal consultation. Our firm has offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Houston, serving clients across Texas and nationwide. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. Hardline military securocrats aligned to the ruling Zanu PF party, may reportedly ignore any presidential election outcome that disfavours incumbent caretaker, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and could be ready to decree his victory, as the army was very instrumental in removing former leader, Robert Mugabe, who was on the verge of turning the presidency into a family dynasty last year, Spotlight Zimbabwe, has been told. A decree is a style of governance allowing quick, unchallenged creation of law by a single person or group, and is used primarily by autocrats, absolute monarchs and military leaders. Security sector sources privy to the matter, this week revealed that top hawks not only in the army but government, including Mnangagwas inner circle are not buying into the idea of a possible opposition victory in the forthcoming presidential polls, as they consider the leadership to be too greenhorn and risk placing the country at the mercy of imperialist forces bent on recolonising Zimbabwe due to their inexperience in government, and suspicious links to Washington, where MDC Alliance leader and presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa, visited early this year, and came under fire from Zanu PF, who accused him of lobbying for the retention of U.S economic sanctions against Harare. Furthermore, the military is also now said to be demanding to have a permanent slot in the countrys presidium, and if approved by the ruling party, will see one of the vice presidents position becoming a preserve for a high ranking general, crossing over into politics after serving as army commander. Vice president, Rtd General Constantino Chiwenga, is the first Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) former commander, to be promoted into the VPs office last December. If the reported military presidium request is met, current ZDF boss, General Philip Valerio Sibanda, is easily in line for the countrys vice presidency, once Chiwenga is elevated to president, our sources said. The military did not launch Operation Restore Legacy for no reason, said a senior official based at Defence House, which is home to the ministry of defence. Yes it was about unseating President Robert Mugabe, who was about to hand over power to his wife, but the bigger picture was for the military to become not just a stakeholder, but stockholder of the political and government process in this country. It is not new, many other countries have military officials serving in influential government positions. This is a new doctrine, which the minister of defence (Chiwenga) has given birth to. The opposition is unlikely to win power nor the coming elections given these new developments. There are hardliners who will not accept an MDC Alliance victory, and are willing to decree our president the winner. Our people do not know, that elections are also a national security issue. So dont be surprised if any unfavourable poll outcome is ignored. Spotlight Zimbabwe, has also heard that win or lose, Zanu PF under Mnangagwa is already planning and has put final touches to a possible mega coalition government, to end feared civil disorder, strife, protests and looting sprees likely to greet the poll result announcement by August, according to government intelligence gathering. Our information shows that plans are afoot by Mnangagwa to form the mega government, which will accommodate all the key protagonists from the opposition, such as Chamisa, National Peoples Party (NPP) leader, Joice Mujuru, MDC leader, Thokozani Khupe, Alliance for Peoples Agenda (APA) president, Nkosana Moyo, among others. Only Zapu leader, Dumiso Dabengwa, for no clear reasons has been axed from the table of the mooted mega coalition, probably for refusing to work with Mnangagwa last year, and declining to be one of his vice presidents, we are told. This publication has it on good authority that proponents of the mega government, are throwing the idea of introducing an additional vice president from the opposition to the mooted administration, a prime minister, and three deputy prime ministers. The country had its first experiment with a coalition administration during the Government of National Unity (GNU) era, that was formed on 13 February 2009 following the inaugurations of the late Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and Thokozani Khupe and Arthur Mutambara as Deputy Prime Ministers. Government is in panic mood because of the threat and risk of countrywide protests, once the presidential election results come out, all in full glare of international election observers, monitors and media, said a former minister who declined to be named, because of his new position in the current administration. From what I know pre-emptive measures have been put in place, and should things escalate and run out of control, a state of emergence can be declared, and the possible lock down of major cities and towns under government curfew. Zimbabweans staged riots triggered by a wave of price escalations and extortionate taxes in 1998. At least 10 people were killed during the demonstrations which saw the army deploying tanks on the streets. Observers fear that come elections Harare, might turn out to be Rio de Janeiro, which in Februray this year was put under military charge, after Brazilian president Michel Temer, signed a decree for the intervention, following a rise in street crime and drug gang violence. The military stands accused by critics for taking over control of most civilian structures of government, and that all the countrys decisions are made by the security establishment, at its KGVI Barracks headquarters now renamned Josiah Tongogara Barracks. Only last month National Patriotic Front (NPF) spokesperson, Jealousy Mawarire, reinforced the allegation. There is a contribution that I want to make, which I think is very fundamental, said Mawarire during a political debate in the capital. The arrogance that Mutsvangwa (President Mnangagwas special advisor) is displaying shows something which is very fundamental, and he gave it out when he addressed some intellectuals at Sapes. He told all of us including diplomats that, decisions in this country are made at KGVI. Whether they are political, electoral, economic, they are made at KGVI. Spotlight Zimbabwe Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News - The principal and proprietor of a school in Ogun state has been arrested for tying students to crosses and flogging them for coming late - A policeman had witnessed the outrageous act and stopped to caution the principal, but was beaten up in the process - The principal, proprietor and another teacher were eventually arrested, and have been taken to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department The proprietor of Metorite Standard School, Ayetoro, Ogun, Afolayan Joseph, was arrested by the states police command, on Wednesday, May 16, for allegedly tying up two pupils of the school to crosses and flogging them with a horsewhip. Afolayan, together with the schools principal, who is yet to be identified, allegedly tied up the students because they came late to school, Punch reports. READ ALSO: President Buhari hosts APC southwest leaders to dinner (photos) Legit.ng learnt that a policeman, identified only as Livinus, was also beaten up after he had cautioned the men against such action. A male student, pictured tied to a cross (Photo credit: Punch) The policeman, assisted by other residents, eventually succeeded in effecting the arrest of the suspects, who were then taken to the Itele Police Station. Narrating the incident, the policeman stated: I was going to work this morning (Wednesday) when I saw some cars parked by the roadside. I discovered that it was because of some pupils that were tied to crosses. When I saw it, I parked and went to meet the proprietor of the school. I introduced myself as a policeman and told him to untie the pupils. He refused, saying there was nothing anybody could tell him that would make him to release them. When I tried to untie the pupils, the proprietor and his teachers beat me up. Before I returned from picking handcuffs from my car, they had grabbed a friend who was with me, Omaje Iremi, and beaten him up with a horsewhip. I entered the school with the help of some neighbours who gathered around to arrest him, but he refused to follow me. I then called the divisional police officer of the Itele Police Station and he sent some policemen to the school, who took everybody to the station. A female student also received similar treatment (Photo credit: Punch) The aforementioned DPO reportedly stated that the proprietor did not take kindly to the fact that the policeman had attempted to correct him. The arrest of the principal, proprietor and another teacher at the school, was confirmed by the state police public relations officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi. He stated: They have been arrested and will be taken to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department. The act is no longer a corrective measure; it is a barbaric act and it will not be allowed in this 21st century. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that violence erupted in Ibadan, following allegations that a secondary school principal flogged his student to death. The turbulence began when a head teacher allegedly flogged a student to death at IMG secondary school, Oke Ado, Ibadan. According to an eyewitness, the student was flogged for arriving at school after classes had begun for the day. Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit Nigeria - Not less than 195 communities in Edo state have never experienced electricity supply - The state government made this announcement on Wednesday, May 16, adding that 128 others have issues of broken down infrastructure - The government also said that no community enjoys electricity supply for more than eight hours a day The Edo state government has said that 195 communities in the state have never experienced electricity supply while 128 others have issues of broken down infrastructure that requires rehabilitation. This was disclosed on Wednesday, May 16, by the deputy governor of the state, Philip Shaibu, during the House of Representatives Adhoc committee, south south, interactive session with electricity consumers, Independent reports. Legit.ng notes that the deputy governor was represented by the deputy chief of staff, office of the deputy governor, Kingsley Ehigiamusor. READ ALSO: Teaching philosophy in secondary school will solve ethnic and religious conflicts - Association He said the interim report from a special committee set up by the government to carry out a comprehensive status in the state, revealed that 55 communities were under disconnection by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) because they were owing, adding that 219 transformers were required to replace broken down ones. He said: This interactive session is very germane and most timely, considering the huge outcry by electricity consumers all over the country, particularly in Edo state. The complaints include but not limited to few hours of services per day, e.g. maximum of eight hours per day in most places; poor meter services, no pre-paid meters, over billing arising from estimated billing system, aged or over-loaded transformers, non-replacement of faulty transformers for upward of 15 months in most areas, among others." In his response, the executive director (commercial) of BEDC, said that the problem of overbilling, estimated billing and indebtedness by consumers were being addressed by the company, adding that it was the duty of Discos to replace faulty transformers. He stated that where there were huge debts, the consumers must make some payments before the transformer could be replaced. He said: "You must be a paying customer and must pay certain amount of money before faulty transformers could be replaced." PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the Benin and the Port Harcourt electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) were fined N6.2 million for refusing to comply with the rulings on a complaint against them by some customers. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) fined the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) the sum of N5.01 million for disobeying its decision on the complaint brought against it by Ikponmwosa Barry, S C Ogoke, and F E Ubuane. Nigerian electricity crisis explained - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - The federal government of Nigeria has condemned Israels deadly response to clashes along the border with the Gaza Strip - The government asked the country to stop the use of excessive force against unarmed civilians - The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said 58 Palestinians were killed and nearly 1,000 were injured in violent clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza Strips border with Israel The federal government of Nigeria has condemned Israels deadly response to clashes along the border with the Gaza Strip, in which 58 unarmed Palestinian demonstrators were killed. The ministry of foreign Affairs, in a statement, on Thursday, May 17, expressed the federal governments concern over the killings. The ministry added: The Israeli government must stop such use of excessive force against unarmed civilians, including children, and respect the basic human rights of Palestinians as well as international law. READ ALSO: 15 killed as soldiers engage in fierce battle with Boko Haram terrorists (photos) The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said 58 Palestinians were killed and nearly 1,000 were injured in violent clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza Strips border with Israel. Israeli security forces said they were responding to deliberate attempts, spurred by Hamas, to overwhelm and breach the boundary fence to launch terror attacks in Israel. In addition to protesting the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Palestinians were also marking the 70th anniversary of what they call the Nakba, or catastrophe, of Israels creation in 1948. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The Israeli army said three of the Palestinians killed on Monday were trying to plant explosives at the border fence. In two separate incidents, IDF troops opened fire on gunmen who were trying to shoot them, Hadashot TV news said. There were also several Israeli airstrikes on Hamas positions in Gaza. According to the army, tens of thousands took part in the protests at several points along the border. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the government of Iran said on Tuesday, May 15, that Israeli operatives should be tried as war criminals over the "brutal massacre" of Gazan protesters on Monday, May 14. Bahram Ghasemi, the spokesman to Iran's foreign ministry said: "The killing of children, women and defenceless people of Palestine and the occupation of Palestinian lands has become the main strategy of the Zionists over the 70 years of occupation." Ghasemi urged the international community to take "immediate action" and declare Israelis as "war criminals in international courts". Street Gist: Will Nigeria be a better place with Trump as president? | Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit Nigeria - The Katsina state scholarship trust fund has been relaunched - Sustaining the scheme was said to have been accentuated by the geometric rise of students in the state - However, the state government says despite the challenges, it is going ahead with the scheme The Katsina government has relaunched its scholarship trust fund for the benefit of students in the state. The state government says it is going ahead with the scheme despite the fact that sustaining it has become a challenge, due to its financial limitations. A statement by the Ibrahim M Abdullah, the head of media and publicity in the state government noted that: Government has no meaning if it does not translate to welfare of the people, their security and improvement in their condition of living and beautiful things they strive to have. It is no gain saying that health, agriculture, education and commerce are the backbone of societal development most especially education. Education is an aspirational asset, a tool that enables human beings widen their horizon, develop skill and up-lift themselves. Societies with better educated citizens are more equipped to deal with new challenges and technological advancements." Legit.ng gathered that sustaining the scheme was accentuated by the geometric rise of students in the state making it difficult for the state government to operate and maintain a regime of students allowances in view of other equally important competing demands. This situation was further aggravated with the dwindling fortune of the investment that is used to finance the scheme. READ ALSO: Birnin Gwari: Again, armed bandits attack 4 villages, burn houses But since August 2016, strenuous efforts have been put in place to see to the realization of set objectives which informed the setting of the Trust Fund. The state said: RT. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, the executive governor of Katsina through the Katsina state scholarship trust fund under the stewardship of Alhaji Isah Ahmed has remained resolute in his determination to see that these objectives are met. To this end, His Excellency approved the payment of about 50,842 students allowances to the tune of N677,444,000. The Masari led administration sourced and secured admission for about 32 students in various institutions of higher learning in non-English speaking countries and resolved to make giant stride in the payment of allowances to students next year by interfacing with a commercial bank that will produce customized bursary cards for each student. When this is done, the administration will no longer be carrying money following students to their respective schools for payment. Furthermore, despite the financial challenges, the Masari led administration having inherited unsettled foreign students scholarship debt from the previous administration to the tune of N1,024,773,500.34 ( N 1.024bn) went ahead and settled N512,386,750.17 which equals half the liability. The Katsina states scholarship trust fund under the Masari led administration is making the right impact towards boosting tertiary education. For the governor of Katsina state, governance is all about affecting the lives of the people and impacting them positively. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, the minister of state for education, Professor Anthony Anwukah, has put forward a proposal for Nigerian students to spend an extra year in specialised institutions after graduation. Professor Anwukah's proposal was tabled at the ongoing retreat for Governing Councils of Nigerian Federal Universities, organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) with the theme, Elements of Statutory Governance, Procurement and Financial Accounting in Nigerian Universities. He said the suggestion was being made because many university graduates were not good enough to be employed by industries. EXCLUSIVE: Be patient with President Buhari, Femi Adesina tells Nigerians on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - Gunmen have for the second time attacked Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna state - Four different villages were said to been sacked by some armed bandits on Tuesday, May 15, by 5 pm - Residents said 10 bodies of victims have bee recovered after the attack in the villages Some gunmen have attacked four villages in Kakangi ward in Birnin Gwari local government in Kaduna state. The attack by the armed bandits came a day after the lawmaker representing Birnin-Gwari /Giwa federal constituency, Hassan Shekarau, called for an end in the killing in the area. A statement released by the Birnin-Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance said the bandits attacked the villages at about 5pm on Tuesday, May 15. The group said the attack by the hoodlums lasted for three and half hours. READ ALSO: Army ready to move against Shiites in Abuja - Guards brigade commander warns Among villages attacked include: Mashigi, Dakwaro, Sabon gida and one other village adjacent Dakwaro. A member of the group, Malam Umar, said ten bodies of victims of the attack have been recovered. Umar said: "Ten bodies of people killed were recovered, while many are unaccounted for." He added that the hoodlums burnt houses and grains stock owned by resident of the villages that were attacked. Umar said: "Already volunteers from the southern axis of Birnin-Gwari and Security men were mobilized to ascertain the number of casualties." PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app Another resident of one of the villages said: "The affected villages are in need of aid, such as food, shelter and clothes. "Despite this attacks and Kidnappings daily along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road, we are saluting the Federal government and security agencies for deployment of personnel to deal with the situation in Birnin-Gwari. We hope more troops and special police task force will be deployed." Legit.ng earlier reported that the chief of Army staff, Tukur Buratai, had warned that the incessant killings in Birnin Gwari must come to an end. Buratai called on the troops to end the killings and destruction of property in the local government by armed bandits within three weeks. The army chief said very resounding results that will bring these criminals to their knees finally are being expected fro the troops. Robbers return firearms to Nigerian Police on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit Nigeria - Controversy is brewing in Bayelsa state in the south-south region of Nigeria - Opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has raised an alarm concerning intimidation - A chieftain of the party, Engineer Preye Aganaba, says the government have denied them the use of a public facility A member of the APC national convention committee and chieftain of the party in Bayelsa, Engineer Preye Aganaba, has raised an alarm that the government was denying the party the use of the multipurpose hall within the state's stadium meant for the party's state congress. The APC state congresses are scheduled to hold nationwide on Saturday, May 19. Aganaba, in a statement on Friday, May 18, sent to Legit.ng, also alleged that the government was doing everything possible to frustrate the conduct of APC state congress having applied for the use the facility. He said the reason for denying APC the use of the public facility was still unknown to the party. His words: The state government is denying us the use of stadium for APC state congress meant to take place in Bayelsa. We have properly applied and we were not told that the facility will not be available for us. To our surprise up till now the state government has refused to approve the facility for us. It is on record that APC's parallel ward and local government congresses in Bayelsa state were peaceful and there is assurance that tomorrow's exercise is not likely to witness crisis. So, on what grounds are we being denied the use of the state facility? The government must be told that we are all indigenes of the state, we are not foreigners. We have right to association and political party of our choice, so we don't deserve to be treated like outcasts. While urging Governor Dickson to have a rethink, Aganaba, who was a senatorial candidate in 2015, said, it will amount to political intolerance if the state government refuse APC the use of a public place like stadium for a national exercise. Reacting, the spokesman to the Bayelsa state governor, Francis Ottah Agbo, when called by Legit.ng denied the allegation. According to him, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson is one governor who brooks opposition. He is so kind, he is so civil and civilised to the extent that once you apply for a public space, he obliges you with it. For example, in the run off to the last election, Timipre Sylva who applied for the Samson Siasia stadium, and the governor made it available to him and his party, the APC. Also, When President Muhammadu Buhari came to Bayelsa state to campaign as a candidate of the APC in 2015, the governor made the stadium available to him. Governor Dickson is a governor that allows the opposition to thrive because he is a democrat to the call. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, the APC on Thursday, May 17, inaugurated 5-member state congress committees to conduct congresses in different states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Saturday, May 19. Three-member committees were also inaugurated to entertain appeals that may arise from the state congresses. APC chieftains in Benue state say PDP has nothing to offer on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit By Chad Terhune, Kaiser Health News Senior Correspondent, who previously worked for the Los Angeles Times, where he spent four years covering the business of health care. Before the Times, he was an award-winning reporter for The Wall Street Journal and Businessweek. Originally published at Kaiser Health News Cooking dinner one night in March, Mark Frizzell sliced his pinkie finger while peeling a butternut squash and couldnt stop the bleeding. The 51-year-old businessman headed to the emergency room at Sutter Healths California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Sutter charged $1,555 for the 10 minutes it treated him, including $55 for a gel bandage and $487 for a tetanus shot. It was ridiculous, he said. Health insurance costs are through the roof because of things like this. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra couldnt agree more. The states top cop is suing Sutter, accusing one of the nations biggest health systems of systematically overcharging patients and illegally driving out competition in Northern California. For years, economists and researchers have warned of the dangers posed by large health systems across the country that are gobbling up hospitals, surgery centers and physicians offices enabling them to limit competition and hike prices. Becerras suit amounts to a giant test case with the potential for national repercussions. If California prevails and is able to tame prices at Northern Californias most powerful, dominant health system, regulators and politicians in other states are likely to follow. A major court ruling in California could be a deterrent to other hospital systems, said Ge Bai, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University who has researched hospital prices nationwide. Were getting to a tipping point where the nation cannot afford these out-of-control prices. Reflecting that sense of public desperation, Sutter faces two other major suits from employers and consumers which are wending their way through the courts, both alleging anticompetitive conduct and inflated pricing. Meanwhile, California lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban some contracting practices used by large health systems to corner markets. Sutter, a nonprofit chain, is pushing back hard, denying anticompetitive behavior and accusing Becerra in court papers of a sweeping and unprecedented effort to intrude into private contracting. Recognizing the broader implications of the suit, both the American Hospital Association and its California counterpart asked to file amicus briefs in support of Sutter. In his 49-page complaint, Becerra cited a recent studyfinding that, on average, an inpatient procedure in Northern California costs 70 percent more than one in Southern California. He said there was no justification for that difference and stopped just short of dropping an expletive to make his point. This is a big F deal, Becerra declared at his March 30 news conference to unveil the lawsuit. In an interview last week, he said, We dont believe its fair to allow consolidation to end up artificially driving up prices. This anticompetitive behavior is not only bad for consumers, its bad for the state and for businesses. To lessen Sutters market power, the states lawsuit seeks to force Sutter to negotiate reimbursements separately for each of its hospitals precluding an all or nothing approach and to bar Sutter employees from sharing the details of those negotiations across its facilities. Becerra said Sutter has required insurers and employers to contract with its facilities systemwide or face excessively high out-of-network rates. Heft In The Marketplace Overall, Sutter has 24 hospitals, 36 surgery centers and more than 5,500 physicians in its network. The system boasts more than $12 billion in annual revenue and posted net income of $958 million last year. The companys heft in the marketplace is one reason why Northern California is the most expensive place in the country to have a baby, according to a 2016 report. A cesarean delivery in Sacramento, where Sutter is based, cost $27,067, nearly double what it costs in Los Angeles and New York City. For years, doctors and consumers have also accused Sutter of cutting hospital beds and critical services in rural communities to maximize revenue. Patients are the ones getting hurt, said Dr. Greg Duncan, an orthopedic surgeon and former board member at Sutter Coast Hospital in Crescent City, Calif. Sutter says patients across Northern California have plenty of providers to choose from and that it has held its average rate increases to health plans to less than 3 percent annually since 2012. It also says it does not require all facilities to be included in every contract that insurers have excluded parts of its system from their networks. As for emergency room patients like Frizzell, Sutter says its charges reflect the cost of maintaining services round-the-clock and that for some patients urgent-care centers are a less costly option. The California Attorney Generals lawsuit gets the facts wrong, Sutter said in a statement. Our integrated network of high-quality doctors and care centers aims to provide better, more efficient care and has proven to help lower costs. Regulators in other states also have sought to block deals they view as potentially harmful. In North Carolina, for instance, the states attorney general and treasurer both expressed concerns about a proposed merger between the University of North Carolina Health Care system and Charlotte-based Atrium Health. The two dropped their bid in March. The combined system would have had roughly $14 billion in revenue and more than 50 hospitals. Last year, in Illinois, state and federal officials persuaded a judge to block the merger between Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem. The Federal Trade Commission said the new entity would have had 60 percent market share in Chicagos northern suburbs. Still, Advocate won approval for a new deal with Wisconsins Aurora Health Care last month, creating a system with $11 billion in annual revenue. Antitrust experts say states can deliver a meaningful counterpunch to health care monopolies, but they warn that these cases arent easy to win and it could be too little, too late in some markets. How do you unscramble the egg? said Zack Cooper, an assistant professor of economics and health policy at Yale University. There arent a lot of great solutions. A Seven-Year Investigation California authorities took their time sounding the alarm over Sutter a fact Sutter is now using against the state in court. The state attorney generals office, under the leadership of Democrat Kamala Harris, now a U.S. senator, started investigating Sutter seven years ago with a 2011 subpoena, court documents show. Sutter said the investigation appeared to go dormant in March 2015, just as Harris began ramping up her Senate campaign. Becerra, a Democrat and former member of Congress, was appointed to replace Harris last year, took over the investigation and sued Sutter on March 29. His aggressive action comes as he prepares for a June 5 primary against three opponents. Sutter faces a separate class-action suit in San Francisco state court, spearheaded by a health plan covering unionized grocery workers and representing more than 2,000 employer-funded health plans. The plaintiffs are seeking to recoup $700 million for alleged overcharges plus damages of $1.4 billion if Sutter is found liable for antitrust violations. Sutter also has been sued in federal court by five consumers who blame the health system for inflating their insurance premiums and copays. The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow grantedBecerras request to consolidate his case with the grocery workers suit, which is slated for trial in June 2019. The judge sanctioned Sutter in November after finding that Sutter was grossly reckless in intentionally destroying 192 boxes of evidence that were relevant to antitrust issues. As a result, Karnow said, he will consider issuing jury instructions that are adverse to Sutter. In a note to employees, Sutter chief executive Sarah Krevans said she deeply regretted the situation but mistakes do happen. In an April 27 court filing, Sutters lawyers criticized the state for piggybacking onto the grocery workers case. The government sat on its hands for seven years, exposing the public to the alleged anticompetitive conduct. Rather than driving the agenda, the Attorney General seeks to ride coattails. Outside court, California legislators are taking aim at all or nothing contracting terms used by Sutter and other hospital chains. The proposed law stalled last year amid opposition from the hospital industry. But consumer and labor groups are seeking to revive it this year. In the meantime, Frizzell said he will probably wind up at one of Sutters hospitals again despite his disgust over his ER bill. Most of the hospitals here are Sutter, he said. Its difficult to avoid them. KHN senior correspondent Anna Gorman contributed to this report. Yves here. It seems remarkable that economists and social scientists find it difficult to prove that there are social multipliers for criminal activity. Pretty much every social animal species exhibits both cooperative behavior and cheating. In human social groups, one finds a great variety of norms. Some countries score much higher on various corruption indexes than others. In the same industry, some companies are known for being outliers in dodgy behavior (Drexel, Enron, Uber). And it isnt just that questionable behavior is tolerated. In many settings, it is required. For instance, a Congressional staffer once told me he had to engage occasionally in some activities that he would rather not have been part of, but the consequences of not doing it would be worse in terms of him advancing his policy aims: Its like being on the police force. If you are too clean, no one trusts you. By Christian Dustmann Professor of Economics, University College London and Director of the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration and Rasmus Landers, Senior Researcher, Rockwool Foundation Research Unit. Originally published at VoxEU Does a persons criminal behaviour induce others to commit crime? This column exploits the fact that young fathers in Denmark are less likely to continue their criminal careers if their new-born child is a boy rather than a girl to identify spillovers in criminal behaviour. The analysis shows that neighbourhood peers of new fathers of boys become less likely to commit crime themselves than neighbourhood peers of new fathers of girls. The findings suggest that the benefits of programmes that reduce crime at a younger age are far larger than suggested by the primary effects alone. Does one persons criminal behaviour induce others to commit crime? Knowing if the answer is yes and, if so, the magnitude of such spillovers in criminal behaviour is essential for the optimal design and cost effectiveness of crime prevention policies. Spillover effects in the behaviour of individuals give rise to social multiplier effects (Glaeser et al. 1996). If there are social multipliers in crime, then this means that the costs of crime are underestimated if we limit ourselves to focusing on the primary perpetrator, since in addition to the primary effect, the crime may induce crime by others. It also implies that the benefits of reducing crime, by introducing effective crime prevention policies, are underestimated if one only focuses on primary effects through those affected by a programme. Despite the importance of this question, there is little conclusive evidence of the existence of social multipliers in crime. One reason is that the causal link between two or more individuals criminal behaviour is difficult to establish empirically. It requires, first, a mechanism that exogenously changes the criminal behaviour of one individual; and second, measures of the effect this change has subsequently on the crime of the individuals peers. In a recent paper we estimate the magnitude of spillovers from criminal behaviour in a group, using a novel identification strategy (Dustmann and Landers 2018). Our analysis proceeds in two stages. In step one, we focus on young males who father their first child at an age between 15 and 20 (which is the age range when criminal behaviour is highest). We establish a stark difference in the criminal behaviour of young fathers according to whether the child is a boy or a girl, which is a plausibly random event. Young fathers of a boy receive, on average, one third fewer convictions for crimes in the first two years after the birth of their child compared with young fathers of a girl. This effect persists for at least three years. Thus, the gender of the child provides exogenous variation in the criminal behaviour of young fathers. In step two, we measure how the young fathers immediate peers respond to the changed crime rates of young fathers, which are induced by child gender. Again, we find a strong effect, which is measurable for at least the next five years. These findings imply a large social multiplier in crime: over a five-year period, one crime committed by a crime-prone individual causes five additional new crimes by that individuals peers. Childrens Gender and Young Fathers Crime Our analysis uses full population register data from Denmark on all males aged 20 or below when they fathered their first child between 1991 and 2004. The use of full population register data allows us to link these fathers not only to their new-born children, the mothers and other family members, but also to their residence and other young males who lived in their immediate neighbourhood when the child was born. We can also link individuals to crime registers from police and criminal courts, as well as other outcomes such as employment and education. In Denmark, men who have a child before they turn 20 typically come from disadvantaged backgrounds. One in three has received a conviction for a crime committed before the child was conceived three times the share of equally aged males on average. Once their first child is born, many of the young fathers continue to commit crimes. But we establish a sharp difference in crime rates after birth for those fathers whose child is a boy and those fathers whose child is a girl. Figure 1 shows the accumulated number of crime convictions of young fathers from three years prior to their childs birth to five years afterwards, distinguishing between the fathers of boys (solid line) versus girls (dashed line). While prior to the childs conception, there are no differences between the average number of crime convictions for individuals who will later father a boy compared with a girl, after the childs birth (indicated by the zero line), the two crime conviction rates diverge and the difference increases slightly over the next five years, with fathers of boys accumulating fewer convictions for crimes than fathers of girls. Sixty months after conception, fathers who had a boy have roughly 0.12 fewer crime convictions than fathers who had a girl. Figure 1 Number of crime convictions and birth of a girl versus a boy Note: The figure shows accumulated number of crimes per person around the time of childbirth (time 0) by gender of child, for the main sample of first time fathers aged 20 or below at time of childbirth. Source: Own calculations based on data from Statistics Denmark. What makes young fathers respond to their childs gender in such a remarkable way? One interpretation is that the young fathers of boys become more aware of their responsibility to the child. Perhaps they now see themselves as a role model, and this feeling is stronger when the child is a boy. Others have established different behavioural responses of fathers to the gender of their children (e.g. Lundberg and Rose 2002, Dahl and Moretti 2008). Washington (2008) finds that members of Congress vote differently on gender-related issues depending on the gender of their own children; and Bennedsen et al. (2007) show that fathers are more likely to hand over their company to their child if the first born is a son rather than a girl. Spillovers in Crime Having established in the first step of our analysis that a childs gender creates exogenous differences in the fathers level of criminal behaviour, in the second step we isolate the effect of this on the fathers peers. We focus on all males who lived in the narrow neighbourhood of the young father at the start of the year when the child was born, and whose age is within three years of that of the father. Figure 2 shows the evolution of the average monthly number of crime convictions for these peers, from 24 months pre-birth up until 60 months post-birth, with the solid and dashed lines representing neighbourhoods in which a boy or girl is born, respectively. Whereas no differences in average crime conviction rates are observable among peers in girl-child versus boy-child neighbourhoods before the childs birth, after the event rates drop noticeably in boy-child neighbourhoods. This gap opens in the first three years post-birth and remains roughly constant until the end of the observation period. Figure 2 Number of crime convictions among neighbourhood peers, birth of a girl versus a boy Note: The figure shows monthly number of crimes by males age 14-25 at time of childbirth per male person in main sample of fathers neighbourhood before and after birth (time 0), by gender of child. Source: Own calculations based on data from Statistics Denmark. The effects we show in Figure 2 are not only detectable in terms of peers crime convictions. We also analyse how these changes affect potential victims, and find that victimisation rates change in the same way as crimes committed by young fathers and their peers. While there are no differences in the pre-birth period, victimisation rates become lower in neighbourhoods where young fathers have a boy than in neighbourhoods where young fathers have a girl. In a wide range of tests, we find that young fathers of boys and girls do not differ in any aspect before their first child, and neither do their peers characteristics. Furthermore, in contrast to the young fathers, peers show no response in aspects other than crime, which means that it is unlikely that peers responses are related to other channels than fathers criminal behaviour. We thus conclude that our analysis provides causal evidence for the existence of social multipliers in criminal behaviour. By comparing the magnitudes of the responses of young fathers and of their peers, we are further able to estimate this social multiplier underlying the spillover effects in criminal behaviour. We establish a multiplier close to five, which means that a reduction in the number of a young fathers criminal convictions by one will, in the following years, result in a total of five fewer convictions for him and his peers. Implications Using an identification strategy with exogenous variation in the criminal convictions of one focal individual, where variation is induced by the gender of his first child, our study adds support to the existence of spillovers in criminal behaviour and allows us to conclude that these spillovers are due to behavioural social interactions that generate multiplier effects. By using the estimates to recover the parameters of a structural model of crime interaction (following Bramoulle et al. 2009 and Blume et al. 2015), our study illustrates further that an exogenous shock to a focal individuals criminal activity is amplified through feedback to and between his peers and himself, thereby generating crime multipliers that continue to increase even after the primary impact of the initial shock has dissipated. These findings suggest that the benefits from programmes that reduce crime at an early stage of a young persons life are far larger than suggested by the primary effects alone. See original post for references The students and staff of Newtown Upper NS in Faugheen as well as the wider community are preparing to celebrate 150 years of learning at the school. The special anniversary celebrations will kick off with a Mass celebrated by Bishop of Waterford & Lismore Most Rev. Phonsie Cullinan on Friday, June 22. The ceremony will take place in the grounds of the school if the weather is good and will be moved to St Patrick's Church in Faugheen if weather conditions are bad. The following day, the school will open from 2pm to 5pm to allow past pupils and all interested to drop in, browse through old roll books, chat and enjoy a walk down memory lane. The school house will be open again on Sunday, June 24 after 10am Mass in Faugheen until 2pm. The original 1868 school building is still in use and two extensions have been added over the years to provide pupils with modern facilities. "The link with the past is very strong and the old fireplaces, high windows and high ceilings are still in place," said Newtown Upper NS Principal Breda Fitzgerald. "Many of our pupils sit in classrooms once occupied by their parents, grandparents and great grandparents. "We look forward to welcoming one and all. We especially look forward to hearing stories from the past. We are still looking for photographs and other items from days gone by. We will copy and return all safely," she added. The school's Parents Association are organising a 150th anniversary social night at The Carraig Hotel in Carrick-on-Suir on Saturday, October 20. Tickets will be on sale at the open days in June. (Natural News) We already knew that the Obama-era Justice Department and FBI were weaponized against the campaign of then-GOP nominee Donald J. Trump, but a new bombshell report on Monday provided additional insight into how far the Deep State was willing to go to undermine him while subverting the American political process. The Hills John Solomon reported that James Comeys FBI was so wedded to the Trump-Russia collusion hoax that it even attempted to convince a Russian oligarch cultivated as an operative by none other than special counsel Robert Mueller years before when he served as FBI director. (Related: See JamesComey.news for more updates.) Heres a sketch of the story In 2009, Muellers bureau convinced Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to spend tens of millions of dollars of his own money to finance the rescue of an FBI agent being held by Iran. The operation, which never took off, aimed to pluck agent Robert Levinson out of captivity after he was captured in the Islamic republic while working undercover for the CIA in 2007. In large part, the reason why the operation was never staged was that the FBI kept getting what can only be viewed as pushback from Hillary Clintons State Department. For some reason, the time was never right to launch the operation, though according to David McGhee, a former federal prosecutor who represents Levinsons family, Deripaskas efforts came very close to success. Keep in mind that Levinson was in Iran, and this was about the time that the Obama regime began its secret negotiations regarding the so-called nuclear deal the president wanted done at any cost. We were told at one point that the terms of Levinsons release had been agreed to by Iran and the U.S. and included a statement by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointing a finger away from Iran. At the last minute, Secretary Clinton decided not to make the agreed-on statement, McGhee told Solomon. Fast-forward to the 2016 election cycle According to Solomon, who appeared Monday evening on Fox News The Ingraham Angle with Laura Ingraham, said that Deripaska was approached by FBI agents in the weeks before the Nov. 8, 2018, election and asked if he believed former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was colluding with the Russians. Despite the fact that Deripaska and Manafort had a tortured, tempestuous relationship, the Russian oligarch wasnt buying and scoffed at the notion. (Related: Incredible: Obama administration put a SPY in the Trump campaign and theres still no proof of Russian collusion.) Notes Solomon: Two months before Trump was elected president, Deripaska was in New York as part of Russias United Nations delegation when three FBI agents awakened him in his home; at least one agent had worked with Deripaska on the aborted effort to rescue Levinson. During an hour-long visit, the agents posited a theory that Trumps campaign was secretly colluding with Russia to hijack the U.S. election. Deripaska laughed but realized, despite the joviality, that they were serious, his lawyer, Adam Waldman, told Solomon. So he told them in his informed opinion the idea they were proposing was false. You are trying to create something out of nothing, he told them. He had every reason to trash Manafort but didnt, because he knew the narrative was bunk. Heres another piece of the puzzle. You may recall that Manafort has been indicted by special counsel Mueller on charges that have nothing at all to do with nefariousness related to the Trump campaign and Russia. But Deripaska, who had a failed business relationship with Manafort once upon a time and who later sued him was not indicted. Theres more. Its possible Muellers operation violated federal law. Some experts have told Solomon it could have been a violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the government from accepting voluntary services. If the operation with Deripaska contravened federal law, this figure could be viewed as a potential embarrassment for Mueller. The question is whether he could implicate Mueller in an impropriety, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Solomon. Where are AG Jeff Sessions and deputy AG Rod Rosenstein? Read more about the corrupt deep state at DeepState.news. J.D. Heyes is also editor-in-chief of The National Sentinel. Sources include: TheHill.com TheNationalSentinel.com Lifezette.com (Natural News) More than a dozen Google employees have quit working for the tech monolith in recent weeks as a response to the companys forging ahead with a Terminator-esque artificial intelligence (AI) program that could end up weaponizing machine-learning technologies for use in military war games. Known as Project Maven, the Department of Defense (DoD) collaboration seeks to expand the functionality of AI technologies by teaching AI drones how to better identify people and objects of interest. According to a Google spokesperson, the program wont be used to harm anyone, but will instead by scoped for non-offensive purposes. But many Google employees arent convinced, as almost 4,000 of them have signed onto an internal company petition calling on Google to abort the project and get back to not being evil, which is what the worlds largest search engine claims as part of its mission statement. According to reports, those in the know recognize that, despite Googles claims about its supposedly innocuous nature, the technology is being built for the military, and once its delivered, it could easily be used to assist in [lethal] attacks. The petition letter also states: We believe that Google should not be in the business of war. Amid growing fears of biased and weaponized AI, Google is already struggling to keep the publics trust, the letter adds. The argument that other firms, like Microsoft and Amazon, are also participating doesnt make this any less risky for Google. Googles unique history, its motto Dont Be Evil, and its direct reach into the lives of billions of users set it apart. Is Google just another asset spook of the military-industrial complex? Others who dont currently work for Google agree, including members of the International Committee for Robotics Arms Control (ICRAC). This group issued its own letter of a similar nature, signed by more than 200 researchers and academics involved with artificial intelligence, that chastises Google for agreeing to participate with the DoD and other federal government agencies in developing the technology. This letter emphasizes that Google should commit to not weaponizing its technology, which the company can do by immediately terminating its contract with the DoD. By doing this, Google will clearly reiterate that its purpose is to help people find information quickly, and not to help rogue Deep State entities achieve technological breakthroughs in military weaponry that could one day render humans as slaves of fake-smart robots. If ethical action on the part of tech companies requires consideration of who might benefit from a technology and who might be harmed, we can say with certainty that no topic deserves more sober reflection no technology has higher stakes than algorithms meant to target and kill at a distance and without public accountability. the ICRAC letter states. In partnership with the Pentagon, the Pentagon AI initiative, as its also being called, has already received a whopping $7.4 billion cash infusion from the DoD with the stated mission of accelerat[ing] DODs integration of big data and machine learning. This doesnt sit well with Google employees and outside techies alike, including one anonymous Google employee who reportedly told one media outlet that he doesnt understand why Google, being as large as it is, would even bother with such a project. Its not like Google is this little machine-learning startup thats trying to find clients in different industries, this anonymous employee is quoted as saying. It just seems like it makes sense for Google and Googles reputation to stay out of that. When speaking out internally, as Google employees are encouraged to do, had no effect, this same employee decided to quit. Actions speak louder than words, and thats a standard I hold myself to as well, he added. I wasnt happy just voicing my concerns internally. The strongest possible statement I could take against this was to leave. Read about more examples of pure evil dominating our modern world at EVIL.news. Follow news about drones at DroneWatchNews.com. Sources for this article include: ArsTechnica.com NaturalNews.com DoDCIO.Defense.gov (Natural News) Science is a discipline that once commanded a large degree of respect. Many people thought of scientists as highly educated, intelligent people whose declarations could be trusted by those who arent well-versed in the field. However, some very vocal, cult-minded scientists have been giving the more legitimate experts in their field a bad name, turning modern science into somewhat of a joke. The former chief scientist of Australias Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organizations Atmospheric Research Division, Professor Garth Paltridge, expressed his concerns about this in a recent essay. He said that the way certain climate scientists behave is seriously threatening the publics perception of the professionalism of scientists in general. He believes that many climate scientists arent quite as certain about manmade global warming as they are willing to publicly admit, but they have nevertheless decided to denigrate those who disagree with them. He points out how they act like only those who are part of the climate-change cult are qualified to give advice about the topic, and they do their best to exclude skeptics from public discourse or even refuse to speak in forums where those with opposing views might be given air time. He likens their attitude to that of a medieval religion, wherein priests felt that people who didnt have their training shouldnt have direct access to Gods word because they might get it wrong. Is climate science even a real science? Paltridge goes on to say that he isnt even sure climate science should be considered a science at all given its heavy political influences; science, after all, must be led by evidence and experimentation. He says this form of post-modern science is very dangerous in the sense that its results are only valid within the context of the beliefs of society, and its all too easy for people to deny scientific truths. Post-modern science envisages a sort of political nirvana in which scientific theory and results can be consciously and legitimately manipulated to suit either the dictates of political correctness or the policies of the government of the day, he said, adding that some climate scientists have gone well beyond what is considered appropriate scientific behavior. Hes quick to point out that hes not saying scientists are inherently bad, but its ultimately a job and like all of us, scientists have bills to say. Right now, nearly all of the research money is being granted to scientists espousing alarmist beliefs rather than the skeptics. This, he said, explains why some of the biggest voices warning about climate change during their professional lives had a change of opinion upon retirement. Indeed, many scientists have been altering temperature data and adjusting tidal gauge data to make it support the notion of manmade climate change to keep those who sign their paychecks happy. This is just one of the reasons that more than 31,000 scientists signed a petition that includes peer-reviewed research dispelling the myth that the projected amounts of carbon dioxide will heat the Earths atmosphere catastrophically. It also said the global warming agenda is blocking the advancement of science across the planet. Recent research showed that the U.N.s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes simulations were wildly inaccurate, overestimating the future potential impact of climate change by as much as 45 percent. As climate change alarmists continue to alter the facts to suit their narrative, theyre ruining the reputation of their entire field and destroying peoples confidence in science in general. Read Climate.news for more updates on real climate science. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) At a time when parents and residents of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., are craving answers following one of the worst school-related mass murders in U.S. history, officials there are responding like typical Leftists. They lie. They distort reality. They give misleading statements. They sue to keep certain information like surveillance video from the Valentines Day killings under wraps. This is how the Left operates; in the shadows. Averse to transparency and arrogance, parents and residents of a stereotypical American public school district are finding out first-hand what it means to completely lose control over their public education system. As reported by the Sun Sentinel, which has been all over the Parkland school story, the most recent lie told by district officials in this case, school Superintendent Robert Runcie is that the alleged shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was not referred to an Obama-era disciplinary program called PROMISE, which effectively shielded him from arrest and prosecution. Cruz was referred to the program, as NewsTarget reported: Known as the PROMISE program, the policy, implemented by Obama, was offered up as a way to help combat systemic racism in the public school system a government response to the supposedly disproportionate number of minority students compared to non-minority students who were being arrested on school campuses. As a Jewish student with a Hispanic last name, Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz was reportedly admitted to Obamas PROMISE program after an incident in which he committed vandalism at his former school, Westglades Middle School. By protecting him from any prosecutable crimes, MSD high school officials essentially aided and abetted the murders he would go onto commit, allegedly, because failing to allow him to be convicted meant he was still free to buy the very gun he used in the shootings. (Related: School resource officers BROWBEAT pro-Second Amendment kid Kyle Kashuv after pulling him out of class.) As the Sun Sentinel notes, though, that lie fits a pattern of similar untruths and half-truths told by school officials. And it also fits a larger pattern of opaqueness: The district is fighting in court against the release of school surveillance video. It flatly refused to issue any records regarding the shooting to the news media, in a possible violation of the states open-records law. Superintendent Robert Runcie has blocked critics, including parents, from his Twitter account. More than two months after the shooting, a Broward Sheriffs detective told a state commission on school safety that he was still waiting for the district to provide all of Cruzs disciplinary records. It would appear that the district is more interested in protecting their programs than they are the students and teachers in our schools, Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter, Alaina, was killed by Cruz during his rampage through the school, told the Sun Sentinel. As a father, I would ask the district to please be completely transparent so we can make sure this doesnt happen to any other children in any other schools in Florida. Runcie said the district is doing just that complying with authorities requests for information as soon as the data can be gathered. So, are the parents just wrong? Is the sheriffs department mischaracterizing the situation? Andrew Pollack, who lost his daughter Meadow to Cruzs bullets, is upset and confused as to why the district is slow-walking documents to police. He said he asked a Broward Sheriffs detective at a recent meeting of a state commission established to improve school safety if the department had all of Cruzs records yet. The answer stunned him. I believe that some of the items we are seeking to get from the school board, we have received some, Detective Zachary Scott said. But I do not believe weve received everything yet. Noted Pollack: We didnt believe it. Its past two months now already. A lot of people on the committee couldnt believe it. Theres no honesty at all. Stay current on this and other school shootings at Shootings.news. J.D. Heyes is also editor-in-chief of The National Sentinel. Sources include: Sun-Sentinel.com NewsTarget.com Antioch residents have been rattled this week by a rash of paintball attacks across the East Bay city. More than half a dozen people have reported paintballs striking cars, houses and their bodies. Some are concerned it may be part of a troubling nationwide trend. Erin Billanow described the mess shes had to clean up after somebody fired about 50 rounds of paintballs into her front yard. Billanow heard screaming and popping outside her door two nights ago. She found a woman claiming shed come under fire and pink paint everywhere. "It was hot pink. It was all over the doorway," she said. "I kind of wondered if thats a new thing. While we were waiting for police, if this is a new thing to do." At least a half-dozen others in Antioch also have been hit with splashes of color this week. Paintballers have been targeting houses, cars and people, prompting Antioch police to issue a warning that its not only illegal but also dangerous. Valerie Pastor and her sister had a close call. She was helping her sister unload groceries from their car in the driveway Wednesday afternoon when a passing car shot a paintball at them, barely missing her sister, who had just had surgery. Luckily, the paintball didnt even burst. "It could have hit her in the hip or back or head," Pastor said. "It happens so fast, by the time you call police, theyre gone." The paintballers luck may be drying up, though. One victim captured the suspects car on surveillance video. A group of middle and high school students held a rally Thursday at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland to protest a judge's ruling that a developer can move forward with building an export hub for coal. The group is calling for environmental justice, saying they refuse to give up trying to stop developer Phil Tagami and the Bowie Resource Partners Coal Company from developing a part of the Port of Oakland to transport millions of tons of coal. "Weve been told over and over again by Phil Tagami that coal's going to have no effect because its going to be covered when its coming into Oakland," organizer Ivan Garcia said. "We've seen studies and research, and we found that that is just not true." The developer's attorney said they are reviewing the courts ruling and have nothing more to add at this time. Students from Parkland, Florida, sent love to the victims of the latest school shooting, in southern Texas, on Friday, attacked the NRA and renewed calls for the stricter gun control that they have been demanding since the massacre at their own school. Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, immediately went after the National Rifle Association, tweeting, Prepare to watch the NRA boast about getting higher donations. Prepare to see students rise up and be called civil terrorists and crisis actors. Prepare for the right-wing media to attack the survivors. The NRA, as it has done in the past, issued no statement immediately after the Texas shooting, either on Twitter or on its website. Dakota Shrader, a student from Santa Fe High School, describes what happened when shots were fired during her morning history class. Multiple people died during the shooting. On Friday, a gunman identified by law enforcement as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School, and wounded another 10, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. Most of the victims were students. Police also reported finding what were thought to be explosive devices at the school and off campus. The latest shooting elicited thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families from prominent politicians, and that was not enough for the students from Parkland, where 17 students were killed in February when a former student allegedly opened fire at the school. Many of those students have been demanding stricter gun control measures and have taken on the NRA and its donations to lawmakers who have blocked measures to enact stronger gun laws. They organized rallies across the country under the banner of March for Our Lives but also came under attack from opponents to gun control who questioned whether they were really students or just actors taking advantage of a tragedy to push their views. Police are responding to an active shooter situation at Santa Fe High School in Texas. Authorities say one shooter has been arrested. On Friday, March for Our Lives tweeted, Though this is the 22nd school shooting this year, we urge those reading this not to sweep it under the rug and forget. This is not the price of our freedom. This is the most fatal shooting since the one at our school and tragedies like this will continue to happen unless action is taken. Another Parkland survivor, David Hogg, tweeted about politicians and the coming elections in November. Get ready for two weeks of media coverage of politicians acting like they give a shit when in reality they just want to boost their approval ratings before midterms, he wrote. [NATL] 10 People Dead in Santa Fe High School Shooting President Donald Trump said Friday morning that he was grieving for the loss of life and sending support and love to everyone affected by the horrific attack at Santa Fe High School. He said his administration was determined to protect students, secure schools and keep weapons out of the those who pose a threat to themselves and others but provided no details. To the students, families teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High, were with you at this tragic hour and we will be with you forever, he said. That message fell short for Jaclyn Corin, the junior class president at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Like a broken record, she tweeted. Our children are being MURDERED and youre treating this like a game, she wrote in response to an earlier tweet from Trump saying early reports from the Texas shooting did not look good. My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School. Its an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town - Parkland will stand with you now and forever. pic.twitter.com/ckVPxYi6qz Jaclyn Corin (@JaclynCorin) May 18, 2018 One of the most outspoken of the Stoneman Douglas students, Emma Gonzalez, tweeted to the students at Santa Fe High School that they deserved peace during of their lives, not only in an epitaph on their tombstone. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices, she wrote. And Ryan Deitsch, a Parkland senior, asked: Politics aside, how many more have to die before we can change? I am broken up by this tragedy but refuse to allow myself to sit waiting for more heartbreak & bloodshed, he wrote. All #SantaFeHighSchool students are open to DM me or any of my friends if they need help or want to amplify their voices. We are here for you as you were for us. And he posted photos of Santa Fe students in April supporting the Parkland students by participating in a school walkout demanding an end to gun violence. In Augusta, Maine, an annual tribute to fallen police officers has added emotion this year. The memorial service comes just three weeks after the death of Corporal Eugene Cole, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in Norridgewock. "His life was taken trying to protect the rest of us," said Maine Gov. Paul LePage. "The manhunt [for the accused killer] and the funeral we just attended engraved on our hearts how important it is to honor all of you." Hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the state attended the ceremony at the Maine Police Officer Memorial. A granite wall has 86 names of officers killed in the line of duty, going back to the 1800s. This year, a new name was added to the wall: Officer Nathan DesJardins. The 20-year-old was killed last summer working one of his first shifts for the Fryeburg Police Department, attempting a water rescue on the Saco River. "Nathan got into law enforcement because he wanted to make a difference," said his father, Brian Desjardins. Nathan was an EMT and nursing student. This week would have been his college graduation. "I think Nathan, in his short life, did a lot of service for others," said his mother, Nicole. "He lived for that." The Desjardins said it was emotional attending this ceremony and a national memorial in Washington D.C. They said they felt the love and support from their extended law enforcement family during a difficult year, and their hearts go out to the family of Corporal Cole. Cole's wife and son, David, were also in attendance at the ceremony. Cole's name will be added to the granite wall next year. A lawyer for T.I. says the Grammy-winning rapper never got to tell his side of the story to police before they arrested him after a pre-dawn attempt this week to enter his gated community near Atlanta. T.I. was arrested early Wednesday after getting in an argument with a security guard, said Henry County Deputy Police Chief Mike Ireland. Media reports say the hip-hop artist, whose real name is Clifford Harris, had lost his key and the guard wouldn't let him into the complex. Police said the 38-year-old artist was charged with disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and simple assault and then released on bail. The rapper's attorney, Steve Sadow, issued a statement that his client had been "wrongfully arrested." Sadow said the community guard was asleep when his client arrived at the guardhouse and it took "some time to wake up the sleeping guard." Sadow said T.I. identified himself and sought entry, but the guard refused. The rapper contacted his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, who confirmed that her husband should be allowed inside the community, according to his lawyer. "The guard continued to refuse entry without justification," Sadow said in a statement, referring to T.I. as Tip. "Words were exchanged and apparently the guard and/or a supervisor called the police. When the police arrived, they were not interested in hearing Tip's side of the story and wrongfully chose to end the situation by arresting Tip." Ireland said T.I. was arrested along with a friend. T.I. is one of the biggest names in hip-hop, with multiple platinum-selling albums and singles, production credits and roles in films like "ATL" and "American Gangster." He served about seven months in prison in 2009 after his arrest on federal gun charges. He also spent about 10 months in federal prison on a probation violation in 2010 after he was arrested on drug charges in Los Angeles. The drug arrest violated his probation he had been ordered not to commit a crime and not to illegally possess any controlled substances and led to an 11-month prison sentence at an Arkansas prison. Other than his arrest Wednesday, the rapper has stayed out of trouble in recent years. He's been active in community outreach, focusing on youth programs for boys and girls. He also has served as one of 38 advisers for new Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms' first 100 days in office. In April, T.I. was among thousands who marched in a rally marking the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. The rapper also has taken part in a march in Atlanta against police-involved shooting deaths of African-Americans and in a protest against President Donald Trump in New York. T.I. has expressed frustration over Trump's posts on Twitter, but said he intends to focus on doing things that "affect our communities in a positive light." A year ago, the rapper said he only planned to release about two or three more albums, telling The Associated Press in an interview that it was "definitely time to transition." T.I.'s hits include "What You Know," ''Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life." In 2016, he released the politically charged projects "Us or Else" and "Us or Else: Letter to the System." They served as inspiration for his short film, "Us or Else," which subsequently debuted on BET. T.I., his wife and their children starred in the VH1 reality show "T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle," which debuted in 2011. The show's final episode aired last year. Authorities handed out around 2,000 masks for protection as people living near Hawaii's Kilauea volcano braced for pulverized rock, glass and crystal to rain down on them after an explosive eruption at the peak's summit. Lindsey Magnani, her fiance Elroy Rodrigues and their two children picked up masks for their family Thursday afternoon at Cooper Center in Volcano, Hawaii. Magnani said both of her children Kahele Rodrigues, 2, and Kayden Rodrigues, 3 months old were doing OK, but her and her fiance had both been sneezing all day. "This morning it smelled like sulfur so we had to close all the windows," Magnani said. Most residents found only thin coatings of ash, if they saw any at all, as winds blew much of the 30,000-foot (9,100-meter) plume away from people. "It was a grit, like a sand at the beach," said Joe Laceby, who lives in the town of Volcano a few miles to the northeast of Kilauea's summit. The ash was a bit of an irritant, he said, but "not too bad." Laceby sealed windows and cracks in his home with cellophane wrap to keep out ash and volcanic gases. He has gas masks to protect himself from the toxic fumes and ash. The explosion at Kilauea's summit came shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday following two weeks of volcanic activity that sent lava flows into neighborhoods and destroyed at least 26 homes. Scientists said the eruption was the most powerful in recent days, though it probably lasted only a few minutes. Geologists have warned that the volcano could become even more violent, with increasing ash production and the potential that future blasts could hurl boulders the size of cows from the summit. Winds kept the ash away from the Volcano Winery, tasting room manager Lani Delapenia said. A thin coating of white soot had blanketed tables and vines the day before, on Wednesday, but none wafted over the day of the 30,000-foot plume. The strength and direction of the wind makes all the difference, she said. "The Volcano Village, and us at the winery, are doing well and we hope people still come and visit us and order wine because we are still pumping wine out," Delapenia said. The vineyard also has a great view of the plume, she said. Julia Neal, operator of Pahala Plantation Cottages about 28 miles (45 kilometers) southwest of the summit crater, said people have been picking up ash masks from county civil defense workers at the local community center. Some people working outside were wearing them. People with asthma were staying inside, she said. The eruption reminded her of 2008, when Kilauea also had large summit eruptions and sent ash and gas over her community. A light dusting fell Thursday, but the town had more ash a couple of days ago when people had to wash it off their cars, she said. "People are renovating one of the historic buildings across the street. The school kids just stopped by. They're getting ready to graduate. Life is going on quite vibrantly here with people taking these precautions," she said. The National Weather Service issued an ash advisory and then extended it through early evening, and county officials distributed ash masks to area residents. Several schools closed because of the risk of elevated levels of sulfur dioxide, a volcanic gas. Dr. Josh Green, a state senator who represents part of the Big Island, said the immediate risk health risk comes from ash particles in the air. Anyone with respiratory difficulties, such as asthma or emphysema, should limit exposure to the ash, he said. The Federal Aviation Administration extended a restriction on aircraft from entering the airspace up to 30,000 feet above sea level. The earlier limit was up to 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). The prohibition applies to a 5-mile (8-kilometer) radius around the crater. Thursday's eruption did not affect the Big Island's two largest airports in Hilo and in Kailua-Kona. The crater spewing ash sits within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which has been closed since May 11 as a safety precaution over risks of a violent eruption. Scientists warned May 9 that a drop in the lava lake at the summit might create conditions for a large explosion. Geologists predicted such a blast would mostly release trapped steam from flash-heated groundwater. Kilauea has also been erupting lava into neighborhoods 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the east of the summit crater since May 3. It opened a new lava vent in the area the 21st such fissure on Thursday. Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been erupting continuously since 1983. It's among the five volcanoes that form the Big Island, and it's the only one actively erupting. An eruption in 1924 killed one person and sent rocks, ash and dust into the air for 17 days. Associated Press journalists Jennifer Kelleher, Audrey McAvoy, Becky Bohrer, Seth Borenstein and Alina Hartounian contributed to this report. What to Know U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Tracy McKithern reunited Wednesday with a dog she rescued as a puppy while deployed in Iraq in 2017 The malnourished, abused pooch had been wandering with her mother around the U.S. base for weeks With the generous help of strangers and fellow soldiers, McKithern was able to secure Erby's transportation to the U.S. It was a reunion seven months in the making and one that had tails waging and tears flowing inside a Florida airport. U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Tracy McKithern reunited Wednesday with a dog she rescued as a puppy while deployed in Iraq in 2017. The combat photographer from Tampa met the pooch, who had been wandering with her mother around the U.S. base for weeks, while she was stationed in the Kurdistan Province, according to Department of Defense news release. The dogs appeared malnourished and abused by locals and quickly learned that they were not only safe near the base, but would be fed, too. McKithern, along with soldiers from the Italian and German armies, started caring for the dogs, the DOD reported. As weeks went by, their wounds began to heal and they gained weight. McKithern forged a special bond with the "sweetest little soul" and named her Erby after a nearby city in northern Iraq. "She ran up to our convoy every day," McKithern recalled. "She was so tiny she would fall and trip all over herself to get to us." As the end of her deployment approached, McKithern started to wonder how she could ever leave Erby behind when she returned to stateside. "One night I posted a pic of us on Facebook, with a caption that read something like, 'I wish I could take her home,'" McKithern said. "I went to sleep, woke up and my friends and family had posted links to various rescue groups. I reached out to one of them, the nonprofit Puppy Rescue Mission, and they responded immediately. We sent them $1,000 and they set up a crowd fund to get the rest. We needed an additional $3,500." With the generous help of strangers and fellow soldiers, McKithern was able to secure Erby's transportation to the U.S. But shortly after McKithern arrived back in Florida, she received orders for another deployment and was scheduled to leave on her new mission the very day Erby was slated to land at John F. Kennedy Airport. McKitherns husband, Sgt. Wes McKithern, also a combat photographer, picked up Erby in New York and drove the dog home to Tampa, where pooch waited more than two months to be reunited with her rescuer. Video footage of the reunion at Tampa International Airport was posted on the airports Facebook page. In the video, McKithern can be heard asking Erby if she "remembers me," to which the dog confirms with excited wags of her tail. An emotional Erby jumps on the soldier and embraces her. "I can't believe it," said McKithern. "It feels like a miracle is happening." McKithern told reporters at the airport that Erbys mother is still in Iraq being cared for by coalition soldiers at the base and hopes that she can also be adopted and brought to the U.S. Puppy Rescue Mission "assist with requests, logistics, administration and fund-raising for the adopted stray dogs of war rescued by and bonded with soldiers," according to its website. Thousands of families were still in the dark 48 hours after a powerful line of storms spawned four tornadoes in Connecticut. In Brookfield, a macroburst with winds more than 100 miles per hour is to blame for extensive damage to many homes. Were all thankful, the house can be replaced, the whole cliche but its true, Paula Pascoa said. Paula and her 20-year-old daughter Arianna were home when the macroburst moved onto their street, Skyline Drive. I moved in here the end of January, Paula said. Her home is one of many in the town to be damaged by falling trees. This whole place is going to get ripped out, Paula said, so I dont know what Im doing really. Im just getting my work stuff because Im going to a hotel. Paula rushed inside from doing yard work when she felt the macroburst coming. If I would have went down the side, I would have been crushed by the trees, she said. Arianna ran inside from walking their two dogs. They were really scared, too, she said. Seconds later, the two women heard a crack, Paula said. I dont know what happened, Arianna said, but I was following my mom to the bedrooms and I got knocked down by the ceiling. All of a sudden she screams cause it hit her back and she has back problems already, Paula said, but shes OK. Im really happy that she was here, Arianna said, adding, my back hurts a little bit I have like scratches and stuff and I was bleeding, but (Im) better. Down the street, NBC Connecticut came across a crater caused by a large tree that uprooted on Tuesday, but fortunately did not fall onto the home on the property. Jamie Worth, who is about 6-foot, said she estimates the stump is 20 feet, from the bottom, at least. Neither Jamie nor her mom were home during the macroburst. I was up in Pittsfield Massachusetts and I was watching it on the NBC, homeowner Kathy Worth said. I was devastated, like Jaime said, until I saw my neighbors house and then I was grateful because it could have been a lot worse for us here. In this hard-hit neighborhood, reality is setting in that it will be a long road to recovery. Yeah were hanging in, Paula said. Were strong and were going to you know get through this. Paula and her daughter are staying with a neighbor down the street that just lost a car from a falling tree, but that neighbors house was not damaged. Brookfield schools will again be closed on Friday. Eversource said Thursday it hopes to complete power restoration in the hardest hit areas by Sunday afternoon. Anyone in a city or town with storm damage is advised to stay away from downed power lines they could be re-energized. Connecticut Democrats will endorse candidates for statewide offices during their statewide convention in Hartford this weekend. While the Hartford Convention Center as a venue does not have the bells and whistles of Foxwoods, it very well may have more drama on down ballot races than the Republicans had last week. Governor Connecticuts Democrats, by and large, have coalesced around Ned Lamont as their nominee for governor. Party brass have been announcing endorsements and previous contenders for the office like Sean Connolly and Jonathan Harris each endorsed Lamont, clearing the way for others in the party like New Haven Mayor Toni Harp and Waterbury Mayor Neil OLeary to lend their support to Lamont. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim is the person to watch during the convention. Ganim, in his second stint running Connecticuts largest city, is pursuing a spot on the ballot through collecting signatures. However, the possibility remains that Ganim could receive 15 percent of delegates he needs to achieve a spot on the ballot, which would make his life a lot easier. Ganims, Second Chance candidacy as hes called it, has resonated with many in Connecticuts cities with delegates willing to look past his criminal actions that led to him spending more than six years in federal prison. Lieutenant Governor Before Tuesday of this week Connecticut Democrats did not have a single candidate filed to run for the number two position in state government. That changed when Susan Bysiewicz announced she would end her bid for governor and join Ned Lamont as his running mate. The running mate terminology is almost pointless considering in the primary the office of Lieutenant Governor is a separate ballot line altogether. That means the office could still be up to the voters. That brings us to one of the surprises of the early campaign season with Eva Bermudez Zimmerman announcing her candidacy. The Bysiewicz announcement angered many of the diverse voices in the party like the NAACP in Connecticut and State Senator Gary Winfield who himself considered a run. Enter Eva. Shes young, only 30 years old, but says she has experience as a member of the Legislative Council in Newtown where she lives, and as a union organizer and negotiator gives her the experience to be lieutenant governor. State Representative Charlie Stallworth is also looking to make it on to the August primary ballot. He represents Bridgeport in the General Assembly as a Democrat and has aligned with Guy Smith, considered a long shot candidate for governor. Its looking like Bysiewicz and Bermudez Zimmerman will secure delegates. Its a question of who will be the partys preferred candidate. Attorney General The shoes that need to be filled by Connecticuts next Attorney General are large. George Jepsen is leaving the office after a career in public service in the General Assembly and then in the position of Connecticuts top law enforcement official. Those vying to replace him all would bring very similar priorities to the position. There is very little daylight between each of the candidates, despite what they may claim. Rep. William Tong from Stamford is the most recent chairman of the General Assemblys Judiciary Committee on the House side. This could be his best attempt at statewide office coming from Stamford, and he would be Connecticuts first ever Asian-American endorsed candidate for any statewide office. Sen. Paul Doyle from Wethersfield is the Senate chairman of the Judiciary Committee and has spent much of his professional career in public office and as a practicing attorney. Hes spoken the most about the crumbling foundations crisis in Connecticut. Chris Mattei is a Windsor native and former federal prosecutor who sent former Governor John Rowland to prison for the second time. With a background in organized labor, he has firm grassroots support. Claire Kindall is currently a Deputy Attorney General arguing that she would be a steady hand at the wheel, continuing the legacy of George Jepsen. This race appears to be rather unpredictable for the August primary ballot, with the possibility of all four candidates finding spots with the minimum of 15 percent delegate support. Treasurer The office of Treasurer isnt the most politically consequential or divisive as other offices, but Democrats can send a statement with their nominee. The policy rhetoric is very similar amongst all four candidates, each placing an onus on providing solid and reliable investment returns for retirees and the state. Arunan Arulampalam is the first generation American son of refugees from Sri Lanka. His story is one of the American dream thats appealed well to Hartford Democrats, where he lives. Dita Bhargava has an investment banking background from Fairfield County, and would also provide a diverse voice for Democrats. Shawn Wooden is the former President of the Hartford City Council and has high name recognition with many Democrats across Connecticut. Finally, John Blankley is the only white male on the Treasurer line, but he has a successful private industry background. The first three candidates certainly have the edge, and could easily end up with more than one candidate making it into the August primary. What to Know Santa Fe High School students described hearing gunshots around when a fire alarm went off Law enforcement sources identified 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis to NBC News as a suspect It was the nation's deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland, Florida A 17-year-old student is in custody, suspected of using a shotgun and revolver to kill 10 people and injure 13 others inside a south Texas high school Friday morning in what Gov. Greg Abbott called "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." The suspected shooter, who was in custody on murder charges, also had explosive devices that were found in the school and nearby, Abbott said. Though officials later said the devices were not capable of detonating. "It's impossible to describe the magnitude of the evil of someone who would attack innocent children in a school, a place of learning where a parent should be able to send their children without fear for their child's safety," Abbott said. On Saturday, the Galveston County medical examiner's office and sheriff's office released the names of the victims who died: Glenda Perkins; Cynthia Tisdale; Kimberly Vaughan; Shana Fisher; Angelique Ramirez; Christian Riley Garcia; Jared Black; Sabika Sheikh; Christopher Jake Stone; and Aaron Kyle McLeod. Perkins and Tisdale were teachers. The others were students at Santa Fe High School. Investigators offered no immediate motive for the shooting. The governor said the assailant intended to kill himself but gave up and told police that he did not have the courage to take his own life. The deaths were all but certain to re-ignite the national debate over gun regulations, coming just three months after the Parkland, Florida, attack that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. One of the injured in Friday's shooting was school resource officer John Barnes, who was shot in the arm when he engaged the gunman. Doctors said Barnes was in stable condition Friday afternoon but later updated that he was in critical condition. From 1991 to 1993, Barnes worked in Fort Worth as a jailer and deputy with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department. After that, he spent 23 years with the Houston police before starting with the Santa Fe ISD four months ago. Authorities had initially said 10 were injured in the attack but raised the number to 13 on Saturday. The suspected shooter is Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, a student at the school who acquaintances described as quiet and unassuming and an avid video game player. People said he routinely wore a black trench coat and black boots to school. Pagourtzis made his initial court appearance Friday evening via closed circuit video from the Galveston County Jail. He did not enter a plea. The judge denied bond and also took Pagourtzis' application for a court-appointed attorney. In the aftermath, officials found several low-tech explosive devices both on and off campus that were being rendered harmless by bomb technicians. Galveston County Judge Mark Henry said Saturday that authorities found a group of carbon dioxide canisters taped together, and a pressure cooker with an alarm clock and nails inside. But he says the canisters had no detonation device and the pressure cooker had no explosive material. According to a probable cause affidavit, Pagourtzis told investigators that when he opened fire at Santa Fe High School on Friday morning, "he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told." Students at the school, which is located about 30 miles southeast of Houston, said they heard a fire alarm at about 7:30 a.m. and thought they were taking part in a fire drill. Teachers told them to run when they started hearing gunshots. Abbott said the shooter used two weapons in the attack, a shotgun and a .38 revolver, and intended to kill himself after the attack but gave himself up and told authorities that he didn't have the courage to take his own life. The guns, Abbott said, legally belonged to the teen's father. It's not clear if the father knew his son had taken possession of the weapons. no description Abbott added, unlike the recent mass shootings in Sutherland Springs and Parkland, Florida, there were no red flags or warnings regarding the gunman. Pagourtzis, according to the Associated Press, was a member of the school's junior varsity football team and a member of a dance squad with a local Greek Orthodox church. A woman who answered the phone at a number associated with the Pagourtzis family declined to speak with the AP. "Give us our time right now, thank you," she said. [NATL] 10 People Dead in Santa Fe High School Shooting President Donald Trump has "activated" his gun safety commission and is expected to meet with members next week, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. The commission the president convened after the Parkland, Florida, shooting in February "has been activated today to start that conversation up again," Sanders said. She said she believes it will be meeting again in "first part of next week." She declined to say whether Trump will revisit some gun control measures after another school shooting, but added, "Certainly conversation's ongoing about the best ways to protect kids across the country." Trump tweeted earlier Friday about the shooting, saying, "Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" First lady Melania Trump tweeted that her heart goes out to Santa Fe and Texas. Students described the horrific scene that unfolded at the school. Dakota Shrader told NBC affiliate KPRC that students started leaving their classrooms when they heard what sounded like a fire alarm, but soon teachers were telling them to run. She and a friend ran into the forest. "Nobody knew what to do, all we did was run. There was nothing we could do but run," she said. no description A friend of hers was shot in the leg but is recovering in the hospital, Schrader said. She was upset and said she didn't feel safe in school or the town anymore. "Whoever did this is really selfish and cold-hearted. These are innocent people at this school. We did nothing to deserve this." Angelica Martinez, a ninth-grade student, said it seemed like it was a fire drill at first. "It was a fire drill, so we followed the procedures ... we didn't know it was an intruder," she said on MSNBC, adding she would probably have hidden if she knew it had been an intruder. Police are responding to an active shooter situation at Santa Fe High School in Texas. Authorities say one shooter has been arrested. Her mother, Angie Martinez, said she was on the phone with Angelica during the incident, telling her to run to a nearby gas station or find a hiding place. "I thank God that a guardian angel was protecting her or something because she made it out alive," Martinez sad. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More Gov. Abbott promised he would take swift action to bring an end to mass shootings in Texas. "We need to do more than just pray for the victims and their families. It's time, in Texas, that we take action and step up and make sure that this tragedy is never repeated, ever again, in the state of Texas," said Abbott. The governor said to do that he would work with the state legislature and meet with Texans across the state to develop solutions to prevent school shootings and keep communities safe while also protecting 2nd Amendment rights. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz appeared with the governor Friday. Patrick said Texas schools need to be hardened against attacks and may need to be remodeled to offer fewer points of entry, protecting them in the way that office buildings are protected. Cruz then praised the "bravery" and "courage" of "officers, teachers and students" facing another example of violence in school hallways. "There's been too damn many of these," said Cruz. "We will make it through this. Once again, Texas has seen the face of evil." Friday's shooting is the nation's deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and re-energized the gun-control movement after surviving teens launched a campaign for reform. School Shooting Incidents Since 2013 Everytown.org defines the incidents mapped below as any time a firearm discharges a live round inside or into a school building or on or onto a school campus or grounds, as documented by the press and, when necessary, confirmed through further inquiries with law enforcement or school officials. Incidents in which guns were brought into schools but not discharged are not included. Source: Everytown.org, NBC Staff Reports Last updated on Nov. 14, 2019 A vigil was held Friday evening at Texas First Bank on Highway 6, where students and teachers were invited to join members of the Santa Fe community in remembering the victims of the shooting. The Houston Texans confirmed to NBC News early Saturday that football player JJ Watt will pay for the funerals of all 10 victims. Friday's assault is the deadliest in Texas since a man with a semi-automatic rifle attacked a church in Sutherland Springs, near San Antonio, late last year, killing more than two dozen people. HGTV star is in the midst of divorcing Tarek El Moussa The Associated Press contributed to this report. When most of us donate our time or money to a nonprofit, we expect it to go to a mission we support, but a News4 I-Team investigation found some of the world's biggest environmental groups have been investing in the oil and gas industry for years. This information came to light as a result of the Paradise Papers, a trove of 13 million leaked documents that offer a rare glimpse into the secretive world of offshore investing. One such document, a credit agreement, shines light on some members of a $2 billion private equity fund invested largely in things like oil drilling and exploration, which directly contradicts their environmental mission. "When I heard it, I was appalled and shocked," said Gracie Brett, a rising senior at American University. She's fighting to get her school to pull its investments out of fossil fuels and has volunteered with a number of environmental groups. "I would be livid if I was giving my money and then found out it was going to something like that," she told the I-Team. In promotional videos on its website, World Wildlife Fund touts its public mission to combat climate change and its opposition to the fossil fuel industry. "Oil companies want to drill for oil and gas deep beneath the sea bed. It's a dreadful idea," says a narrator in one video. But the leaked documents show the DC-based WWF privately invested more than $2 million with Denham Capital, an international private equity firm that's specialized in oil and gas, mining and energy investments. "You're literally handing money to polluters. That makes zero sense," Brett said. The fund is called Denham Commodity Fund Partners Group V, and its initial collection of funds from investors totaled $2 billion. The Paradise Papers document lists 152 separate entities comprised the original investor group, including nonprofit organizations, foundations, universities, other investment firms and a handful of wealthy individuals. Denham Capital, which manages the fund, declined NBC's request for comment. World Wildlife Fund declined our request to speak on camera. By phone, WWF told the News4 I-Team it started unloading its oil and gas investments five years ago, but found some, like the Denham fund, posed a greater challenge. "Those funds are set up to last you know up to, say, 10 years, and those are going to be extremely difficult to divest from and maybe even costly," said NYU professor of entrepreneurial finance Robert Whitelaw. World Wildlife Fund said that agreement started in 2008 and is slated to expire by 2020. The nonprofit pointed out that Denham also funded some renewable energy projects. WWF also created a separate financial instrument to offset income so it's not profiting from its fossil fuel investments but acknowledges that doesn't negate its funding of mining, drilling and other practices it deems harmful to the planet. WWF said it spends money it gets from donors fairly quickly, so donor money does not go into these long-term investments. It's also shifting toward investments in sustainability and renewable energy and has vowed to avoid any new investments in funds that include a hydrocarbon focus, like oil and gas. The American Museum of Natural History in New York City committed $5 million to the Denham fund despite featuring numerous exhibits on global warming and touting itself as a leader in the public understanding of climate change. "It feels very disjointed, I don't see how their financial investments reflect their public-facing mission," said Maggie Wiggins, who bought a family membership to the museum. "We are going to look for an organization that tries to do really good things in the front of the house and the back of the house." The museum said it's been working to reduce its fossil fuel investments and actively consider opportunities to invest in companies that advance renewable energy. "It's hypocrisy at its core," said divestment advocate Ellen Dorsey. "Any fund that is channeling resources to those industries is part of the problem." Dorsey runs the $156 million Wallace Global Fund, which supports environmental causes and began divesting from the fossil fuel industry in 2009 as an ethical decision. "We said it was not OK as a leading climate funder to be invested in the companies driving the problem," said Dorsey. She admits breaking ties with private equity can take longer, but she said it is doable and it's also a sound financial decision as fossil fuels become riskier. "There is a plethora of investment funds that are fossil fuel free with good performance returns," she added. NYU professor Whitelaw said there is no definitive proof whether investing based on your values helps or hurts your portfolio. But he says an "ESG approach" focused on environmental, social and governance factors has gained recent popularity in investing. "The data right now suggests that even in the U.S. about one in every five dollars is invested with some ESG component," he said. Dorsey said 170 foundations around the world have committed to join what she calls a "movement" to divest from fossil fuels and instead invest in energy solutions, like solar and wind. "It's a direct connection: You own fossil fuels, you own climate change," Dorsey told the I-Team, but she knows many investors remain committed to that industry. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation defended its $50 million investment in a fund which finances oil and gas projects, saying fund managers have complete discretion to maximize profits. It has given grants to the Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resources Defense Counsel. The William Penn Foundation awarded grants to dozens of environmental projects last year including some that fight fossil fuels. But it has millions invested in an offshore fund that supports oil and gas exploration. A Penn Foundation spokesperson said the group doesn't comment on its investments. The University of Washington in Seattle also declined to explain the $9 million it committed to the Denham fund. The university is part of a highly touted coalition to combat climate change. The documents show the University of Virginia's Investment Management Company also committed $50 million to the same Denham fund. The institution has publicly said it continually strives to be a global leader in sustainability across all aspects of the university, including efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and building energy use. But after an extensive review of the possibility of divestment, it opted to instead stick with its current investment strategies. Gracie Brett said divesting would send a better message. "I think especially with universities they have even greater of a responsibility to divest because they're in the business of young people," she said. The Paradise Papers are leaked documents from the Bermuda-based law firm Appleby, which specializes in offshore financial deals. The leaks were obtained by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which selected and organized collaboration among news organizations around the world, including NBC News, to sift through and research the millions of files. NBC News found more than 200 nonprofits listed in the trove of documents. They include museums, charities, universities and others with endowments worth more than half a trillion dollars. All of these nonprofits said the fossil fuel investments represent a small sliver of their total endowments. The tax forms nonprofits file do not require a detailed list of private equity investments, so many would have remained hidden without the Paradise Papers leak. "It's really great to see the truth come out and so people don't get duped," said Brett. Reported by Jodie Fleischer and shot and edited by Jeff Piper. At Plano's Prestonwood Christian Academy, 125 graduates will receive their diplomas Friday night. While all of them will receive some kind of recognition for 13 years of hard work, only one will be acknowledged for an entire school career of perfect attendance. From kindergarten through 12th grade, Aleigha Kelley has never had a sick day, missed school for vacation or played hooky. It was a first in PCAs history. Kelley said the accomplishment started with a sibling rivalry. After her older brother made it to every day of school for 13 years, she strived to do the same. "I figure if he can do it, I can do it too," Kelley said. It wasnt always easy to do. It often meant sacrifice, ending out of town trips early. "I was rushing home on a flight, sometimes at four in the morning just to make sure I was at school at eight a.m.," Kelley said. She said achieving perfect attendance required self-care, rest and preparation. There was a scare that her streak would come to an end a few years ago when swine flu circulated. Though she tested positive, it happened at the start of a three-day weekend, over which she managed to recover. Through perseverance and dedication she learned that showing up actually was the key to success. She never had to figure out what work she missed or make up a test. "Every time a teacher had something to say, I was always in class listening to it and really absorbing the lesson," Kelley said. It is a lesson PCAs Director of Guidance and College Counseling Ron Moss said translates to people of all ages - not just students. "The inspiration of what [presence] represents, that there is a purpose that requires me to show up and to be my best, I think that would go a long way worldwide if more of our hearts were in that place," Moss said. Now, presence is engrained in Kelley. She plans to show up to every class, every day when she enrolls at the University of Texas this fall to study biology on a pre-med track. What to Know May 19 and 20, Marina Green Park $20 one-day admission in advance; $25 at door The parade steps off on May 20 at 10:30 a.m. at Ocean and Lindero When May heads our way, and we journey along to the middle of the month, a few fantastic events happen around Southern California. One? The jacarandas do their amazingly beautiful thing, with all of those purple blooms bursting all over. Two? We can count on some May Gray days, that cooling marine layer action which delivers a little winter in springtime. And three? May serves as the joyful start to a celebratory run of pride festivals, not only in our region but around California and beyond. Long Beach boasts one of the most historic, long-running, and well-attended of the pride celebrations, and the heart-glad gathering returns, for its big 35th year, on Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20. The theme for 2018? "Remember the Past, Create the Future." The moving mission statement behind the event, which draws thousands of revelers to the Marina Green Park area as well as along the parade route? "To engage in and support bridge building activities that educate, encourage, and celebrate LGBT inclusion and pride." A single-day pass to the festival is $20 in advance, $25 at the door. As for what's to do? The options are buoyant, Pacific-breezy, and plentiful, with the centerpiece parade stepping off from Ocean and Lindero on Sunday, May 20 at 10:30 in the morning. A number of terrific performers appear on the weekend's schedule, too, including Jussie Smollett and Sheila E., while themed zones, including a Family Fun Zone and Senior Fun Zone, will pop up around the grounds. For more on the Grand Marshals, DJs, the overall schedule, Teen Pride, the annual Toy Drive, and the many to-knows of this ever-vivacious and venerable community festivity, begin here now before heading to Long Beach's Marina Green Park. Oh yes, and parking... As mentioned, Long Beach Pride is a must for thousands of visitors. Best research where you'll put your car ahead of time, or, better yet, go Metro. What to Know A Cuban airliner with 113 people on board plummeted into a yuca field just after takeoff from Havana's international airport on Friday There was no immediate word on casualties, though residents told The AP they saw at least some survivors being taken away in ambulances The Cuban Council of Churches says 20 priests from an evangelical church are among the dead in the Havana plane crash on Friday. "On that plane were 10 couples of pastors. 20 people. All of the Nazarene Church in the eastern region," confirmed Maite Quesada, a member of the council. The group spent several days at a meeting in the capital and were returning to their homes and places of worship in the province of Holguin. The plane, a 39-year-old airliner with 110 people aboard, crashed and burned in a cassava field just after taking off from the Havana airport Friday, leaving three survivors in Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades, officials said. The Boeing 737 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport while on a short-hop flight to the eastern city of Holguin. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the field of debris left where Cubana Flight 972 hit the ground. "There is a high number of people who appear to have died," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said from the scene. "Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified." Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. State TV said the jet veered sharply to the right after takeoff, and Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to investigate the cause of the crash. "The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed," Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena told The Associated Press at the airport. Skies were overcast and rainy at the airport at the time of the incident, with winds reportedly around 4 mph (6 kph). Authorities said there were 104 passengers and six crew members on the flight operated by the Cuban state airline. Cuban media reported that five children were among those on board the plane. Mexican authorities said the Boeing 737-201 was built in 1979 and rented by Cubana from Aerolineas Damojh, a small charter company that also goes by the name Global Air. A statement from the country's Transportation Department identified the pilot and co-pilot as Capt. Jorge Luis Nunez Santos and first officer Miguel Angel Arreola Ramirez. It said the flight attendants were Maria Daniela Rios, Abigail Hernandez Garcia and Beatriz Limon. Global Air said maintenance worker Marco Antonio Lopez Perez was also aboard. Outside the company's Mexico City offices, former Global Air flight attendant Ana Marlen Covarrubias said she had worked for the company for over seven years and knows nearly all the crew members. "I don't have the words. I'm very sad. We're in mourning," a she said in tears. "It was something really, really, really terrible; a tragedy for us." In addition to the Mexican crew, Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that the passengers were mostly Cubans plus five foreigners from countries it did not identify. Argentina's Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had died in the crash. In November 2010 a Global Air flight originating in Mexico City made an emergency landing in Puerto Vallarta because its front landing gear did not deploy. The fire was quickly extinguished, and none of the 104 people aboard were injured. That plane was a 737 first put into service in 1975. Cubana has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Four crash survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, and three remained alive as of mid-afternoon, hospital director Martinez Blanco told Cuban state TV. State media reports stopped short of openly declaring the rest on board were dead, but there was no word of other survivors by Friday evening. Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa had met with Cubana officials on Thursday to discuss improvements to its service. The airline blames its spotty record on a lack of parts and airplanes because of the U.S. trade embargo against the communist-run country. It was Cuba's third major aviation accident since 2010. Last year a Cuban military plane crashed into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers. In 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather, killing all 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners, in what was the country's worst air disaster in more than two decades. The last deadly accident involving a Cubana-operated plane was in 1989, when a charter flight from Havana to Milan, Italy, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board and at least two dozen on the ground. Cubana's director general, Capt. Hermes Hernandez Dumas, told state media last month that the airline's domestic flights had carried 11,700 more passengers than planned between January and April. He said 64 percent of flights took off on time, up from 59 percent the previous year. Associated Press writer Amy Guthrie contributed to this report. What to Know One student and one teacher died after the bus heading to a field trip in New Jersey collided with a dump truck Thursday on I-80 at exit 25 Multiple sources tell News 4, citing DOT video, that the bus driver missed the exit for the site of the class trip and attempted a U-turn All other passengers on the bus were injured, some critically Multiple sources tell NBC 4 New York that video from a Department of Transportation camera shows the school bus filled with fifth-graders in Thursday's deadly wreck in New Jersey making a sudden U-turn in a median. The development comes as investigators probe the cause of the crash, which killed a 10-year-old student and a teacher after the full-size school bus collided with a dump truck on Route 80 near exit 25 in Mount Olive Township. The bus, which was carrying 38 students and seven adults from East Brook Middle School in Paramus, was heading to a class field trip to Waterloo Village, a historic site in Stanhope. The student who was killed has not yet been identified. The teacher has been identified as Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, whose husband issued a heartrending statement late Thursday. The rest of the people on board were injured, some critically. [NATL-NY] In Photos: Fatal School Bus Accident in Northern New Jersey Leaves Many Injured There were three school buses taking students from the same school on the field trip, sources said. Of the three buses, one missed the exit, video shows. When the driver realized this, he apparently saw a designated U-turn area for emergency vehicles ahead -- and cut across lanes of traffic to try to make the U-turn. A dump truck traveling in the same direction slammed into the bus as it suddenly appeared in front of him, the sources said, citing DOT footage. The investigation is still early and no conclusion has been reached. The school bus driver is still being treated for injuries and has not yet been interviewed. The injured were transported to six different hospitals and some were undergoing surgery. The crash was so severe some injured children climbed through windows and the roof's emergency exit to get to safety. There is no federal requirement for seat belts on full-sized school buses, but six states, including New Jersey, require them. New Jersey is one of six states that require seat belts in school buses, and those belts may well have saved childrens lives in the highway crash Thursday. Chris Glorioso reports. An 11-year-old boy sitting in the fourth row of the bus told News 4 New York, "I heard like a scraping noise and then the bus tilted over, and a lot of people were screaming." Photos obtained by News 4 show the heavily damaged bus on its side in the median, surrounded by dozens of emergency and law enforcement vehicles. The front of it was barely recognizable, a mangled chunk of broken-apart machinery spread from the highway shoulder lane through the guardrail and into the grassy median, where police and first responders are seen tending to stunned children. A student and teacher are dead after a full-size school bus collided with a dump truck on a major New Jersey highway. Michael George reports. The undercarriage, the bus wheels still attached, lay perpendicular to the overturned bus, stretching out over multiple lanes of the highway. Students on the other two buses taking part in the trip were told they had to leave 10 minutes after arriving because of a storm, and only learned of the accident when they arrived back at school. They were then reunited with their families. All school trips for the rest of the year were canceled. School leaders decided not to cancel classes on Friday, saying the student body should be together to grieve. Students at East Brook Middle School, a public school serving roughly 650 students in grades 5 through 8, were picked up early from school they found out about the accident when other students were crying in the halls. One of the children aboard the bus that crashed in New Jersey on Thursday described the chaotic aftermath of the wreck. Roseanne Colletti reports. "We thought it was just a drill and people were joking around," student Alejandro Garcia said. "Stuff started coming in. We gathered around two students whose brothers were on that bus... It was just horrible what happened." The news of the deadly bus crash caused a chaotic scene inside the school as frantic parents rushed in to pick up their children. No additional details on the children or any injuries were available. Parents and students were reeling after Thursdays deadly school bus crash in Mount Olive. Jen Maxfield reports. A man at the front desk of a company connected to a license plate on the dump truck said it's not clear what happened, but he did confirm the driver left the facility Thursday morning and got into the accident. It's not clear if that driver was injured. A team with the New Jersey Department of Health also responded. The area of exit 25 on Route 80 where the crash happened was closed for the majority of the day. It wasn't until just before 9 p.m. when all lanes had reopened as cleanup crews loaded the mangled bus onto a flat-bed truck. Serious accidents are not uncommon in that stretch of the busy highway. From 2014-2016 there were more than 5,000 crashes on Route 80 in Morris County, resulting in 10 deaths and nearly 1,400 injuries, according to a News 4 I-Team analysis of state data. New Jerseys tragic school bus crash on Thursday had students at a school in Paramus worried about their peers. Michael George reports. What to Know One student and one teacher died after the bus heading to a field trip in New Jersey collided with a dump truck Thursday on I-80 at exit 25 Multiple sources tell News 4, citing DOT video, that the bus driver missed the exit for the site of the class trip and attempted a U-turn All other passengers on the bus were injured, some critically The husband of a New Jersey teacher killed along with a 10-year-old student in a school bus crash that injured dozens of others says he's "in shock, devastated and totally crushed" by the tragedy. Kevin Kennedy released a statement late Thursday, hours after the crash on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive killed Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy and an unidentified student and injured dozens of others. The bus was carrying 38 fifth-grade students from the East Brook Middle School in Paramus and seven adults. It was headed to Waterloo Village as part of a field trip when it collided with a dump truck. Kennedy wrote that "my beautiful bride and I have been in total love every day of our lives since the day our eyes met on May 5th, 1994." Funeral services for Williamson will be held at Our Lady of Visitation R.C. Church in Paramus at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 24. Visitation will be Tuesday and Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Vander Plaat Memorial Home, according to South Passaic Daily Voice. At the school Friday, students and parents were mourning the beloved teacher. Stacey Bender, whose fifth-grade son was among the dozens of students on Thursday's field trip, was one of many leaving flowers at a growing memorial. "It's very heartfelt to have to inform your child one of his classmates did pass away along with his teacher," said Bender. Student Daniella Saigh wore blue to honor the victims. She said her class made cards to send to the injured. "It was hard," she said. "I cried a lot at school, actually." Saigh was in Williamson's class last year, and remembered her as a popular teacher who was awlways willing to lend a hand. Another former student, Sarah Rocha, said, "I remember she was always so caring about us, even if we had something wrong not related to school, she was always willing to be there for us." "She was such a nice teacher, she would help everyone she could," said former student Todd Natale. The student killed in the crash was a 10-year-old girl, Miranda Faith Vargas. Police haven't commented on the cause of the crash. Multiple sources tell NBC 4 New York that video from a Department of Transportation camera shows the school bus making a sudden U-turn in a median when it was struck by the dump truck. Photos obtained by News 4 showed the heavily damaged bus on its side in the median, surrounded by dozens of emergency and law enforcement vehicles. The front of it was barely recognizable, a mangled chunk of broken-apart machinery spread from the highway shoulder lane through the guardrail and into the grassy median, where police and first responders tended to stunned children. The undercarriage, the bus wheels still attached, lay perpendicular to the overturned bus, stretching out over multiple lanes of the highway. What to Know Stephen Beal, 59, of Long Beach, was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an unregistered destructive device Neighbors tell NBC4 he is the former boyfriend of a woman killed in an explosion Tuesday at a medical building in Aliso Viejo Stephen Beal has not been charged in connection with the deadly blast, which the FBI says was an intentional act The former boyfriend and business associate of a woman killed in a bombing at an Orange County medical building told federal agents he had constructed a small explosive to help with his neighbor's "gopher problem." Stephen William Beal, 59, of Long Beach, was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an unregistered destructive device following a search Wednesday at his home in Long Beach, California. Two completed improvised explosives devices, three firearms and parts were recovered from the home, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday afternoon. Beal is not being charged in connection with the explosion that killed Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, and injured three others at a medical building in Aliso Viejo, the FBI said Thursday in a statement. FBI agents say the explosion was likely intentional, not an accident, but they're investigating how it was carried out. The search Wednesday involving FBI agents and a bomb squad was in connection with the explosion, the FBI confirmed. "During the course of the investigation into the May 15 explosion in Aliso Viejo, investigators found a destructive device during the service of a search warrant at a Long Beach residence," the FBI said in a statement. Beal is Krajnyak's former boyfriend, court documents said. They met through an online dating app and began dating in June 2016. They opened a spa and a cosmetics products business together. Several photos on Beal's Facebook page show him with Kranjyak in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in April when neighbors said they had stopped seeing each other. "At some point Beal's and Krajnyak's relationship began to cool due to disputes over the exclusivity of the relationship and financial issues," the criminal complaint reads. "By February or March 2018, their romatic relationship ended although they remained business partners." Beal paid about $1,500 a month in rent for the business and half of the spa's operating costs, documents said. Some months he loaned her money to cover costs. Other months, she made enough to cover the costs herself. Neighbors said that they've seen the owner of the home building large rockets in the driveway, which he launches out in the desert as a hobby. Agents also searched Krajnyak's home in Orange County's Trabuco Canyon area and the destroyed building at 11 Mareblu in Aliso Viejo. The beautician and Beal owned a day spa there called Magyar Kozmetika. "There are some components we have located at the scene that are inconsistent with what one might expect to find at this business," said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office. He said those items were being shipped to the FBI's crime lab for analysis. No arrests have been made in the bombing. If a phone interview Wednesday night, Beal's daughter said he has been a good father who would not hurt anyone. "He has always been kind, and a good friend and a good father," said Charlene Brown. "There is no way that he would do anything to hurt anyone under any circumstances." Nearly three months before a 17-year-old student opened fire inside Santa Fe High School, students were terrorized by a false report of a shooting on their Texas campus. School officials said they found no threat after responding to the high school southeast of Houston when students and teachers said they heard popping sounds. Angie Martinez, the mother of a ninth grader student in the school, told media outlets Friday a student had allegedly thrown "firecrackers" in the hall, sparking a lockdown and triggering an active shooter drill. "The first incident was a prank call, you know, but they did that as a warning the first time, supposedly, Martinez told CNN in a phone interview Friday morning. The mother later told MSNBC in a phone interview that police were alerted to threats posted on social media by an alleged student warning of an imminent shooting at the school a day before the Feb. 28 incident. After the false alarm, the same student allegedly wrote on social media "we were just trying to see how long it would take for authorities to get to the school," Martinez said. The incident, which happened just two weeks after the deadly Parkland school shooting in Florida, left many students at Santa Fe on edge. On Friday, a fellow student dressed in a trench-type coat and armed with three weapons opened fire at Santa Fe High School, killing at least 10 people, police said. "I was thinking it was going to happen eventually. Its been happening everywhere," student Paige Curry told reporters. Curry was in the school's theater room when she heard "four or five" popping sounds in the hallway outside the door. She said she didnt know at first what they were, and then she heard screaming. "I got up and ran and we hid backstage inside the workshop, she told NBC affiliate KPRC. "I was really, really scared and struggling to keep calmthere was a girl there having a very loud panic attack." She said the school's fire alarm sounded, but they stayed gathered in the back room. And then it was "quite for a really long time and nothing happened." About 30 minutes later, law enforcement officials found them and escorted them outside the building. Other students reported hearing gunshots when they were evacuating the school after the fire alarm went off. Martinez's 14-year-old daughter, Angelica Martinez, told MSNBC she assumed it was a just a fire drill and filed out of her classroom with fellow students as they had previously practiced. "We were all standing [outside], but not even five minutes later, we started hearing gunshots," she said. "And then everybody starts running, but like the teachers are telling us to stay put, but we're all just running away." Student Dakota Shrader told reporters she was in the history hallway when the fire alarm went off and students started leaving their classrooms. "Then the next thing you know we hear three gunshots, a lot of explosions, and all the teachers are telling us to 'run, run, go, run!' Me and my friend Ryan Calvert ran to the forest so we could get shelter. And that is when I called my mom," Shrader said through tears. She told KPRC she's feared a shooting at the school since the alleged prank threat in February and no longer feels safe in Santa Fe. Law enforcement sources tell NBC News that shooter has been identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis. The 17-year-old student is accused of killing nine students and one teacher, and injuring 10 others. Another student was detained as a person of interest and is being questioned. Officials have not drawn any connections between the February incident and Friday's shooting. It was not clear if the suspected shooter was behind the previous threats of a school shooting posted on social media. The shooting was all but certain to re-ignite the national debate over gun regulations. In the aftermath of the Feb. 14 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors organized protests in a grass-roots movement and petitioned city councils and state lawmakers. Within weeks, Florida lawmakers adopted changes, including new weapons restrictions. Around the country a slew of gun control measures have been adopted at the local and state level, while the private sector has moved to make guns less available, and some proposals to expand gun rights have been stalled. Many of the Parkland activists on Friday expressed solidarity with the victims in Texas and renewed calls for gun control. Calls for tighter gun controls have barely registered in gun-loving Texas at least to this point. Texas has some of the country's most permissive gun laws and recently hosted the National Rifle Association's annual conference earlier this month. In the run-up to Texas' march primaries, gun control was not a main issue with candidates of either party. Republicans did not soften their views on guns, and most Democrats campaigned on a range of issues instead of zeroing in on gun violence. One exception is Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz for re-election. O'Rourke supports a ban on assault rifles and backs calls for universal background checks. Displaying confidence after this weeks primary election in Pennsylvania, the head of the Democratic National Committee predicted his party could almost triple its share of the states Congressional seats in the midterm elections. "I think Pennsylvania is going to be a real ground zero as we work to take back the U.S. House and, frankly, take back our democracy," DNC chairman Tom Perez said in an interview with NBC10. Democrats need to gain 23 seats to take control of the House of Representatives. In Pennsylvania, Democrats started the year with five seats to Republicans 13 seats, but Perez suggested his party could flip those numbers in the midterm elections, in part because of the states new Congressional map. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out the old map and redrew the district lines under a new map that resulted in multiple districts that are now more favorable to Democrats. Perez said he saw Democratic enthusiasm in Pennsylvanias primary election on Tuesday, and called it the "year of the woman" in Pennsylvania because of the seven Democratic women nominated to go onto the general election for congressional races. "Women have been leading the resistance, women have been stepping up to run for office in remarkable numbers and women have been winning," Perez said. Of the seven women, four are in the Philadelphia region Madeleine Dean in the 4th district, Mary Gay Scanlon in the 5th district, Chrissy Houlahan in the 6th district and Susan Wild in the 7th district. Republican Pearl Kim had no primary challenger and goes on to the general election in the 5th district. A big night for women on the ballot in Pennsylvania. The States Congressional Delegation will be changing because of Tuesday nights primary. And its being called The Year Of The Woman. Pennsylvania voters will also have a choice in two statewide races this year as two Democrats try to keep their jobs: Gov. Tom Wolf and Sen. Bob Casey. Heading toward November, Perez said the DNC will offer help to both top-of-ticket and smaller races, and use an "every zipcode strategy" to compete in every county. He cited the partys success in Virginia as a model for campaign coordination, saying "we understood and always asked 'Where can we be most helpful?'" What to Know President Trump announced Tuesday he was withdrawing the U.S. from the accord with Iran, abruptly restoring harsh sanctions The 2015 agreement was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain Trump restored harsh sanctions in the most consequential foreign policy action of his presidency, declaring he was making the world safer President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday against resuming its nuclear weapons program, a day after announcing that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the landmark Iran nuclear deal. "I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program," Trump told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting when asked about the potential consequences. "I would advise them very strongly. If they do there will be very severe consequence." The comments came a day after Trump announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the accord with Iran, abruptly restoring harsh sanctions in the most consequential foreign policy action of his presidency. He declared he was making the world safer, but he also deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about American credibility with a rationale that contradicted the analyses of U.S. and foreign intelligence sources. The 2015 agreement, which was negotiated by the Obama administration and included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most U.S. and international economic sanctions against Iran. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program, making it impossible to produce a bomb and establishing rigorous inspections. But Trump, a severe critic of the deal dating back to his 2016 presidential campaign, said Tuesday in a televised address from the White House that it was "defective at its core." On Wednesday, he claimed the deal "was going to lead to nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East" and bragged the sanctions would be among the strongest "that we've ever put on a country." Trump also pointed to Iran's actions in countries including Syria and Yemen. "With all of the places they're involved, it's bedlam and death and we can't allow that to happen," he said, adding: "They've gotta understand life. 'Cause I don't think they do understand life." U.S. allies in Europe had tried to keep Trump in and lamented his move to abandon it. Iran's leader ominously warned his country might "start enriching uranium more than before." The sanctions seek to punish Iran for its nuclear program by limiting its ability to sell oil or do business overseas, affecting a wide range of Iranian economic sectors and individuals. Major companies in the U.S. and Europe could be hurt, too. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that licenses held by Boeing and its European competitor Airbus to sell billions of dollars in commercial jetliners to Iran will be revoked. Certain exemptions are to be negotiated, but Mnuchin refused to discuss what products might qualify. He said the sanctions will sharply curtail sales of oil by Iran, which is currently the world's fifth largest oil producer. Mnuchin said he didn't expect oil prices to rise sharply, forecasting that other producers will step up production. Iran's government must now decide whether to follow the U.S. and withdraw or try to salvage what's left with the Europeans. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he was sending his foreign minister to the remaining countries but warned there was only a short time to negotiate with them. Trump also left open the possibility of a new deal, and told reporters Wednesday: "We'll make either a really good deal for the world or we're not going to make a deal at all. He predicted Iran would choose to negotiate eventually, or face consequences. The administration said it would re-impose sanctions on Iran immediately but allow grace periods for businesses to wind down activity. Companies and banks doing business with Iran will have to scramble to extricate themselves or run afoul of the U.S. government. Meanwhile, for nations contemplating striking their own sensitive deals with Trump, such as North Korea, the withdrawal will increase suspicions that they cannot expect lasting U.S. fidelity to international agreements it signs. Former President Barack Obama, whose administration negotiated the deal, called Trump's action "misguided" and said, "The consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding America's credibility and puts us at odds with the world's major powers." Yet nations like Israel and Saudi Arabia that loathed the deal saw the action as a sign the United States is returning to a more skeptical, less trusting approach to dealing with adversaries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Trump's announcement as a "historic move." Trump said Tuesday that documents recently released by Netanyahu showed Iran had attempted to develop a nuclear bomb in the previous decade, especially before 2003. Although Trump gave no explicit evidence that Iran violated the deal, he said Iran had clearly lied in the past and could not be trusted. Iran has denied ever pursuing nuclear arms. In a burst of last-minute diplomacy, punctuated by a visit by Britain's top diplomat, the deal's European members had given ground on many of Trump's demands for reworking the accord, according to officials, diplomats and others briefed on the negotiations. Yet the Europeans realized he was unpersuaded. In Iran, many are deeply concerned about how Trump's decision could affect the already struggling economy. In Tehran, Rouhani sought to calm nerves, smiling as he appeared at a petroleum expo. He didn't name Trump directly, but emphasized that Iran continued to seek "engagement with the world." Rapper Meek Mill has backed out of a visit to the White House that was planned for Friday to discuss prison reform, he said in a statement. Mill, who has become a spokesman for the movement against mass incarceration after his monthslong imprisonment for a probation violation, was set to take part in a "Prison Reform Summit." The event is still being held Friday morning, starting at 10:45 a.m. with remarks by President Donald Trump, according to the White House. It is unclear who else is attending the summit. Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, was born and grew up in North Philadelphia. After his release on bail last month following a prolonged court battle, he has remained a voice for prison and criminal justice reform. In a statement, however, he said he backed out of the White House summit because of a concern that too much attention would have been on personalities instead of on the issues. "I was originally scheduled to be part of a panel on Prison Reform at the White House to help shed light on the issues within the system. Unfortunately, the focus turned to the President and myself which concerned me that it might take away from creating a positive result from todays discussions," Mill said in a statement. "As a result, I decided not to attend, so that the focus would be solely on fixing our prison system. Most importantly, I remain fully committed to improving our criminal justice system." Mill's backing out comes one day after the White House announced that the Philadelphia Eagles would be invited June 5 to honor their Super Bowl title. But some Eagles, including one of the team's leaders, Malcolm Jenkins, said they would not attend. "At this point, I'm not interested in any discussions on anything right now just with the climate that's been going on in The White House," Jenkins told NBC10 hours after the White House's announcement. Jenkins is taking a prominent national role in criminal justice reform. He told NBC10 in an exclusive interview earlier in May that he was going to take part in certain district attorney political races across the country throughout 2018. "When Larry Krasner was up for election, one of the things we did was around raising awareness about what your DA does and how much the public knows that," Jenkins said. "What Krasner has done is encouraging and can be repeated in other areas." Five volunteers from San Diego are helping residents of Hawaii as ash spreads from this weeks explosion of the Kilauea Volcano. The explosion came shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday following two weeks of volcanic activity that sent lava flows into neighborhoods and destroyed at least 26 homes. Winds blew much of the 30,000-foot plume away from people but there were reports of a light dusting of ash and the smell of sulfur. Lindsey Magnani and her family picked up masks Thursday afternoon in the community of Volcano which is a few miles northeast of the volcanos summit. "This morning it smelled like sulfur so we had to close all the windows," Magnani said. Authorities handed out around 2,000 masks for protection as people braced for pulverized rock, glass, and crystal. The Red Cross of San Diego has sent 5 volunteers to Hawaii to help with the hundreds of people displaced and prepare for the potential for more evacuations. The main role we fill is making sure that we are able to give people a safe place to stay, said Emily Cox, Regional Communications Director Red Cross. Between running a shelter and distributing supplies and helping with the organization of the response." Andre Lupian, a South Bay resident who now lives on Hawaii, spoke with NBC 7 about conditions 60 miles from the Kilauea Volcano. Everyone's a little bit worried but at the same time, you just gotta kind of go with it, Lupian said. See what happens and deal with the air quality." The recent eruptions have been making it difficult to breathe. People are complaining about itchy eyes and scratchy throats, Lupian said. "The people that are getting sick are the ones working outside, he said. I'm pretty sure people are going to start wearing masks just to be safe. Something we are seeing a little bit more." Geologists are warning the volcano can become more violent due to an increase in ash production. There is also potential that future blast could send boulders flying into the air. The Federal Aviation Administration extended a restriction on aircraft from entering the airspace up to 30,000 feet above sea level. The earlier limit was up to 10,000 feet. The prohibition applies to a 5-mile radius around the crater. Thursday's eruption did not affect the Big Island's two largest airports in Hilo and in Kailua-Kona. Kilauea has also been erupting lava into neighborhoods 25 miles to the east of the summit crater since May 3. It opened a new lava vent in the area -- the 21st such fissure -- on Thursday. Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been erupting continuously since 1983. It's among the five volcanoes that form the Big Island, and it's the only one actively erupting. An eruption in 1924 killed one person and sent rocks, ash and dust into the air for 17 days. The San Diego volunteers are scheduled to return in approximately two weeks. A D.C. police officer was seriously injured after he was dragged by a vehicle in Northeast Washington. The officer was helping with an investigation on the 4700 block of Brooks Street NE Thursday night, police say. When he tried to apprehend a suspect in a vehicle, the suspect accelerated, dragging the officer alongside the vehicle. The officer was able to free himself as the vehicle left the scene. The officer was taken to the hospital with severe but non-life-threatening injuries. Police say the vehicle has been recovered, but the suspect has not been arrested. Anyone with information that can help police is asked to call 202-727-9099. A father and son are charged with hate crimes after an assault in Manassas, Virginia, police said. A 35-year-old man told police he was driving in the area of Ashton Avenue near Sudley Manor Monday when a pickup truck cut him off and stopped in front of him. The driver and passenger in the pickup yelled at him, including go back to your country and you dont belong here, police said. The passenger got out of the truck, grabbed the victim and assaulted him, police said. Then the suspects followed the victim on to Interstate 66, police said. The victim pulled into a rest and called police. The suspects were gone before police arrived, but the victim had the license plate of the pickup, and police were able to identify 56-year-old Jimmy Lynn Greer of Manassas and 25-year-old Dustin David Greer of Marshall, police said. They arrested them Wednesday at a hotel in Manassas. Detectives believe the victim was targeted because of his Middle Eastern origin. The Greers were released on $5,000 bond and are scheduled to appear in court June 12. Police have captured two men who escaped from a hospital in Southeast Washington. Eric Calvin Rucker, 49, and Christopher Taylor, 29, were receiving treatment in a secure area of a hospital on the 1300 block of Southern Avenue SE when they escaped. Rucker was wanted by the US Marshal Service for a parole violation while Taylor was wanted in Montgomery County for a robbery, police say. Police say they were arrested Thursday and charged with prisoner escape. Even Wisconsin police had to applaud a group of high school seniors for their hilarious prank before graduation. Senior pranks are often the thing of spring for high school graduates, but the latest one from Cumberland High School seniors is making waves for its creativity. According to photos posted by local police, the seniors took what appears to be the back half of a vehicle and placed it outside their principals office, using a tarp and placing bricks around the vehicle to make it appear as though a car drove into the building. The back of the vehicle had CHS Class of 2018, Were Bustin Out written on it and side windows read C-ya May 19, 2018. Hats off to the Cumberland High School Class of 2018 on your senior prank. Congratulation Class of 2018 on one of best senior pranks that Cumberland High School has seen, Cumberland police wrote on Facebook. According to a Facebook post from the school district, the vehicle involved in the prank was an old junker. Using tape and a black tarp, the students created the illusion of damage, making it look like the car crashed into the side of the building, the district wrote. The best part? This prank included absolutely no damage at all to school property, which is why police singled it out. Metro will in fact stay open late Thursday night thanks to the nation of Qatar. The DowntownDC Business Improvement District made a deal with Qatar to pay $100,000 for an extra hour of service for the Washington Capitals' playoff game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at CapitolOne Arena. D.C. Councilmember and Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans tweeted: "The @DowntownDCBID and Qatar stepped up to make sure Caps fans can enjoy the entire game by ensuring @wmata runs late night service. Thank you to to everyone who worked hard to make this possible. #ALLCAPS!" After Metro's regular closing time, Caps fans can enter the system at three stations: Gallery Place, Metro Center (11th & G street entrance only) or Judiciary Square (F Street entrance only). All other stations will be "exit only," Metro said. The last trains from Gallery Place-Chinatown will depart at: Red Line to Glenmont 12:38 a.m.; to Shady Grove 12:32 a.m. Green Line to Branch Ave 12:28 a.m.; to Greenbelt 12:48 a.m. Yellow Line to Huntington 12:19 a.m. The last Blue, Orange and Silver Line trains from Metro Center will depart at: Blue Line to Franconia-Springfield 12:28 a.m.; to Largo Town Center 12:27 a.m. Orange Line to New Carrollton 12:20 a.m.; to Vienna 12:36 a.m. Silver Line to Largo Town Center 12:27 a.m.; to Wiehle-Reston East 12:21 a.m. A Metro source had said on Wednesday that no money had been exchanged, and Evans said the deal "seems to have come undone." The two sides were still trying to work out a deal, but Evans had said he wouldn't count on it happening. Evans said Qatari officials attempted to change some language in the standard contract that Metro has about paying to keep the system open late. He said the language Qatari officials tried to change involved an indemnification clause that would have required board approval. Metro stayed open late for Tuesday night's game. Exelon, the parent company of Pepco, paid the $100,000 deposit. A married couple faced a Massachusetts judge Thursday in connection to the kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old girl in Lawrence. The Essex County District Attorney's Office confirms 27-year-old Jose Sanchez and 24-year-old Alina Santos were arraigned in Lawrence District Court. Sanchez is charged with kidnapping and rape of a child, while Santos faces charges of kidnapping, enticement of a child and threats. Both suspects were ordered to be held without bail pending the outcome of a dangerousness hearing. They are due back in court May 25. It was not immediately clear if they had attorneys. Theres one month left in an essay contest thatll win someone a free house in Rutland, Vermont. From the solar panels on the roof to the electric car charger by the driveway and the energy storage batteries in the attic, construction is nearly complete on the high-tech green home on Cleveland Avenue. The 1,500 square foot house, with three bedrooms and 1.5 baths, will be given away mortgage-free. Were really excited about how its come out, said Steve Costello of Green Mountain Power. GMP teamed with nonprofits, the city, and dozens of contractors and businesses that donated goods and services as part of a charitable community revitalization project. This is really about building community, Costello said. The quality of life was really deteriorating down here, Rutland Mayor Dave Allaire said in February of the situation in Rutlands northwest neighborhood several years ago. That comment came when a ramshackle house was being torn down to make way for the brand-new one. The neighborhood is bouncing back from a long period of decline, Allaire said, with new vitality and improvements. The Rutland region also wants to attract more workers to help employers fill jobs that have sat vacant, the mayor said, adding that attention on this giveaway could help draw others to the area. Committee members will award the free home to the person or family that writes an essay convincing them of their passion for community-building. I think its going to be really magical for someone, Costello said. A lot of people applying have never owned a home beforeI would say a majority of them. Costello said applications so far have come from both coasts of the U.S., and many places in between. The winner will have to pay property taxes and could have some other tax liabilities, he noted. Project superintendent Jason Clement of Naylor & Breen Builders said he predicts the home will be affordable to heat and cool, because of top-of-the line systems and insulation. Its one tight building, Clement told necn. Youll be able to light a candle and heat this thing from the insideits not going to take very much at all. The deadline to apply for the home is June 18. If the person who wins it has kids, they should be able to move in by the start of the school year. For more information on the contest, visit this website: https://greenmountainpower.com/2018/02/22/rutland-innovation-home-contest/ A Massachusetts elementary school teacher has been arrested and charged in connection with an indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, according to police. Boston Police responded Wednesday afternoon to Patrick J. Kennedy Elementary School in East Boston for a report of an indecent assault and battery. Officers arrested Nicholas Speller, 31, of Malden, around 4:30 p.m. and charged him with four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Sources tell NBC10 Boston that he is a gym teacher at the school. Speller has been placed on administrative leave, according to an automated phone call that went out to parents after Speller's arrest. The robocall said in part, "This incident allegedly involved misconduct by a staff member in our school. We immediately contacted the Boston Police Department and Boston School Police as soon as we learned about it. A source tells NBC10 Boston that four separate students were involved. School officials say they have spoken directly with the parents of the students who were directly impacted, and they will be providing counselling to any children who are in need of support, according to the phone call from Boston Public Schools. Please know the safety of our students is always a top priority of the Boston Public Schools and at the P.J. Kennedy, the phone call went on to say. Please know that we are firmly committed to providing a safe and welcoming climate for all of our students and we are here to support you and your child. Parents were urged to call the school at 617-635-8466 with any questions or concerns. Speller is scheduled to be arraigned in East Boston District Court on Thursday. It's unclear if he has an attorney. The facts and circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Boston Police Crimes Against Children Unit at 617-343-6183 or anonymously by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word 'TIP' to CRIME (27463). No other information was immediately available. A man killed in a drive-by shooting in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Thursday evening has been identified. Twenty-year-old Nike Colon was sitting in the front seat of a pickup truck at about 5 p.m. at the intersection of Washington and Shepherd streets when someone in a passing vehicle fired a shot, according to the Essex County District Attorney's office. Colon was taken to City Hall on Summer Street by the driver, where firefighters administered first aid. "I was hanging out in my bedroom. I heard five shots. I looked out the window, there was a white pickup truck driving by, had blood coming down the side of the passenger door," neighbor Bernie Chase said. Colon was eventually taken to Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ian Gonyer, a friend of Colon, is one of many shocked by the violence. "It's crazy. It shouldn't happen like this," Gonyer said. A memorial of flowers, candles, and other mementoes grew on Friday near the shooting scene left by family and friends. "This kid was just growing. He was starting to grow and we just lost a good kid," said Colon's friend, Jose Martinez. "I feel bad for the family too." Police are still searching for the shooting suspect. While the DA's office has not yet commented on a possible motive, the violence has shaken the community. "We don't want other cases like this to happen with young children. He was only 20 years old," said Mirta Mejia with the Mount Washington Alliance, a neighborhood alliance in Haverhill. Massachusetts State Police assigned to the DA's office are investigating alongside Haverhill Police. A man was killed Wednesday in a single-vehicle crash in Templeton, Massachusetts, according to police. The accident happened around 6:40 p.m. on Route 2 Westbound, at the Otter River Road Bridge. A preliminary investigation indicates the man was driving a 2001 Chevrolet S10 pickup when his vehicle travelled off the right side of the roadway before crashing into the Otter River Road Bridge. Its unclear why the mans truck went off the roadway. The victim, identified Thursday as 56-year-old Stephen Witkowski of Orange, was transported to Heywood Hospital in Gardner, where he was pronounced dead. Massachusetts State Police were assisted on scene by Templeton Fire and EMS and Templeton Police. No other information was immediately available. The crash remains under investigation. A Maine truck driver suspected of racking up over $1,300 in unpaid tolls on the Maine Turnpike for up to six years was arrested Thursday, according to state police. Danny Olson, 61, of Turner, is accused of attaching license plates not belonging to him and avoiding $1,300 in tolls in Maine and accumulating thousands of dollars more in unpaid tolls from other northeast states. Olsen used one license plate belonging to a man who died and when troopers pulled over his truck they found other license plates not registered to him. He is charged with several crimes, including theft of services which is a felony. Maine State Police are in the process of contacting other states regarding Olson not paying tolls. Olson paid his bail and was released from jail overnight. It is not clear if he has a lawyer. After receiving alarming survey results about teen mental health, a high school in southern Maine is going the extra mile to make every student feel special. Friday morning at Sanford High School, every student entering the building was greeted by cheers, high fives, smiles and hugs. Teachers and community members woke up early to make sure every kid had a warm welcome before the start of school. Some held signs that said "You Matter" and "#Appreciated." "I like seeing the students' faces," said teacher Amy Turgeon. "Seeing their expressions when they see how much love we have for them." The morning surprise comes after the release of the state-wide Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey, conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education. According to Sanford High School counselor Beth Letourneau, 49 percent of Sanford youth between ages 12 and 18 reported that they did not feel like they mattered to the community. Twenty percent said they had suicidal thoughts in the previous month. "It made me sad," said Letourneau. "I knew that they felt that way, but it wasn't true. Our community cares, and we wanted to show them in a tangible way that they do care." Letourneau and her Sanford High School Peer Helpers student group decided to do something about it. They, along with the group Stronger Sanford, helped organize the Friday morning demonstration, which they called #ThisIsUs. "I think it's awesome," said student Alice Nolin. "It helps bring the community together, which is something really needed in Sanford," said student Sam Chapdelaine. The morning greeting wasn't the only surprise for students. Inside the cafeteria, a giant banner is hanging with every student's name on it. Beside each name, a teacher has written a compliment. "I was very flattered," said student Danielle Guillemett. Next to her name was the word "compassionate." "I was really surprised that someone thought that of me," said student Megan Roy, who had the word "intuitive" written next to her name. She said the Friday morning events made a big difference at school. "I think it will be a much more positive environment," Roy said. "We're all kind of just excited and happy now." SUICIDE PREVENTION: If you know someone who needs help, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Bishop of Norwich has held a picnic for refugees from Syria and Afghanistan in the garden of his home near Norwich Cathedral. The Bishop of Norwich has held a picnic for refugees from Syria and Afghanistan in the garden of his home near Norwich Cathedral. Ring the bells at N Norfolk Christmas fayre Visitors to Upper Sheringham Christmas Fayre next month will get the opportunity to ring the newly restored church bells. Read more Eaton quilt of kindness displays bright things from darks times When the pandemic hit last year, community groups were unable to meet in person, but the Quilt Crafters Group from Eaton came up with an idea. Vivien Humber explains. Read more Norwich Cathedral hosts Benedictine study day All are welcome to join a Benedictine Study Day at Norwich Cathedral on October 16 when Fr Luigi Gioia, an award-winning author and international lecturer on Benedictine spirituality, will speak on Benedicts Rule of Life. Read more Norfolk charity vacancies for youth team If you have a passion for serving the community and meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children and young people, ENYP could have the job for you. Read more Norwich Bishop gives Norfolk honey to Pope Francis Pope Francis has been presented with a jar of honey and a bee facemask from Norfolk by the Anglican Bishop of Norwich, who met him at the Vatican in Rome during a private audience alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury. Read more Thanksgiving service for brave Norwich preacher A funeral and thanksgiving service for courageous Norwich Methodist preacher Colin Gillett, who died recently in Pakistan, is to be held in Norfolk after his body was repatriated to the UK. Read more Norwich foodbank braced for winter demand spike Norwich foodbank is bracing itself for a spike in demand this winter as households face a perfect storm of financial pressures with soaring energy costs, the cut in Universal Credit and the end of furlough. Read more I shall pray for you whether you like it or not! Ian Boughton has been wondering whether or not we should tell people we are praying for them. Read more Monthly teaching mornings resume online The Way of The Spirit Norwich begins a new cycle of monthly teaching mornings, starting on zoom on Saturday October 9, packed with the Bible and life! Read more Learn to write creatively at North Norfolk retreat Norfolk writer Jane Walters, who writes a regular column for Network Norfolk, is running a creative writing retreat at the Pleasaunce in Overstrand next month and bookings are now being taken. Read more Dinosaurs, evolution and religion lecture Beneath the skeleton of a fossilised Diplodocus from the Natural History Museum, Dr Nick Spencer gave a fascinating lecture in Norwich Cathedral about dinosaurs, evolution and religion. Read more King's Lynn church goes industrial to enlarge its site In a year when many churches remained closed, the Kings Glory Church in Kings Lynn opened a new centre on an industrial estate. Read more Golden dome tops Stalhams new Orthodox church The conversion of Stalhams old police station into a new Orthodox church is nearing completion, and an iconic golden dome has recently been added to the roofline. Read more Black Lives Matter talk at Norwich church Christian Aid speaker Chine MacDonald will speak on Wednesday October 6 about the vital importance of involving black voices in the climate justice movement especially in this pivotal year for climate justice as the UK hosts COP26 this year. Read more Norwich Foodbank tackles the causes of poverty Norwich Foodbank has taken on Iain Turner to lead a new project dealing with the causes of food poverty. Read more Norwich Cathedrals Dippy and the Genesis deluge Following the news last month that well over 100,000 people have been to visit Dippy the Diplodocus at Norwich Cathedral, Matthew Pickhaver explains why he believes that Dippy helps to throw light on the biblical story of the great flood. Read more Norwich church Gaia art shows climate emergency St Peter Mancroft, Norwich made a public declaration of a climate emergency at it welcomed Luke Jerrams Gaia Earth Artwork for October. Read more In my earlier blog post on SSD storage news from HPE, Hitachi and IBM, I touched on the significance of NVMe over Fabric (NoF). But not wanting to distract from the main storage, I didnt go into detail. I will do so with this blog post. Hitachi Vantara goes all in on NVMe over Fabric First, though, an update on the news from Hitachi Vantara, which I initially said had not commented yet on NoF. It turns out they are all in. Hitachi Vantara currently offers, and continues to expand support for, NVMe in our hyperconverged UCP HC line. As NVMe matures over the next year, we see opportunities to introduce NVMe into new software-defined and enterprise storage solutions. More will follow, but it confuses the conversation to pre-announce things that customers cannot implement today, said Bob Madaio, vice president, Infrastructure Solutions Group at Hitachi Vantara, in an email to me. Hitachi has good reason to get NoF religion like everyone else. NoF is a game-changer. There are two primary interfaces for SSD, SATA and PCI Express. Theres also Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), but for the most part, people used SATA. SATA is a legacy hard-drive interface dating back to 2001 that even a cheap consumer SSD can easily max out. For a while, I did SSD reviews for a consumer-oriented enthusiast site and pretty much every SSD was maxed out at a certain level of read and write performance. It didnt matter if it was a high end drive or midrange. Read/write performance was always within a narrow range. SSD chips were getting faster, but the SATA bus was a huge bottleneck. The fact is the SATA bus is stuck at revision 3.0, despite the working group bumping it to version 3.3. Most motherboards and SSDs are rev 3.0, playing it safe for maximum compatibility, and thats a 6Gbit/sec. interface from 2009. Great for a laptop. Not so great for a server. The Power of NVMe For the best throughput, you need a PCIe-based card, which has much greater bandwidth than SATA. NVMe was designed for the massively parallel transfer capabilities of SSD memory that SATA just cant handle. NVMe is a data transfer protocol designed to work with PCI Express to overcome the limits of SATA. NVMe can handle up to 64,000 data queues, and each queue can process 64,000 commands at the same time. SATA can hold only a single queue with 256 commands. Well, the NVM Express 1.3 spec introduced last year adds support for NVMe over Fabric, for supporting protocols other than PCI Express like InfiniBand. Up until now, PCIe SSDs would work only in the physical server in which they were placed. One server couldnt see a PCIe card in another server because PCIe is a point-to-point transport protocol never intended to be used in storage. It was meant for GPUs and network cards, with high throughput requirements. Plus, every PCI Express-based SSD had a custom driver that was slightly different from the rest, so you could not build a storage array with a mix of PCIe cards. You had to buy them all from one vendor. In short, PCIe SSD was a real headache. In addition to NoF, NVMe 1.3 added virtualization namespaces support, so now you can build an all-flash storage array for a virtualized system, something not possible before. Up to now, you had to run a virtualized environment on a HDD-based array instead of flash. So, your virtualized systems are going to get a lot faster and support a lot more throughput. So, you can see why all of the hardware OEMs have gotten the NVMe over Fabric religion, and why you should make sure its on your shopping checklist as well. Posted by Mark Williams | May 18, 2018 By Patrick Masterson Vehicles Affected: Approximately 150 model-year 2018 Ford F-650 and F-750 medium-duty work trucks The Problem: The parking brake cable may not have adequate tension, which could result in reduced parking brake performance and unintended vehicle movement, increasing the risk of accident or injury. Ford said it is not aware of any accidents or injuries associated with the issue. The Fix: Dealers will adjust the parking brake cable to the proper tension for free. When operating a vehicle prior to repair, customers should make sure the transmission is secured in Park (if equipped) or the wheels are chocked before leaving the vehicle unattended. What Owners Should Do: Ford did not immediately announce an owner-notification schedule. Owners can call the automaker at 866-436-7332, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle-safety hotline at 888-327-4236 or visit its website to check their vehicle identification number and learn more. Need to Find a Dealer for Service? Go to Cars.com Service & Repair to find your local dealer. Click here to schedule a free recall repair at your local dealership. Manufacturer image Six brave souls take on eye-watering challenge A FAMOUS song released by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is called Cant Stop, but it was a case of cant carry on for some as Newbury hosted a chilli-eating contest on Sunday. A bumper crowd of around 6,000 people packed into the Market Place to witness the event, which was a joint collaboration between Oxfordshire chilli festival and Newbury Business Improvement District (BID). The eye-watering challenge was hosted by chilli cultivator expert The Wiltshire Chilli Farm, and started with competitors chewing down the milder jalapeno chilli. There were grimaces and red faces as the heat intensified and those taking part battled with the green birds eye chilli, red birds eye chilli, Scotch bonnet and the habanero. No one could manage to get to the last the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion currently the worlds second hottest chilli. There was just one rule to abide by no liquids in or out and each participant was given a glass of milk beforehand to prepare themselves for the challenge ahead. There was late drama before the event, as the UKs chilli queen Shahina Waseem who is unbeaten in 25 contests had to withdraw at the last minute due to a dislocated jaw. Speaking to the Newbury Weekly News, she said: Im absolutely gutted not to be competing. I have set myself a target of 50 competitions and I really wanted to make it my 26th in Newbury, but it wasnt to be. She did co-host the event, though, and offered words of support and encouragement to the others. The chilli-eating contest was part of a festival which boasted an array of street food and artisan traders across 50 different stalls, with seeds, plants and sauces available to buy. A selection of gourmet treats and street food from around the world also featured, from US barbecue to Mexican, Nepalese dumplings, Thai, Indian and more. Other traders sold everything from breads, cakes, cheeses and artisan bacon to Mexican handicrafts and fair trade clothing. Rah Rahs Gin Bar and its vintage caravan were also on hand with a choice of 26 gins. Before the contest, the crowds were treated to live music from Radio 1Xtra favourite Zaia and several other bands. Local company Djkit.com launched its new DJ experience workshop and invited guests to get behind the decks and learn from the experts. There were also trampolines for children, face-painting and old-fashioned fairground sideshows, including hook-a-duck. Stallholders dressing up as part of Love Your Local Market fortnight LOVE will be in the air as Thatchams Friday market celebrates the royal wedding and a national campaign in the coming weeks. Two of Thatchams markets fall within the nationally-celebrated Love Your Local Market fortnight today (Friday) and next Friday, the first also coinciding with the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tomorrow (Saturday). The Broadway Green will be decked out with union flag bunting and stalls and stallholders will be decked out in their finest red, white and blue. Children visiting the market will receive a free flag and colouring sheet of the royal couple, courtesy of the Armadillo Art Experience. Stallholders will join in the celebrations, with Creative Cakes by S&S baking a homage to Prince Harry and Meghan Markles wedding cake. You can buy a raffle ticket for 1 and the lucky winner will receive the cake, worth more than 100, when the ticket is drawn at the end of the day. Thatcham Town Council will be welcoming Priors Court Young Adult Provision tomorrow and then, on May 25, Priors Court School will be selling its mini-enterprise creations. All products are handmade and go towards supporting the Hermitage-based school for autistic pupils. The school will be joined by the Thatcham Dementia Friendly Forum and Slimming World on the day. Love Your Local Market, led by the National Association of British Market Authorities, started in 2012 following fears about the sustainability of high streets. Call Thatcham Town Council on (01635) 863592, email enquiries@thatchamtowncouncil.gov.uk or like ThatchamTC on Facebook for more information. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] The Washington Resident Troopers Office is investigating several reported car thefts from driveways in Washington Depot. Some of the stolen cars were unlocked with the keys accessible, according to a press release from State Police. Three cars were reported stolen on Thursday. A black 2002 Mercedes Benz C240 was stolen from the driveway of a home on Hinkle Road and abandoned a short distance down Hinkle Road. A black 2009 Volkswagen Jetta and a silver 2010 Honda Accord were both taken from a driveway on Turner Road. The Volkswagen was later located abandoned on East Street in Morris, according to the release. Three unknown suspects stole a dark blue 2017 Porsche Cayenne from the driveway of a home on Calhoun Street at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, police said. State Police remind residents to not to leave valuables in the car. If they valuables must be kept in there, residents are reminded to lock them up, keep them out of sight and bring the keys inside. Anyone with information is asked to contact Troop L-Litchfield at 860-626-7900. The more intelligent a person, the fewer connections there are between the neurons in his cerebral cortex. This is the result of a study conducted by neuroscientists working with Dr Erhan Genc and Christoph Fraenz at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum; the study was performed using a specific neuroimaging technique that provides insights into the wiring of the brain on a microstructural level. Together with colleagues from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, Humboldt University of Berlin and the Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute in Albuquerque, the team from the biopsychology research unit in Bochum published their report in the journal Nature Communications on May 15, 2018. Intelligence is determined by the number of dendrites The researchers analyzed the brains of 259 men and women using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging. This method enabled them to measure the amount of dendrites in the cerebral cortex, i.e. extensions of nerve cells that are used by the cells to communicate with each other. In addition, all participants completed an IQ test. Subsequently, the researchers associated the gathered data with each other and found out: the more intelligent a person, the fewer dendrites there are in their cerebral cortex. Using an independent, publicly accessible database, which had been compiled for the Human Connectome Project, the team confirmed these results in a second sample of around 500 individuals. Previously conflicting results are thus explained The new findings provide an explanation of conflicting results gathered in intelligence research to date. For one, it had been previously ascertained that intelligent people tend to have larger brains. "The assumption has been that larger brains contain more neurons and, consequently, possess more computational power," says Erhan Genc. However, other studies had shown that - despite their comparatively high number of neurons - the brains of intelligent people demonstrated less neuronal activity during an IQ test than the brains of less intelligent individuals. "Intelligent brains possess lean, yet efficient neuronal connections," concludes Erhan Genc. "Thus, they boast high mental performance at low neuronal activity." A species of lizards has been found to have bright green blood. Researchers in their study published this Tuesday said that this finding could provide understanding in illnesses such as malaria and jaundice. The study was published in Science Advances. Prehensile Tailed Skinks (Corucia zebrata), Image Credit: Yury Nevalenny / Shutterstock The team of researchers came across these foot long skinks (genus Prasinohaema) found in New Guinea, an island off of Australia. These lizards have bright green blood, body, mucosa, mouths etc. Chris Austin, a biologist at Louisiana State University, has been studying these unique lizards for nearly 10 years now. Austin said that there is a large amount of green pigment in the lizards blood. This pigment overshadows the red blood cells and changes the colour of the blood. The lizards have green bones, muscles, tongues, mucosa and tissues. This green is contributed by biliverdin. Biliverdin is a toxic waste product of the body that is released in bile and excreted in stool in all animals. Biliverdin is produced when the red blood cells are broken down. In humans an equivalent is bilirubin that when accumulated leads to jaundice. The researchers led by Zachary Rodriguez, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University, noted that at the levels of biliverdin that should have killed the lizards, these can live and perform their functions normally. This is a baffling find. More than one species of lizards have shown this tolerance for rising levels of biliverdin. Austin and his colleagues including Rodriguez and Susan Perkins, curator and professor at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics and the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, then went on to look at the DNA of 51 species of Australasian skinks. Of these six species had green blood. These green blooded lizards were not even related to each other and had their green blood as the only common factor. The study results showed that the ancestors of the lizards had red blood. The green blood developed in separate lineages and four times independently. Austin explained that there is a scenario of four independent origins of green blood, which they would confirm with genetic work. The reason why these lizards prefer to be green is not yet known they say. They speculate that it could be to keep predators at bay making the lizards bad to taste. This was however negated when they tried to offer these green lizards to birds and the birds ate them up. Austin even went further to taste both the lizards himself and found that they tasted the same! The team then speculated that the green could be a good camouflage. But this theory also did not work because they noted that several red blooded lizards were also green and some green blooded lizards were not green. They also speculated that this green blood could be protecting them from malaria. This is being studied at present Austin said. Austin also said that there are several other species of fish and frogs that have similar green blood. Altogether the presence of green blood remains rare in the animal kingdom they write. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a report titled, Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Romaine Lettuce, stating that it is safe to consume romaine lettuce which was implicated in transmitting a toxic strain of E. coli since March this year. Green Romain or cos lettuce plant. Image Credit: Kwangmoozaa / Shutterstock This present outbreak was due to contaminated romaine lettuce that was grown in Yuma, Ariz., growing region. During the winter months this contaminated lettuce reached throughout the country. According to this new report the last lot harvested was on April 16th. Over the last two months after the alarm was raised the greens industry was shifted to California. According to the news release, Romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region is past its shelf life and is probably no longer being sold in stores or served in restaurants. The CDC added in the release that the cases still being reported are from the lettuce that is still in circulation or remains in the home refrigerators. As such the contaminated lettuce should be past its sell-by date they report. They said in their statement, It takes two to three weeks between when a person becomes ill with E. coli and when the illness is reported to CDC The most recent illnesses reported to CDC started when romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region was probably still available in stores, restaurants, and in peoples homes. At present they advise people that if they are not sure of where their lettuce has come from, they need not throw it out. Till the 15th of May 2018, in the 32 states country wide, 172 people were taken ill. This was an increase of 23 people from the week before. Till date one death has been reported and 75 hospitalizations have been noted. During this outbreak 20 people developed kidney failure due to the infection. The infective strain during this outbreak that was implicated is O157:H7. It produces Shiga toxin. This toxin is capable of causing serious diarrhoea and vomiting. In serious cases it can lead to a form of kidney failure known as hemolytic uremic syndrome. Since the start of this outbreak, the CDC as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been trying to ascertain the cause or origin of this contamination and traced it back to a single farm in Yuma. This lettuce first caused illness in eight prisoners in Alaska. According to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement yesterday that this is a complicated case. He tweeted, ruled out that the contamination was caused by just one farm suggesting it was a complex problem and will take further time to investigate. The FDA has added that they are trying to determine the cause of this outbreak and are trying to improve the food safety system. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, several people in the Canadian provinces have also been infected with E. coli that has the same DNA makeup of the E. coli O157:H7. NeoTract, a wholly owned subsidiary of Teleflex Incorporated focused on addressing unmet needs in the field of urology, today announced that the American Urological Association (AUA) has recommended the use of the UroLift System as a standard of care treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In its newly released clinical guidelines developed by a panel of experts in the field, the AUA recommends that the UroLift Prostatic Urethral Lift procedure should be considered for the management of men's lower urinary tract symptoms attributed to BPH. The guidelines, last revised in 2010, were distributed to peer reviewers prior to approval by the AUA Board of Directors. The AUA notes that, given the strong observed relationship between erectile dysfunction and BPH, this group of men is at high risk for sexual dysfunction. The organization recommends that patients should be counseled about the sexual side effects of any surgical intervention and should be made aware that surgical treatment can cause ejaculatory dysfunction and may worsen erectile dysfunction. The UroLift System is the only minimally invasive treatment option that has been shown to provide rapid and durable symptomatic and urinary flow rate improvement without inducing sustained sexual dysfunction. "The AUA is strongly committed to doing what is best for patients. With the inclusion of the UroLift System in these new guidelines, the AUA provides support of the UroLift System as a treatment in the best interest of patients," said Dave Amerson, president of the NeoTract Interventional Urology business unit. "Following treatment with the UroLift System, thousands of men have avoided invasive surgery, are no longer needing medications, and are back to living their lives, without giving up normal sexual function. We are hopeful that this recommendation from AUA will mean that many more men will choose the UroLift System." BPH is marked by bothersome urinary symptoms that can cause loss of productivity, depression, interrupted sleep, and decreased quality of life. It is not a pre-cursor to prostate cancer, but is twelve times more common, especially as men age. Over 40 percent of men in their 50s have BPH and over 70 percent of men in their 60s have the condition. The incidence rate climbs to 80 percent for men over the age of 70. If BPH is left untreated, the condition can worsen over time and cause permanent bladder damage. UroLift System Results to be Featured in Late-Breaker at AUA Annual Meeting Additionally, the company announced activities planned for the 113th American Urological Association Annual Meeting, taking place May 18-21 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. These presentations include: Friday, May 18 Video session presentation by Dr. Thomas Mueller: Performance of Prostatic Urethral Lift in Men with Prostate Volumes <30 grams and >80 grams (7:30 - 9:30 a.m., MCC WEST, 3002) Saturday, May 19 UroLift technique video presentation by Dr. Gregg Eure: Surgical Techniques: Tips & Tricks: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (3:00 - 4:00 p.m., MCC South, Esplanade) Sunday, May 20 Late-breaking abstract presentation by Dr. Daniel Rukstalis: Multi-Center Prospective Study of the Prostatic Urethral Lift for Obstructive Median Lobe: The MedLift Study, An Extension of the LIFT Randomized Study (4:05 - 4:15 p.m. in MCC North, Hall E) (4:05 - 4:15 p.m. in MCC North, Hall E) Moderated poster presentation by Dr. Steven Kaplan: Predictors of Response to the Prostatic Urethral Lift Treatment (1:00 - 3:00 p.m. in MCC West, 3006) Source: http://www.neotract.com/ An interview with Dr Jonathan Wingfield, conducted by Stuart Milne, BA Thought Leaders Dr. Jonathan Wingfield Principal Scientist AstraZeneca An interview with Dr Jonathan Wingfield, conducted by Stuart Milne, BA Your presentation at Pittcon 2018 focussed on Mass Spectroscopy (MS) based high-throughput screening for drug discovery. What are the current challenges associated with screen samples? Acoustic mass spectrometry offers us the ability to screen very, very quickly in a very clean way. This is a huge benefit for the high-throughput screening community. As a result, we are able to have a direct measurement of substrate to product conversion, and that's great because we don't have to buy extra reagents. We also don't have to buy labels, which obviously add cost. Higher costs mean we can only screen a reduced number of samples. So, keeping the cost down is important for us too. In a recent paper co-authored by yourself and Mattias Rohman, you describe the use of RapidFire coupled to a triple-quadrupole MS for high-throughput screening. How does this compare to traditional liquid chromatography for electrospray ionization (ESI)? In the high-throughput screening space, the RapidFire platforms that are now marketed by Agilent are considered to be state of the art for high-throughput screening. It is because they are using a simple solid phase extraction methodology, rather than an LC, that means they can process a sample every eight to ten seconds. However, even at that speed, it's really not fast enough. Of course, taking away the LC component, to a certain extent also demystifies some of the technology around mass spectrometry and makes it a little bit more user friendly as well. Can you please tell us about your collaboration with Labcyte and Waters to build a prototype high throughput mass spectrometry platform? The aim of the collaboration that AstraZeneca has with LabCyte and Waters is really to try and push forwards the boundaries of high-throughput mass spectrometry. Electrospray mass spectrometry is broadly applicable across may areas of drug discovery, and although there are some other high-throughput techniques such as MALDI, many labs will probably have access to electrospray mass spectrometry platforms. So being able to convert those into a high-throughput technology was really the main aim for this. The use of acoustics is exciting because it gives us an opportunity to use all of the advantages of acoustics, low sample handling and very high-throughput potential, in a way that's not been used in terms of coupling it to mass spectrometry in the past. Mass Spec High Throughput Screening Play Mass Spec High Throughput Screening from AZoNetwork on Vimeo. What modification have you made to the acoustic dispenser and what have been the benefits? Fundamentally, we've taken the LabCyte 555 and essentially taken the transducer from inside and brought it outside the instrument, then coupled this to a plate transfer system so that the plate can now move around over the top of this transducer. The frequency of the transducer has been tuned and the power offset is subtly different from a standard two and a half nanoliter droplet. This enables us to generate a droplet that's much smaller and therefore more straight forward to ionize. It also gives us better signal in the mass spectrometer itself. What is the Echo-MS system and what sampling speeds have you been able to obtain? By coupling the acoustic front end to a standard time of flight or triple quad mass spec, we can achieve throughputs of around three samples per second. When you compare it to the state of the art electrospray system, the RapidFire, which processes samples once every eight to 10 seconds, it gives us a considerable speed advantage. At that sort of throughput, we're able to process more than 100,000 samples per day and half a million samples per week. What level of sample screening do you hope to achieve at these levels? Well so far, within AstraZeneca, we've been able to use this technology even though it is still in its prototype stage to support our high-throughput screening campaigns. Last year we ran a full collection screen, 2.2 million samples, and today we've probably processed around about 5 million samples through the platform. This is something we've never been able to do in the past with a single MS system. Why is this important to drug discovery in general? One of the things that it really enables us to do is to build the assays very quickly. We can get a very fast proof of concept using the mass spec to see whether our enzymes can convert substrates into products. Once we've established that proof of concept, moving from there to having a proper assay fit for high-throughput screening is a relatively quick process. Of course, as I said, costs really come down as well without having to invest in additional label it brings the prices down to a much more affordable level. It's also a very simple process. We simply add the reagents to our plates, and we have the reactions occur, and then the same plate is used to fire samples into the mass detector itself. For example, our last high-throughput screening campaign was probably about 90,000 pounds cheaper than if we had screened using traditional label-based technologies. What are the next steps in the development of this prototype platform? We're still working with prototype systems. I don't even believe they're beta products yet, they're still in the alpha stage. As with any type of research project like this, I think it's probable that we will get significant improvements in sensitivity, which will really add value as we move much more towards a commercial instrument. I think we're still a year to 18 months away from having any kind of commercial offering available, but hopefully we'd like to see it broadly applied in the biochemical screening space. We're now starting to broaden our view to look at other potential application avenues as well. We'll be sharing some data here around cell based assays, which would be a first application with the acoustic mass spec in that area as well. We're very excited about that and hopefully we'll see more applications in the future. Why is Pittcon important in helping you share your research? Pittcon is really important to us because it gives us a really great opportunity to talk to a really broad audience. Pittcon's renowned for being at the forefront of analytical sciences, and acoustic mass spectrometry is just another analytical tool. Being able to come to a conference such as this one, and be able to talk and access such a wide spectrum of scientific excellence, I think is really important for any project. Pittcon - Real World Analytical Chemistry Play About Dr. Jonathan Wingfield Jonathan joined AstraZeneca in 2000, as part of a team responsible for delivering automation solutions and technology into the disease area teams post HTS. He was invited to establish a Lead Generation Automation team within Oncology and this evolved into a centralised biochemical screening team in 2006. The centralised team utilized leading edge technology to deliver high quality data to global projects, this included delivery of acoustic droplet ejection technology. In 2008 the team was awarded the Microsoft Innovation in Pharma award for the innovative development of a LIMS platform. When the Discovery Sciences function was established within AZ, Jonathan moved into a science role supporting biochemical SAR. He remains interested in landing technologies that can add value to the core drug discovery business, one such example is the acoustic mass spectrometry collaboration between Labcyte and AZ. This project won the SLAS Innovation award (2015) and has generated a significant amount of external interest. There has been a confirmed case of Ebola in the Mbandaka city of Congo that has a population of 1.2 million. This is the first urban case in the latest outbreak and is being considered to be one of the most serious ones in recent times. The last major outbreaks have affected people across West Africa between 2014 and 2016. Microscopic view of Ebola Virus. Image Credit: Nixx Photography / Shutterstock Healthcare teams fear that the spread of the infection would be faster in the city compared to the rural areas that they were dealing with up until now. The World Health Organization has a team of healthcare professionals in place to help combat the outbreak. Peter Salama, the WHOs deputy director general of emergency preparedness and response called this confirmed case of Ebola a game changer because it would dramatically increase the speed of spread of the outbreak. The cases before this were all from remote areas that were over 100 miles south of Mbandaka in the Equateur province. All in all, including the urban cases, 14 cases of Ebola have been confirmed according to the reports from the Congo Health Ministry. There were 21 other probable cases and 10 more suspected cases of Ebola. Total potential cases of Ebola are 45 thus and till date, this latest outbreak has killed 25 individuals. According to Salama, this urban case is a major development in the outbreak. We have urban Ebola, which is a very different animal from rural Ebola. The potential for an explosive increase in cases is now there, he said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta is also sending in a team to Congo after the initial assessment of the WHO team is complete and logistical problems are listed out. They would be sending in experts to remote locations as well. CDC epidemiologist Pierre Rollin, an Ebola expert said that the CDC would be sending in teams to be prepared for a long term aid. More than one team is ready to be dispatched he said and each of these would work in shifts of four to six weeks. Ebola has no known cure and no fully effective vaccine. This Wednesday, the WHO has sent in 4,000 injections of an experimental vaccine that has shown promise in the clinical trials. More batches of the injection would be sent in soon. At present the teams of healthcare personnel are trying to look for all the contacts of the infected person to seek out those at risk. These contacts could then be isolated to prevent further transmission of the virus. According to experts unsafe burial of those killed with Ebola is one of the causes of spread of the epidemic as well. The dead body of an individual with virus is capable of infecting all those who come in contact and this is what has been happening in Bikoro at the start of this outbreak say experts from International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Ebola virus disease (EVD) also called Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a viral infection. The virus is transmitted from wild animals to human populations and then spreads via human-to-human contact. This risk of dying with the infection once contracted is one in two or even higher. Prevention of spread is the best way to control an outbreak. This includes isolation and management of the infected case, surveillance for new cases, identification of all contacts of the infected person and isolation and observation of the contacts. Good laboratory services to confirm the cases as well as safe and dignified burials of the infected dead individuals is also of paramount importance says the WHO. Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) professors offer expertise for journalists seeking interviews in a variety of subjects related to Ebola. Topics include infectious disease control and treatment, vaccine development, clinical trials, ethics of human subjects in clinical studies, global public health, the role of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and advantages and limits of health laws. INFECTIOUS DISEASES Jesse L. Goodman, MD, MPH, is professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. A member of the Institute of Medicine, Goodman is trained in infectious diseases and public health. He formerly served as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Chief Scientist and Deputy Commissioner. He worked extensively on emerging infectious diseases at FDA and with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and has served as an advisor to the World Health Organization and others on medical countermeasures and vaccines. Goodman is director of the Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship (COMPASS) at Georgetown and a clinician at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Julie Fischer, PhD, is associate research professor with the department of microbiology and a member of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center. She focuses on research and tools to strengthen global capacities for public health preparedness and response. She has also worked on issues related to medical emergency preparedness, and the consequences of biological, chemical, and radiological exposures during military service. Fisher is a microbiologist by training and an expert in infectious diseases. INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY Tom Vincent, MPA, MPH, is a Global and Infectious Diseases Fellow at the O'Neill Institute. Prior to joining the O'Neill Institute, Tom worked as an epidemiologist, focusing on infectious diseases such as HIV, Lassa, and Ebola. His work has taken him to Sierra Leone and Uganda, where he organized and trained African public health professionals on field epidemiology, Lassa, and other viral hemorrhagic fevers. Vincent can discuss infectious disease epidemiology and global public health. INTERNATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS/GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY Rebecca Katz, PhD, MPH, is director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center. For more than a decade, Katz has worked to help design systems and implement policies to facilitate a coordinated response to potential microbial outbreaks and pandemics in 22 countries -; many low-resourced and developing. She is an expert on the World Health Organization an its International Health Regulations, and can comment on the international response to situtions like Ebola. Claire Standley, PhD, MSc, is an assistant research professor in the Center for Global Health Science and Security. She can address the importance of global frameworks supporting health systems strengthening for public health emergency preparedness and response, and particularly those focused on preventing infectious disease outbreaks. In the context of Ebola, she can speak to her professional experience of supporting public health capacity building during and immediately after the West Africa outbreak (Guinea) and the importance of communication and coordination among multisectoral partners on a national, regional and global level. Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, is faculty director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. He is professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and professor of public health at the Johns Hopkins University. Gostin is a co-director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law and has served on numerous WHO expert advisory committees related to public health and global health security. Gostin serves on the Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola (Harvard University/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and served on the National Academy of Medicine's Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future. Oscar A. Cabrera, Abogado (JD equivalent), LLM, is the executive director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and a visiting professor of Law at Georgetown Law. He is a co-director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. Cabrera has worked on projects with the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, among other organizations. He has studied and is interested in various health law related fields, such as public health law, sexual and reproductive rights, health and human rights, global tobacco litigation and health systems law and policy. Cabrera can comment in English or Spanish on the actions of the WHO and International Health Regulations related to Ebola. John T. Monahan is senior advisor for global health to Georgetown University President John J DeGioia; senior fellow, McCourt School of Public Policy; and senior scholar, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. Monahan served as the special advisor for Global Health Partnerships at the US Department of State (2010-2014) as well as counselor to the secretary and director of global health affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009-2010). While at HHS, Monahan served as the U.S. Government's primary contact with the leadership of the World Health Organization during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and helped coordinate the U.S.-led diplomatic strategy to secure commitments from developed countries for donating influenza vaccines to low-income countries. Monahan can discuss the obligation of WHO and member states to support and respond to disease outbreaks. Source: https://gumc.georgetown.edu/news/SubjectMatterExperts_Ebola Cancer, like so many other overwhelming or life-altering situations, can really stick with a person. For many, the end of treatment is met with a flood of emotions that can make it difficult to get back to normal life. Learning how to recognize and live with a cancer diagnosis is a struggle that can last for years even after being given a clean bill of health. For Penn patient Catherine Hagele, the end of treatment was simply the end of one chapter in her journey, and the beginning of another. At age 50, Catherine led a pretty healthy life, as she always had, so when she found a lump in her breast in February 2017, she was thrown. "I had no family history of cancer. None," she said. "I know cancer can happen to anyone, but it was just never something that was on my radar as a possibility." Catherine, a trainer with Penn's Standardized Patient Program which trains specialists to portray patients in medical situations for the purposes of teaching clinical skills to medical students, residents, fellows and other professionals called her doctor and made an appointment to have the lump checked right away. "I was diagnosed with stage one triple negative breast cancer, and from that moment, I went into survival mode," she said. Through surgery, 16 weeks of chemotherapy, and 4.5 weeks of radiation, Catherine and her husband focused on just getting through treatment. "We just put our heads down, put one foot in front of the other, and did what we had to do to get through it." And then it was over. "Just like that, I was done," she said. Her oncologist, Kevin Fox, MD, director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center at the Abramson Cancer Center, warned her that the next six months could be tough. Trying to re-acclimate to normal, daily life after a cancer diagnosis wasn't the weightless, seeing-life-in-a-whole-new-way kind of experience Catherine had expected. There was anxiety sometimes crushing and stress. Stress affects "your whole biology and cognition in a way that is not helpful. When you really notice it clearly, it stops running the show," Michael Baime, MD, a clinical associate professor of Medicine and director of the Penn Program for Mindfulness, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Even after treatment Catherine was worried about the future, and had a persistent heaviness of all the feelings she hadn't had time to process while she was busy just trying to survive. "You feel so well cared for while you're going through it. Everyone from the parking attendants to your doctors and nurses make you feel supported. But then, you're just done, and you're let loose to go back to your regular life," Catherine said. "Going back to regular life is strange. It's like everything is filtered through the lens of the diagnosis. It's hard not to feel a little bit lost when all the feelings you hadn't had time to acknowledge suddenly hit you all at once." Catherine wanted to celebrate. She was relieved and grateful that her cancer had been caught early and could be treated. She knew it could have been so much worse, but still, her anxiety was overwhelming. That is, until she found a flyer for the Penn Program for Mindfulness in the mix of other support and resource materials she received during her treatment. Catherine had never practiced meditation or mindfulness before, and had never really considered it, either. But, when her father-in-law gave her a generous sum and told her to spend it on something for herself, Catherine thought, "If mindfulness isn't something for yourself, what is?" "I didn't want to use this gift on something like clothes," she said. "My father-in-law said it was for me just me and I wanted to use it on something that would be positive, and would help me be my best self." Catherine signed up for the Mindfulness-based Stress Management Course, part of the Program for Mindfulness which was established by Baime in 1992 and has since trained more than 15,000 people. Stress management, she thought, was exactly what she needed. Still, she was skeptical. Understanding how to deal with all that stress and anxiety seemed like a tall order. When we are stressed, Baime says, our attention becomes hijacked by loops of thoughts that remind us of all the disasters that are in store. "If you could watch your mind, you would find it's ping-ponging all over the place," he said. "But, if you notice how you feel when you are not stressed, the attention is steady and stable and fully present. With a little bit of practice, we can realize that steadiness is part of what we are, and we can connect with it even as everything else is crazy." For eight weeks, Catherine attended group sessions with others who were also dealing with trying times some were working through issues with pain management, going through a divorce, or had been diagnosed with cancer, but most were just looking for more peace in their lives. Though at first she feared the group setting would make it feel more like therapy and the group did in fact share their personal stories and journeys, Catherine said it was "an intensely private experience." The class, she said, started with "baby steps," which included the commitment to practicing mindfulness for 40 minutes every day. "It seemed like a lot at first," she said, adding, "I thought maybe five minutes would be a good challenge." But, as she quickly learned, the course instructors arm participants with tools and exercises to help with practice and learning the basics of being mindful. Baime says the reason people turn to mindfulness is because "it enhances their experience of depth, meaning, and connection in their life." And when it comes to stress, that may be the best antidote around. "On the surface, it seems as though the goal of mindfulness is to calm people and help them cope with difficult circumstances. But in fact, it often works the opposite way, giving them strength and clarity." That was certainly Catherine's experience. Simply learning to acknowledge her feelings, she says, made her feel as though she could do something about them. "I don't know that I'm less stressed, or feel less anxiety," she said. "Mindfulness doesn't take away from what life is stressful, messy, and emotional at times but I have a new confidence and tangible tools to handle it. I learned how much I want to be in the moment that 'is' and not be stuck in the past or worry about the future. I don't want to miss 'now' by being worried about what happened or what will happen." The reason recognizing those feelings is so key to managing them, Baime says, is because when you're upset, anxious, or stressed, your attention accelerates, and your whole being becomes a very active, energized system. But, when you learn to practice mindfulness, you learn to stabilize that attention, giving yourself a chance to see what's really happening and make better choices. The practice of mindfulness, Baime says, is growing exponentially, with studies showing it cuts negative emotions by almost half. For Catherine, who recently signed up for her second eight-week course, the only regret is how her journey could have been changed had she started the class sooner. "I do wonder how it might have changed how I experienced everything if I'd started the class as soon as I was diagnosed," she says. "I'm still me, but it feels like a life change. Cancer is life-changing, but the journey you go through after treatment can be life-changing, too." A new study shows that a kind of E. coli most associated with "travelers' diarrhea" and children in underdeveloped areas of the world causes more severe disease in people with blood type A. The bacteria release a protein that latches onto intestinal cells in people with blood type A, but not blood type O or B, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A vaccine targeting that protein could potentially protect people with type A blood against the deadliest effects of enterotoxigenicE. coli (Escherichia coli) infection. "We think this protein is responsible for this blood-group difference in disease severity," said senior author James Fleckenstein, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Washington University. "A vaccine targeting this protein would potentially protect the individuals at highest risk for severe disease." The study is published May 17 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. The work was conducted in collaboration with investigators at Johns Hopkins University, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Naval Medical Research Center. Enterotoxigenic E. coli are responsible for millions of cases of diarrhea and hundreds of thousands of deaths every year, mainly of young children. It primarily infects people living in or visiting developing countries. Some people infected with the bacterium develop severe, cholera-like, watery diarrhea that can be lethal. Others experience unpleasant symptoms but recover easily, while some don't get sick at all. Enterotoxigenic E. coli are not the cause of the current romaine lettuce-related outbreak. That outbreak involves a different kind of E. coli known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7. Years ago, doctors noted that children naturally infected with enterotoxigenic E. coli in Bangladesh seemed to get sicker if they had blood type A, but the reason for this was never tested. Fleckenstein, instructor in medicine Matthew Kuhlmann, MD, postdoctoral researcher Pardeep Kumar, PhD, and colleagues investigated whether blood type influences disease severity by looking at what happened to people of different blood types who drank a cup of water laced with E. coli. In controlled human infection clinical trials, researchers at Johns Hopkins University gave healthy volunteers a dose of an E. coli strain originally isolated from a person in Bangladesh with severe, cholera-like diarrhea. Then, they observed the volunteers for five days. Those who developed moderate to severe diarrhea were treated with antibiotics. The disease comes on quickly, so anyone who was still healthy at the end of five days was unlikely to get sick later. Nonetheless, any remaining healthy participants also were given antibiotics to clear the bacteria before going home. Kuhlmann and colleagues obtained data and blood samples from 106 people, each of whom participated in one of four such studies. They found that people with blood type A got sick sooner and more seriously than those of other blood types. More than eight out of 10 (81 percent) of blood group A people developed diarrhea that required treatment, as compared with about half of people with blood group B or O. Blood groups are based on the sugars that decorate the surface of red blood cells and other cells. People with group A blood have sugars that are distinct from those present in either B or O blood groups. People with blood group AB carry both A- and B-type sugars on their cells. The researchers found that the bacteria produce a specific protein that sticks to A-type sugars but not B- or O-type sugars on intestinal cells. Since the protein also sticks to E. coli, it effectively fastens the bacteria to the intestinal wall, making it easy for them to deliver diarrhea-causing toxins to intestinal cells. The effect of blood group in people infected with this strain of E. coli was striking and significant, but it doesn't mean people should change their behavior based on blood type, the researchers said. "I don't want anyone to cancel their travel plans to Mexico because they have type A blood," Kuhlmann said. "Or the converse: I don't want anyone to think they're safe because their blood group is not A. There are a lot of different species of bacteria and viruses that can cause diarrhea, so even though this blood-group association is strong, it doesn't change your overall risk. You should continue taking the same precautions whatever your blood type." Basic hygiene washing hands and purifying water is the best protection against diarrheal diseases because it works against all kinds of organisms. But the people who suffer most from diarrhea are small children. For them, and others who don't have reliable access to basic sanitation or clean water, a vaccine could be lifesaving. There are many strains of enterotoxigenic E. coli, and developing a vaccine that protects against all of them has been a challenge because no single protein is found in all strains. To defend against as many strains as possible, scientists are studying dozens of proteins but they still haven't found a way to cover all strains. The protein identified in this study is found in many strains, so adding it to the mix could provide broader protection, especially for people at the highest risk for severe disease. From peer and patient education to addressing treatment side effects and other patient care needs, nurses at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey researched a number of topics with an aim of enhancing the patient experience. Findings from their work are being presented as part of a poster session at the Oncology Nursing Society's Annual Congress being held this week in Washington, D.C. Side effects from cancer treatment are something oncology nurses need to be well-informed of as they usually are the ones to teach patients about what they can expect and how to manage those complications. Dorothy N. Pierce, DNP, NP-C, CRN, CBCN, CLT, an advanced practice nurse in radiation oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute examined best practices for preventing a condition known as vaginal stenosis. This abnormal tightening and shortening of the vagina can be caused by pelvic radiation therapy and/or brachytherapy treatment for uterine, cervical and vaginal cancers. A small sample size from six New Jersey counties consisting of advanced practice nurses, registered nurses and a brachytherapy therapist from radiation oncology programs were surveyed via phone about whether their patients were counseled on various aspects associated with the prevention of vaginal stenosis. Survey results showed inconsistent practices with the dissemination of this information, and advanced practice nurses were underutilized in this delivery. "While not life threatening, vaginal stenosis can affect the physical and psychological well-being, social functioning and quality of life of patients who develop the condition as a result of pelvic radiation treatment," notes Dr. Pierce. "Advanced practice nurses are on the front lines in helping these patients manage this side effect. This survey shows that inconsistencies in the information given to patients and how it is given are items that need to be addressed." Pierce notes that any future study on this topic should include a larger sample size. Rutgers Cancer Institute nurses also examined two patient-centered care approaches to palliative care and found a need to align these approaches. Investigators note such standardization could help clinical providers increase guideline-based interventions as well as educate families about the benefits of palliative care services. Spiritual well-being also was explored by Rutgers Cancer Institute nurses, as they identified a need to improve assessment and documentation with patients. Nurses implemented a mandatory online education course on the topic with an aim of teaching healthcare team members how to better address and assess spiritual needs. An evaluation of the course showed an increased level of comfort and knowledge of this subject. Nurses implemented an existing pocket card tool for assessment and modified electronic nursing documents to better capture spirituality assessment. Investigators say that use of a combination of these tools can be adapted by all nurses nationally to help improve patient outcomes. A reinstitution of a nursing preceptor course was developed and examined, and enhancement of nursing recruitment and retention through expansion of interviewing, mentoring and onboarding/orientation procedures also were explored. "Oncology nurses are at the forefront of providing quality care to meet patient and family needs ranging from physical, psychosocial and spiritual. They are dedicated to not only being fully educated on practice guidelines but also to improving and implementing them. The comprehensive projects our nurses conduct in all of these areas is vital to clinical practice and helping patients have the best outcomes possible," notes Rutgers Cancer Institute Chief Nursing Officer Janet Gordils-Perez, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, AOCNP. Source: http://cinj.org/aiming-improve-oncology-patient-outcomes-through-nursing-research Water pitchers designed to rid water of harmful contaminants are not created equal, new research has found. Scientists from The Ohio State University compared three popular pitcher brands' ability to clear dangerous microcystins from tap water. They found that while one did an excellent job, other pitchers allowed the toxins - which appear during harmful algal blooms (HABs) - to escape the filter and drop into the drinking water. The purifier that filtered water fastest, and which was made entirely of coconut-based activated carbon, removed 50 percent or less of the microcystins from the water. But the purifier that filtered water slowest - and which was made from a blend of active carbon - rendered the microcystins undetectable in drinking water. The study appears in the journal Water Science Technology: Water Supply. "Because drinking-water treatment plants also use activated carbon, I figured that these home filters might also remove some microcystins, but I wasn't expecting results this good and such big differences among the pitchers," said Justin Chaffin, the study's lead author and a senior researcher and research coordinator at Ohio State's Stone Laboratory. Stone Lab is located on Lake Erie and serves as a hub for researchers throughout the Midwest working on issues facing the Great Lakes. Toxin-producing harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become a global threat to drinking water. Microcystins are among the most common toxins that arise from these cyanobacterial blooms, posing a significant risk to animal and human health. Adverse reactions to the toxins can range from a mild skin rash to serious illness or death as a result of damage to the liver or kidneys. In Ohio, microcystins in Toledo's water supply left more than 400,000 residents without tap water for several days in 2014. "Since then, many residents drink bottled water and others rely on these filtration pitchers as backup, in case the water treatment plants miss a return of the microcystins," Chaffin said. No such threats to the water have been detected since the 2014 incident, he said. "At public events, residents kept asking me 'Does my water pitcher remove microcystins?' and my answer was always, 'I don't know,'" Chaffin said. So he designed a study to answer the question. The researchers do not name the brands in the study, but they are commonly found in retail outlets and ranged in price from about $15 to about $50, Chaffin said. Interested consumers can compare the study findings to the features of an individual pitcher to inform their purchasing decisions, he suggested. "In general, the cheaper the pitcher, the worse job it did filtering out the toxins," Chaffin said. Chaffin and his collaborators used contaminated Lake Erie water, which they diluted to various concentrations of microcystins, and then ran through three common pitchers designed to purify water. Consistently, slow filtration and a combination of different types of activated carbon proved most helpful. The idea behind the pitchers is that the activated carbon in the filter "grabs" bad things from the tap water as they bind to the carbon molecules. When water with a microcystin concentration of 3.3 micrograms per liter was run through the three filters, its concentration dipped in all cases, but was only undetectable in one pitcher - the slowest-filtering model. The researchers chose that concentration to mimic the concentration reported during the 2014 do-not-drink advisory in Toledo. "Contact time really seems to matter. If you run the water through really fast, the microcystins and other organic molecules don't have time to bind to the carbon molecule and stick to the filter," Chaffin said. Contact time varied from a little more than two minutes per liter (for the worst-performing pitcher) to more than six minutes per liter (for the best). The middle-of-the-road pitcher filtered water at a rate of almost four minutes per liter. The two most-effective pitchers had filters made of a blend of activated carbon sources. The least-effective pitcher's filter was made entirely of coconut-based active carbon. The research team also tested whether the microcystins stayed put on expired filters by running ultra-clean deionized water through the purifier. "We didn't find the microcystins in that filtered water at all, so there's a pretty good chance that what's being removed is stuck to the filter for good," Chaffin said. That said, he suggested that these purifying pitchers be viewed as a safety net for those who are worried about microcystins going undetected at the drinking-water treatment plants - not in cases where there's been a warning and people have been told to stick to bottled water. "But when there isn't a warning, these filters are much cheaper and better for the environment in the long run than bottled water. You aren't creating mountains of empty bottles," Chaffin said. Volvo Cars will remove single-use plastics from all its offices, canteens and events across the globe by the end of 2019. The decision reflects the companys active support of the UN Environment Clean Seas campaign, and underlines its ambition to minimise its global environmental footprint. The premium car maker will replace over 20 million single-use plastic items such as cups, food containers and cutlery with more sustainable alternatives, including biodegradable products made of paper, pulp and wood. This equates to the removal of over 500 plastic items per employee per year. The switch will be implemented incrementally. By the end of 2018, single-use plastics will be removed from global events such as car launches, as well as from all offices and restaurants in Volvo Cars facilities in China, Belgium, the United States, Sweden and Malaysia. Also Read: Toyota Yaris Sedan Officially Launched in India for Rs 8.75 Lakh During 2019, all national sales companies (NSCs) will eradicate single-use plastics from their operations, including local events. Action from the private sector is key to making progress in the fight against plastic pollution and raising awareness. We cannot wait for a binding legislative agreement, said Lisa Emelia Svensson, Director of Ocean at UN Environment. In the next 10 to 15 years global plastic production is projected to nearly double, parts of which will end up in oceans if we do not change today. We welcome Volvo Cars saying no to single-use plastics and its great to see it leading by example. Volvo Cars estimates that the 2018 roll-out alone will result in the replacement of more than 140 tonnes of single-use plastic items with plastic-free alternatives. Plastics pollution is one of the great environmental challenges of our time, said Stuart Templar, Director for Sustainability at Volvo Cars. We take our responsibility seriously. We must play our part in helping tackle this global problem. The companys action on single-use plastics follows its EUR 300,000 support for the Volvo Ocean Races Science Programme. Several of the boats in the 2018-19 edition of the Race are equipped with sensors that are capturing data on marine health from some of the remotest parts of the worlds oceans, including levels of micro plastics. Don't Forget to Subscribe to the 'Tech And Auto Show' YouTube Channel Sales of the V90 Cross Country Volvo Ocean Race special edition vehicles have contributed to this support. Meanwhile, the car itself contains carpet inlays made from Econyl, a fabric made from 100 per cent recycled nylon, including abandoned fishing nets reclaimed from the seabed. Volvo Cars is committed to reducing the environmental impact of both its products and operations. In 2017, the company announced an industry-leading commitment to electrify all new Volvo cars launched after 2019. Last month, Volvo Cars reinforced this strategy, by stating that it aims for fully electric cars to make up 50 percent of its global sales by 2025. In terms of operations, Volvo Cars aims to have climate-neutral manufacturing operations by 2025. In January this year, the engine plant in Skovde, Sweden, became its first climate-neutral facility. New Delhi: The billion dollar Walmart-Flipkart deal was overpriced with a justification of high growth prospects, according to multiple market experts. They believe the acquisition may be a green signal for more global giants to foray into the Indian startup space. It seems that the valuation Walmart has given to Flipkart is on the higher side, which affected adversely the market cap of Walmart in the US market showing a decline in market cap of close to around 10 million dollars on that particular day. Its seems that from the US capital market perception it was an overpriced valuation, said Ashwajit Singh, Managing Director of IPE Global US giant Walmart Inc on May 9 said it is buying 77 percent stake in Flipkart for about USD 16 billion (Rs 1.05 lakh crore), its biggest deal which will give the retailer access to Indian e-commerce market that is estimated to grow to USD 200 billion within a decade. The deal, wherein co-founder Sachin Bansal and Japans Softbank Corp Group are exiting, values Flipkart at USD 20.8 billion. It is the biggest M&A deal in India this year. From the Indian point of view, what is good is that the trickle-down effect of this positive investment would have an impact on other industries as well. We saw that 15-20 years ago major investment was made into China, including acquisitions at good valuation. The same feel good factor seen in China as a fast growing economy now seems to be moving towards the Indian economy and Indian businesses, added Singh Multiple headhunters informed News18 that they are witnessing a lot of traction, including at leadership levels, to get back to this sector. This includes professionals from FMCG and other traditional sectors, those who had retracted. Employee stock option plan buyback is gaining prominence as well. Flipkart employees have been informed that the company will repurchase up to 30% of stock options vested with former employees at a price ranging from $125-129. I do not know the exact details of how they are offering the ESOPs. However, ESOPs which are normally used to retain employees are vested over a 3-4 year period to the employees and can be encashed within a year of the company going public. These could be encashed in case of a secondary market sale as well, Singh told News18. Walmarts investment includes USD 2 billion of new equity funding, which will help Flipkart accelerate growth in the future. They are also in discussions with additional potential investors who may join the round, which could result in Walmarts investment stake moving lower after the transaction is complete. We could expect high valuations in a growing economy like India. Since Walmart is not looking at immediate returns, we will not get to know in the next 10-15 years whether the valuation paid off. So, from our end, we are hoping to see a good experience for Walmart, said Singh. The deal would bring over 175 million users to Walmart, which has been eyeing the Indian market for a few years. So far it had been handicapped by Indias retail policy that does not allow overseas companies to sell directly to consumers (except in wholesale cash-and-carry segment). Companies like Flipkart and Amazon operate as e-commerce marketplaces a segment that allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI). Walmart runs 21 Best Price wholesale stores in the country that sell everything from fast-moving consumer goods to furniture to other retailers and institutions. It could potentially use those Best Price stores as pickup and delivery points. India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world, given its size and growth rate, and our investment is an opportunity to partner with the company that is leading the transformation of eCommerce in the market, said Doug McMillon, Walmarts president and chief executive officer. Amazon was also said to have put in an aggressive offer to buy 60 percent of Flipkart but the board of the Indian firm is said to have favoured the Walmart offer. Launched in 2007 and envisioned as the Amazon of India before the latter came to India, Flipkart owns country's largest online fashion retailers Myntra and Jabong both of which it had acquired. Together, Flipkart-Myntra-Jabong hold 70 per cent market share of the online fashion business in India. It also owns eBays India business as well as popular mobile payments app, PhonePe. New Delhi: The Income Tax Department (ITD) on Friday cautioned TDS deductors to adhere to the stipulated deadline of May 31 for filing their statements failing which they would invite a penalty of Rs 200 for each day of default. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), that frames policy for the department, issued an advertisement in leading national dailies in this context. It said: Attention tax deductors. The last date to file Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) statement for the January-March quarter is May 31. "For delay in filing TDS statement, you pay a fine of Rs 200 for each day of default," the advertisement cautioned. It added that the deductors who have deducted the tax and have not deposited the same by the due date must do so "immediately" and that all deductors must register themselves at the official website of the ITD meant for this job--https://www.tdscpc.gov.in. The ITD ad also advised the deductors to correctly quote their TAN (tax deduction account number) and also the permanent account number (PAN) of the deductees so that they get their "due tax credit." "Non quoting of PAN or TAN in TDS statement may lead to levy of penalty," it said. If there is no transaction liable to TDS/TCS (tax collected at source) to report for the quarter, do intimate the same at TRACES portal (the website mentioned above) using 'declaration for non filing' functionality, to avoid notice for non-filing of TDS statement. As per income tax rules, TDS is to be deducted by the deductor (employer) from the salary of the employee and has to be filed every quarter or in three months time with the tax department. AB de Villiers is a sight to behold when he is on the field. On Thursday, the South African lit up the Chinnaswamy Stadium during a thrilling match with a blinder of a catch to dismiss the Englishman Alex Hales of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 8th over during their chase of 219. The stunning catch was taken in the second innings when Alex Hales stepped out and tried to smash Moeen Ali out of the park. Unfortunately for him, "Spider-Man" AB de Villiers was stationed at deep mid-wicket who leaped and was airborne as he caught the ball with only his right hand to complete a sensational catch and dismiss the opener for 37. Skipper Virat Kohli was all praises of him. After the match, Kohli said, That was spiderman stuff (about ABDs catch). You dont do that as normal human beings. I thought it was going for a six but he pulled it off. He can do freakish things but I am used to it now. His fielding I am pretty used to now. Need to thank the crowd as it is our last home game. What followed next were memes. Tons of them. This is how Ab De Villiers saves RCB in IPL #RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/DnXIi5pL13 Rishabh Srivastava (@AskRishabh) May 17, 2018 You could dream about taking the craziest catch, but it won't beat the reality that @ABdeVilliers17 just showed us #RCBvSRH Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 17, 2018 AB Devilliers can catch anything, even Dawood. Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) May 17, 2018 You vs the guy she told you not to worry about. pic.twitter.com/VKAnqn4C8W Rishabh (@jokebazz) May 17, 2018 The floor is mediocrityAb De Villiers : pic.twitter.com/ciFqIXJaSJ Bollywood Gandu (@BollywoodGandu) May 17, 2018 Thanos ko yahi maarega Avengers Infinity wars 2 mein #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/k7xKfsyzDI Sunil- The Cricketer (@1sInto2s) May 17, 2018 Just a flying ABD in unusual places.#RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/YogAn8xLgU East India Comedy (@EastIndiaComedy) May 17, 2018 Just a flying ABD in unusual places.#RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/B6KazP6OXN East India Comedy (@EastIndiaComedy) May 17, 2018 Hey @BCCI ! Please just give the IPL trophy to AB De Villiers for this catch !! The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) May 17, 2018 New Delhi: The central government may have approved the ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir during Ramzan, but the move cant be an end in itself. Speaking to News18 former commanding-in-chief of the Northern Command, Lt Gen (retd) DS Hooda said that ceasefire is a huge confidence building measure that the government has taken, but needs to be carried forward. Killing Terrorists Alone Cant Be Measured As Success The purpose of suspending operations must be clear. If it is to allow local recruits to surrender during the ceasefire. What after that? There has to be a proper rehabilitation process and other attempts made at ensuring that he integrates well into society, Lt Gen Hooda said, adding that various issues plague the state, including unemployment, rising radicalisation and others. If the ceasefire is part of a larger plan, then it has chances at being successful. It should be part of a series of confidence building measures. If its a standalone suspension of operations, it may not make significant difference, he told News18, adding that over the years, violence had increased in the Valley. We might gauge our success by saying that we have neutralised more terrorists. But fact remains that violence has gone up too. One always hears that the situation is not as bad as it was in 2000. True. But start from 2012-13, situation in Jammu & Kashmir has only deteriorated. We are losing more civilian lives. We are still unable to hold an election in Anantnag, he said. According to data available with South Asia Terrorism Portal, around 760 people have died in J&K since 2016 the year Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter. Though some of these fatalities have occurred in border areas and some have been reported from Jammu, but most of these deaths have happened in encounters in Kashmir. The recruitment of local boys among the terror groups has increased. One person is picking up gun every third day suggesting that only military engagement may not work in Kashmir. An anti-government narrative is being propagated in the state. How do you fight this narratives? Neutralising terrorists cant be the only way to gauge success; there are many other factors that need to be looked radicalisation, divide between Jammu and Kashmir, development, youth angst etc, he said. Brunt of Ceasefire Will Fall On Army There will be challenges for the Army. Yes, political decisions do take precedence but the brunt of the decision will fall on the Army which is operating on ground, he added. The former commander, under whom India carried out the surgical strikes against Pakistan in 2016, further said that it was important for the ceasefire decision to lay out what all the Army can do. The ceasefire will be one-sided. I dont see any terrorist outfit accepting the ceasefire from their end. So dealing with that is going to be a major challenge, he said. Indeed, Laskar-e-Taiba, in an email to a Kashmiri news agency, rejected the ceasefire and called it a drama. Later on Thursday, Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, the Al-Qaeda cell in Kashmir, also took to their handle on a messaging application and released a video, allegedly from deputy Rehan Khan, advocating jihad in a way similar to doing namaaz. I think the message of the ceasefire is more for the local people in the state than it for the militants who are unlikely to respond, said the former Northern Commander. Is there any difference in the ceasefire in the manner in which the Army engages a local terrorist and a foreign terrorist? he explained, adding that the Army has to protect their convoys, forces, conduct area domination and ensure there is no infiltration from the borders. With ceasefire, it will undoubtedly make the job of the Army more complicated, he said. Just a week after Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti proposed the idea of a unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir during Ramzan, the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday gave its approval, but the army has insisted that it is not a blanket ban. Its a good thing if it helps in reducing violence but the ceasefire cannot be an end in itself, Lt Gen Hooda said. Quito, Ecuador: Ecuador announced Thursday it would withdraw additional security measures at its London embassy after an investigation found it plunged $5 million into a spy operation to protect WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The move, ordered by President Lenin Moreno, came after The Guardian newspaper and Focus Ecuador revealed the previous administration of Rafael Correa funded the operation that involved monitoring Assange's visitors, embassy personnel and the British police. In March, Ecuador cut off Assange's ability to communicate with the outside world after he broke a 2017 promise to not interfere in other countries' affairs while in the mission. Assange, 46, sought refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations, which he denies. Assange claims the accusations were politically motivated and could lead to his being extradited to the United States to face imprisonment over WikiLeaks' publication of secret US military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010. Swedish authorities dropped their investigations last year, but British authorities still want to arrest him for breaching bail conditions. New Delhi: As the Congress rejoices in the Supreme Court order for floor test on Saturday, the party has another issue to fend. Congress MLA BS Anand Singh is now missing. Singh, who had joined the Congress in January earlier this year, was with the BJP before this. Now that he has gone incommunicado, speculations are rife that Singh has gone back to the BJP, which is trying to shore up its numbers ahead of the confidence motion. He was also supposedly missing from the legislative party meeting on Thursday. Congress MP DK Suresh has categorically stated that Singh, who was the state tourism minister in the BJP government when they ruled during 2008-13, is in the clutches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His statement was backed by JD(S) chief HD Kumaraswamy who said that BJP was threatening MLAs. Singh is a former Karnataka minister and a two-time MLA from Vijayanagar in Ballari. Singh left BJP, barely months before the election, saying that the BJP was one unit that constantly squabbled. The Congress backed him up saying that the BJP had no place for secular values. Anand is one of the richest politicians in Karnataka, with his business interests spanning from mining to trade to hospitality. His ambit is further extended to the media as editor of Ananda Karnataka Daily. The former minister was arrested in 2013 for the illegal mining scam that tainted the then BJP government. He was granted conditional bail in early 2015, but was arrested again the same year for illegally transporting iron ore. Other cases against him include rioting, murder, and criminal intimidation. New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium has favoured "further deliberation" and "broad-based consideration" of names of Chief Justices of various high courts before sending its decision reiterating the elevation of Uttarakhand Chief Justice K M Joseph as a judge of the top court. The resolution of the May 16 collegium meeting, uploaded on the apex court website on Friday, stated that there was need for deliberation on bringing the judges from the high courts, which are not represented, to the Supreme Court. "Today (May 16), in the meeting of the Collegium, a unanimous view was expressed that there should be further deliberation and broad-based consideration of the names of the Chief Justices as well as Judges of the High Courts which are at present not represented in the Supreme Court. "In view of the above, the meeting stands deferred to be held at the earliest," the resolution said. Official sources on May 16 had said that the Collegium comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and four senior most judges Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, deliberated for more than an hour. This meeting was the second in five days. Friday was the last working day of Justice Chelameswar, who retires on June 22, as the court's summer vacation starts from Saturday. At its previous meeting on May 11, the Collegium had agreed in principle to reiterate its recommendation for elevating Justice Joseph as a judge of the apex court, almost three weeks after it was returned by the Centre, but could not decide on a date. It had then adopted a resolution which also stated that there was a need for further discussion on the issue of sending the other names of judges to the Centre. "The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court (Parent High Court: Kerala)as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. "However, the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required," the resolution of May 11 had said. It had also decided to consider the names of other High Court Judges for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court. Official sources said those high court judges who are in the race to be elevated to the apex court are Chief Justice of Madras High Court Indira Banerjee, who is originally from the Calcutta HC, Gujarat HC Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy, whose parent cadre is Telangana and Andhra Pradesh HC, and Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, who is originally from Rajasthan HC. The government had on April 26 returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. It had also questioned his seniority for elevation as a judge of the apex court. The Collegium has recommended the name of Additional Judge Justice Ramchandra Singh Jhala to be appointed as a permanent judge of the Rajasthan High Court. "... the Collegium resolves to recommend, for the present, that Justice Ramchandra Singh Jhala, Additional Judge be appointed as Permanent Judge of the Rajasthan High Court against one of the existing vacancies," its resolution had said. The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) also known as Board of School Education Haryana BSEH declared the HBSE Result 2018, HBSE 12th Result 2018 today at 3 pm, according to reports. The Haryana Board of Secondary Education (HBSE) declared the HBSE Result 2018, HBSE 12th result 2018 released on the official website bseh.org.in. The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) also know as Board of School Education Haryana BSEH officially conducts the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) Class 12 exams 2018 from March 7 to April 3. Students who have appeared for the HBSE Board 12th examination can check their HBSE 12th result 2018 on examresults.net/haryana, indiaresult.com How to check HBSE Result 2018, HBSE 12th Result 2018: Step 1: Click on the official website bseh.org.in Step 2: Look for Haryana Board Results 2018, HBSE 12th Result 2018 tab Step 3: Click on the tab which says HBSE Results 2018, Haryana board 12th Class Result 2018, Step 4: Enter your roll number Step 5: Download your HBSE 12th Result 2018, Haryana board 12th Class Result, HBSE Board 12th Result 2018 Students can check their HBSE Result 2018, HBSE 12th Result via SMS Get Haryana Board Class 12 Results 2018 via SMS To check BSEH Class 12th 2018 result: SMS - HB12 ROLLNUMBER - Send it to 56263 As many as 2,24,000 students have reportedly appeared in the HBSE 12th Examinations 2018 conducted in March. Apart from the regular students, another 77,000 students from the Open school have also appeared in the examination. Mangu Chak (Jammu district): Hundreds of angry residents of hamlets along the border on Friday protested after four civilians were killed and 12 injured in heavy Pakistan mortar shelling, demanding stern action against the neighbouring country for targeting innocent people. The border dwellers carried two of the bodies to Mangu Chak, a Ranbir Singh Pura sector town, and raised anti-Pakistan slogans as fear and anger gripped the hamlets. They said Pakistan should be taught a lesson so that it stops targeting civilian villages. The shelling and firing by Pakistani troops along the international border comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. The protesters also accused the Mehbooba Mufti government of failure to provide ambulances to save lives. The shelling started early friday morning and a mortar hit the compound wall of 52-year old Tarseem Lal's house in a Mangu Chak village, severely injuring him and his 45-year-old wife Manjeet. They died in hospital. The blood stains had dried up but the house, which had splinter holes and broken windows, bore a mute testimony to the death and destruction caused by Pakistani shelling. Another hamlet in Treva in the Arnia sector was hit and two villagers- Sat Paul (60) and Jag Mohan (45) - were killed when shells exploded in their houses. Villages in R S Pura, Suchetgarh and Bishnah sectors also came under fire. Twenty-eight-year-old BSF constable Sitaram Upadhyaya was also killed in the firing. The shelling was very heavy and several bullet-proof vehicles were pressed into services to evacuate people to safer places, officials said. "Tarseem Lal and Manjeet had just begun their daily chores when a shell hit their compound wall at around 8 am resulting in their death," Surinder Singh, a villager, told PTI. What can the village people do? We are there for their target practice. The villagers preferred to leave their houses and move to the safer places, he said. Another villager Devi Dass accused the authorities of failure to reach out to the affected people and said border dwellers carried the injured couple on cots for first aid and then by a tractor trolley to hospital. Had we got an ambulance and taken the couple to a hospital in time, they may have been saved. Where is the administration? Where are the ministers? They come to us only to seek votes, he said. Amid the protest that caused a traffic jam here, Kulwant Singh, a kin of an injured, said 10-15 mortar shells landed in the village in a period of 30 minutes, resulting in death and devastation. The protestors demanded that the Centre should take a stern action against Pakistan so that it does not dare again to target innocent civilians in the border villages. Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, Health Minister Devender Manyal, who is an MLA from Samba area, Housing Minister Sat Sharma and state BJP chief Ravinder Raina visited the Government Medical College Hospital where the 12 injured persons were being treated. Two of them were in a critical condition. Jammu Inspector General of Police S D Singh said camps were being activated to house the people who were being evacuated from the border hamlets. New Delhi: Madhuri Gupta, an Indian diplomat who had been posted at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, was convicted by a Delhi court on Friday for spying for Pakistans ISI and passing on sensitive, official information regarding India to them. According to some emails sent by the diplomat, accessed by CNN-News18, Gupta had fallen in love with an ISI agent by the name of Jamshed and had been in contact with him. Additional Sessions Judge Siddharth Sharma held Gupta guilty and convicted her under section 3(1)(c) part 1 (punishable up to a period of 3 years imprisonment) and section 5 of the Officials Secrets Act read with 120 B of the Indian Penal Code. The arguments on the quantum of sentence will be heard on Saturday. Back in 2010, when 'spy' Madhuri came under the scanner in Islamabad for espionage, she was called back to Delhi where she had admitted to have committed the crime. The Delhi Police Special Cell had registered an FIR against her and arrested her on 22nd April, 2010. After eight years, the Delhi court convicted her. While posted in Islamabad, Gupta had come in touch with ISI agents Mubshar Raza Rana and Jamshed through a Javed Rashid, a journalist working with Jang newspaper in Pakistan. On Gupta's interrogation, it was revealed that in the month of March, 2010, ISI agent Mubashar Raza Rana informed her that 310 "hydro-electric power projects" were proposed to be installed in Jammu and Kashmir till 2020 and Rana directed her to arrange the 'planning report' or 'Annual Plan of J and K 2010'. Gupta had accordingly, made a clandestine visit to J&K in this regard on the pretext of being on a holiday. Gupta had also passed on information regarding various postings of officers in the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Indian Army and the High Commission of India along with their family particulars, which could have caused danger to the life and security of said officers and their families. The other documents passed also included strategic plans by the India government on issues such as terrorism, Kashmir and India's engagement in Afghanistan. The documents were sometimes transferred via personal meetings, but mostly by email from Guptas computer and Blackberry phone. Gupta had been given a special email ID created for the purpose by the ISI agents, who also had a separate ID to receive communication from her. The Nagaland Board of Secondary Education has put out the NBSE Result 2018, Nagaland HSSLC Result 2018 and Nagaland HSLC Result 2018 on May 18 (today) at 12:00 noon. The NBSE Nagaland Board of Secondary Education released the Nagaland HSSLC Result 2018, Nagaland HSLC Result 2018 on the official website nbsenagaland.com. The Nagaland Board of Secondary Education officially conducted the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) Class 10 examination from March 9-March 21 and High Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) Class 12 exams from March 8-March 29. Students can check Nagaland HSSLC Result 2018, Nagaland Class 10th result 2018, NBSE HSLC Result 2018, Nagaland Class 12th result 2018 on examresults.net/nagaland, india results Nagaland Results for Class X Total Number of Students: 22147 Total Number of Students Appeared for Exam: 21715 Total Number of Girls: 11,278 Total Number of Boys: 10869 Total Number of Government School Students: 5798 Total Number of Private School Students: 16349 Total Number of Repeat Students: 2843 Overall Pass Percentage: 66.01% Total Number of Students Passed: 14335 Toppers: 1. VIVOTSONUO SORHIE: 98.33% 2. SHERRY JINDAL and RAJ PAUL: 97.83% 3. LEISHEMBI NG LYTING: 97.50% Nagaland Results for Class XII (Arts) Total Number of Students Appeared for Exam: 11339 Total Number of Girls: 6108 Total Number of Boys: 5231 Total Number of Government School Students: 3262 Total Number of Private School Students: 7598 Total Number of Repeat Students: 1589 Overall Pass Percentage: 73.42% Total Number of Students Passed: 8325 Toppers: 1. BENRITHUNG L JUNGIO and CYNTHIA ZEUZEULE: 91.40% 2. VIKEDONO SEYIE: 90.60% 3. MHASILENUO MECHULHO and VISAKHONUO KULNU: 90.40% Nagaland Results for Class XII (Commerce) Total Number of Students Appeared for Exam: 1360 Total Number of Girls: 486 Total Number of Boys: 874 Total Number of Government School Students: 129 Total Number of Private School Students: 1078 Total Number of Repeat Students: 191 Overall Pass Percentage: 73.75% Total Number of Students Passed: 1003 Toppers: 1. MARINA YASHMIN: 97.20% 2. DRISTI ROY, REHA DAS, SHOURMISTA ROY: 94.40% 3. SUPRIYA DEY: 93.60% Nagaland Results for Class XII (Science) Total Number of Students Appeared for Exam: 2582 Total Number of Girls: 1280 Total Number of Boys: 1419 Total Number of Government School Students: 484 Total Number of Private School Students: 1910 Total Number of Repeat Students: 263 Overall Pass Percentage: 84.39% Total Number of Students Passed: 2179 Toppers: 1. VIRIENUO EMILIA SOLO: 91.60% 2. ABHISHEK ANAND: 91.00% 3. KUNAL GUPTA: 90.20% How to check NBSE Result 2018, NBSE HSSLC Result 2018: Step 1: Click on the official website nbsenagaland.com. Step 2: Look for the tab which says Nagaland HSSLC Result 2018, Nagaland HSLC Result 2018 Step 3: Click on the site which says Nagaland Class 12th Result 2018, Nagaland Class 10 Result 2018 Step 4: Enter your roll number Step 5: Download the NBSE Result 2018 for future reference Students can check their NBSE HSSLC Result 2018, NBSE HSLC Result 2018 via SMS Get Nagaland Board Class 10 and 12 Results 2018 via SMS Lucknow: A nine-year-old girl died on Thursday after being mauled by dogs in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, despite the precautionary drone-night vision measures taken by the administration to check the menace. The death toll has now reached 14 since May 1. The girl, who has been identified as Sonam, was a resident of Khairampur. The incident took place when the victim, who was accompanied by a friend, was attacked on the neck by feral dogs after failing to climb up a tree to save herself. She was rushed to a district hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Last week, CM Yogi Adityanath had instructed his administration to keep a tab on stray dogs. The CM visited the families of the deceased children and announced ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh for the victims' kin. So far 35 stray dogs have been caught and many more sterilised and freed into jungles by the administration. Enraged residents of Sitapur have now started hunting down canines on their own. Few days ago, when a 10-year-old was attacked, the infuriated villagers killed two stray dogs, the bodies of which have now been sent to Bareilly by Indian Veterinary Research Institute team for investigation. Betul: Announcing a zero-tolerance policy, Union minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday said he would put contractors beneath bulldozers if he finds anomalies in the construction of roads. Gadkari, who was attending an event in Betul alongside Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, asked the people of MP to cross check the quality of roads being built. Whichever contractors are building roads here never come to New Delhi and not a single rupee could be attributed to corruption in the road construction, claimed the union minister. I have already told contractors I would put them under bulldozers if any corruption is found in road-making. The minister further claimed that there was no dearth of funds in the country, only technology and proper working in the right direction was needed. Addressing the media. Gadkari said that he had repeatedly proved his non-belief in mere talking. A lot of people talked about extirpating poverty in the country but nothing happened. Political parties made people fight over caste and religion but PM Narendra Modi and our government is not working on the basis of religion, said the former BJP chief adding that they are working for the poor. We will make sure farmers prosper and youth find employment, he said. Crumbling roads, along with scarcity of electricity and water (Sadak, Bijli, Paani) had played a pivotal role in the ouster of the Digvijaya Singh-led Congress government from power in 2003. However, the state government is having sleepless nights after reports of potholes filled roads hogged the limelight in the last one year. Following desperate pleas from CM Shivraj, Gadkari has in the past released special funds for improvement of roads in Madhya Pradesh. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Mallorca...and now Amsterdam. City officials in the Dutch capital are the latest to curtail Airbnb activities, in response to overcrowding and overtourism that are causing widespread disgruntlement among the locals. A coalition of government officials are talking tough this week against the short-term vacation rental site, which is being blamed in cities around the world for driving up rents and housing costs, at the expense of locals. After capping the number of days hosts can rent out their apartments to 30 days a year back in January, city officials propose banning the service outright in the busiest -- and most touristy -- areas of Amsterdam, reports local newspaper Het Parool. Residents in the city have long been complaining about the "Disneyfication" of their city with the number of souvenir stores, bike rentals and waffle shops popping up throughout town for the benefit of tourists. The growing unrest led the city to ban the opening of new tourist-centered shops in 40 streets in the city center last year. Other measures proposed this week include moving points of boarding and disembarkation for canal cruises outside the city center to reduce traffic, and scrapping plans to build a new port for cruise ships. Likewise, tourists could pay a little more for their Amsterdam holiday, with proposals to increase the tourist tax from six to seven percent. Not since 1970 have two Arab films been in the running for the Palme d'Or top prize and female Arab directors are particularly making a splash this year. Lebanese film-maker Nadine Labaki's highly-anticipated third film Capernaum -- about a 12-year-old boy with an ax to grind about being born into a miserable, loveless existence -- racked up a string of distribution deals ahead of its premiere late Thursday. And two first-time female directors made impressive debuts with films about suffocating social conventions in Syria and Morocco. But while the #MeToo movement continued to make waves, with several Hollywood actresses ditching frilly frocks for pants for their photo shoots, Arab film-makers appeared more concerned with social alienation. Labaki, who set her first film Caramel in a Beirut beauty parlour, zooms in on neglected children and migrants in Capernaum, which has drawn comparisons with Charlie Chaplin's story of a street boy, The Kid. Labaki said she found the idea staring her in the face one night when she was driving home from a party. "I stopped at a traffic light and saw a child half-asleep in the arms of his mother, who was sitting on the tarmac begging," she said, adding that the encounter spurred her to use a mostly hard-up, amateur cast including a Syrian refugee child for the lead role. Going toe-to-toe with her and the likes of Spike Lee for the Palme d'Or -- won only twice in 70 years by Arab directors -- is A.B. Shawky, with his feel-good first feature about an Egyptian leper and his orphan friend, also played by amateurs. A year after the award-winning The Nile Hilton Incident, a noire-ish tale of murder and corruption set during the 2011 revolution in Cairo, Yomeddine serves up less political fare. "What I really want to do is highlight marginalised groups. I wanted to give a voice to people who don't necessarily have anybody to speak for them," said Austrian-Egyptian writer-director Shakwy. Similarly, the Moroccan entry about an unmarried woman threatened with jail for falling pregnant is actually more preoccupied with class divisions. The film shows a middle-class, 20-year-old from a Casablanca family scrambling to avoid bringing shame on her family after an unwanted pregnancy. The real victim in the affair, however, is not the one left holding the baby. "I found that the debate about the condition of women in the Arab world was being reduced to the issue of patriarchy and chauvinism, which to me falls short of the mark," director Meryem Benm'Barek told AFP, adding, "Whether you are a man or a woman, what determines whether or not you are a victim is your social status," she said. Tunisia director Mohamed Ben Attia's Dear Son, about a father trying to trace his son who has run away to join the Islamic State group, is also more family drama than a political broadside. The birthplace of the Arab Spring, which has been mired in economic crisis ever since, is estimated to have supplied more jihadists in Syria than any other country. Ben Attia, who won acclaim with Hedi, about a young man torn between duty and passion in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution, tries to tease out the malaise behind the lure of IS for disaffected Muslim youths. Like Labaki, Shawky and Benm'Barek, he believes the story could be transposed to many parts of the globe. "There is a sort of misery, not only spiritual but emotional, not so much a thirst for ideology as a desire to walk away from this lifestyle... and all the values that are foisted on us. They could be living in Paris or elsewhere, it's the same," Ben Attia said. War and unfulfilled desires also collide in the Syrian film, My Favourite Fabric, the first film of Paris-based Syrian director Gaya Jiji. French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa puts in a standout performance as a sullen young Syrian fantasising about sexual abandon and escaping to the West as the war drums begin to beat in early 2011. She carried her protest over onto the red carpet at Cannes, where she held up a placard reading "Stop the Attack on Gaza". Gaza also made it onto the big screen, in a documentary by Italian filmmaker Stefano Savona about the massacre of an extended Palestinian family in 2009 that received rave reviews. With Saudi Arabia unveiling big tax breaks for filmmakers at Cannes and the women behind the Doha Film Institute drawing praise from Hollywood star Salma Hayek, Arab cinema may be entering a new era. New Delhi: Their escape was ardous and prolonged but the return of the Congress and JD(S) MLAs from Karnataka back to Bengaluru might be easier. This comes after a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court ordered DGP to ensure security to all the legislators. The SC has ordered that a floor test be conducted in Karnataka Assembly at 4pm on Saturday. The SC was hearing a petition filed by the Congress-JD(S) combined in Karnataka against the decision of Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJPs B S Yeddyurappa to form the government. The MLAs had to leave the Eagleton Resort in the outskirts of Bengaluru after Yeddyurappa ordered the police to withdraw security at Eagleton and Shangri-La hotel. The Congress MLAs were staying at Eagleton Resort and the JDS were sheltered at Shangri-La. The MLAs were initially supposed to be transported to Kerala, but after a delayed DGCA clearance they were taken to Hyderabad via road, say sources. Both Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao had also agreed to host them. Finally, the newly elected lawmakers were packed in small groups in luxury buses from Sharma travels, owned by a long-time Congress loyalist. Guwahati: A BJP legislator from Borkhola constituency in Assam along with several members of his family have been served notices by the Foreigners' Tribunal, suspecting them of being "doubtful citizens". The Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) No 1 on Friday sent notices to the MLA from Barak Valley, Kishore Nath, his wife Nilima Nath, four brothers -- Matilal Nath, Pradip Nath, Jagdish Nath, Manik Nath -- and sister-in-law Rakhi Nath, the BJP legislator said. As per the notices, Kishore Nath along with his family members, who are residents of Ward 28, have been asked to appear before an FT judge to prove that they are citizens of India. Stating that he and his family were indigenous citizens of India, Nath said he will move court with the requisite documents to prove his citizenship. The BJP legislator blamed the previous Congress government in the state for having instructed the tribunal to randomly pick out names for serving such notices. Nath has apprised the Speaker of the Assam Assembly about the FT notice served to him and his family, sources said. A series of protests have rocked Assam over the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, with locals fearing it would breach the clauses of the Assam Accord which states that all the illegal foreigners who came to the state after 1971 from Bangladesh, irrespective of their religion, have to be deported. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants belonging to six communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- eligible for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in the country. Bengaluru: Just after the Supreme Court on Friday ordered for a floor test in Karnataka on Saturday, senior Congress leader on Friday thanked the court for saving democracy. Azad also teared into Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala for deliberately giving the BJP 15 days to prove majority so that the latter could break the Congress and the JD(S). No governor in the history of the India has given two weeks time to prove majority. I was also given a weeks time when I was CM of Jammu &Kashmir and and in some cases 2-3 days were given, but this time, 15 days was given only to break the parties. I would, hence, like to thank the Supreme Court for saving democracy and rising to the occasion. Detailing on the procedure that was followed to stake claim to forming the government in Karnataka, Azad said that the coalition gave a list of 117 MLAs to the governor and staked claim to the government much before the BJP did. We told the governor that we can prove a majority right now but the governor invited the BJP to form government without even checking if they have the numbers, Azad told a press conference here. Accusing the BJP of changing the rules according to their own interests, Azad said that in Manipur, Meghalaya, the BJP violated democratic norms of the country and formed the government. We were they the single largest party and the BJP still formed the government in coalition. We assumed that the rule would apply in Karnataka too. But thats not what happened, he said. New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Saturday morning hear the Congress-JD (S) combines plea challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to appoint KG Bopaiah as the pro tem Speaker to conduct the crucial floor test. Late on Friday night, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra decided to list the matter before the three-judge bench, headed by Justice A K Sikri, which has been hearing the case. The matter will be heard by the bench, which also comprises Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhusha, at 10.30 am, much ahead of the trust vote slated at 4 pm. The Congress-JD(S) plea, was submitted late at night at the Registry and the Registrar of the top court rushed to the residence of the CJI for directions on the listing of the matter. In the application, the combine has demanded setting aside of the decision to appoint BJP MLA Bopaiah as the pro tem Speaker saying it was contrary to the tradition, as per which the post goes to the senior-most legislator. It termed the Governor's action as a "brazen unconstitutional" act to appoint "a junior MLA as the pro tem Speaker. The application also seeks certain urgent directions to ensure that the floor test is conducted in a fair and transparent manner." Pro tem is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" or temporary. Usually, the senior most member is selected as the pro tem Speaker for purposes, which also include election of the Speaker. The petition also urged the top court to have video recording of the entire trust vote process and conducting of the floor test through "a division' into separate and segregated lobbies so that the persons in the different lobbies can be counted in a transparent manner." The petition said "it is submitted that despite the settled parliamentary convention and practice for appointment of a pro tem Speaker, a junior MLA Shri KG Bopaiah (BJP) with a dubious and controversial record of passing biased disqualification orders has been appointed as the pro tem Speaker. "As a matter of fact, the conduct of Shri KG Bopaiah has been severely criticised and strictures have been passed against him by this Hon'ble Court. The disqualification orders passed by him were also set aside as being vitiated with mala fides and undue haste in two judgements of this Court." Alleging "a shocking disregard to binding parliamentary convention and long standing parliamentary practice of appointing the senior most member of the House", the Congress-JD(S) combine said the Governor appointed "a relatively junior member of the House. ... This is in the face of the admitted fact that the senior most MLA is currently serving his 8th tenure but has been overlooked." The appointment was "nothing but an attempt to seize and manipulate the floor test slated to be held on 19.05.2018 in the House, pursuant to the direction passed by this Hon'ble Court". The combine alleged that B S Yeddyurappa "in tandem with the Government at the Centre is exercising influence through the Governor of the State to ensure that he sails through the floor test by hook or crook, in absolute disregard to Parliamentary practice and the well-established convention of appointing the senior most member as the pro tem Speaker." The Governor's decision to appoint Bopaiah came after the top court ordered holding of floor test in the Karnataka assembly on Saturday for ascertaining the majority or otherwise of the BS Yedyurappa government and for immediate appointment of the pro tem Speaker. In its order, the apex court has enumerated four steps that have to be followed for holding the floor test, directing the immediate appointment of the pro tem Speaker, holding the oath ceremony for all elected members tomorrow. This exercise has to be completed before 4 PM when the floor test will be held to ascertain the majority. A bench comprising Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan also ordered that adequate security arrangements shall be made and Director General of Police of Karnataka would himself supervise all arrangements so that there is no lapse on this count whatsoever. New Delhi: Supreme Court of India on Friday ordered Karnataka to hold a floor test on Saturday to ascertain whether newly appointed BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa enjoys a majority in the state. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the Congress-JD(S) combine in Karnataka against the decision of Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJPs BS Yeddyurappa to form the government. Taking a cue from the Karnataka, opposition parties had earlier demanded that the Governors of four other states Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya and Manipur should invite them to stake claim to the government as they were the single-largest parties in last Assembly polls held in these states. A look at the elections in last three years shows that single largest parties in the states havent always ended up forming the government. Manipur In the March 2017 Assembly elections in Manipur, the BJP, with 21 seats, came second to the then ruling Congress, which bagged 28 seats three short of the majority mark to form a government. In spite of coming second in the electoral race, the BJP formed a government with support from its regional allies, the Naga Peoples Front (NPF) and the National Peoples Party (NPP). However, together with NPF and NPPs four seats each, and with support from the lone independent MLA Ashab Uddin, the BJP could only reach 30, which was one short of the majority mark in the 60-member Assembly. To get one more MLA to support a BJP government, the party poached a Congress MLA, Thounaojam Shyamkumar Singh. Without even resigning from the party, Shyamkumar was seen accompanying the BJP MLAs to Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form the government. Later on, Governor Najma Heptulla invited the party to form the government, ignoring the claim of the Congress. However, eight other Congress MLAs have shifted their allegiance to the BJP since the government formation. All of them have gone with BJP without resigning from their constituencies, which they had won on Congress tickets. As a result, BJPs tally has risen from 21 to 30, reducing the Congresss strength from 28 to 19. The BJP also cobbled up the lone independent MLA as well as Trinamool Congress MLA, Tongbram Robindro Singh, by its side, touching the majority figure of 31 on its own. However, Congress can still claim to be the single largest party in the state because its MLAs, which shifted allegiance to the BJP, have not yet officially resigned from the party. Goa Similar scenes were witnessed in Goa Assembly elections last year as well. In Goa's Assembly election, Congress was the single-largest party with 21 seats in the 40-seat House; however, it was the BJP through a post-poll alliance that ended up forming the government. In the Assembly elections held in March last year, the Congress bagged 17 seats in the 40-member House, falling short of the majority figure by four seats. One of the Congress MLA later resigned and joined the BJP. The BJP, which got 14 seats, formed the government in alliance with Goa Forward Party and MGP, both of which had secured three seats each. Three Independents also went with the BJP. Meghalaya In Meghalaya, the BJP, with just two seats, outmanoeuvred the Congress in cobbling up numbers to form a coalition government. BJP also played a pivotal role in stitching up a mega alliance and secure the support of 34 legislators to form the government. The Congress, the single largest party in the state with 21 legislators, was left high and dry despite rushing four senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Kamal Nath, Mukul Wasnik and CP Joshi to Shillong to reach out to the possible allies and avoid a repeat of Goa and Manipur. Currently, the ruling alliance in the state is headed by the National Peoples Party with 19 seats, and comprises the United Democratic Party with 6 seats, Peoples Democratic Front with 4 seats, Hill State Peoples Democratic Party with 2 seats and one Independent. Bihar In Bihar, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and Lalu Prasad's RJD had joined hands, along with the Congress, to form a grand alliance to fight the Bihar Assembly elections. The combine had defeated the BJP emphatically. However, the JD(U), which had snapped ties with the BJP in July 2013, returned to the NDA fold in July 2017, after cutting ties with the RJD. RJD had emerged as a single largest party with 80 seats in 2015 Assembly elections while JD (U) was second with 71 seats and Congress Party 27 seats. The BJP had won 53 seats. The alliance, however, did not last long as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dumped the grand secular alliance and formed a government with the BJP in July 2017 on grounds that his Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadavs name had figured in the FIR registered by CBI in connection with the Benami land deals. Patna: Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik on Friday created a flutter by saying that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was an innocent leader and not him but his colleagues in the Congress party were involved in the Bofors Scam. Speaking at a function in Patna, Satya Pal Malik said Rajiv Gandhi's only fault was that he tried to save his colleagues. Many feel, Governor's comments would provide a new weapon to Congress against the BJP. Malik was elected on Janata Dal ticket from Aligarh in 1989, the party which raised the Bofors scam issue and went on to form government at the Centre headed by VP Singh. Satya Pal Malik was a BJP functionary before being appointed as Governor in Bihar. "Rajiv Gandhi was an innocent leader. I will not name but three to four of his aides suggested his family that every world leader has overseas assets and they should also stash (money) abroad. However, those who benefited from the deal were people other than Gandhis. He erred by trying to protect them which was his compulsion," said Malik. After collapse of Rajiv Gandhi-led government in 1989, the BJP used Bofors deal to attack the Congress party. The Central Bureau of Investigation only this year wanted to reopen the politically sensitive case and a Delhi court will hear its plea on July 30. New Delhi: Putting an end to the tussle for power in Karnataka, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court has ordered that a floor test be conducted in Karnataka Assembly at 4pm on Saturday and has saved the question on whether the governors decision to invite the single largest party to form government was correct or not for a later date. The Supreme Court has now ordered that the Pro tem speaker will conduct the floor test and the Speakers discretion will prevail. The SC was hearing a petition filed by the Congress-JD(S) combine in Karnataka against the decision of Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJPs BS Yeddyurappa to form the government. This was after the three-hour long midnight hearing that took place in the apex court where the court had refused to stay the swearing in of BS Yeddyurappa. At the start of the hearing, senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi produced the letter by Yeddyurappa to the Governor. I have the support of others and requisite majority, reads BSY's letter. Rohatgi said there was no need to name the MLAs supporting BJP and that SC was not the forum for such an action and that it would be proven on the floor of the House. Ultimately it is the number game and the Governor needs to see which side has the number, Justice AK Sikri said. Rohatgi, however, insisted that there was an unholy alliance between the Congress and the JD(S). Earlier, sources said the Congress and the JD(S), fearing their MLAs being poached by the BJP, moved their MLAs out of Karnataka on Thursday night. Sources said except two Congress MLAs, all have gone to Hyderabad. All 38 JD(S) MLAs and two Independents are also in the city. In another major argument, Additional Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta said that the Governor never received signed letters by Congress-JD(S). Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yeddyurappa, told the special bench comprising Justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan that there was no pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JDS and they have formed an "unholy alliance" after the elections. However, later the court pondered on two alternatives. First, to hold the floor test tomorrow itself or to hear the matter at length and decide the validity of the Governors decision. Dr Abhishekh Manu Singhvi arguing for the Congress said that there was no such thing as the Governors discretion. Later, the court laid to rest the dispute by stating that whosoever might have been called, the final test is on the floor of the House. Appearing for the Congress, all top lawyers such as Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram were in attendance. Even veteran lawyer, Ram Jethmalani too appeared in the court challenging the decision of the Karnataka Governor. Bengaluru: An hour after taking oath the Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa ordered the police to withdraw security at Eagleton Resort in the outskirts of state capital. Within minutes, the police removed barricades and checkposts and disappeared. The same thing happenned at Shangri-La hotel, located just 1 KM from Vidhana Soudha. The Congress MLAs were staying at Eagleton Resort and the JDS were sheltered at Shangri-La. The leaders from both the parties realised that they were no longer safe in their own state and decided to move out. The Congress leader DK Shivakumar and the JDS chief HD Kumaraswamy spoke to each other to discuss the safest location for their MLAs. Initially, they were planning to shift them to neighbouring Kerala by a special aircraft. According to insiders, the DGCA sat on their request delaying the clearance. But the government has rubbished their claims. However, they had decided to move all their MLAs to neighbouring Telangana via Andhra Pradesh by road. There were two reasons. AP border is less than 100 KM from Bengaluru and just 90 minutes drive. Even though TN is much closer, they decided against it because of pro-BJP government there. The senior leaders were asked to mislead the media claiming that they would go to Kerala or Punjab. But they had made all arrangements in Hyderabad for the stay of their MLAs through friendly government there. The AP CM Chandrababu Naidu had also spoken to JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda offering shelter to MLAs of Congress and JDS. Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao also agreed to host them in Hyderabad. Some trusted Congress MLCs were contacted by DK Shivakumar asking them to handle the logistics as the MLAs were not in a position to come out. The MLAs spoke to their family members asking them to send clothes to the resort. Even their family members were not told where they would be taking the MLAs. The Sharma travels was asked to send trusted drivers to pilot them to Hyderabad, but even they were not told about the destination. Anticipating trouble from the BJP, they had kept spare vehicles ready at several places till AP border which lays beyond Gauribidanur in Chikkaballapura district. According to a Congress MLC, two Congress MLAs Zameer Ahmad Khan and Shivarama Hebbar offered to drive the buses till the border. In the meantime, DK Shivakumar and HD Kumaraswamy had asked their people to be ready to help them in case of any trouble. The party leaders in Bengaluru and Chikkaballapura districts informed ground level workers to be ready. Finally, the newly elected lawmakers were packed in small groups in luxury buses from Sharma travels and sources said they were last spotted in Kurnool, possibly on their way to Hyderabad. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Saturday dismissed a plea by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) against the appointment of KG Bopaiah as pro tem speaker to oversee the floor test in Karnataka. The court also ordered the proceedings in Assembly to be telecast live. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had appointed three-time MLA Bopaiah as the pro tem speaker of the Assembly, departing from the convention of appointing the senior-most MLA. According to the seniority norm, eight-time Congress MLA from Haliyal, RV Deshpande, should have been made the pro tem speaker. The appointment assumes great significance as the pro tem speaker will play a crucial role in the floor test. As per the order of the Supreme Court on Friday, since the pro tem speaker would conduct the floor test, he would also exercise powers like a regular speaker, and also administer oath to all the newly elected MLAs. In theory, his powers could also help the ruling party stay in power and help overcome the hurdles of anti-defection law. According to the Supreme Court, the pro-tem speaker will also take a call on whether the trust vote should be held through a voice vote or ballot. When a new assembly is elected, but the vote for the speaker or deputy speaker has not taken place, a pro-tem speaker is appointed. A pro-tem speaker is chosen with the agreement of the members of the legislative assembly so that activities of the assembly can carry on unhindered. Constitutional expert, PDT Achary, suggested that there is nothing constitutionally wrong in a pro tem speaker conducting a floor test, but he added a caveat that he or she can only perform the functions of a regular speaker in case the house is not able to elect one. In the past, just after the Narendra Modi government had come to power in 2014, it had conveyed its recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee to appoint Congress leader Kamal Nath, who was the senior most member of the Lower House, as Pro tem Speaker. Even after the 2009 general elections, President Pratibha Patil had appointed Manikrao Gavit, the senior-most member of the new Lok Sabha, as its Pro tem speaker. However, this time, no reason has been ascribed for departing from the said convention. Since Yeddyurappa now has a speaker from his own party, BJP may succeed in making some opposition MLAs abstain or defect and come to BJPs side in an attempt to narrow the gap and can get away as the Speaker has reasonable discretion in dealing with complaints under the anti-defection law. The enormity of the discretionary powers held by the speaker is exemplified by the act of the speaker of the outgoing Karnataka Assembly KB Koliwad who did not disqualify seven legislators from the JDS who cross-voted in favour of the Congress candidate in a Rajya Sabha poll. There have been past instances where MLAs have voted against the whip but the Speaker has postponed the deliverance of an immediate ruling. The speaker is also not limited by any time limitation and his delayed decision may also allow the government to remain in power till the speaker takes a call. A similar thing had happened in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh too where the speaker did not given an immediate ruling but only deferred it to a later date without giving a definite ruling. The current strength of the House is 222 and the magic number is 112. The Congress-JD(S) claim that together they have the support of 116 MLAs. The BJP is eight short with 104 MLAs. Patna: Emboldened by the Karnataka model, RJD leader Lalu Prasad's son and leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Friday met Governor Satya Pal Malik and staked claim to form the government claiming many members of the ruling Janata Dal (United) were in touch with him. Tejashwi Yadav held a meeting of the RJD legislature party at his residence and then marched to Raj Bhawan with Mahagathbandhan allies Congress and Hindustani Awami Morcha. After meeting Governor, the RJD leader said, We are the single largest party in the Assembly with 80 seats. Our alliance has the support of 111 MLAs and many others from the ruling alliance are in touch with us. Now, the Governor should dissolve Assembly and invite us to form the government. We will prove majority on the floor of the House. Tejashwi cited Supreme Courts order to hold floor test on Saturday in Karnataka as a victory for Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance and alleged BJP of murdering democracy everywhere in the country. Tejashwi vowed to continue the fight against Nitish Kumar in peoples court if justice was not delivered by constitutional authorities. The RJD supported Congress countrywide save the democracy protest and accused the central government of pressurising constitutional authorities like Governors to act as per its will. Earlier he tweeted, Country should be run from Delhi through Constitution not from Nagpur through Bunch of thoughts. Lets hit the streets to save democracy. New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to prove its majority at 4pm on Saturday after Supreme Court ordered the BS Yeddyurappa government to conduct a floor test in the Assembly. BJP MLA KG Bopaiah has appointed pro tem speaker to oversee the floor test, but the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress have challenged the appointment in the Supreme Court, which is set to hear the matter at 10:30am. As the state heads to a floor test, here is a look at other state elections that have landed in court before: Uttar Pradesh, 1997 Interesting political events formed the mainstay of the 1997 state elections in Uttar Pradesh when a popular Congress party leader, now an elected representative to Parliament on BJP ticket, Jagdambika Pal, served as CM for a day. Pal is now famously remembered as one-day wonder of Uttar Pradesh politics for becoming controversial CM in a high-political drama. When the then UP Governor Romesh Bhandari had made him the CM, the victim of the drama then was BJP's Kalyan Singh. During 21-22 February of 1998, Governor Bhandari proposed to implement President's rule in the state as the Assembly witnessed bloody scenes during confidence motion on the floor. Nevertheless, the Centre rejected the proposal. Joyous over the decision, BJP's CM candidate Kalyan Singh appointed a 93-member cabinet that also included elected representatives from other parties. The other political parties, miffed of this move, tried to destabilise the government. Singh was in for a shock when Bhandari declined to recognise the outsiders in his cabinet and dissolved the government overnight. This provided chance to Pal to constitute his government. However, the government couldn't run for more than a day. Jharkhand, 2005 The Supreme Court had on March 9, 2005 directed the Pro tem Speaker of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly to conduct a floor test to ascertain who enjoyed the majority the Chief Minister, Shibu Soren, appointed by the Governor or the former CM Arjun Munda. A three-Judge bench, comprising the Chief Justice RC Lahoti, Justice YK Sabharwal and Justice DM Dharmadhikari, held that the petitioner, Arjun Munda, had made out a strong prima facie case for grant of interim relief. The bench also restrained Governor Syed Sibtey Razi from nominating an Anglo-Indian member to the Assembly, saying this could wait till a legitimate government took over after the floor test. It said that only the duly elected members of the House would participate in the floor test. Uttarakhand, 2016 Dealing a major blow to Modi government, the Uttarakhand High Court had quashed the imposition of Presidents rule in the state on May 21, 2016 which had revived the Congress government headed by Harish Rawat, who has been asked to prove his majority on April 29. Coming down heavily on the Centre for the March 27 proclamation under Art 356, a division bench of the HC headed by Chief Justice K M Joseph had said that the imposition of the Presidents rule was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court. Allowing ousted Chief Minister Harish Rawats petition challenging the Presidential proclamation, the bench, also comprising Justice V K Bist, observed that the material considered for imposing Presidents rule has been found wanting. The issue came to the division bench of the court after a single judge ordered a floor test on March 28 following controversy over the passage of Appropriation Bill on March 18 with the BJP and dissident Congress MLAs claiming the money Bill had fallen and the government has lost its majority. A day before the floor test was to have been held the Centre imposed Presidents Rule on March 27 citing breakdown of Constitutional machinery. Harish Rawat approached the division bench challenging the imposition of the Presidents Rule. Goa, 2017 State elections in Goa had unfolded in a similar manner in 2017. Governor Mridula Sinha had invited BJP leader Manohar Parrikar to form the government, even though the Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the elections. BJP had won 13 of the 40 seats. The Congress had bagged 17 seats. Goa Congress Legislature Party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar moved the Supreme Court on March 13, 2017, challenging the Governors decision to invite Parrikar to form the government. A Bench of the then Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R K Agrawal, while rejecting the Congresss objection, ordered a floor test, saying that the instant sensitive and contentious issue can be resolved by a simple direction, requiring the holding of a floor test at the earliest. Appearing for Kavlekar, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Governor could not have arrived at her satisfaction on whom to call for forming the government without talking to the leader of the single largest party. Singhvi contended that since there was no pre-poll alliance, the Governor should have first asked the single largest party if it was in a position to form the government. The court, however, ruled that in such a situation, the Governor had discretionary powers and that the Congress had not demonstrated its numbers before the Governor. Tamil Nadu, 2017 The Madras High Court had 20 September 2017 extended its stay on conducting a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly until further orders and also restrained authorities from conducting by-elections to 18 constituencies, which were declared vacant, pursuant to the disqualification of dissident AIADMK MLAs. Counsel for Governor, Chief Minister and the petitioners consented to it as well. Justice M. Duraiswamy passed the common interim order on a batch of writ petitions filed by the 18 affected persons challenging the Speakers decision and another writ petition filed by DMK working president M.K. Stalin seeking a direction for a floor test at the earliest. Referring to an interim order passed on Friday, in Mr. Stalins case, staying a floor test till Wednesday, the judge said the authorities concerned shall not conduct floor test for the trust vote until further orders of this court. Earlier, when the judge wanted to know whether such an order could be passed without the Election Commission being a party before the court and especially when the Assembly Secretary had declared all the 18 seats vacant, Mr. Sundaram replied in the affirmative. Lenovo has garnered much attention for its upcoming smartphone which, as per its claims, will come with an all-screen front and now, the company has revealed another interesting piece of information about the same. After announcing the truly bezel-less display without any notch or chin whatsoever on the Lenovo Z5, Lenovo VP Cheng Cheng has now revealed that the smartphone will come with a whopping 4TB of internal storage. This feat has never been seen before on a smartphone and if Lenovo manages to pull it off with the Lenovo Z5, it will be the first smartphone manufacturer to do so. In a recent post on Weibo, Lenovo VP Cheng Cheng teased that the Lenovo Z5 will offer 4TB of storage to its users, thanks to 'particle technology'. In his post, Cheng mentions that the storage would be enough to store 2000 HD movies, 150,000 music files and 1 million photos. Also read: HTC U12+ Renders, Specifications Leaked: Here is All You Need to Know About The Next HTC Flagship Earlier, Cheng had shared design renders of the Lenovo Z5 revealing a completely bezel-less smartphone. As per Cheng's posts, the screen-to-body ratio on the Lenovo Z5 will be more than 95 percent. The design-sketch of the device shows that there is not even a notch at the top of the display to house crucial elements like the selfie camera, earpiece, proximity sensor and more. Lenovo is expected to use a flip mechanism to swivel the front camera to use as and when required by the user. A similar setup was seen on Vivo's concept phone - Vivo APEX. Lenovo Z5 is expected to be unveiled as a flagship smartphone by Lenovo and is said to carry 18 patented technologies, including four 'technological breakthroughs' achieved by the company. Lenovo Z5 is expected to launch on June 14. Watch: OnePlus 6 First Impressions Review: All You Might Need in 2018 Beirut: The humanitarian crisis in Syria is worse this year than ever before in the country's seven-year-old civil war, a United Nations official said on Friday. "We see in 2018 the humanitarian situation inside Syria being the worst we have seen since the war started: a very dramatic deterioration, massive displacement, disrespect of protection of civilians and people's lives still being turned upside down," Panos Moumtzis, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, said in Beirut. Syria is the worst place in modern history in terms of attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, accounting for 70 percent of all such attacks worldwide, he said. U.N. data shows 89 healthcare workers died in 92 confirmed military attacks on healthcare facilities between Jan 1 and May 4, compared to 73 killed in 112 attacks in the whole of 2017, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis. The two areas which saw the most healthcare attacks in 2018 were Eastern Ghouta and Idlib. Eastern Ghouta had been the largest rebel-held pocket near the capital Damascus, but came back under government control in mid-April after a fierce offensive. Idlib, in northwest Syria, is the largest remaining area under opposition control, containing around 2.5 million people. Idlib's population has ballooned over the course of the conflict, with people there from fighting inn other areas. The government has also transferred a large number of rebel fighters and their families to Idlib as part of surrender deals elsewhere in Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to take back every inch of Syria. Moumtzis said the U.N. does not want to see a repeat of what happened in Ghouta happen in Idlib. He urged the warring sides to come to a peaceful solution. Moumtzis also said he was concerned about poor aid access in Syria. In 2017, 27 percent of requests made by the U.N. to Syrian authorities for permission to deliver aid were granted. In the first four months of 2018 only seven percent were granted, Moumtzis said. The number of people designated by the U.N. as living in besieged areas has fallen dramatically this year to stand at 11,100, after the Syrian government took back control of almost all rebel-held pockets around the capital Damascus. But 2.05 million people in need of humanitarian assistance still live in hard-to-reach areas, the U.N. said. New Delhi: Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it would make sure the world is adequately supplied with oil to support global economic growth just as top consumer India expressed frustration with oil prices hitting $80 per barrel for the first time since 2014. OPEC's most influential energy minister, Saudi Arabia's Khalid al Falih, called Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to assure him that supporting global economic growth was "one of the kingdom's key goals", the Saudi ministry said in a statement. "He (Falih) reiterated his commitment towards market stability and that the Kingdom together with other producers will ensure availability of adequate supplies to offset any potential shortfalls," the statement said. The statement came as oil prices rose back to $80 per barrel for the first time since 2014 due to rising concerns over disruptions to Iranian oil exports because of new U.S. sanctions and due to plummeting output in Venezuela. Both the Saudi and Indian ministries said Pradhan expressed concern about escalating prices and the impact it has on consumers and especially on the Indian economy, the world's third largest oil consumer. "I expressed my concern about rising prices of crude oil and its negative impact on consumers and the Indian economy and reiterated the need for stable and moderate crude oil prices," Pradhan said in a statement. The statements said Falih briefed Pradhan on his consultations with major producing countries both in and outside of OPEC, including Russia. India is one of the world's fastest growing energy consumers and its oil use only lags behind the United States and China. OPEC and its ally Russia have cut their output since January 2017 to help reduce excessive global stockpiles. So far OPEC has said it saw no need to ease output restrictions despite global stocks falling to its desired levels and despite consuming nations voicing concerns the price rally might have gone too far and could lead to demand destruction. OPEC member the United Arab Emirates said on Thursday OPEC had bigger issues to consider than the impact of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the international nuclear deal with Iran such as Venezuela's collapsing output. U.S. President Donald Trump has also called on OPEC to help cool oil prices saying they were artificially high and that it was "unacceptable". London: Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who was left in critical condition by a nerve agent attack in Britain more than two months ago, has been discharged from hospital, national health authorities said on Friday. Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain's accusations that Russia was behind the nerve agent attack led to a Russia-West crisis in which Western governments, including the United States, have expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and retaliated in kind. The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But their health began to improve rapidly, and Yulia was discharged last month. "It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital," the hospital's Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Police have said they will not give any details of the Skripals' new security arrangements in the interests of their safety and neither they nor the hospital gave any details of Sergei's new whereabouts. Yulia was taken to a secure location after her release, the BBC reported at the time. Britain and international chemicals weapons inspectors say the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who called the attack a "reckless and despicable act", welcomed news of Skripal's discharge. Russia has denied involvement in the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. Moscow suggested Britain carried out the attack itself to stoke anti-Russian hysteria, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last month that the agent used in the attack may have never been made in Russia. Russia's ambassador to London on Friday welcomed Skripal's progress but reiterated Russia's desire to see the pair, saying that currently Britain was not fulfilling its obligations under international law. "We're happy that he's alright," Alexander Yakovenko told reporters. "We're still demanding the access to these people. We want just to understand how they feel and we want them to say personally what they want. If they don't want our assistance it's fine. We want to see them physically." Britain has said previously that Yulia, a Russian citizen, has chosen not to take up Russia's offer of help. Salisbury Hospital said that patient confidentiality limited the information they could give, but that the "acutely unwell" Skripals had been stabilised and kept alive until their bodies could replace poisoned enzymes with new ones. President Donald Trump has almost single-handedly redefined the pace, breadth and scope of news in his first 17 months in office. What would have been massive bombshells that might dominate a month or more of coverage of past White Houses become just one in a laundry list of big stories coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a given week. But even by those elevated and elasticized standards, the last 24 hours have been, to put a fine point on it, bananas. Consider the news since Wednesday morning: The Senate Judiciary Committee released hundreds of pages of interviews including from Donald Trump Jr. that sheds light on a critical meeting between Trump campaign brass and Russians at Trump Tower in June 2016. The Office of Government Ethics makes public Trump's 2017 financial disclosure statement, a document that makes nearly certain that he reimbursed Michael Cohen, his personal lawyer, for the $130,000 hush payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels. The Senate Intelligence Committee announced that it agreed with the Intelligence Community's assessment that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election to help Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN's Dana Bash that he had been told by the special counsel's office that they did not believe they could indict a sitting president. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seemed to troll his former boss in a speech at VMI, warning of the dangers of those who veer from facts. Trump commemorated the one year anniversary of the formation of the special counsel investigation it's today with a pair of tweets. "Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction," read one Trump tweet. "The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money!" These are all HUGE news stories. The Trump Tower meeting between Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya sits at the heart of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling and possible collusion in the 2016 election. Trump's reimbursement to Cohen not only contradicts the official line out of the White House for months but also suggests the President and Giuliani may have purposely leaked out word of the payment to get ahead of this disclosure report. A bipartisan group of senators rejecting the finding of the House Intelligence Committee Republicans that Russia had no favored candidate in the 2016 election puts those House GOPers on a very lonely island. Giuliani insisting the President can't be indicted not only raises fascinating constitutional questions but also the reality that the special counsel's office has explored the possibility. And then, of course, there is Trump himself and his grievance-fueled tweets about the length and alleged lack of findings of wrongdoing by Mueller and his team. Taken together, it's not a stretch to say that we may well look back on the past 24 hours in a week or a month and see it as the most consequential day of the Trump presidency -- a day when the chess pieces moved not just on one board but on all the boards almost simultaneously. A day when every stream of allegations and accusations also joined together in one rushing river. Or not. Because this is the Trump presidency, it would be foolishness to make too many (or, really, any) hard and fast predictions about what the future might hold. Tomorrow could bring another bombshell. Or three. The still-on North Korea-US summit could look more likely or be scrapped altogether. Trump's threat to push for full funding of his border wall could well lead to a government shutdown in the final weeks before the 2018 midterm election. The Mueller report might come out either implicating or exonerating Trump and/or one of the members of his family or closest political circle. Cohen, under pressure from investigators, could well flip on Trump and spill his guts on everything he knows about the President. The truth of this presidency is that no one not even the President knows what the next 48 hours will bring much less the next week or month. What we do know, however, is that what's happened in the last 24 hours is almost certain to matter as the jigsaw puzzle of the Trump presidency continues to kind of, sort of come into focus. Mueller, Giuliani, Cohen, Daniels, Kushner, Manafort, Trump Jr., Veselnitskaya, and, of course, always always always Donald John Trump himself. These are our players. They all moved or were moved in some meaningful way over the last 24 hours. Now we have to wait to see where they end up. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Archie Comics doubling down on "humor, heart, and horror" in 2022 and beyond Archie Comics prepares for "return of a lot of favorite characters and franchises" in 2022 Despite sanctions Russia's weapons export grows in 2017 Moscow : Russia's weapons export increased in 2017 in spite of sanctions, Rostec State Corporation CEO has told President Vladimir Putin. Weapons export totalled $13.4 billion in 2017 compared to $13.1 billion in 2016, Sergey Chemezov said while presenting a report on the performance of his company to Putin, said the presidential website. State-owned Rostec, established in late 2007, is Russia's largest weapons exporter. The company and its CEO are both under US sanctions, Xinhua news agency reported. Western sanctions have complicated sales of Russian arms, but Moscow is ready to work under the challenging conditions and export more military equipment to other countries than planned, Tass news agency quoted Vladimir Kozhin, a presidential aide, as saying in March. Russia carries out cooperation with some 100 countries in military and technical sectors, Kozhin added. The latest set of sanctions affecting 38 Russian individuals and entities, including seven business leaders and 17 senior officials, for their alleged "malign activity" around the world, was adopted by Washington in April. Eva Bermudez Zimmerman for Newtown State Representative / Eva Bermudez Zimmerman for Newtown State Representative HARTFORD A group of minority lawmakers from Bridgeport, New Haven, New London, New Britain and Hartford on Friday afternoon plan a rally and demonstration over the issue of diversity in the Democratic Party, while supporting the lieutennt governor candidacy of Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, a Newtown labor organizer. State House members including Rep. Chris Rosario of Bridgeport and Robyn Porter of New Haven are among those expect to participate in the event, scheduled to be held outside the Connecticut Convention Center, where a few hours later, the two-day convention will gavel-in. Have you seen the snow leopard? No! Isnt that wonderful? From The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. I went to Ontario last week to see the bird named after my state the Connecticut warbler. I didnt see it. But I was at Point Pelee National Park one of the meccas of the spring migration birdwatching in North America. I didnt see one particular small gray-and-yellow bird the Connecticut warbler. But I did see thousands of others: orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, warblers to the left and right, up and down. I ended up seeing 109 species in three days, all of which I have seen before. The life list remains pretty much as it was, but I can live with that. I took this trip to see Point Pelee. But there was an anomaly to attend to: Namely, that the Connecticut warbler is badly misnamed. It doesnt nest here. It doesnt even migrate through in the spring when other beautiful, bright-plumaged warblers rest here on their way north. Instead it nests far away, in the boggy woods and tamarack swamps of the Great Lake states, and father north, in Ontario. But in the fall, as it flies back to its winter quarters in South America, the Connecticut warbler makes a rare stop in Connecticut. In 1812 Alexander Wilson, the first great North American ornithologist, shot his first specimen during one of those visits here and named it for the location of his discovery. If Wilson had been in the Berkshires or the Adirondacks, one of those places might have gotten naming rights. But because the Connecticut warbler often migrates through Point Pelee in the spring, I decided to look for it there. The point is a peninsula 4.3 miles long needling out into Lake Erie the southernmost piece of land in all of Canada. When exhausted migrating birds need to rest and feed, Point Pelee is a perfect stop. Once there, I joined a group of Canadian birders led by Jon Ruddy of Eastern Ontario Birding. Jon is an extraordinarily dedicated birder, but hes never seen a Connecticut warbler, either. Nor have most of the other birders visiting Point Pelee. It is, Jon said, the Holy Grail bird for warbler-watchers. Thats because its secretive and shy. Rather than sitting on a tree limb and pouring out its heart in mating song, like any decent, birder-obliging warbler, it skulks through wet forest brambles and thickets. Ornithologists have never studied it thoroughly, mainly because they cant readily see it. In the three days I was at Point Pelee there was one report of a Connecticut warbler, with the sighting information about it flying from iPhone to iPhone. We rushed to the spot as dusk fell, to find a dozen other birders lined up waiting for a glimpse. But after studying a picture someone snapped of the bird, a consensus formed among the best birders there:IIt wasnt a Connecticut warbler after all. It was a look-alike, a hard-to-see skulker: a female mourning warbler. And it was gone, in any case. But butbut. I have never been in a place with so many birds in it. We saw hundreds of orioles not only the orange-and-black Baltimore oriole common in Connecticut, but also the more regal orchard oriole, with its black wings and chestnut-red breast. There were lots of vireos, lots of thrushes. If I didnt see the Connecticut warbler, I saw 20 other warbler species. When you see so many magnolia warblers and yellow warblers and redstarts along the same path that you begin to be a little blase about them, you know youre having a good day. At a nearby marsh, I saw a flock of black-headed Bonapartes gulls rise in alarm, wheel in the sky and then settle down. Before this, I had seen maybe one or two Bonapartes gulls. And I got to look out over Lake Erie a place Id never been near and see a body of water that wasnt an ocean spreading out, filling the horizon. One morning we saw an elegant, red-throated loon swimming in the lake near the shore. Talk about your life list firsts. There was so much color and beauty so many beautiful birds in such a beautiful place that there were times I simply skipped the binoculars and watched in wonder. I came home dazzled, happy and without complaints. I asked myself, Have you seen the Connecticut warbler? And I answered, No! Isnt that wonderful? Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com Southwest Airlines is holding a summer sale on domestic plane tickets until May 18. This means you can fly out of Bradley International Airport in Hartford for as low as $79. Other airports ate offering prices as low as $49. "Summer travel season is here, and there's still a great opportunity for Customers to grab Southwest Airlines' low fares and take advantage of no change fees, up to two bags that fly free, and free live TV," said Ryan Green, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Southwest Airlines said in a release. Tickets are valid June 5 through October 31, 2018. Click through to see the low fares you can get from Bradley and LaGuardia airports. Click here to buy tickets. The four-day flash sale came after two incidents: On April 17, a passenger was killed when an engine on Southwest Flight 1380 blew apart and forced the plane to make an emergency landing. On May 12, a Southwest flight from Denver suffered minor injuries when the plane lost cabin pressure near Dallas. Bookings into May dropped since the April 17 accident, costing Southwest between $50 million and $100 million. According to the Associated Press, analysts believe that any loss in bookings because of the accident will be temporary. JP Morgan's Jamie Baker said no other airline reported gaining at Southwest's expense. Southwest also leased takeoff and landing slots at LaGuardia Airport in New York and Washington Reagan National Airport. AirMap is the worlds leading airspace management platform for drones, supporting more than 100,000 drone flights per day. The only platform that powers millions of flights today with APIs and SDKs built for tomorrow. Millions of drones, hundreds of drone manufacturers and developers, and hundreds of airspace managers and stakeholders rely on AirMaps airspace intelligence and services to fly safely and communicate with others in low-altitude airspace. AirMap solutions for Unmanned Traffic Management, geofencing, remote identification, deconfliction are enabling the drone economy and widespread usage of drones. AirMap is headquartered in Santa Monica, California and also has an office in Berlin, Germany. The company has approximately 50 employees. Airmap is working on four continents with partners and programs in Switzerland, USA, Japan and New Zealand. Airmap enables 30 second authorization for urban drone flights in restricted airspace instead of 90 days. AirMap has $50 million of funding form investors including Microsoft, Qualcomm, Airbus, Sony, Rakuten, and major drone manufacturers. Airmap enables new drone coverage of the news for Sinclair Broadcast Group Airspace Authorization from AirMap has made it possible for Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest television broadcasting companies in the US, to shoot the news where they couldnt shoot before. Nextbigfuture interviewed Bill Goodwin VP of Policy at AirMap Bill Goodwin is the General Counsel & VP of Policy at AirMap. He is an expert in the area of state and local UAS regulation. Prior to AirMap, he was an attorney in the San Francisco office of Morrison | Foerster, a global law firm, with a split practice of commercial litigation, tech transactions, and regulatory counseling. He was a member of MoFos UAS practice group, providing practical and strategic counsel on the unique product liability, licensing, and regulatory risks that arise in the drone context. Mr. Goodwin is a frequent speaker on the legal and policy issues associated with drones, including testifying before Congress. He has worked with elected and appointed officials at the federal, state, and local level to understand the impact of regulation on the drone economy. Previously, he worked in political network visualization and state and local government consulting. Airmap wants to make drones safe for everyday life. Airmap has an out of the box unmanned traffic management (UTM). Airmap has a flexible, scalable, and future-proof. The out-of-the-box UTM service modules provide instant access to over 85% of the global drone market. AirMap Selected as UAS Service Supplier in Six our of ten FAAs UAS Integration Pilot Programs (IPP) AirMap was founded in 2015 to advance the global drone economy through smart technology and close collaboration with stakeholders. They believe that technology can address the inherent complexity of the skies just above the ground and safely enable the myriad benefits of drones. They call this opening the airspace, and it drives everything that we do as a company with our global community of AirMap partners. Opening the airspace will unlock the technologies and use cases for commercial drones. This includes many of the missions that you perform: package delivery, medical operations, search and rescue, emergency response and recovery, public safety, journalism, inspections and surveying, and more. Ordering something online to be delivered by drone to your local neighborhood? AirMap visualizes dynamic airspace information to help identify the best flight path based on time, risk, and performance requirements for a delivery operation. AirMap has solutions to enable BVLOS flights in situations where a drone would be dispatched to complete a drone delivery task. What if youre an emergency responder on the scene to lend aid after a wildfire or accident? AirMap technologies allow emergency response authorities to define and set boundaries of airspaces in which an emergency has taken place and where unauthorized drones cannot enter. Authorization provides permission-based access to emergency airspace, with shared telemetry allowing drones to operate in close proximity safely. Need a roof inspection? Ask a drone to do it! AirMaps technology provides drones with the most up-to-date airspace information so that drones can plan and adapt flight plans to local events, restrictions, and even changes in weather immediately around them. AirMap is a UTM technology partner for: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma City of Reno City of San Diego Kansas Department of Transportation North Carolina Department of Transportation North Dakota Department of Transportation This means that well be opening up a lot more airspace alongside public and private partners across the United States so that we can finally start realizing the benefits of drones. With the UAS IPP, were seeing government move at the pace of innovation with industry-led solutions that can support a broad range of UAS operations safely and at scale. Its something were seeing worldwide, in countries like Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, and more to come. But we wont want to stop at the UAS IPP. AirMap will continue to leverage our experiences around the world and working in the UAS IPP to help open the airspace around the globe. United Neuroscience (UNS) endobody vaccines train the body to develop its own defense against agents of chronic disease. Vaccines have been one of the most effective and impactful medicines in history. Vaccines historically target exogenous pathogens outside the body associated with infectious diseases, and there are now over a dozen infectious diseases that are preventable via vaccination, from polio to the flu. However, traditional vaccines face challenges breaking what scientists call immune tolerance or the self-barrier when targeting endogenous proteins inside the body associated with chronic diseases. The body does not like to mount an attack against itself, even though many diseases are caused by too much of something naturally produced by the body, such as cancer cells or neurotoxic proteins as aggregated beta-amyloid peptides. UNS endobody vaccines are able to train the body to successfully break immune tolerance and safely and effectively produce endobodies against undesirable endogenous proteins. Compared to traditional vaccines, their technologies enable more people (100% so far) including elderly patients with weakened immune systems across various ethnic diversities to respond more robustly and more specifically with fewer side effects. Nextbigfuture Interviewed Lou Reese and Mei Mei Hu Mei Mei Hu (CEO) is one of the co-founders and a member of UNS Board of Directors. She serves as the Chief Executive Officer. She is a member of the executive committee of United Biomedical, Inc. and a member of its Board of Directors, and previously served as co-CEO. During that time, she oversaw the launch of one of the first endobody vaccines in the world and the successful spin-out of three companies. Mei Mei was formerly a consultant at McKinsey & Company where she advised pharmaceutical companies on strategic, operational and organizational issues. Prior to that, Mei Mei was in the Securities group at Cravath, Swaine and Moore. Mei Mei is also co-founder of an investment and advisory group with active investments in real estate, energy and life sciences and. She holds a B.A. from University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Lou Reese is one of the co-founders and a member of our Board of Directors. He currently serves as C_O of United Neuroscience. Lou co-founded an investment and advisory firm with active investments in real estate, energy, hospitality, and life sciences. His investments focus on achieving global impact in critical important areas through innovative models and approaches. He is passionate about better understanding communities and group flow. Lou loves all things vision and believes in creating environments in which we can reach our potential to be disruptive originals. He received his B.A. from University of Pennsylvania and attended Columbia Business School. UNS has a vision of sculpting the immune systems of older people for brain health and other health conditions with a suite of endobody vaccines. This is similar to how the world currently sculpts the immune systems of all young people with a range of vaccines. The goal is to get everyone to the level of the most healthy and those most immune to various diseases. The Endobody vaccines are a platform for a variety of treatments against Parkinsons, Alzheimers, Tau, inflammation and can also boost regeneration. They want to effect the ecosystem of the immune system within the body. UNS is a private company. Their parent company is United Biomedical. Alzheimers Background Alzheimers disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, affecting more than five million people in the US alone; its also the sixth leading cause of deaths in the country. There are treatments available to treat the disease symptoms, but without affecting the underlying causes of the disease, theyre only a bandaid effect. Not only is AD diminishing the lives of people affected and putting a strain on their caretakers, Alzheimers and other forms of dementia cost the US health care system over $259 billion in 2017, and may increase to over $1.1 trillion by 2050, according to a report by the Alzheimers Association. Since 2000, AD deaths have increased by 89 percent, while heart disease deaths have decreased by 14 percent. More on UNS Science Compared to other immunotherapies such as passive monoclonal antibodies that need to be infused into patients for the duration of treatment, their technologies enable the body to do most of the work in fighting disease, translating into a more convenient (think once 1-2x a year like a flu shot vs. monthly infusions) and more accessible treatment that is both affordable and easier to distribute for the global population. The gradual induction of endobodies by the immune system is also gentler on the body and the brain and thus has an excellent safety profile ultimately allowing for prophylactic applications. UB-311 UNS lead vaccine UB-311 is an anti-amyloid endobody vaccine for Alzheimers Disease currently in Phase II trials. UB-311 is fully synthetic and employs the UBITh platform technologies to target aggregated forms of beta-amyloid. UB-311 has successfully completed Phase I, demonstrating safety and tolerability, and is currently in Phase II trials. Preliminary data showed efficacy as measured in improvement or stabilization in all three cognitive tests conducted in the target sub-population. Several inflammatory mechanisms impact nervous system cells to generate pain, autoimmune disease and other behavioral syndromes in both acute and chronic disease settings. They are developing a novel pipeline of endobody vaccines to clamp excessive elevations of specific neuropeptides and cytokines in order to treat migraine and several neuroinflammatory indications. Neuromuscular diseases impair the functioning of muscles due to problems with the nerves and muscles in the body and include Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). They are targeting several signaling proteins that govern tissue differentiation and growth and applying our endobody technologies to repair and regenerate injured and diseased tissues associated with these diseases. Endobody definition def.: A substance produced by the body that counteracts the effects of other substances that your body produces medical: A synthetically-induced physiological autoantibody that regulates biology examples: An endobody vaccine trains the bodys adaptive immune system to more efficiently and selectively produce antibodies against undesirable endogenous host proteins Endobody targets include cancer cells, hormones, or neurotoxic proteins as aggregated beta-amyloid peptides Archbishop Leonard Blair will celebrate Mass on top of Holy Land USA on Aug. 11 in an event being planned in collaboration with the Knights of Columbus and the organization that owns the park, according to a release. Organizers hopes to see several thousand people attend from across the state, the release said. Organizers believe it will increase devotion to Venerable Fr. Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, whose cause for sainthood is being considered by the Vatican, in addition to calling attention to Holy Land, which during the 1960s and 1970s attracted more than 40,000 visitors annually, the release said. We think this will be a significant religious event for the city and the state, in the spirit of the new evangelization, said the Rev. James Sullivan, pastor of Church of the Assumption in Ansonia and organizer of the Mass, also in the release. It will be a celebration of Holy Land and Father McGivney, who grew up in Waterbury. Chuck Pagano, chairman of Holy Land USA, said, Growing up in Waterbury connected me with Holy Land as a child because I saw it every evening from my childhood bed. Additionally, there are numerous reminders of Father McGivney around our city that still connect me with him. The event planned for August is a perfect celebration for both important entities that helped develop me over the years. Further, the release noted: In 1966, when Sullivan was 6 , his father took him and his aunt, a missionary nun visiting from Australia, to the top of Pine Hill to see Holy Land USA for the first time. The group walked up the hill, and from the 56-foot illuminated cross that came to symbolize the religious theme park, they could survey the city below and see the places where Father McGivney was born, baptized and buried for 92 years until his body was moved to St. Mary Church in New Haven, which had been his first assignment as a priest. The August 11 Mass is on the eve of Father McGivneys birthday, August 12, 1852. He died at 38 on August 14, 1890. Sullivan jokes that he and Father McGivney were neighbors, who lived near each other in Waterbury on the opposite sides of the Naugatuck River ... a century apart, the release said. The park, which is on an 18-acre site, once included biblical scenes from the life of Jesus and recreations of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Holy Land was developed by John Baptist Greco, a Waterbury attorney, who began a volunteer organization called Companions of Christ, whose purpose was to create and oversee the religious park, which opened in 1955. However, Holy Land fell into disrepair and eventually closed in 1984. When John Greco died two years later, the property was given to the Religious Teachers Filippini. Over the years, various attempts to revive the park were unsuccessful although the cross was restored and later replaced in 2008 and dedicated during a Mass by Archbishop Henry Mansell. In 2013, Mayor Neil OLeary and Waterbury businessman Fred Fritz Blasius purchased the site from the Filippini Sisters. They eventually erected a new and larger cross on the hill, and there have been other initiatives to refurbish parts of the park, which reopened on September 14, 2014 with an inaugural Mass. To prepare for the August 11 Mass, the park is being repaved and landscaped. Anyone who has been through the area is familiar with Holy Land, Father Sullivan said. Truck drivers passing on Route 84 would look for the cross. People were moved to see it illuminated at night on the hilltop. The mountain has always had a spiritual mystique. It is a landmark, but also an icon. Sullivan had the idea for the Holy Land Mountaintop Mass following the success of a Mass last year on the Feast of the Transfiguration, which he celebrated for almost 100 people on the top of High Rock in Naugatuck, the release said. When he approached Archbishop Blair, Mayor OLeary and John Marrella, Supreme Advocate and General Counsel of the Knights of Columbus, he got an enthusiastic reception and moved forward. People are encouraged to arrive at 4 p.m. for the rosary, followed by praise and worship music by the Christian group Hands and Feet. The Mass with begin at 5:30. For further information about the Holy Land Mountaintop Mass, visit www.assumptionansonia.church or email father@assumptionansonia.church or call (203) 735-7857. EAST HAVEN A 41-year-old woman has been charged with animal cruelty in connection with a malnourished dog seized by animal control officers earlier this year, police said. Celena Campbell was arrested May 11 on a warrant in connection to a complaint initiated in February, East Haven police said in a release. Campbell called the Shore Haven Veterinarian Hospital on Feb. 21 because her dog, Samson, was not eating and had not defecated for several days, police said. Employees at the animal hospital advised Campbell to bring Samson in for a medical evaluation, but she never showed up. That prompted employees to contact East Haven Animal Control. Animal Control Officer Sean Godejohn and two other police officers responded to Campbells home to do a welfare check on the dog. Samson, a Rhodesian ridgeback, was found tied to a pool deck, police said. The dog appeared to have dug a hole to keep itself warm, police said. When officers checked on the dog, they noticed it did not have access to food, water or shelter. The dog was extremely thin, with protruding spinal bones and ribs, and had several wounds and scars and hair missing, police said. Nobody answered at the house and, due to inclement weather, Godejohn believed Samson to be in imminent harm and in need of immediate veterinary intervention, according to police. To prevent further harm or neglect to Samson, the dog was seized. Once Samson was evaluated by medical professionals, he was found to be in severe need of medical attention and needed to be hospitalized, police said. Veterinarians documented several significant neglect related injuries including severe malnourishment, muscle atrophy and open sores down to the muscle ligament, according to the release. Campbell was processed and released on a $2,500 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in court in New Haven May 23. Godejohn filed paperwork to take over ownership of Samson, who has since been placed in another home. Samson is reported to be healthy and in good spirits with his new owners, East Haven police Lt. Joseph M. Murgo said in the release. Murgo said Samson has put on weight and appears healthy. NEW HAVEN A judge Thursday asked the plaintiffs in a suit against the owners of the Church Street South housing complex for additional legal research to back up their contention that the chief officer of Northland Investment Corp. be held personally liable for the deterioration there. Superior Court Judge Linda K. Lager also asked the parties to the class-action suit against entities associated with Northland to each find five more former residents at the site to be deposed as to how the company responded when they sought lasting repairs at the complex. All but one family has been moved out of the complex, which had a total of 271 tenants before city and federal officials took action to move them given the mold and structural problems at the 48-year-old site. Experts reviewing data obtained through a questionnaire of the tenants arranged by attorneys David Rosen and Alex Taubes tied the conditions at Church Street South to the high rates of asthma and other ailments affecting the tenants. They brought a class-action suit against Northland in October 2016 charging that it allowed the deterioration so the buildings would have to be razed and the property then redeveloped to bring a greater financial return. Lager spent the longest amount of time in the two-hour hearing sorting out the legal creations associated with the Church Street South properties and how the plaintiffs intended to pierce the corporate protections established by Northland to reach Larry Gottesdiener, its board chairman and chief executive officer. The homework assignment for Rosen and Taubes was to present Lager with the findings in similar corporate cases in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Delaware, all of which have relevance given where the entities were formed, or in the case of Gottesdiener, where the headquarters sits. Northlands attorneys are asking the court to strike the allegations against Northland Fund II LP, Northland Fund II Partners LLC and Gottesdiener, claiming that the funds and Gottesdiener are protected through the corporate structure itself and the CEO allegedly had no direct participation in deterioration at the complex. The judge told the attorneys that she had to create a flowchart for herself to sort out the various structures named in the suit and their relationship to each other. Several times she asked Taubes where they cite direct participation by the funds and Gottesdierner in tortious actions and negligence. She asked whether the plaintiffs were prepared to abandon that argument. Taubes said they continue to argue that the collective actions of the entities and the owner were responsible for the deterioration and the subsequent suffering by the tenants. The plaintiffs amended complaint is due by June 1; both parties have to submit briefs on jurisdiction questions by June 15 with responses to those briefs by July 13. Lager will hold a hearing on the motion to certify the class on Aug. 29. The second part of the hearing covered responses from tenants as to how the company answered work orders to fix leaks, remove mold and other repairs. Attorney Marc Kruzman, who represented Northland, told the judge they held up their part of the agreement with the plaintiffs by providing thousands of work orders which they submitted electronically to be more easily accessible. He said in return, Rosen had agreed to have the tenants answer the question as to how management at the complex responded to repair requests that involved a hazardous condition. Rosen now says it is difficult to find the tenants because theyve moved, and it continues to be difficult to match the work orders with the right apartments and the tenants. He told Lager that they wanted to wait until all the work orders are delivered, testifying that they are coming in in dribs and drabs. Kruzman took issue with that characterization and said the time for Rosen to object to the process was last summer, not now. He said it was also important to get the answers because they have had tenants testify in depositions that management had been responsive to their requests. A main contention of the suit is that Northland engaged in demolition by neglect. Lager expressed disappointment that the parties still had arguments at this level. The judge ordered them to depose no more than five additional tenants each as a sampling of the class to resolve the issue. So far, Northland has deposed six tenants with two more scheduled. Rosen has argued in his court briefs that getting these answers is more relevant once the suit gets class-action status. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577 NEW HAVEN The Board of Alders Finance Committee rejected bonding $250 million to support the citys pension funds Thursday, calling it too risky for the city. At this point, the consensus opinion is we are not in a position of confidence to approve issuing pension obligation bonds, said Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, vice chairman of the Finance Committee. Instead, they approved creating a pension task force to study the issue and recommend strategies to manage it. Since the committee approved a task force, they took no action on issuing pension bonds, keeping it in committee should the task force recommend taking action on bonding the $250 million or a portion of it. The ordinance wont go to the full Board of Alders for a vote. It may be in the future that the task force, armed with independent expertise and more time to study the issue thoroughly, could come back and recommend we issue pension obligation bonds, Marchand said. Maybe it wont. The city proposed borrowing up to $250 million for the City Employee Retirement Fund pension to bring it to a funding level recommended by actuaries. The $250 million would bring up the CERF to an 85 percent funding level. Actuaries want to see a pension funded at 75 percent or more. Both CERF and the separate Police and Fire Pension Fund are only funded at an estimated 40 percent. The 40 percent funding level negatively affects the citys ability to borrow money, but greatly increasing the funding level now will help the citys general financial standing, Controller Daryl Jones said at a previous meeting. The total pension liability is $746 million for both pension funds and every year the unfunded liability grows by 7.75 percent, making it hard to catch up unless more money is added to pay down the liability up front, according to Jones, as previously reported by the Register. We have to make sure pensions are funded, but right now $250 million is too much of a risk, said Alder Evette Hamilton, D-24, chairwoman of the Finance Committee. Further, the committee did not agree with Mayor Toni N. Harps proposal to flat-fund the employee health benefits line. Instead, they voted to increase it by $5 million and create a task force that would study the issue and recommend options going forward. The $5 million was reallocated from the increase the mayor recommended for the Board of Education, which equaled the same amount. The committee also voted favorably on the tax increase, but only because they didnt have recommendations yet to lower it, Marchand said. This is a platform, he said. There could be more that happens in terms of additional income from state and additional savings that we can identify. I argue that any additional savings and revenue must be used to reduce the proposed increase in our mill rates. ... This is a platform, not a finished product. The committee turned down proposed expenses such as new 21 positions; $4,000 for public safety overtime; $150,000 for the Family Justice Center; and $468,000 for a public health clinic. Our first and only remaining priority ought to be to reduce the increased mill rate, Marchand said to the committee. That is our priority. By not agreeing to certain new positions and expenditures it will reduce spending by $1.8 million. As we approached this budget we tried to find every bit of savings that we could, Alder Tyisha Walker-Meyers, D-23, said. Thats why we said no to a lot of things that might work, that might be great but right now it isnt and dont. Walker-Meyers added the task force is important because issuing pension bonds isnt something the city should rush into. The full Board of Alders will vote on a budget May 29. mdignan@hearstmediact.com WEST HAVEN A VA team specializing in the maintenance of sterile conditions spent four days at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System hospital in West Haven last week followed by a six-day visit by the national director of the program, the VA said Thursday. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs issued a written statement about the visits in response to inquiries by the New Haven Register/Hearst Connecticut Media. The statement does not mention any conclusions or recommendations that might have resulted from the visit and the VA did not immediately respond to a request for them but U.S. Sen. Richard Bluementhal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, said hell be demanding answers in the days to come. The veterans of Connecticut deserve answers immediately and the VA has an obligation to provide them and I will demand that the VA fulfill that obligation, Blumenthal said Thursday evening. Im aware of the situation and I take it very seriously, because any issue relating to sterile processing of equipment or other materials has to be concerning, Blumenthal said. So I will be demanding more specifics as to the findings of this visit and whether the recommendations for action are sufficient to assure unquestionable first-class facilities for Connecticuts veterans. The West Haven VA was cited by the VA Inspector Generals office in 2014 for having dirty operating rooms as well as inadequate supervision and a high absentee rate. But the VA said in the statement that the team that visited last week was not from the VA Office of the Inspector General and the visit was not in relation to any prior VA OIG reports. The team from the National VA Sterile Processing Services, or SPS, program visited to review the local program and offer recommendations for improvement and education to SPS staff, the statement said. Thousands of local veterans choose to be treated at VA Connecticut because they know we provide exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being, the VA statement said. VA Connecticut continually assesses its clinical practices to ensure patient safety. Site visits by teams from VA headquarters happen frequently throughout the health care system nationally and are designed to ensure VA facilities maintain a state of continuous quality improvement, the statement read. We anticipate future visits from the national SPS team as we work to implement the team recommendations, the VA said. The New Haven Register has submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act for the conclusions of the SPS site team and its recommendations. The VA had not provided them as of the close of business Thursday. Blumenthal said that while he doesnt yet know the specifics, This issue may be symptomatic of a larger challenge, which relates to the aging of the overall healthcare facility, which has been deeply concerning for some time. Weve been advocating for greater investment and giving priority to the West Haven VA for complete renovation and rebuilding, he said. Back in 2014, the VA Inspector General concluded that terminal cleaning procedures in the (VA operating room) are not performed appropriately and the hospitals Environmental Management Services, or EMS, has insufficient staff resources assigned to the OR. That report resulted from at least one unannounced inspection. It came four months after tests at the West Haven VA hospital found low, but detectable levels of Legionella bacteria in its water sources. That bacteria was found to have been confined to one building and was found in about five faucets. The 2014 Inspector Generals report found that hospital EMS staff at that time did not utilize standard operating procedures ... or checklists for cleaning that are consistent with recognized industry standards. Patients with infectious diseases who may require special precautions at that time were scheduled for surgical procedures throughout the day along with patients who are not infectious, the report said. OR staff, meanwhile, were not always made aware of an infectious patients precaution status prior to the arrival of the patient, it said. Inspector General investigators at that time substantiated that terminal cleaning of the OR is not performed appropriately and that a shortage of trained EMS staff assigned to the OR and an incomplete SOP and checklist inconsistent with recognized industry standards were contributing factors, the report said. With regard to supervision, the 2014 report found that during an unannounced evening inspection of the OR, we saw no EMS staff for almost an hour, when two staff members should have been present, the report stated. EMS supervisors we spoke to could not explain the absence of employees during this time. At the time of the 2014 inspection, the VAs EMS department had an authorized staffing of 125, with 38 vacancies, the report said, but facility managers reported that on an average workday, 19 percent of EMS staff did not report to work. A Russian plane linked to the country's government flew into the Seychelles the day prior to a 2017 meeting now under review by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to the airport flight data obtained by NJ Advance Media. Mueller's team is examining a series of meetings that took place in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, as part of its broader investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Much speculation has centered on one particular meeting that took place between Erik Prince, founder of the security company Blackwater, Kirill Dmitriev, the director of one of Russia's sovereign wealth funds, and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the effective ruler of the United Arab Emirates (also known as "MBZ"). Few details have emerged about the contents of the meetings. Last year, the Washington Post described this meeting in its reporting as an attempt by the U.S. to set up a backchannel with Russia. Prince, in a testimony with the House Intelligence Committee in December, described his meeting on the island as a chance encounter. But new details about a Russian aircraft that landed in the Seychelles the day before Prince has raised questions about the scope of the meetings that week and whether sanctions were a topic of conversation among participants. The Russian aircraft in question departed from Moscow and landed in the Seychelles at 4:21 p.m. Jan. 10, 2017, according to the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority -- one day before Prince arrived on the island. The aircraft carried six passengers, including flight crew. Two individuals familiar with the aircraft's purchasing history said the aircraft is owned by Andrei Skoch, a Russian billionaire who made his fortune in the mining business and is now a deputy in the Russian State Duma, the country's legislative body. The individuals requested to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to give out private aircraft owner information. It is unclear if Skoch was on the aircraft, but employees at the Seychelles airport and the Four Seasons Hotel told NJ Advance Media that the plane's passengers stayed at the resort during their time on the island. The hotel was the setting of meetings among Prince, UAE representatives and Dmitriev, according to Prince's testimony with the House Intelligence Committee in December 2017. (The Daily Beast reported last week Prince has also been interviewed by Mueller). What makes Skoch a particularly interesting figure in the ongoing drama? The U.S. Treasury Department in April placed him on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list, a list that blocks an individual's assets and prohibits people from the U.S. from doing business with them. (Dmitriev's fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, is also subject to U.S. sanctions.) In his testimony, Prince denied discussing sanctions with Dmitriev and said he met the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund by chance. But if Skoch participated in the Seychelles meetings that week in January 2017, it would raise the possibility state business, including sanctions, was discussed. The sanctions issue sits at the center of the conversation about Russian meddling in the 2016 election. If sanctions were discussed by participants of the Seychelles meetings, it would shed light on whether and under what circumstances the Trump team planned to sideline the issue of Russia's intervention in Ukraine. The Trump administration eventually, after pressure from Congress, imposed sanctions on the Russians for meddling in the 2016 election. The conversations in the Seychelles would have come at a time when the president's former national security adviser Michael Flynn was under fire in Washington for discussing sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. Whatever was discussed on the island that week in January 2017, flight records and interviews conducted with those familiar with Mueller's probe suggest the meetings in the Seychelles connect powerful players from Russia, the U.S., the UAE and Saudi Arabia across the political, financial and defense worlds. Other individuals on the island that week include Alexander Mashkevitch, an alleged financier of Bayrock, an investment vehicle linked to Trump, was in the Seychelles. Mashkevitch's spokesman said the businessman was on the island for a family trip. Flight records show he flew in alone Jan. 10, 2017. Sheikh Abdulrahman Khalid BinMahfouz, whose father was a billionaire and former chairman of Saudi Arabia's first private bank, was also on the island, as was George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman with ties to the White House and the Republican National Committee. The New York Times reported in March that Mueller's team questioned Nader, who helped broker the Seychelles meeting between Prince and Dmitriev, about whether the Emiratis attempted to buy political influence in the White House. Erin Banco may be reached at ebanco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ErinBanco. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Beach trip? Here's all you need to know for Gulf Coast beaches this weekend Courtesy of Navy Band Northwest Brass Quintet May 16, 2018 Contact: Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer, (970) 586-1363 Contact: General Park Information, (970) 586-1206 Rocky Mountain National Park invites the public to attend two special Memorial Day Weekend evening programs offered at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park. On Saturday, May 26, at 7 p.m. join park ranger Steven Lambert for Rocky Rocks. The story of Rockys rocks is the foundation on which all the wonders we see are built; the mountain peaks, valleys, lakes, forests, wildlife, weather and people. On Sunday, May 27, at 7 p.m. the National Park Service is honored to have the Navy Band Northwest Brass Quintet perform to honor veterans over Memorial Day weekend. Presenting the finest in brass chamber music, the Navy Band Northwest Brass Quintet performs over one hundred concerts, ceremonies, and outreach events each year. With an area of responsibility from "Alaska to Nebraska," musical variety from ancient renaissance to modern jazz, and technical virtuosity from the trumpets all the way down to the tuba. Their musical selections inspire feelings of patriotism to celebrate Memorial Day. May 16, 2018 Morgan Warthin , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY - On May 14, 2018, the National Park Service (NPS) Intermountain Regional Director signed the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the environmental assessment (EA), The Use of Quarantine to Identify Brucellosis-free Yellowstone Bison for Relocation Elsewhere. The approved FONSI allows the NPS to implement a quarantine program, as described in the selected action. The purpose of the quarantine program is to augment or establish new conservation and cultural herds of plains bison, enhance cultural and nutritional opportunities for American Indians, and reduce shipments of Yellowstone bison to slaughter facilities. Quarantine is a positive step forward for bison conservation, said Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk. The NPS will continue to work closely with tribes, the State of Montana, the US Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and other stakeholders to implement this program. The NPS conducted a 45-day public scoping period for the EA, from July 28 to September 12, 2014. The scoping period included public meetings in Gardiner and Bozeman, Montana, on August 18 and 19, 2014. The NPS then prepared the EA and released it for a 45-day public comment and review on January 13, 2016. After completion of the public comment period, the NPS reviewed comments and worked with state, federal, and tribal partners to develop the selected action and prepare the FONSI. Responses to public comments on the EA can be found in the Errata Sheet section of the FONSI. View the FONSI and EA at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/BisonQuarantine [May 17, 2018] Sumo Logic and Partners to Host NYC DevOps Event with Dr. Nicole Forsgren REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sumo Logic, the leading cloud-native, machine data analytics platform that delivers continuous intelligence, today announced it is hosting a DevOps industry event at the Eventi Hotel in New York City, along with partners Amazon Web Service (AWS), CloudPassage, EagleDream Technologies, New Relic and PagerDuty, that will share insights, tips and lessons learned on how to create high-performing DevOps teams. Registration is open and space is limited sign up here now to reserve your spot. The Secrets of High Performance: What the Data Says takes place Wednesday, May 23 at 11:30 a.m. ET and will feature Dr. Nicole Forsgren, chief scientist, president and CEO of DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA). The event will provide prescriptive guidance for organizations looking to improve overall DevOps processes, based on the detailed findings of the State of DevOps Report. In addiion, Dr. Forsgren will share candid insight into the key leadership, technical, architectural and product capabilities that create high-performing DevOps teams. Dr. Forsgren will also provide attendees with tips to help them successfully build an IT organization that embraces a DevOps culture. Lunch and drinks will be provided, as well as networking opportunities. Details-at-a-Glance Who: Dr. Nicole Forsgren, chief scientist, president and CEO of DORA Dr. Nicole Forsgren, chief scientist, president and CEO of DORA What: A discussion with Dr. Forsgren on how to build high-performing DevOps teams hosted by AWS, CloudPassage, EagleDream Technologies, New Relic, PagerDuty and Sumo Logic; lunch, drinks and networking opportunities will be available for all attendees A discussion with Dr. Forsgren on how to build high-performing DevOps teams hosted by AWS, CloudPassage, EagleDream Technologies, New Relic, PagerDuty and Sumo Logic; lunch, drinks and networking opportunities will be available for all attendees Where : Eventi Hotel, 851 6th Ave., New York, NY 10001 : Eventi Hotel, 851 6th Ave., New York, NY 10001 When: Wednesday, May 23 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 23 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET For more information and to register, click here. More than 1,600 companies and 50,000 users count on Sumo Logic to harness the power of real-time machine data analytics and deliver the continuous intelligence they need to build, run and secure modern applications and accelerate digital business transformation. Sumo Logic recently announced registration and Call for Papers is now open for its second annual user conference Illuminate 2018, taking place Sept. 12-13. More details on the event, registration and how to become a speaker can be found on the conference website. Illuminate offers resources to practitioners and leaders across development, operations and security to receive hands-on training, certifications, technical sessions and real-world case studies from peers and partners to learn how to get the most out of the Sumo Logic platform. About Sumo Logic Sumo Logic is a secure, cloud-native, machine data analytics service, delivering real-time, continuous intelligence from structured, semi-structured and unstructured data across the entire application lifecycle and stack. More than 1,600 customers around the globe rely on Sumo Logic for the analytics and insights to build, run and secure their modern applications and cloud infrastructures. With Sumo Logic, customers gain a multi-tenant, service-model advantage to accelerate their shift to continuous innovation, increasing competitive advantage, business value and growth. Founded in 2010, Sumo Logic is a privately held company based in Redwood City, Calif. and is backed by Accel Partners, DFJ, Greylock Partners, IVP, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Sutter Hill Ventures. For more information, visit www.sumologic.com. Media Contact Danielle Salvato-Earl Offleash for Sumo Logic sumo@offleashpr.com [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] Viewed of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Managing Editor Having lived and worked in Indy on and off since 1977, and currently living in Carmel, I've seen the city change a great deal. I love covering the arts in all its forms, and the places where the arts and broader cultural issues intersect. It was a good picture and a good price, said Ivor Braka, a London dealer who specializes in Bacon. Market freshness was also on tap with Blueberry, a sumptuous 1969 painting by the French-based Abstract Expressionist painter Joan Mitchell offered by the Hillman Family Foundation. It had been bought by the distinguished American collectors Henry and Elsie Hillman back in 1970. Three telephone bidders and one in the room fought for Blueberry. Measuring 79 inches high and thickly worked in yellow, white and blue, the painting climbed to a winning telephone bid of $16.6 million with fees, beating the previous auction high of $11.9 million for the artist. Historians are recognizing the importance of female artists contribution to the Abstract Expressionist movement, said Andrew Terner, a private dealer and collector based in New York. And this was just such a beautiful painting. On the other hand there were fewer takers for salesroom retreads. Estimated by Christies at $30 million each, Andy Warhols 1963 black and white silk-screen painting, Double Elvis [Ferus Type] and Mark Rothkos monumental 1954 abstract, No. 7 (Dark Over Light), were both reappearing at auction. We will not negotiate with the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. That was the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, above center, venting his anger at President Trump. European Union leaders announced they would seek to prohibit companies based in the bloc from complying with newly reimposed American sanctions on Iran. The move marks the latest rift in the trans-Atlantic alliance, with the Europeans united in preventing the United States from determining the continents economic interests. And perhaps no European leader is more bruised than President Emmanuel Macron of France, whose fruitless embrace of Mr. Trump, replete with hand holding, hugs and dandruff dusting, has come back to haunt him domestically. Earlier this year, the Tony Award-winning actress Ruthie Ann Miles and her husband were preparing for the birth of their second child. The family was dealt a tragedy in March, when the couples 5-year-old daughter, Abigail, was killed and Ms. Miles was critically injured by a driver who lost control of her car in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The couples grief swelled last week, when their unborn daughter died as Ms. Miless due date approached, a lawyer for the family said on Thursday. The child, whom the family planned to name Sophia Rosemary, died on May 11, the lawyer, Ben B. Rubinowitz, said in an interview. Ms. Miles was 39 weeks pregnant, and doctors believe Sophias death was the result of her mothers injuries from the crash, Mr. Rubinowitz said. Im concerned about how people we serve who are homeless are being stigmatized, said Mr. Banks, who oversees the citys homelessness initiatives. It isnt only white, or wealthy, neighborhoods that are rejecting shelters. In Crown Heights, a diverse, fast-gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood, many residents reacted angrily to the news that the city planned to open three new shelters. At a community meeting, some accused city officials of brushing aside their concerns after they had been cowed by the opposition in Maspeth. Still, its become clear that the city would open the shelter on West 58th Street over residents objections. Im worried about the safety of my family, Helen Ohw Kim, who lives on the block, said at a news conference the group held last month outside the hotel. Ms. Ohw Kim said the site would be better served as a shelter for women and young children, so my 3-year-old daughter wont get punched in the face. Other residents said they were also willing to accept a shelter for single women with young children. How young? Under 10 years old, they said, leaving unclear what would happen on a childs 11th birthday. City officials have said they were forced to abandon the Maspeth shelter when the owner of the hotel they had hoped to use backed out. But even in an administration that has at times shown little backbone when it needs to stand up for its liberal principles, some de Blasio aides privately talk about the episode as a shameful retreat. They say they are likely to site a shelter in Maspeth in the coming years. And administration officials say that from here on, they are determined to open the shelters, regardless of community opposition. First, the question shifted from What to do? to Whom to blame? The debates were less about how to take steps toward a livable future and more about who is responsible for the sins of the past. The central activity became moral condemnation, with vindication as the ultimate goal. Second, the dream of total victory became the only acceptable dream. In normal politics, certain longstanding debates are never really settled; competing parties instead reach an accommodation that works in the moment. But extremists stop trying to win partial victories, insisting that someday they will get everything they want that someday the other side will magically disappear. Third, extremists over time replace strategic thinking with theatrical thinking. Strategic thinking is about the relation of means to ends: How do we use what we have to get to where we want to go? Theatrical thinking is both more cynical and more messianic: How do we create a martyrdom performance that will show the world how oppressed we are? Palestinian politics has shifted. It shifted from 1967 thinking to 1948 thinking. If you read the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbass April 30 speech or much of the commentary published over the past week, its clear that some powerful Palestinians now believe that the creation of the state of Israel is the wrong that needs to be addressed, not the expansion and occupation. They rejected incrementalism. After Israel withdrew from its settlements in Gaza, the Palestinians could have declared a new opening, taking advantage of the influx of humanitarian aid. Instead, they elected Hamas, an organization that lists the extermination of the state of Israel as an existential goal. They expended resources that could have improved infrastructure to fund missiles and terrorist tunnels. PARIS The Theatre de lOdeon here had planned a decorous tribute to May 1968. Half a century ago, the 18th-century building in the heart of the citys Latin Quarter was occupied by students and protesters for a month; under the slogan Power to the imagination, it became a peoples forum, open to all. And briefly, on May 7, it looked as if all hell might break loose again. The current Odeon director, Stephane Braunschweig, had gone the safe, rather than imaginative, road for his one-off celebration, The Spirit of May. For an hour or so, the evening plodded along, with lectures about history and speeches from guest artists and academics until a young man walked up to the stage, interrupting the proceedings. While youre doing your commemoration, he admonished the crowd angrily, students are being tear-gassed in front of the Odeon. (A spokeswoman for the theater later confirmed that she had seen tear gas being used.) About 70 students were staging a symbolic protest outside and had been denied entry; as in 1968, there has been severe unrest this spring at universities across France in reaction to President Emmanuel Macrons change agenda, which includes more selective university admission rules. According to the spokeswoman, a handful of masked protesters attempted to force their way to the stage door, prompting the police to intervene. Inside, a heated debate ensued, and some scheduled speakers walked out. The evening laid bare the uneasiness that has so far surrounded the 50th anniversary of the events of 1968 in France. That revolutionary spring, which saw striking workers and students unite, is etched in the countrys collective psyche, yet its legacy remains disputed. After briefly floating the idea of a national celebration, Mr. Macron retreated: Extolling 1968s spirit of freedom and anticapitalism was a juggling act too far for a liberal president facing strikes of his own. WASHINGTON The prospect of rewriting the North American Free Trade Agreement this year appeared to diminish significantly on Thursday, as a deadline set by congressional Republicans passed and the lead American trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, said the countries involved were nowhere near close to a deal. To get an agreement approved by the current, Republican-controlled Congress, Speaker Paul D. Ryan set a May 17 cutoff for the White House to notify Congress of an impending deal. As that deadline came and went on Thursday, Canada, Mexico and the United States remained at odds over significant portions of the sprawling 24-year-old agreement. Trade advisers across the political spectrum cautioned that the current Congress could still vote on the deal this year if negotiators wrapped up their talks in the next few weeks. But with significant disagreements remaining among the three countries as well as disparate views among the lawmakers who must approve the deal, the chance of Naftas quick resolution is diminishing. In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Lighthizer, the United States trade representative, said that gaping differences remained between the countries on intellectual property, agriculture, energy and other areas. We of course will continue to engage in negotiations, and I look forward to working with my counterparts to secure the best possible deal for American farmers, ranchers, workers and businesses, he added. But Mr. Nadler indicated that he was not among the Democrats hungering for an impeachment effort. Attempting to oust Mr. Trump without overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing, Mr. Nadler said, would risk tearing the country apart. You dont have impeachment unless the case is so strong that you will convince a good fraction not a majority, necessarily, but a good fraction of the people who voted for Trump that you had to do it, Mr. Nadler said. Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, said he expected voters would ultimately render judgment on Mr. Muellers findings. Expressing indifference to Mr. Giulianis pronouncements, Mr. Kennedy said he hoped Mr. Mueller would give a full report on Russian interference in American elections, and soon. Once he finishes the investigation, I want him to report to the American people and let the chips fall where they may, Mr. Kennedy said of the special counsel. And I trust the American people to figure it out. But Mr. Kennedy does not face re-election until 2022, and few politicians on the ballot this fall share his serene outlook. While some candidates on the left and right have sought to exploit the Mueller investigation in different ways Democrats calling for impeachment, Republicans demonizing the special counsel most politicians in difficult races have sought to avoid the issue. They have largely adopted a posture of deference to Mr. Mueller, insisting that the special counsel must finish his work before they judge the facts. That day of judgment, however, may be approaching with inconvenient speed. Should Mr. Mueller unearth information implicating the president or members of his immediate family in serious crimes, it could put enormous and in many cases unwanted pressure on Congress to take action and on congressional candidates to take a stand. Mr. Trump and his lawyers have denied that he conspired with Russians to influence the 2016 election, or that he did anything to obstruct an investigation into Russian interference. Depending on what is eventually proven, the core scandal could rival Watergate, in which a third-rate burglary of Democratic National Committee headquarters ultimately revealed a wide-ranging campaign of political sabotage and spying to influence the 1972 presidential election and undercut perceived rivals. In the current case, a hostile foreign power sought to sway the 2016 election and there is evidence that at least some people in Mr. Trumps circle were willing to collaborate with it to do so. Mr. Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the Watergate special prosecutor, and was ultimately undone by a secret tape recording of him requesting that his aides use the C.I.A. to impede the F.B.I. investigation into the burglary. Mr. Trump fired James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director originally leading the investigation, and has repeatedly pressured the Justice Department and special counsel to shut down the inquiry and investigate his Democratic rivals instead. Watergate pales, really, in my view, compared to what were confronting now, James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, has said. David Corn, an author of Russian Roulette, a book about the case, has described it as much bigger than what happened in Watergate. After Mr. Comeys dismissal, James Fallows wrote in The Atlantic that this scandal looks worse than Watergate. Carl Bernstein, one of the Washington Post journalists who led the coverage of the Nixon scandal, has said this appears worse than Watergate in many, many ways. Like Hillary Clinton and the vast right wing conspiracy, Mr. Trump and his allies are trying to focus attention on the conduct of their pursuers, arguing that the F.B.I. or the special counsel investigating Russias involvement in the election have themselves stepped over the line. The presidents tweet on Thursday seized on a column in a conservative magazine asserting that the F.B.I. most likely had a confidential informant inside Mr. Trumps campaign in 2016. Mr. Trump extrapolated that to imply that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, had planted a spy on his team. Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT, he wrote. If so, he added, this is bigger than Watergate! But migrants advocates and human rights activists say the Mexican government would be ill prepared to handle the sudden and significant surge in asylum petitions that would result from a safe third country agreement. Mexicos asylum system is already overwhelmed by the growing numbers of immigrants that have sought sanctuary in recent years, the advocates contend. Moreover, they say, Mexico remains a very dangerous place, with weak law enforcement and judicial systems incapable of providing adequate protections for migrants who are in transit or are seeking to stay. The fact is that Mexico is not a safe option for many people, least of all migrants and asylum-seeking families, said Michelle Brane, director of the migrant rights and justice program at the Womens Refugee Commission, an advocacy group. Such a deal, she said, would be nothing more than another attack by the Trump administration on women, children and families seeking safety at our border. In recent years, violence in Central America has driven tens of thousands of people to migrate to the United States to seek protection. A far smaller but increasing number of Central Americans and migrants from other countries have sought sanctuary in Mexico. In 2016, the last full year for which statistics are available, nearly 8,800 people applied for asylum in Mexico, almost seven times as many as in 2013, according to Mexicos government. About the same number applied during the first eight months of 2017. The idea of a safe third country agreement with Mexico has not been the exclusive domain of Republicans. According to Mexican officials, Obama administration officials brought up the idea informally in negotiations with their Mexican counterparts, but the initiative went nowhere. The Trump administration has championed the notion more forcefully, Mexican officials say. Some Republican legislators in Washington have even pushed a bill that would allow the United States to return Central American asylum seekers unilaterally to Mexico without the need for a bilateral agreement, according to a summary of the bill from the House Judiciary Committee. MOSCOW President Bashar al-Assad of Syria paid a surprise visit to Russia on Thursday and was told by President Vladimir V. Putin that Russia expected foreign armed forces to pull out of Syria as a peace process began. It was not immediately clear which foreign troops Mr. Putin referred to, as Russia, Iran, the United States and other nations have forces in the country. Mr. Putin said such a withdrawal would be part of a settlement of the countrys long civil war. Both Iran and Russian forces are fighting on Mr. Assads side in Syria. If Mr. Putin was pointing to Irans military presence in Syria which this month flared into an exchange of hostilities with Israel his comment could suggest a Russian role in preventing Iran from becoming entrenched there. Mr. Putin noted that the Syrian Army had won significant victories and successes in the war, according to the Tass news agency, and attention should turn to humanitarian aid and a political settlement. WASHINGTON Over the past four years, American military planning in Iraq has counted on working with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a moderate Shiite Muslim who has managed to rebuild the countrys army, restore sovereignty and partner with both the United States and Iran to defeat the Islamic State. But the results of the weekends national elections in Iraq have torn the American assumptions asunder. Huge gains in Parliament were made by a party led by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, whose implacable opposition to the presence of United States troops in Iraq was a top reason Washington withdrew its combat forces in 2011. Now, President Trump and the Pentagon must decide whether the United States can move ahead with plans to leave a residual force of about 4,500 American troops in Iraq after the war against the Islamic State. Mr. McGregors compositional techniques are unusual. He often creates movement by asking the dancers to attempt ideas like putting your nose on the floor and seeing what kind of shapes and movement they create. He generates a large amount of physical material in this way, then culls ideas and sequences, often colliding different passages against one another in duos or larger groups. Its hijacking your own work, he said in a few weeks ago, at his elegantly minimal London headquarters in the Olympic Park, on the eastern edge of the city, where he runs his troupe, Company Wayne McGregor. It is physically very hard, said the ballerina Alessandra Ferri, who has worked with Mr. McGregor at the Royal Ballet and is performing in AfteRite. There is a quantity of movement that you have to memorize with your mind and your body: Memorize, next; memorize, next. But the speed, the departure from what you know, breaks patterns, your body and mind habits, and that frees creativity and brings something new out of you. Mr. McGregor said his new work for Ballet Theater would not follow the narrative suggested by the Stravinsky score, whose sections have titles like Glorification of the Chosen One. When you are dealing with a work like Rite, its a palimpsest, he said. When I think about all the versions Ive seen, and everything Ive read about the Nijinsky-Stravinsky 1913 creation, I realize there is a thick strata there in my consciousness. That, he said, was why he had named the piece AfteRite. It acknowledges the Rites Ive seen, but also alludes to a sort of retinal burn of recurrent themes and ideas, and to a speculative future. David Geffen Hall has lately been witness to dueling interpretations of Shostakovichs Fifth Symphony. Last month, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic played a version here attuned to the works tragic and sardonic potential. On Thursday, the Russian-born conductor Semyon Bychkov began a two-week stint with the New York Philharmonic with a program featuring the same symphony. And his interpretation of one of Shostakovichs most familiar pieces took some risks. Many contemporary approaches to the Fifth duly observe its complex historical context. (It was written with at least a partial goal though how partial remains in dispute of regaining the favor of Soviet censors.) But unlike some other conductors, Mr. Bychkov doesnt seem interested in pointing out stray subversive riffs in the score. Instead, he allows Shostakovichs restless invention to sound joyful for its own sake. With the Philharmonic, this approach resulted in an opening of rare propulsion. Rather than sounding gravely wounded, the first movement had reserves of noir-film savoir faire. Still plenty dark, yet also steely. Yet when Mr. Taylor told him of his plan to appoint Mr. Novak, Mr. Tomlinson was caught off guard. Michaels name never even crossed my mind, he said. But suddenly it made perfect sense: Hes intelligent, hes totally inquisitive, hes totally invested in modern dance and in what Paul Taylor does. Hes a brilliant performer and hes an inquiring mind. Mr. Taylor spoke about showing Mr. Novak the ropes. He wants me to start working on artistic planning and programming first, said Mr. Novak, adding that he would attend administrative meetings too. I expect to do a lot of listening and a lot of note taking. Mr. Taylor said that when Mr. Novak is understudying a dance, he will have Mr. Novak sit next to him in the studio to hear his comments. Beyond that, specific training plans are hard to nail down. Ive warned Michael about this, Mr. Tomlinson said. I said, Be careful if youre expecting Paul to sit down with you and start talking you through all this, you may be disappointed. Mr. Novak also plans on spending time in the Taylor archives, going back to 1954 when the company was formed. I want to get a sense of how he and his work have evolved, Mr. Novak said. Youre looking at seven decades of culture, too. The fact that dances that were made that long ago still are profound and true and can still seem relevant and poignant and make people cry the timelessness of it is shocking to me. Mr. Novak didnt start out loving or even knowing much about modern dance. He began his training at around 10 at a competition school in Palatine, Ill., that focused on jazz, tap and hip-hop. During middle school he developed a severe stutter, known as a block. You cant get the word out, he said. Trying to fight to talk and not being able to dance became a way for me to just let it out. Ever since the sale at Sothebys on Wednesday night of Past Times, a monumental painting by Kerry James Marshall with a narrative centered on black experiences, many people have been speculating about which collector or museum might have placed the winning $21.1 million bid. The sale was an auction high for Mr. Marshall, and it was widely reported to be the most ever paid for the work of a living African-American artist. We werent the buyer, but wish we were, Joanne Heyler, the founding director of The Broad, said when asked if the new buyer was her boss, Eli Broad. On Thursday night, Jack Shainman, Mr. Marshalls gallerist and dealer in New York, told The Times that the buyer was Sean Combs, the entrepreneur, fashionista, Grammy Award-winning record producer and subject of the documentary Cant Stop, Wont Stop: A Bad Boy Story. MARTIN Dont tell him what his job is. SHORT Someones got to. [Laughter] Youve both done a lot of theater. Marty, youve headlined numerous musicals, and Steve, Amy Schumer just got a Tony nomination for your play Meteor Shower. MARTIN Im very proud of that. To have written a part that qualifies someone to be nominated for a Tony makes you feel good. Do you think about starring on Broadway again? MARTIN Ive got a 5-year-old. I cant do eight shows a week. When I did Waiting for Godot [in 1988], there was always this thing hanging over my head because it was one of the greatest plays ever, and youve got this incredible obligation. Here I have no obligation to him whatsoever. [Laughter] SHORT I never say never. But eight shows a week is a lot. MARTIN I used to say, What if we did only seven shows a week? and the producers would say, Unfortunately, its the eighth show that puts you into profit. Would you ever make another movie together? MARTIN I lost interest in movies at exactly the same time movies lost interest in me. [Laughter] Its another situation where the work is all-consuming, because the minimum day is 12 hours. And you have to go away. We used to make movies in Los Angeles! SHORT If someone offers me a great role like Paul Thomas Anderson did in Inherent Vice, Id do it. But as far as I just want to be in a movie, I dont care what it is, no. Dear Xi Jinping, Could we interest you in 500 million metric tons of soybeans? How about five Ford-class aircraft carriers and 465 F/A-18 fighter jets? Forty trillion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas? Around 2.8 billion barrels of crude oil? Two and a half million Tesla Model X SUVs? Were just trying to make the math work here. Negotiators from Mr. Xis government have offered the Trump administration a deal to buy $200 billion of American goods, in order to defuse escalating trade threats between the United States and China including Mr. Trumps vow to impose tariffs on as much as $150 billion of Chinese imports. The purchased goods would be an effort to reduce Americas trade deficit with the Chinese, which reached $375.2 billion last year, and which irritates Mr. Trump to no end. Administration officials are confident such an agreement could be reached soon. A senior administration official said Friday that the Chinese would commit to reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers that hinder American goods from flowing into that country, allowing an additional $200 billion of American sales to China by 2020. 1. I was thinking it was going to happen eventually, its been happening everywhere. That was Paige Curry, a student at Santa Fe High School in Texas, after a fellow student killed 10 people with a shotgun and a .38 revolver. Gov. Greg Abbott said the gunman, identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, appeared to have obtained the weapons from his father, who legally owned them. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive, but the social media trail Mr. Pagourtzis left shows a young man obsessed with violence. Explosive devices were also found on the campus and nearby. Heres the latest. Charity Gates phones her contact each month to make an appointment. When the time comes, she and a colleague drive around Denver, collecting stacks of $20 bills she has stored in various safes since the last delivery. She counts the cash and places it in small duffel or sling bags, carrying up to $20,000 at a time. She then drives to a gray two-story office building downtown and parks on the street or in a pay lot nearby. Ms. Gates fears being robbed, so the two dress simply to avoid attention and use different vehicles and delivery days to vary their routine. We hold our breath every time we go, Ms. Gates said. Passing armed guards in the lobby, Ms. Gates walks into a room and hands her bags to a group of people waiting to run her money through counting and counterfeit-detection machines. This is how she pays her taxes. Ms. Gates runs Colorados Best Dabs, a company that processes cannabis to extract concentrated oils that are used to create marijuana-infused edibles like brownies and teas. She is among the growing number of entrepreneurs who find themselves operating in legal gray zones, as more states around the United States move to legalize marijuana while the federal government still regards it as an illegal substance on par with heroin and LSD. People may be able to open stores and sell their products to customers in the 30 states that have legalized the drug for medicinal or recreational use, but they find themselves without access to banks to provide them with loans or checking accounts. Maria Engels, 27, is a youth educator at the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Rochester. Why did you become involved in this organization? My desire to do this kind of work was crystallized when I was 13 years old, during a trip to visit St. Benedicts Nursery, the orphanage in Chittagong, Bangladesh, from which Id been adopted at the age of 18 months. Im told my biological parents came from the untouchable caste, the lowest in India. Instead, I grew up in a comfortable setting in Rochester, with loving parents and two brothers. I was so deeply moved to see the life I could have been living that I decided to help others less fortunate than me through social justice causes. How did that lead you to the M.K. Gandhi Institute? In my senior year at Clark University, I helped run a yearlong course, Difficult Dialogues, which shaped my understanding of how communication skills can improve relationships. HOLYWELL, Wales Officials in this Welsh town will soon install free Wi-Fi along their lone shopping street. They are erecting the first electric car chargers in the area. And this past winter, small businesses began partnering with an American mobile payments system in the hope of getting more people in their stores. This is small-town tech the scattershot response as communities try in any way possible to draw shoppers back to their High Streets and Main Streets. Many places like Holywell are experimenting with new technologies and digital services, in a defensive crouch against the dominance of e-commerce and the lure of bigger cities. Along with the car chargers and free Wi-Fi, officials here have added digital beacons that describe local attractions to aid smartphone-toting tourists. Although such efforts will hardly insulate their economies, the alternative amounts to giving up. Shop owners are hopeful the moves will help them survive, and improve the mood of an area that has seen decades of decline. Image Credit... Tony Cenicola/The New York Times While there is no precise rule for what counts as a session cocktail, Mr. Lazor says it should contain no more than three-quarters of an ounce of strong spirit. An appreciation for these drinks was lost in the early years of the recent American cocktail renaissance. When Mr. Lazor told people he was writing a book about low-alcohol cocktails, the most common response was a snort: Well, whats the point of that? His answer: It doesnt have to be a drink that will knock you on your butt after one to be big in flavor or interesting. Many bartenders have come to the same conclusion, though perhaps for different reasons. Phoebe Esmon, cocktail director at both Curate and Nightbell in Asheville, N.C., says that at least some of the interest in lighter cocktails is driven by self-preservation: Bartenders have been known to indulge in their own creations, and lower-proof drinks are one response to rampant alcohol abuse in the business. And it turns out that pleasantly bitter liqueurs, like the electric yellow Suze or the artichoke-based Cynar, are just as interesting as 80-proof bourbon. In that spirit, Ms. Esmon serves several refreshingly low-kick cocktails. At Nightbell, theres Between Rounds, a mix of Oloroso sherry, Cynar, pecan syrup and barbecue bitters. At Curate, a modern tapas bar, she kegs Manzanilla sherry with house-pressed cider and lightly carbonates it. There was a time when such extravagance was intrinsic to the faith. In the Middle Ages, people were more used to representation, Mr. Wenders said. This spectacular way of dressing among the cardinals and bishops, the incredible Gothic architecture they were all a representation of man aspiring to get closer to God. For Mr. Wenders, that view has lost its relevance. Like some of his earlier movies Paris Texas, The American Friend and Kings of the Road come to mind his documentary is, in some respects, a road movie. The film, which opens in theaters on May 18, follows Pope Francis from prisons, refugee camps and favelas to the halls of Congress and the United Nations without losing its stringent focus on a pontiff seeking to model himself on his namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, the son of a rich textile merchant who cast off his finery for mendicants robes. If you ask Mr. Wenders, thats a gesture worth emulating. More than anything Pope Francis tells us that we dont have to dress up to appear before God, he said. He tells us, Lets look at people. Lets not look at disguises. Doctors might perform a Pap smear, which is a test for cervical cancer. The patient lies on her back and places her feet in supports called stirrups, and the doctor inserts a speculum to keep the vagina open enough so that a swab can be inserted to scrape a small sample of cells from the cervix. Pap smears used to be done annually, but guidelines now recommend them every three to five years for women 21 and older. A breast exam might also be done. Sometimes, but not always, gynecologists conduct a pelvic exam, which is usually the most uncomfortable part for patients. A doctor uses a speculum to examine the vagina and cervix and then places fingers of one hand inside the vagina and presses on the abdomen with the other hand. Its intended to assess whether the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries and cervix are of a healthy size and position and an attempt to detect ovarian or other cancers. When should gynecologists perform pelvic exams? They are definitely not necessary for every patient. In fact, the American College of Physicians recommended in 2014 that pelvic exams not be done on nonpregnant women who show no symptoms of gynecological problems. The report found no evidence that pelvic exams were better at detecting ovarian cancer than ultrasounds or blood tests, and there was slim evidence of success detecting other conditions like bacterial vaginosis. And it said some patients experienced embarrassment or anxiety and sometimes didnt return for another visit if the pelvic exam caused pain. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends pelvic exams for women 21 and older, even if they have no symptoms. But it says the exam is unnecessary to screen for sexually transmitted diseases, which can be done with vaginal swabs or urine tests. And it isnt needed unless a woman has begun taking oral contraceptives. Hormones from birth control pills can affect the vaginal lining and the cervix, and a pelvic exam can identify those effects, said Dr. Hoskins, who is also chairwoman of ACOGs New York State district. She also does pelvic exams on women who engage in risky behavior, like if shes telling me, On weekends, I go to parties and I have multiple partners, Dr. Hoskins said. She talked about leaving the country, Mr. Felder said. He said that a judge recently told her she could not take her son to Europe, as she had wanted. According to the law enforcement official, it appeared that Ms. Nicolai had been asked on Thursday to relinquish her sons passport. Image Stephanie Nicolai in 2006. Credit... Brad Barket/Getty Images Though Mr. Felder said he did not represent Ms. Nicolai in recent legal proceedings, he believed she had unrealistic expectations about her divorce and custody options. I felt she needed help in a different area, Mr. Felder said. Id been her friend for 20 years. This week, Mr. Felder said, a notice came addressed to him and his former client from the citys child welfare agency. It appeared that she had made an inquiry with the agency to see if there were any open investigations, he said, but there were none. Such inquiries to the agency, the Administration for Childrens Services, are common in contentious divorces where a parent makes a claim against another. Sanford A. Rubenstein, a lawyer who represented Ms. Nicolai in a case against the Police Department, recalled how a civil jury in Manhattan ruled in 2012 that she had been the victim of excessive force and awarded her $1.2 million a sum a judge later reduced around $400,000. Four years later, Mr. Rubenstein said, the Police Department granted her a gun permit after initially denying it. She had felt at the time that the actions of the police were in part as a result of her being successful in the lawsuit against them, Mr. Rubenstein said. He said she called him often as recently as a few months ago, to speak about her businesses or the matrimonial matter or the custody matter that she was confronting. He said he believed she was separated from her husband. She really loved that boy, Mr. Rubenstein said of the 7-year-old. During the trial, she would bring the little boy with her to court every day and the judge gave her a separate room to sit in with the child. She was inseparable from that child. The horrifying image of the mangled yellow school bus after it collided with a dump truck on a New Jersey highway on Thursday has focused attention on bus safety. The bus was carrying 45 students and adults on a field trip when it crashed, leaving one student and one teacher dead and many others injured. The police said the children had been wearing seatbelts. One student later described his classmates screaming and hanging from their seatbelts. Are school buses required to have seatbelts? Seatbelts are required in some cases, but not all. Smaller school buses weighing 10,000 pounds or less are required to have lap-shoulder belts under federal motor vehicle safety standards. Larger buses may also be required to have seatbelts, depending on where you live. Eight states Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Texas have passed legislation requiring that seatbelts be installed on school buses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But in some cases, it is required only if funding is provided by the state or school districts. There are two kinds of seatbelts on school buses: the older lap belts and the newer lap-shoulder belts that are generally considered safer. There is growing interest among states in requiring seatbelts on school buses. In 2017, at least 29 states introduced bills to address the issue, according to the conference. Mr. Pintilie graduated from the Institute of Theater and Cinematography in Bucharest. He was a stage director first, working with the Bulandra Theater there. He tried filmmaking in the mid-1960s, and his first feature, Sunday at 6 OClock, a tragedy about two young Communist lovers working underground during World War II, drew attention, both positive and negative. Some are referring to it as the first Romanian film after two decades of mediocre fare, The New York Times wrote in 1966. But since the movie did not present the kind of heroic themes preferred by the Communist Party, which had recently chosen Ceausescu as general secretary, it was frowned upon in official circles. Although it received warm notices in many papers, The Times wrote, the party publication assailed it for having ignored the official line on the underground movement. Two years later came his second film, Reenactment (also translated as Reconstruction), about two young men who, after a drunken brawl, seek to avoid prison by agreeing to reconstruct their fight in front of a camera for educational purposes. Reenactment becomes the record of innocent deaths under the gaze of a representative of the state, an officer and other figures of the establishment, Mr. Ciment wrote in an assessment of Mr. Pintilies career for a Museum of Modern Art retrospective in 2012. The film was too much for Ceausescus censors; it was immediately banned. But when it was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1970, Mr. Pintilie was on his way toward cementing an international reputation. His stage work was causing him as much trouble at home as his films were. In 1972, his version of Nikolai Gogols play The Inspector General was shut down after just a few performances. The evidence remains overwhelming: College is the single most reliable path to the middle class and beyond. No, it doesnt guarantee a good life. Nothing does. But earning a good living without a college degree today is difficult. College graduates earn vastly more and are far more likely to be employed. They live longer, are more likely to be married and are more satisfied on average with their lives. These relationships appear to be at least partly causal, too. If you want more details, you can read some of my previous columns or dig into a long trail of academic studies. I was talking to Connie Ballmer because she and her husband recently donated $20 million to an organization with a track record of helping more low- and middle-income students go to college. Its called College Advising Corps. It started in 2005 and now oversees about 650 recent college graduates. They work for two-year stints in high schools across the country, advising students about two- and four-year colleges. The advisers are needed because many high-school guidance counselors are overworked. Nationwide, the average counselor is responsible for almost 500 students, according to Nicole Hurd, the founder of College Advising Corps. The student advisers also have the advantage of empathy: Many are themselves recent first-generation college graduates. As Ballmer says, the counselors are sending an implicit message to the students: You can do this. The Ballmer gift will allow the advising corps to grow by about 50 percent in coming years to 1,000. It will also help the organization evaluate its results and try to improve. One area where it can do better: lifting the college graduation rate of the low-income students it advises. Israel had to take precautions against its soldiers and citizens being killed or kidnapped. It had to make sure that thousands of Palestinians did not force a total shutdown of southern Israel until all infiltrators were located and detained. Knowing Hamas and its tactics, Israel assumed for good reason that letting the marchers cross the fence and detaining them later would have had worse consequences: Hamas operatives masquerading as demonstrators would hurt Israelis. Of course, the question of Israels larger policy toward Gaza remains. But the answer is hardly a secret: Israel pulled out of Gaza more than a decade ago. All it wants from Gaza is peace and quiet. But what it gets from Gaza is different: It is an attempt by Hamas to build a base for violence against Israel. To prevent this, Gaza must be isolated until its leaders are replaced or until they realize that their war against Israel hurts the population they rule more than it hurts Israel. And yes, this means that people in Gaza suffer more than they should not because of Israel, because of Hamas. It would be dishonest for me to pretend that the interests of Palestinians are at the top of the list of my priorities. I want whats good for Israel and I expect my government to have similar priorities. Nevertheless, I believe Israels current policy toward Gaza ultimately benefits not only Israel but also the Palestinians. Of course, it does not benefit the Palestinians who dream about returning, or in other words, about eliminating Israel. But it is the only way forward for those who have more realistic expectations. The people of Gaza are miserable. They deserve sympathy and pity. But looking for Israel to remedy their problems will only exacerbate their misery. Expecting Israel to solve their problem will only lead them to delay what they must do for themselves. There are two reasons for that. First, denying Hamas any achievement is the only way to ultimately persuade the Palestinians to abandon the futile battle for things they cannot get (return, control of Jerusalem, the elimination of Israel) and toward policies that will benefit their people. If Hamas is rewarded for organizing violent events, if the pressure on it is reduced because of the demonstrations, the result will be more demonstrations and therefore more bloodshed, mostly Palestinian. Second, only an Israel that has the ability to feel secure about its borders could engage in any serious talks with the Palestinians. As Ehud Barak, a former prime minister and a critic of Israels current government, put it, Those who believe in having separation from the Palestinians, getting into a peace agreement, having borders you have to make clear that borders are respected. The Jewish sages had a famous, if not necessarily pleasant, saying that went something like this: Those who are kind to the cruel end up being cruel to the kind. As harsh as this sounds amid the scenes from Gaza, as problematic as this seems to good-intentioned people whose instinct is to sympathize with the weaker side in every conflict, sometimes there is no better choice than being clear, than being firm, than drawing a line that cannot be crossed by those wanting to harm you. By fire, if necessary. The Indian government has announced a halt in operations against militants in Kashmir for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. On its face that should be welcomed, given the steady rise in violence this year, though skeptics have said it will give Islamist separatist militants time to gather strength. In any case, it requires a strong leap of faith to expect that the break, if it holds, can achieve anything resembling a peace process. The struggle over Kashmir is one of those territorial disputes that seem only to deepen and to assume greater symbolic importance as decades go by and the atrocities and resentments on both sides pile up. The conflict dates back to the end of British rule in 1947 and has been the cause of the three wars between India and Pakistan. Since 1989, an Islamist insurgency supported by Pakistan has further complicated the conflict and raised the death toll. Border skirmishes along the heavily armed Line of Control dividing Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir are common. With India and Pakistan both in possession of nuclear arms, former President Bill Clinton once called the border the most dangerous place in the world. On Friday, despite Ramadan, a fierce exchange of fire between border posts left eight civilians dead. The Ramadan cease-fire was sought by the chief minister of the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, who has found herself increasingly isolated since her political alliance with Indias dominant party, the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has failed to lower violence. Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, is due in Kashmir over the weekend to inaugurate development projects. Some limitations were placed on Microsofts behavior, such as a requirement that it share certain programming information with third-party companies. The appropriateness of that remedy is still debated. But what we do know is that the remedy pushed Microsoft to act with more caution, creating an essential opening for a new generation of firms. It might seem like a cruel irony that the immediate beneficiaries of the Microsoft antitrust case namely, Google, Facebook and Amazon have now become behemoths themselves. But this is how the innovation cycle works: It creates room for saplings to grow into giants, but then prevents the new giants from squashing the next generation of saplings. (Microsoft was itself, in the early 1980s, the beneficiary of another antitrust case, against IBM, the computing colossus of its time.) Which takes us to the present day. Unfortunately, ever since the Microsoft case there has been remarkably little oversight of the technology sector, despite the obvious signs of corporate consolidation and outsize market power. Enforcement of the antimonopoly laws has fallen: Between 1970 and 1999, the United States brought about 15 monopoly cases each year; between 2000 and 2014 that number went down to just three. Antitrust efforts have become too fixated on the idea that the only real harm consists of raising of prices for consumers. Yet in the Microsoft case, Internet Explorer was free, even though Microsoft was bent on destroying competition with it. Today, both Google and Facebook offer products that are free. Society has grown to rely on them, but because they have no dollar price, antitrust regulators have been hesitant to take action. Any American can tell you that there is no free lunch. Everything has a price. We pay for these products and services with our time and our data. And like Microsoft, these firms have come to exert too much control over our shared technological future. Under President Barack Obama, the government stepped in to effectively force a shutdown of Corinthian and other schools like ITT Technical Institute. But Corinthian was just the tip of the iceberg. Its shady practices were representative of widespread fraud and abuse in the for-profit college industry, which, in the fall of 2015, enrolled some 1.6 million students. There were numerous other examples of institutions, for-profit, public and nonprofit, that needed greater scrutiny. Consider what happened at the for-profit DeVry University. Murray Hastie, an Iraq war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was aggressively recruited by DeVry. Mr. Hastie was told that his G.I. Bill benefits would cover all of his tuition, in addition to giving him a monthly living stipend. However, he later learned DeVry was saddling him with more than $50,000 in student loans. When his P.T.S.D. worsened, Mr. Hastie left the school and sought treatment at a V.A. hospital. After leaving the hospital, he recounted in a forthcoming documentary, Fail State, he tried to enroll at his local community college, but found that all of his G.I. benefits had been exhausted. When I joined the Education Department, it did not have a division dedicated to investigating the fraudulent consumer practices pervading many for-profit campuses. While a hardworking compliance team monitored school finances and student eligibility, we needed people specializing in consumer protection. In 2016, the Education Secretary at the time, John King, had had enough. He told us to recruit consumer protection experts, experienced lawyers and investigators to set up a new enforcement office dedicated to combating consumer malfeasance in the education sector. We did, and were soon reaching out to Republican and Democratic attorneys general and working with other federal agencies to bring cases to protect students and taxpayers. As we cracked down, institutions began to change their practices. Some for-profit college chains announced limitations on the percentages of revenue that would come from federal student aid and agreed to drop clauses in enrollment paperwork that restricted the ability of students to file lawsuits. There is a line in a Henry James novel that as a foreigner one of the characters knew both more and less than everyone around him; I frequently feel that way. I remember, after seven years in London, I realized that I had become more British when an enthusiastic chatty American tourist sat down next to me on the tube and I just sank into my seat and tried to read my book. Rebecca Dudley He has kept me entertained through it all I met my brilliant Brit, Anthony Giles, in the basement of Balliol College, when we were auditioning actors for the Oxford Theatre Group. I was a Fulbright Fellow at Oxford and he was finishing his undergrad in Romance languages. We were charmed by each other from the first moment. Anthony told me he needed all the funny actors for his comedy revue but that in exchange hed act in my production, which he did. We took the shows to the Edinburgh Festival together, shared a house, then shared a bed (its freezing in Edinburgh in the summer) and when I left for New York in September I thought we might never see each other again. On Christmas Eve, Anthony arrived at my doorstep with a bottle of Tequila and a cornea cut by a contact lens. After drinking the whole bottle and getting a patch put on his eye, he announced that he was staying forever. And 37 years later, hes still here. And still utterly charming, brilliant and ridiculously funny. It took him 10 years to hold my hand in public (hes English) and he still blushes at the drop of a hat. As hes gone from Soviet foreign policy to a legal career, Ive remained the demonstrative American Jew and he the litigious, verbally dextrous Brit. Our children epitomize the saying Look British, think Yiddish. Nearly every day it seems that another dream comes true for Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu: On May 8, when President Trump announced that the United States was pulling out of the nuclear deal with Iran, he delivered a speech that could have been written by the Israeli prime minister. This week, in another reversal of American policy, a high-level delegation celebrated the relocation of the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, fulfilling another of Mr. Netanyahus goals. The deaths of scores of Palestinians from Israeli sniper fire at the Gaza border barely distracted from his feeling of triumphalism. It wasnt always like this. In his 36 years as a diplomat and politician, Mr. Netanyahu has been reprimanded by the Reagan administration, nearly barred from entering the White House, and banned from the State Department during George H. W. Bushs administration because of his criticism of its policies. He has been at loggerheads with President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama, both of whom could barely conceal their disdain for him. Now he has an administration that shares his positions almost instinctively. The simplest explanation for this reversal of fortune is that the Trump administration is dominated by the two types of ideologues with whom Mr. Netanyahu has always gotten along best: foreign policy hawks like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the national security adviser, John Bolton, and Christian evangelicals like Vice President Mike Pence. And presiding over it all is Mr. Trump, a man who has known and admired Mr. Netanyahu since they first met in New York in the 1980s. But explaining Mr. Netanyahus foreign policy success just by pointing to Mr. Trumps arrival in the White House misses the wider picture. On May 9, the morning after the announcement on the Iran deal, Mr. Netanyahu was in Moscow as guest of honor at Russias Victory Day, standing beside President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin still supports the Iran deal, and is in tacit alliance with Iran, Israels deadly adversary. And yet the Russian president presented the Israeli prime minister as his countrys close ally. He has also allowed Israel to attack Iranian bases and weapons depots in Syria, and even to bomb Russian-built antiaircraft batteries. To the Editor: Re Drug Plan Drops Populist Designs, Not the Rhetoric (front page, May 12): President Trumps assertion that he would bring soaring drug prices back down to earth is worse than a placebo. It is instead a bitter and ineffectual pill, since the rhetoric and the reality dont match. What he is prescribing has the following side effects: Pricing will not change materially, the presidents corporate backers will remain protected, and the presidents supporters will still bear the same onerous financial burdens for their medications and their health. Final outcome? No change, no better. JULIAN H. FISHER BROOKLINE, MASS. The writer is a consulting neurologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. To the Editor: You report that President Trumps blueprint to lower drug prices has four main themes, including increasing competition in drug markets. I have just been told by my Canadian pharmacy that the Food and Drug Administration has directed it to shut down its operation serving American citizens as of July 13. I asked a senior German diplomat the other day what issues the United States and Germany are cooperating on. He looked blank. Not Iran, obviously. Not trade, evidently. Not climate change, blatantly. Not Russia, plainly. Not migration, pointedly. With alliances like these, who needs enemies? From a French diplomat, I received a worried letter. President Trumps scuttling of the Iran nuclear deal was the best illustration of the Jacksonian moment the United States is going through, a mix of unilateralism and isolationism that contribute to a new world disorder where there is no more American power willing or able or both to be the last-resort enforcer. In the vacuum, he could discern no minimum level of convergence between the key players. Trump to Europe: Get lost. As the French president, Emmanuel Macron, observed of Trump last month, He is very predictable. Boringly so, Id add. His contempt for the Atlantic Alliance was evident during the campaign; he follows through. Thats his form of honesty amid a torrent of lies. Tens of millions of Americans love him for it. They see him as the most honest president ever. Why? Because he tells it like it is. Europe is beginning to digest the severity of the schism. Federica Mogherini, the European Unions senior foreign policy official, heaped scorn on Trump recently, saying that screaming, shouting, insulting and bullying, systematically destroying and dismantling everything that is already in place, is the mood of our times. Without naming the president, she warned that this impulse to destroy leads nowhere good. Hers was a requiem for respect and dialogue in effect the post-1945 order. Ankaras worsening relations with Washington and European capitals over a host of issues have led to more pressure on Greece: a sharp increase of immigrants and refugees crossing from Turkey in recent months, the ongoing detention in Turkey of two Greek soldiers who strayed across the border in early March and a series of confrontational military actions by Turkey. These all highlight the dangers that Greece faces as the European Unions frontier state in a turbulent region. Mr. Erdogan presents himself as the victim of an attempted coup, allegedly by a United States-based former ally, Fethullah Gulen, and as the champion of Muslims everywhere, including the Palestinians. Lately, in the regions fluid network of rivalries and alliances, Turkey, a NATO member, has cultivated closer ties with Russia and Iran while chafing against American constraints on its occupation of part of northern Syria. The drawing of battle lines over Mr. Trumps recent actions could lead to greater tension among Turkey, the United States and Israel. Meanwhile, Greeces relations with the United States and Israel have never been better. The U.S. ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, refers to the country as a pillar of stability in the region and U.S. officials make use of important air and naval facilities at the Souda Bay military base on Crete. The leaders of Greece, Cyprus and Israel held their latest trilateral meeting just last week, focusing on energy issues. Greeces increased strategic value could work in its favor, as the country seeks American and European backing to keep Turkey in check and to help its own economic revival. However, the more Washington and Brussels lose leverage with Ankara, and the more unilaterally Turkey acts, the greater the risks for Athens. For Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose radical left-wing Syriza party is in a coalition with the far-right nationalist Independent Greeks, closer relations with the United States and Israel at this time could also create domestic complications. If the United States and Israel become embroiled in further bloodshed, such as that which attended the opening ceremony of the American Embassy in Jerusalem, the government will not want to appear too close to them. Several leftist groups are keen to prove they have greater anti-imperialist credentials than Syriza. Last month, after the United States, Britain and France carried out missile strikes against Syria in response to the regimes alleged use of chemical weapons, Communist Party demonstrators in Athens tried to pull down a statue of Harry Truman. Even more ominous than the tension with Turkey is the possibility that Mr. Trumps policy on Iran and Israel could drive a wedge between the United States and the European Union, especially if American officials carry out their threat to impose sanctions against European companies doing business with Tehran. The sprawling apartment on the eighth and ninth floors of 655 Park Avenue has for more than two decades served as a family home and city oasis for Massimo Ferragamo, the chairman of Ferragamo USA, a division of Salvatore Ferragamo, the Italian fashion house started by his father. This 15-room co-op unit, which has an entrance on 68th Street, exudes Old World charm, with a paneled library, a stately spiral staircase and a sun-filled solarium. The home is also not too far from Central Park, as well as the flagship Ferragamo store on Fifth Avenue. But Mr. Ferragamo, who is the youngest son of Savatore Ferragamo, is ready to bid the place addio. His heart, it seems, is firmly planted in Italys Tuscany region, where he spent many summers as a boy and now has his main residence. About 15 years ago, he and his wife, Chiara, also acquired Castiglion del Bosco, a 13th-century, 5,000-acre estate in Montalcino, Tuscany, and over the last several years theyve been transforming the property into an upscale resort. That couple had just one son: Mr. Talbott, who would have been 24 at time of the murders. His parents home was approximately seven miles from where Mr. Cooks body was found. After surveilling Mr. Talbott who has worked as a truck driver for several days, detectives collected DNA from a cup he discarded. After a lab confirmed that it was a match, he was arrested, said Shari Ireton, director of communications at the Snohomish County sheriffs office. Image Jay Cook Credit... Snohomish County Sheriff's Office The involvement of Ms. Moore, the genealogist, resulted from a collaboration between Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company in Virginia, and the sheriffs offices of Snohomish and Skagit counties in Washington. That followed Parabons announcement earlier this month that it would begin to offer a forensic genealogy service to help detectives use GEDmatch and other public databases to solve criminal cases. The company said that it is actively involved in 12 cases using this new approach. After revelations that it had been used in the Golden State killer investigation, some GEDmatch users removed their profiles from the site or changed their settings, protesting what they felt was an invasion of privacy. Others defended the approach, arguing that if they had violent criminals in their families, they would be happy to help detectives arrest them. Until they used the technique that incorporated the ancestry site, detectives did not have a suspect in the Washington case. Mr. Talbott, whose arrest record appears limited to a single misdemeanor, was not in any criminal DNA databases. Investigators had previously worked with Parabon to produce an image of the suspects face from crime scene DNA, something that did not produce any meaningful leads. In a wide-ranging interview after Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Harry, Duke of Sussex, announced their engagement, she admitted as naive as it sounds now to being taken aback by the intensity of the tabloid spotlight and scrutiny. Ive never been in tabloid culture, Ive never been in pop culture to that degree, she said. Though the Duke of Sussex is sixth in line for the throne, his wife has nonetheless drawn intense scrutiny because she is unlike any other person who has joined Britains royal family in recent memory. And that is what makes this royal wedding so exciting for so many. Heres everything you need to know about the new royal, whose wedding was Saturday at St. Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle. Meghan Markle is a 36-year-old Californian. Ms. Markle was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her parents, Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle, divorced when she was young, and she was mostly raised by her mother. She has two older paternal half siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr. ON A COLONIAL back street in historic Coyoacan, in central Mexico City, a three-story brick tower rises above the low-roofed adobe homes in a labyrinthine neighborhood. The fall afternoons fading light tinges the buildings facade walls of porous bricks laid at right angles to let in air and light while shielding the interior from view a burnt sienna. This is Studio Iturbide, the latest project by the Mexico City-based firm Taller / Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo, who built it for Rochas mother, the photographer Graciela Iturbide, whose portraiture, most famously of weathered women in Oaxacan villages, is in the permanent collections of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Brooklyn Museum. The 75-year-old Iturbide is waiting at the doorway, diminutive, her black hair short and wavy, her complexion milky. Mauricio will be here soon, she says, as we enter her monolithic workspace, which is constructed of little more than red brick and wood-framed panes of glass. The architects created a hundred models before agreeing on the current design: three nine-foot-high, 300-square-foot rooms stacked atop one another, along with two interior bricked-in patios on the first floor furnished with clay pots of cacti and other regional plants, which offer the only visual disruption of the houses earthen hues and exacting lines. Inside, the brick walls are adorned with little but the shadows of the days moving light. Taking the broad wooden stairs, which are joined by invisible steel supports and appear suspended in midair, Iturbide walks us from the formal first-floor living room, with its Isamu Noguchi paper lantern and low, modernist sofa, past the casual second-floor family room and up to the top floor of the building. This is my studio, where I work, she says, her arms outstretched to take in the airy 16-by-19-foot space, lit by the sun coming in through two wall-size windows. Here, on a nine-foot-long oak table, Iturbide edits her photographs. Forty years of archives are stored in dozens of flat, black boxes on custom hardwood bookshelves that rise from either side of the table. The interior space is very important for me and my work, she says. I need to be alone often. Theres Bitcoin. Theres Litecoin. Theres Ethereum. So just what is cryptocurrency, and how does it work? Essentially, its digital money thats bought and sold online. Theres no bills or coins. Its not based on another asset like gold. And it doesnt go through traditional financial institutions like banks. Instead, these currencies operate in a completely decentralized system that uses so-called blockchain technology to track transactions. To see how this works, lets look at how youd buy something with cryptocurrency. Say that Alice wants to buy a bike from Dan using Bitcoin, her cryptocurrency of choice. Alice begins by logging into her Bitcoin wallet with a private key, a unique combination of letters and numbers. With a traditional financial transaction, the exchanges get sent to banks on each side who record the money being subtracted from one account and added to another. But remember, in this scenario, there are no banks or middlemen. Instead, Alices transaction is shared with everyone in the Bitcoin network. These networked computers add Alices transaction to a shared list of recent transactions, known as a block. Every 10 minutes, the newest block of transactions is added on, or chained, to all the previous blocks. Thats how you get a blockchain. To ensure that each block of transactions on the chain is verified, a subset of Bitcoins network joins a race to solve a difficult math puzzle. And if they solve it first, their record of the block of transactions becomes the official record. Theyre rewarded with Bitcoins of their own, and the network gets a new block on the chain. This entire process is known as mining. But instead of chipping away at rock, youre solving complex puzzles. The fact that many computers are competing to verify a block ensures that no single computer can monopolize the Bitcoin market. To ensure the competition stays fair and evenly timed, the puzzle becomes harder when more computers join in. The Bitcoin protocol says mining will continue until there are 21 million Bitcoins in existence. Thats set to happen around 2140 if Bitcoin lasts that long. Each week, Kevin Roose, technology columnist at The New York Times, discusses developments in the tech industry, offering analysis and maybe a joke or two. Want this newsletter in your inbox? Sign up here. Hi, everyone. Its me again. One of my kind and magnanimous colleagues will be writing this newsletter next week since Ill be on vacation somewhere far, far away from email and social media. (I have a large tolerance for internet inanity, but the Laurel vs. Yanny debate finally broke me.) My week took a weird turn on Tuesday, when I walked a few blocks uptown to check out Blockchain Week New York City, a three-day cryptocurrency extravaganza. The conference itself wasnt particularly unusual lots of big hitters in cryptocurrency were there, holding onstage panels and talking about their plans to revolutionize this-or-that industry by putting it on the blockchain. There were a few Lamborghinis parked outside Lambos being the semiofficial status symbol of the crypto-wealthy but inside, it was mostly business as usual. The more interesting scenes were found at the many after-parties, lavish invitation-only bacchanals where the irrational exuberance of crypto-world was on full display. I went to one party thrown by Ripple Labs at a venue in the Meatpacking District, during which Snoop Dogg performed a short set while smoking a large blunt on stage, as is apparently his custom. Rumor was that somewhere else in town, Busta Rhymes was performing at another cryptocurrency party. But since then, Mr. Azar has been making the Washington rounds, and declaring that he has a more aggressive regulatory agenda. He gave a longer drug pricing speech on Monday, before sitting for an hourlong news conference with reporters on the fine print. On Monday night, he appeared on PBS NewsHour, saying his job provides him with a shocking amount of power. On Wednesday, he delivered a speech still wonkier at the American Enterprise Institute, smiling even more. He warned that if industry didnt cooperate with his plans to lower drug prices, his office stood ready to keep turning up the pressure. On Thursday, he sat down with Politicos podcast Pulse Check, and emphasized that the president supported his agenda. Mr. Azar has yet to specify details on the most disruptive ideas in his plan. He has also ruled out several of the broad approaches frequently championed by liberals and by Mr. Trump, when he was a candidate. His plans dont take direct aim at the prices that drug companies charge. Despite Mr. Trumps campaign promises, Mr. Azar is not calling for the government Medicare program to negotiate directly with drugmakers, nor will he call for the re-importation of drugs from Canada, where they are generally cheaper. But Mr. Azars proposals suggest a detailed knowledge of the different actors who decide what drugs should be bought at what price and a willingness for smaller, more technical tinkering to their incentives. He held several senior positions in the Health and Human Services Department under President George W. Bush, and it shows. Dr. Peter Bach, the director of the center for health policy and outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and a crusader against the high cost of certain drugs, said he was impressed by the intricacy and ambition of Mr. Azars ideas. I feel very much like they are inside the machine, and they have a number of tools that can really change it, he said. And my read of the secretary is he comes in with a font of knowledge. Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.) Its a problem most governments can only dream of: too much money. But California riding the wave of a booming economy is swimming in a surplus: $8.98 billion as of last week. Suddenly, the days of multibillion-dollar deficits and anguished debates about what to cut have given way to a quandary over what to do with all this money. In the process, interesting questions have emerged about what happens after Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, leaves office. Mr. Brown, unlike many Democrats in Sacramento, has been a fiscal moderate. Aware of the historical gyrations in revenue collections, he regularly insists on building up a rainy-day fund so the state has a financial buffer to get it through the next inevitable recession. In this case, $2.6 billion went to the fund, bringing it to $15 billion. This is a time to save for our future, Mr. Brown told reporters in unveiling his latest plans, not to make pricey promises we cant keep. WASHINGTON The factional rancor threatening Republicans heading into the midterm elections this fall erupted into the open on Friday when a slugfest among moderates, hard-line conservatives and House leaders over immigration and welfare policy sank the partys multiyear farm bill. The twice-a-decade measure which would have imposed strict new work requirements on food aid recipients while maintaining farm subsidies important to rural lawmakers failed on a 213-to-198 vote. It was a rebuke of Speaker Paul D. Ryan by a key bloc of conservatives over his refusal to schedule an immediate vote on a restrictive immigration bill sponsored by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Republican moderates, for their part, were moving in the opposite direction, shrugging off the pleas of their leaders as they worked toward forcing votes on legislation to protect from deportation young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. The fights were striking, not only because of their intensity but also because of the participants. Capitol Hill has grown used to altercations between Republican leaders and their adamant right flank showdowns that have shut down the government and edged the government toward defaulting on its debt. But in past fights, the partys moderates have proved compliant. The facts This requires context. President Trumps animals comment came during a White House discussion on Wednesday about so-called sanctuary cities. He was responding to Sheriff Margaret Mims, of Fresno County, Calif., who had recounted how California state laws were holding her back from cooperating with deportation efforts by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Heres their exchange: Sheriff Mims: There could be an MS-13 member I know about if they dont reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it. Mr. Trump: We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in and were stopping a lot of them but were taking people out of the country. You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people. These are animals. And were taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate thats never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. Its crazy. Democrats and immigration activists rebuked Mr. Trump for his word choice, which they said dehumanized immigrants. In a defense of Mr. Trump on Thursday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said the president had very clearly been referring to MS-13 members. She also listed some of the most brutal examples of the gangs crimes in the United States. Ms. Sanders: It took an animal to stab a man a hundred times and decapitate him and rip his heart out. It took an animal to beat a woman they were sex trafficking with a bat 28 times, indenting part of her body. And it took an animal to kidnap, drug and rape a 14-year-old Houston girl. Indeed, context is key here. It is important to understand that sanctuary city laws which are what prompted Sheriff Mims to mention MS-13 in the first place would not protect gang members who commit heinous crimes. On Wednesday, Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, told lawmakers that the bureau has always worked to protect sources and methods in investigations. Confidential informants are among the most sensitive topics in law enforcement, and publicly disclosing them could jeopardize ongoing investigations. It also could put the informants safety at risk. As anybody in the intelligence community knows, human sources in particular who put themselves at great risk to work with us and with our foreign partners have to be able trust that were going to protect their identities and, in many cases, their lives and lives of their families, Mr. Wray said. And the day that we cant protect human sources is the day the American people start becoming less safe. One of Mr. Trumps attorneys, Rudolph W. Giuliani, said on Friday that neither the president nor his legal team knows for sure that there was a confidential informant. I dont know for sure, nor does the president, if there really was one, Mr. Giuliani said on CNN. For a long time weve been told there was some kind of infiltration. At one time, the president thought it was a wire tap. Mr. Giuliani was referencing an accusation the president made early into his administration that former President Barack Obama had Mr. Trumps wires tapped in Trump tower. The Justice Department looked into the claim and found no evidence that had happened. If you look at whats happening with trade in China, it hasnt been fair for many, many years. When President Trump rails against China, he says things like, Our country is being taken advantage of, or, We lost years ago by presidents and others allowing this to happen. Hes probably referring to the past four decades, when China has grown faster than any major economy in history and gone from a poor, developing country to an economic powerhouse that is challenging Americas spot at the top of the international food chain. Its emergence as a global power was so sharp and so extreme, faster than the world can handle, in some ways faster than China can handle. The U.S. and other Western nations kick-started much of Chinas rise by opening up trade. What they havent figured out is how to get this fundamentally different economic system to play by free market rules. A pivotal moment came in 2001 after 15 years of negotiations. China joined the World Trade Organization, which sets the rules for free and fair trade between member countries. All of the countries that were in the club at the time put enormous demands on China for what they needed to do. The Chinese committed to sharply lower tariffs and reduced some of the governments role in how business gets done. But they argued then, as they still do now, that China is a developing country and so should be held to less stringent free trade standards. The hope was that these first steps would lead to even more sweeping changes. Why did we assume that? The experience of communism was through the lens of the Soviet Union and its satellite states, which was ultimately not a success. And so the presumption was, Chinas going to want to become like us, more market oriented. After China joined the W.T.O. in 2001, you saw this enormous surge of Chinese exports to everywhere in the world, and to the United States in particular. They were kind of an elephant hiding behind mice with respect to other countries in global trade negotiations at the time. The U.S. and other countries complained that China was not opening its markets enough, and keeping the value of its currency artificially low to make Chinese exports more attractive. China has been making great strides using tools that are really not acceptable under the global trade system. China has continued to operate as a centrally planned economy. The government owns, influences or subsidizes major industries, giving them an artificial competitive edge. There are heavy restrictions on foreign investment, and foreign companies are pressured to share their technologies. China has become more market oriented, but dating back to probably 2007, 2008, I think it was recognized that China wasnt on the path to become more like us. And so then countries began to think about, well, what do we do instead? Some view the rise of Asia-Pacific with suspicion and fear. America doesnt. Enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership, initiated by Bush, signed by Obama. When implemented, It wont just boost trade and support jobs in our 12 countries. It will help set stronger rules for trade across the Asia-Pacific. Put less politely, It was also supposed to be a bulwark to Chinas growing economic power. The idea was that China would want to join this great trading pact, and so they would have this incentive to reform their economy. This is the one that President Trump ripped up on his third day in office. The first one is withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I had seen the erosion of popular and congressional support for trade for many years. But Id never seen anything like Donald Trump. Our founding fathers understood trade much better than our current politicians, believe me. Trade is generally accepted by economists as win-win for countries on the whole. But Trump says that China is winning and the U.S. is losing. He and people in his administration argue that past approaches to dealing with China havent worked. Its not actually that profitable to negotiate with them. We need to focus on this much bigger trade measure, and then we can really hit them with a very aggressive, forceful action. He seems intent on generating a moment of crisis. We put a $50 billion tariff on, then we put a $100 billion tariff on. And you know at a certain point, they run out of bullets. But dynamics have changed. Today, China sees its economy as strong enough to withstand almost anything the U.S. can throw at it. WASHINGTON President Trump said Friday that he intended to nominate Robert Wilkie, the acting secretary of veterans affairs, to take over the sprawling agency a move the president said would surprise even Mr. Wilkie because he had not told him. The president slipped the announcement into remarks he made ahead of a meeting on prison reform. He praised several members of his cabinet who had worked on the issue, including Mr. Wilkie, who, by the way, he said, has done an incredible job at the V.A. and Ill be informing him in a little while he doesnt know this yet that were going to be putting his name up. Mr. Wilkie, who was sitting in the front row at the event, stood up and shook Mr. Trumps hand after hearing the news. Im sorry that I ruined the surprise, Mr. Trump said. The Department of Veterans Affairs has been without permanent leadership since the previous secretary, David J. Shulkin, was fired by tweet in March and Mr. Trumps chosen successor, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, withdrew from consideration in April after disparaging reports about him circulated before his scheduled confirmation hearing. That might be because it was only three months ago that the school in Parkland, Fla., was similarly terrorized. Kaitlyn Jesionowski, a survivor of that shooting, in which 17 people were killed, first saw news of the Friday attack on Twitter on what was the last day of school for seniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. For Ms. Jesionowski, it all came rushing back: the fear, the anxiety, the stress. I started replaying what happened to us in my head, over and over. Nikolas Cruz, who has confessed to the Parkland shooting, opened fire in her Holocaust class on the afternoon of Valentines Day, killing two students and injuring four others, she said. This has been so hard because all the emotions come back, she said, adding that she was rushing home from school to be with her family. Samantha Grady, 17, a Parkland classmate who was grazed in the back, learned about the Texas school shooting in a group chat during her study hall period. She stared at the phone. Its surreal for me, I can only imagine what they are feeling, the fear they experienced having gone through the same thing, she said. Honestly, I am flabbergasted. Dakota Shrader, a student at Santa Fe High School, was stunned, too. Honestly, I just had the thought in my head that somebody was going to come up behind me and hurt me, shoot me, kill me. Im still jumpy from it, Ms. Shrader, 16, said in an interview. I dont know who to trust anymore, at all. This should be our safe place, she added. Many of the students who survived the Parkland shooting agreed. WE SHOULD NOT HAVE THIS IN COMMON, Liz Stout, a senior at the school, said on Twitter, linking to a video of Ms. Shrader. SANTA FE, Tex. A nation plagued by a wrenching loop of mass school shootings watched the latest horror play out in this small Southeast Texas town Friday morning, as a young man armed with a shotgun and a .38 revolver smuggled under his coat opened fire on his high school campus, killing 10 people, many of them his fellow students, and wounding 10 more, the authorities said. By the end of the day, a 17-year-old suspect, Dimitrios Pagourtzis an introvert who had given off few warning signs had surrendered and been taken into custody. Law enforcement officials said they found two homemade explosive devices left at the school during the rampage. It was the worst school shooting since the February assault on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a young man with an AR-15 rifle left 17 people dead and prompted a wave of nationwide, student-led protests calling on lawmakers to tighten gun laws. It was barely after 7:30 a.m. at Santa Fe High School, about 35 miles southeast of Houston, when gunfire first resounded through the halls, the opening volley of yet another massacre at an American high school that would leave students, teachers and staff members shocked, and in some cases bloodied. But they were not necessarily surprised. A video interview with one student, Paige Curry, spread across social media, an artifact of a moment when children have come to expect violence in their schools. Was there a part of you that was like, This isnt real, this is this would not happen in my school? the reporter asked. The young girl shook her head: No, there wasnt. Why so? the reporter asked. Its been happening everywhere, she said. I felt Ive always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too. Its never long until the next school shooting in America. Hundreds of students have been shot in more than 200 school shootings in recent years, and the bloodshed shows no signs of abating. They have become so common that most people likely dont remember them all and in some cases, maybe you didnt hear about them in the first place. Here are some of the school shootings of 2018. (This list does not include several times guns were used on or near school property, including suicides or attempted shootings in which no one was injured.) Jan. 22: Italy High School A 16-year-old boy shot a 15-year-old girl, Noelle Jones, in Italy, Tex. The gunman, a student at the school whose name was not released, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The girl was released from the hospital a week later. Jan. 23: Marshall County High School Two students were killed and 18 people were injured when Gabriel Parker, 15, opened fire on classmates in Benton, Ky. Bailey Nicole Holt, 15, died at the scene. Preston Ryan Cope, 15, died of his injuries at a hospital. Mr. Parker was charged with two counts of murder and 14 counts of first-degree assault. Feb. 1: Salvador Castro Middle School A 12-year-old girl shot a 15-year-old boy in the head and a 15-year-old girl in the wrist in the Westlake North neighborhood of Los Angeles. The authorities described the shooting as unintentional. Feb. 14: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Seventeen people were killed when Nikolas Cruz, 19, gunned down his former classmates with a semiautomatic AR-15 in Parkland, Fla. Ive certainly warned them when they were marrying addicts, emotionally abusive partners or worse but it has usually backfired. My line tends to be if you are expecting them to change, you might reconsider. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Wedding planners may also be getting into the marriage advising game. I feel it is part of my job to help organize them for their future, said Annie Ohman, a destination wedding and event planner in Denver, to ask them whether theyve seen a marriage counselor, if theyve discussed things like money, religion, children. Its not just about getting them to the big day, but to look beyond. Karina Nagin, who works for a global health nonprofit, and is getting married in August, said she fully appreciates those words. Her fiance is Israeli and from an Orthodox Jewish family, while she is Brooklyn-based and converted to Judaism. They have had long talks about how children will be raised, what kinds of schools they will attend, and so on. Did anyone express concerns about her choice? No, she said, and I have friends who would say things if they objected. I did it myself to a close college classmate, and that friendship pretty much went away. At least until I found out she married the guy, and then divorced him when she found out hed been cheating on her for years. Ive found that millennials are more likely to tell everyone BUT the person getting married that they think they are marrying the wrong person, said Jordana Jacobs, a psychotherapist who, at 30, is a millennial herself. Its part of their individualistic live-and-let-live mentality. With her co-founder, Kate Deibler, she developed a course called Lovewise that is intended to help prepare couples to maintain and sustain long-term relationships. Concerns about a marriage can flip the other way too, as with children uneasily watching their parents remarry. My father married three times, said Lisa Kindel, a media consultant in Lexington, Ky. The second one, after my mother, was a fiasco from the get-go. My brother, aunts, and I all screamed, Dont do it! But all our logical questions (Why dont you know her kids? What do you have in common?) fell on deaf ears. Two of my aunts and I boycotted the wedding. The marriage lasted four years. Look around and youll find the subject in the media zeitgeist. Tyler Perrys latest film, Acrimony, deals with a woman who married a man despite others warnings. NBCs This Is Us ended its season on the day of Kates wedding to the lovable, supportive Toby. His parents tell him hes making a mistake because he seems to have to tiptoe around Kate for fear of setting her off. Previews of next season show a glimpse of Toby seeming to struggle with depression, suggesting that his parents may have been right to be concerned about the marriage but not the reason. BUJUMBURA, Burundi Burundis voters approved a new Constitution that extends the presidential term from five to seven years, according to provisional figures released on Friday, handing a major victory to President Pierre Nkurunziza. Mr. Nkurunziza, who beat a two-term limit under the old Constitution through an electoral technicality to take a third term as president, is widely expected to run again, in 2020. The outcome opens a chapter of harsh dictatorship, where the president will be beyond any other institution, Agathon Rwasa, who led the campaign against the new Constitution, said ahead of the provisional results. Government officials, on the other hand, characterized the new Constitution as an emblem of national sovereignty and a path to a more efficient government. GENEVA The World Health Organization said Friday that a six-week-old outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Democratic Republic of Congo was worrisome and must be aggressively controlled, but does not warrant its top designation as an international public health emergency. The organizations emergency committee, meeting in Geneva, said public health authorities and aid organizations were in a strong position to halt the highly contagious disease even though it has now spread to an urban area. Dr. Robert Steffen, chairman of the emergency committee, told a telephone news conference after the meeting that the early detection of the outbreak and the preparations to stop its spread provide a strong reason to believe that this situation can be brought under control. The top crisis-level designation of Public Health Emergency of International Concern is invoked by the organizations emergency committee to galvanize international action and provide advice on how to contain a deadly and contagious malady threatening to spread uncontrollably across borders and continents. State television said the flight had been headed to Holguin, on the eastern part of the island. The plane, a Boeing 737 leased by Cubana de Aviacion, a state-run Cuban airline, first went into service in 1979, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, making it one of the older 737s still in commercial operation. The plane crashed at 12:08 p.m. just after it had departed Jose Marti International Airport, Cubas state newspaper, Granma, reported on its website. It said the flight, DMJ 0972, carried 105 people, including at least five children. The plane also carried nine crew members, the United Nations said. Five of them were Mexican, according to Mexican officials. Cuban state media initially said that all of the people aboard were foreigners but later reversed itself, saying most of the passengers were Cubans. Two of the victims were Argentines, Argentinas Foreign Ministry said Friday night. The only survivors were three women, according to Granma; the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde initially said one them had died, though it later corrected that report. Residents of a neighborhood near the airport said that after the plane took off, it suddenly veered in an unusual direction. Rocio Yoselis Martinez Gonzalez, 21, a manicurist, was hanging laundry on a clothesline in her front yard when the plane made its odd turn. More worrisome, she said, it was low and descending, barely clearing the wooden telephone poles on her street. As it roared overhead, Ms. Martinez saw that one of the engines was on fire. The plane then disappeared behind trees and crashed on the edge of a field, hundreds of yards from her house. The tremor from the impact and explosion was so strong that it shook the ground and knocked decorative objects off her shelves, she said. I was in shock, she recalled. They show things like this in a movie, but in the end its a movie. Cubas new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, traveled to the site of the crash to oversee recovery efforts along with Health Minister Roberto Morales, while buses carrying relatives of the flights passengers headed to Havana to identify the victims. Recent developments in China have delivered a big wake-up call to Chinese liberals that nothing will come easily, he said. Image Mr. He in 1982, when he was finishing his law studies in the city of Chongqing. It was an optimistic era, he said. There was a feeling that Chinese society was slowly thawing. Even while banished from the Chinese news media, Mr. He commands a warm following among students and lawyers. He is still allowed to teach foreign legal history and comparative law at Peking University, which he said is more tolerant of mavericks than many other Chinese campuses. While he was being interviewed for this article, a student waited patiently to shake his hand. During another interview, editors at a law publisher greeted him as an old friend. Hes a public intellectual and has a big following, but of course its suppressed now, said Eva Pils, a law scholar at Kings College London who studies Chinese human rights lawyers and has known Mr. He for about 15 years. But I think he sees himself in a longer historical trajectory as one of those Chinese scholars who spoke up whatever the consequences. Chinas tradition of liberal dissent burst out of hiding in the late 1970s, when the nation was recovering from the upheavals of Mao Zedongs final years. For Mr. He, the scars from that time were deeply felt. He was born in Shandong Province in eastern China, where his father, He Chuanyou, was a doctor who had once worked in the military. But the father was engulfed in the mass persecutions of the Cultural Revolution, and in 1970 he killed himself by severing the arteries in his legs, Professor He said. These memories swelled 10 years ago, when Bo Xilai, an ambitious politician, began reviving Mao-era songs and rhetoric in Chongqing, a city in southwest China. Mr. He issued an open letter in 2011 denouncing Mr. Bos red revivalism, and he was jubilant when Mr. Bo fell in a scandal the following year. But dangerous nostalgia for Maos time persisted, Mr. He said. SURABAYA, Indonesia Famela, 8, excelled at math and martial arts. Her sister, Fadhila, 12, was good at drawing. Firman, 15, was on the student council at the liberal Muslim experimental school they attended, and he had a soft spot for Taylor Swift. Yusuf, 17, liked to make videos and take care of his little sisters. All four children were seen as being astonishingly well-behaved and accomplished by their neighbors and friends in their multiethnic residential enclave in Surabaya, Indonesias second-largest city. They all wondered how the parents, Dita Oepriarto and Puji Kuswati, did it. But by Sunday morning they wondered if they had really known the family at all, after back-to-back bombings at three Christian churches. Famela, Fadhila, Firman and Yusuf blew themselves up in the attacks, as did their parents, killing 12 bystanders and wounding at least 40 others. To the end, the children were dutiful. Mr. Oepriarto set off a bomb in their family Toyota at the Surabaya Center Pentecostal Church. Around the same time, the teenage boys rode together on a motorcycle to the Roman Catholic Santa Maria Church, where they set off their explosives. The father massacred seven people; his boys killed five others. SEOUL, South Korea When the South Korean president meets with President Trump in Washington next week, the two will discuss security assurances and economic incentives for a denuclearizing North Korea, following up on Mr. Trumps reassuring words for the Norths young leader, a presidential aide in Seoul said on Friday. At the White House meeting on Tuesday, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea hopes to advise Mr. Trump on the summit meeting planned on June 12 with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in Singapore. Mr. Moon, who had a dramatic meeting with Mr. Kim on the inter-Korean border on April 27, helped arrange the Singapore meeting. As those talks near, however, North Korea has become increasingly disagreeable, threatening to cancel the event over fears that it will not get the rewards it is seeking in exchange for dismantling the nuclear arsenal the impoverished country has taken decades to build. The two heads of states will focus their discussions on detailed plans to achieve the complete denuclearization of North Korea and permanent settlement of peace on the Korean Peninsula, Nam Gwan-pyo, a senior presidential aide to Mr. Moon, said on Friday of the White House meeting. We expect them to discuss ways to guarantee a bright future for the North in return for its complete denuclearization. Part of the reluctance to debate a change in the system comes from the Constitution. An end to the British monarchs role would need the unanimous consent of both houses of Parliament as well as all 10 provincial legislatures. Winning the lottery seems reasonable by comparison. Views in Canada on individual royals vary. Various polls suggest that Queen Elizabeth still commands respect, even within Quebec, where theres little support for the idea of a monarch. Less of that sentiment has transferred to Prince Charles. When I followed him around during his visit to Canada in 2009, there was none of the excitement surrounding this weekend. (Although the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, certainly drew crowds two years later.) Whatever you think of Prince Charles becoming Canadas king, however, doesnt mean the system has been entirely without merit. VATICAN CITY All 34 of Chiles Roman Catholic bishops offered their resignations on Friday over a child sexual abuse scandal, and asked forgiveness for the pain they caused the victims, the pope, the people of God, and our country for the grave errors and omissions we committed. The mass resignation the first of its kind, according to the Vatican came after Pope Francis accused the bishops at an emergency meeting this week of failing to investigate complaints, allowing evidence to be destroyed, and covering up for abusive priests by moving them from place to place. He said the systemic failures had left him perplexed and ashamed. Outrage over the scandal has shaken the church for years, but it was stirred anew in January when Pope Francis publicly defended Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, whom he appointed to the Diocese of Osorno in 2015. Bishop Barros had been accused of ignoring and covering up the repeated abuse of minors by the Chilean priest Fernando Karadima. The fallout prompted the pope to assign two investigators, who took the testimony of 64 people and produced a damning 2,300-page report on clerical sexual abuses in Chile and attempts to conceal the activity. The report detailed widespread failings on the part of the church hierarchy, and led to this weeks three-day meeting of the bishops at the Vatican. ISTANBUL The deaths of at least 60 people in Gaza this week have not only inflamed relations between Turkey and Israel. They have added a powerful new element to President Recep Tayyip Erdogans re-election campaign, as he seizes the issue to further a longstanding ambition to position himself as a leader among Muslim states. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict may no longer be high on the agenda of world affairs, but it has taken over the campaign before voting on June 24, when Mr. Erdogan hopes to be re-elected to a more powerful presidency. On Friday, Mr. Erdogan called a large political rally in support of Palestinians and gathered leaders of the 57-member Organization for Islamic Conference in Istanbul for a summit meeting to protest the deaths on Monday, the same day President Trump moved the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a step many had hoped would come with a peace settlement. As Muslims we do not and cannot do anything other than denounce, Mr. Erdogan told the crowd of thousands waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and guests who included the Palestinian prime minister. But he warned, One day the mistakes of this administration will rebound on America. There is a reason for this, a palace insider explained: In the royal family, self-promotion is considered a cardinal sin. Unlike the Scandinavian royals, who happily pose for photographs when walking into charity events, the British royals tend to stride by with their heads down, which can make them seem aloof and awkward. Ms. Markle is not like that. She connects. In January, when a 10-year-old girl on a rope line asked her for an autograph, she grabbed the paper, wrote Hi, Kaitlin, and drew a smiley face. This circumvented an unwritten rule of the royal family, for a reason that dates back centuries: If a royal signature is made public, it can be forged. Her most sharp-eyed monarchist critics, mostly women who caucus anonymously on social media, noted it down. A few weeks later, she did it again, hugging a 10-year-old girl. (Tradition dictates a handshake or small curtsy.) In this, Ms. Markle is similar to Prince Harrys mother. Diana was congenitally unable to maintain a formal distance, something that endeared her to ordinary people commoners, as they are sometimes called here but that drove her palace handlers crazy. She was insistently human, and this stripped the royal family of some of its sheen. Particularly damaging was a television interview she gave in 1995, describing her private struggles with bulimia, depression and her husbands infidelity. Dianas sons have made it clear that they plan to follow her model. Harry, in particular, has stepped forward as an advocate of modernization, telling Newsweek last year, Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping. This plan worries conservative royalists, as did the emotional interviews the princes gave on the 20th anniversary of their mothers death. Each time you do one, youre slightly peeling back the layers of the monarchy, said the television presenter Piers Morgan, who has logged time on a series of Fleet Street tabloids. This, he is convinced, will be the way of the future: As the younger generation rises in prominence, youre going to see a more Diana-esque royal family, he said, more touchy-feely and emotional and heart-on-sleeve. LONDON One of the last remaining mysteries of the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on Saturday has been cleared up: who will walk her down the aisle. Prince Charles, the father of the groom, will do the honors for part of the way, according to a statement from Kensington Palace on Friday. Apparently, Ms. Markle will start the walk on her own and meet him at the choir. Ms. Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St. Georges Chapel on her wedding day, the statement said. A top health official has said the poison was very potent and did not degrade quickly. You can assume it is not much different now from the day it was distributed, Ian Boyd, the chief scientific adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Britain, told Salisbury residents at a meeting on April 19. Mr. Guthrie said the substrate which, in a contact poisoning, could be a substance like hand cream or petroleum jelly may have prevented the nerve agent from entering the victims bloodstream in a fatal dose. He said the authorities had released no information about the substrate that was used. Clearly, the method of putting it through the skin didnt kill them, he said. Alastair Hay, professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, said the exposure would have killed them if they hadnt had the right treatment. I have it on good authority that the symptoms were recognized by the medical staff very early, and that enabled them to institute treatment promptly, he said. He added that the attacker may have expected the two to lose consciousness and die inside the house. They wouldnt have been found if they had stayed inside, Mr. Hay said. The authorities have not said where the Skripals are now living, and the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Friday that it would not provide any details about the protective and security measures they have employed. According to the British government, Yulia Skripal rejected an offer of Russian consular assistance, although she has not been heard from or seen since her release from the hospital. Russia has insisted on being allowed access to the Skripals and said that it believes the two are being held against their will. While the British authorities were quick to state that the Skripals and a third person, Det. Sgt. Nick Bailey, who became ill during the investigation, were poisoned with novichok, the hospital has been more circumspect in describing their recovery. Inside Hamas, a very different debate has erupted. The harsh response of Israeli soldiers on Monday has created strong pressure inside the movement for a military response, said Basem Naim, a former minister of health in Gaza who now works with the Hamas international relations office. People say If we have the capacity to resort to armed resistance, why not do it? But the Hamas leadership was resisting such emotional calls, Mr. Haim said, in recognition of the rare public relations coup that their movement, once better known for suicide attacks and rocket strikes, had attained this week. The strains of the blockade on Gaza, which Israel and Egypt imposed, citing security reasons, have been obscured in recent years by other crises in the Middle East. Now Hamas hopes to capitalize on the widespread outrage at images of Gazans being shot by Israeli solders to pressure Israel into making some concessions. The effort seemed to make headway Friday with the vote by the United Nations council. Those responsible for violations must in the end be held accountable, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, the head of the council, said in a statement Friday. What do you become when you shoot to kill someone who is unarmed, and not an immediate threat to you? You are neither brave, nor a hero. Israel, which considers the council biased, said in a statement by the Foreign Ministry that the council once again has proved itself to be a body made up of a built-in, anti-Israel majority, guided by hypocrisy and absurdity. As the Gaza protests evolved, they had a series of shifting goals in addition to casting Israel in a negative light: breaching the fence to symbolize the return to the lost lands; challenging the blockade to ease economic distress; and, ultimately, expressing Palestinian rejection of moving the United States Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The state has sold itself as a standard-bearer of progressive virtue. So why do its elected officials keep getting in trouble for sexual misconduct and corruption? In New York, the week of May 7 began with the sudden resignation of the states attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, over allegations that he had physically abused four women he had been seeing, and ended with the conviction of Sheldon Silver, the states once powerful Democratic Assembly speaker, on federal corruption charges. Although not necessarily an ordinary week, it was certainly a symbolic one. Abuses of power, sexual and ethical, have supplied the arc of the states political narrative for so long that it is hard to know how New York has managed to market itself as a standard-bearer of an imperious kind of liberal virtue how it has convincingly sold itself as the center of the resistance. For many who oppose the president, of course, there would be very little to resist right now if New York City hadnt incubated and rewarded the ambitions of Donald Trump for so many years. In the service of policy and his own public persona, Mr. Schneiderman was a Trump antagonist generally, and a feminist specifically; in his private dealings with women he was, according to those he is said to have victimized, a sadist. Big City A weekly column devoted to life, culture, politics and policy in New York City. Earlier this week, the actress Annabella Sciorra, one of Harvey Weinsteins accusers, remarked on Twitter that a while back when she had disclosed that the producers spies were still contacting her, Mr. Schneiderman emailed to make sure that she was O.K. This sort of duality, however extreme in Mr. Schneidermans instance, is not unfamiliar in American politics. We have been getting schooled in the mechanics of compartmentalization at least since the sex scandals of the Clinton presidency, and we have been given epic refreshers at the hands of New York Democrats. Eliot Spitzer, the father of daughters, frequently called himself a feminist and championed womens causes and resigned as governor when it was discovered that he was sleeping with prostitutes. Anthony Weiner styled himself similarly, then left Congress over a nasty texting scandal, and moved on to prison when it was found that his habit included sending pornographic messages to teenage girls. Former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Deborah Glick, a Democrat who has represented Greenwich Village in the State Assembly for 28 years, told me recently that she always felt conflicted about Mr. Schneiderman: He was arrogant, she said, but he was ours. (Mr. Schneiderman had served in the State Senate.) As a longstanding member of the Legislature, Ms. Glick would have, I imagined, worthy insights into the peculiar culture of Albany, which became the states capital in 1797 and has distinguished itself 200-some years later as a black hole of sexual misbehavior, harassment and violation. An aggressively edited account would include the cases of Vito Lopez, the omnipotent Brooklyn assemblyman whose career ended after young female aides complained of his compulsive groping and manipulation; Hiram Monserrate, the Queens senator expelled from the legislature in 2010 after he was convicted of physically assaulting his girlfriend; Micah Kellner, a Manhattan assemblyman accused of sexually harassing both male and female members of his staff; Sam Hoyt, an upstate assemblyman who was formally sanctioned by colleagues after a relationship with an intern that had him emailing her with lines like, I could be your human lollipop; and J. Michael Boxley, a prominent statehouse lawyer who was charged with raping a 22-year-old staff member after a night of drinking. None of these men were Republicans. Instead of transitioning to a job where he might have been forced to spend his days asking, Tall or venti? Mr. Hoyt was given a senior position in the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, despite the governors feminist pronouncements. Mr. Hoyt remained in that job until last year, when he stepped down as a result of a sexual harassment investigation. Mr. Boxley pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct on the rape charge, eventually landing a job at a major law firm in Albany, after his suspended license was reinstated. In New York, commitments to rehabilitation are highly selective. Former Assemblyman Sam Hoyt. Doug Benz for The New York Times The conventional wisdom about what has condemned Albany to such sordidness could be applied to many state capitals in places where legislators are away from their home districts for long periods of time (in the case of New York, it is from January to June) and there is nothing to do but drink in the bars that are near the government offices that are close to the hotels where many people stay. Other state governments have obviously been roiled by scandal amid the national reckoning on sexual harassment. In California last fall, 140 women, including legislators and lobbyists, came forward to protest a widespread culture of misconduct in Sacramento. In Missouri, the governor has been caught up in a scandal over an affair and accusations of blackmail. But in Albany, an absence of term limits for legislators breeds a complacency and has kept in place lets call them Legacy Men, those who came of age when the rules about how to navigate office life were very different. And yet youth presents problems of its own. Salaries for legislators are quite low; newly elected members of the Legislature are often young, and for a long time, before standards of conduct were better codified, men in their late 20s would arrive in Albany and see little wrong with dating interns who were 23. People who have done this from an early age, I dont know how they keep their feet on the ground, Ms. Glick told me. On the one hand, were poor shlubs up here, but people are very deferential. You go into a supermarket and its Hello, assemblywoman! I walk into a room late, and people ask if I want to be the first one to speak. That dislocates people. That reverence is at odds with the low regard for Albany in New York City, where apathy, or even disdain, for many aspects of local politics, especially among the wealthy and influential, is pervasive. Were it otherwise, women might fill more than 11 of the 51 seats in the City Council, and voter turnout for those races might not be so dismal. You could spend hours in front of any luxury retail outlet on upper Madison Avenue before you would find a half-dozen people who could name their state senator. Even in more explicitly liberal and engaged parts of the city, in brownstone Brooklyn, for example, you will hear a lot more about congressional races in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma than you will hear about contests happening only several miles away. Currently, in the 11th District, encompassing Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn itself, Michael Grimm, a Republican who lost his Congressional seat when he was sentenced to prison on charges of tax fraud, is leading in some polls in a race to reclaim it against a more moderate primary opponent, the never-incarcerated former prosecutor Dan Donovan. Supplementing his profile, Mr. Grimm also once famously threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony. Dismissiveness leads to withered scrutiny (enabled as well by the long retrenchment of the newspaper industry), and that withered scrutiny in turn allows a dangerous prurience to persist. The case of Mr. Lopez, who had long been protected by the former speaker, Mr. Silver, is instructive. Even after the State Assembly censured Mr. Lopez for sexual harassment in August 2012 (one year before he would resign and three years before he died), he won re-election to a 15th term, in a district that includes Bushwick and Williamsburg, where so many millennials negatively disposed to the patriarchy have made their lives. This is Girls country. Former State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver. Mary Altaffer/Associated Press. Leah Hebert, who began working for Mr. Lopez in March 2011, was one of several young women to ultimately file formal complaints against him. A graduate of Cooper Union, she had been living in a loft in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and doing tenants rights work as a volunteer. Among his many good causes, Mr. Lopez had pushed through a loft law that allowed tenants living in what had formerly been manufacturing spaces in certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn to remain in them legally and at relatively low cost. Ms. Hebert met him at a party in Brooklyn, and he offered her a job on the spot. It seemed like a an amazing opportunity to go work for this progressive housing advocate, she told me. After she worked for Mr. Lopez for six months, he promoted her to chief of staff. The harassment began with the new job title, she said, with vague comments first and then a request that she share a hotel room with Mr. Lopez on a trip to Puerto Rico. When she refused to go, he fired her, but then he hired her right back. This became a game with him, she said, where he would put my job in jeopardy and say, You need to be more personal; you need you to send me text messages and say you care about me. She went on: He was obsessed with me getting my eyebrows waxed. He was obsessed with me getting facials and wearing makeup. I cant tell you how insane this experience was. He would tell me to flirt with people to get donated turkeys for Thanksgiving for his seniors. At some points Id think, am I in someone elses horror movie? Former Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Michael Nagle for The New York Times Once, she confided to him that she had been raped in college, and that his treatment of her was reigniting her trauma. He responded by asking her for a massage. Ms. Hebert is part of a consortium of women, all former legislative aides, who have protested the recent passage of the states sexual harassment law, which fails, among other things, to reform the laws around nondisclosure agreements, meaning that certain misdeeds can potentially remain shielded from public view. New York is far less progressive on gender issues than it is in its own imagination. Only 27 percent of members of the state Legislature are female, which puts New York ahead of Wyoming (where the figure is 11 percent) but significantly behind Arizona, which has a 40 percent representation. The Child Victims Act, which would extend or eliminate the statute of limitations regarding child sex abuse cases, has still not passed the New York Legislature. The senate has failed to pass a civil-rights bill for transgender people, at a moment when the Trump administration is trying to roll back protections for them. Our abortion laws predate Roe v. Wade, Brad Hoylman, a Democratic state senator representing much of the West Side of Manhattan, said. So if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, New York could go back to the 1960s. A few years ago, Mr. Hoylman, the only openly gay member of the Senate, issued a report called, Stranded at the Altar, which demonstrates that the state Legislatures leadership on LGBT issues essentially came to a halt after the Marriage Equality Act passed seven years ago. In the report, he points out that during the 2015 session alone, the Senate passed 1,637 pieces of legislation, none of them addressing the needs of gay, lesbian and transgender individuals. Instead the Senate voted on 19 bills creating distinctive license plates; 32 bills expanding hunting and fishing and 11 bills devoted to ceremonial recognition, including one naming the wood frog the states official amphibian. Gay conversion therapy, Mr. Hoylman noted, is still legal in New York. Illustration by David Gothard Progressive hypocrisy has deep roots in New York politics, as it happens. Arriving in Albany in 1882 as a 23-year-old state assemblyman, Theodore Roosevelt quickly found a target in a New York City commissioner, Hubert O. Thompson, who wore diamonds and filled refrigerators with champagne, ostensibly on a municipal salary. Thompsons office, which oversaw the citys infrastructure, saw millions of dollars pass through it, and Roosevelt, who essentially created progressive rectitude as a political brand, was determined to ferret out the self-dealing. Nine years later, Roosevelt was trying to get his own brother, Elliott, committed to an asylum to contain what he imagined as a crisis that could thwart his presidential ambitions, the historian William J. Mann has argued in his book The Wars of The Roosevelts. Elliott had an illegitimate child with a young German servant whom Teddy was, at the same time, working to silence. If some frightful scandal arises, it should be widely known that we regarded him as irresponsible, Roosevelt wrote to his sister. He would let nothing get in the way of his image as an agent of moral protest. Which might make him feel entirely at home in New York today. What are the farmers protesting about? We have stayed the farm laws says SC Lakhimpur Kheri violence: SC says it is unsatisfied with action taken by UP govt BJP govts floor test in Karnataka tomorrow: Supreme Court saves democracy, Twitter reacts India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff New Delhi, May 18: As the nation huffed and puffed through political chaos in the aftermath of a "minority" Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government coming to power in Karnataka, on Friday the Supreme Court gave a new lease of life to those who were crying foul over the "murder of democracy". The apex court asked the BS Yeddyurappa government to prove its majority on the floor of the house at 4pm on Saturday. The order was passed by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan. The apex court was hearing a petition filed by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) combine in Karnataka against the decision of Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJP's Yeddyurappa to form the government. Earlier, Vala gave 15-day period to the BJP government in the southern state to prove its majority. Thus the entire process has been preponed by at least 12 days. The SC's ruling is also against Vala's controversial decision to administer the oath of office and secrecy to Yeddyurappa on Thursday, putting further questions on the independence and integrity of the governor's office. Incidentally, the Congress decided to observe a nationwide protest--"Save the Democracy"--on Friday against Vala's controversial decision to give preference to the BJP to form the government despite having just 104 seats with it. The Congress-JD(S) alliance too had staked claim to form the government in Karnataka which was not entertained by the governor. In order to avoid poaching of its MLAs, both the Congress and the JD(S) have now taken all their newly-elected legislators to Hyderabad on Thursday midnight. The Congress-JD(S) combine claims to have the support of 116 MLAs, which is well past the majority mark. The Congress has hailed the decision of SC as "historic". The micro-blogging site, Twitter, which has been closely observing all the political developments in Karnataka since the time of election campaign, has hailed the decision of the Supreme Court too. A Twitter user has succinctly put the apex court's verdict as a step to "save democracy". SC saves democracy #SaveDemocracyDay Rahul sharma (@Helpdes99146637) May 18, 2018 The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) too welcomed the judgement for upholding "democratic principles". We welcome the judgement of the Supreme Court which has upheld democratic principles. Congress and JD(S) have a comfortable majority in the assembly and it will be proven in the floor test tomorrow. #SaveDemocracyDay Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 18, 2018 One more Twitter user wrote that the "faith of the country in the 'people's court' has been vindicated". Faith of the country in "People's court" has been vindicated.#SupremeCourt has upheld principles of democracy & established rule of law by ordering #FloorTest in Karnataka.#BJP & Governor have been making fervent attempts to subvert constitution &stay in power.#SaveDemocracyDay Rajeev Satav (@SATAVRAJEEV) May 18, 2018 Working president of the KPCC, Dinesh Gundu Rao, wrote, "SC asks for Karnataka's Vidhana Sabha floor test tomorrow at 4pm..It's an indictment of the Governors decision & the disgraceful conduct by the BJP. Welcome the SC's judgement." SC asks for Karnatakas Vidhana Sabha floor test tomorrow at 4pm..Its an indictment of the Governors decision & the disgraceful conduct by the BJP. Welcome the SCs judgement. #SaveDemocracyDay Dinesh Gundu Rao (@dineshgrao) May 18, 2018 However, not all agree with the Supreme Court's verdict as they alleged that in the past the Congress had "murdered democracy" several times. #SaveDemocracyDay#Congress murdered democratically elected state governments more than 85 times by mis using art 356#IndiraGandhi alone misused art 356 more than 50 times In 1975 she did cold blood murder of democracy through emergency#IAmWithModi #Karnataka #floortest pic.twitter.com/uSxN6nNL2D @BM (@Bharat_Manthan) May 18, 2018 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 13:25 [IST] BJP practicing 'Chanakyaneeti', says Shiv Sena on Karnataka government formation India oi-Vikas By Vikas Shiv Sena has lashed out at its ally BJP over the recent political developments in Karnataka and the role played by the Governor in it. Even on Thursday, the Shiv Sena had expressed unhappiness over the swearing-in of BS Yeddyurappa as the Karnataka Chief Minister and said that Governor Vajubhai Vala should have invited the Congress-JDS combine, which has the required numbers, to form the government first. An article in Sena's mouthpiece Saamna took a bitter jibe at the BJPO and said, "If Congress would have done the same, it would have been called the murder of democracy, but it is absolutely valid if BJP is doing it." The article also called Governor a 'polite servant' of the BJP, adding, "What BJP is doing in Karnataka is Chanakyaneeti. Those who don't understand it, are not just fools, but also traitors." The BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 104 seats in the Karnataka assembly elections, but the Congress, with 78 seats, and JD (S), with 38 seats, cobbled up an alliance and staked a claim to form a government as they have support of a total of 118 MLAs, including 2 independents. The political temparatures are soaring high in Bengaluru after Karnataka assembly elections result. The Congress and the JD (S) were left fuming after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday evening allowed the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party in assembly elections, to form the government and prove majority on the floor of the House within 15 days. The Congress had approached the Supreme Court and contended that the Governor's decision to call BJP for government formation first was unconstitutional. The Congress had sought court's intervention in the matter and demanded a stay on swearing in. The apex court, however, refused to stay the swearing in of Yeddyurappa. In a veiled attack on the Karnataka Governor's decision to invite the BJP to form government and prove majority first, the Shiv Sena on Thursday (May 17) said Vajubhai Vala should have called 'those with maximum seats' first. "BS Yeddyurappa has taken the oath but it's difficult to prove majority. Governor should have called those who had maximum numbers. When this happens people say, loktantra ki hatya ho gayi, lekin jab desh mein loktantra bacha hi nahi hai toh hatya kiski hogi," Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut told ANI on Thursday. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 9:21 [IST] Congress didn't object Bopaiah's appointment in 2008! India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar In fast-paced political development in Karnataka, Governor Vajubhai Vala appointed KG Bopaiah as pro tem speaker of the assembly ahead of floor test tomorrow. The Congress is getting ready for one more round of legal battle with the BJP against the 'controversial' move of the Governor. Senior leaders told media persons that they may move Supreme Court over the issue. They said that when Congress MLA RV Deshpande is the senior most MLA in the house KG Bopaiah's appointment violated the rule of seniority. Meanwhile, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted about previous incidences where a younger MLA was appointed as Speaker. He recalled that KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker by then Governor Rameshwar Thakur in 2008. He termed the Congress party's objection as 'hypocrisy'. Javadekar tweeted, "Shri KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. The Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations." "When Shri Rameshwar Thakur Ji as Governor had appointed Shri Bhopaiah as Protem Speaker of Karnataka in 2008 Congress didn't object. In Jharkhand when a junior MLA was appointed, Cong leader @DrAMSinghvi defended it in Court. Now they are objecting. This is Congress hypocrisy." When Shri Rameshwar Thakur Ji as Governor had appointed Shri Bhopaiah as Protem Speaker of Karnataka in 2008 Congress didn't object. In Jharkhand when a junior MLA was appointed, Cong leader @DrAMSinghvi defended it in Court. Now they are objecting. This is Congress hypocrisy. Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) May 18, 2018 'True Congressi', will not accept defeat, says Rahul Gandhi on sister Priyanka Gandhi's detention Congress likely to hold CWC meet next week, ambiguity over party polls to end Congress releases audio clip of Janardhana Reddy trying to lure Congress MLA India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Congress leaders released an audio clip where BJP leader Janardhana Reddy is trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering money and posts. VS Ugrappa said, "Janaradhana Reddy clearly says he has the backing of BJP President Amit Shah for doing horse trading." In the audio clip, Janaradhana Reddy lured Congress MLA Basanagouda Daddal with position and money. Reddy said, "You can directly speak to the national president and you can demand whatever you want...... I will make you sit with the big man, one to one and I will myself make sure both of you talk .. this country, the way they are running it, you are seeing it.. Whatever assets you have, you will get 100 times more." Basanagouda Daddal replied, "Sir, I respect you a lot. But the party (Congress) has given me the ticket and helped win the election. Audio clip where Janaradhana Reddy is trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering money.#FloorTest #KarnatakaCMRace pic.twitter.com/OnpJ8JDTuc Siona Gogoi (@AtomicBlow) May 18, 2018 The audio clip was released amidst allegations that BJP is trying to poach Congress and JD(S) MLAs who have been staying in a hotel in Hyderabad since today morning. Prakash Javadekar called the audio CD as fake. He said, "This audio CD is one of the handiworks of Congress' dirty tricks department. This is a fake CD." Congress takes a swipe at 'Honourable' Governors of Arunachal, Manipur and Goa India oi-Vikas By Vikas In the wake of Supreme Court's direction to conduct the floor test in Karnataka tommorrow (May 19), the Congress has taken a bitter jibe at the Governors of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Goa, against whom the grand old party had raised fingers even in the past. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala invited the single largest party, the BJP, to form government first when the Congress-JDS combine had more seats than the required majority in the House. "I would like to thank the Supreme Court for restoring the Democracy. Over the past two years, some of the Honorable Governors didn't work according to the rule of law," Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media. "No governor in the history of India has given a political party 15 days to prove majority. Why was Yeddyurappa given 15 days then? The head of a state in Karnataka is not working according to the law," he added. Azad was referring to what happened in Manipur and Goa. In Manipur last year, though the Congress won 28 out of 60 assembly seats, the Governor allowed the BJP, which had 21 seats, to form a government with the support of allies. Likewise in Goa, though the BJP had won 13 seats and the Congress had 17 seats out of the 40 constituencies in Goa. The governor allowed the BJP to form a government after forging an alliance with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward Party. The Congress party on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's direction that the floor test in the Karnataka legislative assembly be held on Saturday (tomorrow) at 4 pm and termed it a 'historic verdict'. The court said that the pro-tem Speaker to be appointed by the Governor will decide on all issues relating to the floor test in accordance with the law. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 13:55 [IST] Delhi-Haryana water sharing row: Kejriwal seeks Modi's intervention India oi-Vikas By Vikas Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought the latter's intervention in the water sharing dispute with Haryana. Kejriwal's letter urged Modi to use his 'good offices' to persuade Haryana to to continue supplying same levels of water that it has been supplying for 22 years till the matter is finally decided by the court. The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 16) said the dispute between Haryana and Delhi over sharing of Yamuna water should be adjudicated by the Upper Yamuna River Board which is a statutory body set up to decide such issues, reported TOI. "Delhi has been receiving 1133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996. However recently, for the first time in 22 years, Haryana has contested Delhi's right over this water and partially stopped water supply to Delhi," the letter said. "Disruption in water supply from Haryana would affect Chandrawal Water Treatment plant, which supplies water to NCMC areas. VIP areas like President's House, Parliament, Embassies and major establishments like Railway Stations, Hospitals etc are located in NDMC areas," the letter further said. Here is Kejriwal's letter to Modi: The Kejriwal government had earlier sought apex court's intervention to direct Haryana to supply 450 cusecs of potable water daily to Wazirabad barrage for supply to Delhi as per its 1996 order. The Upper Yamuna River Board on its part informed the bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Navin Sinha that it has constituted a committee to study the river flow and water sharing among the riparian states. Delhi had rushed to the Supreme Court on March 23 saying that the capital was staring at a water crisis as the neighbouring state was no honouring the 1996 SC directive to release 450 cusecs of water daily to Delhi. The Delhi government earlier contended that Haryana was supplying Delhi only 330 cusecs of water per day as against 450 cusecs per day which was agreed upon between the two sides. It said the situation would "escalate" as the temperature rose with the onset of summer and the demand for drinking water shot up, reported TOI. Meanwhile, the Haryana government assured the court it would maintain status quo on supply of Yamuna water to Delhi till May 21. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 10:58 [IST] EU-NIA come together to beat radicalisation India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The National Investigation Agency along with the European Union held a workshop in which various aspects of radicalisation were discussed. Participants at the workshop deliberated upon the processes that lead to radicalisation and recruitment, propaganda networks of different terrorist organisations, tools to identify online extremist materials and their sources, and experiences of working with online service providers to block and remove such material. Participants also discussed the use of electronic evidence in counter terrorism investigations as well as the mechanisms to legally prosecute producers and disseminators of terrorist e-propaganda. The internet and social media have become one of the main vehicles used by extremists and terrorists organisations to incite violence and sow hatred in our societies. Technological changes have also allowed them to reach a much greater number of people than ever before. India and the EU are determined to cooperate closely together to stop their citizens, and especially their youth, from becoming prey to online radicalisation. Dr. A. P. Maheshwari, Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development said, "Online radicalization is an area of concern that entails collaborated efforts by all segments of society, locally as well as globally, in order to contain its genesis, spread and violent outburst. In this fatal war of perceptions, besides the well-coordinated policing of the virtual world, we need proper nurturing of behavioural responses by all the mentors who shape the human cognitions, may it be family members, social leaders, teachers, business houses or the role models generating huge demonstration effect". Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India, said "This workshop is the clear reflection that the EU and India are joining hands in the fight against terrorism. I am extremely pleased to see that our counter-terrorism cooperation is becoming more concrete and that our law enforcement agencies are working together to prevent extremist organisations from distributing violent and hateful propaganda through the internet ". Yogesh Chander Modi, Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA), emphasised that the joint effort made by the EU and the NIA should be the first among many ventures. He highlighted that as the nation's premier investigation agency, NIA is committed to spearheading successful prosecution of terrorist offences by collaborating with other states and agencies. He stressed that developing skills to investigate complex terror crimes carried out in the cyber realm is the need of the hour. Ambassador of France to India, Mr. Alexandre Ziegler, recalled: "France is determined to fight terrorism wherever it is found and to enhance operational cooperation with India. Disrupting the distribution of terrorist propaganda online has become a global priority and we will continue to support building of a European database of illegal content, as it is part and parcel of the new French National Plan to Prevent Radicalisation." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 6:29 [IST] What are the farmers protesting about? We have stayed the farm laws says SC Floor test tomorrow at 4 pm to decide B S Yeddyurappas fate India oi-Vicky Nanjappa The Supreme Court has directed that the floor test in the Karnataka legislative assembly held on Saturday (tomorrow) at 4 pm. The court said that the pro-tem Speaker to be appointed by the Governor will decide on all issues relating to the floor test in accordance with the law. B S Yeddyurappa who was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday will face the crucial floor test. His fate would be decided on the floor of the House the court also said. What the SC said: Floor test will be conducted tomorrow at 4 pm. Pro-tem speaker will decide all issues related to floor test in accordance with law. No anglo-Indian member shall be appointed until floor test is over Yeddyurappa barred from taking any policy decision until floor test is complete DGP to take all measures to keep things under control outside the Assembly to make floor test happen smoothly inside the House. How it unfolded: The Supreme Court said that the best way to decide this matter would be on the floor of the House. The court had earlier indicated that it wanted the test to be held on Saturday itself. This was however opposed to by Mukul Rohatgi who was arguing for the BJP. We cannot give more time says Supreme Court. Let the floor test be conducted tomorrow itself the court said. When Kapil Sibal arguing for H D Kumaraswamy said that there should be division of Benches, the court said that the pro-tem speaker will decide all issues related to the floor test in accordance with the law. The court also asked the DGP to take all measures to keep things under control outside the Assembly to make floor test happen smoothly inside the House. The court also asked why should there any further argument when the parties have agreed for a floor test. Earlier Mukul Rohatgi said that he has got the copy of the letters written by Yeddyurappa to the Governor. Rohatgi read out out the May 15 letter saying since there is no pre-poll alliance, as Single Largest Party, BJP can form govt. The May 16 letter says,"I have the support of others and requisite majority." He said that there was no need to give all the names in the letter. The majority would be proven in the House he said. He also said that he had instructions from several MLAs on the other side that they have not given letters of support. Many on other side have not given letters of support he also said. Abhishek Manu Singvi arguing for the Congress-JD(S) said that the court must decide on who gets the first chance to prove majority. Singhvi said election is one part but who gets invite first is a completely different ball game. We know what happens when a minority support base party gets invite to form government. It will kill democracy, he also said. Singhvi says there should be videography and proper security to MLAs to vote fearlessly. Kapil Sibal appearing for Kumaraswamy said that Governor has no discretion to invite a party to form the government. Go get them is govts message to security agencies on targeted killings in J&K J&K: Encounter underway between security forces, terrorists in Handwara India oi-Madhuri An encounter underway between security forces and terrorists in Handwara area of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, in a first counter-militancy operation since the Centre announced a conditional suspension of operations during Ramzan. The Centre had on May 16 announced that security forces will not launch any operations in J and K during the holy month of Ramzan, but they reserve the right to retaliate if attacked. According to data available with South Asia Terrorism Portal, around 760 people have died in J&K since 2016 - the year Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter. Though some of these fatalities have occurred in border areas and some have been reported from Jammu, but most of these deaths have happened in encounters in Kashmir. Union Home Ministry officials had said that the move was not a concession to the extremists, but an effort to create an environment free of terror and violence during the holy month and there will be no lowering of guard. The innocent minorities in Kashmir are bearing the brunt of Pakistans frustration Go get them is govts message to security agencies on targeted killings in J&K J&K: Terrorists on killing spree, want people to lose faith in Indian system Recent killings in J&K aimed at a grand revival of the Al-Badr J&K: Terrorists loot bank in Kulgam India oi-Vikas By Vikas The terrorists have looted a bank in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam area. The incident took place in a branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Qaimoh area, said reports. Last year, there were several banks looted by the terrorists in Kashmir. On October 12, 2017, Terrorists on Thursday looted Rs 5,39,000 cash from J&K Bank branch in Marhama Sangam in Anantnag district. In 2017 June, terrorists looted a bank at Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir. The terrorists robbed the bank at gunpoint, reports stated. There were several successful attempts at robbing banks in the Valley since November 8, 2016, when demonetisation was announced, suggesting that the terrorists are facing a cash crunch. On July 11, 2017, an attempt to rob a bank in Shopian was made. However the police had foiled that attempt. Karnataka government formation updates: Section 144 imposed in and around Vidhan Soudha India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff It is a big day for H D Kumaraswamy who will take oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. The swearing in ceremony will take place on the steps of the Vidhan Soudha which houses the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. A host of leaders will be present at the event in what is being seen as a show of opposition unity ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Along with Kumaraswamy, Dr. G Parameshwar of the Congress would take oath as the deputy chief minister. Stay with us as we bring you all the updates: Newest First Oldest First H D Deve Gowda was at the Vidhan Soudha overseeing arrangements ahead of the swearing in ceremony of his son, H D Kumaraswamy. He was seen talking with chief secretary Ratna Prabha. She explained the arrangements to him. BJP observes black day, BS Yeddyurappa leads protest from Mayura circle in Bengaluru over JD(S)-Congress alliance BS Yeddyurappa is leading the protest from Mayura circle in Bengaluru over JD(S)-Congress alliance Cong high command asks Parameshwara to resign from KPCC Prez's post. G Parameshwara is likely to resign from his post after swearing-in as DyCM All the promises made in the manifesto will be implemented. Safeguarding the interest of the farming community is our top priority, he says. I am not a leader of one caste or religion, I will be serving all the people of all castes and religion in Karnataka. Today, if I am taking oath as the CM, it is because of the blessings of all the people of Karnataka, says Kumaraswamy. Karnataka Floor test to be conducted on Friday Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Bengaluru at 2 pm. He will be in the city to attend the swearing in ceremony of H D Kumaraswamy. Prior to attending the ceremony, he would hold a meeting with Congress leaders who are holed up in a hotel. H D Kumaraswamy would be visiting the Chamundeshwari temple before he takes oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Kumaraswamy who is forming the government in an alliance with the JD(S) has visited several temples since the past few days. There are also reports suggesting that he may not move into the official Chief Ministers residence citing vaastu. He is likely to operate out of this private residence. However the official reason given by him is that he did not want to burden the exchequer. It's the high command which decides all these, they chose me. I thank them immensely but the point is they're also eligible but they gave me this opportunity: G Parameshwara,Dy CM designate on being asked that Roshan Baig & DK Shivakumar were also in the race for Dy CM. on being asked that Roshan Baig and DK Shivakumar were also in the race for Dy CM, G Parameshwara, says, "It's the high command which decides all these, they chose me. I thank them immensely but the point is they're also eligible but they gave me this opportunity." Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been imposed in and around Vidhan Soudha where Kumaraswamy would take oath as CM at 4.30 pm. 35 KSRP, 50 CAR, 8 DCPs, 50 ACPs, 100 Inspectors, 250 SI will oversee the security arrangements. There are also 3,000 traffic cops deployed to ensure that the vehicular movement is smooth. Minute-to-minute programme of swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed CM of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy Kamal Haasan cancels his trip to Bengaluru to attend HD Kumaraswamy's swearing-in ceremony. Instead, heads to Thoothukudi post the Sterlite Protest tragedy. Andhra Pradeshs IT minister Nara Lokesh has said what happened to the BJP in Karnataka is just a trailer. The real movie will play in 2019, he said. Telugu people showed you just a trailer in Karnataka elections. They will show you the full movie in 2019 elections, he also said. CM-designate HD Kumaraswamy visits Chamundeshwari temple in Mysore ahead of swearing-in ceremony. KPCC President G Parameshwara performs puja in Vinayaka temple in RT Nagar Bengaluru. Uddhav Thackeray congratulated Deve Gowda but conveyed his apologies for not being able to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Kumaraswamy as his party is busy in Palghar by-polls HD Deve Gowda calls Uddhav Thackeray, invites him for the swearing-in of Kumaraswamy as the CM of Karnataka. #HDKumaraswamy to take oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka today. Visuals of celebrations from outside his residence in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/tz2rrenFEX ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2018 Visuals of celebrations from outside Kumaraswamy's residence ahead of his oath taking ceremony in Bengaluru Out of the 34 ministries, the Congress will get 22 berths and the JD(S) 12 which includes the post of Chief Minister. The portfolios will be allocated only after the floor test which will take place on May 24. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BSP chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Partys Akhilesh Yadav along with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former party president Sonia Gandhi are expected to be present. Three key leaders would be missing from the ceremony. They are Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, Odisha CM, Naveen Patnaik and DMK leader, M K Stalin. While Patnaiks office has indicated that he has never attended a swearing in ceremony, Rao is skipping the event as he does not want to be seen with the Congress which is his main opponent in Telangana. Stalin cancelled at the last moment citing the anti-Sterlite protests that rocked Tuticorin on Tuesday. The BJP would not take part in the ceremony. Its leaders would sport black bands and protest across the state. The party has called the alliance as an unholy one and said that it was against the peoples mandate that this government is being formed. Kumaraswamy's swearing is being seen as a show of strength by the opposition, which is striving hard to put forth a collective effort to stitch up a united front to take on the BJP in 2019 Lomk Sabha elections. Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao is in Bengaluru today to congratulate HD Kumaraswamy as he will not able to attend the swearing in tomorrow. Kumaraswamy-led government's floor test would be held on May 24 in Karnataka Vidhan Souhda. CM designate HD Kumaraswamy to be sworn in tomorrow. Here is the tentative list of the ministry under HD Kumaraswamy: CM - HD Kumaraswamy; Deputy CM - Dr G Parameshwara; Congress - 21-22 Ministers; JDS - 12-13 Ministers; Speaker - Ramesh Kumar from Congress "Congress-JDS leaders met and discussed about the cabinet formation, out of 34 ministries, 22 ministries will go with Congress Party and 12 ministries, including CM will be with be with JDS. Portfolio allocation to be decided after floor test," Congress' Karnataka general secretary KC Venugopal told the media. Congress's KR Ramesh Kumar to be the Speaker of the new Karnataka Assembly. Congress's G Parameshwara to be Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister. He will take oath along with CM designate HD Kumaraswamy tomorrow. The floor test would be conducted at 4 pm on Saturday. The assembly would be conducted by the pro-tem speaker who would be appointed by the Governor of Karnataka. The BJP has proposed the name of Umesh Katti while the Congress has suggested R V Deshpande. Convention demands that the senior most leader of the House be appointed. The Congress MLAs who are holed up in Taj Krishna in Hyderabad are holding a meeting before they leave for Bengaluru. The MLAs were carted away from Bengaluru to avoid poaching. The JD(S) MLAs are too in a different hotel in Hyderabad. The decision to move out of Bengaluru was taken after security was withdrawn at the Eagleton resort in Bidadi, a town 38 kilometres away from Bengaluru. Former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah has left Hyderabad for Bengaluru. He was with the Congress MLAs in Hyderabad. He would arrive in Bengaluru shortly and also take part in the proceedings to be held on Saturday at the legislative assembly. Meanwhile BJP leaders, Shobha Karandlaje and K S Eshwarappa have said that they will sail through the floor test. The leaders claim that they have the support of 120 MLAs in the House. Earlier the BJP leaders went into a huddle at the Taj West End hotel in Bengaluru to chalk out a strategy. The Congress and JD(S) MLAs would leave Hyderabad for Bengaluru at 6 pm today. All the MLAs are holed up in Hyderabad ahead of the crucial trust vote on Saturday at 4 pm. At first they planned on taking the flight. However owing to weather conditions they decides to take the bus. KG Bhopaiah appointed as pro tem speaker of Karnataka Assembly. Though Congress MLA RV Deshpande is the senior most leader, Governor appointed Bhopaiah as pro tem speaker. "BJP wanted that vote of confidence should be done via secret ballot.But, Supreme Court has written in its order that there shall be no secret ballot in proving vote of confidence tomorrow," says Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Supreme Court earlier decided against giving 15 days time for the trust vote as proposed by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala. BJP MLAs arrive at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru to meet the Governor Vajubhai Vala. The faces a crucial floor test in the Karnataka assembly tommorrow after the Supreme Court decided against giving 15 days time for the trust vote as proposed by Governor Vajubhai Vala. K G Bopaiah the Virajpet MLA has taken oath as the pro-tem speaker. On BJP MLA KG Bopaiah being appointed as pro-tem speaker, Abhishek Manu Singhvi says "What the BJP has done is against the rulebook. Ideally, the senior most leader is supposed to hold that position." Conventionally, the longest-serving member of the House will be nominated as pro-tem (short-term) speaker, whose role is limited to administering the oath to all the newly elected MLAs and conducting the election of full-time speaker.Congress MLA from Haliyal constituency, RV Deshpande was expected to be pro tem speaker. Congress to move SC over appointment of K G Bopaiah as pro-tem Speaker. The Congress has objected to this move by the Governor. The Congress says that the senior most member of the House should hold this post. The Congress had proposed the name of R V Deshpande, an 8 time MLA. The BJP hits back at the Congress for opposing the appointment of KG Bopaiah as the Pro Tem Speaker. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, " 'KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker even in 2008. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations." Pro-tem speaker K G Bopaiah will initiate proceedings in the assembly at 11 am. He will administer oath to all the new MLAs and this would go on till 4 pm. The trust vote would begin after that. The trust vote is expected to go late into the night. Order by Governor appointing BJP MLA K G Bopaiah as the pro-tem Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Bopaiah will not only adminster the oath to the new MLAs but also conduct the all important teust vote against B S Yeddyurappa. I fail to understand the desperation of the Congress says Shobha Karandlaje, BJP MP on the appointment of K G Bopaiah as pro-tem Speaker. She says that the Congress is suffering from an inferiority complex. Bopaiah was appointed pro-tem speaker by the Governor. The Congress is likely to challenge it on the ground that the seniority norm in the House was not followed. With the Congress opposing KG Bopaiah's appointment as pro-tem speaker, BJPs Shobha Karandlaje in a presser says she fails to understand Congress' desperation over the matter. She believes Congress leaders are suffering from inferiority complex. Security has been tightened in and around Vidhan Soudha where the floor test will take place on Saturday at 4 pm. The state police chief has reviewed the situation and said that all efforts have been made to ensure that security is tight. The Supreme Court had directed the police chief to ensure that the voting goes on smoothly and security is adequate. AICC Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala says, "BJP will be exposed after the floor test. RV Deshpande is the senior most MLA, but the governor has also encountered the constitution by appointing KG Bopaiah as the pro-tem speaker." KG Bopaiah neither believes in the democratic process nor the Constitutional rules. It was the SC which had given stinging structures against BJP MLA KG Bopaiah: Randeep Singh Surjewala "We will be able to inform you in a short while. Yes, the option of going back to Court is open," says Randeep Surjewala, on if Congress will challenge BJP MLA KG Bopaiah's appointment as pro tem Speaker. "All the MLAs are here, we will be leaving for Bengaluru. We do not have any meeting here. Siddaramaiah has come here, we will be leaving soon. We have 77 MLAs here. No pressure on us. It will be our government," ANI quoted Congress MLA Rajshekar Patil as saying. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reached Hotel Taj Krishna in Hyderabad where the Congress MLAs have been lodged to prevent from being poached ahead of the crucial floor test. Siddaramaiah will now accompany them back to Bengaluru where the newly instated BJP-led government would be facing a floor test in the Karnataka assembly. BJP MLAs to meet at 9 pm today at Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru. The MLAs will discuss the strategy for tomorrow's all important floor test. Congress leader Rajeev Gowda and VS Ugrappa release audio clip in which Gali Janaradhana Reddy is allegedly trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering him money. HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah join MLA-elects at TaJ Krishna in Hyderabad, to take part in a meeting. We are in the Shangri-La hotel for the legislature meeting. We have the majority. More than what we expected. Our workers are really happy. CM BS Yeddyurappa. He says, "Of course they are with us, if the MLAs from Congress & JD(S) don't support us, how can we prove majority? We will win the floor test 101%." This audio CD is one of the handiworks of Congress' dirty tricks department. This is a fake CD: Prakash Javadekar on the audio, which was released by Congress, in which Janaradhana Reddy is allegedly trying to lure Congress MLA from Raichur Rural by offering him money. Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal file petition with the Registrar of Supreme Court seeking dismissal of KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker Karnataka Congress Legislature Party meets in Hyderabad and unanimously elect Siddaramaiah as the leader of the Congress Legislative Party as per the directions of Congress President Rahul Gandhi Congress-JD(S) seek video recording of proceedings. This plea was not accepted in the morning. Karnataka floor test: Congress hails SC decision, terms it 'historic' India oi-Vikas By Vikas The Congress party on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's direction that the floor test in the Karnataka legislative assembly be held on Saturday (tomorrow) at 4 pm and termed it a 'historic verdict'. The apex court said that the pro-tem Speaker to be appointed by the Governor will decide on all issues relating to the floor test in accordance with the law. "Supreme Court has delivered a historic verdict, many important directions have been given, one of them being that floor test has to be conducted at 4 pm tomorrow under a protem speaker," Congress' legal counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the media. "Supreme Court also said that oath should be administered to all MLAs before the floor test tomorrow and BS Yeddyurappa cannot take any policy decisions until tomorrow," Singhvi added. Congress leader Ashwani Kumar said that the Supreme Court's verdict has upheld constitutional morality and democracy. "It's a judgement that should be celebrated. Faith of people in wisdom of SC is vindicated once again. It's set back for a party that wanted to usurp power," Congress' Ashwani Kumar told ANI. B S Yeddyurappa who was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday will face the crucial floor test. His fate would be decided on the floor of the House, the court also said. What BJP leaders said: The BJP has also welcomed the floor test and exuded confidence that they would sail through. "We welcome the Supreme Court's order. We will prove majority on the floor of the House tomorrow, we are ready for floor test," BJP's Shobha Karandlaje told media. "Will discuss with Chief secretary and call for assembly session tomorrow. We are 100% confident that we will prove full majority," Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa said. What transpired in the Supreme Court: The Supreme Court said that the best way to decide this matter would be on the floor of the House. The court had earlier indicated that it wanted the test to be held on Saturday itself. This was however opposed to by Mukul Rohatgi who was arguing for the BJP. We cannot give more time, said the Supreme Court. Let the floor test be conducted tomorrow itself the court said. When Kapil Sibal arguing for H D Kumaraswamy said that there should be division of Benches, the court said that the pro-tem speaker will decide all issues related to the floor test in accordance with the law. The court also asked the DGP to take all measures to keep things under control outside the Assembly to make floor test happen smoothly inside the House. The court also asked why should there any further argument when the parties have agreed for a floor test. Earlier Mukul Rohatgi said that he has got the copy of the letters written by Yeddyurappa to the Governor. Rohatgi read out out the May 15 letter saying since there is no pre-poll alliance, as Single Largest Party, BJP can form govt. The May 16 letter says,"I have the support of others and requisite majority." He said that there was no need to give all the names in the letter. The majority would be proven in the House he said. He also said that he had instructions from several MLAs on the other side that they have not given letters of support. Many on other side have not given letters of support he also said. Abhishek Manu Singvi arguing for the Congress-JD(S) said that the court must decide on who gets the first chance to prove majority. Singhvi said election is one part but who gets invite first is a completely different ball game. We know what happens when a minority support base party gets invite to form government. It will kill democracy, he also said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 13:01 [IST] Karnataka floor test: Congress to move SC over Bopaiah as pro-tem Speaker India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Congress to move Supreme Court over the appointment of K G Bopaiah as pro tem Speaker on Friday. The Congress has objected to this move by Governor Vajubahi Vala. The Congress said that the senior most member of the House should hold this post. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said, "What the BJP has done is against the rule book. Ideally the senior most leader is supposed to hold that position. " Earlier, the senior most leader in the house, RV Deshpande told a private channel, "I have not received any intimation from the Governor. Generally, the senior most member is appointed as Pro tem speaker." "I expect everyone will abide by the Supreme Court order. House proceedings should be followed with decency," he added. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar responded by saying, "KG Bopaiah was appointed as Pro Tem speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations." Bhopaiah was the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 2009 to 2013. He is a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress had proposed the name of R V Deshpande, an 8 time MLA from Haliyal constituency. It may be recalled that 11 disgruntled MLAs of the ruling BJP along with some independent MLAs revolted against the leadership of BS Yeddyurappa and submitted a letter to the Governor withdrawing their support to the BJP Government. In a controversial move, Speaker Bopaiah disqualified the rebel MLAs and thus played a major role in the survival of the BJP Government in Karnataka in October 2011. Karnataka floor test: Will Yeddyurappa sail through or be a 'one day CM' like Jagdambika Pal India oi-Vikas By Vikas Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa faces a crucial floor test tommorrow after the Supreme Court decided against giving 15 days time for the trust vote as proposed by Governor Vajubhai Vala. The total strength of the House now is 221 and the magic number would be 111 since polls in two assemblies have been deferred and H D Kumaraswamy holds two seats. The BJP has 104 seats and would need to touch the 111 mark to stay in power. Splitting the Congress and JD(S) would be impossible in the wake of the anti-defection law. The BJP is 8 short with 104 MLAs. The Congress-JDS combine claim that they have the support of 117 MLAs which is well above the required majority mark. It would be interesting to see what strategy BJP would come up with to pass the floor test. There is just too less time left for the BJP to convince the opposition MLAs to switch sides. Moreover, the Congress and JDS have lodged their MLAs in resorts to prevent any attemepts to poach them. If BS Yeddyurappa fails to clear the floor test then the tag of 'one-day CM' would linger with him for a long time, just like it had stuck with Jagdambika Pal. Jagdambika Pal and the events that unfolded in UP Assembly in 1998: Jagdambika Pal was a Congress leader until he resigned on from the party on 7 March, 2014 and joined Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on 19 March, 2014. On 21 February, 1998, the then UP Governor Romesh Bhandari dismissed Kalyan Singh-led BJP government after the Loktantrik Congress withdrew support. Kalyan Singh had formed an unstable government with 93 member cabinet comprising of ministers from different political parties. Naresh Agrawal was one of the key defectors which led to the fall of Kalyan Singh's government. Romesh Bhandari then invited Jagdambika Pal to form the new government when the same Naresh Agrawal withdrew support to Kalyan Singh's government and became deputy chief minister in Jagdambika's short-lived government. The order was stayed by a division bench of the Allahabad High Court which directed that the Kalyan Singh's government be re-instated. Naresh Agrawal, who had become deputy chief minister in Jagdambika Pal's government, returned to BJP fold after the court order. When Kalyan Singh successfully proved his majority on the floor of the assembly with the support of Agrawal as well as some BSP rebels, Agrawal claimed that he had succeeded in proving that only his party could provide a stable government. The BSP rebels were to be rewarded with ministerial berths and this was duly done within days. Since then, tag on 'one-day CM' became strongly associated with Jagdambika Pal. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 16:35 [IST] Kathua rape victim's identity: HC issues notice to Google, Facebook, Twitter and others India oi-Vikas By Vikas The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice to IT giants Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites over the matter of revealing the identity of victim in the Kathua gangrape and murder case. The next date of hearing has been scheduled for May 29. In a reply to court's earlier notice, these firms had said that they are not the concerned entity to reply to court's notice on disclosing the identity. The Delhi High Court had in April ordered media houses who had revealed the identity of victim in the Kathua gangrape and murder case to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the court. The high court had also asked media houses to whom notices were issued to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the court. The court said that it will transfer the amount to the Jammu and Kashmir victims compensation fund. The Delhi high court added that whoever discloses a rape victim's identity can be imprisoned for 6 months. Advocates representing media houses had then told the court that the mistake of revealing the identity of the victim was due to their ignorance of the law and a misconception that they could name her as she was dead. PM Modi should express grief in Parliament over death of farmers during agri-law protests: Rakesh Tikait PM Modi no dictator, but most democratic leader India has seen: Amit Shah Modi wishes Deve Gowda on his birthday, is it an attempt to woo JD(S) to BJPs fold in Karnataka? India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff Bengaluru, May 18: In the last few days a lot went wrong between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), as the latter decided to join hands with the Congress after the Karnataka Assembly election results threw up a fractured mandate on Tuesday. Leaders of both the BJP and the JD(S) exchanged barbs against each other in the harshest possible manner, creating a bitter rift between the two parties which had earlier ran a coalition government in Karnataka in 2006. Despite 'public display of hatred' against each other, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not stop himself from reaching out to JD(S) supremo and his predecessor HD Deve Gowda on his birthday on Friday. Deve Gowda turned 86 on Friday. PM Modi tweeted to announce that he had a telephonic conversation with the JD(S) patriarch to convey him birthday greetings. "Spoke to our former Prime Minister Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji and conveyed birthday wishes to him. I pray for his good health and long life," tweeted Modi. Spoke to our former Prime Minister Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji and conveyed birthday wishes to him. I pray for his good health and long life. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2018 Many are reading the "nice gesture" by Modi towards Deve Gowda as an attempt to reach out to the JD(S) to win its support as the newly-formed BJP government seems to be on a sticky wicket in Karnataka. On Thursday, BJP's BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the new chief minister of Karnataka, despite having just 104 MLAs with the party. Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala has given Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his majority on the floor of the house. The question that everyone is asking is from where the BJP will get the support of another eight MLAs, even as the Congress and the JD(S) have taken all their legislators to Hyderabad to avoid poaching. Meanwhile, all eyes are on the Supreme Court on Friday over its ruling on whether Vala had taken the right decision or not to invite Yeddyurappa to form the government in the southern state despite lacking numbers. During the time of Karnataka election campaign, Modi and BJP president Amit Shah profusely praised the former PM. However, both the BJP top leaders told voters not to vote for the JD(S) as it is aligned with the Congress. Amid all the political drama underway in Karnataka, JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda decided to get some "spiritual solace" as he visited the famous Tirupati temple in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh hours ahead of his birthday on Thursday evening. Speaking to reporters, JD(S) chief said, "I am praying to god to give me strength and I am praying to god for a solution (Karnataka political uncertainty)." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 11:29 [IST] NIOS to provide certificate of class X and XII to Sanskrit students India oi-Vinod By Vinod New Delhi: An autonomous organisation under the ministry of Union Human Resource and Development (MHRD) -- National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) -- has decided to provide platform for Sanskrit learners whose traditional learning did not get certification. Now this will set the ball rolling to open opportunities for these students. Actually such students who have gone to study at 'gurukuls' and 'vedic pathshalas' have been facing many hurdles like this but now very soon they will be eligible for Class X and Class XII certificates from NIOS. This will make them eligible to apply for jobs that have a basic requisite of Class 12 qualification. Any student who is 15 years of age and self-certifies that he can read and write Sanskrit is eligible to apply for Class X certification with the NIOS. The student will be assigned a 'gurukul' nearby to be able to attend classes. The NIOS has also prepared Sanskrit textbooks for them. The 'gurukuls' chosen under this schema are ones that have Sanskrit teachers, classrooms and other basic infrastructure. The scheme is part of an initiative to promote "Indian Knowledge Tradition" courses. The ministry has been planning for such initiative from long and now it has started implementing it. Sources in the ministry on condition anonymity said, "Our scheme is National Curriculum Framework-compliant, and the scheme has already begun with a small batch of students. The students will have to pass five subjects that include Veda Adhyayana (Vedic learning), Bharatiya Darshan (Indian Philosophy), Sanskrit Vyakarana (Sanskrit Grammar), Sanskrit Sahitya (Sanskrit Literature) and Sanskrit Bhasha (Sanskrit Language)." "If students gets passing mark that is 33 per cent in the exams conducted by the NIOS, then they will be eligible for the certificate," said the official. The NIOS had also put up a stall of its Sanskrit material at the recent Sanskrit Conclave at Ujjain, which saw the participation of the Madhya Pradesh government and the Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, an organisation that aims to promote indigenous education. The present initiative permits Sanskrit learners to qualify as school pass-outs in open and distance learning mode. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 10:25 [IST] One similarity between PM Modi and HD Deve Gowda India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Today, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda turned 86-year-old. The irony is that the octogenarian leader is celebrating his birthday at a time when there is political chaos in Karnataka. The JDS MLAs, who were supposed to wish the party supremo on his birthday, are holed up in Park Hyatt Hotel in Hyderabad. Amid this political commotion, there is one interesting fact we should know about HD Deve Gowda. Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda is the only politician to directly become the Prime Minister from being a Chief Minister before Narendra Modi. Apparently, this is the only similarity between the two leaders. Narendra Modi rose from state politics to become the prime minister in 2014. Before that, Modi had served as CM of Gujarat for three terms. Others like Morarjeebhai Desai and PV Narasimha Rao were also chief ministers before they became prime minister, but both of them were in Central Politics for a long time in the intervening period. Janta Party leader Deve Gowda became chief minister in 1994 and within two years he was prime minister. In 1996 General elections, Congress, with 140 seats, extended outside support to the United Front (Supported by left parties) led by many leaders. Congress did agree to keep BJP out of power which had 192 seats. Lalu Prasad Yadav was in the race back then but Sharad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan vetoed his name. Mulayam Singh Yadav was also seen back then to be in contention, but his name was rejected by Harkishan Surjeet of the Left. They all arrived at a consensus on H D Deve Gowda's name who was then the CM of Karnataka and Janta Party leader. So, HD Deve Gowda was the only person for whom all the leaders of the United front agreed. PNB fraud: ED summons Nirav Modi's family, US partner India pti-PTI New Delhi, May 18: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned at least four members of absconding diamantaire Nirav Modi's family, including his father and brother, and his US-based business partner in connection with a money laundering case linked to the over USD 2 billion PNB fraud, officials said. The family members are required to be questioned as a number of financial transactions and Nirav Modi's businesses are linked to them, they said. The officials said summonses had been issued to Nirav Modi's father Deepak Modi, brother Nishal Modi, sister Purvi Mehta, her husband Mayank Mehta, and Mihir Bhansali, who is the director of the jeweller's US-based firm Firestar Diamond Inc. They said the summonses, issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), were sent through e-mail as all the five people are settled abroad. The officials said Deepak Modi was suspected to be in Antwerp in Belgium, Nishal and Bhansali could be in the US and the Mehtas were reportedly in Hong Kong. "However, their current locations are not exactly known and hence, summonses have been sent through e-mail," a senior official said. The ED asked them to depose before the investigating officer of the case in Mumbai over the next few days. However, the sources said the agency was not very hopeful about their deposition and joining the probe in person. A case-to-case call would be taken on the next course of action based on the replies received. Earlier, the ED had summoned Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi in a similar fashion, but they did not depose before it, citing business engagements and the revocation of their passports by the government. Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED for allegedly cheating the Punjab National Bank, the country's second largest lender, to the tune of more than Rs USD 2 billion. The duo and others are also being probed by other central agencies after the fraud came to light this year following a complaint by the PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank. The Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED have registered two first information reports each in the case. The CBI had earlier this week filed two charge sheets in the case before a Mumbai court, while the ED is expected to file its own prosecution complaint soon. The ED complaint or charge sheet will focus on the money laundering aspect and the role of Nirav Modi, Choksi and others in perpetrating the alleged fraud. Both Nirav Modi and Choski are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them. PTI Pro-tem speaker K G Bopaiah, the man who conducted two trust votes in three days India oi-Vicky Nanjappa K G Bopaiah the Virajpet MLA who took oath as the pro-tem speaker is not new to the job. He has handled controversial trust votes in the past which the BJP had won in 2010 when it was in power. Bopaiah was the speaker when B S Yeddyurappa faced two trust votes in three days. The first trust vote was a controversial one which led to the then Governor of Karnataka, H R Bharadwaj directing Yeddyurappa to take another trust vote. Bopaiah was the speaker when the first trust vote took place on October 11 2010. The trust vote was marred by chaotic scenes. However in the second trust vote that was conducted three days later, Bopaiah took a head count to conclude that the confidence motion was passed with a majority. The confidence motion was moved amidst protest from the Congress camp. Bopaiah initiated the proceedings after rejecting a plea of the then Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah for postponing the trust vote in view of the hearing on disqualification petitions by the Karnataka High Court. Karnataka floor test: KG Bopaiah appointed pro-tem speaker A division bench of Karnataka High Court, while rejecting a plea by 5 disqualified rebel independent legislators for restoration their voting rights, had ruled that the outcome of the trust vote would be subject to a final verdict on pleas seeking quashing of disqualification of MLAs. Sixteen MLAs - 14 BJP and 5 independents - had moved the court against Bopaiah's order to disqualify them under provisions of anti-defection laws. Yeddyurappa was forced to go in for the second trial of strength after Governor H R Bhardwaj rejected the result of the Monday vote as 'farce' and asked him to prove his majority again. K. G. Bopaiah was born in a Kodagu on 17 October 1955 at Kalur, a small village near Madikeri in Kodagu district. He is the second son of Kombarana Ganapathy and Chinnamma. After completing his B.Sc., he joined the BMS College in Bangalore to study law. After completing his graduation in law as a gold medallist, he returned to Madikeri in 1980 and started practising law. He served as pro-tem Speaker after the BJP victory and administered oath of office to all the members of the Legislative Assembly.Later, he was unanimously elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. On 30 December 2009, he was elected as the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly following the resignation of the previous speaker, Jagadish Shettar. The election of the Speaker, however, was held under chaotic circumstances as the Opposition parties wanted the elections to be postponed due to the death of the Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan. However, the government went ahead with the election process and K G Bopaiah won. In October 2011, 11 disgruntled MLAs of the ruling BJP along with some independent MLAs revolted against the leadership of B.S. Yeddyurappa and submitted a letter to the Governor withdrawing their support to the BJP Government. In a controversial move, Bopaiah disqualified the rebel MLAs and thus played a major role in the survival of the BJP Government in Karnataka. Although his decision was upheld by the Karnataka High Court, it was overturned by the Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court criticised the Speaker for the haste with which he had acted during the trust vote. Shatru trains gun at Modi over BJP's politics of jugaad, arm-twisting in Karnataka India oi-Oneindia Staff By Oneindia Staff New Delhi, May 18: Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha never minces his words, especially when it comes to attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party--the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)--these days. The disgruntled BJP MP on Thursday questioned the party's decision to form a government in Karnataka without required majority and said politics of "dhan-shakti (money power) over jan-shakti (people's mandate)" was neither acceptable nor desirable. In a series of tweets, the Patna Sahib MP also favoured giving the post-poll alliance of Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) a chance in the southern state as the two have the majority number. "Sir, why are we playing with fire? Votaries of democracy are making a mockery of the system. Those who do not forget to sermonise on the value of democracy are out to wreck the polity. This politics of jugaad (the Indian word for arrangement) and arm-twisting or for that matter dhanshakti over janshakti is neither acceptable nor desirable. Sir, there is a saying you cannot fool all the people all the time to win/gain anyhow by hook or crook and moreover the same is not advisable too," Sinha tweeted. Sir, why are we playing with fire? Votaries of Democracy are now making mockery of System. Those who do not forget to sermonize on the value of Democracy are out to wreck the polity....1>2 Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) May 17, 2018 "It may be termed as penny wise pound foolish politics. Hope, wish and pray that good sense, maturity and wisdom prevails. Now, the matter has gone to court and the court mercifully agreed for a mid-night drama which is great news to begin with. We hold judiciary in very high esteem. We shall wait and watch. In the present situation, one really wishes that justice prevails," he said. It may be termed as penny wise pound foolish politics. Hope, wish & pray that good sense, maturity & wisdom prevails. Now the matter has gone to court & the court mercifully agreed for a mid night drama which is great news to begin with. We hold judiciary in very high esteem.3>4 Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) May 17, 2018 "What is right for Peter should be right for Paul too. What is right for Meghalaya, Manipur and Goa should be right for Karnataka too. God save Karnataka and democracy. Jai Hind," Sinha signed off. We shall wait and watch. In the present situation, one really wishes that ultimately justice prevails. What is right for Peter should be right for Paul too. What is right for Meghalaya, Manipur & Goa should be right for Karnataka too !! God save Karnataka & Democracy! Jai Hind !! Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) May 17, 2018 He was pointing to the BJP for having formed governments in the two northeastern states and the coastal state with the help of post-poll alliances though it had not emerged as the single-largest party in any of the legislative assemblies. Sinha, the BJP Lok Sabha member of Parliament (MP) from Patna Sahib, has fallen out with the party leadership after being ignored in 2015 Bihar Assembly elections and since then has on several occasions made barrage of attacks on senior leaders of his own party. Recently he was seen with Yashwant Sinha, who announced quitting BJP in disgust. Sinha popularly called "Bihari Babu" met TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in Delhi. He has been seen in company of RJD president Lalu Prasad and his family very often. There are also reports that the BJP might expel him from the party for his regular criticism against the top leadership. Recently, he stated that he was not going to leave the party. The actor-politician added that he was ready to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from his own constituency. He, however, did not reveal whether he will contest the polls as a BJP candidate or not. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 10:04 [IST] The implications of the SC verdict on the Karnataka floor test India oi-Dr. Sandeep Shastri With the Governor privileging the claims of the BJP over the JDS-Congress alliance, the Supreme Court has now directed a floor test on the evening of 19th May at 4 pm. Ever since the highest court decided to intervene in the matter, it was clear that it would be the judiciary which would play a key role in defining constitutional norms and practices. The three judge bench of the Supreme Court took a clear stand on a set of issues. Yesterday, it refused to stay the swearing in of BS Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister but stated that it would look into the material evidence on the basis of which the claims of the BJP were accepted by the Governor. This possibly explains the low key swearing in ceremony at which no senior central leader of the BJP including its Party President and Prime Minster were present. This appears to be one of the few occasions when they have missed the inauguration of a new BJP government. Today, the court has directed that the Chief Minister prove his majority on the floor of the House by tomorrow evening. A few instructions of the Court merit attention. It has stated that the government cannot take any major policy decision till the vote. This would possibly include halting any move to nominate an Anglo Indian member. It has also directed that the vote be held under the Pro Tem Speaker. While the counsel for the government sought more time for the vote, the same was not accepted by the court. Further, the plea for a secret ballot was also turned down. These are definitely set backs for the BJP though its leaders are the state level exude great confidence. There is clearly talk of a few Congress MLA's shifting allegiance to the BJP. More important in this situation, is the undeclared strategies and MLA's targeted than what is openly visible. Both camps are marshalling all the resources and capacities at their command to tilt the balance in their favour. Recent developments place the BJP in a dilemma. While they were keen to come to power, in order to retain power and manufacture a majority they would need to encourage Congress and JDS MLAs to resign their seats or abstain from voting or even align with them (BJP) during the confidence vote. Any such move, which looks inevitable in order to remain in power, would impact on the image of the party and its leadership. Would it be courageous enough to adopt the route that Atal Bihari Vajpayee took in 1996, of resigning before the actual vote conceding that he did not have the numbers? That act of Vajpayee won both him and the BJP support and admiration and was instrumental in their success in the elections held in 1998. Would it be power at any price or accepting the fact that they do not enjoy a majority and gracefully withdrawing and thus earning for the party an important political dividend that can be encashed in the year ahead? We need to wait for a one more day for that answer. (Dr Sandeep Shastri is a leading political scientist and Pro Vice Chancellor, Jain University) Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. What are the farmers protesting about? We have stayed the farm laws says SC Understanding the anti-defection law amidst the Karnataka crisis India oi-Vicky Nanjappa With Karnataka throwing up a split verdict, the big debate is around the anti-defection law. The issue also came up before the Supreme Court which is hearing a petition challenging the invitation extended by the Governor to B S Yeddyurappa to form the government. The Court had on Thursday dubbed as preposterous the argument which contended that the anti-defection law would not apply to MLAs defying the party whip before they are sworn in. "It is preposterous to argue that before the MLAs take oath they are not amenable to anti-defection law. This means it would be an open invitation for anyone to indulge in horse trading prior to MLAs taking oath," a Bench comprising Justices S K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan said. Understanding the anti-defection law: The law was passed by Parliament in 1985. The 52nd amendment to the Constitution added the tenth schedule which laid down the process by which legislators, both in Parliament and in the assemblies can be disqualified. The law says that a legislator was deemed to have defected if he or she voluntarily resigned from the party, or disobeyed a whip. Independent members would be disqualified if they joined a political party. Nominated members who were not members of a party could choose to join a party within six months; after that period, they were treated as a party member or independent member. The law further state that a party could be merged into another if at lest two-thirds of its party legislators voted for the merger. The ground for disqualification are specified in Paragraph 2 of the 10th Schedule. A member would incur a disqualification under paragraph 2 (1) (a) when he "voluntarily gives up his membership of a party" and under 2 (1) (b) when he/she votes (or abstains from voting) contrary to the directive issued by the party. While interpreting the phrase 'voluntarily gives up.' The Supreme Court in the Ravi Naik vs Union of India case said that, the words 'voluntarily gives up his membership' are not synonymous with 'resignation' and have a wider connotation. A person may voluntarily give up his membership of a political party even though he has not tendered his resignation from the membership of that party. "Even in the absence of a formal resignation from membership, an inference can be drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up his membership of the political party to which he belongs," the judgment said. The act of giving a letter requesting the Governor to call upon a leader of the other side to form a government itself would amount to an act of voluntarily giving up membership of the party on whose ticket the said members had got elected, the Supreme Court said in the Rajendra Singh Rana vs Swami Prasad Maurya case. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 7:47 [IST] Chinese media hails VK Singhs visit to North Korea; backs New Delhi-Pyongyang ties International oi-Shubham By Shubham India chose not to ignore the delicate diplomatic circumstances in the Far East where a number of parties are trying to tame a belligerent North Korea to opt for peace and development as it sent its junior minister for external affairs VK Singh to Pyongyang in a surprise move in a bid to revive ties with the Kim Jong-un regime. The Chinese media welcomed the development saying it sent more signals that North Korea will want to seek better ties with the international community. Singh's two-day visit starting May 16- the first by an Indian minister to the hermit kingdom in 20 years - came at a time when North Korea was re-hardening its stand by cancelling an official-level meeting with South Korea and also threatening to cancel the June 12 summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, thanks to hard gestures displayed by the American side in recent times. "Singh was the first Indian minister received by the North Korean government in the country in nearly two decades, which added to evidence that Pyongyang will be willing to seek better ties with the international community," said a report in China's Global Times. "After North Korea announced it would suspend all nuclear tests, the country has taken a positive attitude in advancing multilateral diplomacy. Pyongyang's efforts to improve the external environment are likely to be a prelude to promoting domestic economic development," it added. North Korea's leader has made economic growth the nation's new top priority, but has yet to give a clear roadmap on how to revive its economy. The more active Pyongyang's multilateral diplomacy is, the greater possibility that North Korea will buy into an economic reform and opening-up program. Although India's political stance is completely opposite to North Korea's and it has also expressed concerns over Pyongyang's careless nuclear pursuits in the recent past, its economic ties with North Korea have always been big (India is the third largest trading partner of North Korea after China and Saudi Arabia). That rapport, however, took a hit last year when India halted all trade with North Korea except food and medicine to toe the sanctions the United Nations imposed over Pyongyang because of its dangerous nuclear weapons experiments. The Global Times report said India had some advantages to harness by reviving its ties with North Korea. "India is one of North Korea's largest trading partners and a major source of food aid. Refined petroleum products, food and medicine are among the main components of its exports to North Korea. All those are urgently needed in the isolated country," it said. "Economic cooperation between India and North Korea may pick up as soon as the UN Security Council begins to loosen economic sanctions against North Korea. Singh's visit sent a signal that India is likely to be one of the first parties that Pyongyang might seek to cooperate with in a bid to revive its economy." The Chinese news website also praised India's outreach to North Korea through Singh's visit, saying it could increase her economic presence in East Asia and also said that China would back economic relations between India and North Korea as it is for regional integration. "It will be an inevitable consequence of the economic integration in Asia promoted by the denuclearization hope of the Korean peninsula. China will support the regional integration process by any means. The country holds a positive attitude toward the development of economic relations between India and North Korea. Beijing will most likely be willing to work with India to encourage North Korea to gradually open up its economy and help the country improve its citizens' living conditions," the report said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 11:56 [IST] Collapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump Cornered Trump accuses Obama administration of spying on his campaign International oi-Shubham By Shubham Just when US President Donald Trump was facing increasing pressure over allegations of his campaign having a collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign and that he repaid his attorney for paying hush money to a porn actress to keep mum about her alleged sexual encounter with the president more than a decade ago, he came up with a new allegation against the administration of his immediate predecessor Barack Obama. On Thursday, May 17, Trump cited sources in a tweet to allege that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under Obama spied on his campaign during the 2016 poll campaign and added that the revelation could be "bigger than Watergate", the scandal that had floored president Richard Nixon in the 1970s. "Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI "SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN IMBEDDED INFORMANT."Andrew McCarthy says, 'There's probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.' If so, this is bigger than Watergate!" Trump said referring to a National Review report by Andrew McCarthy published on May 12. Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT. Andrew McCarthy says, Theres probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign. If so, this is bigger than Watergate! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2018 According to the report, agencies led by Obama monitored Trump's presidential campaign. This is, however, not the first time that the Obama administration has been charged with spying on the Trump campaign. In 2017, Trump had accused Obama of wiretapping his Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 election. Trump said in a tweet in March last year: "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped,' in Trump Tower just before victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" The White House later clarified that Trump did not literally mean that the Trump Tower was "wiretapped" and it was rather a general way to describe broad surveillance. "There is no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 elections," former White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. A National Review report mentioned that other sources also pointed out about an FBI spy who met with George Papadopoulos, the low-level campaign adviser who spoke to an Australian diplomat about Russia's possessing damaging information on Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 election. Nepals communist parties unite ahead of Olis China visit; signals for India? International oi-Shubham By Shubham Nepal's ruling Left parties - Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)-(Unified Marxist-Leninist) and CPN-Maoist Centre - saw a former merger on Thursday, May 17, to form the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) to set up the country's largest Left force and it came eight months after they initially pledged for the unification. The announcement of the merging was made by Prime Minister KP Oli, also the leader of CPN-UML and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, who leads the CPN-Maoist Centre, at a press conference. Prachanda said during his announcement that the unification of the two communist parties was like forming water by combing hydrogen and oxygen and they can't be separated once the water is formed. He said the "great step" of unifying the two parties will work towards stability, development and prosperity, something PM Oli also echoed as the head of the government. A nine-member central secretariat and a 45-member standing committee were also formed to guide the new party. Besides, a 441-member central committee was also put in place featuring 45 per cent members from the former CPN-Maoist centre, PTI reported. The merger means the NCP now has 174 out of 275 seats in the Assembly which is more than adequate to grant the country a political stability. Biggest political tamasha, says Nepali Times However, though Leftist analysts were elated saying this makes the Nepal Communist Party one of the most powerful communist outfits in the world, not all are pleased. The Nepali Times in a report called the merger "the biggest political tamasha in seven decades of Nepal's communist movement". The Opposition Nepali Congress, which did poorly in the 2017 elections, will be weakened further by the merger and it vented its frustration by saying the unification would drag Nepal into the realm of communist authoritarianism, the Nepali Times report added. It said the intent for unification although was made last year before the elections, but issues like power-sharing and leadership created some obstacles on its way. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nepal recently and Oli became tied up with things, the talks for the merger got stuck and Prachanda started suspecting that PM Oli was not interested in the merger any more, the Nepali Times report added. The Maoists even started wooing the Madhesis and stayed away from some of Modi's events, it added. But the deal's way was cleared after the two communist leaders met on Wednesday, May 16, which also marked the 25th death anniversary of popular CPN-UML leader Madan Bhandari, who lost his life in a suspicious car crash. Internationally, too, this move of unification by Nepal's communists ahead of Oli's June visit to China is significant and will keep India guessing over various angles and aspects. PM Modi during his recent visit to Nepal made hard efforts to revive India's battered image among the Nepalis but has that really paid off? Time will tell. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 13:17 [IST] Collapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump On Russia probes 1st anniversary, Trump brags about his administrations achhe din International oi-Shubham By Shubham US President Donald Trump has a habit of bragging about himself often now and then and he did it again on Thursday, May 17, announcing on Twitter that despite the "disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt", his administration's first 17 months was the most successful of all in the history of the United States. He also took a dig at "Fake News Media" and "Haters", saying he felt sorry for them. Reflecting the "Achhe Din" slogan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP in India which had made a massive campaign ahead of the 2014 parliamentary elections saying with Modi, achhe din or good days would arrive, Trump has also been found to be doing something similar. The 45th incumbent of the White House, one of the most controversial in the long history of American presidency, often praises his administration to be the best and brags about its 'achievements' which he feels has been made much quickly if compared to its predecessors. But Trump's latest boasting also came on the day when special counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed to lead the probe into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, completed a year on job. Trump has always been critical about the investigation and raised his administrative feats on Mueller's first anniversary to prove his populist credentials once again. He also tweeted: "Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction. The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money!" Trump also used the micro-blogging site to launch a fresh attack on the previous administration led by Barack Obama accusing it of spying his campaign during the 2016 presidential election. He was referring to a recent report by National Review to raise the allegations, something he has also done in the past to play the victim card. Four former associates of the president have so far pleaded guilty or been indicted related to the probe, the findings of which could have serious repercussions on the US's sovereignty and national security. Mueller has also filed charges against 13 Russians and three entities of that country for allegedly meddling in the election. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 7:26 [IST] Not possible to order release, deport Rohingyas detained in Jammu without following law: SC Rohingya refugees agony continues: 16,000 babies born in Bangladesh camps in 9 months International oi-Shubham By Shubham The persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and their fleeing the country and taking refuge elsewhere has been a massive political crisis but now, there seems to be more problems emerging around them. According to Unicef which spoke on the matter on Wednesday, May 16, the children's agency of the United Nations, 16,000 babies were born in various camps and informal settlements in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar in the last nine months since the Myanmar Army cracked down on the Rohingyas, forcing thousands of their families flee and take refuge in the neighbouring country. Terrible violence broke out in Myanmar's disturbed Rakhine province in August 2017, after the army resorted to reprisals against alleged threat to the state security by insurgents and this led to a huge exodus and resultant political problems in the neighbouring countries. "Around 60 babies a day are taking their first breath in appalling conditions, away from home, to mothers who have survived displacement, violence, trauma and, at times, rape," reports quoted Unicef's Representative in Bangladesh Edouard Beigbeder as saying. The women and girls remain exposed to dangers of sexual exploitation besides other menace in the Bangladeshi camps that house over 700,000 Rohingyas as refugees. The UN had called the persecution of the refugees and burning down their houses tantamount to 'ethnic cleansing'. Beigbeder also said that it would be impossible to know the actual number of babies born because of sexual violence but stressed the necessity of providing each newborn and its mother as well as the expecting women to get the help and care they require. An earlier study of 'Save the Children' project said 48,000 babies would be born in 2018 in already overcrowded Rohingya camps, an India Today report said. The Rohingyas are mostly stateless Muslim minority numbering around 1.1 million. A Bangladeshi health official in the condition of anonymity said 18,300 pregnant women had been identified in the refugee camps and the total estimate was roughly around 25,000, the report added. Sorry US, not India or Japan but Washington faces the danger of isolation International oi-Shubham By Shubham An American lawmaker has recently warned that China was aiming to "isolate" India and Japan and project its power to control the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). He also said that Beijing is targeting Taiwan, which it claims to be its own part, by planning to turn it into a "major nuclear and conventional military base". He said by doing so, China will be able to influence both the IOR and disputed South China Sea where it recently installed military devices to Washington's dismay. He also expressed a deep concern over China's growing and military power. US is desperate to not lose out to China This observation has its share of shortcomings and shows a sense of desperation in the ranks of the US at a time when Washington is turning increasingly isolationist in world affairs, thanks to the bizarre foreign policy conduct of US President Donald Trump. There is very little reason to feel convinced that China is working overtime to isolate India and Japan. It is true that the Chinese plan and work clandestinely and it is very difficult to assess their policies immediately but yet, to expect that China will open too many 'war fronts' at a time when the US's own policy blunders is opening up avenues for Beijing across the globe is a flawed understanding. The American lawmaker who has aired suspicion over China's intent, Richard Fisher, thinks Beijing is ready with a strategy to gain global military access called "debt trap diplomacy" whereby it would influence vulnerable countries bordering India and the IOR to gain control of strategic theatres and infrastructure and limit its rivals' reach to those areas. He also mentioned about China's influence in Djibouti where it opened its first overseas military base last year saying it was restricting the US's military access there. China is winning as US is busy with mindless policy moves The idea of China's debt trap diplomacy might not be entirely wrong but at the same time, factors like protectionism which none other than the US is promoting at the moment, pushing nations sometimes even its allies to a position of disadvantage, will ensure that not all sides view China as an enemy. Recently, we saw Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping over an informal summit in Wuhan and also a trilateral meeting between the top leaders of China, Japan and South Korea in Tokyo where among other things, trade was discussed. The US's stubborn stance to safeguard its own economic interests even if that hurts others has helped China to find more friends because there is a common concern now among various world economies and they would now promote free trade by inching closer to each other. More than enmity with China, countries will get closer to it The thought that China is trying to outsmart countries like India and Japan strategically and politically will be less appealing at the moment and only the US is responsible for ceding this advantage to China by diverting attention of the world from Beijing' secret plans. And as long as Trump continues with his administration's suicidal policies, a common lawmaker's words will not make much difference. If China is doing everything it can to emerge as a global alternative to the US, then the latter also needs to come up with a better plan to outsmart Beijing. Instead, it is leading to a mess through kicking off a trade war and making dubious foreign policy moves (Iran deal; Jerusalem or North Korea) that only sees China getting an opening to raise its stature and finding more friends - economically and politically - as countries are feeling it is safer to mend fences with a solid China than expect cooperation from an unpredictable US. Both India and Japan have their reasons to feel concerned over the Trump presidency's drastic calls and it is evident from their intention to build bridges with China in case the US shuts its door for all tomorrow. Contrary to the isolation of India and Japan, it is the US which has the danger of ending up isolated in a China-led world system. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 16:06 [IST] South Korea holds on to its responsibility to make North Korean peace successful International oi-Shubham By Shubham Have the Donald Trump administration's ultra-hawks dented the US president's chance to win the Nobel Peace Prize? After North Korea spoke out strongly to protest the continuation of US-led drills on Korean Peninsula saying it was violating the pro-peace ambience and cancelled official-level talks with South Korea scheduled on May 16 and also threatened to scrap the June 12 summit between its Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and Trump in Singapore, South Korea came out with a statement which indirectly pointed to the fact that the excessive remarks from the Trump administration was making thing difficult for the peace initiative and there was an urgent need for a mediator. South ready to play mediator's role Seoul on Thursday, May 17, said the government of President Moon Jae-in was ready to play more actively the "role of a mediator" between North Korea, the US and South Korea. It was clear from Seoul's quick response to the emerging crisis that it valued the peace initiative which began taking shape since the beginning of 2018 and culminated in a historic summit between the two Koreas at the border truce village of Punmunjeom on April 27. Moon had a good talk with Kim and they came out with a joint declaration vowing to end the Korean War which is technically still on and denuclearise the Korean Peninsula. Now, with North Korea issuing fresh threats in retaliation to an aggressive stance from the US has made the Moon government worried over all the possibility of all the hard work going down the drain. Trump-Moon meeting on May 22 Moon is also set to meet Trump in Washington on May 22 where the two will discuss the June 12 summit. It will be a good opportunity for Moon to tell Trump that his administration was overdoing things in an excitement to tame North Korea. A South Korean official said that Seoul aimed at properly conveying to the US what they have understood about North Korea's "position and attitude" and also convey Washington's stand to Pyongyang to clear the air and allow the talks to go forward. "Seeing the announced statements and responses from North Korea and the United States, we see the two parties as having a sincere and serious attitude [to stand in each other's shoes]," the official said. John Bolton, Nikki Haley have put summit in doubt Continuous attacks on North Korea by top US officials like UN ambassador Nikki Haley and National Security Adviser John Bolton have enraged Pyongyang and especially the demand of shipping its nuclear weapons to the US on lines of the Libyan model of denuclearisation has upset the Kim regime. Even Trump distanced himself with Bolton over the comparison of the North Korean case with that of Libya. South cool even in face of North's harsh attack South Korea is even holding its nerve in the face of North's criticism of it at this time. North Korea's chief negotiator Ri Son Gwon slammed the South for taking part in the air combat drills with the US and also allowing "human scum" (could be defector Thae Yong Ho) to speak at its National Assembly but yet Seoul did not retaliate and presented itself as a "mediator" between Pyongyang and Washington. Did the Nobel Peace Prize just change its destination from the White House to the Blue House? For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 18, 2018, 16:20 [IST] US calls for global 'coalition' against Iran's 'destabilising activities' International pti-PTI Washington, May 18: Washington wants to build a global "coalition" against the Tehran regime and its "destabilizing activities," the State Department has said, after pulling out from the Iran nuclear accord to the anger of US allies. The plan is to be detailed on Monday by the top United States diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his first major foreign policy address since taking office in April. "The US will be working hard to put together a coalition," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. The aim is to "bring together a lot of countries from around the world with the specific goal of looking at the Iranian regime through a more realistic lens" which would include "all of its destabilizing activities that aren't just a threat to the region but are a threat to the broader world," she said. Nauert added that the coalition will not be "anti-Iran" because the US stands "firmly behind" the country's people, in contrast to the regime and its "bad actions." She evoked a comparison with the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Begun in 2014, that coalition now counts as members 75 countries or institutions and intervened militarily against the jihadists, although only a minority of coalition members have conducted most of that military action, which has left the extremists nearly defeated on that battlefield. Nauert did not say whether the proposed coalition against Iran's regime would have a military component. She said the State Department received on Monday about 200 foreign diplomats to explain to them President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear accord, and the next steps. In a breakthrough that ended a 12-year standoff over Western fears that Iran was developing a nuclear bomb, the administration of former president Barack Obama and other major powers reached the accord with Iran in 2015. It lifted punishing international sanctions in return for Iran's agreement to freeze its nuclear effort. Withdrawing from the deal last week, Trump called for a new agreement with deeper restrictions on Iran's nuclear program as well as curbs on its ballistic missiles and its backing for militant groups across the Middle East. Along with Iran the other signatories of the 2015 deal -- France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia -- strongly criticized the US withdrawal. Yesterday the European Union said it will begin moves to block the effect of reimposed US sanctions on Iran as efforts to preserve the nuclear deal deepened a transatlantic rift. Asked about the potential willingness of European nations to join the proposed new coalition, Nauert said many US allies "fully understand" and are "not turning a blind eye" to Iran's actions. PTI Taliban spokesman says No extensions for US, evacuations in Afghanistan must complete by Aug 31 deadline Who is Gina Haspel, CIAs first woman director? International oi-Shubham By Shubham US President Donald Trump was pleased to see yet another of his nominee getting appointed to a plum official post - this time as Gina Haspel, who went on to grab the post of the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on May 17 and became the first woman to do so. Haspel, however, did not find it easy as concerns were raised over her role in ruthless treatment of suspected terrorists held after the 9/11 attacks. Haspel herself also wanted to withdraw her nomination recently in the face of the concerns but somehow continued to win a confirmation from the Senate by 54-45. Who is Gina Haspel? After Trump went for former CIA director Mike Pompeo as the US secretary of state to replace Rex Tillerson, the position became vacant and he nominated Haspel to fill it. Haspel, 61, is associated with the CIA for three decades now and has built her career as an operative, functioning overseas as a head spy in secret torture cells. She became the first operator of the CIA to lead it since William Colby in the early 1970s. Born in Ashland, Kentucky, US in October 1956, to a US Air Force officer, Haspel began her career with the CIA in 1985. She served in various directorial capacities, including at the National Clandestine Service. She also worked as the chief of staff for former Counterterrorism Center director Jose Rodriguez and was appointed as the deputy director of the CIA by Trump in February last year. Haspel is quite an achiever with a number of high-profile awards and medals, including a Presidential Rank Award and George H W Bush Award, to her credit. Personally, Gina was married to Jeff Haspel in 1976 but the marriage broke by 1985. What's the controversy over Haspel? In 2002, months after 9/11, Haspel was in charge of a covert CIA facility which imprisoned terror suspects in Thailand. In declassified intelligence of the CIA, it was said that Haspel played a big role in the brutal handling of suspected al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah who even lost an eye because of extensive torture, according to Biography.com. Haspel even allegedly ordered destruction of the video of the interrogations of Zubaydah and his mate Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the website said. However, a report in New York Times said in March this year that Haspel did not see the torture of Zubaydah. Haspel faced a massive backlash over these reports and was even called "quite literally a war criminal" by a former top official of American Civil Liberty Union, according to Biography.com. As recently as 2017, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights asked Germany to authorise an arrest warrant against Haspel for her role in Zubaydah's torture. US-based Centre for Constitutional Rights also felt the same about Haspel, according to the website. There have been voices in the Senate, too, over Haspel's appointment. Ailing Senator John McCain said she had the responsibility to explain the "nature and extent of her involvement" in the CIA's interrogation during receiving the confirmation. Republican Senator like Richard Burr, however, supported Haspel saying she had the "right skill set, experience and judgment" as the leader of the CIA. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From Wallwritings (Image by World Bulletin) Details DMCA History is filled with narratives about killing fields. This troubled writer looks at the killing fields of Gaza, and is driven to begin with a story: "A man kills his mother and his father. Brought to trial, he begs for mercy because he is an orphan." There are times when two sides have legitimate claims to a side. The killer in this story does not have a "side." The story comes to mind when this troubled writer sees the deaths of Palestinians in the killing fields of Gaza and is driven to fury by the willingness of others to embrace the killer's narrative. I write, of course, of Bibi Netanyahu, grinning ear to ear, ordering Israeli soldiers to secure themselves behind safe mounds on the Gaza "border," and fire into Palestinian crowds, who were protesting their imprisonment. The New York Times, in its usual tepid "both sides" journalistic style, defends the slaughter. On May 16, the New York Times ran a story with this headline, which on-line reads: A Child of Gaza Dies. A Symbol Is Born. The Arguing Begins. The arguing begins? The man who killed his parents has a side from which to argue? No he does not. A judge who knows a phony plea for mercy when she sees one, can only utter the words, "take him away." And yet in this nightmare of Orwellian reality in which we live, Israel's occupying military force continues its death-dealing ways and calls it a side. Here is the start of the Times' "argument" story, written by Decian Walsh: "GAZA -- Layla Ghandour, an 8-month-old girl with sparkling green eyes, was in the arms of her grandmother when a cloud of tear gas engulfed them at the protest in Gaza on Monday. The child inhaled a draft of acrid gas that set off a rasping cough and watering eyes. Hours later she was dead. "The story shot across the globe, providing an emotive focus for outrage at military tactics that Israel's critics said were disproportionately violent. ['Israel's critics'? 'disproportionately violent'?] "Yet within hours the family's story was being questioned. Doctors said Layla had suffered from a congenital heart defect that, one suggested, might have caused her death. Then the Israeli military issued claims, unsupported by evidence, that it held information that disproved the family's account. [information that she died from tear gas sent from Israel's 'side'?]" --emphasis added. A 1984 film, The Killing Fields, examined deaths in the killing fields of Cambodia, an earlier story of brutal, hateful, human conduct evoked by another "complicated" colonialist conflict. Do not look for a film about "The Killing Fields of Gaza." But look to disperse the use of "complicated" excuses to kill those who stand in the way of empirical expansion. Search not for truth and wisdom about Israel, in the pages of The New York Times. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. The Trump Administration is so dreadful they've made the George W. Bush Administration seem almost acceptable in comparison. Dubya was also a dummy but at least he wasn't a racist bully. And Dubya surrounded himself with folks that had some connection to mainstream American foreign policy: Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley. Trump's first National Security Adviser was crazy Michael Flynn; now it's equally crazy John Bolton. Since 1981, Bolton has been a bristly far-right Republican insider. He's served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. In 2005 Dubya nominated Bolton as his Ambassador to the United Nations; because of his contentious nature, Bolton was never confirmed. Bolton has long been characterized as having an abrasive manner -- one foreign diplomat described him as "rude and undiplomatic." State Department colleagues accused him of "spinning" intelligence in order to support his views. In the arena of U.S. foreign policy, Bolton is on the conservative fringe. His career is littered with inflammatory statements: "There is no United Nations" and dismissing Palestinian claims to statehood as "a ploy." He opposes the European Union; in 2008, he urged Ireland not to join the EU and, in 2016 , urged England to leave. Bolton stakes a position that's similar to Trump's "America First" stance; he is skeptical of international law and most international organizations. Bolton describes himself as a "unilateralist." Before his appointment as National Security Adviser, Bolton split his time between legal work in Washington DC, commentary on Fox News, and consulting work for conservative organizations such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Gatestone Institute. In addition he ran the John Bolton PAC with major support from Republican oligarch Robert Mercer. Trump's foreign policy is "personal" rather than ideological; he seems intent on undoing every accomplishment of Barack Obama. In contrast, Bolton is deeply ideological. Iran: Trump was against the Iran agreement -- technically the "Joint Plan of Action" (JPA) signed November 24, 2013 -- because Obama was for it. Bolton has been against the JPA since it was negotiated; calling it a "massive strategic blunder." He's advocated Iranian "regime change" and is a long-time of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK). (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/world/middleeast/john-bolton-regime-change-iran.html ) Trump wants to negotiate a new JPA that specifically limits Iranian missile testing, gives inspectors unfettered access to Iranian military bases, and extends the (old) JPA's expiration date beyond 2030. It's unlikely that either Bolton or Trump can gain the support of the other signatories: China, England, European Union, France, Germany, Iran, and Russia. North Korea: Trump has seized on "denuclearization" of North Korea as his signature foreign-policy initiative. Once again, his motivation is personal; he wants to succeed where Barack Obama failed. He revels in the notion that the June 12th meeting with Kim Jong Un will provide a diplomatic breakthrough and ensure his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Bolton has a long record of antagonism towards North Korea; during his tenure in the George W. Bush Administration he advocated that it be added to the "Axis of Evil." In February, before he became National Security Adviser, Bolton wrote an editorial ( click here) building the case for a preemptive strike against North Korea. In early May, it was reported that Trump had discussed removing all US troops from the Korean peninsula; it's likely that ultra-conservatives, like John Bolton, talked him out of this. On May 13th Bolton offered a very specific definition of what North Korean "denuclearization" meant: "getting rid of all the nuclear weapons... taking them to Oakridge, Tennessee... getting rid of the uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing capabilities." Bolton said the process should follow "the Libya model." North Korea immediately rejected Bolton's comments: "This is not an expression of intention to address the issue through dialogue. It is essentially a manifestation of awfully sinister move to impose on our dignified state the destiny of Libya or Iraq which had been collapsed due to yielding the whole of their countries to big powers." At this writing, North Korea is threatening to cancel the June 12th meeting. Russia: To say the least, Trump's attitude towards Russia has been inconsistent. On the one hand he called Putin to congratulate him after he was "reelected" Russian president. On the other hand, he's claimed, "nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have." John Bolton is a Russia hawk. He's accused Putin of lying to Trump about interference in the 2016 election -- Bolton is convinced Russia did interfere -- and writes, "The notion that the Russians can help us with terrorism ... is delusional." China: To a lesser extent, Trump's attitude toward China has also been inconsistent. Bolton is a China hawk. His associates say, "The new US national security adviser is willing to risk a military conflict with China to achieve President Donald Trump's goals for America." Summary: On many issues, John Bolton bolsters Trump's positions with a strident unilateralism. However, Bolton appears to be mired in an old-school view of his office. He's eliminated the White House position of Cybersecurity chief. He's also disbanded the "global health security" team -- the group charged with reacting to pandemics. Bolton is far more dogmatic than Trump. Bolton and Trump do not appear to be on the same page regarding negotiations with North Korea. It doesn't appear that Bolton will have a long tenure as Trump's National Security Advisor. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. FORMER ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT Rafael Correa, in an exclusive interview with The Intercept on Wednesday morning, denounced his country's current government for blocking Julian Assange from receiving visitors in its embassy in London as a form of "torture" and a violation of Ecuador's duties to protect Assange's safety and well-being. Correa said this took place in the context of Ecuador no longer maintaining "normal sovereign relations with the American government -- just submission." Correa also responded to a widely discussed Guardian article yesterday, which claimed that "Ecuador bankrolled a multimillion-dollar spy operation to protect and support Julian Assange in its central London embassy." The former president mocked the story as highly "sensationalistic," accusing The Guardian of seeking to depict routine and modest embassy security measures as something scandalous or unusual. On March 27, Assange's internet access at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was cut off by Ecuadorian officials, who also installed jamming devices to prevent Assange from accessing the internet using other means of connection. Assange's previously active Twitter account has had no activity since then, nor have any journalists been able to communicate with him. All visitors to the embassy have also been denied access to Assange, who was formally made a citizen of Ecuador earlier this year. Assange has been confined to the embassy for almost six years, when Ecuador granted him asylum in August 2012. The grant of asylum was made on the grounds that Assange's extradition to Sweden for a sexual assault investigation would likely result in being sent to the U.S. for prosecution, where he could face the death penalty. From the start, Ecuador told both the U.K. and Swedish governments that it would immediately send Assange to Stockholm in exchange for a pledge from Sweden not to use that as a pretext to extradite him to the U.S., something the Swedish government had the power to do but refused. Correa also emphasized that Ecuador, from the start, told Swedish investigators that they were welcome to interrogate Assange in their embassy, but almost five years elapsed before Swedish prosecutors -- in 2016 -- finally did so. Citing those facts, a United Nations panel ruled in 2016 that the actions of the U.K. government constituted "arbitrary detention" and a violation of Assange's fundamental human rights, a decision British officials quickly said they intended to ignore. Click Here to Read Whole Article Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. From Sputnik Blood on their hands (Image by Meryl Ann Butler - Collage from public domain and cc images) Details DMCA On the very hour of the US opening its embassy in Jerusalem, hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians, including children, were being slaughtered by Israeli snipers. Nearly 60 people, including eight children, were brutally murdered in cold blood by Israeli sharpshooters. At least a thousand others were injured from bullet wounds, many of whom will be maimed for life. More bloodshed is expected in coming days. What kind of criminal world are we living in? When news channels can report this carnage as if it's somehow normal. Where is the outrage of Western pundits who foam at the mouth over alleged atrocities elsewhere? While American and Israeli dignitaries were regaling themselves with hosannas about their "shared values" of "democracy" and "peace," only a few miles away thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were being shot at for daring to demand respect for their human rights. President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been widely rebuked by the rest of the world. The move is killing whatever little peace process there was between Palestinians and Israelis, with the latter emboldened by Trump to ruthlessly annex all territory. Trump was not present at the embassy ceremony, sending his congratulations by video link instead. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner headed the American delegation. Kushner in an address praised Israel for its "democratic values" and how the US and Israel were eternal allies. With a solemn face, Kushner said: "those who incite violence cannot be part of any peace process." Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gloated over America's backing for his dream to make Jerusalem the "undivided capital of the Jewish state." Without a hint of shame, Netanyahu crowed that "you can't build peace on a foundation of lies." He called it a "great day." What Trump has done is give official US endorsement to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, which Palestinians and international law designate as the future capital of a Palestinian state supposedly arrived at through negotiations with the Israelis. Thus, under Trump, Washington is now blatantly complicit in the illegal annexation of Palestinian territory by Israel. The role of the US in sponsoring Israeli violations was always present, albeit deceptively disguised with claims of being a mediator and "honest broker" between Palestinians and Israelis. Nearly 25 years after signing the Oslo Peace Accords, under President Bill Clinton, the Israelis, with Washington's acquiescence, have expanded their illegal settlements and carried out countless massacres against the Palestinian population, who are confined to open-air concentration camps like the Gaza Strip. And yet, given this audacious unmasking by Trump of America's role as a brazen accomplice to Israeli crimes, the American president has the brass neck to say this week that Washington is still committed to "full and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians." The opening of the US embassy on Monday was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel as a state in 1948. That foundation was built on pogroms and massacres carried out by Jewish settlers who had migrated to historic Palestine from around the world with their Zionist dream and blessings from the United Nations and Western powers to usurp Palestinian rights. Netanyahu's speech about peace not being possible on "a foundation of lies" applies, ironically, to the creation of the state of Israel. Appropriately, though despicably, the 70th anniversary and the opening of the US embassy was accompanied with the massacre of unarmed Palestinians. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Quicklink Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them. To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here. Ill admit that if you look closely enough OK, maybe you dont even have to look all that closely youll see dust bunnies. And sand tracked in on the porch. Oh, yeah, and fingerprints on the windows. So, in other words, my house is not quite spotless. Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. See original here BY Kerry Eleveld Daily Kos Staff People who have worked as prosecutors and investigators tend to agree: Everyone has a breaking point. That's what former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace Wednesday. In his experience, even when he was investigating organized crime figures or drug cartel leaders, "Eventually they have a breaking point." In Figliuzzi's estimation, Cohen is no different and he's currently on that very path given the staggering amount of trouble he's in. "I believe that Michael Cohen will eventually break -- when it's laid out for him the federal sentencing guidelines, all the exposure he has, the ramifications on his family. He will eventually break." Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, has advanced that notion ever since he arrived on our TV screens a couple months ago. And now, with Cohen's damning pay-to-play scheme at least partially exposed, we are starting to get a taste of just how deep he's in. Imagine Cohen watching this unfold in real time, largely isolated, as Trump and his hatchet man Rudy Giuliani repeatedly undercut Cohen's entire defense. Vanity Fair's Emily Jane Fox has a window into what that was like for Cohen as the weekend news shows hashed out the millions of dollars that flowed through his shell company, Essential Consultants LLC, for zero work. Cohen was in Philadelphia last weekend to watch his daughter's college graduation. Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. See original here Down the memory hole. By Karen Greenberg 'In a set of parallel moves of betrayal, the dismemberment of agencies created to honor and protect peacefulness and basic civil liberties at home or abroad is ongoing.' (Image by (Photo: beppesabatini/Flickr/cc)) Details DMCA Consider us officially in an Orwellian world, though we only half realize it. While we were barely looking, significant parts of an American language long familiar to us quite literally, and in a remarkably coherent way, went down the equivalent of George Orwell's infamous Memory Hole. This hit me in a personal way recently. I was asked to give a talk at an annual national security conference held in downtown Manhattan and aimed largely at an audience of college students. The organizer, who had pulled together a remarkable array of speakers, encountered problems in one particular area: his efforts to include representatives of the Trump administration in the gathering. Initially, administration officials he dealt with wouldn't even divulge the names of possible participants, only their titles, leaving who was coming a mystery until days before the conference opened. In addition, before agreeing to send speakers, his contacts at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known by the acronym ICE, had not just requested but insisted that the word "refugee" be removed from the conference program. It was to appear in a description of a panel entitled "Refugee Programs, Immigration, Customs and Border Protection." The reason given: the desire to get through the administration approval process in Washington without undue delay. It's not hard to believe that the administration that wanted to slow to a standstill refugees coming to the U.S. didn't have an allied urge to do away with the very word itself. In order to ensure that ICE representatives would be there, the organizer reluctantly conceded and so the word "refugee" was dutifully removed from the program. Meanwhile, the actual names of Department of Homeland Security officials coming to speak were withheld until three days before the event. Finally, administration representatives in touch with the conference organizers insisted that the remarks of any government representatives could not be taped, which meant, ultimately, that none of the proceedings could be taped. As a result, this conference was not recorded for posterity. For me -- and I've been observing the national security landscape for years now -- this was something of a new low when it came to surrounding a previously open event in a penumbra of secrecy. It made me wonder how many other organizers across the country had been strong-armed in a similar fashion, how many words had been removed from various programs, and how much of what an American citizen should know now went unrecorded. To some extent, I understood the organizer's plight, having myself negotiated requests from government officials for 15 years' worth of national security get-togethers of every sort. As director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law and before that of a similar center at New York University School of Law, I had been asked by more than one current or former Bush or Obama administration official to not record his or her remarks. Indeed, one or two had even asked to be kept away from the audience until those remarks were delivered. Still, most had come eager to debate, confident that their views were the preferable ones, aware that the perspectives of many in the room or conference hall would differ from theirs, often drastically, on hard-edged issues like torture, Guanta'namo, and targeted killings. But one thing I know: not once in all those years had I been asked to change the language of an event, to wipe a word or phrase out of the program of the moment. It would have been an unthinkable violation. The very idea that the government can control what words we use and don't at a university-related event seems to violate everything we as a country hold dear about the independence of educational institutions from government control, not to mention the sanctity of free speech and the importance of public debate. But that, of course, was in the era before Donald Trump became president. Assaulting the Language of American Democracy Tiny as that incident was, at a conference meant largely for students but open to an array of professionals, it caught the essence of this administration's take-no-prisoners approach to the language many of us customarily use to describe the country we live in. Such an assault is, of course, nothing new under Trump. After all, the current president had barely entered the Oval Office when the first reports began to emerge about instances in which language at various government websites was being altered, words and concepts being changed or simply obliterated. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too. Virginia ought to be in the running for worst U.S. senators in the country, a couple of walking catastrophes empowered in part by their status as Democrats and, in one case, the status of rightful Vice President if not for various outrages, real (the Electoral College, vote suppression) and imagined (Vladimir Putin's evil manipulation of the time-space continuum). While Senator Mark Warner loves him some torturers he can confirm to high office, Tim Kaine has bigger plans. Senator Tim Kaine has short- and long-term scams for permawar. But his short-term racket just ran into an obstacle. When Kaine proposes a new AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Military Force, a.k.a. formal renunciation of Congressional war powers), he pretends it's a means of taking war powers back for Congress from presidents. That pretense has just become a lot harder to maintain, because Senator Jeff Merkley has announced that he will introduce a new AUMF that actually does what Kaine falsely claims his does. In fact, 50 members of Congress have just signed a letter backing actual, rather than pretend, retaking of war powers for Congress. According to Congresswoman Barbara Lee, "After 16+ years of war, the last thing we need is another blank check like #CorkerKaine." (The reference is to the AUMF proposed by Kaine and Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee). Even the ACLU, which only just this year began opposing wars, has joined other groups in opposing Senators Kaine's and Corker's duplicitous efforts to bestow royal war powers on the White House. Now, any AUMF unconstitutionally circumvents a real declaration of war, and utterly fails to in any way legalize the international crime of waging war, which is banned with narrow exceptions by the UN Charter and without exceptions by the Kellogg-Briand Pact. But an AUMF as broad as Kaine's is significantly more dangerous than one with greater limitations. Then there's the long-term strategy. The War Powers Act of 1973 unconstitutionally circumvents the Constitution's provision of war powers to Congress, and utterly fails to in any way legalize the crime of war. But the existing War Powers Act is highly preferable to Senators Tim Kaine's and John McCain's (Republican, Arizona) War Powers Consultation Act. The Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress. The existing War Powers Act requires a president who launches a war on his/her own to notify Congress within 48 hours and to end it within 60 days unless Congress authorizes it. The McCain/Kaine bill would repeal the War Powers Act, turn Congress into an impotent consulting firm, and arrange for a vote without consequences on "approval" of each war within 30 days of its start. Only if Congress voted down "approval" would its invertebrate members vote on "disapproval." And if they passed "disapproval," nothing would follow from that. This amounts to nothing less than unconstitutionally bestowing the power to make war on the president. That, of course, is something that everyone would expect of John McCain and nobody will believe of Tim Kaine even if he succeeds in doing it. But you can read the bill. Like most direct sources of information it is shorter than the commentary on it, and leaves little doubt what it would accomplish. What can be done? I'd propose a 4-step program. SABIC AGAIN EXPANDS FAST-GROWING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING MATERIALS PORTFOLIO WITH LAUNCH OF THREE NEW FILAMENTS AT NPE 2018 SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, announced here at NPE 2018, booth S19001, the third expansion of its additive manufacturing materials offering within 12 months. Specifically, SABIC is launching three new filaments for fused deposition modeling: ULTEM AM1010F filament for general high-temperature applications, including tooling; and ULTEM AMHU1010F and LEXAN AMHC620F filaments for healthcare applications. These advanced new materials, which can be used for end-use parts as well as prototypes, are key to SABICs strategy of extending the scope of additive manufacturing. The company is also applying its broad expertise in materials, processing and design optimization as well as deep knowledge and experience in healthcare to enhance additive manufacturing technologies.Last year, SABIC introduced its first six new filaments for fused deposition modeling and eight high-performance THERMOCOMP AM compounds for large-format additive manufacturing. In late 2017, the company then announced a unique filament based on LEXAN EXL polycarbonate copolymer technology that is available only from SABIC.Our commitment to provide customers with advanced, high-performance compounds and filaments for additive manufacturing remains strong, said Keith Cox, senior business manager, Additive Manufacturing, SABIC. Todays launch of these three additional filament products, together with plans to continue expanding our additive manufacturing product portfolio, demonstrate SABICs determination to further the evolution of this technology and enable application innovation.ULTEM Filament Delivers High Temperature PerformanceThe first new filament, ULTEM AM1010F, provides high heat resistance (a glass transition temperature of 217C) and high mechanical strength. It can be used in applications such as short-cycle injection molding tools, carbon-fiber layup tools, and automotive components. The filament is UL94 V-0 compliant at 1.5 mm and 5VA compliant at 3.0 mm.Healthcare Filaments Offer TraceabilityThe new ULTEM AMHU1010F and LEXAN AMHC620F filaments are made with SABIC healthcare-grade resins, which are included in the companys Healthcare Product Policy and offer traceability. The policy provides pre-assessment of resin biocompatibility according to ISO 10993 or USP Class VI standards, and FDA Drug or Device Master File listing. New healthcare application development can become more efficient by using these filaments in prototypes, as the same base resin materials are available in injection molding grades for production.ULTEM AMHU1010F filament is a polyetherimide (PEI) product, manufactured from ULTEM HU1010 healthcare-grade resin that provides inherent high heat resistance. The unpigmented filament is biocompatible (ISO 10993 or USP Class VI), and printed parts can be sterilized using gamma radiation, ethylene oxide (EtO) or steam autoclaving. It is UL94 V-0 compliant at 1.5 mm and 5VA compliant at 3.0mm. LEXAN AMHC620F polycarbonate (PC) filament, available in white, is also biocompatible and can be sterilized with gamma or EtO methods. This filament meets UL94HB rating at 1.5mm.Both new filaments deliver excellent mechanical performance. They are potentially suitable for a wide variety of medical devices, from conceptual modeling to functional prototyping and end-use parts. Possible customized or personalized applications include surgical instruments, single-use devices and casts/splints. Customers are advised to perform their own tests and analyses to determine the safety and suitability of such products for their intended purpose.SABIC has extensive experience in providing solutions for a range of healthcare market segments, including single-use devices, portable medical equipment and surgical instruments and trays. The companys expertise in healthcare application requirements, including biocompatibility, sterilization, chemical resistance and ergonomics, adds significant value to customers using additive manufacturing technologies for functional prototyping and end-use part production for this industry. SABIC and brands marked with are trademarks of SABIC or its subsidiaries or affiliates. High-resolution photos are available upon request. SABIC should be written in every instance in all uppercase. 2018 Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). All Rights Reserved. Any brands, products or services of other companies referenced in this document are the trademarks, service marks and/or trade names of their respective holders.ABOUT SABICSABIC is a global leader in diversified chemicals headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We manufacture on a global scale in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, making distinctly different kinds of products: chemicals, commodity and high performance plastics, agri-nutrients and metals.We support our customers by identifying and developing opportunities in key end markets such as construction, medical devices, packaging, agri-nutrients, electrical and electronics, transportation and clean energy.SABIC recorded a net profit of SR 18.4 billion (US$ 4.9 billion) in 2017. Sales revenues for 2017 totaled SR 149.8 billion (US$ 39.9 billion). Total assets stood at SR 322.5 billion (US$ 86 billion) at the end of 2017. Production in 2017 stood at 71.2 million metric tons.SABIC has more than 34,000 employees worldwide and operates in more than 50 countries. Fostering innovation and a spirit of ingenuity, we have 11,534 global patent filings, and have significant research resources with innovation hubs in five key geographies USA, Europe, Middle East, South Asia and North Asia.The Saudi Arabian government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent publicly traded on the Saudi stock exchange.Marketing SolutionsKevin NoelsBox 62950KapellenBelgium003233130311 Typany Lao Keyboard has officially launched Dear friends in Laos, we have a tremendous news for you! TYPANY LAO KEYBOARD HAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!No matter you are native Lao speaker or merely fascinated by the unique and mysterious culture heritage of the country, this is exactly the right time to download our newly updated Typany Lao Keyboard and start to talk with your Lao friends! For those who are not familiar with what we offer, no worries folks, lets start our journey right now~Up to now, Typany have already achieved great success in Asian market such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Thailand. As for Lao market, we already knew that although Thai and Lao language are mutually intelligible to a greater extent but the alphabet is quite different. We have continuously heard feedbacks from our Lao users, hoping us to develop a special keyboard exclusively for Laos market. And now the brand new Lao Keyboard would definitely make their dreams come true!Not a Lao speaker? Well, that doesnt matter anyway! As the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, Laos retains many of the traditions that have disappeared in a frenzy of development elsewhere in the region. If you would like to explore this mysterious and authentic Southeast Asia country, dont forget to use our Lao Keyboard to communicate with local people and enjoy the wonderful opportunities for local interaction!As a keyboard app, Typany is always devoted to promoting better typing experience. Featuring unique functions such as Real-time Translation, Left-handed Mode, Calculator, QuickText as well as Contacts, Typany has become the all-time favorite for users from all over the world. Besides, Typany has always kept exploring to develop more utility functions in light of various customer needs regarding to different typing settings on their smartphone. We hope that with your kindly feedbacks, Typany could become more convenient for our dearest users!GET Lao Keyboard by Typany on App Store right now!Typany Keyboard App is powered by Sogou, well known in China for its language input method, universally employed by Chinese users.Sogou has been developing smartphone software since 2006. Its Keyboard App is one of the fastest-growing apps in the category on Android and iOS, responding to growing consumer demand for a better way to quickly express thoughts and feelings in a visual way, epitomized by the now almost-universal use of emojis. Typany's mission is to team with users to bring the smartest, most diverse, time-saving solution to millions more people worldwide.Typany Keyboard supports more than 100 languages, with lightning-fast personalized prediction technology and comprehensive customization features. The company has harnessed AI technology to provide a performance edge and improved customer experience.Contact: Yami Sun, Product Marketing ManagerAddress: Typany Keyboard, part of Sogou, 9th Floor, Sohu Internet Plaza, No.1 Park, Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100084, PRCEmail: typany_press@sogou-inc.com Global Confectionery Machinery Market 2018-2025 Robert Bosch, Loynds, Baker Perkins, Buhler Confectionery Machinery Market https://bit.ly/2KkBLIg http://www.qymarketstudy.com/report/global-confectionery-machinery-market-6918 www.qymarketstudy.com/ The Market research report studies the global Confectionery Machinery market status and forecast, categorizes the global Confectionery Machinery market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).Global Major Players Analysis such as Loynds, Buhler, Latini-Hohberger Dhimantec, Tanis Confectionery, Robert Bosch, Candy Detective, Baker Perkins, OtherThe study Global Confectionery Machinery Industry is a detailed report scrutinizing statistical data related to the Global Market. This report covers every aspect of the global market for Confectionery Machinery, starting from the basic market information and advancing further to various significant criteria, based on which, the Confectionery Machinery market is segmented.Request Sample Copy of Report:The study objectives of this report are:To study and forecast the market size of Confectionery Machinery in global market.To analyze the global key players, SWOT analysis, value and global market share for top players.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, end use and region.To analyze and compare the market status and forecast between China and major regions, namely, United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Rest of World.To analyze the global key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Confectionery Machinery are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersConfectionery Machinery ManufacturersConfectionery Machinery Distributors/Traders/WholesalersConfectionery Machinery Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsConfectionery Machinery Market Analysis By End User/Application such as Lollipops, Fudge, Fondant, Toffees, Caramels, JelliesConfectionery Machinery Market Analysis By Product/Type such as Tempering Equipment, Coating Equipment, Forming Equipment, Extrusion Equipment, OtherBrowse Full Report Here:The Global Confectionery Machinery Market report has Forecasted Compound Annual rate of growth (CAGR) otherwise value for explicit amount, which can facilitate user to require decision supported futuristic chart. This report covers each aspect of the global market for Confectionery Machinery, starting from the essential market info and advancing further to various significant criteria, based on that, the Confectionery Machinery market is segmented. Report additionally includes key players in global Confectionery Machinery market. The Confectionery Machinery market size is estimated in terms of revenue (US$) and production volume during this report.Finally, Confectionery Machinery 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:QYMarketStudy.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We have a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of the technology industry.Contact Us:3626 North Hall Street (Two Oak Lawn),Suite 610,Dallas, TX 75219, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Web:Email: sales@qymarketstudy.com Super Precision Bearing 2018 Global Industry Key Players - Schaeffler , Nachi-Fujikoshi , NSK, SKF , Koyo , Timken Market Analysis And Forecast To 2025 Global Super Precision Bearing Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3176499-global-super-precision-bearing-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3176499-global-super-precision-bearing-market-research-report-2018 Global Super Precision Bearing MarketThis report studies the global Super Precision Bearing market status and forecast, categorizes the global Super Precision Bearing market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).Request a Sample Report @The major manufacturers covered in this reportSchaefflerNachi-FujikoshiNSKSKFKoyoTimkenZYSC&U GroupZWZNTNGeographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther RegionsThe regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAngular Contact Ball BearingsCylindrical Roller BearingsDouble Direction Angular Contact Thrust Ball BearingsAxial-Radial Cylindrical Roller BearingsOthersOn 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, includingMachine ToolsMedical and DentalAviation & DefensePrecision EquipmentOthersThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Super Precision Bearing capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Super Precision Bearing manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Super Precision Bearing are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersSuper Precision Bearing ManufacturersSuper Precision Bearing Distributors/Traders/WholesalersSuper Precision Bearing Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAvailable CustomizationsWith the given market data, Researcher offers customizations according to the company's specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:Regional and country-level analysis of the Super Precision Bearing market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.Table of Contents-Key Points CoveredGlobal Super Precision Bearing Market Research Report 20187 Global Super Precision Bearing Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Schaeffler7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Super Precision Bearing Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Schaeffler Super Precision Bearing Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Nachi-Fujikoshi7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Super Precision Bearing Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Nachi-Fujikoshi Super Precision Bearing Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 NSK7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Super Precision Bearing Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 NSK Super Precision Bearing Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 SKF7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Super Precision Bearing Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 SKF Super Precision Bearing Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Koyo7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Super Precision Bearing Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Koyo Super Precision Bearing Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinuedComplete 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 Healthcare Fabrics 2013 Global Market Key Players - Designtex (US), Brentano Inc. (US), Arc-Com (US), Knoll, Inc. (US), Carnegie Fabrics, LLC. (US), Kimberly-Clark Corporation (US) - Analysis and Forecast to 2023 Healthcare Fabrics , Healthcare Fabrics Market, Healthcare Fabrics Market Growth, Presses Release, Healthcare Fabrics Manufacturer https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3023222-healthcare-fabrics-global-market-status-and-trend-report-2013-2023 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3023222-healthcare-fabrics-global-market-status-and-trend-report-2013-2023 http://www.wiseguyreports.com Description :Healthcare Fabrics-Global Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 offers a comprehensive analysis on Healthcare Fabrics industry, standing on the readers perspective, delivering detailed market data and penetrating insights. No matter the client is industry insider, potential entrant or investor, the report will provides useful data and information. Key questions answered by this report include:Worldwide and Regional Market Size of Healthcare Fabrics 2013-2017, and development forecast 2018-2023Main manufacturers/suppliers of Healthcare Fabrics worldwide, with company and product introduction, position in the Healthcare Fabrics marketMarket status and development trend of Healthcare Fabrics by types and applicationsCost and profit status of Healthcare Fabrics, and marketing statusMarket growth drivers and challengesRequest For sample Report @The report segments the global Healthcare Fabrics market as:Global Healthcare Fabrics Market: Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Production Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023):North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanRest APACLatin AmericaGlobal Healthcare Fabrics Market: Type Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume, Average Price, Revenue, Market Share and Trend 2013-2023):PolypropyleneCottonPolyesterViscoseOthersGlobal Healthcare Fabrics Market: Application Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume and Market Share 2013-2023; Downstream Customers and Market Analysis)Sanitary NapkinsBaby DiapersBlanket & BeddingPrivacy CurtainsOthersGlobal Healthcare Fabrics Market: Manufacturers Segment Analysis (Company and Product introduction, Healthcare Fabrics Sales Volume, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin):Designtex (US)Brentano Inc. (US)Arc-Com (US)Knoll, Inc. (US)Carnegie Fabrics, LLC. (US)Kimberly-Clark Corporation (US)Avgol Industries 1953 Ltd. (IL)Maharam Fabric Corporation (US)Architex International (US)Paramount Tech Fab Industries (IN)Momentum Group (California, U.S.)Sunshine Non Woven Fabric Co., Ltd (Fujian, China)Fitesa (Gravatai, Brazil)Olbo & Mehler Tex (Germany)Northeast Textiles, Inc. (New Jersey, U.S.)Pallas Textiles (Wisconsin, U.S.)Fabtex (Pennsylvania, U.S.)Panaz (U.K.)Agua Fabrics (London, U.K.)Camira Fabrics (Mirfield, U.K.)Jaden Fabrics, Inc. (Texas, U.S.)Texon International Group Ltd. (California, U.S.)The Mitchell Group (Illinois, U.S.)Baltex (U.K.)Global Non Wovens Limited (Delhi, India)Eastex Products, Inc. (Massachusetts, U.S.)Complete Report Details @Table Of Content :Chapter 1 Overview of Healthcare Fabrics1.1 Definition of Healthcare Fabrics in This Report1.2 Commercial Types of Healthcare Fabrics1.2.1 Polypropylene1.2.2 Cotton1.2.3 Polyester1.2.4 Viscose1.2.5 Others1.3 Downstream Application of Healthcare Fabrics1.3.1 Sanitary Napkins1.3.2 Baby Diapers1.3.3 Blanket & Bedding1.3.4 Privacy Curtains1.3.5 Others1.4 Development History of Healthcare Fabrics1.5 Market Status and Trend of Healthcare Fabrics 2013-20231.5.1 Global Healthcare Fabrics Market Status and Trend 2013-20231.5.2 Regional Healthcare Fabrics Market Status and Trend 2013-2023Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions2.1 Market Development of Healthcare Fabrics 2013-20172.2 Production Market of Healthcare Fabrics by Regions2.2.1 Production Volume of Healthcare Fabrics by Regions2.2.2 Production Value of Healthcare Fabrics by Regions2.3 Demand Market of Healthcare Fabrics by Regions2.4 Production and Demand Status of Healthcare Fabrics by Regions2.4.1 Production and Demand Status of Healthcare Fabrics by Regions 2013-20172.4.2 Import and Export Status of Healthcare Fabrics by Regions 2013-2017Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types3.1 Production Volume of Healthcare Fabrics by Types3.2 Production Value of Healthcare Fabrics by Types3.3 Market Forecast of Healthcare Fabrics by TypesChapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry4.1 Demand Volume of Healthcare Fabrics by Downstream Industry4.2 Market Forecast of Healthcare Fabrics by Downstream IndustryChapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Healthcare Fabrics5.1 Global Economy Situation and Trend Overview5.2 Healthcare Fabrics Downstream Industry Situation and Trend OverviewChapter 6 Healthcare Fabrics Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers6.1 Production Volume of Healthcare Fabrics by Major Manufacturers6.2 Production Value of Healthcare Fabrics by Major Manufacturers6.3 Basic Information of Healthcare Fabrics by Major Manufacturers6.3.1 Headquarters Location and Established Time of Healthcare Fabrics Major Manufacturer6.3.2 Employees and Revenue Level of Healthcare Fabrics Major Manufacturer6.4 Market Competition News and Trend6.4.1 Merger, Consolidation or Acquisition News6.4.2 Investment or Disinvestment News6.4.3 New Product Development and LaunchChapter 7 Healthcare Fabrics Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data7.1 Designtex (US)7.1.1 Company profile7.1.2 Representative Healthcare Fabrics Product7.1.3 Healthcare Fabrics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Designtex (US)7.2 Brentano Inc. (US)7.2.1 Company profile7.2.2 Representative Healthcare Fabrics Product7.2.3 Healthcare Fabrics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Brentano Inc. (US)7.3 Arc-Com (US)7.3.1 Company profile7.3.2 Representative Healthcare Fabrics Product7.3.3 Healthcare Fabrics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Arc-Com (US)7.4 Knoll, Inc. (US)7.4.1 Company profile7.4.2 Representative Healthcare Fabrics Product7.4.3 Healthcare Fabrics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Knoll, Inc. (US)7.5 Carnegie Fabrics, LLC. (US)7.5.1 Company profile7.5.2 Representative Healthcare Fabrics Product7.5.3 Healthcare Fabrics Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Carnegie Fabrics, LLC. (US)Continued.CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Market Overview: Global Telecom Software Professional Services Market to grow at a CAGR of 8.14% during 2017-2021 https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1293366 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-telecom-software-professional-services-market-2017-2021-report.html/toc http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Telecom software professional services include services that support telecom-specific software and the services that communication service providers (CSPs) use for transformation projects like optimization, re-engineering, and restructuring, and for operations and support. The global telecommunication services market saw an increased number of subscribers in 2016. Also, this is the only sector that provides technology-related businesses and offers services such as wireless communication, fiber-optics, internet, and satellites.The global telecom software professional services market to grow at a CAGR of 8.14% during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global telecom software professional services market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers services that support telecom-specific software [such as OSS, BSS, and session description protocol (SDPs)].The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAClick to get Sample PDF:Technavio's report, Global Telecom Software Professional Services Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- Amdocs- Ericsson- HPE- HuaweiOther prominent vendors- Affirmed Networks- Allot Communications- Aria Systems- Cerillion- Cisco Systems- Comarch- Comptel- CSG International- Elitecore Technologies- Global Convergence Solutions- Hitachi Data Systems- Nokia- Oracle- Redknee- SAP- Subex- Wipro- ZTEView 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: Anticrease Agents Market Industry Overview, Trends and Growth Opportunities Forecasted till 2024 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/anticrease-agents-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3345 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The anti-creasing agent market is expected to display sturdy growth over the forecast period. In recent times, rapid urbanization and changing fashion trends has led to the advancement of the textile industry. Anti-crease agents are chemicals that are used for improving the performance and look of finished textiles. At present, natural or synthetic resins are used to impart crease resistance to finished textiles, which enhances the look and performance as per the need of the end user requirement.Read Report Overview @The anti-creasing agent industry is continually developing over the past few years. 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Crease-free cotton clothing and other cotton merchandise are expected to drive the demand for anti-creasing in these regions over the reports forecast period.Chemicals that are used for anti-crease agents are strictly controlled for composition and for careful handling to avoid risk to human or to property. This includes high quality chemicals and compounds that are safe to use.However, the growth of the anti-crease agents market is hampered due to several factors. Anti-crease agents decrease the tensile strength of textile resulting in easy tear and reduced life of the textile. Excessive use of anti-creasing agent not only leaves an unpleasant odor on finished products, it also makes them feel stiff and harsh, which may not be comfortable for the user. Moreover, anti-creasing agents contain chlorine and formaldehyde that pose a health risk to users due to their allergic properties. These factors are collectively hampering the growth of the anti-creasing agent market.Request to view Sample Report:Global Anti-crease Agents Market: Regional OutlookGeography-wise, the global anti-crease agents market is divided into: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a significant market for anti-crease agents due to the large demand for cotton fabrics and the changing styling trends in the fashion industry. North America and Europe are also anticipated to display substantial demand in the coming years due to further development of the fashion industry in these regions.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.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.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: Keratoconus Treatment Market is expected to reach USD 427.5 million by 2023 Keratoconus Treatment Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3861 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3861 Market research future has a half cooked research report on Global Keratoconus Treatment Market. The Global Keratoconus Treatment Market is growing continuously and expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2017 to 2023The market for keratoconus treatment was around USD 322.7 million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 427.5 million by 2023 which is a projected CAGR of 4.1%.The Global Keratoconus Treatment Market has been evaluated as a rapidly growing market and it is expected to continue growing in the near future.Approximately 3 million people are affected by this disease across the globe. Advanced diagnostic and treatment options are key drivers for this market. Increasing awareness of the disease, increasing funding for R&D and growing demand from emerging regions such as Asia are major driving forces of the market. Major players of this market are investing in R&D to develop effective solution for keratoconus. Introduction of wide range of lenses is important factor for market growth.Global Keratoconus Treatment Market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprises of forme fruste keratoconus, corneal hydrops, keratoglobus, pellucid marginal degeneration, posterior keratoconus, and others.On the basis of diagnosis, the market is segmented into computerized corneal mapping, keratometry, slit-lamp examination, refraction test, and others. Slit-lamp examination includes tonometry, vision testing, and others.On the basis of treatments, the market has been segmented into lenses, surgery, collagen cross-linking, and others. Lenses is sub-segmented into eyeglasses or soft contact lenses, hard contact lenses, piggyback lenses, hybrid lenses, scleral lenses, and others. Surgery sub-segmented into corneal inserts, cornea transplant, and others. Collagen cross-linking is still in research process and more study required to implement this treatment option.On the basis of end user, it is segmented into eye hospitals & clinics, medical research centers, academic institutes, and others.Major players in keratoconus treatment market: Bausch & Lomb Incorporated (US), CIBA VISION (US), CooperVision (US), HOYA Vision Care (Singapore), Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. (US), Menicon Co., Ltd. (Japan), Novartis AG (Switzerland), Optik Seis (Indonesia), and SAFILENS S.R.L. (Italy), and others.Get Sample Copy @Regional Analysis: Considering the global scenario of the Keratoconus Treatment Market, there are four main regions, the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa.The Americas is dominating region in Global Keratoconus Treatment Market. Mainly US is highest revenue generator and important contributor in this market. Technological advancement and rapid adoption of new treatments and products are driving the growth for this market. European market is second largest and is growing significantly. Germany is holding highest market share in this market that is mainly due to investment in R&D and new product development. Due to increasing awareness of disease, adoption of new products, and increasing purchasing capacity, Asia Pacifies is fastest growing market while China is highest revenue generator in this region. Middle East & Africa is expected to have limited growth. Middle Eastern countries are growing significantly and dominating this market.Table of Content1 Report Prologue2 Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Market Structure2.4. Market Segmentation3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4 Market Dynamics Toc ContinuedApply for Discount atAbout 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 ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comMRFR has the distinguished objective of providing the optimal quality research and granular research to 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 answer your most important questions.Our Research Analysts are eager to share their knowledge and assist you in refining market research parameters, choosing right market studies, and evaluating both the market scope and the research methodologies of varied segments.We bridge the gap between our clients and their clients by identifying and decoding just the target group, while generating leads with the highest accuracy.Years of research into diverse fields of work has ingrained within us, a proficiency so distinguished that our industry-specific specialists identify with your business ideas and feel the pulse of your challenges and opportunities. This enables us for providing assistance, through our consulting and strategic consulting services, in informed managerial decision making. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industries, WantStats Research and Media often conducts industrial visits for its research analysts. Relevant inputs from various established market participants, help our clients make significant contribution in respective markets are a huge motivation for all of us to endlessly furnish quality. We depend greatly on profound insights into complex realms of our study.Pune, India Growth in Consumption of PET and Polyester in Emerging Economies to Spur Monoethylene Glycol Production, reports TMR https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/monoethylene-glycol-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2251 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global monoethylene glycol market was dominated by SABIC, The Dow Chemical Company, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. three companies that collectively held 29.3% of the market in 2014.Despite the globally strong presence of these key players, a majority of the global production of monoethylene glycol is done by regional and local companies. This creates a highly fragmented and highly competitive market where capacity expansion is the core standard for gaining market share.Read Report Overview @According to a new publication released by Transparency Market Research, the competitive edge in the global market for monoethylene glycol is expected to remain very sharp over the coming years, due to the sheer number of regional players that globally prominent producers have to compete with.The threat of new entrants is expected to remain low till 2023, owing to the high level of regulatory control, the currently intense competition in the market, and the high capital required to create a sustainable business.In terms of revenue, the global market for monoethylene glycol is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.1% within a forecast period from 2015 to 2023. The revenue is expected to reach US$26.93 bn by the end of 2016 and US$40.84 bn by the end of 2023.The volume of monoethylene glycol produced in the world is expected to progress at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2015 to 2023.APAC Demand for Monoethylene Glycol SoarsBy 2023, 69% of the global production of monoethylene glycol is expected to be taken up by Asia Pacific. This region is a key consumer of monoethylene glycol mainly for the manufacture of polyester and PET.Of the two key applications of monoethylene glycol given above, the manufacture of polyester fiber is expected to take up 55.1% of the total monoethylene glycol volume produced in 2023. Polyester is a highly common synthetic fiber used mainly due to its near imperviousness to weather conditions. The other key application of monoethylene glycol lies in the manufacture of PET, which is also witnessing a rise in use across emerging economies.High Polyester and PET Demand in Emerging Economies Spurs Monoethylene Glycol ProductionThe two key applications of monoethylene glycol polyesters and polyethylene terephthalate are finding an enormous demand in emerging economies, especially from the Asia Pacific region, states a TMR analyst. These nations are showing a robust economic growth rate and it is reflecting on the higher disposable incomes of individuals. This has greatly improved the consumer goods sales in the region and directly impacting the growth of the packaging and textile industries, and in this case, the consumption of polyesters and PET.In contrast, the scope of growth of monoethylene glycol players is steadily reducing, owing to a saturated market, the oversupply of cheap imported MEG from emerging economies, and growing environmental concerns over use of plastics.Request to view Sample Report:Feedstock Price Volatility Hampers Demand for Monoethylene GlycolThe raw materials required to produce monoethylene glycol come from crude oil, which is also used to derive other raw materials and fuel. The split demand for crude oil combined with its depleting reserves are creating a highly volatile costing for it, making it very difficult for producers of monoethylene glycol and other derivatives to procure sufficient amounts to sustain profitability.Producers of monoethylene glycol can now look towards opportunities in the production of bio-based monoethylene glycol, which uses ethanol derived from sugarcane rather than the conventional crude oil based chemicals. This not only helps reduce the unpredictability of raw material costs, but also helps significantly reduce the carbon emissions of a company, states the analyst.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Monoethylene Glycol (MEG) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023About 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.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.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: Precision Farming Global Market with High 12% CAGR by Top Key Players: AGCO, Deere & Company, AG Leader, AgEagle Aerial, Aglytix, AgGateway Forecast by 2016-2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2066 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/precision-farming-market-2066 Market Overview:Precision Farming or Precision Agriculture is a process of identification and management of variability of any farm and variability of productivity. There are various factors such as soil, weather, water and vegetation which varies from place to place and these factors also plays very vital role in crop growth and farming success. Most of the farmers are aware of this but they lacked the tools to measure and manage these variations. Thus, it has been found in various studies that, precision farming can help to supply the equivalent amount of food to the rising world population and helps farmers to achieve a greater suitability, higher productivity, economic benefits and environmental protection.The major factor driving this market is high adoption of technologies in agriculture, need of more efficient farming, increasing government interest towards promotion of precision farming among other whereas factors such as need of technical experience along with high internment are some of the restraints of the market.The Global Market of Precision Farming is expected to grow at US ~$7 billion by end of forecast period with compound annual growth rate of 12%.Get Sample Report @The precision farming is trending and more farmers are approaching it, because it make optimized use of available resources and focus on improve the quality and quantity of crops at same time minimizing the cost of production. Earlier precision farming was limited due lack resources, knowledge, and technology the growth was put onto hold. However, with change of time, strong technology infratsrucer was deployed, along with strong IT backup service.The precision farming have helped the farmers to achieve a productivity, flexibility, and environmental protection and market will expand more in coming years. Looking at this phenomenal growth, Market Research Future recently gave out the market insight till 2022. According to this MRFR analysis the global Precision Farming Market is expected to reach USD $7 billion and set to grow at CAGR of 12% during the forecast period.Key Players: AGCO Corporation (U.S.) Deere & Company (U.S.) AG Leader Technology (U.S.) AgEagle Aerial Systems (U.S.) Aglytix Inc. (U.S.) AgGateway (U.S.) Precision Planting (U.S.) AgJunction Inc. (U.S.) Agribotix (U.S.) Dickey-John Corporation (U.S.) Raven Industries, Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. AquaSpy, CropMetrics Farmobile, Granular IBM WatsonSegments:The Precision Farming market has been segmented on the basis of-By Components - Hardware (Displays, Sensors, Drones, GPS Systems, Mobile Devices among others), Software (On Cloud, On Premise) and Service (Managed Services and Professional Services)By Application - Yield mapping, Quality mapping, Soil properties analysis, Inventory Management, Labor management, Crop Scouting among others.Regional Analysis:North America is dominating the market of Precision Farming. High technology adoption and development in the field of agriculture is the main factor helping the market to grow. Also, presence of top global players in U.S. and Canada is giving competitive advantage to the North America. Europe stands as second biggest market in terms of revenue generation. Countries such as U.K., Germany, and France are some of the leading in Europe region also, government of these countries is supporting the technology adoption in agriculture, helping the market of precision farming to grow. Asia-Pacific has emerged as fastest growing market. Countries such as China and India where most of the population is dependent on agriculture are opening to accept the new technologies in their farming process leading to high demand for the precision farming equipments.Access Full Report @Trend:December 2017- Maharaja Institute of Technology under the Maharaja Research Foundation in association with Agriculture Department, Government Karnataka. The Institute conducted, one day workshop on precision farming. Around more 1000 of farmer have attend the workshop explain the importances, advantages, and how technology playing an important role in precision farming.Industry - Competitive Outlook:Key players are approaching new techniques and affordable devices in the precision farming. The same would improve market performance. Heavy investments are made by major players in the R&D sector.The prominent players identified in the market of Precision Farming are- AG Leader Technology, Arguable Aerial Systems, Aglytix Inc., Ag Gateway, Precision Planting, AGCO Corporation, and Deere & Company.Table of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure:1.3.1 Global Precision Farming Market: By Components1.3.2 Global Precision Farming Market: By Application1.3.4 Global Precision Farming Market: By Region2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Type2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size Estimation2.4.3 Market Crackdown & Data Triangulation3 Market Dynamics3.1 Introduction3.2 Market Drivers3.3 Market Challenges3.4 Market OpportunitiesContinues...List of TablesTable 1 Global Precision Farming Market, By ComponentsTable 2 Global Precision Farming Market, By ApplicationTable 3 Global Precision Farming Market, By RegionsTable 4 North America Precision Farming Market, By CountryTable 5 North America Precision Farming Market, By ComponentsContinues...List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Global Precision Farming Market: By Components (%)Figure 3 Global Precision Farming Market: By Application (%)Figure 4 Global Precision Farming Market: By RegionFigure 5 North America Precision Farming Market, By Components (%)Continues...About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Cloud Robotics Market Prognosticated To Perceive Accruals With 29% of CAGR; MRFR Unleashes Industry Insights Up To 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2327 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cloud-robotics-market-2327 Market Scenario:Cloud robotics is a field of robotics that attempts to raise cloud technologies such as cloud computing, cloud storage, and other internet technologies centered on the benefits of converged infrastructure and shared services for robotics. Cloud robotics is an upcoming trend in the intelligent system of an industry. It consist of characteristics of both robotics as well as cloud base technology. From robotics, it has derived three functionalities such as sensation, actuation, and control whereas, from cloud technology it has enabled ubiquitous, convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable resources such as servers and storage systems which support in minimal management effort or service provider interaction.The key drivers contributing to the growth of the Cloud Robotics Market are the rising demand for automation across industries, rising internet and cloud infrastructure, rapid progress of wireless technology and rapid development of software framework. However, lack of technical expertise and high installation cost are some of the factors expected to hamper the growth of cloud robotics market in the forecast period 2016-2022.Get Sample Report @Global Cloud Robotics Market is expected to reach approximately USD 17 Billion by the end of 2022 with 29% CAGR during forecast period 2016-2022.Key Players: Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.) Kuka AG (Germany) ABB Group (Switzerland) Fanuc Corporation (Japan) Yaskawa Electric Corporation (Japan) Rapyuta Robotics Co. Ltd. (Japan) Ortelio Ltd. (UK), Calvary Robotics (U.S.) Motion Controls Robotics (U.S.).Segments:The Global Cloud Robotics market has been segmented on the basis of type, connectivity, application and region. By type, the market has been bifurcated into proxy based, peer based and clone based cloud robotics. On the basis of connectivity, the market can be segmented as Wi-Fi, bluetooth, 3G, 4G, RF and infrared connectivity. On the basis of application the market includes- defense, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, healthcare, retail and aerospace among others. Further, the market has been segmented into four regions which include- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW.On the basis of connectivity, the 3G segment accounted for the largest market share due to its reliability, accessibility and easy to use features. However, the technology has become standard as more number of companies are introducing competitive products thereby expected to limit the market growth in coming years.Regional Analysis:Regionally, North America accounted for the largest market share majorly due to adoption of robotics technology in the field of defense, security & health care. Further, mobile technology also played an important role in connecting the cloud based systems to the robot & controllers with the support of cloud technologies to provide high performance and communication infrastructure of modern data centers thereby expected to increase the growth of modern industrial infrastructure in North America region. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a fast pace over the forecast period 2016-2022, majorly due to increasing demand for advanced technologies, increasing internet infrastructure and changing mobile technology in the region.Access Full Report @Intended Audience: Cloud Robotics Manufacturers Distributors Research firms Consultancy firms Software developers Vendors Semiconductor Manufacturers Stakeholders End-user sectors Technology InvestorsStudy Objectives of Global Cloud Robotics Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global cloud robotics market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the global cloud robotics market based 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 type, connectivity, application and region. 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 Cloud Robotics market.Table of Contents1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology2.1 Scope of the Study2.1.1 Definition2.1.2 Research Objective2.1.3 Assumptions2.1.4 Limitations2.2 Research Process2.2.1 Primary Research2.2.2 Secondary Research2.3 Market Size Estimation2.4 Forecast Model3. Market Dynamics3.1 Market Drivers3.2 Market Inhibitors3.3 Value Chain Analysis3.4 Porters Five Forces AnalysisContinues...List of TablesTable 1 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By TypeTable 2 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By ConnectivityTable 3 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By ApplicationTable 4 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By RegionsTable 5 North America Cloud Robotics Market, By CountryContinues...List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By Type (%)Figure 3 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By Connectivity (%)Figure 4 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By Application (%)Figure 5 Global Cloud Robotics Market, By Regions (%)Continues...About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Enterprise Content Management Market: BFSI and Manufacturing Among Leading Adopters MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/4208 https://www.mrrse.com/enterprise-content-management-market https://www.mrrse.com/ The global enterprise content management market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9% during the assessment period 2017-2025, according to a new research added to the repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). The report titled Enterprise Content Management Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025 offers detailed insights on the key factors that are likely to impact the growth of the enterprise content management market during the assessment period.Download Sample Copy of this New Research Report in a PDF Format @The report offers detailed analysis on the key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and threats that are likely to shape market growth during the assessment period. According to the report, growing adoption of Big Data analytics and the dire need to effectively disseminate the findings of enormous volume of data are likely to boost the enterprise content management market during the assessment period.The report projects that owing to growing emphasis by financial institutions on streamline data generation and analysis, enterprise content management solutions will gain adoption during the assessment period. However, high cost, combined with limited awareness on the benefits of enterprise content management in developing countries is likely to impede demand.The report offers detailed segment-wise analysis and insights on the global enterprise content management market. The segment-wise analysis gives readers a holistic perspective on the key growth areas, along with information on weak pockets of development. By component, the key segments include software and services. By enterprise size, the report has segmented the market on the basis of large enterprises, and small & medium enterprises. The solution segment of the market includes document management, eDiscovery, case management, record management, workflow management, and digital asset management. The leading industry segments include BFSI, retail, education, manufacturing, government and public, telecom & IT, and healthcare. The region-wise analysis includes North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Europe, and South America.According to the report, document management segment is the largest on the basis of revenue, and is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the assessment period. By end-use industry, BFSI and manufacturing are among the most prominent adopters of enterprise content management. The report projects these two segments to remain the most prominent on the basis of revenue. North America is the largest market for enterprise content management, with the US at the forefront of adoption. In addition to North America, Asia Pacific is also witnessing steady growth, with China and India providing growth opportunities to manufacturers.The report has also offers detailed analysis on the competitive landscape in the global enterprise content management market. The key companies profiled in the report include M-files Inc., Capgemini S.A., EMC Corporation, OpenText Corp., IBM Corporation, Alfresco Software, Inc., Hyland Software, Inc., Laserfiche, Newgen Software, Inc., Datamatics Global Services Ltd., Pennywise Solutions Private Ltd., SAP SE, Systemware, Inc., and Tata Consultancy Services.Browse Full Global Enterprise Content Management Market Report with TOC :About (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence 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.ContactState Tower90, State Street Suite 700Albany, NY 12207 (United States)Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: IT Market in Qatar estimated to expand at a CAGR of 10.81% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2021 https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1300662 https://www.researchmoz.us/it-market-in-qatar-2017-2021-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/it-market-in-qatar-2017-2021-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, NY, 18th May : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "IT Market in Qatar 2017-2021" globally.IT is an integrated platform consisting of hardware, software, and services that help organizations store, process, transmit, and retrieve information.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @The IT department of an organization manages all the IT-related services, solutions, and software that integrate and streamline a number of processes to facilitate a smooth flow of information across the organization. It also helps organizations align their business processes with different technologies to improve the overall efficiency.Technavios analysts forecast the IT market in Qatar to grow at a CAGR of 10.81% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the IT market in Qatar for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated through the sales of IT hardware, software, and services in government organizations, large enterprises, and SMEs.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEAView Complete TOC with tables & Figures @Technavio's report, IT Market in Qatar 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 vendorsHewlett Packard EnterpriseIBMMicrosoftOracleOther prominent vendors3MAccentureAcerAlmana SoftAppleArgus TechnologiesCisco SystemsDell EMCIntelRackspaceSalesforceSAPSonata SoftwareMarket driverIncrease in IT consolidation and IT modernizationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeOverdependence on economic conditionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendDigital transformation and blockchain technology adoptionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportBrowse Report @Key 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?ResearchMoz 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.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on : Anti-Tank Missile Market Key Highlights and Future Opportunities 2018 by Top Players BARRETT Communications, Leonardo, Harris Corporation, Radmor, Thales Communications https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3159 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/anti-tank-missile-market-3159 Market Highlights:Anti-tank missiles are largely developed to hit and destroy tanks and other armored military vehicles. These weapons vary in size, ranging from man-portable tripod-mounted and shoulder-launched weapons to vehicle and aircraft-mounted weapons. These weapons enable the armed troops, ground-vehicles, and fighter aircraft to counter and defeat the small, medium-sized, and main battle tanks (MBTs) at great ranges. Of late, the anti-tank missiles are being extensively used by a number of defense authorities, across the globe, and the market is rapidly gaining momentum in Asia and the Middle East regions.With the growing defense expenses in some countries, there has been a simultaneous boost to the market. Moreover, factors such as the growing procurement of anti-tank missiles, increasing R&D investments on the existing missile systems, and the introduction of long-range anti-tank missiles would significantly propel the market growth. Concurrently, the continued usage of smokescreens by a number of armed and rebel forces along with the accuracy issues associated with the anti-tank guided missiles can prove to be a hurdle for the growth of the market.Request a Sample Report @Major Key PlayersDenel Dynamics (South Africa),General Dynamics (US),Israel Military Industries (Israel),KBP Instrument Design Bureau (Russia),Rocketsan Missiles Inc. (Turkey),Lockheed Martin (US),MBDA (UK),Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (Israel),Raytheon (US), and Saab Bofors Dynamics (Sweden).In 2016, anti-tank missile market was valued at USD 8,377.0 million and is anticipated that the market would grow at a CAGR of around 4.25%, during the forecast period.Regional Analysis of Anti-Tank Missile MarketIn 2016, the anti-tank missile market was led by Americas with a share of 39% followed by the Asia Pacific region. The Americas region is dominated by the U.S. owing to its huge defence budget. The recent congress speech by Donald Trump supporting defence budget hikes is expected to drive the market further. Russia, France and others continue to be the largest producing nations of the anti-tank missile market.Asia-Pacific was the second-largest market in 2016, valued at USD 2,680.6 million in 2016 which is dominated by China and India. India is expected to be the fastest growing market due to the procurement of Chinese HJ-8 anti-tank missile which has almost twice the range of the French made Milan missile currently in use with the Indian army. The Middle East and Africa market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.80%, during the forecast period. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others expected to be the largest markets. There also exists a large market for older systems especially in the Africa region.Global Anti-Tank Missile marketIn 2016, the market was led by Americas with a share of 39%. The technological advancements in warfare platforms and increasing defense budgets in countries such as the US and Canada, are some of the major factors driving the growth of the market. Asia-Pacific was the second-largest market in 2016, valued at USD 2,680.6 million in 2016. The increasing terrorism and border threats in the region, drives the demand in the region. EMEA is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.80%, during the orecast period.Browse Complete Report @Intended Audience Defense authorities Missile manufacturers Government as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesThe report for Global Anti-Tank Missile Market of Market Research Future comprises of 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, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.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.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Military Exoskeleton Market Key Highlights and Future Opportunities 2018 by Top Players BAE Systems, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Safran https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4134 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/military-exoskeleton-market-4134 Market Highlights:Modern-day soldiers are equipped with radios, night vision devices, global positioning system (GPS) equipment, and computers in their uniforms that provide them with real-time data, which assist the troops with satellite imagery of the battlefield and significantly enhance their situational awareness. As a result, there is a growing demand for integrated smart weapons and lightweight body armors. Military Exoskeletons are lighter than the conventional load carriage or armor systems, and they enable added protection and counter attack against hostile enemy advances. Therefore, there have been significant developments of light weight body suits, which would boost the efficiency of the armed troops in the battlefield. With a higher number of lethal and protective Exoskeletons being developed, the market is expected to witness tremendous growth during the forecast period.The growing number of volatile political unrests, security threats, and ongoing disputes in certain regions of the globe has increased the demand for military exoskeleton systems in the recent years. These systems offer additional combat capabilities along with extra strength and protection to the soldiers in a battlefield. They also enable the carriage of heavy loads during tough military missions/operations (such as during search and rescue or counter-insurgency operations). The rising concerns about soldier safety and injuries have increased the demand for these advanced military body suits. As a result, the global military Exoskeleton market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.87%Get a Sample Report @Major Key PlayersBAE Systems,General Atomics,Lockheed Martin,Raytheon,Safran,Bionic Power,Ekso Bionics,20 Knots Plus,Revision Military,SpringActive, and SRI International. In 2016, these companies accounted for a share of % of the global market.Regional AnalysisBy 2023, North America is expected to be the dominant region in the military Exoskeleton market primarily due to the presence of major manufacturers in this region. In addition, increasing military expenses by the US Department of Defense (DOD) on these body suits have resulted in the development of advanced military exoskeleton systems. Americas accounted for the largest market share of 49.85% in 2015, with a market value of USD 25.8 million and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 28.30% during the forecast period. The US, in particular, is home to a number of military exoskeleton programs such as HULC, XOS 2, Superflex Exo suit, Soft Exo suit, Warrior Web system, and TALOS. These phenomenal technological armor suits provide the soldiers with increased power, safety, and capabilities, which have helped them to carry out the military operations conveniently, in vulnerable regions such as Cyprus, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, and Afghanistan. Europe is expected to acquire the second largest market due to the high expenses on soldier modernization programs by countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK, which would come in aid of their soldiers, by enhancing their operational and attack capabilities. During the military exercises in Afghanistan (2001-2014), many European countries had deployed their combatants, to fight the Islamic State (IS) insurgents. Some countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK had initiated advanced soldier modernization programs, which would come in aid of their soldiers, by enhancing their operational capabilities.Browse Complete Report @Intended Audience Distributer & Supplier companies End Users Consultants and Investment bankers Government as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesAbout 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:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312 Mobile Device Management Software Market Analysis, Growth, Global Trends, Opportunity & Forecast 2018 to 2025 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011986026/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011986026/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00011986026/buy/3300 Global Mobile Device Management Software Market Size Status and Forecast 2025This report studies the global Mobile Device Management Software market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the global Mobile Device Management Software market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.Get sample copy of this report:Top Manufacturers: ManageEngine, SimpleMDM, 42Gears Mobility Systems, Vmware, AppTec, MobileIron, Countly, Symantec, Citrix Systems, Nischint TechnologiesMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoCloud-basedOn-premisesGet Discount of this report:Growth in demand for asset tracking solutions from industries in the retail sector is due to factors such as high return on investment, cost saving, and reduced search time in case of misplaced assets. Assets being delivered, in stock, expired and other details can be tracked through asset tracking systems. This is providing huge opportunity for asset tracking system providers to capture the e-commerce market.The study objectives of this report are:To study and forecast the market size of Mobile Device Management Software in global market.To analyze the global key players, SWOT analysis, value and global market share for top players.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, end use and region.To analyze and compare the market status and forecast between China and major regions, namely, United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Rest of World.To analyze the global key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Table of Content:Global Mobile Device Management Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 20251 Industry Overview of Mobile Device Management Software2 Global Mobile Device Management Software Competition Analysis by Players3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 ManageEngine3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Mobile Device Management Software Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.2 SimpleMDM3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Mobile Device Management Software Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.3 42Gears Mobility Systems3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Mobile Device Management Software Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)4 Global Mobile Device Management Software Market Size by Application (2013-2018)5 United States Mobile Device Management Software Development Status and Outlook6 Europe Mobile Device Management Software Development Status and Outlook7 China Mobile Device Management Software Development Status and Outlook8 Japan Mobile Device Management Software Development Status and Outlook9 Southeast Asia Mobile Device Management Software Development Status and Outlook10 India Mobile Device Management Software Development Status and Outlook11 Market Forecast by Regions and Application (2018-2025)12 Mobile Device Management Software Market Dynamics13 Market Effect Factors AnalysisComplete Report:Contact Info:Name: Sameer JoshiEmail: sales@reportsweb.comCompany Name: ReportsWebWebsite: Reportsweb.comPhone: +1-646-491-9876ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.533, 5th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Document Management Software Market Information, Figures and Analytical Insights 2018-2028 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6474 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-6474 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights has analysed various facets of the global market for document management software in a new research publication titled Document Management Software Market: Global Industry Analysis (2013-2017) and Opportunity Assessment (2018-2028). The raw data obtained from secondary research has been filtered, well-furnished and arranged in a systematic format with the assistance of which key insights have been derived.The market is thoroughly analysed to gain intelligence on the various market trends changing the course of the market, the drivers that push the growth of the market, the opportunities that shape the future of the document management software market and the restraints that hinder the growth process of the global market.Request for sample Report:These various aspects have been analysed across key regions in the globe including North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, China and Middle East and Africa (MEA) to gauge the intensities of these facets and their impact on the overall market expansion. Based on historical data and current scenario, future insights on the market based on value projections for a period of ten years have been included in this research report across each segment of the global document management software market.Future Market Insights Observes the growth of the global document management software market is triggered by increasing demand for the software as it reduces the time needed for file location and retrieval. Moreover, it also covers additional functionalities such as storage, editing and making corrections, efficient consolidation of information, eliminates misfiling and enhances overall productivity and efficiency. The global market for document management software is projected to expand at a value CAGR of 12.3% during the period of assessment 2018-2028 and is estimated to reach a valuation of more than US$ 11 Bn by 2028 end.Growing Demand for Automated Workflow to Facilitate Market ExpansionAutomation has facilitated reduction in errors, improvement in quality and reduction in time in various processes. Document management software with automated workflow offers efficient operational workflow. Moreover, it reduces costly paper handling with smart routing of documents and saves time and money by reducing the need of photocopying, hand delivery and repetitive dropping. It also enables automated distribution, printing and overall document control. By centralizing documents and using automated workflow technology, it can timely route documents to stakeholders. The migration to automated workflow from manual workflow is pushing the demand of document management software.Disaster Recovery and Better Backup to Spur Demand for Document Management SoftwareDocument management solution includes disaster recovery and data backup plan. With digital archiving, paper documents are protected from various types of disasters. In addition, with this software, documents are easily traceable and can be conveniently tracked within different ranges of criteria. Moreover, since the documents are stored centrally, they do not get misplaced after viewing. They can be digitalised as well as archived during their entry point into the system.Segmental Snapshot of the Global Document Management Software MarketBy component, the software segment is expected to grow at a higher rate and is expected to lead the global document management software market in the coming years. With respect to services, professional services are gaining high traction.With respect to deployment, cloud is gaining high steam owing to ease of access and convenience at any point in time. Cloud based deployment is expected to showcase revenue sales of over US$ 6 Bn by end of the assessment period.Healthcare and BFSI sectors are showcasing high demand for document management software. Owing to high and ever increasing volume of documents, the need for subtle document management systems has risen. This has accelerated the use of document management software in these sectors. Healthcare, however, tops the table with respect to higher adoption and valuation, comparatively.North America is the largest region, followed by Europe. The market valuation in these regions is expected to go above or near US$ 3 Bn by 2028 end. China also has shown increased inclination towards use of document software. Document software market in China is projected to expand at a significant rate in the coming years.Visit For Table of Contents:Competition TrackingThe key players profiled in the report are Toshiba Corporation, IBM Corporation, OpenText Corp., Asite, Ideagen, Alfresco Software, MasterControl, Computhink, eFileCabinet, OfficeGemini, Adobe Systems Incorporated, SmartFile, Lucion Technologies, Intranet Connections, FOLDERIT and LogicalDOC.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature.CONTACT:FUTURE MARKET INSIGHTS616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Business Aircraft Market Key Highlights and Future Opportunities 2018 by Top Players Bombardier, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Cessna Aircraft Company, Dassault Aviation https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3952 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/business-aircraft-market-3952 Market Highlights:The major factors driving the global business aircraft market are the significant growth in global economies and the simultaneous improvement of the aviation industry. Moreover, the rapidly growing individual income levels and staggering profits of multinational firms and institutes are inducing a large demand for the business aircraft. Concurrently, the increasing demand for long range flights is expected to push the demand for the market. Tourism activities, majorly contribute growth and development for the Global Business Aircraft MarketHowever, the 2008 economic slowdown had adversely affected the global market with severe decline in the number of operational business planes. Thus, economic uncertainty is one of the major restraints for this market.Concurrently, the increasing demand for long range flights, is expected to push the demand for the market. Tourism activities, in particular, add to the growth and development of the global market.Request a Sample Report @Major Key PlayersBombardier Inc. (Canada),Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (U.S.),Cessna Aircraft Company (U.S.),Dassault Aviation S.A. (France),Embraer S.A. (Brazil)Market Research Analysis:North America dominates the global business aircraft market, by region, as the market originated in the region. Europe is the second largest market, and is projected to receive almost 1,530 business aircraft, valued at USD 55 billion, by 2025. The Asia-Pacific region is one of the fastest growing regions in this market due to rapidly improving aviation infrastructure combined with geographical position beckoning the need for long range business aircraft. While, the Middle East region is expected to witness the fastest growth, among all regions, primarily due to the high economic levels, the Latin American regions have been systematically registering high year-on-year growth rates with countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela racking up almost 80% of the regional market.The report for Global Business Aircraft Market of Market Research Future comprises of 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, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Browse Complete Report @Intended Audience Helicopter Manufacturers Light/Business Aircraft manufacturers Government as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesAbout 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:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Location Analytics Market Growth Analysis by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application by 2023 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011993717/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011993717/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00011993717/buy/3480 Global Location Analytics Market Forecast to 2023Location analytics is the process or the ability to gain insight from the location or geographic component of business data. Location analytics blends business data with geographic data to reveal the relationship of location to people, events, transactions, facilities and assets. Traditionally, location data has been relegated to mapping and GIS purposes. But geo-mapping software, like other business software, has become easier to use. And BI and analytics software vendors are integrating mapping and spatial data analysis into their products to provide additional context to visualizations, reports and analysis.Location-based analytics help in contextualizing location-centric data and deriving meaningful insights. This derived data helps in making strategic business decisions. Location analytics includes interpretation and analysis of information in combination with its location or geographical component. It involves analyzing both real-time data and historic data. Location analytics can be applied for prevention of disasters.Get sample copy of this report:Top Manufacturers: SAP SE, IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Google Inc., Tableau software, SAS Institute, TIBCO Software Inc., Information Builders, Pitney Bowes, MicroStrategyMarket 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, coversSoftware SegmentService SegmentMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoBFSIHealthcare and Life SciencesGovernment and UtilitiesRetail and Consumer GoodsTelecommunications and ITTransportation and LogisticsOthersGet Discount of this report:Location analytics is the Business Intelligence (BI) process to generate insights from the location-based or geographic business data. It empowers organizations across various industry verticals to combine the traditional BI data with the spatial data, collected using various data sources such as cameras, sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), mobile devices, and social media channels.This report focuses on the Location Analytics 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.Location analytics tools can be beneficial for military purposes. It allows militaries to identify the exact location of troops and opponent activities on a map, helping in making better decisions and present strategic advantages. Companies are adopting location analytics solutions to use market intelligence information for business growth. In line with the same, retailers can enhance their business by analyzing the historical spending patterns of people from different geographical locations.Table of Content:1 Location Analytics Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 SAP SE2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Location Analytics Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 SAP SE Location Analytics Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 IBM Corporation2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Location Analytics Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 IBM Corporation Location Analytics Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Oracle Corporation2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Location Analytics Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 Oracle Corporation Location Analytics Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)3 Global Location Analytics Market Competition, by Players4 Global Location Analytics Market Size by Regions5 North America Location Analytics Revenue by Countries6 Europe Location Analytics Revenue by Countries7 Asia-Pacific Location Analytics Revenue by Countries8 South America Location Analytics Revenue by Countries9 Middle East and Africa Revenue Location Analytics by Countries10 Global Location Analytics Market Segment by Type11 Global Location Analytics Market Segment by Application12 Global Location Analytics Market Size Forecast (2018-2023)13 Research Findings and ConclusionComplete Report:Contact Info:Name: Sameer JoshiEmail: sales@reportsweb.comCompany Name: ReportsWebWebsite: Reportsweb.comPhone: +1-646-491-9876ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.533, 5th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Security Service for Telecom Industry Market - The Demand For Periodic Security System Testing Services https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13751 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/security-service-telecom-industry-market.html www.transparencymarketresearch.com In past few years, the adoption of smartphone, tablets and other connected devices such as appliances, smart lighting and security systems has increased due to improved communication infrastructure and high internet connectivity. Telecommunication sector is rapidly evolving in order to profit from this demand and further investing in technologies such as cloud infrastructure and wireless communication. Telecommunication sector involves players such as network operators, virtual network providers, software and hardware vendors who play a pivotal role in providing wireless infrastructure through mobile and fixed medium. Further, telecom companies are increasingly outsourcing their assets such as customer relation management, mobility services, and managed services to third party vendors in order to reduce their upfront cost. Thus, telecom industry is currently focusing on digitizing its business models through implementation of all these parameters. However, all these parameters lead to vulnerability of telecom ecosystem which may be prone to security breaches, cyber attack and malwares.Get Sample Copy of this report @In the era of outsourcing, where most of the small and large businesses rely on telecom industry in order to store and transfer their data to a cloud center, loss of data can pose a significant threat to the entire industry. Therefore, security service market plays an important role in identifying these threats and protecting the telecom ecosystem. Security service vendors offer software and consulting services to telecom players in order to secure their system from attacks. Vendors offer a number of services such as network security, firewall, Quality of Service (QoS) management, device management, identity management, notification management and compliance management services. Vendors help to analyze the subscriber traffic flow and check the respective end-points (end-user devices) for any possible breaches. Further, with the advent of software defined networking (SDN), vendors have started offering firewall services which restrict unauthorized access of operator assets such as voice and data. Vendors also offer services which monitor third party players connected to a particular operator. This service includes selection of players, contract management to service level agreement, and periodic assessment.Most of the service providers currently offer mobile devices and internet connections to their subscribers. Further, the demand for bring your own device (BYOD) is also expected to increase in workplace environment which would force telecom operators to implement monitoring systems for securing their assets. Majority of vendors are partnering with antivirus service providers in order to offer antivirus software and monitoring services for operator end-users and thereby reducing threats.Obtain Report Details @The demand for periodic security system testing services is also expected to increase which would offer high support to the growth of security service market for telecom industry. Vendors are continuously implementing security information and event management (SIEM) in order to provide real-time analytics based on security alerts to the telecom operators. Increasing cyber threats and demand of cloud computing is expected to be significant growth driver for security service implementation in the telecom industry. In the coming years, a number of telecom equipment vendors are expected to collaborate with antivirus service providers and cloud security vendors, to provide comprehensive solution for telecom security industry.Some of the key global security service vendors for the telecom industry include Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, McAfee, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Symantec Corporation, Tech Mahindra Ltd., Trend Micro, Inc., Alcatel Lucent , Microsoft, Inc., Blue Coat Systems, Inc., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., and Allot Communications Ltd.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation 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 recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Market Price Dosage And Clinical Pipeline Outlook 2024 https://www.kuickresearch.com/report-global-sickle-cell-anemia-drug-market-price-dosage-and-clinical-pipeline-outlook-2024.php Download Report Sample Weblink:For Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.comTable of Contents1. Sickle Cell Anemia - An Inherited Blood Disorder1.1 Introduction1.1.1 Signs and Symptoms of Sickle Cell Anemia1.1.2 Types of Sickle Cell Disease1.2 Antiquity of Sickle Cell Disease2. Genetics and Diagnostics of Sickle Cell Disease2.1 Genetic Mutations2.2 Diagnostic Approaches for Sickle Cell Disease2.2.1 Blood Test2.2.2 Prenatal Testing2.2.3 Newborn Screening2.3 Cost Analysis of Sickle Cell Disease Diagnosis3. Management Strategies for Sickle Cell Disease Treatment - Cost Analysis3.1 Medication Methods3.2 Transfusion3.3 Bone Marrow Transplant4. Total Annual Cost for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease4.1 Fees for Hospitalization, Emergency Department and Professional Fees4.2 Annual Fees for the care of an Adult Patient with Sickle Cell Disease5. Advance Research for Treatment of Sickle Cell Anemia Disease5.1 Introduction5.2 Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant5.3 Gene Therapy6. Sickle Cell Anemia - Drug and Treatment Cost Analysis6.1 Glutamine (Endari)6.2 Hydroxycarbamide (Droxia, Hydrea)6.3 Nicosan (Niprisan or Nix-0699)6.4 Ibuprofen7. Market Analysis of Sickle Cell Disease7.1 Introduction7.2 Sickle Cell Disease Market Size8. Global Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Market Dynamics8.1 Favorable Parameters8.2 Challenges9. Future Aspects of Global Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Market10. Global Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Clinical Pipeline by Company and Phase10.1 Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Clinical Pipeline Overview10.2 Research10.3 Preclinical10.4 Phase-I10.5 Phase-I/II10.6 Phase-II10.7 Phase-III11. Marketed Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Clinical Insight11.1 Glutamine (Endari and NutreStore)11.2 Hydroxycarbamide (Siklos)11.3 Hydroxycarbamide (Droxia, Hydrea, Litalir and OncoCarbide)11.4 Nix 0699 (Hemoxin, Nicosan and Niprisan)12. Competitive Landscape12.1 BioMarin12.2 Bluebird Bio Bluebird Bio12.3 DeuteRx12.4 Emmaus Medical12.5 Gamida Cell12.6 Global Blood Therapeutics12.7 GlycoMimetics12.8 Modus Therapeutics12.9 Pfizer12.10 Sancilio Pharmaceuticals12.11 Sangamo BiosciencesFigure 1-1: Inheritance Pattern of Sickle Cell Anemia from One Generation to Next GenerationFigure 1-2: Historical Development of Sickle Cell Disease and its Therapeutic ApproachesFigure 2-1: Genetic Mutations which Occur at the Transcription and Translational LevelFigure 2-2: Pathophysiology of Sickle Cell DiseaseFigure 2-3: Various Diagnostic Methods for Sickle Cell DiseaseFigure 2-4: Price Analysis - Sickle Cell Diagnosis Cost with Insurance (US$), 2018Figure 2-5: Price Analysis - Sickle Cell Diagnosis Cost without Insurance (US$), 2018Figure 2-6: Price Analysis - CVS and Amniocentesis for Sickle Cell Anemia(US$), 2018Figure 2-7: Global - Average NIPT Screening Cost by Technique (US$), 2018Figure 3-1: Several Management Approaches for Sickle Cell DiseaseFigure 3-2: Sickle Cell Disease - Treatment Cost Analysis by Medication (US$/Month), 2018Figure 3-3: Acceptable Outcomes for Sickle Cell Disease Bone Marrow TransplantFigure 3-4: Allogeneic and Autogenic Bone Marrow Transplant Cost (US$), 2018Figure 4-1: Consultation Fees for Sickle Cell Disease (US$/Patient), 2018Figure 4-2: Hospitalization Charges for Sickle Cell Disease (US$/Day), 2018Figure 4-3: Price Analysis - Emergency Department Cost (US$/Patient), 2018Figure 4-4: Emergency Department Professional Fees Billed by Severity (US$), 2018Figure 4-5: Price Analysis - Average Hospital Charges (US$/SCD patient), 2018Figure 4-6: Annual Cost Analysis for Tests Involved in Sickle Cell (US$/Patient), 2018Figure 4-7: Expenditure on SCD Patient by Age (US$/Annum), 2018Figure 5-1: Ongoing Research for the Development of Sickle Cell Disease TreatmentFigure 5-2: Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant Method for Sickle Cell AnemiaFigure 5-3: Cost Analysis - Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant (US$/Patient), 2018Figure 5-4: Gene Therapy Method for Sickle Cell Disease TreatmentFigure 5-5: Gene Therapy - Estimated Cost of Therapy and Medication (US$/Patient),2018Figure 6-1: Endari - Dosage by Body Weight (gram/Dose)Figure 6-2: Endari - Dosage per day by Body Weight (gram/Day)Figure 6-3: Endari - Packet Consumption (Number) per Dose by WeightFigure 6-4: Endari - Packets Consumed (Number of Packets/Day)Figure 6-5: Endari - Price Analysis for 5mg Tablet (US$/Packet), 2018Figure 6-6: Droxia - Available Concentrations by type (mg/Tablet)Figure 6-7: Droxia - Dosage Analysis by Weight (mg/kg)Figure 6-8: Droxia - Price Analysis per 60 Tablet Packet (US$), 2018Figure 6-9: Nicosan - Recommended Dosage in children and Adult (mg/Day)Figure 6-10: Patent Approval Year in UK and USFigure 6-11: Ibuprofen - Availability by concentration (mg and mg/ml)Figure 6-12: Ibuprofen - Price of 6ml Intravenous Solution Vial (US$), 2018Figure 6-13: Ibuprofen - Oral Capsule Price Analysis (US$), 2018Figure 6-14: Ibuprofen - Price Analysis of Oral Suspension (US$), 2018Figure 6-15: Ibuprofen - Price Analysis of Oral Tablets (US$/Packet), 2018Figure 7-1: Burden of Rare Diseases in US and Globally (%)Figure 7-2: Global - Incidence of Sickle Cell Disease (%), 2018Figure 7-3: Global - Sickle Cell Anemia Childhood Survival Rates by Region (%), 2018Figure 7-4: Global - Orphan Drugs Market Forecast (US$ Billion), 2016 - 2024Figure 7-5: Global - Sickle Cell Disease Market Size (%), 2018Figure 7-6: Global - Blood Disorders Market Size by Type (%), 2018Figure 8-1: Favorable Growth Factors for the Sickle Cell Disease TreatmentFigure 8-2: Challenges to the Growth of Sickle Cell Disease TreatmentFigure 9-1: Global - Sickle Cell Disease Market Opportunity (US$ Million), 2018 -2024Figure 10-1: Global - Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Pipeline by Phase (%), 2018 till 2024Figure 10-2: Global - Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Pipeline by Phase (Number), 2018 till 2024Figure 10-3: Global - Discontinued Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Pipeline by Phase (%),2018 till 2024Figure 10-4: Global - Discontinued Sickle Cell Anemia Drug Pipeline by Phase (Number), 2018 till 2024Table 3-1: Clinical Trials Addressing Transfusion Indications for Sickle Cell DiseaseTable 5-2: Droxia - Dosage Analysis by Weight (mg/kg)Kuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.Neeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchL29 - L34, First FloorBlock L,Connaught PlaceNew Delhi-110001+91-11-47067990 Global Armored Vehicle Market Analysis Covering Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Upcoming Opportunities Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/2017 https://www.mrrse.com/armored-vehicle-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/2017 https://www.mrrse.com/ Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has been serving as an active source to cater intelligent research report to enlighten both readers and investors. This research study titled Armored Vehicle Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023.Military vehicles require robust capabilities to overcome threats from both internal damages and external sources. The deployment of military troops in extreme environmental scenarios has led to the investments in improving the vehicle competencies in terms of technology. Various rugged systems and devices are constantly being integrated in the military vehicles worldwide specific to different regional applications. Moreover, the development of landmines and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which pose major challenges to military vehicles, have amplified the concerns to protect the soldiers lives in the battleground. These factors boost the demand for armored vehicles from the military organizations globally. Additionally, the advent of technology and improvement of multirole vehicles have also influenced the demand for armored vehicles among various law enforcement agencies worldwide. Considering the aforementioned factors, the global armored vehicles market is estimated to be growing at a significant pace.Click Here, To Get Sample Copy of New Research Armored Vehicle Market Report @Furthermore, the security challenges across the globe have lead to the generation of demand for armored commercial vehicles from civilians. The market for commercial armored vehicles is currently growing at a steady pace, however, it is expected to undergo a substantial boost during the forecast period and lead to the expansion of the overall armored vehicles market. This factor is estimated to develop new opportunities for the global armored vehicles manufacturers. On the contrary, the market for armored vehicles encounters major hindrances such as lack of standardized regulatory norms in Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of World (RoW). However, the impact of this restraint is analyzed to contract over the forecast period as the governments in different countries are gradually establishing regulations for armored vehicle manufacturing in all applications sectors namely, military, law enforcement and commercial.In this report on the global armored vehicles, the market has been segmented based on technology, type and geography. The study highlights current market trends and provides the market size of 2014 and forecast from 2015 to 2023. The report covers the current market scenario for armored vehicle and highlights future trends that could affect the demand for the same. The global armored vehicles market is analyzed to observe a steady growth from 2015to2023 at a decent CAGR.Based on geography, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. On the basis of segmentation by type, the market has been categorized into light protected vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, main battle tanks, armored amphibious vehicles, mine resistance ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles and others. Additionally, the market has been segmented on the basis of technology which includes active protection system, inter operable communication, modular ballistic armor, electric armor, situational awareness, active mine protection and vehicle information integration. In addition to the market size of 2014, the forecasted market values from 2015 to 2023 have been provided in the report.The report includes, analysis of macro and micro economic factors driving and restraining the growth of the global armored vehicles market. Moreover, the market attractiveness analysis provided in the report, highlights the major areas for future investments in the global armored vehicles industry. The report is intended to help armored vehicles suppliers and original equipment manufacturers in understanding the current and upcoming opportunities in the global armored vehicles market and formulating their business strategies accordingly. In addition, the report is expected to benefit the governments, military organizations and other buyer communities.Click here, To Get Complete Examined Research Report with TOC @This study includes the profiles of 10 major players in the global armored vehicle market and the strategies adopted by them to sustain in the competition. The key participants in the global armored vehicles market include Oshkosh Corporation, BAE Systems plc, Rheinmetall Defence, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Elbit Systems Ltd., The Raytheon Company, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG, General Dynamics Corporation, INKAS Armored Vehicle Manufacturing, International Armored Group and STREIT Group among others.Global Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By TechnologyActive Protection SystemInter Operable CommunicationModular Ballistic ArmorElectric ArmorSituational Awareness SystemActive Mine ProtectionVehicle Information IntegrationGlobal Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By TypeLight Protected VehiclesInfantry Fighting VehiclesArmored Personnel CarriersArmored Amphibious VehiclesMain Battle TanksMine Resistant Ambush Protected VehiclesOthersGlobal Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By ApplicationMilitaryLaw EnforcementCommercialGlobal Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By GeographyNorth AmericaS.CanadaMexicoEuropeRussiaK.FranceGermanyItalyRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaIndiaJapanRest of APACRest of the World (RoW)Middle East and Africa (MEA)Saudi ArabiaUAEIsraelSouth AfricaRest of MEASouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaNeed Assistance? Send An Enquiry @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: +1-518-730-0559(USA & CANADA TOLL-FREE NUMBER)Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Global Food Retail Market- Growth | key Industry Players | Competitive Analysis | Forecasts to 2023 https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/food-retail-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/food-retail-market/report-sample https://www.psmarketresearch.com The global food retail industry include various types of food products such as cereals, meat, packed foods, organic food items, breads, vegetables and fruits, seafood, dairy products, including ice creams, milk items and others and various other household food items. The global food retail market incorporate the retail sales of variety of food products, both packaged and unpackaged, along with retail sales of alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages include beers, wines, spirits, cocktails and others whereas non-alcoholic beverages include soda, soft drinks, juices, fizzy drinks and others.Explore Full Report Description At:Based on distribution channel, global food retail market can be divided into convenience food stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets, specialists and independent retailers, and others.Geographically, Asia Pacific dominated the global food retail market in 2014; it is then followed by Europe. Growth of food retail market in Asia Pacific region is attributed to growing consumer awareness, nuclear families, increasing per capita income and increasing western culture. China and India are the most populous countries of Asia Pacific region, small and local retailers are dominating the food retail market in these countries. Europe is the second largest food retail market. It has large number of branded retail stores and shops such as Tesco, Carrefour, Aldi and Auchan.Download Free Report Sample:Some of the major competitors for the global food retail market include Costco Wholesale Corporation, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., AEON CO., LTD., The Kroger Company, Carrefour SA, Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., Groupe Auchan, Metro AG.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide market research reports, industry reports, business intelligence and research based consulting services across a range of industries.With the help of our professional corporate relations with various companies, our market research offers the most accurate market forecasting. Our analysts and consultants interact with leading companies of the concerned domain to substantiate every single data presented in our publication. Our research assists our client in identifying new and different windows of opportunity and frame informed and customized strategies for expansion in different regions.Contact:P&S Market Research347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Global Protein Engineering Market 2018 Global Technology, Development, Trends and forecasts to 2022 Global Protein Engineering Industry https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/2786806-global-protein-engineering-market-research-and-forecast-2017-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/2786806-global-protein-engineering-market-research-and-forecast-2017-2022 https://www.linkedin.com/company/wise-guy-research-consultants-pvt-ltd-?trk=biz-companies-cym Global Protein Engineering IndustryLatest Report on Protein Engineering Market Global Analysis & 2022 Forecast Research StudyMarket Insights:The Global protein engineering market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 % during 2017-2022. The protein engineering market is quickly growing and it is showing promising growth opportunities majorly due to the increasing number of engineered proteins and amino acids across the globe. It is majorly witnessing positive growth owing to the increasing utilization of protein drugs over non-protein ones. Furthermore, increasing the prevalence of lifestyle and chronic diseases such as blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and others further boost the demand for protein engineering. As per world health organization (WHO), around 335 million people were affected by asthma in 2015.Try Sample Report @Moreover, WHO stated that cardiovascular diseases have accounted more mortalities than any other lifestyle-related diseases. Apart from this, favorable initiatives by the European and American government to support the growth of protein engineering market globally establish a healthy platform for the protein engineering market. Technological advancement is also one of the major boosting agents of this market.There are some challenges which are faced by protein engineering market such as high costing of engineering instrument and high maintenance cost of tools and instruments. Also, the lack of trained professionals is hampering the global market growth. Furthermore, stringent rules, high research and development funds need, high probability of meeting the failure of the research, and lack of awareness among users are some of the other factors which are road blocker in the global protein engineering market growth. The report includes a detailed market overview, analyst insights and, market determinants, market segmentation, geographical analysis, strategic recommendations, key company analysis, key findings, market insights and company profiling.Geographical InsightsGeographically the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. The North American region is leading the protein engineering market followed by the Asia Pacific and Europe majorly due to the rising lifestyle-related diseases and rising adoption of protein-based drugs in the region. Governments of Brazil, U.S. and Canada have been highly supportive of advancements in protein engineering, creating an encouraging regulatory environment for companies in the North American market. Additionally, Asia Pacific region is showing faster growth for protein engineering market. Rising population and increasing techniques for protein engineering are also contributing towards market growth in Asia Pacific region.Competitive Insights:The key players in the global protein engineering market include Absciex, Abbott healthcare, Agilent Technologies, Inc., Biogen, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Bruker Corporation, Danaher Corporation, Eli Lilly, Fusion antibodies, GE healthcare, Genscriptsusa, Inc., Genzyme, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG, Novo Nordisk, Perkinelmer, Inc., Roche, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Thermo Fisher scientific, Waters Corporation and so on. In 2017, absciex announced a joint venture with Zhenjiang dian diagnostics in China to improve diagnostic and testing facility in China.Market Segmentation:Global protein engineering market is segmented on the basis of technology, protein type, products, end users and regional outlook. In protein type, monoclonal antibodies are the major and fastest growing segment of the global protein engineering protein market by type. This growth is majorly attributed to the increase in adoption of them for various therapies such as autoimmune and cancer diseases.1. Global protein engineering market research and analysis, by technology1.1. Rational protein design1.2. Irrational protein design2. Global protein engineering market research and analysis, by protein type2.1. Monoclonal antibodies2.2. Insulin2.3. Erythropoietin2.4. Interferon2.5. Colony-stimulating factor2.6. Growth hormones2.7. Coagulation factor2.8. Vaccines2.9. Others3. Global protein engineering market research and analysis, by product3.1. Instruments3.2. Services and Software3.3. ReagentsGlobal protein engineering market research and analysis, by end user4.1. Academic Research Institutes4.2. Medical Industry4.3. Food Industry4.4. Other5. Global protein engineering market research and analysis, by region5.1. North America5.2. Europe5.3. APAC5.4. RowThe Report Covers: Comprehensive research methodology of global protein engineering market. This report also includes detailed and extensive market overview with key analyst insights. An exhaustive analysis of macro and micro factors influencing the market guided by key recommendations. Analysis of regional regulations and other government policies impacting the global protein engineering market. Insights about market determinants which are stimulating the global protein engineering market. Detailed and extensive market segments with regional distribution of forecasted revenues. Extensive profiles and recent developments of market players.For Detailed Reading Please visit WiseGuy Reports @Some points from table of content:REPORT SUMMARY1.1. RESEARCH METHODS AND TOOLS1.2. MARKET BREAKDOWN1.2.1. BY SEGMENTS1.2.2. BY GEOGRAPHY1.2.3. BY STAKEHOLDERS1.2.4. EXCEPTIONSMARKET OVERVIEW AND INSIGHTS2.1. DEFINITION2.2. ANALYST INSIGHTS & CURRENT MARKET TRENDS2.2.1. KEY FINDINGS2.2.2. RECOMMENDATION2.2.3. CONCLUSION2.3. REGULATION2.3.1.1. UNITED STATES2.3.1.2. EUROPEAN UNION2.3.1.3. CHINA2.3.1.4. INDIAMARKET DETERMINANT3.1. MOTIVATORS3.1.1. HIGH PREVALENCE RATE OF LIFESTYLE DISEASES3.1.2. INCREASE IN ADOPTION OF PROTEIN-BASED DRUGS OVER NON-PROTEIN-BASED DRUGS3.1.3. REDUCTION IN OVERALL TIMELINE AND COST FOR DRUG DISCOVERY3.1.4. GROWTH IN FUNDING FOR PROTEIN ENGINEERING3.2. RESTRAINT3.2.1. LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF QUALIFIED RESEARCHERS AND NEED FOR ADVANCED TRAINING IN PROTEIN ENGINEERING3.2.2. EXPENSIVE AND HIGH MAINTENANCE TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS USED IN PROTEIN ENGINEERING3.3. OPPORTUNITY3.3.1. SIGNIFICANT GROWTH PROSPECTS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES3.3.2. PROTEIN THERAPY AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO GENE THERAPY3.3.3. TOP-SELLING BIOLOGICS DRUGS GOING OFFPATENT IN THE NEAR FUTURE4. MARKET SEGMENTATION4.1. PROTEIN ENGINEERING, BY TECHNOLOGY4.1.1. RATIONAL PROTEIN DESIGN4.1.2. IRRATIONAL PROTEIN DESIGN4.2. PROTEIN ENGINEERING, BY PROTEIN TYPE4.2.1. MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES4.2.2. INSULIN4.2.3. ERYTHROPOIETIN4.2.4. INTERFERON4.2.5. COLONY STIMULATING FACTOR4.2.6. GROWTH HORMONES4.2.7. COAGULATION FACTOR4.2.8. VACCINES4.2.9. OTHERS4.3. PROTEIN ENGINEERING, BY PRODUCT4.3.1. INSTRUMENTS4.3.2. SERVICES AND SOFTWARE4.3.3. REAGENTS4.4. PROTEIN ENGINEERING, BY END USERS4.4.1. ACADEMIC RESEARCH INSTITUTES4.4.2. MEDICAL INDUSTRY4.4.3. FOOD INDUSTRY4.4.4. OTHER5. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE5.1. KEY STRATEGIES5.2. KEY COMPANY ANALYSISContinued.For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comAbout UsWise 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 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.Contact Us:Norah Trent+1 646 845 9349 / +44 208 133 9349Follow on LinkedIn: Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Market 2025- Pfeiffer Vacuum , ULVAC , Atlas Copco https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1661144&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-industrial-vacuum-pumps-market-research-report-2018.htm/toc http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Market Research Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.The report Industrial Vacuum Pumps Market recently added to QYResearchReports.com provides a new perspective into the components and workings of the global Industrial Vacuum Pumps market on a global as well as regional levels. The report, serving as an invaluable source of guidance for readers, covers an analytical overview of the industry chain of the global market and discusses key elements associated with it, including leading consumers, leading raw material suppliers, and suppliers of manufacturing equipment.Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingGardner DenverPfeiffer VacuumULVACAtlas CopcoTuthillGrahamDekkerEnter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Segmenting the market for presenting a more detailed assessment of key factors influencing the market, the report includes market share of all the key segments included in the report from the perspective of key regional markets with analysis towards market trends respectively. The study also discusses key trends in the market, as well as the degree to which drivers and restraints could affect the global market.On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDry Vacuum PumpsLiquid Ring Vacuum PumpRotary Vane Vacuum PumpOn 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, includingIndustrial and ManufacturingChemical ProcessingSemiconductor & ElectronicsTable of ContentsGlobal Industrial Vacuum Pumps Market Research Report 20181 Industrial Vacuum Pumps Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Industrial Vacuum Pumps1.2 Industrial Vacuum Pumps Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Dry Vacuum Pumps1.2.4 Liquid Ring Vacuum PumpRead Complete Table of Content @2 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Industrial Vacuum Pumps Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Industrial Vacuum Pumps Market Competitive Situation and TrendsList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Industrial Vacuum PumpsFigure Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Production (K Units) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Types (Product Category) (2013-2025)Figure Global Industrial Vacuum Pumps Production Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 2017Figure Product Picture of Dry Vacuum PumpsFigure China Industrial Vacuum Pumps Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure Japan Industrial Vacuum Pumps Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure Southeast Asia Industrial Vacuum Pumps Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure India Industrial Vacuum Pumps Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)About Us:QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Hosted Test Environment Management (TEM) Market - Increasing Complexity of Web and Mobile Applications https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hosted-test-environment-management-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13790 www.transparencymarketresearch.com Test Environment Management (TEM) has evolved as an efficient capability to provide software developers and organizations with test-environment to aid their software testing cycle to execute test scenarios and identify bugs. Hosted TEM facilitates an organization to speed up their software testing process and enable faster release of their software to the market, as the setup time for creating a traditional test environment is reduced to great extent.Obtain Report Details @This provides organizations with lead time in the market due to the faster release of their software and gain a competitive advantage in the market. On-demand access to varying needs of test tools on the hosted test environment serves as an important factor to attract software organizations to hosted TEM management services. Furthermore, it reduces the cost attached with allocating a dedicated teams for critical software testing and also enhance the quality of software testing procedures. The hosted TEM eliminates the need for the setup of complex infrastructure within an organization. Hosted TEM service provider offers comprehensive solutions that include technology and infrastructure, resources, and security and standard compliance.Hosted TEM services market is anticipated to observe continuous increase in demand in the coming years. This is attributed to the rise in the IT industry sector in recent past. The rise in IT industry sector has intensified the competition among the software organizations, thus encouraging them to adopt hosted TEM services and increase the testing process time. Moreover, increasing demand for cloud services due to its cost benefits over on-premise deployment has attracted many organizations towards the deployment of Hosted TEM services.Pay-as-you-use model is another factor to add to the growth of hosted TEM among the small and medium-sized businesses. Increasing complexity of web and mobile applications, and its requirements to test for multiple operating systems is another major factor to support the TEM management services market. However, hosted TEM faces certain challenges such as security and environment availability might affect its widespread adoption in the market.Get Sample Copy of this report @Hosted TEM services market is segmented depending on the enterprise size that include small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises. Small companies with lack of resources for testing are more likely to prefer hosted test environment management services. Hosted TEM services witnessed huge demand in the North America region. The concentration of established software organizations have largely contributed to the hosted TEM services market growth in the U.S. Furthermore, established infrastructure and fast adoption of new technologies have aided the TEM services market across the region. However, Asia Pacific region is likely to be a potential market for the hosted TEM services in coming years due to the growing IT industry sector in countries such as India and Philippines. Moreover, China and Japan are expected to contribute largely to the growth of Hosted TEM market in the Asia Pacific region.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation 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 recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Packet Networking Solution Market: Rising Demand For Packet Networking Solutions In Emerging Countries https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/packet-networking-solution-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=43607 www.transparencymarketresearch.com Packet Networking is the breaking up of data such as images, email and voice into small formatted units which are called packets. These packets are transmitted across a network to other devices such as smartphones, where the packets are then reassembled to their original form. Businesses use Internet Protocol to monitor delivery of the packets over Ethernet links, which connect devices in a local area network. Packet-based networks are the most efficient, cost-effective and scalable way for delivering content from one position to another. Packet networks are key enablers of todays business and social communications.Packet technologies overcome the disadvantages of circuit-based networks. Using packet based architecture, dedicated end-to-end links are no longer required. Instead, users information is packetized and sent over a shared network to the desired destination. Therefore, the system becomes more effective, which enables various end users to access the network concurrently while optimizing usage of the end-to-end network, creating ample growth opportunities for the packet networking solutions market. Packet networking technologies make most efficient use of the network by balancing the load on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis.Carrier Ethernet, a packet networking technology that extends the connections over a wide area network by integrating technologies which are required to successfully move packets over vast distances. It enables data movement across the wide area network (WAN) that takes into account the unique features of carrying packets over large distances. This allows WAN-based Ethernet services to be more easily managed and compared from both the service provider and end user viewpoints. Carrier Ethernet is expected to dominate emerging network deployments as it supports a variety of use cases and traffic demands. It can carry packets based on IP and any other protocols since these technologies are service protocol agnostic. Enterprises can make use of this technology as it caters to various applications such as to serve various corporate networks, to serve external as well as internal users and to provide data center interconnections.Packet networking technologies have advanced gradually in the last few years, owing to the markets growing demands for various kinds of networking applications. With optical-based services, enterprises and carriers can provide WAN connectivity as easily as LAN connectivity.The global packet networking solutions market can be segmented based on component, technology, application, organization size and region. On the basis of component, the market can be segmented into software (cloud-based and on-premise) and services (managed and professional services), platform and hardware. On the basis of end user the market can be segmented into banking financial services and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare, retail, IT and telecommunication, automobile, government and others.The market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to contribute a major share in the packet networking solutions market during the forecast period. The region has a significant presence of prominent technology players to cater to the rapidly growing packet networking solutions market. Adoption rate of packet networking technologies by large and small enterprises in North America is comparatively high compared to other regions. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for packet networking solutions. Rising demand for packet networking solutions in emerging countries such as China and India is driving the market growth. Europe is also expected to show significant growth in the packet networking solutions over the forecast period. South America and Middle East & Africa regions are also expected to contribute toward the growth of the market with lucrative opportunities in the long run.Some of the major players active in the development of packet networking solutions include Cisco Inc., Fujitsu Corporation, Ciena Corporation, Corvil, Juniper Networks and Infinera Corporation.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, Packet Networking is the breaking up of data such as images, email and voice into small formatted units which are called packets. These packets are transmitted across a network to other devices such as smartphones, where the packets are then reassembled to their original form. Businesses use Internet Protocol to monitor delivery of the packets over Ethernet links, which connect devices in a local area network. Packet-based networks are the most efficient, cost-effective and scalable way for delivering content from one position to another. Packet networks are key enablers of todays business and social communications.Packet technologies overcome the disadvantages of circuit-based networks. Using packet based architecture, dedicated end-to-end links are no longer required. Instead, users information is packetized and sent over a shared network to the desired destination. Therefore, the system becomes more effective, which enables various end users to access the network concurrently while optimizing usage of the end-to-end network, creating ample growth opportunities for the packet networking solutions market. Packet networking technologies make most efficient use of the network by balancing the load on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis.Carrier Ethernet, a packet networking technology that extends the connections over a wide area network by integrating technologies which are required to successfully move packets over vast distances. It enables data movement across the wide area network (WAN) that takes into account the unique features of carrying packets over large distances. This allows WAN-based Ethernet services to be more easily managed and compared from both the service provider and end user viewpoints. Carrier Ethernet is expected to dominate emerging network deployments as it supports a variety of use cases and traffic demands. It can carry packets based on IP and any other protocols since these technologies are service protocol agnostic. Enterprises can make use of this technology as it caters to various applications such as to serve various corporate networks, to serve external as well as internal users and to provide data center interconnections.Obtain Report Details @Packet networking technologies have advanced gradually in the last few years, owing to the markets growing demands for various kinds of networking applications. With optical-based services, enterprises and carriers can provide WAN connectivity as easily as LAN connectivity.The global packet networking solutions market can be segmented based on component, technology, application, organization size and region. On the basis of component, the market can be segmented into software (cloud-based and on-premise) and services (managed and professional services), platform and hardware. On the basis of end user the market can be segmented into banking financial services and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare, retail, IT and telecommunication, automobile, government and others.The market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to contribute a major share in the packet networking solutions market during the forecast period. The region has a significant presence of prominent technology players to cater to the rapidly growing packet networking solutions market. Adoption rate of packet networking technologies by large and small enterprises in North America is comparatively high compared to other regions. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for packet networking solutions. Rising demand for packet networking solutions in emerging countries such as China and India is driving the market growth. Europe is also expected to show significant growth in the packet networking solutions over the forecast period. South America and Middle East & Africa regions are also expected to contribute toward the growth of the market with lucrative opportunities in the long run.Get Sample Copy of this report @Some of the major players active in the development of packet networking solutions include Cisco Inc., Fujitsu Corporation, Ciena Corporation, Corvil, Juniper Networks and Infinera Corporation.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.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation 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 recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Market Production & Key Technologies 2018 https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1752951&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-solid-state-thin-film-batteries-sales-market-report-2018.htm/toc http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Sales Market Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.The global market for Solid State Thin Film Batteries has been seen on a few perspectives that are for all intents and purposes there, and have fixed up the market circumstance to the epic degree. The report additionally displays unmistakable experience and information related to global Solid State Thin Film Batteries market. The key purpose behind the report is to detail out certain positive and obstructive concentrations about the market conditions with the target that potential examiners have a right considered the market they will place assets into. Exact truthful data has been given a specific true objective to give a cemented view and current status of the market, to the customers of the creation.The major players covered in this reportCymbet CorporationInfiniteToyotaSTMicroelectronicsPrologiumTo Download Sample Report With TOC:This report goes into additional all around investigation of the global market for Solid State Thin Film Batteries by effectively inspecting current happenings and business methods of concerned market. This is required to go about as a supplementary guide in giving right bits of learning and data on a couple of plots for the market, for instance identifying with pattern of the organization bodies in the zone when in doubt level, progress and course structure, streams drawbacks, volume exchange, and salaries made among others.On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSolid State Lithium BatteryLarge Capacity Polymer Solid state Lithium BatteryLarge Capacity Inorganic Solid state Lithium BatteryOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, includingElectric CarAerospaceElectronicsTable of ContentsGlobal Solid State Thin Film Batteries Sales Market Report 20181 Solid State Thin Film Batteries Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Solid State Thin Film Batteries1.2 Classification of Solid State Thin Film Batteries by Product Category1.2.1 Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2013-2025)Complete table of content is available at:2 Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries (Volume and Value) by TypeList of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Solid State Thin Film BatteriesFigure Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Sales Volume Comparison (K Units) by Type (2013-2025)Figure Global Solid State Thin Film Batteries Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2017Figure Solid State Lithium Battery Product PictureFigure Large Capacity Polymer Solid state Lithium Battery Product PictureFigure China Solid State Thin Film Batteries Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure Japan Solid State Thin Film Batteries Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure Southeast Asia Solid State Thin Film Batteries Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)Figure India Solid State Thin Film Batteries Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2025)About Us:QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Emergency Spill Response Market Demand, Analysis by Key Players: Clean Harbors, Veolia Environnement, OSRL, Desmi A/S Emergency Spill Response Market Application, Function, Analysis to 2023 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1160040-global-emergency-spill-response-market-8 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1160040-global-emergency-spill-response-market-8 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1160040 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1160040-global-emergency-spill-response-market-8 HTF MI recently introduced Global Emergency Spill Response Market study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2023. At present, the market is developing its presence and some of the key players from the complete study are Clean Harbors, Veolia Environnement, OSRL, Desmi A/S, US Ecology, Briggs Marine & Environmental Services, MWCC, Elastec, Adler and Allan & Vikoma International etc. The market Study is segmented by key regions which is accelerating the marketization.Request Sample of Global Emergency Spill Response Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 @:This report studies the Global Emergency Spill Response market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the Global Emergency Spill Response market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.Browse 100+ market data Tables and Figures spread through Pages and in-depth TOC on " Emergency Spill Response Market by Type (), by End-Users/Application (Spills in Water Body & Spills on Land), Organization Size, Industry, and Region - Forecast to 2023". Early buyers will receive 10% customization on comprehensive study.In order to get a deeper view of Market Size, competitive landscape is provided i.e. Revenue (Million USD) by Players (2013-2018), Revenue Market Share (%) by Players (2013-2018) and further a qualitative analysis is made towards market concentration rate, product/service differences, new entrants and the technological trends in future.Enquire for customization in Report @Competitive Analysis:The key players are highly focusing innovation in production technologies to improve efficiency and shelf life. The best long-term growth opportunities for this sector can be captured by ensuring ongoing process improvements and financial flexibility to invest in the optimal strategies. Company profile section of players such as Clean Harbors, Veolia Environnement, OSRL, Desmi A/S, US Ecology, Briggs Marine & Environmental Services, MWCC, Elastec, Adler and Allan & Vikoma International includes its basic information like legal name, website, headquarters, its market position, historical background and top 5 closest competitors by Market capitalization / revenue along with contact information. Each player/ manufacturer revenue figures, growth rate and gross profit margin is provided in easy to understand tabular format for past 5 years and a separate section on recent development like mergers, acquisition or any new product/service launch etc.Market Segments:The Global Emergency Spill Response Market has been divided into type, application, and region.On The Basis Of Type:On The Basis Of Application: Spills in Water Body & Spills on LandOn The Basis Of Region, this report is segmented into following key geographies, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share, growth rate of Emergency Spill Response in these regions, from 2013 to 2023 (forecast), covering North America (U.S. & Canada) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Latin America (Brazil, Mexico & Rest of Latin America) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Europe (The U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden & RoE) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Middle East & Africa (GCC, South Africa, North Africa, RoMEA) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Rest of World {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Opportunity Analysis}Buy Single User License of Global Emergency Spill Response Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 @Have a look at some extracts from Table of ContentIntroduction about Global Industrial Pump Rental Global Emergency Spill Response Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2017 Emergency Spill Response Market by Application/End Users Global Emergency Spill Response Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2013-2023) table defined for each application/end-users like [Spills in Water Body & Spills on Land] Global Emergency Spill Response Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2023) Emergency Spill Response Competition by Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application Emergency Spill Response (Volume, Value and Sales Price) table defined for each geographic region defined. Global Emergency Spill Response Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales DataAdditionally Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors list is being provided for each listed manufacturers Market Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018) table for each product type which include Emergency Spill Response Manufacturing Cost Analysis Emergency Spill Response Key Raw Materials Analysis Emergency Spill Response Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers, Industrial Chain Analysis Market Forecast (2018-2023) ........and more in complete table of ContentsBrowse for Full Report at: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.HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Global Cystic Acne Market 2018 Global Analysis by Key National Biological Corp., DUSA Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pfizer Inc. etc 2023 Insight; MarketResearchFuture.com https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1723 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1723 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1723 Global Cystic Acne Market Research Report: By Causes (Hormonal Imbalances, others), Long-Term Effects (Ice Pick Scars, Larger Pits on Skin), Treatment Type (Topical Medications, Laser Therapy), End User (Hospitals, Clinics) - Global Forecast till 2023The Global Cystic Acne Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% during the forecast period 2017-2023.KEY PLAYERS FOR CYSTIC ACNE MARKETGlaxoSmithKline plc (U.K), Pfizer Inc. (U.S.), Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Hexal AG (Germany), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland), Alma Lasers Inc. (Israel), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.K), National Biological Corp. (U.S.), Herbert Waldmann GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Sylvan Company (U.S.), and DUSA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (U.S.)Get Sample Report @MARKET SCENARIO FOR CYSTIC ACNE MARKETCystic acne is the most serious type of acne, it is the type of skin condition wherein the pores of the skin get blocked, which leads to infection or inflammation of the affected area of the skin. Sometimes bacteria get trapped inside the pore and swell the infected skin area. It happens when the infection went deep into the skin and spread throughout the body. Although bacterium (P. acne bacteria) causes the cystic acne, which also causes papules, pustules, and such others, Cystic acne lesions are one of the most difficult acne to treat. These lesions are more painful and have a risk of scarring the skin and causing a permanent damage as compared to mild or moderate acne.According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, around 50 million Americans get affected annually with acne, and it is the most common skin condition in the Americas. Additionally, approximately 85% of people between the ages of 12 and 24 experience at least minor acne.Rising prevalence of this conditions both in developed and developing countries is driving the cystic acne market growth. The skin care industry and research laboratories are involved in research and development to provide the better treatment. According to Leon H. Kircik, M.D., clinical associate professor of dermatology at Indiana University School of Medicine, recent research on severe and moderate acne patients with inflammatory acne helps to confirm the strength and efficacy of fixed-dose combination gel adapalene/benzoyl peroxide 0.3%/2.5%.The factors that cause cystic acne are too much oil production in the glands of the skin and growth of the bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes. Moreover, advancing technology in healthcare is adding fuel to the growth of the market. However, effective treatments are not available in the market, which may hamper the market growth during the forecast period.SEGMENTATIONS FOR CYSTIC ACNE MARKETThe global cystic acne market is segmented on the basis of causes, long-term effects, treatment type, and end user.On the basis of the causes, it is segmented into hormonal imbalances, occlusive skin products, drugs/chemical side effects, and others.On the basis of the long-term effects, it is segmented into ice pick scars, larger pits on the skin, shallow depressions, hypertrophic scarring, and others.On the basis of the treatment type, it is segmented into topical medications, drainage & extraction procedure, laser therapy, microdermabrasion, and others.On the basis of the end user, it is segmented into hospitals, clinics, research laboratories, and others.REGIONAL ANALYSIS FOR CYSTIC ACNE MARKETThe Americas dominate the global cystic acne market owing to well-developed technology and increasing population with acne. Key players are focusing on capturing maximum share of the emerging markets such as India and China. According to American Academy of Dermatology Association, in 2016 the costs associated with the treatment of acne exceed USD 3 billion.Europe holds the second position in the global cystic acne market owing to the government support for research & development and availability of funds for research. This is expected to drive the European market over the forecasted period.The Asia Pacific is the fastest growing cystic acne market owing to the presence of rapidly growing patient population, and high healthcare expenditure. The government of this region focuses more on providing better treatment to the citizen of their countries for improving their quality of life.On the other hand, in the Middle East and Africa, cystic acne has become a huge problem due to limited screening, ignorance of diseases, and poor access to treatment.Get Discount @MAJOR TOC FOR CYSTIC ACNE MARKETCHAPTER 1. REPORT PROLOGUECHAPTER 2. MARKET INTRODUCTION2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 LimitationsCHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size EstimationCHAPTER 4. MARKET DYNAMICS4.1 Drivers4.2 Restrains4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & AssessmentLIST OF TABLESTable 1 Cystic Acne Industry Synopsis, 2017-2023Table 2 Global Cystic Acne Market Estimates and Forecast, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 3 Global Cystic Acne Market by Region, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 4 Global Cystic Acne Market by Causes, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 5 Global Cystic Acne Market by Long Term Effects, 2017-2023, (USD Million)Table 6 Global Cystic Acne Market by Treatment Type, 2017-2023, (USD Million)LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1 Research ProcessFigure 2 Segmentation for Global Cystic Acne MarketFigure 3 Segmentation Market Dynamics for Cystic Acne MarketFigure 4 Global Cystic Acne Market Share, By Causes 2016Figure 5 Global Cystic Acne Market Share, By Long Term Effects 2016Figure 6 Global Cystic Acne Market Share, By Treatment Type 2016Figure 7 Global Cystic Acne Market Share, By End Users, 2016TOC CONTINUEDAsk to Expert Inquire @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 Future, Office No. 528,Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com PeeBuddy Launches on Amazon to Help Women do a Stand-Up Job When Nature Calls SAY 'YES' to HYGIENE http://amzn.to/2D25qmd http://amzn.to/2D25qmd http://www.peebuddy.in http://facebook.com/peebuddyindia https://www.instagram.com/peebuddyindia/ https://twitter.com/peebuddyindia https://youtu.be/h7i3cx1lE4k PeeBuddy launches in the U.S. to give women what theyve always wanted - no reason to sit or squat when urinating in a disgusting bathroom stall.New Delhi, India - April 26, 2018 - With a Why didnt I think of that? idea an India-based start-up clears the decks for women in a whole new simplistic way. Enter, PeeBuddy. Designed to make womens equality practical, the product is a portable, disposable Female Urination Device (FUD) now making a splash, pardon the pun, on Amazon in the U.S. Simply put, PeeBuddy helps a woman, who needs to urinate, avoid contact with the toilet seat altogether. After all, disgusting toilet stalls are no place for a lady.Having already sold over one million units in India and noted in the Limca Book of World Records, PeeBuddy has made quite a social statement. Recognized on the Fortune 40 Under 40 List, and covered in numerous publications like Forbes and Reuters, the product has started a revolution. So, what does it ultimately say? It says women shouldnt have to reduce themselves to circumstances. Instead, they can enjoy the smallest of luxuries; to cleanly urinate when necessary.For more information visitAbout First Step Digital Pvt Ltd:First Step Digital Pvt Ltd is a start-up based in New Delhi, India that is run by men who are trying to solve often-ignored intimate hygiene issues faced by women. Their award-winning products include PeeBuddy and India's first herbal feminine pain relief patches for menstrual cramps among others.Contact:Deep BajajFounder & CEO, First Step Digital Pvt Ltddeep@firststepprojects.com+91 011 65666609Websites:Social Media:YouTube Video:First Step Digital Pvt Ltd is a growing organization with a keen focus in Personal Hygiene/Intimate Care category i.e. First Step Projects Private Limited. Our Revolutionary Products have been appreciated by Industry Experts (Including Best Gynecologist, Orthopedics etc), Media Channels as well as Forums (Including Leading Events). Our Product Lines 1) PeeBuddy - 2) InWi - 3) MuWi 4) BodyGuard Mosquito Patches 5) BodyGuard Bands 6) I Love Clean Bags382, 100 Feet Rd, Ghitorni, New Delhi, Delhi 110030 Global Orthodontic Archwires Market 2018-2025 Align Technology, 3M Company, Danaher Orthodontic Archwires Market Forecast 2018 http://bit.ly/Orthodontic-Archwires-Market-2018-2025 http://www.9dimenresearchstore.com/report/global-orthodontic-archwires-market-5696 http://9dimenresearchstore.com/ A market study "Global Orthodontic Archwires Market" examines the performance of the Orthodontic Archwires market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Orthodontic Archwires market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Orthodontic Archwires market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Orthodontic Archwires Market 2018 report includes Orthodontic Archwires market Revenue, market Share, Orthodontic Archwires industry volume, market Trends, Orthodontic Archwires Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report. It shows manufacturing capacity, Orthodontic Archwires Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Orthodontic Archwires Market 2018 :1. Align Technology2. 3M Company3. Danaher Corporation4. Henry Schien,5. DENTSPLY SIRONA,6. American Orthodontics7. Rocky Mountain Orthodontics8. G&H Orthodontics9. DENTAURUM GmbH & Co. (Germany)10. TP Orthodontics,11. ClearCorrect (Switzerland)12. Ultradent Products,Orthodontic Archwires Market : By Application:- Children and Teenagers, AdultsOrthodontic Archwires Market : By Type:- Beta Titanium, Nickel Titanium, Stainless SteelFirstly, the report covers the top Orthodontic Archwires manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Orthodontic Archwires report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Orthodontic Archwires industry, Orthodontic Archwires industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Orthodontic Archwires Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Orthodontic Archwires research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Orthodontic Archwires market revenue worldwide.Finally, Orthodontic Archwires 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 Us9Dimen Research Store is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact US:5001 Spring Valley Rd #400,Dallas,TX 75244, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Email: sales@9dimenresearchstore.comWeb: Cell Analysis Software: Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players Sartorius (ViroCyt), Cellix, GE Healthcare, CEITEC, PerkinElmer Qy Research Groups https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/947070 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/947070 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/947070 Cell Analysis Software Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Cell Analysis Software industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Cell Analysis Software market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Cell Analysis Software market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Cell Analysis Software players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Cell Analysis Software Market Players: Sartorius (ViroCyt) Cellix GE Healthcare CEITEC PerkinElmer ...Get Sample Copy of This Report Now @Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Cell Structure Analysis Software Cell Cycle Analysis SoftwareMarket segment by Application, Cell Analysis Software can be split into Biopharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies Cell Banks and IVF Centers Hospitals and Diagnostics Laboratories Research & Academic Laboratories OtherMajor regions are as follows: United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaThe report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Cell Analysis Software market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Cell Analysis Software market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend and provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions.Inquire before Buying @Also, key Cell Analysis Software market players influencing the market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.Reason to Buy- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Cell Analysis Software market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Inquire for Discount @Contact Us:Call: +1-888-236-2744Email: sales@qyresearchgroups.comAbout Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Room B1510, Shiji Kemao Building,No.66 Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing,100190, China. Copper Foils Market Size and Key Trends in Terms Of Volume and Value - Forecast to 2024 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1362915 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1362915/copper-foils-global-industry-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1362915 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "Copper Foils Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 " is the latest addition to MarketResearchReports.Biz industry research reports collection.The main objective of this report is to define, describe, and forecast the global Copper Foils market on the basis of types of applications, major sectors, deployment models, organization size, and regions. The report contains an analysis of the major factors influencing the growth of the market (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges). It aims to strategically analyze the micromarkets with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and their contribution to the market. The report attempts to forecast the market size for 5 major regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America. It contains key vendor profiles and comprehensively analyzes their core competencies. The report also tracks and analyzes competitive developments, including partnerships, collaborations, acquisitions, new product developments, and R&D activities in the market.Get Sample Copy of this report @Copper foil is a sheet of copper that is usually only a few micrometer in thickness. Copper foils are commonly used as a conductor in printed circuit boards (PCBs) and flexible connectors. Copper has high electric conductivity and is also ductile and malleable. This makes it one of the widely used metals in the emerging electric & electronics industry. This, in turn, is expected to drive the copper foils market in the next few years with a lot of demand estimated from Asia Pacific.There are two widely available forms of copper foils: electrolytically deposited (ED) copper and rolled annealed (RA) copper. ED copper foils are produced by electroplating the copper from a solution, which develops a columnar-grain structure in the metal. In ED copper foils, grains grow perpendicular to the foil. RA copper films are formed through the mechanical operation of applying the rolling pressure on heated, pure-copper ingots. In RA copper foils, grains grow parallel to the foil, resembling a plate-like structure. The two forms of copper foils differ primarily in their mechanical properties, with RA copper foils exhibiting greater ductility and elongation properties but lower hardness and tensile strength. ED copper foils are available in annealed and non-annealed grades while a special, high-ductility grade of the foil is also obtainable. RA copper foils are available in rolled, annealed, and special, low-temperature annealed grade.A large portion of the total electrodeposited copper foil produced is used for printed-wiring boards. ED copper foils are also employed for high-energy, low-power applications such as Li-ion batteries for laptops, cell phones, and consumer electronics. In Li-ion batteries, copper foils are used as negative-electrode current collectors. RA copper foils are generally employed for high-energy, high-power applications such as drivetrain and power tools as well as applications such as printed circuits, electromagnetic shielding, and rechargeable batteries. Other applications of RA copper foils include arts & crafts, panels, and laminated boards.View Full Report @Asia Pacific is a major producer of copper foils, catering to the high demand from the electric & electronics industry in the region. The production of copper in China has increased exponentially in the last two decades, providing ample raw material to manufacturers of copper films. China is also the leading consumer of copper foils in this region, followed by Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The U.S. is another important consumer of copper foils with a majority of the demand coming from high-tech electronics in military, aerospace, and defense sectors. In Europe, Germany accounts for a major share of the copper foils market, followed by the U.K. and France. Among applications, use of copper foils in Li-ion batteries is speedily growing. Growing importance of flexible electronics is projected to be a major driver for the copper foils market in the next decade. A prominent technological challenge in this market is development of ultra-thin copper foils while maintaining speedy production rates. The low-temperature, annealed grade of copper foils is touted to be a promising solution to this problem.Key players in the copper foils market are Targray Technology International Inc., K. L. Laminates d.o.o., JX Nippon, China-Kinwa High Technology Co., Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Kingboard Copper Foil Holdings Limited, Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Hubei Creatwell Co., Ltd., Chinalco Shanghai Copper Co. Ltd., and Oak-Mitsui.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Request For Enquiry @The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue 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.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 marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact usMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Dosing and Filling Machines Market : Industry Size, Share, Growth, Forecasts 2017 - 2025 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1372492 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1372492/dosing-and-filling-machines-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1372492 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "Dosing and Filling Machines Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 " is the latest addition to MarketResearchReports.Biz industry research reports collection.The main objective of this report is to define, describe, and forecast the global Dosing and Filling Machines market on the basis of types of applications, major sectors, deployment models, organization size, and regions. The report contains an analysis of the major factors influencing the growth of the market (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges). It aims to strategically analyze the micromarkets with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and their contribution to the market. The report attempts to forecast the market size for 5 major regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America. It contains key vendor profiles and comprehensively analyzes their core competencies. The report also tracks and analyzes competitive developments, including partnerships, collaborations, acquisitions, new product developments, and R&D activities in the market.Get Sample Copy of this report @Dosing and filling machines: Market IntroductionDosing and filling machine can perfectly weigh a product and fill it in the packet. As liquids, solids, semi-solids, granules have different consistency that might cause spillage of the product. Dosing and filling machines provides ease by weighing right quantity at right time and filling it at the right place. Dosing and filling machine uses electromagnetic flow meters that eliminates the contact between the filling valve and the container, this feature is required for filling special product. Due to the absence of springs, valves seals piston, in dosing and filling machines remove the extra maintenance cost included due to repair. The high speed of dosing and filling machines improves the productivity of the plant. Dosing and filling machines provide cleaner and aseptic solution for consumable products like milk, yogurt, and teas. Sticky substances or highly cohesive substance often blocks the nozzle, these issues are eliminated in case of dosing and filling machines. Delicate products dosing and precision filling feature of dosing and filling machines extends its applications.Dosing and filling machines: Market DynamicsRising demand for efficient packaging machinery for the food industry and pharmaceuticals industry is the major driver for dosing and filling machines market. Long working hours of consumers made them dependent on packed food products, this products proportionally rise demand for packaging machinery. Dosing and filling machines are meeting the demand of filling the product at a very high speed, this is major fuelling factor for dosing and filling machines market. Nowadays, due to rising awareness, consumers are believing in right medication practices, this requires for perfect filling for blisters, clamshells, bottles, prefilled syringes, vials, ampoules all of this is done by dosing and filling machine, so pharmaceuticals industry drives dosing and filling machines market. As, manufacturers are looking towards the aseptic solution for packaging consumable items, and dosing and filling machine provides this solution by prohibiting microbial entry by using electrometric flow metes. Liquids like, water, juices, wine etc. are weighed and filled by using specials filling valves, and this eliminates the possibility of bubble formation, and fills bottles at a faster rate. These feature of dosing and filling machines further drives the market. Dosing and filling machines are widely used in construction industry for filling cement, gravel, stones etc. this further extents dosing and filling machine market.View Full Report @Dosing and filling machines: Market SegmentationThe global market for dosing and filling machines market is segmented on the basis of machine type and end use industryOn the basis of machine type, dosing and filling machines market is segmented into:Semi-automatic dosing and filling machineAutomatic dosing and filling machineOn the basis of end use, dosing and filling machines market is segmented into:Pharmaceuticals industryFood and beverage industryCosmetics industryAutomotive industryConstruction industryHousehold and personal careDosing and filling machines: regional overviewGlobal dosing and filling machines market are segmented into seven regions, including North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and Japan. Busy lifestyles of consumers in North America region, made them dependent on packed food products, so they require right dosing at right time, this features extents dosing and filling machines filling market. Rising demand for packaging consumable and non-consumable products raising demand for dosing and filling machines in Europe region. Asia Pacific region shows a high requirement for dosing and filling machines, as consumers spending is increasing in food and healthcare sector, this acts as fuels market.Some of the key players of dosing and filling machines market are Pakona Engineers Pvt Ltd, All Fill Inc., De Vree, Robert Bosch GMBH.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Request For Enquiry @The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue 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.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 marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact usMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Austria: Country Intelligence Report By Detailed Strategies, Telecom Service, and Recent Developments, Forecast to 2022 Austria: Country Intelligence Report http://orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/2129282 http://orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/2129282 http://orbisresearch.com/reports/index/austria-country-intelligence-report Austria: Country Intelligence Report added to Orbisresearch.com database. The report covers the telecom service landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the Austrias mobile and telecom market, key vendors operating in this market. The report provides an extensive research and detailed analysis of the present market along with future outlook."Austria: Country Intelligence Report", a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Austria today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2022. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, and mobile segments, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.Austrias telecom service market will increase from 3.8bn ($4.3bn) in 2017 to 4bn ($4.7bn) by year-end 2022 at a CAGR of 1.1% (1.9% in $), mainly driven by mobile data and fixed broadband segments. Mobile voice will be the largest revenue-contributing segment in 2017. Mobile data revenue will expand at the fastest CAGR of 7.4% in (8.2% in $) over 2017-2022, reaching 1.5bn ($1.8bn) by 2022 driven by growing consumption of online videos and social media applications on mobile devices in line with rising smartphone penetration and growing adoption of 4G services.Scope of Austria: Country Intelligence Report:- The overall telecom service revenue in Austria will grow at a CAGR of 1.1% in terms of (1.9% in $) during 2017-2022.- Mobile revenue will account for 70.1% of total telecom service revenue in 2022, driven by increasing adoption of 4G services.- A1 leads Austrias mobile market in terms of mobile subscriptions for 2017, followed by T-Mobile Austria, Hutchison Drei Austria, Hofer and Spusu among others. Aiming to consolidate its leading market position, A1 focuses on network expansions/upgrades and competitively priced offers.Request a Sample PDF of Austria: Country Intelligence Report@Companies Mentioned:A1 (Telekom Austria)T-Mobile AustriaHutchison Drei AustriaHoferSpusuUPC AustriaThe Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Demographic and macroeconomic context in Austria.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, tariff regulation and more.- Telecom services market outlook: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data markets.- The competitive landscape: an examination of the positioning of leading players in the telecom services market as well as subscription market shares across segments.- Company snapshots: analysis of the financial position of leading service providers in the telecommunications markets.- Underlying assumptions behind our published base-case forecasts, as well as potential market developments that would alter, either positively or negatively, our base-case outlook.Have any query? Feel free to ask us@Reasons to buy Austria: Country Intelligence Report:- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Austrias telecommunications markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Austrias mobile communications, fixed telephony, broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Austrias telecommunications markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Austria.Note: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Browse full report with TOC@About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Info:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email id: sales@orbisresearch.com Commercial Vehicle ADAS Market Expected to grow at a CAGR 16.31% to 2022 https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1092422/?utm_source=OPR-SL https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1092422/?utm_source=OPR-SL https://empowerednews.net/author/gminsights/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-automotive-evp-electric-vacuum-pump-market-2018-forecast-to-2023/?utm_source=RR-SL https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/ MaketStudyReport.com adds a new Commercial Vehicle ADAS Market Research Report for the period of 2018-2022 that shows the growth of the market is rising at a 16.31% CAGR to 2022.Market reaserch analysts forecast the global Commercial Vehicle ADAS market to grow at a CAGR of 16.31% during the period 2018-2022.Commercial vehicle ADAS automate, adapt, and enhance vehicle systems for safety and better driving. ADAS works better based on the inputs from sensors, that analyses the data to take suitable actions. ADAS consists of lane keep assist, collision avoidance system, blind spot detection, park assist system, among others.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the commercial vehicle ADAS market. To calculate the market size, the report considers the growth supported by technology and applications.Get Sample Copy of this Report: @An automotive waste management system establishes a value chain to ensure the collection of waste produced by the automotive manufacturing process and the collection of end-of-life vehicles or obsolete or broken vehicles, which are called automobile scrap. When abandoned, unmanaged end-of-life vehicles can pollute the environment, making it unsuitable for human habitation.An inherent sub-vertical of the Automotive industry space, Commercial Vehicle ADAS market stands to gain remarkable proceeds over 2018-2022, as per a recently compiled report Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers:AmericasAPACEMEAMarket reaserch report, Global Commercial Vehicle ADAS 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 marketGet Discount on this report:Key vendors: Aptiv, Bosch, Continental, DENSO, Magna International, WABCO.Market driver; Introduction of sensor technology and For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge: High cost pressure on OEMs and For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend: Emergence of new business opportunities and For 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?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?More Report At:PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORTPART 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGYPART 04: MARKET LANDSCAPEMarket outlineMarket ecosystemMarket characteristicsMarket segmentation analysisPART 05: MARKET SIZINGMarket definitionMarket sizing 2017Market size and forecast 2017-2022PART 06: FIVE FORCES ANALYSISBargaining power of buyersBargaining power of suppliersThreat of new entrantsThreat of substitutesThreat of rivalryMarket conditionPART 07: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TOOLS TYPESegmentation by tools typeComparison by tools typeGlue-based puller ? Market size and forecast 2017-2022Vacuum-based puller ? Market size and forecast 2017-2022Market opportunity by tools typePART 08: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPEPART 09: REGIONAL LANDSCAPEGeographical segmentationRegional comparisonAmericas ? Market size and forecast 2017-2022APAC ? Market size and forecast 2017-2022Market opportunityPART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORKPART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGESMarket driversMarket challengesPART 12: MARKET TRENDSIncorporation of business growth strategies by PDR tools and service playersEmergence of low-cost and quality PDR workshops and body shopsAutomotive PDR tools industry witnessing growing opportunitiesPART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPEOverviewLandscape disruptionPART 14: VENDOR ANALYSISVendors coveredVendor classificationMarket positioning of vendorsHBC systemMiracle EuropePars PDR Service CentersPDR Finesse ToolsTrigoPART 15: APPENDIXList of abbreviationsRelated Reports: -Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Automotive Evp (Electric Vacuum Pump) Market 2018 Forecast to 2023The effect of vacuum boost in the braking system is related to the safety of the vehicle. In the automotive brake assist system, the vacuum booster can not get a vacuum or get a vacuum will lead the brake system is not so good. Electric vacuum pump c...Centralize market research purchases across your entire organization in one place.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study Report4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 114075USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:Industry News: news.marketsizeforecasters.com.Connect with us:Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter Ambient Lighting Market Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/2267 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2267 https://www.scoop.it/t/sustainable-and-smart-technologies/?&tag=Ambient+Lighting https://www.gminsights.com http://algosonline.com/technology Asia Pacific ambient lighting market is expected to grow at a significant rate, owing to increasing standard of living. Introduction of legislations regarding energy efficiency is favoring the industry growth. With the rising number of private museums in China, the need for highlighting the museums attractions, creating a perfect ambience for the audience and providing the correct reading environment is increasing. The growing importance of these illumination systems in the museums is set to drive growth in the China ambient lighting market.Ambient Lighting Market size will witness growth due to the rising demand for comfortable & innovative lighting solutions, growing trend of contemporizing of infrastructure, and the need for energy-efficient solutions. The growing number of infrastructural projects and rising consumer demand for enhanced interior design contributes to the ambient lighting market growth.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @These systems are being increasingly used to provide consistent, uniform, and glare free lighting, due to increasing focus on consumer satisfaction. These factors are expected to drive the ambient lighting market growth over the forecast timespan. In the past few years, rising concerns over global climate change has led to the implementation of various rules and regulations pertaining to energy efficiency. Increasing inefficiency of incandescent bulbs, owing to excess heat generation is making these solutions a more preferred option, thus aiding the ambient lighting market growth.The increasing demand for connected lighting and automation is contributing to the ambient lighting market growth. The growth can be credited to the increasing deployment across various end-use sectors such as retail, hospitality, corporate buildings & offices, industrial, and healthcare to enrich the overall experience. Increasing need for a soothing ambience for employees in offices is contributing to the growth. The need for sophisticated LEDs in cars for a pleasant, refreshing, and contemporary touch is driving companies to invest in implementing illumination in car interiors. For instance, OSRAM Automotive offers LEDambient CONNECT, an LED product, that is designed to add colors to the car interior.These systems offer advantages such as low maintenance & operational costs, reduced installation costs, and higher flexibility due to wireless control, thus boosting the ambient lighting market growth. Furthermore, the capability of these illumination devices to enhance the retail experience for customers and deliver a clear & bright light contributes to the industry demand. For instance, GE Lightings GE Infusion LED modules are deployed in John Lewis Ipswich store, that provides, future-proof installation, thereby enhancing the retail experience for John Lewis customers. Philips Lighting launched a new range of LED spot lamps Philips Master LED ExpertColor MR16 and GU10. The companies are increasingly investing in development of newer products for retail space, thus propelling the industry growth.The replacement of traditional systems with ambient light leads to high replacement costs, which is expected to restrain the ambient lighting market growth. The production of superior quality illumination systems requiring higher costs is expected to hinder the ambient lighting market growth. Also, these systems are not useful in harsh environments with high temperatures, owing to the rare overheating that may lead to device failure. In applications such as automotive and military, the operating temperatures differ widely, making the use of these systems difficult.Make an inquiry for buying this report @The ambient light market is segmented into software and hardware. Hardware includes lamps, luminaries, and lighting control. The industry is segmented into strip, track, surface mounted, recessed, and suspended lights. Recessed solutions offer a soft ambient glow and are widely used for paintings or artwork. The recessed systems are expected to hold a majority share, owing to the embedded control units, that gives interior the finished look. Track systems are used for illuminating shelves or for narrow, long rooms. Surface mounted systems are used for general indoor applications which require suspended solutions.Some of the players in the ambient lighting market include Samsung, Cree Inc., Royal Philips, Osram Light AG, Acuity Brands Inc., Thorn Lighting, GE Lighting, Advanced Lighting Technologies, Inc., and Nualight Limited. Companies are trying to implement these systems in TVs, thus allowing eyes to remain focused. Moreover, they are investing in technology development such as automation of the functioning of lamps that can automatically switch off at sunrise, thus avoiding unnecessary energy consumption during the day.Rising competition among major players to offer advanced technology-based solutions in the ambient lighting market is making them invest increasingly on research and development. Charging a mobile phone using panels designed with materials which can capture indoor ambient light one of the strategies that the companies in the market are adopting to gain competitive advantage. For instance, Dracula Technologies has proved to be a pioneer in this technology, with the development of conductive plastic materials.Browse Related Blog: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 biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Solar Pumps Market Crucial Growth Impact on Demand 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=3149 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3149 https://www.tmrresearch.com/solar-pumps-market Global Solar Pumps Market: SnapshotSolar power pumps are devices that majorly run on electricity generated through photovoltaic cells. These cells mainly collect the incident solar energy, which further gets converted into electric energy through various processes. Solar powered pumps are known to be widely economical in the long run as compared to electrical powered pumps majorly due to less operational costs and low maintenance expenses. Solar powered pumps also have less environmental impact than the pumps that run on electricity. Thus, looking at these advantages, these pumps are gradually being used in a large numbers, thus constituting a distinct solar pumps market from a global perspective.Request Sample Copy of the Report @A notable advantage of solar pumps involves their usage in conditions wherein it is highly impossible to set up grid electricity or even other energy sources such as wind and tidal activities. Solar pumps mainly consist of three components: controller, solar panels, and the pumps. The panels comprise most of the systems cost, and the size of the photovoltaic cells is directly proportional to the size of the pump, the amount of water required, and the intensity of incident solar rays available in the area.The global solar pumps market mainly depicts a splendid performance in regions that comprise developed countries, such as in North America and Europe. However, the market has maximum scope in tropical regions where sunlight intensity is mostly higher than temperate areas present in North America and Europe. To be more specific, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa are two such regions where solar pumps can be extensively used. However, these regions mainly consist of emerging economies, wherein the generation of comparatively less disposable income could hinder the solar pumps market. Nevertheless, favorable initiatives by governments in these regions are expected to push the market to gain an impressive growth during the upcoming years.Request TOC of the Report @Global Solar Pumps Market: OverviewThis report on the world market for solar pumps is an all-inclusive market intelligence study that brings forth the lucrativeness of the said market. The report is being compiled by a team of experienced research analysts and it aims to assist in the form of a credible user guide for its targeted audiences such as solar pumps products suppliers and dealers. Beginning with an executive summary that comprise a snapshot of how the demand for solar pumps has evolved over the recent past and where is it headed to in the future, the report delves into the analysis of various market dynamics, such as opportunities, trends, challenges, and drivers. The market intelligence study also points at mergers, important conglomerates, numerous research and development activities, acquisitions, and corroborations. The companies that have been profiled in the study come with thorough examination based on their market shares, prime products, and marketing strategies.The world market for Solar Pumps is expected to grow at a robust CAGR and is forecasted to attain a significant market valuation by the end of the period of forecast.Global Solar Pumps Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThere are many factors that are fuelling the growth of the world market for solar pumps. The market is forecasted to be driven by increased agricultural activities together with extraction of water for the purpose of irrigation that is based on renewable source of energy and the same is anticipated to drive the world market for solar pumps over the period of forecast.Global Solar Pumps Market: Market PotentialStringent government regulations can result in the reduction of carbon footprints into the atmosphere and are anticipated to augment the growth of international market for solar pumps over the next few years. Solar energy that is utilized for the purpose of water pumps does not emit any carbon footprints into the atmosphere and offers clean source of energy. Framers and solar pump makers receive government subsidies in the form of financial incentives are anticipated to propel the world market for solar pump over the forecast timeframe.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Solar Pumps Market: Regional AnalysisTaking geographical segmentations into consideration, the international market for solar pumps has been categorized into geographies of Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. The region of Asia Pacific has emerged as a clear leader in the world market for solar pump. Countries in this region like Pakistan, India, China, and Bangladesh, and are main agricultural regions with sufficient availability of solar energy. The Middle East & Africa is also experiencing substantial growth over the timeframe of forecast.Global Solar Pumps Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the prominent companies operating in the world market for solar pumps comprise names such as Shakti Pumps, Grundfos, Lorentz, TATA Power Solar Systems Ltd.,USL Bright Solar, SunEdison, and CRI Pumps.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Global Pumpjack Market 2018-2025 Schlumberger, General Electric, Halliburton, Dover Pumpjack Market Demand and Growth 2018 http://bit.ly/Pumpjack-Market-2018-2025 http://www.9dimenresearchstore.com/report/global-pumpjack-market-5676 http://9dimenresearchstore.com/ A market study "Global Pumpjack Market" examines the performance of the Pumpjack market 2018. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Pumpjack market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Pumpjack market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Pumpjack Market 2018 report includes Pumpjack market Revenue, market Share, Pumpjack industry volume, market Trends, Pumpjack Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report. It shows manufacturing capacity, Pumpjack Price during the Forecast period from 2018 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Pumpjack Market 2018 :1. Schlumberger Limited2. General Electric Company3. Weatherford International4. Halliburton5. Dover Corporation6. Borets International7. Tenaris S.A.8. National Oilwell Varco9. Hess Corporation10. Star Hydraulics11. Dansco Manufacturing, Inc12. Pentag Gears & Oilfield Equipment, Ltd13. L S Petrochem Equipment Corporation14. Cook Pump CompanyPumpjack Market : By ApplicationOnshoreOffshorePumpjack Market : By TypeBy Well Type:- Vertical Well, Horizontal WellBy Weight:- Less than 100,000 lbs, 100,000 lbs300,000 lbs, More than 300,000 lbsFirstly, the report covers the top Pumpjack manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Pumpjack report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Pumpjack industry, Pumpjack industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Pumpjack Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Pumpjack research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Pumpjack market revenue worldwide.Finally, Pumpjack 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 Us9Dimen Research Store is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact US:5001 Spring Valley Rd #400,Dallas,TX 75244, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Email: sales@9dimenresearchstore.comWeb: Waste Collection Trucks Market Eradicating Growth Factors till 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=3191 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3191 https://www.tmrresearch.com/waste-collection-trucks-market Global Waste Collection Trucks Market: SnapshotExponential rise industrial activities, inappropriate waste management methods, and unfitting ways of disposing waste have emerged as serious concerns demanding immediate attention from international authorities. As per a study conducted by the World Bank, the volume of municipal waste alone is expected to reach nearly 2.2 billion by the end of 2025. Rapid urbanization and increasing population are likely to aggravate the situation even further. In order to tackle the impending challenge, international authorities are tightening their guidelines to ensure improved industrial and municipal waste management. Furthermore, governments from across the world are willingly spending to ensure effective functioning of waste and waste water treatment plants. All these factors are cumulatively aiding the expansion of the global waste collection trucks market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Several emerging nations have adopted initiatives to eradicate accumulation of waste materials. For instance, China has a five year plan in place under which it has significantly invested in the advancement of its existing infrastructure, keeping in mind the prevailing environmental concerns. Likewise, India has adopted an initiative called Swacchh Bharat which is a high budget plan for a long term aimed at effective waste disposal and management. Several other nations have adopted similar initiatives to manage industrial and household waste efficiently. This in turn is expected to fuel the demand for waste collection trucks in the coming years.A majority of the prominent companies in the global waste collection trucks market are focusing on implementing diverse strategies to gain edge over competition. They are adopting favorable pricing practices, besides implementing efficient technologies to emerge at the fore. As per recent studies, several companies are also focusing on expanding their product portfolio and forging long term relations with suppliers and localized manufacturers to strengthen their foothold in the global waste collection trucks market. According to the report, in order to amplify their market share several companies are shifting focus towards emerging nations to capitalize on the prevailing opportunities.Request TOC of the Report @Global Waste Collection Trucks Market: OverviewThe global waste collection trucks market is anticipated to testify a surge in demand as a result of increasing application in industrial waste management systems. The demand could gain strength as voluntary instructions for these systems have already been issued by the EPA and state governments. Note that these authorities have expressed their concerns over untreated disposal of effluents and solid waste and evaluated the seriousness of the problems arising as a result of it. Another factor that is projected to create handsome growth opportunities in the market could be technological advancement responsible for improving the operational efficiency of waste collection trucks.Global Waste Collection Trucks Market: Trends and OpportunitiesGrowing worries about industrial waste being created at an alarming rate, especially in North America due to its massive industrial base, are foreseen to spur the demand for waste collection trucks in the coming years. With industrialization rising at a soaring rate, waste generation has been continuously gaining momentum, thus stimulating the requirement of powerful industrial waste management systems. Colossal amounts of solid and liquid waste are generated in construction, food and beverage, chemical, automotive, and other manufacturing sectors.Today, waste collection trucks do not lag behind in terms of technology. Waste segregation, novel waste collection equipment, real-time monitoring, and other advanced features have already been added to waste collection trucks.Global Waste Collection Trucks Market: Market PotentialSurrey, British Columbias Port Kells industrial area now has a new biofuel facility that is worth a C$68 million. Opened in March 2018, the facility is said to be North Americas first closed-loop organic waste management system that is fully integrated, according to the City of Surrey. It will provide fuel to waste service and collection vehicles powered by natural gas by converting curbside organic waste into renewable biofuel. One could imagine waste collection trucks picking up their fuel source at curbside, under this closed-loop system.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Waste Collection Trucks Market: Regional AnalysisThe international waste collection trucks market is foretold to become more prominent in North American countries such as the U.S. due to the strong presence of various industries. However, Europe could catch up with the growth of North America because of stringent environmental regulations imposed in the region looking at the pollution levels rising globally. Adoption of electric and CNG-based waste collection trucks could be on the rise due to the fuel inefficiency of diesel-based trucks. Other factors that are envisioned to help Europe to gain growth include the stable rise of the residential sector, large industrial base, and snowballing waste generation per capita.Global Waste Collection Trucks Market: Companies MentionedSome of the leading names of the international waste collection trucks market are FAUN Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Dulevo International, Iveco, Dennis Eagle, and Geesinknorba.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Strategic Insight into the Oral Care Chemicals Market to be at Forefront by 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=37586 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Personal care is necessary for sound health of ones body. Body care includes hair care, oral care, and skin care. Oral care is important in maintaining oral hygiene. Taking good care of teeth, gums, and mouth can help prevent bad breath, gum diseases, dental decay, and other problems. Oral care products contain different chemicals for different applications. These chemicals are either synthetic or bio-based.The oral care chemicals market can be segmented based on chemical ingredient, product, end-use application, and region. Based on chemical ingredient, the oral care chemicals market can be divided into active materials, additives, surfactants, preservatives, rheology modifiers, flavor and fragrance materials, and others. The others sub segment includes bio-based materials. The surfactants segment can be sub-segmented into lauryl alcohol sulfate, betaine, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium cocyl glutamate, and others. Based on product, the oral care chemicals market can be segregated into mouthwash and rinse, toothpaste, and denture cleaning and care. The toothpaste segment can be sub-segmented into paste, powder, and gel. In terms of end-use application, the market can be split into teeth bleaching agents, binders, stain removers, mouth moisturizers, custom encapsulates, and others. Based on region, the oral care chemicals market can be divided into Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, North America, and Latin America.Rise in awareness about good health and oral hygiene is projected to boost the oral care chemicals market during the forecast period. Growth in dental issues is also expected to propel the oral care chemicals market across the globe. Demand for oral products is increasing among children and the elderly. This, in turn, is driving the demand for oral care chemicals. Sugary food products such as candies and chocolates may create dental issues. Rise in demand for sugary food items is anticipated to augment the oral care chemicals market during the forecast period. Demand for oral care chemicals is estimated to increase in countries constituting major proportion of old age population in the near future. The toothpaste product segment is estimated to dominate the oral care chemicals market during the forecast period. The mouthwash and rinse segment is likely to expand at a rapid pace in the next few years. Stain removers, whitening agents, and teeth bleaching agents are expected to account for prominent share of the market in the near future. Demand for natural or bio-based products is estimated to rise owing to its biocompatibility.Request to view Sample Report:North America is projected to account for major share of the oral care chemicals market during the forecast period. Demand for oral care chemicals is likely to rise in Europe due to the large old age population in the region. Asia Pacific is anticipated to hold prominent share of the market owing to the increase in population and rise in health concerns. The market in Latin America and Middle East & Africa is estimated to expand at a moderate pace during the forecast period. Manufacturers are focusing on research and development activities for innovative formulations. Key players are engaged in developing attractive new products.Major players in the global oral care chemicals market include Galaxy Surfactants Ltd., BASF SE, Kao Chemicals Europe. S.L., Ashland, Dow Chemical Company, and Spectrum Chemical Manufacturing Corp.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.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.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: Quartz Fiber Market Growth Forecast 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=37640 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Quartz is a mineral found in the earths surface. It is the second most abandoned material present in the Earths continental crust. Quartz fiber is low-density, high-strength fiber, which possesses qualities such as high temperature resistance, high elongation, high dielectric strength, and almost zero coefficient of expansion (CTE). These qualities make it a preferred choice of material for applications where high temperatures are involved and durability is the priority. These fibers are made by extruding pure silica through a stream of hot air. Quartz fibers are used in aircraft radomes, electromagnetic windows, fireproof cables, blankets for firewalls, and aircraft fuselage fire barriers.Increase in demand for quartz fibers in the aerospace & defense industry and extensive use of these fibers in making filters for air purifiers are factors expected to boost the quartz fiber market in the near future. This is prompting companies to increase the production of quartz fiber. Additionally, easy availability of raw materials is anticipated to augment the demand for quartz fiber in the next few years.The global quartz fiber market is witnessing technological advancements. Companies are constantly striving to develop new and better quartz fibers. Development of new manufacturing process of quartz fiber and applications is estimated to propel the quartz fiber market. However, implementation of stringent environmental regulations and volatility in prices of raw materials are projected to adversely affect market growth.Based on product, the quartz fiber market can be classified into yarns, rovings, felts, sewing thread, and others. Yarns is the commonly used product; it is extensively employed in manufacture of aircraft radomes.Quartz fiber is used in a wide range of applications due to its excellent physical & chemical properties. Based on application, the market can be segmented into textile, aerospace & defense, electronic & semiconductors, chemicals, healthcare, and others. The aerospace & defense segment accounted for significant share of the quartz fiber in 2016 owing to the high demand for these fibers in civil aircraft radomes across the globe.Request to view Sample Report:In terms of geography, the quartz fiber market can be divided into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to constitute key share of the market during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is estimated to be a rapidly growing region of the quartz fiber market, owing to the increase in demand from the automotive industry in the region. Middle East & Africa is also likely to be an attractive region of the quartz fiber market during the forecast period due to the rise in demand from the packaging industry in the region.Prominent players operating in the global quartz fiber market include Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc., JPS Industries Inc., Hong Kong Datang Industrial Trade Co., Ltd, and Hubei Feilihua Quartz Glass Co., Ltd.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.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.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: Light Therapy Market to Record Sturdy Growth by 2026 https://www.xploremr.com/report/765/light-therapy-market https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/765 https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/765 https://www.xploremr.com/ This Future Market Insights report examines the Global Light Therapy Market for the period 20162026. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates, trends, drivers, restraints, volume and value forecasts and opportunities for manufacturers operating in the global light therapy market.Report overview @Global demand for light therapy devices is increasing as a result of rapid adoption of new technologies and increasing incidence of Seasonal Affective disorder (SAD) and skin treatments. Markets in developed economies are witnessing increasing demand for light therapy products due to the geographic location and high prevalence rate of SAD.Adoption of light therapy devices is projected to increase at a rate of 4.8% over the forecast period. The trend is expected to boost the overall demand for light therapy products such as light boxes, dawn simulators, handheld devices for skin treatment during the forecast period.To understand and assess the opportunities in this market, the report is categorically split into four sections, namely market analysis by product type, end user type, light type and region. The report analyses the global light therapy market in terms of market value (US$ Mn).The report starts with an overview of the light therapy market and its usage in various applications globally. In the same section, FMI covers the light therapy market performance in terms of revenue. This section includes FMIs analyses of key trends, drivers and restraints from the supply and demand perspective.The next section of the report analyses the market is based on product type and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. Product types covered in the report include:Light BoxFloor and Desk LampsLight VisorDawn SimulatorLight Therapy BulbsHandheld Devices for skin treatmentThe next section of the report analyses the market based on light type segments and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. The light type segments covered in the report include:White LightBlue LightRed LightOthers (green light, yellow light)The next section of the report analyses the market based on end user type segments and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. The end user type segments covered in the report include:Dermatology ClinicsHomecare SettingsOthers (workplace, salons)Get a free sample request @Furthermore, the report analyses the market based on regions and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. Regions covered in the report include:North AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAsia Pacific Excluding JapanMiddle East & Africa (MEA)JapanThe forecast presented for the market assesses the total revenue generated in the light therapy market. When developing the forecast, the starting point involves sizing the current market, which forms the basis for the forecast of how the market is anticipated to take shape in the near future. Given the characteristics of market, we triangulated the outcome based on different analysis of the supply side, demand side and GDP growth rate.However, quantifying the market across aforementioned segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalising them after the forecast has been completed.In addition, we have taken into consideration the year-on-year growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right growth opportunities in the global light therapy market.As previously highlighted, the global light therapy market is split into various categories based on region, product type, end user type and light type. All these segments or categories have been analyzed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand the individual segments relative contribution to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for identification of various key trends in the global light therapy market.Another key feature of this report is the analysis of the light therapy market by region and product type segments, end user type and light type segments; and the market revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market.However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales perspective in the global light therapy market.Furthermore, Future Market Insights has developed a market attractiveness index for all four segments, namely regional, product type, end user type and light type. This index helps in identifying the real opportunities in the market.The final section of the report includes the competitive landscape to provide report audiences a dashboard view, based on categories of providers across the market, their presence in the light therapy product portfolio and key differentiators.Key players in the global light therapy market include Koninklijke Philips N.V., Verilux, Inc., Northern Light Technology, Zepter International, Photomedex Inc., Beurer, Nature Bright, Lucimed SA, Chal-Tec-GmbH, Lumie, Aura Daylight and Sphere Gadget TechnologiesBuy Now Full Report @About UsXploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses. Our clients trust us for our unwavering focus onquality and affordability. We believe high price should not be a bottleneck for organizations looking to gain access to quality informationContact UsXploreMR111 North Market Street, Suite 300San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesTel: +1-669-284-0108Email: sales@xploremr.comWebsite: Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Market worth US$ 3,814.0 Mn by 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/antimicrobial-susceptibility-testing-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=31508 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=31508 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Market SnapshotAntimicrobial susceptibility tests are used to determine the specific antibiotics to be used in order to treat a particular infection caused by bacteria or fungus. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is essential to identify the patients antibiotic treatment and fight against antibiotic resistance.View Report-The global antimicrobial susceptibility test market was valued at US$ 2,578.4 Mn in 2016 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.6% from 2017 to 2025 to reach US$ 3,814.0 Mn by 2025. Increase in number of bacterial and fungal infections are the major factors likely to fuel the growth of the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market from 2017 to 2025.Factors such as increase in microbial resistance, rise in number of bacterial infections, need of new broad spectrum antibiotics, and surge in awareness about infection control in health care system drive the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market. However, inappropriate diagnosis, low patient compliance, patent expirations, lack of return on investment, and stringent regulatory procedures are the factors likely to restrain the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market.Request Brochure-The global antimicrobial susceptibility test market has been segmented based on product type, method, test type, application, end-user, and region. In terms of product type, the global market has been categorized into tests & kits, culture media, automated test systems, and consumables. Based on method, the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market has been classified into broth dilution method, rapid automated method, disk diffusion method, gradient diffusion method, and molecular testing method. In terms of test type, the global market has been segmented into antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitics, and others. Based on application, the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market has been divided into clinical diagnosis, drug discovery & development, and others. In terms of end-user, the global market has been classified into diagnostic laboratories & hospitals, pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, research & academic institutes, and contract research organizations.In terms of product type, the tests & kits segment dominated the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market, followed by the culture media segment. Factors such as all-in-one test kits, easy to read, reader not required, convenience and reliable, high productivity, and cost saving boost the growth of the tests & kits segment. Moreover, large amount of culture media used for different susceptibility tests drive the culture media segment.Request For Discount-Based on method, the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market has been segmented into broth dilution method, rapid automated method, disk diffusion method, gradient diffusion method, and molecular testing method. In terms of revenue, the disk diffusion method segment dominates the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market, followed by the broth dilution method segment. The disk diffusion method tests the extent to which a bacteria is affected and their sensitivity to antibiotics. It is widely used for clinical and epidemiologic purpose. Broth dilution method is widely used for detection of infection caused by Salmonella, E. coli, and Enterococcus. Molecular testing method is a small segment of the antimicrobial susceptibility test market; however, it has a significant potential during the forecast period.In terms of test type, the antibacterial segment dominates the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market. Increase in number of bacterial infections is a major factor fueling the growth of the segment. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, antibacterial resistance is responsible for over 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, and an estimated 25,000 deaths due to antibacterial-resistant infections in Europe. Hence, demand for newer broad spectrum antibacterial drugs is rising. Over 480,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) were reported by the WHO in 100 countries in 2013.Based on application, the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market has been classified into clinical diagnosis, drug discovery & development, and others. The clinical diagnosis segment dominates the market. These procedures are widely used to analyze antibiotic resistance in order to provide the efficient treatment. Drug discovery & development is the second largest segment in terms of revenue, as in many research laboratories and academic institutions, these techniques are used for discovery of new antibiotics as there is increase in the antimicrobial resistance and the need of the hour is development of new antibiotics to treat deadly bacterial infections.In terms of end-user, the diagnostic laboratories & hospitals segment dominates the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market. Increase in number of bacterial and fungal infections and their rising resistance against existing treatment options increase the drive diagnosis of the diseases. Additionally, surge in hospital-acquired infections is a major factor fueling the growth of the segment. Patients with serious infections such as severe pneumonia and patients with bacterial infection complications after major surgery are treated with antibacterial drugs to avoid infections, as delay in treatment will lead to a serious risk for the patient. Hence, antimicrobial susceptibility tests are being carried out on a large scale in order to understand the treatment options.In terms of region, North America dominates the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market, followed by Europe. North America and Europe together account for 66.3% share of the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market. Awareness about treatment options, continuous research for new advanced drugs and its treatment options are few factors contributing the growth of these two regions. Asia Pacific is a potential region for the antimicrobial susceptibility test market. Increase in number of infections in this region is a major factor accelerating the growth of the market.Major players operating in the global antimicrobial susceptibility test market are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Beckman Coulter, Inc. (subsidiary of Danaher Corporation), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Conda, Creative Diagnostics, HiMedia Laboratories, Alifax Holding S.p.A., Danaher Corporation (Cepheid), and Biotron Healthcare, among others. These players are adopting organic and in-organic growth strategies to expand product offerings, strengthen geographical reach, increase customer base, and capture market share.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: Contrast Media Market to Grow at CAGR of 4% through 2026 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/global-contrast-media-contrast-agents.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=876 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=876 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Contrast Media Market SnapshotThe global contrast media market is growing at a rapid pace, driven by increase in incidence of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The global contrast media market was valued at US$ 4,600 Mn in 2017 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 4% from 2018 to 2026 to reach over US$ 6,500 Mn by 2026. The global market is witnessing relatively higher growth owing to increase in technological advancements in contrast agents, increase in number of installed base of CTs and MRIs, and rise in prevalence of chronic disease across the globe.View Report-Contrast agent/media is a substance used to enhance the contrast of fluids and structures of the body during medical imaging. These agents are used in X-ray, CT scan, angiography, and ultrasound imaging. The major types of contrast agent are iodine-based compounds, barium sulfate-based compounds, and gadolinium-based compound. These compounds are injected with the help of contrast media injectors through different routes of administration.The global contrast media market is witnessing significant growth and is expected to expand at steady CAGR during the forecast period from 2018 to 2026. Increase in number of installations of imaging devices such as CT and MRIs globally, rise in prevalence of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and surge in awareness about pre-diagnosis of diseases such as cancers and other cardiovascular diseases are expected to boost the growth of the global contrast media market during the forecast period. Furthermore, rise in awareness about diseased conditions and increase in health care expenditure are the other factors likely to propel the global market during the forecast period. Adverse effects of contrast agents and stringent regulatory scenario in several developing regions are the factors projected to hamper the growth of the global contrast media market during the forecast period.Request A Sample-The global contrast media market has been segmented based on type, route of administration, imaging modality, application, and region. In terms of type, the market has been classified into iodine-based compounds, barium sulfate-based compounds, gadolinium-based compounds, and microbubbles/microspheres. The iodine-based compounds segment held major market share in terms of revenue in 2017. Iodinated contrast media are low osmolar and can be non-ionic, and hence, can be used in several applications. This is expected to fuel the growth of the segment.Based on route of administration, the global contrast media market has been categorized into oral, rectal, intravenous/intra-arterial, others. The intravenous/intra-arterial segment held the largest share of the market in terms of revenue in 2017, followed by the oral segment. Intravenous is the safest and most common route of administration of contrast media to enhance imaging. This is one of the factors propelling the segment.Request For Discount-In terms of imaging modality, the global contrast media market has been divided into CT/X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, and others. The CT/X-ray segment held the largest share of the global market owing to increase ion installation of CT scanners across the globe.Based on application, the global contrast media market has been segmented into oncology, cardiology, neurology, and others. The cardiology segment is anticipated to dominate the market during the forecast period due to high prevalence of chronic diseases across the world.Geographically, North America held significant share of the global market in terms of revenue, followed by Europe. Developed countries such the U.K., the U.S., and Germany show higher awareness about pre-diagnosis of diseases. This is expected to boost the growth of the market in the regions. Moreover, developed infrastructure, increase in health care investment, and robust R&D in countries in the regions are the others factors driving the market. The market in Asia Pacific is growing at a rapid apace. Developed countries such as Australia and Japan are favorable for the growth of the market. India and China are the potential markets for contrast media due to increase in population, and rise in installations of capital equipment.Key players in the global contrast media market include GE Healthcare, Bayer AG, Bracco Diagnostic, Inc., Guerbet Group, Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., nanoPET Pharma GmbH, Subhra Pharma Private Limited, and Spago Nanomedical AB.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: Digital Pregnancy Test Kits Market Observes Generous Changes in Trends 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=3170 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3170 https://www.tmrresearch.com/digital-pregnancy-test-kits-market Global Digital Pregnancy Test Kits Market: SnapshotThe global market for digital pregnancy kit has witnessed significant traction in the past few years, with a massive shift in consumer preference towards innovative and technologically advanced products and vast technological advancements seen in these products key to the steady growth of the market. As an increasing number of companies foray into the global digital pregnancy test kit market, the number of product varieties available has also increased steadily.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Owing to the consecutive rise in competition, companies have started focusing on growth opportunities across emerging markets wherein a large number of women have started preferring home pregnancy tests over clinical diagnosis. A steadily rising population of financially self-dependent women in these emerging markets, a population that is also more aware about wellness and healthcare, has become the new target audience of companies operating in the global digital pregnancy test kits market.Owing to easy and early availability of technologically advanced products and innovative products, regional markets across North America and Europe presently account collectively for a massive share in the overall market. The presence of some of the leading vendors known to the global market and an aware female population in these regions also contribute to their dominant positions. While the regions are likely to remain the leading revenue contributors to the global market over the forecast period as well, the market in Asia Pacific is expected to present more promising growth opportunities owing to a vast set of untapped opportunities in the region. The market in Asia Pacific is also expected to benefit from a thriving medical devices industry and rising awareness regarding wellness and healthcare among women.Global Digital Pregnancy Test Kits Market: OverviewDevices that enable the identification or possibility of pregnancy in females are termed as pregnancy test kits. Primarily, these devices sense any trace or presence of tiny Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG or the female pregnancy hormone). The amount of HCG rises to an extent during early stages of pregnancy in the female body. Digital pregnancy test kits are a result of the introduction of cutting edge technologies such as digitalization and smart connected networks with pregnancy test kits. The advances in technology in pregnancy test kits, coupled with the growing demand of immediate and self-contained test results are significant factors which are likely to propel the growth of the global digital pregnancy test kits market in the coming years.Request TOC of the Report @This report provides in-depth analysis of the global digital pregnancy test kits market, focusing on the market opportunities and possible restraints, along with the latest trends. The report segments the global digital pregnancy test kits market based on its type, distribution channel and geography.Global Digital Pregnancy Test Kits Market: Trends & OpportunitiesAnalog pregnancy test kits are being rapidly replaced by digital pregnancy test kits in the past few years. The conventional line indicators, or color indicators offered by traditional pregnancy kits may cause confusion or may be difficult to interpret in some cases. Digital pregnancy test kits overcome these issues by providing the information on a digital screen, thereby fueling the digital pregnancy test kits market to a large extent.Digital pregnancy test kits also come equipped with several cutting-edge innovations, such as a smart countdown and Bluetooth connectivity. The growing number of female working professionals over the globe leaves them little time to seek medical help, and they prefer the use of home kits in order to confirm the possibility of pregnancy over visiting a physician. Hence, the expanding number of working women present a wide range of growth opportunities for the global digital pregnancy test kits market.Global Digital Pregnancy Test Kits Market: Market PotentialThere have been instance of misleading advertising of the features of pregnancy test kits in the past, and a leading giant was involved in a major litigation for deceptive marketing. Recently, Church & Dwight, a leading vendor in the digital pregnancy test kits market, presented a consumer survey in which nearly 20% of consumers considered the products estimation number of weeks would be the same as that measured through conventional methods. The survey result proves that advertisement and campaigning activities without providing false information can provide manufacturers with bountiful growth opportunities in the digital pregnancy test kits market.Global Digital Pregnancy Test Kits Market: Regional OutlookThe global digital pregnancy test kits market is segmented on the basis of geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East and Africa.Global Digital Pregnancy Test Kits Market: Competitive LandscapeLeading manufacturers of digital pregnancy test kits are focussing on co-promotions and co-marketing strategies to expand commercial presence. Launch of technologically advanced products by local manufacturers is expected to provide ample opportunities for the growth of digital pregnancy test kits in the U.S. market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Key players in the global digital pregnancy test kits market are Sugentech Inc., Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Church & Dwight Co., Inc., and Gregory Pharmaceutical Holdings.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Para Xylene Market Analysis, Top Key Players| Braskem, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, Reliance Industries Limited, Royal Dutch Shell plc. and US Petrochemical Industries Inc. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2278 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/para-xylene-market-2278 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com Market Overview:Xylene is a clear, colorless and flammable solution which is produced from crude oil. Xylene primarily exists in three isomeric forms such as ortho-xylene, meta-xylene and para-xylene. Para xylene or PX or P-xylene is basically an aromatic hydrocarbon compound, which is colorless, sweet-smelling, toxic, and highly flammable chemical. Para-xylene is extensively used for the production of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and terephthalic acid (PTA) which are further used in the manufacturing of polyesters. Moreover, para-xylene is primarily used in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is primarily used as a packaging materials for carbonated drinks, water bottles, and other containers for food, beverages and personal care products.According to the analysis of MRFR, the major market forces and trends driving growth of the global Para-Xylene market includes increasing demand for various applications such as packaging, textile and construction materials among others. Moreover, the increasing personal disposable income in the developing economies throughout the globe has augmented the demand for polyester fibers which in turn is expected to fuel the growth of the global Para-Xylene Market during the forecast period. In addition, the growing demand for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as a packaging material is further expected to affect the market positively. However, stringent government regulations regarding the use of Polyethylene terephthalate due to the non-biodegradable nature and harmful environmental effects in the developed regions such as Europe and North America coupled with the lack of competent labor for handling and transportation of hazardous para-xylene chemicals in the developing economies can act as a major down side to the growth of the market.Get a Sample Report @Key Players:Braskem, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, Reliance Industries Limited, Royal Dutch Shell plc., US Petrochemical Industries Inc. The Dow Chemicals Company, BASF SE, Conoco Phillips Corporation, JXTG Nippon Oil and Energy Corporation, China national Petroleum Corporation, British Petroleum, Jurong Aromatics Corporation, Lotte Chemical Corporation, Sinopec Corporation, and CNOOC Limited among others are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the global Para-Xylene Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:November 16, 2016- A team of chemical researchers including doctorates and professors from university of Massachusetts has innovated a process for production of para-xylene which involves the use of biomass as feedstock with a 97% yield. This innovation is expected to fuel the production of para-xylene owing to its cost efficiency and higher.April 21, 2017 Reliance Industries limited announced the successful completion of the final phase of para-xylene project including aromatic extraction units, trans-alkylation and PX crystalliser trains at Jamnagar. The plant is constructed with efficient technology from British Petroleum which is anticipated to push Reliance to the second spot in the global market of para-xylene producers. Reliance has successfully implemented the first phase of the project earlier in 2016. This development is expected to augment the market of para-xylene in India which in turn will positively affect the Asia Pacific para-xylene market.February 11, 2016 Hengli Petrochemical Company Limited has collaborated with Axens for the procurement of technology, in the first crude to paraxylene complex located in China. This complex is expected to hold a capacity of processing 4,00,000 barrels of crude oil per day which will further cater to the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants for the use in the PET applications. This collaboration will further drive the market of PET application will in turn will surge the growth of the para-xylene market.Browse Full Report @Regional AnalysisGeographically, maximum consumer of para xylene market is in Asia-Pacific followed by Europe and all of them contributes greatly in the growth of the market. North-America are facing sluggish market growth rate. Growth of para xylene market is Asia Pacific is maximum due to the growing use of PARA xylene for various applications along with macroeconomic growth of textile and plastic industry in the region.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.WantStats Research and Media Pvt. Ltd.Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India ePayment System Market Potential Competition Snapshot 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=3140 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3140 https://www.tmrresearch.com/epayment-system-market Global ePayment System Market: SnapshotAn ePayment system or electronic payment system, also popularly known as online payment system, has gained enormous traction among consumers and businesses alike for making or receiving payments. The usage of ePayment system has outgrown in recent years and is rapidly gaining popularity over cash and card transactions. The popularity is stoked by the several attractive functionalities and benefits the usage of these system confers on savvy users. At the fore is the unmatched convenience of secure money transfer anytime and anywhere in real time. The bold strides being made by online shopping and the burgeoning e-commerce retail in several emerging and developed countries are key factors providing a robust groundwork for the expansion of the e-payment system market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The proliferation of apps for seamless phone-to-phone (P2P) payments, coupled with substantial industry efforts to raise the awareness about the functionalities, is a notable trend bolstering the uptake of ePayment systems. The demand is also benefiting from recent government initiatives to promote their use in emerging economies for ensuring the transparency in financial transactions. In recent decades, world over there have been rapid advances in digital infrastructure and constant advancements in technologies. This has fortified the uptake of ePayment system. The growing popularity of mobile wallets across worldwide populations is also helping the global market to expand rapidly. The advent of cutting-edge automation technology by a few e-commerce giants augurs well for the ePayment systems market. The potentially high usage of credit card and debit card in facilitating ePayment system is a key trend accentuating the demand. In recent years, significant efforts have been made by technology companies to up the level of security of transactions. This has a strong bearing on the demand for these systems among consumers in emerging markets. Furthermore, the use of ePayment system is also gathering steam for payment of bills and payments at retail shops.Global ePayment System Market: OverviewePayment is basically a form of digital monetary transaction that takes place between buyers and sellers on an online platform. The monetary exchange occurs with the help of a digital financial device, which is supported by an intermediary such as a bank. The process of ePayments can be completed with the use of bank transfers, debit cards, or credit cards. These payments are characterized by their instantness, which saves buyers and sellers ample time along with the ease of payment. ePayments enable a fast and secure way to initiate payments. This enables it to steal a march over conventional payment options. The growing popularity of internet shopping coupled with online and mobile banking is substantially propelling the demand for ePayment systems.Request TOC of the Report @This report offers a deep analysis of the market competition that could be witnessed by players in the coming years. The report puts forth possible strategies for new participants to enter the market and various business paths that existing players could take. The report is an all-encompassing study of the ePayment system industry its drivers, challenges, and key trends.Global ePayment System Market: Key TrendsConsumer behavior is changing fast with the high penetration of internet and mobile phones across the globe. Changing government policies, which indirectly encourage transparency in payment systems leading to demand for phone-to-phone (P2P) payments, are also impacting the global ePayment system market. The boom in e-commerce further provides an impetus to the use of online payment systems, with digital platforms, mobile wallets, and online bank exchanges enticing customers with discounts and offers. The progress in digital infrastructure in emerging economies is offering a robust ecosystem for the development of the digital payments industry, thereby fuelling the ePayment system market.Global ePayment System Market: Market PotentialRecently, the Wall Street Journal reported the active consideration of the eCommerce giant Amazons voice assistant in online payments. Amazon plans to use its patented Alexa to try and enter the online payment market, actively competing with Paymos Venmo and other large banks which offer payment services. Using Alexas voice-based instruction inference system, the users will be able to transfer money using their voice.Global ePayment System Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of geographical segmentation, the global ePayment system market has been segmented into five major regions of Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.Global ePayment System Market: Competitive AnalysisLeading vendors in the global ePayment system market are Wipro, LightPointe Communications, VLNComm, General Electric, pureLiFi, Philips, Nakagawa Labs, Oledcomm, Nakagawa Labs, LVX System, and Velmenni.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Global Social Employee Recognition Systems Market Investigation & Development Forecast during 2016 2026 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3005 https://www.mrrse.com/social-employee-recognition-systems-market https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The market for Social Employee Recognition Systems Market growing with the expansion of this Industry Sector Worldwide. Market Research Report Search Engine (MRRSE) has added a new report titled Social Employee Recognition Systems Market: Small and Medium Enterprises Competing with Large Enterprises to Implement Social Employee Recognition Systems for Boosting Employee Productivity: Global Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026which offer details about the current trends as well as scope for the near future. This research study also covers information about the production and market share based on different active regions. Furthermore, an anticipated growth at a double-digit CAGR for the concerned Social Employee Recognition Systems Market is highlighted in the report which indicates a prosperous future.Obtain Brochure for Latest Technology Advancements @The market for enterprise social networks and online communities is expanding because of increasing usage of social media websites and software among employees for collaboration, integration, and expert advice. As a result, the proliferating market for enterprise social networks and online communities is expected to pave the way for social employee recognition systems market in near future. The deployment of social employee recognition systems is exponentially high in retail and consumer goods as well as IT and telecom, owing to strong presence of large scale enterprises and hefty expenditure budget. As social employee recognition systems are not a necessity but a value addition that adds up to existing costs, their adoption will possibly remain restricted.Growing involvement of upper management of retail and consumer goods enterprises is expected to increase deployment of social employee recognition systemsCurrently, stable increase in the participation of senior management in employee recognition is providing a much needed push to the social employee recognition market at a steady rate. Some companies have seen enhanced and sturdier growth owing to participation of the senior management in such activities and programmes. These social employee recognition solutions can be app-based owing to which, the senior management can vigorously participate in the events from any location and further recognize and recompense the efforts that the employees and the teams make with the help of social networking web apps in their personal devices. Furthermore, social employee recognition solutions assist employees to informally communicate with their corresponding teams as well as seniors, resulting in escalated employee productivity.Obtain Report Details @Moreover, the BYOD trend in this particular sector has been triggering traction since the recent past. Although the trend is currently at a nascent stage in small-scale companies across the globe, a range of growth opportunities for vendors can be identified. Constant technological advances are expected to further support the adoption of BYOD trend by companies in coming years.Integration of advanced technologies in IT and telecom will surge the demand in near futureRobust advancements in the IT industry are anticipated to create strong growth opportunities for social employee recognition systems. Integration of technologies such as IoT, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and others is expected to lead to the development of social recognition systems with much more capabilities and upgraded performance. Moreover, market players providing social recognition systems integrated with deep learning technologies have been experiencing escalated demand. This scenario has been attributed to improved customer satisfaction, enhanced capabilities, and profitable outcomes. As new technologies continue to assimilate, systems with advanced capabilities will continue to develop, thereby creating healthy opportunities for the market to proliferate over the coming years on a global level.About (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:Read More Industry News At: New Research on Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment Market Insights Covering Market Dynamics and Competitive Scenario through 2023 Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/1631 https://www.mrrse.com/explosive-ordnance-disposal-equipment-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/1631 https://www.mrrse.com/ A latest research report titled as Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment Market has been recently added to the vast portfolio of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) online research offerings. This report is a professional and in-depth analysis on the present state and future prospect for the global market. It provides valuable information to the industry insiders, potential entrants or investors. It includes an exhaustive enquiry with the reliability of logic and the comprehensiveness of contents.Click Here, To Get Sample Copy of New Research Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) E Equipment Market Report @Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment market refers to the tools and equipments used to detect, dispose and provide protection 0064uring explosive disposal operations. The global Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment market has been segmented by equipment type, application and geography. On the basis of equipment type the market has been segmented into portable X-ray systems, projected water disruptors, bomb containment chamber, EOD suits and blankets, EOD robots, explosive detectors and search mirrors among others. The EOD market on the basis of application has been categorized into defense and law enforcement. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America are the various regions covered within the scope of research. Furthermore, a cross sectional analysis has been provided for each of the reports covered within the scope of research.Factors such as police forces modernization programs and defense modernization programs are also expected to drive the demand for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment. Various defense agencies across the globe are striving to equip their forces with modern equipment in order to counter terrorist intrusions. For example, large numbers of military organizations and law enforcement organizations have adopted military EOD robots. These robots can be programmed according to a given situation and can also be repurposed in a short time. Moreover, recent surge in number of terrorist attacks have also boosted the demand for EOD in recent years. The rise of various terrorist outfits such as ISIS and Boko Haram are constantly conducting coordinated country-wide attacks against the governments across the globe.These organizations are targeting malls, schools and embassies among others. As a result of these factors, defense organizations are increasingly adopting EOD equipment to counter the terrorist attacks. Furthermore, the joint efforts taken by various countries such as the U.S., Russia and France among others to curb terrorism have further resulted in an increased demand for EOD equipments. These factors in combination are expected to propel the demand for EOD equipment throughout the forecast period.However, defense budget cut by governments of various countries is restraining the demand for EOD equipment globally. For example, there has been a 31% defense budget cut in the U.S. military spending from 2010 to 2016Significant opportunities exist for the EOD equipment market as a result of continuous research and development initiatives undertaken by various manufacturers. Research and development is directed toward improving existing features as well as developing new advanced features. For example, in January 2014, DetectaChem launched a handheld explsoive detector called the SEEKERe. The SEEKERe has been designed and developed in accordance to the specifications requested by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).The company profiles of the major players in the global Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market across five major geographic regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa and Latin America has been extensively covered under the purview of the study. Moreover, the business strategies being adopted by the major players in the market have also been included in the report. The market attractive analysis has also been provided in the report for providing a detailed insight into the global EOD equipment market.Click here, To Get Complete Examined Research Report with TOC @The market dynamics, which includes the market drivers, restraints and opportunities, has also been included under the scope of the report. Market dynamics help to understand the current trends in the global market by providing insights of the distinctive factors that influence the growth of the specific market. Thus, this report provides an inclusive study of the global Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market and also provides forecast of the market for the period from 2015-2023.Some of the major players operating in EOD market are: iRobot Corporation, Safariland, LLC, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Scanna Msc Ltd., NABCO, Inc., United Shield International Ltd, Reamda Ltd., API Technologies Corp., Du Pont (E.I.) De Nemours and Cobham plc among others.The global Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market has been segmented into:Global Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market, by Equipment TypePortable X-ray SystemsProjected Water DisruptorsBomb containment chambersEOD Suits and BlanketsEOD RobotsExplosive DetectorsSearch mirrorsOthersGlobal Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market, by Application:DefenseLaw EnforcementGlobal Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Equipment market, by Geography: The market is broadly segmented on the basis of geography into:North AmericaS.CanadaOthersEuropeUnited KingdomFranceGermanyRussiaOthersAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanOthersMiddle East and AfricaA.E.IsraelOthersLatin AmericaBrazilArgentinaOthersNeed Assistance? Send An Enquiry @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: +1-518-730-0559(USA & CANADA TOLL-FREE NUMBER)Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Secure Email Services: Market 2018 Segmented by Manufacturers (ProtonMail, CounterMail, Hushmail, Mailfence, Tutanota) and Forecasts to 2025 Qy Research Groups https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/947077 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/947077 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/947077 Secure Email Services Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Secure Email Services industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Secure Email Services market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Secure Email Services market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Secure Email Services players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Secure Email Services Market Players: ProtonMail CounterMail Hushmail Mailfence Tutanota ...Get Sample Copy of This Report Now @Market segment by Application, Secure Email Services can be split into Enterprise PersonalMajor regions are as follows: United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaThe report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Secure Email Services market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Secure Email Services market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend and provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions.Inquire before Buying @Also, key Secure Email Services market players influencing the market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.Reason to Buy- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Secure Email Services market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Inquire for Discount @Contact Us:Call: +1-888-236-2744Email: sales@qyresearchgroups.comAbout Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Room B1510, Shiji Kemao Building,No.66 Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing,100190, China. Hospital Administration Software Market Revolutionized Opportunities by 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=260 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=260 https://www.tmrresearch.com/hospital-administration-software-market Hospital Administration Software Market: SnapshotThe rapid development in information technology has revolutionized the healthcare industrys delivery model today. With the power of internet, the healthcare service delivery model has become advanced. The hospital administration software market is expected to witness a high demand in the forecast period from 2017 to 2025 on account of rising government support and increased patient awareness. Better healthcare infrastructure can be seen across the globe on account of increased medical spending. Hospital administration software has eliminated the need to manually calculate patient bills or managing employee payroll, among others. Advanced healthcare IT services such as computerized physician order entry are also helping the market to grow. Hospital administration software offers benefits such as improved operations management, better control and administration, enhanced patient care, effective cost control, and increased profitability.As patients in most hospital or clinics especially in developing economies suffer due to poor hospital management, the introduction of hospital administration software will serve as a boon in the long run and improve patient care and management to a large extent. Over the coming years, a large number of hospitals and clinics are expected to make use of hospital administration software, thus driving the market worldwide. The report analyzes all the fey factors impacting the growth of the market and also takes into account the challenges faced by the global hospital administration software market. One of the key challenges faced by developing nations is the lack of skills to operate this software and take the fullest advantage of the various facilities offered by the software.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Hospital Administration Software Market: OverviewThe introduction of advanced healthcare IT services such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) has revolutionized the global hospital administration software market. Before the advent of administration software, patient billing and employee payroll were managed manually. The software helps in reducing medication errors to a remarkable extent and therefore, it is being increasingly deployed across healthcare infrastructures worldwide. The market is likely to gain tremendous momentum in the near future owing to the rising inclination towards patient-centric care approach and advancements in cloud-hosted models.This research report on the global hospital administration software market is a professional study collated by extensively covering all the critical aspects of the market. These aspects include market dynamics, geographical segmentation, technological developments, and competitive landscape. The report profiles key players in the market along with their market shares, business strategies, and contact information.Global Hospital Administration Software Market: Drivers and RestraintsGlobally, the healthcare industry is facing substantial pressure regarding cost cutting from end users. The growing pressure is prompting healthcare providers to adopt cost effective solutions, thereby driving the demand for hospital administration software. The increasing incentives by governments for implementing IT in healthcare facilities, in order to improve the facilities, are fuelling the market.Request TOC of the Report @On the other hand, the high cost and time required for the integration of hospital administration software coupled with interoperability issues are hindering their widespread adoption. The dearth of skilled on-site IT professionals is another factor adversely affecting the growth of the market. Furthermore, the threat to data privacy and security with the existing software solutions is hampering the growth of the market.Global Hospital Administration Software Market: Geographical SegmentationOn the basis of geography, the global hospital administration software market can be fragmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. North America will be a lucrative market throughout the forecast period. The emergence of cloud computing and web-based support systems is promoting the adoption of software solutions across hospitals for administration purposes. The growth of the Europe region can be attributed to the high acceptance of technologically advanced systems along with favorable government policies that are encouraging the deployment of innovative software solutions across healthcare setups.Asia Pacific is poised to progress at a brisk pace during the same period, with India, China, Australia, and Singapore being some of the major contributors to the growth of the region. Factors such as the improving healthcare IT infrastructure, increasing consumer spending, and rising medical tourism are augmenting the growth of the region.Global Hospital Administration Software Market: Competitive LandscapeThe global hospital administration software market is a highly fragmented arena, wherein the majority of players are focusing on service innovation and technological advancements. Some of the prominent players in the market are Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., Accumedic Computer Systems, Accurate Info Soft Pvt. Ltd., Athenahealth Inc., Agfa Healthcare, eClinicalWorks, Cerner Corporation, GE Healthcare, e-MDs Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Carestream Health, Medical Information Systems Inc., McKesson Corporation, and Siemens Healthcare.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Growing Demand from Emerging Of Medical Imaging Informatic Market https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1740574 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ The Latest Research Report Global Medical Imaging Informatic Market Size,Status and Forecast 2025 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.bizThe main objective of this report is to aid the user in understanding the market as a whole, its definitions, segmentation, market potential, influential trends, and the barriers that it is facing. Meticulous research and analysis were an important part of the report preparation. Those reading the report will be able to get a detailed understanding about the market. Industry experts have verified and checked the data and information that have been taken from credible sources like websites, annual reports of companies, journals, and other resources. In order give the facts and data a pictorial form, diagrams, graphs, pie charts, and other representations have been used. That augments the visual appeal of the report and makes understanding it much easier.Get Sample Copy of this report @This report studies the global Medical Imaging Informatic market, analyzes and researches the Medical Imaging Informatic development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeGeneral ElectricKoninklijke Philips N.V.Siemens HealthcareOnex CorporationToshiba Medical Systems CorporationAGFA- GEVAERTMckesson Corporation...Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoSoftwareHardwareServicesMarket segment by Application, Medical Imaging Informatic can be split intoHospitalsDiagnostics CentersAmbulatory Healthcare SettingsOthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Virtual Network Functions market is expected to reach approximately over USD 25 billion by 2023 growing at a 30% CAGR over the forecast period 2018-2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5680 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/virtual-network-functions-market-5680 Global Virtual Network Functions Market Research Report, By Component (Hardware, Software, And Services), By Organization Size (Sme And Large Enterprises), By Deployment, And By End-Users - Forecast Till 2023Market Scenario:Virtual Network Function (VNF) is generally known by another name in the industry as Network functions virtualization (NFV). They are often used interchangeably, as both of them concentrate primarily on enhancing network services, unlike Software-Defined Networking (SDN), which segregates the control and forwarding plane for a centralized view of the network. Virtual network function is developed to integrate and facilitate networking components, essential to give a backup for a full virtualized environment. Additionally, a VNF handles a specific network functions that are implemented on one or more virtual machines (VMs) mounted on the hardware networing components such as servers, storage, routers, switches,and others. Seperately, a single virtual network functions could be interfaced or combined collectively as building blocks to provide a large scale network communication services.However, VNFs faciliates many advantages for the service providers in many ways. For instance, VNFs helps to optimise the network scalability and agility, also facilitates to use of network resources efficiently. VNFs also helps to reduce the power consumption and reduces the hardware spaces as the VNFs replaces hardware components which eventually lower the opertational and capital expenditure. In the light of these factors, VNFs is expected to gain the huge popularity among the telecom service providers over the forecast period.On the flip side, lack of specification by service providers as per the regualtory policies and security standards governed by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is expected to be a major challenging factor for the virtual network functions over the review period.Get Sample Report @Global Virtual Network Functions market is expected to reach approximately over USD 25 billion by 2023 growing at a 30% CAGR over the forecast period 2018-2023Key PlayersSome of the key players of Virtual Network Functions market include Alcatel-Lucent (France), Cisco Corporartion (U.S.), Ericsson (Sweden) , Huwaei (China) , Tech Mahindra (India), Ribbon Communications (U.S.), Telefonica (Spain), Trend Micro (Japan), Verizon Communications (U.S.), Fujitsu (Japan), HP Enterprise( U.S.), NEC corporation (Japan), F5 networks (U.S.), and Aricent Incorporation (France).SegmentationThe Virtual Network Functions Market is differentiated by component, organization size, deployment, and end-user.By component, the virtual network functions market is sub-segmented as hardware, software, and services. The hardware sub-segment comprises switches, servers, storage, and others. The software sub-segment comprises application software, network security, and load balancing. Furthermore, the service sub-segment is categorized as training & support, consulting service, integration & implementation and others. On the basis of deployment, the market is comprised on-premises and on-cloud. Based on the organization size, the market is categorized as large enterprises and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs).Furthermore, on the basis of end-user, the market is classified as BFSI, IT & telecom, manufacturing, healthcare, government, and others.Regional AnalysisGeographically, the Virtual Network Functions is segmented into four different regions, namely North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World.North America is presumed to have a significant growth in the virtual network functions market. The United States and Canada are leading countries in the region. This is due to advanced telecom services in the region. Europe is also expected to have a substantial growth in the market. The United Kingdom, France, and Germany are expected to be leading countries due to the increase in service providers, who will mainly emphasize on virtual network platforms over the next few years. Asia Pacific is also anticipated to be the fastest growing region in the virtual network functions market over the forecast period. India, Japan, and China are the leading countries in the Virtual Network Functions market, owing to surge in usage of smartphones, tablets, and laptops and the increased availability of content offered over IP.Get Report Details @Target Audience Telecommunication Service Providers Mobile Network Operators IT Suppliers Cloud Service Providers Enterprise Data Center Professionals Networking and Telecommunication Companies Data Center Software Vendors Infrastructure Architects Government Councils Research FirmsLIST OF TABLESTable1 World Population By Major Regions (2017 To 2023)Table2 Global Virtual Network Function Market: By Region, 2017-2023Table3 North America Virtual Network Function Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table4 Europe Virtual Network Function Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table5 Asia Pacific Virtual Network Function Market: By Country, 2017-2023Continued..LIST OF FIGURESFIGURE 1 Global Virtual Network Function Market SegmentationFIGURE 2 Forecast MethodologyFIGURE 3 Porters Five Forces Analysis Of Global Virtual Network Function MarketFIGURE 4 Value Chain Of Global Virtual Network Function MarketFIGURE 5 Share Of Global Virtual Network Function Market In 2017, By Country (In %)Continued..About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.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 membersContact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Medical Image Processing Software Market Growth Recommendations 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=263 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=263 https://www.tmrresearch.com/medical-image-processing-software-market Medical Image Processing Software Market: SnapshotMedical image processing software is an important part of diagnostic machines. Medical image processing software helps in enhancing and accurately identifying the features of an image. This software is helpful for viewing, storing, training, and sharing data across medical industries. Medical image processing software increases the effectiveness and efficiency of medical procedures and this will continue to drive the market worldwide. Government initiatives for achieving increased efficiency in medical procedures, technological advancements, and a growing demand for imaging modalities will bode well for the growth of this market. Growing incidences of cancer, growing applications of computer aided design, fusion of technologies, and automated image analysis are other growth factors which will drive the global medical image processing software market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The awareness about the advantages of medical image processing software in diagnostics is expected to increase in the forecast period from 2017 to 2025 and this will have a positive impact on the market. The rising geriatric population is another key driver for this market. On the other hand, hacking could be a challenge for the market. The drawbacks associated with the software can also be a factor that hampers the adoption rate of medical image processing software. However, players are increasingly investing in research and development to eliminate drawbacks and also prevent hacking. The use of medical imaging software for enabling improved patient care and enhanced operating productivity by empowering healthcare professionals, doctors, and clinicians with flexibility and ease of handling, will ensure a continued growth of this market.Global Medical Image Processing Software Market: Brief OverviewIn the last few years, improved diagnosis has led to new developments in the technology of medical image processing and software employed in it. Furthermore, developments in medical imaging devices have augmented the need for feasible image processing, storage, and sharing solutions. At present, the medical imaging methods are particularly transfigured with the help of modern computer graphics. Medical image processing software delivers better-quality precision by early detection of life intimidating diseases such as macular degeneration and others. The medical field has witnessed an amplified use of the medical image processing software that enables enhanced visualization of imaging data.Request TOC of the Report @Global Medical Image Processing Software Market: Prevalent TrendsThe demand for medical image processing software is anticipated to intensify owing to the rising geriatric population and increasing demand for advanced healthcare. The medical image processing software market is chiefly driven by explosive increase in complexity and volume of imaging data. Moreover, mounting demand for imaging solutions with enhanced efficiency and reduced cost along with increasing adoption of eHealth infrastructure is anticipated to further boost the demand for the medical image processing software. The robust advancement in imaging technologies has alone led to the generation of huge amount of data. The expansion of cloud computing infrastructure for research, medical, and healthcare facilities is further anticipated to provide key opportunities for the growth of the medical image processing software market.Currently, portable electronic tablets are progressively used in order to enhance consultation and reduce the time of waiting of patients. Medical image processing software in tablets help doctors to review images effortlessly on mobile devices. Recently, Mobisante developed a smartphone based on the ultrasonic imaging system. Moreover, Skin Analytics Ltd. introduced a software application that can enable people to track the structure and color of their moles. The cloud computing market for hospitals and research institutes is anticipated to grow as it provides better facility to process and store images. Thus, the key technological trends for medical image processing software are increasing use of portable tablets and cloud computing.Global Medical Image Processing Software Market: Key SegmentsIn terms image type, the medical image processing market is classified into 2 dimensional, 3 dimensional, and 4 dimensional images. Several end users of medical image processing software market are diagnostic centers, research and development institutes, and hospitals. Based on modalities, medical imaging is categorized into fluoroscopy, mammography, nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance imaging, single photon emission tomography, positron emission tomography, computed tomography, ultrasound, and x-ray.Global Medical Image Processing Software Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, North America accounted for the leading share in the medical image processing software market closely followed by Europe. Countries such as India, China, Japan and South Korea are anticipated to contribute positively towards the growth of the medical image processing software market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Medical Image Processing Software Market: Vendor LandscapeThe key players of the market are Elekta AB, Claron Technology Inc., GE Healthcare, Esaote S.P.A., Riverain Technologies, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, MIM Software Inc, Philips Healthcare (Koninklijke Philips N.V.), Brain Innovation B.V., and Amirsys Inc among others. With increasing competition, players are focusing on positioning themselves strongly by addressing the diversified needs of customers through effective and robust medical imaging software.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com A breakthrough has been reached by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in their long dispute over the distribution of Nile water as Addis Ababa nears completion of its $5 bln Grand Renaissance dam. The three countries agreed to set up a scientific study group to examine the filing of the dam. They also agreed that leaders from the three nations will meet every six months for consultations. Egypt fears the Ethiopian dam will impact its lions share of Nile water as it is confronted with increased consumption to satisfy the needs of its over 90 million inhabitants and agricultural sector. Ethiopia for its part says the dam will help it increase rural electrification. Ethiopian officials also call for a review of the colonial era governing Nile water distribution giving upper hand to Egypt. There was a progress in the negotiations with our brothers in Sudan and Ethiopia, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi said in televised comments late Wednesday. The matter will consume efforts and time to reach an understanding formula. There was a breakthrough. Intelligent Vehicle AR 2013 Global Market Key Players - Apple, Huawei, PSA eugeot Citroen, Tesla, Magic Leap - Analysis and Forecast to 2023 Intelligent Vehicle AR , Intelligent Vehicle AR Market, Intelligent Vehicle AR Market Growth, Presses Release, Intelligent Vehicle https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3022610-intelligent-vehicle-ar-global-market-status-and-trend-report-2013-2023 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3022610-intelligent-vehicle-ar-global-market-status-and-trend-report-2013-2023 http://www.wiseguyreports.com Description :Intelligent Vehicle AR-Global Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 offers a comprehensive analysis on Intelligent Vehicle AR industry, standing on the readers perspective, delivering detailed market data and penetrating insights. No matter the client is industry insider, potential entrant or investor, the report will provides useful data and information. Key questions answered by this report include:Worldwide and Regional Market Size of Intelligent Vehicle AR 2013-2017, and development forecast 2018-2023Main manufacturers/suppliers of Intelligent Vehicle AR worldwide, with company and product introduction, position in the Intelligent Vehicle AR marketMarket status and development trend of Intelligent Vehicle AR by types and applicationsCost and profit status of Intelligent Vehicle AR, and marketing statusMarket growth drivers and challengesRequest For sample Report @The report segments the global Intelligent Vehicle AR market as:Global Intelligent Vehicle AR Market: Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Production Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023):North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanRest APACLatin AmericaGlobal Intelligent Vehicle AR Market: Type Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume, Average Price, Revenue, Market Share and Trend 2013-2023):HardwareSoftware and AlgorithmsGlobal Intelligent Vehicle AR Market: Application Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume and Market Share 2013-2023; Downstream Customers and Market Analysis)Passenger VehicleCommercial vehicleMilitary vehicleGlobal Intelligent Vehicle AR Market: Manufacturers Segment Analysis (Company and Product introduction, Intelligent Vehicle AR Sales Volume, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin):AppleHuaweiPSA Peugeot CitroenTeslaMagic LeapFacebookSonyHTCMicrosoftGooglePlayStation VRSamsung Gear VRIMAXMicrosoft CorporationOculus VR LLCQualcomm IncVuzix CorporationEON Reality, IncInfinity Augmented Reality IncBlippar IncDaqri LLCComplete Report Details @Table Of Content :Chapter 1 Overview of Intelligent Vehicle AR1.1 Definition of Intelligent Vehicle AR in This Report1.2 Commercial Types of Intelligent Vehicle AR1.2.1 Hardware1.2.2 Software and Algorithms1.3 Downstream Application of Intelligent Vehicle AR1.3.1 Passenger Vehicle1.3.2 Commercial vehicle1.3.3 Military vehicle1.4 Development History of Intelligent Vehicle AR1.5 Market Status and Trend of Intelligent Vehicle AR 2013-20231.5.1 Global Intelligent Vehicle AR Market Status and Trend 2013-20231.5.2 Regional Intelligent Vehicle AR Market Status and Trend 2013-2023Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions2.1 Market Development of Intelligent Vehicle AR 2013-20172.2 Production Market of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Regions2.2.1 Production Volume of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Regions2.2.2 Production Value of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Regions2.3 Demand Market of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Regions2.4 Production and Demand Status of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Regions2.4.1 Production and Demand Status of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Regions 2013-20172.4.2 Import and Export Status of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Regions 2013-2017Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types3.1 Production Volume of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Types3.2 Production Value of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Types3.3 Market Forecast of Intelligent Vehicle AR by TypesChapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry4.1 Demand Volume of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Downstream Industry4.2 Market Forecast of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Downstream IndustryChapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Intelligent Vehicle AR5.1 Global Economy Situation and Trend Overview5.2 Intelligent Vehicle AR Downstream Industry Situation and Trend OverviewChapter 6 Intelligent Vehicle AR Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers6.1 Production Volume of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Major Manufacturers6.2 Production Value of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Major Manufacturers6.3 Basic Information of Intelligent Vehicle AR by Major Manufacturers6.3.1 Headquarters Location and Established Time of Intelligent Vehicle AR Major Manufacturer6.3.2 Employees and Revenue Level of Intelligent Vehicle AR Major Manufacturer6.4 Market Competition News and Trend6.4.1 Merger, Consolidation or Acquisition News6.4.2 Investment or Disinvestment News6.4.3 New Product Development and LaunchChapter 7 Intelligent Vehicle AR Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data7.1 Apple7.1.1 Company profile7.1.2 Representative Intelligent Vehicle AR Product7.1.3 Intelligent Vehicle AR Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Apple7.2 Huawei7.2.1 Company profile7.2.2 Representative Intelligent Vehicle AR Product7.2.3 Intelligent Vehicle AR Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Huawei7.3 PSA Peugeot Citroen7.3.1 Company profile7.3.2 Representative Intelligent Vehicle AR Product7.3.3 Intelligent Vehicle AR Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of PSA Peugeot Citroen7.4 Tesla7.4.1 Company profile7.4.2 Representative Intelligent Vehicle AR Product7.4.3 Intelligent Vehicle AR Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Tesla7.5 Magic Leap7.5.1 Company profile7.5.2 Representative Intelligent Vehicle AR Product7.5.3 Intelligent Vehicle AR Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Magic LeapContinued.CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Global Glass Partition Market By Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast 2017 - 2022 https://www.researchtrades.com/discount/1565698 https://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1565698 https://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-glass-partition-market-outlook-2017-2022/1565698 www.researchtrades.com The Global Market for glass partition will grow at a CAGR of 3.7% by 2022, according to a new report published by Gen Consulting Company. The report segments the market and forecasts its size, by volume and value, on the basis of application (commercial, institution, leisure & retail, etc.), and by geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, MEA and South America).The report covers forecast and analysis for the glass partition market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2012-2016 along with a forecast from 2017 to 2022 based on both output/volume and revenue. The study then describes the drivers and restraints for the glass partition market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities available in the glass partition market on a global level.Request for discount atThe report has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global glass partition 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. Company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, new project launched, recent development analysis are the parameters included in the profile.Demand for this market rises from the commercial, institution, leisure & retail, and other applications. All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2017 to 2022. Relevantly, the report and company profiles specify the key drivers that are impacting the demand in global glass partition market.Key Applications- Commercial- Institution- Leisure & RetailKey Regions- North America- Europe- Asia Pacific- Middle East and Africa- South AmericaKey Vendors- Clestra Hauserman- Dorma- Interwand- KingMan- Lindner Group- Qovans- Steelcase- request free sample to get a complete list of companiesKey Questions Answered in this Report- What will the market size be in 2022?- What are the key factors driving the global glass partition market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key players in the glass partition market?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key players?Request for free sample atPart 1. Exclusive SummaryPart 2. Methodology2.1 Research Methodology2.2 Geographic Scope2.3 Years ConsideredPart 3. Introduction3.1 General Information3.2 Fields of ApplicationPart 4. Competitive Landscape4.1 Global Glass Partition Market, by Volume 2012-20174.1.1 Overview4.1.2 Global Glass Partition Market, by Volume, by Company4.1.3 Top 3 Companies by Volume Share4.2 Global Glass Partition Market, by Revenue 2012-20174.2.1 Overview4.2.2 Global Glass Partition Market, by Revenue, by Company4.2.3 Top 3 Companies by Revenue SharePart 5. Market Dynamics5.1 Market Drivers5.2 Challenges5.3 Market TrendsPart 6. Segmentation by Application6.1 Overview6.2 Global Glass Partition Market by Application (Volume)6.3 Global Glass Partition Market by Application (Revenue)Browse complete report atPart 7. Supply by Region7.1 Global Glass Partition Volume by Region7.1.1 North America7.1.2 Europe7.1.3 Asia-Pacific7.1.4 Middle East and Africa7.1.5 South America7.2 Global Glass Partition Revenue by Region7.2.1 North America7.2.2 Europe7.2.3 Asia-Pacific7.2.4 Middle East and Africa7.2.5 South AmericaPart 8. Consumption Pattern8.1 North America8.1.1 Overview8.1.2 by Application8.1.3 by Country (U.S., Canada, etc.)8.2 Europe8.2.1 Overview8.2.2 by Application8.2.3 by country (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, etc.)8.3 Asia-Pacific8.3.1 Overview8.3.2 by Application8.3.3 by Country (China, Japan, India, Korea, Australia, Indonesia, etc.)8.4 Middle East and Africa8.4.1 Overview8.4.2 by Application8.4.3 by Country (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, UAE, etc.)8.5 South America8.5.1 Overview8.5.2 by Application8.5.3 by Country (Brazil, Argentina, etc.)Who we areResearch Trades has team of experts who works on providing comprehensive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimates, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the client's specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using customer-centric approaches, thus providing valuable research insights.Contact us:Email: sales@researchtrades.comCall us: +1 6269994607 (USA), +91 7507349866 (IND)Web:Skype ID: researchtradescon North America Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices Market Entry and Expansion Strategies https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1748134 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ The Latest Research Report North America Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.bizVacuum-assisted biopsy is a minimally invasive procedure that allows for the removal of multiple tissue samples. However, unlike core needle biopsy, which involves several separate needle insertions to acquire multiple samples, the special biopsy probe used during vacuum-assisted biopsy is inserted only once into the breast through a small skin nick made in the skin of the patient's breast.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices in North America market, especially in United States, Canada and Mexico. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversBDMammotomeHologicMarket Segment by Countries, covering9-12G12GMarket Segment by Type, coversHospitalsAcademic and Research InstitutesDiagnostic and Imaging CentersGet Sample Copy of this report @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHospitalsAcademic and Research InstitutesDiagnostic and Imaging CentersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the North America Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices market.Chapter 1, to describe Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by countries, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the North America market by countries, covering United States, Canada and Mexico, with sales, revenue and market share of Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices, for each country, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the segment market in United States, Canada and Mexico, by manufacturers, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and market share by manufacturers, types and applications;Chapter 10, Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices market forecast, by countries, type and application, with sales, price and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 11, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 12, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 13, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 14 and 15, to describe Vacuum-assisted Biopsy Devices Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data sourceAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz T.CON and Perlen Packaging achieve a successful global SAP S/4HANA conversion /ins SAP Gold Partner T.CON successfully carried out the system conversion from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA version 1709 in only one step at Perlen Packaging, a subsidiary of Chemie + Papier Holding AG (CPH). This single-step approach was carried out at all global locations with only one production downtime, resulting in a significant reduction of lost time and costs. Thanks to this approach as well as T.CON's expertise and structured approach, the project was completed within just seven months. "Implementing a project of this complexity so quickly and smoothly deserves profound respect," says Rene Kuhn, Head of IT at Perlen Packaging, commenting on the successful system conversion.The commissioning of SAP S/4HANA in April 2018 was a crucial step on Perlen Packagings digital journey, a global manufacturer of pharmaceutical blister packaging. The ERP suite offers todays data-driven organizations the ability to increase forward-looking visibility to improve operations, increase profitability, and reduce cost. It provides the opportunity to tackle Big Data approaches by allowing the integration, processing and analysis of large data sets as well as enabling forecasting and simulation.With SAP S/4HANA, the principle of one applies, which means that exactly one solution is available for any given business requirement within SAP S/4HANAs ERP system or the entire SAP system landscape. This lean data model retrieved features, such as the SAP industry solution for Discrete Industries & Mill Products (DIMP), back into the ERP core, which significantly simplifies processes.Intuitive SAP Fiori interfaces offer a modern use experience and enable real-time access to data, key figures and processes on PCs, tablets, or smartphones.Perlen Packaging already benefits from the advantages of SAP S/4HANA in the financial sector. The ERP Suite removes the separation between controlling and accounting, since all financial data is stored centrally in a repository and processed on a line item level. The interaction of SAP S/4HANA with the Manufacturing Execution System MES CAT SUITE from T.CON also works smoothly. The full-service provider for efficient solutions in the SAP surrounding had previously implemented MES at Perlen Packaging. The system is installed on-premise on its own servers.For the system conversion, the experts from T.CON first performed a system separation. This was necessary, because Perlen Packaging and Perlen Papier AG, another CPH subsidiary, shared the existing SAP ERP system. At the same time, they set up a secure sandbox environment with a system copy of the previously used SAP system. In this sandbox environment, the necessary preparatory work could be carried out separately from ongoing operations: the comparison of system settings against the SAP S/4HANA Simplification List, the custom code analysis for the adjustment requirements of customer-specific ABAP developments, the design of SAP S/4HANA Finance as well as the migration of customers and vendors to the business partner. Thanks to the Software Update Manager (SUM), the software upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 1709 and the switch to the SAP-HANA database took place all in one go. After completion of the sandbox phase, the T.CON consultants carried out the system conversion for the development, quality assurance, and production systems step-by-step. After the go-live, users could continue working directly on SAP S/4HANA at the locations in Switzerland, Germany, China and the USA. Thanks to the offline capability of the MES CAT SUITE, there was no downtime in production and logistics.Rene Kuhn draws a consistently positive conclusion: "With the system conversion to SAP S/4HANA we are prepared for further growth as well as the digital transformation with all its challenges. The application suite is an important building block for a smart factory based on the concept of Industry 4.0 and for innovation projects relating to digital business processes and models".Company profile T.CONWith headquarters in Plattling/Lower Bavaria and several locations throughout Germany, T.CON GmbH & Co. KG is an innovative SAP full-service provider and SAP Gold Partner. T.CON supports its customers with implementing a forward-thinking digital strategy, achieved through leading technology and competent consulting by a highly experienced team of experts. Integrating and optimizing economic processes with SAP ERP, SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA fosters new opportunities to improve business by capturing the opportunities driven by modernization. T.CONs own solutions, based on most cutting-edge SAP-technologies, achieve a wide range of business benefits for its customers. The application of SAP Fiori creates diverse commercial value by simplifying the user experience of SAP Cloud Platforms as a Platform-as-a-Service-Offer (PaaS).The highlights of T.CONs product portfolio are the as powered by SAP NetWeaver certified MES CAT SUITE, the TRIM SUITE for cutting stock optimization and the PLC-Cockpit for product-costing-processes as well as product development. T.CONs HR Portal, which is based on SAP Cloud Platform has received multiple awards by SAP and convinces as a stepping stone for HR management 4.0. The industry solution SMART FOR MILL provides key processes for length-and surface-based manufacturing. It can be implemented quickly, reducing downtime and associated lost time and costs and is designed for operation with SAP S/4HANA in mind. FactorE.OS is a cloud based solution for machine learning and shopfloor management which allows medium-sized industrial companies fast and inexpensive access to Industry 4.0.The clients needs are of highest priority behind all of T.CONs work, regardless if it is new implementations, mergers, carve-out projects or system conversions to SAP S/4HANA. The name T.CON, which means Team Consulting, offers consistent high-quality services, soft skills and sustainable growth.Company profile Perlen PackagingThe Swiss-based Perlen Packaging group, a subsidiary of Chemie + Papier Holding AG (CPH), offers a comprehensive range of PVC mono films and coated PVdC barrier films for the pharmaceutical industry to customers worldwide. It is one of the three leading suppliers in this field worldwide.Perlen Packaging is constantly developing innovative new solutions for demanding applications in of the pharmaceutical industry. The films are mainly used in blister packs and protect active ingredients from external influences such as moisture, oxygen and mechanical stress. Perlen Packaging produces at its sites in Switzerland (Perlen Converting AG in Perlen), Germany (ac-Folien GmbH in Mullheim), the USA (Perlen Converting LLC in Whippany), China (Perlen Packaging (Suzhou) Co., Ltd in Wujiang) and Brazil (Perlen Packaging Ltda. in Anapolis). Founded in1954 the company produces more than 30,000 tons of blister films per year and achieved sales of 140 million Swiss francs in 2017 with 370 employees.T.CON press contact:Esther RobbMarketingT.CON GmbH & Co. KGStraubinger Strae 294447 PlattlingGermanyPhone: +49 (0) 9931 981 174E-mail: Esther.Robb@team-con.deWeb: https://www.team-con.de/enT.CON is THE company to go to when you have to optimize processes and business processes at your company and use resources as efficiently as possible.INS Trade Media Srevice20-22 Iso Roobertinkatu00120 HelsinkiFinland+358 (0)9 6120 990 ROBERTS MART ACCOLADES SET THE SCENE FOR SUMMER OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS www.roberts-mart.co.uk Specialist printing and packaging company Roberts Mart & Co Ltd is celebrating multiple awards successes to kick off 2018, heralding a period of innovation and investment during the next few months.Kicking off with a highly coveted Haribo Print Performance Award for consistent quality in over 300 examples of printed packaging for the international confectionery brand, Roberts Mart went on to claim no fewer than eight prizes in the 2018 Print Awards run by EFIA (European Flexographic Industry Association), including three Gold Awards and a Best in Show gong for a project for international brand M&Ms.Roberts Marts accolades recognised not just the companys quality and consistency of printing on various surfaces and widths, and ability to exceed the expectations of leading brands, but also good manufacturing practice and technical innovation. The companys three gold awards now qualify it to battle international print specialists in the FTA Europe Diamond Awards 2018, to be presented during May at an event in Milan, Italy an opportunity for Roberts Mart to showcase to an even wider audience its class-leading SpectRM flexo print technology.These outstanding achievements act as the precursor to a series of investments planned by the firm in technology and innovation, which will ensure the company stays ahead of trends within the flexible printing and packaging industry.Roberts Mart Sales Director Ben Roberts commented: We are over the moon at these latest awards which exceeded our best expectations and in fact build on the various accolades we collected last year. Far from resting on our laurels, were planning significant investments in the business this year, and are already working on several innovative solutions that will keep us ahead of the curve and prove to all our customers - from global brands to niche retailers - that Roberts Mart is the go-to supplier for top quality, reliable and robust printed flexible packaging.For more information on Roberts Mart visitRoberts Mart and Co. Ltd was founded in 1852 by William Roberts as a paper merchant in Lady Lane, Leeds. Handmade bags were followed by progression into commercial printing before the company set up in its Bank Mills premises in 1892. In October 2004, Roberts Mart moved to a newly built state-of-the-art factory based in the Aire Valley area of Leeds, which was formally opened by His Royal Highness the Duke of York.There has always been a Roberts at the helm and the new joint Managing Directors William, with his father John at Roberts Mart, and Ben Roberts with his father at wholly-owned subsidiary Romar Packaging, are the sixth generation of the family to be in charge.Continual investment in both bag making and printing equipment has seen the group grow while maintaining its independence. It has continued to diversify to the point where it is the market leader in household textile packaging and in 1991 was granted a patent covering the manufacture of a roll pack carrier bag suitable for containing pillows and continental quilts.Roberts Mart and Co. LtdAire Valley HouseThornes Farm WayLeedsWest YorkshireLS9 OAN Marketing Planning Software: Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players Wrike, SendX, Percolate, IBM, Allocadia, Aprimo, Bionic Advertising Systems, CrossCap, Hive9 Qy Research Groups https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/947087 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/947087 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/947087 Marketing Planning Software Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Marketing Planning Software industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Marketing Planning Software market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Marketing Planning Software market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Marketing Planning Software players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Marketing Planning Software Market Players: Wrike SendX Percolate IBM Allocadia Aprimo Bionic Advertising Systems CrossCap Hive9 Markodojo Mediatool 249LabsGet Sample Copy of This Report Now @Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Cloud-based On-premisesMarket segment by Application, Marketing Planning Software can be split into Small Business Midsize Enterprise Large Enterprise OtherMajor regions are as follows: United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaThe report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Marketing Planning Software market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Marketing Planning Software market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend and provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions.Inquire before Buying @Also, key Marketing Planning Software market players influencing the market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.Reason to Buy- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Marketing Planning Software market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Inquire for Discount @Contact Us:Call: +1-888-236-2744Email: sales@qyresearchgroups.comAbout Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Room B1510, Shiji Kemao Building,No.66 Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing,100190, China. Upcoming Ceramics Market Significant Profits Estimated to be Generated Over 2014 2020 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-179 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-179 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Ceramics are covalent compounds containing metal and non-metal atoms primarily held in covalent and ionic bonds. Generally, ceramics are made by taking mixtures of earth elements, powders, water and clay. This mixture is shaped into the desired form and is then fired in a high temperature oven. Ceramics are then painted with glazes which are waterproof and decorative. At elevated temperature, ceramics have high hardness, high melting points, excellent chemical corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties.Some ceramics are good dielectrics or insulators, whereas others are good electrical or thermal conductors. Ceramics are widely used in our daily life. Glass, plates, bricks, tiles and sanitary ware are some examples of the ceramics we see every day. Ceramics can also be found in products like automobiles (sparkplug), phone lines and watches. They are even used in space shuttles and aircrafts. Ceramics can be broadly classified into two categories: traditional and advanced. Traditional ceramics include clay products such as cement and glass, whereas advanced ceramics consist of pure oxides, nitrides, carbides and many others.Advanced ceramics are widely used in industrial applications where the operating temperature is generally high or which require hard substances that can withstand great pressure. Ceramics offer various advantages compared to other materials. Ceramics are more corrosion and heat resistant than polymers or metals, stiffer and harder than steel, and have a lower density than most alloys and metals. Raw material for advance ceramics materials are plentiful, inexpensive and display wide range of properties. For automotive applications, they are used in various applications like airbag sensors, spark plugs, valves, vibration sensors, pressure sensors, oxygen sensors, thermistors, catalytic converters, ceramic rotors, ceramic filters piston rings and safety glass windshields.The different types of high temperature ceramics include ceramic matrix composites and ultrahigh temperature ceramic coatings. Advanced high temperature materials are key components in the emerging material technologies, which are giving impetus to many industries. The global high temperature ceramics market is driven by several factors like replacement of materials for the sake of creating cost effective solutions, the growing demand for energy conservation across various industries, and government regulations to reduce greenhouse emissions.The global high temperature ceramics market is led by AsiaPacific (APAC) which accounts for over 40-45% of the total consumption by volume. The cost of high temperature ceramics in APAC is lesser than that in Europe, North America or Latin America. In terms of revenue, North America is the largest market followed by APAC and Europe. The cost of high temperature ceramics is expected to remain low for the next few years in the APAC region. Due to government regulations and incentives offered for sustainability and energy conservation, North America and Europe are expected to offer significant growth opportunities for the high temperature ceramics market.On the basis of industry applications, the global high temperature ceramics market is segmented into automotive, aerospace, chemical processing, metallurgical, power generation and others. Some of the most common applications of high temperature ceramics are afterburners, boilers, castings, exhaust stacks, flanges, furnaces, headers, incinerators, manifolds, molds and dies, ovens, heat exchangers, pumps, blowers, pipingand ducting. In the aerospace industry, high temperature ceramics are used in cutting edge applications, which require structural and chemical stability at extremely high operating temperatures.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @On the basis of composition, the high temperature ceramics are segmented into oxides (alumina, zirconia), non-oxides (carbides, nitrides) and composites (combination of oxides and non-oxides). There are many global and regional players operating in the high temperature ceramics market especially in APAC. Some of the key participants are Morgan Thermal Ceramics, ZIRCAR Ceramics, Inc., Skamol A/S, Promat International, IBIDEN Company Ltd., Rath Incorporated, General Insulation Europe Ltd., Unifrax Corporation, and Shandong Luyang Share Co. Ltd.In future, the understanding and controlling behavior of the microstructures and properties of high temperature ceramics are expected to be key elements in research activities. This research will further increase the operating temperature limits of existing high temperature ceramics. The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data.It also contains projections usinga suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types, technology and applications.A sample of this report is available upon request @About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India. FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Global Neonatal Intensive Care Market by Products (Incubators, Ventilators), Companies & Forecast to 2024 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1784703 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/neonatal-intensive-care-market-global-forecast-by-products-incubators-ventilators-etc-region-companies-report.html The market for "Neonatal Intensive Care" is growing with the expansion of this Industry Sector Worldwide. Market Research Hub (MRH) has added a new report titled Global Neonatal Intensive Care Market which offer details about the current trends and analysis, as well as scope for the near future. This research study also covers information about the production, consumption and market share based on different active regions. Furthermore, an anticipated growth at a double-digit CAGR for the "Neonatal Intensive Care" sector is highlighted in the report which indicates a prosperous future.Request Free Sample Report:Neonatal Intensive Care Market is expected to reach over US$ 8 Billion landmark by the end of 2024. Most of the developed countries has neonatal intensive care unit in their hospitals or clinics or at the primary healthcare centers (PHC). Asian, Latin American and African countries governments are trying to build up NICU unit in their hospitals as they have faces high preterm mortality rate with respect to developed countries. Driving forces for neonatal intensive care market are rising number of preterm birth and technological advancement whereas lack of healthcare infrastructure and medical devices regulatory approval are hiding this market growth.Neonatal intensive care unit is developed and specialized by medical staff that has infant care experience and neonatal medical devices to care for premature and sick newborn babies. Prematurity, respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis or infection, hypoglycemia, perinatal depression and maternal chorioamnionitis are some of the reasons for which new born baby can be admitted in the NICU.MRH Research report titled Neonatal Intensive Care Market Global Forecast by Products (Incubators, Ventilators, Resuscitators, Blood Pressure Monitor, Pulse Oximeter, Capnographs, Phototherapy Equipment), Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, ROW), Companies (Philips, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), C. R. Bard, Teleflex Incorporated, Utah Medical) studies the global neonatal intensive care market and provides an all-encompassing analysis of the key growth drivers and challenges, market trends, key players and their projections for the future.By Products - Market SegmentationGlobal neonatal intensive care market has been segmented by products as incubators, ventilators, resuscitators, blood pressure monitor, pulse oximeter, capnographs and phototherapy equipment. Pulse oximeter is mainly used for monitoring oxygen saturation whereas capnographs is useful for monitoring of the concentration or partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the respiratory gases.By Region - Market SegmentationNeonatal intensive care market by region has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Rest of the World. Europe and Asia Pacific have the highest growth rate in this market place. In the African regions, neonatal intensive care market is not growing despite there is lack of healthcare Infrastructure, shortage of trained staff and lack of neonatal care awareness.All companies in this report has been covered with following view pointsCompany OverviewCompany StrategySalesKey PlayersSome of the key players in the global neonatal intensive care market include Philips, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), C. R. Bard, Teleflex Incorporated, Utah Medical.The report have been analyzed from 5 major viewpointsProductsRegionsCompanyGrowth driversChallengesSegmentation based on ProductsIncubatorsVentilatorsResuscitatorsBlood Pressure MonitorPulse OximeterCapnographsPhototherapy EquipmentOthersSegmentation based on RegionNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificAfricaRest of the WorldCompanies AnalysisPhilipsBecton, Dickinson and Company (BD)R. BardTeleflex IncorporatedUtah MedicalTop of FormBrowse Full Report with TOC:Table of Content:1. Research Highlights2. Global Neonatal Intensive Care Market3. Market Share Global Neonatal Incentive Care3.1 By Products3.2 By Geographical Region4. By Products - Neonatal Incentive Care Market4.1 Incubators4.2 Neonatal Ventilators4.3 Resuscitators4.4 Blood Pressure Monitors4.5 Pulse Oximeter4.6 Capnographs4.7 Phototherapy Equipment4.8 Others5. Global and National Regulatory Policy5.1 India5.2 Europe5.3 United States6. By Geographical Region - Global Neonatal Market6.1 North America6.2 Europe6.3 Asia Pacific6.4 Africa6.5 ROW (Rest of the World)7. Growth Driver7.1 Technological Advancements7.2 Rising Number of Preterm Births8. Challenges8.1 Lack of Healthcare Infrastructure in Developing & Sub-Saharan Africa Countries8.2 Lack of Regulatory Approval & Respiratory Device Manufactures Definition9. Philips Company Profile Analysis9.1 Company Overview9.2 Business Strategy9.2.1 Point 19.2.2 Point 29.2.3 Point 39.3 Financial Insight10. Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) Company Analysis10.1 Company Overview10.2 Business Strategy10.2.1 Point 110.2.2 Point 210.2.3 Point 310.2.4 Financial Insight.. @@ ContinuedAbout Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of Medical Equipments market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Globally Smart Money Investment Activities in the Financial Services Industry & Opportunity to 2018 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1787368 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/smart-money-investing-in-the-financial-services-industry-q1-2018-tracking-manda-venture-capital-and-private-equity-investments-globally-report.html The market for "Smart Money Investing in the Financial Services Industry" is growing with the expansion of this Industry Sector Worldwide. Market Research Hub (MRH) has added a new report titled Smart Money Investing in the Financial Services Industry Report 2018 which offer details about the current trends and analysis, as well as scope for the near future. This research study also covers information about the production, consumption and market share based on different active regions. Furthermore, an anticipated growth at a double-digit CAGR for the "Smart Money Investing in the Financial Services Industry" sector is highlighted in the report which indicates a prosperous future.Request Free Sample Report:MRH "Smart Money Investing in the Financial Services Industry - Q1 2018", report provides detailed analysis of investment activities in financial services industry globally during the first quarter of 2018.The report provides comprehensive coverage of investment activities including mergers, acquisitions, asset transactions, venture financing and private equity, both in terms of deal value and volume. It also provides a global snapshot of investment trends in sectors including banking, payments, insurance and wealth management, and information on best practices followed by market participants in the form of case studies.The report brings together MRH research and analysis expertise to allow stakeholders to identify investment dynamics in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.The report provides insights into investment activities in the financial services industry around the world in Q1 2018, including -- A global snapshot of investment trends in the global financial services industry.- Comprehensive coverage of deal types including mergers, acquisitions, asset transactions, venture financing and private equity.- Detailed insights into deal activities in sectors including banking, payments, insurance and wealth management.- Information on the regional dynamics of investments in the financial services industry.Scope- The number of M&A deals announced in the financial services industry in Q1 2018 rose by 19.0% from 462 in Q4 2017 to 550 in Q1 2018, although there was a marginal decline of -0.2% in deal value. The industry registered several high-value deals, with a total of 10 deals valued over $1bn during Q1 2018- Venture finance deal activity registered a slight decline in terms of deal count, accounting for 210 deals in Q1 2018, down from 227 in Q4 2017. However, in terms of deal value, venture finance deals registered a staggering 85% rise in deal value in Q1 2018, primarily due to an increase in the number of large-value deals.- Private equity deal count rose by 15% in Q1 2018 in comparison to Q4 2017. The total number of deals was 69, while deal value registered a decline of 14% during the same period.Reasons to buy- Gain insights into emerging areas of investment in the financial services industry.- Identify products and services that are likely to make an impact on the market.- Gain information about key investors operating in the financial services industry.- Understand the best practices followed by market participants in the form of case studies.Browse Full Report with TOC:Table of Content:Table of ContentsM&A Deals in the Global Financial Services IndustryGlobal M&A deal highlights, Q1 2018Key takeawaysExamples highlighting investment avenuesVenture Capital Funding in the Global Financial Services IndustryGlobal venture capital funding highlights, Q1 2018Key takeawaysExamples highlighting investment avenuesPrivate Equity Investments in the Global Financial Services IndustryGlobal private equity investment highlights, Q1 2018Key takeawaysExamples highlighting investment avenues.. @@ ContinuedAbout Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of banking market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Market : Project in United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1686726&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-rail-guided-vehicle-rgv-sales-market-report-2018.htm/toc http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales Market Report 2018 to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) market is valued at USD XX million in 2017 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2017 and 2025.Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingPowermaxtechEFACECMuratecFori AutomationHuaheng AutomationShin-Heung MachineDAIFUKUSkilled RobotsAichikikai techno systemSiasunElettric 80EuroimpiantiMectraDownload Free exclusive Sample of this report:Each segment of the global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) market is carefully evaluated for any opportunities it may create in the near future. From the regional segmentation point of view, the report comes out as a useful guideline for players to expand their presence across the market. The competitive landscape of the market is also thoroughly examined to understand its nature and characteristic and how it could take shape in the foreseeable future. The report profiles some of the top companies of the industry and details their recent developments and other significant findings. Using this information and data, other players could be able to fix their failures or devise new strategies to gain a strong foothold in the market.Table of ContentsGlobal Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales Market Report 20181 Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV)1.2 Classification of Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) by Product Category1.2.1 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Semi-automatic1.2.4 All-automatic1.3 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Railway Station1.3.3 Mining1.3.4 Other2 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)2.2.2 Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)3 United States Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 China Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 Europe Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Japan Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Read Complete Table of Content @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV)Figure Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales Volume Comparison (K Units) by Type (2013-2025)Figure Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2017Figure Semi-automatic Product PictureFigure All-automatic Product PictureFigure Global Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Sales Comparison (K Units) by Application (2013-2025)QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com The Council of Arab Foreign Ministers, which held an emergency meeting in Cairo Thursday, hailed the efforts made by King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al Quds Committee, to protect the holy city. The Arab officials commended King Mohammed VI, chairman of the Al Quds Committee, for his tireless efforts to protect the city of Al Quds and its holy shrines and to support the Palestinian people. In a resolution adopted at the end of the meeting, the Council emphasized the message addressed by King Mohammed VI on May 14, 2018, to the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, following the implementation by the US Administration of its decision to recognize Al-Quds as the capital of Israel and to transfer its embassy there. The participating Arab officials condemned in the strongest terms the killings of Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces along the border with Gaza, with some calling for an independent international investigation, and denounced the US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as a provocation that flouts international law. They said the US decision would encourage Israel to carry on its violence against the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting Muslim leaders for a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to condemn Israel over the killing of scores of Gaza protesters. According to media reports, more than 60 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,000 wounded in Gaza the Palestinian enclave occupied by Israel, as the Israeli army fired live ammunition and tear gas at protesters assembled along the fence with Israel. It was the highest Palestinian death toll in a single day since demonstrations began along the border fence on March 30; and the highest number of casualties inflicted since the 2014 conflict with Israel inside Gaza. During the six-weeks of demonstrations which organizers have called the Great March of Return, thousands of Palestinians have converged at the border to protest the long-standing blockade of the enclave. Latin America Mobile Broadband Market Insights Covering Opportunity & Overview Till 2022 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1787370 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/mobile-broadband-trends-in-latin-america-report.html The market for "Mobile Broadband" is growing with the expansion of this Industry Sector Worldwide. Market Research Hub (MRH) has added a new report titled Mobile Broadband Trends in Latin America which offer details about the current trends and analysis, as well as scope for the near future. This research study also covers information about the production, consumption and market share based on different active regions. Furthermore, an anticipated growth at a double-digit CAGR for the "Mobile Broadband" sector is highlighted in the report which indicates a prosperous future.Request Free Sample Report:Summary"Mobile Broadband Trends in Latin America", a new Telecom Insider Report by MRH, provides an executive-level overview of the mobile broadband market in Latin America. It delivers quantitative and qualitative insights into the mobile market, analyzing key trends in the region.In Latin America, mobile service revenue growth will be mainly driven by the mobile data segments over 2017-2022. M2M subscriptions will record the fastest growth during 2017-2022 led by MNOs' focus on providing M2M-based applications in Latin America. Going forward, operators will focus on data monetization, 4G network expansions, and 5G network launches to boost mobile broadband penetration in the region.It provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Section 1: Latin America in global context; the section provides comparison of Latin American mobile telecom market size and trends with other regions.- Section 2: Competitive dynamics; this section provides competitive analysis of various MNOs and MVNOs in the Latin America's mobile market.- Section 3: Mobile broadband subscription trends in Latin America; a demand profile and analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the mobile voice and mobile data markets.- Section 4: Mobile broadband revenue trends in Latin America; examines changes in the breakdown of overall revenue and ARPU over 2017-2022. - Section 5: Key findings and recommendations; it consists of a summary of the key findings for Latin American mobile broadband market.Scope- Data services revenue will account for 65.2% of total mobile service revenue generated in 2022 from 45.7% in 2017.- MVNOs registered 9 million subscriptions in 2017, accounting for 1% of total mobile subscriptions.- The first 5G subscriptions in the region will come alive in 2020. By year-end 2022, there will be 20.2 million 5G subscriptions in the region.Reasons to buy- This Insider Report provides a comprehensive examination through forward-looking analysis of Latin Americas mobile telecommunications markets trends in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying MRH Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Latin Americas mobile communications markets.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors, and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Latin America.Browse Full Report with TOC:Table of Content:Table of ContentsTable of contents 3List of exhibits 4Key takeaways 5Latin America highlights 6Section 1: Latin America in a global context 7Latin America demographics 8Latin America in a global context 9Section 2: Competitive dynamics 11Competitive dynamics in Latin America 12Latin Americas main competitive market trends 13Section 3: Mobile broadband subscription trends in Europe 14Mobile user trends in Latin America 15Mobile technology trends in Latin America 175G Innovators: Mexico, Chile, and Argentina in pole position in Latin America 18Mobile device trends in Latin America 19M2M trends in Latin America 21Mobile data traffic trends in Latin America 22Section 4: Mobile Broadband revenue trends in Latin America 23Section 5: Key findings 26Appendix 28Companies mentioned 29Acronyms and definitions 30About the authors 31Related research 32Contact information 33.. @@ ContinuedAbout Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of ICT market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Industry Share,Size,Growth,Trends, Research Report 2018 https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1732059 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-military-aircraft-health-monitoring-system-market-research-report-2018-report.html/toc http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketsizeinfo.blogspot.in/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Research Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System market status and forecast, categorizes the global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportHoneywell International Inc.Rockwell Collins Inc.Boeing CompanyUltra Electronics Holdings PLCRSL Electronics Ltd.United Technologies CorporationGeneral Electric CompanyMeggitt PLCRolls-Royce PLCAirbus GroupTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther RegionsThe regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoLine-fitRetro-fitOn 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, includingFighterAttack AircraftBomberFight BomberReconnaissance AircraftTransport AircraftOtherThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersMilitary Aircraft Health Monitoring System ManufacturersMilitary Aircraft Health Monitoring System Distributors/Traders/WholesalersMilitary Aircraft Health Monitoring System Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsTable of ContentsGlobal Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Research Report 20181 Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System1.2 Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Line-fit1.2.4 Retro-fit1.3 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Segment by Application1.3.1 Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Fighter1.3.3 Attack Aircraft1.3.4 Bomber1.3.5 Fight Bomber1.3.6 Reconnaissance Aircraft1.3.7 Transport Aircraft1.3.8 Other1.4 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)2 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @3 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)3.1 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.2 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Production and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.3 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.4 Global Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.5 North America Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.6 Europe Military Aircraft Health Monitoring System Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)Continue...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 @ Cephalosporin Market Strengths, Weaknesses; Key Players Analysis By QYResearchReports https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1548552&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-cephalosporin-market-professional-survey-report-2018.htm/toc http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Cephalosporin Market Professional Survey Report 2018 to its huge collection of research reports.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringUnion ChempharmaNCPCQilu AntibioticsLupin PharmaceuticalsHospiraDhanuka LaboratoriesFukangDongying PharmaceuticalAlkemSALUBRISLIVZONHetero DrugsCSPCTEVADownload Free exclusive Sample of this report:The report on the global market for Cephalosporin has been prepared after conducting a fructuous analysis of several industries aligned with the market. Moreover, the factors that have played an underhanded or obscured role in driving demand within the global market for Cephalosporin have been enunciated in the report. Coherence and cohesiveness are two of the key characteristics of the report, which shall help the readers in getting a clear view of the market. To facilitate better understanding and analysis, the researchers of the report have supplemented the report with extra details about related markets and industries.The report on the global market for Cephalosporin factors out key opportunities that the market vendors could tap into, which adds to the succinctness of the report. The market players who have shown commendable growth over the years have been mentioned in the report. Furthermore, the key business strategies that have helped these market players in achieving fruition have also been elucidated.Table of ContentsGlobal Cephalosporin Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Cephalosporin1.1 Definition and Specifications of Cephalosporin1.1.1 Definition of Cephalosporin1.1.2 Specifications of Cephalosporin1.2 Classification of Cephalosporin1.2.1 First Generation1.2.2 Second Generation1.2.3 Third Generation1.2.4 Fourth Generation1.3 Applications of Cephalosporin1.3.1 Oral1.3.2 Injection2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Cephalosporin2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Cephalosporin2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Cephalosporin2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Cephalosporin3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Cephalosporin3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Cephalosporin Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Cephalosporin Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Cephalosporin Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Cephalosporin Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Cephalosporin Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Cephalosporin Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Cephalosporin Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Cephalosporin Sales and Growth Rate AnalysisComplete table of content is available at:List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of CephalosporinTable Product Specifications of CephalosporinTable Classification of CephalosporinFigure Global Production Market Share of Cephalosporin by Type in 2016Figure First Generation PictureTable Major Manufacturers of First GenerationFigure Second Generation PictureQYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Global Military Smart Textiles Sales Industry Share,Size,Growth,Trends, Report 2018 https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1732283 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-military-smart-textiles-sales-market-report-2018-report.html/toc http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketsizeinfo.blogspot.in/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Military Smart Textiles Sales Market Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global Military Smart Textiles market status and forecast, categorizes the global Military Smart Textiles market size (value & volume) by key players, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia India and Other regions (Middle East & Africa, Central & South America).In 2017, the global Military Smart Textiles market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.The major players covered in this reportBAE SystemsDuPontTenCateOutlastW. L. Gore & AssociatesMide TechnologyOhmatex ApSAFTTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Geographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, coveringUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaThe regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPassive SmartActive SmartUltra-smartOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, includingNASADODThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Military Smart Textiles sales, value, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);To analyze the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, to study the sales, value and market share of top players in these regions.Focuses on the key Military Smart Textiles players, to study the sales, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Military Smart Textiles are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersMilitary Smart Textiles ManufacturersMilitary Smart Textiles Distributors/Traders/WholesalersMilitary Smart Textiles Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsTable of ContentsGlobal Military Smart Textiles Sales Market Report 20181 Military Smart Textiles Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Military Smart Textiles1.2 Classification of Military Smart Textiles by Product Category1.2.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Military Smart Textiles Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Passive Smart1.2.4 Active Smart1.2.5 Ultra-smart1.3 Global Military Smart Textiles Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 NASA1.3.3 DOD1.4 Global Military Smart Textiles Market by Region1.4.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 United States Military Smart Textiles Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Military Smart Textiles Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Military Smart Textiles Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Military Smart Textiles Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Military Smart Textiles Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 India Military Smart Textiles Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Military Smart Textiles (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Military Smart Textiles Revenue and Growth Rate (2013-2025)2 Global Military Smart Textiles Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Military Smart Textiles Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Military Smart Textiles (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Sales and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)2.2.2 Global Military Smart Textiles Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)2.3 Global Military Smart Textiles (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Military Smart Textiles Sales and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)2.3.2 Global Military Smart Textiles Revenue and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)2.4 Global Military Smart Textiles (Volume) by ApplicationGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @3 United States Military Smart Textiles (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Military Smart Textiles Sales and Value (2013-2018)3.1.1 United States Military Smart Textiles Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2018)3.1.2 United States Military Smart Textiles Revenue and Growth Rate (2013-2018)3.1.3 United States Military Smart Textiles Sales Price Trend (2013-2018)3.2 United States Military Smart Textiles Sales Volume and Market Share by Players (2013-2018)Continue...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 @ Zeolite Molecular Sieve Market: Advancements, Key Players, Strategies to Boost Industry Growth 2025 https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=754997&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/Global http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global and China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Sales Market Report 2020 to its huge collection of research reports.Zeolite Molecular Sieve, revenue and market share, for each manufacturer in 2015 and 2016. Top players, covering-UOP (Honeywell)CECA (Arkema)Tosoh CorporationGraceZeochem AGCWK Chemiewerk Bad Kostritz GmbHKNT GroupZeolites & Allied ProductsHaixin ChemicalShanghai HengyeShijiazhuang Jianda GaokeDownload Free exclusive Sample of this report:Numerous opportunities for the Global and China Zeolite Molecular Sieve market have been identified in the report, in order to help players sustain the intense prevailing competition. In case of segmentation, the report closely segregates the Global and China market for Zeolite Molecular Sieve, and evaluates every segment on the basis of growth opportunities. All other segments have been clearly studied in the report, and have been assessed based on their market shares, and other crucial aspects. The study mainly covers segments based on generalized criteria such as product type, application type, region, and end users, among others.Table of ContentsGlobal and China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Research Report to 20201 Zeolite Molecular Sieve Overview and Price of Each Type1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Zeolite Molecular Sieve1.2 Global and China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production, Growth Rate 2011 to 20201.3 Global and China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Revenue, Growth Rate 2011 to 20201.4 Product Segments and Price of Each Type1.4.1 3A and Price List (2015-2016)1.4.2 4A and Price List (2015-2016)1.4.3 5A and Price List (2015-2016)1.4.4 TypeX and Price List (2015-2016)1.4.5 ZSM-5 and Price List (2015-2016)1.5 Price List (Interviewed) of Each Type for Key Manufacturers in 2015 and 20162 Global and China Market Competition Analysis by Manufacturers2.1 Global Market Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production, Revenue and Share List of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.1.1 Global Market Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production and Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.1.2 Global Market Zeolite Molecular Sieve Revenue and Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.1.3 Global Market Zeolite Molecular Sieve Average Price of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20162.2 China Market Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production, Revenue and Share of Key Manufacturers 2015 to 20163 Global and China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production, Revenue and Growth Rate by Type3.1 Global Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production, Revenue and Growth Rate by Type (2011-2020)3.1.1 Global Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2020)3.1.2 Global Zeolite Molecular Sieve Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2020)3.1.3 Global Zeolite Molecular Sieve Price by Type (2011-2020)3.2 Global Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production Growth Rate by Type (2011-2020)3.2.1 3A Production and Production Growth Rate 2011-20203.2.2 4A Production and Production Growth Rate 2011-20203.2.3 5A Production and Production Growth Rate 2011-20203.2.4 TypeX Production and Production Growth Rate 2011-20203.2.5 ZSM-5 Production and Production Growth Rate 2011-20203.3 China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production, Revenue and Growth Rate by Type (2011-2020)4 Global and China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Key Manufacturers Analysis4.1 UOP (Honeywell)4.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors4.1.2 Zeolite Molecular Sieve Product Segment of UOP (Honeywell) by Type4.1.2.1 3A and Price in 2015 and 2016 of UOP (Honeywell)4.1.2.2 4A and Price in 2015 and 2016 of UOP (Honeywell)4.1.2.3 5A and Price in 2015 and 2016 of UOP (Honeywell)4.1.3 Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production, Revenue, Price of UOP (Honeywell) 2015 to 2016Complete table of content is available at:and China-and-china-zeolite-molecular-sieve-sales-market-report-2020.htm/tocList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Zeolite Molecular SieveFigure Global Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production and Growth Rate 2011 to 2020Figure China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Production and Growth Rate 2011 to 2020Figure Global Zeolite Molecular Sieve Revenue and Growth Rate 2011 to 2020Figure China Zeolite Molecular Sieve Revenue and Growth Rate 2011 to 2020Figure Picture of 3AFigure Picture of 4AFigure Picture of 5AFigure Picture of TypeXFigure Picture of ZSM-5QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Personal Protective Equipment Market Globally Grow at a CAGR of 13.29% by Revenue During the Period 2017-2021 : Bata Industrials, DuPont, Joseph Leslie Market Research Report https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1300615 https://www.researchmoz.us/personal-protective-equipment-market-in-india-2017-2021-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/personal-protective-equipment-market-in-india-2017-2021-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketreserch1.blogspot.com Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Personal Protective Equipment Market in India 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.About Personal Protective EquipmentPersonal protective equipment (PPE) like helmets, gloves, and safety glasses help provide a safe and healthy work environment for employees working under extreme and hazardous conditions. The equipment is essential for the protection of eyes, ears, face, and other body parts when working around hazardous machinery. Technological innovations in industry-specific protective equipment and introduction of smart wearable devices, along with stringent regulations in many industries, have increased the adoption of PPE.Technavios analysts forecast the personal protective equipment market in India to grow at a CAGR of 13.29% during the period 2017-2021.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the personal protective equipment market in India 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.Technavio's report, Personal Protective Equipment Market in India 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 vendors3M IndiaHoneywellKaram IndustriesMallcom IndiaMSA SafetyView Complete TOC with tables & Figures @Other prominent vendorsArmstrong ProductsBata IndustrialsDuPontJoseph LeslieKimberley-ClarkLindstrmNeo Safety ProductsSuper Safety ServicesSure SafetyTara LohiaUdyogiVenus Safety & HealthMarket driverIncreasing focus on product innovation and aestheticsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeAvailability of low-cost, uncertified, and sub-standard productsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIntegration of e-commerce channels for procurement of PPEFor a full, detailed list, view our reportBrowse Report @Key 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?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?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 Blogger at: Huntingtons Disease Therapeutics Market to Witness a Pronounce Growth During 2015-2021 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3730 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3730 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/3730 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Huntington's disease is an inherited disease that causes degeneration of nerve cells in the central nervous system (CNS). The disease has a broad impact on functional abilities of the human and usually results in movement and thinking disabilities. Most people with Huntington's disease develop signs and symptoms in their age of 30 to 40. When disease begins before age 20, the condition is known as juvenile Huntington's disease.Request to Sample of Report @Huntington's disease usually causes psychiatric, cognitive and movement disorders with a variety of signs and symptoms. Cognitive disorders associated with Huntingtons disease include lack of flexibility, difficulties in learning and lack of impulse control that can result in sexual promiscuity. Movement disorders associated with Huntington's disease includes muscle problems, abnormal eye movements and difficulties with the physical production of speech and swallowing. The most common psychiatric disorder associated with Huntington's disease is depression. Depression appears due to the injury of the brain and subsequent changes in brain function.To overcome this problem, medications are available to manage the symptoms of Huntington's disease; however treatments can't prevent the mental, physical and behavioral disabilities associated with the condition.In terms of geographic, North America dominates the global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market. This is due to increased awareness about this disease in the region. The U.S. represents the largest market for Huntingtons disease therapeutics followed by Canada in North America. In Europe, Germany, France and the U.K. holds major share of Huntingtons disease therapeutics market. However, Asia is expected to show high growth rates in the next five years in global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market. This is due to many companies constructing their manufacturing facilities in the region. In addition, increasing awareness about Huntingtons disease is also supporting in the growth of the market in the region. Japan, China and India are expected to be the fastest growing Huntingtons disease therapeutics markets in Asia.In recent time, unmet medical need is key driver of the global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market. Increased pharmaceutical R&D investment and introduction of innovative drugs have also fueled the growth of global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market. This is due to less number of curative drugs has led manufacturers to increase investment in R&D for development of innovative solutions to treat Huntingtons disease. Extensive pipeline drugs with properties, such as high patient compliance and improved safety, is also supporting in the growth of global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market. Alternative therapies, such as psychotherapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy hold immense potential to the growth of global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market.However, stringent regulations hamper the growth of global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market. Moreover, less number of approved drugs for the treatment of Huntingtons disease also obstructs the growth of the market. Increasing mergers and acquisitions between drug manufacturing companies is key trend of global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market.Some of the major companies operating in the global Huntingtons disease therapeutics market are Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., AmpliPhi Biosciences Corp, Ceregene Inc., Lundbeck, Prana Biotechnology Limited, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, Auspex Pharmaceuticals, SOM Biotech, GlaxoSmithKline, Siena Biotech, Raptor Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, Palobiofarma, Omeros and Ipsen.Request Report for Table of Contents @Key features of this report Drivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Huntingtons Disease Therapeutics market dynamics Latest innovations and key events in the industry Analysis of business strategies of the top players Huntingtons Disease Therapeutics market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)Request to Report Methodology @About UsPersistence 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 UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Industry Share,Size,Growth,Trends, Professional Survey Report 2018 https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1732526 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-oil-and-gas-reservoir-monitoring-systems-market-professional-survey-report-2018-report.html/toc http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketsizeinfo.blogspot.in/ Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Market Professional Survey Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems 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, coveringHalliburton CoWeatherford International LimitedCGG SAPetrospec EngineeringSchlumberger LimitedBaker Hughes IncMulti-Chase GroupOCTIO ASRoxar Software Solutions ASTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoElectrical Downhole Monitoring SystemsFiber Optic Downhole Monitoring SystemsWireless Downhole Communication Monitoring SystemsOtherBy Application, the market can be split intoOnshore ReservoirsOffshore ReservoirsBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTable of ContentsGlobal Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Market Professional Survey Report 20181 Industry Overview of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems1.1 Definition and Specifications of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems1.1.1 Definition of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems1.1.2 Specifications of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems1.2 Classification of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems1.2.1 Electrical Downhole Monitoring Systems1.2.2 Fiber Optic Downhole Monitoring Systems1.2.3 Wireless Downhole Communication Monitoring Systems1.2.4 Other1.3 Applications of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems1.3.1 Onshore Reservoirs1.3.2 Offshore Reservoirs1.3.3 Application 31.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Major Manufacturers in 20173.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Major Manufacturers in 20173.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Major Manufacturers in 20173.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Major Manufacturers in 2017Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @4 Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Overall Market Overview4.1 2013-2018E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2013-2018E Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2017 Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2013-2018E Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2017 Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2013-2018E Global Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Sales Price4.4.2 2017 Oil & Gas Reservoir Monitoring Systems Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)Continue...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 @ Craft Beer Market Analysis 2018 (By Segment, Key Players and Applications) and Forecasts To 2023 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3176675-global-craft-beer-market-research-report-forecast-to-2023 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3176675-global-craft-beer-market-research-report-forecast-to-2023 www.linkedin.com/company/4828928 https://twitter.com/WiseGuyReports https://www.facebook.com/Wiseguyreports-1009007869213183/?fref=ts Market ScenarioCraft beer market has witnessed experiments with various available flavors, which has gained craft beer high popularity. Unique flavors and processing methods of craft beer attract consumer towards consumption, thus raising sale its sale. Manufacturers are investing hugely into the production of their unique beer products through microbreweries to enter into the market, which has further increased the sale of craft beer. More than 70% of the total breweries in the U.S. are manufacturing craft beer. Moreover, retail of craft beers that directly through microbreweries, is cheaper than brewpubs, which is also one of the major reasons for the rising inclination of consumers towards craft beer varieties. Hence, rising number of microbreweries globally in seen as an opportunity for the craft beer market growth.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Regional AnalysisThe global craft beer market has been segmented by region which comprises North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. North America is estimated to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period of 2017-2023. North America region is estimated to be valued at USD 50.63 billion by the end of 2023. The major factors responsible for the growth of North America Craft Beer market are increase in the demand for chemical-free beer, increase in the working class population, rising pub culture, and increasing demand for flavored beer. The sale of Craft Beer is growing exponentially, but as consumers are becoming conscious of a healthy lifestyle, key players are focusing on R&D and product improvement and hence, fortified craft beer, gluten-free craft beer are gaining popularity in North America. However, Asia Pacific region is projected to expand at a high CAGR during the forecast period. Rising disposable income, especially among the working class consumers, has significantly contributed in the growth of the craft beer market in Asia Pacific. Furthermore, the increased number of bars, pubs, and lounges serving in-house craft beer across Asia Pacific, has also supported the growth of the craft beer market in the region. In addition, the ever-growing population of the region has also boosted opportunities for the craft beer market.SegmentsCraft beer market, by type has been segmented into ale, lager and stouts & porters. Ale is estimated to hold major market share in the global craft beer market and is expected to witness a CAGR of 7.29% during the forecast period. On the basis of raw material, the market is segmented into malt, yeast, enzymes, hops and others. Enzymes is expected to observe high growth rate during the forecast period.Key PlayersThe leading market players in the global craft beer market primarily are Boston Beer Co. (U.S.), Yuengling & Son Inc. (U.S.), New Belgium Brewing Company, Inc. (U.S.), Deschutes Brewery, Inc. (U.S.), Bell's Brewery, Inc. (U.S.), Duvel Moortgat USA Ltd. (U.S.), and SweetWater Brewing Company, LLC (U.S.).Target Audience Craft beer manufacturers Raw material suppliers End-use Retailers & Wholesalers E-commerce companies Traders, importers and exportersKey Findings U.S. is estimated to reach USD 21.00 billion by the end of 2023 with registering a CAGR of 6.77% during the forecast period. Germany is one of the lucrative destinations among the craft beer manufacturers. Germany is projected to reach USD 10.38 billion by the end of forecast period with obtaining a substantial growth rate of 7.12%.Regional and Country Analysis of craft beer Market Development and Demand Forecast to 2023 MarketAs per analysis, global craft beer value market is poised to reach USD 135.54 billion in 2023; expanding at a CAGR of 7.02 % during the forecast period.Table of Content: Key Points1 Report Prologue2 Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Premium Insights5 Market Dynamics6 Mega Trends7 Market Factor AnalysisContinuedACCESS 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 Ductile Cast Iron 2018 Market Analysis By Product, Application, Region and Segment Forecasts 2025 Ductile Cast Iron Market to 2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3181870-global-ductile-cast-iron-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3181870-global-ductile-cast-iron-market-research-report-2018 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Ductile Cast Iron 2018 Market Analysis By Product, Application, Region and Segment Forecasts 2025.This report studies the global Ductile Cast Iron market status and forecast, categorizes the global Ductile Cast Iron market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Ductile Cast Iron market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThe major manufacturers covered in this reportDurham FoundryPenn-Mar CastingsDotsonWaupaca FoundryGartland FoundryDecatur FoundryElyria & Hodge FoundriesPlymouth FoundryCALMETYuan Jun Fong CastingNelcastMARSHALL groupBrantingham ManufacturingThe Allied FoundersWillman IndustriesGeographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa)The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAs-Cast Ductile IronAustenite-Bainite Ductile Cast IronOn 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, includingIndustrial EquipmentsAutomotiveConstructionPowerAerospaceReport Details @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsGlobal Ductile Cast Iron Market Research Report 20181 Ductile Cast Iron Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Ductile Cast Iron1.2 Ductile Cast Iron Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Ductile Cast Iron Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Ductile Cast Iron Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 As-Cast Ductile Iron1.2.4 Austenite-Bainite Ductile Cast Iron1.3 Global Ductile Cast Iron Segment by Application1.3.1 Ductile Cast Iron Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Industrial Equipments1.3.3 Automotive1.3.4 Construction1.3.5 Power1.3.6 Aerospace1.4 Global Ductile Cast Iron Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Ductile Cast Iron Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Ductile Cast Iron (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Ductile Cast Iron Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025).7 Global Ductile Cast Iron Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Durham Foundry7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Durham Foundry Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Penn-Mar Castings7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Penn-Mar Castings Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Dotson7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Dotson Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Waupaca Foundry7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Waupaca Foundry Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Gartland Foundry7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Gartland Foundry Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Decatur Foundry7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Decatur Foundry Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Elyria & Hodge Foundries7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Elyria & Hodge Foundries Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Plymouth Foundry7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Ductile Cast Iron Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Plymouth Foundry Ductile Cast Iron Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT 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.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Congressman Lou Barletta waves to supporters after his victory in the 2018 Pennsylvania primary for U.S. Senator on May 15, 2018 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images Just hours after the final votes in Pennsylvanias statewide primaries had been counted, Donald Trumps Twitter feed lit up. Congratulations to Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, the president wrote on Wednesday morning. He will be a great Senator and will represent his people well - like they havent been represented in many years. Lou is a friend of mine and a special guy, he will very much help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Trump, always eyeing 2020, may think so. But its becoming clear that the rest of the Republican Party, looking straight at November 2018, is less convinced. An antiillegal immigration hard-liner for years before Trump became a national political figure, dating back to his time as the mayor of Hazleton, Barletta has struggled mightily to raise much-needed campaign cash in his bid to unseat Democratic senator Bob Casey. And when it came time for Pennsylvanias Republicans to vote in the primary this week, this fourth-term congressman with the backing of the president won fewer than two-thirds of the votes in a one-on-one matchup against a long-shot, widely unknown member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. When the fiery Barletta first emerged as the partys likely standard-bearer there last year, it seemed a clear test of the replicability of Trumps road map to victory in Pennsylvania, where he was the first GOP presidential candidate to win since 1988. If Barletta could win, that would be a clear sign that Trump might be better positioned to run through Pennsylvania in 2020 than he was even in 2016, when he beat Hillary Clinton there by just 0.7 points. But if Barletta as close a Trump ally as exists in Congress couldnt, it would be an obvious warning sign for the president. That sign is now flashing. Whereas Pennsylvania was once viewed as a high-profile Senate battleground in 2018 one of the ten seats up for grabs featuring a Democratic incumbent in a state Trump won on Thursday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to even put it in his top tier of interest, in an interview with the Washington Post. He called Barletta and Representative Jim Renacci, his counterpart in Ohio, credible counterparts that could get onto the radar screen, but in Pennsylvanias place he listed states like Arizona and Tennessee, both traditionally conservative states held by retiring Republicans. Its an understandable pivot: In Tennessee, which Trump won by 26 points in 2016, his approval rating is at 53 percent and the Democratic Senate front-runners approval rating is still 67 percent, compared to the Republican front-runners 49 percent. But Trumps approval rating in Pennsylvania was down to 30 percent this spring, according to a Franklin & Marshall poll. That wont help Barletta whos relatively unknown back home in his strategy to hug Trump tight and follow his trail through the state. He appears to be ditching the traditional moderate GOP plan of competing in and around Philadelphia (where Casey is now going for a blowout), and instead aiming to win the northeastern regions that Trump flipped away from Barack Obama. That means Trumps 2016, and maybe 2020, plan is, indeed, getting a road test in 2018. And national Republicans are looking away. Its simple, say relieved Democrats. Barletta will get wiped out because he wont do well in the Philadelphia suburbs, and he wont do as well as Trump did in other places either, predicted former Pennsylvania governor and Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell, a Democrat. Without Clinton to beat up on and thereby no way to dampen voter turnout in the fired-up suburbs and without a flood of national GOP time, energy, and money to engage Trumps base, Barlettas attempt to duplicate Trumps path through Pennsylvania is just too far-fetched, he said. Its not credible at all. Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Market Outlook: Greehigh,Yonglin Group, Arauco, Daiken New Zealand, Duratex https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1777719&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-low-density-fibreboard-ldf-market-professional-survey-report-2018.htm/toc http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Market Professional Survey Report 2018 to its huge collection of research reports.The global Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportKronospanEggerGreehighYonglin GroupAraucoDaiken New ZealandDuratexGeorgia-PacificMasisaSwiss Krono GroupNorbordLouisiana-PacificWeyerhaeuserSonae IndustriaDownload Free exclusive Sample of this report:On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoFire-retardant LDFMoisture Resistant LDFGeneral LDFBy Application, the market can be split intoBuilding MaterialsFurnituresOthersThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market.Table of ContentsGlobal Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Market Professional Survey Report 20181 Industry Overview of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)1.1 Definition and Specifications of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)1.1.1 Definition of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)1.1.2 Specifications of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)1.2 Classification of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Major Manufacturers in 20173.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Major Manufacturers in 20174 Global Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Overall Market Overview4.1 2013-2018E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2013-2018E Global Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2017 Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)Read Complete Table of Content @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)Table Product Specifications of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)Table Classification of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF)Figure Global Production Market Share of Low Density Fibreboard (LDF) by Type in 2017Figure Fire-retardant LDF PictureTable Major Manufacturers of Fire-retardant LDFFigure Moisture Resistant LDF PictureTable Major Manufacturers of Moisture Resistant LDFQYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Mobile Analytics Software Market | Leading Key players CleverTap, Adjust, Mixpanel, Pyze, Countly Mobile Analytics Software Market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1160386-global-mobile-analytics-software-market-1 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1160386-global-mobile-analytics-software-market-1 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1160386 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1160386-global-mobile-analytics-software-market-1 HTF MI recently broadcasted a new study in its database that highlights the in-depth market analysis with future prospects of Mobile Analytics Software market. The study covers significant data which makes the research document a handy resource for managers, industry executives and other key people get ready-to-access and self analyzed study along with graphs and tables to help understand market trends, drivers and market challenges. Some of the key players mentioned in this research are CleverTap, Adjust, Mixpanel, Pyze, Countly, Amazon Web Services, Localytics, AdGyde, Amplitude, AppsFlyer, AT Internet & DataBerries.This report studies the global Mobile Analytics Software market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the global Mobile Analytics Software market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.Get Access to sample pages @The research covers the current market size of the Global Mobile Analytics Software market and its growth rates based on 5 year history data. It also covers various types of segmentation such as by geography [United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia & India], by product /end user type [Cloud-based & On-premises], by applications [Small Business, Midsize Enterprise, Large Enterprise & Other] in overall market. The in-depth information by segments of Mobile Analytics Software market helps monitor performance & make critical decisions for growth and profitability. It provides information on trends and developments, focuses on markets and materials, capacities, technologies, CAPEX cycle and the changing structure of the Global Mobile Analytics Software Market.This study also contains company profiling, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information of various international, regional, and local vendors of Global Mobile Analytics Software Market, some of them are CleverTap, Adjust, Mixpanel, Pyze, Countly, Amazon Web Services, Localytics, AdGyde, Amplitude, AppsFlyer, AT Internet & DataBerries. The market competition is constantly growing higher with the rise in technological innovation and M&A activities in the industry. Moreover, many local and regional vendors are offering specific application products for varied end-users. The new vendor entrants in the market are finding it hard to compete with the international vendors based on quality, reliability, and innovations in technology.** The Values marked with XX is confidential data. To know more about CAGR figures fill in your information so that our business development executive can get in touch with you.Global Mobile Analytics Software (Thousands Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Product Type such as Cloud-based & On-premisesMarket Segment by Type 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022Cloud-based xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%On-premises xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%The research study is segmented by Application such as Small Business, Midsize Enterprise, Large Enterprise & Other with historical and projected market share and compounded annual growth rate.Global Mobile Analytics Software (Thousands Units) by Application (2017-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2017 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CAGR (%)(2017-2022)Small Business xx xx xx xx% xx%Midsize Enterprise xx xx xx xx% xx%Large Enterprise xx xx xx xx% xx%Other xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx 100% xx%Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Mobile Analytics Software in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringMarket Segment by Regions 2012 2017 2022 Share (%) CAGR (2017-2022)United States xx xx xx xx% xx%Europe xx xx xx xx% xx%China xx xx xx xx% xx%Japan xx xx xx xx% xx%Southeast Asia xx xx xx xx% xx%India xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx xx% xx%Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @Additionally the export and import policies that can make an immediate impact on the Global Mobile Analytics Software market. This study contains a EXIM* related chapter on the Mobile Analytics Software market and all its associated companies with their profiles, which gives valuable data pertaining to their outlook in terms of finances, product portfolios, investment plans, and marketing and business strategies. The report on the Global Mobile Analytics Software market is an important document for every market enthusiast, policymaker, investor, and player.Key questions answered in this report - Global Mobile Analytics Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025What will the market size be in 2022 and what will the growth rate beWhat are the key market trendsWhat is driving Global Mobile Analytics Software marketWhat are the challenges to market growthWho are the key vendors in Global Mobile Analytics Software market space?What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Mobile Analytics Software market?What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Global Mobile Analytics Software market?Buy PDF version of this research report @There are 15 Chapters to display the Global Mobile Analytics Software market.Chapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Mobile Analytics Software, Applications of Mobile Analytics Software, 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 Mobile Analytics Software, Capacity and Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, 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 United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia & India, Mobile Analytics Software Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the Mobile Analytics Software Segment Market Analysis (by Application) Major Manufacturers Analysis of Mobile Analytics Software;Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type [Cloud-based & On-premises], Market Trend by Application [Small Business, Midsize Enterprise, Large Enterprise & Other];Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of Mobile Analytics Software;Chapter 12, to describe Mobile Analytics Software Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Mobile Analytics Software sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Enquire something new as customization in Report @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 :HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Government Cloud Market Increasing Demand with Key Players: Citrix, Equinix, Fujitsu, NTT DATA, Red Hat https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1774726&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-government-cloud-market-sizestatus-and-forecast-2025.htm/toc http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Government Cloud Market Size,Status and Forecast 2025 to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global Government Cloud market, analyzes and researches the Government Cloud development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAmazon Web Services (Washington, US)Microsoft (Washington, US)IBM (New York, US)Google (California, US)HPE (California, US)Oracle (California, US)Salesforce (California, US)Cisco Systems (California, US)Dell Technologies (Texas, US)VMware (California, US)Verizon (New York, US)CGI Group (Montreal, Canada)AT&T (Texas, US)SAP (Walldorf, Germany)NetApp (California, US)Download Free exclusive Sample of this report:The competitive landscape of the global Government Cloud market has been comprehensively analyzed to understand its nature and how players are looking to cement their position in the industry. The authors of the report have profiled some of the important leaders of the market and other prominent players. The company profiling section gives information on significant aspects of the business of players, such as recent developments, market share, and strategies. The study on market competition is expected to help readers become familiar with steps vendors are taking to showcase their presence in the market.Table of ContentsGlobal Government Cloud Market Size, Status and Forecast 20251 Industry Overview of Government Cloud1.1 Government Cloud Market Overview1.1.1 Government Cloud Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Government Cloud Market Size and Analysis by Regions (2013-2018)1.3 Government Cloud Market by Type1.3.1 IaaS1.3.2 PaaS1.3.3 SaaS1.4 Government Cloud Market by End Users/Application2 Global Government Cloud Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Government Cloud Market Size (Value) by Players (2013-2018)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Amazon Web Services (Washington, US)3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Government Cloud Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Microsoft (Washington, US)3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Government Cloud Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 IBM (New York, US)3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business OverviewRead Complete Table of Content @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Global Government Cloud Market Size (Million USD) Status and Outlook (2013-2018)Table Global Government Cloud Revenue (Million USD) Comparison by Regions (2013-2018)Figure Global Government Cloud Market Share by Regions (2013-2018)Figure United States Government Cloud Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Figure EU Government Cloud Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Figure Japan Government Cloud Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. 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Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com New Study Forecasts Global Man-portable Anti-armor Weapons Market to Witness Fastest Growth in the Next Few Years Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3120 https://www.mrrse.com/man-portable-antiarmor-weapons-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3120 https://www.mrrse.com/ The rapid escalation in the defense budgets across the globe and the need to strengthen the respective armed forces, the defense forces are investing huge amounts in the research and development of latest and robust ammunitions and weaponries. This factor has led the defense contractors to innovate and develop new lightweight, guided and unguided, man-portable anti-armor weapons as well as upgrade the existing weapons. These weapons are used against heavily armored weaponries such as main battle tanks, aircrafts and armored vehicles, sometimes against incoming missiles too. The anti-armor weapons are highly effective in destroying the intended targets, moving as well as static targets.Click Here, To Get Sample Copy of New Research Man-portable Anti-armor Weapons Market Report @Global Man-portable Anti-armor Weapons Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe major factor boosting the market for man-portable anti-armor weapons is the extensive research and development in the defense industry across the world. In recent times, the defense budgets across the globe has increased significantly, which has led the defense forces in the developed countries and developing countries to invest heavily in the research and development of the modern lightweight anti-armor weapons. In addition, the demand for lightweight, highly effective weapons is also increasing among the armed forces as they can be easily transported by a soldier or a group of soldiers to any particular place to target the enemy armored vehicles or tanks. The demand for lightweight anti-armor weapons among the global defense forces is expected to bolster the man-portable anti-armor weapons market.The market for man-portable anti-armor weapons is poised to grow over the period due to various reasons, however is affected by the malfunction of the launchers. The malfunction of the launchers causes disruptions in the flight of the projectiles which hampers the flight. This is a major concern for the manufacturers as well as the infantries across the globe. The risk of malfunction of the launchers is limiting the defense forces to adopt the man-portable anti-armor weapons which in turn is inhibiting the market to grow over the years.Global Man-portable Anti-armor Weapons Market: SegmentationThe report on man-portable anti-armor weapons market segments the market on basis of types, technology and geography. The various types of man-portable anti-armor weapons widely used by the defense forces across the globe are anti-aircraft missiles, rocket propelled grenades, anti-tank missiles, and recoilless rifles. The rocket propelled grenades contributed the maximum market share in 2016, due to their enhanced capability to destroy the enemy main battle tanks, and aircrafts. This capability of rocket propelled grenades have increased the demand for anti-armor weapons among the defense forces across the globe which in turn led the segment to dominate the market in 2016. The fastest growing type segment is estimated to be the recoilless rifles, growing at a significant CAGR during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025.Click here, To Get Complete Examined Research Report with TOC @The recoilless rifles are heavily used by the armed forces against any armored vehicles, tanks and low flying aircrafts. The projectiles fired from recoilless rifles travels at a faster speed than any other anti-armor weapons. Moreover, the recoilless rifles are lightweight and are highly effective against any armored tanks, and armored vehicles. The lightweight armor piercing weapons is being heavily adopted by the military forces across the globe in order to strengthen their armed forces.Global Man-portable Anti-armor Weapons Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsGeographically, the market for man-portable anti-armor weapons is fragmented into five strategic regions globally as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. North America dominated the market for man-portable anti-armor weapons market in 2016 with an excellent market share which is estimated to witness a slow downfall over the years from 2017 to 2025. Asia Pacific is predicted to be the fastest growing region during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America are predicted to grow over the period from 2017 to 2025 at a substantial rate.The top ten major player operating in the market for man-portable anti-armor weapons has been profiled in this report according to the strategic five regions globally. The report includes players such as Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bharat Dynamics Limited, MBDA Missile Systems, Raytheon Company, Thales Group, General Dynamics Corporation, BAE Systems Plc., Saab AB, Nammo AS, and KONSTRUKTORSKOYE BYURO MASHYNOSTROYENIYA. The company descriptions includes, SWOT analysis, financial, business overview and strategies adopted in order to sustain in the industry.The segments covered in the man-portable anti-armor weapons market are as follows:Global Man-portable Anti-armor Weapons Market, 2017-2025: By TypesAnti-aircraft MissilesRocket Propelled GrenadesAnti-tank RiflesRecoilless RifleGlobal man-portable anti-armor weapons Market, 2017-2025: By TechnologyGuided WeaponsUnguided WeaponsGlobal man-portable anti-armor weapons Market, 2016-2024: By GeographyNorth AmericaS.CanadaMexicoEuropeGermanyRussiaFranceRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaSouth KoreaRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and AfricaSaudi ArabiaIsraelRest of Middle East and AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaNeed Assistance? Send An Enquiry @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: +1-518-730-0559(USA & CANADA TOLL-FREE NUMBER)Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Network as a Service Market Update, Analysis, Growth, Forecast, 2016 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1218 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/network-as-a-service-naas-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1218 https://www.gminsights.com http://algosonline.com/news The report Network as a Service (NaaS) Market Size, Industry Outlook, Regional Analysis (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Development & Forecast, 2016 2024, is driven by Increasing need for pay-per-use business model.The recent advancements in technology have led to abundance of applications in numerous segments and global usage of wireless services has provided solutions for the reduced cost for deployment for management and asset tracking management.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @The enterprises are inclining towards one of the emerging trends in network as a service market called Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) as per the observation made among various telecom service providers. This network framework will virtualize various network functions such as load balancers, firewalls, and intrusion detection devices and will help the telecom service providers to achieve low CAPEX, scalability and smooth service deployments. An increasing number of IT companies partnering with pure-play NaaS vendors who provide NFV benefits will augment network as a service market size.Bandwidth on Demand (BoD) has created a vibrant scope for the stakeholders and for the marketers in the network as a service market. The main benefit of BoD is that the enterprises can purchase it from their respective Internet service Providers (ISPs) at a comparatively lesser price, instead of giving a higher price to another ISP for leasing a fixed bandwidth. With the help of BoD, the Network Bandwidth can be scaled by the organization to aid the cloud applications, therefore it is very scalable. BoD makes sure that it is ready to use for the end user disposal, that is why it works in the background. It also takes care of a robust privacy feature while the cloud is used, over the network.The IT and telecom users are speedily using several cloud and networking technologies, which vary from just checking emails to handling the vast data of the enterprise which is placed on the cloud. A huge amount of data is therefore generated by the growing usage of IT and telecommunication. The need for cloud platform among the organizations is increasing tremendously since cloud has become an economic platform for application of various resources. In this case, the network providers offer their major network resources to the third parties based on commercial applications. These resources include data and communication & intelligence as well.Browse Full Research Report On Network as a Service Market @Network virtualization has considerable benefits such as less time, effort and expenditure on the hardware, a reduced amount of need for hardcore technical skills, improved privacy alternatives, enhanced recovery systems in case of system failure.Challenges like privacy concerns and data security will hamper the network as a service market growth. Data security and privacy concerns denote the persistent areas of focus for the businesses and organizations because of the critical and confidential business data. Storing important files and the data with high confidentiality on services provided by the external service operators poses a lot of risk. Even though cloud service providers offer the industry certifications and the best security standards, the business data is exposed to the service provider with the usage of cloud-supported technologies, due to which fresh security challenges arise.Based on end user, the network as a service market can be segmented into IT & telecommunication, Manufacturing, government, healthcare, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), retail, and transport & logistics. The IT and telecom vertical is anticipated to grow at a tremendous rate in the network as a service market. The extensive applications of cloud computing services are influencing the adoption of cloud-supporting networking services that provide the end-users with the network resources whenever needed. The growing urge to improve the cross-channel customer experience will drive various telecom service providers to increase their expenses on information technologies; thereby enhancing the growth of this sector in the forecast timespan.Make an inquiry for buying this report @APAC network as a service market is forecast to exhibit the highest growth rate by 2024. The key driver which is influencing the growth of this region is the technological enhancements in the emerging economies like China and India which require proficient IT systems and services. Factors like extensive broadband penetration and the emergence of competitors will infuse the growth prospects in this region in the upcoming years.Vendors in the network as a service market are Cisco, IBM, Juniper Networks, VMware, Fatpipe Networks, CloudGenix, Silver Peak Systems, Akamai Technologies, etc.About Global Market Insights:Global 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 biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Singapore turns 52 what next for the national brand? http://bit.ly/2JYfS26 As Singapore turns 52 amidst global and domestic uncertainties, how should it evolve its global brand image? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times Views from the Top section on 7 August 2017 on the future trajectory of the Singapore brand.Singapores brand is synonymous with efficiency, anti-corruption along with an effective civil service. These strengths should be maintained.Perera opined, however, that Singapore needs to develop its global brand to become associated with the opposite category of strengths too those associated with entrepreneurship, freedom of expression and creativity.In an age of artificial intelligence and perpetual economic disruption, the Singapore of the future will need to groom innovators, knowledge-seekers and artists.Find out more here:Spire Research and Consulting was established in 2000 to address a gap in the research and consulting industry in global emerging markets. Unlike most agencies that focus on traditional consumer research, our founders saw a profound need for holistic research projects.Unit 501-502, DLF City Court,DLF Phase III, Sector 24, Gurugram 122002, IndiaTelephone: (91) 124 421 6144Fax: (91) 124 422 1934E-mail: india.info@spireresearch.com New Business Opportunities of Liquid Chromatography Detectors Market: Demand, Trend, Key Manufacturers 2023 Market Research Report https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1781546 https://www.researchmoz.us/global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-liquid-chromatography-detectors-market-2018-forecast-to-2023-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-liquid-chromatography-detectors-market-2018-forecast-to-2023-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketreserch1.blogspot.com Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Liquid Chromatography Detectors Market 2018 Forecast to 2023" to its huge collection of research reports.Liquid Chromatography Detectors is a device used in liquid chromatography (LC) to detect components of the mixture being eluted off the chromatography column. A broad range of detectors is available to meet different sample requirements. Specific detectors respond to a particular compound only and the response is independent of mobile phase composition. On the other hand the response of bulk property detectors is dependent on collective changes in composition of sample and mobile phase.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Liquid Chromatography Detectors 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.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversAgilentThermo FisherShimadzuWatersShowa Denko K.K.PerkinElmerGL SciencesBio-radMetrohmJascoMarket 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, coversUV-Visible DetectorsRefractive Index DetectorsELSD DetectorsFluorescence DetectorsOtherMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoLiquid ChromatographyHPLCUHPLCView Complete TOC with tables & Figures @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Liquid Chromatography Detectors market.Chapter 1, to describe Liquid Chromatography Detectors Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Liquid Chromatography Detectors, with sales, revenue, and price of Liquid Chromatography Detectors, 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 Liquid Chromatography Detectors, for each region, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 12, Liquid Chromatography Detectors market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Liquid Chromatography Detectors sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceBrowse Report @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Liquid Chromatography Detectors Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 UV-Visible Detectors1.2.2 Refractive Index Detectors1.2.3 ELSD Detectors1.2.4 Fluorescence Detectors1.2.5 Other2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Agilent2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Liquid Chromatography Detectors Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Agilent Liquid Chromatography Detectors Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Thermo Fisher2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Liquid Chromatography Detectors Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 2About 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 Blogger at: NAND Flash Market Scope, Share, Growth, Overview and Forecast to 2022 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011415170/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00011415170/buy/3500 http://www.reportsweb.com/global-nand-flash-market-2018-2022 NAND Flash memory is a type of non-volatile memory, wherein the read and write operations are quick. In NAND flash, the cells are connected in a series that resembles a NAND gate.Publisher's analysts forecast the global NAND flash market to grow at a CAGR of 15.13% during the period 2018-2022.FREE | Request Sample Copy is Available atCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global NAND flash market for 2018-2022. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of NAND flash.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:-Americas-APAC-EMEAPublisher's report, Global NAND Flash 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 vendors-SAMSUNG-Toshiba-Western Digital-Micron Technology-SK Hynix-IntelBuy nowMarket driver-Growing adoption of smartphones and tablets-For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend-Increasing popularity of 3D NAND-For a full, detailed list, view our reportTable of contentPART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORTPART 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGYPART 04: INTRODUCTIONPART 05: MARKET LANDSCAPEPART 06: MARKET SIZINGPART 07: FIVE FORCES ANALYSISPART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DEPLOYMENTPART 10: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USERPART 11: REGIONAL LANDSCAPEPART 12: DECISION FRAMEWORKPART 13: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGESPART 15: VENDOR LANDSCAPEPART 16: VENDOR ANALYSISPART 17: KEY VENDORSFor more informationContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.533, 5th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Impressive Growth of Display Optical Film Market 2017 : Overview, User Demand, Opportunities and Forecast 2025 Market Research Report https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1400475 https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1400475 https://www.researchmoz.us/display-optical-film-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2017-2025-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketreserch1.blogspot.com Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Display Optical Film Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Display optical films are thin multilayered films coated on various substrates including glass, plastics, polymers, and metals. These films improve light transmissivity and reduce reflection. Commercial polymers can be selected to achieve the desired colors in optical display films. LCD display of IPad, laptops, and cell phones appears clear, bright, and crisp due to the usage of display optical films. These films also help reduce battery consumption, thereby allowing the use of devices for longer hours. Optical films with high moisture resistance, heat resistance, and optical durability against the bending and curving of display devices are being developed, particularly for the flexible display market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Increasing popularity of electronic devices coupled with rising use of optically coated glass is expected to augment the market during the forecast period. Sales of LCD component material films have also risen for smartphones and tablet terminals, led by the increase in demand for large liquid crystal TV with high resolution. However, with technology advancements, LCD screens can be replaced with active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) screens in TVs. This is expected to hamper the display optical film market.Based on type, the display optical film market can be segmented into polarizer protection films, AR (anti-reflective) and AG (anti-glare) films, hard coated films, and Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Films. Polarizer protection films are usually smooth in finish and also controls light coming from display. They are often used in conjunction with prism and reflector films.Key applications of display optical films are TFT LCDs, including PVA, production films, COP, PSA, diffuser, reflector, light guide plate, micro lens films, BEF/DBEF, prism sheet, and multi-functional films.Make An Enquiry @Introduction of advanced optical films technology involves the development of new materials and processing skills to highlight optical properties of displays and optoelectronic devices such as augmenting brightness, widening viewing angles, and lower reflection. Currently, commercial liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are fortified with various optical films including polarizing films for light shuttering, compensation films for wide viewing, low-reflection coating films, and brightness-enhancing films. Other display applications such as Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are also equipped with anti-reflection films in order to provide clear display images. Furthermore, optical films are used for solar cell devices, where anti-reflection films are used to increase light conversion efficiency.In terms of geography, the global display optical film market can be classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific dominated the global market, led by China, in 2016. This can be ascribed to the increase in demand for LCD televisions, smartphones, tablet PCs, and laptops in the region. Expansion of local production facilities by manufacturers of flat panel display and related materials is expected to drive the market in China. Additionally, factors such as large population and developing economy are boosting the market for consumer electronic goods in Asia Pacific.Browse Report @Prominent players manufacturing display optical films include Toray Industries, Inc., Toyobo Co., Ltd., Teijin Limited, and Mitsubishi Polyester Film GmbH.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-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue 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)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 Blogger at: Nobody knew diplomacy could be so complicated. Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images A week ago, President Donald Trump was gearing up to write a fantastically humble acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize everyone thought he should win for denuclearizing North Korea: an accomplishment he has yet to achieve, though some sycophants in the House of Representatives had already nominated him for the prize. With all this hype, it would be hugely embarrassing for the administration if its efforts to achieve peace and nuclear disarmament in North Korea were to come to naught a fact not likely lost on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. That Trump and his toadies were celebrating too soon is beyond doubt, as North Korea has not actually committed to anything concrete yet. In light of this weeks events, however, we must consider the possibility that embarrassing Trump has been Kims game all along. In fairness to Trump, things had been looking pretty good on the North Korean front until very recently. A historic summit with Kim is on his calendar for next month, Kim and South Korean president Moon Jae-in just held a fruitful meeting of their own, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned from Pyongyang with three Americans held prisoner by Kims regime. North Korea announced plans for the demolition of its nuclear testing site, which satellite images suggest is already underway. In the past few days, however, North Korea has changed its tune, and the path to nuclear disarmament no longer looks as straight and smooth as it did a week or two ago. Ostensibly in response to a U.S.South Korea air force drill, the North on Tuesday canceled another much-hyped round of talks with the South that had been scheduled for Wednesday. The regime is now reportedly having second thoughts about next months meeting with the U.S. as well, a shift that has blindsided the White House. The abrupt reversal of what had looked like a sure thing appears to have thrown the president himself for a loop; in comments from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump sought to reassure Kim with up-front guarantees that in exchange for a disarmament agreement, the U.S. would provide protections that will be very strong for him and his regime: He would be there, he would be running his country, his country would be very rich. Kim has indicated that the price of giving up his nuclear weapons, or at least part of that price, is a credible assurance from the U.S. that it will not invade North Korea. Negotiating with yourself and making promises that may prove practically or politically untenable for you to keep are presumably not tactics recommended in The Art of the Deal, but these hasty remarks might not have been necessary had Trump not made the original mistake of hiring John Bolton as his national-security advisor. Pyongyangs newfound hesitancy to do a deal with the U.S. is a direct response to Boltons repeated statements that the Trump administration was looking to follow the Libya model of nuclear disarmament with North Korea a model that, in the long run, ended very badly for Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. Bolton was also surely a factor in Trumps recent decision to tear up the nuclear agreement with Iran, sending a signal to Pyongyang that any deal it makes with the U.S. might not be worth the paper it is printed on. Meanwhile, Bolton, Pompeo, and Trump himself have been spinning three different stories about the nature and purpose of these talks. Pompeo says North Koreas reward for denuclearizing would be an infusion of investment from private American companies which, to the staunchly anti-Western, Stalinist regime in Pyongyang, sounds more like an invasion. Given what we know about Trumps attention span, he himself may not understand the significance and ramifications of what he and his top foreign-policy officials are saying. He also might not grasp that his vision of denuclearization in the Korean peninsula is very different from Kims. Indeed, judging from some of his tweets in the past month, the president seems to believe that peace in Korea is practically a done deal already, when in fact a very uncertain process is still in its infancy and can easily be derailed. Anyone who knows better than to trust North Korea (like Republicans did until it began dangling the prospect of a historic, legacy-saving victory in front of their problematic president) should have been alert to the chance that Kims recent peace overtures were insincere all along. After all, he has yet to give up anything particularly dear: Talk is cheap, more American hostages can be acquired eventually, and nuclear-testing sites can be rebuilt. With nukes on hand, ballistic missiles in development, and thousands of conventional weapons aimed at Seoul, the North Korean leader could conceivably use his deterrent capabilities to string the U.S. and South Korea along for years to come. He knows that an invasion would be tremendously costly to both his adversaries and that even if Trump is crazy enough to consider it, the American military establishment knows those risks and will stay his hand if it can. Walking up to the brink of a deal, then turning around and walking away, is a familiar strategy for North Korea at this point, and framing the collapse of negotiations as the result of American perfidy would play extremely well to Kims captive audience. The Trump administration is proceeding under the assumption that Pyongyang is just blowing smoke and the talks are still on, but it should be wary of more deceptive behavior from the North Koreans if and when the summit takes place not to mention the very real possibility that Trump walks into a trap and impulsively agrees to something he shouldnt. We know that in Trumps own mind at least, hes like, a really smart person. But whats the plan if Kim Jong-un turns out to be smarter? Security System Market Key Players - Cisco Systems, Bosch Security Systems, Brocade Communication Systems by Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4405 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/security-systems-market-4405 Market Highlights:The security systems market is growing at a positive rate including the wireless and electronic security systems. This is majorly due to emerging economies such as China, India and Japan investing more in defense and automation in industries like retail, Banking & Finance and Transportation. However, North America is the leader in the security system market largely due to the factors like early adoption towards industrial automation and highly advanced Aerospace & defense industry.The market of Security systems can be bifurcated further by Deployment, Product, End User and Region. On the basis of Deployment, Security system market can be divided into Commercial security and industrial security. Industrial security can again be divided into Large and SMEs. Out of these, Commercial security market holds the larger market share in global terms compared to the industrial security systems. However, the industrial security is higher when compared in terms of wireless security systems. The commercial security is high due to higher penetration of Internet, digitalization of Retail and Banking & Finance industries and technological advancements in the Transportation sector.The Security System Market is expected to reach approximately 78.56 USD billion by the end of 2023 with 14.47 % CAGR during the forecasted period from 2017 2023.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players: Cisco systems Inc (US) ASSA Abloy (Sweden) FLIR systems (US) Bosch security systems (Germany) ADT Corporation (US) Brocade communication systems Inc (US) Honeywell International, Inc (US) Symantec Corporation (US) Fortinet (US)Regional Analysis:The Security Systems Market is expected to grow at a fast pace over the forecasted period of 2017 -2023. Security systems market is a dynamic and very highly growing market in terms of wireless industrial security, electronic security, smart devices (smart cards, smart locks and alarms), connected home security and Asset tracking. This study encompasses the security concerns against the illegal activities is moving a major trend towards electronic and wireless security. More and more devices being connected under IoT and enablement of remote connection is another driving factor for Security systems market. Companies in North America are highly concerned for industrial automation resulting in prone to cyber-attacks.The Security system market is majorly segmented into four regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the world. Of North America, United States is the leader in terms of industrial security having usage of radar systems, access control management. This is due to the factors like early adoption towards industrial automation and highly advanced Aerospace & defense industry. Germany, France, UK and Sweden in the European continent are following the trails of United States. In the Asia pacific region, major emerging economies like China, India and Japan are investing more in defense and automation in industries like retail, Banking & Finance and Transportation.Segments:For the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the market of Industrial Cyber Security into product, solutions, industries, organization size and region.Product: Hardware Software solutionsDeployment: Commercial security Industrial SecurityEnd User: Transportation Commercial Industrial Retail Banking & Finance Aerospace & DefenseRegion: North America Europe Asia pacific Rest of the world.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience: Device manufacturers Network Security providers Distributors Suppliers Research firms Software investors Software Developers IT enablers Vendors Wireless security system service providers Security Agencies Security Equipment ProvidersTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Security Systems Market2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinued.List of TablesTable 1 Security Systems Market, By ProductTable 2 Security Systems Market, By DeploymentTable 3 Security Systems Market, By End UserContinued.List of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 Security Systems Market, By Product (%)Figure 3 Security Systems Market, By Deployment (%)Continued.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Network as a Service Market Top Key Players: Alcatel Lucent, Brocade Communications Systems Inc, Ciena Corporation by Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2251 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/network-as-a-service-market-2251 Market Highlights:Network as a Service is defined as a virtual networking business model, it is utilized to integrate current cloud computing services with the cloud networking framework. It is a model used to deliver the network service virtually it can be either through pay as you service or subscription model. NaaS is also referred as an on demand network provider for any business. The increasing adoption cloud technology for data storage and introduction of Big Data analytics is contributing in the growth of the Network as a Service market. Moreover, the rapid growth in IoT technologies also supports the growth of Network as a Service market.Among NaaS services it is estimated that Network Virtual Function (NFV) will grow at a faster rate during the forecast period. This growth in NVF will be due to its advanced approach of releasing the data from a control plane, a coherent improvisation to the traditionally distributed control planes. IT & telecommunication are considered as a major factor driving the Network as a Service market due to the expansion of the network by the various telecom operators. The adoption of Operating Expenditure (OPEX) saving, and mobility are expected to impact software define market which indirectly supports in the growth of Network as a Service (NaaS) market. Furthermore, the opportunities in Value-Added Resellers products will also contribute in the growth of this market.Global Network as a Service (NaaS) Market is expected to grow from US ~$35.3 Billion in 2016 to USD 126.8 Billion by 2022, at an estimated CAGR of 28.4%.The factors such as lack of proper infrastructure for implementation of NaaS in developing and under developed economics and high installation cost are some of the constraints for the growth of this market. Whereas, inclination of towards cloud technology by various small and medium size business units and continuous advancement in IoT technologies are some opportunities for the growth of this market.Request a Sample Copy of Report @Major Key Players Alcatel Lucent (U.S.) Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (U.S.) Ciena Corporation (U.S) Cisco Systems (U.S.) IBM Corp. (U.S.) Juniper Networks (U.S.) NEC Corp. (Japan) VMware (U.S.) Aryaka Networks Inc. (U.S.) AT&T (U.S.)Regional Analysis:North America is expected to propel the market due to the intense research and development in the field of telecom industry technology related to network expansion, high penetration of Internet of Things, and growth of a number of IoT and cloud related technology in the region. Europe has been benefitted mainly due to the extensive initiatives taken by government. Whereas, Asia Pacific market is expected to witness the fastest growth due to increasing awareness among individual, and development of technology hubs in the region.North America region is expected to hold a highest market share with the existence of early technology adopters in the region. The region also has existence of technologically advanced countries such as U.S. and Canada which are promoting the application related network as a service (NaaS) market.Study Objectives of Global Network as a Service (NaaS) Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global network as a service (NaaS) market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the global network as a service (NaaS) market market based 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.Network as a Service (NaaS) Market: Global Network as a Service (NaaS) Market has been segmented on the basis of type, service, component, deployment and end-user. Type comprises of local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN). Service comprises of network virtual function (NVF), WAN connection, Data Center, Bandwidth On Demand, and others. Component comprises of Infrastructure and technological service. Deployment comprises of On Cloud and On Premises. Whereas, end-user includes IT & telecommunication, BFSI, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Retail, Transportation and others.Browse Report Details @Intended Audience: Network infrastructure providers Wireless infrastructure provider SDN solution providers Cloud and virtualized datacenters Mobile network operatorsTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market StructureContinued.List of TablesTable 1 Global Network As A Service Market, By TypeTable 2 Global Networks As A Service Market, By ServiceTable 3 Global Networks As A Service Market, By ComponentTable 4 Global Networks As A Service Market, By DeploymentContinued..List of FiguresFigure 1 Research Network SolutionFigure 2 Global Network As A Service Market: By Type (%)Continued..About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Supercapacitors Market Detailed Analytical Overview by 2022 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/9176 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/9176 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Supercapacitors are also termed as ultracapacitors which is a high-capacity capacitor that holds a less energy density compared to batteries but more than conventional capacitors. Batteries are likely to be replaced by supercapacitors for better efficiency. Supercapacitors store energy in an electric field, reason why the energy retains more compared to batteries that use chemical reactions to release as well as store energy. The exclusive forecast study by Persistence Market Research projects the future of this component by analyzing the global market for supercapacitors.Innovation in the storage technology extended life period of supercapacitors compared to conventional capacitors is anticipated to boost the growth of the global supercapacitors market. The study also analyses a slew of aspects affecting the global use of supercapacitors for the forecast period, 2016 2022. The assessment period has been made use of to develop perfect market size valuations for the near future, rather than presuming its growth for the doubtful extended year period.Request Report for TOC @The study is all-inclusive, and has been piled up by a group of subject matter experts from the Electronics and Smart Devices sectors, research professionals and industry analysts. Qualitative information on market dynamics and industry trends have been imbued with quantitative data, to generate perfect market size estimates. The report functions as a trustworthy source of data for companies as well as manufacturers or providers providing supercapacitors in the global market. By buying and using this report, the prominent companies and stores using this component in the world can develop new stratagems, change the existing devices, and head dynamically towards the future market direction.Market Overview & Report HighlightsThe global market for supercapacitors is trending on a large scale as its considered as the most ideal component which is specially designed to hold extremely large amount of capacity and combines the properties of batteries & capacitors into one device. Customers as well as large scale production companies preferences have compelled manufacturers of Electronics and Smart Devices to increase the uptake of supercapacitors and provide more safety, capacitance and exclusive benefits.The study delivers detailed overview of the parent industry semiconductors industry - to create a comparative analysis as to how the supercapacitors contribute to their overall growth. Additionally, the report delivers an overview on the variable industry dynamics. In-depth market segmentation has been provided on the basis of technology, applications, materials as well as region. Further, most recent industry developments, trends as well as additional purposes of supercapacitors are mentioned in detail for everyones knowledge with regards to advancement. Also, adoption of innovative techniques and solutions is mentioned precisely in the report.The report also comprises of a detailed competition landscape that signifies the presence of leading manufacturers or providers types and methods of supercapacitors as well as other advanced techniques and their strategic management. The report also provides broad analysis on the use of supercapacitors as well as other sourcing strategies. Development plans as well as policies, cost structures, manufacturing processes are also discussed in the report. The global supply network for supercapacitors have also been revealed in the report. The report moreover provides cutting-edge marketing information which is essential to monitor performance as well as helps in making critical decisions regarding growth and profitability.Supercapacitors Market: TaxonomyAs per the segmentation delivered in the report, the above-mentioned primary segments in the global supercapacitors market have been broken down further. Based on materials, the segmentation of global supercapacitors market can be done into separators, electrolytes and electrodes. Separators could be further sub-divided into kapton, poly acrylonitrile (PAN) and polymeric film. Electrolytes could be further sub-divided into organic electrolyte and aqueous electrolyte. Electrodes could be further sub-divided into hybrid capacitor, pseudo capacitor and (ELDC) electrolyte double layer capacitor materials. Based on the applications, the segmentation of global supercapacitors market can be done into transport, medical, power & energy, industrial automation and consumer electronics.Based on the technology, the segmentation of global supercapacitors market can be done into aqueous electrolyte super capacitor and organic electrolyte super capacitor. Based on the region, the segmentation of global supercapacitors market can be done into North America, Japan, Middle East & Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe and Latin America. In addition, the report provides detailed information on the cross-segmental analysis as well as country-wise market forecast across different parameters.Request to Sample Report @Our panel of industry contributors as well as industry analysts across the value chain have taken immense efforts in doing this brainstorming and heavy-lifting work in order to provide the key players with beneficial primary & secondary information regarding the global supercapacitors market. In addition, the report also contains inputs from our industry experts that can help the key players in saving their time from the internal research part. Companies who buy and use this report will be thoroughly profited with the inferences delivered in it.Apart from this, the report also provides in-depth analysis on the sales of supercapacitors as well as the factors that influence the customers and the companies & industries towards this component. In the changing landscape of Electronics and Smart Devices sectors, the report contains peculiar and incomparable information on the strategic connotations of the global supercapacitors market.About UsPersistence 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 UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Smart Camera Market 2018 2022 Global Key Leaders: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Olympus Corporation, Canon Inc, Micro-scan Systems, Inc https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1326 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/smart-cameras-market-1326 Smart Camera Market Overview:Smart camera is the advanced version of conventional cameras. The smart camera offers the transfer of photos through the wireless technology such as near field communications (NFC), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The smart camera are extensively used in electronic gadgets such as laptop, smartphones and PCs. The photos which are captured through the smart camera can easily transferred to other devices and shared through the social networking sites such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and many more.The major growth driver of Smart Cameras Market includes growing technological advancement in camera market, growing electronics and semiconductor industries, and rise in adoption of automation systems by homes and industries among others.Increase in demand for security and surveillance, sophisticated features, and ease of installation process in the electronic gadgets are expected to be propelling features for the smart camera market. However, lack of standardization and constant review of regulatory policies of local bodies of different economies on the installation of smart cameras at sensitive locations are presumed to be hinder the growth of Smart Camera Market.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players:Some of the major players in Global Smart Camera Market include - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Republic of Korea), Panasonic Corporation (Japan), Olympus Corporation (Japan), Canon Inc. (Japan), Fujifilm Corporation (Japan), Micro-scan Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Nikon Corporation (Japan) and XIMEA GmbH (Germany) among others, are profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the global smart camera market.Industry News:April 2017, Panasonic had unveiled new HD home monitoring camera. Panasonic Corporation has launched Panasonic KX-HNC800B model of HD home monitoring camera which is powerful wireless technology to access real-time monitoring from android and iOS devices.November 2017, Nikon released version 2.0 of SnapBridge app that connects a Nikon digital camera to smart device. SnapBridge app facilitate their users to connect the Nikon digital camera via Bluetooth connections to smart gadget. It also includes new functions, containing instructions for connecting to a camera that enables the app to use in an easiest way.Smart Camera Market Global Market Segmentation:Segmentation by Component: Sensors, Digitization Circuit, Lighting Device/LED, Communication Technology, and Storage HardwareSegmentation by Sensor Technology: CMOS, CCDSegmentation by Scanning Technology: Area Scan, Line Scan.Segmentation by Integration: Single Chip Smart Cameras, Embedded Smart Cameras, Stand-Alone Smart Cameras, and Distributed Smart Cameras.Segmentation by Application: Security & Surveillance, Fingerprint Readers, Face Recognition, Traffic Surveillance, Robotics, and Industrial Machine VisionSegmentation by End User: Public Spaces, Military & Defense, Transit Facilities, Commercial Facilities, Enterprise & Government Infrastructure, and Residential InfrastructureSegmentation by Region: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Rest of the World.Browse Full Report Details @Smart Camera Market Global Market Regional Analysis:Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global smart camera market with the largest market share in the region. This is attributed to large number of manufacturers and suppliers of electronics components and semiconductors are encouraging the smart camera devices to gain the desired results. Furthermore, China, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, and Japan are the prominent countries leading in the Asia Pacific region. North America region is expected to have the significant growth over the forecast period due to presence of sophisticated technology.The U.S and Canada are the leading countries in the North America region. Additionally, Europe is expected to have substantial growth of the smart camera market owing to surging demand for security and surveillance at public places.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.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Turning Tools Market Forecasts to 2023 | Kennametal Foundation, Ingersoll Cutting Tool Company, Sandvik Group, Mikron Tool SA Agno, NTK Cutting Tools, WNT Tools India Pvt Ltd. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4000 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/turning-tools-market-4000 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/4000 Market research future published a half-cooked research report on Global Turning Tools Market that contains the information from 2017 to 2023. Global turning tools market is expected to grow with the CAGR of approximately 6.9% from 2017 to 2023.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 85 market data tables and figures spread in 140 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Turning Tools Market Information from 2017 to 2023"Ask Sample for this Report @Turning tools consist of a replaceable insert in its body, and the insert can vary, based on shape, material, geometry, and coating. Turning tools are probably used in every manufacturing industry. Growth of fabricated products in automotive industry driving the growth of turning tools market. Use of face drivers is the latest trend gaining grip in the turning tool market.The turning tools market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period. .Ask for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports. Ingersoll Cutting Tool Company (U.S.) Sandvik Group (Sweden) Mikron Tool SA Agno (Switzerland) NTK Cutting Tools (Japan) WNT Tools India Pvt Ltd. (India) Kennametal Foundation (U.S.) Hanjiang Tool Co., Ltd. (China) Shanghai Tool Works Co.,Ltd. (China) Union Tool Corporation (Japan) ISCAR LTD. (Israel)Asia-Pacific region dominates the global turning tools marketOn the basis of region, the global turning tools market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (ROW). Asia-Pacific region dominates the global turning tools market. Continuously growing automotive, and manufacturing sector in countries like China and India driving the growth of the market in APAC region. This region is expected to show the fastest growth during the forecast period. Automation in automotive and mining industry boost demand of the market in European region. North America region is also expected to contribute significantly during the forecast period.Access Report Details @This research report provides insights, on various levels of analysis such as industry analysis, market share analysis leading market players and their profiles. This report also helps in studying the target segments by providing views on emerging & high-growth segments and market conclusion. Together the market data comprise and discuss with the basic assessments on the competitive scenarios & strategies, of the turning tools market, including the high-growth regions, countries and their political, economic and technological environments. Furthermore the project report also provides the views over the historical market values as well as, pricing and cost analysis of the same.Enquiry Before Buying@About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Customized Premixes Market Prophesied to Grow at a Faster Pace by 2024 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12058 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12058 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com The insufficient nutrient supply from the food source and the changing lifestyle leads to the deficiency of basic nutrients to the body and increase the prevalence of the various chronic diseases, to which the customized premixes has become the best alternative to supply the required nutrients.The customized premixes are the blend of desired functional ingredients. The customized premixes contain the ingredients such as vitamins, amino acids, minerals, neutraceuticals, nucleotides, and herbs. In customized premixes, many numbers of ingredients are combined to increase the nutritional value of the product as per the demand of the user. The customized premixes deliver all the desired macro and micro nutrients in single blend and enhance the nutritional value of the product.Request Report for TOC @The global customized premixes market has expected to register the significant growth over the forecast period as the demand of the customized premixes has increased due to the availability of various nutrients in a single product form. The customized premixes are also available in different blends, tests, flavors, and colors and as per the required proportion of nutrients which boost the demand of the customized premixes and drive the growth of the global customized premixes market.The operational efficiency in the manufacturing of customized premixes such as reduced ingredients inventory, reduced quality control costs, reduced supply chain complexity and shorter lead time leads to the cost cutting and moreover to the decrease in the price of the customized premixes, which drives the growth of the global customized premixes market.However, the controversies in the market regarding the actual benefits of the customized premixes may hamper the demand of the customized premixes and restrain the growth of the global customized premixes market. The false claims by the few of the manufacturers about the product ingredients and its applications may distract the consumers which could restrain the growth of the global customized premixes market.The global customized premixes market has segmented on the basis of ingredients, applications, form of the premixes and the geographical region.On the basis of ingredients, the global customized premixes market has segmented into:VitaminsMineralsAmino acidsSpeciality ingredientsColorsOn the basis of application, the global customized premixes market has segmented into:Food and beveragesSupplements and human healthPharmaceuticalsPersonal careOn the basis of form, the global customized premixes market has segmented into:PowderLiquidIn terms of geography, the global customized premixes market has been divided into five key regions, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East & Africa (MEA). The North America has contributed the leading shares to the global customized premixes market in terms of revenue.The Asia Pacific has also registered the highest shares in the global customized premixes market in terms of volume due to the increasing awareness about the health benefits of the customized premixes and increasing demand of premixes. Europe has contributed the descent shares to the global customized premixes market. The Latin America and MEA regions are at a nascent stage and contributed lowest shares to the global customized premixes market in terms of revenue and volume due to the less demand from the non-developed countries from the Middle East and Africa region.Request to Sample Report @Some of the key players of the global customized premixes market are Glanbia plc., Vitablend, Corbion, DSM, Stern Vitamins GmbH, Arla, Cargill, Watson, The Wright Group and Farbest Brands. Various global companies are contributed the descent growth to the global customized premixes market in terms of volume and revenue. The key players from North America and Europe contributed leading shares to the global customized premixes market.About UsPersistence 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 UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: U.K. Social and Media Networks Market and Consumer Insights Presented in New Study 2018: Key Players Improving Security Features https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1748102 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/social-and-media-networks-uk-may-2018-report.html Albany, US, May 18, 2018: In recent years, social life has embarked itself on social media platforms. The growing technological use in social life is becoming more and more prominent with passing years as a single person, today, may have a profile on Facebook, an account on Twitter, YouTube, and other networks. Recently, a new study has been compiled and broadcasted to the wide repository of Market Research Hub (MRH), which focuses on UK social and media network activities in 2018. The report is titled as Social and Media Networks - UK - May 2018 and aims to examine which networks consumers use in U.K., how frequently they use them and the types of activities they carry out. It also looks at consumer attitudes towards social and media networks, particularly in regards to issues of privacy, advertising and online abuse.Click here for Free Sample Report@Market InsightsIn general, media networks have experienced better growth in terms of their reach of UK users than the core social networks. However, in recent past, there has been consistent growth in global Facebook user numbers. In U.K., two-thirds of people use smartphones to access social networks. Apart from that concerns over privacy and data continue to surround the market, with the rise of messaging apps and its usage. According to the research findings, while there is a trend towards cutting down on social media use, more people than ever are using social networks and the vast majority are sharing content. In this study, consumers are detailed for complete social and media networks analysis along with various issues and insights of the market. Considering the current market scenario, the report finds that rising device ownership has driven social media access points, social media is the most popular smartphone activity for U.K. consumers. In terms of apps usage, YouTube experiencing criticism over advertising, Twitters monthly active users growth stalls, and negative response to Snapchats app redesign. The report also adds that platforms more popular with younger demographics must strike a balance between maintaining a cool brand image and continuing to cater for long-term users as they get older.Browse Full Report with TOC@Report EnclosureCrucial information compiled in the report includes an executive summary and a market definition. The executive summary of the report offers the readers insights on the major components of the U.K. market and its impact on the growth of the market. The report also provides insights on the market definition, which offers a strong understanding of the market in various aspects. In addition to the market definition and an executive summary, the report provides crucial information the current trends and developments identified in the market as well as various factors impacting the purchase decisions of the customers. Based on these insights, the readers can make better business decisions. The report also highlight overview of key players in this market, such as Facebook Inc., Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter. It has been reported that lack of trust in Facebook emerges after data sharing scandal. With a renewed emphasis on data security in the outcome of the Cambridge Analytical scandal, clear communication, transparency and giving users autonomy over their personal information will be vital moving forward.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like media research market and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Live Cell Imaging Market 2018 Global Analysis,Research,Review,Applications and Forecast to 2022 Live Cell Imaging Market 2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1706466-live-cell-imaging-market-outlook-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1706466-live-cell-imaging-market-outlook-2022 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Live Cell Imaging Market 2018 Global Analysis,Research,Review,Applications and Forecast to 2022.Live Cell Imaging is defined as the study of living cells using high content screening or analysis systems and imaging systems such as microscopes, cell analyzers, etc. These technologies are used in number of investigations in order to provide critical insights into the fundamental nature of tissue and cellular function.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comLive Cell Imaging Market Outlook 2022, includes a comprehensive analysis of the current and future outlooks of the Live Cell Imaging industry. The live cell imaging market is expected to reach US$ 7 Billion by 2022.The report presents an in-depth analysis of several techniques used in imaging of live cells; as well as the segmentation of market by products, applications, technology and geography. Based on product types, the market has been segmented into equipments, consumables and softwares. Equipment market accounted for the largest share in 2017. According to technologies used in live cell imaging, the market has been divided into FRET, FISH, and other major techniques.Similarly, geographical regions include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. North America is the largest market for live cell imaging due to high number of cell biology researches conducted in the region. As per RNCOS analysis, live cell imaging is widely entering into a number of fields such as cell biology, developmental biology, drug discovery, stem cell biology, neurobiology and electrophysiology. It is emerging as a powerful tool for providing critical insights into cell function, including dynamic processes in living cells with nano-scale resolution in real time. Recent advances in microscopy techniques such as fluorescence light microscopy, including super resolution, photo activation, etc. and confocal microscopy are moving live cell imaging for a number of applications.The last section of the report discusses about the prominent players in global live cell imaging market. A brief business overview and financial information about each of these players has been provided along with their product portfolios. The recent development and strength weakness analysis of every player has also been presented in the report. Overall, the research contains exhaustive information that will help clients in formulating market strategies and assessing opportunity areas in the global live cell imaging market.Report Details @Table Of Contents Major Key Points1. Analyst View2. Research Methodology3. Live Cell Imaging - An Introduction4. Global Live Cell Imaging Market Overview5. Market Dynamics5.1 Drivers5.1.1 Rising Incidences of Chronic Diseases5.1.2 Surging Demand for High-Content Screening Techniques5.1.3 Increasing Funding Support by Public and Private Sector5.1.4 Availability of Long-term Live Cell Imaging Platform5.1.5 Live Cell Imaging Instruments Accelerating Drug Discovery5.2 Challenges5.2.1 Maintaining Live Cells on Microscope Stage5.2.2 Mimicking the In Vivo Microenvironment5.2.3 Lack of Awareness5.3 Opportunities5.3.1 Adoption of High Content Screening Systems for Primary Screening5.3.2 Application of In Vivo Live Cell Imaging Techniques6. Global Live Cell Imaging Market By Product6.1 Equipment6.2 Consumables6.3 Software7. Global Live Cell Imaging Market by Application7.1 Cell Biology7.2 Developmental Biology7.3 Stem Cell Biology7.4 Drug Discovery7.5 Other Applications8. Global Live Cell Imaging Market By Technology8.1 Fluorescent Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)8.2 High Content Analysis (HCA)8.3 Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH)8.4 Other Technologies9. Global Live Cell Imaging Market By Geography9.1 North America9.2 Europe9.3 Asia Pacific9.4 Rest of the World10. Trends & Developments10.1 Fluorescent Probes Enriching Live Cell Imaging10.2 Introduction of LiveCyte Kinetic Cytometer for Label-free, Quantitative Phase Imaging10.3 Live Cell Imaging Revealing Intracellular Interactions10.4 Introduction of Single Plane Illumination Microscopy Advancing Live Cell Imaging11. Mergers & Other Collaborations12. Company Profiles12.1 Carl Zeiss GmbH12.2 Becton Dickenson & Co.12.3 Olympus Corporation12.4 ThermoFisher Scientific Inc.12.5 Merck KGaA12.6 PerkinElmer, Inc.12.7 Nikon Instruments Inc.12.8 GE Healthcare12.9 Lonza12.10 Danaher CorporationContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT 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.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Electric Barbecues & Grills Sales Market Overview, Growth and Opportunities Outlook 2018 to 2025 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011996085/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/global-electric-barbecues-and-grills-sales-market-report-2018 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011996085/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00011996085/buy/4000 ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Electric Barbecues & Grills Sales Report on Global and United States Market Status and Forecast by Players Types and Applications report detailed insights about the aspects responsible for augmenting as well as restraining market growth and analyses the market potential for each geographical region based on the growth rate, macroeconomic parameters, consumer buying patterns, and market demand and supply scenarios.Geographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, covering, United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringKuchefKenyon InternationalWebberAlpina GrillsDelonghiCinders BarbecuesGrand HallComponendoBetter ChefElectri-ChefWesternBulk BuysBrentwoodExcelvanLivartGreKitchenGrillbotGet sample of report @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBuilt-In Electric GrillsPortable Electric GrillsOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, includingIndoorOutdoorBrowse Complete Report @The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Electric Barbecues & Grills Sales, value, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025) ;To analyze the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, to study the sales, value and market share of top players in these regions.Focuses on the key Vaporizers players, to study the sales, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Ask for Discount on Report @Table of ContentGlobal Electric Barbecues & Grills Sales Market Report 20181 Vaporizers Market Overview2 Global Vaporizers Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application3 United States Vaporizers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 Europe Vaporizers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 China Vaporizers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Japan Vaporizers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Southeast Asia Vaporizers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 Burns Treatment Manufacturing Cost, Industrial Chain and Downstream Buyers9 Global Electric Barbecues & Grills Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data9.1 Kuchef9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Electric Barbecues & Grills Product Category, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Kuchef Electric Barbecues & Grills Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Kenyon International9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Electric Barbecues & Grills Product Category, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Kenyon International Electric Barbecues & Grills Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Webber9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Electric Barbecues & Grills Product Category, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Webber Electric Barbecues & Grills Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview10 Vaporizers Maufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Vaporizers Market Forecast (2018-2025)Place Direct Purchase order For Complete report @ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Contact Info:Name: Sameer JoshiOrganization: ReportsWebEmail: sales@reportsweb.comPhone: +1-646-491-9876505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Developments in Global Rigid Dump Truck Market and Upcoming Opportunities Forecasted for the Period 2018-2023 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1729520 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-rigid-dump-truck-market-2018-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2023-report.html Albany, US, May 18, 2018: Mining trucks are obviously one of the most useful machines in any mining industry. One of the most important equipment is a rigid dump truck, which is gaining momentum in the market. Recently, a comprehensive forecast study titled, Global Rigid Dump Truck Market 2018 by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023 has been publicized to the mega-repository of Market Research Hub (MRH). This 101-page study revolves around the current scenario of global rigid dump truck market with reference to the growth trajectory of the market in the past and in the future. The forecast data presented in the report is based on the cumulative demand for rigid dump trucks in past years. The analyst of the report has done extensive research for getting to the data in the report. A rigid dump truck is used for transporting loose material, such as sand, gravel, and demolition waste, for construction and mining purposes. According to the findings, due to increase in mining activities and development of new mining sites, especially new coalfields; the production of rigid machines such as mining dump trucks has increased over the years. They are an essential part of various construction and mining projects, especially infrastructure development projects. Another important feature is that rigid dump trucks are not only comfortable to drive and operate on asphalt and concrete roadways, but their components also allow their operation on the most difficult road conditions. Major types of rigid dump trucks are Autonomous and Human Driver.Click here for Free Sample Report@Report OverviewIn the market overview section, the all-inclusive research report highlights major components identified in the global rigid dump truck market. Valuable insights encapsulated in the overview of the report offers a detailed description pertaining to current market opportunities, factors fueling the growth of the global market, restraints hindering the growth prospects, and latest trends outlined in the global market. In addition, crucial information offered in this report offers analysis of various segments of the market along with the regional analysis, which throws light on the segments that will rope in significant growth opportunities for leading businessesBrowse Full Report with TOC@The market summary is followed by a systematic market segmentation which is a logical division of the global market for rigid dump truck into simpler parts. It includes segmentation on the basis of type, application and region. The regional segments are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. For each segment, the research present forecast with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023.The last piece of the report incorporates the vendor competition scene of the worldwide rigid dump truck. Top firms identified in the global market are concentrating on attaining a competitive edge in the global market through developing innovative products. At present, key players functioning in the market are Belaz, Volkswagen, Caterpillar, Weichai, Liebherr, SIH, Hitachi, SANY, Volvo, DAIMLER, Komatsu, Astra, Sinotruk, and XCMG.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like machines market research and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Paul Manafort. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jeffrey Yohai, Paul Manaforts former son-in-law, pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in January and has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors as part of his plea deal. His attorney, James Hicks, told BuzzFeed, I can only confirm that he has reached a plea agreement, and its unclear exactly what he pleaded guilty to. Reports from Politico and The Wall Street Journal said he pleaded guilty to either fraud or conspiracy charges related to real-estate loans on properties in New York and California. Yohai, who was divorced from Manaforts daughter Jessica in August, worked with his father-in-law on a number of real-estate projects, which led to several bankruptcy filings in late 2016. One of the indictments Special Counsel Robert Mueller brought against President Trumps former campaign manager accused him of committing bank fraud by telling one of his son-in-laws to pretend he was living in a Manhattan apartment that they were renting out. According to the Journal, Yohai also pleaded guilty to misrepresenting his income and assets to obtain an American Express Black Card, then running up charges he couldnt pay. Mueller brought charges against Manafort over an elaborate bank fraud and money laundering scheme; he pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial in Virginia in July, and in D.C. in September. Rick Gates, who was Manaforts longtime business partner and worked under him in the Trump campaign, was facing similar charges but cut a plea deal in February. While Mueller is believed to be trying to pressure Manafort to flip too, hes been fighting the charges. This week one judge rejected his claim that Mueller doesnt have the authority to charge him for crimes outside of Russian election meddling, but the judge in the other case is still considering that argument. On Thursday prosecutors gave U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III an un-redacted copy of a memo detailing what specific activities Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein authorized Mueller to investigate. Trumps allies in Congress are trying to obtain a copy of the memo, though DOJ precedent prohibits them from sharing records from an ongoing investigation. Its unclear if Yohai will be asked to provide information that could be used in Muellers prosecution of Manafort. In a May 10 court filing, Yohai said he had missed deadlines in a New York civil case partly due to his involvement in the federal investigation by Office of Special Counsel. A lawyer for the opposing side said the judge told him that he needed to produce documents and sit for a deposition, special counsel or no special counsel. Nuclear Power in United Kingdom, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017-Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles Reportsweb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001985412/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001985412/buying "Nuclear Power in United Kingdom, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2017-Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles", is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the nuclear power market in United Kingdom.The report provides in depth analysis on global nuclear power market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in United Kingdom (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro, pumped storage and renewables) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details nuclear power market outlook in the country and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in United Kingdom nuclear power market. A detailed coverage of nuclear energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to nuclear is provided in the report. The research also provides details of active nuclear reactors in the country, market size of major equipment and company snapshot of some of the major market participants.Complete report is available@The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalData's team of industry experts.Report Scope:-A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.-Historical period is during 2006-2016 (unless specified) and forecast period is for 2017-2030.-Overview on the global nuclear power market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by region in 2016, installed capacity split by major nuclear power countries in 2016 and investment trends.-Power market scenario in United Kingdom provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewables) with forecasts up to 2030.-Details of United Kingdom nuclear power market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity by reactor type, installed capacity share by contractor/owner and information on major active and upcoming projects.-Key policies and regulatory framework supporting nuclear power development.-Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Inquire before Buying@Companies Mentioned:The United Kingdom Atomic Energy AuthorityRWE Power AGNuclear Decommissioning AuthorityHorizon Nuclear PowerElectricite de France S.A.EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Group LimitedReasons to buy:-The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.-Identify key growth and investment opportunities in United Kingdom nuclear power market.-Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for nuclear power market.-Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industry's growth potential.-Identify key partners and business development avenues.-Understand and respond to your competitors' business structure, strategy and prospects.Table of Contents:1. Table of Contents 22 Executive Summary 63 Introduction 94 Nuclear Power Market, Global, 2006-2030 155 Power Market, United Kingdom, 2006-2030 306 Nuclear Power Market, United Kingdom, 2006-2030 457 Renewable Energy Policy Framework, United Kingdom 588 Nuclear Power Market, United Kingdom, Company Profiles 719 Appendix 86About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queriesPune:505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Metamaterials Market Detailed Analytical Overview by 2025 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/14584 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14584 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Increasing interest on developing tunable and re-configurable artificial electromagnetic materials is the key factor contributes the growth of global metamaterials market. Metamaterials are artificially structured materials used to control and manipulate sound, light, and other physical phenomena. Typically, metamaterials include several classes of electromagnetic composites including negative index materials, photonic crystals, zero index materials, low index materials and chiral metamaterials.The desired properties of the metamaterials are derived from the inherent properties of their constituent materials and the geometrical arrangement of those materials. Metamaterials are utilized in various devices including Sensors, Superlensing, Cloaking, and Light emitting diodes. Some of the prominent modeling methods of metamaterials are finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, finite-element method (FEM), and transmission line method (TLM). Metamaterials are utilized across various applications, including high frequency battle field communication, sensor detection, improving ultrasonic sensors, solar power management, and high gain antennas and also in various remote aerospace applicationsRequest Report for TOC @Global Metamaterials Market: Market DynamicsGrowing interest for utilizing metamaterials in various Information and communication technology applications, rising demand for modeling & simulation of metamaterial-based devices for industrial applications, and increasing focus on developing efficient solar power solutions are the prominent factors drives the growth of global metamaterials market. Rising research and development spending to utilize metamaterials in various aerospace defense applications and growing focus on utilizing metamaterials in various healthcare & biomedical applications, accelerates the growth of global metamaterials market. Also, increasing focus on utilizing metamaterial technology for developing passive radiative cooling solutions for power plants, electronically scanned array platform for self-driving cars & drones, and smart metamaterial antennas for 5G networks and satellites, further expected to fuel the growth of global metamaterials market. However, lack of awareness , high research and development cost for successful integration of metamaterials in real time applications, and complications related to design & fabrication, are the factors identified as restraints likely to deter the progression of global metamaterials market.Global Metamaterials Market: Market segmentationThe global metamaterials market is segmented on the basis of type of metamaterial, device type, end users and region. On the basis of type, the global metamaterials market can be segmented into Electromagnetic Metamaterials, Chiral Metamaterials, Terahertz Metamaterials, Photonic metamaterials, tunable metamaterials, frequency selective surface (fss) based metamaterials and nonlinear metamaterials. By end user aerospace & defence, medical & healthcare, telecommunication, and space. Regionally, the global metamaterials market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.Global Metamaterials Market: Regional OutlookThe metamaterials market in North America followed Western Europe are expected to be dominate, due continuous funding on research & development for utilizing metamaterials across various applications, and increasing focus on metamaterials research study by various universities. Among all the regions, in terms of revenue, Asia Pacific metmaterials market is identified as the fastest growing, due to growing focus on developing new materials to revolutionize telecommunication and power industry.Request to Sample Report @Global Metamaterials Market: Competition LandscapeSome of the prominent vendors in the global metamaterials market, includes Metamaterial Technologies, Kymeta Corporation, Echodyne, Inc., Nano-Meta Technologies, Inc., TeraView, JEM Engineering, Advanced Research Projects Agency, Metamagnetics, Fractal Antenna Systems Inc. and Palo Alto Research Center IncorporatedAbout UsPersistence 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 UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Coconut Oil Market Detailed Analytical Overview by 2025 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/17233 https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/17233 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Coconut oil is made up of a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. The oil contains nearly 12 g of saturated fat. This is approximately 60 percent of daily recommended saturated fat intake for humans. As per American Heart Associations recommendations the intake of saturated fats in foods should be less. Saturated fat intake can affect human health due to increase in cholesterol levels, leading to an increased risk of heart disease. While it is high in saturated fat content, the coconut oil also contains heart-healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats that are important for brain function and overall growth and development.Coconut Oil Market: SegmentationThe coconut oil market can be segmented into applications, packaging, product type, and distribution channel. Coconut oil market finds applications in food, household detergents, metalworking fluids, paints and coatings, soaps, textile chemicals, plastic industry and pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industry. On the basis of packaging, the coconut oil market is divided into steel drums, flexi tanks/iso tanks, carboys, plastic bottles, squeeze tubes, glass jars, and pails. On the basis product type, the coconut oil market is segmented as distilled, partially hydrogenated, fully hydrogenated, low white or low whole products. On the basis distribution channels, the coconut oil market is segmented as manufacturers, super stockist, wholesalers, retailers, online retailers and convenience stores.Request Report for TOC @Coconut Oil Market: Regional OutlookAsia is the largest user of coconut oil owing to the presence of tropical regions, and coconut production being a good pastime. Coconut oil is majorly produced in countries like India, Indonesia, and Philippines. But the coconut oil market has gone up even in countries like the USA. There has been an exponential demand for coconut oil because of its multiple health benefits from the years 2006-2014. Also, there has been an increase in demand for the coconut oil from Europe since the year 2016. The Philippines has stated that the coconut oil demand rose from Europe as compared to the past decade.Coconut oil Market: Drivers, Restraints, and TrendsCoconut oil market is driven by increasing application in as an ingredient in consmetic industry. The coconut oil is not only used as a cosmetic and an enhancement in beauty care but also has nutritional and health benefits. For women opting for shampoos, hair oils, conditioners, sunscreen, and serum- coconut oil has a solution for all these problems as proven by dermatologists.Increasing health benefits are also driving the coconut oil market over the forecast period. It is emerging as a better option for cardiovascular patients because, due to its unsaturated fatty acid content, it lowers heart attack risk for these patients. Besides, coconut oil production is low in regions such as Europe and USA whereas the demand increases, and due to less available resources, the price for this product also goes on increasing and hence, coconut oil makes is desirable for investors.Request to Sample Report @Coconut Oil Market: Key PlayersSome of the key manufacturers in the coconut oil market are: Parachute, A.B. Enterprises, PT MANGGA DUA, Flower Song Fine Chemical Co Ltd., EPS IMPEX CO., J.K.International, Irmal Middle East, PT General Laju, ADP Southeast Orient Corporation, Shanghai Asia Co.Ltd. And Libra Bioscience Pvt. Ltd. The key stakeholder play a pivotal role and dominate the market by effective development of market strategies.About UsPersistence 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 UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Recent Study on Brazil Haircare Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatment and Coloring Market Reveals Steady Growth Through 2022 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1737246 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/haircare-shampoo-conditioner-treatment-and-coloring-brazil-april-2018-report.html Albany, New York, May 2, 2018: There are a lot of haircare products available on today's market and it can be tough to find something that compliments the hair type and style. With a prime focus on Brazil market, a new study has been released, which states that the sales of hair care products have surged in the last decade in Brazil and the Brazilian haircare market is constantly innovating. Market Research Hub (MRH) has freshly broadcasted this study to its mega-repository, which is titled Haircare - Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatment and Coloring - Brazil - April 2018. The report majorly focuses on overall Brazil market, analyzing latest trends and future prospects until the end of 2022. The estimated market size has been provided covering total Forecast of retail sales of shampoos and conditioners, by value, for the period 2012-22.Click here for Free Sample Report@Brazil Haircare: Market Overview & Key HighlightsA number of Brazilian women are of the opinion that going to the salon for their beauty and personal care is a necessity, representing a large part of their monthly spending. Major products in the haircare segment include: hair colorants, shampoos, and conditioners. On the basis of products, the research identifies that shampoos and conditioners are highly consumed among Brazilians. More than half of Brazilians are concerned with the health of their scalp, therefore avoid using coloring products. Products designed to be used during sleep and with UV protection have space in the market, as well as hair mask developed for men. On the other hand, some of the major facets of the market include:There is a lack of products for the elderlyHair colorants may have benefited from the economic recessionConsumption of dry haircare products is still lowNumber of new beauty salons and barber shops increasesThe market can explore some niches to stimulate sales in volumeAs per the study key findings, due to the various new trends in the market, such as natural, organic, and vegan products, as well as options for different hair types, such as curly and Afro-textured; new washing techniques, such as no-poo/low-poo; and line extensions, such as post-shampoos, pre-shampoos, and cleansing conditioners have impacted consumption and changed consumer behaviors. Mix of products can help boost sales of shampoos and conditioners, finds study.Browse Full Report with TOC@There are currently two most important market drivers analyzed in the study, such as economic recession hasnt stopped the opening of beauty salons, which is an advantage. Also, technologies present in formulations help ensure hair health. It has been also stated in the study that hair colorants with natural ingredients can use repair damage claim.Competitive OutlookIn terms of key players, Unilever leads sales of shampoos and conditioners. In addition, LOreal and Coty account for more than half of Brazils retail sales of shampoos and conditionersWhat makes this report unique and essential to read?The data provided is unique in the market as it tracks consumer behavior through to its actual value impact on a product market. This provides readers with a unique data analysis of the market, allowing marketing tactics and strategy to be updated in line with the very latest consumer behaviors.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like personal care market and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Global Cable Tie Guns Market Major Insights Based on Regional Demand, Types, and Applications for the Period 2018-2023 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1737178 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-cable-tie-guns-market-2018-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2023-report.html Albany, US, May 18, 2018: A fresh market research report has been added by Market Research Hub (MRH) to its comprehensive collection of research studies. The research report, which is titled Global Cable Tie Guns Market 2018 by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023, provides a detailed analysis, emphasizing on the market dynamics that are estimated to determine the growth of the market in the coming few years. The growth drivers, opportunities, and challenges for the global cable tie guns market have been discussed in the research report to give a clear understanding to the readers and investors.In a bid to offer better and accurate results, the report majorly attentions on some of the chief regions including the Middle East and Africa (MEA), Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and South America. The regional analysis section is a crucial segment of the report, which enlightens the reader about the market scenario and trending factors influencing the market shares for each region. Sales, revenue and market share by key countries in the above-mentioned regions are also outlined in the study. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions.Click here for Free Sample Report@Global Cable Tie Gun Market InsightsA cable tie gun is a device in general shape and form of hand pistol. It offers bundling wires with nice tight cable tie insertions. Also, cable tie installation tools provide a professional and uniform means of tensioning and cutting cable ties in production. In the present time, installation and assembly becoming more complicated, which is the reason why specialized cable tie guns are being highly utilized in various industries. Moreover, this report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, types and applications which is an important part of the study and gives a clear overview of the market. On basis of product type, the cable tie gun can be segmented into manual cable tie gun, automatic cable tie guns and pneumatic cable tie guns. Besides, on the basis of application, the research covers Automobile, Construction, Electronics, Food & Pharma and others. It has been analyzed in the study that the cable tie guns are widely used in the industries because of their reasonable prices and easy to use technique. For each segment, the research highlights sales market share and growth rate, size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume until the end of 2023.Browse Full Report with TOC@Competitive OutlookAnother important segment of the report throws light on the market competitive scenario among different market players. Their company market share analysis, strategies and standings in the market are also outlined in this segment. At present, key players analyzed in the study include HellermannTyton, Apex Tool Group, Thomas & Betts, Panduit, TE Connectivity, Greenlee Textron, Ideal, Klein Tools and AVERY DENNISON.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like equipment research market and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Graphite Electrodes Market Revenue will Reach $27.5 Billion by 2022 Market Research Outlet https://www.marketresearchoutlet.com/report/graphite-electrodes-market https://www.marketresearchoutlet.com/report/graphite-electrodes-market https://www.marketresearchoutlet.com The global graphite electrodes market was valued at $5.04 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $27.5 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 28.4% from 2017 to 2024. In 2016, the ultra-high graphite electrode segment generated the highest revenue share in the global graphite electrodes market. Among major regions, China was the highest revenue generating market, holding nearly 25% of the market share, in 2016.Recently, the graphite electrode prices have risen sharply, impacting both the steel and aluminium industries. The surge in prices are due to supply side factors, rather than being driven by changes in the demand from the Chinese steel industry.Click Here to Request a Free Sample PDF of This Report @Metallurgy segment garnered the highest share in the global market, owing to the growth of steel- oriented sectorsThe growth of steel- oriented sectors such as construction, automotive, infrastructure, aerospace & defence, and many others has led to a surge in the consumption and production of steel. Now a days, manufacturers have opted for electric arc furnaces (EAF) for manufacturing steel, which requires graphite electrodes as a main component. Being a prerequisite of steel manufacturing process or smelting process via EAF route, the demand for graphite electrodes is linked to the demand for EAF.Rising prices of raw materials is anticipated to hamper the market growthManufacturing of graphite electrodes takes into account the consumption of various raw materials, such as petroleum coke, pitch binder, power, and needle coke among others. The rise in raw material prices has led to the increase in the production cost, which in turn has increased the price of graphite electrodes. After witnessing a fluctuating price trend, the raw material prices soared up drastically in the year 2017 and is expected to maintain this trend during the forecast period as well.China accounted for the largest market share for global graphite electrodes market, owing to the high steel productionChina held nearly 38% market share, in terms of production, of the global market. It is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period as well. According to World Steel Association, China is the largest steel producer of the world, holding more than 40% of the production share. Moreover, it is among the top five car manufacturing countries in the world, leading to the growth of graphite electrode market in this region. However, the increasing concerns of Chinese government on environmental conditions is expected to have an impact on the market growth in this region.KEY FINDINGS OF GLOBAL GRAPHITE ELECTRODES MARKET, 2016-2024The global graphite electrode market is witnessing a faster rising price trend of raw materials as compared to the finished good.Developed nations such as India and Middle East have the highest exposure to EAF route, which in turn is expected to offer humongous opportunities for the market growth in these region.Market players are focusing on mergers and acquisitions, in order to attain large share of the global market and become the market leader.North America led the global graphite electrodes market, in terms of consumption, by holding 30% of the total share.Some key market players are SGL Group, GrafTech, Fangda Carbon, Showa Denko K.K, Jilin Carbon, Tokai Carbon, Nippon Carbon, Graphite India Limited (GIL), HEG Limited, Yangzi Carbon, and Kaifeng Co., Ltd. In August 2015, GrafTech was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management at a total value of $706.5 million. The acquisition took place with an aim to confidently turn around the company by cutting down production and closing high cost operations.To know more about the report, visit atMarket Research Outlet is a market research and consultative company provides market research reports and business insights to large and small & medium enterprises. The company supports its clients to conceive business policies and accomplish sustainable growth in their particular market domain. We meet clients objectives, commitment and dedication on high standard and targeting possible prospects for market research reports. We value how imperative surveying statistical information is for your business or association. As a result, we are linked with the top publishers & research firms all dedicated in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most consistent and up to date research data available. Our upgraded reports are well categorized, facilitating our patrons to easily identify and get access to those reports that are most relevant to their business. We provide detailed analysis of competitive markets. We analyze to identify new trends and growth, and provide all of this information in a comprehensive report focused on your market sector. Our Strategic Intelligence capabilities are purposely planned to boost your business extension and elucidate the vigor of diverse industry. We hold distinguished units of highly expert analysts and consultants according to their respective domains. We get empirical data from experts on market forecast or market current scenario from primary and secondary research report data, all under the roof. Weimply clients insight on the aspects including strategies, growth/fall forecasting,opportunity analysis, future estimations, and consumer surveys many others. As follows, the company offers reliable business intelligent maintenance to assist the clients to turn into outstanding business firm.Contact UsMr. JackMarket Research Outlet5/54, 401 Anita Building, Keshav Nagar, Mundhwa, Pune,Tel: +91-800-757-7711Email: sales@marketresearchoutlet.comEmail: help@marketresearchoutlet.comWebsite: The Fine Chemical Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.76%, and to reach $201.57 Billion by 2023. The Fine Chemical Market https://industryarc.com/Report/15895/fine-chemicals-market.html https://industryarc.com/support.php?id=15895 https://industryarc.com/Report/18269/wet-chemicals-market.html https://industryarc.com/Report/18209/biosurfactants-market.html https://industryarc.com/subscription.php In the Report Fine Chemicals Market: By End Use Industry (Pharmaceuticals, Agrochemicals, Polymer additives, Food & Feed, Pigments, Dyes, Electronics, Perfumes and Fragrances and Others); By Geography-Forecast 2017-2021) published by IndustryARC, the market continues to dominate in production of chemicals, due to constant rate of usage in biopharmaceuticals.Europe with major share in the Fine Chemicals Market:Europe is the leading manufacturer of all fine chemicals, with a share of 40% in the global market. Followed by North America and Asia-Pacific, the region is facing problems in production in recent years. The supply chain is comparatively higher in terms of the demand from the European consumer, as a result of which, many chemical suppliers have turned to exports to hold the production. However, countries from Asia-Pacific are increasing their fine chemicals exports revenues through large scale production and stricter adherence to international norms. In view of that, European supplier in the future, will bring down their production capacities as it is estimated that a decline in exports of fine chemicals is inevitable. Bringing down the production volumes is the only way forward to minimize the losses garnered from supplier end caused through overproduction.Selected Type and Application Analysis done in the full Report:Pharmaceuticals have always been the chief market for the fine chemical industry. Moreover, it is more likely that pharmaceutical intermediates will account for over 70% of the fine chemicals market. Among all the regions, Indian pharmaceuticals market was estimated to be $18 billion at a CAGR of 9.4% in 2018. Now, the Indian market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 23.9% and to reach revenue of $104.6 million by 2023. India will be among the top three pharmaceuticals market due to its dynamic growth and will be the sixth largest market, in terms of size. Apart from the Pharmaceutical industry, non-pharma markets also play a key role in developments and serving. Going forward, a surge in the demand for improving the yield of crops has increased the fertilizer market, which is directly related to the agrochemical industry. Fine chemicals are mainly used in the manufacture of electronic components. Competition from lower cost chemicals and new advancements in wafer polishing will control opportunities. Increasing demand for consumer electronics is anticipated to drive the demand for fine chemicals. Accounting for a total volume of less than a million tons, organic pigments hold a very small share in the global pigments market. The personal care industry has a major share in the global fine chemicals industry. Personal care industry includes hair care, fragrances, oral care, skin care, and baby care products. Going up, the interest for personal care items such as post foaming hair and shave gel, suntan spray, body oils, and deodorants, depilatory creams and facial scrub gels are relied upon to positively affect the fine chemicals market.To purchase or browse the table of contents of the report follow the link below:Excerpts on Market Growth Factors:Development of efficient protein based catalysts, enzyme capabilities and new reactors technologies would aid to lower the cost of fine chemical. Hence, it will lead to lower cost of medicines.WHO (World Health Organization) has created measures to make pain medication available including fine chemicals which are the API for pain medication. Hence, these measures drive the growth of fine chemicals market.In recent years, research based pharmaceutical firms are converting into manufacturing firms which is effecting fine chemical manufacturers and due to which overcapacity problem is arising. Moving forward this could turn around as a challenge for fine chemicals manufacturers.Talk to one of our sales representative about the full report by providing your details in the link below:Key players of the Fine Chemicals Market:BASF SE is the leading player in manufacturing for all major segments like pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals has remained as the dominant player with constant product launches and developments. The next leading chemical companies include Sinopec, Bayer AG and Evonik Industries AG, followed by Johnson Matthey, Lanxess and Lonza Group. Key factor that has improved the growth of major players in this competitive market is their adaptability to suit the customer requirements and early entrance into the emerging application areas like pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food and feed and perfumes.Fine Chemicals Market report is segmented as belowThe Global Fine Chemicals Market study across various end user industries is incorporated in the report.A.Fine Chemicals Market By End-User1.Pharmaceuticals2.Agro Chemicals3.Polymer Additives4.Food and Feed5.Electronics (Liquid Crystal, Functional Dyes and Others)6.Pigments7.Dyes8.Perfumes and Fragrances9.OthersB.Fine Chemicals Market by Geography (covers 10+ countries)C.Fine Chemicals Market Equipment EntropyCompanies Citied / Interviewed1.WEYLCHEM INTERNATIONAL GMBH2.AKZO NOBEL N.V3.BORREGAARD INDUSTRIES LTD.4.SOLVAY SA5.CABB GMBH6.ALBEMARLE CORPORATION7.GROUPE NOVASEP SAS8.VERTELLUS HOLDINGS LLC9.CHEMADA FINE CHEMICALS10.ARKEMA INC.11.EVONIK INDUSTRIES AG.12.CHINA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION13.ROYAL DSM N.V14.TORAY FINE CHEMICALS CO. LTD.15.NIPPON FINE CHEMICAL CO. LTD.16.ALZCHEM AG17.Company 1718.Company 18+Related Report:A.Wet Chemical MarketB.Biosurfactants MarketWhat can you expect from the report?The Fine Chemicals Market Report is Prepared with the Main Agenda to Cover the following 20 points:1. Market Size by Product Categories & Application 11. Demand Analysis (Revenue & Volume)2. Market trends & Relevant Market Data 12. Country level Analysis3. Manufacturer Landscape 13. Competitor Analysis4. Distributor Landscape 14. Market Shares Analysis5. Pricing Analysis 15. Value Chain Analysis6. Top 10 End user Analysis 16. Supply Chain Analysis7. Product Benchmarking 17. Strategic Analysis8. Product Developments 18. Current & Future Market Landscape Analysis9. Mergers & Acquisition Analysis 19. Opportunity Analysis10. Patent Analysis 20. Revenue and Volume AnalysisFrequently Asked Questions:Q. Does IndustryARC publish country or application based reports in AC-DC-EC Fans Market segment?Response: Yes, we do have separate reports as mentioned below:1. Americas Fine Chemicals Market (2018-2023)2. Asia Pacific Fine Chemicals Market (2018-2023)3. Europe Fine Chemicals Market (2018-2023)4. End-User Fine Chemicals Market (2018-2023)Q. Does IndustryARC provide customized reports and charge additionally for limited customization?Response: Yes, we can customize the report by extracting data from our database of reports and annual subscription databases. We can provide the following free customization:1. Increase the level of data in application or end user industry.2. Increase the number of countries in geography chapter.3. Find out market shares for other smaller companies or companies which are of interest to you.4. Company profiles can be requested based on your interest.5. Patent analysis, pricing, product analysis, product benchmarking, value and supply chain analysis can be requested for a country or end use segment.Any other custom requirements can be discussed with our team, drop an e-mail to sales@industryarc.com to discuss more about our consulting services.To request for a proposal, provide your details in the below link:About IndustryARC:IndustryARC is a Research and Consulting Firm that publishes more than 500 reports annually, in various industries such as Agriculture, Automotive, Automation & Instrumentation, Chemicals and Materials, Energy and Power, Electronics, Food & Beverages, Information Technology, Life sciences & Healthcare.IndustryARC primarily focuses on Cutting Edge Technologies and Newer Applications in a Market. Our Custom Research Services are designed to provide insights on the constant flux in the global supply-demand gap of markets. Our strong team of analysts enables us to meet the client research needs at a rapid speed, with a variety of options for your business.We look forward to support the client to be able to better address their customer needs, stay ahead in the market, become the top competitor and get real-time recommendations on business strategies and deals. Contact us to find out how we can help you today.Mr. Venkat ReddySales ManagerEmail 1: sales@industryarc.comOr Email 2: venkat@industryarc.comContact Sales: +1-614-588-8538 (Ext-101) Car Wash System Market: 2018 Global Industry Size, Trends, Key Players, Share, Regional Analysis, Competitive Landscape Forecast To 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3863 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/car-wash-system-market-3863 Car Wash System Market Scenario:Car Wash System Market rapidly growing With a Staggering CAGR by end of 2023. According to latest research report published on Car Wash System Market 2018 - Global Forecast To 2023, this Car Wash System Market is driven by factors such as growth in automotive industry, increase in production and sales of vehicles, reduced instances domestic car washing, and high disposable income and improved efficiency, higher safety, easy management, reliability and time efficiency.This published research report of 110 pages analyzes Car Wash System Market Information By type(Gantry Car Washes, Conveyor Tunnel System, Self-service Car Washes), process(Cloth Friction, Touch less), components (Brushes, Jet Spray, Dryers, Sensors, Controllers, Pump), Applications with Forecast till 2023.Get Sample Copy of Car Wash System Market 2018 - Global Forecast to 2023 at:According to a study by the International Carwash Association, that there are approximately 80,000 professional car wash locations in both the regions namely North America and Europe. The markets of North America and Europe have come to a maturity stage where the consumers are preferring to get their cars washed for them instead of doing it by themselves. A large number of car wash locations in the United States are owned and operated by small to medium sized independent car wash companies, whereas medium to large sized petroleum companies are controlling the majority of the European market. In Asia Pacific region, the greatest growth in the car wash system market is being contributed by the independent car wash companies and entrepreneurs.Car Wash System Market Key Industry Players Analyzed In Report Are: WashTec AG (Germany), Daifuku Co., Ltd (Japan), Otto Christ AG (Germany), Istobal, S.A. (Spain), Ryko Solutions, Inc (U.S.), MK SEIKO CO., LTD (Japan), D&S Car Wash Equipment Company (U.S.), PECO Car Wash Systems (U.S.), Washworld, Inc.(U.S.) and Autoequip Lavaggi S.R.L.( Italy).Car washing is done with the objective of keeping the exterior of the car clean. This was mostly done manually in automobile garage or service centers of automobile companies and required more consumption of water, manpower and time. To overcome this, car wash systems were introduced. Car wash systems include self-service car wash equipment, brush roll-overs, touch free roll-overs, brush drive through systems, touch free car washes, tunnel car washes and conveyor car washes among others.Car Wash System Market Segmentation:The Car Wash System Market can be segmented in to 2 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;Segmentation by Type - Gantry Car Washes, Conveyor Tunnel System, Self-service Car Washes and OthersSegmentation by application - Passenger car, Commercial vehicleSegmentation by Regions: North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.Intended Audience:Automotive connectors manufacturersDistributer & Supplier companiesEnd UsersConsultants and Investment bankersGovernment as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesRegional Analysis:Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the global Car Wash System market due the boom in manufacturing of vehicles in developing nations such as India and china and the evolution of concept & increase in manufacturing of electric vehicles. In Europe region, the rise in strict government regulations for the safety of automotive and passengers and the increase in safety concerns amongst the consumers is contributing to the growth of the Car Wash System market in the Europe region.The report for Global Car Wash System Market of Market Research Future comprises of 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 details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:November 2017- Mark VII Equipment Inc., subsidiary of WashTec AG has entered into a partnership agreement with Wash-N-Shine Car Wash Systems to sell and service Mark VII products in Kentucky, eastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio.July 2017- Istobal, S.A. won Danish tender for the supply of car wash equipment for Oil Company OKQ8. This tender is applicable for a tenure of three years. This agreement includes the supply of rollovers and numerous accessories such as vacuum cleaners and mat cleaners.Browse more details on this Car Wash System Market Research Report - Global Forecast to 2023 report at:About Us: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:Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312sales@marketresearchfuture.com Human Machine Interface (HMI) Market Update, Analysis, Growth, Forecast, 2016 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1216 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/human-machine-interface-hmi-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1216 https://www.gminsights.com http://algosonline.com/news Companies in the HMI market include Siemens AG, ABB Ltd, Eaton Corp, Schneider Electric, Honeywell Inc., General Electric, Emerson Electric, Advantech Co, Beijer Electronics, Yokogawa Electric, etc. Mergers and acquisitions is the focus of many key players as a part of business strategy. For instance, in 2016, Rockwell Automation acquired Magnemotion, in order to make expansion in the motion control business.Human Machine Interface (HMI) Market size is driven by rising need for efficiently monitoring the plants in various industries such as oil and gas, and mining. Factors such as increasing adoption of industrial automation equipment in the production sector along with growing demand for smart technological solution will spur the HMI industry growth. Moreover, increasing demand for integration of logical software with technical devices is anticipated to improvise quality and productivity, thereby prompting the demand.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Increasing demand for ease in machine communications along with growing demand for high processing power and huge storage space to encourage the human machine interface market adoption. Further, technological advancements in the development of innovative display panels further contributes to the growth. For instance, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) installed ABBs enterprise wide supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) for efficient real-time monitoring of all its production and drilling facilities spread across India and in Arabian Sea.Features such as alarm warnings, safe messaging along with improved internal communications is expected to provide advantage to a facility in terms of operations, security and production. Further, HMI is anticipated to reduce the operation costs by substituting various push buttons, indictor lights, selectors along with lowering the requirement of additional display panels and cables.In addition to these features, high resolution of HMI system provides a clear-sighted view of the manufacturing operations, enabling the operator to control the facility centrally. Moreover, with the implementation of the system, facility managers have the ease of testing devices using flexible HMI without a single equipment, thus lowering the startup time and improving overall productivity.Factors such as lack of standardization, high cost associated with the installation along with the safety and security issues is anticipated to curb the human machine interface market growth. Further, lack of skilled professionals and awareness among management level individuals may present a challenge to the industry participants.Browse Full Research Report On Human Machine Interface (HMI) Market @Increasing demand for high resolution displays for analyzing the industrial process efficiently along with the technological advancements in the computing processors is expected to offer growth opportunities. Further, fast industrialization in the emerging economies such as China & India to spur the HMI market growth.Growing demand of HMI terminals in the manufacturing sector for improvisation of the plant management by automatization along with building better user-machine communication services will offer significant growth opportunities. Further, clubbing of Wi-Fi & Bluetooth technology with these devices has helped in improving the mobility, contributing to human machine interface market size.Hardware can be classified into basic, advanced PC-based and advanced panel-based. Basic HMI provides high-power visualization and glaring display quality along with touch-key functionality for operations. It provides features such as backup of data via USB stick for fast device exchange. Additionally, in order to build smooth communication with web servers and drives, basic HMIs integrates the device with a web browser.Advanced PC-based hardware is recommended for industries where production places large demands on quantity and nature of data that needs to be processed. It provides suitable choices for adequate storage space, data connectivity and processing capability. Advanced panel-based hardware is classified into comfort panels and mobile panels. Comfort panels provide machine-level high-performance visualization.Software is classified into cloud-based and on-premise. Cloud-based HMI market offers better ease of access, functionality and security in a significantly lower price. Data stored in the cloud can be accessed by any internet connected devices such as PCs, tablets, smartphones with proper login credentials. On-premise HMIs are preferred by some organizations having fear of losing control of data in cloud storage.Make an inquiry for buying this report @The presence of large number of solution providers and increasing high-end production activities is driving the U.S. human machine interface market. In addition to the increasing demand for integrated HMI solutions is anticipated to catapult the HMI market growth in the region. Moreover, early technology adoption in north America contributes further to the industry progress. The rapid industrialization will drive the India and China HMI market. In addition to easy availability of raw materials, inexpensive labor force along with the rising number of automation projects is expected to spur the demand.About Global Market Insights:Global 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 biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Precise Study on Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market Covering Trends, Market Share and Forecast to 2024 Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/2504 https://www.mrrse.com/military-personal-protective-equipment-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/2504 https://www.mrrse.com/ Military Personal Protective Equipment has become a crucial and standard element of soldier equipment. One of the major factor driving the market is the increasing role of ground troops in different parts of the world such as Iraq, Afghanistan and India among others. The demand for military personal protective equipment is anticipated to be driven by modernization initiatives undertaken by several large defense spenders globally and various internal security threats, such as organized crime and terrorism among others.Click Here, To Get Sample Copy of New Research Military Personal Protective Equipment Market Report @Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: Drivers and TrendsOne of the major factor driving the market is the increasing role of ground troops in different parts of the world such as Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq among others. As of 2014, there were 8 active military conflicts and 10 official wars known by the United States. In addition, there were also other violent clashes relating 64 countries and 576 separatist and militias groups. In 2016, in wars between Syria and Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Lake Chad basin and Yemen helps the military personal protective equipment market to grow at a high CAGR which in turn is expected to boost the market.Body armor (IBA), improved outer tactical vest (IOTV), advanced combat helmet (ACH), pelvic protection systems (PPS), life safety jacket, military combat eye protection (MCEP) and others sectors are the various product types of the military personal protective equipment market. Among various product types of the military personal protective equipment market body armor (BA) is the held the major market share in 2015 and expected to be the same during the forecast period of 2016 2024.Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: SegmentationThe military personal protective equipment market has been segmented on the basis of application into army, air force, navy and others. Among various application of the military personal protective equipment market army held major market share in 2015 followed by navy and is expected to be remain the same during the forecast period of 2016 2024. Several countries are focusing on manufacturing better military personal protective equipment such as lightweight under suits, ballistic inserts, combat helmets and advanced night vision equipment that provide the benefits of enhanced protection and comfort to ground, navy and air forces. In 2015, the market is expected to be dominated by North America followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. In addition, Asia Pacific occupies more than 20% of the global market share, is driven by developing economies such as India, South Korea, Japan and China among others which are performing soldier modernization programs.Click here, To Get Complete Examined Research Report with TOC @Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: Regional OutlookBy geography, the military personal protective equipment market is classified into five regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. In 2015, North America holds the largest market share in the military personal protective equipment followed by Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. However, in 2024 Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the largest market for military personal protective equipment market followed by North America. China held the largest share for the military personal protective equipment market in Asia Pacific in 2015. It is also expected to experience healthy growth in the coming years. Growing research and development activities started by different research organizations acts as a driving factor of the market. In addition, growing concerns over the safety and protection of the forces is expected to propel the growth of the market.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:Key players profiled in this report include 3M Ceradyne (United States), ArmorWorks (United States), Eagle Industries Unlimited Inc (United States), BAE Systems (United Kingdom), DSM Dyneema (United States),Armorsource (United States), Du Pont (United States), Honeywell Advanced Fibres and Composites (United States), Revision Military Inc. (United States) and GentexCorporatio Corporation (United States) among others.The segments covered in the Military Personal Protective Equipment market are as follows:Global Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By Product TypeBody Armor (IBA)Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV)Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH)Pelvic Protection Systems (PPS)Life Safety JacketsMilitary Combat Eye Protection (MCEP)OthersGlobal Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By ApplicationArmyAir ForceNavyOthersGlobal Military Personal Protective Equipment Market: By GeographyNorth AmericaS.CanadaMexicoEuropeK.GermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificIndiaChinaJapanRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesRest of Middle East and AfricaNeed Assistance? Send An Enquiry @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: +1-518-730-0559(USA & CANADA TOLL-FREE NUMBER)Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: The scene outside Sante Fe High School in Texas. Photo: Harris County Sheriffs Office At least ten people are dead following a shooting at Santa Fe High School outside of Houston, Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said Friday afternoon. Ten others are injured, including a police officer. It is impossible to describe the magnitude of the evil of someone who would attack innocent children at their school, Abbott said. The shooter, identified as 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis, is in custody. The Chronicle reported that his now-defunct Facebook page included photos of a T-shirt that said born to kill and clothes adorned with German nationalist iconography. Abbott said Pagourtziss journals showed he planned to kill himself after attacking the school. He surrendered to police instead. Teen suspect in Santa Fe High School shooting promoted born to kill shirt, German nationalist symbols on Facebook. https://t.co/115wW95WG9 pic.twitter.com/kfU1NY2sqF Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) May 18, 2018 Abbott said there are two other persons of interest, including one who was detained at the scene of the shooting after police observed suspicious reactions. Abbott identified the weapons used in the attack as a shotgun and a .38 revolver, both of which were legally owned by the shooters father. Abbott said it was not known if Pagourtzis father knew he had the guns. Explosive devices were also found on and off the school campus, according to the Sante Fe Independent School District. The shooting began at around 7:45 a.m. at the school of 1,477 students, witnesses say. Thats when the gunman entered an art class and began shooting. Student Damon Rabon told CBS News that he was in a classroom one door away from the shooting. He said he saw the shooter in the school hallway. He had a black trench coat on, a sawed-off shotgun with a pistol grip and I think something sharp on this chest, he said. He added that his teacher pulled the fire alarm to let everyone know to get out of the school. Student Damon Rabon describes shooting scene: "The teacher actually ran and pulled the fire alarm because we had no service to call 911 to let anyone know there was a shooter because our wing is completely almost separate from the rest of the school." https://t.co/oqRZUFvJK4 pic.twitter.com/J3CMPTQ5uH CBS News (@CBSNews) May 18, 2018 Another student told reporters Ive always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here. Heartbreaking moment as Santa Fe High School student is asked if she thought a shooting 'would not happen' at her school: "It's been happening everywhere. I've always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here too." https://t.co/kymFDSH6D5 pic.twitter.com/0akC5liZn4 ABC News (@ABC) May 18, 2018 Sante Fe High School had a police officer on duty when the attack began. John Barnes is a retired Houston Police Department officer who began working for the Santa Fe Independent School District police department in January. The 49-year-old confronted Pagourtzis during the attack and suffered a shotgun wound to the arm. HPD captain Jim Dale told the Chronicle that Barnes needed surgery to repair his injuries and said doctors had to restart his heart twice. Just left @utmbhealth Galveston. On behalf of @SantaFeISD Police Officer John Barnes family, thank you for your prayers. John is hanging in there & the family is very hopeful. They hope to have additional information released shortly. Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 18, 2018 As news of the shooting began to spread, students from Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, the site of a deadly shooting in February, began tweeting. My heart is so heavy for the students of Santa Fe High School. Its an all too familiar feeling no one should have to experience. I am so sorry this epidemic touched your town - Parkland will stand with you now and forever. pic.twitter.com/ckVPxYi6qz Jaclyn Corin (@JaclynCorin) May 18, 2018 At least 8 students have been shot and killed at Santa Fe High School. Prepare to watch the NRA boast about getting higher donations. Prepare to see students rise up and be called civil terrorists and crisis actors. Prepare for the right-wing media to attack the survivors. Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) May 18, 2018 Welcome to America, where it's a regular occurrence for students to run for their lives due to an active shooter!! #LandOfTheFree https://t.co/zkO5jKECxs John Barnitt (@John_Barnitt) May 18, 2018 President Trump spoke about the shooting Friday morning at the White House. This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years, too many decades now, he said. We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. This post has been updated throughout Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market: 2018 Size, Share, Trends, Emerging Technologies, With Regional Forecast To 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5413 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/anti-lock-braking-system-market-5413 Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market Scenario:Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market rapidly growing With a Staggering CAGR by end of 2023. According to latest research report published on automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market 2018 - Global Forecast To 2023, this automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market is driven by factors such as increase in demand for advance safety features, technological advancements, and rapid growth of the automotive industry, increase in the demand for vehicle safety and comfort systems in automobiles is leading to the increased use of anti-lock braking system in automobiles.This published research report of 110 pages analyzes Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market Information by sub-systems (sensors, electronic control unit and hydraulic unit), by vehicle type (two wheelers, passenger cars and commercial vehicles) and by Region - Forecast To 2023.Get Sample Copy of Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market 2018 - Global Forecast to 2023 at:Anti-lock braking systems are used to assist automotive for safe braking and easy steering in situations of wet or slippery road. The use of these systems in automotive prevents a person from slipping or skidding of a vehicle, and retains the control of steering after hard braking. The increase in demand of consumers for advanced safety features in the automobiles and the introduction of stringent safety laws & regulations by various transport authorities are driving the growth of anti-lock braking system.Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market Key Industry Players Analyzed In Report Are: Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), Autoliv Inc. (Sweden), Nissin Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Japan), WABCO Vehicle Control Systems (Belgium), TRW Automotive (U.S.), Hyundai Mobis (South Korea), Denso Corporation (Japan), Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. (Japan), and Advics Co., Ltd. (Japan).Based on sub-systems, the market has been segmented as Sensors, Electronic Control Unit and Hydraulic Unit. Amongst these, the hydraulic unit accounted for the largest revenue due to its high cost as compared to other components. The sensors segment is expected to grow with the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to advancement in technology as leading Anti-lock braking system OEMs are manufacturing advanced anti-lock braking system equipped with a large number of sensors.Based on vehicle type, the market has been segmented into two wheeler, passenger cars, and commercial vehicle. Two wheeler segment is expected to grow at the highest rate due to the introduction of stringent government rules & regulation regarding vehicle safety. The increase in the number of two wheelers, majorly in developing countries such as China, India and Singapore is expected to boost the growth of the market.Intended Audience:Automotive connectors manufacturersDistributer & Supplier companiesEnd UsersConsultants and Investment bankersGovernment as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesRegional Analysis:Geographically, the global automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) market has been divided into four major regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific region is expected to grow with the highest CAGR over the forecast period due to increasing diffusion rate for anti-lock braking system technology. In Asia Pacific, China is projected to dominate the growth of the anti-lock braking system market due to the increased road accidents and the rules & regulation imposed by government for installation of anti-lock braking system.The report for Global Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market of Market Research Future comprises of 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 details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Browse more details on this Automotive anti-lock braking system (ABS) Market Research Report - Global Forecast to 2023 report at:About Us: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:Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312sales@marketresearchfuture.com Surgical Robots Market 2018 Emerging Technology, Opportunities, Analysis & Future Threats Research For Markets http://www.researchformarkets.com/sample/global-surgical-robots-market-65529 http://www.researchformarkets.com/reports/global-surgical-robots-market-65529 http://www.researchformarkets.com/inquiry/global-surgical-robots-market-65529 The surgical robotic system includes surgeons console, surgical arms and monitoring system and software. The robotic surgery is an advanced technology that helps surgeons to perform complex surgeries with more accuracy and precision. This surgery ensures greater accuracy, enhanced motion range and provides better dexterity to surgeons. Further, the three dimensional vision provided by the camera renders a more detailed view to the surgeons which, as a result, enhances the surgical outcome and the overall procedure.Global surgical robots market will cross USD 16,793.2 million by 2025. It was valued at USD 5,986.1 million in 2017. The market is growing at a CAGR of 13.8% in the forecast period 2018 to 2025.Get Free Sample Copy of Report atLeading Key Player: Intuitive Surgical, Accuray Inc., MAZOR Robots, Restoration Robots, Inc, Medtech Global, Hansen Medical, Verb Surgical Inc, TransEnterix, Stryker corporation, Auris Surgical Robots, MedRobots Corporation, Virtual Incision Corporation, Think Surgical, Inc, Preceyes B.V and Medtronic.The key factors driving the growth of surgical robotics market is the increasing need for automation in the healthcare industry and the shifting trend towards advanced robotic surgeries. However, the high cost associated with surgical robotic surgeries & robotic systems will hamper the market growth. Additionally dearth of trained healthcare professionals impede the growth of surgical robotics market. Moreover, untapped economies such as Brazil, India, China and other developing economies will create lucrative opportunities in the surgical robotics market.There was a growing demand for minimally invasive surgical techniques both from the patient and the doctor side. Generally, traditional minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical techniques are employed for region of interest in surgeries, but those techniques have their limitations of standard two dimensional video and rigid instruments used by the surgeons.This research study includes an extensive analysis of the global surgical robotics market by product, application, end-user and geographical regions, allowing the researcher to develop a comprehensive outlook of the market. Each of these segments have been analyzed on the basis of their current and future market size, considering the macro and micro environmental factors.Browse Complete Report atTable of Content1 INTRODUCTION2 MARKET SEGMENTATION3 MARKET OVERVIEW4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY5 PREMIUM INSIGHTS6 GLOBAL SURGICAL ROBOTS MARKET, BY PRODUCT TYPE7 GLOBAL SURGICAL ROBOTS MARKET, BY BRANDS8 GLOBAL SURGICAL ROBOTS MARKET, BY APPLICATION9 GLOBAL SURGICAL ROBOTS MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY10 GLOBAL SURGICAL ROBOTS MARKET, COMPANY LANDSCAPE11 COMPANY PROFILESInquire before buying atNote: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Contact Info:Name: Research For MarketsEmail: alan.naidu@researchformarkets.comPhone: +44 8000-4182-37Research For Markets indulge in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East And Africa.Level 21, Dashwood House69 Old Broad StreetLondon EC2M 1QS, United Kingdom Worldwide EHealth Market Forecasts to 2025 by Manufacturers, Region, Type and Application Research For Markets http://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-ehealth-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-ehealth-market/ http://databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-ehealth-market The global electronic health (eHealth) market is growing at a swift pace and is projected to witness robust growth in the coming years. Technological developments, innovations, and the use of electronic devices are augmenting the global eHealth market. The increasing adoption of these systems by medical practitioners across the globe is anticipated to offer promising opportunities for prominent players in the market.The Global eHealth Market is expected to reach USD 206.64 Billion by 2025 from USD 40.75 Billion in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 22.5% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025.Get Free Sample copy of report atLeading Key Players: Motion Computing Inc., Epocrates Inc., Telecare Corporation, Medisafe, Set Point Medical, IBM, Doximity, Lift Labs, and Apple, GE Healthcare, Cerner, Allscripts, Mckesson, Philips, Siemens Healthineers, IBM, Optum, Medtronic, Epic Systems, Athenahealth, Cisco Systems among others.In developed markets, Internet of Things (IoT) for healthcare has been one of the major factors driving e-health market. In addition, the internet applications in healthcare have also increased by multiple times in past one decade. e-Health record, remote patient monitoring, and point of care diagnosis, with the help of devices interlinked between patient and doctor, are some major IoT-powered e-health solutions that have developed in the past few years. The adoption rate of incorporating IoT in healthcare is also increasing at a high pace in developed countries such as the United States, Canada, and Germany. Therefore, IoT and technology play a vital role in the growth of this market.The research report offers its readers an in-depth analysis of the global eHealth market, presenting insights into the latest trends, lucrative opportunities, and projections for the market in the near future. Historical information and growth prospects pertaining to the global market have been discussed at length in the scope of the study. In addition, a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape has been provided to offer a clear understanding of the overall market. The product portfolio and SWOT analysis of leading players operating in the global eHealth market have been highlighted in the research report.Access More Details atThe global eHealth market has been gaining substantial popularity worldwide in the last few years. The growing awareness among hospitals and clinics regarding the benefits provided by eHealth systems is expected to accelerate the growth of the global market in the forecast period. Technological developments play a crucial role in the expansion of the global market. The rising use of tablets, smartphones, and laptops as a quick and easy mode of communication is likely to supplement the growth of the market.On the flip side, concerns related to privacy and security of patient data and licensing issues are anticipated to restrict the growth of the global eHealth market in the next few years. In addition, the lack of reimbursement policies in developing nations is estimated to hamper the growth of the global eHealth market. Nevertheless, the rising focus of emerging nations on infrastructure development and key players making notable efforts to offer convenience for healthcare providers are predicted to generate promising growth opportunities for key players.Inquire before buying atReasons to Purchase the Report- A look at the current and future of the global e-health market in the developed and emerging regions.- Analyzing various perspectives of the market with the help of Porters Five Forces Analysis.- Identify the segment that is expected to dominate the market.- Identify the regions that are expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period.- Identify the latest developments, market shares, and strategies employed by the major market players.Note: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Contact Info:Name: Data Bridge Market ResearchEmail: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comPhone: +1 888 387 2818Research For Markets indulge in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East And Africa.Level 21, Dashwood House69 Old Broad StreetLondon EC2M 1QS, United Kingdom Sulphur Recovery Technology Market will Register a CAGR of 12.8% through 2027 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1431 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1431 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ A greater number of refinery projects across the world should create an immense opportunity for sulphur recovery technology manufacturers to install their units in the plants. Upcoming refineries in the APEJ and MEA region are anticipated to be major contributors to the global sulphur recovery technology market. Future Market Insights has comprehensively assessed the sulphur recovery technology market in its report titled Sulphur Recovery Technology Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012 2016 and Opportunity Assessment 2017 2027. The sulphur recovery technology market is expected to have a value of over US$ 2.7 billion by end 2027.There is a close battle between the claus process and tail gas treatment technology in the sulphur recovery technology market with the former edging ahead. The claus process is predicted to record a CAGR of 12.8% for the decade. However, it would be unwise to ignore the tail gas treatment technology segment entirely in the sulphur recovery technology market as companies are focusing on it as well. For e.g. BASF has introduced tail gas treatment technology to increase plant efficiency and reduce sulphur technology. This helps decrease sulphur emissions and lowers operational expenditure because of lesser amine circulation rates and reboiler duties.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @The gas type segment has a market share of approx. two thirds of the global sulphur recovery technology market by source of recovery and is poised to lose 210 BPS going forward. However, gas recovery is unlikely to cede its pole position in the sulphur recovery technology market. An incremental dollar opportunity of US$ 1.1 billion can be tapped in the gas recovery segment of the sulphur recovery technology market. Increasing production and exploration activity, particularly in respect of shale gas, is fuelling demand for sulphur recovery units in refineries. Gas refining has great potential in the Middle East, Central Asia, and East Asia.The < 100 t/D capacity segment has a share of more than half the global sulphur recovery technology market by capacity at the end of 2017. The < 100 t/D segment is popular on account of having a lower emission footprint, being easy to upgrade, and relatively cost-effective as compared to other units. Several companies have invested in < 100 t/ D units such as Siirtec Nigi that has agreed to supply two Claus sulphur recovery units in Kuwait with a capacity of < 100 t/D each.Europe and MEA are the regions to look out for in the sulphur recovery technology market. Refinery projects in diverse nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and Russia should boost the demand for sulphur recovery technology. These countries have ample oil reserves and are major global suppliers, making them lucrative for sulphur recovery technology unit manufacturers. The Europe sulphur recovery technology market is projected to push past US$ 720 million by end 2027.The companies profiled in the sulphur recovery technology market report are Jacobs Engineering Group, John Wood Group, TechnipFMC, WorleyParsons, Prosernat, Black and Veath Holding Company, Bechtel Corporation, KNM Group Berhad, CB&I, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corporation, KT Kinetics Technology SPA, Fluor Corporation, Linde AG, Chiyoda Corporation, and GTC Technology.Sulphur recovery technology unit manufacturers must take advantage of the refineries being set up across the globe. APEJ, MEA, and Europe could contribute a sizeable chunk of revenue in the sales of sulphur recovery technology units and companies are advised to target these regions with all guns blazing.Request Sample Copy of the Report @About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India. FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Respiratory Devices Market will Exhibit a Steady 6.5% CAGR through 2026 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/respiratory-devices-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=28073 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=28073 www.transparencymarketresearch.com http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Transparency Market Research (TMR) has published a new report titled, Respiratory Devices Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20182026. According to the report, the global respiratory devices market was valued at US$ 17.0 Bn in 2017 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2018 to 2026. The report suggests that increase in incidence of COPD and sleep apnea, strategic alliances among key players, and rise in government expenditure are anticipated to boost the growth of the global market from 2018 to 2026.North America and Europe are expected to dominate the global respiratory devices market in the next few years owing to increase in the number of people suffering from respiratory diseases, rise in diagnosis and treatment rate, and presence of key players in these regions. Rise in geriatric population and government support for respiratory device manufacturers are likely to drive the respiratory devices market in Asia Pacific. The market in the region is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7% from 2018 to 2026.Obtain Report Details @Drug Delivery Devices Sub-segment to Capture Significant ShareIn terms of product type, the global respiratory devices market has been segmented into therapeutic devices and diagnostic & monitoring devices. The therapeutic devices segment has been classified into drug delivery devices, mechanical ventilators, continuous positive airway pressure, resuscitators, humidifiers, airway clearance devices, oxygen concentrators, consumables & disposables, and others. The drug delivery devices sub-segment accounted for the largest share of the therapeutic devices segment in 2017.The sub-segment is anticipated to grow at a rapid pace during the forecast period, owing to increase in number of patients with COPD, asthma, and cystic fibrosis who are increasingly adopting devices such as inhalers and nebulizers. Moreover, surge in demand for expensive metered dose inhalers and single use inhalers is expected to drive the sub-segment. Mechanical ventilators is anticipated to be a lucrative sub-segment during the forecast period. Increase in number of health care settings in emerging markets is likely to drive demand for acute care mechanical ventilators. Demand for sub-acute or non-invasive ventilators in developed markets is projected to propel the sub-segment. Rise in number of surgeries performed across the globe is expected to augment the usage of mechanical ventilators.Request for Sample Copy of Report @Pulse Oximeters Anticipated to be the Most Lucrative Sub-segmentThe pulse oximeters sub-segment held significant share of the diagnostic & monitoring devices segment in 2017. The sub-segment is projected to expand at a CAGR 6.0% from 2018 to 2026. Increase in adoption of pulse oximeters for monitoring respiratory conditions in home care settings is anticipated to fuel the sub-segment. Moreover, pulse oximeters have become an integral part of primary diagnosis of lung function in clinics and critical care settings.Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to be Fastest Growing SegmentIn terms of application, the COPD segment accounted for significant share of the global respiratory devices market in 2017. The segment is projected to expand at a CAGR of 7% from 2018 to 2026. Increase in the number of tobacco smokers and rise in air pollution are factors contributing to the increase in number of COPD cases. The WHO estimates that COPD is likely to be third leading cause of death by 2030.Asia Pacific to be the Fastest Growing Market for Respiratory DevicesIn terms of revenue, North America dominated the global respiratory devices market in 2017. Favorable reimbursement policies for respiratory care, high adoption of technology, and rise in demand for advanced devices for home care use are the key factors contributing to the leading share of the region. Furthermore, increase in number of tobacco smokers and rise in air pollution are likely to increase incidence of respiratory disease, thereby driving the market in the region. The respiratory devices market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to expand at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. Rise in awareness about respiratory diseases, improving health care infrastructure, increase in health care spending, and surge in initiatives by key players to explore the region are likely to propel the market in Asia Pacific.Koninklijke Philips N.V. Held Significant Market ShareThe report also provides profiles of leading players operating in the global respiratory devices market. Koninklijke Philips N.V., ResMed, Inc., Vyaire Medical, Inc., and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd. are the major players operating in the market. Other players include Smiths Medical, Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, GE Healthcare, Getinge AB, Medtronic plc, and Chart Industries. Koninklijke Philips N.V. held major share of the global respiratory devices market in 2017.Broad portfolio of therapeutic respiratory devices and strong presence in hospital and home care settings are attributed to the companys high market share. The companys strategy to develop innovative portable devices for home care and its pioneering work in connected therapeutic and monitoring devices are likely to provide it a competitive advantage in the respiratory devices market.Enquiry for discount on this 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. 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: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: Deploying Campus Security In The Palms Of Students: College of Saint Mary Awarded $22,495 Through Campus Consortium Grant http://www.csm.edu/ Campus Consortium, the largest global education association of schools, colleges and universities, awards College of Saint Mary a $22,495 Grant to enhance campus safety through a state of the art campus safety mobile app. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, the College is dedicated to academic excellence and service-learning opportunities that empower women by calling forth potential and fostering leadership.College of Saint Mary is committed to providing an educational environment that is intellectually challenging and spiritually enriching, said David Ferber, Director of Safety and Security at the University. Our campus has been named one of the safest campuses in America, and as such we are continually seeking opportunities to be a leader in campus safety. While Emergency Blue-Light stations have historically served many campuses, CSM is seeking to use the latest technology to ensure students have instant access to emergency safety assistance at all times and in any location. This grant will enable the school to equip and train students and staff to access safety assistance right from their mobile device.The Campus Consortium Grant will enable College of Saint Mary to strengthen the safety and security of its students, faculty and staff. The Campus Safety App allows students to contact campus safety with the touch of a button and automatically gives campus safety the callers location. Students can further customize it to send alerts to their parents, guardians or friends in case of an emergency.The Campus Consortium Grant Committee found College of Saint Mary in need of a technology that can transform student safety in a much easier and efficient manner, expressed Anjli Jain, Chairman at Campus Consortium. The need of a committed security measure is basic, along these lines, the Campus Safety App will be an advantage for the College.To learn about and apply for a Campus Consortium Grant, please visit campusconsortium.org/grant-programs.About College of Saint MaryCollege of Saint Mary is a thriving Catholic womens university located in Omaha, Nebraska. Enrollment totaled 1,140 students in fall of 2017, propelled by one of the largest incoming classes in the institutions 94-year history.With more than 35 academic programs, College of Saint Mary offers associates, bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in high-demand majors such as occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, nursing, biology, business, education and legal studies. The student-to-faculty ratio is 11:1. For more information, please visitCampus Consortium is a leading education association with more than 37,000 higher education institutions and K-12 school district members. The Campus Consortiums mission is to help members reduce the time, cost and effort associated with implementing enterprise IT services by leveraging shared IT services, lessons learned and best practices so that each member can avoid reinventing the wheel. For more information, please visit Campus Consortium or contact Marketing Desk.55 East Monroe StreetChicago, IL 60603 Digital Pathology Systems Market is Poised to Exhibit a Moderate 11.0% CAGR through 2020 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/digital-pathology-systems.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1540 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=1540 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global market for digital pathology systems is dominated by Leica Biosystems, Ventana, and Olympus Corporation, which collectively held a dominant 81.8% of the market in 2013. According to Transparency Market Research, both Leica and Ventana have crucial acquisitions to thank for their dominant hold over the digital pathology systems market, with Ventana acquiring Bioimagine, Inc. in 2010 and Leica Biosystems acquiring Aperio Technologies, Inc. in 2012.This points to a notable trend in the global digital pathology systems market, where the leading players are likely to emphasize on mergers and acquisitions to broaden their product catalog and geographical reach in the coming years, said TMRs lead analyst.Obtain Report Details @Enhanced Precision, Lowered Workload Drive Demand for Digital Pathology SystemsThe prime driver for the global digital pathology systems market is the increased sophistication and efficiency it brings about it pathology processes. Digitization of labwork reduces the chances of manual error, making the process highly accurate. Digital pathology systems are also much faster at analyzing samples than human technicians, which results in an easier workload for pathologists. The shortage of skilled pathologists is thus a key driver for the digital pathology systems market.The increasing prevalence of cancer across the world has also encouraged the adoption of digital pathology systems. Digital pathology systems are used for the detection/diagnosis of several types of cancer, including breast, esophageal, and non-small-cell lung cancer. The high precision of digital pathology systems is crucial in dealing with progressive diseases such as cancer, since early diagnosis can significantly improve the chances of survival.Request for Sample Copy of Report @While developed parts of the world house widespread digital pathology infrastructure, developing regions such as Asia Pacific are still lagging behind. This presents a crucial opportunity for manufacturers of digital pathology systems, as the incidence of cancer is increasing rapidly in countries such as China, Japan, and India. The steady economic development of such countries has also made it easier for healthcare agencies to introduce advanced solutions such as digital pathology systems.Virtual Microscopy to Exhibit Rapid Growth in Demand 2014-2020By technology, digital pathology systems are segmented into virtual microscopy and telepathology. While the latter is likely to retain its dominance in the market over the coming years, the virtual microscopy is expected to exhibit a higher growth rate in the 2014-2020 forecast period.Among the various applications of digital pathology systems, drug discovery/development and disease diagnosis were the leading contributors to the global market in 2013. While these two segments are likely to remain in the lead in the market, the application of digital pathology systems in academic research is likely to increase at a rapid 14% CAGR from 2014 to 2020.Enquiry for discount on this report @Geographically, North America is likely to remain the leading contributor to the global digital pathology systems market in the coming years, with the regional markets revenue expected to reach US$212.4 mn by 2020. The extensive drug development activities and presence of key players in the region are responsible for the regions dominant share in the global market. Europes contribution to the global digital pathology systems market is expected to be overtaken by Asia Pacific in the coming years, with the lucrative opportunities in India, China, Japan, and some ASEAN countries convincing many companies to expand their operations in Asia Pacific.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: Wound Dressings Market will Account for Revenues Worth US$10.1 bn by 2020-End https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/wound-dressing-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=453 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=453 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com A detailed report on the global wound dressings market has been published by Transparency Market Research. The report, titled Wound Dressings Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020, states that the market is projected expand at a CAGR of 4.5% during the period between 2014 and 2020. The wound dressings market worldwide was worth US$7.53 bn in 2013 and is anticipated to reach a valuation of US$10.16 bn by 2020.In the global wound dressings market, traditional wound dressings have been preferred by patients and health practitioners alike due to their low prices and favorable reimbursement policies. However, advanced wound dressings are increasingly accepted among the medical fraternity due to their faster healing time.Obtain Report Details @The rapid growth of geriatric population, coupled with the growing prevalence of chronic diseases has fuelled the demand for wound dressings. The increased focus on faster healing time, increasing patient awareness, and rise in healthcare expenditure have supported the markets growth. Furthermore, the rise in the incidences of wound infections has promoted the sale of wound dressings. However, unfavorable reimbursement scenarios in some countries and the high cost of advanced wound dressings might restrain the growth of the market. The global wound dressings market has a significant opportunity to grow with the development of combination dressings.On the basis off type of wound dressing, the global wound dressings market has been segmented into advanced and traditional wound dressings. Traditional wound dressings have been further divided into wound closure products, basic wound care, and anti-infective dressings. The demand for basic wound care was the highest in 2013. During the forecast period, anti-infective dressings including iodine-based dressings and plant-based antiseptic dressings are expected to witness increased demand. The rise in geriatric population has boosted the demand for anti-infective dressings.Request for Sample Copy of Report @On the other hand, advanced wound dressings have been sub-segmented into films, hydrofiber, hydrocolloids, collagen, alginates, and foams. The availability of a wide range of foams in terms of applications and healing has driven the demand from the advanced wound care dressings market. In the coming years, foams are expected to witness rapid growth owing to the development of their core design.The report projects the growth of the global wound dressings market across North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific was the leading traditional wound dressings market in 2013. The market across the Rest of the World has registered the highest demand for the traditional wound dressings segment and is anticipated to dominate the overall market throughout the forecast horizon. Price sensitivity is a major factor governing the growth of the traditional wound dressing segment in Rest of the World. In terms of revenue, the U.S. was the leading market for advanced wound dressings across North America in 2013.Enquiry for discount on this report @The global wound dressings market is fragmented with smaller companies registering significant growth across particular product segments. Some of the prominent players in the global wound dressings market are ConvaTec, Inc., Molnlycke Health Care, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Kinetic Concepts Inc., Medline Industries Inc., Systagenix Wound Management Ltd., Derma Sciences Inc., 3M Health Care, Smith & Nephew plc, Coloplast A/S, and PAUL HARTMANN AG.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: Global Glass Tempering System Market will reach at a 3.7% CAGR from 2017 to 2027 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-3855 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3855 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Glass Tempering System Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) And Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027) is a new report of Future Market Insights that tracks the performance of the market for the projected period of 10 years i.e. between 2017 and 2027. The global glass tempering system market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, expanding at a CAGR of 3.7% during the projected period. Growth in the global glass tempering system market can be attributed to huge investments in R&D, increasing use of hybrid guide plates, solar control glazing for automotive and building glasses, growing use of lightweight glazing glass, and increasing usage of advanced nanotechnology in glass manufacturing.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @According to this report, North America and APEJ are the key regions for glass tempering system market participants. In North America, the United States is investing in tempering activities, which is creating immense opportunities for glass tempering system manufacturers. Product development and establishment of long-term relationships with tempered glass OEMs is also a key to success in this market. The global market for glass tempering system is expected to be valued at US$ 94.5 Mn by 2017 end and is estimated to reach US$ 135.6 Mn by 2027 end.Global Glass Tempering System Market Drivers- Shift towards renewable solar energy will accelerate the growth of the market, Improving construction sector especially in Latin America is fuelling the growth of the global market, Construction of energy efficient buildings and renovation of existing infrastructure is another key market driverOn the basis of tempering technology, the global glass tempering system market is segmented into controlled heating and quenching equipment and chemical treatment. Controlled heating and quenching equipment is further segmented into standard configuration and advanced configuration. In terms of value, the controlled heating and quenching equipment segment is anticipated to be valued at US$ 89.0 Mn by 2017 end, which is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.7% and reach a value of US$ 127.8 Mn by the end of 2027.The application segment consists of flat, bent and combined flat and bent segments. Flat segment is further segmented into continuous and oscillating segments. Oscillating type segment is expected to emerge as the most attractive segment by application over the forecast period. Combined flat and bent segment is anticipated to create incremental $ opportunity worth US$ 4.2 Mn over the forecast period.By end use the market is categorized into automotive windows, architectural, electronics, solar applications and others. Architectural segment is sub-segmented into windows and doors, mirror and partitions and furniture, while electronics segment is sub-segmented into smartphone and appliances. The solar applications segment is estimated to reach US$ 1.6 Mn in 2027 from US$ 1.3 Mn in 2017. The segment is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 2.4% during the forecast period.Seven regions have been covered in this report and they are North America, Latin America, APEJ, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan and MEA. China is expected to remain a strong market for glass tempering systems. Most of the APEJ, Eastern Europe, and Latin America buyers import glass tempering lines from China with standard configuration, due to investment constraints. North America is also projected to hold a significant share of the global glass tempering system market over the forecast period.Make an Enquiry @Glaston OYJ Abp, Luoyang Landglass Technology Co. Ltd., LiSEC Austria GmbH, Luoyang North Glass Technology Co., Ltd., Glasstech Industries (India) Private Limited, Keraglass Industries Srl, CoolTemper Ltd., HHH Tempering Resources Inc., Ratnesh International, North East Machines, Meta Therm Furnace Pvt. Ltd., Mappi International, EFCO, Saint-Gobain S.A., IGE Glass Technologies, Inc., Lambert GT Services Ltd. are some of the glass tempering system market companies profiled in the report.About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India. FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Liver Cancer Treatment Market Size, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013 to 2017 and Forecast 2018 to 2024 Liver Cancer Treatment Market https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/liver-cancer-treatment-market/#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnx https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/liver-cancer-treatment-market/#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhu https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/liver-cancer-treatment-market/#ulp-14mlyhjMGhVjZqa3 https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/liver-cancer-treatment-market/ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com Liver Cancer Treatment Market: By Diseases Type (Primary, Secondary, and Benign Liver Growths), By Therapeutics (Sorafenib Tosylate, Regorafenib, Doxorubicin, 5-Fluorouracil, Cisplatin, and Others), By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, and Others), and Geography Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024Market Outline: Liver Cancer Treatment MarketLiver cancer is also known as hepatic cancer. Upon liver cancer diagnosis different treatment methods are adapted like tumor embolization, surgery, targeted therapy, immuno therapy, chemotherapy for treating the disease, extending life span, or relieving symptoms of the patients. Early stage of liver cancer shows no symptoms, usually appears in late stage that leads to increase patients volume available for liver cancer treatment.Market Dynamics: Liver Cancer Treatment MarketSurge in the prevalence of liver cancer is expected to drive the revenue growth of liver cancer treatment market over the forecast period. In accordance with American Cancer Society, in U.S., liver cancer death rates increased by 3% per year since 2000. Liver cancer is the third leading cause of death worldwide and the ninth leading cause of cancer deaths in the US. Liver transplant and surgical resection are curative treatment options for patients in early stage but many patients are not eligible for curative treatments, either due to poor liver function or advanced disease, therefore, the liver cancer medication market is expected to grow in the future. Favorable insurance policies, rise in reimbursements for treatment of liver cancer is expected to fuel the market revenue of liver cancer treatment over the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Market Scope: Liver Cancer Treatment MarketLiver Cancer Treatment Market is segmented based on disease type, therapeutics, and distribution channel.By Disease Type Primary Secondary Benign liver growthsBy Therapeutics Sorafenib Tosylate (Nexavar) Regorafenib (Stivagra) Doxorubicin5-Fluorouracil Cisplatin OthersBy Distribution Channel Hospital Pharmacies Retail Pharmacies OthersTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @Market Summary: Liver Cancer Treatment MarketExposure to environmental chemicals like vinyl chloride, benzene, and lifestyle changes exposing people to the risk of liver cancer. In addition to curative treatments physicians are looking for new treatment options like neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies to boost the chances of survival rate. Market players are focused on developing new drugs which works by targeting specific parts of cancer cells or their surrounding environment. Nexavar and miripla act by hindering new blood vessel and thereby tumor growth, is being studied for use in the early stages of cancer. The pipeline includes the drugs like Thermodox, Imclone Afinitor by Celsion, Eli Lilly and Novartis respectively which shows potential to capture targeted liver cancer drug market. Regorafenib (Stivarga) is a targeted drug, used to treat liver cancers that are no longer responding to sorafenib. Cabozantinib is another targeted drug that has been shown to reduce tumor growth and stop new blood vessel growth in some studies. Chemotherapy drugs, such as oxaliplatin, capecitabine, gemcitabine, and docetaxel, are being tested against liver cancer in clinical trials. Oxaliplatin has shown promising results in early studies when given in combination with doxorubicin and also when given with gemcitabine and the targeted therapy drug cetuximab (Erbitux). In 2017, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Opdivo (nivolumab), a monoclonal antibody, which is a type of immunotherapy, to treat liver cancer. The drug is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb.Regional Analysis: Liver Cancer Treatment MarketMarket has been segmented in to North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle-East & Africa. Important drivers for liver cancer therapeutics market are increasing aging population, drug inventions with respect to the cancer, increasing government initiatives, rising prevalence of cancer and increasing health care expenditure. However, factors such as stringent regulatory processes, high capital investments, and low success rate in clinic trials for drugs and low reach in remote areas are hindering the growth of liver cancer treatment market. North America is the largest market for liver cancer therapeutics followed by Europe and Asia. Asia-Pacific signifies the fastest growing region for liver cancer therapeutics market, owing to increasing aged populations. Increasing number of liver cancer cases in the Asian countries is anticipated to fuel the market revenue growth. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved use of the targeted therapy drug Stivarga (regorafenib) to treat liver cancer. Sorafenib is proven to add two to three months to the lifespan of a patient with late-stage HCC and a 31% relative reduction in the risk of death.Need more information about this report @Competition Assessment: Liver Cancer Treatment MarketSome of the players in the global liver cancer treatment market include: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. ImClone Systems Inc. Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd Pfizer Inc. ArQule Inc. Jennerex Biotherapeutics Inc. Celsion Corp Bristol-Myers Squibb CompanyKey Features of the Report: The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share, historic market (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2024) The report covers in-detail insights about the competitors overview, company share analysis, key market developments, and their key strategies The report outlines drivers, restraints, unmet needs, and trends that are currently affecting the market The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and startups details that are actively working in the market The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario The report analyses the impact of the socio-political environment through PESTLE Analysis and competition through Porters Five Force Analysis in addition to recent technology advancements and innovations in the marketGet access to full summary @About Precision Business InsightsPrecision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs.Contact to Precision Business Insights,Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXEmail: sales@precisionbusinessinsights.comToll Free (US): +1-866-598-1553Website @ Another setback for a sad Speaker Paul Ryan. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images Back in the day, the Farm Bills enacted every five years to reauthorize major agriculture and nutrition programs were the model of bipartisanship. Indeed, the food stamp program (now called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) was first devised in part as a way to extend support for Farm Bills to include urban legislators who didnt know a combine from a snowplow. The defeat of the latest Farm Bill on the House floor shows how far the old formula has unraveled. In more recent and ideologically driven Congresses, the bills have sometimes attracted heat from the right, involving both libertarian-ish objections to crop subsidies and hostility toward food stamps as welfare programs for those people. Indeed, in 2013 the whole enterprise nearly went down (and wasnt finished until 2014) over SNAP funding, with House conservatives not thinking cuts went far enough and Senate Democrats thinking they went too far. With Republicans now controlling both Houses, the big initial Farm Bill controversy has been over the GOPs desire (lashed along by the Trump administration) to toughen SNAPs already significant work requirements. Indeed, this became a signature cause for lame-duck Speaker Paul Ryan, and a sort of shriveled booby prize for his frustrated plans to clobber entitlement programs and welfare before leaving Congress. The SNAP provisions of the current Farm Bill guaranteed united House Democratic opposition, and also cost the votes of a few GOP moderates. But the bigger problem emerged when conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus looked at the overall dynamics and decided to take the bill hostage to their demands for an immediate House vote on the Goodlatte immigration bill a measure more conservative than the presidents own in that it offers no permanent succor to Dreamers in exchange for the reductions in legal immigration and border wall funding. This in turn was a response to a very different maneuver by a group of endangered Republican moderates in blue- or heavily Latino districts to join with Democrats and force a vote on a bill that is significantly friendlier to Dreamers without all the nativist filler in the Goodlatte and presidential proposals. In the end, all these problems were too much of a lift, and the bill went down decisively by a 198213 margin, with 30 Republicans (actually 29, plus Ryan, who voted no to preserve the right to make a later motion for reconsideration) opposing it. As the GOP defectors keep pointing out, the program authorizations covered by the Farm Bill dont run out until the end of September, so theres time to work something out on both immigration and SNAP in time to avoid the mess that occurred last time around. But with so little else of substance on the House agenda this year (at least the Senate has confirmations to absorb its time), its entirely possible the Farm Bill will continue to attract hostage-takers until the end of the session. Its a far cry from the day when this was the one legislative item nobody much fought over. Meanwhile, Paul Ryans desire for a little trophy he can take home to Wisconsin representing his desire to liberate poor people from the governments help in making ends meet will be delayed one more time. New Research on Non-lethal Biochemical Weapons Market Highlights Growth Overview and Estimates Market Size by 2024 Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/2542 https://www.mrrse.com/non-lethal-biochemical-weapons-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/2542 https://www.mrrse.com/ Market Research Report Search Engine has recently added a new report to its vast online database. This research study is titled as Interest of military forces and law enforcement agencies in Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons has witnessed tremendous development in the recent past as progress in technology in science has appeared to provide the assurance of innovative non-lethal weapons, used in a wide variety of militarily and politically threatening situations. These weapons, also known as less than lethal biochemical weapons, intend to be less probable for killing living targets than traditional firearms or knives. These devices are specialized munitions which use chemicals calibrated to inflict injury or harm to human beings, and organisms or pathogens to cause disease. These pathogens may include viruses, bacteria, toxins or fungi.Click Here, To Get Sample Copy of New Research Non-Lethal biochemical Weapons Research Report @Global Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market Key Trends and OpportunitiesRising defense expenditure by the governments of economies that are considered emerging, such as India, China, Turkey and South Korea, is projected to provide many development opportunities for the stakeholders in the global non-lethal biochemical weapons market space. Besides, the increasing research and development within this field is anticipated to boost the growth prospects of these weapons during the forecast period.However, the development of the non-lethal biochemical weapons can be impacted by certain definite restraining factors in the near future. These restraints include a decline in the defense budget of developed countries, and stringent governmental and environmental regulations.The opportunities of demand in the global non-lethal biochemical weapons market are the result of different incidents of civil conflicts and unrest in South Asia, the Middle East, and the North African regions. These zones have been recognized as highly dynamic markets for non-lethal biochemical weapons, because of the exponential rates of demand growth in the recent past. For instance, the sectarian unrest in Lebanon, the Syrian civil war, and the political viciousness in Jerusalem call for enhanced response by the military as well as law enforcement agencies. As a consequence, the securing of non-lethal biochemical weapons by military forces is expected to rise substantially during the forecast period. Thus the dynamic global market for these weapons has high potential. So the opportunities of the market could be accredited to the transforming political and regional dynamics of the world economy, rising incidences of armed terrorism and violence.Click here, To Get Complete Examined Research Report with TOC @Global Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market Key Market SegmentsBased on the various non-lethal biochemical weapons operations, the global market is segmented into defensive, offensive, and genetic attack. Swift growth in demand for genetic attack weapons is a major factor to boost the demand for non-lethal biochemical weapons, globally. On the basis of product type, this market is segmented into directed energy weapons (DEW), and direct contact weapons. Non-lethal biochemical weaponry in the directed energy segment has accounted for an astounding pace of consolidation, because of giant industrial conglomerates taking over smaller organizations rapidly. With respect to end use, the global non-lethal biochemical weapons market can be segmented into law enforcement agencies and military forces.Global Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market Regional OutlookBy geography, the global non-lethal biochemical Weapons market has been classified into five regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Currently, the Middle East and Africa segment held the major share of the market, followed by North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. The Asia Pacific region is expected to develop rapidly with rising trade with North America and Europe. Regional players have been focusing on partnerships with players in regions such as Africa.Global Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market Vendor LandscapeThe leading manufacturing companies profiled in this report are BAE Systems, Inc.; Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc., Taser International, Inc.; Raytheon Company; Textron Systems, Corp.; General Dynamics Corporation; Chemring Group PLC.; Moog, Inc; Qinetiq Group, Inc.; and LRAD Corporation. These organizations focus on evolving innovative products after investment of substantial amount of their net sales in research and development for introducing progressive technologies with large range abilities, reduced weight, and relatively higher precision.The segments covered in the Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons market are as follows:Global Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market: By Operation TypeDefensiveOffensiveGenetic AttackGlobal Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market: By Product TypeDirected EnergyDirect ContactGlobal Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market: By End UseMilitary ForcesLaw Enforcement AgenciesGlobal Non-Lethal Biochemical Weapons Market: By GeographyNorth AmericaS.CanadaMexicoEuropeK.GermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaSouth KoreaRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and AfricaUAESaudi ArabiaSouth AfricaRest of MEALatin AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of Latin AmericaNeed Assistance? Send An Enquiry @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: +1-518-730-0559(USA & CANADA TOLL-FREE NUMBER)Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: The global aerospace coatings market is poised to grow approximately at 7% CAGR and is estimated to touch USD 1.95 billion by the end of 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2704 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/aerospace-coatings-market-2704 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com Market Overview:Aerospace coating is a high performance coating material. It is designed to resist temperature fluctuations and variable air pressure. The Coating may have decorative or functional, purposes of application or both. Some of the most important features of aerospace coating include protection against Intense UV exposure at higher altitudes, temperature fluctuations and corrosion. The growth of global aerospace coatings market will continue to be robust with the need for new technologies and rising demand from the commercial aviation and military aviation. Furthermore, the continued push for lighter substrates also drives innovation in the aerospace coatings market. The global aerospace coatings market is poised to grow approximately at 7% CAGR and is estimated to touch USD 1.95 billion by the end of 2022.Get a Sample Report @Key Players:Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands), Zircotec Ltd. (U.K.), BASF SE (Germany), PPG Industries, Inc. (U.S.), IHI Ionbond AG (Switzerland), The Sherwin-Williams Company (U.S.), Henkel AG & Company KGaA (Germany), Mankiewicz Gebr. & Co. (Germany), BryCoat Inc. (U.S.) and Argosy International Inc. (U.S.) are some of the leading players operating in this market.Target Audience:ManufacturesRaw Materials SuppliersAftermarket suppliersResearch Institute / Education InstitutePotential InvestorsKey executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerBrowse Full Report @Regional Analysis:The Asia-Pacific region is estimated to grow at a highest CAGR during the forecast period owing to increasing demand for aerospace coatings in various end-user industries such as commercial and military segments. In addition, China and India are the major market drivers due to rising number of passengers opting air route for travel.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.WantStats Research and Media Pvt. Ltd.Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India Offshore Supply Vessels Global Market Strategic partnerships between Key players support the growt Of The Industry : Rem Maritime As, Bass Marine Pty Ltd. Harvey Gulf, Bourbon SA, Tidewater, ExxonMobil. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2067 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2067 Pune, India,May, 2018/MRFR Press Release/- Market Research Future published a Cooked research report on Global Offshore Supply Vessels Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022 Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022Market HighlightsOffshore Supply Vessels, one of the crucial aspects for the offshore O&G platforms are basically ships that precisely serve operational purposes such as installation of rigs systems, O&G exploration and storage. These Vessels are perceiving an augmented demand worldwide attributing to the rising oil & gas exploration activities around the globe. Simultaneously, ever rising high demand for crude oil is fostering the growth of Offshore Supply Vessels market. Moreover, constant development of offshore reserves and rising deep water production influence the growth of the global offshore drilling market positively. Owing to all these factors; the market of Offshore Supply Vessels is garnering an extensive demand on the global platform growing enormously.Key PlayersThe major player operating in the market of Global Offshore supply vessels are Rem Maritime As, Bass Marine Pty Ltd. Harvey Gulf, Bourbon SA, Tidewater, ExxonMobil, Island Offshore Management, Havila Shipping ASA, Intermarine LLCIndustry/ Innovation/Related News:January 11, 2018 Statoil, the Norwegian energy company, announced that by May 2018 the company will send a vessel to survey a triangular slice of federal waters about 15 miles south of Long Island, where the company is planning to construct a wind farm that could generate up to 1.5 gigawatts of electricity for New York City and Long Island.January 03, 2018 - Royal IHC (Netherlands), a global supplier of innovative and efficient offshore supply vessels announced that it together with Oceanteam ASA (Norway), a global offshore service provider; executed a signing protocol under the terms of which IHC will acquire all of the outstanding share capital of Oceanteam's Dutch based engineering and consultancy company KCI the Engineers B.V. subject to certain conditions precedent through an agreed Sale and Purchase Agreement.December 25, 2017 Norway announces the first commercial runs of unmanned vessels scheduled worldwide. The Sail Bots race similarly challenges scholarly robotic-vessel designers to North America for a bit of station-keeping, collision-avoidance and "cargo moves". Maritime Robotics (Trondheim) builder of these unmanned surface vessels along with Seabed Geosolutions introduced the first USV for infield seismic surveys.Get Sample Report @Regional Analysis of Biodiesel Market:Asia pacific is one of the leading region for growth in offshore development. Geographical factors has fuelled the growth in offshore market. Moreover, China, Thailand, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia are mainly driving the growth of the offshore support vessel market in the APAC region. Additionally, equipped with increased cargo capacity, panoramic navigation bridge visibility, large accommodation spaces, enhanced crew amenities and automation system are booming the market in Asia pacific.Worldwide Offshore Supply Vessels Market SegmentsThe Global Offshore Supply Vessels Market is segmented in to 3 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;By Type : Comprises Anchor Handling Tug Supply, Platform Supply Vessel, Multipurpose Support Vessel, Standby & Rescue Vessel and other.By Depth/Process : Shallow Water, Deep Water.By Regions : North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.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 membersEnquiry For Report @MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Europium Sodium Sulfate Market Projected to Gain Significant Value by 2024 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/europium-sodium-sulfate-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=18485 www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Europium Sodium Sulfate: Market OverviewEuropium is primarily found in minerals such as monazite, xenotime, loparite, and bastnasite. Europium belongs to lanthanide series (lanthanide/actinide series) assuming oxidation state because it is readily oxidized in air and water [Level 2 (+2) or Level 3 (+3)] in combination with sodium sulphate. Sulphates are salts and esters of sulphuric acid, while Europium is the rarest metal to be found in independent state. Europium sodium sulfate is an organometallic compound. Sodium metallic ions are used in solar and fuel cells. Medical usage lies in reinforcing chemotherapy with charged water and homeopathic nanoparticle portions of Europium sodium sulfate and Iron phosphate works on cold and dormant conditions of body as it warms the blood and stimulates the blood. Europium sodium sulfate is used in highly sensitive military operations. Highly limited details and access are granted currently.View Report Preview:Europium Sodium Sulfate: Market Dynamics and TrendsSulphate ions with sodium and phosphorous are being tried and tested in laboratories by ion exchange methods to derive new products required in defense and nuclear power sectors. Europium with sodium sulfate ions is used in nucleonic with control rods in nuclear reactor. Oxides of europium make the base material highly impervious to thermal neutrons. High-flux isotope reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has even used europium (+2 and +3 ions) dispersed in aluminum combined with sodium sulfate ions in a control rod for the nuclear reactor.Ongoing research is about fluorescence enhancement of europium-norfloxacin system using leutecium. A new kind of enhancement fluorescence system, Lu-Eu-norfloxacin-sodium lauryl sulfate, has been invented. Under optimum conditions, europium +3 (which is unstable in nature) traces were visible. They were in a stable state. Europium sodium sulfate is more of a research product for medical and defense sectors. It shows photo luminescence effect along with europium phosphate. Currently, based on chemical synthesis i.e. oxidation state, europium sodium sulfate is available in +2 ions state and +3 ions state. These ions are slightly reducing agents. Others are europium sodium phosphate ions, which were used extensively in CRTs of color televisions and oxides employed as decolorants.Europium Sodium Sulfate: Market SegmentationBased on the amorphous form, europium sodium sulfate is generally available in two forms: submicron powder and nano powder. Based on other specs / standard grades, it is available in Mil Specs (Military Specification), ACS (American Chemical Society) for laboratory research purposes, and reagent and technical grade, especially for food, agriculture, optical, and pharmaceuticals industries.Europium Sodium Sulfate Market: Region-wise OutlookEuropium falls under REE (Rare Earth Elements), which are widely distributed across the globe. In terms of revenue and volume, China leads the global market for europium sodium sulfate, due to abundant reserves of europium. Use of europium sodium sulfate in food, agriculture, optical, and pharmaceuticals industries in China makes the country a leading consumer. Malaysia, Australia, and Russia follow China. The U.S. is also a major manufacturer of europium sodium sulfate.Europium Sodium Sulfate Market: Key PlayersA key player operating in the europium sodium sulfate market is GFS Chemicals, a company based in the U.S. and Canada. By far, GFS Chemicals is the market leader in terms of extraction, production, sales, and exports of europium sodium sulfate.The ore of europium is monazite and companies involved in extraction of monazite are Field Metal and Chemical Industries Pty. Ltd., Sharikat Harper Gilfillan Berhad, Indian Rare Earths Ltd., and St. Gobain.Request to view Sample Report:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.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 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: Automotive Starter Motor Market: 2018 Global Size, Share, Trends, Growth Factors, Regional Analysis With Forecast To 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5626 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automotive-starter-motor-market-5626 Automotive Starter Motor Market Scenario:Automotive Starter Motor Market rapidly growing With a Staggering CAGR by end of 2023. According to latest research report published on Automotive Starter Motor Market 2018 - Global Forecast To 2023, this Automotive Starter Motor Market is driven by factors such as rise in the demand for passenger and commercial vehicles, development of advanced technology, stringent government regulations for emission, and among others. The rise in the demand for passenger and commercial vehicle mainly in emerging countries will increase the installation of starter motor in the vehicles. The electric starter motor is in high demand due to stringent government regulation for emission. There have been various developments in starter motor by the automotive manufacturers. The advance starter motor includes various automatic start and stop options in the vehicles.This published research report of 110 pages analyzes Automotive Starter Motor Market Information by Type (electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic), Component (armature, starter drive gear, shift fork, return spring, solenoid, brush, and others), Engine Type (diesel engine and gasoline engine), Vehicle Type (passenger car and commercial vehicle), and Region.Get Sample Copy of Automotive Starter Motor Market 2018 - Global Forecast to 2023 at:The Automotive starter motor market is segmented based on type, component, engine type, and vehicle type. By type, the market is segmented based on electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic. Electric starter motor segment is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period due to increase in demand for gasoline operated vehicles. There has been growing sales of passenger and commercial vehicle operated by gasoline in emerging countries. This will increase the demand for installation of electric starter motor. By component, the market is segmented into armature, starter drive gear, shift fork, return spring, solenoid, brush, and others. Solenoid segment is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period because it allows large electric current pass through the starter motor. By engine type, the market is segmented based on gasoline and diesel. The gasoline segment is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period due to increase in the production of gasoline-powered passenger and commercial vehicles.Automotive Starter Motor Market Key Industry Players Analyzed In Report Are: The key players in automotive starter motor market are Valeo SA (France), Denso Corporation (Japan), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Ningbo zhongwang AUTO Fittings Co.,Ltd. (China), Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. (Japan), Mitsubishi Electric (Japan), ASIMCO Technologies Ltd. (China), Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. (Germany), BBB Industries (U.S.), Unipoint Electric MFG Co., Ltd. (Taiwan), Remy International, Inc. (U.S.), Lucas Electrical Limited (U.K.), Mitsuba Corporation (Japan), BorgWarner Inc. (U.S.), and Cummins Inc. (U.S.)This study provides an overview of the global automotive starter motor market, tracking four market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years, for each region. The scope of the study segments the global automotive starter motors market by its type, component, engine type, and vehicle type, and regionIntended Audience:Automotive connectors manufacturersDistributer & Supplier companiesEnd UsersConsultants and Investment bankersGovernment as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesRegional Analysis:By region, the market is segmented based on North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific region is expected to dominate the automotive starter motor market due to an increase in demand for passenger and commercial vehicles. The growth of passenger and commercial vehicles will result in high demand for the installation of different types of starter motors in the vehicles. The OEMs in emerging countries are investing heavily in development of components that meet the government standard. The increased investment by the manufacturers will result in growing production of the starter motor. North America is expected to be the second largest market due to an increase in production of commercial vehicles. Commercial vehicles require the use of pneumatic and hydraulic starter motor. This will increase the demand for starter motor in North America.The report for Global Automotive Starter Motor Market of Market Research Future comprises of 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 details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Browse more details on this Automotive Starter Motor Market Research Report - Global Forecast to 2023 report at:About Us: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:Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312sales@marketresearchfuture.com Roofing Adhesives Market to Observe Strong Development by 2024 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/roofing-adhesives-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=18569 www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Adhesives are a material holding two surfaces together in such a way that they never detach. Their primary features include wetting the surface, adhering to it by developing strength, and maintaining stability. In a similar manner, roofing adhesives bind together sheets of styrene-butadiene-styrene modified bitumen (SBS-mod-bit) or asphalt roll roofing. Roof adhesives can be used in both hot and cold forms and are available in a variety of sizes. They enable physical interlocking and chemical bonding between materials and exhibit high environmental resistance. Roofing adhesives are capable of maintaining their performance regardless of exposure to UV light, rain, heat, salt water, and other weathering conditions. Roofing adhesives are extensively used in building and construction applications.View Report Preview:Roofing adhesives can be classified based on resin types into polyurethane, epoxy, silicone, and acrylic varieties. Of these, polyurethane roofing adhesive accounted for a prominent share in the overall market. However, the epoxy segment is also anticipated to expand rapidly during the forecast period. Epoxy consists of an artificial substance which turns solid when heated or post application of pressure. These resins exhibit an excellent combination of adhesion, chemical resistance, and other physical properties which help them withstand severe climatic conditions. Due to this, demand for epoxy resins is poised to rise considerably during the forecast period. Epoxy is also employed as low-tech glue in various materials such as wood, concrete, and others, which adds to the demand for it in the building and construction sector, which is incidentally a major applications of roofing adhesives. Requirement for elastic bonding adhesives from this end-user to provide higher durability to roofing surfaces plays an important role in motivating the roofing adhesives market. However, volatility in raw material prices may hamper the overall growth of this product.In terms of technology, the market is split into the solvent-borne and waterborne categories. The former are a mixture of ingredients dissolved in a solution, whereas the latter use water as a carrier or diluting medium, allowing it to evaporate or be absorbed by the surface. The main advantage of waterborne roofing adhesives is the lack of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in them. They therefore dominated the market and this trend is projected to continue in terms of their share and growth rate during the estimated period. Their exceptional shear strength, glossy appearance, high flexibility and government environmental regulations are their primary propellants.North America held a major share in the roofing adhesives market; however, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a speedy rate during the forecast period followed by Middle East & Africa. Increasing urbanization and subsequent demand for residential and non-residential construction activities along with industrialization are the main drivers of the roofing adhesives market in Asia Pacific. Emerging middle class population and rising disposable income levels especially in countries like India and China are also some of the factors expected to drive the market for roofing adhesives during forecast period in Asia Pacific. Middle East & Africa is also another lucrative market for roofing adhesives during forecast period owing to increase in construction activities especially in commercial segment like hospitals, hotels due to focus of government on hospitality and tourism industry.There are many players operating in the roofing adhesives markets, some of the key players are The Dow Chemical Company, Henkel AG & Company, Derbigum Americans, Inc, Sika AG, Arkema, Royal Adhesives & Sealants and others.Request to view Sample Report:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.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 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 Capacitor Banks Market Business Insights |Top Key Players : Alstom SA , BB Ltd. , Siemens Energy ,Toshiba |Trends And Forecast Report 2018-2027. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1263 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1263 Pune, India, May, 2018/MRFR Press Release/- Market Research Future published a Cooked research report on Global Capacitor Banks Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027 Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2027.Market HighlightsA Capacitor Bank is a group of several capacitors of the same rating that are connected in series or parallel with each other to store electrical energy. The resulting bank is then used correct a power factor lag or phase shift in an alternating current (AC) power supply. They can also be used in a direct current (DC) power supply to increase the ripple current capacity of the power supply. The Global Capacitor Banks Market is growing with the rapid pace; mainly due to the increase in the power consumption. According to World Bank, in 2014, the consumption of electricity was 3,144.4 kWh per capita as compared to 2,956.6 in 2010.Currently, the Capacitor Banks market is spurting mainly due to the growing attention and substantial investment in renewable power energy generation. The tremendous yearly addition (in capacity) of renewable energy requires the strong transmission and distribution network, which ultimately increases the demand of capacitor banks. Additionally, many countries around the world are expanding and upgrading their electric grid infrastructure, so as to fulfil the growing demand of power and margining of grid to form inter grid connection. These developments are expected to provide vital boost for capacitor banks market. However, high initial investment and fluctuation in raw material prices are the major factor that may hamper the growth of the market.Key PlayersSome of the key players in the Capacitor Banks market are Alstom SA (France), BB Ltd. (Switzerland), Siemens Energy (Germany),Toshiba (Japan), Epcos AG (Germany) and others.Get Sample Report @Industry NewsCIRCUTOR has launched a new range of static capacitor banks, EMS-C, EMK, OPTIM FRE (with detuned filters), with a new compensation system with thyristor operation that is suitable for industrial applications and also the services sector, due to its quick load input and output rate.ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has launched the new generation of APCQ capacitor banks, which help reduce utility penalties for low power factor, optimize energy consumption, increase power availability and ultimately help improve overall business performance.ABB is extending its prominent Relion 615 protection and control series with REV615 - a dedicated capacitor bank protection and control relay. REV615 is perfectly aligned for protection, control, measurement and supervision of capacitor banks used for compensation of reactive power, in both utility and industrial power distribution systems.Regional Analysis :Asia Pacific region dominates the global capacitor banks market mainly due to increasing demand for energy because of the growing population and improvement in the lifestyle in the region. China, India, japan and Indonesia are the major market in Asia Pacific region. China accounted for the largest share in Asia pacific region mainly due to strong economic growth along with high investment in transmission & distribution network. According to IEA World Energy Investment Outlook, China is investing around USD 83 billion on their transmission & distribution network. In India, the rising participation of the private sector in power generation, transmission and distribution sectors, is leading to the rapid development of robust and healthy domestic electrical equipment (EE) industry.Segmentation:On the basis of technology, the market has been segmented as Line Commutated Converter (LCC), and Voltage Source Converter (VSC).Based on End User, the market has been segmented into Commercial, Residential, and Industrial.Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.Enquiry For Report @MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Industry 4.0 Market 2018 Key Players: 3D Systems, ABB Ltd., Advantech, Aibrain, Alphabet, Arcadia Data, Arm Ltd. https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3105259-industry-4-0-market-technologies-2018-2023 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3105259-industry-4-0-market-technologies-2018-2023 Industry 4.0 Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Industry 4.0 Market 2018 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2025reports to its database.Executive SummaryIndustry 4.0 is here to stay, there is no doubt about that. The Industry 4.0 Market & Technologies 2018-2023 report forecasts that the global Industry 4.0 market** will reach $214B by 2023, 30% larger than the projected 2023 Cybersecurity market size .The Industry 4.0 transformation will change long-held dynamics in commerce and global economic balance of power.In the next decades, businesses will establish global networks that incorporate their machinery, warehousing systems and production facilities in the shape of cyber-physical systems. In the manufacturing environment, these cyber-physical systems comprise smart machines, storage systems and production facilities capable of autonomously exchanging information, triggering actions and controlling each other independently. On the one hand, these changes add to the traditional business pressure on manufacturers, but on the other hand they offer unprecedented opportunities to optimize the production and manufacturing processes.Industry 4.0 facilitates fundamental improvements in the industrial processes involved in manufacturing, engineering, material purchasing and usage, supply chain and life cycle management, predictive maintenance and real-time management overview. The smart factories that have already appeared across most industries employ a completely novel approach to production. Smart products are uniquely identifiable, they can be located at all times, know their own history, current status and alternative routes to achieving their target state. The embedded manufacturing systems are vertically networked with business processes within factories and enterprises and horizontally connected to dispersed value networks that can be managed in real time from the moment an order is placed right through to outbound logistics. In addition, they both enable and require end-to-end engineering across the entire value chain.Industry 4.0 holds immense potential. Smart factories allow individual customer requirements to be met, meaning that even one-off items can be manufactured profitably. In Industry 4.0, dynamic business and engineering processes enable last-minute changes to production and deliver the ability to respond flexibly to disruptions and failures on behalf of suppliers.End-to-end transparency is provided over the manufacturing process, facilitating optimized decision-making. Industry 4.0 will also result in new ways of creating value and novel business models. It will provide start-ups and SMEs with the opportunity to develop and provide downstream services.The Industry 4.0 competition is not only about technology or offering the best products; it is also, and in particular, about the companies that collect the appropriate data, combine it to provide the best digital services, and in addition, utilize it for their own benefit. Those who know what the customer wants, and can forecast consumer demand, will provide the information to develop an unfair competitive advantage.The major winners might be those that control Industry 4.0 Platforms, software layers that syndicate various devices, information and services, on top of which other firms can build their own offerings.The Industry 4.0 market race is led by the global tech giants that invest billions of dollars in Industry 4.0 products R&D, M&A, commercialization and internal use.The transformation of the economy being brought about by Industry 4.0 means that business processes such as supply, manufacturing, maintenance, delivery and customer service will all be connected via the Industrial IoT systems. These extremely flexible value networks will require new forms of collaboration between companies, both nationally and globally.To maintain their industrial base and create new jobs, governments across the globe invest billions of dollars in Industry 4.0 projects and R&D, and provide subsidies and tax incentives for Industry 4.0 investors.On the one hand, governments and private sectors of countries with high labor costs (e.g., EU countries and the U.S.) invest in Industry 4.0 to increase their industrial sector, which has been taken over by low labor cost countries ; and on the other hand, low labor costs industries and their governments (e.g., China, India and Cambodia) react to this trend by also investing in Industry 4.0.Request Sample Report @HSRC forecasts that the market will undergo a major transformation in 2018-2023 via the following drivers:Fast growing market, expected to reach $1 trillion by the early 2030sGlobal competition in the manufacturing sector is becoming fiercer and fiercerUnprecedented opportunities to optimize production processesGovernments and the private sector of high labor costs economies invest in Industry 4.0 to increase their industrial base taken by low labor cost countriesThe private sector and governments of low labor costs economies invest in Industry 4.0 to maintain their industrial base taken by high labor cost countries Industry 4.0 investmentsGovernment-funded Industry 4.0 projects, R&D, subsidies and tax incentivesIndustry 4.0 offers start-ups and SMEs the opportunity to develop and provide downstream servicesIndustry 4.0 dynamic business and engineering processes enable last-minute changes to production and deliver the ability to respond flexibly to disruptions and failures on behalf of suppliers and customersEnd-to-end transparency provided over the manufacturing process, facilitating optimized decision-makingIndustry 4.0 provides the link to the consumer, and can forecast consumer demandThe report is aimed at:Industry 4.0 Products VendorsIndustry 4.0 Systems IntegratorsGovernment Industry AgenciesStartups and R&D ManagersManufacturing Companies, SME includedThe report has been explicitly customized for the industry and government decision-makers, to enable them to identify business opportunities, emerging technologies, market trends and risks, as well as to benchmark business plans.Questions answered in this 640-page 4-volume market report include:What was the 188 Industry 4.0 submarkets size and what were the trends during 2016 & 2017?What is the 2018-2023 forecast for each of the 188 submarkets?Which industries and technologies provide attractive business opportunities?What drives the Industry 4.0 managers to purchase solutions and services?What are the technology & services trends?What are the market SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)?With 640 pages, 120 tables and 150 figures, this 4-volume report covers 10 industries, 10 technologies, 4 revenue sources, 5 regional and 22 national markets, offering for each of them 2016-2017 estimates and 2018-2023 forecasts and analyses.Why Buy This Report?This is the most comprehensive information source of the global Industry 4.0 market and technologies available todayMarket data is analyzed via 5 key perspectives:With a highly fragmented Industry 4.0 market we address the money trail via the following 5 bottom-up market size vectors:By Industries:Aerospace I4.0Defense I4.0Agriculture I4.0Food I4.0Automotive I4.0Chemical I4.0Electronic Hardware I4.0Electrical Hardware I4.0Energy, Power I4.0Oil & Gas I4.0Machine Industry I4.0Pharmaceutical I4.0Biotechnology I4.0Semiconductors I4.0Other I4.0 IndustriesBy Industry 4.0 Technologies:Additive Manufacturing3D PrintingAdvanced Human Machine InterfaceArtificial IntelligenceIndustrial RobotsBig Data & AnalyticsCybersecurity & Cloud ComputingHorizontal and Vertical System IntegrationIndustrial IoT (IIoT)SensorsSimulationVirtual Reality & Augmented RealityPredictive MaintenanceBy 4 Revenue Sources:Product SalesSystem Installation, Integration & CommissioningAftersales Maintenance, Upgrades & Spare PartsConsulting, Planning & TrainingBy 5 Regions:North AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeMiddle East and AfricaAsia-PacificBy 22 Countries:U.S.CanadaMexicoBrazilRest of LATAMUKGermanyFranceItalySpainScandinaviaRest of EuropeTurkeyIsraelGCCSouth AfricaRest of MEAIndiaChinaJapanSouth KoreaRest of APACC. Detailed market analysis framework is provided:Market drivers & inhibitorsBusiness opportunitiesSWOT analysisBarriers to new entry, supplier power, buyer power and competitive rivalryBusiness environment2016-2023 market segmented by 188 submarketsMore than 1000 references and links to Industry 4.0 data sources & publicationsD. The report includes the following appendices:Appendix A: Industry 4.0 Smart MaintenanceAppendix B: How to Convert an Industry 2.0 or Industry 3.0 Business to Industry 4.0Appendix C: AbbreviationsAppendix D: TerminologyAppendix E: Research Sources & BibliographyE. Industry 4.0 market report addresses 13 technologies:Additive Manufacturing3D PrintingAdvanced Human Machine InterfaceArtificial IntelligenceIndustrial RobotsBig Data & AnalyticsCybersecurityCloud ComputingHorizontal and Vertical System IntegrationIndustrial IoT (IIoT)SensorsSimulationVirtual RealityAugmented RealityF. The report presents extensive information on 49 leading companies (including companies profile, Industry 4.0 activities & products, and recent events), namely:3D SystemsABB Ltd.AdvantechAibrainAlphabetArcadia DataArm Ltd.Beijer ElectronicsBoschCiscoCyberXDassault SystemesDENSOEOSExOneGeneral ElectricHoneywellHewlett PackardHuaweiIBMIntelIntelligent AutomationInterset SoftwareKukaMagic LeapMicrosoftMitsubishi ElectricNECNGRAINOculus VROracleQUALCOMMRethink RoboticsRockwell AutomationSamsungSAPSensorySiemensSIGFOXSplunkSri InternationalStratasysTexas InstrumentsTRUMPFu-bloxWittensteinWorldsensing SLXerafyXjetContinuousFor further information on this report, visit Contact Us:Norah Trentsales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US); +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:WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone :+91 841 198 5042 Europe Cold Plasma Market 2018: All-Inclusive Analysis, Trends, Driving Forces, Restraints, Size, Future Potential and Market is expected to reach USD 1,382.4 million by 2025 Europe Cold Plasma Market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=europe-cold-plasma-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=europe-cold-plasma-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/speak-to-analyst/?dbmr=europe-cold-plasma-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/europe-cold-plasma-market/ cold plasma or non-equilibrium plasma is a plasma which is not in thermodynamic equilibrium, because the electron temperature is much hotter than the temperature of heavy speciesEurope Cold Plasma Market is expected to reach USD 1,382.4 million by 2025 from USD 417.8 million in 2017, at a CAGR of 16.2% in the forecast period 2018 to 2025. The new market report contains data for historic years 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.Download PDF Sample Report @This Report Consists of No of pages: 350, No of Figures: 60, No of Tables: 220Europe Cold Plasma Market, By Regime Type (Atmospheric Pressure, Low Pressure), By Technology (Direct Treatment, Electrode Contact, Remote Treatment), By Industry (Electronics and Semiconductor, Food & Agriculture, Medical, Polymer and Plastic, Textile, Others), By Country (Germany, France, U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Belgium, Switzerland, Rest of Europe) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2025Frequently Asked Questions? What will the market size be in 2025? What are the key factors driving the European 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 Europe Cold Plasma Market?To Avail Exciting Discount On This Report Mail us on @ sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comCompetitive AnalysisThe Europe cold plasma 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,TABLE OF CONTENTS1) Introduction2) MARKET SEGMENTATION3) Market Overview Drivers Restraints OPPORTUNITIES CHALLENGES4) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY5) premium insights6) Europe Cold Plasma Market, by Regime Type7) Europe Cold Plasma Market, by Technology8) Europe Cold Plasma Market, By Industry9) Europe Cold Plasma Market, by Geography Overview North America Europe Asia-Pacific south America Middle East and Africa10) Europe Cold Plasma Market, Competitive Analysis11) company profilesGet Detailed TOC @Top Competitors of Market Nordson Corporation, Bovie Medical Corporation, Plasmatreat GmbH, P2I Limited, Ionitech Ltd., Plasma Air Systems Corporation, ADTEC Plasma Technology Co., Ltd., SVCS Process Innovation s.r.o., Hiden Analytical Ltd., Enercon Industries Corporation, Aerox B.V., Neoplas Tools GmbH, Tantec A/S, Wacker Chemie AG, Igniss Energy, Mamel Ltd, Dr.-Ing. K. Busch GmbH, terraplasma medical GmbH, Europlasma NV, Analytik Jena AG, Henniker Plasma Treatment, Solayer GmbH, Technofer S.R.L., Vetaphone A/SMarket Segmentation:On the basis of regime type Europe cold plasma market is segmented into low pressure and atmospheric pressureIn 2018, atmospheric pressure is estimated to rule with 62.1% shares and will cross USD 869.2 million by 2025, rising at the highest CAGR of 16.4%.On the basis of technology Europe cold plasma market is segmented into remote treatment, direct treatment and electrode contactIn 2018, direct treatment segment is estimated to rule with 63.2% shares and will cross USD 885.4 million by 2025, rising at the CAGR of 16.5%. However, remote treatment segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 16.8% in the forecast period, and is expected to reach USD 214.0 million in 2025 from USD 62.1 million in 2017.On the basis of industry Europe cold plasma market is segmented into textile, polymer and plastic, electronics and semiconductor, food & agriculture an medicalIn 2018, electronics and semiconductor segment is estimated to rule with 27.6% shares and will cross USD 394.9 million by 2025, rising at the highest CAGR of 16.8%. The electronics and semiconductor is further sub segmented into coating, etching and thin film depositions. The polymer and plastic is further sub segmented into surface treatment, printing, adhesion and others. The textile is further sub segmented into finishing, dyeing/printing, sterilization and others. The food & agriculture is further sub segmented into packaging decontamination, food surface decontamination, wastewater treatment and seed germination. The medical is further sub segmented into wound healing, blood coagulation, dentistry, cancer treatment, dermatology and surgeries.Get a Call from Our Analyst -Market Drivers and Restraints: Environment-Friendliness and Other Uses of Cold Plasma Techniques Food Safety Worries Great Capital Investment Development of End-User Industries in Emerging Nations Existence of Small PlayersVisit 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 Miracles Past And Present Can Be Natural Events With Supernatural Causes Says Donna Louis, Multi-Award Winning Author Of 'Miracles Of Direction' Christian Author Donna Louis http://www.miraclebook.net Miracles happen all around us every day and have been happening throughout the ages. Some people may disagree with this of course, as not everyone believes in miracles. But the question here is, "What is a miracle?" A piece on ChristianHeadlines.com by J. Warner Wallace entitled "Woman Says It's a Miracle Her Wallet Blocked Bullets and Saved Her Life," made an important point. In that article Wallace stated that those who believe in the science-based Big Bang theory might believe in at least one supernatural idea, as space, matter and time could not have simply been self-created. Something outside of space, matter and time caused that Big Bang. The "cause" of the natural universe likely cannot be explained by natural law. The writer, formerly an atheist, became a Christian and has written a book about the subject.In a general sense, miracles are events that cannot be explained by natural law. While we might like to believe that the word "miracle" applies only to water that changes into wine or other ancient, miraculous events, the fact is that nearly all of us have experienced events that simply have no natural explanation. That could include bullets stopped by wallets. It is not up to us to judge the meaning or purpose of these kind of events, and these events are beyond current human understanding. If we hope to understand, we must start by keeping an open mind.Donna Louis helps readers explore miracles both past and present. Her book, 'Miracles of Direction, Miracles of Conquest, Miracles of Provision and Miracles of Purpose' explores biblical miracles that took place while Jesus was here on earth. She then references with miracles that take place on a daily basis in the modern world. She separates these miracles into four categories and presents insightful example of each type, taken directly from the Bible.Louis knows her subject well, as she has personally experienced four miracles. As the result of those life-altering experiences, she began an in-depth study of some of Christianity's most well-documented miracles. In her book, she attempts to expand upon and explain both the purpose and the direction of those miracles.Donna will be donating 100% of proceeds from sales of her books from Payhip to March For Our Lives until September 30, 2018. The book is available with discounted pricing at Payhip.Louis has also announced the upcoming release of her latest Christian book, 'Book of Proverbs, Wisdom vs Wilderness'.'Book of Proverbs Wisdom vs. Wilderness' delves into the need for gaining greater wisdom. The primary purpose of the Book of Proverbs is to teach wisdom to everyone. The Book of Proverbs provides intellectual depth and insights and exceptional wisdom on how to live a fortunate and tranquil life by honoring and respecting God as omnipotent.The newest book discusses all chapters in Proverbs 1-31 and brings insight, clarity, and basic meaning to several verses in each chapter to solidify why wisdom is essential and mandatory in life, so readers can live a blessed life versus living a life that is destitute, empty, and obsolete. It is scheduled for release in 2018.Louis was chosen as a winner in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 '50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading' awards contest. 'Miracles' has also received rave reviews from readers. One review called it "amazing, uplifting and inspirational". Another stated, "I was profoundly impressed by the writing."Louis has been nominated for the Top Female Author Award in 2018. The worldwide contest presents nominees from countries all over the world including Australia, Barbados, Canada, Croatia, France, Mexico, Netherlands, the UK and the United States.She is also now making her current book available to both hurricane relief organizations and Christian organizations to be used as a fundraising tool. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the e-book may be donated to those organizations that qualify. Churches and other charitable organizations are welcome to contact Donna using the information below to discuss the details of the program.Donna Louis is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below, or by email at louistolouis@aol.com. More information is available at her website. Miracles Of Direction is available at online retail book outlets. More information is available at her website.Donna Louis is happily married to her husband of 30 years Patrick Louis and currently resides in Florida. She lives to accomplish the task that God created her for and on a daily basis to follow Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459 Winning? Photo: KCNA/AFP/Getty Images North Korea has been seeking a one-on-one meeting between its supreme leader and the U.S. president for more than two decades. And it isnt difficult to understand why: For the leader of the worlds most powerful country to sit down with his North Korean counterpart would be to bestow an aura of legitimacy and international importance on the rogue states regime. For this very reason, Donald Trumps immediate predecessors declined to honor North Koreas request, absent sweeping concessions that Pyongyang proved unwilling to make. Our current president, however, (reportedly) accepted Kim Jong-uns invitation on a whim, and without setting any significant preconditions. His White House proceeded to leak word that Trump viewed securing a deal with North Korea to be his great man of history moment and that the administrations staffers were already fantasizing about the Nobel Peace Prize that the president might win for forging such a historic agreement. Now, one could argue that this is an example of Trump using his superhuman narcissism for good. Perhaps, previous American presidents had been too deferential to D.C. conventional wisdom on the Korean conflict while Trump, following his lust for personal glory instead of the foreign policy Establishments advice, was making a diplomatic concession that would genuinely bolster the cause of world peace. After all, Trumps acceptance of the summit was followed by a productive meeting between Kim and South Korean president Moon Jae-in; Pyongyangs release of three American prisoners; and North Koreas announcement of a plan to demolish its nuclear testing site. But one could also argue that Trump is simply getting played. In recent days, North Korea has abruptly recast a summit with the American president as kind of favor to the United States one that entitles them to concessions up-front. Earlier this week, Pyongyang suspended talks with South Korea, in protest of a scheduled joint-military exercise between the American and South Korean air forces. Hours later, Kim threatened to cancel his summit with Trump unless the U.S. indicated that it had no interest in coercing the regime into unilateral nuclear abandonment, as national security adviser John Bolton had implied. Trump responded Thursday by reassuring Kim that the U.S. would provide very strong protections to his totalitarian regime, should he agree to a disarmament deal. And on Friday, The Wall Street Journal revealed that the U.S. had canceled the military exercise that had offended Pyongyang. The latter move came at the urging of Seoul, which asked not to participate, so as to avoid generating tensions that could undermine the upcoming summit between Trump and Kim. Again: One could argue that the Americas aberrantly conciliatory posture toward North Korea is a good thing. It isnt all that unreasonable for Kim to ask the United States not to engage in dress rehearsals for war against his country; nor is it hard to understand why Pyongyang might take exception to John Bolton suggesting that Trump would demand it pursue the Libya model of nuclear disarmament. But it remains the case that our deal-maker-in-chief has already managed to take what Pyongyang once viewed as a great concession (a summit with the U.S. president), and turned it into an ostensible source of leverage for his North Korean counterpart. Research Study on Smart Bullets Market Highlights Recent Trends and Future Opportunities by 2025 Market Research Reports Search Engine https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3016 https://www.mrrse.com/smart-bullets-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3016 https://www.mrrse.com/ A smart bullet not only follows the route of the target but also sends data, changes its speed, and turns according to it. Smart bullets exhibit various features such as better lethality with aim point range. They are also effective against moving targets. Increase in the demand of smart bullets in several developing countries such as India, China, Brazil and Argentina among others is expected to boost the market during the forecast period. The smart bullets market is dominated by North America due to the focus of the U.S. government for the incorporation of the technologically advanced weapons to its weapon list. In addition, the U.S. government is also the major customer of smart bullets in both global as well as North America.Click Here, To Get Sample Copy of New Research Smart Bullets Market Report @One of the major factor fueling the market for the smart bullets is increase in the budget of defense in several countries such as China, India, France, U.S. and U.K. among others. In February 2017, U.S. government boosted their defense spending by approx. USD 54 Million. This budget will help the law enforcement to keep the terrorists out of the country. In February 2017, Indian government announced to increase their defense budget by 6.2%. This budget includes to buy new equipment, aircrafts, weapons, army vehicles and naval warships among others. In March 2017, Chinese government announced to boost the military spending by 7% which in turn boost the market for the smart bullets in the coming years in Asia Pacific as well as globally. This will help the country to be a step closer to become the supreme power globally.Guided smart bullets and self-guided smart bullets are the various product types of the smart bullets market. In 2016, guided smart bullets market is estimated to be the largest market followed by self-guided smart bullets market and expected to be the same during the forecast period of 2017 2025. Increase in the criminal activities is one of the major factor fueling the market for smart bullets in some of the major countries such as the U.S. among others during the forecast period.Click here, To Get Complete Examined Research Report with TOC @The smart bullets market has been segmented on the basis of end user into naval, land and airborne. In 2016, land segment in smart bullets market is estimated to be the largest market followed by naval segment and expected to be the same during the forecast period of 2017 2025. Increasing economies in the Asia Pacific region to invest significantly in smart weapons for military is one of the major factor driving the market for the land segment in smart bullets market. In addition, Wars in various countries such as Turkey, Ukraine, Lebanon, China, India, France, Afghanistan and Pakistan among others is major factor boosting the demand of smart bullets during the forecast period of 2017 - 2025.North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America are the various geography type of the smart bullets market. In 2016, North America held the major share of the market, followed by Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America and anticipated to be the same in the coming years. Increase in the investment in defense is one of the major factor driving the market for smart bullets during the forecast period. Demand for airborne smart bullets is one of the major factor fueling the market for smart bullets during the forecast period of 2017 - 2025.Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe major company in the global smart bullets market are Lockheed Martin Corporation (United States), The Raytheon Company (United States), BAE Systems PLC. (United States), General Dynamics Corporation (United States), Thales Group (France), Northrop Grumman Corporation (United States), Harris Corporation (United States), Boeing Company (United States), Taser International, Inc. (United States) and Textron Defense Systems (United States).The segments covered in the global Smart bullets market are as follows:By Product TypeGuided Smart BulletsSelf-guided Smart BulletsBy End UserAirborneLandNavalBy GeographyNorth AmericaS.CanadaMexicoEuropeK.RussiaFranceGermanyRest of EuropeAsia PacificIndiaChinaJapanRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and AfricaSaudi ArabiaRest of Middle East and AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaNeed Assistance? Send An Enquiry @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: +1-518-730-0559(USA & CANADA TOLL-FREE NUMBER)Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Wooden Floor Market 2018 : Manufacturers Analysis,Applications,Demand by Regions & Forecasts to 2025 Wooden Floor Market 2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3181871-global-wooden-floor-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3181871-global-wooden-floor-market-research-report-2018 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Wooden Floor Market 2018 : Manufacturers Analysis,Applications,Demand by Regions & Forecasts to 2025.This report studies the global Wooden Floor market status and forecast, categorizes the global Wooden Floor market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Wooden Floor market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThe major manufacturers covered in this reportArmstrongManningtonMohawkPergoShaw IndustriesAnderson Hardwood FloorsMullican FlooringGiorioBeaulieu International GroupKahrs GroupKaindl FlooringNature Home Holding Company LimitedBruceGreenply IndustriesRobina FlooringTimberwolfARK FloorsBarlinekBLC Hardwood FlooringChina Flooring Holding CompanyGeographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa)The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSolid Wooden FlooringEngineered Wooden FlooringOn 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, includingResidentialCommercialReport Details @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsGlobal Wooden Floor Market Research Report 20181 Wooden Floor Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Wooden Floor1.2 Wooden Floor Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Wooden Floor Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Wooden Floor Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Solid Wooden Flooring1.2.4 Engineered Wooden Flooring1.3 Global Wooden Floor Segment by Application1.3.1 Wooden Floor Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Commercial1.4 Global Wooden Floor Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Wooden Floor Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Wooden Floor (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Wooden Floor Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Wooden Floor Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)7 Global Wooden Floor Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Armstrong7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Armstrong Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Mannington7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Mannington Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Mohawk7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Mohawk Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Pergo7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Pergo Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Shaw Industries7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Shaw Industries Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Anderson Hardwood Floors7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Anderson Hardwood Floors Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Mullican Flooring7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Mullican Flooring Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Giorio7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Wooden Floor Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Giorio Wooden Floor Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT 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.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Bio Implants Market 2018- Outlook 2025 Industry Growth And Competitive Landscape Trends, Segmentation, Industry http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPHE100001101?source=Mudassar http://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPHE100001101?source=Mudassar http://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPHE100001101?source=Mudassar The Global Bio Implants Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the bio implants industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global bio implants market with detailed market segmentation by type, origin of material, and geography. The global bio implants market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Request Sample Copy is Available at@Bio-implants are bioengineered implants, which are used in organ transplantation and replacement of tissues. Implants are bioengineered products made from human cells or animal origin and is used in numerous fields which leads to strikingly high surgical outcomes. The bio-implants are widely used in the treatment of skin burns or sores caused by surgeries. Eye bio-implants are used in the treatment of cornea sores or chemical damages in the eye.Increasing number of geriatric population, changing lifestyle of population, rising incidence of chronic diseases, and advancements in implant technology. These factors are expected to drive the market of bio implants during the coming years. Improving healthcare systems in emerging markets are expected to provide opportunity for the growth of bio implants market during the forecast period.Discount Is Available On This Report@The bio implants market is segmented based on type as, cardiovascular implants, spinal implants, orthopedics & trauma implants, dental implants, and other implants. Cardiovascular implants segment is further sub-segmented into pacing devices, stents & related implants and structural cardiac implants. Orthopedics & trauma implants segment is further sub-segmented into reconstructive joint replacements, orthobiologics and trauma implants. Other implants segment is further sub-segmented into gynecological devices, drug implants, otolaryngeal implants, cosmetic implants, and gastroenterological implants. Based on origin of material, the market is categorized as autograft, allograft, and xenograft.The report provides a detailed overview on the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global bio implants market based by type, origin of material. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall bio implants market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of 13 countries globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.North America is anticipated to hold the largest market share in the bio implants market in terms of revenue owing to the large number of players in bio-implants and strong healthcare infrastructure. Moreover, Asia Pacific is projected to register significant growth due to development in government initiatives, increasing spending in healthcare segment, new establishments of healthcare and diagnostic centers, and increased access to healthcare services.The report analyzes factors affecting market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions namely; North America, Europe, APAC, MEA and South & Central America after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors effecting the market in these regions.The report also includes the profiles of key bio implants companies along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. In addition, the report focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.Some of the key players influencing the market Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., Stryker, Zimmer Biomet, Smith & Nephew, Abbott, Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, aap Implantate AG, Boston Scientific Corporation, and C.R. Bard, Inc.The List of Companies1. Medtronic2. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.3. Stryker4. Zimmer Biomet5. Smith & Nephew6. Abbott7. Bausch & Lomb Incorporated8. aap Implantate AG9. Boston Scientific Corporation10. C.R. Bard, Inc.3 Bio Implants Market Landscape3.1 Market Overview3.2 Market Segmentation3.2.1 Bio Implants Market By Type3.2.2 Bio Implants Market By Origin of Material3.2.3 Bio Implants Market By Region3.2.3.1 By Country3.3 PEST Analysis3.3.1 North America PEST Analysis3.3.2 Europe PEST Analysis3.3.3 Asia Pacific PEST Analysis3.3.4 Middle East and Africa PEST Analysis3.3.5 South and Central America PEST Analysis4 Bio Implants Market Key Industry Dynamics4.1 Key Market Drivers4.2 Key Market Restraints4.3 Key Market Opportunities4.4 Future Trends4.5 Impact Analysis5 Bio Implants Market Analysis- Global Analysis5.1 Global Bio Implants Market Overview5.2 Global Bio Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)5.3 Market Positioning/Market Share5.4 Performance of Key Players5.5 Expert Opinions6 Bio Implants Market Global Regulatory Scenario6.1 Overview6.2 North America6.3 Europe6.4 Asia Pacific6.5 Middle East & Africa6.6 South and Central America7 Bio Implants Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 Type (US$ Mn)7.1 Overview7.2 Type Market Forecasts and Analysis7.3 Cardiovascular Implants Market7.3.1 Overview7.3.2 Cardiovascular Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.3.3 Pacing Devices Market7.3.3.1 Overview7.3.3.2 Pacing Devices Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.3.4 Stents & Related Implants Market7.3.4.1 Overview7.3.4.2 Stents & Related Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.3.5 Structural Cardiac Implants Market7.3.5.1 Overview7.3.5.2 Structural Cardiac Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.4 Spinal Implants Market7.4.1 Overview7.4.2 Spinal Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.5 Orthopedics & Trauma Implants Market7.5.1 Overview7.5.2 Orthopedics & Trauma Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.5.3 Reconstructive Joint Replacements Market7.5.3.1 Overview7.5.3.2 Reconstructive Joint Replacements Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.5.4 Orthobiologics Market7.5.4.1 Overview7.5.4.2 Orthobiologics Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.5.5 Trauma Implants Market7.5.5.1 Overview7.5.5.2 Trauma Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.6 Dental Implants Market7.6.1 Overview7.6.2 Dental Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.7 Other Implants Market7.7.1 Overview7.7.2 Other Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.7.3 Gynecological Devices Market7.7.3.1 Overview7.7.3.2 Gynecological Devices Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.7.4 Drug Implants Market7.7.4.1 Overview7.7.4.2 Drug Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.7.5 Otolaryngeal Implants Market7.7.5.1 Overview7.7.5.2 Otolaryngeal Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn7.7.6 Cosmetic Implants Market7.7.6.1 Overview7.7.6.2 Cosmetic Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)7.7.7 Gastroenterological Implants Market7.7.7.1 Overview7.7.7.2 Gastroenterological Implants Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis (US$ Mn)Inquire For Reports At:-About Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com Metastatic Hormone Refractory Prostate Cancer Market Current Trends and Future Aspect Analysis 2017 - 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=33902 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=33902 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=33902 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Cancer is one of the most fatal and chronic disorders, in which, there is development of tumor due to uncontrolled growth of cells in particular part of the body. Cancer is highly hazardous disease, in which, the mortality rate is extremely high, due to highly invasive nature and prolonged duration of disease.Request Report Brochure @Metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer is the cancer of prostate glands. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer that affects men. In most of the cases, cancer remains confined to prostate gland, even after treatment. Hence, it is usually difficult and very painful to treat prostate cancer. The diagnostic tests may preliminary include deep study of patients history and reasons of pain. Afterwards, the diagnosis of metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer is carried out by utilizing imaging studies, such as, CT scan, MRI, bone scanning, and PET scanning. Biopsy test is also used for diagnosis and confirmation of the disease. Moreover, rising level of prostate-specific antigens (PSA) in a patient treated with prostate cancer indicates that the disease has returned.The market of metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer is segmented on the basis of therapies and treatments available, such as, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and cryosurgery. Radiation therapy mainly includes high energy X-rays or gamma-rays that are used to destroy the tumors. Hormone therapy is considered as the major therapy to treat metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer. Major hormones used for the treatment of metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer include goserelin (Zoladex), histrelin (Vantas), and leuprolide (Lupron) amongst others. Additionally, combined hormone therapy includes flutamide (Eulexin and others), nilutamide (Nilandron) and others. Chemotherapy is pharmacological treatment by using anti-cancer drugs either orally or parenterally. Major drugs used to treat this cancer include ketoconazole, dexamethasone, glucocorticoids, bisphosphonates, and finasteride (5-alpha reductase inhibitors) amongst others. Cryosurgery is also sometimes considered as the major therapy to treat metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer. In addition, the market is segmented on the basis of geography, such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). The North American region is the most dominating market in the world, owing to rapidly growing incidences of prostate cancer and rising focus towards R&D to treat metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer. On the other hand, Asia-Pacific and RoW are the most promising markets in the upcoming period, owing to rising awareness of prostate cancer, its chronic impact and treatments.Enquiry for discount on this report @The market of metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer is expected to steady growth rate during forecast period from 2014 2020. This growth is anticipated to be driven by various factors, such as, R&D practices running across the globe and high prevalence of prostate cancer. Owing to R&D practices, a number of drugs and formulations, such as, MDX-010 (Ipilimamab), MDV3100, Abiraterone and others are under pipeline studies and are expected to enter in the market during forecast period. Additionally, high prevalence of the disease is the major driver of the market growth. According to American Cancer Society estimates, approximately 233,000 new cases of prostate cancer are expected to diagnose in 2014, out of which, around 30,000 people may die due to prostate cancer. Hence, this high prevalence is the major driver of the market growth. In addition, rising awareness amongst the population for prostate cancer, and increasing medical infrastructure also support the growth of this market. However, high cost of R&D, diagnosis and treatment and lack of awareness in large number of countries (particularly belongs to Asia-Pacific and RoW region) are the major hurdles in the growth of this market.The major players operating in this market include Novartis International AG, Pfizer, Inc., AstraZeneca plc, Genentech, Inc., Merck & Co, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company amongst others.Request for the TOC of the Report @About UsTransparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals.Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Anti-Dermatomycosis Skin Drugs Market Share and Growth Factors Impact Analysis 2017 - 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=33965 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=33965 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=33965 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Dermatomycosis is a type of skin disease majorly caused by the infection of different species of dermatophytes, yeast such as Candida species and Malassezia furfur or variety of fungi species like microsporum, genera trichophyton and epidermophyton. These organisms invade into the layer of skin and affect dermal appendices of hair, nails and epidermis. The condition is mainly characterized by colonization of the keratinized layers by these organisms on the surface of patients skin.Request Report Brochure @These organisms have rigid cell wall and are complex in structure thus, anti-bacterial agents are not effective against organisms. Anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs like ketoconazole, clotrimazole and others are effectively used for the treatment of infection. These drugs are commonly used to treat conditions like ringworm, athletes foot and other systemic fungal infections like cryptococcal meningitis, and other types of infections. In addition, physical examination and microscopic examination of dermal lesions can be helpful to detect the disease condition.The market of anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs is witnessing positive growth owing to the rise in fungal infections cases globally. World Health Organization (WHO) stated that nearly 20% of the world population is suffering from skin infections and the percentage is even higher in subtropical or tropical areas. In addition, good penetration and distribution of these drugs into hair folicles and horny layers will offer effective treatment in skin infection disorders and hence drives the market growth of anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs.However, less specific actions of anti-fungal drugs restrains the growth of global anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs market. In addition, high rate of side-effects like nausea, vomiting, constipation, hepatitis will restrain the market of anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs. In severe condition, adverse effects like renal toxicity, hypokalaemia, hepatic failure, anaphylactic shock can be developed. Thus, high rate of adverse effects, using these drugs will restrain the market growth of anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs. Additionally, high cost coupled with high rate of unwanted drug interactions of drugs will further restraint the market growth.Enquiry for discount on this report @Geographically, North America dominates the global anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs market. The growth of this market in North America is mainly attributed to increase incidence of skin infections. Europe is considered as the second largest region for global anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs market owing to increasing use of anti-dermatomycosis drugs. The market of anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs in Asia-Pacific region holds strong growth opportunities due to favorable climate condition for the development of skin infectious organisms.This factor would ultimately increase the number of patients seeking for the treatment of skin infections hence drives the market growth of anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs market. Additionally, countries like China and India are considered as the major market for anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs market owing to the high demand of these drugs among patient population which will eventually help Asia-Pacific region to grow steadily.The market of anti-dermatomycosis skin drugs is majorly dominated by the key players like Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Vectura Group plc, Pfizer, Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Eli Lilly and Company, Aparna Biosciences Corporation, Helix BioMedix, Inc., Aegera Therapeutics, Inc., Globeimmune, Inc. and others.Request for the TOC of the Report @About UsTransparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals.Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Virus Testing Diagnostic Kits Market Segmentation Detailed Study with Forecast to 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=36005 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=36005 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=36005 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Diagnosis of viral infections can be carried out by testing the body fluids, the blood, or the specimen from the infected area of the body, which are examined with the help of an electron microscope. Viral infections such as measles and rubella are diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms. Some of the severe viral infections are diagnosed by examining the blood or the body fluids. For the last decade, prevalence of infectious diseases has been rising at a high rate. Growing preference for the self-diagnosis of viral diseases and increase in the detection of new, infectious viruses are major factors expected to drive the market for virus testing diagnostic kits in the near future. However, complex regulatory scenario regarding the approval for diagnostic tests for viral infections and increasing health care costs are expected to restrain the market during the forecast period.Request Report Brochure @The global virus testing diagnostic kits market has been segmented based on test type, application, and end-user. Based on test type, the market has been divided into direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) tests, lateral flow tests (also known as immunochromatographic assays), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based tests, agglutination assays, flow-through assays, and solid-phase assays. The lateral flow tests segment accounted for the maximum market share in terms of revenue in 2016, owing to improved reimbursement policies about laboratory diagnostic techniques. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction is performed in laboratories that can afford expensive equipment. Thus, the RT-PCR-based tests segment is expected to witness sluggish growth throughout the forecast period. On the other hand, the direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) tests segment is projected to register the maximum CAGR from 2017 to 2025. This is attributable to numerous key players offering the kits for DFA tests and their wide usage for respiratory and other common viral infections.Based on application, the global viral testing diagnostic kits market has been segmented into influenza, hepatitis, HIV, measles, rubella, and others. The influenza segment accounted for the maximum revenue in 2016, due to rising prevalence of the disease across the globe, and increasing demand for more rapid diagnostic test kits for influenza. The segment is projected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. The others segment comprises Zika virus, pneumonia, and anthrax. Emergence and detection of new viruses and rising adoption of diagnostic kits for viral infections by physicians are major factors estimated to boost the others segment between 2017 and 2025.Enquiry for discount on this report @In terms of end-user, the global virus testing diagnostic kits market has been divided into laboratories, hospitals, home care settings, and academic institutes. The laboratories segment has been sub-divided into clinical/diagnostic laboratories and research laboratories. The research laboratories segment held the maximum market share in 2016, which is attributable to the funding by public and private players for research and development of novel virus diagnostic techniques and favorable reimbursement policies for the same. On the other hand, the home care settings segment is likely to expand at the maximum CAGR between 2017 and 2025, due to rising demand for self-diagnostic test kits for virus detection.Geographically, the global virus diagnostic test kits market has been segregated into five major regions viz. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominated the global market in 2016, which is attributable to the introduction of diagnostic test kits by key market players in the region and rising adoption of self-diagnostic and cost-effective test kits by patients as well as physicians. On the other hand, the market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at the maximum CAGR from 2017 to 2025, due to rising prevalence of viral diseases and government participation in the prevention and control of infectious diseases in China and India.Request for the TOC of the Report @Prominent players operating in the global virus diagnostic test kits market are Quidel Corporation, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Alere Inc., Abbott, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Luminex Corporation, Nectar Lifesciences, Cortez Diagnostics, and Bundi International Diagnostics.About UsTransparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals.Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global LED Lighting Market is expected to reach USD 125,000 million by 2025, from USD 38,000 million in 2017, growing at a of CAGR of 18% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. http://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-led-lighting-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-led-lighting-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/speak-to-analyst/?dbmr=global-led-lighting-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-led-lighting-market/ Global LED Lighting Market is expected to reach USD 125,000 million by 2025, from USD 38,000 million in 2017, growing at a of CAGR of 18% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2014 & 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.Report Consists of:No of pages: 350No of Figures: 60No of Tables: 22010% Instant discount avail on This Report Mail us at@ sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comMajor Market Competitors/Players: Philips Lighting Holding B.V., GENERAL ELECTRIC, OSRAM, Cree Inc., Eaton, Virtual Extension., Dialight., Zumtobel Group AG, SAMSUNG , SHARP CORPORATION, Lumileds Holding B.V., NICHIA CORPORATION, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH., Semiconductor Co. Ltd., LG INNOTEK., SYSKA LEDGet Free Report Sample@Market Definition:This market report defines the market trends and forecast the upcoming opportunities and threats of the LED lighting market in the next 8 years. LED (Light Emitting Diode) is a two-lead semiconductor light source. LED lamps are energy efficient, it retains a long lifetime. LED lamps dont require warm up period and they light immediately in nanoseconds. They are environmental friendly as they consume less energy, and do not contain mercury or any other hazardous substances. LED lighting has zero ultraviolet emissions, and it can also run on low voltage power supply. There are many regulatory parameters for LED lighting. For instance, In September 2106, due to increasing electric consumption, Chinese government has banned the use of 100W and 60W incandescent bulbs. Various advancements have taken place in the field of LED lighting market. For example, In 2015 Cree introduced luminous LR22 architectural troffer, that comprises of a flat panel design, which creates an attractive artistic to flawlessly combine into any ceiling.Competitive Analysis:The global LED lighting 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 LED lighting market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America.Inquiry Before Buying@Major Market Drivers & Restraints: Increase demand for energy-efficient lighting systems. Growth in the field of IOT. Low LEDs prices. High demand for LED from smart cities. Lack of alertness towards installation costs and payback periods. Development of substitute.Market Segmentation:The global LED lighting market is segmented into installation type, end-user, service, application, product type, and geographical segments.Based on installation type, the global led lighting market is segmented into new installation, and retrofit.On the basis of end-use application, the global led lighting market is classified into indoor lighting and outdoor lighting .Indoor lighting is further sub segmented into residential, commercial sector, and industrial sector. Commercial sector is further sub segmented into office lighting, space malls, and hospitality. Outdoor lighting is further sub segmented into highway & roadway, architectural, public areas and others.Any query? Talk to Analyst @Based on product type, the global led lighting market is segmented into lamps, luminaires.Based on geography, the global LED lighting 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.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 Fitness Bands/Watches Market Size, Growth Drivers, Market Opportunities, Industry Trends and Forecast to 2025 http://qyreports.com/request-sample?report-id=33800 www.qyreports.com The whole catalogue of fitness-centric tech products have seen immense demand over the past few years, but the most sought after way to track your daily activities seems to be the Fitness Bands/Watches. In India, we have fitness bands ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 30,000 and the market for such products is growing. While brands like Xiaomi have some dependable products like the Mi Band at unbelievably low costs, the segment is still dominated by known names like Garmin, Fitbit and TomTom.For Sample copy of this Report:The Global Fitness Bands/Watches Market are profiled in the report to understand their role in the market and their upcoming strategies. The manufacturing base of each key player and their share in the market for each product and application segment of the gem quality diamonds market have been described in the report. Various marketing channels and strategies likely to bear fruit in the 2018-2025 period have been described in the report to help readers formulate winning strategies.Fitness trackers can monitor users daily step count, sleep, heart rate and activity levels. Picking the right one will depend on what you plan to use it for, whether you want some casual step counting or a detailed breakdown of a workout.The cost analysis of the Global Fitness Bands/Watches market has been performed while keeping in view manufacturing expenses, labor cost, and raw materials and their market concentration rate, suppliers, and price trend. Other factors such as industrial chain, downstream buyers, and sourcing strategy have been assessed to provide a complete and in-depth view of the market. Buyers of the report will also be exposedThe report provides detailed information regarding the performance of the gem quality diamonds market in each key regional segment. The North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle-East and Africa are the key regional Fitness Bands/Watches markets studied in the report.The performance of the key product and application segments of the Fitness Bands/Watches market in each regional market has been explained in the report. Likewise, each regional markets competitive dynamics have been elaborated upon by providing information about the hierarchy among the leading players operating in it. This helps provide a thorough granular analysis of the global gem quality diamonds market. The report also provides 2018-2025 forecasts for each product, application, and geographical segments of the Global Fitness Bands/Watches Market.Table of ContentsGlobal Fitness Bands/Watches Concrete Market Research ReportChapter 1 Fitness Bands/Watches Concrete Market OverviewChapter 2 Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3 Global Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by RegionsChapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7 Global Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8 Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11 Market Effect Factors AnalysisABOUT USWe at QYResearch(qyreports.com), a leading market research report publisher cater to more than 4,000 prestigious clients worldwide meeting their customized research requirements in terms of market data size and its application. Our list of customers include renouned Chinese companies multinational companies, SMEs and private equity firms. our business study covers a market size of over 30 industries offering you accurate, in depth and reliable market insight, industry analysis and structure. QYResearchs specialize in forecasts needed for investing in an and execution of a new project globally and in Chinese markets.Contact:QYReportsJones John(Sales Manager)+91-9764607607sales@qyreports.com Epoxy Primer Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players AkzoNobel, Jotun, Hempel, Nippon Paint, Kansai, Sherwin-Williams Epoxy Primer Industry 2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3181863-global-epoxy-primer-market-research-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3181863-global-epoxy-primer-market-research-report-2018 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Epoxy Primer Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players AkzoNobel, Jotun, Hempel, Nippon Paint, Kansai, Sherwin-Williams.This report studies the global Epoxy Primer market status and forecast, categorizes the global Epoxy Primer market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Epoxy Primer market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx.x % between 2018 and 2025.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThe major manufacturers covered in this reportAkzoNobelJotunHempelNippon PaintPPG IndustriesKansaiChugoku Marine PaintSherwin-WilliamsBASFAxaltaDiamond PaintsSACALCarpolyHenkelRPMKCCSika3MDAWHunan Xiangjiang PaintGeographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa)The regional scope of the study is as follows:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPure Epoxy PaintModified Epoxy PaintOn 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, includingConstructionMarineAutomobileMachinery & EquipmentOthersReport Details @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsGlobal Epoxy Primer Market Research Report 20181 Epoxy Primer Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Epoxy Primer1.2 Epoxy Primer Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Epoxy Primer Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Epoxy Primer Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Pure Epoxy Paint1.2.4 Modified Epoxy Paint1.3 Global Epoxy Primer Segment by Application1.3.1 Epoxy Primer Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Construction1.3.3 Marine1.3.4 Automobile1.3.5 Machinery & Equipment1.3.6 Others1.4 Global Epoxy Primer Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Epoxy Primer Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Epoxy Primer (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Epoxy Primer Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)7 Global Epoxy Primer Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 AkzoNobel7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 AkzoNobel Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Jotun7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Jotun Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Hempel7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Hempel Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Nippon Paint7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Nippon Paint Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 PPG Industries7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 PPG Industries Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Kansai7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Kansai Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Chugoku Marine Paint7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Chugoku Marine Paint Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Sherwin-Williams7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Epoxy Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Sherwin-Williams Epoxy Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT 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.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Industrial Gases in Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends Forecasts 2021 Industrial Gases in Europe Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1408457-industrial-gases-market-in-europe-2017-2021 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1408457-industrial-gases-market-in-europe-2017-2021 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Industrial Gases in Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends Forecasts 2021.The analysts forecast the industrial gases market in Europe to grow at a CAGR of 6.19% during the period 2017-2021.Industrial gases are a group of elemental and chemical gases (inorganic or organic) that are used for industrial applications. These gases usually have low molecular weight. They possess diverse physical and chemical properties that are expanding their applicability in new end-uses, as well as the existing field of end-uses. The market encompasses the mode of distribution of industrial gases in Europe, including packaged, merchant, and tonnage, to end-use industries such as manufacturing, chemical processing, metallurgy, medical and healthcare, food and beverage, refining, electronics, and others.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the industrial gases market in Europe for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the sales of industrial gases through the three supply modes (packaged, merchant, and tonnage) to various end-use industries. The market estimates exclude sales of gas equipment, power generation, liquefied petroleum gas, and natural gas businesses.The market is divided into the cities based on geography: Germany France Scandinavia Spain Poland, and othersThe report, Industrial Gases Market in Europe 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 Air Liquide Air Products and Chemicals Messer The Linde Group PraxairOther prominent vendors Chart Industries Iwatani Oknal Industrial & Medical Gases SOL TAIYO NIPPON SANSO Westfalen Group (SERgroup Holding International)Market driver Conversion of captive production facilities to on-site manufacturing facilities For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Production of industrial gases is energy intensive For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Vulnerable European refinery sector For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey 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? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Report Details @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: Introduction Outlook Classification of gases Manufacturing of industrial gases Modes of production of various industrial gases Mode of distributionPART 05: Market landscape Industrial gases market in Europe Five forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by distribution mode Industrial gases market in Europe by distribution mode Industrial gases market in Europe by packaged distribution mode Industrial gases market in Europe by merchant distribution mode Industrial gases market in Europe by tonnage distribution modePART 07: Market segmentation by end-use Industrial gases market in Europe by end-use Industrial gases market in Europe for manufacturing sector Industrial gases market in Europe for chemical processing sector Industrial gases market in Europe for metallurgy sector Industrial gases market in Europe for medical and healthcare sector Industrial gases market in Europe market for food and beverage sector Industrial gases market in Europe for refining sector Industrial gases market in Europe market for electronics sector Industrial gases market in Europe for other end-use sectorsPART 08: Market segmentation by country Industrial gases market in Europe by country Industrial gases market in Germany Industrial gases market in France Industrial gases market in Scandinavia Industrial gases market in Spain Industrial gases market in Poland Industrial gases market in other European countriesPART 09: Decision frameworkPART 10: Drivers and challenges Market drivers Market challengesPART 11: Market trends Vulnerable European refinery sector Additive manufacturing gaining popularity Increasing use of nitrogen in oil and gas sectorPART 12: Vendor landscape Competitive scenario Key market vendors Other prominent vendorsContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT 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.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Were still just getting started. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images Nearly two years after Special Counsel Robert Mueller launched his investigation, were finally going to see what he turned up. On Thursday, Attorney General William Barr will send Congress the redacted Mueller report between 11 a.m. and noon. In what appears to be an attempt to spin the release, Barr will hold a press conference prior to the reports release at 9:30 a.m., frustrating those who believe the attorney general is acting as Trumps fixer in the Justice Department. The biggest revelation from Barrs four-page summary of the report was that Mueller is not recommending any further indictments. In countless tweets and public statements, Trump has insisted that there was no collusion with Russia, and if Barr is to be believe, Mueller hasnt produced any evidence to the contrary. However, the Mueller probe has already yielded ample evidence of Russias efforts to make sure Trump won the 2016 election, and the connections between Trump associates and Russia plus other crimes that fall under Muellers mandate. As we await a full run down of whats in Muellers very comprehensive report, heres everything we already know. George Papadopoulos, center in a dark tie, at a meeting with Trump during the campaign. Photo: @realdonaldtrump/Instagram George Papadopoulos lied to the FBI about Russian contacts In October 2017, court documents revealed that George Papadopoulos, a foreign-policy adviser to the Trump campaign, had been arrested as part of the Mueller investigation in July 2017. He pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with the Russians specifically, the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials. The court documents say Papadopoulos claimed he met a London-based professor with extensive ties to Russian government officials (who reports identified as Joseph Mifsud) before joining the Trump campaign. Mifsud actually took an interest in Papadopoulos shortly after he joined the Trump campaign, and during a meeting in April the professor told him about the Russians possessing dirt on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails, according to prosecutors. The conversation happened weeks before the Democratic National Committee revealed it had been hacked, and about a month after Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta was targeted with a phishing attempt. Around the same time, Papadopoulos met a Russian woman that he believed had ties to the Russian government as well. Over several months, Papadopoulos repeatedly tried to use his new associates connections to set up a meeting between top Trump campaign and Russian government officials making it clear that Putin was interested in meeting Trump personally. Sometimes campaign officials ignored or rebuffed Papadopoulos, but at one point a high-level campaign official (believed to be then-campaign manager Paul Manafort) emailed another top official: Lets discuss. We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips. It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal. In August 2016 another top campaign official (said to be national campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis) urged Papadopoulos to meet with Russians to foster ties with their government, saying, Make the trip, if it is feasible. Papadopoulos repeatedly lied to investigators in January 2017. It cost them the chance to catch Mifsud, the London-based professor, before he fled the U.S. Even after his guilty plea, a prosecutor said, Papadopoulos only made begrudging efforts to cooperate. In September of last year, he was sentenced to 14 days in prison. Paul Manafort. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Paul Manafort and Rick Gates allegedly laundered millions, conspired against U.S. On October 30, 2017, the same day Papadopouloss plea deal was unveiled, the special counsel announced charges against Manafort and his longtime business associate Rick Gates, who was also his deputy on the Trump campaign. The 12-count indictment included charges of conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Prosecutors described an elaborate bank fraud and money laundering scheme linked to Manafort and Gatess work for pro-Russian political parties in Ukraine. They said this went on from 2006 to at least 2016, but the charges were not linked to their work on the Trump campaign. (Conspiracy against the U.S. sounds dramatic but it can mean making false statements about your work with a foreign government.) In February 2018 Mueller filed new charges against Manafort and Gates, accusing them of laundering $30 million, failing to pay U.S. taxes for almost a decade, and using their real-estate holdings to fraudulently secure $20 million in loans. Muellers attempt to turn up the pressure worked on Gates, at least. In February 2018 he agreed to cooperate with the special counsel and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of making false statements to FBI agents. Nearly two dozen more serious charges were dropped, and in January 2019, Mueller asked for a delay in Gatess sentencing, citing his ongoing cooperation in several ongoing investigations. Alex van der Zwaan. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images A Dutch lawyer already served time Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his connection to Gates, and was sentenced to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine. He is the first person sentenced in the probe and is currently serving his prison sentence at a low-security facility in Pennsylvania. Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about the Russian ambassador On December 1, 2017, former national-security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period. Court documents reveal that despite what Flynn told agents in January 2017, his talks with Kislyak were part of a coordinated effort by the Trump team to influence foreign policy before the inauguration. The documents say that a very senior member of the transition team (reportedly Jared Kushner) directed Flynn to discuss a United Nations resolution with Kislyak. Flynn admitting to asking Kislyak on December 22, 2016, to delay or defeat a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel for its settlement policy. The Obama administration opted to abstain and the resolution passed. Flynn also admitted to talking with Kislyak on December 29 to urge Russia not to retaliate when President Obama imposed new sanctions over Russias election meddling. The court documents say he conferred with other top members of the Trump team several times, but its not clear what Trump himself knew. The next day President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would not retaliate against the U.S. for the sanctions. Since Flynn pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel, his sentencing has been delayed several times. Both sides are set to give a status report on March 13, 2019. Russians engaged in an elaborate scheme to sway the election in Trumps favor On February 16, 2018, Mueller charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies with engaging in propaganda efforts intended to disrupt the 2016 election. While the indictments support the U.S. intelligence agencies conclusion that Russia was working to help Trump, the court documents do not address the hacking of Democrats. Instead, they focus on a Russian social-media push that began in 2014 with the goal of stirring division and shaking peoples faith in the U.S. election system, but eventually shifted to backing Trump. Court documents allege that the Internet Research Firm, a Russian troll farm, set out to conduct information warfare against the U.S. The company had a hundreds of workers and a multimillion-dollar budget, supplied by companies linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg businessman with ties to Putin. Russians impersonated American citizens on social media and occasionally in person, posing as activists online, buying ads, and organizing rallies. Some of the Russians were in contact with unwitting individuals associated with the Trump campaign, but no Americans were accused of knowingly participating in Russias scheme. Mueller reached a plea deal with Richard Pinedo, a California man who committed identity fraud when he unknowingly sold bank-account numbers created using the stolen identities of U.S. citizens to Russians. None of the Russians are in custody and its unlikely that they will ever be tried. Naming them makes it harder for them to continue their secretive work, or travel abroad. Plus, it theoretically refutes the claim that Russias election meddling was a hoax though of course, Trump cherry-picked from the indictment, falsely claiming that it proved the results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong no collusion! Paul Manafort tried to get in Muellers way One of the charges against Manafort was related to payments hed made to former politicians in Eastern Europe. Manafort allegedly continued lying about the details, at least into February of last year and tried to convince his former PR colleagues to go along with his story, which would amount to a separate crime of witness tampering. One of those colleagues talked to the FBI instead. A few months later, in June 2018, Mueller stacked extra charges onto Manaforts case. At the same time, Mueller revealed the identity of Manaforts longtime partner in Ukraine: Konstantin Kilimnik, an interpreter trained by the Russian Army. He revealed that Manafort and Kilimnik had stayed in touch throughout Trumps campaign. Manafort was in debt to a Russian oligarch he apparently owed at least $10 million and Manaforts emails to Kilimnik in 2016 have made it clear that he wanted to use his role with Trump to trade political favors instead of paying the debt in cash. Kilimnik was the intermediary. Mueller has charged Kilimnik, too, with witness tampering, but the translator is safe in Russia and may never stand trial here. Manafort kept on lying after pleading guilty In September 2018, Manafort admitted to obstructing the investigation and running a conspiracy operation in Ukraine. He promised complete cooperation with Mueller to avoid a trial that was on the brink of starting. But then he kept on lying to the FBI, Mueller announced two months later. What about? We dont know yet, but Mueller said hed explain it all in a memo before Manaforts sentencing which is scheduled for March. The Russians tried to crack Hillary Clintons servers the very day Trump asked them to Remember that invitation Trump gave during a 2016 news conference? Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, the candidate said onstage. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Russia tried to hack her teams emails that very same day, according to documents Mueller filed in July of last year. The announcement came as Mueller indicted 12 officers of Russias military-intelligence agency. He also chronicled many other espionage attempts by them: for instance, he said, they hacked state election boards, stealing information on 500,000 voters from one state alone. The indictment said they funded their work with cryptocurrency. Michael Cohen continued lying after the campaign, too Michael Cohen, Trumps lawyer, lied to Congress in August 2017 about business dealings Trump had with Russia during the campaign. Plans had been in the works for a Trump tower in Moscow, but Cohen claimed the negotiations had been cut off before the Iowa caucuses. They hadnt. In reality, they continued at least until that summer, according to documents that have since come to light and may have continued all the way to the election. In November 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. A week later, Mueller announced that Cohen had turned into an extremely helpful witness and had sat through seven meetings with the special counsels office, some of which were lengthy. Another revelation was that Cohen had kept Trump in the loop about those Russia negotiations all along. Roger Stone allegedly made false statements to Congress Roger Stone, the brazenly amoral strategist who worked on Trumps campaign briefly in 2015, communicated with anonymous Russian hackers and WikiLeaks during the period when they were working on Trumps behalf. This isnt news; the big revelation from Stones indictment on January 25, 2019 was that Stone allegedly lied to the House Intelligence Committee in 2017 about his contact with WikiLeaks. He also tried to interfere with a witness, the radio host Randy Credico, according to the indictment. He was arrested at his home in Fort Lauderdale early Friday morning, while still wearing his pajamas. The indictment also said that someone high up in Trumps campaign was ordered to get in touch with Stone and ask him about what WikiLeaks could offer. It does not, however, lay out a clear narrative or time line of Stones contact with WikiLeaks and the anonymous hackers. This post was originally published on the one-year anniversary of Muellers investigation. It has been updated throughout. Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Market by Manufacturers,Types,Regions and Applications Research Report Forecast to 2021 Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Market 2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1408444-global-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-aac-market-2017-2021 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1408444-global-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-aac-market-2017-2021 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Market by Manufacturers,Types,Regions and Applications Research Report Forecast to 2021.The analysts forecast the global autoclaved aerated concrete market to grow at a CAGR of 7.36% during the period 2017-2021.Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is a lightweight, precast, foam concrete building material. It provides structure, insulation, and resistance to fire and mold. AAC is specially manufactured to bind closed air pockets, which make it lightweight and easily moldable as per the requirement of the construction. AAC products include blocks, panels, and others.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global autoclaved aerated concrete market 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.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: APAC Europe MEA North America South AmericaThe report, Global Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors The H+H Group JK Lakshmi Cement UAL Industries UltraTech Cement Xella GroupOther prominent vendors Aircrete Group AKG Gazbeton AERCON AAC Broco Buildmate Projects Brickwell Hebel Kansal Group Laston Italiana RPP Group SOLBETMarket driver Increasing demand for AAC in APAC For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Less number of ACC manufacturers in North America For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Demand for environment-friendly buildings For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey 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? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Report Details @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: Introduction Key market highlights OutlookPART 05: Market landscape Market size and forecast Five forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by products Global AAC market by products Global AAC blocks market Global AAC panels market Global market for other AAC productsPART 07: Market segmentation by end user Global AAC market by end user Global AAC market by non-residential end user Global AAC market by residential end userPART 08: Geographical segmentation Global AAC market by geography AAC market in Europe AAC market in APAC AAC market in MEA AAC market in South America AAC market in North AmericaPART 09: Decision frameworkPART 10: Drivers and challenges Market drivers Impact of drivers on key regions Market challenges Impact of challenges on key regionsPART 11: Market trends Demand for environment-friendly buildings Alternatives to AACPART 12: Vendor landscape Competitive scenario Key market vendors Other prominent vendorsContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT 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.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Simulation Software Market Size will Escalate Rapidly in the Near Future https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/simulation-software-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=38474 www.transparencymarketresearch.com The business landscape in the global simulation software market is characterized by the rivalry between Altair Engineering Inc., The AnyLogic Co., SimScale GmbH, ESI Group, Dassault Systemes, and Autodesk Inc., states Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a new research report. These players are increasingly engaging into mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships to create talent pools and gain advantages from each others brand value. The market is likely to witness a number of new entries in the near future, which is likely to intensify the competition within the market, states the research report.According to the research study, the global market for simulation software is anticipated to reach US$16.7 bn by 2025 end. The opportunity in this market is expected to rise at a CAGR of 9.33% during the period from 2017 to 2025. Simulation software has found a widespread application in the automotive industry and the sector is projected to remain the leading end user of this software in the years to come. Among components, software, especially, cloud-based software are witnessing a considerably high demand. The segment is anticipated to acquire dominant position in the market over the next few years, contributing US$11.54 bn by 2025 end in terms of revenue, notes the market study.View Our Report @Increasing Uptake of Simulation Software in Various Industries to Boost GrowthThe widening application base of simulation software is the key factor behind the significant growth of the global market for simulation software, says a TMR analyst. A number of industries have begun to utilize simulation software to gain a real-time understanding of several processes. Owing to its significant role in various decision-making processes in organizations, this software is expected to witness a high rate of uptake in the near future, leading to a substantial rise of this market.On the flipside, the complex nature of real-time control may limit the adoption of this software in the years to come. However, the augmenting usage of simulation in the healthcare and the automotive sectors is anticipated to normalize the impact of the restraining factor over the next few years, states the research report.Get PDF Sample of This Report @Presence of Established Players to Strengthen North Americas PositionIn terms of the geography, North America, South America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe have surfaced as the key segments of the worldwide market for simulation software. North America, among these, is estimated to dominate this market in the near future, thanks to the presence of a number of established players. Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is projected to emerge as the most promising regional market in the years to come. The growth in the Asia Pacific market can be attributed to the increasing usage of simulation software in the construction industry, owing to the rise in the government investment in several smart city projects, especially in India, reports the research study.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation 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 recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Cryptocurrency Market to reach US$ 6,702.1 mn by 2025 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=38240 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cryptocurrency-market.html www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global cryptocurrency market is in incipient stage of development, finds Transparency Market Research (TMR). The global market share is led by Bitcoin, attributed to widespread acceptance of the cryptocurrency in the payment system. Albeit, Litecoin as a cryptocurrency will gain immense traction over the forecast period, driven by the surge in popularity among users in recent years. Some of the other components rising in prominence world over are Ethereum, Ripple, and Namecoin. Investors world over are divided as to which digital currency will surge ahead and gain dominance in the global market. On the other hand, as the wide potential of blockchain technology is leveraged to develop innovative financial products, more users will adopt these cryptocurrencies. This will indeed the raise the ante in the global financial industry.Prominent players operating in the global cryptocurrency market include BTL Group Ltd., BitGo, Xilinx Inc., Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Alphapoint Corporation, BitFury Group Limited, NVIDIA Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and Intel Corporation.The global cryptocurrency market stood at US$574.3 million and is projected to surge to a worth US$6,702.1 million by the end of 2025. The global market is projected to rise at a phenomenal CAGR of 31.3% in between the assessment period of 2017 and 2025.The major components of cryptocurrency comprise hardware and software. Of the two, the hardware segment accounts for the major market share in 2016 and is expected to continue to hold its sway throughout the assessment period. Regionally, Europe led by Germany contributed the higher share of revenue in the global market in 2016. North America is also expected to be a potentially lucrative market. The growth of these regional markets can be attributed primarily by the vastly rising adoption of cryptocurrencies among users and the presence of remarkable cryptocurrency mining pools.Get PDF Sample of This Report @Popularity of Cryptocurrencies to ride on Intensifying Need for Secure and Decentralized Payment SystemWorld over, the popularity of different cryptocurrencies rides on the wave of transformations in payment systems underpinned by the disruptive potential of blockchain technology. The surge in demand for digital currencies is fueled by the need for decentralized and secure digital payment system. The market gathered steam after Bitcoin, a decentralized ledger powered by blockchain across a peer-to-peer network, started to emerge as a disruptive force in value-exchange mechanisms.The lack of control by any governing body or organization and the absence of any third-party intermediary have served as robust propositions for its immense popularity among users and investors alike. The features of anonymity of these digital payment systems and the amazingly high speed with which transactions can be carried out account for the staggering rise in demand for cryptocurrencies. Moreover, the potentially high security provided by cryptography for these virtual currency transactions make them tamper-proof, increasing trust between the entities involved in transactions.Cybersecurity Breaches and Lack of Widespread Acceptability Glaring ConstraintsHowever, the various characteristics of cryptocurrencies also make them vulnerable to misuse. The marked lack of regulatory control over transactions has hindered the widespread adoption. The extreme price volatility and the rising number of cybersecurity breaches, particularly with respect to initial coin offering (ICO), leading to potential loss of dollars are concerns expected to keep many investors at arms length.View Our Report @Furthermore, the intricate underlying technology for cryptocurrencies and the lack of value for average users at large are notable factors impeding the growth of the market. However spiraling information spreading the awareness about the benefits of specific cryptocurrencies for common man will help expand the horizon of the market. Incessant advances in value-exchange mechanisms brought by players will help develop innovative digital assets built on the top of blockchain.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation 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 recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Microarray Market to be at Forefront by 2024 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19043 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microarray-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Microarray is an advanced molecular biology technique used to spot expressions of many genes at the same time. Gene expression is a crucial part of normal gene functioning and plays significant role in understanding normal growth and development of life. Any abnormalities in gene functioning can lead to critical disease. Research involving the study of many genes by traditional method is next to impossible. Microarrays serve the purpose. Thousands of genes can be arrayed at one time and analyzed accurately. It is fast, accurate, cost effective and easy to do assay design. Microarray can be used for many micro molecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and also for enzymes, carbohydrates, and tissues. It can be used for gene expression profiling, molecular interactions, biomarker profiling, enzyme activity, pathway identification, and mutations. Microarray is not limited to basic research, but has expanded to clinical research and diagnosis.Based on type, microarrays can be segmented into DNA microarrays, protein microarrays, and antibody microarrays. DNA microarrays can be used for single nucleotide polymorphism-based diagnostics, forensic detection, gene expression profiling, etc. Large number of applications of DNA microarrays makes it a major segment of the Microarray Market. Protein microarrays are used in biomarker screening, enzyme substrate profiling, small molecule profiling, protein-protein interaction, etc. Antibody microarrays find applications in immunology in antibody specificity profiling, electronic immunoassays, etc.In terms of application, microarrays can be segmented into gene expression profiling tool, comparative genomics tool, disease diagnosis, drug discovery, and toxicological research involving the uncharacterized microbial populations exposed to toxins and pollutants. With the help of microarrays some of the uncharacterized microbes can be identified and their original gene pattern and functionality can be studied. Microarray technology has provided a new insight into the evolutionary studies, as many arrays can be studied parallel that are specific for particular species.Request to View Brochure of Report -Microarrays can be used in comparative genomics and pathway probing. Microarrays provide information, though not complete but useful, about the gene or group of genes that can be studied further, illuminating the biological pathways. Microarray has helped in better understanding of some diseases, their pathogenesis, and genetics. Scientists are able to differentiate cancer on the basis of organs harboring tumor, leading to a better understanding of gene pattern in the tumor cells. Microarray has also benefitted therapeutics development. Better understanding of any drug addiction followed by better treatment in any patient is an example of it. In diagnosis of diseases, particularly at the time of outbreaks, where a quick and accurate diagnosis is required, microarray has gained recognition in identifying the causative agent or the pathogen and the specific strain or antigen (serotype).Based on product type and analysis, the microarray market can be segmented into consumables and instruments. Large number of applications of microarray has led to high demand for consumables such as reagents, primers, buffers, DNA chips, and reagent kits.Microarray has widespread applications in genomics as well as proteomics. The progressively evolving information and software technology and emerging bioinformatics are some of the factors driving the microarray market, making it economical, unfailing, and durable. The development of biological products such as vaccines and therapeutic proteins involving microarray technologies could lead to promising results. However government protocols have mentioned that minor changes in the biological process may lead to distinguished end product, there is an urgent need of extensive testing and authentication. And these factors may hamper the market.In terms of region, the microarray market can be segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America was the largest market for microarrays. Advanced technology, high quality result oriented research, public awareness about personal health, and government initiatives are the factors contributing to the growth of the microarray market in North America. Europe was the second largest market for microarrays, followed by Asia Pacific. Increasing awareness among the people about genetic diseases, education, government initiatives, and modern technology in diagnosis and treatment of diseases are propelling the microarray market in Asia Pacific.Key players in the microarray market are Agilent Technologies, Illumina, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific and Merck. Other companies include Applied Microarrays, BioGenex, Perkin Elmer, QIAGEN, and Phalanx Biotech.View Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Automotive Gesture Recognition Systems Market: Industry Outlook, Growth Prospects and Key Opportunities https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=27521 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=27521 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/automotive-gesture-recognition-systems-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com http://www.techyounme.com/ This market is comprehensively described in the report by outlining numerous factors in-depth such as competitive landscapes, newest trends and future opportunities, and geographical dominance, among several other aspects. Expert analysts have compiled the report on this market using primary as well as secondary research data.The global automotive gesture recognition system market could be segmented on the basis of authentication type, system type, application, sales channel, and geography. Under authentication type, the market mainly consists of prime segments named hand/fingerprints, leg, face, and vision/iris. Under system, the global automotive gesture recognition system market is bifurcated into touch-based system and touchless system segments.Under application, the market is mainly categorized as lighting systems, multimedia, navigation & infotainment, and others. On the basis of sales channel, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and aftermarket are a couple of chief segments comprising the global automotive gesture recognition system market.Get PDF Sample of the Report @Global Automotive Gesture Recognition System Market: DriversA dramatic increase in vehicular production since past few years is substantially expected to drive this market during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. A rise in preference from consumers for application-based technologies in vehicles is also responsible for the global automotive gesture recognition system market to depict an improved pace.Rising concerns about safety and security of drivers has made it crucial for numerous automotive manufacturers to fit gesture recognitions systems in vehicles, at least during the forthcoming years. Such concerns are also being addressed by several governments across the world, followed by favorable initiatives taken to target the incorporation of these systems.Get TOC of This Report @Global Automotive Gesture Recognition System Market: Geographical OutlookRegion-wise, this market is mainly spread across North America, South America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. In recent times, North America as well as Europe have dominated the global automotive gesture recognition market, thanks to a flourishing automotive industry in this region, along with easy accessibility for a variety of gesture recognition systems.However, Asia Pacific is anticipated to hold a leading position in the global automation gesture recognition system market mainly due to a high rate of vehicular production in leading countries from this region. Presence of prominent vehicular manufacturers in countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan has also been responsible for Asia Pacific to depict a handsome market growth in the upcoming years.View Report@Global Automotive Gesture Recognition System Market: Competitive LandscapeThe vendor landscape in this market exhibits presence of an intense competition between individual businesses and product manufacturers. A high demand for incorporating gesture recognition systems has encouraged numerous companies to invest in this market. This has led to several businesses being pitted against each other, which is further anticipated to make the competition highly intense.Currently, numerous multinational businesses are attempting to make to make it big in this market. Most of these companies are expected to depict outstanding performances in future owing to widespread advancements occurring in the field of gesture recognitions. Cognitec Systems GmbH, SoftKinetic, Harman International Industries, Visteon Corp., NXP Semiconductors, Synaptics Incorporated, Continental AG, eyeSight Technologies, and Oemk Interactive Ltd., are a few key players working in the global automotive gesture recognition system 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.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.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:Research Blog: Food Grade Lubricants Market | Estimated to Grow Rapidly | Trending Top key Players FUCHS, TOTAL, British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil, Petro-Canada, Jax Inc., SKF, ITW, Kluber, Anderol, Lubriplate Forecast till 2023 Food Grade Lubricants Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/75983 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/75983/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/75983 The Food Grade Lubricants market report gives CAGR value from 2013 to 2018 and how it is expected to reach from 2018 to 2023 with High CAGR. The report provides information by geography, end user, application, competitor analysis, SWOT Analysis, Sales, Revenue, Price, Gross Margin, Market Share, Import-Export, Trends and Forecast.Food Grade Lubricants market consists of a soap emulsified with mineral or vegetable oil. The characteristic feature of greases is that they possess a high initial viscosity, which upon the application of shear, drops to give the effect of an oil-lubricated bearing of approximately the same viscosity as the base oil used in the grease.Food Grade Lubricants market change in viscosity is called shear thinning. Grease is sometimes used to describe lubricating materials that are simply soft solids or high viscosity liquids, but these materials do not exhibit the shear-thinning properties characteristic of the classical grease. For example, petroleum jellies such as Vaseline are not generally classified as greases.Food Grade Lubricants market are applied only to mechanisms that can be lubricated infrequently and where a lubricating oil would not stay in position. They also act as sealants to prevent ingress of water and incompressible materials. Grease-lubricated bearings have greater frictional characteristics due to their high viscosity.Get a Premium Sample Report atThis report studies the Food Grade Lubricants market, Food grade lubricants are permitted for possible incidental contact with food products. The lubricants based on ingredients used are categorized as H1 (food grade lubricants, permitted for incidental contact), H2 (lubricants not permitted to have incidental contact), and H3 (soluble oils). The certification for this categorization is provided by organizations such as NSF International. Similarly, the ISO provides certification 21469 to manufacturers with high sanitation and hygiene standards for manufacture of food grade lubricants. The manufacturers may also attain additional certifications for halal and kosher compliance. Food grade lubricants based on application is segmented into four categories, namely, food, beverages, pharmaceuticals & cosmetics, and others. The food application is the largest segment of the market.This report focuses on the Food Grade Lubricants 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 coversFUCHSTOTALBritish PetroleumExxon MobilPetro-CanadaJax Inc.SKFITWKluberAnderolLubriplateMarket 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, coversMineral OilSynthetic OilBio-based OilMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoFood IndustryBeverages IndustryPharmaceuticals & Cosmetics IndustryContinue..Complete report on Global Food Grade Lubricants Market Size, Status and Forecast 2023 is spread across 105 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and landscape details in this niche sector. Get Direct Copy of this Research Report @Major Table of Content1 Global Food Grade Lubricants Market Research Report 20182 Global Food Grade Lubricants Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Food Grade Lubricants Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)4 Global Food Grade Lubricants Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018)5 Global Food Grade Lubricants Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Food Grade Lubricants Market Analysis by Application7 Global Food Grade Lubricants Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Food Grade Lubricants Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Food Grade Lubricants Market Forecast (2018-2023 )13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixKey questions answered in the report:What will the market growth rate of Food Grade Lubricants market in 2023 ?What are the key factors driving the global Food Grade Lubricants market?What are sales, revenue, and price analysis of top manufacturers of Food Grade Lubricants market?Who are the distributors, traders and dealers of Food Grade Lubricants market?Who are the key manufacturers in Food Grade Lubricants market space?What are the Food Grade Lubricants market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Food Grade Lubricants market?What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by types and applications of Food Grade Lubricants market?What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by regions of Food Grade Lubricants market?What are the market opportunities, market risk and market overview of the Food Grade Lubricants market?Get a Corporate Discount atAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined - we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940 Telemedicine Technologies and Services Market: Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis to 2023 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=108 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=108 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=108 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Telemedicine Technologies Market: OverviewTelemedicine has shown a greater degree of adaptability in accordance with sectors such as communication and information. This has provided health care practitioners and patients with a wide array of services. Presently, telemedicine is routinely used in daily medical practices by professionals. Hospitals find telemedicine services to be increasingly profitable, as the reach of the services has improved significantly over the years due to the advent of tele-support. The global telemedicine technologies and services market is predominantly driven by increase in the global geriatric population, advances in mobile penetration, connectivity, and ICT services, and burden on existing hospital care due to growing health care demands. According to the World Health Organization, the global geriatric population was around 524 million in 2010 and is likely to reach 1.5 billion by 2050.Download PDF Brochure of Report:In terms of component, the market has been segmented into hardware, software, and services. The telemedicine services segment is gaining popularity globally due to its ability to provide high definition and quality medical services in remote areas. People in developing nations cannot afford technologically advanced products due to financial crisis and low disposable income. Hence, they opt for cost-effective and consistent telemedicine services. The services segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. The hardware segment has been categorized into videoconferencing unit, imaging unit, vital signs unit, ECG, and others. The telemedicine software segment has been categorized into integrated and standalone software. Likewise, the telemedicine services market has been segmented into interactive, store and transfer, and chronic care.Telehospital/teleclinic and telehome form the major end-user segments of the global telemedicine technologies and services market. The telehospital segment accounted for the largest share of the telemedicine technologies and services market in 2014. Telehome has witnessed significant acceptance among patients. Hence, the segment is likely to expand at the highest rate in the next few years.Request to View Sample of Report North America accounted for the largest share of 53.3% of the telemedicine technologies and services market in terms of revenue in 2014. It is expected to retain its leadership position until 2023 primarily due to established medical, health care, and communications infrastructure. Additionally, growing number of installations of telemedicine solutions in various clinics/hospitals and presence of a large number of suppliers and service providers in North America have paved the way for easy penetration and accessibility of health care services. Furthermore, rapid development and adoption of telecommunication technologies, government support in establishing a setup involving usage of new medical technologies for the benefit of people, and favorable reimbursement policies boost market growth in the region. Countries in Western Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and others) offer lucrative opportunities in the field of telemedicine, majorly due to increasing implementation of technologically advanced PACS and rising government initiatives toward development of well-equipped health care centers.The telemedicine technologies and services market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at an impressive CAGR from 2015 to 2023. This region represents vast geographical area and large patient population coupled with high presence of disparities in health care access and delivery between the rural and the urban areas. Major drivers of telemedicine in this region include the presence of a large patient population suffering from various types of communicable, non-communicable, and lifestyle diseases such as skin disorders, obesity, neurological disorders, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders.The global telemedicine technologies and services market is characterized by the presence of major companies such as Aerotel Medical Systems Ltd., AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc., General Electric Company, Honeywell International, Inc. and LifeWatch AG.Request to View Discount About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: A family photo of Eric Paddock, left, and his brother, Stephen Paddock. Photo: John Raoux/AP Less than a month before he killed 58 people and injured hundreds more at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, Stephen Paddock ranted to a new friend about a supposed government plot to confiscate guns from the American public. The man, whose statement is among many released by investigators this week, told authorities that he met Paddock just weeks before the massacre after the 58-year-old answered an online ad for schematics to convert semi-automatic guns to fire automatically, the AP reports. The man, whose identity is redacted, spoke to authorities in a jailhouse interview after getting arrested on a possession charge. He told police during the interview that he was an unemployed chef whod become desperate for cash after his trust fund ran dry. The man said in their conversations Paddock ranted about a popular right-wing conspiracy theory that claims FEMAs actions after Hurricane Katrina were a dry run for law enforcement and military to start kickin down doors and confiscating guns. Somebody has to wake up the American public and get them to arm themselves, Paddock said, according to the man. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. The man told police that he thought Paddock was another internet nut, you know, watching too much of it and believing too much of it. He also said that Paddock offered him $500 to help him convert several AR-15s to automatic weapons. Im too old to spend the rest of my life in federal prison, the man, who denied the request, said he told Paddock. All told, police released 1,200 pages of witness statements taken after the shooting. Many of the statements recount in frenzied detail the moments before, during, and after Paddocks assault on the Route 91 Harvest festival. But a few provide some of the first insights into Paddock, who has remained a mystery more than seven months after executing the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. In a handwritten statement to police, a woman said she overheard a conversation Paddock had with another man days before the shooting. She said he was ranting about the armed standoffs at Waco and Ruby Ridge, both key moments in the radicalization of many right-wing extremists. At the time, I just thought strange guys and I wanted to leave, she said. Nearly two weeks after the shooting, a housekeeper at the Mandalay Bay told police that Paddock creeped her out days before the shooting. He keep on staring at me, she told police. The woman, whose name is redacted, said Paddock watched her as she cleaned his room and changed bed sheets on the afternoon of September 27. The Las Vegas Review Journal has more: Paddock asked if she was fine. She said yes. He worked on his laptop at a table in the living room. The housekeeper never saw his screen. He ordered room service. Even after Paddock received his meal, he stared at the housekeeper while she worked. She felt embarrassed. She also said she found it unusual that he had more than five pieces of luggage in the room. The documents also included an interview with a casino host who said he met Paddock several times over the years. The man, who said he hooked Paddock up with hotel rooms and show tickets, described him as an odd guy with a short fuse who once screamed at him over the phone because his bags were late in arriving to his hotel room. Other people told police about conversations with a man who they identified as Paddock after the shooting. One British man said he spoke with a man at the Luxor who he thinks was Paddock. The man said Paddock told him stories of God coming to Earth to save man and admitted that he wanted to die. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Kelly Dame. Wednesday, May 16 12:28 a.m. - An 18-year-old man was arrested for domestic violence at a Greendale Township home. 1:32 p.m. - A deputy assisted law enforcement officials in Texas by getting contact information of a person at a home on the Bay County line. 11:47 p.m. - A Midland woman, 19, was arrested on a warrant after a traffic stop in Jerome Township. Tuesday, May 15 12:43 a.m. - A deputy was sent to an Edenville Township home for a report of loud music. 1:20 a.m. - A deputy was sent to a Lee Township home for a report of loud music. 5:46 p.m. - A deputy was on patrol when he saw a woman walking beside a vehicle in Ingersoll Township. The woman said she and her boyfriend, the driver, had argued. She got back into the vehicle and they left the scene. 8:30 p.m. - A deputy was sent to a Warren Township home to enforce an immediate eviction notice that was served on May 8. The resident packed what he could and left the property. 11:31 p.m. - A Midland man, 18, was arrested in Greendale Township for driving without a valid license. To the editor: After World War I, the poppy became abundant in Europe. Scientists attributed this growth to soil becoming enriched with lime from the rubble left by the war. The red poppy came to be a symbol during battle following the publishing of the poem "In Flanders Fields" written by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae, a medical doctor, while serving on the front lines. The poppy became the official flower of the American Legion in 1920 and the American Legion Auxiliary in 1921. In 2017, Congress designated the Friday before Memorial Day as National Poppy Day. We wear the red poppy to honor the fallen and support the living who have worn our nation's uniform. Our goal is to encourage others to do the same, while seeking donations to assist veterans, active-duty military and their families. So when you see the American Legion men and women distributing their poppies outside local businesses, donate with your heart. All money collected goes to help our veterans. ELAINE WETHERELL Midland American Legion Auxiliary To the editor: Michigans Constitution begins, All political power is inherent in the people. But, our current redistricting system gives politicians the power to manipulate our votes. Every 10 years, legislators of the party that is in the majority redraw district lines as required by law. They manipulate the lines, drawing districts to keep themselves and their party in power. Both Parties do this when they are in the majority. But is cheating OK, as long as you take turns? Theyll tell you they follow rules and standards, but this process is done behind closed doors with no oversight and no public input. To see the manipulation, you only have to look at the bizarre shapes of the state congressional districts or the 2016 election results. Although the vote was split almost evenly (Republicans 48 percent, Democrats 47 percent), the result was nine Republican representatives and only five Democrats. This extreme voter manipulation has earned Michigan the distinction of being one of the three most gerrymandered states in the country. But fair elections are on the way. Nov. 6 presents our opportunity to take the power away from politicians and lobbyists. Voters Not Politicians, a grassroots, non-partisan group of more than 5,000 volunteers, secured enough signatures to place an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission on the ballot that will create a fair, impartial, and transparent redistricting process. An independent commission has been adopted by six other states and has resulted in increased voter turnout, decreased partisan bias, and greater accountability from elected officials. Since I began volunteering with this campaign around Midland County, Ive been astounded by the number of people who are outraged by how unfair the current redistricting system is. Oftentimes a discussion would center around the belief that as American citizens, we all share core values. Partisan redistricting is at odds with the core value of the right each citizen has to vote. Visit www.votersnotpoliticians.com to learn more. And, most importantly, vote yes on Nov. 6. KATHLEEN CURELL Midland The first round of G-Sync HDR displays is almost here after nearly a year of delays and they look awesome, with a specification sheet that checks virtually every box a monitor nerd could dream of. But theres been a question looming over Nvidias boundary-pushing screens: How much will they cost? Now we know: The Acer Predator X27 just went up for preorder at Newegg for a cool $2,000, ready to ship on June 1. Thats more than most people spend on their entire PC, but its actually lower than some people expected after European stores listed G-Sync HDR displays at the equivalent of nearly $3,000. And while weve yet to review the Acer Predator X27, we went eyes-on with it at an Nvidia event a couple of weeks back, and it made even a luxurious 4K IPS panel sitting next to it, to quote Gordon, look like poo. Check it out in video form below. Note that you wont see the benefits of the HDR display captured on-screen if youre watching it on a non-HDR monitor, though its still worth watching for our dive into technical nuances. Speaking of technical nuances, 4K G-Sync HDR panels are basically the holy grail of monitors on paper. They push frames faster than existing 4K displays, at a blistering 144Hz, and the high-dynamic range visuals get a boost from 384 backlight zones and Nvidias game-smoothing G-Sync technology. Those colors are dead-on accurate, too, as the Acer X27 and its rival Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ hit 99 percent of the AdobeRGB color gamut. The panels shine at an eye-searing 1,000 nits of brightness to meet HDR10s requirements and make images truly high dynamicwhen I viewed the Asus G-Sync HDR display at CES 2017, I physically had to shield my eyes when an explosion burst on-screen. Vote for the Gaylord Herald Times Player of the Week for 9/29-10/6 PRESS RELEASE: 4X ProTour We are truly honoured by becoming the host of the 2018 4x Pro Tour here in Mexico on November 3rd. The place we will do the event is a small and beautiful town called Valle de Bravo 2 hrs drive away from Mexico City International Airport. All international riders attending the event will find a safe, comfortable and well organized event in one of Mexicos top outdoors destination. We are working on the final touches for the track design and event poster. Manuel Riestra, Mexico Event Organizer 2018 Dates and Venues: After an amazing 6 seasons of 4X ProTour, we are thrilled to announce that the 2018 season finals will take place in Mexico on November 3rd.We are very happy to announce to the world that for the first time, 4X ProTour will travel outside of Europe for a round of racing. Valle De Bravo will be the host city about 2 hours west of Mexico City with a new facility built for this 4X ProTour race and future generations of Mexican 4X racers to use.Full support from all the riders and teams over the last 6 years has given the 4X ProTour perfect foundations with which to continue pushing the sport and attracting new venues to what is one of mountain bikings most spectacular disciplines.This is the next step for 4X ProTour as we look to take our events to all corners of the World in future years.Round 1 May 11th Winterberg, GermanyRound 2 May 19th Szczawno Zdroj, PolandRound 3 June 2nd Fort William, ScotlandRound 4 July 14th Jablonec, Czech RepublicRound 5 November 3rd MexicoVisit 4xprotour.com for more information on the 4X ProTour. Round 2 of the BUBBA Trophy series kicked off this past weekend in Allenstown, New Hampshire at the famous Bear Brook Classic. The expected rain held off for the duration of the race making for excellent racing conditions. With mostly smooth open flowing trails within the Bear Brook State Forest, the organizers at State 9 racing threw in a few technical challenges that would prove decisive during the day's racing.In the Elite Women's field, last year's series champion Tina Severson of Orange Seal returned to racing action against current series leader Kelly Catale of State 9 Racing. The women's group sprinted into the first piece on single track with Severson and Catale moving away to the front with Kimberly Milton and Alecia Faustini chasing. After 2 laps Severson was sitting a few seconds behind Catale until a devastating tire problem left Catale in the pit working on a repair while Severson came around for the last lap to take the win. Kimberly Milton finished second and Alecia Faustini in 3rd. Faustini took home enough points to grab the BUBBA Trophy Series Leaders Jersey heading into round 3, but will sadly miss the next event due to a race conflict.The 2018 BUBBA Trophy Series also marks the return of multiple time New England XC Champion Billy Melone after a year off. The Massachusetts native joins the popular Vermont based Bicycle Express Elite team. Joining Billy in the squad are Matthew Green and Chris Hamlin. Series Leader Neal Burton donned the Athlos Series Leader's jersey and thecall up spot with Green, Robert Nash, and Hamlin on the first row. 19 year old Cyclocross phenom Gaelan Kilburn of Hot Tubes Racing joined the field to prove that he has the power and skill to compete with the Top East Coast XC racers.When the whistle blew it was a mad dash with everyone quickly determined to get to the single track first. Kilburn immediately took a cross style hole-shot and powered to the front with a group containing Melone, Green, Burton, Nash, and a host of other top New England elites. Toward the end of the first lap Kilburn held a tiny 3 second gap over Melone with Green and Burton fighting over the coveted 3rd place podium spot. With action taking place all over the course from the beer hand up zone, to the State 9 drop and Red Bull flyover, the excitement kept growing in the last lap to see who would come out on top for the overall.The expected sprint was not to be however as in the pursuit of Kilburn, Melone dropped his chain on the final technical decent and it was Kilburn who raised his arms under the BUBBA Burger arch as the winner of the Bear Brook Classic. Third place did come to a sprint however as Matt Green barely held off Series Leader Neal Burton to take 3rd. Burton however keeps the Athlos Leaders jersey into the Secret Squirrel and remains the man to beat for thatspot. Round 3 of the BUBBA Trophy Series moves to the technically challenging course at Freetown State Forest for the Rockhard Racing Secret Squirrel on June 3rd. With the demanding terrain of New England rocks and roots that this area is known for, it will really be a pure mountain bikers race course.The 2018 BUBBA Trophy Series is brought to you by BUBBA Burger, Kenda Tire, Redbull, Fox Suspension, Esi Grips, Motorex, Julbo Eyewear, Athlos Sports, Orange Seal, AvPro Worldwide, Forbo Flooring, and Pinkbike. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures Welcome to Reading Lists, comprehensive book guides from the Strategist designed to make you an expert (or at least a fascinating dinner-party companion) in hyperspecific or newsworthy topics, like North Korea or wine. Here, weve found the best baking cookbooks, according to pastry chefs and bakers. For our primer on baking cookbooks, we consulted a group of ten pastry chefs and bakers from across the country. This informal panel was comprised of Natasha Pickowicz, head pastry chef and baker at Cafe Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar; Umber Ahmad, founder and head chef at Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery; Miro Uskokovic, pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern; Erin Patinkin and Agatha Kulaga, co-founders and co-owners of Ovenly; Dianna Daoheung, executive chef for Black Seed Bagels; Zachary Golper, chef and owner of Bien Cuit; Jessica Weiss, pastry chef at Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel and Marta, among other Danny Meyer properties; Margarita Manzke, pastry chef and co-owner of Republique and Sari Sari Store in Los Angeles; and Alison Pray, co-owner at Standard Baking Co. in Portland, Maine. We asked each of these pastry chefs and bakers (several of whom are cookbook authors themselves) to put together a list of their favorite baking cookbooks, and they came back with dozens of recommendations for their most dog-eared reference books, easy-to-follow recipe books for every type of baked good and pastry, and the cookbooks that inspired them to bake in the first place. After combing through their lists, we only included books that were recommended by two or more of the bakers and chefs. Below, nine of the best baking cookbooks for home bakers of every skill level and interest, according to our experts. Brooks Headleys Fancy Desserts: The Recipes of Del Postos James Beard Award-Winning Pastry Chef $25 now 52% off $12 Before he became the executive pastry chef at Del Posto and won a James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2013, Brooks Headley had a career as a drummer in a bunch of hard-core and punk bands, so his cookbook is as much memoir as it is recipe book. But the recipes arent an afterthought. Theyre fun, experimental but not inaccessible, and full of flavor, including some unexpectedly delicious sweet and savory combinations, says Agatha Kulaga, of Ovenly. She adds, This book is for bakers that like to break the rules a little. Gramercy Taverns Miro Uskokovic calls it funny and edgy, a book that could be read cover-to-cover, while also enjoying his recipes for sweet-pea cake and fried artichoke with ricotta gelato. Natasha Pickowicz, from Cafe Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar, puts the appeal of this cookbook most simply: Brooks is the wittiest and most hilarious food writer alive, so I dive into his book over and over again not just for the superlative recipes (perfect carrot cake and perfect yogurt sorbet, hello!), but for his insane anecdotes and wry sense of humor. $12 at Amazon Buy $12 at Amazon Buy The Baking Bible $40 now 33% off $27 Several of Rose Levy Beranbaums books were named by the members of our panel as favorites. Erin Patinkin of Ovenly likes The Pie and Pastry Bible, calling it a cookbook that one can actually use; it is extremely informative, well-organized, and straightforward. Uskokovic owns and loves all of Beranbaums works, admitting that it was hard to pick one, as all are fantastic. But he recommends The Baking Bible for a more general overview of baking and pastry craft, with its incredibly specific recipes. You know she tested these recipes time and time again, and its written in such detail that anyone will be able to execute them. Dianna Daoheung of Black Seed Bagels also likes The Baking Bible, calling it, a great book to reference, particularly for the classics. $27 at Amazon Buy $37 at Bookshop Buy Tartine $47 Daoheung likes Tartine Bread because its a really beautiful book in general, with lots of bread science, but she cops to being a fan of any book from the team at San Franciscos Tartine. For a more general baking cookbook, Margarita Manzke of Republique recommends their first title Tartine, which includes their now-classic recipes for banana-cream pie, brioche bread pudding, and any number of cakes along with more complicated recipes like croissants, which is why its better suited for those who already have a basic understanding of baking. But Manzke admits, I will never get tired of reading this book. Such a classic. Great photography and recipes. $47 at Amazon Buy $47 at Amazon Buy The Cake Bible $38 now 26% off $28 If your goal is to become a master cake maker, says Kulaga, then you have to get Beranbaums The Cake Bible. Not only is it an encyclopedia for all types of cakes, but Beranbaum provides techniques and recipes that will turn any novice into a cake artist. For those on a quest to find the perfect vanilla cake, I have three words for you: white velvet cake. Alison Pray of Standard Baking Co. discovered this book in the late 1980s, when it first came out, and I still rely on it today to check ingredient ratios or explore new recipes. $28 at Amazon Buy $28 at Amazon Buy Bread: A Bakers Book of Techniques and Recipes $45 Jessica Weiss of Marta calls this book, my favorite bread book of all time, calling author Jeffrey Hamelman one of the most talented bread bakers around. He takes the very deep world of bread-baking (which is a beast) and distills it down into an amazingly approachable volume. Pray gives this book as a gift to new bakers, but still references it in her own bakery. $45 at Amazon Buy $45 at Amazon Buy The Taste of Bread: A Translation of Le Gout du Pain $140 now 39% off $86 If youre only going to buy one book about bread, both Pray and Zachary Golper of Bien Cuit recommend this one: The Taste of Bread, a translation of the French cookbook Le Gout du Pain, by legendary baker Raymond Calvel. Calvel was the inspiration and mentor of Didier Rosada, who essentially brought great bread-baking to the United States and beyond, changing the country as a whole, explains Golper. He adds, The book gives a clear voice to the movement that has taken place over the last 30 years. Pray credits this book for helping her crack the code to French bread-baking secrets, noting that when James MacGuires translated version was published, I was finally able to read it cover to cover, and feel now like its part of the foundation of our baking knowledge. $86 at Amazon Buy $86 at Amazon Buy Advanced Bread and Pastry $130 now 37% off $82 If youre looking to take you bread-making to the next level, Pray, Golper, and Manzke all recommend Michel Suass Advanced Bread and Pastry. This one is definitely a textbook, but its a great book for the serious baker and professionals, says Manzke. Pray and her team refer to his book constantly for bread and pastry technique and formulas, and Golper credits this book for changing the face of artisan baking in the U.S. like no other ever did. $82 at Amazon Buy $82 at Amazon Buy The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern $40 now 45% off $22 Claudia Fleming paved the way for pastry in New York City, explains Umber Ahmad of Mah-Ze-Dahr. Her pastries and book structure focus on ingredients spices, fruits, chocolate. She delves deep into the psyche of an ingredient and creates a divine experience with each one. Its full of simple, seasonal recipes that never disappoint, Ovenlys Kulaga says. These perfect desserts will make you feel like you are the most accomplished pastry chef in the world without ever having to go to culinary school. $22 at Amazon Buy $22 at Amazon Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best womens jeans, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, ultra-flattering pants, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. Arndt Peltner, that sagacious and seasoned doyen of Krautrock, calls Die Wilde Jagds latest release Uhrwald Orange one of his favourite albums of the year. Its the second full-length release from the team of Sebastian Lee Philipp and producer/sometime bandmate Ralf Beck. The album their first in three years translates as Clockwood Orange, and the motif of a forest nightscape underscores this beautiful and deeply inspired album. The album is mostly instrumental, which is as it should be. Human voices would be out of place in this throbbing, pulsating, glitching and grooving nocturnal jungle. What discernible sounds there are, are those of the dark forest which lends the album its name: winds gusting, owls hooting, frogs chirping, distant and amorphous howls, only momentarily discernible before they are enveloped in the emergent rhythm of this imaginary, electrofied lunarscape. Minimalist beats weave, rise and ebb playfully; theres a deep sense of groove but also of playful fun on this album. The subdued hum and electrical throb which forms a uniform soundtrack underlying the rhythms of each song lends it a particularly Eurocentric feel. What is it about that electrical hum and deep bass groove that evokes imagery of a dark Berlin cityscape; cruising beneath a criss-crossed Black Forest of electrical wires and skyscrapers on a distant and imagined Autobahn? Whatever; this is European groove at its best. Its hard not to move, tap, dance while listening; yet something about the subdued and dark instrumentality of the album seems to mock the listeners response to its irrepressible groove. Lyrical exceptions to a predominantly instrumental album include the whimsical chanting of 2000 Elefanten, the gentle trance-like recitations of Ginsterblut, and the deep, dulcet tones of primary musician Sebastian Lee Philipps voice on Der Uhrwald. For an album with such a distinct sound and feel, theres a surprising degree of diversity within the form. These arent just recycled beats; theres nothing repetitive about any of these tracks. Lyrical tracks like 2000 Elefanten lend themselves to an almost Neubauten-esque feel, what with the controlled chanting and spoken vocals which deploy the human voice as though it were an instrument itself. Other instrumental tracks like Fremde Welt are reminiscent of Laibach in their electronic phase. The guitar strumming of tracks like Kreuzgang, on the other hand, draw closer to electronic rock in form. Ginsterblut, another vocal track, becomes the closest thing to a rock song on the entire album, and the friendliest-sounding piece on an otherwise ominous soundtrack, but the deep, tribal drumming and expertly deployed background samples (radio, chanting) keep it firmly embedded in the dark and eerie of night. Musically Philipp draws on a diverse range of sources indeed: mandolins, Georgian choirs, krakebs (a North African type of iron or steel castanet) and more. Medieval European church music is blended with field recordings from the Portuguese wilderness. All this and more is stitched together over an inspired electronic soundscape. The tracks are long half of them range between 10 and 16 minutes but never monotonous; it takes them that length of time to emerge and develop their distinctive form, and the constant and subtle evolution of each piece renders them infinitely interesting and immensely enjoyable. Die Wilde Jagd have managed to create an album which perfectly balances the eerie menace of dark electronics with the playful glitch and groove of ambient dance. Integrating samples from nights dark forest with electronic soundscapes has resulted in an album of impressive rhythmic imagination. Uhrwald Orange is certainly one of the most interesting releases of the year, and a rewarding listen for anyone who appreciates the groovier side of dark electronics. In one of his side jobs from leading Wussy, Chuck Cleaver collects and sells pop culture ephemera, much of it from the 1950s to the 1970s. Its a shame that he and the rest of his bandmates must do such things because Wussy deserves to be a full-time, make-a-decent-living-at-it band, but the activity does inform the Wussy aesthetic. Greil Marcus phrase That Old, Weird America tends to get overused, but its an apt jumping off point to consider the somewhat later period of American culture that shaped Cleavers artistic vision, call it That Recently Passed, Kitschy America. Such references a time when someone like Evel Knievel could become an icon, an era mixing unchecked optimism with stubborn self-absorption, a time that finds us on the cusp of our current mega-consumerist culture, where true individualism was acceptable and not a threat, unlike the ritualistic sameness that passes for identity today. Theres always been something out of time about Wussy. Their take on rock and roll harkens back to classic garage, pop, and psychedelic reference points of the past yet they consistently surprise. Like the tchotchkes and artifacts of our recent, schlocky past, Wussys sound resonates as if from some other world that resonates with optimism for the future. In Wussys world, time moves recklessly forward like a souped-out jalopy, fuzzy dice bobbing from the rearview mirror the driver is steering by. Listening to What Heaven Is Like, one gets the feeling that Cleaver and Co. are themselves the aliens in our midst that Cleaver announces on the albums sixth cut. They are one with the proud outsiders, the weirdoes, and never-fit-ins. At a time when illegal aliens are being excoriated, when questioning the status quo welcomes charges of being un-American, and when conformity to a singular kind of patriotic identity is preached as normalcy, maybe embracing an alien identity is a necessary panacea. If theres an answer to the implied question of the albums title, then it is this subversive realization: Heaven is for the oddballs. What Heaven Is Like by Wussy What Heaven Is Like by Wussy Album opener One Per Customer sets this tone in its reminder that our lives are singular commodities with no warranties, refunds, or replacements. The sneer in Cleaver and Lisa Walkers repeated refrain of Sorry sir, theres only one per customer is the kind I imagine that some unfortunate immortal soul working the customer service desk in Heaven would speak with. Imagine being a floor manager at Heavens gate: What kinds of complaints and excuses must be lobbed at that unfortunate (immortal) soul for all eternity? In a similar vein, Nope warns that we are wasting our singular life allotment within the current social media cult: Open your eyes / Get out of bed / Youre really dead. Much of What Heaven Is Like is a noisy, dissonant, and beautiful break from pop song structure. Firefly, Oblivion, and Black Hole feature Walkers voice floating over celestial soundscapes that evoke floating above and beyond experience, trapping fleeting moods in sound as if captured in warm amber. Aliens in Our Midst opens with a buzzing like that of a flying saucer hovering overhead. What begins as a wish to leave this island earth for an alien realm above quickly evolves into a treatise on finding the aliens among us, with Walkers buried background voice singing They look like me and you / Someday their dreams will come true. Meanwhile, Tall Weeds is built on a bed of swirling guitars and feedback. To be in the tall weeds is to be lost or forgotten, but Wussy is neither of those things. Although, in at least one interview regarding the new record, Cleaver openly contemplates the possibility that this could be the last Wussy record, and Walker sings Its the last time around on album-closer Black Hole. One hopes that this isnt the end. 2016s Forever Sounds was noisier and less cohesive than previous albums Strawberry and Attica!, but it signaled a shifting aesthetic that finds full realization here. If the band keeps moving forward, theres no telling where theyll end up, but its bound to be worth the trip. Food editor and chief critic Eating all of the chicken livers just as fast as I can. Get the SC business stories that matter. Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free. Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Political Editor Schuyler Kropf is The Post and Courier political editor. He has covered every major political race in South Carolina dating to 1988, including for U.S. Senate, governorship, the Statehouse and Republican and Democratic presidential primaries. Buganda Road Magistrate's court has remanded nine suspects accused of being involved in the kidnap and murder of 28-year-old Susan Magara earlier in February this year. The suspects; Patrick Kasaija aged 36, Yusuf Lubega, 32, Hussein Wasswa, 22, Muzamiru Ssali, 27, Hassan Kato Miiro, 22, Hajara Nakandi, 35, Abubaker Kyewolwa, 30, Mahad Kasalita, an Imam at Usafi Mosque and Ismail Bukenya. RIP: Susan Magara However, the prime suspect Patrick Kasaija alias Patrick Agaba wasn't in court as he is still locked up in South Africa awaiting extradition to Uganda. The remaining suspects appeared before the Buganda Road Grade One magistrate Charles Yeteise today afternoon. They were charged with kidnapping with intent to procure a ransom contrary to section 243 (1) (c) of the Penal Code Act. Prosecution led by Viola Tusingwire and Emily Ninsima, told court that the nine and others still at large on February 7, 2018 kidnapped Magara with intent to procure a ransom or benefit from her liberation from the danger of being murdered. It further alleged that the accused and others still at large on the February 27 at Kigo in Wakiso district murdered Magara. The magistrate, Yeteise didn't allow the suspects to enter any plea, saying his court lacks jurisdiction over capital offences. He therefore remanded the accused to Luzira prisons until June 1, 2018 when they will return to court for the mention of their case. Magara was an administrator in her family businesses as well as a cashier for Bwendo Dairy Farm in Hoima. She was kidnapped on February 7 along Kabaka Anjagala road in Mengo on her way to her apartment in Lungujja. The kidnappers held Magara captive for three weeks as they demanded for a ransom of $1m (about Shs 3.5bn) from her father, John Magara. The family reportedly managed to send about Shs 700 million to the kidnappers but they still went ahead and killed her, dumping her body in Kitiko village between Kajjansi and Kigo along the Entebbe Express highway. Watchdog/Public Service Editor Glenn Smith is editor of the Watchdog and Public Service team and helped write the newspapers Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, Till Death Do Us Part. Reach him securely on Signal at 843-607-0809 or by email at gsmith5@protonmail.com. More information To sign up for a boat ride from Isle of Palms to Daniel Island beginning Monday, email tidalwavewatersports@yahoo.com or send a message Tidal Wave Water Sports on Facebook. For more information about finding a carpool through Lowcountry Go, visit www.lowcountrygo.com or email Vonie Gilreath at vonieg@bcdcog.com 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. Andrew Knapp is editor of the Quick Response Team, which covers crime, courts and breaking news. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor at Florida Today, Newsday and Bangor (Maine) Daily News. He enjoys golf, weather and fatherhood. Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations. PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 16:12:01 For immediate release: May 18, 2018 BOISE, Idaho - Boise Cascade Company (Boise Cascade) (NYSE: BCC) announced today that two of its mills won Safety Innovation Awards from the APA Engineered Wood Association, and several mills earned recognition for safety accomplishments. The APA sponsors this annual Safety & Health awards program to showcase ongoing mill safety enhancement efforts and share them within the industry. The innovation category is designed to recognize a novel, grassroots solution that is proven to reduce on-the-job injuries or improve safety awareness. There are two categories: process-based innovations and equipment-based innovations, and Boise Cascade swept both for 2017! "These awards represent the continuing cultural shift towards a proactive safety program at Boise Cascade," said Terry Evans, Wood Products Division Safety Manager. "We have been on an improvement journey for several years, and now the hard work of our teams in the mills has netted two innovations awards in a single year." The Boise Cascade Plywood Mill in Oakdale, Louisiana earned first place for creating an in-house safety video. The dryer grading training video covers topics such as using personal protective equipment, properly grading and stacking veneer, high-pressure dryer hazards, and splinter reduction, which had become an incident trend in this part of the mill. As a result of the training, the injury trends are reversing. The Veneer Mill in Willamina, Oregon won for a home-grown equipment innovation. The mill was encountering increasing incidents from veneer debris flying off the machinery due to its belt speed. The mill safety committee brainstormed solutions to address the issue, which resulted in a millwright employee designing, building and installing an innovative device that effectively held down the material on the belt to eliminate the airborne hazard. There were several other highlights on the APA's Safety & Health Honor Roll. Boise Cascade's plywood mills in Chester, Kettle Falls and Elgin had the lowest, second lowest and third lowest (respectively) weighted incident rates. Weighted incident rate is a combination of incident severity and frequency. Boise Cascade's plywood mills were five of the lowest six mills per weighted incident rate, all of which were at or below the industry average weighted incident rate of 8.43, and the top four mills were below the industry total incident rate (the traditional OSHA recordable rate) of 1.77. The Chester mill garnered another award for being the most improved mill over a three year period. "We congratulate Boise Cascade on their achievements in the 2017 APA Safety and Health Awards program," said Ed Elias, APA President. "The objective of this awards program is to work with the manufacturers to ensure that all employees go home to their families at the end of each shift, safe and healthy. To that end, the innovations that Boise Cascade introduced in their facilities, and the stellar records achieved in the plywood mills, speak to a strong corporate commitment to the safety and well-being of all employees." APA staff will travel to the mill locations to present the awards, as well as recognize these safety accomplishments at the annual meeting later this year. About Boise Cascade Boise Cascade is one of the largest producers of engineered wood products and plywood in North America and a leading U.S. wholesale distributor of building products. For more information, please visit our website at www.bc.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: Boise Cascade Company via Globenewswire PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 13:36:02 DataTracks Announces New Client Acquisition For iXBRL Solution For CIPC Filing in South Africa DataTracks Karthik Sathuragiri, President +91-986034993 karthik@datatracks.com or Brandesign Group (Pty) Ltd Mike Taberner, Director +27-216716365 mike@brandesign.co.za DataTracks, the global leader in disclosure management and regulatory compliance software and services, today announced that they have been selected as the iXBRL solution provider of choice by Brandesign Group (Pty) Ltd., a leading branding and investor communications agency in South Africa. DataTrackss Disclosure Management Solution (DMS) is currently used by listed companies to file financial statements in XBRL/iXBRL formats with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US. DataTracks upgraded its DMS to include South Africas CIPC taxonomy well before the upcoming mandate, wherein all qualifying companies in South Africa are required to file their Annual Financial Statements (AFS) in iXBRL. This compliance filing requirement is effective from 1 July 2018. With the ability to provide both a cloud software for self-use or fully outsourced conversion services, DataTracks is gearing up for the upcoming mandate, actively onboarding clients both direct filers and intermediaries. One of the cornerstones of our business is collaboration and it was with this in mind that we set about securing the services of a partner in this space, said Sue Luck, Head of Investor Communications at Brandesign. After extensive research, we selected DataTracks, who, through their services, are enabling us to deliver market leading XBRL and iXBRL services to our investor communications clients, continued Mike Taberner, Director and Head of Strategy at Brandesign. Backed by the expertise that comes with having generated 100,000+ XBRL/iXBRL reports to date, DataTracks is poised to provide a robust and reliable solution for filers to comply with the upcoming iXBRL filing requirements in July 2018, said Arjun Ram, Head of Business Development for South Africa at DataTracks. We are delighted to onboard Brandesign, the market leader in brand development in South Africa, as our newest client. This win reinforces our position as the leading provider of solutions in the iXBRL reporting space. About Brandesign Brandesign Group (Pty) Ltd is a Cape Town-based advertising, branding and investor communications agency. Founded in 2007, they are one of the market leaders in the agency space and pride themselves on working with the finest talent that the Cape has to offer. Brandesign is the trusted communications partner to a number of the leading brands in South Africa. More about Brandesign Group at: www.brandesign.co.za About DataTracks DataTracks is a global leader in disclosure management and regulatory compliance software and services. Six of the top 10 accounting firms and over 12,000 enterprises across global markets trust us with their data, counting on our deep expertise to help them inform, decide and comply. We enable enterprises across geographies to file reports compliant with the standards of regulators like the SEC (the US), HMRC (the UK), Revenue (Ireland), various EU regulatory authorities, ACRA (Singapore), MCA (India), and CIPC (South Africa). To know why financial accounting firms and enterprises world-over trust DataTracks, please visit www.datatracks.co.za, www.datatracks.com or www.datatracks.eu For business enquiries in South Africa contact: +27-104469061, enquiry@datatracks.co.za Website: www.datatracks.co.za View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180518005 PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 08:35:01 Ferrari N.V. (NYSE/MTA: RACE) announces the appointment of Antonio Picca Piccon as Chief Financial Officer of the Group. Antonio Picca Piccon will start in his new role in Ferrari on July 30, replacing Alessandro Gili who has decided to leave the company effective May 31 to pursue other career opportunities. Antonio Picca Piccon joins Ferrari from Ariston Thermo Group, where he has held the position of CFO, including responsibilities for Legal and Corporate Affairs and ICT, since November 2014. Prior to such assignment he spent 15 years within Fiat Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, where he covered several senior roles in finance and financial services, including CFO of Iveco Group, CEO of FGA Capital (now FCA Bank) and Group Treasurer and Head of Financial Services for FCA. He started his career in banking, in various positions within Sanpaolo IMI group. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Ferrari, Fiat Group Automobiles, Magneti Marelli, Maserati and Teksid. Antonio Picca Piccon graduated in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Turin and holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge. Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne stated: "I've known Antonio Picca Piccon for a long time, having had a chance to work with him in FCA. His professional and managerial skills will be a valuable contribution in enabling Ferrari to meet the challenges ahead of us. The experience he has recently gained managing complex and international companies will be useful to Ferrari, as we continue to bring Italian excellence to the world. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Alessandro Gili for all his contribution over the past years. He has managed some of the most important moments in Ferrari's history, such as the spin off from FCA and the IPO - I wish him success in his future endeavors." 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: FERRARI via Globenewswire Lack of jobs is not the only problem, it's also the type of jobs available in the economy. A latest development in Haryana adds to the concerns on the issue of job creation. It has come to the fore that out of a total 4,225 constables - qualification criteria for the post is Class 12 - who are undergoing training for the Haryana Police, over 400 candidates are those with post-graduate degrees like MPhil, MTech, MBA, MSc, and MCA. Also, hundreds of the candidates are also those with other professional degrees like BTech, BCA and BSc. Despite holding professional degrees, but no clear future prospects, these youths seem to opt for whatever opportunity they get. All these candidates will soon participate in the passing out parade of the 84th batch of Recruit Basic Course (RBC) on May 20, in which Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will honour the candidates who perform well during the training. "As a result of the transparent recruitment process in the Haryana Police, highly qualified youth have been recruited in police, including 3,827 from rural areas and 398 from the urban background. Out of these, two are MPhil, 15 MTech, 16 MCA, 36 MBA, 33 MSc, 38 M.Com, 103 MA, 273 BTech, 51 BCA, 3 LLB, 434 BSc, 215 BCom, 844 BA, 23 Diploma holders, 65 are having 10+2 with JBT qualification, two each ITI fitter and polytechnic and 2028 are 10+2 pass," PTI quoted a government official as saying. Government officials, who seem contended that highly-qualified youths are applying for these posts, might be indifferent to the reality that many of them don't get enough opportunities in the field of their choice and have no option but to cling on to anything that comes their way. Recently, Business Today had reported that over 26 lakh candidates had applied for 10,000 posts of bank probationary officers and clerks in State Bank of India . SBI, the country's biggest public sector bank, received as many as 9.75 lakh applications for 2,000 probationary officers' posts and over 16.6 lakh applications for 8,300 posts at the clerical level. The average competition for each seat comes out to be around 260. A majority of candidates applying for the clerical position were engineering graduates or those with post-graduate degrees. Global Healthcare API Market - Market Size,Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024 Healthcare API Market PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 12:58:17 Press Information Precision Business Insights Kemp House, 152 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX Satya Marketing Lead +1-866-598-1553 email https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com # 659 Words Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXMarketing Lead+1-866-598-1553 Global Healthcare API Market: By Service (Medical Device, Payment, Remote Patient Monitoring, Appointments, and Electronic Health Record Access), By Deployment Model (Cloud-based, On-premise), By End User (Vendors, Patients, Healthcare Providers), and Geography - Market Size, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2013-2017 and Forecast 2018-2024Global healthcare API market was valued at US$ XX Mn in 2017 and expected to grow at significant Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2018 to 2024Market Outline: Healthcare API MarketHealthcare application programming interfaces (APIs) provide the means for one software to access the service of another. The rising number of the healthcare providers in the healthcare industry is finding the uses for the web in order to deliver the information to the patients. Application programming interfaces (APIs) allow working more intelligently with partner providers, patient support service, government agencies, and insurance companies.Market Dynamics: Healthcare API MarketTechnological advancements are the key factors attributing the growth of the healthcare API market. The growing demand from healthcare sector and adoption of the API-integrated electronic health records (EHRs) is adding fuel for the growth of the healthcare API market. The ease of the data accessibility with the use of application programming interfaces (APIs) is boosting the growth of the market. However, the lack of access to effective tools for designing, testing, and monitoring the information is limiting the growth of the healthcare API market.Free sample of this report is available upon request @Market Scope: Healthcare API MarketHealthcare API market is segmented based on the service, deployment model and end userBased on the service, the market is segmented into the following: Medical deviceo Wearable Payment Remote Patient Monitoring Appointments Electronic Health Record AccessBased on the deployment model, the market is segmented into the following: Cloud-based On-premiseBased on the end user, the market is segmented into the following: Vendors Patients Healthcare providersFree TOC of this report is available upon request @Regional Analysis: Healthcare API MarketGeographically, global healthcare API market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. North America healthcare API market is the dominant market owing to its well-built healthcare infrastructure. The high demand for the improvement in the healthcare service is driving the growth of the healthcare API market in the region. Europe healthcare API market falls next to North America. The Asia Pacific healthcare API market is a huge market that is projected to grow at a fast pace owing to the growing economies. The growth of the healthcare API market is expected to be significant over the forecast period due to growing government initiatives towards the development of the healthcare sector.Ask Analyst about this report @Competition Assessment: Healthcare API MarketSome of the players in the global healthcare API market include: General Electric Company (U.S) Greenway Health, LLC (U.S) eClinicalWorks LLC (U.S) Practice Fusion, Inc. (U.S) Apple, Inc. (U.S) MuleSoft, Inc. (U.S) Practo Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (India) Epic Systems Corporation (U.S) Microsoft Corporation (U.S) Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (U.S)Notable Market Developments: Healthcare API Market In January 2017, Oracle has acquired API development startup ApiaryGet access to full summary @About Precision Business InsightsPrecision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs.Contact to Precision Business Insights,Kemp House,152 160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXEmail: sales@ precisionbusinessinsights.com Toll Free (US):+1-866-598-1553Website @ https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 14:30:19 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 379 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Kapuskasing Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Kapuskasing Gold Corp. (TSX Venture:KAP). has issued a press release with the following headline:Kapuskasing Announces Resignation of DirectorTo 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 Kapuskasing Gold 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/Kapuskasing Gold Corp.Source: Kapuskasing Gold Corp. (TSX Venture: KAP)Date: May 18, 2018Time: 8:30 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Kapuskasing Gold 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.) PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 15:00:16 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 396 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. (TSX Venture:DIA). has issued a press release with the following headline:Margaret Lake Diamonds Commences Diamond Drilling on 100% Owned Margaret Lake Property, NWTTo 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 Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc., 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/Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc.Source: Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. (TSX Venture: DIA, ISIN: A2ARXY, WKN: CA56658A1049)Date: May 18, 2018Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. 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. 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PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 17:20:58 Press Information Published by ACN Newswire +65 6304 8926 e-mail https://www.acnnewswire.com/ # 504 Words ACN Newswire+65 6304 8926 SYDNEY, AUS, May 18, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Leading Asia Pacific CRO Novotech commended the Turnbull Government's Federal Budget decision to exclude clinical trials activity from a A$4m cap on cash refunds, or any lifetime cap on refunds.Novotech CEO Dr John Moller said the move reaffirms Australian's lead position in attracting foreign investment for drug development and sends a message to the international biopharma community that Australia is the place to conduct research."The clinical trial sector not only delivers around A$1billion to the Australian economy annually, it also supports the Australian biopharma industry growth and expertise for the development of new life-changing therapies for both the Australian and world markets.Novotech is an Asia-Pacific specialist contract research organization (CRO) established in 1996, headquartered in Australia with offices in eleven countries throughout the region.See the latest data on Australian and also Asia clinical trials here: www.novotech-cro.com/resources "More than A$650 million in clinical trial investment each year comes from overseas biopharma companies wanting fast yet high-quality research. According to our clients, the R&D Tax Incentive is a significant factor in their decision to invest in Australian research," said Dr Moller.He said the Government announced in the budget that it is excluding R&D tax offsets for clinical trials from the $4 million cap on cash refunds, "recognising the critical role of R&D expenditure on clinical trials in developing life changing drugs and devices." According to the Budget announcement the Government will also:" ... introduce a new research and development premium for companies with aggregated annual turnover of $20 million or more, which provides higher rates of R&D support for higher R&D intensity (that is, the proportion of R&D expenditure over total annual expenditure).The research and development premium will provide multiple rates of non-refundable R&D tax offsets, increasing with the intensity of the claimant's incremental R&D expenditure.The ... reforms will support and reward higher, more intensive, additional R&D investment." About Novotech - www.novotech-cro.com Headquartered in Sydney, Novotech is internationally recognised as the leading regional full-service contract research organisation (CRO). With a focus on clinical monitoring, Novotech has been instrumental in the success of hundreds of Phase I - IV clinical trials in the Asia Pacific region.Novotech provides clinical development services across all clinical trial phases and therapeutic areas including: feasibility assessments; ethics committee and regulatory submissions, data management, statistical analysis, medical monitoring, safety services, central lab services, report write-up to ICH requirements, project and vendor management.Novotech's strong Asia Pacific presence includes running clinical trials in all key regional markets. Novotech also has worldwide reach through the company's network of strategic partners.For RFP enquiries: Please fill out the form available at www.novotech-cro.com/contact-us-0 Media Contactteam@ dmgpr.com Susan Fitzpatrick-NapierAU +61 2 8218 2144USA +1 650 798 5238Topic: Press release summarySectors: HealthCareFrom the Asia Corporate News NetworkCopyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network Stethoscope Market PR-Inside.com: 2018-05-18 10:45:53 Press Information Coherent Market Insights 1001 4th Ave, #3200 Seattle, WA 98154 Mr.Shah CEO 2067016702 email https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ # 773 Words 1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154CEO2067016702 Stethoscope is an acoustic medical device used for auscultation based physical examination of an animal or humans. The resonator placed beneath the small disc at one end amplifies sound of lungs, heart, esophagus or fetal heart rate. Stethoscope is a fundamental component of physical examination for a healthcare profession. Major drivers for growth of the stethoscope market are increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease, rising number of healthcare professionals, and improving healthcare facilities. Moreover, market players are introducing more user friendly technologically advanced products with Bluetooth connectivity or wireless digital stethoscope, which is expected to boost growth of the stethoscope market.Request Sample Copy Of This Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1613 Stethoscope Market DriversIncreasing product launches by key players with advanced technologies is expected to aid in growth of the global stethoscope market during the forecast period. For instance, in March 2018, a research team developed an open-source, clinically validated template for a 3D printed stethoscope for application in the areas that have limited access to medical supplies. Moreover, in April 2018, Steth IO launched digital stethoscope named Steth IO. The product is built directly into the protective case of the physicians iphone. It runs on an app that allows visualization of heart or lung sounds directly on the phones screen, when held against patients chest. Furthermore, it enables physician to store the records in the app, which can be shared in case of a second opinion. Steth IO received FDA approval in 2016. In 2015, Eko received US FDA clearance to launch Eko Core, a next generation digital stethoscope.Moreover, in January 2018, M3DICINE Inc., a designer of intelligent medical devices, launched Stethee, the first Artificially Intelligent (AI)-enabled stethoscope system. The Stethee system include three products, which are Stethee Pro for medical and healthcare professionals, Stethee Vet for veterinarians and animal professionals, and Stethee Edu developed as educational and research tool. All these product launches are technologically advanced versions of conventional stethoscope and is expected to increase choices for the users.High incidence of heart diseases is expected to be another factor for growth of the market. Stethoscope is an important component that aids clinicians in diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, which affects 1 in 4 people in US, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to American Heart Association, 2018, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, globally. Furthermore, according to same source, it is estimated that everyday 2,300 people in the U.S. die of cardiovascular disease, which means on an average 1 death per 38 seconds. Moreover, increasing geriatric population, who are more prone to diseases rising the demand for frequent diagnosis under several medical conditions expected to propel the growth of stethoscope market. For instance, the global geriatric population is estimated to be 962 million, which comprises 13% of the total global population, in 2017 as per United Nation Organization. According to their forecast, this geriatric population worldwide is expected to be reach 1.4 billion in 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050.Request for complete TOC of this report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/1613 Stethoscope Market - Regional AnalysisBased on geography, the stethoscope market has been segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Africa. North America holds the dominant position in stethoscope market, owing to the increasing number of new product launches by the key players in U.S. North America market is followed by Europe attributed to the increasing number of hospitals and clinics and medical professionals. For instance, according to Eurostat, around 1.8 million physicians are working in the European Union, while the comparison between 2005 and 2015 showed that the number of medical doctors graduating per 100,000 inhabitants rose to 12.4 medical doctors in 2015 as compared to 2005 (9.5 medical doctors per 100,00 inhabitants).Stethoscope Market Competitive LanscapeKey players operating in the stethoscope market are 3M Company, Cardionics, Inc., Heine Optotechnik GmbH & Co. KG, American Diagnostics Corp, Medline Industries, Inc., Welch Allyn, Inc., GF Health Products, Inc., and Rudolf Riester GmbH.Stethoscope Market TaxonomyBy Product Type: Dual Head Stethoscope, Single Head Stethoscope, Triple Head Stethoscope,.By Application: Humans, Veterinary,.By End Users: Hospitals, Clinics, Academic & Institutes, Homecare settings, Others,.By Region: North America, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Africa,.Get More Details About This Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/stethoscope-market-1613 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.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@ coherentmarketinsights.com Visit our news Website: https://www.coherenttimes.org There are things scholars enjoin Muslims to avoid in the Holy month of Ramadan. But there are numerous other acts they are advised to do more to maximize the blessings of the holy month. Here are 12 of those things: 1. Read the Holy Quran Muslims are enjoined to dedicate more time to reading the glorious Quran during Ramadan because of the bounties that it brings. Scholars have said that one receive multiple rewards for every letter recited in the Holy month. 2. Intensify efforts in the remembrance of Allah The days of the Holy month is expected to be spent remembering Allah through various acts of Ibadah. Reading the Quran and reciting different chapters of the Holy book as a form of creating bond with Allah is highly recommended. 3. Give to charity Ramadan, in essence, is for sober reflection. Muslims are advised to give to the poor in their everyday life but giving of alms is highly encouraged in the Holy month. 4. Visit the sick and the poor It is also advised to visit fellow Muslims who are sick and may not be able to fast in the glorious month. It is expected this will create bond within the Ummah and give them a sense of belonging. 5. Observe Laylatul Qadr The Night of Majesty Laylatul Qadr is observed towards the end of the Holy month and Muslims are enjoined to double their acts of Ibadah during the period to enjoy its benefits. 6. Give food to the needy Many Muslims are fasting with no resources to sustain the fast both in the evening and by midnight. Muslims, especially those with the financial muscle, are highly advised to give food to the needy to help their fellow Muslims. 7. Pray at the appropriate time Observing the compulsory Solawaat -five daily prayers is of importance in the Holy month. Muslims have no excuse in the pang of hunger during Ramadan to miss their solat. 8. Mingle with fellow Muslims It is also advised in Islam that Muslims mingle with fellow Muslims in the Holy month. It is more pronounced for the privileged in the society to mix with those on the lower rung of the societal ladder both in the Holy month and afterwards. 9. Donate to worthy causes There are numerous Islamic causes that could help propagate the messages of the deen that Muslims are advised to partake in during Ramadan. Worthy causes may include donating to the publication of Islamic sensitisation materials or sponsoring radio and television programmes to spread the message of Islam. 10. Mend broken fences Allah rewards the one who mends broken fences and aid healthy relationships in the Ummah Muslim community. Hence, Ramadan offers Muslims the opportunity to mend broken relationships and live peacefully. 11. Offer Zakat ul Fitr Muslims are enjoined offer Zakat ul Fitr ahead of the Eid prayers after Ramadan. This is to enable the needy, the poor and the less-privileged also celebrate the festival with joy. 12. Spread the message of love Ultimately, Islam is peace and Ramadan offers the best of opportunities to spread the message of love, especially to non-Muslims. Scholars advise that even when provoked, a Muslim should simply embrace peace by saying I am fasting, I am fasting. Such peaceful conducts should be extended beyond Ramadan. Ramadan Kareem! U.S. President Donald Trump has told North Koreas Kim Jong-Un to abandon nuclear weapons and be rewarded with protections or risk being overthrown and possible death if the arsenal remains. The U.S. leader laid out the stark choice for North Koreas leader ahead of their planned summit in Singapore on June 12, according to media reports. Trump maintained that the scheduled June 12 meeting in Singapore was on track, in spite of the Norths threat on Wednesday to cancel over concerns about the U.S. push to see the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has argued it needed its nuclear weapons to preserve its security, and had expressed concerns about giving up on its nuclear weapon. But the country became alarmed after U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton explicitly cited, the Libya model of 2003 to 2004 as a basis for the North Korea talks in May. The comment drew personal rebuke from the North Korean government on Wednesday. Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gave up his nuclear programme in 2003 but was killed by western-backed rebel forces in October 2011. Trump, while trying to address the North Korean concerns, said if Kim were to agree to denuclearise, hell get protections that would be very strong. Trump, however, warned that failure to make a deal could have grave consequences for Kim. On the Libya model, Trump said: That model would take place if we dont make a deal. The Libyan model isnt the model we have at all. In Libya we decimated that country. There was no deal to keep Gaddafi, Trump added. The U.S. leader said he was willing to do a lot to provide security guarantees to Kim adding, the best thing he could do is make a deal. Trump also suggested China was influencing North Koreas thinking regarding the summit, pointing to Kims visit to China immediately before U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang last week to finalise the summit date and location. Trump, however, said that nothing had changed with respect to North Korea after the warning from Pyongyang. He said North Korean officials were discussing logistical details about the meeting with the U.S. as if nothing happened. In addition to threatening to pull out of the meeting with Trump, North Korea abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with South Korean officials over joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise. Pentagon Spokeswoman Dana White said that the schedule of military exercises had not changed. White added that the annual exercises were long-planned, defensive in nature and meant to ensure the readiness of U.S. and South Korean forces. Exercise Max Thunder, which began on Monday and concludes on May 25, includes aircraft from across the U.S. military services. The 2017 exercise included roughly 1,200 U.S. personnel and about 640 South Koreans, and the 2018 drill is similar. Speaking at an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump also said he would not discuss U.S. troop levels in South Korea during his meeting with Kim. North Korea had said it would not return to talks with South Korea due to the exercises. (NAN) Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who was poisoned by a nerve agent in Britain more than two months ago, has been discharged from hospital, Englands health service said on Friday. Sergei Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russias military intelligence, who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia, were found unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack and Western governments including the U.S. expelled over 100 Russian diplomats. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning and has retaliated in kind. The Skripals were in a critical condition for weeks and doctors at one point feared that, even if they survived, they might have suffered brain damage. But their health began to improve rapidly, and Yulia was discharged in April. It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital, the hospitals Chief Executive, Cara Charles-Barks, said in a statement. Britain and international chemicals weapons inspectors have said the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s. Russia has denied Britains charges of involvement in the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. It has suggested Britain carried out the attack itself to stoke anti-Russian hysteria. (Reuters/NAN) PML-N divided over Nawaz Sharif interview ISLAMABAD: The parliamentary party of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday reached the conclusion that the ruling party should not go into the coming general elections with Nawaz Sharifs narrative of confrontation with the establishment and the judiciary. Shahbaz Sharif, who recently replaced the senior Sharif as PML-N president after the latters ouster from Prime Minister House, agreed that the former prime minister should soften the stance he had adopted after being disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court for possessing a UAE Iqama (work permit). The meeting, which was presided over by Shahbaz Sharif at Parliament House, was also attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, besides 121 parliamentarians of the party. After attending the meeting, a federal minister told some reporters in his chamber that there was a divide within the PML-N as some of the parliamentarians backed Shahbaz Sharifs point of view while others supported the narrative of Nawaz Sharif. However, sources close to Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb rejected the claim of the minister and said that no differences or divide in the party were reflected at the meeting. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, one of the senior leaders of the party, was present in Parliament House but he chose not to attend the meeting and instead spent most of the time in the chamber of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. Shahbaz Sharif, who is also chief minister of Punjab, expressed annoyance over the recent interview of Nawaz Sharif with Dawn and said the man who had arranged the interview was the biggest enemy of Nawaz Sharif. In this interview, Nawaz Sharifs remarks on the 2008 Mumbai attacks were blown up by Indian media. In Pakistan also the interview has caused quite a stir with the former prime ministers rivals calling for his trial under sedition charges. Undeterred, Nawaz Sharif has suggested constitution of a national commission to make a final decision on the issue. Shahbaz Sharif urged the PML-N legislators to focus on the elections to be held in July so that the party could fight the elements confronting it these days. He recalled some important decisions made by Nawaz Sharif and said no party had worked in the country more than the PML-N, adding that four martial laws imposed in the past had weakened the country. The voters are with us because of our performance and we will go into the polls with full confidence. He claimed that former US president Bill Clinton had offered $5 billion to Nawaz Sharif for not conducting nuclear tests in 1998 but the latter had rejected the offer and gone ahead with nuclear tests. Comparing the performance of the PML-N with that of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the ruling party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said, We have completed the metro bus project in Lahore at a cost of Rs30bn while over Rs60bn has been spent on a similar project being executed in KP. According to sources, four to five PML-N legislators expressed reservations over Nawaz Sharifs interview on the Mumbai attacks and termed it inappropriate. Some of the party leaders from southern Punjab said that their loyalty with the party was doubted and added that they could even sacrifice their lives for Nawaz Sharif but it was not the appropriate time to do so. Some other legislators said that they had complete confidence in Nawaz Sharif and endorsed his narrative. The sources said that Nawaz Sharif believed that his party should go into the coming elections with his narrative of give respect to the vote. PM-Shahbaz meeting Later, Prime Minister Abbasi met Shahbaz Sharif in his chamber in and the one-on-one meeting continued for 45 minutes. The Nigerian Medical Association has hailed the inclusion of one per cent of the consolidate revenue fund in the allocation to the health sector in the 2018 budget as monumental. The Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the budget after increasing it from N8.6 trillion to N9.1 trillion, six months after it was presented by President Muhammadu Buhari. The lawmakers earmarked N57. 15 billion for the basic health care provision fund as mandated by the National Health Act, a law passed in 2014 but which has not been fully implemented. For the first time the Senate has put the Consolidated Health Care Fund on the budget. That one percent will go into revamping the Primary Health Care system and the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, the newly elected president of the association, Francis Faduyile, said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES. This is monumental. It is one of the greatest things that can happen in Nigeria. We believe this will change the trajectory of the countrys health system, he enthused. Mr Faduyile noted that the fund will help reduce out-of-pocket spending by Nigerians for their health care. It will further change the status of the National Health Act, a law signed into law in 2014 and came into effect in 2016 after 10 years of consideration. The NMA had over the years protested the non-implementation of the National Health Act. They threatened the federal government with a lawsuit as well as embarked on a bi-weekly protest march to urge the lawmakers to include the Basic Health Care Fund in the budget. The NMA president, in the interview, appealed to President Buhari to quickly assent to the budget. We want to plead with the president to quickly give assent to this budget and ensure it is is well spent, he said. The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has called for the immediate removal of Isaac Adewole as Nigerias Minister of Health. The union said his continued stay remains a major barrier to the resolution of the ongoing nationwide strike by health workers. The minister has been at the forefront of the efforts to end the strike and has repeatedly said government is committed to resolving the issues. However, JOHESU, which consists of health workers aside doctors, believes he is biased in favour of doctors because he is a doctor. Doctors, under the Nigerian Medical Association, have warned the Nigerian government not to heed the JOHESU demands. The NMA says it will commence its own strike if government agrees to the JOHESU demands. JOHESU declared a strike on April 17 following the federal governments alleged failure to implement an agreement it signed with the union. The unions demands include salary adjustment for its members, improved promotion requirement and payment of outstanding arrears of promotion. Others are autonomy of teaching and specialist hospitals, non-execution of court judgments, and review of retirement age from 60-65 years as done for teachers in the tertiary education sector. The National Chairman of the Union, Biobelemoye Josiah, who made the call for the ministers removal during an emergency meeting held by members of the union in Abuja on Thursday, accused the minister of taking sides in the ongoing strike action. He said ,President Buhari should immediately remove Professor Isaac Adewole from office, as his continued stay remains a major barrier to the resolution of the on-going nationwide strike of health workers. This is a major threat to Public Health especially at a time that the dreaded Ebola disease is currently rampaging in some African countries. Mr Biobelemoye urged President Muhamamdu Buhari to set up a new negotiating team to take over from the current one led by Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to continue the negotiation process. He said that as a medical doctor, the labour minister has also compromised. JOHESU also warned that should the federal government go to court over the strike, it will pull out of the negotiation. Meanwhile, health workers in Lagos, Kano, Yobe and Niger have been directed to relax the strike action to attend to emergency following the implementation of the agreement by the states. The health workers had earlier accused Mr Adewole and Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, of bias against them because the two officials are medical doctors. The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Plateau State chapter, has alleged that JOHESU members are frustrating the activities of medical doctors, tampering with chemicals in laboratories, and locking up medicine stores at hospitals to hinder healthcare delivery. It is unfortunate that JOHESU members are on strike, but in most cases, (they) lock up medicine stores in hospitals and go away with the keys, just to frustrate our jobs, though we have not established with facts, but we learnt that JOHESU members do tamper with chemicals at laboratories, the acting chairman, NMA Jos branch Dajel Bulus made the revelation to journalists during a press conference in Jos, on Friday. Mr. Bulus said the strike by JOHESU was uncalled for, because JOHESU members do not qualify for the demands they are making. Of particular concern is the demand for salary parity with doctors (technically called CONHESS ADJUSTMENT). This is not only unfortunate and strange, but unrealistic, untenable and unacceptable to the Nigerian doctors. According to him, if the demands of the striking medical workers were met, it will be counter productive to health service delivery. Their demands also seek to reverse the significant gains that have been made in the past to stabilise the health sector, he said. The chairman expressed disappointment, stating that Plateau State and local government health workers who have joined the ongoing JOHESU strike have no justification in participating in the strike because the state government had been paying the health workers as, and, when due. He said the governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has strived against all financial challenges to implement one of the best salary structures for them and has continued to pay salaries regularly and passionately. Mr. Bulus called on the striking medical workers to resume work without fear of harassment, as adequate security has been provided for all service providers. Other health workers willing to abstain from the ongoing unjustifiable strike are advised to resume work as adequate security has been provided for them to carry out their duties without molestation or intimidation, he said. Though he said no doctor in Plateau state was harassed by JOHESU member yet, doctors from other states of the federation are currently facing harassment from JOHESU members for rendering health services. JOHESU officials are equally advised to refrain from harassing doctors or other health workers willing to work for the benefit of humanity. The National Industrial Court has ordered the striking Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) to return to work within 24 hours. However, the union says it remains unmoved by the order given on Thursday in Abuja by Justice Babatunde Adejumo of the Court. According to Daily Trust newspaper, the order followed an ex-parte motion filed by a non-governmental organisation challenging the industrial action by the health workers. The NGO, Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International, in the motion, prayed the court to order the workers to resume work and go back to the negotiation table. The judge also ordered the ministers of Health, as well as Labour and Employment to immediately set up a committee to address issues raised by the parties. Responding to the development on Friday, an official of JOHESU said the union was yet to be served with the order. There is no paper to that effect. It is only on the pages of newspaper and television that we saw it,,Olatunji Tajudeen, JOHESU Lagos State Council Chairman told PREMIUM TIMES. There should be a notice properly served, he added. The official however said the union was unmoved by any judgment and that the strike will continue until the workers demands are met. He said the unions new demand is that both the ministers of health and labour be removed. Mr Tajudeen described both officials as biased in the ongoing negotiations between the union and government. JOHESU, an association of health workers except doctors, has been on strike for more than a month. The strike began on April 17 at federal hospitals across the country until a week ago when members of JOHESU in the employ of state and local governments joined in. Meanwhile, JOHESU has directed its members in Lagos, Yobe and Kano to return go work following efforts by the state governments to meet their local demands. On that, the Lagos union leader said, Yes we have returned to work and opened up our emergency unit following efforts made by our state government to meet our local demands. We only do skeletal and emergency response at the moment. No common ground has been reached in the of meetings between the union and the federal government. JOHESU blamed the slow pace of the federal government on a recent threat by medical doctors to withdraw services if government accedes to the unions demands. The Kaduna State chapter of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Health Care Professionals have joined the JOHESU national strike. Executive members of the joint union led by its chairman, Ayuba Suleiman, disclosed while addressing journalists in the state. Mr Suleiman directed members in the state and local government health institutions to commence the JOHESU strike at midnight of May 18. He explained that JOHESUs demands at the state level include that the state government should issue a circular for implementation of the balance of 30 percent Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for the state and local government health workers. Other demands, he said, include all statutory and professional dues deductions including pension, taxes, national housing fund, cooperative contribution and union check-off dues be remitted without further delay to the appropriate institutions. Also included is to domesticate court judgement in favour of the Medical Laboratory Scientists from the National Industrial Court in Kaduna State (Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital). The chairman said the leadership of JOHESU in Kaduna had offered extra nine days outside the time frame for the commencement of the strike. He said this was to enable the government to address the issues in contention but the gesture had not been well appreciated by the government. So, it is with pains in our hearts that we are drawing the attention of our members, consumers of health services and the general public that just like the federal government is not showing sign of commitment by addressing the issues placed before it by the national leadership of JOHESU, one month after the strike commenced. The Kaduna State government has also not demonstrated any serious commitment to the domestic issues placed before it as at our last meeting with the government on Thursday, May 17, 2018 ended up with promissory note without any offer, he said. The national leadership of JOHESU and Assembly of Health Care Professionals had on April 17 declared an industrial strike action and directed state, FCT and local government to join on May 9. A picture is gradually emerging of the victims of murder suspects transferred to Abuja on Wednesday by the police. At least two of the victims whom the police described as innocent persons in a statement on Wednesday were individuals the Kwara State police command had described as political thugs and cultists following their murder. The police force headquarters said the suspects were recently arrested and had been transferred to Abuja for further interrogation, in a jarring operation that rattled Senate President Bukola Saraki. Police spokesperson Jimoh Moshood described the transfer as a routine exercise in criminal investigation, but Mr Saraki appears to be having sleepless nights over the move which he saw as an attempt to frame him up. Investigation into the roles of the suspects has been completed and they were about to be under prosecution under the state law on the advice of DPP (Department of Public Prosecution) and the (state) ministry of justice, Mr Saraki said at the plenary Wednesday. All of a sudden, he added, the suspects were ordered to be transferred to Abuja Wednesday morning. The senate president quickly linked the alleged plot to the ongoing face-off between the Senate and Mr Idris. The police chief had been summoned three times by senators but failed to appear. Mr Idris said the summon was primarily because of the ongoing prosecution of Dino Melaye, a senator from Kogi State. He said appearing before the Senate to discuss the matter could put him in legal troubles. Mr Sarakis comments stirred nationwide controversy on Wednesday, prompting the police to render their side of the matter. In a Wednesday evening statement, Mr Moshood listed the names of the six suspects who were transferred to Abuja alongside 11 victims they allegedly murdered. The police spokesperson described the deceased as innocent persons in his statement. But a closer look at the statement shows that at least two of the victims whom Mr Moshood described as innocent were notorious for their alleged cultism activities in Kwara State. Bukola Ajikobi and Bayo Ajia Bukola Ajikobi and Bayo Ajia were amongst the three deceased that the police identified by their first and last names, the rest were only identified by their first names, making it difficult to track their background. Messrs Ajikobi and Ajia were described as innocent victims by Mr Moshood in his Wednesdays statement. But media reports from the time they were killed said the police in Ilorin described them as members of cult groups terrorising the state. The two were reportedly killed on January 18, 2016 in separate hits by rival gangs in downtown Ilorin, although Mr Moshood, in his statement, said Mr Ajia was killed this year. He declined responding to PREMIUM TIMES further enquiries and so could not clarify if the murder date he mentioned was an error. Sam Okaula, the Kwara police commissioner at the time, said 11 suspects were arrested in connection to the killings and paraded them before the press in Ilorin. The commissioner said the killings were linked to rival cult clashes and vowed to stymie the violence before it was too late, Daily Trust reported. Innocent until proven guilty Jimoh Moshood, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr Moshood did not respond to repeated requests for comments about why he left out the victims background in his statement Wednesday. But Kwara police spokesperson, Okasanmi Ajayi, said there was no problem in describing Messrs Ajikobi and Ajia innocent despite their notorious backgrounds and the fact that at least one of them had been convicted of murder. They were not tried and found guilty before they were killed, Mr Ajayi conveniently told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Thursday evening. So, it is appropriate to describe them as innocent after their death. The police spokesperson was, however, mum when asked why the former commissioner described the suspects that were arrested in connection to their deaths as cultists before being charged to court. He also could not immediately disclose the status of the investigation into the 11 suspects that were initially arrested in connection to the murder of Messrs Ajikobi and Ajia. None of the six persons that the police moved to Abuja on Wednesday were amongst those arrested in January 2016 following the murder. But Mr Ajayi, a deputy superintendent of police, said the killings are numerous and more suspects would be arrested as investigation throws up new leads. Saraki Connection Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki While little is known about Mr Ajikobi, the exploits of Mr Ajia were well featured in the media shortly after his death. This might be due to the level of his infamy around Ilorin. He had been convicted in the early 2000s for murder. The conviction was reportedly upheld by the Supreme Court. But in 2010, Mr Saraki, then Kwara State governor, commuted Mr Ajias death to absolute pardon. This was months before Mr Saraki was due to complete his two-term as governor. He moved to the Senate in 2011 from the governors lodge. A source close to Mr Saraki told PREMIUM TIMES Thursday night the Senate President was apprehensive that his pardoning of Mr Ajia might be used against him by the police. The Senate President is afraid that since the matter is related to cultism and he had pardoned a man widely known in Ilorin as a cultist in the past, then the police could easily rope him in, the source said. Although the police did not say whether any of the suspects had implicated Mr Saraki, but they failed to clarify when PREMIUM TIMES asked repeatedly whether or not the Senate President is under investigation in connection to the alleged crimes of the suspects. Even if Mr Saraki was not a factor in the murder investigation, the manoeuvre by the police was unnecessary and suspicious, said legal analyst Jiti Ogunye. By failing to render full disclosure that the killings stemmed from rival cult clashes, the police motive becomes suspicious, thereby portraying them as waging political war, Mr Ogunye said. Out of the 11 persons said to have been killed, only three were named. Of the three, Messrs Ajikobi and Ajia are highly suspected of being into cultism before being killed, and the manner of their murder largely mirrored cultists tactics, according to media reports. It was not immediately clear whether some of the remaining eight victims whom the police only gave their first names were also linked to cultism while alive. Mr Ogunye warned that the police could blindside their own investigation if they continue to handle cases without considerable diligence. In order climes, court papers make it to the media only after they have been unsealed, the analyst said. The allegations by the Senate President were very specific, and his office puts him in a position to know what is going on. This is why we never get to the bottom of serious murder cases in this country, he said. He also appeared to see a political undertone in the overall handling of the case by the police. Were moving towards an election and the political alliances of everyone is well known, he said. We may then be inundated with prosecution or persecution of persons. But if Mr Saraki had no hands whatsoever in the activities of the suspected cultists, it would be difficult to successfully frame him, he said. It will be difficult to pin a criminal case on someone, especially when the person is innocent, Mr Ogunye said. The federal government on Wednesday approved the transfer of about $650 million (about N198.9 billion) to the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as initial funding for the take -off of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF). The National Economic Council (NEC) announced the establishment of the Fund and the disbursement of the seed funding at the end of its meeting in on Thursday. The establishment of the PIDF was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari who presided over the meeting. Details released by NEC showed that the PIDF would be managed by the NSIA. The fund is expected to be invested in critical road and power projects across the country. The initial transfer of $650 million to the NSIA was authorised from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividend account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A statement from the NSIA said the initiative was aimed at eliminating the risks of project funding, cost variation and completion that have plagued the development of the nations critical infrastructure assets over the last few decades. Ongoing projects mostly impacted by paucity of funding include the 2nd Niger Bridge, Lagos to Ibadan Expressway, EastWest Road, Abuja to Kano Road, and Mambilla Hydroelectric Power. This commitment by the President and NEC, allows all State Governments to own an economic interest in the project companies that will be professionally developed and managed by the NSIA, the statement said. The investments will yield returns, which will diversify revenues to States, improve the fiscal sustainability profile of the Federation and ensure Nigerians benefit from modernised Infrastructure for decades to come, it added. The NEC said the PIDF would help secure counterpart funds required for projects being co-developed with China Export-Import and China Development Banks. The NSIA said any additional funding required from development partners for projects in the country would be mobilized. The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on Friday took over the asset of Sea Petroleum & Gas Limited and its affiliated companies. The company is promoted by former Minister of Aviation and Nigerian senator, Stella Oduah. A statement by Jude Nwauzor, AMCON spokesperson, said the organisation took possession of the companys asset around 11:00a.m Friday. The decision followed a judgement by Justice M.S. Hassan of the Federal High Court Lagos Division which granted an injunction against Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Limited, on the application of AMCON. Princess Oduah-Ogiemwonyi, a serving member of the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been having a running battle with AMCON over her inability to settle her huge debt of nearly N20billion, Mr Nwauzor said in the statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. AMCON purchased the Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs) of Sea Petroleum & Gas Limited from Union Bank Plc sometime in 2012. But despite the overtures and genuine efforts made by AMCON to reach an amicable settlement, the Senator and her co-promoters have remained recalcitrant. Having exhausted all avenues of peaceful resolution of the humongous debt, AMCON had no other choice than to refer the matter to court. The order also affects Princess Stella Oduahs other business interests for which AMCON has since appointed Moyosore Jubril Onigbanjo, SAN as Receiver over the assets of Princess Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi; Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Limited; Sea Petroleum and Gas FZE as well as Star Tourism and Hotels Limited. The court also ordered the freezing of the funds of Sea Petroleum & Gas Limited and its affiliated companies and principal promoters held anywhere by any entity or persons in Nigeria, the statement said. It also authorised AMCON and its Receiver, Moyosore Onigbanjo, to take over all assets pledged as collateral for the facility by Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Limited. Justice Hassan specifically ordered Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Limited and its affiliated companies to hand over the companys business, which sits on over 9000 square metres of land in the fastest developing area of Lagos State along the Lekki-Epe Express Way; two Tank Farms of 500 metric tonnes capacity; a property at Maiyegun Tourism Zone, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 11, Lagos Island and a filling station complex at kilometre 14, Lekki Epe Expressway, Ikota, Lagos State, the statement explained. The court order also listed a host of other assets across the country including Plot 2,block 12C, Babafemi Osapa Crescent Lekki, Lagos State; Block 5, house 4AMobolaji Johnson Estate, Lekki, Lagos State; Office/filling station at Jakande, Lekki, Lagos State; Office complex 1,2 and 3 km 14, Lekki-epe Expressway , Ikota, Lagos State; Filing station Complex at km14, Lekki Epe Expressway, Ikota Lagos State; Staff residential Quarters, Ikota Lagos State; E25-E36, Gat Oboh Drive, Millennium Estate, Oniru, Lagos State and F3-F5, SPG Road, Millennium Estate, Oniru, Lagos State. The rest include, SPG Agungi 2 Lekki Lagos State; Office/Filling station complex at Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, FCT, Abuja; Gas plant at Karu, FCT, Abuja; Filing station Complex, Lugbe, FCT Abuja and Agriculture Farm at Kuje, FCT Abuja. In compliance with the order of the court, AMCON said it simultaneously took possession of the asset of Sea Petroleum & Gas Limited and its affiliated companies. It said further that the Court in granting the injunction ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, and the Commissioner of Police in charge of Lagos State, their deputies and all other police officers under them to assist Mrs Onigbanjo, the Receiver and the Bailiffs of the Federal High Court in the enforcement of the orders. The Nigerian Army on Friday said allegations against it by retired its former chief, Theophilus Danjuma, that it colluded with killers Taraba and refused to protect the people were untrue. The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, made this known at a news conference in Abuja where he gave details of the findings of the 10-member panel the Army constituted to probe the allegations. The panel, which comprised serving and retired army personnel, representatives of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), was set up on April 10. It submitted its report of April 25. Mr Danjuma on March 24 at the convocation of Taraba State University in Jalingo, said that some troops on internal operation in Taraba colluded with killers and herdsmen who attacked communities in the state. He said the troops failed to protect the residents against the attacks. You must rise to protect yourselves from these people; if you depend on the armed forces to protect you, you will all die. I ask all of you to be on the alert and defend your country, defend your state, he admonished. The former defence chief said that the unnecessary killings, which were akin to an act of ethnic cleansing being perpetuated against the people of Taraba, specifically and Nigeria at large, must stop. He accused the military of being part of the killings. But Mr Buratai, who was represented by Nuhu Angbazo, Chief of Military/Civil Affairs, said: With respect to the statement by Lt.-Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, it is clear that the allegations were not true. There is a need to urge for caution on the part of the elder statesman in view of the security implication of such comments. He exonerated the army, saying that there was no collusion between it and bandits in Taraba as alleged by the former chief of army staff. Rather, he said, there was sustained media campaign to belittle Nigerian army and other security agencies operation in the state without saying who was behind the campaign. He stated that the panel found that Taraba governor made several attempts to remove the Commanding Officer of 9 Battalion, I.B. Gambari, a Lt. Col., for his refusal to be dragged into the state politics. Mr Buratai also alleged that the chairman of Takum Local Government Area attempted to undermine the authority of the commanding officer but did not give detail. He commended the officer and troops on operation in the state for their conduct. According to the army chief, most of the crises over the years in Taraba were particularly in Takum, Wukari, Ussa, Donga and Sardauna Local Government Areas. There was absence of Nigerian army deployments in some crisis-prone areas in the hinterland in Taraba state, he said, and blamed it partly on the porous Nigeria-Cameroon borders and arms proliferation in the state. There was a massive proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Taraba, some of which have been recovered from warring parties, criminals and unauthorised persons, he added. Mr Buratai also said blamed the unending clashes in the state on its highly heterogeneous and division along ethno-religious lines. It is apparent that the clashes in Taraba are as a result of clan and communal crisis that predates this present government. Most of the crises in the state are politically-motivated and some persons are deliberately escalating the situation for selfish gains. The army is also of the view that the situation in Taraba has steadily deteriorated largely due to distrust, intolerance, lack of inclusion and accommodation of different ethnic groups in the state, he said. According to him, this has made it difficult for the army to carry out its constitutional role in the state without being tainted. He commended the panel for doing a thorough job. (NAN) Some medical doctors in Nigeria say they are working to reverse the poor relationship between patients and doctors in public hospitals in the country. The spokesperson for the Society for Family Physicians of Nigeria (SOFPON), Uyo zone, Sophia Usuwa, said family physicians in the country have introduced patient-centred care model to make the patient the most important person in public hospitals across the country. Patients, and not the doctors, are the most important persons in the hospital. And yet there are relegated to the background, Mrs Usuwa, who is a doctor at the Department of Family Medicine, University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Uyo, said on Wednesday during an interview with Inspiration 105.9 FM Uyo. Mrs Osuwa was at the radio station to talk on the 2018 World Family Doctors Day which is celebrated this Friday, May 18. She was accompanied to the radio station by another doctor, Daniel Okeke, who is overseeing the planning for the celebration. Mr Okeke is also a staff at the UUTHs Department of Family Medicine. During the radio interview, Mr Okeke identified lack of clear communication as one of the factors responsible for poor patient-doctor relationship. There are instances in the hospital where patients dont even know what is wrong with them, they are like passengers inside their own vehicle, said Mr Okeke. The patients dont know whats going on; if you ask them, theyll just tell you they went to the hospital and a doctor give drugs to them. Ask them, and they cant tell you what those drugs are for. Patient-centred care model would help solve lots of problem in Nigerian hospitals if adopted by doctors and other health workers, the two doctors said. Generally, what we have around here is the model where a doctor disses out an order to the patient and the patient follows, the patient isnt really carried along in his own treatment. He doesnt really have a say in his own treatment, Mr Okeke said, adding that the model isnt going to conflict with the doctors expertise. But even if it does there are ways of resolving it, he said. In this model, the doctor, apart from attending to a patients bio-medical problems, also wants to go into the psycho-social aspect, where he takes cognizance of the patients fears, feelings, ideas, and expectations, Mrs Osuwa said. She continued: Sometimes a patients reason for a counter may not necessarily be the doctors presentation; when you dig deeper, it may just mean there was an abuse, it might be a sign of depression. So, in family medicine, we try to educate our colleagues and everyone on this patient-centred care model which you give required care that the patient needs and at the same time work in partnership with the patient. For example, a doctor can say you have diabetes, I am going to give you this particular kind of medication to be taken three times a day, and perhaps this patient works somewhere in which he may not have access to food to eat with that medication, perhaps in the afternoon. The patient, of course, would chose the instruction he wants to obey and leave the rest. But in the patient-centred care model, the doctor would tell the patient what he wants to do and ask the patient if it was convenient and comfortable for him. The doctor would want to know, for instance, if there are challenges that could affect the patient taking his medication, Mrs Osuwa said. As part of the World Family Doctors Day celebration, the society for family physicians visited a local school, the Community Secondary Commercial School, Ikot Oku Ikono, Uyo, where they taught the students sex education, menstrual hygiene, and the dangers of drug abuse. The doctors gave free medical tests, consultation and counseling to the teachers, and also dispensed free drugs to them, as well as free sanitary pads to the female students. I wish they could be doing this here every month, the principal of the school, Rose Williams, said of the doctors visit. Its highly commendable. Russian President held meeting with Syrian President Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Thursday and said the military success in Syria allowed for a large-scale political process leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country. A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi. After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists the condition are in place for the start of a political process on a major scale, Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there were detailed discussions between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syrias coastal province of Latakia. With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory, Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces. Russia has been involved in Syrias civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Assads regime but also changed the course of the war. Putin also congratulated Assad on the successes of the Syrian governments army in the fight against terrorist groups. The next task, of course, is the economic recovery and humanitarian aid for those people in a difficult situation, Putin added. The latest round of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana wrapped up on Tuesday, but did not however make any concrete progress towards ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives. Russia, Iran and Turkey have been attempting to resolve the conflict in the talks that started last year in Astana in competition with a US and UN-backed Geneva initiative. In a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad added on Thursday we have evaluated the political process and will select candidates for a constitutional committee, a suggestion proposed in January at a summit in Sochi, that will work with the United Nations. According to the Kremlin statement, Assad said stability is improving in Syria, opening the door to the political process we started some time ago. We know it will not be easy because some countries do not want stability to return to Syria. But with you and other partners and friends, we will continue to make strong progress in the peace process, Assad was quoted as saying in the statement. Thanks to military successes, we are managing to normalise the situation in the country, opening the way for the return of many of our compatriots. Russian television broadcast short clips from the two mens discussion. Regime forces recaptured Ghouta from rebels last month after a ferocious offensive that displaced tens of thousands, both to government-controlled zones around Damascus and to opposition-held parts of northern Syria. De Mistura, speaking Wednesday to the UN Security Councils monthly meeting on the Syria conflict, described what he called the classic Syrian regime tactic of a bombardment of a rebel territory followed by negotiations and then mass evacuations from the defeated area. But the special envoy noted that half of the people in the northern rebel province of Idlib had already fled from other parts of Syria, and will have nowhere else to go because there is no other place to go. Nigerian billionaire and chairman of Forte Oil, Femi Otedola, has debunked claims that he is planning to contest as Lagos State governor in 2019. Mr Otedola, who recently joined social networking platform, Twitter, made this known in a tweet on his official handle, @realFemiOtedola. He was welcomed to Twitter by Africas richest man Aliko Dangote, through the latters official handle. There have been reports making the rounds that the oil mogul was preparing to contest for public office, with some online commentators specifically claiming that the businessman would run for Lagos governorship seat in the next election. The development came shortly after a video showing the billionaire in a popular Lagos commercial shuttle, Molue, surfaced online. The rumours became widespread after a tweet from a parody account on Twitter claimed that the Forte Oil boss will seek to slug it out with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos in the coming governorship race. But Mr Otedola debunked the rumour in a tweet in the early hours of Friday. My attention has been drawn to a news piece where false information from a parody account was posted, the tweet read. I am a man of the people and I will always be on the side of the masses but I am stating clearly via this medium that I am not running for office. My attention has been drawn to a news piece where false information from a parody account was posted. I am a man of the people and I will always be on the side of the masses but I am stating clearly via this medium that I am not running for office. Femi Ote$ (@realFemiOtedola) May 17, 2018 The billionaire further commended Mr Ambode, saying he is doing a good job. The Governor of Lagos State is doing a commendable job and Lagosians should be proud of him, he tweeted. Earlier, the business mogul had warned tweeter users to be wary of parody accounts dishing out false information purportedly in his name. Although the billionaires account is yet to be verified by twitter, he explains that the account would soon be verified by the social media site. Mr Otedola is son to a former governor of Lagos State, Michael Otedola. A police inspector attached to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) in Ikorodu, Lagos State Command, Charles Omotosho, has been apprehended for allegedly extorting N5, 000 from a woman. The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit, Abayomi Sogunle, made this known via a press statement on Friday. He said the alleged police operative was apprehended following a complaint by the victim, through Twitter. On 16th May, 2018, the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) received a complaint from a citizen via Twitter [@ife_luv12] that a Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Operative forced her to make a bank transfer of Five Thousand Naira (N5,000) to the said SARS operatives bank account following an arrest for no just cause, the statement said. PCRRU immediately registered the case (Tracking Number PCRRU316356) and initiated an investigation. The officer was promptly identified to be Inspector Charles Omotosho attached to Federal SARS, Ikorodu, Lagos State. He was immediately removed from front-line police duties and taken into custody. The statement said, in the course of preliminary investigation, a copy of the officers statement of bank account was obtained and the entry of the said transfer was discovered therein. The police said it has also been established that there was a contact between the officers patrol team and the complainant at Ikorodu as contained in the complaint. The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has directed the Assistant Inspector-General of Police Zone 2 Command Lagos to carry out a detailed investigation and commence immediate necessary disciplinary action against Inspector Charles Omotosho as provided for in the Police Act and Regulations Cap. P19. Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, the release added. The statement disclosed that the PCRRU has handed the erring officer to the AIG Zone 2 Command Lagos together with a printout of his statement of bank account for necessary action. Members of the public that are not happy with any encounter with the police are once again advised not to resolve to self-help but should lodge a complaint at PCRRU which is available 24/7 via any of the following channels; Calls Only: 0805 700 0001, 0805 700 0002 | SMS and WhatsApp Only: 0805 700 0003 BBM: 58A2B5DE | Twitter: @PoliceNG_PCRRU |Facebook: www.facebook.com/PolicePCRRU Email: complaint@npf.gov.ng OR PolicePCRRU@gmail.com | Website: www.npf.gov.ng/complaint, the statement noted. The Kwara State caucus of the House of Representatives has accused the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, of misleading Nigerians and playing politics with the recent controversy surrounding arrested crime suspects in Kwara. In a statement signed on behalf of the members by Razak Atunwa, the lawmakers said they will resist any attempt by the police to implicate Senate President Bukola Saraki. Mr Saraki had earlier accused the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of trying to implicate him by getting some of the suspects to confess they were sponsored by the senate president. The police have denied that claim. The Kwara lawmakers said they were conversant with the claims and counter-claims by the senate president and the police. They said as key stakeholders in Kwara State, they were familiar with the developments in their constituencies and it was necessary to let Nigerians know their view on the matter. It seems to us that the IGP is standing facts on the head. We hereby state the facts of the matter and we invite everyone to independently verify them. We are aware that the suspects listed by the IGP, all of whom are now in Abuja, were arrested on 5 May 2018 for the offences of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide. After the completion of investigations, the police addressed a press conference on 10 May 2018. During the press conference, the police emphasised the fact that it was ready to arraign the suspects in court. The suspects were formally arraigned on 15 May 2018. Due to the absence of the prosecutor, the court directed the police to bring them back to court the following day. On 16 May 2018, rather than bring the suspects to court, the police decided to take them to Abuja without any reference to the court. They said as far as they were concerned, there is no ongoing investigation by the police in the case involving the suspects. They, therefore, dismissed the claim by the police that the statement by the senate president could jeopardise investigation. They questioned why the IGP ordered suspects, who were set to be arraigned in court, to be taken to Abuja without deferrence to the court handling the matter. Does that not portend an ulterior and sinister motive? It is most curious that the IGP would be so suddenly interested in an investigation that he was prepared to truncate on-going criminal proceedings. They urged the police chief not to engage in improper conduct with the aim of falsely incriminating innocent people. The Inspector General of Police should stop playing politics with law enforcement work. He needs to work with all stakeholders to succeed and therefore should stop encouraging the We versus Them campaign now going on across the country about police duties and activities. Mr Saraki had on Wednesday alleged a plot by the Inspector General to frame and implicate him. He alleged that the police chief had transferred some criminal suspects undergoing interrogation in Kwara to make statements to implicate him. Following Mr Sarakis allegation, the Senate set up a committee to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari over the matter. The police also in a statement denied trying to frame Mr Saraki, warning the lawmaker to desist from interfering in an ongoing criminal probe. Mr Idris has been having a running battle with the Senate under Mr Saraki, repeatedly refusing to honour summons by the Senate and accusing its members of criminal behaviour. The federal government has blamed the proliferation of arms into the country, through the trans-Saharan routes, on the crisis in Libya. The Defence Minister, Dan-Ali, said this on Thursday at a town hall meeting in Abuja on the farmers and herders clashes. He explained that President Muhammadu Buharis reference to the herdsmen being trained in Libya was in relation to the infiltration of weapons into the country, which has led to loss of many lives. He further disclosed that the government has set up a committee to look into the infiltration and also mandated the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) to rebuild villages in Benue State and ensure they are not far from one another. Mr Dan-Ali, however, complained that the countrys military manpower is not enough to secure every village in the Middle Belt region in order to stop incessant killings occasioned by the clashes. The meeting, which was convened by the Ministry of Information and Culture, had in attendance, the ministers of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, and Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau. Mr Dambazau also blamed the the proliferation of arms into the country on the crisis in Libya as he said it is not just in Nigeria, but the whole of the sub-region of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He stated that a conference on the movement of people and services have been organised in conjunction with ECOWAS. The whole idea is to control the movement of weapons. There is also the concept of biometrics to screen those people who enter Nigeria, he said. The interior ministry, under former minister Abdurahman Dambazau, reviewed the fees for the card from $1,000 to $2,000 on December 13, 2018. In his remark, Mr Ogbeh said as was the case in Argentina, Pakistan and Namibia, there were ongoing plans to generate electricity from cow dung when the government finally puts the reserves in operation. While commenting on the N10 billion rebuilding funds to be given to troubled states, the agriculture minister said the money would be used to rebuild the devastated villages as all the Internally Displaced Persons in Benue State wanted to return home as quickly as possible. He explained that the cash is not only for Benue State alone but other affected states. Mr Ogbeh said NEMA is redesigning the settlements in the villages to bring more communities together so that people dont live too far apart. Otherwise, we dont have enough security to guard every settlement. Unless you have units of 10 or 11 soldiers to guard each village, there is no way that the current security network can cover the needs of villagers who may be attacked in the afternoon or night. That was one of the things we studied on Tuesday. We have to do everything we can to end these pastoral movements, slowly and in the large scale later. We have 415 reserves. Some have been encroached upon while others are still there. We have to provide water and grass, and protect the herdsmen from cattle rustlers, who are also Fulani. The Minister of Interior and I are working on agro-rangers being trained by the military to guard these places so that there can be peace within those communities. Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh We can also then do what has been done in Pakistan, Argentina, and even Namibia here, by using the cow dung to generate electricity. These things we have designed and we are raising funds to start them, he said. The convener of the meeting and the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the clashes between farmers and herdsmen were connected with demographic, environmental, social and economic dynamics and it will be a distortion to attribute the clashes to ethnic and religious reasons. He expressed worry that the contest for land and other natural resources is bound to be keener, and the friction, more. Mr Mohammed, however, said there are various measures that have been taken by the federal government to stop the killings. The Nigerian Air Force has deployed its Special Forces to the newly-established 23 Quick Response Wing in Nguroje, Taraba State. The NAF also has a 1,000-man Special Intervention Force deployed in Makurdi to degrade bandits and criminals in Benue and Nasarawa states. In the last two weeks, the Police Intelligence Response Team and the Police Special Forces, whose work cut across Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, arrested 11 suspects and recovered 10 AK-47 rifles and other firearms from them. These are just some of the arrests made by the security forces in recent days, he said. Some of the delegates at the meeting, which included the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Miyetti Allah Breeders Association, advised the government to work on establishing ranches, noting that that was the 21st century practice which would guarantee lasting peace and security. The Nigerian Police on Friday denied reports that robbers invaded a bank in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State. An Assistant Commissioner of Police and the head of Nigerian Police Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), Abayomi Shogunle, made this known in a tweet on Friday. Some internet users had on Friday circulated reports across social media that some banks were under attack in Taiwo Isale area of the city. The reports, which had gone viral by noon, threw many people into confusion with claims that business activities had been disrupted in the affected area. But Mr Shogunle said the reports were fake news. He said polices preliminary investigations revealed that a bank worker might have mistakenly activated the alarm button. There is no ongoing bank robbery incident in Ilorin, Kwara State. Please disregard the #FakeNews in circulation, he tweeted. @PoliceNG_PCRRU checks reveals that a bank worker might have mistakenly activated Alarm Button. @PoliceNG patrol units are fully on ground in #Ilorin. Mr Shogunles clarification was also retweeted via the official handle of the Nigerian Police Force. A resident of Ilorin who moved around the Taiwo Isale area told PREMIUM TIMES at about 3.13pm on Friday that although it was unclear whether there was any incidence earlier, there were no signs of unrest in the area. The development is coming few weeks after robbers invaded banks in neighboring Offa town, killing some residents and police officers. The chairperson of the Kaduna electoral commission has announced the final results of local government elections held last Saturday. Saratu Dikko said results of 18 local governments had been confirmed. She said the governing party, APC, won in 14 local governments while the opposition PDP won in four local governments. The News Agency of Nigeria had earlier reported how returning officers from local governments declared the PDP winners in five local governments. Ms Dikko, however, confirmed only four for the opposition party. She said the commission would hold elections in the remaining five local government areas in the state on June 2, 2018. According to her, the APC won in Birnin-Gwari, Giwa, Igabi, Ikara, Kaduna North, Sabon-Gari, Kagarko, Kubau, Kudan, Lere, Makarfi, Sanga, Soba and Zaria, while the PDP won in Jemaa, Kachia, Kauru and Zango-Kataf. She said Kaura, Jaba and Kajuru local governments would hold fresh elections on June 2. This conclude the confirmation of the result, she said, adding that the outstanding elections in four wards in Chikun and two wards in Kaduna South local governments would also hold on the same day. She said Certificates of Return would be issued to the winners on May 19. The election marked the first time in Nigerias history that electronic voting would be adopted in any part of the country. While that move earned the state government commendation from many Nigerians, observers of the election faulted the absence of card readers which, consequently, allowed several instances of multiple voting by same individuals. Governor Nasir El-Rufai, however, blamed the absence of the card readers on the Independent National Electoral Commission which, he said, refused to release them to the Kaduna government. The PDP has rejected most of the results and said it would challenge them in court. Some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State have said that they made Governor Rochas Okorocha politically irrelevant in their determination to rescue the party from imminent collapse in the state. Theo Ekechi, who spoke to journalists after a close-door meeting with the APC national leadership on Thursday in Abuja, said the stakeholders had overwhelming evidence against Okorocha. This, he said, had made it impossible for the governor to get attention from any quarter in the state and in the South-east region. There have been wide jubilation in Imo because we have rescued the party from Governor Okorocha, we have made it impossible for him to get help from anywhere. He cannot run to any political figure in the state because none is with him, he cannot approach any clergyman in the state. In his desperation, he ran to Sokoto, Daura and even to the Vice President, but help has refused to come, he said. Mr Ekechi said Mr Okorochas inaction was responsible for the problems facing the party in the state and the South-east generally. In a petition submitted to the partys national leadership, the stakeholders chronicled what they described as the governors sins and appealed for state of emergency in the state. He called on the partys national chairman to bring to the notice of President Muhammadu Buhari the crisis in Imo before it completely gets out of hand. Mr Ekechi alleged that the state was being mis-managed under Mr Okorocha, adding that the governor was running the state like a personal estate. He also alleged that the governor was harassing and intimidating perceived opponents in the state. While Mr Ekechi and others say the ward congress in the state was held with Mr Okorocha and his supporters losing out, the governor has said it was not held and alleged manipulation. The APC local government congress, held in most parts of the country last Saturday was postponed in Imo due to the crisis. (NAN) The Peoples Democratic Party has said it will resist vehemently any attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission to rig the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State. It has also warned that a rigging attempt on the election would spell serious crisis that could threaten the unity of the country. The national chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, while speaking at the flag off of the partys local government election campaign in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Thursday, said there were plans to rig the Ekiti governorship election. Mr Secondus noted that any plot to use security agents to thwart the election would be resisted by the PDP. He commended the security men and women for providing lives and property, but urged them not to be deceived or used to manipulate the election. We warn that if you attempt to rig Ekiti, it will be a recipe for crisis and we dont know whether there will be Nigeria or not, said Mr Secondus. We are bold to say it because you cannot take the peoples rights, you cannot deny them of their votes and we are saying and we want APC to say the same that it will be one man, one vote, one woman, one vote, one youth, one vote. We will never allow an evil individual to destroy this nation or to destroy our state. If you like wait for us, we refuse to be intimidated. We are marching forward to win the election at the national level in 2019, he said. Although other parties will participate in the July Ekiti election, it is expected to be a two-horse race between Kolapo Olusola of the PDP and Kayode Fayemi of the APC. A Lagos high court has ruled that marriages conducted by the Federal Registry, Ikoyi, Lagos are not legally binding. Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor issued an order restraining the registry from conducting marriages, Vanguard reported Friday. He said it was unconstitutional for the federal government to perform the duties of state and local governments. The judgement, delivered on Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1760/16 said marriage registries in the local government and local council development areas of Lagos State are the authentic and legally-binding government divisions established to carry out such functions. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami, said the judgement would be communicated to all stakeholders, including embassies. He said the decision of the court is supreme and it is legally binding on all. He added that all marriages conducted and registered in any of the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas are valid and in accordance with the Marriage Act. According to him, the judgement will put a stop to the perception of superiority of Ikoyi Marriage Registry over the local government registries. We are going to use every available platform in the five divisions across the state to sensitise our people and inform them about this latest development; From Epe to Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja and Lagos Island, he said. In his remarks, the president of the marriage registrars in all the local government and local council development areas, Deji Sokeye, said the responsibilities of the LGAs/LCDAs has come back to them by the virtue of the law and as provided for in section 30 (1) of the marriage act and section 7 (5) of the 1999 constitution. He said the judgement would restore confidence in the certificates already issued and those that will be awarded in future by the registries. A suspect who was arrested by the police last February in connection with the murder of a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Lagos, John Oladokun, has been reportedly killed. Mr Oladokun, popularly known as John Ibafo, was allegedly shot by the police while trying to escape from detention at the State Anti-Robbery Squad in Ikeja. Theyve not announced John Ibafos killing, they said he was trying to escape at Panti, a police source told PREMIUM TIMES. Mr Oladokun, 43, was arrested alongside three others Bashiru Bashorun, 49, also known as Abija; Sunday Balogun, 43, also known as Folori; and Gbolahon Olowokere, 34, also known as Motherless Junior for the murder of one Ganiyu Ayinla. Mr Ayinla, also known as Pinero, was shot and killed after some gunmen opened fire on him and his boss, NURTW chairman in the area, Kunle Azeez, at about 3 a.m. in Lagos Island on January 23. During a press conference to announce the arrest of the suspects, Edgal Imohimi, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, said one pump-action gun and operational vehicle with plate number KTU 713 EZ were recovered from them. So far, they have all confessed to the crime and mentioned one Ade Lawyer who is currently at large as a co-participant in the crime, Mr Imohimi told journalists. This type of killing has become the trend whenever NURTW election is approaching but the Command will certainly make it the last. The police did not allow the suspects to speak wuth journalists before taking them away. Ten days later, the police paraded Ade Lawyer (real name Adeola Williams) and Rafiu Akanni Olohunwa, the immediate past chairman of the NURTW Lagos chapter, after they were arrested by the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team. Ade Lawyer told journalists he had been contracted by Mr Olohunwa to assassinate Mr Azeez and they agreed a N1.5 million fee, a claim Mr Olohunwa denied. Days later, Sahara Reporters reported that the police had released Mr Olohunwa, 51, on the condition that he will always make himself available for questioning in the course of the investigation. Chike Oti, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, denied knowledge of the release. On Wednesday, a police source corroborated Sahara Reporters story, adding that Mr Olohunwa likely flew to London after his release. Theyve released Olohunwa, they granted him bail. They held a party for him. The police had no statement to that effect, the source told PREMIUM TIMES. Photos of Mr Olohunwas supporters surfaced on social media in March showing the former NURTW boss jubilating with his friends after his release. Repeated phone calls to Mr Olohunwas mobile line on Thursday and Friday failed to connect. What I learnt about that Ade Lawyer is that they are holding on to him and they are using him to make money, from some of these big shots and other people who he has in one way or the other implicated, the police source continued. He has mentioned lots of them and when names are mentioned, they will detain the person and collect money from him. And even when there is another crime somewhere and maybe they bring another suspect, that suspect may have one or two relationships with that Ade Lawyer, maybe theyd done one or two jobs together. So they are equally using him to get some other criminals too or get more details into their activities. Contacted on Friday, Mr Oti said he did not have any record of Mr Ibafos death in police custody. I dont have that information with me, Im hearing it from you, he told PREMIUM TIMES. And that your information is wrong because we dont kill people in custody. If the case was that he was trying to escape, I will check on the story. On Mr Olohunwas alleged release from custody, the police spokesperson said, Who granted him bail? Nobody granted him bail, hes still being investigated. I dont know where you got all these information that are not true. Hes still in custody, hes undergoing interrogation as far as I know. 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... The senator representing Ondo North, Ajayi Boroffice, has raised alarm over a plot to plant arms, ammunition and other illegal items on his property in Akure. Mr Boroffice, a senator of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the plan is being orchestrated by desperate politicians and their agents. In a press statement issued on Friday by his media aide, Kayode Fakuyi, the senator described the plot as an act of desperation while calling on security agencies to note the heinous plot. The statement reads, Senator Ajayi Boroffice is in possession of credible information that some desperate politicians and their agents are plotting to plant arms, ammunition and other illegal items in his property in Akure. The plot was hatched in an attempt to robe, frame and implicate the senator in criminal matter. The target is to distract the senator from the responsibilities of lawmaking and representation of the good people of Ondo North senatorial district. The ultimate target is to divert the focus of the senator from his political pursuits. Nevertheless, Senator Boroffice remains unshaken. Meanwhile, it is instructive to note that Senator Boroffice has won elections in the past without recourse to violence or unorthodox means. Thus, the senator has no business with arms and ammunitions. As a matter of fact, Senator Boroffice is a peace-loving Nigerian with no criminal record. The senator said he would take necessary actions to brief President Muhammadu Buhari, an APC leader, Bola Tinubu, and other leaders of the party. The allegation is coming few days after the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, raised alarm that the Nigeria Police is making attempts to implicate him in a criminal case. Mr Saraki told his colleagues that the force had transferred six suspects, previously being investigated in Kwara, to Abuja to make implicating statements against him. The police denied the allegation describing the transfer as a routine exercise in criminal investigation. In his Friday statement, Mr Boroffice did not mention who the desperate politicians are. He did not also mention which of his properties is under threat. Ondo APC leaders have not been on good terms since the 2015 elections that saw Rotimi Akeredolu emerge as governor. Mr Boroffice did not support Mr Akeredolus election in 2016. After the election, the governor and his supporters said they did not consider the senator a member of the APC and that he would have to reapply to the party to become a member. Mr. Boroffice, however, fired back saying he never left the APC and remains a full member of the party. The matter is yet to be fully resolved. The national leadership of the party under a reconciliation committee headed by Mr Tinubu is currently making efforts to resolve the issue in Ondo and other states under the ruling APC ruptured by crises. In February, Mr Akeredolu said that Mr Tinubu would find no work to do in the state since there was peace and stability among members of the (state) APC. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. By: Joshua's Heart Foundation 1 2 3 JHF ribbon cutting JHF plaque presentation JHF check presentation End -- A culmination of goals and hard work were recognized by family, friends, supporters and the North Miami Beach (NMB) Chamber of Commerce with the ribbon cutting for the newly opened Joshua's Heart Foundation (JHF) Food Bank. Although it started with $20 pocket money from a loving grandmother, Joshua Williams, and his volunteers of young leaders, aka JHF's Junior Advisory Board (JAB), have turned that gift into the gift that keeps on giving.A desire to fix a pervasive problem plaguing society has propelled this organization to spectacular accomplishments over the years. With over 2.2 million pounds of food distributed to families in South Florida, Jamaica, Asia and Africa, Joshua's Heart, a 501-C (3) was not operating in the capacity of a Food Bank. Their accomplishments outweigh their official status. This is clear and supported by the numbers: Over $770K raised to fight food insecurity Assisted over 450K families Served over 550K meals Over 100K toys, books and clothes donatedOne Boy, One Message, End Hunger and the Journey to that Goal - "The JHF GOAL is to EDUCATE and TRANSFORM families, individuals, neighborhoods, and communities into becoming experts in STOMPING OUT HUNGER and POVERTY," said Joshua Williams. "Our new Food Bank enables us to take our programs and initiatives to a different level," concluded Williams.The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was hosted by the (NMB) North Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce at the JHF Food Bank located at 2056 NE 155Street in North Miami Beach. In attendance were NMB acting Mayor, Beth Spiegel; NMB Chamber President and NMB City Commissioner, Anthony DeFillipo; NMB Commissioner, Barbara Kramer; NMB Chamber Chairman of the Board, Yona Lunger; and Chamber Office Manager Sue Chernoff. Also attending were staffers from the city manager's office and a representative from the NMB Police Department.Surrounded by his grandmother (Peggy), mother (Claudia), city and chamber officials and the group that makes the magic happen, the JHF Junior Advisory Board members, Joshua officially opened the doors of the new Joshua's Heart Foundation Food Bank. Attendees made on the spot donations and commitments of support were accepted; one notable mention goes to JR Sosa Properties, whose commitment of support for $2500 a year for the next 5 years will go a long way to aid in the fight to end hunger and poverty. Joshua was presented with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from Acting Mayor Beth Spiegel immediately following the ribbon cutting.was founded 2005 in Miami, Florida by Joshua at four and a half years old and is dedicated to the fight against global hunger and poverty. JHF is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit youth run organization, which empowers needy people to improve their quality of life by providing necessities like groceries and personal items. We also effectively engage and educate young people in committing to fight hunger and poverty on a global basis. For more information about Joshua's Heart Foundation, their local events or how to get involved, please contact them at 305.788.8295 . You can also send an email at info@joshuasheart.org and visit their website at www.joshuasheart.org The Summit is being sponsored by the Honorable Elinore Marsh Stormer, Judge of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas (Probate Division), and is being called "An Event Celebrating Older Adults". Media Contact Matt Gurwell Founder, Keeping Us Safe ***@keepingussafe.org 2169048844 Matt GurwellFounder, Keeping Us Safe2169048844 End -- Keeping Us Safe is honored to be participating in the "Senior Summit 2018" conference scheduled for May 18-19, 2018 in Akron, Ohio.The Summit is being sponsored by the Honorable Elinore Marsh Stormer, Judge of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas (Probate Division), and is being calledThe first day of the Summit will consist of a professional conference providing Continuing Education and Continuing Legal Education credits for Ohio's social workers, nurses, licensed nursing home administrators and attorneys.On that day, Matt Gurwell, founder of Keeping Us Safe, has been invited to participate in a round-table discussion titled "Navigating the Challenges of Family Caregiving". This session will be moderated by Monica Robins, Health Reporter for WKYC (NBC-3).Day two of the Summit is a free senior expo featuring food, prizes, classes and services for seniors and those who care for them. It will take place from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Firestone Community Learning Center, located at 470 Castle Blvd., Akron, OH 44313.On that day, Keeping Us Safe will be presenting "A Safe Drive Through the Aging Process". This 1-hour presentation takes a direct yet compassionate approach to the very sensitive subject of recognizing that as we age, it may someday be time to relinquish some of our treasured driving independence. This presentation offers tips on how older drivers, if needed, can make atransition from the driver's seat to the passenger seat.More information on the May 18event for professionals is available here ( http://summitohioprobate.com/ wp-content/uploads/ SeniorSum... ). More information on the May 19event for older adults and the general public is available here ( http://summitohioprobate.com/ wp-content/uploads/ SeniorSum... ). More information on Judge Stormer and the great work she is doing in Summit County, click here (http://summitohioprobate.com/about-judge-stormer/). DUBLIN, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Aluminum Caps & Closures Market by Product Type (Roll-on pilfer-proof Caps, Easy-open Can Ends, Non-refillable Closures), End Use Sector (Beverages, Food, Home & personal Care, Pharmaceutical), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The aluminum caps & closures market size will grow from USD 5.58 Billion in 2018 to USD 6.80 Billion by 2023, at an estimated CAGR of 4.05% The aluminum caps & closures market is expected to witness high growth as a result of the growing end-use industry such as beverage and healthcare as well as the rising concerns toward product quality and safety. Aluminum caps & closures seal the content within the container and allow appropriate dispense of the contents. The segmentation for this report is based on product type, end-use sector, and region. On the basis of product type, roll-on pilfer-proof caps & closures are projected to form the fastest-growing type in the aluminum caps & closures market as they are light in weight, cost-effective, tamper-evident, and can be used to package various types of products belonging to different industries. Aluminum caps & closures are used in various industries and their utility across industries includes maintaining the quality of the products, increasing the shelf life of the commodity, and keeping the products fresh. These are some of the main reasons which have led to the increase in their share in the packaging industry. The beverage segment is projected to have the largest market share and dominate the aluminum caps & closures market from 2018 to 2023. Caps & closures are increasingly used in the pharmaceutical sector, which is expected to play a key role in changing the aluminum caps & closures landscape; the pharmaceutical segment is projected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. The beverages industry, for a long time, has been the major contributor to the rising demand for aluminum caps & closures; however, in recent times, this has been closely competed by other industries such as healthcare. Asia Pacific is projected to grow at the largest market share and dominate the aluminum caps & closures market from 2018 to 2023. Asia Pacific offers potential growth opportunities, as developing countries such as China and India are projected to be emerging markets, making the Asia Pacific region the fastest-growing market for aluminum caps & closures. The growth of the aluminum caps & closures market in this region is propelled by factors such as the growth of the food & beverage, healthcare, and personal care industries. The rise in population and economic development are the other factors driving the growth of this market. Factors such as stringent regulations in the aluminum caps & closures industry and growth in demand for substitutes such as blister packs act as a restraint for the growth of the market. The global market for aluminum caps & closures is dominated by players such as Crown Holding (US), Silgan Holdings (US), Amcor (Australia), Guala Closures (Luxembourg), and Closure Systems International (US). Other players in this market include Alcopack Group (Germany), Herti JSC (Bulgaria), Torrent Closures (Spain), Cap & Seal Pvt. Ltd (India), and Federfin Tech S.R.L (Italy). These players adopted various strategies such as expansions, agreements, acquisitions, and new product developments to expand their presence and increase their share in the aluminum caps & closures market. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 3.1 Aluminum Caps & Closures Market, By End-Use Sector 3.2 Aluminum Caps & Closures Market, By Product Type 3.3 Asia Pacific Market to Grow at the Highest Rate From 2018 to 2023 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Aluminum Caps & Closures Market 4.2 Beverage Sector to Capture the Largest Share in the Asia Pacific Market in 2018 4.3 Aluminum Caps & Closures Market, By Product Type 4.4 Aluminum Caps & Closures Market, By End-Use Sector 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Increasing Demand for Convenience 5.2.1.2 Concerns About Product Safety and Security 5.2.1.3 Product Differentiation and Branding 5.2.1.4 Decreasing Pack Sizes 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 Development of Substitutes 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Emerging Economies 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 Matured Markets 6 Industry Trends 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 6.2.1 Threat of New Entrants 6.2.1.1 Presence of Large-Scale Players 6.2.1.2 High Investments 6.2.2 Threat of Substitutes 6.2.2.1 High Number of Substitutes 6.2.2.2 Low Switching Costs 6.2.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 6.2.3.1 Easy Availability of Raw Materials 6.2.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers 6.2.4.1 High Volume Buyers Hold A High Degree of Bargaining Power 6.2.4.2 Availability of Numerous Substitutes 6.2.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 6.2.5.1 High Degree of Market Fragmentation 6.3 Macroeconomic Indicators 6.3.1 Introduction 6.3.2 Rise in Disposable Income 6.3.3 Increase in Middle-Class Population 6.3.4 Increase in GDP in Emerging Economies 6.3.5 Region-Wise Forecast of the Food Packaging Industry 6.3.6 Trend and Forecast of the Pharmaceutical Industry, By Region 7 Aluminum Caps & Closures Market, By Product Type 7.1 Introduction 7.1.1 Roll-On Pilfer-Proof (ROPP) Caps 7.1.2 Easy-Open Can Ends 7.1.3 Non-Refillable Closures 7.1.4 Others 8 Aluminum Caps & Closures Market, By End-Use Sector 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Beverage 8.3 Food 8.4 Pharmaceutical 8.5 Home & Personal Care 8.6 Others 9 Aluminum Caps & Closures Market, By Region 10 Competitive Landscape 10.1 Overview 10.3 Competitive Scenario 10.3.1 Expansions & Investments 10.3.2 Mergers & Acquisitions 10.3.3 Agreements, Contracts, and Strategic Alliance 10.3.4 New Product and Technology Launch 11 Company Profiles Alameda Packaging Alcopack Group Alupac India Alutop Amcor Cap & Seal Pvt. Ltd. Closure Systems International. Crown Holdings Dyzdn Metal Packaging EMA Pharmaceuticals Federfin Tech S.R.L. Global Closure Systems Guala Closures Herti JSC Hicap Closures ITC Packaging Integrated Caps J.G. Finneran Associates KGS & Co MJS Packaging Manaksia Limited Osias Berk Company Shangyu Sanyou Electro-Chemical Aluminum Products Silgan Holdings Torrent Closures For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5sf96m/5_58_billion?w=5 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com The Ministry of National Security in collaboration with all the security agencies is currently embarking on an operation dubbed Operation Kondanlgou-2018 along the northern borders of Ghana to beef up security and combat Cross-Border crimes. Ghana is collaborating with neighbouring countries at the northern frontiers such as, Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin to conduct the operation to beef up security and ensure the safety of residence along the borders. A statement read on behalf of the Minister, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, by Mr Ben Dery, Director in charge of Technical Operations at the Ministry on Wednesday at a press briefing in Bawku, said the aim of the operation was to keep criminal elements in check and provide security for law abiding persons and make the country a safer place to live in. Mr Dery stated that the operation was estimated to last for few days and that it was focused at combating trans-border crimes such as terrorism, human trafficking, armed robbery and smuggling among others. He mentioned the operation areas as Kulungugu, Namon, Bunkpurugu, Nalerigu, Gambaga, Walewale, and Nanpkanduri. The rest are Bolgatanga, Tongo, Nangode, Zebilla, Binduri, Pusiga Sapeliga and Garu. Lieutenant Colonial Henry Ansah-Akrofi, Ghanas Army Director in charge of Operations who doubles as Leader for the Kondanlgou Operations in Ghana, indicated that as part of the operations, security personnel would conduct joint border patrols, snap and permanent checks to help monitor and control the movement of persons within the operational areas. Lt. Col. Ansah-Akrofi said highways and other relevant routes would be patrolled, while random searches would be conducted for arms and ammunitions, contraband goods as well as identify beats and pillars along the countrys borders. The Operations Leader called on law abiding citizens to cooperate with the modalities of the operation by giving maximum cooperation to the personnel who may come in contact with them, and gave assurance that the operations would cater for the safety of residence within the operational area. The Commanding Officers in-charge of the Operation for the three countries include Mr Ben Dery, Lt. Col. Henry Ansah-Akrofi, Chief Superintendent Yao Tetegah Bawku, Divisional Police Commander, Captain Akila Gendarmerie of Togo, John Jack Kafando, So Police Commander in Burkina Faso and Lt. Col. Sake Mohammed Liaison Officer for the Benin Army. Lt. Col. Sake Mohammed commended the group for the operation because it was going to beef up security of the participating countries and promote socio-economic activities among these countries. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 98 will embark on a 36-date tour this Christmas. Fans responded with overwhelming positive messages to the last year's hit-filled, high-energy and fun-filled holiday show, so this year, more dates and new cities have been added. 98's last Christmas tour played to packed houses across the country. This year's 98 at Christmas 2018 kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 1 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and ends Friday, Dec. 21 in Appleton, Wisconsin. A full list of tour dates and on-sale details can be found at www.98degrees.com. AMEX & Fan Club Pre-Sale: Friday, May 18, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. LOCAL TIME Ticketmaster Pre-Sale: Monday, May 21, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. LOCAL TIME Local City Pre-Sale: Thursday, May 24, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. LOCAL TIME Public On-Sale: Friday, May 25, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. LOCAL TIME Additionally, 98 VIP Packages are also available through their website. 98 has not slowed down since Christmas. In between the band's busy individual schedules, they've headed back into the studio with new music coming later this year. The band will appear on the 67th Miss USA Pageant on FOX on Monday, May 21. But performing to their fans is what 98 loves most, so they've added a few pre-Christmas dates including Aug. 18 in Thackerville, Oklahoma at the WinStar World Casino and Resort (sold out) with their friends, The Backstreet Boys, and will be part of Disney World's International Food and Wine Festival/ Eat to the Beat concert series. Last year's Christmas tour was in support of their first full-length Christmas album in 18 years, Let It Snow. The album received glowing reviews from both fans and critics alike. The album featured the group's signature R&B-tinged, four-part harmonies and was a natural follow up to their 1999 multi-platinum selling This Christmas. In addition to their tour, they also performed on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Disney's Magic Holiday Celebration, Good Morning America, Today Show, Kelly & Ryan and more. In five short years from 1997 to 2002 98 sold a staggering 10 million records, scored a chart-topping single, "Thank God I Found You," with Mariah Carey and Joe, and collaborated with their collective idol, Stevie Wonder, on "True to Your Heart," for the 1998 animated Disney film, Mulan. Their four-million-selling album, 98 and Rising (1998, Motown), spawned the top 5 favorites "Because of You," "I Do," and "The Hardest Thing," while 2000's Revelation (Universal Records), which sold two million copies, peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and yielded a trio of hits, "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)," "My Everything" and "The Way You Want Me To." 11/01/2018 - Thursday - Winnipeg, MB - Club Regent Event Centre 11/02/2018 - Friday - Whitecap, SK - Dakota Dunes Casino 11/03/2018 - Saturday - Enoch, AB - River Cree Resort and Casino 11/06/2018 - Tuesday - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre 11/07/2018 - Wednesday - Bremerton, WA - Admiral Theatre 11/09/2018 - Friday - Brooks, CA - Cache Creek 11/10/2018 - Saturday - Reno, NV - Silver Legacy 11/11/2018 - Sunday - San Luis Obispo, CA - Freemont Theater 11/12/2018 - Monday - Riverside, CA - FOX PAC 11/14/2018 - Wednesday - San Jose, CA - City National Civic 11/15/2018 - Thursday - Modesto, CA - Gallo Center 11/16/2018 - Friday - Santa Clarita, CA - Santa Clarita PAC 11/17/2018 - Saturday - Henderson, NV - Green Valley Ranch 11/18/2018 - Sunday - San Diego, CA - Balboa Theater 11/19/2018 - Monday - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern 11/23/2018 - Friday - Northfield, OH - Hard Rock Casino 11/24/2018 - Saturday - Cincinnati, OH - Aronoff Center 11/25/2018 - Sunday - Indianapolis, IN - Murat 11/28/2018 - Wednesday - Champaign, IL - Virginia Theatre 11/29/2018 - Thursday - Omaha, NE - Orpheum 11/30/2018 - Friday - Kansas City, MO - Ameristar Casino 12/01/2018 - Saturday - Dallas, TX - HOB 12/02/2018 - Sunday - Houston, TX - HOB 12/05/2018 - Wednesday - Detroit, MI - Motor City Casino 12/06/2018 - Thursday - Silver Springs, MD - Fillmore 12/07/2018 - Friday - Morristown, NJ - Mayo PAC 12/08/2018 - Saturday - Medford, MA - Chevalier Theater 12/09/2018 - Sunday - Charleston, WV - Clay Center 12/12/2018 - Wednesday - Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse 12/13/2018 - Thursday - Verona, NY - Turning Stone 12/14/2018 - Friday - Niagara Falls, NY - Seneca Casino 12/15/2018 - Saturday - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata 12/16/2018 - Sunday - Westbury, NY - Westbury Music Fair 12/17/2018 - Monday - Rutland, VT - Paramount Theatre 12/20/2018 - Thursday - Joliet, IL - Rialto Square Theatre 12/21/2018 - Friday - Appleton, WI - Fox Cities PAC FOLLOW 98 Website| iTunes| Spotify| Facebook| Twitter| Instagram Media Contact: Sujata Murthy Email: [email protected] Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejZBBrMLtRo SOURCE 98 AACUS completed its first closed loop mission from takeoff to landing for its intended purpose: actual cargo resupply to Marines. The AACUS enabled UH-1H helicopter successfully completed an autonomous cargo sustainment flight delivering 520 pounds of water, gasoline, MREs, and replacement communications gear including a packed cooler to represent urgently required cargo such as blood. This was the first ever autonomous point-to-point cargo resupply mission providing critical logistics support to Marines in need. Developed under Office of Naval Research's (ONR) Innovative Naval Prototype program, the AACUS enabled UH-1 helicopter is capable of flying completely autonomously, using only its onboard sensors, advanced computers and intelligent algorithms to plan its trajectory and to select its own landing sites in unmapped and hazardous environments. "The AACUS program exceeded all of our expectations," said Dennis Baker, AACUS PM, "The team delivered on each of the ambitious technical performance goals, on schedule and under budget." "Aurora is building autonomous systems that will enable tomorrow's intelligent aircraft," said John Langford, Aurora's founder and CEO. "Whether it's protecting Marines in combat or providing accessible urban transportation, autonomy is the key to the future of aerospace." Aurora's AACUS program was recently selected by the American Helicopter Society (AHS) for its Howard Hughes Award in recognition of an outstanding improvement in fundamental helicopter technology brought to fruition in the previous 18 months. The AACUS team was recognized at the Grand Awards Banquet on May 16th during AHS's 74th Annual Forum & Technology Display in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information on Aurora visit www.aurora.aero About Aurora Flight Sciences Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, is an innovative technology company that develops smarter aircraft utilizing robust and intuitive autonomous systems. Aurora leverages the power of autonomy to make both manned and unmanned flight safer and more efficient. Headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, Aurora has more than 550 employees and operates in six locations, including research and development centers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Luzern, Switzerland; and manufacturing facilities in Bridgeport, West Virginia, and Columbus, Mississippi. To view recent press releases and for more about Aurora please visit our website at www.aurora.aero or follow us @AuroraFlightSci SOURCE Aurora Flight Sciences Related Links http://www.aurora.aero LITTLE ROCK, Ark., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ABC Financial (ABC), the leading software and payment processing provider to the health and fitness industry, announced their preferred partnership with Conduit Innovation. Conduit Innovation is a provider of preconfigured, ready-to-use business intelligence (BI) solutions, including Fitness ONE designed specifically for fitness industry organizations. This subscription-based BI solution combines multiple data streams (operations, marketing, CRM etc.) into a single viewport, analyzes them and delivers actionable insights to eliminate the hassle of data mining for busy fitness-industry leaders. "Conduit Innovation delivers simple, intuitive and integrated business intelligence tools that give club operators immediate and valuable insights into their businesses," stated Kelly Card, SVP of Partner Relations for ABC Financial. "Fitness ONE stands apart for its usability, rapid deployment and immediate value to make the lives of club owners easier." Fitness ONE is comprised of more than 30 standard fitness-industry specific views and offered in three subscription tiers. Depending on the package selected, customers also receive a minimum of two tailored data points included in their reports. "We are delighted to be the preferred BI vendor of choice for ABC Financial," said Justin Perry, founder and chief executive officer for Conduit Innovation. "Our Fitness ONE solution can help ABC's customers thrive amidst fierce competition in a marketplace where the true cost of acquiring new members has never been higher and retaining existing members is crucial to the health of a club." About Conduit Innovation Conduit Innovation partners with growth-stage organizations to help them navigate the complexities of business maturity and market expansion in a digitally driven landscape. Our service product Conduit ONE and its industry-specific dashboards are subscription-based business intelligence solutions designed for non-technical leaders who want to make informed decisions and quickly spot trends with a holistic view across all business data. For more information, visit www.theoneconduit.com. About ABC Financial Launched in 1981, ABC Financial has revolutionized software and payment processing for the health and fitness industry. Headquartered in the Little Rock, Ark. area, ABC Financial serves approximately 7,000 clubs throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The company's innovative club management software, DataTrak, is the most complete web-based software in the health and fitness industry. www.abcfinancial.com. Text DataTrak to 87365 to receive additional information about ABC Financial's club management software. CONTACT INFORMATION: Steve Ayers Chief Revenue Officer ABC Financial 501-515-5066 [email protected] SOURCE ABC Financial Related Links http://www.abcfinancial.com ORLANDO, Fla., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This morning David A. Norris, MD, Chair of American Skin Association's (ASA) Medical Advisory Committee, presented the David Martin Carter Mentor Award and the Research Achievement Awards at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology. The award recipients will be celebrated at a dinner hosted by ASA's Medical Advisory Committee at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort this evening. Since 1989 ASA's David Martin Carter Mentor Award has honored members of the dermatology community who embody the characteristics that made the late David Martin Carter, MD, PhD an inspiration to many dermatologists, investigators, colleagues and medical students throughout the world. Dr. Carter and our late founder, Dr. George Hambrick, were dear friends who worked tirelessly to grow ASA into a leading force in efforts to defeat melanoma, skin cancer and other skin diseases. Recent recipients of David Martin Carter Mentor Award are Dr. Gerald Lazarus (2014) of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Howard Baden (2015) of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Barbara Gilchrest (2016) of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Richard Edelson (2017) of Yale School of Medicine. This year the David Martin Carter Mentor Award was presented to Kathleen Green, PhD of Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Dr. Kathleen Green has influenced the field of dermatology as a distinguished researcher and an esteemed mentor and educator. She is a notable author, having worked on hundreds of scholarly articles. Dr. Green operates The Green Laboratory at Northwestern University. The lab's goal is to understand the molecular basis for how cells stick together, not only to provide mechanical strength to tissues, but also to regulate chemical signals important for development and differentiation. The Green laboratory provides an open, collaborative, congenial research environment promoting high impact research while mentoring students and fellows for a future as independent scientists and educators. Dr. Norris said: "We were very proud to honor Dr. Kathleen Green with the 2018 David Martin Carter Mentor Award. A renowned researcher and educator, Dr. Green is the 26th honoree to receive this prestigious award. Throughout her distinguished research career, she has brought cutting edge basic molecular research techniques to the study of important skin diseases. In so doing, she has prepared a generation of young scientists for careers in investigative dermatology." ASA's Research Achievement Awards were instituted in 1989 to identify established scientists in investigative dermatology and cutaneous biology. This year they recognize those who have greatly advanced work related to autoimmune and inflammatory skin diseases, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, and vitiligo and pigment cell disorders. The following awards were presented: April Armstrong, MD, MPH Keck School of Medicine of USC Research Achievement Award in Psoriasis Lisa Beck, MD University of Rochester Medical Center Research Achievement Award in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Skin Disorders John Harris, MD, PhD University of Massachusetts Medical School Research Achievement Award in Vitiligo and Pigment Cell Biology Allan Halpern, MD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Research Achievement Award in Melanoma and Skin Cancer Jack Resneck Jr., MD University of California San Francisco School of Medicine Research Achievement Award in Public Policy and Medical Education "We are excited to present the Research Achievement Award this year. Drs. Armstrong, Beck, Harris, Halpern and Resneck all made tremendous strides in their respective fields. ASA is proud to celebrate their outstanding achievements," said Dr. David Norris. ABOUT AMERICAN SKIN ASSOCIATION ASA is a unique collaboration of patients, families, advocates, physicians and scientists, and has evolved over thirty-one years into a leading force in efforts to defeat melanoma, skin cancer and important inflammatory and genetic skin diseases. Established to serve the now more than 100 million Americans one third of the U.S. population afflicted with skin disorders, the organization's mission remains to: advance research, champion skin health particularly among children, and drive public awareness about skin disease. For more information, visit americanskin.org. SOURCE American Skin Association Related Links http://www.americanskin.org ROHNERT PARK, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Defaulting on federal student loans is a big deal. Though getting out of default can be considered a new start, collection agencies can make repayment even more difficult than before default by adding exorbitant fees to the balance. At a time when repayment needs to be easier for struggling borrowers, those collection fees can push monthly payments even further out of reach. Ameritech Financial, a document preparation company that helps federal student loan borrowers apply for federal repayment plans, reminds any borrower struggling to make payments that income-driven repayment programs might provide some relief. "Borrowers who can't afford their payments for long enough might walk away from default with even higher amounts due," said Tom Knickerbocker, executive vice president of Ameritech Financial. After 270 days of failing to make a payment, federal student loans will default and be sent to a collection agency. The Department of Education contracts with several private collection agencies for student loans and such agencies can charge borrowers fees that get added to their balance. There are a couple of ways to get out of student loan default that don't involve simply paying the balance in full. However, the fees accrued during default will remain a part of the balance owed by the borrower even after a borrower gets out of default and is current on his or her loans. Some states are considering legislation that might help defaulted borrowers. Unfortunately, many borrowers must help themselves. However, previously defaulted borrowers are at high risk of defaulting again. It is essential that borrowers can transition out of default into an affordable repayment plan. Ameritech Financial reminds such borrowers that federal income-driven repayment plans (IDRs) can potentially reduce payments relative to income and family size. While certain borrowers enjoy IDR payments as low as zero, other borrowers may be more likely to stay current on their loans and avoid default when enrolled in an IDR. "We believe that default is preventable for most situations as long as borrowers have the right support," said Knickerbocker. "At Ameritech Financial, we help borrowers understand and apply for IDRs that are intended to prevent default even for borrowers who struggle the most with payments." About Ameritech Financial Ameritech Financial is a private company located in Rohnert Park, California. Ameritech Financial has already helped thousands of consumers with financial analysis and student loan document preparation to apply for federal student loan repayment programs offered through the Department of Education. Each Ameritech Financial telephone representative has received the Certified Student Loan Professional certification through the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA). Ameritech Financial prides itself on its exceptional customer service. Ameritech Financial Newsroom Contact To learn more about Ameritech Financial, please contact: Ameritech Financial 5789 State Farm Drive #265 Rohnert Park, CA 94928 1-800-792-8621 [email protected] Related Images student-loan-default-and-income.jpg Student Loan Default and Income-Driven Repayment Credit: Flynt/Bigstock image2.png Related Links Ameritech Financial home page Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRza8MbLvuM SOURCE Ameritech Financial MELBOURNE, Fla., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AML Superconductivity & Magnetics (AML) www.AML-Enabled.com, the world leader in the development of magnet-based applications, today announced the launch of a new aerospace and aviation focus of its transformative electrical machine development program designed to produce propulsion motors with unprecedented performance and cost efficiency for select customers. With this announcement, the company is poised to lead the industry in a revolution of what's possible for electrically powered aircraft. AML High Power Density Motor The program applies AML's proprietary technologies, including its advanced CoilCAD software to deliver ultra high-power, lightweight motors and generators that achieve unprecedented magnetic flux density without traditional back iron. Additionally, AML developed a novel stator system, that optimizes reliability, overload allowance and redundancy compared to existing electrical machines. "Over the course of the next 18 months, we expect to achieve unmatched progress with commercially viable electrical machines for aircraft," said Dr. Rainer Meinke, Co-Founder and CTO of AML. This program is based on the fact that motors are the heart of electric propulsion, magnets are the heart of motors, and AML is the world leader in magnetic configurations. To enable scaling of manufacturing of these motors and components, AML is also developing PM-WireTM, a novel technology for manufacturing permanent magnets that reduces cost, waste, and time, while increasing safety and the underlying performance. Simply, it revolutionizes the way magnets are made. In a game-changing development, AML's motor configuration combined with its manufacturing technology is showing a potential performance increase of more than 30 percent in high-volume production of these machines. "Our software allows customers to explore thousands of design solutions for the most optimized configuration AND the magnets inside," said Mark Senti, Co-Founder and CEO of AML. Senti attended the UBER Elevate Summit this past week representing AML and its constituents in e-mobility. This summit brought together more than 700 of the world's foremost on-demand aviation leaders in industry, government, and academia. The global market size for motors and related components was estimated at $118 billion in 2017 with growth to over $200 billion by 2025. The leading consumers of motors include electric vehicles and industrial machinery at over 60% combined. The aerospace market grabbed about 6% market share in 2017 and is projected to remain through 2025. While electric vehicles and other industries have and are expected to command significant share of the need for motors, AML believes its innovation holds the key to the future of aviation. "This may be the holy grail for the electrification of aviation," Dr. Meinke said. "We are excited to specifically focus on this multi-billion dollar market where size and weight are fundamental for electric propulsion to be successful as a viable transport system," Senti said. Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made under the Safe Harbor Provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated. The information contained in this release is as of May 18, 2018. Advanced Magnet Lab, Inc. assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments. Contact Information Mark Senti, CEO Contact: [email protected]; 321-728-7543 ext. 10 SOURCE AML Superconductivity & Magnetics Related Links http://www.AML-Enabled.com SAN CARLOS, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Apexigen, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Frances Rena Bahjat, Ph.D. as Vice President, Discovery Research. In this newly-created position, Dr. Bahjat will report to Xiaodong Yang, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Apexigen, and will lead the discovery and preclinical development of the Company's immuno-oncology (I-O) therapeutics pipeline. "Rena has significant experience in immunology and pharmaceutical research and development, including the discovery of numerous drug candidates across a diverse array of target classes and therapeutic areas. She has specific expertise leading immuno-oncology drug discovery, spanning from early lead to preclinical through translational medicine," said Xiaodong Yang, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Apexigen. "Rena will lead discovery of our new generation of I-O therapeutics and support the development of our lead I-O program APX005M. We welcome her to our growing team." "I am very excited to be joining the Apexigen team and helping to build upon the progress and promise demonstrated to date from the APX005M program," said Rena Bahjat, Ph.D., Vice President, Discovery Research. "I look forward to leading the discovery and development of a pipeline of additional programs to bring the promise of I-O to fruition for the benefit of patients." Dr. Bahjat has nearly 20 years of experience encompassing target discovery and preclinical and clinical development of biologics and small molecules for cancer, as well as autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Prior to joining Apexigen, she served as Senior Director of In vivo Studies for Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she was responsible for overseeing Biologics Discovery Pharmacology and In vivo Antibody Discovery operations at the Company's research facility in Redwood City. Prior to joining BMS, Dr. Bahjat was an Assistant Professor at Oregon Health & Sciences University where she conducted NIH-funded basic and translational research and facilitated preclinical development of innate agonist therapeutics for clinical use. Previously, she served as Associate Director of Pharmacology at Rigel Pharmaceuticals where she contributed to the preclinical development of kinase inhibitors for cancer, allergy, and autoimmune diseases, including Tavalisse for Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP). Dr. Bahjat also held positions at Oncovir, Nuvelo (now Arca Biopharma), Corgentech-AlgoRX, and Nereus Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA). About Apexigen Apexigen is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing a new generation of antibody therapeutics for oncology, with an emphasis on new immuno-oncology agents that could harness the patient's immune system to combat and eradicate cancer. APX005M and the Company's additional preclinical programs were discovered using APXiMABTM, Apexigen's proprietary product discovery platform. This platform has enabled the Company and its collaboration partners to discover and develop high-quality therapeutic antibodies against a variety of molecular targets, including targets that are difficult to drug with conventional antibody technologies. Seven product candidates discovered using APXiMABTM are currently in clinical development, either internally by Apexigen or by its partners. For more information, please visit www.apexigen.com. Apexigen Contact: Mark Nevins Vice President, Business Development 650-931-6236 [email protected] SOURCE Apexigen, Inc. Related Links http://www.apexigen.com ST. LOUIS, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Arch Coal, Inc. announced today the names of eight graduating high school seniors who are the 2018 Arch Coal Scholars Program recipients. Each student will receive a $2,000 annual scholarship for up to four years to attend an accredited college or university of their choice. The Arch Coal Scholars Program is open to children of eligible employees of Arch Coal and its subsidiaries. Recipients are selected based on academic record, leadership, and participation in school and community activities. A statement of education and career goals, a work history and an outside appraisal also are included in the application. "Each year, we look forward to recognizing the outstanding achievements of our employees' children through the Arch Coal Scholars Program," said John W. Eaves, Arch Coal's chief executive officer. "The 2018 class of recipients follows a long line of graduating students who exhibit high standards of academic achievement, outstanding citizenship and a strong work ethic. We are pleased that we can reward their efforts with funds to help them continue their educations and reach their goals. We congratulate them on their hard work and success thus far." The 2018 Arch Coal Scholars are: Student's Name Parents' Names Student's Hometown Bethany Ball Michael and Crystal Ball Lake, W.Va. Victoria Dean David and Dana Dean Morgantown, W.Va. Mason Dulakis Dennis and Karen Dulakis Edinburg, Ill. Corey Goede Jeff and Rhonda Goede Fenton, Mo. Skylar Ketchem Kevin and Brandy Ketchem Belington, W.Va. Lechuan Ma Hezhong Ma and Yue "Lily" Chen Chesterfield, Mo. Jessica Melvin Kermitt and Nina Melvin Philippi, W.Va. Kassidy Rapke Jeff and Stevi Rapke Paonia, Colo. Scholarship America is the country's largest private sector scholarship and educational support organization. It administers all aspects of the Arch Coal Scholars Program, including the independent selection process. The Arch Coal Scholars Program has provided four-year scholarships to more than 325 high school graduates since it began in 1989. Arch Coal also supports educational excellence through its annual Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards in West Virginia and Wyoming. U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. is a top coal producer for the global steel and power generation industries. Arch operates a streamlined portfolio of large-scale, low-cost mining complexes that produce high-quality metallurgical coals in Appalachia and low-emitting thermal coals in the Powder River Basin and other strategic supply regions. For more information, visit www.archcoal.com. SOURCE Arch Coal, Inc. Related Links http://www.archcoal.com Kasdan is considered one of the nation's leading construction defect authorities, achieving over $1 billion dollars in trials, verdicts, arbitration awards, and settlements for his clients in the Western United States. He has practiced law for over forty years and is the senior partner with Kasdan LippSmith Weber Turner LLP, established in 1992. Kasdan has been at the forefront of construction defect litigation where he has advanced the intersection of science and technology in the advocacy of construction defect claims. He has helped change building codes to protect homeowners' rights and litigated cases with complex issues involving corrosion of building components, sulfate attack damage to concrete, soil subsidence, water intrusion, and wind-related damage. Extensive litigation and multiple million-dollar verdicts and settlements has resulted in the construction industry modifying many of its procedures to produce better, stronger, and more durable concrete used throughout the Western United States. Well known in the national legal profession and a sought-after speaker on construction defect litigation, Kasdan is a member of the American Bar Association and the State Bars of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Hawaii, as well as the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) and construction-related associations such as the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the International Code Council (ICC). Among his many professional activities, Kasdan is a member in multiple states of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and the Educational Community for Homeowners (ECHO). Kasdan earned his J.D. law degree from the State University of New York, at Buffalo, and a Bachelor of Arts degree, Cum Laude, from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York. Kasdan has been licensed to practice in California since 1976. Kasdan is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubble, the highest rating achievable for both judicial skill and ethics. Since 2009 to the present, he has been selected for inclusion as a Southern California SuperLawyer. About Kasdan LippSmith Weber Turner LLP Kasdan LippSmith Weber Turner LLP is a law firm practicing in Construction Defect, Class Action, and Consumer Law with offices in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Hawaii* (Hawaiian practice in affiliation with Kasdan LippSmith LLLC). To learn more, visit klwtlaw.com. SOURCE Kasdan LippSmith Weber Turner LLP Related Links http://klwtlaw.com/ DUBLIN, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Automotive ECUs for ADAS and Autonomous Driving Systems, North America and Europe, 2017" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. With the advent of autonomous driving, humans are slowly being asked to relinquish control to the vehicle. However, in the near future, as the automotive industry paves the way from manually driven vehicles to fully autonomous vehicles via semi-autonomous vehicles, changes in the vehicle E/E architecture that help achieve this transition should be scrutinized closely. This study analyzes the transition of autonomous ecosystem from ADAS ECUs to the ECUs and E/E architecture required to enable autonomous driving. The current market is dominated by ADAS ECUs supporting L2 features and vehicles on road are yet to advance from L2; however, suppliers are in the process of developing ECUs for HAD and AD. The regulatory mandate of LDW and AEB will drive the demand for ADAS ECUs in the near future. However, the traditional approach of adding discreet ECUs for every new feature will affect the performance of an autonomous vehicle by adding complexity to the E/E architecture and slowing down the communication of safety critical information. Due to increase in complexity and cost, domain-controlled architecture and Ethernet backbone will be important to future E/E development. Domain -controlled architecture will support autonomous driving by enabling high-speed communication for critical information and will allow easy development of fail operational system. From domain-controlled E/E architecture, it will eventually evolve to a centralized architecture. Early mover advantage in the autonomous ecosystem has gained NVIDIA ample traction while Intel's greater resources have enabled Intel to set up a robust product portfolio through acquisition, Mobileye in particular. NXP and Renesas are pioneers in the automotive semiconductor market and have ample experience in manufacturing automotive-grade semiconductors. This study delves into the autonomous solutions developed by these companies and compares their solutions. These solutions from Tier II are integrated by Tier I suppliers to cater to the demands of OEMs. Aptiv and Mobileye have developed a multidomain controller while ZF and NVIDIA have partnered to develop a safety domain ECU named ProAI. Most OEMs are aggressive when it comes to the development of autonomous driving and are constantly in search for advanced technology suppliers in the marketboth matured developers and autonomous start-ups. Most OEMs have already partnered with Tier I suppliers or have formed alliances with multiple OEMs and suppliers for the development of technology. Audi showcased its domain-controlled architecture, zFAS, developed in partnership with NVIDIA, Mobileye, Infineon, Intel Altera, TTTech and Aptiv. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary Executive Summary-Highlights Key Findings-ADAS ECU Market Key Findings-ADAS ECU Developers Key Findings-Domain Controllers Key Findings-Autonomous Solution Developers Key Findings-System Integrators Key Findings-OEM Approach Key Conclusions and Future Outlook 2. Research Scope, Objectives, and Methodology Research Scope Research Aims and Objectives Key Questions This Study Will Answer Research Methodology 3. Definitions E/E Architecture Definitions Sensors Currently Used Across Applications Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Definitions 4. ADAS ECU Market ADAS ECU Outlook ADAS ECU Market for L1-BSD, LDW, NV ADAS ECU Market for L2-PA, ACC, AEB Mitsubishi Electric Autoliv Hitachi Automotive Systems TTTech Computertechnik AG 5. Migration from ADAS to Autonomous Driving Feature Adoption for Each Level of Autonomous Driving Levels of Autonomous Driving and Sensors ECUs for Autonomous Applications 6. Need for Domain-controlled architecture Problems with Current Architecture Evolution of E/E Architecture Advantages of Domain Controllers Domain-controlled Architecture 7. Evolution of E/E Architecture Evolution of E/E Architecture Types of Future Architecture GPU vs. FPGA 8. Major Autonomous Driving Solution Developers NVIDIA NVIDIA Drive PX Family Intel Intel GO Platform EyeQ Series NXP Semiconductors NXP BlueBox Renesas Renesas Autonomy Competition Landscape 9. System Integrators Continental Safety Domain ECU Aptiv Multidomain Controller ZF ProAI 10. OEM Approach zFAS (zentrale Fahrerassistenzsteuergert)-Audi 11. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action Growth Opportunity-Investments and Partnerships from OEMs/TSPs Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth 12. Conclusions and Future Outlook Key Conclusions and Future Outlook The Last Word-3 Big Predictions Legal Disclaimer 13. Appendix List of Exhibits Market Engineering Methodology Abbreviations and Acronyms Used For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9svds9/automotive_ecus?w=5 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com As a party UKIP reached their existential crisis some time ago and continued to fall apart. However, there remains a small bridgehead in Wales, where their group of five AMs plus one currently sitting as an Independent must wait until 2021 for a reckoning.In the meantime they continue to exist in their own personal Idaho, rowing with each other, stomping out of the group in a huff and seeking to play out their petty divisions in personal attacks on each other.And so it came to pass this week that the formerly disgraced Tory MP, resurrected as a UKIP AM, Neil Hamilton, who himself emerged as Welsh Leader in a coup, has been replaced by one of his colleagues , following a stormy meeting which it is alleged could be heard reverberating around the corridors of Ty Hywel.The new leader of the UKIP group of AMs is their semi-visible South Wales West member, Caroline Jones. She was on Radio Wales earlier explaining how she wanted to bring a new 'positive edge' to UKIP in the Assembly. So no more mentions of ' Carwyn Jones concubines ' then? She also claimed that she was active around her region and that there is photographic evidence for this. So that will be this then:It is difficult to see what a party whose whole raison d'etre lies behind them can contribute to Welsh politics, even under a new leadership. UKIP's willingness to resort to racist propaganda, their own troubling relationship with many of their members including full time MEPs, some of whom in the past have ended up in court. and their faction-riven nature must surely mark them out for extinction.That moment cannot come too soon for the health of devolved politics.Neil Hamilton has told the BBC that he was informed by text that he had been ousted as leader. He has accused the group of ambushing him. You couldn't make this stuff up. ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Beacon Communications, a leader in full-service crucial communications in healthcare for over 20 years, today announced the expansion of its distribution territory into several new states with Rauland healthcare product lines. The addition of these territories is a result of an expansion of their strategic partnership with Rauland, a critical communications and life-safety solutions provider. This expansion will introduce Beacon Communications into North Dakota, Minnesota and portions of Wisconsin. The company's new office locations include Rochester and MinneapolisSaint Paul, Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota. Together, the two companies will work to design, implement and support crucial communication solutions in the Healthcare industry. "Over the past 20 years, we've been able to meet and exceed the expectations of our tremendous client base thanks to our exceptional staff, premium customer service and by leveraging our enhanced capabilities through our business partners", says Brad Walsh, President of Beacon Communications. "Now we have the opportunity to bring that level of quality and expertise to a new territory of customers, which is really exciting." Maureen Pajerski, VP & CMO of Rauland added, "Beacon has always been a valued business partner and we are excited about the synergies and opportunities created as a result of expanding their territory. As we continue our 20 plus year relationship with Beacon, the most significant beneficiary of this change will be our customers, with expanded solutions and services that will help them strengthen their focus on improving patient care and the caregivers ability to deliver that care." About Beacon Communications Beacon Communications, LLC is the industry's leading full-service crucial communications, AV and security solutions provider. We specialize in delivering solutions with the design, sale, installation, training and service of the industry's best electronic communication, AV and security systems. We focus on helping companies in Healthcare, Government Municipalities, Education, and Commercial Real Estate operate more efficiently, cost-effectively, and safely. We provide support and service to a variety of buildings and institutions that require crucial communications on a daily basis. For more information, visit www.beaconcom.com About Rauland Rauland, a division of AMETEK, Inc., is a respected leader in the design and delivery of critical communications, workflow and life-safety solutions for hospitals and education worldwide. Serving more than one million acute care beds in 40 countries, Rauland Responder communication and workflow solution helps staff deliver the best possible patient care, with fast, direct patient-to-staff communication, flexible integration, intelligent call routing and real-time reporting. Responder helps gather data real-time for easier decision-making, optimized workflow and enhanced patient care and satisfaction. For more information, visit www.rauland.com SOURCE Beacon Communciations LLC Related Links http://www.beaconcom.com THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digi-Key Electronics, a global electronic components distributor, was honored with Bel Fuse, Inc.'s Distributor of the Year for 2017 award at the 2018 EDS Banquet in Las Vegas, NV. The criteria of this award is based on overall sales, sales growth, marketing support, and customer service. The award was presented by Pete Walmsley, David Campbell, Dan Bernstein, Bret Murphy, Pete Bittner, Andy Calloway, Anthony Spagnolia, Nic Choy, and Andy Jones at Bel Fuse, Inc. and given to Matt Nemec, Dave Doherty, and Chris Beeson at Digi-Key. Bel Fuse, Inc. Presents Digi-Key with Distributor of the Year for 2017 Award "We at Digi-Key greatly appreciate receiving Distributor of the Year from Bel Fuse," said Matt Nemec, Supplier Business Development Director at Digi-Key. "This award highlights our strong and collaborative partnership and we look forward to continued success with Bel in the years to come." Bel Fuse has been at the forefront of the industry shift to board level, surface mount, and fuse designs, including the C2Q Chip Fuses with 0603 footprint. Bel Fuse, Inc.'s robust and broad circuit protection product portfolio is available for immediate shipment globally from Digi-Key. For more information, or to order from Digi-Key's full line of Bel Fuse products, please visit any of Digi-Key's global websites. About Digi-Key Electronics Digi-Key Electronics, headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minn., USA, is an authorized global, full-service distributor of electronic components, offering more than 6.8 million products, with over 1.4 million in stock and available for immediate shipment, from over 750 quality name-brand manufacturers. Digi-Key also offers a wide variety of online resources such as EDA and design tools, datasheets, reference designs, instructional articles and videos, multimedia libraries, and much more. Technical support is available 24/7 via email, phone and webchat. Additional information and access to Digi-Key's broad product offering can be found by visiting www.digikey.com. Editorial Contact for Digi-Key Electronics Kayla Krosschell PR & Marketing Communications Specialist 1.800.338.4105 x1098 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Digi-Key Electronics Related Links https://www.digikey.com PUNE, India, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "Biological Safety Cabinet Market by Type (Class I, Class II (Type A, Type B), Class III), End User (Pharmaceutical & Biopharmaceutical Companies, Diagnostic & Testing Laboratories, Academic & Research Institution) - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 205.9 Million by 2022 from USD 144.3 Million in 2017, at a CAGR of 7.4%. Growth in the Biological Safety Cabinets Market is primarily driven by factors such as favorable regulations driving the use of biological safety cabinets in the healthcare industry, increased risk of pandemics and communicable diseases, increasing number of R&D activities in biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies, and rapid growth in the number of biologics. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Browse 61 market data Tables and 28 Figures spread through 114 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Biological Safety Cabinet Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/biological-safety-cabinet-market-60228904.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report The Class II biological safety cabinets segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2017 On the basis of type, the Biological Safety Cabinets Market has been segmented into Class I, Class II, and Class III biological safety cabinets. The Class II biological safety cabinets segment accounted for the largest share of the biological safety cabinet's market in 2017. The large share and high growth of this segment can primarily be attributed to the high level of protection offered by these cabinets. Pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies held the largest share of the market in 2017 On the basis of end user, the Biological Safety Cabinets Market has been segmented into pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies, diagnostic and testing laboratories, and academic & research institutions. In 2017, the pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies segment accounted for the largest share of the Biological Safety Cabinets Market. This segment is also projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The large share and high growth of the market can be attributed to the increasing demand for drug development and the need to ensure the safety of laboratory personnel. Ask for PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=60228904 North America to dominate the market in 2017 In 2017, North America accounted for the largest share of the Biological Safety Cabinets Market, followed by Europe. The large share of the North American region can be attributed to the increasing biomedical research and R&D by pharmaceutical companies in the region, growing stem cell research, government support for research in the US, and government support for the development of protein drugs in Canada, which increases the need for biological safety cabinets. The major market players in the Biological Safety Cabinets Market include Thermo Fisher Scientific (US), Esco Micro (Singapore), Labconco (US), The Baker Company (US), Kewaunee Scientific (US), NuAire (US), Germfree Laboratories (US), EUROCLONE (Italy), Cruma (Spain), Air Science (US), Berner International (Germany), and BIOBASE (China). Know more about the Biological Safety Cabinets Market: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/biological-safety-cabinet-market-60228904.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, "Knowledge Store" 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] Connect with us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets BJ's surprised Amy Crawford, teacher at Burlington Elementary School, with the announcement that her projects were funded as part of the $50,000 donation to DonorsChoose.org. BJ's donation will support a variety of projects and classrooms in Roanoke. Projects funded include: Games and athletic equipment that allow children to practice the skill of throwing Magnetic whiteboards so every child can participate in classroom literacy activities Tablets to explore different mathematics functions and processes "We are so excited to welcome BJ's Wholesale Club to the Roanoke area, and are so thankful for the generous donation," said Rianne Roberts, partnership manager at DonorsChoose.org. "Their support will help equip students and classrooms with the tools they need for a positive learning experience." BJ's new Roanoke club is scheduled to open in Fall 2018 and will be located along Hershberger Road, N.W. in the Crossroads Shopping Center. The club will provide unbeatable value and outstanding fresh food options to the community, saving families up to 25 percent off grocery store prices*. For more information on the Roanoke club opening, offerings and membership offers, you can visit BJs.com/Roanoke or the local BJ's Wholesale Club Hospitality Center located at 1507 Hershberger Rd N.W. *25% savings is based on Member pricing on a basket of 100 national brand household staples, on an unpromoted unit-price basis, when compared to four leading grocery chains in our trade areas. Learn more at www.bjs.com/25percentterms. About BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. is the leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States. The company currently operates 215 clubs and 134 BJ's Gas locations in 16 states. BJ's provides a one-stop shopping destination filled with top-quality, leading brands, including its exclusive Wellsley Farms and Berkley Jensen brands, along with USDA Choice meats, premium produce and delicious organics, many in supermarket sizes. BJ's is also the only major membership warehouse club to accept all manufacturers' coupons. About DonorsChoose.org Founded in 2000 by a Bronx history teacher, DonorsChoose.org has raised over $500 million for America's classrooms. Teachers come to DonorsChoose.org to request the materials and experiences they need most for their classrooms, and donors give to the projects that inspire them. To date, 2.4 million people and partners have funded projects on the site, reaching 21 million students and making DonorsChoose.org the leading platform for supporting U.S. public schools. DonorsChoose.org is the only crowdfunding platform that vets each request, delivers materials directly to schools, and captures the impact of every funded project with photos, thank yous, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. In 2014, DonorsChoose.org made the top 10 of Fast Company's list of the World's Most Innovative Companies, the first time a charity has received such recognition. SOURCE BJ's Wholesale Club Related Links http://www.bjs.com BRENTWOOD, Tenn., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Argentum honored Brookdale's Celebrate Aging Film Festival at their Senior Living Executive Conference in San Diego, May 14-16, 2018. The first annual film festival won the Argentum Best of the Best Award, which recognizes innovative new programs and services that are working to improve the future of senior living. Argentum is a leading senior living trade organization. Brookdale's Celebrate Aging Film Festival Best Picture and Best Technical Design winners, Marvalene Stanphill, resident and lead actress and Mary Donna Ott, resident programs director and film director, from Brookdale Florence. "We established the Celebrate Aging Film Festival to change the perception of aging, and it is doing just that," said Carol Cummings, senior director of Optimum Life engagement at Brookdale. "It is an honor to receive the esteemed Best of the Best Award, which affirms the innovative work we are doing at Brookdale." Brookdale invited residents and associates from each of its communities to submit a five-minute short film, made using only an iPad, which paints aging in a positive light. Each community has at least one iPad available for residents to keep up-to-date with technology. Seventy-four films were submitted to the Celebrate Aging Film Festival and nine received nominations for Best Acting, Best Technical Design, Best Writing, Best Picture and the Courage Award. All nine films were up for the Ecolab People's Choice Award, with voting open to the public. Residents and associates gathered in Franklin, Tennessee for a red-carpet awards ceremony in October. "The Celebrate Aging Film Festival gives our residents and associates an opportunity to work together creatively using the iPad technology," said Cummings. "I am still in awe of the films our communities created. I can't wait to see what they come up with this year!" The 2018 Celebrate Aging Film Festival is scheduled for Wednesday, October 3, at the historic Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee. The event is generously sponsored by Ecolab. About Brookdale Senior Living Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is the leading operator of senior living communities throughout the United States. The Company is committed to providing senior living solutions primarily within properties that are designed, purpose-built and operated to provide the highest-quality service, care and living accommodations for residents. Brookdale operates independent living, assisted living, and dementia-care communities and continuing care retirement centers, with approximately 1,010 communities in 46 states and the ability to serve approximately 99,000 residents as of March 31, 2018. Through its ancillary services program, the Company also offers a range of home health, hospice and outpatient therapy services. Brookdale's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BKD. For more Brookdale news, go to brookdalenews.com. About Ecolab A trusted partner at more than one million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources. With 2014 sales of $14 billion and 47,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe food, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use and improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare, energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com. Contact: Dana Schroering, 615-564-8543, [email protected] SOURCE Brookdale Senior Living Related Links http://www.brookdaleliving.com SAITAMA, Japan, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Calsonic Kansei Corporation, a global automotive supplier, will exhibit its products at the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2018 Yokohama; organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan. This annual event will be held at Pacifico Yokohama from May 23 to 25. The Calsonic Kansei booth welcomes visitors with "BLUE GATE" based on the symbol color blue. In the exhibition, the proprietary innovative technology supporting the changing automotive industry and passion for "Monozukuri" (manufacturing) can be seen in the three zones; Energy Management introducing system solutions which minimizes energy loss, Cabin Innovation to realize comfort and convenience in the era of autonomous driving as the general integrator, and 80th Corporate chronicling the company's 80 years of the pride and passion for "Monozukuri," and the DNA that is inherited toward the future. (Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201805143868-O1-631Q8N46) Exhibition Contents of Calsonic Kansei booth during Automotive Engineering Exposition 2018 Yokohama - Energy Management This display includes six technology areas (*), a technology road map, and the development capabilities of Calsonic Kansei for automotive energy management, with videos and a beautiful and visionary model. There is also a "technology showcase," where the display includes newly developed products and tablets to browse the content freely. (*) Six technology areas "Intake Air Temperature Control," "Efficient Heat Radiation," "Catalyst Temperature Control," "Exhaust Heat Recovery," "Air Conditioning Power Saving" and "Electrical Energy Management" - Cabin Innovation On display are technologies which provide interior comfort and convenience in the era of autonomous driving, with three concept models. In addition, the company exhibits security services and products that protect vehicles from cyber-attacks, in cooperation with the concept models. - 80th Corporate Calsonic Kansei has been contributing to the development of the automotive industry and delivered countless innovative products for 80 years. The company shows the DNA (history) of its "Monozukuri" with a video. Calsonic Kansei's official website now has a special page for the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2018. https://www.calsonickansei.co.jp/en/exhibition/201805/ Details of the Calsonic Kansei booth will be available from May 23. You can see the advanced technology of Calsonic Kansei and the company's 80-year history. Outline of the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2018 Yokohama Dates and Hours: May 23 (Wed.) to May 25 (Fri.) 10:00 - 18:00 (until 17:00 on May 25) Exhibition Venue: Pacifico Yokohama (3-minute walk from Minato Mirai Station) Calsonic Kansei booth: Booth No.302 Admission: Free About Calsonic Kansei Corporation Headquarters: Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture President and CEO: Beda Bolzenius Website: https://www.calsonickansei.co.jp/en/ SOURCE Calsonic Kansei Corporation Related Links https://www.calsonickansei.co.jp/en/ DOVER, Del., May 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Company announced today that Michael P. McMasters, President and CEO, and Beth W. Cooper, Senior Vice President and CFO of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) will be hosting a live webcast at 2:15 pm MST (Mountain Standard Time) on Sunday, May 20th at the 2018 AGA Financial Forum taking place in Phoenix, Arizona. Webcast participants and members of the live audience will learn about the projects the Company currently has underway and other strategic initiatives which position the Company for future growth. To listen to the live webcast, visit Chesapeake's website at www.chpk.com, click on Investors/Events and Webcasts/Other Events then click on the "Listen to Webcast" link under the 2018 AGA Financial Forum section or just click on the following link: Listen to Webcast. You will be prompted to register for the webcast that will start promptly at 2:15 pm MST where the live audio and slides of the presentation being given will be available. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is a diversified energy company engaged in natural gas distribution, transmission, gathering and processing, and marketing; electricity generation and distribution; propane gas distribution and other businesses. Information about Chesapeake Utilities Corporation and the Chesapeake family of businesses is available at www.chpk.com or through the Company's IR App. Please note that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has no affiliation with Chesapeake Energy, an oil and natural gas exploration company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. For more information, contact: Beth W. Cooper Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer 302.734.6799 SOURCE Chesapeake Utilities Corporation Related Links http://www.chpk.com TAKOMA PARK, Md., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CleanChoice Energy, a renewable energy company providing 100% clean electricity to customers, has been chosen by the City of Takoma Park to supply residents and businesses with renewable energy on an opt-in basis. The new partnership reflects Takoma Park's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions citywide. Through the partnership, residents and businesses have the opportunity to support 100% Maryland-based clean energy furthering the regional benefits of clean air, water, and jobs. The City has long purchased 100% wind electricity through renewable energy credits for its own operations. In 2014 the City adopted a Sustainable Energy Action Plan with seventeen key strategies to reduce emissions. In 2016 the Mayor signed the Global Covenant of Mayors, and in 2017 pledged to uphold the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Now, the City is helping local residents and businesses to reduce their own carbon footprint by making the switch to clean energy. Electricity use is responsible for approximately a third of the typical American household's carbon footprint. "CleanChoice Energy can help Takoma Park residents and businesses make the switch to clean energy simply and affordably," said Kate Stewart, Takoma Park Mayor. "We're proud of the efforts Takoma Park has taken to reduce our carbon pollution and be a national leader in sustainability. Helping our residents and businesses reduce their own footprint by choosing clean energy is the next logical step." "CleanChoice Energy's goal is to make it easy and convenient to switch to clean energy," said Tom Matzzie, Founder and CEO of CleanChoice Energy. "It will take Takoma Park residents and businesses only five minutes to get off dirty energy, but the impact they will be making is huge. The average family will be reducing their carbon pollution by thousands of pounds a year." The City of Takoma Park chose CleanChoice Energy based on an open RFP and by conducting research on rates, business reliability, and contract terms. CleanChoice Energy offers only 100 percent renewable energy products to American homes and businesses. The company has made it easy for people to choose clean energy as-a-service instead of as a home construction project. CleanChoice customers have avoided more than 3 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissionsthe equivalent of not burning more than 1.6 billion pounds of coal. CleanChoice has made social responsibility a core value and has provided over $1.5 million in support to more than 50 nonprofit environmental and social impact organizations. CleanChoice Energy's giving has powered it to the highest level of B Corp certification, with a company score 50 percent higher than the required score for B Corp certified companies. Takoma Park residents and businesses interested in making the switch to clean energy can sign up at CleanChoiceEnergy.com/go/Takoma or by calling 1-800-218-0113. About CleanChoice Energy CleanChoice Energy is a renewable energy company empowering utility customers to cut emissions and support clean energy. The company provides renewable electricity to customers by supporting regional wind and solar farms in markets where customers have an energy supply choice, and selling that clean power to homes and businesses. CleanChoice Energy makes it easy for customers to support local solar development by enabling them to participate in community solar markets. CleanChoice Energy is a Certified B Corporation, a member of the American Sustainable Business Council and the U.S. Green Building Council, and is certified with the highest available rating by Green America's Green Business Network, the first and largest network of socially and environmentally responsible business. For more information or to become a customer, visit www.cleanchoiceenergy.com SOURCE CleanChoice Energy Related Links cleanchoiceenergy.com FREMONT, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CLEARink Displays Inc., the leader in next-generation ePaper, announced today that it has opened offices in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Shanwei, China. CLEARink's Eindhoven office will be responsible for Product Quality, Reliability, Analysis and Drive Wave Form development. "We are excited to announce the expansion in Eindhoven. Our new team has 100s of years of collective experience developing reflective displays at Philips, Samsung and Liquavista, and they will help us accelerate the development of CLEARink's displays," said Joel Pollack, Board Director at CLEARink Displays. CLEARink's Shanwei office will be responsible for starting up manufacturing in China. The office is located in the manufacturing compound of CLEARink's LCD manufacturing partner. "CLEARink displays can be manufactured in standard LCD factories, making them ideally suited for mass markets that expect good quality and affordable cost," says Scott Ferguson, Chief Operating Officer for CLEARink Displays, who is managing the Shanwei office. CLEARink has developed ePaper 2.0, the world's first reflective display that is color and video/Internet capable. According to Frost & Sullivan research, the display market will likely reach $200 billion by 2024, and CLEARink's reflective technology is positioned as more of a transformational solution. "CLEARink's team is excited to welcome its newest colleagues in Shanwei and Eindhoven. We have been able to attract the best and brightest from our competitors, while making great progress towards building a reflective display that will define a new industry standard," said Frank Christiaens, CEO and Chairman, CLEARink Displays. About CLEARink Displays, Inc. CLEARink is a leader in reflective display technology for eSchoolbooks, Wearables, IoT, electronic shelf labels (ESLs), outdoor signage and automotive applications. CLEARink's patent protected TIR technology is a superior alternative to existing reflective displays, providing unparalleled video and color representation, using a fraction of the energy consumed by LCD, with a highly competitive cost structure. Founded in 2012, the company has raised over US$20 million in financing from strategic investors in the display industry and is headquartered in Fremont, California. For more information, visit http://www.clearinkdisplays.com. SOURCE CLEARink Displays CHICAGO, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Military Times recognized Combined Insurance as a 'Best for Vets' employer for the second consecutive yeara ranking earned through focused efforts to recruit and support service members, veterans and military families. The annual Military Times 'Best for Vets' rankings are the result of a rigorous review process. Military Times invites companies to fill out its nearly 100-question survey, tests to ensure the accuracy of responses and carefully evaluates survey data. In their ninth year, the rankings evaluate a company's culture, veteran recruiting, veteran policies and accommodations for members of the National Guard and reserves. "At Combined Insurance, we take pride in hiring our nation's military service members and their families, because we value their skills, determination and goodwill," said Bob Wiedower, VP, Sales Development and Military Programs. "This ranking affirms our commitment to providing meaningful employment and giving back to those who serve our country." Wiedower is a decorated veteran himself, having served 22 years in the United States Marine Corps, where he retired as a Squadron Commanding Officer. As a leading provider of individual and group supplemental accident & health, disability, and life insurance products, and a Chubb company, Combined Insurance announced efforts to hire 2,000 more veterans by 2019. In addition to providing meaningful employment, Combined Insurance also gives back to military and veteran-focused charities through employee volunteerism and corporate donations. The company has given back and provided support to numerous military and veteran-focused organizations, such as Luke's Wings, The Fisher House Foundation, USO of Illinois and Heartland Alliance Support Services for Veteran Families (SSVF). Combined Insurance has received accolades throughout the years for its veteran-friendly corporate practices. The company was named a Top 5 Military Friendly Employer in 2018 by G.I. Jobsmarking the seventh consecutive year that Combined Insurance has made the Top 10 employer list and fourth consecutive year in the Top 5. About Combined Insurance Combined Insurance Company of America (Chicago, Ill.) is a leading provider of individual supplemental accident & health, disability, and life insurance products and a Chubb company. With a tradition of nearly 100 years of success, Combined Insurance is committed to making the world of supplemental insurance easy to understand. The company has an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau and is one of Ward's Top 50 Performing Life-Health Insurance Companies. Combined Insurance is also a 2018 Top 10 Military Friendly Employer named by G.I. Jobs Magazinemarking the seventh consecutive year on the Top 10 employer list and fourth consecutive year in the Top 5. In New York, products are underwritten by Combined Life Insurance Company of New York (Latham, N.Y.). For more information, please visit combinedinsurance.com. About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: chubb.com. SOURCE Combined Insurance Related Links http://www.combinedinsurance.com CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- David's Bridal, the nation's leading bridal and special occasion authority, announced that the Company's Board of Directors has appointed Scott Key as Chief Executive Officer. He will assume day-to-day leadership of the Company. Paul Pressler has stepped down from his role as Chief Executive Officer and will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors. "The Board of Directors and I have the utmost confidence in Scott and his ability to take David's Bridal forward," said Pressler. "He has demonstrated a deep understanding of our customer and our business, with a focus on innovation and digital transformation designed to position the brand as the leader in the bridal space." "I see tremendous opportunity for David's Bridal to continue to grow in bridal and beyond," said Key. "I am excited to partner with the Board and the talented leadership team here to lead the brand to future success and expansion." Key is a 25-year retail veteran with a proven record of driving organic growth by establishing new businesses and transforming existing brands to be more customer centric and digitally focused. Prior to his role as CEO, Scott was the EVP and General Manager for David's Bridal, overseeing the marketing, digital, and service teams to drive a customer and digital first experience. Scott has also held multiple leadership positions at Gap Inc. including as the SVP/Brand President of ATHLETA where he was responsible for transforming the brand post-acquisition into a $500M omni-channel retailer. He was also the SVP of Customer Engagement Marketing, an operating division with a $10B P&L, as well as head of Gap Global Customer Experience. His strategies have driven sales, customer acquisition, retention, and growth. Scott has served on a number of non-profit boards and received his B.A. in Psychology and Art History from Occidental College. About David's Bridal With more than 60 years of experience dressing women for all of life's special occasions, David's Bridal is built on the ideal that every woman deserves to have the dress of her dreams regardless of her style preference, shape, size or budget. We believe in inclusivity, authenticity and empowerment and it is our mission to help every woman find the bridal gown that will allow her to be the best, most genuine version of herself on her wedding day. David's Bridal is dedicated to helping each customer find her perfect dress with the assistance of online planning tools, knowledgeable stylists, and expert seamstresses who will guide her through her entire dress buying journey. With more than 300 stores located across the US, Canada, UK, Puerto Rico and a franchise location in Mexico City, we offer the convenience of one-stop shopping for the bride and her entire bridal party. To learn more about David's Bridal, visit http://www.davidsbridal.com and connect on social media through Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. SOURCE Davids Bridal Related Links http://www.davidsbridal.com VIENNA, Va., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Emergent, LLC, Red Hat's 2016 U.S. Public Sector Partner of the Year and Middleware Public Sector Partner of the Year, announced today they were awarded a five-year small business Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) contract for Red Hat subscriptions and services. Red Hat provides open source solutions that span hybrid cloud infrastructure, containers, and cloud-native applications, and integration to management, automation, and more. Emergent is the only Reseller awardee with the small business designation in their contract. "Emergent has had a goal of being awarded a Red Hat ESI contract for the past four years. Through collaboration with Red Hat and its award-winning channel program, we were able to position Emergent as a prospective bidder for this solicitation. This award is a significant achievement in Emergent's long-term strategy and commitment to serve the Department of Defense. We're proud to support ESI's mission to facilitate savings in procurement efficiency and in costs for Red Hat's open source software solutions," stated Paul Kohler, Emergent Executive Vice President. "We look forward to supporting and building our relationship with the DoD over the next five years." DoD ESI is an official DoD initiative sponsored by the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lead in the establishment and management of enterprise Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) IT agreements, assets, and policies. DoD ESI lowers the total cost of ownership across the DoD, Coast Guard and Intelligence Communities for commercial software, IT hardware, and services. To find out more about the Emergent and DoD ESI contract, please e-mail [email protected]. About Emergent, LLC: Emergent is an award-winning Value Added Reseller providing comprehensive IT solutions including solution architecture, product acquisition, consulting, and training services. Founded in 2006 in the Washington DC metro area, Emergent provides a streamlined procurement process for its customers by leveraging its GSA, SEWP V and CIO-CS contracts. Emergent offers a full catalog of complementary technology solutions within the government, commercial, education, and healthcare sectors. For more information, visit http://www.emergent360.com. Red Hat is a trademark or registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. SOURCE Emergent, LLC Related Links http://www.mythics.com AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Three U.S. high school students selected from across the nation win contest Winning students receive exclusive look inside a day-in-the-life of FCA's Product Design Office Prizes also include a two-week summer automotive design course at Lawrence Technological University, all-expense-paid trip to the EyesOn Design Automotive Design Exhibition and more Pencils down! Votes have been made and the results are in for the FCA 2018 Drive for Design contest. Three talented high school students from Miami, Florida, and Buffalo, New York, have earned top honors in the 2018 Drive for Design contest, sponsored by the FCA US Product Design Office. The contest, in its sixth year, challenged U.S. high school students in grades 10-12 to design a Jeep Wrangler for the year 2030. The FCA design team partnered with EyesOn Design and Lawrence Technological University for this year's contest. "Six years ago, we created the Drive for Design contest to create awareness about the various career paths available in automotive design. We wanted to connect with young artists early in their curriculum and help guide them in the right direction to begin a career in automotive design," said Mark Trostle, Head of Performance, Passenger Car and Utility Vehicle Design, FCA North America. "The creative perspective on all this year's submissions were inventive and exceptional as you could truly see the inspiration, objective and emotion behind each concept." The three student winners are: First place Eduard Cret , Design and Architecture Senior High ( Miami, Florida ) , Design and Architecture Senior High ( ) Second place Emily Bryson , Design and Architecture Senior High ( Miami, Florida ) , Design and Architecture Senior High ( ) Third place Jinho So, Canisius High School ( Buffalo, New York ) Prizes include: Day of Design with an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the FCA US Product Design studios and the opportunity to work one-one-one with professional automotive designers Two-week summer automotive design course at Lawrence Technological University Passes to the "EyesOn Design Automotive Design Exhibition" in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 a full-featured, Intel-powered computer that offers a larger space for drawing, detailed concept art, 3D sculpting and painting, motion graphics and advanced image editing for retouching An Apple iPad and Apple Pencil About EyesOn Design A benefit for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, a not-for-profit corporation, EyesOn Design is a major source of revenue for the DIO's research, education and support group programs for the visually impaired. The DIO is a division of the Department of Ophthalmology of the Henry Ford Health System. About Lawrence Technological University Lawrence Technological University was born 80 years ago in the middle of an innovation explosion that would change the world. None other than Henry and Edsel Ford helped launch the revolutionary experiment that would become LTU, providing guidance and space in their sprawling former Model T assembly plant for the fledgling school. Today, the school is still changing the world. Since those early beginnings students and alumni have gone on to design and engineer the tools, buildings and products that helped define their generations. And tomorrow's LTU students will do the same. Lawrence Tech is about "Theory and Practice," taking abstract ideas into the real world to solve tomorrow's problems. Its reputation comes as much from what we're doing now as it does from our storied past. If you're a thinker, a visionary, a builder if you're curious then you're Lawrence Tech. Come roll up your sleeves and dive in at one of the nation's best schools for engineering, architecture, science and applied technology. About Drive for Design Launched in 2013, the FCA US Product Design Office created its Drive for Design contest as an innovative way to educate young artists about careers in automotive design. Starting locally in Detroit, Drive for Design has grown to become a national contest that has awarded talented students with prizes and unique opportunities to help further develop their design skills. About FCA US LLC FCA US LLC is a North American automaker based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It designs, manufactures, and sells or distributes vehicles under the 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. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler Corp., established in 1925 by industry visionary Walter P. Chrysler and Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (F.I.A.T.), founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli. FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA). FCA, the eighth-largest automaker in the world based on total annual vehicle sales, is an international automotive group. FCA is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FCAU" and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario under the symbol "FCA." Follow FCA US news and video on: Company blog: blog.fcanorthamerica.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA Twitter: www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA Twitter (Spanish): www.twitter.com/fcausespanol YouTube: www.youtube.com/fcanorthamerica Media website: media.fcanorthamerica.com SOURCE FCA US LLC Related Links http://www.fcanorthamerica.com In this role, Dr. Nogueras will assume responsibilities for all functions within the Professional Services organization, including most optometric relations, recruiting, scheduling, contracting, and issues resolution. She will be called upon to interpret and understand state and federal laws regarding optometric affiliation, managed vision credentialing, obtaining optometric equipment and office management systems. The role will also involve developing coverage strategies and working with Retail Operations to ensure best optometry/retail affiliations. "Dr. Nogueras represents an incredible addition at this position for our brand and will be an enormous asset for our doctors, who represent some of our most valuable assets," said For Eyes CEO Jose Costa. "Her experience working with the franchise model and within the corridors of some of our largest competitors will prove invaluable as we look to a bright future." Dr. Nogueras, a native of Puerto Rico, joins the Florida-based healthcare brand following leadership positions at eyewear brands like Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision and Luxottica. About For Eyes by GrandVision For Eyes was founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, PA on the foundation that an optical store should have a friendly open environment with fair pricing and high-quality standards. Throughout the years, For Eyes has grown to 116 stores across the United States. In December of 2015 For Eyes became a part of GrandVision, the global leader in optical retail. We leverage this global knowledge in eye care, technology & products to provide the highest level of service in each of our stores. About GrandVision GrandVision is the global leader in optical retail by number of stores (excluding sunglass specialty stores) and delivers high quality and affordable eye care to more and more customers around the world. The high quality eye care offered by GrandVision includes a wide range of services provided by its optical experts, prescription glasses including frames and lenses, contact lenses and contact lens care products, and sunglasses both plain and with prescription lenses. These products are offered through its leading optical retail banners, which operate in 43 countries across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. GrandVision serves its customers in over 6,700 stores and with more than 26,600 full time equivalent employees, which are proving every day that in eye care, we care more. For more information, please visit www.grandvision.com. Media Contact: (305) 731-2224, [email protected] SOURCE For Eyes by GrandVision Related Links http://www.grandvision.com The International Company will provide GAC Motor with an integrated platform for overseeing all of its international subsidiaries and regional offices including its U.S. company, as well as managing its assembly plants. It will also help GAC Motor improve its strengths in terms of organizational structure and personnel. GAC Motor International (HK) Ltd will also be established as an international trading platform of the company's export business. It will facilitate the business policy execution and the market campaign support as well. "The International Company will support GAC Motor's goal of building a world-class brand," noted Yu Jun, President of GAC Motor. "We are creating a long-term plan for the future and are looking forward to an open, encompassing and win-win partnership with our dealers, which will allow us to explore the broad global market, and draw an even more beautiful new blueprint together." GAC Motor is now operating in 14 countries and regions, and multiple-acclaimed elite vehicle models like the GS4 and GS8 have been released globally. The company plans to reach 18 countries by the end of 2018 with 4 new models, including the GS3, GS7, GA4 and GM8 to be launched into the overseas market. Regional offices will be set up in the Middle East, Africa, South America and other regions when appropriate in order to better support the business development with local distributors. A subsidiary in Russia will soon start operation as well, further reaching out to the Eastern European market. In addition to ramping up product development and expanding the rage of vehicles that it offers, GAC Motor is actively presenting its technologies and high quality, trendsetting products at renowned international auto shows. After successful exhibitions at NAIAS and NADA, GAC Motor will participate in the Paris Motor Show, Los Angeles Auto Show and the Moscow International Auto Show later this year to further enhance the brand image persistently. GAC Motor has already made several achievements in building a global research and development (R&D) network as well. Its Silicon Valley R&D center is now acting as a platform for gathering talent, integrating advanced technologies and strengthening cross-border cooperation. The established GAC Los Angeles Advance Design center is responsible for developing forward-looking vehicle designs, interactive features and market-relevant branding, while the Detroit R&D center is currently in its preparatory stage and will focus on developing vehicles and technologies for the North American market. GAC Motor's global talent search initiative is also an integral part of its global expansion strategy. This June, GAC will embark on its third overseas talent recruitment tour in Europe cities, including Stuttgart, Munich and Paris, to attract bright talent in the areas of R&D, smart technologies, vehicle design, production management and marketing. "It is our goal to become a world-class brand and a global enterprise that contributes to the development of the future of mobility. We will continue to explore the global market, working with our partners, suppliers and distributors to support the development of our business," said Yu. About GAC Motor Founded in 2008, Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor CO., LTD (GAC Motor) is a subsidiary of GAC Group which ranks the 238th among the Fortune Global 500 companies. The company develops and manufactures premium quality vehicles, engines, components and auto accessories. GAC Motor has now ranked the first among all Chinese brands for five consecutive years in J.D. Power Asia Pacific's China Initial Quality Study SM (IQS), demonstrating the company's quality-centric strategy from innovative research and development (R&D), manufacturing to supply chain and sales & services. For more information, please visit: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GACMotor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gac_motor Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gac_motor Media Contact: Sukie Wong +86-186-8058-2829 [email protected] SOURCE GAC Motor Related Links http://www.gac-motor.com/ WAYNE, N.J., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Getinge, a leading global provider of innovative medical technology, today announced that it will be showcasing products for the intensive care unit (ICU) and presenting several ExpoEd Sessions at the National Teaching Institute (NTI) & Critical Care Exposition, which is taking place May 21-24 in Boston. Getinge also will be displaying the canvas for "Color for the Kids!". This charitable donation program that Getinge created has raised $25,000 over the past year for The Children's Heart Foundation to support the most promising research in congenital heart defects. The finished canvas will be donated to a children's hospital once completed. Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 attendees are expected at NTI 2018, including acute and critical care nurses, advanced practice nurses, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners and nurse managers, and progressive care, transport and emergency department nurses who treat critically ill patients. "As part of our commitment to supporting the American Association of Critical Care Nurses in its mission to educate high-acuity and critical care nurses, we are pleased to be presenting several ExpoEd Sessions on a variety of topics. Nurses who attend can learn new techniques to share with their unit and hospital, helping improve patient outcomes," said Greg Master, President, Acute Care Therapies, Getinge USA. "We encourage nurses attending this conference to visit our booth and show us their creativity by coloring the canvas for our 'Color for the Kids' program, which supports the youngest critical care patients." Getinge Booth and ExpoEd Sessions at NTI 2018 Getinge will be demonstrating its innovative products, including Servo-U ventilators, Cardiohelp heart-lung instruments, Cardiosave balloon pumps, and hemodynamic monitoring and chest drainage products, at Booth #1767 from Tuesday, May 22, through Thursday, May 24, during exhibition hours. The following ExpoEd Sessions will also take place in the booth: Intra-aortic balloon pump: Why it remains a workhorse support in a rapidly changing field Why ventilator modes and settings matter Evidence-based care of patients with chest tubes: A discussion of why Patient, catheter and pump IABP troubleshooting Why monitoring with PiCCO helps provide the complete picture helps provide the complete picture Measurement of extravascular lung water at the bedside: Why, how and what for? Intra-aortic balloon pump: Why is early use in cardiogenic shock relevant? About Getinge Getinge is a global provider of innovative solutions for operating rooms, intensive-care units, sterilization departments and for life science companies and institutions. Based on our first-hand experience and close partnerships with clinical experts, healthcare professionals and medtech specialists, we are improving every-day life for people, today and tomorrow. SOURCE Getinge MIAMI, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Genaro Garcia Luna's book, "Seguridad Con Bienestar. Un nuevo modela integral de seguridad," was analyzed by El Financiero Bloomberg in an article titled "Violencia e involucion de las instituciones de seguridad en Mexico." Genaro Garcia Luna, secretary of Public Security under the administration of the ex-president, Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, presents in his book a unique vision of the model of security which begins with a summary of the history of crime in Mexico; in it, he compares five cities: Chicago, New York, Palermo, Medellin, and Ciudad Juarez, all of whom faced an important fight against organized crime. The model of "Seguridad Con Bienestar" that Genaro Garcia Luna proposes explains how the security is much more than producing low levels of violence and crime; security is composed of a multidimensional effort that cannot be brought to completion without turning to the fortitude of the institutions and the well-being of everyone. Tony Payan, the author of the article for El Financiero Bloomberg, wrote, "Between the lines, the reader will find a richness of statistics, a richness of theory and analysis, the precision of which speaks from deep experience with the subject of security in Mexico and of which understands the problem as something much more than to simply equip and prepare policies: like a subject of human and national development, of science and technology, of society and the economy. All in all, like a policy of state." With it, Payan introduced the concept of the GLAC index as the statistic base and the analytical base of historical information for the construction of the model from "Seguridad Con Bienestar." About GLAC Consulting: Besides the GLAC index, GLAC Consulting offers integral solutions in security, technology, and risk analysis all over the world. Under the direction of Genaro Garcia Luna, GLAC Consulting is a company of risk analysis that has the tools to strengthen, in different spheres, security schematics. GLAC Consulting (786) 272-6361 [email protected] Related Links Indice GLAC Consulta a GLAC SOURCE GLAC Consulting SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Gryphon Investors ("Gryphon"), a San Francisco-based middle market private equity firm, announced today that it will acquire a majority stake in Milani Cosmetics ("Milani" or "the Company"), a leading family-owned "masstige" beauty company that encompasses two distinct brands, Milani and Jordana. Current owners Ralph Bijou and Laurie Minc will hold significant minority stakes alongside Gryphon. The transaction, which is expected to close next month, is subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the transaction, Michelle Taylor will become interim CEO. Ms. Taylor is a Gryphon Executive Advisor and an accomplished senior executive in the cosmetics and beauty businesses who has held senior leadership positions at Kate Somerville Skincare, Kiehl's, Lancome, L'Oreal USA, Chanel, Elizabeth Arden, and others. Ms. Taylor, along with Gryphon Partners Dennis O'Brien and Keith Stimson, and Gryphon Principal Matt Farron, will join the Board of Directors. Ralph Bijou will continue with the Company as President of Jordana Cosmetics and Laurie Minc will continue with Milani as a Senior Advisor. Both Ralph Bijou and Laurie Minc will be on the Board of Directors. The transaction marks Gryphon's first investment in the beauty sector. Mr. O'Brien said, "Gryphon has long been exploring the $45 billion beauty and personal care space and is excited to commit to the industry. Leveraging Michelle's deep knowledge of the sector, we believe we have identified a strong growth platform in Milani, one which has a variety of proven and developing sales channels and the opportunity to reach a broad and growing consumer base that has discovered Milani's quality and is actively seeking out the brand. We look forward to working with Michelle, Ralph, and Laurie to build upon the company's proven success." Milani, headquartered in Los Angeles, is a market leader in the cosmetics industry. The company began with the creation of Jordana Cosmetics in 1986 and grew with the purchase and relaunch of Milani in 2001. Milani products are primarily manufactured in the U.S. and Italy. The company's face, lip, and eye products are available in 75 countries and through key domestic retail partners including Walmart, Walgreens, Ulta, Target, and CVS. "We are delighted to partner with the team at Gryphon to help realize our dream of developing Milani into a great global name, enjoyed by women everywhere," said Mr. Bijou and Ms. Minc. "Gryphon's long-standing track record building consumer product brands, experience with family-owned businesses, and their beauty and channel experts were all critical considerations for us. They share our enthusiasm for our company, and their resources will ensure our ability to continue to deliver a world-class brand to our consumers for generations to come." Mr. Farron added, "Milani has a history of bringing to market innovative products that are responsive to customer needs and fast-moving consumer trends. As one of the few remaining large, scalable, independent mass beauty brands, the Company is well positioned to drive growth through product development and strong relationships with its retail and manufacturing partners." Ms. Taylor noted, "Milani is the 'masstige' brand of choice for consumers who seek out innovative, high quality makeup at affordable prices. That reputation has driven the Company's rapid growth both internationally and domestically, where it was one of the fastest growing mass brands in the U.S. over the past year. Gryphon's expertise and financial resources will be key as Milani looks to expand its market presence in an ever-changing and keenly competitive landscape." Moelis & Company LLC was financial advisor to Milani, and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton was legal advisor to the Company and its owners. Financo acted as Gryphon's financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as the firm's legal advisor. About Milani Cosmetics Milani, headquartered in Los Angeles, is a market leader in the cosmetics industry, best known for its top quality products for women of all skin tones and beauty goals. The company began with the creation of Jordana Cosmetics in 1986 and grew with the purchase of Milani in 2001. Milani products are primarily manufactured in the U.S. and Italy. The company's face, lip and eye products are available in 75 countries and through key domestic retailer partners including Walmart, Walgreens, Ulta, Target and CVS. Please visit www.milanicosmetics.com for more information. About Gryphon Investors Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. For 23 consecutive quarters, Gryphon has been ranked in Preqin's prestigious quarterly PE report as one of North America's top-decile buyout firms based on consistency of strong investment returns. Managing over $4 billion of equity investments and capital since 1997, the firm has an extensive track record of leading equity investments of $50 million to $200 million per portfolio company with sales ranging from approximately $100 million to $500 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form proactive partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon's capital, specialized professional resources, and operational expertise. Gryphon closed its fourth private equity buyout fund, Gryphon IV, L.P., in November 2016 at $1.1 billion, and raised a $100 million captive mezzanine fund, Gryphon Mezzanine Partners, L.P., in August 2017. Contacts: For Gryphon For Milani/Jordana Caroline Luz Nancy Behrman Owen Blicksilver Public Relations Behrman PR 203-656-2829 917-543-9955 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Gryphon Investors Related Links http://www.gryphoninvestors.com PHILADELPHIA, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Gutride Safier LLP and Tycko & Zavareei LLP today announced that a proposed class action settlement has been reached involving purchasers of Bertolli Olive Oil (the "Products"). You are affected by this class action settlement if, between: (i) May 23, 2010 and April 16, 2018, you purchased, in the United States, a bottle of Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil and/or (ii) May 23, 2010 and December 30, 2015, you purchased, in the United States, a bottle of Bertolli Classico or Extra Light Olive Oil. A complete list of covered products is included on the website www.oliveoilsettlement.com (the "Products"). This notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. For the precise terms and conditions of the Settlement, please see www.oliveoilsettlement.com or contact the Claim Administrator at the telephone number or address below. The court has not determined whether any of the claims included in the settlement have merit, and the settlement is not an admission by Deoleo, the manufacturer of Bertolli olive oil of any wrongdoing. WHAT DOES THE SETTLEMENT PROVIDE? To settle the case, Defendant will create a settlement fund of $7,000,000.00. If you make a valid claim in the settlement, you will receive a cash payment for each bottle of olive oil that you purchased. The amounts paid to for each purchase will vary depending on the Product type, date of purchase, and number of claims received. The amounts to be paid are expected to be at least $0.75 to $1.75 per Product and may be as much as $3.75 to $8.75 per Product. You may make a claim without proof of purchase, but only for up to five products purchased by your household, for which you will receive a maximum combined recovery of $25.00. There is no limit on the number of items you can claim for which you submit proof of purchase. Proof of purchase means itemized retail sales receipts showing, at a minimum, the name of the product, and the date, place, and amount of purchase. HOW TO GET THE REFUND To get your refund, visit the settlement website at www.oliveoilsettlement.com and download or complete a claim form. You can also obtain a claim form by contacting the Claim Administrator. HOW TO OPT OUT OF THE SETTLEMENT The settlement will release all claims related to Plaintiffs' contentions that Defendant's marketing, advertising, and sale of Bertolli brand olive oil with the representations "Imported from Italy" and "Extra Virgin" were false or misleading. If you wish to preserve your right to bring a separate lawsuit on these claims, you must exclude yourself from the class. OBJECTING TO THE SETTLEMENT You can also object to the settlement. For details on how to exclude yourself or object, please visit www.oliveoilsettlement.com or contact the Claim Administrator. COURT HEARING AND ATTORNEYS' FEES The Court will hold a hearing on August 9, 2018 to consider whether to approve the settlement. The attorneys for the class will ask the court to award them up to $2,100,000.00 in fees and approximately $150,000.00 in out of pocket expenses and up to $11,000.00 in incentives to the individuals who pursued the suit, out of the settlement fund. If any balance remains in the settlement fund after payment of claims, costs of settlement notice and administration, and court-awarded fees, costs and incentives, the attorneys will ask the Court to give the remaining balance to various charitable organizations as further described at www.oliveoilsettlement.com. Note that the hearing date may change without further notice to you. Consult the settlement website at www.oliveoilsettlement.com or PACER, at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov , for updated information on the hearing date and time. The case is Koller v. Deoleo USA, Inc., et al., United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 3:14-cv-02400-RS. For further information, please visit the settlement website: www.oliveoilsettlement.com. You may contact the Claim Administrator toll-free by phone at 1-855-732-9315 or by writing to Koller v. Deoleo Settlement, Claim Administrator, 1801 Market Street, Suite 660, Philadelphia, PA 19103. You may also contact class counsel at Gutride Safier LLP, 100 Pine Street, Suite 1250, San Francisco, CA 94111, access the Court docket on PACER available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or visit the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA from 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays. Media Contact: Angeion Group Douglas S. Clauson Director, Communications (215) 563-4116 SOURCE Angeion Group; Gutride Safier LLP and Tycko & Zavareei LLP 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 WASHINGTON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente is joining the Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment, a first-of-its-kind coalition of 17 local governments and five business leaders to advance public-private partnerships that tackle affordable housing and homelessness and actively oppose current funding cuts. "For more than 70 years, our mission has been to help improve the health of our members and the communities we serve," said Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente. "We believe a core part of health is having a roof over one's head. Kaiser Permanente and Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment are standing up for those who deserve access to affordable housing and homeless services." Charlotte, North Carolina Mayor Vi Lyles, Baltimore, Maryland Mayor Catherine Pugh and Alexandria, Virginia Mayor Allison Silberberg joined the coalition alongside Oakland, California Mayor Libby Schaaf and Portland, Oregon Mayor Ted Wheeler. "Charlotte is a city with housing challenges that affect many sectors of our workforce," Mayor Vi Lyles said. "As Mayor of Charlotte, I am delighted to 'roll up my sleeves' with fellow mayors and CEOs across this country to work collaboratively to develop bipartisan affordable housing solutions that will promote opportunity and growth for all residents. By investing in diverse price point housing, we will ensure opportunities for upward economic mobility, while creating stronger neighborhoods and safer communities." Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said, "The political and business leaders of Baltimore are obligated to address the lack of affordable housing and growing homelessness in our community. These problems might happen to any of us, and when they do, they are hazards to one's own health but also the health of loved ones, friends and others around you. The good news is that we are working aggressively and collaboratively with Baltimore's developers, faith community and other local leaders to turn these problems around - but we have so much work left to do. And as we continue this important work, we need the federal government alongside us, making the same kind of strong investments, creating the same kind of powerful public-private partnerships. Baltimore and the U.S. can get this done - but only if we work together and begin right now." Alexandria, Virginia Mayor Allison Silberberg said, "Our economy is stronger and our society is more equitable when workers can afford to live near their workplaces and families are not forced to relocate due to housing costs. Here in Alexandria, we have forged strong partnerships with nonprofit developers and appreciate voluntary contributions from private companies to build more affordable and workforce housing, and we have increased dedicated funding for this cause. The shortage of affordable housing is a national challenge, and I look forward to working toward national solutions with Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment." Representing her organization's 500 black mayors, African American Mayors Association Executive Director Stephanie Marsh Sykes said, "Mayors have an obligation to defend the cities they are elected to serve, and protect society's most vulnerable citizens. With affordable housing supplies dropping and homelessness increasing, mayors and businesses must step into the breach to protect those most in need. We join Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment on behalf of 500 African American mayors to link arms with leaders in cities and businesses across America to finally turn US housing policy back in the right direction the direction home." In the atmosphere of Washington's "Infrastructure Week," it was noted that coalition mayors had previously argued that affordable housing should not be seen as a cost, but instead a wise infrastructure investment something the U.S. does not officially recognize, unlike Canada, Australia and most European countries. "Stable and affordable housing is pro-family, pro-jobs, and allows low- to moderate-income people the opportunity to pursue financial stability, which, in turn, supports local businesses and future economic growth," Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan wrote in The Hill in March. "Research from The National Association of Home Builders shows that building 100 affordable rental homes generates $11.7 million in local income, $2.2 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, and 161 local jobs in the first year alone," the mayors added. Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment recommends five policy changes to help stabilize the current outlook: Affordable housing should be a part of any Administration infrastructure plan. Maximize funding for existing federal programs that work, such as Section 8 Housing Vouchers, Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grants, HUD-VASH, HOME and Community Development Block Grants. Issue new, competitive HUD-HIIRO (Housing Innovation, Investment and Reform Opportunities) grants to stand up new, innovative approaches that fit communities' capital and planning needs for affordable housing, homeless assistance and housing security. The program would be modeled after the Department of Transportation's successful BUILD (formerly TIGER) grants and reward local governments, in partnership with private and stakeholder partners, that develop collaborative, cross-sector projects to combat homelessness and affordable housing problems. These types of programs have proven to leverage local investment to provide strong social and economic returns. Build on the successful HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing model through HUD-PASS (Partnerships Accelerating Supportive Services), which would pair HUD vouchers with Health and Human Services programs to help families and individuals experiencing homelessness who have mental health issues and other barriers to assistance. Create a Housing Stabilization Fund a pool of funds within HUD that can provide one-time, short-term emergency housing assistance to households below 80% of AMI. Funds would be initially allocated to communities by formula, and subsequently on a pro rata basis adjusted for performance. There are many low-income renter and owner households which, while generally able to afford their homes, still lack any cushion when faced with a housing emergency. For these households, the loss of a job or a health emergency can result in eviction and a downward spiral of housing instability that often ends in homelessness. Unfortunately, there is no consistent housing program, fund or tool to help prevent such losses. About Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment (@mayorsandceos): Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment is a 501(c)(3) coalition advocating for federal investment in affordable housing and homeless services. It is represented by Holland & Knight LLP in partnership with the National League of Cities and is advised by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Objective Lab is the coalition's communications and public affairs partner. SOURCE Mayors & CEOs for US Housing Investment SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New diagnostic tests for prostate cancer, as well as new information about the impact of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on prostate cancer screening will be presented this year during the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA). Four studies highlighting these topics will be shared during a special press conference on May 18 at 8:30 a.m. (PT). Stacy Loeb, MD, AUA spokesperson and assistant professor of urology and population health at New York University will moderate this session for media. Study Details Publication #: PD52-11 PSA Screening of African-American Veterans Before, During and After Implementation of the 2012 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations: Prostate cancer screening rates at Department of Veterans Affairs' clinics declined for both African-American and non-African-American men following the release of the 2012 prostate cancer screening recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), according to this multi-institutional study. Researchers examined prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening rates for male veterans aged 40 to 80 without a diagnosis of prostate cancer who visited a VA primary care or urology clinic between 2009 and 2016, and assessed the differential effect of the USPSTF policy change on screening rates. Results were assessed for the pre-guidelines period (2009-2010), the transition period (2011-2014) and the post-guideline period (2015-2016), and showed: Prior to the release of the USPSTF recommendations, African-American veterans underwent PSA screening more often at the VA than non-African-American veterans. However, across the years of the study, the percentage of PSA-eligible men who received a test decreased yearly (from 63 percent in 2009 to 51 percent in 2016). PSA screening rates in the pre-guidelines period show a 6 percent decrease for African-American veterans and a 6.3 percent decrease for non-African-American veterans. During the transition period, the screening rate for African-American veterans decreased by 12.7 percent, and the rate for non- African-American veterans decreased by 12.8 percent. During the post-guideline period, screening rates continued to decrease, with African-American veterans experiencing a 3.5 percent decrease and non- African-American veterans a decrease of 3.6 percent. Study Details: Publication #: PD06-09 Prostate Cancer Genomics: Comparing Decipher, Prolaris and OncotypeDx Results: The use of genomic tests to predict outcomes and guide treatment for prostate cancer is growing, but discrepancies exist between these tests and their recommendations for treatment versus active surveillance (AS). Researchers from Hartford, CT, reviewed three unique tests (Decipher, Prolaris and OncotypeDX) to evaluate genomic test results and the potential implications of their results on eligibility for AS. By performing a retrospective chart review, researchers identified 22 patients who underwent at least two of these genomic tests at Hartford Hospital between 2014 and 2017. Results were compared to genomic standards for AS appropriateness based on guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Percentage agreement rates were calculated, and kappa statistic (k) was used to obtain proportion of agreement over and above chance. Results showed: AS would be recommended for 21 out of 22 patients based on NCCN guidelines. For the 12 patients who received both the Decipher and Prolaris tests, percentage agreement was 67 percent and k was 0.31 (p=.276). For the eight patients who received Prolaris and OncotypeDx, percentage agreement was 75 percent and k was 0.39 (p=.168), with Prolaris tending to favor AS over surgery. Two patients received both Decipher and OncotypeDX. These tests together yielded a 50 percent agreement and an incalculable k. When compared to NCCN guidance, Prolaris had a 75 percent agreement and .21 k (p=.117, N=20); Decipher had a 60 percent agreement and k of .15 (p=.268, N=15); and OncotypeDX had an agreement of 50 percent with an incalculable k. Study Details: Publication #: PD60-05 Prospective Validation of the IsoPSATM Assay for Detection of High Grade Prostate Cancer: Early studies have demonstrated that IsoPSATM, a structure-focused protein biomarker, may be an effective means of discriminating between high-grade prostate cancer (Gleason7) and low-grade (Gleason=6)/benign disease. This multi-center study validated the clinical performance of IsoPSAin follow-up to the preliminary study. Plasma samples were obtained from clinical sites within 30 days prior to biopsy from patients with PSA between 2 ng/mL and 62.8 ng/mL, and IsoPSA results were evaluated against results from 12-core TRUS biopsies. In the preliminary study, 33.7 percent of the cohort had high-grade prostate cancer, and 32.6 percent of the validation cohort had high-grade prostate cancer. Results showed: ROC analysis of the preliminary and validation studies resulted in AUC of 0.81 vs. 0.82 respectively. Using the cutoff value established in the preliminary study (KR-HG risk probability <17 percent), the validation study demonstrated a negative predictive value of 93.3 percent, compared to 94 percent as seen in the preliminary study. More than 40 percent of biopsies could have been avoided in both the preliminary study (45.1 percent) and validation study (47 percent). Study Details: Publication #: MP40-10 Extended Validation Results from a Prospective Adaptive Utility Trial Confirm Performance of a Novel Urine Exosome Gene Expression Assay to Predict High-Grade Prostate Cancer at Initial Biopsy: A new class 3-gene expression urine assay for prostate cancer ExoDx Prostate IntelliScore, or EPI may help identify patients with higher grade disease and could help reduce unnecessary biopsies. This extended validation study assessed outcome and cut-point performance for EPI test results compared with biopsy outcomes. The validation cohort was comprised of 504 men with a mean age of 64 years and a mean PSA of 5.6 ng/mL. Fifty-three percent of the men had a positive biopsy, with 22 percent having a Gleason score of 6, 17 percent having a Gleason score of 3+4 and 14 percent having a Gleason score of 4+3. Results showed: Using ROC analysis, the EPI AUC was 0.70, compared to AUC of 0.62 for standard of care (PSA, age, race, family history) for discriminating high-grade disease from low-risk/benign disease. Using the (previously validated) cut point of 15.6 (or alternative 20) would avoid 26 percent (or 40 percent) of unnecessary prostate biopsies and 20 percent (or 31 percent) of total biopsies, with a negative predictive value of 89 percent for both cut points. "These studies highlight important research in the field of prostate cancer screening, including the potential negative impact of the 2012 USPSTF recommendations on screening in high-risk populations," said Dr. Loeb. "At the same time, the field of prostate cancer screening and risk stratification is moving beyond the PSA test, and these studies show there are a few exciting new markers on the horizon." About the American Urological Association: The 113th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association takes place May 18-21 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 21,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy. Contact: Christine Frey, AUA 410-689-3731, [email protected] SOURCE American Urological Association Related Links http://www.AUAnet.org LATEST UPDATE MAY 17 KILAUEA SUMMIT ACTIVITY At 4:17 a.m. HST on May 17, 2018, a steam and ash eruption occurred from Halema'uma'u Crater within Kilauea Caldera at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, resulting in an ash cloud that drifted northeast. Ash emissions continue from Kilauea summit, which may affect the surrounding areas toward Ka'u, Volcano, Mountain View, Kea'au and as far as Hilo. To protect yourself from ash: Avoid excessive exposure to ash which is an eye and respiratory irritant. Those with breathing issues should take extra precaution to minimize exposure. Stay indoors and keep your windows closed. If you're in a car, keep your windows closed and drive with caution. All roads remain open. For a guide on volcanic ash, visit https://bit.ly/2IjIqBV. MESSAGE FROM HAWAI'I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park emergency managers are urging motorists to slow down and use caution on Highway 11, particularly between mile markers 29 and 29, and Pi'i Mauna Road, due to cracks in the road and uneven surfaces resulting from an earthquake that occurred on May 16. In addition, motorists are reminded that stopping for non-emergency purposes along the side and shoulders of Highway 11 in Park territory to view the plumes is prohibited. For Park updates, visit https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm. HAWAI'I COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE ERUPTION MAP To view the interactive map (please wait for the page to load), visit: https://goo.gl/i7RbrB BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND RESOURCES AIRPORTS, ACCOMMODATIONS AND ACTIVITIES All airports in the Hawaiian Islands continue to operate normally. All accommodations, activities and attractions statewide are also operating normally, with the exception of those in the area affected by the volcanic activity on Hawai'i Island. Visitors who have already booked a trip to the island of Hawai'i with accommodations or activities in/near the Puna district, should call their provider with any questions or concerns. Effective May 12 , those who have vacation rental reservations in the Lower Puna restricted area should find alternative accommodations, until further notice. EAST RIFT ZONE ERUPTION LOCATION The volcanic activity and where lava has flowed along the East Rift Zone in/near Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens Subdivisions is limited to an isolated area in Lower Puna on the island of Hawai'i's east side. This area in the Puna district covers only less than a 10-square-mile area of the island's 4,028 square miles. The district of Puna is approximately 500 square miles, or the size of half of Rhode Island . . This is more than 100 driving miles away from the western Kohala and Kona Coasts, where the island's major visitor accommodations and resorts are located, and the area furthest from the current activity. and Kona Coasts, where the island's major visitor accommodations and resorts are located, and the area furthest from the current activity. In addition, Hilo town is approximately 20 miles away, and accommodations and activities are unaffected by Kilauea volcano. town is approximately 20 miles away, and accommodations and activities are unaffected by Kilauea volcano. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, and has been erupting for the past 35 years. The topography of the island between east and west is unconducive for a natural flow. VACATION RENTALS IN LOWER PUNA AREA Effective May 12 , the County of Hawai'i Civil Defense Agency has directed all vacation rental owners and operators in Lower Puna to cease operations so that emergency operations can focus on residents who live in the area. , the County of Hawai'i Civil Defense Agency has directed all vacation rental owners and operators in Lower Puna to cease operations so that emergency operations can focus on residents who live in the area. The Lower Puna restricted area encompasses the area accessed by Highway 132 from Leilani Estates to Kapoho, Highway 137 from Kapoho to Kalapana, and Highway 130 from Pahoa to Pohoiki, including Pahoa's Black Sands Beach Subdivision. Current vacation renters in this restricted area should find alternative accommodations outside the restricted area as soon as possible. Until further notice, visitors who have vacation rental reservations in the restricted area should find alternative accommodations. This directive has been issued to owners and operators of vacation rentals within the restricted area, online advertisers of vacation rentals, current vacation renters in the area, and vacation renters with reservations. AIR QUALITY Air quality throughout the Hawaiian Islands remains largely unchanged with the exception of where the volcanic activity is happening which can have hazardous levels of SO2 (sulfur dioxide). Officials constantly monitor SO2 levels across the island. VOG or volcanic haze is relatively common on an island with active volcanoes (consider Kilauea has been erupting since 1983) and the level of haze is dependent on volcanic activity and wind direction/strength. To view SO2 conditions in real-time across the state, visit http://www.hiso2index.info/. For statewide Air Quality, visit Air Now at https://bit.ly/2I33ixd (data and forecasts courtesy of the Hawai'i Department of Health Environmental Health). REPORTS ABOUT ACID RAIN News reports about acid rain during the Kilauea eruption have mischaracterized the severity of its potential effect on human health. In fact, acid rain is a common occurrence anytime there is rainfall on an area where volcanic haze, or VOG, is in the atmosphere, whether on the island of Hawai'i or anywhere else in the world. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "Walking in acid rain, or even swimming in a lake affected by acid rain, is no more dangerous to humans than walking in normal rain or swimming in non-acidic lakes." Data about the composition of rain falling on the island of Hawai'i is closely monitored on a continual basis by the National Atmospheric Deposition Program's National Trends Network. Visit the State Department of Health's Hawai'i Interagency Vog Information Dashboard for the latest information at www.ivhhn.org/vog/. HAWAI'I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK Most of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is closed until further notice. The Park's Kahuku Unit, which includes a 9-mile scenic drive, cinder cone, and several hiking options, is open during its normal hours, Friday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For Park updates, visit https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm. For Volcano Watch updates, visit https://on.doi.gov/2r8G4zE. ACCESSIBILITY IN THE PUNA AREA Road closures are taking place on select areas of Highway 130, 132 and 137. No access is allowed at this time for residents of Lanipuna Gardens. Residents and visitors who do not have official business in Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens are asked to stay away from the area. As a precaution, residents of Lower Puna between Kapoho and Kalapana are advised to be on alert in the event of possible volcanic activity in the area. Temporary flight restrictions are in place for most of Lower Puna. Drones will be confiscated in this area. Those who have rented accommodations or made tour reservations in the general area should check with those respective companies for the latest updates. Unless otherwise noted, area businesses are open and accessible. Motorists are advised to drive with caution and be prepared for increased traffic. Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of State Parks has closed Lava Tree State Monument and Mackenzie State Recreation Area until further notice. All beach parks in Lower Puna have been closed, including the Pohoiki Boat Ramp. The County of Hawai'i has closed the Kalapana Viewing Area until further notice. VOLCANOES IN HAWAI'I Eruptions of Hawaiian volcanoes are typically nonexplosive or weakly explosive. Hawaiian eruptions, which is a term used by volcanologists worldwide to characterize similar eruptive style at other volcanoes, are usually gentle due to its highly fluid lava composition which tends to flow freely both beneath the surface and upon eruption. For more information about Hawaiian eruptions, visit https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/hawaii/page26.html. Travelers planning a trip to the Hawaiian Islands who have questions can contact the Hawai'i Tourism United States Call Center at 1-800-GO-HAWAII (1-800-464-2924). For other updates, visit http://hawaiitourismauthority.org/news/special-alert/. HELPFUL LINKS Hawai'i County Civil Defense http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts Hawai'i County Eruption Map https://goo.gl/i7RbrB Hawaiian Volcano Observatory / USGS https://on.doi.gov/2FEPVBm Volcano Watch updates: https://on.doi.gov/2r8G4zE Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm Volcanic Ash Guide https://bit.ly/2IjIqBV SO2 Measurement Map Department of Health http://www.hiso2index.info General Air Quality / Air Now https://bit.ly/2I33ixd State of Hawai'i Interagency Vog Information Dashboard http://www.ivhhn.org/vog/ Hawaiian Eruptions https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/hawaii/page26.html Na Leo TV (video media briefs) http://naleo.tv/vod/ TOURISM UPDATES Hawai'i Tourism Authority Special Alerts http://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/news/special-alert/ TRAVELERS MAY CALL Travelers planning a trip to the island of Hawai'i who have questions can contact the Hawai'i Tourism United States Call Center at 1-800-GO-HAWAII (1-800-464-2924). SOURCE Hawaii Tourism Authority Related Links http://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org DALLAS, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark today announced its 2018 Bright Futures Scholarship Program has awarded $1.2 million in college scholarships to 60 children of Kimberly-Clark employees in 17 U.S. states. Recipients were chosen based on academic achievement, leadership, work experience and involvement in extracurricular activities. Marking its 26th year, the Bright Futures program provides scholarship grants worth up to $20,000, or $5,000 per school year, for full-time students attending accredited colleges and universities. Since its inception, the program has awarded over $40 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 students. "Each year, the selection committee for the Bright Futures scholarship program is impressed by the deep commitment to academic excellence and community service demonstrated by these students," said Tom Falk, chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark. "We believe these scholarships are an important investment in our next generation of leaders, and we are proud to help these young people take the next step as they pursue their goals." The average GPA for this year's scholarship class is 3.96, and awardees will attend such top colleges and universities as Brown University, Duke University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Wisconsin and Yale University. Past scholarship recipients have gone on to pursue successful careers in medicine, education, the armed forces and engineering. "I grew up inspired by the work of my father, and today, I'm proud that I have an opportunity to work with him at Kimberly-Clark and give back to the company that helped me to earn my degree from the University of Wisconsin," said Levi Vandenboogart, a 2008 Bright Futures scholarship recipient who is now Lead Scientist for Kimberly-Clark on its adult and feminine care brands. "The support made a big difference for me, and I know it will for this year's class of scholars as they work to achieve their dreams." More information and a full list of winners is available on Kimberly-Clark.com. About the Kimberly-Clark Foundation Established in 1952, the Kimberly-Clark Foundation is the charitable arm of Kimberly-Clark Corporation and is dedicated to supporting and strengthening families around the world. About Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 146-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. [KMB-C] SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Related Links http://www.kimberly-clark.com ATLANTA, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A 6th lawsuit was filed yesterday in the Northern District Court of Atlanta, Georgia on behalf of William Lopresti as a parent of his two daughters who were infected with E. coli O157:H7 from romaine lettuce. The lawsuit was filed against Texas Roadhouse, Inc. by Marler Clark, the food safety law firm and Moraitakis and Kushel, LLP, a local firm. On April 8, 2018, Mr. Lopresti's daughters consumed romaine lettuce grown in the Yuma, Arizona region while eating a side salad served at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant located at 2475 Barrett Creek Pkwy in Marietta, Georgia. Two days later they both began to experience symptoms of fever, abdominal cramps, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. On April 13, Mr. Lopresti took his daughter "E.L." to the emergency room, where she was admitted to the hospital for ongoing treatment. E.L. was released 5 days later but continues to recover as of the date of the complaint. "Our goal in filing lawsuits against the place of purchase of the contaminated romaine is to force the disclosure of where in the chain of distribution grower, shipper or processor the E. coli contamination occurred," said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. "Only when we find out where the contamination occurred can we do something to prevent the next outbreak," added Marler. To date, Marler Clark has filed six complaints in relation to the nationwide E. coli O157:H7 outbreak including this complaint against Texas Roadhouse, along with one in New Jersey against Panera, one in Pennsylvania against Fareway, two in Arizona against Red Lobster, and one in California against Papa Murphy's. Marler Clark currently represents 86 people sickened in the outbreak, including 11 who developed acute kidney failure. According to the CDC, as of May 15, 2018, 172 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from 32 states. Alaska (8), Arizona (8), California (39), Colorado (3), Connecticut (2), Florida (1), Georgia (4), Idaho (11), Illinois (2), Iowa (1), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (3), Michigan (5), Minnesota (12), Mississippi (1), Missouri (1), Montana (8), Nebraska (1), New Jersey (8), New York (5), North Dakota (2), Ohio (6), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (21), South Dakota (1), Tennessee (3), Texas (1), Utah (1), Virginia (1), Washington (7), and Wisconsin (3). One death was reported from California. Illnesses started on dates ranging from March 13, 2018 to May 2, 2018. Ill people range in age from 1 to 88 years, with a median age of 29. Sixty-five percent of ill people are female. Of 157 people with information available, 75 (48%) have been hospitalized, including 20 people who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation's leading law firm representing victims of E. coli outbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $650 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation. Our E. coli lawyers have litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products. The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John's. We have proudly represented such victims as Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith and Linda Rivera. If you or a family member became ill with an E. coli infection or HUS after consuming food and you're interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark E. coli attorneys for a free case evaluation. SOURCE Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm Today's workforce expects flexible work environments, where surfaces can cater to their changing needs and comfort levels. With that in mind, the COCO sit/stand desk converts to someone's preferred height in just ten seconds via lifting columns that they can control with an inlayed button. COCO is outfitted with a steel frame and Baltic birch plywood core, with tackable cork panels for tagging materials, comprised only of honest materials like all MASHstudios products shirking plastic and composites so often found in many of today's furniture solutions. These materials not only exhibit MASH's commitment to quality, but create the foundation for functional, lasting products. In addition, the COCO desk has six total electrical outlets with a custom coiled cord to prevent dangling wires, and has a surface-embedded Qi wireless station maximizing employees' mobility and efficiency. COCO comes in 48" and 60" lengths for configurations of anywhere from two to 10 people. Whether employees need to collaborate, or bury their heads in a project the KINNEY wall system offers an easy, versatile option for defining space without sacrificing style. Made with a plywood frame wrapped in a variety of felt fabric options, the upholstered structure exhibits soft corners but sturdy angles for spatial dividing. KINNEY's built-in acoustic panels and dual-sided wool felt absorb sound, while offering tacking ability for easy multitasking, giving workers the privacy they need while aiding in overall sound buffering. KINNEY has a contoured shape, comprised of a bullnosed edge and heavy rounded corners, and comes in "L," "Wall," and "Serpentine" configurations to fit any workplace. As a free-standing structure, individuals can easily move the system to create dynamic nooks and spaces. "At MASH, we want to help companies create a brand language through the look and feel of their workspaces the materials they use and the unique design that helps convey their personality," said Bernard Brucha, Founder and Principal of MASHstudios. "We think this should be available to brands of all sizes, and our READYMADE line means we can deliver high-quality, flexible and custom style to accommodate any budget." The READYMADE Collection's curated, evolving portfolio is comprised of workstation designs in a variety of bench, desk and table configurations. It joins MASHstudios' broad suite of commercial and residential furniture solutions, offering a custom feel at a smaller scale and cost. A truly creative design studio, MASHstudios has pushed the boundaries by engineering and designing custom furniture solutions and office spaces for flagship brands such as Google, Facebook, Tinder, HBO and Amazon. For more information, please visit www.mashstudios.com. All KINNEY options are currently available to order with six week expected delivery, and COCO desks will begin shipping in July 2018. For pricing information, please contact MASHstudios. These and other READYMADE office solutions are made to order from a range of modern finishes, manufactured in the U.S. and ship worldwide. MASHstudios will be on-site in New York at ICFF 2018 from May 20-23 at booth #745 where COCO, KINNEY and other exciting products will be on display. About MASHstudios Founded in 2002 by Bernard Brucha, MASHstudios is a multi- disciplinary LA-based design firm that combines award-winning design and engineering experience with local manufacturing capabilities to challenge the status quo of modern design. MASHstudios' philosophy focuses on client-centered service, acute attention to detail, and consistent use of innovative forms and materials, all with the goal of creating timeless design. Contact: Patrick Thornton [email protected] 248-703-0247 SOURCE MASHstudios Related Links www.mashstudios.com LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Abby J. Leibman, President & CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, today issued the following statement, in response to the defeat in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018: "The defeat of the Ryan-Conaway Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 is a stunning turn of events. It is an outcome that we had hoped for but never expected. This is a huge victory for millions of families who would have been devastated by the cuts to SNAP proposed by House Republicans. "Today's vote proves that the approach taken by leadershipdrafting legislation in a highly partisan manner and without grounding its proposals in evidenceis unsupportable. It's now our hope that the House Committee on Agriculture will return to the bipartisan roots of the Farm Bill and work across the aisle to craft a bill together that truly meets the needs of all Americans." About MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national advocacy organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. In March 2017, MAZON testified before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition about hunger and the future of SNAP. Learn more about MAZON's 2018 Farm Bill Priorities and other programs at mazon.org. Contact: Michelle Stuffmann (424) 208-7203 | [email protected] SOURCE MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger Related Links http://mazon.org/ BRAINTREE, Mass., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MIB Group, Inc., the life and health insurance industry's most trusted and secure resource for data-driven, risk management services is pleased to announce the election of its new Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2018-19 and the election of four new directors, all of whom are highly-experienced insurance industry veterans serving as senior officers of MIB member companies. As a membership corporation, MIB's Board is composed of 12 volunteer directors, each of whom represent one member from among MIB's 410 North American member insurance companies, and one internal director, MIB's President and Chief Executive Officer. Effective with the May 18th Board meeting, David Acselrod, Head of Premier Client Group Integration and Department of Labor Implementation for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), will become Chairman, thereby succeeding Arthur J. Roberts, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (retired) for the Ohio National Life Insurance Company who will remain on the MIB Board of Directors as Immediate Past Chair. James E. Hohmann, President and Chief Executive Officer of Members Mutual and Vericity Holdings and Fidelity Life Association will begin his service as Vice Chairman. Newly elected to three-year terms on the MIB Board of Directors this May are Mary J. Bahna-Nolan, Executive Vice President and Head of Life R&D for SCOR Global Life; Michael C.S. Fosbury, President and Chief Executive Officer for Columbian Financial Group; Gregory A. Linde, Senior Vice President of Individual Life for Principal Financial Group; and Jill Rebman, Vice President of Professional Services for John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (John Hancock). "I'm honored to work alongside these talented, visionary industry leaders who volunteer their time to be on the MIB Board," said Lee B. Oliphant, President and Chief Executive Officer of MIB Group, Inc. "MIB Board members provide sharp insights into the life and health insurance industries and invaluable strategic guidance on the evolving needs of our members," said Oliphant. "I would also like to thank our outgoing Chairman Art Roberts for his leadership and passion for excellence during his tenure. I am pleased that he will remain on the MIB Board as Immediate Past Chair." Mr. Acselrod joined the MIB Board in 2016 and will serve as its new Chairman, 2018-2019. Mr. Acselrod is currently leading transformation strategies for MassMutual. Prior to this role, he had overall accountability for the successful integration of the MetLife Premier Client group acquisition. He has also led MassMutual's New Business and Underwriting areas with responsibility for underwriting operations and strategy including oversight for Life, Disability Income and LTC Underwriting and New Business. Ms. Mary J. Bahna-Nolan will begin her term on the MIB Board in May 2018. Ms. Bahna-Nolan is Executive Vice President and Head of Life R&D for SCOR Global Life. She is responsible for mortality and policyholder behavior research and development, shaping the company's global direction for the R&D and key innovation activities including the interaction of mortality, underwriting, medical research and behavioral research through advanced analytics to inform new business development, risk modeling, and best estimate derivation. Bahna-Nolan has formerly served on various industry boards and currently serves on a number of committees of the Society of Actuaries, the Academy of Actuaries, and ACLI. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the Academy of Actuaries and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst. Mr. Michael C.S. Fosbury will begin his term on the MIB Board in May 2018. Mr. Fosbury is President and Chief Executive Officer for Columbian Financial Group (CFG) and has held various executive management positions including Chief Operating Officer and Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. In 2015, Mr. Fosbury was elected President and joined CFG's Board of Directors; he was subsequently elected Chief Executive Officer in January 2017. He is the Past Chair of the Life Insurers Council (LIC), which is part of Life Office Management Association (LOMA), and is a director on the Board of the Life Insurance Council of New York (LICONY), plus the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) Forum 500 Board. Mr. Gregory A. Linde will begin his term on the MIB Board in May 2018. Mr. Linde is Senior Vice President, Individual Life Insurance at Principal. Mr. Linde is a Fellow of the Life Office Management Institute (FLMI), a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), and an Associate in the Academy of Life Underwriting (AALU). Mr. Linde served on the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) Medical & Risk Classification Committee, the ACLI and HIAA Disability Committees, the Executive Council for the Home Office Life Underwriters Association and LOMA's Education and Training Council. He is currently a member of the ACLI Life Insurance Committee and LIMRA's Strategic Marketing Issues Committee. Mr. Linde is the current Chairman of the Iowa Jobs for America's Graduates (iJAG) Board of Directors. Ms. Jill Rebman will begin her term on the MIB Board in May 2018. Ms. Rebman is Vice President of Professional Services for John Hancock and, as a member of the executive team, leads John Hancock's Insurance Underwriting, Advanced Markets and Reinsurance Administration teams. In her three-decade career with John Hancock, she has held a variety of management positions within the organization, including AVP Inforce Customer Service, AVP New Business and Claims, and AVP Product Development and Marketing. About MIB MIB is the life and health insurance industry's most trusted and secure resource for data-driven risk management services that protect the financial integrity of its members and address their evolving needs. Owned by its members, MIB is uniquely positioned to securely collect and analyze confidential data. MIB services help to detect fraud, errors and omissions on insurance applications; to analyze industry data needed to manage a variety of financial risks; and to make regulatory reporting compliance less onerous and more efficient. As the life insurance industry's first statistical agent, our MIB Solutions, Inc. subsidiary cost-effectively performs annual data calls for those insurers subject to principles-based reserving. MIB Group, Inc., a membership corporation, provides services through its wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, MIB, Inc. and MIB Solutions, Inc. For more information, visit www.mibgroup.com. Media Inquiries: David O. Aronson, MIB Group, Inc., 781.751.6136, [email protected] SOURCE MIB Group, Inc. Related Links http://www.mibgroup.com TOKYO, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Mizuho DKB Brokerage has highlighted that China has offered to reduce its annual trade surplus with the United States by $200 billion. In a proposal submitted by the Chinese side, Beijing trade representatives said they can ease trade imbalance through increasing US imports and reducing tariffs noted a key research analyst from Mizuho DKB Brokerage. This figure is more than double the amount the U.S. requested earlier this year, which amounted a $100 billion cut. China's trade surplus hit a record $375 billion last year. One of the sources said that Liu He, President Xi Jinping's top advisor, said that Beijing plans to cut its trade surplus though increased purchases of US goods and other measures, including halting government subsidies for high-tech industries and sharply cut import tariffs on American exports. Another person familiar with the talks said the package may include buying more commercial aircraft from US maker Boeing, which is already selling nearly 30 percent of its production to the mainland. China's two biggest imports from the United States in 2017 included aircraft at $17 billion and soybeans at nearly $12 billion. The Chinese delegation also proposed to lower some tariffs to levels no higher than those imposed by the United States. Nearly $10 billion worth of US farm products would be a major beneficiary of the Chinese offer including fruit, nuts, pork, wine and sorghum. Mizuho DKB Brokerage commented to its investors the importance on the Chinese officials providing a few details on their demands in exchange for the concessions aimed at bringing down the U.S. trade deficit. The United States has already eased sanctions on Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. However, Beijing was asking to treat Chinese investment equally under national security reviews and to set aside threats of imposing 25% tariffs under its "Section 301" probe. Mizuho DKB Brokerage analysts reported that China wanted a relaxation of US restrictions on investments made by Chinese companies, including controls that ban US suppliers from selling certain high-technology products to Chinese clients. SOURCE Mizuho DKB Brokerage Company's 24/7 crisis hotline available now to those in need: 1.844.751.2133 SANTA FE, TX, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Following the tragic shooting that occurred at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas on Friday, May 18, Morneau Shepell has opened its 24/7 crisis support hotline to help anyone affected by this traumatic event. "Our deepest sympathies are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and our thoughts continue to be with the students, parents, teachers and entire Sante Fe community as they cope with today's tragic events," said Stephen Liptrap, president and chief executive officer, Morneau Shepell. "School should be a safe, nurturing place for children to learn and grow, and we are saddened that the Santa Fe community has faced such a traumatic event. To help those looking for support to cope with today's events, we have opened our 24/7 crisis hotline and encourage anyone affected to reach out." Morneau Shepell's national 24/7 crisis support line offers professional emotional support to anyone in crisis. When calling the crisis line, individuals receive crisis counselling support and/or referral to community resources. Anyone affected by the incident in Santa Fe can reach the crisis support line at 1.844.751.2133. The Company's employee assistance program is also available to existing clients through the designated toll-free number or by visiting workhealthlife.com. About Morneau Shepell Morneau Shepell is a leading North American human resources consulting and technology company with global reach, delivering solutions that integrate both the needs of organizations and their people in employee assistance, health and wellness, benefits and retirement planning and pension administration. The Company is a leading provider of employee assistance programs and administrator of retirement and benefits plans, and has a growing presence in the North American market for absence and disability management solutions. Through strategic HR consulting, innovative plan design and comprehensive technology solutions, the Company is powering positive change in progressive organizations by helping clients solve complex workforce problems, increase employee productivity, reduce costs and improve their competitive position. Established in 1966, Morneau Shepell serves approximately 20,000 clients, ranging from small businesses to some of the largest corporations and associations. With more than 4,000 employees in offices across North America, Morneau Shepell provides services to organizations across North America and around the globe. For more information, visit morneaushepell.com. SOURCE Morneau Shepell Inc. Related Links http://www.morneaushepell.com WASHINGTON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) congratulates its 10 member firms named to the PEI 300, Private Equity International's list of the world's biggest private equity firms. The list, which is based on how much capital raised over the last five years, represents a collective fundraising total of $1.5 trillion. NAIC member firms named to the PEI 300 include: Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. HarbourVest Partners, LLC JP Morgan Asset Management Neuberger Berman One Rock Capital Partners, LLC Palladium Equity Partners, LLC Siris Capital Group, LLC Sycamore Partners Vista Equity Partners Vistria Group, LP "The NAIC is proud to see such growth among our members and applauds them on their fundraising successes," says Robert L. Greene, President & CEO, "Having so many firms ranked among the world's largest underscores the talent and capabilities within private equity's diverse communities." About the NAIC: Based in Washington, DC, the National Association of Investment Companies (www.naicpe.com) was founded in 1971. Comprised of more than 50 member firms representing over $90 billion in assets under management, it is now the largest network of diverse-owned private equity firms and hedge funds in the United States. MEDIA CONTACT: Alan Hughes 917-993-3842 [email protected] SOURCE National Association of Investment Companies Related Links http://www.naicpe.com EAST HANOVER, N.J., May 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Aimovig (erenumab-aooe) for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. Aimovig is a novel therapeutic approach as the first and only FDA-approved treatment specifically developed to prevent migraine by blocking the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor (CGRP-R), which is believed to play a critical role in migraine. Aimovig 70 mg is self-administered once monthly via Amgen's device, the SureClick autoinjector, and does not require a loading dose. Some patients may benefit from a dosage of 140 mg once monthly. "The FDA approval of Aimovig reflects the Novartis commitment to advancing neuroscience and marks an important moment in the fight against migraine," said Fabrice Chouraqui, US President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. "Migraine is a serious and misunderstood disease with significant gaps in the way it is both perceived and treated. In close partnership with Amgen, our goal in the US is to bring meaningful therapeutic options to patients, while also helping them to overcome the personal, professional and clinical barriers that have long been associated with this stigmatized disease." In Phase II and III studies in chronic and episodic migraine, Aimovig resulted in significant reductions in monthly migraine days and use of acute migraine medications compared to placebo. These effects on monthly migraine days have been shown to be sustained for up to 15 months in an ongoing open-label extension study in episodic migraine (four to 14 headache days per month). A dedicated Phase IIIb study (LIBERTY) in difficult-to-treat populations those with episodic migraine who have failed two to four prior treatments showed that patients taking Aimovig had nearly three-fold higher odds of having their migraine days cut by half or more compared to placebo. The efficacy, tolerability and safety of Aimovig has been assessed in more than 3,000 patients, including LIBERTY and an ongoing open-label extension of up to five years in duration. In clinical studies of Aimovig, the most common adverse reactions were injection site reactions and constipation. "Having a treatment designed to specifically address the complex nature of migraine is an important and welcome step forward in headache medicine. Aimovig offers self-administration with proven efficacy across a spectrum of patients, including in those who have previously tried other preventive therapies without success," said Stewart J. Tepper, MD, Professor of Neurology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. "Importantly, in clinical trials, Aimovig patients were able to start and stay on therapy with a discontinuation rate of two percent due to adverse events and experienced sustained migraine prevention." "For years, the migraine community has been advocating for new treatment options that are specifically designed to treat migraine, a debilitating and often stigmatized disease," said Kevin Lenaburg, Executive Director of the Coalition For Headache And Migraine Patients (CHAMP), which represents 12 national headache and migraine patient advocacy groups. "Today we celebrate the tireless work of researchers to better understand the biology of migraine and their ability to bring a new therapeutic approach to the millions of Americans who are seeking fewer migraine days. On behalf of the community, we would also like to thank the thousands of clinical trial patients whose unwavering commitment made this progress possible." Amgen and Novartis are committed to supporting the migraine community and to helping appropriate patients with affordable access to Aimovig. The Aimovig Ally product support program has been created to help patients navigate insurance coverage and identify potential access resources for those who are uninsured or underinsured. The US list price of Aimovig is $575 for once monthly 70 or 140 mg single-use prefilled SureClick autoinjectors, or $6,900 annually. The price of Aimovig reflects the value it brings to patients and society, including the financial impact on sufferers, caregivers and employers, while also factoring in critical issues such as patient affordability, and fair and timely access. While out-of-pocket costs will vary depending on insurance status, the Aimovig Copay Program may be able to help reduce a patient's out-of-pocket costs to as little as $5 per month for eligible patients with commercial insurance. For more information about Aimovig Ally and the Aimovig Copay Program, please visit www.aimovig.com. Aimovig is expected to be available to patients within one week. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for Aimovig is under review. Novartis expects approval in the EU in the coming months. About Aimovig (erenumab-aooe) Aimovig is the only FDA-approved treatment specifically developed to prevent migraine by blocking the CGRP-R, which is associated with migraine. Aimovig has been studied in several large global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to assess its safety and efficacy in migraine prevention. More than 3,000 patients have participated in the Aimovig clinical program across four placebo-controlled Phase II and Phase III clinical studies and their open-label extensions. About LIBERTY LIBERTY (NCT03096834) is a Phase IIIb, multicenter, randomized 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety and efficacy of Aimovig in patients with episodic migraine (defined in the trial as four to 14 migraine days per month at baseline) who have failed up to four prior preventive treatments for migraine. In the study, 246 participants with episodic migraine who had two to four previous treatment failures were randomized to receive Aimovig 140 mg or placebo during the 12-week double-blind treatment phase. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients with at least a 50 percent reduction of monthly migraine days from baseline over the last four weeks of the double-blind treatment phase of the study (weeks 9-12).1 US Aimovig Indication Aimovig is indicated for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. US Aimovig Important Safety Information The most common adverse reactions in clinical studies ( 3% of Aimovig-treated patients and more often than placebo) were injection site reactions and constipation. Please visit www.pharma.us.novartis.com or www.aimovig.com for Full US Prescribing Information. About Migraine People with frequent migraine may lose more than half their life to migraine. They endure debilitating pain, physical impairment, and live in constant dread of the next attack all of which is compounded by a widespread misperception of the disease.2 The 2016 Global Burden of Disease Study ranks migraine among the top 10 causes of years lived with disability worldwide.3 Migraine is associated with personal and societal burdens of pain, disability, and financial cost, and it remains under-recognized and under-treated.2 About Novartis and Amgen Neuroscience Collaboration In August 2015, Novartis entered into a global collaboration with Amgen to develop and commercialize pioneering treatments in the field of migraine and Alzheimer's disease. The collaboration focuses on investigational Amgen drugs in the migraine field, including Aimovig (approved by the FDA in May 2018 for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults) and AMG 301 (currently in Phase II development). In April 2017, the collaboration was expanded to include co-commercialization of Aimovig in the US. For the migraine program, Amgen retains exclusive commercialization rights in Japan, and Novartis has exclusive commercialization rights in Europe, Canada and rest of world. Also, the companies are collaborating in the development and commercialization of a beta-secretase 1 (BACE) inhibitor program in Alzheimer's disease. The oral therapy CNP520 (currently in Phase III for Alzheimer's disease) is the lead molecule and further compounds from both companies' pre-clinical BACE inhibitor programs may be considered as follow-on molecules. At the center of the Amgen and Novartis neuroscience collaboration is the shared mission to fight migraine and the stereotypes and misperceptions surrounding this debilitating disease. About the Novartis and Amgen Migraine Mission Migraine has gone under-appreciated and under-treated for too long. In addition to bringing Aimovig to market, Amgen and Novartis have committed to leading the charge together against migraine misperceptions. Through outreach and education our goal is to challenge public perception of migraine disease, assist people in getting the treatment they need and facilitate informed communication among people with migraine and those who live and work with them, including co-workers, employers and insurers. Future initiatives will include a focus on addressing how stigma against migraine manifests in the workplace: migraine gets in between people and their careers, and in between employee and employer. We hope our workplace program will serve as an example to coworkers, employers and human resources to help each party understand why and how they should treat migraine as a serious disease. Novartis in Neuroscience Novartis has a strong ongoing commitment to neuroscience and to bringing innovative treatments to patients suffering from neurological conditions where there is a high unmet need. We are committed to supporting patients and physicians in multiple disease areas, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Epilepsy and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and have a promising pipeline in MS, Alzheimer's disease, migraine and specialty neurology (e.g., neuropathic pain). Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "expected," "expects," "believed," "ongoing," "commitment," "committed," "step forward," "investigational," "promising," "pipeline," "will," "may," "goal," "mission," "hope," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for Aimovig or the other investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products or the collaboration with Amgen. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Aimovig or the other investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that the collaboration with Amgen will achieve any or all of its intended goals and objectives, or be commercially successful. Nor can there be any guarantee that Aimovig or the other investigational or approved products described in this press release will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products, and the collaboration with Amgen, could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political and economic conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Located in East Hanover, NJ Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation is an affiliate of Novartis which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.1 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 124,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected] References 1 Reuter et al. Efficacy and Safety of Erenumab in Episodic Migraine Patients With 24 Prior Preventive Treatment Failures: Results from the Phase IIIb LIBERTY Study. Poster presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). April 21-27, 2018. 2 Lipton RB, et al. Migraine prevalence, disease burden, and the need for preventative therapy. Neurology. 2007; 68(5):343-9. 3 GBD 2016 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 328 diseases and injuries for 195 countries, 19902016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet. 2017;388:1545-1602. Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: [email protected] Eric Althoff Christina Zoppi Novartis Global Media Relations Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation +1 212 830 2408 (office) +1 862 778 1980 (office) +1 646 438 4335 (mobile) +1 862 345 4140 (mobile) [email protected] [email protected] Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: [email protected] Central North America Samir Shah +41 61 324 7944 Richard Pulik +1 212 830 2448 Pierre-Michel Bringer +41 61 324 1065 Cory Twining +1 212 830 2417 Thomas Hungerbuehler +41 61 324 8425 Isabella Zinck +41 61 324 7188 Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation East Hanover, New Jersey 07936-1080 2018 Novartis 5/18 EMB-1356437 SOURCE Novartis Related Links http://www.novartis.com AUSTIN, Texas, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- OJO Labs has raised $20.5 million in Series B funding to supercharge the rollout of its products, which empower consumers to make better decisions. Investors in the round consist of a unique combination of real estate brokerage, financial, and home service leaders including Realogy Holdings Corp., Royal Bank of Canada, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and ServiceMaster. This group of industry-leading companies serves tens of millions of consumers and are joined in the round by leading Texas venture capital firms LiveOak Venture Partners and Silverton Partners. The company has a patent pending AI technology that solves the biggest problem plaguing the development of intelligent, conversational systems. "Consumers will not engage with these technologies unless they are personalized and intelligent, but to make the system intelligent requires millions of conversations," said David Rubin, Co-founder of OJO Labs. "Our unparalleled, real-time supervised learning platform solves this problem. By combining natural language understanding with unique visual experiences and personalization, the product allows consumers to deeply engage in a purchase process prior to interacting with a salesperson." The first application of the technology, OJO, is the only AI-based assistant that can understand a user's intent and preferences to answer almost any real estate related question. Interacting on behalf of real estate agents and brokerages, OJO is available 24/7 to help consumers with questions, home search needs, mortgage information and other resources related to the home ownership journey. Engaging the consumer in a two-way dialogue over an extended period of time provides OJO with key insights that it can then share with a real estate agent when the consumer is ready and chooses to connect. This trusted, nurtured connection creates a mutually beneficial experience for the consumer and agent. "It has been three years since we founded OJO Labs and laid the foundation for our vision of a customized experience for millions of consumers. In that time, we have made significant progress in solving the hard technical and operational barriers prevalent in our space, and this has led to considerable competitive advantages today," said John Berkowitz, CEO of OJO Labs. "While we are proud of our progress to date, creating a conversational AI that has access to the best data and human experts will be a challenging journey. Thankfully, we have an unrivaled team, a considerable head start and the will to accomplish our vision no matter the difficulty." Since raising their Series A funding in 2016, OJO Labs has been going through a rigorous process of testing and optimization, including processing millions of pieces of photographic and conversational real estate data. With a proven product and successful pilots behind them, the company is leveraging the power of its patent pending AI system by partnering with some of the world's most influential real estate and financial services players. With this latest round of funding, OJO Labs will focus on growing its product, data science and engineering teams. Spearheading this effort is Peter Kappler, a former Google engineer who was instrumental in developing the AdWords platform and opening Google's Austin office in 2007. "I've looked at numerous technology startup opportunities since I retired from Google, but none as exciting as OJO Labs. I chose to join and help build this company because this technology and team are tackling serious problems by providing a level of personalization at a scale previously unachievable," shares Kappler. About OJO Labs Inc. - OJO Labs is on a mission to fundamentally improve the way people make their most important decisions through the fusion of machine and human intelligence. The company's unique, patent pending AI technology products can conduct text conversations with consumers at scale. By combining natural language understanding with data and personalization, the products allow for consumers to deeply engage in a purchase process prior to interacting with a salesperson. OJO Labs is backed by the two most active VC firms in Texas, leaders in real estate and financing industries as well as key high-net worth individuals. OJO Labs has been recognized as a Best Places to Work in Austin by the Austin Business Journal, an Austin A-List and 50 On Fire winner. The OJO team has decades of combined success scaling businesses and deep experience in engineering, data science, product marketing and operations. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. Media Contact: Christine Jacobson (866) 973-1703 [email protected] SOURCE OJO Labs Inc. Related Links https://home.ojo.me STEVENAGE, England, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- M Group Services, a leading service provider to the regulated infrastructure markets in the UK and Ireland, today announced an agreement to be acquired by PAI Partners ("PAI"), a major private equity investor in businesses across Europe, from First Reserve, a leading private equity firm exclusively focused on energy. Commenting on today's announcement, Jim Arnold, Chief Executive of M Group Services said: "Over the past two years, First Reserve's strategic investment in our group has enabled the successful delivery of our business strategy. This has resulted in continued profitable growth. We have broadened the markets in which we operate, we have diversified our service offering and we have created a strong foundation for future continued success across the Utilities, Data, Transport and Telecoms markets with their support. "During the last few months, we have continued to work closely with First Reserve, on the next stage of our growth. As part of this process an opportunity arose that has allowed First Reserve to realise the benefits of their investment to date and for us to introduce PAI, as a new long-term investor to sit alongside the existing senior management and actively support the future development of the group." Jeff Quake and Neil Hartley, Managing Directors at First Reserve, stated: "We have been proud to work with M Group Services' management to double the size of the company through both organic growth and accretive acquisitions, and we are pleased to see their hard work recognized. The investment in M Group Services began with First Reserve's thematic investment approach targeting the asset integrity sector and ultimately resulted in a tremendous growth story. We wish Jim and his team all the best as they continue to deliver for their customers." Colm O' Sullivan, Partner at PAI Partners, commented: "We are delighted to be acquiring M Group Services and look forward to the next phase of the company's development. PAI has closely followed the business since 2013 and we have been very impressed by the transformation achieved by its management team in particular its expansion beyond utilities. We intend to continue the strategy of consolidating the UK infrastructure services market." Jim Arnold continued: "PAI, which manages 12.3 billion of dedicated funds, is a major investor in businesses across Europe, providing them with the financial and strategic support required to pursue their development. I am delighted that they have chosen, alongside the existing management, to acquire M Group Services. PAI were very keen to invest given our proven track record in successful service delivery within the regulated markets in which we operate and the leading positions we hold in those markets. "PAI is also hugely supportive of our vision to be the leading service provider for essential infrastructure in the UK and Ireland. We now look forward to forging a strong partnership with PAI as we embark on the next phase of sustainable long-term growth, organically and through strategic acquisitions. "Our excellent people, long term client relationships, service delivery ethos, focus on safety and ability to deliver reliable and stable revenue streams, margins and cash flow were all instrumental to PAI's decision to invest in M Group Services. "This acquisition will not involve any change to ownership of the businesses within M Group Services Divisions, which includes Morrison Utility Services, Morrison Data Services, Dyer & Butler, Magdalene, PMP Utilities, M Group Services Plant & Fleet Solutions and any operating businesses within them." The actual sale of the business will occur following European Commission antitrust approval, which is required for an acquisition of this scale. It is anticipated this will be complete by the end of August. Press contacts: M Group Services Paul Gilbert, Head of Communications, Tel: 01438 847275 / 07595 014 687 / Email: [email protected] PAI James Madsen / Matthieu Roussellier, Greenbrook Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7952 2000 / [email protected] First Reserve Jonathan Keehner / Julie Oakes, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher Tel: +1 212 355-4449 / [email protected] About M Group Services M Group Services is a leading service provider to the regulated infrastructure markets in the UK and Ireland through its utilities, transport, telecom, and data divisions. The Company operates through its subsidiaries that include Morrison Utility Services, Morrison Data Services, Dyer & Butler, Magdalene, PMP Utilities and M Group Services Plant & Fleet Solutions. About PAI PAI Partners is a leading European private equity firm with offices in Paris, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New York and Stockholm. PAI manages 12.3 billion of dedicated buyout funds. Since 1994, the company has completed 66 transactions in 11 countries, representing over 50 billion in transaction value. PAI is characterised by its industrial approach to ownership combined with its sector-based organisation. PAI Partners provide the companies they own with the financial and strategic support required to pursue their development and enhance strategic value creation. www.paipartners.com About First Reserve First Reserve is a leading global private equity investment firm exclusively focused on energy. With 35 years of industry insight, investment expertise and operational excellence, the Firm has cultivated an enduring network of global relationships and raised approximately USD $31 billion of aggregate capital since inception. First Reserve has completed over 650 transactions (including platform investments and add-on acquisitions), creating several notable energy companies throughout the Firm's history. Its portfolio companies operate on six continents, spanning the energy spectrum from upstream oil and gas to midstream and downstream, including resources, equipment and services, and associated infrastructure. Please visit www.firstreserve.com for further information. SOURCE M Group Services NEW YORK, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network it's easy and free. Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform EXPERT ALERTS Media Coverage of the Royal Family PTSD: With May Being Mental Health Month, Accelerated Resolution Therapy May Be the Answer MEDIA JOBS Digital Journalist National Mortgage News (NY) Senior Writer Barron's (NY) Manager, Datacap Dow Jones Newswires (MA) OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES 5 Questions With CQ Roll Call Cision State of the Media Report: Change and Challenges in Today's Newsrooms Blog Profiles: Dog Blogs ------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPERT ALERTS: Media Coverage of the Royal Family Greg Payne Chair, Communications Studies Emerson College Dr. Payne is available to discuss how media coverage of the royals has changed since Princess Diana, and whether media coverage will be different for Meghan Markle: "The current media hype regarding the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle is another chapter in the Celebrity Spectacle era, initiated by Princess Diana, and the global popularity and charisma of her son. It also highlights the unbridled incessant paparazzi spotlight and harassment of innocent related family members, such as Meghan Markle's father, who now will not be at his daughter's wedding." Dr. Payne's research in celebrity spectacle began with the tragedy of Princess Diana's death. Emerson College hosted the first national conference on Celebrity Spectacle and Diana's death in Boston in October of 1997. There were two additional conferences, one in Paris in January 1998, and another in London at Goldsmiths College in August 1998. All three conferences featured top academics, journalists and individuals close to the "Diana Phenomenon," including Dr. Frederick Maillez, the doctor who treated Diana after the accident; Rene Delorm, Dodi Al-Fayed's former butler; and Lady Colin Campbell, author of "The Real Diana." Dr. Payne is based in Boston. ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/gregorypayne/ Website: www.emerson.edu Contact: Michelle Gaseau, [email protected] PTSD: With May Being Mental Health Month, Accelerated Resolution Therapy May Be the Answer Kelly Breeding Executive Director ART International Since 1949, the month of May has been observed in the United States as Mental Health Month. Breeding is available to discuss Accelerated Resolution Therapy, an evidenced-based psychotherapy that has demonstrated proven results in treating individuals with PTSD and other mental health issues: "PTSD is a serious issue that prevents thousands of people from completing their normal life activities because the traumatic memories keep repeating like a loop in their mind that replays negative memories. It is a debilitating health issue that creates feelings of isolation, anger, depression, anxiety and confusion. Individuals living with PTSD need to know that there is hope. For many, Accelerated Resolution Therapy may be the answer. Our approach at ART International is three-pronged. In addition to the original clinical studies, we are supporting new clinical research and recruiting and training more therapists nationwide so that there is greater access to this effective and proven therapy for post-traumatic stress." Breeding is executive director of ART International, a foundation that is interested in expanding the reach of Accelerated Resolution Therapy. ART International specifically focuses on increasing the number of clinicians certified in this treatment. To do this, they are hosting more than 100 training sessions in the country this year to certify local therapists in this therapy. Breeding is a clinical social worker with extensive experience in building community partnerships, non-profit leadership, fundraising, and program development. Her clinical practice has afforded her the opportunity to work among diverse populations with a specialization in trauma and life transitions as well as providing community out-reach for at-risk individuals and families. Breeding earned her B.A. in Communications and her Master's degree in Social Work from the University of South Florida, and has been trained in mindfulness-based therapies and applied behavior analysis. She maintains a strong conviction for working with individuals involved in systems of care that face challenges throughout the context of their lives. In February 2016, Breeding was selected to be the executive director of ART International Training and Research, Inc. where she oversees all policies and procedures and strategic and operational responsibility for ART International's programs, expansion, and execution of its mission. She is based in Tampa Bay, Florida. Website: www.artherapyinternational.org Contact: Harry Hammel, [email protected] **************** MEDIA JOBS: Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/ Digital Journalist National Mortgage News (NY) Senior Writer Barron's (NY) Manager, Datacap Dow Jones Newswires (MA) ***************** OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES: Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected] 5 QUESTIONS WITH CQ ROLL CALL. Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call are longtime Washingtonians CQ was founded in 1945; Roll Call in 1955. They always had very different editorial missions. In 2009, the two came under one roof when Roll Call's parent company, The Economist Group, acquired Congressional Quarterly and began the process of merging the newsrooms. From a business perspective, this deal joined together two trusted brands in congressional coverage, said Jason Joseph Dick , deputy editor with CQ Roll Call. Dick gave us the scoop on covering Washington from his newsroom: https://prn.to/2wQbBv5 CISION STATE OF THE MEDIA REPORT: CHANGE AND CHALLENGES IN TODAY'S NEWSROOMS. Journalists have it tough these days. While resources continue to be stretched thin, media criticism and questions of credibility are at an all-time high. What does the working media think about the attacks on the press and how has the current environment affected their reporting? Cision recently conducted its annual State of the Media Report to gather journalist feedback on the challenges they face today. This year, 1,355 journalists took part in the survey. Topics ranged from the impact of Facebook to fake news to search engines and social networks. Here are some of the highlights: https://prn.to/2wStqK4 BLOG PROFILES: DOG BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at a few dog blogs: https://prn.to/2rQDTkc **************** PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To contact ProfNet: [email protected] or 800-776-3638, ext. 1 SOURCE ProfNet WASHINGTON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Award-winning hydrologist Sherry Chen continues her quest for justice at a press conference convened by Asian American non-profit organizations and joined by members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Sherry, a U.S. citizen who worked for the National Weather Service predicting floods, was the victim of "gross injustice," according to a decision just issued by a judge of the Merit Systems Protection Board. The judge ordered the federal Department of Commerce, to restore Sherry to her job protecting the public, and Asian Americans have rallied behind Chen. Despite the detailed findings in a 135-page opinion, the Department has announced its intention to appeal. (The decision is available in full at http://bit.ly/MSPBDecisionText.) Sherry's case began with racial profiling. Even though she had won awards for helping save lives from dangerous floodwaters, after she visited her elderly parents in China, she was targeted. She was accused of crimes such as espionage, interrogated without being advised of her rights, and then brought under federal prosecution and terminated from employment. On the eve of trial, however, the government dropped all criminal charges. Sherry was always, and remains, an innocent American. Her case has attracted national media coverage, including front-page articles in the New York Times here and a joint profile on the 60 Minutes television show with another victim of what the investigative journalists called "collateral damage." The MSPB decision offers details of the government's mishandling of the matter and refusal to acknowledge the facts. Sherry herself has said, "As a public servant, I have been in the front line protecting people's safety and their property. I made my contribution to this country. I have been an innocent American and a law abiding citizen. However, my life has been turned upside down twice by our government for doing nothing wrong. I am glad to receive the court's favorable ruling on my MSPB claim." Her important river forecast model was recently published in a prestigious scientific journal. Yet she has been forced to continue her fight for justice, because of the government's appeal. Sherry's lawyer, Steve Simon of Cincinnati, said, "The ruling we have received from the MSPB judge is a blockbuster. The judge not only thoroughly rejected the many baseless charges against Sherry, but the judge also laid bare the scandalous conduct by the Commerce Department. The agency buried evidence that would have exonerated Sherry during the criminal investigation leading to her arrest and then, again, during the disciplinary investigation before her termination." Community organizations have noted that her case follows the internment of Japanese American during World War II, the Wen Ho Lee case of twenty years ago, and multiple other contemporary instances where it appears the government has used racial profiling as a technique to target Asian Americans, especially researchers, scientists, and others in "STEM" fields. Recent comments by leading officials such as FBI Director Christopher Wray reveal that they regard almost all people of Asian, specifically Chinese, background as potentially suspect, without distinctions based on citizenship or conduct. Committee of 100 President Frank H. Wu said, "The Sherry Chen case has meant so much to Asian Americans, especially Chinese immigrants, because they identify with her. Sherry could be your sister, cousin, or aunt. She is representative. Even though she wanted to contribute to America, she was singled out on account of who she is. So many of us have had that experience too." C100, a non-profit organization, has supported Sherry through its Legal Defense & Education Fund. At its national conference in Los Angeles two years ago and in Silicon Valley this past week, Sherry received standing ovations from standing room only crowds. Haipei Shue, President of United Chinese Americas (UCA), a community organization, said, "UCA and Chinese American community shall fight with Sherry until justice prevails for Sherry and our community! It's wrong to prosecute Sherry; it's wrong to terminate her job; and it is especially wrong now for DOC to deny Sherry justice by appealing." C100, UCA, and the Ohio Chinese American Association (OCAA) jointly organized the press conference. They have worked with a total of fourteen organizations to protest FBI Director Wray's comments, issuing the following statement. They have pointed out that Sherry's case is not isolated. Dr. Xiaoxing Xi, also a naturalized citizen, faced similar claims, and, as demonstrated by all charges being dropped, likewise is wholly innocent. The details of the Sherry Chen press conference are as follows. WHERE: Cannon House Office Building Room 421, Washington, DC WHEN: May 23, 2018, 9:30 am EDT EMBARGOED UNTIL 9:30AM ET, MAY 23, 2018 THE COMMITTEE OF 100 The Committee of 100 (C100) is a non-profit leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia, and the arts. Founded by world renowned architect I.M. Pei and internationally acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, among others, it is an institution for U.S. citizens of Chinese heritage to join by invitation based on their extraordinary achievements. For over 25 years, C100 has served as a preeminent organization committed to the twin missions of promoting full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life and encouraging constructive relations between the peoples of the United States and Greater China. Contact: Frank H. Wu, President [email protected] or 212-371-6565 SOURCE Committee of 100 VISTA, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sound United, parent company to leading audio brands Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Boston Acoustics and ClasseAudio, announced today that it has reached a settlement with Sonos, resolving all patent infringement litigation between the two companies including the upcoming case filed against Sonos by Denon. Terms of the agreement are confidential. "Today's agreement demonstrates our belief in moving the industry forward and removing barriers for both parties to deliver products that delight customers," said Kevin Duffy, CEO of Sound United. "Our direction with HEOS is unchanged, and we'll continue providing amazing-sounding solutions globally while furthering our vision of delivering joy to the world through sound." About Sound United Sound United is a division of DEI Holdings with an award-winning portfolio of audio brands that deliver industry-leading home theatre and personal audio listening experiences for a wide-range of consumers. Each brand provides an expansive array of audio products that includes high-end and custom installation audio, to mid-tier markets that cover loudspeakers, sound bars, AV receivers, wireless multi-room music systems, Bluetooth speakers, amplifiers, turntables and headphones. Dedicated to artfully reproducing audio for listeners and enthusiasts around the world, Sound United is comprised of Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, Polk BOOM, HEOS, ClasseAudio and Boston Acoustics. Each brand offers a unique approach to bringing home theatre and music to life. Whether it's through the legendary heritage of Denon, the classic sound of Polk Audio, the premium performance of Definitive Technology, the highly-sought-after amplification of Marantz, the action-inspired form factors of Polk BOOM, the wireless home audio solutions of HEOS, or the accessible performance of Boston Acoustics, Sound United is your sound so listen. To learn more about Sound United and its brands, visit www.soundunited.com. SOURCE Sound United Related Links http://www.soundunited.com REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Squelch, Inc., provider of a customer experience optimization solution for support and success teams, announced it is a recipient of the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) "Best in Show" Award at Technology Services World (TSW) San Diego 2018. Squelch is the first-ever newcomer at any TSW event to win this honor. The TSW "Best in Show" Award represents the "people's choice" at the event. The award is decided by votes from conference attendees based on their visits to sponsor exhibit spaces in the TSW | EXPO and is open to all exhibiting companies. Competing with 54 other exhibiting companies, Squelch won this distinction alongside TSW veterans Kimble and FinancialForce. Squelch optimizes the customer experience through the teams that serve customers after the sale. These agents are on the front lines solving customer issues on a daily basis, and these can be stressful environments where customers expect quick resolution and are charged with emotion. Squelch is designed from the ground up for customer support and success teams and lives within the workflow that agents already use. Squelch, which officially launched earlier in May, continually monitors and gathers data from all the sources agents use to serve customers (e.g., email, customer management and support solutions, team communication and collaboration tools, document storage services, etc.), creating a combined index that understands how information across various systems is connected. When a customer reaches out to an agent, Squelch swiftly populates the right intelligence automatically within the agent's existing dashboard. A digest of the information is viewable within the app, and a link to the original document is provided if further information is required. "As a newcomer, we're thrilled that Squelch was recognized by the TSIA community as 'Best in Show' at this year's TSW conference," said Jayaram Bhat, CEO of Squelch. "At Squelch, we truly believe in supporting the customer experience through the support and success agents who are on the front lines of customer interaction. We know that happy customers are profitable, repeat customers, and we believe happy agents get you there." For more information about Squelch, and to learn more about its eponymous customer support and success solution, please visit www.squelch.io. Additional Resources Visit squelch.io Follow on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn About Squelch At Squelch, we focus on optimizing the customer experience through the teams that serve customers after the sale. We believe these agents are the heroes of a company, engaging in key customer interactions where speed, knowledge, and empathy go a long way to defining the customer relationship. By empowering your heroes with the right information at the right time, we help create a foundation of confidence that can be measured in both employee and customer satisfaction. About TSIA The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) is the world's leading organization dedicated to advancing the business of technology services. Technology services organizations large and small look to TSIA for world-class business frameworks, best practices based on real-world results, detailed performance benchmarking, exceptional peer networking opportunities, and high-profile certification and awards programs. TSIA corporate members represent the world's top technology companies as well as scores of innovative small and mid-size businesses in four major markets: enterprise IT and telecom, consumer technology, healthcare and healthcare IT, and industrial equipment and technology. TSIA's editorial blog, Inside Technology Services, is widely recognized by technology service professionals for providing thought leadership and insights into industry trends and best practices. Visit us at www.tsia.com, follow us on Twitter @TSIACommunity, or connect with us on LinkedIn and Google +. Media Contact: Greg Wise Bhava Communications, for Squelch [email protected] (512) 213-9899 SOURCE Squelch Related Links http://www.squelch.io YARDLEY, Pa., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Stark & Stark announced it has been retained to represent Clint B. Walters, a construction worker who was hurt by falling bricks in Center City Philadelphia. On the morning of May 11, Mr. Walters was hit by bricks that may have fallen from a painting company's platform nine stories up at Juniper and Sansom streets. The victim, a union carpenter, was wearing a hard hat but suffered multiple fractures. He was taken to Jefferson Hospital and has returned there for follow up regarding internal injuries. Carin A. O'Donnell, a partner with Stark & Stark, will be representing the victim and is looking into a possible negligence action against the painting company. The victim would be seeking compensation for harms and losses sustained, including punitive damages, if applicable after investigation. "We will be continuing an in-depth investigation to determine what caused the bricks to fall and inflict serious injury on our client. We are fully committed to ensuring that he is compensated for his continuing pain, suffering and losses," said Ms. O'Donnell. She concluded, "Our firm is dedicated to upholding the legal rights of those injured at job sites, along with securing potential remedies to compensate these parties." A member of Stark & Stark's Accident & Personal Injury, Construction Injury, and Nursing Home Negligence Groups, Carin O'Donnell concentrates her practice in wrongful death and catastrophic injury litigation. As a leading trial attorney, she has successfully litigated personal injury matters resulting in multiple verdicts exceeding a million dollars. Her extensive trial experience has helped her win cases for plaintiffs in counties that typically favor defense verdicts. About Stark & Stark: Since 1933, Stark & Stark has developed innovative legal solutions to meet our clients' needs. More than 100 attorneys, 30 practice areas, and a philosophy of putting the law to work for our clients is the basis from which we build and maintain our practice. Stark & Stark offers a full range of legal services for businesses and individuals. After more than 80 years, our attorneys continue to deliver practical, efficient solutions to clients in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and throughout the United States. The firm serves clients in Philadelphia and surrounding counties, and can be reached at 267-907-9600. Our attorneys are supported by a staff in excess of 200, all of whom are dedicated to providing the highest level of service to each client. Visit www.stark-stark.com for more information. SOURCE Stark & Stark The CDFI notification comes as Champions Funding continues its funding participation in the Nehemiah Project Phase II joint venture with the City of Tampa Bay and community revitalization group Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay (RTTB), the project's lead agency. Launched in September of 2016, Champions Funding is providing some $2-million in funding for the ongoing construction of 18 three-bedroom, two-bath homes in the historic Sulphur Springs section of Tampa Bay. All 18 homes have been placed under sales contract with qualified low-income homebuyers with a waiting list for more. CDFI certification is awarded to non-governmental institutions dedicated to community development in target areas. With CDFI certification in hand, Champions Funding now has access to a wider variety of programs available to invest in businesses, housing, real estate and other community development services. The result of the 1994 Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act, CDFI certification is awarded only to organizations which pass a rigorous application process and have a documented devotion and successful track record in community improvement. As of November 2017, there were only 1,101 CDFI organizations nationwide. Champions Funding is now among only 40 certified organizations in the state of Florida. Champions Funding LLC president Ron Mulberry, "This year is going to be dedicated to growing the Champions Funding Coalition of Non-Profits, and along with expanding our coalition, Champions Funding plans to provide funding for the rehabilitation and/or construction of an additional 50 homes in the course of the next year." Champions Funding is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Melbourne-based parent company Community Champions Corporation, a constellation of incredible partners designed to establish business relationships with local government, non-profit organizations, as well as investors to provide solutions and enhancements to internal programs, neighborhood stabilization, community development, animal welfare services, and law enforcement. Community Champions Corporation managing director, Tom Darnell, welcomed the CDFI certification news as an illustration of Community Champions' best practices in cost-effectively meeting public-private partnership goals. "The CDFI certification is another positive step in the core mission of Champions Funding and our entire umbrella of companies," said Darnell. "Champions Funding construction loans, technical support and financing expertise all help fill an unmet need for resources designed to team with local nonprofits and municipalities. Those partnerships have resulted in the successful financing of new construction and the rehabilitation of scattered-site of single family homes and neighborhood clusters in distressed residential areas into stable, affordable homes for families in need." SOURCE Community Champions Related Links http://www.cchampions.com PETALUMA, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In any business, there is inevitably too much on the to-do list. While some are clearly higher priority than others, they could all be important. Business leaders may wonder how everything will get done. Some might even ask how to possibly fit it all into the schedule. Brandon Frere, CEO of Frere Enterprises, suggests that with technology, companies can get more done in less time and with less effort. "There is always an endless amount of work to be done, but wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to do all of it?" asked Frere. "Technology can help companies automate tasks so your employees can focus on higher-priority projects." Automating certain processes can be a great way to boost efficiency. Tasks that are repetitive might be especially well-suited for automation. Things like appointments or notification or reminder emails can easily be automated. Workflows of any complexity can be automated through project management software that can move projects along a predetermined workflow pipeline to completion. Such software can include periodic reminders to users to help things along. Configuring technology to take over such tasks can save companies money by allowing employees to focus their time on more important or impactful projects. Gaining efficiency might also take a touch of patience. "There will always be setbacks, direction changes and sometimes steps are just blocked for any reason," said Frere. No process is perfect, and that is also true for automated processes. Frere suggests having backup plans in place in case the technology is temporarily unavailable. "It might be tempting to micromanage employees and workflows to maximize production, but that can actually slow down the process," said Brandon Frere. "Plus, that takes up so much of your time that is probably better spent on the big picture. Even delegating workflows and certain decisions to managers can be considered automating it simply means you don't need to do anything to be able to cross them off the company to-do list." About Frere Enterprises Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur and businessman who lives in Sonoma County, California. He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers alike. His company website, www.FrereEnterprises.com, is used as a means to communicate many of the lessons, fundamentals and information he has learned throughout his extensive business and personal endeavors, most recently in advocating on behalf of student loan borrowers nationwide. As experienced during his own student loan repayment, Mr. Frere found out how difficult it can be to work with federally contracted student loan servicers and the repayment programs designed to help borrowers. Through those efforts, he gained an insider's look into the repayment process and the motivations behind the inflating student loan debt bubble. His knowledge of the confusing landscape of student loan repayment became a vital theme in his future endeavors, and he now uses those experiences to help guide others through the daunting process of applying for available federal repayment and loan forgiveness programs. FrereEnterprises.com Related Images workflow-and-automation.jpg Workflow and Automation Credit: Photonphoto/Bigstock.com image2.png Related Links Frere Enterprises website SOURCE Frere Enterprises Related Links http://www.FrereEnterprises.com PHILADELPHIA, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In the United States, the roots of hunger go deep. In Philadelphia, 25 percent of households live below the poverty level and far too many children go to bed hungry. This is why The Malcom Jenkins Foundation and PepsiCo have partnered with Feed the Children to kick off "Get Ready Fest: Helping Feed Philadelphia" a signature event of The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation, providing 800 Philadelphia-area families with wellness resources, food and essentials. The event kicks off at 12:00pm at Xfinity Live! 110 Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. This distribution event is part of a larger initiative between PepsiCo and Feed the Children to help feed communities in cities throughout the United States. "The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation (TMJF) is proud to team up and partner for this important event in the Philadelphia area," said Malcolm Jenkins, TMJF Founder and Chairman and Safety for the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. "We are excited to bring Get Ready Fest back to Philly since our 2014 inaugural launch and event in 2015. Our work with Feed the Children and 'Get Ready Fest' aligns with our mission to achieve positive change in the lives of youth, particularly those in under-served communities, by providing resources, innovative opportunities and experiences that will help them succeed in life and become contributing members of the community," he added. "We're proud to bring PepsiCo's partnership with Feed the Children to Philadelphia," said Chanel Thomas, senior account manager, customer management, Mid-Atlantic Region, PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division. "We are excited to help our friends and neighbors in the Philadelphia community. Frito-Lay and PepsiCo are committed to giving back to our communities where we live and work, and this is a small way we can help make a difference." Each qualifying recipient at today's event will be given: One 25-pound box of nonperishable food items One 15-pound box of personal-care items One box of AVON products Books from Disney Publishing Worldwide Frito-Lay snacks PepsiCo beverages Life Original Cereal Quaker Standard Oats Chewy Granola Bars Variety of Campbell Soup products In addition to providing enough food and daily essentials, the Get Ready Fest event offers an array of health-related services and information through the support of various community resource partners. These services include health screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, etc., education and social service information relating to GED, job training, and senior and veteran support services. Additionally, the event includes a children's resource area that provides services, children's books, school supplies, haircuts, face painting, and snacks. Super Bowl Champion Malcolm Jenkins, Safety for the Philadelphia Eagles and members of The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation will be on site participating in the event. Volunteers from The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation, PepsiCo and Feed the Children will be onsite serving families and assisting with distribution during today's event. About Feed the Children Established in 1979, Feed the Children exists to defeat hunger. It is one of the largest U.S.-based charities and serves those in need in the U.S. and in 10 countries around the world. It provides food, education, essentials and disaster response. Domestically, it operates 5 distribution centers (located in Oklahoma, Indiana, California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania). In fiscal year 2017, Feed the Children distributed 91.7 million pounds of food and essentials in the U.S. and around the world valued at $373 million. Through our partnerships and programs, Feed the Children's outreach benefited approximately 6.4 million children and families globally. It is accredited by GuideStar Exchange and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. Visit www.feedthechildren.org for more information. About The Malcom Jenkins Foundation Founded in 2010, The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation (TMJF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to achieve positive change in the lives of youth, particularly those in under-served communities; by providing resources, innovative opportunities and experiences that will help them succeed in life and become contributing members of the community. The Foundation is committed to youth development initiatives and programs, which emphasize character development, leadership, education, life skills health and recreation. For more information visit: www.themalcolmjenkinsfoundation.org. About PepsiCo PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $63 billion in net revenue in 2017, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose our fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe that continuously improving the products we sell, operating responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the world enable PepsiCo to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. SOURCE PepsiCo Related Links http://www.pepsico.com "Las Vegas has really transformed in the last 10 years," stated Mike Vargovich, U-Haul Company of Las Vegas West president. "This is truly a family destination now. Families are moving here because they understand Las Vegas is a communal city with something for everyone. "We have affordable housing and a relatively low cost of living. Plus, the weather is good and there are growing business opportunities. The lure of Las Vegas is strong and we are welcoming new residents with open arms." U-Haul has 14 Company-owned stores and 51 independent neighborhood dealers currently operating in the Las Vegas city limits. Find U-Haul truck and trailer sharing locations in Las Vegas at uhaul.com/locations. U-Haul International, headquartered in Phoenix, is counting down its top 10 U.S. Destination Cities as a prelude to Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial beginning of the summer moving season. About 45 percent of all moves each year occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. The No. 1 Destination City will be announced on May 25 via Twitter @uhaul and on myuhaulstory.com. Columbus, Ohio, was named the No. 10 Destination City; Charlotte No. 9; Philadelphia No. 8; and Austin No. 7 earlier this week. Go to myuhaulstory.com now to view Destination Cities 11-50. Reno made the list at No. 39 to give Nevada a pair of cities in the top 40. Rankings are based on the total number of arriving one-way U-Haul trucks into a city in the past calendar year. Destination Cities reflect the volume and regularity of do-it-yourself movers coming into a community. They do not account for departing one-way U-Haul trucks, and thus do not necessarily signify growth like U-Haul Growth Cities and Growth States rankings. U-Haul released its top 25 U.S. Growth Cities and its complete Growth States rankings for 2017 in January. U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The geographical coverage from more than 21,000 U-Haul locations provides a comprehensive overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 1.7 million one-way U-Haul truck rental transactions that occur annually. The arrival of U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 is revolutionizing the moving industry through its more convenient, more secure way to pick up and return a truck. U-Haul live verification technology allows transactions to be carried out entirely on a smartphone at any hour day or night. There are no membership fees. Download the U-Haul app or go to uhaul.com to create an account. For self-movers who aim to keep their costs low but need extra hands to help with their move, MovingHelp.com has been successfully pairing customers with reliable Moving Help Service Providers for more than a decade. The online marketplace lets customers shop and compare local moving companies that provide labor services including: loading and unloading, packing and unpacking, cleaning, and U-Box pick up/delivery. Unedited customer reviews, transparent pricing and payment release subject to customer approval have led to 93 percent of Moving Help users rating their experience four stars or higher. About U-Haul Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 now offers customers access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the self-service options on their internet-connected mobile devices. U-Haul customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to more than 150,000 trucks, 112,000 trailers and 40,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers more than 581,000 rooms and more than 51 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. Contact: Jeff Lockridge Sebastien Reyes E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 602-760-4941 Website: uhaul.com SOURCE U-Haul HOUSTON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Twenty-five student teams from across the country will test their research underwater in May and June in simulated microgravity at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) challenge. Micro-g NExT challenges undergraduate students to design, build and test a tool that addresses an authentic, current space exploration challenge. The overall experience includes hands-on engineering design, test operations and educational/public outreach. Following months of designing and building their unique equipment, student teams will travel to Houston with their prototypes for the test operations portion of the program at Johnson's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) -- a 6.2-million-gallon indoor pool used to train NASA astronauts for spacewalks. Professional divers will test the spacewalk tools, and students will direct the divers from the Test Conductor Room of the NBL facility. Test sessions will be the weeks of May 21 and June 4. The schools participating during the first test week, May 21-26, are: Boise State University in Boise, Idaho in Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina in Columbia University in New York, New York in Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan in Lone Star College Cy Fair in Houston, Texas in Oklahoma State University in Stillwater , Oklahoma , Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana University of California Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California in University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign in Champaign, Illinois in University of Nebraska Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska in University of Texas Austin in Austin, Texas in University of Texas El Paso in El Paso, Texas in Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia in Washington State University Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington in West Virginia University in Morgantown , West Virginia Media are invited to interact with the students from 3-4 p.m. Tuesday, May 22. Media will not be permitted to put filming equipment underwater but will have the ability to request NASA video files of the underwater views during testing. U.S. media representatives who wish to attend must contact Frank Prochaska at 281-483-5111 or [email protected], by 12 p.m. Monday, May 21. Media must arrive at JSC's main gate no later than 2 p.m. Tuesday for credentialing. No media opportunities are planned during the second test week, but interview requests may be sent to Prochaska. The second test week, June 4-7, will feature teams from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida; Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York; San Jose State University in San Jose, California; Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee; and University of Alabama Tuscaloosa in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Micro-g NExT is sponsored by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD). The project is designed to encourage research and development in new technologies and engage students in real-world engineering and problem-solving concepts that may be needed on future exploration missions. Through innovative challenges such as this, NASA continues to demonstrate its commitment toward inspiring new generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts. Follow all activities using #MicrogNExT. For more information about the Micro-g NExT program, go to: https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/ For more information, about NASA's education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education NASA Johnson Space Center news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to [email protected]. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes). This will add the email address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list. The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail. SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov WASHINGTON and STAMFORD, Conn., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nestle Waters North America (NWNA) was notified late yesterday that the United States District Court, District of Connecticut ("the Court") has granted the Company's motion to dismiss the lawsuit (Patane, et al. vs. Nestle Waters North America, Case No. 3:17-cv-01381) filed against NWNA regarding the labeling of Poland Spring Brand 100% Natural Spring Water. "We are pleased with the Court's decision to dismiss this meritless lawsuit," said Charles Broll, Nestle Waters Executive Vice President and General Counsel. "Poland Spring is what we have always said it is 100% natural spring water, meeting all FDA regulations for spring water. Consumers can be confident in the honesty and accuracy of the labels on every bottle of Poland Spring." NWNA and DLA Piper also announced the results of DLA Piper's independent investigation into whether Poland Spring Brand 100% Natural Spring Water meets the requirements of the federal spring water identity standard. Following an extensive review process, the investigation team at DLA Piper confirmed the determinations of state regulators that Poland Spring is properly labeled as "spring water." "This report represents the independent findings of DLA Piper based on the totality of the information we collected and reviewed," said Senator George Mitchell, chairman emeritus of DLA Piper. "DLA Piper has concluded that Poland Spring Brand spring water sources satisfy the requirements of the federal spring water identity standard; and, as a result, the use of the term 'spring water' on Poland Spring labels is both accurate and appropriate." The Investigation Team DLA Piper conducted the investigation at the request of NWNA. NWNA did not impose any restrictions on the investigation beyond establishing its scope. The DLA Piper review panel consisted of George Mitchell, former Senate Majority Leader and U.S. Senator from Maine; Saxby Chambliss, former U.S. Senator from Georgia; and James Blanchard, former Governor of Michigan. The legal team that prepared the report has deep experience in regulatory affairs and independent investigations, and included George Karavetsos, partner at DLA Piper and former Director of the Federal Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations; Ignacio Sanchez, chair of DLA Piper's Government Affairs Practice group; and John Merrigan, co-chair of DLA Piper's Federal Law and Policy Practice group. The hydrogeology expert who worked on the report was Dr. David Boutt, professional hydrogeologist and associate professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Scope of Investigation The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal agency that regulates the labeling of bottled water, has adopted a regulation setting forth a series of requirements for a brand to be called spring water, known as the federal spring water identity standard. To understand whether the Poland Spring Brand spring water sources meet the requirements of the federal standard, the DLA Piper investigation team sought to determine whether NWNA had received regulatory approvals based on certification requirements identical to the requirements in the federal standard. In addition, the team sought to discover whether the scientific documents submitted to the states during the certification process showed that the company complied with the requirements of the federal standard. Consistent with FDA Guidance, an affirmative finding on both points would confirm the determinations of state regulators that Poland Spring is properly labeled as "spring water." During the investigative process, the DLA Piper team reviewed numerous requirements, regulations and hydrogeologic evidence including: NWNA's compliance with the requirements of the federal identity standard with respect to Poland Spring Brand spring water sources; NWNA's compliance with the requirements of the federal identity standard with respect to Poland Spring Brand spring water sources; The certification requirements applied by regulators in Maine and other states to determine whether the requirements they applied included requirements identical to the federal identity standard; and The certification requirements applied by regulators in and other states to determine whether the requirements they applied included requirements identical to the federal identity standard; and The extensive hydrogeologic analyses, conducted by licensed professional independent experts, that led regulators in Maine and other states to approve Poland Spring Brand spring water sources as compliant with the federal identity standard. Dr. Boutt then made an independent scientific determination of whether the hydrogeologic evidence provided to state regulators in support of spring water source approvals has been scientifically sound and whether this evidence has addressed the requirements of the federal spring water identity standard. Dr. Boutt visited all eight Poland Spring Brand spring water source locations in Maine, accompanied by members of the DLA review panel, to examine the spring water production sites and reviewed the hydrogeologic evidence presented to regulators. DLA Piper also interviewed NWNA employees and independent professionals, including professional hydrogeologists who participated in producing scientific analyses submitted in support of the regulatory approvals. Findings of Study Below is a summary of the DLA Piper report's three main conclusions: 1. State Regulators' Approvals of Poland Spring Brand Spring Water Sources are Based on Requirements Identical to the Federal Spring Water Identity Standard Requirements Since March 1992, when NWNA purchased the Poland Spring Corporation, NWNA has obtained regulatory approvals from Maine for every source of Poland Spring Brand 100% Natural Spring Water confirming that Poland Spring bottled water meets the requirements of the federal spring water identity standard. Maine's regulator - the Drinking Water Program (DWP) - has based its regulatory approvals of the spring water sources for Poland Spring on extensive scientific documentation, including evidence presented in hydrogeologic reports prepared by independent hydrogeologists licensed by the State of Maine (supported by certified laboratory testing). Maine's DWP has reconfirmed in letters dated April 15, 2014, and August 28, 2017, that each of the Poland Spring Brand spring water sources satisfies the requirements of the federal identity standard. While Maine, applying the FDA spring water identity regulation, is the primary regulator of Poland Spring Brand spring water sources, all of which are located in Maine, these spring water approvals have been ratified by similar regulatory approvals issued by other states where Poland Spring is sold, transported, bottled, or consumed, including New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. "Applying FDA's own directives about what constitutes compliance with the federal spring water identity standard to the findings of our team's independent review of Poland Spring spring water sources leaves no doubt that all of Poland Spring's state approvals are based on requirements that are identical to FDA's spring water identity standard," said George Karavetsos, partner at DLA Piper and former Director of the Federal Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations. 2. NWNA has Continuously Implemented a Rigorous Program to Assure Compliance with Federal Identity Standard Requirements DLA Piper's review of relevant data has confirmed that NWNA has consistently maintained a rigorous compliance program to ensure that the spring water sources for Poland Spring meet all state and federal regulations since it purchased the Poland Spring Corporation. 3. Hydrogeologic Analyses Confirm Regulatory Approvals of Spring Water Sources for Poland Spring Satisfy all of the Requirements of the Federal Spring Water Identity Standard To meet the federal definition of spring water, each borehole extraction point must be hydraulically connected to an identified spring location where water naturally comes to the surface of the earth; the spring water must be geochemically the same as borehole-extracted spring water and the springs must continue to flow during operations at the site. Dr. Boutt's review of the reports on the hydrogeologic characterization of the spring water sources for Poland Spring submitted to state regulators, as well as his analysis at all eight sites, agreed with the decisions of the state regulators that these sources meet the federal definition of spring water. "The hydrogeologic reports that NWNA provided to the state regulators represent clear and conclusive evidence that each of the Poland Spring spring sources is in compliance with the federal definition of spring water," said Dr. Boutt. "We enlisted the team at DLA Piper to answer one question, without conditions: Is Poland Spring what we say it is? We did so, before any of the class action litigation matters were filed against us, because of our deep commitment to ensuring full compliance with laws and regulations," said Charles Broll, Nestle Waters Executive Vice President and General Counsel. "We are pleased -- but not surprised -- with their conclusion that validates that Poland Spring Brand spring water is appropriately labeled under the applicable legal and regulatory framework." The full report can be accessed here. About DLA Piper DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world. About Nestle Waters North America Nestle Waters North America offers an unrivaled portfolio of bottled waters for healthy hydration, including Poland Spring, Nestle Pure Life, Perrier and S. Pellegrino. The company also owns and operates ReadyRefreshSM by Nestle, a customizable water and beverage delivery service. Just Click and Quench. SM Based in Stamford, Connecticut with some 8,500 associates, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint across our operations. As a natural resource company, we sustainably manage 47 spring sources and conserve nearly 21,000 acres of natural watershed area. We are also committed to creating shared value and being a good neighbor in the 140 communities where we operate in the U.S. For more information, visit us at www.nestle-watersna.com/en and follow us on Twitter: @NestleWatersNA. SOURCE Nestle Waters North America Related Links http://www.nestle-watersna.com/company NEW YORK, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The US Navy Veterans Mesothelioma Advocate is appealing to a US Navy Veteran with recently diagnosed mesothelioma in any state or their family members to call them anytime at 800-714-0303 for direct access to the nation's leading lawyers who consistently get the best possible financial compensation results for their Navy Veteran clients. US Navy Veterans Asbestos Warning Sign Frequently a mesothelioma financial compensation claim for a US Navy Veteran can exceed a million dollars provided the Veteran is represented by some of the nation's most skilled and experienced mesothelioma lawyers. As the group would also like to explain anytime at 800-714-0303, the Internet is a very confusing place when it comes to getting honest information about mesothelioma compensation for US Navy Veterans. The last thing the group wants to see happen to a navy Veteran is for them hire an unqualified lawyer or law firm. "Once you hire a lawyer or law firm you are stuck with them when it comes to mesothelioma compensation." http://USNavyMesothelioma.Com The US Navy Veterans Mesothelioma Advocate says, "We offer immediate access to some the nation's leading mesothelioma lawyers because they consistently get the best financial compensation settlements for their Navy Veteran clients. As we would like to explain to a US Navy Veteran anytime at 800-714-0303, a mesothelioma compensation claim for a former navy sailor or officer with mesothelioma does not involve suing the navy. The compensation claim involves companies that provided parts, pipes machinery, boilers or insulation that contained asbestos on the ship or submarine." Typically, Navy Veterans with mesothelioma have the following things in common: "The US Navy Veteran was constantly exposed to asbestos in a ship's engine room, while maintaining a ship's equipment, in a ship's machine shop, while constantly having to repair a ship's steam lines, while serving on a nuclear-powered submarine. "The Navy Veteran was forced to stay on board their ship or submarine at a shipyard to assist shipyard workers during a major repair or retrofit. Frequently these repairs could take months or longer. In many instances Navy Veterans marooned on their ship during a retrofit or repair could have received extreme exposure to asbestos. The Navy Veteran could have been exposed to asbestos at a US Navy Shipyard located in Norfolk , Kittery, Bremerton , Honolulu , Long Beach , Hunters Point, San Diego , Seattle , New London , New York , Boston , and Philadelphia . , Kittery, , , , Hunters Point, , , , , , and . "The Navy Veteran was part of crew assigned to decommission a navy ship or submarine. In this instance the Navy Veteran could have had extreme exposure tearing our mechanical or weapons systems that could be used as spare parts for other ships in the same class of ships or submarines." The US Navy Veterans Mesothelioma Advocate is not a law firm-they are incredibly passionate advocates 100% focused on Navy Veterans with recently diagnosed mesothelioma or their family receiving the very best possible financial compensation that typically starts around five hundred thousand dollars and can dramatically increase from there-depending on the asbestos exposure. The group offers on the spot access to the nation's top lawyers who can also assist the Navy Veteran with their possible monthly VA disability payments. For more information a US Navy Veteran with mesothelioma is urged to contact the US Navy Veterans Mesothelioma Advocate anytime at 800-714-0303. In the event the Navy Veteran is too sick to call on their own the group is urging the Veteran's family members to call them anytime at 800-714-0303. http://USNavyMesothelioma.Com For specific information about US Navy warships please review their website on this topic: http://www.navy.mil/navydata/our_ships.asp. For a listing of all VA Medical Centers in each state please review the VA's website: https://www.va.gov/directory/guide/allstate.asp. Contact: Michael Thomas 800-714-0303 [email protected] SOURCE US Navy Veterans Mesothelioma Advocate Related Links http://usnavymesothelioma.com SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of Colorado's industry-leading Integrated Volt VAR Optimization initiative, Xcel Energy has selected Varentec Inc., with its Edge of Network Grid Optimization (ENGO) devices and its Grid Edge Management System (GEMS) platform, as the primary supplier for innovative Dynamic Secondary Voltage Controllers (DVCs). The DVCs will enhance the system Conservation Voltage Reduction performance on top of what is achieved with traditional medium-voltage Volt VAR Optimization. This announcement follows Colorado Public Utilities Commission approval of the Advanced Grid Intelligence and Security filing in May 2017. "We appreciate the vision and commitment that Xcel Energy has demonstrated through years of testing of Varentec's technologies to deliver next-generation, supply-side energy efficiency," said Guillaume Dufosse, Varentec CEO. "Xcel Energy is setting a new standard by tapping unprecedented levels of grid edge voltage control at large scale as part of its Integrated Volt VAR Optimization project." Public Service of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company, has committed to deploy 2,000 ENGO devices and the GEMS software platform within the next 2 years across 472 circuits in the Denver Metropolitan area to meet Colorado's ambitious efficiency targets, and is planning to increase those towards the Commission-approved 4,350 devices as the AGIS project progresses over time. Over a period of three years, pilot testing of Varentec's technology at an Xcel Energy substation has demonstrated potential voltage reduction of as much as 5%, delivering validated year-round energy savings of 3.3%. DVCs are providing enhanced Conservation Voltage Reduction performance by boosting feeder voltage outliers at the edge of the grid. For more information on Varentec, visit www.varentec.com or email [email protected] About Varentec Varentec provides innovative solutions for the nascent era of distributed grid control. The Varentec ENGO devices are deployed on the secondary side of the distribution grid to control voltage and reactive power in real time and reduce grid edge voltage fluctuations, even when high numbers of distributed solar or wind systems are deployed on a circuit. Varentec, ENGO and GEMS are trademarks of Varentec Corporation. SOURCE Varentec Related Links http://varentec.com IRVING, Texas, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST) is honored to have been awarded the Spirit of Caring Award from United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. The Spirit of Caring Award is the most prestigious award given by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and is presented to the company that demonstrates excellence in supporting the United Way's annual campaign and outstanding community involvement throughout the year. In the past year, Vistra raised more than $1.57 million in employee and corporate contributions for United Way. Contributions went to United Way chapters in communities across Texas where the company has locations, but most of the money raised went to the Metropolitan Dallas chapter, making Vistra one of only 12 "Million Dollar" companies. In addition, Vistra employees volunteered more than 700 hours during the annual campaign. "Vistra's dedicated employees have a longstanding commitment to positively and constructively engaging our local communities, service organizations, and charitable leaders that make a lasting difference in the lives of those in need," said Curt Morgan, Vistra's president and chief executive officer. "The United Way is so incredibly effective in this respect, and I'm proud of our people for living our values, for going above and beyond, and for selflessly serving others in the communities where we work and live." "Metropolitan Dallas is deeply blessed by the determination and commitment to serve shown by Vistra's outstanding employees," added Jennifer Sampson, president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. "Vistra's receipt of the Spirit of Caring Award caps years of remarkable generosity, highlighted by the fact that the company has raised a total of $10.5 million for annual United Way campaigns since 2013. Furthermore, and just as importantly, Vistra employees have donated thousands of volunteer hours to nonprofits across North Texas. We are deeply grateful to Vistra for these remarkable contributions and look to Vistra as a continuing standard for commitment to the community. They inspire us." In addition to receipt of the Spirit of Caring Award, Vistra team member Danielle Cooper has been recognized with the Emerging Leader award for her role in the Vistra campaign, the company's volunteer program Energy In Action, and ongoing volunteerism as a Grant Panelist with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. The award is given to a young professional who is committed to helping communities succeed through giving, volunteerism, and advocacy. Vistra Energy was formally honored at the annual United Way Awards dinner on May 17 in Dallas. Media Meranda Cohn [email protected] 214-875-8004 About Vistra Energy Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST) is a premier, integrated power company based in Irving, Texas, combining an innovative, customer-centric approach to retail with a focus on safe, reliable, and efficient power generation. Through its retail and generation businesses which include TXU Energy, Homefield Energy, Dynegy, and Luminant, Vistra operates in 12 states and six of the seven competitive markets in the U.S., with about 6,000 employees. Vistra's retail brands serve approximately 2.9 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across five top retail states, and its generation fleet totals approximately 41,000 megawatts of highly efficient generation capacity, with a diverse portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, and solar facilities. SOURCE Vistra Energy SEOUL, South Korea, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Vitel Mobile, Inc, largest open market Authorized Distributor for Samsung and LG in Latin America, has just announced today that it has also partnered exclusively with Hyundai Mobile to launch and distribute its full mobile line up. This partnership is unique as production and commercialization are managed by Vitel Mobile, Inc. along with Hyundai's licensing department, which will oversee all of the devices' design and quality control. Hyundai Mobile devices are a reintroduction of the brand. "Hyundai Mobile's Android Smartphones have been very well received in the market," said Mr. Rommey Bahhur, CEO of Vitel Mobile, Inc. Mr. Bahhur also went to say that the Hyundai Mobile's price point fills a void in a category were top tier brands are not present. Hyundai Mobile complements Vitel Mobile's handset offering of well positioned worldwide brands at all levels of consumer wants and needs. Hyundai Mobile's current model lineup will include 9 different handsets, with 3G and LTE capabilities, at a range of USD$39-89 at the point of sale. Mr. Bahhur also concluded that, "We are very excited about this partnership; having such a worldwide recognized brand as it is Hyundai, at very affordable and attractive prices, is a gamechanger in the industry." Hyundai Mobile devices are being currently distributed and sold throughout all Latin America and the Caribbean and now in the USA. WASHINGTON, May 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Acumen Companies congratulates its Chairman, Abiud Zerubabel for being recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of their 2018 40 under 40 honorees. This honor has been bestowed upon Abiud for outstanding achievement and entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. Abiud's lengthy list of achievements, as well as his community service and philanthropic work, made him an easy choice out of a pool of over 450 nominees to represent this elite class of young entrepreneurs in the D.C area. In great company with other young leaders who refuse to let age be a factor in their business success, Abiud is proud to be inducted in the 2018 40 under 40 class. About Abiud Zerubabel As a serial entrepreneur, Abiud Zerubabel began his entrepreneurial career at the age of 17. While in college he began a property management company master leasing from landlords and subletting to students. The success of this business led him to his first million dollars in net revenue before the age of 21. While continuing to pursue his passion for real estate, he had to adjust when the real estate market softened during the recession. Abiud, quick on his feet and with the recession looming, launched a new venture providing technology services for Federal and local government, and nonprofit organizations. He was able to secure dozens of contracts in less than one year, later selling those contracts to major Federal Government Contractors at a record high multiple. Abiud had no interest in stopping there. He launched his own real estate development company named Urban Investment Group in 2009. In 2013, Inc Magazine named Urban Investment group one of the five "Fastest Growing Real Estate Firms" and the number 4 "Fastest-Growing Companies led by African-Americans" nationwide. After the realized success of Urban Investment Group, he then turned his focus to the launch of Acumen Capital. The focus of Acumen Capital is to offer institutional investors high-grade investment opportunity through a secured real estate portfolio without lock-ups. In 2015, Blackbusiness.org recognized Abiud for leading one of top 5 "Fastest-Growing Companies in America". A year later, Acumen Capital ranked number two on the Inc. 5000's list of the fastest growing companies in DC list. Abiud has since went on to merge the successes of both Urban Investment Group and Acumen Capital with the creation of Acumen Companies. In 2016, Abiud took home the number 1 spot on Inc Magazine's "Fastest-Growing Companies led by African-Americans" nationwide. Under his leadership Acumen companies also placed 7th on Washington Business Journal's list of "50 Fastest Growing Companies in D.C" in 2017. Rightfully so, his consistent drive and desire to shake up the real estate market earned him the DC Chamber of Commerce "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" Award. Abiud also serves as a guest lecturer for several real estate and entrepreneur classes in the D.C. area to help young entrepreneurs realize their dreams just as he has. About Acumen Companies Acumen Companies offers a first-of-its-kind, open-ended and multi-faceted fund offering institutional investors high-grade investment opportunity through a secured real estate portfolio with no lock-ups. Acumen primarily provides acquisition, development, and construction loans to experienced real estate investors and developers for value-adding and opportunistic projects in select sub-markets within the Washington, D.C. area. Although focused in D.C., Acumen maintains a national outlook as a private multi-integrated real estate services establishment. It is Acumen's mission to provide unbeatable high-grade investment management, lending, development and construction services of real estate properties throughout the D.C. metro area. Acumen is firmly committed to enriching the communities in which we operate through by the advancement of affordable housing and top tier development while preserving existing communities. The synchronicity of the land acquired, capital deployed, hands-on management and entrepreneurial vision enables Acumen to transform innovative ideas into reality. Related Links Acumen Companies SOURCE Acumen Companies Related Links http://www.acumencos.com GUEST OBSERVATION Amid the politics, its sometimes easy to forget that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was originally designed primarily to restore the rivers environment. While questions have been raised over the plans governance, economics, and political commitment by the states, it is important to note that, more than five years after the plans adoption, the environmental benefits are slowly but surely being seen. The Long-Term Intervention Monitoring Project began in 2014 to monitor and evaluate environmental outcomes from Commonwealth environmental water the water being delivered into the Murray-Darling Basin by the plan. We are leading independent teams of researchers and consultants in monitoring seven selected areas across the Murray-Darling Basin, and then scaling up those results to deduce the health of the basin as a whole. Author provided Three and a half years into an initial five-year program, we are generally seeing environmental changes of the types and magnitudes expected at this stage of the plan. Plans, predictions and possibilities Its not widely known what environmental water can and cannot do, and how different environmental indicators will respond at different rates. The Basin Plans objectives focus on fish, bird and vegetation communities and in all of these areas, the changes will take time. Under the plan, we expect that it will take more than a decade from the start of flow delivery before large-scale changes become evident. Detecting these changes will require both time and high-quality data. Whats more, Commonwealth environmental water is a relatively small proportion of what once flowed through these systems. The government currently holds entitlements to 1,836 billion litres, which is less than 6% of average system inflows (the rainfall that makes it into the river system). This is not enough water to restore natural flow patterns. Along with other constraints, such as the pressure to keep water off floodplains, this means that managers need to be extremely selective about where, when and how water is delivered for environmental benefits. What are we monitoring? While we are monitoring fish, birds and vegetation to allow us to measure progress towards the Basin Plans objectives, we are also monitoring shorter-term responses. These responses provide data on environmental processes that will allow us to predict whether we can expect the Basin Plan ultimately to deliver on the promised long-term improvements. A good example of this is golden perch, a threatened and iconic native fish species in the Murray-Darling Basin. Long-term changes in the adult population will only be seen if shorter-term processes, such as migration and spawning, occur. Environmental water should help these processes, and we are monitoring those outcomes. Adult fish respond to high flows in spring, moving downstream to spawn. Eggs and larvae are washed further downstream, so to bring new fish into the local population, high flow events in autumn can be used to attract juvenile fish back into a river. Golden perch move over very large distances, and as adults they may end up living in a different river from where they were spawned. If environmental water is used to achieve all these processes, then over years to decades, we will see an increase in adult golden perch numbers. Wayne Koster/Arthur Rylah Institute, Author provided Quicker results Not everything takes decades, however. We have already been able to detect some shorter-term benefits from the plan. Here are some examples from around the Basin: Lower Murray : environmental water has reduced salinity in the Coorong and increased salt export through the Murray mouth Edward-Wakool : environmental water has provided refuges for aquatic fauna during low-oxygen black water events caused by floods in 2010 and 2016, reducing impacts on fish populations Murrumbidgee : environmental water has been crucial in helping endangered populations of the vulnerable southern bell frog to recover Gwydir : environmental water allowed the production of 1,000 tonnes of zooplankton over 90 days, in turn providing food for fish and higher predators Warrego-Darling: environmental water has maintained flows in a system that would have otherwise dried to a series of isolated pools, maintaining food webs and stimulating fish breeding. Alternative outcomes Besides reporting progress, our monitoring program also allows us to make predictions of what the system might have looked like with different environmental flows, or with no environmental flows at all. In the Lachlan River in New South Wales, environmental water has been used to support a major bird breeding event by extending the period of flooding. Without this water, nests would have been abandoned, leaving thousands of fledglings to die. Mal Carnegie/Lake Cowal Association, Author provided We also share our results with environmental water managers to help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of environmental water delivery a process called adaptive management. In the Goulburn River in Victoria, we have learned that the release of environmental water to help riverbank vegetation is more effective if delivered earlier in spring. Riverbank vegetation has now improved so much that metal pins being used to monitor erosion and sediment deposition cant be found without a metal detector. In it for the long haul One criticism of the Basin Plan is that there is no evidence yet of basin-wide improvements. For some indicators this is to be expected because of the long time frames of response of the Basin Plan objectives. However, we have already reported on basin scale changes of other indicators, such as vegetation. Also, the assessment of Commonwealth environmental water delivery shows that across the basin, we are creating the types of flow events expected to lead to beneficial environmental outcomes at broad scales. Photo: Commonwealth Environmental Water Office, Author provided The politics of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan will probably always be fraught. But as the group charged with assessing environmental progress, we want the debate on its effectiveness to be underpinned by sound evidence from independent experts. The Long-Term Intervention Monitoring Project, along with other research and monitoring, is providing that evidence. So, while the Basin Plans objectives will take a long time to be realised, there are positive signs that it is slowly achieving its major goal of improving environments in the Murray-Darling Basin, underpinning more sustainable social, environmental and economic outcomes into the future. Angus Webb, Senior Lecturer and quantitative ecologist, University of Melbourne Darren Ryder, Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Restoration, University of New England Fiona Dyer, Associate professor, University of Canberra; Michael Stewardson, Professor, University of Melbourne Mike Grace, Associate Professor, Monash University Nick Bond, Professor, La Trobe University Paul Frazier, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of New England Qifeng Ye, Principal Scientist, Inland Waters and Catchment Ecology Program Rick Stoffels, Senior Scientist, CSIRO; Robyn J Watts, Professor of Ecology, Charles Sturt University Samantha Capon, Research Fellow in Ecology, Griffith University Skye Wassens, Associate Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt University This article was coauthored by Mark Southwell, Geomorphologist, Eco Logical Australia; and Shane Brooks, Director, LitePC Technologies. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Sydney Roosters star and keen property developer James Tedesco has sold a vacant land parcel he hasn't touched for five years. The Spring Farm block does now come with approval for a double storey home with attached granny flat. Tedesco will have nearly doubled his money if it sold at the top end of the $649,000 to $699,000 price guide when offered by My Property Consultants Shannon McDonnell, who found a buyer in just 12 days. Tedesco paid $348,000 in 2013 when he was at the Tigers. There are plans for a four bedroom main home with three living areas, media room, study and alfresco, while the granny flat has one bedroom. The 25 year old fullback, who has said he is loving his time at the Roosters, has been developing property for the last few years. He has a four townhouse project at Lurnea, each two storeys overlooking a lake, as well as a home at Menangle Park. Tedesco joined the Roosters this year after spending five years with Wests Tigers where he started his career. EXPERT OBSERVATION When we think about infrastructure its most often about bridges or roads or, as in this weeks federal government AU$1.9 billion National Research Infrastructure announcement, big science projects. These are large assets that can be seen and applied in a tangible way. Its not hard to get excited over money that will support imaging of the Earth, or the Atlas of Living Australia. But important as these projects are, theres a whole set of infrastructure that rarely gets mentioned or noticed: soft infrastructure. These are the services, policies or practices that keep academic research working and, now, open. Soft infrastructure was not featured in this weeks announcement linked to budget 2018. Ignored infrastructure An absence of attention paid to soft infrastructure isnt just the case in Australia, its true globally. This is despite the fact that such infrastructure is core to running the hard infrastructure projects. For example, the Open SSL software library which is key to the security of most websites has just a handful of paid individuals who work on it. Its supported by fragile finances. Thats a pretty frightening thought. (Theres another issue in that researchers doing this work get no academic credit for their efforts, but thats a topic for another time.) There are other high profile, globally used, open science infrastructures that also exist hand to mouth. The Directory of Open Access journals which began at Lund University relies entirely on voluntary donations from supporting members and on occasional sponsorship. Similarly, Sherpa Romeo the open database of publishers policies on copyright and self-archiving came out of projects at Nottingham and Loughborough Universities in the UK. In some ways these projects high visibility is part of their problem. Its assumed that they are already funded, so no-one takes responsibility for funding them themselves the dilemma of collective action. Supporting open science Other even more nebulous types of soft infrastructure include the development and oversight of standards that support open science. One example of this is the need to ensure that the metadata (the essential descriptors that tell you for example where a sample thats collected for research came from and when, or how it relates to a wider research project or publication) are consistent. Without consistency of metadata, searching for research, making it openly available or linking it together is much less efficient, if not impossible. Of course there are practices in place at individual institutions as well as national organisations. The soon-to-be-combined organisations -Australian National Data Service, the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources project and Research Data Services (ANDS-Nectar-RDS) - are supported by national infrastructure funding. These provide support for data-heavy research (including for example the adoption of FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable standards for data). But without coherent national funding and coordination, specifically for open science initiatives, we wont get full value from the physical infrastructure just funded. What we need Whats needed now? First, a specific recognition of the need for cash to support this open, soft infrastructure. There are a couple of models for this. In an article last year it was suggested that libraries (but this could equally be funders public or philanthropic) should be committing around 2.5% of their budget to support open initiatives. There are some international initiatives that are developing specific funding models - SCOSS for Open Science Services and NumFocus for software. But funding on its own is not enough: we need a coordinated national approach to open scholarship making research available for all to access through structures and tools that are themselves open and not proprietary. Though there are groups that are actively pushing forward initiatives on open scholarship in Australia such as the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group, the Council of Australian University Librarians, and the Learned Academies as well as the ARC and NHMRC who have open access policies - there is no one organisation with the responsibility to drive change across the sector. The end result is inadequate key infrastructure - for example, for interoperability between research output repositories. We also need coherent policy. The government recognised a need for national and states policies on open access in its response to the 2016 Productivity Commission Inquiry on Intellectual Property, but as yet no policy has appeared. Its reasonable to ask whether in the absence of a national body thats responsible for developing and implementing an overall approach, what the success of a policy on its own would be. Again, there are international models that could be used. Sweden has a Government Directive on Open Access, and a National Body for Coordinating Open Access chaired by the Vice-chancellor of Stockholm University. The Netherlands has a National Plan for Open Science with wide engagement, supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. In that country, the Secretary of State, Sander Dekker, has been a key champion. The EU has had a long commitment to open science, underscored recently by the appointment of a high-level envoy with specific responsibility for open science, Robert-Jan Smits. Private interests might take over Heres the bottom line: national coordinated support for the soft infrastructure that supports open science (and thus the big tangible infrastructure projects announced) is not just a nice to have. One way or another, this soft infrastructure will get built and adopted. If its not done in the national interest, for-profit companies will step into the vacuum. We risk replicating the same issues we have now in academic publishing - which is in the hands of multi-billion dollar companies that report to their shareholders, not the public. Its clear how well that is turning out publishers and universities globally are in stand offs over the cost of publishing services, which continue to rise inexorably, year on year. Virginia Barbour, Director, Australasian Open Access Strategy Group, Queensland University of Technology This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. As the nation churns toward the midterm elections, the Trump Administration has sent stark messages to voters about how they may wish to respond to Republicans unceasing attacks on health care and health insurance for the middle class and the poor. The failed campaign to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and the follow on steps, administratively and as part of the $1.5 trillion tax bill that benefited rich corporations and the wealthiest Americans, likely will hit Virginia and Maryland residents hard if theyre seeking health coverage under the ACA. The two states are among the first to report insurers requested rate increases for 2019 and the increases will be significant, reported Modern Health Care, a trade industry publication, which said: In Maryland, the two insurers selling individual insurance plans on the ACA marketplace are asking for an average rate increase of about 30 percent for 2019 coverage. That would amount to an average monthly premium of about $592 per member, compared with $449 per month in 2018. Nearly 212,000 people are insured in individual plans on and off the exchange in Maryland this year. Meantime, Modern Health Care also reported: Virginia insurers asked for a wide range of rate increases. CareFirst is seeking a 26.6 percent rate hike for its HMO plans in the state, and 64.3 percent for its PPO plans for the same reasons as its Maryland rate increase requests. Cigna Corp. filed for a 15 percent increase; Kaiser asked for a 32.1 percent increase for its individual plans; and Piedmont Community HealthCare requested an 18.3 percent rate increase. Some Virginia rate requests were lower. Anthems HealthKeepers subsidiary asked to increase 2019 rates for its on- and off-exchange plans by 5.6 percent on average, while Optima is seeking to lower rates by an average 1.9 percent. Last year, individual insurance rates went up about 30 percent over 2017 rates largely because of the pervasive uncertainty over the future of the exchanges as congressional Republicans worked to repeal and replace the ACA. Although dickering still will occur over health insurance rates before they become final, industry leaders have been clear and unflinching whats to blame: Chet Burrell, the CEO of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, which serves both Maryland and Virginia markets, told The Washington Post that continuing actions on the part of the administration to systematically undermine the market make it almost impossible to carry out the mission. The Virginia and Maryland rate requests also serve as national harbingers, reported the independent, nonpartisan Kaiser Health News Service, which noted they give an idea of what premiums for next year might be for people who dont get insurance through their job or the government and buy their own coverage on the individual market. That market included about 15.6 million people, both inside and outside the ACA insurance marketplaces, in the final quarter of 2017, according to the consulting firm Mark Farrah Associates. The administration and Republicans have insisted the ACA is a failure, and costs too much. Though they have sought its repeal for eight years and, indeed, throughout the critical first year of the Trump presidency they have offered little in Obamacares stead. Independent, evidence-based analyses of GOP options like short-term and association plans find their cost advantages the coverages can be cheaper for healthier, younger Americans are undercut by their skimpy coverage. Consumers who choose these options, which the administration has even sought to foster in sneaked in provisions in the Farm Bill, likely will find little or no help from their health insurance at the very time they will need it. New cuts sought in kids health coverage Meantime, as partisans rage about government spending and involvement in health care while sending the deficit soaring with tax cuts, President Trump has curtseyed to fiscal conservatives in his party by asking Congress for a rescission or reversal of $15 billion in the $1.3 trillion spending plan lawmakers recently approved. Thats 0.4 percent of total government spending this year, the Washington Post reported. But heres the reason why Trumps request infuriated his opponents and advocates for health care for poor youngsters: Half of the spending that the president made much do about eliminating will come out of just one program the Childrens Health Insurance Program, aka CHIPs. Thats a program, a bipartisan creation with historic support from both sides of the aisles, that furnishes coverage to nearly 9 million children and 375,000 pregnant women. Beneficiaries are poor or working poor. Congress made the program a bargaining chip for more than a year, even beyond its reauthorization time, as lawmakers battled over the ACA, the budget, and a short-lived shut down of the federal government. A public outcry over the legislative shenanigans finally led to a plan to fund the program for a decade at relatively low cost compared to its benefits, many of them long term for childrens health and well-being. Trump officials have targeted the program anew, arguing it can sustain cuts without harm because CHIPs is set up so it holds money in rainy day accounts and to adjust for how its funding flow to states and how they expend the sums. Weary and wary, childrens advocates accuse the administration of showing its true colors and undoing difficult to achieve political compromises that had seemed to ensure CHIPs survival and success for the long term. In my practice, I see not only the significant harms that patients suffer while seeking medical services but also their huge struggles to access and afford safe, quality, and excellent medical care. Republicans certainly may hate on Obamacare, and, if they have the votes, they can get rid of it. Lawmakers also owe their constituents equal or better alternatives, so that health care isnt an economic privilege but a fundamental right. Its unacceptable to fork over more than $1 trillion to wealthy corporations and the rich while, at the same time, undercutting the poor and middle class. Undoing positive health trends? States are making some progress, albeit small, in their residents health and this has been assisted with recent increases in the numbers of Americans with health insurance, coverage rates that have started to go the other way under the Trump Administration. Health coverage is but one part of a spectrum of issues that Americans must address, as we spend 18 percent of our Gross Domestic Product, more than $3 trillion, on health care that isnt anywhere near the top in outcomes for western industrialized nations. Health insurance plays a crucial role in providing Americans with some greater financial security in the face of ever-rising and unacceptable medical costs. A quarter of Americans have expressed growing doubt that they can afford medical care, and half of those responding in a recent survey said they could not pay within a month an unexpected medical bill of $1,000. Health care has become a top and crucial issue for voters responding to other surveys. The president, his administration, and Republicans may want to heed the growing and intense public reaction to the attacks on the ACA, CHIPs, Medicare, Medicaid, and other health-related public support programs. We also need to remember and think about what weve seen out of partisans for some time now as we head to this falls elections to exercise our fundamental rights as voters. YALLWEST, the largest YA and middle grade book festival in the country, was held this year at Santa Monica High School in California on May 5. The event brought together more than 25,000 fans and 100 authors and artists for a day of panels, signings, giveaways, and more. The festival was launched in 2015 by a group of bestselling YA authors and YALLFEST organizers, including co-directors Melissa de la Cruz and Margaret Stohl. This year, YALLWEST also sent authors on visits to Title I schools throughout Los Angeles County on May 4. As part of the celebration, classroom sets of books were donated to each school, many of which had never before hosted an author visit. Weve gathered a selection of highlights from the events. All photos by Gina Clyne Photography. The crowd descended on Santa Monica High School for the fourth annual YALLWEST. Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly signed copies of Hello, Universe during a visit at F.D. Roosevelt Elementary School in Lawndale, Calif. (From l.): Author Sam Maggs (Wonder Women), artist Wendy Xu, and author Julie C. Dao (Forest of a Thousand Lanterns). Young readers got in the Star Wars spirit on May the Fourth. Debut author Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone) chatted with a reader. Players mounted their broomsticks for Quidditch. (From l.): Abdi Nazemian spoke with fellow YA authors David Levithan and Becky Albertalli about their page-to-screen adaptations. YALLWEST attendees shared reactions to a quote by The Hate U Give author Angie Thomas. Fantasy authors Veronica Roth (l.) (the Divergent and Carve the Mark series) and Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes series) appeared in conversation. Festivalgoers were ready to read. Abdi Nazemian (The Authentics) (l.) performed a song with Libba Bray (The Diviners series) (r.). Diana Haneski, a veteran library media specialist, had been wanting for years to host a literary festival for her teen readers and writers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, but there was always trouble finding time to organize what she had in mind. Then, on Valentines Day at her school, a troubled former student killed 17 students and teachers. Organizing a literary festival dropped way down on the list of things that needed to be done. But led by Chris Crutcher, who had just experienced a school shooting close to his home in Washington State, and a group of South Florida authors steered by Kerry OMalley Cerra, whose first teaching job was at Douglas High, the school has just kicked off a two-day celebration of storytelling and reading that Haneski is calling the Orange Blossom Lit and Art Fest, running May 1718. Chris reached out to MSD right away, offering us a visit whenever we wanted one, said Haneski, who had hosted the author at her former school, Westglades Middle. A few days after Crutchers offer, Cerra was volunteering at Douglas High, hanging banners to welcome students back when she ran into Haneski in a hallway. It had only been a few days since the shooting, but she was more determined than ever to make [the lit fest] happen for the students, Cerra said. Its like she knew in that moment they would need something like this. Living in the community myself, I know shes right. Cerra and fellow South Florida author Debbie Reed Fischer contacted every writer they knew, and the event came together within a few short weeks. All of a sudden we have 27 authors for our first-ever Lit Fest! Haneski said. Meg Cabot, who lives in Key West, will also present via Skype. Classroom visits begin this Thursday and continue on Friday. On Thursday evening, Barnes & Noble is offering a massive author signing, which will also serve as a school fundraiser. Crutcher, a vocal advocate for gun control, said he reached out to the school because a community near his home had experienced a similar, if less catastrophic, attack just six weeks before the massacre in Parkland. A 15-year-old at Freeman High School in Spokane Valley, Wash., died after he confronted a fellow student in a hallway who was struggling to load ammunition into an automatic weapon. The shooter dropped the rifle and shot Sam Strahan with a pistol. Strahan died; three other girls were seriously injured. Law enforcement officials agreed that getting the shooter to drop the rifle most likely saved many more lives in the crowded hallway. Crutcher, who also knew the librarian at Freeman High, visited that school after its tragedy. He especially wants to offer support to the Douglas High students who have led the charge to restrict the sale and ownership of automatic weaponry. One thing I will say to them is, heres a message from Sam Strahan. Im the only kid who died because [the shooter] wasnt able to use his rifle. A pistol doesnt have the killing capacity of an automatic weapon. Lets get rid of those goddam guns. Cerra, who has already been to Douglas High to speak to students, says the needs at the school are great, but support for what studentsand teachershave gone and are going through is at the top of the list. In talking with the students, Id have to say what they need most are allies, Cerra said. They need to know that we support them as they set out to change legislature and have their voices heard. The creative writing class lost two students in the February 14 attack. Cerra says some of their classmates are having trouble getting their words to flow, or are worrying that writing fiction isnt important any more. Haneski says the literary festival is one small attempt to help students reclaim the joy they once felt about books and their own writing projects. These students, just like the teachers, need to do some of the things weve done before that we enjoy, she said. Crutcher agrees. You have to acknowledge what happened but you also have to try to get back to normal, he said. This needs to be a celebration of creativity because thats what writing is. GLAADthe worlds largest LGBTQ media advocacy organizationand Bonnier Publishing USA have announced a partnership committed to increasing positive representation of diverse gender and sexual identities in childrens books. At least four titles for young readers up to age 14, in a range of genres and formats, will be published each year as part of the program. The debut title to emerge from the partnership is Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis, which was released in May by Bonniers Little Bee imprint. In the book, a prince searches near and far for a bride. Over the course of his journey, however, he meets and falls in love with a knight as they work together to vanquish a dragon. A second picture book will follow in October, titled Jack (Not Jackie) by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Holly Hatam, in which a big sister learns to accept that her little sibling prefers to be called Jack instead of Jackie. Additional titles will be announced in the upcoming months. Shimul Tolia, CEO of Bonnier Publishing USA, said in a statement, The Bonnier Publishing USA kids group, now in its fourth year, continues to grow and evolve. With that growth comes the responsibility to produce meaningful, socially conscience books for every reader. Were proud to be partnering with GLAAD to authentically and accurately tell LGBTQ stories, and do our part to make classrooms, bookstores, and even the playground a more inclusive environment. Publisher Sonali Fry said in a statement, Children need to identify with the characters theyre reading about. The importance of children recognizing themselves, their family, and their friends in media cannot be overstated. We strive to create stories that not only empower, but ensure that no child feels invisible. The collaboration with Bonnier Publishing USA marks GLAADs latest initiative to elevate LGBTQ representation in the realm of childrens and family media. The organization has previously partnered with the Disney Channel on an episode of Doc McStuffins, and on the series Andi Mack, for example. This year, GLAAD also introduced the Outstanding Kids & Family Programming category in its GLAAD Media Awards. Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, stated, GLAAD is committed to advancing positive representation of LGBTQ lives, experiences, and stories at every stage of our lives, and books are a natural progression to encourage awareness, kindness, and acceptance at an early age. Our partnership with Bonnier Publishing USA represents an important step in our firm commitment to reach a day when all diverse families are included and accepted. By now, youve likely heard the news that the Senate on Wednesday voted 52-47 to block the FCCs repeal of Net Neutrality rules. The vote came under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress in a timely fashion to block agency rules with a simple majority vote. The measure now heads to the House of Representatives. In a statement, ALA president Jim Neal said he was pleased with the result. Strong net neutrality protections are good for Americas libraries, good for our nation and, according to polls, what voters of all political persuasions support. Neals correct, of course, especially when it comes to the part about the polls. A poll released last month showed 86% support among the public (where the issue has consistently polled, in fact). And Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz this week even tweeted that one of his colleagues told him that calls were running 6000 to 10 in favor of preserving net neutrality rules. But if you take a look at the news coverage of the vote (InfoDockets Gary Price has an especially impressive roundup, as usual) there are a few characterizations I take issue with, which I think should be addressed. First, news reports continue to refer to net neutrality as Obama-era regulations. While its true that net neutrality rules werent officially codified until 2015, under President Obama, the underlying principles of net neutrality actually go back decades, and in terms of U.S. Internet policy, have been followed since the dawn of the broadband era. And that matters. Because if there is one principle that seems to guide the current administration, it is that if Obama is attached to it, it has to go. So for reporters to continue to tag net neutrality as Obama-era policy is inaccurate, and potentially antagonistic. And second, news reports continue to refer to the Senate vote as symbolic. Does the CRA effort face long odds? Perhaps. But this legislative effort to preserve net neutrality is anything but symbolicin fact, it is democracy in action. Not only did this bill get a vote in the Senate, it passed. And according to a report in the ALAs District Dispatch newsletter, 160 members of the House currently support this effort to save net neutralitythats more "yes" votes than "no" at the momentwith about 190 members still currently marked as undecided. Does that sound like a symbolic fight to you? In an election year, on an issue with broad, bipartisan, and vocal support? Yes, the bill would still have to be signed by President Trump. But I don't see why that should be seen as insurmountable. It isnt like net neutrality is one of the administration's core issues, right? And it isnt like the president has never changed his mind. As Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said in an interview with CNN last week, to veto a bill on an issue with an 86% favorable rating among voters would likely create a political firestorm throughout this country. He may have a point. But even if this legislative effort to block the FCCs repeal ultimately fails, observers on both sides of the aisle agree that Congress, at some point, will likely need to weigh in on net neutrality. And this effort forces every member of Congress to put down a marker for the voters to see. That's hardly symbolic. How Climate Change Is Threatening Archives New research suggests that a majority of archives in the United States are at risk of degradation from disasters and rising temperatures, according to an article recently published by Pacific Standard magazine. The article highlights the findings from a study of 1,232 archives, led by a team of archivists and climate scientists, which found that 99% of the archives were at risk from climate change, with a reported 90% of those surveyed expected to experience a swing of at least 1 degree Celsius, and 7.5% projected to face a variation of 10 degrees Celsius or more, under a high-emissions scenario. These arent just hypothetical scenarios anymore. Eira Tansey, one of the lead researchers in the study, knows this from firsthand experience. She is a former archivist at Tulane University in New Orleans who was working there in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The reporter for the Pacific Standard article also spoke with Jeff Williams, the director of the Health Sciences Library at New York University in New York, who was there in 2012 when Hurricane Irene left the entire basement of the library building, including a cabinet of oversized archival documents, underwater for several days. Given that earlier this week the Anne Frank House announced that researchers have revealed two pages of hidden text in one of Anne Franks notebooks and Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo, the newly published manuscript from novelist Zora Neale Hurston (18911960), made next weeks best seller list, now seems like a good time to bring up the the importance of preservation. Education Week Offers a Stark Look at the Declining Ranks of School Librarians In an eye-opening piece this week, Sarah D. Sparks and Alex Harwin at Education Week report that American schoolsparticularly those serving black and Latino students have seen a precipitous drop in their school librarians since the Great Recession. And, the article notes, the evidence is mounting that the loss of school librarians could put schools at a disadvantage academically. According to the report, the nations public school districts have lost 20% their librarians and media specialists since 2000, dropping from more than 54,000 to less than 44,000 in 2015, with the most dramatic drop coming after the 2008 recession. Further, the federal data show districts serving students of color have been the hardest hit. Districts which have not lost a librarian since 2005 are 75% white, while the 20 districts that have lost the most librarians are on average 78% percent minority student populations. Swedish Consortium Announces It Will Cancel Elsevier Journals Another hat tip to Gary Price at InfoDocket this week, for pointing us to a decision by Swedens Bibsam Consortium to cancel its contract with leading journal publisher Elsevier as of June 30. In order to take steps towards the goal of immediate open access by 2026 set by the Swedish Government, the Bibsam Consortium has after 20 years decided not to renew the agreement with the scientific publisher Elsevier, the release states. Since 1996, the Bibsam web site notes, the National Library of Sweden has negotiated license agreements "on behalf of Swedish universities, university colleges, governmental agencies and research institutes," which, in 2017, totaled more than 35 million euros. Increasing costs of scientific information are straining university budgets on a global scale while publishers operate on high profit margins, said Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of Stockholm University, chairman of the Bibsam consortium steering committee, and head of the negotiation team, in the release. The current system for scholarly communication must change and our only option is to cancel deals when they dont meet our demands for a sustainable transition to open access. The Week in Libraries, May 18, 2018 Among the headlines grabbing our attention this week: Are you a librarian heading to BookExpo? Join us in the Librarians' Lounge! In American Libraries, Peter Coyl wonders if librarians are in the midst of an identity crisis? Congratulations to Matthew Dames, who has been named University Librarian at Boston University. From the EFF, The Supreme Court says your expectation of privacy should probably not be subject to what's in the fine print. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that actor Elisabeth Moss is set to play writer Shirley Jackson in the upcoming thriller Shirley. Librarian Kristen Arnetts latest for LitHub on how to run storytime without boring everyone to death (or suffering a nervous breakdown). Boston Public Library Put Its M.C. Escher Collection Online, So It's Time to Redecorate Your Dorm Room, via Gizmodo. PWs web editor David Varno was interviewed this week for BookMarks Secrets of the Book Critics series. From Buzzfeed, Twitter Is Going To Limit The Visibility Of Tweets From People Behaving Badly. OK, but what if it's you know, the leader of the free world? Tech Fix columnist Brian X. Chen at the New York Times compares the data Google has on him to his Facebook data. From Smithsonian, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum took out a loan to buy some Lincoln Artifacts, now it may have to selll those artifacts to repay the loan. At the May 17 annual shareholders meeting of the Quarto Group in London, four incumbent directors, including company chairman Peter Read, lost their reelection bid. The four were defeated by a slate backed by Quarto cofounder and former CEO Laurence Orbach, who was ousted from that position in 2012 by a group of activist shareholders looking to move the publisher in a new direction. Despite his earlier ejection from the board, Orbach still controlled 20% of the companys stock. Working with the support of Chuk Kin Lau, head of printer Lion Rock Group who has a 27% stake in Quartos, Orbach was able to return to power. With the shareholder vote, Orbach is now executive chairman. Lau is executive director. Mei Lan Lam, CFO of Lion Rock, and Mick Mousley, former Quarto CFO, were appointed non-executive directors. In addition to Peter Read, other directors gone from the board are Leslie-Ann Reed, Jess Burley, and Claire Capeci. Marcus Leaver, who has run the day-to-day operations of Quarto since 2012, was reappointed to the board. Since Orbach's departure, Leaver has moved ahead with plans to focus Quarto's business solely on book publishing. He has sold off a number of non-publishing units, while simultaneously building a more integrated global workforce. Though headquarted in London, Quarto sells its product in over 50 countries, including America. In the U.S. alone, Quarto had sales of almost $82 million last year, accounting for roughly 54% of the publisher's total revenue. Quarto had a rocky 2017, rejecting an unsolicited take-over bid, and seeing its earnings fall by about 57%. Leaver called 2017 a transitional year," but he is confident that his decision to focus on publishing will pay dividends. Tikkun Olam, which roughly translates from Hebrew into repair the world," comes from ancient rabbinic texts that imply humankind is spiritually shattered into shards, and it is up to us to piece it back together through acts of kindness. The phrase has impacted Jewish behavior and beliefs especially those of American Jews, and that's a problem for author Jonathan Neumann. In his book, To Heal the World? How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel (All Points Books, June), Neumann argues Tikkun Olam is a dangerous hijacking of what was once a minor liturgical metaphor turned into a call for a liberal political Judaism Drawing on his view of Judaisms basic tenets, Neumann critiques some American Jews perspective of Jewish values, including Tikkun Olam, which he says has redirected the perspective of the Jewish community towards liberalism and social justice. To Heal the World? makes a case that Judaism should be separated from politics and social justice issues. "I'm not trying to make a partisan argument," Neumann maintains. "It's more a question of [are] these politics, and particularly the more liberal, the more radical politics we see within the Tikkun Olam movement, justified by biblical and rabbinic texts in the way that is claimed? I would suggest that they're not." Neumann found that since 2016, many young American Jews have joined social justice movements. But they're discovering that anti-Semitism also exists among the American left, most often in the form of anti-Israel rhetoric. Often they are forced to choose between their social activism on one side and on the other, not only support for Israel, but a worldview in which Jews are cast as conspirator. In that way, this idea of Tikkun Olam distances American Jews from Israel and from their own history, according to Neumann. Consequently, the Tikkun Olam movement provides what appears to be a theological rationale for that disconnect, he says. So, then, what is the true theology, in Neumann's view? What does the Bible and rabbinical tradition actually say? First, he says, responsibility is toward fellow Jews. Take care of your own family before you take care of your neighbors. Then, stay together as Jews. "You know, I think with a 70-plus-percent outmarriage rate is not the behavior of a community that is trying to sustain itself," Neumann says. Neumann is a graduate of Cambridge University and the London School of Economics, but "I observed and spent a lot of time living and working in America and I really see how hegemonic Tikkun Olam is and the adverse impact that it's having on American Jewish behavior, he said. And while Neumann says he does expect the book to generate controversy among American Jews, he hopes it is taken in the spirit of generating a conversation. "I absolutely want this to be about where we go as a community and how we understand our tradition," Neumann says. "You know, I'm more than happy to be corrected. Adam Bellow, editorial director at St. Martins All Points Books imprint, called To Heal the World? an innovative and intellectually serious dismantling of a concept that sits at the very foundation of Jewish liberalism. He expects a backlash over the book, which is a fundamental challenge to the golden calf of Jewish social justice, he added. At best, I would hope that an earnest Jewish leftist reads To Heal the World? and finds it so stimulating and provocativeand even offensivethat they feel compelled to write their own book-length refutation, Bellow said. If so, I'd love to publish it. Published on: 18 May 2018 The organisation, the Council for At Risk Academics (Cara), was first established by a group of British academics led by William Beveridge in 1933, when Hitler expelled hundreds of scholars from German universities on racial grounds. Council for At Risk Academics (Cara) The Cara Syria Programme, which launched in 2012, currently supports around 45 Syrian academics who are in exile in Eastern Turkey. Working with British universities, the scheme aims to equip Syrian academics with the skills needed to rebuild Syrias higher education and research sectors. Since May 2017, Mr Will Hutton, who works in Queen Marys Language Centre, has been teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) through weekly online language lessons and bi-monthly visits to Istanbul. Mr Hutton teaches EAP to Dr Fuad Alhaj Omar, an electrical engineer from the University of Aleppo. Dr Alhaj Omar, who is currently completing a second PhD at Seljuk University in Turkey, said: Before the online English lessons I received through the Cara programme, I didnt have any experience of speaking to native speakers, and I thought that I would not be able to understand the tutor or make any connections. But the online lessons have actually helped to break the ice between myself and the tutor. The workshops are like a lifeline During the lessons, I feel like Im in a real classroom. We cover a wide range of topics, and most of the time we focus on my work field (solar panels and energy). The workshops in Istanbul are like a lifeline that keeps me in touch with academic life. They have also connected me with other Syrian academics from different fields and developed my team working skills. The Cara team are all volunteers, and theyre doing their best to help us. I want to say a huge thank you to the whole team. Mr Hutton added: It has been a tremendous privilege to work with Fuad over the past year and to help him develop his English language skills and his understanding of the UK university sector; I am very pleased with his progress. The face-to-face workshops in Istanbul have allowed me to meet and work with the wider group of Syrian academics in exile. Drawn from a wide range of disciplines and with an impressive wealth of experience and insights to share, they are all keen to build connections with UK-based academics who are interested in scholarly work which is relevant to Syria or Syrian populations in exile. Queen Mary hosts at-risk academic Queen Mary has been involved with the Cara initiative since 2015 and welcomed its first at-risk academic in June 2016. Dr Sami Bissau, a Syrian-Palestinian, is Honorary Lecturer in the universitys Institute of Dentistry. Speaking of his time at Queen Mary, Dr Bissau said: Queen Mary has spectacular and amazing staff, and I have tried to learn from every one of them. I would like to thank the university and Cara for everything they have introduced me to. Under the supervision of Dr Mike Cattell, I have participated in research about innovative glass-ceramic systems and resin cement, and learned how to accomplish various tests in the dental material field. Most importantly, though, I have learnt about the research methodology and preparing for publication. Teaching a range of undergraduate courses (Operative Dentistry, Foundation and Fixed Prosthodontics and Anatomy) has increased my experience in teaching and has given me the opportunity to learn from other colleagues. I have also registered for the Postgraduate Certificate for teaching and learning in higher education. I am sure that this certificate will have a great impact on my approach to teaching and on my career in the academic field. In addition to this course, I attended several courses for self-development and English courses which are more focused on academic English. Queen Mary hopes to support more at-risk academics through Cara in due course, and has recently welcomed another PhD student from Syria in its Institute of Dentistry. More information Almost exactly a year after revealing its plans to launch the Flow multiscreen product as a complement to its existing TV offer, Telecom Argentina is satisfied with its growth and will now make it available standalone on an over-the-top basis. Speaking, as he did in June 2017, at the NextTV Latin America conference in Buenos Aires, company COO Gonzalo Hito told delegates that the company regarded the pay-TV landscape with equally as important linear and non-linear elements where the companys offer was like that of a supermarket stocking its own branded products plus those of others on its shelves. This meant that for products like Flow , Telecom Argentina was receptive to the idea of its bouquet containing other firms content, and Hito revealed that among these would be Amazon Prime. Yet he said that the overall content strategy was to offer pure, distinct content that was based on the tastes on Argentineans.While it had a DTH offer, the core of the companys activities would be focussed on creating a network of the future based around fibre and mobile. Hito said that when it came to the increasingly important later platform, 60% of customers concerns were about delivering a compelling service and 40% price. Things should just work, he observed. Nobody yet watches Flow on the bus, so we have to grow a lot in terms of mobile networks and connect with fibre networks below. OTT needs a different muscle to be successful.What he felt would not be successful was the concept of direct-to-consumers offerings which at present being leg by Disney and HBO. Hito said he was convinced that the DTV concept went against the grain of customers desires for things to be easy. Im not convinced that people will but 12 or 13 different platforms to get all that they want. There is still a future for the content integrator. Anyone who thought that DTC could totally replace existing offers was being naive, he concluded. The Talibans 2018 offensive, which it calls Al Khandaq Jihadi operations, has targeted Afghan government forces in nearly all of Afghanistans 34 provinces. While Afghan security forces appear to be focusing on Taliban forces in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar the birthplace of the Taliban and its traditional strongholds the jihadist group is effectively counterattacking in the other regions of Afghanistan. The Taliban appears to maintain the initiative throughout Afghanistan, while the Afghan military is forced to react to Taliban offensives, such as the latest incursion into Farah City. Since the beginning of Al Khandaq Jihadi operations, the Taliban has overrun five district centers in Badakhshan, Badghis, Faryab, Ghazni, and Kunduz. These provinces span the western, northern, and southern Afghanistan. News such as suicide attacks in Kabul or Jalalabad, or the Taliban entering Farah City and the Afghan militarys efforts to retake it tend to grab the headlines in the Western press. However, a closer look at reports in the Afghan media of Taliban activity provides a disturbing look at the groups efforts. Below is a sampling of press reports from the Afghan media. The list below only includes major Taliban attacks in the provinces, and excludes high profile suicide attacks in the capital of Kabul. There are numerous other smaller Taliban attacks that go unreported. If all of the Talibans claims on its Voice of Jihad website were included, this picture would be much darker. Voice of Jihad is often dismissed as Taliban propaganda, nearly all of its claimed attacks, when reported in the Afghan media, can be verified. The list below only includes reports from a three week period since the Taliban announced its 2018 offensive on April 26. In these reports, at least 198 Afghan soldiers, policemen, and pro-government militiamen and 30 civilians have reportedly been killed. The actual number is much higher. The list details Taliban activities in 13 province: Badakhshan, Kunduz, and Baghlan in the north; Khost, Nangarhar, and Logar in the east; Zabul, Ghazni, and Kandahar in the south; Farah, Faryab, and Badghis, in the west; and Ghor in the center. Again, the reports below are merely a sampling. The in the past three weeks, the Taliban has been very active in many other provinces, as Helmand, Uruzgan, Paktika, Paktia, Kunar, Nuristan, Jawzjan, Sar-i-Pul, Balkh, Herat, and Takhar are known Taliban hotspots with significant activity. The U.S. military would like for you to believe that the Taliban is a desperate and losing ground in Afghanistan. A cursory survey of press reports from Afghanistan contradicts the U.S. militarys portrayal of the security situation. A sampling of reports of Taliban activity over the past three weeks from the Afghan press: Taliban kill 18 Afghan forces in Ghazni The Taliban overran Jaghatu district. Taliban Pushed Back In Farah City: Governor 15 army soldiers, 10 policemen and five civilians were killed in the clashes. Heavy Clashes Ongoing in Two Districts of Ghazni He [an Afghan official] claimed that 13 security forces, mostly police, were killed in Zana Khan and nine police were killed in Jaghato Heavy Clashes Ongoing In Ghor Province Local officials confirmed that the village of Oshan fell to the Taliban after insurgents attacked the village. Taliban seize strategic area of Balcharagh district 10 security personnel were killed, 14 wounded and 30 others captured by the assailants as reinforcements could not reach in time and the area fell to the Taliban. The Taliban overran this district center but left it after one day. Four Checkpoints Collapsed to Taliban in Zabul, 22 Police Killed Nangarhar governor resigns amid tense security situation Violence carried out by the Taliban and the Islamic State has recently intensified there. Taliban Attack Two Checkpoints in Farah, Killing 43 Soldiers A presage to the Taliban entering Farah City. Taliban Suffer Heavy Casualties in Kandahar Both Afghan and Taliban officials routinely inflate its enemys casualties. Afghan officials did confirm five policemen were killed in attacks initiated by the Taliban. Residents Call For Large-Scale Operation In Badakhshan Some residents of Badakhshan called on government to launch large-scale military operations to remove serious threats to Faizabad, the capital city of the north-eastern province. Taliban Attack on Voters Registration Center in Badghis Kills 8 Soldiers Taliban Kidnaps Seven Indian Nationals from Afghanistans Baghlan Bomb Blast Inside Mosque Kills 19, Injures 33 This attack remains unclaimed, but it is very likely it was carried out by the Taliban. Khost is Haqqani Network territory and little goes on there without its approval. Also, the Islamic State is not shy about claiming attacks it did not execute. 11 Children Killed as Car Bomb Targets Foreign Forces Convoy in Kandahar Taliban Attack Kills 30 Afghan Policemen in Badakhshans Teshkan District Deputy Governor of Logar Killed in Taliban Ambush Taliban Kills 14 Soldiers in Kunduz Also, two policemen were killed in an attack in Baghlan. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. This article appeared originally at FDD's Long War Journal. After decades of neglect, the decline of the United States nuclear arsenal is being addressed by the Pentagon. This is driven in large measure by the growth and modernization of the Chinese and Russian nuclear arsenals. Their nuclear doctrines are salient as well. While Chinese nuclear doctrine remains deliberately opaquewhich is, in itself, worrisome and a threat to strategic stabilityRussian doctrine and statements from officials have emphasized the need to maintain their nuclear arsenal and evinced a willingness to use nuclear weapons in a conflict. For decades, the considerable growth of the Chinese and Russian nuclear arsenals did not generate an effective response from the United States. The Department of Defenses Nuclear Posture Review, released in February, takes important steps to reverse the decline in the U.S. arsenal. While these efforts are important, there is a menace to strategic stability. This is the escalate to de-escalate component of Russias nuclear doctrine. That is, Russia might use nuclear weapons to compel the termination of a conventional conflict. This is significant for three reasons. First, it emboldens Putin to undertake aggression because he anticipates that the threat of nuclear use may cause NATO to yield. Second, it increases the threat to the U.S. military and allies. Third, there is also an adverse psychological component for NATO decision-makers and the public. This is a Russian effort at intimidation which seeks to shape NATO allies perceptions of how Russia will act in a crisis or war in the expectation of coercing NATO in a crisis. For these reasons, it compels a response by the U.S. government to deter the Russians from contemplating nuclear use and to reassure allies of the credibility and strength of U.S. alliance commitments. Though the growth and modernization of the Russian conventional and nuclear arsenals are transparent, there is a debate over Russian nuclear doctrine. The skeptics case is that Russian nuclear weapons would never be used in this fashion.[i] According to this argument, Russian doctrinal statements may possess a razors edge but should be discounted by everyone else, as they are directed toward other audiences. Presumably, those are Russias major potential foes: the U.S., other NATO members, and the PRC. The result is a form of strategic ambiguitythe Russians talk about first use but, for the skeptics, the Russians would never really do what their doctrine requires. The skeptics criticism is misplaced. The response of the United States must be to take its adversary at its word and deed. The growth, doctrine, and expressions of intent by Russian officials, in particular, cannot be ignored by Washington as they are not by its allies. The U.S. must respond by taking two major steps to vouchsafe its security and the security of its allies. First, the U.S. and its allies should remove the ambiguity coveted by the Russians by developing and deploying the capabilities to deter escalation. It is incumbent upon NATO to ensure that Russia cannot control escalation or the pace of conflict through its calibrated use of nuclear weapons. Accordingly, NATO must possess a range of capabilities that enable it to respond to Russian limited nuclear use. This is necessary to convince Moscow that it will not gain anything through the initiation or escalation of a conflict. To the contrary, it has much to lose. In essence, the Russians should never have an incentive to initiate a conflict, much less escalate one. To accomplish this requires the expansion of conventional and nuclear capabilities, including forward-deployed heavy brigades, more tactical nuclear weapons, and the return of sea-based intermediate range systems deployed in Europe. Ideally, a land-based intermediate range system could be deployed, but this is prohibited by the 1987 INF Treaty. A directly related issue is whether the U.S. should stay in the INF Treaty given Russian violations through the development and testing of intermediate-range missile systems. As Moscow has de facto abrogated the Treaty, Washington may choose to liberate itself from its limitations. Were it to do so, an advantage would be the development and deployment of a land-based intermediate force that would augment the theater rung of the escalation ladder, which has been absent for a generation, thus tightening the linkage between the U.S. and its European NATO allies and buttressing deterrence of Russia. Such a system might be deployed to other theaters, such as the Asia-Pacific to reinforce deterrence against China. However critical, capabilities are only half of the deterrence equation. The other half concerns political variables such as willpower and credibility. Accordingly, the second step the U.S. should undertake are the efforts taken by the administration and its allies to convey to Moscow that ambiguity will not be accepted. Were Russia to challenge the U.S. directly, or an ally, the U.S. would respond at the appropriate level of force. In general, the greater the capabilities present to NATOs leadership, the larger the menu of responses, including nuanced, limited options. The declaratory policy of the U.S. does this to a considerable degree, including through the administrations statements, SACEURs, those of U.S. allies, and the NATO Secretary General. Other actions, such as the re-establishment of the U.S. Second Fleet is also an important signal. But this should go further and be organized around a consistent message to counter and eliminate Russian ambiguity through deterrence by denial. Every NATO leader should speak the language of denial. Its grammar is straightforward: If Russia aggresses, it will be defeated. Moscow will not achieve its military or political objectives under any circumstances. Should it escalate, the costs will be far greater than any benefit. Russia may covet ambiguity about nuclear use to advance its political objectives. But NATO cannot be ambiguous about its response. Extant and deployed capabilities and demonstrated, consistent political willpower is the foundation of NATOs deterrence by denial strategy, and central to eliminate the value of ambiguity for Russia. Lastly, if this situation were to increase tensions, the fault lies with Russia. It was Moscows decision to seize Crimea, invade Ukraine, and threaten NATO members with nuclear attacks, knowing full well that NATO is not aggressive but is a defensive alliance with no territorial ambitions. NATO had waned in prominence since the Balkans stabilized two decades ago. Putin singlehandedly reversed this and energized the alliance. If NATOs response is more pointed than desired by Russia, that response is a direct consequence of Russias actions. Bradley A. Thayer, P.hD., is the author, with John M. Friend, of How China Sees the World: The Rise of Han-Centrism and the Balance of Power in International Politics. Notes: [i] For example, see Olga Oliker and Andrey Baklitskiy, The Nuclear Posture Review and Russian De-Escalation: A Dangerous Solution to a Nonexistent Problem, War on the Rocks, February 20, 2018, available at: https://warontherocks.com/2018/02/nuclear-posture-review-russian-de-escalation-dangerous-solution-nonexistent-problem/ The German invasion of Crete in May 1941 stands as a landmark in the history of airborne warfare. Up until that point, airborne operations had been used mainly in a tactical and operational context to seize key objectives in advance of the ground forces, such as the seizure during the Balkan campaign of the bridge over the Corinth Canal on the 26 April 1941, and the seizure of the Belgium fortress of Eban Emael on the 11 May 1940. The German invasion of Crete (codenamed Operation Merkur, or Mercury, after the Roman God of communication, travel and thievery the counterpart of Hermes, the messenger of the Gods in Greek mythology) has been the only strategic airborne operation aimed at attacking and occupying such an important target. The operation was the brainchild of Generalmajor Kurt Student, the commander, and fanatical proponent of the airborne arm (the Fallschirmjager) who believed that the paratroopers could operate in their own right and not merely be used to support the Wehrmacht. The island of Crete is just over 160 miles long and varies from seven to thirty-six miles in width. There are four mountain ranges (that almost seem to form a continuous spine along the island) that all come together in the central mass of Mount Ida. To the southwest is the Sphakia (White) mountain range, which literally falls into the sea at certain points and make access to the area very difficult. Rain falling on this range irrigates the northern strip of coastal land around Suda Bay and supports the town of Canea. Moving eastwards there is a depression, the Mount Ida range, another depression and then another coastal strip of land with Heraklion, the principle town, after which the mountains rise again to the summit of Mount Dikhti. The relatively poor harbours have meant that Crete has remained isolated and even by 1941, was behind in facilities and communications infrastructure compared to the rest of the Mediterranean. Crete has always been considered a strategic point in the Mediterranean that had greatly been enhanced by the appearance of aircraft in warfare. An airfield on Crete could be used to raid deep into the Balkans (for example, against the Rumanian oil fields) or be used against North Africa, particularly Egypt and Palestine. Suda Bay was also a harbour with great potential as a naval base and so whoever controlled Crete had a major advantage in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is however, a difficult place to defend, especially from an attack from the north as there is very little operational depth and the movement of any reserves has to be from east to west or visa versa along the probable frontline. It is more practical to establish a series of defended localities, based around the key points on the island, such as the fishing ports, towns and the airstrips. Opportunity knocks, I say. Kim Jong-uns sudden case of cold feet North Koreas warning that it may pull out of the Singapore Summit could be the best outcome of this whole bizarre business. Last December, the midterm outlook looked bleak for Republicans. With the Democrats enjoying a 13-point lead on the Generic Ballot, pundits talked of a "big blue wave." The question was not whether the Democrats would win the two dozen seats needed to gain control of the House, but whether they might win 40-50 seats in a landslide approaching the Republican gains in 2010. Since then, Republicans passed a tax cut, eliminated the Obamacare mandate and took other steps to reduce the regulatory burden. The economy took off, people are feeling better about how things are going in the nation, and recent primaries suggest that the enthusiasm of Republican voters is higher than expected. As a result, the Democratic lead on the Generic Ballot is down to five points. At that level, control of the House is close to a toss up. Those with Nancy Pelosi's party may be slight favorites to win the 23 additional House seats they need, but they could easily fall short. While seeking to navigate this newly treacherous electoral landscape, the Democrats are dealing with the reality that the enthusiasm of the progressive base can be a double-edged sword. It could help with turnout, but may also create electoral headaches. Earlier this week, for example, progressives helped social worker Kara Eastman win the Democratic nomination in Nebraska's second Congressional District. It's a district that the president won in 2016 and is expected to be competitive this fall. With a more centrist candidate, the race was considered a pure toss-up. With a far-left nominee in the race, however, Republican incumbent Don Bacon is now favored to win. The importance of a single race like this can be seen in the numbers. At ScottRasmussen.com, we rate 202 races as leaning toward the Democrats. Additionally, there are 24 races rated as either a toss-up or just barely tilting toward the Republicans. To win control, Pelosi's party will need to win 16 of these 24 races. Every potentially competitive race they give away makes the odds more challenging. Primaries in the next month or so will give us a good sense of how big a problem this is for the Democrats. On top of that, the double-edged sword of progressive enthusiasm provides Democrats with another challenge: The issues that appeal to the progressive base are likely to turn off swing voters. Nancy Pelosi recently confirmed that her team will raise taxes if they win. That message will appeal to Bernie Sanders' supporters, but not middle-income families. And, of course, progressive Democrats want their party to impeach President Trump. The more that such talk dominates the midterm elections, the more it helps Republicans. Impeachment talk will not play well with the swing voters who disapprove of the president but still view him as the lesser of two evils. It's been six months since Democrats enjoyed their 13-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot and dreamed of historic gains in the midterm election. With six months to go, there's obviously plenty of time for the political environment to change again. For now, however, the parties are locked in a tight race-by-race contest that could go either way. COPYRIGHT 2018 CREATORS.COM When Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, many in the media considered him a dangerous extremist. Some reporters warned that Reagan courted nuclear war and would tank the economy. He certainly was not like the gentleman Republican and moderate ex-President Gerald Ford. But by 1989, the media was fond of a new adjective: "Reaganesque." Reagan in retirement and without power was seen as a senior statesman. Not so for his once centrist and better-liked vice president, George H.W. Bush, who suddenly was reinvented as a fool and a ninny in comparison. The transformations had already started in Reagan's last year as president. In 1987, Newsweek magazine ran a cover story about Bush, who was running to succeed Reagan. The headline blared: "Fighting the 'Wimp Factor.'" "Wimp" was an odd take on someone who by age 20 had flown dangerous fighter missions in World War II, and had been shot down and nearly killed. Nonetheless, the cover story hyped "a perception that [Bush] isn't strong enough or tough enough for the challenges of the Oval Office. That he is, in a single mean word, a wimp." Once elected president, Bush was variously trashed by the media as a warmonger, a whiny nerd and a Reagan wannabe. After he lost re-election bid to Bill Clinton in 1992, Bush was dismissed as a failed president. But once Clinton's two terms were over and Bush's son, George W. Bush, became president in 2001, the elder Bush's reputation was miraculously rehabilitated. The out-of-power, now-good elder Bush was used in comparisons to disparage his son, the supposedly "bad" Bush in power. George H.W. Bush was fondly remembered as level-headed, while his son, the new president, was labeled rash and cocky. The first Bush supposedly was now a centrist, the second Bush an extremist. During the tenure of Democratic President Barack Obama, George W. Bush in retirement was trashed for eight years. Hurricane Katrina was allegedly his fault alone. So was the 2008 economic meltdown. Then, a strange -- or rather, predictable -- metamorphosis followed in 2016. Eight years after Bush had left office -- and had kept professionally quiet during the Obama years -- he (like Ford, Reagan and his father) was wondrously rehabilitated by the media. The supposedly failed Bush presidency was reinvented by journalists to contrast positively with President Trump's purportedly disastrous ongoing tenure. The media now praised the former president as a moderate. Bush -- whom they had once dubbed a war criminal, racist and incompetent -- became a bipartisan wise man in retirement on his Texas ranch. Compared with Trump, both Bushes were now said to have ruled compassionately from the center. Critics no longer made fun of George W. Bush's mangled words and phrases. They were seen as misdemeanors compared with President Trump's felonious overuse of "tremendous," "terrific" or "loser." If George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were once considered by the media to have been among the "worst" presidents in history, now they were not so bad in comparison to the unprecedented awfulness of Trump. Why does the media despise a sitting Republican president and only ex post facto reinvent him as underappreciated? A cynic would suggest it is not because of any fair analysis of comparative presidential achievement. Instead, the skit goes like this: Once a Republican president loses an election or retires after two terms -- and is followed by a liberal Democrat -- his reputation hits bottom. But once a new Republican president enters office, the prior and now-powerless Republican ex-president is airbrushed into a model of statesmanship to contrast the ogre currently in the White House. Republican presidencies are seen on a downward spiral of always becoming worse -- by always redefining formerly despised presidents as at least better than their monstrous successors. When a conservative president has the power to enact a conservative agenda, he is a media demon compared with his now-saintly Republican predecessors. Of course, in retirement, they have no power to do anything. Such reinvention insidiously works to keep former Republican presidents quiet. Former Democratic presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama never quite left politics behind and often editorialize and politick from retirement. Their retired Republican counterparts, such as Ford, Reagan and the two Bushes, each assumed a quiet, nonpartisan senior statesman role. That way, they eventually saw their presidencies mysteriously reassessed as better than the supposedly disastrous Republican administration in power at the time. The public should grow wise to the progressive media's formula: Once-awful Republicans are always renovated to make their party successors look worse -- and thus less likely to be successful. And the more retired Republican presidents stay quiet and nonpartisan, the faster their rehabilitation will be. (C) 2018 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC. Good morning, its Friday, May 18, 2018. On this date 150 years ago, on a patch of Colorado prairie, fully one-fourth of Denvers population showed up for a ground-breaking ceremony. There was good reason for such an impressive turnout: The project begun that day was necessary for the towns survival. The threat had become acute the year before, when the Union Pacific Railroad laid its tracks across Wyoming. The transcontinental railroad had bypassed Denver, which already lacked the amenity of a river, in favor of Cheyenne, 100 miles north. Theres a scene in Tombstone that evokes Denvers dire situation. After Doc Holliday, played by Val Kilmer, cleans out the poker tables at some desolate bar, he tells his girlfriend, I calculate thats the end of this town. That was Denvers expected fate after the railroad spurned Colorado for Wyoming. Thomas Durant, a Union Pacific official, described Denver as a town too dead to bury. The former territorial governor, John Evans, had expressed similar sentiments. Colorado without railroads, Evans said, is comparatively worthless. So what to do? The answer was straightforward enough: raise the money to lay the tracks for a spur northward to Cheyenne. This was easier said than done. Denver in those years had fewer than 5,000 people. And on its own, it wasnt going to get any larger. As University of Colorado, Denver, historian Thomas Noel has noted, in the decade between 1860 and 1870, the town grew from 4,759 to 4,769 -- a net change of 10 people. Without the railroad, Denver [today] would just be another of the 500 ghost towns in Colorado, he said. But phrases like too dead to bury and ghost town underestimate the grit of the citys settlers, as Ill explain in a moment. First, Id first point you to RealClearPolitics front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion columns spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters and contributors, including the following: * * * Trumps Unilateralism Risks Further Alienating Millennials. John Della Volpe describes findings from the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics Bi-Annual Survey of Youth Attitudes. The Policymaker's Dilemma: Believe Economists or Innovators? In RealClearPolicy, Mark P. Mills argues that predictions of a low-growth future overlook how technology drives the economy. Why Regulators Shouldn't Touch the T-Mobile-Sprint Merger. Also in RCPolicy, John Kristof explains his rationale. The Necessary Response to Russias Nuclear Doctrine. In RealClearDefense, Bradley A. Thayer writes that while Russia conveys ambiguity about nuclear use to advance its political objectives, NATO cannot be ambiguous about its response. Worst Volcanic Eruption in U.S. History. Just as Kilauea is spewing lava across the Big Island of Hawaii, Richard Brownell looks back at the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in RealClearHistory. * * * The very name of Colorados largest city is a testament to the resourcefulness of its founders. Settled by pilgrims from Lawrence, Kansas, it was originally named Montana City. They renamed it Denver in honor of James W. Denver, the territorial governor in Kansas. This was a strategic decision, the hope being that the governor would name it a county seat -- present-day Colorado then being part of the Kansas Territory. A decade later, city fathers confronted the existential problem presented them by the Union Pacific Railroad. But on November 14, 1867, a local burgher with the Dickensian name of George Francis Train gave a speech calling for the creation of a hometown railroad he called the Denver Pacific. Civic leaders pooled their resources, creating the Denver Board of Trade (now the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce), endowing it with $500,000. This amount, around $8 million in todays currency, was seed money for a railroad line to Cheyenne. The story of how they raised the rest of the capital was complex and convoluted and eventually required Congress granting the railroads a sweetheart land deal. But there was a Kansas connection, here, too: The Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Co., as it came to be known, found a partner in Robert E. Carr. He was president of Kansas Pacific Railway Co., which was actually a division of Union Pacific, and he lived in St. Louis anyway, but we can at least appreciate a railroad executive named Carr. In any event, the line from Denver to Cheyenne was built, and the ensuing growth was greater than hoped. The citys population surged to 35,000 by the end of 1870, only six months after the Cheyenne spur was completed. Twenty years later, over 100,000 people called Denver home. By 1908, the city hosted the Democratic National Convention, the first time that had happened in the West. The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan that year for the third and final time. Exactly 100 years later, Denver hosted another Democratic Party convention; this time they did not squander the nomination on a man who couldnt win. That 2008 nominee had Kansas roots: Barack Obamas mother, Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, to parents who were also Kansas natives. In my view, Colorados reliance on Kansas at key points is an underappreciated part of its history. Damon Runyon, Colorados most famous journalist, achieved fame and fortune in Manhattan, but he was actually born in Manhattan, Kansas. Former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart was another transplanted Kansan. I first met Hart while I was a journalism student at the University of Colorado in the 1970s. By then hed shortened the family name of Hartpence. The School of Journalism at CU has recently been subsumed into a larger and more ambitious entity called the College of Media, Communication and Information. Its founding dean, Lori Bergen, is a visionary academic with journalism chops and a masters degree from Kansas State. Yes, shes also a native of the Sunflower State. As a younger woman she was Miss Kansas, in fact. (A Miss Kansas who impressed judges with a virtuoso violin performance, went on to get a doctorate at Indiana University, earn tenure at Marquette University, and write scholarly books about the media.) Bergen has already put CU in the middle of the important national conversation about the purpose and influence of the media in the digital age. An added perk -- and this is nothing against Milwaukee -- but she and husband Charlie get to live in Boulder while doing so. Speaking of Colorado converts, remember the man who sang in the 1970s about how West Virginia was almost heaven? Thats fine, but when he spent time in the Rocky Mountains, he pronounced himself born again. He liked Colorado so much he gave himself a new name, which is how Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. became John Denver. Although his lovely songs didnt bring in as many new people as the railroad did, it was a name-change the towns original settlers surely would have appreciated. Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com Do Democrats truly stand for democracy, LGBT and women's rights, or even freedom? Perhaps those values are merely talking points used to garner votes, because if progressives truly cared about human rights they claim to espouse, they wouldn't have boycotted the U.S. delegation in Israel this week celebrating the historic opening of America's embassy in Jerusalem. You read that right. Not a single Democratic lawmaker traveled to Israel this week to honor our long-standing ally and remarkable moment in history. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a supportive statement applauding moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel's capital but avoided what would have been a bipartisan show of force alongside Sens. Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee and other Republicans on-site to support our greatest ally in the Middle East -- the only nation in the region that embraces American values. Progressive darling Sen. Elizabeth Warren didn't even muster a statement. And her socialist brother in arms Bernie Sanders stooped even lower. He blamed the Israel Defense Forces for harming "innocent" civilians in the Gaza clash that wounded many and left at least 60 Palestinians dead. Of course, Sanders' condemnation of Israel didn't mention the fact that many of the so-called protesters lashing out in response to the embassy move were heavily armed terrorists detonating explosives, throwing Molotov cocktails and causing deadly mayhem -- including Hamas fighters using civilians as human shields. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who traveled to the battle zone, said: "The Hamas leadership is a group of cannibals who treat their children as armament. They have rocket armament, personal armament and another kind of armament -- their children and women." He added, "Their goal is to lift Gaza's blockade but not to build their economy or hold talks about coexistence but rather to smuggle weapons (into Gaza) to continue to build up their military force and create a pseudo Hezbollah model." That stark reality didn't stop Sanders from telling the host of the podcast "Deconstructed," Mehdi Hasan, "Instead of applauding Israel for its actions, Israel should be condemned." He continued, "Israel has a right to security, but shooting unarmed protesters is not what it is about." Meanwhile, on Wednesday, top Hamas official Salah Bardawil admitted during an interview with Palestinian news outlet Baladna that the majority of those killed in the Gaza riot were Hamas' soldiers. "I am giving you an official figure. Fifty of the martyrs in the recent battle were from Hamas," Bardawil said. Regardless, most Democrats resisted giving President Donald Trump any credit for moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem -- a policy promise past administrations made but never delivered. What Republicans understand is that Israel is our staunchest ally in the Middle East and one of the only democracies in the region -- a freedom-loving nation that respects women's, LGBT and civil rights. Doesn't it make sense for all Americans to support an ally that shares our values? Of course it does. And make no mistake: If Bill or Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or any Democratic administration had had the courage to move the U.S. Embassy to Israel's rightful capital, you can bet your last latke the media and Democratic Party would've lauded the move and packed airplanes bound for Jerusalem to be present for the ribbon-cutting. But because our president is a Republican, most liberal lawmakers chose to either stay silent or blame Israel for the Gaza violence. Never mind that Palestinian leaders don't support women, equality or LGBT rights. Nor do they embrace democracy, making one wonder whether American progressives truly cherish those values, because if they did, they could've put partisan politics aside -- for just one day -- and supported Israel and our president. Come November, voters will remember who was Israel's friend and who wasn't. COPYRIGHT 2018 CREATORS.COM On Wednesday, President Trump answered a sheriff's question about the MS-13 gang. The president referred to the gang members as animals. The American political press swung into action to declare President Trump had called all immigrants animals. It did not take a rocket scientist to read the transcript to see the president was, in context, talking about MS-13. But the default for the media has always been to give Democrats the benefit of the doubt and presume Republicans are guilty until proven innocent. Before that, a leaker in the White House noted a White House staffer named Kelly Sadler had dismissed concerns about John McCain by noting he would be dead soon and was not going back to the Senate to vote against CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel. The media dragged this story out. A charitable reading of Sadler's comments would be that she was stating an obvious, blunt truth. John McCain is dying and will not be in the Senate to oppose Haspel. The remarks were unfortunate, but Sadler works for a man who criticized McCain for getting captured in Vietnam. Sadler's comments should not have been a multi-day scandal. What should have been a story for several days was that a White House staffer leaked to the press, yet again, to undermine a colleague. When Sarah Sanders complained that the real issue was the leaks, members of the media pounced. How dare Sanders say leaking was the story. The real story was about McCain and, these reporters claimed, Sanders is just trying to distract from the disrespect. Sanders, however, was right. When Barack Obama broke with nearly a half-century of American foreign policy and congressional legislative precedent to set up an embassy in Cuba, the American press called it historic. There were protests. There were loud objections from Cuban Americans and both Republican and Democratic politicians. But "historic" it was. The American media had, as Rush Limbaugh might call it, a "mediagasm" covering the opening of the embassy in Cuba. When Donald Trump finally did what Presidents going back to George H. W. Bush had pledged to do and what a congressional resolution had called for doing, i.e. move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the press gave wall to wall coverage to protests and referred to the move as "controversial." The coverage stood in stark contrast to the media's hagiographic coverage of Obama and Cuba. As Hamas terrorists tried to get into Israel from Gaza, the American press could not be bothered to point out residents of the West Bank were not trying to storm into Israel. There were no riots of protest in the so-called Arab streets in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq or Lebanon. Gaza was the only area to see violence. The press blamed both Israel and Donald Trump. Hamas officials, members of an actual terrorist group, went on record to note that of the roughly 50 people killed by the Israelis, all but one or two were members of the terrorist group. The media claimed the protests were peaceful even as pictures came out from Gaza showing the protestors with weapons. One resident of Gaza told NPR the protestors had painted swastikas on flags because they wanted Jews to burn. But you would be hard-pressed to find mainstream American media coverage that showed how violent and extreme the terrorists in Gaza are. The American media has always reliably blamed the Jews. Now they blame Trump too. A news publication in Washington last week noted that a pro-Trump media alternative is growing. Is it any wonder? The media presumes Trump supporters only want propaganda. But that is just not true for most. They just want a fair hearing. They do not want a media that claims to be fair or objective while hiring Democrats and leftists as reporters. They are tired of a mainstream media that drips with contempt for conservative values and has no understanding of religion. Trump supporters are fleeing the media not because they want cheerleaders, but because they are tired of a secular, coastal, liberal press that not only cannot relate to heartland voters but thinks it is beneath them to even try. COPYRIGHT 2018 CREATORS.COM For almost 70 years, the United States has maintained its position atop the global pecking order by building military and diplomatic strength through a multilateral foreign policy. Today, it is surprisingly not baby boomers who gravitate toward multilateralism as a voting bloc; its their sons and daughters the millennials -- who have grown up reaping its benefits. Indeed, the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics Bi-Annual Survey of Youth Attitudes shows that an overwhelming percentage of young Americans under the age of 30 regardless of party affiliation believe in a highly collaborative approach to foreign policy. The Trump administrations practice of a foreign policy dictated by transactions, not collaboration, could have a profound and lasting impact on the largest cohort of voters within the American electorate. And if the baby boomer/millennial pattern holds for future generations, then President Trumps America first -- and often America alone -- policy could beget a post-millennial generation of steadfast globalists. In this way, Trumps legacy will be reminiscent of President George W. Bushs unintentional inspiration of globalism and progressivism among the oldest millennials who came of age in the wake of 9/11. His push into Iraq, part of the seemingly boundless Global War on Terror, helped create a wave of progressive, globalist voters that propelled Barack Obama to the White House in 2008 and remains one of the most reliable blocs of the Democratic Party. A telling statistic about how young voters see the world is their view of the United Nations; in nearly 20 years of polling, young Americans have strongly preferred cooperation with the U.N. and other countries when addressing international crises, over unilateral American action. Among young Americans, cooperating with the U.N. is a sentiment shared across the political spectrum: 60 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of Independents believe the United States should allow the U.N. to take the lead in solving the worlds conflicts. Even among those who approve of Trumps job performance, some 62 percent still support U.N.-led, multilateral action. More surprising still may be that not only do more young Americans trust the U.N. than Congress, but young Republicans express greater confidence in the U.N. than the Congress controlled by their own party. Among Republicans ages 18 to 29, 15 percent trust Congress to do the right thing all or most of the time, while more than twice that number, 36 percent, express the same faith in the U.N. The U.N.s faith in America, though, is likely to have been tested by Trumps solo acts in recent weeks, whether it be his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, the moving of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, or, most recently, his administrations rebuff of a U.N. request to increase food aid to North Korea. Despite this, Trump still has the power to transform both his presidency and the worlds view of America in the critical weeks ahead. As he prepares for the planned summit with Kim Jong-un, he would be wise to demonstrate the power of global cooperation. While this approach may be markedly un-Trumpian, it would be decidedly American and position the president as a more vital political force at home and abroad at a critical juncture for his administration. His appeal to Americas most significant voting bloc and the short- and long-term relationship between tens of millions of young American voters and the Republican Party depends on it. Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly reported that 69 percent of young American Democrats believe the United States should allow the U.N. to take the lead in solving the worlds conflicts. The correct number is 60 percent. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/18/2018 ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available A pangolin is seen in a cage after a raid in Indonesia's Riau province on October 25, 2017. It may come as a surprise to many to discover that a lowly anteater tops the list of the worlds most trafficked endangered mammals. The pangolin, also known as a scaly anteater, can vary in size from only 12 to 39 inches long. But the small creatures can fight off animal predators with their sharp claws and scales that act as a kind of armor. Pangolins, however, possess little defense against human predators. A rising demand in China for the meat and scales of pangolins reached the point several years ago that all eight varieties of the animal were deemed vulnerable or critically endangered. According to the Swiss-based International Union For Conservation of Nature (IUCN), pangolins account for as much as 20 percent of all illegal wildlife trade. The IUCN says that more than a million pangolins were poached in the decade prior to 2014. Thanks to conservationists and nongovernmental organizations, both local and international, we now know more about pangolins than might be expected. An IUCN Species Survival Commission formed a pangolin specialist group in 2012, comprising 100 experts from 25 countries and hosted by the Zoological Society of London. The commission also coordinated an annual pangolin awareness day, World Pangolin Day, in mid-February, starting in 2014. Pangolins can be found in a number of countries in Asia, including China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, among others. In Africa, the east-central African nation of Uganda appears to be a leading supplier. The trade is highly profitable. Smugglers can purchase pangolins at low prices in Uganda, for example, and then sell them at high prices in Asia. Experts say that most trafficked pangolins get shipped by smugglers either to China or to Vietnam. In both countries, the animals scales are prized for their alleged medicinal value. According to at least one media report, pangolin scales have also been used as fashion accessories. Pangolin meat, meanwhile, is considered an exotic luxury food. In Vietnam, some restaurants serve the meat as their most costly delicacy. At one Ho Chi Minh City restaurant, advance booking for pangolin dishes is reported to be required. In 2016, an international body in charge of regulating wildlife trading worldwide took the strongest possible action to ban pangolin poaching, trafficking, and sales. All 182 member nations belonging to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted in favor of the ban. Hong Kong slow to move China, meanwhile, has been cracking down on the trade. And on Jan. 1 this year, Vietnam amended its penal code to increase the maximum prison sentence for illegal wildlife trafficking from seven to 15 years. But when it comes to the trafficking of pangolins as well as rhinoceros horns, Vietnam has been slow to implement its pledges or to impose the maximum sentences. According to a CNN report in 2014, Vietnam had only a limited capability to deal with rescued pangolins. Activists working to halt the trade and care for captured pangolins had vastly inadequate support, the report said. Hong Kong has also been lax in implementing penalties. Many citizens in Hong Kong apparently believe that pangolin scales have medical uses, although there is no scientific evidence to support this belief. Pangolins have a thick layer of protective scales made from keratin, the same material that makes up human fingernails. Users boil the pangolin hide to remove the scales then dry and roast them. On March 22, reporters from the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that despite the international ban, Hong Kong shops were still selling pangolins scales, sometimes from behind stacks of boxes containing other goods. One salesman selling the scales for $108 for only 40 grams claimed that the scales when boiled and then fried could remove toxins. The scales can cost more than $3,000 for one kilogram on the black market. As the AFP noted, Hong Kong has a reputation for trading in the body parts of several banned or endangered animals, including elephant ivory, shark fins, rhino horn, and tigers pelts and teeth. But Hong Kong customs officials have now stepped up their actions against pangolin smugglers. According to official reports, seizures of smuggled pangolins in Hong Kong rose from 1.4 tons in 2016 to 7.7 tons in 2017. The pangolins came from Africa. In December last year, Hong Kong customs officers pursued a gang of smugglers for two hours as they tried to enter mainland China. One smuggler, a Hong Kong citizen, was arrested. Across the border from Hong Kong inside Chinas Guangdong Province, AFP reporters interviewed shopkeepers who said that they feared trouble from the authorities if they sold pangolin scales there. The illegal trade in pangolins is reported to be widespread in Indonesia, where 31,000 pangolins were seized between 2007 and 20015. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, Thailand, and Uganda, some 21,000 pangolins were reported to have been confiscated during the same period. Indonesia has declared bans on the hunting and trading of the endangered animals, while threatening harsh penalties for violators. But as elsewhere, enforcement in Indonesia is the problem, with insufficient funds dedicated to regulating the trade. Pangolin publicity problem Endangered pangolins have gained much less international attention than the elephants and rhinos who have been killed for their much sought-after tusks and horns. According to some experts, these big animals possess a kind of charisma unfortunately lacking in the smaller anteaters. Pangolins are nocturnal, making them difficult to observe in their natural habitats. In captivity, theyre susceptible to disease and depression, so pangolins are rarely to be found in zoos. An exception can be seen in Taiwan, where pangolins have been treated as small superstars, taken into zoos, restored to good health when injured, and returned to the wild when possible. In the United States, the only pangolin on display in an American zoo died on Oct. 4, 2016. Baba, a white-bellied tree pangolin who lived in a zoo in San Diego, had lived to be about 10 years old. He was one of the longest-lived of his kind ever recorded, according to the San Diego Tribune newspaper. Some pangolins live in underground burrows and some, like Baba, live in trees. The Tribune reported that Baba was brought to the zoo in 2007 after fish and wildlife officials intercepted him in an illegal shipment. Near death, Baba was nursed back to health and lived in the childrens zoo, where he became a beloved ambassador for his species, according to zoo officials who issued a statement following he pangolins death. Baba, the officials said, will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Dan Southerland is RFA's founding executive editor. A court in Cambodias capital on Friday extended the pretrial detention of two former RFA reporters who have spent more than six months behind bars on espionage charges, widely viewed as politically motivated. Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin were taken into custody on Nov. 14 last year and formally charged with illegally collecting information for a foreign source. They have since had production of pornography added to the charges against them and face possible jail terms of up to 15 years if convicted. The pair deny the charges, but have been denied bail from pretrial detention. No date has been set for the hearing of their case. On Friday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to prolong the detention of Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin for the sake of the investigation into their case, court spokesman Ly Sophanna told RFAs Khmer Service following the ruling. Keo Vanny, the lawyer representing the two reporters, told RFA that he was disheartened by the courts decision, saying the pair are not at risk of flight as they have no reason to flee. They have committed no crimes and if they were considering fleeing the country, they never would have cooperated with authorities before their arrest, he said. It is very unfair to continue detaining them, given the fact that they have been very cooperative throughout the proceedings. The prosecution has no well-founded evidence to continue their detention and I will appeal this decision. Speaking to RFA after the ruling, Yeang Sothearins wife Lam Chantha said the decision had left her distraught. Im shocked to hear that my husbands detention is extended its very unfair for him and Im certain that he has done nothing wrong, she said. Our whole family is very upset. We had been praying for his release. All of us expected the court to release him today. Heng Sina, Uon Chhins wife, told RFA that her heart stopped when she heard the ruling. Since hearing that his detention was extended, I have become very desperate and hopeless, she said. He has been unfairly incarcerated for six months already. He should be released. Wider crackdown The detention of Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin is seen as part of a wider crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen on the independent media in a bid to shut down criticism of his leadership and ensure his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) remains in power following a general election set for July 29. Earlier this month, The Phnom Penh Post Cambodias last independent daily was sold for an unknown sum to a Malaysian investor with ties to Hun Sen following the out-of-court settlement of a U.S. $3.9 million claim by the government for alleged unpaid back taxes, prompting an exodus by several senior members of the newspapers reporting staff. The sale of the Post came less than 10 months after the forced closure of the Cambodia Daily, another independent newspaper that was also pressured over claims of unpaid taxes, and the shuttering of several independent radio programs. RFA closed its operations in Cambodia in September amid government pressure. Last weekend, in marking their six months in detention, New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling on authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, who it said were arrested amid Hun Sens crackdown that had caused countless journalists, activists and opposition members to flee Cambodia. Ahead of Julys national elections, Prime Minister Hun Sen has been filling Cambodias prisons with journalists, activists, and politicians, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said at the time. In its reprisals against RFA for its critical reporting, the government has concocted absurd espionage charges against former journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, who should be freed immediately. In a separate statement, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) called the charges against Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin a direct assault on freedom of the media and designed to frighten other journalists into silence. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Chinese students attend class in a classroom equipped with a surveillance camera at a high school in Hangzhou, eastern China's Zhejiang province, May 15, 2018. Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have installed an "all-seeing eye" in a high-school classroom to spot students who aren't paying attention or are falling asleep in class, official media reported. The new system at the Hangzhou No. 11 High School links up a surveillance camera to facial recognition software that tracks students' movements and facial expressions, according to the Zhejiang Daily newspaper. The technology is part of a trial of software and surveillance systems that could be rolled out elsewhere as part of the development of "smart campuses," the paper said. "The system ... can perform statistical analysis on students' behaviors and expressions in the classroom and provide timely feedback on abnormal behaviors," the report said. Data collected by the system will be analyzed by the software, and overly inattentive or sleepy behavior will generate a prompt to the teacher to admonish the offender, it said. The data could also be used to evaluate teachers' performance in the classroom. "This summer vacation, the system will be installed in all classrooms in the Hangzhou No. 11 High School," the report said. A teacher at the school surnamed Li said the system aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning. "Installing this management system is mainly to show kids where they are concentrating the hardest, and where the problems are," Li told RFA on Friday. "It will indicate their levels of concentration in class, and in areas where they're not concentrating, it will make it easier for the teacher to go over sections again." "It should be very useful for teachers; it's not just about monitoring the students," he said. Li also said the company that developed the system is installing it free of charge. "It's a trial, and so it hasn't yet been installed in other schools," he said. "The aim is to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning in the classroom." "Maybe some kids think that it will be watching them the whole time, but they are maybe making too much out of it, because they will feel pressured, but that's not the point of it," he said. "It's about getting the children to learn properly the whole time they are in class," he said. Stability maintenance potential But Liu Xinglian, secretary of China Human Rights Observer, said there is the potential for the system to be used as part of China's "stability maintenance" regime. "This [sort of technology] is being implemented across the country now, whether it be in Hangzhou or [the northwestern region of] Xinjiang," Liu said. "Chinese people are living in an era where they have no privacy." "Human rights and human dignity are being trampled underfoot," Liu said. "It's not just the parents who are angry about this; it makes me angry too, sure it does." Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon said the authorities are using improved standards as a pretext to install surveillance in classrooms. "This isn't a reasonable explanation, not at all," Poon told RFA. "It shows that in China, the government will use various methods to link people's lives at all levels to a surveillance network." Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. China's internet regulator on Thursday shut down the account of a popular comedy streaming channel for "dishonoring" the ruling Chinese Communist Party's revolutionary heroes and martyrs, official media reported. Rage Comic's account was revoked from major social media and streaming websites after it invoked the name of civil war hero Dong Cuirui, state broadcaster CGTN reported. The powerful Cyberspace Administration called a meeting with top internet companies, after which social media platform Weibo and video sites including iQiyi and Youku said they had shuttered Rage Comic's account and deleted all content. "According to the law to protect the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs and the Cybersecurity Law, to establish and maintain a clean cyberspace and provide better content, Weibo will delete the content and close the accounts found violating the law," CGTN cited a statement from Weibo as saying. Meanwhile, iQiyi said it would "strengthen" its monitoring systems to "protect and respect" national heroes. The comic's official website was also unavailable on Thursday. Chinas rubber-stamp parliament, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), passed a law in March criminalizing anyone deemed to have smeared the reputation and honor of the ruling partys canon of heroes and martyrs. The law, which came into effect on May 1, aims to "protect the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs." The new law bans "insults or slander" of heroes and martyrs, as well as any damage to memorials of revolutionary martyrs or heroic deeds. 'Wrong actions' Comedian Wang Nima, who presented the offending video, issued an apology via Weibo, saying he would reflect deeply on his "wrong" actions. Online activist Wu Bin, known by his internet nickname Xiucai Jianghu, said growing government controls on freedom of speech are making many people feel it is unsafe to say anything online. "This authoritarian regime is getting more and more inflated, to a level that is quite crazy," Wu said. "There is nothing they won't do." "It isn't safe to say anything under this imperial dynasty." A journalist surnamed Wu said draconian punishments such as removal from online platforms are now common for people who only make one "mistake" in their online speech or activities. "It's one strike and you're out, now, in China. This isn't the first example, and it won't be the last," Wu said. "This has already happened many times before." "It makes it hard both for companies and individuals to survive; it's one of the scariest things about China." Crackdown on spoofs Earlier this year, Chinas culture ministry launched an administrative crackdown on the spoofing of its revolutionary culture and its heroes, ordering the deletion of thousands of online videos for parodying popular red classics and heroes. The ministry had already begun investigating and removing videos from online sites after criticism in official media of the spoofing of the communist-era choral classic Yellow River Cantata by a number of performers, including a choir dressed in panda suits and singing about year-end bonuses. "Internet and cultural agencies are required to conscientiously push back against spoof versions of revolutionary classics and heroes to ensure the dissemination of advanced socialist culture," the ministry said in a statement at the time. Youku Tudou, Tencent, Iqiyi, Baidu, and Sina were also ordered to clean up their act after censors removed 3,898 offending videos of pranksters spoofing revolutionary songs. The Yellow River Cantata, written in 1939 during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), depicts the heroic spirit of the Chinese people during the war, state news agency Xinhua said in its report on the crackdown. The government's move is part of a much broader range of measures being rolled out under President Xi Jinping, which some analysts say hark back to the ideological controls of the Mao-era Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Reported by Yang Fan for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have detained a writer and free-speech activist amid concerns for the welfare of her young children, RFA has learned. Huang Meijuan was detained in late April by police in Shenzhen city, and has since been issued with a notice of criminal detention on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a blanket public order charge typically used to target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party or its policies. Huang's ex-husband and fellow activist Wu Bin, known by his online nickname Xiucai Jianghu, posted a copy of the notice of criminal detention issued by the Longgang branch of the Shenzhen police department on Apr. 28 to social media. Huang is currently being held in the Longgang Detention Center, but her two children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, have been taken into care by officials. "They told her sister when she went to inquire that the children have been taken to a rescue center," Wu said in a recent interview with RFA. "One of the kids has autism, is seven years old, and has cognitive issues - he is certified disabled." "Huang's relatives and the children's biological father have all been to inquire about them," he said, adding that Huang's sister doesn't understand her activism and doesn't want to speak to the media about the case. A friend of Huang's who requested anonymity said the family still doesn't know what prompted the state security police to detain her and put her children, one of whom attended a special needs school, into care. The friend said there are growing concerns over the welfare of the children in the rescue center, as such facilities have a poor reputation in China, and that the family is trying to contact the children's father, a retired police officer in the eastern province of Jiangxi, to have him collect them. "There have been exposes about these centers; kids go in just fine, and they come out on a stretcher or even dead," the friend said. "So we are worried, and we have been negotiating with her ex-husband for him to get them out of there." "He was forced into early retirement because of Huang's [activism], so he holds a big grudge against her, and they hadn't been in contact before this happened." In , Guangdong authorities shut down similar center in Shaoguan city and detained four members of staff after the death of an autistic teenager who had spent 45 days there. The death of Lei Wenfeng, 15, came after he became separated from his family in Shenzhen in . He had been sent to the center after receiving treatment for an accidental injury in hospital. He died of typhoid fever in . Media reports at the time said Lei's wasn't the first death at the same center. An employee who answered the phone at the Shenzhen Rescue & Child Protection Center on confirmed that the two children were being held there on that date. Posts on Twitter regarding her case since then have continued to call for Huang's release, although it was unclear whether the children remained in care at the time of writing. "You needn't worry," the employee said. "We can't give out much information about them, though. The kids went to school , so they're not here right now." Repeated calls to the Longgang district police department rang unanswered during office hours, however. Fellow writer and online activist Jia Pin described Huang as "an outspoken woman" who had been actively supporting political prisoners and jailed dissidents for some time. "She has been involved in online support for prisoners of conscience," Jia said. "That included speaking out about social injustice." Jia said Huang had written a number of posts on the social media platform WeChat, which is closely monitored by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. "Most of the things she wrote on WeChat were on the subject of social and political affairs, and she had been doing it for a long time," he said. "She had already been held for 10 days [earlier this year] for things she wrote online." "It's possible that the Shenzhen authorities are using such methods to step up the pressure on Huang Meijuan, to force her to stop posting her opinions online." Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The Myanmar Press Council on Friday denounced threats against the media and the suppression of reporters during a recent crackdown by authorities on antiwar protesters in Yangon. The call came in response to a report by a domestic organization dedicated to protecting journalists that said plainclothes individuals at the demonstration encouraged the beating and arrest of reporters. About 300 youths participated in a protest on May 12 in Yangon during which they called for an end to fighting between the Myanmar army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Myanmars Kachin state and for officials to help thousands of displaced civilians, some of whom have been trapped in war zones for weeks. They also demanded that charges be dropped against Kachin youth leaders Lum Zawng, Nang Pu, and Zau Jat, who led a similar demonstration in Kachins capital Myitkyina. The peaceful protest devolved into fistfights between rally organizers and baton-wielding riot police, who later charged 17 protesters with violating Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, which allows public demonstrations only if organizers first obtain permission from local authorities. Civil society organizations (CSOs) and activists who participated in the antiwar protest informed the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MHRC) that police conducted violent crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators in Yangon as they started to head home, thereby violating their human rights. The MHRC said it is investigating the reports and will submit its findings to the Yangon regional government and regional police force. We have received a report from [Myanmars] Committee for the Protection of Journalists saying that people wearing plainclothes attacked and threatened protesters, said MPC spokesman Zayar Hlaing. Thats why we released this statement to protect journalists. The MPC cant take action against people, but it has to protect journalists, he said about the independent media adjudication body that mediates press disputes and promotes journalism ethics. Police are responsible for protecting the media, according to Myanmar law, but in this instance they did not, the MPC said, adding that it will send its statement to the MHRC. Stop the ongoing fighting Meanwhile, four detained activists who took part an antiwar protest in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay urged the government during a hearing in Chan Aye Thar Zan Township Court on Friday to address the intensified fighting in Kachin state. Aung Hmine San, Dain Daung, Than Htike, and Hnin Aung were detained for leading protesters on a march through town on May 6, during which they demanded an end to the fighting in Kachin state and for the government to rescue those trapped by the clashes. Daw [honorific] Aung San [Suu Kyi], President Win Myint, and the government should do something to stop the ongoing fighting in the country, Aung Hmine San said. They have been silent. We would like to ask them to talk about doing something to stop the war. In all, 42 activists who participated in antiwar protests in Yangon and in other towns this month have been charged with violating the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, while the three activists in Myitkyina have been charged with criminal defamation. About 5,000 people protested in Myitkyina on April 30. Three days later, around 300 people renewed the protest and staged a short-lived sit-in camp in the city. Rights groups and lawyers see the pursuit of charges against peaceful protesters as a threat to freedom of expression and assembly in the Southeast Asian nation, which voted in a civilian-led government in late 2015 after five decades of military rule. New restriction on CSOs Myanmar has increasingly tightened its control over freedom of assembly regarding other groups such as CSOs. The Mon state government in southern Myanmar issued an order on Thursday requiring CSOs to obtain an official permit from the General Administration Department 10 days before holding meetings and workshops in the state, said Tun Aung, a member of the Mon State Civil Society Organizations Network. It is like the government that was elected by the people is behaving like a dictatorship, Tun Aung said. The government cant do anything so that people to have more rights or freedom, but only put more fear into society and solve problems with a lot of controls. RFAs Myanmar Service was unable reach the Mon state government office for comment. In 2013, during President Thein Seins term, CSOs had to inform authorities if they wanted to hold meetings or workshops, but this requirement expired at the end of that year. A CSO meeting or workshop is not a public gathering [because] only invited people can attend, said Myint Kyaw, secretary general of the Myanmar Journalist Network. Officers from Myanmars Special Branch and Military Intelligence [agencies] also come to these CSO events because they consider it their duty, he said. It is enough. Asking CSOs to apply for permission 10 days before an event is too much control. It shouldnt be like this. Min Lwin Oo, a lawyer from the Asia Human Rights Commission, said the new requirement is not a good sign and noted that the restriction violates the constitutions provision for peaceful gatherings. CSOs could hold meetings or workshops freely in the past, but the General Administration Department that is controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs is painting a picture that CSOs are tightly restricted and controlled under the current government. 'It is backward' Nyo Nyo Thin, a former Yangon regional lawmaker who participated in a 500-strong rally in the commercial capital in early March to oppose proposed changes to the countrys public assembly law, said that because state governments are working for the democratic central government, they must also work with CSOs. But the Mon state government issued its order, and it is the same as previous military governments did, and it is backward, she said, adding that state administrators should review the decision. Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government, suggested that the directive may be needed in Myanmar, which is still an emerging democracy. As I always say, I believe in freedom of expression; but I would like to caution that we still dont have full democracy, he said. If we allow people to exercise the full freedoms of democracy, some can take advantage of them, he said. Thats why the Mon state government issued this order, because it wants to control this risk during the transition period. Please remember that the NLD governments main aim is to go in this direction until Myanmar becomes a fully democratic country with full human rights as soon as it possibly can, Myo Nyunt said. We will try to have a situation in which there are no restrictions on people who want to protest. By Aung Theinkha, Khaymani Win, Kyaw Lwin Oo, and Khin Khin Ei for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Buses carrying 270 refugees and migrants from Sarajevo reached an asylum center in southern Bosnia-Herzegovina after an hours-long standoff between regional and national authorities in the multiethnic Balkan state. More than 4,000 migrants have entered Bosnia this year after traffickers opened a route through Greece to Western Europe via Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Croatia. The migrants had been staying in an improvised camp in a park in Sarajevo, but authorities ordered them to be moved to a refugee center in Salakovac, near Mostar, some 100 kilometers south of the Bosnian capital. Hundreds of migrants, mainly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, and North Africa, had camped in the park for nearly two months. The buses were stopped by police in Herzegovina-Neretva, a canton dominated by ethnic Croats, where officials said they were not informed about the decision. The buses were returned toward Sarajevo canton where Sarajevo cantonal police arrived. The border between the cantons is a tunnel, where Sarajevo police are stationed at one end and Bosnian Croat police at the other end. The buses waited for nearly five hours, held up in the Mount Ivan area some 40 kilometers outside Sarajevo, before being allowed to continue their journey. The permission was finally given after Security Minister Dragan Mektic labelled the blockade "illegal" and called for the arrest of the district police commander. Bosnia consists of two autonomous entities -- the Muslim-Croat Federation whose population is made up of Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats, and Republika Srpska, where Orthodox Serbs are a majority. Bosnia has 14 police agencies. One operates at the national level and two at the levels of the country's two autonomous regions. Ten federal cantons have a police force and the northern Brcko district also has one. More than 1 million migrants crossed into Europe from the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa in 2015 causing a crisis for the European Union but relatively few went through Bosnia. Bosnia has said it does not have the means to handle a major migrant crisis with its leaders calling for both financial and technical aid from the European Union and the United Nations to handle the influx. Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said on May 18 that it would do "everything to protect its border and prevent any attempts of illegal border crossings." With reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, AP, Reuters, AFP, and Balkan Insight BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz lawmakers have placed former President Almazbek Atambaev on a list of officials who may be responsible for what authorities say was a power-plant accident last winter. The unspecified accident that left many residents of the capital without heating for days occurred on January 26, when the temperature in Bishkek fell to nearly -30 Celsius. Lawmakers made the decision on May 17 after three days of heated debates. It recommends stripping Atambaev of immunity to allow authorities to investigate his role in the accident. Authorities launched an investigation into the accident, which took place just months after the completion of three-year-long modernization works at the Bishkek power plant. The modernization work was performed by Chinese company TBEA and was financed by a $386 million credit from China's Export-Import Bank. Lawmakers also recommended the investigation of dozens of top officials who approved the Chinese loan. In the last four weeks, investigators interviewed former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Sapar Isakov twice in connection with the accident. The pressure put by authorities on Isakov is seen as additional evidence of a rift between President Sooronbai Jeenbekov and his predecessor Atambaev, who backed Jeenbekov in the October presidential election but has criticized him in recent weeks. Lawmakers dismissed Isakov and his government in April, while Jeenbekov fired several of Atambaev allies the same month, including Prosecutor-General Indira Joldubaeva and intelligence service head Abdil Segizbaev, who had been criticized for a crackdown on opposition politicians and independent journalists. Atambaev, who was limited to a single six-year presidential term by the Central Asian country's constitution, initially kept a low profile after leaving office in November. But following his election as head of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) on March 31, he has publicly criticized Jeenbekov on several occasions. Iran has signed an agreement with a British consortium to develop an oil field, in the first such deal with a Western firm since Washington announced it would exit the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran. The National Iranian South Oil Company signed an agreement with the London-based Pergas consortium to produce 655 million barrels of oil from the Keranj field in southwestern Iran in the next 10 years, Iran's Oil Ministry said on May 17 through its Shana news service. The Pergas deal came within hours of an announcement by French energy giant Total that it will abandon a major natural gas project in Iran unless it can obtain a waiver from U.S. sanctions that are due to go into effect in November. The Pergas deal was signed in Tehran in the presence of the British ambassador late on May 16, but it was not clear whether it has received approval in London. "We hope that the U.K. government...endorses the agreement," Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namadar Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Shana. Zanganeh added that he expects European countries to make up for what he called the U.S. "betrayal" of the nuclear deal and show the support they have pledged to give Western companies that sign deals with Tehran. The $1 billion Pergas project would use advanced technology and processes to increase production over the next decade from the aging Karanj field to 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day from 120,000 barrels currently. The U.S. sanctions are aimed at prohibiting U.S. and foreign companies from doing business with Iran by, among other things, barring them from using the U.S. dollar or U.S. financial institutions. Total had cited a risk to its operations in the United States from the sanctions in announcing that it plans to exit Iran, but analysts said Pergas conducts comparatively little business in the United States, giving it more freedom to operate in Iran undeterred by the sanctions. Total had been the first Western company to resume business in Iran after sanctions were lifted in 2016 in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear activities under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. French President Emmanuel Macron said on May 17 that while European leaders are doing everything they can to preserve the nuclear deal and protect European businesses operating in Iran, they cannot force companies to stay there. "What I want to do is to be able to provide all guarantees for all the businesses that would like to stay in Iran to be able to do so," he said. "But we're not going to impose French businesses to stay in Iran. The president of the French Republic is not the CEO of Total!" Macron said the U.S. decision to exit the deal would benefit Russian and Chinese companies doing business with Iran at the expense of Western firms. Zanganeh said Tehran will make every effort to maintain its oil production and exports at current levels near 4 million barrels a day and predicted it would overcome the difficulties resulting from U.S. abandonment of the nuclear deal. "The current situation will pass and Iran will emerge as a winner," Shana quoted him as saying. With reporting by AP, Shana, and Reuters Many people would have trouble finding the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on a map. Even more might struggle to remember its name, if a deal said to be proposed with Greece on what to call the country is signed. Bulgaria's foreign minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on May 18 that the two sides, who are looking to end a decades-old dispute over what to call Macedonia, discussed the name Republic of Ilinden Macedonia, a proposal referring to the location of a historical uprising. Greece, a European Union and NATO member, has for years blocked Macedonia's efforts to join both organizations, arguing that its name implies a claim on the Greek province of Macedonia. "It sounds to me like they recognized that we have a common history and a common past," she said, confirming the name was proposed by Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev at a May 17 meeting in Sofia with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras. The dispute dates back to 1991, when Skopje declared independence following the collapse of communist Yugoslavia. Athens objects to Macedonia's name because it has its own northern province called Macedonia. The name is a sensitive topic for many Greeks who see it as an attempt to piggy-back on Greeces cultural heritage, especially given the Greek province of Macedonia was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. Local media have quoted unnamed officials in Skopje as saying the proposal would likely be acceptable to opposition parties, thus meeting Greek demands that any name emerging from the United Nations-brokered talks be used both at home and abroad. Opposition approval would also ease the path toward a review of Macedonias constitution, which the Greeks have also demanded. Tsipras did not say if his government is considering the proposal as a basis for continued talks. Christian Rebellion The Ilinden Uprising -- a rebellion led by Macedonian Christian nationalists against the Turkish Ottoman Empire -- led to the creation of the state of Macedonia on August 2, 1903. Even though the republic lasted only a few months until the Turks regained the upper hand, the uprising has become a cultural pillar in modern Macedonia and acknowledged as an important step toward the establishment of present-day Macedonia. August 2 -- an important holiday in Macedonia -- is also the day of a Christian feast marking the prophet Elijahs ascension to heaven. It had been thought that the two sides were closing in on agreeing to the name Republika Nova Makedonija (Republic of New Macedonia), which was one of five proposed earlier this year by UN mediator Matthew Nimetz. The other four names he put forward included Republika Severna Makedonija (Republic of Northern Macedonia), Republika Gorna Makedonija (Republic of Upper Macedonia), Republika Vardarska Makedonija (Republic of Macedonia of Vardar), and Republika Makedonija (Skopje) (Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)) "Several options for possible solutions have been presented, and one of them has been found to be acceptable for both sides. No further comments will follow," Macedonian government spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski said on May 18, noting that the opposition, the president, and other political leaders must still be updated on the talks. With reporting by RFE/RLs Balkan Service Russian President Vladimir Putin has held wide-ranging talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Ukraine conflict, Europe's response to the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, and the construction of a pipeline bringing gas from Russia to Germany. Putin said Russian natural gas may still flow to neighboring Ukraine even after the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which will carry Russian gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. "A suspension of the transit of Russia gas through Ukraine is not assumed," Putin said after talks with Merkel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on May 18. "Supplies will continue if they are economically viable." Merkel said that "Germany believes Ukraine's role as a transit country should continue after the construction of Nord Stream 2... it has a strategic importance." She added that Germany was ready to help ensure such an outcome. Earlier on May 18, Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Merkel -- who is on her first visit to Russia in a year -- at a summer residence in Sochi, with Putin presenting her with a bouquet of flowers. Merkel's trip to Russia comes amid tense relations between Berlin and Moscow. Germany has been at the forefront of the European Union's push for sanctions against Russia since Moscow seized Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 and threw its support behind separatists in eastern Ukraine, helping start a war that has killed more than 10,300 people. However, despite taking a hard line against Russia in recent years, Merkel has defended the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which carries Russian natural gas to Germany but bypasses Ukraine, arguing that Germany badly needs to secure its gas supplies. The $11 billion project would double the amount of natural gas Russia can funnel to Western Europe from newly tapped reserves in Siberia. In recent months, Germany gave its final approval for Russia to expand the pipeline, although Kyiv has argued that the project undermines EU sanctions against Russia. The pipeline is due to go online at the end of next year. A senior U.S. diplomat has also warned that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline raises security concerns and risks triggering U.S. sanctions. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Sandra Oudkirk, an energy policy expert at the State Department, said on a visit to Berlin May 17 that the United States opposes the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and could impose sanctions on it because of its potential to increase Russia's "malign influence" in Europe. "We are exerting as much persuasive power as we possibly can" to stop the project through diplomatic means first, she said, but she noted that Congress has given the government authority to impose sanctions on such Russian pipeline projects if necessary. Putin said on May 18 that he did not see anything new in the position of U.S. President Donald Trump, saying the president was a "strong businessman." "I think he is promoting his business interest to sell U.S. liquefied natural gas on the European market," said the Russian president. With Europe's largest economy, Germany is the world's largest importer of natural gas and it is planning to increase reliance on gas to generate power as it phases out its nuclear power plants. The German government has said that at a time of strong disagreements between Russia and the West over Ukraine and other matters, Berlin views the pipeline as well as a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran as "islands of cooperation" with Moscow. Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was leaving the agreement under which Iran curbed its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Germany, Britain and France, along with the other two signatories -- China and Russia -- have been scrambling to save the accord. As well as the differences over the Nordstream project, Europe is also at odds with Washington over Trump's decision to quit the Iran nuclear deal. The 2015 nuclear deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for international sanctions relief was signed between Iran and Russia, Britain, France, Germany, China, and the United States. Moscow agrees with Europe's position to remain in the deal. "Germany, Britain, France, and all our partners in the European Union continue to support this deal and remain in this deal and we know that a very specific situation arose that we Europeans need to discuss with Iran," Merkel said at the news conference. "I know that the deal is anything but perfect but it is better than no deal." But Merkel said differences with Washington over the nuclear deal would not challenge the transatlantic relationship. Ahead of Merkel's visit to Russia, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Merkel to also use her meeting with Putin to press for the release of "wrongfully" held human rights activist Oyub Titiyev and to raise other "key human rights issues." "Merkels principled voice has never been needed more than now," Wenzel Michalski, Germany director for the New York-based rights group, said in a May 16 statement. "She can use that voice to help free [Titiyev] and to make clear that the new level of repression in Russia will never be accepted as 'the new normal.'" HRW said the "current Russian government has been the countrys most repressive since the Soviet era." "The government has forcibly registered human rights and other civic groups that engage in public advocacy as 'foreign agents' if they accepted even the smallest amounts of foreign funding, prompting many to close and pushing others near bankruptcy," the groups said. In the past 18 months, it also said, police have arrested "thousands of peaceful protesters and beaten many." And in recent years, authorities have "unjustifiably prosecuted dozens of people for criminal offenses on the basis of social-media posts, online videos, media articles, and interviews, and shut down or blocked access to hundreds of websites and web pages." With reporting by AP, dpa, AFP, and Reuters Afghan officials say Taliban militants have killed at least 14 members of the security forces in separate attacks across the country. In the southeastern province of Ghazni, Taliban fighters attacked the district of Ajristan, killing nine government personnel, said Ramadan Ali Mooseni, a deputy provincial police chief. The clashes also left 25 Taliban fighters dead, he said. Elsewhere, Taliban insurgents attacked police security posts in the Maruf district of Kandahar Province, killing five police and wounding six, said Zia Durrani, a spokesman for the chief of police. Durrani said 12 Taliban militants were killed and 18 wounded. In the northern Baghlan Province, Afghan security forces recaptured a district center from the Taliban, according to Jawid Saleem, a spokesperson for Elite Afghan forces. The attacks came as fighting intensifies across Afghanistan following the launch of the Talibans annual spring offensive. On May 15, the Taliban briefly captured a large part of Farah city, the capital of the western province of Farah, along the border with Iran. Based on reporting by AP and dpa Pakistani security forces said on May 17 that they foiled a major terror attack in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing five suicide bombers. The target of the attack was a local office of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), the military said in a statement. "An explosive-laden vehicle carrying five suicide bombers tried to enter the FC help center. Vigilant FC soldiers fired at [the] terrorists and killed them," it said. Four soldiers were injured in the firefight with the attackers, it said. The failed attack came just hours after a suicide bomber struck a paramilitary convoy in the northwestern city of Nowshera, wounding 10 people. The two attacks on the FC came a day after Pakistani forces said they killed Salman Badeni, an Islamist militant leader wanted for the murder of more than 100 Pakistani Shi'ite Muslims, on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan Province. No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks on May 17. But the military said the attempted suicide in Quetta was a "response" to the killing of Badeni on May 16. Badeni was the provincial commander of the Islamist extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), widely considered one of the most violent militant outfits in Pakistan. Sunni extremists like the LeJ consider Shi'a to be heretics. LeJ is blamed for the deaths of hundreds of Shi'a in numerous attacks across Pakistan, especially in Balochistan. A number of Islamist militant groups are active in the province, including the Taliban and local Islamic State affiliates. Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters Poland's president has asked the UN Security Council to deploy a UN peacekeeping force in eastern Ukraine throughout the zone of conflict with Russia-backed separatists and along the border with Russia. "We are advocating the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission," Andrzej Duda told a news conference in New York late on May 17 after delivering a similar plea before the UN Security Council, where Poland holds the rotating presidency for the month of May. "First, those forces should be deployed along the internationally recognized border between Ukraine and Russia," he said. "I also stressed in the strongest terms that if that happened, those forces should deploy across all territory which today is in the hands of separatists," he said. Ukraine has supported the introduction of United Nations peacekeepers as long as they are placed along the border with Russia to monitor and ensure Russian troops and weapons do not come over the border to aid the separatists. Russia made a much narrower proposal in September, saying it would support a limited UN peacekeeping mission to protect around 600 observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe who are on the ground in eastern Ukraine. Russia drafted a UN resolution that would authorize lightly armed peacekeepers to protect the OSCE monitors along the demarcation line between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia fighters. But that was unacceptable to Ukraine and its allies in Europe and the United States. The Security Council never formally debated either sides' proposals. As president of the council this month, Poland's UN representative may bring Warsaw's proposal up for debate. But it could face a veto from Russia, which has strongly opposed placing armed UN peacekeepers along its border with Ukraine. More than 10,300 people have been killed in the conflict between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia separatists since the insurgency broke out in April 2014 following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Clashes erupt regularly despite a 2015 peace agreement forged in Minsk that laid down a process for establishing peace in the region but has been little heeded by either side. With reporting by AP and AFP U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is preparing a "diplomatic road map" on Iran that will call for European and other allies to help force Tehran back to the negotiating table after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, a U.S. official says. Brian Hook, a senior U.S. policy adviser, told reporters on May 18 that Pompeo will call for broad support to address "the totality of Iran's threats" during his first foreign-policy speech, scheduled for May 21. He added that U.S. officials hope renewed economic pressure would lead Tehran to return to negotiations, as it did leading up to the 2015 nuclear accord, which provided Iran with relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. "The goal of our effort is to bring all necessary pressure to bear on Iran to change its behavior and to pursue a new framework that can resolve our concerns," Hook told reporters. "We very much want to be, to have, a kind of up-tempo diplomacy, one that's very focused and very determined to achieve our national security objectives. We need a new...framework that's going to address the totality of Iran threats," Hook added. Trump on May 8 pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal, complaining that it was not tough enough on Iran and that Tehran was violating the "spirit" of the deal by continuing to test ballistic missiles and support extremists in the region. Hook said the United States was seeking "a range of things around its nuclear program, missiles, proliferating missiles and missile technology and support for terrorists and its aggressive and violent activities that fuel civil wars in Syria and Yemen." Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes and denies supporting militants in the Middle East. France, Germany, Britain, Russia, and China, which also signed the accord, urged Washington to remain in the deal, saying it was the best way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The European allies have expressed dismay with Trumps decision and have vowed to protect their countries' businesses from the effects of fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran. However, Hook said the United States and Europe agree more than they disagree and that the U.S. administration sees "an opportunity" to expand cooperation with nations also concerned with Irans behavior. With reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to enact a recently adopted decision to expand sanctions on Russian companies and entities. The presidential decree signed on May 14 appeared on the presidential website late in the evening on May 17. The document did not carry the names of persons or companies included in the latest sanctions list. Ukraine's Council of Security and Defense approved on May 2 the sanctions and mirror those of the United States, which blacklisted tycoons and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv has also extended existing sanctions it introduced against hundreds of Russian companies and entities in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Kremlin support for a pro-Russia separatist movement in the country's east. The council has said the new sanctions would be in force for at least three years and include penalties on Russian lawmakers and top officials. With reporting by Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a new cabinet, leaving several key officials in place and appointing a son of longtime ally Nikolai Patrushev as agriculture minister. Putin approved the choices shortly after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev presented them at a meeting in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on May 18. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin are among those retaining their posts. Two prominent members of the previous cabinet who were seen as members of the liberal economic camp in Russia's ruling elite, Igor Shuvalov and Arkady Dvorkovich, are not in the new government. New Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev's hawkish father, Nikolai, is a former Federal Security Service (FSB) chief who now serves as secretary of Putin's advisory Security Council. Under the constitution, the government was obliged to resign when Putin was inaugurated to a new term on May 7 after his election in March. Putin quickly nominated Medvedev, who served as president in 2008-12 when Putin was barred from the Kremlin by a limit of two straight terms, to stay on as prime minister. Analysts have said that Putin's decisions about the new governments makeup raise questions about whether he will implement reforms that could be crucial to his ambitious economic goals, such as making Russia's GDP one of the top five in the world by 2024. With reporting by AP, Vedomosti, and Novaya Gazeta During this week's visit to Washington, which included a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, President Shavkat Mirziyoev was praised for changes he's been making since he took over as leader of Uzbekistan in September 2016 -- particularly moves to release activists and journalists imprisoned by his predecessor. Uzbekistan is changing, to be sure. Besides freeing prisoners of conscience from the era of the late President Islam Karimov, Mirziyoev has improved ties with all of Uzbekistans neighbors, promised to end the odious practice of forcing people into the cotton fields during harvest time, vowed an end to torture in detention centers and prison cells, and publicly cast out from the ranks of government unpopular officials from the previous administration. Control over state media has loosened somewhat, allowing for some criticism of ineffective policies or lower-level officials. But there are still questions about how far Mirziyoev is willing to go. Which is why three small events ahead of Mirziyoev's U.S. visit are interesting, and possibly significant. May 13 was the 13th anniversary of the Andijon bloodshed, dubbed by some the "Andijon massacre," when government troops opened fire on mainly peaceful protesters during unrest in the city. Uzbek authorities say 187 people were killed -- civilians, soldiers, and extremists. But there is considerable evidence, including eyewitness testimony, that the figure was several times that. There is a monument to tragedy in Tashkent. Rights activists have attempted to visit the monument on the anniversary for several years, but they are routinely picked up leaving home or detained when they tried to reach the memorial. This year a group that included rights activists Surat Ikramov, Raslynbai Akepov, Azimbay Ataniev, and Elena Urlaeva was allowed to lay flowers at the pedestal of the monument and hold a short memorial. It was the first time that happened. Police were present but did not interfere. The next day, Urlaeva and a few other activists stood outside the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent at 8 a.m. with a placard demanding the release of several people still in prison who Urlaeva said were being tortured. Again, this sort of public activism usually ends with the activist being pushed into a vehicle and taken to the police station. But not this time. Then, on May 15, a small group of activists was outside the U.S. Embassy, again protesting against corruption, calling for a truly independent judiciary, freedom for political prisoners, and an end to the requirement for exit visas to leave Uzbekistan. Once again, police did not break up the small demonstration. These are hopeful signs -- though not conclusive evidence -- that policies on public rallies and demonstrations have changed. The groups involved in these events were small and their actions preceded Mirziyoevs meetings with senior U.S. officials. Larger demonstrations might not have been allowed to continue. And likewise if Mirziyoev had not been about to leave for his official visit to the United States. But the ability of these groups to assemble in public and make their views known is something that has not been seen in Uzbekistan for many years. And it is a core right guaranteed in Uzbekistans constitution that has not been respected for all those years. It is a small step, but arguably a hopeful one for Uzbeks. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 18 that former double agent Sergei Skripal "would have died" quickly if a military-grade poison had been used. Skripal and his daughter collapsed on March 4 in Salisbury, England. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning, saying it was caused by a type of nerve agent known as Novichok, which was developed in the Soviet Union. Moscow has repeatedly denied the claim. British officials said on May 18 that Skripal had been released from hospital. His daughter, Yulia, was discharged last month. Putin made the remarks during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Sochi. Sergei Skripal, a Russian former double agent who was poisoned with a nerve toxin in England in March, has been released from the hospital, British health authorities said on May 18. Russia repeated its call for access to Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, who was also poisoned and was released in April. Both had been hospitalized in critical condition after the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War II -- an attack that Britain blames on Russian President Vladimir Putins government. Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found collapsed on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. Yulia Skripal was discharged from hospital in April. Police officer Nick Bailey, who had come to the Skripals' help and was also exposed to the nerve agent, was hospitalized the same day and released earlier. "All three have now been discharged," the National Health Service (NHS) said in a statement. "It is fantastic news that Sergei Skripal is well enough to leave Salisbury District Hospital," hospital Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said in a statement. Putin, speaking during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Sochi on May 18, wished Skripal "good health." "I think if, as our British colleagues have insisted, a military-grade poison had been used, the man would have died right away," Putin said, adding that Moscow was "ready to provide our British partners with all necessary assistance to investigate the case." The NHS said that the right to patient confidentiality limited the amount of information it could disclose about the treatment of the three victims. "However, treating people who are so acutely unwell, having been poisoned by nerve agents requires stabilizing them, keeping them alive until their bodies could produce more enzymes to replace those that had been poisoned." The director of nursing at the Salisbury hospital, Lorna Wilkinson, said that Skripal's release "is an important stage in his recovery, which will now take place away from the hospital." British authorities did not say where Skripal went and have not disclosed the whereabouts of his daughter. Police said after the NHS statement that they would not discuss the security arrangements in place for Sergei, 66, and Yulia Skripal, 33. Investigators have expressed hope that their improved conditions will allow them to help determine the details of what happened on March 4 in Salisbury, where Sergei Skripal was living and his daughter was visiting from Moscow. Britain blames the Russian state for the poisoning, and says it was carried out with a Soviet-developed nerve agent known as Novichok. Moscow has vociferously denied involvement and asserted that Britain has not provided evidence of its claim. The incident has added still more tension to already severely strained relations between Moscow and the West. Britain and other Western countries including the United States have taken steps including expelling more than 150 Russian diplomats -- many of them suspected spies -- over the poisoning, and Russia has retaliated. Russia's ambassador to Britain, Aleksandr Yakovenko, told reporters in London following the announcement of Skripals release that Moscow is "happy that hes alright" and that it would continue to "demand" consular access. "If they dont want our assistance, thats fine. But we want to see them personally," Yakovenko said of the Skripals. But he said that following discussions with Britain's Foreign Office, he "got the impression that we will never see" them. Sergei Skripal was a member of Russias GRU military intelligence in the 1990s when he acted as a double agent for Britain. He was arrested by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) in December 2004 and sentenced to 13 years in prison after being convicted of high treason in the form of espionage. He was accused of revealing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working in Europe. But Russia freed him in 2010 and sent him to Britain as part of a spy swap for 10 Russian agents who had been arrested in the United States. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP BISHKEK -- Two suspects in the killing of a brother of former Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General and opposition politician Aida Salyanova have been detained, an Interior Ministry official says. Deputy Interior Minister Kursan Asanov told reporters on May 18 that one of the unnamed Kyrgyz suspects was caught in Kyrgyzstan and "confessed" his involvement in the murder. The second was arrested in Russia and his extradition is pending, Asanov said According to Asanov, a third suspect, a Russian citizen, is still on the loose. Several masked men shot 42-year-old Ulan Salyanov dead in his home in November, according to the Interior Ministry, which at the time overruled a political motivation for the assassination. The killing occurred less than a month after a court in Bishkek found Aida Salyanova guilty of abuse of office and sentenced her to five years in prison, but postponed her imprisonment until her 2-year-old daughter reaches age 14. Salyanova, a leading member of the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party, has maintained her innocence, insisting that the case against her was politically motivated. Authorities targeted Salyanova for investigation in March, days after Ata-Meken leader Omurbek Tekebaev was arrested on the basis of what his supporters say were trumped-up bribe-taking allegations. Tekebaev, who was named as Ata-Meken's candidate in the October 15 election shortly after his arrest, was convicted in August and sentenced to eight years in prison. His supporters say the conviction was aimed at preventing him from running in the election. Editor's Note: To receive Steve Gutterman's Week In Russia each week via e-mail, subscribe by clicking here. President Vladimir Putin got some extra mileage from Moscow's takeover of Crimea by opening a bridge to the peninsula, while Russia struggled to respond to the latest U.S. sanctions without harming itself at a time when it can ill-afford further damage to its fragile economy. Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week, and some of the takeaways going forward. All I Need Is A 'Miracle' It was typical, maybe quintessential, Putin: After driving a truck across a new bridge to a piece of land his country took from Ukraine by force, the Russian president hopped out of the cab in blue jeans and addressed a waiting crowd. Putin mixed a Soviet-style focus on figures and allegedly ahead-of-schedule projects with the mythical, quasi-religious vocabulary he often turns to when talking about Crimea, saying the builders performed a "miracle" and referencing the "tsar father" of a long-gone era. For Putin, opening the automobile lanes of the only bridge linking Russia to the annexed Black Sea peninsula was a chance to bask again in the "Crimea bump" -- the surge in popular support he experienced when Moscow took control of the Ukrainian region in March 2014 after sending in forces, seizing key facilities, and staging a referendum considered illegitimate by most of the world. Shown live on state TV, Putin's stint at the wheel of an orange Kamaz on May 15 echoed the many televised stunts he has used to create an image of an action man who is in control and moving forward -- literally. It came eight days after Putin was sworn in for a fourth stint as president amid widespread talk that he is bringing the country into what may be his last term without a clear vision or a unifying theme like what the Kremlin called the "return" of Crimea in 2014. The performance may have played well for many in Russia and Crimea. The independent, often-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta spoke to a man in the Crimean city of Kerch who was waiting with a friend to cross in a car when it opened to the public a day after Putin's visit. "I personally have nothing to gain from the bridge," he said, but added that "there's something in the soul, you know? The whole world is against us, and we went ahead and built the bridge. Pride, I guess." For the wider world and primarily Kyiv and the West, it once again sent the message that Moscow will never cede control of Crimea, which Putin has called Russia's Holy Land -- a description that is deeply disputed by historians. Isolated Case By design or not, Putin added a few trolling twists to the ceremony, eye-pokes for Kyiv and the Western countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia over a series of aggressive actions abroad -- starting, of course, with its seizure of Crimea. Putin chatted and laughed with tycoon Arkady Rotenberg, the former judo partner whose company built the bridge, while Kamaz trucks are made by a state-owned company headed by another longtime associate, Sergei Chemezov. As The Washington Post pointed out, the United States has imposed sanctions on both men. Meanwhile, the repression that rights groups say Russia has carried out against Crimean opponents of the takeover rolled on. On the same day that Putin opened the bridge to Crimea, a Russian court on the peninsula opened a new trial of Volodymyr Balukh, an activist who was arrested in 2016 after flying a Ukrainian flag at his home and started a hunger strike in prison two months ago. Also on hunger strike is Crimean film director and annexation opponent Oleh Sentsov, who scrawled a letter from prison in far northern Russia saying that he will not halt his protest until "all Ukrainian political prisoners held on Russian territory" are freed. Putin said that the $4 billion bridge should be ready for regular truck traffic this fall and that the railroad section will open in 2019. The span, he said, will enable Russia to "develop Crimea's economy...at a new pace" and "raise people's living standards." That's exactly what he has promised to do across Russia in his new term -- and exactly what he has struggled to do in Crimea since seizing control. And while the Crimea Bridge opens up transport links, it will not bring down all the barriers that isolate the region, some of them thrown up by Western sanctions. Big state lenders Sberbank and VTB, for example, have branches on countless street corners across Russia but none in Crimea. Operating on the peninsula, Sberbank chief German Gref said in 2017, would mean being "hit by the entire pool of sanctions." Putin's drive across the bridge to Crimea in a convoy of trucks drew strong if predictable condemnation from the United States and the European Union. Just as predictable is that Russia will, at least on the surface, be unmoved by that criticism. But amid shows of defiance and statements by senior officials that Moscow will offer no concessions to the West in the name of lifting sanctions, Russia has stumbled in its effort to retaliate against the latest punitive measures imposed by the United States. On April 6, Washington imposed asset freezes and financial restrictions on more than two dozen Russian individuals and organizations, including tycoons close to Putin, over what the U.S. Treasury called Moscow's "malign activity around the globe." Bombing Voronezh The Kremlin promised a powerful response to what Putin's spokesman called a salvo in the "sanctions war." But six weeks later, two pieces of retaliatory legislation are still making their way slowly through Russia's parliament, which is notorious for acting fast when it knows what it -- or Putin -- wants. One of them, which would give Putin the power to ban the import of almost anything from countries deemed unfriendly to Russia, was passed in the second of three required votes in the State Duma on April 17 -- but only after it was watered down significantly due to fears it could end up harming the Russian citizens it ostensibly aims to protect. Around the world, that kind of backfiring is often called shooting oneself in the foot. But fears of it happening amid the continuing confrontation between Russia and the West are so commonplace that a more country-specific term has been coined in Russia: Bombing Voronezh. Concerns about such an own goal have also prompted the Duma to hold off for now on a second "countersanctions" bill, under which Russians found to have promoted or adhered to foreign sanctions could be imprisoned for years. The legislation had been headed for a second Duma vote on May 17, but the former Putin aide who chairs the chamber announced that it was postponed and that lawmakers would consult with business leaders about it on May 23. If passed, the legislation could technically be used to punish Sberbank or VTB for steering clear of Crimea due to worries about Western sanctions -- though that would be highly unlikely. But as Leonid Bershidsky wrote in a Bloomberg opinion article, it could also be used against executives of foreign companies operating in Russia if they refuse to do business with sanctions-hit Russian firms. With the economy struggling despite emerging from a two-year recession in 2017, a downturn that was worsened by the Western sanctions imposed over Russia's aggression in Ukraine, Bershidsky pointed out that "this isnt a great time to tell investors they could be prosecuted for applying Western sanctions." Navalny Jailed To back off entirely and scrap the bill would be embarrassing for the Kremlin. But Putin, who has set the ambitious goal of bringing Russia's economy into the world's top five by the end of his new term, may be wary of punishing foreign companies. But if the bill does not chill investors, it could end up deepening the chill in Russia's beleaguered opposition camp. Like many laws that Kremlin foes say are applied selectively, another potential target of the legislation is those very foes -- and while the bill has not been passed, there are already signs that may happen. Ruling United Russia party lawmaker Andrei Isayev singled out Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent Putin critic who has lobbied for Western sanctions against Russian human rights violators and alleges he has been poisoned twice in retribution for his activism. "I am warning him as a State Duma deputy: If the bill is passed and becomes law, such activities will be considered a crime," Isayev said on May 16. A Moscow court handed down a more straightforward signal about what Putin's opponents face in his new term on the same day that Putin crossed the bridge, sentencing activist Aleksei Navalny to separate jail terms of 30 and 15 days over nationwide protests he organized two days before the inauguration of his nemesis to a new term. Navalny, who was one of more than 1,600 people detained during the demonstrations dubbed "He's Not Our Tsar," was hauled away from the Moscow protest by police who held his arms and legs. "Thirty days...for the right to go out into the streets of your city and tell those in power: 'I'm not a slave and never will be. I don't need a new tsar," Navalny tweeted. "There's little that's pleasant about this arrest, but I'm ready to go out and say this as many times as it takes.... And I know I'm not alone." Editor's Note: The Week In Russia will not appear on May 25 or June 1. It will resume on June 8. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the Islamic world to unite in supporting the Palestinians and combating what he called Israel's "tyranny." Erdogan first addressed thousands at a rally in Istanbul on May 18 and later hosted an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Turkish president has denounced the killing of 60 Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces on May 14 on the border with the Gaza Strip as well as the U.S. Embassys move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "The time has come to stand against Israel's tyranny," Erdogan said during the rally. Speaking at the opening of the summit, Erdogan compared Israel's actions against the Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust during World War II. "There is no difference between the atrocity faced by the Jewish people in Europe 75 years ago and the brutality that our Gaza brothers are subjected to," he said, accusing Israel of using methods "similar to the Nazis." Opposition politicians claimed the Turkish president was capitalizing on events in Gaza ahead of snap elections in Turkey next month. Based on reporting by AFP and dpa It's not every day that the Kremlin singles out a U.S. newspaper for opprobrium. Nor is it every day that Russia's main investigative agency launches a criminal investigation of the paper's editor. The Washington Examiner has found itself in that very position. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the opening of a major new bridge connecting the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea to Russia. The multibillion-dollar bridge boosts the Kremlin's efforts to circumvent a de facto Ukrainian blockade that has been in place since 2014, and to help integrate the peninsula into Russian commerce. The marquee moment of the elaborately choreographed event on May 15 saw Putin himself at the wheel as he led a procession of trucks across the 19-kilometer bridge spanning the Kerch Strait. The project has been condemned by the United States and the European Union, both of which hit Russia with economic sanctions for the annexation of Crimea. On the same day as the bridge opening ceremony, the Examiner published an opinion piece that called on Ukraine to use air strikes and "destroy elements of the bridge." "Because of its significant length, the Ukrainian air force could strike the bridge while mitigating the risk of casualties by those traversing it," wrote columnist Tom Rogan. 'Poor Quality Journalism' That caught the Kremlin's attention. "You could only consider this as insane, most likely. It's an ugly manifestation of poor quality journalism and it makes sense for law enforcement agencies, including those in the United States, to pay attention to those calls," spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on May 17 by Russian news agencies. The Examiner, which is based in Washington and publishes a weekly magazine in addition to its website, met Peskov's criticism with another column on May 17 by Rogan, who said that he and his family had received death threats. His column also mocked Peskov with a reference to reports that he was the owner of a fantastically expensive wristwatch, something that Russian anticorruption activists have highlighted as a symptom of rampant government corruption. "Calling for another nation's right to defend its territory, it seems, is not a popular refrain in Russia," Rogan wrote. On May 18, the federal Investigative Committee -- Russia's equivalent to the FBI-- joined the fray, announcing that it had opened a criminal investigation into the Examiner's chief editor, Hugo Gurdon, accusing him of spreading "terrorist propaganda." 'Entirely Legitimate' For his part, Gurdon responded that the Investigative Committee lacked any credibility, pointing out that the committee's chief, Aleksandr Bastrykin, was put on the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions list for alleged human rights abuses last year. "The piece that Tom Rogan wrote was an entirely legitimate commentary about the way a sovereign nation should defend its territory against an invading power," Gurdon told RFE/RL. "He even advocated that it should be done in a way that avoids casualties." Meanwhile, according to Rogan, the backlash he faced included Russian "bots" -- automated social media accounts -- attacking him online. It also apparently included pranksters who impersonated Ukraine's foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, and convinced Rogan that his position had the support of the senior Ukrainian official. Klimkin denied that the conversation had taken place, posting a bemused message on Twitter responding to a now-deleted Tweet. Rogan, who acknowledged the prank, said it's not first time his writing has drawn the ire of the Kremlin, or Russian state-run media, and he observed that independent Russian reporters routinely cope with harassment and pressure from authorities. "The operative point is that it says a great deal about the nature of the regime, that they are so obsessed with a not-that-famous opinion writer writing a piece, and it scares them --, the discourse does," he told RFE/RL. "My mother complained to me that she won't be able to go to the Hermitage now" he added, referring to the famous St. Petersburg art museum. Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Mike Eckel KYIV -- Ukraine commemorated the victims of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from their homeland in 1944, and authorities on the Russian-controlled peninsula briefly detained dozens of people there. A minute of silence was observed at noon on May 18 across the country -- except in Crimea, which Russia seized in March 2014 after sending in troops and staging a referendum boycotted by many Crimean Tatars. An RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Crimean capital, Simferopol, that the Russian-imposed police briefly detained dozens of Crimean Tatars who tried to commemorate victims of the deportation early in the morning. Later in the day, several dozen Crimean Tatars held another commemoration event next to a stone erected in a park in Simferopol to honor the deportation victims. Dozens of riot police officers monitored the event. WATCH: When You Think About Crimea, Think Crimean Tatars. Here's Why. (originally published March 6, 2017) In Kyiv, by contrast, bells at Orthodox Christian churches tolled for a minute to pay tribute to the victims of the deportation. "The pain of the Crimean Tatar people is our common pain. It is the pain of tens of thousands of Crimean Tatars who never made it back to their native Crimea," President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Facebook. "We will never forget the cynical crime of the Soviet regime, the crime against an entire ethnic group, against humanity," he wrote. "I am confident that these days' criminals will also face punishment for occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, and the Ukrainian Crimea will be free again." The Crimean Tatars were deported en masse from the Black Sea peninsula in May 1944 after Stalin accused them of collaborating with Nazi Germany. Starting on May 18, 1944, some 250,000 people were put on trains -- most of them in the space of two days -- and sent to Central Asia. Tens of thousands died during the journey or after they were left on the barren steppe with few resources. Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return to Crimea until the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev conducted reforms in the years before the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In November 2015, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law declaring May 18 the Day of Commemoration of Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatars. After Russia seized Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised the Crimean Tatars that they would be treated well and guaranteed equal rights. But Crimean Tatars, rights activists, and Western governments say Russia has subjected Crimean Tatars and others who opposed annexation to abuse, discrimination, and politically motivated persecution on false charges. A senior U.S. diplomat is warning that a planned gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea raises security concerns and risks triggering U.S. sanctions. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Sandra Oudkirk, an energy policy expert at the State Department, said on a visit to Berlin on May 17 that the United States opposes the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and could impose sanctions on it because of its potential to increase Russia's "malign influence" in Europe. "We are exerting as much persuasive power as we possibly can" to stop the project through diplomatic means first, she said, but she noted that Congress has given the government authority to impose sanctions on such Russian pipeline projects if necessary. "Any pipeline project -- and there are many multiple pipeline projects in the world that are potentially covered by this sanctions authority -- is in an elevated position of sanctions risk," she said. "We would be delighted if the project did not take place." Her comments came one day before German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian resort of Sochi. The two are expected to discuss the pipeline project as well as the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Despite taking a hard line against Russia in recent years over its aggression in Ukraine and other matters, Merkel has defended the pipeline project, saying Germany badly needs to secure its gas supplies. With Europe's largest economy, Germany is the world's largest importer of natural gas and it is planning to increase reliance on gas to generate power as it phases out its nuclear power plants. The German government's point man for Russia, Dirk Wiese, said that at a time of strong disagreements between Russia and the West over Ukraine and other matters, Berlin views the pipeline and the Iran deal as "islands of cooperation" with Moscow. The $11 billion project would double the amount of natural gas Russia can funnel to Western Europe from newly tapped reserves in Siberia. It is due to go online at the end of next year. Russia's Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, and other Western firms involved in building the pipeline started preparatory work off Germany's Baltic coast this week, and German factories are already churning out thousands of steel pipes to use in the undersea network. Oudkirk said the project raises security concerns because it would divert gas flows away from Ukraine, which depends heavily on transit fees, and could become a pathway for Russia to install high-tech monitoring and listening equipment in the Baltic Sea, a sensitive military region. "The new project would permit new technologies to be placed along the pipeline route, and that is a threat," she said. Oudkirk noted that Russia in the past has turned off gas supplies to Ukraine during disputes and said Washington is concerned that the Baltic pipeline might create similar "vulnerabilities" by giving Russia similar leverage over Western European nations and increasing their dependence on Russian gas. Oudkirk rejected suggestions that Washington opposes the pipeline because it wants to increase U.S. liquefied natural gas exports to Europe. Jens Mueller, a spokesman for Nord Stream 2, dismissed concern that the new pipeline would create more dependence on Russian gas, saying it would be only one of many sources of natural gas for Western Europe. "This pipeline can't be used to blackmail or negatively affect any country," he said. German officials have acknowledged a need to consider the interests of Ukraine. Merkel sent her economy minister, Peter Altmaier, to Moscow and Kyiv this week to try to secure a deal that would keep some gas flowing through Ukraine, which currently earns up to 2 billion euros a year from transit fees. Altmaier has said he is optimistic that a "substantial" amount of gas will continue to flow through Ukraine when the Baltic pipeline starts operating. With reporting by AP and Reuters A MAN has appeared in court to deny snatching the bag of a pensioner walking home from a bus stop. Darren Russell (37), of Nursery Road in North Anston, appeared before magistrates in Sheffield this morning (Friday). Police said a 74-year-old woman had her bag snatched near a bus stop at The Green in the village on May 15. Russell was remanded into custody to appear at Sheffield Crown Court on September 15. Bessie celebrating her birthday last year A FORMER nurse who became Britains oldest person has died at the age of 113. Bessie Camm died peacefully in her sleep at Moorgate Lodge Care Home last Friday (11). She became the oldest person in the UK in July last year and was six weeks short of her 114th birthday. Bessie reached 113 years and 325 days, which made her the tenth-oldest person in the world known to the Gerontology Research Group which compiles a database of the oldest living people. Born in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, in 1904, she attended a Quaker School before qualifying as a nurse in 1926 at Darlington Hospital, working as a ward sister and then a theatre sister at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough. Bessie assisted doctors who worked on surgical cases in the hospital and a consultant, Col Connell, who attended for his theatre list and outpatients clinics. She later became matron at Richmond Hospital in North Yorkshire, where she worked during the Second World War. After the war, Bessie worked for five years as an industrial nurse at Parkgate Forge, where her late husband was a metallurgist. She later nursed former Conservative leader William Hague and once attended a dinner party at his parents Parkgate home when he was a young boy. Bessie married her husband John shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. The couple did not have any children. Following her retirement, Bessie lived in Wath with John and remained there following her widowhood in 1972. According to the Oldest in Britain website, the oldest living person is now Olive Evelyn Boar, of Felixstowe, who is 113 years 231 days old. Pictured (from left to right are): back row: Donna Mitchell, Lucy Hulley, Claire Hastie, Joanne Hurst, Jackie Outram, Ninna Dowell, Joanne Keeling, Lisa Wrigley and Zara Campbell; front row: Suzi Gould, Jo Saddington, Jeannie Clarke and Kirsty Watts A GROUP of friends will be stripping off this weekend and baring all for charity. Mother-of-two Kirsty Watts (44) has assembled a group of 13 plucky friends to pose for a naked calendar, Simply The Breast, to raise money for Cancer Research UK. The women, aged 29 to 61, responded to a plea Kirsty put on Facebook in April asking for volunteers to join her for a Calendar Girls-style shoot which takes place this Sunday in Wickersley. Were all really giddy but nervous, said Kirsty, who will be covering her modesty when she poses for the June photo as a baker. None of us has ever done anything like this before. Kirsty, of Rawmarsh, said she HAD wanted to do something different after completing charity runs and the idea haD already proved popular. We have ordered 100 calendars to be printed which have sold out already at 10 each, she said. Weve nearly raised 4,000 all together and people can still sponsor us. She added: We are all motivated by either experiencing what impact this disease causes directly or to one of our loved ones. We are just normal everyday kind of gals, all with wrinkles, wobbly and saggy bits but who cares? We are creating and doing something that we will all be immensely proud of and seek help in raising a decent amount of funds to contribute towards the fight of this nastiness that keeps creeping into our lives. To donate visit https://bit.ly/2k5Reko A FORMER South Yorkshire Police worker is alleged to have stolen cash she had access to as a property store team leader. Jaqueline Fletcher, of Boundary Walk, Brinsworth, appeared at Sheffield Magistrates Court charged with four counts of theft, including one of 95,800 from South Yorkshire Police. The 48-year-old was reported on summons for theft from her employer and two counts of theft from the Department for Works and Pensions. The fourth charge, of theft from the person of another, is alleged to have involved Fletcher taking money from the sale of her elderly mothers property in 2011. The DWP thefts reportedly occurring between October 2011 and July 2016 were in connection payments which should have been assisting Fletchers mothers care home costs. Fletcher is also alleged to have banked cash she had access to while she was property store team leader at Attercliffe Police Station in Sheffield. She left South Yorkshire Police in 2015 and the money is still unaccounted for, the force said. Fletcher, who is yet to enter a plea, is due to appear at Sheffield Crown Court on June 14. Christopher Helliwell A VIOLENT and controlling boyfriend who broke his partners nose and smashed a vodka bottle over her head has been jailed for five years. Christopher Helliwell (47), of Hemmingway Close, Treeton, repeatedly attacked Kerry Shelton and intimidated her in court. Judge Robert Moore, who said Helliwell was guilty of dreadful attacks and dreadful rages, jailed him at Sheffield Crown Court last Friday (11) and banned from contacting her for ten years. Helliwell previously admitted on the day his trial was due to start to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, damaging property, intimidating a witness and unlawful wounding. Mr Graham OSullivan, prosecuting, told the court Helliwell and mother-of-four Ms Sheltons relationship was never a good one. The court heard Helliwell was jailed in 2016 for attacking Ms Shelton. In February last year he left her with bruising to her leg after he flipped over a table in her home, causing 250 worth of damage. Mr OSullivan said Helliwell then grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her into a kitchen unit while whispering: This isnt the last of us. One of Ms Sheltons children walked in and said: Leave my mum alone. He then went on to smash Ms Shelton over the head with a vodka bottle and threatened to kill her the court was not told if this happened in front of the child. Ms Shelton suffered cuts and bruising to her face and hands and was treated at hospital, the court heard. In August, Helliwell intimidated Ms Shelton at Sheffield Magistrates Court, where he was due to stand trial for the attack. He swore at Ms Shelton as she walked past, said Mr OSullivan, and made a cut-throat gesture to her. The trial did not go ahead and the case was committed to the crown court. While Helliwell was on bail, he attacked Ms Shelton again at her Sheffield home, leaving her with a broken nose, cuts and bruises and needing hospital treatment. Mr Richard Thyne, mitigating, said Ms Shelton remembered little of the second attack. She did remember Helliwell having his hands around her throat, holding a knife over her. She also remembered asking a neighbour for help and Helliwell stopped his attack when the neighbour intervened, he said. Helliwell had completed a catering course since being remanded into custody, added Mr Thyne, and wanted to pursue this as a career when he was released from prison. Judge Robert Moore said: You are clearly a serial bruiser and controller of the women with which you had a relationship. These were dreadful attacks and dreadful rages against a vulnerable female partner in her own home one in front of her children. You had already been in prison for assaulting this person. You pleaded guilty at trial and saved her having to relive it all and started your current stretch in prison but unless you can control your jealous rages you will end your days in prison. It went down about 1 1/2 miles from the Havana airport in the Rancho Boyeros suburb. Only three passengers survived in critical condition. Firefighters were on the scene battling the blaze. The flight to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin went down at 12:08 p.m. in an agricultural area in the Santiago de las Vegas neighborhood near the airport. A large fireball followed by a towering plume of smoke was visible near the airport on the outskirts of Havana, according to witnesses, when the crash occurred. A foreign crew was aboard the plane. A large number of emergency workers responded to the field. Roberto Pena Samper, president of Corporacion de la Aviacion Cubana, said the aircraft was the property of a Mexican company and had been leased by Cubana de Aviacion. Cuban First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa met Thursday with officials from the airline to discuss improvement in Cubanas service in the face of strong criticism. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was at the scene of the accident. Fridays crash was Cubas third major fatal aviation accident since 2010. Possibly this story will be updated Congress president Rahul Gandhi Against the backdrop of political developments in Karnataka, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today claimed the situation in the country was similar to that in Pakistan under "dictatorship". At an event here, he alleged there was an atmosphere of fear in the country and the Constitution was under "severe attack", with even the institutions such as the judiciary and the press being suppressed and threatened. His remarks came hours after BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa Advertisement While the Congress-JD(S) combine in the state has been claiming a majority with the support of 117 MLAs, the BJP has 104 seats in the Assembly which has 224 elected members. Polling was not held in two seats. The House has a nominated seat. "The Constitution is under severe attack in the country... In Karnataka, the MLAs are on one side and the Governor on the other and you know what attempt is being made," Gandhi said. Constitution under severe attack in the country: Rahul Gandhi "The JD(S) leader has said its MLAs were offered Rs 100 crore," the Congress president said, apparently referring to H D Kumaraswamy who had made the allegation. Gandhi said, "One after another, you can see in every democratic institution in the country,..the RSS is trying to induct its people." He said, "There is fear in the judiciary, there is fear in the press, and even the BJP's members of Parliament are scared as they cannot speak a single word before the prime minister." Advertisement H D Kumaraswamy In the last 70 years, it was generally seen that the people approached the judiciary for seeking justice, he said. "But for the first time, it was seen that four judges of the Supreme Court appeared before the press and sought support from the public, saying they were being suppressed and not allowed to perform their duties."Such a thing was witnessed for the first time in a democratic country. It happens under dictatorships: Gandhi Advertisement It definitely happens under dictatorships, it happens in Pakistan, it happens in different African countries, (where) a general comes and suppresses the court and the press. But in India, it has happened for the first time in last 70 years," Gandhi said. He was apparently referring to the unprecedented press conference by four senior judges of the Supreme Court in January this year to express their grievances against the Chief Justice of India. Jan Swaraj Sammelan In his address at a 'Jan Swaraj Sammelan' here on the occasion of the silver jubilee of 73rd and 74th amendment in the Constitution related to local self-governance, the Congress leader accused the BJP and the RSS of capturing every democratic institution in the country. He said the Congress had ruled the country for several years but never tried to capture the democratic institutions. Advertisement Finance minister Arun Jaitley Gandhi also alleged that the RSS and the BJP's target was to suppress the voice of Dalits, 'Adivasis' (tribals) and women and distribute the country's wealth to some selected people. "When farmers talk about loan waiver, (Finance Minister) Arun Jaitley says the Centre does not have any policy for it. But in the last one year, Rs 2.5 lakh crore loan of 15 rich people was waived. He (Jaitley) doesn't speak on it because it's in their policy," the Congress chief said. Union minister Piyush Goyal He said that if the BJP wanted to talk about corruption, then its leaders should speak about the Rafale fighter deal, BJP chief's son and (Union minister) Piyush Goyal's company. However, he did not elaborate on it. Gandhi alleged the BJP government has snatched the rights of farmers, villagers and poor and diluted the law. He said the people will have to come together to fight against the ideology of the RSS and the BJP to protect the Constitution. Congress focus will be on education: Rahul "If we want to fight against the ideology of the RSS and the BJP, the representatives and women who are sitting here, are our key strength," he said, referring to the panchayat members present at the event. During the interaction with the representatives, Gandhi said if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, its focus will be on education, health and employment sectors in which the "Modi government has completely failed". Prime Minister Narendra Modi He said his party's government would waive farmers' loans within 10 days of coming to power in 2019. Accusing the Modi government of considering farmers as a burden, he said the Congress considers them as its strength. "If the Narendra Modi government can waive loans of 15 to 20 rich industrialists worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore, why can't farmers' loans be waived?" he asked. "That amount is equivalent to Rs 35,000 crore that the UPA spent to implement the MNERGA scheme in the country," he said. Nirav Modi He said, "Modi calls Mehul Choksi as Mehul Bhai. He knows Choksi and Nirav Modi well. Modi did not respond to my request to waive farm loans in the entire country." The Congress government had brought the Land Acquisition Bill, in which it was clearly mentioned that panchayat's permission should be mandatory for acquiring land in a village, Gandhi said. "The attack on me (by the BJP) was launched since the day I visited Bhatta Parsaul (in 2011 in Noida in UP). There I had raised questions and from that day they have been trying to corner me," he said. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Single largest party Cong to stake claim to form govt in Goa Seeking adoption of the Karnataka example in Goa, the Congress today decided to stake claim to form a government in the state where it had emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly polls held last year. Congress Legislature Party chief Chandrakant Kavlekar said the party will stake claim tomorrow by submitting to Governor Mridula Sinha a formal letter containing signatures of all the 16 party MLAs. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Advertisement In the Assembly elections held in March last year, the Congress had bagged 17 seats in the 40-member House, falling short of the majority figure by four seats. The BJP, which got 14 seats, formed the government in alliance with Goa Forward Party and MGP, both of which had secured three seats each. Three Independents also went with the BJP. Kavlekar said the Goa Governor should follow the precedent set by her Karnataka counterpart and invite the single largest party to form the government "correcting her mistake of March 12, 2017". Goa Congress leader Chandrakant Kavlekar He was referring to the decision of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite the BJP to form the government after the Assembly election results declared on Wednesday. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in the 222-member Karnataka Assembly, was invited by the governor despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking a claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark is 112 seats. Advertisement Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala "We have 16 legislators with us and with that strength, we are the single largest party in the (Goa) Assembly. The governor should invite us to form the government in Goa as per the precedent set by her Karnataka counterpart, said Kavlekar, the Leader of Opposition in the Goa Assembly. When pointed out that the Congress needs the support of at least 21 legislators to stake the claim, he said that once the governor swears in the Congress chief minister, he will be able to prove his majority on the floor of the House. Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar Advertisement "The numbers will have to be proven on the floor of the House and we have that with us," he said. However, he did not specify how the party would muster the majority. Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar said that the governors can't have two different set of rules. "While in Karnataka the governor has invited single largest party, in Goa too, the same precedent should be followed, he said. The Congress is giving an "opportunity to Goa governor to rectify the mistake which she did last year", Chodankar said. The BJP-led government in Goa is headed by Manohar Parrikar, who is currently undergoing treatment in the US for his pancreatic ailment. Kavlekar said that in absence of the chief minister in the state since last two months, there is no government in place."The Congress will be able to provide a stable government in Goa," the CLP leader added. As the world commemorates the 21st anniversary of the World HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) today (18 May), I want to turn the spotlight on the growing role of African scientists in the race towards HIV prevention research and ending AIDS epidemic. Over the past 25 years, I have been privileged to contribute to, and be a part of a growing critical mass of African researchers providing leadership in HIV/AIDS prevention research globally. Earlier HIV prevention efforts My own journey began in 1986 as a graduate of medicine and surgery at the Makerere University Medical School in Kampala, Uganda. The end of my undergraduate training had coincided with the appearance of the first patients of Slim disease the beginning of AIDS epidemic in Uganda. As a young medical officer, I found myself at the centre of an epidemic that was ravaging the country with one in every ten people infected with HIV in the rural areas and up to five times more along the Trans African highway within Uganda. I find it most encouraging that research led by African scientists has contributed to the global evidence informing policies for HIV prevention today. Anatoli Kamali, International Aids Vaccine Initiative Caring for terminally sick patients with limited impact a scenario that was playing out in many Sub-Saharan African countries was very challenging. I soon faced the reality that without a preventative HIV vaccine, medical care and public health approaches alone would not end the epidemic. My postgraduate training at the UKs London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the late 80s provided me with a great opportunity to focus on HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health threat. I was aware of the urgent need for research that would give a clearer understanding of the epidemic and inform policies to guide prevention and treatment interventions. Upon returning to Uganda, I joined a team composed largely of expatriates to start one of the first major rural population-based epidemiological and clinical research at the Ugandas Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute. This research provided an initial understanding of HIV transmission dynamics and offered opportunities for testing and counselling in rural Africa as a first HIV prevention pillar. Towards ending HIV/AIDS threat A quarter of a century later, the AIDS epidemic is still a huge public health threat in many Sub-Saharan African countries, despite major achievements from HIV prevention and treatment research. With high mortality rates and close to 1.1 million new infections in 2016 in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is as clear to me now as it was when I was a young medical officer that we need to accelerate the search for an HIV vaccine if we are to end AIDS epidemic for good. Recent modelling analyses project that even with stepped-up efforts to implement current treatment and prevention programs, hundreds of thousands of new HIV infections would still occur annually in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. In the face of this continuing challenge, I find it most encouraging that research led by African scientists has contributed to the global evidence informing policies for HIV prevention today. Over the years I have had the opportunity to lead several studies in HIV epidemiology and studies which engage populations at higher risk of HIV/AIDS including young women and adolescent girls and fishing communities. I have also led trials to evaluate the impact of behavioural change interventions alone or in combination with improved management of sexually transmitted infections on HIV transmission. I have also been leading early and late phase trials of vaginal microbicides, and preparations for HIV vaccine research and early HIV vaccine trials. Value of research partnerships Research partnerships have provided opportunities to build African capacity in HIV research. For example, high-level laboratory and clinical facilities are now in place to support the conduct of current and future trials that would have only been done in developed countries, and there is a growing number of highly trained African scientists in different areas of research for HIV prevention including vaccine development. With continued commitment from governments, international agencies, researchers and many other partners, we will find an HIV vaccine and end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Anatoli Kamali, International Aids Vaccine Initiative One outstanding example of the developing continuum of African research capacity in the HIV/AIDS research is Accelerating the Development of Vaccines and New Technologies to Combat the AIDS Epidemic (ADVANCE), a partnership between International Aids Vaccine Initiative and research partners in clinical research centres in five African countries in Southern and Eastern Africa: Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia . Through this USAID-supported partnership, nearly 50 staff from clinical research centres have been awarded masters, doctorates or postdoctoral fellowships, with 20 junior staff advancing to the position of principal investigator or trial director. Supporting women scientists More importantly, the focus on supporting women scientists has resulted in 50 per cent of these awardees being female researchers. Beyond the fellowships, the ADVANCE partnership is building on, and linking African scientists competencies in HIV vaccine research and development to Indian, UK and US researchers and institutions through the Vaccine Immunology Science and Technology for Africa programme. These opportunities are attracting Western-trained African scientists back to Africa to pursue cutting-edge HIV vaccine research. Such developments truly motivate me and give me the confidence that with continued commitment from governments, international agencies, researchers and many other partners, we will find an HIV vaccine and end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. As HVAD comes of age, we must not lose the momentum gained through African-driven research. New investments towards controlling the epidemic should aim at sustaining the gains made in HIV vaccine research and development, and focus on equipping and resourcing African scientists and research institutions to take the lead in the design and assessment of the next generation of HIV vaccine candidates for Africa. Anatoli Kamali is the Africa regional director for the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), and lead for the Accelerating the Development of Vaccines and New Technologies to Combat the AIDS Epidemic (ADVANCE) partnership, and an Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. He can be reached at [email protected] This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk. Scientific researchers are known to guard the findings of their studies, keeping the information close to the chest to prevent others from taking credit, publishing or even filing a patent first. But a new study from a research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology could dispel that notion. The team found that the vast majority of scientists disclose key details about their work informally to peers and potential collaborators ahead of publishing in a peer reviewed journal or presenting the findings publicly. "For years we had seen these disparities in how different fields of research disclosed scientific findings, and we wanted to get to the heart of what drove those decisions," said Marie Thursby, a Regents' Professor Emeritus in Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business. In a survey of more than 7,100 active academic researchers in nine fields, the study found that the majority -- more than 67 percent -- of those surveyed disclosed their findings before publishing or presenting the work publicly. However, the motivation for sharing research findings varied widely across the fields. "When we talk to scientists, they are extremely interested in this question -- what makes the fields so different in how they approach disclosure," said Jerry Thursby, a coauthor and former professor in the Scheller College of Business. "This is the first survey to start answering that question." The study, which was published today in Science Advances and supported by the National Science Foundation, highlights the different forces driving researchers across fields. advertisement The most common reason among researchers for sharing details ahead of publishing was to solicit feedback from colleagues. Another common reason to disclose was to take credit for a finding before another group could disclose a similar result. Other reasons included disclosing to gain collaborators on the project, disclosing to attract other researchers to the field in general, and in some cases, to deter others from working on the exact same problem. "In computer science and mathematics, often a scientist will send out a message that they can't solve a problem, and what they want to happen is for other people to come into their field, not necessarily to be co-authors on their exact problem, but to help work on related problems," Marie Thursby said. "The fields where they disclose to stimulate other work are ones that are more formulaic like mathematics. So it may be that results are more modular. It's easier to build on one another's work and easier to distinguish who did what." While mathematicians and computer scientists shared a common motivator for disclosing results ahead of publication, the two groups were at the opposite ends of the spectrum on the question of whether they disclose -- with computer scientists being the least likely at 43 percent and mathematicians being the most likely at 78 percent among the nine groups surveyed. Roughly 56 percent of respondents in the engineering field disclosed prior to publication, while more than percent of the respondents in the remaining fields surveyed disclosed ahead of publication. "For fields in which researchers worry less about when they disclose results, one hypothesis is that some forms of research require such high-powered equipment that even if someone wanted to publish results ahead of you, they couldn't," Marie Thursby said. The study also highlighted subtle differences among biological science researchers -- with researchers housed in medical schools being a bit more reluctant to share details than biological scientists at other institutions. "In the medical field, certainly for discoveries behind drugs, patents are important, and the commercial pipeline may matter quite a bit there," Marie Thursby said. "Generally, there's been a myth that in biological sciences, researchers generally don't share. But our study shows that they do." The Georgia Tech team also delved into the timing of the disclosures based on how far along the researchers were in their projects. Less than 7 percent of researchers disclosed at the earliest conceptual stages of the work, but about 40 percent typically disclosed research findings after they were sure of validity of the work but had yet to submit a manuscript for publishing. "In scientific research, the quicker you get results out, the quicker that science can have an impact," Marie Thursby said. "I think this study helps us understand more about what factors influence the speed with which new findings reach a broader audience." The US mental health system faces considerable challenges in delivering behavioral healthcare to populations in need. In a special supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, experts focus on the key issue of behavioral health human resources for which substantial investment is needed to effect change. Articles in this issue cover research on workforce planning, service delivery and practice, and workforce preparation, and advocate for intelligent allocation of resources to ensure all clients have access to behavioral healthcare. More than 44 million American adults have a diagnosable mental health condition, and rates of severe depression are worsening among young people. Mental health and disability are well-established drivers of substance use, and drug overdose deaths fueled by opioid misuse have more than tripled from 1999 to 2016. A 2016 report by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on the projected supply and demand for behavioral health practitioners through 2025 indicated significant shortages of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, and marriage and family therapists. The magnitude of provider shortages, however, is not the only issue when considering access to behavioral health services. Another major concern is maldistribution, since parts of the US have few or no behavioral health providers available, and access to mental health services is especially critical in areas of poverty. "It is imperative that a plan be developed to address the resource limitations inhibiting the delivery of behavioral health services," says Angela J. Beck, PhD, MPH, of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, one of the supplement's Guest Editors. "This set of articles collectively proposes strategies and best practices to guide success of the current and future behavioral health workforce." A contribution from C. Holly A. Andrilla, MS, and colleagues from the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center, Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA, summarizes the supply challenges of the behavioral health workforce, including severe shortages in rural areas. Using National Plan and Provider Enumeration System National Provider Identifier data, researchers examined the supply of psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners across the US. Providers were classified into three geographic categories based on their practicing county (metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core). US population data were used to calculate provider-to-population ratios for each provider type. Results revealed substantial variations across Census Divisions in the supply of psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners and showed that rural populations have far less access to behavioral health providers than populations in the cities. The New England Census Division had the highest supply, and the West South Central Census Division had among the lowest supply of all three provider types. There was a more than tenfold difference in the percentage of counties lacking a psychiatrist between the New England Census Division (6 percent) and the West North Central Census Division (69 percent). advertisement "Understanding this unequal distribution is necessary for developing approaches to improving access to behavioral health services for underserved populations," explains Ms. Andrilla. "Given the dramatic shortages of behavioral health providers, particularly in certain geographic regions and in most rural areas, innovative solutions must be explored to expand access to behavioral health services for underserved populations." Disparities in access to behavioral health services are particularly significant in New Mexico, where 56 percent of adults with mental illness receive no treatment, according to Deborah B. Altschul, PhD, from the Division of Community Behavioral Health, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA. Dr. Altschul and colleagues focus on legislation enacted in New Mexico in 2011 to survey all healthcare professionals systematically in an effort to inform policies to address shortage issues. In 2015, almost 4,500 behavioral health providers completed a survey as a mandatory component of license renewal. Findings indicated a dearth of licensed behavioral health providers representative of the populations served, limited access to services via Medicaid and Medicare payer sources, limited access to providers working in public health settings, and limited access to health information technology. Medicaid is the single largest payer for mental health services in the US and increasingly plays a significant role in the reimbursement of substance use disorder services. Therefore, the finding that more than a quarter of providers surveyed did not have a single Medicaid patient enrolled in services was alarming. Based on this survey, researchers recommend effective recruitment and retention of professionals representative of the populations served, policy reforms to enhance the training environment and reduce unnecessary barriers to practice, post-licensure programs to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to participate in training opportunities in areas of high need, and increasing access to supervision for clinicians working in rural and underserved communities. They highlight telehealth as an innovative strategy for quickly expanding access to supervision and propose permitting interdisciplinary supervision from a variety of behavioral health professionals to increase access. Medicaid is examining reimbursement for services provided by trainees under the oversight of an independently licensed Medicaid provider. "The statewide licensure survey has provided real-time data for decision making and strategic planning that continues to be invaluable as the healthcare system and related financing strategies evolve," note Dr. Altschul and colleagues. "It provides data on the real status of New Mexico's healthcare workforce, such as knowing which professionals are engaging in service delivery rather than working in administration or academia or are retired or living in another state but keeping active New Mexico licenses. Other states would benefit from considering similar legislative initiatives aimed at better addressing issues related to the adequacy of their behavioral health workforce." Individuals who work in a variety of settings, including psychiatric hospitals, clinics, jails and prisons, and supportive housing, and have lived experience, are increasingly employed to support those who are recovering from mental illness or substance use disorders. Susan A. Chapman, PhD, MPH, RN, of the Healthforce Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA, and colleagues report on emerging roles for peer providers in supporting clients' long-term recovery. advertisement Researchers conducted three- to five-day site visits in in four states that have developed innovative peer support roles, including Pennsylvania's program in which peer providers support those in re-entry programs from county jails; Arizona's peer provider program working with tribal organizations and on reservations; and in peer organizations in Georgia and Texas. Data collection included document review and interviews with state policymakers, directors of training and certification bodies, peer providers, and other staff in mental health and substance use treatment and recovery organizations. They found that a favorable policy environment along with individual champions and consumer advocacy organizations were positively associated with robust programs. Medicaid billing for peer services was an essential source of revenue in both Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states. States' peer provider training and certification requirements varied. "While peers often face stigma, low wages, and unsustainable employment, they are consistently valued by the organizations in which they work," comments Dr. Chapman. "They are uniquely positioned to prevent acute crises and support long-term recovery, especially for clients in underserved populations and rural areas. We need greater awareness of peer providers, in addition to standards for training and certification, billing and reimbursement, so that the role can be more widely adopted in states that are further behind the ones we studied. We must remove the policy barriers that prevent peer providers from helping the people who need it most. An article by Rebecca L. Haffajee, JD, PhD, MPH, and colleagues from the University of Michigan highlights some of the policy considerations important in trying to address the opioid crisis workforce and overcoming barriers to the provision of buprenorphine, a highly effective medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders. "At least 2.3 million people in the US have an opioid use disorder, less than 40 percent of whom receive evidence-based treatment," explains Dr. Haffajee. "Buprenorphine has high potential to address this gap because of its approval for use in non-specialty outpatient settings, effectiveness at promoting abstinence, and cost-effectiveness. However, significant obstacles to expanding access remain. Less than four percent of licensed physicians are approved to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, and almost half of counties lack a buprenorphine-waivered physician." Dr. Haffajee and colleagues propose specific policies to address workforce barriers in several domains such as insufficient training and experience; lack of institutional and peer support; poor care coordination; stigma; and burdensome reimbursement and regulatory procedures. Significant recommendations include eliminating the national waiver process for qualified buprenorphine prescribers, replacing it instead with robust training from graduate education throughout practice. They also recommend incentives for providers to regularly prescribe buprenorphine, especially in rural areas of high need, such as loan repayment programs. Finally, they suggest that reimbursement models adjust to comprehensively cover buprenorphine and related treatment. "These proposals are critical given our current opioid epidemic, which claimed over 42,000 lives in 2016," says Dr. Haffajee. "There is increasing political will to devote resources towards treating opioid addiction. But the resources need to be allocated intelligently to truly mitigate the epidemic and improve the lives of people with opioid use disorders and their communities." The 2016 HRSA report projected that the supply of workers in selected behavioral health professions would be some 250,000 workers short of the projected demand by 2025. These shortages, along with the maldistribution of behavioral health providers, further complicate the behavioral health landscape by limiting access to essential care and treatment for millions of individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders. "The barriers to strengthening behavioral health workforce capacity and improving service delivery will not be easily overcome," caution the Guest Editors, Angela J. Beck, PhD, MPH, Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, The National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors, Washington, DC, USA, and Peter Buerhaus, PhD, RN, Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA. "But with challenge comes opportunity. The increased national and state focus on mental health and addiction services has mobilized the field. The portfolio of efforts highlighted throughout this publication are strong evidence of this energy and enthusiasm. The vision for the future of the behavioral health workforce is one of real hope!" More Canadian cities will experience damage from the emerald ash borer than previously thought. As a result of climate change and fewer days of extreme cold, the beetle may eat its way further north than originally estimated. Kim Cuddington, a professor of biology at the University of Waterloo, led the team that produced a probability map for North America showing where the emerald ash borer is likely to kill trees. "We ran specific predictions to help Canadian cities decide if they need to make plans before they're affected," said Cuddington. "Calgary is likely to experience damage, as are Thunder Bay, Prince George and Winnipeg. Edmonton and Saskatoon are less likely, but they should remain vigilant." So far, the wood-boring beetle has wiped out tens of millions of ash trees and will likely cost municipalities $2 billion. Still, everyone expected the species' rapid migration would be stopped by Canada's extremely cold temperatures. "This should be a wake-up call for how we think about invasive species," said Cuddington. "We need to develop preemptive measures as well as mitigate potential impacts. By the time we see the damage, it's almost too late." According to previous studies, prepupae can survive in temperatures as low as -34C. Cuddington and her group confirmed the temperature found under the bark where the insect overwinters is warmer than the outside. "We took a different approach from traditional range maps and charted the statistical probability of under-bark temperatures being above this lethal limit for at least six years," said Cuddington. "That's just long enough for the insect to kill its host tree." This is one of the first studies to couple an extensive empirical data set with measures of climate variability using a mechanistic modelling approach. Cuddington says researchers need to think more carefully about how a changing and unpredictable climate relates to the biology of an invasive species and their risk of doing damage, both economically and ecologically. Repeating seismic events -- events that have the same frequency content and waveform shapes -- may offer a glimpse at the movement of magma and volcanic gases underneath Turrialba and Poas, two well-known active volcanoes in Costa Rica. At the 2018 SSA Annual Meeting, Rebecca Salvage of the Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica presented an analysis of these repeating signals from the volcanoes since July 2016. When these repeating events are identified at a seismic station, researchers assume that these "events are all produced by a single mechanism and at a similar location at depth ... and by a source which is either non-destructive or able to quickly renew itself," Salvage noted. "Therefore, the identification and an understanding of repeating seismicity may allow us some insight into which parts of the volcanic system at depth are active, and the frequency content of the repeating seismicity may be indicative of processes occurring at depth." At Turrialba, for instance, Salvage and her colleagues identified a type of repeating event called "drumbeat seismicity," characterized by a very short time interval between events. In January 2017, drumbeat seismicity at the volcano lasted less than three hours but contained hundreds of events. Eight hours later, there was a small eruption at Turrialba. In this case, the drumbeat seismicity may have been a "precursor signal" of the eruption, related to magma moving toward the surface, Salvage said. "However, not all eruptions are preceded by these types of earthquakes, and often these earthquakes occur with no identifiable eruptive activity," she added. "A better understanding of drumbeats in terms of the conditions under which they do occur, and statistical analysis on inter-event times and occurrence rates will allow us to better assess whether these can actually be used as a warning tool." At Poas, the researchers noted another interesting halt in six families of repeating seismic events, just two hours after a swarm of magnitude 2.7 and higher earthquakes was recorded very near the volcano. In this case, Salvage and her colleagues think that the earthquakes may have influenced the stress field around the volcano in a way that halted the repeating events. The stress field may have changed when the earthquakes generated small displacements on local faults that created similar small diversions in magmatic gas and ash rising to the surface. A new study shows that a kind of E. coli most associated with "travelers' diarrhea" and children in underdeveloped areas of the world causes more severe disease in people with blood type A. The bacteria release a protein that latches onto intestinal cells in people with blood type A, but not blood type O or B, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A vaccine targeting that protein could potentially protect people with type A blood against the deadliest effects of enterotoxigenic E. coli (Escherichia coli) infection. "We think this protein is responsible for this blood-group difference in disease severity," said senior author James Fleckenstein, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Washington University. "A vaccine targeting this protein would potentially protect the individuals at highest risk for severe disease." The study is published May 17 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. The work was conducted in collaboration with investigators at Johns Hopkins University, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Naval Medical Research Center. Enterotoxigenic E. coli are responsible for millions of cases of diarrhea and hundreds of thousands of deaths every year, mainly of young children. It primarily infects people living in or visiting developing countries. Some people infected with the bacterium develop severe, cholera-like, watery diarrhea that can be lethal. Others experience unpleasant symptoms but recover easily, while some don't get sick at all. Enterotoxigenic E. coli are not the cause of the current romaine lettuce-related outbreak. That outbreak involves a different kind of E. coli known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7. advertisement Years ago, doctors noted that children naturally infected with enterotoxigenic E. coli in Bangladesh seemed to get sicker if they had blood type A, but the reason for this was never tested. Fleckenstein, instructor in medicine Matthew Kuhlmann, MD, postdoctoral researcher Pardeep Kumar, PhD, and colleagues investigated whether blood type influences disease severity by looking at what happened to people of different blood types who drank a cup of water laced with E. coli. In controlled human infection clinical trials, researchers at Johns Hopkins University gave healthy volunteers a dose of an E. coli strain originally isolated from a person in Bangladesh with severe, cholera-like diarrhea. Then, they observed the volunteers for five days. Those who developed moderate to severe diarrhea were treated with antibiotics. The disease comes on quickly, so anyone who was still healthy at the end of five days was unlikely to get sick later. Nonetheless, any remaining healthy participants also were given antibiotics to clear the bacteria before going home. Kuhlmann and colleagues obtained data and blood samples from 106 people, each of whom participated in one of four such studies. They found that people with blood type A got sick sooner and more seriously than those of other blood types. More than eight out of 10 (81 percent) of blood group A people developed diarrhea that required treatment, as compared with about half of people with blood group B or O. Blood groups are based on the sugars that decorate the surface of red blood cells and other cells. People with group A blood have sugars that are distinct from those present in either B or O blood groups. People with blood group AB carry both A- and B-type sugars on their cells. The researchers found that the bacteria produce a specific protein that sticks to A-type sugars -- but not B- or O-type sugars -- on intestinal cells. Since the protein also sticks to E. coli, it effectively fastens the bacteria to the intestinal wall, making it easy for them to deliver diarrhea-causing toxins to intestinal cells. advertisement The effect of blood group in people infected with this strain of E. coli was striking and significant, but it doesn't mean people should change their behavior based on blood type, the researchers said. "I don't want anyone to cancel their travel plans to Mexico because they have type A blood," Kuhlmann said. "Or the converse: I don't want anyone to think they're safe because their blood group is not A. There are a lot of different species of bacteria and viruses that can cause diarrhea, so even though this blood-group association is strong, it doesn't change your overall risk. You should continue taking the same precautions whatever your blood type." Basic hygiene -- washing hands and purifying water -- is the best protection against diarrheal diseases because it works against all kinds of organisms. But the people who suffer most from diarrhea are small children. For them, and others who don't have reliable access to basic sanitation or clean water, a vaccine could be lifesaving. There are many strains of enterotoxigenic E. coli, and developing a vaccine that protects against all of them has been a challenge because no single protein is found in all strains. To defend against as many strains as possible, scientists are studying dozens of proteins -- but they still haven't found a way to cover all strains. The protein identified in this study is found in many strains, so adding it to the mix could provide broader protection, especially for people at the highest risk for severe disease. Fleckenstein is listed as the inventor on US patent 12/079,304 which involves the EtpA adhesin described in this study. The first whole-genome analyses of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia reveal that there were at least three major waves of human migration into the region over the last 50,000 years. The research, published online May 17 in Science, complements what is known from archaeological, historical and linguistic studies of Southeast Asia, defined as the area east of India and south of China. The work illuminates another critical portion of the story of ancient population dynamics around the world, joining numerous ancient-DNA studies of Europe as well as burgeoning research from the Near East, Central Asia, Pacific Islands and Africa. "A very important part of the world is now accessible for ancient DNA analysis," said Mark Lipson, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of ancient-DNA specialist David Reich at Harvard Medical School and first author of the study. "It opens a window into the genetic origins of the people who lived there in the past and those who live there now." An international team led by researchers at HMS and the University of Vienna extracted and analyzed DNA from the remains of 18 people who lived between about 4,100 and 1,700 years ago in what are now Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. The team found that the first migration took place about 45,000 years ago, bringing in people who became hunter-gatherers. advertisement Then, during the Neolithic Period, around 4,500 years ago, there was a large-scale influx of people from China who introduced farming practices to Southeast Asia and mixed with the local hunter-gatherers. People today with this ancestry mix tend to speak Austroasiatic languages, leading the researchers to propose that the farmers who came from the north were early Austroasiatic speakers. "This study reveals a complex interplay between archaeology, genetics and language, which is critical for understanding the history of Southeast Asian populations," said co-senior author Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna. The research revealed that subsequent waves of migration during the Bronze Age, again from China, arrived in Myanmar by about 3,000 years ago, in Vietnam by 2,000 years ago and in Thailand within the last 1,000 years. These movements introduced ancestry types that are today associated with speakers of different languages. The identification of three ancestral populations -- hunter-gatherers, first farmers and Bronze Age migrants -- echoes a pattern first uncovered in ancient DNA studies of Europeans, but with at least one major difference: Much of the ancestral diversity in Europe has faded over time as populations mingled, while Southeast Asian populations have retained far more variation. advertisement "People who are nearly direct descendants of each of the three source populations are still living in the region today, including people with significant hunter-gatherer ancestry who live in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Andaman Islands," said Reich, professor of genetics at HMS and co-senior author of the study. "Whereas in Europe, no one living today has more than a small fraction of ancestry from the European hunter-gatherers." Reich hypothesizes that the high diversity of Southeast Asia today can be partly explained by the fact that farmers arrived much more recently than in Europe -- around 4,500 years ago compared with 8,000 years ago -- leaving less time for populations to mix and genetic variation to even out. The new findings make it clear that the multiple waves of migration, each of which occurred during a key transition period of Southeast Asian history, shaped the genetics of the region to a remarkable extent. "The major population turnover that came with the arrival of farmers is unsurprising, but the magnitudes of replacement during the Bronze Age are much higher than many people would have guessed," said Reich. Also unexpected were the linguistic implications raised by analyses of the ancestry of people in western Indonesia. "The evidence suggests that the first farmers of western Indonesia spoke Austroasiatic languages rather than the Austronesian languages spoken there today," Reich added. "Thus, Austronesian languages were probably later arrivals." Additional samples from western Indonesia before and after 4,000 years ago should settle the question, Reich said. A shocking study in the journal Science by the University of Queensland, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and University of Northern British Columbia confirms that one third of the world's protected areas -- an astonishing 2.3 million square miles or twice the size of the state of Alaska -- are now under intense human pressure including road building, grazing, and urbanization. The study is a reality check for nations striving to meet commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to halt biodiversity loss through protected area creation. Since 1992, the global extent of protected areas has roughly doubled in size; more than 202,000 cover more than 15 percent of the world's terrestrial area, with a goal of at least 17 percent coverage by 2020. Though management objectives differ, ranging from strict biodiversity conservation areas to zones permitting certain human activities and sustainable resource extraction, the primary goal of all protected areas is to conserve nature. The authors looked at global "Human Footprint" maps to make their assessment which shows that 32.8 percent of protected land is highly degraded. For protected areas created before the CBD was ratified 1992, 55 percent have since experienced human pressure increases. The authors warn that CBD goals will be severely undermined if widespread human pressure continues inside protected areas. Said the paper's lead author, Kendall Jones of University of Queensland: "A well-run protected area network is essential in saving species. If we allow our protected area network to be degraded there is a no doubt biodiversity losses will be exacerbated." The study shows that governments are overestimating the space available for nature inside protected areas. Governments are claiming these places are protected for the sake of nature when in reality they aren't. It is a major reason why biodiversity is still in catastrophic decline, despite more and more land being 'protected'. advertisement However, the authors are not suggesting that high pressure protected areas be de-gazetted or defunded. To the contrary, it is crucial that nations recognize the profound conservation gains that can be realized by upgrading and restoring degraded protected areas while respecting the needs of local people. THE GOOD NEWS The most impacted protected areas were found in Asia, Europe, and Africa in places with massive human populations. But the study did find some good news: protected areas with strict biodiversity conservation objectives are subject to significantly lower levels of human pressure. Some of these least impacted protected areas include Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia, Madidi National Park in Bolivia, and Yasuni Biosphere Reserve in Ecuador -- places where WCS has made considerable conservation investments and therefore has successfully staved off degradation. Said Professor James Watson of WCS and University of Queensland, and the study's senior author: "We know protected areas work -- when well-funded, well-managed and well placed, they are extremely effective in halting the threats that cause biodiversity loss and ensure species return from the brink of extinction. There are also many protected areas that are still in good condition and protect the last strongholds of endangered species worldwide. The challenge is to improve the management of those protected areas that are most valuable for nature conservation to ensure they safeguard it." Protected areas are at the core of WCS's conservation strategy, as these are areas that are most effective at protecting natural ecosystems and their complement of biodiversity and ecosystem services -- over 80 percent of WCS's site-based field work takes place within or around protected areas. When well-managed (through sound enforcement, monitoring, clear boundaries) and funded appropriately, protected areas are effective in reducing the loss of natural habitat, and sustaining wildlife populations. Said Watson: "Most importantly we've got to recognize that these jewels in the crown need support- there are some protected areas that are safeguarding nature and that still haven't got any evidence of human encroachment in them. We must ensure these values are maintained." Researchers have studied how a 'drumstick' made of light could make a microscopic 'drum' vibrate and stand still at the same time. A team of researchers from the UK and Australia have made a key step towards understanding the boundary between the quantum world and our everyday classical world. Quantum mechanics is truly weird. Objects can behave like both particles and waves, and can be both here and there at the same time, defying our common sense. Such counterintuitive behaviour is typically confined to the microscopic realm and the question "why don't we see such behaviour in everyday objects?" challenges many scientists today. Now, a team of researchers have developed a new technique to generate this type of quantum behaviour in the motion of a tiny drum just visible to the naked eye. The details of their research are published today in New Journal of Physics. Project principal investigator, Dr Michael Vanner from the Quantum Measurement Lab at Imperial College London, said: "Such systems offer significant potential for the development of powerful new quantum-enhanced technologies, such as ultra-precise sensors, and new types of transducers. "Excitingly, this research direction will also enable us to test the fundamental limits of quantum mechanics by observing how quantum superpositions behave at a large scale." Mechanical vibrations, such as those that create the sound from a drum, are an important part of our everyday experience. Hitting a drum with a drumstick causes it to rapidly move up and down, producing the sound we hear. advertisement In the quantum world, a drum can vibrate and stand still at the same time. However, generating such quantum motion is very challenging. lead author of the project Dr Martin Ringbauer from the University of Queensland node of the Australian Research Council Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems, said: "You need a special kind of drumstick to make such a quantum vibration with our tiny drum." In recent years, the emerging field of quantum optomechanics has made great progress towards the goal of a quantum drum using laser light as a type of drumstick. However, many challenges remain, so the authors' present study takes an unconventional approach. Dr Ringbauer continues: "We adapted a trick from optical quantum computing to help us play the quantum drum. We used a measurement with single particles of light -- photons -- to tailor the properties of the drumstick. "This provides a promising route to making a mechanical version of Schrodinger's cat, where the drum vibrates and stands still at the same time." These experiments have made the first observation of mechanical interferences fringes, which is a crucial step forward for the field. In the experiment, the fringes were at a classical level due to thermal noise, but motivated by this success, the team are now working hard to improve their technique and operate the experiments at temperatures close to absolute zero where quantum mechanics is expected to dominate. These future experiments may reveal new intricacies of quantum mechanics and may even help light the path to a theory that links the quantum world and the physics of gravity. On May 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Brent Borland and two of his companies with misappropriating close to $6 million in investor funds intended to finance an international airport in Belize. The SEC's complaint alleges that between 2014 and 2017, Brent Borland sold more than $21 million of promissory notes to dozens of investors, promising that the funds would be used as bridge financing for development of an international airport in Placencia, Belize and that the investments would be protected by pledges of real estate as collateral. Borland marketed and sold the notes through two companies, Borland Capital Group LLC, which purports to be active in "alternative investment," and Belize Infrastructure Fund I, LLC, which purports to be in the business of construction finance. The complaint alleges that Borland used millions of dollars of investor funds for personal expenses and unrelated business expenses, including mortgage and property tax payments on his family's Florida mansion, multiple luxury automobiles, private school tuition for his children, $36,000 for his family's beach club membership, and almost $2.7 million to pay off credit cards. Borland also allegedly deceived investors by pledging the same collateral to multiple investors. The SEC's complaint filed in the Southern District of New York alleges that Borland, BCG and Belize Fund with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks, among other relief, asset freezes as to Borland and his companies, an accounting of investor assets, disgorgement of Borland's ill-gotten gains and civil penalties. The complaint also names as relief defendants Borland's wife, Alana LaTorra Borland, and a corporation controlled by Borland and his wife, Canyon Acquisitions, LLC. The SEC seeks to recover investor proceeds that Borland transferred to the relief defendants. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced criminal charges against Borland who was arrested earlier in the day. The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, was conducted by Andrew O'Brien and Donald Ryba and supervised by C.J. Kerstetter. The SEC's litigation will be led by Benjamin Hanauer and Timothy Leiman. Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente said Friday it will invest $200 million in the coming years in programs to grow affordable housing and mitigate homelessness in Bay Area cities and other locations where the health system operates. The exact projects into which the impact-investing dollars will go have yet to be determined, but Bechara Choucair, a physician and Kaisers chief community health officer, said they will be focused on preserving and expanding affordable housing. Programs that prevent displacement of low- and middle-income families also will be a funding priority, the company said. The quality of where and how we live, work, learn and play has a big impact on our health, Choucair said. Theres no question that housing stability and health are totally connected. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she asked Kaiser CEO Bernard Tyson to join the new Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment group, which made the investment announcement from Washington, where it is lobbying Congress for more federal funding for homelessness. Schaaf said she was initially hesitant to seek Tysons assistance because Kaiser had already funded a number of other city projects including more than $700,000 for a second Tuff Shed shelter site that opened last week to get homeless people off the streets. Kaiser is an amazing partner for us in looking at how we can be much more innovative in how we address homelessness and not just triaging people on the street but going upstream and preventing homelessness in the first place, Schaaf said. The funding pledge will easily be the largest ever made in Oakland in affordable housing by a private-sector entity, Schaaf said. She and Tyson said they are working to get other corporations to follow suit. 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. Tyson, who has visited the encampments of Oakland, said he wants the homeless to be part of the discussions on where the funding goes. He called the scale of homelessness in Oakland, San Francisco and elsewhere unacceptable. We fully comprehend now what total health means for our members and the communities in which we exist, he said. Were not just here for health care, were also here for healthy communities. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov A proposed ordinance to blunt the ability of landlords to raise rents so they may pay down mortgage loans and property taxes is headed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors after winning unanimous approval from the Rules Committee on Friday. As in many cities, when the costs of operating and maintaining an apartment building in San Francisco runs higher than the allowable rent increases set by the citys Rent Board each year, landlords may request to pass on some of those expenses to tenants. Landlords may, for example, request a so-called operational and maintenance pass-through to help cover the cost of a new roof, or to keep pace with rising water or garbage-collection rates. But the city stands alone among major Bay Area cities that have rent-control laws allowing landlords to pass on portions of their property taxes and corporate debt to tenants. With the Rent Boards permission, in what city officials and tenants-rights groups call an unfair loophole, landlords may permanently increase rents by up to 7 percent on top of the annual allowable increases. Such increases can be acutely painful for renters with low or fixed incomes. A 7 percent jump on someone paying $1,500 in rent is an extra $105 a month. Operational and maintenance pass-through petitions have risen steadily over recent years, impacting a growing number of individual apartment units. According to Rent Board officials, the vast majority of operational and maintenance pass-through petitions are attributable to increased property taxes and debt service, which usually arise from the sale of a property. The legislation, authored by Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, would eliminate debt-service and property tax pass-throughs, as Berkeley, Oakland and San Jose have all done in recent years. Landlords would still be able to apply for pass-throughs for capital improvements, like painting or roofing improvements. Should the full board approve Fewers bill, it would apply to any apartment building sold after April 3, the date her legislation was introduced. There is a flaw in our rent ordinance that allows landlords to pass-through debt service and property tax increases they have incurred from simply purchasing a rent-controlled building, not for maintaining and improving the property, Fewer said. Renters, she added, should not be burdened with a rent increase just because they have a new landlord. Fewer, who manages three properties herself, said she was unaware that debt-service and property tax pass-throughs existed until she began working on her legislation. Buying a multiunit building in San Francisco usually requires taking out a sizable loan. And once the sale is made, reassessed property taxes usually saddle owners with higher property tax bills. As such, most debt-service and property tax pass-through requests come from large, acquisitive property management firms like Veritas Investments and Ballast Investments two of San Franciscos largest landlords. Since May 2017, the Rent Board has issued decisions on 67 operational and maintenance pass-through requests. Of those, 91 percent were filed by new property owners after the sale of a building, and all received permission to raise rents by the maximum 7 percent. Among the dozens of speakers who came forward during public comment Friday, some identified themselves as small property owners who rely on debt-service and property tax pass-throughs to stay afloat. Some also pointed out that tenants can apply for and often receive waivers if they can demonstrate financial hardships. 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. David Wasserman, an attorney who represents landlords on the Rent Board, said the committee was punishing all property owners in an effort for the perceived misdeeds of one landlord, referring to Veritas. The board is composed of pro-tenant, pro-landlord and neutral representatives who are appointed by the mayor. Thats not right, thats not good legislative policy. The more you strip away from the owners, the less they have to improve their property, Wasserman said. The Board of Supervisors will take up Fewers bill at its meeting Tuesday. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa With summer reading days almost upon us and the dream of hours of uninterrupted time to dive into a book, whether by the pool, the beach or in bed I asked several Bay Area authors about their favorites. Some picks Ive read, and others Im eager to add to my never-ending stack of books on my bedside table. Novelist Kirstin Chen said that Mary Gaitskills short story collection Bad Behavior made her want to be a writer. She read two stories for a creative writing class in college, and immediately ran out to buy the entire book. I raced through the pages and then pushed the book on my roommate, friends, really anyone who would listen, said Chen, whose most recent book is Bury What We Cannot Take. Id never before read anything so thrillingly ferocious ... (it) showed me that there really were no rules, and, for this kid from Singapore whod always done what she was told, that was everything. Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird whose narrator recounts how her attorney father defended a black man accused of raping a white woman made a reader and a writer out of novelist Mary Volmer. She first encountered the novel in high school, when it seemed intimidating for its size and the threat of history, said Volmer, the author, most recently, of Reliance, Illinois. I did not want to like it, but inside was Scout, a tomboy like me, and big brother Jem and motherless Dill, and the mystery of Boo Radley and the ringing insult of injustice, which a child at any age feels deeply. Much of the humor and all of the irony was beyond me. It didnt matter. I was moved deeply by the story and more deeply now that my understanding of the book has grown up with me. For novelist Ingrid Rojas Contreras, her bookshelf like the top liquor shelf of a bar, she says is filled with the highest-quality stuff: Miguel Cervantes Don Quixote, Franz Kafkas stories, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Sandra Cisneros House on Mango Street and many by Virginia Woolf. Her favorite is Woolfs To the Lighthouse, another classic that she describes as a richly textured, ascending, ethereal vision about a trip to a lighthouse just off the shore of the Ramsay vacation home on the Isle of Skye, a trip that is first delayed in childhood, then delayed for 10 years, then finally taken in late adulthood. It contains one of my favorite passages in literature ever, when Woolf writes the lapse of 10 years in between as a tunneling vision seen from the point of view of Time, which noses in, caressing everything, slowly unrolling its destruction, said Contreras, author of the forthcoming novel Fruit of the Drunken Tree. Tommy Mouton chose Richard Wrights Native Son, in which Bigger Thomas a struggling young African American accidentally kills his employers daughter, Mary Dalton. I have been drawn back, I believe, due to the scenes poignancy and sense of urgency and its overall race-specific implications which turn out to be timeless, said Mouton, who is at work on a memoir. That scene is still one of the most visceral I have ever read in literature. It acted as a sort of threshold for me. It was a gut check. I felt I understood Biggers intentions, the causality in it all. It was at that point in the book, that I had to decide to continue reading or to stop, for I wanted Bigger so badly to transcend his lifes circumstances the stigma assigned then and even now to black men. And I think I still grapple with what it means that he, in that moment, was rendered both powerless and powerful. Rita Bullwinkel returns again and again to Maggie Nelsons Jane: A Murder. Its a book that makes me feel like Ive been plunged into a pool at night. I cant totally tell where the edges of the book or the bottom lies, which is an incredibly seductive, brilliant and transcendent way to read. The book, which circles the brutal murder of Nelsons aunt, is nonlinear and pulls text from the aunts diaries, old newspapers and pulpy books inspired by the killing and perfectly mimics the way our brains amass evidence, said Bullwinkel, author of the new short story collection Belly Up. On Tuesday, May, 22, Ill be in conversation with Bridget Quinn and Larry Rosen hosts of the GrottoPod show about writers on writing to discuss my favorite book at the San Francisco Public Library. Its the first in a quarterly series of live podcasts that invite authors to discuss the books that have made an enduring impact on their lives. Whats your favorite? For more information, go to https://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=1032264201. Vanessa Huas column appears Fridays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com More than 1 million low-income Californians could see new barriers to reproductive care under a proposal that the Department of Health and Human Services sent to the White House Friday. The proposed rule would strip federal funding from family planning clinics that provide abortions or refer patients to places that do. The Associated Press, citing an administration overview of the plan, described it as scant on details but resembling a Reagan-era plan to remove such funding. There are more than 58 clinic sites in the Bay Area receiving such funding, serving more than 155,000 women, men and children, according to Julie Rabinovitz, president and CEO of Essential Access Health, a nonprofit that advocates for the expansion of family planning services. Tinkering with Title X, a federal grant program that allows low-income people to access subsidized care at clinics run by Planned Parenthood and similar organizations, is at the heart of the administrations proposal. Funded services range from breast cancer screening to contraceptive care. Title X does not pay for abortions, but it supports clinics that discuss options with their patients or refer them to abortion providers. The federal program is particularly prominent in California, which accounts for more than 25 percent of all Title X patients nationwide, according to Essential Access Health. Around the country, about 41 percent of Planned Parenthoods patients receive subsidized services through Title X, according to the nonprofit. Recipients often do not have access to other health care options. The proposed rule would issue new guidelines for Title X and require a physical as well as financial separation between entities that receive the federal funds and those that provide abortions. This means that a clinic would not receive funding if it shares a space with a clinic that performs abortions or if it provides information to patients about where to receive one. In San Francisco, Planned Parenthood has two facilities in the Mission. One provides abortion services, while another only offers referrals. Both would be affected under the proposed rule. The policy was derided as a gag rule by abortion rights supporters, a point challenged by the administration, which said counseling about abortion would be OK but not referrals. Its likely to trigger lawsuits from opponents, and its certain to galvanize activists on both sides of the abortion debate going into Novembers congressional elections. The rule would not completely remove Planned Parenthoods funding, as many clinics also receive money through Medicaid, the federal program that covers low-income Americans. In California, Title X is a really important part of enabling family planning clinics to provide a broad range of services to provide the highest quality of care, said Alina Salganicoff, vice president and director of womens health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. If they dont get the Title X funds, it would really strain the ability of the clinics to give women the services they need. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that opposes abortion rights, said in a statement Thursday that this move will energize conservative voters heading into the midterm congressional elections this fall. We thank President Trump for taking action to disentangle taxpayers from the abortion business, Dannenfelser said. She added that with this move Trump showed decisive leadership, delivering on a key promise to pro-life voters who worked so hard to elect him. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes There are several regulatory steps that the rule would need to clear before being implemented, including a mandatory public notice and comment period of at least 30 days. But reports of the proposal have enraged supporters of womens reproductive rights. Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the new proposal outrageous and dangerous. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called the rule reckless. Rabinovitz of Essential Access Health said she is worried about how this rule would affect teen pregnancy rates. Weve made so much progress in the last 20 years in reducing teen pregnancy rates, and we really dont want to turn back the clocks, she said. Its really about patient choice. Californians should be able to go to any clinic they want to get their health care and there shouldnt be any wrong door for them. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani PayPal, in a strategic move to expand globally and fend off rival Square, agreed to pay $2.2 billion to buy Swedish mobile payments startup iZettle, the companies said late Thursday. PayPal swooped in with an offer just as iZettle was in the final stages of preparing for an initial public offering. As you might have heard, we were preparing the company for a potential IPO, iZettle CEO and co-founder Jacob de Geer wrote in a post on his companys website. But plans sometimes change. Late in the IPO process, PayPal got in touch and showed a serious interest in iZettle. The deal is PayPals largest acquisition ever and will help the San Jose company expand into new markets, including Northern Europe and Latin America, where it now has only minimal brick and mortar presence, according to a research note from Colin Sebastian, senior research analyst with Baird Equity Research. iZettle makes a card reader similar to Squares familiar device, as well as more sophisticated hardware that take chip-card and phone payments. It also offers retail and e-commerce software. At first glance we view the acquisition of iZettle as a worthy accelerant for PayPals ambitions to expand geographically as well as across a broader range of small and mid-sized businesses, Sebastian said. This marks a more concerted effort to expand market share outside of the U.S., while potentially acting as a testing ground for bringing new product offerings stateside. On May 8, iZettle said it sought to raise $226.6 million in an initial public offering to be completed this year. PayPal stepped up with an offer the night before the 8-year-old Stockholm company was set to price its shares, Bloomberg News reported. In his post, de Geer said hes talked to PayPal for years about different ways of working together. But this time, it very quickly turned into a detailed discussion on how we could benefit from joining forces. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes IZettle was founded in 2010 by de Geer and Magnus Nilsson, producing a mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices. In a statement, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman noted how much iZettle has since grown, which explains his companys interests. Today, the companys commerce solutions empower nearly half a million merchants across 12 countries and two continents to get paid, sell smarter and grow their businesses, Schulman wrote. Upon closing, we will gain in-store capabilities in 11 markets, near-term in-store expansion opportunities into other existing PayPal markets. Schulman said he expects the deal to close in the third quarter. De Geer will continue to lead iZetttle and report to PayPal Chief Operating Officer Bill Ready, Schulman said. Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny Sutter Health, whose computer network system crashed Monday night and remained down until Wednesday morning forcing hospitals across Northern California to cancel surgeries and delay appointments is sharing few details about the cause of the problem. Sutter officials have said the problem was prompted by the activation of a fire suppression system at one of its data centers. A spokesman for Sutter, which serves more than 3 million people, did not answer questions about whether the health system has a backup server, why it took more than 24 hours to revive the network, and what set off the fire suppression system other than to say it was not a fire or a data breach. Our care teams routinely drill our standardized downtime procedures, and those procedures were in place, allowing our caregivers and office staff to continue providing quality patient care, Sutter spokesman Dean Fryer said. Patients, doctors, nurses and staffers at many Sutter locations across the region described a different picture. More on Sutter Heath Sutter Health cancels surgeries at Alta Bates amid wider outage On Tuesday, patients in the Sacramento area, the East Bay and elsewhere reported that their surgeries and other procedures including a chemotherapy treatment, a cesarean section and a gallbladder operation were delayed. Some said they were not given details about when they should come back. In some instances, patients showed up for surgery and were told, after they arrived, that staff was not able to contact them beforehand to let them know not to come, because they could not log into the computer system to access their phone number. It was also not possible for patients to log in to the Sutter portal, creating potential uncertainties over appointment times and locations. Some patients returned to the hospital Wednesday, after the network was restored, to complete their procedures. Others, who were admitted to the hospital Monday in anticipation of a Tuesday operation, were kept there another night so they could undergo their procedures Wednesday. Fryer said an internal review is under way to make determinations of what we need to do to prevent this type of incident in the future, but he did not provide details of the review, its scope or when it might be finished. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes This kind of system-wide failure is not common, but it does happen, Wallace Hopp, a systems operations expert at the University of Michigans Ross School of Business, said in an email. Computerized information-technology systems offer far more efficiencies than old, decentralized paper-based systems, Hopp said, but, at least at first, they can also make those systems more fragile and vulnerable to wide-scale failures. Over time, the systems become more resilient, he said. Because health care came to the information revolution late, there are still plenty of basic system failures as the one in Sutter Health appears to be, Hopp said. I fully expect these to become less common over time. But, as our health records become digitized and centralized, we could well face other problems with security breaches. The California Department of Public Health, which licenses Sutter Healths acute care hospitals and clinics, monitored the affected facilities during the network crash. A spokesman for the agency said it does not have an open investigation into the issue. Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho Attorney General Jeff Sessions barred the nations immigration judges Thursday from putting deportation cases on hold, a practice used in hundreds of thousands of cases of immigrants who needed time to gain legal status or were found to be low priorities for removal. The procedure known as administrative closure, used by immigration judges since the 1980s, lacks a valid legal foundation, Sessions said in a decision based on his authority over immigration courts, a branch of his Justice Department. Lawyers and advocates for immigrants said they feared the decision would lead to many deportations of migrants who would no longer have the opportunity to establish their right to remain in the country, while adding huge numbers of cases to the already overwhelmed immigration courts. Sessions is making it more complicated for people who have legitimate reasons to become legal, said Jeffrey Chase, a New York immigration lawyer and former immigration judge. In many cases, he said, the end result is going to be quick deportation. Trina Realmuto, an attorney with the American Immigration Council, said the decision was harmful to immigrants and their communities and reflected Sessions anti-immigrant animus. Immigration courts decide whether immigrants who enter the U.S. without authorization, or overstay their visas, have legal grounds to remain in the country, such as political asylum or undue hardship to U.S. family members, or must be deported. Sessions has ordered every immigration judge to complete 700 cases a year, a sharp increase in their current workload, and has separately called for criminal prosecution of all illegal entrants. He has also taken over several cases from the immigration courts to decide for himself, including the subject of Thursdays decision. In another such case, he ended immigration judges previous obligation to hold a full hearing for anyone seeking political asylum. Sessions is also considering eliminating the right to asylum for victims of domestic violence and other nongovernmental crimes in their homelands. Any of those decisions can be challenged in federal appeals courts. The procedure Sessions prohibited Thursday has been used by past administrations to allow immigration courts to manage their dockets, decide which deportation to hear first, and give some immigrants time to change their status. For example, an immigrant might be seeking a visa through marriage to a U.S. citizen or appealing a criminal conviction that was grounds for deportation. The immigration courts already have a backlog of nearly 700,000 cases, a number that would rise to over a million if administrative closures are eliminated, said Sara Ramey, executive director of the Migrant Center for Human Rights. But Sessions said the closures, purportedly temporary, are effectively permanent in most instances, leaving cases suspended without a final resolution. He said immigration judges need not return all the closed cases to their calendars immediately, but could phase them in. Chase, the former immigration judge, said the ruling might be appealed on the grounds that Congress has given immigration judges legal authority to manage their dockets. Bill Hing, a University of San Francisco immigration law professor, was less hopeful, saying Congress has largely left the management of those courts to the attorney general. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Hamed Aleaziz contributed to this report. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko Antonio Villaraigosa once worked for a teachers union, married a teacher and jumped into politics with educators and their labor unions in his corner. But that was a long time ago. As he competes for one of the top two places in the June 5 primary for governor and a spot in the fall runoff, the former Los Angeles mayor is being backed by education reformers and charter school advocates looking to put an ally in the states top job. The states teachers unions are spending big to try to elect Villaraigosas fellow Democrat Gavin Newsom. Teachers at charter schools typically dont belong to unions, and public employee unions are among California Democrats most reliable funding sources making Villaraigosa and his support of charters something of an outlier in the party. In the 24 years since his first election to the Assembly, Villaraigosa has been what could be described as a moderate maverick when it comes to education passionate about public schools, supportive of choice and charter schools, and critical of teachers unions for their support of such policies as tenure and layoffs by seniority. A pro-charter political group has given Villaraigosas gubernatorial campaign a big boost in recent weeks, raising more than $16 million to put ads on TV statewide. Its largest donors are three billionaires Netflix founder Reed Hastings, entrepreneur philanthropist Eli Broad and venture capitalist William Oberndorf. In every facet of (Villaraigosas) life ... hes worked to improve our public schools in California, said Gary Borden, executive director of the California Charter School Association Advocates, the independent expenditure group. For him, its real, its honest and part of who he is. The charter group is trying to push Villaraigosa closer in the polls to front-runner Newsom, who has the backing of teachers unions and other education establishment groups that have raised about $6.5 million for the gubernatorial campaign. Supporters of charter schools believe parents need more choice within the public system, where they say many schools are failing students. Opponents of charters say they turn schools into businesses, and that public-school teachers are unfairly being blamed for broader problems that are beyond their control. The charter issue becomes a way for candidates and their teams to signal to both the general public and insiders where they stand, said John Rogers, UCLA professor of education. Villaraigosa is suggesting to a small number of people who can exert influence that hes going to be with this set of billionaire entrepreneurs, Rogers said. Newsom is suggesting hes going to be aligned with and follow the lead of certain key unions. Newsoms campaign has said he believes charter schools have a place in the education system, but that he believes new approvals should be paused until more transparency measures can be put in place. Villaraigosa has made his support of charters clear on his campaign website, declaring: Wealthy families can choose to move to high-performing school districts, or pay for private school tuition. Poor families also deserve the right to access high-quality schools and publicly chartered schools often provide that access. Villaraigosa started his career as an organizer for a local teachers union, but became an ally of education reformers starting in his years in the Assembly and then as mayor of Los Angeles. In the Legislature, Villaraigosa authored a bill that enabled districts to identify veteran, tenured teachers who werent doing a good job. He said the idea was to ensure they received support to improve. He also helped push through a $9 billion facilities bond that included funding for charter schools. During his eight years as mayor, he sought to have the city take over the Los Angeles school district, a plan backed by Broad and opposed by the teachers union and school board. At the time, Villaraigosa said union leaders were an unwavering roadblock to reform. He persuaded the Legislature and then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to approve the takeover, but opponents sued and blocked it in court. Villaraigosa then created a nonprofit that ultimately took control of the school districts 21 lowest-performing schools. The nonprofits first director was Marshall Tuck, who is running for state superintendent of public instruction, also with support from Broad. Villaraigosa has pointed to an increase in graduation rates in Los Angeles from 44 percent in 2005, when he became mayor, to 72 percent when he left office in 2013 as evidence that his approach worked. Whether he deserves credit for the increase has been widely debated, because the mayor has no official control over the school district. 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. After leaving the mayors office, Villaraigosa declared his support for the so-called Vergara lawsuit, filed in 2012, which claimed that tenure and seniority policies resulted in grossly ineffective teachers retaining their jobs and therefore denying California students their constitutional right to an education. Plaintiffs scored an initial victory in Los Angeles Superior Court, but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Villaraigosas campaign says hes not anti-union, and points to an endorsement this week by the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. Monica Garcia, president of the Los Angeles school board, said shes known Villaraigosa for 15 years and that he can bring labor and business together on education issues. He was about collaboration, bringing in multiple voices, she said of his work on education and childrens issues. He was willing to be tough on all of us. Steve Smith, spokesman for the 2.1 million-member California Labor Federation, thinks Villaraigosa has strayed far from his union roots. The federation has endorsed Newsom. There certainly has been an evolution there, Smith said of Villaraigosa. Looking at the recent influx of very large donations from billionaire charter backers, thats a huge concern for us. Villaraigosas campaign says voters should be suspicious of unions motives in spreading around millions of dollars for Newsom. Mayor Villaraigosas focus is how we unite Californians to lift more families into the middle class and keep them there, said his campaign spokesman, Luis Vizcaino. This campaign isnt going to be distracted from that mission by outside efforts for us or against us. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker SANTA FE Seventeen-year-old Trey Lemley was one week past prom, two weeks from the end of his junior year. He was surrounded by safe, familiar things. The long tables of the Santa Fe High School art lab. The walls covered in murals and paintings. The friends who had made them. Then, one of his classmates, clad in a trenchcoat, entered the room with a shotgun and a revolver. Trey dropped his phone, flung himself inside a closet and barricaded the door, according to his sister, Courtney Lemley. When Trey came out, three bodies lay on the floor in pools of blood. When Trey came out, the old, safe Santa Fe High School was gone. Now Playing: Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, faces capital murder charges for allegedly going on a rampage at Santa Fe high school Friday morning, that left 10 people dead and another 10 injured. (Houston Chronicle) Video: Staff, Houston Chronicle When Trey came out, he and his district of more than 4,000 students, about 30 miles south of Houston, had joined a growing cadre of U.S. communities with children who will never come home, racked by a mass shooting and represented by political leaders who have no clear consensus on how to stop them. About 7:30 a.m. Friday, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis killed 10 and injured at least 10 more before a Santa Fe school police officer and a Texas state trooper intercepted him. He eventually emerged from the art class and surrendered, according to an arrest affidavit. The school officer, 49-year-old John Barnes, suffered a gunshot to the upper arm, critically wounding him with severe blood loss. The dead included students and an educator. Police also detained two people of interest in the case, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news briefing Friday at the school. One was at the scene and had "suspicious reactions" after the shootings, and officials were unsure whether that person was involved in the attack, Abbott said. The other was being interviewed. Abbott gave no other details about them. Pagourtzis claimed to have acted alone and was cooperating with authorities, said Galveston County Judge Mark Henry, the county's top elected official. Authorities said Pagourtzis deployed inoperable explosive devices, perhaps to stoke fear. They were checking for more devices in Pagourtzis' vehicle and home, about three miles northwest of the school, Abbott said. The dead include students Angelique Ramirez, 15, and Jared Black; and Cynthia Tisdale, a teacher's aide in the art class, according to their family members. Among the injured were Rome Shubert, 16, a member of the school's baseball team who was treated and released after being grazed on the back of the head; student Clayton Horn, shot in the arm and leg; and sophomore Trenton Beazley, one of Shubert's baseball teammates, who was struck in the back by bullet fragments. It was the worst mass shooting in America since Valentine's Day, when 17 people died at a high school in Parkland, Florida, and perhaps the worst school shooting in Texas since Charles Whitman killed 17 in a rampage from his perch in a University of Texas tower in 1966. There have been 16 school shootings nationwide in 2018, according to a database maintained by the Washington Post. The shooting set off another enactment of the nation's familiar scenes of school terror: Students watching classmates die. Fleeing, their belongings searched by armed officers. Parents, tortured by lack of information, flocking to the school and hospitals. Desperate pleas for word of the missing on social media. Blake Wingate, 16, and Kane Hopkins, 15, were getting ready to leave their first-period class near one of the school's three gyms when they heard fire alarms blare. They moved toward a hallway. Three gunshots. Inches away, a window shattered. A teacher screamed for students to run. The teens tried to run back to the gym. The door was locked. Other students joined as they tried to muscle open doors to the second gym. Those were locked, too. They found one unlocked door leading to the third gym and ran across a basketball court and outside to the school's parking lot. Wingate saw a classmate begging for help, holding a teenager, the body limp. He and Kane kept running, intent on escape. Eight people crammed into Wingate's two-door Jeep as more students streamed out of the school and across Highway 6. Wingate drove to Hopkins' house. As they arrived, one friend threw up. They spent the rest of the day watching news and texting friends in a desperate attempt to learn their classmates' fates. They still don't know what happened to a friend whose parents tried and failed to find him at local hospitals. They don't want to go back to school. It doesn't feel safe. "It keeps replaying in my head," Wingate said. "It's a weird story that will stay in my head for the rest of my life. Just how close I was." Other students jumped fences and fled to nearby woods or took shelter behind a mechanic's shop across the freeway. Avari Creekmore, 16, got to school a little late. She heard fire alarms. She saw blood on a hallway floor and heard shooting. "I took off running. I turned and saw him with whatever he had and I ran," she said, referring to the shooter. "I called my mom and said 'We have an active shooter at school,' and she said, 'I'm on my way.'" The odor of gunpowder hung in the air. "I just thought to run away from it," Avari said. "I just thought if he was near me just, God, get out of his sight." Suzannah Salazar, 17, said she heard what sounded like four pops in the nearby art classroom, then she ran. Hours after the shooting, she was still waiting to hear what had happened to her 16-year-old sister, Sarah, who she believes was in the room. "I'm just hoping my sister comes back," she said. "I'm trying to stay as calm as I can." Freshman Kali Reeves, 15, ran to a convenience store on the highway. "All I know is, several are dead, a friend of mine was shot," Reeves said. "I know one girl is dead; she took a shot to the head." Parents rushed to a complex of school district buildings about three miles from the high school, at a landmark known as the Alamo Gym. Some met relief as they found their children there. Others met only frustration. "You shouldn't have to be waiting three hours to hear where your kid is," said Lesley Tribble, a 29-year-old who said she is the legal guardian of student Angelique Ramirez. "She's easily identifiable she has fire-red hair and two lip piercings," Carli Daffern, 14, said of Ramirez, who she said is her best friend and neighbor. "None of us can get any real intel," Tribble wrote in a text message. "We've been calling hospitals asking because we still can't get any names or anything ... (Authorities are) trying to keep people calm but names aren't being released and now certain parents are getting riled up." Leia Olinde, a local business owner, came to look for her aunt, Tisdale, but acknowledged she was growing more concerned. "If everything was fine and she was OK she would have found a way to contact her husband by now," she said. Community members and officers escorted families out of the facility by early Friday evening. Some walked briskly, heads down. Others, sobbing, needed guidance, a supportive hand on an arm. One woman pulled her T-shirt up to cover her face. Officers blocked traffic. Friends or family had cars waiting. The community had seemed to reach a silent agreement that, at the very least, they could help the families leave this place, saturated with 10 solid hours of stress and uncertainty, quickly. Tribble stayed. Just before 6 p.m., she learned Ramirez died. Pagourtzis appeared in the evening before Henry, the county judge, who arraigned him on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault on a public servant. Henry denied bond. Pagourtzis made a quick appearance and stayed mostly silent. He asked for a court-appointed lawyer. Investigators found carbon dioxide canisters wrapped with duct tape but no detonators, and a pressure cooker with an alarm clock and nails, but no explosive, Henry said. They also discovered an unspent Molotov cocktail a bottle filled with flammable liquid. "I think he wanted people to think they were explosives, but they were not," Henry said, adding authorities have no reports of explosions during the shooting. Still, investigators took their time searching Pagourtzis' vehicle and house, several miles from the high school on Highway 6. Pagourtzis used guns owned by his father, Abbott said, and did not have a legal right to possess them. "I have no information ... whether the father knows the weapons were taken," he said. No clear motive emerged, but Abbott said the teen revealed in journals that he had planned to kill himself after the attack. 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. "He didn't have the courage to end his life," Abbott said. The student's social media persona included a photo of a "BORN TO KILL" T-shirt, German nationalist symbols and indications of an affinity for guns. He also participated in a Greek Orthodox dance team, according to a church website. Hopkins and Wingate, who fled the school in the Jeep, said they knew Pagourtzis from the football team and welding classes. "He always wore dark clothes and that trench coat," Wingate said. "He would go outside and sit in a corner. The teacher always had to go out to find him." A woman who answered the phone at a number associated with the Pagourtzis family declined to speak with The Associated Press. "Give us our time right now, thank you," she said. In the arrest affidavit, officers said Pagourtzis told them he avoided shooting students he liked, "so he could have his story told." REACTION: 'Yall been sending thoughts and prayers for two decades now' The high school's Earl Routh Field House turned into a command post for law enforcement. They established a mass casualty unit, and a makeshift morgue. Bodies remained inside the school into the evening. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center put out a call for donations, especially for type O negative. Leaders across the political spectrum condemned the violence. Abbott, a Republican, said he planned to convene a roundtable on school shootings to hear from victims as well as proponents of gun rights. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican from Houston, said a response should be focused on access to schools and retrofitting schools to prevent attacks. He said gun owners should lock them up to keep them safe. Democratic State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, however, tweeted: "Y'all been sending thoughts and prayers for two freaking decades now. Time to try something new." President Donald J. Trump in February promised to stand up to the National Rifle Association to impose new gun restrictions, before telling the NRA in May that the Second Amendment would "never ever be under siege as long as I am your president." On Friday, Trump emphasized keeping guns away from people who shouldn't have them. "This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years. Too many decades now," he said. "We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High, we're with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever. My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others." Former Astronaut Mark Kelly, who lived in the area of Santa Fe, near Johnson Space Center, for 15 years, said he and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords were devastated. Giffords was injured in a shooting at an event in her Arizona district in 2011. "It is our moral obligation to protect the vulnerable," Kelly wrote on social media. "The adults, the politicians, are responsible for the safety of children." Santa Fe had an active shooter drill in February, junior Brittany Hale said. It then went on lockdown Feb. 28, 14 days after Parkland, after a threat was reported, junior Jacob Smirkik said. Though school was in session the next day, he said few attended. "This time," he said, "there was no warning." On Thursday, David Hogg, a Parkland student, had a chilling premonition as he spoke to reporters at an event in Los Angeles. "There is someone alive right now that will not be alive at this time tomorrow and has never even thought about gun violence," he said, "but everyone around them will have to for the rest of their lives." Minutes after the Santa Fe shooting, it was becoming clear that the schools would forever be linked. "Santa Fe High, you didn't deserve this," tweeted Emma Gonzalez, an outspoken Parkland survivor. "You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out, we will be there to support you by raising up your voices." Santa Fe students walked out just last month in support of the national protests against gun violence in schools. In one photo that surfaced again Friday, a group of those walking out held up a poster. Someone had scrawled on it in black marker: "Santa Fe High School says #NeverAgain." BREAKING NEWS ALERTS: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news text alerts from the Houston Chronicle. Reporters Todd Ackerman, Gabrielle Banks, St. John Barned-Smith, Keri Blakinger, Dug Begley, Jacob Carpenter, Susan Carroll, Jenny Deam, Matt Dempsey, Kevin Diaz, Robert Downen, Collin Eaton, Lindsay Ellis, Emily Foxhall, Jose Gonzalez, Maggie Gordon, David Hunn, Samantha Ketterer, Jaimy Jones, Lomi Kriel, Brooke Lewis, Mike Morris, Ileana Najarro, Nick Powell, Monica Rhor, Kirk Sides, Mike Snyder, Alex Stuckey, Paul Takahashi and Mike Ward contributed to this report. Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel, the saying goes. Yet the Trump administration is picking a fight with American newspapers over something they buy at even greater cost and quantity: newsprint. The administration recently slapped tariffs and anti-dumping penalties on imported Canadian paper, resulting in newsprint price increases of up to 30 percent in the United States. I will give President Trump the benefit of the doubt here and assume this is not another attack on the free press from the man who has called journalists enemies of the American people and has alternately threatened to jail them, revoke their credentials and use government powers to undermine their owners business interests. I will take the administration at its word that it is merely trying to save American jobs at a paper mill that claims unfair foreign competition. Its an indefensible move even by that standard. The Trump administrations protectionist measures were taken in response to a trade complaint from a single company, Norpac, a Longview, Wash., paper mill that employs about 300 nonunion workers. Norpac, acquired in 2016 by the New York hedge fund One Rock Capital, alleged that its Canadian competitors benefited from 34 government subsidy programs, from cut-rate electricity to timber harvests on government-owned forests. This dubious attempt to shield a few hundred paper-mill jobs from foreign competition is creating serious pain for a U.S. publishing industry that employs 600,000 workers. Newsprint is the second-largest expense for American newspapers, surpassed only by payroll. The price jumps have been immediate and severe as has the loss of jobs. The Tampa Bay Times of St. Petersburg, Fla., announced last month that it would be laying off about 50 workers as a direct result of a $3.4 million annual increase in newsprint costs. Make no mistake: These tariffs will cause layoffs across American newspapers, including this one, Times CEO Paul Tash said in a letter to readers. The cost to democracy goes beyond the payroll numbers. Fewer journalists means fewer eyes and ears on the city councils and school boards, fewer investigative reporters in pursuit of government neglect and malfeasance, fewer stories on the triumphs and tragedies in our communities. Its also important to note that newspapers continue to have the largest news-gathering staffs in cities small to large, markets local to national, and their work typically drives broadcast news and commentary. If you want to silence a free press, take away the newsprint, Susan Rowell, publisher of the Lancaster (S.C.) News and president of the National Newspaper Association, said in a statement. That is what is happening now, and it is simply wrong. Responding to a chorus of such concerns, two Maine senators, Republican Susan Collins and independent Angus King, have introduced legislation (S2835) to suspend the tariffs on uncoated groundwater paper from Canada, the primary source of newsprint. It would require the Commerce Department to undertake a study of the economic state of both the newsprint industry and the local newspaper publishing industry before determining whether the tariffs actually are in the national interest. Throughout Maine, small-town newspapers remain a principal source of information for people looking to read the news, learn about the goings-on in their communities and stay up to date on current events, King said. He noted that the U.S. newspaper business and paper manufacturers are already operating on razor-thin margins. The Collins-King bill has attracted bipartisan co-sponsorship. Californians need to press their Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, to get on board. Time is of the essence. The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to decide by mid-September whether to make the tariffs final; a verdict on the anti-dumping decision by Commerce could come in August. There is ample reason to doubt the Norpac paper mills complaint that its woes are because of foreign competition. Collins suggested that one domestic mill owned by a venture capital firm appears to be taking advantage of trade remedies to add to its own bottom line, putting thousands of American jobs at risk. In telling testimony, Russ Lowder of White Birch Paper said his companys closing of its Virginia mill had nothing to do with Canadian imports. Rather, he said the fate of the paper business was inextricably tied to the decline of the newspaper industry: subscriptions have dropped, and demand has followed. He said White Birch had considered buying Norpac in 2016, before it was scooped up by a hedge fund, but concluded its operations faced a number of challenges that had nothing to do with imports. Obviously, I and everyone else who makes a living at an American newspaper have a vested interest in the outcome of this trade dispute. The Chronicle uses more than 10,000 metric tons of newsprint a year and is taking a hit from this huge price increase. This newspaper is determined to offset that cost with production efficiencies and revenue growth. The impact could be far more devastating and permanent to small-town newspapers that have fewer options to pare costs or raise revenue. I should emphasize that I approached this issue on my own, without any prodding from the Hearst Corp., which has owned The Chronicle since late 2000, and has been true to its word that its editorial decisions would be insulated from its business interests. My concern is driven by the never-ending evidence that trade barriers are ultimately counterproductive to the economy, and often result in unintended consequences. Again, I am going on the assumption that the undermining of the ability of a free press to serve as a check on those in power is an unforeseen casualty of this Trump administration policy. Its gratifying that a group of senators is on the case to stop these ill-advised tariffs that are bad for the economy and bad for our democracy. John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron Serious threats to independent journalism The newsprint tariffs come at a time when newspapers large and small are faced with myriad other economic stresses. Bottom feeding Digital First Media Whats happening: From Boston to San Jose, the company controlled by a hedge fund has been eviscerating newsrooms even as it racked up $160 million in profit (a 17 percent margin) last year. Why it matters: The cost to local watchdog reporting is immense. The Denver Post once had a staff of 300; with the latest cuts (a third of its staff) it will have about 65 journalists and support staff. Upshot: In a remarkable rebellion, the Post editorialized last month against its vulture capitalist ownership. Theyve killed a great newspaper, former owner Dean Singleton said later in resigning as the newspapers chairman. Advertising decline Salt Lake Tribune Whats happening: Citing a 40 percent drop in advertising revenue, 34 of the newspapers 90 staffers were laid off or retired last week, including seasoned reporters and columnists. Why it matters: Not only will it have fewer journalists pursing stories, the states largest newspaper is eliminating its high-profile Utah news sections three days a week. Upshot: Local ownership is not a panacea. The paper was purchased in 2016 by Paul Huntsman, son of the late industrialist-philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr. This story has been corrected to reflect that Jon Huntsman Jr., not his father, was a 2012 presidential candidate. President Trumps response to the mass shooting at a Santa Fe, Texas, high school was right, only as far as his understatement went: This has been going on too long in our country. Ever so predictably and hollowly, he offered condolences to the victims and our support to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. What Trump did not propose was any serious tightening of this nations absurdly, dangerously lax gun-control laws. And so it goes, again and again and again. Our hearts go out to the 10 people who lost their lives at the high school 30 miles southeast of Houston, and the friends, families, classmates and community members who are reeling from yet another mass shooting in the United States. But sympathy is not enough. How much more carnage must this nation accept before acknowledging that it has a gun problem? Each massacre leads to another round of thoughts and prayers from politicians who are in a position to take meaningful action but are too timid to do anything about it. There is always an excuse for inaction. If the weapon was obtained illegally, the gun-rights politicians suggest the answer is to enforce existing laws, not create new ones. If the shooter had a history of mental illness, the answer is to focus on that underlying condition, and disregard the reality that he could not have inflicted mass casualties without a lethal weapon. If the shooter has no criminal history, as appears to be the case with this 17-year-old suspect, the answer is to fortify the schools defenses through architectural design and deployment of armed guards. There is a maddening admission of futility about each of those rationales. There is also an element of fear behind the inaction. In a brief moment of lucidity after the slaughter of 17 students at Parkland, Fla., in February, Trump told a group of U.S. senators at the White House, youre afraid of the NRA. Within days, Trump met with representatives of the National Rifle Association and changed his tune. Earlier this month, in an address to the NRAs national convention, Trump assured the audience that their Second Amendment rights will never, ever be under siege as long as I am your president. Nothing seems to change, even as the unthinkable keeps getting redefined. On Dec. 14, 2012, 20 young children and six adult staff members were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Congress could not bring itself to reinstate a ban on assault-style weapons that have been a common element in most of these massacres (though not in Santa Fe) or close loopholes in background checks or prohibit suspected terrorists on the no-fly list from obtaining guns. The two worst shootings in modern U.S. history (Las Vegas, 58 dead) and Orlando (49 dead) have occurred in the past two years. At least 140 children, educators and others have been killed at school sites since the 1999 massacre that claimed 15 lives at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., according to a Washington Post survey. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a staunch gun-rights advocate, said in Santa Fe that everything humanly possible must be done to prevent another school massacre. Significant action on gun control is humanly possible. What is lacking is the political will to summon more than thoughts and prayers. 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. Californias police departments have thousands of untested rape kits on their shelves, prime evidence that could produce arrests in sex-assault cases. But the numbers arent known nor does the law require that the kits be examined for DNA traces that can yield results. Its a frustrating situation where facts arent gathered and a proven crime tool isnt utilized. Two state lawmakers are pushing a pair of measures to improve a sorry situation. Its up to the legislative leaders to push the bills theyve killed in the past. San Francisco Assemblyman David Chiu, a Democrat, wants an audit on untested kits. Estimates vary from 14,000 to 20,000 kits in police hands. The right number could lead to a budget figure needed to get at the backlog. State Sen. Connie Leyva, a San Bernardino County Democrat, wants to compel law enforcement to test all kits, shifting the guiding language from should to shall when it comes to sampling the evidence. Police would have 20 days to submit the kits, which must be tested within 120 days. The two bills, AB3118 and SB1449, would take aim at serial rapists responsible for the bulk of sex assaults. Past efforts to get at the backlog have stalled over budget worries and police doubts about the need. But public awareness is now kindled in an era of #MeToo sex-abuse complaints along with the DNA-aided arrest of the suspected Golden State Killer, blamed for some 45 rapes as well. Also, a Chronicle report found that untested rape kits from East Bay assaults were linked to a suspect later charged with murder, a crime possibly prevented by timely testing. On May 25, the Legislature can show its resolve. Thats when bills with budget impacts are either advanced or killed by appropriation panels. In the past few years, untested rape kits were ignored. That cant happen again. 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. President Trump crossed into markedly authoritarian territory Wednesday when he referred to some undocumented immigrants as animals and called for the prosecution of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. The dehumanization of groups targeted by a government leader and the imprisonment of political enemies are not uncommon tactics in nations run by repressive regimes. But this level of hate-inducing vitriol against immigrants and threats against a mayor over a policy disagreement have no place in the United States of America. Trumps rants came during a roundtable discussion with local officials who share his disdain for Californias role as a sanctuary state. At one point, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, alluding to the gang MS-13, expressed her frustration that the new state law prohibited her from alerting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of undocumented immigrants in her jail. We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in and were stopping a lot of them but were taking people out of the country, Trump replied. You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people. These are animals. Trump did not expressly refer to MS-13 members, which led to a cascade of criticism from people who know from history the danger of stripping people of their human traits. Nazi propaganda depicted Jews as rats. Huti officials called Tutsis cockroaches that needed to be exterminated during the Rwandan genocide. In her press briefing Thursday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted that Trump was referring to MS-13 gang members a distinction he did not make and frankly I think the term animal doesnt go far enough to describe horrible, horrible, disgusting people. The White House backtrack might have been more convincing if Trump had not used such overblown rhetoric about Mexican immigrants in the past, referring to them as rapists, killers and drug dealers who were pouring over the border. Trumps suggestion that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should look into obstruction of justice by Schaaf is no less reckless. Its also based on a false premise that Schaafs decision to alert the community of a possible ICE raid and to remind immigrants of their rights if confronted allowed hundreds to avoid detention and deportation. An ICE spokesman resigned precisely because he refused to make such a knowingly false statement. Once again, this White House appears unbound by the mores of truth or norms of democracy. 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. As we approach the June 5 special election for mayor of San Francisco, its time for a reality check about the health of our great city the quality of life, the dangers of divisiveness, fear of the unknown, and the future of our neighborhoods. The election is not some exclusive test of ideology. It is not a contest to decide which San Francisco will prevail over another San Francisco. Our mayor must be willing to meet with all sectors and establish a strong common ground for united action. The new mayor must unite business, labor and the neighborhoods. The incoming mayor must forge consensus among the neighborhoods, among white, African American, Latino and Asian residents, and among straight, gay, lesbian and transgender communities. The mayor must establish a strong commitment to all San Franciscans. First, let me commend interim Mayor Mark Farrell for his professional demeanor and sincere focus on a variety of issues sensitivity to the neighborhoods, fiscal accountability and critical quality of life priorities. He deserves our thanks and support during a difficult time. As mayor, my goal was always to promote community pride. There are many treasures in this city its climate, the great views and the majesty of its bridges. Its greatest treasure, of course, is the richness of its diversity. Ethnically, culturally, religiously, politically, this is one of the worlds most exciting and cosmopolitan cities. The diversity that makes San Francisco unique and gives it such character and strength must be guarded. Every day, as San Franciscans, we must protect against the dark intrusions of intolerance and indifference that mark so many cities. Prejudice and fear always smolder at times of unexpected change or when difficult choices must be made. We are a city that prides itself in openness, living life on our own terms, renewed opportunities and cutting-edge political policies. We must not turn the positive of diversity into the negative of division. San Francisco is not a liberal city or a conservative city. It is not a city of divided camps and hostile forces. It is one city. At only 49 square miles, San Francisco is unique in its size. The problems in one area whether chronic homelessness, lack of affordable housing, unreliable Muni transportation, public safety issues or parking and traffic gridlock are concerns of all areas. A mayors political philosophy should be based on faith in the wisdom and goodwill of the people. It should not be far left or far right. It should be liberal in its compassion for those who are less fortunate. It should be conservative in its belief that we cannot squander our resources or tax this city into submission. It should be liberal in its belief that government must serve all San Franciscans. It should be conservative in the conviction of our founding fathers that all men and all women are created equal. During my lifetime of public service, I have visited every neighborhood and traveled every street, and I know the value thats placed on compassion, understanding and inclusiveness. A guiding principle comes from President Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address, that ours should be a government with charity toward all and malice toward none. We are all faced with a difficult decision on election day. My concern is that we cast our votes in the best interest and true spirit of one city. We must not galvanize stereotypes that pits one half of the city against the other. We all must rededicate ourselves to an even greater San Francisco in the future. Frank M. Jordan is a former mayor of San Francisco. San Francisco and the Bayview-Hunters Point community deserve to know that Tetra Tech ECs work assessing and remediating about 20 percent of the Hunters Point Shipyard was done properly. Tetra Tech stands by the validity of our work. We believe all concerns can be addressed by our offer to pay for independent testing, which will demonstrate our portions of the shipyard were remediated to the standards established by the U.S. Navy. Here are six facts about our work at Hunters Point: 1 Our remediation was done properly. 2 This is true despite two rogue employees, who illegally swapped soil, and a subcontractor with New World Technology, who participated in the crime in 2012. 3 These illegal actions were detected by the Navy in 2012. 4 Once detected, Tetra Tech immediately reviewed 100 percent of its work, re-sampled and remediated areas at our own cost. 5 Tetra Techs remediation was then approved in an independent review by the Navy in 2014. 6 The whistle-blower claims are false. Tetra Techs primary work, which was the assessment and remediation of low-level radiation, began in 2002. A number of other contractors worked at Hunters Point and also provided remediation services, both radiation and chemical. Tetra Tech was directed by the Navy to use New World Environmental Inc., doing business as New World Technology, as the singularly qualified firm. Our radiological work occurred under the direct supervision and control of New World Technology from 2003 through March 2009 because New World Technology held the license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Tetra Tech implemented its own NRC license in 2009. In 2012, the Navy alerted Tetra Tech that some soil samples did not appear consistent to other samples. We determined, with Navy oversight, that 33 areas needed resampling, and of those resampled areas, one-third needed additional remediation, which was completed in early 2013. We issued an initial report in November 2012 and, after a thorough Navy review, the final public report in April 2014. At that time, we could not figure out why there was a breach of protocol in 2012 that caused these soil samples to not be reflective of the areas soil makeup. In 2014 the Navy also completed an independent review of our work and found that The Navys contractor corrected identified deficient conditions and incorporated additional QC (quality control) steps to avoid recurrence. The report was presented to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the state Department of Public Health. Despite investigations by us, the Navy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, we didnt know what went wrong. Now, we know Stephen Rolfe and Justin Hubbard, and New World Technology employee Anthony Smith, were part of a cabal that falsified data. Smith said in court he falsified data and swapped soil samples unethical and illegal actions at the shipyard, where he worked as a radiation control technician with Rolfe and Hubbard. We dont understand why he wasnt charged by the U.S. Justice Department. We are fully supportive of the actions taken by the Justice Department against Rolfe and Hubbard for falsifying reports. We vehemently reject their activities and have zero tolerance for violations of established protocols and procedures. The Justice Department also interviewed Tetra Tech ECs most senior managers overseeing these men and no charges were brought against them, as they had no role and no knowledge of the wrongdoing. All the allegations being made today originate from the 2012 soil sample anomalies. In 2014, Smith labeled himself a whistle-blower and began making the false allegations that are are being promoted and causing concern today. It should be noted that Smith is represented by attorney David Anton, who has been twice suspended by the California State Bar for fabricating evidence and conflict of interest. We think these facts should make the public look carefully at the claims these men are making, which are only intended to scare the community and enrich themselves through resulting lawsuits. Lastly, Tetra Tech is a California firm, based in Pasadena. It has 17,000 employees, many in the San Francisco area. After more than 50 years in business, we provide engineering and technical services, including environmental remediation, on more than 60,000 projects worldwide each year. We would never condone the wrongdoing that was done by these three individuals. We know the work we did at Hunters Point Shipyard is right and we know that an independent review that we have offered to pay for will set the record straight. We encourage the Navy to accept our offer and begin work immediately. What if you encountered our citys most troubled and couldnt keep on walking? What if you had to look in the eye your fellow San Franciscans languishing or left practically for dead at, say, the corner of Turk and Hyde? Could you handle what you saw and be at peace with your own reaction (or lack thereof)? What if what you saw wasnt just pain, but aching humanity, sharp humor, radical politics, flinty poetry and an imagination and spirit unbound by circumstance? That seems to be the project of Casa de Spirits, written and directed by Roger Guenveur Smith for Campo Santo. The one-act piece, whose two-day run opened Wednesday, May 16, as part of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Transform Fest, is inspired by the regulars of Tenderloin liquor stores, exploring a part of the city where every alley is at once catwalk and toilet and morgue, where the local version of the Pledge of Allegiance might read, Yes, may I help you? or Put down the gun. TORONTO The As will have to fill two rotation spots once they return home Tuesday after injuries to Andrew Triggs on Thursday and Brett Anderson on Friday, plus the team needs still more relievers after the bullpen worked another eight innings Friday. Kendall Graveman, who pitched for Triple-A Nashville on Friday, is a candidate for one spot and Daniel Gossett, scheduled to start for Nashville on Monday, has a good shot at the other. Gossett is pitching particularly well, with a 1.63 ERA. Reliever Ryan Dull, demoted Friday, could be right back up, because he wasnt scheduled to leave Toronto until Saturday. Anderson is likely to be placed on the disabled list with a shoulder strain. Dull has a 6.30 ERA and .325 opponents batting average in 12 appearances, and he gave up eight hits, two walks and five runs in his past four outings. I think hes pitching a little away from contact, manager Bob Melvin said. When hes at his best, he doesnt even know who the hitter is, hes just looking to throw the ball to that spot. Hes maybe just a little off his game right now. Dull said that he had mechanical flaws that crept in after he came back from a knee injury last year. Its making sure Im not bending at the waist that changes the entire way I throw, where I lean over, he said. I have to make sure the line is as straight as I can get. Ill go down and get back on track. After 142/3 innings from the bullpen in two nights, its possible the team will also send out Fridays hero, Josh Lucas, who will be unavailable for a few days. However, its unclear if an extra pitcher could arrive from Oklahoma City, where Nashville is playing, in time for Saturdays game in Toronto. Frankie Montas is the only other pitcher on the 40-man roster likely for a promotion; Chris Bassitt worked Thursday. Triggs, who left Thursdays game in the third with numbness in his right hand, was placed on the 10-day DL and is scheduled for an examination in the Bay Area on Saturday. Emilio Pagan was called up Friday with Lucas. When he was sent down May 2, Pagan had a 5.93 ERA; at Nashville, he had a 3.00 ERA and struck out 11 and walked none in six innings. Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Passing cyclists, fishermen and construction workers coped with the aroma as best they could Friday morning, but the estuary air near Jack London Square was decidedly pungent. Birds perched on the massive, dark carcass of the whale that wedged itself between pylons of a bridge, and observers remarked on the sadness of the noble beasts death as they waited for it to be towed to Angel Island for inspections. The whale may have been carried into San Francisco Bay on the bow of a freighter, said officials, who have still not determined the animals species or cause of death. A freighter entered San Francisco Bay on Wednesday with a whale carcass attached to its bow, said Laura Sherr, a spokeswoman for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. The whale later became detached from the vessel and biologists on Friday were trying to determine if it was the same animal. Tom Horton, who rows with the East Bay Rowing Club, said he spotted the whale around 5:30 a.m. when he was out on the river. We row every morning and we see a lot of marine life, said Horton, who has been rowing in this spot for 10 years. Weve seen sharks and seals and birds, but weve never seen a whale. He called the Marine Mammal Center and waited for officials to arrive. Sylvester Silva, who fishes near the site with his father about three times a week, was preparing to cast his lines into the estuary when he spotted the whale. He said it was kind of interesting, but really sad. Like others, he wondered how the whale had ended up in such shallow waters. At first I thought it was part of the construction site nearby, Horton said. Then I realized I found a dead whale. Devoted whale watchers Elizabeth Heppenstall and Evan Schloss of Oakland said they sped over to the bridge when they heard there was a whale underneath it. The two live nearby and frequently come to the waters edge. The day prior, Heppenstall had just been whale-watching near Lands End. I never thought wed see one so close to here, she said. Its pretty sad, Schloss added. Sherr said the Marine Mammal Center was helping the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to tow the whale carcass to Angel Island, where biologists will conduct a necropsy to determine if the animal died from a collision with a vessel, entanglement with fishing equipment, or perhaps disease or old age. Sophie Haigney and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: shaigney@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophieHaigney @SteveRubeSF Civil rights attorney Pamela Price, who is challenging incumbent Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley, on Friday walked back her comments about not prosecuting misdemeanors after domestic violence victims criticized the stance. If elected, Price said, she would continue to prosecute misdemeanors and all domestic violence cases. She said she would explore programs like San Franciscos neighborhood courts and use discretion in sentencing recommendations. Prices comments Friday were a reversal from her position that she would not pursue prosecutions of misdemeanor crimes reported in The Chronicle and East Bay Times, which she said were inaccurate or taken out of context. Whether someone gets the maximum sentence is determined by the nature of the crime. And, quite frankly, we have maximum sentences that are not necessarily appropriate for the crimes that have been committed, Price said Friday. I dont want this community to be manipulated by fear in any way when we talk about alternatives to incarceration or alternative dispositions. Price made the comments feet from a group of 20 domestic violence victims and advocates, who are supporting OMalley and who said punishing even low-level abuse cases can prevent perpetrators from escalating their aggression. They held a rally Friday on the steps of an Oakland courthouse to speak out against Prices previous remarks on misdemeanors. Already, they said, the criminal justice system does not take domestic violence as seriously as it should. Price came to the rally to try to explain what she would do as top cop and highlighted her own experience as a domestic violence victim. Price, who has racked up endorsements from progressives and criminal justice reformers, was the onetime attorney for the teenager who accused Oakland and other Bay Area police officers of sex crimes. The young woman later told the East Bay Express that she felt Price had exploited the situation for her own advancement. The women who organized the Friday event said OMalley was not involved. The district attorney couldnt be reached for comment. Our ability to get a restraining order based on misdemeanor acts is absolutely crucial, because that can prevent worse acts from occurring, said Julie, who said she was in an abusive relationship and asked to be identified by only her first name. Another woman, Tami, said her ex-boyfriend stopped hitting her after he was convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. She said the man, who is the father of her two children, continues to play games emotionally and mentally. But before his conviction, Tami said, he once broke into her home, waited for her to get in the shower and then attacked her. She said he once dragged her through the house while she held her infant child, and regularly tormented her over phone calls. We know from experience that all too often these crimes are connected, she said. Not prosecuting these misdemeanors would be a tragedy and could result in more being injured, maimed or even killed. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov It's not only the lip kits people were lined up for on Friday morning at the Kylie Jenner Pop Up Shop in San Francisco. Many of the Kardashian-crazed teens and their moms waiting in a line that snaked around Union Square for several blocks were hoping to catch sight of the 2o-year-old pouty-faced Ms. Jenner herself. "I want to meet her," said Myckel Martinez of San Francisco, the first one in the line of hundreds. Martinez camped out for two nights, the first night in a tent, to obtain the coveted spot. He used Uber eats for meals. "I love her makeup style," he added. "I love her energy. I'm such a Kardashian fan. I come from a big family of 9 and we talk and interact in the same way as the Kardashians." Alex Estrada of Santa Rosa, the second person line, actually got to meet the reality TV star on Thursday when she made a quick run to the store and snuck in through the back. Estrada heard she would be there through Instagram and was among a crowd of people who took photos with her. "She could have run off in the car and she came over to say hi to us," says Estrada, showing a Polariod he took with Jenner. "She was so sweet." Kylie, the youngest Kardashian sister, has a wildly popular line of cosmetics that sell out almost instantaneously online. She opened her first pop-up store in New York in 2016 and ever since she has opened temporary shops around the country selling her Kylie Lip Kits (sets of matte liquid lipstick and lip liner that retail for $29) as well as Kyshadows and Kyliners (eye shadows and eye liners) in a a wide array of colors and themes. ALSO, After tweet by Kylie Jenner, Snapchat's market value tanked by $1.3 billion The shop in San Francisco, at 21 Grant Ave. between O'Farrell and Geary. opens Friday at 10 a.m. behind a metallic pink facade. The store is selling typical Kylie products as well as some "custom San Francisco merchandise," according to promo materials. Many of Kylie's fans are impressed by her success at such a young age. "She's going to be the first Kardashian to make a billion dollars and she's only 21 years old," says Brandon Ikeda, who was in line Friday to buy products and, more importantly, to meet Kylie. If you've heard San Francisco's most famous ghost story, it was probably some iteration of this: In the years before the 1906 earthquake, a beautiful young woman lived in the city with her infant child. One day, the woman decided to take her baby to Golden Gate Park for a jaunt around Stow Lake. While on their walk, the woman spotted a friend, and the two sat down on a bench to catch up. After a few minutes, the woman turned to check on her baby. To her horror, the pram was no longer beside her. In a panic, she ran around the lake, screaming for her child. The last anyone saw of her alive was when, in a moment of horrid realization, she ran into the lake. For the last century, people on foggy nights have reported seeing a distressed lady in a white gown stalking the rim of Stow Lake. Some say she approaches them, begging them to help find her baby. Others have only heard her moans. The story is so famous that Golden Gate Park even has a page dedicated to the legend. It's a classic, haunting ghost story, so it's no surprise the tale has resonated with locals, and ghost hunters, for over 100 years. But is there any truth to the legend of the White Lady of Stow Lake? ---- The first mention of a phantom in Golden Gate Park is a front-page Chronicle story from Jan. 6, 1908. The article tells the tale of Arthur Pigeon and his automobile full of female party-goers. The vehicle was seen speeding through the park late at night before being apprehended by mounted police. Inside, the officer found a car full of terrified people, white as a proverbial ghost. San Francisco Chronicle/Archives Pigeon told the officer they'd seen a "thing" directly in front of their vehicle, "clad in a luminous white robe, and holding its arms extended as though to stop the progress of the machine." "It was a thin, tall figure," Pigeon explained. "It seemed to shine. It had long, fair hair and was barefooted. I did not notice the face. I was too frightened." The bemused officer asked if the party had previously visited "beach resorts [that] might produce ghosts or spirits." No, insisted the group. Very well, the officer said. Then you'll have to show me where the ghost was. The women "shrieked" at the suggestion, leaving poor Arthur Pigeon to escort the officer back to the spot where he'd seen the apparition. Of course, it was gone. "Captain Gleeson of the Park Station was informed of the affair," the Chronicle wrote, "and gave orders that any ghost answering this description is to be arrested on sight." ---- San Francisco history before the 1906 earthquake can be difficult to verify. The fire destroyed the city's police and coroners' reports, along with thousands of personal records kept by families. So if there was a police report about a woman and her baby drowning in Stow Lake, it's likely long gone. Newspaper crime stories and death notices give a more complete, and surprisingly deadly, picture of Golden Gate Park in the late 1800s. The park, with its many dark corners, was a common spot for suicides. So common, in fact, that the San Francisco Call ran a Sunday feature in 1900 called "The Park Suicides." "The park, with its luxury of trees, shrubbery and green grass, seems to appeal strongly to the troubled philosopher who seeks to rid himself of what he deems a burden," the Call wrote. San Francisco Call/Archives The story, accompanied by a complete list of suicides in the park since 1890, found that one in every 12 suicides in San Francisco took place there. The methods ranged from poisonings to self-inflicted gunshot wounds. There's only one suicide-by-drowning, however, and that death was later ruled a homicide. If the White Lady of Stow Lake died there, then it must have been after the 1900 article was written. Surely a suicide that dramatic would have warranted a mention. ---- If any single anecdote gave life to the ghost of Stow Lake, it is this small item in the July 10, 1906 Call. More for you 12 unsolved Bay Area mysteries you've never heard of Mary Cook and Nellie Gillighan, both 12-year-old earthquake refugees living the park, reported to police that they had "seen the naked body of a baby floating in Lloyd Lake," a pond near Stow Lake. Police made a full investigation but saw no sign of a body. Just in case, they planned to drag the lake. There are no subsequent newspaper articles on the subject, so that search must have come up empty too. Coupled with the park's reputation as a suicide spot, the legend writes itself: A beautiful woman and her infant child, a tragic death in the park, a spirit that can't find peace. But for those who believe in ghosts, there's no shortage of candidates for who could be the real lady of Stow Lake. The 1900 "Park Suicides" story offers tales of at least four women who took their own lives in the park, including one who name was never discovered. "Who she was, where she came from and what her troubles were will never be known," the Call wrote. "For she was among the unidentified." Katie Dowd is the SFGATE managing editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd We recommend these recently reviewed titles: Robin By Dave Itzkoff (Henry Holt; 529 pages; $30) Itzkoffs breathtakingly good biography about Robin Williams is one of the best books ever written about anyone who sees no way out of life except by trying to make people laugh. Inseparable The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous With American History By Yunte Huang (Liveright / Norton; 388 pages; $28.95) Huangs exuberant and vivid account of the original Siamese twins examines 19th century American attitudes toward race and sex that resonate today. America Is Not the Heart By Elaine Castillo (Viking; 408 pages; $27) Castillos first novel is a sharply observed family epic that centers on a young bisexual woman from a wealthy, influential family in the Philippines who comes to the Bay Area to live with her beloved uncle. Recommendations of recent books from the staffs of a rotating list of Northern California independent bookstores. This weeks list is from Face in a Book, 4359 Town Center Blvd., #13, El Dorado Hills. 916-941-9401. www.getyourfaceinabook.com West, Carys Davies: This short, stunning novel taps into the mythos of the American frontier while offering a vivid tale of devotion and loss. Varina, by Charles Frazier: Fraziers fictional treatment of Varina Howell Davis is a captivating story of power, women and race, its premise a reunion between the first lady of the Confederacy and a black man who lived as a child in her household. In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills, by Jennifer Haupt: From civil rights era-Atlanta to New York to Rwandas Rift Valley, Haupts novel follows three women, each searching for healing. Circe, by Madeline Miller: Time to sacrifice to the gods in thanks for another book by Madeline Miller. Her interpretation of Circes story is entirely satisfying. Nonfiction Fascism: A Warning, by Madeline Albright: For anyone who cares about democracy and its sustaining institutions, this book is essential reading. Albright offers a clear-eyed and accessible account of a complex subject. Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things Im Learning to Say, by Kelly Corrigan: From I was wrong to good enough, Corrigan offers the phrases she has spent a lifetime learning to say. With humor and grace, she offers readers the comfort of knowing theyre not alone in this messy world. Cake, by Maira Kalman: We love Maira Kalman, and we love cake. This delightful little book offers her bright and brilliant illustrations, poignant memories and delicious recipes by Barbara Scott-Goodman. Bring on the cake, Kalman says. We really want to live. Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover: Westover takes us from her upbringing among survivalists in Idaho, where she never attended school, to, against all odds, the halls of Cambridge. She details the complexities and conflicts of the worlds she occupied, and her struggle to find a place for herself. LONDON Size is a sensitive subject in the clothing business. So when one of Britains most popular and affordable clothing giants was found to charge more for plus-size clothing, it was accused of imposing a fat tax on women. The pricing by the store, New Look, revived a debate over whether the use of more fabric for the same outfit should logically cost more. The controversy erupted when customer Maria Wassell said she discovered that a pair of green-striped trousers cost 15 percent more in all sizes above 16 (the equivalent of a size 12 in the United States), which are considered plus sizes in Britain. Wassell also discovered that a T-shirt and dress in standard sizes were cheaper than identical versions in the plus-size section, according to the local news media. Its like being discriminated against for being plus size when Im only slightly bigger than average, she told the Sun newspaper. The average size for a British woman is now a size 16. She declared that the retailer was enforcing a fat tax. Outraged social media users tossed in all sorts of comparisons: Should people with bigger feet be charged more for shoes? And, perhaps more to the point: Should petite people be charged less? Amanda Bowes, a British fashion designer for plus-size online retail outlets, called New Looks pricing criteria harsh, and said that the more-fabric argument did not hold water. Obviously it costs more to make plus-size clothing because of the amount of fabric used, but if the pricing metric is going to be based on size, then every size should be priced differently, she said in a phone interview. If smaller-sized people arent getting discounts, then plus-sized people shouldnt have to pay a surplus, she added. We rarely see tall and maternity editions of clothing being priced differently. Its cruel and unfair to single out one body type. But Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, a charity that raises awareness about obesity, said it is reasonable to charge more money for larger clothing. People should pay for the material/time required to manufacture sizes, he said in an email. He added that many smaller people felt they should have discounts and asked why they should subsidize people who wear bigger sizes. A size 10 should pay for a size 10. New Look told the New York Times that it is reviewing the pricing structure of its plus-size collection in a way which works best for our customers and our business. New Look is not the only retailer to come under fire for pricing clothes according to size. In 2014, Old Navy was criticized for charging higher prices for plus-size clothing for women, but not for men. An online petition pointed out that Old Navys Rockstar Super Skinny Jeans cost $27 in a size 6. The same jeans in a size 26 cost $40. Old Navy refused to lower its prices, arguing that womens clothing had contoured waist bands that cost more to produce. Its parent company, San Franciscos Gap, relaxed the rules for the return of plus-size clothing and said it would create a customer panel to gather more insight. Ceylan Yeginsu is a New York Times writer. In July, 13 U.S. military commanders and technology executives met at the Pentagons Silicon Valley outpost, 2 miles from Google headquarters. It was the second meeting of an advisory board set up in 2016 to counsel the military on ways to apply technology to the battlefield. Milo Medin, a Google vice president, turned the conversation to using artificial intelligence in war games. Eric Schmidt, Googles former boss, proposed using that tactic to map out strategies for standoffs with China over the next 20 years. A few months later, the Defense Department hired Googles cloud division to work on Project Maven, a sweeping effort to enhance its surveillance drones with technology that helps machines think and see. The pact could generate millions in revenue. But inside the Mountain View company, whose employees largely reflect the political sensibilities of the Bay Area, the contract is about as popular as President Trump. Not since 2010, when Google retreated from China after clashing with state censors, has an issue so roiled the rank and file. Almost 4,000 employees, out of a total of 85,000 within parent company Alphabet, signed a letter asking Google CEO Sundar Pichai to stop the Project Maven contract and halt all work in the business of war. The petition cites Googles history of avoiding military work and its famous do no evil slogan. One of Alphabets AI research labs has even distanced itself from the project. Employees against the deal see it as an unacceptable link with a U.S. administration many oppose and an unnerving first step toward autonomous killing machines. The internal backlash, which coincides with a broader outcry over how Silicon Valley uses data and technology, has prompted Pichai to act. He and his lieutenants are drafting ethical principles to guide the deployment of Googles powerful AI tech, according to people familiar with the plans. That will shape its future work. Google is one of several companies vying for a Pentagon cloud contract worth at least $10 billion. A Google spokesman declined to say whether that has changed in light of the internal strife. Pichais challenge is to find a way of reconciling Googles dovish roots with its future. Having spent more than a decade developing the industrys most formidable arsenal of AI research and abilities, Google is keen to wed those advances to its fast-growing cloud-computing business. Rivals are rushing to cut deals with the government, which spends billions a year on all things cloud. No government entity spends more on such technology than the military. Medin and Alphabet director Schmidt, who both sit on the Pentagons Defense Innovation Board, have pushed Google to work with the government on counterterrorism, cybersecurity, telecommunications and more. To dominate the cloud business and fulfill Pichais dream of becoming an AI-first company, Google will find it hard to avoid the business of war. Inside the company there is no greater advocate of working with the government than Google Cloud chief Diane Greene. In a March interview, she defended the Pentagon partnership and said its wrong to characterize Project Maven as a turning point. Googles been working with the government for a long time, she said. The Pentagon created Project Maven about a year ago to analyze mounds of surveillance data. Greene said her division won only a tiny piece of the contract, without providing specifics. She described Googles role in benign terms: scanning drone footage for land mines, say, and then flagging them to military personnel. Saving lives kind of things, Greene said. The software isnt used to identify targets or to make any attack decisions, Google says. Many employees deem her rationalizations unpersuasive. Even members of the AI team have voiced objections, saying they fear working with the Pentagon will damage relations with consumers and Googles ability to recruit. At the companys I/O developer conference this month, Greene told Bloomberg News the issue had absorbed much of her time over the last three months. Googlers discomfort with using AI in warfare is long-standing. AI chief Jeff Dean revealed at the I/O conference that he signed an open letter in 2015 opposing the use of AI in autonomous weapons. Providing the military with Gmail, which has AI capabilities, is fine, but it gets more complex in other cases, Dean said. Obviously theres a continuum of decisions we want to make as a company, he said. Last year, several executives including Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman, who run Alphabets DeepMind AI lab, and top AI researcher Geoffrey Hinton signed a letter to the United Nations outlining their concerns. Lethal autonomous weapons ... (will) permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend, the letter reads. We do not have long to act. Londons DeepMind assured staff its not involved in Project Maven, according to a person familiar with the decision. A DeepMind spokeswoman declined to comment. Richard Moyes, director of Article 36, a nonprofit focused on weapons, is cautious about pledges from companies that humans not machines will still make lethal decisions. This could be a stepping-stone to giving those machines greater capacity to make determination of what is or whats not a target, he said. Moyes, a partner of the DeepMind Ethics & Society group, hasnt spoken to Google or DeepMind about the Pentagon project. AI military systems have already made mistakes. Nighat Dad, director of the Digital Rights Foundation, cites the case of two Al Jazeera reporters who filed legal complaints that they were erroneously placed on a drone kill list by the U.S. governments Skynet surveillance system. Dad sent a letter in April to Pichai asking Google to end the Project Maven contract but says she hasnt received a reply. The primary concern for some AI experts is that the existing technology is still unreliable and could be commandeered by hackers to make battlefield decisions. I wouldnt trust any software to make mission-critical decisions, says Gary Marcus, an AI researcher at New York University. Project Maven, Marcus says, falls into an ethical gray area since the public doesnt know how the software will be used. If Google wants to get in the business of doing classified things for the military, then the public has the right to be concerned about what kind of company Google is becoming, he says. Googles cloud division is not certified to work on classified projects. A Google spokesman declined to say whether the company will pursue that certification. For many years, Google typically exited the government contracts of companies it acquired. In 2011, the year Google bought it, facial recognition startup Pittsburgh Pattern Recognition billed the U.S. $679,910, according to Bloomberg Government data. The next year, Googles revenue from the U.S. government amounted to less than that. (These figures exclude military spending on Google ads, which are classified numbers and likely equal many millions of dollars a year.) Robot maker Boston Dynamics generated more than $150 million in federal contracts over 13 years before being bought by Google in late 2013. The next year, the contracts ended. (Google agreed to sell Boston Dynamics in 2017). Since Greene was recruited to run its cloud unit in 2015, Google has become less squeamish about government work. Last year, federal agencies spent more than $6 billion on unclassified cloud contracts, according to Bloomberg Government. About a third of that came from the Defense Department. Right now Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle are big players. Amazons cloud business alone has generated $600 million in classified work with the Central Intelligence Agency since 2014. Greene is determined to compete for such contracts. We will work with governments because governments need a lot of digital technology, she said in the March interview. Whats new, and what were having a lot of discussion around, is artificial intelligence. After initially wavering on the need for specific AI policies, the Trump Administration is now moving to embrace the technology a shift driven largely by the looming competitive threat from China and Russia. On April 2, Project Maven received an additional $100 million in government funding. Military officials have cast the program as a key way to reduce time-consuming tasks and make warfare more efficient. We can confirm Project Maven involves working with a number of different vendors, and DoD representatives regularly meet with various companies to discuss progress with ongoing projects, said Defense Department spokeswoman Maj. Audricia Harris. These internal deliberations are a private matter, therefore it would be inappropriate to provide further details. ECS Federal, the contractor paying Google for the Project Maven work, didnt respond to requests for comment. Defense Secretary James Mattis visited Google in August and met with Pichai, Greene and co-founder Sergey Brin. They discussed the companys cloud and AI advances as well as other opportunities, such as finding ways to share telecom spectrum owned by the military, another Google project. (Schmidt, who stepped down as Alphabet chairman in December, recently told Defense One that hes excluded from decision-making about any Google work with the Pentagon. Notes from the July meeting of the Defense Innovation Board were made public online.) Mattis also visited Microsoft and Amazon during the trip. Some Google executives consider warmer ties with the government long overdue. Five years ago, relations were strained after Google vocally objected to revelations, uncovered by Edward Snowden, that the National Security Agency had tapped the companys networks. A senior executive involved in recent talks says one objective was to avoid the kind of pissing contest between Google and the government that happened after Snowdens revelations. But the divide inside the company will not be easily overcome. At several Google-wide meetings since March, Greene and other executives were peppered with questions about the merits of Project Maven. One says a recent justification for moving ahead amounted to: If we dont do this, a less-scrupulous rival will. The argument theyve been using is terrible, this person says. Another employee says the anti-Project Maven petition, reported earlier by the New York Times, is one of the largest in the history of the company, which is famous for encouraging internal debate. Gizmodo first reported Google staff concern about the companys involvement. Pichai has addressed the issue with employees, but has yet to answer their demand to cancel the contract. Mark Bergen is a Bloomberg writer. Email: mbergen10@bloomberg.net PG&E Corp. suffered another legal setback Friday as a judge said he wont release the company from a key legal claim over the most destructive wildfires in California history. PG&E has been challenging a California law allowing private property owners to hold the utility 100 percent responsible for any losses caused by its equipment or power lines even if it didnt act negligently. Edison International, owner of the dominant utility in Southern California, is also facing the prospect of multibillion-dollar payouts under the same law over a record-setting blaze near Los Angeles. Fridays tentative ruling marks the second time in a month a state judge has refused to spare PG&E from having to face a claim under inverse condemnation. PG&E has said since its a private company and cant socialize the burden from damage to individuals through taxes, it shouldnt be liable under inverse condemnation. PG&E doesnt have the authority to tax and can only raise rates approved by the California Public Utilities Commission. There is no basis for PG&Es argument that imposing inverse condemnation liability is unconstitutional unless the utility is guaranteed to automatically recover its costs through rate hikes, Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow said in the ruling. In April, a Sacramento judge said trial judges hands are tied by previous appellate court rulings and they cant interpret the law the way the utility is asking. We continue to believe that inverse condemnation, as applied to a privately owned utility, is a flawed legal doctrine that is bad for all Californians, PG&E said. We believe it is in everyones interest to have this issue decided promptly. During a hearing Friday, PG&Es lawyer, Kevin Orsini, said the courts ultimate conclusion about inverse condemnation goes to the very viability of of investor-owned utilities. It is critical that we hear from the higher courts of the state sooner rather than later, he said. Once a trial draws near, all parties will gain the benefit of further guidance from the court of appeal whether inverse condemnation does apply, he said. Karnow was skeptical of PG&Es request to seek an immediate appeal, just as Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner in Sacramento refused to do. California courts ordinarily require lawsuits to play out to final resolution before appeals begin, a process that may take two to three years. The judge said its unlikely he will have any unique insight to offer on the dispute that appeals courts couldnt figure out for themselves. Orsini said that in the Sacramento case, which involves the 2015 Butte Fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills, the utility has filed a writ with the state court of appeals a procedure that could fast-track the outcome. Officials havent determined the causes of the Tubbs Fire and a series of other blazes that burned through the North Bay last year, but analysts have said the utility could face more than $15 billion in claims from the fires. Joel Rosenblatt and Mark Chediak are Bloomberg writers. Email: jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net, mchediak@bloomberg.net DENVER Seven female law professors at a Colorado university will receive a $2.6 million settlement and pay increases after federal officials filed a lawsuit against the womens employer for routinely paying higher salaries to their male colleagues. A federal judge indicated support for the settlement agreement Thursday between the University of Denver, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the professors. Colorado District Court Judge Wiley Daniel requested some technical changes during a hearing but said he had no other objection to signing it. In a statement, university officials said they were confident in our legal position but were motivated to action by our strong desire to heal our community and move forward together. The statement also said fair, equitable and merit-based pay for faculty and staff is among the universitys cornerstone commitments. According to the terms, the school must create a password-protected site listing Sturm College of Law faculty salaries, position, date of hire and demographic information. Names will not be included. The school also must require employee training on discrimination and hire an outside consultant to study faculty pay each year. The $2.6 million award includes back pay for the professors and attorneys fees. The agreement also requires increased salaries for the professors starting this month, but those amounts were sealed. According to the original complaint, the law schools dean, Martin Katz, wrote a memo in December 2012 on faculty raises. Katz included information showing female full professors median salary was about $11,000 less than male counterparts while the average female professor made nearly $16,000 less than male full professors. Professor Lucy Marsh, who began working at the law school in 1976, met with Katz and then organized a broader meeting for other female law professors with the dean. According to the lawsuit, Katz speculated ... that female full law professors may be paid less because they were not performing as well as male full professors. Marsh later filed a complaint with the EEOC, prompting the federal agency to review the dispute and file the lawsuit. Marsh and six other female professors signed on as plaintiffs. In court documents responding to the initial complaint, attorneys for the university denied that the pay differences were based on sex alone and said it had not violated any laws on compensation. According to court documents, attorneys began negotiations in January with a retired U.S. magistrate judge acting as mediator and asked the court in April to consider the proposed settlement. The agreement is due to expire in five or six years, depending on an outside review of the universitys compliance. Kathleen Foody is an Associated Press writer. Hes appeared at a flashy Tesla product unveiling and a thunderous SpaceX launch while his boardroom chairs have sat empty. Now Steve Jurvetson is surfacing as the central figure in the debate over governance at Elon Musks Palo Alto car company. The Silicon Valley investor and friend of Musks has been on leave from Teslas board since resigning from DFJ, the venture capital firm he co-founded. The same day of his exit in November precipitated by accusations of misconduct that he has denied Tesla put Jurvetson on a leave of absence, pending resolution of these allegations. More than six months later, little has changed and much remains unclear. Tesla wont say if its commissioned or is doing its own investigation. DFJ, which conducted its own probe, declined to comment for this story, as did Jurvetson, 51. Teslas handling of Jurvetson doesnt sit well with CtW Investment Group. The activist firm affiliated with union pension funds pointed to the directors leave as emblematic of poor leadership and weak corporate governance. Proxy adviser Glass Lewis agreed and cited the fairly extraordinary length of Jurvetsons board absence in a report to clients last week. It sided with CtW by urging shareholders to vote against the three directors up for re-election at the companys annual meeting next month. Six months is a highly unusual time to be on leave, Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said in a phone interview. As a director, you are supposed to be minding the store. You are there to serve shareholders. If you cant fill the job, you resign. Jurvetsons extended leave means that there is a gap on the board during a very important period. In November, Jurvetson said he was leaving DFJ to focus on personal matters, including taking legal action against those whose false statements have defamed me. While on this indefinite break, Jurvetson hasnt yet filed a defamation lawsuit in state or federal court, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Law. No complaints turned up in a separate search of county courts in Northern California. Jurvetson does still seem to be in the fold with Musk, 46, and his companies. Four days after leaving DFJ, Jurvetson attended Teslas last big party the debut of its Semi Truck and surprise reveal of the next-generation Roadster at the companys design studio near Los Angeles. He also attended SpaceXs maiden launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket in February. SpaceX also put Jurvetson on leave from its board in November. In a letter to Tesla shareholders opposing the re-election of three directors, CtW criticized lead independent director Antonio Gracias, saying his failure to insist that Jurvetson resign rather than take a leave of absence has signaled an extraordinary unwillingness to accept the need for change. Teslas annual shareholders meeting is set for June 5 in Mountain View. In its proxy statement, the company said that Jurvetson possesses specific attributes that qualify him to serve as a member of our board, including his experience in the venture capital industry and his years of business and leadership experience. Jurvetson has served on Teslas board since 2009, a year before the company went public. He holds more than 104,000 Tesla shares worth about $29.6 million. The venture capital firm originally known as Draper Fisher Jurvetson no longer has a stake in Tesla. It has named new directors to the boards of several startups Jurvetson used to be on, including Memphis Meats, Mythic, Planet and Synthetic Genomics. He remains on the board of D-Wave, although DFJ has the right to nominate its own representative. Steve has been a fantastic board member, and hes going to stay on the board of D-Wave as an independent director, Chairman V. Paul Lee said in an interview. Teslas board has long drawn flak for comprising several close confidants of Musk and the potential for this presenting conflicts of interest. Jurvetson shared an image on photo-sharing service Flickr in January of a book of Musk quotes that used one of his portraits of Musk for its cover. He wrote that he had a copy at each bed stand and was reading them as bedtime parables to the kiddos. Jurvetsons friendship with Musk suggests its unlikely the Tesla CEO will get unbiased, objective advice from him, said Kabrina Chang, an associate professor at the Boston University Questrom School of Business, who studies corporate ethics and labor laws. The friendship is problematic even under the best of circumstances, Chang said. Because research has shown that confirmation bias is a thing, conflicts of interest are a thing. And dealing with the conflict of interest in the right way is really hard to do when your friend is the CEO. Dana Hull and Jeff Green are Bloomberg writers. Email: dhull12@bloomberg.net, jgreen16@bloomberg.net Like fax machines and desktop telephones, your individual office work space may be headed for extinction. More than half of corporate execs say they plan to switch to unassigned worker seating for all or some of their employees during the next three years. Instead of having their own desks, workers will grab an empty workstation when they come to the office. Dont be late to work, or you could wind up sitting by the dumpster. Its just one of the ways that employers are shaking up the traditional office environment to cut costs and supposedly increase productivity, according to a new report by commercial real estate firm CBRE. For a decade, business employers have increasingly shifted from individual offices to open work environments. They usually say the moves are to increase collaboration. But major office users also acknowledge they are slashing real estate costs with these shifts. At a growing number of office centers, many workers dont have assigned desks and put their personal items in a locker or cabinet when they leave. The modern workplace is in a state of transition as workplace design standards have evolved from traditional layouts with a mix of enclosed and open work spaces, CBRE research analyst Julie Whelan said in the new report. Managing employees through this change is critical, so that the initiative is viewed as being additive to productivity and wellness instead of a pure cost-cutting measure. The moves, it appears, are only partially to build teamwork and promote networking. More than half of firms say their primary reason for the office changes is to reduce costs. Only 20 percent said they are going to the new office environments to promote innovation. And less than a third say the changes are to retain and attract talent something often said by big corporations. CBRE surveyed mostly banking and finance, tech and telecommunications, and professional service firms about their office plans. Almost half the companies said they planned to make workplace changes to seek better space utilization. Less than half said they plan to allocate primary assigned worker seating in the years ahead. Not all trends are as utilitarian. To keep workers happy, office users say they plan to expand amenities, including full-service cafeterias, employee showers, bike racks, custom coffee services, green space, game rooms and on-site health care. Twenty years ago, real estate was much different. It was a place to house people. But now our clients are using it as a tool to attract and retain the best talent in their respective industries, said CBREs Clay Vaughn, a senior vice president in Dallas. A big part of creating great space is giving employees options of how and where they work in the office. The companies that embrace this will be the winners in the fierce competition for talent. Even if that means giving you a locker to call your own instead of a desk. Steve Brown is a Dallas Morning News writer. Family and friends were stunned to learn that the man killed early Tuesday in San Jose was identified as 25-year-old Alex Fielder. Ciera Hernandez, a former girlfriend, has a 2-year-old son with Fielder, and she called him a devoted father to their son, Ryder. The couple were together for about four years. We were still very close, Hernandez said. He was such a good dad. He really just adored Ryder. Fielder was shot and killed around 1:11 a.m. on the 400 block of Blossom Hill Road on Tuesday, according to the San Jose Police Department. Officers found two men suffering from at least one gunshot wound each, said Sgt. Enrique Garcia, a department spokesman. Both victims were taken to the hospital and Fielder, of San Jose, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The other man suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Garcia said. Garcia said no suspects have been identified in the shooting. Hernandez said that her former partner loved baseball, which he played in high school and throughout his life. She called him a homebody who had a few close friends and enjoyed spending time with his mother and son at home. Recently, Hernandez said, Fielder had been struggling with health issues that were keeping him mostly at home. The news of his death struck her as unbelievable. I was so shocked, said Hernandez, who was told by Fielders mom. Theyre now searching for answers. We literally know about as much as anyone else, Hernandez said. Its really frustrating because we want to know what happened, and we dont know anything and the police arent saying anything. We want justice for Alex. A celebration of Fielders life will be held June 2. Sophie Haigney is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophie.haigney@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophieHaigney Mark Wineman / Getty Images A man was shot and killed early Friday morning in Oakland, police said. Oakland police received a call at 6:15 a.m. about a male shot at MacArthur Boulevard and Parker Avenue, and officers located an adult man who was suffering from a gunshot wound, said Officer Felicia Aisthorpe, a police spokeswoman. San Francisco Police Department A San Francisco man in custody for a string of commercial burglaries was recently identified as the suspect in a sixth break-in, police said. In an eight-week stretch between Jan. 29 and March 27, Javon Neal, 20, is accused of breaking into five commerical buildings in the Mission and Central police districts, authorities said. Losses in those burglaries totaled about $14,000 in electronics, police said. A Walnut Creek couple was found dead in their home in what police believe to be a murder-suicide, authorities said. Officers entered the residence on the 1800 block of Holland Drive on Tuesday to conduct a welfare check. Police said they found the bodies of the man and woman, identified as Richard Huber, 66, and Sarah Huber, 68, with fatal gunshot wounds. Hollywood loves to destroy San Francisco in movies, but when San Francisco landmarks get destroyed in real life, we can always thank Hollywood for capturing them in their glory. In recent years, "San Andreas" destroyed the city from the Golden Gate Bridge to Candlestick, just as that old stadium was undergoing some real-life demolition of its own. Seeing Candlestick torn apart bit by bit made us want to pop in "The Rock" or "Experiment in Terror," or even "Pursuit of Happyness" to catch a glimpse of the stadium in its glory. The Force was truly with one young "Star Wars" fan this week. The boy, who's in the fourth grade in Putnam County, Fla., says he received a package from George Lucas himself along with a visit from one of the Star Wars creator's beloved characters in the (furry) flesh. Wyatt Farmer had sent a letter to Lucas at his production company, Lucasfilm, a year ago, gushing about "how much he and his family love 'Star Wars,'" according to the local Action News Jax. RELATED: May the 4th Be With You: 11 Hilarious 'Star Wars' Memes to Share In return, he received a FedEx package filled with memorabilia, including a Luke Skywalker figurine. As Lucasfilm tells SFGATE, it's one of just a few companies that still tries to respond to handwritten fan mail. But the interaction didn't end there. Lucasfilm's parent company, Disney, knowing Chewbacca would be on the East Coast for reasons related to the new Star Wars film "Solo," reached out to see if there might be a young fan on the East Coast the character could surprise. Lucasfilm looked through their fan mail, and found Farmer. On Thursday, to Farmer's surprise and to the joy of his classmates, Chewbacca walked in. RELATED: Ehrenreich is 'Solo' in a respectable 'Star Wars' origins story "I hope you will never forget this day because it's something you did," Farmer's mother told him on camera. "You wrote a letter and you did this for all of your friends." The character spent the afternoon visiting classes on campus and posing for pictures. A spokesperson for Lucasfilm tells SFGATE that the company is "incredibly grateful to the fans when they reach out." She adds that, "We try to answer personally. It's something unique to our culture at Lucasfilm." Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira. MOREHEAD, Ky. Shelly Phillips works in an office at the First United Methodist Church in Laramie, Wyo., and rarely donates to political candidates. But in December, she sent a small donation to David Ermold, who wants to be the next clerk in Rowan County, Ky., about 1,200 miles from where she lives. Shes one of more than 5,000 people from at least 48 states who have donated in increments of $10 and $20 to Ermold, giving him more than $200,000 for an election that could require as few as 900 votes to win. 1 Building explosion: Prosecutors say federal agents found two improvised explosive devices while searching a home owned by the former boyfriend of a woman killed in an explosion at a Southern California office building. Stephen Beal was charged Thursday with possessing an unregistered destructive device. He has not been charged in connection with Tuesdays explosion in the city of Aliso Viejo. Beals son, Nathan Beal, said his father had been in a relationship with the woman who was killed, 48-year-old Ildiko Krajnya. He said they had recently broken up. State documents show Beal and Krajnyak as officers in a skin care business called I&S Enterprises. 2 Florida shooting: A fired Florida sheriffs deputy wont spend any time in prison for shooting a handcuffed man during a traffic stop. The Tampa Bay Times reports 62-year-old Timothy Virden pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted manslaughter. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorneys Office struck a plea deal with Virden that called for no prison time. He was sentenced to three years of probation. The shooting occurred Dec. 30, 2015. Records show Virden fired two shots into Dylan Tompkins-Holmes after he was arrested for obstruction. Last month, Tompkins-Holmes settled with Virden. The agreement says he wont collect damages from the ex-deputy but could seek a judgment in a special claims bill filed with the state Legislature. 3 Memphis Belle: Hundreds of visitors turned out to at the Air Force Museum to see the World War II bomber Memphis Belle, and the legendary aircraft rarely has looked better. The plane went on public display at the museum near Dayton, Ohio, for the first time on Thursday morning after a restoration project that required 13 years and 55,000 hours of work. The plane was celebrated for being the first B-17 to survive 25 missions and return to the U.S. 4 Railroad sued: Two Iowa women who lost limbs when they were struck while trying to climb through trains that were blocking the road are suing the railroad for allegedly ignoring a safety hazard thats left a trail of horrific injuries. The lawsuits filed Thursday allege that trains operated by the Canadian National Railway and its subsidiaries routinely block street crossings in Waterloo, sometimes for hours. They say this leaves pedestrians trapped and facing bad options on a daily basis: wait for the trains to move, walk to an unblocked crossing that can be more than a mile away or risk crossing between stopped cars that can start moving without warning. The lawsuits, filed on behalf of 37-year-old and 67-year-old women, claim at least five people have lost hands, arms or legs in this way since 1991. 5 Equal pay lawsuit: The University of Denver has agreed to a $2.6 million settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of female law professors who say they were illegally paid less than male colleagues. Court documents filed in April show the university, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the professors have agreed to the terms. According to the lawsuit, the mean salary of female professors at the Sturm College of Law was nearly $20,000 lower than male professors in 2013. The agreement requires the school to create a password-protected site listing faculty salaries, position, date of hire and demographics. Names will not be included. 6 Mueller probe: A former relative of ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to criminal charges earlier this year and has reportedly met with special counsel Robert Muellers investigators, according to a person familiar with the matter. Jeffrey Yohai, Manaforts former son-in-law, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in California in January relating to real estate loans on properties in New York and California. 7 Habitual drunks: A federal appeals court is weighing a challenge to a Virginia law that allows police to arrest habitual drunkards and send them to jail for up to a year for possessing alcohol. Virginia is believed to be one of only two states the other is Utah with laws that make it a crime for someone designated as a habitual drunkard to possess, consume or purchase alcohol. The law, which dates to the 1930s, is being challenged by the Legal Aid Justice Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that provides legal services to low-income people. The group accuses state prosecutors of using it to punish homeless alcoholics. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing the case. Chronicle News Services WASHINGTON Unlike the president, Robert Mueller hasnt uttered one word in public about his Russia investigation in the year since he was appointed special counsel. And that is rattling just about everyone involved. Whats he up to? When will he bring the probe to and end? He doesnt have to say, and hes not. A year into the investigation, the stern-looking prosecutor is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. In that time, the breadth and stealth of his investigation have unsettled the White House and its chief occupant, and have spread to Capitol Hill, K Street, foreign governments and, as late as last week, corporate boardrooms. With lawmakers eyeing midterm elections and President Trump publicly mulling whether he will sit for an interview with Mueller, Republican calls are growing for the special counsel to end his investigation. Vice President Mike Pence and others have said it publicly. GOP lawmakers insist theyve seen no evidence of collusion between Russians and Trumps 2016 election campaign. The longer the investigation runs, those calls are likely to amplify. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has steadfastly supported the special counsel, seemed to change his tone a bit Thursday. I think he should be free to do his job, but I would like to see it get wrapped up, of course, Ryan said of Mueller. I mean we want to see this thing come to its conclusion, but again Ive always said he should be free to finish his job. Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the election, whether Trumps campaign was involved and possible obstruction of justice. And by the standards of previous special counsel investigations, his actually has so far gone fairly quickly. Since he was appointed on May 17, 2017, Muellers office has charged 19 people and three Russian companies. He has charged four Trump campaign advisers, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The probe has also ensnared countless Washington insiders who have been called to testify or found themselves under scrutiny, including lobbyists and foreign representatives who may have illegally sought to influence the administration. Large corporations like AT&T and Novartis have been contacted by Mueller and caught up in an offshoot investigation into Trumps longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen. The companies acknowledged last week that they paid Cohen for insight in the early days of the Trump administration. While Mueller himself still enjoys generally broad bipartisan support in Congress, particularly in the Senate, the secrecy of the investigation has created some anxiety about what is next. The presidents lawyers have rushed to fill that vacuum, recently suggesting theyve been told Mueller wont indict Trump and couldnt force the president to comply with an interview. Personal attorney Rudy Giuliani suggested that a recent conversation with Muellers team led him to believe the special counsel, citing a Justice Department opinion, had ruled out the possibility of trying to indict a sitting president. Trump has seemed confident of that on Twitter, where he frequently throws barbs at the investigation a strategy that is increasingly resonating with many Republicans. On Thursday, he marked the anniversary by calling the probe a disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt. Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be the first woman to lead the CIA, elevating a career clandestine officer to its directorship despite bipartisan misgivings about her role in the agencys brutal detention and interrogation programs in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The 54-45 vote split both parties, with six Democrats joining most Republicans in support. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is battling brain cancer, was absent for the vote. BERWYN, Pa. When 12-year-old Nora Nissenbaum told a boy from her class she wasnt interested in him anymore, he started texting her images of Adolf Hitler and insults such as dirty Jew. Noras parents contacted her suburban Philadelphia middle school and police. Soon after, word spread that the boy had supposedly threatened to take a gun to class and target 33 people, including Nora. But within a week, the boy was back in class despite facing criminal charges in juvenile court, and he and Nora were crossing paths in the hallway eight times a day. Knowing that he wants to hurt me scares me a lot, said Nora, who has elected to finish the school year at home with the case against her classmate still unresolved. Across the country, school officials dealing with threats of violence in this era of mass shootings are facing similar choices and constraints. When deciding whether to expel a student or let the youngster return, administrators must balance the safety of an alleged victim and other schoolmates with the accuseds right to an education. Schools are up against this problem all the time, said Amy Klinger, director of programs at the advocacy group Educators School Safety Network. She said no fixed policy exists on how to deal with these situations; instead, they tend to be handled on a case-by-case basis. Klingers research indicates that 75 to 90 threats per day were recorded in the U.S. during the month after the deadly Feb. 14 shooting rampage at a Parkland, Fla., high school. Since April, that has dropped to around 20 a day, she said, but thats just the ones that became public. In some cases, experts say, youngsters who make homicidal threats are moved to institutions that focus on children with emotional disturbances. Pedro Noguera, an education professor at UCLA, said administrators need to take into account such factors as how serious the threat is and whether the child has access to weapons. Meanwhile, a court granted Nora an order of protection against the boy, but she still feared for her safety. She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to her family, and has been put on medication. Nora wonders how an adult would feel in her position. Nobody would want to go to work with someone who threatened to kill you, she said. Alexandra Villarreal is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON President Trump accused the Justice Department on Friday of trying to frame him by planting a spy in his 2016 campaign an allegation his own lawyer said might not be true. Promoting a theory that is circulating in conservative circles, Trump quoted Fox Business anchor David Asman and tweeted: Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didnt commit. But Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani cast some doubt on that. On whether there was an informant in the 2016 presidential campaign, Giuliani told CNN: I dont know for sure, nor does the president, if there really was one, though he said they have long been told there was some kind of infiltration. Last week, the National Review raised the question of a possible FBI spy in Trumps campaign. The article cites work by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, an ardent Trump supporter and head of the House intelligence committee, who has demanded information on an FBI source in the Russia investigation. The New York Times reported separately this week that at least one government informant met several times with Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, both former foreign policy advisers for Trumps Republican campaign. The newspaper attributed the information to current and former FBI officials. Also Friday, Giuliani said special counsel Robert Mueller has narrowed his possible interview subject areas from five to two as negotiations continue over whether the president will sit down and answer questions in the Russia investigation. Mueller is investigating possible coordination between Russia and Trumps 2016 campaign. Giuliani said Trumps legal team doesnt expect him to be asked about his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who faces a separate criminal investigation in New York. But Giuliani did not provide many additional details, saying that some questions are still subject to negotiation. As the Russia probe moves into its second year, many Trump allies, including some Republicans on Capitol Hill, have increasingly pushed for ways to paint Mueller and his investigators as political actors, not above-the-fray lawmen, in an effort to discredit his findings or justify his possible dismissal. A number of Trump outside advisers including former chief strategist Stephen Bannon have stepped up their attacks on the Department of Justice, calling for it to release more documents to the White House while saying a confidential source has worked against Trump. Working from his Capitol Hill town house, Bannon has consulted with Trump-friendly congressmen including Nunes and Rep. Mark Meadows, to rally support among Republicans and push Trump to act more aggressively, according to two people familiar with the discussions but not authorized to discuss them privately. Anne Flaherty, Catherine Lucey and Jonathan Lemire are Associated Press writers Thanks to the American brides side of the family, Britains royal wedding just went to pot. Prince Harrys betrothed, Suits actress Meghan Markle, has a nephew who legally grows marijuana in Grants Pass, Ore., where he lives. To honor his aunts big day, 25-year-old Tyler Dooley developed a new cannabis strain in her name. He calls it Markle Sparkle. It is described as sweet, silky with a hint of blueberry, much smoother than the original potent strain that Dooley earlier had promised would blow anyones crown off. The more regal Markle Sparkle premiered last week on LeafBuyer.com, an online cannabis dispensary database. Dooley plans to unveil it to the public at the High Times Cannabis Cup in Santa Rosa next month, according to the website. Noble families often inspire their countrypersons to craft and dedicate products to them, says the LeafBuyer.com description. For a Royal baby, a royal cheddar. For a Royal wedding, a royal weed. Dooley is marketing Markle Sparkle as a potent sativa-dominant hybrid that offers relief from pain, anxiety and insomnia and doesnt cause serious munchies. I cant reveal too much at this point, Dooley told LeafBuyer. But what I can say is it smells like blueberries and its made up of three different strains Blue City Diesel, Blueberry Northern Lights and a third secret strain, which youll find out on June 2nd. On the Markle family tree, Dooley is just a few buds removed from the future (likely) duchess. According to the Daily Mail, he is the son of the brides half brother, Thomas Markle Jr., and his ex-wife, Tracy Dooley. Thanks to a handwritten letter Thomas Markle Jr. sent to Prince Harry last month, the world knows of the strained relationships on the Markle branch of the family tree. In the letter, published by In Touch magazine, the brides half brother told Prince Harry it was not too late to call off the wedding. As more time passes to your royal wedding, it became very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal wedding history, he wrote. Im confused why you dont see the real Meghan that the whole world sees. He called his half sister a jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the royal family heritage, who doesnt invite her own family and instead invites complete strangers to the wedding. But that side of the family didnt let the absence of an invite stop it from heading across the pond. Under a headline calling them wedding crashers, TMZ reported Monday that Dooley, his brother, Thomas, and their mother had arrived in London. They were lined up to be special royal wedding correspondents on Good Morning Britain, according to TMZ. But if that offer was ever in place, it isnt now, the Guardian reported Thursday. A spokesman for the ITV network told the Guardian that the Dooleys will not be contributing to Good Morning Britains coverage of the royal wedding. As for Markle Sparkle, a Leafbuyer.com representative told the Oregonian last week that Dooley is searching for an Oregon distributor. It could be for sale in Oregon within the next few weeks if all goes well, she said. The pot is just one item in a line of new products coming from Dooley called Royally Grown. There will be Markle Sparkle-infused brownies, tinctures and oils and things you cant eat, smoke or slather including jewelry, organic hemp clothing and bath products. Meghan grew up in California, and I am sure she has an American view on pot, Dooley told the Daily Mail, without expounding on what that view would be. Prince Harry enjoys a good party. Id be happy to show them around if they ever come out here and educate them on the medicinal benefits of marijuana. Lisa Gutierrez is a Kansas City Star writer.